Jef's Article

17 Sept 2011

Marketing Strategies

Marketing Strategies
Marketing strategy helps organizations to focus their attention to complete resource utilization to increase sales and win over their competitors. Every company applies some kind of marketing strategies to maintain existing customers, attract potential customers and also to maintain and enhance their reputation in the market.
When designing a marketing plan, first a marketing strategy is taken into consideration. The marketing plan consists of steps to be taken so as to attain success in the implementation of the marketing strategy chosen. Big projects involve selection of different strategies at different levels. Usually a strategy consists of well-sketched tactics. They are meant to meet the needs and finally reach marketing objectives. Each of the strategies has pre-calculated results because when a particular strategy is chosen at a particular level, its outcome becomes the goal of that particular level. If there is an absence of a well thought strategy in a marketing plan means it is supposedly lacking a good foundation. A reasonable marketing strategy should not only facilitate marketing goals, but also the action sequence of a campaign.
At regular time intervals the firm should analyze the marketing decision. This is done with the help of strategic models and the 3C’s model is considered for this purpose. To calculate the company’s strategic position, Ansoff matrix is used. The 3C’s model determines the factors, which leads to the success of a marketing campaign. There are three key parties involved in this model the corporation, the customer and the competitors. The involvement of all the three key parties leads to positive results and this involvement is known as the 3C’s or strategic triangle.
The role of the corporation is to increase the strength of the company in the success critical areas, when compared to that of the competitor. The customer and his interest form the basis of any strategy. The competitor also plays a vital part. The competitor-based strategies are based on the functioning of business competitors like design and engineering, sales and servicing, and purchasing.
When making a marketing plan depending on some particular strategies known as mix strategies are used. 4P’s model is used to calculate whether the plan is sticking to the strategies or not. The four Ps stand for product, price, place and promotion. Products are goods produced by the company on a huge scale for the purpose of selling them and earning profit. Price is the money paid for a product by the customer. The price is based on many factors like competition, market share, customer perception and product identity. Place where the product is sold can be either physical store or store on the Internet. It is also known as distribution channel. To make the customer knowledgeable about a product, the marketer does promotion. It involves advertising, public relation and point of sale.
There are different types of marketing strategies based on some criteria. Challenger, Leader and Follower are types of market dominance strategies. Market dominance strategies are used to dominate the market. Cost leadership, Market segmentation and Product differentiation are types of porter generic strategies. Porter generic strategies are built on strategic strength or competing abilities and strategic scope or market penetration. Close followers, late follower and Pioneers are types of innovation strategies. Innovation strategies are meant to trigger the rate of product development and model innovation. It helps the firm to incorporate latest technologies. Intensification, Diversification, Vertical integration and Horizontal integration are types of growth strategies. Growth strategies facilitate the growth of the organization. Marketing warfare strategies are conjunction of marketing strategies and military strategies.
A marketing strategy or a mix of them is chosen only after thorough market research. A marketer should always be ready to face any kind of situations like if the strategy is changed in the middle, he should be able to perform another market research so as to choose the proper strategy, within a short period of time. This can be done easily if you have experience.

Global Marketing

Global Marketing
Global marketing is nothing but marketing done on national and international level and which involves understanding the similarities, dissimilarities and taking advantage of the opportunities to attain the goal. Concentrating on global marketing is as important as concentrating on domestic marketing if a company is aiming to increase sales.
The domestic market has become saturated in most categories of products and services, in all industrialized countries and hence, they started to deal with other countries to increase their sales. Usually in such case, goods that are too expensive for the domestic customers to buy are exported to other well-off countries.
When a company does marketing within the boundaries of a specific county, it has to compete with other domestic companies as well as international companies who are a part of the market. The marketing steps taken by the professionals are based on the taste of a specific audience. The product might not suit the taste of customers at a higher level. The other domestic companies that plan to go global hinder the growth of such companies. They become invisible at the international level as they are unable to cope with the growing competition and might not be aware of potential competitors. The product development is dependant on the need of the local residents. Such kinds of businesses are ethnocentric and are only bothered about their performance in the domestic marketplace.
Companies planning to go global should start with export to a foreign client first. The returns wouldn’t be satisfying in the beginning. The export department can be introduced at the headquarters that deals with all the laws. There can be a possibility of becoming secondary exporters by bringing export management company into the picture, who will deal with the language problem, time difference, paperwork and customers. If managing the exports without any help, the export department can be started at an office located abroad. This office works in collaboration with the regional headquarters. But the respective offshore offices take the marketing decisions, as they will have best knowledge about the particular market they are operating in.
Multinational marketing involves marketing in many countries. The marketing is based on the requirements of different countries and the returns are rewarding. Each region should be studied individually based on development, production and marketing. Such kinds of markets are known as region centric. Global marketing involves the whole globe. The entire world is summarized as a single market and the products that are released in the market should fit the needs of any regional marketplace. Marketers all over the world make the marketing decisions. Such a kind of market is known as geocentric.
Automotive industry is one such market that saw a global boost in sales during the last fifty years. Earlier only the local companies like Ford and General Motors used to produce cars in America, but today other international competitors like Toyota and Honda are operating in the same market and have out done the local companies. Another key factor to the global marketing is the Internet, which introduced e-commerce. Businesses went going online and global. This encouraged the sales of the company and the figures are only increasing because of ever increasing Internet users. The geographical location of customers is no longer a hindrance. Global marketing management and business-to-business e-commerce is growing rapidly.
Product, price, placement and promotion are the elements of global marketing. The product created should be such that it can sell anywhere using the same method. It should consider the primary elements of all the markets. However, the language in which the product is named can be changed, where as the content can remain the same. The price is never constant. It should be decided after reviewing the market and the currency of the country. The variables which affect prices are location where the product is being produced, cost of ingredients, transportation charges, labor charges, etc.
Placement is how the product is distributed and how it reaches the targeted market. Like in third world countries, there is a lack of superstores, so they can be placed or sold at ordinary shops. After the product is developed and distributed, it should be promoted precisely known as advertising, promotion is one of the major steps of marketing and consumes major part of the budget. If it is possible to send out the same message worldwide in a relevant and cost-effective way, it sure must be put into practice but the challenge is really big.

Advertise, Do not Spam

Advertise, Do not Spam

There is a fine line between advertising and spam and unfortunately many business owners do not understand the difference between the two. This is important because while a cleaver, well planted Internet marketing campaign can help to attract new customers and keep existing customers loyal, spam is likely to alienate both new customers and existing customers. This can be extremely damaging to profit margins for the business owners. This article will take a look at a few basic Internet marketing strategies such as banner ads, email campaign and message board posts and describe how each can quickly cross the line from cleaver advertising to spam.

Banner ads are one of the most popular strategies which accompany an Internet marketing plan. These ads are usually ads which appear at the top of websites and span the width of the website. It is from this appearance that they earned the name banner ads but actually banner ads can refer to ads of a variety of different sizes and shapes which appear in an array of different locations on a website. In many cases the business owner purchases advertising space on these websites but the banner ad may also be placed as part of an exchange or an affiliate marketing campaign. Banner ad exchanges are situations in which one business owner posts a banner ad on his website in exchange for another business owner posting his banner ad on the other website. These agreements may be made individually between business owners with complementary businesses or as part of exchanges facilitated by a third party. In the case of affiliate marketing, an affiliate posts and advertisement for your business in exchange for compensation when the banner ad produces a desired effect such as generating website traffic or generating a sale. The terms of these agreements are determined beforehand and are generally based on a scale of pay per impression, pay per click or pay per sale or lead.

Now that you understand what banner ads are, it is also important to understand how they can be overused and appear to be spam. Judiciously placing your banner ad on a few websites which are likely to attract an audience similar to your target audience is smart marketing, placing your banner ad on any website which will display the ad regardless of the target audience can be construed as spam. Internet users who feel as though your banner ads are everywhere they turn will not likely take your business seriously and are not likely to purchase products or services from you as a result of your banner ads.

Email campaigns can also be very useful tools in the industry of Internet marketing. These campaigns may involve sending periodic e-newsletters filled with information as well as advertisements, short, informative email courses or emails offering discounts on products and services. Loyal customers who opt into your email list will likely not view these emails as spam and may purchase additional products and services from your business as a result of this marketing strategy. Additionally, potential customers who have specifically requested additional information on your products and services will also find this type of marketing to be useful. However, email recipients who did not request information are likely to view your emails as spam. Harvesting email addresses in a deceptive manner and using these addresses to send out mass emails will likely always be considered to be spam.

Finally, message boards provide an excellent opportunity for business owners to obtain some free advertising where it will be noticed by members of the target audience. If the products and services you offer appeal to a specific niche, it is worthwhile to join message boards and online forums related to your industry of choice. Here you will find a large population of Internet users who may have an interest in your products. You might consider including a link to your business in your signature or posting the link when it is applicable to the conversation. However, care should be taken to carefully review the message board guidelines to ensure you are not doing anything inappropriate. This technique is smart marketing. Conversely, replying to every message with a link to your website when it is not relevant to the conversation is likely to be construed as spam by other members. Once they begin to view your posts as spam, they are not likely to visit your website via the links you post.

Converting Every Visitor into Subscriber

Converting Every Visitor into Subscriber

If a person visits your website and leaves, chances are that he or she will not come back, especially if there are no compelling reasons to do so. After all, we all behave rather impulsively on the Internet, so much so that we can easily forget where we were 10 web pages ago.

But the bottom line is that your visitor may not come back to your website again. If 1,000 visitors visit your website, leave and never come back again, you can imagine the amount of potential revenue lost, simply because they do not come back. You could have converted a fraction of the visitors into your customers.

Some may say that creating unique content can keep some of the visitors coming back, but very often, unique content is not the solution. The real, long-term solution lies in converting your visitors into subscribers of your mailing list.

Before your visitor leaves your website, you want to convert him or her into your subscriber via a simple opt-in to your mailing list. You do this by asking for your visitor’s name and email address through your opt-in form.

And if your visitor signs up to be on your mailing list, you can still follow up with him via email. You can get your subscriber to consider your offer, or endorse another offer to him or her.

All in all, you want to convert as many visitors into subscribers as possible and obtain the potential revenue you rightfully deserve – the easy, wise way.

Self-Disclosure

In an interaction between the individual with others, whether others will accept or reject, how they want others to know about them will be determined by how individuals in expressing themselves. Self-disclosure is the process of presenting themselves embodied in the activities to share feelings and information with others (Wrightsman, 1987).
According to Morton (in Sears, et al., 1989) self-disclosure is an activity to share intimate feelings and information with others. Information in this self-disclosure is descriptive or evaluative. Deskniptif means individuals portray the facts about yourself that may not be known by listeners like, occupation, address and age. While the evaluative meaning individuals to express opinions or personal feelings such as the type of person who liked or things that are disliked or hated.

Contribution of Psychology to Education

Contribution of Psychology to Education

There was no denying that the field of psychology has long been used as a cornerstone of education in development theory and practice of education and has contributed greatly to education, including the development of curriculum, learning and assessment system.

1. Contributions to the Educational Psychology Curriculum Development.

Review of educational psychology in relation to curriculum development, especially with regard to understanding aspects of behavior in the context of teaching and learning. Apart from the various schools of psychology that characterizes education, in essence, a psychological study gives attention to how the new input, process and out of education can be run by not ignoring aspects of behavior and personality of the learner.

Traffic Building Tips For Affiliate Marketers

If you aren't participating in some kind of Affiliate Promoting program, you actually are missing out on the endless prospects of residual income. It's those endless potentialities, but, that make the most important problem when its time to sort through the hundreds of thousands of Web opportunities and e-books. If you're not careful, rather than finding valid opportunities and helpful e-books, what you may finish up with are scams. If you jump in without a keen eye, or if you act too quickly, on those "one-time-supply" schemes, you could finish up investing unnecessary greenbacks to programs that either do not work or that don't do anything you couldn't have done yourself for free.

Radio Commercial Scripts - Advertising

It has been said a hundred times before that if you do something you love for a living, you will never work a day in your life. If you so lucky as to be able to be in this position, you will have a far easier time advertising your business than others. Passion for what you do cannot be bought or faked in a Radio Commercial Script. When you believe in something, the advertising for it comes naturally. You know what the benefits to the consumer are because in effect, you are a consumer yourself.

For today's dog owners 'What dog food is best' seems to be the hot topic and the most popular answer seems to be homemade recipes for dog food. In my opinion homemade recipes should be the most popular. In my house it's the only answer to the question. I've tried a lot of things over the decades and doing it myself has been far superior in every way to any other solution. I haven't had a single reason to consider trying anything else and I make it a point to stay on top of these things.

The ancient Sanskrit word for "vital energy" is prana. It begins to be unleashed into the body from the portal of the root chakra during a Kundalini awakening. Prior to this, the Kundalini remains dormant and coiled precisely three and one half times around the base of the spine. Accompanying the release of the prana, dramatic shifts in consciousness and psychological upheavals will occur in the initiate. A wide array of symptoms are associated with a Kundalini awakening. This is known as "Kundalini syndrome."

The presence of the kingdom of God is clearly all around us - we can see signs of the Creator in His animals and His plants, and in the stars and the clouds moving through the sky. If we really look, we can see His work everywhere. Scripture tells us that the kingdom of God is within us, too. (Luke 17:21)

Palembang Located Near South China Sea

Palembang located on the southern most rim of the South China Sea, close to one of the worlds busiest shipping lanes linking the Far East with Europe, the regions historical background is rich and colourful.

Violence in Aceh

In April, after talks with Acehnese rebels broke down, President Wahid authorized his army commanders to restore law and order in Aceh, effectively resuming the war that has affected the province since the 1970s. In September, the Indonesian government sought to appease rebels in Aceh province, where violence had been on the increase since mid-August, by promising an honest and open dialogue.

Further violence in 2001

In February 2001, indigenous Dayaks, who are mainly Christian or animist, killed between 500 and 1,000 Muslim Madurese in central Kalimantan, in Borneo. Thousands of people fled gangs armed with machetes and spears. After ten days, security forces took steps to regain control. 15,000 Madurese had been transported to Java, with another 20,000 guarded by the military in refugee camps in Sampit waiting to

Renewed trouble in the provinces

In December 1999, the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM), a 5,000-strong guerrilla force, effectively gained control of much of Aceh province. President Wahid rejected demands by the army to impose martial law to put down the GAM. In mid-December 1999 more sectarian fighting broke out in Maluku (the Moluccas). The riots were reported to be between Muslims and Christians, and brought the number of victims of religious killings in the archipelago in 1999 up to 1,500. The conflict provoked demonstrations in Jakarta; some protested against the government's failure to stop the fighting, while Muslims there called for a holy war against the Christians in Maluka, on whom they blamed the slaughter of hundreds of Islamic faith.In January 2000, the EU lifted its ban on arms sales to Indonesia, which had been imposed four months earlier during the violence in East Timor. Criticism of the EU's move was based on the idea that it could

Wahid's presidency

The Indonesian leader, B J Habibie, withdrew from the presidential race in October 1999 after he lost a key vote in the top legislature. The presidency went to Abdurrahman Wahid, leader of the National Awakening Party (PKB), and a moderate Muslim in poor health. By a remarkable 373 votes to 313, MPs voted him president of Indonesia. Wahid, a scholar best known by his nickname ‘Gus Dur’, had secured the support of some of those who had earlier backed the outgoing president. Many had expected Megawati Sukarnoputri, whose party won the parliamentary elections in July, to win and her surprise defeat in the presidential election provoked violence in Jakarta. She was elected vice-president and, as Wahid called for unity and more equal sharing of wealth, protests and rioting petered out across the country.

Corruption allegations against Suharto

In December 1998 the former president, Suharto, was formally questioned for the first time over allegations that he illegally amassed a fortune, estimated at between US$4–20 billion, during his 32 years in power. In October 1999, amid an atmosphere of mounting political tension, Indonesian legal authorities decided to drop a corruption investigation into financial irregularities allegedly committed by Suharto because of insufficient evidence. However, the allegations were brought against him again in March 2000 when he was ordered to appear in front of the attorney-general for questioning, but was reported by his lawyers to be too ill to do so. This, his second refusal to appear for questioning, was responded to by the public with violent

East Timor's independence referendum

In mid-November 1998 44 civilians were reported, by the Catholic Church, to have been killed during a military crackdown against separatist rebels in southern East Timor. In January 1999 after months of increasing political pressure, the government consented to consider further the possibility of autonomy or even independence for East Timor, annexed by Indonesia in 1976. In April 1999, despite the signing of a peace agreement while talks on autonomy continued, fighting broke out between opposing factions. Over 25 East Timorese refugees were massacred by the militia without the Indonesian army attempting to intervene. In May, Indonesia and Portugal signed a UN-brokered deal for a referendum on autonomy for East Timor to be held on 8 August. The choice would be independence or autonomy within Indonesia. However, the referendum was postponed in June to allow UN monitors to improve security.

Civil unrest and political reform

In September 1998 there were riots and looting of houses and shops owned by the country's ethnic Chinese minority, caused by rising food prices, and student protesters demanded President Habibie's resignation. In November 1998 at least 16 people, some of them students, were killed after troops opened fire on demonstrators in Jakarta. The protests, which attracted 20,000 demonstrators, had been organized to coincide with a special session of the law-making People's Consultative Assembly (MPR). This had been convened by President Habibie to make political reforms ahead of the June 1999 House of Representatives (DPR) parliamentary elections and the August 1999 election of a new president by the MPR. The protesters called for an end to the military's representation in the legislature and for the president's resignation.

Suharto steps down

On 21 May 1998 President Suharto bowed down to the pressure and resigned from office. His constitutional successor, vice-president Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie, was sworn in. The commander of the country's armed forces, Gen Wiranto, pledged his support for the new president. Suharto's resignation met with cautious optimism, though certain opposition leaders warned that the nomination of Habibie, a life-long protégé of Suharto, would not hasten any significant democratic changes in the country or improve its human rights record.

Growing civil unrest

From February 1998, demonstrations began on university campuses, protesting against Suharto's re-election and calling for democratic reform. These continued, gathering momentum between March and May, in defiance of government bans. A series of student demonstrations in Jakarta, as well as in Medan, Yogyakarta, and Bandung in May led to clashes with police in which at least 12 students were killed and dozens injured. The students, who claimed their action was peaceful, were calling for the removal of President Suharto and protesting at the rise in fuel prices. The most serious rioting took place in Medan, the biggest city of Sumatra, where police fired live bullets at demonstrators. The riots, considered the worst since the beginning of the Asian economic crisis in 1997, were not confined to a university campus, but spilt on to the streets and became dominated by ordinary working-class Indonesians. Indonesia's official human-rights body later claimed the death toll exceeded 1,000.

Suharto re-elected

In February 1998 Gen Wiranto became the new head of the armed forces and Suharto's 46-year-old son-in-law became commander of the Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad). President Suharto was elected to his seventh five-year term in early March 1998; he was the only candidate. He remained opposed to the economic reforms demanded by his critics and supported by the IMF. IMF officials were seeking to salvage the economic bail-out programme, a move particularly important in the context of food shortages and rising prices throughout the country. It was feared that Suharto's failure to agree with the IMF's terms might pose a grave risk to Indonesia's economic and political stability. The specially vetted People's Consultative Assembly

Economic crisis

Forest fires that first blighted large areas of South Asia in 1997 continued to burn out of control on Indonesian territory in the islands of Borneo and Sumatra in February 1998. About 1,000 forest fires were burning in Kalimantan, the Indonesian portion of Borneo, killing or putting to flight endangered species such as orang-utans and proboscis monkeys. A report published in February 1998 said that the 1997 haze caused US$1 billion of damage, most of it as a result of damage to health and lost tourism and industrial production. The crisis in Indonesia claimed its first victims in mid-February 1998 as troops shot and killed civilians in

Financial crisis

In response to the financial crisis generated by a sharp 30% depreciation in the value of the currency, the rupiah, it was announced in September 1997 that major construction projects, including roads, power stations, and oil refineries, would be postponed until the economy improved. In the province of Irian Jaya it was reported in October 1997 that more than 460 people had died from famine caused by prolonged drought.

Reform and repression

Improved living standards and economic reforms led to pressure for greater political reform and openness, and in April 1991 a 45-member Democracy Forum was launched by leading members of the country's religious and cultural intelligentsia. It was seen as an attempt to ventilate ideas about freedom in politics in what remained an authoritarian state. The government imposed strict limitations on the group's operations.International outrage followed the massacre in November 1991 of 50 Timorese demonstrators by the Indonesian army. The new political openness appeared threatened in 1992 after two students were arrested for taking part in a satirical review mocking the forthcoming elections, and in early 1993 several student publications were shut down.

Resettlement programmes

In 1984, in response to an OPM-organized rebellion in Irian Jaya, Suharto announced a stepping-up of his ‘transmigration programme’, aimed at resettling families from overpopulated Java, Madura, and Bali in sparsely populated outer islands, such as Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and Irian Jaya, where interethnic friction was evident. Over 6 million people were relocated in this way, but transmigration was subsequently scaled down because of environmental and economic problems. The programme was strongly opposed by native Melanesians and created more than 10,000 refugees in neighbouring Papua New Guinea.

Separatist wars

In 1975 Indonesia annexed the former Portuguese colony of East Timor. The area remained isolated (as a result of travel restrictions) until the early 1990s as the army fought to quash the secessionist movement, which was spearheaded by the Front for an Independent East Timor (Fretilin). An estimated 200,000 people out of a population of 700,000 died from war or related famine during this period. The United Nations refused to recognize Indonesia's claim to East Timor. Other separatists movements opposed to Suharto's authoritarian rule flared up in Maluku (the Moluccas) and in Irian Jaya, where the Free Papua Movement (OPM) systematically opposed Indonesian rule.

Suharto's ‘New Order’

Although not elected president until 1967, Suharto instituted a ‘New Order’ from 1966, with political power concentrated in the hands of a group of army and security-force officers. Sukarno's policies were reversed, and Suharto set about stabilizing a chaotic economy with the aid of a group of US economists nicknamed ‘The Berkeley Mafia’. Lavish incentives were introduced to encourage new foreign investment, assets nationalized by Sukarno were restored to their former colonial owners, and generous compensation paid for losses suffered by foreign companies as a result of Sukarno's policies. Support for China and the Soviet Union was abandoned and Indonesia turned to the West, while maintaining a non-aligned policy.

The overthrow of Sukarno

Sukarno's nationalization programme and close relations with communist states alarmed the USA, especially when he challenged the two giant US oil companies Stanvac and Caltex.In October 1965 six army generals and their aides were kidnapped and murdered in an attempted coup. An unknown army officer, Gen Suharto, defeated the coup's leaders, undermining both Sukarno and the PKI, who were linked to the plot. There followed several months of mass political murder as up to 700,000 people were

Indonesia under Sukarno

The new republic had been planned as a federation of 16 constituent regions, but was made unitary in 1950. This led to dominance by Java (which has two-thirds of Indonesia's population), provoking revolts in Sumatra and the predominantly Christian South Maluku. Until approximately 1957 Indonesia experimented with a broadly democratic constitution, in the Western sense, but the general elections in 1955 failed to throw up any clear majority party, though the PKI did very well. The years since independence had been marked by conflicts between Communists, Muslims, and regional groups and minorities, accompanied by a series of attempted coups, rebel governments, and violent confrontations.

Independence achieved

As defeat loomed, the Japanese moved to grant Indonesia independence. They were forestalled when Sukarno declared independence on 17 August 1945. The British were entrusted with restoring Indonesia to Dutch colonial rule, and quickly found themselves engaged in armed confrontation with the nationalists. By the late 1940s the Dutch, who had taken over the task of suppression, were clearly losing, and the USA used the weapon of Marshall Aid (post-war financial assistance to European countries) to force the Netherlands to the conference table. Sovereignty was transferred to the new state of Indonesia in 1949, and in December 1949 Sukarno was elected president.

Regional tensions and World War II

The great interwar depression hit the Netherlands East Indies very badly. To protect Dutch exports to the colony, the import of Japanese goods was restricted. To maintain the prices of important Dutch products, such as rubber and tin, production and export were deliberately curtailed. These moves were resented by both Japan and the USA. Japan depended upon economic access to Indonesia, and the USA – a major importer of tin and rubber – resented Dutch ‘commodity control’ schemes. The USA also challenged Japanese claims to regional hegemony, and in this atmosphere there was an ever-growing likelihood of a war in the Pacific in which Indonesia would be embroiled.The Japanese overwhelmed Dutch resistance in 1942 with humiliating ease, taking the archipelago in a mere few days, and subjecting the former colonial masters to every

The beginnings of Indonesian nationalism

At the same time a nationalist movement was beginning to stir. Resistance to Dutch occupation had, of course, always existed, flaring up frequently in peasant risings and occasionally in national wars (such as that on Java from 1825 to 1830). Islam was a convenient symbol for resistance and nationalism: its spread through the archipelago had been accelerated by the arrival of the Spaniards and the Portuguese in the 16th century (as a kind of extension of the Mediterranean conflict and partly, too, as a proto-nationalist gesture).Appropriately, devoutly Muslim Atjeh (now Aceh), a principality in northern Sumatra, held up against Dutch repression well into the 20th century, the resistance overlapping in time with the formation of Sarekat Islam.

Dutch exploitation in the 19th century

The Dutch attitude to Indonesia was unabashedly that the colony existed for the enrichment of the home country. When war and the secession of the southern provinces (now Belgium) bankrupted the Dutch exchequer, a system of forced labour, called the Cultuurstelsel (culture system) was imposed on Java in 1830. Under it, commercial crops were grown, under compulsion, by the Javanese peasantry for delivery to the Dutch, who shipped the goods to the Netherlands for sale. The system was extremely profitable to the

The establishment of Dutch rule

From 1511 the Portuguese, followed closely by the English, set up trading posts throughout the archipelago. However, it was the Dutch who eventually won the lion's share of influence in what was to become the Netherlands East Indies. The Dutch East India Company established itself in Java, founding Batavia (now Indonesia's capital city Jakarta) in 1619. In the 17th century the Dutch had still only managed to establish trading centres, while extensive Indonesian kingdoms dominated the region. But during the 18th–19th centuries the Dutch gradually took control of all of present-day Indonesia, including the surviving

The coming of the Europeans

The wealth of the islands of Indonesia – the East Indies – was well known to Europeans from Greek and Roman times onwards, both by reputation and by such indirect trade as took place via the Middle East. It was, indeed, the riches of the ‘Spice Islands’ (Maluku, or the Moluccas) that drew the Portuguese and Spanish, sailing in different directions around the world, to the archipelago in the first place. The spices of the region were then, in the 16th and 17th centuries, integral both to European cuisine and to European medicine, and commanded very high prices.

History Of Indonesia

History Of Indonesia

Indonesia's geographical location has always assured its historical prominence. The archipelago dominates the main lines of communication both west–east (from the Atlantic and Indian Oceans to the Pacific) and north–south (from the great Eurasian landmass to Australasia).

Indonesia & Government

Indonesia

Country in southeast Asia, made up of 13,677 islands situated on or near the Equator, between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It is the world's fourth most populous country, surpassed only by China, India, and the USA.

Government

The 1945 constitution (amended 1950 and 1969) is based on a state ideology, the Pancacila (Five Principles), of monotheism, humanitarianism, Indonesian unity,