Monday, January 27, 2020

Principles of Marketing: Bentley Motors

Principles of Marketing: Bentley Motors Marketing strategy with details of the 4 P’s with justification (Bentley Motors): Bentley Motors limited is a British luxury automaker and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Volkswagen AG. Designing, engineering, manufacturing and distribution of luxury motors are the major activities of Bentley Motors. Bentley Motors was established in the year 1919 by W. O. Bentley. This company was founded in Cricklewood near London. Rolls-Royce Motors had acquired this company in the year 1931 and in the year 1998 this company had purchased by Volkswagen AG. Since then this company has been the wholly owned subsidiary of Volkswagen AG (Stephanie, 2013). The marketing strategy of Bentley Motors had been so formulated that the company sells the models of the automobiles through the franchised dealer all over the world. This company had been producing the motors which are considered to be the luxury motors in the global market. The strategic management of the company makes the company to successfully market the models of the cars all over the world. The marketing strategy of Bentley with the 4Ps is as follow; Products: The luxury automobiles of the company satisfy the needs of the customers. The cars models of 4.5 liters became much popular as the vehicle of choice of the population. The luxury cars of this company are designed as per the needs and the demands of the customers. The racing cars designed by this company are also much popular. The Bentley Continental fastback coupe was designed by this company to cater the domestic demands. These models were manufactured with the compilation of many important standardized components. Standard steel saloon, continental models, S-Series, T-series models are some of the well known and popular models of the company (Georges, 2014). Place: The company sells the cars models through the franchised dealers all over the world. China has been a very good market for this company’s cars. The company tries to enter into many emerging markets scattered across the world. After Rolls Royce had purchased Bentley Motors, the later could compete with other competitive and expensive car producing companies in the international market. Price: The cars of this company are of high quality and thus the prices are higher compared to regular use cars. The company focuses on the satisfaction of the customers and tries to cater best quality racing cars and luxury cars. The company could not compromise with the quality and standard of the motors. The high end cars are designed and engineered with the use of technology. The company targets rich section of the society those who consider the quality of the cars with their prices. Promotion: The company implements ethical marketing strategies compromising of effective marketing tools to market the cars in the international market. Proper advertisements, campaigns, promotional schemes and other promotional schemes are practiced to make the product well known to the customers of the world. The logo of the company is a symbol of status and prestige for the customers (milesperhr, 2012). Briefly discuss about the Integrated Marketing Communion (IMC) to become more competitive: Integrated Marketing Communication or IMC is the tool to understand the marketing communication strategies in the light of innovation and innovative strategies. IMC helps to formulate such strategies which could solve different types of the business issues through the collaboration with the international companies and the rivals in the market. The IMC strategies help the companies to become more competitive in the market and to make them cost effective in the competitive world. The companies could implement the IMC strategies in both the conventional and non conventional marketing media. The companies could implement these strategies in making the promotional methods to make them more effective and efficient towards successful achievement of the organizational goals. There had been several changes in the modes of communicating with the customers. These continuous changes have been possible because of the consistent conduction of the research and development in the field of marketing strategies (bentleymotors, 2014). There had been various positive shifts from the conventional marketing strategies to interactive marketing, from Mass Media to some kinds of Specialized Media, from Low Accountability in marketing to high Accountability in marketing spend, from limited connectivity to persuasive connectedness. These shifts had made the Integrated Marketing Communication so much effective to make the goal of customer orientation possible by the companies. The various components of IMC which are implemented in the marketing strategies of different companies are the following: Organizational culture The mission, vision, goal and objectives together build the organizational culture. Four Cs in Marketing Mix- Consumer, Cost, Convenience, Communication The most important components of the marketing strategies are described here. The consumers are the target segment; cost and convenience decide the price of the products and the distribution channels to be formulated. Finally the communication is the important tool of intimating the customers about the products. Advertising: The advertising includes various media like broadcasting, commercial ads, outdoor advertising, online advertisement which is also gaining much popularity now a days. The companies can put advertisements in different auction sites, social networking sites and classified ads are also there in the newsletters etc. Direct marketing: Another important tool of communicating is direct marketing where the customers could be interacted directly through different channels like direct mails, telemarketing, shopping channels, internet sites, websites, mobile messages, outdoor advertising etc. The seller could come into direct connection with the buyers through direct marketing (Panerai, 2015). E-Commerce: E-Commerce includes Search engine optimization, Mobile marketing, content marketing, social media like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. The components of E-Commerce are making the marketing more effective and useful. Public Relations: The companies could interact with the target segment through creating an effective public relation strategy. The companies could communicate through special events, interviews, conferences, charity involvement etc. Promotions: There are various promotional tools which are to be implemented by the companies. The promotional schemes include contests, coupons. Product samples, prizes etc (milesperhr, 2012). Corporate volunteering: Now a day the companies are getting engaged in donations, volunteering and many other charitable actions. References: bentleymotors. (2014, August 28). Bentley Looks to the Future with new Skills Programme. Retrieved from bentleymotors: http://www.bentleymotors.com/en/world-of-bentley/our-story/news/2014/bentley-new-skills-programme.html Georges, C. (2014, September 09). In Conversation With Christophe Georges, President CEO, Bentley Motors Inc. Retrieved from luxurysociety: http://luxurysociety.com/articles/2014/09/in-conversation-with-christophe-georges-president-ceo-bentley-motors-inc milesperhr. (2012, March 01). Bentley Motors Campaign Plan. Retrieved from milesperhr: http://www.milesperhr.com/tag/bentley-marketing/ Panerai, F. (2015, February 18). Bentley motors. Retrieved from slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/FiammaPanerai/bentley-motors-art Stephanie, A. (2013, October 02). Bentley company case. Retrieved from slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/aguness/bentley-company-case

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Osteology: Estimating Femur Length from the Diameter of the Femoral Shaft

School of Biological & Earth Sciences BIEGN3005 Honours Project March 2010 Student name: Stephen Dempsey Supervisor name: Professor Alan Turner Estimating femur length from the diameter of the femoral shaft Stephen Dempsey BIEGN300 Honours Project Person Number: 343106 Submission Date: 5th March 2010 Abstract Bone lengths can be used to provide stature estimations in case of unidentified skeletal remains, an important tool in forensic and bioarchaelogical cases. Where the bones are broken or fragmented, regression equations can be used to estimate total bone length from its fragments, which in turn can be used to estimate stature.The aim of this study was to test 2 new measurements of the femoral shaft to see if they could be used as predictors of maximum femoral length. The minimum transverse femoral shaft diameter and the minimum anterior-posterior femoral shaft where measured on a small sample of an archaeological population from Poulton, Cheshire, along with the maximum femur len gth for each sample. Simple linear regression analysis was performed and the results showed that the minimum transverse femoral shaft diameter correlated significantly in both males (R2=. 635, p=0. 006) and females (R2=0. 8, p=? 0. 001) with maximum femur length. The minimum anterior-posterior femoral shaft diameter showed no significant correlation with maximum femur length. Subsequently, regression equations were presented for the significant correlations. Further research is needed to validate the results and to improve the accuracy of the method. 1. Introduction The role of a forensic anthropologist in forensic and archaeological cases is to establish demographics (population affinity, age, sex and stature), time since death and cause of death from an individual’s remains (Chibba et al, 2006).The use of stature as a biological characteristic of identity can significantly contribute to the identification of unknown skeletal remains. Numerous areas of the skeleton have been used to try and determine an individual’s living height such as the upper limb bones (Rao et al. 1989), lower limb bones (Trotter and Gleeson, 1952), the metatarsals (Cordiero et al, 2009) and the skull (Ryan and Bidmos, 2007). Hauser et al. (2005) provide a good review of the past research in the area of stature estimation. One of the methods used in the estimation of stature is the formulation of regression equations from measurements of various bone lengths.Pearson (1899) was the first to derive regression equations for estimating stature, and since then it has grown to be the method of choice among most anthropologists. Many of the methods used to approximate stature require complete or near complete bones, so consequently few studies have been done on incomplete or fragmentary bones (Bidmos, 2008). Forensic anthropologists are often confronted with fragmented bones and in these cases it is impossible to derive regression equations directly from bone length (Rao et al. 9 89). Wright and Vasquez (2003) state the problems they faced in Guatemala in which they were often unable to estimate stature from bone length due to the rapid deterioration of bone in the tropical environment. This is only one of many factors that lead to the all too frequent recovery of broken or fragmented remains. Therefore it is beneficial to have equations available for bone length or stature derived from measurements of smaller segments or landmarks on the chosen bone.The femur is the favoured bone of use among anthropologists in estimating stature, due to its high correlation with height in addition to the fact that it is one of bones most often recovered (Simmons et al. 1990). A number of measurements of the femur have already been reported to have good correlations with femur length. Many of these measurements focus on the proximal and distal ends of the femur such as the upper epicondylar length, epicondylar breath, vertical neck diameter and the bicondylar breathe (Braue r, 1988), yet few have focused on measurements of the femoral shaft.This pilot study looks to test the validity of 2 measurements from the femoral shaft as predictors of maximum femoral length. The points of reference chose on the femur are the minimum transverse femoral shaft diameter (TRD) and the minimum anterior-posterior diameter (APD) of the femoral shaft. The samples being used are that of an archaeological population recovered from a medieval cemetery in Poulton, Cheshire. The aim is to use linear regression analysis to test the assumption that there is a significant correlation between these measurements and the maximum femoral length.A further aim is to produce regression equations that can be used on other skeletal remains from the Poulton collection for estimating maximum femur length. 2. Materials and Methods 2. 1 Samples The samples used in this study were obtained from the Poulton collection housed at Liverpool John Morres University. Due to the small size of the coll ection at present and the poor condition of some of the bones, a total number of 18 left sided femora were selected for use in the study. These femora were chosen on the basis of completeness and measurability.All the samples were obtained from adults skeletal remains and the number of male and females femora was 10 and 8 respectively. 2. 2 Measurements The following 3 measurements were taken on each of the 18 samples: i. Maximum length of the femur (MAXL) ii. Minimum anterior-posterior femoral shaft diameter (APD) iii. Minimum transverse femoral shaft diameter (TRD) The MAXL measurement was taken as described by Brauer (1988). The APD and TRD measurements were taken as described by Ziylin and Mursid (2002). The MAXL was measured using an osteometric board.The APD and TRD were measured using a sliding callipers with an accuracy of 0. 1 mm. Linear regression analysis was carried using the SPSS statistic program to see if any correlation existed between the measurements taken of the f emoral shaft (APD and TRD) and the maximum length of the femur. All analysis was carried out separately for males and females on the advice of Trotter and Gleser (1952) who state the specificity of such measurements in relation to sex. 3. Results The descriptive statistics for males and females are shown in Table 1. Males showed the highest mean values of each of the 3 measurements taken.Males also showed the higher standard deviations in respect to MAXL and APD, with females showing a higher standard deviation for TRD. Table 1 Descriptive statistics for measurements of male and female left femora. All descriptive values are given in mm. Measurements| Male| Female| | N| Mean| Std. dev| N| Mean | Std. dev| MAXL| 10| 466. 60| 16. 965| 8| 429. 13| 11. 643| TRD| 10| 27. 910| 1. 365| 8| 24. 725| 1. 752| APD| 10| 28. 190| 2. 497| 8| 27. 138| 1. 840| Table 2 shows the results of the linear regression analysis that was performed. Both APD and TRD were regressed against MAXL according to sex .The analysis showed that the variable APD showed no significant correlation to MAXL for males (R2=0. 154, P=0. 262) or females (R2=0. 044, P=0. 619). TRD provided more positive results showing a moderate significant correlation in respect to males (R2=0. 635, P=0. 006), and a strong significant correlation in respect to females (R2=0. 88, P=0. 01 (Table 2) and the standard error of the estimated being

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Book Report †Fault in Our Stars Essay

Meaning of the title: â€Å"The fault, dear Brutus is not in our stars, / But in ourselves, that we are underlings.† was said in Shakespeare’s play ‘Julius Caesar’. Saying that it is not fate that decides our future, but instead our own failings. That you are to blame for the bad thing that happen in your life. But the title ‘The Fault in our Stars’ says that sometimes it’s not our fault; things happen in life, sometimes we can’t control it; there will be problems along the way, and we just have to deal with it. Brief summary: Hazel, an average teenager who thinks she is going to die. She was diagnosed with cancer when she was young, and has trouble with her lungs. She then met a boy called Augustus in the Support Group. Augustus only had one leg because he had had osteosarcoma (A type of bone cancer). Hazel also made another friend called Issac who eventually went blind. Augustus and her shared common interests like the book called‘An Imperial Affliction’. They went on adventures to Amsterdam to visit an author that Hazel idolizes. On their trip, they had some physical relations. However meeting the author wasn’t exactly what Hazel and Augustus had expected. Later on Issac dies, then Augustus’s cancer later returns†¦ Style of Writing: The story is written in Hazel’s point of view – who is the narrator of the story. The writing in this book is easy to follow because it’s written in a conversational way. As if the reader was the protagonist. The book uses a lot of fascinating sentences and phrases to express the feelings and thoughts of Hazel Grace. The author likes using dialogues to tell the story. Character: The characters are quite believable because they are like any type of average teenager. However they have to deal with a small problem in their health affecting a big part of their life. The characters are very realistically portrayed and I think the author did a great job in describing the different characters. Plot: The plot is quite believable as it is not fiction. As readers, we can sometimes relate to the situations or even feel what the characters are feeling throughout the book. There are a lot of plot twists in the novel, so the reader would not know what is about to happen. This gives the story line more suspense and builds tension throughout the scenario. Recommendation: I would recommend this book to young adults, because there is an incredible plot twist in the book which mesmerizes the reader and gives them grief. Making them want to be the protagonist of the story. The characters are about our age, and sometimes us teenagers or young adults can connect to what the characters in the book are going through. This book has a powerful story line which emphasize the life of how two teenagers are fighting cancer, which has inspired and touch the teens heart.

Friday, January 3, 2020

Who Were the Mensheviks and Bolsheviks

The Mensheviks and Bolsheviks were factions within the Russian Social-Democratic Workers’ Party during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They aimed to bring revolution to Russia by following the ideas of socialist theoretician Karl Marx (1818–1883). One group, the Bolsheviks, successfully seized power in the Russian Revolution of 1917, aided by a combination of Lenins cold-hearted drive and the Mensheviks utter stupidity. Origins of the Split In 1898, Russian Marxists had organized the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party; this was illegal in tsarist Russia itself, as were all political parties. A congress was organized but had only nine socialist attendees at most, and these were quickly arrested. In 1903, the Party held a second congress to debate events and actions with just over fifty people. Here, Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) argued for a party composed only of professional revolutionaries, to give the movement a core of experts rather than a mass of amateurs; he was opposed by a faction led by Julius or L. Martov (two pseudonyms of Yuly  Osipovich Tsederbaum 1873–1923) who wanted a model of mass membership like other, western European social-democratic parties. The result was a division between the two camps. Lenin and his supporters gained a majority on the central committee and, even though it was only a temporary majority and his faction was firmly in the minority, they took for themselves the name Bolshevik, meaning ‘Those of the Majority. Their opponents, the faction led by Martov, thus became known as Mensheviks, ‘Those of the Minority,’ despite being the overall larger faction. This split was not initially seen as either a problem or a permanent division, although it puzzled grassroots socialists in Russia. Almost from the start, the split was over being for or against Lenin, and the politics formed around this. Divisions Expand The Mensheviks argued against Lenin’s centralized, dictatorial party model. Lenin and the Bolsheviks argued for socialism by revolution, while the Mensheviks argued for the pursuit of democratic goals. Lenin wanted socialism to be put in immediate place with only one revolution, but the Mensheviks were willing—indeed, they believed it necessary—to work with middle class/bourgeois groups to create a liberal and capitalist regime in Russia as an early step to a later socialist revolution. Both were involved in the 1905 revolution and the workers council known as the St. Petersburg Soviet, and the Mensheviks tried to work in the resulting Russian Duma. The Bolsheviks only joined later Dumas when Lenin had a change of heart; they also raised funds through overtly criminal acts. The split in the party was made permanent in 1912 by Lenin, who formed his own Bolshevik party. This was particularly small and alienated many former Bolsheviks, but regrew in popularity among ever more radicalized workers who saw the Mensheviks as too safe. The worker’s movements experienced a renaissance in 1912 after the massacre of five hundred miners at a protest on the Lena River, and thousands of strikes involving millions of workers followed. However, when the Bolsheviks opposed World War I and Russian efforts in it, they were made pariahs in the socialist movement, which mostly decided to actually support the war at first! The Revolution of 1917 Both Bolsheviks and Mensheviks were active in Russia in the lead up to and events of the February Revolution of 1917. At first, the Bolsheviks supported the Provisional Government and considered merging with the Mensheviks, but then Lenin arrived back from exile and stamped his views firmly on the party. Indeed, while the Bolsheviks were riven by factions, it was Lenin who always won and gave direction. The Mensheviks divided over what to do, and the Bolsheviks—with one clear leader in Lenin—found themselves growing in popularity, aided by Lenin’s positions on peace, bread, and land. They also gained supporters because they remained radical, anti-war, and separate from the ruling coalition which was seen to fail. Bolshevik membership grew from a couple of tens of thousands at the time of the first revolution to over a quarter of a million by October. They gained majorities on key Soviets and were in a position to seize power in October. And yet... there came a crucial moment when a Soviet Congress called for a socialist democracy, and Mensheviks angry at Bolshevik actions got up and walked out, allowing the Bolsheviks to dominate and use the Soviet as a cloak. It was these Bolsheviks who would form the new Russian government and transform into the party which ruled until the end of the Cold War, although it went through several name changes and shed most of the original key revolutionaries. The Mensheviks tried to organize an opposition party, but they were crushed in the early 1920s. Their walkouts doomed them to destruction. Sources and Further Reading Brovkin, Vladimir N. The Mensheviks after October: Socialist Opposition and the Rise of the Bolshevik Dictatorship. Ithaca NY: Cornell University Press, 1987.Broido, Vera. Lenin And The Mensheviks: The Persecution Of Socialists Under Bolshevism.  Hallett Carr, Edward. The Bolshevik Revolution, 3 vols. New York: W. W. Norton Company, 1985. London: Routledge, 2019.