Strategic Marketing of Harley Davidson Case Study

Strategic Marketing of Harley Davidson - Case Study Example Here it looks at hoe the company was started back in the year 1903. Then it looks at the development of the company throughout the entire twentieth Century. It then looks at all the strategies that have been applied by the company following a fall that the company was on the verge of facing. (Smith, 2003) This was started by the kind of products offered by the Company. This was through the introduction of a number of products that were designed to appeal to the new market. Some of these include; multi coloured motor vehicles, improvement of accessories in heavy weight motorbikes, sale of accessories individually, biker clothes like jeans and t-shirts with the company logo. Most recently, the Company has introduced a bike that has a better engine than all the other models. The Company also focused on improvement of its distribution mechanism through the employment of different dealers. It held up talks that could help dealers to improve their service provisions. It also sold some of its accessories using Alternate retail outlets. Pricing was a big part of their strategy too. The Company did not focus on price reductions but instead advocated for the purchase of motorcycles whose prices matched their quality. This was also backed up by discount offers for customers who bought small motorcycles and then traded them in for new ones. (Smith, 2003) Lastly, the company did a lot of promotions ranging from advertisements in newspapers where their catch phrase was related to the American free spirit. They also used their website to advertise and sell their items and placed inserts in magazines that depicted female bikers. All the above changes were crucial in making the Company a success in the US motor vehicle industry. This was seen when the Company was called the most Nostalgic Company in biking in 2007. Strength of Harley Davidson current position Introduction Stands for -Harley Davidson represents the Sir name of the two founders of the Company back in 1903. These were Arthur Davidson and William Harvey. They started work on motorvehicles at a tender age in the privacy of their own homes. They continue with this work until a small factory was formed. This factory grew and by the time it was 1907, they had already acquired become incorporated. (Smith, 2003) Market-The Harley Davidson Company has its market in the US. This can be deduced form demographics studies and the fact that their brand focuses on the 'American spirit'. However, most of the clients are male. In the year 2006 statistics showed that 88% of H-D buyers were male while the remaining percentage was female. It also showed that in the year 2006, most of the buyers were between the ages of forty three and forty seven. The average income earned by these customers was 82,000 dollars as of last year. Their market consists of buyers who use motorcycles for their pastime activities. This was the reason why it was necessary to use advertisements that were mainly recreational. Positioning map and perception- the Company has earned its place in the US motorvehicle industry due to the fact that it creates a feeling of nostalgia in its buyers. This is mostly due to the fact that the image of its models resembles some classy motorvehicles used back in the 1960s. It has also gained a reputation for having top of the range engines in its bikes. The Company has also established itself in the American

Patients in Pain Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Patients in Pain - Research Paper Example The study is a qualitative research conducted in natural settings, and uses data that are words or text rather than numerical in order to describe the experiences that are being studied as recommended (LoBiondo-Wood, 2010). Ten (10) participants were selected from a sample size of twenty (20) nurses from three (3) hospitals. They were given in-depth, unstructured interviews in form of dialogues focusing on their care of patients in pain. The study was conducted to appraise the problem: hospitalized patients still suffer from pain due to poorly managed nursing processes. The study question is: â€Å"what are the nurses’ experiences when caring for patients in pain?† The research study is phenomenological; that is aimed at obtaining a description of an experience as it is lived in order to understand the meaning of that experience for those who have it. It is also non-experimental; that is the investigator observes a phenomenon without manipulating the independent variabl e and finally it is qualitative; that is research about human experiences whose data types are words or text rather than numerical in order to describe the experiences that are being studied (Auerbach,  et al 1990) Overview of the Study In virtually all hospitals world over hospitalized patients report the same thing: pain. This is in spite of a wider knowledge-base, the advancements in technological as well as a wealth of research (Auerbach,  et al 1990). The professionals who are charged with pain assessment and the administration of analgesia or other relief are the Nurses. On the face of it, it might appear automatic to point an accusing finger on them as failing in their duties. However a closer look on these complaints exposes several situations; that is one, nurses usually do not make decisions independently as to the prescription of drugs meaning that what they may consider as a prescription ideal to a paining situation may differ from issued guidelines, inter alia. Nurs es therefore do not have a free hand to operate mainly due to their relationship with the ‘gate-keepers’; that is the physicians (Walker, J2002), in spite of the problems and costs associated with and inherent in unrelieved postoperative pain (Walker, J2002). This therefore makes it essential for researchers, physicians as well as nurses and patients to deeply understand the strengths and weaknesses of the nursing profession in the process of achieving pain relief for hospitalized patients. Other barriers include:- Anxiety: Most nurses are anxious about the possible consequences of using opioid drugs, such as respiratory depression and addiction. Assessment Inadequacies: owing to the huge workload on most nurses on the one hand, and the organizational ineffectiveness (Shealy, 2006) on the other, pain assessment by nurses is usually inadequate as well. However, it has been observed that most of researches conducted have tended to conclude negatively with regard to nurses and their pain management. Conclusion about the Strength of Evidence/Findings The study exposed that the challenges encountered by nurses while caring for hospitalized patients in pain can more easily be understood if the role of a nurse is viewed from a goal-directed mission standpoint; that is an aim towards relieving

The Development of Postmodernist Architecture

The Development of Postmodernist Architecture Post modernism was devised from its previous movement, modernism and first began to emerge around the states of America in the 1960s but really took off around the early 1970s when it came to England and Europe and became a movement. It still continues to influence modern architecture today. The most obvious design traits can be seen in architecture; features that best represent this style include bold, visual exteriors, designs that are functional yet contain architectural characteristics that have been seen before but combining these with exciting, colourful, fresh designs. An example of this is the Portland building; Oregon designed by Michael Graves. (See Fig.1) This block of government offices built in 1980 has a very decorative exterior and has become an icon of Post modernism. Post modernism came about when modernist views were being rejected by many people and architects although there where still some whom where in favour of the current modernist ideas, yet still recognized the need for further development within this style to take place as the world fast continued to modernise around them, this saw the beginnings of Postmodernism. This quote from Michael Graves gives his view on how modernism designed everything to be machine like, which worked, although buildings should be made decorative and not so set in the modernist ways: While any architectural language, to be built, will always exist within the technical realm, it is important to keep the technical expression parallel to an equal and complementary expression of ritual and symbol. It could be argued that the Modern Movement did this, that as well as its internal language; it expressed the symbol of the machine, and therefore practiced cultural symbolism. But in this case, the machine is retroactive, for the machine itself is a utility. So this symbol is not an external allusion, but rather a second, internalized reading. A significant architecture must incorporate both internal and external expressions. The external language, which engages inventions of culture at large, is rooted in a figurative, associational and anthropomorphic attitude.à ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ± In this quote Graves refers to the modernist movement and how they designed their buildings to be like machines, extremely clean, sleek and purely functional with no needless design features. His view is not to think that the inside of a building should be run as a machine but to think of the building as a whole and to think outside the modernists clean cut lines and un decorative architecture. Unlike the modernist architecture previous to this movement the post modernism architecture is usually quite ornamental, new but also borrowing some features from the past, such as bringing colour back into architecture which taken away for modernist era. There is quite a lot of rivalry between the two movements, modernists strongly believe in form follows function, their architecture showing functional, formalized shapes and spaces, where post modernists believe in not necessarily form over function but making their functional buildings a lot more visually dynamic and I suppose more of an experience. There is no true reality not even your own2 This is a saying from the late 90s which reflects post modernists views. They felt you need to question reality and think outside the box where as the modernists believed in questioning authority, their thinking that if people looked into why things are designed the way they are and the truth is to be discovered then tradition would be questioned. The postmodern architecture features shameless aesthetics different from anything before, they have a more organic feel and stand out. The post modern era also found the use of different materials being used with in architecture than before, whether it be the colour or the specification of the material that was to be desired. The two main materials used in postmodern architecture are stone and glass. The stone is bold and comes in a very wide range of colours, which stuck to the postmodernist ideas. The glass was used a lot especially in America and large city buildings, office blocks and skyscrapers such as Le 1000 de la Gauchetiere in Canada, its the tallest skyscraper in Montreal. (See fig.2) This was built a bit later on, in 1992 but still shows strong postmodern values. For example the distinctive triangular copper roof and four copper capped entrances at each of the tower base corners. The structural core is constructed from concrete and steel and the exterior consists of glass in a metal frame. The form used in postmodern buildings is also very contemporary, the building function is still important for the designers but compared to the modernist buildings the forms, shapes and look of the buildings are almost there for the designers sake, not for any specific reason other than good aesthetics. As I said before there is almost a collision of beliefs between the two movements, though most of the dislike at the time was focused towards the post modern architecture as the modernist architectures such as Le Corbusier, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius had put the belief into the people that a building that was almost wholly based on function was the best way. So when post modern architects such as Frank Gehry, Robert Venturi and Eero Saarinen started designing buildings that where thinking outside the slick, functional, simple design box of modernism and completely aesthetical and almost quite wacky there was quite an uproar and possibly a confusion as people started t o question what was right for the future of architecture? Were the new buildings functional enough and would the new buildings stand the test of time? As the people began to accept the more complex designs of the post-modern world the buildings began to become popular and more and more architectures began to come round to the idea. In todays architecture you can clearly see the inspiration from these initial designs and that architects and designers have turned modernist ideas on their head, by carrying on the idea of aesthetically pleasing designs and almost having more fun with their design rather than just focusing on the function. So how exactly did Postmodernism come about? Well as I have just confirmed the strongest link/lead to postmodernism was obviously the modernist designs lack of decoration, but I also looked at some other factors that could have lead to the development of postmodern architecture. As is well known, the lead to postmodernism was when people started to reject the views of the modernist movement, though how did this come about? And why did people start to reject the modernist ways? The rejection of modernism first came from architects In their works. In Europe Aldo Rossi documented his views of the current art movement, while in America Raunch and Scott Brown expressed similar views on the need for development of the modernist architecture. Though the most influential change came from the work of Robert Venturi. He famously wrote the book Complexity and Contradiction in architecture in 1966 which attacked the modernism of international style, with his strong views on his dislike for modernism. In the writing he replaces Miles van der Rohes (a modernist architect) modernist phrase less is more with : less is a bore. Blatant simplification means bland architecture3 This quote is just a brief look to his views in the piece, he continues throughout rejecting the moral, clean cut ways of modern architecture for elements that are more a blend of features than pure. Frank Gehry seems to be a name that frequently appears when investigating post modernism architecture. His Designs were very contemporary, bold and different to what had been seen before. He denied that his work was post modernist or that it even fit into any category other than something totally new. This would not happen with a modernist architect as; although the designs are different all modernists buildings tend to have the same features, sleek and following function so much that there is not a lot of individuality between the designs. Where as post modernist architecture is all so decorative and ornamental that each design is unique. Just by looking at a few of Frank Gehrys designs you can definitely tell that they are individual although they do fit in with the post modern category his architecture has moved beyond the modernist era being based on geometric and organic forms. As Gehry says himself : Not every person has the same kinds of talents, so you discover what yours are and work with them. Dont try to be me, or try to be Frank Lloyd Wright, or try to be I M Pei. Try to be yourself. You have to understand what drives people to build buildings. 4 One of Gehrys most creative pieces that represent this is The Frederick R Weisman Art Museum at the university of Minnesota, 1993(See Fig 3). The University officials chose Frank Gehry to design the teaching museum for the campus because of his attention to needs of people that use his buildings and his unique stunning designs. The museums exterior is constructed of amazing, sticking shapes made from brushed stainless steel on one side over looking the Mississippi river creating an abstract image of a waterfall and a fish. The other side of the building is on the side of the campus and blends in with the existing sandstone and brick buildings by using terra cotta coloured bricks. Frank Gehry was also commissioned to design an expansion to the building that was meant to have been completed in 2009 though due to financial reasons it will be built by next year. This shows that post modernism continues to inspired designers today and is still popular. An example of an architect that is continuing post modernism design to todays architecture is Santiago Calatrava. Born in 1951 when the postmodern movement was just starting to come about, Calatrava grew up with the organic architecture from the era. Obviously heavily inspired by it he has continued post modernism on in his own works. He has designed many buildings, which are very well known such as the Museum of tomorrow in Rio de Janerio in Brazil and Liege Guillemins TGV station in Belgium. La Rioja, Bodegas Ysios in Spain is one of his designs, which is not so famous though still unique, and particularly show his postmodernism inspiration (See Fig 4). This building is situated amongst vineyards in Spain where la Rioja Alavesa wine is produced, the company wanted a building that would store the made wine and be a place where guests can test the wine. The design definitely meets the criteria and is very functional; there is separate part for the storing of the wine, making it and a tasting area. Although this could have been enough just in a plain rectangular building but in true post modernist style he has also added some amazing design features, the main feature is that the roof, it continues the shapes of the surrounding hills, creating a wavy organic shape. The material he has used for the roof design is aluminium panelling, which reflects the sunlight making it look even more special contrasting with the calm vineyard surrounding. I have researched the lead to post modern architecture and touched on how it has affected modern design today. Now to conclude this essay I will some up my findings of what led to post modernism in architecture. Post modernism first emerged in the 1960s and became a movement in the early 1970s, its routes stemmed from its previous movement, modernism. Modernists had a very strong belief in form follows function, their views where that a building should be purely functional and machine like which worked well but didnt leave a lot of an imagination for design features and all the buildings began to have a lot of the same features. In the 1960s some architects began to recognise this and voiced their opinions in their written works, which made people realize that designs could be a bit more exciting. The most influential architect in this realisation was Robert Venturi, in his well known writing complexity and contradiction in architecture he strongly expressed his dislike for modernist architecture, stating that less is a bore and that buildings do not have to be all about function, they can still be functional and have design features. This contributed to the lead to post modernism. One of the architects I found whos name kept appearing when looking at post modern architecture is Frank Gehry. His designs are functional but with amazing design features using organic forms and patterns to shape the buildings. As is with most post modernist architecture different organic and bold shapes are a big feature of the building making every design unique unlike the similar designs of the modernist era. Although Gehry do es not class his buildings to be post modernist or in fact fit into any category, his designs are definitely fitting with the era and he seems to share the same views as the post modernists. Buildings like Frank Gehrys continue to influence designers today such as Santiago Calatrava whos modern day designs very much resembles that of post modernist architecture. Part II Book review on: 20th Century Architecture by Jonathan Glancey The 20th Century Architecture explores the roots of modern architecture and explains how the history and the ever-changing social and political conditions helped shape and build the world we live in today. In this book, as the foreword states, by writing the book Jonathan Glancey attempts to achieve informing the reader of an introduction to architecture of the 20th Century, not to cover every aspect of the subject, as he says himself, The subject is very vast and no book can realistically cover the entire history of the twentieth century architecture. If I could it would either be too heavy to carry or else set in such a tiny type that it would be unreadable. This quote also I think captures the way the book is written, very informative yet quite light hearted. The book covers 8 of movements of 20th century architecture: Arts and Crafts, Classicism, organic, Modernism, Post-Modernism, Robotic, Cities and Futures. Each movement has a its own section which is started by a page for a brief explanation of the movement then examples of architecture significant to that time. Each piece of architecture has its own page with a full colour photo to show what it looks like and a section about the designer and the building, why it was built and how it relates to the movement and others in that time. I found the book easy to read, and was able put down at any time and pick back up from where I left off. I particularly like the no jargon take and the fact that you dont have to know an awful lot if anything on architecture or the history of the 20th century. The book is very informative if you read the whole thing or if you just flick to a specific section you are interested in. I originally did this but found that I wanted to read on further. This is as Jonathan Glancey intended as would most authors, wanting to get the attention of the reader and want to read on from their own will, as he says in the book: If this makes you want to find out more then it has done its job. If it encourages you to want to be an architect then good luck. I think he has definitely achieved his original intentions for the book. I borrowed this book from the local library but I would definitely consider buying a copy to keep as a reference book. From reading and sourcing from other architectural books, I think this fits in to the subject very well. Id says it is more aimed at students, people who are interested in architecture and starting architectures. I dont think the book would be so suitable for experienced architects and architect fanatics as it informs you of buildings and architects that this group would probably already know of, thought the may still find it informative about the movements and to find out when the movements happened and why. Over all I think this is a good book and deserves the positive comments it has picked up from press and other readers.

Coming of Age in Richard Wrights Black Boy Essay -- Wright Black Boy

Coming of Age in Wright's Black Boy Black Boy, created by Richard Wright with his soul and written as his shadow, is a subtly actualized chronicle of an adolescent's coming of age in the United States accompanying by a clear-cut denunciation of the Southern racial intolerance. Throughout the novel, said reasons for novelizing this superb piece of work, is upheld by numerous citations of maturity related incidents obscured by the racial era. With the myriad ingenious assertions within Black Boy in the context of the motivation in freelancing this novel, it is to my understanding that binary objectives takes place of which are truly relevant to one another. Ignorant readers assumed that Wright's reflections on childhood and youth ended with hope and promise. Ironically, Wright actually ended his reflections on juvenility with a ephemeral indictment on the South: "This was the culture from which I sprang. This was the terror from which I fled." [Page 303] Wright characterized himself in a society of racial consternation in which he was bound to deliberately undergo. He was confronted with the nurture in which he was soon frightened to reveal. His inexperienced nature encumbrance with obscene phenomenon in which he fled. His conception narrated his childhood, and correspondingly, the inhumane ethnic critique that was intimidating to his innocent intellect. And beyond reasons, affiliated both interpretations in a rationalized manner by utilizing the environmental factors as a part of growing up and indirectly criticized the acrimonious racism.  ... ...e repercussion to both a transcription of Wright's coming of age and his morally devious attack on the racial South. With the humanistic affirmations of such a conclusion that Black Boy was written as a scripture of one's coming of age as well as a seized inform against the Southern prejudice, it is unmistakable that Richard Wright composed this novel as a work of stunning imagination and mythic power with said reassuring reasons. Interdependent, as well as interrelated syllogism, sets my hindmost justified revelation that foresees no other echo, if an echo ever exist. Subsequently a controversy recapitulation, his "hazy notion that life could be lived with dignity, that the personalities of others should not be violated, that men should be able to confront other men without fear or shame."

Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest

Art from its very beginning has played the role of upgrading the value of the society. Literature works have taken the responsibility of improving the value of the degraded societies. Literature works are the perfect mirrors of the nature, culture and practices prevailed in societies existed in different ages. Literature of twentieth century would differ from that of the twenty-first century. The characters of the literature works are the representatives of the generation of that period. Poets and authors were very much aware and bothered about the society and people and used their pen as a sword to destroy the evilness that existed. The best way to learn history and culture and the life of early generations is to move through the literature works of that particular period.Plays of famous playwrights beautifully illustrate the whole generation of that age. It will also reflect the dialect and standard of the generation. Writings in particular have the capability to touch the very bas e of the society by criticizing and applauding its activities, conventions, customs and practices. All the plays, novels and other works have something good to exhort to the society. A piece of writing will be highly influenced by the background of the author and the place which he represents. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde and Hamlet by William Shakespeare are two examples of such works that contain high moral and social theme in it. The Importance of Being Earnest of Oscar Wilde is an ultimate demolition of late nineteenth-century moral and social attitudes and is a comic critique of late Victorian value.Oscar Wilde's witty remark ‘The truth is rarely pure and never simple’ exhibits a major theme of the play. ‘Truth’ in Victorian England was revealed in the stagnant social conventions that suppressed individual expression. The play openly criticized various sluggish and vein practices. Oscar Wilde was against this conventional notion of tr uth as it was used to keep blinders on the society and prevented individuals from looking at life from different angles. He wanted define truth to a different way. He did not respect anything which is traditionally considered as truth value or morality.He was against the rigid set of rules that are supposed to be as truth or justice. There were various examples of human nature and reality that were evident throughout the play The Importance of Being Earnest. Human practices and the belief about morality or justice often will be quite away from the actual truth or justice. It is also a fantasy in which unattainable human ideals are permitted to realize themselves. He wonders what does it mean to be perfectly earnest? How does it differ from society and people? He himself was found to be perplexed while exploring certain things and cry out what meaning does the word earnest give. Oscar Wilde himself addressed this play as ‘A trivial comedy for serious people'. The moral confusio n in the play is an example of the mishap that prevailed in the contemporary Victorian society.In The Importance of Being Earnest, the concept of marriage is of paramount importance. The question of the nature of marriage appears first time in the opening dialogue among Algernon and his butler, Lane, and this point continues for a while. The play depicts an ongoing debate about the nature of marriage, discussing whether it is ‘pleasant’ or ‘unpleasant.’ Lane says that marriage is a pleasant state though he late says that his marriage was the consequence of a serious ‘misunderstanding between myself and a young person’. The concepts of Lane about marriage is ‘somewhat lax’ as far as Algernon is concerned.His concepts are found to be persistently cynical till he falls in love with Cecily. Algernon, but, opines that the truth â€Å"isn’t quite the sort of thing one tells to a nice, sweet, refined girl.† These contrasting and confusing views of these characters of the play are the original reflection of the chaotic Victorian society and their morality. The Importance of Being Earnest intended nothing but pure criticism.In general these assumptions reveal the conventional preoccupations of Victorian respectability; its social position, character and income. Morality and the constraints is also a major topic throughout The Importance of Being Earnest. Algernon (character) is of the opinion that it is the responsibility of the servant class to set a moral standard for the upper classes. In Jack’s (character) opinion, reading a private cigarette case itself can be ‘ungentlemanly.’ Algernon points that ‘More than half of modern culture depends on what one shouldn’t read’.   All these assumptions and restrictions formulated a strict code of morals that prevail in Victorian society. Oscar Wilde is not bothered with questions of what is moral and what is not.He howe ver criticizes the whole Victorian concept of considering morality as a rigid body of rules defining what people should and should not do. ‘Earnestness’, which stands for the quality of being serious and the quality of being sincere, is the chief object of satire of the play. Oscar Wilde wants us to consider irreverence, the opposite of earnestness, as the true moral character. But, earnestness, seriousness or sincerity is the chief most enemy of morality in The Importance of Being Earnest. Earnestness may appear in different styles like boringness, solemnity pomposity, smugness, self-righteousness, sense of duty, and complacency all of which Wilde saw as hallmarks of the Victorian character.For Oscar Wilde, the term earnest is a combination of two ideas: the notion of false truth as well as the idea of false morality. We can see Jack and Algernon attempting to break away from the strictures of modesty and decency by inventing some fabricated alter egos. It is nothing b ut the false morality and values of the Victorian society that impelled them for this. These incidents are the pure example of the haughtiness, smugness and other false practices prevailed in the Victorian society. The Importance of Being Earnest. Criticizes the whole Victorian morality; their false strictness and practices.The pun in the play strikes at the core of the Victorian concept of duty and respectability. We can see Gwendolen desiring to marry Earnest though she is not sure of this earnestness. She simply forgives the deception of Jack. Jack pretends to be both ‘Earnest’ and ‘earnest’ and become the representative of Victorian hypocrisy in the play. The notion of inversion (different types of inversion) found in The Importance of Being Earnest. is also intended to criticize similar morality in the Victorian society. Algernon says that ‘Divorces are made in Heaven’ which is against the common notion that ‘Marriages are made in He aven’. Jack later says that it is ‘terrible’ for a man to be truthful throughout his life.This represents the decayed morality and practices prevailed in the contemporary Victorian society. The characters of the play simply inverted the conventional morality and displayed the standard of the Victorian society in their actions. The female characters of The Importance of Being Earnest. symbolize an inversion of accepted Victorian practices with respect to the gender roles. Gwendolen, Cecily, Lady Bracknell and al other characters possess a face of deception and false morality. The weakness of the characters represents the weakness of the contemporary Victorian society. The moral paradox, the moral breakdown of the Victorian society is the most evident theme of the play.Jokes about death are also visible throughout the play The Importance of Being Earnest. These death jokes give a layer of dark humor to the play and connect to the concept of life being a work of art . The characters in the play discuss death as a happening over which a person can gain control. Double life is another concept that is visible in The Importance of Being Earnest. One of the important paradoxes of The Importance of Being Earnest is the state of impossibility to become earnest or moral even though some people claim to be so. We can see Lady Bracknell commenting about death. An incident of inversion happens as she says that her friend Lady Harbury appears twenty years younger after her husband’s death. She is of the opinion that ‘death is an inconvenience for others’. When she hears about the death of Bunbury (as per the physicians’ predictions) she praises Bunbury as she moved ‘under proper medical advice’.As per the talk of Miss Prism, death is an experience from which people can learn a moral lesson. She opines that it would be good for Ernest to die. Algernon and Jack put plans for killing the imaginary brother of Jack. These superstitions, ignorance, death jokes or dark humor explain life as a wok of art. The character of the play considers death as something which is under the control of man. For them death is the ultimate decision that one can take to shape and color his life. These characters, their beliefs, thoughts and morality are directly pulled out from the life in the Victorian society. Victorian people maintained the same ideology during those times. Oscar Wilde was planning an open criticism through his play The Importance of Being Earnest.ReferencesJordan, R. J. (1970). Satire and Fantasy in Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest.Reinert, O. (1956). Satiric Strategy in The Importance Of Being Earnest.Bloom, Harold. Oscar Wilde. New York: Chelsea House, 1985.Ericksen, Donald H. Oscar Wilde. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1977.Freedman, Jonathan, ed. Oscar Wilde, A Collection of Critical Essays. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1996.Gagnier, Regenia. Idylls of the Marketplace, Osca r Wilde and the Victorian Public. Palo Alto, California: Stanford University Press, 1986.Pearce, Joseph. The Unmasking of Oscar Wilde. London: HarperCollins UK, 2001.Raby, Peter. Oscar Wilde. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988.Siebold, Thomas. Readings on The Importance of Being Earnest. San Diego, California: Greenhaven Press, 2001.

Chadwick Inc Essay

The business strategies that are included in the balanced scorecard for Norwalk Division are: maximising return on all development spending, satisfying customer needs, and the development of employee skills. The strategy that is not embraced in the balanced scorecard is the one in regard to driving management responsibility to the lowest level. This strategy was not included because there needs to be a balance in responsibility through the organisation. Employee targets and incentives are closely linked to the  performance of the division; more responsibility given to staff at lower levels could increase the possibility of managers setting strategies for their own benefit and division. This could lead to discrepancies between organisational goals and the goals set by management for a specific division. New measures that need to be developed and included in the balanced scorecard are return on research capital, product profitability, product development time, number of products under development, and number of employees participating in training programs. The measures developed need to be directly related to the objective and have the ability to provide feedback for that particular area. (b) A Balanced Scorecard developed for the organisation will differ to one that is specifically developed for a certain division in an organisation. The objectives of an organisation as a whole are marginally different to the objectives that are set for a division or department. Organisational objectives which are statements that articulate what the organisation hopes to accomplish will include all of the objectives across the different divisions of the company; where as divisional objectives are aimed explicitly at that division. This may result in different measures used in the scorecards to evaluate performance relating to the specific objective. For example, Chadwick Inc. operates in many businesses including personal consumer products and pharmaceuticals. The organisations overall objective is to produce high quality products and get them to the market faster at lower costs. For its part, the Norwalk Pharmaceutical Divisions objective is to increase the yield of new products and to reduce the time and costs of the product development cycle. This divisional objective becomes a part of the company’s current objectives and is the objective that is focused on when developing the divisional scorecard. The divisional balanced scorecard was decided by the president of Chadwick Inc. to be developed in a way ‘that was right for the division’. This decentralised decision-making and authority approach may create conflict  between divisional scorecards and those of the corporation. This approach to developing a divisional scorecard may give rise to negative consequences. Managers may focus too narrowly on their own units performance and strategies rather than attaining the overall organisations goals. It could also lead to inconsistencies at the organisational level. The advantages of decentralisation outweigh its limitations and should be adopted in the organisation. However, to overcome the conflict of discrepancy between organisational and divisional scorecards, top management needs to allow for decentralisation only to a certain extent and ensure that each division is being mindful and taking into consideration the overall organisational objective. (c) The business strategy of a company or division is used to illustrate how all the individual activities are coordinated to achieve a desired result. Developing a strategy is vital as it is used to set the overall direction of the business. The business strategy for Norwalk was developed by one individual and within a few minutes. For optimal results and clear direction, a strategy should be developed over a longer time period and the balanced scorecard should not be created until all the participants involved have a clear understanding and vision of the business. From the beginning of the project it could be said Greenfield was not committed to the development of the balanced scorecard for the Norwalk division. He did not believe how dedicated Chadwick Inc. was to the concept. Any Balanced Scorecard project will fail if it is seen as just another â€Å"management fad†. It needs sponsorship through active communication – communication that explains why the organisation needs the Balanced Scorecard and how it will benefit both the division and individuals. During the process there was also a lack of commitment from all the members, it took them several weeks before meeting and focusing on the project. The time spent developing a balanced scorecard is important, if it is rushed it could lead to negative consequences when it is implemented. The divisions of Chadwick were advised that only hard data (financial data) is to be used in the balanced scorecard. Financial data alone only provides short-term strategies; non-financial data offers a closer link to long-term  organisational strategies. Therefore by encompassing only financial data the balanced scorecard will provide only a short-term measure to evaluate the division’s performance.