Sociology of Sport Essay - 1085 Words

What is the social role of sport? To what extent does social structure influence the practice and experience of sport? Discuss in relation to two of the following: gender, class, ethnicity or Aboriginality, or region. Illustrate your answer with at least three examples from sporting contexts (local or international). Sport plays a huge role in today’s society. It contributes to one’s health and fitness, social interaction, social and motor skills, patriotism, fun and entertainment. It also stimulates the economy and tourism leading to interaction between different cultures, for example the Olympics, and sport role models. Sports clearly are an important part of cultures and societies around the world as such events as the Olympics†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"Women who play men’s sport have constantly to negotiate their status in traditional cultural contexts of men’s power and privilege, and in a general discourse of femininity, patriarchy and compulsory heterosexuality† (Craig Beedie, 2008). An example of a female athlete being ridiculed for portraying society’s idea of non-femininity is Martina Navratilova. Martina was the first female tennis player who began to play tennis more as a power sport than a sport of technique. Subdued by an oppressive communist system that controlled the Czech Tennis Federation, she was seen to be playing in the style of men instead of playing womens tennis. As she did not fit into societys image of how a woman should look, behave and play tennis, she was ridiculed and branded as the proverbial ‘bad egg’ when compared to her contemporaries. Additionally, she was branded as a lesbian, which caused more hardship for her as she was forced to face a world which was much more homophobic at that time than it is now. Her sexual orientation is not a prime issue; it was something that was used against her and something that was assumed simply because she did not portray the feminine image that is expected of women. Another example includes Dutch Olympian Fanny Blankers-Koen, also known as ‘the flying housewife’, who wasShow MoreRelatedSociology of Sport1601 Words   |  7 Pagesclass of Sociology of Sport is offered in the school. Many who do recognize that the class is being offered in the school may also question the value and academic merit of such a course. What people don’t see is that the world of sports is closely linked to the social world. Social attitudes are reflected in the world of sports. 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According to Fantasy Sports Trade Association market research conducted by Ipsos, there are ov er 36.6 million people playing fantasy sports in the United States and Canada and is a rapidly growing industry that generates over a billion dollars per year. The once maligned cult hobby has grown into an undeniable sports subculture, commanding regular coverageRead MoreHockey Violence Essay1706 Words   |  7 Pagesin our Blood and Blood on our Ice Ice in our Blood and Blood on our Ice I went to a fight the other night and a hockey game broke out. Rodney Dangerfield. Ever since the start to the game of hockey, violence has always played a role in the sport. While that role both contributing positive and negative aspects to the game, violence has taken its toll on not only the players but the fans as well. As violence in hockey is as many fans say part of the game and what makes â€Å"hockey† hockey, the negativeRead MoreM382 Exam 1study Guide Essays1036 Words   |  5 PagesExam I Study Guide 1. 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Affirmative Action Should Be Changed or Ended All Together

Affirmative action should be changed or ended altogether In the late Sixties, Martin Luther King Jr. fought hard for equal rights. Before he was assassinated in 1968, he made a speech about his vision of human equality. I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. (King) The Sixties were a turning point for racial equality. Because of leaders like King, many blacks and minority groups began to face/win new opportunities that were never before available. New policies and laws were established to help reverse the detriment to ethnic groups through years of injustice and prejudice. But is it right to limit other races to†¦show more content†¦If we base our decisions on race or gender, we turn our back on the group that truly needs assistance: the low-income family. Race is present in every level of society, the lower class, the middle class, and the upper class. Then why should middle- and upper-class minorities bene fit today with special privileges when they may have not been personally affected by discrimination? There are no policies or procedures of affirmative action that prove an individual deserves special privileges. In theory, a wealthy minority citizen would receive more advantages in society than an underprivileged or low-income white male. In this case, the underprivileged is in more need, but the determination of the benefits is solely decided by ethnicity and not by proven hardship or financial need. The Center for Equal Opportunity has expressed their disapproval of affirmative action specifically because it has been an unnecessary benefit for wealthy minority business owners. The most disadvantaged group of Americans are not blacks, Hispanics or womenÂâ€"they are the low-income individuals who are underprivileged. In addition, affirmative action lowers the standards of excellence. 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Strategic Marketing Management Agency Organization

Question: Describe about the Strategic Marketing Management for Agency Organization. Answer: Introduction: The present research study is based on the strategic management of an organization. The organization that has been chosen in this research for the analysis purpose in an Australian based travel agency organization, The Flight Centre Limited. The market research for this particular organization has been done according to the market situation of the company in Australia. The market research analysis for the company has been done with the help of the PESTLE Analysis, Porters five Forces analysis, SWOT Analysis and Market segmentation analysis. The organization has been briefly described in this study for the purpose of giving information regarding the company. The competitors and the strategic positioning of the company have been identified in this study. The pestle analysis would be done to identify the external forces that are affecting the business of the organization and the SWOT Analysis has been done to show the strengths, weakness and other internal factors of The Flight Centre L imited. The potential opportunities for the market growth have been discussed in the study to show the scope of expansion for the company. Business description: This The Flight Centre limited is a travel agency organization of the Australia .The company has its headquarters situated at Brisbane, Australia. The various services such as the travel and the travel related services including the flight services, cruises, hotels, rail passes, visas, travellers coach, car hires and others. The Flight Centre Limited provides its services for both business purpose travellers and the leisure travellers .The Company operates its services in the countries of Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, China, India, Singapore, Dubai, United Kingdom, United States and others. The Flight Centre Limited won the Best travel agency group awards from the AFTA National Travel Industry Awards in the year 2009 (Flight Centre Limited , 2016). The company started in the year 1980s only with a single shop in Australia. Since then Company has implemented many strategies for its growth and also has experienced a remarkable growth during the period of its expansion. Now the company has became of about $1.8 billion businesses that consists of more than 40 brands. This company is one of the most largest agency of the world and has its Company owned agencies that operates in about more than 14 countries worldwide and in more than 90 countries the company has its travel corporate travel management network. The Flight Centre Limited globally has around 2800 business and employs about 19,000 people (Flight Centre Limited, 2016). PESTLE Analysis: The pestle analysis of The Flight Centre Limited could be done as follows: P Political 1. The rules and taxes of the Australia could influence the travel agency of the country as the rules set for the business needs to be followed. 2. The political instability of the country could also be an external factor affecting the business as the company may be enforced to change the aviation route or the operational structure of the business. 3. The election factor would directly affect the business it would affect the taxes and the democratic system of the country. 4. The political factors of the other countries where the business operates of the country would also affect the business. E Economical 1. The inflation rate of the Australia is around 1.7%, the highest inflation rate ever in Australia. This higher rate of inflation is not favourable because with the cost high of the other factors the company would have to price for its other consumer services too. 2. The Flight Centre Limited is company that has expanded well and wants to expand more. Therefore, the economic growth of the Australia will play an important in helping the organization to expand itself. S Social 1. The lifestyle of the country people has a great affect on this kind of industry. 2. The income of the people of the Australia influences the customers for The Flight Centre Limited as the income is factor on which depends the tour planning of the people. 3. The media view the people of the one country the sights of the other and therefore it enables the people to visit the other countries and travel. T Technological 1. The usage of high level technology would be of great help for the business to advance in its growth. 2. The RD helps the Company to research and know about the different market opportunities but it demands for additional expense for the company. 3. The usage of internet for making people aware of the company, promotional purposes and online bookings advantages helps the company in reducing the hassle. L Legal 1. The international laws of the other countries affects the operations of a travel agency as these laws are very strict and the company must has to follow it as it does not wants to lose any benefit that is being provided to it. 2. The international of one country to the other needs to be followed by these kinds of companies. 3. If there any change in the trade relationship between the Australia and the any other country where the country operates, it would directly affect the agency business. E Environmental 1. The environmental regulations affects these businesses. 2. The ecological issues would increase the health and safety image of The Flight Centre Limited within the people. Porters five Forces analysis Figure 1: Porters five forces (Source: As created by the author) Bargaining Power of Suppliers 1. The number of substitute inputs is high in such industries. 2. The cost required for the switching of the suppliers is very low. 3. There is high level competition among the suppliers of the Flight Centre Limited. Threat of New Entrants 1. The capital requirement for the new entrants are very high. 2. Less chances of new entrants. Bargaining Power of Customer 1. The travelling agencies are less and the number of customers is very high. 2. The customers have a limited set of option and have to choose from there only. 3.The customers have to depend on the distributors. Threat of Substitute Products 1. Flight Centre Limited is the largest and the most trusted travel agency of Australia therefore, people prefer it. 2. Few of the other bigger agencies may act as a substitute to the Company. Competitive Rivalry 1. Flight Centre Limited is one of the largest firm therefore, it faces less competition. 2. The industry growth rate is fast. 3. There are chances of high level competition between some of the existing travel agencies. Identification and the analysis of the competitors: The competitive environments of The Flight Centre Limited are as: Rivalry: Among such industries, the rivalry is high due to the increase in the demand for the travelling agencies. With the raise in the demand of tourism, there is an emergence of various travel agencies who offer numerous packages at discount rates. The industry is based on a monopolistic type of competition, where product differentiation is maintained in order to raise the demand of the products being offered (Hollensen, 2015). Buyers: The degree of the power of the buyers of the company is low as they have to choose and finalise from the given options from the company. Cost of Entry: The cost entry in such kind of travel agency industry is relatively high and therefore the company entering this industry need to have a very high capital. Diversity: The travelling industries need to support and provide a environment which is free from any kind of discrimination. This diversified workforce of the company would help both the employees and the customers (Medlik, 2012). SWOT Analysis: S Strength This is one of the most largest operating travel agency of the country therefore, the company already has expanded well and managing of such a large business profile with so much ease proves that the company has an effective management system. The company also has a positive brand name and this also acts as a Companys strength as it enable the general public to have confidence and trust on the company. W Weakness The only weakness of The Flight Centre Limited is that due to the slowdown in the economy of the industry, the company has to face great break down in the number of the customers who travel from one place to another. O Opportunities The increase in the inflation rate is a prove that the income of the general people of the Australia is however increasing. The company also has chances of expanding itself with the help of the customer review of their services. T Threats Apart from The Flight Centre Limited, there are many other travelling agencies in Australia; the main threat of the company is from other travelling agencies. Strategic Evaluation and strategic attractiveness: The company has expanded well and managing of such a large business profile with so much ease proves that the company has an effective management system. The company also has a positive brand name and this also acts as a Companys strength as it enable the general public to have confidence and trust on the company. This has been one the reason for the attractiveness of this travel agency, Flight Centre Limited by the general public. Market segmentation analysis and marketing opportunities The market segmentation is the division of the market that is being analysed for the Flight Centre Limited according different factors that affect the market. The market segmentation for the Flight Centre Limited could be done as follows: Geographical factor: The geographical factor has an important impact on the travelling agencies. The more beautiful a place more would be the demand from the consumers to visit there. Therefore, the market target for the venue location needs to be done carefully. However, the customers for the travel agency may be from any geographical location that does not matter. Behavioural factor: The behavioural factor depends on how convenient and comfortable is the travelling provided to the customers are and also about the services that are being provided by the company to its consumers. Demographical factor: According to Huang (2013), the demographical segmentation includes the age groups, the income level, lifestyles of the people and the gender of the people on which the company has its target of marketing. For the Flight Centre Limited, the there is nothing as such target fro the age as people of all age travel. But there are more passengers are from the age group between of 25-55. Both the gender travels as both have their own needs for travelling. But as mostly the businessmen travel more than the other group of people so it could be said that the market segmentation for Flight Centre Limited could focus on male gender more. The price of ticket and travelling to the other countries is very high therefore, the people with high level income and of standard lifestyle are appropriate for the company to target on. Physiological factor: The physiological factor depends upon the characteristics of the customers. As every different customer have his or her own different particular characteristic. The different people prefer different locations therefore, these factors keep fluctuating (Wilson, Gilligan, 2012). Potential market opportunities: The potential opportunities for the market growth have been discussed in the study to show the scope of expansion for the company. For better opportunities for the Company, the geographical factor has an important impact on the travelling agencies. The more beautiful a place more would be the demand from the consumers to visit there. Therefore, the market target for the venue location needs to be beautiful, religious or any other such factor based. The promotions and more advertisement on the television, internet and at other places would also create a better marketing opportunity for the Flight Centre Limited. Recommendations: From the above findings and the analyses that the Flight Centre Limited is one of the largest travel agency of Australia and the world that operates in almost all over the globe. The company arranges and organises for the services of the travel and the travel related services including the flight services, cruises, hotels, rail passes, visas, travellers coach, car hires and others. The pestle analysis shows the factors that may affects the business of the company. From the SWOT analysis of the company, it could be recommended for the company to overcome its weakness and the only threat that is being imposing on the company is another travel agencies. Therefore, the company should tie up with these companies and expand its business instead of thinking and considering them as their rivalries and competitors. Conclusion: The above study is based on the strategic marketing management and analysis of the Flight Centre Limited. The Flight Centre Limited is a Australia based travel agency that operates in almost 104 countries. The countrys market analysis has been done through different marketing tools and the marketing segmentations have been presented. The market research analysis for the company has been done with the help of the PESTLE Analysis, Porters five Forces analysis, SWOT Analysis and Market segmentation analysis. The recommendations from these analyses have been also given. References: Flight Centre Limited. (2016).Flight Centre Limited. Retrieved 16 October 2016, from https://www.fctgl.com/ Foxall, G. (2014).Strategic Marketing Management (RLE Marketing)(Vol. 3). Routledge. Hollensen, S. (2015).Marketing management: A relationship approach. Pearson Education. Huang, L. (2013). Building a barrier-to-imitation strategy model in the travel agency industry.Current Issues in Tourism,16(4), 313-326. Medlik, S. (2012).Dictionary of travel, tourism and hospitality. Routledge. Wilson, R. M., Gilligan, C. (2012).Strategic marketing management. Routledge.