Strategic Evaluation of South West Airlines The WritePass Journal

Strategic Evaluation of South West Airlines Introduction Strategic Evaluation of South West Airlines ). The political environment in the US has been unfavorable for Southwest Airlines over the years due to strong lobbying in congress by supporters of rival airlines against the company’s interests. However, Southwest Airlines has on numerous occasions won legal battles against rivals in the US courts. An important political factor affecting the Southwest Airlines strategy is terrorism. During the last decade, the threat of terrorism in civilian aircrafts has had a negative impact on airline industry in that it has increased the airport costs incurred due to additional security measures. Economic factors Aircraft derives its fuel from oil; therefore a rise in the price of oil has a major impact upon Southwest Airlines’ profitability travel (Thompson and Gamble, 2012). The future trends of oil prices are highly unpredictable due to the political changes occurring within the Middle-East region, especially the relations between US and Iran. On the other hand, the recession in 2008 has had a favorable impact upon Southwest’s operations. Although the customer demand for air travel reduced due to cuts in personal and business expenses across the US, the consumer demand for low-fares no-frills Southwest Airline underwent a growth due to a shift in consumers’ preferences towards cheaper, no- frill airlines (Southwest, 2010). Concerning monetary issues, since Southwest Airline operates only within US, hence currency fluctuations do not impact Southwest Airlines’ operations. Social Factors Unlike other low-fare and no-frill airlines in the Europe, Southwest Airline has a strong commitment towards customer service. The airline has always adopted a customer centric approach for its management and marketing activities (Campbell, 2010). Its customer services personnel are widely encouraged upon going a step forward in appeasing customers through unusual tactics. Their efforts are rewarded through recognition and rewards, and are not punished for implementing their good judgment (Thompson and Gamble, 2012). Technological factors Technological developments have both created new opportunities as well as threats for Southwest Airlines. The emergence of teleconferencing and robust communication other the internet has provided businesses with an alternative for frequent travelling. On the other hand, technology has also provided airline industry with the opportunity to expand their outreach directly to consumers through e-commerce sites. Indeed Southwest Airlines was the first airline company to introduce ticketless travel and allows customers to make reservations online through its e-commerce website (Thompson and Gamble, 2012). Porter’s Five Forces Model To analyze the operating environment of Southwest Airlines and evaluate the nature of the competition Southwest Airline faces, a Porters Five Forces analysis will be used, created by Porter E.M professor at Harvard University Business School. The five forces are as follows: The bargaining power of suppliers is high in the airline industry. For example fuel is a major input into an airline company (it accounts for 40% of all operating costs) (Thompson and Gamble, 2012), and the companies which provide fuel tend to be large, and hence have immense bargaining power. Their bargaining power is further enhanced due to the absence of any viable fuel alternative. Therefore charging a premium price by oil companies is only natural. Another cause of concern for the airline industry is the bargaining power of aircraft suppliers. The aircraft manufacturing companies have a monopoly as only two companies exist in the industry namely Airbus and Boeing. Bargaining power of buyers is also high as the customers of airline industry are constantly looking for alternative air travel companies to get best value for their money. Additionally, many other full service airlines are considering adopting a low cost model for shorter routes with no frills, thus increasing choices for customers (Mouawad, 2010). Competitive Rivalry: Southwest Airlines’ no frills model is been widely pursued by various long-haul, full-service airlines within US. Therefore, the airlines industry is highly competitive for Southwest Airline. Entry Barriers; There are high barriers to enter the airline industry as it requires a large initial capital investment. Furthermore, the airline industry is faced with increased competition and is no longer as lucrative as before in conjunction with the price wars, thus making survival difficult for new entrants. Substitutes: Although customers can switch to travel through train, coaches and cars, such travel modes are considered as uncomfortable and the cost advantage is neither too substantial. Therefore, the threat of substitute is very low. Internal Analysis The resource base view of strategy emphasizes upon a company’s internal capabilities in formulating strategies to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage in its market (Prahalad and Hamel, 1990). It deals with the competitive environment faced by an organization through an inside-out approach. The following are Southwest’s internal resources. The Combative and Can-do Culture at South West Southwest Airline has a strong combative can-do attitude ingrained in its corporate culture. The company’s legal struggle in its formative years produced a strong ‘esprit de corps’ among the company’s employees. With the media reporting Southwest Airlines difficulties, the company’s employees were clearly aware of the fact that the airlines existence was on the line. According to Colleen Barrett, the challenges faced by Southwest Airlines due to fierce adversaries by rivals and local officials were instrumental in building the passion of Southwest employees and ingraining a combative, can-do spirit in the corporate culture (Thompson and Gamble, 2012). Southwest’s Leadership and Management One of the most celebrated leaders of the company was Herb Kelleher, under whose leadership the company prospered for almost four decades, including its formative struggles. Kelleher preferred to do much of the management from outside the office whilst being among the staff members. He was a good listener, and a proponent of direct observation. He always encouraged his staffers in performing their duties. He attended most of the graduation ceremonies of his flight attendants classes and even helped load bags on ‘Black Fridays’. He was highly combative and had a flamboyant lifestyle; both of which were reflected in the company’s operations and management. Surprisingly, Kelleher was an adherent of conservatism when it came to the financial side of the business (Thompson and Gamble, 2012). Much was the future leadership of the company was directly mentored by Kelleher himself.   For instance, James parker (CEO 2001 – 2004) was associated with Kelleher with more than 23 years. Kelleher and Parker were considered to think much alike. Similarly, Colleen Barrette (President 2001 – 2008) was also associated with Kelleher and the company for more than two decades. Both these executive also followed Kelleher footsteps in spending most of their time on culture building, morale building and customer service. Gerry Kelly (CEO 2004 – Onwards) further advanced the corporate culture by through a steadfast focus upon triple bottom line of Performance, People, and Planet (Thompson and Gamble, 2012). Human Resource Management Herb Kelleher was a strong believer in the principle that if a company keeps its employees happy, its employees will in return keep its customer happy. Therefore, he contended that the employees- not the customers- came first. Kelleher knew thousands of employees by their name. Likewise, Colleen Barrette, put much efforts in creating a family like atmosphere within the company and put forth a network of contacts to stay in touch with each employee (Baum, 2006). The company’s corporate culture treats its employees like a family, insisting upon their important contribution towards having a satisfied clientele. It regards its employees as the ‘creators’ of the company. The company has a strong ethos of listening to its employees ideas, and does not believe in constraining their thinking. The company also insists upon hiring only those who share the same values as its corporate culture and does not lay off any of its employees (Thompson and Gamble, 2012) Southwest Airlines Strategy Southwest has pursued a low-cost, low-price, no-frills, strategy from day one. It made air travel affordable to the mass American population. Southwest advance ticket purchase requirements are more lenient than rivals and the company offers deep discounts for some seats purchased through its website. The company offers ‘Business Select’ fares for economy minded business travelers. This fare offers early boarding privileges to passengers along with extra Rapid Rewards (Anthony, 2011). Despite many of its rivals charging extra for add on services, like checking bags, in-flight snacks, buying a ticket in person from airport, fees for changing reservations, etc., Southwest insists upon an all-inclusive lowest fare.   Its concept of price elasticity that is, the erosion of profit margins through offering lowest fares in more than compensated by increases sales volumes is proven to be true for most of its markets. Southwest’s point to point route system also minimizes connections, delays and total trip time. Its emphasis on non-stop flights between pair of cities allows 75 % of its passengers to fly non-stop to their destination. (Thompson and Gamble, 2012; Anthony, 2011) Strategic Options Based on the aforementioned external and internal analysis of Southwest Airlines this essay presents a set of strategic options for the company. First this essay presents a TOWS matrix to generate strategic options: Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Southwest Airlines can use its huge customer base to sell ancillary product apart from free add-ons service in its flights So far, Southwest Airline is the only airline making a consistent profit and undergoing constant growth in the US. It does not have any particular weaknesses in its current corporate strategy Southwest Airlines can further imbibe e-commerce technology in its operation through developing applications for smart phones that enable customers to purchase tickets, check for promotional and discount offers, and check in. Southwest Airline can promote its Triple Bottom line ethos as its commitment towards environment and promote a green image. Sustain its employees motivation and devotion level through further improving the company human resource policies pertaining to  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Performance management and appraisal  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Rewards and amenities  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Stocks and shares options as compensation and bonus Threats Southwest Airline has so far not engaged in strategies that promote the Airlines green and environment friendly image. This can be a threat as customers are increasingly involving environmental concerns in their purchase decisions. The company can react to unstable oil prices by hedging for oil prices Strategic Direction for Growth Strategies Business firms must undergo continuous growth and change in order to retain their relative position in the market and in order to improve their position, they must grow â€Å"twice as fast as that† (Ansoff, 1957, p.113). According to Ansoff, there are four growth strategies namely: market penetration, market development, product development and diversification. Southwest Airlines can pursue growth strategies as its strategic direction for the company. Based on Ansoff’s growth matrix, the following is the strategic growth direction strategies for Southwest Airlines: Products Existing New Market Existing Market Penetration and Consolidation Product Development This should be a key strategic direction for the company. Southwest Airlines should consolidate existing routes and increase its market share on existing routes. The company should also exist from its current routes with low customer volumes where many of the flight seats go empty. Southwest Airlines should expand into ancillary products and services such as car rentals, hotels and accommodations, taxi services, etc. This could be a good strategic fit for its popular destinations. These services should also adhere to its corporate strategy of best value for the money and lowest costs. New Market Development Diversification The company should continue to explore new destinations to expand its business operations. It can be a profitable strategy. Over the years, the company has associated several values with its brand image such as a highly competitive, survivor, and best value for the money. This brand equity could be used by the company to expand into related diversification such as, catering and hospitality business. Expansion outside the US domestic market might not be a viable strategy for the company and it might be a diversion from the company’s core competencies Southwest Airlines diversification into long haul flight or flying more than point to point flights might not be a good diversification strategy as this would again be a drastic shift from the company’s core competencies Evaluation of Strategic Options According to Goold and Luchs (1993), the management literature and practice has extensively explored how organizations could best exploit their corporate expertise since the early 1990s. This exploration led to the emergence of themes such as core competencies and dominant logic view in formulation corporate strategic direction for companies. Based on these views, three important principles have emerged for corporate growth strategy: Growth and diversification should be limited to those businesses that generate synergy; synergy occurs when the performance of several products and services (or businesses) adds up to more than the sum of its parts. It pertains to the creation of economies of scales in that two or more products/services or businesses can lower their costs by combining operations or manufacturing facilities, using common sales force or advertise jointly (Thompson and Martin, 2005). The corporate strategy focus should be on exploiting core competences across a diverse product and service portfolio, and, Successful growth strategies depend on building a portfolio of businesses or products/services which fit with the managerial dominant logic of top executives and their management style. (Goold and Luchs, 1993; Lasserre, 2003) Coinciding with this dominant business view, the aforementioned strategic directions for Southwest Airlines are deemed suitable and viable for its corporate growth.   For instance all the aforementioned strategic options for Southwest Airlines pertain to: Using the airlines strong customer base to sell ancillary products; Further advancing its e-commerce services; Promoting its Triple Bottom line for ‘green’ image And enhancing the company’s human resource policies All of these options are based on the Southwest existing core competencies and management dominant logic view as identified in the internal analysis. Similarly the company’s growth and diversification strategies, which pertain to: Consolidation of existing markets Refraining from diversification is un-related products and services (long haul flight, international flights, hubs-spoke flights) Expansion into ancillary products and services and new profitable destinations within US And diversification through related business (hospitality and catering) All of these options reaffirm the company’s core competencies and management dominant logic view along with creating synergies for the company. Conclusion Southwest Airlines has faced fierce competitive environment and averted intense market entry barriers over the years to emerge as a highly successful and sustainable airline business. It operates in an industry with high bargaining power of suppliers and customers and strong rivalry from well established competitors.   The company has successfully mitigated political hurdles and used its core competencies towards its advantage in an economic environment where others have scaled down. Moreover, the company has used technologies in its favor to sustain efficiency in its business operations. The internal strengths of the company lie within its corporate culture, and motivated and committed workforce. It core competency pertains to its point to point, no-frill, low-cost and low-price air travel service business model. Concluding this strategic analysis, this essay recommends Southwest airlines to implement strategic options and embark upon growth and diversification strategies which reaffirm the company’s aforementioned core competencies and further advance its internal strengths. These strategic directions are vital for the company’s continued growth and survival in the upcoming years within its respective industry. References Ansoff, I. (1957) Strategies for Diversification. Harvard Business Review. Vol. 35 Issue 5. Anthony, R. N. (2011) Management Control Systems. Tata McGraw Hills Educations. Baum, T. (2006) Human Resource Management for the Tourism, Hospitality And Leisure. Cengage Learning EMEA Campbell. S (2010) How Southwest Airlines Became a Model for Customer Loyalty. TMCnet. Available from tmcnet.com/channels/customer-support-software/articles/87080-how-southwest-airlines-became-model-customer-loyalty.htm (cited on 20th, March, 2013) Fahey. L and Narayanan, V. K, (1986) Macroenvironmental Analysis for Strategic Management. St. Paul: West Publishing. Goold, M. and Luchs, K. (1993) Why Diversify: Four Decades of Management Thinking. Academic of Management Executive. Vol. 7 No. 3 Johnson G.   Scholes K.   Whittingham W. 2008. Exploring Corporate Strategy. 8th edition. Prentice Hall Lasserre, P. (2003) Global Strategic Management, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan Mouawad, J (2010). Pushing 40, Southwest Is Still Playing the Rebel. New York Times. Available from nytimes.com/2010/11/21/business/21south.html?pagewanted=all_r=0 (cited on 20th, March, 2013) Porter, M. (2001) Service Operations Strategy. Harvard Business School Porter. M (2008). The Five Competitive Forces that Shape Strategy. Harvard Business Review, January 2008, p.86-104. Prahalad, K. and Hamel, G. (1990) The Core Competence of Organization. Harvard Business Review. 68(3), 79-91. Southwest (2010). Southwest Airlines One Report. Available from southwestonereport.com/_pdfs/2010SouthwestAirlinesOneReport.pdf (cited on 20th, March, 2013) Thompson, A. and Gamble, J. (2012). South West Airlines in 2010: Culture, Values, and Operating Practices. Case 13. In Essential of Strategic Management. McGraw Hill. Thompson J L Martin F (2005), Strategic Management Awareness Change. 5th Edition, Thomson learning

How Taking Care of Yourself Will Make You Better at Your Job

How Taking Care of Yourself Will Make You Better at Your Job You know that coworker who runs marathons in her spare time and talks about the amazing hot yoga class she attended at 6 a.m.? Admit it, you kinda hate her as you shuffle in, grumpy and 15  minutes late because your alarm didn’t go off and you didn’t even have time for your customary egg and cheese burrito breakfast. How is it possible for one person to have it all together, that healthy life stuff balanced with the everyday demands of work? Believe it or not, it’s possible without changing totally into the guy who manages to answer 45 emails on his morning train while drinking home-brewed kombucha, or the woman who uses the treadmill desk all day without breaking a sweat. (Though if you’re already doing those things, keep on keepin’ on!) It’s about making manageable, easy-to-implement changes to your daily routines. These small changes can add up to big results in your life overall, but taking care of yourself  can really pay dividends i n your professional life as well.Concentrate on Food and FitnessChanging up your diet is one of the most basic things you can do to feel better and put some structure around your self-reboot efforts. Unfortunately, for some of us it’s also one of the most challenging ones. Even the strongest resolve to eat that green salad for lunch can crumble under the reality of free pizza leftover from a meeting. (But†¦ but†¦ it’s free!!) Whatever your barriers to eating better at work, there are some strategies you can adopt to stay satisfied during the day and (hopefully) have it be less of a struggle.Or there’s the convenience factor: the lunch place right down the street will bring your salad to you, for the low low price of $8.95 (plus tip). That adds up, especially if your self-improvement plan also involves a budget. Making an effort to eat better at work is a conscious choice, but one that will be even better when your take-out sandwich savings translate in to a treat yo self reward at some point.1. Eat a protein-packed breakfast.High-protein breakfasts help you start the day on a satisfied and raring-to-go note. If you have a good breakfast, you’re more likely to perform well at work, and less likely to fall prey to that Hershey bar looking enticingly at you from the vending machine as you walk by.2. Snack wisely.Instead of hitting the vending machine for that 10 a.m. or 3 p.m. snackishness, try eating nuts or fruit instead, or a granola bar (not the ones that are dipped in chocolate, sorry).3. Pack a lunch.This way, you know exactly what you’re eating (no sneaky sugar or calories that you don’t expect). Eating Well has some great (and inexpensive- bonus!) recipes that can help you get into the bag lunch routine.And you don’t have to sacrifice the social aspects of eating with coworkers, or the simple joy of getting away from your desk to grab lunch. Packed lunches are portable! You can head to a common are a, or even head outside to get away from your desk. There’s no excuse for sad desk lunches if you don’t want to go down that dark path.Another way to keep yourself sharp and ready for anything is to work in a little exercise with your workday. Sitting at a desk all day is not only a danger to your health (potentially causing headaches, back pains, and other ailments), but it can also be a spirit-crusher. Don’t let inertia weigh you down.Treadmill desks and standing desks are cool, but if they’re not for you (or in your company’s budget), there are plenty of ways you can get moving, even on the most demanding days.You can shake off the desk blues (not to mention some stress while you’re at it) with small exercises you can do at or near your desk.  If you’re not feeling cardio today, or if your work clothes aren’t really made for boxing, there’s always a classic: office yoga. Or if you sit out in Open-Plan Cubicle Land l ike I do, a version of office yoga that won’t freak out your coworkers. And in fact, if you feel self-conscious about the idea of doing your mini-fitness routines in front of coworkers, any of these things can be done in an empty room/out of the way spot.And really, you don’t have to overthink the fitness-at-work thing. Getting up and walking around can help get the blood moving and clear your head. Taking the stairs instead of the elevator is an easy win too. Just take a few minutes every hour to get up and move around.Bottom line: if your body feels below par, your performance at work probably will be too. By making small tweaks to your food and activity level to make yourself feel better overall, you’ll have more energy to devote to your tasks at hand.Build Solid Habits and RoutinesIf you want to start getting the most out of your workday, it’s worth taking a look at all of your daily routines, and how they affect your professional life. We’re a ll creatures of habit, but are all those habits truly useful? Fast Company suggests asking yourself 5  questions to see if your habits are working for you:What’s the value in this routine?Am I more concerned with the routine itself than the results?Can I handle emergencies that upset the routine?Can I handle change?Does this routine stifle my creativity?These questions help you target the value of your daily habits, and identify ones that aren’t really working for you (outside of consistency). Once you have a better understanding of what’s serving you well and where you could improve or make things more efficient, you can start thinking about what comes next.For example: if you leave your house 10 minutes earlier, does that take a stressful edge off your morning once you get into the office? Do you block out enough time to do routine tasks, or do they get lost in the shuffle of your day? Do you spend time writing up the same five or six types of emails, when a copy-and-paste template would make things easier? Again, small wins are the goal; we’re happier and more productive when we don’t feel bogged down by minutiae.Change Your Outlook and Attitude AdjustmentAnd sometimes the solutions for being your best self are living inside your own head. Everything is the worst when we expect it to be the worst. People are more annoying, requests are more ridiculous, and there’s never enough time when we start from a negative-attitude position. You don’t have to become the most relentlessly cheerful person around, but when your happiness starts sliding a bit because work is stressful or things aren’t going the way you’d like, try to take a step back and shake off some of the negative perceptions. It can be as simple as taking the time to thank someone (genuinely) for a job well done, or a favor they’ve done for you. And when things are rough or busy, take a minute to reflect on what went right today.W hat to avoid when revamping your workplace mindset:Gossip/making negative comments about othersBackstabbing/not being up front with peopleSarcasm (that’s a tough one, I know)Swearing (gosh darnit)A positive attitude is one of the qualities that people (notably, bosses) notice when it’s time to promote and reward employees. It’s definitely in your best interest to be that productive, supportive team member.Never Stop LearningOne of the most important things you can do to be your best self is to keep learning, no matter where you are in your career. Everyone has skills they can pick up or improve upon. If there’s a new type of software or process relevant to your job, learn it. If your presentation skills could use a boost, take a public speaking class. This not only builds your resume, but also keeps you busy and engaged.This kind of self-directed self-improvement also shows you’re someone who’s always looking to improve the status quo. Thatà ¢â‚¬â„¢s a quality that’s appealing to the powers that be, and who knows- your next career opportunity could be sitting in that class, or that shiny new skill could be the one that nets you a promotion.What it all comes down to is this: if you want to be more productive at work and on your career path in general, it’s all on you. The changes you make to your daily life to make things more streamlined, or to make yourself feel better- those will translate into being a more proactive and productive employee, and help make more opportunities happen.

An Ideal Husband Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

An Ideal Husband - Essay Example Lord Goring also tries to test as to what Lady Chiltern will do if she comes to know of Sir Chiltern’s shady past and tries to convince Lady Chiltern to be charitable when it comes to forgiving her husband. In the mean time Mrs. Cheveley tells Lady Chiltern about Sir Robert’s ill gotten wealth and on knowing this Lady Chiltern refuses to forgive Sir Robert for his dishonesty. In this Act lot of confusion ensues between Sir Chiltern and Lord Goring because Sir Chiltern believes that Mrs. Cheveley sitting in Goring’s drawing room is an evil lady while Goring believing that particular lady to be Lady Chiltern, tries to defend her character before Sir Robert. When Sir Robert leaves, Goring manages to get the letter which is a proof of Sir Robert’s shady past from Cheveley by scaring her of trusting her to the authorities for stealing a piece of jewelry. However, Mrs. Cheveley manages to steal the letter Lady Chiltern wrote to Goring and tells him that she will show that letter to Sir Robert to prove that Goring has a relationship with Lady Chiltern. In this Act all the confusions and misunderstandings get resolved and Lord Goring convinces Lady Chiltern to forgive her husband Robert and allow him to carry on with his public life. In the mean time Lord Goring also proposes marriage to Mabel Chiltern which she gladly accepts. All the controversies get resolved and all the major characters in the play end up getting what they

The US Airline Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The US Airline Industry - Essay Example This would include a political, legal, and economic perspective. Porter Five Forces Model and four Ps of marketing would also be used. Discussion Four Ps of Marketing Product/Service The service provided by the airline industry is of air travel. However, over the years, the scope of the service provided by the airline has widened and now it is only about air travel or the core service but it about the augmented service as well. These include food, internet, TV, comfortable seats, business-class travel experience, and other benefits. Consider the example of JetBlue, which has emerged as a serious player in the industry in almost 12 years. The airline is following the same business model of low cost as introduced by Southwest and followed by Frontier Airlines, Horizon Airlines, Air Tran and others. However, JetBlue has been doing one thing different, which is that, unlike other low cost players, it has extended its augmented product to include many other amenities, which has attracted thousands of customers to JetBlue (Vasigh et al., 2008, pp. 105-106). Promotion As mentioned earlier, airline industry also faces a seasonal demand pattern where there are more passengers during the vacations and holidays to specific destinations, therefore, airlines engage in aggressive promotional activities in order to ensure that they capture the most share of the pie. Furthermore, slowing growth, saturating market and high fixed also force the airline industry to engage in active and aggressive advertising. This is also the reason why that sales promotion is common within the airline industry in an attempt to attract customers (Belobaba et al., 2009, pp. 52-54). Direct marketing and personal... The airline industry is at the heart of US economy because of the direct and indirect GDP and employment it generates. The essay explores application of international business theories on the US airline industry. Although the core service is of air travel, the augmented service that includes secondary benefits such as food, entertainment, comfort and other have been in the spotlight lately. US airline industry actively uses dynamic pricing to ensure that it could squeeze maximum possible revenue from the customer, which they are willing to pay. The promotional mix used by the industry includes advertising, public relations and active sales promotion. Agents also engage personal selling and direct marketing to the big clients as well. In light of the Porter Five Forces Model, it appears that the US airline industry faces heightened competitive pressures with increasing bargaining power of customers, threat of substitutes and supplier power. The macroenvironmental analysis reveals that the airline industry will continue to face political legal pressures because of its economic and security importance. Although, if the current wave of mergers and acquisitions continue for a while then it highly likely that it would decrease the competition, rationalize pricing and remove the excess capacity. Nevertheless, smart players are more likely to come with the right marketing mix and positioning strategy and would leverage their strategic positioning to make profits as Southwest airlines has been doing for the past many years.

Tragedy and Realism Essay Example for Free

Tragedy and Realism Essay John also portrays the tragic hero in The Crucible. His hanging shows the audience incredible strength and is incredibly admirable. The role of a tragic hero is filled by this character because John has not upheld morals as well previously in his life, shown by his affair with Abigail, but makes the right decision at the end of the play, and acts as a martyr to his cause, and dies merely due to an error of judgement, such as Mary Warrens confession and his believing in Elizabeths truthfulness. The play is written to be viewed as a slice of life or using the audience as the fourth wall where the action taking place does not involve the audience at all, with no asides directed towards them and as if the audience was not involved and was looking through a window at the lives of the characters. The appearance of reality draws on several different ideas to make it effective and believable. Unity of Time and Place is not one that The Crucible uses well. However, it is said that to effectively use this technique, the action should take place in real time. A play that takes place over three hours should take three hours to view. Millers piece does not do this as it takes place over three and a half months. Despite this; in relation to tragedy, the piece works well with the unity of time, action and place. The play uses place well as it does not take the action outside of an internal space another rule of The Appearance Of Reality; using only Paris house, Proctors house, the side room to the court and the prison cell as sets. Each of these are separated by acts, with each act taking place in a different set, minimising the amount of scene changes; this allows the audience to still feel involved with the play as a piece of realism because they are areas which almost belong to one or more of the characters. An example of this is Act 2 in Proctors house belonging to Proctor, so this does not break the spell of reality for the audience. Also, Reality beyond the stage space is used to create an air of realism, but again The Crucible does not completely apply to this rule as it not only makes mention of what has just happened, such as John planting the fields, but also of the past, such as Proctors and Abigails affair. Although, despite the reference to previous events, the only mentions of them are incredibly beneficial to the plot, therefore, working in conjunction with the tragic plot line. For example, the first communication between Abigail and Paris, discuss the happenings the night before in the woods, a particularly important part to the play as it outlines the entire reasoning for the witch trials initiating. Realistic Dialogue is greatly used in order to create a sense of a different time period. Miller uses dialogue from court records of the time, taking phrases and terms to make the time period come to life. This means that the characters use 17th century terms and dialogue, making the audience quickly adapt to, and accept the time in which the play is set. Examples of terms include Goody Proctor instead of Mrs Proctor or Miss Proctor and Aye rather than Yes. This also incorporates the idea of Realistic Characters, because the characters on the stage behave and, in a sense, show that they think the same way as real people in the 1600s would. For example, it was still the natural way of life for men to go out and work the fields while the women stayed at home and bore and raised the children. The play was also set within the time period when the slave trade was still around; allowing Titubas character to be looked down upon and spoken to in the way we see Paris doing in the scene with Hale where they are accusing Tituba of witchcraft. You will confess yourself, or I will take you outside and whip you outside and whip you to your death, Tituba. This shows the extent of the slavery at the time because this phrase is not reprimanded by any of the other characters present at the time. The use of accurate language and the building of these ideas, which an audience in modern day would know are historically accurate, allows the sense of the era to come alive, challenging the audiences morals because we know that this sort of treatment is wrong, but as you become more submerged in the play, you feel as if you are there and can understand the priests actions and feelings. The sub-text of the piece is what really involves the audience and makes them feel as if they are there. For example, although it is not outline clearly in the text, we can see Elizabeths struggle with her emotions for John. Her closed presentation of her character would allow us to see that she is almost a woman scorned, angry at his betrayal, but her willingness to try and help him do the right thing shows us that she is truly hurt by his actions and truly does love him as she has stayed with him and supported him. The aspect of Elizabeth and Johns conversation that deals with Johns affair with Abigail never directly mentions the affair, it is a sub-text, left to the audiences imagination to picture what happened, as they merely talk about the way Elizabeth has acted since and how John has earned the treatment. This also builds tension between the characters in a greater sense than it would had they been open and stated the facts about the affair. This sub-text is also explored at the beginning of Act 1 when Paris asks Abigail if her name is good in the village. The whole aspect of realism is deeply written in with the involvement of tragedy, allowing some aspects of a typical realistic piece to be diminished to allow for the tragedy to be involved. 1 Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Arthur Miller section.

Comparing Beggars and The Sailors Mother Essay -- comparison compare

Analysis of Beggars and The Sailor's Mother  Ã‚   As is obvious, the stories contained in the Wordsworthian poems "Beggars" and "The Sailor's Mother", despite being contemporaneously individual and distinct, are intrinsically linked. The underlying message which the notable author seems to be trying to communicate is that the poor and afflicted are possessed of a greater nobility of spirit than may generally be accepted in society. In each instance, as in others, Wordsworth seeks out the quiet dignity of such individuals, uncovering and emphasising positive aspects of their character and lives. Even when he allows negativity to creep into his tone, it becomes an almost paternal remonstration ("yet a boon I gave here, for the creature / Was beautiful to see — a weed of glorious feature.") In his encounter with her children, despite their evident lies, the narrator is neither judgmental nor harsh with them for this; he goes on to describe them as "joyous Vagrants", displaying that love of the affable rogue common to all genial 'men of the world' — even going so far as to wish supernal gifts upon them ("Wings let them have.") The poems both have in common the use of pathetic fallacy very early in each poem: the weather is "raw", "wet" and "in winter time" for a melancholy tale, and casts forward "summer's ... heat" for a far more cheery and positive encounter. This not only immediately provides a recurrent frame of reference for anyone familiar with some of Wordsworth's other poems, but is a statement of the author's intentions for the rest of the narrative. In both instances nature and weather references repetitively enter and sustain the poem's form and mood: "a crimson butterfly", "yellow flowers the gayest of the land", "... ...ence of style also: the fact that exactly one half of the verses of "The Sailor's Mother" are a chronicle of her son's life-story give Wordsworth only odd lines of those verses in which to inform us of the mother's continuing life story — a task which he fulfils admirably. Though the phrase "[she] begged an alms" is used in both poems, there is a humbler nature inherent to the sailor's mother than the "haughty" Amazonian — she is more obviously pious and truly in need, no "weed" is she, and says "God help me for my little wit!" in self-deprecation. There is something as charming as the roguish nature of the beggar boys in the way she carries this bird with her; a feeling as strong, though Wordworth induces it through differing methods. This is the power of his poetry: he makes us feel the lives of others; he makes us feel that life has something to offer.      

The Analysis of the Main Character †the Grandmother in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” Essay

In the story â€Å"A Good Man Is Hard to Find† written by Flannery O’Connor, the grandmother is the central character who grows and changes with the story develops, she is a round and dynamic character. At first, she seems to be an unpleasant, contemptible and selfish old lady who is skeptical about her religion. But in the end, when â€Å"her head cleared for an instant,† the grandmother becomes a real believer of God. And she is heading straight to heaven for her final Christ-like act of love the moment before she dies. That is, she moves from spiritual blindness to grace. And that is the method that the author uses to relate her to the theme of the story. Grandmother before the moment of grace First of all, she is selfish and unpleasant. When her family prepares to go on vacation in Florida, she persuades them to go to east Tennessee, where she has relatives. Unable to convince them, she uses the news that a psychopathic killer who calls himself The Misfit is heading toward Florida as an excuse to change her son Bailey’s mind. The grandmother is so self-centered that she just imposes her wish on those people around her. Also, her vanity and old belief make her an unpleasant character. She always claims to be a lady and thinks much of wealth and social status. When they set out to Florida, she dresses in her best clothes and an ostentatious hat lest no one can recognize her as a refined lady if she dies in an accident along the road. â€Å"The grandmother had on a navy blue straw sailor hat with a bunch of white violets on the brim and a navy blue dress with a small white dot in the print. Her collars and cuffs were white organdy trimmed with lace and at her necklin e she had pinned a purple spray of cloth violets containing a sachet.† From her perspective of identity, I can see that she defines people externally, by clothing. And she tells her grandchildren, John Wesley and June Star, that â€Å"she would have done well to marry Mr. Teagarden because he was a gentle man and had bought Coca-Cola stock when it first came out and that he had died only a few years ago, a very wealthy man.† At this point, the grandmother appears to be the woman of old South who holds the outdated idea of hierarchy. She thinks only a gentleman who is rich can march with a lady, which is a stereotypically southern aristocratic prejudice. What’s more, she is a racist and opinionated. â€Å"Oh, look at the  cute little pickaninny!† she said†¦ â€Å"Wouldn’t he make a picture now?† â€Å"He didn’t have any britches on,† June Star said. â€Å"He probably didn’t have any,† the grandmother explained. â€Å"Little niggers in the country don’t have things like we do.â €  Her affection for the South and the days of slavery are still influencing her. According to her understanding, black people, especially kids are supposed to be poor. They belong to the lower class of the society so that they are inferior to her, who is a lady from the upper class. She considers herself morally superior to others by the virtue of her being a â€Å"lady†, and she freely and frequently makes judgment on others. At lunchtime, they stop at Red Sammy’s, a barbecue eatery, where the grandmother laments that â€Å"people are certainly not nice like they used to be†. During the conversation with Red Sammy, the grandmother, narrow-minded and opinionated, repeatedly assures herself that she is a lady, a good Christian, and a good judge of character. She maintains that Red Sammy, a bossy loudmouth, is a â€Å"good man† and that Europe â€Å"was entirely to blame for the way things were now.† The part that grandmother is selfish, vain, arrogant and judgmental only makes her unpleasant for me, but when she gets her family h urt, she turns out to be contemptible. After they leave the roadhouse, her obstinacy about going to Tennessee blinds her sense of direction, she manipulates her son into making a detour to see an old plantation she once visited as a girl. First, she arouses the kids’ interest to find a house with secret panel, and then she depicts the tour to the plantation â€Å"would be very educational for them†. She is well aware that any father would not reject something labeled â€Å"educational†, so she manipulates them to get what she wants. And this leads them to a very dangerous tour, which they have an accident later because the cat Pitty Sing she selfishly sneaks out leaps onto Bailey and he loses control of the car on the dirt road. In such awful situation, all that she cares about is to avoid the responsibility, so she pretends to be injured. Although she is an old lady, this behavior is really out of line. No one should put their family at risk and find themselves an excuse to escape from the responsibi lity. Her selfishness is more evident when the whole family are confronting with the Misfit, a serial killer. Technically, it is the grandmother recognizing the identity of the Misfit that gets all her family killed. However, she never beg the Misfit to spare her family, she just pleads for her own life. In her  conversation with the Misfit, she tells him, â€Å"If you would pray†¦Jesus would help you.† She calls on â€Å"Jesus† a number of times, but I am not sure if she means â€Å"Jesus will help you† or â€Å"she might be cursing† as she begs the Misfit â€Å"not to shoot a lady.† Plus, for one moment just before she dies, the old lady doubts Jesus, or at least feels abandoned: â€Å"Maybe he didn’t raise the dead†. It is an understandable reaction, after the colossal shock she has undergone: she knows that her family has been massacred. Here, her faith has been tested here. Therefore, I can only assume that the grandmother is a superficial Christian who scepticizes her belief sometimes. Grandmother’s change However, in the end, when â€Å"her head cleared for an instant,† the grandmother has a moment of insight. The moment she reaches out to the Misfit and declares â€Å"You’re one of my own children†, she reveals and offers to the Misfit her compassionate love, she experiences what O’Connor refers to as her â€Å"moment of grace,† a time when she recognizes that she shares some trait with the Misfit despite their obvious differences. She knows she is far from a good person, she is flawed just as the Misfit. She abandons the moral high ground she had held and accepts the common humanity. Here is her religious epiphany. By embracing the moment of grace, she turns into a devout Christian, she believing in Jesus and is ready to â€Å"thow away everything and follow Him†. The link between the grandmother and the theme The link between the grandmother and the theme lies in the moment she embraces the moment of grace. The grandmother travels from the recognition only of her own selfish desires to self-recognition of herself in other through suffering. That is, she moves from spiritual blindness to grace. O’Connor suggests that the grandmother has received grace since Jesus â€Å"thrown everything off balance† by dying on a cross Himself. Thus, suffering is an essential part of receiving grace, and with the help of the Misfit, the grandmother has made this journey of suffering, a journey from spiritual blindness and selfishness to suffering, and finally grace. This passage witnesses the change of a selfish, arrogant old woman. Even though she has all these weaknesses at the beginning, she becomes the â€Å"good man† when she embracing the moment of grace. Violence and suffering are the necessary  ingredients to help her change. In fact, both the experience of the grandmother re veals that good â€Å"is hard to find†. References: 1 A Good Man Is Hard to Find (short story), from Wikipedia 2 SparkNotes: A good man is hard to find, Analysis of Major Characters 3 é «ËœÃ¦  ©Ã¦â„¢ ®Ã§Å¡â€žÃ¦â€" ¥Ã¥ ¿â€"ï ¼Å'è ¯ »Ã¤ ¹ ¦Ã§ ¬â€Ã¨ ® °-A good man is hard to findï ¼Å'æ  ¥Ã¨â€¡ ªÃ¤ º ºÃ¤ º ºÃ§ ½â€˜ 4 è“ Ã¨â€° ²Ã¨ ½ »Ã©â€º ¨Ã¦ ° ´Ã¥  °Ã¯ ¼Å'PPT – A good man is hard to findï ¼Å'æ  ¥Ã¨â€¡ ªÃ§â„¢ ¾Ã¥ º ¦Ã¦â€"‡å ºâ€œ

Effects of Mass Media Essay

Media has slowly taken over each America’s life and has an incredible amount of power in the decision process of each American. On a daily basis each American listens to the radio, surfs the internet and watches television. For these same reasons, media possess a large amount influence on a decision made by an American. With all the tools and gadgets today, it is very easy to become influenced by the media. Over the past century there have been many new media developments that have impacted our society; although there have been many, the ones we will focus on are radio, television, and the internet. Radio began in the early nineteen hundreds and soon became very popular between every American. The radio was a mean of learning of news quickly and served the great purpose of entertainment. Also, in the early nineteen hundreds the word television was introduced and the first moving film was televised. This quickly grew and it began to broadcast in black and white. In the middle of the nineteen hundreds, the internet was first introduced to the American government and soon was used to provide efficient communication between government agencies. The radio, television and the internet were all created in the nineteen hundreds and as soon as they were available to the American public, they grew and developed into a large form of communication. In 1912 the radio became a common product found in each American home. Every year after, the radio grew in popularity. One of the biggest impacts to America was the use of the radio during the World War I. In the late nineteen-twenties the first easy to use kinescope tube was created but the image was very poor. In the early nineteen-thirties the first television studios and broadcasting begin to happen and it sky rocketed after that. It has grown so much into American lives that now every household has more than one television. Americans see television for entertainment, education and news purposes on a dai ly basis. In the early nineteen-ninety the first internet browser was created. The internet has impacted Americans in so many ways, to the point that it is now used more than once by every American and it is carried by most in their pockets. Without question, the media has grown tremendously and impacts each America’s life on a daily basis. Media convergences have been a huge facilitator. Media convergence is the way that one devise or tool combines different media types. One of the most common is the cell phones. In almost every phone you can take photos, videos, send text messages, view the internet, play music, check email and use it for its original designed function-to make a phone call. The next commonly used media convergence is the computer. The computer allows you to create different types of documents, presentations, monetary forms and it also allows you to browse the World Wide Web while listening to music and receiving emails. The newest media convergence is tablets. Tablets have the same function of a cell phone and a computer in a compact, lightweight, and portable device. For all the above reasons and with all of the named tools, it is very important to be properly educated about media. Learning how to access, analyze, and evaluate the media is very important when making an everyday decision because we either read something on the internet, watch the television show or hear a commercial on the radio. Not everything that we read, see or hear is accurate. In most cases, we are tricked into believing things by the bias show or commercial that we are watching or hearing. Due to false or head fakes found in the media all schools and educational institutes should provide some form of media literacy education just like math, reading and writing. This may seem a basic or common sense information, but many believe without questions what they see or hear. As the great nation that the United States is, it should properly educate its citizens about media literacy. The internet, television and radio have definitely impacted every American’s life. With the tools like a computer, cell phone or tablet it is very easy to be influenced by the media. Some of the influence coincides with each individuals beliefs and other will clash but this is something that has to be learned how to balance. In addition to personal emotion believes on a subject, a lot of the media will try to trick into believing false statements. It is every America’s duty to make sure that he or she has the proper media knowledge to be able to access it, analyze it and evaluate it before making a decision. References Lule, J. (2012). Exploring Media and Culture (1st ed.). San Francisco, CA: Flat World Knowledge, Inc. Besley, John C. (Summer 2008). Media Use and Human Values: Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly; ProQuest Zil, Karen. (Mar/Apr 2002). Media Literacy: Television meets the Internet; MultiMedia Schools

Conquering Everyday Dilemmas Of a Content Officer With Ann Handley

Conquering Everyday Dilemmas Of a Content Officer With Ann Handley How can you improve your content marketing? How can you take advantage of an opportunity to entice people? Every company has the typical branding and collateral, but goes above and beyond with a tower of donuts! Today, we’re talking to Ann Handley, award-winning content marketing expert and Chief Content Officer (CCO) for MarketingProfs. Ann shares how she organizes her team, what’s she focusing on for the company, and how she measures effectiveness and success. CCO: Person at a management level who manages content what a company sells and does MarketingProfs educates and trains marketers; helps them figure out how to use modern digital tools, tactics, and techniques Six Elements of Campaign Marketing: Strategy, plan, create, communicate, analyze, and management Identify whats important to marketers; always ask what does our audience need to know to be successful in marketing? Focus on the Future: Plan what needs to be done now to know what you will offer in the next six months Remote teams require knowing what everybodys working on and where things are at; MarketingProfs’ philosophy is â€Å"When in doubt, cc† Utilize project management tools; don’t buy helpful tools and then not use them Hire people who are able to work in your company’s environment and who value and crave the type of autonomy offered Metrics used to measure success depends on the content; review open rates, trends, and other indicators what metrics matter more holistically and broadly Ann redesigned and re-launched her Website because to align her personal and professional worlds Focus on your distribution strategy to make your content stand out; distribute conversational and helpful content via email to connect directly with people Links: Ann Handley MarketingProfs Everybody Writes MarketingProfs Campaign Framework Total Anarchy Newsletter Confab ClickZ Andy Crestodina Value vs. Vanity: Revealing Which Marketing Metrics Really Matter The Most What topics and guests should be on AMP? Send your suggestions! If you liked today’s show, please subscribe on iTunes to The Actionable Content Marketing Podcast! The podcast is also available on SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Google Play. Quotes by Ann Handley: â€Å"In my heart, Im really more of a storyteller. The idea of really crafting a story to connect with an audience really was my sweet spot.† â€Å"For me, its not about one particular metric. Its really getting a sense of the metrics that matter more holistically and more broadly.† â€Å"What does our audience need to know to be successful in marketing? Thats really the lens that we look through to identify what it is that we need to either develop or to promote.† â€Å"What am I all about? Im all about content.†

The 5 Ws (and an H) of Journalism

The 5 Ws (and an H) of Journalism The  questions  a journalist answers in the lead of a conventional newspaper article are  who, what, when, where, why and how. Also known as  Five Ws and an H  and reporters questions. The 5Ws H formula has been attributed to English rhetorician Thomas Wilson (1524-1581), who introduced the method in his discussion of the seven circumstances of medieval rhetoric: Who, what, and where, by what helpe, and by whose,Why, how and when, doe many things disclose. (The Arte of Rhetorique, 1560) Examples and Observations It is not often one finds a walk-in refrigerator in a private home. When it happens, even the most hard-boiled of home reporters may be so flummoxed that she reverts to the journalism basics: Who? What? When? Where? Why? In this case, the who is simple enoughNeal I. Rosenthal, founder of the wine importing business that bears his name; the where is his newly renovated house in Dutchess County, about two and a half hours north of New York City.But why a fridge you can walk into?Another moment of excesses, Mr. Rosenthal says of the refrigerator, which cost $23,000. He has, after all, just completed the last step in a $3 million-plus renovation.(Joyce Wadler, In Dutchess County, a Wine Merchant’s Renovated Home. The New York Times, June 19, 2008)News stories are about providing information, and there is nothing more frustrating for the reader that finishing a story with unanswered questions still hanging. Journalism students are taught about the five Ws: who, what, when, where an d why. They are a useful tool to check you have covered all the bases, though not all will always apply.(Peter Cole, News Writing. The Guardian, Sep. 25, 2008) Journalists questions Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? or the questions that are referred to as the five Ws and one H, have been the mainstay of newsrooms across the country. Likewise, these questions have not lost their value in classroom instruction, regardless of the content area. Having your students answer these questions focuses their attention on the specifics of a given topic.(Vicki Urquhart and Monette McIver, Teaching Writing in the Content Areas. ASCD, 2005) S-V-O Sentences and the 5Ws and an H Subject-verb-object is the preferred sentence organization pattern in journalistic writing. Its easy to read and understand. . . S-V-O sentences pack in enough of the who, what, where, when, why and how for readers to have an overview of the story in one sentence. . .These 5 Ws and an H leads from wire services tell the whole story: AUSTIN- Texas ( where) Destinee Hooker, the two-time defending NCAA high jump champion ( who), will skip track ( what) this season ( when) to train with the U.S. womens national volleyball team ( why) before the Olympics.SALT LAKE CITY- Tag Elliott ( who) of Thatcher, Utah, was in critical condition one day after surgery ( what) to repair extensive facial injuries sustained in a collision with a bull ( why).Elliott, 19, was riding a 1,500 pound bull named Werewolf on Tuesday ( when) in the Days of 47 Rodeo ( where) when their heads smacked together ( how). S-V-O is the preferred sentence order in broadcast as well, because it creates easy-to-say units of thought that listeners can understand and absorb while the sportscaster is speaking. Online readers read in chunks: a blurb, a lead, a paragraph. They, too, are looking for easy-to-read, easy-to-understand information, and thats what S-V-O sentences deliver.(Kathryn T. Stofer, James R. Schaffer, and Brian A. Rosenthal, Sports Journalism: An Introduction to Reporting and Writing. Rowman Littlefield, 2010)

Poverty and Social Inequality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Poverty and Social Inequality - Essay Example This essay seeks to examine the social problem of poverty and social inequality in terms of its current situation, how it affects people, the attitudes of people towards poverty. This study will delve in the main topic of poverty and social inequality under three main topics namely, the current poverty situation in America, The impact and influence of poverty on Americans and finally the attitudes towards poverty in America. The current poverty situation in America According to Locke (2012), the current social inequalities in America are manifested in the three main social classes namely the rich, the middle class and the poor citizens. The rich people have access to most of the country’s resources while the poor and the middle class have limited access to resources. There is a huge gap between the rich and the poor in the American society. The current economic situation is characterized with unemployment and high costs of living especially for the middle and lower classes (Lo cke, 2012). Huge increases in taxes for the middle and poor class citizens have only contributed to the unequal state of affairs. Locke (2012) claims that the current economic situation maintains social classes in the society by locking the poor people in the country from accessing quality education and decent jobs thus maintaining a vicious circle of poverty for most poor and middle class individuals. Yglesias (2012) on the other hand argues that the current poverty situation in the US emerged as a result of historical unequal distribution of resources and accumulation of wealth in the hands of a few individuals. The disparities in the social classes and the height of social inequalities became very clear during the economic recession (Yglesias, 2012). Despite these challenges, both the rich and the poor continue to work hard to reach their American dream which is to become all they ever wanted to be (Yglesias, 2012). One’s social class or poverty does not restrict them from working hard to achieve their dreams. Success in the American society is considered to be in terms of material possessions. According to Yglesias (2012), the current social class inequalities and poverty in the US are not stumbling blocks for most people, since they always find their own other ways of overcoming their class differences in order to achieve their desired goals. Anonymous. (2012) seems to agree with the opinion that Social class differences in the current economic situation in the US does not affect the mentality of the majority of the people in reaching their potential despite their class. It is the hard work that people put in whatever they do that makes the difference and not one’s current social class or poverty situation. The impact and influence of poverty on Americans Yglesias (2012), points out that poverty has had a huge impact on most citizens in the middle and poor class families. With the huge tax burden on the little income earned by the poor, they cannot access the best resources such as education, and health. Most of the poor citizens drop out of school at an early age (Yglesias, 2012). Poor American women get married earlier and bear children at a much younger age as