The Happiness Advantage By Shawn Achor - 986 Words

The Happiness Advantage Final The most universal goal every human has in common is the pursuit of happiness or â€Å"creation or construction of happiness† (Achor, 78). To be able to fulfill this wish of becoming happy, people often think the key to achieving happiness is success. In the book, The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor, he debunks this theory of success leading to happiness by illustrating the reverse theory of success. Through dozens of studies and experiments as forms of evidence, the author argues that an individual needs to achieve happiness in order to be truly successful. Achor s argument is valid in that happiness should come before success because there is a clear advantage to being successful in an individuals work life, personal sphere, and liveliness if they are happy first and foremost. Achor utilizes a meta-analysis, or the combination of different findings, of over 200 scientific studies to prove his overall theory that happiness leads to success in almost every aspect of life from family to friends to careers and businesses. He does not rely solely on the data or information from a few relevant case studies, but instead relies upon experimental research to support his claim. He utilizes his findings to create â€Å"The Seven Principles†, which are â€Å"patterns that predict success and achievement† (Achor, 17), which is headed by â€Å"The Happiness Advantage.† He utilizes the concept of positive psychology and neurological activity to showcase the point that weShow MoreRelatedThe Happiness Advantage By Shawn Achor983 Words   |  4 Pagescommon is the pursuit of happiness or â€Å"creation or construction of happiness† (Achor, 78). To be able to fulfill this wish of becoming happy, people often think the key to achieving happiness is success. In the book, The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor, he debunks this theory of success leading to happiness by illustrating the reverse theory of success. T hrough dozens of studies and experiments as forms of evidence, the author argues that an individual needs to achieve happiness in order to be trulyRead MoreSuccess Is The Most Misunderstood Driver Of Performance1486 Words   |  6 Pagespeak performance and link an employee’s happiness to his or her productivity and a company’s success. Research indicates that performance on nearly every level—productivity, creativity, and engagement—improves when people cultivate and work with a positive mind-set. According to Shawn Achor, the author of The Happiness Advantage, â€Å"Happiness is perhaps the most misunderstood driver of performance. For one, most people believe that success precedes happiness. ‘Once I get a promotion, I’ll be happyRead MoreHow College Student s Level Of Wellbeing And Happiness1340 Words   |  6 PagesWhy is it that some individuals are so high above the curve in terms happiness and optimism, even in the face of challenges and misfortunes? Whatever it is, there are individuals in psychology who wish to study and understand the science of happiness. These individuals specialize in the new field of psychology, positive psychology. Such researchers wish to gain insight on gaining happiness and building a resiliency to negative emotions. With an increasing emphasis on meas uring college success, primarilyRead MorePositive Psychology And Chronic Illness2102 Words   |  9 Pagessocial well-being in addition to her physical condition. Shawn Achor, a Harvard researcher and author of The Happiness Advantage, has developed some tips and exercises for people interested in integrating positive psychology into their lives. The first is the â€Å"Three Gratitudes† approach. This approach suggests that every day for three weeks, the person writes down three things he or she is grateful for. This exercise, according to Achor, revamps the brain for optimism. The second is called â€Å"TheRead MoreHealth and Social Care level 53009 Words   |  13 Pagesthe future, be happier in their roles, remain with the company (providing continuity), thus ultimately leading to a more productive successful workforce. Below is newspaper article from Financial times website around the happiness of a workforce Is happiness something that can be achieved or is it far more elusive? Most people cannot separate the idea of being happy from how satisfied they are at work. Given the difficult economic conditions of the past few years, combined with expectations

Global Warming And Its Effects On The Environment

Since our earliest adaptations, our species has always been dependent on this Earth. Long before we raised our bows and became hunters, our gathering instincts lead us to drink from rivers, collect berries, and plant seeds. We asked for nutrients, and so the Earth provided. Through hundreds of years, however, we have rapidly increased our planet s destruction, and so when we ask for the same nourishment, the Earth had a different answer. Instead of the plains of grass, and springs of fresh water that previously greeted us, we have become accustomed to the polluted wastelands that surround us in our day to day lives. The fact of the matter is: by killing our planet, we have begun to kill ourselves as well. For years we have studied what global warming has done to the environment, but we have yet to consider what it’s doing to us as a species. In our current atmospheric state, the spreading of illnesses through contaminated water, and respiratory diseases caused by air pollution aren’t uncommon consequences for our environmental carelessness. Despite these issues becoming recurring topics in numerous political debates, Governments worldwide refuse to aid our desperate situation, and in some cases add to the destruction. Circumstances have become so immediate that groups of human rights activists have come forth demanding something be done as they believe environmental protection should be understood as an unalienable right. Environmental security is no longer optional, butShow MoreRelatedGlobal Warming And Its Effect On The Global Environment1144 Words   |  5 PagesGlobal warming has emerged as one of the most serious concerns for scientists and environmentalists in the 21st century. This is based on the negative impact of global warming, which is not limited to deforestation, drastic variations in climate, decline in output of global agricultural industry, degradation of ice sheets in Antarctic, decrease in ocean productivity, rise in sea levels, and increase in tornadoes, hurricanes and floods. The primary reason for global warming has been identified asRead MoreThe Effects Of Global Warming On The Environment977 Words   |  4 PagesThe Effects of Global Warming Introduction Global warming has been discussion for many years, but has, in the last decade or two been at the forefront of attention. The enormous effects and potential risks on humanity that can result from rise in global temperatures and the environment must be addressed, because the earth after all is finite. â€Å"Globalization refers to the rise of average temperature of oceans and earth’s atmosphere. Since the beginning of the 20th century, the earth’s average surfaceRead MoreThe Effects Of Global Warming On The Environment1224 Words   |  5 PagesGlobal warming continues to be a huge concern affecting the environment, people and the world. If action to stop this phenomenon is not taken immediately by the global community, the consequences will certainly be catastrophic. Already, some of the consequences of global warming are being felt globally. The frequency and intensity of tropical storms has increased as a result of global warming. Global temperatures continue to rise at rapid and unprecedented rates. According to scientific researchRead MoreGlobal Warming And Its Effect On The Environment1311 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction Global warming refers to an incremental in earth’s temperature. Some believes this is occurring naturally but the prevailing view attributes climate change to the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect refers to the warming resulting from certain gases such as carbon dioxide in Earth s atmosphere trapping heat. These gases traps heat but let light in, similarly to the glass walls of a greenhouse. The general belief is that mankind are chiefly responsible for global warming becauseRead MoreThe Effects Of Global Warming On The Environment1549 Words   |  7 PagesGlobal warming is an increasing in average global temperatures across the planet. This is due to the rising temperatures on the continent. Temperatures continue to rise yearly causing global warming. The greenhouse effect is sun light radiation being driven back to the earth. When solar energy is released into the atmosphere, there is an effect of bouncing back. Solar radiation is bounced back into the atmosphere causing the temperature of the earth to remain steady. However, over time greenhouseRead MoreGlobal Warming And Its Effects On The Environment Essay1516 Words   |  7 PagesSome people say global warming is caused by human activity, others say global warming doesn’t even exist. Some people claim that the climate is changing for the worse. They believe that humans are the primary cause of these changes, especially the increase in temperature, caused by the burning of fossil fuels. They believe that the temperature changes are causing glaciers to melt. They claim that the melting of ice masses leads to a higher sea level and worsening conditions for Arctic animals, asRead MoreThe Effects Of Global Warming On The Environment1175 Words   |  5 PagesGlobal warming, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, â€Å"refers to the recent and ongoing rise in global average temperature near Earth s surface.† Effects of human influence on the environment has long been a cause of concern regarding the disturbance of the â€Å"natural order.† Although a cycle which results in the periodic increase and decrease of the average global temperature has long been known to exist, due to new data suggesting the substantial and relatively r ecentRead MoreThe Effects Of Global Warming On The Environment1453 Words   |  6 PagesHuman impact such as industrialization, livestock farming and the increase in recent population have all caused serious environmental impacts that have let to dramatic global climate change. â€Å"Scientists generally agree that the globe has warmed over the past 40 years, due largely to human activities that raise carbon-dioxide levels in the atmosphere† (Clemet). Greenhouse gasses have always existed, but not to the extent that they do in today’s world; they are causing a dramatic change in climateRead MoreGlobal Warming And Its Effects On The Environment928 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"Global Warming†-The Biggest Scam of Modern Times Global warming is the steady increase in the Earth’s average surface temperature. There are two sides of this story. Some people believe that global warming is caused by the natural components in the environment and not man-made production of carbon dioxide, while the others believe that it is caused by man-made production of carbon dioxide and not by natural components in the environment. Global warming is due to the increased level in temperatureRead MoreGlobal Warming And Its Effects On The Environment999 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"Global Warming†-TheBiggest Scam of Modern Times Global warming is the steady increase in the Earth’s average surface temperature. There are two sides of this story. Some people believe that global warming is caused by natural components in the environment and not man-made production of carbon dioxide, while the others believe that it is caused by man-made production of carbon dioxide and not by natural components in the environment. Global warming is due to the increased level in temperature of

Marketing environment Free Essays

Our company is involved in the selling of Chevrolet corvette one of GM’s auto brand and it’s regarded by some people as an American icon. Our brand is enjoying a big and wide market.   We are the once in charge of serving the whole of America. We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing environment or any similar topic only for you Order Now    Even though in our recent report we had made a loss of $39billion we still stand at a very good chance of speeding and selling our cars to every part of the country and other different parts of the world.   We sale our cars presently through   some dealer who are located in all parts of America.   At the moment we had made a loss of $39billion as per last year report. Our market is segmented into various groups.   Through segmentation we are able to reach more customers. We are having a very good reputation and our cars are more preferred country wide.   The quality of our brands is good and it has utilized the most recent technology.   Our employees offer quality services to our customers, we regularly train them; the company has got many sales men who are qualified and competent.   The prices of Chevrolet Corvette are reasonable as compared to the prices of similar cars of the same size offered by our competitors.   Our customers visit our distributors when thy want to buy a car. Our major competitors are Toyota America and Mitsubishi Motors.   Their major objectives are to reach many customers and make more sales.   They sale their products through their dealers.   Through offering credit facilities thy have been able to reach all parts of the country. We sell our brands through dealers, who are located in all parts of the country.   Our dealer also own show room within major town centers. Our dealers are very efficient in promotion of sales.   They maintain a good stock of cars; they also offer maintenance of vehicles at good rates.   They have also opened more showrooms in order to make more sales. Financial institutions like banks and insurance companies have great confidence in our performance.   Additionally we have cultivated the goodwill of media companies.   We have good relationships with media companies who advertise our brand through magazines and newspapers. We have been having more and better media coverage from newspapers and television stations in the form of favorable news and features.   Our marketers usually consult our company lawyers about possible issues of truth in advertising. We have a community relations officer who deals with community issues, participates in community projects and contributes to worthwhile causes. We have offices countrywide where customers complaint are handled and where interest of the needy are taken care of. Current marketing strategies The current marketing strategy for Chevrolet corvette is very much involving.   Great awareness has been created about our brand through various means.   Mainly our customers know about our car through magazines and bulletins. Magazines show the type of Chevrolet we sell, their price, and the various colors of the brand available.   After sales services available and a brief introduction of how to repair our cars is also shown. To reach more customers world wide, advertisement is done through the internet.   We own a website where we advertise our brand through.   All the features like our location, price, after sale services, our contacts are all shown in the website. We also create more awareness about our car through annual trade shows. Our company usually participates in trade shows   Ã‚  where we explain to the general public the advantage of buying our cars. Through this trade shows we explain about the general repairs and maintenance that our car requires. Our cars are sold through dealers. Our dealers are located in various parts of the country. Our dealers own showroom s with many types of cars our brand included. Through our dealers we are able to sell mangy cars. Our dealers carry out regular repairs and maintenance of both minor and complicated cases. Through seminars and conferences we create more awareness about the existence of our brand. Annually we conduct seminars and conferences where we educate the general public on how to maintain and repair our cars. In these seminars all our dealers participate. The engineers and mechanics from our dealers are tough new vehicle maintenance skills and how to be efficient in their services. More sales are also made through sale promotions. Our car dealers have got their sales men who advertise our cars to potential customers through showrooms located in various parts of the country. Future strategies Due to stiff competition from other car manufacturers we are going to ray our more strategies in order to promote our sales. First we will promote our brand through celebrities. Some people will be encouraged to buy our car if they will see celebrities being associated with our brands. We will also use models in our promotions. We will use models like tailor banks in our promotions. If most customers see these models in our advertisements, they will be more motivated and encouraged to buy our brands. We will employ market segmentation by venturing to all parts of the world. Our sales team will promote our brand in every corner of the world. Also locally we shall ensure that all parts of the country are reached. Further still we will promote our sales through diversification.   In order to make more sales we will diversify to related businesses. We will be offering a wide range of services.   We will be selling auto spares for our brand. Those vehicles being repaired by our auto dealers will be using their own spare parts. We shall recruit more dealers to sell our brands. In order to reach more customers GM auto will ensure that the number of dealers dealing with our brands is increased. Sales promotion will be done through magazines. Our current brands will be advertised through magazines. Since many people read magazines they will know more about our brand. We will reach more customers by participating in trade shows and exhibitions. At these exhibitions we will advertise the advantages our brand has over our competitors. To encourage more customers to buy our cars we shall build our own car parks. This is where our customers will be parking their cars. We shall also be offering free services to our customers through our dealers. Specific dates will be set when free services like free car wash, free minor maintenance and repairs will be offered. To have a good reputation our company will participate in community projects. We shall assist the needy in the society. This will create more awareness of our brand to the community.   Also we shall be sponsoring some programs to the needy like offering free primary education and offering food to orphans. More awareness shall also be created through the e-commerce. We shall target both local and international customers through the internet so that more sells will be realized. We shall also extend credit facilities to reliable customers. In order to make more sales we shall be selling cars on credit to reliable customers. We shall also promote research and development. Through universities we shall encourage students to come up with modern designs so that our model shall have more features than those of our competitors. With encouraging modern and creative designs and regular improvements more sales will be made. We shall also train our own engineers who will be capable of fine tuning and diagnosing our most recent designs. By having a well trained and motivated team of technicians and automotive engineers more sales will be sold. REFERENCES Armstrong G. Kotler P. (2007). Consumer Markets: Influences on consumer behavior, Principles of Marketing. Burgelman, R. A. (1983).Corporate Entrepreneurship and strategic management: insights from a Process study. Management Science, 29, 1349-1364. ICMR Case Studies and Management Resources. (2007). Consumer Behavior. Retrieved January 20, 2008 Kotler, P. (2005) Principles of Marketing. New York.Melbourne Press Schaik J.L., (2002); The Task of Marketing Management; J.L. van Schaik (Pity) ltd Winer, R.S. (2007). Marketing Management, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ. How to cite Marketing environment, Essay examples Marketing Environment Free Essays | 2012/13| | Id: 1180654 Allan raisin | [Firms can do more than simply anticipating and responding to both macro and micro environment:-]| Market research is the function that links the consumer, customer, and public to the marketer through information | â€Å"Marketing environment includes all the forces that directly or indirectly influence marketing operations by affecting an organization acquisition of inputs/creation of outputs such as human, financial and natural resources and raw material, information, goods, services or ideas. Sometimes a distinction is more between macro and micro factors of environment† The Structure of the Marketing Environment The consumer occupies the core/central position of all business activities and hence occupies the Centre of the marketing environment. The organization with its resources and having a policy and structure surrounds the consumer with its particular market offering as do its competitors, suppliers and other intermediaries. We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing Environment or any similar topic only for you Order Now This microenvironment of marketing is again affected by the macro environment, which consists of the government, technical, political, social, economic factors. This is graphically represented by below 1. The major external and uncontrollable factors that influence an organization’s decision making, and affect its performance and strategies. These factors include the economic factors; demographics; legal, political, and social conditions; technological changes; and natural forces. 2. Specific examples of macro environment influences include competitors, changes in interest rates, changes in cultural tastes, disastrous weather, or government regulations. PESTLE – Macro Environmental Analysis PESTLE The PESTLE Analysis is a framework used to scan the organization’s external macro environment. The  letters stand for Political, Economic  Socio-cultural, Technological, Legal and Environmental. Some approaches will add in extra factors, such as International, or remove some to reduce it to PEST. However, these are all merely variations on a theme. The important principle is identifying the key  factors from the wider, uncontrollable external environment that might affect the organization. The PESTLE Factors We start with the Political forces. First of all, political factors refer to the stability of the political  environment and the attitudes of political parties or movements. This may manifest in government  influence on tax policies, or government involvement in trading agreements. Political factors are  inevitably entwined with Legal factors such as national employment laws, international trade  regulations and restrictions, monopolies and mergers’ rules, and consumer protection. The difference  between Political and Legal factors is that Political refers to attitudes and approaches, whereas Legal  factors are those which have become law and regulations. Legal needs to be complied with whereas  Political may represent influences, restrictions or opportunities, but they are not mandatory. Economic factors represent the wider economy so may include economic growth rates, levels of  employment and unemployment, costs of raw materials such as energy, petrol and steel, interest rates  and monetary policies, exchange rates and inflation rates. These may also vary from one country to  another. Socio-cultural factors represent the culture of the society that an organization operates within. They  may include demographics, age distribution, population growth rates, level of education, distribution of  wealth and social classes, living conditions and lifestyle. Technological factors refer to the rate of new inventions and development, changes in information and  mobile technology, changes in internet and e-commerce or even mobile commerce, and government  spending on research. There is often a tendency to focus Technological developments on digital and internet-related areas, but it should also include materials development and new methods of  manufacture, distribution and logistics. Environmental impacts can include issues such as limited natural resources, waste disposal and recycling  procedures. Additional Considerations A newer force which is gaining in importance is ethics. These can be defined by the set of moral  principles and values that govern the actions and decisions of an individual or group. Ethics and morals  serve as guidelines on how to act rightly and justly when individuals are faced with moral dilemmas. This force could include corporate social responsibility, fair trade, affiliation between corporations and  charities. A particular problem may exist with how ethical factors relates to legal forces as they may be  at different stages in development. Something may be ethical but not protected by law, whereas other activities may not be ethical, but are legal. A PESTLE analysis should feed into a SWOT analysis as it helps to determine the threats and  opportunities represented by macro-environment forces that the organization usually cannot control. On an international basis, it is best to perform the analysis on a country-by-country basis because  factors can differ greatly between countries (or even regions). Marketing Environment – Micro Marketing Environment – Micro The micro marketing environment consists of certain forces that are part of an organizations marketing process, but remain external to the organization. This micro marketing environment that surrounds organizations can be complex by nature; however the company has an element of control over how it operates within this environment. Marketing helps you to manage and make sense of this complexity. The illustration above summarizes the order of the immediate external marketing environment that businesses operate in. Current and Potential Customers Your customers are vital to the growth and sustainability of your company. In order to grow you must locate customers, understand their needs and then satisfy those needs both efficiently and profitably. Competitors Your competitors however have the same remit as you when it comes to sourcing and satisfying the needs of the customer. They will make it difficult to liaise with customer groups, as by definition they are largely pursuing the same sets of customers as you. As a marketer, you must therefore not only monitor what competitors are doing in the external marketing environment today, but to also anticipate their likely response to your campaigns and to predict what they will do tomorrow. Intermediaries (Distributors/Wholesalers/Retailers) Your business may require a network of wholesalers, distributors and/or retailer. These ‘intermediaries’ provide an invaluable service in getting your products to the customer. You must therefore think carefully about how best to distribute your goods and build relationships. This area can be fierce in competition as not everyone can get access to the channels of distribution that they want. Suppliers One other important area to consider in the external marketing environment is your suppliers. A key supplier can be an important part of your business and may even attribute to your competitive advantage. Losing important suppliers can interrupt production flow or your competitive edge and prevent you from getting your product to your customers. Choice of suppliers, negotiation of terms and relationship building all become important tasks of the marketer. The wider marketing environment, discussed in a separate knowledge sheet, covers all other influences that might provide opportunities or threats to the organization. These include technological development, legal constraints, the economic environment and sociocultural changes. This brief overview of the world in which companies operate in demonstrates that there are many relationships that matter. These need to be managed if the company is to conduct its business successfully. The main responsibility for managing these relationships lies within the marketing department. Using a SWOT SWOT is an important tool in auditing the external and internal environment of the organization. A SWOT Analysis should be more than a basic listing of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Most organizations have the same, common-sense type of threats, such as competitors, technological changes, regulation and deregulation, or weaknesses such as high price, but these are all very general, hard to control elements meaning the utility can be quite limited. As Cranfield’s Professor Malcolm McDonald puts it, real SWOTs should be more concise and specific. STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES, OPPORTUNITIES, AND THREATS Strengths, in the SWOT analysis, are a company’s capabilities and resources that allow it to engage in activities to generate economic value and perhaps competitive advantage. A company’s strengths may be in its ability to create unique products, to provide high-level customer service, or to have a presence in multiple retail markets. Strengths may also be things such as the company’s culture, its staffing and training, or the quality of its managers. Whatever capability a company has can be regarded as strength. A company’s weaknesses are a lack of resources or capabilities that can prevent it from generating economic value or gaining a competitive advantage if used to enact the company’s strategy. There are many examples of organizational weaknesses. For example, a firm may have a large, bureaucratic structure that limits its ability to compete with smaller, more dynamic companies. Another weakness may occur if a company has higher labor costs than a competitor who can have similar productivity from a lower labor cost. The characteristics of an organization that can be strength, as listed above, can also be a weakness if the company does not do them well. Opportunities provide the organization with a chance to improve its performance and its competitive advantage. Some opportunities may be anticipated, others arise unexpectedly. Opportunities may arise when there are niches for new products or services, or when these products and services can be offered at different times and in different locations. For instance, the increased use of the Internet has provided numerous opportunities for companies to expand their product sales. Threats can be an individual, group, or organization outside the company that aims to reduce the level of the company’s performance. Every company faces threats in its environment. Often the more successful companies have stronger threats, because there is a desire on the part of other companies to take some of that success for their own. Threats may come from new products or services from other companies that aim to take away a company’s competitive advantage. Threats may also come from government regulation or even consumer groups. A strong company strategy that shows how to gain competitive advantage should address all four elements of the SWOT analysis. It should help the organization determine how to use its strengths to take advantage of opportunities and neutralize threats. Finally, a strong strategy should help an organization avoid or fix its weaknesses. If a company can develop a strategy that makes use of the information from SWOT analysis, it is more likely to have high levels of performance. Nearly every company can benefit from SWOT analysis. Larger organizations may have strategic-planning procedures in place that incorporate SWOT analysis, but smaller firms, particularly entrepreneurial firms may have to start the analysis from scratch. Additionally, depending on the size or the degree of diversification of the company, it may be necessary to conduct more than one SWOT analysis. If the company has a wide variety of products and services, particularly if it operates in different markets, one SWOT analysis will not capture all of the relevant strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that exist across the span of the company’s operations. LIMITATIONS OF SWOT ANALYSIS One major problem with the SWOT analysis is that while it emphasizes the importance of the four elements associated with the organizational and environmental analysis, it does not address how the company can identify the elements for their own company. Many organizational executives may not be able to determine what these elements are, and the SWOT framework provides no guidance. For example, what if a strength identified by the company is not truly strength? While a company might believe its customer service is strong, they may be unaware of problems with employees or the capabilities of other companies to provide a higher level of customer service. Weaknesses are often easier to determine, but typically after it is too late to create a new strategy to offset them. A company may also have difficulty identifying opportunities. Depending on the organization, what may seem like an opportunity to some may appear to be a threat to others. Opportunities may be easy to overlook or may be identified long after they can be exploited. Similarly, a company may have difficulty anticipating possible threats in order to effectively avoid them. While the SWOT framework does not provide managers with the guidance to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, it does tell managers what questions to ask during the strategy development process, even if it does not provide the answers. Managers know to ask and to determine a strategy that will take advantage of a company’s strengths, minimize its weaknesses, exploit opportunities, or neutralize threats. Some experts argue that making strategic choices for the firm is less important than asking the right questions in choosing the strategy. A company may mistakenly solve a problem by providing the correct answer to the wrong question. USING SWOT ANALYSIS TO DEVELOP ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGY SWOT analysis is just the first step in developing and implementing an effective organizational strategy. After a thorough SWOT analysis, the next step is to rank the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats and to document the criteria for ranking. The company must then determine its strategic fit given its internal capabilities and external environment in a two-by-two grid (see Figure 1). This fit, as determined in the grid, will indicate what strategic changes need to be made. The quadrants in this grid are as follows: * Quadrant 1 —internal strengths matched with external opportunities; * Quadrant 2 —internal weaknesses relative to external opportunities; * Quadrant 3 —internal strengths matched with external threats; and * Quadrant 4 —internal weaknesses relative to external threats. Quadrant 1 lists the strategies associated with a match between the company’s strengths and its perceived external opportunities. It represents the best fit between the company’s resources and the options available in the external market. A strategy from this quadrant would be to protect the company’s strengths by shoring up resources and extending competitive advantage. If a strategy in this quadrant can additionally bolster weaknesses in other areas, such as in Quadrant 2, this would be advantageous. Quadrant 2 lists the strategies associated with a match between the company’s weaknesses with external opportunities. Strategies in this quadrant would address the choice of either improving upon weaknesses to turn them into strengths, or allowing competitors to take advantage of opportunities in the marketplace. Quadrant 3 matches the company’s strengths and external threats. Strategies in this quadrant may aim to transform external threats into opportunities by changing the company’s competitive position through use of its resources or strengths. Another strategic option in this quadrant is for the company to maintain a defensive strategy to focus on more promising opportunities in other quadrants. Quadrant 4 matches a company’s weaknesses and the threats in the environment. These are the worst possible scenarios for an organization. However, because of the competitive nature of the marketplace, any company is likely to have information in this quadrant. Strategies in this quadrant may involve using resources in other quadrants to exploit opportunities to the point that other threats are minimized. Additionally, some issues may be moved out of this quadrant by otherwise neutralizing the threat or by bolstering a perceived weakness. Once a strategy is decided on in each quadrant for the issues facing the company, these strategies require frequent monitoring and periodic updates. An organization is best served by proactively determining strategies to address issues before they become crises. An example of how a firm can develop strategies using these quadrants is as follows. Generic Corporation produces high-quality; high-priced specialty kitchen items in a catalog and in stores and is known for their excellent customer service. This strength has been able to offset its major weaknesses, which are having few stores and no current capabilities for Internet sales. Its major opportunities come from the explosion of Internet shopping, and its threats are other more high-profile competitors, operating primarily on the Internet, and the concerns of identity theft in Internet sales that many customers ha ve. Matching Generic’s strengths to its opportunities (Quadrant 1), the firm may choose to enhance its Internet site to allow online purchases, still providing its excellent 24-hour telephone customer service. Ideally, this strategy will offset the weakness of not having an Internet presence, which addresses the concerns of Quadrant 2. Additionally, by bolstering the strength of excellent customer service by applying it to the online shopping site, the company may be able to alleviate customer concerns about identity theft (Quadrant 3). A strategy for Quadrant 4, which matches the company’s weaknesses and threats, is that Generic may consider selling its online business to a competitor. Certainly, the Quadrant 4 strategy is the least preferred, but a proactive strategy that plans for managing such a situation is favored over a crisis situation in which the company is forced to sell with no planning. A SWOT analysis is a first, but critical, step in developing an organizational strategy. By examining the company’s internal capabilities—its strengths and weaknesses and its external environment—opportunities and threats, it helps to create strategies that can proactively contend with organizational challenges. The changing and uncertain marketing environment deeply affects the organization, instead of changing slowly and predictably, the environment can produce major surprises and shocks, how many managers at â€Å"Heinz† foresaw that the baby-boom numbers would fall so rapidly? How many were able to predict that the Internet will enable not only real-time personal communication but that will also provide a way for business process improvement and new industries would be formed. How many were able to predict that mobile phone SMS and MMS services would add significant value for the customers, some said ‘who would want to type text on the phone or even snap pictures , telephone are only for talking’ To conclude I would say that Marketing research is the function that links the consumer, customer, and public to the marketer through information – these information used to identify and define marketing opportunities and problems; generate, refine, and evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing performance; and improve understanding of marketing as a process. Marketing research specifies the information required to address these issues, designs the methods for collecting information, manages and implements the data collection process, analyzes, and communicates the findings and their implications. † How to cite Marketing Environment, Papers