Contemporary Directions in Marketing an Example of the Topic Business Essays by

Contemporary Directions in Marketing by Expert Prof Nelly | 01 Aug 2016 Globalization of world economy is making a great impact on the way marketing strategies are carried out worldwide. For at least twenty years now there has been vast growth in global advertising, which is targeted primarily at an average global consumer, irrespective of the culture he belongs too. By means of global advertising, multinational companies attempt to generate standard brand images in all countries. Need essay sample on "Contemporary Directions in Marketing" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed In the meantime, they hope to save financial and marketing resources through relying on the uniformity of strategies and addressing to only a few international advertising agencies, responsible for the creative part. However, the faster the pace of globalization is getting, the more doubt appear that such a unified target consumer does exist and the more emphasis is laid on a more local perspective. The current paper seeks to summarize the recent research in the area, published after the year 2000, so as to consider the changing share in the use of standardization and localization vehicles as approaches in global marketing. The title of the article Advertising Localization Overshadows Standardization (2002) by Ali Kanso and Richard Nelson is suggestive in itself revealing the main tendency to the localization of action in global marketing. The researchers conducted a survey among the American and non-American advertising executives in the Swedish and Finnish subsidiaries of multinational corporations to find out what is the ratio of standard and local approaches and whether cultural sensitivity depends on the nationality of the manager. Overall, the authors distinguish between three schools of thought as far as the issue of global marketing is concerned: standardization, localization, and compromise. While the proponents of standardization claim that the world is becoming a common marketplace, which leads to the uniformity of an average consumer worldwide, their opponents who cling to localization state that advertisers have to consider insurmountable barriers among countries. They aredifferences in cul ture, taste, media infrastructure, and economic development, and consumers' resentment of international corporations' attempts to homogenize their differing tastes and cultures. Given these considerations, it becomes necessary to design specific advertising programs to achieve impact in local markets Finally, there has been a growing group of scholars who believe that none of the previously mentioned approaches is either possible or effective. Thus, they try to redefine the basic concepts by differentiating between prototype and pattern standardization. Under prototype standardization, as it has been historically understood, the international firm in various countries would use the same advertisements or campaigns with the only differences being appropriate translations and a few idiomatic changes. On the other hand, under pattern standardization--a trend that seems now to be a more flexible form of standardization--the campaign, including the overall theme and individual components, is originally designed for use in multiple markets (Kanso&Nelson ,2002) The authors of the study seem to support the compromise approach in its pattern version and confirm their opinion by the relevant findings. Thus, for example, of the 73 firms that use standardized messages in varying degree, 40 s aid they either modify copy and illustrations to fit their markets, or they change all materials except the central theme. Twenty-five respondents claimed they translate messages and make idiomatic changes, four reported literal translation of messages, and four others indicated they use standardized messages in the original language of the country where corporate headquarters are located. Based on the distinction that was reported in the literature between two types of standardization, the findings suggest that subsidiaries tend to lean more toward the use of pattern standardization than the use of prototype standardization. Other findings show the importance of cultural factor. Thus, the advertising executives evaluated the main obstacles they face in the following way (5 being of the highest importance): cultural differences, differences in consumers' lifestyles, language diversity, variations in worldwide market infrastructure, and government regulations of advertising media These results show that following prototype standardization would be a risky and inflexible approach. The managers are becoming more culturally aware (Americans who were accused of being insensitive follow the tendency to the same degree). The study by Nan Zhou and Russell W. Belk Chinese Consumer Readings of Global and Local Advertising Appeals (2004) consider the same controversy between localization and globalization but using a different method, which they call reader-response approach. The authors justify the choice of method by the discrepancy, which often occurs between the intended message of advertising and the way consumers actually understand it. As a result of their research, the scholars found out that it is largely due to a group of goods, which approach to stick to because the implications are different. The outcome shows that global appeals are read as signaling beauty, status, and cosmopolitanism, whereas local appeals are read as evoking Chinese cultural values or nationalistic feelings ( Zhous why the first approach is acceptable in the promotion of the so-called status or luxury goods. Average Chinese consumers cannot afford many foreign products, but they can still envy and yearn for the higher sta ndards of living of Western countries. This has been termed "imagined cosmopolitanism. Consumption of Western things is in fact perceived as separation of those who are successful from those who are not. Beauty and technology industries are those win the Chinese consumers by applying global appeals. On the other hand, Chinese tend to stick to their authentic national values while buying such goods as food, medicines, non-alcoholic beverages and so on. These products seem to be perceived as belonging to the realm of national conventions, which have strong historical roots, whereas everything foreign is seen as stylish and beautiful but at the same time superficial. There is another peculiar finding which was received as a result of the experiment. The point is, in many cases, people do not recognize which brand is home and which is local. This confusion proves that the terms global and local no longer pertain to the spatial or even national sphere but only reflect the choice of marketing strategy. Finally, the study conducted by Susan H.C. Tai and Y.H. Wong Advertising decision making in Asia: "Glocal" versus "Recall" approach focuses on the whole Asian region, constituted by such countries as China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. The focus of the article is on decision-making and to what extent it is made by the international office or is shifted to the local one. The key concept which runs through the whole paper is a newly-coined blending glocalization, which to my mind continues the trend, which was traced in the above studies. As the authors claim, the concept of "Glocalization" started with the realization that Asia was not 'westernizing' but in fact was 'modernizing'. The key to the modernization of consumer markets is their ability to adapt incoming influences and blend them into the fabric of their identity, not adopt the foreign influence wholesale. Globalization is much more than the simplistic "think global, act local" but requires identifying the degree to which needs and the stimuli which trigger them are universal or local.The method, which was used to conduct the research, is the following one: structured questionnaires were mailed to marketing directors at the headquarters of the multinationals or their subsidiaries in the markets of the above-mentioned countries. On the basis of the results, the researchers developed a scale method of assessment, which takes into account the degree of localization and standardization. Thus, four decision-making approaches are distinguished: Global Approach (Centralized Decision Process, Standardized Advertising Approach). A firm with a higher degree of centralized decision making is more likely to adopt a standardized advertising approach. The example of the company who follows this strategy is the Swiss company L'Oreal S.A., whose main reasons for the centralized process are to have consistent offers available to consumers worldwide and to keep both advertising agencies and clients working more closely together. Local Approach (Decentralized Process, Differentiated Approach). The companies are localized as far as advertising is concerned, but the subsidiary needs to gain final approval from their headquarters (Tai total demand and market share vary from market to market. Thats; why local subsidiaries have the right to decide what marketing strategies to follow.Between the two extreme approaches, there are two, which can be considered as compromised ones. Regal Approach (Centralized Process, Regional Approach). The "Regal" approach is made up of "red" (regional) and "cal" (local); that is, it uses a local adaptation on a regional basis (Tai&Wong, 2002) There can be given an example of Carlsberg beer, which runs a corporate image campaign in Asia and carries out worldwide sponsorship activities. It means that the strategy is up to the headquarters, whereas the tactics are left to the local subsidiaries. Glocal Approach (Decentralized Process, Standardized Approach). This approach is a combination of the "Glo" (global) and "cal" (local) approaches. The headquarters develops global campaigns for its major brands and the local offices may or may not follow these proposals because they are responsible for their own profit and loss accounts. The headquarters has declared that advertising standardization is not a compulsory company policy, but a consequence of their joint headquarters-distributor decision making. This approach is successfully applied by such known companies as Coca-Cola and Henkel, which rely on the local budget most of all. The reviewed studies, which focus on the issue of standardization and globalization of advertising on the world market may vary in approach but have much in common in the findings. First, it is evident that standardization proper is scarcely possible. Even if such term is applied, the shift is from the prototype to pattern standardization is traced. Second, the prevailing majority of companies prefer a mixed variant to any extreme bias to either standardization or localization as modern conditions demand extra flexibility as far as marketing strategies are concerned. The creation of such indicative blendings as globalization and regal reflects an important trend in global marketing, which seeks to take into account a wider number of criteria. Third, barriers to standardized advertising programs continue to be very high. Managers of subsidiaries perceive cultural considerations, differences in consumers' lifestyles, variations in market infrastructure, and government regulations to be major impediments. Fourth, a general paradox about globalization is repeated on the marketing level: in an increasingly globalizing world, the national and cultural identity is getting increasingly important. Thats why the cultural aspect should no way be ignored even by global monsters like Coca-Cola. Fifth, geographical closeness doesnt guarantee the possibility of the unified approach for the whole region (like Sweden and Finland), Implementing regionally standardized campaigns in neighboring countries seems to be more a bother than a benefit when stumbling upon such varying media infrastructures and clashing message considerations. Sixth, in the rapidly developing economies, notions of status, cosmopolitanism, fashion, modernity, and beau ty are more apt to be changed by advertising that are more culturally ingrained notions of national identity, national pride, food, face, family, filial loyalty, and respect for the elderly. Overall, the tendency towards flexibility, cultural sensitivity and compromise is being demonstrated, which shows that global economy is entering the stage of maturity. Reference: Buckley, Peter J., and Pervez N. Ghauri. .2004, "Globalisation, Economic Geography and the Strategy of Multinational Enterprises." Journal of International Business Studies , vol.35, no.2, p. 81+. Kanso, Ali, and Richard Alan Nelson. 2002,"Advertising Localization Overshadows Standardization." Journal of Advertising Research , vol.42, no.1, pp. Onkvisit, Sak, and John J. Shaw. 1999,"Standardized International Advertising: Some Research Issues and Implications." Journal of Advertising Research , vol.39, no.6, pp. Tai, Susan H.C., and Y.H. Wong. 2002, "Advertising Decision-Making in Asia: "Glocal" versus "Recall" Approach." Journal of Managerial Issues , vol.10, no.3,pp. 318+. Zhou, Nan, and Russell W. Belk.2004, "Chinese Consumer Readings of Global and Local Advertising Appeals." Journal of Advertising, vol. 33, no.3, pp.63+

Free Essays on Computer Viruses

Computer Viruses A computer virus is an illegal and potentially damaging computer program designed to infect other software by attaching itself to any software it contacts. In many cases, virus programs are designed to damage computer systems maliciously by destroying or corrupting data. If the infected software is transferred to or accessed by another computer system, the virus spreads to the other system. Viruses have become a serious problem in recent years, and currently, thousands of known virus programs exist (Reed 85-102). Three types of viruses are boot sector virus, file virus, and Trojan horse virus. A boot sector virus infects the boot program used to start the system. When the infected boot program executes, the virus is loaded into the computers memory. Once a virus is in a memory, it can spread to any floppy disk inserted into the computer. A file virus inserts virus code into program files. The virus then spreads to any program that accesses the infected file. A Trojan horse virus (named after a Greek myth) hides within or is designed to look like a legitimate program. Some viruses interrupt processing by freezing a computer system temporarily and then displaying sounds or messages. Other viruses contain time bombs or logic bombs. A time bomb is a program that performs an activity on a particular date. A logic bomb is a program that performs an activity when a certain action occurs, such as an employee being terminated. A worm, which is similar to a virus, copies itself repeatedly until no memory or disc space remains. To detect computer viruses, antivirus programs have been developed. Besides detecting viruses, antivirus programs also have utilities to remove or repair infected programs and files. Some damaged files cannot be repaired and must be replaced with uninfected backup files. The table below outlines some techniques used to protect computer systems. Table Techniques for Virus Protection and System Back... Free Essays on Computer Viruses Free Essays on Computer Viruses Computer Viruses A computer virus is an illegal and potentially damaging computer program designed to infect other software by attaching itself to any software it contacts. In many cases, virus programs are designed to damage computer systems maliciously by destroying or corrupting data. If the infected software is transferred to or accessed by another computer system, the virus spreads to the other system. Viruses have become a serious problem in recent years, and currently, thousands of known virus programs exist (Reed 85-102). Three types of viruses are boot sector virus, file virus, and Trojan horse virus. A boot sector virus infects the boot program used to start the system. When the infected boot program executes, the virus is loaded into the computers memory. Once a virus is in a memory, it can spread to any floppy disk inserted into the computer. A file virus inserts virus code into program files. The virus then spreads to any program that accesses the infected file. A Trojan horse virus (named after a Greek myth) hides within or is designed to look like a legitimate program. Some viruses interrupt processing by freezing a computer system temporarily and then displaying sounds or messages. Other viruses contain time bombs or logic bombs. A time bomb is a program that performs an activity on a particular date. A logic bomb is a program that performs an activity when a certain action occurs, such as an employee being terminated. A worm, which is similar to a virus, copies itself repeatedly until no memory or disc space remains. To detect computer viruses, antivirus programs have been developed. Besides detecting viruses, antivirus programs also have utilities to remove or repair infected programs and files. Some damaged files cannot be repaired and must be replaced with uninfected backup files. The table below outlines some techniques used to protect computer systems. Table Techniques for Virus Protection and System Back... Free Essays on Computer Viruses In the past decade, computer and networking technology has seen enormous growth. This growth however, has not come without a price. With the advent of the "Information Highway", as it's coined, a new methodology in crime has been created. Electronic crime has been responsible for some of the most financially devastating victimizations in society. In the recent past, society has seen malicious editing of the Justice Department web page (1), unauthorized access into classified government computer files, phone card and credit card fraud, and electronic embezzlement. All these crimes are committed in the name of "free speech." These new breed of criminals claim that information should not be suppressed or protected and that the crimes they commit are really not crimes at all. What they choose to deny is that the nature of their actions are slowly consuming the fabric of our country's moral and ethical trust in the information age. Federal law enforcement agencies, as well as commercial computer companies, have been scrambling around in an attempt to "educate" the public on how to prevent computer crime from happening to them. They inform us whenever there is an attack, provide us with mostly ineffective anti-virus software, and we are left feeling isolated and vulnerable. I do not feel that this defensive posture is effective because it is not pro-active. Society is still being attacked by highly skilled computer criminals of which we know very little about them, their motives, and their tools of the trade. Therefore, to be effective in defense, we must understand how these attacks take place from a technical stand-point. To some degree, we must learn to become a computer criminal. Then we will be in a better position to defend against these victimizations that affect us on both the financial and emotional level. In this paper, we will explore these areas of which we know so little, and will also see that comp uters are really extensions ...

Niccol Paganini Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Niccol Paganini - Essay Example His father helped him to learn the basic lessons in music, especially to play mandolin. Gradually, he lost interest in mandolin and selected violin. But Paganini gained mastery in playing violin and his father decided to introduce him to famous musicians. To be specific, Paganini was able to learn more from renowned teachers, named as Gasparo Ghiretti and Ferdinando Paer. Both these teachers deeply influenced his composition style. Later, Paganini traveled to different cities like Livorno, Lucca, and Florence. Besides, he conducted concert tours in different parts of Europe like Vienna, Germany, Bohemia etc. So, these concert tours helped him to gain critical acclaim as a violinist and music composer. In addition, he used to play modified versions of music by other composers. Mai Kawabata states that, â€Å"The aura of Paganini in the popular imagination as a ‘demonic’ violin virtuoso, a mysterious figure hovering in a grey area between reality and myth, has not changed greatly in nearly two hundred years† (1). On the other side, his health condition was bad because he suffered from syphilis and tuberculosis. There is less information on his marital relationship, but one among them is his relationship with a vocalist who is named as Antonia Bianchi. But Paganini provided less interest to gain legal approval to this relationship. Still, he looked after their son, named as Achilles Cyrus Alexander. Paganini was succumbed to death in the year 1840. One can see that the mastermind behind Paganini’s success as a music composer and as violinist is his father. Besides, he used to travel a lot and this helped him to be in touch with other musicians/composers. He did not depend upon other composers, but used to compose excellent musical notes by his own. This sort of self-reliance helped him to be the torchbearer of innovation within violin technique. On the other side, he did not provide ample importance to careerism because he was aware of the

Interpretation of Laws in the United Kingdom Essay

Interpretation of Laws in the United Kingdom - Essay Example This paper declares that the literal rule demands that the judiciary should use the ordinary meaning of a statute by merely reading the text irrespective of the outcomes. The rule is based on the assumption that the objective of Parliament is well captured in the plain and natural sense of the choice of words is uses in drafting a statute. As the report stresses the case of Fisher v Bell magnifies the superiority of the literal rule. The court’s decision was inspired by the literal meaning of The Restriction of Offensive Weapons Act 1959, which outlawed the offering for sale of select offensive weapons such as flick knives. James Bell created a display of such unlawful weapons in his shop, prompting his arrest and charges. In its decision, the Divisional Court absolved him of any offense as per the literal meaning of the statute, arguing that the mere display of the knives by the defendant did not amount to an offer for sale. The plain meaning of the contract law stipulates that displaying something at a point of sale should not be misconstrued to mean an offer for sale; rather it is just a mere invitation of potential customers to learn more about the item and tender their offers. The literal rule has merits and demerits. It limits litigations, promotes clear drafting of legislations and enhances easier interpr etation of laws by laymen provided they can understand the language used. Nonetheless, the literal rule may lead to interpretation of legislations out of context and narrowing of the parameters of a law. The golden rule Greeawalt (2012) has pointed out that the golden rule requires judicial members to give life to the literal rule so as to achieve a better interpretation of the law. The rule states that in the event that the literal rule fails to yield a proper meaning of a law, it is rational to explore another sense in the words. Lord Wensleydale in the case of Grey v Pearson (1857) HL Cas 61 is credited with creating a precedent when he stated that the literal meaning of an Act should be read and construed as it is, but if by doing so, a judicial officer would face an absurdity, then the person should modify the literal value of the text (Wagner, Werner, and Cao, 2007). The golden rule was invoked in the case of Adler v George (1964) to prevent an absurdity in court. The Official Secrets Act 1920 Â § 3, outlaws any distraction to the HM Forces around a forbidden base. Frank Adler’s violated the law and was charged with causing distraction to the officers. In his defence, Adler argued that he was actually inside a prohibited place and not in its vicinity.

A Synthesis of Current Literacy Theories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

A Synthesis of Current Literacy Theories - Essay Example As a result, many scholars have different views on the concept of literacy, which leaves the common person more confused. Indeed, although the term ‘literacy’ is seemingly easier to understand by everybody, it has unfortunately proved to be complex and dynamic concept to interpret or even define. As such, we have many educational theorists, scholars, and newspaper editors defining the concept literacy. In the ancient times, literacy only referred to the ability of a person to read and write at an adequate level of proficiency that would enable them to communicate with others (TakingITGlobal, 2012). However, in the recent times, there is no mutually satisfactory measure of what adequate literacy means. As such, this paper will refer to various scholarly sources in addressing the various theories of literature, the issues that relate to literacy, and an analysis of literacy. Additionally, the paper will elaborate, synthesise, and analyse various perspectives on literacy. F urthermore, the paper will discuss the implications of the application of these perspectives to learning in vocational education and training centres. More so, the paper will analyse the various ways that teachers and trainers can apply the concept of literacy to learning in vocational education and training. Some scholars refer to literacy, as the quality or state of being literate or simply being able to read and write. On the other hand, others associate literacy with creative writing or just having knowledge or competence. Moreover, other educational theorists introduce the aspect of visual literacy in understanding the concept of literacy. As such, they relate visual literacy to the ability to recognize and understand ideas conveyed through visible actions or images. However, according to the National Institute for Literacy, The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 defines literacy as â€Å"an individual's ability to read, write, speak in English, compute, and solve problems at le vels of proficiency necessary to function on the job, in the family of the individual and in society†Ã‚  (Valenzuela,2002). Additionally, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization thinks there is more to literacy than just being a set of technical skills of reading, writing, and calculating (United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe, 2012). We may need to consider the factors that influence the multiple understandings of this concept. Notably, academic research, institutional agendas, national context, cultural values, and personal experiences influence individuals understanding on the concept of literacy. Indeed, there are four discrete understandings of literacy that include literacy as an autonomous set of skills, literacy as text, literacy as a learning process, and literacy as applied, practised and situated (Education for All Global Monitoring Report, 2006).The four understandings significantly incorporate almost all theore tical understandings of literacy. However, the most common understanding of literacy is as a set of cognitive skills that involve reading, writing, and oral skills. However, it is worth noting that despite the multiple definition of literacy, the literacy levels vary between the developed and developing nations. Indeed, the rate of literacy in the developed nations is much higher than in the developing nations. Nevertheless, there is a worldwide mission to eradicate illiteracy in the world.

Mergers and Acquisitions in Pharmaceutical Industry

Mergers and Acquisitions in Pharmaceutical Industry Businesses grow externally by acquiring, or combining with, other ongoing businesses. When two companies combine, the acquiring company generally pays for the acquired business either with cash or with its own securities, and the acquired companys liabilities and assets are transferred to the acquiring company. A merger is technically a combination of two or more companies in which all but one of the combining companies legally cease to exist and the surviving company continues in operation under its original name. A consolidation is a combination in which all of the combining companies are dissolved and a new firm is formed. The term merger is generally used to describe both of these types of business combinations. An acquisition is also used interchangeably with merger to describe a business combination. 1.1 Types of Merger Mergers are generally classified according to whether they are horizontal, vertical, or conglomerate. A Horizontal merger is a combination of two or more companies that compete directly with one another. A vertical merger is a combination of companies that may have a buyer-seller relationship with one another. A conglomerate merger is a combination of two or more companies in which neither competes directly with the other and no buyer-seller relationship exists. 1.2 Form of Merger Transactions A merger transaction may be a stock purchase or an asset purchase. The acquiring company buys the stock of the to-be-acquired company and assumes its liabilities. In an asset purchase, the acquiring company buys only the assets (some or all) of the to-be-acquired company and does not assume any of its liabilities. Normally, the buyer of a business prefers an asset purchase rather than a stock purchase, because unknown liabilities, such as any future lawsuits against the company, are not incurred. 1.3 Joint Ventures Some companies who dont want to merge are choosing an option of joint ventures. In joint venture two (unaffiliated) companies contribute financial and/or physical assets, as well as personnel, to a new company formed to engage in some economic activity, such as production or marketing of a product. 2.0 Pharmaceutical MA Mergers are not new in the pharmaceutical industry; however, in last few years there is lot of heat at the level of pharmaceutical merger activity and many firms are using joint ventures and strategic partnerships to develop and market new products. The pharmaceutical industry is highly regulated, extremely complex, and filled with financial and economic challenges and points of interest. Finance managers in the industry are faced with many issues including; managed care, insurance, reimbursement, patents and generic competition, licensing, royalties, co-promotions, joint ventures, co-marketing rights, high risk and high cost research and development, parallel import issues, and international regulations. These issues need to be explored in an effort to understand the reasons for the industrys current structure and how that structure is driving increased consolidation through mergers and acquisitions. The pharmaceutical industry is by most standards a mature industry and highly profitable for those companies lucky enough to develop blockbuster medical treatments which are patent protected for lengthy periods to help companies recover their research and development investments. The pharmaceutical industry has experienced a high rate of MA activity in the 1980s and 1990s. Most of the leading firms in 2003 are the result of one or more horizontal mergers for example, GlaxoSmithKlines merger includes GlaxoWellcome and SmithKline Beecham; Pfizer is the combination of Pfizer, Warner-Lambert, and Pharmacia, which included Upjohn. 3.0 Reasons for MA To increase market share   To gain control of a blockbuster drug   existing or potential   To gain entry into a high growth therapeutic area   To enhance RD productivity   Access to new technology platform   To expand Geographic scope Patent expiration Pipeline Stuffing At pharmaceutical firms both large and small, profits are under constant pressure because blockbuster drugs that have made immense profits for many years eventually lose their patent protection and face vast competition from generic versions. In the U.S., generic drugs now hold between a sixty and seventy percent market share by volume. This puts pressure on large research based drug firms to develop new avenues for profits. One such avenue is partnerships with and investments in young biotech companies, but profits from such ventures will, in most cases, be slow to appear. Meanwhile, the major, global drug firms are investing billions in-house on biotech research and development projects, but new blockbusters are elusive. For example, Pfizer historically invested about $7.8 billion yearly on RD. That money is invested in carefully designed research programs with specific goals. As of early 2010, Pfizer had about 500 projects in development, with 133 of those in Phase I trials or beyond. Biologic drugs accounted for 27 projects under development, and they were part of the firms invest to win areas that focus on potential blockbuster drugs. Much of the future success for the worlds major drug companies will lie in harnessing their immense financial power along with their legions of salespeople and marketing specialists to license and sell innovative new drugs that are developed by smaller companies. There are dozens of exciting, smaller biotech companies that are focused on state-of-the-art research that lack the marketing muscle needed to effectively distribute new drugs in the global marketplace. To a large degree, these companies rely on contracts and partnerships with the worlds largest drug manufacturers. In addition to money to finance research and salespeople to promote new drugs to doctors, the major drug makers can offer expertise in guiding new drugs through the intricacies of the regulatory process. While these arrangements may not lead to blockbuster drugs that will sell billions of pills yearly to treat mass market diseases, they can and often do lead to very exciting targeted drugs that can produce $300 mi llion to $1 billion in yearly revenues once they are commercialized. A string of these mid-level revenue drugs can add up to a significant amount of yearly income. One of the most obvious reasons to merge or acquire is a shortfall in the RD pipeline. This was the position Glaxo faced in 1995 when Zantac, the worlds best-ever selling drug at the time was coming to the end of its lifespan. Following its timely acquisition of Wellcome, the company renewed its pipeline to create a substantial and innovative asset, which included drugs like Seroxat still in the global top ten seven years after the deal. Astra and Zeneca achieved geographic expansion and increased critical mass and, above all, shored up two increasingly vulnerable portfolios with their 2000 merger. 4.0 Risks of MA The payoff of growth resulting from a merger can be enormous for pharmaceutical companies. However, some statistics about mergers and acquisitions across industries and in general communicate the inherent risks in choosing to proceed with the integration of two different companies. Some of the researched statistics, noted in Pharmaceutical Executive in January 2001, are as follows: 75% of large mergers fail to create shareholder value greater than industry averages Productivity drops 50% following the announcement of a merger Leadership attrition soars to 47% within three years following a merger Employee satisfaction drops 14% following mergers 80% of employees feel senior management cares more about economics than about product quality or people 5.0 History of Pharmaceutical MA In 1927, Merck merged with Powers-Weightman-Rosengarten, which used to produce antimalarial quinine. In 1959, Johnson Johnson acquired McNeil laboratories and added Tylenol to its product list. In 2000, Pfizer acquired Warner- Lambert Company and Lipitor was added to Pfizers portfolio.The trend continues till today with Sanofi and Aventis and last year, we saw mega mergers like Pfizer acquired Wyeth for $68 billion and after six weeks of the mega merger, Merck acquired Schering Plough for $41.1 billion. Moreover, Roche inked a deal of $47 billion deal with Genentech and small player Biotech heavyweight Gilead (GILD) also paid $1.4 billion for CV Therapeutics (CVTX). 5.1 Merck and Schering-plough Merger Merck has entered into a definitive merger agreement with Schering-Plough. According to the agreement, Merck and Schering-Plough has combined, under the name Merck, in which the surviving entity is Schering plough and because of that the merger is known as reverse merger transaction. This transaction valued at approximately $41,100 million ($41.1 billion) payable in cash and stock. Under the terms of the agreement, Schering-Plough shareholders receive 0.5767 shares and $10.50 in cash for each share of Schering-Plough. Each Merck share will automatically become a share of the combined company. In the merger, Merck shareholders own approximately 68% of the combined company, and Schering-plough shareholders own 32%.The aggregate consideration will be comprised of a combination of approximately 44% cash and 56% stock. This merger had benefited Merck in several ways. It added up to 18 products in Mercks pipeline. This merger is structured in an unusual manner, this is generally done for tax saving purposes but here is some other reason. Schering Plough and Johnson and Johnson has contract over the sale of Ramicade and Sympony. The contract said that if ownership of any of the company changes then the other company is entitled for both the products but as the merger is reversely structured and Schering Plough is the surviving corporation the chances to breach the contract is less; though the surviving corporation as the name Merck . Then also Johnson Johnson has filed for arbitration over the contract. The legislation is still in the process and Merck is having the advantage of both the products. 5.2 Pfizer and Warner-Lambert merger Pfizers hostile bid for Warner-Lambert resulted from Warner-Lamberts attempt to merge with American Home Products. Actually, Pfizer was not looking at taking over Warner-Lambert and was happy with them as an independent company. However, Warner-Lamberts actions put the company at play. The result of the hostile merger resulted in Pfizer as the clear leader of the two companies. The difficult merger included the trading of stock for stock and the breaking up of the other deal. Warner-Lambert was also happy as an independent company. However, even though the merger was hostile, Warner-Lambert did seem to like Pfizers products, reputation, and values. Prior to this merger, basically all of the industry mergers of the past decade failed to increase, or even maintain, market share and value. As a result of ongoing productivity initiatives and cost savings from the Warner-Lambert integration, Pfizers operating margin has improved more than eight full percentage points since 1995. This is o ne of the best performances in the industry. 5.3 Sanofi-Aventis Merger On January 26, 2004, Sanofi-Synthelabo announced an unsolicited exchange offer for shares of Aventis Pharmaceuticals. They offered fifty five billion dollars, or forty-seven billion euros for Aventis shares. This offer price came along with estimation that they could create two billion dollars in synergies by combining the two firms. They also reaffirmed that the offer was based on the total portfolio, and that they didnt intend on divesting any products that didnt have any anti-trust conflicts. The Supervisory Board of Aventis unanimously rejected the bid from Sanofi responding that it was not in Aventis shareholders and employees best interest to allow Sanofi to acquire Aventis shares. French newspapers buzzed with rumors that several firms might step up and try to be a white knight to Aventis. Those firms included Johnson and Johnson, Pfizer, and Novartis. Sanofis management was confident that they would not have to increase their offer for Aventis since most firms would not be in a position to merge with Aventis. It was also rumored that if Sanofi was not successful in buying Aventis, that they would be subject to an acquisition from another firm. Glaxo was rumored to be interested in buying Sanofi for their pipeline. Aventis had been repeatedly rejecting the offer from Sanofi arguing that the bid is severely undervaluing their company. Aventiss management believed that they were better off as a stand-alone firm so that they can focus on organic growth. Aventiss chief executive, Igor Landau, openly disputed the offer from Sanofi saying that they would have to improve the bid by at least forty or fifty percent to make Aventis interested. However, Aventis tried to find a white knight to enter into a friendly merger with to fend off Sanofi. The potential white knight that showed the most interest was Swiss drug maker Novartis Pharmaceuticals. Novartis said that they would be interested in entering merger negotiation with Aventis, if the French government would remain neutral. Sanofi wasnt too concerned about any white knight scenarios being that they had the support from the French government. In late April, Novartis agreed to enter into talks with Aventis regardless of the French governments public opposition to a Swiss firm ruining their chances for a French national champion. Rumors were circulating that Novartis was prepared to offer a bid of up to eighty-three billion dollars, or seventy billion euro. This would be a significant improvement for the shareholders compared to the Sanofi offer. These rumors caused the French government to encourage talks between Sanofi and Aventis board members. Finally on April 26, Aventis accepted an improved bid from Sanofi to create the third largest drug company in the world. The improved bid is valuing Aventis at sixty-four billion dollars, or fifty-four billion euros. The improved stock and cash offer was approximately a fourteen percent increase from the original takeover offer. This is the conclusion to three-month takeover battle between these two companies. Aventis has been trying to defend their company against Sanofi for the past three months. They both entered into a cooling off period after three months of publicly sniping at each other and filing lawsuits. On April 27 the European Commission approved the planned merger, followed by the Federal Trade Commissions approval on July 29. By early August it was known that the tender offer had been a success leading to the birth of Sanofi-Aventis on August 20. 6.0 Ten-Year Data on Pharmaceutical Mergers and Acquisitions During the 10 years ended December 31, 2009, a total of 1,345 mergers and acquisitions of pharmaceutical assets and pharmaceutical companies were announced, with disclosed prices totaling more than $694 billion, according to DealSearchOnline.com. GlaxoSmithKline was responsible for the largest of the pharmaceutical mergers and acquisitions. GlaxoWellcome announced a $74 billion merger with SmithKline Beecham in 2000, resulting in the entity now known as GlaxoSmithKline. Pfizer, Inc. announced two of the largest pharmaceutical mergers and acquisitions of the decade, including its $68 billion acquisition of Wyeth, Inc. in 2009 and its $56 billion acquisition of Pharmacia Corporation in 2002. Five of the pharmaceutical companies that were acquired in the past 10 years posted revenues in the tens of millions at the time of acquisition: SmithKline Beecham, Wyeth, Aventis, Pharmacia and Schering Plough. Further, in all but one of the 55 largest pharmaceutical mergers and acquisitions announced during the past decade, each of which is valued at a price exceeding $1.5 billion. Most of the 25 largest pharmaceutical mergers acquisitions announced in the past 10 years feature an acquirer that made five or more deals during the decade ended December 31, 2009, including Pfizer. In addition to Pfizer, these pharmaceutical acquirers include Abbott Laboratories, Johnson Johnson, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries. Teva Pharmaceutical acquired Barr Pharmaceuticals for $8.96 billion in 2008 and Teva Pharmaceutical acquired Ivax Corporation for $7.96 billion in 2005. Abbott Laboratories acquired Solvay Pharmaceuticals for $7.6 billion in 2009 and Abbott Laboratories acquired Knoll Pharmaceutical for $7.2 billion in 2000. Johnson Johnson acquired Pfizers consumer health care unit for $16.6 billion in 2006 and Johnson Johnson acquired ALZA Corporation for $12.3 billion in 2001. Three of the top 25 pharmaceutical mergers and acquisitions announced in the past decade were announced during 2009, In addition to Pfizers acquisition of Wyeth and Abbott Laboratories acquisition of Solvay Pharmaceuticals, 2009 saw Merck Co.s acquisition of Schering-Plough Corporation for $41.1 billion. The mega-deals that comprise the top 25 pharmaceutical mergers and acquisitions of the past decade were announced at the rate of one or two per year from 2000 to 2004, but from 2005 to 2009 increased to the rate of three to four per year. Other notable deals announced in 2000 through 2009 include Sanofi-Synthelabos $65.5 billion acquisition of Aventis in 2004 and Bayer AGs $21.5 billion acquisition of Schering AG in 2006. Pharmaceutical Mergers and Acquisitions, 2000 to 2009 Year  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Dollar Total  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Number of Deals 2000  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $97,424,934,321  Ã‚   41 2001  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $27,749,309,161  Ã‚   87 2002  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $66,093,147,595  Ã‚   147 2003  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $23,625,371,126  Ã‚   173 2004  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $95,213,138,700  Ã‚   171 2005  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $46,553,632,500  Ã‚   128 2006  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $74,806,033,300  Ã‚   138 2007  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $71,600,790,685  Ã‚   180 2008  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $40,664,107,740  Ã‚   140 2009  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $147,237,047,186   140 10-Year Total   $690,967,512,314   1,345 Its been a busy decade for pharma dealmaking. During the 10 years that ended Dec. 31, 2009, a total of 1,345 mergers and acquisitions of pharmaceutical assets and companies were announced, with disclosed prices totaling more than $694 billion, according to DealSearchOnline.com. The biggest deal: GlaxoWellcomes $74 billion merger with SmithKline Beecham in 2000 that created GlaxoSmithKline. That year, pharma did more than $97 billion worth of deals. 7.0 Future of MA from CEO perspective    Former Schering-Plough Corp. Chief Executive Officer Fred Hassan, who presided over the companys $41.1 billion sale, last year, said he expects to see more consolidation in the pharmaceutical industry. Large drugmakers will need to merge in order to fund expensive, complex areas of research, such as Alzheimers disease. Smaller companies also will be forced to sell themselves as they run out of cash in the tight credit markets. One reason deals are necessary is because the innovation investments are becoming larger and larger and it makes it easier when people can combine their resources to make the big, deep bets that you need to make for difficult diseases, Hassan said. That is why you are going to see more of these deals. 8.0 Top MA activity in 2010: While things have cooled off a bit in big pharma, there is still some major acquisition action going on in 2010. Though year 2010 was not of big mergers but there were still some MA activity have seen. List of 2010 MA is shown in table 3. 8.1Teva- Ratiopharm Teva, the generics giant bought Ratiopharm for just under $5 billion, beating out  Pfizer  and Actavis for the German company.  Ratiopharm is Germanys second largest generics producer and the sixth largest generic drug company worldwide. The Ratiopharm purchase marks the biggest takeover in the generic drugs market since Teva bought Barr Pharmaceuticals for $7.46 billion in 2008. The combined entity will hold the leading market position in 10 European markets, including the U.K., Hungary, Italy, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands, as well as a top three ranking in 17 countries, including Germany, Poland, France and the Czech Republic. Teva also expects its sales to nearly double in Canada as a result of the deal. Shlomo Yanai, Tevas president and CEO, said during an investors call that the acquisition was key component in its 2015 strategy. By that time, the company expects $31 billion in revenue and $6.8 billion in net income. Pfizer had been very interested in Ratiopharm, but wasnt prepared to put significantly more than 3 billion on the table, according to the  Wall Street Journal,  citing sourcesSources say that Pfizer might cast its eye on Stada, another German generics maker. Stadas stock shot up 2 percent to an 18-month high after news of the Teva-Ratiopharm deal broke, according to  Reuters. 8.2 Merck-Millipore Merck completed the acquisition of life science company Millipore on Feb. 28.   Millipores products and services are used for drug discovery, process development and drug manufacturing. Merck acquired Millipore for approximately $7.0 billion.The companies decided on a price of $107 that was paid in cash per share for Millipores common stock.   Table 1: Top 20 MA deals since 2000 Rank Partners Date Value, US$m 1 Pfizer Warner Lambert Feb 00 $90,000 2 Pfizer Wyeth Jan 09 $68,000 3 Sanofi Aventis Apr 04 $65,000 4 Pfizer Pharmacia Jul 02 $60,000 5 PG Gillette Jan 05 $57,000 6 Roche Genentech Jul 08 $46,800 7 Merck Schering-Plough Mar 09 $41,000 8 Boston Sci. Guidant Dec 05 $27,000 9 Bayer Schering AG Mar 06 $21,500 10 Dow Rohm Haas Jul 08 $18,800 11 JJ Warner Lambert Jun 06 $16,600 12 AstraZeneca MedImmune Apr 07 $15,600 13 Amgen Immunex Dec 01 $14,800 14 Schering-Plough Organon Mar 07 $14,500 15 Merck KgaA Serono Sep 06 $13,300 16 Novartis Alcan Apr 08 $11,000 17 Fisher Sci. Thermo Elec. May 06 $10,600 18 JJ Alza Mar 01 $10,500 19 General Elec. Amersham Oct 03 $9,500 20 Takeda Millennium Apr 08 $8,800 Table 2: Top MA deals 2009 Rank Partners Date Value, US$m 1 Pfizer Wyeth Jan 09 $68,000 2 Roche Genentech Mar 09 $48,000 3 Merck Schering-Plough Mar 09 $41,000 4 TPG IMS Health Nov 09 $5,200 5 GSK Stiefel Apr 09 $3,600 6 Dainippon Sepracor Sep 09 $2,600 7 BMS Medarex Jul 09 $2,400 8 Sanofi-Aventis Chattem Dec 09 $1,900 9 Watson Arrow Group Jun 09 $1,750 10 Varian Agilent Jul 09 $1,500 11 Gilead CV Therapeutics Mar 09 $1,400 12 Abbott Adv. Med. Optics Mar 09 $1,300 13 JJ Cougar May 09 $970 14 Lundbeck Ovation Feb 09 $900 15 Onyx Proteolix Oct 09 $850 Table 3: Top MA deals 2010 Rank Partners Date Value, US$m 1 Novartis/Nestle Alcon Aug 10 $28,300 2 Sanofi Genzyme Aug 10 $18,500 3 Merck KgaA Millipore Feb 10 $7,000 4 Teva Ratiopharm Mar 10 $4,925 5 OSI Astellas May 10 $4,000 6 Reckitt SSL Jul 10 $3,900 7 NBTY The Carlyle Group Jul 10 $3,800 8 Abbott Piramal May 10 $3,700 9 Pfizer King Oct 10 $3,600 10 Grifols Talecris Jun 10 $3,400 11 Biovail Valeant Jun 10 $3,300 12 Celgene Abraxis Jun 10 $2,900 13 Covidien ev3 Jun 10 $2,600 14 Crucell JJ Sep 10 $2,300 15 McKesson US Oncology Nov 10 $2,000 16 Wuxi C. River (term.) Apr 10 $1,600 17 Cardinal Kinray Nov 10 $1,300 18 Aspen Sigma (term.) May 10 $1,240 19 Qualitest Endo Sep10 $1,200 20 Inventiv Thomas H Lee May 10 $1,100 21 3M Cogent Aug 10 $943 22 Boehringer Ing. SSP Feb 10 $913 23 BMS ZymoGenetics Sep 10 $885 24 Perrigo PBM Holdings Mar 10 $808 25 Avid Eli Lilly Nov 10 $800

The West African Regional War Essay -- Politics Government Africa War

The West Africa Regional War For observers of the West Africa regional war, the recent calm in the war-torn Mano River Union (MRU) states Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea has given rise to optimism. Guarded, as this optimism might be, the decrease in violence in West Africa during the second half of 2001 is an important development given the scope and intensity of fighting that gripped these states earlier in the year. While observers agree that the current absence of widespread violent conflict in the MRU is a much-welcomed development, it must not mask the profound cleavages within these societies, the tenuous nature of the UN-imposed peace in Sierra Leone, and the continued serious threat of renewed warfare in the region. A brief overview of the horrendous and persistent conflicts that have engulfed the MRU over the past decade underscores the need for vigilance by the international community in its pursuit of lasting peace in West Africa. The past dozen years of violent conflict in West Africa have led to the death, injury, and mutilation of hundreds of thousands of people and the displacement of millions more. Conservative estimates place the total number of war-related deaths during the seven-year civil war in Liberia (1989 1996) at 150,000, more than 5 percent of Liberia's estimated population (SIPRI Yearbook, 1996). But this number only begins to tell the story of the horror that civil war brought to this small nation of 2.8 million [United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Human Development Report, 1995]. Hundreds of thousands more Liberians were injured, displaced, and terrorized by the conflict, and today the tiny state remains the hostage of its corrupt and brutal dictator, Charles Taylor. After the war spread into Sierra Leone in 1991, it had a similarly devastating effect. As in Liberia, armed insurgents preyed on the rural populations, raping, pillaging, and forcefully inducting children into their ranks. During the eight years of warfare that followed, it is estimated (conservatively) that over 60,000 of Sierra Leone's estimated 4.2 million inhabitants were killed and hundreds of thousands more injured, mutilated, and displaced (SIPRI Yearbook, 2001; UNDP, Human Development Report, 1995). The 2001 UNDP Human Development Report ranks Sierra Leone last out of the 162 nations rated on the human development index (HDI), a composite ... ...ll play in the future of the region. 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Develop a mid- and long-term regional plan for West Africa that accounts for big-picture economic and human development trends. 7.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Implement the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act as soon as possible and draft and then implement AGOA II, thus extending the number of products covered by the legislation. 8.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Buttress socio-economic development in Nigeria, the most populous and perhaps most important U.S. ally in sub-Saharan Africa. 9.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cut off financial resources to warlords who gain sustenance from non-state profiteers like diamond and timber buyers as well as from state actors intent on creating instability to further their own political and economic goals. 10.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Continue military assistance to the key regional armies to professionalize them and build linkages with the United States. 11.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Speed up debt forgiveness, especially for those countries that play by the rules and are in the process of socio-economic liberalization. 12.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Increase aid to the region as an investment in stability, socio-economic development, and the creation of new markets for the United States and to help prevent state collapse.

A Good Leader Influence a Group of Individuals Essay

Assignment of â€Å"a good leader influence a group of individuals to achieve a common goal and perform well, without having to watch over them† Introduction Leadership is always considering as an important managerial topic because a good leader does not only able to guide behaviors from followers, but also leads individuals within an organization to achieve their common objectives (Morrill, 2010). The commonly accepted definition of leadership is contributed by David and Vince (2008, p2), who defined leadership as a person has â€Å"abilities of leading a group of people, and also has abilities of supporting group of people to achieve common objectives†. More specifically, Bass (1990) defines leadership as the ability to adapt the setting so everyone feels empowered to contribute creatively to solving the problems. The primary aim of this assignment is to critically discuss the topic of â€Å"a good leader influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal and perform well, without having to watch over them. In order to answer this question well, the author selects Steve Jobs as the leader, and then with reference to Apple Inc to discuss why a good leader as Jobs influences group of individuals without watching them. As an essay based assignment, the author organizes this paper in three main parts, including introduction, main body and conclusion. In introducti on section, the definition and importance of leadership are briefly discussed along with primary aim of this assignment. In the second part, the author discusses principles of a good leader; stages of leadership research, employee motivation and organizational culture in detail to discuss why Jobs influenced group of individuals in Apple Inc without watch them. Finally, in conclusion section, the author summarizes findings of this paper and explains how the primary aim of this assignment has been fulfilled. Main Body After reviewing wide range of leadership literatures, the author found that the debate on principles of a good leader is never stopping. In many researches, such as Alexander and Buckingham (2011); and Weidemeyer (2004) commonly argue that a good leader does not only need strong leadership skills and competences, but also needs to behavior morally and ethically. However, this argument has intensively been argued by many contemporary leadership researchers. For example, Ciulla (2004) argues that great leader is morality magnified. In addition, Jennings (2006) also argues that great men are always and almost bad men. In order to provide evidences to support these arguments, Jennings (2006) points out the seven signals of ethical collapse to describe misbehaviors from leaders. In recent dark side leadership researches, a mutual argument can be summarized as â€Å"it is not necessary for a good leader to be a good person†. For example, Conger (1990) argues that different leaders have different dark personalities in their leadership style. Even many very great leaders cannot avoid these dark personalities because they are unconscious. Furthermore, Liu et al (2012) argue in contemporary environment, in order to achieve organizational objectives and motivate individuals, leaders need to behavior unethically and unmorally to ensure the benefits of their organizations. In order to support this argument, Liu et al (2012) use Sir Alex Ferguson and Hafner of Playboy as examples to explain in some extent why misbehaviors from leaders are acceptable. In summary, there is no doubt that leaders should behave morally and ethically to provide positive guidance for society and followers. But ethics and morality are not basic principles to measure a good leader. Instead, the strategies used by leaders to motivate individuals and to achieve organizational objectives are principles of a good leader (Shear et al, 2012). On the other hand, there are five stages of leadership approaches have commonly been discussed in leadership literatures, including trait approach, behavioral approach, situational/contingency approach, creative approach, and post-charismatic& post-transformational approach of leadership (Parry and Bryman, 2006). Information of each stage is summarized in below table one. Table one: stages of leadership theory and research (Parry and Bryman, 2006)| Trait Approach:Dominant until late 1940s assumes leaders born, not made| Style (Behavioral) ApproachHeld sway until late 1960s- effects of leadership on those led| Contingency/Situational ApproachPopular to 1980s-situational factors are focus for understanding leadership| Creative Leadership ApproachSince 1980s, leader defines organizational reality through articulation of a vision| Post-Charismatic or Post Transformational Emerged late 1990s, distributed leadership, cooperative community, ship and spirituality| As table one illustrated, the research of leadership can be summarized in five leadership stages. In this paper, the author briefly introduces first three stages of leadership approaches, and then discusses creative leadership approach in detail because creative leadership is used as basis of this paper and will be applied with reference to Jobs and Apple Inc in later sections. Trait approach of leadership is considered as the first stage of leadership research and dominates in 1940s (Northouse, 2003). In this leadership approach, people believe characters of leaders are born from nature. So that they use physical traits, personal attributes, intelligence, values and self-confidence these factors to distinguish leaders and non-leaders (Bass, 1990). Style (behavioral) leadership approach is recognized as the second stage of leadership research, and it is emphasized on what a leader does rather than identifying who would be an effective leader (Bass, 1990). As table one demonstrated, the behavioral leadership approach was appeared in later 1960s. The most important progress from trait approach to behavioral approach is that behavioral approach attempts to answer the question of what leadership style is most effective. In order to answer this question, researchers such as Kurt Lewin assumes behaviors from leaders can be observed more objectively than traits and behaviors can be measured and taught (Lussier and Achua, 2010). Thirdly, situational and contingency leadership approach argues that leaders are not born from nature (Lussier and Achua, 2010). Situational and contingency approach points out that main reasons for people to be leaders are because they suitable with the working situations (Oostrom et al, 2012). As a result, a person probably be a leader in one situation, but not be a leader in another. In situational and behavioral approach, Oostrom et al (2012) point out that personality, style and behavior of effective leader are dependent on the requirements of the situation. Thus, there is no one best way to lead. Traits and behaviors from leaders can all be effective in different situations. Similarly, the best leading style or behavior are determined by situational or contextual factors (Bass, 1990). There are many real life examples can be seen as evidences to prove the accuracy of situational and contingency leadership approach. For example, Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho are all great football coaches, but they are not leaders in their player career. In addition, Lionel Messi performed as a god in the team of Barcelona, but also provides rubbish performances in Argentine National Football Team. Thus, these real life examples can fully indicate that successes of leaders are dependent on situation and contingency. Creative leadership approach is emerged in 1980s, and has wide applications even in today’s business environment. According to Bass (1990), there are three different approaches are contained by creative leadership approach, including transformational approach (Bass, 1985), Charismatic approach (Conger, 1989) and visionary leadership (Mintzberg, 1989). In addition, the biggest different between creative leadership and previous leadership researches is that in creative leadership approach, leaders focus on intellectually motivate employees, and then to earn performances from them beyond expectation (Chuang et al, 2011). However, previous leadership researches focus on an exchange between leaders and followers. Leaders provide rewards (e. g. extrinsic and intrinsic) to employees, and in return they contributed their compliancy and labors to leaders (Liu et al, 2012). In this paper, the author focuses on discussing transformational approach and charismatic approach, and with references to Jobs and Apple Inc to see why a good leader influences group of people without watch them. According to Bass (1985), transformational leadership approach focuses on inspiring and motivating followers. It can be defined as leaders have abilities to inspire and motivate followers to achieve goals greater than originally expected. In case of transformational approach, internal rewards are important to followers rather than external rewards (Bass, 1985). General speaking, it means that followers or individuals within an organization treated intrinsic rewards more important than extrinsic rewards. In motivational theories, many scholars contributed different ways to distinguish needs and expectations from individuals of an organization. For example, Maslow (1987) points out the famous hierarchy of needs to describe different expectations from individuals at the workplace. The hierarchy of needs include physical needs (e. g. sex, food), security needs (e. g. working condition), love and belonging needs (e. g. family), esteem needs (e. g. respect), and needs of self-actualization. In addition, Maslow (1987) argues that needs from individuals are always changing. Once needs from lower layers of the hierarchy are satisfied, needs from individuals would be turned from higher level of the hierarchy. In addition, McGregor (1960) also contributes the theory x and theory y as basic theories to recognize nature of human being. In McGregor’s the human side of enterprise, the scholar (1960) argues that the nature of human being can be classified in two different categories, including theory x and y. In theory x, McGregor (1960) argues that people are naturally lazy and dislike work. Money is the only factor to motivate them at work, so that they need to closely be directed and supervised. In the opposite theory y, McGregor (1960) argues that work is a natural experience of human life. Most of them are self-motivated and self-controlled, and focused on intrinsic rewards rather than extrinsic rewards. There are four factors commonly described as transformational factors of transformational approach, including idealized influence, intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation, and individualized consideration (Morrill, 2010). Idealized influence describes that leaders use admiration, respect, and trusts and put needs of others before personal interests to motivate employees. In addition, inspirational motivate means that leaders motivate and inspire others by providing meaning and challenge to them (Bass, 1990). Thirdly, intellectual stimulation refers to leaders encourage innovation and creativity at workplace, and motivate individuals and followers by approaching old things in new ways. Lastly, individualized consideration means leaders attend to individuals needs for growth and achievement, and create new learning opportunities, accept individual difference and avoid close monitoring (Bass, 1990). In case of Apple Inc, Jobs is a leader who uses transformational factors to motivate individuals within the organization. According to Mayo and Benson (2006), as a leader of Apple Inc, Jobs firstly trusts and respects individuals of the organization, especially to the group members. In addition, Mayo and Benson (2006) also express in Apple Inc, Jobs never closely direct and supervise individuals. In order to encourage their creativity and provides excellent working condition, Jobs even not set any HR department in Apple Inc. Thus, it does not only satisfy with the principles of idealized influence in transformational approach, but also satisfies with the principles of previous stated motivational theories. Steve Jobs uses respects and trusts to others as basis to motivate and influence group of people in Apple, and without watch them. In addition, Jobs also focuses on providing meaning and challenges to group of people in Apple to motivate and influence them. According to Jobs â€Å"if you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should go to do something else wonderful, not dwell on it for too long. Just figure out what’s next†. It is a famous Quotation from Steve Jobs. In this Quotation, it is easy to carry out that Jobs is a person who likes perfect. Steve Jobs does not dwell on the current successes. Instead, he focuses on providing meanings and challenges to himself and group of individuals in Apple, and motivates them to complete tasks beyond expectations. It is useful to achieve the common goal of Apple Inc which is described as â€Å"to provide best technological products to customers around the word† (Apple. com, 2013). Many individuals in Apple Inc are become as passionate to deal with highly challenging tasks that they have been done before. It does not only mean Steve Jobs has transformational factors to influence a group of people, but also understands how to use goal setting theory in motivating employees to achieve challengeable, but possible goals. Thus, there is once again indicates that a good leader influences a group of individuals without watch them. On the other hand, Steve Jobs is also a charismatic leader in Apple Inc. According to Michaelis et al (2009), charismatic leadership is defined as a leadership based on leader’s abilities to communicate and behave in ways that reach followers on a basic, emotional way to inspire and motivate. General speaking, charismatic leadership refers to a process of establishing self-images and charms by leaders rather than using authority and external power to motivate and influence people (Tuytens and Devos, 2012). In case of Apple Inc, there is no doubt that Steve Jobs is a charismatic leader. Firstly, even though Steve Jobs was passed away in 2011, Apple Inc still uses Jobs’ quotations, pictures, and other stories to motivate individuals of the organization (Apple. com, 2013). Innovation, focused on detail and perfection and creativity are recognized as both important characters of charm from Jobs. Until today, these characters of charm are seen as important cultural characters in Apple Inc. According to Morrill (2010), organizational culture is defined as the values and behaviors that contribute to the unique social and psychological environment of an organization. It bases on an organization’s experiences, philosophy, values and expectations. It expresses the self-image of an organization, the ways of individuals work in the organization, and how the organization interacts with external word and its expectations (Morrill, 2010). It is unique to any organization, and can be influenced by many factors. For example, the characters of leaders, working methods are all important factors to influence the cultural characters of an organization (Northouse, 2003). In case of Apple Inc, Steve Jobs is a charismatic leader and deeply injected his charms of focusing on innovation, adventure and creativity in culture of Apple Inc. According to Apple. com (2013), the culture of Apple Inc is described that innovation and adventure, focused on group work and details. Thus, there is no doubt that as a charismatic leader, Steve Jobs puts charms in establishing the cultures of Apple Inc, and uses charismatic factors to influence group of individuals in Apple even he was passed away. Individuals in Apple Inc are working with a common goal, which is to achieve the commitment of delivering great technological products to customers around the world (Apple. com, 2013). As a result, there is also no doubt that a good leader as Steve Jobs influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal and without watch them. Even he passed away; the charms and personal characters of Steve Jobs are still driving individuals to work with the common goal of Apple Inc. Conclusion The primary purpose of this paper is to answer the question of â€Å"a good leader influences group of people to achieve a common goal and perform well, without having to watch over them†, the author selects Jobs as the leader and Apple Inc as the case company. In order to achieve the primary purpose, this paper firstly discusses the principles of good leaders as background. The findings of this section indicate that it is not necessary for a good leader to be a good person because there are conscious biases as well as unconscious favors of people. Therefore, it is impossible to avoid personalities from many leaders to against the ethical and moral issues. In the second part, the author introduces five stages of leadership researches as basis, and then discusses why Jobs is a transformational and charismatic leader in case of Apple Inc. In order to answer the essay question in comprehensive way, the author also introduces employee motivation and organizational culture synthesizes with leadership theories in the second part. Findings of this section indicate that a good leader understands how to use leadership skills as well as motivational skills to influence group of individuals to work with a common goal, and perform well. In addition, it is also not necessary for leaders to watch them because in this context, leader always used intrinsic motivation or injected charismatic characters in an organization’s cultures to influence individuals of the organization. With reference to Jobs and Apple Inc, there is no doubt that Jobs influenced individuals of the company to develop and create new products in achieving the common goal of delivering best technological products to customers. In addition, Jobs also establishes a culture of focusing on details and perfection of their products from his personal characters. It is also influenced group of people from Apple Inc to deliver the best products to customers and is one of the principal reasons to Apple Inc’s success of today.

Biography of John F. Kennedy Jr.

Biography of John F. Kennedy Jr. John F. Kennedy Jr. (November 25, 1960–July 16, 1999), the son of President John F. Kennedy, was considered the heir to one of Americas greatest political dynasties until his death in a plane crash at age 38. In one of the most iconic photographs in American history, the 3-year-old Kennedy is seen saluting his fathers casket three days after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Fast Facts: John F. Kennedy, Jr. Known For: Attorney, journalist, and son of President John F. KennedyBorn: Nov. 25, 1960 in Washington, D.C.Died: July 16, 1999 off the coast of Marthas Vineyard, MassachusettsEducation: Brown University, B.A.; New York University, J.D.Spouse: Carolyn BessetteKey Accomplishments: Criminal prosecutor in New York City, founder and publisher of George magazine, and founder of non-profit Reaching UpFamous Quote: â€Å"People often tell me I could be a great man. Id rather be a good man.† Childhood John F. Kennedy Jr. was born on November 25, 1960- the same month his father, John F. Kennedy, was elected to his first term as president. He became an instant celebrity, despite his parents attempts to give him as normal an upbringing as possible. Despite spending his first few years of life in the White House, however, Kennedy later said that he had lived a pretty normal life. Kennedy was the second of three children born to the Kennedys. His older sister was Caroline Bouvier Kennedy; his younger brother, Patrick, died in 1963, two days after birth. On his third birthday, in 1963, JFK Jr. became the subject of one of the most iconic scenes in American history: standing on a Washington street, wearing a dress coat, saluting his fathers flag-draped coffin as it passed by on a horse-drawn carriage on the way to the Capitol. Kennedys father had been assassinated three days earlier in Dallas, Texas. Bettmann Archive / Getty Images The presidents widow moved the family to the Upper East Side of New York, where JFK Jr. attended a Catholic elementary school. He later attended Collegiate School for Boys in New York and Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. Meanwhile, much of the American public waited for the young Kennedy to join the political world that had already been shaped by his family. Careers in Law and Journalism JFK Jr. graduated Brown University in 1983 with a degree in American history. He then attended law school at New York University, graduating in 1989. Many considered his law degree a precursor to a political career, but JFK Jr. instead went to work in the Manhattan district attorneys office for four years. In 1995, Kennedy launched a magazine, George, which blended celebrity and public affairs. The magazine was meant to be a mass-market political journal, or, as one of its editors explained, a political magazine for Americans turned off by political magazines. Kennedy wrote and served as editor-in-chief for George. Its publication ended in 2001, after Kennedys death. Marriage to Carolyn Bessette In 1996, JFK Jr. arranged a secretive wedding to Carolyn Bessette, a fashion publicist. The couple went to extraordinary lengths to conceal their nuptials from the public. The wedding was held on an island 20 miles off the coast of Georgia; they chose that particular island in part because it had no access by road or telephone, and almost no lodging. The public learned of their marriage a week after it happened. The couple had no children. Death On July 16, 1999, Kennedy was piloting a small single-engine airplane headed towards Marthas Vineyard, with his wife and her sister onboard. The plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. The bodies of the three crash victims were found off the coast of Marthas Vineyard five days later, on July 21. One year later, in 2000, the National Transportation Safety Board ruled the crash an accident caused by Kennedys failure to maintain control of the airplane during a descent over water at night, which was a result of spatial disorientation. The government agency said haze and darkness were factors in the crash. Legacy Kennedy was raised to abide by a scriptural passage found in Luke 12:48: Of those to whom much is given, much is required. It was in that spirit that, in 1989, he founded a nonprofit called Reaching Up, which helps low-wage health and human-services professionals attain higher education, training, and career advancement. Reaching Up continues to help students pay for tuition, books, transportation, child care, and other education costs. Sources Blow, Richard. American Son: A Portrait of John F. Kennedy, Jr. Henry Holt Co., 2002.Grunwald, Michael. â€Å"JFK Jr. Feared Dead in Plane Crash.†Ã‚  The Washington Post, WP Company, 18 July 1999, www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/jfkjr/stories/kennedy071899.htm.Seelye, Katharine Q. â€Å"John F. Kennedy Jr., Heir To a Formidable Dynasty.†Ã‚  The New York Times, The New York Times, 19 July 1999, www.nytimes.com/1999/07/19/us/john-f-kennedy-jr-heir-to-a-formidable-dynasty.html.

The Role Of Self Focus As A Function Of Siginfican Essays

The Role Of Self Focus As A Function Of Siginfican Essays The Role Of Self Focus As A Function Of Siginficance In Sexual Dysfunction Introduction It is a popular belief that being physically attractive is of greater importance for women than for men in todays society, particularly in attracting the opposite sex. Several studies have found support for this difference in the context of dating and mate selection. In an early study, Strauss (1946) asked what traits would be most critical in a marriage partner and found that males rated physical attractiveness significantly higher than females did. Coombs and Kenkel (1966) asked a similar question about potential dating partners and found a similar gender difference. Harrison and Saeed (1977) examined a series of advertisements and found that females were more likely than males to emphasize their physical attractiveness. In a study conducted by Nevid (1984), subjects were asked to rate various physical, social, and personality characteristics in terms of their importance in determining choice of romantic partners. The results of this study indicated that males placed greater import ance on characteristics such as weight, body shape, and overall build, while females emphasized characteristics such as warmth, honesty, and fidelity. On the basis of this frame of reasoning, it can be appropriate to infer that women are socialized to believe that to be an adequate sex partner, they must conform to societal norms regarding physical attractiveness. As a result, women are continually faced with meeting the demands prescribed on them through society. They are expected to present themselves as attractive, appealing, sexy individuals. Accordingly, the low sexual esteem that may ensue from the pressures of conforming to the dictates of society among women is an often overlooked phenomenon It is abundantly clear that physical attractiveness among women serves a puissant element in sexual relationships. This emphasis on physical attributes continues as relationships become more solidified, and couples are married. (Margolin and White, 1987). Contrary to the belief that the component of physical attractiveness declines in value through years of marriage, it has been demonstrated that this is clearly not the case. As marriages and spouses age, women may live with the increasing likelihood of comparisons and competition from women who are much younger than themselves (Margolin and White, 1987). Consequently, the relationship of physical attractiveness to marital sexuality and its immediate impact on cognitive processes serves as a vital component in amalgamating a synthesis for sexual dysfunction in women. Rationale Many factors have been identified in the development of sexual dysfunction, ranging from communication problems, sexual misinformation, deleterious relationships, and faulty learning processes. The focus of this paper, however, is directed to an expansion of the original concept of spectatoring, proposed by Masters and Johnson (1970). Upon acquiring a basic level of comprehension on sexuality and its impact on relationships, I found myself speculating about plausible contributing factors to sexual problems between couples. In becoming more familiar with Masters and Johnsons (1970) work, I am motivated to unveil the affect of cognitive distractions (specifically, the impact of self-focus) on the level of satisfaction in sexual relationships. The Concept of Spectatoring Masters and Johnson (1970) originated the concept of spectatoring. Spectatoring, or excessive self-focus, refers to an inspection and monitoring of ones own sexual activity. According to Masters and Johnson (1970), when cognitive interference occurs, it leads to arousal of the autonomic nervous system, thereby producing a negative emotional state that is not usually synonymous with sexual arousal and pleasure. Based on these fundamentals, it is postulated that anxiety about sexual performance, which may stem from an inward, self-focus on ones abilities and appearance, is the most important immediate cause of sexual dysfunction. Carver (1979) conceptualized self-focus in the following way: When attention is self-directed, it sometimes takes the form of focus on internal perceptual events, that is, information from those sensory receptors that to react to changes in bodily activity. Self-focus may also take the form of an enhanced awareness of ones present or past physical behavior, that is, a heightened cognizance of what one is doing or what one is like. Alternatively, self-attention can be an awareness of the more or less permanently encoded bits of information that compromise, for example, ones attitudes. It can even be an enhanced awareness of temporarily encoded bits of information that have been gleamed from previous focus

Microsoft Corporation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Microsoft Corporation - Essay Example Strong Brand Image: Microsoft is a well known brand the world over. Anybody having anything to do with the field of IT, computers or technology finds the italicised brand name easily distinguishable and identifiable. Microsoft was firmly placed at third position after Google and GE in the ranking of brands being finalised by MillwardBrown for the year 2008. In fact, while many of the reputed brands have slipped down their positions, Microsft has firmly held on to its position for couple of years. With a brand value of $ million 70,887, the company saw a rise of 29% in its brand value as compared to 2007. Well Organised R&D set-up: Microsoft is known to be continuously on the lookout for an upgrade or latest product or service with focus on the innovation and customer convenience. Microsoft was one of the first software companies to make provisions for R&D activities way back in 1991 itself. With R&D labs at six places around the world, the company has more than 800 researchers studying more than 55 areas of research. Wide range of Product portfolio: If we talk of an operating system, Windows is the first name that crops up. In fact Windows itself became a brand identity for operating software. Now with valuable upgrades like Vista, the OS range is quite wide. Besides the OS, a number of other products like Office tools, development tools, multimedia software, client-server tools etc. provide a remarkable strength to the company. Strategic tie-ups with a number of reputed companies: Microsoft has been working in close co-ordination with a number of companies. For example computer manufacturers like Dell, HP; multimedia and audio-visual products like Sony, Phillips etc. are the strategic partners of Microsoft. Consistent operating performance: Microsoft has seen healthy operating figures consistently for many years. The results announced for the fiscal quarter ended Sept 30 2008 has shown revenues worth $15.06 billion with a 9% increase over the corresponding period last year2. The average returns of the company over the last five year period ending June 2007 indicate consistency in performance. The average return on assets, return on investments and return on equity figures during the last five years were 14.3%, 18.5% and 20.2% respectively, higher than the industry averages of 11.7%, 16.5% and 19% for the same period (Datamonitor, 2007). Weaknesses Uneven Geographic Concentration: Though Microsoft has operations in many countries around the world, but a cursory look at its financial statements indicate that company's revenues from the US contributed to 62% of the total revenues of the company in 2007 leaving just 38% for the rest of the world (Datamonitor, 2007). In fact, the revenue figures are not indicative of the existing usage of Microsoft software because of a large number of pirated versions doing the rounds in many countries around the world. But Microsoft has not been able to do much to tackle this menance. Decreasing share of search market: Microsoft's search engine MSN search is being replaced by Google all around the world at a rapid pace. Microsoft, having been a leader in software products has not been able to come out with a matching answer to Google indicates sorry state of affairs for the company. Opportunities Increasing emphasis on emerging markets: Microsoft has been strengthening its operations in countries like China and India, the major untapped, yet highly promising markets. With America under recessionary trends, company will do a world of favour to itself if it is able to set off some of the losses by being better focused towards such markets. Launch of Newer Products: The Windows Vista launched in 2007 has come out with many improved features over the

Expensive products that are not in the reach of the masses Case Study

Expensive products that are not in the reach of the masses - Case Study Example Any marketing campaign will need to set the groundwork for yak milk benefits rather than Land 'o Lake branded yak milk features. i. The team of professionals working on the project is experienced, and has the expertise required. Simultaneously, the local Chinese team of Dr Wu and Mr. Dongzhou is a very suitable partner, as they have the government contacts; the local perspective and the experience of working in the country that the team can count on to formulate a successful and far-reaching campaign. Further to the fact that Dr. Wu and Mr. Dongzhou have good government contacts, the political structure of the country is such that if the right officials are on board and are agreeable to the project, the campaign has better chances of success. ii. The government is interested in developing the Tibetan region and has been working on developing the infrastructure to empower the impoverished herdsmen. Thus the team will have the government's support on its side if the team and the local partners lobby it with the officials as being a tool to improve the lives of the poor in that region. The team can promote the idea to the government that by selling their cattle's milk, the herdsmen will be provided a viable opportunity for conducting business and raising the standard of living in the region. The disadvantages of alternative #1 i. Even though the team from Land ' o Lakes has local partners, the team itself has relatively little experience of working in developing countries and therefore it will be difficult for them to truly grasp the nuances of local culture. ii. The advertising campaigns currently being undertaken are well developed and sophisticated, given this context, the yak milk project will have a very slight to nil margin of error in depicting local tastes and selling the brand as a foreign product, given that consumers view foreign goods as being of better quality. 2. The advantages and disadvantages of option 2 are: Advantages : i. Catering to a niche market is simpler and will allow for testing the viability of the brand with advantage of having lower losses in case the product fails to make an impact. ii. As it is an acquired taste, yak milk, if catered to such a market will not need marketing or sales push as much as it would need if it was catered to the mass consumer. Disadvantages i. Niche market consumers will be hard to target as their demographics and geography are not restricted to a certain class of households. Given this, targeted marketing campaigns pertaining to consumers' tastes will be difficult through conventional means therefore the campaign will have to be restrictive and yet catering to common tastes. ii. Targeting niche consumers will limit the brand's potential as there might be prospects for yak's milk for the general market. Recommendations: Recommend alternative #1, because catering to the mass market will also target consumer with the acquired taste and will also help create mass awareness about the nutritional value of the milk being superior to that of cow's milk. Further to the alternative, targeting