Managerial Analysis on Cute Cosmetics Ltd

1. Acknowledgement Apart from the efforts of us, the success of any project depends largely on the encouragement and guidelines of many others. We take this opportunity to express our gratitude to the people who have been helpful to give us valuable information regarding this project so that it can be successful. We would like to show our greatest appreciation to honorable faculty Noor-E-Hasnin (NEH) Lecturer, North south University. We felt motivated and encouraged every time we attend her classes and effective class lectures.Without her encouragement and guidance this project would not have materialized. The guidance and support received from all our group members who contributed were vital for the success of the project. We are grateful to each other for the constant support and help 2. Introduction: We selected Cute Cosmetics for our project which is a private limited company and is a local company. Cute Cosmetics is a brand of Mousumi Industries that manufactures cosmetics and t oiletries and was incorporated in 1971. Since then Cute has been manufacturing cosmetics and providing service to the people of Bangladesh.It has become a very well reputed and now has captured a huge market not only in Bangladesh but also outside the country. But cute is not manufacturing consumer products alone in the industry. It has many competitors in the market who are fighting to become the market leader and to grasp the majority of the market share. The key competitors are Kohinoor, Marico and Lever Brothers. Even though the company was established long ago but it is facing tremendous competition and some of the competitors have already beat them in some of the consumer products.The company has many product lines that manufacture different types of products and are providing service not only nationwide but also to the foreign countries as it has been exporting some of the products outside the country. Cute has its own brand image in the market and is one of the pioneers in t he industry. Cute Cosmetics has its own strength and weakness as well as external opportunity and threats because of the market influence. We also have discussed the requirements for having a private limited company and the advantages and the disadvantages of the formation of the company which are compared with those iscussed in the book. The report shows an overall view of the company’s position in the market as well as the loopholes that it has in itself. 3. Literature Review: a) Company Information: Mousumi Industries Ltd. was founded in 1971. From 1974, still then a proprietorship industry, the operation of the business was intensified and in 1984 Mousumi's factory building was constructed at Cutepalli, Kanchpur, Sonargong, Narayangonj with sophisticated modern machinery. The cosmetics ; toiletries of the company are manufactured under two brands, namely â€Å"Cute† ; â€Å"Laboni†.Soon after Cute ; Laboni cosmetics were marketed, the brand became very popul ar in the whole country; it was the market leader. Mousumi Industries Ltd. was formed into a private limited company in 1982. Since then Mousumi has come a long way and its famous cosmetic brand, Cute, has earned the highest consumer satisfaction. In 1990, the company ventured into exporting. The first export was to Oman. This was a great milestone for Mousumi Industries Ltd. as well as for Bangladesh. This meant that even Bangladesh was producing quality cosmetics to attract foreign market.This has been possible because Mousumi has installed very modern machinery and ensured highest quality products with technical co-operation of the qualified chemists of the company and experts of the renowned foreign cosmetics products developers. Mousumi now exports to India, Oman, UAE and many other foreign Countries. b) Mission and vision statement: Mission- We will always try to explore beyond the boundaries of possibilities. Consumer needs alone will be our guiding philosophy in manufacturin g and marketing of products that beautify people and satisfy their souls.Vision- We have a vision to attain our mission of assuming the above duty and responsibility. We envisage a more beautiful tomorrow for the country, for the region and for the whole world. c) Organizational Hierarchy: HR/Admin * Recruitment * Policy Implementation * Attendance * Upkeepment * Logistics * Legal * Commercial Operation Purchase/Procurement * Quotation approval * Price/Term Analysis * Co-Ordination Inventory ; Production * Purchase Chairman ; Managing Director Director Director Organizational Hierarchy (Functional)Sales * Placement * Revenue Marketing * Packaging * Branding * Promotion * Networking * Market Survey Inventory Control * Dispatch * Logistic Arrangement * MIS * Delivery Cost analysis Production * Co-ordination with Inventory Purchase * Quality control * Order execution * New Product Development (R;D) Accounts * General Accounts * Costing(Purchase; Production) * Profitability Variance * P reparation of MIS 4. How the business was formed: a) Agreement- FORMATION I. The name of the Company is Cute Cosmetics Limited. II.People incorporated the company are- Chairman, Kazi Mahtab Uddin Ahmed and Founder Managing Director Late Kazi Ashraf Uddin Ahmed, Directors Kazi Moin Uddin Ahmed and Kazi Rajib Uddin Ahmed. III. The Registered Office of the Company will be in Dhaka, Mousumi Industries Limited 151, Bangshal Road, Dhaka-1100, Bangladesh Phone: 7319608, 7311238, 7318996 Fax: 880-2-7318458 IV.The objectives for which the company is established are all or any of the following provided that permission/approval/license from the Government or its appropriate agency and the concerned local government authority shall be obtained wherever it is so required by law, rules or regulations: V. The liability of the members is limited. VI. Life time is perpetual. V. The authorized share capital of the company is Tk. 0,00,00,000 (Taka Ten Crores) divided into Ordinary and preferential sh ares. There shall be a total of 10,000 (Ten thousand ) shares each of Taka 10,000 (Taka Ten thousand only) with the power to increase or reduce the capital, to divide the shares in capital for the time being into several classes and to attach hereto respectively such preferential, deferred, qualified or special rights, privileges or conditions as may be determined by or in accordance ith the regulations of the company and to vary, modify or abrogate any such rights, privileges or conditions in such manner as may for the time being be provided by the Articles of the company and consolidate, sub-divide the shares and issue shares of higher or lower denomination. ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION OF CUTE COSMETICS LIMITED The Company is a Private Limited Company within the meaning of section 2(1) under clause (Q) of the companies Act,1994 and accordingly the following shall apply:- a.No invitation shall be issued to the public to subscribe for any share, debenture of the company; b. The number o f members of the Company (exclusive of the persons in the employment of the company) shall be limited to fifty; and c. The right to transfer shares of the company is restricted in the manner and to the extent hereinafter provided. SHARE CAPITAL The Authorized Share Capital of the Company is Tk. 10,00,00,000 /- (Ten Crore) divided into 10,00,000 (Ten Lac) Ordinary Shares of Tk. 100/- each with power to increase or reduce the same value of its shares.Subject to the provisions of the Articles, the share shall be under the control of the directors who may allot or otherwise dispose of the same. COMMENCEMENT OF BUSINESS The business of the Company shall be commenced from the date of incorporation of the company. TRANSFER AND TRANSMISSION OF SHARES No transfer of any share shall be made or registered without the approval of the Board of Directors. No share shall be transferred to any outsiders as long as any existing member is willing to purchase the same at a fair value to be determined by the Directors in a Board Meeting.In the case of death of a member, the survivor where the deceased was a joint holder, and the legal personal representative of the deceased where he was a sole holder, shall be the only persons recognized by the company as having any title to his interest in the shares. GENERAL MEETING The general meeting of the company shall be held within eighteen months from the date of incorporation of the company and thereafter once in every calendar year (not being more than fifteen months after holding of the last preceding general meeting) at such time and place as may be decided by the Directors of the company.APPOINTMENT AND REMOVAL OF A DIRECTOR The company may appoint or remove a Director from the company in its Annual General Meeting. VOTE OF MEMBERS No member shall be entitled to vote unless all installments or calls or other sum or sums presently payable by him, in respect of his holding of shares in the company has been paid. DIRECTORS Until otherw ise determined in the general meeting the number of Directors of the company shall not be less than TWO and not more than TEN. POWER OF DIRECTORSWithout prejudice to the general powers conferred by the last preceding Article and the other powers conferred by these presents, it is hereby expressly declared that the Directors shall have the following powers- 1. To pay the costs, charges and expenses preliminary and incidental to the promotion, formation, establishment and registration of the Company. 2. To purchase or otherwise acquire for the Company any property, rights or privileges that the Company is authorized to acquire at such price and generally on such terms and conditions, as they think fit. 3.To pay for any property, rights, and privileges acquired by the company in cash or in shares of the Company and any such shares may be issued either as fully paid up or with such amount credited as paid up thereon as may be agreed upon. 4. To secure the fulfillment of any contract or engagements entered into by the Company by mortgage or charge on all or any of the property of the Company and its unpaid capital for the time being or in such other manner as they may think fit. 5. To accept from any member, on such terms and conditions as shall be agreed but subject to the provisions of the act, as surrender of his share or any part thereof. . To deal with any of the moneys of the Company not immediately required for the company's purpose in or upon such investments or securities (not being shares in this company) and in such manner as they may think fit, and from time to time to vary or realize such investments. They can also provide the employees with rewards and benefits as well as they can contribute establishment of schools, recreation centers and hospitals which will, the opinion of the Directors, tend to increase the reputation of the company among its employees and the public.WINDING UP If the company shall be wound up, the surplus assets shall (subject to any rights attached to special class of shares forming part of the share capital for the time being of the company) be applied first in the payment of the capital paid up on the ordinary shares and the excess (if any) shall be distributed among the members holding ordinary share in proportion of the member of ordinary shares held by them respectively at the commencement of the winding up.Almost all the required information of the company, according to the book that we have studied, are provided in the Article of Association of Cute Cosmetics but it fails to address certain issues that are required in the Article of Association of the company. The information that are not provided in the Articles of Association of Cute Cosmetics are- – The address of the persons responsible for the corporation’s legal service – The addresses of the first directors of the company – No other public information is provided in the article of association. It lacks the details of the duties and responsibilities of the officers and the length of their service. – There is no information regarding the issuance of the company’s stocks. – It lacks the matters regarding employment contracts. b) Advantages and disadvantages of the business: Advantages- * Seasonal Demand- Cute has more sales during winter due to high demand of moisturizers caused by the dry weather. * Environment – environment needed to produce cosmetic products is very favorable in Bangladesh as we hardly ever face extreme weather conditions. Demand – Though the upper class society stick to foreign cosmetic products still the demand for our products is constant as Cutes’ product is popular among rest of the societies and also the rural areas, giving the company a wide market. * Labor – Cheap labor is abundant in supply in our country giving Cute the advantage to lower its cost of production thus keeping the price of its product low compared to oth er company’s products. * Limited liability- Owners of the business are responsible for the losses only up to the amount they have invested in it. Perpetual life- Death of one or more owners does not terminate the corporation The advantages of a corporation, according to the book that we have studied, are described above but it does not address some of the advantages mentioned in the book. The advantages those are not included in Cute Cosmetics are- Ability to raise more money for investment- Cute Cosmetics is not enlisted in the Stock Exchange as it is a private limited company that is why it cannot raise more capital. Size- Size of the company does not play any role as they can’t raise more capital and they also lack resources that could rovide them competitive advantage over their competitors. Ease of ownership change- They lack the flexibility of transfer of shares as it is a complex process. Ease of attracting talented employees- they do not offer any stock options to their employees and this is why they cannot attract many talented employees. Separation of ownership from management- As the company is a private limited company their management is not separated from the ownership so both the management and owners get to interfere in the decision making process. Disadvantages- Raw Materials- As quality raw materials are not available in our country Cute is highly dependent on import * Double Taxation-Along with the corporation taxes, which are already very high, Cute also has to pay the taxes on imports. * Foreign Company Dumping- The dumping of foreign companies heavily affects the sales of Cutes’ products and is a threat in the long run. * Dissatisfied Labor-All throughout the production process, the labors are given the least priority resulting in dissatisfaction among them. * Utility Crisis- There is always an acute crisis of utility.For electricity, to meet the demands, now the company is dependent on private electricity suppliers f or which Cute has to pay four folds than regular price. * Political Issues- Due to the continuous political unrest, production processes slow down which affect the company very dearly. * Initial cost- To start up a new corporation it costs a lot as an initial investment. The disadvantages of a corporation, according to the book that we have studied, are described above but it does not address some of the disadvantages mentioned in the book.The disadvantages those are not included in Cute Cosmetics are- Size- In this case size does not count as a disadvantage as they can adapt to any changes occurred in the market. Difficulty of termination- There is difficulty of termination but aspects regarding these difficulties are not addressed properly. Possible conflict with stockholders and board of directors- The ownership of the company is limited amongst the directors and management so it is least likely that any conflict shall arise. 5. Products of Cute Cosmetics:Shaving Gear: Baby Care Products: Cute After Shave Skin Conditioner Cute Baby Lotion Cute After Shaving Lotion Cute Baby Oil Cute Shaving Brush Cute Baby Shampoo Cute Shaving Cream Cute Baby Powder Cute Solzar Cute Baby Moisturizing Pure Cream SoapWinter Products: Hair Care Products: Cute Cold Cream Cute Amla Hair Oil Cute 27 Cream Cute Coconut Hair Oil Cute Krack Cream Cute Shampoo Cute Glycerin Cute Anti Dandruff Shampoo Cute Pure Petroleum Jelly Herbal Hair Tonic International Vanishing Cream Cute International Cold Cream Cute Petroleum Jelly Cute Lip gel Cute PomadeSkin Care: Oral Care Products: Cute Cleansing Milk Cute Smokers Tooth Paste Cute Sun Shade Cute Gel Tooth Paste Cute Beauty Milk Cute Fluoride Tooth Paste Fragrances: Body Talc: Cute First Lady Cute French Perfumed Talc Cute Brutal (for men) Cute International Talc Cute Classic Cute 27 Cute Romance Cute Baby Powder Cute FantasyCute Romance Talcum Powder Cute Chandan Attar Cute Flower Talc Cute Basra-e-Golap Attar Laboni Powder Cu te Attar Cute France & prickly hit Powder 6. Industry Analysis: a) Major Competitors: The key competitors of Cute Cosmetics are Marico, Kohinoor and Lever Brothers Bangladesh. A brief discussion on them is given below- Kohinoor: Kohinoor Chemical Company Limited Bangladesh (KCCL) was established in 1956. It is a public limited company listed with both the bourses of Bangladesh, Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE). Most of the products of KCCL are known by legendary brand name Tibet. The other brands that KCCL has are Sandalina, Genstar, Bactrol, Ice-Cool, Fair & Care, Xpert, Heel Guard, and Clean Master which are equally famous in Bangladesh.To strengthen the marketing of KCCL, their management has rearranged the distribution system and revamped the Research and Development department of KCCL that will deliver quality product in Bangladesh also regional and overseas countries. KCCL has not only emerged into a potent industrial entity but also represents th e brand of mass people. Marico- Marico Bangladesh Limited (MBL) was incorporated in September 6, in 1999. The company is listed in both the stock exchange of Bangladesh, Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE). Their factory is situated in Mouchak, Kaliakoir, Gazipur. Their key products are Parachute, Saffola, Hair Code Hair Dye, Kaya Skin Clinic, New Aromatic Gold, Camelia Beauty Soap. MBL’s Products in Pure Coconut oil, Edible Oil, Hair care and Skin Care reach out to more than 500,000 outlets in Bangladesh.MBL touches the lives of 1 out of every 3 Bangladeshi through its portfolio of brands such as Parachute, Saffola, Hair Code, Aromatic, Camelia and Beliphool to name a few, most of which enjoy leadership positions (No. 1 in coconut oil segment), with significant market shares in respective categories. They believe in transforming the lives of our stakeholders be it our consumers, members, associates or shareholders, by helping them maximize their tr ue potential. This truly articulates the Mariconian spirit to ‘be more. every day’. Lever Brothers Bangladesh- Unilever started its onshore operations in Bangladesh in 1964 when its soap factory was set up at Chittagong.Unilever Bangladesh is market leader in 7 of the 8 categories it operates in, with 16 brands spanning across Home and Personal Care and Foods. Their operation provides employment to over 10,000 people directly and indirectly through its dedicated suppliers, distributors and service providers. 99. 8% of Unilever Bangladesh employees are locals and they also have a large number of Company employees working abroad in other Unilever companies as expatriates. The renowned products of Lever Brothers Bangladesh are- Pepsodent, Knorr, Wheel, Power White, Vaseline, Lux, Pureit, Fair & Lovely, Close up , Dove, Surf Excel, Sunsilk, Pond’s, Vim, Rexona, Lifebuoy, Taaza, Clear etc.Lever Brothers is also very well reputed brand name in our country and they have a mass coverage among the people with their products. b) SWOT analysis: Strength and weakness are internal factors caused by the company itself whereas the opportunity and threats are external factors caused by the market and competitors. Strength- * They have very modern machinery and ensured highest quality products with technical co-operation of the qualified chemists of the company and experts of the renowned foreign cosmetics products developers. * It has become a well known brand for the people of our country. * It mainly focuses on the lower income level people who can afford to buy the products and majority of the people of Bangladesh are lower income level people. It can afford cheap labor and can manufacture products at a very low cost. Weakness- * For raw materials they are dependent on the USA and European countries * As they have to import raw materials they have pay huge amount of tax on the imported goods therein increasing the overall tax liability of the company. * Impact of labor unions and strikes called by labors. Opportunity- * As it is a well known brand and has a market demand it can introduce new product lines and the people will embrace them. * They also export their products and are renowned internationally so they can introduce new products in foreign countries and the people will also embrace their products. If they can get more advanced machineries, they will be able to manufacture variety of products and gain a competitive advantage. Threats- * They have many competitors who have also become well reputed and have captured a great market share. * The similar products that are being produced by the competitors make consumers compare among available alternatives and they tend to choose the one with lower price. * If any new entrants come into the market with more advanced technology then they will get a competitive advantage over Cute Cosmetics. * The political unrest all over the country is a great threat for the company. * A great threat for Cute Cosmetics is dumping of the goods by the foreign companies to grasp the local market. 7. Conclusion:Cute Cosmetics has been established for a very long time, in fact the idea of manufacturing cosmetic locally was introduced by them. By providing a wide array of products to the mass people they have become one of the pioneers of their line of service. The competitors now have gained a great market share by their different types of product and services and Cute is facing a huge competition against them. Even though Cute has many advantages such as being one of the oldest companies being formed still they have to face uncertainties in case of being the market leader. Even though the disadvantages are negligible still they have certain impacts on the overall performance of the company.The information that we have collected about Cute Cosmetics has lacking regarding the promotional campaign and activities which hinder their growth. Also the threats that we have detected can have a negative impact over the company. We suggest that Cute should now focus more on the promotional activities so that they can grasp majority of the market. They should ensure more resources as well as more technologically sound machineries that will help them build competitive advantage. Despite the drawbacks they have maintained their reputation and standards and survived for a very long time in the ever changing market which is quite impressive. However to become the market leader they need to bring in some changes which will ensure their leadership in the market for long run.

Nursing Home Administration

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Economic Slump Outcome - Article Example The withdrawal of major clients and lack of suitable counseling made the employees to search for an alternative job. Attrition is inevitable because there is insecurity of job in the minds of most of the employees and the shattered company image adds more fervor to quit.Satyam employees are absorbed by companies who have acquired the lost projects of Satyam and there is scope of survival for them. If this attrition scenario continues, then Satyam cannot go on the revival phase and sustain its existence in the software industry. In Marketing, it is a mandatory process to focus on the ROI (Return on Investment) especially during the economic crisis phase. The above citation identifies solutions to sustain the credibility of the marketing process. The split focus on increasing revenue and improving accountability and optimizing the cost. Focus on online marketing is a success as most of the people prefer to shop at the doorstep. Creative production management focuses on improving the existing technique or process to a higher degree of efficiency involving less time and cost. Automation of selected equipments contributed largely to creative production management. ... Creative production management focuses on improving the existing technique or process to a higher degree of efficiency involving less time and cost. Automation of selected equipments contributed largely to creative production management. Saving the accessories, raw materials cost is an important aspect of marketing fulfillment. Elimination of marketing wastes also paves way for effective storage solutions. Finally the entire revival process during recession depends on one critical factor which is financial management. Financial Budgets for marketing should be decided with a proactive approach focusing on the balance between allocation of funds and the return on investment. Useful alert and monitoring techniques can value add to financial management. Citation 4 Weblink: www.hindu.com/2009/02/02/stories/2009020255121400.htm - 21k Review of Citation 4 Economic Slump affected the political stability as the government is unable to grant fresh tax concessions or allocate additional source of funds to the needy. There is a lot of brainstorming done on the additional expenditure impacting the growth of economy .Banks and financial companies were in a shaken state as they are unable to slash the loan interest rates and financial crunches and trends enlighten that the crisis will continue till end of September. Appropriate decisions can be taken only after minimizing the economic crisis. Citation 5 Weblink: http://www.hindu.com/2009/01/26/stories/2009012650691400.htm Review of Citation 5 Economic slump contributed to higher degree of financial crisis and it is a shocking fact that leading banks confessed on their financial losses and instability to function as a standalone embodiment. The root cause is the lending policy

Cancer pain in end of life cancer patients Research Paper

Cancer pain in end of life cancer patients - Research Paper Example The article has prepared a step by step, scientific methodology for pain assessment and intervention strategies and based on this methodology, has thoroughly examined the case and provided care as the multidisciplinary team went on recording and analyzing the interventions as well. The study has utilized a standardized scale to assess pain, used four basic approaches to pain relief that includes, â€Å"modify the source(s) of pain(s)(,) alter the central perception of pain(,) modulate transmission of pain to the central nervous system(,) (and) block transmission of pain to the central nervous system (Ferrel, Levy and Paice, 2008, p.575-577). It has also made use of approved methods of pharmacological management of pain including co-analgesic therapy (Ferrel, Levy and Paice, 2008, p.577). ... 2. Fayers, P.M., Hjermstad, M.J., Klepstad, P., Loge, J.H., Caraceni, A., Hanks, G.W. ...Kaasa, S. (2011), The dimensionality of pain: Palliative care and chronic pain patients differ in their reports of pain intensity and pain interference, Pain, 152 (7), 1608-20. This article has drawn attention to the importance of accurate assessment of pain in palliative care (Fayers et al., 2011, p.1608). This is observed in the context that different chronic pain patients report the intensity of pain in different degrees (Fayers et al., 2011, p.1608). This study has made use of quantitative methodology to assess pain in chronic pain patients and carried out a questionnaire survey of a sample of such patients. By carrying out a psychometric analysis of the data collected, this article has provided statistical information based on which, two main dimensions of pain have been identified, namely, â€Å"intensity and interference† (Fayers et al., 2011, p.1608). It is inferred that in order t o have a â€Å"higher-level summary measure of patient's pain experience†, the two dimensions, intensity and interference both have to be assessed in a distinct manner (Fayers et al., 2011, p.1608). Though this article does not directly deals with the proposed change put forth by this researcher, it provides crucial information on the nature and factor influencing reported pain in palliative patients. Yet, this article does not provide information on morbidity, mortality, and rate of incidence or rate of occurrence in the general population, of this problem. 3. Kumar, S.P. (2011), Reporting characteristics of cancer pain: A systematic review and quantitative analysis of research publications in palliative care journals,

Discussion Questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 18

Discussion Questions - Assignment Example For instance, if the government is gaining popularity due to youth employment policies, it likely that they would be re-elected back to office if they maintain the current and existing youth employment programme. It should be used in economic projections and political considerations when trying to gauge the direction of the flow of events as to whether the country is growing or not. Forecast refers to estimation about a future event. This is to say that it does not rely on the existing or current facts because the things or set of conditions that would determine such occurrence do not depend on the present happenings. For instance, the weather report is an example of a forecast mechanism. In principle, it does not matter that it is raining in the current time, in the next two days it may be a sunny day. Thus, future happening would be informed by future occurrences and happenings. Good collection strategy ought to encompass ability and impetus to retain the relationship and the affair that existed prior to the collection. This is to say that both parties should feel respected, satisfied and convinced about the eventual outcome of the collection process. In the human process and cycles, it may be emotional to force or to coerce a person say a friend to abide by the terms of the collection agreement. It would then mean and imply that the collector would be hurt because he or she would be forced to compromise his or her agreement and stance so as to accommodate the family ties or relationship or friendship. Thus, so as to realize the maximum and optimum collection points and strategies, it would be proper and imperative for the collector to engage a third party who would be neutral and new to all the parties involved. It would thus be safe to use services of a collection agency which would make sure there are no emotional involvements for any of the parties

Thematic Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Thematic Analysis - Essay Example The second reading was done more carefully, with an emphasis on understanding what the answers were. On the third reading, a different tact was taken by reading only the same question and answer from every transcript and noting the differences and the similarities of the participants’ answers. The interviews actually posed seven questions to the participants and needless to say, there were also seven answers corresponding to the questions. For example, the first question in every transcript for every interview is â€Å"How would you define your gender identity?† This question and the answers to them by the seven participants were the first items to be taken. To make the eventual classification of these answers easier, seven pieces of similar sized papers were used. In each piece of paper, the answer of the every participant was written. The same process was also observed for the next questions so that there were seven sets of papers corresponding to the answers of the seven questions, consisting of seven pieces of paper each for every interviewee’s answer. The papers were, of course, properly labeled and tagged as to the participant number and question number. To proceed with the process of the thematic analysis, the first question and therefore the first set of papers were studied. The answers were again read, noting particularly their similarities and differences. Answers with similarities were grouped together. For the first question, for example (i.e., How would you define your gender identity?), the answers were grouped together into three. Each group of answers for the first questions was scrutinised carefully and examined for their similarities. The next step was to give a label or tag to the similarities that underpin them. For the first set of answers, for example, the label of Sex was attributed because these answers equated their gender identity with the Sex that they were born with. The second set of answers for the first

The Life and History of Aristotle Essay Example for Free

The Life and History of Aristotle Essay Aristotle was born in 384 b. c. in the small town of Stagira on the northeast coast of Thrace. His father was the physician to the king of Macedonia. It could be that Aristotles great interest in biology and sci ence in general was nurtured in his early childhood as it was the custom, according to Galen, for families in the guild of the Asclepiadae to train their sons in the art of dissection. When he was seventeen years old, Aristotle went to Athens to enroll in Platos Academy, where he spent the next twenty years as a pupil and a member. At the Academy, Aristotle had the reputation of being the reader and the mind of the school. He was profoundly influenced by Platos thought and personality even though eventually he was to break away from Platos philosophy in order to formulate his own version of certain philosophical problems. Still, while at the Academy, he wrote many dialogues in a Platonic style, which his contemporaries praised for the golden stream of their eloquence. He even reaffirmed, in his Eudemus, the very doctrine so central to Platos thought, the doctrine of the Forms, or Ideas, which he later criticized so severely. There is no way now to reconstruct with exactness just when Aristotles thought diverged from Platos. Platos own thought, it must be remembered, was in process of change while Aristotle was at the Academy. Indeed, it is usually said that Aristotle studied with Plato during Platos later period, a time when Platos interests had shifted toward mathematics, method, and natural science. During this time, also, specialists in various sciences, such as medicine, anthropology, and archeology, came to the Academy. This meant that Aristotle was exposed to a vast array of empirical facts, which, because of his temperament, he found useful for research and for his mode of formulating scientific concepts. It may be, therefore, that the intellectual atmosphere of the Academy marked by some of Platos latest dominant concerns and the availability of collected data in special fields provided Aristotle with a direction in philosophy that was congenial to his scientific disposition. The direction Aristotle took did eventually cause him to depart from some of Platos doctrines, though the degree of difference between Plato and Aristotle is still a matter of careful interpretation. But even when they were together at the Academy, certain temperamental differences must have been apparent. Aristotle, for example, was less interested in mathematics than Plato and more interested in empirical data. Moreover, as time went on, Aristotles gaze seemed to be more firmly fixed upon the concrete processes of nature, so that he considered his abstract scientific notions to have their real habitat in this living nature. By contrast, Plato separated the world of thought from the world of flux and things, ascribing true reality to the Ideas and Forms, which, he thought, had an existence separate from the things in nature. It could be said, therefore, that Aristotle oriented his thought to the dynamic realm of becoming, whereas Platos thought was fixed more upon the static realm of timeless Being. Whatever differences there were between these two great minds, the fact is that Aristotle did not break with Plato personally, as he remained at the Academy until Platos death. Moreover, throughout Aristotles later major treatises, unmistakable influences of Platos thought are to be found in spite of Aristotles unique interpretations and style. But his distinctly Platonist period came to an end upon Platos death, when the direction of the Academy passed into the hands of Platos nephew Speusippos, whose excessive emphasis upon mathematics was uncongenial to Aristotle, for which reason, among others, Aristotle withdrew from the Academy and left Athens. It was in 348/47 b. c. that Aristotle left the Academy and accepted the invitation of Hermeias to come to Assos, near Troy. Hermeias had formerly been a student at the Academy and was now the ruler of Assos. Being somewhat of a philosopher-king, he had gathered a small group of thinkers into his court, and here Aristotle was able for the next three years to write, teach, and carry on research. While at Hermeias court, he married this rulers niece and adopted daughter, Pythias, who bore him a daughter. Later, when they had returned to Athens, his wife died and Aristotle then entered into a relationship with Herpyllis, which was never legalized but which was a happy, permanent, and affectionate union from which there came a son, Nicomachus, after whom the Nicomachean Ethics was named. After his three years in Assos, Aristotle moved to the neighboring island of Lesbos, settling there for the time being in Mitylene, where he taught and continued his investigations in biology, studying especially the many forms of marine life. Here he also became known as an advocate of a united Greece, urging that such a union would be more successful than independent city-states in resisting the might of Persia. Then, in 343/42 b. c. , Philip of Macedon invited Aristotle to become the tutor of his son Alexander, who was then thirteen years old. As a tutor to a future ruler, Aristotles interests included politics, and it is possible that it was here that he conceived the idea of collecting and comparing various constitutions, a project he later carried out by collecting digests of the constitutions of 158 Greek city-states. When Alexander ascended the throne after his father Philips death, Aristotles duties as tutor had come to an end, and after a brief stay in his hometown of Stagira, he returned to Athens. Upon his return to Athens in 335/34 b. c. , Aristotle embarked upon the most productive period of his life. Under the protection of the Macedonian statesman Antipater, Aristotle founded his own school. His school was known as the Lyceum, named after the groves where Socrates was known to have gone to think and which were the sacred precincts of Apollo Lyceus. Here Aristotle and his pupils walked in the Peripatos, a tree-covered walk, and discussed philosophy, for which reason his school was called peripatetic. Besides these peripatetic discussions, there were also lectures, some technical for small audiences and others of a more popular nature for larger audiences. Aristotle is also said to have formed the first great library by collecting hundreds of manuscripts, maps, and specimens, which he used as illustrations during his lectures. Moreover, his school developed certain formal procedures whereby its leadership would alternate among members. Aristotle formulated the rules for these procedures as he also did for the special common meal and symposium once a month when a member was selected to defend a philosophical position against the critical objections of the other members. For twelve or thirteen years Aristotle remained as the head of the Lyceum, not only teaching and lecturing, but above all formulating his main ideas about the classification of the sciences, fashioning a bold new science of logic, and writing his advanced ideas in every major area of philosophy and science, exhibiting an extraordinary command of universal knowledge. When Alexander died in 323 b. c. , a wave of anti-Macedonian feeling arose, making Aristotles position in Athens very precarious because of his close connections with Macedonia. As Socrates before him, Aristotle was charged with impiety, but, as he is reported to have said, lest the Athenians should sin twice against philosophy, he left the Lyceum and fled to Chalcis, where he died in 322 b. c. of a digestive disease of long standing. In his will he expressed sensitive human qualities by providing amply for his relatives, preventing his slaves from being sold and providing that some of his slaves should be emancipated. As with Socrates and Plato, Aristotles thought was of such decisive power that it was to influence philosophy for centuries to come. From the vast range of his philosophy, we shall consider some aspects of his logic, metaphysics, ethics, politics, and aesthetics. ETHICS Aristotles theory of morality centers around his belief that people, as everything else in nature, have a distinctive end to achieve or a function to fulfill. For this reason, his theory is rightly called teleological. He begins his Nicomachean Ethics by saying that Every art and every inquiry, and similarly every action and pursuit, is thought to aim at some good If this is so, the question for ethics is, What is the good at which human behavior aims? Plato had answered this question by saying that people aim at a knowledge of the Idea of the Good. For him this supreme principle of Good was separated from the world of experience and from individuals and was to be arrived at by the minds ascent from the visible world to the intelligible world. For Aristotle, on the other hand, the principle of good and right was imbedded within each person; moreover, this principle could be discovered by studying the essential nature of man and could be attained through his actual behavior in daily life. Aristotle warns his reader, however, not to expect more precision in a discussion of ethics than the subject-matter will admit. Still, just because this subject is susceptible of variation and error does not mean, said Aristotle, that ideas of right and wrong exist conventionally only, and not in the nature of things. With this in mind, Aristotle set out to discover the basis of morality in the structure of human nature. Types of Ends Aristotle sets the framework for his ethical theory with a preliminary illustration. Having said that all action aims toward an end, he now wants to distinguish between two major kinds of ends, which can be called instrumental ends (acts that are done as means for other ends) and intrinsic ends (acts that are done for their own sake). These two types of ends are illustrated, for example, in every action connected with war. When we consider step by step what is involved in the total activity of a war, we find, says Aristotle, that there is a series of special kinds of acts, which have their own ends but which, when they are completed, are only means by which still other ends are to be achieved. There is, for one thing, the art of the bridle maker. When the bridle is completed, its maker has achieved his end as a bridle maker. But the bridle is a means for the horseman to guide his horse in battle. Also, a carpenter builds a barrack, and when it is completed, he has fulfilled his function as a carpenter. The barracks also fulfill their function when they provide safe shelter for the soldiers. But the ends here achieved by the carpenter and the building are not ends in themselves but are instrumental in housing soldiers until they move on to their next stage of action. Similarly, the builder of ships fulfills his function when the ship is successfully launched, but again this end is in turn a means for transporting the soldiers to the field of battle. The doctor fulfills his function to the extent that he keeps the soldiers in good health. But the end of health in this case becomes a means for effective fighting. The officer aims at victory in battle, but victory is the means to peace. Peace itself, though sometimes taken mistakenly as the final end of war, is the means for creating the conditions under which men, as men, can fulfill their function as men. When we discover what men aim at, not as carpenters, doctors, or generals, but as men, we will then arrive at action for its own sake, and for which all other activity is only a means, and this, says Aristotle, must be the Good of Man. How shall the word good be understood? As Plato before him, Aristotle tied the word good to the special function of a thing. A hammer is good if it does what hammers are expected to do. A carpenter is good if he fulfills his function as a builder. This would be true for all the crafts and professions. But here Aristotle distinguishes between ones craft or profession and ones activity as a person. To be a good doctor, for example, did not for Aristotle mean the same thing as being a good person. One could be a good doctor without being a good person, and vice versa. There are two different functions here, the function of doctoring and the function of acting as a person. To discover the good at which a person should aim, Aristotle said we must discover the distinctive function of human nature. The good person, according to Aristotle, is the person who is fulfilling his or her function as a person. The Function of Man Aristotle asks, Are we then to suppose that while carpenter and cobbler have certain works and courses of action, Man as Man has none, but is left by Nature without a work? Or, if the eye, hand, foot and in general each of the parts evidently has a function, may one lay it down that man similarly has a function apart from all these? Surely, man too has a distinctive mode of activity, but what is it? Here Aristotle analyzes mans nature in order to discover his unique activity, saying, first of all, that mans end is not mere life, because that plainly is shared with him even by vegetables, and, says Aristotle, we want what is peculiar to him. Next there is the life of sensation, but this again manifestly is common to horses, oxen and every animal. There remains then an active life of the element that has a rational principle. .. if the function of man is an activity of soul which follows or implies a rational principle then the human good turns out to be activity of soul in accordance with virtue. Since mans function as a man means the proper functioning of his soul, Aristotle sought to describe the nature of the soul. The soul is the form of the body. As such, the soul refers to the total person. Accordingly, Aristotle said that the soul has two parts, the irrational and the rational. The irrational part in turn is composed of two subparts, the vegetative and the desiring or appetitive parts. For the most part, these are something contrary to the rational principle, resisting and opposing it. The conflict between the rational and irrational elements in man is what raises the problems and subject matter of morality. Morality involves action, for nothing is called good unless it is functioning. Thus Aristotle says that as at the Olympic games it is not the finest and strongest men who are crowned, but they who enter the lists, for out of these the prize-men are selected; so too in life, of the honourable and good, it is they who act who rightly win the prizes. The particular kind of action implied here, if one has in mind Aristotles analysis of the soul, is the rational control and guidance of the irrational parts of the soul. Moreover, the good man is not the one who does a good deed here or there, now and then, but the one whose whole life is good, for as it is not one swallow or one fine day that makes a spring, so it is not one day or a short time that makes a man blessed and happy. Happiness as the End Human action should aim at its proper end. Everywhere people aim at pleasure, wealth, and honor. But none of these ends, though they have value, can occupy the place of the chief good for which people should aim. To be an ultimate end an act must be self-sufficient and final, that which is always desirable in itself and never for the sake of something else, and it must be attainable by people. Aristotle seems certain that all people will agree that happiness is the end that alone meets all the requirements for the ultimate end of human action. Indeed, we choose pleasure, wealth, and honor only because we think that through their instrumentality we shall be happy. Happiness, it turns out, is another word or name for good, for like good, happiness is the fulfillment of our distinctive function; or, as Aristotle says, Happiness is a working of the soul in the way of excellence or virtue. How does the soul work to attain happiness? The general rule of morality is to act in accordance with Right Reason. What this means is that the rational part of the soul should control the irrational part. That the irrational part of the soul requires guidance is obvious when we consider what it consists of and what its mechanism is. Referring now only to the appetites, or the appetitive part of the soul, we discover first that it is affected or influenced by things outside of the self, such as objects and persons. Also, there are two basic ways in which the appetitive part of the soul reacts to these external factors, these ways being love and hate, or through the concupiscent and irascible passions. The concupiscent passion leads one to desire things and persons, whereas the irascible passion leads one to avoid or destroy them. It becomes quickly apparent that these passions or capacities for love and hate, attraction or repulsion, creation or destruction, taken by themselves could easily go wild. In themselves they do not contain any principle of measure or selection. What should a person desire? How much? Under what circumstances? How should he relate himself to things, wealth, honor, and other persons? We do not automatically act the right way in these matters; as Aristotle says, none of the moral virtues arises in us by nature; for nothing that exists by nature can form a habit contrary to its nature. Morality has to do with developing habits, the habits of right thinking, right choice, and right behavior. Virtue as the Golden Mean Since the passions are capable of a wide range of action, all the way from too little to too much, a person must discover the proper meaning of excess and defect and thereby discover the appropriate mean. Virtue is concerned with our various feelings and actions, for it is in them that there can be excess and defect. For example, it is possible, says Aristotle, to feel the emotions of fear, confidence, lust, anger, compassion, pleasure, and pain, too much or too little, and in either case wrongly. To feel them when we ought to, on which occasions, toward whom, and as we should is the mean; that is the best state for people to be in, and this is virtue. Vice, again, is either extreme, excess or defect, and virtue is the mean. It is through the rational power of the soul that the passions are controlled and action is guided. The virtue of courage, for example, is the mean between two vices: namely, cowardice (defect) and foolhardiness (excess). Virtue, then, is a state of being, a state apt to exercise deliberate choice, being in the relative mean, determined by reason, and as the man of practical wisdom would determine. Therefore, virtue is a habit of choosing in accordance with a mean. The mean is not the same for every person, nor is there a mean for every act. Each mean is relative to each person inasmuch as the circumstances will vary. In the case of eating, the mean will obviously be different for an adult athlete and a little girl. But for each person, there is nevertheless a proportionate or relative mean, temperance, clearly indicating what extremes—namely, gluttony (excess) and starvation (defect)—would constitute vice for that person. Similarly, when one gives money, liberality, as the mean between prodigality and stinginess, is not an absolute figure but is relative to ones assets. Moreover, for some acts there is no mean at all; their very nature already implies badness, such as spite, envy, adultery, theft, and murder. These are bad in themselves and not in their excesses or deficiencies. One is always wrong in doing them. Deliberation and Choice There are in the rational soul two kinds of reasoning. The first is theoretical, giving us knowledge of fixed principles or philosophical wisdom. The other is practical, giving us a rational guide to our action under the particular circumstances in which we find ourselves, and this is practical wisdom. What is important about the role of reason is that without this rational element, we would not have any moral capacity. Again, Aristotle stressed that although we have a natural capacity for right behavior, we do not act rightly by nature. Our life consists of an indeterminate number of possibilities. Goodness is in us potentially; but unlike the acorn out of which the oak will grow with almost mechanical certitude, we must move from what is potential in us to its actuality by knowing what we must do, deliberating about it, and then choosing in fact to do it. Unlike Plato and Socrates, who thought that to know the good was sufficient to do the good, Aristotle saw that there must be deliberate choice in addition to knowledge. Thus, Aristotle said that the origin of moral action—its efficient, not its final cause—is choice, and (the origin) of choice is desire and reasoning with a view to an end. There cannot be choice without reason. And again, intellect itself moves nothing, but only the intellect which aims at an end and is practical. Morality and moral choice imply human responsibility. If some ways of behaving are right and others wrong, it is necessary to discover why a person acts in a wrong instead of a right way. If we are to praise or blame, praise virtue and blame vice, a person must be truly capable of making a choice. Aristotle assumed that an act for which a person could be held responsible must be a voluntary act. A genuine choice is a voluntary action. But not all our actions are voluntary. Thus, Aristotle said that praise and blame arise upon such as are voluntary, while for the involuntary allowance is made, and sometimes compassion is excited. The distinction, as he saw it, between voluntary and involuntary acts was in general this: Involuntary acts are those for which a person is not responsible because they are (1) done out of ignorance of particular circumstances, (2) done as a result of external compulsion, or (3) done to avoid a greater evil. Voluntary acts are those for which a person is responsible because none of these three extenuating circumstances obtain. The Virtues In a general way we have already defined virtue as the fulfillment of mans distinctive function and as the mean between extremes. Another way to describe Aristotles concept of virtue is to consider each virtue as the product of the rational control of the passions. In this way we can combine all aspects of human behavior. Human nature consists for Aristotle not simply in rationality but in the full range covered by the vegetative, sensitive or appetitive, and the rational souls. Virtue does not imply the negation or rejection of any of these natural capacities. The moral man employs all his capacities, physical and mental. Corresponding to these two broad divisions in man there are two functions of reason, the intellectual and the moral, and each has its own virtues. There are accordingly intellectual virtues and moral virtues. The intellectual virtues are philosophical wisdom and understanding and owe their birth and growth to teaching and learning. Moral virtue comes about as a result of habit, whence comes the name ethics (ethike), formed by a slight variation from the word ethos (habit). All the moral virtues have to be learned and practiced, and they become virtues only through action, for we become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts. The cardinal moral virtues are courage, temperance, justice, and wisdom. In addition to these, Aristotle considered also the virtues of magnificence, liberality, friendship, and self-respect. And although he acknowledged the central role of reason as a guide to practical and moral action, he nevertheless concluded that philosophic wisdom is superior to practical wisdom, that contemplation is most likely to lead to happiness. Contemplation Aristotle concludes that if happiness is the product of our acting according to our distinctive nature, it is reasonable to assume that it is acting according to our highest nature, and that this activity is contemplative we have already said. This activity is the best, says Aristotle, since not only is reason the best thing in us, but the objects of reason are the best of know-able objects. Moreover, contemplation is most continuous, since we can contemplate truth more continuously than we can do anything. Finally, we think happiness has pleasure mingled with it, but the activity of philosophic wisdom is admittedly the pleasantest of virtuous activities. POLITICS In his Politics, as in his Ethics, Aristotle stresses the element of purpose. The state, as man, is endowed by nature with a distinctive function. Combining these two ideas, Aristotle says that it is evident that the State is a creature of nature, and that man is by nature a political animal. So closely does he relate man and the state as to conclude that he who is unable to live in society, or who has no need because he is sufficient for himself, must be either a beast or a god. Not only is man by nature destined to live in a state, but the state, as every other community, is established with a view to some good, exists for some end. The family exists primarily to preserve life. The state comes into existence in the first instance to preserve life for families and villages, which in the long run are not self-sufficing. But beyond this economic end, the function of the state is to ensure the supreme good of man, namely, his moral and intellectual life. Unlike Plato, Aristotle did not create a blueprint for an ideal state. Even though Aristotle viewed the state as the agency for enabling people to achieve their ultimate goals as human beings, he nevertheless realized that any practical theory of the state must take note of what kind of government is adapted to particular states [that] the best is often unattainable and that the legislator must be acquainted with which is best relatively to circumstances how a state may be constituted under any given conditions [and] how it may be longest preserved, concluding that political writers, although they have excellent ideas, are often unpractical. For these reasons, Aristotle had little patience with Platos most radical ideas. Ridiculing Platos arrangement for the abolition of the family for the guardian class and providing a public nursery for their children, Aristotle said that there is no reason why the so-called father should care about the son, or the son about the father, or brothers about one another. The communal ownership of property would likewise destroy certain basic human pleasures as well as engender inefficiency and endless disputes. Types of States Aristotle was willing to recognize that under appropriate circumstances, a community could organize itself into at least three different kinds of government. The basic difference among them is primarily the number of rulers each has. A government can have as its rulers one, a few, or many. But each of these forms of government can have a true or a perverted form. When a government is functioning rightly, it governs for the common good of all the people. A government is perverted when its rulers govern for their own private gain or interests. The true forms of each type of government, according to Aristotle, are monarchy (one), aristocracy (few), and polity (many). The perverted forms are tyranny (one), oligarchy (few), and democracy (many). His own preference was aristocracy, chiefly because even though ideally an individual of exceptional excellence would be desirable, such persons do not exist with sufficient frequency. In an aristocracy, there is the rule of a group of men whose degree of excellence, achievement, and ownership of property makes them responsible, able, and capable of command. Differences and Inequalities Because he relied so heavily upon his observation of things, it was inevitable that Aristotle would make some mistakes. Nowhere is this more true than in his estimate of slavery. Observing that slaves invariably were strong and large, he concluded that slavery was a product of nature. It is clear, said Aristotle, that some men are by nature free, and others slaves, and that for these slavery is both expedient and right. To be sure, Aristotle took great care to distinguish between those who become slaves by nature, a mode he accepted, and those who become slaves by military conquest, a mode he rejected. He rejected slavery by conquest on the highly defensible grounds that to overpower someone does not mean that one is superior to him in nature. Moreover, the use of force may or may not be justified, in which case enslavement could very well be the product and extension of an unjust act. At the same time, speaking of the proper treatment of slaves, he proposed that it is expedient that liberty should be always held out to them as the reward of their services. The fact is that in his own last will and testament, Aristotle provided for the emancipation of some of his slaves. Aristotle also believed in the inequality of citizenship. He held that the basic qualification for citizenship was a persons ability to take his share in ruling and being ruled in turn. A citizen had the right and the obligation to participate in the administration of justice. Since a citizen would therefore have to sit in the assembly and in the law courts, he would have to have both ample time as well as an appropriate temperament and character. For this reason, Aristotle did not believe that laborers should be citizens, as they had neither the time nor the appropriate mental development, nor could they benefit from the experience of sharing in the political process. Good Government and Revolution Over and over again Aristotle made the point that the state exists for the sake of mans moral and intellectual fulfillment. A state, he said, exists for the sake of a good life, and not for the sake of life only; also, the state is the union of families and villages in a perfect and self-sufficing life, by which we mean a happy and honourable life. Finally, he said, our conclusion is that political society exists for the sake of noble actions, and not mere companionship. Still, whether a state produces the good life depends upon how its rulers behave. We have already said that the perverted forms of government are distinguished from the true forms by this, that the good rulers seek to achieve the good of all, whereas the perverted rulers seek their own private gain. Whatever form a government has, it will rest upon some conception of justice and proportionate equality. But these conceptions of justice can bring disagreement and ultimately revolution. Democracy, as Aristotle knew it, arises out of the assumption that those who are equal in any respect are equal in all respects; because men are equally free, they claim to be absolutely equal. On the other hand, Aristotle said oligarchy is based upon the notion that those who are unequal in one respect are in all respects unequal. Hence, being unequal in property, they suppose themselves to be unequal absolutely. For these reasons, whenever the democrats or oligarchs are in the minority and the philosophy of the incumbent government does not accord with their preconceived ideas, [they] stir up revolution Here then are opened up the very springs and fountains of revolution. Aristotle concludes that the universal and chief cause of this revolutionary feeling [is] the desire of equality, when men think they are equal to others who have more than themselves. He did not overlook other causes such as insolence and avarice as well as fear and contempt. Knowing these causes of revolution, Aristotle said that each form of government could take appropriate precautions against it; for example, a king must avoid despotic acts, an aristocracy should avoid the rule by a few rich men for the benefit of the wealthy class, and a polity should provide more time for its abler members to share in the government. Another precaution is to guard against the beginning of change. Most important of all, Aristotle urged that there is nothing which should be more jealously maintained than the spirit of obedience to law. In the end, men will always criticize the state unless their conditions of living within it are such that they can achieve happiness in the form of what they consider the good life.

Promotion and sales and marketing techniques

Promotion and sales and marketing techniques Promotion and Sales:- The term Promotion and Sales are totally interdependent on each other. Promotion is a communication link between buyers and sellers. It is a function of informing, persuading, and influencing a consumers purchase decision. Promotional activities include: media advertising, direct mail, personal selling, sales promotion and public relations. A sale consists of marketing activities other than personal selling, advertising and public relations that stimulate consumer purchasing and dealer effectiveness. Sales promotion is a subset of promotion. In other words, sales promotion is not the same thing as promotion. Promotion is a much broader term. Promotion Mix:- The Combination of promotional activities an organization uses is called promotion mix . Integrated marketing communications (IMC):- Coordination of all promotional activities to produce a unified, customer-focused promotional message. Aim:-The main role of this assignment is to examine the role of Promotion and Sales and to find out market technique. In this assignment we are analyzing the following techniques: 1. Traditional elements of the promotion mix. 2. Advertising media. 3. Steps in Business to Business Selling. 4. Steps involved in setting up a public relations programme 5. Promotional techniques used to reach customers. Traditional elements of the promotion mix: Advertising Personal Selling Sales Promotion public relations Product Product Traditional Promotional Mix The Promotional mix works like a subset of the marketing mix, with its product, distribution, promotion, and pricing elements. With the promotional mix, the marketers attempt to create an optimal blend of various elements to achieve promotional objectives. The promotional mix requires a carefully designed blend of variables to satisfy the needs of a companys customers and achieve organizational objectives. Promotional Mix: Subset of the marketing mix in which marketers attempt to achieve the optimal blending of the elements of personal and non personal selling to achieve promotional objectives. I. Personal Selling :- is the oldest form of promotion. It is conducted on a person-to-person basis with the buyer. It involves the search for new prospects and follow up service after the sale. It is mainly face to face presentation and promotions of goods and services. Its more accurately described today as helping others satisfy their wants and needs. This direct form of promotion may be conducted: a. Face-to-face b. Telephone c. Videoconferencing d . Interactive computer links between buyer and seller Benefits of Personal Selling :- The benefit of personal selling is that there is a person there to help you complete a transaction. The sales person should listen to your needs, help you reach a solution and do all that is possible to make accomplishing that solution smoother and easier. 2. Non-personal Selling a. Advertising:- is any paid, non personal communication through various media about a business firm, not-for-profit organization, product, or idea by a sponsor Identified in a message that is intended to inform or persuade members of a particular audience. Advertising primarily involves the mass media, such as newspapers, television, radio, magazines, and billboards, but also includes electronic and computerized forms of promotion such as Web commercials, CDs and DVDs, and video screens in supermarkets. b. Product Placement:- a form of non personal selling in which the marketer pays a motion picture or television program owner a fee to display his product prominently in the film or show. Through their product gets so much popularity and they get the benefit from this. So this type of non personal selling is very good for their product placement. C. Sales Promotion:- consists of marketing activities other than personal selling, advertising and public relations that stimulate consumer purchasing and dealer effectiveness. Sales promotion is a subset of promotion. In other words, sales promotion is not the same thing as promotion. Promotion is a much broader term. Sales promotion provides a short-term incentive, usually in combination with other f forms of promotion, to emphasize, assist supplement, or otherwise support the objectives of the promotional program. For example, Restaurants, including fast food establishments, often place certain items on the menu at a lower price for a limited time only. Movie promotional tie-ins are a classic example. Movies are tied into food, drinks and restaurants. Sales promotion includes the following activities: 1) Displays, 2) trade shows, 3) coupons, 4) contests, 5) samples, 6) premiums, and 7) product demonstrations. Sales Promotion can be achieved both internally ( with in the company) and externally (outside the company) Public Relations and Publicity:- Public relations refer to a firms communications and relationships with its various publics. These publics include customers, suppliers, stockholders, employees, the government, the general public, and the society in which the organization operates. It is the management function that evaluates public attitudes and procedures in response to public request. Publicity is the marketing-oriented aspect of public relations. It can be defined as non personal stimulation of demand for a good, service, person, cause, or organization through unpaid placement of significant news about it in a published medium or through a favorable presentation of it on the radio, television, or stage. Of course, bad publicity can damage a companys reputation and diminish brand equity. Public Relations has three steps:- Listen to the public Change Policies and procedures Inform people that youre being responsive to their needs. Comparison of the Four Promotional Mix Elements Personal Selling Advertising Sales Promotion Public Relations Advantages Permits measurement of effectiveness Elicits an immediate response Tailors the message to fit the customer Reaches a large group of potential consumers for a relatively low price per exposure Allows strict control over the final message Can be adapted to either mass audiences or specific audience segments Produces an immediate consumer response Attracts attention and creates product awareness Allows easy measurement of results Provides short-term sales increases Creates a positive attitude toward a product or company Enhances credibility of a product or company Disadvantages Relies almost exclusively upon the ability of the salesperson Involves high cost per contact Does not permit totally accurate measurement of results Usually cannot close sales Advertising media Advertising is a form of communication intended to persuade an audience (viewers, readers or listeners) to purchase or take some action upon products, ideals, or services. It includes the name of a product or service and how that product or service could benefit the consumer, to persuade a target market to purchase or to consume that particular brand. These brands are usually paid for or identified through sponsors and viewed via various media. It is any paid, non personal communication through various media about a business firm, not-for-profit organization, product, or idea by a sponsor Identified in a message that is intended to inform or persuade members of a particular audience. Advertising primarily involves the mass media, such as newspapers, television, radio, magazines, and billboards, but also includes electronic and computerized forms of promotion such as Web commercials, CDs and DVDs, and video screens in supermarkets. Various types of Advertising media 1 Newspapers 2 Television 3 Radio 4 Magazines 5 Outdoors 6 Direct mail 7 Internet The above described media are classified according as retail advertising, trade advertising, business to business advertising ,institutional advertising, product advertising ,comparison and online advertising. Advantages of Advertising media It reaches a large group of potential consumers for a relatively low price per exposure. Allows strict control over the final message. Can be adapted to either mass audiences or specific audience segments. Disadvantages of Advertising media Does not permit totally accurate measurement of results Usually cannot close sales. Global advertising Advertising has gone through five major stages of development: domestic, export, international, multi-national, and global. For global advertisers, there are four, potentially competing, business objectives that must be balanced when developing worldwide advertising: building a brand while speaking with one voice, developing economies of scale in the creative process, maximizing local effectiveness of ads, and increasing the companys speed of implementation. Born from the evolutionary stages of global marketing are the three primary and fundamentally different approaches to the development of global advertising executions: exporting executions, producing local executions, and importing ideas that travel.[24] Advertising research is key to determining the success of an ad in any country or region. The ability to identify which elements and/or moments of an ad that contributes to its success is how economies of scale are maximized. Once one knows what works in an ad, that idea or ideas can be imported by any other market. Market research measures, such as Flow of Attention, Flow of Emotion and branding moments provide insight into what is working in an ad in any country or region because the measures are based on the visual, not verbal, elements of the ad. Steps in business to business Selling In business to business-selling, it is critical for the sales person to known the product well to know how the product compares to competitors s products. Such product knowledge is needed before the salesperson begin the selling process. Example of this is customer relationship management software (CRM).It is useful for establishing long term relationships with customers imagining you are a software sales person showing business user the advantages of various programs .It consists of Prospect and Quality Pre approach Approach Make Presentation Answer Objectives Close Sale Follow up 1.Prospect and Quality The first step is of prospecting. Prospecting involves researching potential buyers and choosing those most likely to buy. That selection process is called qualifying. To qualify people means to make sure that they have need for product, the authority to buy and the willingness to listen to a sales message. A person who meets these criteria is called a prospect. 2.Pre approach In this approach you must learn as much as possible about customers and their wants and needs. In this gathering the information before you approach the customer is critical. As we said an example of CRM selling you would know which people are likely to buy or use it. Approach In this the main idea is to give an impression of friendly professionalism, to create rapport,, to build credibility, and to start a relationship. Often the decision of whether to use a software package depends on reliable service from the salesperson. Make Presentation In the actual presentation of the CRM software, the idea is to match the benefits of your value package to the clients needs. Various companies provide sales proposal software that include everything from power point presentations to competitive analysis. During the presentation is a great time to use testimonal to Show potential buyers that they are joining leaders in others firms in trying this software. 5 Answer Objections You should anticipate any objections the prospect may raise and determine proper responses. Think of questions as opportunities for creating better relationships, not as challenges to what youre saying. Customers may have legimate doubts and you are there to resolve those doubts. Relationships are based on trust, and trust comes from successfully and honestly working with others. it. Close Sale As a salesperson, you have limited time and cant spend forever with one potential customer answering questions and objectives. A trial close consist of a question or statement that moves the selling process towards the actual close. As you can see, salespeople must learn to close many times before a long term Relationship is established. or relationships, not as challenges to what youre saying. Customers may have legimates doubts and you are 7.Follow Up The selling process isnt over until the order is approved and the customers is happy. The sales relationship may continue for years as you respond to new request for information. Salesperson realy needs to be providers of solutions to their customers and also needs to think about happen after the sale. The follow up step includes handling customers complaints ,making sure the customers questions are answered and quickly supplying what the customers wants. Steps involved in setting up a public relations programme Public relations refer to a firms communications and relationships with its various publics. These publics include customers, suppliers, stockholders, employees, the government, the general public, and the society in which the organization operates. It is the management function that evaluates public attitudes and procedures in response to public request. Public relation is defined as the management function that evaluates public attitudes ,request and procedures in response to the public s request, and executes a program of action and information to earn public understanding And acceptance. Publicity is the marketing-oriented aspect of public relations. It can be defined as non personal stimulation of demand for a good, service, person, cause, or organization through unpaid placement of significant news about it in a published medium or through a favorable presentation of it on the radio, television, or stage. Of course, bad publicity can damage a companys reputation and diminish brand equity. Public Relations has three steps:- Listen to the public: Public relation start with good marketing research. Change Policies and procedures : Businesses dont earn understanding by bombarding the public with propaganda, they earn understanding by having programs and policies and practices in their public interest . Inform people that youre being responsive to their needs: Its not enough to simply have programs in the public interest. You have to tell the public about those programs so that they know youre being responsive Public relations has more power to influence consumers because the message comes from source that is perceived as being more trustworthy. Advantages of Publicity: Creates a positive attitude toward a product or company Enhances credibility of a product or company Disadvantages of Publicity: May not permit accurate measurement of effect on sales Involves much effort directed toward non-marketing-oriented goals 5.Promotional techniques used to reach customers There are several Promotional techniques that encourage/stimulate customers to patronize a specific retail store or to try a specific product. These promotional techniques give various benefits/bonuses to customers and these are mainly classified as 1.Coupons: This is the most common technique which usually reduce the purchase price or offered as cash. Need to state the offer clearly and make it easy to recognize. 2. HandoutAwash in Coupons Looks at the volume of coupons (323 bn) and the poor redemption rate (less than 3%). Looks at more innovative media to deliver coupons (currently over 80% are delivered via the Sunday paper).in store by the products, as customers exit the store based on purchasesdiscussed delivering coupons to customers as they enter the store, using a card that swipes to indicate past purchases. Past buying behavior is the best predictor of future buying patterns Users only redeem coupons they would ordinarily purchase. 75% of the coupons are redeemed by consumers who would buy the brand already. . 3 Demonstrations: Excellent attention getters. Labor costs are usually high. 4. Frequent User Incentives: Major airlines, helps foster customer loyalty to a specific company. Credit card companies. Trading stamps-Co-ops back in England, foster retail loyalty. 5. Point of Purchase Display: Outside signs, window displays, counter pieces, display racks. 90% of retailers believe that point of purchase materials sell products. Essential for product introductions. Also with 2/3 of purchasing decisions made in the store, they are important. 6. Free Samples: Stimulate trial of product. Increase sales volume at the early stage of the product life cycle and obtain desirable distribution .Most expensive sales promotion technique. Not appropriate for mature products and slow turnover products. 7. Money Refunds/Rebates: Submit proof of purchase and mail specific refund, usually need multiple purchase for refund. Helps promote trial use, due to the complexity of the refund, it has little impact. Customers have a poor perception of rebate offered products. Used extensively in the Auto and Computer industry. 8. Premium Items: Offered free or at minimum cost as a bonus. Used to attract competitors customers,different sizes of established products. McDonalds Last summer the following tie-in premium programs. Casper with Pepsi, Pizza Hut, Choice Hotels Congo with Taco Bell Batman Forever with McDonalds, Kelloggs , Six Flags, Sears Pocahontas with Chrysler, Nestle, General Mills, Burger King Mighty Morphin with McDonalds Cents-off Offer: Strong incentive for trying a product-very similar to coupons, but are a part of the package. Consumer Contests and Sweepstakes: Consumers compete based on their analytical or creative skills. Must be accurate or you will anger customers/retailers. Sweepstakes are prohibited in some states. Conclusion From the above discussion of various Promotion and sales technique we conclude that promotion with advertising is a part of total system approach that lead to maketing principles. Promotion and sales are interdependent on each other. It helps to increase demand for the product with a view to increase the companys sale and profit.