Part IV: Condensed Version

As an overview, Cleanthes is described as a philosopher that has a calm disposition. Demea is the one more concerned in the cause of religion. Philo is the arbiter or mediator between the ideas presented by Cleanthes and Demea. Cleanthes was wondering why Demea was insisting that the Deity had no resemblance to humans in terms of human mind and understanding. For Cleanthes, the Deity has powers that humans cannot comprehend, for that is its nature––unexplainable. Though incomprehensible, Cleanthes recognized the Deity as a supreme being.Cleanthes also questioned Demea what was the difference of those who believed in the Deity and those who were Sceptics or Atheists. Atheists believed that the first cause of all was an unknown being. Atheists do not recognize the existence of a Deity. Atheists have boldness. Not only they had rejected the production by a mind, they also pretend to assign intelligible cause. Demea replied and commented that Cleanthes had presented his tho ughts concerning the Deity with criticism instead of reasoning.Demea presented the comparison between the Deity and humans since Cleanthes said that the Deity is similar to the way humans think and understand. A human mind is filled with ideas, feelings, passions, and different faculties. And the human mind varies from one person to another. Though they vary from one another, the ideas they presented have form or order. The Deity has a perfect nature. He is able to see into the past, into the present, and into the future. Also, unlike the human mind that can change from one instance to another, the Deity has a fixed and firmed decision.The presence of the Deity is felt by those who believe in it. He is present everywhere, unlike humans who can only exist in one place at a certain point in time. Cleanthes again commented based on Demea’s words. With the way Demea explained, Cleanthes said that those â€Å"who maintain the perfect simplicity of the Supreme Being† were co nsidered Atheists, yet they were unaware of it. For if we recognized the existence of the Deity, and since we know that his characteristics are incomprehensible, humans must give the Deity the respect he deserves.As humans, it is but natural to give due respect to the Deity. However, humans who do not give due respect to the Deity are diverging to the accustomed way of the Deity’s nature. It all bois down to human mind and the way it perceives things. Those who do not respect the Deity have restricted their minds to think of ways to give glory to the Deity. A mind that thinks with simplicity cannot think of creative reasoning and normally inclined to what is common, or to something that has no uniqueness at all.Demea chose to believe in the â€Å"perfect simplicity† of the Deity. The way we defined simplicity does not describe the true nature of the Deity, for the Deity’s mind definitely does not think simply. Same with humans, the Deity’s way of thinking is complicated yet creative. Philo, upon hearing the exchange of ideas between Cleanthes and Demea, argued that in order to know â€Å"the cause of that Being whom you suppose the Author of Nature,† they could judge the matter by reason or by experience. With reasoning we are able to explain the cause of every idea we thought of.We explain things based on reasoning that involves a whole lot of mind thinking. With experience we are able to explain the cause based on what we had experienced or what others had experienced. And because experience differs from one person to another, no two individual can think exactly alike. In reasoning, the mental world and the material world both need a cause. In experience, the material world is much easier to comprehend than the mental world because the material world is tangible unlike the mental world or the world of ideas.Philo continued to argue that in order to understand the cause of the Author of Nature why not consider focusing on th e present material world. What is beyond the material world is vague and unknown. It is like saying to be contended on what we presently know about the Deity or God and do not worry ourselves on what is incomprehensible to us. The most important is that we know that there is a God. Philo added that some philosophers were ignorant and yet they disguised to know explanation to some matters.Such philosophers were called Peripatetics they would reason out and yet they were not really knowledgeable of the matter. They took advantage of those who were unaware of the matter. The matter on having an order in the ideas of the Supreme Being was an example. Some philosophers explained that having order is just one of the natures of the Deity. Cleanthes commented that Philo’s arguments were easy to answer. Cleanthes gave an example that if he were assigned cause for an event, would there be a problem if he could not tell the cause of that cause?For Cleanthes, knowing the Deity is the mos t important. He had stopped his inquiries and settled on the fact that there is a Deity. He did not push to knowing the cause or the order of the ideas of the Deity. For him, the existence of the Deity is what is more important. Believing on this fact is already enough. He would not busy himself on discovering what else should be known about the Deity. However, Cleanthes also said that those who would want to know what is beyond the existence of a Deity may do so.Philo said that he pretended not to be like Cleanthes who stopped thinking what lies ahead or what is beyond the existence of the Deity. Philo also pretended not to be like those who go and explore beyond to inquiry more of the existence of the Deity. Philo said he should have not attempted to expound on his arguments. Philo stressed that naturalists, with regard to the matter about the Deity, normally explain their ideas by giving out general causes.

Leadership Styles Case Study Essay

1. What type of leadership is practiced at NCF, transactional or transformational? How do you know? The type of leadership that is practiced at NCF is transactional. Their values are honesty and honoring of commitments and reciprocity. The director stresses to all the employees that dual relationships are a conflict of interest prohibited by the organization. Employees motivated by safety, security, and belonging and this is motivated by the leader rewarding the staff by having an employee lounge built so the employees don’t have to eat off campus. Problem solving is found in the leader, the director encourages staff to report any non- sanctioned interaction between social workers and clients. This can be grounds for employee termination. Distribution of power â€Å"Power-over† the director uses rewards conceived and legitimate bases, by using the lounge as a â€Å"power over† reward. The influence is a unidirectional this memo is from director to employees. 2. What type of leadership is practiced at SSS, transactional or transformational? How do you know? The type of leadership that is practiced at SSS is transformational. The director uses power with rather than power over. He does not use rewards conceived or legitimate bases instead he uses expert, referent and inspirational bases. This is a multidimensional influence because the director simply asks his staff and employees for their participation and input in overcoming this obstacle. Their values are liberty, justice, equality, peace, and humanitarianism because the director, staff, and employees have a goal in common, they are depending on each other, their prosperity will rise and fall together, and they share the results of overcoming this obstacle together. 3. Which style of leadership would you recommend for a human service organization? Explain your answer. The style of leadership I would recommend for human service organizations is transformational. This type of leadership involves the organization as a whole. Everyone in the organization works together in order to achieve the common goals and all share the achievement. In my opinion it is best to include the employees in running the organization. By doing this it will not only make them feel a part of the organization it will also make the hard work worth more to them. It makes the employees feel better about the work place if they feel that their opinions count.

Individuals with Behavioural Difficulties Essay

When working in the care industry whether that is with the elderly, mental health or children it becomes apparent that you as an individual become empowered by virtue of being primary care for that specific individual hence being an influential figure in any individual’s life recovery and rehabilitation. Due to this factor we have had many horrific incidents which have involved individuals in a position of power and whom have abused this trust and disregarded legislation, policy and procedure to continually systematically abuse service users in a vulnerable position. It is no secret that this has happened and still continues today within places of care. This is the purpose of the new legislative law updated and reviewed to combat and eliminate such barbaric behaviours displayed by so called supportive staff members in supposedly places of secure safe environments. Look more:  emotion focused coping definition essay The purpose of legislative law is to filter new and reform existing legislation through to the relevant policies and procedures within specific places of work. So to summarise the purpose of legislation in terms of managing difficult behaviours is that it functions to safe guard the vulnerability of service users in places of care which predominantly gets feed down through governing bodies to the policies and procedures file within the office within your place of work. It can be looked upon as a code of good practice with regards how to deal with vulnerable adults whom display challenging behaviours within places of care. When working within such an environment it is almost expected to receive challenging behaviour due to the different backgrounds and diagnosis the service users have so it would not be acceptable to react within such a way as you would when away from the unit due to the very essence of the clientele we deal with. This is not to say we are not in a vulnerable position to so we are legally permitted to utilise restraint techniques which is in the form of an in depth restraint course which covers  floor, escorting and seated restraints for the safety of the service user, other service users and also the safety of your fellow support staff within the workplace. This form of restraint is always the last line of defence it is paramount to utilise the different approaches available to return the service user to his baseline without putting hands on a client. 1 (1.2) The reason for such care institutions is specifically to rehabilitate and educate service users in the acquisition of knowledge regarding them to facilitate them to utilise coping strategies in the effort of recovery and rehabilitation rather than punitive based techniques. There are a massive variety of different approaches and methods when attempting to change an individual’s behaviour. We will target only a specific few that are more prevalent within today’s industry. The methods and approaches will include motivational interviewing, cognitive behavioural therapy, solution-focused therapy and adult learning methods these will be the approaches and methods that I will expand upon throughout the chapter. CBT is a form of talking therapy that combines cognitive therapy and behaviour therapy. It focuses on how you think about the things going on in your life, your thoughts, images, beliefs and attitudes (your cognitive processes), and how this impacts on the way you beha ve and deal with emotional problems. It then looks at how you can change any negative patterns of thinking or behaviour that may be causing you difficulties. In turn, this can change the way you feel. CBT tends to be short, taking six weeks to six months. You will usually attend a session once a week, each session lasting either 50 minutes or an hour. Together with the therapist you will explore what your problems are and develop a plan for tackling them. You will learn a set of principles that you can apply whenever you need to. You may find them useful long after you have left therapy. CBT may focus on what is going on in the present rather than the past. However, the therapy may also look at your past and how your past experiences impact on how you interpret the world now. The concept of motivational interviewing evolved from experience in the treatment of problem drinkers, and was first described by Miller (1983) in an article published in Behavioral Psychotherapy. These fundamental concepts and  approaches were later elaborated by Miller and Rollnick (1991) in a more detailed description of clinical procedures. Motivational interviewing is a semi-directive, client-centered counseling style for eliciting behavior change by helping clients to explore and resolve ambivalence. Compared with non-directive counseling, it’s more focused and goal-directed. Motivational Interviewing is a method that works on facilitating and engaging intrinsic motivation within the client in order to change behavior. The examination and resolution of ambivalence is a central purpose, and the counselor is intentionally directive in pursuing this goal. Motivational interviewing recognizes and accepts the fact that clients who need to make changes in their lives approach counseling at different levels of readiness to change their behavior. During counseling, some patient may have thought about it but not taken steps to change it while some especially those volunt arily seeking counseling, may be actively trying to change their behavior and may have been doing so unsuccessfully for years. In order for a therapist to be successful at motivational interviewing, four basic skills should first be established. These skills include: the ability to ask open ended questions, the ability to provide affirmations, the capacity for reflective listening, and the ability to periodically provide summary statements to the client. Motivational interviewing is non-judgmental, non-confrontational and non-adversarial. The approach attempts to increase the client’s awareness of the potential problems caused, consequences experienced, and risks faced as a result of the behavior in question. Alternately, therapists help clients envision a better future, and become increasingly motivated to achieve it. Either way, the strategy seeks to help clients think differently about their behavior and ultimately to consider what might be gained through change. Motivational interviewing focuses on the present, and entails working with a client to access motivation to change a particular behavior, that is not consistent with a client’s personal value or goal. Warmth, genuine empathy, and unconditional positive regard are necessary to foster therapeutic gain (Rogers, 1961) within motivational interviewing. Another central concept is that ambivalence about decisions is resolved by conscious or unconscious weighing of pros and cons of change vs. not changing (Ajzen, 1980). It is critical to meet patients/clients where they are (Prochaska, 1983), and to not force a client towards change when they have not expressed a desire to  do so. Motivational interviewing is considered to be both client-centered and semi-directive. It departs from traditional Rogerian client-centered therapy through this use of direction, in which therapists attempt to influence clients to consider making changes, rather than non-directively explore themselves. Solution focused brief therapy (SFBT), often referred to as simply ‘solution focused therapy’ or ‘brief therapy’, is a type of talking therapy that is based upon social constructionist philosophy. It focuses on what clients want to achieve through therapy rather than on the problems that made them seek help. The approach does not focus on the past, but instead, focuses on the present and future. The therapist or counselor uses respectful curiosity to invite the client to envision their preferred future and then therapist and client start attending to any moves towards it whether these are small increments or large changes. To support this, questions are asked about the client’s story, strengths and resources, and about exceptions to the problem. Solution focused therapists believe that change is constant. By helping people identify the things that they wish to have changed in their life and also to attend to those things that are currently happening t hat they wish to continue to have happen, SFBT therapists help their clients to construct a concrete vision of a preferred future for themselves. The SFBT therapist then helps the client to identify times in their current life that are closer to this future, and examines what is different on these occasions. By bringing these small successes to their awareness, and helping them to repeat these successful things they do when the problem is not there or less severe, the therapists helps the client move towards the preferred future they have identified. Adult learning theory is part of being an effective educator involves understanding how adults learn best. Andragogy (adult learning) is a theory that holds a set of assumptions about how adults learn. Andragogy emphasises the value of the process of learning. It uses approaches to learning that are problem-based and collaborative rather than didactic, and also emphasises more equality between the teacher and learner. Andragogy as a study of adult learning originated in Europe in 1950’s and was then pioneered as a theory and model of adult learning from the 1970’s by Malcolm Knowles an American practitioner and theorist of adult education, who defined andragogy as â€Å"the art and science of helping adults learn†. Knowles  identified the six principles of adult learning outlined below. Adults are internally motivated and self-directed Adults bring life experiences and knowledge to learning experiences Adults are goal oriented Adults are relevancy oriented Adults are practical Adult learners like to be respected 2 (2.1) When we discuss behaviours it is imperative to understand why these behaviours are being displayed and it is often something which appears very minor to care staff but it can be interpreted as a big dilemma to the individual in question. When understanding the reasons for behaviours there can be many reasons for them but here is a few more common examples, culture, gender, beliefs, personality, illness, medication side effects, family, personal occasions etc. These are all contributing factors as to why individuals will display certain behaviours. Within the unit it has been noticed that a specific factor i.e. family contact can have a huge effect on a certain individual in our care. Due to the fact that this individual has very minimal contact with his family (personal choice) when this individual does eventually get to speak with his close family it can conjure up many different feelings within and can cause indirect behaviours within the unit. Feelings such as abandonment, not loved, singled out, why? These contributing factors will mix together and inevitably have to be released e.g. become withdrawn, aggressive, depressed (low). Now the staff team have highlighted this concern and a concise care plan has been put into place and agreed by the individual it can be monitored and dealt with more effectively in the requisition for this individual to eventually become more comfortable when discussing and contact the family. 2 (2.2) When we discuss the influence of the environment and behaviour of other individuals we are basically referring to the place in which these individuals reside e.g. the psychiatric hospital or the community home etc. These environments can play an enormously important role in the behaviours of individuals whom are observing they can be easily influenced by others  actions and will tend to mimic or act up to the situation or incident. It depends on the individuals in question but what can happen in a unit which is occupied by more than one service user is that individuals will observe (audience effect) and will either react in three different ways. The individual will either adopt and mimic the behaviour being displayed thus causing a major incident or the individual will remove themselves or will confront that individual or group of individuals having an incident thus again causing problems for the unit. 3 (3.1) When working in an area such as mental health it is imperative from the beginning to ensure you adopt a professional relationship and maintain this as long as you remain in the care system. It has been said to me that a good rule to follow is that of firm, fair but fun but not forgetting that there are constant boundaries that should be followed throughout your working career and not to be crossed. The working relationship is so important within mental health due to the fact specific clients will have blurred boundaries or have no boundaries at all so it is imperative as support staff the clearly and quickly introduce clear concise boundaries for service users. The working relationship has to remain purely professional for a number of reasons but mainly for the safety of the service users and that they do not miss interpret signals given by support staff and un intentionally cross the boundaries. If the professional working relationship is followed it can create a healthy relationship between support staff and service user and the avoidance of blurred boundaries. This is not to say that service users will not try and test the boundaries of specific staff members as this is commonplace within the area of mental health but as professional support worker it needs to meet with a firm approach and dealt with in a professional manner.

Management Information Systems Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Management Information Systems - Research Paper Example 1.4 MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM The Management Information System is an application program designed to produce predesigned and predefined reports for the use of people responsible for the management. These reports are generally analytical information based on following parameters:- Periods: Daily, weekly, monthly, yearly and periodical. Trends: Upward, downward, straight. Movement: Fast, slow, normal Comparison: based on past and present data Age: Based on 30 days, 60 days, 90 days and older Exceptions: Based on if and then conditions. Chapter 2 Management Information System Development Phases Understanding the development process of MIS An information system is developed and designed by going through number of processes and phases. It is important to understand them so that we can asses the true value of the system on one hand and determine needs for improvement on the other hand.. An entirely new solution based on latest technology involves number of phases for planning, organiz ing, executing and controlling to achieve the required quality software. There are also constraints of time, money / budget and quality. The Management Information System is developed after going through the following phases: 2.1 REQUIREMENT GATHERING In this phase, all the users are interviewed for gathering information about the requirements, the existing software are studied simultaneously and details of the requirements are noted down. A Software Requirement Specification (SRS) document is prepared from the data collected has deliverables:- i. Business Requirements ii. Functional Specification iii. Non-Functional Specification iv. Use Case Diagram v. Usage Scenarios The above documents are formally reviewed in a meeting for discussion and final approval. 2.2 DESIGN AND ANALYSIS... An information system is developed and designed by going through the number of processes and phases. It is important to understand them so that we can assess the true value of the system on one hand and determine needs for improvement on the other hand. An entirely new solution based on latest technology involves the number of phases for planning, organizing, executing and controlling to achieve the required quality software. There are also constraints of time, money/budget, and quality. The Management Information System is developed after going through the following phases:REQUIREMENT GATHERINGIn this phase, all the users are interviewed for gathering information about the requirements, the existing software is studied simultaneously and details of the requirements are noted down. A Software Requirement Specification (SRS) document is prepared from the data collected has deliverables:-i. Business Requirementsii. Functional Specificationiii. Non-Functional Specificationiv. Use Case D iagramv. Usage ScenariosThe above documents are formally reviewed in a meeting for discussion and final approval.DESIGN AND ANALYSISIn this phase, the requirements gathered are analyzed and a design is made for the construction of the software consisting of following deliverables:i. Data Flow Diagrams (DFD)ii. Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD)iii. Activity Diagramiv. Sequence Diagramv. Architectural Diagramvi. Class Diagramvii. Database Designviii. User Interface Designix. Deployment Diagramx. Test Cases

Broken Windows Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Broken Windows - Essay Example The theory postulates that when public behavior in a neighborhood is unregulated, it leads to the gradual â€Å"breakdown of community controls† (Kelling and Wilson, 2, 1982). The ‘broken window’ here is symbolic of the breakdown of the informal controls through which people regulate public behavior in a neighborhood. The shared civic obligations and mutual considerations of community living act as barriers to crime and disorder. Once these barriers are overcome by the perception that ‘no one cares,’ vandalism occurs. Social controls are weakened and citizens feel that the environment in uncontrolled. This generates fear. Such an area, with its ‘broken windows, is particularly vulnerable to the spread of crime and disorder.   When disorderly behavior remains unchecked, it goes on to become criminal. When police apply the ‘Broken Window’ theory to specific actions on the street, they aim to â€Å"elevate --- the level of public order† in the neighborhood (Kelling and Wilson, 1982). The role of the police is to maintain order. It is acknowledged that disorder and crime are interconnected in a community. The police’s role is founded on this link between order-maintenance and crime-prevention. Their role is based on the premise that â€Å"serious street crime flourishes in areas in which disorderly behavior goes unchecked† (Kelling and Wilson, 2, 1982). It is a reflection of the police’s role in earlier periods, when the main responsibility of the police was to maintain order. Actions such as keeping drinking away from the main intersections, questioning strange loiterers, preventing panhandlers and vagrants from bothering pedestrians and begging at bus-stops, keeping noisy teenagers in check, and settling disputes between customers and busi nessmen are geared towards the maintenance of public order. Arresting a single drunk or vagrant

Label and Delinquency (Criminal Justice) Assignment

Label and Delinquency (Criminal Justice) - Assignment Example Finally, this paper aimed to assess the robustness of labeling in explaining the different types of delinquency (Adams, et.al., 2003). The analysis on this paper which shall now follow aims to offer an overview of how this research was conducted, the subjects used, and the overall findings of the research. It also aims to present a personal opinion on whether or not this student felt that the authors looked at relevant and pertinent information and data in the article, including the most interesting findings in the article and why. Finally a recap of the pertinent findings and this student’s overall opinion on the article including recommendations on how this article may be improved shall be presented in this paper. The research was conducted by assessing the high school students’ attitudes and behaviors regarding drugs and delinquency in Mississippi. Respondents were juveniles who were held in two training schools in July of 1992. The respondents were mostly from the rural areas. These respondents were also remanded to the custody of the Mississippi Youth Services for behavior which ranged from status offenses to gang-related activities. The research was conducted on group settings with about 25 juveniles per group. A research questionnaire was answered by said respondents. Researchers used overhead projectors and they read each item to the different respondents. There were 337 juveniles who were qualified for the research, and about 277 ended up participating in the study. Reasons like court appointment, preparation for release, and solitary confinement prevented the other respondents from participating in this research. Teachers, peers, and parents were also included as respondents. T hese three groups assessed the informal labeling placed on these delinquents. The data gathered was later coded based on the different variables included in this research. After coding, an index of six contrasting descriptive adjectives was used to

Business Simulation Game (Individual Report) Essay - 1

Business Simulation Game (Individual Report) - Essay Example Fruits are starting to bear for the few steps already covered though we still have a long way to go. Strategic management planning and implementation has been in place for the six years. Our work in the office has been to implement these plans for the last three years and into the future in order to realize the full implementation. The next three years will be about much to do with consolidating the gains made in the last three years in order to maintain the market dominance that we have gained since. There is still room for improvement in our market segment we are pursuing. In internet marketing for example, we are relatively doing well but there are still a number of companies ahead in terms of these segment sales volumes. The same is true in private label and wholesale where competition is very high. Claude Footwear Company core business is the manufacturing of sports footwear. Our markets cover or divided into four geographical regions for ease of doing business; North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, and Europe-Africa. These geographic areas are covered and managed from divisional headquarters located in each. The world head office and manufacturing plant is located here in London United Kingdom. As part of the strategic plan in the future is to put up manufacturing plants in some of the regions if we consider that it might be a strategic low-cost measure. This could be implemented sooner in emerging markets in the Asia-Pacific region. Specialty footwear still could be a factor to consider in putting up those plans if you consider country or region specialty sports like long distance running in East Africa, short distance, baseball, basketball, and American football in the Americas and football in Europe. The company in the medium term is implementing, as mentioned earlier a strategic plan which include product innovation, new product lines, marketplace scope expansion, and diversification and

Integrated Strategic Human Resource Management Essay

Integrated Strategic Human Resource Management - Essay Example ment theories and the softer version of early HR theories revealed that both used the same terminology of integrating with organizational goal and vesting control in the line with the difference in emphasis. Personnel management’s emphasis was on non- managerial workforce whereas HRM theories emphasize the role of managers and the core of workforce. HRM views line managers as business managers maximizing organizational profits and not just people’s managers. HRM also emphasizes the role of senior managers in building and maintaining the organizational culture. The stakeholders identified by the model include are shareholders, management, employee groups, government, community and unions. Various situational factors include work force characteristics, business strategy and conditions, management philosophy, labor market, unions, task technology and laws and societal values. These two factors together determine the HRM policy choices for the organization. This HRM policy will determine the level of employee involvement, human resource flows, reward systems and work systems. The resultant HR outcome will be reflected in employee commitment and competence, congruence and overall HR cost effectiveness in the organization as well as individual and societal well being (Taylor et al. 2008). Some of the major advantages of this holistic model are (Armstrong, 2006) It identifies and incorporates a wide range of stakeholders and their interests in the model. It recognizes the explicit and implicit tradeoffs between interests of various stakeholders. It recognizes the importance and role of human capital in the form of employee influence as an influencing factor and hence questions the supervisory style of work organizations. It recognizes a broad range of contextual... The researcher of this essay aims at identifying how much this integration of human resource management is being successful by critically analyzing the three models namely Michigan, Harvard and Choice model. With growing pressure global competition along with the increasing number of educated employees who demanded more involvement in the organization, the need for the development of a human resource framework was felt. Scholars at Harvard business school responded by providing a broad casual mapping of the determinants and consequences of human resource management (HRM) policies. According to this model effective HRM revolves around the concept of balancing the interests of the various influence groups and the ever changing situational factors. This model is considered dynamic because the situational factors and influence groups keep on changing. Michigan Model catered the problem of humanistic approach, which the soft model of Harvard was accused of with a harder approach treating human resource in the same way as other resources of business. This model has quantitative approach that implies that human capital should be obtained as cheaply and simply as possible. Warwick model was developed by Warwick University. This model further propagated the transition of people management to human resource management with its emphasis on environmental factors and business strategy. In conclusion, the researcher states that these concepts of strategic HRM still needs further improvement.

What is extreme poverty To what degree would you describe meeting Goal Essay

What is extreme poverty To what degree would you describe meeting Goal 1 Target 1 of the Millennium Development Goal as a success - Essay Example With it there has been a considerable drop in incomes which resulted in additional 50 million people being left in extreme poverty in 2009. Based on the projections the global poverty which is measured at $ 1.25 a day will fall to 15 percent by 2015 and it will leave 918 million people below the poverty line. Though over the past three decades poverty has declined rapidly, but human society still faces complex and urgent challenges. Worldwide more than 1 billion people live in a state of destitution. With rise in social exclusion and inequality the problem of extreme poverty is rising. This report will take a look at the extreme poverty and the various goals regarding it. In 2013 the Board of Governors of World Bank has endorsed two new goals. First is that the World Bank Group will commit its energy into bringing an effective end to the extreme poverty by 2030. This means that that they have to reduce it to no more than 3 percent the fraction of the population of the world who are living on less than $ 1.25 percent per day. The second goal is to ensure that the benefits of prosperity will be shared by promoting income growth of the bottom 40 percent of the people. The World Bank group aim at achieving both the goal in a sustainable manner and hence help secure the long term future of the planet and its resources (Và ¶rà ¶smarty, and et.al. 2010, p. 173). The World Bank originally defined extreme poverty as individuals who are living on the equivalent of less than $ 1 per day. In 2008 it was then updated to $ 1.25 per day. In 1990 the number of people living in extreme poverty was estimated at 1.2 billion. According to World Bank the percentage of people living in extreme poverty globally will fall to no more than 3 percent by 2030 (United Nations, 2010, p. 351). In 1980s it was common for the nations to use their general economic surveys and national income accounting for identifying a poverty line (Rogers, Jalal

The nature of state provisions for the poor in the period c. 1830 - 1839 Essay Example for Free

The nature of state provisions for the poor in the period c. 1830 1839 Essay To what extent were the changes in the size of the electorate the key factor in determining the nature of state provisions for the poor in the period c. 1830 1839? In the years between 1830 and 1939, Britain saw great increase in the rate of legislation and the amount of government intervention in society, particularly concerning the aid of the poor. At the same time, the size of electorate was ever expanding but does this mean to two factors are necessarily linked? 1832 saw the Great Reform act, an act which extended the vote to all middle class men, putting an increased amount of power in their hands, in reflection of the greater political influence they now boasted. The middle class were distinguished by their values; the promotion of self help, thrift, sobriety and scientific approach all considered fairly opposite to qualities which the working class were believed to possess (self help, thrift and sobriety, in particular). Two years following the reform act, in 1834, the poor law amendment act was introduced. The old poor law had been under much attack, particularly from prominent writers and social commentators of the time, such as Thomas Malthus and Jeremy Bentham. Malthus blamed the poor law for the evident population growth in Britain, in that people were entitled to a greater amount of poor relief when they had a greater number of children. His solution to the problem was to see the abolition of the poor law, which would allow land owners (those who paid the poor rates) to pay higher wages to their workers, to prevent them having to rely on means of relief in the first place. With any luck, this would also discourage people from having as many children for the sake of money, hence controlling the rate of population growth and consumption of resources. Bentham wanted to see the poor cared for by the National Charity Organisation. He also proposed industry houses, which would be the only means by which people could access poor relief. The industry houses would be purposely tough, with strict discipline and long hours, in the hope of discouraging people from entering in the first place. Given that there would be no outdoor relief; this was intended to encourage people to apply the middle class principle of self help, and to find a means out income beyond poor relief. The major problems with the old poor law focused around its increasing cost, corruption within the system, and the demoralising affect of the Speenhamland system (where by the low wages of agricultural works would be subsidised in accordance to their number of children and the price of bread). The problems were approached by the Royal Commission on the Poor Laws, which began a few months prior to the 1832 great reform act. It recommended a new means of administration of the poor law (including the grouping of parishes into unions, controlled by a Board of Guardians, overseen by a central Poor Law Commission), the abolition of outdoor relief, and the introduction of the workhouse test. These ideas very much reflected those of Jeremy Bentham, and generally promoted middle class values; in particular, self help. However, given that the Royal Commission began some months before the middle class were enfranchised, it seems somewhat less likely that the points of the Poor Law Amendment act were a consequence of their influence. Furthermore, the leading commissioners were Nassau Senoir, a Malthusian, and Edwin Chadwick, a Benthamite given their position in the proceedings, it seems far more likely that their ideas are those which had more impact on the investigation (i.e., the results of the investigation could have easily been picked at to meet with their beliefs). Throughout the mid-nineteenth century, it could be observed that there was a growing movement of self-help amongst the working class, mainly revolving around Friendly Societies, Co-Operatives and Trade Unions. The Co-op began in 1844, and aimed to keep food prices down without compromising their purity. At the end of the year, profits were shared out amongst members via a dividend, so customers gained something in return for their expenditures. The Co-op was not a great use for the particularly poor however, as full payments were required at the time of purchase these people generally relied on tabs due to low and irregular income. Members of friendly societies and trade unions, generally speaking, would pay in a protected sum of money which they could then receive as benefits when ill, to protect then from having to turn to the poor law. Again, this required a regular income, due to the need to pay in money consistently. It seems very likely that these means of self help were a direct influence from the middle class; perhaps members of the working class had seen the influence and status which the middle class had received as a potential consequence of their values? Also, the new poor law and the fact that people would want to avoid the workhouse if at all possible seems a viable reason for the new interest in self help. It seems perfectly possible however that these people could have picked up on such middle class values without the latter being enfranchised anyway. In reward for their efforts, skilled artisans received the vote in 1867, with the second reform act. This still left the majority of the working class without the vote, and was likely due to the fact that skilled artisans were the only members of the working class with a steady enough income to pay into friendly societies, trade unions or co-operatives. The 1867 wasnt entirely supported however; some leading figures considered it power in the hands of the masses, and that it would throw the scum of the community to the surface. However, following the reform act, many changes were made and legislations passed, including the compulsory 1875 public health act and the 1870 education act, amongst others, all bringing about changes which would improve the conditions of working class life, along with the peoples chances for the future. Links between poverty and external factors were being established, government intervention was increasing, and there was a broader electorate to now appeal to. However, this growing electorate was not the only motive behind these changes. Scientific breakthroughs were occurring, such as the establishment of the germ theory, which gave much of the basis for the 1875 compulsory public health act. The national efficiency debate was sparking concerns to the general condition of the nation, a problem particularly highlighted by the number of volunteers who had to be rejected from aiding in the Boer war due to their poor health. Foreign competition saw rise to concerns over Britains economic health and weak workforce with a slump in trade, and the opinion of public figures such as Charles Dickens and Henry Mayhew on the difficulty of working class life gave a very human aspect to the problem. It seems that really, the now larger electorate was not the main force behind these legislations; yet, they were the easiest way to appeal to working men. It may just be considered as a fortunate consequence that these somewhat essential legislations appealed to the working class and their needs. The government also realised that taking these measures would help to break the apparent poverty cycle when people fell ill due to the poor conditions they lived in, they could not work, dipping them and their families into poverty. Consequently, the workforce became weakened, which by no means aided Britains dwindling economy. It was essentially in the governments interest to pass these legislations, for the sake of the country, not just appeal to the working class voters. In 1884, the vote was extended further into the working class, resulting in 1/6th of all men having the vote. The 1880s and 90s were a period of great economic problems and fairly high unemployment, and issue which was extending to skilled and respectable workers, not just the casual workers in society. This was a consequence of Britains pattern of trade slumping, and the inadequacy of the poor law in dealing with such a problem led to an overflow in the workhouses, and many people with no means of relief. Still prevalent in society was the national efficiency debate, with Britains consistently weak workforce and comparatively weak economy in comparison to nations such as Germany and the USA. Around this time, there was also an ever-growing awareness as to the causes of poverty, highlighted by the works of Seebohm Rowntree and Charles Booth, whos work into the extent of poverty in cities (and that for many people, their situation was caused through no fault of their own) very much hi ghlighted the extent of poverty, even beyond what people already expected. 1906 saw the Liberals come into power for the first time in 20 years, and consequently, the passing of many new legislations and reforms. These included another education act, labour exchanges act, trade boards act and the old age pensions. Given the minimal increase in the size of the electorate in 1884, it seems unlikely that this was the motive at all behind the Liberal reforms, particularly with much larger threats pressuring for change; e.g., the looming threat of socialism in Britain, the mass unemployment Britain was facing, the national efficiency debate and the desire to stay in office. There was also the Royal Commission on the Poor Laws of 1909 to consider, which between its minority and majority reports produced the recommendations which most likely lead to the reforms for change in provisions towards children and the elderly. The Liberal reforms brought about many improvements for these groups, with the old age pension and provision of meals and medical inspections act in education, and the National Insurance act of 1911 provided a means of sick pay and medical cover for workers much like a national frien dly society, of which all workers would have to pay into. For as much controversy as this caused, it was a big step by the Liberals in facing poverty. Beyond this time, the size of the electorate was not altered by any means of reform, yet quite dramatic changes towards provision for the poor took place; this included alternations to the age at which the OAP could be received, the unemployment act (which extended the national insurance scheme), the effective destruction of the poor law with the Local Government Act, the establishment of Public Assistance Committees to aid the able bodied poor, and the means test. Given that there was no change in the size of the electorate, there is no means by which that could be responsible for these changing provisions for the poor, they were mostly consequence of problems throughout society at the time, such as the inadequacy of the poor law as a welfare system in the 20th century, the mass unemployment throughout Britain and the lack of benefits available for the most vulnerable groups in society (e.g., widows, the elderly and orphans). It seems fair to say that, although their choices would have influenced who came into office and consequently, the policies that would be passed, the changing size of the electorate had a minimal part to play in changing provisions for the poor. The continuously changing external factors which pressured for change, advances in beliefs and knowledge and the work of prominent figures appear to have had the most profound effect on legislation and reform, and it seems that the changing legislation simply appealed to the needs of the changing electorate by fortunate consequences. It would seem that it was more the governments interest to tackle major issues such as unemployment and threats of socialism, as opposed to appealing to the requirements of the electorate concerning poor relief, yet the tackling of these issues simply led to improvements in this area also. The varying needs and requirements of the electorate themselves had little direct influence over government policies at any p oint.

Corporate and brand strategy of Indian telecommunications organization

Corporate and brand strategy of Indian telecommunications organization IDEA Cellular Limited entered to world of Indian Telecommunication in year 2002 after a long series of businesses and collaborations with other companies and groups under Birla group of companies.  [1]  Since then, the company has kept its core center of attention on maximizing the subscriber base and gain maximum share in the GSM mobile services market .The major brand identification happened after bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan became the brand ambassador with slogan- An Idea can change your life with various ground-breaking adverstiments specially to attract rural people in country For this assignment, information was gathered from various online sources and books. I first explained the corporate and brand strategy for the firm and then analyzed the firms strengths and weaknesses by conducting a SWOT analysis. The next step was to design the marketing strategy for the firm. I positioned the marketing goals and objectives and evaluate the 4 Ps of the firm and then developed the 4 Ps that the firm would utilize in the next year. The final step was based on 7Cs to analysis the company website which helped to developed online strategy for Idea. Industry Analysis: Subscriber base Analysis: As per telecom regulatory authority of India report by October 2010 total subscriber data reached 742.12 million out of which wireless subscriber base reaches 706.69 with overall increase of 2.61% from last year.  [2]   As published latest performance indicator report for quarter April-June 2010 YOY growth is 48.73%  [3]   In rural India teledensity for wireless telephone subscribers is 33.0% where as in urban areas teledensity is 67.0% Top players in wireless telephone subscribers are Bharti, Reliance, Vodafone, Tata and Idea Idea is no.5 player contributes 10.76% to total Indian Telecom wireless industry. Average revenue Per User (ARPU) has dropped by 7% over the last quarter MOU for customers dropped to 2.2% as compared to last quarter results. Source: Telephone Regulatory Authority of India Press Release from May 2010 to October 2010 Reasons for growth in telecom services: Escalating telecom services with improving infrastructure. Introducing new and new service providers. Declining tariffs due to increase in competition to attract lots of customers. Reducing handset costs help in the growth of the industry. Company Analysis: Idea Cellular Limited (!DEA) is one of the leading mobile service provider in India with number of subscribers 74.2 million as on Sept,2010 . Idea is in 11 out of 22 service areas, covering ~80% of the national subscriber base.  [4]  . It is the one of the fastest growing mobile service in India. Idea offers number of services as per customer needs with some unique feature like-womens card for special need of woman (always want to talks more),youth card for young generation of India. Recently idea is awarded with 3G range in 11 major areas out of 22 in India with cover major revenues of Idea. Source: Telephone Regulatory Authority of India report as on 30.10.2010 Mission Statement: We will delight our customers while meeting their individual communication needs anytime anywhere. We survive because of our customers. Porters 5 Force Model(book detail)work required from allessays-incompleted Category Impact Cause Threat of New Entrants High Rules are set by TRAI for new entrants in telecommunication sector .And competition is increasing as new and new entrants are emerging in the market which will become a big challenge for Idea. Bargaining Power of Suppliers Low Cause of service based industry few suppliers are in the market and supplier lacks bargaining power is low. There is huge competition in the market for suppliers for hardware supplies (handsets) and software supplies (mobile software or operations) which makes the bargain power low for suppliers. Bargaining Power of Buyers High Increase of customer awareness for new offers from different brands and number of options available to them to choose the best for themselves, increase in competition make lots of options available to customers which increase the braining power of buyers. Substitutes Low VOIP, Wireless and satellites services have negligible effect on mobile phone operations as they can provide the connectivity when on the move and in turn act as substitute for mobile phones. It means threats from substitutes is low. Rivalry High High Price Competition, High agitate Rate and Promotional offers from competitors are very regular to attract the customers in this industry which gives high rivalry rate. SWOT Analysis: Competitor Analysis Mobile Industry is booming in India with new companies entering every year. Currently the pattern follows by Indian Telecommunication is having metro with highest presence of all major telecommunication companies followed by Circle A and B with presence of only major players and lowest Circle mainly rural areas where only govt support like BSNL operates. With this heavy competition companies are trying their best to find appropriate positions of distinguish their products. There are a few pan-national players like Idea while some are concentrated to particular areas. Idea main focus areas are voice and data traffic and unique VAS services which are primarily through prepaid talk time plans. The lack of brand loyalty among consumers letting competition stronger and stronger in the market. The major Competitors for Idea are: Bharti Airtel Reliance Vodafone Tata BSNL Segmentation: Idea cellular provides GSM mobile services in different regions across various circles. The consumer market for mobile services is majorly segmented as: Geography: Indian telecom industry is divided into 22 main circles and Idea operates in all sector offering different and customised services according to circle .for eg for Punjab circle it provide customised services as Punjab are users and same for other circles as per their requirements. Even there is distinguished between rural and urban area users. Idea mainly penetrates towards rural areas Demographic: Customers are segmented according to their ages and Idea offers mobile services accordingly to age and gender. Young customer between age 15-25 years require less cost and high usage where Idea offer young cards to these age group customers. Same for males and females segment they have different attitudes to use of mobile phones. Considering this Idea offer women cards where with low cost women can talk for long time. Behavioral: On the basis of user type customer can segmented corporate or individual .Idea offer special facilities for people belong to same organization On basis of usage rate customers can segmented as light (dont use mobile much), medium and heavy (use mobile very frequently) and Idea provide special benefits to such type of users. On basis of user status customers are segmented as first time users and regular brand loyal customers. Idea offers lots of different cards and benefits for first time user so that they become brand loyal and better and new offers to regular customers to maintain their brand loyalty. Benefits: Customers mainly classified on basis of their level of customization and the type of services they required. Few customers always prefer to have hassle free and simple plans mainly the old group and few customers always prefer regular customized plan accordingly to their requirements and usage timing. For some customer network and connectivity is more important rather than any plans and offers. Target Market: Idea follows on multi segment approach working on the demands of different segment areas. To target Youth or young people between the age 15 to 25 years, Idea started My-Gang Pre-Paid card on which the local group calls rate 10 paisa per minute and message one paisa per minute. To attract women Idea introduce Women card which provide offers like emergency calling, calling at the rate of 50/min from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.(kitty party rates). Idea not only young and women customers but offers lots of customized products to provide to various different segmentation of people like lovers, business people, old age people, low income people Market Position and Branding: Brand Strategy: Innovate. Stimulate. Liberate.  [5]   The telecom industry is growing at a very rapid pace. As per the Ansoff Product (book details)- IDEA going along with the Market Development Strategy. Main focus of Idea is to target new markets for eg:rural area of India. Idea mobile provides affordable and reliable services with efficient and stable network in count to, innovative and customised products that set free customers from limitations of time The different ad campaigns based on An Idea can change your life (finally a ad series called what an idea sirji) mainly focused towards creating new ideas, raise awareness and provide solutions to social issues which brings the presence of Ideas network in depth everywhere across India. Yet to explain Marketing Mix: 1.Product Idea Cellular provides services like: Voice and SMS service: Idea offers voice and SMS services at very competitive prices to its customers. Starting with services in Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, it has now expanded its network to all major circles. Value Added Services: To achieve customer loyalty Idea offer Value Added Services (VAS) major targets women, business people, and young people. Major VAS services includes: GPRS: Witht he increase in internet usage, Idea offer GPRS service to its customer where they use internet whenever they required on their mobile phones and even it offers customers to access mail with real time synchronization with mail server specially for business users. Idea Radio: Idea in collaboration with Radio to offer its customer radio services on mobile. Music Messaging: Cellular Jockey is service where you can send music SMS to your friends and loved one. Other Value Added Services: Other services include live TV streaming, easy billing option, payment by mobile of utility bills, travel booking etc. Wireless Internet: Idea provide wirless serives uder name of Idea net setter in form of plug and play which is simply a USB which require no extra installation to surf internet Strategy for next year: Following the traits, mobile market could reach maturity in next 5-6 years where then differentiation should base only on the services mobile companies provided. So for coming years Idea mobiles should concentrate more on urban market as well with new service offering as presently Idea is more concentrate to rural market.. The following could be some new features they should consider: Idea can come up with new and attractive plans like few years back they introduced caller tunes which really attracted people but at extra costs now in coming time they should provide these services as a part of basic packages. Like other countries they should tie up with mobile manufacturing companies to provide handset along with sim cards and packages. To invest more in rural market they should provide basic information like weather upates,news free of cost cause major of the rural India people depends upon farming. 2. Price: Pricing strategy and Implementation One of the main impact of increased competition is the price wars among companies which result to lower their prices (1paise per second), to survive in the market. Idea should also follow the same pricing strategy to remain in the market because customer who choose idea for low price will else move to other low price mobile service providers which is further aggravated by soon with introduction of MNP (mobile number portability) where customer dont require to change their number. However financial implications of pricing model will affect the overall profitability of company. This turn down is mainly determined by two factors: reduced tariff and customer is billed on per second rather than per minute because previously when a customer talked for 10 seconds he was charged for one minute but now if the customer calls for only 10 second then he will charged for 10 second only. These low levels of margins are not sustainable in the long term, where after some time they have to increase their prices to sustain in market. Although Idea can pick up on its profitability by reducing operating costs. Idea should try to focus on its major rural market by reducing prices and keep loyal to brand 3. Place: Objective: Idea Cellular operates in all 22 service areas/circles parts where more than 76% revenue comes from areas like Delhi, AP, Gujarat, MP, UP, Haryana, Kerala Source: The Telephone regulatory auhotirty of India Press release for subscriber base as on 30.10.2010 The medium of service distribution is as follows: My Idea and Idea Zone: The direct retail shops from Idea which provide all services from buying new connection to pay bills recharge topups, plan change, buying wirless services or idea products. These outlets are located within the city area to cover maximum users. Local Retailers: The authorised distributors of Idea services located anywhere in the city. They only provide services like new connections and recharge top ups but not deal in services special like lost SIM replacement, customer complaint handling etc. At some of these shops, there are facilities for bill payment and cheque drop box. Internet: The Company can also obtain all information from Idea website.Custmoers can also pay their bills, buy top ups. Strategy for next year: Setup more and more My Idea stores, and Idea Zones which help them to directly interact with the customers provide better solutions to theory requests. Open kiosk at important places for bill payment and complaint registrations. Because of India law for security norms, process for apllying new connection is still manual, Idea should try to ease the process to increase the customer experience. 4.Promotion: Objective Most of the mobile companies are providing almost same type of services with few modifications. In this case it is really important to position your brand as best as possible and for this the best idea is to promote the brand with best multimedia campaign and market communication. The objective of campaigns is to communicate the customer various new plans, their features, and promotions. Message and Creative strategy: Idea has developed the whole marketing communication around social issues. The use of brand name Idea in its tagline An Idea can change your life is well placed. It mainly follows two different strategies of creating brand awareness and creating and loyialty for brand purchase intention: Transformational appeal: To create brand awareness, they emphasize to stir up emotions that will motivate purchase especially in rural areas. For example: a 90-second advertisement, where a girl is denied to join the school because of non availability, Abhishek Bachchan who is the principal of the school comes up with idea of starting mobile classes. The students will gather around a mobile to learn the lessons and teachers communicate wirelessly. To make interest, they just showed only a 10 second teaser for first few days and after creating a curiosity among the audience they aired full 90 second commercial. Informational appeal: To create and facilitate brand purchase intention, idea designs campaigns which elaborate product attributes or benefits. In such kind of campaign major attributes like call rates or other benefits such as free talk-time or value added services are highlighted. To fulfil this end they go for product comparison ads (for example: to communicate the benefits of womens calling card they developed a campaign which depicts women from different backgrounds having different lifestyle using their Idea womens calling card to fulfil their different needs such as advice, security and beauty tips). To get the attention of the target audience, first half of the commercial is shot in a background of 1960s i.e. in retro environment. Communication Channels: Mass Media: Television: Idea follows a mass marketing strategy like all other brands because this medium has highest reach in the country. To communicate through this channel: Idea buys television slots from 10 sec to 90 sec in famous TV shows. The concept of advertisement is created by agency Lowe Lintas, Idea choose Abhishek Bachan as their brand ambassador. Idea also sponsors sports events such as that of IPL (became one of the sponsor of Mumbai Indians) which are broadcasted on the TV and watched by millions. Idea sponsors famous award functions and TV reality shows Idea Khataron Ke Khiladi- Part 2, Idea Bharat Ki Shaan on DD, Idea IIFA awards, Idea Filmfare Awards etc. which helps in improving brand image. Print Media: This is mainly used to highlight plans and offers. Whenever a new plan is launched, Idea give full page ads in the leading newspapers and on regular bases Idea give ads about different tariffs and plans. Billboards and Hoardings: Idea places its billboards and hoardings at several places in the city such as on a roadside near a traffic light or on highways. The design is customised according to the region. This helps the company in connecting with the diverse target audience at a local level. Tie up with IOC: Idea also tied up with Indian Oil Corporation to use their petrol pumps and gas agencies for branding and distribution of Idea sim cards and recharge vouchers. Online advertisement: Idea comes up with different campaigns on internet websites from time to time to interact and connect with large online youth community. Mobile advertisement: Idea runs several campaigns and contests on mobile to engage existing customers and reward them through monetary prize, thus, reinforcing the relation of Idea with the customer. 7 Cs of marketing: (book model in appendix) The website of Idea Cellular services is http://www.ideacellular.com/. The website analysis on the basis of 7 Cs of marketing is as follows: Contract: Idea website is divided into nine sections including Home, Prepaid, Postpaid, VAS and Roaming, Business offerings, Customer care, Blackberry, Wireless internet, investors. Website is not too complex and easy to understand even for a person who dont know much about using of internet sites for getting information and can pay online bills indicates that Ideas believe in simplicity for the sake of customers. Content: The content of website is quite useful and presents all the necessary information to customers as well as investors. It covers like company history, major events, press releases, company mission, values, products etc for everyone. From investors prospective it covers sharing holding pattern, Annual reports, presentations etc.Idea users can login for their personal account in website for check details, update them, paying bills etc. Overall it provides required the valuable information Construction: The website is user friendly and easy to use. Connectivity to different tabs is accessible on home page as well as individual tabs itself. All tabs/sections provide simple and direct meaning about their significance. Community: There are different types of communities which keep on entering the market to let people connect. Idea will let you to connect to facebook as well now. Presently people can part of Kaho whats your idea community. Customization: Presently Idea website does not let any customization of any products or plans. If user want any change in their mobile phone plans they have to visit Idea retail outlets The only option available is that people can register their themselves for new connections on available plans or edit their personal details. Communication: There is one common tab appear as a banner for all sections of website run five(presently) promotional advertisements which keep on changing about new plans, products, offers of the company. These advertisements are comparatively of short duration (few seconds).The website is not loud to support the Idea of simplicity. Commerce: The website provides current users to pay their bills,recharge their top ups and edit their personal details.

Company Profile of Sainsbury

Company Profile of Sainsbury SAINSBURY is one of the leading food retailers in UK. It is a public limited company and is registered with LSE and FTSE 100. The company is the oldest food chain retailers in UK being established in 1869 by J.J Sainsbury. At present the company owns around 800 stores including supermarkets and convenience stores. The company is the third largest food-retailer in UK and has a share of around 16.3 percent of the total market. The company after leading the UK food retail market for decades faced a downfall during the 1990s. At present, the company is trying to retrieve its position in the UK market and expand its global market share. In this report, an attempt has been made to analyse the different business strategies used by the company at different times and to compare its strategies to that of its competitors in order to assess the effectiveness. The first section of this report deals with the company profile of Sainsburys and a recap of its early establishment. This will help in understanding the activities of the business and the business strategies adapted by it. The second section analyses the different strategies adapted by the company. The third section deals with the competitors of Sainsburys i.e. Tesco and Asda and a short analysis of the strategies adapted by them. And finally, the report has been concluded in line with the different activities carried on by Sainsburys and the strategies that should be followed by it in order to be more competitive. REPORT ON BUSINESS ANALYISIS In this report, an analysis of the business strategy of an organisation is required to be carried out. Business strategy refers to the various activities carried out by an organisation at different stages of its growth and expansion plan. (Tayeb, M. 2000) All the stages of a business growth commencing from the start up involves some type of business strategies. A business strategy can be defined as a long term plan designed to attain a specific organisational goal. The strategy acts as a guide for the business to reach its target. A successful business strategy will design and plan all the activities to be or required to be carried out in order to reach the organisational goal successfully. (Source: Rapid Business Intelligence Success; http://www.rapid-business-intelligence-success.com/definition-of-business-strategy.html, Accessed on 23.05.2010; 16:15hrs). Therefore, from the above discussion on business strategy it can be concluded that a business strategy plans the growth of a business and describes the pathway for attaining it. Business strategy involves analysis of various factors involved with the organisation (i.e. external and internal organisational environment, market size, organisational structure, economy of the market, local and regional economy, target customer, income of the local people, customer preference, socio-cultural issues etc.). All these factors help in forming a business strategy suitable for an organisational. A business organisation aiming at growth, expansion and value creation is an outcome of the vision of an entrepreneur. Once the entrepreneur locates the opportunity in a society, he/she tries to implement some innovative ideas in order to exploit that opportunity and gain profit. The process relating to the implementation of the innovative idea and bringing the opportunity into reality is termed as business. (Kuratko, 2009) A business plan is required in order to bring the business into reality. Similarly, a business strategy is required for attaining the business goal. The strategy gets involved from the beginning of a business i.e. early start-up. But the strategy involved in the different stages of organisational growth will be distinct from the other. The following diagram will help us in further understanding the different business strategies involved in different stages of organisational growth. (Adapted from: HIT; Business, organisation and information architecture; http://www.hit.nl/Product_BusinessStrategy.asp) In this report, I am going to analyse the various business strategies of Sainsburys and have made an attempt to compare those strategies with that of Tesco and Asda, the two famous competitors of Sainsburys. I have chosen Sainsburys, Tesco and Asda for this report. An attempt has been made to analyse and compare the different strategies adapted by these companies. All the organisations dealt with in this report are multinationals based in UK and are continuously growing. Moreover, Sainsbury has been selected because of its diversified ownership structure, different strategies adapted by it in the recent days which have helped it to gain its market share and increase its profitability besides being a sluggish growth in the economy and the main reason being its history. COMPANY PROFILE: SAINSBURYS is a public limited company registered in the London Stock Exchange and FTSE 100. It is one of the leading UK food retailers and had been part of the financial and property sector. The retail food chain is the main business accounting for the major turnover of the company. Sainsburys group employs more than 145,000 people and therefore, is one of the major players of the economy. Sainsburys its known for its quality and service besides its price. Sainsburys success can be traced back in 1869 when the company was founded by J. J Sainsbury. It started with the aim of providing its customers the ‘best butter in the world at an affordable price. Sainsburys started with the fresh foods and later enter the market for packaged food products. It mainly focused on the dairy products, however, it was the first retail food chain to improvise, petrol stations, fresh food and poultry counter in their retail stores. Since inception, Sainsburys tried to aim at providing best quality at low prices. At present Sainsburys retail food chain consists of more than 800 stores including supermarkets and convenience stores. It started its journey from London and is now spread all over UK with stores in Scotland, Ireland, Belfast and North east United States. Sainsburys used to be the largest grocery chain in UK till 1995 whereby, Tesco overtook the first position and Asda became the second largest chain in 2003. The company started its activities in 1869 as a business owned and operated by the Sainsbury family. It carried on its culture till 12 July, 1973, when the organisation became public. However, the major shareholding of 85% was with the family and therefore, after becoming public also, the organisation carried on its legacy and the traits of a family business. But, the company started facing some managerial issues with the new management in 1993 and since then, the family has divested their ownership. At present, Qatar Holding LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Qatar Investment Authority is the major stakeholder owning around 26 percent of the companys share. (Sainsburys Corporate Website; http://www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/index.asp?pageid=229, Accessed on: 25.05.10, 10:15hrs) Sainsburys was among the first few organisations, which hired women employees during the World War, since most of their male employees had to b there in the war front. They develop a separate and exclusive training programme for their women employees who will help them work effectively in this new environment. Though, Sainsburys has lost their position of being the market leaders but still it is one of the biggest names in UK food retail chain and moreover, in the recent years it has achieved a remarkable growth. ANALYSIS OF THE DIFFERENT STRATEGIES The business strategies as discussed before, is an inseparable part of a business and is linked with all the activities of a business organisation. The companies adapt several strategies for the start-ups, entering a new market, growth strategy, marketing strategy. COMPETITIVE STRATEGIES Sainsburys started its journey as a grocery chain aiming at producing quality goods at affordable price. The organisations aim of producing â€Å"quality goods at affordable prices† can be treated as its market entry strategy. On further analysis of this strategy, it has been noted that its market entry strategy possess the qualities of a low-pricing strategy. Low-pricing strategy is an integral part of the business-level strategy. It helps the organisation enjoy a competitive advantage over its competitors. Low-pricing strategy aims at producing quality goods but at lower prices than offered by its competitors. It is mainly followed in a competitive commodity market where the products are more or less similar. The low-pricing strategy leads to lower profit margin and therefore, it is not adapted by all the organisations. The business has to be confident about the product and service offered by it. Moreover, has to develop a cost structure which will help the business sustain in this low price strategy. Low prices and lower product quality is something normal, and thus can easily be followed by the competitors. However, producing similar quality goods at a lower price is a challenge as it requires a developed cost structure. Moreover, the cost structure has to be developed in such a way that the competitors cannot easily follow it. Therefore, the key challenge lies in structuring the cost in a manner that will help the organisation to enjoy a sustainable advantage following the low pricing strategy. In regard to this scenario, Sainsburys has developed a unique cost structure by developing close relationships with its suppliers and by irradiating the agents in between. Both these policies helped the organisation enjoy a cost advantage over their competitors. Moreover, the companys manufacturing and packaging cost are developed in a way to keep the product cost lower than its competitors. The company being the market leader also enjoyed the volume of the quantity produced and thus, enjoy the economies of scale. (Johnson, G., 2002) Low-pricing strategy adapted by Sainsburys helped the organisation to become the market leader whereas, its in-house product variants helped it to develop a wide market and attract customers from all the strata of society. The product variants are the result of the product differentiation policy adapted by the company. Sainsburys has a varied chain of in-house products. Moreover, it has also differentiated its in-house products and brands in such a way that it can reach all the segments of the market, this strategy helps Sainsburys to capture a large share of the household market. Sainsburys differentiation strategy helped it to come up with different lines of similar products. The differentiation was done on the basis of the cost and the product quality. The product differentiation was done in several stages. The company came up with a basic product line followed by superior quality products. The basic line of product is cost effective but maintains the quality. With the higher line of product the company brought in higher variants of similar by adding value to it. The higher variants not only has added value in respect of the quality of the product, but also the product packaging and marketing. For the basics, Sainsburys has adapted minimalistic packaging cost and marketing structure. The differentiation strategy is really important for an organisation aiming at growing its market share. The differentiation strategy helps the organisation to provide products and services different from those offered by its competitors in terms of quality, uniqueness and value addition. The differentiation strategy helps the organisation to increases its market share and thus enabling it to enjoy a cost advantage. Therefore, cost function can be termed as a function of product differentiation. (Johnson, G. et. al, 2002) Sainsburys product differentiation has enabled it to gain a major market share of the lower and the middle income group. It has introduced product differentiation in all the product lines offered by it, may it be, dairy products, meat and poultry products, fresh and packaged vegetables and fruits, spices, household products etc. For e.g. The oatmeals and cornflakes comes in several variants. The range of basic oatmeals and cornflakes range between 48 pence and 64 pence whereas the higher end product variants of the similar line range between 150 190 pence. The above example, helps us to understand not only the product variants and product differentiation but also that the company follows a focused differentiation strategy. In order, to aim the higher strata of the society, the company came up with products with better packaging, added quality and thus adding on to the value of the products. Moreover, the higher variants not only come up with added quality but also innovative products which them to differentiate from the similar kind of products offered by its competitors. For e.g. Sainsburys raisin-filled oatmeals, raspberry-filled oatmeals differentiate its products from the other competitors The company with its own differentiated line of products comes up with several other products offered by leading retailers and therefore, gives its customers a varied choice of products. The varied products attract customer base and thus enabling it to increase the market share. In addition, the company has incorporated several innovative ideas in its supermarket model like petrol stations, fresh bakery items, fresh meat, cooked meat and fish selling counters which makes them different from its competitors. This idea has not only differentiated them from their competitors but as helped them to act according to their value of providing healthy and quality foods. The different competitive and strategies in order to be competitive and gain the market share has enabled it form a hybrid strategy comprising of the main elements of low pricing, differentiation and focussed differentiation strategy. All these strategies merged together helped the business grow at a faster pace. LOCATIONAL STRUCTURAL STRATEGIES Since early period, Sainsburys built in the concept of departmentalisation in its stores. Its early food stores were divided into 6 departments, dairy products, ham and bacon, poultry and game, fresh meats, cooked meat and groceries. It was an unique concept at the 1900s which shows its innovative thinking from its inception. The use of mosaic floors, marbled topped counters, uniformed staffs, white tiles background not only enabled to have a comprehensive and similar looks through the stores but also shows their innovativeness and capability of thinking ahead than others.(The Sainsbury Archive; Accessed on 25.05.2010; The Design Journal 1966. Further, a companys store location plays an important role in its business. In the case of Sainsburys, it has always chosen a central position in the parade for a larger display and better connectivity to overcome the constraints relating to limited vehicles for home delivery. It was the first retail store chain to bring in home delivery service in UK. All these strategies helped the business to grow and become a pioneer in its field. The organisation also pioneered in the self service supermarket in UK between 1950s and 1960s. All these add up to the locational and structural strategies adapted by the company since its inception to be a market leader. ORGNISATIONAL STRUCTURAL STRATEGY The organisational upbringing of Sainsburys has been pretty different from that of its competitor e.g. Tesco. Unlike, Tesco, Sainsburys relied on the family mode of business. The company went public in 1973; however, the major shareholding has always been within the family till 1990s when the major shareholdings by the family were divested following a strategic downfall. Unlike Tesco, which was mostly depended on the market wealth and capital generated from the equity market for its expansion and growth, Sainsbury mainly focussed at the inner source of capital and reserves for its expansion. Following the diversification of the shareholdings in 1995, the major share holding is with QIA, a foreign investment company. The companys early strategy of not involving market equity capital has helped the organisation to maintain cohesiveness in the organisational activities and has enabled the initial growth and expansion. Employee employer relationshiphas always been an advantage for the company. The company has always given preference to the organisational and personal requirements of its employees. The employee policy designed by the organisation has helped it in its success. It is rated as one of the leading recruiters of UK at present. It has a very large yet strong organisational base which has evolved with time. The organisational structure of the company has always been subjected to a change. The hierarchal set-up during the early stages evolved into a much flatter organisational set up with time and changing society. This proves the adaptive strategy followed by the company. Supplier retailer policyadapted by Sainsburys since its inception, has helped the organisation to enjoy a lower cost and better quality. The supplier management strategy is very essential for a growing transnational organisation like Sainsbury. The company has always aimed at maintaining a good relationship with supplier, thus enabling them to be a market leader. However, the companys downfall during the early 1990s has been an effect of a major relationship difference between the reailer and supplier. Building up a supplier-retailer relationship and maintaining it is the role of a successful organisation. STORE FORMATS The company adapted the hyper-market policy during the early 1970s following its competitors. The company operated this format of stores through bigger outlets (over 45000 sq.ft ) and varied range of products under the brand Sainsbury Savacentre. But, later it got incorporated into the main channel being a part of the integrated sales and back office operations unlike, Tesco. The product distribution followed the policy of equal distribution between groceries and non-food items as followed by Tesco. The supermarket (average of 34000 sq.ft) the hypermarket store format only differ in the size and the quantity of product variants offered by the two types of stores. The company also followed the concept of convenience stores followed by the other food retailers like Tesco, The Cooperative store, etc. This store format is also be termed as local store and is meant for a local market, much smaller in size (between 2000-6000 sq.ft) with limited variants offering top-ups and go and grab deals. Asda, did not follow the concept of convenience stores. The store formats helped us analysing the customer serving strategy and the customer base of the organisation. FRANCHISING Unlike its competitors, Sainsburys does not involve franchising. Tesco recently has planned to go for a franchising in order to enter further into this multi-billion dollar market of retail groceries. Its considering the franchising scope followed the step taken by its French competitor Carrefour. Franchising will help Sainsbury to reach a broader customer base and reach further corners which is no possible through direct acquisitions and mergers. Further, acquisitions involve managerial constraints which can be easily avoided in case of franchising. MERGER ACQUISITION In line to the discussion Mergers and acquisitions it can be rightly pointed out that the company is rightly catching up the growing model of business UK and worldwide. Its acquisitions of Bell supermarkets which operate in north east England and a merger with Shell stations will help it to grow the number of convenience stores and petrol stations in UK. (Food Drink Europe.com http://www.foodanddrinkeurope.com/Retail/Sainsbury-s-image-takes-another-knock). The company went for a merger with Shaws Supermarket Inc. a leading super-market chain in U.S and later acquires the company accompanied by its acquisition of Star Markets. These acquisitions have helped Sainsburys to control competition in the foreign market. However, a detailed analysis has pointed out that the business acquisition decisions and deals have not been of much success and therefore, affecting its worldwide turnover. OTHER MODES OF OPERATION Sainsbury has started providing financial services through Sainsbury Bank which is joint venture between Sainsbury and Lloyds Banks. Its property management team is helping its property management business to reach new heights. The company has started diversifying its portfolio and its activities bt it will take time in attaining the aimed success. COMPETITORS Sainsbury is the UKs third largest food retail chain trailing behind Tesco and Asda. TESCO, the leading retail food chain has started its operation since 1919 as a surplus grocery store in East End of England under Jack Cohen. The first TESCO store came into existence in 929 after being a limited company in 1924. Tescos growth was mainly through acquisitions along with organic growth. During early 1970s TESCO group owns around 700 stores nationwide. Tesco was the pioneer in offering the customers several facilities like customer rewards and club points which were previously unheard of. It introduced in internet shopping for the customers that help in growing the business and building up its brand image among its customers. During 1980s and 1990s it went through couple of successful takeovers including that of William low, a Dundee based firm competing with Sainsbury. In 1997, Tesco also went into a business alliance with esso in order to get a lease of its several petrol filling stations. In July 2001 Tesco became involved in Internet grocery retailing in the USA when it obtained a 35% stake in GroceryWorks.In 2002 Tesco purchased 13 HIT hypermarkets in Poland. It also made a major move into the UK convenience store market with its purchase of T S Stores, the owner of 870 convenience stores in theOne Stop, Dillons and Day Nite chains. At present, Tesco is leading the UK retail food chain though its 27 hypermarkets all over UK. Tesco and Sainsbury growth structure mainly differs. Tesco has mainly focused on the growth through takeovers, acquisitions and mergers on the other hand; Sainsburys growth was mainly based on organic growth. Growth through takeovers, acquisitions and mergers has helped Tesco to gain better and more market knowledge, technological knowledge and management knowledge. Whereas, organic growth for Sainsburys has taken through a longer period of time and through the evolution of the own management and acquired knowledge. On analysing, the growth factors, it can be pointed out that the growth strategy adapted by Sainsbury has been a major reason for its slower growth rate. ASDA STORES LIMITED was founded asAssociated Dairies Farm Stores Limitedin 1949 in Leeds. However, the present name of Asda came into existence following a merger with Asquith chain of three supermarkets and Associated Dairies in 1965. The company however, parted with its dairy department on a management buyout. The company followed the growth policy similar to that of Tesco in order to grow and provide different kinds of products. The newly focused food retail group in order to expand its activities beyond the north England, went for buyout in the south where it took over the large format stores ofGateway Superstoresin 1989. On 26 July, 1999 Asda was purchased by the US retail-giant Wal-Mart. Since then the company, has operated as a subsidiary of the Wal-Mart group. However, Asdas management has gone though a restructuring when it was sold to a Leeds based investment subsidiary of Wal-Mart, Corinth Services Limited in 2009. Asdas marketing campaigns has always been in limelight. The major strategic similarity between Asda and Sainsbury is that, both the organisations aim at low pricing. Therefore, the low pricing strategy that helped Sainsbury, to attract more customers and a major share in the market needs to be revised. Moreover, being an US subsidiary, it also followed several managerial set-ups those were previously unknown. A global growth of the Wal-Mart group, helped Asda gain its position as the second largest food-retailer in UK. Both Tesco and Asda have structural, organisational and managerial differences with Sainsburys but on comparing the whole set-up, it can be concluded that Tesco and Sainsburys have some structural similarity. On the lines of structural strategy, it can be concluded that Tesco follows a more diversified activities by using several variants like, Express, Metro, superstore, Extra and Homeplus which helps them to reach larger number of customers with different kinds of variants.   CONCLUSION While concluding this report, it can be said Sainburys has several strategical differences with its leading market leaders Tesco and Asda, however, it has started working on its set back and is currently responding to the organisational and social needs in a better way. Instead of a sluggish growth of the economy post 2008 it has recorded an increase in the total turnover thus, showing its organisational and managerial strength. On analysing the retail food market and the activities of the major market leaders, it can be predicted that Sainsburys will enjoy a fast and steady growth following the path of organisational mergers, takeovers and most recently franchising. All these will help Sainsbury to grow at a faster pace. All the discussions, that have been done in this report are not absolute and are subject to limitations regarding the information, word limit and time.

The Presidency of Bill Clinton :: William Jefferson Clinton Essays

The Clinton Presidency William Jefferson Clinton?s eight-year term as president of the United States of America was one of the most corrupt, and possibly the most damaging ever. There is evidence connecting him to hundreds of deaths, injuries, and explosions. He, along with his administration, made a number of ?Faustian bargains and policy blunders? (Timperlake) that allowed a malicious, rancorous government to gain more power in Washington. He acted dangerously and impulsively, and befriended all of the wrong people, including Chinese arms dealers, spies, pimps, and gangsters, among others. Clinton also compromised U.S. safety on more than one occasion. He is a cold, racist, corrupt man who has proven many times over that he does not care about the people, only in using them and obtaining money. In the following pages, one will see facts proving all of this. One could begin with the issue of genocide. In 1994, between half a million and a million members of the Tutsi tribe were slaughtered by Hutu tribal militias. Even though this massacre was widely covered by the news, the United States did nothing to help stop the killing. President Clinton offered an explanation to survivors in Kilagi for this. He said that he ?did not fully appreciate the depth and the speed with which [the survivors] were being engulfed by this unimaginable terror.? (Kelly) This explanation was not quite true. The U.S. government watched the killings in Rwanda closely. Clinton was completely familiar with the genocide; he knew what was going on as hundreds of thousands were being murdered. And yet, he still did nothing to stop it. He is also quoted as saying that he only ?did not act quickly enough to stop it after the killing began.? (Kelly) Actually, he personally denied urgent requests from the U.N. to send a small force of non-U.S. troops into Rwanda. Then on May 24, 1994, with the estimate number of the dead at 400,000 and rising, Clinton said, ?We cannot solve every such outburst of civil strife or militant nationalism simply by sending in our forces.? (Kelly). One may ask, if he considers a million corpses a ?civil strife?, does he really care about the world and the human race at all? Then, one may look at what happened with Mena, and the two teenage boys, Don

Families Values in Knoxville, Tennessee, Those Winter Sundays, and Two Kinds :: Two Kinds, Amy Tan

Family. What do you think of when you hear that word? Some people think of relatives or the people that they live with. Maybe a stepfather, stepmother, brothers, or sisters. To me, family is love, devotion, and caring. People of a family want to be together and love to do things for each other, such as do the dishes or wash the car for them. The poems that most represent my family values are â€Å"Knoxville, Tennessee† by Nikki Giovanni and â€Å"Those Winter Sundays† by Robert Hayden. The one that does not represent my family as much as the others is â€Å"Two Kinds† by Amy Tan. I love the poem â€Å"Knoxville, Tennessee† by Nikki Giovanni. It gives me a sense of people wanting to be together, family, wanting to be together. Giovanni wrote this poem so that it is told through a child (under the age of ten). The child’s world is made up of his or her family. He or she is mostly with the family â€Å"at the church picnic† (Giovanni 50, line 12) or â€Å"at the church / homecoming† (Giovanni 50, lines17-18). The child goes places with the family and is with them all of the time. He or she has not reached the teenage stage of rebellion and does not mind being with his or her parents. That is why I like this poem. It shows love for family through the uncontaminated eyes of a child. â€Å"Those Winter Sundays† represents family devotion to me. The father in the poem is so devoted to his family that he gets â€Å"up early / and put his clothes on in the blueback cold† (Hayden 51, lines 1-2) to warm the house for them. He does not care about anything except driving the cold away for his family. That is the kind of thing that is done out of true, deep, unconditional love. Families stick together and support each other, even if one is not so kind, like the teenager who fears â€Å"the chronic angers of the house† (Hayden 51, line 9). Families forgive, forget, and keep loving each other. â€Å"Two Kinds† is a story that does not represent my idea of family. The young daughter (Tan) does not obey her mother and continually disappoints her. Her mother wants her to learn piano and believes that she has talent, but Tan does not agree. â€Å"Unlike my mother, I did not believe that I could be anything.