The Main Features Of An Oligopoly

The Main Features Of An Oligopoly This part of the coursework aims to identify and explain the main economic features of an Oligopoly and also the key economic theories which influence the price of a product or service. This part deals with the theoretical aspects of Oligopoly and the later part emphasizes on the practical applications of the theories and oligopoly features. According to Pass et al (2000), Oligopoly, a type of market structure is characterised by a few firms and many buyers, where the bulk of market supply is in the control of relatively few large firms who in turn sell to many small buyers. To describe the degree of oligopoly, concentration ratio is often utilized. Concentration ratio is the measure of the market share of the largest four firms in the industry expressed as a percentage. A low concentration ratio suggests a high level of competition and vice versa for. As there are few players dominating the industry, each player or an oligopolist is said or likely to be aware of others course of actions. The decision taken by one player seems to affect the decision taken by others and strategic planning by the firms needs to take into account the likely response of other participants (Wikipedia, 2010). For example, a proper game of chess depends on how well you read your opponents moves, similarly in oligopoly; strategies are devised ba sed on the moves of competing market firms. The reason for existence oligopoly as stated by Maunder et al (1991) is for the achievement of economies of scale. Firms tend to reduce their average cost of production by increasing their scale of operation and since the small firms have higher average costs, they tend to go out of business or be absorbed by the larger ones. The features of oligopoly are:- Number of Firms:-The very important feature of an oligopoly is the number of firms. Even though there are a large number of firms operating in a particular industry, only a handful of firms hold the major share between them. Interdependence: A very distinctive feature of an oligopoly is interdependence. When a very few large firms operate in a particular industry, their activities or strategy cannot be independent of each other. Unlike monopoly, where the monopolist need not worry about the reaction of its rivals as there are none, an oligopolist takes into consideration the possible reactions of all rival firms. For example, a company considering a price reduction of its products may wish to estimate the chances of price reduction by the rival company and hence starting a price war. Profit Maximization Condition: The firms in an oligopoly generally agree to co-operate and act as one monopolist as it generates high profits (Begg and Ward 2007). This kind of formal collusive agreement is called a cartel. An oligopoly maximises profits where the marginal revenue equals the marginal cost. This is also known as profit maximization condition. Price ELASTIC UNIT ELASTIC P MC, AC PROFIT MAXIMIZING OUTPUT O MR Quantity (Source: Begg and Ward 2007) Perfect Knowledge: Oligopolists are said to have a perfect knowledge about their cost and demand functions but a lesser information about other firms (Wikipedia, 2010). Entry Barrier: One of the main important features of oligopoly also is the entry barrier. There are high entry barriers that restrain a new firm from entering a market. For example, the barriers can be the economies of scale, access to expensive and complex technology, lower costs for an established firm, brand loyalty, patented production process and strategic action by incumbent firms etc. The table below gives the market concentration in different industries. tb_0901 tb_0903 As discussed earlier, the large few firms form a cartel and set a price. Once the members of the cartel agree on the price, they compete against each other using non price competition in order to gain the maximum revenue. There are other various ways in which the firms fix the price. One of them being tacit collusion, where the firms agree on a price set by an established leader. This is also known as dominant firm price leadership as the price setting firm is the dominant firm in the industry. The other way is the barometric firm price leadership, where the price leader is the one whose prices reflect the market conditions in the most stable form (Sloman et al, 2010). To fix prices, the producers must be able to control the market supply. The other forms of price fixing in tacit collusion is average cost pricing, where producers add a certain percentage of profit on top of average costs and price benchmarking, where firms raise the price only up to a benchmark already set. Price fixing is achieved by the competing firms coming together on a platform where they can agree on a common pricing and production strategy thus acting in a manner in which a monopoly operates. This kind of collusion is known as cartelisation. Cartels although banned in many countries, is difficult for the enforcement agencies to gather evidence and penalise the participants. The quantity for the cartel and the individual firm will not be the same as one firm individually will have the scope for further increase in productivity to achieve a situation where the marginal cost equals the marginal revenue. In such cases firms may decide to go ahead with excess supply which can le ad to a price war and inconsistent revenues to the industry. Even without overt collusion firms in an oligopoly are able to reach a point of profit maximisation when they behave in a manner reflected in Nash Equilibrium (Begg and Ward 2007). 2B) Direct to Home (DTH) television industry in India acting as an oligopoly. India has a total television population of about 135 million of which about 108 million have an access to cable and satellite television (Plugged in, 2010). The total DTH sub base at the end of first quarter in the year 2010 was 23 million (Dish TV India Ltd, 2010) which was about just 1 million in the year 2006. Indian DTH industry has seen a flurry of activities in the recent years after a monopolistic reign by Dish TV for a couple of years. It is currently in a state of Oligopoly with the top four operators controlling nearly 80% of the total market. The major players in the market are Dish TV by Zee group, TataSky- a joint venture by Tata and Star TV, Big TV by Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, Digital TV by Bharati Telemedia and SUN Direct from Sun TV. Since there are only 3 major players in the DTH market, Indian DTH industry is an oligopoly. (Indiadth, 2010) The product offering by the rival firms are more or less similar in nature with little or no product differentiation. Amongst all the players, Sun Direct has essentially remained a regional operator who made a late debut in the national scene. The content or the channels are same with all the operators barring few omissions and additions. The DTH industry market share is as follows. BRAND MARKET SHARE Dish TV 30% TataSky 22% Sun Direct 25% Big Tv 13% Airtel 8% D2H 2% (Source: http://www.pluggd.in/dth-industry-in-india-analysis-297/) From the data above we can see that Dish TV, TataSky and Sun Direct together hold the maximum market share with over 75%. (Source: http://www.slideshare.net/) To confirm the oligopoly, we can use the Herfindahl-Hirschman index or the HHI. It measures the size of the firms in relation to the industry and also indicates the amount of competition between them. Mathematically, download (1) (Adapted from Pass et al, 2000) Here Si = market share of firm i in the market and N is the number of firms. Hence H = 302 + 222 + 252 + 132 + 82 + 22 H = 2246. With this value of H we can conclude that this industry is an oligopoly. Although there is no indication of an overt collusion in the industry, a closer look at their price plan (fig 1.1) can lead us to a strategic or tacit understanding between the players. The market is abuzz with marketing drives to garner market share and the customer is currently loaded with freebies like free installation, free channels and the like. Going by the level of investment and infrastructure the operators need to garner as much subscriber base as possible to be in a profitable proposition. They are however aware of the competition and are refraining from a price war. Such behaviour of the operators is characteristic of a non-price competition in Oligopoly. This is due to the interdependency of firms in the oligopoly and the strategic behaviour can also be referred to the Nash Equilibrium (Begg and Ward 2007). (Source: Slideshare.net/researchonIndia) Brand Name PricePlan(inINR)/month Dish TV 135.00 TataSky 150.00 Sun Direct 115.00 Videocon 136.00 Fig: 1.1 (Source: Company websites, 2010) Now as in any oligopoly, it has to be supported by entry barriers, both endogenous and exogenous. The natural barrier of entry in this particular industry is primarily associated with government licensing and also the intensity of capital investment required. Given that all the DTH operators are already established players in related sectors such as telecom, media it gives them a strategic advantage in terms of distribution and content. For any new entrant it could pose as a strategic entry barrier. Indian DTH market has constantly been attracting different players over the years given the increasing number of television subscribers. Although there have been entry barriers, companies like Videocon along with its cutting edge technology entered into the market in the presence of established players. The cutting edge technology proved to be a barrier breaker. Videocon managed to build television sets with set top boxes which helped it develop its own customer base.

The Guyana Defence Force in National Development

TOPIC: THE GUYANA DEFENCE FORCE IN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT CIVIL-MILITARY RELATIONS, SOME PERSPECTIVES. THESIS STATEMENT Positive civil-military relationship is vital for the fulfillment of the role and responsibilities of the military. INTRODUCTION No Organization has all the capabilities, resources and expertise necessary to deal with complex challenges in a comprehensive manner in the twenty first century. These challenges are often trans-border, e. g. isease, crime, financial and humanitarian crises. They often require domestic and international cooperation and engagement of multiple governments and international organizations to facilitate effective planning and operations in order to coordinate the efforts of multiple civil, military and non-governmental agencies. The foremost traditional role of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) as enshrined in the Constitution has been to defend the territorial integrity of Guyana.Another role of the Guyana Defence Force is to assist the civil powe r in the maintenance of law and order. The final role is to contribute to the economic development of Guyana when required to do so. In this paper the researcher will show some perspectives of the GDF’s civil-military relations with government and non-government organizations through several units. 1. It is the researcher intention to cover the following areas: a. Civil Defence both locally and in the Caribbean. b.Disaster relief and search and rescue operations through partnership with the civil Defence Commission and the GDF on land, sea and in air. c. Engineering Corps and its role in national development through state craft partnership. d. Agriculture Corps role in agriculture development and its partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture. e. â€Å"Hearts and Minds† operations in rural areas and schools by Medical Corps. f. Air Corps and its support in the area of transportation in the interior location. g. G5 Branch youth development and education.RESTRICTED Bef ore one can adequately assess the topic and provide cogent arguments in support of the thesis, it is important that key words/phrases be satisfactorily defined. Civil-military may be defined as the relationship between civil society as a whole and the military organization established to defend it. Development may be defined as â€Å"to lead long and healthy lives, to be knowledgeable, to have access to resources needed for a decent standard of living and to be able to participate in the life of the community†.The role of the GDF in promoting national development refers to those efforts that the Force can undertake to help communities increase not only the quantitative measures of development (earnings capacity) but also the qualitative measures of development-greater life expectancy and reduced illiteracy. ENGINEERING- â€Å"Guyana’s Draft Second Development Plan, 1972-1976 which assigned specific responsibilities, to the Engineer Corps, for the construction of hinte rland roads and bridges, the upgrading of airstrips, housing projects for low income earners and projects such as the rehabilitation of the hydro-electric power station at Tumatumari†.They were also deployed to assist in the construction of a road from Mahdia to Annai in the Hinterland. A Cooperative credit Union and a Housing Cooperative Society were formed to give individual soldiers and officers the opportunity to construct their own homes at state sponsored schemes at Melanie Damishana, Vryheid’s Lust and Crane villages, on an aided self-help basis. † (National Defence, 74). RESTRICTED This was not lost to the Force administration and is exemplified in the Force’s most recent commitment to engineering projects as detailed in the Stabroek News. Five ranks of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) received keys to new homes at Tuschen Housing Scheme, East Bank Essequibo last week as part of a an ongoing partnership between Habitat for Humanity Guyana; the Ministr y of Housing and the army to assist ranks with affordable housing. † Noteworthy is the commitment of government or non-government organizations to have such partnerships with the Force in this sector, as detailed in he same article, â€Å"Chairman of the Management Board at Habit for Humanity, Alex Graham remarked that the GDF has the capacity to play an integral role in various aspects of the housing response while pointing out that the army can also help in the building of homes for persons outside the GDF family. † HEALTH SERVICES- Life expectancy includes access to affordable medical care and all factors that promote a healthy lifestyle. The Force has a rich history of providing medical services to rural and hinterland villages as part of its medical outreaches.The Force has been impressive in its support to national development in this sector by providing free medical and dental care to thousands of Guyanese. This is not surprising since common to most underdevelop ed countries is the lack of capacity to provide quality medical services as you move away from the cities and main towns. This is the case in Guyana and its exasperated by our demographics, terrain in hinterland areas and the lack of adequate transportation facilities to hinterland and rural areas.The support by the Force in this sector has continued throughout its existence and remains source of kudos as highlighted in the following excerpt from Stabroek News. RESTRICTED â€Å"Close to 200 Upper Berbice River residents benefited from dental and general medical care when a team from the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Medical Corps hosted an outreach exercise there recently. According to the army, residents said they were grateful for the exercise and expressed the desire for a doctor to visit at least once per year†. Stabroek News Sunday, June 15, 2008.EDUCATION –The use of military personnel to augment the efforts of the Ministry of Education to provide education at any l evel and in any area of the country has not been a feature of the Force for any substantive period. Notwithstanding this, one can argue that the efforts by the Force to educate its ranks directly impacts on national development. Since when members of the Force return to civilian life their level of technical and vocational education will have a direct impact on how they are integrated to the countries labour force.Therefore the Force commitment to educating its ranks underscores its efforts to national development in this sector. However, the efforts of the Force to educate its ranks have had its own challenges. The main challenge was the ability of the Force to establish a system that linked educational development with the evolution of soldier’s careers. â€Å"As part of their promotion standards, soldiers are required to attain specified levels of academic education but these standards had to be waived since no formal means existed for upgrading soldiers’ education . The quality and level of success gained in this sector can be improved with better civil- military relations with government and non-government organization. Similar sentiments in regards to the value of these relations were expressed by the Chief of Staff in his 2011 Command Directive. â€Å"In 2011, I plan to establish statecraft partnerships with the Ministries of Education and Health. Education is inclusive of literacy-the ability to read and write, as well as primary school enrollment. Stabroek News Tuesday, August 17, 2010. Best G. A.R Chief of Staff Command Directive 2011, pg 22. RESTRICTED ECONOMIC- â€Å"The Agriculture Corps was tasked with the development of farms at Onverwagt in Berbice, Butenabu in Mahaicony, Vergenoegen in Essequibo, and at Garden of Eden in Demerara saw the GDF’s economic contribution. This was short lived due to contraction and restructuring of the Force in the late 80’s. However, the structures (organization) still exist for its re implementation. Coast Guard through it protection of our Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) allows for greater yields in sea foods for export.Also Air Corps providing qualified pilots to augment those in the PAOC when required. ADMINISTRATION- Officers are seconded to administrative positions in ministries and other government agencies and even the other services of the Joint Services. To date officers have served in various positions in the government: Lt Col Fabian Liverpool served as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Lt Col Jawahar Persaud as Accountant General (ag) Ministry of Finance, Lt Col Brassington Reynolds as Judge Ministry of Legal Affairs, Lt Col Malcom Mc Andrew as Deputy Director of Prisons, Col LindonRoss as Coordinator CARIFESTA 10 at Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, Col Francis Abrsham as Deputy Director General at Civil Defence Commission. Just to name a few (there are Major’s Monroe and Craig at CDC, Major Baird at Ministry of Agricultu re, and 5 other officers who were at Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the 90’s. both Officers and other Ranks are trained to re enter society where they make the contribution to the country example; Col Ulrice Pilgrim at BARAMA, Col Ross still at Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, Major Generals Joseph Singh and Norman Mc Lean at GT&T and OMAI respectively.In this area it is clearly stated how the GDF contribute to the economic development of this country. AVIATION- Air Corps augment the Private Aircraft Owners Association and can do medical evacuations from Interior Locations, and facilitate the transportation of Good and People to and from interior locations. Air Corps provides local flights at a cheaper cost thereby making it affordable to small businessmen/businesswomen and low income earners to travel to and from the hinterland regions. RESTRICTED This unit makes it possible to access areas particularly where fixed wing aircraft cannot land.It provides positive civil-m ilitary relations by search and rescue operations through partnership with the civil Defence Commission and the GDF on land, sea and in air. The success of the Force involvement in these ventures is commendable, however, the Force was unable to remain committed to such ventures as a single source agency as time progress. This was due to lack of resources; both human and mainly material. Therefore, one can argue that a civil-military relation framework by way of partnership with a government or non-government would have enhanced the Force’s longevity in its commitment to such ventures.Granger D. A A Brief History of the Guyana Defence Force, 2005 pg75. This demonstrates that there is clear recognition by non-government agencies that good civil-military relations are beneficial to both parties. Further the Force will not be required to singlehandedly seek out and forge these partnership. Fostering this perception of the Force, there remain numerous areas in this sector where th e Force, the private sector, and government and non-government organizations can benefit from good relations. No one entity can satisfy the commercial, security and safety requirements for aviation support in Guyana.The wide expanse of hinterland settlements, the limited aircraft and technically trained personnel suggests that there is room for all stake holders to make a positive impact in this sector. The Guyana Defence Force recognizes and accepts it has a role to play in National Development. This is exemplified in the many initiatives and projects the Force has been involved throughout its existence primarily in Engineering, Health Services, Education, Economic, Administrative and Aviation Sectors. The question of how the Force will be most effective in fulfilling its role of contributing to National Development has been answered.RESTRICTED The Force must embrace partnership with government and non-government agencies in those sectors where we are poised to make an impact on Na tional Development. This pursuit and ultimate realization of good civil-military relations will enhance the Force capacity to contribute to national development activities. The Maritime Corps was equipped with trawlers and started fishing on a commercial scale. A good civil-military relationship is imperative if the Force is to attempt to fulfill the last of its tripartite role.This will see the involvement of community groups and the Force working in unison to achieve goals at the national level. Civil-military relations will also allow for the development of both individual and national capacities. Good civil-military relations between the GDF and the country at large will pave the way for both the organization and civil society to learn from each other. Consequentially, the knowledge and on-site training of youths in technical areas could be boosted from the Force’s involvement in community developmental projects.Former President Jagdeo in his address at the Force’s Re-engineering to Enhance National Defence and Security forum said â€Å"The traditional focus of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) will have to be shifted to ensure the better use of the country’s resources. † (Stabroeknews, 11 February 2010). The then commander in chief correctly stated that â€Å"traditionally the GDF has been structured to maintain peace at the borders and the territorial integrity of the country† and noted â€Å"the country does not anticipate going to war with any of its neighbours and it has not been to war for most of its history. â€Å"But you have this huge pool of talented people in the military and we can’t have them wait on a war with our neighbours. † (Stabroek News, 11 February 2010). While the case for the shifting of the Force’s traditional focus is still being made, and the GDF continues to look for means to show its relevance in today’s society, the GDF has the capacity to play a formidable role in v arious aspects of development in Guyana through proper partnership between governmental and nongovernmental agencies and the GDF. RESTRICTEDThe logistics and human resources needed for the full involvement in national development currently does not exist and as such significantly hamper any attempts by the Force to fulfill this mandate. While the Force does not currently play a grand role in national development, such a role is not alien to the organization. With the right logistics and financial support the GDF can play a role in national development. Conversations with local citizenry and former GDF soldiers would conjure up vignettes of a GDF that was once fully involved in and committed to national development.Literature and newspapers archive validate these vignettes. This excerpt shows the extent of the Guyana Defence Force involvement in national development. Civil-military relations were the backbone of these developmental projects; often a time GDF sought the assistance of villagers to provide adequate human resources needed for the successful completion of assigned projects. President Jagdeo in his address at the Force’s Re-engineering to Enhance National Defence and Security forum said â€Å"The traditional focus of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) will have to be shifted to ensure the better use of the country’s resources. (Stabroeknews, 11 February 2010). The then commander in chief correctly stated that â€Å"traditionally the GDF has been structured to maintain peace at the borders and the territorial integrity of the country† and noted â€Å"the country does not anticipate going to war with any of its neighbours and it has not been to war for most of its history. † â€Å"But you have this huge pool of talented people in the military and we can’t have them wait on a war with our neighbours. † (Stabroek News, 11 February 2010). RESTRICTEDWhile the case for the shifting of the Force’s traditional foc us is still being made, and the GDF continues to look for means to show its relevance in today’s society, the GDF has the capacity to play a formidable role in various aspects of development in Guyana through proper partnership between governmental and nongovernmental agencies and the GDF. The logistics and human resources needed for the full involvement in national development currently does not exist and as such significantly hamper any attempts by the Force to fulfill this mandate.While the Force does not currently play a grand role in national development, such a role is not alien to the organization. With the right logistics and financial support the GDF can play a role in national development. Medical Corps can conduct medial outreach to hinterland and hard to access areas of Guyana. This unit can carry its sensitization and education programmes to the schools, NGOs and vulnerable groups and communities. Engineer Corps can construct roads, buildings and bridges.Finally, Agriculture Corps can develop commercial farms in all counties of Guyana. In concluding, Positive civil-military relations is vital for the fulfillment of the role and responsibilities of the military. The researcher proposes the formulation of a GDF civil-military policy. Also the establishment of a GDF Civil-Military Protocol; currently, there remains no policy or protocol that speaks to civil-military relations for national development.A civil military policy will comprehensively explain what the GDF intends to achieve through civil- military relations and more importantly, how it intends to achieve its national developmental goals. Creation of a GDF Civil-Military Office is necessary. Having the Force’s civil- military affairs guided under a single office allows for greater management and direction of civil-military affairs. A Force civil-military officer should be identified to lead a civil-military office.Amongst his/her duties should be the preparation of the civil-mi litary portions of operations and administrative plans and orders, advising the G3 on the Force’s requirement for Civil Military cooperation, dealing with liability claims from civilians, providing advice and assistance to other staff branches in the use of civil labour and local medical facilities and provide assistance as applicable with: population movement control , civil Engineer assistance, procurement of material from local sources and civil logistic assistance, cooperation with local and national authorities on matters relating to civil defence.It will be critical that the national development agenda be in sync with that of the GDF in order to allow for easier access to funding and resource allocations for national development projects. A clearly defined support structure is necessary in order to ensure the longevity of GDF’s full participation in national development. Guyana Defence Force is an organization which once played a critical role in the national dev elopment of Guyana, and in doing so, met and executed its mandate of contributing to the economic development of Guyana. Today, the same cannot be said of the Force.However, should attempts be made to refocus the Force’s time and resources towards national evelopment, civil-military relations will definitely be an area in need of grave attention. The establishment of a civil-military policy should be the first thing that must be put in place. Formulating a civil-military policy will be necessary to define the scope and modus operandi of the Force. RESTRICTED REFERENCES Best G. A. R. (2010) Career Development Plan Guyana Defence Force. Guyana Defence Force Best G. A. R (2011) Chief of Staff Command Directive.Guyana Defence Force Granger D. A. (1975) The new road. Guyana Defence Force. (Pg 75) David Granger. National Defence. A brief history of the Guyana Defence Force, 1965-2005. Free Press Georgetown 2005. Free Press. Huntington, S. (1957). The soldier and the state: theory a nd practice of civil-military relations. Cambridge, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. Johnson, J. (1981). The role of the military in underdeveloped countries. Top of Form Naison Ngoma, Civil-Military Relations: searching for conceptual framework with an African Bias. Available at http://www. ssafrica. org/pubs/Books/civmilzambiaaug04/Ngoma. pdf. Accessed Oct. 25 2012. RESTRICTED Stabroeknews. WPA concerned over move to set up intelligence agency. Available at http://www. stabroeknews. com/2010/archives/02/11/wpa-concerned-over-move-to-set-up-intelligence-agency/. Accessed Oct. 30 2012. United Nations Development Programme. What We Do. Availabel at http://www. undp. org/content/undp/en/home/ourwork/overview. html. Accessed Nov. 25 2012. Stabroek News Sunday, June 15, 2008. Stabroek News Tuesday, August 17, 2010. 2 p. Chief of Staff of the RE RES

Marketing and Finance Extended Response

Analyse the importance of a marketing plan to achieve the main marketing objectives of a business. A marketing plan is vital to businesses in achieving the main marketing objectives. Such objectives include increase sales, increase market share and product development. It is a document that lists activities aimed at achieving particular marketing outcomes in relation to goods and services. The three important marketing processes in a marketing plan are situational analysis, develop marketing strategies and implementation, monitoring and controlling. It is evident that businesses such as Darrell Lea and Sony have demonstrated the importance of the three marketing processes. However this does not result in disregarding the remaining three because the marketing plan as a whole impacts on the business significantly. Situational analysis is one of the most crucial marketing processes in the marketing plan. It shows an understanding of the business's current position and determines an outcome of the future. It involves the identification and analysis of the internal strengths and weaknesses in the internal environment followed by the opportunities and threats from the external environment. If the business is failing to achieve their marketing goals, the opportunities must be taken to receive the better outcome. Such opportunities include new technology and expansion of the business. A major threat to the business is the competitive market because it impacts on the business’s activities. At the recent E3 2013 convention, Sony has announced their new gaming platform the PlayStation 4. It is apparent that Sony had spent $4. 951 billion dollars since the launch of the PlayStation 3. It is for the reason that Microsoft's XBOX 360 has being more successful in the past years and as a result Sony had to create a new marketing plan to become competitive in the market. It had strength in brand recognition and long history. However the weaknesses were found in competitiveness against Microsoft. As a result, Sony had to take the opportunity of the feedback from the community and setting the price of the new platform. The threats included Microsoft's new reveal of their console though have failed at the gaming convention because of their appalling market research. Therefore situational analysis is one of the important steps in a marketing plan because it determines where the business is standing in the market detailing the strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Although the three marketing processes have being mentioned in depth, it must not be considered to disregard the remaining three. Market research is appropriate in collecting, recording and analysing information concerning a specific marketing problem. The market research would affect the next process because establishing market objectives can vary depending on the statistics shown in the previous process. This next process decides on which realistic and measurable goals should be undertaken in the marketing plan. To perform this, a business would need to identify target market/s so that their products are presented to potential customers. From this stage onwards, a business would need to develop strategies based on research, objectives and target market identified in order to succeed in the market. Therefore the remaining three concepts are also important because it would impact the business effectively influencing what actions needs to be undertaken. Developing marketing strategies is also another vital marketing process dealing with the marketing mix to achieve objectives. The marketing mix refers to the four P's; price, product, promotion and place. Product, one the elements focuses on the features, quality, packaging, design, brand name and guarantee. These key concepts must be carefully researched in order to satisfy consumer's needs and wants such as having a sense of security and having satisfaction. Price is determined by the competitive market. However other factors such as cost of production and level of consumer demand would impact the final cost of a product. Promotion focuses on informing, persuading and reminding customers about its products. Advertising is the main way that businesses would promote their product on the media. Changes in technology would impact the ways businesses promote their products such as social media advertising (SMA) because of the amount of consumers that visit certain websites. Place deals with the channels of distribution; that is, ways of getting the product to the customer. It involves a number of intermediaries that the customers know little about and are chosen on how widely the product will be distributed. Darrell Lea have demonstrated the importance of developing marketing strategies in their 18 month recovery. The two major concerns that have dragged the business were product range and distribution. As the business was losing $200,000 a week, new partner Tony Quinn decided to redesign the marketing plan. The product range was cut down from 800 to 200 along with a new uniform packaging that would be appealing to consumers. The distribution has being adjusted to 4,300 outlets in total including Woolworths and Coles because of the significant amount of customers visiting either stores on a weekly basis. By reformatting the marketing strategies in Darrell Lea, it is evident that this is another critical process in the marketing plan. The last fundamental process is implementation, monitoring and controlling the marketing plan. It involves placing the marketing strategies into operation and monitor the progression determining which actions should be made to achieve marketing objectives. Developing a financial forecast and comparing with actual and planned results is essential to the marketing plan because it determines on whether the marketing plan is successful or needs to be reassessed. Once the statistics of sales, market share and profitability have being received, the business can assess on which objectives are being met and which are not. Microsoft have being spent $2. 996 dollars since the debut of the XBOX 360. The company then had to reduce the amount of money spent which then came to a conclusion in redeveloping their marketing strategies. The company has decided in the recent years to decrease the price of the gaming platform to achieve marketing objectives such as increase sales and market shares. Another adjustment was advertisements placed on YouTube for consumers to watch. This promotion strategy attracted more consumers in buying their products. Therefore as aforementioned, the implementation, monitoring and controlling process can be revised which is crucial in creating successful marketing strategies.

New England Settlers vs. the Chesapeake Settlers Dbq

Since the early 17th century, the English migrated to America for a variety of reasons. The promise of treasure, religious tolerance, and plentiful lands, lured gold-seekers, Puritans, Protestants, unemployed farmers, indentured servants, and younger sons (who had fallen victim to laws of primogeniture), to the land mistakenly named the Indies. English migration to the Chesapeake region spread over nearly a century, whereas voyagers to New England arrived within a single decade. One would think that since the English settled both of these regions, both of their societies would develop quite similarly, but one could not be more wrong. The variations of the societies that developed in the Chesapeake region and the New England region†¦show more content†¦(Doc. D) It is evident in documents B and C that the voyagers that traveled to the Chesapeake and New England had very different things in mind. The settlers of New England traveled with almost their entire families, and on ce they settled, families remained the center of the New England society. Almost from the beginning, New Englands population grew from natural reproduction, meaning that the people in that region were remarkably fertile. They married young, the women