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Difference Between Race and Ethnicity.
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DateDifference Between Race and Ethnicity.
Race and ethnicity have been for a long time been difficult to define as the two terms have been used interchangeably by individuals to mean the same thing. But despite the two words having a closer meaning, they tend to differ in the context into which they are used or applied, and therefore the difference lies in the application. Thus, a person must be careful in the choice of the wording according to the concept and context to which they want to address. Most commonly race can be understood as the genetic differences that are exhibited by different individuals that are purported to be of different races. However, the definition of race has continued to vary depending on the field that the scholars are situated. In the field of biology, the definition of race goes another mile with the biologists defining race as the susceptibility of a person to certain diseases. And this is because some of the races are more susceptible to diseases while others are not affected at while, while some of the races are partially affected, and this brings the biological perspective of race.
After a close observation by the social scientists, they have come to differ from the biological scientists claiming that race is more of a social definition rather than being a biological fact. The main reason as to why race is considered as a social construct is because it takes various forms in different places and times. One such example of the social construct is the one-drop rule in the United States that rendered people with the African American ancestry as being referred to as black. Socially, the one drop rule was supposed to prevent the intermarriages between the races. Besides, moving out of the category, the one drop law meant that black was and still is in the present day extremely challenging as the racial status of an individual is determined by ancestry. The notion that black blood qualifies a person to be black has been challenged by the rising number of young people who are of diverse racial backgrounds.
According to the studies of genetic variations, it has been demonstrated that there is far more variability in the so-called racial groups than between the groups and this has led to most scholars believing that all human beings are genetically speaking, members of only a single race, the Homo Sapiens Sapiens. The definition of race, therefore, becomes more challenging as there has not been any single conclusion that has been arrived at that can be said to the exact definition of race. Racism on the other side, therefore, can be defined as the belief that human capabilities are determined by racial classification and that some of the races are superior to others. According to the definition of racism, some of the races including the whites seem to be more superior than the rest; for example, it is more superior to that of Blacks and Asians.
Ethnicity, on the other hand, has a different definition to that of the race despite being too close in meaning. The term ethnic is derived from a Greek word ethnos, that refers to a people or nation, but the definition is too broad and therefore the focus now leans to the definition of an ethnic group. An ethnic group refers to a group of people that share a common ancestry and cultural tradition and often living as a minority in a larger community or society. Therefore, we can say that an ethnic group is highly characterized by a strong feeling of being identified with the group. Being a member of an ethnic group is highly involuntary in the sense that an individual can’t simply decide to join a particular ethnic group. However, the entry to an ethnic group can be through either being born in the group providing a person with a direct entry to the group’s identity. Besides, a person may gain entry into the ethnic group through marriage or adoption where they are assimilated to the specific group’s values and cultural beliefs.
With the definition of ethnic group as a people who share a common cultural tradition as well as common ancestry, therefore there do exist a large number of ethnic groups that may be differentiated by their identities on the different traits. For example, for the Jewish, ethnicity primarily means religion while that of the African Americans, their ethnicity primarily is the shared history that stems from slavery. From the above examples, we can, therefore, base ethnicity as to underlie beneath the religion, folk, language, history, place of origin as well as the culture of a people. The boundaries of ethnicity in the context of race can be considered as fuzzy and shift over time. Most commonly ethnicity has been used to mark the minority groups as being different while at the same time, the majority groups as well have their ethnicity that might be based on language, common heritage, culture or even religion. The most significant issue of being a member of the majority is the ability to decide on how, when and even if one’s ethnicity forms an overt aspect of the person’s identity.
In conclusion, therefore, race and ethnicity are more similar but they exhibit some differences in the context of usage, and therefore it is essential for a person to take heed of the context to which the two words are being applied. The main difference between race and ethnicity is that race is determined by the visible facial characteristic of a person as well as their skin color while on the other side, ethnicity can be said to be the culture to which a people can be identified and this include language and religion. It is, therefore, necessary to note the context before applying the words as they can as well mean the same thing due to their confusing ability.
A Complete Marketing Plan of Nike Shoes
A Complete Marketing Plan of Nike Shoes
Every business, whether small or big, must have a business plan in order to be able to achieve the goals that it was established to meet. The plan acts as a guide on the progress of the business in all major aspects of the business. The plan also gives an overview of the business strengths and weaknesses, as well as identifies some of the major competitors and the threats they pose to the business.
In the year 1962, two-business men came together to form a firm that would import Japanese shoes. The founder of the firm Bill Bower and Phil Knight at the time labeled it Blue Ribbon Sports. The firm later changed its name to Nike the name, which is famous all around the world. The firm has since then grown to become the number one producers of sports shoes and other sports products (Nike Inc, 2013).
Currently, Nike is one of the leading brand names not just in shoes but other sports equipment. The firm products are divided into four categories, equipment, footwear, and apparels. Some of the sports equipment that is produced by Nike includes Nike Golf, Nike+, Nike skating boarding, and Nike Pro. Nike products are sold all over the world, thus giving it an edge against its competitors in the business. The firm currently has its products being sold in more than 160 countries worldwide. In the United States of America alone, the firm has over 22,000 retail outlets. According to a fiscal report in the year 2008, all the products sold by Nike came to about $18.6 billion. Footwear products accounted for 52%, equipment 6%, apparel 28%, and others 14%. The firm also sponsors some of the world best and renowned athletes (Micheletti, 2004).
Situation
The firm is currently the number one supplier of sports equipment, shoes, and sports apparel; it currently controls about 47% of the athletic shoes market. The firm sells its products to over 100 countries in the word and its major target markets include Europe, the Americas, United States of America, and Asia Pacific. The firm has so far been able to secure their position in the major target areas through keen marketing strategies, and production of quality products (Blackwell, 2008).
The firm currently has about 800,000 who make its products in the 700 factories based in about 52 countries. The factories are based in China, Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia. About 80 % of all the workers in the factories are women who are aged averagely 18-24 years. Labor rights have been a major concern in the firm for some time, but some reforms are being implemented, for example, no employee under 18 is allowed to work in any of the factories. The issue of employing persons less than 18 years has been given the highest priority after it emerged that some of the factories had employed children thus flouting the labor laws (Blackwell, 2008).
Nike has also allowed the labor authorities in countries where their factories are based to conduct regular inspection, to look at the working conditions, and any other labor laws that have been flouted. The labor authorities have also been given the permission to verify the ages of the employees by looking at their documents (Nike Inc, 2013).
In the past, workers who complained about the poor working conditions were fired. Those who were found to have spoken to journalists about the poor working conditions, mistreatment, or any other violation of their rights was victimized. However, the situation has since changed and the workers are at liberty to express their views on anything that they might think is not fair to them (Parkinson, 2006).
Customer
Nike has customers all over the world who cherish its products; however, there are some notable major customers. Nike’s biggest clientele cherish sports products and they are drawn from basketball, aerobic, tennis, and jogging. All the major clients buy products in all the four categories of products produced by Nike. Some of the other major customers are soccer related firms who kit and sponsor various teams across the world (Nike Inc, 2013).
Competitors
In every business venture, competition is bound to exist and sports products business in not an exception. Some of the major competitors of Nike include Reebok, with a market share of 16%, Adidas 6%, and New Balance 3%. Converse also held a market share of about 3%, but Nike bought the firm and made it an affiliate brand. Nike still controls the highest share of the market with about 47% (Nike Inc, 2013).
Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT)
Strength
Nike is a global brand that is well known for their excellent quality, their logo and slogan are familiar among millions of people across the world. Nike has a very reliable and efficient research and marketing team, thus the department is able to advise the management on any issue that can help in the improvement of the firm’s sales. The products are produced in Far East countries where the cost of production is low, therefore, more energy is spent on marketing (Nike Inc, 2013).
Weakness
The firm spends a lot of money in advertisement and loyalties. It has a lot of different sports product, but unfortunately, only one of the foot wear section is doing well compared to other sections such as sports equipment, and apparels. Such a situation can be abused by some of the major competitors, who might decide to focus on producing goods that are not doing well in term of sales at Nike (Parkinson, 2006).
Threats
Threats are always in business and cannot be fully eliminated. The most viable solution is to reduce their effects by use of any appropriate means. One of the major threats is the ever-increasing competition because some of the major competitors have been growing stronger in the recent years. The other threat is the overflow of counterfeit products. The fake products especially is the continent of Asia has led to the firm losing millions of dollars. The last threat is cost as most of the products sold by Nike have prices that are higher than the ones produced by other firms. Most of the people feel that Nike should reduce the price of their goods (Parkinson, 2006).
Opportunities
Nike should take advantage of the internet, which is the avenue for meeting more potential clients. Nike can allow their clients to order and pay for their products online then they can later pick them up at the nearest retail store or let them delivered to their doorsteps. The firm can also put up a database that can be able to get the feedback of their clients, and have them post their views on various products (Micheletti, 2004).
Conclusion
A business plan is a very vital part of any firm that is involved in business. It guides the business on various issues that affect the firm, such as marketing of products and the strategies to be followed to ensure efficient sales. The plan also gives a summary of the strengths and weaknesses of the firm. Therefore, the firm can improve on the weaknesses to ensure better sales. It also gives the firm the opportunity to improve on its strength.
Reference
HYPERLINK “http://www.bibme.org/” o “Edit this item” Blackwell, E. (2008). How to prepare a business plan (5th ed.). London: Kogan Page.
HYPERLINK “http://www.bibme.org/” o “Edit this item” Micheletti, M., Føllesdal, A., & Stolle, D. (2004). Politics, products, and markets: exploring political consumerism past and present. New York: Transaction Publishers.
HYPERLINK “../../GOERGI/Downloads/Nike Inc (n.d.). Nike Inc. Retrieved November 23, 2013, from http:/sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/32018″Nike Inc (n.d.). Nike Inc. Retrieved November 23, 2013, from http://sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/32018
HYPERLINK “http://www.bibme.org/” o “Edit this item” Parkinson, M. G., & Ekachai, D. (2006).International and intercultural public relations: a campaign case approach. New York: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.
The pros and cons of involving women in leadership roles
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The pros and cons of involving women in leadership roles
In most cases, women are increasingly given praise for possessing good leadership skills and, in fact, more women than men, they manifest styles of leadership that are related to an effective performance a leader should have. However, many people are comfortable with male leadership as compared to women leadership more so in political leadership and these situations, women find it difficult to dominate in male leadership roles. Hence, this results in a mixture of apparent disadvantages and advantages that women leaders experience and give a reflection to the considerable progress of achieving equality in gender in both the attitude and the behaviors and with lack of attaining goals completely. Thus, Discrimination of employment is a type of discrimination that is basing on gender, race, origin, religion, place or country of origin, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, and age identities by the employers. Therefore, differentials in the earnings or the occupations of people where payment differences are determined by the differences in the level of qualifications should not be mistaken for discrimination. In some incidences, discrimination can involve disparate treatment of a group or be unintended, yet create disparate impact for a group (Burton. 159). Hence, Gender of people should not one of the factors to be considered when determining whether a person can a great leader or not but the abilities of a person in leadership should only be depended on their characteristics or traits and individual strengths. However, in most incidences, women are not promoted to take roles and responsibilities as often their counterparts who are male hence, resulting in inequality and imbalance of people who are in power or leadership roles. Why is it that there is such a big gap between men and women in power yet women have the same qualifications as males? In contrary to male gender people who are assumed to center to career and always want to receive maximum returns from their work in terms of finances, women on the other hand view work to be something holistic and as an element of their life plan overall. Therefore, women approach their careers more likely in a way that is elf-reflective and they value some components related to work like meaning, making a connection with fellow workers and life integration artwork and purpose. Hence, the tendency of women toward, self-reflective approach and a holistic could account for the reasons why employees of female gender define leadership from a different perspective than how some men do. A total percentage of almost 70% of female gender versus male gender of percentage 53% would say that they perceive leaders as the people who share a lot of ideas and knowledge and at the same time connect with their colleagues to help the team or the business. When in managerial roles and develop this attitude, it might make women stronger and improve on their leadership roles effectively (Davis et al.). Nevertheless, as I was observing my job at the Urban Academic Village Apartments, I found that an approximation of 65 percent of women said they feel that they in leadership roles basing their arguments on their participation in their business despite their advantages. The abilities and potentials of women are undeniable and they may not be able to realize how they are poised for success.
In this study, I will, therefore, observe the functioning relationship between a superior African American Woman over a male and female subordinate in the workplace. I will compare and contrast the difference in how the two subordinates respond to the power that their boss holds. There was an anonymous survey conducted at the Urban Academic Village Apartments with the workers to get their responses on how they truly feel about their boss. I selected this topic because there is a preconceived notion that all African American Women in power are overall aggressive. Most assume that African American Women have a power struggle complex. I have experienced negative attitudes from constituents when I was in a place of power simply because I am a woman, an African American Woman to be exact and I want to get a feel of another opinion on this topic. I disagree with this notion I observed both female and male workers’ interactions with their African American supervisor. From the observations, I found that there are both the advantages and the disadvantages involving women in leadership positions.
Advantages of involving African American women in leadership positions
Women value work-life balance.
Women perform well in leadership positions they can balance well both professional and skills in personal leadership. Women leaders are easier to be approached on issues concerning personal life or very sensitive matters. Women leaders care more about their performance while at work and how to balance their life of work. Women leaders are also proactive in becoming mentors of junior staff.
Women leaders are more empathetic.
Most women in leadership roles naturally are empathetic and they put more value on relationships. This virtue enables them to possess a very strong understanding of gives motivation, inspirations and drives employees how the same employees can be acknowledged for their good performance at work.
Women leaders are good listeners.
Women’s gender makes good leadership because they take their time to listen rather than reacting right away. Women leaders people whether bad or good, wrong or right and they are ready to listen before making decisions.
Women leaders nurture people.
The aspect of good leadership in society is to have the ability to assist your group members to have skills and strength. Naturally, women nurturing hence, the best scenarios that can translate assisting around you to succeed.
Women leaders mainly focus on teamwork.
Women make decisions that are bold wise as leaders. They demonstrate, enthusiasm, passion, and an immense space to serve others and be served by others too. The environment where women are leadership is cooperative, family-like, and less authoritative.
Women can do more than one thing at ago (multitasking).
Women are best known for doing more than one thing at ago hence, they multitask like computers. Women are easy to respond and quickly and decisively to different and simultaneous tasks or problems and this sometimes is a very critical element to most successful leadership.
Women are motivated by the challenges they face.
Women are more motivated by the challenges they face in their work than men. Women use a lot of creativity when solving critical problems and they easily overcome challenges.
Women good communication skills.
Women have good communication skills than men and women leaders understand how to use these skills in their leadership positions. When passing information to employers, colleagues or partners, they communicate, regularly, and openly
They dream big.
“Women make great leaders because they have an innate ability to dream big, challenge assumptions and inspire teams — and they know how to translate big ideas into concrete action and results
Women know how to handle crisis circumstances.
Most women are well on how to handle times or crisis circumstances. These entities are relevant when women leaders are dealing with critical or crisis circumstances.
Women leaders also check their egos.
The ego helps in a situation where has to be made. Women are good at making a sober decision because they have a different exhibition of ego. Hence, this gives them a key advantage in working with boards of directors, partners and customers
Women have got high emotional intelligence.
In this regard, emotional intelligence is an ability that helps women to recognize emotions in people and yourself and be able to relate them. In essential leadership, emotional intelligence has gained and is an emerging issue in a leadership career.
Women leaders are more flexible.
Women leaders are more flexible and agile. Women leaders can regroup and change the company’s course for good without making a lot of deliberations.
xiv. They defy the odds.
Women are good leaders because the odds are against them to lead. That’s why the women who emerge on top are extraordinarily strong and capable and that is why they had to fight to get there.
Therefore, from the above points mentioned, I can confidently say that when women are involved in leadership positions, companies and businesses thrive well and accrued returns can also increase.
Disadvantages of involving African American women in leadership positions
On the other hand, there have been a lot of discussions about whether the women’s behavior in the workplace is greatly influenced changes in their hormones or they are not affected by these changes at all. Both male and female genders have got equal challenges when it comes to the issues of hormones in the body tissues. These hormonal influence sometimes can affect their skills of making sober decisions and their attitudes towards their colleagues and subordinate workers at their working place (Hoyt. 389). However, I can agree that women sometimes tend to give chance to changes in their hormones to be manifested in their moods and general behaviors at work. Therefore, due to these effects, women cannot be good leaders. Also, Women experience a lot of challenges to get at the top of their careers ladder and they may pull their fellow women who are competing for the same position so that they can retain the highest secured job. Furthermore, Women bosses have tendencies of being jealous and backbiting people over time and this can be against professional ethical issues.
Conclusion
Discrimination of employment is a type of discrimination that is basing on gender, race, origin, religion, place or country of origin, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, and age identities by the employers. Therefore, differentials in the earnings or the occupations of people where payment differences are determined by the differences in the level of qualifications should not be mistaken for discrimination. In some incidences, discrimination can involve disparate treatment of a group or be unintended, yet create disparate impact for a group. Furthermore, women are increasingly given praise for possessing good leadership skills and, in fact, more women than men, they manifest styles of leadership that are related to an effective performance a leader should have. However, many people are comfortable with male leadership as compared to women leadership more so in political leadership and these situations, women find it difficult to dominate in male leadership roles. Hence, this results in both the pros and cons of women’s leadership.
Work cited Burton, Laura J. “Underrepresentation of women in sport leadership: A review of research.” Sport management review 18.2 (2015): 155-165.
Davis, Deanna R., and Cecilia Maldonado. “Shattering the glass ceiling: The leadership development of African American women in higher education.” Advancing women in leadership 35 (2015).
Hoyt, Crystal L., and Susan E. Murphy. “Managing to clear the air: Stereotype threat, women, and leadership.” The Leadership Quarterly 27.3 (2016): 387-399.
Walker, Robyn C., and Jolanta Aritz. “Women doing leadership: Leadership styles and organizational culture.” International Journal of Business Communication 52.4 (2015): 452-478.