Communispace Essay Example for Free

Communispace Essay Communispace offers a unique process for administering market research. It offers a view into the minds of the customers of a brand by building brand-focused online communities in order to enable members to communicate with each other and generate focus groups to discuss the product. A community is built as a long-term project; it continues to produce valuable information for companies over the course of its existence. The business model utilized by Communispace helps to provide facilitation and management powered by technology and innovation. Communispace differentiates itself by focusing on the strategy of building online communities that act as an invaluable resource for testing ideas, generating feedback and exploring customers mindsets. Communispace can begin its analysis within 24 hours of launching an online community as it reaches out to a particular subset of people that would be most interested in commenting on and speaking about a particular product. A Word of Mouth campaign utilizes a different strategy. A targeted community would receive the product in the mail and would then ideally spread word around about the product to friends and neighbors. This campaign, while a beneficial tool for market research, was not a tool that Communispace utilized. There were many competitors that were better at this method. Simmons is a highly recognized FMCG company holding 20 brands that are found in over 95% of US households. Simmons wanted to promote its new organic product for weight conscious consumers via Communispace using word-of-mouth. The business problem being faced by Communispace was that it could not determine whether it would be undermining its strengths and strategy by taking this type of project or whether it would be detrimental to turn such an influential client down. The case states the communities are built on the foundations of sense of trust and the feeling that their contributions are really making a difference for the company. Communispace built its business on a strategy that reached potential customers by building online communities and did not serve the purpose of receiving a free product and talking about it outside the community. As Julie Wittes Schlack, Senior Vice President of Innovation and Design and a cofounder of Communispace points out in the case, the company’s growth depended solely on its core competency. Moreover, due to low entry to barrier into this particular arena of market research, there were many other competitors that had built their competitive advantage on doing word of mouth campaigns. So another problem that Communispace would be to weigh the options of benefits gained by entering into this WOM arena where they have no real advantage versus the damage they might incur by compromising on their core competency. In my opinion, Communispace should focus on the strategy that has defined them and not sacrifice their identity and corporate strategy. From the success and expansion of Communispace it is clear that they have gotten their process for building communities down to a science, thus allowing companies to not only to listen, but learn. Flipping this model on its head not only would completely alter the process in which companies engage in with their community, but it would also make for a far less exact science in what Communispace does? Moreover, word of mouth is something that can’t be manufactured to find success repeatedly, rather it should happen organically and not by force. Hence, making that a core competence for Communispace would prove exceedingly difficult because it is difficult to draw the valuation of a successful WOM and then repeatedly recreate its success. That is how would Communispace measure the effectiveness of the WOM campaigns? In the present scenario, they can provide their clients with reports and analysis on the conversations in the community, but how would they measure how effective their members are outside the community? Though advertising and creative marketing campaigns can spur word of mouth, a community approach would seem as a dishonest approach with a possibility of no results or backfiring on the credibility of the community. This, in turn would hamper the reputation that Communispace enjoys and might be detrimental to its social health in the long run as it would incite distrust amongst its community members which might lead to loss of present clients. The intense competition that Communispace will face, the potential loss of credibility of community members when they understand that the community is only for advertisement and the short-lived nature of WOM campaigns, hence, the campaign-fuelled business can undermine the long-time subscription model are reasons that support the decision to stick to their core services and not digress into an arena that utilises a model that is completely dissimilar to Communispace’s original one.

Self Evaluation of Geography Education

Self Evaluation of Geography Education In Geography I learned a lot about other parts of the world and how they are different from the place that we live in now. One of the best things I learned in Geography was about Mexico, not only because my family is from there but also because I like to learned about where I came from. Some of the things I learned was that as a Mexican we like to protect our selfs from the outside world. Most Mexicans homes have a wall like structure around there home to keep bad people out, since Mexico is known to be very dangerous. Unlike Mexico the US homes like to show their house as a sign of success or to show off their richness to other people. Taking Geography also helped me a lot with my writing and annotating, since mostly all we do is read and write essays. It helped me understand stories a lot more since now I know to look up a word that I dont understand or to underline key words that can help me better understand the story later on. Annotating is not only helpful but It can also make work a lot easier once it comes to writing a paper, because writing an essay on an article that u cant even understand is never easy. I learned a lot about other countries and how their lives are different than ours. I learned about Mexico, Argentina, El Salvador, and China. One article that I also thought was really interesting was about Argentina. Its very fascinating to me how Argentina has some of the greatest and best resources in the world and yet they are still a failing country. The problem was that people were not getting payed enough and had low wages which then led to millions of people quitting their job which then caused businesses to fail since they had no one who can work for them. Self-Evaluations have helped me a lot also, not only to keep track but it also helped me understand things I didnt know too well. If I didnt understand something I would write it on the back of the self-evaluation where later on I can better understand what it meant. Also I feel like the Class discussions were very helpful, since sometimes I wouldnt understand some things that we were reading. Overall the self-evaluation was very helpful to keep on track and to make sure we have everything we need to get a good grade. I feel like World Geography has also helped people be more confident. I have seen people talking to each other who dont normally talk or Ive seen the shy people get a lot more confident and become part of our class discussions. I feel like the communication has gotten a lot better throughout the class. This class has also brought us a lot closer to each other since we usually need other peoples help to get through the class. Geography also helped me with understanding articles better since it showed me that I always need to go back and reread the article to get a better understanding of it and even to understand some words that may be confusing. Also something I learned is that many counties until this day prefer river transportation than car transportation just because you could save a lot of money on gas but also because it is a lot better for the environment and can be even faster since there are no stops. Many countries struggle with this problem because sometimes they dont have access to a river or ocean, or even sometimes the rivers are not deep enough for ships to travel through them. When a country has no access to river or ocean it is a lot more expensive for them to transport good and make any profit out of it, many countries fail because of this problem. In conclusion I feel like world geography had helped me a lot in many ways. It helped me understand articles better by annotating them but it has also taught me a lot about of countries and the problems that they are facing until this day. Also I feel like this class has brought together a lot of people and also made people a lot more confident with their work since people who didnt talk at the beginning of the year are now talking a lot more.

Metternich The Leader :: essays research papers

Prince Klemens von Metternich: His Ideology, his Role in History, and the Stories we Tell. Metternich was an extremely intelligent man who turned his conservative beliefs into international policy. Metternich was a confident leader who put little faith in popular opinion or sentiment because he believed that the common man was too fickle in his loyalties and too inept to understand the magnitude of foreign policy. He was a loyal "servant" to the Austrian Emperor, even though Metternich was the true head of the Empire's government. Prince Klemens von Metternich was a complex individual that embodied the principles of 19th century conservatism and, through his Congress of Vienna, led the major European powers to a period of long-lasting peace and a strong balance of power. Metternich is well known for the Metternich System, which was put into practice during his most notable success, the Congress of Vienna of 1815. Metternich, additionally, was the guiding spirit of the international congresses, Aachen, Carlsbad, Troppau, Laibach, and Verona and was the chief statesman of the Holy Alliance. The Congress of Vienna, though, and the agreements that followed were the basis for, "no war involving several powers until the Crimean conflicts of the 1850's and no major war embroiling the whole of Europe until 1914." Metternich's goal, however, was not a peaceful Europe for the sake of peace, but for the preservation of the Austrian Empire who was threatened by possible aggressors on all sides, as well as, his personal loathing for liberalism and revolutionary behavior. Moreover, the Congress of Vienna gave Metternich the opportunity to instill his values of conservatism into the other leaders of Europe in a time when liberalism and revolution wer e the predominant political trends. Even though Metternich was a firm believer in the conservative values of his time, he worked to spread those ideas in 1815 for the more pragmatic reason of balancing power in the European Concert rather than for abstract ideologies. In the time following the Congress of Vienna, Metternich's amazing negotiations balanced the tendencies of an expanding Russia, with the isolationist mentality of Great Britain, as well as dealing with Prussian supremacy in the German confederation and maintaining Bourbon satisfaction with the status quo. The fact that he was able to do all this gave justification to the fact that, "Metternich remarked near the end of his life that historians would judge him more fairly than his contemporaries, and his prophecy has proven uncannily accurate.

Free College Essays - The Motif of the Sun in The Stranger by Albert Camus :: The Stranger The Outsider

The Motif of the Sun in The Stranger In Camus' novel The Stranger the predominate motif of the sun has been variously interpreted by many critics as a symbol of Meursault's repressed emotions. This is an interpretation I simply cannot accept, for I have always regarded the sun as symbolic of the superego - the force of society within Meursault. Like the sun, society is generally thought to be a positive thing. People usually regard a good strong society that instills its members with a strong, unified code of morals as something to be desired. In the same way, people tend to think of a bright, warm, sunny day as something good and positive. However, both the force of society and theforce of the sun can become overpowering. They beat down on people, smothering and suffocating them, just as the sun beats down upon Meursault throughout the novel. The sun is present whenever the force of society is strong within Meursault. At the funeral the sun bears down on Meursault as society smothers him with expectations that he will grieve his mother's death in a typical manner. At the beach when he kills the Arab the sun is ever present and overpowering, making Meursault disoriented and confused. In the same way the power of society suffocates and confuses Meursault as it bears down on him with its views on morality. The sun is also present at the trial, just as is the force of society which claims to possess the right to judge people. The force of society is absent in the prison, likewise the sun is absent from Meursault's dark cell, and because the overpowering force of society has been removed, Meursault is finally able to "[open himself] to the gentle indifference of the world." At one point Meursault leans from the window in an attempt to feel the sun's last

The Colossal Decision to Deploy an Atomic Weapon: An Individuals Impact on Society :: Essays Papers

The Colossal Decision to Deploy an Atomic Weapon: An Individual's Impact on Society Never before in recorded history has there been an event that has take so many lives in one instant. On the day of August 6, 1945 the first atomic device ever detonated was deployed on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. It is recorded that sixty percent of Hiroshima was destroyed in this offensive maneuver. Seventy-eight thousand human beings lost their lives at 8:15 a.m.1 The man directly responsible for this attack was the President of the United States, Harry S. Truman. While it is true that individuals are for the most part guinea pigs to society, there arises one striking exception to this rule: the leaders of our modern age. The impact this certain individual had on society is inconceivable, and to fully understand Truman's decision to drop an atom bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we must understand the momentous forces driving him to this means to an end. There were many different circumstances pushing Truman to his decision to use this secret weapon against the Japanese. There were moral issues, military issues, and of course Truman and his closely-knit circle of advisors had to examine the impact of this use of atomic energy on the future of our planet. In the end, however, the opposing forces proved slight enough for Truman to overrule. The first barrier to using a weapon of such destructive capabilities is personal morality. It would be very reasonable to think that it would be an impossibility for one person to authorize the destruction of so many others. This issue turned out to be one of small importance for Truman for many reasons. First, the American public had a moral advantage in that the Japanese bombed us first at Pearl Harbor. Also, as Truman himself stated, "†¦ was either that or the atomic bomb, and I didn't hesitate a minute, and I've never lost any sleep over it since."2 This indicates his main reason for not having any moral qualms with this bombing, the consequences if he didn't drop the bomb. The most important of these was the expected American casualties if we chose invasion over the bomb. However, if Truman new the greusome effects the deployment of this weapon would have upon the citizens of Hiroshima and Nagisaki, perhaps he would have hesitated. To see what the effects of the a-bomb on the people and buildings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki click here.

World, in Hounding Me

World, In Hounding Me The poem â€Å"World, in Hounding Me† written by â€Å"Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz† explains her ethos and thought process in order to give a greater understanding of her psyche and in doing so, is also judgmental about modern life. She wishes to enrich her mind, spirit and existence with the understanding of beauty and humility. In the poem, it states, â€Å"How can it harm you if I choose, astutely, rather to stock my mind with things of beauty, than waste its stock on every beauty's claim? . Rather than making herself look beautiful on the outside, she focus on making herself beautiful from within by finding the goods she has in her and understanding the importance of her existence in the world.She wishes to avoid the corruptions of wealth and vanity. The poem states, â€Å"Costliness and wealth bring me no pleasure; the only happiness I care to find derives from setting treasure in my mind, and not from mind that's set on winning treasure. . Sh e doesn't want happiness that only last a moment. She wants happiness that lasts a life time and beyond. She asks to be a simple woman with simple pleasures and not be made to enter the race of accumulating â€Å"things† and wealth. The poem states, â€Å"I prize no comeliness. All fair things pay to time, the victor, their appointed fee and treasure cheats even the practiced eye. â€Å".She doesn't want anything that can be gain through wealth and power. She seeks the pleasures of life that is given by god. She wants to accumulate knowledge and understanding of her psych and also judgment about modern life. She believed life isn't about looking pretty or gaining happiness through wealth. Instead she believed that everyone is beautiful inside and that the happiness is gain through the pleasure of life given by god.

Gender differences in the effects of divorce Essay

Besides behaviour differences among children of divorced and intact families, there are also gender differences to consider. Hyatt suggests that boys and girls react differently to parental divorce. Boys tend to create more behavioural problems in school than girls do. Boys’ self-esteem tends to decline as a result of divorce and they seek constant attention from the teacher and disturb class with irrelevant talks. Their effort in school work also decline. Hyatt mentions that boys are more prone to difficulty of losing contact to their father hence regular communication with the father can help these adjustment problems. Girls’ behaviour in school after parental divorce is not as noticeable as boys because they do not manifest their difficulties by acting out in class. Rather, they tend to become more anxious or unhappy or showing over controlled good behaviour. Another findings concerning gender difference in the effects of divorce is that girls do accept help from their teachers unlike boys. This is because girls see their school as a place where they can be supported during divorce while boys conduct socially unacceptable behaviour. School Behaviour of Children of Divorced Families Human beings grow by constantly adapting to new environment therefore adapting to an environment is part of life cycle. Children’s educational place can be divided into home, school and the society. The child and environment continuously interact and the school takes over large part of a child’s life. Therefore as well as having a settled family life, school period is also important in determining how children might turn out in the future. School is a place where children enjoy, and gain sense of satisfaction by experiencing various activities and maintain harmonized relationships with the teachers and other students. Similarly, school adjustment is defines as taking interest in school environment and feel comfortable being in school with other children. This adjustment reflects on their school achievement and development. For instance, children who enjoy being in school and participate in school activities are likely to gain more educational experiences than those who have adjustment disorder. Liebman defines school adjustment disorder as excessive reaction where individuals are unable to harmonize with the school environment and other students which will prohibit individual development. Children of divorced families are likely to have more difficulties in school adjustment than those of children from intact families. Berbe suggests that children with adjustment disorder tend to attract teacher’s attention by inappropriate questions in class, distract other children and find it hard to pay attention in class. They also refuse teacher’s request and are often disobedient. And if they continue to show irresponsible academic behaviour, it leads to serious adjustment disorder. Heck’s idea is also similar to Berbe’s suggestion that children with adjustment disorder problems are frequently absent and tend to be oppositional in class. However, it is difficult to judge the cause of maladjustment solely on divorce. How children respond to above stress can vary from a child to child. It can differ according to their age, gender or disposition and the environment includes economic stature of parents, social approval rating of parents and family conflict. Variables are categorized as they may affect children’s school adjustment into demographic differences and family variables. Demographic differences include race, gender, and parental socioeconomic status and family variables include relationships, organisation, control, social support, mother rejection and father rejection. Behaviour of children of divorced in school As mentioned earlier, children from divorced families appear to have difficulty in academic achievement and relationship with other children at school than children from intact families. The cause of this should not be looked at solely on the primary factor which is divorce. Secondary factors are to be considered as well, such as the change in socioeconomic structure and resources after divorce. For example, as mentioned earlier, economic loss, poor parental adjustment, lack of parental competence and parental loss can cause behavioural problems. As mentioned in the section of ‘Comparison between children of divorce and intact families’, women’s standard of living is reduced by 29 % after divorce and absence of father can have negative influence on children more on boys than girls. Regarding studies on children’s maladjustment behaviour, Liner categorizes disorder behaviour as: ? action-out behaviour like hitting someone and being aggressive ? withdrawing behaviour: very quiet, sucking fingers, restricted behaviour ? defensive behaviour: lying, ignoring ? disorganised behaviour: escaping from reality Similarly, Wickman describes behaviour of children with adjustment disorder as: ? immoral, dishonest, in resistance to authority, stealer, cheater, disobedient, rude and rebellious ? often violates regulation of class, careless, loses interest in study, negligent and trustless ? exaggerated and offensive personality ? unsociable, overly sensitive, and liar Based on experience, as a teacher of young children, those from divorced families have lower academic achievement, are socially isolated, overly sensitive, either humiliate themselves or boast and show negative behaviour in class. Specifically, their academic grade is poorer than it used to be and they do not try to socialize with others in class. Further, they often seem absent-minded and tend to change their mood easily. If they are scolded for not doing their homework or asked to answer something they do not know, they use violent language in response. They also suffer from headache and easily get tired. This behaviour of children can also be explained by Rotter’s theory of locus of control. Locus of control refers to how individuals attribute the cause of their behaviour to internal or external forces. In applying to children of divorced families, children who have internal locus of control believe that if their parents are divorced, it is their fate. Therefore these children are able to handle any difficulties and feel less psychological distress. In contrast, children who have external locus of control believe that if they do not perform well in school, they tend to blame external factors such as parental divorce rather than blame themselves. Hence, these children are likely to suffer from severe distress than those who have internal locus of control. When elementary school children experience parents’ divorce, they can become aggressive and develop sense fear and sorrow. Some children also imagine reunion of their parents. And they also explain that children’s school behaviour depend on how they are treated at home. As per experience, the relationship between custodial parent and the child seem to have a large impact. Prior research says that the relationship between the behaviour of custodial parents and children’s school adjustment illustrate that the attitude of custodial parents has large influence on children’s school achievement. Mothers’ affection can influence enormously on developing children’s social skills. From mother-child relationship, children learn responsibility, self-control and social skills, hence, hostile attitude towards children can act as hindrance in developing social skills. Therefore one can learn that the attitude of custodial parent becomes important factor which influence children’s school adjustment.