Proposed HR Program for CompuLearn Essay Example for Free

Proposed HR Program for CompuLearn Essay CompuLearn is a private sector provider of IT-based teaching and learning programmes in business and management based in the UK, with corporate headquarters in Preston, Lancashire and with trading centers in Mumbai, Nairobia and Dubai. Its current global market is focused in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, with 200 education centers in 30 countries. CompuLearn partners with UK universities which validates its programs so that   students are able to qualify in the University programs leading to academic degrees. Its current manpower complement numbers 50 employees mostly based in the corporate office in Preston, Lancashire doing the following functions: Program Development, Customer Service, HR, Marketing, Finance, Sales, IT, Quality Assurance. CompuLearn has embarked on a mission to be market leader in e-learning delivery of University validated programs and foremost learning company in the world. It is on an expanded growth program and it adopted a new strategy to extend to 500 education centers in 60 countries over a span of 3 years. The role of HR is very critical in this new strategy, which is to attract top IT experts. It could be a relatively easy task if not for the following: 1. There is a high turn over in the IT industry in UK and new employees leave after only one month for a new job that offers better pay. 2. CompuLearn has a limited training system in place. Its strategy is to recruit highly trained staff instead of training them in house. The allocated budget for training is almost used up and was used to train the Sales team. 3. Employees have limited management skills as they are mostly technical staff whose training is not in the soft skills development. 4. The company does not have a Performance Appraisal System in place. 5. The staff at the corporate headquarters do not have a comfortable relationship with the staff of the UK universities largely due to complaints of attitude. 6. The HR Director’s strength is in micro-managing and does not have expertise in long-term management plans for the company employees. The Limitations and Constraints Faced by the Company The HR Department will play a very strategic role in supporting the growth of CompuLearn. Among other things, it needs to address the following limitations and constraints faced by the company, whether internally caused or faced by the industry in general: 1. The high turn over rate in the IT industry in UK 2. The lack of a professional or well-developed training and development program for employees 3. The employees’ limited skills in management, customer service and other soft skills 4. The lack of a well-placed Performance Appraisal System 5. The not-so-friendly attitude of the academic staff of the Universities towards the company employees at the corporate headquarters 6. The limited knowledge and skills of the HR Director in long-term planning for the management of the employees Recommendations The HR strategies recommended are based on the following assumptions: 1. Budget The company is working on a limited budget, which is just around 30% of the  annual budget of 25,000 Euros. 2. Lead Department The HR Department will take the lead in implementing the strategies. The HR Director shall formally appoint the section heads to serve as lead persons in implementing the strategies in their respective sections. The HR Director has the free hand in creating working committees to participate in the entire process from planning to implementation. The process will be participatory and with some amount of consultation from the employees. 3. Timetable The strategies are proposed for implementation on a focused basis within the first year (Year 1 Month 1 to Month 12). Beginning Year 2 (Month 13) the focus of the activities will be on monitoring, evaluation, and implementation of improvements. 4. HR Management Perspective/Model Available literature identify different HR Management models that attempt to explain the various strategies adopted by different companies. General classifications fall under the â€Å"soft† and â€Å"hard† models, based on the definitions of employees considered as either â€Å"human† or â€Å"resource†. The hard versions consider employees as resource and adopt a rational approach to managing them, aligning their HR strategies with the strategies of the business. The soft version, on the other hand, considers employees as human and adopts strategies to train and develop them (Bratton and Gold, p. 5). The recommendations adopted in this case will be based more on the soft version of human resource management. Focus will be more on training and development as well as in developing commitment from employees. A limited form of the hard version will however allow the HR to link the strategies with the overall corporate strategy of the company. In analyzing the challenge faced by CompuLearn, a simplistic framework was designed around the following questions, based on the limitations/constraints faced by the company and to become the basis for the strategies: 1. On the high turn-over rate in the IT industry How can CompuLearn keep its employees from leaving the company after short- term engagement only? Or how can the company motivate its employees to stay longer? 2. On the lack of a professional training and development program Should the company train in-house or continue to hire experts from outside? 3. On the employees’ limited skills in management, customer service, and other soft skills. How can the employees learn the soft skills and apply them at work? 4. On the lack of a well-placed Performance Appraisal System Is there a need to formulate or adopt a Performance Appraisal System? 5. On the not-so-friendly attitude of the academic staff of the Universities towards the company employees at the corporate headquarters How can there be a more cordial relationship between the two parties? How can the company make the employees appreciate the importance of having good relations with the University staff? Can this be done through training or should the company replace those who transact with the University staff with other company employees, either through job rotation or job enrichment? 7. On the limited knowledge and skills of the HR Director in long-term planning for the management of the employees. Should the HR Director undertake refresher courses in management? Or should the company hire a new HR person who has the skills in long term planning to assist the HR Director? Below is a presentation of the proposed HR strategies and programs, in matrix form,   that can be implemented under the leadership of the HR Director. They are composed of both short term and long term strategies. The short-term strategies are those that can be immediately implemented, within the first six months from the time the recommendations will be adopted. The long term strategies are those that can be adopted over a longer period and on a continuing basis like the periodic reviews of policies and developing a system whereby improvements can take place every so often whenever warranted. It will be observed that most of the strategies will be newly introduced to the company and it can be expected that certain difficulties will be met. This will include among other things, resistance to the changes to be introduced, the difficulty of the HR Department to implement them for lack of the appropriate knowledge and skills, and with some â€Å"difficult† employees. This is all part of the process of the HR accepting the initial resistance  to the changes. The HR should be firm and consistent but at the same time adopting an attitude of openness and willingness to see through the improvements. Education and training are two important components of an empowered workforce. The saying that a company is only as good as its weakest employee is very much applicable here. Each employee is responsible for knowing about his company and performing according to the expectations set at the time of his engagement. However, it is the job of HR to find the employees who have the potential to learn more and continuously give them the opportunities to develop their knowledge and skills.

Ancient Greek Theatre | Lysistrata

Ancient Greek Theatre | Lysistrata Ancient Greek theatre has been a fascination to millions of people across the centuries. Theatre is one of the most important innovations of the Greek civilization. Ancient Greek theatre which began as a religious ceremony eventually became as expressed by Cohen a mixture of myth, legend, philosophy, social commentary, poetry, dance, music, public participation, and visual splendor (as cited in Phillips, 2000). The well known playwrights Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes and others have contributed largely in the teachings of nobleness, morality, courage, and patriotism throughout time. Many of the stories written Oedipus, Medea, Antigone etc. have endured the passage of time. Moreover, audiences contribution was crucial in ancient Greek theatre because poets success and recognition as good representatives of the Greek culture and civilization largely depended on the audiences negative/positive feedback. From the Antiquity, the role of Greek theatre has not altered. It wa s and still is used to be entertaining, frivolous, and instructional. Greek theaters were located in outdoor spaces which were known as amphitheaters. The amphitheater was purposely chosen by the Greeks to hold these venues not only because they preferred being outdoors but also because they used the construction methods available in their time period to create the most useful and efficient space possible to be used in producing the type of entertainment that was popular in their culture as stated by John Holloway (2010). Greek theatre consisted of four major components: the Orchestra which was the circular dancing floor where the chorus would sing, dance, and act together with the actors, Theatron which was the viewing place, Skene which was the tent or the decorated building behind the stage, and Parados which was the passageways used by the chorus, actors, and audience as entrances and exits to the amphitheater (as shown in figure 1). Figure 1 Greek Theatre Note. This figure is retreived from http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/ search?q=cache:v9_sNzGD5hsJ:www.slideshare.net Nevertheless, ancient Greek theatre cannot be demonstrated without shedding the light on Athens. Athens was a Greek city-state identified for its political, military, and cultural power. Athens was considered the center of Greek culture and theatre. Greek theatre originally initiated with Athens festivals. Athens had four festivals for worshipping the god of fertility and wine Dionysus who was the son of the god Zeus and the mortal Semele. The Athenians celebrated their annual fertility four tribal festivals known as Festival of the Wine Jugs and Old Dionysia in March with a whole week of public wine drinking and phallus, penis worshipping religious orgy (Cohen,n.d.;Phillips, 2000). The religious rites for these festivals eventually took the shape of poetry that later developed to become plays. Greek plays and drama started as an entertaining event that developed to become a powerful medium of communicating ideas. Theatre played an important role in the ancient Greek civilization because it was reflecting the flaws and values of the Greek culture. It mainly focused on solving the human conflicts and problems of the day but with a supernatural element (god or goddess). The theatre that focused on exposing societys flaws benefited the audience who would learn from them. It should be noted here that the body language used in the Greek theatre played an important role in delivering the message to the spectators. As said by Heins-Uwe Haus (1995), We feel obliged to visualize the events of the play, if we want to grasp something of the spirit and the roots of the dramatic heritage of Sophocles. It was this fusion of the artistic and the political, the formal and the philosophical, that made this experience unique. Therefore, the people in Greece were on intimate relations with th e body where they used body language as a major part of the Greek drama. After scrutinizing the Greek drama, it becomes obvious that gods in Greek society were viewed in human terms. For instance, gods can have emotions of sadness, happiness, and emotions of love; they can hold grudges, and can fight with each other. The gods in Greek plays were, like humans, uncertain of their destiny. Additionally, humanity was strongly concerned in ancient Greek drama where humans were elevated from animals. Human harmony depended on the interaction between human and divine forces where peace would be endangered if disharmony existed (Tripod members, 2004). Figure 2. Theatre Masks Note. Retrieved from http://www.crystalinks.com/greektheater.html Greek plays consisted of two major types: tragedy and comedy. The two masks, in figure 2, symbolize both the comedy and tragedy aspects of the Greek Theatre. These two masks that represent duality were worn in ancient Greece during the golden age, around 500 300 BC. With respect to tragedy, it was expressed by Aristotle as: an imitation of an important and complete action, which has a specific length, written in an embellished language, with its separate parts set in order and not randomly, in active and not narrative form, tending through pity and fear to the catharsis of passions. The word tragedy was derived from the words Tragos meaning goat and ode meaning song. The reason behind this vague origin had to do with two possibilities: the first which was related to the choruses who were dressed in lion-skins of goats, and the second which was linked to the prize for best song that was a goat. Ancient Greek tragedy mainly depended on stories of myth or history but with varied interpretations of events. It mainly focused on psychological and ethical attributes of characters instead of physical and sociological ones. Tragedy was dominated by the works and innovations of three well-known playwrights: Aeschylus (525-456 B.C.) who was known for his tragic trilogy the Oresteia which enlarge the possibilities for dramatics through the com munication between two characters in his plays. Aeschylus made use of a third character; however, Sophocles (496-406 B.C.) was the one who actually began it. The latter was known for his trilogy Oedipus Rex where his plays decreased the job of the chorus in Greek drama in order to enhance the interaction between characters and the progress of the character itself. The third tragedian was Euripides (480-406 B.C.) who indicated the ultimate form of drama and employed a more naturalistic and human aspects in his plays. An example of tragedy can be the famous speech of Macbeth (Tripod members, 2004): Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, To the last syllable of recorded time; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Lifes but a walking shadow; a poor player, That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more: It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. With respect to comedy, the word comedy was derived from Comoi which was the name of a god meaning amusement and entertainment. It was usually based on a happy idea that used exaggerated, ridiculous, and sensual pleasures; for instance, a peace with a power or sex strike to stop war. Comedy plays commented and criticized contemporary society, politics, literature and Peloponnesian War. Two playwrights were famous in this domain: Aristophanes (448-380 B.C.) and Menander (342-292 B.C.). Comedy was not as popular as tragedy at first. However, the popularity of Comedy was accompanied with the diminishing of the popularity of tragedy which highly represented the role of theatre. Therefore, tragedy was at its peak in Greek society when the society was at its height whereas comedy (a means for decreasing frustrations) was at its peak during the decline of Greek government. A good example of comedy can be a funny tale about a strong woman Lysistrata who led a female union to stop the war in Greece. This play, written by Aristophanes, can be a good demonstration of the role of women in ancient Greek time. Women, in this play, were revealed as deceiving, mischievous, strong, smart, cunning, and as being leaders. Lysistratas cunning was shown through her great plan of refusing sex by the wives to their husbands. She knew that by refusing sex, peace would be gained since men would not be able to resist this situation. Moreover, what revealed the cleverness of women was when they took over the Akropolis. Lysistrata was able to give a speech on how to run the government and was capable of changing the situations that she didnt like; she was a true clever leader. For instance, Lysistrata mentioned: If we sat around at home all made up, and walked past them wearing only our see-through underwear and with our pubes plucked in a neat triangle, and our husbands got hard and hankered to ball us, but we didnt go near them and kept away, theyd sue for peace, and pretty quick, you can count on that! (as cited in Gruber-Miller, 1987). Also, Lysistrata said: The older women are assigned that part: while were working out our agreement down here, theyll occupy the Akropolis, pretending to be up there for a sacrifice (as cited in Gruber-Miller, 1987). The Warriors in Lysistrata said (Tripod members, 2004): First Speaker: For through mans heart there runs in flood A natural and noble taste for blood Second Speaker: To form a ring and fight Third Speaker: To cut off heads at sight All in Unison: It is our right! Youth Come, listen now to the good old days when children, strange to tell, were seen not heard, led a simple life, in short were brought up well. Although women were not permitted to engage in ancient Greek plays or even to be with the audience, women made their own festivals in order to gather and discuss their issues with each other. Women played an important role in the Greek society; it was like what people nowadays in our society say behind a great man there is a woman. It was the same case where behind every hero there was a woman. Greek theatre spread its cultural influences to Egypt, the Middle East, Rome, and then the whole world. This indicates how much the Greek theatre has influenced our modern theater. Without ancient theater, the form of entertainment nowadays may not have existed. As indicated by Rebekah Martin (2006):Without the influences of Dionysus festivals and Greek drama, Shakespeare would have no foundation, and Andrew Lloyd Webber would be out of a job. Therefore, the roots of drama have affected everything from radio drama to modern cinema.

The role of women in society and the church

The role of women in society and the church Introduction I am going to discuss the role of women in the church and contentious issues, particularly when the passages such as 1 Timothy 2:11-14, and 1 Corinthians 13:34 talk about women should be silent in church. And slightly discuss the women in the society. The Role of Women in the Society Women in the modern society Women today are coming forth in modern social trends. This feminism may appear too extreme and rather threatening to the male ego, yet the role of women in current society has drastically changed. Perhaps there is some explanation for their actions. Women are now regularly performing duties that were traditionally assigned to males. They are attempting to fight the continuing stereotype established during the earlier part of the century. The pretty image of the perfect fifties wife is rapidly evolving into a more suitable projection to accommodate their new role in todays society. More than two generations ago, a girl was expected to abandon her academic pursuits and assume the role of a housewife. She would completely devote herself to the preservation of the female-oriented position of homemaker. As time has progressed, fluctuations in the economy have made it necessary for a woman to obtain a career in order to fit in the society. Strange as it may seem, the family roles have not changed much in todays society. While girls and women (not only Polish) have more opportunities in home based employment, the traditional roles of women are still quite evident. They are still the caring provider and nurturer of young infants and children, the comforter for the crying child and the feminine presence of the household. While the husbands role has diversified into more household chores and the cooking and cleaning up responsibilities, they are still considered the head of the household. In the absence of the man, can the woman really be like the man? I think yes. There are women who are capable in finance, Do-It-Yourself fixtures and fittings, even being a capable single parent and bread winner. In this respect, women will have to be like the man. Of course, the woman cannot match the physical strength of the man. The other aspect of thinking like the man is a definite no. This is through experience. Women generally look at the details and forget about the overall picture. They have the capability of juggling more than one issue at a time unlike the man. And she is more tempered to her feelings. And because of this, the focus is not there to make a sound judgment. Men on the other hand, are more focus and look at one thing at a time. They are less prone to feelings and therefore they are better at seeing the overall picture. I think for this matter, a man balances up the woman and vice versa. If we look at the example of a family with the wife who tries to be like the man, we have a situation where the roles are different now, because of the presence of the man. Man, no matter how gifted or ungifted have a certain ability to say that he is the man in the house. And for the wife to usurp his position there will be certain unrest in the overall relationship. This may not be currently evident but it will become an issue at a later stage. Subtle hints are always there and if the wife chooses not to suspect or confront the situation, it will lead to a crisis. Men and Women in Worship. I will begin by what Paul stated concerning men and women in worship that men should adopt a respectful attitude as they pray and also women should pray with an altitude of respect, just like men. It might be a different thing in that church which Paul was addressing. Women face particular problem, in that it is easy for them to become preoccupied with their appearance and with looks that take time to achieve. It’s true that Descent and Honorable behave matters far more to God than jewels and expensive clothes. Beside if Christian women who posses Gods worship are too concerned about their external appearance they will forget the essential and will have neither the time of doing good deed. It’s important to emphasize that Paul was not forbidding beautiful jewelry or lovely hair styles to all Christian women of all time was warning against becoming so attached to clothes and fashions and forgets the most important thing that is pleasing God by doing good deeds. Paul Advice Women to Be Quite During Teachings This advice has raised much debate among Christians in Africa, especially since the raise of feminist theology that asserts among other things, the right of women express themselves. Certain versions of the Bible have tried to get to get around the problem of translating 2:11 in a more acceptable way while still being true in the spirit of the text. The massage translates this as i dont let women to take over and tell men what to do. This translation assume that Paul give this advice because women were talking positions of authority and even of dominance over men, which was unacceptable in the culture of that day. The requirement for silence in association with teaching may also indicate that the women were talkative during time of teaching and worship. Paul advice women to be silence not because of inferior, but as a sign of their submission to men and of acknowledgment of mens authority. They will then be obeying the Oder that God established at creation. In applying this instruction in Kenya today, we need to think carefully about how women express their submission to authorities and to men. THE ROLES OF WOMEN IN CHURCH IN KENYA TODAY The role of women in the church is a contentious issue, particularly when passage 1 Timothy 2:11-14 is a regarded as laying down absolute rather than general principles within a particular culture. The focus should fall on the biblical call for all human beings to decern what is the will of God in their live ( roman 12:2) Jesus radical mission of transformation for liberation. Means that women and men are equally called and empowered to participate in the same mission in the church. What women and men do depends on our obedience to the guidance and empowerment of the Holy spirit. Because of the entrenched culture and sexist attitude and practices, and the male-dominated leadership in many of the churches especially in the Maasai land, women in Kenya church have critical and prophetic role to play in stirring waters and speaking the truth by asserting their God given humanity and gift not for their own sake of integrity of the gospel. many women in Kenya church have continue to claim their full potential and have taken leading roles. like the Samaritan woman ( John 4:1-42) when women in the Kenya church drink the water offered by Jesus, they go out to witness and spread the word of truth in their homes, villages, communities and churches with determination, boldness, courage and humility. for example the like of Teresia Wairimu, Esther Obasike, Bishop Magret Wajiru and many of great women of God which some have founded churches , preached, taught christian theology seminary schools and translated scripture into different languages in Kenya. Where the church have listen the voice of the Holy Spirit , they have realize that scripture grant women a place in all ministries of the church. And women have been rightly ordeined to serve in all ministries of the church. Conclusion A careful examination of the Bible will yield an understanding of God’s intent for women and men to be full and equal partners to serve and worship Him. Perhaps the easiest point to make and understand is that there are many biblical examples of women leaders. The following women were divinely called to lead, were affirmed by their religious communities, and were specifically recorded in scripture as part of God’s revealed truth. A few examples: Miriam – prophet; played major role in Exodus; led worship singing and dancing. Deborah – prophet; judge; led Israeli troops into battle with Barak Lydia – business woman who became a central leader in the Philippian Church Priscilla – helped Paul establish churches at Corinth and Ephesus; corrected Apollo’s preaching Phoebe – deacon; commended by Paul for her service to the church If by design God created women not to be leaders, then he would be going against his own order and intent to place women in leadership; but God does not violate His own design. In the beginning humans were created male and female in equality and partnership reflecting the image of God both individually and together as a plural unit. The sequence of creation does not signify importance or superiority. Adam is not superior because he is first; Eve is not the new and improved model. Instead, Eve is called Adam’s helper. The word helper, however, is not used as an indication of rank as in â€Å"a boss and an assistant.† The Hebrew word is ‘ezer and is also used to describe God by Moses in Exodus 18:4 when he says, â€Å"My father’s God was my helper: he saved me from the sword of Pharaoh.† Since God is called a helper also, we need to maintain the original elevated biblical definition of this word, and not submit to a culturally lowered interpretation in our understanding of God’s creation design Adam and Eve are both punished for disobeying God. One of the consequences of Eve’s sin was a distorted relationship with Adam. However, God in his mercy promised a reversal of the fall and restored divine and human relations through Jesus Christ. Restoration in Salvation: Salvation through Christ reverses or removes the punishment of judgment. Individuals are restored to a relationship with God. While we live in a world where the effects of sin are still playing out, believers are now members of the Kingdom of God where equality in him is restored. But even before Christ, faithful women were already filling places of leadership indicating that one’s relationship with God has an impact that brings about a change on the judgment meted out at the fall. Refrence list 1 The Bible 2 http://www.gci.org/church/ministry/women6b 4.Sanley J. Grenz (1950-2005) :A Biblical Theology of Women in Ministry. Wolfhart Pannenberg publisher. 1

Merchant Of Venice :: Free Merchant of Venice Essays

The Storytellers in The Merchant of Venice In this play two characters have a bigger role than one might imagine. Salerio and Solanio are the storytellers in The Merchant of Venice. They fill in important information that the audience needs to full understand the play. First, the two names differ by only a few letters, they are so close that one might confuse the two and think that they are the same person. I feel that this is Shakespeare's intention in this play. He makes the two similar so that they are not very important to the plot of the play. At the same time they are two different people, not just a narrator. I feel that Shakespeare does this so that he can have the two characters speaking to each other. It is through their, Salerio and Solanio, interactions that the audience learns important information to the plot of the play. At the opening of the play three characters are on stage, Antonio, Salerio, and Solanio. Through the dialogue, Salerio informs the audience of Antonio's ships: "Your mind is tossing on the ocean/There where your argosies [ i.e., great merchant ships] with portly [i.e., stately] sail (I.i. 8-9). While in the same scene Solanio helps the audience establish that Antonio has no major love interest: "Why then you are in love," to which Antonio replies, "Fie, fie!" (I.i. 46-47). Through their conversations, the two have given the audience a basis for the play: that Antonio is a merchant and that he is not concerned about being in love. An entire scene (viii) in Act II is given completely to a conversation between Solanio and Salerio. Here they tell of many events that have happened: Bassanio's ship setting off and Gratiano going with him; Shylock's reaction to Jessica and his ducats being gone; a Venetian ship that is wrecked in the English Channel; and also the parting between Antonio and Bassanio. Here, through the conversation of Solanio and Salerio the audience is told what has happened. Thus they have only one way to obtain the information. They all have the same thoughts about what has happened since they did not see the scenes and were only told about them. Solanio and Salerio are the storytellers in the play but they are only used for about two thirds of the play. The scene that either one of them is in is scene ii of Act III.

Abortion :: essays research papers

Perhaps no contemporary issue inspires more heated debate than abortion - the deliberate termination of a pregnancy. Many have witnessed and experienced the bitterness of such a controversial debate. There are two types of people in this world. Pro - choice activists believe in the right to choose a safe, legal abortion. Pro - life activists believe that abortion is murder. Why is the debate over abortion so emotional? Some argue about the rights of the fetus (unborn child) while others argue if abortion should be legal. The debate usually strays from these basic issues. For example, pro - choice advocates try to convince their opponents women's rights are at risk. Pro - life supporters argue that the rights of the fetus are as important as those of the mother, and that abortion is murder. "Other pro - choice defenders argue that if abortion is murder, why do so many pro - life advocates fight against the most logical methods of preventing this so - called genocide - birth control an d sex education?" (Reardon, 138) Another reason for the bitterness of this debate is that most pro - choice and pro - life advocates reached their conclusions about abortion very early in life, probably even earlier than they can remember. They were taught from previous generations that there was only one correct point of view. Many people have trouble seeing why others who were brought up with the opposite viewpoint cannot simply look at the "facts" and be persuaded to change their minds. Tempers flare when opponents resort to oversimplification because the issue is definitely not simple. According to recent public opinion polls, the majority of Americans (at least 60 percent) hold beliefs that place them somewhere between the two most extreme, or radical, positions on the abortion issue. Although radical groups on both sides of the issue may get the most media attention, most Americans have moderate viewpoints. Individuals in this moderate viewpoint may lean toward pro - life or pro - choice, but they seek to stay at middle ground. Most people feel uncomfortable with abortion and are troubled by many of the reasons given for having one but these same people are also uncomfortable with the governments's interference in a woman's right to choose an abortion, a right granted in 1973 by the landmark Supreme Court decision in Roe vs. Wade. Half the adults surveyed by the New York Times in 1996 supported the availability of safe, legal abortions while only 9 percent felt that no abortions at all should be permitted.

Research Proposal on English Skills Improvement through the Use of iPad Technology Essay

Research Proposal on English Skills Improvement through the Use of iPad Technology Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The application of technologies in schools at all levels has proven to yield positive results. There is a variety of technologies that are used in schools today and among them is the use of iPads in learning. In Saudi Arabia, a number of primary schools have adopted the use of iPads and this, as studies have shown, has contributed to improved skills in English. Below is a proposal on the impact of using iPads in the primary schools in Saudi Arabia, taking The 16th Girls Primary School in Zulfi as the case study. Thesis Statement   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The use of normal computers and laptops have fairly well been established in schools and a considerable body of practical evidences support and confirm the impact and value on learning as at 2014. However, the integration of iPad devices in the schooling system is still at the start level. There are few established researches documenting the impact of these tools on teaching, learning and improvement on English skills. iPad application’s language has helped students in the 16th Primary School in Zulfi to improve the students’ English speaking, writing and listening. This proposal sets out to investigate, explore and demonstrate the innovative and beneficial practice of IPad applications on learning and improvement of English language skills among students (Cavanaugh, 2007). Literature Review   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Over the past few decades, technology has turned out to be a prerequisite in countless schools at all levels. Its influence has seeped into all facades of life, with the inclusion of English language education. In contemporary age of teaching English language, media tools such as animation, DVDs, video conferencing, internet and iPads have lessened distance making the globe a small village, thus contributing to trouble-free learning of the subject. According to Brey (2006) â€Å"the current generation has an entitlement to get equipped for substantial integration of technology in the learning process.† This statement is supported by the outcomes of a research done on 1,050 pupils of North Essex School in London, aged between 11 to 16 years, which found out that the use of technologies in learning, such as the ipad, was warmly received and improvement on the performance of the pupils’ learning and thinking, was immediately reg istered (Todorovic et al., 2011). The pupils are able to tackle their personal challenges in learning in ways that fit them best, with the use of technology.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   According to research done by Jackson et al., (2006), it was proved that the pupils, who utilize the technology most, attain higher grades and better results. According to Todorovic et al (2011), English educators are obliged to come up with effective practices that are applicable in teaching the subject with the use of technology (Cavanaugh, 2007). The students perform different tasks through the use of technology and thus, their cognitive learning ability is enhanced (Brey, 2006). Owing to this statement, the focus should be on learning through the technology as opposed to learning about it. It is further proposed that, the constant use of hypermedia makes the use of multimedia painless in enhancing language learning and teaching (Jackson et al., 2006). A similar research on the effect of the use of technology in language learning asserted by Cavanaugh (2007) is that â€Å"the equipments enhance the retention power of the student as wel l as the argumentative ability.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The most helpful broader term used in technology is CMC (Computer Mediated Communication), which permits the verbal communication learner to communicate with other learners through chats, discussion forums, conferencing, e-mails, and text messaging (Jackson et al., 2006). All these activities enhance the learner’s skills in English language. It is, thus, critical that the program be implemented in all primary schools in Saudi Arabia. On the other hand, effective integration of this technology necessitates teachers to obtain familiarity on their use in teaching the substance, pedagogy and the connection of the entirety (Kubey, 2001). According to Ajab Al-Furaydi (2013), the use of these devices will facilitate the delivery of lessons to the learner in limited time and cost. This helps in managing, improving and sustaining the learning and teaching practice, thus assists in assessing and calculating the outcomes of the pupil. As Ahmad (2012) asserts, the use of these devices boost communication, enhances ability to acquire information, give better access to diverse resources of learning, and inspire students to increase challenge solving aptitudes and give support to deeper understanding (Ahmad, 2012). It is true that the technology has changed the language learning process and literacy acquisition and so is the dynamics of the settings of language teaching (Young and Kajder 2003). In latest years, teachers have been searching for techniques in which electronic learning can be engaged to make language learning extra efficient and inspiring for the students (Kubey, 2001). As the research has shown, the use of technology in language teaching and learning empowers the abilities of the students in becoming improved crisis solvers, speakers and communicators (Ajab Al-Furaydi, 2013).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The use of these devices in learning also enhances communicative and linguistic expertise by giving autonomy to the learner during the learning process (Young and Kajder 2003). This is so because the learner is given a chance to enhance the skills without duress or fear. Also, as Ahmad (2012) states, learning through the use of technology promote the sharing of personal experiences among students thus, they are able to learn from each other’s experience. This enhances their perceptions on the learning of the subject at hand which leads to improved performance (Ahmad, 2012).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Owing to the discussion above, it is, therefore, likely that the use of iPads in the 16th Girls Primary School in Zulfi, Saudi Arabia will have a positive impact on the performance of the pupils in English language skills improvement. The impacts on the English language skills are all likely to turn out positive (Todorovic et al.2011).Significance of Research   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The research will scrutinize the relationship between the applications of iPads on learning and the effects it has on English language skills. It draws attention on how the technology can be utilized to improve English language skills in primary schools (Young & Kajder, 2003).Statement of the Problem   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In Saudi Arabia, most of the primary schools use the customary means of teaching, but currently with all the technological advancements, some primary schools have applied technologies in their education system, such as the use of iPads in learning. The application of this technology has its corresponding impacts on English language skills. It is on the basis of the impacts of the use of iPads on the English language skills that this investigation will be performed (Kubey, 2001). Research Questions   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Based on the structure and statement of the problem, the research questions are created. A thorough investigation will be performed on the following questions in this study (Young & Kajder, 2003). RQ1: What is the teacher’s believe on the possible improvement of English language skills through the use of iPads? RQ2: How does the use of iPads in language learning impact on the English skills? RQ3: What factors contribute to dispositions of advocating the use of iPads in language learning in primary schools? Tools   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The research will involve interviewing teachers of girls students aged between 6 and 12 years. In addition, the researcher will observe the students in their class for a period of one month. Through the use of interviews, the researcher will be able to answer the first and the third questions of the research after a comprehensive collection of views from the teachers interviewed. By observing the pupils for one month, the researcher will be able to answer the second question of the research after collecting qualitative data on their reactions on the use of iPads. Similarly, the researcher will be able to go through the past performance records before the application of the iPads and compare them to the recent ones to determine the impact of the technology on English performance (Kubey, 2001). Ethical Considerations   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Some of the considerations which are ethical that the researcher will adhere to are; voluntary participation, non-maleficence, autonomy and confidentiality. The participants of this study will not be coerced to participate neither will they be given bribes to participate. On the other hand, the research will ensure that no harm is experienced by the participants either physically, spiritually or psychologically. They will be left the way they were met before their participation or even better than they were. Similarly, the researcher will uphold confidentiality requirements of the research. Whatever the information given by the respondent will not be shared with another respondent. On the same note, all the names of participants will not be disclosed. Instead, pseudo names will be used in place of their real names (Brey, 2006).Limitation of the Study   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The researcher will limit the study to 16th Girls Primary School in Zulfi, Saudi Arabia. This is attributed to the resources available to conduct the research, such as time. The time for the study will be limited to one month. The sample size will include ten teachers for the interview, most of whom are English teachers, and several classes of pupils who the researcher will observe for one month (Brey, 2006). The sample size of the research may not reflect the whole sample of primary teachers and pupils in schools where the technology is applied, in Saudi Arabia. Each interview will be translated in English by the investigator. The investigator is not eligible as a translator; nevertheless, the scholar will work long hours with the university’s writing center to build up and set down the interrogation as best as possible (Ajab Al-Furaydi, 2013). Expected Results   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Based on the discussion in the literature review, it is likely that the use of iPads in the 16th Girls Primary School in Zulfi, Saudi Arabia will lead to improvement on pupils’ English language skills. The impacts of iPads on the English language skills are all likely to turn out positive (Cavanaugh, 2007). References Ahmad, J. (2012). English Language Teaching (ELT) and Integration of Media Technology. Procedia – Social And Behavioral Sciences, 47, 924-929. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.06.758 Ajab Al-Furaydi, A. (2013). Measuring E-Learning Readiness among EFL Teachers in Intermediate Public Schools in Saudi Arabia. English Language Teaching, 6(7). doi:10.5539/elt.v6n7p110 Brey, P. (2006). Social and ethical dimensions of computer-mediated education. Journal Of Information, Communication And Ethics In Society, 4(2), 91-101. doi:10.1108/14779960680000284 Cavanaugh, M. (2007). English Teachers: We Need to Hop on the Technology Train. Language Arts Journal Of Michigan, 23(1). doi:10.9707/2168-149x.1142 Jackson, L., von Eye, A., Biocca, F., Barbatsis, G., Zhao, Y., & Fitzgerald, H. (2006). Does home internet use influence the academic performance of low-income children?. Developmental Psychology, 42(3), 429-435. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.42.3.429 Kubey, R. (2001). Internet use and collegiate academic performance decrements: early findings. Journal Of Communication, 51(2), 366-382. doi:10.1093/joc/51.2.366 Todorovic, J., Stojiljkovic, S., Ristanic, S., & Djigic, G. (2011). Attitudes towards Inclusive Education and Dimensions of Teacher’s Personality. Procedia – Social And Behavioral Sciences, 29, 426-432. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.11.259 Young, C., & Kajder, S. (2003). Research on Technology in English Education. Source document

Marketing to Generation Y Essay

On May 12, 1999, Matt Diamond, James Johnson and Sam Gradess were visiting San Francisco for a last round of meetings with West Coast investment analysts. They were just days from the initial public offering (IPO) of shares in Alloy.com, the catalog and Internet merchant of teenoriented clothing that they had founded on Diamond’s graduation from Harvard Business School in 1996. Snarled in freeway gridlock, Diamond was on his cellphone discussing the IPO’s pricing with analysts back in New York City. An analyst urged Diamond to respond to an invitation by the world’s largest Website and portal, America Online (AOL), to make Alloy an anchor tenant on its teen shopping site. AOL wanted $2 million per year for the rights. â€Å"Matt, if you say yes, that will be big. If you announce tomorrow that AOL’s partner in the Generation Y market is Alloy, it will put Alloy on the map. It will definitely affect the IPO price.† Diamond sighed. A headline deal with AOL today could be worth perhaps 10% on the stock price. But AOL was asking rich terms. It was widely rumored that AOL preyed on startup companies in the weeks before they went public, tempting them with star billing on its portal at the very moment when the publicity was most valuable. He estimated that he’d be paying a $45 cpm (cost per thousand exposures) to anchor the AOL teen shopping site. Nobody paid more than $30 for Web eyeballs. In the three years that he had been running Alloy, Diamond had prided himself on doing deals that made sense. If he could not anticipate a profit to Alloy from a promotional deal, he reasoned that Wall Street would not anticipate a profit either. â€Å"It won’t pay out,† he told the analyst firmly. â€Å"We only do deals that produce value.† To his colleagues in the limousine, he wondered out loud, â€Å"Am I right?† Professor John Deighton and Visiting Scholar Gil McWilliams prepared this case as the basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation. The contribution of Ann Leamon, Manager, Center for Case Development, is gratefully acknowledged. Certain sensitive information in this case has been disguised and should not be regarded as informative as to the prospects of the company. Copyright  © 2000 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-545-7685, write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the permission of Harvard Business School. 1 Downloaded by Junfei Xu on 9/02/2013. New York University, Stephen Tamke, Fall 2013, 001-003 500-048 Alloy.com: Marketing to Generation Y The Generation Y Market Termed the â€Å"hottest demographic of the moment,† Generation Y came to the attention of marketers in the late 1990s. This â€Å"echo of the baby boom† was made up of children and teenagers born in the United States between 1975 and 1989 and therefore aged between 10 and 24. They were estimated to be a 56 million strong group of actual and potential consumers, some three times the size of their immediate predecessor, Generation X.1 The U.S. Census Bureau projected that the 10 to 24 age group would grow from 56.3 million to 63.1 million by 2010, growing faster than the general population. Although Generation Y matched its parent’s generation in size, in almost every other way it was very different. One in three was not Caucasian. One in four lived in a single-parent household. Three in four had working mothers.2 â€Å"Body glittered, tattooed, pierced, they’re a highly fragmented,  unpredictable group of teenagers who, while tottering around on five inch soles, voice conservative opinions about sexuality, government, the American dream and an end-of-century commitment to spirituality.† 3 They were computer literate: 81% of teens used the Internet, according to Chicagobased Teenage Research International (TRI), which also noted that over a 3 month period on AOL, they posted more than 2 million Leonardo Di Caprio related messages.4 According to Lester Rand, Director of the Rand Youth Poll, they had money to spend and an appetite for spending it. They have a higher incremental allowance from their parents, and with the growth in our service economy, they are able to secure jobs easily and at rising minimum wages. They’re exposed to so many different products on TV, in the mall and through their friends. It’s a generation who grew up with excess as a norm.5 In 1999 Jupiter reported that 67% of on-line teens and 37% of on-line kids said they made use of on-line shopping sites, either buying or gathering information about products. 6 Generation Y was expected to spend approximately $136 billion in 1999, before accounting for the group’s influence on purchases made by parents and other adults. (See Exhibits 1 and 2 for this and other estimates.) On-line Competition for Generation Y Spending Generation Y’s size and spending power had not gone unnoticed. Many conventional and on-line retailers courted them. Alloy viewed its most significant competitors as dELiAs and the online magalog mXg. The neighborhood mall was also a threat. 1 Neuborne, Ellen and Kathleen Kerwin. â€Å"Generation Y,† Business Week, February 15, 1999, Cover story. 2 Neuborne, Ellen and Kathleen Kerwin. â€Å"Generation Y,† Business Week, February 15, 1999, Cover story. 3 O’Leary, Noreen. â€Å"Marketing: The Boom Tube,† Adweek, Vol. 39, No. 20, May 18, 1999, pp. S44-S52. 4 Brown, Eryn. â€Å"Loving Leo Online,† Fortune, April 12, 1999, p. 152. 5 BAXExpress, July/August 1999, http:baxworld.com/baxexpress/0799/consumers.html. 6 Sacharow, Anya. â€Å"Shadow of On-line Commerce Falls on Postmodern Kids,† Jupiter Communications report, June 7, 1999. 2 Downloaded by Junfei Xu on 9/02/2013. New York University, Stephen Tamke, Fall 2013, 001-003 Alloy.com: Marketing to Generation Y 500-048 dELiAs Inc.7 The largest on-line and catalog merchant serving Generation Y was New York-based dELiAs, with 1998 sales of $158 million. Founded in 1995 by two 33-year-old former Yale rooommates, Stephen Kahn and Christopher Edgar, dELiAs sold through print catalogs mailed to more than 10 million recipients, of whom 6 million had bought within the past year. It managed its own order fulfillment from a warehouse complex, and operated twenty conventional retail stores. Most of dELiAs’ 1,500 employees were under 30. Its phone representatives were often high school and college students, and they frequently offered fashion advice as well as taking orders. In November 1998 dELiAs Inc. paid $4.75 million for the trademarks and mailing lists of bankrupt Fulcrum’s 5 catalogs (Zoe for teenage girls, Storybook Heirlooms, Playclothes, After the Stork, and Just for Kids), giving them 5 million names which nearly doubled their database. It also paid $2.4 million for merchandise from Zoe and Storybook. By 1999, dELiAs went to market with a complex set of brands and marketing methods: Ø Ø Ø Ø Ø The dELiAs brand marketed to teenage girls as a catalog through the mail and as dELiAs*cOm on the Web.  The gURL.com Website was an on-line magazine for girls and young women, carrying articles as well as free e-mail, free homepage hosting and publishing tools, and links to a network of third-party sites for girls and women. gURL was the only property that was not engaged in commerce. The droog brand marketed apparel to 12-to 20-year-old males through the mail and on-line. The TSI Soccer catalog sold soccer gear by mail and on-line. Storybook Heirlooms retailed apparel and accessories for girls under 13 by mail and Web catalog. Ø Dotdotdash sold apparel, footwear and accessories for girls aged 7 to 12 by mail and Web catalog. Ø Discountdomain.com was a subscription Website selling discounted close-out merchandise. Ø Contentsonline.com offered unusual home furnishings, light furniture and household articles to females aged 13-24. While predominantly a Web catalog, the property appeared intermittently as a print insert in dELiAs’ print catalog. In April 1999, dELiAs Inc. spun off its Internet properties in an IPO, selling shares in a company called iTurF which earned revenues from all of the above on-line elements. In terms of the deal, these on-line businesses could advertise in dELiAs’ print catalogs at a rate of $40 per 1,000  catalogs. The dELiAs catalog, 60 million of which were printed in 1998, had the largest domestic circulation of any publication directed at Generation Y. The on-line magazines also shared the parent company’s 354,000 square foot distribution center in Hanover, PA. Because iTurF did not take ownership of inventory until a customer’s order was placed, the risk of obsolescence and markdowns remained with the parent company. iTurF shared offices with the parent company, enjoying a submarket rent for New York metropolitan space. 7 Information drawn from company website: www.dELiAs.com 3 Downloaded by Junfei Xu on 9/02/2013. New York University, Stephen Tamke, Fall 2013, 001-003 500-048 Alloy.com: Marketing to Generation Y In May 1999, iTurF announced record quarterly sales of $2.6 million (up from $0.69 million in the first quarter of 1998). Gross profit was $1.3 million, or 49.1% of revenues, up from $0.34 million or 49.3% of revenues 1998 (see Exhibit 3). However, dELiAs reported that it expected its iTurF unit to report a loss for the fiscal year. By April 1999, the number of people who had ever bought at the iTurF Websites was 66,000 (up from 35,000 at the end of December 1998), and the number of unique visitors was 731,000 in April 1999 alone. Analysts estimated that each customer cost $26 to acquire.8 Private label merchandise accounted for 40% of iTurF’s sales, in line with dELiA’s ratio. iTurf entered into agreements with RocketCash Corp and DoughNET, companies that had been established to let parents control the on-line spending of their children. For example, RocketCash let parents establish a credit card account and set each child’s access to specific merchant sites, times of operation, and the option to set up an auto-allowance to periodically replenish the account. DoughNet was a virtual  debit card that parents could set up for their children. Parents could customize DoughNET’s site to guide teens through all aspects of managing their money. In April 1999, dELiAs’ decision to spin off iTurF seemed shrewd. The market capitalization of dELiAs Inc. was $90 million, on sales of $200 million annually. ITurF was capitalized at $200 million on a sales run rate of $12 million annually. mXg Media Inc.9 Hunter Heaney and Stuart MacFarlane graduated from the Harvard Business School in 1996. MacFarlane joined Bain & Co. and Heaney joined BancBoston Robertson Stephens. Heaney told how he got the idea for mXg while Christmas shopping at Nordstrom’s for his then girlfriend. A saleswoman had told him that the â€Å"Y† necklace featured on the â€Å"Friends† sitcom was in style. â€Å"I knew there had to be a more direct way to find out about fashion trends influenced by entertainment,† Heaney said.10 In 1997, Heaney and MacFarlane quit their jobs and moved to Manhattan Beach, CA, to be close to Hollywood and surfers and skaters. Using the pay phone while staying at a local motel they raised $250,000 in increments of $5,000, and launched mXg, styling it a â€Å"magalog,† a hybrid of catalog and magazine, aimed at teenage girls. Unlike a conventional magazine, mXg reported exactly where to go to buy the fashion items that it featured on its pages. MacFarlane recalled their early lean times: â€Å"Typically, retailers order inventory in sixes (one small, two medium, two large, one extra large). But instead of saying ‘We’ll take 2,000 sixes’ we said ‘We’ll take six’ – literally one of each.† They could fund a circulation of only 20,000 for the magazine’s launch in the fall of 1997, but it did well. Some 5% of the recipients bought from it. The numbers were good enough to induce Urban Outfitters, a retail fashion chain, to invest $5 million for 40% of the company, incorporated as mXg Media, Inc. Merchandise doubling each issue. each, refunded with B Dalton Booksellers. accounted for most of mXg Media’s revenues, but advertising revenue was The company used newsstand distribution (150,000 issues per quarter at $2.95 a purchase), as well as distribution in bookstores like Barnes & Noble, and The magazine had a pass-along rate of almost six readers per copy. Sensitive to the tastes of their target audience of female teenagers, they hired teens, paying them $7 per hour to work after school answering letters, doing interviews, and writing copy to make 8 CIBC World Markets, Equity Research, June 2, 1999. 9 Information drawn from company website: www.mXgonline.com 10 Waxler, Caroline. â€Å"Guys with moxie,† Forbes, May 31, 1999, pp. 130-131. 4 Downloaded by Junfei Xu on 9/02/2013. New York University, Stephen Tamke, Fall 2013, 001-003 Alloy.com: Marketing to Generation Y 500-048 it sound authentic. â€Å"No printed word goes out without a teen girl checking it †¦ being uncool is the kiss of death in this business.†11 At the start of each fashion season mXg recruited 30 â€Å"Moxie girls† to spend a hypothetical $150 each. Their virtual purchases determined which items appeared in the next issue. The magazine paid staffers to model clothes and invited would-be teen celebrities to pose free to gain recognition. A Website, mXgonline.com, was established in the summer of 1997. It comprised a magazine, chat rooms, and community sites, and sold clothes and accessories. mXg Media pursued other access points for their on-line magalog, featuring it in on-line fashion malls such as fashionwindow.com. In 1999, mXg sponsored concerts featuring acts like Gus Gus which were favored  by Generation Y. Yahoo produced a series of Webcasts of the concerts for teens. The company described its mission as cross-media publishing, targeted exclusively at teen girls. It planned to add mXgtv, an Internet video site, to its media portfolio later in the year. A Crowded Marketplace? Other companies vied for the attention of Generation Y. Bolt.com was a content-based magazine-type site skewed towards a market slightly older than that of the Generation Y market, but into which the older end of the Y market might eventually fall. Bolt.com included sections titled jobs, money, movie reviews, music, news and issues, sex and dating, and sports. It had a chat room and free e-mail, and sold branded merchandise. It boasted that 5,000 people joined it every day. The magazine Seventeen had an on-line version, offering chat rooms and message boards, as well as its regular articles, quizzes and features. Indeed many magazines were now launching online versions of their magazines, and new print publications like Twist and Jump had appeared to compete for generation Y advertising revenues. Broader on-line retailers served this market, such as bluefly.com selling discounted brands on-line. Strong competition came from mall-based stores such as The Buckle, Gadzooks, Abercrombie & Fitch, The Gap, American Eagle Outfitters, and Guess, all of whom sold merchandise on- and off-line. Apparel and sportswear manufacturers were developing on-line sales sites. Nike and Tommy Hilfiger planned to launch e-commerce sites with broad product offerings. Alloy.com As a Harvard MBA student in 1996, Matt Diamond wrote a business plan proposing the idea of marketing ‘extreme sports’ clothing by catalog to young people in Japan. The premise was that the popularity of this style of clothing among American youth might generate demand abroad, and that catalogs would be able to tap that demand faster than would store distribution. On graduation, Diamond implemented the plan. He and a friend, Jim Johnson, used seed money from friends and family to design and print a Japanese-language catalog, which they branded Durango Expedition. They  mailed it in January 1997, and at the same time they went live with Japanese and English Websites, as alternative channels. The venture flopped. The mailing generated no significant sales. However, they discovered to their surprise that they were receiving hits on the English Website from American youths. Within a month they had reconceptualized the business to serve American teen girls through catalog and online channels, under the name Alloy. Diamond and Johnson each contributed $60,000 in cash and 11 Waxler, Caroline. â€Å"Guys with moxie,† Forbes, May 31, 1999, pp. 130-131. 5 Downloaded by Junfei Xu on 9/02/2013. New York University, Stephen Tamke, Fall 2013, 001-003 500-048 Alloy.com: Marketing to Generation Y another friend, Sam Gradess added $150,000 in cash when he joined six months later from Goldman Sachs. In November 1997, the first issue of the Alloy catalog, 48 pages in length, was mailed to a purchased mailing list of 150,000 teen names. At the same time Alloy’s Website became active. The intention at that time was to reduce the number of catalogs mailed as on-line sales grew. Organization Diamond became president and CEO of the fledgling company. Johnson took the title of chief operating officer. Gradess was chief financial officer. Neil Vogel joined from Ladenburg Thalman & Co., a consumer and Internet investment banking group to be the chief corporate development officer. Fellow Harvard sectionmate, Andrew Roberts left PricewaterhouseCoopers to join Alloy in January 1999 as VP of business development. Another Harvard  MBA, Joan Rosenstock was hired as marketing director, having held positions in marketing at the National Basketball Association as well as in advertising account management. Erstwhile, music editor of teenage magazine Seventeen, Susan Kaplow, became executive editor and Karen Ngo, who had been a feature editor and fashion stylist at Seventeen, was hired as creative director. Alloy outsourced as many of its operations as it could. Working with mostly domestic vendors who could produce and ship within a 2-8 week timeframe, Alloy purchased only 50% of its featured products and relied on a quick order and re-order ability so as to control inventory levels. Telephone orders and order-processing were outsourced to Harrison Fulfillment Services, based in Chattanooga, TN. OneSoft Corp., based in Virginia, handled on-line ordering and fed its orders to Chattanooga for fulfillment. Alloy personnel concentrated on marketing and merchandising issues. Target Market Unlike dELiAs, Alloy opted for a single-brand strategy targeted at both genders. â€Å"Rather than dividing our marketing resources across multiple brands and Websites, we seek to maximize the impact of our marketing efforts by promoting a single brand. We believe this allows us to attract visitors to our Website and build customer loyalty rapidly and efficiently.†12 Indeed Diamond considered that Alloy’s key differentiator lay in being gender neutral, believing that a successful Generation Y community depended on dynamic boy-girl interaction. He thought of their community site as an MTV-like interactive distribution channel. â€Å"It’s an opportunity for girls to talk to boys, boys to talk to girls, to deliver music, to deliver fashion, to deliver lifestyle.† Diamond conceded that the majority of the visitors to its Website were girls, and the print catalog was even more skewed towards girls. However, it was the intention to attract boys to the Website by other means. There was some evidence that this strategy was working, as the percentage of female Website visitors declined from 70% in early 199913 towards a desired 60/40 ratio. Boys tended to be drawn by music, extreme sports and games, while girls appeared to be more responsive to chat and browsing. Diamond felt, however, that just as both teen boys and girls hang out in shopping malls, watching each other as well as chatting, the on-line  presence of both boys and girls was important. Alloy’s target was teens making buying decisions with parents â€Å"somewhere in the background.† The target group ranged from 12-20, but the median age was 15. Alloy was careful not to aim too young, partly for regulatory reasons, but also because they felt that by targeting 15-yearolds they reached a group at an important buying point in their lives. About 35-40% of teenage purchasing was on apparel and accessories, and Alloy monitored what else this group bought. As 12 IPO Offer Document May 1999. 13 Chervitz, Darren. â€Å"IPO First Words: Alloy Online CEO Matt Diamond.† Interview at CBS MarketWatch.com, June 14, 1999. http://cbs.marketwatch.com/archive/19990614/news/current/ipo_word.htx?source=htx/http2_mw&dist=na 6 Downloaded by Junfei Xu on 9/02/2013. New York University, Stephen Tamke, Fall 2013, 001-003 Alloy.com: Marketing to Generation Y 500-048 owners of a â€Å"piece of real estate† they did not see themselves as limited to selling apparel and accessories, and had moved into soft furnishings. The Offering It was standard practice among catalog retailers, such as Lands End and LL Bean, to sell products under the catalog’s brand. Even at dELiAs, private-label sales accounted for about 40% of the mix. Alloy, however, emphasized recognized teen brands such as Vans, Diesel, and O’Neill, both to attract buyers and to offer reassurance of quality. Only 20-25% of Alloy’s sales came from labels that were exclusive to Alloy, such as Stationwagon and Local 212. Diamond was philosophical about the pros and cons of private label, â€Å"There’s no denying you get better margins on own-label goods. But  running with your own labels leaves you vulnerable to ending up as a skateboard brand.† The Alloy site aimed to build what Diamond termed the 3 Cs of on-line retailing to this generation: Community, Content, and Commerce. He noted that constant communication was key to understanding this generation. They had a strong need to chat about movies, television, music and what was happening at school, and to seek advice from one another, sound off about pet hates, and occasionally shop. A small team of in-house editors created editorial content on the site, supplemented by syndicated content. The audience also contributed content, receiving in exchange a sense of community, in chat-rooms and message boards, and by submitting their own letters, poems, drawings and articles. Poems and drawings would be voted upon interactively. Chat rooms in particular were popular and frequently full (in contrast to some of the chat rooms of competitors). The chat rooms were moderated from end of school-time until midnight on a daily basis, with software employed to spot offensive or obscene language. Advice columns were a dependable magnet. (See Exhibit 7 for a sample of user-generated content.) Andrew Roberts remembered vividly the moment when he knew that Alloy was really â€Å"onto something.† In the aftermath of the Columbine High School shooting tragedy, one of the editors knew that Alloy had to respond and fast. She worked all night creating the appropriate spaces in chatrooms, and editorial content. By 8:30 a.m. the day after, 15 hours after news of the tragedy broke, Alloy had received 7,311 postings related to the events at Columbine. Roberts explained that it wasn’t so much the number that impressed him, but the content of the postings. â€Å"These kids were really anxious. We had kids who followed the goth fashion who were really scared about how others would treat them. Other kids were reassuring them and saying â€Å"Don’t worry, we know it wasn’t you or the goths who made these guys do what they did.† They just had a desperate need to talk with each other, and be reassured by each other.† Building the Brand Alloy built its brand, and with it traffic to the Alloy site, in several ways. It undertook traditional advertising in print media (Seventeen Magazine, YM, Rolling Stone, and Snowboarder). It used hot-links from sites  such as seventeen.com to advertise promotional deals. It had special copromotional deals with, for example, MGM Entertainment, Sony Music, Burton Snowboards, MCI and EarthLink/Sprint, who provided free products and services that were used as special promotions for the Alloy community (such as private movie screenings, exclusive music give-aways, and celebrity on-line chats). Finally, it bought banner advertising on gateway sites such as Yahoo Shopping, Fashionmall.com, CatalogCity.com and CatalogLink.com. 7 Downloaded by Junfei Xu on 9/02/2013. New York University, Stephen Tamke, Fall 2013, 001-003 500-048 Alloy.com: Marketing to Generation Y The Business Model There were two revenue streams: merchandise sales, and advertising and sponsorship. An agent had been retained to sell advertising on the Website, and the longer-term intention was to build an in-house sales force to sell sponsorships, banner-ads, targeted advertising (segmented by Website area, time of day, user location, or age), and combination print and Website advertising. To this end, Samantha Skey, who had been responsible for commerce, advertising and sponsorship for Disney Online and Family.com and had worked for Buena Vista Internet group, was hired in 1999 as VP of ecommerce and sponsorships. In 1999, about 10% of revenues were generated by sponsorship and advertising deals, and the proportion was expected to rise to 20% in year 2000. Alloy was aware that it would never meet all of its customers’ requirements. It was happy to offer links to other sites that could be seen as competitive, such as Gap’s on-line site. â€Å"Look, we figure they’re going to go there anyway,† noted Roberts. â€Å"If they go via us, we at least get something for it. We’re happy to have such complementary deals. Probably not with dELiAs, though,† he grinned. Exhibits 4 and 5 report annual fiscal year performance 1996-1998, and quarterly performance between last quarter 1997 and first quarter 1999. To hear Diamond describe it, running Alloy was, at least day-to-day, like running a production plant. â€Å"We know what it costs to get a customer, and we know what a customer will spend. We just have to keep the two numbers in balance. We could make a profit today, but in this investment climate there’s no reward for beating your loss numbers.† By April 1999, Alloy had a database of 2.6 million names and addresses, comprising 1.7 million previous buyers and 900,000 visitors to the Website who had registered their names and addresses. It was mailing monthly to the most responsive of the names on this list, supplemented by purchases of new names, and it hoped to mail 20 million catalogs over the course of 1999. Alloy’s catalogs cost $450 per thousand to design, print and mail. If Alloy mailed catalogs to names from the database who had bought from it before, it received an order from about 3% of the names each time it mailed. If Alloy bought a list of new names, for example a list of American girls who owned personal computers, at a cost that was typically $100 per thousand names, the response rate on the new names14 was about 1.5%. Alloy would often exchange some of the names of its customers for the names of customers of similar firms, if it could count on a response rate on the swapped names of close to its own 3%. By blending names from these three sources, Alloy could choose whether a particular mailing would yield a high rate of orders or expand its customer base. Over the year, Alloy’s mailings comprised 10% swapped names, 70% past customers and 20% new names. Diamond found that some people in the private investment community were not well informed on the ease with which response rates could be manipulated. â€Å"Analysts ask me, why is your response rate down last month? I say ‘you want a 10% response rate, I’ll give you one. I’ll just mail to my very best customers.† Most orders were received by telephone, and orders from all lists ranged from $65 per customer in spring to $85 in winter. The gross margin on an order was about 50%. Alloy paid its fulfillment company $6.00 to handle each telephone order. Customers paid the shipping charges. Traffic to the Website, as measured by Media Metrix in the quarter ending March 1999, comprised 263,000 unique visitors15 per month. While about half of the  visitors eventually registered 14 List brokers typically sold names on a ‘deduplicated’ basis, meaning that the buyer had the right to delete and not pay for any names that it already owned. 15 Many of the visitors to a site came more than once a month. Media Metrix used the term â€Å"unique visitors† to emphasize that they were counting visitors, not visits. 8 Downloaded by Junfei Xu on 9/02/2013. New York University, Stephen Tamke, Fall 2013, 001-003 Alloy.com: Marketing to Generation Y 500-048 themselves with the site by entering a name, address and e-mail information, the proportion of unique visitors in a month who registered in that month was about 8%. In addition to catalogs and Web visits, Alloy interacted with Generation Y by means of a weekly broadcast e-mail, Alloy E-Zine, sent to 850,000 site visitors who had asked to receive it. When a visitor to the Alloy Website registered, the name was added to the print catalog mailing list. Names gathered in this way, although they had not previously bought from Alloy, tended to respond to the catalog at a rate close to the past-buyer rate of 3%. Calculating the cost of attracting someone to become a registered visitor was difficult, because Web traffic resulted from many actions: banner advertising, listings on search engines, and Alloy’s print advertising in media like Seventeen Magazine. The catalog was a significant driver of traffic to the Web. On the day that the catalog reached its audience, traffic to the site would jump 40%. It would continue to rise to about 180% of pre-mailing levels for a week, and slowly fall back. Possessing a copy of the latest Alloy catalog conferred significant prestige in a junior high school lunchroom. And then there was wordof-mouth. Many visitors to the Website, and many who decided to register, came at no cost to Alloy because a friend had mentioned the site, had e-mailed a chat room story, or had asked for an opinion on an item of clothing shown on the site. Less than 5% of Alloy’s revenues came from orders placed on the Website. When an order was submitted on-line instead of by phone, Alloy paid its fulfillment company $3.00 instead of $6.00 to reflect the saving of telephone handling charges. Alloy’s e-mailed catalog, termed Alloy E-Zine, was another small element of the business. Because Alloy had no way of knowing whether a recipient’s e-mail system was able to view graphic displays or color, it used only text in the E-Zine. Only 25% of those who indicated willingness to receive it ever opened it, and of those 1% placed an order in the course of a year. These orders were fulfilled at $3.00 each if they were placed by return email. Sponsorships and banner advertising were a small but rapidly growing source of revenue. As Alloy’s base of registered visitors and catalog recipients grew, both became assets that interested advertisers. The AOL Deal Diamond reflected on the AOL deal. It was not a question of finding $2 million. If the IPO went ahead at the planned price of $15, it would generate $55.5 million and Alloy would be awash in cash. Diamond tried not to be annoyed at the idea that AOL would offer this deal on the eve of his IPO. â€Å"I’ve been talking to AOL for a year about opening a teen shopping area, showing them what a big revenue opportunity it could be. Now suddenly they get it, and they think it’s worth $2 million.† He thought to himself, â€Å"What else can I do with $2 million? That’s over 4 million catalogs, which means more sales, more site visits, more registrations, and more E-Zine registrations. Alternatively, it could buy us exposure on television, and that would build a stronger brand.† Alloy’s budget for 1999 included a line item of $2.5 million for production of two television spots and $2.5 million for air time. Yet AOL was Alloy’s most important source of traffic to the Website. More than a third of visitors to the Alloy site used AOL as their Internet service provider. Would a competitor on the AOL site be able to intercept them? Would the announcement of a competitor’s deal with AOL on the eve of the IPO be as bad for Alloy’s share price as an Alloy deal would be good? The cellphone rang again. It was his partner, Neil Vogel. â€Å"Matt, Wall Street would like it if you would do that deal. They don’t want iTurF to pick it up. This is valuable real estate on a really important teen property.† 9 Downloaded by Junfei Xu on 9/02/2013. New York University, Stephen Tamke, Fall 2013, 001-003 500-048 Alloy.com: Marketing to Generation Y Exhibit 1 Total Teen Spending in 1996 $ billions % Apparel 36.7 34 Entertainment 23.4 22 Food 16.7 15 Personal Care 9.2 9 Sporting Goods 6.7 6 Other 15.3 14 Total 108.0 100 Source: Packaged Facts via InterRep Research, in MSDW Equity Research: †Fashions of the Third Millennium,† June 1999. Exhibit 2 Estimates of Teen Spending Rand Youth (Adweek May 18, 1998) 1996 1997 Morgan Stanley Dean Witter’s report â€Å"Fashions of the Third Millennium,† June 1999 $108 billion $91.5 billion 1998 1999 Teen Research Unlimited (quoted in Alloy press handout) $141 billion $136 billion 10 Downloaded by Junfei Xu on 9/02/2013. New York University, Stephen Tamke, Fall 2013, 001-003 Alloy.com: Marketing to Generation Y 500-048 Exhibit 3 Consolidated iTurf Income (in $ thousands) st st Net revenues 1 quarter ending 1 May 1999 2615 Cost of goods 1332 35 Gross profit 1283 34 Selling, general and admin. 1753 109 Interest income (expense) (112) 11 Loss before tax (358) (86) Income tax (benefit) (161) (33) Net loss (197) (53) Apr 99 = 731,000 Feb 99 = 635,000 50 million 4 million No. of unique visitors No. of page views in April Size of mailing database 1 quarter ending 30 April 1998 69 11 million names Source: IPO Filing Exhibit 4 Alloy Online Annual Fiscal Performance Fiscal year 1996 1997 1998 (thousands) Net merchandise revenues $25 $1,800 $10,100 Of which on-line order placement accounted for: – $40 $710 Sponsorship and other revenue – Gross profit % Selling & Marketing expenses Web pages views (Month of March) $125 32.5% 41.7% 46.3% $98 $2,000 $9,200 1,500 25,000 Weekly e-zine registrations 480 Source: Company records 11 Downloaded by Junfei Xu on 9/02/2013. New York University, Stephen Tamke, Fall 2013, 001-003 500-048 Alloy.com: Marketing to Generation Y Exhibit 5 Alloy Online Quarterly Performance 1997 1998 1998 1998 1998 1999 1999 31 Oct Jan 31 Apr 30 Jul 31 Oct 31 Jan 31 Apr 30 ($’000) Net merchandise revenues 401 1396 1353 2082 3215 3436 2391 Sponsorship, etc. – – 1 5 46 73 163 Total revenues 401 1396 1354 2087 3261 3509 2544 COGS 263 783 906 1200 1665 1715 1249 Gross profit 138 613 448 887 1596 1794 1305 34% 44% 33 42.5% 49% 51% 51% 903 1437 1782 2992 3396 2679 3529 (749) (806) (1312) (2165) (1901) (985) (2302) 400,000 800,000 Gross profit % of revenue Operating expenses Net loss Number of registered users Source: Company records 12 Downloaded by Junfei Xu on 9/02/2013. New York University, Stephen Tamke, Fall 2013, 001-003 Alloy.com: Marketing to Generation Y 500-048 Exhibit 6 Circulation of Leading Teen Magazines Publication Publisher Circulation as of 1998/99 Seventeen (monthly) Primedia Consumer Magazine Group 2,400,000 Teen (monthly) EMAP 2,400,000 YM (10 x year) Gruner & Jahr 2,200,000 Teen People (monthly) Time Inc. 1,300,000 Jump (10 x year) Weider Publications 350,000 Twist (monthly) Bauer Publishing 265,650 Girl Lewitt & LaWinter/Freedom 250,000 Source: Various 13 Downloaded by Junfei Xu on 9/02/2013. New York University, Stephen Tamke, Fall 2013, 001-003 500-048 Alloy.com: Marketing to Generation Y Exhibit 7 Examples of consumer-generated content on Alloy Website Source: Alloy Website 14 Downloaded by Junfei Xu on 9/02/2013. New York University, Stephen Tamke, Fall 2013, 001-003