Marketing environments free essay sample

Background Information Marketing cannot be practiced in a vacuum; as a business function is affected by various factors or elements within the business environments. According to Lancaster and Massingham (1993), a company’s marketing environment consists of the factors and forces that affect the company’s ability to develop and maintain successful transaction with its targeted customers. Business environments are dynamic and it requires enough attention to ensure that the environment are monitored and does not bring miserable effects to the organization. What is Marketing Environment? Marketing Environment can be described as those factors or elements which are surrounding marketing activities and usually affect the decisions and activities of marketing negatively or positively. It consists of both controllable and uncontrollable factors which determine the success or failure of the organization. The controllable factors refer to those elements which can be managed and monitored by the organization in order to ensure they bring positive impact rather than negative impact. We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing environments or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page On the other side, uncontrollable factors are those factors which an organization has no direct control on them. It is very difficult and sometimes is not possible to control them. The only way that can be done by the organization is to use its internal efforts to reduce the impact of them to the organization activities. Furthermore, uncontrollable factors are usually classified into two groups: one is Macro-environment and the other is Micro-environment. Macro-environment These are external factors which cover the wide range of economic and business activities; its impact goes too far beyond the control of the organization or society as a whole. Macro environment consists of the following elements or factors: Political Factors, Legal and Regulatory Forces, Social-cultural factors, Economic Factors, Technological Factors, Demographic factors †¢Political Factors; political institutions and politicians are responsible for formulating and enforcing various laws and regulations which in one way or another affects the business operations. Furthermore, political forces are responsible for making and adopting various policies (International and local policies), they are responsible for entering into various agreements and contracts which affects marketing activities. †¢Legal and Regulatory Forces; various laws and regulations are formulated by various institutional boards and might affect business in one way or another. For example, laws relating to tax, business registration, policy formulation etc. †¢Socio-Cultural Factors; the success of any business depends on how it takes care about culture and other social aspects of the societies. Therefore, any action to ignore the culture and life style of the society surrounding the organization marks the failure of the organization. †¢Economic Factors; the impact of economic factors in business and marketing in particular is very significant. The elements such as inflation, interest rates, foreign exchange rates, economic crisis etc have significant impact to the marketing activities. †¢Technology Factors; marketing activities depends much on technology. A means to produce, distribute, promote etc are much affected with the technology in use. That is to say, the intensity of marketing activities reflects the level of technology which the organization use. †¢Demographic Factors; from demographic structure is where customers, consumers, labors, etc are obtained. Thus, the population structure determines the success of the organization. The failure of the organization to analyze demographic structure properly affects the organization performance. Micro-environment This is an external factor which affects the performance of the organization to serve its market effectively. It is an immediate factor which touches the organization activities or functions very close compared to Macro-environment. This includes factors such as: Bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of consumers, Threat of entry of competitors, Competition from substitutes, and competition between firms. Sometimes it is known as Michael Porter’s Five Forces Framework. Porter, (1980) argues that industry profitability depends upon industry structure and on the above mentioned factors. †¢Bargaining power of suppliers Suppliers are important partners in a business. They provide resources required for the production of goods and services. However, Suppliers have a substantial significant to the marketing functions and business operations as a whole. The failure to accommodate the pressure of supplier will bring a great impact to organization products and services prices. For example when the price of supplies increases it is obvious that, the price of the final products will also be higher in order to cover operations and productions cost. †¢Bargaining power of consumers Consumers of the company products or services are important partners in a business. However, consumers have both negative and positive impact to the organization. The pressure of consumers to obtain products or services at a low price without considering the cost of the production it usually affects the organization wellbeing. Thus, the organization must work hard to see how the pressure from consumers can be accommodated without affecting the organization operations. †¢Threat of entry of competitors In modern business environment competition is a normal and unavoidable situation. The available opportunities for competitors to enter within the market usually become a threat for the organization success. A door for competitors to enter signifies that, the market share should be divided according to the number of the organizations within the market. Furthermore, the presence of competitors can be reflected in a profit generation. This being the fact, the organization should work hard to compete and not escaping from competition which it is not possible anyway. †¢Competition from substitutes The presence of competitors or other business partners gives a door of having substitute goods and services. The substitute goods or services refers to those goods or services which offers similar functions, satisfactions, etc. The availability of substitute goods and products forced the organization to highlight the way forward to compete against those substitutes. †¢Competition between rivalry firm Within the industry, various firms are operating. For example, in the Communication Industry, there are a number of firms which includes firms such as Vodacom, TTCL, TiGO, Airtel etc. In such environment there is a stiff competition between these firms, in which each firm is trying to compete in order to acquire a large portion of a market share. Thus, it is very hard to manage this environment. A firm needs to work hard in analyzing the intensity of competition so as to adopt the relevant strategies for such a challenge. Internal Environments (Controllable factors) These are factors within the organization; they have direct impact to the organization performance. However, these factors are within the organization controlling capacity, which means the organization has the ability to monitor its impact and to regulate its trends. These factors include among others, the following important factors: R D factor, production and operation management factor, financial factor, Human Resources and management factor and marketing factor. †¢R D factor; this is an important factor which can be used to improve the organization performance by adding new idea, technology, products and services through research and development. †¢Production and operation management factor; the organization readiness to adopt advanced and recent methods of production and operation can be said as the most important decision to control the organization performance. The production and other operation methods are changing rapidly, thus, the organization needs to take quick decision to cope with these changes. †¢Financial Factor; the management of financial assets is very important and must be taken carefully. In ability of the firm to manage its financial assets it is a disaster to that particular organization. It creates the light way for its failure while this could be avoided if the organization could have taken serious measures earlier. †¢Human resources and management; people are very important resources for the organization performance. Human resources should be handled in a due care in order to create a situation of offering consistency efforts to the organization productions and operations activities. †¢Marketing factor; in order to ensure marketing as a unit or department within the organization it offers valuable contribution and there must be a close supervision of all activities done within this unit. Any disregards to this important component of business operations create a smooth way for the failure of a particular organization. Environmental Scanning and Analysis After the organization has identified the above described factors (Macro and Micro), the next important stage is to analyze in deep the impact of each factor on the organization operations. The big challenge which is facing business owners and business decision makers nowadays is how to deal with environment uncertainty. Now, environmental scanning and analysis is used to assist business analyst to study environment in deep and formulating appropriate strategies to cope with business changes. For examples, from strategic marketing point of view, in formulating marketing plan, two issues must be considered, first; organization capabilities in term of resources, second; the demands of environment which the organization operates. Therefore, there is no way the organization can ignore the importance of environmental scanning and Analysis. What is Environmental Scanning and Analysis? Environmental Scanning and Analysis refers to a process of studying and exploring the impact of environments on business operations. It focuses on understanding how business environment affects strategy formulation and implementation. The Former Chief Executive Officer of General Electric Company Jack Welch, once said, â€Å"When the rate of change inside the company is exceeded by the rate of change outside the company, the end is near. † The meaning of this statement is that, if the firm is very weak in studying and coping with external environments is digging a grave for its own death. Environmental Scanning and Analysis is done in the following style. First; the organization is required to analyze business factors which exist in the environment in which the business operates. Second; the organization is required to classify each factor as to whether it falls under an opportunity or a threat. The following phases should be followed while doing environmental scanning and analysis: First phase; identify environmental influences; the aim of this stage is to indentify various factors which influence the organization performance recently and to forecast likely factors that will influence the performance in future. Second phase; an assessment of nature of the environment; the trends of an active factors should be analyzed, the assessment should look on whether the environment is static or dynamic and from there the decision of what is supposed to be done can be taken. Third phase; identify the factors which have a great influence on business operations based on their nature and intensity of its impact. Fourth phase; identify competitive position; analysis of the level of competition should be done based on how competitors are doing, their capabilities and weaknesses and how they are trying to deal with both of them should be scrutinized. Fifth phase; identify how the information obtained above influences the organization operations. Each information should be categorized in either it is a threat or an opportunity to the organization. At the end, this becomes an important component in dealing with organization strategy formulation and implementation. Therefore, environmental scanning and analysis results to the identification of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. This can be analyzed by using a SWOT analysis Model which is an abbreviation of the words Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat. Analysis of Strengths and Weaknesses The strength and weakness are internal factors which can affect the organization operation in future. Specifically, Strengths refer to internal factors which can affect the organization operations in a positive way, while weaknesses are internal factors which can affect the organization operations in a negative way. For example, poor management of human resources can be considered as a weakness, and the application of advanced technology can be termed as strength to an organization. Environmental Strengths and Weakness Profile Basically, after intensive analysis has been done, is very important to prepare a strategic advantage profile for the organization. This profile gives a clear picture of critical areas which have a great impact to the organization op4 erations recently and in future. Strategic Advantage Profile for a Hypothetical firm A Organization Internal Area Competitive Strength or Weakness Marketing + Product Line is extensive + Services is excellent Channels of distribution are weak Research and Development No Research and development performed Operations + Excellent sourcing for new materials. Facilities are old and becoming out dated. Corporate Resources 0 Company size is about average for the industry. 0 Profits have been consistent but average. Union employees complain frequently Finance + Balance sheet shows ability to obtain needed capital, low debt equity ratio, high working capital position and favorable stock position. Sources: Mzava, (2004:20) KEY: + Indicates Strength Indicates weakness 0 Indicates Neutral Analysis of Opportunities and Threats An opportunity and a threat are external factors which might affect the organization operation in future. Now, specifically, Opportunities are external environments which can affect the organization operations in a favorable way, while, Threats refers to factors which might affect the organization in unfavorable way. At the end of opportunities and threats analysis, Environmental Threat and Opportunity Profile (ETOP) must be established. Environmental Threat and Opportunity Profile (ETOP) is very important for strategies formulation and implementation. For example here is the environmental Threat and Opportunity Profile for the National Bank Of Commerce. Environmental Factors Opportunities and Threats Socio-economic factors + Increase in saving habit + Increase in population + Increase in GDP Political factors + Favorable political climate 0 Changes in government policies Customers + Loyalty of present customers Suppliers Possibility of high increase in price + Reliable suppliers Competitors Possibility of high competition in the financial sector Source: Mzava (2004:15) KEY: + Indicates Opportunity Indicates Threat 0 Indicates neutral impact

Idealised love in the Portuguese and The Great Gatsby

Idealised love in the Portuguese and The Great Gatsby Free Online Research Papers Elizabeth Barret-Browning’s ‘Sonnets from the Portuguese’ and F. Scott. Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby’ both reflect, in abstract style and varying contexts and elements, the experience of idealised love, hope and mortality. The elements employed by Barret-Browning and Fitzgerald, differ in their depictions of these themes through various literary devices, two of which are ‘points of view’ and ‘motifs/symbols’. Barret-Browning’s sonnet sequence illustrates a complex evolution of emotions as the poet moves through sorrow, self doubt, passion, fear, and ultimately profound exhilaration and joy, even in spite of the restlessly lingering thoughts of her own death, whereas, ‘The Great Gatsby’ follows the tale of young Nick Carraway, a seemingly pure man from the West, who decides to journey to New York to make his money in the stocks and bonds market. In New York, he is met with a story of love, lust, ad ultery and murder; it is a telling of the death of the American Dream, and the downfall of those who attempt to reach its illusory goals. ‘The Great Gatsby’ is a novel that takes place during the roaring twenties, or an era otherwise known as the Jazz Age. A time of prohibition and experimentation, the novel portrays both the chaos and loss of morals that many during that time experienced. In ‘The Great Gatsby’ Fitzgerald opted for a complex structure and a controlled narrative point of view, thus giving the novel a greater air of realism, written in a limited first person perspective, with Nick Carraway serving as the narrator and the only true voice. This deliberate inclusion forces the reader to experience the events in the novel, first hand, in addition to this, Nick is careful not to tell the reader things he himself does not know, this is one of the reasons that the novel is so convincing, Nick seems to be the only rational person, and he is the one relaying the events to us. Although Nick makes a connection with all the major characters throughout the novel, there is no better connectio n than with that of Gatsby, he becomes Gatsby’s’ confidant and with this is the change in Nick’s emotions, as well as the way he narrates the novel. Nick is fundamentally a listener to and observer of Gatsby and his world before he is a narrator. Before he can tell Gatsbys story, Nick suspends and enters Gatsbys world, accepting his terms of discourse. It is precisely by articulating both his faith and his doubt about Gatsby that Nick becomes a model for the reader in addition to being a writer and storyteller. As Gatsbys mood and character changes throughout the novel so does Nicks view of him, thus affecting the readers perspective. Gatsbys radiant and understanding smile is the sole characteristic about him that allows Nick to fade in and out of his loyalty and love for Gatsby â€Å"There was something gorgeous about him†. Having Nick as the narrator gives a different perspective on what he gathered from the situation. Where Gatsbys story lacks in sto rytelling quality Gatsbys very phrases were worn so threadbare that they evoked no image† an opportunity is presented to Nick to fill in Gatsbys emptiness with lyrical prose, his absence with perfect metaphors, and his silence with words for the feelings that Nick imagines his hero must have felt. With Nick as the narrator we are able to weave through the intricate lives of the characters. The notion of idealised love is presented through the relationship of Gatsby and Daisy, or rather, Gatsby and the idea of Daisy. Gatsby builds an image of Daisy representing happiness and love. The time between his conscription and return perpetuates this mental image. Though Daisy does not measure up to the idealistic image Gatsby has established, he cannot see past the beautiful illusion. This represents the falsehoods of a supposed single dream to suit all people, and bring happiness to all who pursue it. Gatsby believes he is seeking happiness and love, but his journey is corrupted by the materialism and amoral lifestyle present in Fitzgeralds time. Just as the Dutch sailors first set eyes on the fresh green breast of the new world, Gatsby sees this spiritual optimism in the green light- a motif in the novel. The death of Myrtle and the concept of mortality is represented through Nickâ⠂¬â„¢s use of expressive language, he states â€Å"where Myrtle Wilson, her life violently extinguished, knelt in the road and mingled her thick dark blood with the dust†, this expression of life’s tragic end here is complemented by Nicks use of imagery, we are left with the raw image of Myrtle lying on the floor in displaced agony stark message to readers that life is not perpetual and everlasting. Hope is depicted through Gatsby’s chase of the American Dream, he does not rest until this is finally fulfilled, it never becomes truly realized and he ends up paying the ultimate price of his life for it. Gatsby is blinded by the illusions that stand between him and happiness. Gatsby perceives Daisy to be his happiness, but Daisy is not. Fitzgerald examines the American Dream by autopsy, through the reflective narrator. Though the principles of the idealistic dream still exist, highlighted by Gatsbys ambition and drive to improve himself, the morality behind the d ream has been substituted by money, resulting in decadence, corruption and distinct class divisions between people. Fitzgerald represents the corruption and the demise of the original, idealistic American Dream with the death of both Gatsby and Wilson- two men who make a living, and strive to better themselves with new money. Gatsby however was disillusioned by his belief that money could buy him happiness. They both possess the gift of hope, but the established order crushes them, he had a romantic readinesssome heightened sensitivity to the promises of lifeit was an extraordinary gift of hope The Victorians followed the Romantics in believing in the connection with the sequence of regeneration, renewal and recycle. Barret-Browning’s sonnets offer Victorian ideals of marriage being the ‘proper’ way to reaffirm love. Whilst Barret-Browning’s newfound love provides the impetus behind the Sonnet sequence it also, for the Victorian reader, epitomises the appropriate poetry for women to write, because, it showed a woman in her best role loving and expressing sentiments of love. The poet speaker is the subject (subjecting) and the result is an intellectual exploration of love and the examination of the illusion of a love connection, which is not permanent, eternal and unconditional. The poet attempts to look past all that and essentially generates universal themes about humanity through the use of language and symbology. Barret-Browning successfully revived the form of the Italian sonnet developed by Petrarch in the 14th century and also expands tradi tional conventions of such a form to include feminine variation that was yet unseen. Barret-Browning’s precise application of this rigid long established masculine structure allows her innovative feminine deviations to emerge. Usually the speaker of the sonnet is a male, praising a silent, or absent female object of worship, here, however, the female object is in fact the speaker of the poem and a participator rather than an observer. She is not ‘golden’ or ‘lovely’ but instead dark, ill, and close to death. Throughout the sonnet sequence love is portrayed as continually changing the person or people experiencing it, almost as if it were a kind of remedy and therapy. â€Å"I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.† Sonnet LXIII. The language of this abstract image portrays love to be unconfinable. This is emphasized by â€Å"when feeling out of sight† as the image of the love is portrayed as being further that can actually be seen which accentuates the boundless image of love. The poetic voices’ â€Å"soul† adds to the this image as a soul is not an object which can be contained within the body as it knows no bounds, and so the portrayal of love can be viewed as eternal. This image also depicts the magnitude of love as the language of â€Å"depth and breadth and height† shows how vast the love the poetic voice feels. The structure is a vital tool to the poet when portraying love and relationships in the poem. The poem itself is written in iambic pentameter and it is this structural point that enforces â€Å"depth† a nd â€Å"breadth† and â€Å"height† to be verbally stressed. This enforces the idea of the endless boundaries and the magnitude of love and relationships within this poem. The accentuation of these words highlights them within the line making them key words and stand apart from it. Another structural point is the use enjambment; this can highlight many aspects of love and relationships, which are trying to be conveyed. The enjambments of the lines add to the portrayal of love knowing no limits at both enjambments. The lack of punctuation also serves a structural purpose â€Å" I love thee to the depth and breadth and height† and reiterates the boundless image of love, as the punctuation cannot disrupt the line and so is elongated. Sonnet XIII puts forward the question of â€Å"can language represent the experience or is it just an echo of experience?† The sonnet begins with an indignant refusal to put into words the value of love, then changes into an ina bility, in being able to comprehend the human experience of love. The poem uses traditional feminine stereotypes to express the value of love. Her ‘woman love’ being a symbol of the soft feminine curve Victorian women were expected to fit into. Complementing the author’s element of point of view, both authors use symbology and motifs to express the ideas of idealised love, hope and mortality. There are three main motifs and symbols used in ‘The Great Gatsby’, they are, the Green Light at the end of Daisys dock, the Valley of ashes, and the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg. The Valley of Ashes is a physical desert one that is a direct representation of the notion of futility or no hope, it symbolises the spiritual desolation, that a society based on money creates. The Valley of Ashes exists as the illustration of the lower-class society as well as the loss of morals and disgrace of humanity; it represents the modern world a grotesque hell created by modernity. Terrible place, isnt it, said Tom, exchanging a frown with Doctor Eckleburg. The eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg serve as an omniscient God in the dying society Fitzgerald seeks to depict. His huge and unblinking celestial eyes add the presence of something higher that constantly watches and looks down upon the valley. The icon of Dr T. J. Eckleburg, being a figure of American success, conveys commercial values and the loss of spirituality as he represents an inverted God who â€Å"sees all†. Amidst the materialistic values of the wealthy, Gatsby is isolated, ironically outcast from the upper classes, as suggested by Nick’s dejected tone at Gatsby’s funeral, â€Å"but it was no use – nobody came†, revealing the shallowness of the affluent in the 1920’s and emphasising the delusion of honest relationships and despondency that surrounds Gatsby. The only sign of hope to resist such structures of capitalism is T.J. Eckleburg, the eyes that watch over the Valley of Ashes. These God-like eyes watch over the land, showing that even though the working class may not have the same comforts that the elite enjoy, they will always have the comfort of ‘God’. However the eyes are described as â€Å"huge, flat, empty eyes†, â€Å"they look out of no faceas they brood on over the solemn dumping ground.† they symbolise a dead God staring blindly out at the moral decay of humanity and the meaningless garbage that societies lives had become. Each character evades the consequences of his/her actions and hides from moral values which religion demands, but the eyes are immune to social class or beauty and focus entirely on the harsh reality of one’s actions. Eckleburg is also used as a symbol of mortality, throughout the novel Fitzgerald suggests that symbols only have meaning because characters fill them with meaning. The connection between the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg and God exists only in George Wilsons grief-stricken mind; Wilson later points to this saying, God sees everything before going on his murderous rampage. The lack of solid meaning contributes to the disturbing nature of the image. And so, the eyes also come to represent the meaninglessness of the world and the uncertainty of people. The green light, being the most apparent physical metaphor represents hope, it is a multi-faceted symbol that represents Gatsbys hope and longing for Daisy and the extent he was willing to go to in order to recreate the past. As Nick comments at the conclusion of the text, Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but thats no matter tomorrow we will run faster, stretch our arms out farther Here Fitzgerald extends the symbol of the green light to the audience and invites them to continue to hope and dream against the odds. Barret-Browning’s use of motifs and metaphors throughout the sonnet sequence demonstrate the notions of mortality and hope by invoking stark and verdant imagery. Sonnet I depicts a despondent speaker, lying in darkness, grieving for the past, when suddenly a mysterious shape enters the room overtaking her. By now, well prepared to meet her end, she receives an unusual surprise. Barret-Browning has here personified death. The imagery of seizure, power and conflict invoke a sense of mortality and fragility. The poem is a stepping stone for the progression of emotion. It expresses depression and sadness felt most of her life, as well as illness and isolation. Sonnet XXII expresses mortality in terms of the more physical end of the spectrum. Here the poet suggests that love need not be bound on earth, that love is associated with stillness rather than activeness. The poem asks why strive for heaven when it can be achieved here on earth. Darkness and death appear to always be a part of her life giving into death/darkness is giving into the unknown. Sonnet XXXII states that a heart which is quick to love must also be quick to hate. When the poet looks upon herself in this poem she wonders if she is worthy of love? The poet casts herself as a musical instrument and relays that she is no more than an out of tune worn viol and that a good singer (the male entity) would be wroth to try and play. The symbol of the viol is used to illustrate the idea of hope. That perhaps the instrument might be restored. The male is cast as the musician with his ‘master hands’ while the woman is cast as the ‘instrument defaced’ deferri ng back to traditional Victorian values. The very last word, doat once again presents an element of doubt â€Å"maybe this is too quick and foolish?† Sonnet LXIII includes geometrical symbolism, the first couplet is used to convey ever expanding love ‘as far as the soul can reach’ when in the spiritual realm. The poet now understands that there isn’t anything special or glamorous about the business of love, it is unheroic and unromantic. Love has this everyday existence that reaches for the sun and stars but also ‘everyday’s most quiet need’. The reader is now of the understanding that grief and melancholy is of the past, yet she will put the same emotional intensity into love that she had previously put into her old griefs, thus ending the sonnet sequence. In the end ‘The Great Gatsby’ and ‘Sonnets from the Portuguese’ both great love stories one of consequence and another of timelessness written in different times in which literary/societal norms were defied by the authors, they serve as calamitous admonitions and manifestations of our own desires for idealised love, hope and mortality. The portrayal of these themes by Barret-Browning and Fitzgerald are both embodied through symbolism/motifs and the point of view of the speaker, which in turn create tantamount ideas of idealised love, hope and mortality. 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