Mike DeLucchi's Blog

Today in business fundamentals, we studied the concepts of marketing. One of the major topics assessed were brand positioning. A brand’s market share is largely influenced by the mind of the consumers. As the superior product of that division, the consumers will always share the idea that it is the most effective, or most appealing. Thus, it is essential for a brand to portray itself as the primary product in that category. If that position is unattainable, to be positioned as segment leader would be ideal. The difference is that a segment is a specified branch of a category. For instance, if toothpaste were the category, a plausible segment would be a toothpast with the capabilities of relieving ails of sensitive teeth. However, the concept I found most interesting was that which regarded points of difference, and points of parity. A point of parity is an aspect of a business which is also included in the rival businesses of its industry. An example of this would be that in the fast food industry, McDonalds offers cheap, and quick meals. This is a point of parity as a cheap, quick meal can be readily accessible from any fast food restaurant. However, a point of difference for McDonalds would be that it is the uncontested leader of that market. A point of difference is depicted as an offering of the product or enterprise, that seperates itself from its competitors. Overall, I thought todays class was extremley interesting, and I now realise how crucial the marketing schemes must be. I am looking forward to the finance introduction on thursday!

Wal-Mart Unethical Business Practices

Founded by Sam Walton, Wal-Mart has become one of the largest companies in the United States, with the largest amount of employees excluding the Federal Government. However, the majority of their workers are still under the poverty line. My analysis shows that this is due to some of Wal-Mart’s unethical business practices. One of these practices includes labour union opposition. Workers at Wal-Mart start off with wages much lower than that of a union worker. In addition, Wal-Mart prohibits its workers from speaking to union representatives, which is against the National Labor Relations Act as workers have a right to form a union. Other than low wages, employees can not even afford to pay for Wal-Mart’s extremley expensive health insurance. In my opinion, Wal-Mart should either include health insurance, or raise wages of employees so they can afford the health plan. It is time they stop worrying about lowering their prices, and start figuring out a way to raise employee job satisfaction.

Michael DeLucchi

Link: http://www.freeonlineresearchpapers.com/walmart-unethical-business-practices