Narrative criticism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Narrative criticism - Essay Example es of narrative criticism have emerged; some people have claimed that narrative criticism is a fundamental tool in communication processes owing to the fact that it facilitates the understanding of texts and how they reflect on human life structures, thus creating a platform for information sharing and exchange (Pullman, 7). As a method of literary analysis, this approach has been a subject of negative and positive criticism. To begin with, some scholars have claimed that the application narrative criticism is majorly based on a dimension of literary analysis that allows readers to assess literary works in a holistic manner, by noting different characteristics and styles that are similar to other literary works, taking into consideration, the beginning, middle as well as the end (Powell, 3). On the other hand, some narrative critics have asserted that it is basically a method that does not focus on a holistic analysis of literary works, but rather focus on specific elements of literary works, which seem relevant to the story line or the main theme. Moreover, this group of critics has claimed the narrative criticism is a basic tool for literary analysis that engages its readers through understanding how the literary works relate with real life experiences (Byron, 13). This is usually achieved through various points of view passed by the narrators and relating them to the real life experiences of its readers. According to Allan Powell (1990), Narrative criticism can be considered a function of events. This is because in its application, a high sense of priority is given to the text from the ideas of ‘implied readers’ and ‘implied author’: The essence of implied author as well as implied reader are usually determined by signatures emerging from the text. Powell also asserts that narrative criticism is a function of events, basically due to the fact that it involves taking into consideration characters and settings of a literary analysis that forms its

Gold as a Hedge against the Devaluation of the Dollar Research Paper

Gold as a Hedge against the Devaluation of the Dollar - Research Paper Example For example, the price of gold had been remained the same for about two hundred years after when Sir Isaac Newton had set the gold price at L3, 17s. 10d. per troy ounce in 1717. The gold prices have been raised to extreme levels after 1973. The gold rate in 1973 was $97.39 which was average price, and it rose to $444.74 in 2005, which has now become $1224.53 at the end of 2010. The calculation of five-year annualized rate of return on gold as an investment alternative has been given below. The gold rates have been taken for year 2005 and 2010, which are $444.74 and $1224.53 respectively. The formula for computing the rate of return of gold is as follows: 100*(second price/ first price) ^ (1/ (second year – first year))-100 Putting the values for second price ($1224.53), first year ($444.74), second year (2010), and first year (2005), we will get the rate of return on gold as an investment alternative for the period of 2005-2010 as follows: 100*(1224.53/444.74) ^ (1/(2010-2005) )-100 = 22.4539074 From the result we have got, we can get the rate of return on gold as an alternative investment, which is in this case is 46%. Relationship between gold and USD value: This section will provide the necessary details about the relation between the gold and USD value in both the domestic as well as in the international economy. Some of the key factors will also be presented that affect key changes into the value of USD. Firstly, we will be talking about some of the factors affecting the US economy on the domestic economy. The domestic economy actually tends to affect the exchange rates of a country. The apparent position of the US economy in the economic cycle is one example, in which we experience a boom, bust, and then expansion or contradiction. Factors such as economic growth, inflation and economic outlook actually highlight the economic condition and health of the country. The level of interest rates will be influenced depending upon the economy’s posit ion in the economic cycle, e.g. the economic cycle’s booming phase will experience the interest rates to be increasing despite the slow demand. The possibility of the occurrence of the inflation is also reduced. The monetary policy of the US is quite similar to that of Australia in terms of interest rates rising to lower down the pressures from the inflation or monetary demand. On the other hand, an increase or a decrease in the interest rates in the US causes the demand or supply of the currency to increase or decrease. ‘Debt levels’ is considered to be the major problem with the US economy. The USA is still facing the severe debt crisis as it owes to the other countries trillions of dollars. This has the effect of pressurizing the economy of the US. Another alarming factor is that the US financial institutions pay more interests to their lenders than the one they receive from their borrowers. The difference in the two countries’ interest rates really aff ects the demand of the foreign currencies. In simple terms a country will only invest into another country if the former is getting a good return from the latter on the investments. The most suitable example for this event is the higher interest rates in Australia in 2009 and the US interest rates were lower. Hence the investors moved to Australia instead of US. The overall effect of that was the upward pressure imposed on Australian dollar and a downward on US dollar. Now about the gold

LOreal Global Marketing Strategy

LOreal Global Marketing Strategy LOreal is a great example of how global branding strategy can be used to generate new growth opportunities when all other companies were not going great guns. In the late 90s and early 2000s when the Asian and Latin American economies were shaky and doing poorly, and numerous international brands struggled, LOreal surged ahead. How did it happen? The answer lies in their beautifully framed mission statement as it elaborates their understanding of the marketability of their product and the need of marketing it globally: at LORÉAL; we believe that everyone aspires to beauty. Our mission is to help men and women around the world realize that aspiration, and express their individual personalities to the full. This is what gives meaning and value to our business, and to the working lives of our employees. We are proud of our work. (Source: LOreal website, www. loreal.com) 1 In 2005, the $18.89 billion LOreal group was the most successful cosmetics brand. According to the business week survey 2004 LOreal was ranked 49th. LOreal marketed beauty products e.g. Makeup, perfume, and skincare and hair products to both women and men in approximately 150 countries. The LOreal group reported its 19th consecutive year of double digit growth in December 2005. Since 1989, LOreals sales had grown at a compounded annual rate of 12% to 1.7 billion. Analyzing the kind of growth story it has written an analyst has rightly described it as the United Nations of beauty .the kind of global presence LOreal has it can only be compared to the United Nations. LOreals global branding strategy thats doing wonders has been actively spearheaded by Owen Jones himself. Lindsey Owen Jones has been the CEO of LOreal for nearly two decades and a chairman now, and under his leadership LOreal has really fine tuned its global branding strategy. Interestingly some press reports tell us that he has been seen roaming around streets in foreign markets to understand the new and existing trends. And without any doubts his interesting work style seems to work wonders. The branding strategy of LOreal has such an impact that LOreal seems to be the only global leader in every segment of the cosmetics industry, right positioning of its products seems to be the key .whatever its trying to sell the French elegance or street smartness of America; is getting good response throughout the world .and LOreal has been able to reach its consumers across the national and cultural boundaries. Owen Jones says: We have this great strategy back in the head office of how we are going to do it worldwide. But when you go out and look at what is happening, is there a big gap between your projections and the reality of what you see and hear? It is so important to have a world vision because otherwise decentralized consumer goods companies with many brands can fracture into as many little parts if somebody isnt pulling it back the other way the whole time with a central vision. This really explains why he prefers roaming in the streets for his strategy making rather than sitting in the boardroom. Having said all that its quiet evident that the global branding strategy of LOreal has paid huge dividends to the company overall. In order to understand this splendid growth story we need to see how exactly LOreal applied their strategy to the countries that were entirely distinct as far as the lifestyle, spending pattern and culture is concerned. LOreal was started in France, has a good brand value in the united states of America, is reaping good dividends from India and has a remarkable presence in Japan. These are different complex societies with different needs, so how exactly LOreal managed to be equally successful in all these places? This question needs some fact finding to be done on the basis of country specific products and strategies adopted by the cosmetics conglomerate. Thats what exactly we will try doing in the next section of this case study. In India 4 billion 7.5 ml sachets are sold every year and thats a staggering 66% of total shampoo consumption in India. Most of the urban Indian women (96%) use shampoo, however only 46% use foundation. For hair care a huge 74% population of Indian women still rely on home remedies, 42% use henna and 94% use hair oil, as far as the LOreals sale per person in India is concerned is just 10 cents compared to 28 Euros per person in France. In India skin lightening creams (fairness creams) constitute more than 50% of skincare market people seem to be crazy for getting for getting fairer. (Source: LOreal, Nielsen) These facts are self explanatory about the nature of Indian market and its clearly stating that the strategy used in USA or any other European countries is not going to work in India. USA is a mature market as far as cosmetics consumption is concerned India is an emerging economy with most of the population below 35 years of age and a huge aspiring middle class. The cosmetics market is growing approximately at an annual rate of 16% in India, still a long way to go. The youth in urban centers is very concerned about the image but the larger section is still off the fashion map. Interestingly even after the success story of corporate India , apparently its still a country that is very much community oriented. The great Indian middle class is aspiring but still has the community driven cultural values intact. LOreal has taken this fact very much into consideration while preparing the marketing strategy for India. A very good example would be the launch of garnier fructis shampoo in India. The concept was to rely on idea rather than relying on advertising a brand. The idea of getting five times stronger hair was the central point that created the hype, through word of mouth or network marketing. Initially it was positioned as product for young and teenagers, once the product was established in the market it tried to change or rather increase the target base by shifting gears. In a recent advertisement of garnier hair color a daughter is shown advising her mother to try the garnier product and explaining the benefits. Again it relies on the concept of idea getting spread by word of mouth to another customer segment. This is the best example of marketing in a closed community driven society. There is one more remarkable thing about this entire campaign the catch line take care. It shifts the focus from the product to the core value of Indian society caring about others and the entire advertisement becomes more of a good advice rather than publicity. China is the worlds most populated country in the world and that makes it very clear that it has the potential of being the biggest consumer market. These days Chinese women are spending on an average 10 to 15% of their income on cosmetics products, an urban Chinese lady would use 2.2 cosmetics products on an average every morning. Evidently most of them want to be fashionable and the LOreal punch line if you want to be fashionable, just choose Maybelline, really seems to work. Masses are made to believe that this is something that represents America and it ought to be trendy. Maybelline is the product line for the masses and LOreal really uses the tendency of masses to look towards the USA thats why the Maybelline products are displayed against the backdrop of shiny skyline of New York City Chinese women prefer skincare and beauty products. According to a research by LOreal in china women are concerned about the radiance of their skin and prefer skin nourishing lotions that protect their skin from skin-drying winters. Unlike us customers most Chinese women like skin whiteners rather than tanning products. Its a sign of beauty for Chinese women. Also, the texture of Chinese hair is thicker and more course than typical US Caucasian hair. This requires different product, and really a different skill set to effectively sell and get these products moving in China. LOreal has dedicated research facilities for these and other issues, and followed up with more innovations to suit the needs and preferences of Chinese consumers.   There is one more very interesting fact about Chinese cosmetics industry; Chinese women are very concerned about the ingesting of lipsticks. This is the most interesting food attitude about Chinese women. Now following its global strategy LOreal even took this into consideration and developed lipsticks containing vitamins; as soon as this was told to the women they were more comfortable in using the product. European countries are mostly developed, here LOreal has the liberty of publicizing the brand value rather than focusing on pricing, the benefit to LOreal in these markets is that it is already well established and the brand is well known so it can concentrate on grabbing the attention of individualistic feminist women. Pricing is not a concern in these markets so LOreal can afford to have punch lines like-I am worth it because these punch lines justify the high pricing of the products and fulfill the feeling of exclusivity of high end clientele. Now lets take another example from the European and us markets, LOreal brands in these markets are quiet well established. LOreal products have been used there for few generations now; once young consumer of the LOreal brand has started aging and the same street smart products could not be positioned to them, they have started becoming the mature citizens; now their priorities have changed. A recent market report suggests that the new target segment in the cosmetics industry is 40 plus women who once used the teenage cosmetics products. The thrust is on anti aging products because it not only adds the new customer base but retains the once teenage customer also. Customer from the baby boom generation reaches the retirement age and tries to maintain healthy and youthful look and finds out that their favorite cosmetics brand is still making products for them. LOreal capitalized on their desire to look youthful and started marketing it anti aging products, it has signed sixty year-old D iane Keaton to represent the Age Perfect Pro-Calcium skin care line. Also LOreal has signed Scarlett Johansson, Penelope Cruz, Eva Longoria and Beyoncà © Knowles to promote specific cosmetics lines according to the age groups. Now this tells us how LOreal used the desire of customers to position its products. The French conglomerate believes that only two different cultures as far as fashion is concerned, are dominant, represented by two flagship brands LOreal Paris and Maybelline new York. LOreal has been projected as a French origin with elegance, high end presentation and obviously high pricing. Whereas the Maybelline product line represents the street smart American babe who is looking for the value of the money. America seems to be the growth engine of the world, in the cosmetics industry as well. LOreal has understood this and they made a strategy based on the trends in the USA and thats how Maybelline came into existence. Maybelline currently is the second largest brand in share of unit sales of cosmetics products and number one in makeup brands. It claims to be totally consistent with todays confident woman. Maybelline products targets three customer segments; youngster (16 to 25), office lady (26-35) and career women (35 plus). Marketing mix for Maybelline line of products consists of two main strategies: foreign consumer cultural positioning and symbolic New York City imagery that women can relate to everywhere. Maybelline promotion include different way of grabbing attention including promotional coupons, online advertising, sponsorship of fashion shows, signing fashion icons as spokesperson of the product ,free make up consultancy and providing scholarships etc. we can see as American cosmetic market is a mature market so LOreal tries to rely on mature marketing tactics. In the early 20th century, even American society was not very much open to makeup and skin care products .people thought that only sinful women should wear makeup but eventually with the economic independence that the American women gained; makeup and cosmetics started coming into mainstream. Cosmetics apparently became the symbol of new self belief that the American women was beaming with; and remember even Maybelline claims to be totally consistent with todays women, there are several other punch lines like maybe shes born with it, maybe its Maybelline, all the punch lines keep the self confidence of women in centre as if its not the make up but its the attitude that has to be worn. Thats why women of every nationality and culture started identifying herself with the product and this became the symbol of the 21st century woman. We always say that the world has turned into a small village. Production houses are becoming more and more global. But same cant be said about the consumers as they would still be using the products because of their own reasons. Someone in the USA can use a product just to feel exclusive however the same product could be used in the UK for health reasons. So the companies need to identify the demands of a specific market to effectively satisfy the demand while planning the globalised marketing strategy. Therefore the challenge posed to the companies is whether they should just keep changing their strategy according to the culture or can they consider every customer as a global customer with all common needs. Thats the irony we are supposed to work with these days; on one hand companies are on a global platform more than any other point of time in history however they have to adapt to the mindset and lifestyle of the customer as well. The mindset and the lifestyle of the customer are heavily impacted by the culture. Culture is defined by different norms, values, interactions, language and others personal components shared by groups of people across the world. It is a social phenomenon which defines peoples interests, thoughts and other behaviors they may exhibit in the social life. From one country to another, humans have evolved and developed different types of expressions, beliefs and behavior which can be difficult to understand for someone who does not belong to the same culture. culture is the way how the members of a particular group interact with each other on the sharing of the available means, now that determines what is going to be the need for a particular product in that society, that also decides whether a particular advertising strategy will work or not and how exactly that will be interpreted by the target customers. In different markets consumer requirements and consumer behavior may vary. Cultural aspects deeply impact the consumer behavior; the impact may be direct or indirect. The culture distinction creates the consumer behavior difference, as it can be noticed between the Asian and European continent where the culture and the behaviors are very different. Being a global organization LOreal certainly needs to understand the cultural differences and position its products accordingly otherwise the results may be far more different than they are at this moment. The thrust has to be on hitting the right customer with the right product. This can be possible only if one has a deep knowledge of local culture and beliefs. A very interesting example would be of lipstick use in china; according to a research only 3% women use lipstick for makeup. The reason that was supposed to be behind this low percentage of lipstick use is even weirder; women in china have concerns about ingesting lipstick. LOreal conducted a survey to see whether this is just an age old saying or it holds some truth, based on the findings it came up with a lipstick that had vitamins in it and in turn the demand for LOreal vitamin lipsticks increased. Another example could be real handy; in India long hair is considered necessary for a woman to be considered beautiful. LOreal considered this fact while launching its shampoo product in India and it focused on publicizing the fact that using the garnier fructis shampoo helps in getting long and strong hair. This strategy made the product very popular in India. In china or India people like to have fair complexion. In Asia, women take special care of their skin. People want radiant skins and lotions that can nourish their skin against sun .whereas in the United States people would rather buy tanning cream. On basis of this knowledge LOreal can position their whitening creams in India and the interesting part is the way the advertisements could be interpreted .the way the advertisements for the fairness creams are made in Asian countries these can be interpreted as racial advertisements in the USA but in Asian countries that seems to be quiet usual. Now thats where the knowledge of the culture and beliefs comes handy and helps avoiding unnecessary problems. From a business point of view, companies have to adapt themselves to the culture of each country in which they want to have business in.  for example, Because of the differences of culture between countries, companies need to adjust their products and services according to the local demands. This will help them to create and develop a brand image across the globe that is based on a large number of globally recognized products. Based on these examples we can say that LOreal was able to be successful in these markets because it adapted to ground realities of the particular market yet it followed a standardized strategy. If we study the marketing mix of Maybelline, it has two pronged strategy -one for the foreign markets another is the global street-smart image of the American chic. The global street smart image of New York chick can be admired in almost all the urban centers, be it India, china or Brazil. However there has to be a right mix of local flavor as well. The most important part of the LOreals strategic plan is opportunity hunting or the marketing of their products worldwide. From the initial days it already started catering to the demands of women worldwide. In order to do that efficiently they were expected to be well aware of the diversities of women across the globe .once they knew the diversities their job was to come up with different line of products suitable to the women from all parts of the world .Innovation has been the keyword for LOreal and this was made possible through constant research and development over the years .the group has already covered most parts of the world and still striving to cover more. In order to do so LOreal group has to keep respecting other peoples identity ,ideas and culture .LOreal has to keep valuing different cultures and nationalities to get their brand value up and it seems that they have been doing it really well. The success story can continue further because even today products of LOreal touches the cultural values instilled in potential customers mind .LOreal just doesnt sell the product it makes the customer buy the idea of dreaming big but still remaining rooted to the core cultural values .it has carefully devised its global marketing strategy and customized it to the local needs, and thats the reason people from Africa to Europe and America to Australia are using the LOreal products. LOreal has been doing pretty well in terms of global presence and monetary growth. The mission today is to understand consumers needs and expectations so as to meet them as effectively as possible along with widening the scope of global line of products.

Ecstasy :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Ecstasy† MDMA also, known as ecstasy, has killed at least 15 young people and doctors are extremely concerned with it’s long term effect from continued usage. The usage of ecstasy increases every year and is usually taken by teenagers at clubs. But, more importantly the people taking this drug are young and that has to be a concern. Many of the drug users have no idea what there in for. Many don’t know that it only takes one pill to ruin a lifetime. Like any drug once it enters the human body, eventually the brain comes in contact with it. That’s when the psychological and physical effects come into action. MDMA is currently classified as a Schedule I substance. Until 1985, MDMA was used extensively by psychiatrists and psychologists to help people with certain psychological and emotional difficulties. Although it was said to be a aphrodisiac drug there is no evidence to prove it. Many of those who take ecstasy say it brings them a feeling of expansive well being. As the drug comes in contact with the brain, which is the control center for all thoughts, the neurotransmitter called serotonin is alerted. Serotonin controls our sensations of hunger, fatigue and depression. If serotonin increases in a great amount, that’s when the user feels satisfied and no guilt for decision on taking the drug. Ecstasy is taken in the form of pills, though there are different types of pills. According to some sources, six new designs are produced every month. Some include red and black capsules, known as â€Å"Dennis the Menace†, â€Å"White Doves†, and â€Å"Hamburgers†. An Ecstasy high can last from six to 24 hours, with the average â€Å"trip† lasting only about three to four hours. Ecstasy has the tendency to break down barriers between therapists and patients, lovers, and family members. Many of the risk user’s face with MDMA are similar to those of cocaine. Ecstasy causes many psychological difficulties, including confusion, depression, sleep problems, drug craving, severe anxiety, and paranoia-during and sometimes weeks after taking MDMA. Ecstasy causes confusion because it’s usually taken at a club where a lot of people attend and loud music is played. Ecstasy is a tolerant drug. In order to get the same effects after a period of time; the user needs to increase the dosage. MDMA has also shown some cases of liver damage and heart attacks. Although research has not yielded evidence of Ecstasy-induced brain damage in humans, heavy administration of the drug has produced neurological damage in rats and monkeys.

Marketing strategy in the tourism industry Essay

The word â€Å"strategy† occurred from the Greek strategos, â€Å"art of the general†. The military origin of this term shouldn’t be surprising. strategos allowed Alexander of Macedon to win the world. Value of the strategic behavior allowing firm to survive in competitive fight in long-term prospect, sharply increased in the last decades. All companies in the conditions of the rigid competition, quickly changing situation have to not only concentrate attention on internal state of affairs in the company, but also develop strategy of a long-term survival which would allow them to be in time behind the changes happening in their environment. Strategy represents the detailed comprehensive comprehensive plan, intended to provide implementation of mission of the organization and achievement it is more whole. Formation of strategy is one of management functions which represents process of a choice of the purposes of the organization and ways of their achievement. Marketing strategy is a strategy of the enterprises focused on market values. Marketing strategy has two main reference points – the market and a product. The subject of a term paper is actual since for many enterprises marketing strategy is the major strategy as it provides validity of a market orientation of the enterprise. The purpose of a term paper consists in a choice of such marketing strategy for the studied organization as a result  of which the company will achieve the objects, and will be in time behind the changes happening in its environment. Practice of business showed that there is no strategy, uniform for all companies, as well as there is no uniform universal strategic management. Each firm is unique in own way, and process of elaboration of strategy for each firm is unique as it depends on a firm position in the market, dynamics of its development, its potential, behavior of competitors, characteristics of goods made by it or services rendered by it, state of the economy, the cultural environment and still many other. Certainly, always it is necessary to remember that strategic management — it first of all a product of creativity of the top management, but at the same time it is possible to tell and about a certain theory of the strategic management which knowledge allows to exercise control of the organization more effectively. 1. Kinds of marketing strategy and process of their choice. 1.1 . Definition of strategy and their version. Company strategy, as a rule, consists of the thought-over purposeful actions and reaction to unforeseen succession of events. The firm defines the long-term actions in relation to the markets, the commodity range, pricing, merchandising and goods advance on the market, develops marketing strategy according to various conditions of demand, forms the global directions of the development. Firms have a big degree of a freedom of choice of strategy. They can diversify the activity in connected or not the connected grew by means of creation of joint ventures, strategic alliances, acquisition of other companies or opening of new activities. Some companies follow strategy of leadership in expenses, others focus attention on various combinations of numerous properties of goods more attractive to clients, and the third choose discussion of special inquiries of a narrow circle of buyers. Further the main marketing strategy which are more often used for organization development will be given. Marketing strategy — process of planning and realization of various marketing actions, which are subordinated to achievement put before the company (firm,  the organization, business structure) is more whole. All variety of strategy which commercial and non-profit organizations show in real life, are various modifications of several basic strategy. Each of these strategy is effective in the certain situation determined by factors of internal environment therefore it is important to consider the reasons of a choice of a certain option. The organization is faced by four main strategic alternatives: 1 . Limited growth. The majority of the organizations adheres to this alternative, for it establishment of the objectives from achieved, inflation-adjusted is characteristic. It is the easiest, convenient and least risky way of action. Apply in the mature stable industries having stable profit in the past. At strategy of limited growth of the purpose of development are established â€Å"from reached† and are corrected at situation change. If the management, is generally satisfied with position of firm, it is obvious that in the long term it will adhere to the same strategy as it is the most simple and least risky way of actions. 2 . Growth. This strategy is most often applied in dynamically developing branches with quickly changing technology. The strategic alternative of growth is carried out by annual substantial increase of level of short-term and long-term goals over level of indicators of previous year. This strategy is the chosen alternative second most often. It is applied in dynamically developing branches with quickly changing technologies. Growth can be internal or external. Internal growth can happen by expansion of the range of goods. External growth can be in allied industries in the form of the vertical or horizontal growth by a way of acquisition of other firm, their association or merge. 3 . Reduction – strategy of a last resort. Options of realization of strategic alternative of reduction: elimination, cutting off superfluous, reduction, reorientation. This strategy gets out the organization most less often. For it establishment of the objectives below the level achieved in the past is characteristic. To strategy of reduction resort when indicators of activity of the organization get a steady tendency to deterioration, and no measures can change this situation. 4 . Combination – strategy of a combination of all alternatives which the major companies which are actively operating in several branches adhere. This strategy represents a combination of the considered alternatives – the limited growth, growth and reduction. The large organizations which actively function in several branches adhere  to this strategy, as a rule. For example, the firm can sell or liquidate one of the productions and in exchange get one or several others. Marketing strategy (F. Kotler). According to F. Kotler, the firm in competitive fight can play one of 4 roles. The marketing strategy is defined by position of the company in the market, whether is she the leader, the applicant, the follower or occupies a certain niche: 1 . The leader (a share in the market about 40%) feels surely. The leader of the market possesses the greatest share of the market of a certain product. To strengthen a dominant position, the leader needs to seek for market expansion as a whole, attracting new consumers, finding new ways of consumption and use of production. For protection of the share of the market the leader uses strategy of position, flank and mobile defense, preemptive strikes and reflection of the attack, the compelled reduction. The majority of leaders of the market seek to deprive of competitors of the possibility of transition to approach. 2 . The applicant for leadership (a share in the market about 30%).  Such company aggressively attacks the leader and other competitors. Within special strategy the applicant can use the following options of attacks: â€Å"frontal attack† – is conducted in many directions (to new goods and the prices, advertising and sale), this attack demands considerable resources. â€Å"environment† – attempt to attack all or the considerable market territory of the market. â€Å"round† – transition to production of essentially new goods, development of the new markets. â€Å"attack of a gorilla† – small gusty attacks not absolutely correct methods. 3 . The follower – (a share of 20%) the company which to seek to keep the share of the market and to bypass all banks. However even followers have to adhere to the strategy directed on maintenance and increases in a share of the market. The follower can play roles of an imitator or the double 4 . Dug round in a market niche – (a share of 10%) serves a small segment of the market to which there is no business to major companies. Traditionally this role I played small business, today strategy of niches use also the large companies. Key to niches – specialization. The companies focusing in niches, choose one or several areas of specialization: on end users, down, depending on the sizes of clients, on special clients, by the geographical principle, on a product, on individual service of buyers, on a certain ratio of  quality/price, on service, on distribution channels. Some niches are more preferable than one. Main competitive strategy (M. Porter). Malt liquor allocates five main competitive strategy: 1 . Strategy of leadership in the expenses, providing decrease in full costs of production of goods or services. 2 . The strategy of broad differentiation directed on giving to goods of peculiar features, distinguishing them from goods of rival firms that promotes attraction of a large number of buyers 3 . The strategy of optimum expenses which is giving the chance to buyers to receive for the money a great value at the expense of a combination of low expenses and broad differentiation of production. The task consists in providing optimum expenses and the prices concerning producers of production with similar lines and quality. 4 . The focused strategy, or the strategy of a market niche based on low expenses, is focused on a narrow segment of buyers where the firm advances the competitors at the expense of lower costs of production 5 . The focused strategy, or the strategy of a market niche based on differentiation of production, sets the purpose providing representatives of the chosen segment with goods or the services most fully answering to their tastes and requirements. The analysis of a competitive situation and definition of position of the organization in it assume determination of complexity and dynamism of the competitive environment. Universal methods of such analysis are the model of five forces of M. Porter and the analysis of expenses of competitors. The model of five forces assumes carrying out the structural analysis on the basis of determination of intensity of the competition and research of threat of penetration on the market of potential competitors, the authorities of buyers, the authorities of suppliers, threats from goods or service substitutes. The analysis of expenses of competitors is consolidated to clarification of the strategic factors operating expenses, actually the analysis of expenses and modeling of expenses of competitors. For obtaining competitive advantage the firm can use three the general competitive to strategy: 1. leadership in expenses (a task — to achieve leadership in expenses in the concrete sphere at the expense of a set of measures for control of them), 2. individualization (achievement of difference of a product or organization service from products or services of  competitors in this sphere is supposed), 3. focusing (a task — concentration on concrete group, a segment of the market or the geographical region). Types of strategy of behavior of firms according to A.A. Thompson and A.DZh. Striklendu. They allocate the following strategy: offensive, defensive and strategy of vertical integration. 1. Offensive strategy for preservation of competitive advantage. Competitive advantage is usually reached due to use of creative offensive strategy it isn’t so simple to them to resist to competitors. Six main types of offensive strategy are allocated: the actions directed on resisting to strengths of the competitor or to surpass them; the actions directed on, use of weaknesses of the competitor; at the same time approach on several fronts; capture of unoccupied spaces; guerrilla war; pre-emptive strikes. 2 . Defensive strategy for protection of competitive advantage aim to hold the market position, to reduce risk to be attacked, to transfer attack of the competitor with smaller losses, to put pressure on throwing down a challenge to reorient them on fight against other competitors. 3 . Strategy of vertical integration. The essence of this strategy is that firms can expand the activities for the direction to suppliers (back) or in the direction to the consumer (forward). The firm building the new enterprise for production of entrance components which were bought earlier from suppliers, undoubtedly, remains in the same branch, as earlier. Similarly, if the producer chooses integration â€Å"forward†, opening a network of the retail shops to sell production to directly end user, he remains in business on production of this production, even on condition of expansion of its field of activity in a branch chain of values. Strategy of vertical integration can pursue the aim of full integration in grew or partial  integration (creating positions at the most important stages of a branch chain of values). The company can carry out vertical integration, beginning own actions in other links of a branch chain or getting the firms which are already working in this sp here that they were closer to the company. 1.2 Specifics of marketing in tourism. Tourism according to the main characteristics has no fundamental differences from other forms of economic activity. Therefore all essential provisions of modern marketing can be fully applied and in tourism. At the same time in tourism there are the specifics distinguishing it not only from trade in goods, but also from other forms of trade in services. Here trade, both services, and goods (by estimates of experts, the share of services in tourism makes 75%, goods – 25%), and also special nature of consumption of tourist services and goods in a place of their production, moreover, in a certain situation takes place. In the traditional production having concrete result of work (goods in a material and material form), the concept of marketing has more concrete contents. In tourism the result of activity is reduced to a tourist product. In fact, the tourist product is the any service which is satisfying these or those needs of tourists and subject to payment of the hardware of th eir party. Tourist services treat hotel, transport, excursion, translation, household, municipal, intermediary, etc. The main tourist product is complex service, i.e. the standard set of services sold to tourists in one â€Å"package†, abroad they are called often package-tour. Tourist marketing – concept difficult and capacious in view of what it yet didn’t receive the accurate and final wording. There is a set of definitions, including: – methods and the receptions directed on identification and satisfaction of needs of people, caused with motives of rest – informative aspect, rest, entertainment, treatment, etc., – and the organization of tourist bureaus or the associations, capable it is rational to satisfy these requirements; – the state and private activity of the tourist enterprises which is carried out on the international, national and regional plans for the purpose of satisfaction of requirements of certain groups of tourists; – the system of a trade production activity aiming at satisfaction of individual needs of each consumer on t he basis of  identification and studying of a consumer demand for receiving the maximum profit; – the market focused management, directed is achievement of the objectives enterprises more whole than the enterprise by more effective, than at competitors, satisfaction of needs of tourists; marketing can be used as at the level of separate travel company, and separately tourist concerns, holdings, including at the international level. The world tourist organization allocates three main functions of marketing in tourism: 1) establishment of contacts with clients sets as the purpose to convince them that the offered vacation spot and services of service existing there, sights and expected benefits completely correspond to that clients wish to receive; 2) development assumes design of innovations which will be able to provide new opportunities for the sale, in turn similar innovations have to correspond to requirements and preferences of potential clients; 3) control provides the analysis of results of activity on advance of services in the market and check of, as far as these results reflect really full and successful use available in the sphere of tourism of opportunities. The tourist product has to be good acquisition. In this regard marketing represents the consecutive actions of the tourist enterprises directed on achievement of such purpose. Therefore and reasonable the following definition of marketing is rath er logical. Marketing in tourism is a system of continuous coordination of offered services with services which are in demand in the market and which the tourist enterprise is capable to offer with profit for itself and is more effective, than it is done by competitors. In relation to tourism allocate some components of a complex of marketing: – personnel, its qualification and training; – process of providing service; – environment. Tourist business is unique in the sense that the personnel of the enterprises is a part of a tourist product. Hospitality, goodwill – the main condition for all comers, and not just specialists in direct service of consumers. Marketing has to be an integral part of philosophy of all organization, and functions of marketing to be carried out by all employees. Key factor of competitiveness of the tourist enterprise are a measure (action) for mobilization of creative activity of collective. Important factor of  high-quality service of the client is the environment – appearance of the building, office registration, furniture, the equipment, office equipment, etc. the atmosphere of the offer of a product (the physical environment) is perceived by means of sense organs (sight, hearing, sense of smell, touch) and has impact on consumer behavior in four ways: 1) can serve as a data carrier for potential consumers; 2) can serve as means of drawing attention of clients; 3) can be the carrier of a certain effect (colors, sounds and properties of surfaces of subjects surrounding the client influence his consciousness and induce to purchase); 4) can create a certain mood. [19, page 58] Ensuring management efficiency with marketing requires development of its auxiliary systems: marketing information; marketing organizations; marketing control. The system of marketing information provides, systematization, an assessment and use of the data characterizing a condition of environment and the internal environment of the tourist enterprise. Without objective, actual, rather full marketing information adoption of operational and strategic decisions is impossible. The system of the organization of marketing is directed on creation of the relevant organizational structure of the tourist enterprise providing realization of marketing actions. For continuous tracking performance of marketing strategy and programs the system of marketing control is created. In practice the technology of implementation of the concept of marketing is very elastic. It can change both the structure, and a place of separate stages depending on features of the enterprise, degree of familiarity of the market, goals, tasks and market conditions. However all these elements are closely interconnected. It is impossible any of them to exclude from system, without having broken its integrity. 2. Marketing strategy in the tourism and hospitality industry. 2.1 Strategic marketing at the tourist enterprises. 1. Corporate marketing strategy in tourism. Hierarchy of marketing strategic decisions. The most important purposes of any company are: receiving profit, ensuring continuous growth of a turn and occupation of the best competitive position in the market. In marketing is the growth of sales, increase in a share of the market, increase of loyalty of consumers. Exactly at the top level company management the foundation of the correct marketing policy as each concrete marketing decision has to be considered as specification of strategic decisions of the company directed on achievement of the all-corporate purposes are laid: definition of development of the main strategic zones of managing. choice of the directions of further growth  formation of competitive advantages. These and other marketing decisions made by the top management of the company, define development of concrete products and the markets, all system of marketing actions, their expense and efficiency at the subsequent stages. Strategic marketing decisions represent a way of action on achievement of the marketing purposes which, in turn, follow from the purposes all-corporate. Distinguish the marketing decisions made by the enterprise at three levels: the corporate; the functional; the tool. Corporate marketing decisions define interaction strategy with the market and coordination of capacity of the enterprise with its requirements. Marketing decisions at corporate level define ways as it is better to use enterprise resources for satisfaction of needs of the market. It is possible to allocate three groups of strategic marketing decisions at corporate level. Portfolio strategy — allow to resolve rather effectively issues of management of various fields of activity of the enterprise from the point of view of their place and a role in satisfaction of needs of the market and implementation of capital investments in each of spheres. Growth strategy — give the chance to answer questions: in what direction to develop to the enterprise better to conform to market requirements? whether enough own resources for this purpose or is required to go for external acquisitions of  the activity? Competitive strategy — define how it is possible to provide to the ente rprise competitive advantages in the market from the point of view of bigger involvement of potential consumers and what policy to choose in relation to competitors. 2 . Marketing strategy on tourist industry development. Marketing practice considers â€Å"portfolio† in the form of set, as a rule, not economic divisions dependent from each other, strategic units of one company. â€Å"The portfolio analysis† allows to present in a matrix look results of research of activities of the enterprise for the purpose of determination of their subsequent growth and increase in profitability of strategic units which were its part. Thus increase in production is defined by development of demand and sales that leads to decrease in expenses of resources on a unit of production. â€Å"Portfolio strategy† — ways of distribution of limited resources between economic divisions of the enterprise with use of criteria of appeal of market segments and potential opportunities of each economic unit. Enterprise resource management on the basis of a choice of the economic directions of market activity is carried out with use of a matrix of BKG and a matrix Mac-Kinzi. 3 . The marketing strategy focused on growth of the tourist company. Enterprise growth — manifestation of types of its business activity which can be based on three opportunities of growth: organic growth, intensive development at the expense of own resources acquisition of other enterprises or the integrated development; diversification — leaving in other fields of activity. Strategy of growth represent business management models by a choice of types of its business activity taking into account internal and external opportunities. Control of growth is exercised with the help: Ansoff’s matrixes matrixes of external acquisitions; new matrix of BKG. Ansoff’s matrix. This matrix represents the tool for classification of production and the markets depending on degree of uncertainty of prospects of sale of production or opportunities of penetration of this production on this market. It is known that gorazno it is more difficult to sell absolutely new production, than production known, also to sell the existing range of goods to categories of the consumers close to what already got them, it is easier, than to master the new markets. Each strategic quadrant defines the directions of marketing efforts of the enterprise: 1 . Penetration strategy on the market: stimulation of purchases by traditional buyers (product replacement, use frequency); increase in a share of the market; involvement of buyers from competitors; involvement of new consumers; search of new opportunities of using. 2 . Strategy of development of the market: exit to new consumer segments; entry into the new territorial markets; exit to new marketing networks. 3 . Strategy of development of a product: innovations; new brand; modification by the range 4 . The marketing strategy focused on ensuring competitive advantages of travel agency. Competitiveness of goods and firm. The competition — rivalry of the enterprises in the market, directed on a gain attention of potential consumers. The competitive analysis represents the analysis of a competitive situation and an assessment of degree of  competitive advantages, both the enterprise, and his rivals in the market. Competitive advantage – those characteristics of market activity of the enterprise which create a certain superiority over competitors. Competitive strategy at corporate level pursue the aim to provide competitive advantage of the enterprise in the market concerning rival firms. For management of competitive position of the enterprise are used: general competitive matrix; model of competitive forces; matrix of competitive advantages; model of reaction of competitors. General competitive matrix. According to Porter’s general competitive matrix competitive advantage of the enterprise in the market can be provided with three main ways. Grocery leadership is based on policy of differentiation of goods (value for buyers is created). The main attention is paid to improvement of goods, giving of bigger consumer usefulness to them, development of branded production, design, service and guarantee maintenance, formation of attractive image. The combination of high usefulness and the high price forms â€Å"the market force† goods. It protects the enterprise from competitors, provides stability of position in the market. Price leadership is provided on the basis of possibility of the enterprise to reduce costs of production (value for the producer is created). The special attention is paid to stability of the investments, the standardized goods, strict management of expenses, control of expenses. Decrease in expenses is based on use of â€Å"an experience curve†. L eadership in a niche is connected with focusing of grocery or price advantage on a narrow segment of the market, without covering all market. Such leadership is most often used by small business enterprises. Dangers of this strategy are connected with the next moments: essential strengthening of distinctions in expenses can reduce considerably advantages of service narrow the target groups;  gap reduction in differentiated production for narrow target group and a common market is possible; competitors can find unoccupied niches even in a narrow target segment. 2.2 Process of a choice of strategy. Process of a choice of strategy includes the following main steps: explanation of the current strategy; carrying out analysis of a portfolio of businesses; choice of strategy of firm and assessment of the chosen strategy. Explanation of the current strategy is very important because it is impossible to make decisions on a future occasion, without having a clear idea concerning in what state there is an organization and what strategy it realizes. Various schemes of explanation of the current strategy can be used. One of possible approaches is offered by Thompson and Strikland. They consider that exists on five external and internal factors which need to be estimated to deal with realized strategy. External factors: scope of activity of firm and degree of a variety of made production, diversification of firm; general character and nature of recent acquisitions of firm and sales of part of the property by it; structure and orientation of activity of firm for the last period; opportunities on which the firm was focused recently; relation to external threats. Internal factors: firm purposes; criteria of distribution of resources and the developed structure of capital investments on made production; the relation to financial risk both from the management, and according to real practice and carried-out financial policy; level and degree of concentration of efforts in the field of research and development; strategy of certain functional spheres (marketing, production, shots, finance, scientific researches and development). The analysis of a portfolio of businesses represents one of the most important instruments of strategic management. It gives an evident idea that separate parts of business are very interconnected and that a portfolio as  whole significantly differs from the simple sum of its parts and the condition of its separate parts is much more important for firm, than. By means of the analysis of a portfolio of businesses such major factors of business, as risk, receipt of money, updating and dying off can be balanced. It is possible to tell with full confidence that the analysis of a portfolio of businesses is a basis of strategic planning. At the same time it is necessary to remember that the analysis of a portfolio of businesses is only one of instruments of strategic management, and it in any way doesn’t replace strategic planning as a component of strategic management, certainly, strategic management as a whole. After the management will consider available strategic alternatives, it then addresses to concrete strategy. The simplified technique of definition of position of firm and its goods in relation to opportunities grew was developed by the Boston consultative group. In the analysis of a portfolio comparison of a share of firm or its goods in the market with growth rates of all economic activity is carried out. Each of these quadrants in the BCG model is given figurative names: Stars. The new business areas occupying rather big share of roughly growing market operations on which make high profit concern to them, as a rule. It is possible to call these business areas leaders of the branches. They bring in to the organizations very high income. However the main problem is connected with definition of the correct balance between the income and investments into this area in the future to guarantee recoverability of the last. Milk cows. These are business areas which in the past received rather big share of the market. However over time growth of the relevant branch was considerably slowed down. As usual, â€Å"milk cows† are â€Å"stars† in the past which provide now to the organization sufficient profit to hold the competitive positions in the market. The stream of monetary cash in these positions is well balanced as investments into such business area require the most necessary minimum. Such business area can bring in very big incomes of the organization. Difficult children. These business areas compete in  growing branches, but occupy rather small share of the market. This combination of circumstances results in need of increase in investments for the purpose of protection of the share of the market and guaranteeing a survival on it. High growth rates of the market demand considerable monetary cash to correspond to this growth. However these business areas with great difficulty generate the organization income because of the small share in the market. These areas most often are pure consumers of monetary cash, instead of its generators, and remain them until their market share will change. Dogs. These are business areas with rather small share in the market in slowly developing branches. The stream of monetary cash in these areas of business usually very insignificant, and is more often even the negative. Any step of the organization in the direction to receive a big share of the market unambiguously immediately it is counterattacked by competitors dominating in this branch. Only skill of the manager can help the organization to hold such positions of business area. The positions taken by separate areas of business in strategic space, defined by the BCG model, dictate a choice of quite certain directions of actions: For Stars: To try to keep or increase a share of the business in the market. For Difficult children: Or to go on increase in a share of business in the market, or to be content with that is reached, or to reduce this business. For Milk cows: To try to keep or increase a share of the business in the market. For Dogs: To be content with the of provisions, either to reduce it, or to liquidate this type of business in the organization. The choice of strategy of firm is carried out by the management on the basis of the analysis of the key factors characterizing a condition of firm, taking into account results of the analysis of a portfolio of businesses,  and also character and essence of realized strategy. The major key factors which have to be considered first of all at a strategy choice, the following is. The condition of branch and firm position in branch often can play a crucial role at a choice of strategy of growth of firm. Leading, strong firms have to seek for the maximum use of the opportunities generated by their leading situation, and for strengthening of this situation. Leading firms depending on a condition of branch have to choose various strategy of growth. So, for example, if the branch goes to decline, it is necessary to stake on diversification strategy if the branch roughly develops, the choice has to fall on strategy of the concentrated growth or strategy of the integrated growth. Weak firms have to behave in a different way. They have to choose those strategy which can lead to increase in their force. If such strategy aren’t present, they have to leave this branch. The purposes of firm give uniqueness and originality to a strategy choice in relation to each concrete firm. For to what the firm aspires is reflected. If, for example, the purposes don’t assume the intensive growth of firm, can’t be chosen believe the corresponding strategy of growth, even in spite of the fact that for this purpose there are all prerequisites both in the market and in branch, and in the potential of firm. 3. Marketing strategy on an example â€Å"Eurasia Tour†. 3.1 Summary of the enterprise. The Eurasia Tour travel company was founded on February 29, 1996. The firm cooperates with the leading Russian tourist organizations in various regions of Russia and the neighboring countries. In 1998 the firm for the first time acted in quality round of the operator in the summer program â€Å"To Spain Directly from Omsk†. Same year the firm is awarded by the diploma International the exhibition center â€Å"InterSib† for professional work. In 1999 own tourist programs for the Omsk region, gained recognition of Omsk, nonresident and foreign tourists – adventure automobile round on the North of the Omsk region â€Å"Taiga rally† and an alloy on kayaks under the name â€Å"Secrets of the Taiga River† were for the first time offered.† Eurasia Tour† is an official travel agent of a traditional Siberian international marathon  which in August, 2001 passed already for the twelfth time. In 2002 â€Å"Eurasia Tour† was included in the interstate agreement between Russia and China, having acquired the right for opening of visas to citizens of the Russian Federation. Today the staff of firm makes 15 people. Contacts with all leading hotels of the city, and also the largest boarding house of the Omsk region are come into. At office of firm sale of air tickets in all directions on flights of the Russian and foreign airlines is organized. Employees â€Å"Eurasia Tour† determine a target segment by the following characteristics: Age – 40-45let Income level – average and above an average Education – usually the highest, but doesn’t play a role Relationship status – usually a family from two-four people Work, profession – most often – business owners Geography Vital style – the vigorous, active person occupied with trade or administrative activity, working often on days off and holidays, watches the image, feels a lack of time on rest and the family, susceptible to the novelties, skeptical about advertising. Motive of travel – desire to have a rest with a family, – desire to have a rest abroad, – desire to receive treatment abroad – desire to visit the exotic country (entertainments + novelty) 3.2 Marketing strategy on an example â€Å"Eurasia Tour† The firm exists 14 years, and even crisis of 1998 didn’t become a hindrance for its development and functioning. In advertising appeals it is specified that â€Å"Eurasia Tour† is the member of various tourist associations that as inspires trust to firm. As here goes formations of image of a product, namely cruise across Irtysh which has no analogs in the Omsk region. Tourists can receive not only information on rounds which offer practically all tour agencies of the city (rest in Spain through â€Å"Natali-turs†,  treatment in the Czech Republic through â€Å"Travelland†, excursion Europe tours and so on), but also information on rounds which â€Å"Eurasia Tour† (â€Å"the Okunevsky Ark† will organize, â€Å"Taiga Rally†, â€Å"Secrets of the Taiga River†, â€Å"Linevo’s Lake†, â€Å"Omsk excursion† and so on), being that tour-operetor. It should be noted that â€Å"Eurasia Tour† issues the booklets connected with their own projects, for bigger involvement of tourists to these services. All booklets are printed in printing house on good, qualitative paper that shows respect for clients. In addition all booklets are colorfully issued. The booklet â€Å"Taiga Rally† is executed in green color which associates with trees, with a taiga. Booklets â€Å"Linevo’s Lake† and â€Å"Secrets of the Taiga River† contain various shades of blue color which associates with water, the lake, the small river. â€Å"The Okunevsky Ark† is executed in brown, yellow and white tones which give to the booklet some mystery. In these advertising leaflets the visual effect is provided at the expense of photos of these projects. Photos recreate the atmosphere of these rounds. They give to the potential client the main idea that expects it. For example, fishing, a crossing through the river, a river raft ing, monastery visit and so on. In booklets â€Å"Secret of the Taiga River†, â€Å"Linevo’s Lake†, â€Å"Omsk excursion†, â€Å"Taiga Rally† is given objective information on offered services with allocation of specifics and potential opportunities which clients wait. For example, you will be able to make horse walk, to fish on the lake †¦ Automobile round †¦ River rafting †¦ In the Achairsky Monastery to visit the Sacred source and so on. In the booklet â€Å"Okunevsky Ark† the fantasy situation is created. For example, †¦ to visit the most mysterious region of Western Siberia †¦ Visit of the power center of the earth †¦ Practically all advertising leaflets contain information in two languages: Russian, for the Russian-speaking population, and English, for foreign tourists. Besides advertising leaflets, the world Internet system the tourist firm â€Å"Eurasia Tour† places the advertising on television and in printing editions. The tele vision has ample opportunities to make purposeful influences and to cause desirable response of spectator audience. The television provides broad coverage. So for promotion of the festive program â€Å"on March 8 in sanatorium â€Å"Mercury† advertising on television, for the weekend, during display of interesting programs and feature films on the local channel when the maximum number of potential clients were at the TVs was given. 3% of  estimated profit therefore the program was advertized on television and in the â€Å"Mozhet Byt† newspaper which has the special section devoted to tourism â€Å"Wind of Wanderings† were allocated for advertising of this project. The advertising appeal which was placed in the newspaper, was simple, short, drawing attention of readers. Owing to the efficiency, repeatability, broad coverage of the market of a press is one of the most effective remedies of distribution of advertising therefore â€Å"Eurasia Tour† most often uses press services for advertising of the services. Important factor in advertising is firm styles of the organi zation. The corporate style is a set color, graphic, verbal, the typographical of the design constant elements providing visual and semantic unity of goods (services), all information proceeding from firm, its internal and external registration. The tourist firm â€Å"Eurasia Tour† developed an own corporate style which allows the consumer quickly and unmistakably to find a firm product, allows firm to bring with smaller expenses to the market the new products and which increases advertising efficiency. Elements of a corporate style are: Trademark; Firm font inscription (logo); Firm block; Firm slogan (slogan); Firm color; â€Å"Eurasia tour† logo which possesses advertising functions and quality assurance function is given below. This logo is put on firm forms, envelopes, prospectuses, booklets, folders, exhibition stands and as are used at outdoor advertising and TV commercial. The Eurasia round logo has a certain coloring: or red with white, or red with blue, or red with the black. Color depends on on what color surface will be the logo is put. Color does a logo more attractive, better memorable. Near a logo it isn’t seldom possible to meet and the firm slogan â€Å"Eurasia – tour†: OPEN UP THE WORLD WITH US!† The firm slogan is always written in the Russian and English languages that gives the chance to use services of firm not only to Russian-speaking  tourists, but also tourists from different corners of the world. So, from the aforesaid it is visible that the tourist firm â€Å"Eurasia tour† actively advances the services by means of different types of marketing strategy. However we considered only separate types of advertising. But, it should be noted that â€Å"Eurasia tour† uses also other types of advertising, such as: audiovisual advertising, handbills, outdoor advertising, post advertising and so on. Conclusion. So, marketing strategy provide not only effective satisfaction of requirements of the market, but also success of the enterprise in competitive fight. Having arisen in the production sphere, marketing rather long time didn’t find the corresponding application in the tourism sphere. However increase of the competition, commercialization of tourist activity resulted in need of the fastest introduction of basic elements of marketing in practice of work of the tourist enterprise. At the same time tourism has the certain features connected with nature of rendered services, forms of sales and so on. Really to use marketing as the reliable instrument of achievement of success in the market, specialists of the tourist enterprises need to seize its methodology and ability to apply it depending on a concrete situation.

Stefan’s Diaries: The Craving Chapter 5

At the close of breakfast, maids whisked away the Dutch china and jam, and Winfield retreated to his study, leaving me with the Sutherland women in the sunlit parlor. Bridget, Lydia, and Mrs. Sutherland had installed themselves on the brocade couch, while I perched at the edge of a green velvet chaise, pretending to gaze at an oil portrait of the family when in truth I was calculating the best way to make my escape. My last, paltry feeding seemed a distant memory, and the sweet symphony of beating hearts in this grand mansion was becoming difficult to resist. During the meal, I'd tried several times to free myself from the Sutherlands' presence, with the aim of slipping out a window or escaping through the servants' quarters. But as though my intentions were written plainly across my forehead, I was unable to shake my company for even two minutes. When I'd excused myself to the facility, the butler had insisted upon escorting me. When I mentioned I'd enjoy lying down in my room, Mrs. Sutherland had pointed out that the couch in the parlor was the perfect place for a repose. I knew that they were grateful to me for returning Bridget to them, but I couldn't explain their acceptance of me into their home. Especially given the state I was in when I first entered it: dirty, torn clothes, disheveled, and bloody. â€Å"Mr. Stefan,† Margaret said, leaning against the column that separated the parlor from the foyer. â€Å"Are you entirely all right?† â€Å"Fine, fine,† I said. â€Å"Why do you ask?† â€Å"You're shaking your leg so hard you're rattling the chair.† I pressed my hand to my knee to steady my leg. â€Å"I usually start my morning with a walk,† I lied, pushing myself to standing. â€Å"In fact, if I may excuse myself, I think I'll take a stroll around the park.† Margaret raised a perfectly arched brow. â€Å"You certainly seem to spend a lot of time in the park.† â€Å"I consider it my second home,† I said with a wry smile, picturing my cave with its cadre of statues. â€Å"I've always found nature comforting.† â€Å"What a lovely idea!† Mrs. Sutherland said, clasping her hands together. â€Å"Would you mind if we joined you? It's a beautiful day, and we could all use some fresh air.† â€Å"Mama, I think it would be best if I rested instead,† Bridget said, putting a hand to her very healthy-looking brow. â€Å"You mean, stay in and receive visitors all day so you can tell them about your adventures,† Margaret said, shaking her head. â€Å"I'm afraid I shall have to beg off, too, Mother. I've things to attend to at home, now that it appears my sister is fine – and my husband misses me.† â€Å"I can't imagine why,† Bridget muttered uncharitably. Lydia shot her youngest sister a look and lightly slapped her arm. Mrs. Sutherland ignored the sisterly sniping, shaking out a light cloak and wrapping it around her shoulders. â€Å"Come with us, Mr. Salvatore. We shall make a fine party of three.† Resisting the urge to shout in frustration – what would it take to leave this family's clutches? – I forced a smile on my face and held out my arm to Mrs. Sutherland. The second we stepped outside the massive front door, the sun assaulted my eyes. It was a bright, lemony yellow and the sky a perfect blue. For early November up north, it was a remarkably mild day. If not for the sun's low angle in relation to the earth, it would have been easy to mistake it for a brisk spring morning. We headed south, then crossed at Sixty-sixth Street and walked through the wrought iron gates of the park. Despite the events of the night before, neither Lydia nor Mrs. Sutherland showed any hesitation or fear. I suppose they felt safe enough in my presence. I took a deep breath of the morning air, which seemed so clear and pure after the events of the previous night. It was as though, with the rising sun, the entire world had been washed clean. Seed heads bobbed at the ends of long grasses and flowers opened toward the sky, taking in the last bright sun of the year. The droplets of dew had already dispersed from the previous night. We were not the only ones out to enjoy the day. The park was packed with families and strolling couples. I was struck once again with how different the North was. Yankee women wore bright colors, such as we hadn't seen in the South for years – scarlets, brilliant yellows, bold, sky blues in silk and velvet and expensive cloths like European lace, delicate stockings, tiny leather boots. Even nature here was different. Northern trees were round, quaint, elliptical maples where our lush oaks spread out, soaking up the sun to the farthest tips of their branches. The pines were spiky and blue, not the tall, soft, grand ones the soft Southern breeze whispers around. Mrs. Sutherland and Lydia prattled on about the weather, but they had lost my attention, for at that moment a squirrel crossed our path. A sudden darkness overcame me, as if one of the few clouds in the sky had momentarily passed in front of the sun. My predator instincts awoke. There was nothing delectable about its beady eyes or bushy tail, but in a flash I could taste it – the blood of yesterday. It invaded my nostrils and tickled my throat with desire. â€Å"Please excuse me – I – I believe I see someone I know.† I made my trivial excuse as I dashed off, promising to return in a moment, though I had no intention of doing so. I could feel Lydia and Mrs. Sutherland's eyes follow me curiously as I disappeared behind a thicket of bushes. There sat my prey, as innocent as Bridget had likely looked to her attacker last night. It eyed me as I approached, but did not make a move. In a flash I was upon it, and it was over even more quickly. As I felt the blood seep into me – a paltry feeding, but a feeding nonetheless – I leaned against the tree trunk, awash in exhausted relief. It had not been apparent until just now how edgy I had been, every moment afraid of my own hunger. Afraid of the stirrings inside of me, and how they might control me at any instant. My relief was so great that I didn't even hear Lydia approach, ruining my chance of escape. â€Å"Stefan?† she said, looking around, no doubt curious to meet the person I had run off to greet. â€Å"It turns out that I was mistaken after all,† I mumbled, reluctantly rejoining Lydia and her mother on the path. They fell back into polite conversation, while I kicked along silently next to them, berating myself for my slowed reflexes. What was wrong with me? I was a vampire. Removing myself from the Sutherlands' presence should have been no hard task, even in my weakened state. An unpleasant thought rattled at the back of my mind, an alternate explanation, that I was still with this family because I wanted to be. â€Å"Mr. Salvatore, you're awfully quiet,† Mrs. Sutherland observed. I stole a glance at Lydia, who gave me a smile, clearly acknowledging that her mother did not deal in subtlety. â€Å"Forgive me. It's been a while since I've been in the midst of people,† I admitted as we turned on to the bridle path. Mrs. Sutherland squeezed my hand. If she noticed its icy pallor, she must have taken it for a chill. â€Å"Since you lost your father?† she asked gently. I nodded. That explanation was easier than the truth. â€Å"I lost a brother in the battle with Mexico,† Mrs. Sutherland confided, as we passed a little girl and her father walking a long-haired dachshund. â€Å"We were the closest of nine brothers and sisters. Despite our numbers, none of my siblings could ever replace him in my heart.† â€Å"Uncle Isaiah,† Lydia murmured. â€Å"I barely remember him. But he was always kind.† â€Å"I'm sorry to hear that. I did not mean to turn this outing into a sad affair,† I apologized. â€Å"Remembering and mourning needn't always be sad,† Mrs. Sutherland pointed out. â€Å"It is simply . . . what it is. Keeping their lives present in our own.† Her words cast a true light through all the confusing thoughts that had been clouding my mind of late: how to remain in touch with my human side even as I embraced becoming a vampire, how to not lose my soul. Keeping the past present was paramount. Just as my memory of Callie kept me from attacking Bridget, my connection to my family, to the life that had once been mine, would help me keep my humanity. Though she didn't resemble my own mother at all, for one instant, with the sunlight shining down through her cap and illuminating her graying hair, her sharp blue eyes softened with feeling, I suddenly felt she could be my mother. That, were the circumstances different, I could be happy in her home. Oh, how I missed my mother. While my deep grief for her had abated in the years since she had died, there was a dull ache that was never absent from my heart. How much of the tragedy that engulfed our lives could have been avoided if she were still alive? I missed my father, too. Up until the moment I killed him, I respected and loved him. I had wanted to follow in his footsteps, to take on the family estate, to please him as much as possible. My deepest wish had been that he could respect and love me back. I even missed my brother, or rather who he used to be. Though he vowed to get revenge on me for turning him into a vampire, in life he had been my truest companion in the world, my playful competitor and my closest confidant. I wondered where Damon was right now, and what harm he might be doing. I couldn't judge his bad behavior – I'd had my share of bloodlust after I had turned. I only hoped his humanity would return to him as mine had. â€Å"You are a wise woman, Mrs. Sutherland,† I said, returning the squeeze of her hand. She smiled at me. â€Å"You're a remarkable young man,† Mrs. Sutherland noted. â€Å"If I was your mother, I should be very proud of you. Of course, I have no sons, and only one son-in-law. . . .† She sniffed. â€Å"But, Mother, Margaret and I are each very accomplished, in our own way,† Lydia said, ignoring the pointed remark about son-in-laws. â€Å"She does the books for Wally. And I am helping to form that charity for mothers who lack a stable income.† Mrs. Sutherland cast a private smile at me, and in that moment I dared to hope. Perhaps it was possible to stay here, to become part of this family. It would be a dangerous game, but perhaps I could master it. I could keep my hunger under control and take daily walks with Lydia and Mrs. Sutherland, accompanying them home for a cup of tea or a lively debate about the war with Winfield. Lydia continued on, making her case for her own independence, her mother sighing despite her apparent pride. The sun grew warmer as we made our way west, choosing paths at random until we came upon a familiar foot trail in the middle of the park that led straight to Seneca Village. My home. Perhaps it was my sudden distraction that caused Mrs. Sutherland to look at me so closely. â€Å"Mr. Salvatore,† she said, half-concerned, half-afraid. â€Å"You have a . . . spot . . . upon your collar.† Despite the laws of decorum, Lydia reached for it then, brushing a finger gently near my neck. I shuddered in excitement and fear at her closeness. When she withdrew her pointer finger, it wore a speck of blood. I grew ashen. For this was the fact of my life. Despite the pains I took to control myself, the exhaustive efforts at constant secrecy, one speck of blood was all it took to upset the balance. They would see me for who I was: a liar, a murderer, a monster. The tinkling of Lydia's laughter broke the silence. â€Å"Just a bit of jam,† she said lightly, wiping her finger on the low-hanging branch of a passing tree. â€Å"Mr. Salvatore,† she teased, â€Å"I know we have made you feel very much at home, but while you are our guest, perhaps you should be more careful with your table manners.† Mrs. Sutherland began to chide her daughter, but seeing the happy relief upon my own face, she smiled as well. Soon we were all laughing gaily at Stefan Salvatore, the nighttime-hero-turned-careless-houseguest, as we made our way back into the sunlight.

Concept Paper 4

Concept Paper 4 Concept Paper 4 Concept Paper The Underrepresentation of Female Chief Executive Officers in Healthcare: A Phenomenological Study Ricky Harps University of Phoenix Introduction According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the Women’s Bureau, 47% of the total of the U.S. labor force is made up of women. Women are also slated to account for 51% of the labor growth in the next coming years. In a recent survey, conducted by the Women’s Bureau in 2013, there were four major industries in which women held the largest percentage of jobs. Education and healthcare services seemed to top the list with 33.2%. Throughout history, women have been on the forefront of leadership within the healthcare industry. For instance, in early hospitals Catholic nuns performed managerial, clinical and support duties within the hospital. Background of Problem Statement Women make up 78% of the workforce (Kirchheimer 2007), but only 24% of women held senior executive positions and 18% held the position of hospital CEO (Hauser, 2014). Although, the numbers of women in executive leadership positions are on the rise, there are many women who are struggling to reach these positions. Even outside of healthcare, a research study conducted in 2011 found only 14% of the executive leadership positions were held by women and 16% held board seats. To further examine this underrepresentation of women in leadership positions 60 Fortune 500 companies had no women on their boards. And 136 had no women in their top executive positions (Catalyst 2011). Research Design This study utilized a qualitative phenomenological design that was characterized by a process that explored holistic, small sample, through interview and communication in words and numbers (Barber & Korbanka, 2003, p.33). It also used a sample size of 10 female healthcare executives with similar experience and backgrounds. Utilizing the Southeast United States, allowed the study to be managed with little difficulty. Qualitative Problem Statement Although, women have made many strives toward advancement, the problem that exists is still, an underrepresentation of female executives within business and healthcare organizations. The gender gap exists in CEO leadership in the United States (Catalyst, 2005). In a research survey on career attainments of men and women healthcare executives, 12% of CEOs are female (American College of Healthcare Executives, (2006). Political, economic and social influences have always been deterrents of women to advancement in leadership roles (Porterfield

Warfare in the High Skies

Warfare in the High Skies Abstract Etihad Airways and Emirates Airways are two rival airlines operating from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This proposal looks at several components of a research project designed to look at the elements of their marketing strategies, against the backdrop of their rivalry. The paper provides an analysis of the two companies and compares their marketing strategies.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Warfare in the High Skies specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The paper also presents findings of previous research regarding international market entry and examines the different approaches that may be used by a company looking to establish itself into a foreign land. The paper closes by giving various recommendations to both Etihad and Emirates on how they can advance by learning from each other which may threaten the representativeness of the achieved sample. Introduction Etihad Airways and Emirates Airways are t wo rival airlines operating from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This proposal looks at several components of a research project designed to look at the elements of their marketing strategies, against the backdrop of their rivalry. As can be seen from table 1, the income from the airline business keeps fluctuating. Chart 1 and 2 also depict the results in the table graphically. Table 1: Summary of Airline Profits and Margin Item / Year 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Operating Revenue 291 295 305 328 307 306 321 378 413 452 490 514 Operating Expense 274 279 293 317 319 311 323 375 409 440 474 498 Operating Profit 17 16 12 11 -12 -5 -2 3 4 12 16 16 Operating Margin (%) 5.8 5.4 3.9 3.3 -3.9 -1.6 -0.6 0.8 1 2.6 3.3 3.1 Net Profit 8.5 8.2 8.5 3.7 -13 -11.3 -7.6 -5.6 -4.1 -0.5 5.6 5 Net Margin (%) 2.9 2.8 2.8 1.1 -4.2 -3.7 -2.4 -1.5 -1 -0.1 1.1 1 Chart 1: Summary of Airline Profits and Margin Chart 2: Trend of Changes over the YearsAdvertisi ng Looking for term paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Aims and Objectives The aim of the study is to determine the factors affecting the choice of market entry models in the international market. Emirates Airlines and the Etihad Airlines have managed to break into international markets despite bitter domestic rivalry. This makes them the best candidates for the study. The objectives of the study will be as follows. To investigate the market entry models of Etihad Airlines and the Emirates Airlines. To investigate the defining elements and the implications of the rivalry between the Etihad Airlines and the Emirates Airlines. To determine the long term prospects of the two airlines in relation to their existing marketing strategies in the context of their rivalry Justification for the Topic Etihad Airways and Emirates Airlines are bitter rivals in the airline sector in the UAE. The two ai rlines have been competing for market share since the establishment of Etihad Airlines. The significant difference between these two airlines is that Etihad Airlines is much younger than Emirates Airlines. Despite this, Etihad Airlines is proving to be a strong competitor for leadership in the UAE airspace. The main question this leads to is â€Å"how can a young company take on an established company and become a fierce rival?† Secondly, â€Å"what marketing strategies do the two airlines use, and how do these strategies contribute towards their success?† Need for the Study The need to study the rivalry between Etihad Airlines and the Emirates Airlines comes from the following reasons. First, marketing determines the success or failure of any business. Therefore, the fact that Etihad Airlines and Emirates Airlines are each successful in their own right makes them ideal candidates for a study in marketing strategy. Secondly, Etihad Airlines has not yet broken even sinc e its inception, and it will take a few more years before it makes profits. Emirates Airlines has been making profits throughout its history. Does this situation stem from the marketing strategies of the two airlines? Thirdly, there is need to determine the long term prospects for the two airlines given their existing rivalry.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Warfare in the High Skies specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Importance of the Study The importance of this study is that it will provide a platform for examining the effectiveness of marketing strategies under a situation of bitter rivalry. The two airlines position themselves as luxury airlines. They also provide services in very competitive routes across the global landscape. Their rivalry can end up with one of them collapsing and the other becoming a monopoly. On the other hand, each of the companies is a target of acquisition by its rival. These issues illustrate the importance of studying the marketing strategies of the two airlines in order to determine which one is likely to survive in the long term. The proposal aims to provide a good background to understand how the two competing companies operate, and how they can actually take advantage of their strengths to position themselves strategically in the market. Furthermore, the relevant data that will result from this study will be a very useful resource to both companies as they seek to expand their operations. Based on the outcome of this study, the two companies will be able to analyze their marketing strategies and make the necessary improvements where necessary in order to perform better. As the two companies have already made a move to penetrate the international market, this results of this study will provide them with information that is critical for their survival in an international set up. Besides, this study will be a good reference for future market researches or ev en for existing and potential airline companies. Sources of Information There are three main sources of data for this project. First, the project will examine existing data regarding the operations of the two airlines from literature. The study will also examine research papers written on various aspects of the operations of the two airlines. It will be important to interview people who use the airlines to determine the customer satisfaction indices. Finally, it will be important to study publications by the two companies to decipher their marketing strategies.Advertising Looking for term paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Literature Review Among other things, this section will examine the literature that exists regarding these two rival companies. The information gathered will later provide a good foundation for understanding how these two companies carry out their marketing operations and what the future holds for two. Defining Marketing According to critics, the marketing concept is about producing things that people do not really need and then tricking the customers into buying them through deceitful advertising. However, Shaw (2011) describes marketing as a complete philosophy for running a business, based on the meeting of well researched, well understood, and genuine customer requirements. It is the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating, and satisfying customer requirements in a profitable manner (Shaw, 2011). Apparently, the use of the word anticipating in the definition emphasizes that marketing is a dynamic discipline, where customer requirements. According to Shaw (20 11), successful airlines are those that accept the principles of marketing should provide a framework for all they do, and set out to apply these principles as widely and as rigorously as possible. Background of Etihad Airlines and the Emirates Airlines Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, based in its capital Abu Dhabi, made its first commercial flight in November 2003 (Hausmann, Austin Mia, 2009). Since then, the airline has grown faster than any other in the commercial aviation history, currently serving more than 50 destinations in Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and North America. Etihad offers the highest standards of service and comfort both on the ground and in the air with world class cuisine, award winning flat beds in its premium cabins and the widest seats in the economy, as well as more than 500 hours of on-demand in-flight entertainment. Etihad operates a young and environmentally efficient fleet of at least 42 aircraft, which is set to continue growing (Hausmann, Austin Mia, 2009). The Emirates group consists of Emirates Airline, Dnata, Mercator, Transguard, and Emquest. Emirates Airline’s divisions include Emirates SkyCargo, and Emirates Destination and Leisure Management, which manages Emirates holidays, Arabian Adventures, and Emirates Hotels and Resorts. According to Hausmann, Austin and Mia (2009), Emirates operates services to 97 cities in 61 countries in Europe, America, the Middle East, Africa, the Indian sub content, and Asia-Pacific. The airplane’s wide bodied fleet comprises over 110 aircraft and it has on order, a further 112 aircraft worth more than US$ 30 (Hausmann, Austin Mia, 2009). Apparently, international sports sponsorship plays a central role in Etihad’s global marketing strategy, as it seeks to develop its profile in markets across the world. Major international sponsorship deals include the Ferrari F1 Grand Prix team, Chelsea Football Club, the Etihad S tadium, Harlequins Rugby Football club, and All Irish Hurling Champions. Etihad is the title sponsor of the Formula One Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (Hausmann, Austin Mia, 2009). According to Kleymann and Seristà ¶ (2004), Emirates Airlines is reluctant to join a global alliance as its existing relationships with OneWorld and the Star alliance, are providing good benefits and revenue streams. Emirates Airlines is concerned that a global alliance strategy may conflict with the development of Dubai International Airport as an Emirates hub. Apparently, the carrier is not sure that joining an alliance would make it a feeder airline for others. The Market for Air Transport Services Any airline which is to apply the principle of marketing successfully needs a thorough knowledge of current and potential markets for its services. This knowledge should encompass an understanding of the business in which they participate, and of the market research techniques they must apply in order to gain the knowledge they need about the market place. They must be able to identify customers and distinguish them from consumers. In addition, it is necessary for them to segment their markets. Once they have done so, they need to identify and prioritize the requirements of customers in each of the segments. Finally, and most importantly, they must examine their markets in a dynamic rather than a static sense and anticipate future changes in customer needs. To begin with, any airline first has to deal with the question as to which market or markets are to be studied. To do so, it must answer the fundamental question about the business or businesses in which it participates. In doing so, there are two possibilities. The first and obvious way is to define business participation in terms of what the firm does. Thus, it would be easy for an airline to say that it was a player in the aviation business. There is, however, a significant problem in doing so. It will result in a serious under estimation of both the extent and nature of the competition that the airline faces. As a consequence, defining business in this manner is often characterized as marketing myopia. A much better way is to look at the question from the point of view of the needs that the firm is aiming to satisfy and the competition that it faces. A large airline will be working in at least the transport, communication, and leisure areas. These are explained as follows. Transportation According to Shaw (2011), there is a clear economic and, often social need for transport. Those with this need will look for it to be satisfied in an optimum way. Whether use is made of air transport or a surface transport mode in order to do so is less important to them. There are now many short haul routes where surface transport can provide a level of service in terms of comfort and door to door journey times which is as good as or better than that available from airlines. In the future, this form of competition is likely to become even more marked, given the ambitious investment plans now in place in many countries for the improvement of surface, especially rail, transport. Communication Airlines have always assisted people to communicate, as travel allows opportunities for face to face meetings. It should not be assumed any longer, though, that travel is essential for such meetings to take place. The world is under going a revolution based on video conferencing, conference calling, and email. The future will see video conferencing becoming even cheaper, of better quality, and more widely available. More companies are now investing in video conferencing suits for their staff. Also, almost all personal computers are being sold with in built web cameras, allowing video conferencing to come to the desk top. These are all indicators of substantial amount of competition that airlines are already facing from the telecommunications industry. Seemingly, the degree of this competition will increase further in the future, especially during recessionary times when many firms are under acute pressure to save money. Leisure Airlines today are increasingly involved in the intensely competitive leisure industry. Customers have to decide how they will use both their disposal income and disposable time. Disposable income can be used to purchase holidays. It can, though, also be used to buy a wide range of other consumer items. Disposable leisure time can be used for taking of air based holidays. In the same way, it can be used for other leisure activities. It certainly will be if traveling by air becomes a tiresome experience through flight delays and more and more chaotic airport handling brought about by increasing congestion, more strikes and growing security requirements. For leisure travelers, the impact of surface transport competition is likely to be greater still. Besides competition on service quality, surface operators will be able to challenge airlines on price, with both train and bus services likely to become increasingly significant. The customer in such a situation might be the family member who has most influence in travel decisions. International Entry Strategies As companies face maturing markets and stiffening domestic competition, they show a growing interest in cross border initiatives. Many of today’s leading companies are making foreign market entry decisions on a fairly recurring basis whereas others are taking their first steps in this competitive arena. For example, Best Buy, the world’s largest electronics specialist, continues to internationalize, with market entries into emerging markets such as Mexico and Turkey, and mature markets such as the UK (Carpenter Shankar, 2012). The world’s largest company, Wal-Mart, also actively pursues new foreign operations. As of March 2011, Wal-Mart operated 4587 units in 14 countries outside the USA. The most recently entered market was India, where Wal-Mart runs a wholesale operation under joint venture with India based Bharti Enterprises. So as not to be undone by their Western rivals, rising companies from emerging markets such as Tata Motors and Lenovo are also diligently cultivating a global mindset. India based Tata, for example, recently acquired Jaguar/Land Rover, China’s Geely took over Volvo, and Lenovo bought IBM’s personal computer division. The success of these foreign entries obviously depends on the appropriateness of the firm’s post entry decisions, but may also depend on the strategic choice made at the time of entry, as they shape the platform from which competitive advantages can be gained. Here, we will reflect on both the antecedents and performance consequences of some of the most important decisions that have to be taken at the time of entry. These decisions include; country selection, timing, mode, scale of entry, and the level of adaptation and standardization. As observed by Carpenter Shankar (2012), marke t entry decisions are some of a firm’s most risky strategic choices, as international market entry requires a major commitment of financial and managerial resources. For most firms, it remains uncertain as to whether a large scale presence will ever materialize in the hoped for economies of scale. In a similar way, they wonder when it is best to enter a given market or how much a firm should adapt its concept such as brands, products, and store format, to local taste or whether similar entry strategies will prove to be optimal in mature and emerging markets. This uncertainty helps to explain the variability observed in entry strategies adopted by international players, even within the same industry. Considering that entry decisions remain difficult, managers often turn to prevailing practices in the industry to learn which decisions are good, or even best. Competitive entry decisions are monitored closely, providing a significant input in the decision process. However, the wi de variation in the year of entry, in the scale and mode of entry and in the extent of standardization indicates that this does not imply a mere copying of the most popular pattern. Rather, industry rules suggest different entry decisions contingent on external and internal conditions. Besides looking into the above antecedents of these decisions, here are some insights into the contribution of different strategic choices at entry on post entry performance, especially in the longer run. In spite of this growing extent of internationalization, several firms are still struggling to develop the competencies needed to compete in the global arena. Mixed success has been reported when expanding into the foreign markets. Clearly dominating the US retail market, Wal-Mart’s attempts to apply the company’s proven US formula in an unmodified manner to the German market turned out to be nothing short of a fiasco. Moreover, many international companies do not realize comparable mar gins or returns abroad as in their home market, an a few reach break even in their international. For example, the French retail giant Carrefour loses money in many of its European and cross continental markets. In 2010, Carrefour decided to sell off its 61 supermarkets in Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand, and focus on markets where it is either the market leader or a strong contender. Overall, firms favor countries with a large prospective customer base as such markets offer better opportunities for good returns. As for scale, several potential indicators are used to assess the potential attractiveness of the market. The indicators a company selects are to a large degree driven by the strategic objectives spelt out in the company’s global mission. Some indicators are derived from macroeconomic trends, others from consumer behavior and culture. Colgate Palmolive, for example, views per capita purchasing power as a major driver behind market opportunities. Starbucks looks at economic indicators, the size of the population, and whether the company can locate good joint venture partners. When choosing markets for a particular product, the metrics to consider should depend on the nature of the product and the way local consumers use and perceive this product. Proctor Gamble chose Malaysia and Singapore as the first markets in Asia for roll out of Febreze, a fabric odor remover. Not only were both markets known for home proud consumers, people there tend to furnish their homes heavily with fabrics. A company might also decide to enter a particular country that is considered as a trendsetter in the industry. Kodak, for example, re-entered the digital camera market in Japan precisely for that reason. According to the president of Kodak Japan, what happens in Japan eventually happens in the rest of the world. The critical role of market size in country selection is supported by several empirical studies. Given that there are several measures to proxy market s ize, the selection of the proper variable is important. A study of the Finnish software enterprises found that the size of the software market in the target country was the most important country selection factor, not GDP or per capita GDP. Apart from the current size, also the future growth prospects are a key consideration. For example, the growth of the middle class is an important driver for many grocery retailers to enter emerging economies. Distance is another selection criterion. Like scale, distance is a multi attribute dimension. It encompasses geographical, cultural, economic and administrative distance (Carpenter Shankar, 2012). All of these criteria will determine how similar a prospective host and home market are. In general, the more similar both markets are, the more likely a firm will enter the prospective host market. One way to capture or quantify the firm’s knowledge of the economic and cultural environment is through the notion of near market knowledge. T he near market knowledge concept enables a firm’s understanding of potential new markets is based on the knowledge generated from operating in similar markets. Administrative distance and hurdles also play a role in a firm’s country selection process. Tariffs, trade quota, restrictions on foreign direct investment and preferences to protect domestic competition by prospective host countries’ governments will directly impede a firm from selecting a country as potential new market. On the other hand, when administrative borders erode, cross border diffusion will accelerate. Generally, the importance of distance tends to evolve as the firm gains more international experience. As the firm gathers more internal expertise, it can expand into countries that are geographically or culturally more distant. For example, Starbucks opened its first store in Canada in 1987, Wal-Mart chose Mexico as its first market outside the US for the launch of the Xbox 360 game console (C arpenter Shankar, 2012). When operating in similar countries, it is hoped that relevant knowledge can be transferred from one country to another. Tracking competitors’ moves also plays an important role in country selection. As firms meet their competitors more and more in several different international markets, the mere presence of those rivals can become an important selection criterion. Dynamics of Entry Strategies The impact of an entry decision can change over time. Some decisions will have along term impact, while in other cases their effect will be relatively short lived. Moreover, the importance of certain factors can change as firms grow more familiar with foreign operations. For example, as the firm builds more international experience, the cultural or economic distance to the home country may become less of an impediment. A study of the international expansion paths of US service firms found that as their international experience increases, these firms indeed see k out markets that are geographically and culturally more distant. An important factor in this evolution is the firm’s ability to transfer knowledge across countries. Conventional wisdom appears to be that firms should gradually enter into more remote countries, where each time, one’s knowledge base is updated in a rather incremental fashion and without major shocks. However, at some point, the firm may adopt an alternative strategy to immediately go to a variety of vastly different target markets, in order to quickly enrich its base through a wide variety of experiences. The former corresponds to a waterfall strategy, while the latter is associated with a sprinkler strategy of international expansion. Firms may also adapt their entry mode over time. The drivers that resulted in the initial entry mode selection tend to evolve over time. As a result, the firm may feel the urge to switch its presence mode. Conventional wisdom suggests that firms progressively move to gre ater control modes. For instance, Starbucks initially entered China through three joint ventures covering different regions. Over time, the firm raised its control in three ventures. In 2006, the coffee chain increased its ownership in the North China partnership to 90 percent so that it could achieve greater operational efficiencies and accelerate its market expansion. So far, scant attention has been paid to the dynamics of entry mode choices. The limited research that dies exist has primarily focused on the antecedents of an internationalization mode change and, not so much on the performance consequences. Finally, while previous research has often focused on the scale of the initial entry, interesting research opportunities are present when studying the subsequent evolution in the investments in different countries, especially for companies with an extended country portfolio. Indeed, trade offs have to be made then on where to grow first. This may require divestments in other co untries, even when the operations in the latter are profitable as well. More and more are no longer confined to their local market, but extend their operations across multiple countries. This involves considerable risks, as major decisions with long lasting performance implications need to be made under considerable uncertainty. Indeed, various decisions have to be made when entering foreign markets, including the selection of the target countries, the timing, the scale and mode of entry, and the extent of standardization versus local adaptation. Throughout this section, relevant literature has been reviewed on these decisions. More attention should be given to capture simultaneously the impact of certain variables on both the selection decision and the subsequent post entry performance of the foreign venture. One concern in addressing this challenge is that researchers usually restrict their samples to countries that the firm decided to enter. Typically, information on the firmâ₠¬â„¢s consideration set of countries at the time of the entry decision is ignored, thereby creating potential sample selection biases. Still, one could envision modeling the selection issue and incorporating it in the performance evaluation. By looking simultaneously at an outcome and selection equation, less biased results may be obtained with respect to the relative importance of the various selection criteria. Although the discussion in this section has concentrated on international entry strategies, exist in global marketing are not uncommon. In 2001, Colgate Palmolive sold its laundry detergent brands in Mexico to Henkel, its German competitor. In 2006, Wal-Mart retreated twice in a row. The company first sold its stores in South Korea and then, barely two months later, it also sold its German stores to Metro. Similarly, Nokia, the world’s largest mobile phone maker, decided to stop making phones for the Japanese market in 2008. However, the literature on market exits is much more limited than on market entries. Initially, firm exits were mostly described as failures, with a focus on poor market shares, low profitability, or lack of financial resources. More recently, more strategic motives have also been identified, such as the need to exit because of a lack of a lack of strategic fit, restructuring, and other proactive moves. Within the more resource based view of the firm, divestments are then described as a move towards the core business by getting rid of non core assets, while portfolio theory has focused on how firms may want to realign their country portfolio to optimally exploit market opportunities. In line with the entry literature, the antecedents and performance consequences for the firms as a whole should be investigated in more detail, so that we can learn when exits may benefit the firm or when they made in vain. As such, one should consider both economic costs of exit, including the sunk costs made during entry that will not be reco vered, and the more strategic costs coming from the ties between the subsidiary that has to be divested and the rest of the firm’s network. Market Entry Modes of Etihad and Emirates Airlines One of the approaches that used by Etihad to penetrate new market us is by forming new alliances. One of the major reasons why alliances are created is to strengthen a company’s position in the market. By forming alliances, Etihad will be able to take advantage of the network created by collaborating partners. Eventually, this leads to reduced operation costs. Emirates and Virgin, however, refused to form an alliance based on the fact that they had distinct products and were, therefore, convinced that working separately offered the solution. The two companies felt that the incremental benefits of global alliance membership do not justify the costs involved in joining. When the Director of External Affairs and route planning of Virgin Atlanta was asked about the possibility of his c ompany entering an alliance, he answered that there had been no need to join any alliance so far (Iatrou Oretti, 2007). Apparently, the Director was convinced beyond doubt that the main advantage of not joining an alliance was flexibility, adding that although he could not point to any particular hard benefit, he also believed that by not having to pay alliance subscription fees or dedicate management time to alliance meetings, Virgin had lower costs. The benefits of joining an alliance are outweighed by staying independent. There is no need to consult anyone regarding timetables or fleet schedules. According to Emirates, the most negative aspects of alliances are slow decision making and compromises members of an alliance are required to make, causing them to settle for the lowest common denominator. Emirates further claims that alliances become bureaucracy laden and divert members’ attention from their core business which is considered an unhealthy situation for forward lo oking and progressive carriers. It is, however, assumed that the growing strength of close competitors such as Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways may at sometime influence its future decisions. Even though Emirates prefer to operate in isolation, the airline acknowledges that alliances are good and is, thus, still open to the idea of forming alliances. As explained earlier, Etihad’s performance has been spectacular despite having been in existence for only a short period of time in comparison to Emirates. Clearly, Etihad, is not afraid to venture into new grounds and this explains why its performance is the way it is. It may be necessary for Emirates to rethink their operational strategy. According to Iatrou Oretti (2007), alliance carriers retain a host of bilateral relations with non member airlines and there are several instances of code sharing between members of rival global alliances. Once the shape of global alliances becomes clearer and more stable, and they grow more exclusive in nature, member airlines may find it difficult to grandfather existing agreements at the time of joining or develop new ones with carriers belonging to a different grouping. Furthermore, should existing coalitions proceed towards deeper integration and start achieving meaningful revenue enhancements and cost reductions it would eventually tip the scale in favor of alliances, increasing their competitive advantages and desirability. Such developments could put extra pressure on the unaligned airlines such as Emirates to re-evaluate their approach towards multilateral partnerships. Etihad also markets itself by offering high quality standards of products and services. Etihad also takes advantage of international sports sponsorship to penetrate the global marketing, as it seeks to develop its profile in markets across the world. As noted elsewhere in this paper, major international sponsorship deals include the Ferrari F1 Grand Prix team, Chelsea Football Club, the Etihad S tadium, Harlequins Rugby Football club, and All Irish Hurling Champions. Etihad is the title sponsor of the Formula One Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (Hausmann, Austin Mia, 2009). In spite of it being a negative approach to forward progression, avoiding alliance membership has bee supported by other airlines as well. This is an expression of the desire to prevent the alliance from taking too much influence over one’s airline. For example, in the aftermath of the failed integration between KLM and British Airways in mid 2000, the Chief Executive Officer of KLM resorted to stressing his airlines capabilities to go it alone, thereby implicitly down playing the absolute need for an alliance with a competitor. During the discussions with British Airways, KLM has successfully continued on the development and profitability of the airline company. Frequently, the reluctance to integrate too tightly was defined with the fact that alliance membership had really nothing to offer or that up to now, the alliance scene is still considered to be too unstable, or less frequently, because alliancing as such was seen as inherently detrimental to the airline. Generally, it is smaller carriers that have been quick to acknowledge integration. As to outright alliance avoidance, non aligned carriers tended openly to justify their choices of avoiding alliance group membership. As noted earlier, Emirates Airlines is still not ready to join a global alliance as its existing relationships with both the OneWorld and the Star alliance are providing good benefits and revenue streams. Emirates corporate treasurer is, however, concerned that a global alliance strategy may jeopardize its chances of becoming the Emirates hub at Dubai International. Methodology Basically, this study will be based on primary and secondary information sources. Firstly, the literature review will be carried out by consulting books, journals, the Internet, and other relevant sources. Secondly, primary data will be acquired by means of questionnaires. In addition, case studies from the United Arab Emirates will be used to complement the practical part of this research. Research Design and Data Collection Instruments The approach for the study will be quantitative analysis. As has already been stated above, questionnaires will be used for gathering primary data. Other techniques that may be useful for this study are interviews and focused group discussions. These data collection instruments are explained in the subsequent sub sections. Questionnaires Questionnaires are the most frequently used methods for data collection. They provide a method of collecting data by asking people questions or asking them to agree or disagree with statements representing different points. Questions can be open ended, where respondents supply their own answers, or closed ended, where they select from a list of provided answers (Babbie, 2000). According to Gillham (2000), questionnaires are rarely ade quate as a research method on their own. Apparently, this is true of every research methods, especially when one is dealing with a complex real world situation. Generally, the format of a questionnaire can influence the quality of the data collected. A clear format for contingency questions is necessary to ensure that the respondents answer all questions intended for them. It is also possible that the order of items in the questionnaire can influence the response given. Before being administered to the study sample, it is imperative to pretest the questionnaires (Babbie, 2000). The items in a questionnaire are constructed to elicit information on attributes, attitudes, beliefs, reported behavior, health status, knowledge, or psychological traits or states. Respondents may be asked to respond to items on a past, present or predicted timescale. Each item might provide a response that is analyzed individually or be one of a number of items that collectively constitute a measurement sca le on some concept or variable. It should be noted that, in contrast to the measurement of physical quantities such as weight, or distance, the process of measurement involved with such composite scales is not direct. A good questionnaire takes time and skill to construct, and its content and structure should be consistent with the research questions or hypotheses of the study. In general, a questionnaire might comprise all close ended items or might incorporate a portion of open ended items. Questionnaires produce quantitative data for the most part though those that include open ended items will generate some qualitative data, but of less detail and much depth than that obtained by an unstructured interview. The principle alternative to questionnaire is the interview. Questionnaires tend to be classified according to their mode of delivery, whereas interviews are classified in terms of their degree of structure. Although questionnaires are self-completed, they can also be research er completed. Although typically administered by post, a self completed questionnaire might be handed to a group of respondents whom the researcher might hand deliver the questionnaires to the respondents’ homes. Questionnaires have the advantage of saving time. They are also less costly unlike interviews and focused groups. However, where questionnaires are used, the researcher does not get the opportunity to provide any clarifications. To deal with this challenge, it will be necessary to ensure that the questions are properly prepared. Any ambiguity will only serve to confuse the respondents. In addition to the general strengths and weaknesses of self completed questionnaires, there are some specific advantages and disadvantages of postal administration. On the positive side, the cost of this method of delivery is about half that of the telephone administration and a quarter that of face to face administration. The lack of interviewer costs which include recruiting, trainin g, and monitoring, is a particular advantage in this respect. A study using postal questionnaires takes about the same length of time to execute regardless of sample size or geographical spread. Furthermore, the geographical dispersion of respondents does not normally affect the cost, in contrast to methods that require telephone or especially face to face contact. A postal questionnaire can also be delivered to the whole sample at the same time. In addition, it can be completed at recipients’ own convenient time, and allows them to provide information that may not be readily available. A practical draw back of postal administration is that the researcher requires a list of postal addresses, or access to respondents through a third party such as a professional body or charitable organization, in which case, the researcher often has no direct control over follow up to non responders. A further problem is that postal questionnaires can be subject to higher non response rates th an other means of administering questionnaires. If open ended items are included, in a postal questionnaire, the answers obtained are usually shorter and less in depth than with face to face or telephone interviews. Whatever their intended mode of delivery, questionnaires should be piloted. Table 2 shows the advantages and disadvantages of self completed questionnaires. Table 2: Advantages and Disadvantages of Self – Completed Questionnaires Advantages Disadvantages Easy to complete, if well constructed and presented in a way suited to the target Developing a well constructed questionnaire that produces valid and reliable data is difficult Suitable for topics for which fixed response options can be determined Of limited use for topics where the nature or form of responses cannot be predicted, or for complex issues can not be broken down into a series of simple questions Suitable for gathering much the same information from respondents Less suited to situations where different categories of information are required from different types of respondents since this would entail undue structural complexity in the questionnaire The form in which information is gained from each respondent is usually the same, facilitating comparative analysis across respondents Participants answers are largely constrained to fixed response options which may not be wholly appropriate or comprehensive with limited scope to qualify their answers or introduce issues of their own Can gather somewhat superficial data economically form a large number of individuals The researcher can not explore issues in depth by seeking clarification or elaboration Questions can be worded to include a retrospective time frame for the response May be inappropriate when spontaneous responses are required since the respondents are first required to read and understand the questions asked The language as well the terminology are the same for all respondents Require a minimum common leve l of literacy and comprehension and there is a potential for bias if the questionnaire has to be translated for some participants Anonymity of the respondents is easy to guarantee, and this encourages to be fully cooperate There is little guarantee as to where, when, by whom, and in what order the questionnaire is completed The reactive effects of direct contact between the researcher and participants are avoided The wording and structure of individual items may lead to biased responses, and hence unreliable results Data, particularly those deriving from closed ended questions are relatively easy to analyze and a detailed analysis procedure can be determined in advance. It can be difficult to interpret missing data or inconsistent or ambiguous responses. There is no opportunity to query the actual meaning of individual responses Interviews An interview may be defined as a conversation between interviewers and interviewees with the purpose of eliciting certain information. T hey may be carried out face to face or by telephone (Sim Wright, 2000). The essential characteristic of interviews is that they be neutral. Interviewers must be carefully trained to be familiar with the questionnaire, to follow the question wording, and question order exactly, and to record responses exactly as they are given. The advantage of interviews is that the interviewer can provide some guidance in case a respondent is not sure of what is expected of him or her. Interviews can, however, yield compromised results, especially when the interviewer is biased. Focus Group Discussions Focus groups are groups made up of a small number of people, coming together, to address a specific issue. Although this approach guarantees credible results, it has the disadvantage of being very costly. According to Sim and Wright (2000), focus group discussions have been in the tool kit of social scientists for some time now. In more recent decades, the use of the focus group discussions has incr eased amongst some areas of research as a tool to inform policy and practice. For example, focus group discussions have been used in health and behavioral research, strategic planning, health promotion, policy development, and programme evaluation (Holloway 2008). The increased use of focus group discussions is partly due to a broader acceptability of qualitative methods in these disciplines, but also due to a greater emphasis on the inclusion of qualitative methods in mixed method research designs, to respond to research issues not accessible by quantitative approaches. This more recent emphasis on integrating qualitative and quantitative approaches has ben encouraged by research funding bodies and has led to a renewed focus of raining in missed method research design for post graduate students in academic institutions. The increased use of focus group discussions has led to a greater number and variety of researchers using the method. Focus group discussions are also being applied in a greater variety of settings than in the past. In particular focus group discussions are often used in international research, particularly in developing country contexts. Despite the broader application of the focus group discussion in a wide variety of contexts, much of the existing methodological literature is written with an implicit assumption that the method is being applied only in western developed country context. For this research, questionnaires will be used to collect primary data. The method has strategically been selected because it is quicker than the other data collection methods. In addition, questionnaire will cost much less than either the interviews or focused group discussions. They will also make it possible to reach a bigger number of respondents (Rivera 2007). The questionnaire designed for the research is included under appendix 1. Findings and Conclusion Most airlines have a competitive strategy embodying the type of value they intend delivering. Its c hoice of competitive strategy is reflected in each carrier’s operating strategy. However, the performance associated with an opening strategy depends largely on benefits earned from delivering expected benefits to targeted customers and on costs incurred delivering those benefits. According to airlines have annual revenues of approximately half a trillion dollars and employ over 2 million people. They directly support another 2.9 million jobs at the airport and civil aerospace manufacturers, and may indirectly support in excess of 15 million jobs in tourism. From the discussion presented in this paper, it is obvious that market penetration is not an easy task. It is, therefore, important for each of the airlines to ensure that a good marketing plan is followed by everyone. Although the two airlines focus on different standards of operation, they can each learn form each other, eventually leading improved services. Although Emirates airline does not care about forming alliance s, it will be necessary for the airline to consider forming alliances in order to take advantage of the structures that have been put in place. A key issue is the enhanced competition in the airline industry. There is an obvious polarization between luxury between luxury and low cost brands which will progress. This means that not only does LCC detract market share of established airlines but are also previous middle class airlines will entering the high class market segment. Clearly, both Etihad and Emirates are competing to offer better services to clients and increase their profits. However, the competition will only serve to make the airlines fail to operate smoothly. Rather than compete against each other, it would be beneficial for both airlines to learn good practices from each other in order to progress and go even further. References Babbie, E. R. (2010). The Basics of Social Research. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning. Carpenter, G. S., Shankar, V. (2012). Handbook of Marketi ng Strategy. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing. Gillham, B. (2000). Developing a Questionnaire. New York, NY: Continuum International Publishing Group. Hausmann, R., Austin, E. L., Mia, I. (2009).The Mexico Competitiveness Report 2009. Geneva, Switzerland: World Economic Forum. Holloway, S. (2008). Straight and Level: Practical Airline Economics. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing, Limited. Iatrou, K., Oretti, M. (2007). Airline Choices for the Future: From Alliances to Mergers. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing, Limited. Kleymann, B., Seristà ¶, H. (2004). Managing Strategic Airline Alliances. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing, Limited. Rivera, M. M., Rivera, R. V. (2007). Thesis Dissertation Writing. Quezon City, Philippines: Goodwill Trading Co., Inc. Shaw, S. (2011). Airline Marketing and Management. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing, Limited. Sim, J., Wright, C. (2000). Research in Health Care: Concepts, Designs and Methods. Cheltenham, UK: Nelson Thornes. Appe ndix: Questionnaire Part A: Demographics Kindly answer the following questions by ticking (√) against your preferred choice (s). Please Indicate your position in the organization Marketing Manager Sales Executive Flight Attendant Any other? Please specify How long have you worked for the airline? Less than 1 year 1 2 years 2 3 Years More than 3 Years How long have you worked at your current position? Less than 1 year 1 2 years 2 3 Years More than 3 Years Part B: Market Entry Models In your opinion, which of the following is the most effective mode of entry into a new foreign market? (Please circle the number closest to your choice) Most Effective Effective Least Effective (a) Joint ventures 5 4 3 2 1 (b) Alliances 5 4 3 2 1 (c) Direct Investment 5 4 3 2 1 Part C: Multinational Experience In your opinion, does the company generate a huge income from foreign investments? (Please tick (√) one of the following) Strongly Agree Agree Do not Ag ree Disagree Strongly How capable do you think your firm is in terms of technological, managerial, and financial capabilities to handle international expansion? (Please tick (√) one of the following) Not Fully Prepared Prepared Somehow Fully Prepared Part D: Ability to Develop Differential Products How do you rate your firm’s training program in terms of preparing personnel to conduct international business? (Circle the number closest to your view) Most Effective Effective Least Effective (a) The firm has well designed training programs 5 4 3 2 1 (b) The firm has a poorly structured training programs that can not full prepare personnel to conduct international business 5 4 3 2 1 How do you rate your firms potential to create new and creatively structured products? (Please tick (√) one of the following) Poor Excellent Not Sure Part E: Ability to Stay ahead of Competitors How would rate your firms ability to handle the fierce competition in the airline industry? (Please tick (√) one of the following) Most Effective Effective Least Effective Part F: Government Policies and Political Environment What do you think is the attitude of government toward foreign investment in general? (Please tick (√) one of the following) Supportive Not Supportive Not Sure Do you think that the political, social, and economic conditions in the potential foreign investment markets are stable? (Please tick (√) one of the following) Strongly Agree Agree Do not Agree Disagree Strongly Part G: Contractual Risk How would you rate the costs associated with making and enforcing foreign contracts? (Please tick (√) one of the following) Very Costly Costly Not Costly Do you think that your firm’s standards of quality will be maintained if the firm operated jointly with local companies in the foreign market? (Please tick (√) one of the following) Strongly Agree Agree Do not Agree Disagree Strongly In your opinion, do you think there are any risks associated with the dissipation or misuse of your firm’s proprietary knowledge if you operated jointly with local companies in the foreign market? (Please tick (√) one of the following) Strongly Agree Agree Do not Agree Disagree Strongly