George Orwell s The Barn - 1784 Words

The animals of Manor Farm behave like animals that we are familiar with today. They work quite a bit for the farmer, are fed, shown off/sold to others. On the other hand, the animals are able to communicate amongst themselves, and are capable of planning and complex thinking, like humans are. Old Major’s speech in the barn seems to inspire the animals to rebel against the human who appears to make their life harsh, miserable, and insufferable, who we know as Mr. Jones. The animals take it to heart, and sincerely commit to this new idea. Old Major’s speech in the barn seems to inspire the animals to rebel against the human who appears to make their life harsh, miserable, and insufferable, who we know as Mr. Jones. The animals take it to†¦show more content†¦The rebellion changed a lot of things on the farm. The animals changed the name of the farm, the people (Mr. Jones and Mrs. Jones) are driven out, and the things they used are not to be touched or used, and the house is turned into a type of preserve. The animals are extremely pleased. The strong idea here is that you should not do anything pertaining to mankind, because man is evil and cold. Man is wrong, but animal is right. Man is cruel, animal is kind. According to dictionary.com, marxism is the system of economic and political thought developed by Karl Marx, along with Friedrich Engels, especially the doctrine that the state throughout history has been a device for the exploitation of the masses by a dominant class, that class struggle has been the main agency of historical change, and that the capitalist system, containing from the first the seeds of its own decay, will inevitably, after the period of the dictatorship of the proletariat, be superseded by a socialist order and a classless society.. In other words, Marxism is a theory of economics and of history that says that all of history consists of conflict between various classes. The farm might have been a perfect place for a utopian community if you were an animal. As you can see, from the animal’s viewpoints, life is terrible because of the humans. It is perfect, and it offers freedom, and being able to do things of your own free will. If the animals had come up with another way to govern

The Legacy Of John F. Kennedy - 980 Words

Born in 1917, John F. Kennedy grew up in a wealthy family with influence both politically, and economically. His grandfather was a famous politician, his father a billionaire, and his brothers he grew up with would go on to become well known politicians. Growing up in a family like this, it would appear hard to distinguish yourself, however, JFK would go on to surpass them all by becoming the 35th, and perhaps most beloved president of the United States. As president JFK was popular. He was young, handsome, and articulate, this ultimately led him to defeat Richard Nixon in the general election. As a president did a lot in the few years he had in office such as, putting a man on the moon, helping us avoid nuclear warfare, promoting peace, and bringing civil rights to the forefront. Had JFK gotten to serve out his term, and potentially a second, the world would be a better, more peaceful place especially if he was able to make the impact on arms limitations he set out to do. Unfortunat ely his assassination led the world in the opposite direction. Speaking History John F. Kennedy is quite the speaker. On the website American Rhetoric alone, JFK has 7 of the top 100 speeches in American history, with 2 of those speeches in the top 10. What makes JFK’s speeches so important is the time that they were delivered, and the impact they had. When JFK was in office, America, and other countries were in fear of the Soviets, and nuclear destruction. What JFK brought to the people was aShow MoreRelatedThe Legacy Of John F. Kennedy1176 Words   |  5 PagesJohn F. Kennedy did a lot for our country although his presidential term was cut short. He had a certain allure to him that Americans liked. Kennedy knew what to do to gain the votes of all different types of voters no matter their age, race, or religion. His campaign and presidency have inspired even today’s presidents and presidential candidates in multiple ways. John F. Kennedy was a spectacular man and president that brought a fresh feel to America and who left a legacy that will never be forgottenRead MoreThe Legacy of John F. Kennedy1129 Words   |  5 PagesPresidents relate in life and none in death. Most people know John F. Kennedy as the 35th President of the United States, the youngest president, and one of fewest presidents that was killed. But what was JFKs legacy? JFK was born on May, 29th, 1917 in Brookline, Massachusetts, a quiet, clam suburb in Boston. As a child John F. Kennedy was mostly referred to the name Jack, by friends and family. His parents, Rose and Joseph Kennedy were too involved with social rank and their place in BostonsRead MoreThe Legacy of John F. Kennedy1917 Words   |  8 PagesWhat is a legacy? Is it strictly a visible, touchable object? A legacy is not just an object that people can see; it can be a dream or an idea. Although his life came to a tragic end, John F. Kennedy was one of the many presidents that served his term of presidency with compassion and dedication, and also, he left behind an unforgettable legacy to live on for the generations to come. His legacy was both an idea and dream that still affects many Americans today, as he led people to believe that heRead MoreThe Legacy Of John F. Kennedy1085 Words   |  5 PagesJohn Fitzgerald Kennedy made history as America’s youngest and first Catholic President. JFK, or â€Å"Jack† Kennedy, was born into a wealthy family, who were considered American royalty. Jack Kennedy was only our President for a few short years, but the stories of his assassination and his legacy live on today. President Kennedy was easily one of America’s most famous leaders of all time. John F. Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, on May 29, 1917. Jack was the second of nine children bornRead MoreThe Legacy Of John F Kennedy1142 Words   |  5 PagesThe Democrat that stood with his hand on the living holy scripture would not only be known as the youngest man to enter the sacred halls of the White House, but also as the one that entrusted his heart and soul for the love of his nation. John Fitzgerald Kennedy recited what seemed like ancient words bound within the inaugural speech with more than a noticeable Boston pronunciation. The unforeseen knowledge that this young senator would be the victim of a deadly attack left the world innocent. ThisRead MoreThe Legacy Of John F. Kennedy1879 Words   |  8 PagesUnited State of America which was John F. Kennedy has been assassinated. Lyndon’s purpose of the speech was comfort America after the death of John F. Kennedy and also to insure America that with this horrific tragedy that America has to go thro ugh he will continue the act of the forward thrust of America that John F. Kennedy had begun to do while he was in was the President. Also Johnson ensures America that John F. Kennedy will live on with us. John Fitzgerald Kennedy was the youngest president heRead MoreThe Legacy Of John F. Kennedy1480 Words   |  6 Pagesvice president had given him prominence and experience where communism was concerned.. Democrats, meanwhile, nominated the relatively unknown John F. Kennedy, a young but accomplished senator from Massachusetts who had served with distinction in World War II and had won a Pulitzer Prize for his 1956 book Profiles in Courage .At only forty-three years old, Kennedy exuded a youthful confidence that contrasted sharply with Nixon’s serious demeanor—a contrast that was plainly evident in the first-ever liveRead MoreThe Legacy Of John F. Kennedy Essay969 Words   |  4 PagesOn November 22, 1963 the lives of John F. Kennedy, Harvey Lee Oswald, Jack Ruby, Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis, Lyndon B. Johnson. John Connally, Abraham Zupruder, and several others , all took a dramatic turning point. On November 22, 1963 President John Fittzgerald Kennedy was assassinated in the Dealey Plaza of Dallas Texas. Less than two hours later CBS News showed Harvey Lee Oswald in handcuffs at Dallas Police Headquarters. Harvey Lee Oswald was born October 18, 1939 in New Orleans, LouisianaRead MoreLeadership And Legacy Of John F. Kennedy1388 Words   |  6 PagesJohn F. Kennedy His Leadership Legacy John F. Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917 in Brookline, Massachusetts and was known as (Jack). He was the son of Joseph P. Kennedy, an ambassador to Great Britain during Franklin D. Roosevelt administration. The Kennedy’s were one of the wealth family in American. He was one of the most important leader in America. When he graduated from Harvard University in 1940 he wrote a winning note with his publication of â€Å"Why England Slept†, it was an expansionRead MoreThe Legacy of John F. Kennedy Essay2477 Words   |  10 PagesOur Fellow American The late president John Fitzgerald Kennedy once said, â€Å"Sure its a big job; but I dont know anyone who can do it better than I can† (â€Å"John F. Kennedy† BrainyQuote.com). Kennedy was a young and fresh political figure at the time of his election in 1960. The thirty-fifth president of the United States was born May 29, 1917, in Brookline, Massachusetts. He was the youngest president ever, as well as the first and only Roman Catholic president (Bass, et al.). His presidency was

Human Resources for Recruitment Wesfarmers- MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about theHuman Resources: Recruitment Challenges of Wesfarmers. Answer: Introduction The businesses nowadays are presently facing the main challenge of attracting and retaining the right talent for successfully conducting their operational activities. The human resource managers are increasingly facing the issues regarding the development of effective recruitment strategy for hiring and selecting the right type of candidates (Ekwoaba et al., 2015). In this context, the main purpose of the present report is to identify the key challenges faced by retail industry in Australia for recruiting the workforce and recommending the strategies for addressing the identified challenges. The organization selected for the case study is Wesfarmers, a retail giant in Australia. The report has adopted qualitative research methodology for achieving the aims and objectives of the study. Key Challenges Faced by Wesfarmers in Recruiting the Workforce The development and implementation of an effective recruitment process is one of the major roles of human resource managers of business organizations. The productivity and profitability of organizations is largely impacted by its type of workforce diversity. However, the human resource managers are currently facing the problems in attracting, retaining and motivating the right type of talent at their workplaces (Renko, 2017). As such, the retail industry in Australia is encountering major recruitment challenges that are impacting its performance and productivity to a large extent. As such, one of the largest Australias listed retail companies, Wesfarmers Limited, is also facing challenges in retaining the right type of workforce at its workplace. The company is believed to provide employment to about 102,000 employees in its various retail divisions. The company though strives to develop a healthy work environment for all its employees irrespective of gender, age or cultural backgrou nds but still is facing issues in relation to its recruitment strategies. The major challenge faced by the company in this regard is identifying and retaining the best talent that can effectively carry out the business operational processes (Retaining talent is biggest challenge: Wesfarmers Managing Director, 2017). Wesfarmers is facing the main challenge of identifying the right people due to incompatibility between the labor supply and demand. The company has incorporated the use of information technology devices and tools for automating their operational processes in order to attain a competitive advantage in the marketplace. However, the company is facing issues for attracting and retaining the skilled employees that possess the IT knowledge and thus can work appropriately on the computerized tools and devices. The skilled employees have adequate IT knowledge demand high salaries and also company have to invest heavily in providing appropriate training to the hired employees so that they are able to work properly on the computerized devices (Tay, 2011). Thus, finding and retaining a skilled talent pool of specialized workforce is a constant burden on the human resource department (HRD) of the company. The company as such is encountering problems to find cheap, flexible and high quality workf orce that is able to conduct the retailing operations adequately (Australia Recruiting Trends 2017, 2017). The human resource managers of the company also face issues for hiring right personality, attitude and appearance for providing good customer service. As such, the company is emphasizing on recruiting and hiring young workers such as students due to their flexibility, cheapness and high quality IT skills. The major issue faced by the company in hiring such workforce diversity is high turnover rate of students as they pursue jobs for short-span of time. Therefore, the company incurs significant losses on account of heavy cost involved in providing training and development to the employees (Treadgold, 2016). In addition to this, the company is also facing demographic issues such as managing the huge workforce diversity and ageing workforce as major recruitment challenges. The company also faces challenges of managing and controlling the diverse workforce as it possess workforce belong to different age, gender and cultural background. The human resource manager thus face major problem of developing effective strategies for attracting and retaining such huge workforce diversity (Greenidge et al., 2012). The retailers often maintain huge workforce diversity for gaining more creative ideas for achieving a competitive position in the marketplace. The huge workforce diversity is also required for effectively carrying out the business operations in various retail divisions. As such, Wesfarmers also maintains wide workforce diversity and therefore face issues in developing a healthy work environment where employees belonging to diverse background are able to work in co-operation with each other. The human resource managers have to develop effective strategies for managing conflicts and promote a spirit of tolerance and teamwork among the employees belonging to different ethnicity (Fui and Yazdanifard, 2015). Also, the company in this context is facing issues of recruiting women in senior leadership roles as it does not have women candidates in its workforce team. The human resource department has to develop effective strategies for recruiting the women candidates at the senior leadership position (Retaining talent is biggest challenge: Wesfarmers Managing Director, 2017). The human resource manager of the company has also to face age-related concerns of the workforce diversity. The company has to invest largely in providing training to the old employees reading the use of innovative tools and technologies implemented. Also, the productivity of the company is also impacted to large extent by the ageing workforce and therefore HR managers have to develop recruitment strategies that aim to hire young employees (Zinyemba, 2014). The ageing workforce is bound to increase employee turnover in the future. It has been surveyed that 35% of the employees are likely to get retire in Australia in the coming year and thus leading to increased employee turnover due to ageing workforce. The recruitment strategies of a company are also largely impacted by its organizational image (Australian Recruitment Practices, 2014). The image of a retail company plays a significant role in attracting and retaining the quality employees at the workplace. This is because applicants mainly apply in retail companies due to their good brand image and values. Therefore, Wesfarmers have to develop and implement strategies for strengthening their brand image at an international level for attracting quality staff from various parts of the world. Moreover, the human resource department of the company has to also overcome recruitment challenges for developing a competent and committed workforce. The challenges include removing misconceptions from the workforce diversity about the work environment of the retailing companies such as long hours working, low benefits and pay and also presence of limited growth opportunities. The human resource managers as such are required to provide proper motivation to the employees that aim at removing all their misconceptions and tend to improve their organizational commitment (Qureshi, 20 13). Recommendation of Recruitment Strategies for Overcoming the Identified Challenges As discussed above, Wesfarmers employers are facing major challenges such a tight labor market, economic pressures and demographic issues for attracting and retaining right type of workforce diversity at their workplace. The company is thus recommended to develop effective recruitment strategies for overcoming the above mentioned recruitment challenges and thus attaining a competitive advantage in the marketplace. The recommended recruitment strategies are as follows: Online advertising: The recruitment strategies of businesses are undergoing major changes on account of introduction of online technology and device for attracting the right type of candidates for the available job position. As such, the company is recommended adopting the use of online advertisement platform in order to reach out the right type of candidate (McGuire and Cross, 2003). For example, the company can adopt the use of online job board for placing the job advertisements about the available vacancies. The job board can be regarded as an online platform where the employer pays to advertise on online platforms such as websites about the presence of one or more vacancies. These advertisements are less expensive than print media and also effective in reaching to large number of applicant in short period of time. Also, social media platform such as Twitter and Facebook are emerging as the core platforms for companies in order to attract and retain right type of candidates. It ha s been reported that Australian companies incorporates less use of social media into their recruitment practices. It has been surveyed that only 26% of companies in Australia adopts the use of social media in comparison to the 925 of the US companies. As such, the Australian companies are recommended to adopt the usage of social media platform in developing their recruitment practices as it proves to be an instant medium of communication between the employers and applicants (Australian Recruitment Practices, 2014). Employer Branding: Employer branding is also regarded to be an effective recruitment strategy for the businesses in order to attract quality workforce. This involves designing and implementation of strategic activities in an organization that aims to improve its image among the general public (Nalla and Varalaxmi, 2014). The employer branding can prove to be a significant strategy for the retail companies such as Wesfarmers as most of the consumers of the company can become its job applicants in the future. The job applicants in retail companies are often attracted by the image and values of a specific brand. The applicants strive to pursue a job in the company that promotes a healthy workplace environment with increased benefits offered to the employees. Thus, as such it is very important for Wesfarmers to promote its goodwill globally for attracting quality applicants from all parts of the world. The technique of employer branding has proven to be very useful for the companies in e nhancing the quality and quantity of applicants. Wesfarmers need to develop a differentiating position as an employer in the competitive retails sector of Australia for attracting and retaining quality employees (Australian Recruitment Practices, 2014). Employee Value Proposition: The term Employee Value Proposition refers to representing the employer branding of an organization to the current and potential employees so that interested candidates can foresee the benefits of working with the company. The HR managers in Australia are largely implementing the use of EVP as a part of their recruitment strategy. Thus, it is recommended to Wesfarmers to largely incorporate the use of EVP for communication to the external applicants about the benefits of working in the company. The technique of EVP can be used by the company in engaging jobseekers online and communicating the key aspects of the organizational culture thus promoting its brand image globally (Louw, 2013). Gaining Support from Private Recruitment Agencies: The Company can also seek the help of recruitment agents that will enable it to reduce its operational costs involved in planning and execution of recruitments strategies. The company can outsource its recruitment processes for recruiting permanent employees with the help of recruitment agents. There are various recruitment agencies in Australia that are providing help to the businesses in outsourcing their talent pool such as Hays Talent Solutions, hyphen and HrX (Australian Recruitment Practices, 2014). Internal Bulletins: the company can also adopt the use of internal bulletins for disseminating information to the internal employees about the available job positions. This will help the companies in attracting the internal candidates who are willing to change their job position ad also seeking referrals from the employees. This will prove to be beneficial for the company in saving the time and money invested in developing and planning of recruitment strategies (Pandey, 2013). Conclusion Thus, it can be summarized from the overall report that development and implementation of effective recruitment practices is one of the essential funaction of human resource management. The recruitment process of an organization refers to the methods and practice adopted by its human resource department (HRD) for attracting retaining and motivating the candidates. The companies are facing increasing challenges with reference to attracting, retaining and motivating the right type of candidates for their job positions. Wesfarmers, as such is also facing biggest retail challenge of attracting and retaining the quality workforce diversity. The major challenges as analyzed from the overall discussion in the report faced by the company for recruiting the workforce diversity are shortage of skilled employees, ageing workforce, organizational image and managing the workforce diversity. The report has recommended the company to adopt recruitment strategies such as employer branding, employee value proposition, online advertising, use of social media platforms, internal bulletins and outsourcing the employees for overcoming the identified recruitment challenges. The report has helped in developing an understanding of the recruitment challenges that organizations in present business environment faces and the need of overcoming these challenges for ensuring their sustainable growth and development. References Treadgold, T. 2016. Wesfarmers facing retail challenge. Retrieved 31 May, 2017, from https://www.businessnews.com.au/article/Wesfarmers-facing-retail-challenge Retaining talent is biggest challenge: Wesfarmers Managing Director. 2017. Retrieved 31 May, 2017, from https://www.ceda.com.au/news-articles/2013/11/27/wa_wil Ekwoaba, J. O., et al. 2015. The impact of recruitment and selection criteria on Organizational performance. Global Journal of Human Resource Management 3(2), pp. 22-33. Fui, W., and Yazdanifard, R. 2015. Opportunities and Challenges in the World of Retailing and the Importance of Adaption to the New Markets. International Journal of Management, Accounting and Economics 2(9), pp. 1110-1121. Greenidge, D., et al. 2012. A comparative study of recruitment and training practices between small and large businesses in an emerging market economy: The case of Barbados. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development 19(1), pp. 164-182. Louw, G. 2013. Exploring recruitment and selection trends in the Eastern Cape. SA Journal of Human Resource Management 11(1), pp. 1-10. McGuire, D., and Cross, C. 2003. Examining the Matching Process Human Resource Management and Competitive Strategies: A Study of the Irish Retail Sector. Presented at the 7th Conference on International Human Resource Management, University of Limerick, June 4-6 2003. Nalla, B., and Varalaxmi, P. 2014. Human Resource Management Practices in Organized Retailing A Study of Select Retailers. International Journal of Business and Administration Research Review 1(2), pp. 63-74. Pandey, A. K. 2013. Current Human Resource Management Practices in Organized Retail Outlets. The International Journal of Business Management 4(3), pp. 100-103. Qureshi, M.O. 2013. A Study of the Contemporary Issues of Human Resource Management in the Retail Sector of Saudi Arabia. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business 4(9), pp. 1205-1216. Renko, S. 2017. The importance of human resource management in enhancing environmental dimensions of Sustainability in retailing. International Journal of Management and Applied Science 1(3), pp. 60-63. Tay, A. 2011. HRM Practices of an International Retailer in Malaysia: Comparing the Perceptions of Subordinates and Supervisors at Six Retail Outlets. Asian Journal of Business and Accounting 4(2),pp. 119?135. Zinyemba, A. Z. 2014. The Challenges of Recruitment and Selection of Employees in Zimbabwean Companies. International Journal of Science and Research 3(1), pp. 29-33. Australian Recruitment Practices. 2014. Retrieved 31 May, 2017, from https://smartworkplaces.org.au/smartworkplaces/portals/0/reports/4/1_Australian%20recruitment%20practices%20report.pdf Australia Recruiting Trends 2017. 2017. Retrieved 31 May, 2017, from https://business.linkedin.com/content/dam/me/business/en-us/talent-solutions/resources/pdfs/Australia_Recruiting_Trends_2017_c.compressed.pdf

Reward System And Its Impact On Employee Motivation free essay sample

Social networking also referred to as social media. The growing usage of social media indicates a potentially effective new platform for advertisers. Social Media, today, is among the ‘best opportunities available’ to a brand for connecting with Prospective consumers. Social media is the medium to socialize. These new media win the trust of consumers by connecting with them at a deeper level. Social media marketing is the new mantra for several brands since early last year. Marketers are taking note of many different social media opportunities and beginning to implement new social initiatives at a higher rate than ever before. Social media marketing and the businesses that utilize it have become more sophisticated. One cannot afford to have no presence on the social channels if the competitor is making waves with its products and services. The explosion of social media phenomenon is as mind boggling as that and the pace at which it is growing is maddening. We will write a custom essay sample on Reward System And Its Impact On Employee Motivation or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Global companies have recognized social media marketing as a potential marketing platform, utilized them with innovations to power their advertising campaign with social media marketing. - KEY WORDS: Social networking, Marketers, Socialize, Media SOCIAL NETWORKING Social networking, also referred to as social media, encompasses many Internet-based tools that make it easier for people to listen, interact, engage and collaborate with each other. Social networking platforms such as Face book, MySpace, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, blogs, message boards, Wikipedia and countless others are catching on like wildfire. People use social networking to share recipes, photos, ideas and to keep friends updated on our lives. SOCIAL NETWORKING IN MARKETING Social media marketing refers to the process of gaining traffic or attention through social media sites. Social media itself is a catch-all term for sites that may provide radically different social actions. For instance, Twitter is a social site designed to let people share short messages or â€Å"updates† with others. Face book, in contrast is a full-blown social networking site that allows for sharing updates, photos, joining events and a variety of other activities. ORIGINATION OF SOCIAL NETWORKING According to a BBC Radio 4 documentary, the origins of social networking can be traced back to the 1970s. While conducting research for the radio show, The Secret History of Social Networking, the BBC’s Technology Correspondent, Rory Cellan-Jones, found that in 1973 the owner of a record shop in Berkeley California placed an analogue computer in his store and invited people to come in and type messages. The computer quickly became a popular attraction, especially amongst University of California students who would come in to the store to post messages and take part in discussions on the analogue machine. One of the first social networking Web sites, launched in 1997, was SixDegrees. com. This site started the trend of enabling users to create personal profiles and make lists of their friends. Two years after the fall of Six Degrees, Live Journal offered authors options to add a list of friends to their profile page. Other early social networking sites include Friendster and online dateing service Ryze. MySpace launched in 2003. However, the site didnt start drawing the attention of the masses until well into 2004, due largely in part to MySpace changes that allowed teenagers to join the social network. Since their introduction, social networking sites (SNS) have attracted millions of users, whereby many people integrate these sites into their daily practices. The conception of Googlebuzz. com has been recently introduced to rival the likes of facebook, which has 350 million users. Here is a timeline to show the progress of the social networking world. 1995: Classmates. com is a social media website created by Randy Conrad. The website helps members find, connect and keep in touch with friends and acquaintances from school life. Classmates has more than 40 million active members in the US and Canada. In early 2008, Nielson Online ranked Classmates as number 3 in unique monthly visitors among social networking sites. 1997: Sixdegrees. com was named after the six degrees of separation concept and allowed users to list friends, family members and acquaintances and see their connection with any other user on the site. It was one of the first manifestations of a social networking websites in the format now seen today. Sixdegrees closed in 2007. At its height, the website had about a million users. 1999: Cyworld. com is a South Korean social networking service. Users can have â€Å"apartment like† spaces which make for a sim-world like experience. The ‘cy’ in Cyworld could stand for Cyber; however, it also plays on the Korean word for relationship. A 2005 survey showed that 25% of South Korea was users. 2002: Friendster. com has over 115 million registered users and over 61 million unique visitors per global month. Over 90% of friendster’s traffic comes from Asia. The website is also used for dating, discovering new events, bands and hobbies. 2003: Myspace. com launched after eUniverse employees with Friendster saw its potential and mimicked the more popular features of the social networking site. Myspace became the most popular social networking site in US 2006. The 100th million account was created on August 9 2006. 2005: Bebo. com is an acronym for â€Å"blog early, blog often†. It is similar to other networking sites; the site must include two specific modules, a comment section and a list of users’ friends. The site claims 40 million users. 2006: Facebook. com is the most popular social networking site boasting 350 million users. It was founded by Mark Zuckerberg who studied at Harvard University. The websites membership was initially limited by the founders to Harvard students, but was expanded to other colleges. Facebook has met with some controversy being blocked in countries such as, China, Syria and Iran. The original concept for Facebook came from the colloquial name for books given out at the start of the academic year by universities designed to help students get to know one another better. 2006: Twitter. com is a social networking site that that enables its users to send and read messages known as â€Å"tweets†. Tweets are text based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the authors profile page and are delivered to the author’s subscribers known as followers. It is sometimes described as the â€Å"SMS of the internet† and is widely popular with about 5 million users. ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN MARKETING: Social media is now increasingly becoming an ingrained aspect of political campaigns, national defence strategies, public policy, public relations, brand management and even intra company communication. Since the major task of marketing as tool used to inform consumers about the company’s products, who they are and what they offer, social marketing plays an important role in marketing.  · Social media can be used to provide an identity about the companies and the products or services that they offer.  · Social media helps in creating relationships with people who might not otherwise know about the products or service or what the companies represent.  · Social media makes companies â€Å"real† to consumers. If they need not just talk about the latest product news, but share their personality with them.  · Social media can be used to associate themselves with their peers that may be serving the same target market.  · Social media can be used to communicate and provide the interaction that consumer look for. THE GLOBAL IMPACT OF SOCIAL NETWORKS IN MARKETING According to comScore, a marketing research company that tracks Internet traffic, social networking sites accounted for 13. 8 billion display ad impressions in August 2009, representing more than 25 percent of all display ads viewed online, in a study of U. K. online display advertising on social networking sites. Social media is changing the way marketing is done. No longer can marketers rely on putting out one general message to the public. In Malaysia, 80% of affluent Malaysians use social networking sites. The opinions of bloggers and friends have become more influential than advertisements. Using social media allows businesses to reduce cost on marketing or connect with customers. A number of Malaysian companies use social network to promote their product or service. A recent example is mobile operator DiGi who used social networking to create awareness on mobile broadband. One of the many campaigns DiGi did was Pimp My Broadband which was a contest allowing people to post up creative videos to the site. DiGi used mostly Face book and Twitter to spread the word and communicate with people. In another example, the Prudential insurance company was running in December 2009 a contest for which people were asked to guess the retirement fund a fictional character named Adam would need to retire comfortably. This campaign was heavily promoted over social networks and blogs. Most organisations have jumped onto the social networking bandwagon. Large and small organisations alike maintain Facebook fan pages and groups. The leading budget travel airline, AirAsia, has more than 20 different Facebook pages and groups that promote some aspect of their service. It also has Twitter feeds as well as its own social network located at www. airasia. ning. com. The results have been impressive. It claims to lead all other airlines with a fan base of approximately 100,000. The AirAsia blog is ranked as the world’s second most popular blog site by an airline while CEO Tony Fernandes’ blog is the most popular in Malaysia by a corporate leader. Its YouTube site is very popular while its Twitter account has 15,500 followers. AirAsia’s investment of time and effort to reach out socially to Internet users must be bringing results; it recently announced plans to launch a brand new social network for travellers. The Nielsen Company estimates online advertising spent on the top social network and blogging sites increased 119 percent, from approximately USD49 million in August 2008 to approximately USD108 million in August 2009. Businesses and professionals are also connecting with one another on social networks. It has become commonplace for professionals to maintain accounts at LinkedIn. Using that platform, businessmen are able to find contacts that they can trust as introductions come from people they know and trust. SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING IN INDIA AN OVERVIEW India has 71 million active internet users. Social Media is really picking up new heights in India. Many companies are coming big way for Social Media Optimization for their Product or Services nowadays. During Election 2009 Social Media was used for Influence Indian Voters. Social Media Marketing in India is being undertaken by brands like Tata Docomo, MTV India, Channel V, Clear Trip, Tata Photon, Axe deodorants, Microsoft, Naukri, Shaadi and many more. Besides, numerous Indian celebrities are also using SMM platform to promote their movies, music and events via Twitter, Facebook and personalized blogs. Social Media Marketing is also boosting public relations business. Several PR agencies in India are undertaking brand building exercises for corporate organizations, brands and celebrities. However, to the delight of many among us, the biggest gainers from SMM till date have been the organizations from the Not-for- Profit sector. Several Campaigns like ‘Bell Bajao’ and ‘Jaago Re’ have been quite successful on Social Networking Sites. These campaigns have been spreading the word about their cause through blogs, Twitter and Facebook. SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING STRATEGIES: SMM is still in its infancy. Most of the online retailers though appreciate its positives fallouts on the brand awareness and promotion; they are still in the early stages of adoption. For an organization willing to invest in social media marketing, it is important to understand why SMM is an important marketing strategy and how it can help: This is the age of consumer satisfaction. It is not about selling it is more about interacting. There is a lot to learn from the customers. Using social media one can identify customers, listen to their feedback and use them to improve and innovate on products or services. SMM is not a mass advertising strategy. It can be used to identify peer groups and advertise to that particular group. Social Media can help in identifying influencers and through them one can guide a prospective customer into making a purchase. SMM calls for novel advertising methods as the attention span of online junta is very low. This is largely due to the multitasking phenomena. A person watching a video clip on YouTube might be simultaneously updating a blog, while reading another one and watching friend’s photographs on Facebook. In order to garner their attention away from distractions the advertisement must be innovative and interesting to hold the imagination and attention of the prospect. At the same time the message must also provoke the recipient into action; like seeking a detailed description of the product/service, or suggesting to a friend, or initiating purchase. So, if the advertisement is trying to sell something then it should be conveniently placed with links so that the prospect can make a purchase with least effort. Similarly Social Media can be used to increase customer loyalty through customer support services and hence improve customer retention. Social Media Marketing can also be used by brands to ward off any negative publicity. But the brands will have to be cautious here as over doing it may further aggravate their customers / stakeholders. There are many things that social media can do for business. Developing a strategy for using it means that the firms need to think about what they want to accomplish this year and determine how social media fits into the plan. One of the benefits of a social media strategy is the fact that the available tools can customized for their particular needs. The firms can choose to concentrate their efforts on the sites that seem to offer the best return on investment, while taking a â€Å"wait and see† stand on the others. Better Marketing Communications Any marketing campaign is only as good as its effectiveness in reaching the client. As the saying goes, you can have the best product in the world but its success depends on its reach to the customers. One advantage that social media networks such as Twitter, Blogspot, MySpace and Facebook possess is that of cross-communication. In other words, much of the information is shared across different social sites. In the past, marketing strategies would target a certain audience based on the resources available. These days, however, if a company has a profile page on Facebook, for example, cross talk alone can generate interest, because of the fluidity of social media websites. Social media sites have helped do away with many geographical and communicative borders; companies who have listings with these sites can place themselves in a position where such communication can be just as effective as a targeted marketing campaign. In the same way, if one person subscribes to a certain company’s web page, it is likely his or her friends will see it and too may become interested. Qualified potential clients can come to the company rather than the other way around! Higher Customer Satisfaction When a company is seen as being active on social media sites, it has just established itself as having its proverbial â€Å"finger on the pulse† of modern society. In a very real way, people take notice and assume that the company has something to say, that it is part of the community rather than simply a static web page. By posting regular updates that subscribers can see, business can appeal to their tastes and, more importantly, that business also has the ability to follow trends and change strategies based on the requirement. A keen observation is always essential for these updates. A close association with current scenario and trends will align the business people to more accurately cater to their audience’s needs. In the past, a happy customer was a customer who could become a regular customer. Today, a happy customer or client has the ability to recommend a company to others grouped under similar target audience. Social networks can accomplish much of the work that in the past was allocated to the more traditional e-mail campaigns. Stronger Financial Returns This final factor should be the most obvious and, at the same time, the most motivating. It only stands to reason that with a larger target base, sales and publicity will naturally increase. One important thing to remember is that there are few if any costs when dealing with social sites. In the past, domain names came with a price tag. Even more relevant was the financial burden which often accompanied building a very good website (web design, maintenance, updates, etc). When a company takes advantage of social media, on the other hand, not only does exposure increase if done in the right manner, but also the financial obligation is little, if any. Why, then, are more businesses not taking full advantage of the tools in front of them? One of the issues is that many out there still consider the social media market a â€Å"niche† sector and haven’t fully implemented their campaigns to include social networking as a part of the overall strategy. Other companies state that not all of their employees are open to newer technologies. Still others just don’t have correct media policies in place; i. e. what can be said, how it can be said, the chain of command to approve updates†¦the list can go on and on. The main issue tends to revolve around the adaptation to changing technologies and sources of revenue. CONCLUSION: There is no escaping social media these days, either for individuals or for businesses. Today, it is impossible to separate social media from the online world. Companies are diverting resources and rethinking their traditional outreach strategies. And as the social media wave dissipates into the vast ocean of connected experiences, the term itself will become an entry in dictionaries and encyclopaedias and we will embark on a new era of knowledge, accessibility and experiences unbound by distance, time or physical walls. It is high time that every business adopts social media and takes it seriously!