Marketing Mix Essay Example for Free

Marketing Mix Essay Abstract In this paper I will define what a good marketing mix requires and describe how a company uses this process to market their product. I have chosen Anytime Fitness as my company to do my paper on. Anytime Fitness is a unique style of fitness club that is in a very competitive market place. Their marketing mix focuses on all of the four Ps to attract customers. They locate small neighborhood clubs close to where people live and work. They are a no frills workout center that offers weights and cardio equipment. This allows people with busy lifestyles to workout whenever they have time. Anytime Fitness also offers a very good pricing plan for individuals and families. Marketing Mix Even with the economy that appears to be slowing down some business are still growing. With people wanting to lose weight and get in shape some fitness clubs are still expanding. The low cost approach that Anytime Fitness has may be a big reason for their continuing growth. With a good marketing mix Anytime Fitness is a fast growing business. They have tailor made their fitness clubs with the busy person in mind. Anytime Fitness offers small workout centers within three miles of most of their customers homes or work. I will show in this paper what different type of marketing mix Anytime Fitness uses to be a leader in market. Definition A good marketing mix includes four main points. These are considered the four Ps of marketing. Product is the first item; this can be an actual product or a service. Other things that are considered part of the product are the quality, style, and even packaging. The next item is price decision. This includes pricing strategy, suggested retail price, volume discounting and wholesale price. There could be other items included in pricing but not limited to seasonal and bundling pricing (The Marketing Mix, 2007). Place is the next of the items that make up a good marketing mix. This is also considered the distribution of the product or lets just says getting the product to the customer. This could be the location you plan to provide your service or product. Generally speaking distribution includes warehousing, distribution centers, order processing and transportation. The  final stage of a good marketing mix is promotion. This stage includes promotional strategy, advertising, personal sales and sales promotions (The Marketing Mix, 2007). Product The term product refers to tangible, physical products as well as services (The Marketing Mix, 2007). I believe the product that Anytime Fitness offers is a great product which is a basic workout center. They have free weights, weight lifting machines and cardiovascular equipment. They also offer free unlimited tanning with most memberships. All the workout centers are open twenty-four hours a day, three hundred and sixty-five days a year. This is possible by allowing members in the gym when it is not staffed. This also helps to reduce the cost of operating the facilities as well. To allow this to happen, each member receives an electronic key that opens the door. They have a monitor that sounds an alarm if two people try to walk in at the same time. The also have several security cameras that can be monitor at any location a manager or owner may want to use. Place Place is concerned with all the decisions involved in getting the right product to the target markets Place. A product isnt much good to a customer if it isnt available when and where its wanted (McCarthy and Perreault, 2005 P 39). Anytime Fitness lives and breathes this statement. This is one of the items that made me change from the mega gym that I was previously a member of. Anytime Fitness locates all their workout centers in small shopping centers close to their members home or places of work. The average distance a member travels to reach a workout center is three miles. They are also opening new clubs at rate of more than one a day. They also are one of a few fitness franchises to succeed in smaller population centers traditionally ignored by larger clubs (Anytime Fitness, 2008). Price You might think that lowest price is always going to win. This statement could not be farther from the truth. The best price for the product or service is a more accurate statement. I have one fitness club that charges eighty dollars a month per member. They offer a product that is more than just a workout center. I do not know all what they offer but it appears they offer activities for the kids, rock climbing classes and basically just a  place to relax. So for some people the eighty-dollar price tag is a good deal. The gym I was formally a member of offered all different types of group workout type classes and individual trainers. They also had a smoothie bar, a large locker area with a sauna. The price there was forty-five dollars a month. This was a good price point for what was offered. Anytime Fitness price is only thirty-five dollars per month but as I have described earlier this club just offers a basic workout facility. Promotion When planning a promotion you have to also have planned a budget for your promotions. Publicity and public relations are also part of the promotions part of a good marketing mix. Anytime Fitness is not only the largest fitness club but also the fastest growing, fitness club franchise in the world. They nearly doubled in size from 308 to 604 clubs in 2007. They plan to open their 1000th club in 2008 (Anytime Fitness, 2008). One of their promotions that I took advantage of was a pricing promotion. This was a grand opening pricing promotion. When my son signed up for thirty-five dollars a month he was told that his whole family could sign up for a monthly rate of fifty-five dollars. I was currently paying forty-five dollars a month for just myself. I now have my wife and daughter signed up with my son and myself for only fifty-five dollars. Good promotions will usually draw in new customers but you also have to weigh the cost of every promotion. Conclusion There are many different factors involved in a good marketing mix. Even though there are only four main categories, these points are broken down into many different points. This is all a part of a good marketing plan. The market place is very competitive all going after the same customers. The companies that succeed find ways to attract a large portion of these customers. As you can see different people have different opinions on what a good deal is. Anytime Fitness is marketing their product to the busy person who is looking for more of a convenience style club than a club with many different options for exercising or in some cases even entertainment. I personally prefer this style club to the mega clubs. I was a member of a small club very similar to Anytime Fitness when it built a mega club and closed all the smaller clubs in the surrounding area. I  constantly had trouble finding open equipment to use and when I was finally done workout and needed to shower to go to work there was never a shower open. Anytime Fitness found a market they had a chance to succeed in. Their marketing program has help to make them a very successful company. References: (2008). The Anytime Fitness Story. Retrieved April 5, 2008, from Anytime Fitness Web site: http://www.anytimefitness.com/corporate/about(2007). The Marketing Mix. Retrieved April 6, 2008, from Net MBA Business Knowledge Center Web site: http://www.netmba.com/marketing/mix/McCarthy, E, Perreault, W (2005). Basic Marketing.New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Strong Social Responsibility Essay Example for Free

Strong Social Responsibility Essay Corporate social responsibility for many corporate bodies means engaging in some philanthropic community ventures like sponsorship, donations or giving in kind programs. However, some companies have been able to build strong relationships and partnerships with the communities and are offering practical solutions to the many social problems. That notwithstanding, most companies and organization consider such ventures as a donor-recipient relationship, rather than a mutually benefiting programs. Success of any such activities is normally considered in terms of financial contribution, the employee satisfaction or the effects on the social issue. As important as they are, such achievements do not convince many companies and shareholders because they believe that a company can only post strong profits so has to benefit everyone. And for that matter, most corporate entities do not have any corporate social responsibility program but would once in a while donate to some charitable activities as a mere window dressing to hoodwink the public that they are committed to such obligations. This paper will provide examples of companies with strong corporate social responsibility programs and have been quite successful in terms of profitability. The scale and forms of benefit strong CSR programs would offer a company can vary and more often depends on the nature of the business. Quantification of the benefits may also be a difficult task; however, there are good reasons why every corporate organization should adopt a CSR programs or policies in its operations (Orlitzky, Frank, Schmidt, Rynes, 2003). Strong social responsibility enables companies to manage risk. Managing risk is an integral part of every corporate strategy. An organization’s reputation which may take years to build may be damage in a matter of hours through accidents and incidents that are manageable. Scandals like corruption or environmental accidents may severely ruin the reputation of the company. Moreover, such incidences may attract unnecessary attention from the media, government, the courts as well as the regulations, damaging the company’s reputation further. However, developing and sticking to certain corporate social responsibilities within the company and the community can work to obstruct some of these risks. IBM has built a strong image as one of the leading companies helping in conservation of energy and environment. This has earned it respect as an environmental friendly company even as reap financial benefits from its businesses (IBM Responsibility n. d). Corporate social responsibility is a great marketing tool for many companies that have been able to exploit its benefits. In crowded and competitive markets, companies seek to have unique selling proposition which may differentiate them from other competitors in the minds of potential costumers (Orlitzky, Frank, Schmidt, Rynes, 2003). Strong corporate social responsibility can play a vital role in helping companies build strong loyal costumer base based on their distinctive ethical values. Some of the major brands like America Apparel and The Body Shop have been built on strong ethical values. Corporate service organizations may also benefit by establishing a strong reputation and best practice. Coca-Cola is one company that has been able to build a strong reputation in the market through its CSR programs. Its latest campaign dubbed Live Positively is geared towards promoting a positive and sustainable living in the world through different initiatives (Coca-Cola Company n. d. ). Although it is a peaceful message to everyone, it would help the company entrench itself as one of the number one leader in global business. A corporate social responsibility program can also be helpful in recruitment and retention of employees, especially in a competitive graduate students market. Young graduates looking for jobs normally ask about a company’s corporate social responsibility policies during interviews and firms with strong and comprehensive policies may have an edge in not only absorbing such recruits but also retaining them for a long time. Corporate social responsibility can aid in enhancing the employees’ perception about the company, especially when they are considered in the company’s CSR programs like fundraising activities and community volunteering. A good example of a company with such programs is the Microsoft Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) which has an Employee Involvement Policy Framework and Program. This program started in 2004 under the joint watch of the Human Resources and Community Affairs, gives support to employees and encourage their participation in community development through voluntary programs (CSR Europe 2010). Every company or corporate body does not welcome external interference like taxation or government regulations in their operations. Having strong corporate social responsibility programs may be the first step towards convincing the government and the general public that the company does not take lightly the social issues like health, safety and environment problems, that affects the public in a community or the country in which it operates (Orlitzky, Frank, Schmidt, Rynes, 2003). This will persuade the government to license a company or organization as good corporate citizens with regards to the labor standards and its impact on the environment. Ecolab which was ranked number two among the world’s most ethical companies in 2009, has been a good example of how strong CSR programs can be beneficial both to the company and the country at large. The company has a strong commitment to help the United States reduced its greenhouse gas emission by 20 percent per every sale made between 2006 and 2012 (Environmental Leader, 2010). This initiative not only enables the company increase its sales but also helps the company build a good reputation among the public and the government. Such company may not face difficulties when it wants to acquire license for new operations either within the US or in any country. In conclusion, strong corporate social responsibility is not only a community development initiative but also a long-term corporate financial investment. The benefits of such a program are mutually good for the existence and operation of any business and for the development of the community and country where businesses operate and are sustained. References IBM Responsibility (n. d). IBM Corporate Responsibility. Retrieved on August 14, 2010, from http://webcache. googleusercontent. com/search? q=cache:obfJZix- yVoJ:www. ibm. com/ibm/responsibility/+ibm+CSR+programscd=1hl=enct=clnkgl=keclient=firefox-a Coca-Cola Company (n. d. ). Sustainability: Corporate Responsibility. Retrieved on August 14, 2010, from http://webcache. googleusercontent. com/search? q=cache:LJLNHF3zpOcJ:www. thecoca-colacompany. com/citizenship/+cocacola+CSR+programcd=1hl=enct=clnkgl=keclient=firefox-a CSR Europe (2010). Employee Involvement Program. Retrieved on August 14, 2010, from http://webcache. googleusercontent. com/search? q=cache:TEaWduxbx68J:www. csreurope. org/solutions. php%3Faction%3Dshow_solution%26solution_id%3D299+microsoft+CSR+programcd=4hl=enct=clnkgl=keclient=firefox-a Environmental Leader (2010 April, 8). Ecolab Sets New Goals for Water Use, Waste and Effluent Water. Retrieved on August 14, 2010, from http://www. environmentalleader. com/2010/04/08/ecolab-sets-new-goals-for-water-use-waste-and-effluent-water/ Orlitzky, M. Frank L. Schmidt, S. Rynes, L. (2003). Corporate Social and Financial Performance: A Meta-analysis. Organization Studies, Vol. 24 (3): 403-441.

Types Of Learning Interventions

Types Of Learning Interventions We think it is a good idea to take you through with different types of learning interventions, which will primarily work as food for thought for your learning activities. Think of a learning intervention, which has really helped you over the years, think what were the different components of these interventions and how it made an instant learning connect with you. We have divided the Learning Interventions into three categories, the interventions that we have added in each category are by no means exhaustive to the category, it is only a suggestive list you can add more interventions to this list. Our three categories are: Conventional Contemporary Futurist Come on read through the categories and find out that how you can further enrich your learning agenda for your organization Conventional Learning Intervention Conventional as the name suggests refers to anything that is established and well accepted, anything that has been proven to work over and over again and generate similar results. All the Learning interventions that have been established over the years and have shown desired results are known as conventional learning interventions. Shortly we will share with you a brief detail of each learning intervention, meanwhile we want you to make your own list of learning interventions which in your view are established and well accepted, go on dont be shy or lazy, pick up the pen and write the list down. Our simple list of conventional learning interventions: Reading Clubs Instructor Led Class Room Trainings On the Job Training Seminars Conferences We are sure that you will know what each intervention entails however, we will take you through each intervention and briefly try to give you suggestions how you can use these interventions to your advantage and build your very own success story. Reading Clubs Reading club is a group of people who get together to read or discuss with each other what they have read. The reading club adds to the experience of reading as you can then discuss the ideas presented and the way it is presented with other readers, just the sharing and discussing the read adds significant learning experience to its members. Using this conventional method has two primary advantages, firstly your learner continues reading new books, research, publications etc. as other club members motivate each other to keep reading. This enhances and continuously updates the overall knowledge base of your employees and members of the reading club. Secondly your members interact with each other discussing material, which will help the overall organization; this intellectual interaction will build a formal support system for group thinking and open discussions. You can launch the reading clubs formally or informally, for example you can have a formal club formation with pre-defined members and set together a time of an hour to two hours for these members to come together bi-weekly in a meeting room or reading room and discuss what they have read. Informal way of doing the same is sending a small read to employees in the company and then during the week, just gather people around and ask them about the read, what was the read about? How do you think you will benefit from this read? How can you put this in action at work? Can you share similar examples? You can have these informal meetings and gatherings by mustering your whole floor together and discuss this, ask your HR business partners to do the same in their partnering departments. Instructor Led Class Room Trainings Instructor Led Class Room Trainings or commonly known as ILT (Instructor Led Trainings) are perhaps the most commonly used learning interventions. The reason for this might be because we are used to class room learning as most of us have spent over 12 years of every day in and out of classes at school. However, when we talk about trainings we move one step beyond a stand up lecture towards more active participations by the attendants. The role of the trainer then becomes more of a facilitator than a lecturer. Here, participants learn the most through interaction with other participants while the trainer facilitates the learning process by keeping it focused towards the learning objectives. At the same time the trainer needs to infuse the participant with a thought or an action which will act as a catalyst for the learning process. Trainers often use activities during the training sessions which provide experiential learning. They may also use other tools and methods to generate the desired results, like using roles plays, group discussions, case studies etc. Since, the Instructor is physically present in the room the learning experience for the participants is very up close and personal. Quality trainers generally are able to create a quick rapport with the participants of the training program, the trainer then is able to engage each participant in the transfer of learning process. Generally, ILTs are considered to be a formal mode of learning transfer. Most of the organizations engage in learning and development through Instructor Led Trainings as they are easy to organize and also provide good strong learning deliverables that are conducted passionately with the right content and supporting activities, tools etc. Since Trainings are the most widely used interventions, we will discuss in separate chapters why trainings are important and other aspects of Instructor Led Trainings such as Participant Nomination, Managing Invites, simply put Organizing the Training activity. The purpose of ILT is to enhance Knowledge, Skill and build a desirable Attitude in the employee. On the Job Trainings Around 70% of learning and development for any new to role employee comes with on the job training. This is a simple concept of Learning by Doing, we all learn the most when we start actively working on the job that we are asked to do. Here we might seek the help of our line manager, our peers / co-workers, our subordinates or even our clients / vendors. The act of doing a task generally supports building mental work memory and creative ability to detail with the challenges of the work. Seldom simulated exercises meet the required skill development needed to perform day-to-day work. In On the Job Training a more skilled or experienced resource is paired up with an unskilled or less experienced resource to train this resource while working together. Lets take the example of a new filling assistant joining an archive library, here the chief filling officer will train the new joiner on the job on how to file the various documents properly in the library. Generally, On the Job Training is used for entry level job positions in the organization or for skilled work positions like a plumber or a building construction assistant. However, some highly skilled work like financial auditing is also trained through on the job training called articleship or apprenticeship. The purpose of OJT is to enhance Knowledge, Skill and build a desirable Attitude in the employees. Seminar Seminars are formal gatherings where a larger number of participants get together to listen to a few speakers The content of the speech is generally rooted in newness related to the topic, meaning either a new way of working in the industry is presented where a key industry practitioner comes and speaks on the topic or a researcher presents the new research findings. The purpose of the seminar is to enhance the audiences knowledge base and thus, does not focus on the skill enhancement or attitude development. It is a good idea that as learning manager you try going to every seminar that is related to human resource and person productivity. You can ensure that you send other functional representatives to their function related seminars. Conferences Conferences are more or less similar to seminars; the major difference in conferences is participant engagement. In Conferences participants gather in large numbers and listen as well as interact with speakers, most speakers also comment and ask questions from other speakers while the formal session is underway. Majority of the time conferences are moderated by a facilitator and the speakers are industry practitioners or subject matter experts, sharing their experiences and knowledge of dealing with a challenging situation in their company. The purpose of conference is to enhance knowledge base of the participants and provide networking opportunity to the attendees. Again we will say that it is a good idea that as learning manager you try going to every conference that is related to human resource and personal productivity. You can ensure that you send other functional representatives to their function related conferences. Contemporary Learning Intervention Dont get intimidated by the term contemporary and think that the conventional methods are outdated and will not work in your organization. In order for you to keep your organization current and ready for the present pool of human resources entering in the industry it is important for you to add little element of contemporary learning interventions in your learning agendas. These interventions are now widely used in the developed economies as these economies are trying to gain maximum output from least amounts of inputs. Our small list of contemporary learning interventions: Experiential Learning Training Sessions E-Learning Modules Virtual Instructor Led Training Webinars Job Shadowing Coaching Mentoring On Job Engagement through Increase Challenges Simulation Exercises Take a moment and read through the contemporary interventions and see the benefits the way we see them, you will be surprised to see the amount of impact you can generate using these simple methods. Experiential Learning Training Sessions Tell me and I may forget, show me and I might remember, engage me and I will learn Humans learn the most by experiences that they have had in the past, Experiential Learning Training Sessions focus on generating experiences for the participants which will help them build Knowledge, Skill and Attitude. These sessions will have lot of activities, case studies and challenges built in the training session where the participants unlearn old and outdated concepts and learn new and current concepts to help them in their work. There are a few number of Trainers in the market that have really mastered the experiential learning training techniques. So generally, these sessions and trainers are priced a little higher, but if you ask us, it definitely works to put in the extra investment. The learning into action out of ELTs (Experiential Learning Training Sessions) is more easily and willingly applied by the participants of the training session. E-Learning Modules E-Learning Modules are learning content delivered using electronic media like over the internet, television, radio, audio messages / audio book reads, Learning Computer and cell phone games, etc. There are two types of E-Learning Modules, Interactive and Non Interactive. Radio programs, TV Programs, Audio messages / Audio Book Reads are some of the examples of non-interactive learning modules. These learning modules by the nature of the delivery mode are limited with their interaction capacity with the target audience. There are PowerPoint presentations which aim at transferring knowledge also fall in E-Learning non interactive modules. You must have come across online videos designed to teach you a particular way of operating a program, this again is an E-Learning Module which is non-interactive, these modules are quite helpful if your organization is naturally inclined towards self-learning. E-Learning Modules work in workspace where there is a general learning culture rooted in self-learning. In order to help you create the self-learning culture we will shortly talk about this in detail. Another type of E-Learning Modules which are interactive modules that ask the participants to participate during the learning transfer by asking the participants questions, or asking participants to open dialogue boxes and pick the best responses. Here the smallest interaction of clicking the right button generates a significant difference in the learning retention and involvement. E-Modules should be generally used for communicating a particular way of working; example where we have personally developed and successfully implemented E-Modules with outstanding results is with our countrys biggest FMCG Company. We launched the most successful E-Learning Program in that companys history. Our E-Learning Solution was aimed at Sales Employees, with a range of interactive modules catering to different accepts of challenging and ever evolving sales job. These modules helped the sales force directly in the market on the ground and increased the quantity of sales along with quality of sales winning them multiple awards. You can engage E-Learning modules in employee orientations, key job tasks and how to get them delivered; even certain soft skill trainings can be provided using e-modules and learning methods. Virtual Instructor Led Training As the name suggests, VILT or Virtual Instructor Led Training involves participants and the Trainer where the trainer might be virtually present at the place the participants are present, meaning through Video Conference, Audio Conference or remote presentation operations while the participants might be sitting together in one room or they might also be virtually connected to a virtual learning room. This method solves the geographic spread problem of the participants, however, it requires the participants to be extremely committed to the learning cause and self-learning. The role of the trainer is again more of a facilitator in this learning intervention by engaging participants in a focused discussion, group work and generally topic discussions. Here, connectivity tools need to be excellent otherwise this learning method can backfire as well by creating a poor learning engagement due to technological difficulties. Webinars Driven from the combination of two terms, Seminar and Web, Webinars are Seminars delivered through the internet using any video protocol or software to engage a large number of participants over the internet. Most webinars are conducted by a single speaker on a particular topic; the number of participants depends on the speakers popularity and connectivity. Again the technological difficulties and a lack of self-learning culture can be a major hiccup for webinars to be extremely successful .However, in most developed economies webinars are making a lot of influence in the learning and development industry. You can engage your top management to start conducting Webinars while the CEO sits in his room and connects over video streaming software and all the employees staying on their workstations connecting over the computers and the participants in the webinar. This will help build self-engagement and a learning culture in your organization. Job Shadowing Job Shadowing is an important part of developing top management. In a Job Shadowing program there are two involved participants, one participant is shadowed on the job and the other is present as the shadow. Take the example of a CFO and one of his director who is marked as the CFOs successor. Here, the director will attend all the meetings of the CFO as a silent observer in the background, the shadowing program is not limited to attending meetings. Moreover, it extends to a full day of work, if the CFO meets anyone from outside the organization or is simply working on his workstation, the shadow will be present and keenly observe the shadowed person asking occasional questions from shadowed person in privacy. This programs success lies in the comfort level of the two people with each other. Job Shadowing program can be used for all levels in the organization, but mostly, it is very position and person centric, just to explain you a little more, we only use job shadows for people who we know will replace the shadowed in near future. It is different from OJT in one basic way, here the person being trained gains exposure of his trainers work while on OJT the trainer provides On Job exposure of trainees work. Another keen way of using job shadowing is for students to explore various roles and pick a major field while they are studying, however, we do not recommend this, as internships are a better evaluation tool for a student to home in on his/her choice of work. Coaching Coaching is all about taking the employees where they cant take themselves. Coaching is more of handholding, exploring the potential of the employee by understanding his strengths, weaknesses and working on these areas with a customized plan for the employee. Here, the Coachs concern for the employees success is very high as the coach is directly made responsible and accountable for the employees improvement. Establishing a coaching culture is quite a challenging task especially when most of the coaches think that their prime responsibility lies in meeting their own business targets. The simple solution is to make the employees line managers his or her coach and have targets in the line managers/(coach) business goals, performance improvement through knowledge, skill enhancement and attitude development of his or her direct reports. Coaching culture will only pickup in your organization if it starts from the top and the CEO demonstrates the derivatives of creating a strong coaching culture. Coaching generally focuses on the skill development and technical aspect of the job. Mentoring Mentoring is like a grand fathers wisdom. A mothers patience and a fathers kick in the right direction. At times it hurts, but gets the work done. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ Arslan Aseem Mentoring interventions are where each of your employees select one mentor to guide them and counsel him or her. In Mentoring the person counseling or guiding is called the Mentor while the person to be mentored is called mentee or Mentoree, here the Mentor and Mentee develop a relationship over time. Mentoring is used to focus more on attitude development. It is not necessary that the mentor and mentee both belong to the same organization. The Mentee can choose any mentor who he or she feel comfortable with ,regardless, of the organization or even the work level. Your mentee can be a person outside your country or even industry. The rewards for mentors and mentees are excellent, having mentored quite a few successful corporate individuals as mentors we gain a new horizon of looking at situations and it enable us to stay updated with current problems faced by new employees in the job market or job roles. If you personally dont have a mentor, we suggest that you first try establishing a mentoring relationship before initiating a mentoring program in your organization. We will love to be your mentors if you want to be successful! On Job Engagement through increased Challenges Most of us who wish to continuously learn, improve and grow in our work want challenging work to be given to them, each time with an added level of difficulty. Do you remember the computer games where you had to complete the first level and move on to the next level which had an additional difficulty for us to overcome, remember if you had reached level 5 and then had to play for some reason level 1 again it seems so easy and you just dont want to take that much interest in doing the levels you have already done. Work place is just like that game for most of us, where we learn how to do our present work well and then want more challenging work going forward, work which can develop our capabilities incrementally by an internal push of overcoming the present challenge. Lack of difficult challenges is one of the main reason why you will have unhappy, low performance individuals as they will take their work as mundane and feel that they are capable of doing much more yet have been limited in their career development. If you can engage your employees by raising the bar through increased challenges in their workplace then you will significantly reduce their impression of lack of career development. Simulation Exercises Simulation Exercises as the name suggests are syndicated exercises where in an artificial setting a situation is generated and the participants are requested to do their best to overcome the present challenge, here the learning comes from interaction with other participants as well as their responses generate a totally new simulation for the participants to work with. Simulation exercises should be used with participants who are put in positions where quick and thoughtful decision making is required or everyday they are involved in direct competition faceoff. Simulation Exercises are also termed in few organizations as War Games and provide the employees the insight on how to deal with the competition as well as realize where they are going wrong and need to improve. Futurist Learning Interventions Looking at the growing trends in the social media and education industry we can quickly spot certain upcoming learning interventions which will start playing a key role in the enhancement of employee knowledge, skills and attitudes. Our list is by no means complete but gives you significant food for thought to pick up trends and use them as learning interventions in your organizations. Here is our short and simple list: Productivity groups Blogs Online forums Collaborative workspace and zones Reflective thinking targets Buddy pack Learning by games Learning by co-creation Productivity Groups These are more like concentrated short-term problem solving teams used by high performance organizations. The objectives of these groups are to collectively solve a real organization problem by collectively thinking and implementing the solutions in the organization. These teams are typically made up of cross-functional members which work together on the job as well, yet they are tasked with a new challenge of solving an important organizational challenge. During the process each member of the productivity group enhances their knowledge, skill and attitudes. Blogs Blogs are discussion or informational websites where different individuals post their comments on a particular topic. Nowadays, blogs provide a lot of information, which is useful to the readers. They work like mini newspapers where every blogger writes down how he visualizes a situation or his narration of an event. You can have a blogging site for your company where all the employees can write down there thoughts of what they are doing in the company or what they should do etc. Blogging will become an important part of employee life as more organizations realize the effectiveness of this tool. If you as a learning manager dont have a learning blog then you start off right now, create one learning blog where you can let everyone know youre a learning success and be part of the community that shares the wisdom all around. Online Forums Online forums are discussion centers where people can post a question or discussion topic and other members of the forum post their replies to the topic or questions. Here you can ask simple and often related as doubt (socially out of place) questions and experts as well as novice members will provide their experiences. The forums help you formulate a decision and enhance your concepts related to a particular topic. You can encourage employees to become part of multiple forums and start actively participating in them which will enhance their knowledge as well as their networking . Collaborative Workspace Zones This is a workstation or work environment learning intervention solution; here you break down the barriers of rooms and even cubicles, replacing them with open floor maps, cozy work chairs, bean bags, brain teaser wall papers etc. these are informal zones built in the office space where employees gather around and work collectively, during this sitting and working collectively free talking and discussions are encouraged even playing music is encouraged, all the elements that make it a friendly informal workspace. Here people are collaborating with each other not because they have to be on the job but because they want to; as friends or as supportive co-workers. This environment greatly effects the overall learning of the employees as well as creativity, business innovation, networking for higher performance, and many others. Reflective Thinking Targets Reflective thinking involves employees to think about their own learnings, what worked for them and what did not work for them. The employees are required to keep a track of all the learning reflections that were made during a course of a given period. Every employee when starts to track the overall learning progress that he has done, their learning automatically increase as a conscious effort. Using this intervention you will require assigning a progressive self-learning target with every employee and have them continuously think about what they have learned and how they have learnt. Also ,how the skills, knowledge and attitudes have changed within the employee. Buddy Pack This is a simple concept; two employees working together for mutual success will help and improve each others competitive work spirit. Here, you create a buddy system by asking two colleagues to be each others lifeguard as well as immediate competition. They have to help the other to improve the performance at work and be each others support system. This concept uses healthy competition as the fuel for the buddies to improve, yet, uses the support system to continuously improve their knowledge, skills and attitudes. Learning by Games You must understand that most of the workforce that is now entering into the corporate world have actively played games on computers or mobile phones rather than outdoor active sports. These professionals relate more promptly with games which closely resemble computer games or mobile games especially the ones on social media and internet. As the learning manager you can have a developer (outsourced) to create similar games which will have a learning connect relating to your organization and have these games distributed within the organization, application games on mobiles, tablets, Ipads etc., it will dramatically improve the organizations learning culture through fun involvement. Learning by Co-Creating Every employee wishes to be part of something new, wishes to create a mark on the organization by introducing something which he can proudly claim as his own creation or as being part of a team which created something of high value. You can use this intervention by asking employees to set a learning content, activity, method etc. which will be used and advertised by his or her name in the organization. Here you let the employee do the learning intervention creation and you will be really surprised as to how that will radically improve your organizations learning culture.

The U.S. Automobile Industry Essay -- Economy, Recession

The United States recession (which lead to a world recession), began in 1997 and significantly impacted the United States automobile industry during the recession period. The United States automobile industry is still reeling from the effects of the recession throughout the period of economic recovery that continues today. According to Chu and Su, â€Å"In this credit-driven recession, one of the hardest hit sectors was the automotive industry, along with the housing and financial markets. Chrysler and General Motors were pushed into bankruptcy; and 276,000 jobs in the automobile and parts industry were destroyed, a whopping 36 percent of the total employment in the sector†. This paper will focus on the future of the U.S. Automobile industry as the United States recovers from the worst recession we have experienced in the past 75 years. I will provide information on the following topics pertaining to the U.S. automobile industry: 1. Externalities that may shift the supply and demand curve over the next five years. 2. Factors creating value in the industry and factors that will most likely input demand in the future. 3. Cost and supply analysis. 4. Industry trends and factors changing the industry. 5. Potential of supply and demand curve movement over the next 5 years. 6. Market Structure. 7. Porter Analysis on the industry. 8. General Motors strategic considerations using the game theory concept. Market Externalities To properly illustrate externalities that may shift the supply and demand curve in the U.S. auto market over the next five years, it is necessary to look at the recent events having affected the U.S. auto industry during the recession and the strides U.S. auto makers have made to recover from near devast... ... If U.S. auto manufacturing takes a down-turn, the U.S. economy will be negatively impacted and the demand for automobiles in the U.S will suffer. If GM or other U.S. auto manufacturers fail, there will be greater opportunity for new entrants into the U.S. automotive sales industry. For these reasons, all manufacturers including GM that sell autos in the U.S. should continue to use a cooperative game theory strategy to ensure the industry recovers. GM should continue to use its technological advantages to create innovative automobiles, but do so cautiously. GM should follow the direction of today’s environmentally conscious consumers who want less expensive, economical automobiles. GM should primarily utilize a cooperative game-theory approach in its sales and marketing strategies in order to stay in sync with the current automotive industry needs.

What Did We Learn from the Vietnam War? Essay -- Vietnam War Essays

â€Å"Teaching the Vietnam War makes one realize how the shape of a narrative determines, and is determined by, its content† (Franklin 246). The Vietnam War was one of America’s most controversial wars. Many of its aspects are still plagued with great uncertainty. Those aspects of the Vietnam War are argued and debated about, they were argued during the time of the war and the arguing has continued. The Vietnam War was indeed a time of confusion. Why did the war start? What was the United States’ real reason for getting involved? What was the objective of the war? What were the American soldiers really fighting, or in reality, dying for? How do you explain a war to someone who has not experienced firsthand, especially if you were not around yourself? There is no real answer. You can give the facts and figures, but that leaves out the true grit of a war. The human perspective must also be given. As with any war, the Vietnam War had many perspective: th e protestors, the politician, and lastly, but most importantly, the soldier (Although there are many other stories that could and should be told). Through the facts and figures and the eyes of those who were there, an individual could learn about the Vietnam War, although how many actually want to understand war is uncertain. The facts and figures are one of the first things that should be learned about the war (Although many would argue the facts). The Vietnamese waged an anti-colonial war against France between 1945 and 1954. They received $2.6 billion in financial aid from the United States to aid their efforts. The Geneva Convention followed the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu, where Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam all received independence. Vietnam was momentarily divide... ...n Vietnamese deaths. Still today, many Americans still ask whether the American effort in the Vietnam War was necessary, a sin, a mistake, or a noble cause, or an idealistic, if failed, effort to protect the South Vietnamese people from the North. In order to truly understand the war you and to determine your own answer to the many questions it is still pending, you must look at the war from every perspective and understand the many facts it produced. Dr. Carl Sagan wrote, â€Å"You have to know the past to understand the present†. The Vietnam War is a large part of America’s past. It is important to know of the Vietnam War and to know of those who experienced, so you may learn of how America came to be as it is today and were it may be heading, of whether or not we learned from our mistakes or if we are destined to repeats those made during the Vietnam War again.

Undoing Stereotypes in the Movie, Dances With Wolves Essay examples --

Undoing Stereotypes in the Movie, Dances With Wolves Hollywood has helped create and perpetuate many different stereotypical images of the different races in the world. Those stereotypes still continue to affect the way we think about each other today and many of those stereotypes have been proven to be historically inaccurate. The movie Dances With Wolves, directed by actor Kevin Costner, does an excellent job in attempting to promote a greater acceptance, understanding, and sympathy towards Native American culture, instead of supporting the typical stereotype of Native Americans being nothing but brutal, blood thirsty savages. The film Dances With Wolves focuses mainly on one man named Jon Dunbar and his growing relationship with the Lakota Sioux Indian tribe. The Lakota Sioux Indian tribe migrated in the 1700's to different areas in South Dakota. For over one hundred and sixty years, the Lakota tribe held a massive piece of land in the plains to support their numerous herds of bison, which they also hunted in order to survive. They lived in the typical teepees and were exceptional horsemen, hunters, and warriors. They culture contained no written language and their heritage was trusted upon storytellers and drawings made on the bison hides. One bison hide could represent over fifty years of Lakota history. The film, Dances With Wolves, was very cleverly written in my opinion. For most of the introduction, before John Dunbar begins to get friendly with the Sioux Indians, you are given an emotional expression of hatred and dislike towards the Native American Indians as they are slowly introduced into the script. There were a few scenes of brutality and savagery that triggered these emotions. For example, there was a... ...ed along with many soldiers of the U.S. 7th cavalry at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, on December 29, 1890. As the years went on, many of the Indian tribes began to die away due to the lack of food, and the harsh winter conditions. I believe that Dances With Wolves did an excellent job of undoing the stereotypes that have been given to the Indians. Through this movie we realize that they did what they had to do in order to survive and provide for their family. They did what any other person would have done if they were put into the same situations. This movie did help us to understand, accept, and sympathize with the Indians. I hope that we as a people truly learn to observe a culture or a race before they actually start to criticize or stamp stereotypes on them. Works Cited: www.cabrillo.com.cc.ca.us www.wsws.org/arts/1998/jun1998/afi-j18.shtml      

Beauty Within and Without

â€Å"She Walks in Beauty† was written by George Gordon, Lord Byron, an English poet during the early nineteenth century. The poem falls within the genre of lyric poetry in which the poet expresses his thoughts and imaginations (Clugston, 2010, section 11. 3). Romance is the central emotion in the poem; however, it is governed by a theme of principles which metaphorically balances inner values with sheer external beauty. Being married for many years, my connection with the poem was in looking back to the moments when I used similar forms of romantic poetry to communicate my affections for my wife during the early stages of our engagement. I also found familiarity in the meaning of the last stanza of the poem which has an almost identical meaning to a line from the closing speech of one of my favorite romantic comedies written by William Shakespeare entitled, â€Å"The Taiming of the Schrew. † â€Å"She Walks in Beauty† embodies both engaging content and form using contrasting opposites; however, its theme that external beauty is a reflection of inner goodness has a valuable message for society that real beauty is a combination of inner goodness and outward appearance. I was engaged by the content of the â€Å"She Walks in Beauty† through its image of realism created by the speaker as he is intently focused on a vision of sheer beauty while also recognizing qualities of virtue and innocence. His main convention for holding this image throughout this eighteen-line poem is by contrasting opposites such as the dark with the light or the night with the day. For example, two opposites are brought together in the first two lines of the poem aided by the most obvious setting of a clear and starry, oonlit night in lines 1 and 2 of stanza 1: â€Å"She walks in beauty, like the night† followed by â€Å"Of cloudless climes and starry skies† and again in line 3 he also compares opposites with â€Å"dark and bright† (as cited in Clugston, 2010, section 11. 3, stanza 1). Again in line 7, he compares opposites between â€Å"shade and ray† and between â€Å"more and less† and again between lines 9 and 10 he compares  "ravens† with â€Å"lightens† (Clugston, 2010, section 11. 3, stanza 2). His skill here in doing this type of contrasting is quite remarkable and not actually the normal style of comparing two like items used during this romanticism period in history. The content was very engaging; however, I also found the form of this piece of poetry to be engaging by use of metaphors, enjambed lines, and the whole thought of the poem reflecting the theme throughout with keen observations of inner and outer beauty. For example, he begins to comment on the blend of her morale attributes in lines 11 and 12 where a word picture is used to characterize her mind. He says her â€Å"thoughts† (line 11) are a â€Å"dwelling place† (lines 12) that are both â€Å"pure and dear† (Clugston, 2010, section 11. 3, stanza 2). Lord Byron makes good use of enjambed lines in the opening of the poem because there should not be a break after line 1. Instead the reader should continue to the end of line 2 without pause which when read thus, a musicality is brought out that makes the first two lines sound as effortless and beautiful as the woman’s remarkable appearance. Since the poem is about a woman’s effortless beauty it is quite cleaver of the poet to assign a rhythmic meter that is balanced with her appearance. The poem is set in limbic tetrameter with an ABABAB rhyme scheme (Shmoop Editorial Team. November 11, 2008). She Walks in Beauty Rhyme, Form & Meter. Retrieved May 16, 2011, from http://www. shmoop. com/she-walks-in-beauty/rhyme-form-meter. html). Both the content and form were appealing to me; however, I had a most remarkable connection to the last stanza regarding its meaning. The most appealing aspect of stanza 3 is that it is central to the theme that inner goodness is a reflection of external beauty. I found that this theme is also thematically represented in a speech made at the end of William Shakespeare’s romantic comedy entitled, â€Å"The Taiming of the Schrew. During the last scene of the play, the character of Kate played by the late Elizabeth Taylor while scolding two companions regarding how and why they should reverence their husbands spoke these words, Why are our bodies soft, and weak, and smooth . . . But that our soft conditions and our hearts Should well agree with our external parts (SparkNotes Editors, 2002, Analysis: Act V, scene ii). This statement is a perfect parallel with the theme for â€Å"She Walks in Beauty† which is that inner goodness is a reflection of external beauty. She Walks in Beauty† has wonderful content and form and the poet maintains a sense of realism throughout while keeping the reader focused on a positive theme that inner goodness is a reflection of external beauty. Though it was not the norm to compare opposites in p oetry, Lord Byron chose to explore this side of literary writing. Moreover, â€Å"She Walks in Beauty† is one of the most memorable forms of lyric poetry ever created crediting Lord Byron as one of the Romantic period’s outstanding poets. References Clugston, R. W. (2010).  Journey into literature. San Diego, California: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Shmoop Editorial Team. (November 11, 2008).  She Walks in Beauty Rhyme, Form & Meter.  Retrieved May 16, 2011, from http://www.shmoop.com/she-walks-in-beauty/rhyme-form-meter.html SparkNotes Editors. (2002). SparkNote on The Taming of the Shrew. Retrieved May 16, 2011, from http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/shrew/