Visit to California Science Center Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Visit to California Science Center - Essay Example In contrast with the other institutions, the California Science Center has sufficient hands-on exhibitions to go around (Falk, pg 38). For children under seven years of age, the discovery rooms create an imaginative world over there. Apart from this, it has some great gift shops, technical museum books, geeky t-shirts and souvenirs, games, which are based on science and technology and a superb collection of books for every age group. Admission to the science center is free of cost if we do not seek an IMAX film or any other special thing but we can give donations inside the center. Although everything was of great interest, but the thing, which attracted me the most was the model of solar energy transportation and a wind tunnel. I saw the model of solar energy transportation at the creative world, which explores the discoveries of people from communication to transportation. At the creative world, one can learn about the historical as well as latest technologies of transmitting sound and fuel-cell technology. Besides this, visitors can run the cars, which are solar powered and can discover the ways in which buildings were created to be free from the threats of earthquake. I learnt about the solar energy transportation by visiting there. The transport, which runs through solar energy travels at a speed of 200 miles at 35-40 mph. Such type of transport does not produce any kind of pollution because it generates energy through the Photovoltaic effect (Falk, pg 38). Photovoltaic Effect The photovoltaic effect was discovered by Edmond Becquerel. According to his research, when some type of solid is exposed to the sunlight, it generates some amount of electricity. This effect further showed that it is a transformation of light energy into electricity at the atomic level. It is due to this effect that electricity is generated through the light energy to run the transport (Fonash, pg 39). Solar Panels By combining many photovoltaic cells, solar panels are produced. The se solar panels generate one and two watts by operating fifteen percent efficiently. In order to form modules, these cells are linked into a group of 40. For forming an array, a group of 10 is formed. Array can generate 800 watts of electricity (Fonash, pg 34). Batteries Since storing of the solar energy was difficult, so for this purpose, Lithium ion and Nickel-metal hydride batteries are made. Nickel-metal hydride battery can bear heavy load. These batteries lose half of their charge in a year but this obstacle is not of much significance. Other Obstacles The transport model, which I saw at the California Science Center, has the capacity of only two persons. This is a great obstacle of transportation through solar energy because solar transportation does not have much engine power. In spite of these little barriers, it is likely that the transportation through solar energy will bring a rapid change in the transportation industry in the near future. The other thing, which excited m e the most, was a wind tunnel, which had both ends open. When one person speaks from one end of the tunnel, the other person hearing at the other end of the tunnel can clearly hear the person. It was looking like a magic and attracted me so much. Although it seems to be a magic but there is a logical theory behind it. Sound is a complete set of ordinary decompression and compressions, which are also referred as rarefactions. The theory behind the wind tunnel was that sound wave is a longitudinal

Original topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Original topic - Essay Example He uses extensive research and presents the works of eminent psychologists like Robert Krant and Vicki Lundmark and data from Universities to prove that the internet isolates a person gradually, breaking the person away from all social interactions and human bonds and capturing him in an online world, where everything may seem present but nothing is close to real. Anyone, who today depends on the internet for all forms of communication, interaction and work, may reject the claims made by the article even after statistical backups, but when you spare some thought to it, the fact gradually surfaces that, though the internet may have been a boon to humankind in ways uncountable, it carries a hidden curse with it- it cannot successfully replace human vocal communication or other forms of interactions and may be truly isolating a person from the real physical world. Stoll says that the use of internet communication retards the growth of our inter-personal communication skills.   Ã¢â‚¬Å" These electronic intermediaries dull our abilities to read each other’s gestures and facial expressions, to express our feelings, to strike up conversations with strangers, to craft stories, to tell jokes†, thus the very essence of vocal and physical communication loses in the war of â€Å"type-and-send† emotions. I feel that most of his points are valid. Internet communication can only convey words and never the feelings attached. When compared to face-to-face interactions or telephonic communication, internet surely fails as a tool to show emotions. The only forms of emotion that we may comprehend from such digital exchange of words are when â€Å"emoticons† are used, but that too, is not close to the reality. This slowly diminishes our ability to understand true emotions of people. For example there is difference between the feelings of being satisfied, happy, really happy and on-top of the world happiness, but the only emoticon that internet communicat ion uses is a smiley, which fails to shows the degree of emotion. I also agree that our ability to kick-start a conversation with a stranger is also reduced; we may think that just because we are able to speak to completely unknown people over the net, I am completely sure that, it would have been impossible to do so in-person. For example, on Facebook I have been friends with a Japanese girl and an Indian girl who were completely strangers but if I were to meet them in person, I would not have that courage to start and continue long friendly conversations. Stoll argues that â€Å"lack of close social contact† depresses a person and changes their personality. He presents the work of psychologists from Carnegie Mellon University to show that â€Å"online activity resulted in increased loneliness.† He refers to the work of another psychologist, Kimberly Young where it is seen that people who are active online for increases number of hours feel odd, shy and out-of-place w hen having a face-to-face interaction with others. I believe that this point is completely valid. People who are shy and have no communication skills may feel that the internet helps them communicate and reveal the true them but this is completely wrong to me because I think that the internet helps them create a virtual world in their mind and makes them adapt to it. These internet communicators become good at making friends and interacting online, knowing that others cannot see or feel them but in reality when these same

Effects Of Technology On The Organisations Structure Management Essay

Effects Of Technology On The Organisations Structure Management Essay This essay will investigate the effects of technology on the organisations structure in reference to Perrows Study. In fact, the way Perrow analyses organisations looking into jobs delivered within the business, their capability to influence these roles to deliver various tasks and the choice of outcomes accomplished (Perrow,1979). Perrow states that in order to better understand the variations in structure and the degree of bureaucratization, we must understand the need for structure. Tasks which are not well understood makes such units difficult to bureaucratise is an essential organisational concern in 3DNetworks during its transition to an organic structure due to vendor change eventually affects its future organisational strategic structure. Finally, analysing Perrows prominence on the consequence of introducing a mixture of technologies into organisations (Perrow, 1986), in addition to Galbraiths case that technology can be a main determinant of uncertainty in the organisation and will facilitate easier understanding to the developing structure of 3DNetworks (Robbins Barnewell, 2006). In short, in 3DNetworks Australia, both structural change and technological change are of equal importance, since structural change can affect technological change and the opposite is true. There is some limitations to certain arguments as well as being aware of the importance of its considerations by management personnel will aid in proving whether technology is the sole determinant of organisational structure or whether it is the only one of many factors. During my early months into employment, 3DNetworks duties occupied are in selling a new telephone system, installing it and maintaining that system for number of years. Since 3Dnetworks were aligned with only one vendor this meant the same telephone system is deployed repetitively to businesses, creating ease of delivering systems for that one vendor. Such duties indicate a structure high in Centralisation and Formalisation, yet the most efficient structure was the mechanistic; task inconsistency and problem solving were low due to high predictability like referred by Perrow. He anticipated that task variability and problem analysability were positively correlated (Perrow, 1986). It is odd to find cases within 3DNetwork where duties such as installing a telephone system for the same vendor having few expectations experiencing problems which were not analysable carrying out that duty. Moreover, Perrow highlights in his theory the causes why duties performed with Single Vendor were implicit, predictable, routine and repetitive. 3DNetworks with various facts that the delivery and installation procedures were delivered with repetitiveness and all the risks were anticipated and mitigated. With such an approach, centralised and formal structure was advantageous since it guaranteed reduced training hours, ensured more profit and efficiency (Perrow,1979). As it is clearly obvious in the past year in 3DNetworks, moving from a single vendor to a multivendor technology will eventually translate into moving to a new complex structure over the years to come since the roles are moving to non routine creating uncertainty. Perrow and Galbraith typologies are the perfect fit for 3DNetworks since they both deal with the routines of responsibilities. While Perrow analyses the effect of routines on the level of the people carrying the job out, Galbraith looks deeper into the impact of routineness on parts or the overall structure of the organisation. (Robbins Barnell, 2006). 3DNetworks had to adapt, routinise and adjust to change with efforts given to management to reduce uncertainty in the future market than they are to allowing the organisation continually change and adjust in the interest of efficiency organisations deliberately or not, attempt to maximise the congruence between their technology and structure (taylor, 1990). This has resulted in a high level of formalisation in terms of standardising the tasks so that the presentation of 3DNetworks is uniform across not only Australia, but also across Asia-Pac. Therefore, many of the practices employees engage in routine and repetitive work for example; installing the telephone handsets. This portion of formalisation was vital for 3DNetworks since contracted employees reduced the need for highly skilled permanent ones who were only hired to carry a small range of duties like small office projects. 3DNetworks are currently endeavouring to control the outside influences since the mechanistic organisation seeks to stabilise and routinise its own business processes to establish internal efficiency (Robbins Barnell, 2006). This shows the significance influence of technology in the determination of organisational structure. The way in which technology has promoted levels of standardising employee behaviour is through the explicit rules that specifically state what is expected and what is not (Robbins Barnell, 2006). Moreover, procedures that specify how to deliver, install and support a phone system simplifies job, training and increases efficiency. As defined in our textbook (Robbins Barnell, 2006, p220), the result on one study that looked at 14 medium sized firms concentrating only on the two extreme cells-routine and non routine technologies and found support for Perrows predictions. Also, another study, covering 16 health and welfare agencies confirmed that organisations that do have diverse technologies and that the more routine the work that more likely it is that decision making will be centralised. These reassured Perrows predictions: work that was high in routineness was associated with high formalisation, as evident in 3DNetworks. Furthermore, standardizing duties into process to simplify delivery of new phone systems will reflect at employees behaviour after clarifying the requirements and steps of how to install the new systems. Contingency theories like Perrow argue that most companies attempt to deal with influences on a routine, predictable basis. In 3DNetworks even though managers believe it is the best way to minimise the effects technology has on organisational structure, theorists who hold the natural perspective note that various influences are important and can have a beneficial effect on the organisational goals and hence the structure of organisations. In both cases, contingency theorists as well as those who hold natural perspective provide support for the ideology supporting technology as a major determinant of organisational structure. (Borgatti, 1996) However, months into my employment organisational factors have altered 3DNetworks company structure. The Only one vendor strategy with NORTEL Networks which 3DNetworks was aligned with, declared bankruptcy. 3Dnetwroks realised the urgency to look at other alternative Vendors. The IT market is currently saturated and having to introduce new vendors means that 3DNetworks has to skill up its current employees while retaining its current level of competencies. While deciding on the number of additional new vendors to partner with and the strategy moving forward, the company witnessed a reign of high profile resignations that affected its operations. With these departures, 3DNetworks lost personnel of high calibre, systems knowledge which resulted in being non-routine. Such incident is a part in Perrows ways of how technology identifies the key aspects of structure. Eventually, it became apparent non-routine technologies require greater structural flexibility (Perrow,1986). This leads us to the following conclusion, that the effects of structure driving technological change are multi directional and 3DNetworks Not only does structural change drive technological change, but technological changes also have been driven by structural change. Since current staff are adopting new technologies, unexpected and no-routine duties, this push for structural change led to the emergence of an organic structure. So it is noticeable that technology is a major determinant of changes in structure, particularly for organisations like 3DNetworks. 3DNetworks is expected to be decentralised and delivering routine tasks became non-routine, such units became difficult to bureaucratise toward the end of the year. Moreover, differentiating the staffs duties to be completed are increasing and this will make it more difficult for the current employees to coordinate these new activities into the divisions and more resources is needed to apply in order to coordinate these activities such as training on new Vendor technologies. The existence of a higher interaction amongst all members began to emerge and slowly lower levels of formalisation became obvious. More discretion will have to be given to current staff to help them adjust to the non routines jobs of the new Vendors. The low formalisation, according to Perrow derives from an inability to write rules about constantly set of problems (Perrow, 1979). 3DNetworkss restructure reflects Perrows theory because current staff began performing new ways of phone installations that were unfam iliar and constant as they were performing many tasks normally completed previously by a selected team. Soon the levels of authority became blurred. Hence, our organisational structure changed, becoming more flexible and losing a high degree of its division of labour which led to an increase in the leniency and emergence of an organic structure. (Robbins Barnwell,2006) In addition, many theories argued that becoming the non-routine organisation does not come for free. It comes at a significant price of long periods of personnel training, professional employees, confusion, wasted material and unpredictable outputs (Taylor,1990). The duties variability with multiple vendors strategy exerted pressure and consequences affecting performance across all staff in the 3DNetworks were obvious. Galbraith indicates the importance of the link between duties and information. As duties are increasingly becoming uncertain, the new information required a sign off by internal stakeholders for the new various vendors to achieve the desired level of performance (Cyert March,1992). When 3DNA was aligned with Nortel, the routine duties of selling, installing and supporting a telephone system was all straight forward with programs in place that facilitated ease of delivery. Galbraith proposes the structure followed by any organisation is dependent on the depth of the process information in place and has a direct impact on 3DNetworks change in structure. Due to task uncertainty arises the need to have process information as stated by Galbraith. Current staff began engaging with new unfamiliar tasks for two new vendors introduced by management. This was a challenge for current staff to cope with the current level of work and absorb new tasks for two new vendors at the same time. Current staff had to be skilled up and certified to enable 3DNetworks engage with these vendors. Galbraith also articulated that an organisation should adopt a structure that allowed it to process information appropriate to its needs at an acceptable level of organisational performance (Robbins Barnwell, 2006). However, in 3DNetworks, staff were overwhelmed by the business process and the quantity of information they had to absorb in short notice and it seems like management in 3DNetworks had failed to plan to adopt with this situation and there were very few resources to assist with gaining the right information to complete the new tasks which lead to uncertainty. Once again, it was noticeable the influence of technology on determining organisational structure. In Short, 3DNetworks management failed to recognise effectiveness of organisational structure and thus a more appropriate structure requires the voluntary cooperation of members and actions that promote a positive environment within the organisation. Where this is achieved, high formalisation could have existed .This may also been seen to be present as it is possible to predict the behaviour of organisation members in non- routine situations (Robbins Barnwell,2006). Rather, they allowed low formalisation to emerge under the belief that high formalisation could not co-exist with non routine tasks. The transition to reduced formalisation proved to improve interest in the job, however, the responsibility of having to complete non routine tasks not specified in the job description created confusion and job dissatisfaction. Hence, many more organisational problems that could have been avoided existed under the emergence of the newly adopted structure. On the Other hand, what managers must recognise is the limitations of the measures of technology which easily gets confused by the effects of structure (Borgatti,1996). For example an organisation may not have implemented a mechanistic model and people experienced much uncertainty in what would normally be considered routine tasks. This notion is evident in 3DNetworks presently, as the changing nature of the company has left contracted staff completing tasks that are normally completed by highly paid subject matter experts (SME) and thus seen as routine in the eyes of the managers. However, the departure of these managers has meant contracted staff are now carrying out these routine tasks with a high degree of uncertainty. This has however, ultimately led to the distinguishing finding which is that the effects of structure driving technological change are multi directional (Perrow,1986). Not only does structural change drive technological change, but in 3DNetworks example, technologi cal changes also have driven structural change. As the adoption of new vendor oriented tasks, by contracted staff drove the changes in organisational structure (Borgatti, 1996). Thus, technology is a significant factor in the determination of organisational structure. Structure and Conclusion: The Conclusion summoned from this analysis to set future direction is the perception that companies are not the same, they vary to the type of tasks they engage in and thus differ in structure (Taylor,1990). Also the environment is not predictable and uncertain; Environmental uncertainty or task predictability is the basic independent variable influencing the design of the organization (Galbraith, 1970). In fact, it is suggested within 3DNetworks to align their management practises constantly according to their current environment with the suitable types of technologies. This will guarantee staffs awareness of duties and the evolving structure, as this failed to be achieved presently and is acting destructively on the organisation. In turn, if these changes are adopted, 3DNetworks management may be in a better position to define more carefully the nature of their organisation and determine what types of management practises work and which are likely to fail. Since routinisation strengthens predictability and centralisation, Perrow acknowledges that individuals will attempt to routinise all tasks over which they have authority because routinisation simplifies duties and increases efficiency. Perrow also argues the pros and cons of non routine and routine form of structures and believes that each carry equal benefits depending on the types of tasks performed. As there is no one best way to manage and to be effective, planning, controlling, organising and leading must be tailored to particular circumstances faced by organisations (Perrow, 1979). Therefore, considering such organisational challenges are important to alert management to Perrows argument and try to eliminate the idea in managers minds to execute routinization of tasks and structures in times of error. After all, Perrows theories will always be a useful reference to understand the organisations structure and the ways technology effects reflect upon dealing with non routine and routine tasks. This will raise the importance of awareness of tasks among 3DNetworks management team and will ensure they can determine the arrangement of roles and the extent of goals that could be achieved with certain new technologies. This is also important as identifying a companys goal is critical to understanding structure because goals affect structure On the whole, the investigation above addresses organisational issues through the exploration of other contingency theories and pragmatic facts to conclude that technology might be one of the most significant independent variable in determining Organisational structure, but for sure is not the sole determinant of that structure.

Crime in America Essay -- essays research papers

Parole (early release from prison) is often referred to as the back door to the US corrections system. The concept of parole dates back to the establishment of the Elmira Reformatory. The goal of the Elmira Reformatory was to rehabilitate and reform the criminal instead of following the traditional method of silence, obedience, and labor. Parole was originally set up to encourage prisoners to do well, keep their noses clean, and become model prisoners. Once a prisoner had shown rehabilitation and reform they were released prior to the execution of their full sentence. Before a prisoner can be released on parole he/she must meet before a parole board. Each prison with a parole system is set up with one of two types of parole services. Service one is the independent model. Like its name says it is independent, independent from any other state agency. Meaning that it’s parole officers do not work for the corrections system. This enables them to be more bias and fair with their decisions. Service two is the consolidated model. This model is ran by the corrections system and is under the direction of the commissioner of corrections. The consolidated model does not give its members the ability to be bias. They have to bite their tongues in some instances as to not ruffle the feathers of those appointed over them. No matter which model is in place if not used correctly it is a failure. In most states the members of the parole board are appointed by the governor and serve a term of...

Essay on “The Hills Have White Elephants” Essay

The hills of white elephants have brought along many problems for Jib. The thought of having a child is a hard topic to think about, especially, but even more so when isn’t planned. There will be arguments and issues with any ordinary couple, but these two try to figure out a way besides fighting. Love is always a difficult subject to explore but talking about it is only half the problem. Things can get so messed up, lost in the translation when you’re trying to explain yourself, that it can even makes things worse when you drag it out. To talk is to compare to compare is to solve, and thinking about all the issues these two have to work out is mind boggling. But for Jig and the man and for their relationship to work, it’s necessary for them to figure it out. It seems if Jig is a foreigner, someone the American (pg. 475) man may have met while traveling in Europe that he’s become very attached to. Lying can it be good or can it be bad, depending on the peo ple that this speaks to, it could go either way. Maybe she decides to lie to Jib, maybe that was her plan all along just to get Jib to speak his mind. You never know what anyone is thinking; maybe she loves him so much she’ll lie about anything just to keep Jib around. Lies can take you to far places, from experience I know, but when things go bad and suddenly turn south it’s hard to dig yourself out. Usually the damage has been done and there’s no way to fix the hole in the boat. Coming from Jib’s perspective when the man offered the abortion as an idea or way out of the situation, it seemed it was his plan maybe to trick her into getting one all along. He says â€Å"he knows plenty of people who have had one.† (pg. 476 ) Then he shows his affection by saying he wants what’s best for her, but then says, â€Å"I’m perfectly willing to go through with it if it means anything to you.† (pg. 477). Like as if to say it in a way to put the pressure of the situation or the outcome of their relationship on her, by the decision she makes, but because he keeps talking it kind of unravels on him. In his mind, the man appears to want to keep things the way they were, before there was this baby. He wants to continue traveling the world and partying around. What comes out from the conversation is the man’s true selfish ways. You can tell Jib is also fishing for reassurance of the man’s love for her. Jib says, â€Å"And if I do it you’ll be happy and things will be like they were and you’ll love me?† (pg. 477) As if to say Jib is questioning how the man feels about  her now in this situation. Yet he says â€Å"I love you now. You know I love you.† (pg. 477) But you can tell that Jib really doesn’t believe he loves her the way that he did before, because the situation has caused drama in their relationship. To me, the white elephants in the room were Jib and the unborn baby; the hills are kind of the whole situation they’re dealing with as a couple. But because Jib continues to drink alcohol, fully knowing she’s pregnant leads me to believe she knew all along that she was going to go ahead with the operation. This conversation was her way of finding out how the man really felt about her and their relationship. A baby is supposed to be the combination of two people and the love they have for each other, it’s a natural thing you’d want and desire if you really love someone. She doesn’t want to have the operation at first, or so she says, but the man plays a mind game on her and confuses her into agreeing with the operation, but Jib was playing may have been playing her own game as well. This isn’t really a form of love coming from either side; it’s a form of deception. He practically baits Jib by the way he says things to her when she says, â€Å"And we could have all this, â€Å"And we could have everything and every day we make it more impossible.† (pg. 477) But the man is very negative in saying â€Å"No we can’t.† (Pg. 477) numerous times. Jib is trying to be positive, make light of the situation, but the man is full of negativity. True love comes from the mind and heart, is sacrificial, in that you’d do almost anything to protect the one you love. Jib says, â€Å"she doesn’t even care about herself.† (Pg. 477) She just wants things to be fine again and is willing to sacrifice her child for it and him. These two have a form of attachment, an almost obsession, but love, it seems more one sided, I don’t see it, lust maybe. Jib appears to be young, and the man older, but you sense neither of them knows what either of them wants from a relationship let alone anything else. Except to travel the world and have fun. Love isn’t always fun and for anyone who has been in love, you know what I am talking about. Complications hit you at every turn to take the love you have away, and when the real stuff starts happening that’s when you find out if someone really loves you or they’re just using you for their own personal gain. Real love takes work and time to establish. The man is using Jib to his advantage, just so he has a party friend, and a traveling companion. A baby is not in his plans, but  now the pregnant news comes to light, and his true self is exposed and he pani cs, even pretends to love her just to trick her into getting an abortion. In conclusion love can be seen in a lot of ways, but to some it’s just a game to see how far people can play with each other’s emotions. The man is a traveler and having a kid would have ruined his plans of fun. He did what he had to do for himself and lust for travel. Love is powerful and the way he uses it is wrong especially on a young girl. Don’t abuse the power given to you because you never know who you might hurt. The pain you inflict on others always seems to have a strange way of coming back to haunt you in your future. I guess what people say about what comes around goes around, because if you think about, it does.

Marketing Concept Summary

Summary Definition of Marketing Marketing is not manipulating consumers to get them to buy products they do not want and it is not just selling and advertising. Marketing is a group of activities designed to expedite transactions by creating, distributing, pricing, and promoting goods, services, and ideas. Marketing facilitates the exchange, the act of giving up one thing in return for something else. The central focus of marketing is to satisfy needs. Example) People is willing to exchange their â€Å"something of value-money or credit-for soft drinks, football tickets, or new shoes because you consider those product more valuable or more important than holding on to your cash or credit potential. Functions of Marketing Marketing includes many varied and interrelated activities; buying, selling transporting, storing, grading, financing, marketing research, and risk taking. (Example) Fresh oranges are only available for a few months annually, but consumers demand juice throughout th e entire year.Seller must arrange for cold storage of orange juice concentrate so that they can maintain a steady supply all of the time. Creating Value with Marketing Marketing creates value, which is an important element of managing long-term customer relationships and implementing the marketing concept. Value is a customer’s subjective assessment of benefits relative to costs in determining the worth of a product. (Customer Value = Customer Benefits – Customer Costs) Also you can read this summary –  Protecting Freedom of Expression on the CampusThe Marketing conceptThe marketing concept is the idea that an organization should try to satisfy customers’ needs through coordinated activities that also allow it to achieve its goals. If a company does not implement the marketing concept by providing products that consumers need and want while achieving its own objectives, it will not survive. (Example) McDonald’s faces increasing pressure to provide more healthful fast-food choices. To keep pace with the customers’ needs, it has eliminated supersized fries and soft drinks and put nutritional information on its food packaging. It also switched to trans-fat-free cooking oils.Although customer satisfaction is the goal of the marketing concept, a business must also achieve its own objectives, such as boosting productivity, reducing costs, or achieving a percentage of a specific market. If it does not, it will not survive. (Ex ample) Dell sold computer for $50 and give customers a lifetime guarantee, which would be great for customers but not so great for Dell. To implement the marketing concept, a firm must have good information about what consumers want, adopt a consumer orientation, and coordinate its efforts through the entire organization. Developing a Marketing StrategyA marketing strategy is a plan of action for creating a marketing mix (product, price, distribution, promotion) for a specific target market (a specific group of consumers on whose needs and wants a company focuses its marketing efforts). Some firms use a total-market approach, designating everyone as the target market. Most firms divide the total market into segments of people who have relatively similar product needs. A company using a concentration approach develops one marketing stratagem for a single market segment, whereas a multi-segment approach aims marketing efforts at wo or more segments, developing a different marketing st ratagem for each. (Example of a total-market approach) Salt, sugar, and many agricultural products (Example of market segmentation) Woman, Hispanic, and minority population Key Points and Terms Marketing A group of activities designed to expedite transactions by creating, distributing, pricing, and promoting goods, services, and ideas. Exchange The act of giving up one thing (money, credit, labor, goods) in return for something else (goods, services, or ideas) ValueA customer’s subjective assessment of benefits relative to costs in determining the worth of a product. (Customer Value = Customer Benefits – Customer Costs) Marketing Concept The idea that an organization should try to satisfy customers’ needs through coordinated activities that also allow it to achieve its own goals. Marketing Orientation An approach requiring organizations to gather information about customer needs, share that information throughout the firm, and use that information to help build long-term relationships with customers.Marketing Strategy A plan of action for developing, pricing, distributing, and promoting products that meet the needs of specific customers. Market A group of people who have a need, purchasing power, and the desire and authority to spend money on goods, services, and ideas. Target Market A specific group of consumes on whose needs and wants a company focuses its marketing efforts. Total-Market Approach An approach whereby a form tries to appeal to everyone and assumes that all buyers have similar needs. Market SegmentationA strategy whereby a firm divides the total market into groups of people who have relatively similar product needs. Market Segment A collection of individuals, groups, or organizations who share one or more characteristics and thus have relatively similar product needs and desires. Concentration Approach A market segmentation approach whereby a company develops one marketing strategy for a single market segment. Multi-segment Approach A market segmentation approach whereby the marketer aims its efforts at two or more segments, developing a marketing strategy for each.