Inflation and Unemployment Essay Example for Free

Inflation and Unemployment Essay Recently, the United States of America has been bombarded with a great financial crisis. Many companies resulted to bankruptcy forcing the owners to close their businesses. Other companies had lay-off some workers to lessen the operating costs of their business. Few other companies resulted to cutting the employee’s benefits to avoid laying-off and closure. Workers earning below marginal income resigned from their job in the hope that they could find another job which pays better. Among these responses, the most notable problem is the increase in the rate of unemployment. In a report from Bureau of Labor Statistics (2009) among the 2,309 population in Iowa only 1,602 are employed while 62 are jobless in 2007. In 2008, from 2,325 members of the population, 1,607 are employed while 69 are jobless. Measuring the employment-population ratio of Iowa residents aged 16 years and above, the rate of unemployment was at 69. 4 percent in 2007 and 69. 1 percent in 2008 (U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2009). Meanwhile, the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2009) reported that the unemployment rate in Waterloo-Cedar Falls Metropolitan Area rose at 8 percent in February 2009 whereas the jobless rate was recorded at 4. 9 percent. This is relatively high as compared to unemployment rate in 2008 which was at 3. 9 percent and in 2007 which was at 3. 7 percent (U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2009). State inflation has been identified as one of the major factors that contributed to the increased number of the unemployed. Inflation refers to â€Å"a process in which the average level of prices increases at a substantial rate over a considerable period of time† (Grolier Encyclopedia, 1995, 150). This implies that more money is needed to buy a certain amount of products and services. In Keynesian term, the relationship of inflation and unemployment has been described as: Wage costs are among the costs that rise in response to higher pries. When unemployment is low, employees can old out for full compensation for the higher prices, and raises above that. When unemployment is high, however, the employees will have to settle for less, and so costs do not rise as fast as prices when unemployment is high. (cited in Inflation and Unemployment). Adopting this term in the case of Waterloo-Cedar Falls, the high price of goods and services lead to increase in the number of unemployment since the companies are forced to cut down their human resources to adapt to the increasing prices of goods and services that caused high costs in production. There are also times in Waterloo-Cedar Falls when high unemployment caused high inflation yet the production cost did not increase as fast as the prices. In this situation, high employment is caused by low labor wage. Since the wage is low, the demand for product and services is also low forcing the companies to increase their prices in order to compensate for the low demand of products and services. Analyzing the relationship between inflation and unemployment the following factors are said to contribute to the increase or decrease of the two variables: wage as part of production costs, level of demands and supply, and cost of goods and services. Depending on the movement or behavior of these factors, the level of inflation or unemployment will either increase or decrease. Yet, it does not always follow that when unemployment is high; inflation is also high or vice versa. There are other instances when unemployment is low yet the level of inflation is high or vice versa. Again the increase or decrease in level of the two variables depends on the above mentioned contributing factors. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls, however, tried to address the problems of inflation and unemployment by creating job opportunities for its residents. As expressed by Bob Seymour, Cedar Falls community services manager and economic development director, in an interview by Jim Offner (2009)† â€Å"Obviously, we’re not immune to what’s going on nationally, but we’re pleased that we’ve been able to see some expansion and new-project interest in Cedar Falls right now. The university obviously keeps us on an even keel, and I think our business community has learned to be more diversified and in a better position to weather these down times. Projects like Target Corp. ’s new perishables distribution warehouse and retail developments in Cedar Falls also are helping the city withstand national trends. † (cited in Offner, 2009). This solution however is applicable only for a short period of time. To really solve the problem of inflation and unemployment, Waterloo-Cedar Falls should implement a demand managing policy wherein the government and private sectors will be required to learn how to manage demands in supply (both of labor and product materials) and demands in product and services according to economic situation. Such management is needed so that the people of Waterloo-Cedar Falls will be trained to expect the worst consequences of increase or decrease level of inflation and unemployment. References Grolier Encyclopedia. (1995). Inflation. In U. S. Grolier Encyclopedia of Knowledge 10, 150. USA: Grolier Incorporated. Mc Cain R. A. 2009. Inflation and Unemployment. Retrieved April 24, 2009 from http://william-king. www. drexel. edu/top/prin/txt/AS/where1. html Offner, J. (2009). Local jobless rates among best in state. Retrived April 24, 2009 from http://www. wcfcourier. com/articles/2009/03/11/news/breaking_news/doc49b7a3bf91f75482515049. txt U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2009a). Over-the-year change in unemployment rates for Metropolitan Areas: Monthly rankings, not seasonally adjusted. Retrieved April 24, 2009 from http://www. bls. gov/web/laummtch. htm. U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2009b). Regional state and unemployment, 2008 annual averages. Retrieved April 24, 2009 from www. bls. gov/news. release/pdf/srgune. pdf.

Nokia Challenges In Rural Marketing In India

Nokia Challenges In Rural Marketing In India The world is witnessing an unprecedented growth in the number of people who own a mobile handset. According to a September 2009 Economist report, the total number of people who owned a personal mobile handset stood at a whopping 3.6 billion, which is more than half of the worlds population. The point that is worth noting here is the fact that the majority of this growth has come from the developing nations. In the year 2000, the developing countries accounted for only one-fourth of the worlds 700 million mobile phones. But, by the beginning of 2009, developing nations accounted for more than 75%. Considering the fact that the developed markets are saturated, it is the developing worlds rural poor which will fuel the growth in this market in the coming times. [1] Exhibit 1 shows the share in mobile phone subscriptions of the developing nations and that of the developed nations in the last decade. [2] It is in this context, we consider the case of the Indian mobile handsets market which has seen a sea change in the last decade owing to a number of critical success factors. India is presently the worlds fastest growing telecom market in terms of the subscriptions as well as the number of mobile handsets. The mobile subscribers in India are projected to grow at a CAGR of 15% in the next 5 years from 2010 to 2014. [3] This shows the tremendous opportunity that exists in the Indian telecom market for the handset manufacturers. Indian Telecom Industry The Indian telecom Industry is the worlds fastest growing telecom Industry in the world with a total of 706.37 million subscribers out of a population of 1180 million. As of Aug 2010, out of the 706.37 million, a whopping 670.60 are mobile phone connections.[4] The Indian mobile telephony market adds more than 20 million subscribers a month on an average and for the first time in the year 2008-09, rural India outpaced urban India in mobile growth rate. The growth in the Indian telecom sector can be attributed to several factors which include the rising disposable incomes of households, rising aspirations of consumers across the country, the enhanced utility of a mobile phone for people from all walks of life be it business or education or just information. The mobile handsets revolution has changed the lifestyle of consumers by giving them a faster way to reach their near and dear ones, by making their life easier in more ways than one. The growth drivers for mobile handsets can be attributed to the telecom service providers and off late, it is also the mobile phone applications that are fuelling the increasing adoption of mobile phones as they give the consumers a whole range of new services he/she can avail by using a mobile phone. Mobile phones in India are fast changing into a commodity with the entry of numerous players in the market and similarity of offerings by the existing competition. Exhibit 7 shows the change in consumer decision making that has occurred over the years in the Indian mobile handsets market. It has changed from a High Involvement-Low Experience product to a Low Involvement-High Experience product. Mobile phones are mainly divided into 4 categories in the handsets industry in India: Smart Phones: These are essentially the high end phones which have many features and have the internet accessibility capabilities and Wi-Fi technology. This space is mainly dominated by the multinational brands like Nokia, Samsung, Blackberry, and Sony Ericsson. The general price range for such phones varies from Rs. 10,000 to Rs.35000 in the marketplace. DUAL SIM: This is the fastest growing category in the Indian market accounting for more than 35% of the total shipments in the beginning of year 2010. The principle reason so as to why these phones are in such great demand is the fact that consumers want to reap benefits of the attractive offers provided by telecom players. In this regard, Multi-SIM handsets are also being launched and they are fast becoming the next trend in this space. The market for this is mostly dominated by domestic manufacturers like Lava, Karbonn, Micromax, MAXX and Zen Mobiles among other players. It was only in September 2010, Nokia has launched its first ever DUAL SIM handset after it realized the huge demand for such models in the market. The general price range for such mobiles varies from Rs.2000 to Rs.5000 Touch Phones: These are the type of handsets which do not have any manual keys and are completely sensor based touchscreen handsets. These are extremely fashion oriented handsets which are in-vogue among the youth and fast catching up with all types of consumers due to their visual appeal and ease of use. The market for such handsets was mainly dominated by the multinationals but now it is cluttered with the entry of Indian players such as Micromax, Spice mobiles and others. The general price range for such mobile phones varies from Rs.5000 to Rs.15000. CDMA: These handsets use a different technology compared to others which are GSM based mobile phones. CDMA handsets are generally cheaper than their GSM counterparts. They are mainly preferred by consumers who have a heavier usage of mobile phone. The general price range of CDMA phones is Rs.1000 to Rs5000. This market is evenly distributed between Indian players as well as multinationals. Exhibit number 5 shows the type of handsets that fall into each of this category in the Indian market. The current tele-density in India stands at 58.17% and this is projected to reach up to 82% by the year 2012. The rural Indian market has a tele-density of 24% as of March 2010 whereas the Urban tele-density has already crossed the 100% mark* [5]. Considering the fact that around 65% of Indias total population lives in rural areas, we can say in other words, that every third person holding a mobile phone is from rural India. Therefore, it offers a huge potential for growth in coming years for the various handset manufacturers. Also, with the upcoming of 3G technology in the Indian market, the sector as a whole is likely to see robust growth in the coming years. In addition to this, the Indian mobile handsets market is witnessing a sea change in terms of the expectations of the consumers. It is being observed that consumers are demanding phones with multimedia and multi SIM capabilities at very affordable prices, especially in the Tier-3 and rural regions. Indian mobile handset makers are fast making inroads into the Tier-2, Tier-3 and rural markets which offer tremendous growth potential. Multi-SIM handsets accounted for a whopping 38.5% of the market in the 1st quarter of year 2010. Rural India: A huge opportunity in mobile handsets market The market for mobile phones in rural India remains highly untapped and offers a very high potential. It is this immense opportunity and the inability of the foreign based multinationals in understanding the Indian consumers that has led to the proliferation of numerous local manufacturers who now pose a serious threat to the existing players. According to a research by the Research and Markets, the market for mobile phones in rural India is projected to grow at a CAGR of 17% in the years 2009-2012. [17] It is also being suggested that the availability of low cost long battery phones will primarily drive the growth in these markets. The Mobile Handsets Market in India This unprecedented level of growth in the mobile usage of the Indian population has also lead to the birth and proliferation of a number of home grown mobile handset manufacturers. The market for mobile handsets which was once dominated by the likes of Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Motorola are being fast replaced by domestic Indian concerns like Micromax, MAXX, Videocon, Lava, Karbonn, Spice mobiles, Zen Mobiles to name a few. These domestic players have a strong penetration in the smaller towns and rural hinterlands of the country because they understand the needs of the local people better than the multi-nationals. Some of the innovations from the regional players include a 45 day battery phone, a solar powered cell phone to cater to the perennial power shortage in rural India. Again, there have been launches of mobiles that are dust resistant, water-proof and high decibel to cater to various needs that are unique to the rural Indian consumers. According to a research conducted by Voice and Data, the total market share of all the Indian mobile handset manufacturers came to 14%, which is quite a significant number considering the complete dominance of Nokia and other foreign players like Motorola and Sony Ericsson till very recently. Micromax leads the Indian mobile handset manufacturers with a market share of 4.1% followed by Spice mobiles with 3.9% and Karbonn with a market share of 3% respectively. However, Nokia still continues to be the market leader in the Indian market with a share of 52.2%. [6] Exhibit 3 shows the market shares of various players in the Indian market and a comparison in the years 2008-09 and 2009-10 is being tabulated as shown. [7] The following are the details about various players in the Indian mobile handsets market: Nokia: The Finland based multi-national is the worlds largest manufacturer of mobile telephones with a global market share of 30% in the beginning of 2010. Its latest offering is its OVI technology platform which offers a wide range of internet services such as games, music, maps, media and messaging. Nokia made its entry into the Indian market in the year 1995 [11] and there are many firsts to Nokias credit in the Indian mobile handsets market. It would not be an overstatement to say that Nokia has pioneered the evolution of mobile telephony in the Indian market. For instance, the first mobile call in India on an Indian network was made on Nokia phone and they were the first to introduce a camera phone as well as the first Wi-Fi enabled phone. Samsung: It is currently the worlds second largest mobile phone manufacturer after Nokia. It is a part of Samsung Electronics, based out of South Korea which is the worlds largest electronics company. [12] It is one of the major players in the Indian mobile handsets market and is known for its stylish phones as well as utility oriented models. The famous Indian actor Aamir Khan has been the brand ambassador of Samsung Mobiles in India and this has given the brand a good mileage in terms of product acceptance and trust ahead of big players like Nokia. Their anti-theft mobile tracker is one of the most successful features in the market and was highly appreciated by the consumers. Micromax: The Gurgaon based handset manufacturer started its operations in the year 1991 but it has made its presence felt in the last 2-3 years. With a slew of product launches with attractive features and value-proposition, it is now currently the third largest player in the Indian mobile handsets market after Nokia and Samsung. It appealed majorly to the high-potential underserved rural market with its 1 month battery backup model. It has also come up with attractive models at prices as low as 50% to that of a Nokia phone with the same features. Motorola: The American telecommunications giant has lost market share to other players in the Indian market. It also did not feature in the top 5 mobile handset manufacturers in the world in the International Data Corporation (IDC) research carried out in the beginning of year 2010. [14] Exhibit 4 shows the top mobile phone vendors, their market shares and the shipments of the top 5 mobile handset manufacturers in the world. Motorola had become the second largest player in the Indian market in the year 2007 on the back of its aggressive promotions and innovative product line. It had roped in the Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachhan as the brand ambassador during that time. Sony Ericsson: Sony followed a similar strategy and launched a series of phones which has very good music features that reflected the Sony Walkman legacy. Actor Hritik Roshan was the brand ambassador for Sony Ericsson in India and during this time, the company had gained considerable market share before its decline started due to the rise of local Indian handset manufacturers. Blackberry: The parent company RIM continues to be one of the top notch manufacturers of high end business phones in the world and as given in exhibit 3, it is currently the 4th largest handset maker in the world. In India, it targets only the business users and hence uses different communication channels rather than the mass media which is used by other manufacturers. HTC: This is a Taiwan based manufacturer of smartphones which made smartphones based on Windows software but is now shifting to Googles Android as its operating system. It has a very small presence in the Indian market and it has no intentions to come up with handsets that will be targeted at the Indian rural consumers. Spice Mobiles: This is a part of Spice Telecom which is majorly owned by the Aditya Birla Group and is currently the 5th largest player in the Indian market. It is being endorsed by the Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra. Lava Mobiles: It is one of the recent entrants in the Indian market which has launched a series of handsets which offers the DUAL SIM capability which is very highly demanded especially in the rural areas since many consumers in rural India buy one phone for a group of individuals and it is shared. Karbonn: It is a Joint venture between two players: UTL group and Jaina group. It is being endorsed by the Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag which the company believes is a good move since the mobiles they manufacture are positioned in the same tone as that of the playing style of Sehwag, which is explosive and agile. MAXX: Endorsed by the Indian cricket team captain M S Dhoni, this is one of the leading brands from the Indian mobile handset manufacturers. Videocon: This Company which is a conglomerate has diverse interests ranging from telecom to petroleum to power generation. They entered the Indian mobile handsets market in November 2009 [15] The Videocon group has also gained the rights to be the T-shirt sponsors of the famous Indian Premier League (IPL) team, the Mumbai Indians. This has given Videocon mobiles a lot of visibility and created awareness, which is very important considering the fact that it is still a new entrant in the highly competitive mobile handsets market. The market for handsets in India has evolved drastically over the last one decade with consumers expecting a lot more out of their mobiles rather than just making a call or sending a message. Exhibit 2 shows the various applications in mobile handsets as a percentage of total number of mobile phones shipped in India from the years 2007-2009. [7] It is precisely in this space that most of the recent players in the Indian mobile handsets market have positioned themselves. They offer more features in their handsets at the same price as the market leaders, Nokia being the benchmark of sorts in the Industry. Analysis of commercials of Nokia in the last 5 years In order to understand the communication strategy of Nokia in the last 5 years, a thorough analysis of all their TV commercials was carried out. This helped to understand their positioning and the type of customers they are primarily targeting. Given below are the series of analysis of their commercials for their various models of handsets. Nokia Xpress music 5310 and 5700: The commercial involves a plot in which there are shown lot of young students (all were apparently from a city background) in a hostel enjoy their music non-stop on the new Xpress music Nokia phones. This commercial also highlights the 18 hours non-stop music capability of this phone from Nokias stable. Nokia 1110i and 1600: In this commercial, the creative involves a husband coming back to his home in the village and he has his wife and daughter waiting for him. The husband gets stuck on the way as his vehicle gets damaged. Then, a neighbor in the village who has a Nokia phone helps in reaching the neighbors husband through the Nokia phone and thus an emotional connect is being formed for Nokia. It is also nicely captured in the advertisement where in the end, the daughter asks her mother: Kya hum bhi Nokia le lein? Nokia 3110 Classic: In this advertisement, the plot involves a young boy trying to impress a young girl through his Nokia mobile phone which has an 8ÃÆ'- zoom capability and a one touch camera option. This again focuses on the urban segment as the attire and the ambience as shown in the advertisement reflects a citys environs. Nokia 6300, 5310 and 2630: the commercial is more of an attempt towards corporate advertising where Nokia is being shown as a part of every moment of joy in the lives of people across the country. All the regional festivals are being shown and people have been shown clicking pictures, playing music etc. from their Nokia phones to celebrate their moment of joy. This ad shows no discrimination towards an urban or rural background. Nokia 7610 and 3600: It is a commercial which reflects the lifestyle, attitudes and aspirations of the modern day young girl. This again is filmed against the backdrop of a city projecting a metropolitan girl. The ad is a lively ad that captures the essence of the modern day lifestyle and the phone tries to reflect the same. This is again a commercial that focuses on the urban way of life and the youth belonging to such places. Nokia Navigation (Maps): This advertisement shows a character who finds her way all up to the house of her destination through the help of Nokia maps. This commercial emphasizes the utility of Nokias series of applications and tools to attract customers towards them. This is one of Nokias responses in countering the competition from numerous local Indian players. But, again this is an advertisement focused at the Indian urban population rather than rural where they are presently losing out to more nimble footed players. Nokia priority dealer: manpasand mobile guaranteed. The commercial shows an individual trying to find a good new mobile for him but has to do all the running to so many places. He is shown to be running after one model to the other but not able to catch hold of the phone that he is actually looking for. In the end, a Nokia priority dealer store is shown where he can find all the models of Nokia phones, thereby reducing his hassles. That is why the tagline in the beginning is apt. Nokia 1208 and 1209: This advertisement inspires the viewer by showing that all the dreams of an individual like owning a house, a car and taking a flight etc. will come true one day. Again, the ad goes on to show that Nokia is there for the consumer in realizing their dreams in life. These are the two low end phones of Nokia and there is a clear focus towards the aam aadmi of India who dreams of a better life. There is no discrimination of urban and rural in this case also. Nokia 6270: this advert shows the new Nokia phone which has a memory capacity of 1GB which was unheard of in the Indian mobile handsets market in the year 2006. The commercial shows the precision and perfection with which the phone has been designed. It is being positioned as an exclusive handset which is for those who desire perfection in life. This again has no clear bias on whether it is targeted at the urban consumers or the rural consumers. Nokia (Corporate): This commercial features the Indian star actor Shahrukh khan which shows his life as a superstar. The commercial explains how his Nokia phone has been there with him for the last 10 years and now he has a trust for that brand. The ad ends with Shahrukh Khan saying hamara Nokia. This is an advertisement that focuses on corporate branding of Nokia rather than any particular model. Nokia E-Series Business Phones: This commercial initially shows how it is very difficult for a modern day executive to balance and get the best of both his personal as well as professional life. And then the new Nokia E series business phones have been shown as the ideal solution using which the executive is able to merge his personal as well as professional commitments and is content with his wife, kids and work. This advert again has an urban focus in a thorough and distinct manner. Nokia OVI Music Unlimited: this commercial emphasizes on the unlimited music options that are available with the new Nokia OVI music store where one can get and store literally a million songs from the OVI store. The ad has a strong catchy theme and it does not have any bias towards an urban or rural backdrop. But, inevitably this also gives away its urban focus in the latter part of the ad. Nokia 1650 and 2626: This commercial shows the Radio (FM) feature in their handsets and how Radio still has a future in our multimedia world where there are numerous options for entertainment. Songs from all the possible types of genre have been shown playing on the radio through the Nokia handsets. This advertisement is targeted at all the target groups with no clear focus on the youth or the urban-rural distinction in particular. Nokia 1600: This advertisement is a fast paced creative where it is being shown how colors are a part of the life of an Indian and how colors are integrated into every aspect of our life. Various individuals from different walks of life have been shown in this ad. This ad also reflects the product that is being endorsed here: a phone for the common man of India. It ends with the caption: naya Nokia 1600, har jeb main rang. Nokia 7710, Experience: this advertisement shows an individual enjoying a music video on a screen that is so wide that it almost feels to him like a theater. The effect of the widescreen has been shown very distinctly in the commercial. This is one of the higher prices phones from the stable of Nokia. There is once again no clear distinction so as to who is the target audience for this product. Nokia 6300: This advertisement ends with the statement true style never shouts. The advertisement begins with a scene where a shooting for some purpose is going on and the director asks the professionals on the set to continuously remove all the glitz and showy backgrounds. In the end, a simple white background is what suits the need perfectly. Thus, the statement that true style doesnt need any showbiz associated with it. This is an effort to tell the consumers about the simplicity and reliability of Nokia as a brand with respect to all its recent competitors in the Indian market which have focused more on the showbiz. Insights from the commercials From the above advertisements and various corporate promotions carried out by Nokia in the last 5 years (a time during which a lot of new domestic players have entered the Indian mobile handsets market), a clear pattern that emerges is that Nokia has still not focused exclusively on the rural Indian consumers who form a major chunk of the population that uses mobile phones on todays date. There are many commercials which exclusively focus on the modern day youth of urban India and their lifestyles, attitudes and aspirations. But, there are very few advertisements and promotions that show Nokias willingness to target the rural Indian consumer. One of the reasons for this may be the fact there are no products that Nokia has exclusively designed that can fulfill multiple needs of the rural consumers other than just phone and messaging. Its only product that found an instant hit with the rural consumers was the 1100 model which had an in-built torch light. But, there were many needs of the rural consumers which could have been fulfilled with the help of mobile phones but Nokia did not come out with such products. It is in this space that almost all the new Indian domestic players have been very successful. Micromax, the Gurgaon based mobile handset manufacturer is one such case in point. They realized the acute shortage of electricity in the rural hinterlands of India and it was being observed that consumers need a phone the battery of which lasts for longer periods of time than the usual 2 days on an average. They aggressively promoted their new handsets which lasted for a month after being charged once. This was also accompanied by their sales promotions which offered phones at highly discounted rates and with more features than what a Nokia phone would offer at the same price. This trend continued and it led to the entry of other domestic players like Lava, Karbonn, Spice among others in the Indian mobiles market. Each of the player offered much more enhanced features than Nokia and at a price which is in many cases as low as 60% to that of a Nokia phone. Another very common trend that was again captured by the Indian manufacturers as well as some of the cheaper Chinese mobile manufacturers in India was the Dual SIM concept. Increasingly, people felt the need to use the services of two service providers at the same time and buying two phones for this purpose was not feasible for most of them. This was again catered to by these players who launched a slew of Dual SIM mobile phones at prices that were very competitive in comparison to a similar phone with a single SIM capability. One more such feature of the latest offerings from domestic players has been the ability to handle multiple accounts from a single handset. This has been an instant hit with the consumers of Rural India where a group of people now own a mobile phone. This reduces the burden on each particular individual and also at the same time ensures connectivity. Unfortunately, for Nokia has not paid much attention to these innovations in the initial stages and now it has woken up to reduced market share which has dropped down drastically from 78% five years ago to 52.2% in the year 2010.[4],[5] Analysis Our analysis was intended to find so as to how the Indian consumer perceives various brands depending upon their communication, their positioning and their overall marketing efforts which include different type of promotional activities. In this regard, a questionnaire was being developed which tried to measure the attitudes and perceptions of consumers in general towards Nokia and other brands of mobile phones that they use. From the responses thus obtained, a simple arithmetic coding was being done to quantify the responses and thus we obtained average scores on each parameter of importance in a mobile phone. For instance, here we calculated the average score that each brand of mobile phone gets on parameters such as price, battery back-up, sound quality among all other features. The MS excel sheet attached below gives an idea of how the responses were coded and then converted into a perceptual map. For better visibility, the averages were being coded further using simple arithmetic techniques as shown in the sheet as under: Perceptual Map Analysis In order to find out the current day perception of Nokia with respect to its various competitors in the Indian mobile phone market, as mentioned earlier, a questionnaire was being designed. This was circulated among a select group of respondents. It was being ensured that there are users of all the kinds of brands of mobile phones that are popular in the Indian market. It is mandatory that we get at least 6 responses each of the various brands of mobile handsets for them to be reasonably eligible to find a place on the perceptual map and thus be compared with other brands of phones. Exhibit 6 shows the questionnaire that was being circulated among the consumers who owned a mobile handset. From the perceptual map, it is clear that Nokia is perceived to be more expensive when compared with other domestic players in terms of the features that they offer for a given price point. In order to counter this, Nokia either has to come up with products that are exclusively designed for the rural masses with customized support for them in terms of the local language and certain locally relevant tools. Also, as we can see that there is no real difference in terms of the local manufacturers of handsets as all of them offer a slew of features at prices which are very low in comparison to the existing multinationals like Nokia and Blackberry. In this regard, Nokia can take a lesson from the stable of Samsung which has adopted an innovative strategy in dealing with the rural Indian market. It has launched a series of products like Samsung Guru, which are specifically targeted at the rural masses and have been very successful with their advertisement campaigns for the same. Nokias current strategy for the Indian Rural Market With a population of more than 800 million, rural India offers huge potential and Nokia has realized it. Nokia has already started its rural marketing as well as communication initiatives and have a well chalked out plan for the coming years. Given below are some of the steps that Nokia has already taken in this regard: It has tied up with 1000 micro-finance institutions across the country which will help in financing the mobile phone purchases of the rural consumers. It has tie up with big players like SKS Micro-finance which has a network of 653 branches across the nation It has come up with showrooms on the wheels which is its rural marketing vehicle that is a novel approach in this market and is borrowed from the FMCG industry where such activation programs are commonplace. Nokia has hired certain professionals who go to the villages and rural hinterlands to promote the brand Nokia in innovative ways like sponsoring a regional festival which sees participation from the whole population of the area. Another initiative is their Rural care on the go, which is their servicing vehicle for the rural markets. This is to tell the consumers and other possible buyers the fact that Nokia is with them at their doorstep to account for all of their mobile handset issues. Nokia Life Tools: These are a series of tools developed for the rural consumers which will help them make their life easier and better in more than one way. For the farmer community of the rural Indian population, Nokia life tools provide information about the type of seeds, best practices and commodity prices. Young students can use the education life tool for career related information and other help related to their academics. Location based tools are also being developed by Nokia, some of them being exclusively for the rural consumers for their entertainment and convenience. These are some of the initiatives taken by Nokia till now in order to increase connect with the rural Indian consumers on a pan India basis. But, it is yet to launch products that truly cater to the differentiated needs of the consumers in smaller towns and villages. Also, the same has to be communicated to the consumers through various traditional as well as non-traditional media. Suggestions and Recommendations In its quest to gain a significant position in the rural Indian market, Nokia can take a leaf from the strategy adopted by the domestic mobile handset manufacturers. For instance, Videocon mobiles took cues from customers feedback of the need to have large speakers and launched a model accordingly. Again, another regional player Zen mobile realized the importance of launching phones with regional language support as many consumers in the hinterlands and small towns are not well versed with English language [16]. Therefore, they came up with models that had compatibility with 18 different Indian languages. Nokia should also launch certain models which have features that are currently desired by the users and at prices that are comparable to that of the local domestic players. One interesting

How Should America Handle Illegal Immigration? Essay -- American Histo

200 years ago the very first immigrants arrived on American soil. The United States established itself upon the concept of immigrants but a great debate of how immigration policies will take effect goes on still today. The controversy: how should the United States and Mexico handle legal and illegal immigration? More and more immigrants arrive illegally in search for a better life. In just the last fifteen years, a tremendous increase of illegal immigrants came to the United States. They believe 700,000 per year† (Nadadur 1040). An estimated of 11.9 million in total (Galston Pickus and Skerry 89). Many Americans feel the opposite, as if the American Dream will be lost in the balance with so many immigrants. Both points of views increase to the intensity of the controversy. The United States will always stand tall, known as a nation formed by immigrants journeying towards a better life. The question; how does this great nation balance the reality with the need to uphold freedom of choice and national rule of law? Many intelligent and ambitious people have the desire to bring their talents and gifts to America. Rarely does a country offer the privileges that the United States offers. Whether it is towards education or work the opportunities are limitless. We as Americans have the freedom to choose and to make the best of our future. Only in America where we can dream of being a â€Å"nobody† but eventually we can become a â€Å"somebody†. Over the history of the United States we have seen such examples. Hakeem Olajuwon was born January 21, 1963 in Nigeria. Nicknamed, â€Å"The Dream,† Olajuwon led the Rockets to the NBA championship in 1994 and 1995, and was voted the league’s most valuable player for the 1993-94 season. â€Å"The Dream† became an Ame... ...disastrous, and hugely costly in human terms. Neighborhoods would be torn apart, families would be separated, and a new and sorry chapter in American race relations would be written† (90) The American people just like the Mexican people press forward in the journey of happiness and continue to search for a better quality of life. The constitution of the United States of America states, â€Å"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.† With morals and standards like these guiding the United States, a better quality of life and happiness will be found by both the American and Mexican people.

Women Buying Cars Essay -- Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Women Buying Cars      Ã‚  Ã‚   Last spring while trying to buy my first car, I experienced frustration in gaining acknowledgment from salesmen as well as their respect at several different dealerships.   I discovered it was my attitude and approach to the salesmen that would make the difference in the treatment I received from the them in buying a car myself.   I discovered, by informing the salesman from the beginning that I was serious and financially capable of buying a car, I was able to get a salesman to take time in helping me, a high school female, make a car purchase.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Through my experience, I discovered women are at fault for the treatment received from car salesmen while making an effort to buy a car.   The idea that women are insufficient when it comes to buying cars results from the timid approach women take when doing so.   There is no difference in the capabilities women and men have in buying cars.   The difference lies in the approach women take when deciding to purchase a vehicle of their choice.   How can women be treated as equals to the male population when it comes to buying cars?   It all lays in the attitude women take towards the car salesmen.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The stories seem to always be the same when a woman walks onto the parking lot of a car dealership looking for a car.   She walks around the car lot and is approached by a salesman within five minutes.   He asks how she's doing and says, "Well, let me know if there's anything I can help you with." He then hands her a business card and walks away.   If a woman takes a casual approach to walking around the lot viewing the different models, and is too afraid of showing interest in purchasing, of course a salesm... ...a successful purchase.    Works Cited Ayres, Ian and Peter Siegelman. "Race and Gender Discrimination in Bargaining for a New Car." American Economic Review 85.3 (June 1995): 304-22. Howard, Margo. "Don't Get Taken for a Ride." New Choices: Living Even Better After 50 36.3   (April 1996): 58-61. Moyes, Jojo. "Car sexism drives me crazy." World Press Review 43.6 (June 1996): 48-49. Myers, Gerry. "Reaching the Women's Market." Working Woman 22.9 (Sept. 1997): 33-36. Sherman-Chatzky, Jean. "Protest With Your Feet." Money 28.2 (Feb. 1999): 190-91. Tillson, Tamsen. "A women scorned." Canadian Business 69.2 (Feb. 1996): 97-98. Whittelsey, Frances Cerra. "How women can stop paying more than men for the same things."   Money 25.6 (June 1996): 47- 46.

Storm Fear Essay -- Literary Analysis, Robert Frost

The poem â€Å"Storm Fear† by Robert Frost describes a scene in which â€Å"the wind works against us in the dark.† Throughout the poem, the frozen landscape acts as an antagonist fighting against man. In the classic novella Ethan Frome, author Edith Wharton also personifies the landscape. The village of Starkfield, New England during the harsh winters is also an antagonist, prohibiting the characters from communicating with each other effectively. Throughout both works the environment causes Ethan and the speaker of the poem to suppress their feelings until it is too late to act. Both authors use vivid and detailed imagery to portray a dark winter storm. Frost starts the poem by describing the chilled atmosphere. In the second line, the author denotes a harsh winter storm that â€Å"pelts with snow.† This statement, along with the line mentioned earlier, indicates that the scene is working against the characters. The word â€Å"pelt† is a key word in this sentence. Pelt may mean to attack or assault, but it can also be another word for the hide of a dead animal. This implies that the snow is so harsh that it can be classified as deadly. The title â€Å"Storm Fear† doesn’t give off a positive connotation. . Rather than mentioning the beauty of a snowflake, or describing a â€Å"winter wonderland†, the author chooses to describe the winter as if it is looking to bring an end to something (or someone). It is referred to as a â€Å"storm†, not a snowfall. â€Å"Fear† also is not positive, as it can be defined as à ¢â‚¬Å"an unpleasant emotion†. In Ethan Frome, Wharton’s dark description of the winters in New England is prevalent throughout the work. She refers to the winter as a â€Å"sunless cold.† (pg. 8). Harmon Gow even claims that â€Å"Most of the smart ones get away [from the winte... ...than could have gone over to Mattie when he alone with her by the fire, but instead he has her move into Zeena’s chair. Wharton indicates that he is to â€Å"indolent† and â€Å"lazy† (pg. 77) to move over to her. Neither character can make the change and overcome the influence of the storm unless they put in the effort, and do so â€Å"unaided†. In both â€Å"Storm Fear† by Robert Frost and Edith Wharton’s great novella Ethan Frome, the landscape is personified to fight against the characters. Frost and the characters in the novella are challenged by brutal winter storms that do not allow them to communicate with each other effectively. Only when it is to late do they say what must be said and do what must be done. In the end, the landscape leaves Mattie and Ethan crippled, and Frost snowed in. If they were able to articulate, things would have been different.

Film Reflection “Home” Essay

Film Reflection: â€Å"HOME (2009)† Title : Home year : 2009 Director : Yann Arthus-Bertrand Watch (Your) Home! I watched the documentary Home recently, and really, earth is so magnificent. So many beautiful shots, such an eye-opener of the need of every part of nature. I really loved this documentary about our home. Besides all the gorgeous pictures of the earth and its nature, I really enjoyed one specific scene about trees (00:47:48). This scene explains why trees are important for our living; why they are â€Å"the cornerstone f the climatic balance on which we all depend†. In the background a sad, sensitive song is sung. A man is singing solo and uses his dark, deep voice, as if he were mourning. The combination of sounds are like an introduction of the sad following message: 20% of the biggest rainforest have been cut down. The music fits so perfectly with this message, that it caught me and made me aware of the gravity of the overconsumption of wood. Just an example of how one and a half hours of pictures, voice and music changed me and my ideas toward the environmental issue. Change Change. I use that word conscious. And it should change everybodys mind, because the whole movie isn’t Just filled with gorgeous pictures about the earth and its perfect balance, but also with the destructive influence of humanity. Everything is linked together, everything is connected and all our actions are affecting natures balance. The consumption of water, wood and the need for oil: everything affects natures balance. That is the message of this documentary, and I was shocked about my, maybe our unconsciousness. It looks like the delicate balance of nature is going to be disturbed drastically if we continue behaving like this. Did you know? This message shocked me and changed my ideas toward the environmental issue. You and l, as home sapiens, should change this. But, can we? Business responsibility Like I said, natures balance is changed by our consumption manners. Consumption starts with production. I think production companies have a great responsibility in the solution for our home planet. Since a few years organizations give attention to he â€Å"green issue† – their responsibility in these environmental problems. They come up with issues like sustainability. I always thought these were particularly attempts to gain market share. Social environment has changed since the upcoming warnings about environmental issues; consumers expected organization to implement ‘green production ways’. To satisfy (and behold) its customers, organizations might have I’ve seen this movie â€Å"Home†, I see that organizations really have a great responsibility in changing the tide. Their decisions could be made with the sincere aim. But at the same time I think organization could make much more radical decisions if the really want to. Couldn’t organization decide to turn down product quality to improve environmental quality; to minimize the use of water and electricity; maybe to renounce the increase of sales numbers and stimulate customers to extend the lifetime of products? In the last scenes of Home, Yann Arthus-Bertrans gives a lot of examples of how companies reacted drastically towards the environmentally problems. It requires courage, will and moreover consciousness. Organization must be aware of the fact that their actions, their plans and strategies are linked to natural resources, to the future of our planet. Our home. Together Awareness and decisiveness amongst diverse operating organization can make a difference, I think. But the problem should be tackled together. All competitors should agree on â€Å"green† production, to prevent one competitor is competed out by doing the right thing. Only when this isn’t possible, legislation should control business activities, cause will is stronger than obligation. Also consumers like you and me have responsibility. Awareness of our habits can fade out greed, although we aren’t easily satisfied materially. When there’s the common believe we all are a shackle in the solution for environmental problems, I think it is possible consumer behavior will change, but a common believe must be created. That’s something the government should do. But also you and me can help. Tell your neighbors about the need for changes in both production and consumption. Buy this movie Home. Watch Home together, and let’s watch our home, together!

Geography Coursework – Methodology – Centre Of Leeds’ CBD

For my geography project I visited Leeds to try and find the economic centre of the CBD of Leeds. I needed to collect land use data as this would help me investigate the first of my hypotheses which is the nearer to the centre of the CBD, the taller the buildings as I counted the heights of buildings in my area on the geography field trip and with the groups data of the building height of the whole CBD. Also I would have needed to count the pedestrian flow as this would help me investigate the second of my hypotheses which is there will be a higher volume of pedestrians nearer the centre of the CBD .The data collection area was near the centre of Leeds CBD as I collected my data around Briggate as the edge of the Leeds CBD is near the tall office buildings. < a map to show the buildings that our group had counted in our square B2 and shows numbered square > The two pieces of individual data that I collected was: 1. traffic count 2. Environmental quality assessment The two pieces of group data we collected was: 1. Pedestrian flow 2. Land use 3. Building height The individual secondary data that I will be collecting is: 1. Land values The structure of the day was that we were going to split the day into two halves. We collected the group data in the morning and the individual data in the afternoon so we had much more time to collect our individual data. Group data For our group data we split the CBD into grid squares and two people were responsible for recording the building height and land use for the buildings in the given area and to do four pedestrian flows and we did the pedestrians flow outside the Town Hall on Westgate. We did this so we could cover more area and therefore the data collection techniques had to be the same throughout the whole year. For the group data we calculated the Pedestrian flow in a certain area at four different times also we calculated of the building height of the buildings in my groups square and started straight after we got out off the coach. Also we did land use of the buildings for this we calculated what particular use a building would be. We put letters on a map of Leeds that sod for type of the building e.g. a=commerce, b =administration etc. All the data in the Group Data was to be shared between all the groups. < The image on the left to shows my square which was B2 and the image on the right shows the building we had to investigate> Building Height To collect data for building height I worked with a partner and we counted the number of windows of each building in our grid and used this as the height, we did this because we didn't have the time or equipment to measure the exact heights. We then collected the whole of the year's data and have a good number of buildings from each grid to see where the tallest buildings are also the Building Height was fairly easy at times as you had to count the floors on the outside of the buildings, but there were problems counting the building height as we agreed not to count the cellars, but some buildings on slopes had cellars at the back and ground floors at the front of the buildings and we did not agree to count these aswell. Pedestrian flow We marked out four points on our maps equally distant apart and took counts of people who pass us. One of our pair counted right to left and the other counted left to right so we could efficiently record everyone. We went to the Town Hall on Westgate and we counted the number of pedestrians who were walking either in or out of the CBD. We thought this was an ideal to do our pedestrian count as we were near the edge of the CBD, so it was an ideal place to count the number of pedestrians walking in and out of the CBD. Land Use For this we used the ground floor land use of each building on our maps; we had certain categories and we put them in the ones which best fitted the land use. We did this because the categories gave an idea of the type of land and what it was used for. We then collected them with the rest of the year's data on a database to see the different land uses around the CBD. We had filled in the land use of the buildings in a table which has all the number of the buildings. I think that the amount of categories that sort out the buildings was the right amount because if there were more categories it would have made it more complicated to organise the Land use on GIS, if there was less categories then it would have made it hard to organise the different types of buildings in the categories. Luckily we had successfully had no problems classifying the buildings into different categories. Individual data For individual data I collected raw data for the two options I chose. I did this by going round Leeds CBD and recording the data. In the second part of the day we did Individual Data. I did 10 environmental quality assessments and I did 2 traffic counts as they took 5 minutes each and the environmental quality assessments were scattered around the Leeds CBD. Environmental quality survey I did many of these all around the CBD of Leeds as I had done 10 environmental quality assessments and I had done many of these near the centre of the CBD as my investigation is to find the centre of the CBD of Leeds. I did many of the environmental quality assessments around the centre of the CBD (which I think it is near or on Briggate) and I did the rest of the environmental quality assessment sheets around the edges of the CBD. The reason I did the survey in different areas of the CBD was to see the difference of the quality of the environment throughout the CBD of Leeds. I also thought that this survey was important as the centre of the CBD is supposed to have the best quality of environment in the whole CBD of Leeds. As the table shows this is not true and the cleanest area is in Gourmet Pizzeria, St Paul's Street. < Shows the Quality of environmental survey I used> Traffic count Our group did the Traffic count in a busy location. We did our traffic on Bishopgate Street, beside Leeds Train station. The reason of us choosing the location was because it was at the edge of the CBD meaning the traffic that we had counted had been going in and out of the CBD. We did 3 traffic counts at different times but at the same location as we wanted to see the change of the traffic flow throughout the day. In our traffic count we had counted all the vehicles that came passed the road, cars, buses, taxis e.t.c. The most amount of traffic that had come past our point (the highest number of vehicles an hour) was at 2.30 pm and there was 1524 Vehicles an hour.