Report for potential investor Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Report for potential investor - Essay Example When the market will recover, companies with better fundamental state will be the one to come as market leaders and they will yield better results to the investors. So an investor should analyse any company comparison with the industry standards before taking any major decision. 3 It reflects how much of the company’s total assets are financed by debt or the degree of debt load used by the company. Higher ratio indicates higher riskiness of the company and can disturb company’s profitability when market conditions are unfavourable. The Gearing Ration of M&S for the past five years indicates that though it did not maintain any constant trend, but it was in a range of 25-40 percent. So it was found that the company’s Debt Ratio is not so very high. 17 This ratio measures the company’s ability to bear its financial burden which arises in form of interest to be paid for debt. This ratio is also known as times interest covered ratio. While calculating this ratio, analysts compare the company’s ability to pay the interest with the total interest payable on its debt, so higher ratio is an indicator of more stable state and less risk of default (Peterson & Fabozzi, 1999, p. 94). The Interest Coverage Ratio of M&S indicates it always has an Interest Cover Ratio greater than 1, or it can be expressed that it’s Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) was more than the interest payable. The company’s Interest Cover Ratio was constantly increasing, but due to financial downturn and economic slowdown throughout the world, this ratio declined in 2009 as profitability of the company declined. 18 So after undertaking all the efficiency ratios of M&S it can be said the company is maintaining higher debt structure in its capital and such financial leveraging is reducing company’s ability to retain meet long-term liabilities. But the good aspect is that the company’s Interest Coverage Ratio is at a comfortable state. 18 So it can be concluded that the

Analyzing Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Analyzing Change - Essay Example ld scenario is also redefining the political and economic equations that may have significant impact on the socio economic front of America in the near future. The probability cannot be discounted because history has been a witness to total extinction of great empires of the world and the civilizations that have perished without leaving any trace. Learning survival techniques from the history is not only important but necessary if we are to maintain our socio-economical supremacy in the fast changing socio economic values across the countries. According to the author, there are five factors that may have been responsible for complete disappearance of the civilization in the past: damages that the people have inflicted on their environment; climate change; enemies; changes in friendly trading partners; and the society’s political, economic and social responses to these shifts. The author has quoted the cases of fall of Polynesian and Maya civilizations. Maya civilization of Yucatan peninsula and Central America, has been one of the most advanced and highly sophisticated but by 910 A.D their societies collapsed as a result of power struggles among the various kings resulting in damages to the environment and poor management of natural resources that culminated in total wipe out of the civilization. The Polynesian societies in Pitcairn and Henderson islands, despite having vast natural resources, were destroyed mainly because of the fact that they depended on their import of canoes, crops food etc. on Mangarevan island and once the Mangarevan island trade collapsed due to environmental damages, Polynesian societies suffered the same fate and perished. On the other hand, societies in Japan, Tonga, Tikopia, New Guinea, Central and north-east Europe survived and flourished through the centuries. The main reason for this was that they anticipated the changes in environmental degradation and made efforts to combat that with appropriate strategies and innovative

Child and Young Person Development Essay Example for Free

Child and Young Person Development Essay Physical Development birth-3years The physical development for this age group is described below: Baby raises head and chest when lying on stomach and supports its upper body with arms when lying on stomach they are able to stretch their legs out and kick when lying on their stomach or back. They are able to open and shut their hands, pushing down on their legs when their feet are placed on a firm surface. At this age sucking and grasping reflexes develop the baby is able to focus and follow objects with eyes and brings hand to mouth. They begin to take swipes at dangling objects with hands their movements become stronger. They learn to co-ordinate their movements. Most 18month olds usually walk by themselves (even though some of them might become quite wobbly or unsteady). At 3years most can use tricycle, jump, hop and climb A child grows and develops at an astonishing rate during their first 3years of growing stages. Therefore a child’s body grows stronger, in which they start to develop co-ordination movements, By the time a baby reaches their first birthday, they begin to support large amounts of weight and pulls themself up to their feet, standing this is the beginning of walking. As a result an 18months old child will be capable to walk by themselves even though some of them might become quite wobbly or unsteady, also by the age of 3 years a child might be able to run, jump, hop, climb a climbing frame with little support and pedal a tricycle to get around easily. By the age of 2years a child may master scribbling with a large piece of crayon also by 3 years old they develop the skill to thread a large beads and also try to build a tower with eight or more blocks depending on how balanced and flexible they might be. Babies do not start their walking breakthrough with perfect pace. There is much shuffling, toe walking. The leaning for the babys legs to bob out will usually correct itself by the age of 3 years old. Communication and Intellectual Development At this age they watch faces intently following moving objects recognises familiar objects and people at a distance, they start using hands and eyes in coordination smiling at the sound of familiar voice. They smiles and coo in response to others and begins to imitate movements and facial expressions e. g. Sticking out tongue and begin to babble, imitating sounds. They are able to turn their head towards the direction of sound. This stage of development children will make development in both communication and thinking skills. Generally some children might communicate by crying by expressing their feelings that rely on reflex behaviour and simple baby language to children who can speak full sentences, ask questions and use their mind to solve problems to workout things for themselves. A 5year old can communicate using simple sentences and usually understand simple language. Social, Behavioural and Emotional Development At this age they begin to develop a social smile enjoys playing with other people and may cry when playing stops. They become more communicative and expressive with face and body Imitating some movements and facial expressions. Throughout children’s first 3 years of life they will have advanced a lot. A baby will become totally depending on their careers or parents for all of their care. Children become confident and independent individuals by the age of 3years old. But at the age of 3 years old children will become upset when they are faced with separation situations, such as starting nursery or if left with someone else (stranger) other than family members such as a mother or a father. Physical development 3-5 years Children of this age are able to walk in a straight line, backwards, and up and down stairs. They hop on one foot and are able to use paints, scissors, pencils, and crayons to purposefully create shapes, faces, and letters. They are likely to have bladder and bowel control and are able to dresses and undress themselves, feed themselves and do simple chores with assistance and direction. Children start to carry out more body co-ordination movements and start growing in confidence as a result and learn to control their gross motor skills more skilfully. Between three and five years, children’s confidence grows as they start to explore and look for answers and reasons for everything in their world. They love being praised for trying and like to try everything themselves. Both three and four-year-olds are likely to be very active because they are trying to develop their running, climbing and balancing skills. They need plenty of time outdoors to be able to do this. Although many children at four are experts at climbing, they will generally only attempt what they can manage safely. They still need supervision, however, as they sometimes can climb up an object and then are not able to get down without help. Children will start to engage in imaginary play, and pretend to be animals or fairies, or adults like mums or dads, teachers or doctors. Children by the age of 5years develop their fine motor skills as they are learning how to use their controlling skills in order to complete more complex tasks. At the age of 5 years many children can hop, jump and skip as some 5year olds will use a leading hand (either right or left). Communication and intellectual development †¢ Always asks Why? †¢ Uses longer sentences. †¢ Grammar improves. †¢ Starts to understand the difference between real and imaginary. †¢ Listens to, and understands, short stories. †¢ Sings simple songs and recites rhymes from memory. †¢ Has a very active imagination. Children start to understand more challenging theory (like time) and will sense problem-solving skills to work things out for themselves. At this stage their language skills progress very rapidly as the child’s vocabulary expands and they constantly ask questions. Generally on the whole three year olds have wide vocabulary and they can communicate using complex sentences that are most grammatically correct. At this stage children have an active imagination; they listen to, and understand short stories and might tell you their own version of the story. Children can use proper grammar as they are developing and start to ask questions such as why, where and when. They will start to use long sentences to try and explain things, they will sing and dance along to music’s or even they will recites rhymes from memory. Social, emotional and behavioural development At this age the child is able to ever more identify and put a name to their own feelings. They are also able to use words instead of actions to express feelings. They may start to develop fears include real (the dark, animals, and thunderstorms) and imaginary (monsters, ghosts) subjects and may exaggerates and tells tall tales. They enjoy talking about body functions, a sense of humor develops as the begins to share and take turns. This stage of development they start to hit less but will use name calling more, will enjoy playing with other children more at this stage. Children use pretend play more and use their imaginative and theme based to play mamas and papas. Children like to talk and will talk none stop, children enjoy playing group activities and games with other children or by themselves. At the age of three or five years children might undergo numerous changes and for most children this is the stage where they will be starting nursery and then going on to school. Therefore they will have new experiences which is challenging for children but this helps them to learn about managing their feelings and behaviour and develop social skills like sharing and playing together. Between three and five years children are able to understand consequences of behaviour and also the concept of ‘getting in trouble’. Physical development 5-8 years At this age a child may begin to lose baby teeth is able to dress self with little assistance, they learns to skip, throws a ball overhead catches bounced balls rides a tricycle skilfully; may show interest in riding a bicycle with training wheels. This age group is able to balances on either foot for 5-10 seconds, they are able to use fork and knife well, can confidently cut with a scissors, at this stage left or right hand dominance is established. This child walks down stairs, alternating feet without using a handrail; they are able Jumps over low objects, run, gallop, and tumble. They can skip and run on tiptoe and jump rope. They are interested in performing tricks like standing on head, performing dance steps and are capable of learning complex body coordination skills like swimming, ice or roller skating, and riding bicycles. They may be able to tie shoelaces and are able to copy simple designs and shapes. Between five and eight years children develop better co-ordination and more stamina of their gross motor skills. At this stage children become more skilful with their controlling abilities, they also develop team games such as football as it is a very popular game with children especially with boys. This stage of development children are learning to ride a bike with stabiliser, they also have developed the sense of rhythm and enjoy dancing and movement activities. On the whole a 5 year old can tiptoe or run, they will understand time, they have mastered the alphabet, can use simple correct grammar really well and they play really with other children and they can put on their own shoes by themselves. Most five year olds can walk backward, walk heel-to-toe without losing balance, run on toes, hop proficiently, get up without using hands, balance on alternate feet (eyes open or closed), catch a ball using hands more than arms, jump rope and jump down several steps at a time. Communication and intellectual development At this age children are able to use 5-8 words in a sentence, they might like to argue and reason; use words like because. They would know basic colours like red, yellow, and blue, green, orange and are able to memorize their address and phone number. The child at this age understands that stories have a beginning, middle, and end and is able to remember stories and repeat them, they also enjoys creating and telling stories and develops an Understanding, that books are read from left to right, top to bottom. At this age a child enjoys riddles and jokes, draws pictures that represent animals, people, and objects. They enjoy tracing or copying letters and can place objects in order from shortest to tallest. They can understand and use comparative terms like big, bigger, or biggest and are able to Sorts objects by size. They can also identify some letters of the alphabet and a few numbers (if taught). They are able to understand â€Å"more, less, and same and can count up to 10 objects. They recognises categories eg these toys are all animals, these are all toys and understand position of an object. Their dramatic play is much more elaborate and complex and they can maintain a good attention span concentrating well. They develop curiosity and are interested in cause and effect and can understand time concepts like yesterday, today and tomorrow. Children’s great deal of learning takes place in school, while children are in school they develop their skills in literacy such as (reading, writing, speaking and listening) and their understanding of problem solving and reasoning. By the age of eight years children use logical thought. Social, emotional and behavioural development At this stage of development children start to invent games of their own with friends with simple rules and they will organise toys and pretend play with the other children. Children this stage start to confuse between what is a fantasy and reality and might contracted themselves. Every now and then children have fears of loud noises, the dark, animals, and on occasions of some people. This stage children might start to develop ownership or taking control of things and might not want to take turns and share things with others but doesn’t always want to. Children express anger in many different ways; they might hit another child because they were not given the chance or choice to have a turn in playing the same games and sometimes will get jealousy. Occasionally children try to test their muscular strength and motor skills, but are not emotionally ready for competition. Children time and again might exclude other children in play only wanting to stick with best friends, children develop the use of swear words or from time to time bathroom words in order to gain attention from peers or teachers. They can sometimes be very bossy, likes to try new challenges and take risks, and carries on conversations with other children and adults. They want to make decisions for themselves of what they want to do or eat and dress as. They start to develop an understanding of others feelings and might become aware of another child becoming angry or sad. Children might choose company of 1 or 2 children at a time and might even become bossy or sulky when others join in. A child might like to feel grown up; boasts about self to younger, less capable children. They begin to have a very basic understanding of right and wrong. They start to play contentedly and independently without needing a constant supervision; sometimes they take turns or shares with others but might feel a little bit hesitant. A child might sometimes ask for permission, shows respect and understands rules, they understand and enjoys both giving and receiving, enjoys collecting things and at times needs to get away and be alone, children develop understanding of relationships and similarities and differences in other families, a child will seek an adults approval and sometimes be critical of other children and might be embarrassed by own mistakes. They are less fearful of the world than they are of toddlers because they understand the world better, has a good sense of humour, and enjoys jokes and laughter with adults and peers. Children are becoming much more mature and independent. Children are increasingly independent, undertaking most physical care needs for themselves. They enjoy group play and co-operative activities. By this age children have increase sense of personality and gender are developed. Through improved language skills, therefore children are much more of expressing their feelings and managing their behaviour. By this stage children have established friendship and they become much more confident in social situations. Physical development 8-12 By this stage children develop their puberty for both girls and boys from the around the age of 9 and for some girls they may even start to menstruate around the age of 10 or 11 years old. But for most boys puberty starts later at around 13 or 14 years old and this can lead to some self-consciousness between boys and girls. Boys starts get to develop a deepening of their voice and will start to build up apple in their throat. Boys will begin to have growth of their testicles and penis and start to grow pubic hair, most will have spontaneous erections and wet dreams. Communication and intellectual development At this stage children’s thinking skills is developing maturing and most ten years old can now understand abstracts ideas such as (like feelings). Consequently children’s reasoning and problem solving skills becomes more established and also most ten years old can complete quiet complicated calculations. By this stage children will start that enjoy conversing with each other and chatting in friendships groups. Social development †¢ Girls and boys that develop early are often self-conscious of their body and a target for teasing †¢ Your child may become interested in experimenting with holding hands, hugging and kissing other boys or girls Children at this stage may feel unsettled when making transition from primary school to secondary school and as puberty approaches. Most children may find the transition to secondary challenging and demanding might as well experience intense anxiety and real fear the transit to secondary school. Which therefore can leads to problems with self-esteem and as a result some children become victims of bullying. Most children become independent and might make decision more; also they may play unsupervised at times. At this stage children may travel to school by themselves towards and by the end of age band. As they hit teenage stage they develop mood swings. They will also have conflict with parents/careers due to desire for more independence such as why can’t I stay home alone. They also find that rules are unfair (but all my friends are allowed to do it), they will also start challenging rules to see what happens and may also refuse to go along with some decisions made by parents/careers. Physical development 12-19 years By fifteen or sixteen years of age for most girls the process of puberty is completed. On the other hand for boys puberty starts around the age of fourteen years. For both boys and girls their body changes rapidly throughout puberty, even though some boys grow very rapidly, this can lead to some degree of clumsiness and poor spatial awareness. At this stage some children might develop some talents in sport activities. They might even learn or refine controlling skills such as drawing, stitching, carpentry, woodwork and playing instrument. Communication and intellectual development Young people will be faced with challenges in school as they will preparing for examinations and start to think about their future. At this stage of development children’s academic knowledge stats to increase as exam curriculum is followed towards aged sixteen, as a result decisions are made about their future goals such as (college course and university careers). They might become reluctant to directly as adults for advice or information they need. Young people may prefer to access information or advice as anonymously. Young people might become stressful due to the pressure to achieve and succeed becomes a powerful force. Young people’s communication is carried out in number of through electronic means such as text message ia mobile phones, emails or social networking sites such as facebook, twitter and instagram. Social, emotional and behavioural development Young people desire to express understanding starts to develop while at the same time they form strong desire to fit in with peers become apparent and interest in the opposite sex, and also in own sexuality. They might express themselves through creatively such as art/music/dance/drama and even in creative writing. Young people may experience mood swings and they may disregard the opinions/values of parents/careers if they conflict with those of the peer group. As a result many young people experience their first romantic relationships at this stage and this can lead to some complicated emotions for them to manage. Consequently these stages of development young people become overly concerned about their appearances such as weight or body image. In some cases this leads to eating disorders, low self-esteem and depressions. Sometimes young people swing between acting maturely and saying/doing ‘childish things’. Young people are more likely to communicate their inner thoughts and feelings more frequently to friends than they are with adults.

Critical Analysis of Quantitative Research Essay Example for Free

Critical Analysis of Quantitative Research Essay The researchers in this experiment aimed to â€Å"Investigate the quantitative differentiation of pulmonary dendritic cells in smoker with or without chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) to explore the possible role of dendritic cells in smokers suffering COPD† (Yan-wei, Yong-jiang, Xian-sheng, 2010). Dendritic cells (DCs) are inflammatory cells that are considered to be the promoter of immune responses; knowing this the researchers hypothesized that DCs may play an important role in the development of the disease. See more: how to write an analysis Subjects were broken into three groups based on an illness gradient: (control group, smokers without airflow obstruction, and COPD group as determined by the Chinese Society of Respiratory Disease). Samples of alveolar tissue were taken from these three groups and studied using immunohistochemical staining and immunofluorescence confocal laser scanning. The results from the experiment are portrayed using a one-way analysis of variance, Pearson’s r coefficient, graphs, and scatter plots. The conclusion of the data showed that â€Å"The quantity of the DCs significantly increased in smokers with COPD compared with non-smokers or smokers without COPD† (Yan-wei et al., 2010). A critical analysis of this article received a 31.5. The article was well put together and provided many up to date references as resources to give a better understanding of the research. The authors explained their methodologies in great detail and the production of their data was concise and easy to read. However, the study lacked when it came to representing a diverse population. The study also lacks in terms of providing evidence of the consent of the subjects and the evidence of the governing body of the experiment. The research that was done in this experiment allowed scientist to develop new hypotheses concerning dendritic cells and their role in chronic diseases such as COPD. The links that were made with this research between dendritic cells, lung capacity, and cigarette smoke could potentially be the forefront of new treatments and earlier diagnoses for COPD victims. References Yan-wei, S., Yong-jian, X., Xian-sheng, L. (2010). Quantitative differentiation of dendritic cells in lung tissues of smokers with and without chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Chinese Medical Journal, 123(12). Retreived from http://www.cmj.org/Periodical/PDF/200481469383420.pdf

Strategic Management Process At Sainsburys

Strategic Management Process At Sainsburys 1.0 Introduction The aim of this report is about the Strategic Management Process and how it related to the retail industry. The retail industry that was chose to support this report is J Sainsbury Plc, the third largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. In Strategy Management Process, it consists of three major sections which are, first, the Strategy Analysis, then follow by Strategy Formulation and lastly is the Strategy Implementation. In Strategy Management, there are various types of Strategy Analytical tools to apply to find out the Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunity and Threats of an organisation as all the organisations will face its glory time and difficulties. Generally in the retail industry, Strategy Management is the most common plan to use to seek the problems or opportunities available to overcome the crisis and driving high performance in the long term (Accenture.com, 2009). Few chosen tools such as Porters PEST Analysis, Five forces, Value Chain Analysis, Portfolio Analysis , Generic Strategy, Control System and Strategy Process were further explained and supported in this report. 2.0 Strategy Analysis According to Ron Meyer (2004, pg44), analysis is the first step to develop a strategy decision. In Analysis stage, an organization has to identify the opportunities and threats in the environment, as well as the strengths and weaknesses first before proceeding into strategy formulation. These are commonly known as the four factors of S.W.O.T. analysis. SWOT analysis will help to identify the issues that are must critical to the future of the organisation. As for the first part of the analysis, factors which are external to the organization are the opportunity and threats. While for the internal factors are the strength and weaknesses. There are strategy analytical tools to identify the external and internal factors. PEST is one of the tools that can trace the opportunity and Five Forces can use to identify the threats of the organization. On the other hand, value chains analysis can apply to identify the strength and weaknesses. 2.1 Opportunities and Threats An organizations Opportunity and Threats are affected by external environment. Opportunities are external conditions that are helpful to achieving the objective of an organization while threats are external conditions that are harmful to achieving the organisations objective. 2.2 Strengths and Weaknesses Internal Environment affects an organisations Strengths and Weaknesses. Strength are the capabilities of the organization that are helpful to achieving the objective whereas, Weakness attributes of the organization that are harmful to achieving the objective. 2.3 Strategy Analytical Tools for External Environment (Macro-Environment) Strategy analytical tools such as PEST and Five Forces can identify the external environment factors to an organization. 2.3.1 PEST Analysis is an External Environment Tool that Identify the Opportunity of an Organization Thomas L. Wheelen (2010) points out that the general environment consists of all conditions in the external environment that forms a background context for managerial decision making. In other words, general environment is the outer layer that is widely dispersed and affects organizations indirectly. General environment can be affected by Political factors, Environmental factors, Social factors and Technological factors or in acronym, PEST. Political Factor-Political factors refer to the government policy such as the degree of intervention in the economy. In United Kingdom, government decreases the rate of corporation tax from 30% to 28%, which can save or help big companies like Sainsburys significant sums of money. (HM Treasury 2008). Economic Factor-Interest rates, taxation changes, economic growth, inflation and exchange rates are factors of economy. As the global food crisis rapidly increase has increased the food prices all over the world which caused the rising purchasing costs for Sainsburys (economist.com 2008 [online]). This will have an impact on the margins of the organisation and might lead to passing over the cost to consumers by increasing prices of most things in the supermarket. In addition, fuel price increases will have implications right throughout the supply chain of Sainsburys leading to an overall situation to price hike. Social Factor-Richard Lynch stated that (2006) the demand of a firms products and the availability and willingness of a person to work can be affected by the changes of the social trends. Nowadays there seems to be more emphasis on fresh, easy style cooking. This serves an opportunity for Sainsburys to encourage new recipes and unfussy eating. Moreover, people are more emphasis on healthy eating style mostly due to the increasing level of obesity which leads to many consumers to shift towards healthier food. This new trend has presents a beneficial opportunity to Sainsburys to stock up with more healthy food or create healthier foods at a cheaper price than other manufacturers. Technological Factor-New technologies can create new products and new processes that can reduce costs, improve quality and lead to innovation. Sainsbury invested new technology of Smart Grid to cuts energy costs and reduces UK carbon emissions rate. The system monitors the grid and activates the stores biofuel generator when there is an increased demand for electricity. As a result, reserve power stations will not have to be used as much and the UKs carbon footprint will be reduced. The generator is the first of its kind and will be powered by waste oil and fat from Sainsburys stores to act as an auxiliary power source. Additional technology in the store will reduce strain on the grid further by deactivating or reducing the stores heating, ventilation and lighting systems at peak times. This is an opportunity to Sainsbury as they use the waste to produce electricity rather than using other source, hence, they can save up the electricity costs. (Sainsbury.co.uk,2010) 2.4 Fives Forces Model to Analysis the External Environment Five forces model is an analytical approach use to analyze a firms industry environment. Factors that are considered in five forces analysis are the risk of entry by potential competitors, bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of buyers, threat of substitute products and rivalry among established firms. (John A. Pearce, 2011) The Bargaining Power of Suppliers-Suppliers can affect an industry through their ability to raise prices or reduce the quality of purchased good and services. It should be noted that the suppliers are inclined towards major food and grocery retailers and dread losing their business contracts with large supermarkets. Hence, the position of the retailers like Tesco, Asda, and Sainsburys is further strengthened and negotiations are positive in order to get the lowest possible price from the suppliers (Ivorysearch.com). In November 2006, Sainsbury has announced that they are the first to launch new payment management system to make it easier and quicker for suppliers to access account information and gain early payments which has built a strong relationship with the supplier. Suppliers can view their trading account through internet, this giving the supplier better visibility of their expected cash flow. This is also an opportunity to Sainsbury as they have a good relationship with the supplier (PrimeRevenue.com, 2009). The Intensity of Competitive Rivalry-In most industries, corporations are mutually dependant. A competitive move by one firm can be expected to have a noticeable effect on its competitors and thus may cause retaliation. The intensity of competitive rivalry in the food and grocery retail industry is extremely high. Sainsbury faces intense competition from its direct competitors, including Asda, Tesco, Morrisons and Waitrose, which are competing with each other over price, products and promotions intermittently. It should therefore be highlighted that Asda is one of the key competitors in this segment with an increase of market share from 16.6% to 16.8% during the fiscal year 2010/ 09, while Morrisons to 11.6% from 11.3% through the same period (Euromonitor, 2010). Sainsbury has to come out new ideas to cope with the high competitive pressure in order to overcome the threats from other big competitors. The Bargaining Power of Buyers-Buyers is one of the keys that affect an industry because of their ability to force down prices, bargain for higher quality or move services, and play competitors against each other. In cases where products have a slight differentiation and are more standardised, the switching cost is very low and the buyers can easily switch from one brand to another. Customers are easily attracted towards low prices of a product. Besides, with the availability of online retail shopping, the prices of products are easily compared and thus selected. Hence, the bargaining power of customer is a threat to an industry or Sainsbury (John Thompson, 2010). The Threat of the Entry of New Competitors-New entrants to an industry typically bring to it new capacity, a desire to gain market share, and substantial resources which are threats to an established corporation. The threat of entry depends on the presence of entry barriers and the reaction that can be expected from existing competitors. An entry barrier is an obstruction that makes it difficult for a company to enter an industry. The threat of entry of new competitors into the food retail industry is low as it requires huge capital investments in order to be competitive and to establish a brand name. Major brands that have already captured the food retail market are Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys and Morrisons and they account for 80% of all shopping in the UK (Mintel, 2010). Therefore, new entrants have to produce something at an exceptionally low price and/or high quality to establish their market value. The Threat of Substitute Products or Services-A substitute product is a product that appears to be different but can satisfy the same need as another product. 2.5 Strategy Analytical Methods for Internal Environment (Micro-Environment) Value Chain Analysis defines as the activities that take place in a business and relates them to an analysis of the competitive strength of the business. Michael Porter suggested that the activities of a business could be grouped under two headings which are Primary and Supported Activities. Primary activities are activities that directly create and deliver a product whereas support activities are not directly involved in production and it may increase effectiveness or efficiency of the production. On the primary activities are inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales and service. On the other hand, supported activities include procurement, human resource management, technology development and Firm Infrastructure. (Anthony Henry, 2008). Value Chain Analysis is one way of identifying which activities are the strengths or weaknesses of the organization. 2.5.1 Operations of Primary Activities These are the activities related to the production of products and services. This section can be split into departments in certain companies. For instances, the operations in case of a Sainsbury would include information counter, services counter and cashier. After operating without a third-party inventory auditor for ten years, Sainsburys retailers lacked a sound process for ensuring that accurate counts of product were recorded. The absence of a reliable system prevented Sainsburys from accurately measuring its inventory, thereby limiting their ability to control product shrinkage. This, in turn, led to lower earnings. Also present was the reluctance by store personnel to change store procedures and accept responsibility for accurate store reporting. This ends up becoming weaknesses to Sainsburys operation. (RGIS, 2010) 2.5.2 Outbound Logistics of Primary Activities Outbound logistics are activities that distributing the final product or services to the customers. (David Cambell) Product availability is now the best it has been for years. The depot network has been successfully reorganised to continue to improve service to stores. With the increase in sales, the depots now handle over a million more cases and improved efficiencies have also reduced the cost per case. A new distribution centre in Northampton ensures there is enough capacity to match growth expectations and creating 750 new jobs. This strength of the organization has not only improved efficiency to the consumer and also provided jobs for the people (J-Sainsbury.co.uk, 2007) 2.6 Human Resource Management of Supported Activities Human resource management involves with recruiting, training, motivating and rewarding the workforce of the company. Human resources management is important to a companys operation nowadays as it is a way of attaining sustainable competitive advantage. In the case of Sainsbury, colleagues are the key to the companys success and over the past year leadership training to 9000 managers throughout the business was completed. Sainsbury learned how to engage with its colleagues with its goals and values through their talkback survey and last year had marked improvements in both colleague engagement and its leadership skills. As for that, Sainsbury has a good profile for treating its staff professionally so that this strength of it can recruit staff even easily. After analysed the Strength and Weaknesses and Opportunity and Threats by using Strategic Analytical tools, the next step is Strategy Formulation. With the analysis result are collected, to formulate changes has to base on the analysed results in order to change accordingly. 3.0 Strategy Formulation Ron Meyer (2004) describes strategy formulation as the development of long range plans for the effective management of environmental opportunities and threats in light of corporate strengths and weaknesses. It includes defining the corporate mission, specifying achievable objectives, developing strategies and setting policy guidelines. 3.1 Strategies M. Thenmozhi (2001) concludes that a strategy of a corporation forms a comprehensive master plan stating how the corporation will achieve its mission and objectives. There are different types of strategy and the typical business firm will considers three types of strategy which are corporate, business and functional strategies. 3.2 Corporate Strategy It describes a companys overall direction in terms of its general attitude towards growth and management of its various business and product lines. Corporate strategy deals with three key issues facing the corporation as a whole. 3.2.1 Directional strategy It is the firms overall orientation towards growth, stability and retrenchment. Growth Strategies-Expanding a companys activities to increase sales or to take advantage to reduce the per-unit cost of products sold which increase profits. There are two basic growth strategies which are concentration and diversification. Concentration-Concentrate or work closely on the product line that contribute growth or profitable to the organization. The two basic concentration strategies are vertical growth and horizontal growth. Diversification-A company chooses to diversify to seek to increase profitability through greater sales volume obtained from new products and new markets. The three basic diversification strategies are concentric, horizontal and conglomerate. In the case of Sainsbury, Sainsbury has diversified into new market of Sainsburys Bank in 1997. This is a joint venture with Bank of Scotland into a new segment of market. (Encyclopedia.com, 2001) Stability- Anthony Henry (2008) notes that an organization can continue its current activities without any significant change in direction. Some of the more popular of these strategies are the pause/proceed-with-caution, no-change and profit strategies. Pause/Proceed-With-Caution-This is an opportunity to rest before continuing a growth or retrenchment strategy. It is a very deliberate attempt to make only incremental improvements until a particular environmental situation changes. No-Change Strategy-No change strategy is a decision to do nothing new, it is a choice to continue current operations and policies for the foreseeable future. Profit Strategy-A profit strategy is a decision to do nothing new in a worsening situation but instead to act as though the companys problems are only temporary. The profit strategy is an attempt to artificially support profits when a companys sales are declining by reducing investment and short-term discretionary expenditures. Retrenchment Strategies-Thomas L. Wheelen (2006) suggests that companies that are facing declining sales or making losses can imply retrenchment strategy to eliminate the weaknesses that are dragging the company down. Management may follow one of the several retrenchment strategies such as turnaround, becoming a captive company to selling out, bankruptcy or liquidation. Turnaround Strategy-Emphasizes the improvement of operational efficiency and is probably most appropriate when a corporations problems are pervasive but not yet critical. A poorly performing firm is able to improve its performance by cutting costs and expenses and by selling assets. There are two types of turnaround strategy which are contraction and consolidation. Sainsbury lost its position as Britains second largest supermarket retailer to Wal-Marts Asda as the sales volume had dropped. Sainsburys Cheif Exceutive planned to cut out  £900m of costs to improve its performance. (Richard Fletcher, 2003) Captive Company Strategy-Captive company strategy involves giving up independence in exchange for security. A company with a weak competitive position may not be able to engage in a full-blown turnaround strategy. The industry may not be sufficiently attractive to justify such an effort from either the current management or investors. Sell Out-If a corporation with a weak competitive position in an industry is unable either to pull itself up by its bootstraps or to find a customer to which it can become a captive company, it may have no choice but to sell out. Bankruptcy and Liquidation Strategy-When a company is in a poor competitive situation, there are no one is interested to buy a weak company in an unattractive industry. Hence, the firm must pursue a bankruptcy or liquidation strategy. Bankruptcy involves giving up management of the firm to the courts in return for some settlement of the corporations obligations. In contrast to bankruptcy, which seeks to perpetuate a corporation, liquidation is the termination of a firm. 3.2.2 Portfolio Analysis Top management views its product lines and business units as a series of portfolio investment and constantly keep analyzing for a profitable return. Two of the most popular strategies are the BCG Growth Share Matrix and GE Matrix. BCG or Boston Consulting Group Growth-Share Matrix ( Picture refers to Appendix A) BCG-Share Matrix is a management tool that serves four distinct purposes, it can be used to classify product portfolio in four business types based on four graphic labels including Stars, Cash Cows, Question Marks and Dogs. Besides, it can be used to determine what priorities should be given in the product portfolio of a company. Thirdly, it can classify an organisations product portfolio according to their cash usage and generation. Lastly, it offers management available strategies to tackle various product lines. (Tripod.com) Cash Cows-Are units with high market share in a slow-growing industry. These units typically generate cash in excess of the amount of cash needed to maintain the business. Dogs-Are units with low market share in a mature, slow-growing industry. These units typically break even, generating barely enough cash to maintain the businesss market share. Question Marks-This section are growing rapidly and consume large amount of cash, but because of the low market shares they do not generate much cash this results large net cash consumption. Stars-Are units with a high market share in a fast-growing industry. 3.2.3 Parenting Strategy It views a corporation in terms of resources and capabilities that can be used to build business unit value as well as generate synergies across business units. Corporate parenting generates corporate strategy by focusing on the core competencies of the parent corporation and on the value created from the relationship between the parent and its business. 3.3 Business Strategy Christina Crowe (2010) describes that Business strategy is to strengthen a particular business so that its performance increases and the business are more profitable. It improves the competitive position of the corporations products or services in the specific industry or marketing segment. Michael Porter developed Generic strategies which consist of cost leadership, differentiation and focus. 3.3.1 Generic Strategy (Picture refer to Appendix B) Cost Leadership-It is emphasizing efficiency, cost reduction is necessary in all aspects of the business. It has to produce high volume of standardized products to take the advantage of economies of scales and experience curve effects. The product is often a basic no-frills product which is low cost and made available to a very large customer base. It will be profitable as the product is much cheaper to produce. China domestic retail industry faced fierce competition from foreign-funded retail enterprises, hence, China used to the Cost Leadership Strategy to gained back the competition.(EngHi138, 2006) Differentiation-Differentiated goods and services satisfy the needs of customers through a sustainable competitive advantage. This allows companies to desensitize prices and focus on value that generates a comparatively higher price and a better margin. Focus or Niche Strategy-Organization focuses effort and resources on a narrow, defined segment of a market. Competitive advantage is generated specifically for the niche. A niche strategy is often used by smaller firms. A company could use either a cost focus or a differentiation focus. With a cost focus a firm aims at being the lowest cost producer in that niche or segment. With a differentiation focus a firm creates competitive advantage through differentiation within the niche or segment. (MarketingTeacher.com, 2000) 3.4 Functional Strategy It is the approach taken by a functional area to achieve corporate and business unit objectives and strategies by maximizing resource productivity. It is concerned with developing nurturing a distinctive competence to provide a company or business unit with a competitive advantage. A hierarchy of strategy is the grouping of strategy types by levels in the organization. This hierarchy of strategy is a nesting of one strategy within another so that they complement and support one another. Functional strategies support business strategies that in turn support the corporate strategy (John A. Pearce, 2011,p288) 3.5 Strategy Evaluation Anthony Henry (2008) mentions that Suitability, feasibility and acceptability can help managers to be explicit about any assumptions that may underpin their strategies. 3.5.1 Suitability-the plan or the changes are suitable or not to the organisation which help the organisation to overcome difficulties or help the organisation to improve. An organisation will be concerned to evaluate how well the strategy matches the needs identified within its strategic analysis. There should be some consistency between the strategy, the opportunities within the external environment, the resources and capabilities of the organisation, and the organisational objectives (Juha Kettunen) 3.5.2 Feasibility-Concerns whether a strategy will work in practice. An organisation must ensure that it possesses the necessary resources and capabilities, such as finance, technological expertise, marketing, and other factors necessary to implement the strategy. 3.5.3 Acceptability- This criterion of acceptability addresses the response of stakeholders to the proposed strategy. Clearly, if a strategic change is to be implemented, it must have the support of those who will be most affected by it. In a nutshell, after completed the strategy formulation, the next is to sets the stage of strategy implementation. Implementation is usually considered after strategy has been formulated, implementation is a key part of strategic management. 4.0 Strategy Implementation The last section of strategy management is often called the action phase as Kyra Bartolomei (2010) defines Strategy Implementation as the process of allocating resources to support the chosen strategies to generate positive outcomes which can achieve the organizational goals. Pierce and Robinson say that to effectively direct and control the use of the firms resources, mechanisms such as organizational structure, information systems, leadership styles, assignment of key managers, budgeting, rewards and control systems are essential strategy implementation ingredients 4.1 Organisational Structure Shane Thornton (2011) points out that organizational structure are formal systems of relationships that exist within a business. Organizational structures allow management to monitor and control the business process while facilitating working relationships among employees from top to bottom. Different types of organizational structures include functional structure, divisional structure, matrix structure, hierarchical or tall structure, and horizontal or flat structure. However, functional and divisional structures are commonly used by retail industry as Tesco organisation structure is functional structure as it has different department to serve different tasks which allows its employees to see easily who is in charge of each department or who their department manager is (123HelpMe.com). On the other hand, Asda used both divisional and functional structures. The functional structure of Asda consist of few departments and the main department is the customer service department as Asda is more concerns about customer service which they think it is extremely important that a business gives 100% at all times to the customer because there are only one chance with a customer and if the customer is not impressed with the service they received, they will not return and also will spread bad comments about Asda. As for the Divisional Structure of Asda, it has the Executive Committee, Editorial Board, Council Chairs, ASDA Board of Trustees and ASDA House of Delegates (Asda.net.org). Functional Structure-Donna G. Morton (2011) explained that functional structure is differs from a divisional or product structure, which typically distinguishes its units by product type or geographical region and allows leaders within each unit more control. This means that dividing the tasks into functional specialties to enables the personnel of the firms to concentrate on only one aspect of the necessary work. The functional structure was designed on the concept that high specialization and high control yields high efficiency. The organisation structure used by Sainsbury is the Functional Structure as Sainsbury has different department such as IT department and purchasing department. The IT department is more focus on efficiency system to customer and the purchasing department is to deliver in time and efficient. The purchasing department was previously complex and was then control by Lawrence Christensen who joined in September and restructuring including the recruitment of new members to the management team. (J-sainsbury.co.uk) Divisional Structure-Audra Bianca (2009) defines divisional organizational structure as breaks the public, private or non-profit firm into a series of semi-autonomous units. Each division has its own chief officer who is responsible for the performance of the division. Organizations must decide how to organize parts of the firm according to characteristics like function, geographic location or products. 4.2 Strategy Leadership Organisational leadership is to guiding and shepherding towards a vision over time and developing growth and success to an organisation (John A. Pearce, 2011, p326 ). Leaders galvanize commitment to embrace change through three interrelated activities which are clarifying strategic intent, building and organisation and shaping organisational culture. 4.2.1 Clarifying Strategy Intent Clarifying Strategy Intent is a clear sense of where they want to lead the company and what results they expect to achieve. To clarify Strategic Intent, organisation has to simultaneously concentrate and focus on the vision and performance (John A. Pearce, 2011, p328). Vision-A leader has to communicate clearly and directly a fundamental vision of what the business needs to become. Performance-Clarifying strategic intent must also ensure the survival of the enterprise as it pursues a well articulated vision, and after it reaches the vision. So a key element of good organisational leadership is to make clear the performance expectations a leader has for the organisation, and mangers in it, as they seek to move toward that vision. Alex Blyth (2007) reported that the arrival of Justin King as the new CEO of Sainsbury which created a new approach, Sainsburys began its leadership programme in October 2004. Straight away, the HR team undertook a major communications exercise to spread these values throughout the business. Sainsburys last audited set of financial results, which it reported in November 2006, are testament to the success of the leadership programme. The company enjoyed half-year sales growth of 8.3%, and a 60% leap in profits to  £189m. Internal measures have also shown the programme was well received. The companys monthly staff opinion survey has shown a 10% rise in the indices that measure employee engagement and leadership capability over the past 12 months. The leadership programme has been a significant factor in this recent improvement in the companys fortunes. 4.2.2 Building an Organisation Thomas L. Wheelen (2008) mentions that leaders spend considerable time shaping and refining their organisational structure and making it function effectively to accomplish strategic intent. Leaders have to rebuilding, remaking or create new strategy for the organisation to align with the ever-changing environment. However, there are overcoming resistance while making any changes which leaders find themselves facing problems while attempt to rebuild the organisation. Leaders can overcome with the problems with the help of education, perseverance and principle. Education and Leadership Development-The effort to familiarize future leaders with the skills important to the company and to develop exceptional leaders among the managers employed. Perseverance-Perseverance of a leader is the capacity to see a commitment through to completion long after most people would have stopped trying. Principle-A leaders fundamental personal standards that guide her sense of honesty, integrity, and ethical behaviour. 4.2.3 Shaping Organisational Culture Leaders u

Sheriff Matt Dillon: Human or Lawman? :: Television TV

Sheriff Matt Dillon: Human or Lawman? Gunsmoke, starring William Conrad as Sheriff Matt Dillon, was the longest running western radio program ever to air. It is the story of a country that moved west, and the man who moved with it. Matt Dillon's fairness, caring, and stern attitude epitomize the stereotypical old-west lawman. Matt Dillon's fairness comes through clearly when he deals with a would-be gunman and a man posing as a gunman in "The Lamb" (12-05-53). When the latter was shot by the would-be gunman, Dillon threw the gunman in jail and sent the other man to the doctor. When he found out that the injured man had only been mistaken for a well-known gunman, he sounds very disappointed for both men. He doesn't let the gunman have the reward money that he would have received if the other man had been the outlaw he had mistaken him for and when that man dies, he faces being hanged. Matt Dillon's caring attitude enables a young woman named Nina Peters to stay in Dodge while her husband has to leave for a while ("Nina" 12-5-53). When her husband returns, he finds out that a couple of ruffians have caused her to have a miscarriage. Dillon allows Mr. Peters to fight one of the men who hurt Nina. Dillon seems almost pleased that Peters was able to beat up the bully and offers to buy him a drink afterward. Dillon uses a stern manner deal with a couple of ruffians in "Kick Me" (11-26-53). The men had written a false letter of recommendation, telling an old Indian that it would get him a job with the trail herd. In return for getting him kicked out of the camp, the old Kiowa made Indian medicine against him. When one of the men ended up dead, Dillon jumped to the conclusion that the Indian had killed him. He was adamant about his innocence, and the dead man's partner ended up confessing to the killing. Dillon dealt with him accordingly.

Archetypal Characters and Symbols in The Phantom of the Opera Essay

Archetypal Characters and Symbols in The Phantom of the Opera      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The story of The Phantom of the Opera appeals to many types of personalities and people of all ages because of its archetypal characters and patterns.   Carl Jung theorized that we are born with innate tendencies to perceive things a certain way:   "a kind of readiness to reproduce over and over again the same or similar mythical ideas . . ."1.   These repeated ideas are archetypes.   The basic legend of The Phantom takes place in 19th century Paris, and is that of a young and talented, but untrained singer named Christine.   Erik, the Phantom, is a disfigured genius of many fields, including music, architecture, magic, and science.   His fatal flaw stems from his strong dislike and mistrust of the rest of the human race, which has been very unkind to him throughout his life.   He encounters Christine in the Paris Opera House, becomes infatuated with her, and initially claims to be her otherworldly musical tutor.   Conflict occurs when Christi ne is torn between Erik's dark and passionate world, and her innocent love for the well-bred Raoul.   These fundamentals of the story of The Phantom are kept in tact among the versions, while changes are made to target the adaptation to a certain audience.   Another common attraction is to the personality of Erik, a character often repeated in literature.   Erik's relationship with Christine also encompasses many archetypal patterns, and the love triangle among Christine, Erik and Raoul is a recurring human behaviour2.   In addition, there are several object-oriented archetypes throughout the story.   Repetition of patterns and characters in The Phantom of the Opera creates a universal appeal for the tale.       The bas... ...anges to target the legend to different types of people, but the archetypes always remain.       1 Carl Jung, Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, 7 2 Anthony Pena, Unus Mundus:   Archetypes and Dreams 3 Kate McMullan, The Phantom of the Opera, 5 4 Amazon.com sales rank as of May 2000 5 Charlotte Vale Allen, Night Magic, 203 6 Gaston Leroux, The Phantom of the Opera, 334 7 Charles Horton Cooley, Human Nature and the Social Order, 155 8 Charles Darwin, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals 9 Joseph Henderson, "Ancient Myths and Modern Man," Man and His Symbols, Carl Jung, ed., 152 10 Anthony Pena, Unus Mundus: Archetypes and Dreams 11 Angela Mattos, The Labyrinth 12 InDreaMensions, Archetypes Glossary 13 Ibid 14 Ibid 15 John L. Flynn, Phantoms of the Opera:   The Man Behind the Mask