Market Segmentation of the Nike Company

Market Segmentation of the Nike Company Demographic  Segmentation Demography segmentation they include age, race, family income, and education level, among others. Besides, it was observed that the majority of the respondents consist of professional from various fields like engineers, software professionals, working executive etc. who effective form 38% of our database. While 36% were students from various fields. Others constitute designers and athletes etc. the further study is carried on the buying behavior of the above mentioned categories of consumer, which shows that our consumer is well educated and is very well informed about the product. (http://www.scribd.com/doc/34735893/A-Summer-Training-Report-on-Nike) Furthermore, in the survey conducted a direct relation between the income level and the spending capacity was observed. Also it was found that students were spending in the range of $1000 -$ 3000 as compared to the working class professionals who were ready to spend between $ 3000 $ 6000, since they have higher spending power because of higher income levels.  (http://www.scribd.com/doc/34735893/A-Summer-Training-Report-on-Nike) Geodemographic Segmentation The second segmentation are focuses on geodemographics and proximity. The premise behind geodemographics is that people who are similar in income, culture, and perspectives naturally gravitate toward one another. Once these people move to their neighborhoods, they become even more alike and share similar consumer behaviors. When a store asks for your zip code when you make a purchase, its using geodemographics as a segmentation technique. Furthermore, the characteristic if the consumer is depends on their income. For example, the Nike Shoes has been done an analysis the respondent of buying for the Nike shoes is RMB597 for average of the total.(App.1) Personality Traits Personality traits are people often do not identify these traits because they are guarded or not consciously recognize. For example, some of the consumer can accept new thing and some perceive less risk in trying new thing. Lifestyle A third base of segmentation is psychographics. Psychographics are lifestyle and personality descriptors. There is a relationship between lifestyle and consumer behavior, so people with similar lifestyles buy similar products. Lifestyle descriptors are often categorized as activities, interests, and opinions. The brand is fiercely defended by its owners whom truly believe that Nike is not a fashion brand but a shoes for sport lifestyle consumer that mean mostly people who active in sport such as football player or basketball player would purchase it. Meanwhile there was also consumers that wear Nike just want to build confident or make other feel they wearing a branded shoes but not ordinary shoes but not for sport purpose. For youth, they think Nike shoes is a fashion lifestyle and they wear it just to follow fashion trend. For example, since Michael Jordan wear Nike shoes, consumer will follow him step as a fashion trend.(App.3) Benefits segmentation Benefits sought represent consumer needs and important for positioning.(App.4) Critiral for Effective Targeting Identifiable Nike have been divide the market into separate segments on the basis of series that relevant to the characteristic such as demographics have age, gender, family life cycle and others.(App.2) Besides, they target in different identifiable such as men sports running shoes and women sport running shoes. Nike target on different type of segment that to fulfill customers need. (App.6) Sufficiency Nike is a worthwhile target, they target on the needs and they undertake probability survey to whose finding project to the total market. They will have clearance stock or promotion through on or sell on shops. (App.7) Stability Nike marketers prefer to target consumer segment that are relatively stable in demographic factors are likely growth larger time.(App.2) Besides, consumer can buy through online or any shopping complex. That was easy for consumer to purchase anywhere. (App.8) Accessibility Nike has been accessibility in any market segmentation through advertisement.(App.9) Profitability segmentation Overall the past two years (App.5) Sales Group sales decreased by 8% and amounted to $572.5 million in 2009, compared to $622.8 million in 2008. The decrease in sales matched the Companys expectations and was due to the recession of all sales markets as realized as part of the financial and economic crisis which started at the end of 2008. The recession mentioned lead to conservative inventory policy adopted by most Companys customers which also contributed to the decrease in sales.   Gross profit   The gross profit in 2009 amounted to $103.7 million (18.1% from sales), compared to $105.7 million in 2008 (17.0% of sales). The improvement in gross margin in 2009 compared to 2008 was due to efficiency steps taken by the Company and the implementation of the restructuring plan which was declared by the Company at the end of 2008 and was achieved despite the decrease in sales. A global slowdown in  retail  sales and consumption, has hit Nike hard. In fiscal 2009 (ending May 31, 2009), Nikes revenue grew only 3% to $19.2 billion, with net income falling 21% to $1.5 billion, and the company expects lower revenues in the first half of 2010.  Despite the overall struggles in 2009, Nike posted two straight quarters from Q3 2010 to Q1 2011. In Q2 2011, the company posted a profit of $457 million, up 22% from the same quarter of the previous year. Revenues hit $4.8 billion, up 10 percent over the same period last year. Analysts point to the trend of four straight strong quarters as a sign that the company and perhaps the financial world is finally beginning to rebound from the recession. However, company analysts believe that Nike will struggle against the challenges of a larger economy for the rest of the fiscal year, which it plans to combat through a selective rise of prices. Consumer Environment As consumer can see, Nike have been promise to improve their shoes in newspaper in long time. When 2009, Nike haven been improve in their shoes thats call Newton Running. Its developed a whole range of shoes that encourages running on your midfoot/forefoot, a technique and position that helps keep you running more efficiently, injury-free and faster. According to Nike, cushioning and support are needed in order to avoid injuries but, at the same time, all the cushioning and support that modern running shoes provide are making our foots muscles lazy. Therefore the Free is created as a  training  shoe, with which to run a limited number of miles amid your normal running schedule in order to specially train the muscles that are not activated while running with normal running shoes. Furthermore

Democracy :: Politics Democratic Republic

Democracy I. Meaning of Democracy II. Summary of Places and Dates III. Features of Democracy IV. Types of Democracy V. Early Democracy A. Athens B. Rome VI. Middle Ages and England VII. The Renaissance A. United States of America B. France VIII. Modern Times IX. Important People   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Demos Kratia, or democracy, as it is used today, means â€Å" the people rule.† A democracy is a form of government is run by the people of that country through elections and representation. A democracy is really a form of a republic known as a democratic republic. A republic is a government where officials, elected by a small group of people, make the important decisions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Democracy has been around for almost 2500 years since Athens, Greece became the first democracy. The Romans also experimented with democracy, however it was more a republic, and not a democracy. Around 1200 England laid the groundwork to become a republic. Later, in the 1700's, United States of America, became a democracy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many features of democracy. Most of these features are the same, but individual countries use varations of the main ideas. The main feature of democracy, which determines a true democracy, is free, competitive elections. Sometimes however, women or minorities don't have the right to vote. Some of these other features, such as checks on power, help to limit the strength of any one person or party. Other features like free elections, and majority/ minority rule, help to make elections fair, since the judgment of many people is generally better then the judgment of a few people. Political parties keep one government, or idea of government form holding all power. These features let the people to govern themselves without the country being torn apart.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are two true types of democracies, direct democracies, and representative democracies. In a direct democracy all the people meet to discuss problems and creat laws. A direct decision consults all the people for the decisions.. Since that is unpractical in todays world, a new form of democracy, the representative democracy has arisen. This form of democracy has elected representatives making most of the day to day decisions, while the main groups of citizens consulted for only the most important decisions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the earliest known democracies was in Athens, a city-state in southern, ancient Greece. Around 620BC, Athens became the first true democracy. In Athens the ruler Draco tried to make many reforms in the city state. Draco organized laws by putting them in a written code, letting everyone know what the laws were and how they applied to everyone. He also gave the people the right to a trial. The next ruler Solon, the next Athenian ruler also helped Athens become

Persuasive Bullying Speech Essay

Are you tired of being bullied in school or at work? Are you angry or frustrated because of being bullied, or have you been accused of bullying? Bullying became a personal issue for me about two years ago. My oldest daughter came home from school in tears. The children that had been her closest friends and playmates turned on her while she spent time in the hospital undergoing testing for her epilepsy. They told her that they killed a beloved pet, cut its head off and ran it up a flagpole. Next, they wrote in the bathroom â€Å"We hate you and want you gone†, and signed their names. She had belongings destroyed, and was treated horribly. She also received text messages from the kids who were bullying her, the first two seemed innocent, â€Å"hello†, â€Å"are you Rebecca†, then came â€Å"are we going out tonight†, and â€Å"are you my f†¦ lover. † The school did nothing, using the excuse â€Å"Kids will be kids†, and the police department refused to enforce anti bullying laws. The officer that we spoke to was the same officer that had given a cyber-bullying lecture to the kids just the week before. He told them to come to him anytime with this problem and he would help them, yet when our daughter spoke with him, his response (as well as the Juvenile Prosecutors office) was what do you want us to do. see more:anti bullying speech Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon scenario in today’s schools. According to Lexlee’s Kids. com statics show that every 7 minutes a child is bullied, and 85% of the time no one intervenes. I would like to take a few minutes of your time to speak about anti bullying laws and some of their flaws, the definition and types of bullying, and what drives some children to commit suicide because of the problem and some resources where you can get support on bullying. It is time that we all take a stand, and protect our children. First, anti-bullying legislation has been in the forefront since 1999 beginning with the massacre in Columbine which killed 13 people, wounded 24, and the suicide of the two shooters, yet it is only getting worse. A year later the US Secret Service released an analysis showing that in 37 premeditated school shootings bullying that reached â€Å"torment† was the root cause. They estimate that 60-80 percent of children are bullied at school. Also 1 in 3 young people have experienced cyber threats. Over 25 percent adolescents and teens have been bullied repeatedly through cell phones and internet, and over half of these young people do not tell their parents and one in 5 is reported to the police. According to the United States Dept of Justice, it is reaching â€Å"Pandemic† levels. 49 states have anti bullying laws, with Montana being the only one not having passed legislation. One of the problems is that there are too many gaps in the laws, and the laws are not clear. In Georgia, a boy named Jaheem was being bullied in school, and he committed suicide. The authorities refused to act because in Georgia, anti-bullying laws are only for children in grades 6-12, the reason, Jaheem was in 5th grade. In the Tyler Clementi suicide case in New Jersey the people who bullied him were charged with 15 offences including intimidation and bias, making this a hate crime against a gay man. According to campusprogress. org New Jersey has introduced legislation named in honor of Tyler that prohibits harassment of students for such reasons as race, sex, religion, sexual orientation, ect, and makes cyber-bullying a form of harassment. Second, according to bullyonline. com bullying is the persistent unwelcome behavior, mostly using unwarranted or invalid criticism, nitpicking, fault finding, exclusion, isolation, being singled out and treated differently, being shouted at, humiliated, excessive monitoring, verbal and written warnings imposed, or in the workplace distorted allegations of underperformance. Bullying can come in many shapes and forms, from name calling, physical contact, gang, road rage, cell phones, text messages, email, and social websites. We can all agree that bullying is wrong, and that we all know someone who it has happened to. However, what have you done to help someone who is being bullied? If the answer is nothing, then you are just as guilty as the person/ people actually committing the act. What is the solution to stop this growing epidemic? States can pass laws, but it will take courage from both the victims and bystanders to make sure that the laws are enforced. After all isn’t a student’s safety just as important as test scores?

Free Essays on An American Tragedy

An American Tragedy: Comparing "The Crucible" and "The Scarlet Letter" by: Jamie Newlands Two American authors, of two distinctly different time periods had one very similar task, to turn a piece of American History into a believable tragedy. Arthur Miller with The Crucible and Nathaniel Hawthorne with The Scarlet Letter. Perhaps one might wonder which author did a better job in doing so, but with such different pieces of work, this is hardly a question that can be answered. Miller's the Crucible was written in the nineteen-fifties, with a definite purpose, to remind Americans of the horrible witch trials that took place in Salem, even before the American Revolution was a thought. It served as a tool to warn against the same thing happening with the Communist hearings going on in our country at the time it was written. Miller wrote a play, which was not well received by the first audiences to witness it, but none the less is now recognized as one the finest pieces of literature written by an American. Hawthorne's the Scarlet Letter was written in the eighteen hundreds, with no other purpose but for Hawthorne to write a novel. Hawthorne perhaps chose this dark subject to convey his contempt for Puritanism. He was a man preoccupied with the hidden sin which is illustrated in not only the Scarlet Letter, but also in The Minister's Black Veil. One might even say that Hawthorne's ancestry (Hathorne) is what he might consider his own "Pearl", and this is why he changed his name. Like Miller's the Crucible, The Scarlet Letter takes place in Puritan Salem and has a tragic hero, but these are the only similarities between the two great works. In Miller's play, the tragic hero is John Proctor, a man whose pride causes the demise of many women, tried as witches. Had Proctor chosen to reveal his sin of lechery with Abigail Williams before the problem got out of hand, he would've saved seve... Free Essays on An American Tragedy Free Essays on An American Tragedy An American Tragedy: Comparing "The Crucible" and "The Scarlet Letter" by: Jamie Newlands Two American authors, of two distinctly different time periods had one very similar task, to turn a piece of American History into a believable tragedy. Arthur Miller with The Crucible and Nathaniel Hawthorne with The Scarlet Letter. Perhaps one might wonder which author did a better job in doing so, but with such different pieces of work, this is hardly a question that can be answered. Miller's the Crucible was written in the nineteen-fifties, with a definite purpose, to remind Americans of the horrible witch trials that took place in Salem, even before the American Revolution was a thought. It served as a tool to warn against the same thing happening with the Communist hearings going on in our country at the time it was written. Miller wrote a play, which was not well received by the first audiences to witness it, but none the less is now recognized as one the finest pieces of literature written by an American. Hawthorne's the Scarlet Letter was written in the eighteen hundreds, with no other purpose but for Hawthorne to write a novel. Hawthorne perhaps chose this dark subject to convey his contempt for Puritanism. He was a man preoccupied with the hidden sin which is illustrated in not only the Scarlet Letter, but also in The Minister's Black Veil. One might even say that Hawthorne's ancestry (Hathorne) is what he might consider his own "Pearl", and this is why he changed his name. Like Miller's the Crucible, The Scarlet Letter takes place in Puritan Salem and has a tragic hero, but these are the only similarities between the two great works. In Miller's play, the tragic hero is John Proctor, a man whose pride causes the demise of many women, tried as witches. Had Proctor chosen to reveal his sin of lechery with Abigail Williams before the problem got out of hand, he would've saved seve...

How To Make Copper Acetate from Copper

How To Make Copper Acetate from Copper You can make copper acetate   [Cu(CH3COO)2] from common household materials to use in science projects and to grow natural blue-green crystals. Heres what you do: Materials copper (e.g., copper wire or pennies minted before 1982)hydrogen peroxidewhite vinegar Procedure Mix equal parts vinegar and hydrogen peroxide.Heat the mixture. You can bring it to a boil so that youre certain its hot enough, but once you reach that temperature, you can turn down the heat.Add copper. For a small amount of liquid, try about 5 pennies or a strip of copper wire. If you are using wire, make sure it is uncoated.Initially, the mixture will bubble and become cloudy. The solution will turn blue as copper acetate is produced.Wait for this reaction to proceed. Once the liquid clears up, heat the mixture until all the liquid is gone. Collect the solid, which is copper acetate. Alternatively, you can remove the mixture from heat, place the container in a place where it wont be disturbed, and wait for copper acetate monohydrate [Cu(CH3COO)2.H2O]  crystals to deposit on the copper. Copper Acetate Uses Copper acetate is used as a fungicide, catalyst, oxidizer, and as a blue-green pigment for making paint and other art supplies. The blue-green crystals are easy enough to grow as a beginner crystal-growing project. More Chemicals To Make Make Copper SulfateMake Sodium Acetate (Hot Ice)Make Ammonium Nitrate

Corporate Responsibility and Governance Assignment - 1

Corporate Responsibility and Governance - Assignment Example There are multiple constituents included within stakeholder theory, apart from staying inclined towards just shareholders. Multiple stakeholders existing within business environment are employees, government, suppliers, customers, financial institutions, shareholders, competitors, trade unions, public interest groups, legal institutions, etc (La Porta, Lopez-de-Silanes, Shleifer and Vishny, 2000). Corporate governance structure of Nestle indicates giving equal importance to all stakeholders. The board of directors are responsible for handling all stakeholders and undertaking combined business strategy. Compensation principles of Nestle Group are taken into consideration by board of directors. Total compensation of executives and board members are thoroughly reviewed by shareholders. Stakeholder theory clearly demonstrates that all stakeholders would be given equal importance for obtaining stabilized firm position. Nestle has its business operations spread across the globe. The compan y handles its extended business base by giving importance to all stakeholders. Board Members are responsible for compensation plans but it is also thoroughly reviewed by other team members. Long term business purpose of the firm is retained by considering team interests and then implementing them into realistic plans. Good governance codes can be stated as a set of rules followed by top management in order to accomplish corporate objectives. These codes comprise of best mechanism which are related to other stakeholders as well as board of directors. Effective governance principles are established through governance codes. Governance codes do not possess any such legal binding but are necessary to influence board of directors so that they are able to control behaviour of top management. An appropriate regulatory framework is maintained by Nestle so as to guide overall operations of board of directors. These codes for

Human Resources Management in Apple Company Essay

Human Resources Management in Apple Company - Essay Example Microsoft was the prominent competitor of Apple from tis beginning itself. In 1980’s and 1990’s Apple struggled to counter the competition faced from Microsoft. Microsoft pushed Apple yards behind with the introduction of their Window based operating system. However, Apple was able to bounce back at the beginning of twenty first century with the help of their innovative â€Å"i† series products such as iMac, iPhone, iPad, iPod, iTunes etc. Kim (2010) has pointed out that Apple Inc, is currently the second largest company in the world in market capitalization, second only to Exxon Mobil. Moreover it is believed to be the most valuable technological company in the world at present, again pushing Microsoft far behind (Kim, 2010). (Warren, 2010) Even though Apple succeeded in achieving top spots in international market, many people believe that their organizational culture and human resource management needs drastic changes to maintain their top spot in the market. E ven though Apple employees are getting competitive salaries, increased workload, lack of work-life balancing, lack of motivation, prejudices and biases in deciding promotions etc are some of the major complaints of the employees. Moreover, Apple’s success and failures revolve around the charismatic leadership of Steve Jobs. This paper critically analyses Apple’s human resource management policies at the individual level, group level and organizational level. Individual Level Work Motivation The topic of employee motivation in Apple Company is a controversial one. On one side, Apple is able to motivate the employees and on the other side some of its HR strategies are demotivating the employees. It is a fact that Apple provides ample opportunities to the fresh employees to grow under the wings of experienced employees (Qumer, 2009, p.3). The above strategy is a big blessing for the fresh employees to take advantages of the immense experience and talents of the experience d ones. The above work culture helps Apple to blend fresh and the experienced hands in a judicious manner so that neither the employees nor the organization faces any problems in completing their works. Fresh employees may bring new ideas to the organization which will be critically analyzed with the help of experienced ones. Thus the fresh people will get immense support from the experienced hands in shaping their ideas and concepts useful to the company. The compensation and benefits offered to employees of Apple are very competitive and it includes product discounts, vacation time, healthcare, training courses, casual dress codes on jobs etc. In 1995, Apple created the Apple Fellows Program in order to recognize its best employees who had made extraordinary contributions to the company. Funny, brilliant, relaxed co-workers and modern spacious beautiful offices filled with comfortable equipments etc are some of the major benefits of working in Apple Company. Apple workforce includ es diverse employees from different countries which enable them to utilize the expertise from different regions. It provides equal opportunities to its diverse employees irrespective of their ethnic background (Qumer, 2009, p.3-9). In short, Apple is keen in recognizing outstanding performances with rewards which is definitely a motivating factor for the employees. At the same time there many complaints also about some of the controversial HR policies of Apple. Employees often forced to work overtime and thereby they are facing troubles in achieving proper work-life balancing. Moreover Apple provides no information about the new products which are going to be developed in the company. The above policy demotivated the employees since no organization can capture the employee