Islamic Symbolism and History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Islamic Symbolism and History - Essay Example It is as yet challenged when the rise of Islam in the cutting edge time frame began. Three chronicled scenes happened in the fifteenth century and enduringly affected Islamic establishment in the cutting edge age (Esposito, 1999): (1) the victory of Jerusalem by Crusaders, (2) ejection of Muslims from Spain in 1492, and (3) Islamic transformation in Iran. Under the system of the Ottoman, around from the mid-fifteenth century to the finish of the First World War, Islam transformed into the conventional religion of the Ottoman guideline (Esposito, 1999). By and by, as a result of the imperialistic push of European forces, Ottoman matchless quality was characterized in the nineteenth century. The Ottoman state went to a rebuilding plan, called Tanzimat, to confront this test (Ahmed, 2002). Under the Tanzimat, as indicated by Esposito (1999), the Ottoman Empire modernized its economy, trade, and military. Turkish energy developed toward the finish of Tanzimat which turned out to be in th e long run a disturbing contest to the Ottoman state’s Islamic establishments. In 1924, Kemal Ataturk framed the Turkish Republic which attempted to confine the nearness of Islam in governmental issues and open issues while rehearsing a Westernized political and social principle (Ahmed, 2002). Three principle marvels were existing in the Islamic space in the nineteenth century, to be specific, Islamic Reform, nationalism, and Imperialism (Esposito, 1999). As indicated by Esposito (1999), energy in the Islamic world in the cutting edge time frame developed as a response to the predominance of European forces and the debilitating of Islam.

Doing Prison Ministry Together Essay Sample free essay sample

I. IntroductionSince cut prehistoric. the jail foundations have ever existed. In the narratives of common social orders. penitentiaries have ever been a segment of the development of organization as the authorization of the guideline of law requires the being of jail foundations to detain mixing up residents and statute surfs. All through the mature ages. the jail foundations kept on being. Be that as it may. the universe of these jail foundations has ever been that of a picture that depicts a terrible status. conceivably so as to actualize brutal punishments to the individuals who were detained and to picture a status that would be an incredible deterrent for conceivable statute surfs in the public arena. also, hence forestall future offenses. In the varying Biblical stories. detainment was regular topographic point. exceptionally for the individuals who were either caught aggressors or statute surfs in the network and revolutionists. In the current clasp. jail foundations keep on being for pretty much indistinguishable purposes from in the days of old. Around the universe just a couple of adjustments can be seen in the jail frameworks each piece great as states of jail houses. in spite of the fact that a few advancements have been acquainted all together with work the recovery of the individuals who are detained. Be that as it may. jail frameworks keep on being viewed as a topographic point where the castawaies and nuisances are held. either to work a sentence that has been passed on to them by the justness framework or for care while anticipating test. It is in this setting rather a figure of houses of worship and profound gatherings have focused on the jail foundations as rich Fieldss where the seeds of the Gospel can be spread and reaped along these lines on. This is in light of the Biblical test to â€Å"bring out hostages from the keeps. from the jail the individuals who sit in darkness† as Isaiah depicts the Lord’s picked retainer [ 1 ] . what's more, in this way. in the New Testament. Jesus’ words himself when he said. â€Å"†¦I was in jail and you came to me. † [ 2 ] Furthermore Apostle Paul’s words to the Hebrews keep on vivifying the places of worship to make service to the hostages which says. â€Å"Remember the individuals who are in jail. just as in jail with them†¦ . † [ 3 ] This zest is the thing that leads various religions exceptionally those from the diverse Christian gatherings to march to these jail foundations to declare the Good News. though to change over these hostages to the religion particularly to their gathering. The message of the Gospel aside. the zest to change over hostages to their ain denominational gatherings have gotten a start of conflict among the various gatherings and hence represented an occupation non simply to the jail framework however more so among these Christian gatherings and with gatherings of different religions. It is consequently the motivation behind this paper to investigate the ‘whys’ ( or grounds ) and methods for making jail service together inside the varying Christian gatherings and even with different religions. furthermore, understanding â€Å"dialogue† as an utile instrument in achieving this terminal. To this terminal. this paper will other than investigate the experience of an unconventional gathering in Negros Oriental. the Provincial Rehabilitation Commission. by they way they had the option to truly make discourse from the get-go in their service to the hostages. II. Current situation of jail services and gatherings making jail service in the PhilippinesA. Government Initiatives in the PhilippinesWhile a large portion of the modifications in the way the specialists managed prisoners simply began go oning in the ongoing mature ages. particularly during the term of so President Corazon Aquino. it can other than be noticed that the specialists removal under so strongman President Ferdinand Marcos established jail changes planned for decongesting the packed gaols everywhere throughout the state. President Marcos did this by go throughing the Probation Law in 1976. [ 4 ] President Corazon Aquino’s driving is credited for changing the develop of the gaols from foundations of punishment into foundations of restoration. In addition to other things. the Corazon Aquino removal emblematically made this change by formally referencing and re-naming the gaols into Rehabilitation Centers. what's more, consequently on Correctional Institutions. seting more highlight on the restoration of hostages. Indeed, even the word â€Å"prisoner† was changed to â€Å"boarder† or â€Å"vacationer† or only â€Å"inmate. † In 1991. Pres. Corazon Aquino’s removal made the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology ( BJMP ) to pull off the civil and region/city gaols everywhere throughout the state. endowed non simply with the others conscious guardianship of the prisoners however every piece great concerning their turn of events and overall population help. [ 5 ] While the BJMP deals with the civil and area/city gaols working as temporary saving establishments for prisoners anticipating censuring. the National Penitentiaries oversaw by the Bureau of Corrections each piece great as the differe nt Provincial Jails oversaw by the Provincial Governments keep on running under pretty much a similar approval as that of the BJMP. The commonalty among these foundations is the affirmation of the Five Pillars of the Criminal Justice System in the Philippines. also, these are 1 ) the Law Enforcement. 2 ) the Prosecution Service. 3 ) the Courts. 4 ) the Correctional Institution. furthermore, 5 ) the Community. Among the five columns. the Community is viewed as an extremely of import column and is an alone trait of the Philippine Criminal Justice System. While the â€Å"Community† is regulated in the Barangays. the littlest political unit of the state. [ 6 ] it anyway is comprised of the rest of the network which. among others. incorporate the places of worship. This is the place the jail services of the various houses of worship come in. B. Places of worship and church-related gatherings making jail service Lamentably. the United Church of Christ in the Philippines ( UCCP ) as a foundation has non made any solid headway with regards to an across the country jail service plan. Be that as it may. there are a figure of neighborhood places of worship spread out in the state who are occupied with their ain jail service exercises. Moreover. there are a figure of chapel individuals and church laborers/ministers who are effectively occupied with jail services. Essential outlines of these are the Ellinwood Malate Church in Manila [ 7 ] . what's more, houses of worship inside the Negros District Conference unconventionally the Silliman University Church. UCCP Dumaguete. UCCP Sibulan. UCCP Bais and UCCP Manjuyod. A figure of houses of worship in Luzon and Mindanao are other than occupied with jail service however do so non in a reliable. ordinary mode. On the different manus. an increasingly composed Roman Catholic Church through their Episcopal Commission on Prison Pastoral Care ( ECPPC ) has since been effectively engaged with the jail service. [ 8 ] Two other significant gatherings inside the Roman Catholic Church are other than into the jail service †the Caritas Manila association [ 9 ] and the Philippine Jesuit Prison Service. [ 10 ] There are army different temples that have their ain jail services. be that as it may, a large portion of these places of worship simply arraign in the â€Å"spiritual† feature of the service. This on a very basic level implies that their fights with prisoners are simply in the â€Å"spiritual† undertakings, for example, revere administrations and Bible surveies. A large portion of these holy places have a place with the more fundamentalist-inclining customs and endeavor to recover the lives of the hostages by â€Å"converting† them from whatever different groups they hav e a place into that of their ain. This is the place the activity typically starts. One situation that has been painted by some jail perceivers is that prisoners typically acknowledge Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior in each gathering that welcomes them to and various gatherings that have â€Å"converted† them will in the blink of an eye number them as their ain individuals. Since greater part of the populace in the state have a place with the Roman Catholic Church. it follows that a large portion of the individuals who are detained have a place with a similar church. what's more, these are the 1s who are being â€Å"proselytized† by these fundamentalist-inclining houses of worship. While the message of Christ’s recovery is clear and loosened to all. denominational contrasts and rank enrolling has been an irritated pollex in the jail service. In issues of other non-Christian gatherings making jail service. it very well may be noticed that since main part of the populace are Christians. just a sprinkling not many have a place with different religions, for example, Muslims. and so forth. Moreover. there are no conventional accreditations identified with jail services done by these non-Christian gatherings in spite of the fact that visits by people having a place with these gatherings who are identified with hostages have been taken note. III. The Biblical approval in making jail ministry.There can be no blunder when we inspect the Bible sing jail service. As referenced in advance. scriptural balance have large amounts of help of making out to the individuals who are detained in a correctional facility. Jesus Christ himself directed the trusters to make a trip to the detainment facilities as he utilized such situation in the New Testament tale in the account of the finishing up judgment. In the change in Matthew 25:31-46. Jesus recognizes the upright for taking care of the hungry. inviting the outsider. dressing the uncovered. what's more, sing those in jail. Jesus so proclaims. â€Å"Whenever you did this for one of the least of import of these siblings of mine. you did it for me! † ( Matthew 25:40. TEV ) . At the point when we in this way visit and minister to hostages and different unfortunates. it is so as though we are helping Jesus Christ himself. On the different manus. one of the most clear directions that we can peruse in the Bible is the way that we all have trespassed before God. Romans 3:23 state. â€Å"F

The Impact of Mass Media on Ethics and Morality of Societies - 275 Words

The Impact of Mass Media on Ethics and Morality of Societies (Essay Sample) Content: The Impact of mass media on ethics and morality of societiesCleon JamesOnline UniversityAuthor NoteOnlineuni.ed/associate peer reviewers at UonAbstractThis is a research paper addressing how mass media, has changed our modern day society. Investigative research conducted to determine how it has influenced the fundamental fabrics of the society. The essay delves into its influence on ethics and morals that have been upheld highly in the past.Keywords: Media, morals, ethicsThe Impact of mass media on ethics and morality of societiesSince the advent of mass media, like any other technology, it has come with its pros and cons. The conservatives obviously agitated by its enormous negative influence on societal morals and ethics and the pop lovers openly in its favor. In cultivation theory, mass media is one of the standard agencies of socialization, rivaling the role of parents and the family, peer groups, teachers and religious authorities, and social norms operating with in the local community and national culture, (Gerbner, 1994 et al..)The cultivation theory further suggests that frequency of exposure to the mass media, especially television viewing, leads to internalization of its messages. This is indeed a dangerous situation for the modern society, which depends entirely on media for information. In fact, people no longer read books for information. This shows how media is capable of influencing and eroding high moral and ethical standards that the society has always upheld. Regular exposure to messages leads to assimilation of the viewers who adopt the so "westernized culturesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . In many cases, they emulate something they have no idea about and even its contextual usage and origin.In the modern society, there are some unconventional behaviors, which emerge. These behaviors were unheard of or rather intermittent before the emergence of mass media. There are several reasons why sexual socialization, in particular, might be influence d by mass communications, affecting everything learned about sexuality from biology of reproduction and the risks of sexual behavior to attitudes towards love, romantic relationships and marriage. First, sexuality is pervasive through the Western media, (Strasburger Do... The Impact of Mass Media on Ethics and Morality of Societies - 275 Words The Impact of Mass Media on Ethics and Morality of Societies (Essay Sample) Content: The Impact of mass media on ethics and morality of societiesCleon JamesOnline UniversityAuthor NoteOnlineuni.ed/associate peer reviewers at UonAbstractThis is a research paper addressing how mass media, has changed our modern day society. Investigative research conducted to determine how it has influenced the fundamental fabrics of the society. The essay delves into its influence on ethics and morals that have been upheld highly in the past.Keywords: Media, morals, ethicsThe Impact of mass media on ethics and morality of societiesSince the advent of mass media, like any other technology, it has come with its pros and cons. The conservatives obviously agitated by its enormous negative influence on societal morals and ethics and the pop lovers openly in its favor. In cultivation theory, mass media is one of the standard agencies of socialization, rivaling the role of parents and the family, peer groups, teachers and religious authorities, and social norms operating with in the local community and national culture, (Gerbner, 1994 et al..)The cultivation theory further suggests that frequency of exposure to the mass media, especially television viewing, leads to internalization of its messages. This is indeed a dangerous situation for the modern society, which depends entirely on media for information. In fact, people no longer read books for information. This shows how media is capable of influencing and eroding high moral and ethical standards that the society has always upheld. Regular exposure to messages leads to assimilation of the viewers who adopt the so "westernized culturesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . In many cases, they emulate something they have no idea about and even its contextual usage and origin.In the modern society, there are some unconventional behaviors, which emerge. These behaviors were unheard of or rather intermittent before the emergence of mass media. There are several reasons why sexual socialization, in particular, might be influence d by mass communications, affecting everything learned about sexuality from biology of reproduction and the risks of sexual behavior to attitudes towards love, romantic relationships and marriage. First, sexuality is pervasive through the Western media, (Strasburger Do...

Language and Communication in Psychology - 2786 Words

Through detailed consideration of one selected area of investigation evaluate the progress made by researchers in developing explanations of key aspects of the psychology of language and communication. The study of language is frequently debated in different theories of human nature. The importance of language is relevant when it to comes to the work of philosophers, neuroscientist, humanist and psychologist. Language has been applicable to Aristotle, Plato, Hume, Locke, Freud and Skinner. This essay seeks in investigating the definition of language and communication. In doing so traditional language theories will be assessed, this will later be compared to modern progression by researchers in developing explanations of the psychology of†¦show more content†¦Shallice, (1988) have suggested that cognitive neuropsychological data are too â€Å"noisy† and there difficult in being used further than exploring the brains functional architecture. Others such as McCloskey Caramazza, (1991) have argued against this point. Stating that there shouldn’t be a restriction on what data produced cognitive theory at ‘any arbitrary level of detail’. Thirdly, It was not until the mid twentieth century that there was a â€Å"Cognitive revolution† with the work of Broadbent (1956), Chomsky, (1959) Miller, Galanter, Pribram,(1960), also study from Marshall and Newcombe (1966, 1973) looking into cognitive neuropsychology of reading and from Shallice and Warrington (1970) memory. This also included the work into the development of researching sentence processing in aphasia, where linguistic and psycholinguistic theory were responsible for the analysis of aphasic symptoms (Caramazza Zurif, 1976 ; Marin, Saffran, Schwartz, 1976). A substantial amount of evidence afterwards has been produced in showing modularity in the brain. 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Stress Affects Millions Of People Essay - 1730 Words

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Producing Organizational Governance and Leadership

Question: Discuss about the Producing Organizational Governance and Leadership. Answer: Introduction Coca Cola is a famous retailer, manufacturer, and marketer of non-alcoholic beverages in the international market. It leads the market with more than five hundred brands selling over two hundred countries. The organization operates through a franchise distribution system which started in the year 1886. Selling Coke in a bottle started from the year 1895. As stated by Serodio et al. (2016), it was a strategy to increase sales and get recognized globally. Currently, Coca Cola is the most consumed and famous brand in the world. The organization produces the syrup concentrate which the bottlers use to produce and grab the most of the market share. The head-quarter of the company is situated at Atlanta and the main bottler of the company is in the North America. The organization is operating at the top position for more than a century. The purpose of this paper is to explore the history, vision, goals, and organizational structure and functions of the management of the Coca Cola Company. It also explains the leadership style along with the management style, which are applied by the Coca Cola Company. The available options for the same are also explained in this paper. Reviewing the current vision the paper will present alternatives addressing the issues. External Analysis From the PESTLE analysis, it can be stated that, Coca Cola hugely depends on the food department of the countries where it is operating (appendix). The political barriers can come to the company through the tax structures. Various issues like accounting, internal marketing, changes in laws regarding labour, and many others are incorporated in the political factors which can affect the Coca Cola Company. According to the ideas of Rothaermel (2015), the product is sold in many countries with different demand patterns. Coca Colas majority of the equity comes from the beverage industry and outside of the United States of America. The problem Coca Cola is facing is regarding the stagnation of the product quality. In the views of Hair (2015),with cultural changes the demand for the companys product changes. American people prefer healthy drinks, which is not still addressed by Coca Cola. Coca Cola is concentrating more on quantity rather than the quality, which is hampering its demand. The company can use social media as advanced technology for creating awareness and advertising purposes. As stated by Pendergrast (2013), accessibility of drinking water restricts the companys production. Missing any of the criteria given by the governments regarding environmental laws will hamper its distribution process. Internal Analysis To understand the internal situation of the company a SWOT analysis is done (appendix). The company has created a brand recognition which creates customer loyalty in most the countries in the world. The company distributes its products all over the world and hence possesses a worldwide network. It gives Coca Cola an advantage of geographical diversity. These help the company in being the market leader in most of the countries it operates. The product of the company is based on sugar, which is not favourable to the booming health consciousness. Being spread over the world, Coca Cola often faces various troubles regarding the communication process. Following the views given by Dawar (2013), the strategies often changes for the company due to change of socio economic situation where it is operating. It can use the new techniques of production. It also helps the company for expanding. Coca Cola can acquire those companies which will possess future threats. The threats this company is fac ing are higher commodity prices and health consciousness. Same kinds of companies are coming up in different geographical locations. The company has to address the gaps which are becoming prominent regarding the health issues as it will reduce the demand for the company. Business Level Strategy While the other similar companies look for long term strategies, Coca Cola set their strategies for three years only. After the completion of three years, the companys strategy, changes. As stated by Powell and Gard (2015), these strategies are set by Coca Colas managing directors after the head-quarter gives the green signal from Atlanta. The current business strategy followed by the company is segmented revenue growth strategy. Each and every year an annual meeting is held in order to review the strategies in order to ensure that the strategies are applicable for the present market situation. The business level strategic goals of Coca Cola Company incorporate providing products to the valuable clients and retaining professional workers for the company who can help in creating a better corporate image. The business level goals of the Coca Cola help the company in achieving their tactical goals. In the views of Doh and Quigley (2014), these goals which are achieved by the company mos t of the times incorporate increasing the revenue levels by twenty percent by increasing the number of retail customers by ten percent. It helps the company in increasing the market share by five percent. It also incorporates considering the ways to increase market demand by promotional methods. It positions the company ahead of its competitors. Even the close competitor Pepsi lies way below considering Coca Colas annual revenue. Following these strategies, the company has won numerous diversity awards. In CoreBrand: Americas Most Respected Brands Coca Cola stands at rank one. The Human Rights Campaigns Corporate Equality Index (LGBT) has given hundred percent rating to the Coca Cola Company. The organization also had employed more than 150,000 workers till 2012. Following the views of Hartley and Claycomb (2013), it can be said that, the total asset value of the company became $86.17 billion USD during the year 2012 by following these strategies. Strategic Choice The Coca Cola Company has various available strategic choices like global strategy, transitional strategy, international strategy, multi-domestic strategy, and others. The global strategy advocates for standardized products, economies of scale, learning from different cultures and using those ideas in the production process. Transitional strategy uses the benefits of globalization. The views of Pfitzer, Bockstette and Stamp (2013), states that, transitional strategy advocates strategic movements of factors of production, people, ideas and concepts across the borders to achieve economies of scale. It helps an organization in taking the benefits of cross cultural learning. It helps an organization in mass production. The international strategy which can be adopted by an organization mainly facilitates importing and exporting. The fourth strategic choice available for the organization is the multi- domestic strategy. As the ideas Morden (2016), has stated, it uses the existing model whi ch is being used in the domestic market in the global market. It will be like creating a franchise business of the company all over the world. Following the views of Flynn and Okuonzi (2016), it can be stated that, among these available options of strategies, the Coca Cola Company should choose the transitional strategy. It remains at the top among the four available strategies in the terms of cost reduction consideration and local responsiveness considerations. As shown in the figure above, the transitional strategy can help the Coca Cola Company in reducing the cost of production due to fluent mobility of capital. In the views of Hill, Jones and Schilling (2014), it can also help the organization in improving the local responsive considerations. It means the Coca Cola Company can use the transitional strategy which will help the organization in operating in different countries at the same level of efficiency. It will make the response system of the company to the local events in the country it is operating, fast. It helps the company in staying ahead of the line. Mission and vision Statements The mission statement of Coca Cola clearly states that, their roadmap has the starting point at the companys mission, and the companys mission is enduring. It sets the companys purpose and serves as a standard against the competitors, whose actions are incorporated in the decision making process of the company. The mission also touches the points of refreshing the world, inspiring moments of happiness and optimism in all the societies, and creating value which is capable of making a difference. Following the views and ideas of Metzger (2014), it can be said that, the word roadmap proves that the company is optimistic and positive regarding their future and sustainability. As stated by deS (2014), the mission of the company is to make a change which will help the company in creating a name for the organization. The vision of the organization is to be sustaining in the future like it has been doing since late 1800s. It can be gathered from the vision statement of Coca Cola, which suggests that, the companys vision serves as the framework for the roadmap. It also provides the guidelines through reviewing the targets to be achieved. The final goal is to obtain sustainability. People: Providing a great working environment which can inspire people to stay ahead in the race. Portfolio: Bringing a quality beverage brands portfolio which has the potential to guess and satisfy everyones demands. Partners: Creating a network of the suppliers of input materials and consumers which possess a mutual and enduring value. Environment: Doing positive things for the societies where the company operates to create sustainable brand image. Profit: Looking after the overall responsibilities to the society while maximizing profit. Productivity: Being a fast moving company Coca Cola looks after both quality and quantity of the products. Action Plan Issues Present position Future directions Strategy Action Investment in Coca Colas brands More than hundred major sources of investment Fifty percent achievement in one year Achieving five sources of investment every month Providing research and investment friendly system Emphasis on revenue and profit growth $50 billion USD revenue and $10 billion USD profit Strategic implementation of the boards plans Quarterly assessment of the strategies and achievements Increasing sales by following the sales maximizing plans given by the assigned board Refocusing on the core business model of Coca Cola The focus of the company has not shifted To keep the focus on the core model communication system will be revised from time to time Stating the core business model to the employees thoroughly Creating a feedback system following the communication process Stepping up productivity Productivity of Coca Cola is one of the best in the world Finding out the maximizing situation for increasing returns to scale Look for a fluent production system to increase the productivity Employing the board in finding out strategies to make the production process more fluent Simplification and streamlining the operating model The operating model of the company is simple Making the operating model familiar to the employees Familiar operating model will help the workers in stepping up the productivity while keeping the quality intact Making training programs for the employees focusing on the target. Table 1: Action plan for Coca Cola. Source: As created by the author. The table above shows the action plan for Coca Cola Company which is required to keep up the quality of the products and increase the quantity. In the ideas of Harrison and John (2013), the productivity of the company will rise as the efficiency of the production process will increase following the action plan. Change Management Approach The management approach which will appreciate the targeted production process is a changed approach towards the managerial goals, which incorporates planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. The new approach can be hiring more local employees. It will help the company in providing quality products to the customers around the globe. The local requirements will be met and the workplace diversity will improve. As stated by Stone (2013), the corporate image for the company will also be benefitted from this approach. The transitional strategy approach will help the company in making market based supply system, as the demand pattern depends on the local environments. Any sudden change or diversion from the predicted line will be answered by the company effectively. As stated by the ideas of Grant (2016), this might lead to different strategic roles of the mangers in different territories, but their ultimate goals are the same. These goals incorporate price reduction and revenue maxim ization, from where the profit maximizing strategy follows. It will also simplify the output process for the employees which will benefit the production process. Conclusion In conclusion it can be said that the Coca Cola Company has been one of the top beverage selling companies in the world for more than a century. The reason behind this is the strategic plans that are adopted by the management of the Coca Cola Company. The company increases its production every year as the demand for the products are also increasing due to the strategic plans implemented by the management. The PESTLE analysis done here shows the external market for the company. As the company is operating in most of the countries, the political aspects of the countries has the potential of intervening the production process of the company. The strategies that have been adopted by the company are transitional in nature. It helps the company in building different production processes for each of the plants in different countries. This individual approach also helps the management in showing the fluctuations regarding the production and the external variables that affect the companys rev enue and profit margins. The detailed approach also helps the company in determining the glitches in the production process. Following the action plan, the company can improve the productivity and overall investment in the company for a better sustainable future. References Dawar, N., 2013. When marketing is strategy. Harvard business review, 91(12), pp.100-108. de S, T.H., 2014. Can Coca Cola promote physical activity?. The Lancet, 383(9934), p.2041. Doh, J.P. and Quigley, N.R., 2014. Responsible leadership and stakeholder management: Influence pathways and organizational outcomes. The Academy of Management Perspectives, 28(3), pp.255-274. Flynn, A. and Okuonzi, S.A., 2016. Coca-Cola's multifaceted threat to global public health. The Lancet, 387(10013), p.25. Grant, R.M., 2016. Contemporary strategy analysis: Text and cases edition. John Wiley Sons. Hair, J.F., 2015.Essentials of business research methods. ME Sharpe. Harrison, J.S. and John, C.H.S., 2013. Foundations in strategic management. Cengage Learning. Hartley, R.F. and Claycomb, C., 2013. Marketing mistakes and successes. Wiley. Hill, C.W., Jones, G.R. and Schilling, M.A., 2014. Strategic management: theory: an integrated approach. Cengage Learning. Metzger, K., 2014. The Import of Culture? The Coca Cola Company in America and Australia. Morden, T., 2016. Principles of strategic management. Routledge. Pendergrast, M., 2013. For God, country, and Coca-Cola: The definitive history of the great American soft drink and the company that makes it. Basic Books. Pfitzer, M., Bockstette, V. and Stamp, M., 2013. Innovating for shared value. Harvard Business Review, 91(9), pp.100-107. Powell, D. and Gard, M., 2015. The governmentality of childhood obesity: Coca-Cola, public health and primary schools. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 36(6), pp.854-867. Rothaermel, F.T., 2015. Strategic management. McGraw-Hill. Serodio, P.M., Mckee, M., Cohen, D. and Stuckler, D., 2016. Coca-Colaa model of transparency in research partnerships?. The European Journal of Public Health, 26(suppl 1), pp.ckw170-021. Stone, R.J., 2013. Managing human resources. John Wiley and Sons.

Marketing and Lego Essay Example

Marketing and Lego Essay Executive Summary Since LEGO Group’s (LEGO) inception in 1932, the world-famous toy maker overcame numerous challenging obstacles to become the leader in the building toy segment. By 2010, LEGO had witnessed all-time high annual sales of over US$3. 7 billion to become the fourth-largest toy manufacturer in the world. Upon analysis of LEGO’s strengths through Resource-Based View, LEGO holds few key competitive advantages attributed to their success: strong brand name and innovative culture. These traits are not imitable or easily substitutable. However, the competitive landscape has drastically increased in the building toy industry as analyzed with Porter’s Five Forces. Essentially, the deteriorating barriers to entry from loss of trademark protection, Disney’s acquisition of Marvel for greater control of entertainment licensing, and increased rivalry among existing firms from little product differentiation are the main drivers of high competition in the observed market. Therefore, in order to uphold the market leader position in the building toy market and ensure financial success in the years ahead, it is strongly believed that the combination of differentiation and first-mover strategy will best allow LEGO to capitalize on the opportunities available in this growing industry while mitigating the threats from the changes in the market. Although several viable alternatives are present in order to address the mentioned concerns, expanding to the adult market with specialized LEGO sets for hobby and professional purposes is the most suitable. We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing and Lego specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing and Lego specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing and Lego specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer By tapping into this huge demographic consisting of many previous LEGO users, LEGO will diversify its product lines, gain a new channel for revenue generation, protect its brand from competitors’ similar products and maintain high brand recognition from wider targets. Problem Statement The LEGO Group (LEGO) is facing new threats emerging in the toy industry from company acquisitions, intensifying competition in the building blocks segment and risk of brand dilution. Representing one of the fastest growing categories in the global toy sales of US$83. billion in 2010, building sets hold a great opportunity despite uncertainty if LEGO is to successfully develop a product expansion strategy that can maintain LEGO’s current market dominance, high brand value and achieve a financial success. Porter’s Five Forces (Appendix A) The threat of the existing toy companies expanding into the building blocks segment is fairly high due to the similar cost structure and operation requirements. LEGO’s biggest competitor MEGA Bloks proved that other companies could carve out a percentage of the building toy market. LEGO is dealing with two kinds of buyers: small retailers and larger chains. With more than two-thirds of LEGO’s revenue coming from the 200 large retailers, these buyers have fairly high bargaining power. The small stores do not have such bargaining power with LEGO considering their order sizes and revenue contribution. The bargaining power of the suppliers is assumed to be weak as the companies in this industry can freely select their suppliers. For instance, LEGO reduced 80% of its suppliers, showing the flexibility of choosing from wide range of suppliers and significant control over supply-related costs. On the other hand, the rivalry level in the industry and the building sets segment is high. The acquisition of Marvel by Disney placed a large amount of entertainment licensing under the control of Disney which indicates that licensing agreements that LEGO relies on to add values to its products will become more difficult to obtain. Lastly, the threat of substitutes for both toys and building blocks products is assumed to be high as parents will often encourage other activities for their children such as playing sports, exercising, or reading books instead of having them play inside. To conclude, it is strongly believed that the combination of differentiation and first-mover strategy will best allow LEGO to capitalize on the opportunities available in the growing industry while mitigating the threats from the changes in the market environment. SWOT Analysis (Appendix B) LEGO is a globally recognized brand with long history of producing creative and educational toys and has established significantly positive image to the consumers. Thus, LEGO can embrace its reputation and knowledge in the industry to further diversify its product offerings. LEGO has many loyal parent customers buying LEGO products for their children. It is important to understand that the consumers are not the buyers of the products. Once the active consumers of LEGO, the parents trust its products and LEGO is deeply rooted in their personal experience. However, new product lines that reflect the current popular children’s culture face the challenge of appealing to the children and answering strict demands of parents. Nonetheless, LEGO has weaknesses as well. Digital Design Program offering customized product offering with delivery can be assumed to be incurring extra costs since LEGO cannot leverage its economies of scale. LEGO’s loss of patent protection is also the weaknesses that other competitors exploit. As competitors introduce plastic brick products that are compatible with the LEGO brick designs, the consumers are misled into buying the products thinking that they are LEGO. As competition and licensing control intensify to threaten LEGO, the organization should avoid expensive/additional marketing and legal campaigns in the building blocks segment, and divert such resources to take advantage of the unexplored segments in the market. Value Chain Resource-Based View Analysis (Appendix C) While LEGO’s business activities create value and competitive advantages for the firm and its customers, they do so with varying degrees. First, among the primary activities, inbound and outbound logistics are assumed to be standard practices across the industry, contributing little towards competitive advantage. The operation systems offer LEGO a high level of competitiveness since LEGO’s corporate governance is rare and difficult for competitors to imitate. Lastly, marketing and sales strategy for LEGO are unique due to the exclusive nature of licensing agreement, its history and long-term effort of brand building. LEGO’s general and human capital management contribute to its competitive advantage by applying the expertise and knowledge accumulated over the decades, making it extremely difficult to imitate. Technology development and procurement activities at LEGO are assumed to be similar to the general and human capital management and they are relatively unique to LEGO due to its organizational culture history. In conclusion, LEGO’s management should continue creating added values in their products through the above activities, with significant focus on marketing and sales to further synergize with their strengths as indicated in SWOT analysis and operations systems, which include product designs, to expand their product lines into new market segments. Alternative 1: Expand product lines targeting girls As indicated in the SWOT analysis, the market coverage for girls in the building blocks is assumed to be fairly low at this point. LEGO can expand its product designs by obtaining the licensing agreements with entertainment companies that girls favor, as well as adopting new product designs for girls. For example, diversifying its Duplo product lines with themes, such as princesses from Disney cartoons that girls will prefer over boys, will allow LEGO to capture the potentially under-served market segment. By increasing their product lines with minimal design expansion, LEGO is effectively ‘creating’ a sub-segment within the industry and challenging other competitors, which are trying to compete in the traditional building sets segment. Essentially, LEGO is positioning itself as a segment leader once again and capturing a large portion of the end-users and customers. Nevertheless, there are several risks associated with the alternative: first is the market uncertainty. In other words, young girls may not be as interested as boys in building blocks products even with appealing themes. Therefore, thorough target segment research involving focus groups and interviews is recommended to mitigate this risk. Secondly, there is low barrier to entry in this sub category of end-users. The competitors are easily able to compete in this market segment, by designing similar products with themes that will be targeting girls instead of boys. This is possible because re-tooling of the equipment is not costly, as the machines are manufactured to be able to handle multiple designs. Lastly, the increased control over licensing agreement is another major concern: with the themes involving Disney characters, it will be very competitive to acquire licensing agreements, given the previous relationship Disney has with Mattel and Hasbro. Fortunately, this risk can be mitigated by creating themes that do not use the characters’ names or key features, thus avoiding any misjudgment or legal conflicts. Alternative 2: Expand product lines targeting adults/previous LEGO users Given LEGO’s long history of being in the toy business, it is correct to assume that the older generation, who are the parents of the children that LEGO targets, have had experience playing LEGO sets. This fact brings up two unique and strong bases for an inimitable business strategy: 1). By targeting the adults LEGO will increase the size of its potential market. Re-attracting the once loyal customers will not involve complicated new marketing strategies as they can be easily connected based on nostalgic elements. While the threat comes from commoditization of LEGO sets due to similar products being produced by LEGO’s competitors, the past user experience of playing with LEGO sets will never be able to be copied. 2). Furthermore, the distinction between children as consumers and parents as customers made it difficult for LEGO to align the interests and expectations of its two stakeholders. Product expansion into the adult market enables LEGO to focus only on the product development as adults will not necessarily look for traditional values (i. e. educational factors) that LEGO toys have. Fortunately, LEGO for adults will not be a pioneer project. Around the world, many LEGO fans have uploaded pictures of items creatively made by the fans themselves with LEGO pieces (APPENDIX D). LEGO for adults will reflect this on-going global trend and design specialized LEGO pieces for adult users. LEGO for adult users will be used for professional and hobby-related purposes. Engineers can use LEGO to design new bridges, buildings and landmarks while general hobbyists can build a new computer case, frame for pictures and small stools. While LEGO sets for children was considered a toy, LEGO for adults will be a whole new category allowing its users to create art, functional items and highly creative masterpieces to attach unique personal experience and irreplaceable values. Recommendation (Appendix D) Ultimately, it is recommended for LEGO management to undertake the second alternative, to redesign the existing LEGO pieces to be more functional and target the adults. Although other strategy is a viable option, in order to address the concern of competition from absence of patents, lack of product differentiation, and higher dependency on popular licensors, the aforementioned solution is the most suitable. By tapping into this huge demographic consisting of many previous LEGO users, LEGO will diversify its product lines, gain a new channel for revenue generation, protect its brand from competitors’ similar products and maintain high brand recognition from wider targets. LEGO building sets for adults will protect LEGO with a new patent and decades of established loyalty. The LEGO sets for adults will be sold online for two main reasons: 1). This new product line is in an unique product category that does not belong in either the traditional toy stores r the home hardware department. 2). Adults have the mean to purchase (i. e. credit cards) things sold online. Furthermore, the unclear future due to Disney’s purchase of Marvel will be neutralized with the concept of the LEGO sets for adults. While the association of popular pop culture in LEGO theme is important to appeal to children, adults will be more concerned with what they can make with the pieces. Therefore, these new LEGO pieces will be bigger, come in greater variety in shapes and allow more complicated technical flexibility and aesthetic brevity. Upon a glance, completed sets made with such pieces will fit well with other furniture and items in a typical household. LEGO can effectively leverage the current usage of LEGO sets by the professionals and hobbyists like the University of Cambridge and Nathan Sawaya to showcase how they use LEGO. Finally, it is highly likely that once the adults start purchasing and manipulating LEGO sets for their own use, they will opt to buy toys and the traditional LEGO sets from LEGO for their own children, establishing stronger and wider customer retention for many years to come. Marketing and Lego Essay Example Marketing and Lego Essay Executive Summary Since LEGO Group’s (LEGO) inception in 1932, the world-famous toy maker overcame numerous challenging obstacles to become the leader in the building toy segment. By 2010, LEGO had witnessed all-time high annual sales of over US$3. 7 billion to become the fourth-largest toy manufacturer in the world. Upon analysis of LEGO’s strengths through Resource-Based View, LEGO holds few key competitive advantages attributed to their success: strong brand name and innovative culture. These traits are not imitable or easily substitutable. However, the competitive landscape has drastically increased in the building toy industry as analyzed with Porter’s Five Forces. Essentially, the deteriorating barriers to entry from loss of trademark protection, Disney’s acquisition of Marvel for greater control of entertainment licensing, and increased rivalry among existing firms from little product differentiation are the main drivers of high competition in the observed market. Therefore, in order to uphold the market leader position in the building toy market and ensure financial success in the years ahead, it is strongly believed that the combination of differentiation and first-mover strategy will best allow LEGO to capitalize on the opportunities available in this growing industry while mitigating the threats from the changes in the market. Although several viable alternatives are present in order to address the mentioned concerns, expanding to the adult market with specialized LEGO sets for hobby and professional purposes is the most suitable. We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing and Lego specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing and Lego specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing and Lego specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer By tapping into this huge demographic consisting of many previous LEGO users, LEGO will diversify its product lines, gain a new channel for revenue generation, protect its brand from competitors’ similar products and maintain high brand recognition from wider targets. Problem Statement The LEGO Group (LEGO) is facing new threats emerging in the toy industry from company acquisitions, intensifying competition in the building blocks segment and risk of brand dilution. Representing one of the fastest growing categories in the global toy sales of US$83. billion in 2010, building sets hold a great opportunity despite uncertainty if LEGO is to successfully develop a product expansion strategy that can maintain LEGO’s current market dominance, high brand value and achieve a financial success. Porter’s Five Forces (Appendix A) The threat of the existing toy companies expanding into the building blocks segment is fairly high due to the similar cost structure and operation requirements. LEGO’s biggest competitor MEGA Bloks proved that other companies could carve out a percentage of the building toy market. LEGO is dealing with two kinds of buyers: small retailers and larger chains. With more than two-thirds of LEGO’s revenue coming from the 200 large retailers, these buyers have fairly high bargaining power. The small stores do not have such bargaining power with LEGO considering their order sizes and revenue contribution. The bargaining power of the suppliers is assumed to be weak as the companies in this industry can freely select their suppliers. For instance, LEGO reduced 80% of its suppliers, showing the flexibility of choosing from wide range of suppliers and significant control over supply-related costs. On the other hand, the rivalry level in the industry and the building sets segment is high. The acquisition of Marvel by Disney placed a large amount of entertainment licensing under the control of Disney which indicates that licensing agreements that LEGO relies on to add values to its products will become more difficult to obtain. Lastly, the threat of substitutes for both toys and building blocks products is assumed to be high as parents will often encourage other activities for their children such as playing sports, exercising, or reading books instead of having them play inside. To conclude, it is strongly believed that the combination of differentiation and first-mover strategy will best allow LEGO to capitalize on the opportunities available in the growing industry while mitigating the threats from the changes in the market environment. SWOT Analysis (Appendix B) LEGO is a globally recognized brand with long history of producing creative and educational toys and has established significantly positive image to the consumers. Thus, LEGO can embrace its reputation and knowledge in the industry to further diversify its product offerings. LEGO has many loyal parent customers buying LEGO products for their children. It is important to understand that the consumers are not the buyers of the products. Once the active consumers of LEGO, the parents trust its products and LEGO is deeply rooted in their personal experience. However, new product lines that reflect the current popular children’s culture face the challenge of appealing to the children and answering strict demands of parents. Nonetheless, LEGO has weaknesses as well. Digital Design Program offering customized product offering with delivery can be assumed to be incurring extra costs since LEGO cannot leverage its economies of scale. LEGO’s loss of patent protection is also the weaknesses that other competitors exploit. As competitors introduce plastic brick products that are compatible with the LEGO brick designs, the consumers are misled into buying the products thinking that they are LEGO. As competition and licensing control intensify to threaten LEGO, the organization should avoid expensive/additional marketing and legal campaigns in the building blocks segment, and divert such resources to take advantage of the unexplored segments in the market. Value Chain Resource-Based View Analysis (Appendix C) While LEGO’s business activities create value and competitive advantages for the firm and its customers, they do so with varying degrees. First, among the primary activities, inbound and outbound logistics are assumed to be standard practices across the industry, contributing little towards competitive advantage. The operation systems offer LEGO a high level of competitiveness since LEGO’s corporate governance is rare and difficult for competitors to imitate. Lastly, marketing and sales strategy for LEGO are unique due to the exclusive nature of licensing agreement, its history and long-term effort of brand building. LEGO’s general and human capital management contribute to its competitive advantage by applying the expertise and knowledge accumulated over the decades, making it extremely difficult to imitate. Technology development and procurement activities at LEGO are assumed to be similar to the general and human capital management and they are relatively unique to LEGO due to its organizational culture history. In conclusion, LEGO’s management should continue creating added values in their products through the above activities, with significant focus on marketing and sales to further synergize with their strengths as indicated in SWOT analysis and operations systems, which include product designs, to expand their product lines into new market segments. Alternative 1: Expand product lines targeting girls As indicated in the SWOT analysis, the market coverage for girls in the building blocks is assumed to be fairly low at this point. LEGO can expand its product designs by obtaining the licensing agreements with entertainment companies that girls favor, as well as adopting new product designs for girls. For example, diversifying its Duplo product lines with themes, such as princesses from Disney cartoons that girls will prefer over boys, will allow LEGO to capture the potentially under-served market segment. By increasing their product lines with minimal design expansion, LEGO is effectively ‘creating’ a sub-segment within the industry and challenging other competitors, which are trying to compete in the traditional building sets segment. Essentially, LEGO is positioning itself as a segment leader once again and capturing a large portion of the end-users and customers. Nevertheless, there are several risks associated with the alternative: first is the market uncertainty. In other words, young girls may not be as interested as boys in building blocks products even with appealing themes. Therefore, thorough target segment research involving focus groups and interviews is recommended to mitigate this risk. Secondly, there is low barrier to entry in this sub category of end-users. The competitors are easily able to compete in this market segment, by designing similar products with themes that will be targeting girls instead of boys. This is possible because re-tooling of the equipment is not costly, as the machines are manufactured to be able to handle multiple designs. Lastly, the increased control over licensing agreement is another major concern: with the themes involving Disney characters, it will be very competitive to acquire licensing agreements, given the previous relationship Disney has with Mattel and Hasbro. Fortunately, this risk can be mitigated by creating themes that do not use the characters’ names or key features, thus avoiding any misjudgment or legal conflicts. Alternative 2: Expand product lines targeting adults/previous LEGO users Given LEGO’s long history of being in the toy business, it is correct to assume that the older generation, who are the parents of the children that LEGO targets, have had experience playing LEGO sets. This fact brings up two unique and strong bases for an inimitable business strategy: 1). By targeting the adults LEGO will increase the size of its potential market. Re-attracting the once loyal customers will not involve complicated new marketing strategies as they can be easily connected based on nostalgic elements. While the threat comes from commoditization of LEGO sets due to similar products being produced by LEGO’s competitors, the past user experience of playing with LEGO sets will never be able to be copied. 2). Furthermore, the distinction between children as consumers and parents as customers made it difficult for LEGO to align the interests and expectations of its two stakeholders. Product expansion into the adult market enables LEGO to focus only on the product development as adults will not necessarily look for traditional values (i. e. educational factors) that LEGO toys have. Fortunately, LEGO for adults will not be a pioneer project. Around the world, many LEGO fans have uploaded pictures of items creatively made by the fans themselves with LEGO pieces (APPENDIX D). LEGO for adults will reflect this on-going global trend and design specialized LEGO pieces for adult users. LEGO for adult users will be used for professional and hobby-related purposes. Engineers can use LEGO to design new bridges, buildings and landmarks while general hobbyists can build a new computer case, frame for pictures and small stools. While LEGO sets for children was considered a toy, LEGO for adults will be a whole new category allowing its users to create art, functional items and highly creative masterpieces to attach unique personal experience and irreplaceable values. Recommendation (Appendix D) Ultimately, it is recommended for LEGO management to undertake the second alternative, to redesign the existing LEGO pieces to be more functional and target the adults. Although other strategy is a viable option, in order to address the concern of competition from absence of patents, lack of product differentiation, and higher dependency on popular licensors, the aforementioned solution is the most suitable. By tapping into this huge demographic consisting of many previous LEGO users, LEGO will diversify its product lines, gain a new channel for revenue generation, protect its brand from competitors’ similar products and maintain high brand recognition from wider targets. LEGO building sets for adults will protect LEGO with a new patent and decades of established loyalty. The LEGO sets for adults will be sold online for two main reasons: 1). This new product line is in an unique product category that does not belong in either the traditional toy stores r the home hardware department. 2). Adults have the mean to purchase (i. e. credit cards) things sold online. Furthermore, the unclear future due to Disney’s purchase of Marvel will be neutralized with the concept of the LEGO sets for adults. While the association of popular pop culture in LEGO theme is important to appeal to children, adults will be more concerned with what they can make with the pieces. Therefore, these new LEGO pieces will be bigger, come in greater variety in shapes and allow more complicated technical flexibility and aesthetic brevity. Upon a glance, completed sets made with such pieces will fit well with other furniture and items in a typical household. LEGO can effectively leverage the current usage of LEGO sets by the professionals and hobbyists like the University of Cambridge and Nathan Sawaya to showcase how they use LEGO. Finally, it is highly likely that once the adults start purchasing and manipulating LEGO sets for their own use, they will opt to buy toys and the traditional LEGO sets from LEGO for their own children, establishing stronger and wider customer retention for many years to come.