The Timeless Truths of Homer’s Iliad

James Hutchinson Ms. Spicer AP Literature 20 August 2010 Homer's Timeless Truths Is Homer's The Iliad relevant to today's society? Is this work a timeless parable depicting universal human truths transcending time and context or merely a superbly-crafted epic poem to be studied and admired for its stylistic brilliance? Has the text endured simply because of Homer's dramatic verse or because of the timeless human truths it conveys?Was it written to persuade readers to question the moral implications and savagery of war or simply to provide provocative entertainment? These questions have been posed for centuries yet rarely have been sufficiently answered. However, an astute student of contemporary politics, media, and entertainment cannot fail to notice that many Homeric themes, such as the celebration of war, the corruption of power, and man's desire for personal glory are as apparent in contemporary American life as they are within the pages of The Iliad.Though it is unknown whether or not the blind Greek poet intended to create a work that would have such an enduring impact on Western man, clearly the poem's underlying themes and the ominous questions it raises remain relevant in the twenty-first century. One of Homer's primary themes, the glorification of war and violence, is clearly relevant today. The celebration of war is omnipresent throughout The Iliad. To Homer's characters, battlefield courage, skill, and savagery are seen as both the ultimate means of serving one's country and of proving personal strength and integrity.War is depicted more as an opportunity to achieve a greater good and demonstrate individual valor than as a necessary evil to gain a larger political purpose. Homer's heroes focus more on the craft of battle itself than on the geopolitical goal they hope to obtain through the protracted bloody combat. In one scene, Hector responds to his army's reluctance to fight by proclaiming, â€Å"Fight for your country! That is the best, the only omen! You, why are you so afraid of war and slaughter? † (Homer 333) As a leader and a prince of Troy, Hector has been raised to embrace war as the only true chance for glory.For Hector, war brings honor to both his soldiers and the country for which they fight. Although he regrets the possibility of not living to see his son grow up, he believes that his purpose is to serve on the battlefield. Because of his integrity and willingness to die for Troy, Hector is the pride and joy of his family and of the Trojan army. His brother Paris, however, is widely scorned as a weakling and coward for his constant refusal to kill. At a time of war, pacifism is simply not an option.On high school campuses across the United States, we celebrate aggressive football stars and wrestlers far more than intellectual artists or peace activists. The parallels between Homer's depiction of a war-torn society and our own collapsing world are both unmistakeable and highly disturbing. There is, and alw ays has been, a human fascination with violence and sadism. Just as the ancient dramatist Homer depicts carnage with vivid detail and precision, contemporary Hollywood filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino, Eli Roth, and Oliver Stone, while conveying the cost of war, also appeal to their audience's unquenchable blood lust.Despite their intentions or supposed â€Å"social commentary,† there is no denying that it is ultimately the gore that sells the tickets. The internet, television news programs, newspapers, and magazines garner far more advertising revenues depicting images of violence and destruction than anything with any sort of redeeming value. It is telling that two of the events from recent history that have sold the most books are the Holocaust and the Manson murders. In short: violence sells. The reprehensible slasher film â€Å"Saw† was a blockbuster.The family-oriented comedy â€Å"The Kids Are Alright† lagged in ticket sales. Without a doubt, we live in a culture in which violence is perceived not as a necessary evil for the greater good, but as a worthy and even heroic form of entertainment. Homer's Iliad also dramatizes the timeless truth that power corrupts. The arrogant, manipulative gods pulling strings from their plush thrones on Mount Olympus bring to mind modern-day politicians. They can be seen as archetypes of today's detached bureaucrats.Zeus and his fellow gods dispassionately toy with mortals, watching with amusement as they cut one another down on the blood-soaked battlefield of windy Troy. Shamelessly, like merciless puppeteers, they create tension between the mortals for their own personal entertainment, with little regard for the inevitable mayhem and carnage that ensues. Indeed, the ten-year conflict at Troy is indirectly sparked by the vain goddess Aphrodite's desire to be recognized as the â€Å"fairest† beauty among the goddesses, yet as soon as the fighting begins, she pleads neutrality.Similarly, Ze us himself shows little concern for the rampant slaughter among mortals taking place on his watch, even though initially he aids Achilles in his revenge against the Greeks. More than a few critics of the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have decried the dispassionate way in which U. S. â€Å"chickenhawk† non-combatants such as George Bush, Dick Cheney, and now Barack Obama have heartlessly made â€Å"strategic military decisions† from the safe environs of the White House that have had mortal consequences for U. S. troops on the front lines in Kabul and Baghdad.For many observers, the U. S. political elite bears more than slight resemblance to the gods of Mount Olympus. However, The Iliad shows not only how power corrupts on the broad, bureaucratic level but on the individual level as well. In fact, the poem's most self-serving and manipulative figure is without a doubt the mortal Agamemnon, who is only concerned about his own pleasure and personal gain. At the begi nning of the epic, he selfishly steals Achilles' war prize, the maiden Briseis, when he is forced to give up his own mistress.Outraged at this act of betrayal, Achilles exclaims that Agamemnon is â€Å"armored in shamelessness— always shrewd with greed! † (Homer 82) Although Agamemnon's actions seem unbelievably boorish and arrogant by today's standards, his behavior is not unlike that of any current leader who abuses his or her position of authority to achieve personal gain. On the local level, the city manager of Bell is now accused of looting his own very poor city's treasury of nearly one million dollars annually to purchase race horses and personal luxuries.Just as politicians and corporate CEOs pull strings and manipulate workers, so too schoolyard thugs and drug lords abuse the weak. The Iliad remains an unforgettable piece of literature not simply because it is beautifully-written, but also for its stark depiction of how the helpless are trampled by the strong. The third universal, timeless theme in The Iliad that is relevant today is how far men will go to attain personal glory. The main protagonist of the story, Achilles, seeks not merely wealth or vengeance against Troy, but also to be elevated to a god-like stature and leave behind an imperishable legacy.In this, he is not unlike any entrepreneur or world leader that hopes to â€Å"make a name for himself† by turning the tide of history, for better or for worse. Christian evangelist Billy Graham once declared, â€Å"The legacy we leave is not just in our possessions, but in the quality of our lives. † (Graham 48) For Achilles, his legacy will be the ferocity with which he wields his sword, and the body count of soldiers he cuts down. He rejects a simple, comfortable life at home for a vicious, unpredictable life of war, serene in the knowledge that this shall earn him eternal glory and lionization – as indeed it did.The longing for men to be remembered after their deaths is not a strictly Homeric theme. We live in a culture in which martyrdom is often perceived as the greatest virtue, resulting in the iconic status of figures ranging from Jesus Christ to Che Guevara. Men like these are often praised not simply for the quality of their lives, but also because of their willingness to fight and die for a cause. In America, joining the military and dying in combat is romanticized as the greatest possible act of heroism, whether or not the war itself has any moral worth.An early death is viewed as a noble death. Even when a young man dies from simple recklessness or self-hatred, as James Dean or Kurt Cobain, we still embrace them as tragic heroes; saints of their generation. In short: this is why Achilles fights. He cares far more about how his story will be told centuries after he is gone than for his own life in the present. Though he briefly becomes disillusioned with his life as a warrior after his conflict with Agamemnon, he regains his moti vation to fight and possibly die when he feels he must avenge Patroclus.He expresses the difficulty of his choice between an obscure life and an honorable death when he proclaims, â€Å"If I hold out here and lay siege to Troy, my journey home is gone, but my glory never dies. If I voyage back to the fatherland I love, my pride, my glory dies†¦ † (Homer 265) Eventually, though it is never mentioned in The Iliad, Achilles does meet his fate, without ever living to witness the climactic sack of Troy. However, his life is indeed remembered as one of near secular ainthood, and, just as he had hoped, his name is never erased from history. In the final analysis, was the Trojan War a worthwhile conflict in Homer's eyes? No. The cause was trivial; the cost in lives was enormous. However, once the war was under way, his heroes wrested honor and nobility from the battlefield. The reason for battle is practically irrelevant, but the ferocity with which the battles are fought is leg endary. The relevance of this to today's events is indisputable.For example,when the primary reason for the Iraq war was revealed to be largely if not wholly erroneous – the alleged presence of weapons of mass destruction – many argued that it had to be waged for the sake of American â€Å"honor,† a Homeric theme if ever there were one. Overall, The Iliad's enduring appeal rests in the universal human truths it presents. Namely, Homer tells us that man honors war more than peace, power corrupts us all, and we all thirst for immortal glory. That is why even in the twenty-first century, The Iliad remains a transcendent and gripping morality tale for the ages.

Master’s Prepared Interview Essay

The Master of Science in Nursing with an emphasis in nursing education can be understood in further detail by an interview process outlining a person’s career overview, graduate educational experience and their present vocational position. The individual chosen (D.C.) is a mentor, who is handing down the baton to me, as the clinical instructor for a group of nursing students at Biola University. D.C. has numerous years experience as a bedside nurse as well as an educator. Overview of Career D.C. always knew she wanted to be a nurse and began nursing school at the young age of 17. In 1977, she received her Advanced Degree in Nursing (ADN) from Umpqua Community College in Roseburg. She went on to receive her Bachelor’s Degree in Management from Georgefox University, in Newburg, Oregon. The positions she held included: working as a bedside nurse for three years, a nurse in critical care for seven years and a supervisor/manager for 20 years. This 30-year experience took place at a community hospital called Providence Health and Services, in Oregon. Graduate Education D.C. went on to receiver her Master’s in Leadership and Nursing Education from Warner Pacific University in Portland, Oregon, from 2006-2008. While attending graduate school she continued to work at Providence Health and Services. Her current position made it necessary to go back to school because the institution was requiring all supervisors to have a Master’s degree. D.C. enjoyed her on-line educational experience from Warner Pacific. After her degree, she became the manager/director for  multi-services including: wound care, care management, social  services, medical-surgical and telemetry units. This took place over a four-year period and then D.C. became the Director of Education at Providence for an additional three years. This is where she taught for the University of Great Falls, Montana for their RN to BSN satellite program. D.C. taught live, virtual classrooms with students from many states. She retired from Providence in 2011 and moved to California with her beloved husband, who became the Dean of Rosemead, at Biola University, in La Mirada, California. Present Position Soon after her move to California, D.C. was asked by the nursing department of Biola University, if she would consider teaching for them. She said no at first but then was enticed to begin as a part time clinical instructor for the Bachelor’s in Nursing Program. She began as a community health instructor and then applied for the full-time position as an Associate Professor. She taught Management and Leadership in the fall and Nursing Community in the spring. D.C. is a Level Coordinator for all level 3 activities in the nursing department and part of the administration team as well. Competencies learned in the graduate program included team building, coaching, developing unity and administration skills. Some of her various certifications over the years include: Medical/Surgical Certified, ACLS, PALS and NRP. She also is a master trainer for crucial conversations and a senior facilitator for select interview training. While at Biola University, D.C. also took 80 hours of epidemi ology online through the Center’s for Disease Control. She is also part of the FEMA disaster response program and held an earthquake preparedness day at the university this year. Her graduate degree gave her all the necessary tools to confidently teach at a university level. Pearls of Wisdom For any student in a graduate program it is essential to have a mentor who can give you advice. Words of wisdom from D.C. included â€Å"Everything is a conversation. Even if the conversation is  painful, be open and honest.† The next golden nugget from D.C. was, â€Å"Just do what’s next and pretty soon you’re done.† This helped me to realize to take one step or one assignment at a time and not look with fear to the future. D.C learned organizational skills and was able to write specific objectives for nursing education. Her thesis was on how to be a new graduate with confidence and competence. She learned a new appreciation for people cultural diversity. One thing she learned the most about herself was that she was biased. She encouraged me to question my biases and assumptions in everything we do. These were some incredible tools I will take with me as I continue through the graduate program. Conclusion The effects of graduate education can enhance your skills, increase your knowledge, give you more awareness culturally, enable you to have better organization and make decisions, as well as become a better communicator. D.C. felt she was able to practice her new skills at the hospital she was already working for in a safe environment with people she trusted. What was affected the most in D.C.’s experience during grad school was her attitude. She gained a broader perspective and realized there was so much to gain from others. She felt her graduate degree gave her critical thinking skills that she can use forever. D.C. was an excellent example of someone who has used their graduate degree to the fullest extent as teacher, mentor, advisor and facilitator. The Master of Science in Nursing can be understood in further detail by an interview process outlining a person’s career overview, graduate experience and their present career. I have gained a clearer understanding of the benefits of a graduate degree and am excited to be on this journey with fellow nurse enthusiasts.

Mass Customization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Mass Customization - Essay Example Nonetheless, it is fundamental to consider that the costs do not augment at all. The company is, therefore, able to have an added advantage in the market as well as have the best economic value in the market. A closer analysis of mass customization relates to the fact that the individual needs are actually met but with production in large quantities (Da Silveira, Borenstein & Fogliatto, 2001). This means that the manufacturers can to suspend production of goods for a particular customer and reschedule the same production for a larger supply. Production of large volumes as indicated in the work of Da Silveira, Borenstein & Fogliatto (2001) is a product of mass customization; thus, quality production and delivery. Minimal tradeoffs in costs are also an added advantage (Da Silveira, Borenstein & Fogliatto, 2001). In the business world, mass customization plays a huge role. As seen in the research conducted by Mattila, Huuskonen & Hietikko (2013) mass customization simply refers to the manufacturing guide for manufactures. This relates to the fact that the manufactures will produce goods based on the demands of the clients. As customizers, it is expected that the manufactures embrace a technique that will influence the shape of their final product to the desirability of the customers. Mass customization, therefore, is useful for the mass manufacturing of products with efficiency, production of goods for specific clients, and production of customized goods that are on demands after ordering of goods by clients (Mattila, Huuskonen & Hietikko, 2013). In the work of Mattila, Huuskonen & Hietikko (2013), mass customization is governed by various principles. First, mass customization works on the principle that a product should have independent sections that could be easily assembled into various forms of the product. This means that the manufacturers will incur less cost while producing the products. This is referred to as agile

Critical analysis of the learning environment in the community Essay

Critical analysis of the learning environment in the community - Essay Example Modern nursing is changing with new roles and working practices. They are leaders, coordinators, teachers and practitioners. There is still a need for nurses to care for patients in hospitals, but much nursing practice now takes place in the GP surgery, in peoples homes and in specialist clinics in the community. Laschinger (1992) used the Kolb’s learning theory (ELT) to study 179 generic baccalaureate students’ perception of the contributions of different types of nursing learning environments to development of adaptive competences. Nursing learning environments were thought to contribute most to divergent competencies, reflecting the importance of both people-oriented and scientific skills in nursing. However it was found that clinical experience and senior preceptorship experience contributed significantly more to the development of these competencies than typical nursing classes and non-nourishing classes. Besides, the students considered assimilative competencies such as leading and influencing others relatively unimportant to successful functioning in nursing learning environments. The preparation for the practice of professional nursing occurs in the early training program for nurses that integrate liberal arts and sciences, as well as nursing theory and practice. Beside s this program need to develop altruistic values, an understanding of and appreciation for the social and ethical issues of life in a global society, the conceptualization and synthesis of general education and nursing knowledge and the development of affective, cognitive, and psychomotor skills and behaviors to function as a caring, beginning practitioner in nursing. The clinical learning environment creates many opportunities for student learning and the development of critical competencies in the nursing profession. The learning that takes place in this environment, however, confronts the first year nursing

Violent Behavior in the Media and its impact on Violence in the Research Proposal

Violent Behavior in the Media and its impact on Violence in the Physical World - Research Proposal Example Society as a whole is consistently being fed with violent images, ideas and themes from the media that surrounds us. This is particularly important in the present age where mass media is a common method is a common method of advertising and entertainment. Mass media comes in many forms and the term is used to any form of media communication that reaches a large group of people at the same time. Different forms of mass media include newspapers, the Internet, billboards, movies, television and magazines. One form of mass media that is of particular interest is television. From once being a novelty, and a luxury item that only a few could afford, televisions are now commonplace in households, with many who consider themselves ‘light’ viewers watching several hours each day. Many who watch television pride themselves on the ability to distinguish fact from fiction, what is real from what is illusion, yet these distinctions are solely on the part of the viewer, and change as the viewers own perception changes. The high prevalence of television in the lives of a large amount of people, as well as the high number of hours that are viewed by even light viewers leads to concern that there is high potential for what is observed to affect both thought processes and behavior. In addition to this the large amount of information that can be portrayed through the television, both from sounds and visual information is substantial. A factor that has been of interest within the literature for many years is whether the violence and aggression that is prevalent in mass media in general and particularly on television has any influence on the levels of violence and aggression that are observed in the real world. Violence in media can generally be defined as visual or audio portrayals of physical aggression by one character, generally human-like, towards another. In contrast, aggression in the media can be defined as an act intended to either injure or irritate another person . Debate has been wide ranging concerning whether the violence on television plays any role, with opinions and studies indicating different results. This debate is becoming of increasing importance as the prevalence of violence on television continues to rise . Murders and shootings are common in many different genres of television program and movies. Martial arts, expositions and fist fights are all common fare to emphasize a point, or to fill in the gaps between pieces of story . This study looks at the background and need for studies on violence on television, the arguments for the ability of mass media to cause violence,

Outsourcing American Jobs to Foreign Countries Case Study

Outsourcing American Jobs to Foreign Countries - Case Study Example Likewise, this same report indicates the unemployment rate has hit an all-time low at 5.6 percent. This information is supported by another report produced by the Labor Department (2006) indicating that American has only lost an average of 7.71 million jobs every quarter. Based on this information, Forrester Research has estimated that the worst case scenario would have America losing approximately 3.3 million service jobs in the period from 2000 to 2015. Calculating the math, these figures show an average of 55,000 jobs lost to outsourcing each quarter, which only comprises approximately 0.71 percent of all available jobs in America. Some people feel it is our own fault jobs are going overseas as consumers continue to demand lower costs even though many of them also complain about the results of this demand, such as having to deal with foreign call centers. Jill Insley of the Observer Cash Pages reports, â€Å"Insurers consistently argue they have to take advantage of the cheap but skilled workforces in countries such as India to produce the low premiums and competitive interest rates customers demand.† In addition, there has been some skepticism as to whether these cost-saving measures, such as foreign call centers, actually translate into true savings. Citing research conducted for Aviva, Insley indicated only 28 per cent of the respondents to a survey felt lower costs due to foreign call centers would lead to lower premiums for American consumers while a majority of respondents indicated that service provided was not up to the standards expected.

Terrorism and Poverty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Terrorism and Poverty - Essay Example Finally, the phrase was again used in 2001 and still is being used. An operative definition in US foreign policy under the Federal Criminal code and stated by Bush as, "today's war on terror is like the Cold War. It is an ideological struggle with an enemy that despises freedom and pursues totalitarian aims....I vowed then that I would use all assets of our power of Shock and Awe to win the war on terror. And so I said we were going to stay on the offense two ways: one, hunts down the enemy and brings them to justice, and takes threats seriously; and two, spread freedom." The British have some objections to the phrase 'War on Terror.' The Director of Public Prosecutions and head of the Crown Prosecution Service in the UK, Ken McDonald has stated that the places where these attacks are carried out are not battlefields and the people who die are not victims of war. Also, the people who carry out such terrorist activities are not soldiers, they are criminals. The war on poverty was first introduced by Lyndon B. Johnson, President of the United States. The legislation was a reaction to the high economic poverty rate. This led to the development of Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) which helped in targeting funds towards the poor and managing the poverty level that existed in the country at that time. The concept of war on poverty waned around the 1960's. The budget towards the impoverished people diminished and there was some de-regulation which led to this. There are many view points which are very subjective to every individual. Many leaders, economists and politicians have commented on this. To some, the war on poverty is important to be victorious in the war on terror; to others finishing terrorism is more important while still to some finishing poverty is more important. One very important factor to not is that to fight such wars, institutional structures need to be created which can help fight the war, this is as important as the conflict itself. The world has failed to win the war on poverty. This can be blamed to the political system and the judiciary. In my opinion, the upper class of society needs to be blamed more; they should make more contributions towards the poor to help diminish the huge gap that exists between the different classes of society. The power that the government has is limited, they can not make all people rich or provide them with the money they need. They can only make a few changes in the policy to help these people get a job, get better pays or start a business. The government can not ban legitimate products and not raise wages across the nation; they have other things to consider such as inflation. On the brighter side of the picture, many new policies and legislations were made which opened new doors for the lower class of society, labour laws were introduced, minimum wages were set and there is strict control over these policies. Thus in the US much improvement has taken place and we can easily say that they have achieved some yards in this war. According to Hilary Benn (2007), by giving a name to the war on terror, we are not only giving all such groups an identity, a common identity but also it leads to using one uniform approach towards fighting them. All such groups need to be handled individually, with policies and strategies

Integrated Communication Plan Research Proposal

Integrated Communication Plan - Research Proposal Example UK gaming market is the third most important market in the world, and it is the largest European market [1,2]. According to [3] there are more than 33.6 million gaming users in UK market in the year 2012. Moreover, this market generated revenue of  £2.04 billion in the year 2014, and this is around 7% more than 2013 (Dring, 2014). According to Yahoo! News, with the growth of the industry there are more and more jobs coming up in the UK market (Brinded, 2014) The total value estimated of the video gaming industry is GBP 1 billion. Around 33 million people in UK play video games (IAB UK, 2011). Thus, the market segment is very large. These gamers can be categorized into different types. Among these types, 19% are the regular gamers and casual gamers, or social gamers are around 26%. Therefore, this segment of social or casual gamers can be important segment that Nintendo WiiU can target. The age group of casual social gamers is in the age group of 35 to 44 years, and most of these pe ople are parents. At the moment, Nintendo WiiU is focusing on regular gamers that are around 19%. Many people use gaming as time consuming activity.Gamers can get negative attention, and this can have negative influence and gain negative attention in the media. Thus, it is important for Nintendo to not come up with such games that can have negative attention in the media.(Brinded, 2014) Economic factorsThere has been an increase in the demands of the games. The demand of different games has been increasing.

Role Of Price Mechanism Essay Example for Free

Role Of Price Mechanism Essay The role of price mechanism in a free market economy or capitalism! The price system functions through prices of both goods and services. Prices determine the production of innumerable goods and services. They organise production and help in the distribution of goods and services, ration out the supplies of goods and services and provide for economic growth. Let us analyse the role of prices in all these spheres. (1) What and How Much to Produce: The first function of prices is to resolve the problem of what to produce and in what quantities. This involves allocation of scarce resources in relation to the composition â€Å"of total output in the economy. Since resources are scarce, the society has to decide about the goods to be produced: wheat, cloth, roads, television, power, buildings, and so on. Once the nature of goods to be produced is decided, then their quantities are to be decided. How many kilos of wheat, how many million metres of cloth, how many kilometers of roads, now many televisions, how many million kw of power, how many buildings, etc. Since the resources of the economy are scare, the problem of the nature of goods and their quantities has to be decided on the basis of priorities or preferences of the society. If the society gives priority to the production of more consumer goods now, it will have less in the future. A higher priority on capital goods implies less consumer goods now and more in the future. This problem can be explained with the help of the production possibility curve, as shown in Figure 7.1. Suppose the economy produces capital goods and consumer goods. In deciding the total output of the economy, the society has to choose that combination of capital and consumer goods which is in keeping with its resources. It cannot choose the combination R which is inside the production possibility curve PP, because it reflects economic inefficiency of the system in the form of unemployment of resources. Nor can it choose the combination K which is outside the current production possibilities of the society. The society lacks the resources to produce this combination of capital and consumer goods. It will have, therefore, to choose among the combinations B, C or D which give the highest level of satisfaction. If the society decides to have  more capital goods, it will choose combination B and if it wants more consumer goods, it will choose combination D. (2) How to Produce: The next task of prices is to determine the techniques to be used for the production of articles. Prices of factors are the rewards received by them. Wage is the price for the service of labour, rent is the price for the service of land, interest for the service of capital and profit for the service of entrepreneur. Thus wages, rent, interest and profit are the prices paid by the entrepreneur for the services of the factors of production which make up the costs of production. Every producer aims at using the most efficient productive process. An economically efficient production process is one which produces goods with the minimum of costs. The choice of a production process will depend upon the relative prices of the factor services and the quantities of goods to be produced. A producer uses expensive factor services in smaller quantities relative to cheap resources. In order to reduce costs of production, he substitutes cheaper resources for the dearer. If capital is relatively cheaper than labour, the producer will use a capital-intensive production â€Å"process. Contrariwise, if labour is relatively cheaper than capital, labour-intensive production processes will be used. The technique to be used also depends upon the type and quantity of goods to be produced. For producing capital goods and large outputs, complicated and expensive machines and techniques are required. On the other hand, simple consumer goods and small outputs require small and less expensive machines and comparatively simple techniques. (3) To Determine Income Distribution: The price mechanism also determines how income is distributed in a capitalist economy. In such an economy, consumers and producers are largely the same people. Producers â€Å"sell goods at given prices to consumers for money, and consumers receive â€Å"incomes from producers in exchange for their services. The owners of factors of production who are all consumers sell their services at given prices for money to producers, and then spend that money to buy goods produced by producers. In fact, the price mechanism is a system of real flows from producers to consumers and from consumers to producers. This figure shows the price mechanism in the form of a circular flow. The  upper portion determines the prices on the goods market when the demand for goods by consumers equals the supply of goods by producers. It is this which decides what to produce. The decision as to how to produce is entirely taken by the producers. The lower portion of the figure shows that consumers or households are the controllers of the factors of production—land, labour, capital and entrepreneurial talent. It is they who supply their services to producers who demand them and in return the households receive money. This is how prices are determined on the factor market. Conclusion: Thus the price mechanism working through supply and demand in a free enterprise economy acts as the principal organising force. It determines what to produce and how much to produce. It determines the rewards of the factor services. It brings about an equitable distribution of income by causing resources to be allocated in right directions. It works to ration out the existing supplies of goods and services, utilises the economy’s resources fully and provides the means for economic growth. Price Mechanism in a Socialist or Controlled Economy: In a socialist economy, the decisions as to what, how and for whom to produce are not guided by the price mechanism as under a capitalist economy. Instead, they are made by the central planning board assisted by the various ministries, industries and state enterprises. Thus it is the central planning board that performs the functions of the market. The decisions as to what to produce and in what quantities are based on the objectives, targets and priorities laid down in the plan. The central planning authority decides, for example, if more bicycles are to be produced than cars, or houses for the masses more than hotels, or more eggs are to be produced than chocolates. It also fixes prices for all commodities. They are administered prices at which commodities are sold in state-run stores throughout the country. Administered prices are fixed arbitrarily by the central planning board without calculating the actual cost of production of commodities. Prices can be reduced or increased onl y by the central planning authority. People buy commodities according to their preferences and incomes. The decision as how to produce different commodities is also taken by the central planning authority. The latter allocates resources and decides which  methods of production to employ. What share of the factors of production should be allocated to the production of capital goods and what share to the production of consumer goods? The planning board lays down two rules for the guidance of plant managers. One, each manager should combine productive goods and services in such a manner that the average cost of producing a given output is the minimum. Two, each manager should choose that scale of output which equalises marginal cost to price. He must see to it that the industry produces exactly as much of a commodity as can be sold at a price which equals the marginal cost. In a socialist economy, raw materials, machines and other inputs are sold by public enterprises at prices which are equal to their marginal cost of production. So pricing in a socialist economy is based on the marginal cost pricing like that in a capitalist economy. If the price or cost of a commodity is above its average cost, the plant managers will earn profits and if it is below the average cost of production, they will incur losses. In the former case, the industry would expand and in the latter case it would cut down production. Ultimately, a position of equilibrium will be reached where price equals both the average cost and the marginal cost of production. But since goods are produced in anticipation of demand, it is accounting prices which are the basis of price determination. This, in turn, depends on the process of trial and error which necessitates small adjustments in prices from time to time. The problem for whom to produce is also solved by the state in a socialist economy. The central planning authority takes this decision at the time of deciding what and how much to produce in accordance with the overall objectives of the p lan. In making this decision, social preferences are given weight-age. In other words, higher weight-age is given to the production of those goods and services which are needed by the majority of the people over luxury items. They are based on the minimum needs of the people, and are sold at fixed prices through government stores. Since goods are produced in anticipation of demand, an increase in demand brings about shortages and this leads to rationing. The problem of income distribution is automatically solved in a socialist economy because all resources are owned and regulated by the state. All interest, rent and profit are fixed by the state and go to the state exchequer. As regard wages, they are also fixed by the state according to the amount and quality of work done by an individual.  Each individual is paid according to his ability and work. Economic surpluses are deliberately created and invested for capital formation and economic growth. Price Mechanism in a Mixed Economy: A mixed economy solves the problem of what to produce and in what quantities in two ways. First, the market mechanism (i.e. forces of demand and supply) helps the private sector in deciding what commodities to produce and in what quantities. In those spheres of production where the private sector competes with the public sector, the nature and quantities of commodities to be produced are also decided by the market mechanism. Second, the central planning authority decides the nature and quantities of goods and services to be produced where the public sector has a monopoly. In the case of consumer and capital goods, commodities arc produced in anticipation of social preferences. Prices are fixed by the central planning authority on the principle of profit-price policy. There are administered prices which are raised or lowered by the state. For public utility services like electricity, railways, water, gas, communications, etc., the state fixes their rates or prices on no-profit no-loss basis. The problem of how to produce goods and services is also solved partly by the price mechanism and partly by the state. The profit motive determines the techniques of production in the private sector. At the same time, the central planning authority intervenes and influences the working of the market mechanism. The state guides and provides various facilities to the private sector for adopting such techniques of production which may reduce costs and maximise output. It is the state which decides where to use capital-intensive techniques and where to use labour-intensive techniques in the public sector. The problem for whom to produce is also decided partly by the market mechanism and partly by the central planning authority. In the private sector, it is the market mechanism which determines what goods and services are to be produced on the basis of consumer preferences and incomes. Since a mixed economy aims at achieving growth with social justice, the allocation of resources is not left entirely to the market mechanism. The state intervenes to allocate resources â€Å"and for the distribution of income. For this, it adopts social security programmes and levies progressive taxes on income and wealth. In the public sector, the state decides for whom to  produce in anticipation of consumer preferences.

Culture of American Indians Essay Example for Free

Culture of American Indians Essay In Against the Grain, environmental journalist Richard Manning (2004) argues that notions of class and property are a direct result of the emergence of agricultural civilizations beginning 10,000 years ago. This is because of the social necessities demanded by distribution and storage of surplus. Conversely, he points out the contrastingly egalitarian nature of the hunter-gatherer lifestyles and the deeper social ties which result from cooperative food acquisition. Consider for example, the Plains Indians of North America prior to the arrival of European settlers, who would utilize their knowledge of buffalo movement patterns to haze and herd them, towards a cliff. By diverting the stampede of a large number of animals to their sudden vertical death, they would obtain a caloric pay-off through minimal effort, but â€Å"required social organization and sharing, both of the labor and of the proceeds.† (Manning, 2004; South Dakota State Historical Society Education Kit, 2008) Yet despite this element of uncertainty in hunting and gathering, Richard Steckel notes that towards the end of the 19th century, the Plains Indians were among the tallest people in the world and argues despite the numerous technological and agricultural advances they did not have, they were surprisingly well-nourished compared to whites, indicating that agriculture should not be taken for granted as the sign of social advancement it is purported be, Manning notes that, in the absence of storage means and preservation technologies, it was impossible for the Plains Indians to hoard bison meat. Therefore wealth accumulation was impossible. As such, â€Å"communal feasting became the payoff for social organization,† argues Manning Agriculture on the hand, created social stratification in the form of governance, hierarchy and other institutions necessary for the management of food surplus. Although there is certain room for question to be made about the true egalitarianism of the hunter gatherer cultures of the Plains Indians, they certainly lacked some of the rigidly defined political structures which characterized those belonging to the cultures of Europeans at the point of first contact. Comanche leadership was rather informal, usually identifiable by consensus rather than by any formal nomination to the position and the longevity of a war chiefs authority lasted only as long as they were at war. (Bial, 2000) The Blackfoot people maintained a flexible social structure, a band, which was in constant flux. As such, social relationships were not determined solely by kinship but by residence. In modern times, the case for the difference between hunter-gatherer Native Americans such as the Plains Indians of pre-modern times and the agricultural Native Americans can be observed in the difference between the Inuit peoples, who live a predominantly hunter-gatherer lifestyle out in the Arctic regions (Snow, 1996) and the peoples of the Cherokee and Lakota. The Inuit are noted for their strong sense of community and flexible division of labor among gender lines. The Cherokee and the Lakota, however, have now long been agricultural societies characterized by their class and gender divisions, as well as their contentious disposition towards identity and blood quantum laws. REFERENCES Bial, R. (2000) Lifeways: The Comanche. New York: Benchmark Books. Manning, R. (2004) Against the Grain: How Agriculture Has Hijacked Civilization. New York: North Point Press. â€Å"Buffalo and the Plains Indians.† (2008, April 4) South Dakota State Historical Society Education Kit. Retrieved July 3, 2008 from: http://www.sdhistory.org/mus/ed/Buffalo%20Kit%20Activiteis/Teacher%20Resource.pdf Snow, D. R.. (1996) The first Americans and the differentiation of hunter-gatherer cultures. North America. Eds. Bruce G. Trigger and Wilcomb E. Washburn. Cambridge University Press, 1996.

The Free Air Jet Experiment

The Free Air Jet Experiment Introduction The Free Air Jet Experiment is designed to give insight into the fundamentals of a free jet at various locations inside and outside the core region. The core region is a location in the flow field where the flow has a velocity that is approximately the same as the velocity coming from inside the jet. This experiment will provide data to describe the location of the core region. Besides defining the core region this experiment will provide information on the velocity changes outside the core region, mass flow rates at various locations, the momentum flow at various locations, showing that the exiting jet width varies with distance, and how the speed varies along the center streamline as a function of distance from the exit. In order to best interpret the results obtained in this lab there are several assumptions that must be made. In this situation the flow is in a steady state, the air from the jet and the stationary air in the surroundings is assumed to be constant, the flow is incompressible, and the produced flow is axis symmetric. The local fluid speed can be determined from equation (1) V = (2*(po p)/Ï )1/2 (1) where the variable V is the magnitude of the velocity, po is the stagnation pressure, p is the static pressure of the fluid, and Ï  is the density of the fluid. From equation (2) the mass flow rate can be determined md = à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚ ²Ãƒ ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚ ²A (Ï V)dA = à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚ ²02πà ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚ ²0R (Ï Vr)drdÃŽ ¸ (2) where md is the mass flow rate, A is the surface area that is being integrated over, Ï  is the density, r is the radius, and R is the maximum radius. The momentum flow can also be determined via equation (3) Pd = à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚ ²Ãƒ ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚ ²A (Ï V)VdA = à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚ ²02πà ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚ ²0R (Ï V2r)drdÃŽ ¸ (3) where Pd is the momentum flow rate. The local sound speed, c, was found from equation (4) c = (kRT)1/2 (4) where k and R are constants defined by the physical properties of air and T is the temperature of the medium. In this experiment k = 1.4, R = 287, and T = 298. Knowing c, the mach speed can be calculated via equation (5) Ma = V/c (5) where Ma is the mach speed. Methods An apparatus was constructed in such a way that a tube that emits air is placed horizontally and blows into a Pitot tube that can be moved horizontally or in a radial outward direction. The volumetric flow rate is a constant for this experiment. From here the first set of data to be recorded is the centerline speed of the jet at various horizontal distances away from the center of the tube. This is first to be done by recording the pressure close to the pipes exit and then taking pressure measurements increasing the distance from the Pitot tube to the pipes exit by small intervals. This will provide a relationship of mass flow rate and momentum flow to the distance from the air exiting the pipe. Change the volumetric flow rate and repeat the preceding procedure. To determine how the mass flow rate and momentum flow rate will vary radially from the center streamline, another experiment is to be conducted. In this case a measurement is to be taken at the center streamline at some fixed horizontal displacement with a constant volumetric flow rate. From here the Pitot tube is to be moved radially outward in small increments such that several data points can be obtained at that horizontal displacement. At a few other horizontal displacements the same procedure is to be followed. Results and Discussion From Figure 1 it can be seen that up to about 0.03 m from the exit, the centerline speed doesnt change much. This defines the core region starting from the exit of the tube to 0.03 m away from the tubes exit. Outside the core region the speed of the air decreases as the distance from the exit is increased. When measuring the pressure from the Pitot tube the pressure had a precision of +/- 0.005 inches of H2O. This margin of error created an uncertainty in the centerline speed of about +/- 1 m/s. Knowing that the uncertainty of the speed is about 1 m/s, this uncertainty will propagate into the length of the core region. The core region can then be determined to have a length of 0.03 m +/- 0.01 m. Centerline speeds were recorded for a volumetric flow rate at 70 L/min and at 50 L/min. As expected, as the volumetric flow rate increases the centerline speed also increases. Velocities of varying radial distances from the centerline were measured and compared with each other at different horizontal distances from the tube in Figure 2. At a radial distance of 1 cm, the velocity doesnt change much with respect to the velocity measured at the centerline for all horizontal positions. This defines the average radial component of the core region as 1 cm. This radial component decreases as a function of the distance from the pipes exit. The farther the Pitot tube is moved outward from the core region the slower the velocity becomes. It can also be noticed that at the closest horizontal displacement the velocity drops off quicker as a function of radial displacement as apposed to the larger horizontal displacements. This is caused by the energy dissipating out to the sides as the horizontal displacement increases. The energy dissipation is caused by eddies or more commonly swirling in air. An eddy is the terminology used to describe the circular motion a fluid t akes as it displaces from the source. This plays an even bigger role in mass and momentum flow rates. Looking at Figure 3 it can be seen that the mass flow rate increases as the horizontal displacement increases. This increase is caused by eddies. What happens here is the source puts out a finite amount of mass at some constant rate. Eddies then form and this swirling motion of the fluid reaches out into the stagnant fluid and pulls more mass in to the system. Now more mass is being brought into the system causing the mass flow rate to increase. As the horizontal displacement increases the mass flow rate begins to level off, as seen in Figure 3, and will eventually begin to decrease. Here more mass is still being brought into the system but now the velocity has decreased significantly and this decrease is now causing the mass flow rate to decrease. Similarly to the mass flow rate the momentum flow rate is effected by eddies. In this case the momentum flow rate has reached a peak where the mass flow rate is still increasing and is decreasing where the mass flow rate begins to reach a maximum, as seen in Figures 3 and 4. The momentum flow equation and mass flow rate equation only differ by one term. In the mass flow rate equation there is a V component and in the momentum flow equation there is a V2 component. Having this extra component is what causes the momentum flow to peak before the mass flow rate. The velocity is decreasing and the mass is increasing as a function of horizontal displacement, but the momentum flow depends more heavily on the velocity component. The mach speed was then calculated from the maximum velocity obtained. In this situation the mach speed was found to be 0.087 with a local sound speed of 346 m/s. If the mach speed is greater than or equal to 0.3 than this implies that the flow is compressible. By having a mach speed that is smaller than 0.3 implies that the flow is incompressible. Conclusion and Recommendations By conducting this experiment a fairly accurate core region was able to be defined. The core region was defined as having a horizontal displacement of 0.03 m +/- 0.01m and an average radius of 0.01 m. The mass flow rate and momentum flow were both found to be heavily dependent on mass and velocity. Both the mass flow rate and the momentum flow were affected by eddies, which is the swirling motion of air, that pulled stagnant mass into the system causing the mass to increase as the flow got further away from the core region. The velocity of the air decreased as the displacement from the pipe exit increased. Momentum flow was affected by the velocity more so than the mass flow rate because of the V2 component in the momentum equation. This flow was deemed incompressible due to the mach speed being smaller than 0.3. For better results in the future, supplying the jet with an independent compressor would eliminate any variance in volumetric flow rates caused by other users of the compressor. This would then generate a higher precision when measuring pressures. Figure 1. This graph shows the relationship between the centerline speed and the distance from the exit. Figure 2. This graph shows the relationship between the normalized velocity and the radial distance from the tubes exit. Figure 3. This graph shows the relationship between the calculated per measured mass flow rate and horizontal position. Figure 4. This graph shows the relationship between the rate of momentum flow and horizontal position.

Preventing Computer Vision Syndrome :: Health Vision Computer Essays

Preventing Computer Vision Syndrome Many people in today’s world experience a number of discomforts in relation to spending too much time in front of a computer. These discomforts are especially common for students at Iowa State University because computer technology is used for most of the classes taught here. Many students are unaware of the damage that they are doing to themselves by staring at computer screens for extended periods of time. This paper will describe some of the effects that these students may experience which include: dry, burning eyes; blurred vision; delayed focusing; altered color perception; headaches; tired eyes; eyestrain; sore eyes; red eyes; contact lens discomfort; glare sensitivity; excessive tearing; neck, shoulder and back pain (intersights). Collectively, these symptoms have been termed Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) by the American Optometry Association (eye2eye). The purpose of this paper is to make students aware of some of the effects of long hours spent in front of a computer, and what they can do to prevent these effects. This paper will cover the causes of common effects of Computer Vision Syndrome in detail so that students are aware of the causes as well as the effects of extended amounts of computer usage. When the students know that their computer is the source of the discomforts described below, they will be able to easily prevent these discomforts. Ultimately, this paper will help students become much more efficient in their computer work when they know what causes the effects of Computer Vision Syndrome are and how they can prevent them. What Are the Causes of Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS)? When a person is looking at a computer screen, that person is processing information at a very rapid rate. The human eye is designed to see clearly at distances of three to twenty feet away without any accommodations, and at this range our eyes traditionally experience no discomfort. When the average person is looking at a computer screen, that screen is usually around twenty inches away from the eyes. The eyes must continually expand and contract to continually refocus to compensate for this small distance. The eye is just not designed to be able to handle staying contracted for any amount of time, and the result is tired, dry, and very sore eyes (eye2eye). The images and text on a computer screen are composed of pixels. Pixels are tiny dots that are bright in the center and fuzzy on the edges and are usually accompanied by backgrounds that do not lend a strong contrast to the written text.

Evolution :: essays research papers

Evolution is a force than nothing can escape. Communities evolve constantly and although there is no standard of where a society should be at any given moment, communities evolve individually. Then in reaction to a developing community, people grow and change. Then in reaction to people evolving the tools that people use develop. This constant evolving usually happens so gradually and slowly that it is hard to detect. As we look back we can see the evolution is a major component of our lives. By focusing mainly on what a person needs to be an active member of society in the New England area we can see exactly how evolution takes its toll on us. Comfort, necessity and luxury are a constantly changing aspect of our society.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As we look deeper into the constant changing of what a person needs to be an active member of a community we notice the continuos alteration of what exactly defines a comfort a necessity and a luxury. Comfort by definition is a condition of pleasu rable ease or well being. By that definition there are endless numbers of object that could serve as a comfort. Take public transportation for example. The thought of having the train that takes us into the city is a commonly know option. Not always have people been able to choose public transportation as a method of getting to and from. Dating as far back as 1889 when the first method of public transportation was developed in Massachusetts. Before this the thought of having a bus or train run to the main areas of a community was absolutely unheard of. But in today’s society there are many people who depend of the train or bus to get to work or to school or wherever it is they are going. When exactly did public transportation change from a luxury to a comfortable part of society? We can not exactly put a date on it but as you look back in time with me we can see how slowly and unnoticeably a societies way of life can change. In conclusion a comfort to us now was at one point and time a luxury to the communities who discovered the amazing attributions that have so nicely shaped our society today.Secondly we can take this observation a little closer to today. If we look at the definition of necessity we find that it means pressing or urgent need.

Marketing Is Everything

HER JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1991 Marketing Is Everything by Regis McKenna he 1990s will belong to the customer. And that is great news for the marketer. Technology is transforming choice, and choice is transforming the marketplace. As a result, we are witnessing the emergence of a new marketing paradigm – not a â€Å"do more† marketing that simply turns up the volume on the sales spiels of the past but a knowledge- and experience-based marketing that represents tbe once-and-for-all death of the salesman. Marketing's transformation is driven by tbe enormous power and ubiquitous spread of tecbnology.So pervasive is technology today tbat it is virtually meaningless to make distinctions between technology and nontecbnology businesses and industries: tbere arc only tecbnology companies. Tecbnology has moved into products, the workplace, and the marketplace with astonishing speed and thorougbness. Seventy years after tbey were invented, fractional borsepower motors are in some IS to 20 bousebold products in tbe average American home today. In less than 20 years, the microprocessor has achieved a similar penetration. TWenty years ago, there Regis McKenna is chairman of Regis McKenna Inc. a Palo Alto-headquartered marketing consulting firm that advises some of America's leading high-tech companies. He is also a general partner of Kleiner Perkins Caufield &) Byers, a technology venture-capital company. He is the author of Who's Afraid of Big Blue? (Addison-Wesley, 1989) and The Regis Touch (Addison-Wesley, 1985]. DRAWING BY TIMOTHY BLECK T 65 MARKETING IS EVERYTHING were fewer than 50,000 computers in use,- today more than . 50,000 computers are purchased every day. The defining characteristic of this new technological push is programmahility.In a computer chip, programmability means the capability to alter a command, so that one chip can perform a variety of prescribed functions and produce a variety of prescribed outcomes. On the factory floor, programmability transforms the production operation, enabling one machine to produce a wide variety of models and products. More broadly, programmability is the new corporate capability to produce more and more varieties and choices for customers – even to offer each individual customer the chance to design and implement the â€Å"program† that will yield the precise product, service, or variety that is right for him or her.The technological promise of programmahility has exploded into the reality of almost unlimited choice. Take the world of drugstores and supermarkets. According to Gorman's New Product News, which tracks new product introductions in these two eonsumer-products arenas, between 1985 and 1989 the number of new products grew by an astonishing 60% to an all-time annual high of 12,055. As venerable a brand as Tide illustrates this multiplication of brand variety. In 1946, Procter & Gamble introduced the laundry detergent, the first ever. For 38 years, one version of Tide served the entire market.Then, in the mid-1980s, Procter & Gamble began to bring out a succession of new Tides: Unscented Tide and Liquid Tide in 1984, Tide with Bleach in 1988, and the concentrated Ultra Tide in 1990. To some marketers, the creation of almost unlimited customer choice represents a threat – particularly when choice is accompanied by new competitors. TVenty years ago, IBM had only 20 competitors,- today it faces more than 5,000, when you count any company that is in the â€Å"computer† business. Twenty years ago, there were fewer than 90 semiconductor companies; today there are almost 300 in the United States alone.And not only are the competitors new, bringing with them new products and new strategies, but the customers also are new: 90% of the people who used a computer in 1990 were not using one in 1980. These new customers don't know ahout the old rules, the old understandings, or the old ways of doing business – and they don't care. What the y do care about is a company that is willing to adapt its products or services to fit their strategies. This represents the evolution of marketing to the market-driven company. Several decades ago, there were sales-driven companies.These organizations focused their energies on changing customers' minds to fit the product – praeticing the â€Å"any color as long as it's black† school of marketing. As teehnology developed and competition increased, some companies shifted their approach and became eustomer driven. These companies expressed a new willingness to change their product to fit customers' requests – practicing the â€Å"tell us what color you want† school of marketing. In the 1990s, successful companies are becoming market driven, adapting their products to fit their customers' strategies.These companies will practice â€Å"let's figure out together whether and how color matters to your larger goal† marketing. It is marketing that is oriente d toward creating rather than controlling a market; it is 66 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW January-February 1991 based on developmental education, incicmcntul improvement, and ongoing process rather than on simple market-share tactics, raw sales, and one-time events. Most important, it draws on the base of knowledge and experience that exists in the organization. T ese two fundamentals, knowledge-based and experiencebased marketing, will increasingly define the capabilities of a successful marketing organization. They will supplant the old approach to marketing and new product development. The old approach – getting an idea, conducting traditional market research, developing a product, testing the market, and finally going to market – is slow, unresponsive, and turf-ridden. Moreover, given the fast-changing marketplace, there is less and less reason to believe that this traditional approach can keep up with real customer wishes and demands or with the rigors of competition.C onsider the mueh-publieized 1988 lawsuit that Beecham, the international consumer products group, filed against advertising giant Saatchi ; Saatchi. The suit, which sought more than $24 million in damages, argued that Yankelovich Clancy Shulman, at that time Saatchi's U. S. market-research subsidiary, had â€Å"vastly overstated† the projected market share of a new detergent that Beecham launched. Yankelovich forecast that Beecham's product, Delicare, a cold-water detergent, would win between 45. 4% and 52. 3% of the U. S. arket if Beecham backed it with $18 million of advertising. According to Beeeham, however, Delicare's highest market share was 25%; the product generally achieved a market share of between 15% and 20%. The lawsuit was settled out of court, with no clear winner or loser. Regardless of the outcome, however, the issue it illustrates is widespread and fundamental: forecasts, by their very nature, must be unreliable, particularly with technology, competitors, cu stomers, and markets all shifting ground so often, so rapidly, and so radically.The alternative to this old approach is know ledge-based and experience-based marketing. Knowledge-based marketing requires a company to master a scale of knowledge: of the technology in which it competes; of its competition; of its customers; of new sources of technology that can alter its competitive environment; and of its own organization, capabilities, plans, and way of doing business.Armed with this mastery, companies can put knowledge-based marketing to work in three essential ways: integrating tbe customer into tbe design process to guarantee a product tbat is tailored not only to the customers' needs and desires but also to the customers' strategies; generating nicbe thinking to use tbe company's knowledge of cbannels and markets to identify segments of tbe market tbe company can own; and developing the infrastructure of suppliers, vendors, partners, and users wbose relationships will help susta in and support tbe company's reputation and technological edge.The otber balf of this new marketing paradigm is experiencebased marketing, wbicb empbasizes interactivity, connectivity, and creativity. With tbis approacb, companies spend time with tbeir customers, constantly monitor tbeir competitors, and develop a feedback-analysis system tbat turns this information about the market and the competition into important new product intelligence. At the same time, tbese companies botb evaluate their own )anuary February 1991 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW 67 MARKETING IS EVERYTHING echnology to assess its currency and cooperate with other companies to create mutually advantageous systems and solutions. These close encounters – with customers, competitors, and internal and external technologies – give companies the firsthand experience they need to invest in market development and to take intelligent, calculated risks. In a time of exploding choice and unpredictable change, market ing – the new marketing – is the answer. With so much choice for customers, companies face the end of loyalty.To combat that threat, they can add sales and marketing people, throwing costly resources at the market as a way to retain customers. But the real solution, of course, is not more marketing but better marketing. And that means marketing that finds a way to integrate the customer into the company, to create and sustain a relationship between the company and the customer. The marketer must he the integrator, both internally – synthesizing technological capability with market needs – and externally bringing the customer into the company as a participant in the development and adaptation of goods and services.It is a fundamental shift in the role and purpose of marketing: from manipulation of the customer to genuine customer involvement; from telling and selling to communicating and sharing knowledge; from last-in-line function to corporate-credibilit y champion. Playing the integrator requires the marketer to command credibility. In a marketplace characterized by rapid change and potentially paralyzing choice, credibility becomes the company's sustaining value.The character of its management, the strength of its financials, the quality of its innovations, the congeniality of its customer references, the capabilities of its alliances – these are the measures of a company's credibility. They are measures that, in turn, directly affect its capacity to attract quality people, generate new ideas, and form quality relationships. The relationships are the key, the hasis of customer choice and company adaptation. After all, what is a successful brand hut a special relationship?And who hetter than a company's marketing people to create, sustain, and interpret the relationship between the company, its suppliers, and its customers? That is why, as the demands on the company have shifted from controlling costs to competing on product s to serving customers, the center of gravity in the company has shifted from finance to engineering-and now to marketing. In the 1990s, marketing will do more than sell. It will define the way a company does business. The old notion of marketing -was epitomized hy Marketing Is Everythins, and Everything T A/T / +' IS IViarKCting he ritual phone call from the CEO to the corporate headhunter saying, â€Å"Find me a good marketing per- ^†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ^ ^† ‘^†^ ^^ marketing operation! † What the Q^Q wanted, of course, was someone who could take on a discrete set of textbook functions that were generally associated with run-of-the-mill marketing. That person would immediately go to Madison Avenue to hire an advertising agency, change the ad campaign, redesign the company logo, redo the brochures, train the sales force, retain a high-powered public relations firm, and alter or otherwise reposition the company's image.HARVARD BUSINESS REVTEW lanuary-February 1991 68 Behind the CEO's call for â€Å"a good marketing person† were a number of assumptions and attitudes about marketing: that it is a distinct function in the company, separate from and usually subordinate to the core functions; that its job is to identify groups of potential customers and find ways to convince them to buy the company's product or service; and that at the heart of it is image making – creating and projecting a false sense of the company and its offerings to lure the customer into the company's grasp.If those assumptions ever were warranted in the past, however, all three are totally unsupportable and obsolete today. Marketing today is not a function; it is a way of doing business. Marketing is not a new ad campaign or this month's promotion. Marketing has to be all-pervasive, part of everyone's job description, from the receptionists to the board of directors. Its job is neither to fool the customer nor to falsify the company's image. It is to integrate the customer into the design of the product and to design a ystematic process for interaction that will create substance in the relationship. To understand the difference between the old and tbe new marketing, compare how two bigb-tech medical instrument companies recently bandied similar customer telepbone calls requesting tbe repair and replacement of their equipment. Tbe first eompany – call it Gluco – delivered tbe replacement instrument to tbe customer witbin 24 hours of tbe request, no questions asked. Tbe box in wbich it arrived contained instructions for sending back tbe broken instrument, a mailing label, and even tape to reseal tbe box.Tbe pbone call and tbe excbange of instruments were handled conveniently, professionally, and witb maximum consideration for and minimum disruption to tbe customer. The second company – call it Pumpco – bandied tbings quite differently. Tbe person wbo took the customer's telepbone call bad never been asked about repairing a piece of equipment; sbe tbougbtlessly sent tbe customer into tbe limbo of bold. Finally, sbe came back on the line to say tbat tbe customer would have to pay for tbe equipment repair and tbat a temporary replacement would cost an additional $ 15.Several days later, tbe customer received tbe replacement witb no instructions, no information, no directions. Several weeks after the customer returned tbe broken equipment, it reappeared, repaired but witb no instructions concerning tbe temporary replacement. Finally, tbe customer got a demand letter from Pumpco, indicating tbat someone at Pumpco bad made the mistake of not sending tbe equipment C. O. D. To Pumpco, marketing means selling tbings and collecting money; to Gluco, marketing means building relationsbips witb its custotners.The way tbe two eompanies bandied two simple eustomer requests refleets tbe questions tbat customers increasingly ask in interactions witb all kinds of businesses, from airlines to software makers : Wbicb company is competent, responsive, and well organized? Wbicb company do I trust to get it rigbt- Wbicb company would I ratber do business witb? Successful companies realize tbat marketing is like quality integral to tbe organization. Like quality, marketing is an intangible tbat tbe customer must experience to appreciate.And like quality – wbicb in tbe United States bas developed from early ideas like HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW )anuary-February 1991 69 MARKETING IS EVERYTHING planned obsolescence and inspecting quality in to more ambitious concepts like the systemization of quality in every aspect of tbe organization – marketing bas been evolutionary. Marketing bas shifted from tricking tbe customer to blaming the customer to satisfying the customer – and now to integrating tbe customer systematically.As its next move, marketing must permanently shed its reputation for hucksterism and image making and create an award for marketing much like tbe Malcolm Baldr ige National Quality Award. In fact, companies tbat continue to see marketing as a bag of tricks will lose out in sbort order to companies tbat stress substance and real performance. Marketing's ultimate assignment is to serve customers' real needs and to communicate tbe substance of tbe company – not to introduce tbe kinds of cosmetics tbat used to typify tbe auto industry's annual model cbanges.And because marketing in tbe 1990s is an expression of tbe company's cbaracter, it necessarily is a responsibility tbat belongs to the whole company. The Goal ofMarketing Is to Own the Market, Not fust U. S. companies typically make two kinds of mistakes. Some get caught up in the excitement and drive of making things, particularly new creto Sell the ations. Others become absorbed in the competiPwduct ^^^^  °^ selling things, particularly to increase their market share in a given product line. Both approaches could prove fatal to a business.Tbe problem witb tbe first is tbat it lea ds to an internal focus. Companies can become so fixated on pursuing tbeir R&D agendas that they forget about tbe customer, tbe market, tbe competition. They end up winning recognition as R&D pioneers but lack the more important capability – sustaining their performance and, sometimes, maintaining their independence. Genentech, for example, clearly emerged as the R&D pioneer in biotechnology, only to be acquired by Rocbe. Tbe problem with the second approach is that it leads to a market-sbare mentality, which inevitably translates into undershooting the market.A market-share mentality leads a company to think of its customers as â€Å"share points† and to use gimmicks, spiffs, and promotions to eke out a percentage-point gain. It pusbes a company to look for incremental, sometimes even minuscule, growtb out of existing products or to spend lavishly to launch a new product in a market where competitors enjoy a fat, dominant position. It turns marketing into an expensive fight over crumbs rather than a smart effort to own the whole pie. Tbe real goal of marketing is to own the market – not just to make or sell products. Smart marketing means defining what wbole pie is yours.It means thinking of your company, your technology, your product in a fresh way, a way that begins by defining what you can lead. Because in marketing, what you lead, you own. Leadership is ownership. When you own the market, you do different things and you do tbings differently, as do your suppliers and your customers. When you own tbe market, you develop your products to serve tbat market specifically; you define tbe standards in that market; you bring into your camp third parties who want to develop their own compatible products or offer you new features or add-ons to aug- 70 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW January-February 19yi ent your product; you get the first look at new ideas that others are testing in that market; you attract the most talented people because of your ack nowledged leadership position. Owning a market can become a self-reinforcing spiral. Beeause you own the market, you become the dominant force in the field; beeause you dominate the field, you deepen your ownership of the market. Ultimately, you deepen your relationship with your customers as well, as they attribute more and more leadership qualities to a company that exhibits such an integrated performance. To own the market, a eompany starts by thinking of a new way to define a market.Take, for instance, the case of Convex Computer. In 1984, Convex was looking to put a new computer on the market. Because of tbe existing market segmentation. Convex could have seen its only choice as competing for market sbare in the predefined markets: in supercomputers where Cray dominated or in minicomputers where Digital led. Determined to define a market it could own. Convex created the â€Å"mini-supercomputer† market by offering a product with a priee/performance ratio between Cray's $ 5 million to $15 million supercomputers and Digital's $300,000 to $750,000 minieomputers.Convex's product, priced between $500,000 and $800,000, offered teehnological performance less than that of a full supercomputer and more than that of a minicomputer. Within this new market. Convex established itself as the leader. Intel did the same thing with its microprocessor. The company defined its early products and market more as computers than semiconductors. Intel offered, in essence, a computer on a chip, creating a new category of products that it could own and lead. Sometimes owning a market means broadening it; other times, narrowing it. Apple has managed to do both in efforts to create and own a market.Apple first broadened the category of small computers to achieve a leadership position. The market definition started out as hobby computers and had many small players. The next step was the home computer – a market that was also crowded and limiting. Tb own a market, Apple i dentified the personal computer, which expanded the market concept and made Apple the undeniable market leader. In a later move, Apple did the opposite, redefining a market by narrowing its definition. Unquestionably, IBM owned the business market; for Apple, a market-share mentality in that arena would have been pointless.Instead, with technology alliances and marketing eorreetly defined, Apple created – and owned – a whole new market: desktop publishing. Once inside the corporate world with desktop publishing, Apple could deepen and broaden its relationships with the business customer. Paradoxically, two important outcomes of owning a market are substantial earnings, which can replenish the company's R&D coffers, and a powerful market position, a beachhead from wbich a company can grow additional market share by expanding both its teehnological capabilities and its definition of the market.The greatest praetitioners of this marketing approach are Japanese companies i n industries like autos, commercial electronics, semiconductors, and computers and communications. Their primary goal is ownership of certain target markets. The keiretsv industrial! structure allows them to use all of the market's infrastructure to achieve HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW January-February 1991 * r ^ MARKETING IS EVERYTHING this; relationships in technology, information, politics, and distribution help tbe company assert its leadership. Tbe Japanese strategy is consistent.Tbese companies begin by using basic research from tbe United States to jump-start new product development. From 1950 to 1978, for example, Japanese companies entered into 32,000 licensing arrangements to acquire foreign technology at an estimated cost of $9 billion. But the United States spent at least 50 times tbat much to do the original R&D. Next, these Japanese companies pusb out a variety of products to engage the market and to learn and then focus on dominating tbe market to force foreign competitors to retreat – leaving them to barvest substantial returns.Tbese buge profits are recycled into a new spiral of R&J3, innovation, market creation, and market dominance. Tbat model of competing, which links R&D, technology, innovation, production, and finance – integrated through marketing's drive to own a market – is the approacb tbat all competitors will take to succeed in the 1990s. In a world of mass manufacturing, the counterpart was mass marketing. In a world of flexible Technolo2V n^^nufacturing, the counterpart is flexible market7-. 7 ine. The technology comes first, the ability to marJZ VUI Vt^Ci j^gj follows.The tecbnology embodies adaptability, programmability, and customizability; now comes marketing that delivers on those qualities. Today tecbnology has created tbe promise of â€Å"any thing, any way, any time. † Customers can have their own version of virtually any product, including one that appeals to mass identification rather than individu ality, if tbey so desire. Think of a product or an industry where customization is not predominant. The telephone? Originally, Bell Telephone's goal was to place a simple, all-black pbone in every home. Today there are more than 1,000 permutations and combinations available, ith options running the gamut from different colors and portahility to answering machines and programmability – as well as services. Tbere is the further promise of optical fiber and the convergence of computers and communications into a unified industry with even greater technological choice. How about a venerable product like the bicycle, which appeared originally as a sketch in Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks? According to a recent article in the Washington Post, tbe National Bicycle Industrial Company in Kokubu, Japan builds made-to-order bicycles on an assembly line.The bicycles, fitted to each customer's measurements, are delivered within two weeks of the order – and the company offers 11,231,8 62 variations on its models, at prices only 10% higher than ready-made models. Even newspapers tbat report on this technology-led move to customization are themselves increasingly customized. Faced witb stagnant circulation, the urban daily newspapers have begun to customize their news, advertising, and even editorial and sports pages to appeal to local suburban readers. The Los Angeles Times, for example, has seven zoned editions targeting each of tbe city's surrounding communities.What is at work here is the predominant matbematical formula of today's marketing: variety plus service equals customization. For 72 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW January-February all of its handying about as a marketing buzzword, customization is a remarkably direct concept – it is the capacity to deal with a customer in a unique way. Technology makes it increasingly possible to do that, but interestingly, marketing's version of the laws of physics makes it increasingly difficult. According to quantum physics, things act differently at the micro level Light is the classic example.When subjected to certain kinds of tests, light behaves like a wave, moving in much the way an ocean wave moves. But in other tests, light behaves more like a particle, moving as a single ball. So, scientists ask, is it a wave or a particle? And when is it which? Markets and customers operate like light and energy. In fact, like light, the customer is more than one thing at the same time. Sometimes consumers behave as part of a group, fitting neatly into social and psychographic classifications. Other times, the consumer breaks loose and is iconoclastic.Customers make and break patterns: the senior citizen market is filled with older people who intensely wish to act youthful, and the upscale market must contend with wealthy people who hide their money behind the most utilitarian purchases. Markets are subject to laws similar to those of quantum physics. Different markets have different levels of consumer energy, stages in the market's development where a product surges, is absorbed, dissipates, and dies. A fad, after all, is nothing more than a wave that dissipates and then becomes a particle.Take the much-discussed Yuppie market and its association with certain branded consumer products, like BMWs. After a stage of bigh customer energy and close identification, the wave has broken. Having been saturated and absorbed by the marketplace, the Yuppie association has faded, just as energy does in the physical world. Sensing the change, BMW no longer sells to the Yuppie lifestyle but now focuses on the technological capabilities of its machines. And Yuppies are no longer the wave they once were; as a market, they are more like particles as they look for more individualistic and personal expressions of their consumer energy.Of course, since particles can also behave like waves again, it is likely that smart marketers will tap some new energy source, such as values, to recoalesce the youn g, affluent market into a wave. And technology gives marketers the tools they need, such as database marketing, to discern waves and particles and even to design programs that combine enough particles to form a powerful wave. The lesson for marketers is much the same as that voiced by Buckminster Fuller for scientists: â€Å"Don't fight forces,- use them. Marketers who follow and use technology, rather than oppose it, will discover that it creates and leads directly to new market forms and opportunities. Take audiocassettes, tapes, and compact discs. For years, record and tape companies jealously guarded their property. Knowing that home hackers pirated tapes and created their own composite cassettes, the music companies steadfastly resisted the forces of technology – until the Personics System realized that technology was making a legitimate market for authorized, high-quality customized composite cassettes and CDs.Rather than treating the customer as a criminal, Personics saw a market. Today consumers can design personalized music tapes from the Personics System, a rewed-up jukebox with a library of HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW (anuary R-bmary 1991 73 MARKETING IS EVERYTHING over 5,000 songs. For $1. 10 per song, consumers tell tbe macbine wbat to record. In about ten minutes, tbe system makes a customized tape and prints out a laser-quality label of tbe selections, complete witb tbe customer's name and a personalized title for tbe tape. Launcbed in 1988, tbe system bas already spread to more tban 250 stores.Smart marketers bave, once again, allowed tecbnology to create the customizing relationship witb tbe customer. We are witnessing tbe obsoleseence of advertisg-1^ tbe old model of marketing, it made sense as oveS fTOm ^^^ wbole formula: you sell mass-produced tn lU Q 3 j^ygg market tbrougb mass media. Marketing's job was to use advertising to deliver a message to tbe consumer in a one-way communication: â€Å"Buy tbis! † Tbat message no longer w orks, and advertising is sbowing tbe effects. In 1989, newspaper advertising grew only 4%, compared witb 6% in 1988and9% in 1987.According to a study by Syracuse University's Jobn Pbilip Jones, ad spending in tbe major media bas been stalled at 1. 5% of GNP since 1984. Ad agency staffing, researcb, and profitability bave been affected. Three related factors explain tbe decline of advertising. First, advertising overkill bas started to ricocbet back on advertising itself. Tbe proliferation of products has yielded a proliferation of messages: U. S. customers are hit witb up to 3,000 marketing messages a day. In an effort to bombard the customer with yet one more advertisement, marketers are squeezing as many voices as they can into tbe space allotted to tbem.In 1988, for example, 38% of primetime and 47% of weekday daytime television commercials were only 15 seconds in duration; in 1984, those figures were 6% and 11 % respeetively. As a result of the shift to 15-second commercials, th e number of television commercials bas skyrocketed; between 1984 and 1988, prime-time commercials increased by 25%, weekday daytime by 24%. Predictably, bowever, a greater number of voices translates into a smaller impact. Customers simply are unable to remember wbich advertisement pitcbes wbich product, much less wbat qualities or attributes might differentiate one product from anotber.Very simply, it's a jumble out tbere. Take tbe enormously clever and critically acclaimed series of advertisements for Eveready batteries, featuring a tireless marching rabbit. Tbe ad was so successful tbat a survey conducted by Video Storyboard Tests Inc. named it one of tbe top commercials in 1990 for Duracell, Eveready's top competitor. In fact, a full 40% of tbose wbo selected tbe ad as an outstanding commercial attributed it to Duracell. Partly as a consequence of tbis confusion, reports indicate that Duracell's market share has grown, while Eveready's may have sbrunk sligbtly.Batteries are not the only market in whicb more advertising succeeds in spreading more confusion. The same thing bas happened in markets like athletic footwear and soda pop, where competing companies have signed up so many celebrity sponsors that consumers can no longer keep straight who is pitcbing wbat for whom. In 1989, for example. Coke, Diet Coke, Pepsi, and Diet Pepsi used nearly three dozen movie stars, athletes, musicians, and television personalities to tell consumers to buy more cola. But wben tbe 74 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW January-February 1991 moke and mirrors bad cleared, most consumers couldn't remember wbetber foe Montana and Don Jobnson drank Coke or Pepsi – or botb. Or wby it really mattered. Tbe second development in advertising's decline is an outgrowth of the first: as advertising has proliferated and become more obnoxiously insistent, consumers bave gotten fed up. Tbe more advertising seeks to intrude, tbe more people try to shut it out. Last year, Disney won the applause of commercial-weary customers when the company announced tbat it would not screen its films in tbeaters that showed commercials before the feature.A Disney executive was quoted as saying, â€Å"Movie theaters should he preserved as environments where consumers can escape from the pervasive onslaught of advertising. † Buttressing its position, tbe company cited survey data obtained from moviegoers, 90% of wbom said tbey did not want commercials sbown in movie tbeaters and 95% of wbom said tbey did want to see previews of coming attractions. More recently, after a number of failed attempts, the U. S. Congress responded to the growing concerns of parents and educators over the eommercial content of children's television.A new law limits tbe number of minutes of commercials and directs tbe Federal Communications Commission botb to examine â€Å"programlength commercials† – cartoon shows linked to commercial product lines – and to make each television station' s contribution to cbildren's educational needs a condition for license renewal. Tbis concern over advertising is mirrored in a variety of arenas from public outcry over cigarette marketing plans targeted at blacks and women to calls for more environmentally sensitive packaging and products.The underlying reason bebind botb of these factors is advertising's dirty little secret: it serves no useful purpose. In today's market, advertising simply misses the fundamental point of marketing – adaptability, flexibility, and responsiveness. Tbe new marketing requires a feedback loop; it is tbis element tbat is missing from tbe monologue of advertising but that is built into the dialogue of marketing. Tbe feedback loop, connecting company and customer, is central to tbe operating definition of a truly market-driven company: a company that adapts in a timely way to the changing needs of tbe customer.Apple is one such company. Its Macintosh computer is regarded as a machine that launched a revolution. At its birth in 1984, industry analysts received it with praise and acclaim. But in retrospect, the first Macintosh had many weaknesses: it had limited, nonexpandable memory, virtually no applications software, and a blackand-wbite screen. For all tbose deficiencies, bowever, tbe Mac bad two strengtbs tbat more than compensated: it was incredibly easy to use, and it bad a user group tbat was prepared to praise Mac publicly at its launeb and to advise Apple privately on bow to improve it.In other words, it had a feedback loop. It was tbis feedback loop tbat brougbt about change in tbe Mac, wbicb ultimately became an open, adaptable, and colorful computer. And it was changing the Mac that saved it. Months before launebing tbe Mac, Apple gave a sample of tbe product to 100 influential Americans to use and comment on. It signed up 100 tbird-party software suppliers wbo began to envision applications that could take advantage of the Mac's simplicity. It HARVARD BUSINESS RE VIEW (anuary-February 1991 75MARKETING IS EVERYTHING trained over 4,000 dealer salespeople and gave full-day, hands-on demonstrations of the Mac to industry insiders and analysts. Apple got two benefits from this network: educated Mac supporters who could legitimately praise the product to the press and invested consumers who could tell the company what the Mac needed. The dialogue witb customers cmd media praise were worth more than any notice advertising could buy. Apple's approach represents the new marketing model, a shift from monologue to dialogue.It is accomplished through experience-based marketing, where companies create opportunities for customers and potential customers to sample their products and then provide feedback. It is accomplished through beta sites, where a company can install a prelaunch product and study its use and needed refinements. Experienced-based marketing allows a company to work closely with a client to change a product, to adapt the technology â€⠀œ recognizing that no product is perfect wben it comes from engineering. This interaction was precisely the approach taken by Xerox in developing its recently announced Docutech System.Seven months before launeh, Xerox established 25 beta sites. From its prelaunch eustomers, Xerox learned what adjustments it should make, what service and support it should supply, and what enhancements and related new products it might next introduce. The goal is adaptive marketing, marketing that stresses sensitivity, flexibility, and resiliency. Sensitivity comes from having a variety of modes and channels through which companies can read the environment, from user groups that offer live feedback to sophisticated consumer scanners that provide data on customer choice in real time.Flexibility comes from creating an organizational structure and operating style that permits the company to take advantage of new opportunities presented by customer feedback. Resiliency comes from learning from mistakes – marketing that listens and responds. The line between products and services is fast Marketing a Product d Service Is Is iVl(irK6tll2g Q. 1 rOuUCt gj-jjj ]viotors makes more money from lending its eroding, what once appeared to be a rigid polarity ^^^ ^^^ become a hybrid: the servicization of prod^^^^ ^^^ ^^ productization of services. When Gen- ustomers money to buy its cars than it makes from manufacturing the cars, is it marketing its products or its services? When IBM announces to all the world that it is now in the systems-integration business – the customer can buy any box from any vendor and IBM will supply the systems know-how to make the whole thing work together – is it marketing its products or its services? In fact, the computer business today is 75% services; it consists overwhelmingly of applications knowledge, systems analysis, systems engineering, systems integration, networking solutions, security, and maintenance.The point applies just as well to less grandiose eompanies and to less expensive consumer products. Take the large corner drugstore that stocks thousands of products, from cosmetics to wristwatches. The products are for sale, but the store is actually marketing a service – the convenience of having so much variety collected and arrayed in one location. Or take any of the ordinary products found in the home, from boxes of cereal to table lamps to VCRs. All of 76 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW January-February 1991 hem come with some form of information designed to perform a service: nutritional information to indicate tbe actual food value of the cereal to tbe health-conscious consumer; a United Laboratories label on tbe lamp as an assurance of testing; an operating manual to belp tbe nontecbnical VCR customer rig up tbe new unit. Tbere is ample room to improve tbe quality of this information – to make it more useful, more convenient, or even more entertaining – hut in almost every case, the service information is a critical component of the product.On the other side of tbe hybrid, service providers are acknowledging tbe productization of services. Service providers, such as banks, insurance companies, consulting firms, even airlines and radio stations, are creating tangible events, repetitive and predictable exercises, standard and customizable packages tbat are product services. A frequent-flier or a frequent-listener club is a product service, as are regular audits performed by consulting firms or new loan packages assembled by banks to respond to cbanging economic conditions.As products and services merge, it is critical for marketers to understand clearly what marketing the new hybrid is not. Tbe serviee component is not satisfied by repairing a product if it breaks. Nor is it satisfied by an 800 number, a warranty, or a customer survey form. Wbat customers want most from a product is often qualitative and intangible; it is tbe service tbat is integral to the product. Ser vice is not an event; it is the process of creating a customer environment of information, assurance, and comfort. Consider an experienee that by now must have become commonplace for all of us as consumers.You go to an electronics store and buy an expensive piece of audio or video equipment, say, a CD player, a VCR, or a video camera. You take it bome, and a few days later, you accidentally drop it. It breaks. It won't work. Now, as a customer, you have a decision to make. When you take it back to the store, do you say it was broken wben you took it out of the box? Or do you tell the truth? The answer, honestly, depends on how you think the store will respond. But just as honestly, most customers appreciate a store that encourages them to tell the truth by making good on all customer problems.Service is, ultimately, an environment that encourages honesty. The company that adopts a â€Å"we'll make good on it, no questions asked† policy in the face of adversity may win a custo mer for life. Marketers who ignore the service component of their products focus on competitive differentiation and tools to penetrate markets. Marketers who appreciate the importance of the product-service hybrid focus on building loyal customer relationships. Technology and marketing once may bave Technology looked like opposites.The cold, impersonal sameness of technology and the high-touch, human Technology uniqueness of marketing seemed eternally at odds, Computers would only make marketing less personal; marketing could never leam to appreciate the look and feel of computers, datahases, and the rest of the high-tech paraphernalia. On the grounds of cost, a truce was eventually arranged. Very simply, marketers discovered that real savings could be gained hy KARVAKD BUSINESS REVIEW lanuary-February 1991 Markets 77 MARKETING IS EVERYTHING using technology to do what previously had required expensive, intensive, and often risky, people-directed field operations.For example, market ers learned that by matching a database with a marketing plan to simulate a new product launch on a computer, they could accomplish in 90 days and for $50,000 what otherwise would take as long as a year and cost at least several hundred thousand dollars. But having moved beyond the simple automation-for-cost-saving stage, technology and marketing have now not only fused but also begun to feed hack to each other. The result is the transformation of both technology and the product and the reshaping of both the customer and tbe company.Technology permits information to flow in both directions between the customer and the company. It creates the feedback loop that integrates the customer into the company, allows tbe company to own a market, permits customization, creates a dialogue, and turns a product into a service and a service into a product. T he direction in which Genentech has moved in its use of laptop and hand-held computers illustrates the transforming power of technology as i t merges with marketing. Originally, the biotechnology company planned to have salespeople use laptops on their sales calls as a way to automate the sales function.Sales reps, working solely out of their homes, would use laptops to get and send electronic mail, file reports on computerized â€Å"templates,† place orders, and receive company press releases and information updates. In addition, the laptops would enable sales reps to keep databases that would track customers' buying histories and company performance. That was the initial level of expectations – very low. In fact, the technology-marketing marriage has dramatically altered the customer-company relationship and the joh of the sales rep. Sales reps have emerged as marketing consultants.Armed with technical information generated and gathered by Genentech, sales reps can provide a valuable educational service to their customers, who are primarily pharmacists and physicians. For example, analysis of the largest study of children with a disease called short stature is available only through Genentech and its representatives. With this analysis, which is hased on clinical studies of 6,000 patients between the ages of one month and 30 years, and with the help of an on-line â€Å"growth calculator,† doctors can better judge when to use the growth hormone Protropin.Genentecb's system also includes a general educational component. Sales reps can use their laptops to access the latest articles or technical reports from medical conferences to help doctors keep up to date. The laptops also make it possible for doctors to use sales reps as research associates: Genentech has a staff of medical specialists who can answer highly technical questions posed through an on-line question-and-answer template.When sales reps enter a question on the template, the e-mail function immediately routes it to the appropriate specialist. For relatively simple questions, online answers come back to the sales rep within a day. In the 1990s, Genentech's laptop system – and the hundreds of similar applications that sprang up in tbe 1980s to automate sales, marketing, service, and distribution – will seem like a rather obviHARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW January-February 1991 78 ous and primitive way to meld tecbnology and marketing.The marketer will bave available not only existing tecbnologies but also tbeir converging capabilities: personal computers, databases, CD-ROMs, grapbic displays, multimedia, color terminals, computer-video tecbnology, networking, a custom processor tbat can be built into anytbing anywhere to create intelligence on a countertop or a dasbboard, seanners that read text, and networks tbat instantaneously create and distribute vast reacbes of information. As design and manufacturing tecbnologies advance into â€Å"real time† processes, marketing will move to eliminate tbe gap between production and consumption.Tbe result will be marketing workstations †“ the marketers' counterpart to CAD/CAM systems for engineers and product designers. Tbe marketing workstation will draw on grapbic, video, audio, and numeric information from a network of databases. The marketer will be able to look tbrougb windows on tbe workstation and manipulate data, simulate markets and products, bounce concepts off otbers in distant cities, write production orders for product designs and packaging concepts, and obtain costs, timetables, and distribution scbedules.Just as computer-comfortable cbildren today tbink notbing of manipulating figures and playing fantastic games on tbe same color screens, marketers will use the workstation to play botb designer and eonsumer. Tbe workstation will allow marketers to integrate data on historic sales and cost figures, competitive trends, and consumer patterns. At tbe same time, marketers will be able to create and test advertisements and promotions, evaluate media options, and analyze viewer and readersbip data. And fi nally, marketers will be able to obtain instant feedbaek on concepts and plans and to move marketing plans rapidly into production.Tbe marriage of technology and marketing should bring witb it a renaissance of marketing RikD – a new capability to explore new ideas, to test tbem against tbe reactions of real eustomers in real time, and to advance to experience-based leaps of faith. It should be the vehicle for bringing tbe customer inside the company and for putting marketing in tbe eenter of tbe company. In tbe 1990s, tbe critical dimensions of tbe company – including all of tbe attributes tbat togetber define how the company does business – are ultimately tbe functions of marketing.That is wby marketing is everyone's job, wby marketing is everytbing and everytbing is marketing. ^ Reprint 91108 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW liinuary-February 1991 79 Harvard Business Review Notice of Use Restrictions, May 2009 Harvard Business Review and Harvard Business Publishing New sletter content on EBSCOhost is licensed for the private individual use of authorized EBSCOhost users. It is not intended for use as assigned course material in academic institutions nor as corporate learning or training materials in businesses.Academic licensees may not use this content in electronic reserves, electronic course packs, persistent linking from syllabi or by any other means of incorporating the content into course resources. 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