Effect of social network in today mass communication Research Paper

Effect of social network in today mass communication - Research Paper Example By using social networks as mass communication marketing tools, companies around the world are able to interact with their customers and advertise their products like never before. To understand how social media marketing works as a mass communication marketing tool, the importance of the Internet must be realized. â€Å"With nearly 260 million people using the Web on a regular basis in the United States alone, using the Internet has become a mainstream social activity. Consumers approach purchasing online differently, too, and as a result, you need to approach your marketing online differently as well,† (Singh, 2010). What Singh describes here is important to note. The number of users on the internet is astronomically high, and getting higher each day. As a result, the internet is seen as a perfect place to advertise products and utilize marketing practices, since such an audience is present. Social networks are crucial to this. According to a study conducted in June 2010, ne arly 80% of the United States internet population uses social networks (Heras, 2010). The top 10 social networks used as of March 2010 are Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Linkedin, Classmates, MyLife, Ning, LiveJournal, Tagged, and Last.fm, with Facebook receiving 133,623,529 unique visits daily and Last.fm receiving 3,473,978 unique visits daily (Nations, 2010). With the amount of time and the amount of people on social networks today, it has become not only important, but nearly necessary for companies to reach out to their online audience and extend their marketing plans to include them. Advertising to the online audience of a given company or brand is not the same as traditional advertising. â€Å"†¦advertising has traditionally been viewed as one way communication, delivered from the marketer using ads through some media vehicle to a receiver, the target audience. Thinking of advertising as one-way communication limits what is possible, particularly online,† (Tuten, 200 8). Social networks are all about communication: people getting in touch with long lost friends and family members, keeping in touch with the friends you already have, and in some cases, making new friends. From a business perspective, businesses must find a way to make themselves part of the communication. â€Å"Online, advertising becomes more about conversations, connections, and shared control and less about passive consumption of packaged content,† (Tuten, 2008). Brands join in on the communication by interacting with their customers using these social networks. On Facebook, brands create fan pages, where their brand can be â€Å"liked† by their customers. These fan pages have various ways in which they can engage customers to communicate. Many fans simply comment the fan pages, talking about a favorite product or an experience with the product. From there, the brand is responsible to monitor these comments and respond to them, with at least a simple thank you. Th e more they elaborate on their responses to comments, the more they can engage customers in conversation and develop a relationship between the customer and the brand. This can also be done by creating engaging status updates, where they encourage customers to share with them. This allows the customers to feel like they are contributing to a brand and that their voice is being heard. From there, it is largely in the customer’

Thornton Wilder Essay Example for Free

Thornton Wilder Essay Either we live by accident and die by accident, or we live by plan and die by plan. In Thornton Wilders The Bridge of San Luis Rey, Brother Juniper strives to make this determination. Thornton Wilder may have also tried to ascertain this himself. As one of Americas most respected contemporary authors, Thornton Niven Wilder has received much renown for his works, especially Pulitzer Prize winning The Bridge of San Luis Rey . Why Wilder wrote the novel and why the novel is so famous may be argued through his background and use of specific themes (Books). Thornton Wilders background contribute to his way of writing as well as his outlook on life. In his novel In Life as we Live it, Wilder expresses his strong belief in the preciousness of life: Do humans ever realize life while they live it? (Simoni).When someone asked Thornton Wilder about his purpose in writing The Bridge of San Luis Rey, he replied that he was posing a question: Is there a direction and meaning in lives beyond the individuals own will? (Society). The three principle influences on the writings of Thornton Wilder were his religious background, his love of classicism, and his worldwide travels. Wilders Family and homelife also affected his writing greatly, especially his father (Books). The time period of his life aslo brought influence on Wilders writing. During this time was World War II in which Wilder served and received ideas. The reason for Wilders wide acceptance and large renown in society may be answered through the authors Life influences, the time period in which he grew up, and the style and themes that he uses in his writing. Thornton Niven Wilder was born in Madison , Wisconsin on April 18, 1897, as one of five children, one of which was his twin, of Amos Parker Wilder and Isabella Wilder.Thorntons father was a newspaper editor, diplomat, and a strict Calvinist. His father had a great impact on Wilders writing. In The  Bridge of San Luis Rey, the Wilder said that the idea of the collapse of the bridge stemmed from arguments with his strict father. In 1906 the family moved to Hong Kong, where his father had been appointed American Consul General. After six months his mother returned with the children to the United States, but the family rejoined again in 1911 in Shanghai, where his father had been transferred. Wilder stayed in China for a year (Encyclopedia). Wilders home life was characterized by a strong religious and intellectual atmosphere which allowed him to read expansively. This habit was the main ifluence in his career (Books). In 1915 Wilder enrolled in Oberlin College, where he studied the Greek and Roman classics in translation. Classicism played a major role in the works of Thornton Wilder. Classicism is the imitation or use primarily of the style and aesthetic principles of ancient Greek and Roman classical art and literature. In 1917 the family moved to to New Haven, Connecticut, and Wilder entered Yale University. He bagan to write The Bridge of San Luis Rey on the winding walk from the golf club to graduate college. Although the novel asks the question of why those five died? Wilder states, I have left this question unanswered. As I said earlier, we can only pose the question correctly and clearly, and have faith one will ask the question in the right way. (Society). He began to write it in his rooms on the top floor of the eleventh entry of graduate college and finished it the following year while teaching at Lawrenceville (Books). The time period of all these events also contribute to Wilders way of writing.

Campbells Food Industry Competition

Campbells Food Industry Competition The rivalry among companies in the food processing industry is high and intense. These food processing companies are competing on price, quality, taste, health factors, product innovation, and product benefits (The Food Processing Industry 2006). Campbells major rivals are General Millis Progresso, Heinz and Kraft Foods. As a multinational food processing company, Campbells faces an extremely competitive market in internationally, nationally and locally due to the similarities between each soup producer and wider selection of products provided by other food processing company. (Ellison, Sarah 2003) On the other hand, various types of generic soup brands in the existing market which offer products in lower price have raised the competitive pressure. However, the Campbells high quality of soup products and the ability to keep low production costs weaken the rivalry of the generic soup brands. For instance, Campbells price their soup products only 20 to 25% higher than generic brands while maintaining a level high quality. Campbells would have to continue developing superior healthy food to distinguish itself from Progresso and smaller soup maker companies. 3.1.2 Threat of New Entrants The threat of entry depends on the presence of entry barriers and the presence of new entrants to a food processing industry typically bring to it new capacity and the want to gain market share. (Wheelen Hunger J.D 2007) Campbells major rival- Kraft foods and General Mills, create high entry barriers in food processing industry through their high levels of advertising and promotion. Besides, the intense competition in the food processing industry makes it hard to access in the market. Smaller food processing companies often have difficulty obtaining supermarket shelf space for their products as large retailers charge for space on their shelves and give priority to the established companies who can pay for the advertising needed to generate high customer demand. According to Ghemawat Collis (2001), the economy is a major factor as if the company wants to be a part in this food processing industry it must be able to face high costs for strong competition. Moreover, the slow market growth rate for the food processing industry causes acquisition between companies, resulted the barriers to entry are high with so many food processing companies and little to zero capacity remaining for any more companies. 3.1.3-The Threat of Substitutes Products The rivalry from firms of other industries which offer substitute products is intense as they are producing, supplying and serving the same food products that the food processing companies are. For example, Dunkin Donuts is in the foodservice industry and Campbell Soup Company is in the food processing industry, yet Dunkin Donuts serves soup and Campbell Soup sells soup. Consumers can still go to Dunkin Donuts and acquire the similar soups that Campbell sells. (Wall Street Journal 2003) 3.1.4- Bargaining power of buyers Consumers affect the food processing industry through their ability to force down prices, bargain for higher products quality and services, and play competitors against each other. The bargaining power of buyers is high as there are huge tendency of new entrance with new and variety of products. Besides, consumers prefer choosing products which offer lower prices. For example, Campbells soup products price is relatively 20 to 25% higher than generic brands in grocery stores, hence some consumers would choose generic brand products in the market rather than Campbells. Besides, the profitability obtained by the company is also determined by consumers. Food processing companies would be forced to lower prices if consumers think that the prices are too expensive as consumers tend to stop buying their products or switch to supplements. 3.1.5- Bargaining power of suppliers Suppliers can affect the food processing industry through their ability to raise prices or reduce the quality of purchased goods and services. In case quality products the suppliers face an important factor. Due to the inflation the overall price of materials has been significantly increased. Campbell has always purchased high quality ingredients produced from local farmers. In 2006, Campbell launched Campbells Supplier Diversity Program to grow its diverse supplier base and to ensure that the supplier base better reflects the markets served. In 2007 the Campbells goal to spend with diverse suppliers was $121 million, but the actual spend with diverse suppliers was $129 million. (Campbells CSR 2008) So for Campbells, there is a 3.2.0- Swot Analysis A swot analysis allows the Campbell Soup Company to determine the extent of the strategic fit between its capabilities and the needs of its external environment. According to Henry(2008), the company can seek to match its strengths and weaknesses to the opportunities and treats it faces in current competitive food processing industry. The Campbells products portfolio includes soups, sauces, biscuits and chocolates and has a strong research function with high capabilities in new products development. 3.2.1-Internal Analysis-Strengths Innovative Campbell has always applied the spirit of innovation in every aspect of its business. At Campbells manufacturing plants in Napoleon, Ohio, and Paris, Texas, an innovative method called overland flow is used to treat wastewater. In terms of products introduction, the company has been consistently quick to come up with new products in the market. For example, the first portable soup product, Soup at Hand, the new microwaveable products such as Chunky and Select. Besides, Campbell frequent updates the products appearance with more contemporary design and new photography. Its popular gravity fed shelving system have been installed at 24,000 retailers nationally and credited for rejuvenating the soup aisle, expanding the category and vastly improving the shopping experience. Campbell is innovative to gauge consumer satisfaction and expectation. (Campbells Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2008) 3.2.2-Weaknesses Declining Market Share The Campbells market share in soup drop from 60% in 2007 to 49% as of October 2009. This is due to more and more private labels continue to enter the market by providing quality products in lower price. Some consumers have switched to try private labels and resulted private labels have gained 11%of the market share. On the other hand, Campbell has also faced stiff competition from brands such as General Mills Progresso and Nestle. (Campbell Soup Co Form 10-Q Quartery Report 2010) 3.2.3-External Analysis-Opportunities Demand for Wellness Products In recent years, the trend towards being more health-conscious has arisen from two main consumer groups. The younger generations currently focus more on low calorie content and on the go meals. For the more mature age group, their diets require health-consciousness in terms of limiting their sodium intake due to increased risk of ailments. Campbells Soups core product categories, notably soup and bakery products, are widely perceived as healthy and are compatible with the further development of health-oriented products, such as the existing and expanding line of Select Harvest and Healthy Request soups. In conjunction with the product improvement, Campbell has announced to expand its industry-leading sodium reduction program and to reduce the sodium content in 23 of its condensed soups by up to 45 percent in fiscal 2011.(Campbell Growth Plans for U.S 2010) 3.2.4-Threats Intense Competition Campbells main profitable core soup category has been facing intense competition and also been losing market share to its strong competitors, particularly General Mills Progresso and private label brands produced by companies such as Wal-Mart. Moreover, Campbells other segments have not produced consistent profits. According to Wolpert (2002), shifting consumer habits and preferences indicate the need to constantly innovate their products and minimize costs, in order to retain loyal consumers and keep up with the fast-changing consumer environment Extensive Laws The company is governed by a multitude of local and international laws and regulations with regards to food safety and environmental standards. For instance, in accordance with the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, Campbells food products must be inspected before they can be marketed. The company faces the risk of fines, injunctions, recalls or asset seizures, and criminal sanctions if it violates these laws and regulations. ( Campbells CSR 2008) 3.3.0- Benchmarking Campbell understands the importance of using benchmarking to evaluate performance. Hence, the company analyzed few top companies which mainly involved in food and beverage processing manufacturing company in a few aspects such as sustainability, supply chain, consumers, community and workplace. Moreover, Campbell have also highlighted the primary ways that companies are implementing their goals as well as select initiatives and key past achievements. In terms of community, Campbells have chosen to focus on nutritional and environmental programs by partnering with nonprofit organizations, universities and Think Tanks to conduct RD for new products. Besides, it also partnered with environmental experts to develop innovative solutions to protect the environment. For instance, Nestle has been launching malnutrition and obesity programs targeting children and adolescents of lower-income families while General Mills has been contributing 5% of pretax profits to charitable causes. The Campbells benchmarked the best practices by promoting nutritional and hunger elimination programs. Besides, Campbells also promote micronutrient products to attend lower income families and develop environmental initiatives. (Campbells Annual Report 2009) In terms of workplace related programs, Nestle, Coca Cola, Pepsi.co, General Mills, have done excellent job. For instance, Pepsi CO has been providing job opportunities for people with disabilities while General Mills, the company has reduced lost-time injury rate by 25% over five years. Hence, Campbell benchmarked and developed workplace programs by focusing four key areas: Ensuring diversity of the workforce thereby bringing a broad range of talents and perspectives to the business Helping employees achieve both personal and professional development Ensuring the health and safety of employees both at home and at work Ensuring that employees have a fair work environment Campbells strived for an injury-free workplace through a strong health and safety program supported by high employee engagement. They train their employees to conduct their activities in a safe and environmentally responsible manner. (Campbells CSR 2008) 4.0 Strategy Formulation For Campbells to achieve sustainable competitive advantage in food processing industry, strategy formulation which derived from the objective and mission is undertaken. Porter (1980) argues that competitive strategy is about developing a defendable position in an industry which enables a firm to deal with the five competitive forces and thus generate a superior return on investment for the film. 4.1 Business Level Strategy-Differentiation To achieve superior value that is recognized by the consumer, Campbells needs to provide unique and superior value to the customers in terms of its products quality and value added up services. It is appropriate to relate differentiation strategy to the Campbells Soup Company as the companys goal is very straight forward, which is Together we will build the worlds most extraordinary food company by nourishing peoples lives everywhere, every day. Campbell has always focused on providing superior, healthy and nutrition food by expanding their icon brands in simple meals (especially soup). The Campbells latest plans are to enhance more than 60 percent of its condensed line with product improvements, further sodium reduction, more contemporary packaging, improved shelving systems and new marketing aimed at the simple meals category. ( Campbell Growth Plan 2010) Nowadays there are increasing numbers of consumers who are very concerned with nutritional values of foods they eat. The Campbells Soup Company which is having superior research abilities has been taking advantage of this avenue and further develops this product line. According to Douglas R. Conant, Campbells President and CEO, Campbell is going to fire up the important condensed soup business and step up the competitive posture of their ready-to-serve products. (Campbells 2009 annual report) The improvements and innovations of Campbells has made over the past several years has made Campbell outwit most of its rivals in the condensed soup category. Low-sodium products are pivotal to Campbells long term success as the majority of Campbells consumer base isbaby boomers. The majority of baby boomers diets are comprised of low sodium. A recent study shown that high cholesterol, attributed to high levels of sodium intake, is the number one diagnosed health condition for the baby boomer generation.The condensed soups have one of the highest sodium contents of all processed foods in existing market. Therefore Campbells low-sodium products have differentiated themselves with many rivals. Besides sodium, Campbells also has to focus on other aspects such as MSG and low calories of its soups by hoping that these healthier offerings will help gain market share among younger, more health conscious consumers. (Campbell CSR Report 2008) Besides, Campbell understands that creating a quality product begins with quality ingredients. Campbell purchases most of the ingredients from domestic farmers in countries where they manufacture products and also obtain certain ingredients from carefully selected suppliers around the world. Any ingredient that does not meet the quality requirements will not be used in a Campbell product to ensure superior product quality. On the other hand, providing value-added services help Campbells to outwit its existing rivals. Campbell continually experiments with new programs to provide consumers with useful information on meal ideas, health and wellness, and other tips. For example, each day their Campbell Meal-mail program delivers nearly 500,000 recipes electronically to busy Americans who are hungry for convenient, great-tasting meal ideas that will please their families. Consumers can access the Campbells Kitchen website at any time to download recipe ideas that have been tested and approved by Campbells nutritionists. Consumers also have the opportunity to share their ideas and comments on recipes with one another on the Campbells Kitchen website. ( Campbellsoupcompany.com) It is suggested that the Campbell Soup Company to improve the flavour of its soup products to attract more demand. Besides, Campbell can try to create more contemporary design for its existing soup products instead of the familiar red and white colour design in order to stand out from various types of products in the market. 4.2 Corporate Level Strategy-Diversification The corporate level strategy of The Campbell Soup Company deals with three key issues: i) The firms overall orientation toward growth, stability, and retrenchment. ii) The market in which the company competes through its products and business units iii) The manner in which management coordinate activities and transfer resources and cultivates capabilities among product lines and business units The Campbells operates with four products divisions and has expanded its product to microwavable soups to make customers more convenient for preparing soup without container. (Campbells annual report 2009) Obviously, the Campbell Soup Company, which is a decentralized company, has been using a related diversification multiproduct strategy. Its strategy is to diversify its business to produce several products, and expanding its market share. Campbell used its engineering support and diversified production to support customers with convenient, good taste and quality food. To support its operating system, department such as Research Development (RD), product development, engineering systems, are required to produce high quality and stable operating system to avoid the unexpected shut down. Campbell has tried to use unrelated diversification strategy under the leadership of McGovern as Campbells CEO with the aim of rapidly expand product line to increase profits and revenue. Campbell has tried to acquire other firms to quickly gain access to new products and new markets. Instead of acquiring only food products, Campbell began to use the unrelated diversification strategy to acquire firms that it felt were positioned to capitalize on the consumers trend and also bought firms involved in all types of business. For example, the triangle Manufacturing Company, a fitness products maker, which is clearly unrelated to the firms core products. (Ireland, Hoskisson Michael 2006) A major reason for Campbells failure to generate financial economies while using the unrelated diversification strategy is that the firms approach to managing its core products divisions never changed. At the same time, corporate headquarters personnel didnt implement the strong financial controls necessary to efficiently manage an internal capital market. David Johnson who replaced McGovern decided that Campbell should not longer use the diversification strategy but to reduce the level of diversification by using related constrained strategy to create value through operational relatedness. Campbells related constrained diversification strategy involves transferring core competencies which lead to competitive advantage and start with value chain analysis to identify ability to transfer skills or expertise among similar value chains and on the hand, to exploit ability to transfer activities. Campbell should enhance more than 60 percent of its condensed line and be more committed to a ccelerate the performance of their existing portfolio, most notably in U.S. soup, and continuing to lay the foundation for superior long-term growth. (Campbell Growth Plan 2010) 4.2.1 External Acquisitions and Partnerships Through value-creating external development, Campbells is able to increase its market presence throughout its product lines. For instance, Campbells Baking and Snacking segment is positioned to grow due to the companys recent acquisition of Ecce Panis, a manufacturer of artisan breads. This acquisition allows Campbells to enter into the thriving artisan bread market. With the ever growing foreign population in America, it is suggested that Campbells should consider products that have more of the ethnic background of these immigrants. The brand could quite possibly extend the depth of the line with consideration to the vast number of different tastes in the society today. 5.0- Strategy Implementation A clear mission statement helps in providing focus to an organization and is essential for effectively establishing objective and formulating strategies. (Haberberg and Rieple 2001) In order for the Campbell to proceed into a future where competition is highly competitive, they need to define who and what they truly are, their concerns, their philosophies, and what gives them the competitive advantage over their competitors. This must be clear throughout all areas and divisions, at all levels in the company, in order for the implementation of the mission statement to be successful. The Campbells strategy implementation includes designing the organizations structure, allocating resources, developing information and decision process, and managing human resources, including such areas as the reward system, approaches to leadership, and staffing. According to Wheelen and Hunger (2007), the strategy implementation process includes the various management activities that are necessary to put strategy in motion, institute strategic controls that monitor progress, and ultimately achieve organizational goals. 5.1- Management Issue Restructuring In food processing industry one year is relatively indiscernible from the next from a macroeconomic point of view. Campbells corporate strategy and the companys management structure have undergone several restructuring since 1980. On April 28, 2008, the company announced a series of initiatives to improve operational efficiency and long-term profitability, including selling certain salty snack food brands and assets in Australia, closing certain production facilities in Australia and Canada, and streamlining the companys management structure. As a result of these initiatives, in 2008, the company recorded a restructuring charge of $175 millions. The charge consisted of a net loss on the sale of certain Australian salty snack food brands and assets, employee severance and benefit costs, including the estimated impact of curtailment and other pension charges, and property, plant and equipment impairment charges. The cost of restructuring activity is shown at Appendix 2 Workforce Diversification The Campbell strive to uphold their promise of Campbell Valuing People, People Valuing Campbell by providing employees with the resources required to do their jobs well; competitive compensation and benefits; the opportunity to learn; and grow through their work. At present, the Campbells Board of Directors consists of 14 independent members and one company executive, the CEO, Doug Conant. Board operations are managed by an independent, non-executive Chairman. The Board believes that diversity in the backgrounds and perspectives of their directors contributes to sound corporate governance. Currently, three of their directors are women, one director is from India and one director is African-American. The Campbells Board of Directors is shown at Appendix 3. The CEO believes that workforce diversity is essential to be a mainstay within the company overall strategic objectives. Hence, Campbells is committed to attract a diverse group of talented employees and providing all their associates with development opportunities and a culture in which they can flourish and provide their employees with career development and quality-of life enhancements that make Campbell a special place to work. The directors receive annual fees equal to the median directors compensation paid by peer food and consumer products companies. Approximately 50 percent of each directors fee is paid in cash and 50 percent is paid in common stock. Director stock ownership requirements have existed at Campbell since 1993. Currently, the directors beneficially own more than 44 percent of the companys common stock. (Carlin, M Harris R 2008) Though the Campbells has successfully implemented workforce diversification strategy, it is recommended that the company offers stock options to their rank-and-file employees too. By offering employee stock options, workers are given the chance to buy shares in their company at a specified price. The grant or strike price, should be pegged to the value of the stock when it is offered to employees. Employees have the option of buying the stock at a set price then selling it after a period of time. Employee Engagement The Campbell believes that employees will feel most valued when they are fully informed, understand the companys business goals and plans and are invited to offer their feedback on a regular basis. In 2007 and 2008, Campbell was recognized by Gallup as one of the Best Places to Work in America. The company believes that its work environment has contributed to their relatively stable retention rate and their improved marketplace performance. (www.euroinvestor.co.uk) Campbell conducts annual employee survey to develop work group action plans, empower individual employees to improve the workplace and to strengthen the companys business practices. 5.2 Marketing Issues The Campbells understands that successful marketing implementation is affected by marketing variables. 5.2.1 Market Segment The companys 2009 financial reports segment their business into four key categories: US Soup, Sauces and Beverages, Baking and Snacking, International Soup, Sauces and Beverages, and North American Foodservice. With sales approximating $3.8 million, US Soup, Sauces and Beverages accounted for approximately half of the sales in FY 2009 and drove the bulk of profits for the company. Core brands like Campbells, V8, Swanson and Prego delivered a combined 4% growth through a combination of innovation, consumer trade downs, and improved distribution channels.( Appendix 2) 5.2.2 Marketing Strategies Product The Campbells positioning is providing healthy and nourishing products within the product line. * The product line width come in many different options. This being said, the depth of the product line is in fact the largest. Each product comes in a multitude of different sizes and flavours. The brand offers adequate products for the consumers. * In addition to the size and flavours, the packaging is well organized for that of single or multiple item purchasing. * The packaging also achieves an accurate perception in the consumers mind. They use well known athletes to convey the message of health to the consumer. Price * The pricing of the products within the brand name are consistent with that of the positioning. They provide the perception that to eat healthy the consumer should not have to pay more. * The Campbells brand is typically priced at twenty cents above that of their major competitors. This is the act of swaying the consumers mind to the perception that Campbells is of a higher quality than the competitors. * While operating in an elastic market, Campbells employs special event promotional pricing strategies in order to remain competitive. * The company also offers discounted pricing on certain seasonal items and during holidays. In addition to these promotional strategies, they employ the odd even strategies to convey the message that their brand is that of higher quality. Distribution * Campbells brand is distributed intensively throughout all geographic locations within the United States and many foreign countries. * In the distribution process, Campbells deals with wholesalers and retailers thus creating the supply channel. This is a very profitable concept as long as the lines of communication remain opened. Catalog marketing is also another form of distribution that is employed. This is easily achieved due the fact that the shelf life of the products is long. * The products are very easily purchased at any marketplace at any given region of the US. Promotion * In using the most recent athletic figures in their advertisements, they are successful in maintaining their position of health. * In the use of the retailers to help marketing, they are employing the cooperative advertising technique. This helps to advertise their products from numerous different angles. The effectiveness of themarketingstrategiesemployed by Campbells has made them recognized as the premium brand within their product lines. In comparison to the competition, Campbells focuses a great deal on interacting with the public with such efforts as sweepstakes and giveaways and also education. Their public relation efforts have ranked them as one of the most society conscious brands in the business. 6.0 Conclusion A strategic analysis is most applicable to strategic management at the business unit level of large multinational firm such as Campbell Soup Company. At the strategic analysis stage, internal and external environmental scanning by using Porters 5 forces model and Swot analysis are conducted. Besides, benchmarking is used to evaluate performances. Strategy formulation which derived from the Campbells objective and mission is undertaken to outline the business level and corporate level strategies. Strategy at business level deals with which market the company chooses to compete while strategy at the corporate level is more concerned with managing the portfolio of business. The final strategy implementation stage includes the management issues, staffing and marketing variables which can influence the profit margin of the company. List of References 1. Campbell Soup Company, About Us, online, retrieved 2 March 2010, http://www.campbellsoupcompany.com/about_us.asp 2. Henry, A 2008, Understanding Strategic Management, Oxford University Press, New York United States 3. Porter, M. E. (1996) What is Strategy,Harvard Business Review, 74 (6):61-78 4. Food Processing Industry,2006, retrieved 6 March 2010, http://www.miti.gov.my/cms/documentstorage/com.tms.cms.document.Document_7674150a-c0a81573-2d952d95-c9439446/Chap%2019.pdf 5. Wheelen T.L, Hunger J.D, Concepts in Strategic Management and Business Policy, 2007, tenth edition, Pearson Prentice Hall, United States of America 6. Ghemawat, P., Collis, D., Pisano, G. and Rivkin, J. (2001) Strategy and the Business Landscape: Core Concepts, Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education. 7. Campbells Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2008, retrieved 6 March 2010, http://www.campbellsoupcompany.com/csr/documents/Campbells_CSR08.pdf 8.Campbell Outlines Growth Plans for U.S. Condensed Soup Business, retrieved 5 March 2010 http://investor.shareholder.com/campbell/ReleaseDetail.cfm?releaseid=445289 9. Carlin, M Harris R 2008, Mm! Mm! Good! for the Long-Term, The Story of Campbell Soup Companys Long-Term Compensation Strategy, New Jersey 10. Haberberg, A. and Rieple, A. (2001) The Strategic Management of Organizations, Essex: Pearson Education Limited. 11. Wolpert, J. (2002) Breaking out of the innovation box, Harvard Business Review, pp.77-83. 12. R. Duanne Ireland, Robert E.Hoskisson, Michael A.Hitt, Understanding business strategy : Concept and Cases, 2006, Published by Thomson Learning, pg150(corporate level strategy) 13. Campbell Soup Company Annual Report 2009, United States of America 14. Campbell Soup Co Form 10-Q Quartery Report, 2010, New Jersey 15. Campbell Soup Company Receives the Gallup Great Workplace Award 2010, retrieved 8 March 2010, http://www.euroinvestor.co.uk/news/story.aspx?id=10937984 16. Porter, M. E. (1980) How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy,Harvard Business Review, 57 (2):137-145. 17. Campbell lowers outlook, plans soup changes, retrieved 5 March 2010, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35445380/ns/business-consumer_news/Will cut sodium and change the design and packaging of some brands 18. Ellison, Sarah, Campbel

Antitheatricalism and Jonsons Volpone Essay -- Jonson Volpone Essays

Antitheatricalism and Jonson's Volpone Crossdressing in England was mostly opposed by the Fundamentalist branch of the Protestant Church known as the Puritans. The Puritan dogma, much like the concept of transvestism, was constantly challenged. Puritans found resistance in the religious authorities of the Church of England and the English government. Before 1536, the Roman Catholic Church was unimpeded and always won over Puritan proposals regarding legislation. Without a cooperative political ear, the Puritans resorted to experimental spiritual expression by changing their social behavior and structuring. Due to these changes, a formidable way of attacking the theater's use of crossdressing was developed- public preaching and pamphlets. Other individuals and groups (like the Juvenalians) supported the moral and social reform movement by speaking and writing essays and books on the subject. Due to the nature the actor's role in Ben Jonson's Volpone, the play was also implicated in this moral battle. The ideology behind the Puritan protest was based on biblical sentiment and the patristic literary tradition of Roman writers like Tertullian and St. Augustine. The Puritan's religious banner for combatting gender transgression was Deuteronomy 22:5- 'The woman shall not wear that which pertains to a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment' (Tiffany 58). In general, pagan myths were also associated with crossdressing. Puritans like William Pryne labeled these actors as "beastly male monsters" that "degenerate into women" (Tiffany 59). Further, the Puritans feared that men dressing as women caused the men in the audience to lust for real females and to form homoerotic desires for the male actors (the re... ...goal of the Antitheatrical movement in the Renaissance, was both supported and denounced by Jonson in various ways. However, the general perception is that Jonson (unlike Shakespeare) fueled the fires of degradation- implicating women with the weakness, lack of intelligence, and reason they were believed to exude. In the annals of theatrical history, Jonson's metadrama could be said to perpetuate this social stereotype. Nevertheless, Jonson's crossing of the gender line and sexual scenes like Volpone's "flashing" of Celia were enough to have religious, moral, and social commentators screaming blood murder. Two issues demand prominence in the play. While outwardly a play driven by blatant genderless controversy, the inward thematic, character-driven nature of Volpone suggests a conformity and adherence to the intellectual and theological moralism of the time.

Mgt 311 Learning Team Reflection Week 4

Organizational Development Team D Learning Team Reflection December 3, 2012 This week we learned about the influence of how organizational structure is on behavior. Also we learned how to analyze and influence an organizational culture on behavior. Then there is how power and politics influence people’s behavior. We talked about mechanistic structure and organic structure. When talking about mechanistic structure, the employees know how to present themselves, why there is no room for them to mess up. (Robbins & Judge, 2011).When people are at work they have to act one way compared to the way they act at home. If the business does not put into place a strong organizational culture, then there could be a lot of unethical behavior in the place of business. This would show the people that work at the place of business and the customers that there is a low organizational structure. All work places of some kind of influence of power and politics. Without the right kind of power and politics in the place of business this could cause discord for people that work in the business.If this kind of behavior is not watched it could cause other people in the business to feel left out or not appreciated in the right way. In week four we took a look at power and leadership, here we contrasted the two. Power is the influence someone has over another person and leadership uses power to attain goals. It is important that one does not have to be a leader to have power. Many people have the power to coerce others without having the leadership role. We could relate to formal power and compare it to the workplace. We use the different formal powers; coercive, reward, and legitimate powers every day.When our employees fail to comply with company goals they can get written up which could result in termination. We also use rewards for employees who exceed goals. Exhibit 13-2 in chapter 13 was very humorous; it gave political labels and compared it to effective management. For exam ple, the political label ‘passing the buck' is known as ‘delegating authority' for effective management. The things we learned that made us think more was about virtual organizations. Some of us did not know what the full term meant and now we can say that the company one of us works for is one of the utsourcing companies from a virtual organization. Some of the leading companies have the profit that they do because of the flexibility and low overhead. Organizational behavior is here for the people to have a better understanding of the people they work with. The more that we know our surroundings and the people that work in the place we are able to know how to influence the individual or group. This will help each person to feel a part of the team and in return the business will run better because the people working there will not mind doing the work.

Did the Republican Party from 1877 to 1896 abandon its earlier principles and succumb to expediency? Essay

The Gilded Age was a big change for both Democrat and Republican parties. Both sides started changing tactics to stay in power, but one was more prominent. The Republican Party in the Gilded Age did drop abandon their earlier principles because of the Compromise of 1877 and getting votes. The Compromise of 1877 was the time that the Republican Party really abandoned their principles. This compromise allowed the Republicans to take the presidential office by withdrawing federal troops from the South. Due to this deal, the Democrats reclaimed power in the South, while the Republicans remained in power in both the Senate and the White House. In doing so, they did sacrifice their goals of complete southern Reconstruction in order to win the election. Former slaves lost all federal protection and conditions in the South were returned to a state only marginally better than slavery. However, before ending reform efforts, the Republicans did manage to improve social and economic conditions for African Americans living in the South. These efforts, although not completely establishing reform, did lay down the foundation to future change. This first step ensured that the Republicans, while stopping major projects, continued their previous intentions in a small way. Another reason Republicans succumbed to was their need to win. In the Gilded Age, politicians stopped talking about major important issues of the day and instead focused on getting the vote by appealing to the masses without making any enemies. Fresh from the Civil War, the Republicans won election into the White House the majority of elections in this time period by dropping to a level of personal attacks against the South and the people within it (waving the â€Å"bloody shirt†). On top of these campaign and party tactics, the Republican Party was split significantly prior to the election of Garfield between â€Å"Halfbreeds† and â€Å"Stalwarts.† The conflicts between these two factions and the greedy desire for government spoil positions not only led to political strife, but also led to the assassination of President Garfield shortly after his election. So all in all, the Republican Party did abandon their policies in order to stay in power. They stopped trying to address the issues and instead just appealed for votes. They also dropped to personal attacks just to win. The Republican Party in the Gilded Age did drop abandon their earlier principles because of the Compromise of 1877 and getting votes.