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PRICING & MARKETING PLAN IMPLEMENTATION

Required Reading/Resources

Reingold, J., Jones, M., & Kramer, S. (2014). How to fail in business while really, really trying. Fortune, 169 (5), 80.

Lublin, J. S., & Mattioli, D. (2013, Apr 09). Penney CEO out, old boss back in. Wall Street Journal (Online). Retrieved from ProQuest.
Glazer, E., Lublin, J. S., & Mattioli, D. (2013, Apr 9). Penney backfires on ackman. Wall Street Journal (Online). Retrieved from ProQuest.
D’Innocenzio, A. (2012, January 27). J.C. Penney slashing prices on all merchandise. USA Today. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/story/2012-01-25/penneys-price-overhaul/52787388/1
Reingold, J. (2012, March 19). Retail’s new radical. Fortune. Retrieved from http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2012/03/07/jc-penney-ron-johnson/
Mattioli, D. (2012, January 26). J.C. Penney chief thinks different. Wall Street Journal.
Mattioli, D. (2012, January 25). How J.C. Penney was minted. Wall Street Journal.
There’s a lot going on at J.C. Penney in recent years. With a new CEO, J.C. Penney, confronted with pressing competition up, down, and sideways in the department store wars, is reinventing itself in terms of merchandising, supply, and pricing strategies. Here we will concentrate only on the pricing aspects of these new directions. However, this is ultimately about positioning; trying to find a space that is responsive to potential customers as well as differentiating the Penney brand from Target, Kohl’s, Wal-Mart, and Macy’s.
These articles shed additional light on the implications of Penney’s new direction:
Berfield, S. (2012, May 24), Remaking J.C. Penney Without Coupons. Bloomfield Business Week.Retrieved from http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-05-24/remaking-j-dot-c-dot-penney-without-coupons 
Girard, K. (2012, March 5). Is J.C. Penney’s makeover the future of retailing? Harvard Business School Working Knowledge. Retrieved from http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6944.html
Halkias, M. (2011, December 7). J.C. Penney buys stake in Martha Stewart’s company. The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved from http://www.dallasnews.com/business/retail/20111207-j.c.-penney-buys-stake-in-martha-stewarts-company.ece
Timberlake, C., & Townsend, M. (2012, February 28). Macy’s says Martha’s dance card is too full.Business Week. Retrieved from http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-02-28/macys-says-martha-stewarts-dance-card-is-too-full

Case Assignment

A well-written report should have a brief introduction, headings or subheadings, and a brief concluding comment. Note that you should use some keywords as headings or subheadings such as “Johnson’s pricing strategy,” instead of a sentence or a question. Read and cite article listed above, supplemented with any other articles related to J.C. Penney, and develop a report addressing following issues.

  1. Briefly describe Johnson’s pricing strategy, also providing background on the company and department store industry.
  2. Explain why Johnson’s pricing strategy did not work. Support your position in terms of environmental factors such as economy, the competition, and changing consumer behavior.
  3. What do you think Johnson could have done better? Take into account J.C. Penney’s segmentation, positioning, and branding strategies to explain this issue.
  4. Compare J.C. Penney’s current pricing strategy and Johnson’s pricing strategy, based on your research on the most recent situation of J.C. Penney. How do you think J.C. Penney would perform in the next five years? Take into consideration the relationships between pricing and other aspects of the marketing effort such as a change in merchandising, logo, atmospherics, use of celebrity spokespersons, and so on.

Assignment Expectations Regarding Your References and Defense of Your Positions

Write clearly, simply, and logically. Your paper should be 4-5 long, excluding title pages and references, but quality of writing is more important than length. Use double-spaced, black Verdana or Times Roman font in 12 pt. type size.
Back up your positions or opinions with references to the required reading found in the Module 1-4 Background reading and Ongoing Useful Resources. In using those references, demonstrate your understanding of the concepts presented. Rather than grading on how much information you find, emphasis will be on the defense of the positions you take on the issues. Also remember that:

  1. The “why” is more important than the “what.”
  2. The defense of your positions on the issues is more important than the positions you take.

Do not repeat or quote definitions. Your use of the required reading to support your opinions (that is, contentions or positions) should demonstrate that you understand the concepts presented. Do not include definitions or summaries of the readings or simply describe what the company did. Instead, your responses to the questions should be analytical and should demonstrate that (a) you understand the principles from the background reading and (b) you can apply them to this particular case. Vague, general answers will not earn a good grade.
Avoid redundancy and general statements such as “All organizations exist to make a profit.” Make every sentence count.
Paraphrase the facts using your own words and ideas, employing quotes sparingly. Quotes, if absolutely necessary, should rarely exceed five words.
When writing an academically oriented paper, you will uncover many facts about the product. If you paraphrase the facts, cite the sources in your text and link those citations to references at the end of the paper.
Here are some guidelines on how to conduct information search and build critical thinking skills.
Emerald Group Publishing. (n.d.). Searching for information. Retrieved from http://www.emeraldinsight.com/learning/study_skills/skills/searching.htm
Emerald Group Publishing. (n.d.). Developing critical thinking. Retrieved from http://www.emeraldinsight.com/learning/study_skills/skills/critical_thinking.htm
Guidelines for handling quoted and paraphrased material are found at:
Purdue Online Writing Lab. (n.d.). Academic writing. Retrieved from https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/1/2/
Purdue Online Writing Lab. (n.d.). Quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing. Retrieved from https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/563/1/
Purdue Online Writing Lab. (n.d.). Is it plagiarism yet? Retrieved from https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/02/
Your paper consists of arguments in favor of your opinions or positions on the issues addressed by the guidelines; therefore, avoid the following logical fallacies:
Purdue Online Writing Lab. (n.d.). Logic in argumentative writing. Retrieved from https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/659/01/

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Opponent-Process Theory

The opponent-process theory suggests that we often experience emotions in opposing pairs such as fear and relief or pleasure and pain. When we experience one end of the spectrum, the other end is temporarily suppressed and thus we rarely experience the two at the same time. However, there are times when we experience both emotions before the first emotion fades. When this happens, the experience can be uncomfortable or even strangely enjoyable.

A good example of this process is skydiving, which was the basis of the primary research into this theory. When a person skydives for the very first time, the jump elicits high levels of fear and relatively low levels of pleasure, even upon landing. However, as the skydiver gains more experience, the level of fear decreases while pleasure increases. Often, the skydiver feels both at the same time, resulting in high levels of excitement.

Another example is shopping and the guilt that often follows. For example, a woman finds a new dress that she loves but not having the money, she charges the new dress. She immediately feels excitement and pleasure with her new purchase. However, soon after getting home, she begins to feel guilt for charging a dress that she wanted, but did not really need.

Now, read the following article:

Based on your analysis of the article, explain in detail how the opponent-process theory works. Be sure to address the following:

  • How does the opponent-process theory explain why drug addiction is so difficult to break?
  • With this understanding, what can a person do to affect their emotions in a way that helps them break their addiction?

Write your initial response in 3–4 paragraphs. Apply APA standards to citation of sources.

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“Africa” Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou was a 20th -21st century poet and writer, who grew up experiencing poverty and racism in the Arkansas Delta. Look at the images in her poem “Africa.” Reading the poem literally, what is she saying about Africa? Reading the poem figuratively, how does she identify with Africa as a black woman?
 
Description
write a one-page essay addressing the  reading prompts. The paper should have at least three paragraphs – an introduction, one or more body paragraphs, and a conclusion. The last sentence of the introduction should be your thesis statement. Italicize the thesis statement. Each paragraph must have an italicized topic sentence. Quote the text to support your arguments; provide analysis and commentary.

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governing board of directors

Please describe how a professional association such as the Association for Research in Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) serving its individual members and having a governing board of directors should be differently structured than a local food pantry that provides food to the poor.  Please keep your essay to 500 words or less.  Can you identify the primary and secondary stakeholders for each organization?  Whose needs must be satisfied by each organization?
 
500 words or less plus 2 refs

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Health law

In this unit, you have learned about the liability of MCOs (managed care organizations) such as HMOs (health maintenance organizations) and PPOs (preferred provider organizations). where does the liability lie for the managed care organization when the MCO personnel make decisions about insurance coverage for hospital stays?
Please do not limit your analysis to length of stay, but consider other scenarios associated with MCO decision making such as approval or denial of medically necessary treatment (or limitations of treatment) as well, and share your scenarios with the class. Defend your response thoroughly and include the potential liability implications. Lastly, discuss the options, if any, MCO or PPO plan members have when denied coverage for medically necessary care.
Original post must be 200 words.

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Computer Questions

Answer the following questions thoroughly, and submit in a document. Each answer MUST BE AT LEAST 150 WORDS IN LENGTH. CITE YOUR SOURCES.
 

  1. Providefiveexamples of data you would store in a real, integer, text, logical, date, memo, and BLOB data field.

 

  1. Using a real-world entity like a recipe file or collection of some sort that can be stored in a database, divide this information into fields and record types. Explain the steps you need to take to normalize the data.

 
 

  1. Imagine that you must access a library card catalog using SQL. Write an SQL query that you would use to search for any books by J. J. Parsons in a table called Books, where author’s names are stored in a field called Title.
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Memo

Discuss the following scenario: Staff members from the marketing department of your firm are doing a splendid job selling products to customers. Many of the customers are so pleased that they are also buying shares in the company’s stock, which means that they receive a copy of the firm’s annual report. Unfortunately, questions sometimes arise that the marketing staff members are woefully inadequate at answering. Technical questions about the firm’s financial condition and performance are referred to the chief financial officer, but the director of marketing has asked you to write a memo in which you explain the key elements in an annual report so that marketing representatives are better prepared to respond to questions of a more general nature.
For your initial post, write a clear, concise memo (no more than 250 words) that describes the contents of an annual report so marketing personnel can understand the basic requirements of an annual report. Reference this week’s readings and lecture to help organize and explain your thoughts. In addition, answer the following questions:

  • Do you think all marketing staff members should be equipped to speak with the public about the firm’s financial matters?
  • What are some of the benefits of improving employee financial literacy?
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Roman Ideologies

You are to use ALL 4 listed and explain in-depth the ideologies of: 
 
1) Trajan’s Column
2) Arch of Titus
3) Pantheon
4) Ara pacis
 
All 4 must be in seperate paragraphs and contain a minimum of 250 words for each ideaolgy. You will be assesed uon how indepth your disscusion is. Plagiarism will not be tolerated and will result in a zero for this assigminet.
 
Demonstrate perceptive understanding involves showing insight into a range of aspects and/or factors of significant ideology(ies) in the classical world.
Features of a perceptive understanding may include:
• providing reasons for similarities and differences
 
• establishing themes and patterns
 
• identifying cultural expectations and codes of behaviour
 
• showing discernment regarding limitations of sources of evidence.
 
3 Ideology(ies) refers to religious, philosophical, or political belief systems. Examples of significant ideologies include religions, Stoicism, Epicureanism, Socratic moral philosophy, and Alexander’s Oriental policy. Possible context elaborations for significant ideology(ies) are provided in the Teaching and Learning Guide for Classical Studies.

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High School Sports Administration

State Athletic Activity & Administration Org. & Certification
Part 1: Go to the NIAAA website, read thru and become familiar with the Sample Personal Data Form to become a Registered Athletic Administrator.  While you cannot fill out this form, please provide a short summary of what you have learned about the RAA certification.
Part 2: Find three web-sites (list their URL) not listed in the syllabus nor discussed in Modules 1 or 2 (state associations and AD associations) related to high school athletics (or any topics related to high school sports, equipment, facilities, athletic training, etc.) List each website and describe the following:
* The purpose and significance of the website
* Describe how the site is beneficial to high school athletic departments, athletic directors, athletes, etc.
* Explain if the site is easy to navigate. Describe strengths and weaknesses of the website.
In a 2-4 page essay, address the above issue and describe how you would use this information as an athletic administrator.