Introduction
This paper to offer a strategic recommendation based on findings from a case involving two divisions as viewed using a BCG matrix where the electric division can be located at the upper right quadrant of the matrix while the appliance division is on the lower left hand of the matrix.
Analysis and Discussion
When a division is on the upper light hand of the BCG matrix, it is said to be under the question mark cell, where is there is high market growth but a low market share. The strategy appropriate under the cell or quadrant is to build or divest the division. To build here means to invest for the purpose of increasing market share even foregoing short term earnings to attain the objective (Kotler, 1994; Churchill, Jr. and Peter, 1995). This strategy would have the effect of converting questions marks starts. However if the market share could not be improved for one reason or the other and the company cannot sustain the loss of profitability, the company is advised strategically to divest the division. The objective of divesting is to sell or liquidate the division because resources can be used better elsewhere (Kotler, 1994).
On the other hand, the appearance of the appliance division at the lower left hand indicates that the division is under cash cow cell where there is high market share and low market growth rate. This usually happens when the annual growth rate of the division or industry falls to less than 10% but it has still large relative market share (Kotler, 1994). At it produces a lot for cash for the company, the company is advised strategically to hold or harvest and not to invest further because market growth rate has slowed down.
As to reliance of findings based on the use of BCG, it must be noted that there are limitations for the use of the model (Kotler, 1994). These limitations include the fact the any recommendation based on the two factors may be insufficient and therefore there is a need to use other models or measurements either confirm or deny the findings. One model that may be used for further the analysis and to include other factors other than market share and market growth rates before the decision should be made is the general electric (GE) model (Kotler, 1994). The GE model however assigns different weights to various other factors that must first be identified. This time the two dimensions in the GE include market attractiveness and business strength and the two BCG factors of market share and market growth rate are subsumed under the two variables of the GE model. The decision that would be made using GE model would depend on weight assigned to factors and by plotting the points to model, the decisions of to build or to divest for electronic division may change depending on the totality of all the factors. The same is also possible under the cash cow position of the appliance division under BCG which may not necessarily be advised to hold or to harvest under GE model.
Conclusion
The use of BCG and GE models are just tools for making strategic decision (Byars, 1991; Cooper, 2000) and would require management the identification and weighing in of important factors for decision making. The models may, however, fail to regard the synergies of two or more divisions by forcing a choice of one over the other. If there are however data supporting the analysis using the models, management would be more strategic than deciding merely on the basis of impressions. In the instant case, to divest or to build is recommended for electronic division and to hold or harvest is recommended for appliance division under the BCG matrix.
References
Byars, L. (1991) Strategic Management, Formulation and Implementation – Concepts and Cases, New York: HarperCollins.
Churchill, Jr. and Peter (1995) Marketing, Creating Value for Customers, IRWIN, Sydney, Australia.
Cooper, L. (2000) Strategic marketing planning for radically new products, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 64 Issue 1, pp.1-15.
Kotler (1994), Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning, Implementation, and Control, Prentice Hall, USA.
“To The Young Wife” By Charlotte Anna Perkins Gilman.
Introduction
Charlotte Anna Perkins Gilman was a staunch supporter of women’s rights and development and was really not recognized as a major author of fiction and poetry until the 1960s.She was born in 1860 in Hartford, Connecticut and wrote book length non-fiction tracts in support of women. She dies in 1935 without recognition as an artist. Her short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper” is rather autobiographical as she suffered such “treatment” for post-partum depression herself. It details a woman’s descent into madness from the combination of the illness and the treatment. Her poetry is rather didactic, but well written and certainly served the author’s purpose and addressed her target audience.
Analysis
The form of the poem is traditional, iambic pentameter with four line verses in an ABBA rhyme pattern. She uses very ordinary language, quite different for poets of her time to express her feelings about the duty of all women. She wanted to stir women to action on their own behalf, to lift them about the secondary existence of wife/mother in a patriarchal society.
She addresses her audience directly and uses light sarcasm to point out that their lives are quite limited, though society used flowery words to persuade otherwise: Queen of the house (line8: queen of a cook-stove throne). She used an image of lines of other “queens” on all sides, each “fastened in her place” to point out the severely limited lives they led.
Next, she appeals to the women’s duty to their children, especially the girls, to make sure that their lives will be better. She reminds the audience of the dreams of girlhood, before the reality of the limited role of women could squash them, dreams of changing the world.
In the last verse she points out that it is the “throne” with all its limitations that holds women back, keeps them working as unpaid slaves in a limited life that helps neither husband, children nor the world at large.
We can imagine this poem almost as a political speech for women’s suffrage. She points out that women are denied education, and are kept “in their places”, bound by society’s mores and tradition and their own fear or indifference. She uses the metaphor of fake royalty throughout the poem almost in a lightly sarcastic way, saying it is a handy excuse for inaction. She points out that women largely worked alone in their homes, hinting at collective action perhaps.
The author is very present as a character in this poem, speaking directly to the audience of women. Nothing in this poem is aimed at men, and she may have expected that men would never read it. After all, women were not seriously published at this time. Any woman achieving greatness was seen as an anomaly, maybe even a freak. However, this was all to support the patriarchal culture, keeping the real power “safely” in the hands of men. She calls the “woman” who personifies her audience “Untaught ….., untrained, perplexed, distressed”. Women were not usually educated, except at the higher levels of society, and these women were educated in order to make them better partners for their husbands, more interesting as companions and better mothers. They were not expected to really do anything else.
The author presents opposing contrasts throughout the poem:
- Live on what your loving husband loves to give: and give to him your life.
- To clean things dirty and to soil things clean.
- To be a kitchen-maid, be called a queen.
- A wooden palace and a yard-fenced land.
- Losing no love, but finding as you grew.
- Your paltry queenship in that narrow place: Your antique labours, your restricted space.
- Your wifely bond: the mother’s royal power.
These contrasts point out the illusions of power in the women’s lives. At that period in history, the husband literally owned his wife and all her possessions. A wife could not sign a legal document nor borrow money without her husband’s permission and signature. This was still so until the late seventies in many states. All kinds of inequalities existed and they were enforced within the “bonds” of marriage.
Conclusion
In verse seven (lines 21-24) the author makes a very strong statement that she thinks women can and should make the world a different place. She hints that it is their duty to move out of their limited roles as wives and mothers and take a hand in running the world.
For its time, this poem was quite different in its simple direct style and it was inflammatory too. It might have been written to accompany some of the theoretical political work of the author for women’s rights.
To The Young Wife
- Are you content, you pretty three-years’ wife?
- Are you content and satisfied to live
- On what your loving husband loves to give,
- And give to him your life?
- Are you content with work, – to toil alone,
- To clean things dirty and to soil things clean;
- To be a kitchen-maid, be called a queen, –
- Queen of a cook-stove throne?
- Are you content to reign in that small space –
- A wooden palace and a yard-fenced land –
- With other queens abundant on each hand,
- Each fastened in her place?
- Are you content to rear your children so?
- Untaught yourself, untrained, perplexed, distressed,
- Are you so sure your way is always best?
- That you can always know?
- Have you forgotten how you used to long
- In days of ardent girlhood, to be great,
- To help the groaning world, to serve the state,
- To be so wise – so strong?
- And are you quite convinced this is the way,
- The only way a woman’s duty lies –
- Knowing all women so have shut their eyes?
- Seeing the world to-day?
- Having no dream of life in fuller store?
- Of growing to be more than that you are?
- Doing the things you know do better far,
- Yet doing others – more?
- Losing no love, but finding as you grew
- That as you entered upon nobler life
- You so became a richer, sweeter wife,
- A wiser mother too?
- What holds you? Ah, my dear, it is your throne,
- Your paltry queenship in that narrow place,
- Your antique labours, your restricted space,
- Your working all alone!
- Be not deceived! ‘Tis not your wifely bond
- That holds you, nor the mother’s royal power,
- But selfish, slavish service hour by hour –
- A life with no beyond!
Effective Communication: Email Etiquette Definition
Introduction
Electronic mail or email is one of the most popular ways of communication in recent times. It allows for almost instantaneous communication with anyone online. Due to the rapid speed with which information is transferred through email, it is possible for users to make mistakes or violate the societal norms of the electronic world. Many times emails are often susceptible to misinterpretation as feelings such as humor sarcasm and anger are not always properly conveyed through email. A decade ago, Barbara Pachter, an etiquette expert and author of “New Rules @ Work” told students, “E-mail is a word document that can and will come back to haunt you”(Robinson, 2008, p. 85). The possibilities for error via e-mail are endless, though if properly executed, email can lead to better communication and responses. Thus it is very important to know about email etiquette in order to communicate efficiently and speedily in tune with the changing times.
Tips for writing emails
According to the tips given by Grand Valley State University, it is important that the email address is professional sounding for professional emails (GVSU, 2008). Odd formatting and excessive letters or numbers should be avoided as they can confuse readers. Using funny nicknames can backfire and embarrass the sender. The best way to design an email address is to incorporate the name or initials in an easily identifiable way. Apart from having a professional-sounding email address, it is also important to have a dependable email service where there will be no change to email address frequently (GVSU, 2008).
The subject line of the email is very important from the reader’s point of view and often helps the reader to decide whether the email should be opened immediately or not. Howard Feiertag (2004) says: “Two things tell me a lot and help me determine if I want to read the message: I want to know who the mail is from and what the subject is” (p. 1). In addition, the subject line will help in filing and retrieving the mail after a long time. The subject line should be very specific and concise. It should provide a brief description of the contents of the email. Informal subject lines such as “Hey,” “What’s up?” or “How ya doin?” may be mistaken to contain a virus, spotted by antivirus software and deleted or flagged (Feiertag, 2004). Some examples of professional-sounding and specific subject lines are: Job enquiry for director post; Discussion about seminar; Doubts about the assignment; etc.
The body of the message should be carefully written like any normal letter, drafter, reread and spell checked before sending out the email. The message should be written as concisely as possible but it must include all necessary information including the name in full. To improve ease of reading, it is best to skip a line between paragraphs rather than indenting (Miller, 2002). If the email is about inviting someone to a meeting it is important that the purpose of the meeting is mentioned clearly. If the matter to be conveyed is lengthy it must be typed in a Word Document and sent as an attachment. Feiertag says that sales proposals are best sent as attachments whereas an announcement or a promotion piece can be included within the body of the message (Feiertag, 2004). However, it must be ensured that the attachments are in a form that can be easily opened and the right documents are attached (Kline, 2006).
If the sender does not have frequent access to check emails, then he or she should provide an alternate source of communication such as a phone number. John A. Kline suggests that if the sender is in doubt, he should never forward or copy messages sent to him without asking permission from the original sender. Such etiquette as seeking permission will communicate respect for the persons asked (Kline, 2006). Moreover, harmful, defamatory emails should never be sent.
Signature lines are important and business people can have signature reference that includes name, title, company, address, phone number, Web site, and even a promotional message. However, automatic signatures with excessive quotations or inside jokes must be avoided and generally, the information included in the signature must be appropriate to the recipient (Feiertag, 2004).
Email etiquette
Email etiquette demands that the sender should avoid writing in all capital letters as it is equivalent to yelling at the reader. Moreover, it’s hard to read text that is written using all capital letters. However, the first letters of proper nouns and the first word over every sentence should be capitalized as in normal essay writing. It is best to avoid informal abbreviations such as IMHO, LOL, b/c, or emoticons as it gives the email a very unprofessional look and these short forms are not comprehensible to all readers.
There are many people who regularly send email jokes or a newsletter to a large number of people at the same time. In such cases, it is important to hide the recipient list to avoid clutter and also to ensure privacy (Kline, 2006). Some E-mail programs have an option for hiding recipients in the Cc field, but people do it in different ways, depending on the software used. One interesting event in this context took place in 1997 when John Perry Barlow, a person with wide celebrity contacts accidentally forgot to hide the recipients on his ”BarlowFriendz” list when sending one of his periodic dispatches. As a result, several hundred private E-mail addresses, including those of John F. Kennedy Jr. and the actress Darryl Hannah, were exposed to every person on the list. Barlow had to apologize to each one of them separately (Hafner, 1998).
Features of using email
Frequent E-mail users distinguish between being included in the To field and being included in the Cc field. It is commonly perceived that the sender considers the person important if he includes his name in the To field and as bystanders if name is in the Cc field. ”I feel obliged to get into the fray if I’m part of the To field,” said Daphne Kis, president, and chief executive of Edventure Holdings, an information services and venture-capital firm in New York (Hafner, 1998). The Bcc feature for sending blind copies that is hidden from the view of the recipient in the To field is very misleading. Guy Hoffman, chief executive of Deja News says that it is equivalent to recording a call without informing the other party and hence illegal.
The Reply function also has its drawbacks. When the reply function is used, the text of the previous message and all messages preceding it is included. The result is a long message with history. Sometimes, this history is essential to add more meaning to the message. When someone is following up and enquiry through email, including the message history, helps the recipient to understand what had happened earlier. But including it, every time can be irritating to the reader. The Reply to All function can create a lot of hostility within groups and hence it is best avoided. When the Redirect function is used, it leaves the original sender’s name in the From field, and hence when recipients reply to the message, the reply makes a beeline for the original sender, not for the person who redirected the message. When someone uses Forward to send a message, it is possible to reply directly back to the sender and not to the original creator of the email.
It is important to send important emails only when the sender is in a stable mood. If emails are written in a foul mood, it is better to save them for proofreading and sending later. Such messages may be composed in Word or Notepad or in some other format where they won’t be sent by mistake (Kline, 2006).
According to Stacy Brice, president and chief visionary officer of AssistU, it is best to avoid dealing with conflicts or criticism via e-mail as they can cause “hard feelings, decrease morale and create a poor team environment within a company” (Miller, 2002, p. 1). Brice also holds that using email to discuss conflicts is a very one-sided way of dealing as the sender alone gets the chance to voice his or her side of an issue, and “carbon-copying other superiors when dealing with conflict is also an unprofessional act and should be avoided” (Miller, 2002, p. 1). Illysa Izenberg, managing principal of Strategy Training Partners LLC, points to the fact that the message can be distorted and felt to be harsh, if the email is written in a curt manner. Izenberg says, in the context of emails from employers to employees, praise can be done over email but not criticism. She also says that emails give a false sense of privacy as most of the emails are monitored by the companies.
Conclusion
Emails are today the most popular and easiest way of communication and can be used effectively for all types of communication purposes. However, communication can be said to be effective only if the appropriate response to the message is received and such a response to an email can be had only if email etiquette is followed. If simple rules are ignored, emails can be misinterpreted, can lead to hard feelings, and can cause emotional turmoil and needless embarrassment. However, by following simple rules of email etiquette, people can fully exploit the advantages of email communication.
Bibliography
GVSU (2008). Email Etiquette. Grand Valley State University. Web.
Hafner, Kate (1998). Tracking the Evolution of E-Mail Etiquette. The New York Times. 2008. Web.
Feiertag, Howard (2004). Proper e-mail etiquette can make or break sales efforts. Hotel & Motel Management.
Robinson, M. Tennille (2008). Before You Hit Send: Crafting Workplace E-Mails to Avoid Mishaps. Black Enterprise. Volume: 38. Issue: 6.
Kline, A. John (2006). E-mail Etiquette. Armed Forces Comptroller.
Miller, Bruce (2002). Learning the etiquette of e-mail before hitting send. Daily Record. The Baltimore. Web.