Crime in the Suites Effects of Power and Privilege Essay

Crime in the Suites Effects of Power and Privilege - Essay Example In spite of the larger cost to lives and property, there appears to be a tendency for many law enforcers and many parts of the society to disregard or lightly deal with crimes committed by individuals with power, influence and high standing on society. The definition of elite crime has changed and expanded over the years such that the focus has been transferred from social class to occupation. There are now two recognized classes of elite crime: "corporate crime" and "occupational crime". The former refers to the offenses committed by the management or any employees that aimed to benefit or protect the corporation. Occupational crime refers to acts committed by an individual who made use of his employment for extra gains. This includes embezzlement of funds, leaking trade secrets and procurement fraud. To be more precise, elite crimes are offenses requiring the offender to be (1) a corporate entity or a representative thereof and/or (2) performing a particular position at the time the offense was committed. With this classification and definition, offenses are categorized as white collar crime regardless of all social classes so long as it has the characteristics provided above. Elite criminals are considered to behave more rationally than street offenders as the later routinely operates in hedonistic contexts while the former work in settings that promote prudent decision making and exercising greater care and caution. Elite crimes also differ from street crimes in conduct as it uses deceit, guile and/or misrepresentation to exploit for illicit advantage or create the appearance of a legitimate transaction. Previous studies in criminology focused in explaining why people commit crime and why some are more likely to commit an offense. With Sutherland's exposition of 'elite crime', a paradigm shift has occurred where the focus now lies in a sociopolitical analysis of crime. One such paradigm is the conflict theory which contends that legal content is primarily determined by those possessing great power and influence derived from membership to powerful groups of race, gender, social class and resources. The theory sees the law not as an objective, agreed-upon list of deviant and socially damaging behaviors but a doctrine tailored to serve the interests of the powerful. Privileged individuals can also impact the way the criminal justice system operates such that it targets only those who lack power and ignores the crime of those who have. Conflict theorists consider the criminal justice system to be consciously and intentionally biased. Essentially, society is in conflict due to innate diff erences and those who have the power to prevail determine what is right and wrong or in this case, whether an act is a crime or not. Following the conflict theory, we can see the reasons why white collar crime has not been given proper attention in spite of the statistics showing that it has more deleterious effects on society as compared to those 'blue collar' crime. White collar crime, especially the corporate type, involves people with great resources and connections that provide them the power to influence politicians, legislators, police and even the judiciary in the definition of what is legal and what is criminal. Several corporations and even private entities have already been exposed to providing financial support, especially in the elections, in exchange of political and

Showing the customer who's Boss Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Showing the customer who's Boss - Case Study Example The launching of "Boss," which targeted young professionals with a full line of more casual clothes as well as sporting accessories, allowed the company access to a much wider range of clientele than it had previously enjoyed. It is this segmentation of the Hugo Boss brand helped the company immensely with its growth and profitablility. According to Diamond and Pintel (1980) "there is generally a limit to the amount of sales that a given article can produce, company growth may depend on the introduction of new products for an increase in sales" (p.166). Which is exactly the idea that Hugo Boss had as they expanded their product lines and thereby expanded their client base. The next foray into new territory brought them into the world of women's apparel. Since Hugo Boss was not well known in this market, they had to work hard to extend the popularity and the image of their brand. They already had a great advantage because their name has always been associated with quality clothing, this strong brand name and store image played a very important role in their new product lines. "Store image is a very important factor for effective retail marketing because it can exert a major influence on consumer patronage patterns" (Rosenbloom 1981 p. 127). A strong store image can help not only attain new patronage but also ensures retaining the clientele they already have. However, Hugo Boss needed to ensure that their popularity would be transferable to the women's market. Hugo Boss faced a challenge in marketing the women's line "unlike most types of goods, merchandise with fashion orientation requires anlysis that is often different" (Diamond and Pintel 1980 p.192). Hugo Boss needed to generate ideas quickly and analyse their information and designs in a different manner when dealing with women's fashions. "Fashion, with its rapid changes, dictates the need for the continuous introduction of new styles" (Diamond and Pintel 1980 p.192). Hugo Boss also employed various ways to communicate with their audience, such as media outlets, fashion shows, and major layouts within popular fashion magazines. Hugo Boss' goal was to have their popular brand name become associated with high quality women's clothing. The obstacles were difficult to overcome, the costs for advertising were high and fashion is risky, the clientele's needs and wants are in constant flux. According to Diamond and Pintel (1980) "an error would be enormously costly, since wrong styles have almost no value," (p.193) yet are still costly to produce and promote. Hugo Boss experienced difficulties with their new women's line early on, as is seen in the net losses they sustained when it was first launched. Extending an existing brand into a new, but related market, is challenging for several reasons. First, the audience needs to accept the change, and secondly, they need to believe that the brand will retain its integrity and quality when producing new products outside their original market. The danger is that the brand name will be diluted by being over eager and attempting to go into markets beyond their core competency. Yet, by 2002, Hugo Boss had figured out how to leverage their name across new markets and had finally become