Porsche 928 free essay sample

For products purchase, a customer who needs a certain product does not straight jump to purchase decision as right decision would not be so easily made, especially for high involvement products such as cars. The buyer decision process is the decision making process undertaken by consumers, which consists of five stages: problem recognition, information search, alternative evaluation, purchase decision, and lastly post-purchase behaviour. If we analyze the buyer decision process of a traditional Porsche customers stepwise, we can see that they buy Porsche because they see themselves in it. Now, let’s elaborate.. a) Need recognition; The profile of a Porsche car buyer is financially successful person that loves challenge. Basically, Porsche is more than a utility car for its buyers. Its customers’ motive is to enjoy the car not just use it. Financially successful people are the main customers of Porsche. They want their car to represent how successful they are. We will write a custom essay sample on Porsche 928 or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This brand itself is an image of exclusivity. Hence, we can say that the buyers of Porsche do not primarily need a car for transport. Rather, they buy it for satisfaction, enjoyment and uniqueness regardless of the car’s price, size, fuel economy and other practical considerations. b) Information search: Traditional Porsche buyers search information for the right car to represent how successful they are. As the brand is popular for its distinctiveness, their buyers do not really get affected by the information but by strong and satisfying feelings. As Porsche’s low volume and fragmented auto market enhances its matchlessness, the buyers do not need information search process much. c) Evaluation of alternatives: Traditional Porsche’s customers are totally focused on a car which reflects their identity. These individuals see themselves not as part of the regular world but as exception to it. As Porsche’s image of exclusivity cannot be compared to any other cars , their buyers do not tend to prioritize on other alternatives and just go for Porsche. d) Purchase decision: Their customers’ purchase decision is based on their expectation and satisfaction. People buy Porsche because they enjoy driving it. As, they see themselves in their cars, they decide to buy a car which is completely a reflection of their image. After the consumer has evaluated all the options and would be having the intention to buy the product, there could be now only two things which might just change the decision of the consumer of buying the product that is what the other peers of the consumer think of the product and any unforeseen circumstances. Unforeseen circumstances for example in this case could be financial losses, which led to not buying of the product. Hence, the purchase decision is solely based on their belief and pleasure. e) Post purchase behavior: Before buying a Porsche car a potential Porsche buyer has a certain expectation considering the car and the extra service you get from de car company. After the purchase the consumer might just go through post purchase dissonance in which the consumer feels that buying the other product would be better. If the company reacts on this and make expectation match reality the buyer obviously will repeat its purchase the next time it’s planning to buy a vehicle. This will create a brand loyalty that results to committed customers that won’t switch from brands when they planning to buy another car. The customers feedback towards Porsche is always loyal. Their devotion towards the brand is substantial. Since they get their desired satisfaction from Porsche, they reward the brand with dependability and eternal faith. 2) Contrast the traditional Porsche customer decision process to the decision process for a Cayenne or a Panamera customer. Well, traditional Porsche customers mainly focus on the image of exclusivity regardless of the car’s speed, size and practical conditions. The traditional Porsche customers skip most of the decision process and jumps right into the purchase decision. To the contrary, Cayenne or Panamera customers are looking for style, family car and speed. The differences between traditional Porshe customer decision process and decision process for a Cayenne customer are mentioned below: a) Need recognition: Traditional Porsche customer desire for a car which is as sophisticated as they are. Their main focus is on exclusivity. They want to interpret their life style through their car. They are ready to spend lavishly on a car just because they consider Porsche to be their mirror. It’s all about personality, style and self-satisfaction. A traditional Porsche customer is more concerned about the way the car sounds, vibrates and feels. Whereas, Cayenne customers are looking for both family car and speed. Their need is to have a larger vehicle that can accommodate more than two people. Mainly, they want a car which has good speed, size and style but still feel like a Porsche. b) Information search: Traditional Porsche buyers do not need much information search because they like Porsche because it is a Porsche. Its brand image itself is enough to lead them to a decision. Conversely, Cayenne customers are influenced by the fact that Cayenne is a sports utility vehicle designed in a family style. It has seatbelts for five but still it is developed as a luxury vehicle and the driving experience is as splendid as driving a traditional Porsche. To sum up, Cayenne buyers search for a deluxe vehicle with good size and speed. c) Evaluation of alternatives: Traditional Porsche customers are highly ambitious people and they aim for a car which is on the top notch. No other car can alternate Porsche for its lotal customer. So, there is no competition with any other car. To the contrary, Cayenne buyers have lots of questions in their mind like â€Å"Is there any car to handle both luxurious and practical points? †,† Is there any car which can drive as smoothly as Porsche and as speedily as a sports car? † They look for the price, size, style and other practical considerations. They attach degrees of importance to each attribute. Hence, they compare various features of a car before concluding into a decision. d) Purchase decision: Purchase decision of a traditional Porsche buyer is determined by customer expectation and satisfaction. They don’t take many things into consideration before making a decision. Only thing that matters is a having a luxurious car which can enhance their personality. On the other hand, Cayenne customers purchase decision is based upon the infrastructures of the car. They decide to buy a car which is deluxe, comfortable, well-equipped, high-speed, immense and full of many features. Taking all these factors into consideration, the customers develop the purchase intention of buying a Cayenne. An example of perfectness is 444 Horsepower Cayenne Turbo, a two and half ton beast could accelerate to 60 miles per hour in just over five seconds and hit 165 miles per hour, all while coddling five adults in sumptuous leather seats with almost no wind noise from the outside world. e) Post purchase behaviour: Traditional Porsche buyers are loyal to the brand and they enjoy being a Porsche owner. In opposition, Cayenne customers adopted the new model. But they are still loyal to Porsche because of the wonderful and enjoyable experience of performance and luxury. 3) Which concepts from the chapter explain why Porsche sold so many lower-priced models in the 1970s and 1980s? First, we can see that Porsche AG uses penetration pricing. This causes less profit for the new product but will create demand. Cultural, Social concept Porsche wants to be seen as a product better then their competitors. They create a status for themselves to interest the high class consumers. These consumers want to be seen as superior than others. Driving a Porsche shows off luxury, class and status. The company focuses on social class and status to advertise their cars. The lower-priced cars were never really accepted by loyalists of Porsche. They did not like sharing their brand with a customer who didn’t fit the Porsche owner profile. They chosen Mass over class marketing. After these years Porsche realized: â€Å"We’re not looking for volume, we’re searching for exclusivity†. Porsche used differentiated marketing strategy to target several market segments and designs separate offers for each. After this Porsche used undifferentiated (mass) marketing. Aiming at just high class cars. (Chapter 6) It also developed a special kind of SUV which was a smart move since it did not feel like a SUV. The text case described the SUV being â€Å"soundless, comfortable and fast†. Porsche was founded in 1931 by Ferdinand Porsche. Ferdinand created the Volkswagen beetle also known as the people’s car of Adolf Hitler. One of the most successful car designs of all time. The first years Porsche only created beetles for German citizens while created tanks for the German army. Between 1950 and 1970 Porsche created a few cars that were exclusive. Designs of the new Porsches made it hard to drive the new Porsche because the end swung when the car made a turn. This made is challenging to drive. It’s target group was successful people. Achievers who saw themselves as entrepreneurs, even if they worked in a corporation. They were not part of society but a group above the rest. 4) Explain how both positive and negative attitudes toward a brand like Porsche develop. How might Porsche change consumer attitudes toward the brand? An attitude describes a person’s favourable or unfavourable evaluations, feelings, and tendencies towards an object or idea. Top managers at Porsche spend a great deal pf time thinking about customers . But still customers develop both positive and negative attitudes towards a brand like Porsche. Consumer behaviour results from a complex interplay of cultural, social, personal, and psychological factors. Cultural factors include the social class. Positive attitude towards Porsche develops when Porsche gives a chance to show its consumer status in the society and separate them from the lower class. While negative attitude towards Porsche develops when the brand does not represent the exclusivity and the customers are not satisfied with the produced image anymore. To fund innovation and to commercialize, Porsche extended its brand outside the box which resulted in the loss of many loyal customers of Porsche. Porsche faithful considered the new models to be underperforming and they didn’t accept the models as real Porsche. For ex: When Porsche developed lower price models in the 1970s and 1980s , many lower class people could afford Porsche. But those individuals who used to buy Porsche for its uniqueness started developing negative attitude towards Porsche because they couldn’t see their reflection in Porsche any longer. Porsche can change customer attitude by increasing its performance to meet consumers’ expectations. It can enhance quality of its car that keeps up the customer image high and unique, where they enjoy the experience of driving rather than transportation. Porsche should keep the image of their high performance on behalf of upper-social level of customer who enjoy Porsche just because it is a Porsche. Its customers search their personality and their identity in their cars. Hence, Porsche can gain its reputation by creating replica of their customers in their cars. Negative attitudes of customers might be changed by creating new models without losing the real Porsche feel. By doing so, traditional customers will be satisfied because they can get the image of exclusivity for which Porsche is well-known. Also, new customers might get attracted because of the new and advanced model which has style, speed, comfort and individuality. 5) What role does the Porsche brand play in the self-concept of its buyers? Porsche brand develops one’s sensing of the self-concept, and the self-image of being successful and wealthy by producing very unique and luxurious vehicles, focusing on the appearance of the vehicles more than the performance, highlighting on designing vehicles that would reinforce the feeling of success and reflecting the customers’ high self-esteem, their roles, and their status. Porsche permits its customers to develop a self-concept of wealth and success. Porsche is developed to be a rather unusual product than the average vehicle. Porsche is developed for the higher-classes. Because Porsche customers buy Porsche because they want to be seen and want to show off with their wealth and success. That’s one of the reasons why Porsche realize that customers buy Porsche for its appearance rather than functionality. Quoted â€Å"Most Porsche buyers are not moved by information but by feelings. A Porsche is like a piece of clothing – something the owner â€Å"wears†Ã¢â‚¬  This brand allows people to live through an image that is developed by the brand, which is aimed at reflecting one’s success and wealth. By creating significant reputation about their product and the name they fulfill their customer’s needs and self-concept. Porsche sells its products to a certain class of individuals who wants to stand out above everyone else. Porsche had realized that they needed to improve their sales level and therefore they have extended their market by taking the poor in consideration (the Porsche 944 which was 10k less expensive than the 911) through the production of other types like the Cayenne and the Panamera. They aimed at improving their reputation after some image losses by focusing on the poor. Besides improving their reputation they were aiming at extending their market. By launching types of Porsche like the Cayenne and the Panamera they get the opportunity to venture into new segments of the market. Which directly had a positive impact on the company’s its sales and reputation. This strategy has helped Porsche a lot, because Porsche is now not completely focusing on a narrow customer group any more, but on a wider range of target audience.

Essay on Ancient LiteratureEssay Writing Service

Essay on Ancient LiteratureEssay Writing Service Essay on Ancient Literature Essay on Ancient LiteratureThe Genesis and Exodus uncover the story of the world creation and the narrow escape of Jews from Egypt, where they lived in slavery and suffered from oppression. However, themes raised in Genesis and Exodus can be traced in the contemporary art as well. At this point, it is worth mentioning the fact that the theme raised in Exodus became particularly popular and relevant in works of art dedicated to the problem of Holocaust. In its essence Holocaust was the 20th century return of Jews to Egypt, where the life was worth nothing, where they were treated as mere commodities being slaves of Egyptian and Germans respectively. In fact, the Holocaust may be viewed as reincarnation of the Exodus story. At this point, it is possible to refer to The Schindler’s List (1993), the film shot by Steven Spielberg, where the director attempts to show the severe oppression of Jews and face the risk of being slaughtered just because they are Jews. In such a way, the f ilm actually reminds of the life of Jews in Egypt, when Jews has managed to escape from their slavery headed by Moses. Schindler turns out to be the new Moses for Jews in Poland but the film broadens the scope of theme raised by Exodus since even though the director shows the severe oppression of Jews by the Nazi and their urgent need to escape, it is a non-Jew, Oskar Schindler, a German businessman, who becomes their savior, unlike Moses, who was Jew and the true leader of his people, that means that the director probably wanted to show that actions of Schindler were driven not by national but universal, humanistic concerns.

Examine how commitment to lifelong learning and reflective practice Essay

Examine how commitment to lifelong learning and reflective practice contributes to the role of being a health profession - Essay Example This academic paper provided guidelines for health professionals to explain, document, research and promote their professions. To complete the process of proving effectiveness, it is essential that health professionals undergo lifelong learning and reflective practice (Gross 2001). This academic paper will describe the concepts of lifelong learning and reflective practice, then it will discusses why both of them are necessary in this changing society. Followed by explaining commitment is important in lifelong learning and reflective practice to health professional area. Lifelong learning has been advocated by government agencies both local and international as well as private professional institutions because of its increasing importance with ensuring that health professionals are keeping up with the changing times. There are existing federal and international laws being applied to regulate professions and to serve as their early defence towards the increasing needs of the people in the society (Knowles et. al 2003). The efficacy of different health professions has not been fully explored. Some of these professions are relatively young professions and, therefore, needs all members of the field to contribute to its development (Riechmann 2000). Healthcare professionals should engage in continuing professional development (CPD) throughout their careers. This can be achieved through both formal activity, such as course attendance, and informal activity, such as reflective practice. However, about the latter, many healthcare practitioners have anxieties about when they might operate this activity and how they might undertake it (Kinsella 2001). While there are many methods of CPD, the government focuses on outcome and defines it as: ...a process of lifelong learning for all individuals and teams which meets the needs of patients and delivers the health outcomes. (Jourgin 2002). Lifelong learning is

Service flower Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Service flower - Essay Example It is because of the latter that the report presents an array by which managers can also evaluate models of their companies with respect to their specific setting. Applebee’s is a distinguished brand dealing with casual foods that boost of amassing a great amount of popularity over the years. Its first restaurant joint opened in 1980 and gradually the company has been able to acquire over 2000 joints all over the United States of America. Given the fact that its main dishes relate to the American diet of chicken, salads, pasta and riblets; Applebee’s has managed to receive a warm reception from the citizens. From its headquarters in Kansas, Missouri, Applebee’s has seen a continual growth in human resource whose economic well-being depends on the company (Quenqua). Thus, a strong team of managers exists to oversee activities such as order taking, payment and billing, influenced by the day-to-day operations. Positive business strategies and models are also essential in the running of such a franchise, given the nature of the specific business. The service flower concept is an idealistic approach used to analyze the services offered by a company to its customers. The core services of the business have preference over the peripheral ones, but attention is on how the entire process affects the product; this explains why aspects such as branding and marketing are important. However, important to the company is the distinction of the core products from the supplementary services, since the latter only help facilitate acquiring a competitive advantage over rivals. Usually it may be by way of increasing the appeal from customers or enhancing the value of the final product in the end. Often ignored is the delivery process of a product to the customer for consumption. Since this is the point where there is direct contact with a potential customer, a set of exceptional skills are crucial to closing a deal (Millford 11). Among the issues that the report seeks to

Serratia marcescens Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Serratia marcescens - Term Paper Example S. marcescens is susceptible to expanded-spectrum cephalosporins, such as ceftoxamine, ceftazidime, cefepime, and cefpirome, though different mechanisms of resistance to expanded-spectrum cephalosporins have been reported. A constitutive overproduction of Amp-C, as a result of mutation in the regulatory gene system of Amp-C expression results in resistance to expanded-spectrum cephalosporins. The other enzymes that confer resistance to expanded-spectrum cephalosporins are Ambler Class A extended-spectrum ?-lactamases (ESBLs) or Class B metallo-?-lactamases. Mutation in chromosomal amp C gene also adds to the resistance pattern to expanded–spectrum cephalosporins in the Family Enterobacteriaceae. Enterobacter cloacae GC1, S marcescens GN16694 and S. marcescens HD are among the few clinical isolates producing extended-spectrum ?- Amp C ?-lactamases. Yatsuyanagi et.al., (2006), in their study examined the resistance mechanism of cetazidime-resistant S. marcescens strains from inp atients of a cerebral ward over a 14 month period in one hospital in Japan. One environmental and five E.coli transformants from clinical isolates harbouring the amp-C gene, cloned from S .marcescens and E.coli AS22-6-51, which is an amp-D mutant of E.coli C600, has a deletion mutation in AmpC. The cloning vector used was pBcSK+. The MICs of azetreonam, imipenem, meropenem, gentamicin, minocycline and levofloxacin were determined by broth dilution technique. The reference strain used for in vitro susceptibility testing was E. coli ATCC 25922. Chromosomal DNA was prepared from S .marcescens and the isolates were examined by PCR for the presence of the following genes : blaTEM , blaSHV, bla CTX-M, and plasmid borne amp-C genes. Primers specific for S.marcescens isolates were used to amplify a 552-bp fragment. Chromosomal DNA embedded in agarose plugs were prepared for Pulse-Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE). The primers amp-C Seq 5 was used to amplify 1.174 bp fragment containing the c hromosomal amp C gene and Mab/F and MAb/R primers were used to amplify the 1.192 bp fragment containing the blaTEM gene. These primers were used to sequence the chromosomal amp C gene and blaTEM gene from S. marcescens isolates. The primer amp C Exp5ER was used to amplify the chromosomal gene from S. marcescens strains ES46, ES76, and SM4 by PCR. Cloning of S. marcescens chromosomal amp C gene and construction of amp C harbouring E.coli transformants were carried out. Amp-C expressing transformants were confirmed to be positive for S.marcescens chromosomal amp C gene using PCR with a set of Sma amp C F and Sma amp C R primers and amp C Exp5ER and ampC Exp 3 HND primers for the 1,158 bp fragment containing the amp C gene using PCR. A primer was used to introduce a point mutation leading to a substitution of a third motif of the amp C gene, in a PCR based site -directed mutagenesis performed withal PCR in vitro. Using overnight cultures of S. marcescens, amp C ?-lactamases induction a nd enzyme assay were done using an ultrasonic disrupter and the protein content was evaluated by BCA protein assay reagent. DNA sequence data analysis were performed using an updated version of Basic Local Alignment Search Tool. The nucleotide sequences of the chromosomal amp C genes of S. marcescens were deposited in the Gene Bank data base. Results of the study showed that four strains of S.marcescens (ES11, ES31, ES42, and ES46) isolated from urine specimens showed an identical SpeI PFGE pattern, indicating that a

Zappos Organizational Structure Chart Marketing Essay

Zappos Organizational Structure Chart Marketing Essay All the organizations which meets up with there goals and reach greater heights are because they make there costumers satisfied and do not hang back to fulfill the needs of the costumers. Zappos is one of the upcoming e-commerce web site, which is reaching to greater heights of the success very quickly. It is one of the co-operations that deal in shoes and now expanding towards electronics, fashion and many more products. This company start up was in 1999 and less than 10 years it became a billon dollar co-operation. The question which arises here is that how does Zappos manage to hold their clients for a long run. The trust, honesty and clientage, which Zappos develop in a costumer, is the reason for the same. INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT History, origins, structure, activities (Anna Levina) The history of founding company Zappos began in 1999 with Nick Swinmurn who was working at that time as a Webmaster for Silicon Graphics. Nick was walking around a mall in San- Francisco. He wanted to buy a special pair of shoes with a special colour, style, brand and size. After long searching he was not able to find a pair of specific shoes and came back to home. At home he tried to find online a nice pair of boot, but again he was unsuccessful. At that time there were online stores with selling shoes, but there was no online retailer who focused primarily on selling shoes. He thought why not to be first online shoes retailer. With $150,000, Swinmurn started his online shop Shoesite.com in June of 1999 in San Francisco. Later on Shoesite.com has been renamed to Zappos.com (the name came from Spanish word zapatos which means shoes). In 2000 Tony Hsieh (24) jointed to Zappos.com. At the beginning to fulfil orders that were placed online Zappos redirected orders to major shoes distributors to deliver shoes to customers. In 2000 company already had 30 employees and gross sales of $1.6 million. As Zappos rapidly grew, order fulfilment became a challenge. Zappos could not always guarantee the timeliness of supplier drop shipments to individual customers. To meet the expectations of its online retail customers, Zappos acquired its own warehouse and fulfilment centre in Kentucky. In 2003 gross sales of Zappos rose to $70 million. In 2004 they moved head office from San- Francisco to Las Vegas (Nevada). In the end of 2005 the annual revenue at Zappos.com reached $370 million. By 2006, Zappos.com revenue was $597 million. Since 2007 Zappos extended its product categories with including eyewear, handbags, clothing, watches and kids goods. Ebags.coms footwear and accessories e-tailer 6pm.com is acquired by Zappos.Gross sales at Zappos hit $840 million. Online shop had over 1200 brands and 200,000 different styles (P. Robbins, 2009). In 2008 Zappos Insights is launched to help leaders, managers, and employees from other businesses to learn success of Zappos. Gross sales at Zappos hit $1 billion. In 2009 Amazon purchases Zappos.com for $1.2 billion (Zappos Tony Hsieh Delivers Happiness Through Service and Innovation, 2011, para 17). In 2009 Zappos.com was ranked # 23 Fortunes Top 100 Companies to Work For, 2010- # 15, 2011- # 6, 2012- went down # 11. (100 Best Companies To Work For, 2011-2012) The company has an informal organisation structure. The company represents 10 departments, which include; Zappos.com, Inc. implies Facilities- including the responsibilities of food and vending for Zappos and also shipping and receiving, office supplies and equipment, maintenance, cleaning in Las-Vegas, Henderson. Finance  Treasury And Accounting Help Desk- includes scheduling, travel, shuttle services and the last one organizing events. Human Resources- members contacts, benefits, recruiting. IT- it can help a company to keep systems up and working efficiently. Legal- legal requirements to safe and prevent risks for Zappos Family of Companies. Pipeline Team- The aim is to support growth and learning which involves all system of training (4 week), where teachers teach new workers about Zappos Family Culture and how to amaze customers. As well as they teach management classes like Microsoft Office. Zappos IP, Inc. which is included; Development (Software) Project Management Team Zappos Development, Inc. Content Team- these team are responsible for writing the product descriptions Creative Services drafting WEB design CS creates the look and feel of the site Marketing. The User Experience Humans- Their aim is to always improve the quality of online website with utilization of interface, organization of figures, interactive design, where clients could find everything what they need. Zappos Merchandising, Inc. is included developing relation with vendors and purchasing the products. Zappos Fulfilment Centres, Inc. contains storeroom, logistics and delivery of the products. Warehouse around 80,000 sq.m Conveyors length -280m Zappos CLT, Inc. calls, live chats and emails. Online shop customer service works 24 hours, seven day per week. Zappos Insights, Inc. Culture Training, Customer Service Training. Zappos Gift Cards, Inc. They only can sell gift cards. Zappos Retail, Inc. online store on Zappos.com 6pm.com, LLC -online seller on 6pm.com Unlike other shoe companies, Zappos.com became the first company in the world by free shipping on the next day and return the product 365 days per year (The Zappos phenomenon, 2012). ZAPPOS Organizational Structure Chart Customer Customer Focused Team Customer Focused Team Customer Focused Team Customer Focused Team Professional services Marketing QA / Support System OPS Sales Finance Admin HR Product Chief Operating Officer VP Operations Chief Financial Officer Chief Executive Officer Culture of the company (Paula Prieto Cisneros) That sounds like a Cinderella story and from afar one could see it that way. But there were no guarantees it would work and Zappos could have crashed and burned a few times. Tony summed up the company perfectly when he said Back in 2003, we thought of ourselves as a shoe company that offered great service. Today, we really think of the Zappos brand as about great service and we just happen to sell shoes. (A Lesson from Zappos , 2011) Zappos as an individual company has their own unique culture, which is based in the Zappos Family Core Values. Zappos has grown a lot as a company and it became more important expressing the essential values from which Zappos development three of their most important things inside of the company: culture, product and industry strategies. Zappos company has ten values but the ones that are related to the employees and the actions that happen inside if the company are: Pursue Growth and Learning, which means that employees need to grow in two areas: personality and professionally. Yet no matter how much better we get, well always have hard work to do, well never be done, and well never get it right. (Zappos.com) Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit. This is one of the most important aspects of their culture inasmuch as they place a lot of emphasis on it. Zappos family believes in while employees work well in their own, they need to be able to work better with people from the company and also with each other outside the office atmosphere. Be humble: as the word humble says, Zappos are always concerned that doesnt matter if they have grown quickly and with success, they will always have challenges to overcome. Furthermore, they have a sentence that says that no matter what kind of challenges they have because they need to be considerate with their co-workers. Another of their values in their inimitable culture is what they call do more with less. This means that their tasks are never complete or fixed and employees need to do as much as they can with big labours. Furthermore, those operations have to be done seriously. And while the company tries to become the best company worldwide, they want their employees to be the best. The last value that affect the internal environment of the company is what they call be passionate and determined, which means that workers need to be positive and optimistic in order to become a better company. This is reflected in the position of Zappos corporation. EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT Paula Prieto Cisneros: Historical and social perspective of Zappos Zappos website had made a huge progress in the past few weeks- Nick said. Zappos was getting $2000 worth of orders a week and the number of clients was growing. First of all, Zappos was not making money because when a command was ordered, the owner ran to the resident shoe shop, purchase the product and then transport it to the costumer. After that, the owner (Nick) decided to start a website to demonstrate that costumers would be enthusiastic to buy their shoes on the Internet, therefore Zappos corporation would take commands from clients online, then transfer the order to the creator of the different brands and styles, which would send the product directly to the clients of Zappos. This was what they called drop ship relationship, which existed in many businesses dedicated to other fields. However, they were the first shoe company. Furthermore, drop shipping was one of the most important causes that made costumers buy Zappos products. (Hsieh, 2010) According to the social perspective of Zappos, the owner of the company wanted employees to use the social networking sites and the internet to create a real relation with costumers in order to overcome one their core values, which is called build open and honest relationships with communication. Hence, Zappos employees Hence, Zappos workers have presence in different social sites such as: The first one is Twitter, as we know nowadays Twitter is the second social networking site worldwide, after Facebook. Zappos corporation has its own Twitter account with five hundred worker recorded. Furthermore, the owner of the company is one of the most followed people on Twitter, with 1.85 million of followers. The aim of this, apart of creating relation with costumers, is the employees to use their accounts in order to have a spontaneous communication instead of the classic communication such as promotions or advertisings. (Kelly, 2011) Another social site that Zappos use is YouTube. As a modern company, it has subjects in it, which complements their other nets. In their YouTube account, Zappos can post videos, which show their culture, family and the company itself. Furthermore, they also post clips, employees interests, experiences, etc. Zappos has an account in the first social networking site worldwide called Facebook. They use it, apart of promote their business, to discuss with costumers about the outcomes of their corporation, in an effectively and realistic manner. The last social site that Zappos use are blogs. Nowadays, many companies use them in order to have a closer relation with the clients. Zappos use them to discuss with their costumers about different topics. Some examples of Zappos blogs are: CEO blog, Fashion Culture, etc. Cultural, geographical and financial perspectives (Sajal Garg) What is culture? Cultural in a business considering external environment can be defined as the relationship between the consumer and the service provider. Zappos has a great relation with their customers. They provide a WOW service to them, which is entirely a different way, which can even, be beyond ones imagination. The service department works on innovative and unconventional ideas for the same. The current director of the company also mentioned that WOW service is something, which is not related to the money directly. This kind of service is good for the companys status and customers attraction for the long run. All the customers are treated in the same way and in a better way. There are 24*7 hot line services, which provide one to one live chat service. Zappos build a strong, positive and honest relation with the customers, which normally lacks in many of the service providers working in the same field. This is one of the reasons why Zappos is growing on a faster pace. They want every customer to be emotionally attached to them and provide the kind-hearted, welcoming, loyal treatment. This accomplishes the hardest task of the company, which is to build trust between the consumer and Zappos. The communication between the buyer and the seller should be true and Zappos follow the same policy and is honest with their customers which is effective and open too. Good communication always reaches a mile more than a normal communication. (Zappos Family Core Values, 2010) Geographic or location is one of the key factors of any organization. Zappos has a number of corporate offices, workshops and head quarters all over the world. But the most recent and fascinating on is in Las Vegas, Nevada USA. Which is recently built on a large track of land, approximately consisting of more than 150,000 sq. ft. The developer of Las Vegas, Mr. Liberman supports and explains how has the city grown in past few years. When Zappos wanted to shift the headquarters to Las Vegas the council of the city asked the company to make use of the City Hall Building which is the part of the governing body. After spending the amount of $65 million finishes the renovation, the company will hire 1200 new employees and provide them accommodation to almost 2000 employees. (Dodds, 2011) Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh has a sharp brain of marketing. He started sponsoring events like start up businesses, first Friday, etc. The repositioning of Zappos headquarter will generate an atmosphere for more people to set up business and will also give motivation to people to life in the city. Zappos employees are happy working in that company and the prove of the same is when a survey tell that Zappos stand at fourth position amongst top 100 best companies to work for. The improvement in the building is not cheap; the expense for the same is $40 million. And during this recreation of the building there will be more than 100 construction job done. This is not finished yet, the businesses which will gain profit because of Zappos plan of shifting the headquarter are: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Food services and drinking places à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Real estate establishments à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Physicians, dentists and other health care providers à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Employment services à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Couriers and messengers à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Private hospitals à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Private household operations à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Retail Stores Food and beverage à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Retail Stores General merchandise (Riggleman, 2012) The tense attention to the costumer and then type of honest service provided to the costumers have helped Zappos to reach to a level of being a billion dollar company per year in less than a span of 10 years. Being the sole proprietor of making and selling a million pair of shoes, not the company is moving to words making more products like electronic products, fashion products and many more. Hsieh also adds that he would enhance the customer experience as it generates customer repetition. Zappos will also spend a small amount of money in advertising as they did last year, which was $18 million. The reputation build of this company is because of the services like free delivery overseas, promotional upgrades, 365 days exchange policy and most importantly 24*7-customer care service. (Borden, 2012) Conclusion Concluding this whole report about Zappos, we can say that Zappos is a company that came up to the greater heights in the shoe market and enhanced their financial and economical position really well in a short span of time. According to the history of the company, Zappos started up the business in 1999 and from 2000 to 2003 the company touched the greater heights of sky and success, which is an impressive progress for a company as in order to grow, expand and be a billion dollar company in a short period of time. Furthermore, the culture followed by Zappos makes it unique, as they always targeted to have a big family (inside of the company with more employees) while having the best communication with the costumers, according to the 10 core values. The most exclusive and matchless service provided by Zappos to their costumers is the WOW service, in which the costumer is being satisfied beyond his or her imagination. Moreover, the owner and the CEO of the company have incredible power of judging a business outcomes and new areas where he could put his feet in, which is seen through the accomplishment of it. In addition to this, the company has a very optimistic, hospitable and a true relation with the cli ents, which makes the working scenario creative, attractive and open to any ideas of suggestions from employees and clients. Adding to Zappos never advertised before but started it few years before and spent a small amount of money ($18 million) on the same in 2010. According to the activities that Zappos perform, the main part is to manufacture and do the marketing for shoes but from 2007 they started mounting their business into fashion industry making different types of products such as bags, sunglasses, clothing, electronic products, etc. One the most important actions that made costumers buy Zappos products was the drop ship, which was a totally new strategy never done before. Furthermore, serving the costumers by 24*7 through a service hotline and live chats, which builds honest relation between clients and Zappos family. We think that this type of service is lacking in most of the companies who are dealing in this business environment. As Zappos decided to shift the headquart er to Las Vegas, promising the government to give employment and use the RGS building, which will benefit the government through taxes and revenues. In contrast to this, businesses like food services, real estate, health care centres, private house holdings, retail stores and many more businesses, were benefited in a positive manner. As this is not the end of Zappos history until now and we live in a modern world, which has a lot of resources and opportunities, Zappos company will keep growing and expanding their business to different countries, and maybe to other continents.

Milan Kunderas The Unbearable Lightness of Being Essay -- Milan Kunde

Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being The themes of dominance and dehumanization are inextricably entwined throughout history and, therefore, literature. Milan Kundera addresses this concept in his novel, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, by describing the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia and its communistic influence on his characters, the interrelations of these characters, as well as its implications in a small excerpt on man's presumed dominance over other creatures. This last passage ties together the mechanization of people with that of animals, showing that the citizens of communist Czechoslovakia are expected to become no more than chattel. The physical invasion of Czechoslovakia by Russia is manifested within the novel by the affect its communist regime has on the native inhabitants of, in this case, Prague. Czech citizens were told that, for their benefit, they must assume solidarity and remove distinctiveness from among them. Czech beliefs were dominated by Russian idealism and individuals were mechanized by a desire for uniformity. This theme is woven throughout the novel, depicted in forms inseparable from the characters and Kundera's sporadic autobiographical insights. Throughout the novel, Kundera uses the concepts of people being mechanized by communism and animals being mechanized by people. ?Mechanical? is a term that refers to that which is automatic, involuntary, emotionless, and unthinking. The actual application of communism, as opposed to its theoretical intentions, lends itself to this unconscious acceptance and conformity. The men and women of Prague will be forced to take an apathetic approach to individuality, career, society, religion and especially politics. Like machi... ...? (289). Ideally, man would show mercy to his fellow human being instead of constantly trying to gain power over him. Russia?s invasion of Czechoslovakia is an exertion of power, a claim of dominance over the will of another country. Its dehumanization of the inhabitants of Czechoslovakia directly correlates to man?s assumption of power over animals. Superiority is a presumed right, justified less by truth than by man?s will to justify. The images Kundera uses to illustrate the invasion of Czechoslovakia are both stark and revealing. They are images of concentration camps, naked uniformity, dominance over dependent creatures, and mechanical humans and animals alike. Tomas?s conquests and Tereza?s dreams are manifestations of a country in a struggle for its independence. With these characters, Kundera humanizes the essentially inhumane concept of communism.