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Romeo and Juliet

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Romeo and Juliet

1. Our differences certainly define us. Each person has different personalities, beliefs and backgrounds that make them unique from the next person. The first difference that defines us is our personalities. Some types of personalities are shy, outgoing, friendly, attentive, extroverted, creative, serious, funny, leader, follower, among many other. If a person is an introvert, they tend to keep more to themselves and not be too talkative while in contrast extroverts love to talk about themselves and to other people. Culture and background is another thing that defines us. Depending on where we come form or our culture, there are unique ways of living such as the food we eat, the way we dress and communicate that set us apart from each other, essentially defining who we are. The third thing that defines who we are is our beliefs. These include moral and religious beliefs. Our beliefs guide how we relate with other people and the way we live our lives, therefore our beliefs undoubtedly define who we are as a person.

Juliet

In the play Romeo and Juliet, the two characters who are very different but refuse to be defined by their differences. They come from two different families that happen to be enemies with each other. Romeo belongs to the Montague family while Juliet belongs to the Capulet family. Because of this, their love is forbidden from the start but they do not allow that to stand in their way. Juliet exclaims, “What’s Montague? It is nor hand nor foot, Nor arm nor face nor any other part Belonging to a man. Oh, be some other name! What’s in a name? That which we call a rose

By any other word would smell as sweet.” (II.ii). Juliet is also a perceptive young woman who had a feeling that Romeo would die when she says, “O God, I have an ill-divining soul! Methinks I see thee now, thou art so low, As one dead in the bottom of a tomb.” (III.v.)

Romeo

When the lay first begins, Romeo is an immature young man while Juliet is a mature young lady. Romeo does nothing but dwell on his love for Rosaline all day long which is rather silly for a grown person. He says, “Oh, my. Time drags when you’re sad…Griefs of mine own lie heavy in my breast…What else is [love]? A wise madness…A deadly poison…In sadness, cousin, I do love a woman.” (I.i)They are not defined by this difference in their personalities are Romeo becomes more mature from his interaction with Juliet. Romeo believes in fantasy and sees their love as freedom. Juliet asks him how he found her room and he replies, “With love’s light wings did I o’erperch these walls, For stony limits cannot hold love out.” (II.ii.)

Nurse

The Nurse is quite different from Juliet and Lady Capulet but this does not deter them from getting along. The Nurse is more of a surrogate mother to Juliet because she, the Nurse, lost her daughter who would have been about Juliet’s age. They develop a close friendship and the Nurse often encourages Juliet to find happiness. “Go girl; seek happy nights to happy days” (I.iii.107). Nurse enjoys being humorous and this sets her apart from Lady Capulet but they get along fairly well. : Nurse tells Lady Capulet, “Now, by my maidenhead at twelve year old, / I bade [Juliet] come” (I.iii.2–3). It would have sufficed her to say I summoned Juliet but she adds flair to her statements.

Mercutio

Mercutio is defined by his humor and cynicism. He makes fun of Romeo’s love for Juliet, showing that he does not believe in love as Romeo does. He remarks, “Appear thou in likeness of a sigh, Speak but one rhyme and I am satisfied, Cry but “Ay me,” pronounce but “love” and “dove.” (II.i.). Mercutio sees their love to be immature. He is also disdainful of dreams and fantasies, dismisses them in saying, “True, I talk of dreams, Which are the children of an idle brain, Begot of nothing but vain fantasy.” (I.iv.)

Tybalt

Tybalt is an angry person, quick to draw his sword at the slightest provocation instead of listening to reason. He is Juliet’s cousin and believes that Montagues are their enemies simply because of their names. He tells Lord Capulet, Juliet’s father, “Uncle, this is a Montague, our foe, A villain that is hither come in spite To scorn at our solemnity this night.(I.v.69-71). He hates the fact that his cousin married a Montague and dared Romeo to a fight. Tybalt says,” Boy, this shall not excuse the injuries That thou hast done me. Therefore turn and draw.” (III.i.65)Romeo refuses to be baited, and Tybalt ends up accusing Romeo of being weak.

3. Juliet is one of the significant characters in the play. She is a young lady whose parents want her to marry Paris whom she does not love. I would have approached her situation in a similar manner as she did. She chose Romeo over Paris although her parents objected to her choice. Despite the cat that she was very young, she was able to think in the clear headed manner about the man she would marry. She chose to run away from her life and privilege to be reunited with Romeo. Romeo killed her cousin Tybalt and for this. Juliet belonged to an aristocratic family, and she was not free to get out of the house and mingle with other girls of her age.

In the modern day, there may still be aristocratic families that desire their children to marry specific people. This is, however, a very rare scenario. With many of today’s young people having firm opinions and options available to them, it is difficult to imagine a situation such as Juliet’s. Juliet would never be forced to marry a man against her wish. She would have the choice to run away and live her own life. She would not be defined by her aristocracy or her age but by her determination and her passion.

Response Essay

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Response Essay

In a world that is marred with hate and discrimination based on the most mundane of things, it is no surprise that Facebook has banned Tommy Robinson as a result of his sentiments against Islam and Muslims. Social media has become a platform through which people can spread propaganda and even worse is the fact that they have a ready audience and supporters. The diversity that exists in the world in terms of religion, race, beliefs and others should be an opportunity for human interaction, open-mindedness and tolerance. Regrettably, the very opposite is true.

Religion is a difficult and delicate topic and one must tread wisely especially when it comes to a religion that one is not intimately acquainted with. Robinson is a conservative whose opinion is that Muslims should be banned from Britain and their places of worship destroyed. This is blatant racism and bigotry based on religion. Many Muslims throughout the world profess theirs to be a religion of tolerance, peace and love. A few have preached hate and death in the name of Islam but this should not be taken as the view of all Muslims.

The fact that some American conservatives consider Robinson to be a martyr of free speech is truly baffling. The self is a social product and thus Robinson’s sentiments must be viewed within a social setting such as family, friends and others who might influence him. It is wrong to spread messages of hate and to dehumanize millions of people based only on their religion. We should cultivate a culture of freedom of expression and acceptance. There should be moral boundaries to ensure that we treat others with respect. Freedom of worship and religion is enshrined in the constitutions of almost all democracies in the world. Politics may also have a hand in Robinson’s beliefs; some leaders have turned acts prejudice into norms. If anything, the Muslims against whom Robinson preaches are the real martyrs.

Facebook is justified to follow in the footsteps of Twitter which removed him from its platform. Such steps are important towards discouraging senseless hatred and propaganda against others simply because you might not understand their beliefs or values. The world should work towards social change in form of tolerance and peace, and social media platforms such as Facebook are an important part of this journey.

Real Estate Agent One of the Best Jobs

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Real Estate Agent: One of the Best Jobs

Imagine having a career that involves looking at the most beautiful homes and properties and selling them for a living. This is the career of a real estate agent, a career path that I dream of pursuing in future. A real estate agent has a very demanding job but also one that is quite fulfilling. Real estate agents make sure that their clients have the best homes they can get based on their budget, and they do their best to get their clients the best deal. Real estate agents play an essential role in the real estate market. Some of the main reasons why one should pursue a career as a real estate agent include flexible working conditions, attractive income and relative ease of entry into the profession.

One of the most attractive points of a real estate agent is flexible working conditions. A work-life balance is becoming increasingly important for many people right from the start of their career. Working in an office from nine to five every single week is a deal-breaker for many. A real estate agent has many activities outside the office, which is something attractive about the career. For example, agents have to go out in the field to scout potential properties for their clients. Additionally, agents travel from place to place, showing their clients around different properties. This makes the profession attractive for many people.

A real estate agent earns a good salary, especially after working in the profession for some time and building up a client portfolio. The housing market will always need real estate agents, meaning that their services are always in demand. Real estate agents make the most money when the real estate industry is booming. Over the past few years, the housing market has been on an upward trend, meaning agents make good money on the sale of houses. The Realtor Magazine reports that “Home sellers continue to see higher profits from their homes as a hot housing market rolls on” (Realtor Magazine). The US Bureau of Labor reports that the median salary of a real estate agent is 51,220 US dollars, but this goes up as the agent gets more clients and experience in the industry.

The third reason people should choose a career as a real estate agent is the ease of entry into the profession. The minimum educational requirement is a high school diploma which most people have. Additionally, one must take courses in real estate from accredited institutions, which take short periods. With all these, one can easily get a license from the state in which they intend to practice. In Massachusetts, for example, “applicants for a salesperson license need to take twenty-four hours of classroom instruction and pass a written exam” (Barwick & Pathak 108). The low entry of barriers for sales agents makes it an easy profession to join. 

In summary, a career as a real estate agent offers many advantages that potential agents will find attractive. These include flexible working hours, low barriers to entry and attractive pay. All these are qualities that many people value in their career choices. Real estate agents have a very fulfilling career as they get to visit new places and explore different properties during the course of their job. Working as an agent also offers one a gateway to other positions in the real estate industry, such as working as a real estate broker and property manager. A career as a real estate agent will never disappoint as long as one is willing to put in the effort. 

Works Cited

Barwick, Panel Jia, and Parag A. Pathak. “The costs of free entry: an empirical study of real estate agents in Greater Boston.” The RAND Journal of Economics 46.1 (2015): 103-145.

Realtor Magazine. “Where Home Seller Profits Are Highest.” 5 May 2021. https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2021/05/05/where-home-seller-profits-are-highest

Vadim Dolgov is an accomplished contemporary artist from Toronto

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Paintings

Vadim Dolgov is an accomplished contemporary artist from Toronto. He has many notable works of art, perhaps the most famous of which is the “Waiter” painting. The painting is a representational form of art showing a waiter serving customers, a man and a woman, in a hotel. It’s 3D oil on canvas painting. The painting won awards including the Gold Medal Award in the United States in 2013. The second painting is by Candido Portinari, a Latin American artist and is titled “By the Fireplace.” It is likewise an award-winning painting, having won the American Art Collector Magazine Award of Excellence in 2013. It is a 3-D representational painting showing two young women sitting by a fire. Both of them stare deep into the fire with one seemingly deep in thought, her chin in her hand.

The artists use the media of painting. Both paintings are oil on canvas. Some of the characteristics of the two pictures include the use of colors (Wollheim 2013). In the painting ‘By the Fireplace, we cannot see the actual fire that the two women are seated by. However, the artist uses bright orange color to show the flames emanating from the fire itself. The light from the fire also brightens the women’s clothing. The background of the painting is much darker showing the shadows cast by the fire. The duller colors in the background also give the painting a somber appearance. The painting of the “Waiter” uses bright and vibrant colors, the most prominent of which is white. The waiter is wearing a white shirt and apron. The woman has a white skirt, and her male companion has on a white shirt. Similarly, the table cloth on their table is white. The background of the painting is also brightly colored.

The second characteristic of the two paintings is their focal points. The focal point in “By the Fireplace” is the red-haired lady by the fire. Her companion’s face is blurry and a little in the background. When looking at the painting, your attention is immediately drawn to the red-haired one who holds her chin in her hand. Her face is clearer and reflects the light cast by the fire. The somber expression on her face is quite obvious and leads the viewer to wonder what she might be thinking. There is also a notable lack of connection between the two characters in the paintings, they do not look at each other, and they do not talk. Each appears to be lost in thought. The focal point in the “Waiter” is the act of the waiter pouring wine into a glass. The waiter has the bottle held up and is ready to pour the wine. The lady in the painting appears to be watching him, but the main seems distracted.

The visual elements in the two paintings include color, texture, and tone (Rauschenbach 1985). “By the fireplace” uses tone to create a contrast between the dark and the light. The forefront of the painting is much brighter while the background is dark. It also brings a sense of distance beyond the fireplace where the two women are seated. In the same painting, the colors have been used to set the mood. Except for the light from the fire, the rest of the painting is in dull shades showing that the mood in the painting is solemn. In the “Waiter” painting, the use of the color white shows a vibrant scene. Optical texture is evident in both paintings. In the fireplace painting, the woman’s dress is ruffled to give it the appearance of being real. This is achieved by the use of different shades of the same color (2013). The illusion of three-dimensional objects in the paintings is an example of form. The pictures have depth, created by the use of colors.

The content of “By the Fireplace” is the sadness of the prominent character in the painting. The lady appears to be downcast judging from her closed eyes and lowered head. The two ladies also do not engage each other indicating they are each engrossed in their thoughts. The “Waiter” focuses on the act of wine-pouring. The lady and the man in the painting watch as the waiter serves them; they may be engaged in some conversation.

The two works of art are entirely different. The setting in both is quite different. The waiter is set in a bright restaurant while the second painting is set in a dull surrounding, possibly outdoors on a dark evening or night. The characters in the paintings are also quite different. The ones in the “Waiter” painting appear more upbeat judging from the colors used while the ladies by the fireplace seem to be unhappy. My opinion of both works of art is that they are outstanding and capture the attention of the audience. Both artists employ the use of color, texture and tone to bring out the main idea and the mood in both of the paintings. Both paintings represent real-life events.

In conclusion, Dolgov is a contemporary artist who focuses on representational forms of art, mainly paintings. Portinari was a Brazilian artist. The “Waiter” and “By the Fireplace” are examples of renowned works for which the artists has won several awards. They use the visual elements of tone, color, and texture to portray an intended message to the audience. Both works of art are captivating and are excellent choices for the study and analysis of paintings.

References

Rauschenbach, B. V. (1985). Perspective pictures and visual perception. Leonardo, 45-49.

Wollheim, R. (2003, July). What makes representational painting truly visual?. In Aristotelian Society Supplementary Volume (Vol. 77, No. 1, pp. 131-147). Oxford, UK and Boston, USA: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

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Non-Compete Clause

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You are partners in Too Strange To Eat, a bakery in Tampa, Florida that specializes in exotic, expensive pastries. The business has grown quickly in its first 4 years and now sells products to stores and restaurants throughout Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. Your bakery is well known in these areas for its secrecy regarding the recipe for your famous “Ant” cake. Your customer list is one of your prized possessions, with customers from all over this region, some from word of mouth, others from online.

Sandra has applied for a management position and appears to be the perfect candidate. She has 5 years experience as a food wholesaler and a reputation as a superb amateur chef. Sandra would be hired to analyze the market for new products, create new pastries and other foods, and assist in selling new and existing products. Sandra would work with company chefs, salespeople and customers –just about everyone.

You and your partners are concerned that if Sandra leaves, she will have confidential information about your business. You are concerned that she may either start her own company with this information or work for a competing business.

Your assignment is to draft a non-compete clause for Sandra’s contract that a court would enforce. Your non-compete clause should be no less than a half a page single spaced and Times New Roman: 12-point font. You may have sub-sections to your clause. Please include at least three resources that assisted in your drafting this clause on a separate page. Of the three resources, please discuss in detail (250+ words) why this resource served you best, e.g. why did you trust it, where was it from, why is it reliable, etc.).

INCLUDEPICTURE “http://www.hospitalityindustryresources.info/i/Fancy_dessert_1.jpg” * MERGEFORMATINET

Buddhist World of Southeast Asia

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The Buddhism Temples

Buddhism is a growing religion, and there is evidence to show that many people are embracing it. Since the last three decades, a lot of literature has been published concerning Buddhism temples. The temples where Buddhists conduct various spiritual functions are found all over the world. Also, many researchers have been involved in publishing a series of journals and books concerning this matter. Most of the publications dealt with the religious expositions and personal experiences of Buddhist practitioners. Currently, the research is focused upon providing information regarding Buddhist temples.

In the book, ‘Buddhist World of Southeast Asia’, information is provided concerning in homelands located in Theravada, by the author Swearer. The author gives evidence concerning Southeast Asia’s Theravada Buddhism. He believes that the religion is dynamic and has complex practices and thoughts. The latter is due to the various histories, societies and cultures involved in Buddhism. Swearer claims that “women now have a role in the Buddhist society” (Swearer, 1995. 56). Women can now visit Buddhism temples without being denied entry or being discriminated against. The book focuses mostly on three key aspects, which are all interrelated. The first aspect is Buddhism ritual occasions, festival celebrations, rites of passage, as well as legends and myths. Secondly, he gives an over view of the relations, which exist between the state and Buddhism. Lastly, there is mention of how Buddhism has transformed over the years.

According to an article by Sandra Bell, Buddhism has spread to various parts of the world, and Britons have also embraced it. Theravada Buddhism has expanded to regions, which were mostly known as being Christian. In fact, in Britain, many people are converting and becoming Buddhists. Furthermore, the Buddhists have even built temples, and can be viewed in various parts of Britain. The article gives an illustration of how the British have modernized the Buddhism temples. The author believes that a lot of creativity has been put towards ensuring that the temples please Buddha. Bell claims that “ingenuity is being used in building the Buddhism temples” (Bell, 2000. 23). This shows that she is satisfied with the creativity that Britons are using in coming up with exquisite temple designs.

In the book ‘The spiritual legacy of Shaolin Temple: Buddhism, Daoism, and the energetic Arts’, a lot is mentioned concerning Buddhism temples. The authors Johnson Alan and James Andy enable readers to be aware of what takes place in Buddhism temples. It is believed that martial arts developed in temples used by the Buddhists. They show how the Buddhism temples provide a conducive environment for traditions, which are energetic, martial, as well as spiritual. The authors also show how the Buddhism religion has evolved in terms of individuals, society, as well as its culture. They claim that “the temple has an environment, which is calm and accommodating” (Johnson & James, 2001.112).

Lastly, the authors Carbine Jason and Reynolds Frank have come up with an intriguing book known as ‘The life of Buddhism’. Various scholars on Buddhist issues have presented essays in this book regarding the life that is led by Buddhists. It mostly focuses upon Buddhist adherents and their actual behavior, while engaging in their religious practices. Carbine and Reynolds make available information regarding Buddhist traditions and the existing variants. They are mainly the Vajrayana, Mahayana and the Hinayana branches. They also take an approach, which is wide, when examining Buddhist traditions (Carbine & Reynolds, 2000. 217).

Work Cited

Swearer, Donald. Buddhist World of Southeast Asia. New York: State University of New York Press, 1995.Print.

Johnson, Alan. & James, Andy. The spiritual legacy of Shaolin Temple: Buddhism, Daoism, and the energetic Arts. New York: Wisdom Publications, 2001.Print.

Carbine, Jason & Reynolds, Frank. The life of Buddhism. California: University of California Press.2000.Print.

Bell, Sandra. Being Creative with Tradition: Rooting Theravada Buddhism in Britain. Journal of Global Buddhism, 2, (2000). p.23.

Bruner’s book, Making Stories Law, Literature, Life

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Making Stories

Human life is full of stories according to Jerome Bruner especially those that touches on our interests and businesses. It is true that people sometimes associated themselves with some story which had attracted their attention somewhere and can work for their favor. It does not matter the depth of truth about such stories, but they are related to what has happened, what is happening or what we expect to happen to our lives. We, as human beings survive on motivations, inspirations and encouragements to soldier on in our daily endeavors because life is what you make it. To make sense of the stories, we must therefore relate them to some aspects of our lives. We might be living in narratives yes or might be defined by them because our lives are full of stories, stories of ourselves. In this case, we are good at telling stories about ourselves, more than any other person else.

Therefore, Bruner’s book, Making Stories: Law, Literature, Life reminds me of some of the decisions that I make based on some stories I know somewhere that was related to the same situation I am at a particular moment. We are naturally awarded with different capabilities and strengths. This means that nobody has nothing to tell about him or herself in terms of the achievements or what we are aiming to achieve. The picture of what we are or what we want to be is always very alive in our minds. Children or grown ups, we all have dreams, dreams which in most cases are like narratives. We create them to formulate the details of our lives. These dreams are like salt to our lives according to Bruner’s book.

In education, the search for knowledge has actually discounted events in the mind of every scholar to future expectations in life. The art of learning is a very dynamic system and every subject, topic, lesson or degree leads to some professionalisms. In this case, students will always pass by imaginations, ideas or assumptions which are visualized in their minds. The information about what they perceive will be based on self understanding. This is an example of a case whereby self-creation comes in. Self creation in the narratives might not be accurate or realistic, but there will always be extreme points in the narratives we say about ourselves. Pride and positivity are full in what we create about us in our memory because nobody would want to be associated with failure.

In professions like law, the book acknowledge the fact that prosecutions and defending teams in a legal case may be upgraded to extents of new words that might posses different meanings and perceptions based on the idea of narratives. In medicines too, for the doctor or the clinical officer to actually learn and know how to treat their patients, they have to do that by the help of the narrative which will be given by their patients first which they will listen to. Narratives will therefore even affect our health and professions.

Bruner’s book acknowledges the fact that humanity is weakened by falsehood and no good life can be made out of that. It affirms that every recall consciously comes with some changes and altered implications. Finally, the book summarizes that more recalling, and narrating about oneself will always drive you away from the truth and understanding of what you really are.

Work Cited

Bruner, Jerome S. Making Stories: Law, Literature, Life. Cambridge, Mass. [u.a.: Harvard Univ. Press, 2003 (25-61) Print.

Briefly outline the concepts of supply chains and distribution channels with reference to theory.

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1) Briefly outline the concepts of supply chains and distribution channels with reference to theory. 

While supply chain is a new concept, it is relatively older than people can imagine. However, initially, the concepts and practices were not clearly spelt out as it is now. Most of the activities were carried out in an ad hoc manner (Lavassani, Movahedi, & Kumar, 2009, pp. 85–98).

Integration of distribution and warehousing (logistics)

The concept of supply chain in the company has evolved over time. Most of the segments of supply chain were loosely interconnected. However, as the company developed it had to integrate the logistics, distribution and warehousing together to take advantage of efficiency that supply chains provided. When the company realized that, it had to upgrade its operations due to efficiency brought about by the integration. The company decided to merge the two concepts to form logistics. This made the border between warehousing and distribution became transparent. However, the two ends were still loose, and the management tries to consider making the links stronger and increased the level of resource sharing. This was also coupled with reduced costs and time to market. This was the beginning of evolution in the company (Mentzer, et al, 2001, pp. 1–25)

Integration if logistics with production and purchasing

The company later decided to optimize the advantages of integration. The company integrated purchasing, distribution, warehousing, and production. The concept worked out right, and the saving was exceedingly. The four functions were integrated, and the core activities under each concept were conducted under the same roof. This was the birth of supply chain in this company. The company managed to align the separate function in the sequence bellow:  

Leveraging lean and agile

The concept made the company too agile. This is one thing the company has been searching for, the supply chain concept provided the agility required by the company and the company optimized its supply chain concept and leveraged its production to achieve the required competitive age. However, this conceit is long overdue in the company. This has also contributed to the company profitability as the company became more agile. The demanding market and growing competition made the company more profitable due to its agility. The comment managed to increase its product lines and categories (Larson, &, Halldorsson, 2004, pp. 17-31).

According the to Kouvelis, Chambers, &, Wang, (2006, pp. 449–469), the volatile and less predictable market just made competition better, and visibility of the company amidst the masses was achieved through agility and leanness

Lean concept

The modern SCM in companies must be lean; the concepts of leanness help the company to hold the required stock only and assets that can slow down the response time and increase cost are shed. These concepts offer sufficient service levels that can meet growing demand in companies. As a product portfolio, companies must know how to valance between lean and agile. By fine tuning, this company achieves an optimal product portfolio. The different production, which is in the company portfolio, must be treated accordingly (Movahedi, Lavassani, &, Kumar, 2009, pp. 75–88).

characteristics of a contemporary Supply Chain concept

Lean: The company aims at forecasting at the generic level

Economic order Quantities

Maximized efficiencies

Agile: Demand driven operations

effectively Localized Configuration

Maximized effectiveness

 Then backbone of stable agile and lean supply chain is operations efficiency that brings about6 sustainable competitive advantage. This is based on the supply chain concept that offers a sufficient service level in the face of growing demand

 (2) Identify and describe the supply chain and distribution channels for your chosen manufacturer using evidence from secondary sources. Depict the supply chain and distribution channels using a flow diagram*. 

The supply chain and distribution channels of the manufacturer are extremely lean with most of its products ordered based on an economic order quantity. In this concept, the company only orders goods when the stock reaches a certain level (reorder level) and only orders a specific quantity of god (reorder quantity). The company also allows a certain duration of time beyond, which the operation of the company can be adversely, affected (lean time) and slack. From the diagram below, it is quite open the company depends on the benefits brought about by agility and leanness. The company balanced between the functions and is likely to achieve a high service level, that doubles also as a source of competitive advantage. Leveraging the service levels to achieve a competitive edge is crucial to the company’s bottom line (Ketchen, & Hult, 2006, pp 573-580).

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The company operations are also geared at maximizing efficiency of just in time, so the company does not have to stock more goods than necessary. While it is healthy to assume that the company is effectively exploiting its agility, there are ideas that the company still need to sort out. However, the operations of the company ate mainly demand driven and the company gears at maximizing its effectiveness in distribution of its goods

3. Service Aspects of HTC Smartphone

Service aspects of HTC Smartphone, should demonstrate the ability of the product to generate future purchase intentions in the industrial and technological markets. The telephone industry offers the most important forecasts of future product purchase intentions. The service aspects that will enable HTC Smartphone future sustainability can be identified as increased functionality, ergonomics, upgradeability, embedded intelligence, user friendly, incorporation of intelligence and information gathering and processing, among others. The general global trend innovations in cell phone industry is fast growing, and dynamic markets are being developed, creating new perceptions for Smartphone.

A sustainable product or service development is a pragmatic approach in the telephony industry that encompasses a wide range of offerings, which call for strategies that maximize on environmental and social performance in the innovative efforts of a telephone company. Therefore, HTC should continue to maintain the lead in creating and improving innovation, in terms of developing high end Smartphone with improved sustainability performance and practical use for the emerging markets. The emerging market will be composed of knowledge based consumers and therefore, intelligence and other high functional value needs to be added to all phases in the design, production, service, and end life of product chain of Smartphone. Microsystems may be incorporated to provide innovative customized solutions for social and environmental problems, that could add up to resource saving.

Service Improvements

The service improvements suggested for HTC Smartphone should revolve around the phones becoming more powerful as software is scaled to them. More attention should be shifted on cloud computing programs and applications, ability to load fewer programs leaving greater space for data, movies, and games. This will appeal to the ever changing market dynamics for both business users and gamers. More innovations should be expected on the Android Operating system which has proven big for business as well as fun. Development of weirder applications to make Smartphone completely interacting with the user. For example, faking a conversation, knowing what the user wants to do, incorporating the phones use with other devices such as cars, office operations, machines, and so on. The current HTC Vivid should be spiced further in terms of improved aesthetics by design. More variety of stranger applications like a Smartphone being able to measure one’s moods, interacting with cartoon multimedia, and loving one’s enemies.

Service Improvements in Relation to Distribution Channels

Appropriate distribution channels and demand creation for HTC Smartphone are necessary to overcome competition pressures. The distribution strategies for service improvements for HTC smartphones are; the customers can download applications through their phones or other application stores. This may be Android Market Place where customers have access to services through downloadable application. The second distribution channel will be a web interface should be given to customers with traditional phones, where they can create accounts and access the services through text messages, free subscription supported by advertisements with options for the customer to upgrade. The third would be the preferred social media application to provide another interface through which users; both business and young people can create and manage their accounts.

The demand creation would include promotional goods to promote the brand like phone cases, and free service trials. Viral marketing to increase the number of early adoption users, for example, free versions that use referral systems with advertisements on each. Text messaging to people on the customers’ contact list inviting them to try out the new service. Social media to maintain a presence of HTC to post advertisements.

These improvements are necessary because of the increasing competitive pressure; HTC should yearn for product improvements that secure customer loyalty by addressing the entire customer experiences. This will enable HTC to lead in lower costs and more choices for end users. Smartphone customers expect creative developments on demand access to phone services, web, innovative applications, social media, and video.

Part E: Reflective Statement

The reflective statement on the marketing and business operations is the integrated ability to define service aspects of a product or service for sustained future purchasing intentions in the industry. The module enables students to gain firsthand experience of operating a business in the telecommunications sector, providing a seamless transfer from the classroom to the actual business world. The conceptual range of procedures to demonstrate distribution chain channels for Smartphone with reference to theory and procedures for solving particular problems

The depiction of supply chains and distribution channels using flow diagrams, and relating service improvements with distribution channels for a product or service, greatly imparts on understanding, and implementing appropriate business decisions for the future life of a product or service. The learning outcomes from the module lectures contributed to the development of the business idea for the integrated assignment in immense number of ways. Firstly, the understanding of supply chain and distribution channel concepts is important in the ability to relate the service improvements recommendations to flow logically in the expected future design developments of Smartphone. This translates to studying options available for Smartphone functionality, ergonomic, upgradeability, embedded intelligence, user friendliness, intelligence, information gathering, and processing.

The product life cycle is also very important in this particular assignment because it enabled the student to understand that innovation is a core element that organizations must have, in order to survive in the ever changing market place. The customers’ preference to a particular product or service revolves around quality, simplicity, economic status, education level, and other internal and external variables.

Some of the aspects that can be done differently is thinking out of the box, especially on service improvements that have a direct impact on the supply chains. Thoughts, of the most weird and strange applications will have a great positive impact on mitigating the pressures of competition and innovation efforts from competitors, so that the HTC Smartphone to gain a wider market share in the UK and the whole world for a long time to come. Generally, the learning modules are very relevant to the work situation, provides a practical and theoretical knowledge to pertinent issues in business and marketing.

Bibliography

Ketchen Jr., G., & Hult, T.M. (2006). Bridging organization theory and supply chain management: The case of best value supply chains. Journal of Operations Management, 25(2) 573-580.

Kouvelis, P.; Chambers, C.; Wang, H. (2006): Supply Chain Management Research and Production and Operations Management: Review, Trends, and Opportunities. In: Production and Operations Management, Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 449–469.

Larson, P.D. and Halldorsson, A. (2004). Logistics versus supply chain management: an international survey. International Journal of Logistics: Research & Application, Vol. 7, Issue 1, 17-31.

Movahedi B., Lavassani K., Kumar V. (2009) Transition to B2B e-Marketplace Enabled Supply Chain: Readiness Assessment and Success Factors, The International Journal of Technology, Knowledge and Society, Volume 5, Issue 3, pp. 75–88.

Lavassani K., Movahedi B., Kumar V. (2009) Developments in Theories of Supply Chain Management: The Case of B2B Electronic Marketplace Adoption, The International Journal of Knowledge, Culture and Change Management, Volume 9, Issue 6, pp. 85–98.

Mentzer, J.T. et al. (2001): Defining Supply Chain Management, in: Journal of Business Logistics, Vol. 22, No. 2, 2001, pp. 1–25

Simchi-Levi D.,Kaminsky P., Simchi-levi E. (2007), Designing and Managing the Supply Chain, third edition, Mcgraw Hill

Brand Personality Presentation Grading Guide

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Brand Personality Presentation Grading Guide

MKT/435 Version 7

Consumer Behavior

Copyright

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Individual Assignment: Brand Personality Presentation

Purpose of Assignment

Understanding the concept of brand personality helps a company develop and maintain relations with consumers. Brand personality can even explain how consumer-brand relationships impact consumer behavior. Reviewing a current ad and its relationship to a brand’s personality allows for an examination of the role of consumer emotions, motivation, and perception on brand image.

Resources Required

Consumer Behavior, Ch. 10, Figure 10.2, p. 369

Grading Guide

Content Met Partially Met Not Met Comments:

The student finds an ad (digital or non-digital) that communicates a strong brand personality.  

The student describes the brand personality in terms of the dimensions in Figure 10-2 (p.369 in your textbook). The student describes the various techniques used in the ad and how that links to the personality they are communicating. The student reviews what traits are good to have in a brand personality. The student analyzes how this brand personality impacts competitive positioning. The student reviews how the ad impacts their belief in the brand or impacts their motivation to purchase from this organization. The presentation is 8 to 10 slides with speaker notes, and is appropriate for the audience. The presentation includes relevant media and visual aids that are consistent with the content. Total Available Total Earned 7 #/7 Presentation Guidelines Met Partially Met Not Met Comments:

The presentation is laid out with effective use of headings, font styles, font sizes, and white space. Intellectual property is recognized with in-text citations and a reference slide. The presentation includes an introduction and conclusion that preview and review major points. Major points are stated clearly; are supported by specific details, examples, or analysis; and are organized logically. Rules of grammar and usage are followed including spelling and punctuation. Total Available Total Earned   3 #/3 Assignment Total # 10 #/10 Additional comments:

Brand congruence is a concept that relates to positioning and brand equity when it comes to the target market

Brand Effect

Name:

Institutional Affiliation:

Abstract

Brand congruence is a concept that relates to positioning and brand equity when it comes to the target market. Among the world’s major companies, some depict high congruency levels while others show low congruency levels. Their orientation in terms of congruency levels seems to be informed by varying aspects. However, all firms irrespective of their congruency levels need to revisit their strategies with regard to differentiation and ensure that they are using best strategies given their specific context.

Introduction

Creating a brand that consumers can identify with is one of the key things in the success of any firm. The positioning of a brand and enforcing brand equity can go a long way in determining a firm’s success. Different firms have varying degrees of congruency which influence their target market. With a good understanding of their unique contexts, firms can be able to determine the kind of marketing and positioning that can help them grow their market base and develop further.

Brand Positioning

On the other hand, positioning is a crucial component during the launch of firm or its product in to the market. It helps paint a clear picture of the product’s image in the mind of the target customer. The concept of congruence is important when talks of position a product. With the positioning of a product in the market, there is need for congruence to take effect top ensure that the product remains relevant in the market. For a firm to maintain the view consumers have of the brand it has created, it needs to ensure that any mistakes or activities that may raise doubts in the minds of consumers are avoided completed. A simple action such as recalling of some of its products due to concerns of defectiveness can cause panic among consumers making it experience an immediate and unprecedented drop in sales. Such a situation may be hard to recover from and lead great losses with far reaching consequences that may prove difficult to recover from.

Brand equity

In building any business, brand equity is critical a component. Firms that are able to successfully build brand equity comprehend its significance to the bottom line (Knox, 2004). Building a positive, brand equity takes patience, a lot of effort, and time. One of the most important aspects in relation to brand equity is congruence. A firm should strive to maintain a positive brand experience for its customers. Congruence is important in retaining a firm’s current customers as it strives to acquire new ones and grow its market share.

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Both positioning and brand equity involve creation of a cetain image in the mind of a target consumer as opposed to physical appearance that a company puts on its product. Once a firm successfully positioned its product in its target market, it creates a brand equity from which it stands to benefit immensely provided there is congruency. A company needs to be careful about its future decisions regarding various aspects of its products such as pricing and packaging. Such factors will influence the products performance, media recommendations and references among others (Severi & Ling, 2013). However, congruency does not imply that a firm employs the same strategies that have worked for it before in the hope that consumers will still have the same view of the product. Consumers’ tastes and preferences change over time and as such firms need to be updated at all times about the specific changes in the needs of its target market. Consumers have the power to choose what to believe in. With the stiff competition experienced in various markets nowadays, it presents firms with the challenge of congruency that calls for innovativeness in the way they present their products to the market.

Brand congruency varies from one firm’s product to the next with some depicting high brand congruency while others show very low brand congruency. Companies with high congruency tend to create a certain strong and attractive image regarding their product (Parker, 2009). This means that a consumer who comes across any of its products attachés the same value as that of any other of its products. In the case of brands with low congruency levels, customers have varying perceptions when it comes to each of their products since the firm tends to produce different goods for different markets with quality and price varying with each item. In such cases, it is up to the relevant firm to provide customers with the specifics regarding each products quality, features and prices. Examples of firms that show high brand congruency include Apple Inc, Mercedes Benz and Microsoft. On the hand, some of the major companies with brands showing low congruency include Samsung Corporation, Huawei Inc. and Toyota limited.

Looking at Apple’s products, it is for one to take note of the high degree of congruency. All their products bear a similar logo and appearance irrespective of the markets for which they are intended. All their products are of high quality and expensive most of the time considered a luxury meant for the high end market. The products also use similar software. Mercedes Benz and Microsoft products also have various aspects of similarity in their products always choosing to maintain certain quality standards and feature so that their customers always know what to expect (Parker, 2009). Samsung products on the other hand vary tremendously especially when it comes to their range mobile phones. They range from simple cheap phones to the high end sophisticated ones with a numerous features and applications. Another important factor in their congruence is the design of their products. They seem to produce similar products in terms of appearance but of different quality for different markets. The kinds of phones they sell to African markets are of inferior quality compared to the ones they sell to the Western markets. Huawei products depict trends similar to those of Samsung when it comes to its range of cell phones products. Toyota limited produces cars that also vary greatly with regard to different features and in terms of functionality.

There are several key elements in creating brand value for customers. One of them is impression. A customer needs to like whatever the product is offering and be attracted by it in them to make a purchase. The second element is responsiveness of the product to customer’s specific requirements. A firm needs to tailor its product to the customer’s specifications. The third aspect is that of interaction which implies that the product is should be able to deliver on the promises it makes to its consumers (Parker, 2009). The last key element in creating brand value is resilience. Customers need assurance that the product minds their future and it will able to adapt to changes that come along the way.

Recommendations

The three companies with high congruency levels should do a proper research on their markets to make use that they are not locking out customers who could contribute immensely to their growth. On the other hand, those with low congruency levels should rethink their strategy and find out whether approach to product differentiation is the best or may be if increasing their congruency levels will make things better for them.

Conclusion

Clearly, the proper positioning of a brand with respect to its brand personality is a significant source of differentiation for firms. Sometimes there exist a link between the personalities of brands and human personality traits. The managers of the three products depicting high congruency levels seem to understand the strong image that their consumers have of their products and have set certain limits with respect to the quality and features of their products.

References

Knox, S. (2004). Positioning and Branding Your Organisation. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 13(2), 105-115.

Parker, B. T. (2009). A Comparison of Brand Personality and Brand User-imagery Congruence. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 26(3), 175-184.

Severi, E., & Ling, K. C. (2013). The Mediating Effects of Brand Association, Brand Loyalty, Brand Image and Perceived Quality on Brand Equity. Asian Social Science, 9(3), 48-63.