Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 11

Marketing - Essay Example 2003, 504). Marketing structures that play roles in the strategic planning process include formalization, specialization and centralization (Kellar, A. 2009, 389). These structures are, particularly, important in shaping the performance of an organization (Laforet, S. 2012, 163). Formalization is the degree to which working relationships and decisions are governed by standard policies, procedures and formal rules. Centralization is the locus of the authority and control of a decision within an organizational entity. In organizations that are highly centralized, only one or a few top managers hold most decision-making authorities. In decentralized firms, middle or lower level managers possess autonomy and participate in a wide range of decisions. Specialization is division of tasks and activities across positions within the system. High levels of centralization and formalization, together with low specialization levels, are likely to be associated with relatively efficient performance within marketing departments. In such departments, the top marketing managers use centralized decision-making authorities in setting a common direction for other departments while keeping overt conflicts minimal. The formal rules and procedures play a role in reutilizing activities and hold down risks and administrative costs. Therefore, higher formalization and centralization levels in the market department should positively relate to the ROI performance of low cost defender business units. Centralization, non-specialized and formalized organizations tend to be more efficient but less innovative and adaptive compared to those with the opposite structural characteristics. Despite business strategy being a general statement about how the unit chooses to compete in an industry, that unit encompasses a large number of different products, each facing a different competitive situation in different markets. There is the likelihood of existence of a considerable variation in marketing pro grams across products within similar business units (Freeman, B & Shaw L. 2009, 118). Since a business strategy fails to set a general direction of how the unit will compete, it should have an impact on the broad marketing policies cutting across products and product lines. The likelihood of a strategy being effective relies on the consistency of the marketing policies with the overall strategy, and how successful the unit is in adhering to the policies. One set of marketing policies broadly defines the nature of the products that the business offers to the market (Suder, G. 2007, 118). The policies cover a diversity of the product line, the general level of technical sophistication of the products and the target level of product quality in relation to the competitors. The prospector businesses heavily depend on the continuing development of new and unique products and the penetration of new markets as a primary competitive strategy. Hence, the adherence and policies of the prospect ive businesses which encourage the broad and technically advanced trade lines should relate

The Lady of Shalott by Alfred Tennyson Research Paper

The Lady of Shalott by Alfred Tennyson - Research Paper Example In this ride, she sees all the worldly things which were forbidden to her, and on the way, she dies. As the boat reaches Camelot, all the knights see the corpse in the boat and make the sign of cross. However, Lancelot says that she has a lovely face. In fact, this work of Lord Tennyson came under serious attack for dealing with fantasy instead of reality (Noyes 134). However, an analysis of the underlying themes of the poem reveals that it contains a more realistic picture of the society than many realistic poems do. The most important theme evident in the work is deprivation. The deprivation appears in the work as a curse that the lady cannot look out of her window. She does not know the reason of the curse and does not care to think how to remove it. The poem says, â€Å"And so she weaveth steadily/And little other care has she† (Lord Tennyson, lines 43-44). Admittedly, various scholars give various meanings to this deprivation. To illustrate, Hollander points out that womanhood in the century is the subject (112). This seems a rational explanation because females were deprived of the right to see and interact with everyone and everything they wanted. In addition, the women of that time spent very little time thinking why this social situation prevailed. The woman, however, becomes sad and says, â€Å"I am half sick of shadows† (Lord Tennyson, line 72), when she notices that she is deprived of direct contact with all the worldly pleasures. Yet another argument that is as strong as the first one is that the theme describes how art is deprived of realistic pictures of society (Saintsbury 28). The poem shows the lady viewing only â€Å"shadows† of the real society and portraying the same in her tapestry. Here, it is possible to argue that Lord Tennyson was lamenting of his poem’s inability to deal with reality instead of fantasy. The picture becomes clearer when the