Marketing Plan for Book Publisher Essay Example for Free

Marketing Plan for Book Publisher Essay ‘Knowledge Hub’Publishers is a provider of latest academic and research material, the best literary material in Urdu and English by quality writers both local and international. Our customers rest assured that when they purchase a publication of Knowledge Hub they receive the optimum value for their money or as we call it ‘your money well spent’. Our publications are free of plagiarism and we endeavor to stay a step ahead in providing academic material which is the most recently proven by researchers instead of re-publishing the same material in a different manner. We are a sole proprietorship and our office is located at Urdu Bazar, Lahore. Being a startup in an industry already being served by a huge number of brands, we shall initially target the Lahore market with intent to move into other cities throughout Punjab within 5 years time. Our focus shall remain to continually research and analyze customer needs, wants, reading trends and preferences to ensure that we provide only the most needed and sought after books with the latest content. Knowledge Hub shall provide its client authors with editing, proofreading, layout and design, promotion and authentication services. Whereas, we shall be outsourcing the printing and distribution of our books. Our long term focus is to motivate the culture of e-books and printing on demand in order to safeguard our natural resources for our future generations. Print on demand (POD) is a printing technology and business process in which new copies of a book (or other document) are not printed until an order has been received, which means books can be printed one at a time. Rationale of this Product: Books are priceless source of knowledge, wisdom and education the best company in times if solitude. Our affiliation with books and knowledge is further promoted by our religion which encourages us to gain knowledge and preaches us to respect books. In today’s fast paced world, where information and knowledge is continually increasing and modifying, the need for books containing the latest of information are always required. As soon as a book or article is publishes a chain of evaluation, testing and research on the published material starts which eventually leads to modified material ready to be published and the cycle continues. This causes a never ending need for high quality books available at easy to access touch points and at affordable prices. And this is exactly what we offer our customers as our product. Strategic Focus and Plan Mission: Knowledge Hub is the premium publisher of academic and illustrated books, novels, best sellers and e-books in Pakistan. We at Knowledge Hub believe that knowledge is a service to be provided to our nation so that we may progress in this fast paced world. The purpose of our affordable and easy to access products is to ensure availability of knowledge to all Pakistanis who seek for it. Goals: Non Financial Goals: Knowledge Hub seeks ensure availability of knowledge to all Pakistanis who seek for it. We at Knowledge Hub believe in a cleaner, safer tomorrow and in a ‘Paper Free World’ in which our natural resources are savored for our future generations to enjoy. Knowledge Hub’s comprehensive website holds the key to a better tomorrow. Our online e-books, research articles, audio and visual resources provide you easy and instant access along with it being environmentally beneficial. Financial Goals: We have targeted to publish 70 books by authors within a year’s time. Moreover, to a customer base of at least 200,000 readers at the end of year one which is approximately 10 percent Market Analysis: International Book Publishing Market: The worldwide book industry has been forecast to exceed revenue of $90 billion. The industry recorded yearly growth of 1% over the past four preceding years, and is expected to accelerate to a yearly rate of almost 4% between 2011 and 2016. Sales by music, video,books and stationery retailers represented the leading segment of the global book market in 2011, generating more than $50 billion and representing 56% of the overall market. Pakistan Book Publishing Market: Book publication is a business very closely related to the literary scenario since books are nothing if they don’t get a publisher or a printer. Like every other thing in Pakistan,the printing industry is with its own sets of problems the initial ones being the unfavorable socio-economic conditions, lack of mass education and the development of local languages. Constraints: Low Literacy Rate: The publishing industry in Pakistan is hampered both by a low literacy rate (48%) and the fact that the national language, Urdu, is written in the right-to-left Arabic script unlike the official language, English, which is written left-to-right. Pakistan has had its share of poetry and prose writers in Urdu, English and other regional languages. Incentives for Writers: Those who don’t reproduce work and are genuinely interested are hardly encouraged. The government, the NGOs and the intellectuals hardly ever take the initiative to encourage young and budding  writers of the country. These results in most of the young authors getting their works published under foreign publishers. At least they get the recognition they warrant in foreign waters. Yet, there are a few committed souls who work tirelessly to make a place for themselves in the literature-deprived country. Market Growth: The publishing industry has been steadily growing despite the many hurdles like the low purchasing power of the masses and the lack of facilities. The principle centers of publishing are Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar. Lahore stands out with its numerous publishing houses and has been the hub of the industry from the pre-independence era. Even now, getting a book published from Lahore is much easier than elsewhere. Pakistan’s publishing industry has a lucrative market for Urdu and religious books abroad. A considerable number of books and periodicals are exported to countries like Malaysia, East Africa and the Middle East. Also, a very large number of books is imported in Pakistan mainly from UK and USA. The Inter-Media Growth program of Pakistan and USA have signed an agreement whereby Pakistan can import books and still pay for them in its local currency. Market needs: In the Pakistan scenario, there is need for up-to-date information available at affordable prices and easily accessible via easy to access retail outlets and via e-books. Trends: The following trends are emerging in the publishing industry: E-books Online book stores Reading clubs Book fairs Mobile bookshops Print on Demand These trends are discussed in detail in the ‘Opportunities’section. Customers Analysis: Following is a detailed description of Knowledge Hub’s client authors, intermediate customers and ultimate customers: Client Authors: Our client authors shall include all local authors who have quality material to offer and who fall within in our product range. Intermediate Customer: Our Intermediate or trade customers include: Wholesaler Book Stores Ultimate Customer: Out ultimate customers include: 25534400 school/ college going children in Pakistan 1,349,000 university going individuals in Pakistan 57. 7 % of our adult population which is literate in Pakistan Needs of the Target Customers: Knowledge Hub endeavors to cater to these basic needs of the target consumers: Academic needs Literary/ information needs Entertainment needs Consumer Touch Points: Our target consumer shall purchase our product via the following channels: Book Stores: Knowledge Hub shall have its products available at book stores including academic and literary book stores book shops in schools, colleges and universities. Gift Shops: Our books shall also be made available on gift shops. Libraries: One of the major sources of contact with the target market are libraries. We shall endeavor to establish relations with the local libraries to allow the usage of our products there. Website: Our comprehensive website will also serve as a major source of interaction with our customers. Our website will display our catalogue of books and shall provide the viewers with an option to get access to our products in the form of both paper editions and electronic versions on-line. Customers would be able to be directed to bookstores for the paper version and they may send an order directly to us. They would also be able to unlock and access an on-line edition instantly by making an online payment. Our website viewers would also be able to opt to receive periodic catalogs of our products online via e-mail. Customer Value Proposition: Like they say â€Å"A book is man’s best friend†, Knowledge Hub shall serve to provide its target consumers with books that serve as their best friends in all their walks of life. Knowledge Hub is a provider of latest academic and research material, the best literary material in Urdu and English by quality writers both local and international. Our customers rest assured that when they purchase a publication of Knowledge Hub they receive the optimum value for their money or as we call it ‘your money well spent’. Our publications are free of plagiarism and we endeavor to stay a step ahead in providing academic material which is the most recently proven by researchers instead of re-publishing the same material in a different manner. Knowledge Hub believes in a cleaner, safer tomorrow. We believe in a ‘Paper Free World’ in which our natural resources are savored for our future generations to enjoy. Knowledge Hub’s comprehensive website holds the key to a better tomorrow. Our online e-books, research articles, audio and visual resources provide you easy and instant access along with it being environmentally beneficial. Constraint: The long term vision of Knowledge Hub is to provide all of its resources online so that the environment and our natural resources can be saved. However, due to low levels of computer literacy in Pakistan, this is not possible immediately and shall take efforts from our end to promote education and reading so that our country can move forward past its literacy barriers. Competitor Analysis: Our competitors include: Local Competitors: Sang-e-Meel Publications Ferozsons Awesome Publishers Association for Academic Quality AFAQ Fact Publications Idara-e-Islamiat Kiran Publications Azeem Academy Publishers Book Sellers Hassan Publishers 2 The Point Publishers 7th Sky Publications A to Z Publishers A-One Publishers Adara Talifat Khatm-e-Naboat Adara-Ul-Tahreer Adara-e Saadad Advanced Publishers A. H. Publishers Affaf Publishers Al Raza Publishers Al Quraish Publications Al Mashriq Publishers A. S. Publishers Adabistan Publishers Adan Publications A. N. Publishers Al-Asad Publications Al-Badar Publications Al-Bilal Publishing House Al-Hamd Publications Al-Madina Publications Al-Mezaan Publishers Book Sellers National Competitors: Iqbal Sons Educational Publishers Karachi, Pakistan New Century Education Karachi, Pakistan Baitul Qalam Karachi, Pakistan Electronic Journals of Academic Research and Reviews(EJARR Publishing) Islamabad, Pakistan Library Promotion Bureau Karachi, Pakistan World Trade Publishers Karachi, Pakistan U. S. Publishers (pvt) Ltd. Karachi, Pakistan Children Publications Karachi, Pakistan Jumbo Publishing Karachi, Pakistan 3KBioXML Publishers Pakistan Haripur,Pakistan Strengths of Competitors: Our competitors have the following strengths: Well established brand names. Extensive market experience. Widely available and accepted products. Strong relations with distributors. Huge chains of retail outlets. Weaknesses of Competitors: Our competitors have the following weaknesses: Most of them are obtaining very high profit margins. They provide less incentive for local authors. Re-publishing of material similar to the one already in the market. Low on-line presence. Most of them do not have their own websites. Well established chain throughout Pakistan. Some competitors are also exporting books. Mahwish: SWOT Analysis: Strengths: Well established relations with authors,editors and media personnel Comprehensive website Up-to-date content of book Our mission is in itself a strength Weaknesses: New brand name thus requiring massive promotion Yet to establish credibility with the target customers Initial focus which is only on the Punjab market Opportunities: The emerging trends are opportunities which Knowledge Hub seeks to take advantage of: Time and Technological Advancements: Time and technological advancements play a pivotal role in shaping the trends over the passage of time. As Pakistan is also entering the digital age, traditional distinctions in media become blurred. It can be seen as furthering the book culture. E-books: The biggest contribution of the internet in the book industry would be to digitize books and grant them a wider readership. A number of online websites have sprung up in the last few decades. Quite a lot of these sites are free and others charge a very nominal fee and provide unlimited access to e-books. They can either be downloaded or read on screen. These obviously have become popular because of easy accessibility and the low cost. In Pakistan,a huge majority of people cannot afford the expensive original foreign titles. Hence,these customers can download the electronic versions at much cheapers rates. Some Urdu websites have started to offer online versions of books for foreign readers. This helps in promoting one’s culture as well as to help the expatriate Pakistanis and is a viable opportunity that Knowledge Hub can take advantage of. Online Book Stores: Closely related to e-books are the online book stores, another wonder of the internet and an opportunity for Knowledge Hub. An extension of the traditional book stores, online book stores give the option to search and read reviews of books, browse through categories, view the covers, author information, reader ratings and then order these books online. Although they are not free and even charge a shipping fee, it’s very convenient to search and order books online saving the hassle. Reading Clubs: Reading clubs are a breath of fresh air into the dying book culture. There are a number of book clubs/reading clubs online and offline. People sit and discuss their favorite books or simply talk about what they are reading these days. Readers Club is an exemplary example is of a Readersclub at the University of Karachi, which is moderated by a teacher who is Lecturer at the Department of the International Relations. This is also an opportunity that Knowledge Hub seeks to avail in the future. We plan of starting our own reading club in different cities throughout Pakistan to encourage the reading culture amongst the people of Pakistan. Book Fairs: The first International Book Fair was held in Karachi and Lahore last year at the expo centre and it was well received by the public at large despite the fact that all the books were originals and were highly priced. Knowledge Hub also seeks to participate in such book fairs at both national and international level in the future. Mobile Bookshops: The concept of a Mobile Bookshop was first used by the Welcome Book port some years back. Recently, Oxford started its own mobile book shop and it has been touring the city for quite some time now. Set on a truck, with the back converted into a small book shop with shelves and a counter set snugly at the end, the book shop attracted people outside various schools and universities. Threats: Threat of New Entrants: The threat of new entrant is always present in our industry and Knowledge Hub shall endeavor to keep track of the latest practices and customer trends and preference in order to stay ahead of our game ahead of competition. Plagiarism Another threat is the problem of plagiarism. That is, either simply copying out whole extracts or stealing the idea or characters. Plagiarism is an old problem and a big worry for authors who spend time and money on writing a piece of good writing and then someone else copies it and sells it at a lower cost. Then there are one-time authors who just reproduce material from some international author and make money by claiming it as their own. Incentives for Writers: The government, the NGOs and the intellectuals hardly ever take the initiative to encourage young and budding writers of the country. This has resulted in most of the young authors getting their works published under foreign publishers. Decline in Reading Habits: There has been a visible decline in reading habits in last few decades. This can be attributed to a number of factors like television, internet and other means of entertainment. Product Market Strategy: Segmentation: Our initial target market for the first five years of operations includes: 10623380 school/ college going children in Punjab 3,683,920 college going individuals in Punjab 3034350 individuals going to universities or acquiring diploma in Punjab Literate individuals above the age of 25 in Punjab This overall customer base has been divided into segments on the following bases: Step No. 1- Geographic Segmentation: As of now we are catering to the consumer base in Lahore. Step No. 2 Segmentation on the Basis of Consumer Age and Needs: From within this customer base our market is further divided into the segments on the basis of the ages and needs of the different customers. Books needs of consumer vary with age and needs such as academic, literary, entertainment or information, etc. Hence we have divided our Lahore consumer base into the following segments: Children below the ages of 10 for their academic, literary and entertainment needs. Children between the ages of 10 – 18 who seek to cater to their academic, literary/ information or entertainment needs. Individuals between the ages of 18 – 25 who seek to cater to their academic, literary/ information and entertainment needs and for research purposes. Individuals and professional from the ages of 25 and above for their academic, literary/ information and entertainment needs and for research purposes. Targeting: Knowledge Hub is provider of books to all the mentioned segments. The reason being that the market is already filled with book publishing brands that have had their names recognized and sought after. If we chose to cater to a narrow segment, chances would have been that our brand would not have attained quick popularity in the overall Lahore Market. Hence, Knowledge Hub is catering to all these segments. We shall target the abovementioned segments with the following products: Academic books for primary level Academic books for secondary level Academic books for university level Illustrated books Novels Best Sellers Our focus shall remain on the publishing of quality and up-to-date material. Positioning: Knowledge Hub will position itself as provider of latest academic and research material, the best literary material and best sellers in Urdu and English by quality writers i. e. both local and international. Knowledge Hub endeavors to position itself as a provider of high quality material at affordable prices. Brand Name: ‘Knowledge Hub’ represents the firm as being a provider of various different sources of knowledge, be it academic or in the form of beautiful pieces of writing to enrich our minds and groom our personalities. Marketing Mix: Product: Our products include: Academic Books for Primary Level: These further include English and Urdu language, mathematics, science, general knowledge, geography, national and international history, Islamiat,social studies and arts and crafts. Academic Books for Secondary Level: These further include English and Urdu language, advanced mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics, geography, national and international history, Islamiat, social studies, sociology, business studies and arts and crafts. Academic Books for University Level: These further include books for business studies, information technology, social sciences, media studies, engineering, commerce, law, pharmacy and medicine. Illustrated Books: These books include books on history, local and international cultures, wildlife, politics, etc. Novels: These include prices of writing by local, national and international writers. Our focus always remains to ensure that only quality material which does in fact impart some type of knowledge or provides quality entertainment and grooming to the readers. Best Sellers: This category includes the best selling stories and novels of today’s age and over the decades. E-Books: All of our publications shall be available online in the form of e-books. Price: High Value but Varying Purchasing Power of Consumers: Books are of tremendous value to readers. Readers of the same types of book belong to drastically varying income levels. Competitors’ Pricing: The prices that prevail in the market are not rigid. It an original book is priced high; its copy is prices at very low prices. Our competitors vary in terms of their size, market shares and prices. Consequently their prices also vary. Some competitors are charging premium pricing with tremendous profit margins due to attractive designing, book cover and page and printing quality. Penetration Pricing Strategy: Since the purpose of the creation of Knowledge Hub is to ensure availability of knowledge to all Pakistanis who seek for it, we use penetration pricing strategy. Knowledge Hub believes that knowledge is not a product to be sold but a service to be provided to our nation so that we may progress in this fast paced world. Knowledge Hub has priced its products so that they are easily purchased by the masses. Knowledge Hub will use penetration strategy to penetrate in the market which is already filled with numerous providers. Knowledge Hub has made a point to publish original books at affordable prices and only attain profits sufficient to achieve our vision of making knowledge accessible to all. The attainment of our vision requires periodic expansions first with in Punjab then throughout the country. Since, Knowledge Hub is a sole proprietorship; the profits shall be retained and reinvested in the expansion of the business. Knowledge Hub has priced its products a bit cheaper and more affordable as opposed to its competitors while maintaining high quality in terms of designing, book covers, page material and printing. We strive to position ourselves as the provider of high-quality material at reasonable prices. The prices of our products shall fall in the following ranges: Sr. No. Product Line Price Range (Rs). 1 Academic Books for Primary Level 200   500 2 Academic Books for Secondary Level 250 –800 3 Academic Books for University Level 300 –1200 4 Illustrated Books Up till 1500 5 Novels 200 –1500 6 Best Sellers 300 1800 7 Primary Level Academic E- Books 150 400 8 Secondary Level E- Books 150- 650 9 University Level E- Books 200 –850 10 Illustrated E- Books Up till 850 11 E- Novels 150 900 12 Best Seller E- Books 200 –1000 Price Sensitivity of Customers: In the Lahore market, the customers are highly price sensitive. The customers shall most willingly opt for a provider of quality books at low prices. Distribution Strategy: Our office shall be located near Urdu bazaar, Lahore. Our products shall move from us to our distributor who will supply our books to retailers and from these retailers our books shall reach our consumers. Our distribution network is as follows: Distributors: Since book stores no longer order directly from most publishers and prefer fewer vendors and quicker service. We shall enter into a contract with our distributor and allow us to reach the book trade (independent bookstores, chain bookstores, wholesalers and libraries) is with a distributor. Our Distributor will have sales reps who visit book stores and libraries, show your book catalogs and take orders. We shall use the following touch points to provide our products to the target market: Book Stores: Our products shall be made available in book stores throughout Lahore. Initially our books shall be available at the following book stores: Defence Book Store Readings Classic Book Store Ferozsons Kitabistan Liberty Books Readings The Last Word Variety Books Books Bank and Gift Shop Ravi Book Store Mavra Books. Libraries: We shall also have our books placed in the following libraries throughout Lahore: Quaid-e-Azam Library Environment Data Resource Centre (EDRC) Defence Public Library Complex Punjab Public Library Atomic Energy Minerals Centre Library Islamia College Library, Islamia College Government College Library, Government College University Lahore University of Management Sciences Library, Lahore University of Management Sciences National Library of Engineering Sciences Dyal Singh Trust Library Provincial Assembly of the Punjab Library, Lahore Peoples Bank Library, Lahore Pakistan Administrative Staff College Library, Lahore The Ewing Memorial Library Babar Ali Library Atchison College, Lahore Punjab University Library, Lahore Dr Baqirs Library, Lahore Gift Stores: Gift stores will also be a touch point of Knowledge Hub. It is often noticed that people gift good illustrated books, novels and best sellers as gifts on various occasions. Hence placing our products in gift stores shall cause an increase in the number of sales and the popularity of our brand name. Places like Illusions will serve as an ideal place for placing our products. Gift Baskets: We shall also enter into mutual agreements with gift shop owners to form ‘gift baskets’ which will include different items to be placed in the form of a gift basket and including one of our books. An example of this can be a pen/ a diary or note pad along with a small teddy bear and a novel or best seller placed in a beautiful gift basket and covered with a net and tassels. Fiction and Poetry Books: Fiction and poetry can be sold better in gift stores as opposed to book stores. Website: Knowledge Hub shall maintain a comprehensive website containing electronic versions of all its books. We will use this website to display our catalogs of books and to sell those books in both paper editions and in electronic versions on-line. Customers would be able to be directed to bookstores for the paper version and they may send an order directly to us. They would also be able to unlock and access an on-line edition instantly by making a online payment. Our website viewers would also be able to opt to receive periodic catalogs of our products online via e-mail. Retail Outlet: By 2014, we plan to open our own retail outlet in H Block Defence with the name of Knowledge Hub. Our outlet shall contain all of our publications. Tahira: Promotion Strategy: Knowledge Hub will use the following promotional techniques to promote its products: Newspaper and Magazine Advertisement: Knowledge Hub shall have the following print advertisement placed in the newspapers and magazines including Sunday Times, Zarnigar, Weekly Pulse,Pakistan Textile Journal Magazine ,Herald ,Defence Journal Magazine (DJ),etc. Book Promotion: Knowledge Hub will use tools like book reviews, news releases and a limited amount of highly targeted direct mail advertising. Book reviews and news releases result in free (editorial) publicity while direct mail (Postal and email) delivers your sales message directly to potential customers. Book Reviews: Book reviews are editorial copy that is far less expensive and much more credible than space advertising. The huge number of magazines, newsletters and newspapers columns that are in the market will receive review packages. These reviews will be published for the trade wholesalers and bookstores and libraries. These reviews tell the trade what is coming so they can order the books before the public reads the post-publication reviews in the popular magazines and newspapers. News Releases: We shall follow the review copies with news releases and articles every month to the very same magazines, newsletters and newspapers. These news releases allow opinion-molding editors know what you are doing and why your book has the information their readers need. Direct Mail Advertising: Direct mail advertising of our catalog and books will provide us with the opportunity to get our complete sales message to a specific potential buyer. Our mailing list for direct mails shall remain selective and include only our main buyers. Broadcast E-mail to Main Buyers: This method will is even better than direct postal mail and eliminates printing, stuffing and postage while getting a quick response. Knowledge Hub will assemble email addresses from customers and potential customers and alert them pertaining to our books. Radio TV Interviews: Radio/TV interviews are an easy way to have the masses asking and searching for an upcoming book. Knowledge Hub shall arrange radio and television interviews of authors hose books are about to be published with us. If the book gains popularity so do we. Radio and television talk shows need interesting guests to attract listeners and viewers. Most people feel that authors are experts and celebrities, so most of the guests booked on such shows are authors. While advertising products on the air is expensive interviews are an editorial matter. People listen to editorial matter. Interviews are more effective than advertising and they are free. Hence, they will serve as an inexpensive way to sell our books. Autograph Parties: Knowledge Hub will arrange autograph parties or book signings in our client bookstores, both chain and independent to draw potential customers into their stores. Best Sellers: Knowledge Hub will endeavor so that its books are labeled as bestsellers. This would drastically improve our brand image. Book fairs: Knowledge Hub will organize book fairs are where publishers traditionally show their books but there are several different kinds. There fairs will be for bookstore buyers, libraries, the general public and so on. Initially these book fairs will be local but they will be replaced with book fairs in other cities as our business expands. Specific Category Promoting: From time to time Knowledge Hub shall also indulge in specific category book promotion. Where we shall promote our different products like children’s books, illustrated books, etc in schools, universities, etc. Audible Books: Some of our potential customers may commute or travel a lot and hence will not have time to read our book. This constraint can be overcome by forming audible books. E-Books: One of the very rapidly emerging trends in the book publishing industry is that –f electronic books. Knowledge Hub shall take complete advantage of this means of reaching to the targeted audience. Public Relations: Knowledge Hub will endeavor to maintain good relations with the distributor, retailing chains,gift stores, editors who write book reviews and leading authors. Sales Promotions: Knowledge Hub will provide sales promotions to retailers and libraries such as books at discount prices when purchased in huge bulks to motivate them to purchase our products and help the company penetrate into the target market. Implementation Strategy: Our primary function as book publishers is to procure books and make them available for sale. Procurement of books will involve soliciting and accepting marketable manuscripts, contracting with the author for selling rights, and getting them copies printed and distributed. The selling of our books will involve making contacts with industry retailers and distributors, and selling directly through your own website. We shall make a percentage of each sale and pay the balance to the author. Operational Plan: For works written independently of the publisher, writers shall first submit a query letter or proposal directly to a literary agent or to a publisher. Submissions sent directly to a publisher are referred to as unsolicited submissions, and the majority come from previously unpublished authors. We shall accept these unsolicited manuscripts, and place it in the slush pile, which our readers will sift through to identify manuscripts of sufficient quality or revenue potential to be referred.

Electoral College vs Direct Popular Vote Essay -- American Government,

The current process of electing the President of the United States through the Electoral College system should not be changed because the Electoral College system is superior in comparison to other comprehensive voting systems. Systems like direct popular vote or the national popular vote may work in democracies; however the United States is a federal republic. While allowing large metropolises and large states to be represented in a manner consistent with their size, the Electoral College has the exceptional attribute of allowing small states and rural areas to still maintain influence in the government. Allowing the entire nation to decide the direction of our government ensures candidates appeal to the majority of the nation, not just a handful of populous centers. This leads to more moderate policies and a protection of minority rights. Problems in elections such as fraud and recounts, are very disruptive in systems such as popular vote, but are minimized in the Electoral College system because these problems are limited to individual states allowing for a national review of such localized problems. Finally, the Electoral College incentivizes policy makers and parties to continually try to win in states that have opposed them in recent elections, ensuring long term policy that addresses needs of the populous quickly. Overall, the Electoral College’s benefits make it the superior system to elect the President, and for that reason it should not be changed. Smaller and particularly rural states are protected by the Electoral College. The number of votes a state is allocated in the Electoral College is determined by adding the number of United States Representatives and Senators a state sends to congress. This means each state ... ...ure, and prosperous nation in the world. Large states and cities are represented with consideration for their size, smaller and rural states given a base minimum representation to protect their intrinsic interests. Moderate and nationally inclusive policies are incentivized, and minority coalitions that foster compromise are encouraged. Fraud and recounts are minimized in relation to other voting systems, and mechanisms to deal with such issues promptly exist in the Electoral College. Finally, all states that need concrete policy change and attention receive it with the Electoral College. When asked what kind of government the United States had, Dr. Benjamin Franklin said â€Å"A republic, if you can keep it.† The Founding Father’s understood the benefits of the Electoral College which have since been validated; therefore the Electoral College should remain in place.

Walt Disney Company

Walt Disney is a well-known name in today’s society. Walt Disney once stated, â€Å"You can dream, create, design and build the most wonderful place in the world but it requires people to make the dream a reality† (Sparks, 2007). Marty Sklar, Vice Chairman and principal creative executive for Walt Disney Imagineering was quoted as saying, â€Å"From the beginning, starting with Walt Disney, we have had five tings that make me proud to be a part of this company: high quality, products, optimism for the future, great storytelling, an emphasis on family entertainment and great talent, passion and dedication from our cast members. Walt Disney has come a long way, but it is still true to its core mission of providing quality entertainment for people around the world (Walt Disney, Culture). Since its founding in 1923, the Walt Disney Company continues to produce unparallel entertainment experiences leading a diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise (Walt Disney, Company overview). With its mission to be one of the world’s leading producers and providers of entertainment, Walt Disney continues to seek and develop the most creative experiences (Walt Disney, Who we are). Walt Disney’s values are what make the company stand out. These values are innovation, quality, community, storytelling, optimism and decency (Walt Disney, Culture). These values and culture is what reinforces their commitment and responsibility to the people in their organization. The services include talent acquisition, learning and development, employee services and events, and communication (Walk Disney, Business Standards and Ethics). Even though Disney locations throughout the world have many similarities, the biggest difference is in the culture. Each location offers culture that coincides with the location and its evident when each location was created, a lot of thought was put into making sure that the environment and culture would appeal to that community (Sparks, 2007). Part of this is due to the communication that frequently highlights initiatives and strategies as well as employee recognition, business conduct and ethics practices and social responsibility practices (Walt Disney, Business Standards and Ethics). Walt Disney realized early on that in order to be successful, training and organizational behavior methods would need to be implemented. The desire for all his employees to be customer responsive led to the development of the Disney Institute in 1986. The variety of training and the benefits of the training supplement the organizational culture of the company. Due to the detailed thought that went into training shows by the customer satisfaction with the show of jam packed theme parks year round (Sparks, 2007). The training deals with organizational behavior concepts including decision making, motivation, group behavior, communication, organizational culture, organizational structure and human resources practices. The Disney Institute created classes to teach employees how to create organizational culture along with observing group behavior and teaching motivation. As a result, other companies seek this training from the Disney Institute. The Institute also includes traditions which submerge the employees into the dream and mission of Disney and how Walt wanted the company to continue even after his death (Sparks, 2007). With the culture that Disney created, employees need to feel that they are valued as individuals and vital to the team. Disney has created this with open communication throughout the chain of command, comprehensive training and rewards. As a result, Disney has one of the lowest attrition rates for any company in the United States. The basic belief is that if you do not have happy employees, you cannot have happy guests. Disney’s philosophy of how to treat employees has been passed on year after year and is an example of organizational culture and an example of human resources practices (Sparks, 2007). One way Disney utilizes the communication from its employees is by using a 120 questions survey about management performance. These surveys convey if the is effective communication between management and employees. After the surveys are completed, staff meetings are held to discuss staff concerns and resolutions are discussed. These meetings are usually held within three weeks to show employees that Disney is concerned about the welfare of their employees and to help satisfy them. Walt Disney Company believes that every cast member and staff have valuable information that can be shared through ongoing communication efforts. As we can see, communication is as important as the company’s values are (Sparks, 2007). As with any company, strong beliefs, values and communication are needed in order for a company to succeed. Founded in 1923, the Walt Disney Company has maintained these strong beliefs, values and communication needed to ensure its success today. The success in employee training with the Disney Institute has led to other companies seeking their help (Sparks, 2007). This just strengthens the fact that Walt Disney Company has never wavered from its mission to be one of the world’s leading producers and providers of entertainment. References: Sparks, W. (September 23, 2007). The Magic of Disney’s Organizational Behavior Concepts. Retrieved March 20, 2011 from http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/381660/the_magic_of_disneys_organizational.html?cat=3 Walt Disney Company. (n.d.). Business Standards and Ethics. Retrieved March 20, 2011 from http://corporate.disney.go.com/corporate/cr_human_resources.html Walt Disney Company. (n.d.). Company Overview. Retrieved March 20, 2011 from http://corporate.disney.go.com/corporate/overview.html Walt Disney Company. (n.d.). Culture. Retrieved March 20, 2011 from http://corporate.disney.go.com/careers/culture.html Walt Disney Company. (n.d). Who we are. Retrieved March 20, 2011 from http://corporate.disney.go.com/careers/who.html

Sample Monitoring Evaluation Plan - 1706 Words

Sample Monitoring amp; Evaluation Plan Prepared by: Stephanie Ly, MPH Goal: Create a rigorous monitoring and evaluation plan to assess the effectiveness of a non-profit program addressing violence against women in Central America. Objective 1: Develop a method to collect quantifiable outputs from educational programs by May 2013. * Activity 1.1: Collect data on professional attendees such as police officers and first responders from April-May 2013 * Task 1.1.A. Take regular attendance and collect rosters * Task 1.1.B. Ascertain basic demographic information from professionals including occupation, age, gender, household income, and area of residence * Task 1.1.C. Track any exam scores of†¦show more content†¦Establish proctors and plan for survey distribution * Task 3.3.C. Follow up with absentee students * Task 3.3.D. Collect and store completed surveys Objective 4: Choose a control group to compare non-profit educational program outcomes by December 2013 (optional but greatly strengthens measures) * Activity 4.1: Identify a control group for professionals with similar backgrounds to the evaluation group by December 2013 * Task 4.1.A. Find locations containing police officers and first responders with similar geographic residence, income levels, age and gender * Task 4.1.B. Establish a partnership or agreement with the police department or location to distribute surveys * Task 4.1.C. Provide small incentives, if necessary, to encourage participation of the control group * Task 4.1.D. Execute data collection with the control group using the same survey as with the evaluation group * Activity 4.2: Identify nearby areas with schools containing similar demographic statuses as the evaluation group by December 2013 * Task 4.2.A. Find schools where students are in the same age range and family income level to non-profit students * Task 4.2 .B. Formalize an agreement with the school or organization to implement the survey in a similar manner to the evaluation group * Task 4.2.C. Provide small incentives, if necessary, to encourage participation ofShow MoreRelatedPolicy Issues For Improving Monitoring And Evaluation Of Agricultural Programmes Essay1305 Words   |  6 PagesImproving Monitoring and Evaluation of Agricultural Programmes To improve monitoring and evaluation of agricultural programmes in Nigeria, the following policy issues must be addressed. The questions of what should be monitored or evaluated, when should monitoring / evaluation be carried out, who should monitor/evaluate and the methodology to be adopted in any project and the tools for monitoring and evaluation should be included in any agricultural programmes/policy. 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