ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Introduction A marketing plan refers to a blue print that is developed and implemented by organizations for execution of their marketing strategies. It is a well-coordinated plan for orchestrating organization’s marketing functions (Applegate, & Johnson, 2007). The organization aims at developing a marketing plan that is well-aligned with the organization goals and objectives. The retail chain of stores operates in Indianapolis with outlets, such as the Carmel, the Greenwood Park and the Circle Centre Malls. The company has been in business for the last 5 years. Due to the significant growth of its sales in the past two years, it has managed to become one of the leading retail stores in Indianapolis. Indianapolis has a high level of population, and it is located in North America. The company under the study stocks specialty toys, gifts, and clothing among other products for customers in the region. Currently, the price of the products ranges from $ 20 to $500. In line with the organization’s goal of achieving growth, the company aims at extending its market coverage to five other cities by establishing 2 or 3 stores in all those places during the period of the next 2 years. After that, the organization plans to focus on its further expansion to cover a larger market in Indianapolis. This paper aims at presenting a marketing plan for the company’s development. Market Analyses Overall Marketing Strategy The overall marketing strategy will be based on the organization’s goals and vision which will also be aligned with the organization’s corporate strategies. In this case, the organization presents varying types of goods with different price levels ranging from $20 to $ 500. This implies that organization’s marketing strategy will be aimed at enhancing sales as well as market share of the company due to a wide price spread. The organization’s strategy will thus be tailored in such a way so as to offer the needed services to the mass market. Discount pricing strategy will guide the generic strategy adopted by the organization in its overall marketing strategy. This will enhance the ability of the organization to extend its operations to diverse markets in Indianapolis. Situational/Environmental Analyses There are a number of factors that determine the cities in which organization should initiate its operations. One of these factors includes the level of population in the city. Higher level of the population in such cities means a wider market for the company to sell its services and goods as well as higher level of revenue. The organization will equally prefer to operate in cities that are politically stable. It is worth noting that different cities or countries have a different level of social
Today, more than ever before, the business environment is characterized by a multiplicity of market structures that reflects how business is conducted in these markets. One of them is the oligopoly, a form of market structure where there is outright domination of a small number of sellers or suppliers, often called oligopolists (EconomyWatch, 2010). Organizations in an oligopolistic market set their business strategies by critically evaluating how their close rivals will react rather than how customers will react, and are therefore largely seen as anti-customer and anti-competitive. The few firms operating in a given market segment may increasingly differentiate their products, which may prove beneficial to some customers, but always come at a price (OECD, 1999).This is usually the case with firms operating in Australia telecommunication sector. It is the purpose of this paper to critically evaluate how such an arrangement affects consumers and the community as a whole. Although competition laws forbid collusion between firms to increase prices, restrict product or service output, or divide markets, the oligopolistic nature of firms operating in Australia telecommunications market ensures that competitors set their prices through imitating their rivals, thereby harming the welfare of consumers (OECD, 1999). The Australian Communications Authority (ACA), charged with the responsibility of regulating cellular, landline, internet, and cable telecommunication providers, is required by law to request these companies to publish projected nonbinding price targets as a precondition to allow healthy competition (Cutler, n.d.). The telecoms providers, however, will go to great lengths to facilitate price collusion not only in Australia, but in other countries as well. In all this, the customers are at the receiving end since they don’t get value for their money as firms behave in the same manner. There exist various models and graphical representations which firms in an oligopolistic market structure employ to come up with their prices. The Bertrand Model, for instance, operates under several assumptions to project prices (Harris, 2001). The model assumes that if there are two organizations in the market producing similar products, they are likely to produce the products at a marginal cost (MC). As such, if the organizations select price
Herodotus “The histories” Herodotus’ The Histories is a pivotal work in the genre of historical writing as well as in Western literature in general. It is one of the earliest books known today dedicated to exploring the history and describing not only lifestyles and traditions of the society in which the author or his ancestors (Ancient Greece) lived but also lifestyles and traditions of different peoples and cultures that the author learned about in his travels. Thus, Herodotus defined a historian not necessarily as someone who collects records about past battles or other significant events but rather one who travels and tells stories about the way people live, worship, and dress, the rituals they practice, and other aspects of their cultures. This vision of history later became largely influential. This review will address each of the book’s nine parts separately. One aspect that might surprise the reader exploring The Histories is that the author dedicates remarkable attention to describing mythological stories. It is important to understand that, for the Greeks, myths were not only a part of their religion in the modern sense but also part of their historical heritage; in other words, their mythology was in some respects their history. In Book One, Herodotus describes the abduction of Helen, wife of the king of Sparta, by Paris, a Trojan prince, causing the Trojan War. Herodotus interprets this well-known story in a more historical vein, eliminating elements of supernatural intervention and making his interpretation closer to history than mythology. Many other myths are told in Book One, along with accounts from the Persian Empire where Herodotus had traveled. Book Two begins with the conquest of Egypt and a description of an experiment that exemplifies Herodotus’ writing: storytelling instead of merely recording dates and events. The new Egyptian king, Psammetichus, decided to find out what language was the most ancient, and the experiment he conducted involved isolating two newly born children from any language by prohibiting their caretakers from pronouncing any words in their presence as they were growing up. The king wanted to see what language the children would eventually speak. At some point, the children started pronouncing the word “becomes,” which turned out to be the Phrygian word for bread. Based on this, the king declared that the Phrygians were the most ancient race. In further accounts of Egypt, Herodotus acts not only as a historian but also as a geographer and biologist: He describes the land of Egypt as well as the animals living there that are unknown to the Greeks, both real (such as crocodiles and hippopotami) and fictional (such as phoenixes). Book Three is mostly dedicated to the Persian conquest and rule of Egypt. However, this part of The Histories is also dedicated to peoples of whom the ancient Greeks knew very little, such as the Indians. Herodotus stresses that there are different tribes of Indians having dramatically different lifestyles and traditions. Some are cruel, such as the so-called Padaians who kill any member of their tribe who falls ill, feasting
Introduction: Statement of the Criterion Variabledelves This research paper continues towards the goal of examining the standard of living across the 129 or 132 countries for which relevant measures have been assembled in the ACLP database. As in most matters of political economy, standard of living is a valid yardstick for the benefits the population derives from both economic development and good governance. In the previous paper, we had commenced with an analysis of some correlates of per-capita income as a measure of the comparative wealth of the individuals who are the nation’s governed. But merely dividing gross domestic product (GDP) for any given period over population size – while rather standardized and hence, a useful measure for international comparisons – can mask poor governance and serious inequities. The most glaring, of course, is that per-capita GDP conceals the fact that rising economic activity may be concentrated in the hands of dictators, self-declared messiahs, mullahs who have not the wit to run government bureaucracies, dialectic theorists and their cronies. And such public services as exist do not satisfy the ever-rising aspirations of a people for a better standard of living and quality of life, even those at the most basic level: food sufficiency, sanitation, primary health care, education, jobs, and a stable currency. A country’s rising “wealth” may have precious little trickle-down effects, especially in the face of civic disorder, unstable governments, or long-running ones that care little about the long-term good of the people. This is one reason why the United Nations and other multi-lateral agencies go beyond GDP to urge governance according to more widely benevolent goals such as those in the Human Development Index. The HDI extends to such indicators as child life expectancy, climate change, births attended by skilled health personnel, contraceptive usage, gender issues, etc. (source: United Nations Development Programme). In turn, any halfway benevolent government with the slightest egalitarian sense realizes sooner or later that income distribution (also known in more familiar terms as the “rich-poor gap”) is a critical goal if one is to subdue urban unrest, insurgency in the countryside, and be seen to promote the common welfare. The theory this current research paper propounds is that more equitable income distribution is an end-result of income growth due to economic development, a tradition of benevolent governance, the absence of civic strife owing to intractable religious or ethnic conflict, a regime that manages to maintain law and order, some basic form of participatory democracy, and an economy making the transition from purely agriculture and extraction to a greater contribution from the industrial and service sectors. Operationalizing the Concepts and Variables In the ACLP database, the criterion variable for the inequality of income distribution is the Gini ratio. In formal terms, the Gini income inequality coefficient measures the dispersion of personal income (and, by inference, wealth) across the national population. The Gini coefficient takes values ranging
Introduction In his article, King describes the major ore of uranium – uraninite. The author explains how uraninite received its name and remarks that due to its high radioactivity, it cannot be stored in a classroom. Further, King characterizes the chemical and mineralogical composition of uraninite and mentions that they vary depending on the levels of radioactive decay and oxidation. Article Summary The author gives a detailed account of the mineral’s physical properties and composition and describes its geologic occurrence. King notes that it is not a frequent case when uraninite is found in well-formed crystals. Most commonly, these crystals are octahedrons, cubes, and modified forms. The properties that help to locate uraninite in the field are its propensity to weather into yellow oxidation products and its radioactivity. To perform quick scanning of soil, rock, and core, a radiation detector is employed (King). Uraninite is reported to have a rather high specific gravity. In some specimens, it may be as high as eleven. Due to being radioactive, uranium is constantly in the state of decay. Moreover, it is affected by oxidation, which leads to such alteration products as hydrates and oxides. King pays particular attention to describing gummite as a uraninite alteration product. The author emphasizes the significance of uraninite’s role in the discovery of radium, polonium, and uranium. Conclusion This article is valuable for the study of geology because it suggests a detailed description of one of the most significant minerals. The author provides a variety of examples and details to make the source informative and exciting to read. The characteristics of uraninite are presented most comprehensively, and the text is accompanied by photographs to make it easier for the reader to identify the mineral. Work Cited King, Hobart M. “ Uraninite .” Geology.com , n.d. Web.
Introduction While effective leaders, both dead and living, speak volumes through their deeds, their ineffectual counterparts do so by words. Leadership lies not in the terminologies, but in the actions. Although the words may appear charming, provided they do not bring forth excellent results, then the leader is worthless. A good leader ought to bear traits, likeable to its entire people, regardless of their gender, race, religion, and tribe. Dramatists have set out to address the issue of leadership defining what is and what is not expected in leaders. It comes in handy in Sophocles’ Oedipus the King and Aeschylus’ Agamemnon. In Sophocles’ chef-d’oeuvre, Oedipus is an effective leader of Thebes, ambitious, development oriented and courageous, to mention a few. On the other hand, Clytemnestra, a character in Agamemnon, is the daughter of a king and a Greek leader. She stands out as a liquidator, vindictive, and one who lacks even the least of leadership attributes, for she cannot tackle minor issues like family disputes. Baxton says, “Clytemnestra is not a passive witness, but an agent of evil” (Para. 5). While Oedipus is an effective leader of Thebes, Clytemnestra hardly bears what it takes one to pass for a leader in any society. Oedipus is a loving and a clever leader bearing some practical wisdom while Clytemnestra is a hatred-driven leader, a murderer who cannot stand in for his people when most needed. Oedipus Vs Clytemnestra Love is not the getting and having in times of joy, it is the giving, serving, and sharing in times of crisis. It is among the rare traits, which stand out only during predicaments. Without love, all is in vain, leadership included. It takes the will of an effective leader to restore peace in a plague-hit society. Oedipus is such a leader, who assumes his full responsibility as a king to bring salvation to his people. The people find no solution of the hassle and opt to seek assistance from their leader who, out of love, responds. This is no more t
The first half of Imitation of Life deals with the question from a feminist perspective of what it means to be a woman living in a male-dominated society, while the second half deals with how women of color are affected by racism. Heung notes that it is a story about imitation and pretending to be untrue. Lora Meredith, a white woman, widow, and aspiring actress, always pretends. The motive for this behavior is to avoid the hassle of raising his only daughter, Susie, alone with very little money. Although Lora defies stereotypes by not letting any man control her or interfere with her success, she upholds the proper standards of a good mother. In turn, Susie’s imitation of life is how she pretends to be a daughter, receiving all the love and affection from someone other than her mother while at the same time desperately showing her love to a man whose love is unrequited. Another heroine, Sarah Jane Johnson, spends her entire life imitating, pretending to be white when she is actually black. Annie Johnson, Sarah Jane’s mother, is a black woman who lives her life with the feeling of always seeing herself through the eyes of others. Thus, all these female characters are role models in their performances. An exception is only Annie, who, although she lives under the prism of someone else’s opinion, nevertheless accepts the burden of the reality of what it means to be a black woman in a world that does not accept race. However, in the case of Lora, Susie, and Sarah Jane, authenticity is punished in a male-dominated and anti-female world. It is noteworthy that with her self-deception, Sarah Jane challenges the limitations of her personality and a woman’s role in those times. Refusing to be a real lady or a real black, Sarah Jane plays a series of impersonations throughout the film. On the one hand, she matches the images of a rich musician, which she demonstrates for her white boyfriend. On the other hand, she is a sultry singer for sleazy nightclubbers. Works Cited Heung, Marina. “‘What’s the Matter with Sara Jane?’: Daughters and Mothers in Douglas Sirk’s ‘Imitation of Life.’” Cinema Journal, vol. 26, no. 3, 1987, pp. 21–43.
Introduction Greek and Roman mythology was highly dependent on how people lived. A myth itself appeared because people were deeply religious and felt the need of glorifying their gods. The content of myths, in its turn, was influenced by many additional factors, such as culture, geographical positions of the country, history, etc. Many Greek and Roman myths are driven by political concerns, where one of the main themes is one party striving against another for the throne. Main body The idea of seizing the throne by killing the previous ruler is very common in Greek and Roman mythology. Moreover, it seems to be natural and even honorable: the more bloody and cruel the fight is, the more respectable a person who takes over the throne becomes. For example, the Babylonian poem Enuma Elish ( The Epic of Creation ) has the following words in it. They rejoiced and offered congratulation: “Marduk is the king!” They added to him a mace, a throne, and a rod, They gave him an irresistible weapon that overwhelms the foe: (They said,) “Go, cut Tiamat’s throat, And let the winds bear up her blood to give the news.” 1 The words refer to the part of the poem when Marduk agrees to fight Tiamat and all her monsters, but demands to be provided with absolute power when he succeeds in the fight. This excerpt ideally demonstrates, first of all, cruelty and bloodthirstiness: “Go, cut Tiamat’s throat, and let the winds bear up her blood”. 2 Secondly, it shows what exactly Marduk has to do to be the ruler: he becomes the king only if he uses his weapon and “overwhelms the foe”. 3 And finally, there is a phrase: “And let the winds bear up her blood to give the news”. 4 That is, people have to be informed about the slaying of the ruler, so another one, the slayer, can become the new one. The unusual weapon Marduk has in Enuma Elish symbolizes the power of this character over his rival. Moreover, this weapon is called an irresistible one. That is, the poem implies that Marduk’s rival has no chance to resist and win the battle. In other words, the ritual of killing the ruler to seize the throne is normal; it is the natural order of things for the Greeks and Romans. Combat and victory are traditional elements of any Greek and Roman ancient myth, each of which usually has the following structure. 5 It starts with describing a threat, which has to be eliminated, and a hero for whom this threat is somehow personal. Then, the story tells about an unusual weapon the hero is provided with and the faraway land, where he needs to get. Since the threat is usually a person, the combat happens, where the hero wins eventually: even though he can be temporarily defeated in the battle, he always overcomes the rival in the end. Finally, the hero returns home and g
Introduction Expansion of companies from their regional and national zones is a phenomenon that is rapidly picking up in recent times. The growth of companies from local and regional to multinational levels, has led to companies venturing into new market zones where there is potential for growth and an increased profit margin. The most important factor for such companies is inventing of effective, innovative, and ambitious research and marketing strategies that will help them compete with local and international rivals in their new markets. One of the best approaches used by companies in the Eastern Asian markets and particularly in China is partnering or merging with the local companies. As they do so, they are faced with a number of cross-cultural issues due to their different cultures. Essay Body Some of the cross-cultural issues that might affect a company mainly come from the American perception of Chinese companies or the Chinese society as a whole. Though China is a strong and rapidly growing economy, it is still viewed as developing and not developed. Most companies enter the market with there own ideas and expectations of companies in such economies and that can lead to barriers and difficulties in communication and integration of management and other fields of partnering. (Selmer, 2003, p. 19) notes that there is a belief that most companies who have little or no experience of China, bring in management styles that are very rigid and authoritarian, with arrogant officials who believe that there way of running business is automatically the best. They do consider whether their method is fit for the targeted Chinese market, they have no room for discussion with their Chinese counterparts and so there is no room for them to understand the Chinese market. The other issue is the extent and amount of government regulation and control in China especially in wholesale and retail pricing. The Chinese economy is based on central planning and it is hard for businesses to control, change or make decisions on product marketing and pricing. It is clearly visible that the only place where the companies have the autonomy of planning and deciding is in product quality and output productivity (Selmer, 2003, p. 19).It is important to note that most companies in China are government run or have significant government influence within their structure, to easy for monitoring and economic manipulation. The economic structure in China brings in another issue of corruption. The bureaucracy is more embedded in personal connections and corruption deals and most companies have to either get accustomed to that or leave altogether (Selmer, 2003, p. 20).. This is more prevalent due to the lack of freedom and liberalization of market forces, in business and organizations as it the case in the American free market economy. It is easier to pay a bribe rather than wait for a marketing license; these issues are culturally conditioned (Pitta, Fung & Isberg, 1999, p.241). Another challenge mai