Intro to Business Assignment 1 - Coursework Example

Discussion Topic A Three brands that I purchase on regular basis are Lux, Lays and Maggi. It is important to that these products account for a lesser percentage of my total expenditure and total income and indulge any customer into impulse buying. Competitors would find it difficult to dislodge my need of these brands as I am a loyal customer of these brands. If they are able to provide equal amounts of benefits and position the brand better then the aforementioned brands, I may think of switching over to the competitor’s product.

Moreover, if the competitor’s product strikes the emotional chords like focusing on emotional, ethical and moral values I would most likely switch to their product. Discussion 1: Topic B The industries that the Internet has transformed are TV, Music and retail industry. TV and music industries are bringing most of their broadcast online. Especially the Music industry has gone upfront on the internet via peer-to-peer technology, downloading websites and streaming websites like youtube.com where users can download, stream and listen to the live music an watch the video.

The retail industry has been carrying out most of their operations online where customers and the channel partners have been given access to the retail website where they can view their respective commodities. Customers can go online and customize their orders according to their liking after seeing the goods available on the website. Thus the internet has brought in an element of ease and comfort for the users. The hassle, of going to the store/outlet and seeing the commodity and purchasing it, could avoided.

Customers can sit at their homes and with a click they can order the commodities they want. The internet has been improving the operations of these industries because it provides a paperless environment and where the transactions can be carried out on real time basis. Discussion 2 Topic A To decrease the demand for gasoline, government may either create an artificial shortage in gasoline to bring down its demand. Moreover, it could create awareness amongst the users about the hazards of using gasoline; that is it could have repercussions for the environment.

Alternatively, reducing bike path would reduce the consumption of gasoline and increasing the cost of insurance would mean less number of cars bought on insurance and hence less demand for gasoline. In Brazil, the government has been promoting the use of ethanol which can be used as an alternative for gasoline. The US government could adopt the same policy to decrease the demand for gasoline. Besides it could search for other alternative like Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).

Such alternatives are handful in preserving the environment and are also cheaper alternatives. Discussion 2: Topic B These industries have the tendency of producing negative externalities; that is under such conditions, the repercussions of company’s output are borne by third party. The third party under such cases is usually the public and the people who are not involved in company’s state of affairs. The response changes across several industries. In the soft drinks industry the response may not be as vehement as the response in the liquor industries.

Because the free market is indifferent to the effects the company is producing, the government should intervene and impose taxes on the products in order to hamper the consumption of such commodities. The company should take this responsibility of escalating the prices of hazardous commodities so as to discourage the use of such products. If the company is somehow affecting the environment, the government should make the company abide the regulations being imposed. References: Answer's.com. (n.d.).

List of Industries that the internet has transformed? Retrieved from Wikianswers: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/List_of_Industries_that_the_internet_has_transformed bizhelp24. (2008, September). How & Why to Keep Customers Loyal – Summary. Retrieved from http://www.bizhelp24.com/marketing/how-why-to-keep-customers-loyal-summary.html