Hearing Impairment and Specific Communication Needs Essay Example for Free

Hearing Impairment and Specific Communication Needs Essay In the table below list features in the environment that may help or hinder communication. Then describe in detail how these features may help or hinder communication. Features in the environment How may this help or hinder communication? Lighting People with a hearing or sight impairment need good lighting as they may need to be able to see your face features to see what you are saying to them. (Reading lips). Distractions People would not be able to hear you if you are in a busy and noisy area. For example; if you have a few friends and everyone is talking at once the person who can’t hear well won’t be able to hear the conversation. Positioning You need to be facing each other so you can read the other persons facial expression and body language. To help understand what they are saying to you. Barriers Barriers block are view of the other person and it can impair on us understanding and hearing the person. You can also feel uneasy. For example; when you go to the bank and you have a separated glass in between you. Space You don’t want someone to be too close to you as you would feel uncomfortable and uneasy. We need to feel comfortable with the other person to communicate well. 1. 4 In the table below list and describe the reasons why an individual may have specific communication needs. Then identify a Learning difficulties like down syndrome will have an effect on people’s communication because it can impair the hearing and speech. They can find it hard to form certain words which are hard for others to understand. They also make their own way to communicate to others. Depending on how much their disability takes over them. Physical disability such as Cerebral palsy which is damage to the brain can compare someone’s hearing and speech it all depends on what areas of the brain have been damaged. Also other physical disabilities affect the body such as loss of head control or facial muscle which is making it hard to communicate to others or for them to understand. A mental health condition like dementia is hard to communicate with because they may start to hallucinate and see things that we cannot. We have to remind them of certain things as their short term or long term memory has been affected. They may start to not understand what we are saying because they have forgotten what certain words mean. Hearing loss affects people’s communication because some people can be completely deaf also some people can be slightly hard of hearing. Either way to communicate with others is hard they need to see and face the person they are talking to so they can read lips or watch your body language. People who have lost their hearing in later life will find it harder to adjust as they have always relied on their hearing to communicate. Others that could have been born with deafness they would feel that they haven’t lost something but would have learned new ways of communication such as sign language. Sight difficulties have a huge impact on people’s lives because you are missing out on a lot of communication such as people’s body language to get the full effect of communication. When we lose are sight at a later stage in life it is hard to accept and can sometimes stop people wanting to learn new communication skills. Deaf and blindness is a major concern as they have lost most ways of communicating. They can feel and touch but they haven’t any more senses then that. Social development is important as it is everyday life from when we are growing from child to adult. We need to socially interact with people as this is how we develop are communication skills. 1. 6 Describe the potential effects on an individual of having unmet communication needs The effect of unmet communication is that an individual can become withdrawn and have a low self-esteem or even depressed. Their behaviour can change and become angry and violent or even frustrated because they cannot communicate like everyone else. Also, if that individual does not have any support they may believe that they do not need to communicate on their views or debate on a conversation. They start to believe that there is no point in it anymore. Some individuals that have been born with communication difficulties as above and have grown will the impairment does not mean that they understand it or be able to cope with it. By not support these people we are denying them their rights and by doing this we are abusing them. 2. 3. How and when would you access information and support about identifying and addressing specific communication needs? We access information and support when we give others support in their lives as everyone is different and we need to know different techniques. Such as having photographs or pen and paper to communicate with people. When we look into peoples records we must follow correct policy and procedure. Keep confidentiality. If the information we need is not there then we look on the internet, books, journals and reports. When we support people we may need to work with other professionals. Such as; occupational therapists, psychiatrists and speech and language therapists etc.

Workforce Diversity in a Foreign Subsidiary

Workforce Diversity in a Foreign Subsidiary 1. Abstract: In the todays dynamic competitive business environment, Diversity management is one of the key challenging area in Human Resource Management (HRM) in particularly to the Multinational Corporations (MNCs) those who have started their operations recently in a country like India where the culture is totally different from western culture. This paper mainly focuses on to what extent Target India, the subsidiary of retail giant Target Corporation, USA, has taken initiative to maintain the work force diversity and analyze the major challenges and issues faced while implementing with their strategic HR policies. It also discusses the role of Human Resource Management (HRM), International Human Resource Management (IHRM) and Strategic International Human Resource Management (SIHRM) in implementing and integrating the diversity initiatives. To examine the effectiveness of Target India HRM policies with respect to the diversity and culture, I used published sources like Target internal records , articles, books, internet and online data bases. 2. Introduction: Target Corporation is one of the United States biggest retail store. It was established in 1902 and known as Dayton Dry Goods Company before it was named as Target. The first Target store was opened in Minnesota, in 1962.It is widely spread in United States with 1,613 stores in 47 states. This includes 240 Super Target stores which gives a unbelievable grocery shopping experience. Target ranked 41 on their list of Americas Most Reputable Companies-2009 Target Corporation has its presence in India by establishing Target India Corporation in Bangalore in 2005. Target India has 2500 employees currently and it is expected to grow faster and have 5000 employees by end of fiscal year 2010. Target India is located in three different places in Bangalore namely Embassy Prime, RJU building which is named after Robert J. Ulrich, the former CEO of Target Corporation and GWS building which is named after Gregg W. Steinhafel. Another location is being established in Mysore in 2015. Due to demographic differences, it is very obvious that Target India with respect to Target Corporation varies in work culture, age, work-life balance and all social and personal aspects. Target India takes every effort to build Target culture in the work place which is very similar to Target head quarters with help of strong strategic HR policies. Target is in particular about the company culture which includes Collaboration, minimizing hierarchy, Work/Life balance, Accountability. Targets vision to become the best company ever follows the three core values: FFF (Fast, Fun and Friendly), Es of Excellence (Energy, Enthusiasm and Execution) and Speed is life. 3. Background: Target Corporation has its offshore extension called Target India. The fast and continued growth of Target India reflects the commitment to develop a global work force. Target drives business efficiently by motivating team members (employees), crediting innovations and thereby giving the best guest experience. Target India plays a key role in providing the brand promise of Target Expect More. Pay Less. by implementing the technology and business solutions. Target India works with ten pyramids: Target India is a key partner to achieve the vision of Target Best Company Ever and reach the goal of 100 billion in scale. The key accomplishment of Target India is opening Target Sourcing Services (TSS) in Bangalore during the first anniversary and also by opening the new facility which is now called Gregg W. Steinhafel (GWS) centre. 4. Literature Review: Over the years, it is very obvious that organisations are considering diversity as an essential competitive advantage factor to sustain in the market place where they can serve various array of customers and their needs, to make the customers and stake holders happy and satisfy. Diversity meaning is reached beyond the Equal Employment opportunity legislation and provides opportunity to the workforce with regardless to gender, colours, religions, races. One of the most important trends in the recent years has been the growing interest in the benefits to be achieved by planning for a diverse workforce known as diversity management. This was based on view that people should be treated equally regardless of race, ethnic orgin, gender and sexual orientation and other social categorization so that individual are enabled freely and equally to compete for social rewards (Jewson and Mason ,1986 P.307).Jewson and Mason set equal opportunities within a free market tradition, and the purpose of the legislation and polices was seen as removing obstacles and distortions to the working markets. According to liff(1997b), there are four approaches to managing diversity based on the degree of the commitment to social group equality as an organizational objective and on the perceived relevance of social group differentiation for policy making .Four diversity management approaches are :1)dissolving the differences2) valuing the differences3)accommodat ing differences4)utilizing differences Diversity, according to Schneider (2001, P.27) is about creating a working culture that seeks, respects, values, and harnesses difference. The basic contrast with the equal opportunities is an acceptance that there is difference between people, that such difference can be valued and that they are the source of productive potential within the organisation. Thomas(1995) argues that diversity does not automatically mean with respect to race and gender and describe diversity as not synonyms with difference but encompasses difference and similarities.(Cassel 2001) define diversity is a complex, multidimensional concept as a whole. It is a plural term with different perception in different organisations, societies and natural cultures without any unitary meaning. Hofstededes (1980) research suggest demonstrate that even within a large multinational, famous for its strong culture and socialization efforts , national culture continues to play major role in differentiating work values. The convergence /divergence argument (Webber 1969) states that economic development, technology, and education would make possible globalization whereas differential levels of available resources and national cultures would work against this. The need for human resource consultants, managers and specialist to adopt international orientation in their functional activities for those who are working in Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) are playing key role in implementing the cross cultural and comparative human resource management to make their organisation success. Boxall (1995) define the distinction between comparative HRM and International HRM. 5. Diversity Management Diversity Management denotes achieving wide range of benefits from diverse work force. The management of diversity concentrates on individuals rather than groups. This also includes opportunities for all individual and not just for people belonging to minority category. Ellis et, (1994) defines A multicultural management perspective fosters more innovative and creative decision making, satisfying work environments, and better products because all people who have a contribution to make or encourage to be involved in a meaningful way. Diversity management denotes the initiatives taken by the organisation to take advantage on the diversity in their workforce including characteristics such as (origin, gender, age, ethnicity and disability) as a strategic approach to achieve the organisational goals. The key differences between equal opportunities and managing diversity is given in the below table Aspect Equal Opportunities Managing Diversity Purpose Reduce discrimination Utilise employee potential to maximum advantage Case argued Moral and ethical Business case improve profitability Whose responsibility HR/personnel department All managers Focuses on Groups Individuals Perspective Dealing with different needs of different groups Integrated Benefits for employees Opportunities improved for disadvantaged groups, primarily through setting targets Opportunities improved for all employees Focus on management activity Recruitment Managing Remedies Changing systems and practices Changing the culture Source : adapted from Human Resource Management p -540) Derek Torrington ,laura Hall, Stephen Taylor Diversity Management is considered as the core approach to implement equality. It is believed that equal employment opportunity is driven by HR functions and diversity management is driven by the managers. As a reason to run the business, it is argued that managing diversity should be made as the integral part of any organizational policy. This concept is called mainstreaming. 5.1 Diversity at Target India Diversity became one of the key aspects and challenging area for the HRM area over the last few years. This is not only to tackle high cost but also to have workforce diversity to attract, retain and motivate diverse population of team members to help and server diverse guests and communities. At Target, diversity is much more than a goal or campaign, its a core value we integrate into every area of our business from our suppliers, to our teams, to the shopping experience in our stores, we foster an inclusive culture that allows our high-performing and diverse team to drive innovation. Target adopts a miltilocal approach in implementing the diversity, So Target India is responsible for designing and implementing the diversity management program. Target corporate headquarters is an advisory, informing the corporate wide diversity related messages and providing assistance if required. The definition of diversity at Target India is broad and focused on appreciating and recognizing the individuality of team members. Target India put this in simple terms as The Strengths of Many. The Power of One.. At Target India, diversity plays an integral part of the culture to communicate better with diverse team members and thereby serving the guests and communities in the best way possible. Target India builds the competitive advantage to drive the success by attracting the best talent and creating an atmosphere where diverse individuals are respected. 5.2 Challenges in Maintaining Diversity: Over the past few years, many Organizations have the goal of implementing multicultural work culture. However, promoting diversity across the Organizations has been challenging in practical way. There are three main reasons for failure of workforce diversity across Organizations. 1) Misunderstanding the problem, 2) Wrong solution, 3) failure to have clear learning cure. Major challenges faced by Target India during the initiatives of workforce diversity are, 1) Issues related by marginalization and discrimination, 2) Due to time constraint, getting team members together to collect data and feedback regarding diversity is a difficult task, 3) To make team members accountable for goals related to diversity, 4) As diversity is a new phenomenon in HRM, training all the team members requires huge cost, time and effort, 5) Slow progress rate, 6) Complexity in handling different perspectives from various groups or individuals. 5.3 Target India Vs Headquarters: Target India team member culture is different to headquarters. The main cultural differences arise as Target India team members are younger when compared to the headquarters and more specifically in Technology Services. Being young to job and also with a lot of job opportunities, Target India team members tend to leave the job for salary or career growth. This is in great contrast with the onsite team member. Team Members at Target India tend to work at different time structure than their onshore counter parts. The typical work time is nine to five at headquarter. Team members reach on time, complete their work and leave on time. Though the time is 9:30 AM to 6:30 PM at Target India, team member work on flexible timings to overlap with the onsite timings for better co-ordination and save time and effort. Coffee/Tea breaks are taken as per the convenient time whereas in headquarters normally they do not take much time. Also, Target India is providing free nutritious meal to all the team members which they prefer to have together at cafeteria. 5.4 Cultural Adjustments: Most of the Target team members have not worked in a foreign land. It is with the establishment of Target India, Target team members are encouraged to travel to India for working. The juxtaposition of developed and underdeveloped and more importantly rich and poor, the basic contrast of American culture which they need to cope up with. Indian people also have help in cleaning, cooking, driving etc. Though it sense to be of much help but there need to be significant adjustment on two core values of American culture: Privacy and Independence. The leadership style needed a great alteration moving to Target India. Target India team members are used to work with instructions from clients and managers. They need more of interactive approach where the leader can post their ideas, views and suggestions rather than giving general instructions. 6. Target India HR Approach: The main asset to IT industry is human resources. The challenging task for Multi National Companies (MNCs) in the IT sector is managing the human resources, especially for MNC subsidiary like Target India, where the culture is totally different from each other. Being very young to market, Target India faces the same challenge to retain employees. Though country like India is abundant in low cost and highly skilled labourers, it is very hard to retain employees because of salary and career growth. Target India is able to handle it better with its strong strategic HR policies and methods. Target India HR policies work as per the below metrics, HR Management Organizational Effectiveness Training and Development The main objective of HR management is to frame strong HR policies and thereby managing and retaining the human resources. This includes the best recruiting and selection methods, Pay and Benefits, Performance appraisals, Career development. Organizational Effectiveness literally means integrity. Their main purpose is to maintain the secure work atmosphere with information security, zero tolerance and violence free workplace. Training and Development team deals with training programs such as technical trainings for budding tech professionals, leadership training for those who admire to become leaders, personal development trainings, work oriented trainings. 6.1 HRM Practise: The following are the team members experience and saying about Target India. I was fascinated by the neat and cool shopping experience I had at Target during one of my visits to the U.S. and just fell in love with Target. I then wondered what it would be like working here and thus began my journey of exploring working at Target. Target is just the perfect world for high-energy, fun-loving and make-things-happen people. The welcoming ambience, smiling teams and committed managers are just the things I like here. I am pursuing the Masters program in Software Engineering and am part of the global cohort. Its truly an international experience. I get to do capstone projects within Target as academic work and at the same time its a real life experience -Praveen, Information Technology I have never seen any organization so far in my career where everyones so approachable and friendly. Targets the place where I felt my creative potential was explored. Supervisors and peers are open to ideas and change. This keeps me going every day. Dee, Brand Management, Buying + Planning 6.1.1 Recruitment and Selection: Target India follows equal opportunity as an employer. Employment practises are implemented without regard to religion, colour, race, creed, caste, sex, age, place of birth, disability. This list also includes sexual orientation and also pregnancy. Equal Employment Opportunity policy plays an important role for Target Indias commitment to hire and develop talented, strong and diverse workforce. With this policy, Target India accommodates qualified and talented applicants, employees with disability and also applicants with strong religious beliefs provided such team member doesnt create hardship to Target India. At Target India, recruitment and selection happens for both fresher and experience candidates. The highly talented fresh young graduates from the top universities are selected after the written aptitude test, group discussion and HR round. Experience candidates are hired after a series of process such as resume selection, initial technical round, high level technical round followed by managerial and HR round. Team members at Target India are able to get rewards through referral programs. 6.1.2 Training and Development: The Training and Development team co-ordinates and arranges various training programs. Technical trainings, Personality Development trainings, Induction training, Integrity trainings, Work place trainings, Leadership trainings are the major trainings provided by the training department. Internal training programs are the major trainings arranged where team members are encouraged to attend and learn new technologies and various leadership skills. Target India also partner with external training consultants for those trainings which are not available internally. Fresher recruited from universities are trained in technical and development trainings initially. Experienced candidates are also provided with trainings in the latest version of their technology to accomplish the work as per the time schedule. Target India follows the mentoring system. With help of the mentoring system, senior leaders are helping various team members by motivating, providing organizational updates, helping in career planning. Target India believes in job rotation for any interested team member. Any team member who is willing to transfer to a different pyramid, department or technology is motivated with various basic technical trainings and job handling trainings. Apart from class room trainings, Target India also offers online trainings for team members. The online trainings include integrity trainings to maintain confidentiality of information and have best ethics in work place. 6.1.3 Career Management: Target India is committed for team members personal and career development. This is carried out with mentoring, Individual Development Plan (IDP) creation where team member and the supervisor analyze the team members strengths and development opportunities to develop the career map. There is an opportunity for team members in Target India to move vertically and horizontally across Target Technology Services (TTS), Target Financial Services (TFS), Strategy, Target.com, Stores, Marketing, Human Resources, Property Development, Legal and Quality. This is generally known as talent pool scheme. 6.1.4 Flexible Work Timing: This is one of the strong HR policies which enable the team members to work on their convenient time shifts. This makes the Target India team members to have better co-ordination with their onsite counter parts. This saves a lot of time and effort which ultimately leads to better productivity. 6.1.5 Compensation and Benefits: Based upon the employees experience and technical/managerial skills, Target India offers compensation package as per or higher than the industrial standards. Compensation revision normally revised twice in a year. Target India provides the following benefits to all its team members, Health Benefits Target Indias health benefits supports wellness and healthy living for its team members with schemes such as Group Mediclaim, Parental Insurance, Personal Accident, Wellness Program, and Medical Insurance while Travelling. Retirement Target India team members are encouraged to save for retirement by making contribution to their Provident Fund (PF). Paid Time Off This consists of Privilege Leave, Casual Leave, Maternity Leave, Paternity Leave, National Holidays, and Bereavement Leave. This helps the team members to recharge and refresh themselves. Additional Benefits All eligible Target India team members are provided with additional benefits: Company Loans, Conveyance Program, Gratuity, Free Meals, Tuition Scholarship, Team Member Referral Bonus, Concierge Service, Training and Development. Other benefits such as professional counselling for team members and their family members, facility for new team members to settled down easily and quickly in new location and all relevant assistance for team members and their family members travelling on an assignment are also provided. 6.1.6 Performance Management: Performance Management is a crucial determinant of culture and what managers consider in their thinking about their team members. Measurement of performance is an indication of organizations business success. Target India defines the appraisal as a process which analysis a persons overall capabilities and potential. One of the important part of this process is assessment where team members past and current work behaviour and performance are collected and reviewed. With the help of performance appraisal, Target India is able to improve morale, motivate team members, reduce ambiguity about performance, clarify expectation, identifying training and development opportunities, manage careers, improve communication, setting goals and targets. Target India follows transparent process for evaluating team members performance and providing compensation packages. Being transparent, it is very clear to the team members as of what is required to reach next level. Target India offers high performers with performance certificates in the form of Great Team Card (GTC) and reward and vouchers. To motivate the team members, high performers are honoured in the Annual Leadership Meeting. 6.1.7 Work-Life Balance: Target India is conscious about Work-Life Balance. This has been supported in the form of work from home where team members are allowed to work from home due to emergency and any other personal commitment. Older team members who wish to remain in work are allowed to work fewer hours or different shift pattern. To maintain work-life balance various programs such as flexible work timings, Personal counselling for team members and their family members are initiated. This form of work-life balances gives satisfaction to the team members in the form of handling work and also caring children and elderly parents. 6.1.8 Community Work by Employees: Target India believes in serving the community. Target India and its team members play a vital role in taking part in community work to serve the society. Many team members play leadership role in community work. As a corporate citizens responsibility, team members are allowed to organize various camps to rural areas to help in educating and bringing awareness about different social causes to rural population. This brings self satisfaction to the team members and also makes work place more enjoyable. 6.1.9 Women Empowerment To increase the women workforce, Target India conducts recruitment programs especially for women. Target India women all hands meeting is conducted frequently to help and discuss the hurdles faced by the working women. These meetings not only give women spirit but also help them to develop career growth and leadership qualities. 6.1.10 Employee Retention: Attrition rate is a major concern for newly started MNC subsidiaries in developing country like India. When other similar organizations have the attrition rate in double digit, Target India managed the employee retention rate in single digits with help of their sound career growth plans, high rewards and appreciation apart from their fulfilling compensation and benefits. Target India provides the following benefits to retain the team members, Good work atmosphere Meals and transportation facilities Giving more career plans Employee oriented policies 6.1.11 Open Door Policy: No organization can improve without constant feedbacks, ideas, suggestions in a diverse work environment. Target India aligns with its headquarters belief of having Open Door Policy. To improve workforce diversity, team members suggestions, feedbacks and ideas become a crucial factor. This vision is attained through Open Door Policy where team members can reach to any leader irrespective of their caste, religion, sex, culture, age at any time with their thoughts. Although this is the easiest way to reach to any leader, for those who feel uncomfortable speaking to the leaders directly there is also a separate HR team named as Employee Relations team. Team members can post their issues, solutions and ideas to the Employee Relations team or call the Integrity Hotline numbers being anonymous. Every concern of the team members are reviewed by the Employee Relations team and sent to the appropriate leader. 6.1.12 Great Team Recognition: Target India follows a unique culture of appreciating great work. Although recognition is done annually through performance appraisals, best performer awards and certificates, many great works go unnoticed in the annual meetings. To avoid that, Target India encourages sending Great Team Card to any individual contribution or to the team at any moment. This makes the team members feel that they are noticed in diverse work culture. 7. Conclusion: Due to globalization, organizations are operating in multicultural context. A key debate is to what extent their diversity programmes should be standardised across subsidiaries. As there is no best approach to manage diversity workforce, since it varies from organization to organization, country to country. From last many quarters, Target India is growing steadily because of its strong strategic HR policies and in particular with workforce diversity. The process of acquiring, retaining and bringing success with diverse population in a growing organization like Target India is not an easy task. The determination from top management, HR and operations team across Target India and Target Corporation, helped Target India to achieve the success of implementing strategic HR policies in a multicultural and diverse workforce.

P2P File-Sharing Essays -- Computers Software Technology Essays

P2P File-Sharing INTRODUCTION Technology is moving at an ever-increasing rate, which faces us with many new issues as we move into a digital age. Gone are the days where property and transactions were physically tangible. A medium of an electronic nature is now today’s preferred choice as opposed to traditional means. This new electronic medium is hardly tangible yet it is becoming more pervasive in our lives. So what exactly are some of these technologies and issues associated with them? This paper will look into both the domestic and the international issues associated with MP3 and Peer-to-Peer technologies over the Internet. So what started the big fuss associated with Peer-to-Peer technologies like Napster? We will begin by looking at the original motivation behind Internet file sharing software. Enter MP3. The MP3 Craze The term MP3 is now a household name. The technology is widely known and can be found in a multitude of software as well as in dedicated playback devices. However, MP3s were not widely known until 1998 when a free windows based player named Winamp was released 1. Lets take a brief look at how MP3s came to be. MP3 is shorthand for MPEG-Layer 3, which stands for the Moving Picture Experts Group, Audio Layer III 1. The MP3 compression algorithm was developed by the Fraunhofer Institut in Erlangen, Germany during the mid-1980s 1. For those who are not already familiar with the technology, MP3 encoding essentially compresses a large sound file into a much smaller file with little noticeable sound degradation. Standard compression reduces the size of a sound file by ten times, which results in files that are approximately 1 MB per minute 2. This proved to be a powerful tool, especially as the Internet... ...tory.cfm?id=70>. RIAA â€Å"FAQ On Napster and Digital Music.† RIAA.org. . Sax, Jodi, â€Å"Recording Artists Speak Out On Napster†, February 2001, . Schumacher-Rasmussen, Eric. â€Å"Napster Dividing Artists From Prince 2 Dave Matthews.† MTV.com News. 2 Mar. 2001 . Smith, Seagrumn. â€Å"From Napster to Kazaa: The Battle Over Peer-To-Peer File Sharing Goes International.† Duke Law. 28 Mar. 2003 . Spinello, Richard A. â€Å"Frameworks for Ethical Analysis.† Chapter 2 of Ethical Aspect of Information Technology (Prentice Hall) 1 Jan. 1995 Yang, Beverly., Garcia-Molina, Hector., â€Å"Comparing Hybrid Peer-to-Peer Systems.† Technical Report, Stanford University. Feb. 2001

Essays --

The Recreation Center Every university has a recreation center because they care about their students’ health and they encourage them to be healthy. Therefore, being healthy is one of the factors that help the people especially collage students to be more organized and focused in their work. Thus, many universities are keen to provide the best recreation they could have, and they care about the students’ opinion about the recreation center. I am going to evaluate some parts of the recreation center of the university of south Alabama, which include the indoor soccer field benches, the swimming pool, the locker room and the parking lots. First of all, the indoor soccer field or the futsal needs sufficient benches. Therefore, the benches for the subs and the audience or fans are very small and tight. At the same time, the indoor soccer field of the university of south Alabama is one of my favorite fields because its size is sufficient, and I like the shape of the two goals. However, There are many students who come to play or even watch the games but they cannot find a seat. I went to the indoor soccer field three times, and I saw this thing happen two times of the times I went. Moreover, sometimes they stood in front of the glass (there is a wall-glass between the indoor-soccer field and the benches) to watch the match because the location of the benches is not suitable. The seats are just less than the half of the soccer field’s length. Therefore, there is a wall on the left that block the view of the other half of the soccer field. The people who are responsible for the recreation center should be aware of that, and try to provide everything that will make the indoor soccer field appears in a pleasant manner. Second of all,... ...games, the parking lots cannot fit all of the students who want to exercise regularly. I’m one of the students who like to keep myself being healthy and play many kinds of sports, however sometimes when I go to the recreation center I cannot find a park for my car. Therefore, I end up with being in a hookah place instead of the recreation center. They should expand the parking lots to equalize the actual number of the students who are playing at the recreation center regularly. All in all, the recreation center is a very important place for the collage students to utilize from their free time in a good way. The recreation center needs the above things to be fixed in order to have an integral recreation center such as belchers for the indoor soccer field, lockers room and the parking lots for the whole recreation center and the diving board for the swimming pool.

Free Essays - Comparing Young Goodman Brown and Soldier’s Home :: comparison compare contrast essays

Young Goodman Brown:   Going Home    My home is my haven and the place that I feel the safest and most comfortable at. It is where many good memories and feelings arise and I am able to be myself with no false pretenses. It is my â€Å"Home Sweet Home† yet the stories â€Å"Young Goodman Brown,† by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and â€Å"Soldier’s Home,† by Ernest Hemingway show a different attitude about home going and the effects it has on the main characters.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In Hawthorne’s story, â€Å"Young Goodman Brown,† Goodman Brown ventures on a journey into the forest and refuses the temptations of the devil. Unfortunately though, throughout the night, Brown finds out more than he ever wanted to know about how his fellow Puritan townsmen, including his wife, have betrayed their faith by giving into their dark desires. In utter despair, Goodman Brown returns at dawn to his Salem village â€Å"staring around him like a bewildered man.† (Hawthorne, pg.275) He doesn’t believe it is the same place as it was the night before and he no longer feels at home. Whether his experiences were real or not, his faith is gone and he feels as though he is the only pure one. He suffers tremendous guilt and discomfort and trusts no one. His excessive pride is evident when he takes a child away from a blessing given by Goody Cloyse, his former catechism teacher, as if he were taking the child â⠂¬Å"from the fiend himself.† (Hawthorne, pg.276) His distrust and resentment towards his townsmen is apparent when he sees his wife, Faith. She is overwhelmed with joy to see him arrive home yet he looked â€Å"sternly and sadly into her face and passed on without a greeting.† (Hawthorne, pg.276) All that he learned in the night was too much for him, and it changed a devoted husband with bright hopes and a wife whom he loved, to a tired, beaten, questioning and almost faithless man.       Harold Krebs in Hemingway’s â€Å"Soldier’s Home,† returns from World War I to a society that he no longer feels a part of and receives no welcome for his heroic deeds. He resents being home which is largely due to the fact, that during the war he led a very simple lifestyle and upon returning home is thrust back into a complicated domestic life.   He tries to seek refuge by withdrawing from society and engages himself in individual activities.

Augustus of Primaporta Analysis

The statute Augustus of Primaporta depicts the Roman emperor Octavian, son and heir of Julius Caesar and defeater of Mark Antony and Cleopatra. Created circa 20 C.E., and found in the home of Octavian’s wife Livia at Primaporta, this marble statue today stands in the Musei Vaticani in Rome (Janson 2007b 191).Measuring 6 feet 8 inches in height, and perhaps a copy of a bronze from around 20 BCE, the Augustus of Primaporta depicts Octavian as an â€Å"ageless youth,† as did all statues of Octavian until his death in his late seventies (Janson 2007b 191). Based on the bronze Doryphoros (â€Å"spear bearer†) by Polykleitos, which depicts a perfectly harmonious and balanced male athletic body in contrapposto (hips tilted such that one leg seems to be moving while the other stands still) supported by a tree stump, the Augustus of Primaporta presents Octavian Augustus in a heroic, idealized contrapposto form (Janson 2007a 121).Smooth-faced Octavian is shown in this stat ue wearing battle armor, with his arm raised â€Å"in a gesture of address† in order to signify his claim to authority (Janson 2007b 192).This orator’s gesture had been adapted from another historical statue, the first century BCE Aulus Metellus, a bronze statue depicting an orator that today can be seen in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Florence (Stokstad 197). Next to his right ankle, a small Cupid (also known as Eros, the son of Venus) can be seen playing with a dolphin. This cupid is not merely decorative, but rather serves as a â€Å"strut† to strengthen the statue (Janson 2007b 192).The statute contains many symbolic references to Octavian Augustus’s claims to power. His divine claims to power are represented through several visual references. To begin with, like the Egyptians and Greeks before him, and many Roman emperors after, Augustus’ statue represents him as being â€Å"enveloped in an air of divinity† (Janson 2007a 121).The statue’s generally godlike appearance is augmented by Octavian’s bare feet, which are the mark of a god, and the Cupid, which represents the descent of the Julian family (of which Augustus was part) from Venus through Aeneas, his Trojan ancestor (Janson 2007b 192). His earthly claims to power are displayed through references to his military and diplomatic victories.The dolphin represents his earthly claim to power by evoking the sea at Actium where Octavian Augustus defeated Mark Antony and Cleopatra and ended 100 years of civil war in the Roman Republic (Janson 2007b 192, Lodge 1).Augustus’ breastplate, which depicts an allegory in which either Tiberius or the god Mars accepting Roman standards from a Parthian soldier, recalls his diplomatic victory over the Parthians in 20 BCE, when he was able to negotiate the return of some Roman legionary standards that had been captured in 53 and 36 BCE (Janson 2007a 122). Finally, his orator’s pose symbolizes his ability to rule by reason and persuasion, rather than through force (Stokstad 198).The Augustus of Primaporta was a part of the Augustan period, a new Roman idealist movement that was â€Å"grounded in the appearance of the everyday world† (Stokstad 197, Honour 198). This type of sculpture assimilates the traditions of ancient Greece with more modern Roman references. This statue, a good representation of the movement, has been described as a â€Å"sophisticated combination of Greek idealism and Roman individuality,† which came together to form â€Å"a new Augustan ideal† (Stokstad 197).The godlike idealized body of Augustus, with its perfect Greek athletic figure, its tight cap of layered curls, its prominent brow and nose, and its contrapposto pose, is combined with realistic portraiture in the head so that Augustus’ features are clearly distinguishable (Stokstad 197, Lodge 4).This type of Roman idealist sculpture was frequently used as imperial politic al propaganda. The references to divine and earthly claims to power and the posture and beauty of the statue, combined with the distinctive portraiture, stand for the proposition that the individual Octavian Augustus was a noble and powerful ruler.The visual imagery of the statues of this time, such as the Augustus of Primaporta, was key in creating a â€Å"new mythology† of the imperial line (Lodge 2). This statue solidified and paid homage to Augustus’ claim to authority by depicting his many claims to rule. Later statues of Roman emperors would draw on the Augustus of Primaporta as propaganda to tie them closer to the Julian line (Lodge 3).Another example of the Augustan style, which similarly shows Augustus in a particular light for propagandistic purposes is the Via Labicana Augustus, which originally dates from 20 BCE, and a copy of which can be found in the Palazzo Massimo alle Terme at the National Museum in Rome (Lodge 2).This sculpture shows Octavian Augustus —again with distinguishable features on the head—dressed as pontifex maximus, the highest priest in the ancient roman religion. Showing Augustus as an idealized religious figure spoke of him as a virtuous and pious citizen of Rome, and a conserver of traditional Roman values, which conveyed another type of authority in addition to the more military and diplomatic authority portrayed in the Augustus of Primaporta (Lodge 7).The image in the Via Labicana Augustus, when combined with that of the Augustus of Primaporta, shows an imperial figure who ruled justly, piously, and well, and with the support of both heaven and earth.Works CitedHonour, Hugh & John Fleming. A World History of Art. London: Lawrence King Publishing, Ltd., 2005. 196-199.Janson, Anthony F. & H.W. Janson, A Short History of Art. 7th ed. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc., 2007a. 121-122.Janson, Anthony F. Janson’s History of Art. 7th ed. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc., 2007b. 191-193.Lodge, Nancy. â€Å"Images of Roman Power: Roman Imperial Sculpture.† 1-7. available at http://www4.vjc.edu/gems/NancyLodge/ArtasPropaganda.pdf.Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History. 2nd ed. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc., 2005. 197-198.

Business Buying Behavior

Business buyer Behavior| | | | In last Lesson we discussed the Consumer Buying behavior. Today We will discuss business buyer behaviour, types of buying situations, participants in the business buying process, and major influences on business buyers so our today’s topic is:BUSINESS MARKETS AND BUYING BEHAVIORThe  business market  includes firms that buy goods and services in order to produce products and services to sell to others. It also includes retailing and wholesaling firms that buy goods in order toects resell them at a profit. Because asp of business-to-business marketing apply to  institutional  markets  and  government markets, we group these together. The business marketer needs to know the following: Who are the major participants? In what decisions do they exercise influence? What is their relative degree of influence? What evaluation criteria does each decision participant use? The business marketer also needs to understand the major environmental, interpersonal, and individual influences on the buying process. A. What is a Business Market? The business market comprises all the organizations that buy goods and services for use in the production of other products and services that are sold, rented, or supplied to others. It also includes retailing and wholesaling firms that acquire goods for the purpose of reselling or renting them to others at a profit. In the business buying process business buyers determine which products and services their organizations need to purchase, and then find, evaluate, and choose among alternative suppliers and brands. Companies that sell to other business organizations must do their best to understand business markets and business buyer behavior. B. Characteristics of Business MarketsIn some ways, business markets are similar to consumer markets. Both involve people who assume buying roles and make purchase decisions to satisfy needs. However, business markets differ in many ways from consumer markets. The main differences, are in the market structure and demand, the nature of the buying unit, and the types of decisions and the decision process involved. Business markets also have their own characteristics. In some ways, they are similar to consumer markets, but in other ways they are very different. The main differences include:1. Market structure and demand. Business markets typically deal with far fewer but far larger buyers. They are more geographically concentrated. Business markets have derived demand  (business demand that ultimately comes from or derives from the demand for consumer goods). Many business markets have  inelastic demand; that is, total demand for many business products is not affected much by price changes, especially in the short run. A drop in the price of leather will not cause shoe manufacturers to buy much more leather unless it results in lower shoe prices that, in turn, will increase consumer demand for shoes. Finally, business markets have morefluctuating demand. The demand for many business goods and services tends to change more—and more quickly—than the demand for consumer goods and services does. A small percentage increase in consumer demand can cause large increases in business demand. Sometimes a rise of only 10 percent in consumer demand can cause as much as a 200 percent rise in business demand during the next period. 2. Nature of the Buying Unit:Compared with consumer purchases, a business purchase usually involves more decision participants and a more professional purchasing effort. Often, business buying is done by trained purchasing agents who spend their working lives learning how to make better buying decisions. Buying committees made up of technical experts and top management are common in the buying of major goods. Companies are putting their best and brightest people on procurement patrol. Therefore, business marketers must have well-trained salespeople to deal with well-trained buyers. 3. Types of Decisions and the Decision ProcessBusiness buyers usually face  more complex  buying decisions than do consumer buyers. Purchases often involve large sums of money, complex technical and economic considerations, and interactions among many people at many levels of the buyer's organization. Because the purchases are more complex, business buyers may take longer to make their decisions. The business buying process tends to be  more formalized  than the consumer buying process. Large business purchases usually call for detailed product specifications, written purchase orders, careful supplier searches, and formal approval. The buying firm might even prepare policy manuals that detail the purchase process. Finally, in the business buying process, buyer and seller are often much  more dependent  on each other. Consumer marketers are often at a distance from their customers. In contrast, business marketers may roll up their sleeves and work closely with their customers during all stages of the buying process—from helping customers define problems, to finding solutions, to supporting after-sale operation. They often customize their offerings to individual customer needs. In the short run, sales go to suppliers who meet buyers' immediate product and service needs. C. Business Buyer BehaviorThe model in Figure suggests four questions about business buyer behavior: What buying decisions do business buyers make? Who participates in the buying process? What are the major influences on buyers? How do business buyers make their buying decisions? a. A Model of Business Buyer BehaviorAt the most basic level, marketers want to know how business buyers will respond to various marketing stimuli. Figure shows a model of business buyer behavior. In this model, marketing and other stimuli affect the buying organization and produce certain buyer responses. As with consumer buying, the marketing stimuli for business buying consist of the four Ps: product, price, place, and promotion. Other stimuli include major forces in the environment: economic, technological, political, cultural, and competitive. These stimuli enter the organization and are turned into buyer responses: product or service choice; supplier choice; order quantities; and delivery, service, and payment terms. In order to design good marketing mix strategies, the marketer must understand what happens within the organization to turn stimuli into purchase responses. Within the organization, buying activity consists of two major parts: the buying center, made up of all the people involved in the buying decision, and the buying decision process. The model shows that the buying center and the buying decision process are influenced by internal organizational, interpersonal, and individual factors as well as by external environmental factors. b. Major Types of Buying SituationsThere are three major types of buying situations. At one extreme is the  straight rebuy,  which is a fairly routine decision. At the other extreme is the  new task,  which may call for thorough research. In the middle is themodified rebuy,  which requires some research. In a  straight rebuy  the buyer reorders something without any modifications. It is usually handled on a routine basis by the purchasing department. Based on past buying satisfaction, the buyer simply chooses from the various suppliers on its list. â€Å"In† suppliers try to maintain product and service quality. In a  modified rebuy, the buyer wants to modify product specifications, prices, terms, or suppliers. The modified rebuy usually involves more decision participants than the straight rebuy. The in suppliers may become nervous and feel pressured to put their best foot forward to protect an account. Out suppliers may see the modified rebuy situation as an opportunity to make a better offer and gain new business. A company buying a product or service for the first time faces a  new-task  situation. In such cases, the greater the cost or risk, the larger the number of decision participants and the greater their efforts to collect information will be. The new-task situation is the marketer's greatest opportunity and challenge. The marketer not only tries to reach as many key buying influences as possible but also provides help and information. The buyer makes the fewest decisions in the straight rebuy and the most in the new-task decision. In the new-task situation, the buyer must decide on product specifications, suppliers, price limits, payment terms, order quantities, delivery times, and service terms. The order of these decisions varies with each situation, and different decision participants influence each choice. c. Participants in the Business Buying ProcessThe decision-making unit of a buying organization is called its buying center: all the individuals and units that participate in the business decision-making process. The buying center includes all members of the organization who play any of five roles in the purchase decision process. †¢Ã‚  Users  are members of the organization who will use the product or service. In many cases, users initiate the buying proposal and help define product specifications. †¢Ã‚  Influencers  often help define specifications and also provide information for evaluating alternatives. Technical personnel are particularly important influencers. †¢Ã‚  Buyers  have formal authority to select the supplier and arrange terms of purchase. Buyers may help shape product specifications, but their major role is in selecting vendors and negotiating. In more complex purchases, buyers might include high-level officers participating in the negotiations. †¢Ã‚  Deciders  have formal or informal power to select or approve the final suppliers. In routine buying, the buyers are often the deciders, or at least the approvers. †¢Ã‚  Gatekeepers  control the flow of information to others. For example, purchasing agents often have authority to prevent salespersons from seeing users or deciders. Other gatekeepers include technical personnel and even personal secretaries. The buying center is not a fixed and formally identified unit within the buying organization. It is a set of buying roles assumed by different people for different purchases. Within the organization, the size and makeup of the buying center will vary for different products and for different buying situations. Business marketers working in global markets may face even greater levels of buying center influence. The buying center concept presents a major marketing challenge. The business marketer must learn who participates in the decision, each participant's relative influence, and what evaluation criteria each decision participant uses. The buying center usually includes some obvious participants who are involved formally in the buying decision. d. Major Influences on Business BuyersBusiness buyers are subject to many influences when they make their buying decisions. Some marketers assume that the major influences are economic. They think buyers will favor the supplier who offers the lowest price or the best product or the most service. They concentrate on offering strong economic benefits to buyers. However, business buyers actually respond to both economic and personal factors. Far from being cold, calculating, and impersonal, business buyers are human and social as well. They react to both reason and emotion. Today, most business-to-business marketers recognize that emotion plays an important role in business buying decisions. When suppliers' offers are very similar, business buyers have little basis for strictly rational choice. Because they can meet organizational goals with any supplier, buyers can allow personal factors to play a larger role in their decisions. However, when competing products differ greatly, business buyers are more accountable for their choice and tend to pay more attention to economic factors. Figure lists various groups of influences on business buyers— environmental, organizational, interpersonal, and individual. Major Influences on Business Buyers†¢Ã‚  Environmental FactorsBusiness buyers are influenced heavily by factors in the current and expected  economic environment,  such as the level of primary demand, the economic outlook, and the cost of money. As economic uncertainty rises, business buyers cut back on new investments and attempt to reduce their inventories. An increasingly important environmental factor is shortages in key materials. Many companies now are more willing to buy and hold larger inventories of scarce materials to ensure adequate supply. Business buyers also are affected by technological, political, and competitive developments in the environment. Culture and customs can strongly influence business buyer reactions to the marketer's behavior and strategies, especially in the international marketing environment. The business marketer must watch these factors, determine how they will affect the buyer, and try to turn these challenges into opportunities.   Organizational FactorsEach buying organization has its own objectives, policies, procedures, structure, and systems. The business marketer must know these  organizational factors  as thoroughly as possible. Questions such as these arise: How many people are involved in the buying decision? Who are they? What are their  evaluative criteria? What are the company's polici es and limits on its buyers? Interpersonal FactorsThe buying center usually includes many participants who influence each other. The business marketer often finds it difficult to determine what kinds of  interpersonal factors  and group dynamics enter into the buying process. Participants may have influence in the buying decision because they control rewards and punishments, are well liked, have special expertise, or have a special relationship with other important participants. Interpersonal factors are often very subtle. Whenever possible, business marketers must try to understand these factors and design strategies that take them into account. Individual FactorsEach participant in the business buying decision process brings in personal motives, perceptions, and preferences. These individual factors are affected by personal characteristics such as age, income, education, professional identification, personality, and attitudes toward risk. Also, buyers have different buying styles. Some may be technical types who make in-depth analyses of competitive proposals before choosing a supplier. Other buyers may be intuitive negotiators who are adept at pitting the sellers against one another for the best deal. D. The Business Buying ProcessThere are eight stages of the business buying process. Buyers who face a new-task buying situation usually go through all stages of the buying process. Buyers making modified or straight rebuys may skip some of the stages. We will examine these steps for the typical new-task buying situation. a. Problem RecognitionThe buying process begins when someone in the company recognizes a problem or need that can be met by acquiring a specific product or service. Problem recognition can result from internal or external stimuli. Internally, the company may decide to launch a new product that requires new production equipment and materials. Or a machine may break down and need new parts. Perhaps a purchasing manager is unhappy with a current supplier's product quality, service, or prices. Externally, the buyer may get some new ideas at a trade show, see an ad, or receive a call from a salesperson who offers a better product or a lower price. In fact, in their advertising, business marketers often alert customers to potential problems and then show how their products provide solutions. b. General Need DescriptionHaving recognized a need, the buyer next prepares a general need description that describes the characteristics and quantity of the needed item. For standard items, this process presents few problems. For complex items, however, the buyer may have to work with others—engineers, users, consultants—to define the item. The team may want to rank the importance of reliability, durability, price, and other attributes desired in the item. In this phase, the alert business marketer can help the buyers define their needs and provide information about the value of different product characteristics. c. Product SpecificationThe buying organization next develops the item's technical product specifications, often with the help of a value analysis engineering team. Value analysis is an approach to cost reduction in which components are studied carefully to determine if they can be redesigned, standardized, or made by less costly methods of production. The team decides on the best product characteristics and specifies them accordingly. Sellers, too, can use value analysis as a tool to help secure a new account. By showing buyers a better way to make an object, outside sellers can turn straight rebuy situations into new-task situations that give them a chance to obtain new business. d. Supplier SearchThe buyer now conducts a supplier search to find the best vendors. The buyer can compile a small list of qualified suppliers by reviewing trade directories, doing a computer search, or phoning other companies for recommendations. Today, more and more companies are turning to the Internet to find suppliers. For marketers, this has leveled the playing field—smaller suppliers have the same advantages as larger ones and can be listed in the same online catalogs for a nominal fee: The newer the buying task, and the more complex and costly the item, the greater the amount of time the buyer will spend searching for suppliers. The supplier's task is to get listed in major directories and build a good reputation in the marketplace. Salespeople should watch for companies in the process of searching for suppliers and make certain that their firm is considered. e. Proposal SolicitationIn the proposal solicitation stage of the business buying process, the buyer invites qualified suppliers to submit proposals. In response, some suppliers will send only a catalog or a salesperson. However, when the item is complex or expensive, the buyer will usually require detailed written proposals or formal presentations from each potential supplier. Business marketers must be skilled in researching, writing, and presenting proposals in response to buyer proposal solicitations. Proposals should be marketing documents, not just technical documents. Presentations should inspire confidence and should make the marketer's company stand out from the competition. f. Supplier SelectionThe members of the buying center now review the proposals and select a supplier or suppliers. During supplier selection, the buying center often will draw up a list of the desired supplier attributes and their relative importance. In one survey, purchasing executives listed the following attributes as most important in influencing the relationship between supplier and customer: quality products and services, on-time delivery, ethical corporate behavior, honest communication, and competitive prices. Other important factors include repair and servicing capabilities, technical aid and advice, geographic location, performance history, and reputation. The members of the buying center will rate suppliers against these attributes and identify the best suppliers. As part of the buyer selection process, buying centers must decide how many suppliers to use. In the past, many companies preferred a large supplier base to ensure adequate supplies and to obtain price concessions. These companies would insist on annual negotiations for contract renewal and would often shift the amount of business they gave to each supplier from year to year. Increasingly, however, companies are reducing the number of suppliers. There is even a trend toward single sourcing, using one supplier. With single sourcing there is only one supplier to handle and it is easier to control newsprint inventories. Using one source not only can translate into more consistent product performance, but it also allows press rooms to configure themselves for one particular kind of newsprint rather than changing presses for papers with different attributes. Many companies, however, are still reluctant to use single sourcing. They fear that they may become too dependent on the single supplier or that the single-source supplier may become too comfortable in the relationship and lose its competitive edge. Some marketers have developed programs that address these concerns. g. Order-Routine SpecificationThe buyer now prepares an order-routine specification. It includes the final order with the chosen supplier or suppliers and lists items such as technical specifications, quantity needed, expected time of delivery, return policies, and warranties. In the case of maintenance, repair, and operating items. h. Performance ReviewIn this stage, the buyer reviews supplier performance. The buyer may contact users and ask them to rate their satisfaction. The performance review may lead the buyer to continue, modify, or drop the arrangement. The seller's job is to monitor the same factors used by the buyer to make sure that the seller is giving the expected satisfaction. We have described the stages that typically would occur in a new-task buying situation. The eightstage model provides a simple view of the business buying decision process. The actual process is usually much more complex. In the modified rebuy or straight rebuy situation, some of these stages would be compressed or bypassed. Each organization buys in its own way, and each buying situation has unique requirements. Different buying center participants may be involved at different stages of the process. Although certain buying process steps usually do occur, buyers do not always follow them in the same order, and they may add other steps. Often, buyers will repeat certain stages of the process. E. Institutional and Government MarketsSo far, our discussion of organizational buying has focused largely on the buying behavior of business buyers. Much of this discussion also applies to the buying practices of institutional and government organizations. However, these two nonbusiness markets have additional characteristics and needs. In this final section, we address the special features of institutional and government markets. a. Institutional MarketsThe institutional market consists of schools, hospitals, nursing homes, prisons, and other institutions that provide goods and services to people in their care. Institutions differ from one another in their sponsors and in their objectives. Many institutional markets are characterized by low budgets and captive patrons. For example, hospital patients have little choice but to eat whatever food the hospital supplies. A hospital-purchasing agent has to decide on the quality of food to buy for patients. Because the food is provided as a part of a total service package, the buying objective is not profit. Nor is strict cost minimization the goal—patients receiving poorquality food will complain to others and damage the hospital's reputation. Thus, the hospitalpurchasing agent must search for institutional-food vendors whose quality meets or exceeds a certain minimum standard and whose prices are low. Many marketers set up separate divisions to meet the special characteristics and needs of institutional buyers. . Government MarketsThe government market offers large opportunities for many companies, both big and small. In most countries, government organizations are major buyers of goods and services. Government buying and business buying are similar in many ways. But there are also differences that must be understood by companies that wish to sell products and services to governments. To succe ed in the government market, sellers must locate key decision makers, identify the factors that affect buyer behavior, and understand the buying decision process. Government organizations typically require suppliers to submit bids, and normally they award the contract to the lowest bidder. In some cases, the government unit will make allowance for the supplier's superior quality or reputation for completing contracts on time. Many companies that sell to the government have not been marketing oriented for a number of reasons. Total government spending is determined by elected officials rather than by any marketing effort to develop this market. Government buying has emphasized price, making suppliers invest their effort in technology to bring costs down. When the product's characteristics are specified carefully, product differentiation is not a marketing factor. Nor do advertising or personal selling matter much in winning bids on an open-bid basis. Key TermsBusiness Markets:The  business market  includes firms that buy goods and services in order to produce products and services to sell to others. Straight Re-buythe buyer reorders something without any modifications. Modified Re-buy  the buyer wants to modify product specifications, prices, terms, or suppliers. New Task Buying  A company buying a product or service. Users  are members of the organization who will use the product or service. In many cases, users initiate the buying proposal and help define product specifications. Influencers  Often help define specifications and also provide information for evaluating alternatives. Technical personnel are particularly important influencers. Buyershave formal authority to select the supplier and arrange terms of purchase. Decidershave formal or informal power to select or approve the final suppliers. Gatekeeperscontrol the flow of information to others. |