Smoking and Youth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Smoking and Youth - Essay Example This paper will provide the factors leading to excessive smoking addiction during adolescence, and various approaches that will help diminish this obsession. Adolescence is attracted to smoking owing to various factors.  Ã‚  One of the most prominent reasons why people start smoking at a very young age is the influence of their friends. In other words, peer pressure is the number one cause why teens would smoke.   Secondly, when a child grows up in an environment surrounded by smokers like if a father, uncle, aunt or cousins, smoke, chances of smoking is higher because smoking will appear as a normal activity to him.     In addition, youth today is exposed to television, beauty magazines where they see beautiful images of their favorite celebrities and models smoking, as a result, giving them the impression that it is something advisable, and enhances ones personality. However, once an individual starts tobacco consumption their reasons for smoking keep changing. It is a fact that once a child initiates smoking it becomes an addiction and it is not possible to quit that easily. When asked, the reason youth gave for smoking was either boredom or to relieve stress. Anxiety and stress is related to low self-esteem. Hence, one can say that low- self-respect could be one of the major reasons why youth smoke. Likewise, depression in youth is another important issue that should be considered when it comes to smoking, depressive symptoms seems evident in divorced parents or increased abusive behavior towards the child. In such circumstances, a child would be more inclined to smoking cigarettes to hide the pain and trauma. Hence, research shows the most important factors associated with under- age tobacco consumption is peer pressure, family environment that includes parents and siblings and most importantly low self-esteem.  Studies show that â€Å"each day, between 82,000 and 99,000 young people around the world start smoking†

Market research about Porsch Essay Example for Free

Market research about Porsch Essay Porsche Market Research Report RMIT University | Market Research | Sem C 2012 3 I. Executive Summary Currently, a number of people in Vietnam can afford luxury brand name cars such as Audi and BMW. Despite the fact that car outlay in Vietnam are three-times higher than its original price, demand seems not have any deduction. The research objective of this research is tounderstand about the Vietnamese target segment of Cayenne Porsche, their buying motives and usage, which require both the qualitative and quantitative information. The three research objectives we follow including: Customer’s? perceptions? create? a? relation? between? their? needs? and? the? cars, some factors customers consider before purchasing a car including? the? image? of? car? related? to? customer’s? image? of? success,? their? characteristics? and? the? current? trend? in? the? market and the occasions customers can use the car affect and the way they take care of it can affect their buying decision. Thus we used the combination of the online focus group discussion, the experiment survey, the secondary data analysis and the depth interview in order to get the needed information. Firstly, some introductory information and backgroundof Porsche Company are presented. Then the secondary research and literature review which include the Industry overview as well as Company overview, the Sale and market and the Customer trend would provide the greater understanding interrelated components about the auto market. Next, the Qualitative research is taken place with the use of Online Focus Group Discussion (getting the responses from luxury car’s? users? on? the? website? Otofun),? the? Secondary? Data analysis and In-depth? interview? which? together? give? the? group? a?greater? understanding? about? the? luxury? car’s? target? market,? their? purchase decisions and usage. Besides that, the Quantitative research is activated with the conduction of the experiment survey, dealing? with? the? statistic? in? order? to? generalize? our? findings? and? understand? more? about? the? luxury? car? brands’? consumer? trend and experiences. After collecting data, the group works with the SPSS software to transfer the information found from the survey and interview and then? export? chart,? graph? and? data? tables? in? order? to? get? the? result? (the? output)? and?interpret? them.? Finally,? the? group’s? members will appraise data collected and formulate the conclusion for the information researched and evaluated in each stage of the research, in order to answer the research questions as well as provide short-term and long-term recommendations for the Cayenne product line to get the competitive advantage in the market. Porsche Market Research Report RMIT University | Market Research | Sem C 2012 4 II. Introduction and background Over the last 60 years, the Porsche Holding Salzburg is the largest and most successful specialty automaker business company in Europe. Today, Porsches roster is quite wide-ranging and now even contains a luxury sport car, the Cayenne. Porsche Cayenne was elected? by? MotorTrend? to? be? the? â€Å"SUV? of? 2011†.? Absorbed? by? latest? Porsche’s? design,? Cayenne? attracts? attentions? by? the? look? of Safety, Elegance and Gentlemen. According to AutoVina, experts said that Cayenne, with high class, appropriate internal forces and latest? engine? V6,? is? a? SUV? that? best? suit? with? Vietnam’s? transportation? circumstances,? while? still? serve? the? needs? of? class? clients. The research study is conducted to find more opportunity in Vietnamese luxury car market, specifically understanding deeply Vietnamese customer as the key to ensure further growth in Vietnam. III. Secondary research and literature review 1. Industry Overview Vietnam is considered as one the countries that has the fastest developing economy. Since 1986, Viet Nam moved from planning economy to free trade and this policy brought the fastest development in Vietnam economy, ranking in the Asia area. In 2007, Vietnam had also joined the World Trade Organization and this milestone opened the new era for Vietnam economy and trade. Since then, many importers appeared and put a step onto the automobile market which was just in the initial stage. Despite the high rate of trade deficit, decreasing purchasing power and rocketing inflation, the luxury car sales has still risen. Besides, limiting the loan rate and increasing interest policy from Central Bank would not actually influence the Vietnam luxury automobile market. According to Mr. Laurent Genet, the CEO of Automotive Asia – official? Audi? importer? in? Vietnam:? â€Å"Our? target? customers? are? the? ones? who? do? not? have? financial? concerns†.? For? them,? a? car? is? the? reputation,? social? position? and? investment. †? Following this sustainable tendency, many luxury automobile importers are extremely optimistic about this fresh but potential market. 2. Sales Market Developing economy, increasing population and improving standard of living are main factors which help rocketing Vietnam Car sales in? recent? years.? According? to? the? latest? report? of? the? Vietnam? Automobile? Manufacturers’? Association? (VAMA),? sales? in? September/ 2012 increased by 9%, reaching 7660 vehicles nationally. However, the majority of businesses, forecast that by the end of the year, the market will only consume less than 95,000 vehicles. At the same time, VAMA statistics has just announced that in the first nine months, sales were down 38% compared to the same period last year. One of the biggest recognizable reasons is due to the? government’s? contradictory? policies,? which? is? rises? in? fees? and? taxes? policies.? According to VietnamNet, at least nine types of taxes and fees have been imposed on car owners which narrows the automobile sales. Do Huu Hao, Chair of the Vietnam Automobile Engineering? Association,? former? Deputy? of? Industry? has? recently? stated? that? â€Å"If? Vietnam? does? not? make? a? breakthrough? in? its? policies,? its? automobile? industry? will? never? be? able? to? develop†. Porsche Market Research Report RMIT University | Market Research | Sem C 2012 5 3. Customer Trend Referring? to? â€Å"Personal? Finance? Monitor†? of? Nielsen in 2011, Hanoi people adore luxury product such as sport car or mobile phone†¦? and? easily? got? attracted? by? them.? They? willing? to? pay? high? price? for? lavish? products? and? believed? that? purchasing? and? consuming them are economic investment. As studied in the International Marketing Review written by Lien Le Monkhouse, Bradley R.? Barnes,? Ute? Stephan,? (2012),? Hanoi? people? can? be? reflected? as? the? kind? of? person? who? highly? appraise? â€Å"saving? face†,? and? consequently? have? high? insights? of? the? â€Å"extended? self-component†? as? well? as? â€Å"the? conspicuousness? dimension†? of? luxury.? Dissimilarly, the Saigonese only bought things when needed. They think high-class? goods? are? for? boasters,? and? they’d? just? spend? on? necessary instead of boasting purposes. Accordingly, Vietnamese consumers? are? aware? of? the? financial? crisis? yet? it’s? easier? for? high- end name brands to attract northern clients; and for southern clients, enterprises should differentiate business strategies and products to meet all demands. Nowadays, a numberofpeople in Vietnam can afford luxurybrand name cars such as Lexus and BMW. Despite the fact that car outlay in Vietnam are three-times higher than its original price, demand seems not have any deduction. In? their? journal? â€Å"Business? Strategy? Series†? (2009),? the? authors stated? that,? for? Trends,? â€Å"there are differences in trends these days. People want safety, fast, sexy, but economical cars†.? Therefore,? â€Å"Efficiency†? becomes? one? of? the? newest? major? trends. The second run-up? is? â€Å"to? personalize? your? style†.? For? example,? men?who love speed and sport conventionally dream about a top-gun car at least once in their life. The third run-up? is? â€Å"Safety†,? and? â€Å"making? cars? more? safety†? is? a? permanent? trend? (like? Lexus’s? pre-collision). Last but? not? least? is? â€Å"Entertainment†,? because? everybody would be so pleased as they have a bottle of wine chilled in the mobile refrigerator inside their luxury car. IV. Problem statement Marketing problem Research Question Research Objectives Hypothesis What Vietnamese market segment should be targeted? (Target segments) Will customers choose the Cayenne? How do the answers to above questions differ depending on demographic group (age, income), psychological (social class, lifestyle and spending on household) and behavioral (benefits and usage rate)? Who are the best prospects? To measure purchase intentions, their lifestyle and perception in order to find out is there a relation between their needs and the car HO: Having Luxury cars is independent from monthly income over 36 millions. H1: Having luxury cars is associated with monthly income over 36 million VND. HO: The people with high social class do not feel the luxury car fulfills the need to enjoy life. H1: The people with high social class feel the luxury car fulfills the need to enjoy life and make the enjoyable life more completed. Porsche Market Research Report RMIT University | Market Research | Sem C 2012 6 How and Why do they purchase a luxury car? (Buying motives) How the performances of Porsche Cayanne affect people? Which factors will customers consider most when choosing a type of car except the budget (the interest or family benefits)? What extent do customers think a luxury car is a status symbol for successful Vietnamese people? What can be the channels they get information? What can be the proper time in their life they consider to buy a luxury car? Will the opinions of their friends/colleagues affect them? To measure the purchase intentions. Understand what factors affect the purchase decision, the reasons and time a customer will buy a car. Also to determine how and what a customer consider before making the purchase. Ho: Different age groups have the same opinion about the statement that? â€Å"luxury? cars? create? good? impressions? on? others† H1: Different age groups have different opinions about the statement that? â€Å"luxury? cars? create? good? impressions? on? others† Ho: On? average,? people? do? not? agree? with? the? statement? that? â€Å"Luxury car is a symbol for successful of most Vietnamese customer. † H1: On average? people? agree? with? the? statement? that? â€Å"Luxury car is a symbol? for? successful? of? most? Vietnamese? customer†? Ho: Customers still buy a luxury car irrelevant with the characteristics with which they describe themselves. H1: Customers do not buy a luxury car irrelevant with the characteristics with which they describe themselves Ho: It is not important to have my car the newest car in the market that few people owns it. H1: It is important to have my car the newest car in the market that few people owns it Ho: Family? members’? opinions? do? not? affect? the? decision? making? of? choosing a car H1: Family? members’? opinions? affect? the? decision? making? of? choosing? a car How do customers use a luxury car? (Usage) What can be the perceived benefits they like when using the car in terms of speed, upgraded safe systems? In what kind of occasion they prefer having a luxury car (business and travelling? ) To determine customers’? lifestyle and usage. Understand the ways customers use the car about. Measure Ho: Consumers do not think that it is important to upgrade the new technical developments. H1: Consumers think that it is important to upgrade the new technical developments. Ho: The job requirement is not the purpose for buying the car (mean =3) H1: The job requirement is the purpose for buying the car Porsche Market Research Report RMIT University | Market Research | Sem C 2012 7 the relationship between the car which helps to reflect their prestige. H0: Customers do not like to travel by their luxury car H1: Customers like to travel by their luxury car V. Methodology 1. Qualitative 1. 1 Online Focus Group Discussion (OFGD) We raised online focus group on Otofun. net forum because we can easily find people who have ability to own a car or have knowledge about car from the famous car forum. In Online focus group, respondents can feel free to express any their opinions without embarrassing or awkwardness due to undirected discussion. Many current users of luxury car brands in the forum were happy and willing to respond clearly to our topic after only some hours since we have posted it. We received nearly 120 comments from nearly 15 members of this forum. So, we got many detail and clear information from that sharing. Some respondents in the forum that even actively give us their mobile number for discussing their deeper information since they think their opinions, ideas cannot be completely reflected through the online comments. However, some people merely answer what was asked by us (the topic owner), so it is quite difficult to expand the information and ask more questions and? because? they? are? seem? â€Å"lazy†? to follow the topic. One more problem with OFGD is besides some members who are willing to help us, some them do not answer the questions and just joke around about the topic. Question Similarities Differences Evaluation Q. 1: Why do you want to choose a luxury car brand? Their? image’s? improvement when choosing luxury car brand. Belief? in? car’s? safety? and? quality? based? on? the brand reputation and long-term business establishment. Most respondents believe that consuming a luxury? car? is? a? way? for? them? to? â€Å"highlight†? their social position to surrounding people and show their success. So, if they have enough money, they actually choose a luxury car brand to purchase, especially business people. Q. 2: How do the family factors affect your car purchase? Not concentrate much on the family factors. When choosing a luxury car brand, people tend to focus on the Some respondents who are married and have children see family factors as a small or medium concentrated factor because they can have more than a car which can be separately used for family factor and. Briefly, most respondents do not think the family factors affect completely their luxury car brand consuming. Most of them tend to be affected by other individual factors. Porsche Market Research Report RMIT University | Market Research | Sem C 2012 8 individual image or personal factors individual factors. Q. 3: What do you think about â€Å"Cayenne†? Porsche brand? Cayenne style and design is more appropriate to elder people, who are more than 40 years. Most young wealthy people may not choose Cayenne although it is a luxury and unique car? brand.? They? think? Cayenne’s? design? is? not fashionable and sporty for young drivers. So when people purchase a luxury car, they do not only focus on the image of car brand, but also the design, style and performance of specific car to fit to their style. 1. 2 Secondary Data Analysis Secondary? data? is? used? for? â€Å"Fact? finding†? purpose? to? understand? clearly? about? the? reason explaining the behavior of consumers who owns a car, explain the outcome of quantitative resources and estimate the market potential or target segment for Cayenne car line of Porsche. TNS, AC Nielsen and International Marketing Review are high authority, as these three legal market research agencies.? These? companies’? major function is to provide the research about the market. We will also use famous online newspaper such as Vnexpress and Vietnamnet for searching the updated news. Moreover, it must be accurate, objective, right time and cost benefit. 1. 3 In-depth Interview Depth interview is an effective interview that allows researchers to discover high amount of information needed about customer behavior. Here, the team conducted depth- interviews with 6 people who own Luxury cars to know more about their consumption and usage. These people are full-time manager positions, around more than 35 years old, already married and working at different areas such as Airlines, Baking, Medical science and Auditing Logistics. On average, their estimated gross income is above 30,000USD. The exact numbers are not revealed. These people are open-minded to share their thoughts during interviews. Some of them have more than 2 luxury cars. One team member has a close relationship with these people, hence they are very willing to help us. In fact, all respondents use car to drive to work every day because they believe it can create a good image in front of their customers and business partners. In other hand, when asking about the perceived benefits they like most when using a luxury car, every respondents agree that the personal convenience and comfortably they received from their luxury car are much more valuable than just for showing off. Furthermore, most interviewees think Cayenne product category is suitable for their age. However, respondents said the style of Cayenne is classical and powerful, it may suit with someone in high-class but classic in style. These Porsche Market Research Report RMIT University | Market Research | Sem C 2012 9 opinions help researchers in discovering the potential targeted Vietnamese customers for Cayenne product line. Finally, most respondents shared that they would like to try a new brand for the next time purchasing car. Thus, researchers need to focus and catch opportunities from those potential customers in order to make them become their customer. It is undeniable that thanks to the interviews, our team had more knowledge to modify the survey questionnaires and provide proper explanation for the outcome of quantitative research. 2. Quantitative research 2. 1 Survey This project utilized survey as data collection tool, and chose cross sectional study as survey method. To generalize unknown problem and relevant data, survey is considered as the most sufficient due to its? â€Å"quick,? inexpensive,? efficient,? and? accurate? means†? (Zikmund Babin 2011). In addition, cross sectional study helps to find out the in-need representational information about the chosen market- car? industry? in? general? and? Porsche’s? market? in? particular? (respondents’? attitude? and? behaviors)? at? a? single? point? in? time.? Data? collection consisted of personal interview and self-administered questionnaires (mail survey). Collecting information via conducting survey is indisputably to have several forms of errors. To preserve the quality of the survey, before starting to launch the actual interview, the team had gone through the pretesting process with classmates and asking for lecturer’s? advices.? The? corrected? final? interview questionnaire contains 11 structured and 1 unstructured questions (see Appendix 1), which are happened to be all straightforward (undisguised questions). Since each team member individually contacts every participant, we could explain them any confusing questions hence it ensures that the survey has been done by the right target segment and since we individually contact them, they realize the seriousness of our work and more willing to put effort in answering the questions. Therefore it significantly helps us eliminate respondent error. 2. 2 Sampling The interview process was administered to a broad range of potential target segment (n=104). Compound interviews were planned with respondents in order to produce more in-depth data collection and opportunities for complement. It took us one week to complete? the? survey? process,? as? each? member? contacts? with? their? parents’? friends? who? already? own? a? car? or? request? our? RMIT? friends’? parents to complete the survey. For the purpose of diminishing random sampling error, we mostly focused only on people who already have car, high income and have credible social status. For example questionnaires had been sent to qualified and high-positioned employees of Vietsov Petro Ltd, Trustbank and Indo China airlines. 2. 3 Instrument: Data collection consisted of personal interview and self-administered questionnaires (mail survey). As it provides many advantages such as geography flexibility, low cost, standardized questions and time-consuming, we can collect the relevant data from targeted respondents. Generally, there are 7 sections containing 12 small questions in this questionnaire. All the questions are diverse, spreading from simple-dichotomy, determinant-choice questions to filter questions and likert scale. Section Iis filter questions in order to identify respondents who meet sample criteria. This section collects data? about? respondent’s? situation? whether? they? own? or? Porsche Market Research Report RMIT University | Market Research | Sem C 2012 10 desire to have a car. Section II and III apply simple dichotomy and determinant choice to collect information about respondents’? demographics such as gender, age, kids and income. This can be seen as using Funnel Technique which requiring general information before leading to more specific questions. In Section IV, semantic differential scale is used to help illustrating the comparison of respondent’s? attitude? towards? Porsche? and? one? other? brand.? Based? on? this? part,? a? further? image? profile? made? from? the? comparison between Porsche and another brand will be built up. From section V, Likert Scale is applied. These questions are vital to the survey as they gather information about purchase motivations from different perceptions, usage purposes and personal image. These questions help figure out what really? drives? respondent’s? attitude? and? behavior. Moreover, understanding exactly their lifestyle, desire, and purpose? may? help? the? researcher? take? a? closer? step? towards? respondent’s? mind? then? form? a? better? strategy.? The questions are standardized, short and simple with specified structure that would avoid complexity and ambiguity. Besides, there are also multitude of? options? which? may? avoid? ‘leading’? questions? and? making? assumptions. VI. Survey Result 1. Actual Sampling The sample size of survey questionnaire is 104 people. However, since we only want to choose the people who already own a car, there are 100 people reach this standard since other 4 people merely intends to buy a car. As aforementioned, our team aims at individuals who have a high possibility to possess a car, therefore the percentage of respondents owing a car counts for 96% of sample size. The survey result also reveals that the proportion of people has the income from 36 million VND to above 63million VND counts for65 %of total respondents and only 14. 56 % of them earns lower than 16 million VND per year. Since it can be unreasonable that people earning 16 million VND cannot own a car, but the reason could be they are RMIT students who cannot purchase a car by themselves, but their families have strong financial power so they already drive cars as a main vehicle. 2. Resul t analysis Research objective 1: Customer’s? perceptions? create? a? relation? between? their? needs? and? the? cars Question 1: Do the monthly salary affect the need of having luxury cars? HO: Having Luxury cars is independent from monthly income over 36 millions. H1: Having luxury cars is associated with monthly income over 36 million VND. Porsche Market Research Report RMIT University |. Market Research | Sem C 2012 11 Results Firstly, the bar graph shows that most of the respondents have a car ownership. These cars are mainly from many popular car brands, namely Audi, Acura, Toyota, Mercedes, Ford, BMW, Chrysler, Lexus, Chervolet, Nissan, etc. In contrast, there is a small percentage of 4. 81 not available, presenting for those did not answer the filter question. However, in overall, the study has met the quota of 100 respondents, having cars, as it shows a wide range of the car brands. Toyota seems to bethe most preferable brand since ittakes themost proportion sincethe graphs represents the highest percentage of 27. 88 is gained by those, owning Toyota cars. The runner up is Ford with 10. 58%. The line chart represents the respondents, having monthly income above 36 million VND mostly have an ownership every kinds of cars, from middle cars such as Subaru or Kia to high-class cars such as BMW and Audi. For example, based on the chart, respondents, owning either BMW or Lexus or Mercedes or Honda that have the income above 63 million have lesser respondents, compared to those driving Toyota. Furthermore, those using either Audi or Acura have an income under 16 million. Thus, it strongly supports for the statement that luxury cars independent from monthly income over 36 million. Secondly, based on this Chi-square test, even though there were more rich people own luxury cars than low income level people (21/67= 31% rich people own luxury cars; 7/36=20% average low income level people own luxury cars); this difference is not statistically significant according to the chi square test (test statistics = 1,675, degree of freedom= 1, p-value=0. 196 0. 05). Therefore, it can be concluded that it do not reject H0. On the other words, having luxury cars is independent from monthly income over 36 million. Explanations. Porsche Market Research Report RMIT University | Market Research | Sem C 2012 12 It can be explained that the desire to own a car can be affected by many other factors, such as whether it is relevant to the customers’? characteristics or fit with job requirement (referred to the next objective) therefore even people who have high income still do not choose a luxury car. In addition, there is a noticeable problem here, which is about the respondent error since the income is a sensitive question so some of them have the tendency to choose a higher range than the actual income or vice versa. Question 2: How do the people with high social class feel the luxury car fulfills the need to enjoy life? Ho: The people with high social class do not feel the luxury car fulfills the need to enjoy life. H1: The people with high social class feel the luxury car fulfills the need to enjoy life and make the enjoyable life more completed. Results The bar chart indicates that the group of people with high social class also mostly disagrees with that idea, counting for more than 12. 5% even though the amount of people who agree also counts a certainly high rate which is around 8%. Based on the Car-fulfill-life. Crosstabulation, most of the high social class respondents agree that luxury car could not help fulfill their need to enjoy the life. This difference is not statistically significant according to the chi square test (test statistics = 1,771, degree of freedom= 1, p-value=0,183 0,05). Therefore, we do not reject H0. It can be said that the people with high social class do not feel the luxury car fulfills the need to enjoy life. Explanations From the data collected, the car purchased is compatible with the owner’s? living? standard.? From? the? bar? chart? in? Q1,? successful? businessman with high monthly income above 36 million tends to own a luxury car brand. However, on the other hand, a luxury car somehow does not really take high position in their perception of life fulfillment. This can be explained that the Vietnammese high-class? people’s? perception? is? quite? different? to? the? general? materialism? tendency among Vietnam society. According to ThanhnienOnline article, the real global billionaires do not really stick with materialism containing luxury car, house.. as common thinking of many Vietnamese people. To those people, car is only a mean of transportation, not a demonstration of their richness and success. This tendency also affects a part of VietNam high-class people and gradually forms a different perception among those successful and wealthy people. Recommendations As what have been proved, there is a gradual changing in Vietnam high-class customers which may put luxury car sales at risk. Taking this in consideration, Porsche should launch campaigns focusing on different aspects of luxury car image such as quality, durability, Porsche Market Research Report RMIT University | Market Research | Sem C 2012 13 service and loyal customer incentives. A luxury car does not only bring a high-class outlook and position but also provides the best quality and many other beneficial incentives. Porsche must demonstrate that it deeply understands this insight, that it knows the car is not just a vehicle, it sticks with successful moments in their career and with happy moments with their families. By recognizing and conducting? strategic? plans? on? time,? Porsche? may? affect? targeted? customer’s? perception? and? change? their? behaviour? in? more? positive ways. Research Objective 2: Some factors customers consider before purchasing a car including the image of car related to their image of success, their characteristics and the current trend in the market. Question 1: How customers evaluate Porsche compared to other three competitors (BMW, Audi Mercedes Benz)? Results To clarify, the study has been conducted through the use of ranking Porsche, presented by the red line in the graph and other brands, including BMW, Audi and Mercedes, presented by the blue line, for each of 9 attributes, namely performance, safety, luxury brand image,? driver’s? image,? prestige,? elegance,? desire? of? the? updated? edition? of? car? model? (desirable),? uniqueness? of? car? accessories and level of equipment. The value in the graph has been calculated to the mean for each attribute. Overall,? the? graph? figures? out? Porsche? is? believed? that? the? car? can? be? raised? the? car? driver’s? social? status? which? is? representative of luxury? brand? image,? driver’s? image,? prestige? and? elegance.? To? illustrate,? the? attribute, gaining the highest mean is the image of the driver with the mean around 4. 8, compared to other brands with the mean around 4. Thus, there is a significant gap between Porsche 3. 6 3. 8 4 4. 2 4. 4 4. 6 4. 8 Other luxury brands Porsche Porsche Market Research Report RMIT University | Market Research | Sem C 2012 14 and one of the other car brands, which is 0. 8. Moreover, in the comparison of prestige, there is a magnificent gap between these car brands which is 0. 2. This is because the red line gains around 4. 4, while the blue one is approximately 4. 6. However, in the comparison of desirable, Porsche is underestimated with the mean near 4. 1, whereas, the other one is approximately 4. 6. This can be explained that there is not much updated version of Porsche Cayenne in recent years. Besides that, most Vietnamese customers are a bit interested in SUV market, not quite much as other foreign market. This can be proven that not much Cayenne models are available in Vietnam much, for example, Cayenne S, Cayenne S Diesel and even Cayenne Turbo S. Explanations: In the social image comparison, all the participants of OFGD agree that current Cayenne models raise the image of the driver.? This? also? supported? for? the? question? no.? 2? that? different? age? groups? have? same? opinion? about? the? statement? â€Å"luxury? cars make good? impressions? on? others†. The graph shows there is no much difference between Porsche and the other brands towards performance, safety, uniqueness of car accessories and level of equipment. This can be explained that the cars chosen for the comparison are premium cars. Based on both OFGD and in-depth interviews, most of the participants acknowledge that premium cars have to meet the certain requirements about safety, performance, its uniqueness of the accessories and the high level of equipment. Recommendations: It is recommended that press releases for the updated version of Cayenne should be widely introduced to be launched. This is because this is the opportunity that can enhance the brand awareness of Porsche, especially Cayenne model. Question 2: Do the customers in different age groups similarly care about the impression they have from other people while driving a luxury car? Ho:? Different? age? groups? have? the? same? opinion? about? the? statement? that? â€Å"luxury? cars? create? good? impressions? on? others† H1:? Different? age? groups? have? different? opinions? about? the? statement? that? â€Å"luxury? cars? create? good? impressions? on? others† Results Firstly, based on the graph, the age groups that have been surveyed includes under 24, 24-under 34, 34-44, 44-under 54, 54-under 64, and 64 and above.

Carl Rogers Person Centred Theory Psychology Essay

Carl Rogers Person Centred Theory Psychology Essay This essay will contain information on the role and function of a counsellor and will explain and evaluate the key concepts, phenomenology, existentialism, the seven stages of process and the six necessary and sufficient conditions for therapeutic change and show how these are important for a trainee counsellor. As well as looking at locus of evaluation, the organismic valuing process, a fully functioning person and the core conditions being in place in a counselling setting. All these in mind influencing the counselling practice of a person training in person centred counselling. All factors to be discussed are in all ways important for a trainee counsellor to study as they are all highly beneficial toward the knowledge and understanding needed before practising in person-centred counselling. Person-centred counselling is a humanistic approach, founded by Carl Rogers to promote human psychological growth. The aim was to help people achieve a more satisfying and creative life for themselves. This approach was to help in a one-to-one relationship that of a client and of a counsellor and in some cases a group session. The role of the counsellor is to be understanding, and without the six necessary and sufficient conditions, mainly the three core conditions of empathy, congruence and unconditional positive regard, a counsellor cannot be as understanding as they would like to think, towards a client. As without dealing with things in their own life, in personal development or learning how to not judge someone for things that they have done or how they live their lives, how can they deal with the personal thoughts and feelings of a person that will be brought to a counselling session? Lietaer (1984) as cited in Tursi and Cochrans (2006:388) article, said: The more I accept myself and am able to be present in a comfortable way with everything that bubbles up in me, without fear or defence, the more I can be receptive to everything that lives in my client If such training has not been given then this could be more detrimental toward a client and possibly the counsellor. A problem may arise with a client that may well be very close to home for the counsellor and if this has not in the past been dealt with, may become very hard for the counsellor to attempt to deal with. In such circumstances there should of course be someone who could supervise or be there for advice. However, the effect this may have on the counsellor if not dealt with in the correct manner could be detrimental. Judgements are easy to make, whether they are right or not is not relevant, as a counsellor should not judge. As a training counsellor, the journey is to help and guide the trainee to be non-judgemental, to have congruence and to be empathic. These may prove difficult if the client brings something to the session that goes against everything the counsellor believes in but the unconditional positive regard and congruence mainly, should be in place. If the couns ellor finds this too difficult, referral is an option as long as the counsellor stays professional throughout. As a counsellor, being self-aware enables the counsellor to be open to the clients own experience, one foot in one foot out. Embracing the clients experiencing but making sure not to be taken in whole as this is the journey of the client not of the counsellor as such. This assists the client in moving on as they are feeling listened to as the counsellor is empathic toward them and experiencing in one way, what it is that the client has experienced or is experiencing, in turn, providing the necessary conditions to assist the client on their journey. Knowing that they as a client are being heard goes a long way, as Frankland et al (1995) states that listening to a persons thoughts is entirely different to listening to that of a persons feelings. As part of the British culture, back in the past, people have been taught that for example big boys do not cry or children are seen not heard and that there is a time and a place for emotions of any kind to be expressed, therefore not publicly. This can cause difficulty for a person to listen to anothers feelings genuinely and respecting the feelings of another or on the other hand it can be very hard to express these thoughts and feelings after being told during childhood etc. that this was the wrong way of dealing with the emotions. The role and function of a counsellor is to reassure the client, assuring them that they are in a quiet and safe place. Where a client is able to speak without feeling judged and is able to feel safe enough, to talk about their thoughts and feelings and the things that are going on in their life. Although this is a process, and the first few sessions are mainly about the building of trust between counsellor and client. Therefore it is very important that the client does not feel over-powered by the counsellor or that the counsellor does not abuse this power. Although it should be apparent at some point to the client that both client and counsellor are equal. As a counsellor in person-centred counselling the abuse of power can occur, however as Merry (2002) states, a non-directive approach is important. When following the BACPs guidelines and the training given as a trainee, the misuse of power should not occur. Once the trust is in place, the counsellor can facilitate the correct environment for the client; they now have a better understanding of. A counsellor also helps a client develop an internal locus of evaluation, dissolving any conditions of worth placed upon the client and the client becomes more congruent with themselves. Building trust with a client that does not want to be there can be greatly difficult and this is where the seven stages of process will come in. The seven stages of process was hypothesised by Rogers as more of a guide for himself and other counsellors to see whether the client was progressing or stuck at a set stage and to assist bringing a therapeutic change for the client. However, for this process to achieve full potential, the six necessary and sufficient conditions must be in place, along-side keeping the clients trust. The process of change can begin from any of the stages and the client does not necessarily start from the first stage. For example a client may begin at stage four but at some point go into stage two, because this is no linear process and every client is different. However, once the client is in a set stage they will build on experiences before moving onto the next. Fiedler in the 50s asked a variety of counsellors what they had considered the best parts for a therapeutic relationship. Carl Rogers in 1957, developed from Fiedlers research and Rogers created the six necessary and sufficient conditions for therapeutic change. The three most important factors of the six are that of unconditional positive regard, congruence and empathy. Wilkins (2003), states that it has never been asserted that these are the core conditions but there have been many studies around these conditions separately and together to see how effective they are. As Sharf (2011) states, research has shown that if the core conditions are in place this can bring therapeutic change. However, these as Wilkins (2003) explains, have never been tested, therefore the results are inconclusive. How can the amount of unconditional positive regard from a counsellor to a client be measured or even tested? Therapeutic change is openness to experience as McLeod (2003) explains from a client generalising the world to accepting it in time as personal experience. To benefit from the therapeutic change the client must be ready to start the journey of self-exploration, as if a client were to come in at stage one it would be less likely that they would be ready or benefit from the process. This is a process of assisting the client to experience and understand their own value as a person and with this the client becoming stronger with their self, slowly becoming closer to a more internal locus of evaluation. Reaching this point is along the right path for the client to aim to reach the self-actualisation. Self-actualisation revolves around incongruence which in turn is inconsistent with the experiencing process. Person-centred therapy can assist a client to reconnect with their self-actualising tendency which had been thwarted in the past by conditions of worth or placing their own locus of evaluation outside of themselves therefore losing their internal valuing process. The actualising tendency, being related to the organismic valuing process, which was said by Rogers (1951) that there was one thing that aided the development of a person, which he called the actualising tendency. He goes on to state that, if a person was to have had all the love and support during childhood, then they would have been given the right components to help that person to achieve the actualising tendency. Where-as a person who was not given the love and support that was needed to help nourish for the actualising tendency, would suffer from conditions of worth. Conditions of worth are what we acquire as children as there is a strong need to be loved, then being told the appropriate ways to behave and think and sometimes feel which causes people to place conditions that later in life we tend to look for in others or in experiences and if the conditions do not fit that to which are believed to be acceptable, they can be denied all together. These conditions of worth would then go on to become the need for positive regard, trying to please others through what they believe to be the right way or right thing, rather than following what the self wants or needs. This need for positive regard can affect the decision making and confidence of a person due to the need to be loved or valued. If a person has had a critical and judgemental upbringing or has been surrounded by critical and judgmental people, this may cause a person to search for approval and positive regard, this takes a person away from their organismic valuing process too, which creates a self-concept. This it-self can create a need for external authorities for guidance or a need to please others, which then in turn becomes incongruent to self. This has been described as locus of evaluation. Locus of evaluation is what Merry (2002: 26) says is a development of positive self-regardà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦vulnerable to the evaluations of others and with this in mind a person can become to not trust their own inner experiencing, therefore becoming external. To start to become a fully functioning person, the locus of evaluation needs to be found and exercised and this can be achieved through person centred counselling. However, a client can choose to stay as functioning without feeling forced to become a fully functio ning person. The key concepts in person centred counselling are the self and unconditional Positive regard. The importance of self is a drive inside everybody to achieve full potential, attempting to better themselves i.e. self-actualisation. Maslows hierarchy of needs is the best way to describe a persons needs going from the basic survival needs of food and water all the way to the top of self-actualisation. The hierarchy fits quite nicely into Rogers person-centred theory, which is all about the self. A person who has been brought back down to the basic survival needs through depression etc., and without realising will go up through this chart and possibly at some point come back down through the stages as there is no limit in life to how many times a person will continue up or down the chart. Now, a client, being aware of their own feelings and personal experiences due to starting counselling, can slowly start building themselves back up to achieving the self-actualisation. The actualising tendency was described by Carl Rogers (1959), as summarised by Vincent (2005: 25) as the inherent tendency of the organism to develop all its capacities in ways which serve to maintain or enhance the organism. In the counselling journey of a person, self-discovery and self-awareness become apparent, by owning their own feelings when using the I statement, and understanding their own needs and feelings, this is called the self-concept. If a person has not reached the point where they state that I feel or I am then this is a state of incongruence to the self as in place of the I statement will be generalisations. As stated by Nevid (2008:500) Rogers believed that the self is the centre of the human experience. McLeod, (2009) stated that the person centred approach begins and ends with experience and it is this that builds on the phenomenological approaches knowledge. Phenomenology is a persons personal experience and this is central to person centred counselling. McLeod (2009), also states that the aim of phenomenology is to pick out the nature and quality of personal experience whilst bracketing off assumptions, meaning that the counsellor does not apply their own assumptions or experiences into that of a clients. Phenomenology is used in some therapies to explore the clients experience of a bad time that they had or have, working alongside existential philosophy, exploring areas of crisis in the here and now, giving the client the basic understanding that they control their own lives. Tudor et al (2006) states that Rogers was not teaching phenomenology or existentialism but the person-centred approach shares some of the same values and assumptions of both of the approaches/ philosophies. Carl Rogers believed that if the right conditions were in place in a counselling setting, that a person could achieve self-actualisation. Although the core conditions cannot be proved due to the argument of whether or not it can be measured of how much unconditional positive regard etc. a person has been given, the theory over the years seems to have proven itself with the popularity of people studying the theory or becoming counsellors and people seeking out to be counselled or even sent to see a counsellor. Therefore the role and function of a counsellor in person-centred counselling has been discussed throughout, mentioning key factors such as the seven stages of process, the six necessary and sufficient conditions for therapeutic change and actualising tendency and how these assist a person on their own personal counselling journey. As all factors mentioned, are in some way or other linked to the person-centred theory they are all vital for a trainee counsellor to be learning abo ut them and how to use the skills such as empathy, congruence and unconditional positive regard, amongst others. The organismic self is of upmost importance in the humanistic approach due to it being the core self and when this is jolted the locus of evaluation is placed outside of the self, causing incongruence to the self and the longer this goes on for can it can become more damaging toward the client psychologically. This is where a client would then search for a counsellor or be sent to see a counsellor, then beginning the journey to becoming a happier person, on the ladder to achieving self-actualisation. References Burnard, P. (2005). Counselling Skills for Health Professionals: Fourth Edition. Nelson Thornes LTD: Cheltenham. Lietaer, G. (1984). Unconditional positive regard: A controversial basic attitude in client-centred therapy. In Tursi, M. and Cochran, J. (2006). Journal of Counselling Development. Fall2006, Vol. 84 Issue 4, p388. McLeod, J. (2009). An introduction to counselling: Fourth Edition. McGraw-Hill: England. Merry, T. (2002). Learning and being in person-centred counselling. Second ed. PCCS Books: Manchester. Nevid, J. (2008). Psychology: Concepts and applications. Cengage learning: USA. Sharf, R. (2011). Theories of Psychotherapy Counseling: Concepts and Cases. Fifth ed. Cengage Learning: Belmont. Tudor, K. and Worrall, M. (2006). Person-Centred Therapy: A Clinical Philosophy. Routledge: Hove. Tursi, M. and Cochran, J. (2006). Journal of Counselling Development. Fall2006, Vol. 84 Issue 4, p387-396. Vincent, S. (2005). Being Empathic: A Companion For Counsellors And Therapists. Radcliffe publishing: Oxon. Wilkins, P. (2003). Person-Centred Therapy in Focus. Sage: London.

Lost Sounds :: Free Descriptive Essay About A Place

Lost Sounds At first, it was a little awkward, but after I got accustomed to keeping my eyes closed in front of the whole class, I could relax and just listen. The many times I had previously visited the Everglades, it had never occurred to me that one very important aspect of the Everglades is the calming sounds it produces. I then remembered that many people come to the Everglades not to learn about it or enjoy its views, but to get away from the chaos of the city. With my eyes closed and my classmates quiet, I felt I was by myself. Nothing could come between me and the nature surrounding me. I heard a little bird in the distance, its chirp muffled by the leaves fiercely rustling in the wind; it reminded me of one of those CDs that people buy to relax or fall asleep. This â€Å"CD,† though, would never be heard again: in my mind I had captured the unique music made by nature at that precise moment. When I got home, I locked myself in the bathroom, turned the light off, and closed my eyes once more. I wanted to see if I could remember those sounds: I knew they would make me eager to return to class in two weeks. My experiment was a success. I can only imagine the feelings of the first explorers of the Everglades when they got to these majestic lands. Native Americans had already been living there for millennia when the Everglades was â€Å"discovered,† and had grown accustomed to the music it made. Yet, the new explorers probably had not seen or heard anything similar in their lives. When they closed their eyes, they would have heard nature yet untouched by the hands of humankind: hundreds, maybe even thousands, of birds calling each other, alligators bellowing under a cool shade, frogs imitating crickets and pigs, and, of course, the soft wind making waves on the sawgrass and then softly cooling their faces. It must have been glorious! Most of these things can still be heard today, but less frequently. As people hunted down animals, drained the Everglades, and developed cities, they took away many key elements of this ecosystem. Some, like the birds, are still struggling to achieve stable numbers of populatio n that would guarantee the survival of future generations of their species.

Armco. Case

Armco, Inc. (Armco) is the sixth largest producer of stainless, electrical, and carbon steels and steel products. Kansas City Works (Kansas) is the Armco’s Midwestern Steel Division, and has two primary products: grinding media and carbon wire rod, one being recognized in the industry for its durability while the latter being non profitable and only covering some of its fixed costs through volume. In January 1991, Bob Nenni, the Director of Finance, introduced a new performance measurement system for Kansas City Works to provide managers with the best information that would better enable them to boost up company performance.In order to maximize profits and sustain its position in the US manufacturing steel industry, Armco has adopted a cost leadership strategy with a broad appeal and has managed to achieve growth by engaging in joint ventures expanding its product lines in implementing its strategy. However, the Kansas City Works has the strategy based on differentiation becau se it has cost disadvantages such as inefficient plant infrastructure and union labor costs.Taking into consideration that Armco’s revenue has been declining and now only generates a marginal profit whereas Kansas succeeds in producing and selling high value products, Armco as a whole should switch the strategy to focus on the differentiation strategy that will lead to sustainable growth and leading position in the industry. In addition to this inconsistency with the strategies of the firm as a whole, the old management control system used at Kansas had numerous problems that lower the quality of performance measurement.In the old system, the Operating Statics Reports were issued only monthly and provided to the managers approximately 15 days after the following month. The lack of timeliness caused manufacturing results measurement controls to be ineffective because variances could not be investigated quickly. This also caused delay in solving problems and contributed to high er manufacturing expenses in the following month’s financial statements. Also, the old report contained too detailed information and issued that managers do not have control over.It included the same accounting information that was used for other purpose. As a result the numbers included allocations of indirect manufacturing costs. The too detailed information caused distraction from focusing on important issues to less important and less relevant issues. Another problem with the old system was that it failed to measure performance of managers and employees at different levels because of the subjectivity and basis that is not applicable to all employees. Therefore, the old system did not serve as a good results control system due to the inefficiency.Due to the aforementioned problems, a new performance measurement system was introduced to replace the old management system. It was designed to give better management focus on the things, which are most important. The new system included less data’s: it allows managers to focus on the 5-6 more important which cause 80% of the costs. Furthermore, the new system has more balanced set of performance measures, which provides an improved basis for evaluating operating managers and manufacturing supervisors.The design of the new system was more sophisticated than the old one; however, the top management failed to smoothly implement the new system. First, the managers have been working with the old system for a very long time and they are more familiar using the old system. Secondly, the old system suffers from lack of direction as employees did not fully appreciate the relationship between their responsibility and their final results.Due to the lack of explanation to employees, managers kept using the old performance measurement system because they was accustomed and they didn’t know the differences between the two systems, so they never seriously considered improvements that could be made with the new. Therefore, there was a miscommunication between the top management and the middle and lower managers. The lack of information they get leads to poor understanding of the use of the new system and a lack of motivation of middle/lower managers to use it.In conclusion, as managers complained, â€Å"It almost seems like the operating managers finally understood the old report, so they decided change it†, managers did not understand the purpose of writing reports and recognize the importance of specific information in the reports. Thus, more communication was needed to explain the goals and needs of the new system so that middle and lower managers can fully understand expectations for them and take advantage of the new system to improve efficiency. Better communication between management will be achieved by having seminars and meetings where they can have opportunities to share opinions.

Hacking Computers and Ethics essays

Hacking Computers and Ethics essays What comes to mind when you hear the word hacker? For most it means stealing information through the Internet, gaining illegal access to another persons PC, or simply - disruptive behavior using a computer. The subject of hacking is no secret to the general public. Many people have been exposed to it by a bad experience or through the news and media. The idea of hacking that is stuck in the minds of people is that of which they have seen in the movies. The movies portray hackers as young and devious criminals. However, in reality these individuals are, talented people who use their abilities to find new and challenging ways to change how computers work. According to the Cult of the Dead Cow, a hacking organization, true hackers do not get into the system to erase everything or to sell the information to someone else. They get in there to satisfy their curiosity to see if getting into the system can be done, to search around inside of a place they have never been, and to explore the little nooks and crannies of cyberspace. Of course there are those who erase files from other peoples computers, steal information from cyberspace, and vandalize web pages. These people are not hackers, as the media calls them, they are known as crackers. Hackers use their vast knowledge to better the computer industry. Hacking started even before computers became popular. The earliest forms of hacking started in the 1960s, when AT & T was the only phone company. Back then the telephone was taken for granted and the way the phone system worked was a complete mystery. Phones were considered an early form of the computer. Those that tried to understand the phone system more and find ways to make free phone calls from pay phones were known as phreakers. This was an amateur form of telephone hacking. The way this was done was by using the old rotary dial pay phones with three slots for a nickel, dime, and quarter. The phreaker wo...