Thursday, October 31, 2019

Wedding Planning Budget Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Wedding Planning Budget - Essay Example While each of us wanted to ensure that our guests would have the best time possible, it was important to me to also make sure that we could get the most out of this as it is officially marking the beginning of our life together as a married couple. The key way in which we determined we could meet both of these objectives is to plan a personal, heartwarming wedding with the understanding that there would have to be a degree of modesty or simple nature to our planning. This will not be a celebrity-style wedding with all of the pomp and circumstance that comes with a grand or royal wedding but, a more organic and realistic representation of who we are as a couple while adhering to our specific budget parameters. With this in mind, we both agreed that the $5,000 from our parents would be kept separate from the wedding budget and placed into its own fund for a honeymoon as it is very important to each of us to be able to enjoy a week together to start our married life. Although it seems backwards to discuss this part of our wedding budget first, I am going to address how this $5,000 will be used right now so that I can keep this a part from the rest of the details regarding the wedding ceremony and reception. With a designated sum of $5,000 for our budget, we chose a destination that would be easy for us to travel to and still have a considerable amount of this budget left over for lodging, food and entertainment on our trip. Due to my fiancà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s love of the ocean and the fact that I am familiar with Anne of Green Gables from Halifax, Nova Scotia, we decided to vacation there for our weeklong honeymoon. After an intense internet search of travel sites for the best deal, we were able to secure airfare and 7 days in a hotel for $1177.53 a person. Here is a quick breakdown of our budget: With the details of the honeymoon secured, I can now move forward to the more in-depth breakdown of the

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

See work below in description Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

See work below in description - Coursework Example More often than not, after establishing the basis for company prices, managers always develop pricing strategies by looking at the pricing goals that the company strives. These may be such as pricing increasing long-term or short-term profits, increasing cash flow, stabilizing prices and in some cases warding off competition. After taking into account the existing market conditions, companies may consider fixed price policies. These may include menu based pricing, activity based pricing and cost per drop. Most specifically the various fixed pricing strategies are based on the customers demand and market expectations (Özer & Phillips, 2012). Consumers tend to experience two roots of value for a product. One is acquisition utility, and the other is transaction utility, these are what forms part of the consequences should a fixed pricing policy apply. Acquisition utility implies utility of obtaining a given product while on the other hand transaction utility implies the difference between the featured price and a subjects reference price. Through fixed pricing policy, consumers are able to decide for the time they will pay for better service provided and when it would be logical to order to reduce impulse buying (Nagle,

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Marketing Myopia, Theodore Levitt

Marketing Myopia, Theodore Levitt The rapid increase in technology, economic downturn and globalization has led the businesses to reflect about their organizational goals and policies. It is of imperative importance that an organization knows where it is heading. Businesses may have cutting-edge technology, large customer base and skillful employees which are an asset for any organization but it would all fall behind if that organization does not have a clear and concrete understanding of what it is trying to achieve in the long-run. It is the vision and goals of the company that direct its people to work for a purpose and is fundamental to the success of a company. Visions help to define the working practices, relationships, procedures and strategies for production which is turn determines the magnitude of progress of the organization. Theodore Levitt, in his article Marketing Myopia, compels the readers to understand the importance of effectively set visions which are a catalyst for the companys success. Most of the industries focus largely on their refined product and become victims of downfall in the long-run. They do not realize the cause of their diminishing growth because to them their strategies in product development and product enhancement are top-notch. They tend to blame external factors which might have contributed to their downfall but they fail to see the bigger picture underneath: their goals and visions did not focus on consumer preferences and needs. Theodore Levitt explains this phenomenon by the carefully penned term Marketing Myopia which refers to the short-sighted visions by the top-management that is focused on enhancing products rather than assessing customer needs. Levitt explains the downfall of railroads stating that the industry was defined incorrectly. The management should have seen railroads as a transportation means rather than just railroad industry. The stagnation of this industry thus was because of incorrectly defined vision. According to Theodore Levitt, there are no growth industries. He believes that in todays times there could be many substitutes for any number of products and the companys which focus on capitalizing their growth opportunities fall into a shadow of obsolescence. They fail to see the prospects of substitute industries which could wipe-out their businesses. For example, the silk industry in Europe has been thoroughly diminished because of introduction of viscose rayon as it costs less and has the ability to replace silk. In short, Levitt tells us that the companies are doomed to fail if their visions and purpose is obscure. In order to succeed, organizations should have crystal-clear goals that focus on the customer needs and preferences rather than on the product. This paper will discuss some of the pros of the article Marketing Myopia and some criticisms about the same along with examples. HIGHLIGHTING THE STRONG POINTS: Theodore Levitt emphasized that the organizations which are working on the belief that their products are unique; are growth opportunities for them and would continue to give them success, do not realize that their dependence on such belief could be their downfall. He describes this view in these lines: Industries that assume themselves to be riding some automatic growth escalator invariably descend into stagnation. The history of every dead and dying growth industry shows a self-deceiving cycle of bountiful expansion and undetected decay. He further gives four strong points arguing why these industries slow down in their growth conquest. 1. The belief that growth is assured by an expanding and more affluent population. 2. The belief that there is no competitive substitution for the industrys major product. 3. Too much faith in mass production and in the advantages of rapidly declining unit costs as output rises. 4. Preoccupation with a product that lends itself to carefully controlled scientific experimentation, improvement, and manufacturing cost reduction. I would be discussing these strong points here with the help of examples. 1. Population Myth: Theodore Levitt rightly argues that when the market for the product is growing the management tends to stop thinking about the future assuming that the growing market is the indication of future success. The management then focuses on expanding its production rather than thinking about marketing. The main focus of their concerns becomes selling which stems from the needs of the seller instead off the needs of the consumer. The management tends to ignore the changing trends and needs of the customer which leads the company to their doom. Iridium, which once was a high-flying organization on Wall Street, got the biggest failure in the market. Iridium introduced satellite phones in late 1990s that could work anywhere in the world. It was a brilliant idea which was flopped within a year pushing the company towards bankruptcy and leading the CEO to resign. The company invested billions of dollars in this project which backfired because the focus of their initiative was not the consumer. They assumed that the growing advancement in information technology and the larger customer base for mobile phones would be enough to build an expensive project on. They did not take marketing efforts seriously and failed to realize ahead of time that the consumers were not willing to pay high prices for their product and they did not take note of the fact that the cellular phones could become popular during that same time period. The market for satellite phones was not tested before launching the phones which did not get the success hope d by the management. 2. No Competitive Substitution Myth: The second argument by Theodore Levitt, the belief that there is no competitive substitution for the industrys major product, could easily bring about the downfall for the organization. When the management tends to have faith in the fact that their offerings are indispensable, they stop thinking about the future. They focus on producing that indispensable product and do not take into consideration the changing environment and the threats of possible entrants or substitute products. This belief takes the organization into stagnation. In this age, mobile phones have more or less replaced the fixed connections. The competition is between the landline services and the mobile phone companies. Now multiple wireless access technologies are also in the fast race with the GSM technologies. 3. Faith in Mass Production: Declining unit costs as production rises is a very attractive incentive for producers. They tend to focus on the production and costs rather than focusing on the marketing and consumer preferences. Once they have mass produced their products, they are inclined towards selling it instead of marketing it which becomes the reason for their downfall. As time changes, the consumer preferences change as well. . It is a known phenomenon that people and their behaviors have to change with the changing environment they live in. With todays changing milieu, an individual must be willing to abandon old techniques and learn new ones. Henry Ford, developer of assembly-line technique for mass production, introduced Model T automobile and revolutionized the transportation business. He started producing Model in large quantities. It was a success initially and was hailed as the everywhere. As time changed, the consumers started thinking in terms of benefits and value they get from the Model T car. They demanded more features especially color options. Ford replied saying, Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black; it was because black color used to take less time in drying. After some time, the production of Model T stopped as consumer wants changed and the industry got competitive. It is important for the organizations to take in view the changing trends and consumer wants. The industries in todays age are highly competitive and uncertain. Thus to avoid stagnation, marketing should be given specific importance. 4. Preoccupation with Scientific Research and Development Techniques: Theodore Levitt says in the article, The greatest danger which faces the glamorous new companies in this field is not that they do not pay enough attention to research and development, but that they pay too much attention to it. It is true that most technological firms tend to focus their efforts towards scientific implementations and research and development which raises their cost and increases their chances of failure if the innovations are not receptive to the consumers. Nokia, a world-leading organization in cell-phone industry, is fighting a battle with Apple Inc. for the market share of smartphones. The recent milestone in the cell-phone industry is the application feature. Apple has the largest market share in smartphone segments while Nokia is spending millions of dollars for R and D in this area yet its sales are diminishing. The software Nokia uses is failing which is the reason for continuous scientific research in this regard. According to Bloomberg.com, Nokias share of worldwide smartphone sales fell to 41.2 percent in the first quarter of 2009 from 45.1 percent in the year- earlier period, while Apples doubled to 10.8 percent. EXAMPLE OF MARKETING MYOPIA: Marketing Myopia does exist in almost all the industries where the top management fails to see the bigger picture. When the organizations take profit-making approach or mass production techniques, they tend to lose sight of the customers who can change the fate of any organization. Theodore Levitt gave us illustrations about myopic industries though most of his discussion was based on the railroad dilemma or the oil industry. Marketing Myopia, however, could be found in any organization. An example taken from Ivey Business Journal is presented here which discusses the downfall of PG owned coffee roasting company, Splendid, and the rise of Starbucks. For several decades Procter Gamble owned Splendid, an Italian coffee roasting company and a leading brand in the Italian take-home coffee market. Through Splendid, PG had access to a powerful reservoir of knowledge about the production, distribution and marketing of authentic, Italian espresso coffee, and to powerful insights on the consumer experience of enjoying an espresso or a cappuccino in an Italian coffee bar. But it viewed the potential of this knowledge narrowly: as a way to adapt the famous PG brand building and product management skills to the Italian market a peculiar place where people drank thick, dark coffee in preference to the traditional American brew. PGs myopic view of competition both in Italy and, back home, in the U.S.- and its failure to engage with the world as a source of innovation, left the way open for Starbucks, a minute coffee roasting company from Seattle. In the mid-eighties, Starbucks CEO spent some time in Italy and studied the technology and consumer behavior in the Italian coffee market knowledge that PG had already in-house at Splendid for ages. He then combined what he learnt in Italy with world-class retailing and fast-food management techniques perfected in the United States. To the recipe, he added his understanding of American consumers and New York financial market to craft Starbucks strategy. The results are now legendary. What made the success of Starbucks was not an innovative coffee blend but rather an innovative knowledge blend. The amazing thing is that PG had privileged access to all the components of the recipe, though some components were in other countries (Italy, for starters) or in other industries (for example, fast-food). But myopia was surely limiting and hurting PG, as it couldnt see much beyond its existing markets across the street. Eventually, in 1992, PG sold Splendid to Philip Morris Kraft General Foods. HIGHLIGHTING THE PROBLEMS OF MARKETING MYOPIA: Considering the fact that what Theodore Levitt said in his article Marketing Myopia was completely flawless would be ambiguous. Like every theory, Marketing Myopia also has its negative points. Railroad and Movie Industry: Theodore Levitt has explained the concept of marketing myopia with the help of the examples of railroads and Hollywood industry. He has pointed out that the failure of railroads was not due to the introduction of other transportation facilities availability rather the incapability of the management in defining the purpose of railroad industry as just railroad-oriented instead of a transportation-oriented. If they had identified themselves as transportation-oriented, they would have been able to see the market conditions more clearly and hence be prepared for any threats coming their way. Levitt has also explained about the Hollywood business in the same context: that they failed to define their purpose as entertainment-oriented and stuck with their myopic view of Hollywood as movie-making business which led to its near collapse because they did not treat TV as an opportunity. This led to their self-deceiving belief and TV became their threat and a much bigger industry. In 1990, David J. Morris Jr. of University of New Haven, published an article in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Services. He explained that the reason railroads came to their demise and the fiscal purgatory of Hollywood industry was not because they were myopic. He explained that their failure was due to the Government regulations that did not give them the chance for expansion even though they tried. In his article, he has stated that the US Government Regulatory body shifted to trucks, auto and air after World War II because of which the railroads got left behind. In his view, the railroads tried to expand into related transportation areas but the railroads suffered because of 70 years of government destruction. Morris has also explained that the Hollywood industry took steps to acquire television stations but the Federal Communications Commission denied this request to Paramount Pictures Inc. The movie industry also became a supplier to the television industry as the motion pictures were in colored and the television was still in black and white. Some motion picture producers also rented out studio space to television. The problems in movie industry thus were not because they were myopic rather because of antitrust policies and Government regulations. It is true that most managements fail to see the bigger picture while trying to focus on their product and define their purpose obscurely and finally getting caught up in myopia but the history of railroads and Hollywood industry show that they were not myopic rather victims of Government regulations. Stakeholders: Theodore Levitt stresses upon the need to focus on the customers and their preferences. In his article, he has emphasized the role of marketing repeatedly saying that the success of the firm in inevitable if the market has been thoroughly researched and the visions and goals of the company are defined on the basis of the marketing efforts. But he does not explain about the role and need of the stakeholders of the organization who also play a big part in the future of the organization. An organization may have an excellent product, well-defined market segment and a considerable market share and yet it could all fail if there are any problems in the workforce, distributors or suppliers. The focus should be the customer but the stakeholders should also be taken into consideration while defining the vision of any organization. Likewise, the marketers should also focus on the current environmental situations, environmentalists and legal regulations instead of just focusing on the customer. Leadership Issues: An organization could also fail if the leadership has no purpose for the organization. It is important to define the purpose in terms of market conditions but an organization should also have a purpose and a reason to exist; when it is lost the organization would fail even if their product and customer base is strong. Theodore Levitt has stated that in order to succeed in future an organization must have customer-oriented goals but the management should also have a vision to lead so that it could fulfill the purpose of those customer-oriented goals. For example, before 1984, ATT had a purpose and a reason to survive. The organization had talented employees and excellent services. The company started failing due to changing technologies and shifting regulations. Michael Armstrong was hired as the CEO with the hope that he would prevent ATT from failing. That unfortunately did not happen because the vision of the CEO to lead was hazy. He started laying-off employees and losing acquisitions and cost-cutting strategies which backfired. The reason was simple: Michael Armstrong did not have a clear understanding of how to lead and could not therefore manage the customer-oriented visions. CONCLUSION: Information in todays time has become more liquid and accessible. The organizations which want to grow in this world need to recognize the need for knowledge about the changing trends, technologies and customer preferences. Marketing Myopia as defined by Theodore Levitt could teach a lot of organizations the importance of clearly defined purposes and customer value. The organizations need to look around them to the changing environment-not only local changes rather a birds-eye view of the world around them. If the top management fails to see the local and global implications of the changing trends and decides to just focus their attention to their product then they are bound to get caught in myopia. This age is not one for an isolated entity. It is also of great significance that the top management analyzes the over-all impact of their strategies with the view to the market and start to think imaginatively. In the recent years, the understanding of marketplace trends and its competitive implications has led the organizations to change their strategies and policies. The competitive pressures influence the businesses to act speedily and innovate productively. The only profit-making approach towards busine ss does not hold true in these times because a single idea, a new product or even a new use of an existing idea can change the marketplace rapidly. The organizations have to continuously evolve and innovate in order to stay in this cut-throat competitive environment. If the management fails to do this, them the organization is bound to be caught up in the self-deceiving cycle of bountiful expansion and undetected decay.

Friday, October 25, 2019

History of the Cell :: essays research papers

History of the Cell The word cell was coined by Englishman Robert Hooke (1635-1703), after viewing slices of cork in a microscope. The word cell was derived from the Latin word cella meaning small container. The microscope created new possibilities in the study biology. It allowed scientists to look into a completely new view of cellular biology. Galileo is credited with the invention of the microscope. Two of the main pioneers in microscope usage were Robert Hooke and Antonie von Leeuwenhoek. Rene Dutrochet discovered, in 1824, that the cell is the fundamental element in the structure of life. The first sightings of the actual movement of a cell were made by Robert Brown in 1827. Brown also discovered the nucleus in 1833. In Berlin, Johannes Muller made the connection between biology and medicine, others soon followed Muller and his connective thinking. One to follow Muller was Theodore Schwann. Schwann created the idea of the "cell theory" in the 1830's and stated that plants consisted of cells. His statement was made after Matthias Schleiden (1804 - 1881) had decided in 1838 that animals are composed of cells. In 1939 Schwann also stated that all organisms consist of one or more cells, and that the cell is the basic structure for all of life. German Pathologist by the name of Rudolf Virchow (1821 - 1902) altered the thought of cellular biology with his statement that "every cell comes from a cell.† Not even twenty years after this statement, processes of cell reproduction were being described. In 1898, Camillo Golgi developed a staining technique using silver nitrate that allows the identification of the cellular organelle that now bears his name, the â€Å"Golgi apparatus.† The Golgi apparatus is responsible for processing the proteins that are synthesized in the endoplasmic reticulum. In 1953 Stanley Lloyd Miller conducted his famous primordial soup experiment. His experiment may have possibly shown how life’s building blocks here on earth may have formed. In the experiment he subjected a gaseous mixture of hydrogen, water, methane, and ammonia to an electric discharge for one week. Instead of him showing everyone that spontaneous generation was possible, his primordial soup showed him that it was not. Miller made sure that there was no oxygen in his design, but all throughout life there has been oxygen present.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Macy’s Department Store Repositioning Essay

Executive Summary As the global recession happened, the traditional department stores were experiencing consistently declining sales and market share. Also, the traditional department stores industry is between mature and decline stage of life cycle. Macy’s changed parts of their strategy and consolidation that focuses on localizing management, strengthening supplier relationships and providing products and customer service based on local consumer preferences. However, the consolidation was not with problems. With dealing these problems Macy’s changed parts of the strategy as following: * Continuing to adjust its portfolio of store. * Focusing on Fashion. * Continuing to develop and debut Macy’s private labels in bedding, outwears etc. * Increasing national advertising with emphasis on fashion and service. Statement of the problem/opportunity/and objectives The tradition department stores were one of the areas hit by the recession. While some companies dropped previously supported causes and programs, Macy’s got more profit and market share through repositioning strategy and consolidation, even with the rough economic times. Analysis of the situation External and internal Macy’s is a kind of traditional department store, and consolidation in 2005, at that time the economy is quite good. In 2008, the broad environment is not good; the economy of U.S. entered a recession. The sales of Macy’s are decreased. Also, in 2011, the price of gasoline and cotton were increased. This increased the cost of Macy’s. So the profit and market share of Macy’s reduced. As the department stores industry was attracting fewer and fewer consumers, Macy’s entered into the declining industry life cycle model. The recession and the declining industry life cycle model are both negatively affect the success of Macy’s. Although the external factors are not good, the internal factors are very good for Macy’s. One such factor was Macy’s has the national recognition. Another positive factor is Macy’s is really strong. It has 810 stores across the United States. Thirdly, Macy’s has the experience management. Macy’s was founded between 1843 and 1855 in downtown Haverhill, Massachusetts. Department stores created for â€Å"one-stop shopping†, Moreover, they had specific experience in converting regional brands to the Macy’s brand. A fourth factor contributing to the successful consolidation was that Macy’s made their stores on prime locations. These internal factors are positive for the success of Macy’s. Porter’s five –forces model Porter’s five –forces model describes the competitive environment in terms of five basic competitive forces: 1. The threat of new entrants. Macy’s had more competitors because more and more self-made fashion lines join to the market to get the market shares, such as H&M, Forever 21. Self-made fashion brands remodeled for more pleasant shopping experience. It is the threat for Macy’s. Also, the developed national stores have the lower cost and overcome quality and service same as Macy’s, it cause the competition. 2. The bargaining power of buyers. Buyers threaten an industry by forcing down price, bargaining for higher quality or more service, and playing competitors against each other. Macy’s has lower cost but because of the bad economic, the customers have little bargaining power. Secondly, Macy’s already had everyday value. They give lower price means they will get lower profit. Low profit creates incentives to lower purchasing costs. However, highly profitable buyers are generally less price sensitive. 3. The bargaining power of suppliers. Supplier power refers to the ability of providers of inputs to determine the price and terms of supply. Suppliers can exert power over firms industry by raising prices or reducing the quality of purchased goods and services, so reducing profitability. After Macy’s consolidation, Macy’s bought mass amounts from same buyers and Macy’s have strong relationship with these buyers. The bargaining power of suppliers is really high. 4. The threat of substitute products and services. All firms and industry compete with other industries offering substitute products or services. The threat of substitute products and services was the major concern, particularly with discounters such as Target offering similar products, and large chain that specialized in clothes such as H&M. 5. The intensity of the rivalry among competitors in an industry Rivalry refers to the degree to which firms respond to competitive moves of the other firms in the industry. Macy’s repositioned its industry segment to the upper middle level. Macy’s decided to change the strategy, they will be more fashionable and fashion at lower price. Also Macy’s change the brand to focus in attracting customers interested in fashion rather than customers in a specific demographic. Unique and a sustainable competitive advantage Macy’s repositioned itself as an upper-middle level store is easily imitable. Other department stores also can position as the same level. But Macy’s attempt to become â€Å"America’s department store† is something that other, small department stores cannot imitate. Also, Macy’s focus on less traditional and conservative than other department stores is a flawed value proposition, but it is not a bad one. Because of some of the consumers may like the traditional Macy’s. Consolidating brands to allow for lower prices is a good way to cut cost and to be unique. Identification and evaluation of alternatives Macy’s consolidation and repositioning strategy is really good and Macy’s did the best decisions. Because as the external environment is bad but Macy’s use itself internal advantage to consolidate and reposition to gain back the market share and profit. Consolidation and repositioning strategy help Macy’s get more brand power, prime location and improved consumer experience. Additional Macy’s got consumers focus on the affordable fashion. However, it also came with some problems such as uncertain industry conditions, excess costs and emphasis on standardization. Macy’s Future As Macy’s pursued an aggressive strategy in 2011, Macy’s was doing well. Almost everybody knows the everyday value of Macy’s and Macy’s afford the â€Å"America department store†. But department stores industry is in declining and competition is growing rapidly. Macy’s has recently instituted the strategy to compete in a tough market. So Macy’s is doing well and have huge advantage, but maybe other department stores will catch up and overcome in following years. Macy’s may change strategy when economy, competition change.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Why were the Bolsheviks able to take power in October 1917

There are many factors that allowed to Bolsheviks to take power in October 1917 such as the growing unpopularity of the Provisional Government at the time. Moreover, events such as the July days and the return of Lenin and Trotsky. The Bolshevik slogans â€Å"Bread, Land and Peace† and â€Å"All Power to the Soviets† also sum up the other major factors to their rise. The Provisional Government was becoming increasingly unpopular.They had failed to end the war and were blamed for food shortages and rising prices. Also, the Russian people were unable to choose their own government as the Provisional Government had not held elections which had displeased most people of Russia. The Bolsheviks took advantage of the unpopularity of the Provisional Government and increased its support. Its slogan â€Å"Bread, Land and Peace† was a really attractive offer to the Russian people. The â€Å"Bread† issue was not being solved by the government, but the Bolsheviks promi sed that they would deal with it.Lenin promised to provide the people with sufficient food, and the starving population turned to him for help. Furthermore, most peasants were furious with the government and the landowners for not giving the peasants a chance to earn their own money with their own land. Lenin, in accordance with the communist ideology, promised that the landowners' property would be split up and distributed equally, naturally attracting mass support from the majority of the population. In addition, the slogan ‘Peace' was the most ppealed out of the 3 by the Russian people.Almost everybody wanted the war to stop, as it continued for so long. The devastated economy and dwindling food supplies were all caused by the war, and people wished to return to their old lives. Lenin knew this and aptly used this as a slogan for his campaign. Being the only party which constantly opposed the continuation of the war, the Bolsheviks attracted many supporters. Additionally, t he leadership of Lenin was another factor that allowed the Bolsheviks to take power. Lenin was a dedicated, determined and skilled leader.He motivated his party and, through agitation and propaganda, the Bolsheviks became very popular in the army and in the factories. The leadership of the party was loyal to Lenin, and they followed his orders with conviction. The party had a proficient propaganda machine, producing newspapers, banners, posters and setting up recruitment drives in the army and factories. Lenin promised to bring an end to the war, to give land to peasants, to give workers control of factories, to take control of he banks and to give power to soviets of workers and soldiers set up throughout Russia.During the July Days, a political crisis erupted as soldiers in Petrograd refused to go to the front and sailors Joined the workers in anti-government demonstrations. These people were mostly Bolshevik supporters, and these riots were no doubt sparked off by party instigato rs. However, they were delivered a crushing defeat when the government managed to suppress the demonstrations and arrested a few leading Bolsheviks. Lenin himself was shot twice in the chest from close range, but urvived to escape to Finland.However, this event emphasises that the Bolsheviks Bolsheviks were able to take power in October 1917 because of Lenin's outstanding speaking skills and use of propaganda. Equally because of the state Russia was in during 1917 with shortage of food, and the need to end the war. The Bolsheviks were the only party that opposed the continuation of the war – which the majority of the Russian population wanted – promising to give the people of Russia what they urgently needed at the time, â€Å"Bread, Land and Peace†.