Business Proposal :: Business Proposal

Business Proposal In today’s busy world where time is precious to everybody; getting readymade food at the door steps is everyone’s wish. That’s the precise reason anyone from small restaurant to the biggest have home food delivery service. Everyone have their own choice in foods and eat different stuff at different time. Even In same family someone may want pizza for dinner, someone want subway sandwich, and someone may want Mexican food. In such situation when everyone in family want different stuff to eat at same time; you may end up spending lots of time going through different food menus, calling different restaurants, putting up separate orders and wait to get all orders delivered so that entire family can eat together. Wouldn’t it be great if we have a single place where you can order all your food from favorite restaurants? Yes it would be. I’m planning to propose this business idea where top/famous restaurant would be registered. Customers would able to vie w all restaurants food menu and put a single order of their interests and get delivered at the same time. Customers would have option of ordering over phone or online. This is my EZ delivery Line. Business Planning Objectives I’m always fascinated towards restaurant business. I feel this is the most popular business in the world as food is one of the basic necessities of human life. Opening a restaurant is not a piece of cake for anybody. There are so many challenges you would need to overcome especially when you are new to the whole business planning world. The business (EZ delivery Line) I’m proposing would have different challenges than opening a restaurant. I’m jotting down business planning objectives to make this happen. Research/study the area (town/City) where I would like to launch this business. Create information data about popular restaurants in the area. Propose/market EZ delivery line idea to each restaurant. Make them convenience to register by offering attractive business proposition. Advertise EZ delivery line including launch details in local news papers, television channels to get common consumers attention about this new home delivery service.

The Relationship Between Sexual Taxonomies and Ideas of the Self Essay

The relationship between sexual taxonomies and ideas of the self (e.g. Foucault, Jagose or Halperin) Sexual Taxonomies are not trans-historical; they are socially and historically situated and created. Sexual taxonomies are the different ideas about what sexuality is and they circulate around contexts, consequently forming identities. When we categorise sexuality it is categorised into heterosexual people and homosexual people but it is widely known that heterosexual is the ‘normal’ and accepted sexuality as â€Å"Homosexuality is a deviation from a privileged and naturalised heterosexuality,† (page 72, Annamarie Jagose, 1996). Terms gay, homo and queer do not mean the same things, â€Å"The blanket term "homosexual" has a number of different, related but distinct meanings: there are several groups of people who are covered by this term, and there are significant variations between them,† (Melinda Selmys, 2012) this has created sexual taxonomies regarding homosexual people. The simplest definition of a homosexual is person of the same sex being attracted t o the same sex. This can become very confusing when identify the self. Historically homosexuality has been masked, ridiculed and not accepted in society even if they share the same qualities as heterosexual people for example â€Å"The vast majority of same sex attracted people have some degree of opposite sex attraction as well [and are defined as] a person who [have] an LGBTQ identity,† (Melinda Selmys, 2012). By observing Michael Foucault in the â€Å"The History of Sexuality† (1976) as well as Annamarie Jagose & Judith Butler in â€Å"Queer in Queer Theory† (1996), we become aware of different ideas/identities of the self. It also shows the debate and hardships homosexuals experience with self-id... ...er Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Idendity. Foucault, M. (1976). â€Å"Scientia Sexualis†. In The History of Sexuality: Vol 1 (1990). (pp. 53-65). London: Penguin Books. Hayek, F. A. (1944). The road to serfdom. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Hennessy , R. (2000). Profit and Pleasure: Sexual Identities in Late Capitalism (2nd ed.). Great Britain: Routledge. Retrieved March 30, 2014, from http://davidmcnally.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/henessey-profit_and_pleasure_sexual.pdf Websites: Selmys, M. (2012, March 12). Sexual Authenticity: Intimate Reflections on Homosexuality and Catholicism, Queer Theory. Retrieved March 20, 2014, from http://sexualauthenticity.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/queer-taxonomy.html Warner, M. (n.d.). Queer Theory. Retrieved March 25, 2014, from http://www.australianhumanitiesreview.org/archive/Issue-Dec-1996/jagose.html

Blogs and Attention Seeking Bloggers :: Internet

Blogs and Attention Seeking Bloggers Web logs are one of the newest things popping up on the Internet. â€Å"What is a web log?† one may ask. Well, a web log, otherwise known as blog, is a place on the web where a person can go to write down anything that they feel like writing in an archive that they have created. It’s a personal site almost like a diary, but it’s posted where anybody can gain access. Wondering why somebody would want to put their lives online made me think that bloggers are just seeking some kind of attention. I looked into this to see what attention they are looking for and discovered many things. Not all blogs seek attention, but some do. It all depends on which kind of blog the person created. The first thing about blogs that I discovered is that there isn’t one kind. A theory about the kinds of blogs that there are came from one of my classmates Adam who said that there were really three types of blogs. Adam puts blogs into three categories: Advertisement and non-personal informative, Personal, and The Hybrid. I also read an article by John C. Dvorak, a writer for PC Magazine. In his article, ‘The Blog Phenomenon’ Dvorak classifies bloggers into five categories; Ego gratification, Antidepersonalization, Elimination of frustration, Societal need to share, and Wanna-be writers. From this I realized that there must be different types of bloggers and they aren’t all the same. Adam’s theory and Dvorak’s article interested me enough to take a closer look at what blogs are all about. As I looked and thought about it there weren’t only three kinds of blogs, there seems to be more like a million. Then as I was looking I asked myself, Are bloggers looking for some kind of attention, and if so, what attention are they seeking and from whom To begin my research I started observing a blog that I randomly chose. My first instinct was that bloggers are teenage kids looking for a way to tell their boyfriend of girlfriend how much they loved them and that they couldn?t live with out them. Then when I started observing the blog â€Å"We Are Full of Shit,†I noticed that Jeremy Olson who started this blog took news articles and expressed his feelings about them. His blog was about sharing his point of view with the world, and sometimes it gave surprising reactions.

Promotional Material Essay

Before we created our promotional materials such as posters, leaflets and flyers, we had to make sure that we were able to find a suitable price in which we can budget according to our finances. During our research, we were able to locate a suitable printing agency in which we could print our promotional materials in bulk, so we could hand out in the local area to help promote the business. The advantage of the agency we chose for printing our material was that they were able to print our promotional materials within 2 working days and that any deliveries that took place could be tracked on the website when u log on to it, this to make sure that the delivery is going according to plan. By selecting the amount we though would be appropriate for this campaign, we were able to locate the price in which it would cost us as an advertising agency if that amount were to be printed out. Promotional Material Leaflets We used leaflets to ensure customers the products that the cafà © will be selling in their local cafà ©. The leaflet we designed had a bright Italian background (in the form of the Italy colours), indicating immediately to the consumer that the cafà © is Italian based, which is probably the most important factor to inform the customer about. We made sure that the leaflet was specifically designed and had the relevant information such as the location of the cafà © and the products that the cafà © were going to sell. This is vital to clear as misleading customers about products that the cafà © doesn’t sell could lead to the business losing customers. We also had to include contact information so that customers could maybe phone in the cafà © to order food or to see whether the cafà © is open. We used pictures so that consumers are able to get a feel of some of the products that the cafà © has on offer. We placed this on the front (main) side of the leaflet so that it is eye catching to the consumer as soon as they see the leaflet. We made 1500 printout leaflets as they can be easily distributed around the local area and are the most common method of promotion used by a business of a similar stature. Leaflets could be posted through letter boxers to the people around the local area so it increases the chance of the consumer actually noticing and reading the leaflet This can help achieve the business objectives of achieving 30 customers daily as by using this type of promotion, in the form of leaflets, the business is virtually trying to attract more customers to shop at the cafà © and build more customer awareness of the cafà ©. If the business has more customers, they could achieve their aim of breaking even in the first year. However, a drawback of using a leaflet was that it proved to be the most costly in terms of production as we were charged at 11p per leaflet. Posters The posters we designed were again Italian based but had to limit the amount of information we could put on the poster due to lack of space. This was one of the drawbacks of using a poster but could be just as effective as using the leaflet. However, the production of the poster was the cheapest at just 4.5 per poster. This came at a surprise as we thought that the poster was to be more expensive than the rest of the promotional material. The content we had on the poster had o be very basic but had to send the message across to consumers of the products that the cafà © may sell if they came to visit. The drawback of creating a poster was that it was very time consuming as first we had to make a draft copy, then were we able to form the main copy in which was going to be used for distribution. The use of pictures made it more eyes catching for the consumer and the contents that were stated were the basic products that the cafà © were going to sell. The reason behind this decision was that we believed that consumers would be more likely to read a poster that had a limited amount of writing on the poster rather than having a ‘jammed’ pack poster full of writing and fewer pictures. By just stating the important points and more use of pictures proved to be more eye catching for us and potential consumers. This could help achieve the aims of this organisation as students and working class people could notice this poster when they shop at local newsagents or public areas when they go to work or college. Although these won’t be distributed to houses like leaflets, they will be situated at public areas such as on buses or some of the local shops nearby. This would increase customer awareness of the business on a whole or be a drawback as some people like the elderly who do not shop as often as other student are more likely to miss the poster rather than students who walk past on a day to day basis.

Outdoor Sporting Products Inc. Essay

Executive Summary Outdoor Sporting Products Inc. has a number of issues regarding its product management, marketing channels, marketing campaigns, pricing, sales force, technology, and its customer service lately. Profits are down and sales have declined over the last year. Mr. Hudson McDonald is the owner and Chief Financial Officer of the Outdoor Products and sees the need for change. Mr. McDonald is in control of the sales force and believes that sales are a weakness for the company. Mr. McDonald is curious to know how he can increase sales and profits for the company without completely changing the organization. There are many changes that can occur to improve the position of the company. Rectifying many of the departments weaknesses are key ways to help turn things around for Mr. McDonald and Outdoor Sporting Products Inc. Some changes are minor and others will take more time to incorporate. The business has a great sales base already but needs to explore new markets and find ways to penetrate those markets. Outdoor will need to shift resources around in production and marketing to make things possible. Finally customer service and technology will help improve the standing among the customers that are already loyal and help with successfully satisfying customer needs. I. Product Management Mr. Hudson McDonald being the President and chief operating officer of Outdoor Sporting Products Inc. has a few issues that may need to be addressed when dealing with Product Management. While a product manager should actually be in charge of this area. Mr. McDonald would undoubtedly be informed of some of these issues and decisions involved. Product management should never lose sight of 4 distinct areas: the target market, the intricacies of the product, what the business needs in order to succeed, and how to measure that success (van der Merwe). Mr. McDonald claimed that â€Å"with a few exceptions, Outdoor’s customers had little or no brand preference.† This is a terrible assumption to make when dealing with someone’s products. Mr. McDonald and the product manager should be looking into ways that can make the brand and products have more loyal customers. Apparently customers don’t view the products as setting themselves apart from the others to start ex clusively buying from Outdoor Sporting Products Inc. This would also deal with marketing. However, the products themselves need to actually be a quality product that the customers will appreciate and want to re-buy. The manufacturing of products looked like an area that could use a little work. While there is no numbers in the case indicating the costs of manufacturing; the percentages of where the products are coming from could be fixed a bit. 50% of the company’s volume came from imported products. This is an area where Outdoor could perhaps increase its self-manufactured products to perhaps increase revenues or gain more control over the process. Increasing self-manufactured products could mean growth  in manufacturing factories. There could be future growth within the company if things start to turn around a bit. This could result in space being an issue. These areas of issues can be easily fixed actually and can even help each other. A higher quality product will most likely be self-manufactured rather than imported. This can increase brand and customer loyalty. This also increases revenues in the end. Importing 50% of the volume and only have 35% self made can be a bit different. The company should perhaps 50% self made and 35% imported. This could help Outdoor control the process of manufacturing which increases the quality of the product. Even if this did end up costing a bit more, starting secure a preference from the customers could be a significant boost to the company. Growing the production process will be necessary at some point if the company starts getting issues figured out. Looking at the future, there will most likely need to be more space to manufacture Outdoor products. There will most likely be a need to build and increase production. Buying space will be a real idea that will need to be addressed. Perhaps doing so in the Midwest area in order to extend the reach of the company and increase the presence in an area that has a large amount of hunters and fishers. II. Marketing Channels There are a few very real problems with Outdoor Sporting’s marketing channels. â€Å"The route that the product takes on its way from production to the consumer is important because a marketer must decide which route or channel is best for his particular product† (Blunt). The first issue is that they have very little presence in large metropolitan areas. The reasoning behind it was poor customer coverage. While poor customer coverage could be a real issue within the large metropolitan areas; that doesn’t mean that the market is impenetrable. There are some real customers that are perhaps being overlooked by Outdoor by not attempting as hard in this market. Outdoor’s share of the market is only 2% to 3%. This is an area that has a definite need for improvement. There are customers out there that simply aren’t having the chance to purchase Outdoor’s products. Discount Stores are also being untouched. Mr. McDonald claims that there  has been a growth over the last 10 years in discount stores yet Outdoor Sporting Products has not developed a presence in these stores. It has been blamed on the pricing policy and the amount of pressure that customers put on the salespeople. While these issues also need to be addressed; it is still a poor business strategy to not follow the trend of the market. The market shifting to more discount store oriented means that Outdoor needs to find a way to put its products in these stores. People won’t even see your product in a discount store resulting in less brand awareness. One final issue in marketing channels is how distribution is set up. Every item is shipped from the factory and warehouse in Albany, New York. This could limit the organization in distributing their product. Every sale and every product has to be routed through the same place. While it might not be an issue at this time; it could become one if the company grows. Outdoor products will need to stay ahead of its growth from a manufacturing standpoint. There are some very realistic solutions to these problems. When it comes to dealing in large metropolitan areas. I would advise trying to start having a presence there. This can be done by allowing time for your salespeople to develop a presence there. Perhaps hit large retail chains within large metropolitan areas. It can be beneficial in that it helps with brand awareness and also opens up to a market that is not being utilized. Another solution is to start developing a presence at discount stores. If these stores are where the market is moving, then the company needs to shift with the market as well. Standing still will result in lost profits. Salespeople will need more time for these areas. Decreasing sales in stores of small to medium size from the already 6,000 could free up time. Reducing the amount to 4,000 stores and then putting yourself in 500 major retail locations could be beneficial. Then add another 500-1000 discount related locations and develop these areas. After time re-evaluate and see how things are going and what will need to be done. Also, pricing options will need to be addressed as well but will be explained a bit more in the pricing section. Distribution could be addressed with another warehouse. Another distribution warehouse could also perhaps help in customer satisfaction by decreasing shipping times and perhaps putting less stress on the existing  shipping and manufacturing employees. It could payoff in the future but will need to be done at the right time. It is always good to think about the future but perhaps increasing right away may not need to be done until business starts to pick up a bit as well. III. Marketing Campaigns Outdoor Sporting Products Inc. and Mr. McDonald are making a very huge mistake in marketing. The organization is not utilizing marketing to full way that it should be. Outdoor did not use magazine, newspaper, or radio advertising to reach either the retail trade or the consumer. This puts a strain on the sales force to be the marketers. While it might save some money; Outdoor is not attracting customers by having the salespeople be the major role in marketing. Magazine, newspaper, and radio advertisings do not reach near the audience as some other mediums but they are much cheaper and can still play a major role. Newspaper ads and magazine ads especially can be a difference maker in hunting and fishing. There are numerous hunting magazines and they play a major role in outdoor product purchases. Hunters and fishers will likely be more likely to buy gear that is supported in their favorite hunting magazine than something that is not in the magazine. The merchandising catalogue that Outdoor Sporting Products puts out every year can be useful today but also needs to be evaluated. Customers today tend to much of their purchases outside of catalogues. Catalogues are not what they used to be, especially with the internet being around. While it might be useful to some customers, there needs to be an evaluation of what that catalogue is costing to what it is bringing in. Improving marketing should be a must. â€Å"Marketing programs, though widely varied, are all aimed at convincing people to try out or keep using particular products or services† (Marketing 101). Start advertising in fish and game magazines to improve the marketing of the products. â€Å"By concentrating your efforts on one or a few key market segments, you’ll reap the most from small investments† (Marketing 101). Targeting fish and game magazines are a perfect strategy. It will definitely not hurt the company and should be relatively cheap compared to other means of marketing. Newspaper ads and radio ads can be secondary to the magazine ads but should  still be utilized. This is a good way for people to have brand recognition. Even the name being said in the background of someone’s radio can make all the difference in reputation. Marketing cannot be pushed to the back. Get marketing out of the salespeople’s hands. The product catalogue can be useful for re-buys it says but is not a good marketing tool if it is only successful in re-buys. The catalogue can still be produced but only make it available to the customers who actually use them, or at least want to use them. There’s no use in sending out 10,000 magazines for example if only 1,000 customers use them. Utilizing the internet can be very useful in this area to eliminate wasted magazine catalogues. Product catalogues are an outdated way of doing business and should eventually be scrapped all together as a way of doing business at Outdoor Sporting Products Inc. IV. Pricing The pricing of the products is having a direct negative result on Outdoors sale of products. â€Å"Deciding on the price is difficult because, in addition to the physical factors of cost and profit, price is subject to psychological factors, some of which are out of your company’s control† (Kalb). Outdoor Sporting Product Inc. gets its products from self manufacturing, importing, and domestic companies. Outdoor naturally has a markup of their products in order to make a profit and also pay for the products and employees. The problem though is the amount of markup that is being used on the products being sold. The markup is too high, especially for the trends of the market. Mr. McDonald reported that there was a markup of 50% to 100% on Outdoor’s cost for the item. The average markup across all products averages out to 70%. This markup has worked for Outdoor products but will need to be adjusted. Mr. McDonald himself has claimed that the customers are shifting more towards a discount store customer. Maintaining a 70% markup average could make things difficult when trying to spread into discount stores. The markup might be a result of a few different issues including shipping, manufacturing, and distribution issues as well. It is not put at 70% strictly because of profits. There has to be better ways to be able to lower the markup pricing though. Outdoor Sporting Products Inc. needs to find ways to develop business into  discount stores. Having a 70% markup simply won’t be very sensible. Outdoor will need to lower markup at these stores in order to develop a relationship with these customers. Outdoor needs to find a way to become profitable with around a 50% to 60% markup average across all products. This would lower prices which were a problem with developing markets in discount stores. â€Å"When you are pricing your products, what gives you control over the price is the uniqueness built into your positioning, or branding, strategy† (Kalb). Also, the development of another warehouse or manufacturing center in another location would lower shipping costs in general also. These could help lower the prices of Outdoor products. Each area can help another part of the company by fixing the issues. V. Sales and Sales Force Management The sales force is one of the biggest problems within Outdoor Sporting Products Inc. The case appears to be a straight compensation structure, but analysis of the information in the case quickly leads to the conclusion that a number of other issues are also involved, including training salespeople, evaluating sales performance, determining sales potential and territories, and the relationship between the sales function and overall marketing strategy. The salesmen with a guaranteed salary have a significantly higher than average earnings to sales ratio. The incentive plans currently in existence have several weaknesses. Some of the plans require that the salesman be in the territory the previous year to be eligible for payment of a bonus. This provides zero incentive for a first-year person and makes it possible to so the next year can provide a large bonus. The compensation is not working currently and needs to be addressed. Compensation could be changed by having a lower guaranteed salary. Eliminating some of the sales incentives such as the yearly improvement incentive could be productive. Start giving the salespeople a chance to really excel at selling products and help with money in the area of commission. The first four parts of the selling formula are routinely found in the catalog carried by the salespeople. It is questionable that knowing these  four pieces of information on all 700 items is worthwhile. Perhaps more knowledge of customer needs and benefits that the customer could derive from the products sold by the company would result in increased pride in the job and sales. It can be seen that the entire sales group needs additional training, and plans should be made to provide for training on an ongoing basis. Perhaps Mr. McDonald could use his best salesperson in the role of sales training. It is apparent that he is doing a much better sales job than any of his colleagues. The improved training for salespeople can only lead to more a efficient and motivated sales force. With the results of recent sales, it would be a good idea to take a close look at the practice of having the salespeople plan their own itineraries and the time to be spent on each sale. Although having each salesperson handle some parts of the job is normally usually a good idea, the results show that the salespeople may need some help in this area. The reporting system used now can provide a helpful data base to make these salespeople more effective in this area. Mr. McDonald leading the sales team could be a potential problem from some salespeople’s perspective. Mr. McDonald can lead the sales team but will need to perhaps make a few changes to his approach. His sales formula can still be utilized if he wants it to be but the amount of time and effort put in with Monday sales calls and daily reports could be counterproductive. There will need to be a better way of checking in with salespeople and dealing with daily reports. Perhaps have another sales team director who can deal with day to day operations while Mr. McDonald can deal with marketing and sales strategy. VI. Implementation of Technology Technology is underutilized within Outdoor Sporting Inc. There is no real mention of internet sales or how technology is utilized to make the organization successful. This leads to believe that technology is not an area of focus by this organization. The technology used by consumers today is indicative of how a company like Outdoor should be doing business. Using internet sales might affect sales of the sales force but can be seen as an upgrade in customer service in dealing with customer wants and needs. â€Å"The  Internet allows communication in two ways: static communication through Web pages, and dynamic communication through information being exchanged† (Golden). The company seems to deal with sales today strictly through catalogues and salespeople. Customer satisfaction would seem to increase if they could use the internet to help deal with their needs. Technology alone can improve the shipping process as well. Salespeople calling and handing in reports of sales could take time that could be used in manufacturing or shipping products. Even eliminating a day off of processing sales can make all the difference in the world to a store. Just looking to the future alone should indicate that technology will need to be utilized more than it is now. With technology advancing and new generations of customers who utilize technology, it would be wise to start using technology as a company as well. Develop an online catalogue or ways to process sales online. Online sales today are a major market and Outdoor is missing out on these customers by focusing on how to deal with salespeople. Even having salespeople utilize the online site with their customers could be beneficial to both sides. It could speed up processing and perhaps allow more time for salespeople to travel to other customers. There will always be technology that can speed up manufacturing and processing and it should never be overlooked. In this instance though, the shortcomings in utilizing the internet and network systems seems to be a mistake. â€Å"Networking systems allows users to communicate through traditional voice and video in a secure system† (Golden). Technology could really help streamline the buying process for customers. VII. Customer Service and Support Customer Service and Support should be staples of the organization especially within the sales force. Sales are regarded as some of the tougher jobs in dealing with people. Having great customer service skills can make the difference between making sales and looking for a different job. The lack of training and uniformity in this area for the salespeople is a cause for concern. There are potential sales that could be missed but the company doesn’t know how the salespeople are dealing with customers. The case doesn’t mention a customer service department but there is most  likely some customer support somewhere in the organization. If Outdoor Sporting Products Inc. starts to grow, customer service will be depended upon to maintain happy and loyal customers along the way. Training of the sales staff will be vital for increasing customer service and support among the salespeople. Sales depend on customer service and support. Commission based salaries depend on employees being good with people. The best salesperson is doing something right at Outdoor and needs to be utilized in order to train other employees. Perhaps his customer skills are something that should be used by everyone. â€Å"Customer service is that personal encounter, whether it be via email, telephone or in person. How you conduct that personal experience determines whether you create a customer that has loyalty towards your place of business† (Lake). There will need to be a customer service department for complaints from customers. The distribution channels will often times complain to the sales team but customers of the products will most likely want to deal with people in the company. This is where a customer service department needs to be key. Saving customers can help save and maintain loyal customers. This is where there will be employees that need to dealing with customers needs and relaying the ideas to other departments. Customer service is about improving the company by satisfying a customer’s wants and needs. VIII. Conclusion Outdoor Sporting Products Inc. have done a great job at setting up a great company with a potential to be profitable. While the case wants to deal a lot with compensation of the sales force, there are many areas that need to be improved. Mr. Hudson needs to realize that it is time for the company to develop along with the market and take the company to the next stage. Outdoor has become a bit stagnant and will have to change each of the areas listed above to an extent to return to profitability. There will undoubtedly be growth. Outdoor Sporting Products Inc. has a great company that is ready to take the next step to become a major sporting product company. Mr. Hudson just needs to help develop the company to help it reach its potential. References Blunt, L. (n.d.). Types of Marketing Channels. Retrieved December 12, 2014, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/types-marketing-channels-21627.html Golden, R. (n.d.). How Today’s Technology Is Used in Business to Communicate. Retrieved December 12, 2014, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/todays-technology-used-business-communicate-27351.html Kalb, I. (2013, October 2). Three Ways Companies Decide The Price Of A Product. Retrieved December 12, 2014, from http://www.businessinsider.com/3-powerful-pricing-strategies-businesses-should-always-consider-2013-10 Lake, L. (n.d.). What Role Does Customer Service Play in Marketing? Retrieved December 12, 2014, from http://marketing.about.com/od/relationshipmarketing/qt/What-Role-Does-Customer-Service-Play-In-Marketing.htm Marketing 101. (n.d.). Retrieved December 12, 2014, from https://www.sba.gov/content/marketing-101-basics References Continued Van der Merwe, R. (2014, September 17). Why Companies Need Full-Time Product Managers – Smashing Magazine. Retrieved December 12, 2014, from http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2014/09/17/why-companies-need-full-time-product-managers/

Undue Influence

As James Munby firmly stated, â€Å"it is impossible to define, and difficult even to describe, at what point at which the influence becomes, in the eye of law, undue. † The doctrine of undue influence has been agreed upon as â€Å"the ground of relief developed by the courts of equity as a court of conscience. † It is an ordinary behaviour to influence individuals and persuade them to enter into transactions. However, the aim is to ensure that the influence exercised is not abused.On the grounds of these concepts, it is impossible to set a flawless higher definitive criterion to be directly applied in every case to recognize whether undue influence had been exercised or not. Attempting to do that has been problematic. Firstly, courts have not been able to always distinguish between undue influence and unconscionability dealing. Secondly, titles categorizing undue influence as either â€Å"claimant-sided† or â€Å"defendant-sided† have not been successful in presenting undue influence as an independent doctrine.Thirdly, subdividing undue influence into categories and setting rules under them increased the possibility of misconceptions arising. Since undue influence is an equitable doctrine, the criteria set to define it ought to only provide a framework for judges to exercise their jurisdiction. Hence, it allows them to assess cases flexibly based on the particulate facts provided rather than looking at undue influence as a common law doctrine and applying the rules set strictly.A main difficulty in attempting to set a comprehensive definitive description of undue influence is its numerous resemblances with the unconscionability notion. The usage of the word â€Å"unconscionable† in describing undue influence has established an opinion that it is based on the Unconscionability Bargains doctrine. Furthermore, misconception can be recognized in the case Lloyds Bank Plc v Lucken, where Mr. Lucken had pressured Mrs. Lucken to obta in a loan using her house’s security. Mrs. Lucken ultimately agreed to Mr. Lucken’s request, and the money was lent to one of Mr.Lucken's eventually failing businesses. She later claimed that the charge was impeachable because Mr. Lucken had exercised undue influence upon her. The Court of Appeal refused relief disputing that the pressure placed was not â€Å"unconscionable. † Tending to define undue influence in an excessive precise manner using the word â€Å"unconscionable† has rather caused confusion and difficulty in terms of separating it from unconscionability dealing. Therefore, even if the two doctrines share similarities, they should still be distinguished.Undue Influence is concerned with â€Å"the quality of the consent or assent of the weaker party,† while unconscionable dealing is concerned with â€Å"the conduct of the stronger party in attempting to enforce, or retain the benefit of, a dealing with a person under a special disabili ty in circumstances where it is not consistent with equity. † Legal certainty requires that they be distinct; hence there should not be an attempt to limit undue influence under a precise definition unless it would be used to represent and clarify that it is an independent doctrine.There has been an ongoing debate on whether undue influence is categorized as a â€Å"claimant-oriented† or â€Å"defendant-oriented† doctrine. The defendant approach suggests that it is â€Å"illegitimate† or â€Å"unconscionable. † As Lord Hoffman stated in R v Attorney-General for England and Wales, â€Å"undue influence has concentrated in particular upon the unfair exploitation by one party of a relationship which gives him ascendancy or intense over the other. † Including â€Å"unacceptable means† and â€Å"unfair exploitation† within the definition makes it powerfully appear as defendant focused.Furthermore, claimant-sided orientation defines t he influence as being â€Å"overbearing† and â€Å"too high. † It originally aimed to differentiate unconscionability from undue influence, but rather obliquely connected it to another doctrine. It was pointed by Birks and Chin when they said, â€Å"Some jurists will still be attracted by the simplicity of the defendant-sided analysis, and they will point out, correctly, that the number of cases in which there is no unconscionable behaviour is very small†¦If there are two doctrines, there are two doctrines†¦The correct approach will be to treat both undue influence and duress as plaintiff-sided factors which ground relief based on a degree of impairment of the plaintiff's capacity to make decisions. † Even though they tend to separate the two doctrines, they still tend to relate it to duress. A new approach can be taken -that presents undue influence as a flexible doctrine- including the presence of flaws within the claimant and defendant oriented defi nitions.It can be said that undue influence can be both â€Å"excessive† (claimant-focused) and used in an â€Å"improper† or â€Å"unconscionable† manner (defendant-focused) depending on the facts of the case. Some of cases set under presumed undue influence had been miscategorised after directly applying the rules rather than interpreting the facts valuably. To prove that presumed undue influence has been exercised, the claimant has to establish â€Å"a relationship of trust and confidence† and consequently prove a â€Å"transaction that calls for an explanation. Scepticism is apparent, as shown by Lord Browne Wilkinson when he describes those certain relationships as â€Å"a matter of law [that] raise the presumption that undue influence has been exercised. † In other words, the relationship itself might give rise to a presumption of undue influence as applied under the two requirements. It should be observed each relationship should be interpr eted individually rather than being grouped into a certain type. If jurists apply the rules rigorously, they will only be; as Lord Nicholls refers to in Etridge, presuming that influence exists.Presumed undue influence taxonomy appears to have characteristics that divert undue influence from its essence meaning. It had been subdivided into firstly, â€Å"certain relationships as a matter of law raise the presumption that undue influence had been exercised,† and secondly, that â€Å"the complainant proves the existence of a relationship under which the complainant generally reposed trust and confidence in the wrongdoer. † Even if certain relationships do fall under the categories, they should not override the evidence set in the case facts that show whether undue influence has been exercised.It is supported by Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead when he says, â€Å"The types of relationship, such as parent and child, in which this principle falls to be applied, cannot be liste d exhaustively. Relationships are infinitely various†¦It would be absurd for the law to preserve that every gift by a child to a parent, or every transaction between a client and his solicitor or between a patient and his doctor, was brought about by undue influence. † Due to the flaws within their definitions, the subdivisions set under presumed undue influence would only aid in describing the various parameters of previous cases.However, once jurists intend to view them as firm rules that should be applied to any case that seems to relate to a certain criteria, they will be contradicting the overall idea that the doctrine is equitable. Flaws within the definition of actual undue influence caused it to overlap with other doctrines, hence emerging to misinform its overall implication. In Royal Bank of Scotland plc v Etridge , Lord Hobhouse defined it as â€Å"an equitable wrong committed by the dominant party against the other which makes it unconscionable for the domina nt party to enforce his legal rights against he other. † Also, Lord Nicholls emphasized that uncertainty builds up after subdividing the doctrine to actual undue influence, as it â€Å"compromises overt acts of improper pressure over or in such as unlawful threats. † Thus, it has â€Å"much overlap with the principle of duress as this principle has subsequently developed. † Flaws within the definition are evident, since it doesn’t seem to directly reflect a complete definition of undue influence that doesn’t overlap with other doctrines.Furthermore, in Bank of Credit and Commerce International SA v Aboody, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal because it had not been shown that the transactions were manifestly disadvantageous to Mrs. Aboody, because even though Mr. Aboody had unduly influenced her, he had not acted with any improper motive. It appears that the Court of Appeal; after recognising that the case is similar with others which had previ ously been classified as actual undue influence cases, had directly applied the rules set strictly under it without recognising that equity cases are variant and can be each judged valuably by their unique facts.The nature of the requirement â€Å"manifestly disadvantageous† was not used as its originator Lord Scarman had intended. This had been shown in the earlier case Bank of Credit and Commerce International SA v Aboody. â€Å"In a narrow sense, such a transaction plainly ‘manifestly' is disadvantageous to the wife. She undertakes a serious financial obligation, and in return she personally receives nothing. But that would be to a relationship of solicitor and client or medical advisor and patient, in the case of husband and wife there are intent reasons why such a transaction may well be for her benefit. The latter extract added the factor of â€Å"intention. † Intention appears to be a subjective matter that would be proven under the facts of a certain cas e, rather than applying the rules set under the categories of undue influence. Such cases therefore, â€Å"cannot be approached solely on a mathematical basis: it involves a value judgment. † This directly relates to the original nature of undue influence, where its flexibility should be granted rather than it being applied under regulations.The label â€Å"manifestly disadvantageous† should not be rejected, but only be set to clarify possibilities of what Lords may adopt in certain undue influence cases as Lord Scarman has proposed in National Westminster Bank Plc v Morgan. Overall, since it is a well vitiated concept known to be an equitable jurisdiction, courts should apply the doctrine of undue influence flexibly based on the facts of the case. There have been many subdivisions and titles that were set under undue influence. Firstly, arguments on whether undue influence is claimant-oriented or defendant-oriented.Secondly, divisions that are known as actual and pres umed undue influence (as well as subdivisions and requirements under them). Such criteria can be useful in describing the different parameters on what undue influence is generally all about. However, if the intention is to use it strictly to decide whether undue influence has been exercised or not, the flaws within their definitions might lead to misconceptions. Accordingly, returning to the basic definition that has been agreed upon would reduce the bewilderment and increase the possibilities that courts make correct jurisdictions. ——————————————- [ 2 ]. Bank of Scotland v Bennett [1997] 1 F. L. R. 801. [ 3 ]. Stone R. and Cunnington, R. : Text, Cases and Materials on Contract Law ( Routledge-Cavendish, Oxon 2007) 749 [ 4 ]. Devenny and Chandler , Unconscionability and the Taxonomy of Undue Influence [2007] JBL 541 [ 5 ]. [1998] 4 All E. R. 738 [ 6 ]. Devenny and Chandler , Unconsciona bility and the Taxonomy of Undue Influence [2007] JBL 541 [ 7 ]. Stone R. and Cunnington, R. : Text, Cases and Materials on Contract Law ( Routledge-Cavendish, Oxon 2007) 753 [ 8 ]. ibid 752 [ 9 ]. [2003] UK PC 22 [ 10 ]. McKendrick, E.Contract Law (6th edn Palgrave MacMillan, New York 2005) [ 11 ]. Stone R. and Cunnington, R. : Text, Cases and Materials on Contract Law ( Routledge-Cavendish, Oxon 2007) 752 [ 12 ]. Birks, P and Chin, NY, â€Å" On the nature of undue influence† , in Beatson, J and Friedmann, D (eds), Good Faith and Fault in Contract Law ( Clarendon, Oxford 1995) 95 [ 13 ]. ibid 758 [ 14 ]. Barclays Bank v O'Brien [1994] A. C. 180 at 189 [ 15 ]. Enonchong, N. â€Å"Presumed undue influence: continuing misconceptions? † (2005) LQR (accessed 12 December 2008) [ 16 ]. Royal Bank of Scotland plc v Etridge [2002] 2 AC 773 [ 17 ]. Stone R. and Cunnington, R. Text, Cases and Materials on Contract Law ( Routledge-Cavendish, Oxon 2007) 758-759 [ 18 ]. Royal Bank of Scotland plc v Etridge [2002] 2 AC 773 [ 19 ]. [2002] 2 AC 773 [ 20 ]. McKendrick, E. Contract Law   (6th edn Palgrave Macmillan, New York 2005) 365 [ 21 ]. ibid [ 22 ]. [1990] 1 Q. B. 923 at 953 [ 23 ]. Stone R. and Cunnington, R. : Text, Cases and Materials on Contract Law ( Routledge-Cavendish, Oxon 2007) 756-757 [ 24 ]. Collins , H. The Law of Contract (4th edn LexisNexis, London 2003) 144-145 [ 25 ]. Devenny and Chandler , Unconscionability and the Taxonomy of Undue Influence [2007] JBL 541 [ 26 ]. [1985] 1 AC 686 at 709

Of Mice and Men Controlled Assessment Draft

Of Mice and Men is an American novel written by John Steinbeck about two itinerant workers who move from place to place. One itinerant worker named George is a small, smart, caring worker. While on the contrary the other itinerant worker name Lennie is a huge, clumsy, naive character. The story is set in a remote place a few miles south of Soledad. The south is usually the best place to live due to the climate of the area. Soledad is the Spanish word for loneliness and solitary.The two itinerant workers pursue their dream of getting their own farm. During their journey George and Lennie encounter many difficulties along the way. It was not uncommon for itinerant workers to suffer from loneliness, isolation and alienation. These three terms are the terms that will be explained in my essay. Dreams are another main factor in this book. George and Lennie have a dream that is the cornerstone of this book. Their dream is that they will â€Å"live of the fatta the lan’†. This quote is a reference to the American Dream.In this case, the fat is a good thing and fat has many properties and is usually the tastiest part of food, they also said that they will live of the fat. This means that the fat is in abundance. The American dream which says you get what you deserve if you work very hard. The American Dream is almost a capitalist dream. Loneliness is defined to be someone who is sad and/or be companionless. Characters such as George, Lennie, Candy and Curley’s wife all suffer from loneliness. George is lonely mainly because he is an itinerant worker which means he doesn’t stay anywhere for long.George even confesses his loneliness by saying â€Å"Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. † This is when George talks to Lennie beside the river. Lennie is another character that is caught in the trap of loneliness because of his disability and the fact that he always getting into trouble. Candy is lonely as h e only has his dog which eventually dies. Finally, Curley’s wife is lonely as her wife Curley does not give her the attention she wants. Isolation means to separate or to force apart. â€Å"†¦ he limb is worn smooth by men who have sat on it†. Already, in the first paragraph we can see the relationship between man and nature is not the best. Man seems to be destroying nature’s work. The characters that suffer from isolation are the likes of Crooks and Curley’s wife. Alienation is term that is described to a person who is being withdrawn from the world or withdraws them self from the outside world. People often feel alienated as they are being shown disaffection by others. The favourites of Crooks and Curley’s wife suffer from alienation.Crooks suffers from alienation as he is the only black person on the ranch, while Curley’s wife suffers from alienation as she is called names like â€Å"jailbait† (from George) as she is always l ooking for a man and is unfaithful to her husband – Curley. The very first bit of knowledge we know about George is explained in this quote â€Å"The first man was small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong features. The first person/people in something are always the more dominant person as explained in this quote. â€Å"†¦ restless eyes†¦ tells us that he is also a very alert man. Later in the book George also confesses his loneliness to the other ranchers. The other ranchers generally don’t like confessing their own loneliness to others. Quotes like . George is a very father like figure to Lennie, to comfort Lennie he usually says (in this case about Curley) â€Å"you keep away from Curley†. George promised Lennie’s Aunt Carla that he will look after Lennie like a father after she dies. â€Å"One side of the river the golden foothill slopes curve up to the strong †¦ Gablian Mountains. This quote explains the q ualities of the two itinerant workers. The quote is saying that George is strong mentally and physically. â€Å"God, you’re a lot of trouble †¦ I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn’t have you on my tail. † George often loses his temper with Lennie. He knows that he is mentally stronger than Lennie meaning that he can do whatever he wants by himself but Lennie always restrains him. Crooks is a character in the book that gets quite a lot of stick from the other ranch workers. The type of loneliness he suffers from alienation.The two main reasons Crooks is alienated is because he is black and he is also disabled. The other ranchers use derogative terms like â€Å"nigger† and â€Å"stable buck† as a reference to Crooks. In those times they thought that it was alright to call black people any name that they desire. The book describes Crooks’ appearance as â€Å"his body was bent to the left by his crooked spine†. Since the Abrahamic religions started, the side to your left was considered ‘dirty’ so, Steinbeck can use this for a reason for the other ranchers to hate Crooks as they will probably consider him ‘dirty’.As Crooks spends a lot of time by himself, he has the privilege of keeping more prized possessions than the other ranchers as explained in the quote â€Å"he had books, too; a tattered dictionary and a mauled copy of the California civil code for 1905†. You could say that Crooks was quite lucky as he had many possessions unlike all the ranchers as all they owned was a small apple box. Crooks is always the one being picked on; for example one Christmas when all the other ranchers where trying to pick a fight with Crooks. Candy is another character in the book that is disabled.He is also one of the loneliest characters in the book. All Candy has is an old dog. Candy’s dog is described Steinbeck uses quite a few techniques in the book. Some of the techniq ues include allegories and foreshadowing. The best example of an allegory in this book is when Lennie kills the innocent mouse, Candy’s dog is killed and then right at the end of the book Lennie is killed. This also foreshadowed what was going to happen to Lennie as he used to follow George around ‘like a dog’. When Candy had no use of his dog; he decided to dispose of him. This just like what George did to Lennie.