Business Law Essay

Peter approached you for advice on his purchase of a camera. He recently took up photography as a hobby and started to look for cameras. Based on his friends’ suggestion, he went to the IT show last weekend and bought a camera after bargaining with the sales personnel. Peter selected the camera model XYZ from a list of brochures which were distributed at the entrance of the IT show. The price indicated on the brochure was $1,500.00 with goodies bag worth $350.00 with the words in bold â€Å"WHILE STOCKS LAST†. When Peter approached the sales person, he was informed that the first batch of cameras at the price of $1,500.00 was sold out in the morning. The sales person suggested that Peter purchase the camera from the next batch but at a higher price of $1,600.00. Peter asked for the best price for the camera and the sales person replied, â€Å"Best price is $1,550.00 and don’t refer to the brochure any more. This is a different batch.† Peter responded that he would buy the camera immediately if the price could be reduced to $1,500 which was indicated in the brochure. Peter also mentioned to the sales person that he was picking up photography as a hobby and the camera with its wide range of manual settings was ideal for his photography workshop. As the crowd starting to gather at the stall, the sales person left Peter to attend to other customers. Feeling that the whole episode was a set-up, Peter went to other stalls to check the price of the camera model XYZ. He was surprised to find out that there was indeed a shortage of supply. Peter quickly rushed back to the first stall and approached the sales person. The sales person remembered Peter and told him that he only had one camera model XYZ left and it was on a ‘reserve list’ for another customer. Peter felt desperate and as he did not want to go back empty-handed, he offered to pay $1,600.00 for the camera. The sales person said that the price has gone up to $1,700.00 and there are others who are keen to pay this price. Peter felt that it was important to get the camera without further hesitation and he finally bought the camera at $1,700.00. Peter encountered the following issues when he started using the camera: a) The manual settings function was limited when he compared to the function indicated in the brochure. b) Peter’s friend is using the same camera model XYZ and when Peter compared the two cameras, Peter’s camera was indeed of lower quality than that of his friend’s camera. The brochure states that the camera â€Å"is of good quality as guaranteed by the manufacturer†. Peter does not have any documents from the sales person listing down the functions. Advise Peter on his purchase of the camera, his issues with the camera and his recourse against the stall. (60 marks) Performance Guide for students: Marks will be awarded for: (i) Content : a. Clear usage, statement and explanation of relevant legal principles b. Original, clear, logical and convincing discussion on application of the laws to the facts c. Statement of Conclusion d. Appropriate referencing (in text and list of references) (ii) Number and quality of references: At least 5 (iii) Organization of answer and writing style (including spelling, grammar, syntax etc). Please make sure you use â€Å"Grammar and Spell check† functions to check your submissions. INSTRUCTIONS for Continuous Assessment 1 : Individual Assignment †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Deadlines and Guidelines are provided on the course Blackboard site This is an Individual Assignment marked upon 60 marks. Weightage for this assignment: 30% of total marks for this module Assignment should be type written using 12 pt ARIAL font and 1.5 line spacing. Word limit is 1200 words (excluding words in references) and must be printed at the end of assignment. † † CA Submission †¢ †¢ †¢ CAs must be submitted online via student portal. Deadlines, instructions and detailed guidelines are provided on the course Blackboard page. Please read instructions and guidelines provided on student portal, Blackboard and in this document carefully. Ignorance of specific directions mentioned in these documents will not be considered as a valid reason which will lead to marks deductions and may lead to failure in the CA component of this course.

Smoking Habits

Substance Abuse Paper HCA 250 September 30, 2012 Substance Abuse Paper I topic I have chosen to discuss is about the dangers of smoking tobacco at young age into adulthood. Smoking Tobacco is the leading cause of premature death in smokers and it has been linked to death of non-smokers which is known as second-hand smoke. Just like Alcohol and drug abuse, smoking tobacco is used for many reasons for example simply being cool, to fit in, peer pressure, and my parents do it. Now let’s discuss the reason why smoking tobacco is dangerous to the smokers and non-smokers.The reason for smoking is psychological, because the way smoking is glamorized in the movies and also in advertisements. This is not the real reason one chooses to smoke; the addiction is due to the nicotine which makes it hard to quit once one has started. One can overcome his or her addiction, when the psychological reasons for smoking are eliminated. The reasons people chose to start smoking tobacco was to show he or she is not timid or afraid, because his or her friends do it, to look cool, to act grown-up, sign of rebellion, parents are smokers, role models smoke, because of advertisement, for weight loss, and to reduce anxiety.The effects of smoking in the workplace can lead to unscheduled smoke breaks, absenteeism, involuntary smoking, second-hand smoke, higher insurance premiums, increased chances of lung cancer in non-smokers and smokers, heart disease in non-smokers and smokers, effects the fetus of a pregnant worker, and irritation of eyes, headaches, nasal discomfort, cough, sore throat, or sneezing. To help employees control his or her smoking habit should begin with restricting smoking in the workplace.By doing this it helps promote a healthy program in the workplace. Considering that exposure to tobacco smoke is a health hazard that many face on a daily basis. Therefore some would agree that this exposure should be addressed, therefore making it a workplace health program for all non-smoker and smokers. In order to help employees control his or her smoking habits is to introduce a smoking policy. When this policy is introduced it should be enforced at all times by smokers and backed by all employers and employees.A company can also help those who want to stop smoking by offering fitness and nutritional counseling, exercise classes, and organized sports activities. The relationship between mental health and tobacco can be good and bad. People with Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder receive a calming effect from the nicotine. Although nicotine provides a calming sensation short term, in the long term it can cause mental illness and other health issues.Some people begin to smoke because of depression, although once he or she try to quit they are likely to experience an episode of major depression. One can also experience insomnia, irritability, frustration, anger, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, decreased heart rate, increased appetite, and weight gain. In conclusion smoking tobacco can cause serious damage to every organ in one’s body. It is very harmful to the lungs and the cardiovascular system, this becoming the leading cause of premature death in smokers.It also causes other diseases such as: heart disease, lung cancer, emphysema, peptic ulcer disease, and a stroke. References Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (1991, June). Retrieved from http://www. cdc. gov Environment Tobacco Smoke (ETS): Workplace Policy. (2011, March 1). Retrieved from http://www. ccohs. ca Mental Health Realities. (2011, July 18). Retrieved from http://mentalhealthrealities. blogspot. com Sarafino, E. (2011). Health psychology: Biopsychosocial interactions (7th ed. ). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Benefits of Media Fast Essay

Most of the innovations that happened in the twentieth are extremely valuable to human kind. Advancement in technology that mostly happened in the twentieth century has other various advantages besides making machines efficient and convenient. The discovery of computers has made work easier, and in addition, computers are a substantial contribution to effective communication. With the rising population, it is easier to control and regulate people by the use of computers. Through the same innovation, creation of social networking sites has brought the world closer. Social networking sites such as Facebook provide a credible platform for interaction among people from various communities across the world. In the course of interaction, individual perception of the social, economic, political, physical and spiritual world can be significantly influenced due to the constant exchange of ideas (Vorderer, 2006). However, technology has consumed people’s time and space, making it imposs ible to live without technology. This paper is going to explore the benefits associated with fasting from media for a weekend. First, fasting from media, including all electronic gadgets reduces impulse buying and unhealthy eating habits encouraged by advertisements. Advertisements encourage people to buy things that they really do not need. Impulse buying occurs due to advertisement; this is because of the nature of advertisement content which convinces consumers. On the other hand, branding of commodities entice buyers to purchase things that they don’t intend to buy. Advertisement cost is extended to consumers, hence making products to have a top-notch price compared to the initial price. The new arrival of a gadget in the market sets a certain class and advertisement plays a great role in promoting it (Vardi, 2011). Moreover, the information given about it can be misleading, for example, when an advertisement message speaks of nutritious food, while in real sense is chemically manufactured and it contains nothing nutritional. Emerging trends of luxurious goods, mostly compromise the market diversi ty since many people will be enticed on a new commodity’s arrival rather than analyze its exclusivity quality. This affects consumerism negatively. Fasting from advertisement exposure reduces risk of eating unhealthy foods, and also impulse buying. Secondly, media fast enable one to create and build relationships with family and friends. Technology has been blamed for the elevated exasperation in youth. The usage of smart phones for texting, internet and playing games has had a negative impact on their psyche, which has increased their frustrations. The adolescents get frustrated and agitated any time they are asked to do anything, especially when they are on the internet playing games. For example, when a mother asks a child to take out the trash can, the child will get very angry instantly since he or she thinks the mother is interfering with his or her chat or playtime, and such issues have led to the deterioration of mother- child relationships (Vardi, 2011). Additionally, a media fast will enable more interaction between people, which rarely occurs due to use of technological gadgets. Fasting from media helps in family and friends’ social bonding. Abstaining from the media over the weekend helps in relaxation and better sleep. People experience difficulties everyday because of the blue light given off by TV and computer screens. This light resembles the light given off by the sun, tricking the human body into reducing the melatonin production, a hormone responsible for sleep pattern (Price, 2013). People therefore, stay up late either surfing or watching movies instead of resting at night over the weekends. However, a media fast enable one to avoid watching television and being exposed to blue light, which results to a good night’s rest. Lack of sleep issue a serious health issue that can cause serious medical problems for a person. Media fast, therefore, eliminated the melatonin production interruption, enabling the body to rest well during the night and to consequently exhibit better health and energy the following day. Lack of physical activity in many adolescents is as a result of overusing technology. Advanced technology has provided a completely alternative and unique way of communication and way of interacting with one another. The youths are using applications like the apps, social networks, online games which has hindered the physical communication and interaction the kids used to have before the emergence of technology (Prasad, 2011). Youths that spent long hours on the internet are known to be lonely. When people are mainly on the internet, TV, and cell phone, they isolate themselves, feel neglected and their senses become over stimulated leading to obesity. These problems may later translate to heart attack, stroke and Diabetes or mental retardation that causes addiction to the internet or drugs, development of pervert behaviors and also, they may become very violent (Price, 2013). Although putting down media for a weekend is not enough to start exercising, the chance provides one with tim e to take a walk, meet new people, work on the garden, visit the gym and any other activity as long as one is doing something. Media fast helps in reducing stress related issues. People have become so addicted to media such that they cannot go without it. The constant flow of information, updates, TV and internet are quite overwhelming. As a result of this, many adolescents lack patience due to overusing technology. Patience being a key virtue in one’s life, lack of it may cause a person to lose his will. In today’s life one has to be determined and you cannot achieve it without being patient, which makes the impatient individuals to find it hard to survive. Vardi (2011) attests that many adolescents are losing tolerance, due to using technology wrongfully and for a long time. When the adolescents want to view a page and the internet is taking long to load they become very frustrated and impatient and this even translates to their daily lives and they may end up stressed. For the people who are employed, it is not possible to get any rest since they carry the office back at home! Smart phones a nd computers take the time intended for family. Turning of all these updates, internet and TV provides one with a chance to relax and avoid stress. Media fast enable people to think for themselves. Overusing the internet has seen many people lose their creativity and writing skills. This is as a result of excessive use of chatting engines and shortcuts which have seen the youths lose writing skills. It is difficult for a youth to even construct a sentence without putting in the shortcuts that make it lose meaning and cannot be used in a learning environment. They rely more on communicating in a digital way that they cannot even spell certain words, proper use of grammar is an issue and they are not able to do cursive writing (Vardi, 2011). However, this opportunity can provide them with a chance to use their mind. In conclusion, technology has again consumed people’s time and space, making it impossible to live without technology. Although the human brain is capable of keeping up with the high rate of technological advances, a breather once in a while may be useful to avoid stress and help in relaxation of the mind and body. References Prasad, P. (2011). Information communication technology (ICT) – its waste and consequences. International Journal of Environmental Technology and Management, 363-363. Price, R. (2013). Technology and its Consequences. Radiography, 185-186. Vardi, M. (2011). Technology has social consequences. Communications of the ACM, 5-5. Vorderer, P. (2006). Playing video games: Motives, responses, and consequences. Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Source document

Security in the age of globlisation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Security in the age of globlisation - Essay Example fight’ of realist, liberal and constructionist research programmes, the latter had been discussed with major focus on its social and economic processes. Since globalization is a spatial progress, it does not accommodate the principles of interdependence. Globalization materializes the circulation and interpenetration of people and ideas along with its material exchanges across cultures. The private and public spheres merge and collide in such an environment. Unlike in the case of economic and social aspects of globalization, the effects of security are harder to conceptualize and measure. It has to be analyzed and comprehended in contrast with the Cold War effects on security. The agency and scope of threat in the globalized world has grown out of all expectations that terms like global violence and human security has become common parlance. The security constituencies are defined at every level from the global to the regional to the individual. While the security providers remain nationally defined, the dimensions of threat in the international sphere have grown much beyond its aegis. However the scope of security is also widened in the age of globalization, since the post Cold War security precepts expand beyond national constrictions. The issues that are brought under such expanded security comprise diseases, global warming, ozone depletion, acid rain, bio-diversity loss and radioactive contamination. The ‘skill revolution’ among prospective terrorists has begun to pose a great threat as well. On a general societal level, despite the changing norms of security, globalization has made people both more aware and less decisive about intervent ion in ethnic conflicts. Non-Physical Security is the novel concept that had originated from globalization. When the existing security concepts are expanded to protection of information and technology assets, it gains a non-physical status. This includes greater information technology and smartness of weapons. Selling

What are the key strategic decisions for keeping staff motivated and Dissertation

What are the key strategic decisions for keeping staff motivated and to increase the productivity - Dissertation Example The objective of this research is to recognize key strategic decisions of the company to motivate its employees and the importance of motivation in improving the productivity of the organization. Employees are the key assets of the organization. Motivated employees help to improve the overall productivity of the organization. In order to study the same, the researcher intends to recognize the basic motivational factors in the company. After scrutinizing the motivational factors in the particular study, the investigator comes to the conclusion that motivation is a factor which vary from person to person .It is argued that staff turnover, volunteerism, proactive behavior plays an important role in motivation of employees. Staff turnover is the main factor influencing the productivity of the organization and lower output. The employees need to be proactive at the workplace to show better performance. The motivation at work cannot be preserved constantly for a long time. This means that a person’s present motivational feature may change tomorrow. It is clear that modification in the personal or social condition will influence an employee’s motivation level. The ultimate analysis of this study does not specify any universal pattern which is capable to influence any motivation level of the employees. This study also does not elucidate any pattern of gender difference.... teness†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦26 3.6 Ethical Issues in Research†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.28 3.7 Limitations for Research†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦29 3.8 Summary†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦30 Chapter 4: Findings and Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â ‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.31 4.1 Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.31 4.2 Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦31 4.3 Findings†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦60 4.4 Summary†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..61 Chapter 5: Conclusions and Recommendations†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.62 5.1 Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..62 5.2 Theoretical Implications†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...63 5.3 Managerial Implications†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...64 5.4 Limitations of the study†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã ¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦65 5.5 Future Directions of the Research†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦66 5.6 Summary†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...67

Alternative media Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Alternative media - Case Study Example It’s obvious this is a subtle dig at the propensity of tobacco to be a cancer causing agent. In other such co-optations Adbuster’s parodied Tiger Woods as a picture of the Nike logo in the background was featured and then a swoosh sign within Tiger Wood’s mouth was inserted. The implications for this are clear, as it demonstrates a political commentary on the means by which Nike has purchased Wood’s advertising power and voice. Another image has the slogan ‘Buy Nothing Day’ with a giant credit card running down the street displayed. In these regards, there are ultimately two means of constructing these forms of alternative commercialization. The first being the alteration of existing imagery in an effort to play on the power effects contained in these images. The second method is the direct construction of methods that call into question mainstream social ideals, for instance consumerism. References "Culture Jammers." Adbusters. N.p., 2011. We b. 7 Apr 2011. .

Forensic Evidence Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Forensic Evidence - Research Paper Example Current technological trends have revolutionized the methods of storing data along with different advanced access mechanisms. These systems facilitate law enforcement agencies by providing instant access to these characteristics. Although, computer forensics also facilitates in investigation of crimes within themselves in order to gather evidence associated with criminal activities that breaches violation of an organizations policy. The data can be extracted from storage devices including hard drives, flash drives, memory cards etc (Computer forensics – a critical need in computer, n.d ) Every online user leaves behind logs related to activities that he or she performs online. This digital traceability can reveal activities that are performed by the user on the Internet by identifying who has identified which files along with logs of each website visited. Temporary files can also reveal flash templates and buffered videos. These traceable logs, files, cookies, templates can fa cilitate a great deal to analyze crimes that are committed from computers and may provide solid evidence against the hacker or cyber-criminal. However, many users trust in files after deleting them from the hard drive but there are many ways and methods via which these files can be recovered. The operating system usually does not delete complete files from the hard drive, even if the user deletes the files from the recycling bin. The files are still present, until they are replaced or overwritten by new files. These traceability factors can lead to aid in forensic investigations and can track down criminals by investigating their computer. For instance, during the execution of a search warrant at the residence of John Robinson who was a serial killer, law enforcement agencies discovered two bodies that were badly decomposed along with seizing of five computers (Computer forensics, n.d ). After investigating computers, it was discovered that the serial killer John Robinson was using internet to find people to schedule a meeting. Afterwards they were killed by sexually assaulting them. These facts were only possible by forensic computing techniques and were not possible by physical evidence and investigation (Computer forensics, n.d ). However, many techniques are associated with forensic computing, few techniques are categorized in to two groups i.e. Graphical User Interface (GUI) based forensic tools and Command line forensic tools (Conklin 2005). The command line tools are relatively small, they can be stored in floppy disks as compared to heavy, and slow GUI based forensic tools. However, command line tools also share some disadvantages in terms of their limitations as they are not capable to identify .zip files and .cab files. GUI based tools provide a graphical user interface and is said to be user friendly because specialized knowledge is not required as compared to command line tools requiring commands on every operation. The disadvantage for GUI based t ools is that they are large and cannot be saved in a floppy disk (Conklin 2005). Similarly, organizations also require a proactive approach for threats that may penetrate within the internal network and extracts or expose sensitive information. There are many ways of forensic data acquisition on a network; we will only consider best practices. Network-Based Evidence Acquisition Practices Network management is effective on many vital management functions. If any one of them is not properly configured, effective network management is not possible. Data acquisition is classified as a vital management process that needs to be addresses proficiently. Likewise, Wireshark will only utilize data that is available

Critical success factors (MBA) Assignment Essay

Critical success factors (MBA) Assignment - Essay Example This paper will review the literature on what are the key factors that determine success of any project. The term success factor itself has been defined different by different researchers. While Clarke (1999) refers to it as ‘key success factors’, Belassi and Tukel (1996) call it the critical success/failure factor. Cooke Davies (2002) calls them merely ‘success factors. According to Torp et al. (2004, pp2) noticed â€Å"CSFs to projects moved from a mechanistic approach to success determination which was relying on purely technical system and the traditional Cost-Time-Quality constraints to a combination of social and technical systems†. Cooke-Davies further clarifies that project success is more difficult than project management success because the goals and methods are liable to change. Project success is measured against the overall objectives of the project while project management success is measured against the cost, time, quality and performance. Cooke-Davies further distinguishes between success criteria and success factors. People also differ on the number of success factors that are critical for project success. Daniel (1961), in an article published in Harvard Business Review, highlighted the type of information needed to support top management activities. He recognized the significance of non-financial data in order to achieve organizational goals and suggested that an organization’s information system should be centered on providing three to six success factors that help an organization achieve success. Rockhard in 1979 defined critical success factor (CSF) as the limited number of areas in which satisfactory results will ensure successful competitive performance for the individual, department, or organization (ESCC, 2006). He stressed that CSFs are the few key areas which have to be just right for the organization to flourish and for the manager to achieve

Evolution of colouration in bird eggs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Evolution of colouration in bird eggs - Essay Example One key fact states that the more diversified a population becomes, the more likely it is to survive as a species. This increases its ability to occupy more territory and gain access to more sustenance, or to spread itself out and become more inconspicuous among predators. Several species of birds demonstrate this type of variation at the embryonic stage. The eggs they lay are coloured or spotted in particular ways, the complete reasons for which have been somewhat elusive to researchers for some time. In fact, birds are the only species that produce pigmented egg shells (Gosler, et al. 2005, p. 1105), and this leads scientists to believe that the pigmentation serves a discoverable purpose. Such reasons as crypsis and the prevention of parasites have been hypothesised. Other hypotheses have been based on sexual selection or on the chemical structure of the eggshell and its influence on eggshell fragility and vulnerability. Hybridization has also been suggested as a factor that influe nces egg colour. These hypotheses, though varied, have important implications on the evolution of the bird shells and can give insight into the reasons for the various pigmentations that birds' eggs carry. Safety is a very important issue for birds when it is noted that their eggs are prone to different forms of predation and parasitism. Two types of brood parasitism exist. Conspecific brood parasitism occurs when birds of similar species place their foreign eggs into the nest of a host. Interspecific brood parasitism occurs when birds of other species infiltrate the nest and place their own eggs in the clutch. This can be very dangerous to the existence of a particular avian species, since the some parasites are known to be vicious and ruthless. The most notorious of these parasites are cuckoos, and their parasitism is dangerous as they often hatch before the genuine brood and expel authentic eggs from the nest, terminating that attempt of the species to reproduce. This is truer of some species than of other, depending on the type of predation suffered by each. The great tit (Parus major), for example, does not expel parasites from its nest, and this appears to be contingent on the fact that it is not a host to the European cuckoo parasite (Gosler, Higham and Reynolds, 2005. p. 1105-6). Village weavers, on the other hand, do remove foreign eggs from their nests, and have therefore to learn the appearance of their eggs (Collias, 1993, p. 684). The implication of this fact is that the weaver eggs must have progressively developed a distinctive appearance in order to facilitate recognition. It has been observed that West African village weavers' spotted eggs have noticeable intraspecific differences, and hypotheses have been formed concerning the reasons for this. The first spots on eggs might have been achieve by one incidence of genetic mutation in the species, but this kind of spotting in weavers is now commonplace. Relying on the reasoning of the previous paragraph, it was predicted that within the weavers' clutches the diversity of colouration would be minimised in the absence of interspecific parasites and maximised in their presence. Researcher David Lahti found opportunity for an experiment involving these West African weavers in the fact that the species had

Islamic credit cards Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Islamic credit cards - Essay Example Worthington has defined these cards as â€Å"Pay Later Cardsâ€Å", which facilitates the user to purchase any product or service without paying cash money. Fowler explains the credit cards as any coupon, single credit device, card or plate that can be used to get labor, services, goods or cash on credit. Such a card allows the user to make the required financial transaction without paying any money. The current technological development has given more powers to the buyer for purchasing goods and services on line. However, this requires an instrument that can facilitate payment to the seller at the time of such purchase. The credit card issued by a bank comes handy for this purpose as the buyer pays seller the required money through this card. Credit cards are secure as they replace cash which most of the people do not find safe to carry. In addition, carrying cash requires deep pockets and may create hassles. There are several reasons for the people to use credit cards. These include purchasing of foods and services, making necessary recharges, getting cash advances and enhancing the self-prestige. Credit cards have a long history as they have been in use since several decades. Their use started from United States in 1920s. Ritzer has named these cards as â€Å"American Icon†. During the early 20th century, credit cards were used for the first time in oil, automobile companies and general stores. Many writers have given credit to John Beggins of Flatbush National Bank in New York for inventing the first bank-issued credit card. The Banking Review’s Paper, FDIG informs that the idea of providing cash through a card goes back to 1800s era. However, the use of a bank issued credit card at different merchant outlets started only after 1950s. Bank Americard issued first VISA card in mid 1970s, while created the reputed credit card operation, called â€Å"VISA†. The scope of credit card use has widened now largely as

Are Entrepreneurs More Happy than Others Entrepreneurship and Research Proposal

Are Entrepreneurs More Happy than Others Entrepreneurship and Happiness - Research Proposal Example m and they remain inspired despite the fact that they can make less income than people who are employed, additionally, they work more hours, and deal with a lot of stress compared to employed people (Baron and Shane, 2007). Secondly, it is important to focus on this particular topic in order to establish if indeed people who are employed are not as equally as happy as entrepreneurs are and if so, establish the source of the unhappiness despite the fact that they face fewer challenges and they are certain about the future. According to the theory presented by Abrams (2012), happiness is interlinked with motivation and therefore a person who is motivated is equally happy but this argument present a research gap in the sense that motivation are derived from factors such as money or incentives, financial security, and conducive working environment that is stress free. Therefore, factors that create motivation are not equally the factors that create happiness since it is argued that entrepreneurs are usually happy but at times, they make much less than people who are employed. Consequently, it will be critical to identify how happiness is measured or factors that determine the level of happiness. According to Naude (2012), there has been a significant increase in the cases of suicide amongst European entrepreneurs mostly during the recent economic crisis that largely affected the region since there was an erosion of social protection because of the fiscal austerity measures that had been implemented by various governments. Such a case further question how happiness is measured since it is stated that entrepreneurs are naturally happier despite the fact that at times they make less, face more challenges and uncertainties. However, it is noted this case scenario that during crises entrepreneurs become unhappy to the extent of committing suicide while it had earlier been stated that entrepreneurs are not necessarily motivated by money and always prefer challenges posed

Teaching Vocabulary Using Original Video and Sound Effects to Young Learner Essay Example for Free

Teaching Vocabulary Using Original Video and Sound Effects to Young Learner Essay Putu Darma Putra (2013) in his seminar says that â€Å"World is words, how nice and influence they are; appears in a dictionary. † Words are really powerful for good and evil. They can transform in the hands of someone who knows how to choose and combine them. As we know, English as an international language has an important role in dealing with the world. For dealing with the world we need to deliver our thought by using words or vocabularies. We can imagine how powerful vocabulary is. As well known, vocabulary is the knowledge of words and word meanings. It is very necessary to teach vocabulary during English lesson. The reason why vocabulary is taught at school is because students need to improve their vocabulary to use in the real life. Students speak English in their daily life; they are speaking with other person vocabularies. If students have a small stock of vocabularies, this would be obstacles when they are talking to someone else or reading English textbook. So, it is really important to teach vocabulary intensively. There are many ways of teaching and learning vocabulary. The rules and strategies of teaching vocabulary items in the classroom should be innovative and proficient. Research shows that the key strategy to teach vocabulary effectively is by using a media that can make students are interested in the lesson. Using teaching media in teaching and learning process can motivate and develop student’s vocabulary mastery. According to Shahla Yassael (2012), teaching language skills through mechanical exercises and traditional fill-in-the-blank, true/ false, and multiple-choice assessments does not interest students as much as we expect. Almost of students get bored when they just read text book and more of them just read the words without know what the meaning of it is. Poor readers usually read less, because reading is difficult and frustrating for them. It means that their vocabularies are limited. Teachers have to know how to help and facilitate students to learn about vocabulary knowledge using useful words or vocabulary that will help them achieve or figure out meaning of the words by them selves. This means that the words frequently appear in their daily life. Teacher also should find the best strategies that useful both in the classroom and out-side of the classroom. Teaching strategies can use a media as supporting items. Teaching vocabulary using media can create a meaningful context, which can be delivering and introduce any key vocabulary that may be unfamiliar. The media that can use to teach vocabulary is using poems and favorite song. It is supported by Caroline Linse (2006) that songs and poems are an excellent way to begin or end a lesson. Teachers usually use poems and songs in the beginning of lesson to warm up students. It is better to choose an appropriate poems or songs that related to the content of the lesson. At the end of lesson, the better way to cooling down the situation after giving lesson is singing song and repeat it in different verse. It can be doing while the students are waiting the bell to ring. Songs and poems are usually use for early children education, or we call it young learner. They are easily to imagine nouns, and don’t have literacy skills. So, they only can recognize nouns. Young learners also need concrete vocabulary. It means the vocabulary that they learn should be definite and specific. They also need to repeat the words again and again in new context. Young learners are easily to feel bored during lesson, because they love to move as they sing the song. By using poems and song, they can learn the lesson in a fun way. In this case, teacher can use props or action that can make them remember the words and meaning. The props and actions are also making them know and remember the context that shows in each verse. Teacher also can change some words in the poem and favorite song lyric into a picture, so young learner can understand the meaning of the vocabulary. Here, the writer offers poems and favorite songs as a great tool in the teaching vocabulary, especially when the teacher wants to introduce new vocabulary items to the students. Teachers can use this strategy to help learners acquire vocabulary items that they see and hear. This paper is focused on the effort to solve the problems about young learners’ vocabulary mastery. One of the way to improve their vocabulary mastery effectively, actively, and creatively is by using poems and favorite songs. By using poems and favorite songs, students are able to improve their vocabularies mastery while enjoy the lesson using a fun way of learning. Using poems and favorite songs, the teacher can deliver the vocabulary knowledge using an interesting media to the students. It is expected to improve their vocabulary more easily, so they can understand the meaning of a reading text easily.

Case Study of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill and the Resultant Changes

Case Study of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill and the Resultant Changes Research report of this case study is regarding of the Exxon Valdez oil spill disaster. Exxon Mobil Corporation is found on 30th November 1999 by merging Exxon and Mobil and its the largest publicly traded companies in the world. It is in the rank of #1 or #2 for the past 5 years. By the time it reached March 1989, a worst tragedy took place where caused by one of the largest super tanker in the world Exxon Valdez. [1] Different products have developed constantly in respond to changing demand for better in petroleum refinery. There a lot of processes involve in refinery, but the four main processes is refinery, separation, conversion and purification operation processes. At first the use of refinery is to create kerosene as cheaper and better compare to whale oil. Since all vehicles and airplane is combustion engine, it created more needs for petroleum. The location of Prince William Sound is so deep in where it only can be access by plane and boat. Due to this, the government and particular industries that involve had a tough time cleaning the disaster. By this major disaster, environment, economic and social were the main aspects were affected badly. It has given a negative impact on the lifestyle of the people in Prince William Sound.[2] A lot of action has been taken in the oil refinery industry after the oil spill, such as Operation Integrated Management System (OIMS), better radar system and Coast Guard in Prince William Sound. Introduction 2.1 Problem Statement By such disaster occurring, the exposure and early prevention steps would be taken by the society. Engineers will be efficient as in; safety and the quality would play a big role for them in their career by knowing the consequences of the major disaster. 2.2 Objective 1. The aim and objectives 2. To observe oil and refinery industrial processes and operations and learn the cause of the disaster 3. Risks of the oil spill disaster and pollution that affected all areas that lead to the oil spill disaster and pollution 4. The consequences of all the hazards of the oil spill disaster 5. To improvise and the changes in the management systems to prevent from the disaster to occur 2.3 Overview This research report is a case study of the Exxon Valdez oil spill disaster that took place in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Within six hours of the grounding, the Exxon Valdez spilled around 10.9 million gallons of its 53 million gallon cargo of Prudhoe Bay crude oil. Eight of the eleven tanks on board were damaged. Even before this major disaster occurred, they were high risk of oil spill in Prince William Sound. There is still an unclear doubt why this oil spill took place. [1] 3. Aim and objectives of Exxon Mobil Corporation Exxon Mobil Corporation is merged in two companies which is Exxon and Mobil in the year of 1999. It is the worlds largest petroleum and petrochemical company and it is also the worlds leading traded international oil and gas company. Exxon Mobil markets fuel and lubricants are under three brands which are Esso, Exxon and Mobil. The corporation aims and objective is divided into few sectors: 3.1 Development Exxon Mobil is focused on serious and discipline investment decision to find the best solutions that can give a large amount of profit and also the same time increase the reliability and reduce the cost. Exxon Mobil is also focused on many major projects which have started with the design and the operating concept and delivery. 3.2 Employees Exxon Mobil is very choosy in taking in and retaining employers. They need employers who are extremely good and get the best out of them. They make the best of the best by sending them to the best training. They are very committed to maintain their safety during at workplace. A safe work environment enriched by diversity and characterized by open communication, trust and fair treatment.[3] 3.3 Communities Exxon Mobil is base throughout the world. Where ever the, they are very committed to be a good cooperate citizen. They maintain their high ethical standards, obey all applicable laws, rules and regulation and also respect the culture of the respective country. Among all those objectives above, they are more dedicated to running safe and environmentally responsible process. Exxon Mobil Corporation is self-motivated to be at the leading edge of competition in all the aspects of our business. They are very discipline and very selective in estimating the range of capital investment opportunities available to them. They create new ways such as develop proprietary technologies that provide a competitive edge. Their goals are achieved by flawlessly executing business plans and adhering to these guiding principles and the foundation policies. 3.4 Shareholders Exxon Mobil Corporation is committed to enhance the long term period value of the investment dollars trusted to them by the shareholders. At the end the shareholders would be rewarded with their superior returns. The momentum of this would enhance their management of their Corporation. [1] 3.5 Customers To remain successful in an industry, a company has to be firm to please those different perception customers to adapt to their needs. Exxon Mobil commits them self to offer high quality products and services at competitive prices. [1] Refinery Industrial Processes and operations Figure 1: Process Flow Diagram [4] Oil refinery industry is a process where a barrel of raw crude oil that contains a mixture of all sorts of hydrocarbons, is transform it to petrochemical fuel like petrol and diesel. All processes are done by heat, pressure and chemical reaction method. Valves and gadgets is the one regulated when the crude oil runs through many kilo metres of pipes. Computerizes gadgets used to monitor to control and optimize the processes that are undertaken. Refining Process In this industry, refining is the most simplest and common processes is under taken. It starts with the crude oil is been heated up to vaporize the oil in distillation tower. Naturally heavier molecules would not rise as lighter ones in the vapour and with this the vapour can condense with different levels. When the cooling process occurs at various degrees, the liquefied gasses are collected in condensation trays. By this various types of petrochemical material are obtained. [4] 4.2 Treatment The purpose of this process is for hydrocarbon streams to get ready for extra processing and to prepare complete products. Sometimes it includes the elimination or separation of aromatics and naphthenic also as impurities. Chemical or physical separation for instance dissolving, absorption, or precipitation using a variation and combination of processes containing desalting, drying, hydro desulfurizing, solvent refining, sweetening, solvent extraction, and solvent dew axing might be included. 4.3 Catalytic Cracking Catalytic processes are another type of processes. It involves the breaking of heavy molecules into more valuable light molecules. For an example the breaking of low bitumen to diesel or even petrol where this process takes place in a high temperature using an alumina silicate and alumina silicate acts as a catalyst to the process and helps to break down the molecule. This catalyst is in powder form. 4.6 Auxiliary operations and facilities Steam and power generation, process and fire water system, flares and relief system, furnaces and heaters, pumps and valves, supply of steam, air, nitrogen and other plant gases, alarms and sensors, noise and pollution controls, sampling, testing, inspecting, laboratory, control room, maintenance and managerial facilities. [5] 4.4 Other Refining Operations This includes light-ends recovery, sour-water stripping, solid waste and wastewater management, process-water treatment and cooling, storing and management, product movement, hydrogen production, acid and tail-gas treatment and sulphur retrieval. [5] 5. Risks in all areas that lead to disaster 5.1 Human Error Human error is the main contributing factors. The first mate or captain of the tanker Captain Hazelwood was under influence of alcohol, at that time of the incident. The captain was unable to concentrate on his responsibility. This could be avoided if the captain of the ship were more discipline during work. Hazelwood was send to alcohol rehabilitation for 28 days. The management knew about it and they followed his progress in rehab. The mistake the management did was, gave him the responsible to be a captain of vessel again. Instead of reinstating such a major responsible as a captain, they should have given him desk work job. Moreover the third mate who was in charge of the vessel when the major accident occurred. This is because he had very little sleep the night before grounding and they were lacking of staff on board tanker. When the Hazelwood went to sleep, the third mate had to take in charge to manoeuvre the tanker without having enough sleep.[6] 5.2 Failure of Coast Guard Safe proofing method has been established and agreed between State of Alaska, the Coast Guard and the oil industry. This is to avoid human error to occur. This method works when there is a form of iceberg the coast guard has to warn the captains and the captain has to slow down their tankers. However, most of the tankers did not follow to the rules including Exxon Valdez due to profit and eliminate down time. 5.3 Delayed Response Location of Prince Williams Sound is deep so deep in by geographical view, where can be only excessed by air or water made the response slow. Apart from the location, the weather also played another big factor. Due to delayed response on reacting to clean the mess, the oil polluted about 2000km of cost line and about 26000 square kilo meters of sea was contaminated. [10] Consequences Figure 2: State on-scene Coordinators [8] A tanker with crude oil from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska collides with a reef in Alaskas Prince William Sound and 11 million gallons of crude oil spilled into one of the biggest coastlines. The horrible outcome out of the incident could have been reduced but due to the location, it made it hard for the clean-up team and the government to react. Even Exxon Mobile did not react fast due to their unstable system in place to deal with the crisis. There is no any commitment given by Exxon Mobile to ensure that this same incident will occur again. [9] 6.1 Economical The total money to just clean the mess is approximately USD 2.1 billion dollars and fine is USD 5 billion dollars of this was the biggest penalizing fines ever charged out to a company. The total Exxon Mobile had to fork out USD 7.1 billion dollars. Those fishermens were affected badly, till their livelihoods were affected. They were relying on that for surviving. They lost around yearly gross valued at USD 174 million dollars. Due to this tourism industry were affected as well. [8] 6.2 Environmental Ecological system and wildlife were destroyed fully. Shoreline for 1400 miles was affected till they cant find those areas. A total of 1,015 dead Sea otters, 36,466 dead Sea birds 144 dead bald eagles, 302 harbour and more than 100,000 of oiled birds. The number for dead birds was the highest compare to Heneman oil spill happen in 1989. Some species sinked when they die, due to that the whole sea was polluted. Most of the marine mammals fall sick due to ingesting oil while trying to clean oil of their furs or feathers or eating intoxicated prey. [9] Improvement and Changes in the Management System 7.1 Operation Integrity Management System After the oil spill Exxon Mobil Corporation devised a complete 11 point plan which covers from management to employees and everything including facilities and training. Exxon Mobil implemented an approach where safety is a major factor. The multilevel (OIMS) covers an extensive level of element in management system. This elements could classified as leadership management in safety and accountability, design, constructing and maintaining facilities, readiness in facing emergency, adaptation to change, continuous assessment of performance and inquiries in accident and incidents. When this policy been implemented Exxon had to go through a lot of changes and this changes lead to more improve and safe environment. This creates, Exxon Mobil to be the leader for safety in the industry. [4] 7.2 Management Leadership Implementation of safety starts at the management and work itself down to the labour force. This is because at the management level, the planning of the health and safety procedure is done. Thus enforcing safety measures also the responsibility of the management. This is done by identifying the risk involves followed by setting clear performances criteria. This can be done by creating a clear risk management procedure. Once that is done the leadership in the organization should have a strict enforcement policy where everybody involve should be given proper training and additional exposure to the risk and safety measure are involve. [4] 7.3 Construction and Facilities When designing a facilities and construction of the facilities there is different type degree of safeties. For an example when u designing a machinery or tool, in this case best related to a building of a oil tanker. After the catastrophic disaster of Exxon Valdez, the safety emphasis on the design was changed. For an example, tankers now are re-enforced by having double hull and other safety measures are more efficient. The operation safety is emphasis by training where is given to all ship crew. For an example, navigation officers are given training in extreme condition ship manoeuvring. [4] Improvement and Policies After the incident Exxon Mobil had strict recruitment policies where all employees which are new has to go through an alcohol and drug screening. This was also implemented on existing staff and this was done after the incident. If in case there was a employee who was under the influence of any substance on board a vessel would be stopped from sailing again until they can prove that they would not repeat and gone through proper rehabilitation. [4] Conclusion The conclusion is Exxon Valdez was one of the major oil spill disaster. It effect of this incident was wide spread and very devastating. Resulting from a human error and negligence, many innocent people and environment was affected. From this case study it can be said that a good safety plan is required. Management also should always be responsible with their action and measures to prevent such disaster. Given the situation and late response to the disaster made the incident even worse. They were many guidelines that did not followed by the management and employees, for an example the captain who was under the influence of alcohol and the lack of crew members on board. Incident happens because of human error. The crew on board was very badly trained or not trained at all for any kind of situation. Therefore more training needed in future for all the employees, there should be always a body which monitors the training and sets on-going training for all the staffs. The management should also enforce health and safety guidelines in a regular basis. To ensure in the future there will be any similar incidents occurring. There also should be a team that ensures the maintainers of the tanker and equipment on board. The Exxon Valdez spill was a lesson well learned by everyone especially Exxon Mobil Corporation and other oil and gas companies.

Current and future strategies

Current and future strategies 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Purpose: The purpose of this report is to understand and analyse the current and future strategies of NEXT in terms of its market in the United Kingdom. This report also considers the tactics to reach potential markets and expand into newer market segments. Approach: In order to conduct a comprehensive study of the company, the factors taken into account are an internal and external analysis, the generic strategies used by NEXT and a thorough understanding of the 4 Ps, PLC, BGM and Ansoffs Matrix has been done in correlation with the future and currents strategies. Findings: Next is the second largest clothing retailer in the UK operating through 500 NEXT retail stores within UK and Eire with over two million active customers. Next aims to provide high quality and beautifully designed products to their customers. From the internal and external analysis of the market strategy of Next, results conclude that next has been a mid market retailer for nearly two decades. It has achieved huge amount of success in the internet and online shopping environment and have been able to cope to with the recent recession within UK and globally. Limitations: Next has suffered sales in the last year due to the recession in the UK and has been moving from a low price retailer to a design and quality product provider. In achieving this aim of providing high quality and designed products it has suffered loss in the UK in sales and growth. It also needs to be aware of the risks of increasing their shop sizes, as the store space to sales growth ratio is very poor. New out of town stores has not been great success and has only added additional costs. 2. INTRODUCTION The only way to attain the successes the company has experienced in the past few years in terms of growth of sales and profits is to see what opportunities lay on the horizon. The Marketing Department of Next Plc has performed a series of internal and external scans throughout the company in order to identify these opportunities. This report contains an analysis performed on the structure, culture, and the micro and macro environment of NEXT PLC. The outcomes are presented in the form of a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis of the company. A PEST analysis focuses on the environment that the company now is in (Political, Economic, Social and Technological) and a scan based on the Five Forces Model of Michael Porter. Furthermore, there is the presentation of mix map model, which analysis the 4 Ps (Product, Price, Promotion and Place) and product life cycle, Boston Group Matrix, Ansoffs Matrix of NEXT. An executive summary has been constructed to provide the company vision and a sense of direction with the help of data gathered by the Marketing Department. The above mentioned activities are performed In order to discuss and evaluate the current marketing strategy of NEXT PLC and to recommend an appropriate strategy for the near future to expedite further growth. 2.1 MISSION ANALYSIS NEXT is a retailer of clothing, footwear, accessories and home products. Next clothes are designed by in-house design team to offer consistency of style, quality and value for money with a contemporary fashion edge. The company operates through five reportable business segments namely: Next retail, Next directory, Ventura, Next sourcing and other. NEXT PLC aim to provide â€Å"Exciting, Beautifully designed, Excellent quality clothing and home ware that reflects the aspirations and means of our customers† (Nextplc, 2009) and keep providing quality products for their target markets. In lay-mans terms, a mission statement describes what business the firm is in (Thompson and Martin, 2005). Objectives describe the kind of results the business seeks to achieve while the strategies simplify the way to achieve the desired objectives. Market can be defined as location where the buying and selling of merchandise takes place and marketing can be defined as the process of identifying a target market and developing appropriate strategies for product development, pricing, promotion and distribution (Burns, 2002). NEXT also aims to respond to the particular needs of their customers through the package of measures, which they believe support all customers including those with additional needs. NEXT PLC operates through 500 NEXT retail stores within UK and Eire, Next directory, a direct catalogue and transactional website with over two million active customers and NEXT franchise which includes around 170 stores worldwide. Online shopping was introduced in 1999 and was first in home shopping in the UK. Like other retailers, NEXT has also suffered sales decline due to the recession but aim to carefully manage costs, whilst maintaining and retaining the talent and skills to ensure a positive position within market and emerge stronger than before. NEXT PLC also believes in the importance of maintaining healthy relationship with communities in which they operate and also work with charities to ensure their part in public welfare. NEXT is positioned firmly in the middle mainstream fashion market, targeting 25-45 year olds (upper, middle and lower middle class consumers) who are fashion followers. Easey (2009) maintained that fashion marketing is the application of a range of techniques and a business philosophy that centres upon the customer and potential customer clothing and clothing-related products and services in order to meet the long-term goals of the organisation. In recent years NEXT has been criticised about their marketing methods and has not been seen as a retail business wi th up to date marketing strategy. The word ‘strategy is used frequently and loosely, and is often no more than management jargon. There is obviously a deeper and more practical meaning to it. Strategy is about how an organization sets about getting to where it wants to get it is about setting, pursuing and achieving its mission and objectives (Thompson and Martin, 2005). Knowles (1996) maintains that applying the concept of strategy to an organization implies that the organizations managers try to allocate resources, establish policies and procedures, assign responsibilities and give direction to the organization. Strategic planning is a precise discipline and a process designed to fully utilize the collective expertise of the decision makers through a facilitated process which results in a strategic plan. In the following paragraphs, current in depth marketing strategy of NEXT PLC will be thoroughly discussed. 3.SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS As discussed earlier, success of an organisation in todays competitive world depends on to a large extent on strategy formulation and implementation. An analysis of the internal and external environments provides a look in towards building and developing current and future strategies. Situational analysis is a planning step which helps us examines the current situation of our organization and its external environment so that we can identify and agree on major issues which affect how we plan for the future. SWOT Analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate a firms strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats involved in a project or business venture. Strengths and weaknesses are considered to be internal factors of the organisation while opportunities and threats are considered to be external factors as opportunities or threats lie in the external environment. This analysis is called as SWOT analysis (Stahl and Grisby, 1997). In order for a firm to carry out SWOT analy sis it needs careful and critical examination of these various internal and external factors which are often unique to an organisation depending on the type of business. After a SWOT analysis has been performed the managers are able to formulate a strategic plan which comprises of objectives and subsequent strategies. Next always seeks to give the price, value and quality products and services, the upper hand when turning towards customers. Next aims to provide an inclusive high level of service to all customers, whether they shop in high street, shopping centre or retail park stores, the Next Directory, or online through our website. This can also be seen in the way the company sees the importance of its personnel in relation to its customers. NEXT PLC needs to look into the future for improving the customer care by streamlining activities. It also wants to continue the same success pathway it has had in the last 5 years which is demonstrated by (Verdict, 2009). 3.1 INTERNAL ANALYSIS Internal factors are those factors which influence the strengths and weaknesses of an organisation. These strengths are internal to the organisation, its strategies and its position in relation with their competitors (Mercer, 1999). Given below is an internal analysis of Next plc. 3.1.1 Structure In terms of structure, Next plc operate on a centralised system. Their target market is 25-45 year olds (Next, 2009). The company logo ‘next in lower case signifies a different approach, more trendy. There are3 main channels of distribution used by next to ensure their products reach the desired customers: Next has around 500 stores in the UK which acts as its main point of sale. (Next plc, 2009). Next directory which is an online web portal which allows customers to buy products through the web site. There are almost 2 million active next directory customers (Verdict, 2009). Around 170 international stores make up the third channel of distribution. 3.1.2Culture Jackson and Shaw (2009) define culture as the attitudes, values, standards and behaviours of a group that are often defined by nationality. According to Vignali et al, (2008) culture is made up of both abstract elements such as values and ethics, and material components such as cars and foods, which allow us to describe, evaluate and differentiate cultures. Approximately 30% of the clothing bought in the UK is from MS, Arcadia and Next (Jackson and Shaw, 2009). They further state that during 2006 Next lost their market dominance. This means the culture affects consumer behaviour to a great deal. However Next plc, was one of the first to develop and adopt an internet based shopping branch as a high street retailer (Next plc, 2009). Next operates on a role culture concept with which they have a principal board committee which includes the audit committee, remuneration committee and a nomination committee which work on their own in the company (Next plc, 2009). 3.1.2.1Cultural Web Stories: These are the past events and what people talked about inside and outside the company (Mindtool, 2009). Rituals Routines: The daily behaviour and actions of people that signal acceptable behaviour (Mindtool, 2009). Symbols: These are the visual representations of the company (Mindtool, 2009). Organizational Structure: This includes both the structure defined by the organization chart, and the unwritten lines of power and influence (Mindtool, 2009). Control Systems: The ways that the organization is controlled (Mindtool, 2009). Power Structures: The pockets of real power in the company (Mindtool, 2009). 3.1.3Value Chain core competencies Value chain is a framework for identifying where value is added and costs are incurred within a company. It embraces the key functions and activities within a company or organisation such as NEXT (Thompson and Martin, 2005). Core competencies: NEXT make use of an Internet based home shopping and has also established a good brand posture with individual style, beautiful design, excellent quality and affordable price (Next, 2009). NEXT stores are specious and they also make use of standalone lime stores. 3.2 EXTERNAL ANALYSIS The external factors may be threats to one organisation while offering opportunities to another such as technological change, legislation, socio-cultural changes, etc. It can also include changes in the market place or competitive position (Mercer, 1999). 3.2.1 Forces Influencing the Market Porters five forces is a model that helps marketers to analyse the competitive environment by identifying five major forces that continually impacts on organisations. These forces are: Bargaining power of suppliers Bargaining power of consumers Threat of entry into the market by new entrants Threat of substitutes into the market Level of competitive rivalry amongst existing firms (Porter, 1980 cited by Jackson and Shaw, 2009) The bargaining power of our suppliers is very low and the prime problem exists in achieving the quality we ask from our suppliers. Most suppliers only deliver into this market, yet can also change to other markets (professional clothing) that are less profitable and the level of competition is great. With the availability of many suppliers, this force acts positively but can affect the quality aspect of NEXT brand name if suppliers are changed on regular basis. For the consumer bargaining power, there is not much leverage from their account: their money spent on clothing per person is not substantial enough when compared with, our total sales and their total spending budget (Next annual report, 2008). As, per person spending power is not huge it does not provide customers any bargaining power. NEXT can also consider this force as positive but needs to be aware of the customer demands in order to maintain this positive nature of the force. The threat of new entrants is rather low, yet, as said before, the German ESPRIT company is trying to enter the market. This is an exemption, because ESPRIT has a lot of resources that make this possible as well as a lot of experience. In words of product differentiation they are in the league of Levis and others (Verdict, 2009). These brands have extra benefits: Image and superior quality. This force acts as a positive force, as the threat of new entrants is low for NEXT plc but caution needs to be taken in order to maintain this force as positive. The products that can reduce our sales in the form of substitute products or services are not there, however a ‘threat of Internet portals and other forms of home shopping does exist. This is not a severe threat for the company as it already is active in this channel of selling. The discount retailing of A-brands e.g. Levis in outlets through parallel imports can be a problem. New internet portals and other home shopping forms are the only form of substitution threat to NEXT, but as they have been achieving a huge amount of success with NEXT directory and Ventura (Nextplc, 2009), this force does prove to be positive for them. There is some rivalry in the ranks of the market, for there are declining sales due to a decreasing market. In order to attain customer base, companies have increased their discounts and that leads to the destruction of the market. The main cause for this is the fact that people do not want to pay the full price amount of the products and companies have to suffice with lower profit margins. NEXT is the second largest clothing retailer in UK but has also suffered a decrease in sales. While most of its competitors struggled from the declining market Next manage to increase its market share and during the present recession they maintain their stand in the market (scribd, 2009) 3.2.2 Political, Economic, Social and Technological (PEST) analysis: All organisations operate in market places that are affected by forces outside their control ( Jackson and Shaw, 2009, pp 300).Factors considered within the macro environment affect not only the company but all the other members of its micro environment, namely its suppliers, consumers, etc ( Easey, 1995). An analysis of the external factors that influence the firm is known as the PEST analysis i.e. Political, Economic, Social and Technological. Political Politics will affect both the producer and the consumer in various ways (Bohdanowicz and Clamp, 1994). A stable political surrounding is the basis for long-term decisions. The United Kingdom, as a Member State of the European Union, fulfils this prerequisite. The government has to act within a definite political framework to achieve the conditions of the European Union and this guarantees NEXT PLC a higher scope of economic actions. Another advantage of the European Union is the open transfer of goods. This makes it easier for NEXT to sell their products in the different European countries. There are no trade barriers that aggravate sales and it also provides as a means of direct form of participation within the foreign markets (Hines and Bruce, 2001). Economic Vignali et. al, (2008), express that economic trends are extremely important for the business and that they depend to a great extent on the governments politics. Investments in Europe for NEXT PLC are very interesting. The British currency nowadays is exceedingly strong (ex., 2009). This is due to the independence of the British pound to the Euro and has several effects. First, foreign investments for NEXT are relatively inexpensive, and second, it is costly for outside firms to establish in the United Kingdom. The effects of exchange rates also need to be monitored closely. The devaluation of the sterling in 1992 led to a rise in the cost of imports to UK while making manufactured items more competitive. However, many countries are reluctant to engage in trade because of these reasons. In the face of a truly difficult trading environment it is a case of survival of the fittest. Being good is not good enough, retailers have to be exceptional and stand out from the crowd. (Verdict 200 8). Chief executive of Next states â€Å"The outlook for the consumer economy remains challenging and as we have said before, the first half will be particularly tough (Wilson, 2009) Social Changes in lifestyle and opinions influence the demand and the way of selling products (Vignali et. al, 2008, pp. 364). Key Note (2009) estimates that in the year 2036 more than 64.9 million people will be living there. This statement would mean two possibilities. This means a lot of new customers for NEXT PLC but the age of the population is increasing. On the other hand, the social structure has changed dramatically. The progress in medical service and the self-awareness of living leads to increasing life expectancy. Following development of sex education and rising numbers of career women, the birth rate has dropped. These reasons are responsible for declining figures in the NEXT 20 to 40 year old target group. Bohdanowicz and Clamp, (1994) analyse that young people no longer feel the pressure to be married or have children, and therefore many are living a single life or are cohabiting. Technological As in all areas of industry new technology is making great inroads to improve quality of life and increase speed and quality of manufacture (Easey, 1995).The age of Internet and the reception of new media reveal a lot of potential opportunities for NEXT to boost profit. Some companies in the United States already offer online-orders where the customer can exactly define his wishes and measurements, and send it to the place of production. 48 hours later he receives his package. Using this method the companies can react instantly to changes in behaviors. Social networking site facebook also provides as a means of information and education and also helps in advertising for NEXT PLC (Facebook, 2009). Some new entrants in UK market such as Zara use latest technology body scanners and follows fast fashion which is contrasting to NEXT. 4. SWOT Strength: 1. Performance in recent years. (Verdict, 2009) 2. Next Directory sales. (Verdict, 2009) 3. Good promotion. 4. Powerful design philosophy. Weakness: 1. Overpriced. (Verdict, 2009) 2. Profit margin declined than previous years. (Verdict, 2009) 3. No celebrity brand ambassador. (Verdict, 2009) 4. More formal wear than average. Little underwear.(Verdict, 2009) Opportunities 1. Optimize store space. (Verdict, 2009) 2. Consolidate internet marketing and buying. (Verdict, 2009) 3. Expansion into new markets. (Verdict, 2009) Threats: 1. Marks and Spencers biggest competition. (Verdict, 2009) 2. Arcadia and Primark trying to overtake. (Verdict, 2009) 3. Target market reduced. 5. GENERIC STRATEGIES According to Kotler 2004, strategy is the roadmap for achieving the envisaged goals. The strategic decision made by a commercial organisation is concerned with establishing the basis upon which it intends to compete, develop and sustain a competitive advantage and outperform competitors. Porter defined strategy as creation of a unique and valuable position involving different set of activities. Strategy can be formulated into 3 generic types Overall cost leadership Here a business aims at delivering its products at the lowest prices in the market and win a large market share. Such businesses require being good at engineering, purchasing, manufacturing and distribution. A disadvantage of this strategy is that some other company will eventually emerge with still lower costs. Brands may be able to achieve cost leadership at category level if they have sufficient market share (Jackson and Shaw, 2009). Focus- Here a firm concentrates on one or more narrow market segments. It first identifies such a segment and then pursues either cost leadership or differentiation in them. Differentiation- Here a business aims at achieving superior performance in an important customer area valued by a large chunk of the market. It could strive to be the service leader, the quality leader, the style leader or technology leader. Differentiation of one company from another is extremely important due to the ever changing customer demands (Oelkars, 2004).It is also considered as strategy based upon being different from the competition through a range of factors such as design, style, image, trend, product quality etc (Jackson and Shaw, 2009). NEXT prides in offering consistency of style, quality and value for money with a contemporary fashion edge for their target market. NEXT marketing departments have been taking a differentiation approach which has helped them achieve superiority above their competitors. NEXT has differentiated their products from their competitors on the basis of above qualities such as style, design, quality and value for money. However, in this ever changing fashion industry nothing can be permanent. On the basis of porters five forces discussed above NEXT have all the forces in their favour but there are few issues which they need to consider in keeping these forces on the positive side. NEXT needs to be aware of the risks of changing suppliers in case of conflict as new suppliers may provide good products with change in quality which can easily damage the brand name. Due to global recession, textile firms in Mauritius that supply Europes biggest high-street stores are looking forward to tough 2009 . With 10% decrease in sales, these stores fight among themselves to achieve better prices, which results in middle market stores to suffer like NEXT (Scribd, 2009). Only a small amount of internet portals threat has emerged for NEXT but their Directory has been a success and continues to do so (Verdict, 2009). 6. MIX MAP MODEL 6.1 MARKETING 4 PS The marketing mix consists of 4 Ps that are product, price, promotion and place. Product and Price are the product related elements where, price can also be consider as an element of its own. The other two are parts of the delivery system which is about delivering the physical product and the sales message (Mercer, 1999). Product: What business offers customers to satisfy their needs e.g. Quality. According to the mission statement of NEXT, their focus is providing high quality and beautifully designed product for their customers. For this reason maintaining and improving their quality and design of their products is very important for NEXT (nextplc, 2009). Price: Amount customers are ready to pay for products e.g. discounts. NEXT has been one of the known retailers to provide huge discounts on festive occasions, with discounts upto 70% on many products. It also provides special discounts for taller and plus-size customers (next, 2009). Being a mid-market retailer, in order to maintain its competitiveness it is very important for NEXT to provide special discounts schemes and offers during the festive seasons. NEXT also relies on linked selling, one of the biggest areas of sales. For example, it recommends fashion accessories to customers buying clothing online (next, 2009). Place: involves getting the product to the customers e.g. warehouse. Location of retail stores and shops has always been considered as the prime method to increase sales and growth. NEXT has always been one of the high street retail stores. It also has many different store types, eg flagship sores, factory outlets (nextplc, 2009). For this reason it is really important to have different location for customers to choose from. Promotion: It includes ways that encourage customers to buy a product e.g. magazines (Oelkers, 2004). NEXT hugely promotes a great deal of its products through magazines e.g Vogue and also produce great deal of discounts in store and on online shopping. It recently plans to introduce extra 16 billion pounds in advertising its products and online sales records 530 million pounds (Mintel, 2009). 6.2PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE According to Jackson and Shaw 2009, as with all types of product, fashion follows cycles and products follow the Product Life Cycle. In a broader sense, no product can go on selling forever. Once a product has been introduced into the market and accepted by consumers, it goes through a phase of growth, maturity and decline until it becomes obsolete. Stages of a product life cycle: Design Development Stage: This stage is undertaken ahead of the product launch. Design development costs create negative profitability as the sales at this stage are zero (Jackson and Shaw, 2009). Introduction: Introduction is a period of slow sales growth as the product is introduced in the market. Profits are non existent at this stage because of the heavy expenses done for the product introduction (Kotler, 2004). Growth: This is a period of rapid market acceptance and substantial profit improvement. Maturity: This is the period of slowdown in the sales growth because the product has achieved acceptance by most potential buyers. Profits decline or stabilize. Decline: Sales show a downward drift and profits erode. Although the PLC is an accepted underpinning of all marketing theory and practice, Jackson and Shaw 2009, cite the major problem for the fashion marketer to grapple with is the fact that the actual position of a fashion product on the cycle at any point in time is hard to define accurately. Hence an accurate mathematical model of the PLC is impossible. PLC is an important issue for NEXT as it provides growth for the company and has highest operating profit margin amongst its competitors (Verdict, 2009). It also has a increase in store size by 50% from 2004-2008 (Verdict, 2009). Therefore Next is positioned in growth stage of PLC with signs of improvement. 6.3BOSTON GROUP MATRIX As a visual tool for managing portfolios, the Boston Consultancy Group has developed a matrix known as BGM. The BGM offers a very useful map of the organisations products strength or weakness (Mercer, 1999). A typical BGM is given below. The matrix is in a four box quadrant layout. The horizontal axis is expressed as the market share of the business compared to that of the market leader, whilst the vertical axis shows the average annual growths rate of the market that the business is operating in. The four quadrants are called stars, question marks, cash cows and dogs, which explain how the business stands relative to the market leader. Stars are market leaders in high growth markets. They are generally expensive in terms of promotional expenditure (Jackson and Shaw 2009). Generally businesses start off in the quadrant of question marks. Cash cows operate in a market where the growth rate is less than 10 percent. Dogs are a decline stage where a small share of limited and stagnant market. Growth of NEXT has been an important issue for the company with a higher amount of concentration going towards increasing store size. Since 1997 the average store size has increase from 3500 sq. feet to 10,500 sq. feet (Verdict, 2009). In their mission statement Next aims to provide excellent quality and design for its customers and target younger market. Next chief executive admits 2009 being a tough year for NEXT. (nextplc, 2009). NEXT appears to be existing in between the dogs and question mark stage and needs to concentrate to achieve position to the other end of the BCG Matrix. 6.4 ANSOFFS MATRIX Ansoffs Matrix provides four different growth strategies by considering ways to grow via existing products and new products, and in existing markets and new markets. As seen in the diagram above; The Market Penetration strategy seeks to achieve growth with existing products in the current market segment, aiming to increase market share. Market Development strategy seeks to achieve growth by targeting existing products to new market segments. The Product Development strategy develops new products targeted to its existing market and the Diversification strategy helps the firm to diversify into new businesses by developing new products in new markets. With increasing number of new retailers entering the market NEXT has achieved a great level of success in maintaining their market share and has also grown their business in new products such as directory and online shopping (Verdict, 2009). NEXT has always been an innovative retailer, as it was the first retailer to introduce internet shopping in 1999 (nextplc, 2009). Since then it has introduced many new products and Next Directory has been a great success. 7. RECOMMENDATION On the above data analysis it is proven that NEXT has been one of the successful retailers in UK. It has grown immensely in the last decade both in regionally and internationally. Being the first clothing retailer to introduced online shopping; it has improved

Gullivers Travels :: essays research papers

The Evolution of Gulliver In Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, the main character, Gulliver, embarks on numerous journeys bringing him to strange lands and affecting his views of the world around him. His response to each voyage differ as do his ideas and reactions to the environment in which he is residing. Gulliver begins his expeditions with a very social and open behavior while possessing a general acceptance of any newly encountered beings. But by the end of the fourth voyage, Gulliver leans toward a more anti-social attitude which was derived from the hatred and disgust he has for human beings, the “Yahoos.';   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As for the first voyage to Lilliput, Gulliver acts very sociable with all of the different creatures he comes in contact with. Once he arrives on the unknown island, he begins to explore the land around him. After being brought into the city, Gulliver remains subservient towards the Lilliputians by staying chained up near his hut without acting out and attempting to break free which would have most likely been a successful attempt. This subservience created enough trust of the “Man-Mountain'; by the Lilliputian king that it was declared that his liberty hath been granted when he could have easily crushed and killed these little people. Gulliver is also very eager to be able to interact with the creatures and this is evident when in a few weeks he “made a great progress in learning their language'; (68). He is also quite helpful and there are two definitive cases of Gulliver displaying this helpfulness in the country of Lilliput. The first occurs when he obeys the orders of the king to destroy his opposition’s navy and ends up stringing up the navy of Blefuscu rendering them helpless. Then he saves the fiery palace by relieving himself onto it, extinguishing the flames. As you can see throughout the first voyage, Gulliver was very sociable and friendly to those he came in contact with.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  An anti-social behavior is then exhibited near the end of the last voyage, after he leaves the country of the Houyhnhnms, because of his new found disgust and hatred for the rest of the world especially the “Yahoos.'; This is evident almost immediately when Gulliver first encounters natives on the new island. Unlike previous encounters with new people, he “made what haste [he] could to the shore'; to quickly retreat from an impromptu meeting (333). His sole purpose after leaving the Houyhnhnm land was “to discover some small island uninhabited, yet sufficient by [his] labour to furnish [himself] with the necessaries of life, which [he] would have thought a greater happiness than to be first Minister in the politest Court of

Legacy and Respect: The Usefulness of Feminism Essay -- Gender Sexuali

Legacy and Respect: The Usefulness of Feminism In a letter to students who participate in Bryn Mawr and Haverford Colleges' bi-college Feminist and Gender Studies department, Head of the Department Anne Dalke outlined an argument in favor of changing the program's name. She wrote, "Our argument for re-naming the F&GS program "Gender and Sexuality" is based on 3 claims: 1. that it will be enticing for prospective and current students and faculty, because it names their personal and intellectual interests and investments (while avoiding the word "feminism," which is off-putting to a large range of individuals) 2. that it accurately represents the current state of scholarship in the field 3. that it accurately names--and invites exploration of--where the interesting questions lie." At the date in which this statement was composed last April, I probably would have agreed with its relevancy and reasoning. I no longer accept this line of thinking, however, due to my education and involvement in Anne's co-taught class I am taking this semester, Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Gender. It is ironic that I began my study of gender four years ago as a freshman vehemently against feminism, and only now as a senior taking the only class required for every major or concentrator in that field have I come to appreciate the legacy and usefulness of feminism as a theory of practice and of education. My original concepts of feminism were that it was a theory that denounced men and elevated women beyond a fair or equitable place in society. I recognize now the stereotyping that I inadvertently allowed myself to feel. "Equating feminist struggle with living in a counter-cultural, woman-centered world erected barriers that closed... ...of a more perfect understanding. Works Cited Dalke, Anne. "Re-Naming the Feminist & Gender Studies Concentration: An Account of the Past Process of Deliberation--and a Sketch Towards the Future." CAP doc. April 14, 2004 Fuss, Diana. "Inside/Out." Critical Encounters: Reference and Responsibility in Deconstructive Writing. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1995. 233-240. hooks, bell. "Feminism: A Movement to End Sexist Oppression." Feminist Theory Reader. Ed. Caroline McCann and Seung-Kyung Kim. New York: Routledge. 2003, 50-57. Johnson, Allan G. The Gender Knot: Unraveling our Patriarchal Legacy. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. 1997. Rubin, Gail. "Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality." American Feminist Thought at Century's End : A Reader. Ed. Linda S. Kauffman Cambridge, Ma : Blackwell, 1993. 3-64.

Time Warner Essay -- essays research papers

Time Warner In 1989, the largest Media Corporation was formed. The integration of Time Inc. and Warner communications produced Time Warner, which in 1996 with the acquisition of Turner broadcasting, regained it's status from Disney as the largest media corporation in the world. The company right now, with over 200 subsidiaries world- wide, is becoming fully global with it's profits from the USA falling, and it's profits throughout the world rising. Globalisation is proving to be Time Warner's major asset in beating other competition to the World market. Currently, Time Warner has interests in many different business fields. Music accounts for a large proportion of its income, while not far behind are its cable systems, entertainment, films, video and television holdings. But, the company has also centred its resources and invested in the global media, producing programmes and channels for countries around the world, which in turn has proven to be a very lucrative area of growth. Time Warner in general has become a 'major force in virtually every medium and on every continent'; So then, why should a company like Time Warner be a threat to the public, and something which all of us citizens around the World should be aware of ? Isn't Time Warner just a success of capitalism ? A successful company, which employs thousands of people and makes massive turnovers, while at the same time advancing the cause of the global market and promoting commercialism doesn't seem like a thing of public concern. In the World village today, why should we need thousand's upon thousand's of small independent company's and tv stations and newspaper's, when we could have ten large conglomerates who would control everything from production to sales to distribution ? The way in which thing's have developed over the past ten years, that scenario or fiction might even become fact or reality. So why should it bother the people of the World ? To begin answering that question, we need to go back a hundred years or so and look at the work of Karl Marx and his interpretations of 'socio-economic order produced by industrial capitalism'; . Marx believed that the unequal distribution of wealth and the way in which the capitalist class controlled this wealth through the possession of raw materials, means of distribution and labour, enabled them to make... ...in maintaining its role as a public broadcaster, and given more financial aid from the government. Advertising could be controlled more vigorously and regulated, particularly during children's programming (As in Sweden). A more drastic approach would be the breaking up of the vertically integrated oligopolies, and establishing more competitive markets. In general, any change must strive to serve all of societies needs and interests, which includes audiences and broadcasters, and not only advertisers and media moguls. So, in the end are oligopolies, vertical integration and concentration matters of public concern ? Of course they are. Matters of ownership of the media and the means of production, distribution and sales are too important to be ignored. In the interests of holding on to a healthy democracy, diversity has to be achieved and maintained. As I have tried to show oligopolies and vertically integrated media industries are just as dangerous as state run ministries that have a monopoly over information. 'Concentrated media power is political and social power';. Thankfully, the World hasn't yet become like the latest offering from James Bond 'Goldeneye';.

Bcg Matix

Placing products in the BCG matrix results in 4 categories in a portfolio of a company: BCG STARS (high growth, high market share) – Stars are defined by having high market share in a growing market. – Stars are the leaders in the business but still need a lot of support for promotion a placement. – If market share is kept, Stars are likely to grow into cash cows. BCG QUESTION MARKS (high growth, low market share) – These products are in growing markets but have low market share. – Question marks are essentially new products where buyers have yet to discover them. – The marketing strategy is to get markets to adopt these products. Question marks have high demands and low returns due to low market share. – These products need to increase their market share quickly or they become dogs. – The best way to handle Question marks is to either invest heavily in them to gain market share or to sell them.BCG CASH COWS (low growth, high ma rket share) – Cash cows are in a position of high market share in a mature market. – If competitive advantage has been achieved, cash cows have high profit margins and generate a lot of cash flow. – Because of the low growth, promotion and placement investments are low. Investments into supporting infrastructure can improve efficiency and increase cash flow more. – Cash cows are the products that businesses strive for. BCG DOGS (low growth, low market share) – Dogs are in low growth markets and have low market share. – Dogs should be avoided and minimized. – Expensive turn-around plans usually do not help. And now, let's put all this into a picture: Main Steps of BCG Matrix * Identifying and dividing a company into SBU. * Assessing and comparing the prospects of each SBU according to two criteria : 1. SBU’S relative market share. 2. Growth rate OF SBU’S industry. Classifying the SBU’S on the basis of BCG matrix.* Developing strategic objectives for each SBU. Benefits * BCG MATRIX is simple and easy to understand. * It helps you to quickly and simply screen the opportunities open to you, and helps you think about how you can make the most of them. * It is used to identify how corporate cash resources can best be used to maximize a company’s future growth and profitable too Limitations * BCG MATRIX uses only two dimensions, Relative market share and market growth rate. * Problems of getting data on market share and market growth. High market share does not mean profits all the time. * Business with low market share can be profitable too BCG analysis Unilever MISSION STATEMENT * Unilever's mission is to add Vitality to life. We meet everyday needs for nutrition; hygiene and personal care with brands that help people feel good, look good and get more out of life. From sumptuous soups to sensuous soaps, our products all have one thing in common. They help you get more out of life. Brands C ooking & eating Let our culinary experts bring pleasure to your palate. Healthy living Let us make the healthy choice your easy choice. Beauty & styleWe want to help you feel good about yourself. Around the house Hints to make your household chores that little more manageable. BCG Analysis Chart for Unilever Portfolio Cash Cows Stars Products Question Marks Dog Products Decisions after Analyses BCG * Build Market Share: Make further investments (for example, to maintain Star status, or turn a Question Mark into a Star) * Hold: Maintain the status quo (do nothing) * Reduce the investment (enjoy positive cash flow and maximize profits from a Star or Cash Cow) * Get rid of the Dogs, and use the capital to invest in Stars and some Question Marks.