Income elasticity of demand Essay Example for Free

Income elasticity of demand Essay Luxury product sales boost in the emerging marketing like China, which has extraordinary growth and strong potential consumers for the development of luxury goods in the China market. With gradually lower and lower increase of revenue in the European countries, Louis Vuitton (abridged as LV in the following sections) commits itself to set up more stores in China. However, LV is faced with the problems of declining profits in China, which urges it to adjust its entry strategy into the China market. In this case, this report will focus on distinguishing the factors that influence LV’s development in China and laying out schemes for LV’s entry into China market by initially examining the internal and external environment for LV; analyzing the operational plan for LV’s entry into China based on the environment examination, and generating an action plan for LV’s entry strategy at the end of the report. Content 1. 0 Introduction Louis Vuitton (abridged as LV in the following sections) is planning to set up more stores in the China market. However, it is now faced with the problems of declining profits in China, which urges it to adjust its entry strategy into the China market. In this case, this report is to lay out schemes for LV’s entry into the China market by distinguishing the internal and external factors that influence LV’s development from the perspectives of country factors and internal advantages of LV with reference to the SWOT analysis model; analyzing the operational plan for LV’s entry into China based on the environment examination and including suggests on firm strategy, organization structure and management, entry strategy and modes, manufacturing management, marketing plan, and accounting as well as finance management; and generating an action plan for LV’s entry strategy at the end of the report according to the specifications of the business operational plan. 2. 0 Research Methods The research method of literature searches is adopted to generate this report. This method is chosen because there are plenty of existing studies on the development of luxury goods, which makes it possible for abundant literature searches. Also, there are a great many resources on the annual reports of Louis Vuitton available which offer insights into the financial performance of this company. Anyway, luxury goods are indeed possessed by the majority of people, which makes direct interviews or surveys less available. 3. 0 Findings: External and Internal Environment The internal and external factors that influence LV’s development will be examined in this section from the perspectives of country factors and internal advantages of LV. A SWOT analysis will be involved in this section, which aims to find out the strength, weakness, opportunity and threat of the company according to analysis on the internal conditions of the company and the external environment the company is faced with (Johnson Scholes, 2002, p122). 3. 1 External environment: Country factor analysis The external environment for LV’s entry into China will be discussed in terms of the politics and government policy of China, the economy and the China market, the social culture and transportation of China, and will be concluded from the perspectives of opportunities and threats for LV’s entry into China. In terms of politics and government policy, China is now actively opening up to the world and enhancing trade relationships with world brands since the reform and opening up policy. In terms of the economy and the China market, according to Yuval and Vinay and Cathy (2011), the analysts of Mckinsey quarterly, China has increasing booming urban cities including the second- and third-tier cities and the world second-largest GDP which means strong purchasing power the China consumers for luxury goods and great market potentials (para 8). They also pointed out that by 2015, Chinese consumers will account for more than 20 percent of the global luxury market. On the other hand, the large market potential has drawn a host of luxury-goods companies to enter the China market, which makes the competition fiercer and fiercer. And it is troublesome for LV that there are plenty of fake goods imitating LV’s style prevailing in China, which are actually not likely to reduce LV’s high-end consumers, but would exert negative influences on consumers’ impression and awareness of LV. In terms of social culture, for one thing, the China consumers are attracted by middle- and high-end products and somehow more attracted by French luxury goods, and they believe that the higher the price, the better the quality (Yuval, Vinay and Cathy, 2011, para7) (Exhibit 1). For another thing, the traditional virtue of thrift is rooted in the mindset of the Chinese, with which some of the rich in China indicate that they would not spend a large sum of money to get a product. (Exhibit 1) (Chinese consumers increasingly prefer internationally well-known brands. Retrieved on Jan 3rd 2013 from: http://www. mckinseyquarterly. com/Tapping_Chinas_luxury-goods_market_2779) In terms of transportation, airlines are increased like the Emirates group which launched air routines in the main cities of China, and railway transportation as well as road transportation is more and more available, making it convenient and fast for cross-national transportation. Therefore in conclusion, the opportunities for LVs entry into China can be concluded as Chinas encouraging policies on foreign brands entering into China; Chinas booming urban cities and increasing middle- and upper- class consumers with strong purchasing power; Chinese consumers purchasing preference for French high-end products; and the more and more convenient cross-national transportation in China. While the threats for LVs entry into China entail the fierce competition from the peer companies and brands; the trouble coming from increasing produced counterfeit products imitating LV in China; China consumers cautious traditional views on luxury goods purchasing. Anyway, when it comes to China consumers rational attitude towards luxury goods purchasing, it may be an opportunity for LV if it succeeds in drawing out their desires and needs for LVs products, otherwise it may turn out to be a threat for LVs expansion in China. 3. 2 Internal environment: Based on national level and firm level 3. 2. 1 Internal environment based on national level The advantages of internal environment for LV on national level lie in the its preference and prospect to greatly expand its business in China, its experiences of operating in China market for about twenty years, and its strong influence on and temptation to the China consumers, as well as customer loyalty for it. On the contrary, the disadvantages lie in its high price which will greatly influences China consumers’ will to purchase the products, and in its could-be easily imitated appearance and style which is made used of by some China manufacturers in producing fake goods. 3. 2. 2 Internal environment based on firm level 3. 2. 2. 1 The nature of LV’s products Dubois and Czellar and Laurent (2001) delineated Luxury goods as products with extraordinary quality as well as high price, rareness and uniqueness, aesthetic appeal, respectful long history, and the sense of being superior to others (p156). Yacine and Johnathan and Motohiro (2004) argued that luxury goods manual crafting and diligence should be involved into the manufacturing and designing of luxury goods (para 2). Based on these studies, the nature of LVs products can be abstracted as unique, rare, and excellent-quality, and extraordinary. 3. 2. 2. 2 Industry characteristics of luxury goods Kapferer (1996) suggested that luxury industry distinguishes the needs and demands of the wealthy people like prominent social figures, and produce unique superior products for them, which acts like a status symbol for the rich (p251). While Heine (2010) stated that the luxury industry is also fashion-oriented and high-quality guaranteed. And it is closely associated with the needs of the wealthy. Judging from these studies and the advancement of luxury products nowadays, the industrial characteristics of luxury products can be concluded as extraordinary quality with high guarantee, extremely personalized with unique designed style, strong brand recognition and customer loyalty, and highly profitable sales based on its high price. 3. 2. 2. 3 Advantages and disadvantage of internal environment for LV on firm level The advantages of LV on firm level mainly lie in its good brand image, abundant product portfolio, wide expansion in the China markets covering most of the first- and second-tier cities, and its control on the designs of products. This can be told from the following aspects. Above all, LV enjoys a good reputation of high quality and excellent services that it has occupied the first place of the 2012 Hurun Ranking of the Top ten luxury brands in the world (see Appendix 1), in which LV beats Hermes, the second in the list by nearly 43%. Also, LV offers manual crafting designed products which are special for certain customers. What’s more, it offers permanent after-sale serves to its customers (Paul, 2012, p79). In terms of geographical expansion, LV has reached many areas of China (Exhibit 2).

Visions of Utopia in Bellamys Looking Backward Essay -- Looking Back

Visions of Utopia in Looking Backward  Ã‚   Edward Bellamy addressed many of the topics crucial to the development of a civilization in his book, Looking Backward. In the story he addresses several different features of years past utopias. Some being "universal harmony, distribution of occupation according to individual aptitudes, equality of reward, universal ease and comfort, reduction of hours of labor, suppression of idleness, of competition, of the struggle for life, and also for money" (De Laveleye). Many of these topics Bellamy addresses in a positive manner; while others he does not. In Bellamy's book, Looking Backward, a character named Julian West suffers from insomnia. Because of his condition, he is put into a soundproof chamber. He falls asleep and does not wake up for over one hundred years. His story is about the civilization that he discovers when he wakes up. America has developed into a socialistic country and is standing on the brink of utopia. Bellamy addresses inequality in his book, Looking Backward. In the old times; inequality was cured by making the greedy industrial. In this new utopia, there is no need for inequality because everyone has the same. "There shall be no individual production of property and no individual accumulation of it. It shall be produced by the state, and distributed by the state equally to all individuals, without any reference to their function in producing it, intellectually or physically" (Harris). This simply states that in Bellamy's utopia it makes no difference what your social standing is; everyone is given the same amount of supplies and money. Bellamy addresses the distribution of professions in Looking Backward. It is quite obvious to realize that the more pl... ...speak it from time to time. In this way, Bellamy tires to show that his utopia is non-discriminatory. Edward Bellamy addressed several very tough subjects in his book, Looking Backward. He did this by attempting to create an interesting story in which people could find his views on the future of America as an utopia. Although his attempt at literary fame failed; Bellamy did succeed in exposing possible solutions to many of the problems that still plague our country today: fair job placement, material possessions and poverty, unregulated capitalism, and discrimination. Bibliography Taylor, Walter Fuller. "Edward Bellamy", The Economic Novel. 1897 Bowman, Sylvia E. "Bellamy's Missing Chapter", The New England Quarterly. 1958 DeLaveleye, Emile. "Two New Utopia's", Contemporary Review. 1890 Harris, W.T. "Edward Bellamy's Vision", The Forum. 1889

Julius Caesar Essay

Conflicting perspectives, What are they? Conflicting perspectives are a clash of ideologies and belief systems. When studying conflicting perspectives we are able to generate diverse and provocative insights, like the idea that is appealing to an audiences logic and reason is less effective in persuading them as opposed to appealing to their emotions which is more effective. This can be seen through the texts Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, the article ‘Arguments Against Abortion’ by Kerby Anderson and the essay ‘Abortion and the Alternatives’ by Voula Papas. In the text Julius caesar conflicting perspectives can be seen in act 3 scene one where both Brutus and Antony give speeches about caesars death. In Brutus’s speech he uses a number of rhetorical features and logic to convince the Plebeians that the killing of Caesar was carried out for the â€Å"goodness of rome†. we can see this through the â€Å"Had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead and live all free men? †. The use of truism in this quote makes the audience unable to offer a contradicting point of view thus they are forced into complying with Brutus’s thoughts. Brutus’s speech is delivered in prose, a somewhat unpolished and unsophisticated manner of speaking. The use of prose in this instance appeals to the audience as they are able to directly relate to this manner of speaking, being of a somewhat lower class, thus allowing Brutus to connect with them on a higher level. He also arouses patriotism and plays on the rights to civil freedom of the audience to offer further persuasiveness to his speech. He does this by inferring logical and restrained reasoning for Caesar’s death which appeals to the audience’s intelligence and commonsense. The high modality of the rhetorical question â€Å"Who is here so vile that will not love his country? † is extremely powerful in agitating the existing devotion the audience has towards Rome. Similarly in the essay Arguments against Abortion the author, uses rhetorical devices and the use of logic (logos) to convince the audience that abortion is wrong. The essay has been arranged in four subsections biblical, medical, legal and philosophical arguments against abortion. Exemplification techniques through the use of facts and statistics is used to emphasize the point that author is trying to make. The author uses many logos techniques very effectively, often to make a point about the fetus being alive and being able to feel ain even at very early stages of life, so should not be destroyed. An example of this is seen in the line â€Å"If heartbeat was used to define life, then nearly all abortions would be outlawed† the deductive reasoning used makes conclusions about the fact that life exist even as a fetus and thus abortion is actually death of the fetus. By contrast Antony from Julius caesar heavily relies upon the power of language and its ability to exploit the human flaw that is emotion, and by doing so manipulate ones perception through a emotionally (pathos) driven argument. Antony has a greater understanding of the people and knows that they are passionate people who will be swayed by such talk. Also Antony unlike Brutus uses iambic pentameter this shows that he has a higher authority which would make the audience listen more carefully. After each argument Antony produces in Caesar’s defense, he uses irony through the lines â€Å"But Brutus says he was ambitious, and Brutus is an honorable man†. This line is repeated a number of times creating an anaphora. As well as slowly dismantling Brutus’ reputation through the irony, Antony indirectly implies and focuses the blame upon him and plays to the emotions of his audience indulging them to question their newly acquired perspective. It is Antonys use of emotional language that allows him to persuade his audience more than Brutus. Like wise the article Abortion and the Alternatives by Kerby Anderson relies on the use of emotive language to convince the readers that abortion can sometimes be the only resort for a female. The persuasive technique of pathos is used to effectively convey to the reader why the choice should be with the women, reference to rape cases and quilt feeling by women after abortion are examples of this. This appeals to the human nature of the reader and weakens them emotionally making it easier for them to be swayed. Also the use of props In this case a graphic image of a woman, bloodied towel in fist, crouched, naked and dead of a botched abortion. The vivid imagery allows the audience to see in reality what it is like and makes them more inclined to believe and agree to what the author is suggesting. The rhetorical question â€Å"Before legal abortion†¦.. do you want to go back to this? † as a caption of the image conveys a powerful message that there is an alternative which is safe, legal and accessible and that is abortion. We can see through all the three texts that conflicting perspectives generate provocative insights that are appealing to the audiences emotions is a more effective way of persuading them than appealing to their logic.

Knowledge and Individual Power - 974 Words

Knowledge and Individual power â€Å"Knowledge is Power† one of the most famous educational quotes to this day. Three poems, â€Å"Crazy Courage† by Alma Villanueva, â€Å"Theme for English B† by Langston Hughes and â€Å"Much Madness is Divinest Sense† by Emily Dickinson, convey an idea or a certain knowledge that an individual possesses that is essential to a persons individual power. Though the three poems express the same ideas they express them through different methods. These ideas and methods that the three authors use all describe one piece of knowledge that gives a person great power which is the knowledge of a persons individuality and nonconformity. The claim that each of these three poems give is that the knowledge of ones individuality†¦show more content†¦Hughes displays ethos in his poem by using the word I to gain credibility with the teacher whom he is writing for. He uses I in a strong sense that he is proud to be who he is and though he is different he just wants to be treated fairly. In the beginning of the poem he says, †I am twenty-two, colored, born in Winston-Salem.†3 He starts to gain his credibility with this and then proceeds to go on telling the reader about his credibility, that he graduated high school, and that he is the only colored student in that college. The second appeal used is logos. The logos that he used is when he proceeds to compare the similarities between him and the teacher. He uses these appeals to persuade the teacher to treat him fairly even though he is a different color than he is. The main characters of each of these poems convey that to be an individual and to be different than the majority you can gain great self knowledge and incite. The passage from â€Å"Much Madness is Divinest Sense† says, â€Å"Much Madness is divinest Sense To a Discerning Eye.4† If you stay who you are and not give in to the majority you can gain see the world with clarity. To gain incite on onese lf is the greatest power that an individual can posses. With this courage, wisdom and incite can obtained. Reference Page 1 James, Missy, and Alan Merickel. Individuality and Community.Show MoreRelatedFoucault s Theory Of Individual Power And Knowledge1596 Words   |  7 PagesTheory of Individual Power and Knowledge have allowed one to see the other side of arguments with more posing questions. Domestic Violence is now resulting in a spouse being labeled with the brand of â€Å"battered woman’s syndrome† and it opens the door for a many unanswered questions, and is debatable at best. 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