Culture Specific Syndrome

ultural Bound Syndromes Culture-bound syndrome The term culture-bound syndrome was included in the fourth version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 2000) which also includes a list of the most common culture-bound conditions (DSM-IV: Appendix I). Included in DSM-IV-TR (4th. ed) the term cultural-bound syndrome denotes recurrent, locality-specific patterns of abnormal behavior and troubling experience that may or may not be linked to a particular DSM-IV-TR diagnostic category.Many of these patterns are naturally considered to be illnesses, or at least afflictions, and most have local names. Although presentations conforming to the major DSM-IV-TR categories can be found throughout the world, the particular symptoms, course, and social response are very often influenced by local cultural factors. In contrast, cultural-bound syndromes are generally limited to specific societies or culture areas and are localized, folk, diagno stic categories that frame coherent meanings for certain repetitive, patterned, and troubling sets of experiences and observations.In medicine, a culture-specific syndrome or culture-bound syndrome is a combination of psychiatric and somatic symptoms that are considered to be a recognizable disease only within a specific society or culture. There are no objective biochemical or structural alterations of body organs or functions, and the disease is not recognized in other cultures. While a substantial portion of mental disorders, in the way they are manifested and experienced, are at least partially conditioned by the culture in which they are found, some disorders are more culture-specific than others.The concept of culture-bound syndromes is very controversial and many psychologists, medical doctors, and anthropologists reject the concept. The identification of culture-specific syndromes: A culture-specific syndrome is characterized by: categorization as a disease in the culture (i . e. , not a voluntary behavior or false claim); widespread familiarity in the culture; complete lack of familiarity of the condition to people in other cultures; no objectively demonstrable biochemical or tissue abnormalities (symptoms); the condition is usually recognized and treated by the folk medicine of the culture.Some culture-specific syndromes involve somatic symptoms (pain or disturbed function of a body part), while others are purely behavioral. Some culture-bound syndromes appear with similar features in several cultures, but with locally-specific traits, such as penis panics. A culture-specific syndrome is not the same as a geographically localized disease with specific, identifiable, causal tissue abnormalities, such as kuru or sleeping sickness, or genetic conditions limited to certain populations.It is possible that a condition originally assumed to be a culture-bound behavioral syndrome is found to have a biological cause; from a medical perspective it would then be redefined into another nosological category. Western medical perspectives: An interesting aspect of culture-specific syndromes is the extent to which they are â€Å"real†. Characterizing them as â€Å"imaginary† is as inaccurate as characterizing them as â€Å"malingering†, but there is no clear way to understand them from a Western scientific perspective.Culture-specific syndromes shed light on how our mind decides that symptoms are connected and how a society defines a known â€Å"disease†. In contrast, culture-bound syndromes are generally limited to specific societies or culture areas and are localized, folk, diagnostic [comma sic] categories that frame coherent meanings for certain repetitive, patterned, and troubling sets of experiences and observations.Medical care of the condition is challenging and illustrates a truly fundamental but rarely discussed aspect of the physician-patient relationship: the need to negotiate a diagnosis that fits the wa y of looking at the body and its diseases of both parties. The physician may do any of the following: Share the way the patient sees the disorder, and offer the folk medicine treatment, recognize it as a culture-bound syndrome, but pretend to share the patient’s perspectives and offer the folk medicine reatment or a new improvised treatment, recognize it as a culture-bound syndrome but try to educate the patient into seeing the condition as the physician sees it. The problem with the first choice is that physicians who pride themselves on their knowledge of disease like to think they know the difference between culture-specific disorders and â€Å"organic† diseases. While the second choice may be the quickest and most comfortable choice, the physician must deliberately deceive the patient.Currently in Western culture this is considered one of the most unethical things a physician can do, whereas in other times and cultures deception with benevolent intent has been an a ccepted tool of treatment. The third choice is the most difficult and time-consuming to do without leaving the patient disappointed, insulted, or lacking confidence in the physician, and may leave both physician and patient haunted by doubts (â€Å"Maybe the condition is real. † or â€Å"Maybe this doctor doesn’t know what s/he is talking about. †).Root-work/Obeah: DSM IV-TR (2000), states that a set of cultural interpretations that ascribe illness to hexing, witchcraft, sorcery, or the evil influence of another person. Symptoms may include generalized anxiety and gastrointestinal complaints (e. g. , nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea), weakness, dizziness, the fear of being poisoned, and sometimes fear of being killed (voodoo death). DSM IV-TR site roots, spells, or hexes can be put or placed on other persons, causing a variety of emotional and psychological problems.The hexed person may even fear death until the root has been taken off, or eliminated usually throu gh the work of the root doctor (a healer in this tradition), who can also be called on to bewitch an enemy. Roots is found in the southern United States among both African-American and European American populations and in the Caribbean societies. Obeah (sometimes spelled â€Å"Obi†) is a term used in the West Indies to refer to folk magic, sorcery, and religious practices derived from Central African and West African origins. Obeah can either be a form of ‘dark' magic or ‘good' magic.As such, Obeah is similar to Palo, Voodoo, Santeria, root-work, and hoodoo. Obeah (another name used in the Caribbean society) is practiced in Suriname, Jamaica, Haiti, the Virgin Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and Belize, the Bahamas, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados and many other Caribbean countries. Obeah is associated with both benign and malign magic, charms, luck, and with mysticism in general. In some Caribbean nations Obeah refers to African diasporic folk reli gions; in other areas, Christians may include elements of Obeah in their religion.Obeah is often associated with the Spiritual Baptist church. Origins: In Jamaica, slaves from different areas of Africa were brought into contact, creating some conflicts between those who practiced varying African religions. Those of West African Ashanti descent, who called their priests â€Å"Myal men† (also spelled Mial men), used the Ashanti term â€Å"Obi† or â€Å"Obeah† — meaning â€Å"sorcery† — to describe the practices of slaves of Central African descent. Thus those who worked in a Congo form of folk religion were called â€Å"Obeah men† or â€Å"sorcerers. Obeah also came to mean any physical object, such as a talisman or charm that was used for evil magical purposes. However, despite its fearsome reputation, Obeah, like any other form of folk religion and folk magic, contains many traditions for healing, helping, and bringing about luck in love and money. Elements (key features/symptoms) According to Hughes, Simons &Wintrob, 1997 study, knowledge about a culture-bound syndrome, can address the relationship between the culture-bound syndrome and the more familiar psychiatric disorders, such as those in DSM-IV.These researchers call this the comorbidity question on the assumption that studying the culture-bound syndrome's patterned relationship to psychiatric diagnoses is a more fruitful approach than attempting prematurely to subsume it into the DSM diagnostic categories. Systematic research has identified strong correlations between culture-bound syndromes and criteria for psychiatric disorder, but there is rarely a one-to-one relationship between culture-bound syndrome and psychiatric disorder. The culture-bound syndromes often coexist with a range of psychiatric disorders, as many psychiatric disorders do with each other.The comorbidity question brings culture-bound syndrome research in line with current approaches in psychiatric research. Differences in the symptomatic, emotional, and contextual aspects of cultural syndromes, in turn, may signal different comorbid relationships with psychiatric diagnosis or even the lack of such a relationship. Opinion The extra ordinary addition of culture-bound syndromes in DSM-IV provides the opportunity for improving the need to study such syndromes and the chance for developing a research to study them.The growing ethnic and cultural diversity of the U. S. population presents a challenge to the mental health field to develop truly cross-cultural approaches to mental health research and services. This addition will give researchers the chance to study the relationship between culture-bound syndromes and psychiatric diagnoses. In my opinion a research program based on key questions is still unanswered, which is understanding culture-bound syndromes within their cultural context and to analyze the relationship between these syndromes and psychiatric disorde rs.Reference DSM -IV-TR Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (2000). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (4th ed. ). Washington, DC: Author. Hughes CC, Simons RC, Wintrob RM: The â€Å"Culture-Bound Syndromes† and DSM-IV, in DSM-IV Sourcebook, vol 3. Edited by Widiger TA, Frances AJ, Pincus HA, Ross R, First MB, Davis W. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Association, 1997, pp 991–1000 Retrieved July 29, 2009 from American Journal of Psychiatry.

Piazza San Marco and the Architecture of Romance in Summertime Essay

The city of Venice and its monuments function, on the surface, as the framework and backdrop for the storyline in David Lean’s 1955 film, Summertime. The action itself advances as a video travelogue, immediately impressing us with the fundamental role the sea plays for this water community when â€Å"the bus† turns out to be a water taxi and a fire engine a boat. The camera brings us along the Grand Canal, awing us with â€Å"celluloid paintings† of such magnificent examples of lofty Venetian design and decoration as Longhena’s 17th-century Church of Santa Maria della Salute, Palladio’s 16th-century Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, and Antonio da Ponte’s late 16th-century Rialto Bridge in rapid succession. Abruptly, we are returned to the realities of ordinary Venetian life. Passing on foot down centuries-old streets to yet another waterway, we witness a Venetian tossing her household garbage unceremoniously into the canal to be carried away by the tides that perpetually cleanse the city, underscoring again the watery foundation that sustains life in Venice. Yet, Venice is more than a simple frame from which the storyline of the film is hung. Venice defines this love story, enabling the protagonists to escape the constraints of their disparate worlds to a magic place imbued with all the mystery and romance of her eclectic past. Venice is the sum total of ideas and design acquired from its primitive beginnings, through its period under Byzantine rule, its lucrative mercantile contact with the West and East, and its proximity to Rome, as evidenced in the many monumental churches, statues, columns, scuole, libraries, and palaces that were created by the most prominent architects and artists of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. As Spiro Kostof says in The City Shaped (1999), â€Å"The city is the ultimate memorial of our struggles and glories: it is where the pride of the past is set on display. † In the film, as in Venice itself, Piazza San Marco figures prominently. Often, the Piazza is more than a mere backdrop, at times it seems to become a character of its own right. One of the most prominent structures of the Piazza is the Campanile. Originally constructed in the 10th century, the tall brick Campanile with its bronze pyramidal spire seen in the Summertime is actually a 1912 reconstruction of the original as it looked when it collapsed in the early part of the 20th century (Kostof, 1995). Early on, as Jane wonders what she will do alone in Venice, the bells of the Campanile ring out, seeming to call to her, beckoning her to Piazza San Marco and her fateful encounter with Renato. In their last meeting, just as Jane utters the sentence â€Å"I don’t want to forget†¦a single moment† the Campanile begins to chime once more. Summertime is very much about the meeting of two very different cultures, and this theme is reflected in much of the architecture featured in the film. The most famous of all Piazza structures, St. Mark’s Basilica is an outstand example the marriage between the Oriental or Byzantine and Gothic building styles. The elaborate mosaics highlighted in the still travelogue shots, the basilica plan, and the five domes that crown the Basilica are clear manifestations of the Byzantine. The arches of the facade, rounded on the underside with pointed rooflines are an excellent example of the interweaving of the Byzantine love for domes and the pointed Gothic arch. Whereas the sculptural detail, rose windows, and trefoil arches present in the Basilica are part of the building’s Gothic heritage. Such Gothic elements also figure prominently in Doges Palace and the Sansovino Library. Finally, St. Marks’ Basilica, Doges Palace and the Sansovino Library all give nods to the classical orders in terms or proportions, but whereas the Basilica boasts obviously Byzantine capitals, Doges’ are a more convex Byzantine Corinthian hybrid, and the Library capitals are Ionic and Corinthian. The beautiful coexistence of two different traditions so expertly managed in Piazza San Marco allows for the viewer and the lovers themselves to imagine, at least momentarily, that despite the obvious problems (she being only a tourist and he being married), a fairytale-like union might be possible for them as well. Venice has been referred to by contemporaries as â€Å"a theme park on water. † In the film Summertime, the integration of the characteristics derived from Byzantine, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque styles combine to produce a whimsical wonderland within which fantasies can be lived. To highlight this, the camera returns repeatedly to Mauro Coducci’s 15th century clock tower in Piazza San Marco focusing on its playful mechanical Moor figures, bright blue and gold of the Lion of St. Mark to add a truly whimsical and theme-park-like air to the Piazza. This sense of fun and freedom further adds to the romance of the couples’ time together by establishing it as a separate and safe â€Å"play† space, setting it apart from Jane’s Ohio reality. Both spatially and chronologically, Piazza San Marcos literally frames the romance between Jane (Katharine Hepburn) and Renato (Rossano Brazzi) as they meet in the Piazza and ultimately their last encounter begins there. Significantly, Jane makes Renato take her outside the Piazza to tell him she is leaving. The film goes to great lengths to establish Venice as a fairytale setting, and when Jane explains her reasons for departing so abruptly they echo this notion. Jane says she fears staying to long and ruining the perfect memory they have created. Essentially, though her fear is of the dream fading into reality. Thus, it is understandable that Renato begs her to stay—for him there is no difference because Venice is his reality. And having exited Piazza San Marcos for the final time, the spell is broken, at least enough that, like Wendy, she leaves her Peter Pan in his permanent dream and decides to depart the fairytale land and return to reality, maintaining Venice as a flawless Neverland that lives in her memory. However, unlike Wendy, she had a camera and can look back at her film of the buildings and remember her brief stint in the fairytale land of coexistence. References Kostof, S. (1995). A History of Architecture: Settings and Rituals. New York: Oxford. Kostof, S. (1995). The City Shaped. London: Thames & Hudson. Lopert, I. (Producer), & Lane, D. (Director). (1955). Summertime [Motion picture]. USA: Lopert Films.

Apple

Choose an Emirate company of your choice and discuss its supply chain strategy. You need to cover the point while paying attention to the nature of its business; its monitors and future development of the business. . Choose a project of your choice which is related to the company you work for and discuss all important aspects that are associated with its achievement. Underline potential critical path, potential factors that affect the process management of your selected project. Lastly, bring forward your own recommendations in view of successful project management. Assessment criteria Structure: need to pay attention to clearly plan the ideas in logical manner that is insistent with the core topic.The basic parts-introduction, body and conclusion- must be underlined 2. Analysis: must pay attention to discussing all core ideas with appropriate link between theories and practice. There must be a clear link between the case study and the application of information conveyed by theory re lated to the topic discussed 3. Presentation: group involved in preparing the topic must show cohesive involvement in the preparation of all parts of the assignment. Apple Choose an Emirate company of your choice and discuss its supply chain strategy. You need to cover the point while paying attention to the nature of its business; its monitors and future development of the business. . Choose a project of your choice which is related to the company you work for and discuss all important aspects that are associated with its achievement. Underline potential critical path, potential factors that affect the process management of your selected project. Lastly, bring forward your own recommendations in view of successful project management. Assessment criteria Structure: need to pay attention to clearly plan the ideas in logical manner that is insistent with the core topic.The basic parts-introduction, body and conclusion- must be underlined 2. Analysis: must pay attention to discussing all core ideas with appropriate link between theories and practice. There must be a clear link between the case study and the application of information conveyed by theory re lated to the topic discussed 3. Presentation: group involved in preparing the topic must show cohesive involvement in the preparation of all parts of the assignment. Apple * History: * Apple is a company which produces computers and technological products like computers, mobiles . On April 1, 1976, the Apple computer was established . Steven Wozniak, a high school drop-out who worked for Hewlett-Packard, dabbled in computer-design and created what would become the Apple I. His high school buddy Steven Jobs, also a drop-out, worked for Atari and convinced him that the two should form a company to market the new computer, which eventually took off in 1977 with the Apple II. * * By 1980, the Apple III was released and their company employed several thousand workers.It began in Egypt in 1990 and produced their products in 1991. It began to produce the first computer Mac in Egypt but there is a disadvantage that faces the company in Egypt which is the high cost! * * The computers in this time were sold by 60,000 to 70,000 so few people bought it. The owner of the Egyptian company is called Mohamed Medhat . The company also in Egypt began to produce this com puter. In 1991 the company produces approximately by 1500 prices only. The company in Egypt doesn’t correct their wrong and still the high prices of computers raises up. * In 1991 the price of iMac is 35,000 L. E. It is too much. In 1992 Apple Company makes a high loss, because of the high prices. So they began to think in another way to reduce the cost of the company. They reduced the cost to half but they also made a lot of losses. Steve is still thinking how to save the company and began to make profits. * * * Mohamed Medhat followed him in his steps to save the company in the Middle East because in this time the only branch for Apple Company in the Middle East in Egypt only in this time, but now in Egypt and UAE.They began to produce new products by low cost so they can save their company and began to make high profits. Now in 2012 apple makes a great successful product than Microsoft and become the leader of the technological market Apple Company produces a lot of unique products like: Macbook _Macbook ProMacbook Air| Next-generation quad-core and dual-core Intel processors. The 13-inch MacBook  Pro now features a 2. 4GHz Intel Core i5 processor or the fastest dual-core processor available — the 2. 8GHz Intel Core i7. With Turbo Boost speeds up to 3. GHz, these processors allow the 13-inch MacBook  Pro to perform up to twice as fast as the previous generation. 1But we couldn’t leave fast enough alone. The new 15- and 17-inch models bring quad-core power to almost everything you do. The available 2. 5GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor — with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3. 6GHz and up to 8MB of shared L3 cache — enables these MacBook Pro models to run applications up to twice as fast as their top-of-the-line predecessors. 2| iPad ( 3G – Wifi)| In work Mail, Calendar, Notes, and Safari in a beautiful, thin and light design, so you stay productive anywhere.With easy, secure integration into business environments a nd a robust platform for app development, iPad is ready to start working when you are. In Education iPad inspires creativity and hands-on learning with features you won’t find in any other educational tool — on a device that students really want to use. Powerful built-in apps and apps from the App Store let students engage with content in interactive ways, find information in an instant, and access an entire library wherever they go. And now, with the introduction of Multi-Touch textbooks, iPad takes learning to a whole new level. iPod (Classic – Touch-Nano)| It used for listening music and people can also watch some movies. | Services: If we talk about the apple’s services . the company give to there customer a good services through selling the product and after purchasing the product . apple’s services contain (warranty on it products for along time (between 1 to10 years ) , hardware services for instance , mousse , keyboards , monitor , track pa d , printers, hard disk and Etc. . the services contain software services also , for instance operating system (OSX ) . that’s some services after purchasing . n other hand the service before purchasing . the sales person give the full information about the products to customers , make an offers to attract more and more customer , for instance in 2011 , there are many offers which the company made ,for example , to buy I phone and get I pod Nano with full accessories . and another one to buy any laptop and get ( software and full applications for free during the offer period) in usually you should to buy them software with 250 L. E and applications with 650 L. E . so it is very attractive and good offer . Apple company provide a good packaging to save it’s products .Vision Of Apple : Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Apple is committed to bringing the best personal computing experience to students, educators, creative professionals and consumers around the world through its innovative hardware, software and Internet offerings. Mission Of Apple: Apple is committed to bringing the best personal computing experience to students, educators, creative professionals and consumers around the world through its innovative hardware, software and Internet offerings.Apple campaign for I phone 5: This is the last marketing campaign for the newest product will be in the market next summer . This advertising tell the customer for a new generation of I phone ( I Phone 5 ) with a new feature and quality . the advertising tell the customer . the new I phone is totally different from the I phone 4 , 4S and has a changes in every things . This Advertising show that apple was more interesting and focus on its segment and target it seriously . using the full capacity to stratify the targeting market SWOT analysis for Apple company:Strengths : apple OSX ( op erating system ) is more strengths than PC , the OS of apple no virus can hit it and can work on it for along time , Apple OSX support the graphic programmer so the designers use the Apple OS , because it more professional and fast . OSX is a heavy duty operating system , can use for along time without corruption or errors , and other Strength point is Apple gets to set the specs in detail, and deliver to the customer through a controlled retail experience (Apple Store, Apple On-line Store) that helps them explain the value to the customer and extract a premium for that value.Weakness : Apple prices . the cost of apple products is very high so it can’t compete in the Market . Dell and HP compete it by the same products but with less prices . so it represent a big weakness point face the company in Egypt . other point , the there is a big problem in I pod Nano screen . the production team discover this problem after produce the product , so this problem lead to spend a lot of dollars to solve this problem , In addition this problem led the company to increase the price of music download form I Tunes . this led apple to spend by 10 million dollar to fixed this problem .Opportunity : Apple has the opportunity to develop its iTunes and music player technology into a mobile phone format. The Rokr mobile phone device was developed by Motorola. It has a colour screen, stereo speakers and a advance camera system. A version of Apple's iTunes music store has been developed for the phone so users can manage the tracks they store on it. Downloads are available via a USB cable, ands software on the handset pauses music if a phone call comes in. New technologies and strategic alliances offer opportunities for Apple.Threats : The biggest threat to IT companies such as Apple is the very high level of competition in the technology markets. Being successful attracts competition, and Apple works very hard on research and development and marketing in order to retain its co mpetitive position. The popularity of iPod and Apple Mac are subject to demand, and will be affected if economies begin to falter and demand falls for their products. PESTEL analysis: Economic : apple company effected by the economic situation , the economic crises effect on the company production and company sales . he apple products have a high cost so it has a big related with the economic . ,for example, the company after the revolution , recorded a big loses in its sales and profit . after the revolution people avoid to buy the luxury products like I pod and I pad . apple recorded in 2011 loses in Egypt more than 50 Million . and in the economic crises in USA . apple recorded loses by 700 Million dollar . Technology : apple company strongly effected by technology factor , the company should to has the final technology tools that the world use it in this time . pple company every time develop their products with new feature and technology , for example I phone developed to 3GS t o 4G and finally 4GS and 5G soon . other products like I pad develop it to work with the third generation of communications (3G) . apple now is the best company all over the world use the touch technique in its products and devises . Political : Could be new laws or regulations , for Example in last time the GPS ( Navigation system ) in Egypt is not allow to use so apple stopped this program in Egypt tell 2008 and after this the government allow to use the navigation system In Egypt . o apple supported their devises by the GPS system . Social : Means social trends. If you are a phone company, Apple's entry into the cellphone market created a demand for touch screen phones, (about time! ) for example. Thus Nokia and co. had to respond. (I like Nokia, but they should have been ahead of the game in this one, so I'm glad Apple kicked them). Environmental factors: environmental factors include the weather and climate change. Changes in temperature can impact on many industries including farming, tourism and insurance.Apple may not effect with climate strongly but it may be effected by tourism , this will effect all process of the company ( production process and sell process ) Customer Analysis: Demographic ( Age – Gender – Family size – Life cycle or Income ) Apple company make different products to different ages , for instant they made I pod Nano for the children and youth and after that they made I pad for businessmen and the youth can also use it form 15 to 60 years old , they made also I Mac form grand ages .Apple is completely successful to target different ages with different product . Apple not forget to make a different between gender or sex, for example they made MacBook Air for female and made MacBook Bro for male, and also in colors they produce some laptop’s covers with pink color to target girls or female . Apple produce different products to different age and life – cycle groups . Apple company not forget to target income . they are produce a different products with different prices to be fit to any individual depend on his income , for xample there is I pod classic with 2000 pound and there is one with 3500 pound for I pod touch so any one can buy any thing from Apple depending on his income. Psychographic ( social class and life stile or personality) If we divide the market to class A – B – C , Apple target one or two from this segments . Apple will target the class A , because they provide a high quality and good products with high cost so the class A is the more segment will use apple’s products after that class B a few of them will use apple’s products .Behavior ( User Status – User Rate – Loyalty – Benefit – Occasion ) User statue : apple market divide into ex-user , who use apple’s products from along time , and first –time user who is the first time to use apple products , and potential user and we have a regular ap ple user how is use apple a lot of times . User rate : apple market divide into light , medium and heavy product user of apple . Loyalty : divide on completely loyalty that is mean some one buy all brands form one company . or example, buy I phone I pod , I pad that is mean he buy all things he want form apple , he/she very loyalty to the company Some-what loyalty , buy two or three products from apple and them go to buy any thing form different brand , for example , some one buy I phone and I pod then he shift to buy Nokia and HTC. and we have finally no loyalty , who didn’t buy any thing form apple . Target Market : There are a lot types of market targeting (undifferentiated – differentiated – concentrated – micro ) market , apple use differentiated market ( segmentation ) .It is produce different products to one or more segment (class A and a few of class B) . Differentiation and positioning Competitive advantage : apple have a lot of competitors in it ’s fields for example , Mobil phone there are a lot of competitor (Nokia – Samsung – HTC , Blackberry ) , in computers the biggest competitor is ( Microsoft ) in entertainment field there is ( Mp3,4) . so apple should to have an competitive advantage to be able to compete the other and should to have a unique feature in it’s product to be different . it should to have a good sales offer and this give it is to make a high profit and attract a lot of consumers .Apple now a days try to produce a products with a low prices to attract more and more and gain a more profit , so it can compete all competitor . Position strategy : Apple should to know the consumer the place of there products and where they sell it’s product . they are make perceptions of consumer about place . next step they try to give him a good impressions about products and serves and features , the third step is feeling , to give the consumer the feeling to buy the product of apple and give him the special feeling this product is the best one between the other product in market Market Share of the company :Apple in Cell phones ( I phone ) A the chart show to us the I Phone is not the market leader in cell phones only 13% of the market ,Nokia 20% and Samsung 31%,so Blackberry is the market leader. Questionnaire: Gender : Male†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Female†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Age: *18-20†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ *21-30†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. *40 and above†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 1) Did you hear about Apple I phone 5 ? Yes No 2) Can you remember the ad ,? Yes No 3) Where did you see or hear about the ad? a. Internet b. friend c. Magazine d. billboard e. Conference -other, please specify†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. ) How you think about Apple I phone 4 ads and campaign? 5) Did you purchase the I phone 5 after watching the AD? Yes No Evaluation of product in cutomers,s eyes: First of all, these questionnaire was distributed on 38 students in MSA university ,20 of them was females and 18 was m ales aging from 18 to 22 years old In first question, when we ask people about do they hear about the I phone 5 ad ? about 75% of target audience answers by yes, that they hear about I phone 5 adMost of students answer by yes said that they already have I phone products so the company itself send them direct mail to them to know about product ,others said that they know about I phone from their friend whom they attend an event for company. In second question, when we ask about do the ad was memorable or not? About 20% of audience cannot remember it but majority do remember it The 80% students who are member the Ad ,they said they remember it as it was very simple ,also it looks with dark background that reflects the highly selective style. In third question, when we ask where did you see the ad ?Most of people see it on the internet whether face book or twitter, others access the apple website itself, other people answers by they know about the AD from their friends as Apple has pos itive word of mouth and company itself depend highly on the positive WOM, very rare people answers by they know about it from conference. In question four, asking about the opinion of customers in the campaign of apple I phone 5, people said that it is creative, unique, also some people really like the usage of white and black colors, people said that this is normal as we always expect the best from Apple.In the last question, people answer by yes that they purchase the I phone 5 after the ad about 65% bought it as they see it high technology and satisfy all their needs Expert interview with company: We made an interview with Mr. Samir Galal the general sales manager in Apple company-Egypt asking him about the tools of IMC they used, the budget, also about Apple opinion in using celebrities, as well as ask them also about who are their competitors. 1) How do you distribute the budget on IMC tools?Mr. Samir galal tell us that they use the internet and public relation the most tools t hey use as they have a website from the best websites in the world as they do a lot of updates to their website and put all their new products on it. According to the budget assigned to the internet they pay about 5 millions on these tool every 6 months ,however for the public relation tool, they pay about 600 thousands Egyptian pound every 6 months, they use interviews ,conferences as a tools of PR .As well as ,they use direct marketing by using mails ,if there is any problem facing customer ,they use skype for direct interaction. 2) Which tools from IMC are the most effective tools working with Apple? He tell us that direct marketing and public relation tools are most effective as they are most targeted tools as Apple targeting only A class ,however if they make a TV Ads it will be useless and high costs without return as mass market will view it however they are not targeted so direct marketing and public relation are the most selective tools that goes forward for the targeted cu stomers. ) Do you use celebrities at promoting for your product? Mr. samir answers that they don’t use any celebrities as they don’t need as Apple Word of mouth is already positive so why they will think of using celebrities and they already have a positive brand image and the brand is already highly positioned in the customer’s mind, but Apple do care a lot for their customers as they take their contact information so to make a conference inviting customers to show them the new products ,new technology. 4)who are apple main competitors in all product segments?In computer segment ,he said that Microsoft operating system is the main competitor as it has high quality but with low prices, however in mobiles ,Nokia consider high competitor as they copy everything from Apple and with moderate prices lower than Apple so a lots of people can afford it for example when Apple launch the touch option Nokia launch the same touch option with lower prices than Apple, also No kia is targeting the mass market so they make intensive distribution but Apple has only few stores as they have a problem in distribution . 5) What is the SWOT analysis of the Apple company ?Strengths : apple OSX ( operating system ) is more strengths than PC , the OS of apple no virus can hit it and can work on it for along time , Apple OSX support the graphic programmer so the designers use the Apple OS , because it more professional and fast . OSX is a heavy duty operating system , can use for along time without corruption or errors , and other Strength point is Apple gets to set the specs in detail, and deliver to the customer through a controlled retail experience (Apple Store, Apple On-line Store) that helps them explain the value to the customer and extract a premium for that value.Weakness : The company has not cover the market and not has a perfect distribution . the company can’t cover the hole market , in this case , the bad distribution lead to a lot of loses toth e company and can’t help it to chive its profit and not give it the ability to make good sales to its product. other point , the there is a big problem in I pod Nano screen . the production team discover this problem after produce the product so this problem lead to spend a lot of dollars to solve this problem , In addition this problem led the company to increase the price of music download form I Tunes . this led apple to spend by 10 million dollar to fixed this problem . Opportunity : Apple has the opportunity to develop its iTunes and music player technology into a mobile phone format. The Rokr mobile phone device was developed by Motorola. It has a colour screen, stereo speakers and a advance camera system.A version of Apple's iTunes music store has been developed for the phone so users can manage the tracks they store on it. Downloads are available via a USB cable, ands software on the handset pauses music if a phone call comes in. New technologies and strategic allianc es offer opportunities for Apple. Threats : The biggest threat to IT companies such as Apple is the very high level of competition in the technology markets. Being successful attracts competition, and Apple works very hard on research and development and marketing in order to retain its competitive position.The popularity of iPod and Apple Mac are subject to demand, and will be affected if economies begin to falter and demand falls for their products IMC Tools that Apple uses Advertising:- In fact Apple Company uses advertising a lot but not too often mainly it uses product placement, most movies of mission impossible can be said that it was sponsored by apple all actors were using laptops, I pad and I phone apple. They succeeded by doing this a lot because mission impossible is one of the most seen movies worldwide, 50% of the pie chart.Public relations:- Most of the time consumers would like to know what you are selling in your company if it’s easy to use or so complicated if it’s going to help them or not, apple communicated directly with its customers with only two simple words that changed their minds upside down and be interested more in trying new products†¦. â€Å"Think Different† apple earned customers trust and acceptance only by these words because it did change their way of thinking when purchasing a product, 30% of the pie chart is public relations. Internet:-The website of apple that apple provide flow mutual benefits and information with the company and its customers, the company benefits from understanding its target market more can be able to know their needs and wants and what they usually ask and look for on their websites, how can they help them in order to spread word of mouth as well, according to customers they can know everything about the product they are searching for details and prices and feel the difference between apple, Dell and Samsung, 50%of the pie chart is internet.Direct Marketing:- Customer service of apple is always available to their customers over the internet, they communicate directly with each other through internet if there are any complaints or anything that needs an explanation they will answer them immediately, in direct marketing apple uses only the internet to interact directly with its customers, 50% of the pie chart is direct marketing. Personal selling:-Apple products is not in a need of persuading or convincing their customers to buy them as they are most qualified with its applications and software, the huge campaign of apple made people talking about apple most of the time when it comes to technology best features as apple also can tailor specific shapes and orders depend on individual needs, also the flexibility in apple stores between buyers and sellers allow for more profits and target marketing, best prospects which is known as â€Å"creme de la creme† are niche markets apple make huge efforts with them to have them more for long periods of time a s they are very loyal and extremely profitable, 150% of pie chart is personal selling. Sales promotion:In fact due to the perfect image of apple they feel that if they added any sales promotion to their IMC programs they will lose their picture in consumer minds, as its considered to be more luxury one of the most expensive equipments, they can see that although they are expensive there are a huge demand on their products and they see that there is no need to make sales promotion because they are not targeting the whole segments, they know exactly their target audience and can satisfy them more than any other companies also exceeding their specific details that vary from one person to another so that they feel delighted and special and will not think of shifting to another brand of technology equipments. Recommendations for IMC tools that apple can use it for better reach and sales: Advertising:-Apple doesn’t need to advertise much as it is already grabbing large segments of customers and when doing product placement every now and then it’s very important to do it but the problem here is increasing the percentage of demand by more advertising not just through product placement, it would be better if they increased the billboards around to remind people about their products and keep themselves in consumers mind for example if they added more billboards on way of malls were there are many electronic stores if someone was thinking to purchase specific type of laptop and find apple billboards they will shift to it and it will grab their attention more. Public relations:-Apple doesn’t concentrate much on public relations as it fails a lot to make any event or to sponsor more events for example north coast events or charity events they don’t share in anything of it which can allow the press to make negative image in consumer minds about apple that would affect the publicity as well so it’s better to think more about taking care of their image because the image of the company can drag you down or pull you up also it will add public value. Internet:- According to the internet apple focuses in it a lot and put aside the idea that internet is not a mass medium and fails to reach all segments and niche markets orders only the tailored products but other half of the segment have the ability to buy apple products so apple shouldn’t focuses much on internet as not all its customers have an access to the internet. Direct marketing:-Only direct selling is available with apple its better if they add catalogs and send it to their customers and their customers would give them the telephone number of their friends and family to contact them telemarketing also send them the same catalogs to see more categories of apple products, that would make apple more spread, dominant an unique in the market. Personal Selling:- Apple is not in need to increase its personal selling because it is perfect on it but it’s extre mely expensive and it’s so difficult to tailor products and deliver it to customers with the same consistency each time, its more applicable make things more reliable and equal so that if they keep doing this and once something happened by not delivering the needed tailored product they will fail and in 1 minute the customer perception of apple will change totally also I depends on every customer privileges. Sales promotion:Apple is one of the multinational companies that if they made any sales promotion they would gain new customers but loses the old ones as it is not preferred to do it because it will hesitate their image in the market because its known that apple is for special segment and sales promotion wouldn’t add anything new simply it will be switching segments they will gain part and lose the other part and according to profit it will decrease badly and the company will keep losing and will suffer a lot in order to get its image and old customers back. Genera l Recommendations:- Its more applicable that apple make all tools work together in harmony so that to be differentiated more from any other companies and keep the uniqness of its products but still keeping themselves away of sales promotion, as it’s known the benefits of IMC tools when they all work with each other it will save time, money and stress, also will boost them up to profit, finally it will have competitive advantages like no other company. Apple * History: * Apple is a company which produces computers and technological products like computers, mobiles . On April 1, 1976, the Apple computer was established . Steven Wozniak, a high school drop-out who worked for Hewlett-Packard, dabbled in computer-design and created what would become the Apple I. His high school buddy Steven Jobs, also a drop-out, worked for Atari and convinced him that the two should form a company to market the new computer, which eventually took off in 1977 with the Apple II. * * By 1980, the Apple III was released and their company employed several thousand workers.It began in Egypt in 1990 and produced their products in 1991. It began to produce the first computer Mac in Egypt but there is a disadvantage that faces the company in Egypt which is the high cost! * * The computers in this time were sold by 60,000 to 70,000 so few people bought it. The owner of the Egyptian company is called Mohamed Medhat . The company also in Egypt began to produce this com puter. In 1991 the company produces approximately by 1500 prices only. The company in Egypt doesn’t correct their wrong and still the high prices of computers raises up. * In 1991 the price of iMac is 35,000 L. E. It is too much. In 1992 Apple Company makes a high loss, because of the high prices. So they began to think in another way to reduce the cost of the company. They reduced the cost to half but they also made a lot of losses. Steve is still thinking how to save the company and began to make profits. * * * Mohamed Medhat followed him in his steps to save the company in the Middle East because in this time the only branch for Apple Company in the Middle East in Egypt only in this time, but now in Egypt and UAE.They began to produce new products by low cost so they can save their company and began to make high profits. Now in 2012 apple makes a great successful product than Microsoft and become the leader of the technological market Apple Company produces a lot of unique products like: Macbook _Macbook ProMacbook Air| Next-generation quad-core and dual-core Intel processors. The 13-inch MacBook  Pro now features a 2. 4GHz Intel Core i5 processor or the fastest dual-core processor available — the 2. 8GHz Intel Core i7. With Turbo Boost speeds up to 3. GHz, these processors allow the 13-inch MacBook  Pro to perform up to twice as fast as the previous generation. 1But we couldn’t leave fast enough alone. The new 15- and 17-inch models bring quad-core power to almost everything you do. The available 2. 5GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor — with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3. 6GHz and up to 8MB of shared L3 cache — enables these MacBook Pro models to run applications up to twice as fast as their top-of-the-line predecessors. 2| iPad ( 3G – Wifi)| In work Mail, Calendar, Notes, and Safari in a beautiful, thin and light design, so you stay productive anywhere.With easy, secure integration into business environments a nd a robust platform for app development, iPad is ready to start working when you are. In Education iPad inspires creativity and hands-on learning with features you won’t find in any other educational tool — on a device that students really want to use. Powerful built-in apps and apps from the App Store let students engage with content in interactive ways, find information in an instant, and access an entire library wherever they go. And now, with the introduction of Multi-Touch textbooks, iPad takes learning to a whole new level. iPod (Classic – Touch-Nano)| It used for listening music and people can also watch some movies. | Services: If we talk about the apple’s services . the company give to there customer a good services through selling the product and after purchasing the product . apple’s services contain (warranty on it products for along time (between 1 to10 years ) , hardware services for instance , mousse , keyboards , monitor , track pa d , printers, hard disk and Etc. . the services contain software services also , for instance operating system (OSX ) . that’s some services after purchasing . n other hand the service before purchasing . the sales person give the full information about the products to customers , make an offers to attract more and more customer , for instance in 2011 , there are many offers which the company made ,for example , to buy I phone and get I pod Nano with full accessories . and another one to buy any laptop and get ( software and full applications for free during the offer period) in usually you should to buy them software with 250 L. E and applications with 650 L. E . so it is very attractive and good offer . Apple company provide a good packaging to save it’s products .Vision Of Apple : Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Apple is committed to bringing the best personal computing experience to students, educators, creative professionals and consumers around the world through its innovative hardware, software and Internet offerings. Mission Of Apple: Apple is committed to bringing the best personal computing experience to students, educators, creative professionals and consumers around the world through its innovative hardware, software and Internet offerings.Apple campaign for I phone 5: This is the last marketing campaign for the newest product will be in the market next summer . This advertising tell the customer for a new generation of I phone ( I Phone 5 ) with a new feature and quality . the advertising tell the customer . the new I phone is totally different from the I phone 4 , 4S and has a changes in every things . This Advertising show that apple was more interesting and focus on its segment and target it seriously . using the full capacity to stratify the targeting market SWOT analysis for Apple company:Strengths : apple OSX ( op erating system ) is more strengths than PC , the OS of apple no virus can hit it and can work on it for along time , Apple OSX support the graphic programmer so the designers use the Apple OS , because it more professional and fast . OSX is a heavy duty operating system , can use for along time without corruption or errors , and other Strength point is Apple gets to set the specs in detail, and deliver to the customer through a controlled retail experience (Apple Store, Apple On-line Store) that helps them explain the value to the customer and extract a premium for that value.Weakness : Apple prices . the cost of apple products is very high so it can’t compete in the Market . Dell and HP compete it by the same products but with less prices . so it represent a big weakness point face the company in Egypt . other point , the there is a big problem in I pod Nano screen . the production team discover this problem after produce the product , so this problem lead to spend a lot of dollars to solve this problem , In addition this problem led the company to increase the price of music download form I Tunes . this led apple to spend by 10 million dollar to fixed this problem .Opportunity : Apple has the opportunity to develop its iTunes and music player technology into a mobile phone format. The Rokr mobile phone device was developed by Motorola. It has a colour screen, stereo speakers and a advance camera system. A version of Apple's iTunes music store has been developed for the phone so users can manage the tracks they store on it. Downloads are available via a USB cable, ands software on the handset pauses music if a phone call comes in. New technologies and strategic alliances offer opportunities for Apple.Threats : The biggest threat to IT companies such as Apple is the very high level of competition in the technology markets. Being successful attracts competition, and Apple works very hard on research and development and marketing in order to retain its co mpetitive position. The popularity of iPod and Apple Mac are subject to demand, and will be affected if economies begin to falter and demand falls for their products. PESTEL analysis: Economic : apple company effected by the economic situation , the economic crises effect on the company production and company sales . he apple products have a high cost so it has a big related with the economic . ,for example, the company after the revolution , recorded a big loses in its sales and profit . after the revolution people avoid to buy the luxury products like I pod and I pad . apple recorded in 2011 loses in Egypt more than 50 Million . and in the economic crises in USA . apple recorded loses by 700 Million dollar . Technology : apple company strongly effected by technology factor , the company should to has the final technology tools that the world use it in this time . pple company every time develop their products with new feature and technology , for example I phone developed to 3GS t o 4G and finally 4GS and 5G soon . other products like I pad develop it to work with the third generation of communications (3G) . apple now is the best company all over the world use the touch technique in its products and devises . Political : Could be new laws or regulations , for Example in last time the GPS ( Navigation system ) in Egypt is not allow to use so apple stopped this program in Egypt tell 2008 and after this the government allow to use the navigation system In Egypt . o apple supported their devises by the GPS system . Social : Means social trends. If you are a phone company, Apple's entry into the cellphone market created a demand for touch screen phones, (about time! ) for example. Thus Nokia and co. had to respond. (I like Nokia, but they should have been ahead of the game in this one, so I'm glad Apple kicked them). Environmental factors: environmental factors include the weather and climate change. Changes in temperature can impact on many industries including farming, tourism and insurance.Apple may not effect with climate strongly but it may be effected by tourism , this will effect all process of the company ( production process and sell process ) Customer Analysis: Demographic ( Age – Gender – Family size – Life cycle or Income ) Apple company make different products to different ages , for instant they made I pod Nano for the children and youth and after that they made I pad for businessmen and the youth can also use it form 15 to 60 years old , they made also I Mac form grand ages .Apple is completely successful to target different ages with different product . Apple not forget to make a different between gender or sex, for example they made MacBook Air for female and made MacBook Bro for male, and also in colors they produce some laptop’s covers with pink color to target girls or female . Apple produce different products to different age and life – cycle groups . Apple company not forget to target income . they are produce a different products with different prices to be fit to any individual depend on his income , for xample there is I pod classic with 2000 pound and there is one with 3500 pound for I pod touch so any one can buy any thing from Apple depending on his income. Psychographic ( social class and life stile or personality) If we divide the market to class A – B – C , Apple target one or two from this segments . Apple will target the class A , because they provide a high quality and good products with high cost so the class A is the more segment will use apple’s products after that class B a few of them will use apple’s products .Behavior ( User Status – User Rate – Loyalty – Benefit – Occasion ) User statue : apple market divide into ex-user , who use apple’s products from along time , and first –time user who is the first time to use apple products , and potential user and we have a regular ap ple user how is use apple a lot of times . User rate : apple market divide into light , medium and heavy product user of apple . Loyalty : divide on completely loyalty that is mean some one buy all brands form one company . or example, buy I phone I pod , I pad that is mean he buy all things he want form apple , he/she very loyalty to the company Some-what loyalty , buy two or three products from apple and them go to buy any thing form different brand , for example , some one buy I phone and I pod then he shift to buy Nokia and HTC. and we have finally no loyalty , who didn’t buy any thing form apple . Target Market : There are a lot types of market targeting (undifferentiated – differentiated – concentrated – micro ) market , apple use differentiated market ( segmentation ) .It is produce different products to one or more segment (class A and a few of class B) . Differentiation and positioning Competitive advantage : apple have a lot of competitors in it ’s fields for example , Mobil phone there are a lot of competitor (Nokia – Samsung – HTC , Blackberry ) , in computers the biggest competitor is ( Microsoft ) in entertainment field there is ( Mp3,4) . so apple should to have an competitive advantage to be able to compete the other and should to have a unique feature in it’s product to be different . it should to have a good sales offer and this give it is to make a high profit and attract a lot of consumers .Apple now a days try to produce a products with a low prices to attract more and more and gain a more profit , so it can compete all competitor . Position strategy : Apple should to know the consumer the place of there products and where they sell it’s product . they are make perceptions of consumer about place . next step they try to give him a good impressions about products and serves and features , the third step is feeling , to give the consumer the feeling to buy the product of apple and give him the special feeling this product is the best one between the other product in market Market Share of the company :Apple in Cell phones ( I phone ) A the chart show to us the I Phone is not the market leader in cell phones only 13% of the market ,Nokia 20% and Samsung 31%,so Blackberry is the market leader. Questionnaire: Gender : Male†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Female†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Age: *18-20†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ *21-30†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. *40 and above†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 1) Did you hear about Apple I phone 5 ? Yes No 2) Can you remember the ad ,? Yes No 3) Where did you see or hear about the ad? a. Internet b. friend c. Magazine d. billboard e. Conference -other, please specify†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. ) How you think about Apple I phone 4 ads and campaign? 5) Did you purchase the I phone 5 after watching the AD? Yes No Evaluation of product in cutomers,s eyes: First of all, these questionnaire was distributed on 38 students in MSA university ,20 of them was females and 18 was m ales aging from 18 to 22 years old In first question, when we ask people about do they hear about the I phone 5 ad ? about 75% of target audience answers by yes, that they hear about I phone 5 adMost of students answer by yes said that they already have I phone products so the company itself send them direct mail to them to know about product ,others said that they know about I phone from their friend whom they attend an event for company. In second question, when we ask about do the ad was memorable or not? About 20% of audience cannot remember it but majority do remember it The 80% students who are member the Ad ,they said they remember it as it was very simple ,also it looks with dark background that reflects the highly selective style. In third question, when we ask where did you see the ad ?Most of people see it on the internet whether face book or twitter, others access the apple website itself, other people answers by they know about the AD from their friends as Apple has pos itive word of mouth and company itself depend highly on the positive WOM, very rare people answers by they know about it from conference. In question four, asking about the opinion of customers in the campaign of apple I phone 5, people said that it is creative, unique, also some people really like the usage of white and black colors, people said that this is normal as we always expect the best from Apple.In the last question, people answer by yes that they purchase the I phone 5 after the ad about 65% bought it as they see it high technology and satisfy all their needs Expert interview with company: We made an interview with Mr. Samir Galal the general sales manager in Apple company-Egypt asking him about the tools of IMC they used, the budget, also about Apple opinion in using celebrities, as well as ask them also about who are their competitors. 1) How do you distribute the budget on IMC tools?Mr. Samir galal tell us that they use the internet and public relation the most tools t hey use as they have a website from the best websites in the world as they do a lot of updates to their website and put all their new products on it. According to the budget assigned to the internet they pay about 5 millions on these tool every 6 months ,however for the public relation tool, they pay about 600 thousands Egyptian pound every 6 months, they use interviews ,conferences as a tools of PR .As well as ,they use direct marketing by using mails ,if there is any problem facing customer ,they use skype for direct interaction. 2) Which tools from IMC are the most effective tools working with Apple? He tell us that direct marketing and public relation tools are most effective as they are most targeted tools as Apple targeting only A class ,however if they make a TV Ads it will be useless and high costs without return as mass market will view it however they are not targeted so direct marketing and public relation are the most selective tools that goes forward for the targeted cu stomers. ) Do you use celebrities at promoting for your product? Mr. samir answers that they don’t use any celebrities as they don’t need as Apple Word of mouth is already positive so why they will think of using celebrities and they already have a positive brand image and the brand is already highly positioned in the customer’s mind, but Apple do care a lot for their customers as they take their contact information so to make a conference inviting customers to show them the new products ,new technology. 4)who are apple main competitors in all product segments?In computer segment ,he said that Microsoft operating system is the main competitor as it has high quality but with low prices, however in mobiles ,Nokia consider high competitor as they copy everything from Apple and with moderate prices lower than Apple so a lots of people can afford it for example when Apple launch the touch option Nokia launch the same touch option with lower prices than Apple, also No kia is targeting the mass market so they make intensive distribution but Apple has only few stores as they have a problem in distribution . 5) What is the SWOT analysis of the Apple company ?Strengths : apple OSX ( operating system ) is more strengths than PC , the OS of apple no virus can hit it and can work on it for along time , Apple OSX support the graphic programmer so the designers use the Apple OS , because it more professional and fast . OSX is a heavy duty operating system , can use for along time without corruption or errors , and other Strength point is Apple gets to set the specs in detail, and deliver to the customer through a controlled retail experience (Apple Store, Apple On-line Store) that helps them explain the value to the customer and extract a premium for that value.Weakness : The company has not cover the market and not has a perfect distribution . the company can’t cover the hole market , in this case , the bad distribution lead to a lot of loses toth e company and can’t help it to chive its profit and not give it the ability to make good sales to its product. other point , the there is a big problem in I pod Nano screen . the production team discover this problem after produce the product so this problem lead to spend a lot of dollars to solve this problem , In addition this problem led the company to increase the price of music download form I Tunes . this led apple to spend by 10 million dollar to fixed this problem . Opportunity : Apple has the opportunity to develop its iTunes and music player technology into a mobile phone format. The Rokr mobile phone device was developed by Motorola. It has a colour screen, stereo speakers and a advance camera system.A version of Apple's iTunes music store has been developed for the phone so users can manage the tracks they store on it. Downloads are available via a USB cable, ands software on the handset pauses music if a phone call comes in. New technologies and strategic allianc es offer opportunities for Apple. Threats : The biggest threat to IT companies such as Apple is the very high level of competition in the technology markets. Being successful attracts competition, and Apple works very hard on research and development and marketing in order to retain its competitive position.The popularity of iPod and Apple Mac are subject to demand, and will be affected if economies begin to falter and demand falls for their products IMC Tools that Apple uses Advertising:- In fact Apple Company uses advertising a lot but not too often mainly it uses product placement, most movies of mission impossible can be said that it was sponsored by apple all actors were using laptops, I pad and I phone apple. They succeeded by doing this a lot because mission impossible is one of the most seen movies worldwide, 50% of the pie chart.Public relations:- Most of the time consumers would like to know what you are selling in your company if it’s easy to use or so complicated if it’s going to help them or not, apple communicated directly with its customers with only two simple words that changed their minds upside down and be interested more in trying new products†¦. â€Å"Think Different† apple earned customers trust and acceptance only by these words because it did change their way of thinking when purchasing a product, 30% of the pie chart is public relations. Internet:-The website of apple that apple provide flow mutual benefits and information with the company and its customers, the company benefits from understanding its target market more can be able to know their needs and wants and what they usually ask and look for on their websites, how can they help them in order to spread word of mouth as well, according to customers they can know everything about the product they are searching for details and prices and feel the difference between apple, Dell and Samsung, 50%of the pie chart is internet.Direct Marketing:- Customer service of apple is always available to their customers over the internet, they communicate directly with each other through internet if there are any complaints or anything that needs an explanation they will answer them immediately, in direct marketing apple uses only the internet to interact directly with its customers, 50% of the pie chart is direct marketing. Personal selling:-Apple products is not in a need of persuading or convincing their customers to buy them as they are most qualified with its applications and software, the huge campaign of apple made people talking about apple most of the time when it comes to technology best features as apple also can tailor specific shapes and orders depend on individual needs, also the flexibility in apple stores between buyers and sellers allow for more profits and target marketing, best prospects which is known as â€Å"creme de la creme† are niche markets apple make huge efforts with them to have them more for long periods of time a s they are very loyal and extremely profitable, 150% of pie chart is personal selling. Sales promotion:In fact due to the perfect image of apple they feel that if they added any sales promotion to their IMC programs they will lose their picture in consumer minds, as its considered to be more luxury one of the most expensive equipments, they can see that although they are expensive there are a huge demand on their products and they see that there is no need to make sales promotion because they are not targeting the whole segments, they know exactly their target audience and can satisfy them more than any other companies also exceeding their specific details that vary from one person to another so that they feel delighted and special and will not think of shifting to another brand of technology equipments. Recommendations for IMC tools that apple can use it for better reach and sales: Advertising:-Apple doesn’t need to advertise much as it is already grabbing large segments of customers and when doing product placement every now and then it’s very important to do it but the problem here is increasing the percentage of demand by more advertising not just through product placement, it would be better if they increased the billboards around to remind people about their products and keep themselves in consumers mind for example if they added more billboards on way of malls were there are many electronic stores if someone was thinking to purchase specific type of laptop and find apple billboards they will shift to it and it will grab their attention more. Public relations:-Apple doesn’t concentrate much on public relations as it fails a lot to make any event or to sponsor more events for example north coast events or charity events they don’t share in anything of it which can allow the press to make negative image in consumer minds about apple that would affect the publicity as well so it’s better to think more about taking care of their image because the image of the company can drag you down or pull you up also it will add public value. Internet:- According to the internet apple focuses in it a lot and put aside the idea that internet is not a mass medium and fails to reach all segments and niche markets orders only the tailored products but other half of the segment have the ability to buy apple products so apple shouldn’t focuses much on internet as not all its customers have an access to the internet. Direct marketing:-Only direct selling is available with apple its better if they add catalogs and send it to their customers and their customers would give them the telephone number of their friends and family to contact them telemarketing also send them the same catalogs to see more categories of apple products, that would make apple more spread, dominant an unique in the market. Personal Selling:- Apple is not in need to increase its personal selling because it is perfect on it but it’s extre mely expensive and it’s so difficult to tailor products and deliver it to customers with the same consistency each time, its more applicable make things more reliable and equal so that if they keep doing this and once something happened by not delivering the needed tailored product they will fail and in 1 minute the customer perception of apple will change totally also I depends on every customer privileges. Sales promotion:Apple is one of the multinational companies that if they made any sales promotion they would gain new customers but loses the old ones as it is not preferred to do it because it will hesitate their image in the market because its known that apple is for special segment and sales promotion wouldn’t add anything new simply it will be switching segments they will gain part and lose the other part and according to profit it will decrease badly and the company will keep losing and will suffer a lot in order to get its image and old customers back. Genera l Recommendations:- Its more applicable that apple make all tools work together in harmony so that to be differentiated more from any other companies and keep the uniqness of its products but still keeping themselves away of sales promotion, as it’s known the benefits of IMC tools when they all work with each other it will save time, money and stress, also will boost them up to profit, finally it will have competitive advantages like no other company.

Customer Service at Nordstrom Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Customer Service at Nordstrom - Case Study Example The habitual ways that are encompassed in the theory can be illustrated in two entities namely cooperativeness and assertiveness. The dimension gave rise to five different styles of conflict management. These styles are accommodation, competition, collaboration, compromising and avoiding. These styles are essential in the life of human beings. People need to adopt them so as to live in harmony with each other in the society.   The approach of Nordstrom to the management of customer relationship and service is a crucial way of defusing or preventing possible conflict situation. Customers have varying preference and needs. The Nordstrom’s approach involves the provision of personalized and customized services to every customer. This ensures that the organization is addressing the unique necessities of individual customers thereby avoiding probable conflict situations. Customers are normal people with names, independent as well as rational. They understand what they specifically looking for from any organization. They hence need to be attended to person rather than generally, with respect and honesty. Listening to and addressing the complaints of customers makes the customers feel respected. The organization understands that returning money to their customers once they demand it demonstrates the respect of the customer’s intelligence as well as their choices.   The Nordstrom approach enhances customer’s experience. Each time a customer interacts with the organization, they gain a particular experience. They may leave the organization feeling either valued or exploited by the organization. The approach involves listening to customers and responding appropriately to their needs as well as complaints (Bolman & Deal, 2013).  

My Media Uses and Gratification Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

My Media Uses and Gratification - Essay Example In other words, people from all walks of life seek to gratify their needs in line with surveillance or information, personal identity, personal relationships or integration and social interaction, and diversion or entertainment (Marris and Thornham 258). All of these are integral parts of my media uses and gratification discussed in the following sections. Presented in this paper is the analysis of how my media use can illustrate the uses and gratifications theory with alternate perspective of magic bullet theory. Watching television Uses and gratifications theory There are many reasons why I need to watch television. I have personal desires that could be addressed if I watch the television. I could be entertained. It can relax me at some certain level and it is a form of recreation activity for me, and including the people around. In other words, television can address my affective needs which include emotions and pleasures. People have varying emotional needs and watching televisio n seems to gratify them. The very example is watching television that may substantially result to emotional release or sexual arousal. People can cry with sentimental soup opera or be sexually aroused with TV programs with depiction of highly erotic scenes. The above illustration shows that watching television is a form of activity that gratifies one’s specific needs as motivated by personal desire. This also shows that people have significant things to do with television based on gratifying their needs. There are different reasons or intentions why watching television is a must for some people. At some point, television could be a source of information like TV news report or weather forecast, current affairs and live events around the world including popular sports. As for me, watching television is also a source of information. I watch television in order to be also updated with the current economic, political and social status of the country and around the world. In other words, television also helps me gratify my cognitive needs. Magic bullet theory These are specific things I need from watching television, but along the way there are also other things that I encountered which are not integral parts of my needs. For example, commercial advertisements give me specific idea about the latest trend in fashion. Although I also have personal integrative needs, I am not expecting to find them out from watching television. Watching commercial advertisements from television increases my ideas on the latest fashion trends, diet techniques and many more. In other words, it is in this aspect that I am being influenced by the television because it was not my desire to find my needs for fashion trend or diet in there. This is the main point of the magic bullet theory, which states that the audience is substantially influenced by the media due to their being passive and communication has powerful effect on attitudes and behaviors (Kelly 352). It is therefore impor tant to point out that apart from my personal needs as what motivate me to watch television; there are other personal needs that could be addressed by it outside of my innermost desire or intention. It is at this point that television has substantially influenced me not because of my desire to find my needs fulfilled by it, but because it has specifically just informed me beyond my desire

Music Culture - The Four Components Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Music Culture - The Four Components - Essay Example The second component of the music culture includes the activities which employ music. Today music is used in almost all the spheres of human activity, and music itself has become a separate activity practiced both by amateurs and by professionals. It is also remarkable that music itself has become a very lucrative business, and it is not normal that sometimes its quality may suffer so that more income could be gained from its mass production. Filmmaking is the first activity mentioned when the music-employing activities are in question. In this sphere of activity, music is one of the key components of the proper product making, as it often conveys such emotions and information which is impossible to be transferred otherwise. Music is also employed by ritual events. This means that such events from one’s life as marriage, child’s birth, college entering etc. are in most cases accompanied by music, and its kind and mood depends on the nature of the event, that is, if the event is positive and gives happiness, then the music is also major and pompous, and, on the contrary, negative events imply involvement of sad music. This means that music has relation to the norms of the society. It helps people honor their colleagues or relatives and mourn the loss of someone or something very dear, that is, expressing one’s feelings and emotions, maintenance of interpersonal communication.RepertoireThe next, the third, component of the music culture is the music repertoire.

Testing and analyzing the windows of airbus airplanes and why it does Research Paper

Testing and analyzing the windows of airbus airplanes and why it does not affect by the high voltage lighting in the sky - Research Paper Example Therefore, while designing and developing plane preventive measures are taken to cope with such unpleasant situations before time. High voltage lightning within the atmosphere(Naidu and Kamaraju); negatively affect the planes and birds during flight. Below is the exhaustive list of dangers suspected as a result of high voltage lightning. Lightning strokes result in the production of immense heat energy and high intensity magnetic forces. This heat energy is directly produced at the surface of the body which is in contact with the lightning strike. The extent of this generated is too high to vaporize the sap of a tree if it travels across it. This vaporization would result in the generation of immense steam which may result in the bursting of the tree trunk. If this steam is allowed to pass through soil, it may cause plasma channels to melt down forming fulgurites. Any sort of contact with humans or other loving things may even result in spontaneous deaths. Therefore, while designing sophisticated systems, lightning protection systems needs to be introduced in order to keep the system protected in unpleasant situations as well. Lightning is always accompanied by a thunder sound. This is not only a sound we hear but it is actually a very dangerous compression wave which is high in intensity as well as speed and can badly affect anything during its flight. Chemistry of thunder is that the electrostatic discharge produces lightning which is having high temperatures that heats the air and converts it to plasma. This process takes place along the discharge channel. Production of plasma raises the pressure within the cloud area resulting in sudden expansion of molecules outwards the area. This expansion is accompanied by the production of shockwave with immense energy. This energy can really affect the flight of the plane flying through the cloudy area. Lightning is one of the most common source of natural disaster and fatalities after flood and each year

Marijuana Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Marijuana - Research Paper Example It contains delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a chemical that effects brain functioning. Marijuana statistics depict that the drug is highly abused in United States. Approximately 69 million people, above 12 years of age have used marijuana at least once. In 2006, according to the survey conducted by National Survey on Drug use and Health (NSDUH) it was the most common addictive drug in America. Around 14.8 million people widely used Marijuana as per the NSDUH survey. It is widely used by young adults in the age group ranging from 18 years to 25 years of age. The data emphasizes college students who at large fall under this category as reported by Centers for Disease Control. (CDH) This is most likely due to the low cost of the drug. The recent statistics illustrates that marijuana was accounted for 16 % of all admissions to health care facilities among which the ratio of males over female was higher (Fernandez & Allison, 2004). Even with such a high popularity, the rate of abuse of marijuana is decreasing. According to the Monitoring Future survey, the rate declined from 6.7% in 2006 to 5.7% in 2007 among eighth graders. Above all, around 74.3% eighth graders perceive the use of marijuana as detrimental for health. However, this drastic fall in the rate is probably due to other drugs that are also easily obtainable. Anyways the hallmark of this decline is that people are abandoning its usage but they might suffer withdrawal symptoms. Comparatively, marijuana has mild withdrawal symptoms than any other drug. The most common symptom is craving for the drug. It is reported that around 75.7% people abstaining from marijuana desperately craved for it. Mood swings are followed by craving. It is estimated that around 50.5% people trying to quit marijuana went through mood swings, petulancy or anxiety while other suffered from restlessness, aggression, nervousness and a lack of concentration. Insomnia

Abstract Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 14

Abstract - Essay Example can be stimulated buy this events, this depends on the events that occur before, during and after the events, this is due to emerging issues like terrorism and other forms of crime. An increase to the number tourist does reflect a positive change in demand and supply if not both. The method used in this article is mainly theoretic as it takes into account of past events as their influence on the host countries and the countries at large. The authors have the conclusions that not all the expectations are reached after all the investing for those infrastructures to facilitate the major sport events. This is due to the fact that most of the funds spend may never be recovered as the post-event activities mostly do not turn out to be as expected (Solberg and Preuss). The important contributions of this paper is to show that the bidding cities should not be too optimistic to make high benefits in terms of returns either short term or long term. They focused on the economic gains of hosting major sport events though they can as well be criticized for assumption that most cities never earn the expected economic gains. This is because the facilities left can be used to host similar events were they can earn the lost revenues as there shall be no building on new structures. They could have included such situations in the paper as it is part of the post event period though not in such a shorter time as referred in the paper (Solberg and

After the Census of 2000, how have reapportionment affected the State Research Paper

After the Census of 2000, how have reapportionment affected the State of Nevada - Research Paper Example Nevada is one of the fifty states of the United States, situated in the west part of the United States Being one of the US states, Nevada participates in the apportionment in the United States, which involves a process of dividing 435 seats in the House of Representatives among the fifty states in the United States. According to the 2000 census report, the Nevada state had a total population of 2,002,032 0f which 1,998,267 was resident population and 3,775 included the united states population overseas for those whose hometown was Nevada. The article further states that the main aim of apportionment is to evenly distribute the congress seats among the fifty states. According to census determines the number of representatives that a state has in the United States House of Representatives. Those states with large populations are allocated more representatives compared to the low populated states. How reapportionment has affected the State of Nevada after the 2000 census Reapportionment is the process of allocation of seats among the fifty states in the United States based on the previous census. This allocation of the seats is determined by a state’s population. Reapportionment takes place after two years since the last census; hence, after the 2000 census, reapportionment was done in 2003. . this apportionment population includes the adults, children, United States citizens, and immigrants. Importantly, Nevada received additional one representative for its state; however, each of the fifty states is usually entitled to one representative depending on the population of a state. A census in the United States is conducted after every ten years. ... When the census is done, the results are reported to the president by the end of that year, thus the results of the census are used to allocate the congress seats to all the states. There are four different types of formulas that are used when apportioning seats to the states. One of the formulas is the method of greatest divisors; this method divides the total population by the number of seats assigned to each state, such that every state is given the exact number of seats that it deserves. The second formula is the method of major fractions that was invented by Daniel Webster. It was used in the 1840’s, in which it considered adding a seat to a state that had a fraction of a half and above. Alexander proposed a third formula in the 1850’s that ensured that members were allocated to each state depending on the state’s population, while the remaining seats were allocated to the highly populated states. In 1930s, the formula of equal proportion arose in which it u ses the state’s population and divides it by the geometric mean of a state’s present number of seats and the next seat. According to Rourke (1980, pp 7), reapportionment is viewed as a converter from the rural pattern to an urban dominance. He also states that reapportionment is deemed to produce changes in states, even if the change is minimal. During reapportionment, every state is always expected to gain at least one seat; however, apportionment usually affects the distribution of votes such that those states that loose any seat lose a particular number of electoral votes. After a census, the population growth results assist in reapportioning, which has an impact on the number of votes that a state accumulates in presidential elections. According to Salam (2010), some of the states like Nevada may

Equality of Condition Essay Example for Free

Equality of Condition Essay In his book â€Å"democracy in America†, Alexis de Tocqueville provides a thorough study of the equality of condition as a distinctive feature of the democratic America and discusses some of the consequences it might have. He begins his writing by introducing the reader that during his stay in America the equality of condition struck his attention the most. In America, the democracy has reached another level that has never been seen before or experienced in any of the European countries but that are slowly progressing towards it. This level of democracy has created a society in which all persons are legally understood to be socially and politically equal. Despite all the benefits that the equality of condition brings to the society, it also tends to isolate people from one another and cut them off from the social beliefs and values. When this form of isolation is transformed into an extreme form of individualism, it creates selfishness and egoism among people. When these people come together to form a majority which in a democratic society enjoys a great amount of power, it might cause the tyranny of majority – de Tocqueville’s main concern. The concept of equality of condition is more complex than it first seems and a society based on this fact poses a threat to freedom. De Tocqueville argues that â€Å"the influence of the equality of condition extends far beyond the political character and the laws of the country and it has no less empire over the civil society than over the government, it creates opinions, gives birth to new sentiments, founds novel customs and modifies whatever it does not produce† (â€Å"Democracy in America† Heffner ed., 26). It is important to depict from this quote that a society based on the equality of condition, above all, creates the common opinion. In an equal society, the fact that all the members are resembled enables them to trust and support the common judgment and opinion. Furthermore, de Tocqueville argues that all the inhabitants of the democratic society are individually equal and independent to each other but if one individual alone tends to contrast the â€Å"totality of his fellows†, he will find himself insignificant and weak. Therefore in a democratic society, the public has, as de Tocqueville calls, â€Å"a singular power† where it enforces certain opinions and infuses such opinions in the intellect of their mind. Considering that in a democratic society, it is the majority that takes decisions, the public opinion will then become the law creating political omnipotence. Therefore, de Tocqueville claims that in the US the majority comes up with opinions and the individuals although they develop their personal thoughts have to adopt those that the majority offers since they, alone, are unable to contrast them. This, in turn, discourages and in a way prohibits them from developing their own intellectual thoughts. Thus, the equality of condition that gives rise to the majority opinion poses a great threat to the individual freedom of thought. During his stay in America, de Tocqueville discovered that the American people appeal only to their own individual effort of its own understanding. He has found that in America the tie which unites generation is broken and that nobody traces or cares about the ideas of their forefathers. In a society where everybody is equal and classes tend to disappear, no man can have an intellectual influence in the mind of another man since nobody looks at his fellows as being superior. Therefore, de Tocqueville argues that in a society based on the equality of condition, not only the trust of one man on another is destroyed but also the intellectual authority on any man. In absence of such intellectual authority, people develop their own believes and judgments within themselves different from the rest of the society. In the absence of an intellectual trustworthy authority capable of imposing social beliefs and values, people are left to seek the truth alone and when they fail to do so or such truth is against their personal judgment, they simply ignore it. Thus, an equally conditioned society tends to isolate people from one another and cut them off from a common set of social beliefs and values. This isolation that results from the equality of condition has dangerous consequences if it reaches extreme levels which de Tocqueville calls individualism. As a result of the individualism, the selfishness and the egoism of people will be born. The egoism and selfishness cause people in this society to develop a love for material gratification a love for richness. They want to acquire everything for themselves even if it is done in the expense of other people. Furthermore, according to de Tocqueville, these individuals do not change their character as they unite with each other or grow in number. In fact, they tend to enforce those selfish opinions but on a greater scale. The majority they create will then act as one selfish individual and in a pure democratic society is given the power to make laws and take decisions on behalf of everybody. Therefore, such a majority consisting of egoist people who fulfill their needs and greed in the expense of the other people composing a minority creates the tyranny of majority. In a democratic society, the ultimate reason that the tyranny of majority occurs, is the individualism which separates people from each other and from the social values and beliefs and allows people to establish selfish opinions that hurt the other people. Therefore, de Tocqueville argues that the establishment of â€Å"family†, â€Å"religion† and â€Å"patriotism† are necessary protections against such tyranny because they bring people together and enforce on them social and moral values. Families bind people together and connect them with each other. Members of the family are taught to sacrifice some of their personal gratification for his ancestors and descendants. Therefore, the establishments of families attempt to fight the selfishness that individualism has created. The members of the family in their childhood are taught morals and social values. The elderly in the family can influence the young ones because they are perceived to have some intellectual authority. Therefore, the family brings people close to each other, where one member of the family cares about the others, and to the social values avoiding the isolation. Patriotism also fights the selfishness and brings people together. De Tocqueville sees patriotism as one citizen making a personal sacrifice for the greater welfare of the public. He also argues that in a patriotic society people do not fail to faithfully support each other. A patriotic person believes that it is his duty to make himself useful to other fellow citizens. Therefore, patriotism also creates a strong community where the members care about one another. It breaks the isolation and consequently the individualism that the equality of condition creates. Religion also brings people close to each other and to the social and moral values. De Tocqueville argues that every religion places the object of men’s desire above any treasurer in the earth. Every religion imposes duties on men towards his fellow citizens and draws him away from the contemplation of himself. Furthermore, the main concern of religion is to purify and restrict the excessive and exclusive taste for well being which men in the periods of equality wishes. Man cannot be cured by the love of the riches but they may be persuaded to enrich themselves by none but honest means (â€Å"Democracy in America† Heffner ed., 152). Thus, religion serves as a superior intellectual authority which brings people together to each other and also enforces on them moral values that people abide to. In essence it fights both the isolation and the selfishness of people. The â€Å"family†, â€Å"patriotism† and â€Å"religion† fulfill the absence of a superior intellectual authority, create a strong community and bring people close to the social and moral values which lack in an egalitarian society. De Tocqueville emphasizes the importance of associations in a democratic society. In his opinion an association consists of a group people united by a common interest and who agree to promote their ideas in a certain manner. Simply, associations guide a group of people with divergent minds towards achieving a specific end. In order for an association to exist it has to have the liberty to create an opinion and the freedom to meet which a democratic society grants to them. De Tocqueville distinguishes between two types of associations; the political association and the civic association. The political association besides having the two liberties mentioned above, they also have the liberty to unite into electoral bodies and chose their representatives. A political association acts as a government within a government where the delegates of the association represent the collective force of their party just like the delegates of the majority. The civic associations include a large number of organizations starting from building inns, churches, schools and hospitals. While the political associations have one major goal that they try to achieve by electing delegates; the civic associations are less formal, include a larger number and attempt to improve the social life in the society. Political associations are sometimes used to organize revolutions like those in Europe whereas the civic associations are voluntarily created and peaceful in their nature. The political associations are similar to the political parties today who elect their delegates and compete for offices. The civic associations are very similar to the interest groups where a group of people form an organization and express their point of view in certain issues and attempt to influence those who already occupy offices. The civic associations like the interest groups include a greater variety of interests. De Tocqueville goes further to argue that the political and civic associations are necessary to retain an active community life in a democratic society. De Tocqueville argues that in a democratic society all the citizens are independent and feeble and they, alone, cannot do anything and cannot oblige another person to assist them. They all become powerless if they do not learn to help each other voluntarily. If they do not form associations, which are simply artificial ways of binding people, they might preserve their wealth but their independence as well as their civilization will be in jeopardy. Furthermore, in a democratic society, as I have discussed earlier, people tend to get isolated from tone another. Therefore, since civic associations are very diverse, they are necessary to voluntarily bring people together and create ties among them. Thus, they are crucial to retain an active sense of community life. The political and civic associations are very important in a democratic society in the attempt to avoid the tyranny of the majority. The minorities can create political associations and elect their delegates in order to directly fight the oppressive laws created by the majority. The civic associations can also be used by minorities to create a larger group and then together voice their opinion. The associations are also used to bring people together and avoid the creation of individualism which is very likely in a society based on the equality of condition. Political and civic associations are, therefore, necessary schools for democracy because they teach us how to avoid the tyranny of majority in advanced democracies. De Tocqueville’s philosophy is still relevant for our own time. Nowadays, the political and civic associations play a very important role in creating communities. As countries become more democratic, the number of associations in those countries increases because people as individuals become powerless and they are unable to defend their beliefs on their own. Today, the political and civic associations are very common and much more active that they have ever been. The political and civic associations enable people to unite and become active members of the society. As people join different organizations, they agree to help and support other fellow citizens. People unite and form associations because they have strong feelings for a cause they fight although such a cause might not directly affect them. Therefore, political and civic associations tend to correct and remove selfishness from the people. The existence of a large number of associations is the reason why we have not exp erienced the tyranny of majority although a number of countries have reached advanced levels of democracy.