Western Civ Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Western Civ - Essay Example Firstly, at the end of the British feudalism, after the 17th Century English Civil war, scientific knowledge and entrepreneurial skills quickly started growing in Britain creating an onset of the industrial revolution. Many people wanted things to change for the better. They wanted to improve efficiency and quality of activities they were doing. According to Pearson Education (2010), these people wanted improved transport; manufactured cloth to match with growing demographic needs; maximize agricultural production; agricultural produce to be preserved in the best way; trade to expand beyond the frontiers and others. As such, many people with scientific and entrepreneur skills engaged in heavy technological advancement. Scientists started inventing various technologies such as improved textile machines and the steam engine whilst entrepreneurial capitalists supported the inventions with funding. Such technologies later improved transportation, cloth manufacturing and agricultural prod uction. While this was happening in Britain, other countries had not yet started. Secondly, Britain had a very big advantage over the other countries on natural resources. She had a very big base of natural resources such as iron, copper, coal, lead, tin, limestone and water power. Such minerals were abundant in places such as the English Midlands, South Wales and Scottish Lowlands. Pearson Education (2010) agrees that advancement in technology, agriculture and abundant labor made it easy for Britain to extract the natural resources and use them to expand manufacturing. On the other hand, other countries had limited natural resources; and it was difficult to extract them because of several reasons such as insufficient capital, poor political systems and lack of labor. Such a situation gave Britain an opportunity to lead in industrial revolution. Thirdly, it should also be noted that aristocracy in continental Europe helped to

Program Review (Fresh Eyes) Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Program Review (Fresh Eyes) - Research Paper Example This review also determines how to avoid or mitigate these challenges during program process. All these points aim at enhancing success in implementing this program and, thus, achieving the required objectives and goals of the program. Program design is very essential in program implementation. This is because it acts as a guiding tool in the program implementation. According to Wiggins & McTighe (2005), designing of curriculum and learning experiences to meet specified purposes is an essential act of the teaching profession. Therefore, since this program revolves around the education profession, its design will involve crafting of curriculum and learning experiences. The crafting must be designed to help the program implementation team to achieve the objectives of the program. This crafting is not an easy task since it requires employment of both tactics and experience. It also requires teamwork since it would involve several individuals and stakeholders. Therefore, this is one chal lenge that would be encountered in the course of program implementation. Moreover, for the design chosen for a program to be successful, there are various education issues that it should address. According to Kelly & Melograno (2004, p. 8), â€Å"it must address issues of individualization, accountability, and effective practice.† Incorporating specific students’ needs on the program will address the issue of individualization. Enhancing competence of the people involved in the program will address the issue of accountability. On the other hand, ensuring that the program meets the required standards will address the issue of effective practice. Addressing these issues is not always easy since there are several limiting factors. Some of the limiting factors are learners’ learning styles, educators’ instruction style and the learning environment available. This might make addressing the issues identified to be difficult, thus, it is another challenge that m ight be encountered during implementation of the program. Different learners have different learning abilities and characteristics. This program will involve teaching education professions on effective research practice and management. Therefore, the audience for this program will be the education professionals regardless of area of specialization. Such an audience consists of adult learners only. One major characteristic of these learners is that they have other responsibilities in their life, which they consider more important than learning. As a result, they would be combining learning with their other activities, responsibilities, and duties that they have to undertake in their life. This might distract them from the learning process, thus, making them not fully dedicated to learning. The lack of dedication might hinder the learning process among these adult learners. Therefore, this is another challenge that might be encountered during the implementation of the proposed program . Time and resources are two essentials of any type of program implementation. This means that any type of a program implementation has to use a certain amount of time and resources. A major characteristic of these two is that they are limited in terms of availability. It is always difficult to find sufficient time and resources for implementation of any program. As a result, the resources and time available for program implementation must be maximally utilized. In this research, a challenge of having

Romantic God Child

Romantic God Child The Romantic period began in the mid-eighteenth century and lasted till about the mid-nineteenth century. It is characterized by a reaction against the Enlightenment and Neoclassicism centuries. They preferred the country to city and the natural instead of the planned. They write in a more free lyric; therefore, stimulating the language of the common people. They would emphasize in the individual, the subjective, the irrational, the visionary, and the transcendental. An easy way to think about the Romantic writers is they are natural. They also had many literary forms of writing: Gothic tales, sentimental comedies, sentimental novels, historical novels, serialized fictions, metrical romances, ballads, and lyrics. When discussing the lyric form there is different ways to write a lyric. One is the sonnet which is idealized with love, nature lyric that celebrates the majesty of nature, dramatic monologue is a speech of an individual character, reflective lyric is used for public or priv ate dignity which personal emotion is involved, and lyric of morbid melancholy expresses the sorrow and pain of bereavement. In William Blakes â€Å"The Chimney Sweeper†, both innocence and experience is a life lesson of a little boy. Blake is known for his traditional ballad style of writing. In his stories â€Å"The Chimney Sweeper† both innocence and experience, I find that they both have a turning in upon self and a heightened examination of human personality. Though it may not jump out at you, I found the children to be turning themselves to God. One turning towards God, and the other away. As a young child we are unsure about the truth about God and ourselves. We also will believe what we are told and anything we are told. In the innocence version of â€Å"The Chimney Sweeper† young Toms dream made him examine his life and turn himself to self, self being God. All Tom needed was a dream. In the occurrence of having this dream about his friends and seeing them in black coffins, and seeing an angel suddenly appear to free them. Tom knew then there is a God and he can and will see his friends again. As he wakes up the next morning he is a much happier boy, knowing that he will get the chance to have fun with Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack. Tom examined his life so he could go on living with a faith and knowing that he will be in heaven one day, by doing that he turned himself to self (God). As a young child all it took was a dream, but for an older adult it takes much more. As Tom grows-up I think his faith will grow much stronger. I would wonder why is that? We should h ave all have the faith like Tom did, in just a dream. It worked for Martin Luther King Jr. In the experience version of â€Å"The Chimney Sweeper† you will find a different story and a different type of faith. As you walk down the snowy street you will find and young boy doubting his faith in self and complaining about his life. He says that he may act happy to his parents but he is not. He does not like how his parents dress him or what they make him learn, but he acts happy to them. This little boy blames his unhappiness on God. The one that his parents go into the church to worship while he must sit outside and smile and act happy all dressed in clothes of death. This little boy is examining himself, but also others around him, comparing himself to the other children playing and having fun. This young boy is turning himself away from God. And as this young man grows his faith in God will only seize to become more hateful. Even though people may view and look upon the Romantic period as love stories and heroes, it is like anything else in life, it is not what it seems. The Romantic times also had their dark times and talked of unhappiness. Still they had their own taste in literature, they spoke more modern, more natural or you could say more down to earth. They relied more on themselves and what happens in the everyday life, not a crazy imagination. Their thought began with their feelings and test for truth was an inner test. I think that Blake shows us all how the true test is within. That we must examine our lives and faith in God before anything else. That without God we will be like the little boy in the experience version of â€Å"The Chimney Sweeper† and we will blame God for everything, even the things that we should not.

Strength of Character More Important than Masculinity Essay -- About M

As boys grow into men, many struggle with what makes real men. This struggle often dramatically changes the young person. This struggle is greatly exacerbated by the media’s portrayal of men. Gretel Ehrlich’s â€Å"About Men† deals with the stereotypical image of men and what real men are like. Richard Wright’s â€Å"The Man Who Was Almost a Man† shows a young man who feels so derided by everyone thinking of him as a boy that he buys a gun to make himself more powerful. Tim O’Brien’s â€Å"The Things They Carried† is about a group of soldiers who all have different methods of coping with their own emotions at the death of a comrade. The media, Hollywood being one of the main culprits, often depicts true men as being tall, dark, and physically strong. They don’t feel pain and are able to fight, either with their hands or weapons. They are often emotionally hardened, not showing tenderness. The media presents men as â€Å"macho, [and] trigger happy.† (Ehrlich 127). This presents serious problems for young boys who are starting to mature into men. Young men are often told to be tough and to man up. Many boys are taught that crying is for girls and are called cry-babies if they do cry. This is incredibly hard on young guys who compare themselves to men like Sylvester Stallone or Arnold Schwarzenegger and see absolutely no resemblance. These boys are often troubled by a growing insecurity from contrasting themselves to the unrealistic image of men. The insecurity spawned by this idolatry of the machismo can lead young guys to resort to drastic measures in order to be recognized as men. In â€Å"The Man Who was Almost a Man,† Dave Sunders, a seventeen-year-old African-American in the years after the Civil War, says that â€Å"he was going to get a gun and prac... ...ood but is open to many more men than just the ones who are physically strong and daring. Since manliness is a presence of character, there is a growing need in society, in families, and in government for real men. There is a call for men to become more, to always grow in qualities like love, gentleness, self-control, and selflessness. These qualities are not like clothes. A man with these character traits can earn the respect of many, regardless of his age or physical aptitude. Works Cited Wright, Richard. â€Å"The Man Who Was Almost a Man.† The River Reader,2nd ed. Natalie Danner. New York: Pearson, 2010. 144-154. Print Ehrlich, Gretel. â€Å"About Men.† The River Reader, 2nd ed. Natalie Danner. New York: Pearson, 2010. 127-129. Print O’Brien, Tim. â€Å"The Things They Carried.† The River Reader, 2nd ed. Natalie Danner. New York: Pearson, 2010. 320-334. Print

Kiwi Mart Case Study Essay

Answer 1. Strategic sourcing is the major tools and technology in supply chain management and it delivers cost reductions and other offers and advantages. It will make strategic sourcing different from a traditional sourcing. This sounds the most strategic supplier relationship that is based on cost and there is an ability to create new business with technological advances. In the past, the organization was usually focused on tactical functions such as processing of purchase orders, checking the status of delivery and this might contribute to corporate responsibility. Various important approaches like engineering driven approaches and selection of supplier processes lead to the number of suppliers at premium prices. It reduces cost of sourcing, helps in achieving low cost. Plexet has a reliable and valued suppliers and Plexet used to maintain long term supplier relationship, especially with large retail chain known as Kiwi Mart. The purchasing of Kiwi Mart acquired more than 4000 container cases at the discount rate of 4 percent from Plexet. It has decided to benefit with the discounted price rates and selling of high quantity containers. With the selling of 400 container cases at the wholesale price rate, the deal gets negotiated within 3 months. This has helped Kiwi Mart to resolve the challenges such as inventory challenges and other issues with Auckland Kiwi Mart. Just after the negotiation, the head of the Kiwi Mart purchase department had been contacted by Chinex and they offered more than 7 percent discount on more than 5000 container cases of different products such as good seal products. The deal was too strong and good with different orders. The purchasing manager was not aware of the situation and it had a complete line of sizes and quantities with respect to every product. Thus, it has been decided to help and resolve the adjustment of the product line. The purchasing department of Kiwi Mart focu sed on addressing several issues such as potential inventory crisis and it is securing the amount of supply with the recent acquisition of cheaper products. Strategic sourcing is the first thing that is combined with the strategic supplier management and there is the effective day to day purchasing with the outcomes of supply chain management. The organization is able to create and develop new advantages with better and effective roles as well as relationship. It chooses the innovation and leads to the marketplace with strategic efforts on sourcing. This way, the purchase department of Kiwi Mart will be able to develop  strong goals and objectives with respect to communication and suppliers would be able to promote interaction with high opportunities and well defined communication to complete the things in a right manner. This way, they can build strong competitive advantage and opportunity to reduce challenges and complexities and to standardize the possible supply chain strategies. Therefore the purchasing department will be able to reduce the cost to more efficient and effective process and it will be able to deliver better process. Answer 2. There should have successful partnership with long term commitment and it encourages in investing improvements in supply chain to mutual advantages. Thus, it will build and improve long term commitment with the form of collaborative framework partnership with the involvement of business to business relationship and it will meet the expectations in terms of goals and objectives. Answer 3. Plexet will adopt the just in time approach to production to improve the business with reduction on in-process inventory and carrying cost. It will focus on continuous improvement and it will help to achieve employee involvement and high quality. Answer 4. The implementation of inventory system in Kiwi Mart and Plexet will help to organize the distribution software and it will create a cohesive inventory for organization system. It will maintain the balance and inventory with the track of sales of the product and inventory.

Enager Industries Ltd Essay

Introduction Enager Industries Ltd (Enager) was a relatively young company whom manufactured and produced products/services within three divisions- Consumer Products, Industrial Products and Professional Services. Consumer Products, the oldest among the three divisions in Enager, designed, manufactured and marketed a line of houseware items. Industrial Products built one -of -a- kind machine tools to customer specifications. Professional Services, the newest among the three, provided several kinds of engineering services and this division had grown rapidly because of its capability to perform â€Å"environmental impact† studies. Each division was treated as an essentially independent company but all new project proposals requiring investment in excess of $1,500,000 had to be reviewed by the Chief Financial Officer, Henry Hubbard. Analysis Carl Randall, Enager’s president, had transformed the three distinctly separate divisions from being treated as profit centers into investment centers in 1992 at the urging of Henry Hubbard. The change enabled the three divisions to use ROA (Return on Assets) as a performance measure of the success of each division. The ROA was defined to be the division’s net income divided by its total assets the division used to generate its profits. The net income for a division was calculated by taking the division’s â€Å"direct income before taxes†, subtracting the division’s share of corporate administrative expenses and its share of income tax expenses. On the other hand, the total assets of a division was calculated by taking the division’s assets, including receivables and the allocated corporate-office assets, including the centrally controlled cash account, based on the basis of divisional revenues. In addition, all fixed assets were recorded at their balance sheet values- original cost less accumulated straight line depreciation. Based on these calculation techniques, the sum of divisional net income and assets were equal to the corporate net income and assets respectively. Hubbard believed that a company like Enager should have a gross return on assets, defined as equal to earnings before interest and taxes divided by assets, of at least 12 percent, given the interest rates the company had had to pay on its debt. He told each division manager that  the division was to try to earn a gross return of 12 percent and new investment proposals would have to show a return of at least 15 percent in order to be approved. The company had managed to increase its ROA from 5.2 percent to 5.7 percent and its gross return from 9.3 percent to 9.5 percent from 1991 to 1992. However, several issues arose with regard to this new method. First, there was a problem occurred between Sarah McNeils, the product development manager of Consumer Products Division, and Hubbard while her new proposal demonstrated a return of thirteen percent (calculated in Exhibit 1) at different point of selling prices and units, however, it was rejected by Hubbard because it did not meet the 15 percent return he had set for all divisions. Another problem that arose within Enager was between the Industrial Products Division, and the president. The problem occurred when the president was unsatisfied with the ROA of Industrial Products Division and tried to put pressure on the general manager of the division. A conflict arose between them when the division manager argued that the division could have achieved a better ROA if they had a lot of old assets as Consumer Products Division did. Furthermore, in 1993, ROA fell from 5.7 percent to 5.4 percent and gross return dropped from 9.5 percent to 9.4 percent. However, at the same time, return on sales rose from 5.1 percent to 5.5 percent and return on owners’ equity also increased from 9.1 percent to 9.2 percent. Comparing the performance based on ROA in this year, Professional Services Division exceeded the 12 percent gross return target; Consumer Products Division’s gross ROA was 10.8 percent; the Industrial Products Division’s gross ROA was only 6.9 percent. The president was disappointed and puzzled about the results of ROA in 1993. I recognize that these problems were mainly resulted from inefficient use of ROA (Return on Assets) as a performance measurement method in Enager. Firstly, the president and the CFO should not set a target gross ROA rate of  15 percent for three different divisions that were obviously operating in different industries–Consumer Products Division produced a line of high volume low cost houseware items; Industrial Products Division was a large â€Å"job shop† who built one-of- kind machine tools to customer specifications, and Professional Services mainly provided engineering services. The three divisions had different amount of assets, nature of business and profitability and it is unreasonable to compare them with a fixed target rate of ROA. Second, the executives were making a mistake by using balance sheet values when calculating the fixed assets of each division. This had disadvantaged the divisions that contained more new assets with lesser depreciation values since ROA would be reduced due to a larger denominator resulted from higher values in assets. The president did not understand the comment from the manager of Industrial Products Division about the older a division’s assets would result in a higher ROA. And it was unfair to measure a division’s success based on the age of a division’s assets, and consequently, this would frustrate the manager in a division with a lot of new assets. Third, it was unreasonable to allocate corporation’s assets and expenses to divisional assets and net income based on revenue generated by the division. For example, if Professional Services Division was earning more than other two divisions, Professional Services’ return would be reduced by this inaccurate allocation method while more allocated corporate expenses would decrease the numerator and more allocated corporate assets would increase the denominator of the ROA calculation, subsequently, the ROA would not fully reflect division’s true performance. Recommendation and ImplementationCurrently, Enager is using ROA as a method of performance evaluation of the three divisions. As previously illustrated, this is an inefficient use of ROA since total divisional assets and net income are influenced by varying components. ROA in its current form does not paint an accurate picture of the overall performance of the company. For example, division contains more assets is obviously disadvantaged since their ROA would be subsided by a larger amount of denominator. In addition,  the company could not yield the highest revenues by setting a benchmark ROA rate in which all divisions are encouraged to attain. For example, McNeils’ proposal was rejected because it did not meet the 15 percent return required by Hubbard. However, McNeil’s proposal demonstrates a return of 13 percent, and favourable residual income at any point under the 13 percent Weighted Average Capital Cost. Enager had missed the opportunity to increase the earnin gs per share of the company due to incorrectly setting a target rate for all three divisions. The company could choose an alternative measure of divisional performance such as Balanced Scorecard. Balanced Scorecard is a performance measurement system which measures a division’s activities in terms of its goals and strategies rather than a ratio like ROA. The management could obtain a broad-based view of the performance of a division from both divisional financial and non financial elements. In establishing the Balanced Scorecard, executives must choose a mix of measurements that accurately reflect the important factors that will determine the success of the divisional strategy; show the relationships among the individual measures in a cause-and-effect manner; and provide a comprehensive view of the current condition of the division. The Balanced Scorecard promotes a balance among different strategic measures in an effort to achieve goal congruence, thus fostering employees to act in the organization’s best interest. If Enager were to use Balanced Scorecard, divisions would be able to have the same profit objectives by focusing on the same goals of the company but not just focusing on a fixed target return rate. For example, by introducing Balanced Scorecard, this would allow McNeils to carry out her proposal that would benefit the company as a whole but may have a lowering impact on her divisional ROA. Another advantage of Balanced Scorecard, unlike ROA, is that the comprehensive value of the division is reflected in this method. This allows executives of Enager to better compare between divisions operated in different industries since the performance measurement system takes different perspectives such as financial, customer, internal business and innovation of the division into account. After analyzing the two alternatives I recommend that Enager implement  Balanced Scorecard method for their division performance measures. I feel that ROA reduces the comparability between divisions, limits expansion for the company and the individual divisions, and consequently it does not provide fair performance measurements for divisions and the company. For example, ROA fell from 5.7 percent to 5.4 percent from 1992 to 1993 but at the same time, return on sales rose from 5.1 percent to 5.5 percent and return on owners’ equity also increased from 9.1 percent to 9.2 percent. This suggests that ROA does not fully depict the true performance of the company. Balanced Scorecard, on the other hand, is a better method for Enager for assessing divisional performance because it effectively depicts performance from financial and non-financial perspectives. This is a better measurement method for Enager especially its divisions were operating in different industries. Furthermore, Balanced Scorecard promotes goal congruence because divisions will not only be working to better themselves, but the decisions that are made will benefit the company as a whole. ConclusionEnager Industries Ltd was a relatively young company whom manufactured and produced products/services within three divisions. The company was using ROA method in assessing divisional performance. There were a few problems and conflicts arose within the company due to inefficient use of ROA. Switching to Balanced Scorecard will help Enager obtain stronger goal congruency while alleviating some inefficiency in performance measure created by ROA. Robert N. (2007). â€Å"Management Control Systems†. McGraw-Hill: New York. American Accounting Association Financial Accounting Standards Committee. (2003, June). Implications of Accounting Research for the FASB’s Initatives on Disclosure of Information about Intangible Assets. Accounting Horizons, 17, 175-185. Retrieved January 19, 2007 from ABI-Inform. http://0-proquest.umi.com.darius.uleth.ca:80/pqdweb?did=356893801&sid=1&Fmt=3&clientId=12304&RQT=309&VName=PQDUpton, W.S. (2001, April). Business and Financial Reporting: Challenges from the New Economy. FASB Financial Accounting Series Special Report No. 219-A. Retrieved September 6, 2006 from

Free Marketing Mix Economics Esay

Free Marketing Mix Economics Esay Marketing Mix Marketing mix is a set of variables that can be run and put in place by marketing managers to effectively satisfy the needs of every target customer in a particular selected niche. A typical marketing mix constitutes a product, offered at a specific pre-determined price, with some promotion to let the target customers know information about the product, and a mode in which the product will be able to reach the customers place (Perreault McCarthy 2009). This paper delves deeper into description of the four elements that make up the marketing mix; product, place, promotion, and price, normally referred to as the 4Ps in the marketing world. Into the bargain, the four major elements of the marketing mix will be conversed with the intention of making a clearer understanding of its functions. There are different variables in the market that play part solely for the purpose of making a single sale. The customers themselves cannot be manipulated in the making of the sales, but the sales are affected by setting the right prices for the products. It makes them available to the customers whenever they need the products, advertisement or the product attributes. If these variables are well interpreted and used effectively, the result will be successful. It means that very efficient marketing mixes in a company will improve its sales margins. Scientifically, the variables are interdependent tools that can be used to solve any marketing problem. 2. Elements of Marketing Mix As I have explained in the introductory phrases of this paper, marketing mix is the terminology commonly used to depict the combination of the four inputs: the product, the price structure, the promotional activities that include advertisement, and the distribution system that a company uses to hunt the necessary level of desired amount of sales in the target market. 2.1 Product The products aspects of marketing are concerned with the specifications of the actual goods or services, and how best it relates to the end-user's wants and needs, normally referred to as the consumer or better still the customer. The scope of a product generally entails supporting elements, such as guarantees, warranties and support. The product mix entails many variables, which include the product line and range. This depends on the companies ability to produce a wide range of products for its target customers. This is what ultimately leads to product differentiation since many products will be designed to suit all the customers needs. Hence, a wide range of products will be subsequently produced. The style, design, colour, shape, quality and other physical features of a product are also paramount. This will affect the way the consumers will welcome the product in the market and affect its volume of sales. Packaging and labelling of a product are also factors to be considered when it comes to the individual goods. They have to be made in an attractive way as not to compromise the efforts made to boost the sale of that particular commodity. Another factor that is usually never overlooked is the branding attributed to a particular product. Branding affects the target market in a major way, showing how it will rela te to the product. A product with a huge and widely acknowledged brand name has a higher sales volume when compared to that with no distinct brand name. The other most important things in the promotion of the products are the production servicing and innovation. A product can be categorized in any of the following levels: The actual product, which has attributes and features exclusively to satisfy the customers needs and wants (e.g. iPhone from Apple). The core product, which satisfies customers needs while providing a benefit in addition to the primary intention for which it was created for (e.g. efficient technology). The augmented product offers supplementary services that aid to generate multiple revenues, e.g. accessories for iPhone. This is the non-physical attribute of the product, which adds certain value to the main product. A very good example of an augmented product is an extension of a warranty on a purchased iPhone. This is also a major study area for this paper and I will delve into this issue after I have efficiently exhausted on the four Ps of marketing. The product element is factored into companies marketing mix by answering certain questions that include actual customers demands from the particular product or service. What qualities will the product have to meet the consumers requirements? How and where will the product be used? What does the product look like and how will it be experienced? What should the name of the product be and how will it be branded? How will the product be differentiated from items of consumption created by competitors (Mind Tools 2011)? 2.2 Promotion Promotion is the second element of the marketing mix, and could be viewed as the most imperative as it relates to the communication process of marketing a product. What, when and where the consumer hears, knows, or gains knowledge about a product will greatly impact the buying decisions made by the target customers. There are certain aspects of promotional communication that can be put in place and integrated as required for maximum marketing results: Personal Selling. A well-trained sales representative acts as an agent of the company and develops personal customer relationships. Sales Promotion. This could include coupons, introductory offers, free accessories, or anything outside of personal selling, public relations and public selling. Public Relations. This is the predetermined, deliberate, and maintained effort of a company to institute mutual understanding with the general public and its customers. Direct Mail. This promotional aspect typically makes use of an informational database to the target customers, and the organizations take time to carefully monitor the responses and effectively act on them in order to ensure almost perfect satisfaction of the customers needs and wants. Trade Fairs and Exhibitions. Undertaking these activities provide good networking and exposure opportunities, where the company can lay out all its products and highlight on the features that will mostly attract the customers. Advertising. Product awareness is effectively achieved through purchased communication avenues, such as newspapers and televisions, as well as magazines. This is very important platform for letting the public in on the products provided by a company. Most, if not all, of the households in every state have access to either a television or radio or daily newspapers, hence these sources are clearly acknowledged as very effective advertising and marketing tools. Sponsorship. An organization pays for its name to be associated with a specific event, image or cause. Whenever a sales manager sits down to draft a promotion plan for a company, there are certain questions that he or she will have in mind before creating the final promotion plan for a certain product. Such questions include, when and where can the message be communicated to the target market? Will radio, TV, or billboard advertisements reach the target audience? Will public relations, direct mailings, or the Internet be effective in communicating to potential customers? When should the promotion campaign begin? Are there seasonal or environmental factors to consider? How will promotion choices be reacted to by competitors, if there is any at all (Mind Tools 2011)? Appropriate selection of the right time, target audience, and venue for promotions is indispensable to marketing triumph. Preferring an integrated combination of internet, TV and radio advertisements, sales promotion and direct mail, Verizon has again proven its strategic marketing intelligence by becoming the first of its competitors to promote nation-wide broadband network, successfully establishing the Verizon brand (Verizon 2011). 2.3 Price Price is the third and definitely defining element of the marketing mix. There are various ways to apply pricing strategies to make a product scintillating to the consumers; however, there are the four main pricing strategies that I will describe in depth; Premium pricing. This strategy makes use of an elevated price on the basis of the uniqueness of the product or when there is a significant competitive advantage for the seller of that particular commodity. Penetration pricing. This is the type of low-balling strategy that is often used to gain a certain niche of the whole market share. Subject to product success, the product price increases to improve profitability margins for the seller. Economy pricing. The seller keeps the manufacturing and marketing costs at a regulated minimal level and offers a no-frills low price for the product. The seller is not bent on making a large amount of profit, but just enough as to recover the inputs put in the production of the goods or services. Price skimming. When a seller has a substantial competitive advantage, the introductive price is high; however, as the product draws more competitors, pricing decreases due to increased product availability (Semenik Bamossy 1995). In estimating price of a product or service, an organizational manager develops a pricing strategy that attempts to answer crucial questions that include the value of the product or service to the customer. Have prices already been established for the product or service in the area of business? Is the set price competitive with other sellers in the same business line? Is the set price sensitive to suit the economic needs of the consumers in a particular market niche? How can the selling cost be best managed to make the product reasonably priced to customers and at the same time guarantee profitability for the company (Mind Tools 2011)? Other strategic approaches to pricing include psychological pricing, which elicits an emotional consumers response versus a rational one. Verizons can you hear me now? campaign was triumphant in tackling cell phone customers dissatisfaction with dropped calls. Product line pricing is yet another effective approach that emphasizes the benefits of a range of related products or services. Pricing is of prime importance since it gives the consumer a clear mindset on the quantifiable value of the product in question. Thus, if it is underpriced, the consumer may discard the product as being of little or absolutely no value. 2.4 Place The fourth and certainly defining element in the marketing mix is place or placement. This is the mechanism and modes put in place to move products or services from the producer to the customer. It can also be referred to as the distribution channel, or intermediary. The products can get to the customers through various channels. Nevertheless, there are six basic channel decisions that include selling directly to customers or indirectly through a distributor or wholesaler or both. The producers can also sell through single or multiple channels of distributions depending on the target market. The producer should consider the number of intermediaries that he or she is willing to work with in order to put multiple channels into effect. There are certain distribution considerations that should be made in response to the placement of a product. Such queries include where exactly are targeted consumers looking for the product or service? What type of venue would be best to avail the produc ts; in what kind of store, shop, online, or as representations in a catalogue? Is the consideration of whether a sales force is direly needed of prime importance? Should samples be distributed in order to try to direct the clients attention to the target market? Would the attendance of trade fairs and exhibitions be beneficial to the company? These are some of the very crucial questions that a marketing manager should have looming in their thoughts while coming up with an effective product placement (Armstrong Kottler 2005). With help of the augmented product model, I will use examples of two companies to illustrate the importance of the segmented product model. The core product of Lipton Peach Ice Tea is a soft drink with a benefit to quench thirst. It also has a fundamental benefit of social acceptance as there may be a national perception that those who drink Lipton Peach Ice Tea are cool and awesome. Also, the ice tea is very convenient as it is easily bought and managed. The augmented product of Lipton Peach Ice Tea provides a number of additional services. The most obvious is the Lipton website that contains nutritional details and the health benefits of the product. There is also Liptons tea and health club where club members can have a newsletter sent to their home addresses or even emails detailing information about tea and health (Kottler et al. 2007). In addition to this, there is also the E-store which organizes specific Lipton Peach Ice Teas to be home delivered for extra convenience. Lastly , there are deals at supermarkets with special discounts, such as 2 for 1 or savings on the purchase. These are some of the benefits that the Lipton Ice Tea tags along with its consumption. The other company I will closely analyze is the corporation known as American Express Platinum Credit Card, which involves many additional services. With the use of its credit cards, the customer is in a position to use travellers cheques, which makes international travels more convenient as it allows the customer to avoid the tiresome and overwhelming hassle of exchanging money in each country. Another additional service is travel insurance as there is increased financial security for the customer with regards to property safety, accommodation, etc. Lastly, the American Express Platinum Credit Card is able to be personalized with different images for gift cards. Conclusion In conclusion, it is quite clear that when developing marketing strategies, all decisions affecting the four Ps should be made subsequently since they are all interdependent. The four elements are the most important. This is because the products, places, prices, and promotions of an organization surround the most significant element: target consumers (Perreault McCarthy 2009). Apparently, every marketing manager should put all the four Ps into consideration in order to coin the best marketing mix that can be used effectively as a tool to penetrate different target market niches. This is the secret weapon behind the success of each company.