Marketing Simulation Essay Example Essay Example

Marketing Simulation Essay Example Paper Marketing Simulation Essay Introduction Orange experienced a very successful campaign and grew more profitable over the six quarters throughtout the Market Simulation. In terms of market share in comparison to the competition, we placed fourth holding 12 percent market share. We initially targeted the Mercedes market, and later developed products aimed at the Traveler and Workhorse clientele. In terms of profitability, we suffered a loss moving from Quarter 1 to Quarter 2, which is typical of most early-stage companies. However, each quarter thereafter we were able to maintain a profit, ending with $18,270,122 gross profit and $15,232,910 operating profit. Our six computer models are the driving factor behind such success. These models include The Motherboard, Babyboard 2. 0, Horseboard, Superboard, Toddlerboard, and The Ponyboard. The Superboard, out of all the models, was our most profitable device with $6,303,840 in profit. We also embarked on a major expansion endeavor, spreading our brand originally from Chicago to Pa ris, Shanghai, and Sao Paulo. Our knowledgeable sales force comprised of 60 individuals, coupled with our extensive advertising and competitive pricing allowed Orange to rise to the top. By the end of the Marketplace Simulation, Orange was in first place for cumulative total performance, accounting for a variety of business disciplines that contributed to our success. While we placed third in the simulation in terms of overall financial performance, we placed first overall for market performance and marketing effectiveness. Brand Design: Over the course of the six quarters, we made varying adjustments to our brands in order to keep up with the ever-changing competitive markets. Marketing Simulation Essay Body Paragraphs In Quarter 2, we decided to enter the Mercedes market with The Motherboard computer. Specifically, this brand was designed to be the top of the line product that suited all the most important needs of Mercedes. Some of these needs included a fast and powerful processor, the ability to link with other computers, and a machine that is capable of multitasking (Fig 1. 1). We figured that starting out in the highest-end market would be beneficial to creating a good name for our company, and then we would be able to trickle down throughout the other brandstarget market segments. Our results from Quarter 2 showed that we were successful with The Motherboard, as we possessed 46 percent of the market share for Mercedes. In Quarter 3, we introduced The Babyboard to the Traveler market segment. We designed our product to match the best-suited brand for Traveler, which was SwifTech’s Quickfly. We were slow to expand from our original two brands, and lost some of our momentum with our Quar ter 4 decisions. When we got our results, we realized that we needed to introduce more brands in order to keep up with the highly competitive markets. Quarter 5 marked our first Quarter quarter of rapid expansion. We introduced an additional product lines to Mercedes and Traveler, and created our first unit product for Workhorse. The new product lines for Mercedes and Traveler, The Superboard and The Toddlerboard respectively, were the higher quality versions of the The Motherboard and the The Babyboard. They , which were enhanced with all of the necessities and priced slightly higher than the original lines. Our initial brand for Workhorse was the The Horseboard, and it possessed the most basic features at the lowest price, to appeal to a consumer who was looking for something simple to use. We continued the trend of making two slightly varied products for each market segment in Quarter 6 when we introduced the The Ponyboard to supplement a slightly lower-end product than the The H orseboard. Sales Design Strategy: The sales design strategy of Orange was based primarily on the customer’s (Workhorse, Mercedes and Traveler) needs and wants. This consisted of the top eight preferences in either a laptop or a desktop, and the top six segments of applications. Additionally, each of the target market’s priceprices willing to pay is are shown in (Fig 1. 2). Initially, Orange felt it was most appropriate to choose to target the Mercedes market in Chicago. This allowed for The Motherboard to be produced, which led to 46 percent% domination in only the Mercedes market. Unfortunately overall Orange only had a 12 percent% overall market share, and felt it was necessary to expand into the portable laptop industry of Traveler with The Babyboard 2. 0, and opened a plant in Paris. By Quarter 3, the market size had reached 10,000 customers, which allowed for expansion in the cities of Shanghai and Sao Paulo, and the last target market of Workhorse. The generous r ebates were attractive to the target audience, and allowed for the introduction of The Horseboard, The Superboard, and The Toddlerboard. By Quarter 6, a total of 60 sales people had been employed, and due to the overall low prices of the products, as well as the rebates, Orange gained a 2 percent% market share. Financial Performance: Throughout these first phases of our company, Orange has created a positive financial pattern. While we implemented an aggressive growth strategy and expanded our empire internationally, we kept our costs to a minimum. Naturally, we started Quarter 2 with a deficit due to startup costs. Unlike most companies, our costs were controlled however, and we were only behind by just over $12,000. As advertising has always been a core competency of our company, we spent a total of $109,471 developing and promoting our first batch of advertising. The leasing costs and office spaces were kept to a minimum in the first two quarters as well, since we were only opera ting out of one location. As we moved into the Quarter 3, we expanded internationally and our rental costs increased. However, our sales skyrocketed as well. We had begun to turn a profit, and were in the black by $1,155,328. In Quarter 4, we continued the pattern of financial growth, and maintained an increase in sales. Again, we were fiscally conservative and attempted to keep costs to a minimum (Fig. 1. 3). An important component of Orange’s financial history is the profitability of each brand we sell (Fig 1. 4). Our first line, The Motherboard, dedicated to the top-tier consumer, introduced us to the marketplace. We turned a profit of $922,344 throughout all six quarters. This is a modest percentage of our empire, yet it accounts for the beginnings of our financial gain. Our most profitable brand, The Superboard, generated $6,303,840. We invested a lot of time and capital in the creation of this line, and it paid off. The ToddlerbBoard, HorsebBoard, and PonybBoard were al l profitable as well, with over one million made from each. Financially, only one of our lines performed less well than we had hoped. Our second line, The Babyboard 2. 0 only generated $452,198. Unfortunately, we were unable to sell a high number of these units, and the cost of goods sold was very high in comparison. In the end, each of our brands was able to generate profits. Our conservative fiscal policy allowed enough room for growth without spending more than we could handle. Finally, our revenues continued in a positive direction throughout every quarter, and we are confident the future will play out in the same way (Fig 1. 5). Competition: In the computer market, competition is very fierce. Thus, our company had to constantly position itself to be able to compete with the other companies in the market. To this end, we opened our first sales office in Chicago, hoping that our knowledge of the American marketplace would aid us in capturing a large initial market share. This pla n was successful and put us near the top in overall performance in the computer market. From this point, our company decided that in order to continue our success, we needed to examine the competition to find out what we were doing right, what we were doing wrong, and how we could improve. This plan enabled us to better understand what customers wanted without having to invest heavily into producing prototypes, because we were able to utilize other company’s products and sales numbers as though they were test products. Our first major interaction with our competition came in Quarter 4our fourth Quarter of operation. We introduced our The Babyboard product for the Traveler segment in our third QuarterQuarter 3 of operation. We made the mistake however, of not considering the Traveler segment’s desire for the computer to be fun to use. We discovered this issue by examining our competitor’s products and finding that all competitors that were more successful than us had included games with their product. Despite the increased costs of production and the cost of redesigning our brand, profits for the The Babyboard nearly doubled the next qQuarter (Fig. 1. 6). We also looked to our competition to determine our expansion plans. We realized immediately that with such fierce competition, the first mover advantage would be crucial. Thus, we expanded as quickly as possible by opening sales offices in every possible location. We also handled competition by expanding into every market segment, eventually offering a product for all segments of the market. Our company felt that this strategy would ensure that even if the competition would overtake us in one area, we would be able to survive on the strength of our other products while we figured out how to react. This strategy ultimately served our company well, as we were the top overall performer in the computer market. Conclusion The results of the past six quarters have clearly shown that Orange has m et its primary goals and exceeded expectations, becoming one of the most consistent and profitable companies in the industry. By using a conservative fiscal policy as well as an aggressive and competitive expansionary policy, we have seen Orange grow and become a stable company that is definitely worthy of further investment. To put it into a more detailed perspective, the way we dealt with competition, brand management, sales strategy, and our financials, was what brought us to the top and remains the reason we plan on becoming even more profitable in the near future. By starting in the Mercedes market, we were able to establish ourselves early as a company that promotes high-end, top quality products. This made it extremely easy in the future to expand to the other brands such as Traveler and Workhorse, since we were already best known for our superior products, that we have constantly updated to satisfy the ever changing consumer demands. By using this strategy, we were eventuall y able to generate enough revenue to expand to four different areas of the world, making our brands even better known and reaping most of the first mover advantages. However, this idea alone was not sufficient to achieve the revenues that we experienced over the past few quarters. Additionally, we knew that for our company to be profitable, we needed to get our name out there. This is why our strategy was to hire a large amount of sales people in each country, and invest a large sum of our operating capital in advertisements that would appeal to the wants and needs of specific target markets. Though we have experienced relative success the past six quarters that have propelled us to the top of the industry in overall performance, we are owhere near complacent. With the competition so fierce and the landscape of the technological environment constantly changing, we feel that we are prepared to respond to any competitive and technological pressures that we might have to face in the fu ture. Our company has been the model company in terms of consistency and financial growth and we feel as though our results so far have proven that Orange is a safe investment that will provide lucrative returns in the future. Figure 1. 1 Figure 1. 2 Figure 1. 3 Figure 1. 4 Fig 1. 5 Fig 1. 6 We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing Simulation Essay Example specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing Simulation Essay Example specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing Simulation Essay Example specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer

demian essays

demian essays Herman Hesses novel Demian tells of a young boy named Emil Sinclair and his childhood growing up during pre-World War I. Emil struggles to find his new self-knowledge in the immoral world and is caught between good and evil, which is represented as the light and dark realms. Hesse uses much symbolic diction in his novel to give a more puissant presentation of Emil Sinclair and the conflict between right and wrong. The symbolism gives direction, foreshadow, and significance towards every aspect of the novel. Emil Sinclairs home as a young child is a very important symbol in the novel. As Emil attends school he is shown a world immoral value. The confusion of which is right or wrong creates the need for a safe haven for Emil. Emil refers to his home as a realm of light and states that he and his family all belong to that realm. The house itself was once a monastery, giving it a more powerful representation of the light realm. This symbolic asylum represents Emils innocence within himself and casts him apart from the real world. Another safe haven Emil retreats to is after he finds himself as a member of the mark of Cain. Evas garden symbolizes the Garden of Eden (a religious setting therefore of the light realm) and Emil separates himself there as one with the mark of Cain apart from the rest of the corrupt world. Both settings symbolize Emils importance in the The Garden of Eden presents itself as another symbolic location. The event that Emil told the story of stealing the apples from the garden was a very symbolic point of the novel in which Emil breaks away from his light realm. The garden that Emil stole the apples from represented the Garden of Eden and the apples, or forbidden fruit, symbolized Emil's first sin. This event foreshadows what is next to come in the conflict of good and evil. Emils first step out of the li...

How to maintain effective accountability in project management Essay

How to maintain effective accountability in project management - Essay Example Hence, since most projects are implemented by teams whose heart is performance delivery, project managers need to be accountable to their teams and other project shareholders by ensuring they are empowered and dynamic. Accountability is undoubtedly one of the most important factors involved in the critical path of ensuring project managers account for the efforts of his or her team. The need for accountability in project management is to make sure that all finances and project resources are well utilized throughout a project life cycle (Barron & Barron, 2011). Hence, the ability of project managers to easily avail project data to the clients is important for ensuring good client relationships are maintained as well as establishing trust in the used methodologies. Therefore, accountability is very important to the involved teams because it ensures accountability is kept amongst project team members, a situation which prevents resentment in the project as well as helping to maintain mo rale (Gunlach, 2009). However, in order to make sure that accountability is maintained in project management there are issues which must be focused on throughout the project period. Firstly, one of such things involves maintaining effective communication within the project team and other stakeholders such as the sponsors or clients (Barron & Barron, 2011). Thus, since project management is usually a team effort, emphasis should always be placed on collaboration and communication in order to make sure everyone involved in the project can appropriately account for the allocated resources such as funds, labour, time, and so on. The significance of communication on maintaining effective accountability in management of projects is because it allows fast and easy process of making enquiries where some issues are not well understood. In addition, it also facilitates easy way of responding to concerns raised by colleagues in the project team as well as sponsors of the project or clients. Th erefore, in order to ensure accountability throughout the life cycle of a project, effective communication should be emphasized on because it is the only most important tool for the manager of the project and his or her team members (Gunlach, 2009). This is due to the fact that apart from helping in addressing concerns by team members and clients it also facilitates an easy way of addressing other obstacles to the project such as overlapping responsibilities, changes in project scope, complex integration as well as decentralization of the decision-making processes all of which pose potential conflicts in the project (Ten Step, n.d.). Secondly, maintaining effective accountability in management of any project requires establishment of the necessary project controls whereby planning plays the most significant role (Barron & Barron, 2011). This is mainly because it has been ascertained through experience, that planning for a project long before it commences lays the groundwork for acco untability from the project managers and project team as well as ensuring successful completion of the project. Thus, maintaining effective accountability in management of any project and its successful implementation and performance are highly depended on appropriate planning (Gunlach, 2009). In addition, execution of a project is

Zaras Retailer Company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Zaras Retailer Company - Essay Example This paper looks at various operational and expansion strategies that Zara uses in its quest to boost its economic status as well as expand to other parts of the world. These strategies include advertising and marketing, cost of production and strategic partnerships among others. It also looks at the operational management challenges, effects of manufacturing in China on the company’s sustainability and corporate social responsibility and effect of opening a major warehouse outside Spain on its distribution model and local manufacturers. How should Zara’s operation strategy support its expansion strategy? Zara make use of a business model that is vertically integrated retailer in apparel industry, linking customer demand to manufacturing, and linking manufacturing to distribution and to retailing business. It aims at responding to market demands in a quick manner since they are always changing. It can be broken down into three components that include concept, value drivers and capabilities. Its fundamental concept is to maintain design, production, and distribution processes that help it to respond to shifts in consumer demands in a quick manner. Similarly, this company has necessary resources or capabilities to exploit any opportunity that arise. It has tight control over its production processes while at the same time keeping manufacturing and design in-house or sometimes with some strategic partnerships that are located near its headquarters. In addition, it as strategic agreements with various local manufactures; this ensures timely service and delivery. Zara maintains the expansi on and flexibility required to design and produce more than twelve new items each year, thanks to the strategic partnerships and benefits brought forward by the proximity of operational and manufacturing processes (Slack, 2012, p.12). This capability help Zara achieve its expansion strategies as well as its expedited response to consumer demand. Value drivers ensure huge returns of benefits to all stakeholders. Zara has outstanding financial performance, which is a clear indication of its success. For instance, it tripled its corporate profit between 1996 and 2000. Likewise, the company has high level of brad recognition and customer loyalty; hence, increasing the number of customer that buys its products in an enormous manner (Mihm, 2010, p.15). This has further boosted its expansion strategy in most parts of the world. Operational strategies Speed It quickly responds to the demands of its target customers, who are mostly the young city dwellers who are always conscious of fashion. According to Cunningham & Harney (2012, p.67), this strategy helps Zara to time fashion trends and strike whenever a trend is hot; hence, it is never stuck with inventory when it dies off. Its ability to market in product is far is better than that of its competitors; hence, it is able to expand to other locations at a high rate. Its speed provides additional value to customers, stores, and stakeholders in the process of producing affordable fashions at affordable prices (Cunningham et al., 2012, p.89). Decentralized decision making and product development Zara is centralized by a group of commercials that are chiefly

Reaction paper Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Reaction paper - Assignment Example ot just a racist but also a narrow-minded and petty individual, cannot accept the fact that her American family is just as successful as Boyd’s African American family. Leo Tolstoy’s The Three Hermits, on the other hand, is a story that strongly criticizes the power of religious institutions. It narrates the encounter of the Archbishop with the three strangely looking old men, or three hermits, living on a remote island. The Archbishop, who first heard the story of the three hermits from the helmsman, insists on sailing towards the location of the hermits to meet them. Finally, when they all meet the Archbishop endeavors to teach the three hermits a prayer, which the Archbishop believes to be a more powerful prayer than the simple prayer of the hermits. However, it appears that the three hermits are in fact more powerful than the Archbishop, or anybody else who recites the prayers taught by religious institutions, when the hermits are seen doing a miraculous deed—â€Å"running upon the sea as upon dry land.† The story of The Three Hermits implies that the direct relationship of people with God is even more powerful and superior than any religious dogma, and that people should not permit anyone including those institutions with authority to mitigate their moral

Doctor-Assisted Suicide Should be Legalized Essay examples -- Euthanas

â€Å"Dogs do not have many advantages over people, but one of them is extremely important: euthanasia is not forbidden by law in their case; animals have the right to a merciful death.† ― Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being One of the most controversial topics that is being debated today, both morally and legally, is assisted suicide, sometimes known as active euthanasia. Assisted suicide is the act of directly intervening in order to end the life of a terminally ill patient (i.e. administering a large amount of sleeping pills). The word "euthanasia", comes from Latin "eu" for "good" and "thanatos" for "death" (OCRT 1). Many people in this country are existing in a "living death", suffering on a day to day basis. The Declaration of Independence endows three basic rights to all Americans: Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. Living in constant pain and agony is a violation of these most basic rights. Terminal illnesses compromise the well being of not only the patient, but also their families, friends, and doctors. People are entitled to request that their life be terminated through medical methods in situations which destroy any hope for quality of life. Many people are against an assisted suicide system. While religion plays a major role in the opposition of euthanasia (many religions, including Christianity and Judaism, are not only against assisted suicide but suicide altogether), the heart of their opposition is the fact that an elderly or poor patient may be coerced into choosing euthanasia by cost-conscious family members or their doctors (Klaidman 62). They feel that an exploitation of a euthanasia system is inevitable. However, these abuses and exploitations can be prevented through a strict regu... ... 1-2). Works Cited "Before the Court, the Sanctity of Life and Death." Various authors. The New York Times . 5 Jan. 2007. Bernards, Neal, ed. Euthanasia . Opposing Viewpoints Ser. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 1989. "Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide." 2013. Web. 17 April 2015 http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Euthanasiaandassistedsuicide/Pages/Introduction.aspx Flanders, Stephen A. Suicide . Library in a Book Ser. New York: Facts on File, 2011. Klaidman, Daniel and Reibstein, Larry. "Weighing the Right to Die." Newsweek . 13th Jan. 2013 Long, Robert Emmet, ed. Suicide . The Reference Shelf Ser. New York: The H. W. Wilson Company, 1995. "Doctor-Assisted Suicide." Web. 17 April 2015 http://endlink.lurie.northwestern.edu/physician_assisted_suicide_debate/what.cfm Van Beima, David. "Is There a Right to Die?" Time . 13th Jan. 2013: 60-61. Doctor-Assisted Suicide Should be Legalized Essay examples -- Euthanas â€Å"Dogs do not have many advantages over people, but one of them is extremely important: euthanasia is not forbidden by law in their case; animals have the right to a merciful death.† ― Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being One of the most controversial topics that is being debated today, both morally and legally, is assisted suicide, sometimes known as active euthanasia. Assisted suicide is the act of directly intervening in order to end the life of a terminally ill patient (i.e. administering a large amount of sleeping pills). The word "euthanasia", comes from Latin "eu" for "good" and "thanatos" for "death" (OCRT 1). Many people in this country are existing in a "living death", suffering on a day to day basis. The Declaration of Independence endows three basic rights to all Americans: Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. Living in constant pain and agony is a violation of these most basic rights. Terminal illnesses compromise the well being of not only the patient, but also their families, friends, and doctors. People are entitled to request that their life be terminated through medical methods in situations which destroy any hope for quality of life. Many people are against an assisted suicide system. While religion plays a major role in the opposition of euthanasia (many religions, including Christianity and Judaism, are not only against assisted suicide but suicide altogether), the heart of their opposition is the fact that an elderly or poor patient may be coerced into choosing euthanasia by cost-conscious family members or their doctors (Klaidman 62). They feel that an exploitation of a euthanasia system is inevitable. However, these abuses and exploitations can be prevented through a strict regu... ... 1-2). Works Cited "Before the Court, the Sanctity of Life and Death." Various authors. The New York Times . 5 Jan. 2007. Bernards, Neal, ed. Euthanasia . Opposing Viewpoints Ser. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 1989. "Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide." 2013. Web. 17 April 2015 http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Euthanasiaandassistedsuicide/Pages/Introduction.aspx Flanders, Stephen A. Suicide . Library in a Book Ser. New York: Facts on File, 2011. Klaidman, Daniel and Reibstein, Larry. "Weighing the Right to Die." Newsweek . 13th Jan. 2013 Long, Robert Emmet, ed. Suicide . The Reference Shelf Ser. New York: The H. W. Wilson Company, 1995. "Doctor-Assisted Suicide." Web. 17 April 2015 http://endlink.lurie.northwestern.edu/physician_assisted_suicide_debate/what.cfm Van Beima, David. "Is There a Right to Die?" Time . 13th Jan. 2013: 60-61.

Egyptian Art

They dedicated enormous resources to Egyptian rituals and the construction of temples. Because of their beliefs, they developed an exquisite and unique form of art. Their art works centered on their gods and the preparation for eternal life after death. They created sculptures, forms of pottery, paintings and hieroglyphs to decorate burial tombs for their eternal afterlife Journey. This civilization is the most well known for their monumental sculptures, but they also created small sculptures made of stone, wood, and bronze.These were often a suture of a human body with the head of an animal (falcons). They were also known for their astonishing pottery made out of clay which held images of animals, people, and last but not least; their gods. (Above, we can observe an image of the kneeling figure/sculpture of Hatchets. This image is located in page 67 or our eBook – Art: A Brief History. The actual sculpture can be found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York). The great Sphinx of Gaza is probably one of the most mysterious monuments in the world today.The Great Sphinx is located near modern-day Cairo Egypt and is a lion with a man's head, which is thought to be the head of the Pharaoh Cheapen – the fourth king of the 4th Dynasty is believed to have been the brother or son of Cheeps, but the only problem is that there is no evidence that this temple was in fact built by Pharaoh Cheapen as there are no artifacts or identifying inscriptions of any kind. This isomorphic mythological figure has its origins in sculpted figures from Old Kingdom Egypt and it was the Greeks who named it â€Å"Sphinx† which in Greek hydrology meant: female monster or strangler.The Egyptians basically told us everything about them through their art. Their art revealed to us their beliefs and ways of life. Their art also revealed to us about economical and political changes of their time and so much more. References: Stoked, Coterie (2010). Art: A Brief History – 4th Edition. Pearson Education – up 56 – 75. Http://www. Schenectady. Org/humanities/art-history/art-history-400-c-e–ancient- cultures- 1 [ancient-Egypt/a/Egyptian-art http://www. Crystalline. Com/sphincters. HTML