Louis Vuitton position in the Japanese market Case Study - 1

Louis Vuitton position in the Japanese market - Case Study Example In light of the market trends, Louis Vuitton has strategically adapted new market approaches to the Japanese market. Following the global economic recession of 2008-2009, Japanese luxury goods consumers have become more price conscious. Vis a vis, Louis Vuitton has been forced to re-evaluate its primary marketing strategy of premium brands in the case of the Japanese economy. The company lacks a comprehensive Japanese culture-oriented marketing strategy that would differentiate between the dynamics of the western market and the Japanese market. Employment of the Louis Vuitton global strategy fails to incorporate the cultural aspects of Japanese consumers in terms of price, quality and value addition. The company’s success in the Japanese market has been driven principally by the group- culture that strongly promotes possession of luxury goods by consumers (Paul and Feroul, 2010). However, the market has been characterized by consumers increased value for their money, thereby a voiding premium-priced luxury goods. Louis Vuitton position in the Japanese market has further been weakened by new marketing strategies by rival brands who have lowered their prices to attract price-sensitive consumers. To maintain its customer base, Louis Vuitton has been forced to also reevaluate its pricing strategies. To cushion themselves from harsh trends in the luxury goods market, rival firms have diversified their services and product portfolio to include non-traditional products. Chocolatier Godiva had announced plans to open up cafes in Tokyo while Vertu a mobile phone company had plans to open up shops in Ginza. Therefore, Louis Vuitton runs the risk of solely depending on luxury goods market. The Japanese market has been identified to be cyclical, characterized by periods of extensive consumer spending, which are followed with reduce consumer expenditure.  

World War II Essay Example for Free

World War II Essay Within the first 15 years, Soviet Russia used veto power 56 times. The Western powers, in retaliation, have similarly abused it for their own interest. Thus Big Powers have made it impossible for the United Nations to restore peace on various occasions. Above all, the collective security is the main purpose of the UN. But, as various incidents have proved, the member-nations are more interested in their own security than in collective security as such. The relation between what Fredrick Schumann calls ‘Marx land’ and ‘Freeland’ has been far from cordial and even hostile at the end of World War II. This was due, according to some, to the division of the world into two camps one led by the Soviet Union and another by the U. S. A. This bi-polar interpretation of world-politics failed to take into consideration the existence of neutral nations like India, Indonesia, Egypt and other states which had disassociated themselves from joining in any one of the camps. This two camp- theory gave birth of the cold war. The cold war was kept alive by the rivalry of Soviet bloc and Western bloc to gain the hegemony of the world. The Western bloc looked upon the communist countries as totalitarian states and the neutrals as misguided. The communist countries, on the other hand, considered the capitalists states as seeking to exploit the underdeveloped countries for profit and frantically trying to maintain their hold over areas producing raw material. Their mutually opposing views had produced rivalry in the post-World War II period which is known as cold war era. The first victim of the cold war was the United Nations organization. As soon as the giants fell out the ‘Big Five’ failed to reach agreement. The Soviet Union was the only state from the communist block. In other word the Soviet ‘veto’ prevented the actions that the western countries desired to take on many questions. The Greek question, the Trieste issue and the question of admission of new members created much difference. It paralyzed U. N. action and by the end of 1946 it became clear that the United Nations will not be able to carry the responsibility conferred upon it by the Charter. The establishment of people’s Democracies in Eastern European countries brought with the Russian sphere of influence nearly 120 million people. The Soviet Union denounced the western powers as war mongers. The Soviet Union was accusing the western powers of an attempt to encircle her to counteract which she entered into alliance with the People’s Democracies and strengthened her defenses and maintain peace in Europe. Warsaw Pact was coming as a reaction of NATO in the year 1955. Warsaw Pact was signed by the central and eastern European communist countries like Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Albania and Soviet Russia. Warsaw Pact had two branches – one is Political Consultative Committee (use for non military purpose) and other is Unified Command of Pact Armed Forces. The main aim of this pact was that, if one of the member countries of this pact were attacked by the western powers then all the member countries will defend victim countries and at the same time they defend one another. The creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is fundamentally the outcome of fear psychology. The establishment of communist holds over Eastern Europe and the possibility of further expansion of Soviet communism produced the Western response in the NATO. It was felt by the policy-makers in U. S. A. the war-torn Europe was not in a position to act as a deterrent on the Russian shadow over the continent. Similarly the CEATO, MEDO, ANZUS and other military groups created by America in order to resist any type of communist aggression. According to the terms of these treaties, if any of the signatories fall victim of any communist attack, others will come forward in order to prevent the aggression. These military treatise have also undermined the importance on UN, because there existence implies that the signatories have not believed on the assurance of the UN that it would guarantee collective security of any member in case of any aggression. Conclusion It is thus amply clear that the conflicting interests of the big powers paralyzed the League of Nations. Mellowed by its sordid experience, the makers of the UN made so many improvements in the Charter of the UN. But, the conflicting ideology and political interest of the super-powers have similarly weakened the United Nations. Their self-interests have been reflected both inside and outside the UN. Naturally, it is facing the same problems which destroyed the Leagues within 20 years of its emergence. Reference Tandon, M. P. International Law, Allahabad Law agency, Allahabad, India, 1969, pp 462-464 Eichellberger, C. M. UN, Sterling Publications, 20 Laski, H. J. A Grammar of Politics, Modern Academy Publishers, 7th Indian Reprint, Mumbai, India, 1996 Mowat, R. B. A History of European Diplomacy, Edward Ronald Co. , London, 1961 Nicolas, H. G. The United Nations, Oxford University Press, London, 72 Clement, S. International Relations, Kitab Mahal Allahabad, India, 1971, 483 Russel, B. Which Way to Peace, p. 110

Deviant Behavior Essay -- Psychology, Social Psychology

Deviance is described as being behaviour that is not part of the norms in your particular society. This can be different throughout the world because some cultures have very different norms (Stephens and Leach, 1998:17). Most deviant behaviour will attract disapproval from others in the society or punishment from authorities. There are many different types of deviance such as addiction, mental illness, alcoholism, criminality and homosexuality. Throughout this essay six types of theories will be discussed about how and why people are deviant. Four of these theories support the idea of deviance being biological and three support the idea of it being caused by your social construction. Also the essay will talk about the differences between the theories and a similarity amongst them as they don’t often agree. There are two main views that people see as to how a person becomes deviant; biologically or from a person’s social construction. The biological explanation of deviance is that it is part of who you are when you are born. Whether you are born into a long line of alcoholics or your mother has a mental illness, it is coming from your genes. There are many theories that support the biological explanation of deviance that will be explained in this essay. Some seem very unlikely and don’t have a lot of evidence but there are a lot of theorists that support this idea. The social constructionist explanation is that you become deviant from the way that you are brought up. It is believed that certain parts of your childhood can cause a person to become deviant. This could be that your parents or caregivers brought you up to be a deviant person because they were deviant themselves. It could also be that you were neglected as a child an... ...l determinants. Rod Lea does admit that deviance is not only caused by the â€Å"warrior gene†, that non-genetic issues would be involved as well (Dykes 2006). A similarity amongst the XYY theory and the â€Å"warrior gene† theory is that it has to do with your genes so this would have to do with your parents and the generations before you. Physical appearance is also passed down through generations so these two could also have got their ideas from Lombroso’s theory. Another similarity amongst the biological theories is that it is often pointing towards males. The â€Å"warrior gene† is over-represented in Maori men and the XYY chromosome represents hyper masculinity (Gillham 2011:135). Also in Lombroso’s theory he describes the appearances as large jaws and cheekbones and a general hairiness of the body which is normally associated with males (Burfeind and Bartusch 2011:119).

The Cellar Of Doom

Alesha let out a long, heavy sigh. She couldn't believe she was stuck in an old hotel in Lincoln, Maine, USA. It was the Summer Holidays and she had come to America with her mum, dad, and her annoying younger brothers Ashley and Scott, who were six and seven. Scott and Ashley weren't the quiet sort of kids. They tended to excited over anything, and were always hyper. The Miller family were staying at The Stars And Stripes Hotel, which was really old and boring. Alesha would much rather be back at home in England, even it was raining all the time there. Alesha had only been there for two days, and had already taken advantage of the ‘fantastic facilities'. There was the ‘amazing' pool and spa, the ‘fabulous' arcade and the ‘wonderful' multi – sports court. Alesha couldn't see what was so fantastic about a dirty pool, an out-of-order spa, two fruit machines and a large pitch of mud with a few goalposts. It was going to be a very long and boring two weeks. She had been out ‘exploring' the creepy, old hotel trying to find some kids around her age. Alesha was 14, so it was quite easy really, as there were loads of fed up teenagers staying at the old place. â€Å"Alesha, we're going out!† her mum called. â€Å"Cool, lets go to Detroit, or Hollywood, or†¦.† â€Å"No, I mean me and your father are going for a meal. We're going to find a place to eat. OK?† â€Å"What?† Alesha protested. â€Å"That's not fair. You mean me, Ash and Scott have gotta stay here?† â€Å"That's right. We'll be only be gone for about three hours. We are not going far, we are still staying in Lincoln, don't worry!† â€Å"But mum†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"No buts, OK? Now, be good.† Alesha sat on the fraying green couch, and looked around the dreary brown and yellow room. ‘The colours in here are awful. They so don't match!' she thought. She picked up her magazine and started to read the article about her favourite rapper, Eminem. She glanced at the clock. Her parents had only been gone for ten minutes. She heard a loud banging noise. â€Å"Ashley, Scott, please SHUT UP! Stop that banging NOW!† she shouted. â€Å"Alesha, it wasn't us!† Scott called. â€Å"Whatever! Now, just shut up!† She flicked on the old television and picked up the dusty remote control. The room hadn't been cleaned for ages. The floor had cigarette stains all over it, and as for the curtains, there was no point in having them there, because they were so ripped and frayed, they were almost non – existent. The banging noise was really annoying her now, and she yelled at her brothers to shut up, but they denied making the banging sound. She threw down her magazine and started to watch the TV. There was an image of a man building a brick wall in what looked a cellar. There was also a middle-aged lady with him. She looked really bewildered. Then the man turned to her and started beating the lady with a shovel. Boring! Alesha pressed the CHANNEL UP button. ‘Wonder how to get TRL on this thing?' Alesha wondered. The same image was on the screen. What? Alesha pushed down hard on the control. Maybe the button had got jammed. Now the woman was crying out in pain, and blood was staining her pale blue dress. She was screaming STOP! STOP! But the man obviously had no feelings, for he kept beating her, his shovel bright red, his face with an evil grin, his grey eyes frostily staring at the frightened woman, and the horror on the woman's face. Alesha was horrified, and pushed the button again. By now the woman was dead, and the TV still wasn't working properly. Alesha watched as the man started digging a hole, maybe a grave, in this thing that looked like a fireplace, but filled with soil and coal. Then Alesha heard a banging, and she wasn't sure whether it was on the TV or the same one as she had heard before. Alesha was really frightened, but she was almost glued to the screen. She wasn't sure what it was, but it was like there was a special force, keeping her transfixed to the terrifying images. She tried to pull away, but she couldn't. She watched as the evil man kicked the dead body into the make – shift grave. After a while, the man had covered the woman with soil and coal. He carried on building the wall. Alesha had snapped out of her trance, and tried the same button again. But when she pushed the button, nothing happened. What was going on? Maybe the remote wasn't working properly. That was why the sick program wouldn't go away. She stood up, and kept hearing continuous banging. Maybe it was next door or something. She was getting quite scared now. She realised that it was 6:30 pm, and that her parents had been gone for an hour. She couldn't bear to be alone now, so she called to her brothers. She turned the TV off. â€Å"Oi, come ‘ere, now!† she called out, agitated. When they didn't answer, she went to investigate. She realised that they were asleep in their beds. ‘Typical. Asleep at 6:30! Lazybones!' she thought. ‘Well, they must be quite tired after the football this morning.' Then there was a knock at the door. Thinking it was her parents, Alesha hastily opened it. â€Å"Hi!† said a voice. She saw it was her new friends that she had met in the pool yesterday. â€Å"Hi Marshall, hi Justin, hi Mel!† Alesha cried. Marshall was from Detroit, Justin was from California and Mel was from England. They were bored too. â€Å"Wanna come out with us? We are sooooo bored, and we're jus' wondering whether you wanna come and jus' like wander around here.† Justin said. â€Å"I can't, I gotta look after my brothers.† She replied. â€Å"Go on!† Mel pleaded. â€Å"Well, only quickly. Scott and Ash are asleep anyway.† Alesha stepped out with her friends, and realised that she had about two hours before her parents got back. â€Å"So where we goin'?† Alesha asked. â€Å"Dunno!† Mel replied. They walked around, and found a set of stairs leading downwards. Alesha had forgotten about the TV incident, because she was happy that she wasn't alone anymore. There was a NO ENTRY sign on the door. Alesha's phone beeped. It was a text message. It said: HI ALESHA HOPE U R LOOKIN AFTA UR BRUVZ. WE MIGHT BE BAK L8R, MAYB @ 9:30. HOPE U R OK. IF U GET WORRIED JUS CALL US. C U L8R MUM N DAD XX : ) Alesha felt a bit guilty leaving her brothers alone now, but pleased she was out of the boring, stuffy hotel room. Marshall turned the NO ENTRY sign over so that it looked like a blank piece of card. They followed the stairs down, and realised that it was a cellar. It was pitch black. Alesha heard a very familiar noise. â€Å"Uh†¦.is there a light in ‘ere?† Mel asked. â€Å"Hey, guys, y'hear that?† Alesha questioned, totally ignoring Mel. â€Å"What, the banging? Yeah, I think†¦.† Justin said. â€Å"SHHH!† she whispered. Sure enough, there was a banging coming from somewhere in the room. Marshall searched the wall with his hands to find a light switch. He found one, and flicked the switch on. BANG! BANG! â€Å"Marshall†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Mel said. The banging got louder. â€Å"It's nothing, OK guys? Leave it. We're fine! Hey†¦.Look, a video camera! Its one of them ones that came out about five years ago, you know, a pocket one! They are worth loads!† Justin shouted with excitement. He went over to examine it. It was about 10cm in height and 5cm in width. Justin had seen it hidden in a small hole in the wall. It was plugged in though, as if someone had connected it to something. Alesha noticed that something had been boarded up. â€Å"Hey, check this out, I wonder what's behind this?† â€Å"Er, probably nothin' interestin'† Marshall answered. He started to kick the board down, with Justin still examining the video camera. Mel and Alesha just stood there talking. Once Marshall kicked the down the board, there was a wall which was about 2 metres high. â€Å"Hey, look over here!† he cried with excitement. â€Å"What it is?† Mel asked. â€Å"Dunno. I'm gonna climb over it and see what it's hiding.† He started to clamber over it, but the wall obviously hadn't been built properly, because it collapsed almost straight away. Marshall tumbled to the floor, and realised he had landed right next to something that made him feel quite sick†¦ â€Å"Ugh, Justin, it's a skeleton! How did it get down here?† Justin screamed. â€Å"OH MY GOD!† Mel cried when she saw it. â€Å"Cool†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Marshall marvelled. â€Å"Yuk! What we gonna do?† Alesha shouted out. Then Alesha remembered the video. â€Å"Justin†¦.† she called out. She ran over to the video camera. It was true. The video camera was connected to a TV somewhere in the hotel. Her TV. The shocking images that she had been watching earlier had actually happened. She explained to the others what she had seen earlier. But how could the banging be explained? Once Justin had gone to reception to find somebody, the once isolated room was filled with police, hotel staff and detectives. The police questioned the kids. Mel thought they would get told off for entering the cellar without permission! They didn't though. Although Alesha got told off for leaving Ashley and Scott on their own, she didn't really mind because it had been an adventure for her. Months the woman was named as Ann McKenzie. The police confirmed that Alesha's story was true. What had happened was that years ago, Ann knew that her fiancà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ would kill her, because he was so violent, and every time she left him, he would hunt her down and beat her up. Every year they came to Maine, to The Stars And Stripes Hotel, and he kept dropping hints about death and that he would kill her once they were in Maine. Because they were from California, he thought that he wouldn't be caught because of the distance. She had no escape. So she invested in a mini camera so that he could be caught. Ann cleverly connected the camera to a TV, which happened to be in Alesha's room. Since the hotel had been closed for the last three years due to health and safety reasons (Alesha wondered what it was like before the inspections), nobody would have noticed. Then Ann's fiancà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ (later named as Daniel Durst) beat her to death and sealed up her body up in the fireplace. Because the camera was a mini one, Daniel didn't notice it. Ann was removed from the Missing Persons list, and because Daniel's face was seen on the camera, the police caught him, and gave him a life imprisonment. The kids were given medals because they were quite brave. Alesha wasn't sure, but she had a funny feeling the banging noise was the ghost of Ann McKenzie, trying to get the attention of holiday – makers, so that everything would be discovered, and her fiancà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ would be put to justice. After Alesha's holiday had finished, she kept in touch with the other kids. Maybe the holiday wasn't so bad after all!

Formal linkage mechanisms Essay

Formal linkage mechanisms such as mergers and joint ventures are supposed to reduce transaction costs in a business enterprise. However, sometimes companies can experience increased cost if the management fails to lay down proper strategies (Jones, 2006). It is worth noting that joint venture refers to two or more parties coming together to carry out business activities. In this case, these parties agree to share revenues and expenses. On the other hand, mergers entail two or more companies joining but each maintains their identity. The likely causes of increased costs In both mergers and joint ventures, there is the possibility of â€Å"double running of the departments†(Jones, 2006). This comes about by failure of the companies to do away with similar operating departments. For instance, when the joined and merged companies each maintain their human resource department, the results are increased expenses in running the departments. Increased company cost can also result from uncertainty about the future by the trading partners. In this regard, the resulting merger or joint venture has to cater for the associated risks. For instance, the possibility of one or more parties pulling out will result to increased cost since the ratio of sharing cost changes. Conclusion and Recommendations The above factors would contribute to an upward trend in the company’s transactions costs. Therefore, it would be of significance for the computer company to consider the following recommendations. The companies should review their former organizational structure by joining departments that perform similar functions to avoid duplication. Moreover, the companies in the merger should work out a plan towards reducing uncertainty costs such as increasing the number of partners in the merger (Jones, 2006).