Sustainable Logistic Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Sustainable Logistic - Case Study Example Similarly, adoption of integrated information technology solutions will make the system more open, transparent and manageable. A grip over the operational and economic priorities in warehousing will amply streamline the logistic operations.Table of Contents Chapter Page I. A RESUME OF THE CURRENT SITUATION 5 II. STATEMENT OF THE MAIN ISSUES AND PROBLEMS 7 III. OUTLINE OF ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS 13 IV. RECOMMENDATIONS 14 V. IMPLEMENTATION 15 VI. ANALYSIS 16 Works Cited 17 Section I: A Resume of the Current Situation Going by the current statutory regulations and the general accentuated awareness about plastic recycling, plastic re-processing firms definitely have an immense potential in the present times. Still on primary problem with PlastCo is its inability to streamline its procurement of plastic waste. Despite there being an abundance of the plastic waste being generated in the UK, PlastCo seems to be having problems in accessing the reliable and dependable vendors of plastic waste. The firm has failed to chalk out a strategic and planned approach towards vendor...Information management is the key factor that determines success in logistical operations. PlastCo has failed to incorporate integrated information technology solutions within its logistic and supply chain management operations. The information portals are outdated and inefficient. One other aspect that is jeopardizing the logistic viability of PlastCo is its inability to define the operational and economic functions of the warehouses at its disposal. A possible realignment of the operational mechanisms within its warehouses will certainly add to the firm’s efficiency and cost effectiveness. Maintenance of cordial and symbiotic channel relationships will bring in an element of predictability to its plastic waste requirements. Similarly, adoption of integrated information technology solutions will make the system more open, transparent and manageable. A grip over the operational and economic priorities in warehousing will amply streamline the logistic operations. Going by the current statutory regulations and the general accentuated awareness about plastic recycling, plastic re-processing firms definitely have an immense potential in the present times. Still on primary problem with PlastCo is its inability to streamline its procurement of plastic waste. Despite there being an abundance of the plastic waste being generated in the UK, PlastCo seems to be having problems in accessing the reliable and dependable vendors of plastic waste.Prompt and reliable information is the backbone of successful logistic operations.

America and Vietnam Essay Example for Free

America and Vietnam Essay Olsen and Roberts are both history professors who are fascinated with the ways by which the American government made the situation of the war with Vietnam a fearful yet victorious even for the reputation of the said country. The authors were then able to contribute their thoughts about the situation thus seeing the situation of the past wars a manifestation of the reputation of the American society in the world account of recognized countries of war and reconciliation. Their book â€Å"Where the Domino Fell† actually pictures the actual situations that happened during the American-Vietnamese war during the 1960’s and how the said history particularly affects the relationship of the two countries involved. About the Book [Content and Summary] The overall content of the book is highly recommended for reading and teaching as it gives a clear yet critical approach in assessing the US policy that controlled the Vietnam society from then until the present. Undeniably, the book of Olsen and Roberts is an awakening material that helps the human mind realize the importance of being diplomatic and lawful even when in the middle of distress. Surprisingly, the American society was able to steel a fine reputation out from all the oppression that they have already implicated upon the Vietnamese society during the war years. Through the critical assessment of the situation, the authors intended to give the readers a fine picture not only of what is or what has been obvious but also a glimpse of the truth behind the scenes of historical accounts written in books today. Implications of the Reading As it has been noted earlier, the reading gave a clear depiction of what has happened and why the said events happened during the American-Vietnamese war in the 1960’s. With the insightful informations that the authors posted through their book, they were able to help readers realize what the facts are and how they particularly affect the present relationship that exists between the said countries. Critique of the Writing Approach As for the writing approach of the authors, it is undeniable that the informations that they posted through the reading were carefully assessed thus giving out validated facts that support their explanations of the said historical event. The clarity of the implications of the reading has been strengthened by the documentations that the authors used to show the authenticity of the reading. The utilization of other researches that supported their claims and opinions made the book a must read not only for professors and students, but also for those individuals who endeavor reading books under the typical yet critical approach of understanding history and American politics. Within the context of the book lies a less-traveled path among the historians of the present times. Olsen and Roberts certainly made it clear that history is a human account needed to be understood and learned from through critical observation of the past. Reference: James S. Olson and Randy Roberts. (2006). Where the Domino Fell: America and Vietnam 1945-2006 [ILLUSTRATED]. Blackwell Publishing Limited; 5 edition.

History Of Philosophy :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Philosophy is a vast field. It examines and probes many different fields. Virtue, morality, immortality, death, and the difference between the psyche (soul) and the soma (body) are just a few of the many different topics which can be covered under the umbrella of philosophy. Philosophers are supposed to be experts on all these subjects. The have well thought out opinions, and they are very learned people. Among the most revered philosophers of all time was Socrates. Living around the 5th century B.C., Socrates was among the first philosophers who wasn't a sophist, meaning that he never felt that he was wise for he was always in the pursuit of knowledge. Unfortunately, Socrates was put to death late in his life. One of his best students, Plato, however, recorded what had occurred on that last day of Socrates' life. On that last day of his life, Socrates made a quite powerful claim. He claimed that philosophy was merely practice for getting used to death and dying.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At first, the connection between philosophy and death is not clear. However, as we unravel Socrates' argument backing up his claim, the statement makes a lot of sense. In order for Philosophers to examine their world accurately and learn the truth accurately, they must remove them selves of all distractions. These not only include physical distractions, but they include mental distractions and bodily distractions as well. Philosophers must get used to viewing and examining the world with out any senses. Senses merely hinder and obscure the truth. Sight for example can be fooled easily with optical illusions which occur normally in nature. Sound can be very distracting as well when a philosopher is trying to concentrate. All of these cloud the judgement, and must therefore be detached from the soul. Socrates argues that philosophers must view the world around them with their souls in order to accurately learn about it. However, by detaching their souls from all bodily functions, philosophers may as well be in an induced state of death. In mortem, the soul wanders free and there are no bodily hindrances.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Socrates also believed that philosophers look upon death with good cheer and hope. This I find hard to believe because if this were true, the philosopher would not be able to love life, and without the love of life, there is no life to examine and learn about.

College Tuition Essay

There’s no escaping the fact that college cost are rising. According to recently released reports from the College Board, most students and their families can expert to pay, on average, from $95 to $1,404 more than last year for this year’s tuition and fees, depending on the type of college. (Collegeboard. com) The United States needs to lower the cost of college tuition; because students and parents have had to pay double the amount of money for schooling then they would have ten years ago. In the past five years, the average cost of in-state tuition and fees at public colleges has jumped thirty-five percent. In the past twenty-five years, the average cost of tuition and fees has risen faster than personal income, consumer prices and even health insurance. In 1999 students had to pay $2,489 for universities and $865 for community college. In 2003 the price rose from $3,441 for universities and $1,120 for community college. In 2006 the price jumped to $4,867 for universities and $1,483 for community college. Between 1999 and 2006 there was a 95. 54 percent change in the universities pay and a 71. 45 percent change for community colleges. There is no denying the fact that college tuition has doubled in prices (USAtoday. com). According to stateuniversity. com Blinn College undergraduate tuition for in-district students is $1,260, for in-state $2,478 and for out of state $5670; not including the undergraduate required fee which is $1,176 for all three districts. For tuition alone you are spending between $2,436 and $6,846. Now if you add in books and supplies which runs between $946 and $995. You also can not forget about room and board which can run $5,888 to $6,047 (stateuniversity. com). If you add that all together for Blinn College you are expected to spend roughly $9,270 to attend Blinn College for a semester. A small reduction in state support may result in a large increase in tuition. We help pay for maintaining access for handicapped students; Meetings environmental requirements; screening international students; and conforming to historical preservation requirements. If you think about it we are helping out the school and students. Prices increase as colleges compete for students to come to there college. Of course there are scholarships and financial aid, but not everyone can qualify for them. Paul Middendorf, 54, Richmond, Texas says, â€Å"†¦. When my first son, now twenty-six, applied for college, he applied for dozens of scholarships but was told they earned too much money to qualify for financial aid. † They had to finance their children’s college education with a mix of savings and federal parent loans. (USAtoday. com) According msnbc. msn. com; a companion report released on trends in student aid in grant aid – money students do not have to pay back – have covered only about one-third of the increase at public four year schools. Students are footing more and more of the bill with private loans from banks and student loans companies. Undergraduate private borrowing grew twelve percent to $14. 5 billion in 2006-2007. The rate of increase in total private borrowing for education has slowed, but borrowing has increased over the last decade. Legislators are tired of taking the blame for the escalating price of a college education, and some – mainly Democrats – say they want to resume setting tuition themselves. University leaders argue that the additional money is crucial for attracting and retaining top faculty. (chron. com) Students and families are caught in the middle. â€Å"With tuition and gas, it is hard to make end’s meet,† said Charlotte Atkinson, 26, a senior at the University of Houston. Instead of having to digest such an immense amount of information, students and their families should be able to apply for financial aid by making a note on their tax returns (a solution advocated by Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama). It is hard to even realize that money is such a big factor in our lives today. Based on the information I have given you it is a fact that the cost of college tuition needs to be lowered so that more students can attend and pay for college.

Feasibility study Essay

1. A. NAME OF PRODUCT As we all know Guimaras is known as the breeder and export of the sweetest mangoes in the world. Some countries have tried to plant and grow mangoes but no one can ever do the same even with the help of latest technology that we have today and so the city of Guimaras can proudly claim the title of having the sweetest mangoes. Therefore the proponents chose Guimaras as its inspiration, thus, come up with a product that wishes to exhibit their specialty – the mangoes. After series of conceptualizing, the proponents come up with the word â€Å"MANGGAMAZING† as its business name. This name is comprised of two words, MANGGA and AMAZING primarily because the business’ concept is focused on mango itself. The first word Mangga is a vernacular term for mangoes which has been commended in the introduction, while the second word, Amazing means great wonder, surprising and remarkable and so the name Manggamazing is the combination of these words that surely suit the product’s quality. All in all, the name â€Å"MANGGAMAZING† simply describes the product and the outstanding work for excellent and satisfaction the proponents wishes to convey. 1.C. DESCRIPTIVE DEFINITION Manggamazing smoothies are drinks made and served for refreshment. These are mainly made with fresh, ripe mangoes which are antioxidants that protect the body against colon, breast, leukemia, and prostate cancers. Mangoes are rich in vitamin C, pectin, and fibers that help to lower serum cholesterol levels. Mangoes help you unclog your pores and add freshness to the face. These are applicable to any skin type. Mangoes help in promoting good eye sight, fights dry eyes and also prevent night blindness because it is rich in vitamin A. Mangoes also contains enzymes for breaking down protein, and the fiber found in it helps digestion and elimination. Manggamazing offers not only smoothies made with mangoes but it is added  with banana, mango and melon, and pineapple. Bananas are terrific heart-healthy food and good source of potassium, dietary fiber, manganese and vitamins B6 & C. Melons on the other hand, help prevent cancer, stroke, and heart disease, also good for digestion, and give boost of energy. Pineapples contain brome lain, an enzyme that may help arthritis pain by reducing inflammation. They are also a good source of vitamin C, which helps strengthen your immune system. The products give a healthy boost and refreshment naturally. Smoothies are also mixed with non-fat milk, 0% fat yogurt, and will use sweeteners instead of sugar.  As a whole the product is a guilt free drink because of all its nutrients and low level of sugar. The proponents are: 1. D. OBJECTIVES Vision Our company â€Å"Manggamazing† bears the vision of providing healthy, fresh mango smoothies with added flavors of other nutritious fruits while maintaining our commitment to uncompromised quality with the heartening purpose to cater to society’s needs and cravings and constant change in life. The business also opted to create guilt-free drinks that will surely rejuvenate your mind and body, hence changing and opening people’s mind on a new side of style to staying healthy and fit. Ultimately, the company’s vision is to be the front-runner in the industry and help social and economic growth. Mission Manggamazing aims to give a high quality, exceptional and reasonably priced products in the beverage industry that provides healthy and nutritious smoothies that will surely satisfy the cravings of every customer. The people behind this product also aim to promote the national fruit of the Philippines – the mangoes to be known worldwide. To the society, the company’s task is making them health conscious in a unique way. Short term objective Manggamazing short term objective is to focus on execution in the  marketplace every day and on needs of our consumers and customers. Have the courage to change course when needed and remain responsive. And after we introduce it and known by everyone, Manggamazing will have a high cost of sales. Improve earnings and yield performance. Long term Objective The Manggamazing long term objective after 3-5 years will invade the malls if the profits are obtained. It will create many job opportunities for the branches that need manpower such as crew, server etc. The product will have a TV commercial and a foundation that will support by manggamazing so that the product will be known and it will be open for franchising. Develop and expand into new market, and they can now produce and manufacture new products. Expand into new overseas markets to tap new sources of growth and to achieve better market diversification. It aims for success and satisfaction of customers.

Chemical Medications or Natural Healing Essay Example

Chemical Medications or Natural Healing Essay Example Chemical Medications or Natural Healing Essay Chemical Medications or Natural Healing Essay Many times when people get sick they go to the doctor to be diagnosed, then they make their way to the pharmacy to pick up the prescriptions the doctors say you need to cure the problem. What if the prescription is wrong? But is there a better solution? Natural healing is much better than any chemical medication the doctor prescribes to you because they are natural and more effective. Many prescriptions are easy to overdose on, and usually end in death or serious health problems. â€Å"Overdosing on NSAIDs also can damage kidneys† says transplant pharmacist McDevitt, a clinical specialist in organ transplantation at Tufts Medical Center. Prescriptions aren’t the only drug that people can overdose on. It is very common for people to overdose on over-the-counter drugs such as Tylenol, Aleve, and ibuprofen. â€Å"People play loose and free with Benadryl,† says Ausim Azizi, chair of the department of neurology at Temple University School of Medicine. â€Å"There are a lot of side effects. One is loss of memory in the imediant period after taking it, and disorientation in older people. † Experts are trying to get the manufacturers to make it harder for people to overdose, but what if they got rid of all the chemical ingredients and replaced them with natural herbs and plants? Without the chemicals made in medications, then people wouldn’t have to worry about overdosing and cause damage to their body. Chemical medications have very serious side effects that can cause death in extreme cases. Many people just ignore these serious effects because they think they have no other choice. Chemical medicines do work, but natural medications work better and longer. â€Å"The best thing is to find the best medicine that will be fast and effective. And in the health market out there, there are tons of medicines that will promise to do that, yet at the same time, the small print tells us to beware of the side effects. This little warning is one that we often ignore. Yet at the same time it is important to acknowledge its existence so that we do not end up making ourselves sicker. Natural health medicine has the benefits in that it is one of the few medicines that have little or no side effects. The only side effect that it might have is if you are allergic to a certain ingredient and you didn’t know it. † [Crosshealth, Emmanuel Aubrey] Approximately 25% of the prescription drugs sold in the United States are plant based. These medications are better for the body but not as good as the all natural medicine. When the chemicals are added to the pills, they cancel out the healing powers of the plant. Natural medications actually heal the sickness and infection, instead of just covering up the symptoms. Chemical medications are made to cover up the symptoms so people can go on with their days without having to suffer with misery of the illness. â€Å"Conventional medicine focuses on symptoms and uses ‘drugs’ (man made synthetics) to ‘suppress,’ (NOT heal) those symptoms. Natural health and alternative medicine focuses on the ‘causes’ and getting to the ‘root cause,’ which always improves your overall health. This is the right way of curing health problems, instead of just ‘masking’ it. † [Jonathan Benson] Natural healing does take longer than the quick chemicals, but they heal thoroughly and have a no chance of making someone sicker or killing. Doctors say that natural cures are dangerous and a misuse of public money. They call it encouraged quackery. Professor Marcello Costa of Flinders University said: â€Å"It is disturbing to see a centre of learning†¦ perpetuating health practices based on beliefs in principles that are totally unscientific. † Doctors are wrong about natural healing not being proven scientifically. The NCCAM (National Center of Complementary and Alternative Medicine) has proven and backed up many alternative treatments such as chiropractic and acupuncture practices. Natural healing should be the first thing given to a patient when they have been diagnosed by a doctor. Chemical medications have been known to be overdosed on, to have caused serious side effects, and have been known to not heal the problem but to just simply cover up the symptoms that let a person know something is wrong.

Economic Forecasting Paper Essay Essays

Economic Forecasting Paper Essay Essays Economic Forecasting Paper Essay Essay Economic Forecasting Paper Essay Essay Two historical economic informations where information can be found are Bureau of Economic Analysis. U. S. Department of Commerce and FRED. Economic Time-Series Database. The FRED database comprises the national economic and fiscal statistics every bit good as involvement rates. consumer monetary value indexes. employment and population and trade informations. This database is a valuable beginning because this consents populaces to see how the country’s fiscal province is. The Bureau of Economic Analysis includes estimations refering national. international. and regional economic activity. The first beginning that I would utilize is the U. S Department of Commerce/ Bureau of Economic Analysis. I would utilize this beginning because the information here is first accurate and for the most portion of to day of the month. This site gives you existent up to day of the month informations on the existent GDP. This resource gives you data on consumer disburseme nt which is one of import resource that needs to be looked at and state us how the economic system is making. The 2nd beginning that I would utilize is the National Bureau of Economic Research. This site gives you extra sites for garnering informations associating to historical economic informations. For economic prognosis informations I would utilize information gathered from Dow Jones Average which provides non merely historical informations and can gives us an mentality on how the economic system is making and can foretell the hereafter on our economic system. With these resources a qualitative factor can be that most of these resources can expert driven who can in bend see the short term ends of concern and merchandises. The quantitative factors in these resources eliminate the experts and rely on the people and focal points on the long tally of the economic system. It besides provides statistics determination influenced by the authorities functionaries. concern people. families and persons. The quantitative of each site is that they included revenue enhancement list information and nose count return grounds. The Bureau of Economic Analysis and FRED database qualitative used are they both expound on the findings that are encompassed in the database. The country that was non comfy to me was about the measureable and qualitative. I did non to the full grok what the existent discrepancy is and after reading the stuff it seem as if they both mean the same. Plant familial resources constitute our priceless assets to run into the turning demands to increase harvest production and productiveness. Plant familial resources are the familial stuff of works which determined their features including their ability to accommodate and last. The PGR profile of a harvest includes its wild species. weedy comrade species. sub-species. botanical assortments. land races. antediluvian and heirloom cultivates. familial stocks. along with disused and modern cultivates that make up the entire cistron pool of the harvest. PGR in the signifier of seeds and workss provide the natural stuffs that scientists use to turn to harvest production challenges and develops new harvests. Scientists use these resources to develop cognition valuable in copying with unequal H2O supplies. diseases. heat. and cold tolerance. and understand their nutritionary belongingss. PGR provides the genomic variableness and the kernel of harvest betterment plan. without equal source plasma. A works breeder’s success will be lacking. Through about 30 works species provide the major nutrient and energy beginnings. some 3000 species of cultivated workss are grown worldwide for assorted intents. Chauncey Burns This week’s focal point does associate to my field because I work for a Medicare portion D drug program. Having an indicant of how and what the historical records collect it gives me a better apprehension of how they regulate the group of people who may measure up for Medicare aid each twelvemonth. Curtavia McConnell The subjects I felt comfy with were the impact on assorted factors that has aggregative demand and supply. I struggled most was with the measuring the effectivity of alterations in the financial policies utilizing the Keynesian and Classical theoretical accounts. There is no stable market ; there is a changeless demand of supply in demand in my topographic point of work. Corey Johnson This week’s subjects were really good and I understood them. I have to side with both the Keynesian and the Classical theoretical accounts because I think that this economic system needs a small spot of both in order to last. The authorities and the people need to work together to do it work but they people should hold a say. Mentions U. S. Department of Commerce. ( 2012 ) . Retrieved from Bureau of Economic Analysis: hypertext transfer protocol: //www. bea. gov/

Italian Nouns With Irregular Gender

Italian Nouns With Irregular Gender In Italian, grammatical gender, when referring to people and animals, is related to sex. However, this principle is not always observed. Three distinct examples include: la guardia (guard- usually a man), il soprano (a woman), laquila (eagle- male or female). Regarding things, the attribution of gender may seem unrelated with respect to meaning. For example, there is no logical reason for which il latte (milk) and il sale (salt) should be masculine (notably, in Venetian dialect both are feminine). To the contemporary Italian speaker the choice between masculine or feminine seems to be either totally arbitrary, or, in the case of derivative nouns, simply a matter of grammatical fact (e.g., nouns ending with the suffix -zione are feminine, while nouns ending with the suffix -mento are masculine). For todays speaker, a historical explanation does not count; the contemporary perspective must remain distinct from the diachronic (which concerns the evolution of language). Italian nouns, for the most part, retain their gender from the Latin. Nouns originally neutral in Latin usually became masculine. There have been some changes, though: from the Latin word folia, the neuter plural of folium, in Italian became foglia (leaf), feminine singular (because in Italian the ending -a, in the majority of cases, is feminine and singular). The conformity to this rule is also illustrated in the assignment of gender to foreign words used in Italian. That the assignment of gender is immaterial with respect to the inherent meaning of things is born out by a comparison between diverse languages, even though they are related to one another: Italian, French, and Spanish. Consider the following: Masculine in Italian / Feminine in French:il dente- la dent (tooth), il costume- la coutume (costume), il fiore- la fleur (flower), il mare- la mer (sea) Feminine in Italian / Masculine in French:la coppia- le couple (couple), la mescolanza- le mà ©lange (mixture), la sciabola- le sabre (saber) Masculine in Italian / Feminine in Spanish:il costume- la costumbre (costume), il fiore- la flor (flower), il latte- la leche (milk), il miele- la miel (honey), il sale- la sal (salt), il sangue- la sangre (blood) Feminine in Italian / Masculine in Spanish:la cometa- el cometa (comet), la domenica- el domingo (Sunday), lorigine- el origen (origin) English is much easier, since grammatical gender is not recognized except in rare cases. Conversely, German, much like Latin, also has the neuter gender. There are significant differences between the Italian and German with regard to gender; for instance il sole (the Sun) is feminine (die Sonne), while la luna (the Moon) is masculine (der Mond).

Innovation and Small Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Innovation and Small Business - Essay Example Most owners of work together during the process of promoting their small business, for instance, the owner of a coffee shop would work with the owner of a cafe in selling specific signature coffee brand in the restaurant. It is possible for customers at two points to purchase the products of the two companies and this will create opportunities for both businesses for each (Pies et al, 2010). Advice can be got from several small business owners support groups just like She Owns it, where the members of the group gather and discuss together with their peers issues related to their employees, expansion, issues to do with customer service among others. Members in of such groups range from people who are starting businesses to long-term business owners and they provide each other with advice and understanding since they are able to identify issues and concerns that affect each other. Networking in small businesses helps in both forming relationship with other businesses, free advertising also takes place for the company. Small business owners have clear understanding of the importance of having the name of their company out and through promoting the name of a company through peers does this form of advertising well (Pies et al, 2010). ... There is guarantee that when people upgrade their profession they will not come back, therefore managers in professional firms have the task of creating an environment in which the employees are motivated frequently and ensure they are able to balance their commitment to that of the firm as well as the customer. On the contrary, when managing manufacturing firms, the main challenge faced by managers is the management of competing business practices within the firm; looking at the finance function of the firm, they may prefer to communicate using emails while another department such as the human resource department may prefer using memos (Pies et al, 2010). Such type of differences in the manufacturing firm has detrimental effects on its operations especially when they impact on its effective operation, or in the delivery of quality goods and services. When there is weak communication processes, ordering processes and payment of invoices become difficult; therefore, ending these compe tition can take place through institution of company-wide standards. Small manufacturing firms also face these problems and here the manager will have to face several functions, these requires all team members to understand how the firm works and follow the laid down procedures (Pies et al, 2010). Geodis Wilson is a global logistic provider and they provide logistical services; on top of this freight services, the company offers value added services that include customer clearance and insurance in addition to its normal logistic handling services. The company delivers goods from door-to-door and on a timely basis, from one continent to another; this is one thing while use of transit time in realizing tied up capital is another thing. Geodis Wilson is able to accomplish both

Process Improvement Application Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Process Improvement Application - Assignment Example a) What is a QI story? A quality improvement story is a seven-step procedure whose main purpose is to improve business processes.  b) Discuss several reasons for using a QI story.  i) It enables the company to clearly define the problems that may be wrong with their products and to open ways for other areas to be exploitedii) The QI story also enables the company to analyze, with a considerable level of confidence, the extent to which their goods and/or services satisfies their customers and the cost effectiveness of their operations.   c) List the basic steps of a QI story. A QI story comprises of the following basic steps:i) Developing theme – the definition of the problem that is to be solvedii) Scheduling – a time plan on how these ten steps will be completediii) Accessing of current conditions -   involves the determination of the current process effectiveness and efficiency based on available factsiv) Performing cost-effective analysis – involves se eking the factors that must be changed to improve the situation.v) Verifying cause – this is designed to prove that the factors identified are indeed the causes of the present conditions.vi) Formulating countermeasures – this step involves formulation of changes that will act on the factors to improve the processvii) Assessing countermeasure effectiveness – this is a test of the countermeasures to with the aim of ensuring that the expected improvements does happen as planned

Business Unleashed from A More Perfect Union Essay

Business Unleashed from A More Perfect Union - Essay Example From the issues of evolution, we find out how various forms of past occurrences managed to evolve into currently more sophisticated forms. The brain of mankind, managed to undergoes a transition that saw to it being more powerful and enabled mankind to develop the ingenious inventions which have transformed the world. By looking at the challenges made in the past, decisions could be made basing on these challenges. Solutions resulting from these decisions end up making the whole world a better place (Lasker 41). History created in the USA (United States of America) when president Barrack Obama became the first ever black president. Critics argued that his speeches were the catch point and what made him as famous. Through his eloquence, he was able to move masses, he was able to convince and influence the masses into thinking in line with his beliefs. Ronald Reagan came to be in February 1911. He went to college at Eureka College. He got his first job as the radio sports announcer and further proceeded to Hollywood that was in 1937. As an actor he made seen in fifty films and given the post in the movie as the president of the United Sates of America twice. During the 1950’s he further became a spokesman and worked for General Electric Co. He changed his political ambitions gradually from a democrat who was liberal to the republican who was conservative (Boller 87). He was later elected as the California governor in the year 1966 and successfully went for two terms. The current president Jimmy Cater in 1980 was succeeded by Ronald Reagan as Reagan was sworn in as the president of the United States of America in 1981. Immediately after being sworn as the president of the United States, he was assassinated and in the event endured some wounds. The reign of President Ronald Reagan adopted the aspect of the supply side economists. This was an attempt to try and encourage and initiate a rapid economical growth in the

No More Wars by Woodrow Wilson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

No More Wars by Woodrow Wilson - Essay Example Woodrow Wilsons succeded in convincing Europeans through his speech and fourteen points. As a result Germany stopped the war and surrendered within the next 10 months (Snell, 1954). In an interview conducted during the Paris Peace Conference held in 1919, Woodrow Wilson and Sir William Wiseman explained how Germany agreed to stop the war as a result of the famous speech and fourteen points. The speech highlighted the importance of democracy in bringing the losting peace in the Europe . Woodrow Wilson wanted to present United States as a role model before the rest of the world and it was this intention which made him present these fourteen points. He was of the opinion that the United State should not involve in war. He was a democratic person who had true feelings not only for the people of the United States but also for the whole world, who wanted peace in the world. He thought of the entire world that’s why he was a trustworthy person. People had belief and confidence in him and that is why the Fourteen Points given by him were admired by the people. He used this credibility and made an emotional appeal to the people by giving the Fourteen Points which were welcomed by the people. The logic which was used in his points was very clear about the peace and those were having a strong internal consistency, and the benefits of his points were very clear that if they follow his points, there will be no war in future. The speech was having emotions because at that time the people were fed up of war and they wanted peace and prosperity and the speech was based on the peace. The speech was accepted by the Germans and then by the Britian. The base of the speech was the world wide problem rather than based on just self interest. The address which is based on the Fourteen Points given by Wilson was a great help in betterment of his nation.

Owning a Computer for Writer Is Not Necessarily, Equal Right to an Essay

Owning a Computer for Writer Is Not Necessarily, Equal Right to an Equal Share of Resources - Essay Example The articles are on the case against helping the poor. The article argues that everyone on the earth has an equal right to an equal share of resources. In the current situation, two-thirds of the nation is poor and the other third comparatively rich with the United States being the richest of all. The article argues on the plans that are made by those countries that are rich and those that are not rich. This brings the difference between the countries. The third article is about sustainability. In the recent situation, the term sustainability has been wrongly used to refer to practices that are reputed to be more environmentally important than others. The term is indispensable and should be used as the cornerstone for all the planning that is used in a country. The axioms of sustainability are defined in the article. The first axiom is that a society that remains to use acute resources untenably will collapse. The second axiom is population growth or growth in the rates of consumption of resources cannot be sustained. The third axiom is that to be sustainable, the use of renewable sources must be preceded at the rate less than or equal to replenishment. The fourth axiom is that the use of nonrenewable energy sources and the rate at which they decline must be greater or equal to the rate of depletion. The last axiom brought about is that sustainability requires that the substance that is introduced into the environment from human ac tivities be reduced and compact harmless to biosphere roles. The issue that all three essays are concerned with is on resources. In the first essay, the argument is on the reasons that make the author not being able to buy a computer.  

No More Wars by Woodrow Wilson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

No More Wars by Woodrow Wilson - Essay Example Woodrow Wilsons succeded in convincing Europeans through his speech and fourteen points. As a result Germany stopped the war and surrendered within the next 10 months (Snell, 1954). In an interview conducted during the Paris Peace Conference held in 1919, Woodrow Wilson and Sir William Wiseman explained how Germany agreed to stop the war as a result of the famous speech and fourteen points. The speech highlighted the importance of democracy in bringing the losting peace in the Europe . Woodrow Wilson wanted to present United States as a role model before the rest of the world and it was this intention which made him present these fourteen points. He was of the opinion that the United State should not involve in war. He was a democratic person who had true feelings not only for the people of the United States but also for the whole world, who wanted peace in the world. He thought of the entire world that’s why he was a trustworthy person. People had belief and confidence in him and that is why the Fourteen Points given by him were admired by the people. He used this credibility and made an emotional appeal to the people by giving the Fourteen Points which were welcomed by the people. The logic which was used in his points was very clear about the peace and those were having a strong internal consistency, and the benefits of his points were very clear that if they follow his points, there will be no war in future. The speech was having emotions because at that time the people were fed up of war and they wanted peace and prosperity and the speech was based on the peace. The speech was accepted by the Germans and then by the Britian. The base of the speech was the world wide problem rather than based on just self interest. The address which is based on the Fourteen Points given by Wilson was a great help in betterment of his nation.

Unit 1 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Unit 1 - Coursework Example In addition to this, the article gives a thorough analysis of the noteworthy characteristic of Manet’s painting in relation to the Impressionist movement. After a brief discussion on modern movement, the article discusses Manet’s development of art. Q3. Mallarmà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s next point is that the Manet’s art of 1860 has an encyclopedic nature, which is a crucial step in shaping of an individual’s style. This point was different from Zola’s critic interpretation because he thought the the early borrowing from older work was more significant in Manet’s development, whereas Zola understated this point. Q4. Mallarmà © closes his essay on a refreshing platform and show personal attachment to the ideals of novel art. According to Harris, the question which cannot be left unattended is that how far Mallarmà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s account of Manet’s method and aim is well-grounded. Q8. The second article is significant, because it highlight the detail scrutiny of Manet’s painting, the changes that had been brought forward in art and its role in evolution of French modern painting. The second article is more emphasized than the first one. Q9. The study of Mallarmà © had been based upon the evidence of the article â€Å"Le jury de peinture pour†. According to Harris, this essay in an elementary form describes Mallarmà © defense of Manet’s work. Q2. According to Carven, the situation was ironic because, Turner paintings, according to the witness were extraordinary and focuses on techniques rather than subject, whereas Whistler’s painting were of the same nature, but was criticized to be unfinished. Q3. In a volume Ruskin stated that three strokes of Raphael was better than the finished painting of Dolci and other example is that Leonardo’s landscape received applause because it was under finished and Canaletto’s work was harshly judged because it was over finished. Q2. Aesthetic

Project of Demand Estimation Essay Example for Free

Project of Demand Estimation Essay Instruction: You should prepare the case with your group members. Each group is required to submit a word file detailing your analysis. You will be graded on your group’s performance and your contribution to your group. Summary of the case: You work for Price Waterman Coopers as a market analyst. PWC has been hired by the owner of two Burger King restaurants located in a suburban Atlanta market area to study the demand for its basic hamburger meal package–referred to as â€Å"Combination 1 on its menus. The two restaurants face competition in the Atlanta suburb from five other hamburger restaurants (three MacDonald’s and two Wendy’s restaurants) and three other restaurants serving â€Å"drive-through† fast food (a Taco Bell, a Kentucky Fried Chicken, and a small family-owned Chinese restaurant). The owner of the two Burger King restaurants provides PWC with the data shown in Table 1 (Table 1 is in a separate excel file). Q is the total number of Combination 1 meals sold at both locations during each week in 1998. P is the average price charged for a Combination 1 meal at the two locations. [Prices are identical at the two Burger King locations.] Every week the Burger King owner advertises special price offers at its two restaurants exclusively in daily newspaper advertisements. A is the dollar amount spent on newspaper ads for each week in 1998. The owner could not provide PWC with data on prices charged by other competing restaurants during 1998. For the one-year time period of the study, household income and population in the suburb did not change enough to warrant inclusion in the demand analysis. a) Using the data in Table 1, specify a linear functional form for the demand for Combination 1 meals, and run a regression to estimate the demand for Combo 1 meals. b) Using statistical software, estimate the parameters of the empirical demand function specified in part a. Write your estimated demand equation for Combination 1 meals. c) Evaluate your regression results by examining signs of parameters, p-values (or t-ratios), and the adjusted R2. d) Discuss how the estimation of demand might be improved. e) Using your estimated demand equation, calculate an own-price elasticity and an advertising elasticity. Compute the elasticity values at the sample mean values of the data in Table 1. Discuss, in quantitative terms, the meaning of each elasticity. f) If the owner plans to charge a price of $4.15 for a Combination 1 meal and spend $18,000 per week on advertising, how many Combinations 1 meals do you predict will be sold each week? h) If the owner spends $18,000 per week on advertising, write the equation for the inverse demand function. Then, calculate the demand price for 50,000 Combination 1 meals.

The Political Communication Of India

The Political Communication Of India In the early years of Indian Independence political communication was considered to be addressing peaceful rallies and dropping election pamphlets from a plane to persuade the Indian Voter. The post liberalization has already seen three paradigm shifts, Firstly the Nehruvian Socialism in the 1960s, then the hard lined discipline of Indira Gandhi and economic freedom in the 1990s. the liberalization of the Indian economy has changed the way of communication ranging from cable television to telecommunication and then bringing on to the online platform. Earlier the communication during elections used to take place in rallies and depended a lot on politicians interpersonal skills. But the political parties are soon realizing the importance of this Digital Era to connect with the youth of the country. The Political parties know that the youth are going in the transformation from Digital Migrants to Digital Natives. They are present with their true identities on the Digital platform. This requires the political parties of India to adopt methods which have been never adopted before. In the recently hard fought Lok Sabha Elections of 2009, all major political parties of India had hired Ad and Media Agencies to manage their Brand Image. Understanding Political Communication Political communication is a sub-field of political science and communication that deals with the production, dissemination, procession and effects of information, both through media and interpersonally, within a political context. This includes all usage of Media, speeches by politicians, Opinion leaders in the community to influence the decision process and it also includes the formal and informal discussions in the general public. The Study of Political Communication revolves around 3 basic elements. The Political Party The Voter The Medium of communication The Political Party As per the Ace Electoral Network, A political party is defined as an organised group of people with at least roughly similar political aims and opinions, that seeks to influence public policy by getting its candidates elected to public office. Political parties perform key tasks in a democratic society, such as Aggregating and articulating needs and problems as identified by members and supporters Socialising and educating voters and citizens in the functioning of the political and electoral system and the generation of general political values Balancing opposing demands and converting them into general policies Activating and mobilising citizens into participating in political decisions and transforming their opinions into viable policy options Channelling public opinion from citizens to government To perform these above mentioned key tasks, the political party should be able to communicate their objective clearly to their Voters. With the increase in the number of mediums a party can use to communicate with their voter, a consistency in the communication objective should be must. Communication objective is derived from the Brand Proposition the party wants to display to the general public. Harrop (1990) perceives political marketing as being not just about political advertising, party political broadcasts and electoral speeches but covering the whole area of party positioning in the electoral market. Maarek (1995) conceptualises political marketing as a complex process, the outcome of a more global effort implicating all the factors of the politicians political communication. Maarek explained the Difference between commercial marketing and political marketing. Figure 1: Commercial and Political Marketing, two parallel strategies. In the above figure Maarek tries to point out the difference between Commercial Marketing and Political Marketing. Such a parallel cannot be drawn, as a partys product consists not of its political communications but of: a) Its ideological platform and its set of policy proposals. b) The party leader, the candidates and party officials. In Maareks view, political marketing has become an integral and vital component of political communication. In his words: Political communicationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦encompasses the entire marketing process, from preliminary market study to testing and targeting. The Voter The aim of any type of communication is to convince the receiver. All marketers try to convince their customers about the product. Here the marketer is the political party and the customer is the voter. But there are certain differences between mainstream marketing and political marketing with respect to the voter. Lock and Harris (1996) identify four main differences between mainstream and political marketing: All voters vote on the same day, everyone makes choice as per their own methods or requirements There is no cost attached to casting a mandate for a particular party, therefore no cost when considered from an individual point of view but a very huge cost from a societys point of view. Even though you must have voted for a particular party, even though its not elected ,you will have to live with it. There is no choice to vote for a political party or the candidate, basically the service given is unbundled. The candidate and the political party both are generally taken into consideration while making the choice. The main role of PR activities is to improve the perception of the political party or the candidate. Today political parties are involved highly in PR activities during elections; the Bhartiya Janata Party had the India Shining campaign in 2004 which triggered a new PR era in Indian Politics. The Congress party ran the Secular campaign successfully in 2009. No political party has left any stone unturned in the field of PR, whether it is print or television or even digital. The Indian Voter today is exposed to a minimum of three different kinds of medium in a day, it is important to reach out to this person when its most effective. It is very difficult to improve the perception of the candidate or the party in a short term; it requires a long term perspective with a consistent proposition to the voter. The Medium The early beginnings of democratic thought in the eighteenth century, political philosophers have recognized the crucial role of un-inhibited public debate and free speech, which was later, extended to the demand for a free press (Voltmer, 2007)The notion of a marketplace of ideas is based on the liberal belief that no single agency be allowed to have the last say on the course of politics. Rather, it is through public exchange of argument and counter-argument that the truth eventually emerges (Mill 1859, reprinted 1974). From the perspective of the marketplace of ideas argument, the media are usually assigned a more passive role, serving as a forum where a variety of groups and individuals are given the opportunity to express their views. Arguably the mass media serve as the main link between governments, political parties, candidates, etc. and voters, as the opportunities for direct communication between citizens and their representatives are extremely limited both in terms of the scale of the audience reached and the scope of the issues covered. However, the media are not just channels conveying the messages politicians want them to communicate to voters. They are also active participants in the creation of political messages (Cook 1998). In a democracy like India, The medium of communication is the single most important factor through which political parties reach out to the people. Political Speeches, coverage, events are all part of the medium of communication. Even hate speeches, rally by political parties only make sense if they are reported by the print or the television medium. In the print there are articles that report the unfolding of different events through the day, the television has live screening of interviews and events. As film stars became popular figures in Indian politics, movies became an important medium of political communication. This all is the part of the medium through which political marketing talks place. Today the digital medium is yet another medium which cannot be ignored by any political party. Blogs, Social media, websites, email, viral marketing and websites itself has brought about a paradigm shift in ways political parties could present itself to the voter. The print and television mediums are generally active only during election campaigns but the digital medium is generally active all through the year. The Digital Medium: The Game Changer Not so long ago, Television and Print were the mainstays of most marketers media plans with radio and outdoor and a few other things filling in the gaps where appropriate. Even with the emergence of the internet in the late nineties television commercials were heavily favored by the dotcoms as the way to build their brands. The internet is now over a decade, its certainly isnt new .In fact, any product that advertised itself as new ten years on would be laughed at or even sued by the authorities . Today Digital channels are mass and mainstream reaching global audiences. For example in some markets, a popular website can reach a staggering part of the population. Its not just the big portals or social networking sites that command large audiences. Perez Hilton, the web king reaches an estimated 5 million people daily via the blog. (David Meerman ,2004) While digital channels are now mass, they can also be extremely targeted allowing for singular interactions with consumers. This is one of the defining benefits of new media. Marketing through the digital platform can be extremely personalized in many ways. Personal Emails or SMSes might be tailor made to suit every individual needs. They can be content differentiation also, as different mailers could be sent to different individuals based on their likes and dislikes. New Media are essentially social. Everything in digital format can be easily replied to by everyone. The best part of digital medium, that it can be viral. Any exciting piece of communication through the digital medium can be easily replicated and produced in the same form. There are basically two types of Digital Marketing. The first one is the pull strategy and the second is the push strategy. The pull strategy basically consists of attracting consumers/visitors to a particular website or a blog or even watching a video (youtube). Here the initiative is on the consumer to visit the particular digital platform. The pull strategy requires a substantial marketing budget as the numbers of competitors are more. Also the pull strategy does not allow you to be personalized to the user, as the same content is viewed by all viewers. The push strategy basically consists of sending emails and SMSes to the target audiences. The push strategy could be extremely personalized, for example a polit ical party could send in different SMSes to people of a region affected by floods and a different message to people affected by Naxal issues. Use of Internet as a Political Communication Tool The internet is a perfect example of customer centricity in political communication. The internet acts as a one stop platform for people to interact with politicians, discuss their problems. The primary problem in India was that people were finding it tough to connect with politicians except during elections when politicians wanted their mandate. The internet as a platform itself can act as a connection tool for the people with the politicians. But internet is not utilized to its true potential; internet is often seen as a tool to spread awareness about a politician or a political party. (David Meerman ,2004) Before the internet platform emerged, it was believed that the people would go to the administration for help or issues, but the internet could give way to a system which would bring the government and political parties to the people. The focus of the internet could be to generate efficiency in the system which will indirectly benefit the government. But the important thing with the internet is that the tool works best when the consumer uses it for a dialogue and not a monologue. Online tools There are a variety of tools available today for use of political communication. These tools are generally used by the people for entertainment or networking purposes. These tools can consist of blogs, social networking sites, news sites, video streaming and group sites. These tools can be used by have great political applicability. These tools can be used to generate public attention and also to act as points of salience. The internet is generally open systems and are accessible all public. The internet today has no dependency on computers as the internet can be accessed through mobiles. Every tool present on the web today has a specific use and can be used to target niche audiences. Importance of youth in elections The analysts believe that the segment of youth would be the most critical in the forthcoming elections. Unfortunately this segment has registered a dismal participation in the elections upto this point. This segment of youth is identified as being rationale and will be having the capability of taking decisions. This segment can easily identify the right and wrong between things, they understand the importance to cast votes in elections too; the only thing that is lacking is a platform to connect with this target audience. The political parties today should be involved in giving out communication messages which are more relevant in times of today. The youth of today feel that they are disconnected with politics just because of the lack of use of appropriate communication tools by the political parties. That is why it is very important to understand the consumption of messages by this segment. Understanding the Psyche of the Indian youth in Elections The Indian youth is one of the largest segments of the Indian Society; they surpass any other segments present in the Indian Voting Canvas. In the recent Lok Sabha elections of 2009, the voting percentage among the youth was an abysmal 20%. The influencers in the case of youth are their parents, if the parents decide to cast their vote then the youth generally follow them otherwise they dont cast their vote. Most of the youth today does not find it intriguing enough to talk about politics, the trend is slowly changing but it is still an urban phenomenon. Most of the youth today look at the Election Day as a holiday; they generally plan out long weekend holidays on account of election days. The youth of today believe in the saying Be the change, they volunteer to NGOs and help other organization, they firmly deem that rather than relying on politicians or political parties, they themselves take the onus of changing the landscape of this country. Generally Youth does not cast their vote on the pretext of saying that their vote does not make a difference. The youth of today in the range of 20- 25 years, have seen all the major political parties at the centre (1996 2009), so the feeling of nothing changing in the Indian Landscape is pretty evident. The youth also believe in the fact that they have never been asked to vote. When researched this led to the vicious cycle phenomenon in Indian Politics, the Indian urban segment and youth are the two segments which generally registers the lowest amount of voting percentages. This is the primary reason why politicians and political parties pay very less or no attention to them. Due to no attention to them the youth do not get any personalized or communication that makes relevance to their life during election days. Many youth of today feel that the process of casting votes is a tedious one, as one never know how to register and when and where to vote. Before the Jaago re campaign, th ere was no particular online platform which educated the youth about the process of casting votes. Need and Rationale for the Study Changing voter profile of the country The voter profile of this country is fast changing, the faster the political parties adopt the change, better will be the results for the political party in the Long run. Media fragmented As the media of today is getting more and more fragmented, the traditional means of reaching the voter might not work, and innovative means of reaching the same voter might be needed. Americanization of Politics in India Learning from the recently concluded Americas Presidential elections, the use of social media had been used exhaustively along with other online tools. This can pave the way of the changing political propaganda as it takes place today Research Design Literature Review Knowledge and Learnings Content Analysis of Websites Conclusion/ Recommendation Learnings Expert Interviews Research Objectives Following are the research objectives: To analyze and compare the websites of different political parties and understand their offering in the digital medium To analyze the different promotional activities done by political parties on the digital platform. Research Methodology Information gathered through data published, websites, reports. The books and articles for reference would be sourced from the KEIC library of Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad In -Depth interviews would be conducted with professionals from the digital marketing industry and the people responsible for PR of political parties. Content Analysis of Websites would be done of the websites of the major political parties of India The content analysis of websites will be done on several labels like Information on the website, Informing the people, engagement with people, appeal to people , media releases given on the website and transparency achieved by the website Content Analysis in general is conducted in several discrete stages. Although the following stages are given in sequence, they need not be followed in the same order. Formulate the research question : Analyzing and comparing websites of different political parties in India ( Four national parties are taken in the consideration set) Define the population in question: The population would be all the data that is available on the internet about these political parties. Select an appropriate sample from the population: The sample for population would be the websites of these parties. (Official websites) Select and define a unit of analysis: The unit of analysis would be the pages on the website. Each page would be analysed from the website. The units would be : Information of the web site Interaction with People Appeal to the people Service to the people Media Coverage and Public Relations Transparency Sampling A panel of experts from the digital marketing industry would be chosen with their political knowledge in mind. For selecting the panel snowball sampling would be used The sample for selection of websites would be of the four national political parties of India Research Questions Some sample questions which would be asked to the panel of experts would be as follows How important do you feel is the online platform in todays age for political parties? Describe what is the appropriate time for political parties to use the online platform? Where is the online platform best likely to fit in the entire process of political propaganda? Could you tell us some campaigns which u liked/disliked by political parties? What would be the extent of use of online platform in political campaigns, five years down the line? Limitations Confidential information would be withheld as the topic of research is sensitive subject which is politics Data Collection The data collection was done in two phases for the Four National Parties of India. This was decided by the number of seats won by each of these parties in the recently concluded General Elections. The initial data was collected on January 5 January 7 2010. This data was recorded in an Excel sheet based on the selected variables. After this interviews were taken with the Media / PR heads o the respective political parties. This helped me in cross checking and validating their claims about the website and also to help me fill in gaps during my initial collection. Also a link analysis was done to check the traffic for these websites during the election period, as these links are more active during election periods. Data and Analysis The research would be done on the following websites: National Party Website URL Indian National Congress (INC) http://www.congress.org.in/ http://www.congress4india.com/ Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) http://www.bjp.org/ http://www.bjpindia.in/ Samajwadi Party (SP) http://www.samajwadipartyindia.com/ http://www.spmumbai.org/index.aspx Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) http://bspindia.org/ http://www.bahujansamajparty.net/ The Research was done on two websites of each political party. The first data collection was carried out on January 5 January 7 2010 and the second data collection was done between February 5 February 7 2010. The purpose was to find if the websites were updated. In all cases however the content was not changed. Findings of the Research The political parties have yet not realized the importance of the updates of the websites. They did not update the sites on a day to day basis, although it is technologically possible to update the contents in real time today. The sites of the Indian National Congress and the Bhartiya Janata Party are more updated than the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party. There are more than 32 features on the INC website put together compared to 29 of the BJP party. The Samajwadi party and BSP havent updated their sites since a very long time; they have far less features than compared to the counterparts. The better contents and updates in the BJP site could be attributed to the experience of the BJP elections n 20004. New Media including internet was used extensively during the elections of 2004. BJP has hired a New Media agency for handling only their New Media campaigns in 2009. INC lagged behind in the use of internet during the elections so far and appeared to have attempted to catch up with the BJP. BJP has sites for all the states of India; these are for the local communication in the state. BJP had the India Shining campaign as the theme in which the party had extensively used New Media. Language of the Content of Website Maharashtra state has the local language called Marathi and Gujarat has Gujarati. There are 71, 936,894 (6.99% of the total population) Marathi Speaking people in India where as 46,091,617 (4.48% of total population) people of India speak Gujarati. This is against 90,000,000 (10.66% of total population) in India. Yet the parties have totally neglected the regional language. No one has given regional font for download. Campaign Strategists bank heavily on the local language to write text for bills, posters, billboards, and advertisements etc. Hence logically they should write contents of the sites in local languages to reach majority voters. However this study revealed that the sites depended only on English. None of the all the eight websites of political parties in Maharashtra and Gujarat had site analytics , date of the last update of the website and site map. The date for last updating is necessary in some situations. For Example political parties announce their candidates for elections in two three phases or more. They announce various lists and it changes even after announcements. If the date of last updating is given, the visitors of site can easily come to know whether it is an odd list or the latest one. This happens with other types of content too. Site Map is a feature that helps the user to easily locate the needed information on that site. They also act as a navigation aid by providing an overview of sites content at a single glance. If the number of links is very large, the site map helps visitors to access all content on the site. Webmaster: Details of the webmaster (email, phone or fax) are necessary because a visitor can write to him/her in case the site or part of it does not function. All sites had Telephone number to only the head quarters and no region wise contacts. All sites had given the indication of a copyright. This prohibited others from using the website content for free. Visitors counter is another feature which is neglected by these sites , the visitor counter helps getting everyone an idea about the popularity and utility of the site. Unit Analysis of Websites Information of the party Indian National Congress The site of the Indian National Congress had given Information about the history of the party , the latest manifesto, List of candidates and the current Office bearers. Bhartiya Janata Party The Bhartiya Janata Party had given Information about the Organisational Structure of the Party, History of the party, List of states under BJP rule and the current list of Member of Parliament Samajwadi Party The Samajwadi party had given information regarding the performance of the party in the recent elections and the list of candidates for the Lok Sabha Elections in 2009. There was no mention of any kind of History of the party and the party manifesto Bahujan Samaj Party The Bahujan Samaj party website was more focuses only on current activities of the party and no information about the past. They didnt have the list of candidates or constituency which they have won in the recent elections. There was no mention of any kind of organisational structure in the party. There was no mention of Alliance partners of any of the websites under perview Interaction with People Indian National Congress The website of the Indian National Congress had given option to submit their feedback, comments, suggestions and complaints. There was no Toll free number mentioned on their website. Bhartiya Janata Party The Bhartiya Janata party was more people and new media friendly they had subscription to RSS feed They also had an opinion poll on their website to know peoples view on a particular issue. Samajwadi Party The website of the Samajwadi Party had only contact numbers of the head office and respective branch offices. They had no other latest interactive features on their website. Bahujan Samaj Party The website was least interactive among websites of all the parties. The party was more interested in a monologue and not a dialogue with its voters. The website had no links or any other such things to keep the voters updated on the happenings. Appeal to the people Indian National Congress The Website of the Indian National Congress does not appeal to vote for it neither their alliances. There is no way that anyone interested in joining the party could apply for a position. There was no appeal for a donation for a noble cause. Bhartiya Janata Party The Website of the Bhartiya Janata Party does not appeal to vote for it neither their alliances. There is no way that anyone interested in joining the party could apply for a position. There was no appeal for a donation for a noble cause. Samajwadi Party The Website of the Samajwadi Party does not appeal to vote for it neither their alliances. There is no way that anyone interested in joining the party could apply for a position. There was no appeal for a donation for a noble cause. Bahujan Samaj Party The Website of the Bahujan Samaj Party does not appeal to vote for it neither their alliances. There is no way that anyone interested in joining the party could apply for a position. There was no appeal for a donation for a noble cause. Service to the people Indian National Congress Every website should be user friendly at the base level and somehow it should help us in the entire process of voting. The website of the Indian National Congress had no links for whats new on the website, FAQ s etc. Bhartiya Janata Party The website of the Bhartiya Janata Party had links whats new is happening to the political party in India. There was no service of any kind to the people. Samajwadi Party During Elections, finding your name on the voters list is one of the most tedious tasks for any voter. Samajwadi Party is the only party which is providing voters list to its users. This is one of the most useful features on any of the websites. Bahujan Samaj Party There is no feature of any kind on the Bahujan Samaj Party Website. The lowest on service to people. Media Coverage and Public Relations Indian National Congress The Media Coverage and Public Relations is an integral part of any website, it gives you a coverage on the latest happenings of the political party. The media coverage in the INC website give you info only on the election results and not on the party achievements in each of their state. Bhartiya Janata Party The BJP Website has put photo gallery section at the front of their home page and audio-video features to attract the visitors Samajwadi Party The Samajwadi Party has their media section updated and it has given it list of latest joins in the party on the website. The party is not in power in any state so its only mentioned its achievements when they were in power Bahujan Samaj Party The Bahujan Samaj Party uses it website to effectively communicate its latest achievements, especially in the state of Uttar Pradesh where its a ruling party. Other News of the party is lost in the clutter of information which is present in the website. Transparency Indian National Congress Transparency is one thing that the Indian voter likes to see with every political party. The site didnt try to remain transparent about declaring the assets of their candidates even though it was a simple thing to do. All the details of assets of a particular candidate are given on the site of the Election Commission of India. Bhartiya Janata Party The site didnt try to remain transparent about declaring the assets of their candidates even though it was a simple thing to do Samajwadi Party The site didnt try to remain transparent about declaring the assets of their candidates even though it was a simple thing to do Bahujan Samaj Party The site didnt try to remain transparent about declaring the assets of their candidates even though it was a simple thing to do Unit Analysis of Websites INC BJP SP BSP Information on the Website Interaction with people Appeal to People

Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas Essay -- Film Movie Movies Films Las Ve

Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas The story begins abruptly, as we find our mock heroes out in the desert en route to the savvy resort of Las Vegas. The author uses a tense hitchhiker as a mode, or an excuse, for a flashback that exposes the plot. An uncertain character picked up in the middle of the desert who Raoul Duke, the main character, feels the need to explain things to, to help him rest easy. They had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half-full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multicolored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers....Also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw either, and two dozen amyls. They were on assignment from a fashionable sporting magazine in New York, to cover the 4th Annual "Mint 400" dirt bike and dune buggy race. A savage journey to the heart of the American dream.Before one can review the motion picture "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", he must first research the full length novel of the same name. The book first appeared in 1971 in issues 95 and 96 of Rolling Stone magazine, published November 11th and 25th respectively. Although the two part series stated its author was someone called Raoul Duke, the story was copyrighted in 1971 by Hunter S. Thompson. Raoul Duke is actually the false name under which Hunter Thompson portrays himself as main character and narrator.The film was produced in the early goings of summer in 199...

Coca-Cola Company Struggles with Ethical Issues Essay

Many of the ethical issues surfaced when Warren Buffet resigned in 2006 and Doug Ivester took over. Ivester lacked leadership and as a result, the company faced many ethical issues. Ivester tenure was symbolic in that it was short-lived. This was a serious public relations glitch for a company who for so long, performed flawlessly. Ivester was replaced by Doug Daft, the former president and chief operating officer. Unfortunately, Daft had no success in derailing the controversies. In early 2000, Coca-cola was embroiled in ethical scandals such as racial discrimination, misrepresenting market test and manipulating earnings. Text Questions 1. Why do you think Coca-Cola has had one ethical issue to resolve after another over the last decade or so? In 2000, Coca-Cola failed to make the top ten of Fortune’s annual â€Å"America’s Most Admired Companies† list for the first time in a decade. Many believe this was a direct result of the contamination scare in June of 1999. 30 Belgian kids became ill after consuming Coca-Cola. Rather than come out right away and defends its product, Coca-Cola took several days to respond. I believe that as a result of this global crisis, Coca-Cola panicked and spiraled out of control. This company was operating on a high level for a decade and to be hit with such a scandal rocked the foundation the core. 2. A news analyst said that coca-cola could become the next Enron. Do you think this is possible? I do not believe that this case is similar to Enron. Enron’s culture was one of greed and win-at-all-cost mentality. Enron leadership created an atmosphere of invincibility. This was evident by the â€Å"rank-and-yank† system implemented to rid of those who were rated at the bottom 20 percent. This forced employees to engage in questionable practices in order to maintain their standing within the company.

Off Site Visits

CONTRIBUTE TO CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLES HEALTH AND SAFETY EXPLAIN THE PREPARATION AND SUPERVISION OF CHILDREN IN OFF SITE VISITS. Safety is our top priority even the shortest visits need to be thoroughly planned and requires its own risk assessment. All are off site visits for this age group (2yrs-3yrs old) are local. All visits our thoroughly planned and a risk assessment is carried out. A visit is made to all new places/venues.The risk assessment includes details of the modes of travel, possible hazard areas and precautions to minimise the risks, staffing ratio, medical and special needs of pupil and staff, and staff telephone contact details. The risk assessment is reviewed before a second visit is made. The register is taken before the children leave the centre. The children our counted at regular intervals throughout the visit and on return. The children remain under supervision at all times.Before the group/ party leaves the centre key person/ managers will provide a list/ reg ister of everyone including adults travelling with the group/ party. Together with a time table/ programme for the offsite visit. The children are briefed in advanced about the visit. Parent/carers of children taking part in the offsite visits/activities should be provided with all appropriate information about the intended visit. Parent/carers must give their permission in writing before a child can be included in any off site activity .The children leave the centre mostly in pushchairs, the children that walk, walk in pairs, hand in hand. When walking by roads an adult will walk in front, middle and behind. The children taking part in offsite visits are 2-3yrs old, the ratio is 1 adult and 4 children. There are always two key persons one designated as group leader for the visit. All adults accompanying a party/ group must be made aware by the managers of the emergency procedures which will apply. Each adult should be provided with an emergency phone and numbers.This will normally be the manager’s number. Close super vision and proper protective clothing/ blankets and rain wear are essential for even the shortest visits/excursions. All key persons are qualified in paediatric first aid. If a child has a minor accident or becomes ill, the group leader or another member of staff will phone the child’s parent/carers emergency contact number at once and arrange for him/her to be collected. If contact cannot be made, the group leader, or another member of staff will take the child to the local hospital or, if the llness is more minor, back to school. A member of staff will remain with the child at the hospital or school until parent/carer arrives. A member of staff will carry a first aid kit at all times. If a child/children are on medication the nessecery forms are signed by parent/carer. Medison is named, dated and put in a bag/container and taken on offsite visit. The key member of staff will administer the medication to their key child, this is th en reported on a medication form timed, dated and signed. A contingency plan is important because it is a what if plan.A contingency plan is known as a plan B, a backup plan in case in case things go wrong. If the contingency plan is good then a plan c is not needed. Contingency plan is a plan put together (by the key person) for an outcome other than in the usual expected plan. Things seldom go exactly as we plan, so having an idea, something out of your control will sometimes happen. A contingency plan helps you navigate these potentially threatening moments and give you steps to do so in a practical manner. EVALUATIONUpon returning to school a review and evaluation should be carried out as soon as possible. A copy of the completed form should be given to the child co-ordinator within one week of your return to school. Leaders should also ensure that upon completion of a visit a complete file of names, addresses, insurance arrangements, contacts, procedures etc. is kept for at lea st 3 years. This information will be required if of any future claim, from any incident that may of occurred on the offsite visit. Karen fairbrother 6. 2. 13 Resources Trinity policy

David Jones SWOT Essay

David Jones Ltd (DJS), one of Australia’s oldest and most recognised department stores was founded in Sydney in 1838 and is a retailer of diversified products ranging from clothes to daily home products. This report’s purpose is to provide the David Jones’ Board and Senior Management advice through the assessment of SWOT, resources, capabilities and strategies with a Balanced Scorecard and Strategy Map as the measurement of the strategies. Part A-1: David Jones Strategic Analysis – SWOT STRENGTHS †¢ Brand Name, Product and Brand Portfolio DJS was the first department store in Australia and its black-on-white hounds tooth was judged one of the Australia’s top ten favourite trademarks in 20061. DJS maintains a wide variety of products and brands ranging from fashion to electrical goods with a portfolio of over 1000 brands covering international and local labels as well as its own internal DJS and DJS Plus brand names. †¢ Services Portfolio David Jones offers both in store and financial services to cater for customers. In store services include personal shopping, style advisors, beauty and free health screening services. Financial services provided include David Jones Platinum AMEX, Qantas Frequent Flyers points and the DJS Store card. Corporate services provided include DJ gift cards. †¢ Store Portfolio Operates 35 stores and two warehouse outlets in metropolitan locations nationally. The four premium Sydney and Melbourne CBD retail properties are owned outright with 85,000 sqm of retail space plus existing leased properties and the opening of new village format stores in areas with appropriate demographics with no major shopping centre. †¢ Capability for Fund Raising Even with challenging retail conditions, DJS’ balance sheet exhibits strong fundamentals exhibited by solid cash flows, low debt to equity and debt to asset ratios in FY11 and FY12. WEAKNESSES †¢ High Brand Switching – Low Brand Loyalty DJS is primarily a mid to high-end luxury brand. With the multitude of product and service options available for consumers from direct and indirect competitors and the current economic environment, David Jones target market is now seeking out bargains when it comes spending. †¢ Limited Global Penetration With the globalisation of retailing, DJS faces formidable competition in an attempt to increase its penetration in domestic and international markets as confirmed in the IbisWorld Report, â€Å"the globalisation of this industry is low but the trend is increasing†. †¢ Weak Profitability Indicators Volatility in the global equity markets, financial uncertainty in Europe and the US and weak domestic consumer sentiment impacted on DJS’ financial performance leading to a decline in all profitability ratios in 2012 as compared to FY112. †¢ Narrow Target Market David Jones focuses on the premium market and with a key external driver of retail sales being real disposable income, DJS’ market primarily comprises of the â€Å"baby boomers† with high disposable income, who under the current economic climate have reduced their spending dramatically. (IbisWorld 2012 p.15) OPPORTUNITIES †¢ Growth prospects: E-Retail With developments in technology and an increasing number of people utilising either computer or smartphone platforms, the trend towards online shopping is increasingly popular market both for its high efficiency and convenience with massive potential still to be explored in Australia. Statistics show 12% of sales earnings are derived from e-retail in UK compared to 4.9% in Australia. †¢ Business transformation With the rise of E-commerce, consumers have more options than ever before. To seize the opportunity and become a more enhanced profitable unit is to be vigilante across channels thereby giving customers many options for purchasing products, which involve providing the personalisation of physical stores, online options for convenience and engagement through social media. †¢ Brand expansion Globalization brings in more brands and more competition from other countries. Instead of being a competitor, DJS sees this as an opportunity of a ‘win-win’ situation by cooperating with more international suppliers evidenced by the introduction of 300 new brands over the past 26 months. †¢ Business expansion The physical store is an â€Å"experiential centre† where customers are able to interact with the brand and although e-retail provides choice, convenience and access, face to face customer service still reigns supreme (business insider article) the physical store plays an important role in the retail industry allowing consumers to touch, feel and take a product home fast. By increasing physical presence, and improving systems and processes, companies will be able to enhance the customer experience. THREATS †¢ Customer income and preference influence Real household disposable income has reflected a downward trend from 2009 to 2013 and household saving did not decrease during 2012, which reduced the level of cash flow meaning store sales will be affected by a decreased level of income remaining for shopping after spending on daily necessities. In addition to this, switching costs remain low for customer changing their preferences because of the diversity of options like Myer, K-Mart or the brand retailer like ZARA and Gucci. †¢ Counterfeit goods market As globalisation brings in new and various products, counterfeit goods also spread quickly. This has a negative influence on local retailers and trademark owners by taking away part of their local market share, taking advantage of the designs of a brand’s products as well as the millions of jobs lost, lost tax revenue and additional welfare spending as a result of counterfeit products. †¢ Competitive environment There are an increasing number of overseas and online competitors entering the Australia market. In addition, a strong Australia currency and online business exploration is also seen as a threat to retailers for it has a  deflationary impact on domestic sales4. †¢ Growing employment and wages – rising cost of doing business in general IbisWorld has stated that the capital to wage cost is expected to be 1:6.590 in 2013. Although industry research indicates employment and wages reducing in 2013, David Jones is increasing sales staff working hours and introducing hundreds of new positions in a bid to improve customer service and engagement. Part A-2 From our analysis on the external environment we have understood that in recent years the Australian department store industry has been characterised by increasing competition due to the presence of online competitors and overseas specialists, like Zara and Top Shop. Moreover, adverse macro-economic conditions further decrease the potential profitability of the industry. In fact after the GFC, a deteriorated â€Å"consumer sentiment index† and a reduced real household disposable income together with a strong Australian dollar increase the level of rivalry significantly. In this kind of environment, we strongly believe that DJS must rely on two fundamental capabilities: first class customer engagement and customer service and Brand Positioning. These two capabilities are mainly based on a common group of resources in addition to some specific resources that are tabled in Appendix X in detail. Upon analysis of the internal environment of DJS, the key factors for the success of the firm are: †¢ The property portfolio, which includes a basket of extremely well located and high-end profile buildings in all the major cities in Australia. These stores are unique and highly desirable assets for a premium retailer, are highly costly to imitate and difficult to substitute for potential premium competitors since they are a highly scarce resource. †¢ DJ’s is a particularly well-capitalised company with significant borrowing capacity as demonstrated by a gearing ratio of 13%, interest coverage ratio of 14.5x (FY12) and excess cash held allowing the company to continue investing in the development of its strategy. †¢ The brand portfolio; with over 1000 brands DJS can meet the expectations of its customers and ensure the preservation of its premium brand leadership as â€Å"home of brands† †¢ The employees and management culture; DJS has and continues to invest in training and development programs to ensure that the â€Å"face† and the â€Å"leaders† of the company are strongly oriented to customer retention and satisfaction. In assessing whether the two capabilities  mentioned above constitute a core competency for DJS, we have reached the following conclusion: 1) Ability to develop and maintain first class customer engagement and customer service Criteria Assessment Valuable Yes A high level of customer service is a key element for the success of the David Jones’ differentiation strategy. Rare Yes In the department store competitive arena only Myer have achieved a similar level of customer service. Non-substitutable Yes On-line based competitors can circumnavigate some key resources of this capability such as premium store locations and well-trained employees through an efficient on-line web store, however the physical experience of shopping in the store cannot be replaced. Costly-to-Imitate No First class customer service is extremely difficult to imitate and would require any potential competitor to heavily invest in training and services, although as Myer (Roy Morgan Awards in 2012) has shown this capability can be replicated in the long run. According to our vision, DJS has a temporary competitive advantage from its first class customer engagement and service since, at the status quo only Myer has a similar capability. However, it is of primary importance that DJS keep improving, for instance through an impeccable implementation of its OCR strategy in order to further improve the quality of its customer service so as to avoid new entrants reaching the same level of service. 2) Brand Positioning: ability to maintain premium leadership status in the department store market as the â€Å"Home of Brands† Criteria Assessment Valuable Yes This capability helps DJS to justify its premium price and to increase customer loyalty. Rare Yes The premium brand of DJS is a unique capability; no ones in the actual competitive environment can rely on a similar core competency. Non-substitutable Yes There is no strategic substitute for this capability; the DJS brand is one of the most iconic brands in Australia. Costly-to-Imitate Yes Developing a brand identity comparable to DJS is not one that can be achieved easily by competitors due to the massive investment required and the unique historical conditions that have contributed to form it. DJS has a Sustainable Competitive Advantage from its brand and in our opinion, the firm should heavily leverage on it to successfully implement its future strategy. PART A3 – Stakeholder Analysis Stakeholder group Specific interest Assessment of Shareholder value alignment 1. Employees Employees in David Jones as same as other employees who are interested in premium payout, promotion, training and recognition from employers. Fair company policies e.g. safety workplace and effective company communication and structure are additional requirement staff are looking – Employee reward to encourage employee to flow in their idea to the business e.g. Innovation Workshop – Training provided to retain staff: executive leadership program, Future leaders program, Operations Online Compliance Training – Incentive program in different level of management that align with shareholder value, e.g. New Frontline Incentive Incentive program only represents part of employees’ salary which means employees’ interest is not fully aligned with shareholders. 2. Customers Customers in David Jones prefer exclusiveness. The products they purchase from DJS won’t be able to find outside the store. That also applies to  shopping experiences which they are serviced in professional and friendly environment that cannot be experienced in other shops. Customers expect DJS can provide the best brand with premium quality and reasonable price. Only added value products can be found in DJS Customers are common to look for better price with top quality and service however shareholders expect DJS to be more profitable with generous dividend, especially DJS have maintained GP in these few years. It is a fact that both parties’ interests are contradicted. Ultimately customer satisfaction draws higher sales and margin. Mainly happy and loyal customers can maintain the profits in long term which shareholders can receive benefit 3. Suppliers They want to maintain good relationship with David Jones and make long term contract to get good margin for their business. Because of the reputation of DJ, suppliers want to achieve their brand recognition in the market. Suppliers’ value do not align with DJ’s shareholders’ value, they desire to maximize their margin but the cost of goods increase which lower shareholders dividend. But considering the brand recognition and reputation, both shareholders and suppliers want to capture market shares. They have to obtain a balance between their interests. 4. Community The community expects DJ concerns more about corporate social responsibility such as social wellbeing and environment sustainability such as producing environmental annual report and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. DJS outlines a list of environmentally sustainable managements to eliminate greenhouse gases, wastes and promote energy saving. DJS give charity leave to employees to support the National Breast Cancer Foundation and monetary support other charities. Community is not fully satisfied as DJS only concern a small portion of the society. Every group of stakeholders’ value has certain degree of alignment with shareholders but none of them is fully in lined. DJ relatively put more effort to appreciate employees who are the key personnel to draw the sales. However, the unbalance of stakeholders’ investment will disappoint the others and DJS should be careful to avoid any relationship damage. Part A-4: David Jones Generic Business Level Strategy In a highly concentrated and competitive retail environment, David Jones  pursues a Differentiation Strategy. It has historically targeted the 30 to 54 year old high income woman and the strategic factors relevant to her and is now seeking to expand this market to include the younger generation with medium to high disposable income. David Jones is known as a â€Å"quality† store and to achieve this, it focuses on providing a combination of exclusive product ranges, a high standard of customer service, image and store presentation and location. This is directly evidenced by optimisation of the David Jones private label and the introduction of over 300 new brands over the past 26 months. Additionally, further investment in customer service and engagement via increased frontline staff hours and in-store events as well as its continued focus on its personal shopping service and the introduction of style advisors offers their target shopper the complete shopping experience. PART B Transformation Suitability According to pro-rata population, the number of online customers in Australia ranks the third, but the sales generated from e-channel are far lower than other countries (IBIS-pp33). Although there is increasing competition in online business, retailers need online channels to expand business and take advantage of e-commerce to serve both national and international customers (IBIS-PP4). Feasibility In 2012, David Jones invested more than A$11 million in Technology CAPEX (AR12) and allocated a 200 person team in collaboration with IBM to successfully implement its â€Å"technological† revolution. High bargaining power with suppliers and very strong brand identity can greatly assist in the Price Harmonisation Process. Overall, David Jones has the necessary borrowing capacity and management skills to properly implement its turnaround strategy. Consistency DJS strategic point of â€Å"Transforming the Business† is not entirely consistent with its generic business level strategy but aims to provide a solid structural retail platform upon which its supplemental strategic points of â€Å"strengthening the core business† and â€Å"growing the store network† can  flourish as signified by price harmonisation which allows DJS to be competitive on price but not a â€Å"discounter†. Shareholders Value Implication This is risky to conclude that Omni channel is profitable when other competitors have already got a well developed system several years ago. The cost to maintain and develop this channel will take a couple of years to recover and reduce profit margin in the short term. Better customer engagement via mobile or internet and price reduction through price harmonization will attract more customers to shop at DJS over competitors, with potential to offset the expenses and eventually increase profit margin in long term. Strengthening the core business Suitability After the global financial crisis, expected profit margin decline to 3.9% in 2012-2013’s department industry with scaling back of disposable income, cost reduction becomes a key factor for keeping GP margin (IBIS pp19). Keeping high margin categories helps to increase GP margin. Brand portfolio is also important for mitigating competition from the effect of globalization. However, even though DJS has a better inventory management system, cutting time for clearance events may still cause excess inventories, which may incur inventory costs. Overall, this strategy is suitable in the current environment. Feasibility In 2012 David Jones added 85 new brands into its â€Å"Home of Brand† model. DJS can leverage on its brand positioning and on its knowledgeable merchandising team to develop its brand portfolio. DJS has the financial resources to fully complete the store refurbishment program. This together with the change in product mix (Fashion&Beauty/Home) should guarantee a higher GP margin. The reduction of the CODB is based on the management team’s capabilities and on the new investment in technology that have allowed a more efficient way of conducting business. Consistency â€Å"Strengthening the Core Business† is directly related to DJS generic strategy  of differentiation through its focus on â€Å"Offering the best National and International Brands† and the high value refurbishments it is undertaking. By continuing to invest in and expand its brand portfolio as well as the image and presentation of its stores and the provision of accompanying services, DJS provides an experience not offered by any other department store in Australia. Shareholders Value Implication In the short time, expanding labels and store refurbishment will lower DJS margin. In long term, the aim for David Jones is to minimize COBD and strengthen GP generation which improves operational profit and ultimately increases dividend to shareholders. B2 – Key Stakeholder Implications Impact on this stakeholder group Proposal to better align stakeholder interests with shareholder value 1. Employees Positive: open challenge and opportunity. It is risky but it will be profitable if success Negative: senior management was forced to leave DJS due to internal restructure happened in 2012.Time to adapt new systems and management. High risk to fail the negotiation with supplier to harmonise the cost. 2. Customers Positive: better shopping experience (store refurbishments). Open another channel to shop (Internet/mobile); welcome lower price; better customer service ; more brands to shop   Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Increase customer retention and loyalty (more exclusive brands) – profitable customers which drive higher profit and give out more dividend. – Lower price encourage to choose DJ over competitors and potentially improve margin – Store refurbishment attracts more customers to come and visit. 3. Suppliers Negative: Cost of good is entitled to price harmonization agreement. Profit is minimised. Increase competition between suppliers when DJS introduce more labels to sell. – Increase brand awareness and market share to offset the margin loss due to price harmonisation. Shareholder is also benefit if sales are promoted by lowering the price. 4. Community Positive: Mobile apps and website will facilitate the communication with the community and provide more business opportunities to benefit the society. Introducing more products of choice to society and encouraging employment rate. Negative: refurbishment and new stores increase greenhouse gas emission and wastes. ​The new strategies have both positive and negative impact on stakeholders. The above analysis gives us a picture that customer is clear winner and supplier is loser in these new strategies. DJS has a lot of works to do in order to create the links of interest between all stakeholders and shareholders. Suppliers’ benefit will be captured in long term if DJS can achieve the goals of these strategies and increase sustainable sales.