Traditional Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Traditional Marketing - Essay Example Traditional marketing is in effect focused on markets and products, giving little consideration to customers - what they want and need, how they buy and when. Adrian Payne (1991) notes that "traditional marketing concentrates on product features, has minimal interest in customer service, limited customer contact, and where quality is primarily a concern of production." The marketing mix approach is "too limited to provide a usable framework for assessing and developing customer relationships in many industries and should be replaced by an alternative model in which the focus is on customers and relationships (Gordon, I., 1999)." For these reasons, not a few companies soon found traditional marketing ineffective in selling consumer products. If sales were made at all, the level does not warrant the expense sunk in the traditional marketing tools such as radio, TV and outdoor ads as well as trade shows and direct mail. Gradually, it was acknowledged that traditional marketing is not suitable for selling relatively low-value products to the broad masses of customers. In this case, the sales income is often not commensurate with the advertising and promotional costs. In the search for a marketing system that would broaden the product scope and concentrate on how to retain customers instead of simply attracting customers to products and services, marketing experts came up with the idea o... The earliest users of the term relationship marketing included Len Berry (1983) and Jag Sheth at Emory. Theodoro Levitt (1983) of Harvard subsequently expanded the initial concept to cover activities beyond individual transactions. Customer retention is at the heart of relationship marketing. Unlike the traditional marketing approach, which goes by one-shot individual transactions, relationship marketing seeks to build longer-term relationships with the customers. Thus, it calls for ways to understand the customer's needs as they go through their life cycle and provides a range of products or services as the customers need these at each cycle. In short, keeping the customers forever (Gordon, I., 1999). The idea of seeking to provide the customer's specific needs at each phase of his life led to the development of relationship marketing. Increased profitability is the common objective of both the traditional and relationship marketing strategies but the most glaring difference is that one makes a sale and then moves on to another prospect, while the other stays with one customer longer to attend to all his needs. This is service marketing at work, which means servicing the customer's necessities from childhood to adolescence, from middle age to his senior years. Less Cost, More Benefits The advantage of relationship marketing is that despite the expanded scope and longer attention span provided by the companies to customers, the cost of retaining an existing customer is said to be about 10 per cent less than the cost required in acquiring a new customer. Moreover, the company derived other benefits such as referrals. (Wikipedia)

The Role Of Stereotyping In Fairytales English Literature Essay

The Role Of Stereotyping In Fairytales English Literature Essay Fairy tales have a great history in Europe and they were transmitted from the one generation to the other by oral speech, until the Grimm brothers decided to commit many of them, around 1815. The fairy tales stories are very important for childrens psychology, as psychoanalyst Bruno Bettelheim says, because they communicate with the unconscious of the child, through their secret messages, like the battle between the good and the evil, where the good always wins. So, the children feel more hopeful and ready to pass through the difficulties that emerge in their lives (Salkind, 2004). Fairytales contain material that influences a lot the feelings and the cognition of children. Contemporary research has shown they are not coming into the world as black slates, but they bring reflexes, predispositions and capacities, with their birth. Although schemas, the cognitive structures, that represent organized knowledge about a given concept or stimulus, that influence perception, memory and inference, (Hewstone, Stroebe Stephenson, 1997, p.617), are transmitted to them through the contact with their guardians and the society (Hewstone et al., 1997). Another effect of fairytales is the elongation of some schemas, specially those that concern gender. There are three types of schemas, according to Baron and Burne (2009); those that have to do with persons, with roles and with events. The role schemas, that are correlated with specific social roles, concern the way that people act and are like. Gender identity is one of the major role schemas that people cope with (Baron, Branscombe Burne, 2009). Gender roles affect the behavior of men and women throughout their life, social and personal. Some characteristics of the male stereotype is that the man is able to be a leader, aggressive, forceful, competitive, independent, individualistic and defending his own beliefs. On the other hand, woman is affectionate, compassionate, shy, soft-spoken, tender, she loves children and she is sensitive to the needs of others. Men are also considered as the owners of their family and like the head of the wife. Stereotypes like that have still their place in many religions, but are also tought to the children through the fairy tales. Women are still presented as followers of the active male figures or helpless with the need to be rescued. Children attain the meaning of gender identity, the fact that they are boys or girls, by the age of two and between the ages of four and seven, they realize that the gender is a basic attribute of the person. As they grow up they come in contact with the stereotypes that concern what it means to be male or female, and they are enforced by their environment to show these traits Children also, learn gender stereotypes very early in their life. By the age of two they know to accord stereotyped behaviors and traits with each gender and at the ages between three and six, they seem more strongly sex stereotyped than adults. Furthermore they are convinced that these stereotypes are true. In particular, in the research of Urberg (1982, cited in Golombok Fivush, 1994), it was found that children espouse unconditionally the gender stereotypes at the age of five, but at the age of seven they become more conciliatory. Another finding of the same research was that children tend to stereotype oth er children more than stereotype adults. In another study of Haugh, Hoffman Cowan (1980, cited in Golombok Fivush, 1994), it was shown on a screen to two groups of children of three and five year old, a shortcut with two twelve month infants playing. The children of the first group were told that the infant on the left was male, and on the right female, and to the other group the opposite. Both groups described the babies labeled as males, with characteristics like big, mad, fast, strong, loud, smart, and hard, while the female labeled as small, scared, slow, weak, quiet, dumb, and soft. As for the predictions that children can make about the preferences of the two sexes, in the study of Martin (1989, cited in Golombok Fivush, 1994), it was found that children of all ages tented to predict the characters interest about some toys, based on his or her gender. But only the younger children relied absolutely on this trait. It seems that younger children are more categorical with gend er stereotypes, and the gender of an individual is determinant for his or her characteristics and habits (Baron, Branscombe Burne, 2009, Golombok Fivush, 1994). The research about the gender roles in fairytales, has shown that even though women represent more than the half percent of the population, they are represented much less in childrens literature. Research during 60s decade found that women were underrepresented in a big amount in the book titles, central roles and the illustrations of popular childrens stories. After the political changes of the decades of 70s and 80s, it was found that women are better represented in childrens literature, but the male characters were represented double times. When a woman had a leading role was described as the males that had the same character. But when she had a secondary role, she was described with the traditional characteristics, as passive and depended (Golombok Fivush, 1994, Godden Godden, 2001). Furthermore, it was found by a research of DeLoache et al., cited in Golombok Fivush, 1994, that children get in contact with the gender stereotypes not only through the characters of their stories, but also by the way that their parents present the gender roles, while they are reading them a book. In particular, mothers that were reading a book to their children were presenting the 90% of the characters with unknown roles as males. Also, when they were asked to read a picture book with bears of indetermined gender, the 62% of them represented the bears to their children as male and a small percentage, about the 16% as female. It was also observed that the bears that were labeled as females, where those that were not been presented to interact with other bears (Golombok Fivush, 1994). According to the Banduras Social learning theory, cited in Cole Cole, 2002, gender is formed by social factors. He supported that the childs behavior is formed by that one of the others and specific by parents behavior, through the learning processes of reinforcement and observation or imitation of a model. Other factors responsible for socialization can be the teachers, the peers and generally the people that get in contact with the child, without underestimating the role of media, like tvs and children readings (Cole Cole, 2002). It has been observed that parents provide to their children except of patterns of imitation, rewards, when the behaviors of the last are compatible with their gender and they punish them for the behaviors that are not accord with it. In the studies of Beverly Fagot, cited in Cole Cole, 2002, in families, it was found that the parents were praising their daughters when they were trying clothes, dancing, playing with their dolls, or when were following them and they were punishing them when they were exploring things, running and climbing around. Contrary they were praising their sons when they were playing with cubes and they were punishing them, when they were playing with dolls, giving or asking for help. These findings are also supported by other studies, like those of Langois Downs, cited in Cole Cole, 2002. Except of the rewards, it has been observed by studies that the fathers in contrast with the mothers, treat their sons much more different than their daughters. More specifically they were considering boys as more strong and taugh and they were enforcing them to do similar activities, while they were rating them more strict than their mothers when they were playing with dolls. Also, when the boys were between the age of two and twelve, they were becoming stricter, more equable, less affectionate and more directional than with their daughters. Furthermore, it seems that the pressure to the boys to conform to their gender role, is bigger than this one that touch girls. As a result the gender role of boys is more cohesive than for the girls, something that continues to exist in mens and womens roles, when the male characteristics and roles are acceptable for women, while the opposite is not acceptable. Another stereotypic role for women in fairytales is that they have to stay in silence. Its inappropriate for them to express their thoughts and claim for their rights. This could be like an insult to their husband and only evil women, like witches, are taught with these behaviors. The only way for the women in fairytales to speak is only after asking a mans permission. Its also common for the man in fairytales to hit his wife when she dares to interrupt him. Women can only express themselves by crying and show helpless (Afanasev, 1973, Bottigheimer, 1986). In Snow White, Brothers Grimm classic fairy tale, the female gender is represented in a negative way. Snow White is displayed as being frightened, naive and helpless, and the evil Queen, her stepmother, the only other prominent female character is a narcissist. Thus, after reading or hearing this fairy tale, society begins to mold into these stereotypes. This quote demonstrates what society considers to be womens role. These traits are presented when the huntsman spares Snow Whites life and when the Dwarfs expect Snow White to do house work in order to live safely with them. Although the queen ironically is very powerful in this fairy tale, she also falls into the stereotype for females. She only uses her power for negatives, rather than positives, scheming vindictive plots on Snow White throughout the whole story. In which, naive Snow White falls victim, not once but three times. The evil queen sends the huntsmen to kill Snow White. This setting introduces the readers to Snow White as a scared helpless girl, a typical expected role of a female (Zipes, 2000). Although there are exceptions, the rule is that a woman has to lose her voice and her identity in order to provide a place in the society for herself. There are specific gender roles in the classic fairy tales that state that the men have the voice and the women are to be collateral. In the classic fairy tale, The Little Mermaid, the character of the seventh daughter is being taught what it is to be a woman. When she complains about grooming for her first trip above water, her grandmother remind her that someone cant have beauty without paying a cost. A woman must be beautiful and must suffer for the cost in silence. Silence is repeated throughout the tale as being a virtue. The mermaid suffers the pain and blood of her feet and the cutting out of her tongue as to be with her love, even though the man does not want her in return. The Disney version of this tale also shows Ariel learning about the importance of outward beauty and suppression. Ursula convinces Ariel that she doesnt need her voice in the human world. She has her beauty, her lovely face and she can use her body language. A woman can live in the mans world, only if she will lose her opinion. At first, Disneys Ariel seems not to follow the typical stereotype role for a woman. She is active, curious and rebellious sometimes. However, when she falls in love, her independent character, transforms into a dependent woman that only wants to become the wife of her beloved man. Moreover she decides to sacrifice her voice, as to become a human, and leave her underwater kingdom to live next to her man (Bell, Haas, Sells, 1995). Another example of the importance of women silence, is in the story of The Merchants Daughter and the Slanderer where the king decides to marry her only when it is mentioned to him that she is quiet and vestal. The value of silence is correlated with those of speech and power. Generally in fairy tales the speech comes from people that have authority, which most of the times are not the women. The women that appear to speak are evil, like witches, and only when they give a curse to their enemies, as it was mentioned before (Afanasev, 1973, Bottigheimer, 1986). Another stereotype in fairy tales, is that the mans role is to work and provide food to his family by this work. Besides that, in many fairy tales, the opposite fact happens. In Constantino Fortunato of Straparola, it is a woman, the mother Soriana, who provides the food to her three adult sons, who end helpless when she is dead. Their only way to survive is to use the items she left them and because they do not have any qualifications for work they become dependent on other people. Because of the fact that they have never worked, they do not appreciate the people who help them and they forget each one when a new person who can help them appears. And thats what Constantino does when is been ensured to him the marriage with the princess. In this fairytale the sons are completely dependent on their mother who has the main character in that. She is described as a very poor woman who had three sons, a description that appears in many points of the story. The important to notice is that never this family is been demonstrated as a poor family, but there is only a really poor mother and her sons. The sons are not considered as independed members of this family and they are not responsible for their poverty, even though they are old enough to have a job. They stay sideliners even when their mother is dead. Their only way to survive is to wait for their neighbors to ask them to borrow some of the items their mother left and give them something in return. When Constantinos brothers get a sweet like a gift from their neighbors they eat it by themselves and they dont keep anything for him but only advice him to ask the cat for help. That is what happens and the cat begins to provide everything to the young man, even his marriag e with the princess. When he becomes a prince he has to face many responsibilities but even in that time he denies to do it and continues to count on womens of the palace help (Zipes, 2000). Another common characteristic for the women in fairy tales is their passivity. Most of them when they find themselves in trouble, are waiting for a male to rescue them and dont take the situation in their own hands. In the story of The Footless Champion and the Handless Champion the sister of the family has to endure every day the minatory visits of a dragon, without doing anything to protect herself like to escape, but only waiting for her brothers to come back from a hunter travel, to save her (Afanasev, 1973). Another message that fairy tales give to women is that disobedience to men and possible will for power will be strict punished. The womans role is to serve the husband and do the housekeeping. In the Mayoress fairy tale, the woman explains to her husband her intention to become mayoress and he decides to punish her with some elder men. Because of her inability as a mayoress she spends the public money and then its impossible to collect the taxes in time. Even though she makes efforts to control the situation, the Cossack decides to punish her by beating her. The meaning of this story is that this woman should never desire a position of power and disobey her husband. Generally this story teaches women to stay allegiant to the authority of their husband and also men that women are incapable for positions that have to do with the public affairs and power. Beauty is another value that is overestimated in fairy tales. Usually we meet in their pages, young and beautiful girls to be chosen by men with power, but ugly and much older, like what happened in Beauty and the Beast and the ugly girls to be rejected not only from men but also from society. It is also common that the beauty is correlated with traits, like honesty, purity, virginity, delicacy and modesty. Beauty is also a virtue that has to be well protected from the world outside and be well guarded like a treasure. In the story of Dawn, Evening and Midnight the king watches his daughters during all day not allowing to anyone else to see their beauty. He doesnt even leave the sun or the wind to touch them. It is obvious that he adores his daughters only because they are extremely beautiful. It is not only the beauty that determine a wedding but also the ability of woman for reproduction. More specifically, it is the ability of the woman to make male children. It is considered as an ability of the woman to control the sex of her child, something that does not correspond to the contemporary knowledge and when she fails to make a boy, she is usually considered as cursed or worthless and she is driven away from her husband. This is obvious in the Singing Tree and the Talking Bird, when the king chooses his future wife only after she promises him to make three children, two males and one female. No other traits are more decisive than this, like the worth of a woman is considered first of all, with her ability of reproduction (Afanasev, 1973). It seems that even nowadays fairytales attribute to women the stereotyping traits of their gender, like passivity and silence, and to men those of power and courage, as it was shown through the fairytales of Snow White, The Little Mermaid, Ariel and The Footless Champion and the Handless Champion. Although there are traditional fairytales like Constantino Fortunato, that shows the woman in a position of power, this one of the head of the family and modern, that describe their heroine with some male characteristics, like Ariel of the Little Mermaid, who is independed and curious, before falls in love with a man, it seems that social sciences have to make a lot of efforts to modify the gender stereotypes in children literature (Zipes, 2000, Afanas ev, 1973).

A Vendetta :: English Literature

A Vendetta A Short Story will typically contain only a few characters. The Plot will usually be concerned with just one theme. These short stories are written by a very famous author, Guy de Maupassant. Guy de Maupassant was born in France in 1850.Maupassant developed to be one of the most famous short story writers of all time. In the short story 'A Vendetta' the title is a glimpse into the plot of the story, telling us that that there is a vendetta involved but doesn't reveal the nature of the vendetta and its aims. There are 3 main characters in the story, they are, Widow Saverini, Frisky the dog, and Nicolas Ravolati. The story is about, an assassin Nicolas Ravolati kills Widow Saverini's son Antoine during a quarrel and over the dead body of her son Widow Saverini swears vengance. She is unable to sleep until she has an idea. She trains her dog Frisky to attack a dummy, by starving her of food and hiding sausage inside the dummy's torso. The widow takes the dog to Nicolas' Sardinian hideout and at the widows' word the dog kills Nicolas Ravolati. The moral of the story is that revenge can become destructive and obsessive if we allow it to do so. Maupassant expresses this moral when, In the story he talks about the Widow Saverini being unable to sleep or make peace until she can complete this vendetta of when she sleeps soundly. During this story Guy de Maupassant uses several different literary techniques to help express his views and to help explain and tell the story. He uses personification when describing the wind and sea on the coast of Bonifacio. He uses the sentence "The wind harasses the sea remorselessly." The words 'harasses' and 'remorselessly' are both human characteristics it is as if Guy de Maupassant is saying the wind has no conscience. Maupassant uses detailed description of the town 'Bonifacio', where the story is set, to get across the brutality and evil to come later on in the story. He also uses symbolism and imagery like "A gash in the cliffs," This represents the gashes in the body of Antoine after the first assassination, as does the simile used at the start of the story," Patches of whitish foam round the black tips of the countless reefs, look like torn sheets drifting on the surface of the water." This to me is the most important simile in the whole story because it sets the mood and the scene of the horrific events to come, to continue the scenery being set as an inhospitable place Maupassant uses the word

Individual Change Initiative- Dell Computers Essay

Dell incorporation was established in 1984 and is headquartered in Rock, Texas. A multinational technology corporation develops, manufactures, develops, sells and supports personal computers as well as those products that are related to computers. For many years since its establishment, Dell has been the largest seller of servers and personal computers. In 2008, it was the listed as the second largest seller of computers behind an upcoming company, the HP. It uses the direct business model where it develops, designs, manufactures, markets, sells and supports IT systems and services designed to fulfill the specific requirements of its customers (CNN, 2009). The company has an objective of entering the market fast with relevant and new technology that can assist in meeting the needs of its clients, providing services and reducing the inventory and capital investment costs. The strengths of the direct model enable Dell to perform strongly and deliver profitability in its business. Some of the products that are offered by the company include desk computer systems, software, peripherals, mobility products, network products, servers and storage products (CNN, 2009). Competitiveness and Rivalry Dell was the 2005 number one supplier of personal computers both in the United States and globally. This leadership in market is attributed to its focus on selling the services and products directly to the customers (CNN 2009). The prices of personal computers have fallen and Dell has faced stiff competition from other companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Apple, Sun Microsystems, Lenovo, Gateway, Sony, Toshiba, Acer and Asus. This has prompted the company to do all it can to undercut competition and to offer to its customers more attractive choice of PCs as well as other products (Bergstein 2006). It is clear that in the current economic world, businesses that deal with similar products are engaged in competition and rivalry as they try to outdo each other and make as much sales and thus profits. This calls for the businesses to restructure their internal operations so that they can forge ahead of their competitors (Hitt, 2007). This is taking place in the business environment that Dell Inc. operates as it faces stiff competition from its rivals in the computer hardware manufacturing industry (Hitt, 2007). Such kind of competition would call for the management of Dell to come up with a process of managing change that is continuous in order to have a business advantage over its rivals continuously. There are three strategies that can be used by any business organization to formulate strategies: focus, cost minimization and differences (Hitt, 2007). Vision: Being the Leading Seller of PCs and related products However since these strategies can be easily copied by the rival companies, a clear vision should be established that will guide the company in its operations. Dell should therefore come up with the vision of being the world’s largest seller of personal computers and computer related products. This vision should not only be presented in writing but should be the basis of any plan or operation that is undertaken in the company (Kotelnikov, 2009). The management and the employees must be made to understand that Dell Inc. is facing stiff competition from other companies and thus should perform every task with the aim of making the company have an advantageous edge over the other similar companies. Change may not take place unless the majority of the employees are ready to make sacrifices (short term) and they should be made to understand the benefits of that change (Kotter, 1996). Major challenges to the vision must first be identified as this would enable the company to study and eradicate them if the vision is to been achieved. One major setback has been the fact that in most cases, products by Dell are only accessible by phone or through the internet. Though this may go well with the company especially in cost cutting, it may be an obstacle for larger sales. This is because the world is in the generation of instant things and â€Å"fast foods† and thus customers may be hindered from engaging in businesses where they have to wait for a longer period before they can obtain the products that they require. Mossberg (2008) gives an example of a combination of ink-jet printer/scanner/copier called DellA940 that is very superior when compared to H-P’s 2110 in speed, services and costs, but the setback with its purchase is that the ink cartilages that it uses can only be obtained by phone or internet. Making the Dell Inc the largest seller of personal computers would also require the Dell Company to set up goals and strategies in line with the vision of making the company the leading seller of computers as well as related products. One of such goals would be to make its products the most efficient and admirable by all the customers keeping in mind the ever-changing technology and innovations. Some of the products that Dell manufactures include laptops that are in different types, such as Vostro, Latitude, Dell Precision, Specialty laptops, inspiron and studio (Del Inc. 2009). Other products include the desktops, workstations, servers, storage and networking devices, printers, monitors and projectors. However, companies such as HP also manufacture and sell personal computers, printers and servers and this has become a major business threat to Dell. For example in 2006 Dell was using the Intel chips as compared to HP’s use of AMD chips (regarded as more superior) which was seen as a disadvantage (Cantrell, 2006). Also the company can become a leading company in computer hardware manufacturing business by focusing on achieving different mix of products which may include those that are none related with personal computer such as the storage products, servers and services. This would make it not to rely so much on personal computer business, which accounts for sixty-six percent of the company’s sales. Experts believe that HP has an advantage over Dell especially with large corporate customers because it has a diversified mix of businesses (Cantrell, 2006). The other strategy that should be considered by Dell Inc should be to improve the customers’ relations. Customer relation is important because it has been proven that keeping the already existing customers is easier than getting the new ones and because those customers that are satisfied will do the advertising for the company’s products. All the Dell employees should be trained on how to improve customer relations by ways such as appreciating the customers orally, in writing or through the websites. Any complains that is raised by any of the customers should be solved immediately and in a friendly way. This can be done by replacing or repairing any product that is reported to have been faulty or even by refunding them their money or adding them a gift (Alibaba, 2009). The customers should also be given clear guidelines on how to make orders easily for any products with full information on how to do it. When customers have made any purchase, a questionnaire should be sent to them to show that the company is concerned about their satisfaction. Finally, the customers should be given as many options for contact as possible and when they send any enquiry or order it should be attended to immediately (Alibaba, 2009). For the employees of Del Incorporation to feel part of the vision, they should not only be made a part of it verbally, but should also be motivated so that they can work very hard towards it. This should be done during the signing of the contract where the employees should be given the opportunity to choose the kind of the training contract that they want to sign. â€Å"Fully self directed† contract should be encouraged as the worker will fill in the topic of training, the process of training and the mode of assessment. The document will then be ratified by the supervisor or by the HR manager. This would be very important, as employee’s resistance has been a major obstacle to the fulfillment of any company’s vision (Hitt, 2007). The workers can be motivated in different ways such as being offered morale boosters such as being offered a free ice cream at the end of every week, picnic or a movie. This makes employees to feel part of the company thus will do everything to support the vision of making Dell the leading seller of PCs and related products. Their views though may not be implemented should also be received by the management. Any time they perform a task in line with the company vision, they should be rewarded, for example with a day off or with a cash prize, a day off or a certificate of appreciation (Microsoft, 2009) For this vision to come true, every part of Dell workforce should be involved. The management of the company should be responsible in articulating the vision to the workers and motivating them. They should direct the employees in line with the strategies that they have come up with as well as supervise them in implementing them. The human resource manager is also very instrumental in ensuring that there is a communications structure encouraging the employers to work towards the vision. All employees raging from the support staff, engineers, marketers, public relations officers, web designers, managers and even accountants should be involved in the vision designing as well as its achievement. The marketers and the public relations officers will play very important roles as they are the ones who will be in direct contact with the customers and will portray the picture of the company either positively or negatively. The engineers and the researchers will be very useful as they will be involved in the process of manufacturing personal computers and other computer related products that would compete with similar products of the other rival companies. If the all stakeholders in the company join their hands and work towards the vision, then Dell Inc. will become the leader in selling PCs and related products in the entire globe. References Alibaba. 43 Phenomenal ways to improve your customer relations. Retrieved March 24,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2009, from http://resources.alibaba.com/topic/51248/43_Phenomenal_Ways_to_Improve_Your_Customer_Relations.htm   Bergstein, B. (July, 19 2006). PC market called â€Å"healthy† despite weak demand in Europe.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Retrieved 24 March 2009, from http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/07/19/pc_market_called_healthy_despite_weak_demand_in_europe/ Cantrell, A. (Feb. 10 2006). All’s not well with Dell. CNN. Retrieved March 24, 2009,   Ã‚  Ã‚   from http://money.cnn.com/2006/02/10/markets/spotlight/spotlight_dell/index.htm CNN. (2009). Dell inc- company information. Retrieved March 24, 2009, from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://money.cnn.com/quote/snapshot/snapshot.html?symb=DELL Hitt, M.A.et al (2007).   Strategic management concepts. Wiley. Retrieved March 24, 2009,      Ã‚  Ã‚  from   mclennan.mbs.edu/classroom/bibliographies/Strategic_management_of

Do Video Games Promote Violence Essay

There is much hype surrounding the launch of every new game system including Game Cube, XBox, Playstation 3 and all of their handheld portable equivalents. Affecting all sorts of people from children as young as age 4 all the way to 45 year-old adults, these video games have called for concern in our society regarding issues such as addiction, depression, and even aggression related to the playing of video games. A recent study of children in their early teens found that almost a third played video games daily, and that 7% played for at least 30 hours a week. What is more, some of these games being played like Mortal Combat, Marvel Vs. Capcom, and Doom are very interactive in the violence of slaughtering the opponent. The video game industries even put signs like â€Å"Real-life violence† and â€Å"Violence level – not recommended for children under age of 12† on their box covers, arcade fronts, and even on the game CDs themselves. According to the online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, the Truth in Video Game Rating Act (S. 3935) was introduced by Senator Sam Brownback on September 27, 2006. The act required that the Entertainment Software Rating Board, known as the ESRB for short, have access to the full content of and hands-on time with the games it was to rate, rather than simply relying on the video demonstrations submitted by developers and publishers. [1] The bill makes no considerations for modifications or mods for short, total conversions, user generated content, procedurally generated content, unused disc space, blocked/disabled out portions of code, player behavior in online games, and various other factors out of the control of the developers (such as how the player decides to play the unsaid game). This bill was unacted upon during its original session and was reintroduced by Senator Brownback on February 14 2007 under the same title â€Å"the Truth in Video Game Rating Act† with a new session number (S. 568). As of March 2007, S. 568 remains in the Senate Committee. [2] In the game Goldeneye 007 bad guys who used to disappear in a cloud of smoke when killed no longer do so. Instead they perform an elaborate maneuver when killed. For example, those shot in the neck fall to their knees and then face while clutching at their throats. Other games such as Unreal Tournament and Half-Life are gorier. In these games when characters get shot a large spray of blood covers the walls and floor near the character, and on the occasions when explosives are used, the characters burst into small but recognizable body parts. In spite of the violence, the violent video games are also the more popular games on the market. (2) When video games first came out, indeed they were addictive†¦ owever, there seems to be a strong correlation now between the violent nature of games these days and the aggressive tendencies in game players. On April 20, 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold launched an assault on Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, murdering 13 and wounding 23 before turning the guns on themselves. Although nothing is for certain as to why these boys did what they did, we do know that Harris and Klebold both enjoyed playing the bloody, shoot-’em-up video game Doom, a game licensed by the U.  S. military to train soldiers to effectively kill. The Simon Wiesenthal Center, which tracks Internet hate groups, found in its archives a copy of Harris’ web site with a version of Doom. He had customized it so that there were two shooters, each with extra weapons and unlimited ammunition, and the other people in the game could not fight back. For a class project, Harris and Klebold made a videotape that was similar to their customized version of Doom. In the video, Harris and Klebold were dressed in trench coats, carried guns, and killed school athletes. They acted out their videotaped performance in real life less than a year later†¦ (3) Everyone deals with stress and frustrations differently. However when action is taken upon the frustration and stress, and the action is taken out in anger and aggression, the results may be very harmful to both the aggressor and the person being aggressed against, mentally, emotionally, and even physically. Aggression is action, i. e. attacking someone or a group with an intent to harm someone. It can be a verbal attack–insults, threats, sarcasm, or attributing nasty motives to them–or a physical punishment or restriction. Direct behavioral signs include being overly critical, fault finding, name-calling, accusing someone of having immoral or despicable traits or motives, nagging, whining, sarcasm, prejudice, and/or flashes of temper. The crime and abuse rate in the United States has soared in the past decade. More and more children suffer from and are being treated for anger management than ever before. Now, one can’t help but to wonder if these violent video games are even playing a slight part in the current statistics. Playing violent video games like Doom, Wolfenstein 3D or Mortal Kombat can increase a person’s aggressive thoughts, feelings and behavior both in laboratory settings and in actual life, according to two studies appearing in the April issue of the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Furthermore, violent video games may be more harmful than violent television and movies because they are interactive, very engrossing and require the player to identify with the aggressor, say the researchers. â€Å"One study reveals that young men who are habitually aggressive may be especially vulnerable to the aggression-enhancing effects of repeated exposure to violent games,† said psychologists Craig A. Anderson, Ph. D. , and Karen E. Dill, Ph. D. â€Å"The other study reveals that even a brief exposure to violent video games can temporarily increase aggressive behavior in all types of participants. â€Å"