Thursday, December 26, 2019
Theme Of Indian Camp By Ernest Hemingway - 1349 Words
Lions, Suicide, and War; Oh My! What do a lion, a suicide, and a war have in common? Connected or not, these three factors can influence the characters behavior whether it be in or out of a figurative sense. These three components are also very symbolic in Ernest Hemingways writing, more specifically in his short stories ââ¬Å"Indian Campâ⬠, ââ¬Å"The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomberâ⬠, as well as the interchapters from In Our Time. Ernest Hemingwayââ¬â¢s portrayal of conflict creates a violent normality in some of his stories. This is shown by the characterââ¬â¢s response to suicide, hunting, and war. In ââ¬Å"Indian Campâ⬠, the character Nick is a child following his father and his uncle to an Indian camp, with good intentions, to help a woman give birth,â⬠¦show more contentâ⬠¦He could be referring to the wifes screaming during the birth, his pain from his accident, or some other unmentioned reason. The doctors initial reaction to the harsh news was to shield his son from death and viewing something that could make him grow in a different direction, even though neither were prepared for what they saw. The doctor made the body clearly visible to his son with the light. The light could symbolize Nicks veil of innocence to be removed from his life because he had just witnessed the birth of another human being, yet also the death of another. This removal of his veil was very abrupt and no one intended for it to happen at that moment. The death of the Indian husband came as a shock to the characters and even though it was unintended, it still played a major part in the t one of the birth of the Indian baby. Francis Macomber is a man of great wealth as well as a beautifully unfaithful wife, on a hunting expedition in Africa. On this trip, he and his partner, Wilson, are on the hunt for many different kinds of game, such as buffalo and lion. The lion in this story causes Francis to become panicked and doubtful as he nears the time to shoot his cat, he does everything in his power to avoid chasing after it. However, Francis does manage to overcome his fear after shooting it twice. During his frenzy, the lion becomes the center of attention feeling, ââ¬Å" [T]he little openings the solid bullets had made in his tawny hide and his big yellow eyes,Show MoreRelatedErnest Hemingway Essay526 Words à |à 3 PagesErnest Hemingway Who is Ernest Hemingway? Ernest Hemingway was born in Oak Park, Illinois, an upper-middle-class suburb of Chicago(Ernest Hemingwaypar 4). He was born in the front bedroom of grandfather Ernest Halls house at eight oclock A.M., July 21, 1899. His parents were Dr. Clarence Edmonds and Grace Hall Hemingway. Ernest was the second child and his sister, Marcelline, was born eighteen months earlier. He also had two other siblings. Carol was born July 19, 1911Read MoreLiterary Criticism On Hemingway s The Three Day Blow And Indian Camp 746 Words à |à 3 PagesLiterary Criticism on Hemingway In American Literature, messages and themes are included in most writings using literary lenses.. The messages give of lessons for life, love, death and other ideas. Ernest Hemingway is a well known American author that wrote ââ¬Å"The Three Day Blowâ⬠and ââ¬Å"Indian Campâ⬠. Marxism, inspired by Karl Marx, is one lens that focuses on the social classes and the whom the work is benefiting. Another lens, the psychoanalytic len, is based on the subconsciousââ¬â¢ craving inspired byRead MoreShort Story : Indian Camp 1114 Words à |à 5 Pages1B Summer Reading Assignment The two short stories, ââ¬Å"Indian Campâ⬠a short story by Ernest Hemmingway and ââ¬Å"Two Wordsâ⬠another short story by Isabel Allende, are very similar but have a few differences. The two stories share theme with both main characters Belisa and Nick. However they are also different when it comes to the purpose of the story and its outcomes. The two short stories are similar in a coming of age sense yet the way the theme is delivered is different as the outcomes of the charactersRead MoreCycle Of Life Essay Examples832 Words à |à 4 Pagescycle of life theme is incorporated into many stories throughout history although the exact role the theme plays in each story can vary. One of the ways it can be seen is through the use of concrete examples, meaning someone is born and dies. Abstract examples are another way the cycle of life can be shown in stories. Abstract examples would include such things as the sun rising and setting which gives the reader a visual of time lapse. ââ¬Å"Lightning Crashesâ⬠, ââ¬Å"The Lion Kingâ⬠, and ââ¬Å"Indian Campâ⬠all shareRead More Comparing F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway Essay1214 Words à |à 5 PagesComparing F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, though both evolved from the same literary time and place, created their works in two very dissimilar writing styles which are representative of their subject matter. The two writers were both products of the post-WWI lost generation and first gained notoriety as members of the American expatriate literary community living in Paris during the 1920s. Despite this underlying fact which influencedRead MoreMasculinity And Style In Hemingway And Carver1604 Words à |à 7 PagesMasculinity and Style in Hemingway and Carver. The following will present the themes of masculinity in relation to style in Raymond Carver and Ernest Hemingway. Both are major figures of 20th century US fiction, and both write about characters that struggle with male or masculine identity and social expectations. These struggles often mean that other characters in their stories are the victims. In other words, the problems that the characters experience, are both internalized but also externalizedRead More Hemingway Style Analysis Essay1364 Words à |à 6 Pages 1 Earnest Hemingway is one of Americas foremost authors. His many works, their style, themes and parallels to his actual life have been the focus of millions of people as his writing style set him apart from all other authors. Many conclusions and parallels can be derived from Earnest Hemingways works. In the three stories I review, ?Hills Like White Elephants?, ?Indian Camp? and ?A Clean, Well-lighted Place? we will be covering how Hemingway uses foreigners, the service industry and females asRead MoreErnest Hemingways In Our Time: An Analysis1247 Words à |à 5 Pagesmake sense overall, but for an outsider looking in, they are confusing and disconnected. The main theme in this book is that of individual experience, which is written as if the reader was looking through the eyes of the narrator, not knowing the context, but understanding how life is for those who have been through the experience. The first story, The Quai at Smyrna is representative of this theme, where the author describes an ordinary day in the life of a soldier participating in the war. TheRead MoreMasculinity, By William Faulkner And The Death Of A Man1191 Words à |à 5 PagesMasculinity is a common theme in nearly all of Hemingwayââ¬â¢s works. What makes Indian Camp unique is that it is about a young boy earning his masculinity, and all in one very eventful night. This story is about ââ¬Å"becoming a manâ⬠so-to-speak, through enduring and overcoming two very difficult situations to view: the birth of a child and the death of a man. Barn Burning covers the same theme in a darker and more violent way. In William Faulknerââ¬â¢s story, Sartyââ¬â¢s father teaches him to become a man by teachingRead MoreHemingway s Writing : A Philosophical Lens Essay1430 Words à |à 6 Pages With suicide being prevalent in his family, I firmly believe that Hemingway himself strived for meaning in life, but eventually opted out because life is chaotic and there are too many unknown answers in the world. Hemingway tried to establish values and morals through pragmatism, but in reality, values are constantly changing and everything is temporary. By looking through a philosophical lens, I will demonstrate how Hemingway uses absurdism, nihilism, and pragmatism as a way to understand and
Wednesday, December 18, 2019
Fiscal Policy and Monetary Policy - 781 Words
Fiscal policy is the governments spending policies, which influences the conditions economy as a whole. With this policy, regulators can improve unemployment rates; stabilize business cycles, control inflation, and interest rates to control the economy. The government adjusts the spending and tax rates to influence the nationââ¬â¢s economy. The idea is to find the balance between public spending and changing tax rates, by increasing or lowering taxes may cause the risk of causing inflation to rise. If the economy had slowed down, unemployment will go up, so consumer spending will go down and businesses are not making enough profit. If the government decides to raise the economy by decreasing tax, it will give the consumers more money to spend while it is increasing the form of buying services from building roads or schools. The government will create jobs and wages that will help the economy by paying for such services, it will then impel money into the economy by decreasing taxation and increase government spending, which is known as ââ¬Å"pump priming.â⬠Fewer taxes to pay and more money for the economy will make consumer demands for good and services to increase. If inflation is too strong then the economy may need to slowdown, In that kind of situation the government can use this policy to increase taxes to decrease money of the economy. This policy also can order a reduction in government spending and thereby reduce the money in circulation. But with the fiscal policy theShow MoreRelatedMonetary And Fiscal Policy : Monetary Policy1435 Words à |à 6 PagesMonetary and fiscal policy Introduction Fiscal policy is defined as the power that the federal government poses that enables it to impose taxes and also spend to achieve its goals in the economy. On the other hand, the monetary policy is maintaining the programs that try to increase the nationââ¬â¢s level of business through regulation the supply of money and credit. Currently, one of the most important roles of the federal government is to regulate and also ensure that there is stability in the economyRead MoreFiscal Policy And Monetary Policy1753 Words à |à 8 PagesThe government in times of economic recession has responsibility to take action, engaging in expansionary economic policies is the action my paper will discuss. The types of economic expansion include Fiscal Policy, and Monetary Policy, the expansion of the two policies allows the government to adjust taxes, and government spending. Harry Truman once quoted ââ¬Å"Itââ¬â¢s a recession when your neighbor loses his job: itââ¬â¢s a depression when you lose yours.â⬠(The economy perspective, the banker s banker. (1998Read MoreFiscal Policy And Monetary Policy1735 Words à |à 7 Pageswhich is fiscal and monetary policy to find out a way to find the economic. It is macroeconomic policy that pursues to enlarge the money supply to boost economic growth or combat inflation. One of the form is fiscal policy of expansionary policy, which comes in the method of tax cuts, discounts and increased government spending. Expansionary policies do come from central banks, which focus on cumulative the money supply in the economy. Now let look at the break down of expansionary policy which dealRead MoreMonetary Policy And Fiscal Policy1178 Words à |à 5 Pagescrisis. Monetary policy and fiscal policy are two tools by which government uses to guide the economy. Sometimes the economy is challenged with both inflation and unemployment at high rates. Macroeconomics breaks down the entire economy and the issues affecting it, including inflati on, unemployment, economic growth, and monetary and fiscal policy. A country has to come up with good macroeconomic policies in order to better their economy. This paper will discuss the government s policies adopt toRead MoreMonetary Policy And Fiscal Policy850 Words à |à 4 PagesThe Federal Government uses the monetary policy and fiscal policy to establish and determine the best way to manage the economy. Monetary policy is used by the Federal Reserve to manage the money supply. This includes credit, cash, check, and money market mutual funds, with loans, bonds, and mortgages being the most important. This policy can be broken into two categories: monetary restraint and monetary expansion. As it states, one is trying to restrain the market while the other expresses expandingRead MoreFiscal Policy And Monetary Policy862 Words à |à 4 PagesFiscal Policy vs Monetary Policy Fiscal policy is a way for the government to control the economy financially. The Federal Government sometimes partakes in actions to stimulate the economy. Fiscal Policy focuses on changing government spending, controlling inflation, encouraging economic growth, and to reach full employment. Monetary policy is a policy the Federal Reserve Board enforces which consists of changes in the money supply which influences the interest rates in the economy. This can helpRead MoreFiscal Policy And Monetary Policy2086 Words à |à 9 Pages Nowadays, economic growth and stability is the goal that governments aim to achieve. There are two main ways to achieve this purpose: fiscal policy and monetary policy. Monetary policy is a kind of macroeconomic policy lead by the central bank. Expansionary monetary policies can help boost the economy but it will cause inflation. There are two approaches to control money supply; there are price and quantity. Price represents interest rates and quantity means amount of money quantity. After financialRead MoreFiscal and Monetary Policy610 Words à |à 3 PagesFiscal and Monetary Policy Governments can use both fiscal and monetary policies to move the economy from a recessionary or expansionary gap. Fiscal policies include increased or decreased government spending, increased or decreased taxation; on the other hand monetary policies include increased or decreased money supply, changes in interest rate, etc. One of the tools of fiscal policy is government spending, the initial equilibrium is represented by the point E. With increased government spendingRead MoreFiscal and Monetary Policies893 Words à |à 4 PagesFiscal and Monetary Policies Charles T. Sheridan Student ID: 4290575 ECON 102 American Military University Dr. John Theodore Economies everywhere in the world have fluctuations, there Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is either growing (economic boom) or it is not producing enough and falls into a recession. In a recession, an economyââ¬â¢s GDP suffers two consecutive quarters of negative growth. Personal consumption, government spending and the amount a country imports and exports measure GDPRead MoreFiscal and Monetary Policy 946 Words à |à 4 Pagescounter this is by reducing the tax rates and increasing the government expenditure on both services and goods which is an expansionary policy. The reason for this policy is to first raise the budget deficit. For consumption and spending not to drop the fed can choose to increase the money supply to keep it high. The common tools for expansionary monetary policy are the open market purchase of securities and lowering of the FED landing rate. Because of increased availability of money the aggregate
Tuesday, December 10, 2019
Thick Face, Black Heart free essay sample
Black Heart The power of Thick Face, Black Heart is your inner strength and the natural state of your true self, where perfect joy, clarity, courage, and compassion are an inseparable part of you. The Thick Face is for showing no fear or wavering from the path and the Black Heart is the emotional strength that drives you forward to complete the goal even when the going gets tough. For me, that perfect harmony of everything is when I make and play my music live. Though I have started to play many shows, my goal is to become a professional touring musician and DJ. In order to reach my goal, I must use two very important ideas from Thick Face, Black Heart: winning through negative thinking and the magical power of endurance. Being a musician and being a perfectionist are probably the two worst combinations, and luckily I am both. When I am in the studio making a new track, I spend too much time thinking about what I donââ¬â¢t like and not on what I should be actually doing to fix it. We will write a custom essay sample on Thick Face, Black Heart or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page We all dwell on the negative thoughts, but that same determination in the negative thinking could, ââ¬Å"easily be turned around to become a force that actually nurtures the seed of successâ⬠(Chu 128). Negative thinking can take a lot of precious energy that could be better spent elsewhere. In all the time Iââ¬â¢ve spent thinking about what I donââ¬â¢t like, I probably could have made that song better and even finished another song as well. On the other hand, positive thinking does not guarantee a successful life. We shouldnââ¬â¢t try to change our own personal opinions of ourselves, and by doing so we are able to free ourselves from the idea that ââ¬Å"change comes before successâ⬠. The most important thing to remember is that our negativity does not have as much power as our imagination thinks it does. Any artist has a bad gig, a bad day, even a bad album, but the best ones are the ones who can put the bad aside and continue to reach for the best. Everyone has emotional struggles, and trying to focus on your playing when youââ¬â¢re really focusing on the insignificant things are going to bring you down fast. If I were to be in the DJ booth thinking about how I messed up the same song transition last night, chances are that Iââ¬â¢m going to overthink it and mess up again. Even worse, before I even started booking shows, many of the venues wouldnââ¬â¢t let me play because they didnââ¬â¢t think I was good enough. Using the power of endurance I kept trying and trying and finally they saw how strong my perseverance was and started booking me for shows. The most important thing is to endure by enduring: understanding the difficulties, enduring the hardships, predicting the risks, and tolerating the abuse, all ensure fame and success for such a person. What makes one truly great is knowing how to tolerate the intolerable and how to endure the unendurable. ââ¬Å"Everyone knows how to thrive in the good times. It is the trying times that separate the one who has substance from the one who merely possesses the imageâ⬠(Chu 141). Thick Face, Black Heart is the secret law of nature that governs successful behavior in every aspect of oneââ¬â¢s life. Often we are so concerned with what makes us feel good that we forget what makes us great. Not dwelling on the negatives and turning that determination and drive around into positive action is a great virtue to have. Also, understanding how to surmount pain, doubt, and failure is an important aspect of the game of winning at life.
Tuesday, December 3, 2019
Strategic Marketing free essay sample
Oberoi Hotels Resorts are known for their promising right blend of service, luxury, quiet efficiency and internationally recognized for all-round excellence and unparalleled levels of service. A distinctive feature of The Groups hotels is their highly motivated and well trained staff that provides the kind of attentive, personalized and warm service that is rare today. The Groups new luxury hotels have established a reputation for redefining the paradigm of luxury and excellence in service amongst leisure hotels around the world. Another brand under the Oberoiââ¬â¢s is the Trident hotels, these five-star hotels that have established a reputation for excellence and are acknowledged for offering quality and value. These hotels combine state of the art facilities and warm and friendly service in a relaxed environment, making them the ideal choice for business and leisure travelers. The Groups commitment to excellence, attention to detail and personalized service has ensured a loyal list of guests and accolades in the worldwide hospitality industry (www. We will write a custom essay sample on Strategic Marketing or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page oberoihotels. com). Le Meridian: Le Meridian is a brand name owned by Starwood Hotels. Mixing contemporary culture with its European heritage, Le Meridian creates a culturally refined, meaningful and stimulating atmosphere which inspires participants to celebrate the beauty of a moment and the possibilities for insight that live within common occurrences. Strategic Marketing free essay sample Executive Summary This paper discusses the strategic marketing of Sa Sa International Holdings Limited, a leading beauty retail and service group in Asia by analyzing its competitive advantages, marketing strategies, industry environment, major challenges and followed by some problem solvers. Sa Sa has four major competitive advantages. First, she can offer competitive prices for her long-term relationship with suppliers. Besides, excellent service with number of recognized winning awards accounts for another advantage. In addition, she has long-established network with 80 retail utlets in prime Asian countries and on-line presence. Also, she has well-established branding beauty expert in Hong Kong as well as in Mainland China. Among four of them, her relationship with suppliers and excellent service allow her to gain sustainable competitive advantage over major competitors. Throughout Porters Five Forces analysis (Porter, 1980) and SWOT analysis, the industry is still attractive with moderate competitive environment. However, the increasing rental fee and operating cost in major market Hong Kong is a big challenge to Sa Sa. We will write a custom essay sample on Strategic Marketing or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In addition, brand witching is another challenge for her whereas low operation efficiency imposes worries on the organization. As for beauty industry in Sa Sas major market, Hong Kong is in the maturity stage in product life cycle, some of the current marketing strategies can synergize while others cannot. The width of her product mix is large but she should continue to build more exclusive brand and put efforts on add-valued services. In pricing, she manages to offer competitive prices with regular promotion offer. And, in promotion, she has TVC and thematic print advertising to support orporate image and two exclusive brands but promotion program to increase brand loyalty, like CRM is lacking currently. For the distribution, she is on the right track to have extensive distribution, like market expansion to China and Korea through on- line platform. Four major problem solvers are suggested based on SWOT matrix. First, CRM, customer relationship management is a way to increase customers brand loyalty and also can help prolonging customers life-time value in synergy with her beauty service. Then, it is essential to increase her operation efficiencies, so ERP ystem is suggested to enhance the operation system whilst six sigma project can be introduced to help enhancing operation processes. And, continuous market expansion in potential area, China is another way to lower the overall organization operating cost. Finally, Sa Sas global sourcing and purchasing team helps to find high quality products so as to give more competitive edge to the organization. Introduction Sa Sa International Holding Limited, a leading cosmetic retailing and beauty services group in Asia, which was first set up in 1978 and listed on Hong Kong Stock Exchange n 1997 with US 337 million turnover in 05/06. Her scopes of business include retailing and wholesaling of over 400 brands with 83 stores in 5 Asian countries and both private-labels and sole-distributorship and also beauty services. Retailing and wholesaling business accounts for over 90% of the business, so the marketing analysis will focus on this core business. Throughout the discussion, first of all, Sa Sas competitive advantages will be discussed, followed by industry analysis and organizations internal and external factors. Then, Sa Sas opportunity statements and challenges can be visualized. Afterwards, the marketing strategies followed by suggested problem solvers will also be covered. a. Sa Sas competitive advantages Schendel (1994) stated that competitive advantage had become a central matter to understand and explain in terms of causality, which indicated that competitive advantage is the crux of one organizations survival. Sa Sa has managed to have four major competitive advantages over competitors. Firstly, her well-established network and relationship with suppliers give her strong bargaining power, so she can offer competitive prices to consumer. Together with her own global sourcing and urchasing team, the organization manages to have exclusive brands and private labels, it increases the brand selections for consumers and add more exclusivity for Sa Sa. Clear positioning with her Beauty Expert branding, consumers know Sa Sa well as one-stop stores filling with top international brands. Souths (1981) definition on competitive advantage can explain this well, Ã'⺠Philosophy of choosing only those competitive arenas where victories are clearly achieveable And, she has extended the Beauty Expert image with strong association on social responsibilities, like onations, social services and supporting China project. Besides, her excellent service with number of recognized winning awards is crucial to her continued success of its operations and business expansion. Lastly, she has long-established network with 80 retail outlets in prime Asian countries, including Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, Taiwan and Singapore. She also developed her on-line platform in 2000 and currently has 3 languages available, Chinese, English and Korean, which helps to expand her business to more overseas market. Among several competitive advantages, Sa Sas ability on global sourcing and excellent relationship with uppliers and excellent service allow her to gain sustainable competitive advantages over major competitors, which means she can lead persistent superior economic performance (Porter, 1985). It can be further proved in 05/06 annual performance, Sa Sa outranged major competitor Bonjour whom recorded negative operating profit for the year. . Analysis of the industry To have a glance at Sa Sas current situation, first attention should be paid to the attractiveness of the retail beauty industry in major market, Hong Kong and China. Michael Porter identified five forces that determine the intrinsic long-run profit ttractiveness of a market segment (Porter, 1980). There are numerous competitors but only a few stro ng competitors in the market, for instance, Bonjour Holdings Limited, the major competitor of Sa Sa, recorded negative operating profit in last financial year. The market growth in Hong Kong is steady whilst in China is growing. Also, high fixed cost like rental fee in Hong Kong makes rivalry increases as competitors fght for more market share to survive. So, the threat of intense segment rivalry is medium. The threat of substitutes is rather low as beauty products are hardly replaced by others. Meanwhile, the threat of new entrants is medium as the enter. However, the Buyers power is significant as they can switch to other brands easily and the power of end users is further enhanced by the Internet as some brands offer direct online purchase for consumers. And, the threat from the supplier side is only medium as there are many substitutes in the market and the price usually depends on the volume. In short, the industry has moderate competition, which is still attractive. And, it reveals that major competitors will go on expanding the market, like entering China to strike for better economy of scale effect and solve he limited space and high rent problem in Hong Kong. Also, excellent customer service is a must to serve the buyers and value-added service will be a trend to satisfy them. These two indications favor Sa Sa a bit as she has stepped in China market with excellent customer service at the moment. c. Scan of Sa Sas internal and external environment Credited to Albert Humphreys (Wikipedia, 2006) reseach project, SWOT analysis is a popoular techique to scan one orgranizations internal strengths and weaknesses and externals opportunities and threats. The strengths of Sa Sa has been mentioned n the competitive advantages, like good reputation and branding, long-term relationship with suppliers, private global sourcing team, excellent customer service and extensive network in Hong Kong, her major market. As for weaknesses, her IT infrastructure and operations system cannot match with the fast-paced market, which adversely affects her operation efficiency. And, brand switching is severe and Sa Sa does not have any CRM strategy to maintain customers loyalty. Also, selective distribution in China limits the potential. There are several opportunities provided by the external environment. Firstly, Hong Kong Government policy favors tourism industry and thus attracts more visitors by establishing more infrastructure and scenery spots, like Hong Kong Disneyland and Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car. And also, high quality beauty products are reckoned as the coming trend in Asia countries (Diagonal, 2006), whereas Sa Sa has private labels and own sourcing team to find high quality skin care products, which can help catching up with the opportunities. Besides, China market is a huge market for the sales volume of Chinas beauty business has increased 260 times from 1983 to 2004 (China internet information center, 2006). It further enhances the opportunities as the quality of the local Chinese beauty products fluctuated without quality guarantee. For the threats, high rental fee and limited space for growth in Hong Kong will be the number one threat to Sa Sa whereas competition from other retailers will be another threat to her. d. Opportunities and major challenges of Sa Sa To sum up both industry environment and Sa Sas SWOT, there are 3 major opportunities and 3 major challenges for the organizations. For opportunities, China market is an undeniable potential market whilst Hong Kong market is still attractive under Governments favorable tourism policy. And also, increasing power from buyer favors organization with excellent customer service, together with quality beauty products trend will be great opportunities for Sa Sa. On the other hand, Sa Sa has to face 3 major challenges. Internally, her low operation efficiency because of outdated system is a great challenge to her expansion. Externally, high rental fee and limited space in Hong Kong, together with high brand switching are two other challenges for In order to cope with the captioned opportunities and challenges in the following marketing strategies discussion, lets define the 3 levels strategies first. For the corporate level, market development is a way out to expand the business to a new market with existing products and competencies. (Ansoff, 1957). In the business unit level, with the use of BCG Matrix, existing products are falling into Cash Cows as it has high market share with low growth. And, in the product level, it is falling into maturity stage as (Linda Gorchels, 2000) strong growth with sales diminishing. The latter part will then discusses on Sa Sas current marketing strategies and criticizes on the strategies that are not in line with the above analysis. The current product idth is large as she is selling over 15,000 beauty products with international brands, exclusive brands and private labels. However, as staying at maturity stage, efforts should be paid on modifying the product portfolio as to attract more customers, like sourcing more high quality exclusive brands. And also, value-added service is a way to differentiate with others, like providing skin analysis service and facial treatment in her beauty service salon. In addition, the company utilizes the digital world so as to enhance the sourcing efficiencies though it relates to the system support discussed in the latter part. As for the pricing, she manages to offer competitive prices because of leverage on the economy of scale effect and relationship with suppliers. Same as major competitors, Bonjour, Sa Sa has weekly promotion offer. Although staying at maturity stage, penetration pricing strategy is recommended, which is setting a relatively low initial entry price, a price that is often lower than the eventual market price (Levitt, 1965), selected items for adporting this strategy is more preferable to maintain profit for Sa Sa. And also, Sa Sa is now offering high quality product with low price at the moment, she is using superb value strategy (Levitt, 1965). In fact, as a more cost-efficient business, she should try to push to high value strategy or premium strategy with increasing price and high quality products. It can be synergized with product strategy that sourcing more exclusive high quality brands so that consumers do not have price comparison. According to psychological reason, consumers intend to perceive products with higher quality with premium pricing strategy. One highlight for pricing is the influence of e-marketing in the coming future, pricing for the products are reckoned to be further driven down as consumers an directly purchase without visiting the actual shop, so retailers minimize the processes of supply chain and save cost at rental and operation costs. As for distribution, Sa Sa has extensive distribution network at the moment. Her future direction is in line with the stage characteristic, which is market expansion to China with over 100 stores by 2011. At the same time, the development of online platform with Chinese, English and Korean languages available, it helps to expand overseas market, like Korea and more English and Chinese speaking areas. Lastly, Sa Sa has both pull and push strategies in promotion. As for tackling competitors weekly promotion offer, she also has counter weekly special with promotional print advertising to support on this push strategy. Meanwhile, she also has TVC and thematic print advertising to support her corporate image and two exclusive brands. As stated above, brand switching is severe in the market, so relying on promotion offer is not a sustainable strategy as competitors might adopt cut-throat strategy to like CRM to increase the brand loyalty and prolong customers life-time value. Since setting up a membership system to retain the relationship with customers through DM and newsletter, Sa Sa can have a data pool for upselling to her beauty service and most important can facilitate e-marketing through eDM to the members. f. Ethical marketing discussion Ethical marketing means an honest and factual representation of a product, delivered in a framework of cultural and social values for the consumer. (Wkikipedia, 2006). Why is it important for an organization? It is a total corporate image commuicating to the consumers, like Jean Kilbourne mentioned in Killing Us Softly (Alf Nucifora. , 2006), .. one of the most powerful, socializing forces in the culture. Ads sell more products. They sell images, values, goals, concepts of who we are and who we should be hey shape our attitudes and our attitudes shape our behavior. Therefore, as a leader, Sa Sa should build up a clear ethical corporate image. Though it is currently putting some efforts on social responsibilities, like participating Community Chest, supporting social development in China by fund raising activity and different kinds of donations etc. , it fails to link herself to the area concerned which is associated with the category she is in. For insta nce, Body Shops Against Animal image is very significantly passing environmental friendly message to the ociality. Therefore, a more holistic and consistent campaign is recommended to build up a real social responsible image, like long term Joint promotion with Breast Cancer to project Concern the women, concern the society image. g. Recommendations on problem solvers After analyzing the industry, the organizations SWOT, her 4Ps and ethical marketing issue, it is clear on the strengths and opportunities of Sa Sa. In order to have a better strategic fit, SWOT Matrix will be used, that is Strength-opportunity strategy (S-O), Weakness-opportunity strategy (W-O), Weakness-Threat strategy (W-T) and Strength- Threat strategy (S-T). For fully fit in companys strength and opportunity in the market, S-O strategy is necessary. Sa Sa can make use of her global sourcing and purchasing team to find more unique and exclusive high quality beauty products, which can sharpen her competitive edge in the industry and match with the trend of the industry. On the other hand, Sa Sa should put an effort to enhance her weakness on low operation efficiency so as to match with customers increasing demand on customer service and well-prepare for the increasing flow of visitors under Governments policy. For improving the operation system, Enterprise Resource Planning system (ERP) is recommended to enhance the productivity and managerial control in different business processes. Meanwhile, six sigma project can be used to increase the efficiency of the operation process. In improving its IT infrastructure, Sa Sa can aggressively expand her e-commerce platform so that she can turn weakness into business opportunity. Besides, S-T strategy helps to identify ways that the firm can use its strength to reduce its vulnerability to external threats. Sa Sa has extensive distribution network through e-commerce platform, which helps to avoid the high rental fee and limited space in Hong Kong. And, with her existing business in China, she can expand the market easier and faster than the competitors. No matter what, W-T strategy is always a must to help establishing defensive plan to prevent the threat in the market is severe brand switching, Sa Sa needs to pay full efforts to increase customer loyalty. Customer relationship management, CRM, is a method and technology to manage customers loyalty. By setting up a membership club as well as the system to store useful information, Sa Sa can implement different types of programs, like up-selling different skin care products for a group of members with imilar purchasing history. And also, Sa Sa can cross-sell the members with her beauty service in order to prolong customers life-time value. h. Conclusion With economic downturn and SARS incident in Asia in the past few years, Sa Sa can still manage to gain positive growth annually and stand at a leading position in the retail beauty and service industry, her sustainable competitive advantage of maintaining excellent relationship with suppliers and own global sourcing and purchasing team is a reason to account for the persistent gaining of superior economic performance over time. Barney, 1991; Conner 1991) After thorough nalysis of Porters five forces and SWOT, together with discussion and criticism of current 4Ps and ethical marketing, Sa Sas internal and external factors are visualized. They give insights on directions to tackle the existing problems and potential ones, like market expansion to China, operation system set up to improve efficiencies and prepare for strengthening e-commerce platform, global sourcing to seek for quality competitive products and CRM system to increase brand loyalty. With implementing these problem solvers, Sa Sa can step into next level growth and become a stronger leader in retail beauty group.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)