Food †Taste Essay

College students do not have much time to make their own meals on a regular basis because they are busy with work and school. In lieu of home cooked meals, fast food is the number one choice that comes to mind. Fast food is quick, taste pretty delicious, and is inexpensive for the average college student. In many cases, there is a wider variety of fast food places in radius of the school campus to choose from. Even college students can always find what they are searching for in reasonable situations. When there is not enough time to go to the supermarket and buy the essential groceries needed to make a home cooked meal, there is always the quickest solution of going to a fast food place. Here, an employee will make what is desired with little to no wait. Any college student can run in, order what they want, and be back out with their food in hand and still be able to do everything on their agenda without being rushed. Drive through is also always available to those who do not want to enter the facility and for those who own a vehicle. What is even better about fast food is the fact that many places allow to put in a future order. Then there would be no wait for the food that was ordered. No one wants to eat food that does not appeal to their taste buds. Not even the college students whose diet consists of junk food. Students want something that taste delicious when they are eating it. Luckily, there is almost every kind of fast food joint that will appeal to one person or another. Fast food tastes extremely good because it is food that is not usually eaten on a day to day schedule. The taste of fast food will make any student fulfilled with it’s appetizing selections. Money, no matter what day and age, will always be a concern and with the option of buying fast food, it does not have to be a worry. Fast food is not at all expensive to the everyday college student. For seven dollars, a student can have a sandwich, a side, and unlimited fountain drinks. Many facilities have a â€Å"value† or â€Å"dollar† menu where food can be bought for even cheaper than what is seen on the regular, full-priced menu. If seven dollars were to be an issue, a student could get two hamburgers and a small drink for three dollars plus tax. They would still get unlimited refills plus an extra three dollars and change in their pocket. With the money left over, they could go the next day and buy the same thing as the day prior. Whether it is french fries or a side salad, fast food places give the average student such a wide variety to choose from.

Consumption of Luxury Food: Essay

1. Introduction This chapter will serve as an introduction to the concept of Luxury food consumerism in Harrods Patisserie and Bakery Food Hall. It will evaluate customer loyalty incentives, pricing and hype around its luxury food. 1. 1 Overview of Harrods and Luxury food consumerism Harrods covers 1. 2 million square feet of terrain, in the very heart of one of London, England’s most prestigious areas, Knightsbridge. The historical architectural landmark, along with the Egyptian Escalator, which was envisioned by Mr. Al-Fayed himself, is listed by English Heritage. With no less than seven floors devoted to the finest-quality international brands, as well as a sumptuous Food Hall that is like no other. It is no wonder that Harrods attracts almost 15 million people through its doors every year. (http://factoidz. com/harrods-the-famous-british-landmark-department-store-changes-ownership-in-2010-and-remains-out-of-british-hands/) The United Kingdom and many parts of the E. U have been experiencing slow growth and development. However, according to information from this website which states†¦Harrods says its Knightsbridge site is Britain’s largest shop, selling an array of fashion, food and luxury goods†¦ Qatar Holdings bought Harrods from Mohamed Al-Fayed for a reported ? 1. 5 billion last May. (www. fasttrack. co. uk) This could only have been possible if profits had a successful recorded track rate. In 2010, sales in Harrods received ? 519. 8million, leaving Harrods with a profit of ? 86. 5million (www. fasttrack. co. uk) As consumer wealth increases, so does the demand for more premium, value added products as opposed to cost-reduced commodity products. The situation is partly created by an increasingly affluent society and a widening gap with the divide of rich and middle class in the current recession. There are various factors influencing change. In the UK 10% of the population is currently defined as affluent – this figure is expected to rise to 30%. www. foodbytesni. com/text. doc The EU speciality food market (as opposed to the premium food market) is worth â‚ ¬33. 5 billion – (4. 6% of total EU food & drink spend). In Britain and Ireland it is valued at â‚ ¬6. 1 billion (4. 5% of total food & drink spend). It is forecasted to grow to â‚ ¬7. 5 billion in 3 years. It is commonly known that yesterday’s luxury becomes today’s necessity. Luxury tends to be rare and expensive. With the above profit figures, the researcher can only assume that Harrods appears to be the winner in the Patisserie and Bakery Market. With the definition of poverty completely different in the western world to the ratio of poverty in developing countries, luxury consumption of Patisserie and bakery is considered trendy and it’s demand in Harrods is ever growing. Although we may assume that luxury foods are related to income, during this current recession in the UK with dwindling income, the demand for Harrods Luxury Patisserie and Bakery foods has increased over this period of time. I have noticed this as the researcher is employed in Harrods food production unit. Although, the usual scenario for other departmental stores may be to reduce prices during recession, Harrods luxury Patisserie and Bakery foods have retained its prices and popularity. In fact with the VAT increase from 17. 5% to 20% the sales in this section of the food halls has shown no major downturn. Hence, it is my opinion that demand is so great for Harrods Luxury Patisserie and Bakery that consumers of any income group visit Harrods to buy even the lowest cost luxury Patisserie and Bakery foods which has been a contributing factor. Harrods is globally known as unique, as it has an association with class, quality and distinguishes itself from the rest of it’s competitors. This study is limited to only respondents above the age of 18 years and will only be carried out on 30-50 respondents. The study is narrowed to consumers of Harrods Patisserie and Bakery products and not consumers of the rest of the food halls. The study will not cover the life style and overall economic standard of the respondents. This has been consciously left out to avoid lengthening of the study. Hence, the study will be unable to analyse the financial background of the respondents in depth. Lastly, although luxury food consumption is a macroeconomic function, this study will only focus on a singular market. 1. 2 Research Questions 1. Is the recession affecting Consumption of Luxury Food in Harrods Food’s Patisserie and Bakery Food Hall? 2. What are the key aspects or areas of consumer spending behaviour patterns in Patisserie and Bakery Food Halls, Harrods? 1. 3 Objectives of the Research The objectives of the study are as follows: A) To investigate customer consumption and spending behaviour with luxury Patisserie and Bakery foods in Harrods. B) To make recommendations to Harrods on how to enhance their sales and maintain their market share in luxury Patisserie and Bakery foods. 1. 4 How will the objectives be achieved? Objective (A) will be achieved through examination of secondary data. Objective (B) will be achieved through findings of primary data through the use of questionnaire survey and secondary data through Harrods food industry annual reports. CHAPTER TWO Literature Review 2. Introduction. This chapter will show the existing literature in the field of Consumer Behaviour from a global perspective and narrow it down to consumer behaviour in Harrods, UK. It will include marketing concepts, psychological concepts and factual statistics. The luxury market is vastly increasing, and there have been significant changes towards consumer behaviour (Strauss & Howe, 1999). Foods that are expensive have a certain appeal and are regarded as luxuries for special occasions rather than daily meals. Conversely, foods that are widespread and cheap have less appeal. Europe is considered to be the cultural center of fashion, interior design, and cuisine. Gourmet cooking has become a fine art, and visitors to the area can find almost any type of food, and the trend more recently has become luxury foods, luxury desserts etc. http://www. foodtourism. com/ From the literature I have read it can be summarized that the current generation enjoys spending money on luxury brands due to disposable income and lifestyle that this generation avails of due to their income or that of their parent’s earning. 2. 1 A theory of luxury. When Marie Antoinette supposedly said ‘let them eat cake’, she was seen as a luxury junkie whose out-of-control spending grated on the poor and unfortunate French people. But today, cake has become one of the favourite luxury foods. A revolution has taken place where individuals in the world have got richer. Luxury is no longer the embrace of the kings and queens of France but the mass marketing phenomenon of everyday life. Simply put, luxury has become luxuri? cation of the common place (Twitchell, 2001; Berry, 1994). 2. 2 Definitions of luxury products, speciality and premium foods. In order to understand a luxury product, it is essential to differentiate it from ordinary products on the basis of its essential characteristics. Luxury products, speciality and premium foods are defined by their price, quality, aesthetics, exclusiveness, and symbolic significance. To define them, their definitions are summarised below. 2. 2. 1 Luxury products Luxury is defined as quality possessed by something that is excessively expensive http://ardictionary. com/Luxury/5550 As they are highly associated with their core products, common definitions of luxury brands refer to specific associations with their products. The essential characteristics of luxury brands therefore correspond largely with those of luxury products. Consequently, their definition can be derived from that of luxury products as follows: Luxury brands are regarded as images in the minds of consumers that comprise associations about a high level of price, quality, aesthetics, rarity, extraordinarily and a high degree of further non-functional associations (c. f. Heine 2010). As luxury products and brands include a high rating for their characteristics; this marks a differentiation for luxury manufacturers. Even amongst luxury products there are differences such as accessible luxury products, which are affordable for most consumers from time-to-time and some are exclusive luxury products, which are affordable only for the wealthy. 2. 2. 2 Specialty or gourmet foods. Specialty or gourmet foods are unique foods/delicacies, which sometimes exploit regional identity. They are less authentic than artisan products. (Workman C, 2005) 2. 2. 3 Premium foods. Premium products use quality ingredients and careful methods but can be made on an industrial scale. (Workman C, 2005) 2. 2. 4 End Product. Products made by artisan have optimum taste, texture, and flavours or aromas, (and nutrition/health benefits). They resonate with place, tradition and culture (authenticity), and reflect the producer, his/her skill, personality and ethos, and the method of production. They often have an established and stable reputation. Often they are made for fresh consumption locally, or are available in limited quantities, providing a unique, exclusive experience (often including the purchase e. g. at a market/direct with the producer). They therefore also have a high prestige factor and high profile with respect to the quantity produced and distributed. Producers of artisan products are usually hands-on from production through to sales. They are very experienced, skilled and show an uncompromised commitment to their craft, trade and to the superior taste of their products. Often there are small numbers of people making any one kind of artisan product. (Workman C, 2005) 2. 3 Food Tourism During the 20th Century, industrialisation began to threaten artisan producers and many abandoned their traditional techniques. But in the past two decades, there’s been a resurgence in demand for quality products made by time-honoured methods†¦Food tourism has become big business, worth nearly ? 4bn a year. (Lane M,2005) Food has many roles to play for consumers: it is functional (sustaining life); it plays a key role in our celebrations; it is a conduit for socializing; it is entertaining; it is sensuous and sensual; and it is a way of experiencing new cultures and countries. For many, food becomes highly experiential (i. e. much more than functional) when it is part of a travel experience, it can become sensuous and sensual, symbolic and ritualistic, and can take on new significance and meaning. Even the most basic meal can be etched in memory forever when it is eaten when surrounded by awe-inspiring scenery or at the end of a special day exploring a new city. (Hall M and McIntosh 2000) Swarbrooke and Horner have stated that food tourism stakeholders such as restaurant and cafe owners, cookery school providers, festival organizers, hotel and resort managers, bed and breakfast operators, and food producers. By understanding how tourists make their decisions to purchase and/or consume food products we will be able to gain a better understanding of when we need to intervene in their decision-making process. Appropriate intervention can, in turn, be used to persuade them to purchase ‘our’ food products and services. Consumer behaviour research is the study of why people, either individually or in groups, buy the product they do and how they make their decision (Swarbrooke and Horner, 1999). Food tourism is something that is becoming more commonly understood. But how would someone decide where to go, and what to see? http://www. foodtourism. com/ Tourists who enjoy luxury food and patisserie generally make every attempt to at least visit Harrods while in the UK. Often, like the researcher at the visit first to Harrods tourists only visit and see, but, at their second visit at least a small amount of luxury food or patisserie is purchased. Although, consumer spending has slowed down in the UK, Harrods has shown an increase in profits in their Patisserie and Bakery section with its luxury food items. 2. 4 Consumer buying behaviour Kolb M. (2006) associates Maslow’s theory and consumer purchasing as she states Maslow’s theory has a direct application for marketing because many of these needs are met through the purchase of products. Infact, once a consumer has all the food, clothing and shelter they need, all other purchases are made to meet higher needs. Thus, the researcher can state that in order to meet some part of one’s self esteem needs, UK and international consumers may be relating to Harrods luxury Patisserie and Bakery food to experience self actualization and thus for Harrods this has created a niche. The interest in premium, specialty and artisan products is also influenced by the static growth in population, which has lead to a static growth in overall grocery sales. In this situation, foods that command a premium price and higher margins become the only growth sector, and therefore become the target of multiples. Artisan, specialty and premium foods are therefore gaining broader distribution in the multiple retail sector. Workman C (2005) 2. 5 Consumer buying Trends The growth of specialty fine food is attributable to Increasing consumer affluence as consumer wealth increase, so does the demand for more premium, value added products as opposed to cost-reduced commodity products†¦10% of population in UK is defined as affluent – this figure is expected to rise to 30%. When it does premium food, including specialty food is expected to account for 45% of total food sales in UK. The specialty market is worth ? 4. 2 b in UK and has grown from 20% from 3. 5 bn in 2003. British fine food consumers spend ? 900 per year on fine food. Workman C ( 2005) CHAPTER THREE Research Methodology 3. 1 Introduction This chapter discusses the different aspects involved in the methodology used to conduct the present study of Consumption of Luxury Food in Harrods Food’s Patisserie and Bakery Food Hall. It highlights methodological approaches which will allow scope of the Research study in a sustained process of planning and design. The consideration of the process will influence the choice of methods and approaches that will be presented. This chapter, for that reason contains a discussion of the research purpose, research approach, research strategy, data collection methods, data analysis and quality standards. 3. 2 Research Purpose Yin (1994) states that research purpose can be grouped and classified as exploratory, descriptive or explanatory. Exploratory research is conducted to clarify the nature of a problem, where the purpose is to provide insights and understanding, not to provide conclusive evidence. Exploratory research is conducted with the expectation that subsequent research will proceed (Zikmund, 2000:Bryman,1989). An exploratory study method is used when the aim is to develop proposition of future research (Yin,1994). A descriptive research is used when the major objective is to describe something, such as population or a phenomenon. It seeks to answer who, what, where and how questions. In a nutshell, it does not give the explanation of the cause of the findings. However, when solving a business problem, it is often enough with the information obtained from describing a situation and it is not required to know why things are the way they are (Zikmund,2000). In order to perform a descriptive research, the researcher must have prior knowledge of the problem situation and the information needed is clearly defined. In fact, this is the major difference between exploratory and descriptive research, as well as that the descriptive research must be structured and the methods for the selecting sources of the information and collecting data are pre-planned and formal (Malhotra,1996). In explanatory research, the emphasis is on studying a situation or a problem in order to explain the relationship between variables (Saunders et al. ,2000). According to McNabb (2008) typical objectives for explanatory research include explaining why some phenomenon occurred, interpreting a cause-and-effect relationship between two or more variables, and explaining differences in two or more groups’ responses. The purpose of this Research Study is to gain an understanding of Harrods success within it’s luxury food service specifically their Patisserie and Bakery department Food Hall, Knightsbridge, London, UK. In order to achieve this objective, the Research Study will need to consider three core elements which will be how Harrods’ conducts their design, implementation and evaluation strategy of the customer. Since the aim of the research is to describe how Harrods operates within the Luxury food service industry, the study is descriptive in nature. 3. 3 Research Approach According to Zikmund (2000) research can be conducted in different ways and includes both a theoretical and a methodological approach. The theoretical approach can either be deductive or inductive, and the methodological approach is qualitative or quantitative (Zikmund 2000) 3. 3. 1 Qualitative versus Quantitative Research Zikmund (2000) further states that when collecting information, either qualitative or quantitative data can be collected. Qualitative approach may consider the following methods for gathering information like: Participant Observation, Non-participant Observation, Field Notes, Reflective Journals, Structured Interview, Semi-structured Interview, Unstructured Interview, and Analysis of documents and materials. In contrast, quantitative methods for research techniques include gathering of quantitative data, like information dealing with numbers which is measurable. Statistics, tables and graphs, are generally used to present the results of these methods. They are distinguished from qualitative methods. The study, under focus is quantitative using an exploratory design. This kind of method is widely used to gain familiarity with a phenomenon that is not adequately explored. The researcher feels the need to explore this issue since there is not much data relating to Consumption of Luxury Food in Harrods Food’s Patisserie and Bakery Food Hall. 3. 4 Sampling Techniques The universe will comprise of ‘simple random sampling’ method to select samples. This will enable the researcher achieve the desired information. According to Kumar (2008), this type of sampling is also as chance sampling or probability sampling where each and every item in the population has an equal change of inclusion in the sample and each one of the possible samples, in case of finite universe, has the same probability of being selected. To select the sample, ‘each item’ in this research study will be assigned a number from 1 to 100. The sample survey will cover respondents in the age group of 18 years and above only. This will ensure that the respondents are old enough to understand and answer questions in the interview schedule. 3. 5 Population The sample size of this study is intended to be 30-50 respondents, in the age group of 18 years and above. The study will have to be completed in Harrods Patisserie and Bakery Food Hall, Knightsbridge, London. The population will only include consumers and purchasers from the above food hall. 3. 6 Research Instruments For the purpose of this research study both primary and secondary data relevant to this topic will be used. Without the use of both instruments the research study will not verify facts and the scope of analysis if not used together will not make the research interesting. 3. 6. 1 Primary Data Primary data for this research study will result from firsthand experience with the use of questionnaires for preliminary gathering of data. Questionnaires will be prepared prior to in-depth interviews with respondents at Harrods. 3. 6. 2 Secondary Data Sources. For the scope of this research study Secondary Data Sources will include literature review with sources from the library, web, and surveys. Other secondary sources of data will be sourced and will include thesis, newspapers and internal company reports. 3. 6. 3 Data Collection Instruments This section will include the 30-50 respondents completing a questionnaire. The interview schedule will be prepared on the basis of study objectives and aims with structured open ended and close ended questions. Section A may cover income, Section B may cover types of Luxury food and section C on consumption of luxury food. 3. 6. 4 Interviews At the time of the respondents’ completing the questionnaire the researcher will interview the respondents. This approach will enable the researcher gain a better comprehension of consumer spending on Luxury Food items in Harrods. CHAPTER FOUR 4. 0 PROPOSED ANALYSIS This chapter will highlight the Research plan as it will outline the steps for conducting the research in terms of description, timing and presentation. It will be used as a guide to execute and monitor the project which will enable the researcher to achieve the purposes of the research. The data collected will be analysed and presented diagrammatically in tables and charts. This will then enable empirical findings to be compared. In order to carry out statistical analysis of the quantitative data obtained, the Statistical Package for Social Studies (SPSS) and Microsoft Word software will be used to develop a comprehensive and flexible statistical analysis and data management for the research. This will enable a range of tabulated reports, graphs, pie charts, and analysis. 4. 1 Schedule. |Planned activities | | | |March |April |May |June |July | |Topic Selection |X |X | | | | |Literature Review | |X |X | | | |Meeting with Group | |X | | | | |Meeting with Supervisor | |X |X |X |X | |Seek Permission from Harrods | | |X | | | |Write up Questionnaire for data collection | | |X | | | |Data Collection at Harrods | | |X | | | |Analysis of data & Findings | | |X |X |X | |Write up of Dissertation Introduction | | | |X | | |Write up of Dissertation Overview | | | |X | | |Drawing up summary and conclusion | | | | |X | |Proof Reading | | | | |X | |Presentation of Research | | | | |X | |Final Submission | | | | |X |. CHAPTER FIVE ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES The results of this research will provide a specific insight for Harrods Patisserie and Bakery Food Hall into consumer behaviour, trends and patterns. 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Decision Support Systems and Competitive Advantage Assignment

Decision Support Systems and Competitive Advantage - Assignment Example These systems do not make decisions by themselves, but through the presentation of information in a manner that enables decision-making possible and informed (Power, 2002). Â  Their application majorly in most organizations is to help create competitive advantage. This refers to an organization’s resources, capabilities or skills that significantly enhance its success within the market it operates and against rivalry situations it encounters. Such results from carrying out activities better than competitors thus creating value and superior performance to consumers and clients alike (Parsaei, Kolli & Hanley, 1996). A decision support system can only create a competitive advantage for an organization when certain criteria are met. These involve: using it and making it become an important and significant strength of the particular organization once it is implemented; being unique and proprietary to the organization and taking of the advantage provided by its sustainability until the adequate payback is received, which normally takes at least three years. These criteria have to be carefully considered to derive the benefits of the decision support s ystems throughout (Power & Business Expert Press, 2009). Â  Managers have increasingly integrated the use of decision support systems in their organizations through the use of sophisticated data-driven systems to obtain information that was initially present in ordinary files and those on computer storage systems (Green, Stankosky & Vandergriff, 2010).

Rene Descartes Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Rene Descartes Philosophy - Essay Example In fuller conclusion the issues of doubt are brought up, he says, â€Å"underthought, I embrace all that which is in us so that we are immediately aware of it, a thing which exists thinks is a thing which doubts, understands†¦.† (21). These arguments by Descartes illustrate the need for self-assessment before making conclusions. A person (thinking being) is subject to doubt, hence must first be skeptic about everything in order to end up making the informed judgment. Thus, anything that exists has properties but must be subject to some skeptic before making an informed judgment and acknowledging its, existence. For example, a person sees a bottle of water, and his eyes tell him that it is there. Since this person has the premise that what his eyes sees is in fact real (or existing) it means that he knows that the bottle exists. In a similar way, Descartes explains that man (I) exists because of some attributes like body, soul, and thoughts. He goes ahead to explain that ‘I’ denies, understands, doubts, affirms, is willing, is unwilling, has sensory perception and imagines (19). This shows that an existence comes hand in hand with knowledge of properties that something possesses. Existence without the knowledge of its properties is even more illogical than deriving a conclusion that the existence of self also encompasses the nature of self. When Renà © Descartes says that he thinks, therefore, he exists, it means that he is aware of what he is and what his nature is. Otherwise, there is no existence. Every existence has its properties; be it divine authority like God or as trivial as a plastic water bottle.

Disintermediation and Reintermediation Assignment

Disintermediation and Reintermediation - Assignment Example Reintermediation however defines re-introduction of the intermediaries in the commercial cycle. A business that focuses on optimization and specialization and has resources for utilizing intermediaries may therefore apply reintermediation while a small-scale enterprise that lacks resources and requires closer touch with clients may apply disintermediation in the same market (Oliver, Livermore and Sudweeks 100-102). Last week is the last time that one of us used a travel agent. Such applications are however common with most people preferring online agencies for inquiries, applications, business transactions. Online sites exist in different industries to mediate interactions among the industries’ stakeholders. Examples of the sights are Mmonster.com, Trulia.com, and LegalZoom.com and they offer cost efficiency and convenience to stakeholders. Trulia.com, for example, offer information on real estate, associated environments, and therefore saves real estate agents the cost and time that could be spent to move to different properties. Monster.com and LegalZoom.com also has the cost efficiency and time convenience effects (Cruz-Cunha and Varajao 138). A better understanding of the business environment is one of the potential opportunities that disintermediation offer for my new business. Potential conflict of interest among agents explains this. In order to secure their agency, agents would offer limited and complicated information with the aim of promoting dependence on their services while elimination of such agency will allow for a direct link with consumers to offer unlimited information on the market environment. Profit maximization is another opportunity that disintermediation offers to the business because of limited administration costs. Intermediaries may also mislead a new business to create an entry barrier and disintermediation can manage this (Oliver, Livermore and Sudweeks 100). A business like eBay still

Case Study Analysis (International Management)

Analysis (International Management) - Case Study Example Apart from that, the way through which both old and newly established firms adhere to the code of conduct, so as to ensure ethical business practices and quality standards, is a cause of concern. Moreover, after the demise of Jamsetji Tata, a gap has been created and this is expected to further increase, after the retirement of Ratan Tata (Business Monitor International 2008, 1-2). With acquisition of the steel giant, Corus Group, Tata group might have to deal with issues in fields, such as, mining and manufacturing technology capacity. Particularly, issues related to preservation of environment sustainability and conservation of resources (Firstpost 2011, 1-63). Studies have shown that integration issues are highly responsible for high failure rates of mergers and acquisitions. Integration of managing operations in a different and diverse cultural setting and different law suits often act as a hindrance to the company’s success (Freeman, Gopalan and Bailey 2008, 1-6). If the Indian economy slows down, some of the Tata affiliates are obvious to stumble. In addition to that, the CSR activities already undertaken by the group, such as, rural electrification or development, could prove as a burden for the firm (Goldstein 2008, 93-95). The acquisition of Corus can create various challenges for the firm in the future and one of the most obvious ones would be to balance traditional systems with new economic realities. The deal was worth $7.4 billion and amalgamation of its high cost operation might also weaken Tata’s profitability (Goldstein 2008a, 1-4). The union at Corus wants Tata to invest a hefty sum of $600 million, in order to ensure that no job cuts are taking place (Swiatkowski 2005, 284-285). The international acquisition has presented Tata groups with the opportunity to strengthen its position in the UK market, but could also destabilize the core business line. In the process of international acquisition, the company had

Child Labor in Egypt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Child Labor in Egypt - Essay Example Failure of observing ethical stipulations may lead to the incidences of taboos, a common element in the incidents of ethical based violations. However, the task of establishing personal ethics is rather demanding. This is with regards to the essence of ethics in an individual’s life. Adoption of appropriate ethical perceptions is a demand that is laid to the person by his or her immediate community. This makes ethics seem inclusive of an expectation, as well as the desire to protect ones perception of life. Ethical beliefs are regularly challenged, especially during the address of various aggressions in the daily lour daily lives (DiMauro, 2006). Our success in the address of these challenges implies a positive or an impressive performance of our ethical beliefs. The development of successful ethical trends is based on various attributes of our daily lives (Bernardin, 2008). Amongst the factors that contributed in the improvement of my ethical perception includes the influence attributed to my family. A family is central in the up bring of any child. It forms an integral part of our lives. My family contributed grossly towards my adaptation of various perceptions of life. This was achieved via both discipline and emulation. While growing up, I emulated the senior members of my family with regards to addressing the challenges that I encountered in my daily undertaking. I learnt to reason along their perception, and solve a situation via the sourced lessons. My parents played a central role n moderating my ethical perceptions. They established the expected pathway along which I was anticipated to establish them. In addition, they imposed strict regulations on behaviours that prompted the violation of these measures. This eventuated into my possession of a set of ethical beliefs along which I developed the rest of my ethical perception. The rest of the contributors of my personal belief includes the guidance from

Regulatory Genes Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Regulatory Genes - Lab Report Example For the second experiment, the mutant and wild type cDNA was constructed. The cDNAs and GST genes were inserted into an expression vector. This stage was carried out to synthesize fusion proteins of LHX3a, LHX3bY116C, LHX3aY111C and LHX3b all fused to GST. Glutathione S-transferase (GST) is known to be a protein which aids in the purification and isolation of proteins of interest. The controls were set up by isolating the GST proteins only. The fusion proteins were later separated with the use of electrophoresis and the proteins were used as a substrate for the binding assay. Purified radio-labeled Pit-1 and NIL were later added to the gel that had the mutant and wild type fusion proteins.In this case, if there were binding sites(No mutation effect), the Pit-1 and NIL proteins could bind to the proteins(LHX3).The presence of the bound Pit-1 and NIL were visualized with fluorography. The binding of Pit-1 and NIL were then quantified by scintillation counting (electrophoresis gel band intensity measurement).The first experiment aimed at determining if mutations in the LXH3 gene can interfere with LHX3a and LHX3b’s ability to binding to DNA promoters and reporter genes. As indicated in figure 1, both mutation types affected the activation of alpha GSU gene (red bars). The truncated mutations with no DNA binding domain were not able to activate the reporter gene, while on the other hand, point mutations with altered amino acid in the LHX3 protein interaction domain, had reduced activation.

Oil Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Oil Industry - Essay Example The factors that lead to affect the demand for oil include the cyclical demand, the prices of the substitutes, changes in climate and the market speculation. When there is an increase in the prices of oil the demand remains constant. A very large change in the price of oil leads to a very minute impact on the demand and therefore the short-term demand curve is shown like this: The supply of the conventional oil is relatively inelastic. This is so because the actual total cost of pumping the marginal barrel of the oil is comparatively low, once all capital expenses of building and prospecting an oil rig has been established. The oilfield will always cost the same roughly to operate whether producing at full capacity or at 50 percent capacity but in most cases the producers try their best to produce at the maximum sustainable rate. The short-run supply of oil is affected by the profit motive, spare capacity, stocks available for the immediate supply especially from the oil refineries and the external shocks (Zucchetto, 2006, p.45). The result of the demand and supply trends is that the oil market is affected and operates at a point where the small changes either to the supply curve or to the demand curve usually causes very large changes in the clearing price. The high demand of oil matched against the inelastic oil short run supply drive the market prices higher as depicted by the diagram below. A rise in demand causes a decrease in oil stocks at the main global refineries and forces the prices higher. It acts as an indicator to suppliers to increase production. There are time lags amid a change in price and the extra supply coming on stream. The demand for the oil is price inelastic. The combination of an inelastic supply and demand helps to clarify some of the instability in world oil prices (The Economist Newspaper Ltd, 2004, pp.8378-8381). Adding new capacity is expensive and time-consuming. Over time, both the businesses and the individuals have their ways of cutting back the oil consumption due to the high prices; this promotes new investments in production and the discovery of new sources of the market. This gradually restores the supply-demand balance. Changes in the supply curve can be caused by some restrictions on the supply made by the sellers' cartels. An example is the oil shocks of 1973 where OPEC announced that it would not sell any more oil to the US and would limit the overall oil output. This in turn meant that for a given price level, the oil supplied would be less because the supply curve shifts upwards. The changes on the supply caused by natural factors like the Hurricane Katrina which totally knocked out the production of oil in the Gulf of Mexico. The supply curve is shifted to the left and therefore the prices rise. An increase in the market due to some emerging markets causes the demand curve t o move to the right such that for any level of price given, the more the oil is demanded. In the long run the demand and the supply of oil is remarkably elastic, there is no over supply or under supply it is only the price at which the market clears. A high oil price in the long run encourages the consumers

Chemical castration and pedophiles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Chemical castration and pedophiles - Essay Example While many times the law enforcement agencies and the justice system have been in support of chemical castration in dealing with paedophiles, human rights activities have come up strongly to oppose the method, with claims that it amounts to a gross violation of the universal human rights. It is, however, emergent that the act does not violate human rights as is echoed by many proponents (Meiesenkothen, 1). These human rights are spelt out in both the constitutions of respective countries and the United Nations. This paper shall be focused on why chemical castration is a necessary measure in dealing with the matter of paedophilia. Thus this paper shall be written on the basis of the thesis statement that reads thus: While some people bear the claim that chemical castration amounts to a violation of human rights, chemical castration can serve as an effective measure in the rehabilitation of paedophiles, especially paraphilia, by mitigating to a significant level the sexual urges of off enders and in the same sense avoiding more instances of sexual abuse (Fond, 18). The employment of chemical translation can be traced back to 1944. Back then, a chemical called the diethylstilbestrol was used to manipulate the hormonal reactions of sexual offenders by lowering their levels of testosterone. The trend has continued to be widely debated all over the world, with debates being held all over the world by legislators and governments so as to explore the possibilities of employing chemical castration in punishment of sexual violence perpetrators. Paedophilia is a major problem for many countries. Paedophilia is a case where an adult involves a child under the age of maturity in sexual activities. In some cases, this kind of an offence is seen as a medical condition of a psychological nature. In most cases of paedophilia, the courts instruct that the suspect undertakes an examination to determine the status of their mental health. In law, it has become

Human Resource Management Essay Example for Free

Human Resource Management Essay After reviewing chapter 13 of Human Resource Management: Acquiring and Building Employees’ Skills and Capabilities; I have reached the conclusion that the best way to improve the management of human resource is to: †¢First place to start improvement would be to improve employee’s skills. Improving employee skills would be very beneficial to any company. Training is important as an employer I want to boost character, commitment, competence, and team player qualities in my employees. I think training sessions that teaches good reinforcement, involves skill role playing, on-the-job training, real-life simulations and experiential training, and welcomes feedback from the trainees are most effective. The training enhancement programs need to be designed based on analyzing data for each employee, and giving assessment before training. †¢Then I have noticed when I enter certain business there’s a picture of one or more of their top employees. The employee is recognized for that week or month for his or her high quality of work. Recognizing your best employees will give other employees the incentives to produce quality work. Acknowledgement shows that you are a team player. Being a team player builds character in an individual. †¢Next, providing incentives boost up moral. I would prefer to initiate the merit pay system for my employees. At my job every year we received a pay raise, not this year the union negotiated to put the raise toward a different cause. The union’s actions cause many employees’ morale to go down. There is nothing like receiving paid reasonable for working excessively. The two areas that I selected are Labor Relations, and Pay and Benefits. Labor relations play a key role within a company. I have experienced employees having problems with their employers and do not have anyone to fight for his or her rights. Improvements with communication will provide the employees means of better communication within their employers. For instance, having an employee’s feedback box will provide all employees’ access to address different issue without the feeling of intimidation. The employees are aware that these issues can be very damaging to the company, if not addressed in the proper manner. I just think that the employees are more in tuned with the issues that are more pertinent. The area of Pay and Benefits is also an important factor. Looking at today’s economy people is willing to work any job with good pay and benefits. In today’s society there are employees who expect to get paid for less work. There are employers who will pay less for more work. I think that ever employee needs to be evaluated honestly on his or her work performance. I would also have employee meetings to collect important feedback. In order to receive honest feedback, I will allow the employees to submit their opinions anonymously. Conclusion After reading the three chapters concerning the ways that human resource management impacts a business. I have realized that I have a lot to learn reading is good but the best teacher is experience. I pray that everything I have and will read stay with me during my future business adventures. A great deal of what I have read, I have been experiencing through the actions of others on my job. Just like with everything else you have to weigh the pros and cons.

Sainsburys Supermarket Consumer Analysis

Sainsburys Supermarket Consumer Analysis A super market is the One-Stop-provider of almost all the day to day basic necessities of any regular consumer in the given market industry. These necessities include the food items, drinks, toiletries, household stuff etc. Hence all you need to run your houses daily. These supermarkets have now further developed themselves by providing clothings, shoes etc. One of the leading names in the UK supermarket industry is Sainsburys. J. Sainsbury plc is the parent company of Sainsburys Supermarkets Ltd, commonly known as Sainsburys (also Sainsbury and JS); this is the third largest chain of super stores in the United Kingdom with a market share of 16.3%. The groups Head Office is located at Holborn in Central London. 1.2. Operations: Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury along with his wife Mary Ann in London and then gradually grew to become the largest grocery retailer by 1922. The company has a chain of stores with 537 supermarkets and 335 convenience stores, hence a total of 872 stores in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, including Hypermarkets (super large stores- Sainsburys stores- main plus), Sainsburys Central and Sainsburys local (supermarket and local convenient stores format main mission). The company has been eyeing the opportunity of expanding its business outside the UK. Especially the hyper potential in Asia (especially South East Asia and China). By analyzing Tescos huge success in the market outside UK, Sainsburys venture might not be far away. The Sainsburys family has 15% shares of J Sainsbury plc (as of May 2008) The major family shareholder is Lord Sainsbury of Turville holding 5.83% and Lord Sainsbury of Preston Candover who holds almost 3% of the companys shares. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index (July 12, 2010http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sainsburys) In this report we have analyzed Sainsburys on the basis of its financial performance through Studying its last 2 years financials Making necessary observations Comparing its financial performance with the market leader Tesco Commenting on the strengths and weaknesses as interpreted through their figures / ratios etc. Calculating the WACC for Sainsburys Keeping in view the over saturated industry of supermarkets, it was needed that Sainsburys should venture into something new to increase its profit margins and gives the companys portfolio some diversity. A new project suggesting that Sainsburys should open its Sainsburys Travels and Tours has been discussed and a formal report which analyzes the idea and calculates the projects NPV has been approved by the board and given a go ahead. A format for quarterly report has been suggested for business updates of the new project every quarter. Market Position. The Sainsburys is the UKs oldest major food retailer with their first store opened in 1869. It strives to keep up with its trusted heritage of quality with best services. The management has a continuous approach towards work with responsibility. They attempt to provide fresh food and innovate with respect to customers needs. It serves over 18.5 million customers every week. The large stores offer over 30000 products along with complementary Non-Food products e.g. the TU clothing range which has over 1 million transactions every week. Along with other services, an Internet based shopping service has also been made available, keeping in trend with the changing requirements o the customers, to almost 90% of UK households. In 1995, Tesco overtook Sainsburys to become the market leader, and Asda became the second largest in 2003, demoting Sainsburys into third place. (July 12, 2010http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sainsburys) (http://www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/index.asp?pageid=12) 2. Sainsbury Financial Structure and Performance: Sainsburys is the 3rd largest UK super market with Tesco and Asda as its closest competitors holding positions as No. 1 and No. 2 respectively. Presently Sainsburys is operating in 872 stores across UK with 150,000 employees Sainsburys closes its financial year in the third week of March every year. The tools used are the Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Cash flow statement with the Notes to the Financial Statements. The financial analysis of any company helps determine the financial standing of the company and helps in making decisions and plan future strategy and projects on its basis The financial figures show a reasonable increase in sales. The gross profit showed a decline from 2007 to 2008 but is again on increasing trend in 2009. Balance sheet shows growth in goodwill and shares and decrease in the borrowings. This might have been due to increase in the interest rates. Cash flows show a significant increase in cash in hand which shows the company is stably liquid to handle its operations smoothly. Also the increase is due to sale of its stores. 2.1. Comparison with Market Leader Tesco: 2.1.1. Ratio Analysis: Ratio analysis of any company provides very important information regarding the companys financial standing, financial strengths /weaknesses. They are calculated to compare a companys progress against other rivals of the industry as well as its previous performance. The ratios measure The profitability of the business The Performance The quality of companys performance A companys ability to meet the short term obligations A companys debt burden Value of business / Investment 2.1.2. Management: Tesco is the market leader in UK supermarket industry holding almost 31% of the market. The 1st Tesco store was opened in 1929, in Edgware, Middlesex, UK. Since then it has gradually grown in to being the largest supermarket chain in the UK with almost 2200 stores in UK with over 285,000 employees. Since the mid 90s S, Tesco has been investing in new markets overseas, finding new opportunities for growth and means of generating long term returns for shareholders. The group operates in 13 markets outside the UK, in Europe, Asia and North America, and also announced their entry into the Indian market last year, where they are planning to establish cash carry business. 2.1.3. Financial strength: Both Sainsbury and Tesco have strong balance sheets, equipped with tangible real estate assets. This collateral allows them to borrow at lower rates and generate cash through sale-and-leaseback schemes if required. Both the companys are operating in a saturated market. Sainsburys almost 90% of revenue is consumed in COGS leaving from 5% to 6.5% in lieu of gross profit margin and even the other expenses are insignificant comparatively still the company is left with 1.5% to 1.9% of net profit. For Tesco, the situation is not very different from Sainsburys. Here the gross profit margin is 7% which is a little better from Sainsburys. The current ratios and Quick ratios of both the companys are below 1 which is not a healthy trend. In order to obtain any finance the company should have a stable solvency indicator. The debt ratio indicates that how much of the firms assets are being financed by the debt. Both the companys show a stable debt ratio of 20% to 30%. The debt to equity ratio measures the risk involved in investing in the particular company. Sainsburys shows an acceptable debt to equity ratio of almost 50% but Tesco comparably has a huge debt to equity ratio of 91 which might be because of its full throttle expansion in international markets. Most financiers analyze the company balance sheet before making an investment decision. The prime motive to check if the companys Capital Gearing is right. Capital Gearing is the relationship between Equity and Debt. It is always considered good for a company to have a reasonable Equity base to a business, as insurance against unexpected losses. This is to minimize the risk as much as possible. If a company has a Gearing of no more than 50% 67% of their Gross Assets from Debt, depending on the risk associated with the business, it is considered acceptable. The higher the gearing, the more vulnerable the company is to the impact of increased interest rates. Tesco and Sainsbury both show a sound gearing and though Sainsbury is more healthier to be invested upon, Tesco as well is well within the Good Gearing Grounds The interest coverage of both companys show a very healthy standing to meet their interest payments deadlines. http://www.financesoutheast.com/ From above comparison it is clear that retail industry is highly saturated and it is nearly impossible for the companies to earn super profits. Effective cost control techniques need to be applied and monitored on regular basis to improve profitability. Sainsburys have improved turnover at a rate of 5.5% a year. Profits have grown even faster; increasing by 6.7%. Tesco has a little edge based on earning slightly higher profits and showing rapid growth. Both the companies need to improve upon their debt structuring, especially Tesco and hence gradually improve their liquidity ratios. 2.1.4. Growth potential: So far, Sainsburys has only concentrated on its business in the UK while Tesco has increased its operations in 14 countries. But we should not conclude that Sainsbury is lacking in growth opportunities. Sainsburys has two procurement offices in China but again no one is sure as to when Sainsburys will be able to achieve increased growth and improved profit margin without international expansion. Sainsbury has performed well by adding innovative non-food products and banking services, but competition is tough and increasing in these areas, too Tesco, on the other hand, may have more growth opportunities in progressing Asian market and elsewhere, but its also a much bigger entity than Sainsbury. For example, during last one year Tesco had  £56.9 billion in turnover as compared to  £19.9 billion for Sainsbury. Sainsburys has been concentrating on UK store expansion rather than overseas growth. It has increased the total number of stores from 583 in 2004 to 872 today. Today, Sainsburys need to emphasize on its domestic growth and increase its store efficiencies, which is not an easy task, but it is more achievable than managing and controlling a group of international locations with diverse tastes and demands. http://www.tescoplc.com/plc/about_us/strategy/international/ http://www.fool.co.uk/news/investing/company-comment/2010/07/16/a-foolish-fracas-sainsbury-vs-tesco.aspx 3. Weighted Average Cost of Capital: Debt Equity 2,357 (Long term debt) 18.64m (shares) * 345 (share price) = 6,431 3.1. Equity: No. of shares outstanding: 1,864 (m) Current market price per share: 345 Market Value of equity: 1,864 * 345 = 6431 http://www.google.com/finance?q=LON:SBRY http://www.digitallook.com/companyresearch/10079/Sainsbury_(J)/share_prices.html http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/rates-bonds/government-bonds/uk/ http://www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/index.asp?pageid=23 We calculate the cost of equity through Dividend Growth Model Which is Ke = [Do (1 + g) / (MV-Ex Div)] g Where Ke = cost of equity Do = Dividend given = 14.20 (pence) MV = Market value = 345 (pence) Ex. Div = Ex Dividend = 10.20 (pence) g = growth rate = 7.6% Cost of equity: [14.20(1+0.076) / (345 10.2)] 0.076 Ke = 12.11% 3.2. Debt: Book value of Debt: 2,135 1,074 @ 4.98% 861 @ 2.36% 171 @ 4.25% 251 @ 4.3% Kd = 3.90% http://www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/ar10/downloads/pdf/Sainsburys_AR10_note_20_borrowings.pdf 3.3. WACC: V K V * K Debt 2357 3.90% 9192 Equity 6431 12.11% 77879 Total 8788 87071 Sum VK / Sum V = 87071 / 8788 = 9.91% 4. Project: 4.1. Opening up of Sainsburys Travel and Tours: Sainsbury has always aimed to be the consumers first choice for food, delivering quality products with great service at a competitive cost. The company is striving to achieve the objective of leading margins with diverse market and delivering strong profits every year. The values of Sainsburys are defined in their website as The values of the Sainsburys brand passion for healthy, safe, fresh and tasty food, our focus on delivering great products at fair prices, a history of innovation and leadership and a strong regard for the social, ethical and environmental effects of our operation have continued to stand the test of time. Five principles are at the core of Sainsburys business: The best for food and health Sourcing with integrity Respect for our environment Making a positive difference to our community A great place to work. These principles provide differentiation from our major competitors and define and direct all our activities. http://www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/index.asp?pageid=14 Keeping the tradition of the best services, the management has decided to venture into the ever growing market of Travel and Tourism industry with opening up of Sainsburys Travels and Tours. The idea of opening up a Travel Services business branch of Sainsburys is based on the news of Sainsburys opening up its Travel Clinics in mid 2008. The clinics were established in outlets initially offering free consultation with nurses offering different injections and health products with advise for people travelling to countries requiring vaccinations and immunization from infections like flu, malaria etc. These products were offered at significantly cheaper prices than in any specialist clinics. http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/resources/industry-news/general-travel/sainsbury-s-launches-travel-clinics-in-21-of-its-supermarkets/a-3-143-1264/ The Sainsburys Travels and Tours will provide the company to excel and achieve its strategic goals on the basis The supermarket industry has become fairly saturated in the UK and at present Sainsburys is eyeing to expand itself in the International market but it will be a while before it actually does. The Travel industry is a growing market and has a huge potential of growth. The new product will benefit the company earn huge profitability margins which are becoming hard to achieve I the supermarket industry. The Sainsburys has a huge loyal customer base which will be utilized for promotions and marketing purpose. The project has a high probability of success given a chance of a fresh new product offered by a supermarket chain. The company will use its existing huge customer base for the travel services marketing and promotion. The existing nectar loyalty card database will help the management to design the product, offerings, travel and tour packages as per the preferences. 4.1.1. Project Description and Key Elements: The project will have a Head Office (With the existing HQ of Sainsburys at Holborn Circus, London) have initially total 3-4 rooms allocated. The HQ office will have 7 employees. Initially only limited stores and selected cities will be setup with the Sainsburys Travels and Tour Desk with one person behind the counter. The Six major cities (with respect to area / population) i.e. London, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Belfast and Cardiff covering the whole of UK will be set up initially for kick off of the Travel and Tour Services. 10 stores in London and 5 stores in the remaining cities will be setup for providing the services. Each of these cities will have a team of 2 people, 1 within the store premises (as mentioned above) and the other for monitoring and reporting purpose. The number of employees will gradually be increased as per requirements with the project evolvement. http://www.ukcities.co.uk/populations/ 4.1.2. Initial Investment Cost: Initial Investment Cost Cost of IATA Membership (http://www.iata.org/membership/Pages/fees.aspx) 33,500 GPB Total Staff 27 Computers http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/iip_notebooks?c=ukcs=ukbsdt1l=ens=bsdCID=41142LID=1069631DGC=ST 650 * 27 = 17,550 GBP (including VAT and Delivery) Server http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?b=c=ukcs=ukbsdt1l=enoc=PE2T610Rs=bsd 2,800 GBP (including VAT and Delivery) Software http://www.britishsoft.co.uk/?gclid=CMmGudvPgaMCFSU_lAodWH6Zdg 940 GBP (including VAT and Delivery) Total Initial Cost 54,790 GBP 4.1.3. Other Costs: Type of cost Cost Amount Remarks Salary for 1st year 450,000 Inc. of 7.5% each year Brochures / Stationary / Equipment 20,000 Inc. of 10% each year Marketing Budget 250,000 Inc. of 15% every year 4.1.4. Assumptions: We assume that Sainsbury will initially target the high spenders from its customer database and target them for the promotions and marketing materials (leaflets etc.) Initially the holiday packages and tours will be offered for 5 big holiday destinations including Egypt, Turkey, Tunisia, Barbados and Spain. The packages the calculations are based include a general deal for 4 people for 7 days. The holiday packages for these destinations cost as follows (based on holiday packages offered by Expedia. Destination Price for Customer (average) http://packageholidays.expedia.co.uk//tt.aspx Actual Cost (with Sainsburys profit margin @ 24 (Price 24%) http://www.thomascookgroup.com/annual-reports Egypt 1150 (GBP) [ 286.5 GBP per person] 874 GBP Turkey 728 (GBP) [182 GBP Per Person] 553 GBP Tunisia 1200 GBP [ 300 GBP per person] 912 GBP Barbados 3120 GBP [780 GBP per person] 2371 GBP Spain 1000 GBP [ 250 GBP per person] 760 GBP We assume that Sainsbury will succeed on selling on 110 of these above mention packages for each country. Annual Revenues will be 718900 GBP We assume that annual revenues will increase by 12% (2% more than the average growth in Sainsburys revenues which is 9.4% given the growth potential in the industry) Operating cost will include the salaries of the employees, day to day business running expenses etc. since we are sharing the premises of existing Sainsburys stores and HQ so there will be no extra operating cost except the salaries. As per the National Statistics Online, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is at 3.2% and the Retail Price Index (RPI) is at 5.0%. http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=19. The growing inflation rates have a direct negative effect on the customers ability to spend on leisure and holidays. Although consumers have gradually developed this sense of planning ahead and saving for their Holidays. Effective Tax rate of 28% is applied. http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/rates/corp.htm 4.2. Identification of Risk and Uncertainty: In any new project, one is never sure about 100% results. If the project is based on Risk then we might expect somewhat certain results based on previous data. The cash flows based on Risk might be forecasted and the associated possibilities are also known but in case of uncertainty the outcome is unknown and hence the related probabilities are also unknown. A study conducted with a few managers showed that they think risk is manageable if you have right information, sufficient knowledge about the project, and if the person is experienced in the particular field. Most of them stressed on the importance of alternatives, collecting more information and checking different aspects of the problem, along with being actively involved to reduce the risk.. (IAENG International Journal of Computer Science, 32:4, IJCS_32_4_12) It is the attempt to manage both the known-unknowns and unknown-unknowns. Preparation for and managing the risk is the result of what is unsure and unknown-decision risk. 4.2.1. Affects of Risk and Uncertainty on proposed project: Lets consider the following aspects while making decision based on risk for the Sainsburys Travels and Tours What can go Wrong? The Sainsburys already has an established huge no. of loyal customers who would be happy to have an option o a different kind of service offered from their trust worthy service provider. The expectation for a stable turnover is based on the fact that it is an established name offering a new product on the basis of its goodwill. How likely it is to happen? The expected growth can be effected by increasing inflation rates. The Travel Industry faced a huge blow after 9-11 incident. What are the consequences? Any unforeseen incident like this (God forbid) will have long lasting effects on the companys growth, profitability and future expansions and plans. http://www.robustdecisions.com/decision-making-tools/risk-vs-uncertainty.php 5. Calculation of NPV: NPV is a technique where cash inflows which are expected in comming years are discounted back to their present value. This is calculated by through a discount rate equal to the interest that was to be received on the sums, in case the inflows had been saved, or the interest that has to be borne by the firm on the borrowings. In case of more then one project appraisal, the firm should choose the one that produces the highest NPV. 5.1. Sainsburys Travels and Tours Expected Cash Flows (for 3 years): The project has a positive NPV which is a healthy sign for the project. It can be proceeded with. The project is going to be beneficial for the company and add to the shareholders value. A positive NPV means that the project is worthwhile because the cost of tying up the firms capital is compensated for by the cash inflows that result. http://www.bized.co.uk/timeweb/reference/using_experiments.htm 6. Quarterly Report Format: As per the requirement of the board every quarter a report has to be sent for updated performance and progress information. The report has to serve the purpose of giving a complete up to date data to be analyzed by the board. A company analysis gives a complete performance and financial picture of the company. The report should include all the data necessary to quickly compare it with the major competitors. 6.1. Reporting Layouts: The report will be in Excel sheet format. The Information provided will be in different excel sheets in the same document each covering a preceding quarter to give convenient comparisons Title of the report: Sainsburys Travels and Tours Addressed to: Date: from -/-/- to -/-/-: Date of submission: Submitted by: 6.1.1. Holiday Packages Bookings: 6.1.4. Comparison of Actual and Forecasted performance: The calculation of the Sainsburys Travels and Tours project NPV has been made by going through the three years forecasted figures of the company which show that it is progressing towards a high performing entity with reasonable growth in profit. Although with the growth of the company eventually it will require to use more resources in term of offices, employees, equipment, marketing budget etc. but the current performance clearly suggests that it will very strongly bear all the changes and keep on showing a steady growth. 7. Conclusion: Sainsburys is one of the key players of the existing supermarket industry in UK. This report gives an overview of its performance during the last couple of years, dealing with the financial figures we have tried to analyze the financial standing and strength and the comparison with the main market leader Tesco gives a fair idea of both the companys approach towards business. Although Sainsburys has not yet ventured into the International market but the step might not b that far away keeping in mind the huge success TESCO has had in the international market. Sainsburys has a huge loyal customer base. The suggested new service product through Sainsburys Travel and Tours will provide these customers to utilize yet another trustworthy service by their trusted name. The growing Travel and Tours market will definitely have a positive effect on the Sainsburys portfolio by increasing its profits and hence strengthening its business.

Moral Standards In Advertising Media Essay

Moral Standards In Advertising Media Essay Ethics of advertising can be defined as ethical activity, corresponding not only to law but also to moral principles. Although the normal ethics considers implementation of laws as a basic or minimal level, ethical side of advertising actually goes far beyond the simple implementation of laws. The basis of ethical decisions is formed on a series of concepts: obligations to the society, accountability to both internal (company or client) and external (publicity) parties, and latent intentions of advertising. While advertising is pervasive being an element of the environment, ethical advertisers are responsible for taking into account the expected and possible unintended consequences of their activities. One of the fundamental principles of the free market society is that consumers make free and informed choice. It is consumers who vote with their money and determine the behavior of companies. Advertising is the function of business, which transfers this principle into practice. By definition, consumers cannot make an informed choice without information obtained from advertising. It is no wonder that truth in advertising is regarded as one of the central ethical principles of doing business. In other words, everything said in the advertisement should correspond to the reality. Challenging this rationale, advertisers sometimes deal with ethical problems with the way advertising is created and executed. Often, the question concerns the borders of permitted activity in using such prevalent in advertising approaches, as inflation (exaggeration of the merits of the advertised goods or services), metaphor and hyperbole. For example, an advertisement, running that restaurant X situated in East Side is the best Italian restaurant in the world, is strictly speaking, hardly true. But the advertisers are hoping that they are dealing with an audience, well versed in advertising (i.e. the audience, disillusioned about the main purpose of advertising to sell the advertised product and the means to achieve this goal). Such an informed, sober-minded audience can make allowances for the usual exaggeration in advertising. This means that advertising may, without violating ethical standards, contain symbols, illustrations, similes and metaphors enhancing its assertions. However, the situation is much more serious with advertising which deliberately deceives or misleads the consumers. Deceptive advertisement latently provides only partial information on products or contains statements about the price which mislead the consumers. The same concerns advertisement containing accurate information, but presented in an incomprehensible for the consumer form, or in an integrated form inside a newspaper or magazine article, or as part of a television or radio program. Many consumers also fear that some types of advertising are influencing the subconsciousness. Since these messages get to the consumer bypassing the consciousness and sensory perception, they are often not only unethical, but also illegal, because they can manipulate the freedom of consumer choice. Despite the fact that studies have shown the ineffectiveness of subliminal techniques (e.g., the notorious 25-second frame), the public is still suspecting advertisers in the wide use of such techniques. Ethical issues also arise in the case of participation of celebrities in advertising. Famous sports and movie stars can significantly affect the decision making process of the consumers. Therefore, officially thereve been developed specific recommendations for the creation of such advertising in order to make it more ethical. The character of advertising should be a user of an advertised product, and his statements must fairly reflect his personal opinion. All statements made by the character must have actual proof. Concerns about advertising with celebrities are so great that in some countries such as Canada, it is prohibited for certain product categories, such as alcoholic beverages and certain childrens products. Criticism is also justified in cases of some advertising methods, in particular, playing on fear of consumers. For example, advertising of a certain kind of cereal containing oat and bran was built on fears of cancer. However, these products do not factually contain more fiber than many other natural foods, and they increase the chance to prevent only one kind of cancer, whereas the advertising considered the prevention of cancer in general. Such advertisement can be considered misleading, manipulating the audience and exploiting the feelings of consumers. At the same time, the visual part of the advertisement deserves no less than the text. Since consumers typically pay more attention to images than to the text accompanying them. In particular, the claims involve the fact that the advertisement shows the product bigger than it really is. Another example of unethical imaging is the way advertising depicts women. Using models for the advertisement, advertisers also apply special methods of processing images, allowing characters to look perfect, with absolutely no pigment spots and wrinkles. This actually presents a process of forming an ideal image, unattainable in real life. Attempts of female consumers to become similar to those ideal models finally ends in disappointment, feeling unhappy, loss of self-esteem, inferiority complex, and even guilt. Models are tall and extremely slim; in an effort to be like them, some young women and girls being unable to do anything with their height, direct all their eagerness to their extra pounds, s ometimes bringing themselves to anorexia. Heated discussion also surrounds the image of women in advertising of household goods, where they invariably appear as the main executors of domestic work, showing them on the sidelines of family decision making process. Women are also often unethically shown as sexual objects, but nowadays this aspect is complexified by the modern tendency to depict men in the same way, together with the ambiguity of child images in advertising. Sometimes kids are shown in sexual poses with the provocative make-up, and half-dressed, while new styles of advertisement try displaying certain parts of human body as the main objects of the image, which is only emphasizing sexuality. Older people represent another group of people, harmed by stereotypes which generate from advertising. Feeble, trembling, wrinkled old people, unable to solve simplest tasks, are being targeted with advertising humor. However, this advertising image of elderly people is often very far from reality, in which the elderly lead a ctive and interesting life. Many advertisers state that advertising does not create reality, but only holds a mirror which reflects the society. But if that was true, we would see the images of various social groups in the advertisement. However, the characters (with both genders) of most of the advertisements in North America and Europe are young, slim, smart and extremely athletic. While some advertisers are beginning to realize the importance of different cultural groups, the number of ads with black skin people is growing; but the characters of Asian, and Hispanic origin are still met relatively rarely. Advertising also never positions disabled people, and the elderly are participating only in advertising of dentures and nutritional supplements for elderly people. In addition, certain segments of the population could perceive everything shown in the advertisement as the reality, or misunderstand the special conditions or precautions on the proper use of advertised goods (immigrants, some elderly consumers, children, people lacking education, etc.), which shouldnt be just used for the benefit of a company. A well-known example is the case of advertising offering children to call Santa Claus on a pay telephone numbers beginning with 900. Many children (including those staying at home after school without their parents) called on those numbers without realizing the size of bills that could come for such a conversation. Moral standards of advertising are based on the principles of freedom of choice and freedom of action. These principles come from the belief in the benefits of the free market economy. Informed consumers have freedom of action; they regulate the business activities of companies with their individual purchase decisions. Consumers right to freedom of choice is consistent with two other principles: freedom from coercion and freedom from harm. Advertising should not use unfaithful techniques in order to persuade consumers or manipulate them, pushing to a bad choice. Faithful advertising, which imparts accurate information, is an indispensable condition for consumers; informed decisions about products and services. Nowadays, advertising detached from unethical standards may be unique and sets the standard for the industry. It has value to both clients and consumers. Thus, the terms ethics of advertising and moral standards in advertising are not just a combination of mutually exclusive co ncepts, but without a doubt, present normal business practices.

Gaia: Argument over a single word Essay -- Essays Papers

Gaia: Argument over a single word THESIS: Life on earth has been considered by some as a purposeful interaction tending toward ecological stability. However, when the scientific community led by James Lovelock tried to match this concept with science, it was (and continues to be) a dilemma. Introduction Whenever one hears the word Gaia, he or she will also hear life, goddess, purpose, ecology, and undoubtedly controversy. Not many topics have provoked more controversy among the scientific community than the idea that the atmosphere, biosphere, and its living organisms behave as a single system, striving to maintain a stability that is conducive to the existence of life—the so-called Gaia theory or Gaia hypothesis. The main controversy lies in the fact that the name Gaia comes from an ancient Greek goddess (Mother Earth). Since Gaia’s origins, it seems as if she was the most venerated among the Greek gods: "Free of birth or destruction, of time or space, form or condition, is the Void. From the eternal Void, Gaia danced forth and rolled herself into a spinning ball. She molded mountains along her spine, valleys in the hollows of her flesh. Unceasingly the Earth Mother manifested gifts on her surface and accepted the death into her body. In return, she was revered by all mortals. From within the darkness of her secrets, Gaia received their gifts" (Spretnak 47-48). The powerful magnet of the theory is that Gaia is a simple four-letter word that implies feminism and ecology, two aspects that do not fit in rational science. Had the proponents called the theory "A cybernetic system with homeostatic tendencies as detected by chemical anomalies in the earth’s atmosphere—as Lovelock intended to call it," the idea may not ha... ...cated matters (as Gaia) throughout history, and the human race has been able to decide whether or not using them is a good technique. There are truths to be discovered and ways of explaining them to be deployed. "Humans are not the center of the universe. Nor is any other species." Lynn Margulis Works Cited Bjornerud Marcia. "Gaia-Gender and Scientific Representations of the Earth [Part 1 of 2]" {Contemporary Women's Database} Sep. 1997: 96-106. Linden, Eugene. "Ideas: How the Earth Maintains Life an Intriguing Scientific Theory Continues to Win Adherents." {Time} 13 Nov. 1989: 114. Lutzenberg, Jose. "Gaia's Fever." {The Ecologist} Mar.-Apr. 1999: 59. Margulis, Lynn. "Life on Earth Doesn't Need Us." {Independent} 02 Sep. 1998: 5. Spretnak, Charlene. {Lost Goddesses of Early Greece: A Collection of Pre-Hellenic Myths}. Boston: Beacon Press, 1984.

An Indian Remembers :: essays papers

An Indian Remembers This paper is an attempt to discuss the biography of Mary Englund’s An Indian Remembers based on her childhood experiences in a Christian European convent. Her story starts from the day she is taken away from her family to be civilized in a distant residential school. Englund’s experience in the school could be described as European way of civilizing the young native people that includes compulsory assimilation, segregation, control and racism. The concept of civilization is perceived to be for the best interest of the Indian community, or at least this is what it seems to appear like. Thus, this paper will tackle the issues of methods used to civilize the Natives and its effects on Englund’s personality and mentality as well as the real purpose behind civilization. Is it really for the best interest of the Indian people or is it a form of exploitation of the Natives to benefit the European colonialists? Assimilation is one form used to civilize the native children. This seems to put Englund to a lot of curiosity eventually to confusions. On her first day in Mission, Englund learns about the assimilation policy implemented by the convent which draws out her curiosity about its purpose. In her experience, she learns that boys and girls live in separate buildings and wonders why. She appears curious and thus questions a lot but she gets no decent answer to satisfy her curiosity. Englund also observes girls being divided in groups to certain tables during meals and girls are assigned to different jobs, some goes to the dormitory while others to kitchen or classrooms. Again, she does not seem to understand the purpose of these procedures. This explains her ignorance about the system of a Christian convent. Anyhow, she seems to let go of her curiosity and simply accept it as a form of instruction she ought to follow with no question asked. With all these curiosities, she has possibly dev eloped a sense of confusion on why things are done in these manners. Another form used by the school is by segregation. Through this, Englund seems to suffer from isolation. Englund recalls when a priest takes her from her family (430). While she is expected to feel sad leaving her mother, she seems to feel nothing but excitement. She says that â€Å"We were left alone so many times we never had the tendency to say, ‘Well, I’m sorry I’m going to go away and leave my mother’ because we were alone most of the time.

What works in America :: Culture Cultural Essays

What works in America Jennifer Mancini's parents were born in Italy and immigrated to America just before they had two daughters, Jennifer and her sister. They left a country whose culture stressed close family ties, traditional food, traditional ways of preparing food, and strict social customs. It is Italian tradition that family stick together through the hard times; parents are always there for their children and children are always there for their parents. When the Mancinis came to America, they were forced to abandon many of their customs; in fact, all they held on to was a bit of the old language and their Italian food. Through the experiences she and her family have endured, Mancini believes that "people eventually will assimilate to a more mainstream culture over time, even if they didn't plan to or want to.Just like the old saying goes: 'When in Rome do as the Romans do.'" Although most immigrants are reluctant to stray from how they have learned to live, it will help them to give up much of the ir old ways and accept the dominant culture America has to offer. Rejecting or simply not being able to stray from one's previous culture results in negative responses from the mainstream American culture. Ronald Takaki, a professor and historian at the University of California at Berkeley, shared his view of immigration along with personal experiences in his essay entitled "A Different Mirror" Takaki, a second generation Japanese-American, describes how his appearance erected a barrier between himself and an "American." His experience begins inside a cab on the way to a conference on multiculturalism. The driver and Takaki chat for a few minutes until the middle-aged white man in the front seat notices something odd, his passenger looks foreign yet speaks perfect English. Takaki explained to the driver that he had lived his entire life in The United States and is a true-blooded American. Takaki tell us that, "Somehow I did not look 'American' to him; my eyes and complexion looked foreign" (589). The cab driver immediately assumed that a foreigner had entered his car because Takaki did not look like all the other "Americans" that ask for a ride. His eyes were slanted and his complexion a little darker than the norm, too dark and slanted to be from this country. That is the difficulty with immigration in America today. The American people often are not open enough to get past the differences found amongst ethnic backgrounds.

Lesson questions

Write an explanation to someone who does not know how to make proper measurements on how to measure the following line with the ruler. To the untrained eye, the ruler may seem like a useless and mundane tool straight out of a crappy ass's movie. But in fact, resent studies have that the ruler has many functionally sign efficacy purposes other than the ones used by teenagers behind closed bathroom doors. This tool is used to measure objects in standard or metric measurements.Here are instructions on how to use this device: 1 . Put down the TV remote and the bag of extra cheesy Ghettos. 2. Find an object worth measuring (I. E. The length of your TV remote) 3. Align the far edge of the remote with the line that reads â€Å"O† on the ruler. 4. Scanning to your right, locate the opposite end of the remote and read the corresponding number found on the ruler. That's it! 5. Repeat when necessary or to resolve any bets between your roommates or friends.The ruler is so easy to use a fo eman can do it! Be safe and enjoy! Explain how you would gather data and calculate the density of an irregularly shaped rock. By the word â€Å"rock† can only assume that you are referring to the one and only Deanne Johnson, who is both extremely manly and slightly irregular. Taking this into consideration, lets discuss how we would measure his density (this technique will also work on regular rocks as well but are far less entertaining). Here are the steps: 1.First we need a vessel filled approximately halfway with water that also has markings of measurement on them. Note the original volume of water (this will be used later) 2. Carefully introduce the object (or person) into the vessel until the water is displaced. 3. Note the new water level on the measurement indicators of the vessel (This measurement is your objects volume). 4. Now divide the volume by the object mass and the answer will equal the objects density. 5. Finally, get Deanne Johnson a towel, he's cold!

Psychology Admission Statement Essay

As one of the aspiring psychologists, it has come to my understanding that such endeavour is never an easy task but is rather a long road of travel and a stage filled with challenges. In this regard, I truthfully believe that receiving formal studies in psychology course would render me to be more prepared in becoming an outstanding psychologist in the near future. Certainly, my interest in psychology has started and is already evident during my younger years wherein I have found my passion in analyzing human behaviour and the human mind. There are different interesting fields that provide me with much motivation to immerse myself in this field. This is the passion which still pushes me to remain in this field and become an expert in such. In light of my personal qualities and characteristics, I would say that a career in such industry is the best place for me as I am the type of person that is not easily disturbed by the actions of other people and is adequately patient in attending the needs of the people. Nonetheless, as an aspirant in this line of work, I am focused with my professional and personal mission, which is to attend and uplift the life of the people through the direct and indirect contributions that I make.

Compare and Contrast the Education System in China

Compare and contrast the education system in China with the English education system After the appearance of culture, an important public service came into being, that is education. However, different countries have different forms of educations. According to the internet, it is found that there are many differences between them education system in China and English education system. The differences between these two education can be seen in terms of teaching style, subjects, and exams. The first difference is teaching style, which is the biggest difference caused by values and traditions.In China, students do not have group work. They only need to listen to the teacher and take notes. But English students have a lot of group work instead of only listening to the teacher and taking notes. Relative to China, the English teacher are friendlier and the class are more relaxed. In the United Kingdom, students express their opinions and focus on experimentation. However, in China, students mainly focus on the knowledge and the books, and try to remember everything that maybe contained in the exam. Thus, education in China and English education system differ in the aspects of teaching style.The second difference is subjects. In the United Kingdom, students can choose a few subjects in every term, and they do many practices. However, in China, students have tense load of subject and can have 6 – 10 subjects each term. English students focus on every subject, but Chinese students only concerned about some of the subjects which are related to exam. Therefore, the subjects taken in China and United Kingdom are different. A third difference is exams, which are used to test students’ learning outcomes or as an entrance of school. Chinese schools have a lot of exams both in universities and secondary schools.In the United Kingdom, some of the schools only have an entrance exam. Chinese schools enroll students based on entrance exam scores and previous results. Exams in United Kingdom are mainly made up of practical questions. But in China, it is mainly to check their memory. As mentioned earlier, education system in China and English education system differs in their exams. In conclusion, we can see that these two education systems differ a lot in teaching style, subjects and exams. It is difficult to decide which one is better. As far as I can see, measure an education system depends on its quality of education instead of the level of scores.

Religious Current Events

Quebec's secularism charter heads to lawmakers Recently in the province of Quebec City, Canada, the Charter of Quebec Values was introduced to the public making the area completely secular.Even more recently, the charter was rebranded as â€Å"Charter Affirming the Values of Secularism and the Religious Neutrality of the State, As Well As the Equality of Men and Women, and the Framing of Accommodation Requests†, the sole reason simply being that â€Å"Bernard Drainville, the governing Parti Quebecois minister responsible for the proposal, said he mouthful of a name was selected by government lawyers, adding they like long names that encompass the major details in the title. † This measure would ban all overt and conspicuous headgear worn by public sector employees, including hijabs, yarmulkes and Sikh turbans.This ban also includes wearing large crucifixes and other obvious religious wear. This will affect people all over the province who openly displayed their religiou s perspectives. This will likely become an extremely controversial situation between the people of Quebec City and their governing party, he reason being that before this charter, the people were free to openly practice and somewhat display their beliefs, and now, are being regulated on what they are and aren't allowed to wear.Though the drafters of the bill feel that this charter is required to achieve religious neutrality, it is not likely that the people of Quebec City will stand for such religious oppression. Some may be tolerable of the charter, like those who can Just tuck in their necklaces or put away their rings, but what about those who wear garments such as headdresses and celebrative wear to express their trength and belief, or even a monk who is only to wear his robe. To set any regulation on religious â€Å"display' is to oppress religion itself.It is impossible to ban the â€Å"visual expression† of religion without inadvertantly discriminating against certain religious perspectives who use robes, dresses or other kinds religious wear. â€Å"The provincial government is allowing for a one-year transition period to implement the provisions. The charter calls for disciplinary measures for those who do not comply with its bans, but those are unspecified in the bill. Meanwhile, Canada's federal government has said that if the charter is approved, Ottawa would order a review by its Justice Department. This itself shows the uncertainty in the entire charter. If the law is passed, it should already deemed as a constitutional law. The provincial government is determined to have this charter set into motion and even they are unsure as to whether or not it is fair to religious expression as a whole. Not only do they neglect the fact that some religions require the expression of things such as headwear to ymbolize their religious devotion, they claim that it can be impartial to other forms of religious expressions.However, there was no fault befor e the legislation of this charter, there wasn't much of an issue with religious expression. Religious wars have not taken place in the country of Canada because they did not have a law regulating the religious expression of the people, making it impartial. The people of the province realize this and are opposing what is to be the â€Å"Charter Affirming the Values of Secularism and the Religious Neutrality of the State, As Well As the Equality of Men nd Women, and the Framing of Accommodation Requests† Religion is a controversial thing.As difficult as it may be to maintain the equality of the people and still remain viewed as impartial to any specific party, it is not alright to eliminate the situation as a whole. The freedom of religion is the rite of the people and is not be tyrannized in any way. Though the respective religious peoples are to practice their religion respective to the laws of their land, opression of general expression is not a possible solution.