Plato - the Greater Part of the Stories Current Today We...

The Greater Part of the Stories Current Today We Shall Have to Reject The Influence of reading material and television on childrens abilities to distinguish between what is true and not true Throughout time and history, the concerns of many have been made regarding the influence of the media on children and our young people. Although media, its various forms and those who are in control of them have changed throughout as time has progressed, the concerns still are the same. Plato wrote about the influence that poets had on young people of his time in the same way that those who have analyzed this issue today have revealed the effects of literature and television on todays children. Plato strongly states in his writing The†¦show more content†¦If information given to us is filtered and improperly fluffed, how are we then left to analyze it appropriately and utilize it to our benefit as a learning experience or as an opportunity to analyze a situation or event without the clouding of censorship involved. With expecting writers to censor themselves as far as what they write is preposterous. Many individuals have so much within their minds that would be and could be beneficial for us as a part or whole to read, review or see on television that may dissuade us from a prejudice or situation, or allow us as humans to think things through, hopefully objectively, or even subjectively, without censorship. It is up to the parents of our children to ensure that what they are reading and seeing and hearing from the media is controlled. During the years of adolescence, the mind is very impressionable and it is difficult to remove various occurrences and images from a humans mind as they get older. Children would be able to get ideas regarding for example, school shootings and bringing guns to school from the media, based on news reports that occurred when the horrible Colombine High School shootings occurred. With viewing news reporting and editorials on a topic such as this, children can get ideas that this is ok to do andShow MoreRelatedSocrates As A Citizen Of Athens1563 Words   |  7 Pagesphilosophers as greater than everybody else. Socrates is a plague on our society and by acquitting him we the people have allowed his ideas to continue to poison our society. I am disappointed in the people of Athens for allowing this guilty man to go free. In a conversation about religion between Socrates and another it is said of the sacred texts â€Å"Then it seems that our first business is to supervise the production of stories, and choose only those we think suitable, and reject the rest. We shall persuadeRead MoreSources of Ethics20199 Words   |  81 PagesPROFESSIONAL: 102 3.0- CONCLUSION: 105 4.0-REFFERENCES 106 1.0- JOHN STEINER AND GEORGE STEINER SIX PRIMARY SOURCES OF ETHICS: Six primary sources have been identified in the American business area by ethics scholars George and john steiner as under: 1- Religion: The great world religion as we hav seen are: †¢ Judaism †¢ Christianity †¢ Islam The business people in this religion believe that their religion provides them with ethical principles/standardsRead MoreThe Importance of Considering Philosophical and Psychological Foundations in Developing a Curriculum.9983 Words   |  40 PagesIn the name of Allah, the most Gracious, the dispenser of Grace. 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The exceptions to this are the two essaysRead MoreEast African Culture Reflects on Their Drama Using Aminata, Echoes of Silence and I Will Marry When I Want as Case Study12168 Words   |  49 Pagesto examine with great scrutiny how people’s culture reflects on their drama. But for this write up we will be focusing majorly on east African experience examining the impact of east African culture on their drama. The cultural experience is grouped into three categories: the pre-colonial, colonial and the post colonial era using plays from notable east African writers as case study among which we have frances linbulga’s Aminata, Ngugi Wa thiongo’s I will marry when I want and John ruganda’s EchoesRead Moreethical decision making16006 Words   |  65 PagesDeveloping Community Values QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER After reading this chapter, you will know the answers to the following questions: 1. What is bioethics, and how is it important to the community nurse? 2. What is the ethics of virtue, and what part do virtues play in the practice of nursing? 3. What is meant by principle-based ethics? 4. How does Kant’s deontological approach differ from Mill’s utilitarian approach? 5. What role does each of the four major ethical concepts— beneï ¬ cenceRead MoreInternational Management67196 Words   |  269 PagesEDITION Published by McGraw-Hill, a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. Copyright  © 2012 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Previous editions  © 2009, 2006, and 2003. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written consent of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., including, but not limited to, in any network or otherRead MoreDeveloping Management Skills404131 Words   |  1617 PagesRiver, New Jersey 07458. Many of the designations by manufacturers and seller to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and the publisher was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed in initial caps or all caps. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Whetten, David A. (David Allred) Developing management skills /David A. Whetten, Kim S. Cameron.—8th ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and

British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd - Strategies...

Content Pages 1. Executive Summary 2 2. Introduction 3-4 3.1 Company Background 3 3.2 Organisation Structure 3 3.3 Cultural of Company 3 3.4 Leadership Style 4 3. Analysis 5-10 4.5 External Environment 4.6.1 General Environment – PESTEL Analysis 5 4.6.2 Industry Environment – Porter’s 5 Forces Analysis 6 4.6 Internal Environment 4.7.3 Vision/ Mission 7 4.7.4 Long Term Objectives/ Grand Strategies 7-8 4.7.5 Business Objectives/ Strategies – Value Chain†¦show more content†¦2. Introduction 3.1 Company Background British American Tobacco Malaysia (BAT (M)) that formed in 3rd November 1999 is merger between Rothmans of Pall Mall (M) Bhd. and Malaysia Tobacco Company Bhd., it is the children company under the British American Tobacco Group. BAT (M) had employed around 1,200 employees to carry out its business activities and there are 200 brands in BAT (M)’s portfolio that successfully distributed to worldwide. Core competence of BAT (M) is the strong financial support from the mother company and it ranked among 25 top companies on Bursa Malaysia in terms of capital. Besides that, it owned 61% of market shares in the tobacco industry of Malaysia (British American Tobacco Malaysia, 10th April 2012). 3.2 Organisation Structure Organisational Structure of BAT (M) is categorized as functional structure which classified in 5 functional groups (Appendix 1) that under the control of Board of Director (BOD). The current composition of BAT (M)’s BOD includes 4 Executive Directors and 3 Non-Executive Directors that come from different professional background (Appendix 2). Main duty of these BODs is to identify risk, examine and decide strategic plan, management of regulation and rules in the company. 3.3 Culture of Company Culture of BAT (M) on discussion and decision making is very concern about their employees as they are the key stakeholders andShow MoreRelatedKraft Annual Report99993 Words   |  400 PagesPart II Item 5. Item 6. Item 7. Business Risk Factors Unresolved Staff Comments Properties Legal Proceedings Market for Registrant s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities Selected Financial Data Management s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations Discussion and Analysis Critical Accounting Policies Commodity Trends Liquidity Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements and Aggregate Contractual Obligations Equity and DividendsRead MoreGsk Annual Report 2010135604 Words   |  543 Pagesconditions Director and Senior Management remuneration Directors’ interests Directors’ interests in contracts 08 10 12 14 18 19 20 21 22 29 34 41 47 53 Business review This discusses our ï ¬ nancial and non-ï ¬ nancial activities, resources, development and performance during 2010 and outlines the factors, including the trends and the principal risks and uncertainties, which are likely to affect future development. Governance and remuneration This discusses our management structures and governance procedures

Economics Crude Oil in the Global Economy

Question: Discuss about theEconomics for Crude Oil in the Global Economy. Answer: Introduction Part 1 The price of crude oil has been falling over a considerable period of time. In 2015, the opening price of crude oil was relatively low as compared with the previous years and by the end of the year, the price was even lower the lowest since 2009 (Cunningham, 2015). The demand for crude oil in the global economy has been rising in the year 2015 though the growth in demand has slowed down thereafter (Ellyatt, 2015). This rising demand is mainly due to the rise in crude oil demand by the largest consumer of the product, that is, the U.S. where the oil demand is driving up due to falling prices and rising incomes (Clemente, 2015). The economic theory of the Law of Demand supports this relationship between the prices and the demand for crude oil. The law of demand states that the demand for a commodity is inversely related to its price. In 2015, the price of crude oil has dropped and the demand for the same has increased which reflects the inverse relationship given by the law of demand. This is illustrated in the following diagram: Figure 1.1 shows the inverse demand curve DD which represents the relationship between the price of crude oil and the quantity demanded of crude oil. When the price falls from P to P, the quantity demanded increases from Q to Q; hence the quantity demanded of crude oil increases as the price falls in the year 2015 (Krauss, 2016). Oil prices fell by 30%. Oil demand has risen by 2%. The price elasticity of the demand for oil will be given as, = (2 / 30) = 0.067 The elasticity is negative because of the inverse relationship between price and demand. From the given data, the absolute price elasticity of demand is 0.067. This implies that the price elasticity of demand for crude oil is very low, that is, the demand for crude oil is relatively price inelastic the proportional increase in the demand for oil is much less than the proportional fall in the price of the same (Varian, 2009). The opinion stated in Source 1 is generally true, that is, when a commodity is cheap the demand is very high whereas when the same commodity is more expensive, the demand is much lower. However, this is not true in case of crude oil. This is because crude oil is a necessary or an essential commodity and hence the price elasticity of demand for crude oil should be generally low (Pindyck and Rubinfeld, 2009). As the price of crude oil falls the demand for crude oil increases, but not by a very large extent. Similarly, as the price of crude oil increases the demand for crude oil falls, but not significantly. The proportional change in the quantity demanded of crude oil is much lower relative to the proportional change in the price since crude oil is an essential commodity in the global economy (Mankiw, 2014). Hence the given statement does not hold true for crude oil. The decision of increasing or decreasing oil prices would depend on the given circumstances. However, an oil producer should be advised to increase oil prices from the profit-maximisation perspective. This is because the price elasticity of demand for oil is low. When the price of oil increases, the demand for crude oil will fall but less than proportionately. Hence, the total revenue which is given as the product of the price and the quantity will ultimately increase thereby increasing the profits of the oil producer (Krugman and Wells, 2014). This can be explained with the following diagram: The inelastic demand curve in Figure 1.4 represents the inverse demand function for crude oil. When the price is P, the quantity demanded is Q. The total revenue is hence given by the area (B + C). When the price increases to P, the quantity demanded falls to Q. The new total revenue is given by the area (A + B). Thus, the total revenue falls by the area C and increases by the area A. Clearly, the area A is greater than the area C. Hence, the total revenue ultimately increases by the area (A C); A C. Thus, an oil producer should increase the oil price to increase his revenue and profits from oil production (Kreps, 2012). The introduction of shale oil production in 2008 has improved the productivity in the oil industry. This should result in an increase in the price elasticity of supply of oil (Colander, 2012). This is because when shale oil is introduced, the production of oil will increase considerably given that other resources in oil production are constant. With improved productivity, the production and supply of oil will be able to readily adjust to changing prices. The price elasticity of supply is positive because supply increases with a rise in the price (Varian, 2009). When the price of crude oil increases, given the demand, the supply will increase more than it would before the introduction of shale oil production. PART 2 The supermarket industry as a whole represents an Oligopoly market structure. However, Coles and Woolworths being the two major firms in the industry, the contribution of the others are so less in aggregate that the industry can be termed a Duopoly market. The prices in the market are determined according to the two supermarkets. Their price decisions influence the price and the quantity demanded and supplied in the entire industry, that is, they control the entire industry with respect to farming as well as dairy products. Coles and Woolworths account for 80% of the market share of the Australian food sector. Entry of new firms into the supermarket industry is restricted because of the two existing giants. The demand curve faced by the industry is downward sloping. Hence the supermarket industry is essentially an Oligopoly market though effectively a Duopoly where Coles and Woolworths are the two firms (Pindyck and Rubinfeld, 2009). Supermarket firms like Coles and Woolworths engage in a discount price war in order to increase their market share. When the demand for a certain commodity is relatively price inelastic, reducing the price will lead to a fall in the overall revenue. Hence, a price discount war is healthy from the business perspective of the supermarkets as long as a fall in the price increases the demand considerably such that the overall revenue increases. When one reduces its price, the other will immediately follow so as to maintain its market share or avoid incurring losses. Thus, price discount war is healthy up to a certain level beyond which it should be avoided (Mankiw, 2014). This can be explained with the help of the following diagram: Figure 2.2 represents a kinked demand curve faced by each of the firms. At higher prices, a firm faces a relatively elastic demand curve and at lower prices the firm faces a relatively inelastic demand curve. Prices will stabilize and an equilibrium can be established at the point where the discontinuous MR curve intersects the MC curve, that is, at price P* with a quantity Q*. Once the firms charge the price P*, there will be little or no incentive to reduce or alter prices any further without losing out on profits. During such periods of relative price stability it will be in the interest of Coles and Woolworths to engage in non-price competition to boost their profits. A price discount war is a short term phenomenon under the kinked demand curve theory (Pindyck and Rubinfeld, 2009). The market for vegetables provided by farmers is a perfectly competitive market structure. As is evident from the given data, the number of farms supplying vegetables to the market is considerably huge and they cater to almost the entire mass of population via retain markets and supermarkets. All farmers produce and supply homogenous products and the price at which they supply the vegetables to the market is fixed at determined at the industry level, that is, it is given to them. Any new farmer can begin vegetable farming and supply it to the market without incurring any additional costs and if existing farmers make losses, they can stop vegetable farming to avoid further losses. Hence, the market for vegetables provided by farmers operates under perfect competition (Pindyck and Rubinfeld, 2009). Individual vegetable producers would incur losses as a result of falling prices for their products. This is illustrated with the help of the following diagram: Figure 2.4 represents the market structure for an individual vegetable farmer. When price is P*, the profit maximising output is Q*. Due to the price discount war adopted by the supermarkets, whenever the price falls to P, the profit maximising output for the individual firm falls to Q. This results in a reduction of profits and in fact a loss for the individual producer. However, at this price, the producer is still being able to cover the average variable cost and hence will continue producing (Varian, 2009). But if the price falls further, say to P AVC, the vegetable farmer would stop production completely. For the farmers whose cost structure is such that a fall in price reduces the price below the average variable cost, the production of vegetables will have to be stopped to incur further losses (Kreps, 2012). Hence, in the long run, small farmers who operate at the margin will be forced to leave. If significant improvement in technologies can be made, individual farmers can overcome the price falls and stay in business in the long run (Krugman and Wells, 2014). This is because technological improvements reduce the costs incurred by the individual firms. This is illustrated in the following diagram: Improvements in technology reduce the costs faced by individual farms such that the MC curve shifts to MC and the AVC curve shifts to AVC. Thus when the price falls to P the profit-maximising quantity increases. The fall in price may still reduce the profit but not as much as when the costs were high (Mankiw, 2014). Hence, firms will be able to recover the average variable cost and will stay in business over the long run. References Colander, D. (2012). Microeconomics. 9th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Education. Kreps, D. (2012). Microeconomic Foundations I: Choice and Competitive Markets. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. Krugman, P. and Wells, R. (2014). Microeconomics. 4th ed. New York: Worth Publishers. Mankiw, N. (2014). Principles of Microeconomics. 7th ed. Boston: Cengage Learning. Pindyck, R. and Rubinfeld, D. (2009). Micreconomics. 7th ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Varian, H. (2009). Intermediate Microeconomics: A Modern Approach. 8th ed. New York: W. W. Norton Company. Clemente, J. (2015). Rising U.S Oil Demand in 2015 and Beyond. [online] Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/judeclemente/2015/06/21/u-s-oil-demand-in-2015-and-beyond/#4f02212c2737 [Accessed 27 September 2016]. Cunningham, N. (2015). Top Five Factors Affecting Oil Prices in 2015. [online] OILPRICE.COM. Available at: https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Top-Five-Factors-Affecting-Oil-Prices-In-2015.html [Accessed 27 September 2016]. Ellyatt, H. (2015). Oil demand growth to slow, IEA says, but is OPEC listening? [online] CNBC. Available at: https://www.cnbc.com/2015/10/13/oil-demand-growth-to-slow-iea-says-but-is-opec-listening.html [Accessed 27 September 2016]. Krauss, C. (2016). Oil Prices: Whats Behind the Drop? Simple Economics. New York Times, [online] Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/business/energy-environment/oil-prices.html?_r=0 [Accessed 27 September 2016].

Strategic Marketing Issues for Virgin

Introduction Adored, respected, and coveted by customers and global organisations alike, Richard Branson’s Virgin brand symbolises one of the most captivating phenomena of the business environment in contemporary times.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Strategic Marketing Issues for Virgin specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More From its humble beginnings in the 1970s, Virgin has gone against all odds in the competitive business environment to create over 200 companies worldwide with interests in diverse products and services, including but not limited to planes, trains, finance, beverages, music, mobile phones, online gaming, cars, wine, publishing, resort clubs, and even bridal wear (Kotler Keller 650). The present report uses a case study approach to analyse Virgin’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, establish its uniqueness in being a socially responsible and sustainable company, e xamine the pros and cons of its â€Å"green† message, as well as discuss important issues related to the company’s holistic marketing strategy. SWOT Analysis Strengths Strong brand name – the Virgin name is the third most respected brand in Britain, not mentioning that the brand is well recognised in international business environments (Kotler Keller 650) and has become a household name (Kets de Vries 9). Stable and growing capital base – available literature demonstrates that the over 200 companies under the Virgin brand name had a combined revenue of over â‚ ¬11.5 billion (about $16.2 billion) in 2009 (Kotler Keller 650), with projections demonstrating that the revenue base has continued to grow over the years. Diversified portfolio – trendy and highly visible products and services spanning across diverse business interests, leading to substantial economies of scale (Kets de Vries 9). Flamboyant Branson personality – The CEO of Virgi n is â€Å"a genius at promoting his company through his daring personal exploits† (Kets de Vries 9). Worldwide business operations Operational excellence and minimal integration, implying that companies under the Virgin flagship are more flexible and hence more competitive when compared to others. Technical capability and infrastructure Elaborate marketing expertise using strategic publicity stunts (Kotler Keller 650). Weaknesses Possibility for brand dilution – It is generally felt that the Virgin Group is currently covering too many businesses in diverse areas of the economy, hence the possibility for brand dilution (Kotler Keller 650). Too loose supervision practices and informal management structure due to Branson’s â€Å"friendly, egalitarian, non-hierarchical, family-like atmosphere in all of his companies† (Kets de Vries 9). Consumer confusion about identifying with the Virgin brand name due to the introduction of too many companies. Image cha llenges for the company due to its immense expansion and a mixture of diverse businesses in distinctively dissimilar market sectors. Weak financial structure and dependency on the Branson personality Opportunities Expansion opportunities particularly â€Å"in markets with underserved, overcharged customers and complacent competition† (Kotler Keller 650). New market entry in overseas markets particularly in the developing and emerging markets due to the advantage of strong brand recognition. Threats Intense competition The virgin group is not a leading brand or a market leader in any of its businesses; the brand may have international acclamation, but some of the group’s products and services are not internationally recognised (Kets de Vries 10). The Virgin Group has been criticised for not introducing new innovations, but rather creating a product similar to an already existing product and selling it at a hugely discounted price, implying that the group has merely followed its competitors rather than acting as a trailblazer (Kets de Vries 11). Issues of Social Responsibility and Sustainability Today, more than ever before, corporate social responsibility and sustainability have become a mantra for corporate success as firms the world over grapple with the short-term and long-term effects of their marketing strategies (Karna, Hansen, Juslin 848-849). Indeed, according to available marketing scholarship, â€Å"effective internal marketing must be matched by a strong sense of ethics, values and social responsibility† (Kotler Keller 629). These authors argue that social responsibility demonstrates a firm’s resolve to abide by a code of serving people’s interests before their own, becoming more environmentally friendly and practicing other higher-order corporate social responsibility activities, including rising customer expectations, growing employee objectives and ambitions, tighter government legislation and pressure, i nvestor attention on the social criteria, enhanced media scrutiny, as well as shifting business procurement practices. Elsewhere, it has been reported that there is no alternative to sustainable development within organisational settings as the component has increasingly gained currency in aligning firms to engage in activities that meet the needs of the present without unduly compromising the capacity of future generations to meet their own needs (Johan, Joffre Simon 212-213).Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More From the case study, it is clear that the Virgin Group is unique in its quest to become a socially responsible and sustainable company, in large part because of the strategies it employs toward becoming socially responsible and sustainable. For example, instead of dealing with shallow corporate social responsibility activities such as sponsoring community football tournaments, the company has created a not-for-profit foundation called Virgin Unite, which is charged with the broad responsibility of addressing global, social, and environmental challenges using an entrepreneurial approach (Kotler Keller 650). In such a setup, a group of scientists, entrepreneurs, innovators, and environmental supporters consult openly with the Virgin Group about what it needs to undertake on a grassroots and global level with the view to aligning the businesses and the social sector together and providing an avenue for business to act as a force for good. The Virgin Unite concept demonstrates that business has duties to society and that corporations should be judged not just on their economic success, but also on their non-economic criteria (Lantos 596). Branson not only cares about Virgin’s customers and the impacts his vast business interests have on people and the planet but also prioritises corporate responsibility and sustainable development as cri tical in assisting his network of companies to act in a socially responsible manner and minimise their carbon footprint (Kotler Keller 650). This line of thought is supported by existing literature which suggests that, in their quest to become both socially responsible and sustainable, companies must demonstrate economic responsibilities (e.g., satisfy customers with goods and services of real value, earn a fair return on investor funds, create new wealth, create new jobs, promote innovation), legal responsibilities (e.g., comply with the law and play by the rules of the game), and ethical responsibilities (e.g., respect people’s moral rights, avoid harm or social injury, and do what is right, just and fair) (Lantos 596-597). Additionally, the Virgin Group has categorised its core businesses into eight socially responsible and sustainable groups, with each of the groups expected to do remarkably good things in its industry as well assist in the alleviation of bad things rela ted to the category (Kotler Keller 650).Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Strategic Marketing Issues for Virgin specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It is reported by these authors that the Virgin Wines category, for example, endeavours to make purchases only from small farms and promotes responsible drinking, while the Virgin Games category encourages responsible gambling and assists in the identification and alleviation of gambling addiction. According to existing literature, the incorporation of corporate social responsibility and sustainable development to the marketing strategies of firms make the two concepts to become a source of competitive advantage and a key determinant in the adoption by firms of critical management practices, including environmental management, quality management, sustainable logistics, the loyalty effect, reputation, corporate ethics, and talent management (Bouglet, Joffre, Simon 213). Lastly, Virgin is unique in its quest to be a socially responsible and sustainable company in terms of implementing the components in each of the companies under the Virgin flagship with the view to enabling people enjoy healthy and fulfilling lifestyles whilst substantially reducing the negative impacts that the Virgin-branded companies may have on the world (Kotler Keller 650). Upon the realisation that â€Å"consumers have a higher expectation of brands and want to know what they are doing for the world† (Kotler Keller 629), Virgin has done much to meet its social responsibility and sustainability obligations, hence the company can be referred to as a Firm of Endearment that actually spends less on marketing as a percentage of sales yet proceed to earn immense profits because customers who are deeply satisfied with the company’s social responsibility and sustainability practices do most of the marketing (Kotler Keller 630). Pros and Cons of Virgin’s â€Å"Green† Message After the realisation that Virgin Aviation represents 7 million of the 8 million tonnes of CO2 the Virgin Group emits into the environment each year, Richard Branson â€Å"announced that all dividends from Virgin’s rail and airline businesses will be invested into renewable energy initiatives to tackle emissions related to global warming† (Kotler Keller 651). The effort, according to these authors, â€Å"has evolved into the Virgin Green Fund, which invests in renewable energy opportunities from solar energy to water purification and is estimated to reach $3 billion in value by 2016† (Kotler Keller 651). Additionally, the Virgin group propagates the â€Å"green† message by not only establishing the Earth Challenge to award $25 million to any individual or group who develops a safe, long-term, commercially viable avenue to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, but also ensuring that the airline’s brand new fleet is one of the most fuel and carbon efficient fleets being operated worldwide.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More One of the underlying advantages of these â€Å"green† initiatives concerns the fact that Virgin will continue to attract more customers and enhance their satisfaction levels, which in turn will facilitate the productivity and performance of the company. Available literature demonstrates that contemporary consumers have become increasingly environmentally conscious and most of them like to be associated with socially responsible and sustainable companies (Karna et al. 850). Another advantage of the perceived Virgin’s green message concerns the fact that the company will increasingly use fewer resources to market its products and services as much of the marketing is undertaken by its loyal customers. Here, it is important to define green marketing as â€Å"the process of planning, implementing, and controlling the development, pricing, promotion, and distribution of products in a manner that satisfies the following three criteria: customer needs are met, organisationa l goals are attained, the process is compatible with ecosystems† (Baverstam Larsson 1). Consequently, it is safe to argue that customers are more likely to become loyal and satisfied, hence market the products and services provided by Virgin through positive word of mouth and other channels when their needs are successfully met using a methodology or process that is compatible with ecosystems. Another advantage of Virgin’s â€Å"green† message entails amassing a reputable orientation among consumers and other players in the industry. Evidence demonstrates that companies that use the earth’s resources and systems in a sustainable manner are always carried in high esteem than companies that do not (Baverstam Larsson 2), and that consumers are integrating their concern for the environment into their purchasing behaviour (Mendleson Polonsky 4), implying that a company’s reputation cultivated on the basis of practicing effective environmentally susta inable practices will go a long way in influencing consumers to purchase more from such a company. Indeed, the Virgin Group’s thrust to take into consideration sustainability in the business decisions though the various â€Å"green† initiatives highlighted in this report is both noble and remarkable and will go a long way in ensuring a high company’s reputation and standing in the society. Still, Virgin’s â€Å"green message particularly in the Virgin Earth Challenge initiative will go a long way in facilitating technological advancements that will, in turn, enhance sustainability and welfare of mankind. It is reported in the literature that â€Å"the Earth Challenge [will] award $25 million to any person or group who develops a safe, long-term, commercially viable way to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere† (Kotler Keller 651). Technological advancements and sustainability through green marketing and other green initiatives can allow com panies the opportunity to become competitive, not mentioning that they can facilitate firms to reposition existing products without product composition, modify existing products to be less environmentally harmful, as well as modify the entire corporate culture to ensure that environmental concerns are integrated into all operational aspects (Mendleson Polonsky 4). At the human welfare level, the facilitation of technological advancements through Virgin’s green initiatives is instrumental in not only ensuring effective deployment of available resources while ensuring the needs of future generations are taken into consideration, but also in guaranteeing a future whereby people will have the capacity to enjoy healthy and fulfilling lifestyles while considerably minimizing the negative impact of their activities in the world (Kotler Keller 651). Among the cons of Virgin’s â€Å"green† message, some quarters may generally feel that the green initiatives being imple mented by the company undermine the profit-seeking purpose of the firm, resulting in wastage of shareholders’ money. Additionally, critics may argue that Virgin may not have the capacity to implement important business initiatives in key areas such as research and development (RD) if the company continues to commit huge sums of money to its â€Å"green† initiatives (Kotler Keller 629). Another disadvantage of Virgin’s â€Å"green† message is predicated upon the fact that the company’s green or sustainability programs may be focussed on the short-term rather than on the long-term. Available literature demonstrates that many companies are unable to break even in their sustainability initiatives due to their focus on short-term goals and results informed by the need to make immediate profit, establish contractual relationships, or guard against high levels of competition (Karna et al. 850). Lastly, it can be argued that some of the Virgin Groupâ€⠄¢s â€Å"green† initiatives are neither inclusive nor aligned with the most critical needs of customers in line with a holistic marketing approach. For example, although Richard Branson’s Earth Challenge seems ambitious, action-oriented and collaborative in its promise to award $25 million to any individual or group who develops a safe, long-term, commercially viable way to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere (Kotler Keller 651), it nevertheless fails to align itself with the most critical needs and environmental concerns of contemporary customers, such as pollution by industries, substandard products and services, greening supply networks and ensuring sustainable use of resources, among others. In my opinion, the company is in line to progress its sustainability programs such as the Earth Challenge though it has such a negative environmental impact on the world (via air and rail) owing to the fact that it has taken substantial efforts to reduce its carbon fo otprint and also invested a lot of resources in coming up with alternatives to reduce the negative environmental impact arising from its activities. The company is not only consciously aware of its contributions to environmental degradation but has also attempted to come up with interventions to address the situation, implying that it does not view sustainability programs as an impediment to the profit-seeking behaviour as demonstrated by other companies. Virgin’s Holistic Marketing Strategy Available marketing scholarship demonstrates that â€Å"the Virgin Group’s core businesses include retail operations (a chain of megastores in Australia, Britain and Ireland, continental Europe, Hong Kong, Japan, North America, and South Korea), hotels, communications (video games, book publishing, radio and television production), and an airline† (Kets de Vries 9). Such a broad range of businesses requires a holistic marketing strategy which not only demand Virgin marketers to engage in a host of carefully planned, interconnected marketing practices aimed at substantially satisfying a broader set of constituents and objectives, but also to consider a wider range of effects of their actions (Kotler Keller 621). These authors are in agreement that, now more than ever before, marketing professionals must not only think holistically and employ creative win-win solutions to balanced conflicting demands but must also develop fully integrated marketing programs and meaningful relationships with a range of constituents. Conversely, Virgin marketing professionals must perform all the right things inside their organisation and put into consideration the wider ramifications of their actions and activities in the marketplace (Kotler Keller 623). It is reported in the literature that â€Å"marketing no longer has sole ownership of customer interactions; rather, it now must integrate all the customer-facing processes, so customers see a single face and hear a si ngle voice when they interact with the firm† (Kotler Keller 623). Such an integration of all customer-facing processes, in my view, will be beneficial for the Virgin Group as the company attempts to address the issue of brand dilution in its marketing strategy. Available management scholarship demonstrates that â€Å"company responsibilities are often divided into economic, social, and environmental categories similar to the categories proposed in the popular concept of sustainable development† (Karna et al. 849). Although the Virgin Group has well established social responsibility and sustainability programs across its various areas of operation, it needs to integrate these components into its holistic marketing strategy with the view to making unified business decisions related to ethical values, compliance with legal requirements, and respect for people, communities and the environment. Indeed, as acknowledged in the literature, â€Å"corporate social responsibilit y and sustainability have become a priority as organisations grapple with the short-term and long-term effects of their marketing† (Kotler Keller 621). It is evident from the many social responsibility programs and sustainability initiatives undertaken by Virgin that the company has embraced this new vision of corporate enlightenment; however, it needs to fully integrate the concepts in its holistic marketing strategy so that the components serve as the very core of what the company does. Such an orientation, in my view, will not only attract more customers and ensure that customers are always satisfied with the company’s product and service offerings, but will also transform the customers to become active marketers for the company due to its quest to work with employees, their families, the local community and society at large to enhance quality of life. Additionally, Virgin needs to allow its marketers to not only achieve a larger influence in the organisation, inces santly generate new innovations and endeavour for customer insight by treating customers diversely but appositely, but also to create their winning brands more through performance than promotion, and to go electronic and win through the creation of superior information and communication systems (Kotler Keller 643, 646). To accomplish these changes and become really holistic, according to these authors, it would be the function of Virgin’s senior management to train the company’s marketers on a new set of skills and competencies in customer relationship management (CRM), partner relationship management (PRM), database marketing and data mining, contact centre management and telemarketing, public relations marketing, brand-building and brand-asset management, experiential marketing, integrated marketing communications, as well as profitability analysis by segment, customer, and channel (Kotler Keller 646). Lastly, Virgin’s holistic marketing strategy also needs to be sufficiently market-focussed and customer-driven, not mentioning that Virgin marketers need to fully understand their target markets as well as define and monitor existing competitors. The company must develop effective strategies not only to manage relationships with stakeholders but also to find and exploit new business opportunities. Overall, for Virgin’s holistic marketing strategy to become a success, the company must be organised for effective and efficient marketing, not mentioning that it must make optimal use of technology to improve its processes (Kotler Keller 647). Conclusion This report has undertaken a SWOT analysis for the Virgin Group, established its uniqueness in being a socially responsible and sustainable company, examined the advantages and disadvantages of the company’s green message, as well as discussed underlying issues related to the company’s holistic marketing strategy. From the findings, it is clear that Virgin has a lot of st rengths and opportunities, but needs to develop strategies to deal with brand dilution and intense competition in the marketplace. Some of the reasons provided to justify Virgin’s uniqueness in its quest to be a socially responsible and sustainable company include demonstration of a strong sense of ethics, values and social responsibility, strategies employed toward becoming socially responsible and sustainable, care for people and planet, as well as categorization of core businesses. The report has also comprehensively discussed the benefits and drawbacks of Virgin’s â€Å"green† message as well as recommendations for Virgin’s holistic marketing strategy. These recommendations are critical in ensuring that Virgin remains competitive and honours its social responsibility and sustainability obligations in the increasingly turbulent times characterising today’s business environment. Works Cited Baverstam, Oscar and Maria Larsson 2009, Strategic Green Marketing: A Comparative Study of How Green Marketing affects Corporate Strategy within Business to Business. PDF file. Web. Bouglet, Johan, Olivier Joffre and Eric Simon. â€Å"How to Reconcile Business with Sustainable Development: An Innovative Approach.† Society and Business Review. 7.3 (2012): 212-222. Emerald. Web. Kets de Vries, Manfriend F.R. â€Å"Charisma in Action: The Transformational Abilities of Virgin’s Richard Branson and ABB’s Perey Barnevik.† Organisational Dynamics. 26.3 (2008): 7-21. Business Source Premier. Web. Karna, Jari, Eric Hansen and Heikki Juslin. â€Å"Social Responsibility in Environmental Marketing Planning.† European Journal of Marketing. 37.5/6 (2003): 848-871. Emerald. Web. Kotler, Philip and Kevin Keller. Marketing Management. 14th ed. 2012. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Print. Lantos, Geoffrey P. â€Å"The Boundaries of Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility.† Journal of Consumer Marketing. 1 8.7 (2001): 595-630. Emerald. Web. Mendleson, Nicola and Michael Jay Polonsky. â€Å"Using Strategic Alliances to Develop Credible Green Marketing.† Journal of Consumer Marketing. 25.2 (2005): 4-18. Emerald. Web. This case study on Strategic Marketing Issues for Virgin was written and submitted by user Teagan E. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.