Forecasting Alliances Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Forecasting Alliances - Essay Example The two powers have managed to form strong alliances that exist until today. In fact, the two exercise their mutual influences under the frameworks of Western powers across greater part of the world. The influence of the two powers have probably been due to their held ideology of democracy that intends to promote liberalization and thwart communism seen as derailing global economic, political and social integration. Much resistance against the Western powers has been coming from Russia and China, and their allies like Cuba and some Middle East countries. Despite the resistances, Western powers seem to have made significant successes bearing the spontaneous transformation of Russia and China to adopt capitalist ideologies that have seen rise in the number of billionaires found in the two countries. However, there exists consistent strategies and conspiracy by some countries to alliance with intention to challenge the Western powers. The possibility of success of the likely alliances i n challenging Western powers requires careful examination and study. Russia, Cuba and Venezuela share similar history of perpetuating communist ideologies characterized with no democracy. In fact, the three countries were once under the unity of the Soviet Union, which diminished due to unbearable influence of capitalism of the Western powers. Among the three, Russia is the only strongest in the global arena with stronger military, economic and political influence. Russia boasts of endowment of massive natural resources including natural gas, oil and metal among others. Venezuela on the other hand boasts of rich oil reserves that mark the backbone of its economy (Keck). Cuba on the other end boasts of highly trained professionals and unexploited oil reserves. Located just below the southern part of North America, Cuba and Venezuela have been depending on each other in various aspects. For instance, since 2000, Cuba has been exporting

Target Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Target - Research Paper Example Product quality plays an important role in determination of performance of companies that gain success in the long term (Foss & Knudsen, 2003). In this paper, the issue of maintaining good quality of products by Target Corporation has been discussed as a method of defeating the company’s rivals (Ehmke, 2008). Customers prefer making purchases from Target stores since they get the appropriate products that they are searching for at the most reasonable prices (Nadia, 2001). The key strategies that have led this company up the success ladder are excellent marketing and advertising strategies, high brand value developed through strategic promotion of brand and intense product differentiation (Franco-Santos, et al., 2007). Being one of the top ranking companies in the US market, the company faces steep competition from other dominant firms in the market, such as, Wal-Mart, K-Mart and Costco. However, recently, the firm has been facing certain problems, such as high price of product s than market standards and very close substitutes of its products. The main issue faced by Target Corporation is that whether it should follow the strategy of maintaining high quality of its products. The two contesting arenas that arise in this regard are high quality and high price. Target is considering high quality for its products while it is out wedged by competitors that offer low priced products. This paper is dedicated to the discussion of bringing solution to this problem. Different possible solutions to this problem would be discussed. These solutions are provided after considering the current business environment in which the company operates. Although, all the possible solutions are proposed on the basis of the some analysis of the company situation and overall industry condition, these refer to diverse aspects. However, in order to gain advantage over its nearest rivals, the company would have to identify the loop holes in which it is directly lagging behind its compe titors. In this case, the problem is that the company is facing price war. Competitors, such as Wal-Mart, K-Mart and Costco, which are known across the globe for their low price items, are gaining edge over Target Corporation, since the prices charged by Target are higher than the products that they offer. In this case the company might aim at reducing cost so as offer the products at lowered prices. However, price wars can be sustained only up to a certain limit, beyond which prices cannot be reduced for maintaining profitable business. Hence, it would have to take some other option for maintaining its competitive position in the industry. These possible solutions are discussed in the next section. Possible solutions to the problem In the current business world, companies are concerned about the gaining an extra edge over other market players. An important aspect that helps in assessing the performance of a particular company in the market is the extent to which customers would be attracted more towards a particular brand than other brands available in the market. It is imperative for every business to develop a base of loyal customers that would increase over time (Smith & Wright, 2004). Niche markets are growing rapidly in the modern world and they are increasing awareness of customers about product features and characteristics of products that they