A Precious Gift :: Personal Narrative Essays

A Precious Gift Education has always been considered very important in my family. Prior to the earliest time I can remember I am told that my mother and father read to me nightly. My family has a deep background in books, my father being a collector, and my mother working at a library. My father loves books, in every way I can think of. He loves to read them, as do the rest of my family, but he has a collector's interest in books that we lack. He once wondered to a local library to check if they had a book sale. They did indeed have a book sale, and he bought quite a many books from their shelves. Soon he became a volunteer, and then the organizer, and soon had his own key to the library. As the relationship between my father and I goes, I started going with him to the book sale. I loved reading and I helped him a little also. We discovered that the special semiannual book sale was coming up. I came with my dad that morning and we began carrying boxes of books out to the tables. We observed a tag sale across from us that apparently went hand in hand with our sale. I was given the job of collecting money, and the day was going well, for we had already made nearly four hundred dollars for the library. At one point a small boy began his ascent up the small hill from the tag sale. He was only seven or eight by my estimate, and went directly to the table marked 'children.' After a minute or two he had found four or five books that he liked, put them in a neat pile and started his way back down the hill to the tag sale. Nearly a minute later he came back with a rather sad look on his face. "What's the matter?" I asked him as he took the pile and placed the books back on the table. He shrugged and I pushed. "You don't want those books?" I asked. I could tell he was shy. We already had something in common. "No, I can't get them." "Oh? Why not?" I asked. I could sense that he wanted them. "Because my mother won't give me the money for the 'stupid books.

Ensorship and mass culture in Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 Essay

Of the famous dystopian literatures of the 20th century Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 offers perhaps one of the more interesting suggestions to the historic causality of censorship.   While subtle hints of ignorance is power for a tyrannical government is mentioned by some characters ala 1984, most of the text instead suggests that in the dystopian world of Fahrenheit 451 that censorship is not so much intentional as it is a side-effect of a postmodern predilection toward, as Frederic Jameson notes, a cultural waning of affect and a world of signs without signifiers, a pastiche of histories without meaning (Jameson, 2001). The books being censored then, in Fahrenheit 451’s dystopian America, then have less of an impact on the society than the drama and entertainment created from their discovery and destruction and that more than the censorship therein this blissful ignorance is the dystopian element in Bradbury’s novel. Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopia for the intellectual.   Within the story is presented an (assumed) United States where people live reasonably happy lives.   From everything we see in the novel they are well fed, live in wonderful fireproof houses, have jobs, families and plenty of entertainment.   Yet, as main character Guy Montag dwells on, people kill themselves still and a constant threat of war seems to loom in the background of the novel. Yet there is never any discussion of why, and no matter how many â€Å"picture walls† or radios are turned on throughout the course of the book no more information is ever truly recovered as to how or why the country finds them in this mess.   Yet no one outside Montag and a handful of outsiders seem to think there is any problem with this. People in Montag’s world seem encouraged to live a life of leisure.   Montag’s boss, Beatty, talks endlessly about sports and his coworkers play hand after hand of poker. Dance faster than the white clown 2 Montag’s wife, Mildred, is addicted to the â€Å"picture wall†, or television, and is constantly begging for a fourth and final wall to be installed.   Violence as entertainment, even, seems to in some way be supported generally by society as Mildred seems to take pleasure at one point from hitting small animals with her automobile.   Yet there also seems to be an urge and encouragement of sameness, as echoes in many other works of dystopian speculative fiction.   Montag notes of his colleagues, â€Å"These men were all mirror images of himself! Were all firemen picked then for their looks as well as their proclivities?† (Bradbury, 1991)   His friend early in the story, Clarisse, falls victim to this sameness as she seems pushed out of public school because she doesn’t â€Å"mix.† (22)   Mildred, although a seemingly perfect member of society also seems to suffer from the strain of sameness as Montag notices a body strained by dieting. When we think of censorship, especially in the context of dystopian narratives, we often think of an oppression of knowledge by the government in order to control the proletariat.   Yet in several sections of the novel Bradbury makes allusions that the government didn’t censor the book initially, but rather the public abandoned the book and the government got rid of it as an after thought.   In his history lesson on the fireman, Beatty explains: The bigger your market, Montag, the less you handle controversy, remember that! [†¦] Authors, full of evil thoughts, luck up your typewriters.   They did.   Magazines became a nice blend of vanilla tapioca.   [†¦]   But the public, knowing what it wanted, spinning happily, let the comic books survive.   And the three dimensional sex magazines of course.   [†¦]   It didn’t come from the Government down.   There was no dictum, no declaration, no censorship to start with, no!   Technology, mass exploitation, and minority pressure carried the trick, thank God! (47) Dance faster than the white clown 3 Beatty explains that a globalized consumer market and an increasing demand to be entertained with bigger and better products is what killed the book and the government made firemen â€Å"custodians of our peace of mind† (48) to prevent unhappiness.   Jean Baudrillard discusses homogeneity in consumer society as â€Å"where everything is taken over and superseded in the ease and translucidity of an abstract ‘happiness,’ defined solely by the resolution of tensions.† (Baudrillard 2004) This seems to fit well with the construction of media and hyperconsumerism in Montag’s world, as all things in his world seem to exist for the purpose of happiness and entertainment.   Baudrillard’s description of the consumer experience could easily come from any number of facets of Montag’s life: Work, leisure, nature and culture: all these things which were once dispersed, which once generated anxiety and complexity in real life [†¦] these activities which were more or less irreducible one to another, are now at last mixed and blended, climatized and homogenized in the same sweeping vista of perpetual shopping. (30) The sadness and dystopia of Montag’s reality is not that the books are banned, but rather, as Montag’s ally Faber notes, â€Å"the public itself stopped reading of its own accord.†Ã‚   Montag’s society believes books are boring, difficult and bring only confusion and unhappiness and are so blindly obsessed with the consumption of happiness that even if books were available they would probably be ignored. If we think of a dystopia as a world where people have no interest in educating themselves or learning about things that may potentially make them unhappy, a world where image and a pastiche of history are all that are important, then we may very well have to worry that our own society is becoming a kind of dystopia.   Of course books are still readily available, but studies show that Americans are taking less time to read and that reading comprehension skills are greatly suffering. (Brown, 2008) As Beatty describes we too are Dance faster than the white clown 4 craving faster, more flashy and more dramatic entertainment.   Internet phenomena like Twitter, where users are limited to messages of no more than 140 characters, and Youtube, where the average video is 5 minutes, are outstanding examples of our ever shortening attention spans.   As a society we are looking ever conspicuous consumers, as Frederic Jameson says, on an unending quest for bigger, faster, better.   (Jameson 2001) Unfortunately in a post-Bush America there’s a lot to be said that we have entered a dystopia.   We are a country possessed by fear and worry, where children who, like Clarisse, â€Å"don’t mix† are being pushed out as safety risks.   Our activities and interests are being more carefully monitored by authorities than they have ever been. In the UK, fears of future terrorist activities have caused authorities to create advertisements encouraging neighbors and family to report suspicious activity, in very similar ways to that of Fahrenheit 451. (Doctorow, 2009)   If we think pessimistically on such events it is very easy to think we are in a doomed and dire situation like in the book and, as Faber says, â€Å"the whole skeleton needs reshaping.† Bradbury obviously wrote Fahrenheit 451 out of a growing concern that the world he lived in was being overtaken by a world of people who chose pleasure over the burden knowledge can bring.   He wrote it hoping that things could be turned around.   I suppose he might be horrified at many of the new ways people are wasting their time, the new distractions that keep us from educational entertainment.   However, the pursuit of knowledge continues on, albeit in sometimes altered ways. The book may be going out of style but knowledge continues on in forms on the internet, is discussed on the radio and (sometimes) television.   While there are dystopian elements to our world there is still hope for intellectualism and literacy.   Bradbury’s book stands as a warning to heed to prevent ignorance and cultural destruction. Dance faster than the white clown 5 References Baudrillard, Jean (2004). The consumer society: Myths and Structures. London, England: Sage Publications. Bradbury, Ray (1991). Fahrenheit 451. New York, New York: Ballantine Books. Brown, Joseph (2008).†As the constitution says†: Distinguishing documents in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. Explicator. 67, 55-58. Doctorow, Cory (Mrch 24, 2009). Boing Boing. Retrieved April 15, 2009, from London cops reach new heights of anti-terror poster stupidity Web site: http://www.boingboing.net/2009/03/24/london-cops-reach-ne.html Jameson, Frederic (2001). Postmodernism, or the cultural logic of late capitalism. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press.

Who Takes Office If the President Dies

The Presidential Succession Act of 1947 was signed into law on July 18th of that year by President Harry S. Truman. This act set the order of presidential succession that is still followed today. The act established who would take over if the president dies, is incapacitated, resigns or is ousted, or is otherwise incapable of performing the job. One of the most important issues for the stability of any government is a smooth and orderly transition of power. Succession acts were installed by the U.S. government beginning within a few years of the ratification of the Constitution. These acts were set up so that in the event of the untimely death, incapacitation, or ouster of both the President and Vice President, there should be absolute certainty who would become president and in what order. In addition, those rules needed to minimize any incentive to cause a double vacancy by assassination, impeachment, or other illegitimate means; and anyone who is an unelected official acting as president should be limited in the energetic exercising of the powers of that high office. History of the Succession Acts The first succession law was enacted in the Second Congress of both houses in May of 1792. Section 8 said that in the event of the incapacity of both the President and Vice President, the President pro tempore of the US Senate was next in line, followed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Although the act never required implementation, there were instances when a president served without a Vice President and, had the president died, the president pro tempore would have had the title of Acting President of the United States. The Presidential Succession Act of 1886, also never implemented, set the Secretary of State as the Acting President after the President and Vice President. 1947 Act of Succession After the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1945, President Harry S. Truman lobbied for a revision of the law. The resulting act of 1947 restored the Congressional officers—who are after all at least elected—to places directly after the Vice President. The order was also revised so that the Speaker of the House came before the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. Trumans main concern was that with the third position of succession set as the Secretary of State, he would be, in effect, the one who named his own successor. The 1947 succession law established the order that is still in place today. However, the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, which was ratified in 1967, reversed Trumans practical concerns and said that if a Vice President was incapacitated, dead, or ousted, the president could appoint a new Vice President, after majority confirmation by both houses of Congress. In 1974, when both President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned their offices since Agnew resigned first, Nixon named Gerald Ford as his vice president. And in turn, Ford was required to name his own Vice President, Nelson Rockefeller. For the first time in American history, two unelected persons held arguably the most powerful positions in the world. Current Succession Order The order of cabinet officers included in this list is determined by the dates on which each of their positions was created. Vice PresidentSpeaker of the HousePresident pro tempore of the SenateSecretary of StateSecretary of TreasurySecretary of DefenseAttorney GeneralSecretary of the InteriorSecretary of AgricultureSecretary of CommerceSecretary of LaborSecretary of Health and Human ServicesSecretary of Housing and Urban DevelopmentSecretary of TransportationSecretary of EnergySecretary of EducationSecretary of Veterans AffairsSecretary of Homeland Security Source: Calabresi SG. 1995. The Political Question of Presidential Succession. Stanford Law Review 48(1):155-175. Schlesinger AM. 1974. On the Presidential Succession. Political Science Quarterly 89(3):475-505. Silva RC. 1949. The Presidential Succession Act of 1947. Michigan Law Review 47(4):451-476.

Trade Liberalization And Increased Transparency Essay

place institutions that support market liberalization and increased transparency. As argued by Drabek and Baccheta (2004), WTO membership eventually enhances good governance by upholding the rule law, contract enforcement and makes countries to have a strong judicial system. Other elements such as culture and group norms have fundamentally transformed how international organizations or governments shape their motivations and thus, the governing process is controlled by multiple entities with varying interest (Denhardt and Denhardt, 2015). If any country wants to be a part of the international community, they will have no choice but to conform to WTO’s stipulations and adapt to the ever evolving global system. Policy making and economic conditions in WTO member states have changed drastically over the last two decades because the two elements are heavily influenced by forces of globalization. Consequently, globalization has created the necessary need that has allowed for a fr ee flow of ideas and practices all the world which in the process affects the biopolitical and geopolitical areas of powerful states. That has heightened the need for the trans nationalization of services and goods across the global (Sidhu 2007). Having been founded on the premises of transparency and rules based regulatory regime, the WTO has failed at many levels to lead by example in the way it operationalizes it services. In fact, neoclassical economic policies are for most part practicedShow MoreRelatedThe Two Eras of Globalization and Trade1112 Words   |  4 PagesGlobalization and Trade: Since the mid of the Nineteenth century particularly after the end of the cold war, Globalization has become the catchphrase that attracts everybody. However Globalization is a complex concept to be defined, there are many different definitions of Globalization. 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Downfall Of Financial Companies From Fraud - 2327 Words

Downfall of Financial Companies from Fraud ¬ Diamond Howell Savannah State University Abstract Many financial companies fail for various reasons that include fraud and the manipulation of assets within the company. The research done in the paper will discuss financial companies that have been affected because of fraud and the way they are ran. This will show how companies develop their organization amongst the managers and create communication throughout the Company. Also, there will be knowledge of competitive teams and what the companies bring to the table about while sustaining that business. Another way fraud develops is through the Shareholders in the company and how they control the stocks and make them†¦show more content†¦Was there more pressure under influence or was there just an open opportunity to make a rational decision? Keywords: Fraud, Internal Managers, External Managers, Shareholder/Stockholders, Internal/External Fraud, Managerial Quality and Misappropriation Introduction Fraud by definition can be a lot of things when it involves malicious and dishonoring actions. It has anything to do with misappropriations or even have knowledge of the wrong appropriation, a single or group can achieve. Extortion by definition can be a great deal of things when it includes vindictive and disrespecting activities. It has anything to do with misappropriations or even know about the wrong appointment, a solitary or gathering can accomplish. These describe the elements of how fraud can be affected and taken into account of harming the company. The early cautioning indications of misrepresentation are, as a rule, constantly overlooked. There are cautioning signs for each kind of misrepresentation out there. The individual submitting the extortion is continually searching for monetary profit. There are numerous sorts of misrepresentation out there. You have Medicare extortion, web misrepresentation, contract extortion, credit misrepresentation, charge extortion, theft, and phony and protection misrepresentation. Some approaches to avert stock extortion would be to, tests for amounts,

Project Management Right Materials

Question: Discuss about theProject Managementfor Right Materials. Answer: Introduction Success is a three legged stool, the legs being, right materials, right support and the dedicated, goal focused effort. (Kerzner,2015), all three are equally important for success. The project mangers provide right resources, the manpower, his time, dedication and sincere efforts to make a project success. Projects that are financed by external sources are very difficult to manage. It is difficult to raise funds from external sources like, banks, creditors and investors, external funding is only good for organizations that were already successful in previous projects, external funding is difficult for new comers. Generally age does not determine whether an executive can accept a project, it depends upon his, her qualification, experience and expertise. (Kerzner,2015) If the executive fulfills all the criteria he or she can accept the project. Inefficiency in functional lines definitely affects the project, in such case the project manger informs the top management regarding the ineff iciency. (Sohi, et.al, 2016) The project managers are allowed to establish prerequisites regarding the standard project procedures. If there is no requirement of in-house representatives in a project, project sponsors can remove them from their company. When the project manager focuses too much on managing than on the goals and objectives of the project, project management turns into over management. The duty of program manger is to provide the change proposal, coordination and finally reporting the project progress. References , A. J., Hertogh, M., Bosch-Rekveldt, M., Blom, R. (2016). Does Lean Agile Project Management Help Coping with Project Complexity?.Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences,226, 252-259. Sohi Kerzner, H. (2015).Project Management 2.0. John Wiley Sons.

Terms of reference Essay Example

Terms of reference Essay The assistant to the Manager of the marketing department of Dyson have been asked to write a report that describes the concept of market segmentation with suggestion on how Dyson could segment its markets, an outline of the new product development process along with suggestions of how Dyson should apply these stages and concluding with an explanation of how Dyson can perform their marketing control.ProcedureThis report is fully based on secondary data, primarily from the course literature but also other internet based sources.FindingsThis report will systematically explain the concept of market segmentation together with examples of how Dyson can segment its markets. This will be followed by a stage outline of the new product development process accompanied by my suggestions on how Dyson should apply these stages. Finally, a descriptive scenario of how Dyson might control and monitor its performance will follow.Levels of market segmentationMass marketingA company using this strategy does not segment the market at all; it offers the same product and uses the same promotion for all consumers. This method has often been used by companies with mass production of convenience products or by companies with few or none competitors. Mass marketing is associated with low promotion costs often reflected by a low price.Segment marketingThis involves the process of dividing the market into categories with different characteristics and needs. By doing this a company can adapt all their offerings towards the needs of one or more different segments, in order to better fulfil these needs. The advantages are that a company can target the segments of which they best can match the consumer needs or those segments with the least number of competitors.Niche marketingA niche is basically a sub-segment which often has unique characteristics and special needs. Niches often search for special features, for which they are prepared to pay for. This puts companies using niche marketing und er pressure since they have to achieve great understanding of its customers needs. Since the niches are rather small, the competition will also be smaller and this can create opportunities for small companies to serve customer needs that others have not recognised.MicromarketingMicromarketing is concerned with specially design their marketing mix to meet the needs and tastes of particular locations or individuals.Local marketing aims to meet the needs and wants of a specific geographical location. This method can be used by both small local enterprises as well as large corporations. However, for the large corporations this is often associated with higher costs due to diminishing economies of scale. Another problem is that a chain of stores that offers different products can be confusing for the consumers. The advantages are that it enables companies to meet the needs and wants that differs between different countries and regions.Individual marketing is concerned with tailoring produ cts after the unique preferences of individual costumers. Traditionally this method has been used by small companies such as shoe makers or tailors, but new technologies have enabled large companies to conduct mass customisation. Mass customisation is when a company can offer a large number of consumers to design their own product and is made possible via the internet.Segmenting consumer marketsDyson would probably use segment marketing, the segmentation bases will be explained and suggestions will follow on how Dyson could use these bases.Geographic segmentationA market can be divided by using different geographical areas as a base. These bases can be regions, countries, cities, population density and climate. People in different geographical areas have different needs and wants due to differences in values, lifestyles and habits.Dyson: Every household needs a vacuum cleaner, however not everyone can afford one. Dyson should focus on rich developed countries and also emerging new e conomies.Demographic segmentationThis is when you divide the market by using variables such as age, gender, ethnicity, family size, life-cycle stage, income, education, occupation and religion. This is one of the most popular ways of segmenting since customer wants and needs are often related ton variables such as age, gender and income and this data is often easily accessible.Age: The needs and wants of consumers change as they get older although they still want to consume the same product. By offering different design, packaging and promotion, the same product can appeal to different age groups.Life-cycle stage: As with age, people within the different life-cycle stages demand the same core product although with different attributes. The holiday industry is a good example where people in different life-cycle stages demands different attributes such as the range of activities available on their holiday destination.Gender: This is a very common segmentation base since we demand the same core products such as clothes and magazines but with different styles.Income: This is a very important base since there is no need in doing marketing efforts towards people that can not afford luxury products. It can also be very useful to market your product towards those with a low income. There is also a link between income and social class in which people tend to create a norm about what products are agreeable to own.Dyson: The focus should primarily lie on women older than 25 who in most cases are married with children. However, the technical aspects of the product should also appeal to men. Dyson is a rather up-market brand and this is reflected in its prices, hence the consumers ought to have middle to high income which often derives from a high level of education.Geodemographic segmentationThis is basically a segmentation base which studies the demographics of geographical locations. The first system was ACORN, but it has been followed by a range of others.Psychographic segmentationSince people who belong to the same demographic group can have different lifestyles, personalities or belong to different social classes marketers can divide the market in psychographic segments.Social class: People are influenced, in the decision phase of consumption, by other people in their social class. Certain goods can often be perceived as a norm within different social classes.Lifestyle: This involves classifying people based on their values, opinions, beliefs and interests. There are different classification models which facilitates categorisation based on the variables above.Personality: Another method is to provide the products with a sense of personality that matches the personality of the target segment.Dyson: Once again the pricing of the product should attract costumers in middle to upper class, i.e. social classes A, B and C1 in The National Readership Survey (examstutor.com). The extreme design and technical features appeals to the aspirer, succeeder an d explorer in the Young Rubicans 4Cs (examstutor.com). One important segment for Dyson is those with allergies or dust sensitivity.Behavioural segmentationMarkets can also be divided based on how they respond to, use or know a product.Occasions: This group is divided on the basis of when they decide to buy, when the purchase is done and when the product is used.Benefits sought: This requires the marketers to recognise the different benefits that customers seek to gain from the product. Once different benefit groups have been acknowledged they can be sub divided through demographic, behavioural and psychographic characteristics. This can be used to clarify and enhance those attributes of the product that is sought by target costumers.Usage: Another way to segment a market is by dividing it into non-users, ex-users, potential users, first-time users and regular users. Different marketing can be used for attracting new users or lure current users from competitors.Consumers can also be divided through the amount of their usage. It is often recognised that heavy-users only represents a small share of the market but consumes a high percentage of total consumption.Loyalty: Buyers can be completely loyal and buy the same brand all the time or they can be loyal to a small number of different brands or they can show no brand loyalty at all. These all call for different types of marketing efforts. It is common for companies to focus their efforts towards those segments where the loyal customers can be found and withheld instead of those who does not show any brand loyalty at all.Buyer-readiness stage: People have different awareness and information about the product and are also at different stages of the buyers decision process, which has implications for the marketing efforts.Attitudes towards product: Different attitudes towards the product also call for different measures, since you do not want to aggravate those with negative attitudes, upset or bore potential cust omers. The basic idea is to strengthen positive attitudes and reverse negative ones.Dyson: Dysons products are shopping products which are not bought frequently and only after comparison and consideration. Those buying a Dyson look for quality, performance and design. Dyson can probably attract all of the different user status and the level of usage will depend on the demographics especially family size. Dyson has probably not been around long enough to have established a large group of loyal customers since it is a very infrequent purchase but the high performance of its products ought to create loyalty. The nature of the product is such that the most important stages in buyer-readiness are to create awareness and knowledge of the product and also allow the customers to make an informed conviction.New-product development processNew-product strategyA clear and distinct new-product strategy is important to a successful development process since it gives guidelines and directions, it enables integration between departments, and it facilitates delegation of tasks and also permits managers to agree on proactive strategies. This can be enabled by doing a product innovation charter (PIC) which explains the reasons and the need for innovation and also the goals and objectives.Dyson: The main goals should be to create a washing machine that gives the same results as hand wash but faster and with larger loads than normal washing machines.Idea generationThe PIC is very useful when organising a systematic search for new-product ideas, since an unorganised idea generation is not as helpful. This stage of the process is not only about generating many ideas; they should also be good ideas which are oriented towards the companys goals and objectives. To ensure this the company can introduce an ideas system management, which collects reviews and evaluates the ideas. In order for the company to generate these ideas they can consult many different sources.Internal sources: New ideas can be generated from the companys formal research and development department. They can also encourage their employees to come with new ideas through different programs and schemes. The level of encouragement for employees to generate new ideas can be seen as a cultural artefact.Customers: Analysing customers questions and complaints can generate new ideas. A company can also conduct surveys to learn more about the consumers needs and wants or they can involve customers in the development process. Sometimes lead consumers develops new products on their own since they are the most advanced users and are able to identify improvements before others.Competitors: Companies can analyse competing products or services by either survey consumer opinions about competitors products or they can analyse the competing product themselves and analyse its sales records.Distributors, suppliers and others: Distributors are often in more close contact with the market and can more easily and regul arly obtain consumer information and opinions. Suppliers can inform about new techniques or raw materials that opens up new possibilities for product development.Dyson: Dyson should appoint at least one person in charge of collecting and evaluating new ideas, this person should also communicate the goals and objectives that the new ideas are supposed to solve. The R;D department must be put to work with these goals and objectives in mind. Dyson should together with their distributors investigate the consumers opinions about current washing machines and also conduct surveys in order to find out what attributes the consumers value the most and which improvements they would like to see. They should also try to find benchmark values from competitors regarding performance and functions.Idea screeningThe main purpose of screening is to recognise good ideas and get rid of the poor ones. Since product development is very expensive it is important to only proceed with those ideas that can be come profitable. The company should set up criteria for those ideas which passes the screening process such as, is the product useful to consumers, in line with company objectives and strategies, more valuable to consumers than competing products and does the company have the necessary resources?Dyson: During this stage it is very important that representatives from all departments within the company are present in order to share ideas, problems and possible solutions. Those new-product ideas chosen should be realistic and achievable.Concept development and testingAt this stage the idea has become more specific and detailed in terms that are understandable for the consumers. Several concepts can be developed based on the same idea, and these are then tested with a selection of target consumers. After the target consumers have tested the new product their opinions about the product are collected and revised. These opinions can also help the company with rough estimates of potential sales figures.Dyson: Dyson should develop at least three different concepts upon the same foundational idea. This phase should produce a detailed description of features, functions, performance and preferably also a visual picture of the design. Once the descriptions are ready, a fairly large group of target consumers should be invited to review them and preferably undertake an interview where they also have the opportunity to ask questions since this might generate new angles.Marketing strategy developmentThis is basically where the company describes how they are planning to introduce its new product and achieve its objectives. This involves the making of a marketing strategy statement which is divided in to three parts. Firstly the target market and the product positioning are described along with the goals for the first couple of years concerning sales, market share and profit. Secondly the products planned price, distribution and marketing budget for the first year is described. Thirdly the long-run sales and profits are estimated and the products planned marketing mix.Dyson: The target market is high-educated, middle-to-high income families who appreciate quality, functionality and design. The washing machine will be positioned as the most efficient on the market with many extra features and a concern for sensitive skin and allergies. The aim for this product is to sell 50,000 machines the first year which corresponds to a market share of 3% and a profit of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½22 million. In the second year the aim is to increase sale with 60%, reach a sales level of 80,000 machines, and gain a profit of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½45 million. The retail price will be à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½999,99 and retailers will retain 13%. The washing machine will be sold by authorised and established retailers of white goods. The first year budget for advertising and promotion will be à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½12 million and will focus on the quality, performance and concern with skin sensitivity. An additional à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½200,000 will be spent on after sale research to establish a picture of the behaviour and composition of the customers. The long-run target is to achieve a market share of 6% and annual profits of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½76 million.Business analysisIn this phase the company reviews sale history of similar products and conduct surveys in order to estimate projected sale volumes. Knowing these, the costs and profits can be estimated in order to assess the products profitability and attractiveness.Dyson: Compared to sales figures from earlier models and those of competitors the figures in the marketing strategy statement seem trustworthy and the new washing machine is therefore very attractive for further development.Product developmentIn this stage the product goes from being a concept to becoming a physical product. The companys R;D department tries to build the product and overcome all obstacles as cost efficiently as possible. When the prototype is ready it undergoes a lot of testing in order to ensure the performance of the product. When designing a product it is important to not only be concerned with fulfilling customer needs and wants but also the manufacturing aspects, which can lower costs and increase quality.Dyson: The R;D department at Dyson expects the prototype to be finished within five months and this will be followed by another two months of testing. This period will be very costly but a close collaboration with suppliers concerning new materials and techniques will keep the development costs within budget.Test marketingOnce the product is ready its entire market programme is to be tested in small scale in order to study the reactions of dealers and customers. This information can be used to alter the sales forecasts or the marketing efforts. Test marketing can be very expensive, but a faulty full launch can be disastrous. There are three common methods of test marketing.Standard test markets involve choosing a few test cities to launch a full mark eting campaign and measure the performance of the product. The results can be used to forecast profits or to adjust the campaign. The disadvantages of this method are that it is costly, can take long time and the campaign can be interfered by competitors who also gains early access to the new product.Controlled test markets are concerned with selecting a panel of stores who agrees to sell the new product for a fee. When doing this, the shelf location and space, promotions and price are all controlled and the sales are recorded in order to measure the impact of these factors. This can also be combined with a controlled panel of shoppers to whom special TV commercials are shown and all their shopping behaviour is recorded and analysed. This enables the company to measure the level of repeated purchases combined with the amount and type of promotion they are exposed to. This method takes less time but the product can still be examined by competitors.In Simulated test markets a group of sample consumers are shown ads and promotions, and then they are given money and become invited to either a real or artificial store. Whilst in the store they can buy whatever product they choose or they can buy nothing and keep the money. Their buying behaviour is recorded and followed up by a telephone interview. This method is also used for forecasting and adjustments and it is less time-consuming than the other two. It is also fairly inexpensive and the new products are not exposed to competitors, the problem is however that the sample sizes are small and therefore not considered to be as reliable.Dyson: Due to the nature of the product Dyson chooses to perform a modified version of simulated test markets. They will hire the premises of a few white goods retailers in different countries where they will supervise the behaviour of a group of test shoppers, whom later on are interviewed. This is done since Dyson does not want the new and revolutionary techniques in the new washing machine to be leaked to competitors prematurely.CommercialisationIf the test marketing has given good result, the next step is to launch the product. This is a costly procedure due to the extensive amount of marketing efforts and production investments needed. There are four major decisions to be taken before the launching.When?: The timing for the introduction should not jeopardize other of the companys products and macroeconomic factors should also be taken into consideration.Where?: This decision is related to how many and which regions, countries, cities etc to focus on. The company might not afford to launch its product throughout all desirable locations at once.To whom?: In those locations decided upon, the company need to target its marketing efforts towards the most desirable segments. They also need to target those who are most receptive to innovations and opinion leaders since they have great influence on others.How?: The company also needs to draw up a action plan concer ning budgeting, the marketing mix and various marketing efforts.Dyson: The launch will take place as soon as the test marketing results are revised since the economy is in an upturn which is good for this type of product and Dysons previous models are calculated to disappear out of the product range soon. The new washing machine will primarily be launched in those markets that are already strongly penetrated. Doing this they will especially target well-educated, middle-to-high income families who appreciate quality, functionality and design.Marketing ControlWhen launching the new washing machine Dyson calculated a market share of 3% during the first year, a sales level of 50,000 and a profit of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½22million. When preparing for the marketing control of this new product they brake down the figures into quarterly estimations, i.e. setting standards. It was estimated that the market share would increase in the following pace: 1st quarter = 0,7%, 2nd quarter = 1.2%, 3rd quarter = 2% and 4th quarter = 3%. If these market shares where to be fulfilled Dyson should reach its target profit. The reason they choose market share as a standard is that it is related to the sales of the competitors.During the first year Dyson continually conducted research in order to collect data referring to their relative market share. The first two quarters where slightly below the forecasted figures, 0,67% and 1,14%, but Dyson did not find this particularly worrying. However, in the third quarter the research showed a rather large difference between forecast and actual results, the market share had barely reached 1,5%. Dyson concluded that this was caused by a general economic slowdown in Europe, of which shopping goods are fairly sensitive.Since the new washing machine was first launched in Europe due to the fact that Dyson had earlier been able to penetrate these markets more strongly they had decided to wait with their launch in the US and Asia. However, with the forecasted m arket share standards not meeting its target they decided to launch the washing machine in the US and Asia earlier than planned which turned out to succeed since in the second quarter of the second year their revised forecasted market share figures where exceeded.