Elements of the Marketing Mix Essay Example for Free

Elements of the Marketing Mix Essay This case will study describe the elements of the marketing mix. These four elements include product, place, price and promotion. This paper will include a description of how an organization’s marketing strategy is affected by the four elements of the marketing mix. Another aspect that this paper will include is a description of how each element is implemented in the company. One more topic that this paper will describe is the organizations name and industry in which it exists. The marketing mix is defined as a mixture of several ideas and plans followed by a marketing representative to promote a particular product or brand. Several concepts and ideas are combined together to formulate final strategies helpful in making a brand popular amongst the masses to form the marketing mix (Marketing Mix Meaning and Its Elements, n.d.). The elements of the marketing mix are often called the four P’s of marketing (Perreault, Cannon, McCarthy, 2011). First, Product is defined as goods that are manufactured by organizations for the consumer. Products can be two types, tangible and intangible. A product in a market place is something which a seller sells to the buyers in exchange for money. Price is defined as the money which a buyer pays for a product. The price of a product is indirectly proportional to its availability in the market. If a product is not readily available then the price goes up (Marketing Mix Meaning and Its Elements, n.d.). Place refers to the location where the products are available and can be sold or purchased. Here one is exposed to a physical building, or store, or one can purchase items on the internet. Finally, the fourth element is promotion. Promotion refers to the various strategies and ideas implemented by the marketers to make the consumer aware of their product (Marketing Mix Meaning and Its Elements, n.d.). Today’s market is huge and there is an abundant variety of products available. Frito Lay is a multi-national  corporation that is predominantly in the salty snack business. Frito Lay aims its market strategy at both the mass market and target markets alike. This food driven company does have some strengths such as its renowned reliability, high quality control and markets its product as convenient fun foods. The products that Frito Lay generates have consumers in mind that particularly buy snack foods as a leisure item. Their packing and branding is targeting a consumer that wants to snack on the go or during lunch with a sandwich. With this in mind, the organizations marketing strategy uses all four of the marketing mix very well. Frito Lay sells a wide variety of chips form Ruffles to Lays, Cheetos to Doritos and Tostitos to Funyions. These products satisfy many customers’ needs for fun snacking. In the Product element, packaging is also very important when keeping the consumer satisfied. Bright colors are used to catch the eye when they design the bags that carry all of their brands. In the Place element, the product is highly visible in that one can purchase said items and every convenience store in the marketplace. Not only is the product in just about every UDS store but in vending machines and supermarkets. The channel of distribution is very important to deliver these products to the consumer and Frito Lay has an excellent distribution system in place. The third element, Promotion, targets new customers and retaining current customers. Many people have heard the phrase â€Å"no one can eat just one.† This catch phrase was designed for Lays potato chips and hasn’t been used in years, but just about everybody has heard that. That is advertising at its finest. The use of mass selling techniques has been advantageous to Frito Lay. The fourth â€Å"P† is Price and that obviously plays an important part in Frito’s model. Frito Lays strategy is to stay competitive with other salty snack manufacturers and their price points. Their target price is also directed at young adults and children. Each element in the marketing mix is used very well by Frito Lay. The products that this corporation sells to the consumer vary from salty snacks to cookies and even beef jerky. Frito Lay guarantees freshness for its product and delivers a price point that is competitive to just about any consumer. In the channels of distribution process it is important to get a food item to the retailer in a timely manner as the food item can spoil. The freshness guarantee that Frito Lay offers dictates that the salty snack has a shelf life of about a month for most products and the  products need to be removed from the shelves if they do not sell. Because of this model, the delivery system promotes efficiency when sold and distributed to each retailer. Promotions are huge with Frito Lay as they spend millions for point of sale coupons and retail discounts. Not only is there retail push for sales but Frito Lay spends millions on advertising. Advertising can be seen in standard commercials to big budget commercials during super bowl ads. These methods of communication are geared at mass selling and are very effective. Finally, the Price element is important to Frito Lay as the market price for materials goes up so does the price of their products. To circumvent these price hikes, Frito Lay will lower the content volume in the bag and not raise the price. In other instances, they will raise the price by ten cents and remove the price on the bag for a short period of time. The idea is to trick the consumer into believing the price is the same. In all the instances, Frito Lay has a business model that is very effective and has endured for many years. By understanding the similarities and differences between these elements one can understand how a corporation uses the marketing mix to their advantage. The four elements are critical to understand the very nature of the consumer and the retailer. This case study shows that it is important to understand the marketing mix business model as it pertains everyone and final user. References Marketing Mix Meaning and its Elements. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://managementstudyguide.com/marketing-mix.htm Perreault, W. D., Cannon, J. P., McCarthy, J. (2011). Basic Marketing. A Marketing Strategy Planning Approach. Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collectioon database.

The Politics of Name Changes in India Essay -- Town City

The Politics of Name Changes in India Ever since independence in 1947, many locations in India have changed their names. Much of this resulted from the reorganization of the states on linguistic lines (as opposed to British colonial divisions). However, in the last six years, many major towns and cities have been renamed in ways that affect foreigners more. Among this flood of changes, three stand out. These are the former cities of Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta, which, together with Delhi, are considered the "mega cities" of India.1 They are the four most populous cities in India, and all but Madras are among the 15 most populous cities in the world.2 As a result, they are important commercial and transit hubs, and are well known outside India. Yet nearly six years later, most non-Indians still have no idea that they are now named Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata. Given the difficulties involved in these changes, one expects compelling justifications for the changes. In each case, these changes have officially been justified on anti-colonialist grounds. However, I will argue that these changes are instead tools for channeling regionalist sentiment in the conflict between the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the centrist Indian National Congress (INC), and various regional parties. Opponents of the INC proposed all these names, but those proposed by the BJP and its nationalist allies have been more divisive. The case of Mumbai was the first major change to happen, and is thus the best known. In 1995, the ruling party in the government of the state of Maharashtra (of which Bombay was capital) announced that Bombay's name would be changed to its Marathi name, Mumbai.3 The casual observer would assume that the name "B... ...ttp://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/52a/076.html - a BBC article about the Kolkata name change * http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/indian_subcontinent/mumbai/history.htm - a travel site with a history of Mumbai. (It connects Bal Thackeray, the leader of the Shiv Sena, to Adolf Hitler!) * http://theory.tifr.res.in/bombay/history/people/language/ - a list of most languages in India spoken by over a million people * http://www.contactsindia.com/tourism/south/tamil_nadu/madras.htm - a site with information about Chennai * www.aapkashahar.com - a tourist site with little or no graphics, demonstrating usage of both old and new names for cities * www.soulkurry.com - a site about women's spirituality in India List of Indian cities that have recently undergone (or may undergo) a name change. (Population figures are from www.citypopulation.de.)

Accounting Education: an international journal Essay

ABSTRACT This study into the perceived importance of oral communication skills in accountancy included the collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data from a national survey of New Zealand accountants, followed by a series of semi-structured interviews. Survey and interview data reveal agreement with existing literature: New Zealand accountancy employers find all oral communication skills somewhat important and a number of specific skills extremely important, but employers also report seldom finding the required level of oral communication proficiency in new university graduates. The study produced an inventory of 27 individual oral communication skills that will be useful to similar investigations in different national contexts. Additionally, the findings of this study may be useful to curricular development both in the New Zealand and international contexts. See more: Satirical essay about drugs KEY WORDS: Oral communication, workplace communication, listening, presentation skills, telephone skills 1.Introduction Academics and practitioners do not always concur but, in the case of communication skills in accountancy graduates, these two sets of stakeholders are in firm agreement: both written and oral communication skills are extremely important in the accountancy work- place (Albin and Crockett, 1991; Albrecht and Sack, 2000; Borzi and Mills, 2001; Hock, 1994; Johnson and Johnson, 1995; LaFrancois, 1992; McDonald, 2007; Morgan, 1997). This agreement extends across international boundaries, as a number of studies around the globe have reported the high value placed on communication skills, for example in the UK (Morgan, 1997), USA (Smythe and Nikolai, 2002), and Australia (Tempone and Martin, 2003). In New Zealand, the site of the present study, academic studies into the importance of communication skills in accountancy and the challenges of teaching those skills (Gardner, Milne, Stringer and Whiting, 2005; McLaren, 1990) have multiple corollaries in the workforce. Accountancy job advertisements regularly request both oral and written communication skills; competency in oral communication is emphasised on the website of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants (NZICA); and oral communication is an explicit component of the assessment structure of the PCE2 examination, which concludes the second (and final) stage of training towards becoming a Chartered Accountant in New Zealand. However, both formal studies and anecdotal evidence suggest that new accountancy graduates often do not possess communication skills sufficient to meet the demands of the workplace, particularly in the area of oral communication (Adler and Milne, 1994; Courtis and Zaid, 2002; Gray, 2010; McLaren, 1990; Zaid and Abraham, 1994). Students in New Zealand may graduate with a university degree in accountancy after three years of full-time study. (Accountancy may also be studied in less rigorous programs at polytechnics and institutes of technology.) The intensity of the university programs of study, which are accredited by NZICA, means students have a challenging workload of technical study and very limited opportunity to take elective or ‘liberal’ courses. Of course, limited class time and the resultant curricular pressures and inadequate skill mastery are not unique to the New Zealand accountancy classroom (Pittenger, Miller and Mott, 2004; Wardrope and Bayless, 1999). The globally-recognised problem of insufficient oral communication skill in accoun- tancy graduates leads to a series of questions that need practical answers: . How should university educators respond, strategically and pedagogically, to this reported lack of oral communication skills in new graduates?. What approaches and assessments within university courses will best meet the needs of students aspiring to successful accountancy careers? . To what extent is the development of such skills in students the responsibility of the university and what is the role of the workplace in developing oral communication skills? Before university educators can make any meaningful decisions concerning pedagogy or curricula, and appropriately teach the oral communication skills needed for a successful accountancy career, they need concrete information regarding exactly which specific skills are most valued and most needed in accountancy. Thus a research question was formu- lated: to ascertain the value of specific oral communication skills in new graduates, as perceived by New Zealand accountancy employers. It was hoped that answers to this research question would provide educators with specific information with which to consider their optimal pedagogical responses. The research question led to the construction and implementation of this longitudinal study. Initial research objectives were: . To determine how much importance New Zealand accountancy employers place  on oral communication skills in the new graduates they hire. . To determine what specific kinds of oral communication skills are required by New Zealand accountancy employers in new graduates. . To determine the degree to which accountancy employers are finding the required oral communication skills in newly-graduated accountancy students. The study included the collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data, from a national survey of New Zealand accountants, followed by a series of semi-structured Oral Communication Skills in New Accountancy Graduates 277 interviews. Initial findings from the first-phase survey have been reported elsewhere (Gray, 2010). Overall, survey and interview data revealed that accountancy employers find all oral communication skills somewhat important and a number of specific skills extremely important, but that the required level of overall oral communication skill was seldom found in new graduates. Accountancy employers agreed that the possession of strong oral communication skills improves a graduate’s chance of succeeding in the hiring process and also of progressing in his or her career. The study produced an inven- tory of 27 individual oral communication skills, of which listening skills were most highly valued by accountancy employers, and formal presentation skills were considered least valuable, although there was disagreement on this point. It is hoped the oral communi- cation skill inventory will be useful to similar investigations in different national contexts. Additionally, the findings of this study may be of use both in the New Zealand and inter- national context in the long-term planning of curricular development. 2.Literature Review Studies of communication in accountancy agree broadly on the importance of written and oral communication skills. Many formal and informal studies to this point have tended to use general terms such as ‘communication skills,’ or the even vaguer term ‘generic skills’;1 it is difficult to ascertain the precise meaning of such all-encompassing terms as they apply to chartered accountancy. For example, Zaid and Abraham (1994) studied the problems encountered by accountancy graduates early in their employment careers, and reported a primary area of difficulty to be in ‘communication with others.’ Baker and McGregor (2000) compared the importance perceived in communication skills by a number of accountancy stakeholder groups; this study, too, only uses the broad term ‘communication skills.’ De Lange, Jackling, and Gut (2006) surveyed Australian accoun- tancy graduates and found that students reported themselves to have a significant skill deficiency in the specific areas of ‘interpersonal skills’ and ‘oral expression’; these two broad categories, however, were no more closely examined or defined. Within the smaller number of studies that have examined a particular set of communi- cation skills in accountancy, most have focussed on written communication skill (Albrecht and Sack, 2000; Ashbaugh, Johnstone and Warfield, 2002; English, Bonanno, Ihnatko, Webb and Jon; Ng, Lloyd, Kober and Robinson, 1999; Webb, English and Bonanno, 1995). Very few studies have examined oral communication specifically, or identified individual oral communication skills. Morgan (1997) is an exception: in a study of accountancy professionals in England and Waleses, 1999; Hall, 1998 he identifies 13 individual skill areas within oral communication activities in accountancy. There is no agreement on a classificatory inventory of such skills. One study into oral communi- cation, by Maes, Weldy and Icenogle (1997), surveyed American business employers from a broad array of industries on graduates’ possession of another 13 distinct oral communication skills. Maes et al. (1997) and McLaren (1990) both specifically list ‘listening’ as a desirable communication skill and, more recently, Goby and Lewis (2000) have examined listening as a specific business communication skill. Other research has variously investigated a number of individual oral communication skills across a range of business industries, including conveying expertise through spoken communication and giving intelligible explanations (Smythe and Nikolai, 2002), delivering formal presenta- tions (Wardrope, 2002), and participating in a range of more informal presentations (Crosling and Ward, 2002). The first phase of this study drew together the foci and findings of previous studies in relation to the  production of a comprehensive list of oral communi- cation skills (Gray, 2010). 278F. E. Gray and N. Murray Ascertaining the particular requirements of accountancy employers in regard to specific communication skills should be of assistance to university educators planning the curricu- lar content and assessments of university courses, as academics and practitioners agree that written and oral communication skills are two major areas needing more attention in the university accountancy curriculum (Albrecht and Sack, 2000; Henderson, 2001; Simons and Higgins, 1993). However, the relationship between workplace demand and classroom instruction is not necessarily simple. While a considerable body of scholarship has recommended a variety of curricular improvements for university level accounting education (see, for example, Henderson, 2001; Sin, Jones, and Petocz, 2007; and Usoff and Feldmann, 1998), the literature reflects a significant concern in relation to the transferability of taught communication skills from the university classroom environment to the ‘real-world’ environmen t of the accountancy workplace (Beaufort, 1999; Cooper, 1997; D’Aloisio, 2006; Davies and Birbili, 2000; Kemp and Seagraves, 1995; Thomas, 1995). A number of academics and employers suggest that universities should not bear the entire responsibility for developing ‘workplace-ready’ communication skills in students. They argue that organisations employing new graduates—and graduates themselves— should share the responsibility for developing contextualised and discourse-specific com- munication competencies (Ford, 2009; Hayes and Kuseski, 2001; Muir and Davis, 2004; Triebel and Gurdjian, 2009). Such competencies, after all, are developed by means of a number of contributing factors, including age and maturity, as well as familiarity with and length of exposure to a specific discourse community. University training, however comprehensive, cannot encompass all these variables. Research into accountancy education has also recognised the particular problems faced by English second language (ESL) speakers striving to develop written and oral communi- cation competency as well as the technical proficiencies required in accountancy work- places (Andrews, 2006; McGowan and Potter, 2008; Webb et al., 1995). Several studies in New Zealand and internationally report on the difficulties that ESL accountancy gradu- ates  face in a competitive hiring environment (Birrell, 2007; Jacobs, 2003; James and Otsuka, 2009; Kim, 2004). With regard to the specific question of developing communication skills within univer- sity-level accountancy instruction, scholars have suggested an array of learning and assessment approaches (Adler and Milne, 1997; Milne, 1999; Milne and McConnell, 2001; Tempone and Martin, 2003). This study recognises that developers of curricula must balance data regarding workplace demand with institutional and accreditation- related demands and a number of other pedagogical considerations. Notwithstanding, educational responses to the challenges of developing oral communication skills in students may be usefully informed by empirical data identifying the particular skills most highly valued and most pressingly needed within accountancy, as perceived by employers themselves. This study provides such data. 3.Method The project was conducted in two stages over the course of approximately six months. In phase one, a questionnaire was mailed to all New Zealand chartered accountancy firms, and this was followed in phase two by a series of telephone interviews with accountancy professionals. Prior to data collection, ethics approval was sought from and granted by the Ethics Committee of the authors’ institution. Questionnaire and interview respondents were provided with a written description of the project, were assured of confidentiality, and granted permission before their responses were recorded. Oral Communication Skills in New Accountancy Graduates 279 3.1Questionnaire In the first stage, a questionnaire was sent to all New Zealand chartered accountancy firms, containing a series of questions concerning the quality of oral communication skills pos- sessed by new accountancy graduates, the specific oral communication skills which employers desire, and the role of oral communication skills in the hiring process (Gray, 2010). The majority of the questions were designed to be answered on a five-point  Likert scale, but the questionnaire also included several short-answer questions. The questionnaire instrument was developed through a series of iterations. The findings and design of previous New Zealand and international research studies that had identified specific communication skills were consulted (including Gray, Emerson and MacKay, 2006; Maes et al., 1997; McLaren, 1990; Morgan, 1997; Smythe and Nikolai 2002), and the individual oral communication skills collated. The catalogue of individual skills was further extended through conversations with university colleagues in the communi- cation and accountancy departments, and then the input of New Zealand accounting prac- titioners was solicited from a pilot study. The aim of these iterations was to create the fullest possible inventory of oral communication skills, and to reflect the unique aspects of the New Zealand accountancy context. A foundational study was McLaren’s 1990 investigation into communication skill in New Zealand accountancy. One important construct borrowed from McLaren was the distinction between listening attentiveness and listening responsiveness. Constructs were also adapted from studies conducted by Morgan (1997), Zaid and Abraham (1994), and De Lange et al. (2006). Smythe and Nikolai’s oral communication concerns model (1996, 2002) proved particularly useful in the construction of this questionnaire. This model identifies three categories of concern as a framework for grouping oral com- munication skills: self-concern, task-concern, and impact (or outcome) concern. Smythe and Nikolai postulate that a progression takes place from one category of concern to the next in line with a person’s career progression and his/her growth in experience and confidence in communicating orally in the workplace. Since the target population for this study was a constituency at a mature career stage within chartered accountancy firms, Smythe and Nikolai’s ‘progressive’ divisions were not retained (although a number of their questions were incorporated, particularly in the areas of task concern and impact concern). Instead, divisions between questions were created in relation to different audiences, building on the finding of a related study (Gray et al., 2006) that New Zealand employers report new graduates to significantly lack audience awareness in their communications. After a comprehensive list of specific oral communication skills was generated, the questionnaire draft was piloted on four accountancy professionals, and their feedback enabled  questions to be refined. A number of skills that were initially individually ident- ified were modified and condensed into a smaller number of broader and more inclusive skills: for example, ‘Building audience confidence in recommendations’ and ‘Projecting an image of sincerity and commitment’ (both ‘impact concerns’ from Smythe and Nikolai’s taxonomy) were combined into the one, more inclusive skill category, ‘Convey- ing a knowledgeable and confident demeanour.’ Additionally, feedback from the pilot study led to the second of the two specified listening skills being more fully explicated, thus: ‘Listening responsiveness: (that is, acting appropriately on messages received).’ Again building on feedback from the pilot regarding usability, the questionnaire as a whole was divided into three sections. Section A captured introductory information including the size of the organisation and the qualifications held by new graduates hired in the last three years. Section B listed the full, final inventory of 27 individual oral 280F. E. Gray and N. Murray communication skills, collected into the following audience-related divisions: I. Listening skills; II. Collegial communication skills; III. Client communication skills; IV. Communi- cation skills with management; and V. General Audience Analysis Skills. Respondents were asked to rate the importance of each skill, as well as the frequency with which this skill is found in new accountancy graduates. At the end of Section B respondents were invited to add to the questionnaire any other oral communication skills that they con- sidered important for new accountancy graduates. Section C, Final Questions, asked respondents whether oral communication training was available in or through their organ- isation, whether oral communication training should be included in university accoun- tancy education programmes, and finally to estimate the hours per working week a new accountancy graduate would be engaged in communicating orally. At the close of the questionnaire, respondents were given the option to volunteer for a follow-up interview. 3.1.2 Respondents.The questionnaire was sent to all chartered accountancy firms listed on the New Zealand online business directory, and was addressed to the Practice Manager as the individual most likely to have  in-depth knowledge of the process of hiring new graduates. New Zealand’s professional accountancy body, the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants (NZICA) reports that 40.7% of its members work in the private sector, while the second largest percentage, 27.5%, are employed in Chartered Accountancy practices (2008 annual report). Working on the assumption that CA prac- tices hire a percentage of new graduates proportionate to their sizeable percentage of NZICA members, CA practices were chosen as the focal population for this study as they represent (in contrast to the private sector) a readily identifiable and readily contact- able group of employers.2 While the New Zealand online business directory listed 1,111 chartered accountancy firms as of 1April 2008 , a number of listed organisations had ceased operations or were uncontactable, and the questionnaire was eventually mailed to 760 firms. Of 760 mailings, 146 questionnaires were returned, producing a response rate of 19.2%. While this response rate was higher than the 15% usable response rate reported by McLaren in her 1990 study of New Zealand accountancy professionals, it remains margin- ally lower than the typical response rate for postal-based questionnaires (20 – 40%, as given in Frankfort-Nachmias and Nachmias, 1996). Possible reasons for this relatively low response rate include the fact that time and funding did not permit follow-up mailings, and also the fact that the target population is frequently time-poor and frequently surveyed. While non-response bias is an unavoidable concern when the response rate is less than 100 per cent, a low response rate does not necessarily equate to a non-response bias (Gendall, 2000). A degree of representativeness was observable in the geographical spread of respondents, the positions held by respondents (see below), and the types of businesses responding, suggesting generalisation across a range of accountancy business types is viable. The questionnaire was mailed to separate groups of potential respondents in six post- ings, each approximately 10 days apart. The order in which responses were received generally mirrored the order in which postings were mailed: that is, the first group’s responses were received before the second group’s questionnaires began to be returned, and so on. As a record of receipt for each individual survey was not kept, early versus late response bias cannot be checked. As a single mail-out technique was used for each individual, it  may be argued that differences in respondent type are not as applicable as may be seen in a survey where some participants responded early, whereas others received several reminders and mail -outs before responding. Analyses were undertaken treating the six postings as separate groups to determine any potential differences by respondent type. All groups were similar in claiming that oral communication in general was either ‘essential’ or ‘very important’ in the accountancy profession. Furthermore, oral communication skill was ‘always’ important as a hiring factor for all mail-out groups. When comparing each group on importance and frequency of communication skills using a Kruskall-Wallis test, only one significant difference was found for frequency of listening skills seen in new graduates, x2  ¼ 11.60, P ,0.05. Post- hoc Mann-Whitney U tests subsequently revealed no significant differences in frequency of listening skills seen in new graduates between any of the six groups (using a Bonferroni correction). While the questionnaires were addressed to the Practice Managers of each organis- ation, respondents revealed a degree of variability. The majority of completed question- naires were anonymous, but the respondents who identified themselves ranged from partners in large firms, to senior employees in very small firms, to Human Resources directors. 3.2Interviews The second phase of the study involved employer interviews. Forty-five questionnaire respondents volunteered to be contacted for follow-up interviews, and 19 volunteers could subsequently be contacted by telephone for complete interviews. The interviewee sample size was considered adequate due to its purposive nature and the recent finding that, within such samples, data saturation (including metathemes and subthemes) occurs within the first 12 interviews (Guest, Bunce and Johnson, 2006). It was intended that the qualitative data from interviews would triangulate and extend conclusions arising from analysis of the quantitative data. The interview data incorporated into the study an ethnographic element, ‘thick description, a rich, detailed description of specifics’ (Neuman, 2003, p.  367), which helped produce more robust and credible conclusions. Telephone interviews were conducted between October and December 2008. Intervie- wees ranged from accountancy practice managers to sole practitioners, to partners in large firms. The semi-structured interviews ranged in length from 15 to 45 minutes and sought clarification of a number of issues arising from the questionnaire data, including the impli- cations of globalisation for oral communication in accountancy, the impact of new technologies and the importance of telephone skills, the centrality of listening skills, and the desirability of presentation skills for graduates new to the accountancy workplace. 3.3Data Analysis Once the data from the questionnaires was collated, statistical analysis was performed using SPSS. Mean and median scores were calculated with regard to the importance scores given to each individual oral communication skill, and to the frequency scores (how often each skill is observed in new graduate hires). Each mean was the product of the addition of all the individual importance or frequency scores for each communication skill, divided by the sample size. The standard deviation (SD) of each mean score, as well as the inter-quartile range for the median, was also calculated to indicate the relative spread of responses, with higher figures equating to wider ranges of scores. Owing to a number of missing responses, the denominator of responses to each question shows some variation. As the skill variables violated the assumption of normality (expected given the general level of agreement in employers’ perceptions), non-parametric tests were used. Where relevant, all assumptions of the named tests below were met. 282F. E. Gray and N. Murray As mentioned in 3.1, Section B of the questionnaire invited respondents to write in any further oral communication skills which they felt were important for new accountancy graduates to possess, distinct from the 27 skills listed. Comments identifying additional skills were received from 36 respondents; these comments were recorded and analysed for thematic consistency. Once the interviews were transcribed, themes were also  identified and analysed. Grounded theory was applied to analyse these themes, that is, inductive analysis in which data produce meanings, rather than meanings being applied from exterior theory (Strauss and Corbin, 2000). 4.Findings 4.1Research Objective 1: How Much Importance do New Zealand Accountancy Employers Place on Oral Communication Skills in the New Graduates they Hire? The questionnaire data presented a clear answer to the first research question. Oral communication skill in general was considered to be ‘essential’ in a new graduate by 49.6% (n  ¼ 133) of respondents; a further 41.4% reported it to be ‘very important’. On a rating scale from 1 to 5, where 1 was ‘not important’ and 5 was ‘essential’, the overall mean for oral communication skill in general was 4.39 (Md  ¼ 4.00). A Kruskal- Wallis test found no significant difference in the importance value assigned to oral communication skill depending on the size of the organisation, x2(4)  ¼ 5.48, p . 0.05. During the second phase of the study, interviewees strongly reiterated the perceived importance of oral communication skill: CL called oral communication ‘a career divider,’ meaning it was indispensable to success within accountancy, and EK labelled strong oral communication ‘a distinguishing factor’ setting goo d accountants apart from the mediocre. SWS stated: ‘Being able to communicate is a number one priority .. . [and] it’s going to get more and more important.’ Interview data also supported the signifi- cance of a theme that emerged from written-in comments in the questionnaire: the impor- tance of oral communication skills in accountancy is perceived to be increasing rapidly as a direct result of globalisation, and an increased speaking flexibility and cross-cultural adaptability are considered particularly important in this context. Reporting that they ‘always’ take oral communication skill into account in hiring decisions were 64.1% (n  ¼ 131) of questionnaire respondents (a total of 90.8% reported this to be a hiring factor either ‘always’ or ‘often’). RT stated that strong oral communi- cation skills often proved the decisive factor in a hiring decision: The person who presents well †¦ verbally, if you had to toss a coin between two of them, same grades and all that, the one who can communicate better, you’d give it to that person I think. [.. .] It has to be one of the most powerful strengths or powerful weaknesses that people have. No questionnaire respondents reported ‘never’ taking an applicant’s oral communi- cation skills into account in the hiring process, and several interviewees reported incorpor- ating specific checks of a candidate’s oral competency into their hiring process. For example, TB stated that he telephones all job applicants prior to an in-office interview, in order to gauge their skills in speaking on the telephone. 4.2Research Objective 2: What Specific Kinds of Oral Communication Skills are required by New Zealand Accountancy Employers? Figure 1. Perceived importance of communication skills by perceived frequency of new graduate ability  importance of the individual communication skills against the perceived frequency with which these skills are seen in new graduates. Figure 1 shows that the importance and fre- quency measures follow a similar pattern. This may reflect the influence of the workplace in focussing on developing certain communication competencies in new graduates, or hiring based on those competencies being present to a certain degree. However, there is still an obvious gap between the importance of each skill and the degree to which it is seen in new graduates. 4.2.1Listening skills.On a rating scale from 1 to 5, where 1 was ‘not  important’ and 5 was ‘essential,’ the two skills considered most important were those of listening attentive- ness and listening responsiveness, valued respectively at 4.81 (Md  ¼ 5.00)—82% of respondents ranked listening attentiveness as ‘essential’—and 4.80 (Md  ¼ 5.00)—a further 82% of respondents classifying listening responsiveness as ‘essential’. In sub- sequent interviews, KC described listening to another person as being a more important skill than that of articulating one’s own thoughts: Sometimes, speaking less is better than speaking more. Sometimes you have to have more listening ability. That listening ability will give you the timing of when to say things and when not to say things.. .. A number of interviewees linked listening skill to a related set of competencies concern- ing a speaker’s ability to create rapport and adjust to audiences’ needs. These interviewees spoke of the need for accountancy professionals to communicate with others (clients, colleagues, and managers) ‘in their own language.’ We learn to use sometimes slightly different language in order to be able to communicate to different people and that’s certainly part of our job when we’re in a service industry like 284F. E. Gray and N. Murray  accountancy. We need to talk to people in their language and us[e] words and conduct that they are comfortable with (BR; emphasis added). It’s important to understand your client so that †¦ you’re speaking almost in ‘like language’ so that you know who you are talking to [and] you know they are understanding (SWS; emphasis added). I think it’s a horses for courses [principle], you’ve got to know†¦ your clients or the people you’re dealing with. If you happen to know someone didn’t like a certain style or you could pick from their responses †¦ [then] you reply with like with like (DW; emphasis added). JC mentioned adjusting vocabulary and PW mentioned adjusting message  channel, in relation to the particular needs of the audience. MT emphasised the importance for accountancy graduates to gauge appropriateness of language: They’ve got to realise that when they’re dealing with clients, or senior members of organis- ations, that they’ve got to communicate it appropriately and not in a manner that they may always communicate with their friends or colleagues. Interviewees agreed that this kind of reflective adjustment to an audience’s preferred register is dependent on a speaker’s ability to listen and make appropriate communicative changes. 4.2.2 Vocabulary and slang. Several individual oral communication skills identified in the questionnaire concerned engaging in dialogue and using language and channels preferred by the communication partner. These included ‘explaining or making a topic intelligible’ to colleagues (x  ¼ 4.28, Md  ¼ 4.00, ranked ninth); ‘giving feedback’ to clients: (x  ¼ 4.17, Md  ¼ 4.00, ranked 13th); and ‘using appropriate vocabulary for the audience’, a general audience skill: (x  ¼ 4.21, Md  ¼ 4.00, ranked 10th). Follow-up inter- view questions seeking more information concerning the importance of explanatory and vocabulary skills elicited a number of specific concerns with the use of slang by new accountancy graduates. TO stated: ‘A lot of them have devolved into .. . use of a lot of colloquialisms that may not be acceptable to the older generation.’ According to NM, overly casual language destroys credibility. It’s hard enough for a young person to break in and to be heard, I guess in a business sense when you’re trying to sell to, I guess older people or experienced people. If you come out with schoolyard slang, you don’t stand a chance. Interviews emphasised the desirability in new graduates of a wide-ranging and flexible vocabulary (described by one interviewee as a mental ‘drop-down menu’ of words), oper- ating in tandem with the ability to access the  correct level of spoken formality. After listening attentiveness and listening responsiveness, questionnaire results ident- ified the next five most highly valued individual oral communication skills as being: ‘Con- veying professional attitude of respect and interest in clients’ (x  ¼ 4.68, Md  ¼ 5.00); ‘Asking for clarification or feedback from management’ (x  ¼ 4.57, Md  ¼ 5.00); ‘Speaking on the telephone/making conference calls with clients’ (x  ¼ 4.53, Md  ¼ 5.00); ‘Describ- ing situations accurately and precisely to superior(s)’ (x  ¼ 4.47, Md  ¼ 5.00); and ‘Convey- ing a knowledgeable and confident demeanour to clients’ (x  ¼ 4.45, Md  ¼ 5.00). Please see Table 1 for a complete record of the average and median importance values accorded to each oral communication skill, as well as the reported mean and median frequency with which each skill was found in new accountancy graduates (see also, Gray, 2010).

The Death Of The Trenches - 904 Words

Children are often considered carefree and innocent, which is the reason behind their state of happiness. They rarely cross paths with conflict from the outside world, but what happens when they become men and are sent off to fight in the war? Otto Dix’s visual representation along with the poems, â€Å"Suicide in the Trenches† by Siegfried Sassoon, â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est† by Wilfred Owens, and â€Å"Blessed Are† by Charles Peguy all capture the horrors and distress caused by World War 1. When it came time to enlist in the war, young men were ecstatic about becoming heroes by the act of serving their country. Although, in reality these men did not know the consequences that came with their life changing decision to go into combat. Sassoon’s â€Å"Suicide in the Trenches† exposes the psychological issues that overwhelmed one soldier in particular, but as the reader, it is clear that the feelings described belong to any soldier that ever felt the wrath of the war. The first stanza paints a picture of a soldier who knows nothing of death or destruction. Line number three, specifically, reads â€Å"slept soundly through the lonesome dark† (Suicide in the Trenches). This shows that prior to the war, this soldier felt comfortable and safe within the walls of his home and most importantly, he felt safe within himself. The last mention of him is in the second stanza where it is revealed that he committed suicide. The last stanza could resemble a call of a ction. The narrator calls the civiliansShow MoreRelatedTrenches Of Death During World War I904 Words   |  4 PagesTrenches of death Countries developed new tactics and weapons to gain victory over their enemies, the Trench war is a type of land battle, in which opposing forces attack- counterattack and defend from permanent systems of trenches, troops are protected from the enemy`s arms fire and are sheltered from artillery inside the trenches dug into the ground. A trench model may begin as a collection of foxholes rapidly dug by the troops using Their entrenching tools, these holes may after be deepenedRead MoreTrench Warfare And The Great War1404 Words   |  6 Pagesnever seen before at the time. However, a lot of deaths and conflict occurred in the man-made trenches. Both strenuous and unproductive, living and fighting in the trenches cost soldiers who endured them both severe physical and psychological injuries. Most soldiers were not even lucky enough to make it out of the trenches alive. All Quiet on the Western Front portrays an accurate picture of trench warfare and how gruesome it was. The use of trenches in The Great War was to protect soldiers whileRead MoreTrench Warfare: Hell on Earth Essay1142 Words   |  5 Pagesof each country, devastated the world. Each side felt superior to the other and would not stop until it emerged as the victor. These countries altered the style of fighting from a primitive face-to-face combat to systematic style of battle through trenches. To adapt to this style, countries developed new weapons and tactics to prevail over their enemies. But, the war simply remained a draw. Trench warfare prolonged World War I by a causing a bloody stalemate where millions died from modern weaponsRead MoreDescription of Life in the Trenches Essay example546 Words   |  3 PagesDescription of Life in the Trenches You might be thinking that life in trenches was non-stop death, violence, and pain. But have you ever thought about why? Or what do soldiers do in their trenches when theyre not fighting or dying? Do you always trust sources when you read them? Do you always believe what they say on television documentaries? How can you without a source of evidence? I am going to be telling you what life was really like in the trenches. Firstly, soldiersRead MoreWhy Were Causalities so High on the Wester Front929 Words   |  4 Pagesconditions. The total number of casualties in World War I, both military and civilian, was about 37 million: 16 million deaths and 21 million wounded. Throughout this essay, I will explain how each of these things affected the number of people who died on the Western Front. The first reason was weaponry. It was a major contribution to the number of deaths and probably what caused the most deaths because they were all very destructive one of them being the rifle, which was popularly used by the British. TheRead MoreThe World War I Ended1256 Words   |  6 Pagesall of the fighting took place in trenches. The most brutal fighting took place in the trenches along the western front. During the Battle of the Somme the British Army suffered nearly 60,000 casualties during the first day. Also, the French Army suffered 380,000 casualties during the Battle of Verdun. So you can imagine the carnage taken place during the trenches. During trench warfare, they used different ways of advancing their troops to the next line of trenches. One was that they initiated a preparatoryRead MoreThe Deadly Defying Factor . World War One, Also Know As1601 Words   |  7 Pagesthis was true because trenches reduced the effectiveness of most projectiles, resulting to soldiers pinned in trenches causing a disease to spread viciously with ease. Another situation soldiers had to face with trenches were floods and biohazards. Floods occurred in the trenches spreading filth and bacteria throughout the vast amount of soldiers. This caused disease to occur and spread throughout the trenches. Aswell, biohazards became a major problem for the men in the trenches. Some hazards includeRead MoreThe World War Soldiers On The Western Front1490 Words   |  6 Pagesawful conditions of the trenches and the way people were treated, it would have been very upsetting and disturbing. All trenches were similar but the German trenches were stronger and built to a higher quality than the British and this was proven in the battle of the Somme. Along the top of a trench there would be sandbags which soaked up water but also protected the soldiers from bullets and bombs. There would also be barbed wire this stopped the enemy approaching the trenches. In the trench itselfRead MoreWorld war I is considered one of the bloodiest wars ever fought in the history of the world. A700 Words   |  3 Pagescontributor to the death toll of this war was the new tactic of trench warfare. Trench warfare is a battle strategy using man made trenches and weapons to attack and take the enemy’s trench. This battle strategy combined with the use of new war technology, and the living conditions in the trenches resulted in one of the deadliest wars ever fought by mankind. For about four years France and Germany used trench war as their war tactic. The soldiers were told to dig the trenches for temporary shelterRead MoreWorld War I Was A War1743 Words   |  7 Pagesthrough new technology. The most impactful thing on the war has to be trenches. Trench warfare did many things: Prolonged the war, destroyed nature, and caused many soldiers to become sick. It is safe to say that trench warfare prolonged the war because people would just sit in the trenches and wait for attacks. The trenches were like headquarters for them because they ate, slept, and fought from there. With the technology of trenches, both sides of the war would just camp out in them and wait for either