Effects of Video Games on the Mind Essay

Not only do video games affect children, social skills and addiction, they affect the brain and our actions. How many times have you gotten killed in a video game and gripped the controller so hard it almost broke. Researcher Eleni Kardaras studied two boys playing a competitive game. The younger boy wins, while the older boy gets furious and kicks him over. These are some of the actions we portray while playing video games Professor Akio Mori conducted a survey of people playing video games. Mori monitored the beta waves that indicate liveliness and tension in the prefrontal region. These results show a higher decrease of beta waves that play video games. Tests show that the beta waves were at zero, which indicate low use of the prefrontal regions in the brain. This led to many people in the survey becoming angry and found it harder to concentrate. Many of us take out our frustrations and stress through aggression and anger. An example of this is the columbine-shooting incident in Colorado. Two students took the precious lives of many and eventually taking their own. Evidence and research shows the two students were infatuated with video games, especially a shooting game called shoot em up. Aside from this there are other forms like competition and an urge to win. However video games can teach us to control our emotions. I remember as a kid I use to always hear the myth that video games kill brain cells and can make a hole in your brain. Studies show that playing video games do not kill brain cells; however playing extensively makes the brain slow to a halt, registering low alpha wave readings. Playing video games can be seen as being unproductive, the time spent playing on video games could be spent studying or doing outdoor activities. It also can affect social skills, which we already talked about. Aside from the negatives aspects video games have on the mind, some may argue that playing games can sharpen the mind. Fast pace games like GTA and Need for speed deliver excitement and agile movements in controlling the players to think quickly. Many soldiers that have constantly played video games were better at processing information and identifying objects.

H&M company analysis Essay

H&M were established in Vasteras, Sweden in 1947 by Erling Persson. World events and trends of monumental significance have occurred, since the little Swedish ready-to-wear chain developed into a multinational concern with stores in 18 different countries. When their store opened in Stockholm’s kungsgatan, there was a queue one kilometer long and the traffic police were forced to intervene. H&M stands for Hennes and Mauritz, it is a Public Limited Company, whereby all the stores are owned and solely run by H&M.  Business forms such as joint ventures and franchising are therefore not possible. H&M are regarded as a high street fashion retailer, aimed at ‘everybody’ – and always with the best prices. They are recognised for inexpensive but trendy clothing. They currently have 901 stores located in 18 countries, employing 39,000 employees. The focus on foreign markets began with a store in Norway in 1964, and due to this inter? national status they currently occupy market share allover the world. By 1961 H&M opened a store in Norway and by 1964 in Denmark, they were quick to keep up with changing trends. In 1974 H&M was listed on the stock exchange, and they opened stores in Europe. By the 1980’s H&M began focusing on internationalization with a new managing director Stefan Persson. Stores were opened in Germany and the Netherlands and the share prices rose. H&M got their first in house designers with pupils hand-picked from the fashion and tailoring colleges in Stockholm to work in Norrlandsgatan, where there was also a major drive on jewelry and accessories. In 1983, H&M offered their customers a new and convenient way of shop? ping, by selling clothes by mail order, in order to keep up with competition, which was becoming more and more intense. By the 90’s H&M were greatly worried by the impact of e-commerce, more companies were starting to have web pages, and by 1995, companies began providing the service of Internet shopping. In 1992 H&M opened in Belgium, 1994 in Austria, and by 1996 in Luxembourg. A dramatic change came about for H&M in 1998 when they began selling on the Internet. It was apparent to directors, which they had to do this, as competition was becoming fierce, and profits were lowering. Today H&M has received global recognition for its designer collaborations, including Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney, Viktor & Rolf, Roberto Cavalli, Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garà §ons, Matthew Williamson, Jimmy Choo, Sonia Rykiel and Lanvin. Every H&M store is unique: our One New Change store is H&M’s first in the City of London and carries collections and accessories for women and men, including tailoring and suiting and a selection of swimwear. H&M Company Profile Production H&M does not own any factories. Instead, clothes and other products are commissioned from around 800 independent suppliers, primarily in Asia and  Europe. The H&M buying department plans the range. After that, all practical aspects are dealt with by our production offices. These production offices, where most of the employees are drawn from the local population, are in constant contact with the suppliers. The production offices are responsible for placing the order with the right supplier and for items being produced at the right price, making sure that they are of good quality and delivered at the right time. They also audit that production takes place under good working conditions. The production offices perform extensive safety and quality testing, including checks for shrinkage, twisting and colour fastness, as well as ensuring that the chemical requirements have been met. A product’s lead-time can vary from a couple of weeks to six months. For high-volume fashion basics and children wear it is advantageous to place orders far in advance. Trend-led garments produced in smaller volumes require considerably shorter lead times. H&M strives to order each piece at its optimal moment, finding the right balance between price, time and quality. Strategy- Global expansion H&M stores should always be located in the best business locations, whether in a big city or a small-town shopping centre. This has been a firm principle of H&M’s since the very first women wear shop opened in 1947, and it is still true today. We always look for the best business location combined with the most favourable market terms. That applies to H&M as well as & Other Stories, Cheap Monday, COS, Monki and Weekday. H&M does not own any store premises, which makes way for flexibility and adaptability. By renting space, we can move at the same pace as our markets. Long-term quality lies at the heart of the expansion strategy. Before H&M moves into a new country or city an assessment is made of the market’s potential. Factors such as demographic structure, purchasing power, economic growth, infrastructure and political risk are analyzed. Alongside expansion, existing stores are renovated, offering customers all over the world exciting new shopping experiences. H&M is also working actively to make all stores sustainable in the long term, for example through energy-saving initiatives and environmentally adapted materials. H&M remains positive towards future expansion and new business opportunities. The growth target  is to increase the number of stores by 10–15 percent per year with continued high profitability and at the same time increase sales in comparable units. The strong pace of expansion is continuing in 2013 with a planned 350 new stores net. This means that we will effectively be opening a new store every day. In 2013 the highest rate of expansion will again be in China and in the US. Investments will also continue within online sales. H&M plans to launch online sales in the US, the world’s largest market for e-commerce. Vision and Mission H&M ‘s vision is to always provide the customers with better offers than before and to constantly exceed their customers’ expectations. At the same time, H&M also trying to be most popular fashion brand in the world and H&M took many years of efforts to realize it. â€Å"2010 was a very good year for H&M with a sales increase of 15 percent. Profit after financial items increased to SEK 25 billion. During the year we improved our market position further with a strengthened customer offering by giving the customers even more fashion and quality at the best price. The economy improved from 2009 but in several countries the economic situation was still uncertain and difficult.†-Karl-Johan Persson, CEO From the comments of CEO Persson, we can see that the mission for H&M is to strengthen customer offering by giving more fashion and quality at the best price. H&M Strategic Planning Establishment & Effectiveness To achieve that vision and mission, H&M strive to make the costumers the best offering about the design and fashion. for example, the British fashion designer created a capsule women’s collection got a fantastic sales when it was launched in around 200 H&M stores on 23 April, 2009.Its bright colors and lively patterns attracted customers. And only a month later, a more comprehensive summer collection which was typical Matthew Williamson wonderful colors and patterns arrived in the stores. The pieces also worked really well with H&M’s own summer collections. H&M expanded substantially during 2009 and 2010, opening stores in numerous exciting new markets. For example, Lebanon in October 2009,Russia in March 2009, Beijing in April 2009,South Korea, Israel and Turkey in 2010 and Croatia, Romania, Jordan,  and Morocco in 2011.With the fast expansion all over the world, H&M is gradually becoming stronger and have a firm position in this industry. At the same time, H&M are still trying to expand the online and catalogue sales, because the stores are not the only place customers can enjoy shopping with H&M. At the beginning of 2011, they have been launching the new H&M Shop Online in the markets where they offer online and catalogue sales before, easy and fun as visiting a store, regardless of whether customers shop by tablet or smartphone, via apps or directly at hm.com. H&M’s interactive shop online offers easy navigation and is much appreciated by customers in all eight countries where H&M and H&M Home offer online shopping: Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and the UK. Since January 2013 H&M shop online is completely mobile-adapted. In the US, the world’s largest retail market, H&M plans to offer online shopping from summer 2013. Distance selling is a vital and growing complement to stores. COS, Monki and Weekday offer online shopping in 18 European countries. The new H&M brand & Other Stories, which is launching in spring 2013, will be available both in stores and online. & Other Stories will offer shopping online at stories.com in ten European countries. H&M’s communication is global and hm.com is one of the world’s most popular fashion websites. Fashion enthusiasts all over the world interact with H&M via social media and apps. H&M is also one of the leading fashion companies on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+ and YouTube, as well as on China’s social networks Youku and Sina Weibo and Russia’s VKontakte. Social media spreads the news further about H&M when the brand expands into new, exciting markets. Naturally, it will help H&M to achieve its vision in the future. Furthermore, goal of H&M is â€Å"to increase the number of stores by 10 – 15 percent per year† Under the goal, in 2009, H&M was expanding rapidly. We can see from annual report 2009-2012, during 2012 H&M opened 304 new stores n et. Achieve goal that 10 – 15% new stores net per year. External Analysis Opportunities There are several opportunities for H&M to develop its business. As the online market is more and more developed and H&M should start to sell its  product online. At the start of 2011, H&M are launching the new H&M Shop Online in the markets where they offer online and catalogue sales already. Shopping experience and functionality have been improved. Around the end of 2010 they plan to start online sales in USA where should be the world’s largest online market. In addition, the economic crisis was really strong and it may increase the interest of the population for cheap and fashionable clothes. Finally the development of some Asian countries such as Vietnam can give the opportunities to H&M to found new suppliers cheaper and more preferment in terms of quality and time of production. Some supplier markets with high purchasing power and plenty of customers are with an interest in fashion, just like in our Asian markets, China and Japan. H&M’s expansion is rapid and running parallel on four continents. Many potential projects are running simultaneously and competing with each other. â€Å"There are considerably more opportunities for new openings than the stores that we actually door open,† says Stefan Larsson. â€Å"During the establishment process we decide against some potential stores. Only the best business opportunities remain. The aim is to create the best H&M stores through a combination of best location and best possible business conditions, wherever they are in the world.† Threats The major threat is that this market is full of competitors that are constantly growing and that are generally aggressive. That’s why H&M should keep its effort in differentiation in order to face this competition. In addition, there are other risks and uncertainties they cannot avoid and predict. It related to fashion, weather situations, climate changes, trade interventions and exchange rates, but also in connection with expansion into new markets, the launch of new concepts, changes in consumer behavior and handling of the brand. The year was also full of challenges. The global financial crisis and recession, with more consumer restraint and discount driven markets, naturally affected. However, H&M recognized that there were things they could have done better too. Self-criticism and striving to make constant improvements are part of H&M’s corporate culture and they work hard to become more efficient in all areas. Increased efficiency also means that they can invest i n giving the customers an even more attractive offering. Internal Analysis Strengths H&M’s strengths include a good brand image and cheap price. H&M has established a strong brand which motivates employees creating unity and attracts skilled work force. The company benefits from a good image from the customers and they have a strong fame everywhere in the world thanks to its huge number of outlets. Also the prices that H&M offer to its customers are really competitive thanks to the cost saving management way of the company. Cheap price is known by everybody. Their other strength is that they have a wide range and many different concepts. The entire concept of low priced apparel has brought loyal customers for H&M for years. The various departments for women, men, teenagers and children are their foundation. They can work with them in different types of buildings, street locations and shopping centers with very different characters. Weaknesses As the company wants to save money everywhere it’s possible, the distribution system is really slow and it takes a lot of time to deliver a product to the outlet. It may be really bad for the reaction time if the company to the competitors offer. Also the low quality of the product could give to the customers the need to go to the competitors. H&M has amount of suppliers. This is a good thing. However, as H&M’s production units add up to 2700, the control of all these demand great resources and management. If H&M cannot maintain its effective organizational structure, the situation may lead to the failure of control. SWOT Analyze Strengths: Qualitative and high fashion items for a extremely low price. A wide range of collection of products which are permanently renewed Some lines products in store are created by guest designers This company is very reactive and has very fast delivery times Well-known brand with powerful financial resources. Weakness: Production at one time of a wide volume of product with no guarantee of any sale. A wide range of targeted customers and so a wide range of different  style without any real focus on a particular type of customer or tendency. Not innovative fashion products but copy of the luxury or high fashion brands. Opportunities Fashion plays an increasingly important role in society. For both men and women. Growing market and so at a worldwide level. Economic crisis: people try to find solutions to buy the cloth which is economical and practical. Threats: Many competitors present on this market. Fashioning products change very frequently and quickly. Other risks and uncertainties they cannot avoid and predict. It related to fashion, weather situations, climate changes, trade interventions and exchange rates Benchmarking Benchmarking is an analytical tool which is often used to determine whether a company’s competency of value chain activities are strongly competitive compared to other rivals so that it can be confident to winning in the marketplace. Benchmarking includes measuring costs of value chain activities in an industry to formulate â€Å"best practice† among competitive firms with the views of learning or improving on those best practices. Benchmarking can make a firm to take action to improve its competitiveness and win a good position by identifying value chain activities where rival firms have comparative strengths in cost, service, operation and reputation. It can be typically measured by quality, time and cost. Through learning the benchmark company, we can make improvements which help to do things better, faster, and cheaper. The most important part of benchmarking is to gain access to other company’s value chain activities with associated costs. Benchmarking needs to compare the process of management or results with the best firm in this industry, think about how they perform it, how to compete with them. Organizations evaluate various aspects of their processes in relation to best practice companies’ processes, usually within a peer group defined for the purposes of comparison. As an organization, benchmarking allows to develop plans in  order to make improvements or adapt specific best practices, usually with the aim of increasing some aspect of performance. In this case, the rival of H&M, Zara has been selected as the benchmarking target. They have something in common which is easy to compare with. Both of them are successful apparel company and have a huge popularity in the same industry. However, they own difference business strategy to conduct the business performance. The aim of benchmark in here is to evaluate H&M’s strategic management and learn some experiences to improve their strategy and performance better. Zara is a subsidiary company of the Spanish Inditex Group. It is a famous apparel brand, and also the exclusive brand of apparel retail chain of Zara brand. It was established in 1975 in Spain. As a part of Inditex Group, Zara is ranked to the third around the world and the first brand in Spain. Among 56 countries, it has owned the establishment of more than two thousand clothing chains. Zara is always favored by the young people who love the fashion. It stands out by the excellent design and cheap price. In short, everyone can embrace high fashion in Zara. Now Zara has established 2200 women’s apparel chain shops in 27 countries in Europe and the 55 countries in the world. In 2004 its revenues ups to 4.6 billion Euros, profits of 440 million Euros. This performance is even better than GAP and H&M which is the largest brand in U.S. The main point of the H&M strategy is to achieve lower costs combined with differentiation. The differentiation is mainly based on more fashionable limited collections. For Zara it’s completely different because they try to be more fashionable for reasonable prices. Not the cheapest prices in general, but cheap prices comparing to competitors who offer similar products. Hierarchy of strategy 1. Corporate strategy The first hierarchy is corporate strategy. It describes the set of businesses, markets, or industries in which the organization competes and the distribution of resources among those business. The direction an organization takes with the objective of achieving business success in the long term. H&M have a constant corporate strategy based on really fast market coverage by opening constantly new stores every week. The company has plans to double its number of outlets by 2013 that implies that they plan to have about 3000 stores around the world. It means that they open every days a new store. They want to be present everywhere in the world and in every activity areas. They are also always looking for occupying markets share from the competitors and increasing the amount of sales, the popularity and the profit 2. Business strategy The second hierarchy is business strategy. Business strategy usually happens at the business unit or product level and it emphasizes improvement of the competitiveness, positions of a corporate products or services in the specific field or market segment served by that business unit. There are two main categories in business strategy: low-cost and differentiation strategies. The strategy of H&M is both lower costs and differentiation: They are constantly looking for reduce cost in every step of the business in order to offer to the customers the best prices. First they have a simply supply chain management that is based on a â€Å"just in time† management system. Delivery times vary from 2-3 weeks to six months, depending on the type of product. It is therefore important to be able to order each item at the right time for stores in order to have it on time. The short delivery times is not always wanted because they must consider the compromise between price, time and quality. They also save cost in producing in Asia and they have partnership with cheap suppliers that produce fast and cheap. In the same time they really want to be different than the competitors in order to have a competitive advantage. This sector is really competitive and H&M need to be different to attract the customers and increase the market  shares. To achieve this differentiation, they regularly offer special limited collections designed by famous artist or designers such as Roberto Cavalli, Madonna, Karl Lagerfeld and so on. 3. Functional strategy The third hierarchy is functional strategy. It is the approach taken by a functional area in order to achieve corporate and business unit objectives and strategies by means of optimizing resource productivity. For example, an IT company such as Samsung will surely have a functional strategy based on research and development in order to create new IT materials and be more competitive. The H&M functional strategy is also based on the research and development area of its organization as they are constantly looking for new models in order to be different from the competitors. They use more than one hundred designers to create the new model in order to create fashion and not following what the competitors did. In addition, as we previously seen, they also work sometimes with famous designers to make special collections. These strategies must complete and consistent with each other in order to have an efficient global strategy. But we must also say that these strategies must be in accordance with the goals and the image that the company wants to share with customers. In this case H&M has a goal that is really different to the strategy is that the company wants to offer products that are good in term of quality, nevertheless at the same time they use cheap suppliers in order to be competitive and offer the best price to the customers. BCG MATRIX In order to construct the BCG matrix of H&M, first we need to identify the SBU-Strategic Business Unit. According to H&M’s annual report, there are 4 main SBUs are currently been run by this firm, namely, women, men, teenagers and children. Recommendations for H&M The paper has analyzed various aspects of H&M’s strategic management and its implementation. Based on these facts and theories, recommendations can be made for the company. Generally speaking, my recommendations are simple. 1. As the most competitive rival, Zara is not so dangerous yet, but H&M should keep an eye on their growth and strategy, and try to change the strategy flexibly all the time. 2. Lacking own supply chain is one of weak point of H&M. If H&M develop own supply chain management, the production process will be faster and reactive which can bring more profits. 3. H&M has already had a big market share in the world. For the present, maintaining the development efforts and getting the market penetrations are better strategy. 4. H&M should take more efforts on the fashion design and product more fashionable clothes with cheaper price to attract own specialized customers. Most importantly, I think that H&M doesn’t need to reduce the expansion. Because of this speed of expanding, many people doubt that H&M raised the cost and loosed the control due to the amount of suppliers. In my opinion, it has the ability to control and monitor the suppliers. I also recommend that it can focus on some emerging markets, like China, Malaysia, Singapore†¦As a Chinese, I think China had indeed embraced globalization, but of a sort. For example, traveling through Shanghai, it would be hard to distinguish it from Taipei, Hong Kong, or any US city for that matter. The wide street ispacked with automobiles. Bright Neon lights decorate the shops. You will find Chinese wearing Nike shoes or Calvin Klein tees, and drink Coca cola. The impression is that foreign products and influence flows free and accepted readily at China. Compared with domestic products, they prefer international brand like H&M and Zara. There are of course foreign companies able to set a stronghold in the Chinese soil, but only those who came utterly prepared, knowledgeable in Chinese society, and committed to do business. After all China is a large country with its transportation and communication sector still under development. The immediate issues faced by the investors were cultural differences, trade barriers and government restrictions.

History of Red Cross Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

History of Red Cross - Research Paper Example He took the help of the villagers at Castiglione to comfort and give medical care to the injured. He worked for the injured for three days without sleep. When he returned to Geneva he was troubled by atrocious visions of the war, he experienced in Solferino. He worked really hard to make sure that the terrible suffering he has gone through must not take place again. It was in 1862 that Dunant published a book by the name of â€Å"A Memory of Solferino†. His book fostered the idea that in every country there must be an institute that must work for providing relief to the people wounded in war. This society must also help the army to carry out their task of helping the wounded militants. The Formation of Red Cross Gustave Moynier who was an advocate in Geneva showed immediate interest to the idea fostered by Dunant in his book. Moynier within no time formed an International Committee of Relief for the ones injured in war, which was later named as â€Å"International Committee o f Red Cross†. Delegates from sixteen states around the world, met at Geneva for the approval of the Geneva committee on 26 to 29 October. The delegates decided that every state will form within their country a private institute whose task will be to provide relief (medical services) to the military and the ones wounded in war. The medical equipment of the relief worker will be labeled with a unique emblem, a red cross with white background. Swiss government in 1864 organized a diplomatic conference at Geneva which brought together representatives from twelve different states. It was on 22 August 1864, that the first Geneva Convention was signed, whereas the others followed soon after this event took place. At that time battles or wars were considered to be irreconcilable. The First Geneva Conference stressed upon the enforcement of certain humanitarian rules during the war as well(About the International Committee of the Red Cross, 2013). Development of Red Cross The founders of Red Cross assigned to themselves the task to foster the creation national societies within different states. By 1874 there were about twenty-two national societies in different states of Europe. However Red Cross was gradually spreading to other continents as well. During the Turkish-Russian war in 1876, the Red Cross informed the government of Switzerland that they would be taking up the â€Å"red crescent† emblem to be placed on their ambulances instead of the â€Å"red cross† From 1864 to 1914 war and disturbance broke out in many parts of the world, at that time â€Å"Red Crescent† and â€Å"Red Cross† were busy giving their services to the men suffering. Above all, it was during the First World War when Red Cross Societies from all the countries were asked to give their services. At that time, all the Red Cross societies working in different countries organized hospital and ambulances for the wounded (History of Organization, 1963). The activities of the Red Cross expanded rapidly, following the foundation of the Central Trading Agenc

The taming of the shrew Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The taming of the shrew - Essay Example As expected of the language of Shakespeare, insults are rampant even in this short passage. There is an exchange of name-calling between the two suitors. Lucentio calls Hortensio "too forward" (presumptuous) and "preposterous ass," while the latter calls him "wrangling pedant" (bickering scholar) and "base knave" (a tricky deceitful fellow of low status) (http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionarybook=Dictionary&va=knave). The younger suitor is more blatant in his insults, "Spit in the hole, man, and tune again," while the older one makes his second criticism out of his hearing: "[Aside] How fiery and forward our pedant is!/ Now, for my life, the knave doth court my love:/ Pedascule, I'll watch you better yet." Pedascule is used as a "scoffing repetition of "pedant," implying (in Latinised form) that he mentally foots or kicks him with utmost ignominy" (http://www.theatrehistory.com/british/shakespeare031d.html). Moreover, there is a comparison between philosophy and harmony. ... ent, play you the whiles; / His lecture will be done ere you have tuned." This is a subtle way of dismissing Hortensio and exchanging personal words with Lucentio in pretending to interpret Latin phrases. The choice of Latin language instead of any other subject may imply the true intention of Lucentio. Latin is said to be a romantic language thus he uses it to win Bianca's heart although they both do not understand literally the meaning of the text. Shakespeare's use of puns is evident in the whole passage aside from his distinct nouns and sentence patterns. "Fiddler," "entertainment," "heavenly harmony," "music," "tune," "treble" and "base" are several terms associated with music. "Pedant," "patroness" and "prerogative" as well as "fiery" and "forward" are alliteration. Rhyming is also all over the place. The language is melodious and it creates harmony and unity in the text moving the plot towards the direction it is intended. Staging I think in staging the play, the characters will be dressed in contemporary times. Lucentio will be with the modern clothes like any young man nowadays using denim and a t-shirt covered with a coat. Hortensio will be using the more formal coat and tie. He has the conventional moustache and his greying hair is well kept. Bianca will be wearing a spring white dress with yellow prints. Her hair is tied in a pony tail and she wears some make up to emphasise her beauty. Lucentio holds a thick hard bound book while Hortensio brings his violin. The two men follow Bianca as they enter the stage from the left entrance. The set is made up of a couch, a small table, a piano and some chairs. The couch is on the centre where most of the action will take place. Beside the couch is a small table where the hard bound book will be placed as Lucentio

Issues in Contemporary Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Issues in Contemporary Business - Essay Example The way change is implemented and managed in an organization, such practice is known as organization change management.† (McNamara, n.d.) 1.3 Explanation Turner (2011) has explained that organizational change is generally referred to as that transformation through which a company goes as result of change in management, restructure, strategic orientation, development of new goals, merger of acquisition etc. Challenges which result from the events of organizational change have a ripple effect on the whole organization. According to Turner (2011), this happens because business units are completely integrated and therefore a change in one unit has a domino effect on the other units. Effectively managing this procedure is an art upon which a lot of consideration and expertise is provided so as to make it a new area of expertise known as Change Management. The process of change management is evolving due to changes in the preferences of customers, business landscapes, improved proces s and technologies etc. (Organizational Changes, n.d.) 1.4 Factors driving Changes and Innovations in Organizations Some primary drivers behind the process of organizational change include: Inadequate Financial Performance According to Soosay (2005), those companies which do not get able to meet their benchmarks of financial positions are compelled to examine their business processes and objectives. This is the major driver behind the organizational change. If a new competitor enters into the same industry having advanced technology or cheaper labor, companies those were formally ruling the market and enjoying prosperity can find that their market share is cannibalizing. A failure to maintain its position as a major competitor stresses the company to rethink and reformulate the resource disposition and opportunity cost of capital. (Soosay, 2005) Product Life Cycle Mecca (2004) state that when life cycle of a product comes to an end, companies are compelled to cut down the operating cost of production or prepare in order to get exit from the market. At this stage, many companies prefer in getting merged or acquired by larger companies. This leads to structural changes in which a company can either refocus on new business opportunities or maintain its profitability. Strategic Objectives Lloyd (1998) states that if a company prefers to change its strategic objectives then it also leads to change in entire organization for instance if a company plans to shift its focus from customer oriented to product oriented, then new business procedures and processes will be required to assist this re-orientation. This type of change can result in firing redundant staff and enhancing production process. Mergers and Acquisitions According to Govindarajan (2011), significant re-engineering and cost cutting is required when firms plan to consolidate its operations or getting merged with some other company. Significant challenges are developed when the companies integrate. These c hallenges force to streamline the operation of both the companies. (Govindarajan, 2011) New Technology Lloyd (1998) further states that significant driver of organization change can be the adoption of new technology. Consider an example of internet

Consumer Analysis Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Consumer Analysis - Term Paper Example Research indicates that young consumers strongly believe in fashion consumption as a tool by which to improve their social status and social relevancy. To identify whether this was true, a primary study was constructed that surveyed 14 youth consumers to determine whether they believed the Gap should or could provide for these needs. Findings indicated that conspicuous consumption is not a primary concern for younger markets, leading to formulate a set of recommendations that The Gap should focus more on product in the marketing mix and select certain lifestyle-relevant celebrities to gain more interest from youth consumers. The Problem of Rival Promotions in the Apparel Industry: Gap Inc. 1.0 Background Gap Inc., based in San Francisco, was founded in 1969 as a small retail store selling record albums and blue jeans. By 1970, the Gap had achieved $2 million in revenues allowing the company to expand to 25 different stores by 1973. It was not until 1974, however, that the Gap began o ffering consumers private-label apparel and accessories, a tradition that has positioned the business as a stand-alone innovator able to maintain strong sales volumes without reliance on various established apparel brands. 1.1 The Marketing Strategy Problem Gap Inc. has diversified its merchandise offerings from its original foundations of providing blue jeans and record albums to a variety of merchandise that maintains mass market appeal. Gap not only provides apparel and accessory merchandise in the United States, but in Europe as well, competing with major clothing retailers Zara (the fast-fashion company owned by Inditex) and H&M, two retailers offering clothing that is generally targeted to the younger, trend-centric consumer markets. It is the European market that provides the majority of sales revenues to this business that is in a growth stage in Europe and in decline in the United States. The main problem with Gap Inc. is the firm’s lack of focus on creating effectiv e promotional strategies in order to position the business properly with its desired target markets. When sales began to decline significantly in 2007, Gap executives attempted to modify its long-standing logo to make it fresher and more contemporary to a changing consumer audience. (See Figure 1). However, the business received such a significant outpouring of consumer discontent about the modified logo that the business scrapped its 2010 modification to return to its iconic blue box logo (Fredrix, 2010). In fact, the Chief Executive who authorized the change swiftly resigned from the company allegedly due to the failed repositioning effort (Wahba & Sage, 2011). Gap learned a significant lesson that its legitimate marketing problem was not associated with its corporate image, as consumers had built attachments and loyalties to the blue box logo. The problem was inefficient promotional strategy that could not outperform rival companies in the U.S. and Europe. From the consumer persp ective, repurchase intentions are based on stereotypes and physical appearances when interpreting marketing communications from a retailer (Schiffman & Kanuk, 2010). Internally, Gap had determined that it would need to seek out new markets in order to boost profitability, but did not take into consideration the cognition patterns of dedicated customers that already

Sustainable Business Development -- Paper Essay

Sustainable Business Development -- Paper - Essay Example Due to globalization, the demand for newsprint is increasing with more and more books and magazines selling in the streets. Modernization seems to be changing the use of paper, today more currents seem to be using paper for sanitary products, packaging and office paper among other uses. Unfortunately, most of this paper goes as a waste. A study by Foghmontensen et al. (2001 p. 12), show that paper, pulp, and board take up 45% of the world’s commercial timber. In addition, many countries use paper for their packaging. In Europe, Asia, America, and many other countries, paper production manages these forests eliminating the non-timber uses, which is crucial for the local people. In addition, cutting down forests for paper production affects biodiversity and the environment, which includes water and soil. Further research shows that foreigners often purchase these forest plantations, and this keeps the local government from their control. According to a report by UNEP (2013), paper production may sometimes use non-timber plant materials like the bamboo forests that seem to disappear slowly in India. These plants have environmental effects similar to the timber forests especially during wood pulp production. During paper production, there are ranges of pollutant emissions, which pollute the water and marine ecosystems whether through chemical or mechanical bleaching. These pollutants equally affect the human health. The wastes from paper production fill the landfill sites although paper recycling is now common especially because it saves energy and resources. It is unfortunate how these loggers continue clearing the natural forests considering that these forests help in rain formation. Industries have cleared the natural forests in order to have the fabricated forest. These forests are homes to much wildlife, and clearing these forests affects their habitat. Paper production and use are on the increase, and, unfortunately, this has caused

PetMeds Transformation Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

PetMeds Transformation - Case Study Example The set of variables are grouped into transformational and transactional factors (Falletta, 2005). This paper focuses on the seven transactional variables, such as structure, tasks and skills, management practices, systems and policies, work unit climate, motivation and individual needs and goals. Burke-Litwin Model defines the organizational structure as an arrangement of functions and people into specific areas and levels of responsibility, decision-making authority, communication and relationships (Falletta, 2005). Such structure shall support the organization's mission, goals and strategy in order to achieve competitive advantage for the firm (Porter, 1985). PetMed Express can be considered as a mechanistic organization that follows the functional departmentalization structure. The company has highly specialized departments with high formalization and a clear chain of command. The company's structure supports its cost leadership strategy by increasing consistency and reducing cost through centralization and management control (McShane, 2001). The company currently has 248 full time employees distributed into four departments of customer care, warehouse, pharmacy and corporate departments. The customer care department consists of customer care representatives in a call center environment while the warehouse department consists of supervisors and associates. The pharmacy department employs pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and support. The corporate department is composed of accounting, legal, marketing, information technology, purchasing and human resources. Below is the organizational diagram of PetMed. (PetMed Express, 2009) Figure . PetMeds Organizational Chart In order to be effective in serving the customers demand, PetMeds employed 143 people in customer care and marketing, 58 people in pharmacy, and 34 people in warehouse and purchasing. Therefore, the structure of human resources in the company is aligned with its mission of delivering exceptional service, savings and convenience to its customers while maintaining a corporate strategy of cost advantage. Tasks and Skills and Motivation The business success of PetMed Express is attributed to the core competencies of their customer care, warehouse and pharmacy department. According to Prahalad and Hamel (1990), the core competencies of a company are the collective learning in the organization that involves communication, involvement and deep commitment to working across organizational boundaries. Therefore, the core competencies provide potential access to a wide variety of markets and make a significant contribution to the customer benefits of its products. The Burke-Litwin Model describes tasks and skills as the behavior required for task effectiveness which includes specific skills and knowledge required to accomplish work (Falletta, 2005). The tasks and skills of an individual coupled with its motivation, or heightened behavior to achieve goals, have a significant impact on organizational performance and productivity. In other words, an empowered and motivated employee will perform its duties and responsibilities when his tasks and skills are matched with the job requirements. The human resource management has an extensive recruitment and selection strategy that identifies the needs of the job as well as the competency of the employee. The bulk of the

Food and beverage manager Essay Example for Free

Food and beverage manager Essay 1.1Describe with examples, some of the characteristics of food production and food beverage service systems that is in use within the hospitality industry. The centralised Production System is the modern methods used in bringing together production and beverage activities in the hotel industry. Food that is centrally produced is easier to distribute to the point of service than for it to be produced in batches or separately. Centralised production system may be transported in a ready to serve state made e. g. hot or cold if it needs some form of regenerator for chilled or frozen food. The advantages of centralised production include, lower food cost and supply cost are lower In centralised production methods you need to employ a few staffs in the kitchen. The kitchen can also be operated in a cheaper location. The disadvantage of the centralised production methods is if there is a case of food poison the effect will be more spread and can cost loss of business, these can affect the finances of the hotel. When food and beverage come in by centralised system, they were then distributed into different departments. Main Restaurant A coffee shop Chinese food shop Fine restaurant Is the Traditional Parties’ production system, this is a table service. Table service, where cook or chill are served Table service, for Tradition Parties production. Table service (British table service or French. Also Traditional Parties’ production. Bars: are for drinks only 1.2For the systems discussed in 1.1, discuss factors that can affect recipes and menus. These are factors affecting receipts and menus. Guest religion and health, has remained a very important issues, religion of the guest and health restrictions Some people have allergy to e.g. crabs meat, protein, and fibre/vegetable, these can affect receipts and menu in the hotel. Financial resources, restaurant and guests types cost: types of restaurant, Guest, spending power, age Group, labour cost. Chinese food is only prepared by Chinese people these can also affect the receipts and menu, Time factor, if the food is not serve at the right time the food may be too cold or if care is not taken the food may not be ready in time for serving. Pricing of food: because of the market is not stable for price; the pricing of the food may change, and can affect the receipt and the menu, by buying a alternative price or brand. 1.3For the systems discussed above, compare the cost and staffing implications. Outlet COST OF FOOD STAFF Main restaurant The cost is moderate and affordable Many staffs are required, can be service from office or home A coffee Shop The cost is affordable and low price Few staffs are needed a serve customer. Speciality restaurant serving Chinese food. The price is low and affordable by class. Few staff is needed, and can be operated by member of the family. Fine dining restaurant The price is high and can some be for special occasion e.g. anniversary, birthday, or business meetings. Few staff are required e.g. silver service, wine steward. Bar There are high class bars that are very expensive or common bar for everybody. Few staff are needed to operate. 1.4A justification with examples regarding the suitability of systems for different types of food and beverage outlets. For coffee shop is non-alcohol beverage services The fine dining restaurant sales food and beverage is based on good quality at the high prices In the bar selling different types of drinks or beverage Chinese serving food is about culture food, which is served by the Chinese 2.1Taking in to account, the various needs for financial statements, discuss the use of financial statements in food and beverage operations. Financial statement or financial operations; these outline the finance of the revenue and expenses over a period of time. Which gives the production budget, the units that have been produce to the sales of the company, the production budgets also estimates the cost involved in material and labour. Operating budget: these gives the estimate of the income expenses based on sales, manufacturing costs, labour etc. Cash flow Statements: Is receipt from the business these help the business, when income will be enough to cover expenses or when the organisation needs help. It helps in taking loans from the bank and repayment. Balance Sheet; is statement of the total assets of what the company own or owe. Income statement: A finance statement that shows earnings report, operating statement, profit and loss. 2.2 To demonstrate the use of cost and pricing processes. To be able to demonstrate the assess cost and pricing will need the following methods, the purchase price per item, we then divide the food into different packs, for example if chicken are brought for  £10 per pack and the meal are going for  £15 per plate as a meal. It may sense to add the extra with the meal e.g. the rice or chips. List of the purchasing methods: Central purchasing is used by chains organization. This enable the hotel to buy their food stock in one location, all the services need will be in on site and contain the buying power and be able to negotiate the price at reasonable cost. The disadvantage; are that the individual outlets can’t complain regarding the suppliers, if one is receiving better offer than the other, These may affect the quality of the food, if too far from the site. Total supply: This method is new, these allowed the hotel to buy from one supply, these cut the papers work, the administrative work and can be expensive. 2.3 Implement effective purchasing process of the five Star Hotel Food and beverage managers we can attend industrial events and trades show in order to get new innovation ideas and learn above new products. We can communicate with functional departments regarding pricing trends products variations and inventory when available. Food and beverage manager provide effective and strategic re port to corporate the hotel catering office supplies on inventory and costing performance and recommendations. We also go to menu and catering seminal to identify new inventory that are in demands, including schedules and procurement needs.

African American Press Essay Example for Free

African American Press Essay ?â€Å"We wish to plead our own cause. Too long have others spoken for us. Too long has the public been deceived by misrepresentation of things which concerns us dearly,† written on the front page of the first African-American owned newspaper, Freedom’s Journal. Freedom’s Journal was published on March 16, 1827 by a group of free African-American men in New York City. Freedom’s Journal was published the same year slavery was abolished in New York and was used to counter racist commentary published in the mainstream press. Samuel E. Cornish and John B. Russwurm served, respectively, as its senior and junior editors where they worked together to publish four-page, four-column weekly newspapers. Though The Freedom’s Journal was not the first African-American paper published, it was the first Africa-American owned newspaper. Freedom’s Journal consisted of news on current events, anecdotes, editorials and used to address contemporary issues such as denouncing slavery, advocating for black people’s political rights, the right to vote, and speaking out about lynching. Cornish and Russwurm desire were to give African-Americans the freedom to voice their thoughts, ideas and opinions. They sought to improve conditions for more than 300,000 newly freed men and women living in the North. They fulfilled this desire, by employing 14 to 44 agents each year to collect subscriptions. Each agent was paid $3 a year for their work. To encourage black achievements Freedom’s Journal featured biographies of celebrated black figures and continued to promote better living conditions by printing schools that were open to blacks, job offering and housing listings. Freedom’s Journal, eventually, circulated 11 states, the District of Columbia, Haiti, Europe and Canada before ceasing publications in 1829. During that time, Russwurm became the sole editor of Freedom’s Journal, after Cornish resigned in 1827. Russwurm began to promote the Colonization Movement which was frowned upon by majority of the newspaper’s readers. The Colonization Movement was a movement that was conceived by members of the American Colonization Colony where they began repatriating free African-Americans back to Africa. When the Freedom’s Journal shifted in complete support of colonization, it lost most of its readers and in March 1829 Freedom’s Journal ceased publication. Even though Freedom’s Journal existed for two years, its two years of existence helped spawn other papers. Since then, African American press has evolved and has substantially increased in the population over the years. After Freedom’s Journal, African-Americans had begun establishing and owning newspapers. It began May 1829, when Cornish attempted to revive the Freedom’s Journal under the name The Rights of All, however, the publication was not successful and failed after a year. David Walker, hired as an agent for Freedom’s Journal, became a well known, anti-slavery writer which was inspired by his experience with Freedom’s Journal. In 1830, Walker’s published his most famous publication known as Appeal which called for slaves to rebel against their masters, â€Å"†¦they want us for their slaves, and think nothing of murdering us†¦therefore, if there is an attempt made by us, kill or be killed†¦and believe this, that it is no more harm for you to kill a man who is trying to kill you, than it is for you to take a drink of water when thirsty,† (Walker). Another attempt at publication, Samuel Cornish, along with, Philip Bell, and Charles Bennett Ray launched The Weekly Advocate, January 1837. Later, the men changed the name to The Colored American March 4, 1837. The Colored American main purpose was to strengthen the moral, social, and political elevation of colored people as well as emancipation of slaves. The Colored American became well-known in the North because of the wide spread support of abolitionists, African-American churches and local abolition societies, and Caucasian allies. The Colored American published 38 articles, becoming an important paper of its time. The last edition of The Colored American was published on Christmas day in 1841. Other early African American newspapers include the Provincial Freeman, published in 1854, which was the first African-American owned newspapers to be published in Chatham, Ontario, Canada. The North Star was an anti-slavery newspaper published in 1847 by Frederick Douglas. He later agreed to merge it with the publication Liberty Party Paper with Gerrit Smith creating the Frederick Douglass’ Paper, in Rochester, New York. The National Era was published in Washington, D. C. in 1847 by the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society. The Liberator was probably the best-known publication during the era, published by William Lloyd Garrison in Boston between 1831 and 1865. Other anti-slavery newspapers of note include the Friend of Man, published weekly for the New York State Anti-Slavery Society from 1836 through 1842. The Emancipator, originally known as Genius of Universal Emancipation, was one of the first anti-slavery newspapers published in the United States by Benjamin Lundy in 1819 and National Anti-Slavery Standard established in 1840. All of these newspapers advocated for the abolition of slavery and for the civil rights of all African Americans. By the start of Civil War, more than 40 black-owned and operated papers had been established throughout the United States. After the end of the Civil War, more than 100 newspapers were beginning to publish. Many of the major African-American owned publications include, Baltimore Afro-American, also known as The Afro, was founded by a former slave, John H. Murphy, SR. , in 1892. Today, The Afro is the longest-running African-American, family-owned newspaper in the United States. The Chicago Defender was founded by Robert Sengstacke. Abbott on May 5, 1905. The Chicago Defender included writing pieces from the well-known Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks and Willard Motley. The Pittsburgh Courier an African-American newspaper published in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1910. The Pittsburgh Courier became the most widely circulated newspaper in America for African-Americans. During its peak, the Pittsburgh Courier circulated around 450,000 publications, with more than 400 employees in 14 cities. The Pittsburgh Courier discussed major issues impacting African-American communities. It campaigned against segregation and poverty, and promoted the social advancement of blacks. In the 1930s, the Pittsburgh Courier urged Black voters to vote Democrat, creating a political alliance that still exist to this day. Other publications includes, The Philadelphia Tribune (1912-2001), Atlanta Daily World (1931–2003), Cleveland Call Post (1934-1991), Los Angeles Sentinel (1934–2005), New York Amsterdam News (1922–1993), and Norfolk Journal and Guide (1921-2003). With African-American newspaper publication on the rise, organizations to help promote the publication began to form to support African-American journalist. In 1940, Robert Sengstacke Abbott, founder of Chicago Defender, along with other African-American publishers, organized the National Negro Publishers Association. The members of the National Negro Publishers Association worked together, â€Å"harmonizing our energies in a common purpose for the benefit of Negro journalism†, (Sengstacke). Today, the National Negro Publishers Associations is composed of more than 200 black newspapers in the United States and the Virgin Islands. In 1975 in Washington D. C. , 44 African-American journalists founded the National Association of Black Journalists. The National Association of Black Journalist’ purpose was to provide quality programs and services to and advocate on behalf of black journalists. These organizations are still going strong today and have contributed greatly to the African American population. Today, there isn’t a firm count of how many African American newspapers circulating the United States, however, according to Allied Media Corporation, an ethnic marketing firm, they have listed 250 newspapers in circulation. The National Newspaper Publishers Association, better known as the Black Press of America, assist in the publication of African-American owned newspapers, counts more than 200 black-owned newspapers as its membership. As you can see, since the Freedom’s Journal, the number of newspaper publications has increased. It began with the main purpose being that Africa-Americans would stick together to fight the constant oppression they were under. Now that we don’t see African-American oppression, as we did then, publications has different focal points. Many of the newspapers provide news and insight on African-American culture, including a variety of perspectives from leaders, celebrities, trendsetters and great minds from the African-American community. The Freedom’s Journal created a new stepping stone for the African-American population. It provided the platform for issues and concerns pursuant to ensuring our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and to preserve a legacy of black conservatism for generations to come. References 2, M. A. (n. d. ). Early African American and Anti-Slavery Newspapers | Marjory Allen Perez. Genealogy Family History | Search Family Trees Vital Records . Retrieved August 1, 2013, from http://www. archives. com/experts/perez-marjory/early-african-american-and-anti-slavery-newspapers. html Black Newspapers Listing | The Network Journal. (n. d. ). Black Business | Black News, Career Ideas for Black Professionals. Retrieved August 1, 2013, from http://www. tnj. com/lists-resources/black-newspapers-listing David Walker, 1785-1830. Walkers Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the World, but in Particular, and Very Expressly.