Marketing theory and concepts Essay

Every business wither it’s small or big, aim to meet the needs of their actual and potential customers. In order for them to do this, they need to follow some sort of theory and concept. This assignment will be looking at the marketing theory and marketing concepts which are portrayed in the traditional marketing literature, and how they have limited application in guiding small business marketing practice. Marketing plays a vital role not only in developing, producing, and selling products or services, but also in guiding recruiting labors and raising capital. Although it can be said that successful entrepreneurs undertake marketing in unusual ways. They mainly rely on interactive marketing methods, which is often communicated through word-of-mouth rather than a more traditional marketing mix. Entrepreneurs monitor the marketplace through informal networks rather than formalised market research, and generally adopt more entrepreneurial approaches to marketing activities. However, depending on the business model, a complex and formalised initial market research can be crucial for a successful market entry. There are many marketing theories that are used in traditional marketing literature such as Schumpeter (1934) who said that entrepreneurs proactively ‘created’ opportunity, using ‘innovative combinations’ which often included ‘creative destruction’ of passive or lethargic economic markets. According to Schumpeter the role of an entrepreneur is to innovate, and by doing this, you move the economy from one equilibrium to another. This kind of innovation could come about from one or more introduction of a new product; a new method of production; the development of a new market; the use of new sources of raw material, and the reorganisation of a new industry or its processes. He also distinguished between the entrepreneur and the capitalist. Schumpeter agreed with the fact, that in practice an innovator could also actually be a capitalist. Another well-known theorist next to Schumpeter is Kirzner (1973) who said that entrepreneurs should have a sense of ‘alertness’ to identify the opportunities in the market and exploit them accordingly . He states ‘The  pure entrepreneur, on the other hand, proceeds by his alertness to discover and exploit situations in which he is able to sell for high prices that which he can buy for low prices. Pure entrepreneur profit is the difference between the two sets of prices. The discovery of a profit opportunity means the discovery of something obtainable for nothing at all. No investment at all is required; the free ten-dollar bill is discovered to be already within one is grasps’ (Kirzner, 1973, 48). The marketing concept has changed significantly over time. In today’s business world the customer is at the forefront, not all businesses in the past followed this concept, as they placed other factors first rather than their customers this is shown as follows:Production Oriented was the focus of the actual business and not the customer needs, as where this has now changed and we can see that it is more focused on customer needs. Production Orientation is when the company believe that they have a superior product, based on quality and features. Due to this thinking the company assume the customers will like it to. In today’s market the customers decide as to what product they like. Sales Orientation is the focus where the company makes a product or provides a service, and then sells or offers it to the target market. This causes problems, as consumers may not like what is being offered to them, which is why companies are making sure that they test their services out, to a small group of the target audience. Market Orientation concept has not actually changed over time, it puts the customers first, as the companies try to understand the needs of the customers by using appropriate research methods. These methods are then developed to make sure information from customers, are fed back to the company for them to see what the target audience are interested in . SMEs who may adapt the marketing concept or 4Ps do so fully rather than explicitly (Carson and Gilmore, 2000). Jaworski and Kohli, (1990) also commented on the limitations of the marketing concept (p15). Therefore, the  SME approach is characterized by networking with stakeholder’s awareness to customer needs (Gilmore, Carson and Grant, 2001; &Hill and Wright, 2001). Which is characterized by the size of these firms and their closeness to customers, (Gilmore, Carson, O’Donnell and Cummins, 1999) as well as inexpensive forms of marketing such as word of mouth (Gilmore 1999). It is vital for SMEs to set the 4Ps, target a market and position themselves, but how this is done and planned is an important issue as it helps guiding a small business to success. Differences between traditional market literature and variants produced during the 1960’s were mainly attributable to the addition of concepts popularized during that decade. For example, Cundiff and Still covered an analysis of the 4 P’s of marketing with the concept that marketing is a subsystem of business. (Cundiff, E.W., Still, R.R. 1976)The basic principles of marketing are generally applicable to large and small businesses. Marketing in SMEs has been recognized as a problematic area for researchers for over 20 years (Chaston and Mangles, 2002; Siu and Kirby, 1998). SME marketing in practice is considered to be mainly done though networking (Gilmore 2001) or a combination of transaction, relationship, interaction and network marketing (Brodie 1997). Recently the use of Internet marketing (Chaffey 2000) or e-commerce (Rayport and Jaworski, 2001) has become popular in all types of businesses including SMEs. Marketing in practice in small firms seem to rely mainly on personal contact networks (Hill and Wright, 2001; Gilmore 2001; Brodie 1997) and is often driven by the particular way a manager does business. According to Gilmore (2001) marketing in SMEs is likely to be chaotic, informal, loose, unstructured, spontaneous, and reactive and conform to industry norms. Gilmore (2001) showed that as a result of networking there was a high level of communication between the SME manager and their competitors then what is usually reported in the marketing literature as well as competing firms may be quite supportive of each other. Similarly, networking with customers usually involves building a relationship with one or two key individuals in those companies. If these individuals were to leave then the relationship the company would break (Gilmore 2001). SME owners must recognize that  building relationships are vital to a company’s success and they invest a considerable amount of time and effort in maintaining good relations with regular clients (Gilmore 2001). The foundation and existence of an effective networking is concerned with maximizing marketing opportunities and ensuring the enterprise’s survival and development (Gilmore 2001). Something, which is more important, in today’s world, is having a foot in the business market, which is constantly changing to meet customer needs. The tables have been turned on the fortunes of many long-established firms. It’s believed that a majority of firms that are in trouble, and those that have failed recently, have done so because they have been let down by their own marketing. Traditional marketing is now being turned. The ideas of marketing and branding strategy that passed for conventional wisdom before do not hold true today. A small but growing number of innovative firms have adopted completely new and differentiate approaches in marketing, reflecting a clear and unmistakable change in the global culture. In this era of globalisation and the Internet the consumer is behaving in a radically different way and is no longer vulnerable to the overworked ploys of marketing. The present times call for a new competition one that strays from the prescriptions that traditional marketing theory holds, that sometimes works in a way that it is counter to it and that lays focus on network-building and â€Å"pulling the customer† above all else. Many experienced hands in corporate boardrooms are oblivious to these shifting sands and evolving trends, and are paying the price as a result. In general the basic principles and concepts of marketing are as relevant to SMEs as it is to larger firms, but some theories, tools and techniques of marketing are not as relevant or useful to SMEs. The nature of SME marketing is the concept, which is mainly dominated by the inherent characteristics of the entrepreneur and the SME itself. Although not all small business may take the marketing theories and concepts in to consideration, while carrying out some sort of market research they will have come a across them. They may have limited application in today’s marketing world but they do provide the basis for which a business can start their research on which helps guiding them in to the marketing practice. Therefore marketing theories and Concepts  portrayed in the traditional marketing literature has limited application in guiding small business marketing practice although they give the business a rough base to start their market practice. Competition and Entrepreneurship, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and LondonCarson, D. and A. Gilmore, (2000), â€Å"Marketing at the Interface: Not ‘What’ But ‘How'†, Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, Vol. 8Kohli, A. K. and B. J. Jaworski, (1990), â€Å"The Construct, Research Propositions, and Managerial Implications†, Journal of Marketing,(Gilmore, Carson and Grant, 2001; &Hill and Wright, 2001). Gilmore, A., D. Carson and K. Grant (2001), â€Å"SME Marketing in Practice†, MarketingIntelligence and Planning, Vol. 19(Gilmore, Carson, O’Donnell and Cummins, 1999) â€Å"Added value: A QualitativeAssessment of SME Marketing†, Irish Marketing Review(Cundiff, E.W., Still, R.R. 1976), Fundamentals of Modern Marketing, 2nd ed.)Chaston, I and Mangles, T. (2002) â€Å"Small Business Marketing Management.†Siu, W. and Kirby, D.A. (1998) â€Å"Approaches to small firm marketing: A Critique.† European Journal o f Marketing, vol. 32, no. Brodie, R.J., Coviello, N.E., Brookes, R.W. and Little, V. (1997) â€Å"Towards a Paradigm Shiftin Marketing? An Examination of Current Marketing Practices.† Journal of Marketing Management,Chaffey, D., Mayer, R., Johnston, K. and Ellis-Chadwick, F. (2000) â€Å"Internet Marketing.† Prentice Hall, Harlow, EnglandRayport, J. F. and Jaworski, B. J. (2001) â€Å"e-Commerce.† McGraw-Hill, Boston, USA. Hill, J. and Wright, L. T. (2001) â€Å"A Qualitative Research Agenda for Small to Medium-sized Enterprises.† Marketing Intelligence and Planning,http://www.druid.dk/uploads/tx_picturedb/ds1998-9.pdfhttps://www.mises.org/journals/scholar/wood.pdfhttp://knight.fcu.edu.tw/~gunning/subjecti/workpape/kirz_ent.pdfBooksHandbook of Entrepreneurship Research and Interdisciplinary Survey and Introduction By: Zoltan J Acs, David B

The eNotes Blog Celebrate Bloomsday and Learn About JamesJoyce!

Celebrate Bloomsday and Learn About JamesJoyce! Here at , we love the opportunity to celebrate literature and our favorite authors, and it just so happens that one of the most internationally recognized literary holidays is right around the corner!On June 16th, we honor the highly influential James Joyce and his most famous work  Ulysses with a little celebration known as Bloomsday. For those of you unfamiliar with the story,  Ulysses is a 20th century take on Homers  Odyssey, and it follows a day in the life of character Leopold Bloom as he meanders his way around Dublin, encountering individuals with unique life stories whilst he contemplates his own.  Ulysses  is written in a stream of consciousness format, playing with experimental prose so as to better delve into the minds and thoughts of his characters. As Irish scholar  Declan Kiberd  said, Before Joyce, no writer of fiction had so foregrounded the process of thinking. In other words, James Joyce was a talented writer and  Ulysses was very much a display of his literary abilities. The story, published (at first merely serialized in an American newspaper) in 1918, was already gathering a decent amount of buzz only two years later in 1920. As early as 1924, there were records of the first celebrations of Bloomsday, acknowledged by Joyce himself in a letter to Miss Weaver, his longtime patron, where he states, There is a group of people who observe what they call Blooms Day- 16th of June. Since then, the festivities have broadened significantly and are now well-known throughout the globe, with celebrations from Dublin to Australia. These days, typical festivities involve readings of the novel, pub crawls, themed meals, dress-up, and more Guinness than you thought possible. But, to keep things PG, enjoy the following list of facts about James Joyce and his famed novel to get you in the spirit of the season. Joyce  had a couple of intense phobias, including a lifelong fear of dogs, inspired by a canine attack in his youth. His other more pressing fear was a terror of thunderstorms; also in his youth, his grandmother would tell him that thunderstorms were a sign of Gods wrath. Even after he declared his independence from the Catholic Church, it seems the fear stuck with him, and he never quite grew accustomed to the presence of thunder and lightning. Joyces grandson, in addition to being named after a character in  Ulysses, has done much to contribute to his late grandfathers legacy.  It is heavily speculated that Joyces grandson, Stephen, has destroyed a number of his grandfathers letters to protect their contents from prying eyes. Additionally, Stephen has spoken out a number of times and prevented what he deemed inappropriate adaptations of Joyces work. You may wonder why Joyce specifically set  Ulysses  on June 16th  Well, wonder no more! Joyce chose this particular date because it was the anniversary of his first date with Nora Barnacle, the woman he would eventually marry and have two children with. Nora Barnacle The library at University College in Dublin was named after him (The James Joyce Library). As it turns out, Joyce actually attended a number of schools, including Clongowes College and Belvedere College, before  finally graduating from University College in Dublin. Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath were also Joyce/Ulysses  fans The two authors tied the knot on June 16th, 1956 in honor of Bloomsday- it seems quite the day for romance! He didnt originally aspire to be a writer. Though his father, John Joyce, was deeply invested in literature, the father and son didnt get along too well and its likely that James Joyce went into the study of medicine to distance himself from his fathers legacy. Whilst in Paris studying science and medicine, Joyce was called back to Dublin to see his mother on her deathbed; he did not return to the medical community and instead turned to writing (though he and his wife did return to continental Europe). He wasnt the most sociable. Documents and personal accounts of the time period describe Joyce as aloof or arrogant, and it is likely that these descriptions assisted in the  perception of artists and authors as mysterious and avant-garde. He didnt play nice with other writers either Particularly in the case of William Butler Yeats. Yeats was desperate for the younger author to like him and offered on multiple occasions to read Joyces poetry. Eventually, Joyce replied with rolled eyes and the comment: I do so since you ask me, but I attach no more importance to your opinion than anybody one meets in the streets. Yikes! (Let us point out that Yeats is also a rather spectacular author, respected both in his time and still today). Joyce underwent twenty-five  eye surgeries in his lifetime.*  Even today, with the evolution of modern medicine, we dont often think of people going under the knife more than  maybe a couple of times in their life - except in the case of extremely persistent conditions. Joyce was a sufferer of one of those unfortunate conditions, and it just so happened that it was his eyes that bore the brunt of the misfortune. Famous for his relative blindness, Joyce received his first pair of glasses at just six years old. Only years later did he begin what would be a lifetime of attempts to repair conditions like inflammation of the iris and spontaneous reshaping of the pupil. *Bonus eye fact: On more than one occasion, doctors applied actual  leeches to his  eyeballs to reduce swelling. Think of that any time you have to go to the eye doctor, and thank your lucky stars that medicine has moved beyond leeching A lot of early copies of  Ulysses  were burned. As stated before,  Ulysses  was originally published as  a serial in the U.S. in 1918, but it was not made into an official book until 1934. Somewhere in those sixteen years between the serial and the novel, some hooligans got it in their minds to combine and bind some illicit copies and distribute them via post. Well, when the U.S. Post Office got wind of this plan, they seized the illegal copies and had them all burned.

FINAL PROJECT Essays - Educational Psychology, Educators, Teaching

FINAL PROJECT Essays - Educational Psychology, Educators, Teaching FINAL PROJECT Crystal Burgess July 29, 2011 HRDV 5610 Describe the problem I currently work for a child development center in Knoxville, Tennessee. The center serves ages six weeks to five years. The center is a three-star program (Star Quality) and licensed by the State of Tennessee. The preschool follows the Creative Curriculum and also provides enrichment classes such as music, dance and gymnastics. Star-Quality recognizes child care providers who meet a higher standard of quality. Once qualified for this program, a provider can receive one, two, or three stars to place on its license and display in its center or home. Each star shows that the provider meets increasingly higher standards. In other words, the more stars a program has, the better the quality of care it offers to children. One factor is the Program Assessment. Highly trained assessors go to the child care facility and observe it. During the observation, one or more Assessors will look at the centers indoor and outdoor spaces, activities, materials and the interactions among children and between children and adults. They will observe these things for each classroom being assessed. Assessors will keep a low profile and try to remain unnoticeable while in the classroom. They do this so the adults and children can interact naturally. Before the Star evaluation, during, and awaiting the results can be very stressful. Starting the job, you are placed in a class to train under a seasoned teacher. This teacher trains the new employee and demonstrates why the center is a three-star center and uses shows the employee how to correct serve the students at the optimal level of child care. Many of the teachers, however, use shortcuts to the proper technique and cause the new employees to be uncertain of what is the best standard based on the Star Quality. The problem I will be exploring in this paper is how to proper train new employees on the excellent care for the center at the three-star level. Analyze needs To determine the strengths and weaknesses of the new employee, a task analysis would have to be conducted. The new teachers must have specific levels of knowledge, skill, and ability to demonstrate during the STARS evaluations. An observation of the employee's teaching could help identify the areas of need. The observation would be a mock trial of STARS evaluation. The assessor would look to be sure each teacher masters the objectives set. A person analysis would also need to ensure the employees and potential employees have the readiness for training. It would be used to determine if they have the personal characteristics (ability, attitudes, beliefs, and motivation) required to learn the complex STARS program content and apply it on the job and to ensure that the classroom will facilitate learning and safety. In addition to the task and person analysis, an organizational analysis should be given. Because the child care facility strives for three-stars, we need to identify whether the training in place supports the company's strategic direction and follows the STAR program requirement. We also need to determine whether the managers and employees support training activities and what training resources are available. The director of the center must develop and present training aligned with the mission, vision and goals of the STARS program. This is crucial for the ultimate success of the training as the managers are directed to make it a priority to support and incorporate the training results into their areas of the child development center. Human Resources must have a through understanding of the type of training and identify who needs it before task analysis can begin. Current knowledge and skill levels must be determined first. This also an important step to determine job description requirements for future staffing needs. Learning Objectives/Training Method The main learning objective is to successfully train new employees about the protection of health and safety. Another objective is to build relationships with children, parents, extended family, and community and to provide students opportunities for stimulation and learning from experience. If all objectives are mastered, the child care center will be about to reach the maximum level of stars. To train the new employees, I would first inform the training teachers how important proper training would be for the new employees as well as the for the center's accreditation. The training teachers should demonstrate all learning objectives. Each trainer might have a different way of doing things. Their practices can be seen in the kinds of activities children do, in the way that children and adults talk to each other, in the kinds

E2F1 is crucial for E2F-dependent apoptosis Coursework

E2F1 is crucial for E2F-dependent apoptosis - Coursework Example These proteins have the ability to function at all parts of the cell. These genes also lead to the discovery of familial cancer syndromes. About 50 tumor suppressor genes were catalogued and pRb and p53 proteins were found to have preeminent importance in the human tumor pathogenesis. pRb is closely co ordinate with the cell cycle. pRb hyperphosphorylation occurs when the cells pass the M/G1 transition at the R point. pRb contains atleast 16 different sites for phosphorylation. Thus it proves that pRb is the molecular governor of the R point transition. After the findings that the DNA tumor-virus encoded oncoproteins can disrupt the regulation of cell growth, the importance of learning pRb became important. It was also found that 3 DNA tumor virus oncoproteins, though they are structurally unrelated, they targeted the pRb. pRb inactivation can be done in four pathways. Interaction with viral proteins, phosphorylation, gene mutation and caspase mediated deregulation. The binding of th e onco proteins at the site of pRb also promote cellular proliferation. The cell cycle dependent transcription was associated with the co ordination of the pRb and the E2F as the central mechanism. The pRB which are also called as rocket proteins helps to silence the E2F regulated promoters. The complexes between the pRb and the E2F family members were found to be formed at various phases of the cell cycle. The pRb/E2F complex helps to regulate growth arrest and cell cycle reentry. This association is released by phosphorylation of the pRb by the cyclin dependent kinase. In the absence of pRb protein, the cell death was found to be higher. Hence the effect of pRb on the apoptosis was studied. The E2F protein and the pRb complex formation and dissociation was extensively studied. Apoptosis in the absence of the pRb was found to be dependent on the activity of E2F1. The cell cycle progression is dependent upon the release of the E2F mediated by the phosphorylation of pRb. The E2Fs con tain a distinct domain at the C terminus which is more important for protein binding. The E2F1 mediated apoptosis is ascribed to two mechanisms both p53- dependent and p53- independent. When there occurs any DNA damage during the G0 and G1 phases, the p 53 tumor suppressor proteins induces apoptosis. E2F1 can proliferate and arrest the cell cycle at any stage. Thus it acts as both positive and negative regulator. The hypophosphorylation of pRb binds to the E2Fs and activates it through negative regulation. Thus E2Fs expression on regulated genes increases. Since E2F1 and E2F3 loss can induce apoptosis, this became the key factor in the study of human cancer. E2F transcription factor are associated with a number of promoters on the cell cycle at G1. These E2Fs are bound by many pocket proteins. These pocket proteins are the pRb proteins. When these pRbs undergo hyperphosphorylation, they lose their grip on E2Fs and they stimulate the transcription of the genes. The viral onco protein s target the pRb and they mimic pRb hyperhosphorylation and prevent pRb from binding to the E2Fs. E2Fs is a heterodimeric protein composed of E2F1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 sub units. In this report, the ability of E2F3 to trigger apoptosis in vivo was analyzed and concluded that E2F3 deregulation will trigger apoptosis. It was also concluded that E2F1 and E2F3 association is required for

Organizations and Behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Organizations and Behavior - Essay Example However dealing with how organizations behave, it is necessary to see how the concept of leadership is in an organization. Leadership is all about the needs of the individuals of an organization. Leadership styles are mostly related to the situation in hand. They are used by considering the requirements of people involved and the particular challenges that the organization is facing. There are apparently six different leadership styles or approaches (Kotter and Cohen, 2002, p124). The first one is Visionary. This style is needed when an organization is looking for a new direction and its aim is to move people towards a new goal. Second one is coaching. This style deals with the development of individuals and showing how they can improve their performance and connects their aims to the aims of the organization. Coaching is best for organizations in which the workers who are initiative and want more professional development (Hatch, 2006, p19). Thirdly there is the Affiliate style. This style talks about team work and how a good connection between groups is important. This approach is important in improving and increasing team harmony and morale and improving communication or repairing any type of broken trusts within an organization. However too much praise can lead to poor performance as well. The fourth one is the Democratic style. This style deals with people’s knowledge and skills and introduces a commitment towards goals. However this style will fail in times of crises and in times of urgent decisions. The fifth style is Pacesetting. This style deals with the high standards of performance. The leaders want a perfect work and better and faster things. This style fails in if used too much hence it should be used sparingly. The final and sixth style is Commanding style. This style is also known as the military model. This is the most often used one but the least effective though. It deals with less praise and more criticism; it

Feminism in Family Life Education 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Feminism in Family Life Education 2 - Essay Example A program about feminism is fundamentally based upon the context information and research, theoretical content, and practice. The content is translated to reveal instructions. Ways to implement the instructions are determined. These processes are compulsory to make the teaching effective. The last stage of the process of development of the feminism program is evaluation. This is a very critical stage in that all aspects of the program are reviewed and thoroughly analyzed in it. Important considerations: The program should essentially be research based. It is important for the developers of the program to document all research about its content. However, there may occasionally be cases when it might not be possible for the developers to devise research based programs owing to the lack of sufficient research about a relatively unexplored area. In such cases, the educators of family life should base the program on their personal clinical and teaching experiences. The developers should c learly state the basis of formulation of the program so that the audience may understand its foundation accordingly. Considering the subject under consideration here, i.e. the development of program about feminism, there is sufficient literature to make room for a thorough research.

Apple and Child Labor Essay Example for Free

Apple and Child Labor Essay Children and teenagers everyday are put into child labor, to make money for their families or pay back what their families borrowed. In this paper I will examine child labor around the world and why children need to be able to live without being put under such stress and poor living circumstances. I will also be talking about how child labor is involved in some electronic companies like Samsung and Foxconn. Lastly, I will be talking about what most people don’t know; within the last couple years the world’s most known electronic company; Apple, Inc. has been one of the guiltiest culprits of child labor and of poisoning their employee’s. Child labor is known all over the world, and we need to put a stop to it now! Although child labor is illegal in many countries, many children under the age of twelve still are employed in these harsh work forces. Many under age employees are employed by using a fake identification (Thompson). By using a fake identification, children or teenagers can be mistaken for an adult. If the employer says or provides an identification that shows he is age eligible and they accept him for the job, no one would know any different. It is not in the hands of the hiring company to know that the employer is using a fake identification. Children and teenagers are not getting fake identifications and working in these factories for no reason. They are to pay back the money that their family has borrowed from others, or the lack of ability to get an education. Child labor could be caused by problems in the family, with health, or lack of food, money, or water. Multiple governments around the world look the other way. Child labor is illegal but some governments do not punish the companies or groups that use child labor. Child labor is very cruel to the children. Governments and rulers around the world insist that if adults of a family borrow money, the family has to pay it back no matter what, even if it means selling their crops for money or putting their children into the work force. Due to the fact that children and teenagers are working at such a young age, the children are committing suicide and other self-harms. This should not be happening; young adults committing suicide because they are so stressed or they do not want to work at these companies but also because they are being accused of stealing products. For example, one of Apple’s suppliers, Foxconn, accused one of their employees of stealing an iPhone prototype. The employee would not dare to steal an iPhone and would not have done such a thing to get himself in trouble. The possibilities of his pay being withheld and being physically punished was very high for the employee. As a result he killed himself; he did not want to be under the large amount of stress added to the amount that he already had (Usher). This occurs in a lot of work forces, where the employees get so stressed and out of control that they cannot bare to live anymore; it happens especially in electronic factories in Asia. Many people think of child labor being associated with clothing, furniture, or toys, but in reality it’s not. Child labor is known in every industry. One industry that we all use is the electronic industry. Child labor is used in the electronic industry in a big way, not as much as clothing or furniture, but close to it. The Apple IPAD tablet you are holding in your hand, the Apple T.V media portal you are watching shows off of each night, the Apple Iphone you just used to call or text your friend, are all made with the help of child labour. Apple’s major provider Foxconn, has been proven to have employees under the age of Twelve (Usher). Foxconn’s manufacturing plants in Asia have admitted to having child employees that have been poisoned, and some have committed suicide (Usher). This is a situation Apple has a difficult time controlling. The use of child labor in the electronic industry should not be happening at all. It should not be happening in any industry period. Child Labour has been used to try and sabotage the success of certain companies. Samsung was accused of having workers under the age of twelve working in their factories [Thompson]. Samsung has denied the fact that they have underage workers. The rumor was created by RIM (Blackberry) to sabotage Samsung and gain an advantage in the marketplace. Samsung does not have employees under the age of twelve working for them. The name Steve Jobs brings so many amazing thoughts into your head, how he was the co-founder of the largest high tech companies in the wold, the go to guy and CEO of Apple, a multi-billionaire, and philanthropist (In Your Face Radio). Steve Jobs was an amazing man, but in realty he was just like a lot of other top executives, which get carried away with their money and make some bad decisions (In Your Face Radio). Many people think that Jobs was the one who started exploiting children in the business. It was said that Steve Jobs that created the child labor issues in the business because he lost focus and innovation in what he was doing, lost control of his factories and caused such a dilemma in the industry that almost broke the company’s reputation. (Does Steve). Apple’s factory, Foxconn, has been caught with having 164 children in total working in many different factories around the world. (Clarke and Williams). Foxconn has been caught poisoning their employees with n-hexane, and have also been caught for abusing their workers. Tim Costello led a study in Taiwan, and went into to Foxconn and created a report based on the workers lives in Foxconn. The study showed that the company was abusing their employees by â€Å"corporal violence† (Myslewski). Now this is in Foxconn’s factories where they make the parts for the Apple devices. Foxconn has fully admitted to all of the above. The major part of Apple’s manufacturing that is using child labor is Foxconn. As I said earlier Foxconn is the company with over 164 children working in its factory, they have been caught abusing and poisoning their employees. Foxconn is relied upon a lot by Apple. By being caught employing children to manufacture components, has caused an upset within Apple, and the ability to reply on Foxconn has come into question. Apple is an amazing company; however we need to know more about what goes on behind the closed doors within their manufacturing plants and their manufacturing partners facilities. In my opinion Apple is guilty in this situation of child labor. Personally I will continue to use Apple’s products because I believe Foxconn needs to organize their company and other factories that Apple is associated with or Apple needs to find another supplier. In order to fix the crisis of child labor I think that there should be a worldwide legal age to work and which each government must implement. This will decrease the young aged employees that work in countries like India, China, Japan, Pakistan, and many more. Due to there being no worldwide legal working age, problems like child labor occur. Child labor needs to stop, and companies like Apple can lead the way to change just like they have led the way in technology.