Rear Window Essay

In the 1950’s film Rear Window, director Alfred Hitchcock sets his entire work looking through a man, L. B. Jeffries’ rear window. Because of his broken leg, Jeffries is confined to his apartment, and even to his wheelchair. It is here, in his apartment, that the protagonist watches, or even spies on his neighbors. He draws conclusions on these people, but from a distance: across the apartment-building courtyard. In addition to this physical distance separating Jeffries from his neighbors, his perspective, too, distances him from his conclusions. Only seen through the glass of a window and the lens of a camera, Jeffries’ point of view is confined to only a single vision. We see that this single vision, however, provides Jeffries with an ample amount of information. The avant-garde cinematography combined with the original plot creates a new mean to film. Alfred Hitchcock’s innovative Rear Window allows the audience to bring their own experiences to the film: just as Jeffries draws conclusions on his neighbors from a distance, man too establishes his own perspective in the real world, and brings this experience to the film to understand its meaning. In Rear Window’s opening scene, the camera slowly scans the setting that will surround L. B. Jeffries for the rest of the film. It pans over many apartments, all full of people doing different activities, going on his or her daily routine. This seemingly normal day in the New York City apartment complex gives the audience a sense of familiarity with the setting, and the people that live there. As seen through Jeffries’ rear window, this scene foreshadows the rest of the film; little does the audience know that what seems ordinary, a simple window, actually reveals more: crime. Because the film’s title is Rear Window, this specific window indeed holds some significance. One could say the window hides Jeffries from the real world, as he is confined to his own apartment. While on the other hand, it could be said that the window submerges the protagonist into this world. I believe that the window serves as both tools: as the film’s antagonist, Thorwald sees Jeffries spying on him, Jeffries closes his window and retreats into his apartment- escaping the real world. On the contrary, however, the audience sees Jeffries constantly peering through the window, using the pane of glass to almost enhance his vision, and draw his conclusions. Just as the window both hides and reveals L. B. Jeffries, so does his camera lens. Throughout the movie, Jeffries uses his lens to get a better vision of his neighbors and their activity. Yet the protagonist uses his camera in an unconventional way- rather than using it to take a snapshot of a certain instance, Jeffries uses the camera lens simply to magnify his vision, and gain a deeper understanding of his neighbors, especially Thorwald. Just as L. B. Jeffries, I too have drawn conclusions on others from a distance. Attending a small high school comprised of only one thousand students, I have a superficial understanding of most of my peers. What seems to be a small distance separating my peers and I, actually acts as a barrier, just as Jeffries’ window and camera do. Recently, I was formally introduced to a peer of mine, who I simply knew by association. I had heard people give their own opinions about her, critique her, or speak highly of her- I had yet to draw my own conclusion of her. It was only until I spent a few days with her, and had conversation with her that I could finally create my own opinion. For years I had an imprinted opinion of her in my head, but as I finally broke through the barrier, my rear window, I could either support or refute my assumption. Right on some accounts and wrong on others, I, like L. B. Jeffries, drew conclusions with a barrier; we both had been living behind our rear window.

Out and Disabled Essay

Compare and Contrast the ways in how â€Å"Out, Out† and â€Å"Disabled† present the idea of a forgotten victim The poem â€Å"Out, Out† by Robert Frost has a strong resemblance with the poem â€Å"Disabled† by Wilfred Owen as both poems demonstrate the fragility of life and how one person’s death can be easily forgotten. â€Å"Out, Out† the title speaks of everything, used in Shakespeare’s play ‘Macbeth’ It implies how life is ultimately described like a candle, when the flame goes off there is eternal darkness. In â€Å"Disabled† it essentially shows the same meaning where the women’s interest passed to â€Å"strong men that were whole† because the once glorious man in â€Å"Disabled† became nothing at all. The use of personification in â€Å"Out, Out† where the buzz saw â€Å"snarled and rattled† evokes a sense of foreboding. The buzz saw is seen as aggressive where cutting the boy’s hand was seen as a target and was meant to happen after all. The saw is seen as aggressive where cutting the boy’s hand was seen as a target and was meant to happen after all. The boy is simply nothing but dinner to the predator as he was its â€Å"supper† was mentioned right at the same moment when his hand was cut off. This is an effective method of making the boy seem worthless. The buzz saw has its own mind and is always one step ahead to make it seem dominant. Betrayal is a key point of the two poems as both victims had been betrayed by their own people. The boy was seen as only another death so no one cared about what happened since they were not the â€Å"ones dead† so they just move on with their life without any mourning. In â€Å"Disabled† the man was also seen as someone who is nothing as he is no longer â€Å"whole†. Where he was once a celebrated man, his life had completely changed due to his inexperience and naive view on war. He shares a similar fate as to the boy in â€Å"Out, Out† His actions were noble but they don’t matter at all since he had gained nothing out of it, he wasn’t able to win his â€Å"Meg† and he only brought back scars from the war. He was left alone like garbage since the women moved away to the other â€Å"strong men†. No matter what he did for his nation, he was a forgotten victim like the boy in â€Å"Out, Out†. It explains that the lives of these two people are insignificant and it’s best just to move on. On the other hand, both poems are both structured differently. â€Å"Out, Out† is a flowing story which has no stanzas. This structure allows the poem to be more fluid and keeps the pace of the story moving. It is seen through a third person perspective whereas â€Å"Disabled† the structure of the poem has stanzas and shows the perception of the past and the present. Robert Frosting juxtaposes the structure of the poem which aims to give a strong sense of contrast from one another so by using the past and the present, it is a very important role in the poem because one of the interesting part of â€Å"Disabled† is the main character as we can easily see how rueful he is due to his nostalgic days of when he was young. At stanza 1, it is hard to convince that the ruined man is the same person in stanza 3. He was known as one of the admired people as he was â€Å"silly† for his face. As he looked like a ‘god in kilts’ it is very contrasting to his future where he is in his â€Å"ghastly† suit. However, even though they have a contrasting structure they have something similar in terms of events that are not mentioned. Both poems predict something dreadful is about to happen to the characters as the personification used in ‘Out, Out’ ‘snarled and rattled’ hints that that the buzz saw is planning to strike. The structure has an unusual change where it is first introduced to something unpleasant which is the buzz saw but then the tone quickly changes to a tranquil state. Then it quickly shows the mountain ranges ‘one behind the other’ and ‘under the sunset, far into Vermont’ it foreshadows the boy’s death as the beauty could symbolize heaven. The tone quickly changes from concentrated to something serene. One other thing which is fascinating is that the poem has an image of society where society is cruelly creating the feeling of a forgotten victim just like the â€Å"women† in â€Å"Disabled†. The fact that both poems have the characters offering their body part creates an impression that they are worthless. It gives an idea that the body parts are no longer their own body. In â€Å"Disabled† he â€Å"threw away† his knees which is an unsympathetic manner to mention about his own legs â€Å"Out, out† is very comparable as he has â€Å"given† the hand. The fact that it wasn’t mentioned as â€Å"his† hand proves that it was no longer his own. In the poems both protagonists are robbed of their youth because they are both thrust into a dangerous adult world. They are chosen to be killed and left alone even though they are young which gives a poignant feeling and the sense of being forgotten. They interestingly have the same characteristics because in ‘Out, out’ the boy is doing â€Å"a man’s work† which implies a sense of experience and doing work that is years ahead of his age. Equal with â€Å"Disabled† where he finds himself in the present in a suit of grey. Similarly both protagonist in the poems portray the sense of being used by people because once they can’t achieve anything, they are no use to their leaders and society so they are left alone, isolated and gone from the world feeling betrayed as the boy was just basically used and the disabled man was rejected may assume that he threw away his life as well as he â€Å"poured† the colours down into shell holes. In comparison, the boy in â€Å"Out, Out† gives a stronger feeling of sorrow or grief for the boy as he is doing something he shouldn’t. In â€Å"Disabled† the idea of a forgotten victim is not shown as him resulting in death. It is the opposite of the boy as he is longing for his death. A powerful word Wilfred Owen used was that sleep had â€Å"mothered† which is a personification that shows his love of sleep where he is nurtured and safe, it even implies that the man is depressed. It assumes that the disabled man wants to escape from reality and go to his own reality in his sleep. Overall, the fragility and delicateness of life and youth mainly presents the idea of the forgotten victim. A forgotten victim is usually immobilized and helpless when they have lost everything. â€Å"Out, Out† and â€Å"Disabled† poignantly present forgotten victims. Even when doing a noble action like joining the army, a man can still be rejected among people. â€Å"Out, out† and â€Å"Disabled† were both written during difficult times and acquaints the reader to the atmosphere of the early 19’s. â€Å"Disabled† and â€Å"Out, Out† was written during the World War 1 where it was difficult and dark times yet in â€Å"Out, Out† we get a taste of how cold society was back then. Society can be cruel and filled with individualism where everyone is their own man so it plays a key point of making the two victims forgotten.

Gem Infosys Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Gem Infosys - Case Study Example Among the key actions are the formulation of a security response team and a policy on the recovery process. The security response team will be designed to respond to any security breaches. The team members must be responsible and endeavor to work in order to prevent security breaches. They should be available anytime time and even stop any work they are doing that is underway in order to deal with the impending incidence. The response team should be formed by the organizational employees. Each department should be represented in the response team to ensure a holistic approach in deterring the incidences. In order to function optimally, the team should be bestowed with the authority to make the decisions that are needed in order to prevent the threat or resolve the actual malware attack (Runciman, 2011). The team should have a leader that will help in conducting and directing the affairs of the group. The team should be trained on the response activities that are involved in ensuring security of the group. Key among them is staging fire drills. The internal exercises will be essential in determining the holes that can be the entry of the malware into the system. In order to save the cost of operating a team, the organization can hire an outside response team. It is much cheaper for the fact that the team will only have to deal with the actual security threats unlike the internal organization that has to deal with firewall management, changing user accounts and passwords, or reviewing log files. However, outsourcing the response team has its disadvantages for there is no effective and timely incidence response like in the case of the internal response team. The disaster recovery process involves getting the files and programs that have been compromised back into use. The files and disks are loaded back into the servers for use again. In the policy, the recovery team

Research Paper on Boutique Hotels - Managerial Economics Essay

Research Paper on Boutique Hotels - Managerial Economics - Essay Example The hotel industry has survived fluctuating fortunes in the last decade or so and has crossed into the 21st century an immense and vital industry, a far cry from its origins as an experimental cultural form, into an industry that has transformed the nature of travel into one that is comfortable, predictable, and to many travelers pleasurable (Wikipedia). Hotels are a major of component of the hospitality and lodging industry. It can be described as an establishment that provides paid lodging, usually on a short-term basis. Hotels often provide a number of additional guest services such as a restaurant, a swimming pool or childcare. Some hotels have conference services and meeting rooms and encourage groups to hold conventions and meetings at their location.[ibid] The original hotel equivalent called inns have existed since ancient times (e.g., along the Roman road system during the Roman Empire) to serve merchants and other travelers. Medieval European monasteries operated inns to guarantee haven for travelers in dangerous regions. The spread of travel by stagecoach in the 18th century stimulated the development of inns, as did the Industrial Revolution. The modern hotel was largely the result of the railroads; when traveling for pleasure became widely popular, large hotels were often built near railroad stations. A diversification of hotel types characterized the early hotels. The first hotels were luxury establishments in urban settings. But in order to accommodate changing conditions and needs, variants came into existence: the railroad hotels which were built along railroad track lines to accommodate train passengers and crews for places to eat and rest before the invention of sleeping coaches; resort hotels built far away from crowded urban areas for tourists; commercial hotels which were more simply furnished and less expensive, catering to salesmen and commercial travelers; residential hotels for families yet unable to afford

Information Technology and Computing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Information Technology and Computing - Essay Example The researcher discusses the opinion in which the information technology (IT) is associated with a clean and safe environment. But states that this is far from the truth. Considering its background processing’s in the manufacture field it seems, the tidiness seen in the infrastructures of IT is only peripheral. The manufacture of hardware involves the use of thousands of materials. Many of these materials are highly toxic, for example Lithium - that is a major component in laptops, CPUs and mobile phones. With mobile telephony zooming off, we can soon see millions of handsets joining the scrap heap every year in the near future. To this pile, adding lakhs of CRT monitors every year, especially when LCD monitors start coming down in price. It is stated in the essay that Government should come up with legislation compelling vendors to initiate a take back and successful recycle mechanism; else the dream could well end up in an ecological nightmare. The failure to pass crucial le gislation in many countries has allowed the computer industry to resist addressing many criticisms, such as the amount of hazardous material used to make their products and the ever-growing pile of waste that results from the dynamic pace of innovation in the Information Technology (IT) industry. As a result, the researcher mentiones that double standards may exist between countries. MNC will start shipping machines free of the toxic chemicals, in which the law is strict and will ship machines with toxic substances, where law is flexible.

The Emergence of Trust and Power within a Business Network Essay

The Emergence of Trust and Power within a Business Network - Essay Example It is a critical and strategic issue which needs to be dealt very carefully, this element of trust is vital in all kinds of relationships whether it is within the business or with the external stakeholders. It is very hard to make this trust however one mistake can hurt the reputation very badly and create serious consequences for the future of the business. Power is the acquisition of assets and its control which gives dominance to a party over the other. It is to have the control and ability to influence the decision of the other party. Power has its own benefits and draws backs within a business network. Too much or less of it has its own effects. However, it has been seen that where there is trust there is less likelihood of power causing any harm to the social or business network (Group H.R., 2000). When we talk about the long-term success of the business then this success is dependent on the development of positive networks in the industry. Business networks are an opportunity for the owners of the business and the team of employees to improve themselves continuously. They are a collection of companies linked through agreements for business purposes who work together to get over all benefits for the members in doing so they need to make business dealings and work together and invest and divest money Thinking Made Easy, p21, 2009). A company in the business network tends to learn from one another’s mistakes and successes and based on that they derive solutions to their own problems. Apart from the business perspective networking helps in social activities and events. It leads to strong bonds and close relationships with the business partner which is good for the business in the long term (Daft, p110, 2001). The relationship must be enduring and permanent in nature.  

Theology Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Theology Paper - Essay Example The spirituality that I envision is the Spirituality of Service, which has for its ideal the motto that service to mankind is the highest form of service to God. Spirituality of Service is part of the Judeo-Christian tradition. It has its roots in the teachings of the Holy Bible and is greatly influenced by the life and teachings of St. Francis of Assisi. This spirituality of service emphasizes that love expressed to God must be made evident by love expressed to humanity. This concept of spirituality can also be called the Spirituality of the Hammer. Millard Fuller, the founder of Habitat for Humanity, a Christian ministry that builds homes for the homeless, says regarding the theology of the hammer "our Christian faith mandates that we do more than just talk about faith and sing about love. We must put faith and love into action to make them real, to make them come alive for people. True faith must be acted out." (p.7). The Spirituality of Service looks to the Holy Bible as the source of its inspiration. The two great commandments of the Bible regarding loving God and loving one's neighbor are the pivots of this spirituality. The major emphasis of this spirituality is putting faith into action. ... e of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it"(Holy Bible, James 2:14-17 NIV). People deprived of the basic necessities of life need much more than comforting words, they need food, clothing and shelter. The spirituality of service seeks to serve God by identifying and meeting the needs of the poor and outcasts of society by community effort. This spirituality's concept of God is of an eternal being of infinite goodness existing as the Trinity - the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. God's goodness is evident in creation and this goodness is expressed in a continual giving on God's part. The highest gift of this good God is the person of Jesus Christ, the incarnated Word, who died on the cross to liberate man from the bondage of sin and established for man, a new way to fellowship with God. The concept of man in this spirituality is of a created being. Man's ultimate goal in life is to live in intimate fellowship with God and this is made possible through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in man. Man's broken relationship with God was restored at the cross and now to live in close fellowship with God, man is commanded to love God and love his neighbor. The bottom line is that love to God must be expressed in social action. Apostle John giving a practical application of this commandment says "If anyone has material possessi ons and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."(Holy Bible, 1 John 3:17-18.NIV). Meditating on the philosophy of human existence, this spirituality holds the view that achieving the consciousness of God is closely linked to the consciousness

Aggregate planning strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Aggregate planning strategies - Essay Example UPS is one the world’s most competitive parcel delivery companies. They have branches all around the globe and continue to seek expansion. But before these dreams of expansions can be realized, it is very important that the company invests so much in its human resource base. The company also works so much with inter-country delivery representatives as their delivery system is directly incorporated into the door-step delivery system. As part of the growth agenda, the company uses the Mixed Strategy of the aggregate planning strategy to get its corporate plan delivered. Company Purpose and Business Scope Judging from the different types of business that UPS does as a company, there is no denying the fact that the company lives up to the saying of â€Å"enabling commerce around the world†. This is said because the major business area of the company is courier services, which ensures that the company collects and distributes parcels and other forms of items to people all ac ross the globe. In the wake of globalization where internet trading has been the hallmark of global commerce (Perry, 2008), it takes the shipping services of UPS to get good and products that are purchased on the internet to travel miles around the world to reach their owners. With such services, global commerce would have been affected negatively because electronic commerce, which is the pivot of doing commerce around the world, would not have happened (Tawiah, 2009). ... ngible resources, the company needs a very large array of financial resource, human resource, transportation resources, technological hardware resource, among others. Labor skills and knowledge, intellectual property, corporate branding and competitive advantage are some of the intangible resources that the company needs to execute its services (Ankomah, 2005). Combing the urgency with each of these resources, which are varying and different must be available, it can clearly be said that UP is a company that depends largely on a greater volume of variable resources to get its businesses successfully undertaken. Job opportunities available The employability of UPS is clearly determined by its size and scope of business. Looking at the fact that the company is fast branding itself as the face of global commerce, it would be seen that the company has several branches and offices around the world. Most of these are networked and interrelated to ensure that the company operates on a simil ar organizational culture (Gabby, 2009). Due to the demand for labor, the company presently employs as many as 398,300 workers (Ankomah, 2005). This not withstanding, there remain job opportunities in areas of distribution operations managers, customer relations personnel, logistics executives, corporate branding managers, sales personnel, international public relations, marketers and drivers. Interestingly, these job openings represent the different kinds of jobs that are undertaken at the company and through all ranks of the company’s organizational hierarchy. Nature of business The jobs available at UPS are diverse and divergent. Whereas some are top executive job openings, some are corporate openings that are ideal for young graduates, and there are also jobs for non-degree holders

Absenteeism in the Workplace Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Absenteeism in the Workplace - Essay Example This is a global phenomenon; however there is no consistent definition for absenteeism. In a general context absenteeism covers non-attendance at work where work attendance is scheduled. This includes sickness absence leave; various special leaves, such as bereavement leave; and may also include time lost through industrial disputes. Workplace attendance and absenteeism are crucial to the industry oriented society. There is loss not only in terms of productivity and economy, but also in terms of credibility and confidence of the employees. Excessive absenteeism also places additional pressure on employers and workers especially at critically important times. The causes for absenteeism are varied and are much dependent on the person taking leave. They can vary from taking off for illness when in reality they are not ill at all to excuses like friend’s accident, death in family etc. There have been incidents where doctors have not only been pleaded with, but also abused and threatened to sign false medical certificates.

Local Government Strategy Training Materials Essay

Local Government Strategy Training Materials - Essay Example Part 1 section 1 clearly states the major purpose of this Act as the need to provide a democratic and effective local government that clearly recognizes the important diversity realized in the country (Local Government Online, 2013). 2) Indeed, the Local Government plays a very important role in New Zealand. In Part 2 Section 10 of the Act, the Local Governments are meant to provide effective governance to the community at the local level and provide a valuable contribution to the social, economic and political wellbeing of the people. The Act further grants the local governments the relevant powers and capacity to ensure they can fulfill their mandate as specified in the Act. The powers of the local authorities are subject to other provisions of the Act and this ensures accountability and consultation of the local governments with other relevant authorities. 3 a) The Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi originated from the case filed in the high court, in which the New Zealand Maori Council sought to ensure that the restructuring of the government did not interfere with the assets which had been owned by the Maori. The principles are therefore intended to ensure a maintaining of the proper working environment between the Maori and the wider community of New Zealand. In this regard, there must be a compromise from the two sides in order to meet the goals of the Principles. The focus here is to ensure partnership and mutual benefit in the context of protecting the interests of the Maori. The principles therefore stress upon good faith, partnership active protection and the importance of compromise from both parties to ensure a proper working relationship (New Zealand Legislation, 2013). b) The clause seeks to provide a framework through which the Maori can be involved in decision making in the local authorities in order to grant them the opportunities to address their challenges. In any case, the principles greatly stress upon the need for participation and cons ultation between the Maori and the wider community and this clause therefore stresses upon that important need. 4) A bylaw is essentially a form of law or rule that is established by a community or organization in order to regulate itself. The law is usually established in accordance with some higher law or authority. Bylaws are normally different with other laws since their only apply to the entity within which they are established. In commonwealth countries, bylaws are regulated by the central governments of the countries and should therefore meet specific guidelines as specified by the law. 5) The constitution of New Zealand recognizes the three branches of government and clearly stipulates their core mandates. The constitution stresses upon the â€Å"separation of powers† and the three government organs are therefore independent in terms of operations. The legislature, judiciary and executive are nevertheless expected to work in collaboration in order to ensure compliance with the law. The function of the parliament is to make laws while the executive exercises these laws. The judiciary is an independent body that is mandated to interpret and ensure compliance with the laws in the country. The executives expected to consult the Judiciary on legislative and policy proposals. In the same way, the three organs are expected to respect the functions of one another in order to promote separation of power

Feminist Criticism of Triffles Essay Example for Free

Feminist Criticism of Triffles Essay The bone of contention for feminist theory is centered at the treatment of women living in a patriarchal society. Feminists raised questions about why women were being forced into a position of subordination and their affairs looked at with marginal importance. Susan Glaspell’s story â€Å"Trifles† depicts the plight of women and their subordination while subversively commenting on the negative effects this had on the female psyche. â€Å"Triflesâ€Å" begins with an investigation into the murder of John Wright, which takes place at his farm house. His wife, Mrs. Wright, is found at the crime scene and put in jail. She asks three of her friends, who are wives of the detectives investigating, to collect her apron and shawl. While the men scamper about trying to solve the crime of who did it, the women rifle through Mrs. Wrights belonging in search of her request. Noticing simple things out of place in the home or the trifles (as the men call it), they inadvertently find clues that reveal Mrs. Wright to be the murderer. It is said, the devils in the details which proves to be accurate in this situation. Glaspell’s story is a commentary on the societal values of women at the time and their roles in the home. By using theorists such as Gilbert and Gubar, Fetterly, and Irigaray, one can see how Glaspell uses a feminist critique to call to question the inequalities of women and highlighting the detriment this subordination has on females. â€Å"Trifles† embodies the problems of alienation women faced in the hands of a patriarchal society. Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan say â€Å"the subject of feminism was women‘s experience under patriarchy, the long tradition of male rule in society which silenced women‘s voices, distorted their lives, and treated their concerns as peripheralâ€Å" (527). We see this in the beginning of â€Å"Trifles†, â€Å"Mrs. Peters: Oh, her fruit; it did freeze. She worried about that when it turned so cold. She said the fire’d go out and her jars would break. Hale: Well, women are used to worrying over trifles† (Glaspell, 1043). The women’s voice is silenced by the man’s failure to recognize her concerns as legitimate. When presented with a concern from a woman, instead of paying attention, the men dismiss the women and their observations and silence them from speaking further. This alienates the women, placing them in a lower status. Of this Luce Irigaray say, â€Å" A direct feminine challenge to this condition means demanding to speak as a (masculine) â€Å"subject†, that is, it means to postulate a relation to the intelligible that would maintain sexual difference† (570). By Glaspell participating in the canon of literature and bringing attention to the female issue of subordination, she is challenging and demanding to speak in â€Å"masculine† terms, as literature was dominated by males. According to Judith Fetterley â€Å" American Literature is male. Our literature neither leaves women alone nor allows them to participate† (561). Glaspell shatters this. She is participating in a genre of art that was viewed as predominantly male. Also, she not only gave her female characters a participatory role, they had the most important role, while the men were secondary and almost needless. Speaking to the â€Å"silencing of voices† Glaspell writes, â€Å"Mrs. Peters: [looking in cupboard] Why, here’s a bird cage. [Holds it up] Did she have a bird, Mrs. Hale? Mrs. Hale: Why I don’t know whether she did or not-I’ve not been here for so long†¦ She used to sing real pretty herself† (1047). It goes on to read about Mr. Wright, â€Å" Mrs. Hale: But he was a hard man, Mrs. Peters. Just to pass the time of day with him-[Shivers. ] Like a raw wind that gets to the bone. [Pauses, her eye falling on the cage. ] I should think she would ‘a wanted a bird. But what do you suppose went with it? † (1048). As Rivkin and Ryan state, as mentioned above, the man silences the woman. Mr. Wright silenced Mrs. Wright, not allowing her to sing, â€Å"distorting† her life. Judith Fetterley believes that there is a certain amount of â€Å"power that marriage puts in the hands of men†(563) and â€Å"ownership of women is invoked as the index of power†(564). Because Mrs. Wright was so changed by her husband, â€Å"Mrs. Hale: She-come to think of it, she was kind of like a bird herself-real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and-fluttery. How-she-did-change† (1048), she was not only isolated in her home with her husband but her life was de valued, therefore she changed. Mr. Wright wanted her to be silent which is reminiscent of what Gilbert and Gubar say that a woman should be waiting â€Å"silently, without calling attention to her exertions† as it would detract from her focus on others (601). â€Å"Trifles† also reads, â€Å"Mrs. Hale: I might have known she needed help! I know how things can be -for women. I tell you it’s queer, Mrs. Peters. We live close together and we live far apart. We all go through the same things-it’s all just a different kind of the same thing. † (Glaspell, 1049). Here Susan Glaspell is pointing out the alienation that is a prevalent feeling amongst women. This feeling is induced by the patriarchal society that does not allow them to have a life of their own. Glaspell’s character Mrs. Wright sacrifices everything because that’s what her husband demanded, which was the status quo. Gilbert and Gubar also state â€Å"For to be selfless is not only to be noble, it is to be dead. A life that has no story†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (602). Mrs. Wright is the embodiment of these ideas. She is isolated, alienated, and quiet; she’s expected to be angel-like. The angel/devil binary is discussed by Gilbert and Gubar. The idea is that women have two sides to them. One side that is silent, submissive, obedient, and the other that is a monster, conniving, and deceitful (605). Though Mrs. Wright could be critically looked at as being a product of this angel/devil binary, more importantly Glaspell is challenging the male’s role in this binary. Essentially she is pointing out that by men placing women in a submissive role they are contributing to this angel/devil behavior they are critical of. The fact that the angel woman manipulates her domestic/mystical sphere in order to ensure the well-being of those entrusted to her care reveals that she can manipulate; she can scheme; she can plot- stories as well as strategies† (602). The woman can do no right. Fetterley points out â€Å"the sacrificial scapegoat is the woman/wife and the cleansed survivor is the husband/male. In such fictions the female reader is co-opted into participation in an experience from which she is explicitly excluded; she is asked to identify with a selfhood that defines itself in opposition to her; she is required to identify against herself† (562). Typically this is true because the male perception of women is that they should be angels, self sacrificing, subordinate but criticize this because they also believe the binary opposition to women is the devil. They are eliminating an identifiable character for the female reader, alienating them. Glaspell however, allows the female reader to identify with her female characters. In â€Å"Trifles† the women are doing â€Å"female things† looking about the kitchen, paying attention to the sewing, noticing the rotten fruit. Essentially everything that has to do with house hold matters. The men are utside looking for clues in the barn, completely unaware or unaltered by the fact that a woman could possibly have committed such an atrocious crime. After all, action is male and silence is female. Gilbert and Gubar quote from Eichner, â€Å"the ideal of significant action is masculine† and â€Å" women are defined as wholly passive, completely void of generative power†(599). Because women are viewed as having no power the men over look the evidence in the house; The house is for the women and their trifles. At the end of â€Å"Trifles† the women find Mrs. Wrights dead bird, with a broken neck. Coincidentally the same way her husband was murdered. The bird is wrapped up in her quilt, when it is found the story reads, â€Å"Mrs. Hale: [Jumping up] But, Mrs. Peters- look at it! It’s [sic] neck! Look at its neck! It’s all-other side to. Mrs. Peters: Somebody-wrung-its-neck† (Glaspell 1048). It is at this moment the women realize that Mrs. Wright has killed her husband. The attorney walks in and says â€Å" [As one turning from serious things to little pleasantries] Well, ladies, have you decided whether she was going to quilt it or knot it† (Glaspell 1048). By asking about quilting or knotting he is referring to the stitching on Mrs. Wrights quilt. The quilt is one of the â€Å"trifles† indicating Mrs. Wright as the murderer. Once again, Glaspell is drilling it into the readers head that the men think women’s concerns are unimportant. As the story goes on, the women allude to the fact that Mr. Wright could have played a hand in the death of the bird Mrs. Wright loved so. Glaspell continuously points out the domination and control of the men (Mr. Wright in this case) and the psychological effects it has on the women. Mrs. Peters: [ In a whisper. ] When I was a girl- my kitten- there was a boy took a hatchet, and before my eyes-and before I could get there-[Covers her face an instant. ] If they hadn’t held me back I would have- hurt him†(Glaspell, 1049). Not only are grown men oppressive of women, it appears that Glaspell is also commenting on the societal values of child rearing, pertaining to sex. The little b oy is allowed to act violently (action is masculine) but the little girl has to be held back, and allow whatever grief she feels to over come her with not outlet. This speaks to Rivkin and Ryan’s idea of a constructionist or essentialist child rearing. In other words, are children taught their roles of femininity and masculinity or are they innate? By the child scenario given in â€Å"Trifles† Glaspell notes that the different genders abide by different ideals. The little boy (fulfilling essentialism) is allowed to be â€Å"active† fulfilling his innate desire to take a hatchet to the cat. The little girl is fulfilling the constructionist role. Her gender is being created when she is being told how to act, being held back and constrained, none of these being her first choice. As children, it would appear, little boys are able to act on their natural desires, while little girls have to grin and bear it. Of these two ideals Gilbert and Gubar say, â€Å"two perspectives began to form, one â€Å"constructionist† or accepting of the idea that gender is made by culture in history, the other â€Å"essentialist,† more inclined to the idea that gender reflects a natural difference between men and women that is as much psychological, even linguistic, as it is biological† (529). These roles the children learn, carry with them into their adult lives where women are oppressed and men are free. This is another example of women being isolated from a young age. The last scene of â€Å"Trifles† is Mrs. Hale putting the dead bird in her pocket, keeping Mrs. Wrights secret. â€Å" County Attorney: No, Peters it’s all perfectly clear except a reason for doing it. But you know juries when it comes to women. If there was some definite thing. Something to show-something to make a story about- a thing that would connect up with this strange way of doing it-† ( Glaspell, 1050). The men in their ignorance don’t see what’s in front of them. The evidence was there, they just let their social conventions detract from the situation at hand. In a way, Glaspell is making the male gender look foolish. By placing the evidence in conspicuous places, their inability to find clues is commenting on the narrow scope of males. â€Å"County Attorney:: Oh, I guess they’re not very dangerous things the ladies have picked out. [Moves a few things about, disturbing the quilt pieces which cover the box. Steps back. ] No, Mrs. Peters doesn’t need supervising. For that matter, a sheriff’s wife is married to the law. † (1050). As everyone leaves the scene they police suggest checking what Mrs. Peters is removing from the house. The attorney is almost amused at what he finds to be trifles that she is collecting ( the apron, shawl, quilt) when she is in fact removing the evidence he was searching for. The women in this story feel bad for Mrs. Wright. They are not â€Å"married to the law† but dedicated to the common bond of the alienated woman. The law that the attorney says Mrs. Peters is married to, is a patriarchal law that oppresses women and makes them subjects of the system. These women’s devotion truly lies with each other and their struggle to survive an oppressive society. If in marriage a woman is isolated and dominated, her only sense of self lies within the common struggle. Because she identifies with the sadness of Mrs. Wright she with holds evidence. Susan Glaspell’s â€Å"Trifles† provides a solution to many of the inherent problems the feminist scholars bring to light. She writes about the alienation of women and how a patriarchal society is silencing. Women’s voices are not heard and when they are, there opinions and concerns are dismissed, regardless of their importance. Glaspell uses the relationship between her male and female characters to exemplify this. Glaspell challenges the notion of the male writers point of view in that she, simply by writing and challenging, is taking on the male characteristic of action as opposed to silence. She also plays with the duality of the notion of woman, angel and devil. She constructs a character that could be seen as the angel/devil, but subversively comments on society pushing the woman into these roles they find so disagreeable. This further leads into the idea of constructionist and essentialist where girls identities are constructed while boys are innate, causing a future of oppressive relationships.

Analysis of the Operations at Woolworths

Analysis of the Operations at Woolworths This essay is based on the analysis of the operations of the super market retail branch WOOLWORTHS, which is located in the heart of the Sydney CBD. Woolworths is a renowned chain of retail store in Australia and various other countries of the world. Woolworths have build up their standards of quality product and service for its customers. Current scenario of the Woolworths branch is that is having the problems with the personal performance of the branch staff, which has resulted in to decline of the quality of service leading to decline in the business for the branch. The purpose of this essay is to determine the various factors that determine the quality of service and identify the factors leading to the problem of poor personal performance of the staff. The further part of the essay describes about the various strategies applied and various steps taken in order to maintain the effective running of the operations and the improving the quality of service up to the Woolworths standard. At last Essay provides the overall conclusion of the Woolworths operations ineffectiveness and also the lack of various strategies required for effective and smooth operation system. Main body Today in the era of global competition Woolworths have set their standards of operation and quality services to its customers. At Woolworths store they are conscious of their responsibilities- serving the millions of the customers in each and every community across Australia and New Zealand. With this profile comes not only a responsibility to understand and manage our impact and also manage the long lasting benefits in the retail sector. Woolworths operations have set standards, which affect the share holders, customers and supply chain. This essay claims to give an insight into how the Woolworths perform well in the retail operations against their commitment and targets, Woolworths operations are known for its quality goods and services around the various different locations. Woolworths has been at or near the top of that list since early this decade. Known affectionately as Woolies in Australia, the company has ramped up the refurbishment of supermarkets in an effort to retain and bring in new customers. Woolworths (2010). A recent review of the branch has highlighted that branch is not performing its operations effectively and efficiently. The reason behind this scenario is that, the staffs seem to have taken the standard of their personal performance for granted. As such, it is important to carefully examine and study the present situation of the branch and plan ways on how to improve and re-establish the status of the Sydney branch in terms of process, capacity design and customer satisfaction Issues affecting the performance of staff Under the perspective of operational management, the various critical issues identified for the decline in the personal performance and ultimately resulting in the decline of the service quality and the business for the branch are the capacity; demand forecasting, supply chain, design process and human resources and job design. Service process design Woolworths retail the product combination of the good and services, goods are tangible and whereas the services are intangible. Service referred as an act that is done to or for customers. Chwen Sheu, Roger McHaney, Sunil Babbar, (2003) support that service processes require the participation of the customer without the customer, service processes cannot take place. Service at Woolworths are produced and consumed simultaneously at the point when the customers are shopping at Woolworths. Woolworths have established the standards from the manufacturing to the retail outlet, the quality services which are provided by the Woolworths staff. Which are inventory handling, displaying goods on shelves and helping customers for the customers within the outlet, with low customer interaction. The various varieties of tangible products are available at Woolworths which requires the least customer service delivery. As the customers select the goods and bring it to the counter for purchase. The self checkouts counters are also available at the various other outlets of Woolworths, for the ease of the customers to cut down the need of the service from the Woolworths staff, though they have a staff available for the help of the customers at the self checkout counters and this cannot be considered as the pure form of service. So, organizations those are dependent on customer participation causes difficulties in managing effective service process design. Service is provided by a service delivery system which includes facilities, processes and skills needed to provide the service (Stevenson 2009). In the case of Woolworths retail outlet there is inadequacy found in measuring service quality performance based on discussed criteria which leads to poor service quality and declining customer satisfaction. Forecasting issues Forecasting is considered to be the most important function in the retail organisation, as it enables the mangers to foresee the future needs and perform the related functions accordingly. Such as ordering of the next supply, managing the inventories, staffing is also equally linked with the forecasting functions. The quality of this business can only be good on the basis of its forecast. In todays economy where business condition is unstable forecasting is a bit difficult. (Aviv.Y, 2001). The Woolworths branch at Sydney CBD is also struggling with the forecasting issues, due to lack of countable performance of the Grocery manager. Retail organizations today must strive to satisfy the unique demand for each of their customers. Gone are the days of the mass market where a single assortment, standard pricing and a single average location forecast would satisfy consumer demand in all stores. To be effective, forecasts today must account for demand differences across all stores, geograph ies and product lines. The store manager is also incapable in providing the commendable performance due to the lack of interest and the availability of the old procedures. The resources available to them are not adequate and lack the evidence. The manger is completely dependable on the quantitative approach which includes the past historical data or the casual variables to forecast demand whereas the forecasting of the demand of the goods sold also requires the qualitative approach that is the incorporation of the factors such as the decision makers emotions, personal experience and value system. Demand and Capacity management Heizer and Render (2003) suggested that in the view of service industry scheduling customer is demand management and scheduling workforce is capacity management. Heizer and Render (2003) also support that the demand management is attempting to influence when customer attend the service and capacity management is ensuring the organization capability to meet the demand. In the operation of retail industry such as the Woolworths store, demand management is the management of the demand created for the goods and services at the store by the customer intended to purchase the goods and service according to their taste and preferences. Planning and providing the customers goods and services they desire at the time of their shopping is the capacity management. Various customers visit the store on daily basis and purchase the goods and consume the services according to their ease, the staff at the Woolworths is unable to handle the demand and deliver the goods and service according to their capacity. Understanding the demand is not sufficient to manage the demand fluctuation. It also involves the organizations capacity to fulfill the demand. Therefore, it is imperative for an organization to understand its capacity constraints in terms of time, labor, equipment, and facilities. The major challenge faced by outlet is the short of the capacity to minimize the waiting time of the customers at the purchasing counter. The lack of equipment and staffing during the peak hours has created a gap between the demand and the capacity of fulfilling the demand. Klassen K.J Rohleder T.R. 2002. Supply Chain management Supply chain management is considered to be the oversight of the materials, information and finances as they move in to a process from supplier to manufacturers to wholesalers and from retailer to consumers at the end. Supply chain management is said to be the integration of the activities that procure materials and services transform them into intermediate goods and final products and deliver them to the customers Effective Supply Chain Management can offer customers high quality products and services with low prices (Waller L.D 2003). Supply chain management involves the coordinating and integrating these flows with in and among the companies. The ultimate goal of the effective supply chain management is said to reduce the inventory and with the assumptions that products are available when needed, (Render.B, Heizer.J 2003). Supply chain management includes determining the following for the effective running of the operations. Transportation vendors, Credit and cash transfers, Suppliers, Ware housing and inventory Woolworths being a growing super market store in Australia, they have large number of suppliers supplying the various goods in store. However this store of Woolworths faces many challenges with the supply chain management, Such as the bulk order delivery of the goods at the receiving dock and lack of storage space for the certain products. Also the inappropriate tracking system of receiving and ordering of goods, they also suffer from Bullwhip effect, staffs of Woolworths branch stand helpless for the insufficient delivery of the goods and services by the suppliers. Due to the management problems the staffs of the Woolworths fails to provide the quality of goods and services to its customer due to the ineffective inventory management systems and control. Also due to the poor handling of the stock, store also suffer from the various product in to dump due to their expiry date and out of demand. Human resource issues Human resource foremost objective is to manage labour and design jobs so people are effectively and efficiently utilized and also they have the quality of work life in an atmosphere of mutual commitment and trust for instance the job which is not reasonably safe also for which the pay is equitable and also achieves the physical and physiological requirements. Various following issues which have lead to the performance of the staff to decline and ultimately loss to business. Memmott Growers (2002) Job design Job design refers to the way tasks are combined to form complete jobs (Robbins and Stuart-Kotze). Using job design principles results in clear job descriptions, a motivated workforce and successful completion of tasks. People are assigned to a job because they are perceived to be able to fill its requirements. . A proper job design makes jobs meaningful, interesting and challenging. Individual needs, task attributes and work setting lead to performance and satisfaction (Wood et al. 2006). According to Stevenson (2009) job design is one of the oldest aspects of operations management. Work design refers to specifies the tasks of each individuals in terms of working environment and methods of doing job is called job designing. The job design helps in smooth running of the operations; the Woolworths human resources department recruit the individual for the specific job role centrally and appoint it to the various stores. Staffs at the CBD store are appointed but there is no further induction programme to guide their duties and to use it skills for serving the customers and gaining the customer satisfaction. The store manager should have the various programmes to develop their staff according to their skills and the environmental conditions. They should more specifically distribute the staff according to the need and requirement of the task with the proper planning; this will help the store in attaining the proper utilisation of the labour and time for the specific job. The staffs at Woolworths get exhausted or losses interest by repeatedly performing the same task again on daily basis. The branch management due to lack of coordination between the store and lack of supply management system fails in designing the job for the better utilisation o the labor force. The staff also lack in control or quick decisions required at the time of operations. Although the standard work schedule in Australia is still five days and 8- hours a day and which includes the half hour break. The Woolworths store at CBD largely experiences the no show and the absenteeism of permanent staff, which results in loss of customer satisfaction and reduces business. The reason of no show and the absenteeism is the unsuitable working hours for the staff and also the long working hours lead to the no show of staff on the day of work. The above discussion of the psychological components of job design provides the insight into the factors that contribute to the job satisfaction and motivation. Motivation is a key factor in the smooth and effective running of any business. It influences the quality and the productivity of the employees working in the organisation. Monetary satisfied employee is more likely to perform well comparative to the less satisfied staff. Employees are more likely to continue their employment at a company where they can communicate openly and freely with all aspects of management, up and down chain of the command. This benefits not only the employees also the organisation (Slack et al, 2004). Work life balance from employee apparent is described as the maintenance of a balance between work life (the time spent for working at job) and life at home (that is different roles and responsibilities at home) whereby it is further been described as participation in one role has made difficult to be hundred percent in another role (Barodel, Tharenou, Moss, 1998). Due to lack of staff at the Woolworths the current staff is made to perform long hours and given limited off, which has currently resulted in the poor performance standard by them, as they are not been able to maintain balance between their professional and personal life. In order to solve the various issues with the Woolworths branch following strategies will be drawn in the further part of Essay. A well functioning process delivers the proper service. In addition Schroeder (2008) draw two key issues in service designs are the degree of variation in service requirements and the degree of customer involvement and customer contact in delivery process. These issues have an influence on determining the degree to which service can be standardized. That is every customer gets more or less the same service or highly customized to customer requests, and exactly the same service is virtually never repeated for the another customer. Woolworths Management facing challenges in designing service process to match with the requirement of the customer. The important tools that can be applied to the designing process of the service are Service matrix and Customer contact matrix. Teasley. C. E. III Ready. R. K. (1991). In case of Forecasting, Forecasts drive a businesss production, capacity and scheduling system which can directly affect the operation in finance, marketing, and personnel planning department. To maximise use of resources, capacity planning should be carried out. Klassen and Rohleder 2001) recommend four general strategies for demand forecast and capacity planning. Firstly, match that states matching capacity exactly to demand. Secondly, provide that maintains capacity at a certain level that can afford maximum demand. Thirdly, control that control demand to be at average level and fourthly, influence which influence in reducing magnitude of peaks and valleys of demand and match capacity to the resulting pattern. It is an important tool for the Woolworths management to overcome the forecasting issues as it will help in gaining the knowledge about the customer taste preferences and demand for the various goods and services at Woolworth store. Retail-oriented operations management research has focused on a variety of issues, including forecasting techniques, the use of vendor-managed inventory (VMI), and the operational antecedents of service quality and profitability. Organization having well operation system delivers the proper service. (Andrews and Parsons, 1989). The two key issues which are considered in service design is are the degree of variation in service in service requirement and the degree of customer involvement and the customer contact in delivery process these issue have raised the concerned for the determining the degree to which and what standards the degree can be standardized. According to the Hayes (1996) another strategy that can be effective is the customer contact matrix. In this system the customer contact is eliminated for the better efficiency such as the self checkout counters which help customers in purchasing the goods at the counters of their own, the Woolworths management needs the self chec kout counters also the staff which help them in guiding the customers from the selection to the purchasing goods, other system are costly but they require high interaction of the staff with the guests, with the low involvement of staff for the service and customers full involvement in purchase increases the rate of high satisfaction among the customers. Demand and capacity management strategies To determine the capacity of resources and maximizing the use of the resource, also to achieve profitability in the operations Break even analysis is the efficient tool for evaluating the capacity (Waller L.D 2003). With the help of this tool branch management can analysis the status of the store, as it provides the clear picture of the number of the goods produced and sold. This advance tool is appropriate to measure the large investments involved. This approach will help in gaining the clear picture of the branch goods produced and sold. Another tool for the total quality management is the six sigma. Six Sigma is the comprehensive system for achieving and attaining the business system. By implementing the Six Sigma improvement model which first defines the critical output and identifies the gaps for improvement, secondly measures the work and collects the data for the process that can help close the gaps. Thirdly analysis the data fourthly improves the data by modifying the or redesigning the existing procedures and lastly control the new process to make sure the performance levels are maintained Implementing the Six Sigma is a big commitment is the Woolworths management implements in the operations to improve the quality of the service and the goods it will help in raising the customer satisfaction. Planning and Scheduling System: To attain the efficient operation system, that is the capacity of the outlet, customer demands. Woolworths management can use the advance planning and scheduling system. With the help of this system the Woolworths management can use the linear programming techniques and other algorithms to develop planned schedules. In this system the Woolworths can manage the future demand efficiently for instance what to order and how much to order to the various suppliers. Effective human resource Labor planning Labor planning is the means of determining the staffing policies dealing with the employment stability and work schedule. The major problem with the Woolworths CBD branch is to maintain the work schedule of the employees. In todays fast pacing environment the employees require the flexi timings at work. Flexitime allows the employees within limits to determine their own schedule, as this policy provides employees more sovereignty and independence on the part of the employee. Similarly it is effective for the management on the cost point of view as it enhance the job satisfaction. Another option is the flexible work week; this plan often calls for the fewer hours but the longer days in week With the help of the flexibility in the working hours of the employee Woolworths can gain the job satisfaction from the employees by managing the staffing according to the employees availability, as it will help them in gaining freedom to work and manage their social life. Managers in the organisations must build or rebuild loyalty and commitment, and create a positive organisational climate in which employees are motivated to achieve at high levels of work performance .To motivate the employees monetary rewards take the form of bonuses, profit and gain sharing and incentive systems. To motivate the employees the various schemes can be adopted such as the incentives system is based on personal productivity of the employee. It helps in motivation the employees to produce or give the best above the predetermined standards. Also the staff must be maintained with the different job role every week. That is variety is added to the employees prospective of job. It helps in marinating the interest of the employee at workforce Conclusion Finally concluding the essay, the issues raised in the essay due to incapable delivery of employees is affecting the operations performance standards. Various issues, such as the poor service design and selection, process inadequacy, inefficient supply chain management, improper forecasting, and inefficient human resource system. In balance capacity management is together affecting the customers satisfaction standards. Due to the nature of the retail industry in the process of customer service, the design of service for the customers should be present. Changing according to the change in the customer requirement is the basic ingredient of the retail industry; customer satisfaction can be gained by providing better delivery of goods and services to its customers. If the customers are satisfied they will not only provide repeat business but also share their personal positive experience with others. Customers with the high level of satisfaction will provide profitability to the business than those who are merely satisfied. To maintain the high standards of the employee performance it requires the employees who are flexible, smart, presentable, and adaptable. Quality control is the important factor for the retail outlet. For the better quality and minimizing the errors the Six Sigma can help in improving the quality control tool in the branch. As the part of the action plan, the major focus of the management should be in minimizing the efforts Essay raises the issues which as the efficient operation managers are assessed and various operations tools to improve the quality of the service and the personal performance of the staff. With the implementation of the strategies such as the Six Sigma, incentive system and work schedule will help in improvising the performance standard of the staff. The Sydney CBD Woolworth is currently requires the designing of the operation system that is the management communication strategies. The employee at Woolworths have suffered from the improper design system and management strategies which lead to the loss of motivation and resulting in the decrease of their own personal performance system. References Andrews, B.H. Parsons,L.L. 1989, Bean chooses a telephone agent scheduling system, Interfaces, vol 19, issue 6,pp.1-9. Aviv.Y, 2001, The Effect of Collaborative Forecasting on Supply Chain Performance, Management Science; Oct2001, Vol. 47 Issue 10, p1326-1343. Cheng,T.C.E. Gupta, M.C., 1989 Survey of scheduling research involving due date determination decisions, European Journal of Operational Research, vol 38, pp. 156-166. Bardoel, E., Tharenau, P., Moss, S. (1998), Organizational predictors of work-family practices, Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, vol. 36, pp. 31-49. http://vs7pm8vz2k.scholar.serialssolutions.com/?sid=googleauinit=AVaulast=Hillatitle=Research+opportunities+in+service+process+designtitle=Journal+of+operations+managementvolume=20issue=2date=2002spage=189issn=0272-6963 Emerald, 2008 viwed on 1st September 2010 http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=849489show=abstract Emerald, 2008 viewed on 2nd January 2010, http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do;jsessionid=973CD37AFF9D1D81F4DD00B02EB9E7D1?contentType=ArticlehdAction=lnkhtmlcontentId=849407 Hayes, R.H. Wheelwright.S.C., 1979, The dynamics of process-product life cycles, Harvard Business Review issue 57, vol.2, pp. 127-136. Human resource motivation and flexibility viewed on 27th Dec 2009, http://postharvest.tfrec.wsu.edu/PC2002G.pdf. Heizer and Render 2003, Operation Management, Pearson Prentice Hall. 7th edition, pp 694-695. Important demand and capacity, 2008 viewed on 2nd January, 2010, http://www.icmrindia.org/courseware/Services Marketing/SM-DS8.htm Klassen K.J Rohleder T.R. 2002. Demand and capacity management decisions in services: How they impact on one another International Journal of Operations Production Management, Volume 22,ÂÂ  Number 5, pp. 527-548(22). Memmott Growers (2002), Retaining and Motivating Employees. http://postharvest.tfrec.wsu.edu/PC2002G.pdf Robbins, Stephen P. Stuart-Kotze.,R., 1986, Management: Concept and Practices, Canadian Edition. Toronto: Prentice-Hall pp. 125-140 Stevenson, 2009, Operation Management, 10th edition, Mcgraw-Hill, USA Symantec Corporation, 2008, viewed on 2nd January 2010, http://eval.symantec.com/mktginfo/enterprise/other_resources/ent-other_resources_the_capacity_to_succeed_dacm_03-2008.en-us.pdf Teasley. C. E. III Ready. R. K. 1991. Human Service Matrix: Managerial Problems and Prospects, Public Administration Review. Vol. 41, No. 2, pp. 261-267. Thompson, M, G. 1995, Improved Implicit Optimal Modeling of the Labor Shift Scheduling Problem, Management Science, Vol. 41, No. 4 pp. 595-607. Waller L.D 2003, Operation Management a Supply Chain Approach, Thomson Learning, 2nd Edition. Pp 365, 559-628.

Grant Wood And American Gothic Film Analysis

Grant Wood And American Gothic Film Analysis Grant Wood is easily one of Americas most famous artists due to his iconic 1930 work American Gothic. Even today, while some people may not always remember Grant Woods name or even the title of the image, they most certainly always recognize American Gothic when they see it. This one painting is known worldwide as kind of an iconic show of American character, all represented by a farmer and his daughter in front of their carpenter gothic styled home. The painting itself may at first glance appear to have only the simple meaning of representing the small town folk of Iowa, but looking closer the meaning could be something deeper. Grant Wood was born on February 13, 1991 in Anamosa, Iowa. After his fathers death in 1901, Grant and his family moved to Cedar Rapids where he took art lessons from local artists while he was in high school. He would then later teach school near Cedar Rapids while working a job at a silversmith shop in Chicago. Grant also served in World War I. He would make clay models of their field guns and also helped camouflage artillery pieces. After the war he would come back to Europe in 1923 where he spent 14 months in Paris studying art. During his stay in Europe his paintings had an impressionistic style to them. When he came home to America, his paintings began to sell and he was able to quit teaching and focus on his art. Its sometime during this time that Grant began promoting regionalism in his art. Regionalism is a realist modern American art movement wherein artists shunned the city and rapidly developing technological advances to focus on scenes of rural life. His work began to har k back onto his early life on the farm before his father died. Grants paintings began featuring farmlands, townscapes, and people around where he lived. Then, while driving to Eldon, Iowa, Grant came upon a white frame home that inspired his famous painting American Gothic. Grant had his sister and their local dentist pose in front of the house, and painted them with a very detailed style during which a time most artists in America were painting in abstraction. The painting itself only took about three months for Grant to paint and it was an immediate success. American Gothic was the painting that got Grant Wood recognized as a respectable artist, because he was all but ignored before this work. None of Grants other works were ever as successful. He soon then entered the painting into the Art Institute of Chicago for a competition, and the painting was awarded the Norman Wait Harris bronze medal and then purchased by the institute for $300. This was Grants first major art sell and his first prize for any work he had done, and in 1931 American Gothic was exhibited in London and was met with equal success. The painting was soon being reproduced in newspapers, but received backlash when it was printed in the Cedar Rapids Gazette. Iowans who were reading the paper were outraged that they were being depicted as pinched, grim-faced, puritanical Bible-thumpers There was a large amount of negative response from many women in Iowa who were angry about the way Grant depicted the farmers daughter. These women considered the depiction mean and unflatt ering. Grant defended himself, saying that his intention was never to poke fun at anyone, and that the image is really just his own personal depiction of Americans. People who had positive reactions towards American Gothic assumed the painting was more of a satire of the simple life people lived in small rural towns, which was once not thought worthy of high art. American Gothic did make Grant a recognizable artist, but with recognition came harsh criticism. He was accused of creating mass appeal art, and that its viewers could easily understand the content of the paintings. Grant Woods workà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦contributes nothing scientically, emotionally, or esthetically to art or society. It is the culmination of a trend of escapist and isolationist thought which was popular with some groups of yesterday, but which is definitely obsolete today. Its true, his rise of popularity was fast, but after his death in 1942 his fall of popularity was just as equally quick. During the 50s people felt like Woods art was too populist, and that it was always popular among the simple people. What exactly is American Gothic really trying to say? Grant painted the image in 1930, the same year as the start of the Great Depression. Its because the work was created at such dark times in American history that people relate it to the population in the 1930s. In a country mired in economic depression, Woods stoic couple embodied the bedrock values of the nation and the resolve needed to survive the crisis. People could relate to the image, the man standing firmly with his pitchfork, defending his home. Something many people were doing during the 1930s, just trying to defend and keep what is theres. However after a couple of years American Gothics success had dropped and was out of the public eye for about a decade. The image was still a symbol of strength for Americans during crisis during that time. In 1957, for the production Music Man, Meredith Wilson had his actors pose in the same way as Grants figures in American Gothic. Soon after that a cartoonist, Charles Addams, featur ed the figures of American Gothic in one of his New Yorker cartoons. By this time the image became somewhat of a universal image of just plain folk of America. When the civil rights began, the image then took another turn for interpretation. Now, its no longer just or plain folk, the people of the image became symbols for something more. To some people they had become symbols of right-wing and even racist America. The meaning behind the painting seems to always change for different generations depending on the situations the generations are facing, because people always tend to relate works of art to their current situations. Even though the meaning does change, American Gothic is still one of Americas most well known, as well as most parodied, work of art. Honestly the image itself could be interpreted in many different directions because Grant himself took on many different contemporary social issues that are still being debated today. The very title suggests Americas long-standing ambivalent relationship with Europe. The Iowa subject matter pushes to the surface the tension and the mutual lock of understanding that exists between urban and rural America during the Great Depression and that persists today. The image also raises the specter of political partisanship and variant social values. Today American Gothic doesnt necessarily speak of the Midwest, or even of Iowa, and its most likely that people of today dont even realize where the painting is set. But when people look at American Gothic, some just cannot help but smile. This could be why the image is parodied and referenced in so many various ways. American Gothic is indeed one of the most popular pieces of art to ever be parodied so many times. The parodies of the image have all kinds of different purposes. Some might address a specific opinion or viewpoint, and others are just made for nothing more than comedy effect and fun. The first American Gothic parody was most likely the production Music Man, when the characters pose exactly like the man and his daughter in front of their home. The painting made its way onto a General Country Corn Flakes cereal box in the early 60s. The image made its way into an episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show, where an actual parody of the picture is a part of the episodes plot. The producers used American Gothic because they needed a painting that would be instantly recognizable to an American sitcom audience. It was also used in a promotion add for the Beverly Hillbillies for the cover of the Saturday Evening Post, that featured the characters of the show in the same iconic poses as the painting. Many of the decades parodies represented a joking type of attitude toward convections, traditions, authorities, and icons. Some even ridiculed the images and written works they parodied. American Gothic seemed to be more used as a weapon than as a target in its parodies. Almost all of American Gothic parodies-from presidents and first ladies to Mickey and Minnie Mouseà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦operate with the same basic conceit. They manipulate the details of the original, usually the faces, often the clothingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦either to signify the difference between the then of the painting and the now of the parody or to collapse those difference. When it comes to parodies, it really goes back to how people were and still are interpreting the meaning behind American Gothic. The painting is an icon of the American People, and many people have their own interpretations, but the real meaning may always remain unanswered. Grant Wood was an artist who connected with the simple folk of Midwest America in his lifetime through his regionalistic styled art. His image American Gothic is most known for being a symbolic work for the 1930s for being a portrayal of the American pioneer spirit. The image remains a popular iconic image, keeping people interested in its deeper meaning with people creating parodies by relating the work to current events.

The Fundamental Caring Skill of Blood Pressure recording Using an Appro

The fundamental caring skill that was chosen to demonstrate knowledge and understanding within a reflective framework was recording blood pressure. Blood pressure was chosen because it is a critical physiological function and a fundamental indicator of well being (Fullbrook 1993). It is an important and vital observation, in that it allows early therapeutic intervention should a patient’s status change (Fullbrook 1993). This essay will also demonstrate an understanding of best practice for the theory of blood pressure measurement of the patient. The factors which can influence different results in the measuring of blood pressure. In a model of reflection to aid the reflective process Gibbs (1998) was chosen. Before placement started we were given books for Nursing Midwifery Council (NMC 2004) code of professional conduct, and the NMC (2004) guide for students of nursing and midwifery. This gave me the guidelines and knowledge for my accountability and confidentiality. Marieb (1998) suggests that Blood Pressure may be defined as the force exerted by the blood against the walls of the arteries in which it is contained. Differences in blood pressure between different areas of the circulation provide the driving force that keeps the blood moving through the body. Blood pressure is measured for one of two reasons, firstly to determine the patients blood pressure as a baseline prior to admission and secondly to monitor fluctuations within the blood pressure. Blood flow is defined as a volume of blood flowing from the heart through a vessel at any given time. Blood flow is equivalent to cardiac output. Resistance to the cardiac output is the opposit... ...the procedure for taking blood pressure helps to understand the theory behind the practice. To conclude my essay the skill of recording blood pressure is a vital one for the nurse, as we can not always rely on having electronic equipment to hand. I also gained that if different circumstances can have an effect on the pressure reading. I feel I have gained a learning skill I was quite worried about this skill but practice makes easier. The more blood pressure recordings I took me soon realised that no two patients were the same. I also learned that different factors can affect blood pressure, from the patient rushing in late for his appointment which can lead to elevated blood pressure. It has also given me a lot of confidence in myself and confidence with the patients I care for.

Latino Gangs in Movies Essay -- Movies Films Gangs Violence Essays

Latino Gangs in Movies American filmmakers of the late twentieth century portrayed Latinos as merciless pursuers of the "American Dream". The Latino immigrants were characterized as "Urban Bandidos", seeking the path to ultimate wealth and power in a society dominated by Anglo authority. West Side Story, Fort Apache, and Scarface each portrayed the Latino character differently, but commonly depicted the "Urban Bandido" as a man in search of money and power in America. Not only do these immigrants fight for the warped American dream, but they often fight without fear, willing to risk almost anything to reach the top. In West Side Story, the Puerto Rican gang known as the Sharks always gets blamed for the conflicts that arise between the two groups. The Latino males are depicted as violent and angry, while the senoritas are portrayed as submissive and willing to assimilate into the anglo-governed society. The popular musical presents American audiences with the idea of interracial relationships in a society that looks down upon the mixing of cultures. Tony and Maria refuse to ignore their undying love for each other, and put that devotion before all other beliefs and concerns about their opposing social groups. As the two gangs fight for territory, Tony and Maria fight to make their friends understand that it doesn't have to be a "space†¦impregnated with cultural symbols and political significations for the relations, interactions, and social actions according to the "American Way of Life" (Sandoval, 167). Fort Apache conveys the image of a society where Anglos are the strong, heroic force and the Latinos take a submissive, incompetent role in the urban life. Paul Newman plays the white cop, displaying his hero... ...es to gaining the most material wealth possible. The Anglo characters of these late 20th century films play the role of the "good guy", always appearing when the need for a hero or savior arises. Overall, American audiences do not see a great change in the presentation of Latino characters in the storyline. They are portrayed negatively through time, although in the more recent films, the Latino is more of a violent, greedy druglord in place of the typical greaser or bandit that we are accustomed to seeing. The stereotypes remain present through the second half of the century, identifying Latinos as dark, violent, inferior bandits, and the Latinas as weak, unintelligible, sexual objects. It seems as though the American cinema has no intention of introducing the world to a more accurate representation of Latinos and Latinas even as we approach the end of the century.

The Minimum Wage For Restaurant Workers Must Be Raised Essay -- Argume

"It is but equity...that they who feed, clothe and lodge the whole body of the people, should have such a share of the produce of their own labor as to be themselves tolerably well fed, clothed and lodged." -- Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, 1776 The restaurant server is one of the most popular jobs in the country and according to the National Restaurant Association, currently, 1 in 12 Americans work in the restaurant industry and about 50 percent of all adults have worked in the industry at some point during their lives. The industry is clearly very large with over 13 billion workers, but overall, workers in the industry do not get paid very well. According to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), the average annual salary for a server is just over $20,000. In fact, servers are twice as likely to use food stamps as the rest of the U.S. workforce and three times as likely to be living in poverty. The main reason for this is the existence of the tipped minimum wage, which since 1991 has stayed set at $2.13 per hour. Not many people even realize that the tipped minimum wage exists, but according to the DOL, servers in 43 states get paid less than the regular minimum wage hourly based on the assumption that the rest of their wages will come from customer tips. In fact, 22 states pay their tipped workers less than $3 per hour. Although tips can often lead to servers making well over regular minimum wage per hour, overall, tips are very inconsistent and are completely dependent on restaurant customers. Not only does the customer decide how much to tip based on his/her enjoyment of the dining experience, but also servers need busy restaurants in order to make good money. There is an ebb and flow to the restaurant busin... ...y-income-fine-dining-servers-20195.html>. Myotte, Maria. â€Å"Op-Ed: Restaurant Servers Can’t Live on $2.13 an Hour.† Yahoo! News. Yahoo!, 11 Dec. 2013. Web. 30 Oct. 2014. . National Restaurant Association. 2013 Restaurant Industry Pocket Factbook. Rep. National Restaurant Association, 2013. Web. 30 Oct. 2014. . Nayak, Rajesh, and Paul Sonn. Restoring the Minimum Wage for America’s Tipped Workers. Rep. National Employment Law Project, 2009. Web. 30 Oct. 2014. . U.S. Department of Labor. Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees. Rep. U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division, Dec. 2011. Web. 30 Oct. 2014. .

Chapter 12 Zara

CHAPTER Marketing Channels Delivering 12 Customer Value PRE VIEWING We now arrive at the third marketing mix tool—distribution. Firms rarely work alone in creating value for customers and building profitable customer relationships. Instead, most THE CONCEPTS are only a single link in a larger supply chain and marketing channel. As such, an individual firm’s success depends not only on how well it performs but also on how well its entire marketing channel competes with competitors’ channels. To be good at customer relationship management, a company must also be good at partner relationship management.The first part of this chapter explores the nature of marketing channels and the marketer’s channel design and management decisions. We then examine physical distribution—or logistics—an area that is growing dramatically in importance and sophistication. In the next chapter, we’ll look more closely at two major channel intermediaries retailers and wholesalers. We’ll start with a look at a company whose groundbreaking, customer-centred distribution strategy took it to the top of its industry. Q uick, which rental-car company is number one? Chances are good that you said Hertz. Okay, who’s number two?That must be Avis, you say. After all, for years Avis advertising has said, â€Å"We’re #2, so we try harder! † But if you said Hertz or Avis, you’re about to be surprised. By any measure—most locations, revenues, profits, or number of cars—the number-one North American rental-car company is Enterprise Rent-A-Car. What’s more, this is no recent development. Enterprise left number-two Hertz in its rear-view mirror in the late 1990s and has never looked back. What may have fooled you is that for a long time, Hertz was number one in airport car rentals. However, with estimated revenues of US$9. billion and growing, Enterprise now has 30 percent more overall car ren tal sales than Hertz. What’s more, analysts estimate that the privately owned Enterprise is twice as profitable as Hertz. How did Enterprise become such a dominating industry leader? The company might argue that it was through better prices or better marketing. But what contributed most to Enterprise taking the lead was an industry-changing, customer-driven distribution strategy. While competitors such as Hertz and Avis focused on serving travellers at airports, Enterprise developed a new distribution doorway to a large and untapped segment.It opened off-airport, neighbourhood locations that provided short-term carreplacement rentals for people whose cars were wrecked, stolen, or being serviced, or for people who simply wanted a different car for a short trip or special occasion. It all started more than half a century ago when Enterprise founder Jack Taylor discovered an unmet customer need. He was working at a St. Louis auto dealership, and customers often asked him where t hey could get a replacement The tagline â€Å"Pick Enterprise. We’ll Pick You car when theirs was in the shop for repairs or body work.To meet this need, Up† remains the company’s main value Taylor opened a car-leasing business. But rather than competing head-on with proposition. the likes of Hertz and Avis serving travellers at airports, Taylor located his rental offices in centre-city and neighbourhood areas, closer to his replacement-car target customers. These locations also gave Taylor a cost advantage—property rents were lower and he didn’t have to pay airport taxes and fees. Taylor’s groundbreaking distribution strategy worked and the business grew quickly. As he opened multiple locations in St.Louis and other cities, he renamed his business Enterprise Rent-A-Car after the U. S. Navy aircraft carrier on which he had served as a naval aviator. Enterprise continued to focus steadfastly on what it called the â€Å"home-city† marke t, primarily serving customers who’d been in wrecks or whose cars were being serviced. Enterprise branch managers developed strong relationships with local auto insurance adjusters, dealership sales and service personnel, and body shops and service garages, making Enterprise their preferred neighbourhood rental-car provider.Customers in the home-city market had special needs. Often, they were at the scene of a wreck or at a repair shop and had no way to get to an Enterprise office to pick up a rental car. So the company came up with another gamechanging idea—picking customers up wherever they happen to be and bringing them back to the rental office. Hence the tagline: â€Å"Pick Enterprise. We’ll Pick You Up,† which remains the company’s main value proposition to this day. By the late 1980s, Enterprise had a large nationwide network of company-owned off-airport locations and a virtual lock on the home-city market.From this strong base, in the mid-1 990s Enterprise began expanding its distribution system by directly challenging Hertz and Avis in the onairport market. A decade later, it had operations in 230 airports in North America and Europe. Enterprise opened its first Canadian branch in 1993 in Windsor, Ontario, and since then has experienced double-digit growth in Canada. It now employs 2800 Canadians, and has over 35 000 vehicles and 400 locations, including 23 offices serving Canadian airports. In late 2007, Enterprise purchased the Vanguard Car Rental Group, which owned the National and Alamo brands.National focused on the corporate negotiated rental market while Alamo served primarily the leisure traveller airport market. With the Vanguard acquisition, Enterprise now captures a 27. 4 percent share of the airport market, putting it While competitors Hertz and Avis focused on serving travellers at airports, Enterprise opened off-airport, neighbourhood locations that provided short-term car-replacement rentals for people whose cars were wrecked, stolen, or being serviced. neck-and-neck with Hertz at 28. 5 percent and jointly owned Avis/Budget at 30. percent. That, combined with its more than 55 percent share of the off-airport market, makes Enterprise the runaway leader in overall car rental sales. Enterprise owns a stunning one-half of all North American rental cars and is the world’s largest automobile buyer. Last year, it purchased 800 000 cars to support its 7900 locations in the United States and four other countries. However, rather than resting on its laurels, Enterprise continues to seek better ways to get its cars where customers want them.The enterprising company is now motoring into yet another innovative distribution venue—â€Å"car sharing† and hourly rentals. Car sharing was pioneered in the late 1990s by Zipcar, which operates on parking-starved university campuses and in congested urban areas, where it rents cars on an hourly or daily basis to people who want to run errands or make short trips. Zipcar does not currently serve the Canadian university market but does have branches serving the general public in Vancouver and Toronto. Enterprise has now revved up its own car-sharing program, WeCar.This new operation will park automobiles at convenient locations in densely populated urban areas, where residents often don’t own cars and where business OBJECTIVES 1 2 3 4 5 Explain why companies use marketing channels and discuss the functions these channels perform. Discuss how channel members interact and how they organize to perform the work of the channel. Identify the major channel alternatives open to a company. Explain how companies select, motivate, and evaluate channel members. Discuss the nature and importance of marketing logistics and integrated supply chain management. 90 Part 3 Designing a Customer-Driven Strategy and Mix commuters would like to have occasional car access. Enterprise will also target businesses that want to hav e WeCar vehicles available in their parking lots for commuting employees to use. WeCar members pay a US$35 annual membership fee. They can then rent conveniently located, fuel-efficient cars (mostly Toyota Prius hybrids) for US$10 per hour or US$30 overnight—the rate includes gas and a 200-mile allotment. Renting a WeCar vehicle is a simple get-in-and-go operation.Just pass your member key fob over a sensor to unlock the car, then open the glove box and enter a PIN to release the car key. Although the carsharing market now belongs to tiny Zipcar, a US$100 million company that has cars on more than 70 university campuses in several large metropolitan areas, look for giant Enterprise to perfect and expand the new distribution concept. Thus, Enterprise continues to move ahead aggressively with its winning distribution strategy. Says Andy Taylor, founder Jack’s son and now longtime Enterprise CEO, â€Å"We own the high ground in this business and we aren’t going to give it up.As the dynamics of our industry continue to evolve, it’s clear to us that the future belongs to the service providers who offer the broadest array of services for anyone who needs or wants to rent a car. † The company intends to make cars available wherever, whenever, and however customers want them. 1 As the Enterprise story shows, good distribution strategies can contribute strongly to customer value and create competitive advantage for both a firm and its channel partners. It demonstrates that firms cannot bring value to customers by themselves.Instead, they must work closely with other firms in a larger value delivery network. 1 Value delivery network The network made up of the company, suppliers, distributors, and ultimately customers who â€Å"partner† with each other to improve the performance of the entire system in delivering customer value. Supply Chains and the Value Delivery Network Producing a product or service and making it available to buyers requires building relationships not just with customers, but also with key suppliers and resellers in the company’s supply chain. This supply chain consists of â€Å"upstream† and â€Å"downstream† partners.Upstream from the company is the set of firms that supply the raw materials, components, parts, information, finances, and expertise needed to create a product or service. Marketers, however, have traditionally focused on the â€Å"downstream† side of the supply chain—on the marketing channels (or distribution channels) that look toward the customer. Downstream marketing channel partners, such as wholesalers and retailers, form a vital connection between the firm and its customers. The term supply chain may be too limited—it takes a make-and-sell view of the business.It suggests that raw materials, productive inputs, and factory capacity should serve as the starting point for market planning. A better term would be demand chain be cause it suggests a sense-and-respond view of the market. Under this view, planning starts with the needs of target customers, to which the company responds by organizing a chain of resources and activities with the goal of creating customer value. Even a demand chain view of a business may be too limited, because it takes a step-by-step, linear view of purchase–production–consumption activities.With the advent of the Internet and other technologies, however, companies are forming more numerous and complex relationships with other firms. For example, Ford manages numerous supply chains. It also sponsors or transacts on many B2B websites and online purchasing exchanges as needs arise. Like Ford, most large companies today are engaged in building and managing a continuously evolving value delivery network. As defined in Chapter 2, a value delivery network is made up of the company, suppliers, distributors, and ultimately customers who â€Å"partner† with each othe r to improve the performance of the entire system.For example, in making and marketing its iPod touch products, Apple manages an entire network of peoValue delivery network: In making and market- ple within Apple plus suppliers and resellers outside the company who work ing iPod touch products, Apple manages an together effectively to give final customers â€Å"so much to touch. † This chapter focuses on marketing channels—on the downstream side of the entire network of people within Apple plus suppliers and resellers outside the company who value delivery network.We examine four major questions concerning marketing work effectively together to give final cus- channels: What is the nature of marketing channels and why are they important? tomers â€Å"so much to touch. † How do channel firms interact and organize to do the work of the channel? What Chapter 12 Marketing Channels Delivering Customer Value 391 problems do companies face in designing and managing the ir channels? What role do physical distribution and supply chain management play in attracting and satisfying customers? In Chapter 13, we will look at marketing channel issues from the viewpoint of retailers and wholesalers.The Nature and Importance of Marketing Channels Marketing channel (distribution channel) A set of interdependent organizations that help make a product or service available for use or consumption by the consumer or business user. Few producers sell their goods directly to the final users. Instead, most use intermediaries to bring their products to market. They try to forge a marketing channel (or distribution channel)—a set of interdependent organizations that help make a product or service available for use or consumption by the consumer or business user.A company’s channel decisions directly affect every other marketing decision. Pricing depends on whether the company works with national discount chains, uses high-quality specialty stores, or sel ls directly to consumers via the Web. The firm’s sales force and communications decisions depend on how much persuasion, training, motivation, and support its channel partners need. Whether a company develops or acquires certain new products may depend on how well those products fit the capabilities of its channel members.For example, Kodak initially sold its EasyShare printers only in Best Buy stores to take advantage of the retailer’s on-the-floor sales staff and their ability to educate buyers on the economics of paying higher initial prices but lower long-term ink costs. Companies often pay too little attention to their distribution channels, sometimes with damaging results. In contrast, many companies have used imaginative distribution systems to gain a competitive advantage. FedEx’s creative and imposing distribution system made it a leader in express delivery. Enterprise revolutionized the car-rental business by setting up off-airport rental offices.And A mazon. com pioneered the sales of books and a wide range of other goods via the Internet. Distribution channel decisions often involve long-term commitments to other firms. For example, companies such as Ford, HP, or McDonald’s can easily change their advertising, pricing, or promotion programs. They can scrap old products and introduce new ones as market tastes demand. But when they set up distribution channels through contracts with franchisees, independent dealers, or large retailers, they cannot readily replace these channels with company-owned stores or websites if conditions change.Therefore, management must design its channels carefully, with an eye on tomorrow’s likely selling environment as well as today’s. How Channel Members Add Value Why do producers give some of the selling job to channel partners? After all, doing so means giving up some control over how and to whom they sell their products. Producers use intermediaries because they create greater efficiency in making goods available to target markets. Through their contacts, experience, specialization, and scale of operation, intermediaries usually offer the firm more than it can achieve on its own. Figure 12. shows how using intermediaries can provide economies. Figure 12. 1A shows three manufacturers, each using direct marketing to reach three customers. This system requires nine different contacts. Figure 12. 1B shows the three manufacturers working through one distributor, which contacts the three customers. This system requires only six contacts. In this way, intermediaries reduce the amount of work that must be done by both producers and consumers. From the economic system’s point of view, the role of marketing intermediaries is to transform the assortment of products made by producers into the assortment wanted by consumers.Producers make narrow assortments of products in large quantities, but consumers want broad assortments of products in small quantities. Ma rketing channel members buy large quantities from many producers and break them down into the smaller quantities and broader assortments wanted by consumers. 392 Part 3 Designing a Customer-Driven Strategy and Mix 1 Manufacturer 3 4 Manufacturer 6 7 Manufacturer 8 9 Customer Manufacturer 6 3 Customer 5 2 Customer Manufacturer Distributor 5 Customer 2 Customer Manufacturer 1 4 Customer A. Number of contacts without a distributor M? C=3? 3=9 B.Number of contacts with a distributor M+C=3+3=6 Figure 12. 1 How adding a distributor reduces the number of channel transactions For example, Unilever makes millions of bars of Lever 2000 hand soap each day, but you want to buy only a few bars at a time. So big food, drug, and discount retailers, such as Superstore, Shoppers Drug Mart, and Walmart, buy Lever 2000 by the truckload and stock it on their store shelves. In turn, you can buy a single bar of Lever 2000, along with a shopping cart full of small quantities of toothpaste, shampoo, and ot her related products as you need them.Thus, intermediaries play an important role in matching supply and demand. In making products and services available to consumers, channel members add value by bridging the major time, place, and possession gaps that separate goods and services from those who would use them. Members of the marketing channel perform many key functions. Some help to complete transactions: †¢ Information: Gathering and distributing marketing research and intelligence information about actors and forces in the marketing environment needed for planning and aiding exchange. Promotion: Developing and spreading persuasive communications about an offer. †¢ Contact: Finding and communicating with prospective buyers. †¢ Matching: Shaping and fitting the offer to the buyer’s needs, including activities such as manufacturing, grading, assembling, and packaging. †¢ Negotiation: Reaching an agreement on price and other terms of the offer so that owne rship or possession can be transferred. Others help to fulfill the completed transactions: †¢ Physical distribution: Transporting and storing goods. †¢ Financing: Acquiring and using funds to cover the costs of the channel work. Risk taking: Assuming the risks of carrying out the channel work. And a new item that has been added to the list of functions to be performed within the supply chain is environmental sustainability. Take the case of Toronto-based Grand & Toy: In 2007, Grand & Toy, Canada’s leading provider of business solutions, announced a new corporate strategy aimed at becoming a leader in environmental sustainability. Among its initiatives was a plan to significantly reduce its environmental footprint in supply chain carbon intensity, packaging, recycling of waste, and distribution centre management.In just a few short years, Grand & Toy has established itself as a leader in sustainable procurement practices, In 2009, for example, the company sponsored t wo free sustainable procurement showcases to help supply chain management professionals understand how sustainability is becoming a key driver for innovative procurement solutions, and how to adopt sustainable supply chain practices when working with suppliers and partners that maximize both profitability and corporate social responsibility. 2 Chapter 12 Marketing Channels Delivering Customer Value 393 FPOThe question is not whether these functions need to be performed—they must be—but rather who will perform them. To the extent that the manufacturer performs these functions, its costs go up and its prices must be higher. When some of these functions are shifted to intermediaries, the producer’s costs and prices may be lower, but the intermediaries must charge more to cover the costs of their work. In dividing the work of the channel, the various functions should be assigned to the channel members who can add the most value for the cost. Number of Channel Levels Companies can design their distribution channels to make products and services available to customers in different ways. Each layer of marketing intermediaries that perform some work in bringing the product and its ownership closer to the final buyer is a channel level. Because the producer and the final consumer both perform some work, they are part of every channel. The number of intermediary levels indicates the length of a channel. Figure 12. 2A shows several consumer distribution chanGrand & Toy’s sustainability vision involves â€Å"powering the potential of Canadian businesses to lead the journey towards sustainability. nels of different lengths. Channel 1, called a direct marketing channel, has no intermediary levels; the company sells directly to consumers. For example, Mary Kay and Amway sell their products door-to-door, Channel level through home and office sales parties, and on the Web; Veseys, located in York, Prince EdA layer of intermediaries that ward Island, sells its plants and bulbs to gardeners across the country through mail cataperform some work in bringing the logues, by telephone, and online. The remaining channels in Figure 12. 2A re indirect product and its ownership closer marketing channels, containing one or more intermediaries. to the final buyer. Figure 12. 2B shows some common business distribution channels. The business marDirect marketing channel keter can use its own sales force to sell directly to business customers. Or it can sell to various A marketing channel that has no types of intermediaries, who in turn sell to these customers. Consumer and business marketintermediary levels. ing channels with even more levels can sometimes be found, but less often.From the proIndirect marketing channel ducer’s point of view, a greater number of levels means less control and greater channel A marketing channel containing complexity. Moreover, all of the institutions in the channel are connected by several types of one o r more intermediary levels. flows. These include the physical flow of products, the flow of ownership, the payment flow, the information flow, and the promotion flow. These flows can make even channels with only one or a few levels very complex. Producer Producer Producer Producer Producer Producer Wholesaler Manufacturer? s representatives or sales branch RetailerRetailer Business distributor Business distributor Consumer Channel 1 Consumer Channel 2 Consumer Channel 3 Business customer Channel 1 Business customer Channel 2 Business customer Channel 3 A. Consumer marketing channels B. Business marketing channels Figure 12. 2 Consumer and business marketing channels 394 Part 3 Designing a Customer-Driven Strategy and Mix 2 Channel Behaviour and Organization Distribution channels are more than simple collections of firms tied together by various flows. They are complex behavioural systems in which people and companies interact to accomplish individual, company, and channel goals.Some channel systems consist only of informal interactions among loosely organized firms. Others consist of formal interactions guided by strong organizational structures. Moreover, channel systems do not stand still— new types of intermediaries emerge and whole new channel systems evolve. Here we look at channel behaviour and at how members organize to do the work of the channel. Channel Behaviour A marketing channel consists of firms that have partnered for their common good. Each channel member depends on the others. For example, a Ford dealer depends on Ford to design cars that meet consumer needs.In turn, Ford depends on the dealer to attract consumers, persuade them to buy Ford cars, and service cars after the sale. Each Ford dealer also depends on other dealers to provide good sales and service that will uphold the brand’s reputation. In fact, the success of individual Ford dealers depends on how well the entire Ford marketing channel competes with the channels of o ther auto manufacturers. Each channel member plays a specialized role in the channel. For example, consumer electronics maker Samsung’s role is to produce electronics products that consumers will like and to create demand through national advertising.Future Shop’s role is to display these Samsung products in convenient locations, to answer buyers’ questions, and to complete sales. The channel will be most effective when each member assumes the tasks it can do best. Ideally, because the success of individual channel members depends on overall channel success, all channel firms should work together smoothly. They should understand and accept their roles, coordinate their activities, and cooperate to attain overall channel goals. However, individual channel members rarely take such a broad view.Cooperating to achieve overall channel goals sometimes means giving up individual company goals. Although channel members depend on one another, they often act alone in thei r own short-run best interests. They often disagree about who should do what and for what rewards. Such disagreements over goals, roles, and rewards generate channel conflict. Horizontal conflict occurs among firms at the same level of the channel. For instance, some Ford dealers in Vancouver might complain that the other dealers in the city steal sales from them by pricing too low or by advertising outside their assigned territories.Or Holiday Inn franchisees might complain about other Holiday Inn operators overcharging guests or giving poor service, hurting the overall Holiday Inn image. Vertical conflict, conflicts between different levels of the same channel, is even more common. For example, Goodyear created hard feelings and conflict with its premier independent-dealer channel when it began selling through mass-merchant retailers: For more than 60 years Goodyear sold replacement tires exclusively through its premier network of independent Goodyear dealers.Then, in the 1990s, G oodyear shattered tradition and jolted its dealers by agreeing to sell its tires through mass merchants such as Sears and Walmart, placing dealers in direct competition with the nation’s Channel conflict Disagreements among marketing channel members on goals and roles—who should do what and for what rewards. Channel conflict: Goodyear created conflict with its premier independent-dealer channel when it began selling through mass-merchant retailers. Fractured dealer relations weakened the Goodyear name and dropped the company into a more than decade-long profit funk.Chapter 12 Marketing Channels Delivering Customer Value 395 most potent retailers. Goodyear claimed that value-minded tire buyers were increasingly buying from cheaper, multibrand discount outlets and department stores, and that it simply had to put its tires where many consumers were going to buy them. Not surprisingly, Goodyear’s aggressive moves into new channels set off a surge of channel conflict , and dealer relations deteriorated rapidly. Some of Goodyear’s best dealers defected to competitors. Other angry dealers struck back by taking on competing brands of cheaper private-label tires.Such dealer actions weakened the Goodyear name, and the company’s replacement tire sales—which make up 71 percent of its revenues—went flat, dropping the company into a more than decade-long profit funk. Although Goodyear has since actively set about repairing fractured dealer relations, it still has not fully recovered. â€Å"We lost sight of the fact that it’s in our interest that our dealers succeed,† admits a Goodyear executive. 3 Some conflict in the channel takes the form of healthy competition. Such competition can be good for the channel—without it, the channel could become passive and noninnovative.But severe or prolonged conflict, as in the case of Goodyear, can disrupt channel effectiveness and cause lasting harm to channel relation ships. Companies should manage channel conflict to keep it from getting out of hand. Vertical Marketing Systems Conventional distribution channel A channel consisting of one or more independent producers, wholesalers, and retailers, each a separate business seeking to maximize its own profits, even at the expense of profits for the system as a whole. Vertical marketing system (VMS) A distribution channel structure in which producers, wholesalers, and retailers act as a unified system.One channel member owns the others, has contracts with them, or has so much power that they must all cooperate. For the channel as a whole to perform well, each channel member’s role must be specified and channel conflict must be managed. The channel will perform better if it includes a firm, agency, or mechanism that provides leadership and has the power to assign roles and manage conflict. Historically, conventional distribution channels have lacked such leadership and power, often resulting in damaging conflict and poor performance.One of the biggest channel developments over the years has been the emergence of vertical marketing systems that provide channel leadership. Figure 12. 3 contrasts the two types of channel arrangements. A conventional distribution channel consists of one or more independent producers, wholesalers, and retailers. Each is a separate business seeking to maximize its own profits, perhaps even at the expense of the system as a whole. No channel member has much control over the other members, and no formal means exists for assigning roles and resolving channel conflict.In contrast, a vertical marketing system (VMS) consists of producers, wholesalers, and retailers acting as a unified system. One channel member owns the others, has contracts with them, or wields so much power that they must all cooperate. The VMS can be dominated by the producer, wholesaler, or retailer. The Forzani Group, headquartered in Calgary, is an example of a retail-dominated VMS. It owns and operates a range of sporting Consumer Figure 12. 3 Comparison of a conventional distribution channel with vertical marketing system Conventional marketing channelVertical marketing channel 396 Part 3 Designing a Customer-Driven Strategy and Mix goods stores including Sport Chek, Coast Mountain Sports, Sport Mart, Athletes World, Hockey Experts, and National Sports. We look now at three major types of VMSs: corporate, contractual, and administered. Each uses a different means for setting up leadership and power in the channel. Corporate VMS Corporate VMS A vertical marketing system that combines successive stages of production and distribution under single ownership—channel leadership is established through common ownership.A corporate VMS integrates successive stages of production and distribution under single ownership. Coordination and conflict management are attained through regular organizational channels. For example, U. S. grocery giant Kroger owns and operates 42 factories that crank out more than 8000 private-label items found on its store shelves. Similarly, to help supply products for its 1760 grocery stores, Safeway owns and operates nine milk plants, eight bakery plants, four ice cream plants, four soft drink bottling plants, and four fruit and vegetable processing plants.And little-known Italian eyewear maker Luxottica produces many famous eyewear brands—including its own Ray-Ban brand and licensed brands such as Polo Ralph Lauren, Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, Versace, and Bvlgari. It then sells these brands through two of the world’s largest optical chains, LensCrafters and Sunglass Hut, which it also owns. 4 Controlling the entire distribution chain has turned Spanish clothing chain Zara into the world’s fastest-growing fashion retailer: The secret to Zara’s success is its control over almost every aspect of the supply chain, from design and production to its own worldwide distribution network.Zara makes 40 percent of its own fabrics and produces more than half of its own clothes, rather than relying on a hodgepodge of slow-moving suppliers. New designs feed into Zara manufacturing centres, which ship finished products directly to 1161 Zara stores in 68 countries, saving time, eliminating the need for warehouses, and keeping inventories low. Effective vertical integration makes Zara faster, more flexible, and more efficient than international competitors such as the Gap, Benetton, and H&M. And Zara’s low costs let it offer midmarket chic at downmarket prices.A couple of summers ago, Zara managed to latch onto one of the season’s hottest trends in just four weeks (versus an industry average of nine months). The process started when trendspotters spread the word back to headquarters: White eyelet—cotton with tiny holes in it—was set to become white-hot. A quick telephone survey of Zara store managers confirmed that the fabric could be a winner, so in -house designers got down to work. They zapped patterns electronically to Zara’s factory across the street, and the fabric was cut.Local subcontractors stitched white-eyelet V-neck belted dresses—think Jackie Kennedy, circa 1960—and finished them in less than a week. The US$129 dresses were inspected, tagged, and transported through a tunnel under the street to a distribution centre. From there, they were quickly dispatched to Zara stores from New York to Tokyo—where they were flying off the racks just two days later. In all, the company’s stylish but affordable offerings have attracted a cult following. Zara store sales grew almost 40 percent last year to nearly US$9. 8 billion. 5 Contractual VMSA contractual VMS consists of independent firms at different levels of production and distribution who join together through contracts to obtain more economies or sales impact than each could achieve alone. Channel members coordinate their activities and m anage conflict through contractual agreements. Corporate VMS: Effective vertical integration makes Zara more flexible and more efficient—a virtual blur compared with competitors. It can take a new line from design to production to worldwide distribution in its own stores in less than a month (versus an industry average of nine months).Chapter 12 Marketing Channels Delivering Customer Value 397 Contractual VMS A vertical marketing system in which independent firms at different levels of production and distribution join together through contracts to obtain more economies or sales impact than they could achieve alone. Franchise organization A contractual vertical marketing system in which a channel member, called a franchisor, links several stages in the production–distribution process. The franchise organization is the most common type of contractual relationship—a channel member called a franchisor links several stages in the production–distribution proces s.Franchising has been the fastest-growing retailing form in Canada, growing more than 20 percent since 1993. It is estimated that Canada has four times more franchises per capita than the United States, with over 78 000 franchises across the country. Canadian franchising employs over 1 million people and represents over $100 billion in annual sales. 6 Almost every kind of business has been franchised—from motels and fast-food restaurants to dental centres and dating services, from wedding consultants and maid services to fitness centres and funeral homes. There are three types of franchises.The first type is the manufacturer-sponsored retailer franchise system—for example, Ford and its network of independent franchised dealers. The second type is the manufacturer-sponsored wholesaler franchise system—Coca-Cola licenses bottlers (wholesalers) in various markets who buy Coca-Cola syrup concentrate and then bottle and sell the finished product to retailers in loca l markets. The third type is the service-firmsponsored retailer franchise system—examples are found in the auto-rental business (Hertz, Avis), the fast-food service business (McDonald’s, Burger King), the motel usiness (Holiday Inn, Ramada), and more recently in health care (Vancouver-based Nurse Next Door). Let’s face it: Canadians are getting older. And with the aging population comes a greater need for quality senior home health care. Enter Ken Sim and John DeHart, founders of Nurse Next Door Home Healthcare Services, who sought to â€Å"provide high quality services that could help improve the lives of those struggling with sick or aging family members. † Established in 2001, the company began franchising in 2007.By 2009, Nurse Next Door had 30 franchises across Canada and continues to expand at a rate of two franchises per month across North America—a staggering 3400 percent growth rate since 2001! The company’s success has largely been attributed to the way it supports its franchise operators. For example, client calls are handled through a centralized call centre in Vancouver, freeing franchisees from the time-consuming task of fielding urgent calls around the clock. Nurse Next Door is highly selective about which franchisee applicants it takes on, and those that are successful receive the highest level of support and training possible.The company has earned a number of awards, including being named the sixth best midsize franchise system in North America by Franchise Business Review in 2009. As it looks toward the future, Nurse Next Door’s goal is to generate $1 billion in sales and have 500 franchisees worldwide by 2021. Given its explosive growth and the aging world population, this goal seems very achievable. 7 Nurse Next Door’s strategy of â€Å"treating franchisees like customers it aims to retain for decades† has led to rapid growth for this Canadian company. 398Part 3 Designing a Cus tomer-Driven Strategy and Mix The fact that most consumers cannot tell the difference between contractual and corporate VMSs shows how successfully the contractual organizations compete with corporate chains. Chapter 13 presents a fuller discussion of the various contractual VMSs. Administered VMS Administered VMS A vertical marketing system that coordinates successive stages of production and distribution, not through common ownership or contractual ties, but through the size and power of one of the parties.In an administered VMS, leadership is assumed not through common ownership or contractual ties but through the size and power of one or a few dominant channel members. Manufacturers of a top brand can obtain strong trade cooperation and support from resellers. For example, General Electric, Procter & Gamble, and Kraft can command unusual cooperation from resellers regarding displays, shelf space, promotions, and price policies. Large retailers such as Walmart, Home Depot, and Ch apters Indigo can exert strong influence on the manufacturers that supply the products they sell.Horizontal Marketing Systems Horizontal marketing system A channel arrangement in which two or more companies at one level join together to follow a new marketing opportunity. Another channel development is the horizontal marketing system, in which two or more companies at one level join together to follow a new marketing opportunity. By working together, companies can combine their financial, production, or marketing resources to accomplish more than any one company could alone. Companies might join forces with competitors or noncompetitors.They might work with each other on a temporary or permanent basis, or they may create a separate company. For example, McDonald’s now places â€Å"express† versions of its restaurants in Walmart stores. McDonald’s benefits from Walmart’s heavy store traffic, and Walmart keeps hungry shoppers from needing to go elsewhere to eat. In another example, once major competitors, Canada’s two largest wineries, T. G. Bright & Co. and Cartier Inniskillin Vintners Inc. , formed an alliance so that they could increase their economies of scale and resources. This was necessary because they wanted to export to the U.S. market, which is dominated by huge American vintners, such as E. &J. Gallo. Such channel arrangements also work well globally. For example, McDonald’s recently joined forces with Sinopec, China’s largest gasoline retailer, to place drive-through restaurants at Sinopec’s more than 31 000 gas stations. The move greatly speeds McDonald’s expansion into China while at the same time pulling hungry motorists into Sinopec gas stations. 8 Multichannel distribution system A distribution system in which a single firm sets up two or more marketing channels to reach one or more customer segments.Multichannel Distribution Systems In the past, many companies used a single channel to sell to a single market or market segment. Today, with the proliferation of customer segments and channel possibilities, more and more companies have adopted multichannel distribution systems— often called hybrid marketing channels. Such multichannel marketing occurs when a single firm sets up two or more marketing channels to reach one or more customer segments. The use of multichannel systems has increased greatly in recent years. Figure 12. 4 shows a multichannel marketing system.In the figure, the producer sells directly to consumer segment 1 using direct-mail catalogues, telemarketing, and the Internet and reaches consumer segment 2 through retailers. It sells indirectly to business Horizontal marketing systems: McDonald’s recently joined forces with Sinopec, China’s largest gasoline retailer, to place restaurants at its more than 31 000 gas stations. Here, the presidents of the two companies shake hands while announcing the partnership. Chapter 12 Mark eting Channels Delivering Customer Value 399 Figure 12. 4 Multichannel distribution system ProducerDistributors Catalogues, telephone, Internet Retailers Dealers Sales force Consumer segment 1 Consumer segment 2 Business segment 1 Business segment 2 segment 1 through distributors and dealers and to business segment 2 through its own sales force. These days, almost every large company and many small ones distribute through multiple channels. For example, John Deere sells its familiar green and yellow lawn and garden tractors, mowers, and outdoor power products to consumers and commercial users through several channels, including John Deere retailers, Home Depot stores, and online.It sells and services its tractors, combines, planters, and other agricultural equipment through its premium John Deere dealer network. And it sells large construction and forestry equipment through selected large, full-service dealers and their sales forces. Multichannel distribution systems offer many adva ntages to companies facing large and complex markets. With each new channel, the company expands its sales and market coverage and gains opportunities to tailor its products and services to the specific needs of diverse customer segments.But such multichannel systems are harder to control, and they generate conflict as more channels compete for customers and sales. For example, when John Deere began selling selected consumer products through Home Depot, many of its dealers complained loudly. To avoid such conflicts in its Internet marketing channels, the company routes all of its website sales to John Deere dealers. Changing Channel Organization Disintermediation The cutting out of marketing channel intermediaries by product or service producers, or the displacement of traditional resellers by radical new types of intermediaries.Changes in technology and the explosive growth of direct and online marketing are having a profound impact on the nature and design of marketing channels. O ne major trend is toward disintermediation—a big term with a clear message and important consequences. Disintermediation occurs when product or service producers cut out intermediaries and go directly to final buyers, or when radically new types of channel intermediaries displace traditional ones. Thus, in many industries traditional intermediaries are dropping by the wayside.For example, Air Canada is selling directly to final buyers, cutting travel agents from its marketing channels altogether. In other cases, new forms of resellers are displacing traditional intermediaries. For example, online marketing is growing rapidly, taking business from traditional brick-and-mortar retailers to the Internet. Consumers can buy airline tickets and hotel rooms from Expedia. ca and Travelzoo. com; electronics from SonyStyle. com; clothes and accessories from Bluefly. com; and books, videos, toys, jewellery, sports, consumer electronics, home and garden items, and almost anything else fr om Amazon. a—all without ever stepping into a traditional retail store. Online music download services such as iTunes and Yahoo! Music are threatening the very existence of traditional music-store retailers. 400 Part 3 Designing a Customer-Driven Strategy and Mix Avoiding disintermediation problems: Black & Decker’s website provides detailed information, but you can’t buy any of the company’s products there. Instead, Black & Decker refers you to resellers’ websites and stores. In fact, once-dominant music retailer Tower Records declared bankruptcy and closed its doors for good.Disintermediation presents both opportunities and problems for producers and resellers. Channel innovators who find new ways to add value in the channel can sweep aside traditional resellers and reap the rewards. In turn, traditional intermediaries must continue to innovate to avoid being swept aside. For example, when Netflix pioneered online video rentals, it sent tradition al brick-and-mortar video-rental stores such as Blockbuster reeling. To meet the threat, Blockbuster developed its own online DVD-rental service.Now, both Netflix and Blockbuster face disintermediation threats from an even hotter channel—digital video distribution (see Real Marketing 12. 1). Similarly, to remain competitive, product and service producers must develop new channel opportunities such as the Internet and other direct channels. However, developing these new channels often brings them into direct competition with their established channels, resulting in conflict. To ease this problem, companies often look for ways to make going direct a plus for the entire channel.For example, Black & Decker knows that many customers would prefer to buy its power tools and outdoor power equipment online. But selling directly through its website would create conflicts with important and powerful retail partners such as Home Depot, Lowe’s, Walmart, and Amazon. ca. So, although Black & Decker’s website provides detailed information about the company’s products, you can’t buy a new Black & Decker cordless drill, laser level, or leaf blower there. Instead, the Black & Decker website refers you to resellers’ websites and stores.Thus, Black & Decker’s direct marketing helps both the company and its channel partners. 3 Channel Design Decisions We now look at several channel decisions manufacturers face. In designing marketing channels, manufacturers struggle between what is ideal and what is practical. A new firm with limited capital usually starts by selling in a limited market area. Deciding on the best channels might not be a problem: The problem might simply be how to convince one or a few good intermediaries to handle the line. If successful, the new firm can branch out to new markets through the existing intermediaries.In smaller markets, the firm might sell directly to retailers; in larger markets, it might sell throug h distributors. In one part of the country, it might grant exclusive franchises; in another, it might sell through all available outlets. Then, it might add a web store that sells directly to hard-to-reach customers. In this way, channel systems often evolve to meet market opportunities and conditions. Real Marketing Netflix: Disintermediator or Disintermediated? 12. 1 Baseball great Yogi Berra, known more for his mangled phrasing than for his baseball prowess, once said, â€Å"The future ain’t what it used to be. For Netflix, the world’s largest online movie-rental service, no matter how you say it, figuring out the future is challenging and a bit scary. Netflix faces dramatic changes in how movies and other entertainment content will be distributed. The question is, will Netflix be among the disintermediators or among the disintermediated? Less than a decade ago, if you wanted to watch a movie in the comfort of your own home, your only choice was to roust yourself o ut of that easy chair and trot down to the local Blockbuster or another neighbourhood movie-rental store.In fact, that’s how most people still Netflix faces dramatic changes in how movies and other entertainment content will be distributed. Instead of simply do it. Blockbuster has grown to become watching the developments, Netflix intends to lead them. the world’s largest store-rental chain, Since first opening its virtual doors, Netflix has continwith more than 7800 outlets worldwide ued to add innovative features. Its â€Å"dynamic queue† lets and more than US$5. 5 billion in annual sales. customers select as many movie titles as they wish and rank But now, thanks to Netflix, that distribution model is them by preference.Netflix has also developed an online changing quickly. In the late 1990s, Netflix pioneered a new recommendation system, called Cinematch, to help customers way to rent movies—via the Web and direct mail. With Netflix, find movies theyà ¢â‚¬â„¢ll love based on their own past ratings, you pay a monthly subscription fee and create a movie wish member and critic reviews, and top-rented lists. list online. Netflix mails you a set number of DVDs from your As a result, more and more customers are signing up list at a given time, which you can keep for as long as you like. ith Netflix. Membership has grown to more than 7. 5 million As you return the DVDs in prepaid return envelopes, Netflix subscribers, and in just the past two years, sales and profits automatically sends you new ones from your list. While Netflix have surged 77 percent and 60 percent, respectively. Meanis not available in Canada, Zip. ca offers a very similar service, while, Netflix’s success has sent Blockbuster and other videooffering Canadians over 72 000 titles to choose from. rental stores reeling.As Netflix sales and profits have soared, Netflix offers lots of advantages over the traditional Blockbuster’s sales have lagged and losses have mounted. Blockbuster brick-and-mortar system. With store video The video rental giant has lost money in 10 of the last rentals, you have to make a special trip whenever you want a 11 years. Although the traditional brick-and-mortar videomovie, and if you don’t plan ahead, you’ll probably find the rental market is still alive and kicking, it’s stagnating as the latest hot releases out of stock.As for finding copies of oldies red-hot online channel gains momentum. but goodies, or an old documentary or independent film, To meet the disintermediation threat, Blockbuster introforget it—stores can hold only a limited selection of DVDs. duced its own online video-rental service. In fact, Blockbuster Finally, many consumers are frustrated by short due dates Total Access takes the new distribution model one step furand those dreaded late return fees. In contrast, Netflix isn’t ther. Total Access customers can order videos online and bound by store-spac e limitations.It offers a huge selection of then return or exchange them either through the mail or at more than 90 000 titles and 40 million DVDs. The Netflix systheir local Blockbuster store. Blockbuster’s online business tem eliminates store trips—you always have a stack of DVDs quickly grew to over 2 million subscribers before levelling off. on hand. And there are no per-movie charges, no due dates, and no late fees. 402 Part 3 Designing a Customer-Driven Strategy and Mix However, for the most part, Blockbuster is still struggling to find the right formula.And so the video-rental channels battle continues. Blockbuster claims the advantages of a click-and-mortar model that offers both online and store services. In contrast, Netflix sees physical stores as an unnecessary and costly limitation. Says Netflix founder and CEO Reed Hastings, â€Å"For people who’d love never to go into a Blockbuster store ever again, we offer better selection, better tools for cho osing movies, and more consistent overnight delivery. † Either way, there’s no going back to the past—the two competitors are rapidly disintermediating store-only video-rental outfits.But just as the present isn’t what it used to be, neither is the future. At the same time that Netflix is displacing traditional store channels, it faces its own disintermediation threat from a potentially even hotter channel—digital video distribution in the form of digital downloads and video on demand (VOD). Digital distribution is a fact of life in the music industry, where music download services are quickly making traditional CD retailers obsolete. Most experts agree that it’s only a matter of time before digital video distribution displaces DVD video sales and rentals.In fact, it’s already begun. These days, you can download all kinds of video entertainment—from movies and TV shows to ads and amateur videos—to your computer, iPod, or even your cellphone. Satellite and cable TV companies are promising VOD services that will let you view movies and other video entertainment on television whenever and wherever you wish. And video-rental download services such as CinemaNow are already offering a growing list of downloadable titles via the Web.Digital video downloads and video on demand create obvious cost, distribution, and customer convenience advantages over physically producing and distributing DVDs. For sure, the digital video distribution industry still faces problems. Downloading videos can take a lot of time and yields less-than-DVD quality. Perhaps the biggest barrier so far— Hollywood has been cautious about granting video distribution rights, severely limiting the number of available titles. In time, however, all these limitations will likely dissipate. When that happens, it could be lights out for the DVD sales and rental industry.Netflix CEO Hastings understands the future challenges. â€Å"Weâ⠂¬â„¢re sure that we’re going to be buying cars in 25 years, whereas renting DVDs through the mail in 25 years—for sure that’s not going to exist,† he says. The solution? Keep innovating. Instead of simply watching digital video distribution developments, Netflix intends to lead them. Netflix has already added a â€Å"watch instantly† feature to its website that allows subscribers to instantly stream near-DVD-quality video for a limited but growing list of movie titles and TV programs. Our intention,† says Hastings, â€Å"is to get [our watch instantly] service to every Internet-connected screen, from cellphones to laptops to WiFi-enabled plasma screens. † In this way, Netflix plans to disintermediate its own distribution model before others can do it. Compared to the United States, the online DVD market in Canada is still in its infancy. Thus, it is anticipated that Canadian firms like Zip. ca will experience more modest growth, primar ily because of the lack of content rights in this country as compared to those in the Unites States. To Hastings, the key to the future is all in how Netflix defines itself. If [you] think of Netflix as a DVD rental business, [you’re] right to be scared,† he says. But â€Å"if [you] think of Netflix as an online movie service with multiple different delivery models, then [you’re] a lot less scared. We’re only now starting to deliver [on] that second vision. † When asked what Netflix will be like in five years, Hasting responds, â€Å"We hope to be much larger, have more subscribers, and be successfully expanding into online video. † Sources: Quotes and other information from Matthew Boyle, â€Å"Reed Hastings,† Fortune, May 28, 2007, p. 30; Nick Wingfield, â€Å"Netflix vs.Naysayers,† Wall Street Journal, March 27, 2007, p. B1; Yuval Rosenberg, â€Å"What’s Next for Netflix? † Fortune, November 29, 2006, p. 172; Pa ul R. La Monica, â€Å"DVD or Download? † CNNMoney. com, June 26, 2006; Nancy Macdonald, â€Å"Blockbuster Proves It’s Not Dead Yet,† Maclean’s, March 17, 2008, p. 36; Michael V. Copeland, â€Å"Netflix Lives! † Fortune, April 28, 2008, p. 40; â€Å"Netflix, Inc. ,† Hoover’s Company Records, April 15, 2008, p. 100752; â€Å"Online DVD Rental Firms Find Big Profits in Tough Times,† CBC News, January 27, 2009; and information from www. netflix. com and www. blockbuster. om, accessed November 2008. Marketing channel design Designing effective marketing channels by analyzing consumer needs, setting channel objectives, identifying major channel alternatives, and evaluating them. For maximum effectiveness, however, channel analysis and decision making should be more purposeful. Marketing channel design calls for analyzing consumer needs, setting channel objectives, identifying major channel alternatives, and evaluating them. Analyzin g Consumer Needs As noted previously, marketing channels are part of the overall customer-value delivery network.Each channel member and level adds value for the customer. Thus, designing the marketing channel starts with finding out what target consumers want from the channel. Do consumers want to buy from nearby locations or are they willing to travel to more distant centralized locations? Would they rather buy in person, by phone, or online? Do they value breadth of assortment or do they prefer specialization? Do consumers want many add-on services (delivery, repairs, installation), or will they obtain these elsewhere? The Chapter 12 Marketing Channels Delivering Customer Value 403 aster the delivery, the greater the assortment provided, and the more add-on services supplied, the greater the channel’s service level. Providing the fastest delivery, greatest assortment, and most services may not be possible or practical. The company and its channel members may not have the r esources or skills needed to provide all the desired services. Also, providing higher levels of service results in higher costs for the channel and higher prices for consumers. The company must balance consumer needs not only against the feasibility and costs of meeting these needs but also against customer price preferences.The success of discount retailing shows that consumers will often accept lower service levels in exchange for lower prices. Setting Channel Objectives Companies should state their marketing channel objectives in terms of targeted levels of customer service. Usually, a company can identify several segments wanting different levels of service. The company should decide which segments to serve and the best channels to use in each case. In each segment, the company wants to minimize the total channel cost of meeting customer service requirements.The company’s channel objectives are also influenced by the nature of the company, its products, its marketing inte rmediaries, its competitors, and the environment. For example, the company’s size and financial situation determine which marketing functions it can handle itself and which it must give to intermediaries. Companies selling perishable products may require more direct marketing to avoid delays and too much handling. In some cases, a company may want to compete in or near the same outlets that carry competitors’ products.In other cases, companies may avoid the channels used by competitors. Mary Kay, for example, sells direct to consumers through its network of more than 1 million independent beauty consultants in 34 markets worldwide rather than going headto-head with other cosmetics makers for scarce positions in retail stores. And GEICO primarily markets automobile and homeowner’s insurance directly to consumers via the telephone and Internet rather than through agents. Finally, environmental factors such as economic conditions and legal constraints may affect ch annel objectives and design.For example, in a depressed economy producers want to distribute their goods in the most economical way, using shorter channels and dropping unneeded services that add to the final price of the goods. Identifying Major Alternatives When the company has defined its channel objectives, it should next identify its major channel alternatives in terms of types of intermediaries, the number of intermediaries, and the responsibilities of each channel member. Types of Intermediaries A firm should identify the types of channel members available to carry out its channel work. Most companies face many channel member choices.For example, until recently, Dell sold directly to final consumers and business buyers only through its sophisticated phone and Internet marketing channel. It also sold directly to large corporate, institutional, and government buyers using its direct sales force. However, to reach more consumers and to match competitors such as HP, Dell now sell s indirectly through retailers such as Best Buy and Walmart. It also sells indirectly through â€Å"value-added resellers,† independent distributors and dealers who develop computer systems and applications tailored to the special needs of small and medium-sized business customers.Using many types of resellers i