Marketing Essay – FedEx Corporation

Fed acquired Kink in 2004 for $2. 4 billion, ‘expand[inning] its presence among small and midsized businesses that have long been Kink's main customer base'. Fed Chairman stated â€Å"it [was] supremely logical for [them] to offer arrives to the whitewall's and office segment that are analogous to what [they] offer [their] corporate customer base† (Deutsche, 2003). Fed has a more defined white-collar customer base, mainly consisting of â€Å"fast-cycle logistics shippers seeking time-definite morning deliveries† (Richer, 2009).Their services will meet demands for time-definite morning deliveries to wholesalers,' (ibid. ) manufacturing businesses, retail stores, and high-value goods. 10 Recommendations Although Fed has been successful in moving into the international arena, it still does not have a competitive advantage in the shipping industry. Its chief competitor, UPS, controls the ground shipping market (see Appendix A), guaranteeing them a large portion of the domestic market share.Fed should maintain a controlling stake in the express delivery market while increasing their market share in domestic ground delivery, by further differentiating itself from UPS through innovation and service offerings. Securing more business partnerships, even at slightly lower margins, will help develop brand loyalty. This is especially true of long-term contracts with large firms. Studies predict the international package market will grow by 5-6% in the coming ears, nearly double the expected annual growth in world GAP (Waistlines, 2014).Fed should continuously invest capital in Asia, whilst penetrating into foreign markets by partnering with local carriers. This will give them valuable insight into a relatively foreign and unknown market. Acquiring smaller shipping companies, such as Excel (I-J) or Suppose (France) also increases their international reach. Fed could seek alternative energy sources to reduce their operating costs. Investing in solar power or bio-fuels could help counter additional costs due to increased fuel prices.Fed should utilize economic aircrafts to increase their carrying capacity, thereby reducing the number of operating planes. Lastly, by forging strategic alliances with oil and gas suppliers, they could bargain for discounts, whilst curtailing the negative effects associated with volatile oil supplies. Looking forward, Fed has positioned itself for growth opportunities in the domestic and international arena. It has exhibited an exceptional track record of international expansion and good financial restraints during times of easy credit, proving it can operate successfully even in a tough economic climate.

The Gendered and Gendering Institutions

When describing something that influences your gender, most people would assume that your â€Å"sex† or our biological identification given to us at birth would be the most definite source; however there are multiple factors and processes that contribute to one’s gender identity. The multitudes of institutions that assist in the socialization of an individual vary from person to person, but are all beneficial in creating a sense of gender. According to Michael Messner, there are two types of institutions, the gendered and the gendering.The gendered institution is described by Messner as â€Å"an institution constructed by gender relations. As such, its structures and values (rules, formal organizations, sex composition, etc. ) reflect dominant conceptions of masculinity and femininity† (p. 133). The gendering institution can be described by Messner as an institution that constructs the current gender order and genders people’s bodies and minds, it creates the masculine and feminine identities.These institutions are both detrimental to the construction of gender and personal identity; for me the involvement in CYO sports at a young age and the household in which I grew up (all girls) allowed me the freedom to develop an identity of my own outside the traditional masculine/feminine identity. As an 10 year old girl joining an all girls basketball team for the very first time, my parents thought this would be a helpful and constructive pastime for me to be involved with as a distraction from their divorce.Already struggling with personal issues at home, this institution became a very prominent source of development. The rules and expectations of this particular institution were that if we could work as hard as the boys, we could eventually be as good as the boys. My team was strong and extremely competitive, and certain values were instilled in us by our coaches at a young age. Being resilient to injury, maintaining a competitive attitud e against teammates and opponents, and not displaying emotion were all values that I had picked up from being involved with a contact sport.The idea that an all girls sport is incorporated with femininity simply because the team is made up of girls just does not ring true. Instead, we were seen as more masculine simply because of values that we had picked up from being involved in the sports complexity. I began placing importance on things such as working out and practicing basketball instead of playing with dolls and playing dress up, going against the traditional role of a female adolescent. From third grade, to eighth grade, I continued as an active participant in the institution.Practice everyday after school for 5 days a week, with league games on the weekends; basketball slowly consumed my childhood. I believe that being involved in a contact sport as competitive and aggressive as basketball, I was gendered with a more masculine approach rather than a feminine one. Certain ten ants of the masculine gender are traditionally associated with sports; like being strong, being competitive, and displaying emotions of anger only, most of these which I picked up in my 5 years of participating in sports.While other girls my age were involved in activities like Girl Scouts, dance classes, and music lessons, I dedicated all my free time to my sport of choice. This was the most gendered institution I had participated in at such a young age and really shaped the differences between masculine girls and feminine girls. From here, I had a solid idea of which end of the spectrum I fell under and how although I may differ from the other girls, there was nothing wrong with me. I chose to work out while girls my age chose to shop at the malls, I wore a short, hassle free haircut, while others girls had hair down past their shoulders.Christmas meant new equipment and sports apparel instead of the traditionally asked gifts of dolls and makeup. I still to this day see a reflecti on of that in my daily practices of gender. Jeans and t-shirts take priority over dresses and heels, I spend maximum of 30 minutes to get ready for the day while my extremely feminine roommates take a minimum of 2 hours. I still find myself watching and participating in sports, although not as passionately as I once had, but it is always in the back of my mind.I believe that I relate easily to the male sex because I understand their topics of interests that a lot of other girls my age do not. While I do identify as a girl, my interests, style of dress, laid back attitude, and casual appearance seem to identify more with the masculine identity. Whether this is due to the institution of sports or biological genetics, is a completely different argument. While basketball had an extremely big influence on my gender identity, growing up in a house of predominantly women; myself, my mother, and my two sisters, had an extreme impact on me, and how I viewed femininity.My Mother, extremely pr oud of us all, held no reservations, no expectations of gender, and was open to anything we wanted to try as children to establish an identity for ourselves; a true gift in which not everyone is exempt to. Growing up in a household that was flexible and fluid about personal identity and gender, I found this to be an extremely influential gendering institution. The expectations of the household were pretty fair and straightforward, the chores must be completed by Sunday nights, didn’t matter who did them as long as they got done.Curfews never changed, if you were coming home it had to be by midnight and if you were staying at a friend’s, call to say goodnight. These simple yet constructive guidelines allowed a certain flexibility to make my own decisions yet always take responsibility for them, the freedom to deviate away from the rules was there but somehow I never wanted to. Living in a home of all girls, there was always a certain aspect of masculinity missing from t he house; who will kill bugs, who will mow the lawn, change the light bulbs, unclog the toilets, fix the broken things?These small but important tasks I began to take on for myself. Slowly but surely taking on the role of â€Å"the man of the house†. Despite the sense of togetherness in our home, I always felt like the odd man out, displaying predominantly masculine emotions towards personal issues while my mother and sisters had no problem letting their tears and emotions spill. To this day I do not feel fully comfortable with â€Å"opening up† or crying in general, I would rather let them sit in the pit of my stomach and shake it off and this is considered a trait of a male.The lack of rules and rituals regarding feminine gender allowed me to fluctuate between the two until I found one I was comfortable with, a happy medium. Through my involvement in multiple structures and institutions, I believe that my gender came from a process of social agency, which is the abil ity of individuals to act independently and make their own free choices. Active participation in a gendered institution like Catholic Youth Organization Basketball, provided me with structure to be strong and confident even as a young girl.Although it went against social norms of femininity, I knew from a very young age that I was not the typical girl. Sitting on the opposite end of the spectrum, was the gendering institution of my family life. I was taught to be a polite and kind member of society, with no labels or expectations of gender attached to it. My mother always told me that as long as I was kind and civil to people, it should not matter how I dress or whom I choose to love. From all this, as a 21 year old openly gay woman in an institution as big as a California University, I found that while the endered and the gendering institutions are incredibly important in developing an identity for ourselves, I believe that even without strict and precise constraints of gender, one may develop and begin to flourish on their own. References Lorber, Judith. 2009. â€Å"The Social Construction of Gender. † Pp. 112-118 in Reconstructing Gender: A Multicultural Anthology by Estelle Disch. Boston. McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Messner, Michael. 2009. â€Å"Boyhood, Organized Sports, and the Construction of Masculinities. † Pp. 119-135 in Reconstructing Gender: A Multicultural Anthology by Estelle Disch. Boston. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

Community Events in Houston Texas Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Community Events in Houston Texas - Assignment Example Firstly it commemorates the important battle that led to independence and such helping to bring the people of Texas together in the spirit of patriotism. Through the participation, I was able to learn important historical lessons preserved in the museum and now understand how valuable this is. Secondly, the San Jacinto Independence Fun Run/Walk is an important unifying event for the people regardless of their religious affiliations. People come together as brothers and sisters and more importantly as united Texans and therefore appreciate the priceless benefits of religious tolerance. It fosters tolerance among the people of Texas and respect for the religious diversity among the state. The museum has a lot of historical literature with important lessons on the freedom of individuals, mutualism, tolerance, and friendship. We learn the importance of having friendships between countries and states across the word as well as individuals. We are able to appreciate diversity, respect divergent opinions and uphold fundamental freedoms as anchored in the constitution of America. The even, therefore, teaches a lot of values and helps people appreciate them in their daily coexistence. Another valuable event I attended is the Texas Independence Celebrations which took place on the 28th of February and 1st of March. This is also an annual event bringing together all Texans whether born or adopted. The venue is Brazos State Historic Site (90minutes from Houston) which is the particular spot from where the state of Texas was declared independent. Delegates met here in the year 1836 and made the brave declaration of Texas’ independent from Mexico. Participants get to enjoy live music, historical presentations, sample traditional crafts and are addressed by Governor Dan Patrick.

Choose the topics relevant to second term lecture material and Essay

Choose the topics relevant to second term lecture material and research the topic in more depth - Essay Example (Steger, 2003: p. 37) With regards to the large supply of available work force in the labor market, medium- and large-scale businesses are taking advantage of hiring competitive employees. Likewise, it is also crucial for businesses today to actively participate in the trading of goods and services in the world market. As part of discussing the valid reasons that makes it important for modern managers today to have a good understanding of the process of globalization, a literature review will be conducted in the study. To give the readers a better understanding of the subject matter, the first part of the literature review will discuss about the general information and the main purpose of globalization followed by analyzing the factors that makes it important for modern managers to have a good understanding of the globalization process. Prior to conclusion, reasons behind the need to implement and promote cultural diversity within the work environment will be tackled in details. Globalization is â€Å"a process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments of different countries which is driven by international trade and investment through the use of information technology.† (The Levin Institute, 2008) Basically, the concept of globalization allows business people to maximize their available financial resources by taking advantage of the low-cost products and services that are readily available from developing countries. Because of the differences in monetary exchange rate, large-scale businesses from developed countries are able to purchase more homogenous products and highly competitive human resources at a much lesser price. Therefore, large multinational companies could easily compete with small-scale local businesses by being able to offer homogenous products to its target consumers

WILDLIFE TOURISM IN SOUTH AFRICA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

WILDLIFE TOURISM IN SOUTH AFRICA - Essay Example The international wildlife tourists however comprise of such people who are mainly keen of conducting tours inside Africa (Avitourism in South Africa, 2010,pp.12-13). The target market identified for the marketing plan presented here accounts for 21000 to around 40000 wildlife tourists visiting the region on an annual basis. Domestic tourists comprise the major chunk of the wildlife tourist population and range from 13 to 24 thousand while the international tourists account for 8 to 16 thousand people on an annual basis. These target groups accounting for making wildlife tourism in South Africa render around 1025 to 1975 billion rand to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product on an annual basis (Research and Analysis Report, 2010, p.9). The report therefore intends to provide a clear-cut plan to attract these tourists by strategies in marketing and promotion and therefore add to the economy in terms of revenues as well. WILDLIFE TOURISM IN SOUTH AFRICA – A Marketing Plan Ma rketing Plan for Promoting Wildlife Tourism in South Africa South Africa is home to a large amount of biodiversity spread along its natural parks and wildlife habitats and accounts for drawing visitors from a worldwide base. This activity of ecology based wildlife tourism in the region helps in drawing huge revenues for the South African economy. In South Africa the amount of tourists coming to visit the wildlife sectors accrue to about 79 percent of the total number of tourists visiting the region on an annual basis. In terms of economic value the wildlife tourism in South Africa account for around 50 percent of the total amount of income generated from tourism activities. To attract the tourists visiting the South African region for their interest in wildlife, the South African government has rendered space for the development of natural parks, which hosts a large number of flora and fauna. These natural parks help in hosting a large number of tourists in several rest camps contai ning both lodging and hotel facilities. An example of a national park in the South African region is the Kruger National Park, which helps hosting a large number of tourists in both caravan and camps along with other guesthouses and guest cottages. These latter ones are built to present to the visitors a huge variety of opportunities to live and enjoy their tour. These hotels, rest houses and guest camps are designed in such a fashion as to provide to the people dwelling and food based on international standards. Estimates made show that only the Kruger National Park in South Africa draws around 1.4 million wildlife tourists in the region. This national park also helps to accrue huge amount of revenue for the South African economy. Estimates made show that on an average annual basis the national park amounts to around 40 million dollars of revenue for the South African government (Spenceley, 2006, pp.652-653). It is found from the above discussion that the impact of wildlife tourism in South Africa has helped the development of the economy of the region. The marketing and promotional activities designed would help greatly in enhancing the growth of wildlife tourists in the region, which would thereby augment the revenue patterns of the economy. However the marketing and promotional activities that would be taken to enhance the development of wildlife tourism in South Africa by helping in attracting large number of tourists must be developed in an organized fashion to optimize the utilization of available resources. Thus the design of the marketing plan for developing wildlife tourism in South Africa must function on the basis of the following agenda. Firstly the marketing plan

Wars in the Middle East past to present day Research Paper

Wars in the Middle East past to present day - Research Paper Example The Middle East is a core region that connects the three continents of Africa, Asia and Europe. In terms of conflicts, the Middle East countries have always had disputes that center on economics, politics, boundaries and religion. From the 20th century, there have been numerous conflicts that have always possessed the same theme. One of the first major conflicts relate to unification of Saudi Arabia (Tucker 34). This was a strategy whereby emirates and tribes could come under the single control of Al Saud. The conflict spread over a period of thirty years into creating the modern Saudi Arabia. This was the third state after the two previous ones. In this conflict, Al Saud conquered Riyadh and regions such as Al-Hasa and Nejd. Ibn Saud managed to take over Riyadh by killing the chief and capturing the castle. Similarly, the Egyptian revolution marked crucial occurrences of 1919. Sudan and Egypt participated into a revolt that sought to eliminate British rule from the region. This cont ributed to Egyptian independence and subsequent formation of a constitution. A temporary arrangement of British protectorate over Egypt lasted for an unexpected period. The agreement did not grant full sovereignty to Egypt and this resulted into further revolutionary activities. Egyptian strove towards political reform by having the 1952 revolution that eliminated the monarchial government (Tucker 803). One of the closely related revolutions relates to the 1979 Iran movement that uprooted the monarchy and established a new regime under Ayatollah Khomeini (Hoogland 11). The latest Asian conflict has been the famous Arab Spring. It has occurred in countries such as Libya, Egypt and Tunisia (Peters 33). In Western Asia, affected countries include Syria, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman. It is notable that Asian countries have enjoyed fair economic progress by initiating certain policies. Most of the Middle East countries rely on oil and irrigation oriented Agriculture for their economic growth and survival. In addition, the countries flourish in extensive trade. The political orientation of these countries has always relied in robust governments with immense powers. The immense powers rely on few think tanks that propose regular changes and economic direction. In addition, the leadership was mainly patriarchal and monarchial. However, this was perceivable to have fostered an autocracy. In spite of the economic progress, the capacity for democracy was increasingly becoming limited. The leadership had become autocratic and inflexible to initiating new regimes. This became a political issue whereby the citizens could not effectively vote for their preferred leaders. In this age of limited democracy, Middle East citizens were significantly gaining education in their countries and other places. This triggered a generational gap whereby the younger generation could communicate through intensive technology. In this perspective, many citizens, who were mostly youth, organi zed an extensive revolution as they strove to uproot the longest surviving autocracies. One of the most prominent border conflicts relates to India and Pakistan tussle over the Kashmir region. The two regions were separated due to religious disparity between the same. Almost all conflicts, between the two countries, have a basis over Kashmir (Paul 64). The first conflict that the two countries experienced relates to leadership dispute over the region.

International Business Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

International Business - Assignment Example The failure of Virgin Express was due to a lack of environmental study of the country and the competition. Richard Branson subsequently desired to repeat the success of Virgin Blue in the United States by the new venture Virgin USA. This will be possible by taking a corrective strategic management and marketing analysis. The objective of the study is to evaluate the factors on which the success of the aviation industry depends upon when starting a new venture in a different location. The study reveals the importance of research, strategic management and environmental analysis for the success of Virgin Airlines. Introduction Virgin Blue airline under the guidance of Sir Richard Branson was launched in the year 2000. The motive of the airline was to provide a low fare carrier to the people of Australia. The Virgin Blue airline demonstrated the success story in the airline industry in the short run. Virgin Blue occupied nearly 30% of the market share of Australia through its low price s trategy. In this case study, the success and the failure of the Virgin brand is depicted. The case reflects that Branson did not get success in the low cost airlines in the initial years. The airlines before Virgin Blue and Virgin Express did not succeed in the European market and was unable to compete with its rival Ryanair and Easyjet. The company was in the exploratory process to merge with the SN Brussels to recover its status, but failed after the 9/11 attack. Furthermore, the venture by Branson to provide air liner facility to the tour operator in the name of Virgin Sun failed to succeed. The Virgin Sun airline was sold to the Firstchoice because of its failure in the market (Daas, 2004). Cynics one of the observant analysed that the success of Virgin Blue was because of the lack of competition in the Australian market. The downfall of the other airline created a scope for the Virgin Blue and gave it an easy entry. According to Branson, the success of Virgin Blue was because o f the strong management, strategy and the financial planning by the management. The objective of the case is to analyse the failure of the Virgin Express in the European market. It is important to analyse the local market before the implementation of the airline expansion strategy in a new country or region. The reason for the mergers by Virgin Express and the success of Virgin Blue are evaluated in the case. Question 1 The Virgin Express started its operations in the year 1996. The airline was formed by Virgin Group when it bought the Euro Belgian Airlines and renamed it as Virgin Express. The aim of the airline was to produce a low cost carrier for the people of Europe. The company had to face severe competition from the rival airlines such as Ryanair and Easyjet. These two airlines were well established in the European market because of their strategic and marketing implementations. The airlines offered a very cheap rate foe the tickets. The tickets were sold at lower prices to t he people on the basis of first come first serve. This strategy encouraged people to buy the tickets much earlier. This created the demand for the airline of Ryanair and Easyjet. Moreover, the flexibility provided in the pricing strategy was attracting more customers. These strategies made the airlines to flourish and on the other hand the new airline Virgin Express was unable to meet these requirements in the European market and hence failed. The airline was then sold to SN Brussels Airlines in the year 2006