Beyonce target market report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Beyonce target market report - Essay Example Doing this led to a different way to turn imperfect competition into one that was based around moving outside of the competition. The more that different individuals could become a target the more likely they would be able to respond to the products and services in a positive manner (Wedel, 2000). The concept of market segmentation is used for several reasons within the market. The foundation of this is to create a strategy within a corporation and outside of a business for the right responses. When a business has an undifferentiated market, which doesn’t focus on the characteristics of demographics and individuals, then it may not be able to reach them as well. When a market is segmented, it is able to create a different approach which targets individuals that are in need of a product or service. More importantly, the segment is able to move outside of other competitors who have similar products or services. As this is done, there is the ability to create a different approach to the business and to the needs of specific individuals (Dickson, Ginter, 1987). The concept of multidimensional segmentation can be combined with the main aims that are used within different companies. When looking at different levels of purchase behavior and the way that potential customers respond to a specific concept, there is the ability to create different products or services that relate to the individuals needs. Doing this is able to create a specific understanding of what is occurring in the market as well as what the behaviors are of those that are a part of the market (Blattberg, Sen, 1974). The target market that will be used is in relation to the singer, Beyonce. Beyonce is a renowned R&B artist from the US and has won several Grammys through her music, acting and modeling. Beyonce began her career through the R&B band, Destiny’s Child, which gained prestige throughout America. She then broke into a solo artist that was able to create a

Examples of Target Market Essay Example for Free

Examples of Target Market Essay According to Adventure Travel in Canada in 1993, 45% of adventure travelers in Manitoba were couples, while the second largest segment was friends with 29. 3%. Solo travelers, families, and businesses made up 15. 1%, 11. 4%, and 4. 7% respectively. The typical adventure traveler was predominantly male (54. 4%) between 19-34 years of age, with 30. 2% of customers traveling with friends or leisure groups. Climb Kenora Co. feels that the industry will continue to grow because rock climbing has entered the mainstream of activity. It is no longer looked at as an activity for the elite. With the opening of indoor climbing facilities, anyone can climb. Climb Kenora Co. feels that business can be gained from the people that have climbed indoors and want to try climbing on real rock. People would choose to climb, so that they can experience something new. In 1993, rock climbing operations accounted for over 12,988 traveler days. Roughly 22% of travelers had previously chosen the same firm. The customer wants to have a good time, at a good price. The main target market for Climb Kenora Co. is male and female persons who are between the age of 18 and 50, traveling with spouse, family and/or friends. In the Winnipeg area alone, there are 139,487 males and 141,265 females in the target market age group. The second group of people that Climb Kenora Co. will target is overworked executives and people in managerial positions who need to get away from their jobs. Large companies that want to build up team spirit through a weekend of fun will also be targeted. In Manitoba, there are about 23,307 males and 13,320 females in executive or managerial positions according to FP Markets Canadian Demographics. There are two levels of ability that make up the target market for Climb Kenora Co. hese fall under the categories of novice and intermediate. Novice climbers would consist of people who have not climbed before or have very little experience. This group of people are looking to try something new and have a good time. Intermediate climbers would consist of people who have climbed before but do not have the proper knowledge, skill, or gear to go out on their own. This group is looking to do more climbing than those in the novice category. Geographically Climb Kenora Co. will focus on Manitoba, which is generally flat, and offers little in the way of outdoor climbing options. Target Market  Your Mix plans to service the consumer market of music fans in North Kildonan, East Kildonan, Transcona, and East St. Paul. According to The Herald, this area has 39,222 residents. Your Mix’s possible market is not limited to a certain nationality, sex, or marital status. The ideal customers are not music fanatics, but are busy individuals with a part time interest in music. Anyone who owns a personal CD player (eg. Sony Discman) or car CD player is also a target for Your Mix. This group is in great need of a service that combines only well liked songs onto one CD because of its convenience. Anyone driving home from work shouldn’t be bothered with searching through piles of CD’s to find their favorite songs. Not only is it a nuisance, but it is dangerous by diverting attention from the road. Theft is also a problem with CD’s. An automobile with one Your Mix CD is less likely to get broken into than one with five or ten CD’s scattered around its interior. By using Your Mix, the amount of CD’s to search through, the large number of CD’s lying around the car, and the hassle of many CD’s with only a few good songs is reduced. At seasonal times of the year, such as Valentines Day and Christmas, couples will also be targeted. A personalized CD of special and meaningful songs a couple has shared is a unique and original gift for spouses, girlfriends, and boyfriends. There are different music interest levels for the possible customers of Your Mix. Music listeners can be classified into three categories: Novice, Average, and Extreme. Novice listeners are primarily song oriented rather than artist dependent. This means that who and what they listen to is dictated by radio and television air play. This group makes up the majority of music listeners because of the easy accessibility and popularity of the radio, and they tend to fall between the ages of 12 – 35. Since the radio promotes songs that are released as â€Å"singles†, which are usually the best or only good songs on an album, radio listeners are more likely to buy CD’s on an impulse and desire to sell that CD when they realize the rest of it isn’t as good. In an effort to gain listeners, radio stations push popular songs into heavy rotation until they become unpopular which ensures that favorites and #1 songs become old faster. This decreases the time it will take for this group to tire of the music. Therefore, the novice listeners who are most susceptible to radio fluctuations in airplay and buy many CD’s impulsively without hearing the entire CD first, are most likely to desire a service that puts only the songs they choose onto one CD. Average listeners have distinct favorite artists, which they follow religiously. They are also interested in other music but are only partially influenced by current trends while remaining faithful and spending the majority of their money on their favorite artist(s). This includes owning all available CD’s and merchandise from that artist. The majority of these listeners tend to be slightly older from age 28 – 70, with the age group being dictated by older bands who have put out more albums. Average listeners are interested in bands that have proved themselves over a number of years, and don’t have just one album or hit song. They would benefit from a service like Your Mix, because it allows them to customize the songs they love by their favorite artist, in as many combinations as they desire. This could include combining songs from their favorite live album, the new album, as well as the first album, to make the perfect mix by they favorite artist. Extreme listeners are major collectors who concentrate their money on rare CD’s, collectables and merchandise and are generally between the ages of 25 – 45. They are sound quality oriented and most likely out of the three groups to have their own CD duplicating equipment. This group constitutes the smallest percentage of the market and will not be as heavily targeted by Your Mix. The group most distinctly targeted by Your Mix will be Novice listeners between the ages of 30 – 45. This ideal age group has the money to spend, knows what kind of music they like, and are less susceptible to media influence than younger groups of Novice listener. They are more likely to keep 2 songs by an artist that they like, rather than being concerned with the image that comes with owning that artists work. They also are part of the â€Å"9 – 5† working sector who are concerned with the time it may take to cycle through a pile of CD’s for only a few good songs. Of the people surveyed by Your Mix, 62% of people noted only 1 or 2 goods songs per CD as the biggest problem with CD’s today and 77% said they would use this service (see Appendix D – Survey Summary).

Nursery School Business Plan

Nursery School Business Plan This business plan is about opening a nursery school in Madinat Bin Mohammad Zayed in Abu Dhabi. A business plan shows the compatibility of the business with various positive and negative points. There is a need for opening a kids nursery school. As far as the need for this business to set up is concerned, the population of the city is increasing at a very high rate. The reason behind this is the high per capita income of this city. A huge development is taking place in the city in all the terms. People from all over the world are trying to shift their job or their business to this city. Hence there has to more and more nursery schools for providing them the best early education to build their future. The biggest concern for any one living in Abu Dhabi is the education because usually the Muslim countries do not give that much an importance to educational system. This concern of the people living in the city should be knocked out of their mind by providing them the best nursing educa tion. Little Angel Kids Nursery School will provide all that is required. 1.1 OBJECTIVES The main goals and objectives of Little Angel Kids Nursery School are as follows: To maintain friendly, secure and motivating surroundings that excites and gives confidence to the charm of knowledge. To care for every child in the School society as a personality, appealing their assistance and activities. To build up a nice atmosphere of interaction among all the kids and jointly advance the excellence of knowledge. 1.2 MISSION Our mission is to make every child live with a confidence and with a kind self respect in him or her and make them very well prepared for the long term race of life which will provide a proper self satisfaction to the parents as well to us. 1.3 KEY to Sucess Critical success factors for any company are the factors which make the company succeed in a long term race. Critical success factors for Little Angel Kids Nursery School are as follows: Success factor 1: A concerned and associated educational society. Success factor 2: A capable and attractive curriculum-based study Success factor 3: A supple and sustainable educational surroundings. 2.0 COMPANY Summary ABC group is a company which will soon be in the market of Abu Dhabi with its first launch as Little Angel Kids Nursery School. At Little Angel Kids Nursery School, we will ensure a sense of laughter and creativity among the kids along with the best studies possible which will build these small kids for the future in a best possible way. Little Angel Kids Nursery School will provide them the best possible services to the kids to make them perform very well in the their educational prospects as well as in their co- curricular. 2.1 COMPANY ownership The Company is being solely owned by the owner Mr. X. But for starting up the business or opening a nursery school in Abu Dhabi, one or more venture capitalists are needed who will invest money in the project. Hence the school will be owned by Mr. X, Mr. Y and Mr. Z. where all will own an equal amount of share of 33% each. This means that this is a joint proprietor ownership. The reason for enrapturing this form of ownership is that Abu Dhabi is a city which involves huge investment if any business is to be started. For such a huge amount of money there should have somebody who can have the capability to invest in the business. As the city is highly expensive it requires lots of money to purchase or take a land on rent. As we have decided to purchase the land, hence any bank will not obviously give money for entire requirements to be fulfilled. Hence we need venture capitalists in our business. 2.3 Location and Facilities We have planned to open up our school in Madinat Bin Zayed. This is a very popular place of Abu Dhabi. We will have to take up a building in this place which can fulfill our desired requirements. There will be some physical requirements of the location for the opening the school: Amount of space: amount of space needed for the fulfillment of our requirements would be such that we need the followings: For school Six class rooms One staff room One principal room One meeting room One Dean room One small swimming pool for kids Two big halls for playing One auditorium 4 toilets For hostel/ day boarding Two big halls 4 toilets 1 mess Type of building: type of building should be such that if in the future we want to extend our nursery section then we should have some space for our future plans as well. Building or land to be taken should not be at all residential because we are going to use it for the commercial purpose. A good parking lot should also be there. A good facility of power should be there. 3.0 Services Little Angel Kids Nursery School is a mixed curriculum school for children between the age group of 1 year to 4 years. Here by mixed curriculum, we can depict that there is no particular curriculum that is followed in the school. It will be a nursery school with features of the entire curriculum in one, be it a British Curriculum, Arab curriculum or Indian curriculum. We are a quality service provider. Hence the main aim of the school is to satisfy the parents of the small kids by a stream lined flow of education provided to the kids. 3.2 Competitive Comparison Core competencies explain the types of competition that we will be facing in the market. Basically there is only one type of competition that we will be facing in the market. There will not be much of indirect competition but there will be only direct competition among several nursery schools in Abu Dhabi. There are some very good schools those will give us a solid fight. They are Stepping Stones Preschool, Humpty Dumpty and first step Nursery. 3.3. Fullfillment There are very less number of kids nurseries in Abu Dhabi. The government is not supporting the opening of public schools in the city.  [1]   There are more and more expats that are coming from all over the world. The credit goes to high development of the city that leads to the huge outsourcing of the high level employees. 4.0. Market Summary Analysis Demographic profile of Abu Dhabi According to the demographic profile of the city, there are more than 120,000 children which are below the age group of 10 years. This is around 14 per cent of the whole population. With the arrival of more and more people coming to work in the city or setting up a business in the city, there is an increment in the requirement for more and more nursery schools in the city. 4.1. MARKET Segmentation Report 1 We have just depicted that there are only around sixteen good nursery schools in the city. And more over there is an arrival of more and more foreign families to this city. This has led to an increase of the overflow of the nursery students in a school. Obviously, if there is more student than the seats available then it would be a problem for both management and for the parents as well. The situation is that the students overflow has seen a record length. This has made the parents make their children sit at home. This is really a matter of frustration for the parents as there are really less number of nursery schools in the city. This makes the parents as well as the government of Abu Dhabi worried.  [2]  If the owners of these nursery schools are asked, then they have a view that it is really difficult to open new nurseries by them or to extend the existing nurseries as it would not help the situation improve. According to the owners of several schools, this is the worst year i n the history of their lives as far as the admission for the nursery students are concerned. This report suggests that there is a huge requirement of the nursery schools in the city and as far as the facilities are concerned in the school, it is obvious far better to have extra ordinary facilities in the school so as to attract the parents towards the school. 4.2. SERVICE Business Analysis Report 2 The rush of the students admitting for nursery schools are that much high that there are large numbers of waiting lists for intake of the students and still schools are ignoring their admissions because they do not have the seats available with them. Following is the list of some highly reputed schools with their waiting list for admitting the students. Because of the above effects, several parents have decided to make their children stay at home and learn at their place only till they are not eligible for the primary schools. There is a huge fight for getting the admissions in the nursery schools in Abu Dhabi. This report easily suggests that there is a big requirement for nursery schools in the city and we can also take the fact that parents are dying to admit their children in the nursery schools and they are not getting the chance. So this can be kept in mind and several advantages can be drilled out of that. Report 3 Abu Dhabi is the most expensive city of UAE as far as owning the land or taking it at rent is concerned. 3 Various schools are unable to expand their institution or build up a new branch of the existing school because the rents of the building are really high that according to them opening a new branch or expanding the school would be non profitable. We can see from the above graph that there is a remarkable increase in the rates of both rents and owning a property in Abu Dhabi. Ms Shaban, head mistress of Bright Beginnings thinks that it would be better to buy the plot and built it to run the school. That would be a deal that can make them give profit. But after some time she realized that it is a difficult task as there are several government complications that would come in between. But there is a different perspective of owner of Humpty Dumpty Nursery school. According to him renting is no longer a long term process and hence he is keen interested in opening a new branch of Humpty Dumpty in the city. The above report shows us a negative factor for opening up a nursery school in the city. The only problem that will come is the money because there will be a huge initial investment in this business as the rents of buildings are really high and owning a building is not at all an easy task. 4.2.1. BUSINESS Participants As far as the present scenario is concerned, size of the market is very much restricted. There are very low numbers of nursery schools in the city as compared with the population of children of age group 2 to 4 years. With the reference to the size of the market, we mean two things, the population of the kids in the city and the number of nursery schools to admit them. The population of the kids are around or more than 100,000 and there are very less number of nursery schools in the city. Demand for more nursery schools in the city is directly proportional to the more and more increase in the expats coming to the city. Abu Dhabi is a city which is developing at a very high rate. More and more people from all around the world are coming to get settled in this city. This has been increasing the demands for more number of nursery schools. The fact that there are large numbers of expatriates is making several countries believe that there is a need for more international schools in the city so as to fulfill the needs of these expats (Business Times, 2007). 4.2.2. DISTRIBUTING a Service All the services described in the service description will be distributed to the little kids. 4.2.3. MAIN Competitors ABC Nursery Asian International Nursery and Kindergarten Bright Beginnings Nursery and Pre-school Eduscan Nursery and Day care First step Nursery Future Nursery 5.0. STRATEGY and Implementation Summary As we have formulated our niche as well, now we will have to outline a marketing strategy that will be suited for our marketing plan and will be according to our niche. On the basis of the trends we have seen from the above marketing, we can derive several marketing strategies. They are as follows: 5.1. MARKETING Strategy There are different types of marketing strategies needed, like Pricing strategies Promotional strategies 5.1.1. Pricing Strategy Method of setting up the prices or in our case fees of the students is obviously a determining factor for the customers. Though we have depicted in the marketing analysis that the competition in the market for the nursery schools in Abu Dhabi is really low, still we can say that pricing is an important factor for the customer. In our case the main reason for it to be significant is the financial crisis of 2008. This is biggest reason that we now have to very carefully take care of the pricing strategy. Our school will have a maximum capacity of 150 students in all. This is not at all a big number. Hence we can say that our pricing that we have depicted in the marketing analysis is absolutely correct because ours is not a big business. We are just starting with a low scale business hence a very small price will obviously affect the business and incur huge amount of losses. Hence we have kept a pricing strategy of the average price or a bit low than the competitors. Pricing includes very less fees amount of the kids that will be studying in the afternoon shift. Basically, kids from lower middle class will come to this place. 5.1.2. Promotional Strategy Promotion means that how can we make the kids know that we are coming to the market with some product for them. Here, in case of Little Angel Kids Nursery School, we will need to promote our school before we open up our school in order to realize the parents know that some excellent nursery is coming in the market so that they can wait for us before putting their kids to some other nursery. There can be several techniques by which we can promote Little Angel Kids Nursery School. These are as follows: Advertisements: Advertisements are very much necessary to start up a new project. The main reason for the advertisement is that when ever a new business is to be started like in our case opening up of Little Angel Kids Nursery School, it is very much necessary to gather attention of the local population. This could only be possible when they will know about us and the only way to make them know about us is the advertisements. We can have advertisement in the following ways: Television Newspapers Electronic advertisements Public Relations Several promoting Events Alliances NEWSLETTERS CATALOGS 5.2. SALES Strategy Sales forecast is determined under sales strategy 6.0. Management Summary 6.2. MANAGEMENT Team Management and organization will describe about whom all will be there in the business. This means that what will be the human resource structure of the school which means that who will be the employees in the school. As far as the main position of the school is concerned, there will be a dean of the school who will the chair person of the school and under whom all the day to day management of the school would be held. Obviously, the dean of the school is going to be one or all among the three main partners of the business, Mr. X, Mr. Y and Mr. Z. In case of the incapacitation of the dean, there would be a signing authority but most of the major decisions would be taken in presence of the dean. 6.3. MANAGEMENT Team Gaps There are several gaps between the team members: Language barrier Income 7.1. GENERAL Assumptions Sales of the Nursery school is kept constant for the entire year Effect of recession is not taken into account 7.2. Key Financial Indicators There are mainly four key financial indicators: Break even analysis Profit and loss statement Cash flow statement Balance sheet

brave new world :: essays research papers

Brave New World: Draft   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Huxley's: Brave New World takes into consideration so much of what really goes on in the world now. From the separation of the sexes to the, still in progress, cloning of the new millenium.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Today regardless of all the women's rights acts and laws against discrimination due to race or sex, women still seem inferior in some ways. There are still housewives, while not as many as there were say fifty years ago, as well as women still found stuck in the kitchen cooking dinner for the husband as oppose to the husband taking hold of the kitchen and other household duties. Women, more commonly years ago, are often time s thought of as nothing more than a way to make a baby. In older times women were nothing, but the mere way of bearing a child. While male condoms are widely available and used, it is often times the responsibility of the woman to keep up with other birth control methods such as birth control, Depo-Provera shots, abortions and other forms of birth control.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  From a political standpoint, there has yet to be a female president in the United States of America. In fact male politicians out weigh the number of female politicians hands down. There are only males in charge of everything throughout Brave New World. All of the power is left to men to distribute. In fact, most directors or supervisors of big, major companies and firms are usually male. Not that a woman couldn't perform the same duties just as efficiently, women are just more commonly found lower down the working scale. In addition to the majority of higher positioned workers being men, there are a number of cases where men and women may perform equal jobs, yet the men still earn a higher salary.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another stretch of the world we live in today is the explicit use of drugs. In America there are a ridiculously high number of people who use or abuse drugs. I compared a commonly used drug such as ecstasy, shrooms or even alcohol to the very frequently used drug, soma that was used in Brave New World. Alcoholics who drink a lot here in the United States sometimes beat their wives (husbands), children or drive drunk. Sometimes people simply drink socially, such as many college students are known to do, but still get a false since of happiness that exists only while they are drunk.

Abraham Lincoln And Jefferson Davis Essay -- Compare Contrast American

Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis Works Cited Missing   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In this report I compare two great historical figures: Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president, steered the Union to victory in the American Civil War and abolished slavery, and the first and only president of the Confederate States of America, Jefferson Davis. Abraham Lincoln was the President of the Union, and Jefferson Davis struggled to lead the Confederacy to independence in the U.S. Civil War. Lincoln was treasured by the African Americans and was considered an earthly incarnation of the Savior of mankind (DeGregorio 20-25). On the other hand, Davis was both admired and hated. Lincoln had a different view of how the U.S. should be in abolishing slavery. Davis was a politician, president of the Confederate States of America, and also a successful planter. He had beliefs for the South to continue in the old ways with slavery and plantations. Both Lincoln and Davis had strong feelings for the protection of their land (Arnold 55-57).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Both Abraham and Jefferson Davis shared several differences and similarities. Lincoln was known to have an easy going and joking type attitude. In contrast, Davis had a temper such that when challenged, he simply could not back down (DeGregorio 89). Davis had been a fire-eater before Abraham Lincoln's election, but the prospect of Civil War made him gloomy and depressed. Fifty- three years old in 1861, he suffered from a variety of ailments such as fever, neuralgia, and inflamed eye, poor digestion, insomnia, and stress. Lincoln also suffered from illnesses during the war. He had severe cases of headaches and stress.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Both presidents had a lot of pressure of them due to the fact of defending their region. Lincoln had difficulties growing up because of the deaths early in his childhood, poverty, and little education. Davis; however, studied at a Roman Catholic school in Kentucky and at Transylvania University, and entered West Point in 1824. Davis seemed to have had an outreaching environment to his success. The major difference, personality wise, was Davis's weakness in his inability to get along with other people where Lincoln was a well liked and easygoing man.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Both men shared a common bond in their education towards war. Davis served at frontier military posts and in the Black Hawk War before resigning in 1835. L... ...sident, we prospered in many ways. His actions brought about great challenges that he, and the following fathers of our country would go through. The combining of both races and more freedoms would stir troubles for many years to come. Although his actions stopped slavery, it didn't stop the harsh treatment of the black race which carried out for decades. Lincoln's Presidency was dominated by the war. The country was going through major changes socially and economically. Though Davis led the South through dramatic changes, no change has ever had more importance than the abolishment of slavery. Both the North and the South gained knowledge from this horrid experience of war. Lincoln's achievements—saving the Union and freeing the slaves—and his martyrdom just at the war's end assured his continuing fame. Both men have made their historical marks due to their great deeds, and ways they both sacrificed their devotion to shape our country. I agree with most historians that Lincoln had qualities that made him a great American statesman. His keen intellect, humor and boldness, and compassion all contributed to his presidency in unifying the nation and extending freedom.

Six Hours Of Television :: essays research papers

Six Hours of Television   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In looking at modern television programming there are hundreds of shows to choose from. Picking six hours of television to analyze from the prospective of an anthropologist is by no means easy. It is easy however, to talk about what our nation looks like to others who have never been here. Everyone is gorgeous, lives happily, and overcomes all problems, but more on that later. Four hours of the programming I chose is perhaps the most popular programming this year, consistently topping the Nielsen ratings. For the remaining two hours of programming I decided to look at two police drama shows, one that was brand new this season and one not brand new, but still going strong. For the two hours of police dramas, I looked at programs with different angles. NYPD BLUE is the story of police detectives, and HIGH INCIDENT was a new show that looked at the view of policing from the Å’beat.' HIGH INCIDENT represented one of the first t.v. shows to come from the SKG works of Steven Spielberg. However, just like Spielberg's previous AMAZING STORIES, HIGH INCIDENT has already ceased to air. This could still change though, with the next season. Of the remaining four hours, three are on television every Thursday night, and include the tremendously popular FRIENDS, the SINGLE GUY, the hits SEINFELD and CAROLINE IN THE CITY, and the most popular show this year, ER. For the remaining hour I choose to look at THE TONIGHT SHOW, with Jay Leno. Between these shows there are many similarities and many differences. All of these shows can be directly compared with each other, having some of the same qualities. Looking at these shows in the perspective of an anthropologist some disquieting trends emerge. I will present the information as if an outsider, from another nation, were watching American shows, and believed what he/she was seeing to be true of what goes on in America. Perhaps more realistic than the other shows, NYPD BLUE, and HIGH INCIDENT represent the closest what life is really like. To a foreigner seeing these shows, they would probably believe that America is a blood bath of crime and ill will towards other people. While this isn't true the whole nation over, there are many cities like those portrayed in these two shows. Like the other shows I will discuss, these two have casts made up of predominately Caucasian males and females. Other nationalities, such as Asian, Afro-American, and Latino are sprinkled in just enough to make sure the shows are politically correct. To an

Conflicts in Work Place

Conflicts management in work place OVERVIEW The purpose of this assignment is to critically analyze the conflicts in working place and try to understand organization behavior with respect to conflict effect. I also try to focus whether conflict is necessary or not by using range of theoretical perspectives and ideologies of conflict. INTRODUCTION: Conflicts are unpleasant, but it is a kind of force that ruling almost every aspect of our life. As time passes in every working relationship it is common to produce conflict (John Newstrom 2007, p. 253). Conflict can arise from various sources and directions but it can emerge in short duration of time among people of any level, and it may require proper management. Conflict can be constructive or destructive depending on ability of management. Hence managers should be aware of it and must know when and how to stimulate conflict in better way to resolve from it in time. Conflict is defined as â€Å"[.. a process that begins when one party perceives that another party has negatively affected, or is about to negatively affect, something the first party cares about† (Huczynski & Buchanan 2007, p. 661). Every organization has some sets of rules for its existence and to stay competent in the market and its survival as they desired. For this organization should be stable, always integrated, well coordinated, order and unanimity. As we know that organization is a place where peo ple work together to achieve a common goal. But to attain the goal everyone has to struggle, cooperate, obey rules, and always communicate with each other to complete the given task in time. But history shows that many organization fallen because of these interpersonal relationships of the people are not productive, cooperative, and satisfying which directly effects the reputation of the organization and creates a big problem for its growth. Many people believe that organization is interfered with conflicts and many other factors such as disintegration, antagonism, frequent changes, and divided loyalties. But it is also seen that people believe conflicts are necessary to perform organization effectively. Let have a close look on conflict in organization and people point of view: WHY CONFLICT ARISE? In any situation conflict can arise between two or more parties when they think opposite and feel themselves in opposition. Conflict can arise due to many factors. For example: To achieve the goal in time different people apply different methods and techniques, but some time because of disagreement among the people due to different experience can produce the conflict. It is an interpersonal process; â€Å"conflicts also arise due to tack inter-dependence, policies, ambiguity of roles and rules, personality differences, ineffective communication, the competition over scarce resources, and underlying differences in attitudes, beliefs, and experiences† (Huczynski & Buchanan 2007, p. 661). Conflict can be functional or dysfunctional; we can consider it constructive or destructive depending on its management. But important question is whether conflict is necessary or not for any organization? Levels of Conflict: In any working place conflict can be possible to occur within an employee, between individuals or groups, and across organizations as they compete. Sources of Conflict: Organizational change, Different sets of values, Threats to status, Contrasting perceptions, Lack of trust, personality clashes, and personality differences. IS CONFLICT NECESSARY EVIL OR NOT: From many decades, there has much debate that concerning whether conflict within the organization is necessary or not. Dean Tjosvold (2008) argued that conflict was inevitable aspect of all organizations; that properly conducted; it lead to a better understanding between individuals, as well as to better ways of working. Since conflict was essential to successful teamwork and organizational effectiveness, it should be welcomed and managed appropriately. In contrast, Carten De Dreu (2008) stated that conflict was always detrimental, and that the research support for the beneficial aspects of workplace conflict was weak. He said that conflict was beneficial in only a very few, specific situations; and that even in thes, it had negative consequences which outweighted the positive ones. He felt that organizations had to make efforts to manage conflict, not because it had positive effects but so as to minimize its negative ones† (BUCHANAN AND HUCZYNSKI, 2010). THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES OF CONFLICT: According to traditional perceptive conflicts are negative and indicates something is wrong. It must be avoided or eliminate. The contemporary perspective describes conflict as inevitable. It describes that if conflicts are very high or low they have negative consequences which affect the performance of the organization. CONTRASTING VIEWS OF CONFLICT: It is found that there are three views of conflict: positive, negative and ‘balanced’. Positive view: This view consider conflict are positive in organizations, but if it is managed and Considered can be positive and they believe that if the conflict managed and resolution effectively many time we can see constructive outcomes. This helps them to think how they can adopt different process to do things and conflict resolution process is many time seen a stimulus for positive change in the organization. This view tells resolving conflict also help to adapt to changes and it is seen more acceptable (Coiser & Dalton, 1990). Conflict help in decision making process; because it is nature and people have different opinions, thoughts, attitudes and values for any given situation which can be beneficial in making and choosing better idea and decision. ositive view of conflict help us to encourage to work in difference and it tell positive outcomes of conflicts are very beneficial to the organization, it may increase quality of work and personal satisfaction and also increases commitment and motivation to complete the task in time. Negative view: This view considers conflict as negative, it tells that conflict is dangerous and have serious negative effects and may diverts organization goals to achieve and also effect on out psychological wellbeing. This view express that conflict also affect ideas, created tension, increases stress and anxiety. And conflict may be detrimental to individual and group development over period of time. (Baron, R. A. and Richardson, S. R. , Human Aggression, 2nd edition (Plenum Press, New York, 1991). ) ‘Balanced’ view: This view of conflict some time preferable from a managerial perspective. In this approach sometime conflict are destructive and some time they are highly desirable and constructive. But managing conflict is essential for attaining the goal for any manager. TRANSITIONS IN CONFLICT THOUGHT: Organization conflict has different definitions and perspectives from many years. One thought of school argued that, conflict must be avoided in order to run the organization effectively, without any malfunctioning within it. This thought called traditional view. Another thought of school argued that conflicts in any organization are natural and inevitable. According to this view conflict is not a evil, but it tells that management should have the ability for improving organizational effectiveness and efficiency. We called this thought behavioral view. Third thought is interactionist approach and it is most recent perspective. This thought of school argues that conflicts are positive and important for any organization. It tells that conflicts are absolutely necessary for improving organization effectiveness and efficiency. (Adapted from: Stephen R. Robbins, Managing Organization Conflict: A Nontraditional Approach (Englewood Cliffs, N. J. : Prentice-Hall, 1974). ) THE TRADITIONAL VIEW: In this view, it is assumed that conflict is natural and very bad, it should be avoided and eliminate immediately. There will be always negative impact on organizational performance. And it is believed that organization cannot perform effectively, if the conflicts are not eliminated in time. According to this approach conflicts are harmful and must be avoided. Conflicts can cause violence, destruction, and some time irrationality problems. It is manager responsibility to identify the conflicts if any and try to eliminate it to get rid of problems. This traditional perspective prevailed the management and organizational lit during the late nineteenth century and continued to be mid – 1940s. The Behavioral View: In this behavioral view traditional approach was followed and it is argued that occurrence of conflicts are natural in organizations. But behavioralists argued that conflicts are inevitable they advocated accepting the conflict. The behavioral view explains that conflict cannot be eliminated and they believe that conflict may benefit organization performance. They believe conflicts are inevitable and must resolve in time. The view prevailed management and organization from the late 1940s through the mid-1970s. The Interactionist View: It is the current theoretical perspective on conflict, this approach encourages conflict and they believe that conflict is positive for any organization. In interactionists approach believe that conflict can help to make new ideas, improve intra group cohesiveness, because of different opinion and different experience it help in making better decision in time, and many benefits to the organization. Interactionists perspective encourage functional opposition and necessity of conflict for the effectiveness of the organization. In this view it not only focuses of conflict stimulation but also choose appropriate conflict resolution process by the management. And explains conflict management are the major responsibility for the managers. It is seen that many evidence suggests conflict is necessary and important in organization because it improves the quality of decision making. (Coiser & Schwenk, 1990). Thus I think the major problem is not conflict itself, but the problem is how to manage the conflict in the organization. So we can expect conflict may be result functional or dysfunctional and any one of them have serious effect to achieve the goal in time of any organization. This functional conflict is helpful to nurture the individuals in the working place to improve the creativity, adaption and innovation of the organization. (Thomas, K. W. ‘Conflict and conflict management’, in Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, ed. M. D. Dunnette (Rand McNally, Chicago, 1976). ) Because of complacency some organizations are failure, but can be traced back to too much harmony. (Robbins, S. P. , Essentials of Organizational Behavior (Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1992). ) But in reality most organization try to eliminate any type of conflict because they think elimination of conflict solve the problem and perform organization effectively. But now we can see and argue that functional conflict should be encouraged and dysfunctional conflict should be discouraged. It has spent more than three decades by many researchers, scholar and behavioural scientist to analyze the affects of dysfunctional intergroup conflict in the people who experiences it(Sherif and Sherif, Groups in Harmony and Tension (Harper and Row, New York, 1953). ) -Within groups: it increases the group cohesiveness, able to emphasis on loyalty, rise in desired autocratic leadership and focus on activity; -Between groups: there will be distorted in perceptions, communication is not effective and some time negative stereotyping. View of Conflict can be better understood by different frame of references. Frame of reference: †It is describe as, a person’s perceptions and interpretations of events, and involve assumptions about reality, attitudes towards what is possible, and conventions regarding correct behavior† (Huczynski & Buchanan 2007, p. 661). Contrasting frames of reference: It is seen that literature distinguishes four different frames of reference for conflict, based on differentiation made by Alan Fox. They are unitarist, pluralist, interactionist and radical (Fox, 1966, 1973). All these frames are different from each other but important thing is that none of these are right or wrong. Unitarist: In unitarist frame conflict is seen badly and they think that organizations should be essentially harmonious. Pluralist: In pluralist frame sees that groups in organization have their own interests and organization is collection of groups. Interactionist: This interactionist frame sees conflict as a positive, necessary force for effective performance of any organization; Radical: In radical frame sees conflict as an inevitable outcome of capitalism in any organization. To better understand conflict one should view it as dynamic rather than a static concept and the sequence of conflict stages can be seen as latent, perceived, felt, manifest and after math. (Pondy, L. R. , ‘Organizational conflict: concept and models’, Administrative Science Quarterly, 12 (1967). ) Conflict is inevitable in organizational life and its results can be constructive rather than destructive depending up on how it is managed. If negative effects controlled and can be minimized then positive outcomes may result. Effective conflict management is based in part, on a solid understanding of the different ways that conflict emerges and can be resolved. (Anderson, H. and Kyprianou. 1994. Effective Organizational Behaviour. edn. Oxford: Blackwell ) EFFECTS OF CONFLICT IN ORGANIZATION Conflict in organization has some advantages and few disadvantages if it is not managed. In organization many participants think conflict should be avoided and they often see conflicts are always destructive and it should be eliminated. But in reality it is a limited view, because it is seen that all type of conflict are not destructive, some may result productive and some may nonproductive outcomes. But some participant views on conflicts is positive, they think conflict should be manage effectively and need to search the different ways to results the constructive outcome. Advantage: Conflict produces many benefits; first one, because of it people emotionally aroused with full potential to search and to find better approaches by comparing different approaches which may be useful for get better and desired results. It helps them to boost their creativity and improves their ability for developing new ideas. Thus helps them to experiment different way to achieve the goal. And second benefit is problem can be confronted and solved, so that conflict can be brought to the surface. Disadvantages: Conflict also produces disadvantages if it is not manages properly in time, and many leads to bad results. It also raises many problems like, people may focus on personal issues, they may not cooperate properly which increases stress and people may feel fear of defeating this directly reduces their confidence and motivation level. So it is very important to manage conflict in time. Manager should be aware of conflict and its outcomes and he should apply appropriate conflict resolution strategies, when they found conflict affecting to achieve the goal. Let us see some positive and negative outcome of conflict in working place: According to a survey, many practicing managers spend approximately 20 percent of their time to deal with conflict situation in working environment. Schmidt records some positive and negative outcomes of conflict. (NEWSTROM, W. 2007. Organizational Behaviour: Human Behavior at Work. 2Th edn. Singapore: McGraw-Hill/Irwin) Positive outcome include: ?Good generation of new ideas ?People try for different and new approaches ?Long-standing problems in any matter can be resolve ?Opportunities for individual views clarification ?It improves creativity and interest of participates ?It gives opportunities for individuals to test their abilities and capacities. Negative outcomes include: ?People fe el fear of defeating and demeaned manner ?Ineffective communication increases the distance between people ? Mistrust and suspicion among the people People concentrate on own interest rather than organization goal ? Reduction in cooperation which effect the teamwork ?And employee turnover increases. CONFLICT OUTCOMES: Conflict in organization may produce four possible outcomes depending on approaches chosen by participates involved. They are as follows: 1. lose-lose 2. Lose-win 3. Win-lose 4. Win-win Participant’s intentions and chosen strategies are the result of conflict outcomes. There are many different conflict resolution strategies developed in the history, but this different strategies designed for participate ntention. CONFLICT RESOLUTION STRATEGIES: There are five possible conflict resolution strategies available, participant can select any strategy as he need and apply them to reduce/remove the conflict. By using appropriate strategy it is possible to achieve predict able outcome. These strategies are different from each other, they are basically representing different concerns for one’s own desired outcome and for another’s result. These five strategies are as follows: Avoiding- In this conflict is avoided physically and mentally, this approach expects less positive outcome and hence reflects a low concern for either party’s outcomes. Thus it results in lose – lose situation. Smoothing- In this strategy depending on the other party’s interests problems are accommodate. This strategy approach focuses on one’s own detriment by emphasizing on concerns for others which resulting in a lose-win outcome. Forcing- This strategy is depends on using power tactics to achieve the desired goal to win. It depends on authority and aggressiveness in order to attain personal goals at the expense of the concern for the other party. This type of strategy result in a win-lose situation. Compromising- This strategy help to compromise own desires and thought by giving up something to gain something else willingly. It results with no clear-cut outcome. Confronting- This is one kind of strategy which helps to focus conflict directly and solve it by mutual understanding to work it through to a satisfactory resolution. This strategy helps to maximize the chances of achieving both party goals which resulting in a win-win outcome. This strategies are effective can be chosen to win or lose by the participants. It helps to control the conflict and save the time to achieve the goal by reducing adverse harmful effects of conflicts. Avoiding and smoothing approaches are help to manage the conflict and the use of forcing approach may achieve short term goal but fail to achieve stated goal. Compromising approach help to solve conflict but always desired goals cannot be achieved. Confronting approach is the effective strategy which solve conflict problem by facing directly by mutual understanding, hence chance of win-win outcome is more when compare to any other strategy. CONCLUSION: Organization are dynamic entities, which is continously changing its internal and external environments, to develop congruousness among the people, process and structure. As discussed contemporary perspectives on conflict, tell that conflict cannot be put on end to a state in organizational life. Conflict is dynamic activity that help us to emphasize on process, meaning, and variety of procedures and relationships. I think understanding conflict help us to better understanding about organization if it is in. If there is a Conflict in any organization it help scholars and reasearchers to give insight understanding more about culture, power, change, development and other significant phenomenon in organization. Conflict may help to see the things in a new way, it help to promote different analysis, clarification in goals, increases energies, give chance for alternatives and changes, and complex problem can be solved. If conflict manage effectively it protect the organisation. Conflict enlighten the concept of rationality, which help better understanding and analyzing of organizational behavior. Organizational conflict are not evil, and in fact there is no need to eliminate it, but it should be manage properly for enhancing individuals, groups, and organizational effectiveness. It is a phenomenon, just it can be constructive or destructive effects on organization, but it completely depends on how it is managed by the management. Conflicts can be dysfunctional when people are not able to tolerate it, and the reason may be rigidity of the organization structure which gives fewer opportunities to changes. This may be because of ignorance of the participants who not give importance and ready to change any time when required. So we can say that organization conflict may be because of ignorance, intolerance, vested interests, intolerant and rigidity. As discussed earlier conflict is not necessarily a bad thing, it is can be seen as a ‘constructive’ force and in certain circumstances and it can be welcomed or even encouraged. It helps improving organization design and functioning and to the decision-making process which help to adapt internal and external changes. If conflict identified and managed properly, it can help reduce the destructive influences in the organization. Organization ducation in subjects like Human Relation, Human Resource Management or Development, and Industrial Relations tell that conflict can be managed and its management is very important. And literature tells that how acknowledgement of conflict and its significant in the organization. So we can say that all type of conflicts are not bad, and it is always not necessary to remove, left, or ignore the conflict in the org anizational life but it should be manage properly so that it help for survival of the organization without any effect on organization goals. Now I can say that conflict leads to change, change leads to adaptation, and adaptation leads to survival. REFERENCES: 1. ANDERSON & KYPRIANOU. 1994. Effective Organizational Behaviour. edn. Oxford: Blackwell 2. BUCHANAN & HUCZYNSKI. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. 7th edn. England: Pearson Education Ltd 3. BUTLER & ROSE. 2011. Introduction to Organisational Behaviour. edn. London: CIPD House 4. CLEGG & HARDY. 1999. Studying Organization: Theory & method. 1st edn. London: SAGE 5. FINCHAM & RHODES, 2005. Principles of Organizational Behaviour. 4th edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press Inc. , New York 6. KATZ & KAHN. 1966. The Social Psychology of Organizations. edn. USA: John Wiley & Sons 7. MULLINS, J. 2010. Management & Organisational Behaviour. 9th edn. England: Pearson Education Ltd 8. NEWSTROM & DAVIS. 2002. Organizational Behaviour: Human Behavior At Work . 11th edn. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin 9. NEWSTROM, W. 2007. Organizational Behaviour: Human Behavior at Work. 12Th edn. Singapore: McGraw-Hill/Irwin 10. ROBBINS, P. 1983. Organization Theory: The Structure and Design of Organisations. edn. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall