Tale Tell Heart and Goose Girl

Jack Mitchell Mr. Glen Smith English1302 Oct 10,2012 Compare/Contrast Essay Assignment #2 The unnamed narrator in Edgar Allan Poe’s â€Å"A Tell- Tale Heart† and the chambermaid in the Grimm Brothers â€Å"The Goose Girl† both possess strikingly similar characteristics. Both show aggression and use violence to get what they want but are very careful of how they go about it and covering it up. In Poe’s story, the unnamed narrator kills an elderly man that he is caring for because the old man has a foul looking eye that is covered with a white film.This is what is slowly driving him insane but afterwards he ingeniously decides to hide the body incase someone heard the noise of the olds man body. This is so he does not get arrested for his murder and when the police do stop they believe his story and do not suspect anything, until he gives them a reason. The chambermaid on the other hand forcefully and violently makes the princess, who she knows wont stand up for her self, switch places with her simply because she wants to live the life of the princess.She also makes the princess swear to secrecy so she never has to worry about her true identity being unveiled. Later, she cleverly kills the princess’s talking horse, which was the only witness to what happened between the chambermaid and the real princess’s. In Poe’s â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† the unnamed narrator is caring for an elderly man who isn’t capable of taking care of himself. The elderly man has a bad eye that has a silky film over the top of it. The narrator becomes sickened and essentially afraid of the eye.He decides that the only way he can get rid of these feelings is to kill the old man thus getting rid of the eye forever Originally, he is hesitant to actually go through with his plan, but he knows it is the only way to end his torture. â€Å"I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever† (303). He waits until the time is right when the eye is open to kill him â€Å"I did for seven long nights every night just at midnight, but I found the eye always closed; and so it was impossible to do the work† (303).He feels he must kill the man with the evil eye open because â€Å"for it was not the old man who vexed me, but his Evil Eye† (303). Once he finally kills the man, he decides to hide the body incase someone heard the noise or the beating of the man’s heart, which is now driving him even more insane. However, when he was finished cleaning up someone rang his doorbell and when he opened it, â€Å"There entered three men, who introduced themselves, with perfect suavity, as officers of the police† (305). The narrator gave the police a very believable story and they were satisfied.He was almost scott free, but then he starts to hear the thumping of the mans heart and starts going crazy. Convinced the police heard the noise too he ripped up th e planks revealing the body of the elderly man. In the Grimm Brothers â€Å"The Goose Girl†, the chambermaid of the princess so desperately wants to the live the lavish care free life of the princess she decides to test her fate by taking action. This is when her violent behavior is seen for the first time, when she decides to forcefully and violently begin to curse at the princess to dress up as a chambermaid so she can take the princess’s place.She also made the princess to swear to never tell anyone what happened. â€Å"Then with many harsh words, the chambermaid ordered the princess to take off her own royal clothing and put on the chambermaid's shabby clothes. And in the end the princess had to swear under the open heaven that she would not say one word of this to anyone†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (406) When she finally arrives at the castle and marries the king, she asks him for a favor. â€Å"Send for the knacker, and have the head of the horse which I rode here cut off. â €  (408) This is her way of making sure that there are no loose ends and that there is no one or thing that can revel her true identity.However, she does not know the horse can still talk after its’ been beheaded. This small overlooked detail is the root cause to her downfall. The Narrator is portrayed as an insane man who starts to lose control of whatever sanity he has left once he comes into contact with the elderly mans grotesque eye that he thinks is evil. Even though he is portrayed as crazy, in reality he has not lost his mind completely, in he fact that he actually watches the man, investigates the room, and checks the eye to see if it is open â€Å"every night just at midnight†(303). He did this for seven nights, hich clearly shows that he has not completely lost his grip on reality. By waiting for the perfect chance to strike shows patience, mentally and physically. Another sign the narrator was not totally insane was that he had a face-to-face conversatio n with three police officers. In the end, â€Å"The officers were satisfied† and believed his alibi. There is no way a person said to have lost his mind completely could have fooled three trained police officers. On the other hand, the chambermaid in â€Å"The Goose Girl† is seen as a cunning, tough character throughout the story.However, towards the end of the story her true colors begin to shine. By her sending out the knacker to â€Å"have the head of the horse which I rode here cut off, for it angered me on the way. †(306). This shows that she has started to worry and stress over her secret getting out. By her having everything and everyone who could tell her secret around her taken away is the first sign of weakness from her. It is a sign of weakness because she is doing everything possible to save herself and only herself.Lastly, the reason why both the chambermaid and the narrator both got caught and failed to get away was due to them. The narrator was ho me free until he started to panic, thinking the guards could hear what he was hearing he finally lost it â€Å"dissemble no more! I admit the deed! —tear up the planks! here, here! —It is the beating of his hideous heart! † (306). The chambermaid had it done what she had set out to do. However, if she would have stopped and trusted the promise the princess gave her from the beginning she would have been fine.She instead decided to take things into her own hands and had the talking horse beheaded. Finally, the reader can see that both of the characters used every means necessary to get what they wanted which included violence to get what they want but are also very careful of how they go about it and covering it up.Work Cited Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. â€Å"The Goose-Girl. † Kinder-und Hausmarchen. 7th ed. D. L. Ashilman, trans. Berlin: n. p. , 1857. Print Poe, Edgar Allan. â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart. † The complete Tales and Poems of Edgar All an Poe. New York: Random House, 1975. Print.

Short Story Analysis/ Civil Peace

â€Å"Once you allow your foundation to be restored, not a small or quick task, you will be able, with God's help, to build the life He always intended you to have† (Sandra Celeste). Chinua Achebe, the author of â€Å"Civil Peace,† writes about a stereotypical life in Africa, from struggles to miracles, the story is focused around the main character, Jonathan Iwegbu's, point of view. The main conflict is the bittersweet fact that Civil War has come to an end, but many African families have lost everything they have ever known. Jonathan, is surprised to see that his house is still standing when other structures around it are demolished.The author uses motifs, characterization and plot to further echo conflict through the entire piece. A quote that is repeated throughout â€Å"Civil Peace† is that, â€Å"Nothing Puzzles God† (Achebe 359). This motif helps support the characters, which further helps support the conflict. This recurring quote helps support the theme by giving characteristics to Jonathan. He is being blessed over and over again, and remains humble. At the end of the Civil War, his bike is kept safe and he is able to sell, and then afford a taxi drive back to Enugu to search for his home.In that whole experience, he does nothing but say that God is limitless, â€Å"But, needless to say, even that monumental blessing must be accounted also totally inferior to the five heads in the family. This newest miracle was his little house in Ogui Overside. Indeed nothing puzzles God! † (Achebe 359). This quote gives support to the motif, which then is portrayed as the theme. The motif is also the main supportation for the main character, Jonathan. In the â€Å"Civil Peace,† Achebe describes the main character, Jonathan, as a humble African man, who experiences difficulties after the Civil War.He is directly supported by the theme that, â€Å"Nothing Puzzles God,† because of the amount of times he is heard saying it. Characterization is a big part in this story, and it is used to support the theme, which is the direct backbone to the main conflict. The conflict is based around Jonathan and his struggle to rebuild his home and his life. Through Jonathan the journey is not hard to read, due to the complete humble nature of him and his life. â€Å"I count it as nothing,' he told his sympathizers, his eyes on the rope he was tying.‘What is _egg-rasher_? Did I depend on it last week? Or is it greater than other things that went with the war? I say, let _egg-rasher_ perish in the flames! Let it go where everything else has gone. Nothing puzzles God† (Achebe 364). Even in his worst times, when all he had earned for his family after the war was taken away, he still praised God and put it into a completely different viewpoint. Jonathans character is a great use of conflict supportation, but his character also enhances the plot, which in the end directly reflects the main theme.The plot o f any story is the foundation and the base for all characters, themes, or motifs. Plot is used to portray action throughout the story. In the â€Å"Civil Peace,† the author uses the plot to intensify Jonathans character and magnify the main conflict. The two most important conflicts that happen throughout the story are when Jonathan travels to Enugu and discovers that him and his family will be forced to work and rebuild their home and lives, and when Jonathan has worked and earned money but gets robbed and is left with nothing once again.The plot emphasizes these points when, â€Å"Jonathan and his family were now completely paralysed by terror. Maria and the children sobbed inaudibly like lost souls. Jonathan groaned continuously† (Achebe 362). The author uses syntax and diction in this excerpt, to support the plot. He used words like, â€Å"inaudibly† and, â€Å"paralyzed with terror,† which is called imagery and helps the readers have a direct connect ion to the plot. In many ways plot is used to further the conflict.In many ways the author, Chinua Achebe, uses a motif, theme, characterization through the main character Jonathan, and plot, to support the main conflicts. These literary devices are key factors in the story of the â€Å"Civil Peace. † By examining the authors purpose of writing this piece, it is made clear that the intended theme is that, â€Å"Nothing Puzzles God. † Knowing that this is the theme and the authors purpose is important in determining the conflict and the reasoning behind it. In this case, the author uses the literary devices to further and extend upon the conflict.

Social Responsibility, Consumerism, and the Marketing Concept

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, CONSUMERISM, AND THE MARKETING CONCEPT Robert D. Winsor, Loyola Marymount University ABSTRACT This paper compares the often-criticized â€Å"selling orientation† or â€Å"selling concept† with the commonly-praised â€Å"societal marketing concept â€Å"from the perspectives of consumer rationality and persuasibility. It is suggested that both orientations view consumers as relatively irrational and as easily prone to manipulation by marketers. The implications of this similarity are explored from the perspectives of consumerism and social responsibility. INTRODUCTIONCritics of marketing have consistently attacked the discipline for discounting consumers' intelligence and capacity for rational choice and for deliberately confounding consumers in their efforts to make rational, informed, unbiased, and free economic choices. At the same time, societal trends have pushed U. S. businesses in the direction of increasing concern for social issues and a ttention to long-run consumer welfare. The aforementioned criticisms and pressures for increasing social responsibility are largely driven by the same social paradigms and constituents.Yet, it is noteworthy that the ultimate result of an expanded social responsibility of business is the concomitant diminishment of free consumer choice. Moreover, this obstruction of consumer discretion is the inevitable consequence of presumptions of consumer irrationality. Thus, while groups such as consumerists have often criticized marketers explicitly for rejecting notions of consumer rationality, these same groups and sentiments have forcefully promoted the social responsibility of business and the societal marketing concept as advancements in business thought and practice.As a result, contradictions can be seen to exist within the consumerist agenda, and are apparent (but unacknowledged) in the â€Å"societal marketing concept† and calls for increasing the responsibility of business towa rd social issues and concerns. The goal of this paper is to expose these contradictions and to elaborate upon their implications for business and society in general. THE EVOLUTION OF THE MARKETING CONCEPT In January of 1960, the marketing discipline entered a new age.In this year, we were presented with no ground-breaking theory, no pioneering methodology, no brilliant adaptation of another discipline's construct, and no monumental grant. We were, however, given something we would come to treasure much more highly than any of these. We were provided a raison d'etre and a philosophical foundation. It was on this date that the Journal of Marketing published an article by Robert Keith (1960) entitled â€Å"The Marketing Revolution. And, since its publication, marketers have been able to feel justified in believing that their efforts were not only indispensable, but that they have been instrumental in bringing about sweeping improvements in the evolution of business practice. Although the revolution described by Keith has been tamed to become the â€Å"evolution† of the marketing concept, and the generalizablity of the evolution it described has been questioned by some (e. g. Fullerton, 1988), the transformation in American business described by Keith's model has nonetheless served as a source of explanation and justification for marketing academicians.The â€Å"post-evolution† marketers have been lent a degree of dignity and a sense of purpose which was conspicuously lacking before. Prior to this date, marketers were perceived to be at best superfluous, and at worst dishonest or unscrupulous. Not that the average citizen considers marketing in any different light today, but the belief in an evolution of the marketing concept has allowed the academic marketing community a certain degree of self-respect. In his article, Keith described four â€Å"eras† or periods of thought and practice through which his organization, The Pillsbury Company, pr ogressed.Keith believed that these eras were characteristic of most businesses which were contemporaries of Pillsbury, and thus speculated that an overall movement was in evidence. Since the publication of Keith's article, other writers have modified, refined, and extended the basic thesis advancing this evolutionary process: The most noteworthy and well-known of these descriptions is that of Philip Kotler. Kotler describes five alternative concepts or philosophies through which most businesses have evolved.Although any given business can operate under any of the philosophies, the underlying precept of the evolution thesis is that these philosophies form a hierarchy, with later philosophies being superior to those of earlier eras (Keith, 1960; Kotler, 1994). The implication is that to move from a lower level (earlier) philosophy to that on a higher level (later) is not only insightful, but also good business. The first eras or business philosophies are termed the â€Å"product† and the â€Å"production† concepts.The product concept emphasizes product quality and/or performance, and assumes that at least some consumers are knowledgeable enough to recognize and respect superior attributes in these areas. The production concept focuses upon systems for producing large volumes of products in an effort to drive down costs by exploiting economies of scale. This philosophy is based upon the assumption that most consumers not only recognize, but prefer high value (benefits – price) offerings and are knowledgeable and rational in selecting among alternative products.A later era is known as the selling concept, and is based upon the premise that consumers are relatively uninformed regarding product attributes, or base their selection upon fashion or other â€Å"non-rational† criteria. Moreover, this orientation assumes that consumers are easily influenced. As a result, organizations employing the selling concept typically resort to aggressive selling and promotional efforts, with the goal of seducing or coercing customers into purchasing the product. A considerably higher plane of enlightenment is represented by the marketing concept era.The marketing concept is considered to be a quantum leap up the evolutionary hierarchy, and continues to be embraced by a great number of marketing scholars and businesses. The marketing concept â€Å"holds that the key to achieving organizational goals consists in determining the needs and wants of target markets and delivering the desired satisfactions more effectively and efficiently than competitors† (Kotler, 1994, p. 18; 1977a). The motto of the marketing concept is â€Å"find a need and fill it,† and its credo is â€Å"The Customer is King. Like the product and production concepts, but unlike the selling concept, the marketing concept is founded upon the assumption that consumers are knowledgeable, intelligent, and rational, and base their product purchases upon a c areful consideration of the relationship between their own needs and product attributes. As a result, the fundamental premise of the marketing concept becomes a focus on the consumer as the pivotal point for all business activity (Barksdale and Darden, 1971).The thinking underlying the marketing concept was espoused as early as the 1940's and 1950's (Samli, Palda, and Barker, 1987; Bell and Emory, 1971). In 1958 the term â€Å"marketing concept† was coined to describe the philosophy behind this approach (see McKitterick, 1958), and â€Å"by 1965 practically all introductory marketing texts included some discussion of the ‘new' marketing concept† (Bell & Emory, 197 1). The reason that the marketing concept was considered a major breakthrough in business philosophy is that it represented the antithesis of the product, production, and selling concepts.Rather than taking an existing product and endeavoring to modify demand for it by adding features, reducing price, o r varying promotional technique, the marketing concept holds that businesses should first determine the existing needs in the marketplace and then design and produce a product to satisfy this need. In this sense the marketing concept is driven by the needs of the marketplace, rather than the existing abilities of the firm.The fifth, and supposedly highest stage of evolution in marketing philosophies is what Kotler terms the societal marketing concept. In each of his writings referencing the marketing concept, Kotler (1972, 1977b, 1994) clearly states his belief that the societal marketing concept embodies a higher and more enlightened plane of marketing thought and practice, and suggests that this new concept represents an attempt to harmonize the goals of business to the occasionally conflicting goals of society.As such, it postulates that the â€Å"the organization's task is to determine the needs, wants, and interests of target markets and to deliver the desired satisfactions mo re effectively and efficiently than competitors in a way that preserves or enhances the consumer's and society's well-being (Kotler, 1994, p. 29). It should be noted that the societal marketing concept is founded upon one dominant and critical proposition.This is the assumption that â€Å"consumers' wants do not always coincide with their long-run interests or society's long-run interests,† and that, given this, marketers should place the â€Å"emphasis on ‘long-run consumer and societal well being† (Kotler, 1977b). As a result, the societal marketing concept represents an endorsement and justification for the social responsibility of business in contemporary society, and a refutation of Milton Friedman's infamous assertion that â€Å"the social responsibility of business is to make a profit† (Friedman, 1962). THE CONSUMERISM MOVEMENT AS THE CATALYST FOR THESOCIETAL MARKETING CONCEPT The latest consumerism movement is a cause that has been accumulating mom entum for over 30 years in the U. S. , and its disciples assert that all consumers have an inherent right to products which are: safe in use (and even misuse), effective for the use designed, economical, reliable, honestly labeled and advertised, and benign in their impacts upon the environment. Moreover, consumerists have been very proactive in seeing that these â€Å"rights† are guaranteed to individual consumers, either by the firms selling the products, or by the government of this country.Adherents of consumerism tend to believe that businesses are so overwhelmingly motivated by the desire to make a profit that they commonly compromise the quality of the product offerings, thereby jeopardizing the safety of consumers. Consumerists cite examples of this â€Å"greed,† such as the Beech-Nut case involving the sale over 10 years of millions of cases of â€Å"apple juice† which was in reality only sweetened, flavored water (Business Week, 1988).The fact that suc h a large number and variety of these cases exist and continue to be exposed on a regular basis lends a great deal of credibility to the consumerism movement and its underlying assumptions. In explaining the rise of consumerism, Peter Drucker blamed the marketers for failing their consumers and publics in using the marketing concept: We have asked ourselves where in the marketing concept consumerism fits or belongs. I have come to the conclusion that, so far, the only way one can really define it within the total marketing concept is as the shame of the total marketing concept.It is essentially a mark of failure of the concept†¦ (Drucker, 1969) This quote is now famous to marketing practitioners, scholars, and critics alike, and the legitimacy of Drucker's view is generally conceded. In the same year that Drucker made this accusation, Business Week (1969) also asserted that â€Å"In the very broadest sense, consumerism can be defined as the bankruptcy of what the business scho ols have been calling the ‘marketing concept. â€Å"‘ These condemnations of the marketing concept reflected a general assumption within both the business and academic spheres regarding the implications of consumerism's growing popularity.A substantial portion of scholars and managers surveyed in 1971, for example, believed that the rise in consumerism was a direct reflection of the inadequacy of the marketing concept (Barksdale and Darden, 1971). As the presumed response to the failure of the marketing concept, then, the consumerist movement became the foundation for â€Å"a revised marketing concept† which Kotler (1972) proposed as the successor to the â€Å"failed† marketing concept. As in earlier stages of the marketing philosophy evolution, the â€Å"societal marketing concept† was ostensibly constructed upon the ruins of its immediate predecessor.Since the most recent consumerist movement in the U. S. served as the catalyst for today's concept ualization and implementation of the societal marketing concept, it would seem important to understand the modern origins of this movement. ORIGINS OF THE MODERN CONSUMERISM MOVEMENT Writing in 1987, the Auto Editors of Consumer Guide described one car as â€Å"perhaps the most sophisticated (certainly one of the most ambitious) cars ever to come from Detroit† (Langworth and Robson, 1987, p. 51). These authors went on to proclaim that these were â€Å"the kind of cars we should have had in the 1970's, and didn't. The car was the Chevrolet Corvair of the 1960's, and its conspicuous absence in the 1970's was the direct result of what many consider to be both consumerism's explosive postwar debut and also its finest hour. Indeed, the tomb of the Corvair became the foundation of consumerism as we know it today. While business historian's (e. g. , Halberstam, 1986) are eager to criticize Detroit's apparent indifference and ineptitude regarding the 1970's invasion of small, econom ical automobiles from foreign countries and the oil crisis which precipitated this invasion, this blame has been clearly misplaced and undeserved.In 1959, General Motors, acknowledging an existing need in the marketplace for a small, inexpensive, sporty, and fuel-efficient automobile, designed and marketed a vehicle to fill this need. This automobile, the Corvair, was indeed revolutionary in many respects, having four-wheel independent suspension, a rear-mounted air-cooled six-cylinder engine, the option of turbo-charging (a first), and an exhaust system design which would be used on a majority of automobiles for years to come.Both the Corvair and its functional, but considerably more primitive predecessor, the Volkswagen Beetle, were designed, built, and marketed with the highest regard for the marketing concept–offering lower-income consumers the opportunity to own an economical, reliable, and fun-todrive automobile. Both cars were strong sellers, and appeared to satisfy a number of preexisting needs in the marketplace. In 1960, Consumer Reports praised the Volkswagen for its good workmanship, and handling and roadability which were â€Å"well ahead of the U.S. average†. Additionally, about the worst thing that Consumer Reports could find to say about the Corvair was a remark about its â€Å"unimpressive trim quality† (cf. Abernathy, Clark, and Kantrow, 1983). Unfortunately for many consumers, Ralph Nader would use these cars as a catapult for his career, and in so doing, would become synonymous with the consumerism movement. In 1965 he wrote a book entitled Unsafe at Any Speed, in which he criticized General Motors as being irresponsible, greedy, and unconcerned for the public's safety.Nader used the Corvair as the book's primary example, developing an elaborate, scathing, but also relatively misplaced criticism of the Corvair. Due to the negative publicity which the book generated, the book dealt a death blow to the Corvair, which imme diately began a downward sales spiral toward its eventual extinction in 1969. Inspired by the â€Å"success† of Unsafe at Any Speed, an equivalently brutal and faulty criticism of the Volkswagen Beetle was written in 1971 by a colleague and ally of Nader, and was entitled Small—On Safety (Dodge, 197 1).Since, by the time of this book's publication, millions of Volkswagens were on the road and were well-regarded as providing reliable, economical, and serviceable transportation, the book failed to achieve any credibility, and did little harm to Volkswagen's sales. What should have been evident to readers of either book and to consumers in general, but was perhaps not appreciated until much later, was that it was physically impossible to construct a small economy car which was as safe as the leviathan Cadillacs, Lincolns, and Chryslers of the same period.Had a well-designed car such as the Honda Civic (or any other contemporary compact automobile) been introduced into the market in the 1960's, it too would have certainly been labeled as unsafe, and forced off the market. THE SOCIETAL MARKETING CONCEPT AND THEORY X The societal marketing concept is largely congruent with the â€Å"multiple constituency model of organizations† (Kimery and Rinehart, 1998), and general notions of the responsibility or obligation of businesses to social and environmental stakeholders.Contrasted to the marketing concept or orientation, which posits the direct and simple relationship between organizational profitability and responsiveness to customer needs and concerns, the societal marketing concept or multiple constituency model suggests that success is highly dependent upon an organization's attentiveness to all constituencies simultaneously (Kimery and Rinehart, 1998). Yet due to the common opposition between immediate consumer needs and long-term societal and individual needs, the simultaneous â€Å"satisfaction† of all of these demands is frequently dif ficult if not impossible.Moreover, the focus upon â€Å"un-stated† or long-term customer needs and a concomitant discounting of stated consumer desires have distinct overtones of corporate or governmental paternalism and the assumptions of producer or governmental sovereignty, which this perspective necessarily implies. In short, where the marketing concept is the economic equivalent of the democratic process, the societal marketing concept is antithetical to the tenets of democratic equality and more comparable to economic fascism.In an eloquent paper outlining the conceptual foundations of his societal marketing concept, Kotler adapted Douglas McGregor's managerial â€Å"Theory X / Theory Y† to illustrate alternative perspectives of customers (Kotler, 1977b). According to McGregor, Theory X managers view their employees as being lazy, ignorant, gullible, suspicious, and disloyal. In contrast, Theory Y managers view their employees as informed, intelligent, motivated, unique, and rational (McGregor, 1957, 1985).In his adaptation, Kotler makes the assertion that businesses subscribing to the philosophy embodied within the societal marketing concept make assumptions about their customers which are consistent with Theory Y (as opposed to Theory X). In other words, Kotler believes that the societal marketing concept is philosophically consonant with a perspective of the consumer as informed, intelligent, and rational, suggesting the higher plane of enlightenment shared by adopters of this concept and alluding to the concept's supposed capacity for consumer empowerment.Although Kotler makes a valuable contribution in adapting this managerial framework to the marketing discipline, he grossly errs in his interpretation. A far more plausible observation is that the societal marketing concept is solidly built upon Theory X assumptions about consumers on the part of the marketer. According to Kotler (1977b), â€Å"societal marketers are more attuned to t he buyers' unexpressed needs than overexpressed wants,† and place an emphasis upon â€Å"long-run consumer and societal well being. Because of this, the societal marketing concept clearly forces or compels marketers to make judgments about what is â€Å"best† for consumers, and what needs are valid (as opposed to those that are spurious or unwholesome). It is in this way that the societal marketing concept becomes the ultimate subscriber and underwriter to the Theory X mentality. The conceptual foundation of the societal marketing concept (as well as of the consumerism movement) rests eavily upon the belief that the individual consumer is unable to â€Å"look out for him/herself,† is gullible, ignorant, easily misled, does not know what is actually in his/her own best interest, and thus needs to be protected from powerful and unscrupulous marketers. In this way, the belief that the role of the marketer is to interpret what is â€Å"best† for society and i ndividuals necessitates the assumption that individuals do not and cannot know what is best for themselves. Nor is this an overstatement of the societal marketing concept's goals and assumptions.Bell and Emory (1971, p. 40), proponents of this concept, assert that â€Å"The typical consumer is at such a disadvantage that he cannot assure his own effectiveness. Business has the responsibility to help him, and if business fails then the government or other parties must act on the consumer's behalf. † In addition, in circumstances â€Å"where the buyer is unwilling or unable to make rational decisions,† Bell and Emory believe that â€Å"It is the duty of business to promote proper consumption values† (Bell & Emory, 197 1, p. 40, emphasis added).Yet these are precisely the â€Å"paternalistic† attitudes which characterize the Theory X â€Å"manager† according to McGregor. The fact that some consumers may choose to buy a subcompact automobile because th ey prefer economy over a certain degree of safety, or that some choose to subsist on McDonald's hamburgers, fries and milkshakes despite their â€Å"unhealthfullness† does not imply that these individuals are stupid, or gullible, or that they need to be â€Å"enlightened† by consumerism or societal marketing techniques, This is in fact the precise point at which the â€Å"evolution† of the marketing concept breaks down.The marketing concept holds that marketers should strive to supply products for every consumer need, provided these needs are not grossly threatening to society, and that â€Å"any decision the customer makes to serve his own perceived selfinterest is rational† (Bauer & Greyser, 1967). It is thus impossible to interpret the societal marketing concept as anything but a move backward into the period where the selling concept ruled–where consumers were â€Å"ignorant,† â€Å"irrational,† and easily anipulated by more insig htful marketers. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS While consumerists and other critics of the selling concept regularly and loudly chastise business organizations for employing marketing strategies and campaigns which are ostensibly based upon assumptions of consumer ignorance and irrationality, these same guardians of consumer interest are typically synonymous with those pushing organizations most forcefully into programs of social responsibility and the societal marketing concept.Yet, as noted above, the agenda of social responsibility in business is clearly based upon assumptions of equal (or even greater) degrees of consumer ignorance and irrationality. Disciples of the societal marketing concept appear to be largely oblivious to the relatively absurd levels that businesses have been pushed by forces in concert with their agenda. (Witness the warning on McDonald's coffee cups: â€Å"Caution: HOT! . . . CAUTION: CONTENTS HOT! †¦ Caution: HOT! . . . Caution: HOT! . . . WARNING: HOT! †¦ /! .. † which are combined with a corollary reduction in the temperature of the liquid itself — actions which were necessitated by the infamous multimillion dollar legal claim against the company — a lawsuit which was applauded by numerous consumerist groups. ) But, as Levitt noted in 1958, â€Å"self-conscious dedication to social responsibility may have started as a purely defensive maneuver against strident attacks on big corporations and on the moral efficacy of the profit system. But defense alone no longer explains the motive. The motive for corporate social responsibility and the overwhelming push for social responsibility in the pursuit of sales now arises out of the industrial sector's near-total dependence on social trends and the sentiment of a minority of consumers. Corporations that have been beaten into submission by frivolous lawsuits and that are afraid to arouse consumerist accusations of indifference have been forced to pander to t he lowest common denominator of consumer passivity, ignorance, and laziness.As predicted by McGregor, these Theory X attitudes and actions have subsequently bred and reinforced the very passivity, ignorance, and laziness in consumers they were designed to anticipate and amend. Ironically, the similarities between the selling concept and the societal marketing concept regarding their shared assumption of consumer ignorance can be seen as forming the perfect foundation for either societal altruism or, alternatively, opportunistic exploitation.In many cases, these efforts can be difficult to distinguish from one another, and apparent acts of altruism or social responsibility can provide the perfect camouflage for exploitation. Because organizations are rapidly becoming aware of the power of â€Å"greenconsumers,† for example, there is a significant temptation to advance this agenda through the marketing program as a powerful device for cultivating customer loyalty and anesthetiz ing consumer prudence and vigilance.As Kotler (1994, p. 30) notes, â€Å"a number of companies have achieved notable sales and profit gains through adopting and practicing the societal marketing concept. † One of the two shining examples Kotler cites is The Body Shop, started by Anita Roddick in 1976. This organization has experienced phenomenal sales growth by actively promoting its products as all-natural, environmentally friendly, and non-animal-tested, and its business practices as sociallyconcerned.Moreover, Roddick has frequently and publicly ridiculed other cosmetics companies, noting that they are â€Å"run by men who create needs that don't exist† (Zinn, 1991). Indeed, The Body Shop became in the 1980's the prototype that all â€Å"earth-friendly† businesses would seek to emulate. As the vanguard of social responsibility, The Body Shop and its founder became the beneficiary of huge volumes of positive publicity, international acclaim, and consumer goodw ill.Yet recent explorations into The Body Shop's products and business practices have found elements which yield a stark contrast to the public images and perceptions noted above. Products of the company have been found to be largely petrochemical-based and of relatively poor-quality, and a large proportion of them have been tested on animals. In addition, the â€Å"socially-enlightened† business practices of this company have been exposed as creative public relations efforts, and the FTC has nvestigated the firm for fraudulent business dealings (Entine, 1993; Buszka, 1997). Clearly, it must inevitably be those organizations which are encouraged to view their consumers as ignorant or irrational that can and will most easily extend that notion to discover opportunities for exploiting that ignorance and irrationality. It is for this reason that those espousing the societal marketing concept and the social responsibility of business can be seen as the greatest danger to consumer sovereignty and consumer welfare.As Lord Acton observed, power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Yet it is a corollary rule that in reducing one individual's power, all others with whom that person deals have their relative power increased. By forcing consumers into the roles of ignorant, helpless, and mindless children in need of protection and corporate welfare, advocates of the societal marketing concept have liberated consumers from both responsibility and power, and have concomitantly made business more powerful. REFERENCES Abernathy, W. Clark, and Kantrow (1983), Industrial Renaissance; Producing a Competitive Future for America, New York: Basic Books. Bauer, R. and S. Greyser (1967), â€Å"The Dialogue That Never Happens,† Harvard Business Review, (November-December), 186-190. Barksdale, Hiram C. and Bill Darden (1971), â€Å"Marketers' Attitudes Toward the Marketing Concept,† Journal of Marketing, 35 (October), 28-36. Bell, M. and W. Emory (197 1), â€Å"The Faltering Marketing Concept,† Journal of Marketing 35, (October), (37-42). Business Week (1969), â€Å"Business Responds to Consumerism,† September 6, 95.Business Week (1988), â€Å"What Led Beech-Nut Down the Road to Disgrace,† February 2, 124-127. Buszka, Sharlene (1997), â€Å"A Case of Greewashing: The Body Shop,† in Proceedings of the Association of Management and the International Association of Management l5th Annual International Conference, Organizational Management Division, Volume 15, Number 1, 199-294. Dodge, Lowell (1972), Small–On Safety: The Designed-In Dangers of the Volkswagen, New York: Grossman. Drucker, P. (1958), â€Å"Marketing and Economic Development,† Journal of Marketing, (January), (252-259). _________(1969), Consumerism: The Opportunity of Marketing,† address before the National Association of Manufacturers, New York, April 10, later printed as â€Å"The Shame of Marketing,† Marketing Co mmunications, August, 1969, 60. Entine, Jon (1994), â€Å"Shattered Image: Is the Body Shop Too Good to Be True? † Business Ethics, (September/October). Friedman, Milton (1962), Capitalism and Freedom, Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Fullerton, Ronald A. (1988), â€Å"How Modern is Modern Marketing? Marketing's Evolution and the Myth of the ‘Production Era,'† Journal of Marketing, 52 (January), 108-125.Halberstam, David (1986), The Reckoning, New York: Avon Books. Keith, R. (1960), â€Å"The Marketing Revolution,† Journal of Marketing, 24(January), 35-3 8. Klein, T. (1979), â€Å"Contemporary Problems, Marketing Theory, and Futures Research,† in Conceptual and Theoretical Developments in Marketing: AMA Proceedings, 258-263. Kimery, Kathryn M. and Shelley M. Rinehart (1998), â€Å"Markets and Constituencies: An Alternative View of the Marketing Concept,† Journal of Business Research, 43, 117-124. Kotler, P. (1977a), â€Å"From Sales Obs ession to Marketing Effectiveness,† Harvard Business Review (November-December), 67-75. _______(1972), â€Å"What Consumerism Means for Marketers,† Harvard Business Review, (May-June), 48-57. ________(1977b), â€Å"Considerations In a Theory of Humanistic Marketing,† Working Paper, Graduate School Of Management, Northwestern University. ________(1994), Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning, and Control, eighth edition, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc. ________, and S. Levy, (1969), â€Å"Broadening the Concept of Marketing,† Journal of Marketing, (January), 10-15. Langworth, Richard M. nd Graham Robson (1987), The Complete Book of Collectible Cars, 1930-1980, New York: Beekman House. Levitt, T. (1958), â€Å"The Dangers of Social Responsibility,† Harvard Business Review, 36, 5(September-October), 41-50. _______(1960), â€Å"Marketing Myopia,† Harvard Business Review, (July-August). _______(1977), â€Å"Marketing When Thin gs Change,† Journal of Marketing, (NovemberDecember), 107-113. McGregor, D. (1957), â€Å"The Human Side of Enterprise,† Management Review (November), 22-28. McGregor, D. (1985), The Human Side of Enterprise, New York: McGraw-Hill.McKitterick, J. (1958), â€Å"What is the Marketing Management Concept? † in The Frontiers of Marketing Thought and Science, Chicago: American Marketing Association, 71-82. Nader, Ralph (1965), Unsafe At Any Speed: The Designed In Dangers of the American Automobile, New York: Grossman. Samli, A. , K. Palda, and A. Barker (1987), â€Å"Toward a Mature Marketing Concept,† Sloan Management Review (Winter), 45-5 1. Zinn, Laura (1991), â€Å"Whales, Human Rights, Rain Forests — And the Heady Smell of Profits,† Business Week, July 15, 114-115.

Financial Statment Analyasys Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Financial Statment Analyasys - Case Study Example was established in the year 1980 for retail sale of â€Å"natural and organic foods† (Edgar Online 1). It became the first grocer enterprise to receive national organic certification among grocers. The organization’s history has been based on its mission of quality products towards high health standards and supports national movements for natural and organic foods. The organization floated its initial public offer in the year 1992 and currently operates more than 300 stores globally. Most of its stores have many years of existence in the market, with an average of ten years in their respective locations. Most of the stores are in the United States but subsidiaries exist in Canada and the United Kingdom. Retail in natural and organic foods is the organization’s core operation. Focus on social responsibility such as environmental consciousness and the need to improve health through quality product, despite nature of competition, are the most interesting features of the organization. I preferred the company to others because of its prominence in the industry. 2. The purpose of the ‘management discussion and analysis section’ is to offer the management’s position on its organization’s financial features on a times series scale. ... The section also explains existence of competition, describes the entity’s products, and offers a summary of financial data over the past three accounting periods. Its clear and outlined organization is the most interesting thing and it communicates high prospects and stability of the entity. 3. Ernst & Young LLP is the organization’s independent auditor. 4. The auditor’s opinion validates reported information by the management. The auditor’s opinion, in the form, approved the company’s statement to be a fair representation of the company’s financial position. The opinion is unqualified because it offers no reservation on reliability of the financial statements. 5. The company did not change its auditors. 6. The 10-K includes certification statement required by Sarbanes-Oxley and John Mackey signed the certification. The certification qualifies the report’s compliance with sections 13(a) and 15(d) of the Security Exchange Act and that the report is a fair representation of the organization’s financial position and operational outcomes and means the management’s adoption of the financial statements. 7. The lowest stock price for the last financial year was $ 60.39 while the highest price was $ 100.5. The following table summarized trend in data for the period ended 2012. Graph 1: Stock daily closing stock prices 8. The stock prices had a generally decreasing trend with a level of volatility, politics is a major factor as the nation headed for presidential elections in November 2012, and the management did not associate the decline with economic factors. 9. The industry identifies positive prospects based on accounting rations such as revenue growth, return on equity, and long-term

Occupational Safety and Liability Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Occupational Safety and Liability - Case Study Example According to the case study, Behavior Based Safety focuses on the behavioral initiatives an employee recruits to ensure they are safe in the workplace. The safety technique and set programs hold the employees accountable for their safety. An employee gets blamed for incidents or accidents that occur when it comes to this form of the safety technique. Engineering controls are defined by the act of creating ways to fix and handle matters pertaining safety. The technique prevents hazards from occurring and re-occurring. In engineering controls, an employee applies ways of protecting themselves from harm, for example, wearing protective gear while at work or handling equipment with extra care. Lack of engineering controls leads to poor safety and exposes the employee to great risks making them vulnerable to fatal and disabling accidents. Management accountability is defined as the participation of an organization’s management level in ensuring safety to its employees. The management of an organization needs to intervene in its employee’s safety by providing protective gear as well as health insurances. The involvement of management in employee safety plays a significant role as it reduces cases of accidents or incidents at the workplace. On the other hand, the absence of the management in the implementation of employee safety leads to poor working conditions. Lack of participation in the management causes ignorance of safety precautions and measures hence making it poor. I support advocates of Behavior-Based Safety. The safety of an employee mostly lies in the personal decision an employee makes to protect their health. An employee bears more knowledge on their health and with or without the presence of the management safety precautions, safety lies in the personal decision of the employee (Hickman, 2007). Before an employee joins an organization, he or she ought to have trained in safety and health precautions under certain fields to maintain and enhance safety in the workplace.  

Early or late industrialization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

Early or late industrialization - Essay Example Capitalism on the other hand is the belief that the government does not utilize economic resources efficiently as private entities. Therefore, the society would be much better in a free market economy, which determines winners and losers. This topic is important because, essentially, communism and socialism are among the main economic systems, alongside capitalism that have existed since the industrial revolution. Both of these systems have their own merits and demerits. It is therefore, with this reason that the author wishes to conduct an evaluation on what these systems are, plus the merits and demerits associated with them. Since the Soviet Union abandoned the communism, the assumption that capitalism may be the only effective economic system have been aggressively marketed in the capitalist media. This view seems to gain credibility owing to the failure of communism with regard to its aims, corruption, totalitarian, and gross inefficiency. This topic is related to the discipline of economics to the sense that it makes us understand the meaning of economic success. A comparison of the two systems, that is socialism, and capitalism will make us to understand the meaning of economic success. An economic system that is perceives as being unjust and then led to a global poverty would be indeed a dubious achievement. It may be rightly argued that the economic justice is jeopardized when the outcome is peoples ‘that is instigated by poverty. In another spectrum, an economic system that is perceived as being unjust, and which leads to wealth, being concentrated in the hands of a few is a more dubious realization. Further, an economic system that does not motivate individuals and is inefficient cannot be said to be just or capable of producing much wealth. Finally, the ecology can only support much economic entrainment as well as wastes. Most ideologies of communist are derived from the

Human Factors and Ergonomics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Human Factors and Ergonomics - Assignment Example Suggestions to improve these conditions i. Place study samples of interest onto a table where he or she will work in upright manner ii. Raise the work to a better view where he or he will be aligning with samples to avoid bending head. iii. Avoid bending wrists more than 300 by using in-line appropriate tools when working on things that are lying on flat surfaces. iv. Use low stools especially when he or he is collecting samples but not for a prolonged period. This is to avoid bending of neck. 2. i. Adjustable Driver’s seat and its belt - A person based on an individual’s height is capable of setting both seat and belt such that he or she can hold the steering wheel appropriately without reaching it from behind or operating when it is very close to the chest. ii. Appropriate size of a steering wheel - When negotiating a corner one executes this task with ease without struggling with big or a small steering wheel.

Conflict Scenario Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Conflict Scenario - Assignment Example The Myers-Briggs indicator has sixteen personality combinations and each represents differently. For example, Jane’s personality is an ESFJ type, which makes her helpful, friendly and very suited to her current job. However, although Brandon works in the same department and company as Jane, he has a different personality from Jane. The mode of handling conflict used by both Jane and Brandon is competition. This mode is assertive and both Jane and Brandon show they have a forceful personality. Because of this, conflicts arise, as they do not give way to cooperation. There is no win-win situation. To resolve the conflict between the two, there must be some form of cooperation and positive change that would benefit both sides in the future. This mode is collaboration and ensures cooperation is achieved by understanding the needs of one another. The supervisor ought to discuss the matter face-to-face with Jane and Brandon. When an agreement has been reached, the situation must be regularly monitored to ensure the method is going smoothly. The supervisor must remind the employees that each of them is important to the company. This is to ensure there is no jealousy or favoritism amongst the

The Line between Reasonable and Unreasonable Force Essay

The Line between Reasonable and Unreasonable Force - Essay Example The main argument would be that he/ she used more than reasonable force, but when we look at it in terms of punches and kicks, how is one supposed to tell how much force will stun someone, or kill another person. From this, one cannot help but notice how sketch an equivocal the definitions can be. A real-life example of this is also seen in George Zimmerman’s case he was arraigned for murder because he shot to death a youth who was beating him up. According to his lawyer, he will not go for the stand your ground law defense as many expected which states that: â€Å"A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity, and who is attacked in any other place where he or she has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible fe lony†. Despite this law being more recent than the retrospective self-defense one, it still falls short in representing my hypothetical killer, as well as Zimmerman. This is because the use of the term reasonable assumes the participants will be in a position or will have time to reason. In most cases, it comes down to the initial victim's perception which is often â€Å"my life or theirs†. It also does not protect one from the bias that often results based on the age, reputation an often the race of the final victim.

Bill of Rights Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Bill of Rights - Term Paper Example 2. Briefly show the difference between specific right and general rights 3. Have your rights ever been violated? Respondent 2 (Gregory): It is obvious that citizens are certainly aware of their rights. Individual rights are rights which the government cannot interfere. Citizens should know both their specific and general rights since they must be entitled to them. Take for instance the belief in a specific right which initiated a convicted felon, Clarence Gideon, to contest his conviction. The United States Supreme court utilized this appeal as a means in determining an indigent defendant’s right to an attorney at trials related to felony (Dayes, 1999). Moreover, a general right can have applications far over the case in which it was first determined. The right to privacy, for instance, has played a part in numerous cases relating with police procedures for carrying out seizures or what can be termed as searches. Another general right is the right to be treated justly. Needles s to say, citizens of America are extremely aware of their due process rights because so many rights can be linked to the legalities by which the government can take away life, property, and liberty. 4. ... Amendment 3 (quartering soldiers) The government cannot make people allow soldiers stay in their homes. Amendment 4 (security from unreasonable searches and seizures) It states that the police cannot search a person without a good reason to believe the person has done something wrong. They cannot search a person’s house without a good reason to believe the person has done something wrong, or arrest a person without a good reason to believe the person has done something wrong. Moreover, they cannot take a person’s things without a good reason to believe the person has done something wrong. It states that the police must have a search warrant that specifies the names of the area to be investigated, the person to be arrested, and the items to be confiscated. Amendment 5 (rights to due process of law) The federal government cannot try a person more than once for the same heinous crime, make a person testify against himself or herself, take away a person’s life, freed om, or possessions without valid reasons and fair procedures, or take away a person’s property unless the person can be fairly paid for his or her property. Amendment 6 (right to a free trial) People charged with a crime have the right to a hurried and free trial, a jury trial in a criminal case, be told what he or she can be accused, appear before the people who say he or she did wrong, call witnesses to testify on their behalf, have an attorney. Amendment 7 (trial by jury) People have the right to a jury trial in civil matters, in the case of disagreements between individuals. Amendment 8 (fair bail and punishments) A person charged with a crime has a right to a fair fine; there cannot be any cruel and unusual

Question Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 11

Question - Essay Example The tasks of Joachim were to make sure that the world was still persuaded that Germany wanted candidly an arms limitation agreement while making sure that this agreement was not developed at all. He later became a great friend of the Fuhrer, to the hatred of members who had serve for a long period of time, who though that Joachim had no talent and was insincere. Despite the hatred from the other members, Joachim was made the Foreign Minister and Ambassador to Britain (Keylor, 2010). In the run up to World War II, Joachim played a crucial role in brokering the pact of Steel with the non-aggression pact of Soviet German and fascist Italy. This was referred to the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. The influence of Ribbentrop pact deteriorated after 1941. After he was detained in June 1945, Joachim was tried at the Nuremberg Trials and found guilty of war crimes for the role he had in pioneering World War II and facilitating the Holocaust (Keylor, 2010). Joachim von Ribbentrop then became the fir st individuals who were hanged as their death sentences in 1946. Ford was an American industrialist and the forefather of the Ford Motor Company. On the other hand, he sponsored the growth of the mass production assembly line method. Ford manufactured and developed the first automobile that a lot of Americans in the middle class could manage to pay for. In addition, he was well recognized for his passivity in the beginning of World War I (Keylor, 2010). He opposed heavily the entry of America in World War II and went on to believe that international businesses could cause the affluence of heading off wars. He went on to state that the war was the product of financiers who are greedy and looking for profit in destruction of humans. In 1939, Henry Ford claimed that the torpedoing of United States merchant ships by submarines owned by the Germans was the result of conspiratorial happenings that financier war makers undertook. The

Six Sensitive Periods Essay Example for Free

Six Sensitive Periods Essay 1. What are the six sensitive periods? Describe each briefly. Sensitivity to order: From the age of one to the age of three, the child expresses their need for stability. At this time the child is extremely sensitive to order. The child will in some cases be distressed or very upset if there is a slight change in the environment, since children is formed by their surroundings they have the need to accuracy and control. Refinement of senses: The young child has a strong desire to know and learn, at this stage the child is beginning to bring the different elements of actions and influence between all his separate senses. During this time the child have to fully apply all the senses in order to develop them as much as possible. From a very young age children will decide what they want to hear, see, touch, taste and smell. Sensitivity to language: From the moment of birth, language plays a vital role in accompanying mental growth. During this phase the child distinguishes the sound of the human voice and is able to recognize the mouth movement. The child continues to learn more sentence structure during primary school years, on condition that basic language has been achieved. If a child is not exposed to language during sensitive period, it can lead to permanent damage. Sensitivity for walking: From the first time the child starts walking, he has a big need to practice and perfect this skill. Once the child starts walking, he is constantly on the move and practicing the movement and control. The child makes great efforts to achieve the quality in his motion capability. Sensitivity to small objects: At around the age of two years children have an urge to pay attention to detail, the child develops the ability to focus on certain tasks. When the child is out for a walk the child will stop numerous times to explore and investigate and examine small objects and his surroundings. Sensitivity to social aspects of life: At this stage, children can develop friendships and learn how to play in groups. It is important to teach them during this phase how to interact and have consideration for others.

The Use Of Brainstorming In Stages Information Technology Essay

The Use Of Brainstorming In Stages Information Technology Essay Brainstorming is usually the first crucial creative stage of the project management and project planning process. See the brainstorming method in detail and explained separately, because it many other useful applications outside of project management. Fishbone diagrams are chiefly used in quality management fault-detection, and in business process improvement, especially in manufacturing and production, but the model is also very useful in project management planning and task management generally. Within project management fishbone diagrams are useful for early planning, notably when gathering and organising factors, for example during brainstorming. Fishbone diagrams are very good for identifying hidden factors which can be significant in enabling larger activities, resources areas, or parts of a process. Fishbone diagrams are not good for scheduling or showing interdependent time-critical factors. Fishbone diagrams are also called cause and effect diagrams and Ishikawa diagrams, after Kaoru Ishikawa (1915-89), a Japanese professor specialising in industrial quality management and engineering who devised the technique in the 1960s. Ishikawas diagram became known as a fishbone diagram, obviously, because it looks like a fishbone: A fishbone diagram has a central spine running left to right, around which is built a map of factors which contribute to the final result (or problem). For each project the main categories of factors are identified and shown as the main bones leading to the spine. Into each category can be drawn primary elements or factors (shown as P in the diagram), and into these can be drawn secondary elements or factors (shown as S). This is done for every category, and can be extended to third or fourth level factors if necessary. The diagram above is a very simple one. Typically fishbone diagrams have six or more main bones feeding into the spine. Other main category factors can include Environment, Management, Systems, Training, Legal, etc. The categories used in a fishbone diagram should be whatever makes sense for the project. Various standard category sets exist for different industrial applications, however it is important that your chosen structure is right for your own situation, rather than taking a standard set of category headings and hoping that it fits. At a simple level the fishbone diagram is a very effective planning model and tool especially for mapping an entire operation. Where a fishbone diagram is used for project planning of course the Effect is shown as an aim or outcome or result, not a problem. The Problem term is used in fault diagnosis and in quality management problem-solving. Some fishbone diagrams can become very complex indeed, which is common in specialised quality management areas, especially where systems are computerised. This model, and the critical path analysis diagram are similar to the even more complex diagrams used on business process modelling within areas of business planning and and business process improvement. project critical path analysis (flow diagram or chart) Critical Path Analysis sounds very complicated, but its a very logical and effective method for planning and managing complex projects. A critical path analysis is normally shown as a flow diagram, whose format is linear (organised in a line), and specifically a time-line. Critical Path Analysis is also called Critical Path Method its the same thing and the terms are commonly abbreviated, to CPA and CPM. A commonly used tool within Critical Path Analysis is PERT (Program/Programme/Project Evaluation and Review Technique) which is a specialised method for identifying related and interdependent activities and events, especially where a big project may contain hundreds or thousands of connected elements. PERT is not normally relevant in simple projects, but any project of considerable size and complexity, particularly when timings and interdependency issues are crucial, can benefit from the detailed analysis enabled by PERT methods. PERT analysis commonly feeds into Critical Path Analysis and to other broader project management systems, such as those mentioned here. Critical Path Analysis flow diagrams are very good for showing interdependent factors whose timings overlap or coincide. They also enable a plan to be scheduled according to a timescale. Critical Path Analysis flow diagrams also enable costings and budgeting, although not quite as easily as Gantt charts (below), and they also help planners to identify causal elements, although not quite so easily as fishbone diagrams (below). This is how to create a Critical Path Analysis. As an example, the project is a simple one making a fried breakfast. First note down all the issues (resources and activities in a rough order), again for example: Assemble crockery and utensils, assemble ingredients, prepare equipment, make toast, fry sausages and eggs, grill bacon and tomatoes, lay table, warm plates, serve. Note that some of these activities must happen in parallel and crucially they are interdependent. That is to say, if you tried to make a fried breakfast by doing one task at a time, and one after the other, things would go wrong. Certain tasks must be started before others, and certain tasks must be completed in order for others to begin. The plates need to be warming while other activities are going on. The toast needs to be toasting while the sausages are frying, and at the same time the bacon and sausages are under the grill. The eggs need to be fried last. A Critical Path Analysis is a diagrammatical representation of what needs done and when. Timescales and costs can be applied to each activity and resource. Heres the Critical Path Analysis for making a fried breakfast: This Critical Path Analysis example below shows just a few activities over a few minutes. Normal business projects would see the analysis extending several times wider than this example, and the time line would be based on weeks or months. It is possible to use MS Excel or a similar spreadsheet to create a Critical Path Analysis, which allows financial totals and time totals to be planned and tracked. Various specialised project management software enable the same thing. Beware however of spending weeks on the intricacies of computer modelling, when in the early stages especially, a carefully hand drawn diagram which requires no computer training at all can put 90% of the thinking and structure in place. (See the details about the most incredible planning and communications tool ever invented, and available for just a tiny fraction of the price of all the alternatives.) project critical path analysis flow diagram example gantt charts Gantt Charts (commonly wrongly called gant charts) are extremely useful project management tools. The Gantt Chart is named after US engineer and consultant Henry Gantt (1861-1919) who devised the technique in the 1910s. Gantt charts are excellent models for scheduling and for budgeting, and for reporting and presenting and communicating project plans and progress easily and quickly, but as a rule Gantt Charts are not as good as a Critical Path Analysis Flow Diagram for identifying and showing interdependent factors, or for mapping a plan from and/or into all of its detailed causal or contributing elements. You can construct a Gantt Chart using MSExcel or a similar spreadsheet. Every activity has a separate line. Create a time-line for the duration of the project (the breakfast example shows minutes, but normally you would use weeks, or for very big long-term projects, months). You can colour code the time blocks to denote type of activity (for example, intense, watching brief, directly managed, delegated and left-to-run, etc.) You can schedule review and insert break points. At the end of each line you can show as many cost columns for the activities as you need. The breakfast example shows just the capital cost of the consumable items and a revenue cost for labour and fuel. A Gantt chart like this can be used to keep track of progress for each activity and how the costs are running. You can move the time blocks around to report on actuals versus planned, and to re-schedule, and to create new plan updates. Costs columns can show plan and actuals and variances, and calculate whatever to tals, averages, ratios, etc., that you need. Gantt Charts are probably the most flexible and useful of all project management tools, but remember they do not very easily or obviously show the importance and inter-dependence of related parallel activities, and they wont obviously show the necessity to complete one task before another can begin, as a Critical Path Analysis will do, so you may need both tools, especially at the planning stage, and almost certainly for large complex projects. gantt chart example A wide range of computerised systems/software now exists for project management and planning, and new methods continue to be developed. It is an area of high innovation, with lots of scope for improvement and development. I welcome suggestions of particularly good systems, especially if inexpensive or free. Many organizations develop or specify particular computerised tools, so its a good idea to seek local relevant advice and examples of best practice before deciding the best computerised project management system(s) for your own situation. Project planning tools naturally become used also for subsequent project reporting, presentations, etc., and you will make life easier for everyone if you use formats that people recognize and find familiar.

The First American Eagle Outfitters Store

The First American Eagle Outfitters Store After a stagnant market in 1991 which American Eagle had felt the effect of Retail Ventures, Inc. sold the rest of its fifty percent of its ownership of American Eagle to the Schottenstein family making them the complete controllers of the company. In 1992, under new management American Eagle slightly moved its focus on private label casual apparel for men and women keeping the outdoor look. During one of its best years American Eagle went public in April 1994 with a high of $0.91 for the first day of the initial public offering. Most of the earnings from the IPO was invested into the company and during the rest of 1994, fifty-five new American Eagle stores opened and at the one year mark of the IPO a total of 90 new stores had been opened. This rapid expansion caused some problems and forced the closing of all its outlet stores and focus on the mall locations as primary locations. In 1996, American Eagle moved to focus more on womens clothing, because it has proven to be more profitable. After the move American Eagle saw a big jump in sales and coupled with the integration of an apparel manufacture owned by the Schottenstein family, American Eagle became more vertically integrated. Through gained attention and high sales competitor Abercrombie Fitch saw a threat and filed three lawsuits against American Eagle Outfitters for copying their designs. All three times American Eagle won the suit due to the fact that designs cant be copyrighted. In 2000 American Eagle started to refine its marketing strategies and got a deal to provide clothing for the series Dawsons Creek and MTVs Road Rules. In the same year American Eagle went international when it bought a 172 store chain and warehouse operations in Canada, converting many of the stores into American Eagle Outfitters stores. Today American Eagle operates 938 AE stores, 137 Aerie stores and 28 M+O stores  [1]  , which are planned to be closed during the 2010 fiscal year. American Eagle is in all fifty states, Canada, Puerto Rico, and now Kuwait and Dubai. Deals are being made to open stores in Israel, China, and Japan. External Analysis The general environment of American Eagle Outfitters consists of multiple external industry factors that are beyond AEs control, yet significantly affect AEs, as well as the industrys, strategies. Those factors are demographic, sociocultural, political, technological, economic, and global. The aspect of the demographic segment that most notably affects AE is the aging population. With AEs key demographic focused on 15-25 year olds, the aging population results in a lower percentage of the overall population being included in their target market. With a lower percentage of the population included in the target market, a lower percentage of that populations consumer spending will be directed at AE. One factor in the sociocultural segment is an increase in dual-income families. This increase leads to a higher household income, thus, a higher disposable income that can be spent on shopping. Another sociocultural factor that affects AE is the style factor. Specific styles and trends in apparel are constantly changing depending on the latest fashion or current time of year and retailers have to keep up with the changes by having a variety of options available. In Elizabeth Holmess article Abercrombie Fitchs Style Sense Wears Thin with Some Shoppers, the importance of variety is emphasized when she says American Eagle, of Pittsburgh, Pa., is bringing in new merchandise every four weeks, up from every six weeks. Increased variety and choices will be critical and crucial as part of regaining market share (for Abercrombie).  [1]  Increased sales taxes in certain areas and rising sales taxes across the general population is the main political factor affecting AE. Any increase in ta xes results in a decrease in disposable income, which typically leads to less consumer spending. The technological aspect of the general environment in the retail industry is addressed by Jordan Speer in her article Apparels TOP 50 when she says Technology, too, continues to open possibilities like never before, as apparel companies implement ever more capable systems to refine merchandise planning and allocation, or to track consumer behavior in real time.  [2]  The recent increased use of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags in the apparel retail industry could revolutionize the supply chain management process. The most obvious factor in the general environment is in the economic segment. The current suffering economy has impacted even the retail industry, as stated in Datamonitors SWOT analysis of AE, Clothing sales fell 3.9% in April 2010 from April 2009, and the sales that month were 8.2% below April 2008. Worst affected is the womens clothing as 4.1% drop in womens fashions was witnessed while mens declined by a mere 0.5%. In terms of American Eagle specifically, the article stated that teen unemployment is also on the rise impacting their spending and as the cautious American consumers cut down on the discretionary spending, the demand for American Eagles products is likely to see a setback.  [3]   The global segment of the general environment includes any influences from foreign countries. While the amount of foreign substitutes for moderately priced, fashionable apparel is relatively low, the opportunities for globalization in the apparel retail industry are prevalent. American Eagle is based primarily in North America, but has opened a couple stores overseas and look to expand into the Asian market in the near future. American Eagles competitive environment can be broken down using Michael E. Porters five forces model, which consists of the following forces that affect a companys ability to compete: The threat of new entrants, The bargaining power of buyers, The bargaining power of suppliers, The threat of substitute products and services, and The intensity of rivalry among competitors.  [4]   We have determined that the threat of new entrants in the retail industry is relatively low. Although there are low capital requirements to start up a new business in retail and there are little to no switching costs for the consumer, we believe that American Eagle is relatively safe in terms of new entrants. First, and most importantly, the retail industry has had very modest growth in the past few years due to the lagging economy, limiting the industrys attractiveness to any new entrants. Next, the existence of economies of scale in the industry is a significant barrier to entry. For a new entrant to be successful, they would either have to come in at a large scale to utilize the economies of scale or come in at a smaller scale and have higher prices. The last factor limiting the threat to new entrants is consumer brand loyalty. Many consumers have certain preferences to select retail establishments and would not be willing to try out a new store.  [5]   The threat of substitution in the apparel retail industry in general is viewed as weak because most consumers prefer the ease of retailers to buying directly from manufacturers, making their own clothes, or settling for counterfeits. In terms of AE specifically, there is a fairly significant threat of substitute products with the various industry competitors, such as GAP, Pacific Sunwear, or Abercrombie Fitch, producing similar products at similar prices. Although some customers tend to have certain brand loyalties, when style is a factor, substitute products are always an option. We believe that the bargaining power of buyers is low in the retail industry. Although switching costs from AE to another competitor are negligible, there arent many more factors that give a buyer power. The buyers, in regards to American Eagle, are typically individual customers. This means that a single buyer does not represent a large percentage of AEs sales, so losing one customer does not significantly affect their profits. Since style varies, retail firms can become very differentiated by being the first on the market to provide the latest trends, thus, weakening buyer power.  [6]  Buyer power is also limited by the fact that consumers are very partial to the retail environment and prefer buying their clothing to making their own clothes or buying directly from manufacturers. The bargaining power of suppliers in the retail industry is also low. Garment manufacturers rely heavily on the retail industry to purchase their goods. There are low switching costs to a different manufacturer because there are numerous low-wage manufacturing facilities worldwide. Another reason why the bargaining power of suppliers is low in terms of American Eagle is that they own and operate their own manufacturing facility so there is no need for the supplier to bargain. We have determined that intense rivalry among competitors, such as GAP, Pacific Sunwear, and Abercrombie Fitch, in the industry is very prevalent. There are numerous balanced competitors in the retail industry, which has experienced slow growth. These factors, coupled with low switching costs and the always-changing fashion, result in a battle for market share. Internal Analysis American Eagles mission seems to be to provide high quality, on trend clothing, accessories, and personal care products at affordable prices.  [1]  Since we opened our first store in 1977, AE has focused on innovation.  [7]  The core value behind the American Eagle brand is people. People, whether they are customers, employees or business partners, are the key to a sustainable and successful company and are the heart of everything they do. We value and respect differing backgrounds, unique talents and eclectic tastes2American Eagle also lists integrity, passion, innovation and teamwork as core values that sustain the American Eagle brand. The American Eagle Slogan, Live your Life is meant to encourage everyone involved with the company, whether customer or associate to be individuals and to bring that uniqueness to the company. Even though American Eagle emphasizes being a value brand in their mission statement, they have decided to underscore the value position in their promotion campaigns by focusing on other sources of value such as quality and style.1 American Eagle is neither the lowest cost or the most differentiated in the market. Customers have been gravitating towards lower priced stores such as Aeropostale and Forever 21 and so the company has shifted the focus away from discounting in a move to strengthen the quality of the brand and therefore focus on a differentiation approach. Customers in their target market seem to be confused; however as to how American Eagle is differentiating itself from many other similar brands. The company sites diversity as a characteristic they value in their company, but it seems that they are trying to brand a lifestyle that is hard to understand.  [8]  Other competitors such as Hollister (which is part of Abercrombie and Fitch) choose more of a focus strategy, aiming towards the California style niche market. The company is focusing on growing market share in core product categories such as graphic t-shirts and fleece and to maintain its market leadership in denim. 1 American Eagles core competencies arise from the execution and combination of its resources. As a company, American Eagle considers its distribution a core competency. American Eagle successfully uses its distribution centers to best supply its retail stores as well as fulfill customer orders from its website and catalog by taking over logistic processes that it had previously outsourced to a third party.  [9]  Three things contribute to the success of their distribution at their Ottawa, Kansas distribution center, high speed shipping and receiving, multiple picking technologies and integrated warehouse management and warehouse control software systems. American Eagle had to develop an innovative way to balance the workload over three concepts (AE, aerie and Martin +Osa). One of the unique features is that we believe we have created the first waveless dynamic picking system in a direct-to-consumer operation for a specialty retailerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦instead of queuing up orders into a wave based on what was received overnight, were able to prioritize orders in the picking pool based on delivery dates in real-time as those orders are received over the Internet. 9 American Eagle has a high market share in denim 1 which suggests the company has a core competency in the production and marketing of its denim product line. The majority of direct mail sales promotions the company produces targeted towards loyalty and credit card holders use each seasons new denim line to showcase other new seasonal items.  [10]  American Eagle uses brand recognition to tie jean sales with other promotional offers such as free movie tickets and free graphic tees from the brands expanding line.  [11]  Jeans are the most easily recognized and first thought of when thinking about the American Eagle Brand. I can easily tell when someone is wearing American Eagle jeans because they have a certain design on the back pockets. 8 Another core competency of American Eagle is its entertainment marketing campaigns. A series of 30 second episodes embedded in the CWs shows Veronica Mars and Gilmore Girls featured 12 real girls wearing the new aerie line, a line of dorm wear and intimates for women, talking about how they relate to show themes to their lives and the aerie brand. The mini episodes were also shown online and the website allowed viewers to see exclusive content from aerie Tuesdays and to enter contests to win an American Eagle shopping spree. That particular campaign also included advertising the two shows on in store video screens and surprise visits from show stars.  [12]  American Eagle has also teamed up with multiple MTV shows such as the Real World: Austin and Spring Break as well as collaborating with the musical group The Black Eyed Peas to launch their new album in AE stores.  [13]  More recently, American Eagle became one of the first companies to offer Facebook deals, in an effort t o take advantage of the rising popularity of social marketing. The deal offers customers who check in at American Eagle on Facebook with their smart phones 20% off their entire purchase. American Eagle customers are avid users of Facebook and mobile technology so the company has created an aggressive plan to exploit that opportunity. Facebook Deals enables American Eagle Outfitters to offer our customers even more value, as well as strengthen their connection with our brand in their preferred mode of communication.  [14]   As part of the retail industry, it is difficult for a retailer to develop sustainable competitive advantages since many business processes are easily imitated and low brand loyalty exists among consumers. American Eagle Outfitters possesses three things that are sources of competitive advantage in such an industry. American Eagle possesses its dedicated work force, a well recognized brand name, an employee generated intranet and a high amount of cash and low debt ratios. The company possesses its brand name, which exemplifies a culture of fun, variety, individualism, realness and honesty.1 The American Eagle brand is about being trendy and individualistic. American Eagle uses a small, stitched on eagle emblem on the majority of their clothing and most people from their target market recognize it as the symbol of American Eagle. Members of their target 15-25 year old market feel the brand is casual, laidback, breezy and cozy.8 American Eagle stores are tangible representations of thei r brand and so they are engaging and dynamic but reflect the laid back nature of the brand. Plasma screens in every store provide an exciting playlist of current hits as a backdrop to the shopping experience. 10 American Eagle is upgrading many of its stores to include newer technology (such as televisions that display product collections to shoppers in store). The company opened a flagship store in Times Square that includes a giant electronic billboard similar to the Times Square Landscape. The store will also offer mobile POS devices that allow customers purchase anywhere in the store as well as offer customers who make a purchase a chance to take a photo-booth picture that can be displayed on the giant Times Square Billboard.  [15]  Merchandise turns over quickly in response to customer preference also adding to the perceived trendiness of the brands clothing and accessories.8 Executives, using information from research and from the companys own intranet, have successfully i ntegrated entertainment with the American Eagles product offerings in order to relate to the companys target 15-25 year old market. By continuing to stay on trend with its target market, American Eagle products become featured in magazines popular with women in the 15-25 age segment such as Seventeen and Cosmopolitan.10 American Eagle Outfitters employees are a source of competitive advantage. AEO associates were diverse, hard-working, and loyal to the company; passionate about its brand; and lived the companys values of people, integrity, passion, innovation, and teamwork.  [16]  American Eagle hires employees who are similar on many demographic variables to that of its target market.16 By doing this, management ensures that associate generated content is relevant to the company and can be analyzed to understand its core customers. Walking into an American Eagle store feels unintimidating and relatable because the associates belong to the same core demographic segments that customers do By hiring associates similar to the members of the core target market, management also ensures that associate generated content is relevant to the company and can be analyzed to understand its core customers.8 The career website, liveyourlifeloveyourjob.com, exemplifies American Eagles intense focus on providing a rewarding employee culture. Its compensation and benefit programs are individually based on performance to encourage individuality. At liveyourlifeloveyourjob.com, outsiders can view employee accounts of responsibilities and personal growth afforded to them by being part of the American Eagle community. Interactive videos and photos guide the everyday user through the ins and outs of daily life at American Eagle and encourages them to apply for available positions. Here, students can also discover how to get involved with internships and college recruiting. Internships are designed to introduce college age students to the fast paced retail industry as well as the culture and style of American Eagle.7 American Eagle has developed an associate generated intranet system called AE life-the intranet. The purpose of the intranet is to showcase these employee values in a venue that also provides up to date information and industry news. The intranet allows associates at many locations to share and create a common experience of what is like to work at American Eagle.16 The intranets exciting and interactive format was designed to reflect the companys culture of fun and variety and to encourage employees to visit and update the system frequently. According to American Eagle Executives, their number one competitive advantage is the innovation of their associates. AEOs associates continue to connect to the values and the mission of the company, it can be assured that they will produce an intranet with appropriate and relevant information.16 Financially, American Eagle is a company with large amounts of cash on hand and low debt .1 This affords the company the ability to invest quickly in any market opportunities it may perceive, and would give it a competitive advantage. With large amounts of cash on hand, AE is more resilient to economic and other external environment changes. American Eagle may also be able to take bigger risks in the market, which may lead to large increases in sales and preference among their target market. Because of the nature of the fashion retail industry, American Eagle has a tough time sustaining its competitive advantages. Although American Eagle has a high brand awareness and liking among people in its target market, it does not seem to have a high preference among those consumers, especially among college aged men.8 This suggests that American Eagle could strengthen its brand name and positioning because of the confusion concerning what the brand is about and the lack of the quintessential American Eagle look. American Eagles clothing seems to be overpriced for the kind of quality received, with many in the focus group saying that their garments have fallen apart easily and they felt like they had overpaid for them because of it.10 Even though American Eagle cites innovation as a competitive advantage, very few of their products are unique enough to qualify as new and innovative to their consumers.8 Even though American Eagle locates their stores mostly in trendy, accessible ma lls, this is easily imitated by other competitors since they rent locations in malls as well. Also, the increase of internet purchases has made store locations less of a competitive advantage by substituting for them. Another disadvantage is the Martin +Osa brand name, which failed to gain much awareness and performed poorly financially. In fact the company hopes to increase shareholder equity by closing down the brand completely.1 American Eagle seems be trying to increase its resonance with the target market and maintain its individualistic company culture in order to develop competitive advantages. American Eagle increases its resonance by reducing product lead times to better react to consumer tastes and current fashion trends and by continuing to exploit the opportunity of mobile and social marketing. AE maintains its culture and values by creating exciting career and internship opportunities and by focusing on a user generated intranet. American Eagles presence in the retail market is threatened because of the perceptions about them in their target market. Although some people enjoy and find the clothing to be fashionable and affordable, lack of a differentiated brand name will really hurt American Eagle in the long run. If they choose to focus on a differentiation strategy as opposed to focusing on low cost, they need to get their customers to believe all the things their employees do about the American Eagle brand. Comparison to Competition American Eagle has placed itself in the middle of the fashion industry where they cannot compete on price nor are they a high fashion brand, and they tailor toward a relatively small market segment. They have been able to successfully compete, to this point, by indentifying trends in fashion, positioning the company with a strong and recognizable brand name and maintaining a world class supply chain network. American Eagle most directly competes with Abercrombie and Fitch and The Gap but they have also seen increased market pressure from fast-fashion retailers like Forever 21.4 American Eagle has been very successful at identifying trends in fashion. A fashion retail company that could not would be out of business because of the nature of the fashion industry. This is an advantage that is tough to maintain because a few bad seasons could sink a successful retailer because it ruins their brand name and their revenues. There are two keys to being successful in fashion trending, the first is forecasting and identifying the newest fashion trends, and the second is getting those products through design, purchasing, manufacturing, distribution and to the store while they are still relevant. AE does a good job at both tasks and they are on par with their competitors in this sense. They are losing in these positions with fast fashion retailers, like Forever 21, which offer trendier clothes, cheaper, and faster from design. The fast fashion industry has been in boom as of late because they offer a greater degree of affordability than American Eagle and other traditi onal retail stores, while being trendier.4 American Eagle prides itself on how competitive their supply chain has become and, as we discussed previously, the distribution process is critical to success in fashion. When American Eagle sought to expand their business in 1999 they began by improving their distribution process. The goal was to lower inventory levels and increase the amount of flow in the distribution centers, a strategy often called Just-in-time distribution. They had two reasons to move toward this strategy, the first was discussed above, which was to shorten lead times from design to store shelves. This allowed them to create a store atmosphere of fresh, clean and hip clothes. This was supposed to compliment the overall theme of their clothing, which was supposed to be preppy and young. Short lead times also work to decrease sales lost to stock outs. The other goal was to decrease the cost of holding excess inventory, which will create better profit margins that they would not otherwise realize.  [17]   American Eagle has also been profitable because the way they have developed their brand name. They currently rank number 36 in the top 50 most valuable retail brand name list. The GAP is number 23 and Abercrombie and Fitch is at number 49.  [18]  The value of the brand name is based on how much it will likely earn them in the future. This is the result of both quality product and marketing efforts. AE has worked to market through socially hip medians, such as hip TV shows, and Facebook. The result has been that they are able to spend less on marketing while being as effective as other industry leaders. For instance AE spends 3.2% of total assets on marketing1 while Abercrombie and Fitch spends 12.1%  [19]  , despite Abercrombies much lower ranking. In fashion a brand is everything, two identical shirts with two different brands are going to be perceived as different. Since, American Eagle has placed themselves in a good position when it comes to their brand name, but they are not industry leaders, with the GAP, Polo Ralph Lauren and even Aeropostale coming in above them. The general conclusion has been that American Eagle has been successful due to the defined key metrics for success but at the same time they have consistently fallen short of the top position each category. This is consistent when looking through the stock price of each company, with American Eagle falling well behind Abercrombie and Fitch, Urban Outfitters, The Buckle, and short of The Gap, Aeropostale. Recommendations As American Eagle enters the international market using a wider variety of currencies one of the biggest problems that they will face is the movement of exchange rates. With the change of exchange rates they might have to show a loss of millions of dollars just because of an unfavorable exchange rate. The most important thing that American Eagle needs to develop is a clear and thorough way to hedge this risk. One way could be to set up a manufacturing site in those areas that the company is looking to enter, this will set the costs in the same currency as the revenue hedging that risk. Another recommendation for American Eagle in the aspect of its failed line of M+O stores, is to develop a store in a number of years that will transition its current American Eagle customers into a more adult look. The reason that M+O failed could be that older people now have already had a set look and company that they buy from and its hard to get those people to change and try something new. By wait ing a number of years and having its current customers grow into adulthood they can put out a line or store that fits that customer because they are already used to the American Eagle name and store. Looking through American Eagles 2009 statement of cash flows it is evident that the company has a lot of cash sitting there not being put towards an investment which is almost like losing money. And with advertising as a percentage of sales only being 2.3% compared to Abercrombie Fitch having 12.1%19 American Eagle could put that money towards an advertising campaign. American Eagle is in a unique position from most of their competitors because they are flushed with cash and can afford to invest the money into company growth. The greatest potential for market growth exists overseas, with 90.8% of revenue coming from the United States.4 American Eagle does have online sales overseas, but there are only a few store locations outside of North America. We believe AE would be best served by investing in countries where the economy is struggling and where the brand name would not have heavy negative connotations. These markets would mostly be China, Japan, and other Asian countries. Success overseas is not a given and AE will have to be careful to differentiate themselves from foreign competitors. It may even be necessary to change the brand name depending on market research performed on a country and their reaction to a brand that is so American. If they are able to compete overseas they will be able to take advantage of two huge strategic benefits. The first is accomplishing economies of size by increasing manufacturing demands from a global market, an objective their competitors have already begun to work toward. The second benefit is that ability to weather economic depressions in different companies by being diversified across foreign markets. We suggest that American Eagle differentiate itself from its major competitors, since our focus group research has suggested that members of their core market tend to be c