Performance Management in a Human Resources Framework Essay

Performance Management in a Human Resources Framework Introduction The purpose of this assignment to is to consider Performance Management in a Human Resources Framework. Firstly, the assignment will look at the concept of ‘Human Resources Management’ as a holistic strategic approach to managing the relationship between employer and employee that goes beyond the bounds of mere ‘Personnel Management’. Secondly, in light of the statement from Cooke and Armstrong (1990, cited in Rudman, 2002) that â€Å"Human resources strategies exist to ensure that the culture, values and structure of the organisation and the quality, motivation and commitment of its members contribute fully to the achievement of its objectives† (p. 7), I will examine the extent to which my school’s performance appraisal and professional development policy and practice fit into a human resources framework. Lastly, these examples will be used to identify some of the potential and pitfalls of performance appraisal and professional development for an educational organisation. Human Resources Management – a holistic approach Human resource management (HRM) can be viewed as a holistic approach to managing the relationships in an organisation between the employer and employee. Rudman’s (2002) definition of HRM implies this holistic approach, in that HRM â€Å"covers all the concepts, strategies, policies and practices which organisations use to manage and develop the people who work for them† (p. 3). Several authors (Macky & Johnson 2000; McGraw, 1997; Rudman, 2002; Smith, 1998) acknowledge that HRM is the strategic and coherent approach to the management of an organisation’s most valued assets – the people working there who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the organisation. The terms ‘human resource management’ (HRM), ‘human resources’ (HR) and even ‘strategic human resource management’ (SHRM) have largely replaced the term â€Å"personnel management† as a description of the processes involved in managing people in organisations during the decades of the 1980s and 1990s (McGraw, 1997; Rudman, 2002). â€Å"People have been making personnel decisions since the earliest of times† (Rudman, 2002, p. 2), however, from a historical perspective, the modern form of personnel management was founded from the time of the industrial revolution on two main beliefs: 1) the employer’s concern for the welfare of its workers, and 2) the organisation’s need for control (Rudman, 2002). Over the last century personnel management evolved through the changing responses between these two beliefs and altered because of influences through scientific management, the industrial welfare and human relations movements , the development of trade unions and collective bargaining, and the growth of employment-related legislation (Rudman, 2002). Today, personnel management is associated with the functional aspects of people in organisations, whereas HRM is associated with the strategic aspects of people in organisations (Rudman, 2002). In practice the distinction between Personnel and Human Resource Management is often blurred because organisations need both function and strategic direction for managing and developing people (McGraw, 1997). Personnel management (PM) is therefore often used to describe the work related with administering policies and procedures for staff appointments, salaries, training and other employer/employee interactions.

Explain How An Organisation Can Cost A Product And Determine Its Price At Any Activity Level

You may wish to choose a business you already have knowledge of from trips or your part-time employer. For a product of your choice: 1. Clearly explain the main cost elements and the nature of those costs – define and give relevant examples of variable, fixed, semi-variable, direct and indirect costs 2. Suggest the weekly production level and a breakdown of costs for one product from your chosen business. Then calculate the marginal and absorption costs per unit. 3. Describe at least 2 methods of setting the price, including cost-plus pricing. Then suggest which method is best suited to your chosen business’ product and why. You may wish to choose a business you already have knowledge of from trips or your part-time employer. For a product of your choice:Clearly explain the main cost elements and the nature of those costs – define and give relevant examples of variable, fixed, semi-variable, direct and indirect costs2. Suggest the weekly production level and a breakdown of costs for one product from your chosen business. Then calculate the marginal and absorption costs per unit. 3. Describe at least 2 methods of setting the price, including cost-plus pricing. Then suggest which method is best suited to your chosen business’ product and why.You may wish to choose a business you already have knowledge of from trips or your part-time employer. For a product of your choice: 1. Clearly explain the main cost elements and the nature of those costs – define and give relevant examples of variable, fixed, semi-variable, direct and indirect costs 2. Suggest the weekly production level and a breakdown of costs for one product from your chosen business. Then calculate the marginal and absorption costs per unit. 3. Describe at least 2 methods of setting the price, including cost-plus pricing. Then suggest which method is best suited to your chosen business’ product and why.You may wish to choose a business you already have knowledge of from trips or your part-time employer. For a product of your choice: 1. Clearly explain the main cost elements and the nature of those costs – define and give relevant examples of variable, fixed, semi-variable, direct and indirect costs 2. Suggest the weekly production level and a breakdown of costs for one product from your chosen business. Then calculate the marginal and absorption costs per unit. 3. Describe at least 2 methods of setting the price, including cost-plus pricing. Then suggest which method is best suited to your chosen business’ product and why. You may wish to choose a business you already have knowledge of from trips or your part-time employer. For a product of your choice: 1. Clearly explain the main cost elements and the nature of those costs – define and give relevant examples of variable, fixed, semi-variable, direct and indirect costs 2. Suggest the weekly production level and a breakdown of costs for one product from your chosen business. Then calculate the marginal and absorption costs per unit. 3. Describe at least 2 methods of setting the price, including cost-plus pricing. Then suggest which method is best suited to your chosen business’ product and why.You may wish to choose a business you already have knowledge of from trips or your part-time employer. For a product of your choice: 1. Clearly explain the main cost elements and the nature of those costs – define and give relevant examples of variable, fixed, semi-variable, direct and indirect costs 2. Suggest the weekly production level and a breakdown of costs for one product from your chosen business. Then calculate the marginal and absorption costs per unit. 3. Describe at least 2 methods of setting the price, including cost-plus pricing. Then suggest which method is best suited to your chosen business’ product and why.

Best Dining Experience Essay Example for Free

Best Dining Experience Essay My favorite food is Mexican. Being from Arizona, Mexican restaurants are not as good here in Iowa. Although my favorite Mexican food to eat here is from my grandmother’s kitchen; there are a few restaurants my friends and I enjoy eating at. A few of my girlfriends and I have made Margarita Wednesdays a tradition in the summer time at La Casa. My brother, sister and I go to Los Cabos at least once a month in West Des Moines, which is an amazing delicious Mexican restaurant. I also like Monterrey in Altoona because it’s so close to my house, but no restaurant can compare to Tiki Tok in Mexico. My best friend and I were feeling spontaneous so we took a week off work and went on a cruise. We both found it difficult to eat on the ship because we were continually getting sea sick. I’ll never forget the fishy, chewy, and crunchy taste of the little shrimp and cocktail sauce going down my throat, or the unpleasant feeling I had when it was coming up. The only bad memory of my trip was praying that my legs would stop shaking and that my journey would hopefully reach an end so I could stand on solid ground. Other than being sea sick for the first day; I had a blast on the cruise! I got the opportunity to see many things and visit quite a few places. One of the ports of call was Cozumel, Mexico, and my friend Alexandra and I decided we wanted to try some real Mexican food. Of course, we were a little concerned about getting sick, but I’m glad to say that didn’t happen. We asked on the ship where the best place for Mexican food was, but they said that anywhere along the main shopping strip would be good. We then found a place called the Tiki Tok. The place was on the second level of a building. We sat out on the little balcony that they had. They had covered it with sand. The view from the restaurant was amazing. I was hypnotized by the vibrant colors and the employees’ of the restaurants equally vibrant lifestyles. I remember feeling jealous of the workers because they would get to go back to Tiki Tok tomorrow and the day after that, but I wouldn’t. The walls were an explosion of colorful textiles and every color of paint one could think of that was as bold as can be. Vases were on every table with burnt orange and deep yellow dried peppers inside. The chairs at the dining tables were made of a Mexican Serape material. The colors, the fringe, and the feel of it gave the restaurant even a stronger Mexican energy. My favorite part of the restaurants decor was the little cactus lights that strung amongst all the walls connecting each bulb to the wrought iron chandelier in the middle of the room. When one first enters the restaurant the Mariachi band is one of the most noticeable features. Three men were dressed in black with button up shirts and decorative sombreros all standing in the corner of the room. Two men had violins and the third was handling a guitar. As we took our seats the band started playing lively music and a few older couples got up and danced fearlessly. Everything in the restaurant was bold excluding my bashful personality; otherwise I would have danced too. I was in a trance watching the people dance with one another until the Mariachi band shouted in sync, â€Å"AY! † causing me to be brought back to the present. It was then that I had realized how hungry I was. The menu prices were in pesos, so it looked like everything was really expensive, but it wasn’t. We ordered the hot and spicy red enchiladas which were about 60 pesos, and they also brought us chips and salsa. The chips were a little bit thicker than you would get here in the US, and there were three different types of salsas. There was a regular pico de gallo, then there was one made with tomatillos, and the last was a pineapple cilantro salsa that was actually really tasteful. Lexi and I have never had pineapple cilantro salsa before, so we weren’t sure whether it was going to be appetizing or not. After stuffing myself with chips our food finally arrived. It was just about the yummiest thing I’ve ever had. The red sauce for the enchiladas was a little bit different than what I’ve had here, but I can’t tell you how. It was more delicious over there though. There was chicken inside the enchiladas and a touch of sour cream on top. We took the extra salsa we hadn’t demolished with the chips and smothered our enchiladas with it. I ate every last bite of it and was so full afterwards! The amazing food I had in Mexico was the best Mexican food I have ever had. I remember the smell of the ocean and sweet salsa at the same time. The bright colored sombreros and the ocean front view was an amazing sight to see while enjoying the food as well. Anytime I think about Mexico I think about the short beach chairs, sand between my toes, all the smells of the restaurant, laughing with my best friend and delicious enchiladas. This will be a memory that would be difficult to forget because we took so many pictures of the restaurant and it was the best eating experience I’ve had yet. I’m really glad that my friend and I were able to have this dining experience together. Alexandra and I enjoyed it very much! Best Dining Experience. (2017, Mar 30).

Hispanic Diversity Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Hispanic Diversity - Research Paper Example Cuban Americans represent one of the most prominent Hispanic ethnic groups residing within the United States. In terms of social aspects, the Cuban American family structure is notable as for Hispanic Americans they have the lowest percentage of families with five people or more; conversely, they have the highest percentage among Hispanic Americans with two-person families (Ramirez 2006). As Cuba was under Spanish rule for a considerable period of time, Cuban culture is today recognized as being heavily influenced by this Spanish period. Still, perhaps the most politically notable element of Cuban Americans is the affiliation with the Castro-regime. A long-time political enemy of the United States, most Cuban Americans resent Fidel Castro for the political rule he instituted on Cuba. Cubans Americans as such have immigrated to the United States in a number of waves beginning most prominently in the 1960s. In the 1970s, Castro himself released a great number of Cubans to the United St ates in what would be deemed the Muriel Boatlift. Unique among Hispanic groups residing in America, Cuban Americans are generally conservative. This is attributed both as a rejection of Cuban authoritarian regimes and out of a general distaste for the Democratic Party dating back to the Kennedy administration. Cuban Americans are recognized as economically disenfranchised within the United States. Their average salary is indicated to be below $32,000 a year (Ramirez 2006). In terms of religion Cuban Americans generally, practice Catholicism. Linguistically Cuban Americans speak a combination of English and Spanish. While the majority of Cuban Americans speak English, their level of English proficiency is understood to vary in accordance with their level of acculturation. Another major recognized Hispanic group residing in the United States are Columbian Americans. Columbian immigration to the United States began as early as World War I, as many professionals moved to New York City. This number increased well into the 1980s (Bryan 2007). While initially, Columbian Americans resided in metropolitan areas, their social movements have changed in the last twenty years, with increased movements to suburban areas. Also similar to social and economic trends among other Hispanic groups, Columbian Americans were recognized for taking work in jobs and industries that had been abandoned by other ethnic groups. With the increasing technological advances of the late 20th century, Columbian Americans increasingly found themselves at economic disadvantages with respect to more established and educated ethnic groups in the United States (Bryan 2007). Politically Columbians are generally liberal. Religiously Columbians generally practice Catholicism. Linguistically Columbian Americans are similar to most other Hispanic ethnic groups in that they speak Spanish and English. Also similar to other Hispanic groups their level of English proficiency is greatly contingent on their lev el of acculturation. Indeed, a great amount of Columbians residing in America lack citizenship status. In terms of family dynamics, Columbians are recognized as attempting to preserve the dynamics that they constructed in Columbia, with the male as the primary wage earner and the female as the head of the household. Children are expected to follow strict family authority as taught by their parents.  Ã‚  

Peer Review Paper for Watson's Theory Exemplar Assignment

Peer Review Paper for Watson's Theory Exemplar - Assignment Example The title used by the writer creates the impression of an analysis of Watson’s theory in the paper, making it suitable for readers interested in learning more about the theory. The title may also intrigue readers interested in studying the application of the theory to real life situations, and the writer has provided an instance of a nursing situation relevant to the theory. Due to the title, the paper may attract different readership whose interests lie in understanding, analyzing, or applying Watson’s Theory of Human Caring. Flow of the paper The paper is informative and interesting to read, and the writer maintains consistency to the topic throughout the discussion. The paper begins with an introduction that draws the attention of the reader into the philosophy of Watson’s theory, highlighting that caring is the ideal belief emphasized in nursing (Watson's Theory Exemplar, 2011 p2). The writer has provided the purpose and aim of the paper as an evaluation of t he application of Watson’s theory in a nurse-patient interaction. In addition, a succinct summary of the theory has been provided, which is essential in giving readers background information on the philosophy of the theory. The writer uses simple and clear statements to summarize Watson’s theory, with references to various authors whose works contribute to a better understanding of the theory. By providing background information and previous studies that support the theory, the writer helps interested readers with possible sources for more information relevant to human caring. However, the writer should define some of the medical terminologies used, or provide their relative meanings in layman terms (Watson's Theory Exemplar, 2011 p6). This would be useful to readers outside the field of medicine who would be interested in understanding the theory. The writer follows the summary of the theory with a nursing situation describing an interaction between a caregiver and a patient (Watson's Theory Exemplar, 2011 p4). By describing the interaction in the form of a real life, first-person encounter, the writer holds the interest of the reader throughout the narration. The interaction uses suspense to maintain the reader’s urge of knowing what transpired, and the writer skillfully integrates Watson’s theory of human caring into the nursing situation. To a large extent, the patient exemplar rouses the compassion and sympathy of the reader towards the patient, creating the desired urge of caring advocated by the theory. The writer maintains professionalism by withholding the identity of the patient, thus avoiding ethical issues that include confidentiality, privacy, and patient consent. The extensive use of medical terminology in the narration without proper definition may, however, lose the interest of a non-medical reader. A coherent flow is maintained as the writer applies Watson’s theory to the nursing situation. The nursing interv entions provided have been well discussed and explained, and the writer has maintained their relevance to the theory. The analysis of the patient exemplar in relation to Watson’s theory, particularly through the nursing interventions, portrays the relevance of the theory to care-giving and nursing practice. Similarly, the conclusion is relevant to the theory, and the observation made by the writer regarding the

Organizational Analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Organizational Analysis - Research Paper Example Unilever produces around 400 brands for the customers around the world with their main focus being directed towards the healthy lifestyle of their customers. There are around more than 171,000 employees working in Unilever. Out of their product range, 12 brands of Unilever have a sales figure of more than â‚ ¬1 billion. Unilever claims to impact the lives of the people with the usage of their products (Unilever Facts, 2013). The product range of Unilever ranges from nutritional foods to various flavored ice-creams. It has a product line of various types of household products such as soaps and shampoos. Some of the top leading brands of Unilever around the world are Dove product range, Lipton, Suave, Blue Band and other such type of products. Unilever aims towards promoting their missions which are strong and which possess a standing on long term grounds. It works upon developing a strong and loyal customer base and accordingly works upon their advertisements so that their customer s can associate the brands with their daily household care (Introduction to Unilever, 2013). An example of their ads is the lifebuoy ad soap which displays hygiene through the use of lifebuoy soap. Unilever spends a huge budget on their research and development department and they create their labs around the globe in which their scientists are working on new and innovative products that can be created for the consumers worldwide. The experts are constantly in the working and research phase of testing out new possibilities and this is one of the major strengths of the organization (Introduction to Unilever, 2013). Through research and development, Unilever gets a good chance or remaining a competitive organization. Research allows the invention of new products in association with their current products. Unilever also conducts a proper consumer research so that their new research and development can be tested in the market about whether it is acceptable to the consumers or not. Unile ver claims that they understand the needs and requirements of the customers and accordingly research and come up with better products (Introduction to Unilever, 2013). Unilever aims by its advertisements that they have strong associations with their consumers in the consumer’s everyday life. Research the organization’s mission statement. Discuss the role HR will play (or does play) in fostering the organization’s mission statement. The mission statement of Unilever is that it works towards making the future better for the individuals. Unilever values its customers and hence work towards producing products that are beneficial to the customer in their everyday life so that customers look and feel good about them. Unilever also adds on to their mission statement that they act as an inspiration for the customers in taking small actions in their daily lives to make a difference in the world around (Annual Report & Accounts 2011, 2013). Unilever also implements strate gies towards promoting sustainable growth and they have crafted their business model according to this scenario. They work upon producing products that allow the consumers ease and convenience in their household care. Unilever has a large interest and focus towards a sustainable growth of the business and it plans all its business strategies accordingly (Annual Report & Accounts 2011, 2013). The Human Resource Management plays an important role in fostering the

The Importance of Online Advertising to Hospitality and Tourism Research Proposal

The Importance of Online Advertising to Hospitality and Tourism - Research Proposal Example In what ways has the internet changed the hospitality industry? 2. What does a consumer find when they search for information regarding their travel needs? 3. What are the methods used for the hospitality industry to connect with consumers? 4. What methods used by the hospitality industry might be considered unethical when dealing with consumers searching the internet? 5. What disadvantages can be found for the consumer as they use the internet as a means to book their travel? 6. What are the advantages of the internet as a consumer looks to book travel? By using these questions to frame the inquiry, this research project will be able to focus on the internet as a source of advertising for the hospitality industry and the effect that it has had on consumer travel practices. 1.3 Theoretical Foundation The study that is being proposed is a quantitative study that is based upon a survey instrument. Quantitative study often begins by wanting to test a conceptual model of the question. Th eory allows for predictions on which phenomena will manifest (Polit and Beck 2008, p. 57). This study predicts that the outcome to the study will suggest that internet marketing is an important part of hospitality industry advertising and that consumers have changed their travel practices as a result. The following hypotheses will frame the inquiry that is intended for this paper: Hypothesis 1: The internet has changed the way in which the hospitality industry markets to consumers. Alternative Hypothesis 1: The internet has had no effect on the way in which the hospitality industry markets to consumers. Hypothesis 2: Internet advertising has changed the way in which consumers plan for holidays and travel.... This "The Importance of Online Advertising to Hospitality and Tourism" essay describes the benefits which the Internet brought into the sphere of hospitality's advertisement. The hospitality industry, like most industries, has been impacted by the tools that the internet provides for advertising. Online capacities for the hospitality industry do not only include advertising, but the potential for transactions making travel a more accessible experience. Advertising is highly competitive on the internet with someone always coming up with new ways to attract the attention of an audience that is deluged with information all coming at them at once. The hospitality industry benefits from everything from data mining techniques to websites providing specific information. Without a web based presence it is unlikely that a hospitality industry entity would have success in this globalised and interconnected world. The research questions that have been defined for this study discuss the various stakeholders in the hospitality industry and the impact that the internet advertising potentials have had on travel. The first question asks about the changes that have been made in relationship to the hospitality industry through internet advertising and will be answered through statistical inquiry as well as anecdotal information on the topic. Secondary research will provide answers as to how the hospitality industry is currently using the internet for expanding their opportunities with consumers.

Strategic Management Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Strategic Management - Coursework Example The rising consumer needs in the developing as well as the developed markets is generating a uniform business opportunity. Companies of local as well as international origin are actively focusing on entering newer markets as well as expanding their presence in existing markets so as to capitalize the newly emerging business opportunities. The business firms of the 21st century are actively focusing on radical as well as disruptive innovation so as to effectively fulfill the needs of the masses. It is important to highlight that the because of the presence of multiple firms offering homogenous products and services, the competition in the market is extremely high. The availability of similar kinds of product and service offerings are resulting in the increase in power for the buyers. It has to be said that to deal with the intense market competition as well as to retain their competitive edge, the organizations needs to design as well as execute successful strategies. This particular assignment focuses on the aspects of strategy development, cutting edge technology as well as the sustainable competitive advantage which are necessary for present day organizations. Traditionally, organizations around the world follow a well designed hierarchy, the top of which is often tasked with the responsibility of strategy planning as well as implementation. For the implementation as well as execution of strategies, companies in various corners of the world often follow the usual one way top down implementation approach. Over the course of execution of business, there have often been doubts about whether it is possible to design effective strategies without following the traditional top down route. In order to find a satisfying answer to this particular focus, it is important to highlight that there is a high level of persistence that is associated with the hierarchical concept of an organization. Organizations which

Whatever you choice Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Whatever you choice - Term Paper Example All these were slaves but had different degree of privilege. The essay gives an account of how the Romans farmed. The main source of labour for the Romans was slaves. The slaves were acquired in three ways. First, through conquest in war, this is whereby many landowners went for war and brought back captives (White 1). The captives were sold to other citizens or worked on the capture’s farm. Second, the slaves were bought from the market. Third, by birth that is children born by the slaves also became slaves (Phillips 221). As earlier discussed, each slave had different degree of privilege for proper administration of the farms. Before the establishment of large-scale farming, Romans practiced small-scale farming. There were different reasons for the adoption of large-scale farming. First, the wars brought a drastic decrease in free labor. Second, many farmers were ruined due to the devastation of Italy by Hannibal (McGeough 99). After the war, the rich citizen bought the land and leased it to the government. The government used the slaves as their main source of labour (White 1). Due to the great competition, the small-scale farmers gave up. The rich farmers improved the fencing and drainage system for more productivity. Water was conserved by building of dams and cisterns. Trees were planted around the farms to act as windbreakers. Romans were among the first people to employ mixed farming. This is because due to the depilation of the farms they became infertile (White 23). Because of this, they used farmyard manure from the farm animals to keep their farms fertile. Where stock was not kept, farmers made compost manure using banana leaves, weeds straw and other rubbish, which do not decay easily. Although they did not have knowledge on nitrogen-fixing bacteria, they knew how to plant legumes (McGeough 97). They had mechanisms to test sourness of the soil though they did not have litmus paper. They employed

Urban American Indian Youth Essay Example for Free

Urban American Indian Youth Essay Abstract This study focused on how a non-targeted group minority youth might or might not benefit from a prevention intervention focused on other cultural groups. The study specifically evaluated the effects of an evidence-based drug prevention curriculum with a sample of urban American Indian youth in the southwest U. S. , most of whom self-reported multi-ethnic heritages. This research examined the developmental trajectory of drug use for these youth, and compared it with the trajectory of youth from other racial/ethnic groups at pre-intervention, post-intervention, and two follow up time periods. Results indicated that alcohol and marijuana use increased from pre-intervention across subsequent time periods for all youth. The drug use of the American Indian youth in the treatment group increased on certain measures. They reported a steeper trajectory in the amount and frequency of alcohol and marijuana use compared to the youths in the treatment groups with other racial/ethnic identifications. Implications of these findings for the development of culturally grounded prevention programs for multi-ethnic, urban American Indian youth are discussed. Culturally specific, school-based drug prevention programs have been receiving increased attention in recent years. These programs are based on the premise that infusing youths culture into the content and format of the prevention message will reduce adolescent drug use (Kandel 1995). One such program, Keepin it R. E. A. L. , has achieved this by creating the curriculum from the developmental and cultural realities of Mexican American youth from the southwest United States (Gosin et al. 2003). To date, the program has been developed for and evaluated with primarily Mexican American youth (Kulis et al. 2005). Research has assessed the differences in program effectiveness by acculturation level among Mexican/Mexican Americans (Marsiglia et al. 2005) but has not closely examined the residual effects of this program among other minority youth populations (i. e. , the programs effects on non-targeted minority youth populations). In what ways might this program impact the drug use of minority youth who are not Mexican American? How might these effects compare with the treatment effects of the program for Mexican American and European American youth? Drug Prevention Programming for American Indian Youth There have been substantial efforts in recent years toward the development of drug prevention programs focused on American Indian youth. For example, Marlatt et al. (2003) described the development of the Journeys of the Circle Project, which is a culturally congruent life skills course targeted toward Northwestern American Indian youth. Similarly, Schinke et al. (2000) implemented and evaluated a culturally tailored life skills intervention with American Indian youth from 10 reservations in North and South Dakota, Idaho, Montana, and Oklahoma. Aside from the research conducted by Schinke and colleagues, however, the majority of prevention efforts with American Indian youth have not been rigorously evaluated for efficacy (Beauvais and Trimble 2003; Hawkins et al. 2004). Beauvais and Trimble stated that most of the prevention research with American Indian youth has focused largely on commentary and recommendations and not on the science of prevention (p. 397). However, while there are relatively few evaluation studies focused specifically on drug use and American Indian youth, there have been ongoing efforts related to culturally specific drug prevention programs for minority youth in general. Related to this research is the debate as to whether prevention programs need to be culturally grounded, that is, developed from the cultural values and variability inherent within each culture, or if they can be culturally adapted, that is, modified from universal prevention programs originally developed for non-Hispanic European American populations (Hecht et al.2003). Each of these approaches has implications toward the fidelity and fit of prevention interventions (Castro et al. 2004). Further, culturally focused prevention curricula range in ethnic specificity; some are highly specific (e. g. , Hecht et al. 2003) while others are more broadly targeted for minority youth (e. g. , Botvin et al. 1997). In sum, there is much left to learn about the degree of cultural specificity required for positive prevention effects with minority youth. The Keepin it R. E. A. L. Curriculum Keepin it R. E. A. L. is a culturally grounded, video-enhanced prevention intervention that was developed and normed from the narratives of Latino, African American, and Euro American youth (Gosin et al. 2003), and validated with teacher and student feedback (Gosin et al. 2003. ; Harthun et al. 2002). It has been identified as a Model Program by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA; U. S. Department of Health and Human Services [DHHS] n. d. ), which is a designation given by the organization to effective programs that have been evaluated using rigorous standards of research. The 10-lesson curriculum was designed for use with middle school students (6th, 7th, and 8th graders), and draws from a variety of theoretical frameworks, such as communication competence theory (Spitzberg and Cupach 1984) and ecological risk and resiliency theory (Bogenschneider 1996). The curriculum situates these frameworks within the unique geographic and cultural contexts of Latino, African American, and European American youth in the southwest United States. The primary focus of the program is on teaching drug resistance skills using four strategies: refuse, explain, avoid, and leave (Hecht et al.2003). Refuse consists of statements of saying no to substance use offers, while explain consists of more elaborate reasons for refusing these offers. Avoid refers to avoiding situations where drugs and alcohol might be present, and leave refers to leaving the environment once the youth encounters substance use (Hecht et al. 2003). The cultural specificity of the program components is based on prior research, which found ethnic differences in common communication styles, competencies, and norms (Hecht and Ribeau 1984; Hecht et al.1990) and drug use contexts (Gosin et al. 2003). Based on this research, three versions of the curriculum have been developed: 1) A Latino version, which primarily reflects Mexican American and Mexican values (e. g. , familismo, or family orientation), 2) A Non-Latino version, grounded primarily in European American and African American values, and 3) A Multicultural version, which combines half of the lessons from the Latino version and half of the lessons from the non-Latino version (Hecht et al.2003; Kulis et al. 2005). An example of an objective from the Latino version of the curriculum is for the student to recognize what he/she does affects his/her community, group, and family, while an objective from the Non-Latino version is for the student to recognize what he/she does may have favorable or unfavorable consequences on his/her own future goals (Gosin et al. 2003, p. 128). The in-class curriculum was supplemented with a media campaign, consisting of television, radio, and billboard advertisements that reinforced the four strategies (refuse, explain, avoid, and leave) and follow-up booster activities such as school assemblies, poster projects, murals, and essay contests (Kulis et al. 2005). Research evaluating the curriculum found that the use of alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana increased over time for students who received any version of the intervention and students in the control group; however, the increase was significantly less for students in the intervention group (Hecht et al.2003). This effect was particularly salient for alcohol use (Gosin et al. 2003; Hecht et al. 2003). Further, the intervention students perceived significantly smaller increases in their peers substance use compared with those in the control group (DHHS n. d. ; Hecht et al. 2003). Past research suggests differential effects of each version of the program, with the Latino and Multicultural versions of the intervention providing more benefits to Mexican/Mexican American students (Gosin et al.2003; Kulis et al. 2005) and the overall sample (Hecht et al. 2003). However, while versions of the curriculum that incorporated aspects of culture (the Latino and Multicultural Versions) were found to impact a wider array of substance use and attitudinal outcomes in the desirable direction than did the Non-Latino version, tests of strict cultural matching of program content with the students racial/ethnic backgrounds did not produce statistically significant differences (Hecht et al.2003; Kulis et al. 2005). In other words, these studies did not find that Mexican/Mexican American students receiving the Latino version of the curriculum demonstrated better overall outcomes than those receiving other versions of the curriculum. This finding is significant, because it provides support for prevention programs that broadly target minority youth, rather than those that are ethnic-specific. Subsequently, the strength of culturally grounded prevention programs may lie in their ability to reflect regionally-specific multicultural environments, rather than specific ethnic groups. In order to examine this hypothesis, we chose to examine the programs efficacy with another predominant minority cultural group in the southwest U. S. To date, no studies of Keepin it R. E. A. L. have examined the residual effects of the program among youth who were not Latino, African American, or Euro American. Perhaps this programs strength lies in its ability to integrate multiculturalism into drug prevention, defined as the inclusion of cultural values from all groups participating in the prevention program (Green 1999), rather than its cultural specificity related to drug use prevention. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the curriculum on urban American Indian youth of the southwest in order to examine this hypothesis more closely. The study presented here involved a reanalysis of data that was previously reported (Gosin et al.2003; Hecht et al. 2003; Kulis, et al. 2005; Marsiglia et al. 2005). However, this study differs from previous studies because it tests the generalizability of the culturally enhanced versions of the curriculum with American Indian youth. This is accomplished through the use of growth curve modeling to examine the developmental trajectory of drug use among youth who participated in Keepin it R. E. A. L. While previous evaluations of the Keepin it R. E. A. L. curriculum support its efficacy with specific groups of racial/ethnic adolescents (Hecht et al. 2003; Kulis et al.2005; Marsiglia et al. 2005), the current study suggests that the program may have limited effectiveness in curbing the drug use of American Indian youth. Despite the current studys limitations, our findings have implications for the development of culturally grounded prevention programs in schools, reservation, and non-reservation communities for American Indian youth and for other minority youth populations. Our findings suggest that American Indian youth may require drug prevention curricula that are specific to their developmental and cultural realities. In order to effectively address drug use among American Indian youth, prevention researchers and specialists may need to focus on creating and/or modifying drug prevention programs in order to address the daily traditions, cultures, and values of American Indian youth. References 1. Beauvais, F. , Trimble, J. E. (Beauvais, F. , Trimble, J. E. (2003). The effectiveness of alcohol and drug abuse prevention among American-Indian youth. In Z. Sloboda W. J. Bukoski (Eds. ), Handbook of drug abuse prevention: Theory, science, and practice (pp. 393-410). New York: Kluwer. 2. Botvin, G. J. , Epstein, J. A. , Baker, E., Diaz, T. , Ifill-Williams, M. (1997). School-based drug abuse prevention with inner-city minority youth. Journal of Child Adolescent Substance Abuse, 6, 5-19. 3. Castro, F. G. , Barrera, M. , Martinez, C. R. (2004). The cultural adaptation of prevention interventions: Resolving tensions between fidelity and fit. Prevention Science, 5, 41-45. 4. Hecht, M. L. , Marsiglia, F. F. , Elek, E. , Wagstaff, D. A. , Kulis, S. , Dustman, P. , Miller-Day, M. (2003). Culturally grounded substance use prevention: An evaluation of the keepin it R. E. A. L. curriculum. Prevention Science, 4, 233-248. 5. Kandel, D. B. (1995). Ethnic differences in drug use: Patterns, paradoxes. In G. J. Botvin, S. Schinke, M. A. Orlandi (Eds. ), Drug abuse prevention with multiethnic youth (pp. 81-104). Thousand Oaks: Sage. 6. Gosin, M. , Marsiglia, F. F. , Hecht, M. L. (2003). keepinit R. E. A. L. : A drug resistance curriculum tailored to the strengths and needs of pre-adolescents of the southwest. Journal of Drug Education, 33, 119-142. 7. Kulis, S. , Marsiglia, F. F. , Elek, E. , Dustman, P. , Wagstaff, D. A. , Hecht, M. L. (2005). Mexican/Mexican American adolescents and keepin in R. E. A. L. : An evidence-based, substance use prevention program. Children and Schools, 27, 133-145. 8. Marlatt, G. A. , Larimer, M. E. , Mail, P. D. , Hawkins, E. H. , Cummins, L. H. , Blume, A. W. , et al. (2003). Journeys of the circle: A culturally congruent life skills intervention for adolescent Indian drinking. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 27, 1-3. 9. Schinke, S. P. , Orlandi, M. A. , Botvin, G. J. , Gilchrist, L. D. , Trimble, J. E. , Locklear, V. S. (1988). Preventing substance abuse among American Indian adolescents: A bicultural competence skills approach. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 35, 87-90. 1. 1. Beauvais, F. , Trimble, J. E.

Issues Involved in Strategic Planning

Issues Involved in Strategic Planning They are stated in precise terms as quantitatively as possible. The emphasis on goals is on measurement of progress toward the attainment of objectives. Goals have the following structures they: 1. Are resulting from objects, 2. Offer a normal for measuring presentation, 3. Are articulated in concrete terms, 4. Are time-bound and work-oriented. Advantages and Disadvantages: It helps organizations do to satisfy a particular need of the society or to fulfill a particular deficiency in the society. There is always a deadline which sometimes is never meant by organizations. Review the issues involved in strategic planning: Businesses that succeed do so by creating and keeping customers. They do this by providing better value for the customer than the competition. Marketing management constantly has to assess which customers they are trying to reach and how they can design products and services that provide better value (competitive advantage). The main problem with this process is that the environment in which businesses operate is constantly changing. So a business must adapt to reflect changes in the environment and make decisions about how to change the marketing mix in order to succeed. This process of adapting and decision-making is known as marketing planning. Where does marketing planning fit in with the overall strategic planning of a business? Strategic planning is concerned about the overall direction of the business. It is concerned with marketing, of course. But it also involves decision-making about production and operations, finance, human resource management and other business issues. The objective of a strategic plan is to set the direction of a business and create its shape so that the products and services it provides meet the overall business objectives. Marketing has a key role to play in strategic planning, because it is the job of marketing management to understand and manage the links between the business and the environment. Sometimes this is quite a straightforward task. For example, in many small businesses there is only one geographical market and a limited number of products (perhaps only one product!). However, consider the challenge faced by marketing management in a multinational business, with hundreds of business units located around the globe, producing a wide range of products. How can such management keep control of marketing decision-making in such a complex situation? This calls for well-organized marketing planning. What are the key issues that should be addressed in strategic and marketing planning? The following questions lie at the heart of any marketing and strategic planning process: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Where are we now? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ How did we get there? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Where are we heading? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Where would we like to be? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ How do we get there? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Are we on course? Why is marketing planning essential? Businesses operate in hostile and increasingly complex environment. The ability of a business to achieve profitable sales is impacted by dozens of environmental factors, many of which are interconnected. It makes sense to try to bring some order to this chaos by understanding the commercial environment and bringing some strategic sense to the process of marketing products and services. A marketing plan is useful to many people in a business. It can help to: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Identify sources of competitive advantage à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Gain commitment to a strategy à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Get resources needed to invest in and build the business à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Inform stakeholders in the business à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Set objectives and strategies à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Measure performance Advantages and Disadvantages: Market planning delivers a means for actively involving personnel from all areas of the business in the management of the company and this participation improves the quality of the plans, with the participation of the staffs it enhances their overall understanding of the companys objectives and goal. One of the disadvantages is costly to implement. Explain different planning techniques: Planning is a critical business responsibility that is often overlooked, particularly by smaller companies with limited time and personnel resources. However, the reason for this oversight is often the result of managements lack of planning techniques. Learning useful planning methods and factors eliminates this knowledge gap. Business planning is just as critical as having a map when traveling to an unfamiliar location. Without it you may never reach your destination. Primary Planning Types Business planning types come in various flavors depending on the company size and industry. However, there are three basic plans that apply to all businesses, large or small. Business, strategic and marketing plans are important to every for-profit and nonprofit organization. Understanding the goals and components of each offers businesses the tools to create effective plans using the most basic or sophisticated techniques. Business Plans Typically used for starting up or financing a company, business plans are the cornerstone of the planning function. Components of a business plan include an executive summary, market analysis, product/service descriptions and financial/operations projections for a minimum of three to five years. In start-up situations that need initial financing, creators should paint a vivid, yet conservative, picture of the founders and the rationale for believing the business will succeed. When seeking growth-financing, management should highlight past company performance and carefully project the impact of the new funding on improving net income. Always include debt service, which is the amount needed to repay the new loan, in income and expense projections. Strategic Plan Strategic plans should be created by business owners and/or senior management only. Unlike business plans, which are based on historical data and future projections, strategic plans are more conceptual. These plans should include defining your organizational goals, identifying your available options to achieve your objectives and considering new short-term opportunities you believe will exist to improve your businesss results. You may want to incorporate specific industry trends into your planned strategy. Strategic plans are not long-term creations, but should address taking advantage of available opportunities in the next 12 to 24 months. Marketing Plans All the fabulous business and strategic plans ever devised will fail if you dont market and sell your product or service. A solid marketing plan will help you achieve gross income and sales goals. A SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis is an effective technique for creating a winning marketing plan. SWOT is also useful in strategic plan creation as a foundation technique. You can also combine a SWOT analysis with the four Ps product, price, publicity, and place of effective marketing. Even if you have invented the better mousetrap, you need a superior marketing plan to get results. These techniques will give you the ammunition you need. SWOT analysis and marketing A vital part of the planning process is looking at the existing position of an industry and trying to decide how factors external to the business may affect the business. An organization can perform a SWOT analysis as a way of deciding which marketing plan to use. The organization performs an audit on the internal and external nature of the company looking at the current and future situation. An audit is a review of all the company s activities. Strengths Reviews the business current strengths such as a good brand or strong sales performance Can develop the strengths, perhaps in the way they promote the product, or wish to develop new products (Tesco have used their strong brand name to launch several products) Weaknesses Reviews the business current weaknesses such poor response times to requests for information or late deliveries Can implement strategies to eradicate these weaknesses e.g. more resources put into a better warehousing system for the dispatch of goods. External Opportunities Reviews the business future opportunities e.g. new technology making it easier to manufacturer certain goods or new markets abroad Can use strategies to take advantage of the potential opportunities e.g. developing new products to meet the potential increased demand Threats Reviews the business future threats, mostly from increased competition from other firms or from changes in the economic situation. Can employ strategies to ward off these problems, e.g. setting lower prices or increasing promotion Rational about the use of a SWOT analysis in measuring the influence of marketing to a business strategy; Possible strengths in marketing might be: Specialist marketing expertise An innovative product or service The location of the business convenient for customers The reputation of the brand perhaps it is trusted or recognized as the highest quality Likely weaknesses in marketing could include: Lack of a clear product differentiation compared with competing products Weak distribution compared with competitors Inadequate online presence Potential marketing opportunities could include: The use of technology to develop new products Growing demand from overseas markets (e.g. China India) The use of social media like Facebook and Twitter to reach new customers A list of likely marketing threats might include: Competitors introducing better products at lower prices Changes in the economic environment which encourage customers to be less loyal to established brands Changes in customer tastes and fashions Universal Techniques To make business planning come alive and succeed there are three simple practices that must be always be employed. First, set realistic, measurable goals. Second, understand and communicate with your customer base. Third, attract and retain the best employees your company can afford. Without these three components, your business planning, however sophisticated, risks failure on a massive scale. Using these three simple techniques, your business plans should deliver the results you want. SPACE, PIMS. PIMS data can be described as a guide to help management describe the business a business situation and opportunity relative to the offerings of its competitors in two-dimensional space. TASK 2 BE ABLE TO FORMULATE A NEW STRATEGY Produce an organizational audit for a given organization Tesco Marketing Audit: The marketing audit is a fundamental part of the marketing planning process. It is conducted not only at the beginning of the process but also during and after the process completion. Marketing audit not only consider its own plan but also considers internal and external factor that affects marketing planning. Some important tools used by marketing audit are SWOT for internal and external environment where as PESTLE and Five Forces Analysis which focus only on the external environment. It can be viewed as an umbrella that covers efforts to assess customer needs and wants and to understand community patterns. The external environment is reviewed at micro and macro level. Definition: The marketing Audit has been defined by Phillip Kotler strategic market auditing (1977) as a comprehensive, systematic, independent and periodic examination activities and resources in order to determine problem areas and opportunities and to recommend a plan of action. As per the definition: Marketing Audit is Comprehensive, systematic, independent and periodic features. In simple word marketing audit is the complete review of the environment that includes both internal and external environments of any organization. The marketing audit follows the following areas as components of marketing audit:  · Environmental Audit which includes Macro Environmental Audit and Micro Environmental Audit.  · Marketing Strategy Audit  · Marketing Organization Audit  · Marketing System Audit  · Marketing Productivity Audit  · Marketing Function Audit Processes and techniques used for auditing the marketing auditing environment follows simple three steps are: a) Agreement on objectives, scope and approach: Marketing auditor must prepare for the marketing audit by holding discussion with the CEO and the executive staff and briefly reviewing some financial and marketing data. Often objectives are discussed in the meeting such as determine how the market views the company and its competitors, recommending a pricing policy, determining sale activity. The audit would cover the marketing operations of the company as a whole. b) Data collection: More time is spent on the gathering data. More auditors are involved when the project is large. Auditor has to spent time in deciding what question to be asked, who will be interviewed and so on so forth. Daily reports of the interviews are to be written up and reviewed. c) Report preparation and presentation: When the data gathering is over, auditor prepares notes for a visual and verbal presentation to the company officer. Techniques used for auditing the marketing environments are as follows. 1) SWOT Analysis: It is one of the most important tools of marketing audit. It helps a lot of help to the marketers and is used at the beginning of the marketing audit process. It has advantages as well as drawbacks. Some of the drawbacks are subjective and cannot be relied too much. Therefore it should be used as a guide in the marketing planning and not as a prescription to the process. 2) PESTLE Analysis: Various factors of the marketing is analyzed by PEST analysis that effects upon the marketing process. An organization that is carrying the analysis needs to study the environmental factors that are internal and external. 3) Five Force Analyses: This is an analysis that helps the marketers to have a clear picture of competitors for the market. This analysis has some similarities with PEST analysis. In this analysis the marketer goes through five areas of concerns. Analyze and evaluate the external environment of the organization by using PEST framework, Porters Five Forces model and Product life cycle. Companys profile: Tesco runs more than 2300 supermarkets and convenience stores in the UK, Ireland, Central Europe and Asia. It is operating in almost areas such as gasoline retail (Tesco Express) small urban stores (Tesco Metro) hypermarkets (Tesco Extra) and Financial service (Tesco Personal Finance). It covers up to 35% stake in US grocery. It is the leading online grocery store and is now expanding its business with a TV channel and a retail based education institution. A) A PEST Analysis of the industry was then undertaken to examine the local, national and global influence of political, economic, social and technological factors to understand opportunities and threats well. An assumption was made that most of these ( political, economic, social, legal and environmental ) factors would, to some extent apply to the retail industry in Sweden: Political: Following the European Integration and Free Trade Agreements, the market has opened British Companies to invest in Eastern European. It has 60 stores in Hungary. Lidl is fighting hard to maintain its market share with an aggressive pricing strategy against Tesco. Economic: Retail industry is fairly recession proof and also very sensitive to interest rate. Because of September 11 events, the world economy have suffered heavily, stocks were plummeting and prices are low all time. However the world economy is up after the September 11th attack. Consumers are optimistic and retail industry is once again boosting. Social: There are changes in consumer taste and lifestyle present both opportunities and threats for the retail industry. There are alternative Sweden national retailers which poses additional threats to the Tesco while entering in the Sweden market industry. Technical: Introduction of online shopping via internet is now a common place in retailing. IT system undertakes a paperless operation, the management and administration of the company which are monitored by the secured severs, it provides a flexible base for running the business. Sweden is at the forefront of technologically developed with national companies like Ericsson, hence Tesco gets an advantage of developed logistics and distribution channels already in place. One other tool that will be used in these areas is Porter Five Forces. This model can be used to good analytic effect alongside other models such as the SWOT and PEST analysis tools. Five Forces analyses five important in the determination of competitive power and these are:  · Buyers power:  · Suppliers power:  · Rivalry among competitors:  · Threat of new entrants:  · Threat of substitute product Problems faced by Tesco can be explained by Porters five forces including of the threat of substitutes from other supermarkets, buyer power, supplier power and the power of customer. Buyer power also decides the prices in the market. If products are expensive in Tesco then they will purchase from Sainsbury. This mean market is disciplined which make the pricing is disciplined as well. This in turn stops them to destroy the market in a profit war. Supplier power is an important part of this model. Supplier power is wielded by suppliers demanding that retailers should pay them certain price for their goods supplied. There is always a threat of substitution, although Tesco tries to ensure brand image and quality by having the best value for the products. Tesco acknowledges the fact that there have always been threats from the competitors and new entrants into the markets and therefore always plan to improve upon developments in its stores. Carry out an environmental audit for a given organization: PESTLE (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Ecological, Legal and Environment) Among the above PESTLE analysis Political, Economic, social and Technological factors are implemented as a technique for the auditing of the marketing environment. Political/ legal:- An environment of marketing at any nation is affected due to the political reasons. There should be the management of change once there is a change in the political condition and situation. The system of nation keeps on changing if there is a lack of stability in politics and the organization should change the marketing strategies as per the changing environment so that the organization can exist in the changing environment. Economic:- Economics plays a vital role in the marketing environment audit. A country with weak economy cannot compete in the international market. To be successful in the marketing there should be a sound financial transaction of an organization. Some of the components of economic factors for environmental audit are: Interest rates, Business cycles, Investment policies. There should be good investment policies for the investment by the nation so that the interest of the investor in investment increases which helps to raise financial stability in the nation. Social and cultural:- Social and cultural refer to the tradition and costumes or belief of people living in a particular geographical region. Social value and norms sometimes becomes the barrier to the marketing environment. There is vast different in the culture and tradition of eastern and western societies as a result of it the culture of eastern may not be suitable for western and vice versa. The marketing depends upon the culture and tradition of any geographical area. S Technological:- In this competitive age technological changes plays a vital role in the marketing. All the developed countries have been successful due to the drastic changes in the technology and their capacity to cope with changing technology. Different technologies can be used for the auditing of the marketing environment. SWOT analysis:- SWOT analysis includes strength, weaknesses, opportunity and threats for an organization. Strength and opportunities are the positive aspect of an organization whereas weaknesses and threats are negative. Similarly strengths and weaknesses are internal environment whereas opportunity and threats are external. Low cost of production and sales, good information about the market and sound finance of the organization are the strengths and lack of communication and low quality of goods are the weaknesses. Similarly lack of competition and expansion of the market is the opportunities whereas control from pressure groups, lack of political and system stability are the threats for any organization. PORTERS five forces model:- It consists of five main points that are listed below: Bargaining power of the customers: It is found in the open or the competitive market where the customer has the advantage over the suppliers or the sellers. A consumer has the choice of quality and the rate and if the supplier fails to fulfil the satisfaction of the consumer there is the chance of the customer to walk away from the suppliers. In this case the buyer has every right to complain and the seller need to hear it and recover so that the buyer did not leave the consumption of the commodity.. Bargaining power of the supplier: We normally find it in the monopoly market where there is the presence of only one market. Here the supplier has the advantages over the customers. A seller can fix the price of his own and sell low quality products as a result of it buyer couldnt get enough facilities. As only one marker is available the customers are forced to buy goods from the same shop and have no choice. For an illustration, if one city has only one market the people living there have to purchase the commodities from the same market no matter what the price and quality is because they dont have a second option. In this case the supplier has their own choice of marking prices. Such type of business brings profit motive rather than service motive. Threat of new entrants: When there is the presence of new product or the new supplier the old products and the old supplier gets affected. A customer of particular supermarket gets diverted to next one, if the new supplier gives him new schemes ad facilities. Threat from the substitute product: It provides the facilities to the consumers as the consumers have enough choices for the commodities to use. The customers wont feel bored of using same product again and again. Rivalry among the competitors: Rivalry begins where there is the presence of competitive market or when two similar types of goods are present in the market. It gives advantages to the customers. When there is rivalry among competitors consumers receives the benefits. Apply organizational and environmental auditing techniques in a given situation. As for the project work I have chosen Tesco which deals with retail sales of food and household products. They use PESTEL analysis for the purpose of marketing environment audit. Political:- Under political it uses the monopoly system, taxation policies, rules of employing the staffs and government stability as a method of evaluating political environment. Economic:- Under the economic sector the interest rates, inflation and business cycles are evaluated for the purpose of environmental marketing audit. Social cultural:- There are different cultures of the particular area. The marketing of Tesco has been influenced due to the social cultural factors as well. The different elements under socio cultural which can affect the marketing audit of the organization are demography, distribution of income of the people and their lifestyle. Technology:- Technology plays a vital role during upgrade any organization. In this competitive age no organization can ever think of improvement in the absence of technology. The factors influencing technology in an organization can be the development of new technologies, rate of technology transfer and investment on the research of technology. Positioning of Ansoff matrix: For any decision to be taken at the business level, you need the right strategic tools. Ansoff matrix is one of them. Ansoff matrix helps a company decide their market growth as well as product growth strategies. The 2 questions which the Ansoff Matrix can answer is How can we grow in the existing markets and What amends can be made in the product portfolio to have better growth. From the above two questions, it is clear that the Ansoff matrix deals with the business external market scenario as well as the product portfolio which the company has. The matrix is divided into two quadrants. The product quadrant and the market quadrant. The Product quadrant on the X axis is further divided into Existing products and New products. The market scenario on the Y axis is divided into existing markets and new markets. Thus the Ansoff matrix divides a firm on the basis of the products it has existing products or new products, as well as the markets it is in existing markets or new markets. Explain the significance of stakeholder analysis: What is Stakeholder Analysis? Stakeholder Analysis (SA) is a methodology used to facilitate institutional and policy reform processes by accounting for and often incorporating the needs of those who have a stake or an interest in the reforms under consideration. With information on stakeholders, their interests, and their capacity to oppose reform, reform advocates can choose how to best accommodate them, thus assuring policies adopted are politically realistic and sustainable. Although Stakeholder Analysis originated from the business sciences, it has evolved into a field that now incorporates economics, political science, game and decision theory, and environmental sciences. Current models of SA apply a variety of tools on both qualitative and quantitative data to understand stakeholders, their positions, influence with other groups, and their interest in a particular reform. In addition, it provides an idea of the impact of reform on political and social forces, illuminates the divergent viewpoints towards proposed reforms and the potential power struggles among groups and individuals, and helps identify potential strategies for negotiating with opposing stakeholders. Who Are Stakeholders A stakeholder is any entity with a declared or conceivable interest or stake in a policy concern. The range of stakeholders relevant to consider for analysis varies according to the complexity of the reform area targeted and the type of reform proposed and, where the stakeholders are not organized, the incentive to include them. Stakeholders can be of any form, size and capacity. They can be individuals, organizations, or unorganized groups. In most cases, stakeholders fall into one or more of the following categories: international actors (e.g. donors), national or political actors (e.g. legislators, governors), public sector agencies (e.g. MDAs), interest groups (e.g. unions, medical associations), commercial/private for-profit, non-profit organizations (NGOs, foundations), civil society members, and users/consumers. To achieve Stakeholders objective an organization should be able to separate their interest from each other and as such act according to the power they exert in the organization. Employees of MS Have a welfare department established in 1930. Financial interest safeguarded bonuses Job performance appraises and financial incentive Benefit package interest free loans granted, Buy as you earn shares, bonus or right issue Suppliers: Always used UK based suppliers, ensuring consistent quality Relationship to build reliance on suppliers Lifelong relationship. Mutual dependability respects the specification and standard. Social commitment: Strong tradition of CSR Sponsorship of Charities. Community development efforts Government social projects. Environment friendly: Removed artificial color and flavoring from its entire food and soft drinks range-April 2008 Launched school wears made from recycled plastic bottle Despite tough economic conditions Mark and Spencer stick to Plan A, as it gives them brand and differentiation. AL Gore said a sustainable business can be profitable one Business Continuity Reviewed the tools and processes established to ensure we have the capability to protect our people, the brand, property and profit at all times; Received plans for all locations both nationally and internationally; Discussed plans for the Olympics and the Queens Diamond Jubilee; Full medical and security package introduced for all business travelers; Travel tracker system introduced both nationally and internationally; A group training awareness program launched; and Evacuation pack and welfare response. Plan A The External International Advisory Board established, comprising academics and advisors, extending our reach to reflect the countries we operate in and source from; Discussed progress in reducing carbon emissions, improvements in fuel and energy efficiency, reduction in waste and packaging, improvements in recycling and the MS/Oxfam clothes exchange; An update on work with suppliers to set up 12 Ethical Model factories in Bangladesh and three in India; Review of commitments against plan; Overview of discussions with UNICEF outside the UK on social development programs linked to the garment industry; and Overview of what we believe will be benchmarked as industry leading positions across a number of key areas. General Merchandise ethical sourcing Reviewed how we manage the ethical risks across our supply chain outlining our ethical trading approach across 1.7 million workers, spread over 1,448 sites in over 77 countries with 55 different languages; Considered the key ethical issues including: excessive working hours, poor health and safety, terms and conditions of employment, migrant labour, and low

Madame Bovary :: essays research papers

Madame Bovary   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Emma Bovary is a victim of her own foolish disposition fueled by her need for change, her incessant waiting for excitement to enter into her life, and her romantic nature. All of these things, plus her constant wavering of one extreme to another, also contributes to her suicide in the end. Throughout this story there are many vivid examples of her foolishness.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the beginning of the story she has a desire to change around the house, some might say it is a stroke of individuality. The action is actually the first taste that we get of her incessant need for change. With every change that she makes, she is trying to find the happiness she is longing for.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When Emma found out that she was to have a child, she was excited. Emma particularly wanted a boy, because she thought that it would come along with new and exciting experiences. Once she had the child, it was not a boy, she quickly lost all interest in the child. An example of Emma’s fluctuation of moods is after Leon left (part II, chapter 6). Once he left to deem herself form the lack of love toward her husband, she became the model wife. Emma went from constantly thinking about another man to a woman that no one would dare even thinking about accusing her of even considering adultery.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There was also another moment when she decided to go see the priest at the church (part II, chapter 7) to seek spiritual guidance. The priest, however, seems to assume that all she needs is a cup of tea and sends her on her way. Once Emma gets home, her daughter seems to want to console Emma, but Emma just pushes her away and yells at the child to leave her alone. Emma pushes her so hard that the girl falls and cuts her head. Then Emma cries and yells frantically for the servant girl. As if she actually cares for the child and pretends that the child did it herself.

Sainsbury’s Human Resources Management :: Human Resources Essays

I am going to explain is how the human resources department in Sainsbury’s recruit employees The functional areas at J Sainsbury’s are:-  · Human resources  · Finance  · Administration  · Production  · Marketing And Sales  · Customer Service Each functional area operates to support Sainsbury’s aims and objectives and a range of activities goes on in each one. How the functional areas interact with one another is important. For Sainsbury’s to be efficient and effective there has to be close links within different function areas, especially when their activities are related. Functional areas are important to Sainsbury’s as if there was no such thing, the business itself would fall apart. Here is a diagram to show how this would happen:- Human Resources: The first functional area of J Sainsbury I will be covering is Human resources. Human resources look after and employ the employees who work for Sainsbury’s. Human Resources regard staff as the most important resource for a successful business. If the employees are not motivated and only do the minimum work that is required, then all the products and services that’s Sainsbury’s offer would not make the business successful. If the employees are keen to do their best, are well trained and committed to the aims of Sainsbury’s, then Sainsbury’s will be successful. This is why the human resources department is so important. The Activities Of Human Resources Function: To fulfil its purpose, human resources staff are involved in certain activities. These include:- * Recruitment and dismissal of staff * Training and promotion of staff * Monitoring good working conditions * Health and safety * Employee organisations and trade unions The first section I am going to explain is how the human resources department in Sainsbury’s recruit employees. Recruiting applicants: This department in human resources is responsible for hiring new staff for J Sainsbury. The cost of hiring staff is expensive and if they make a mistake in employing the wrong staff that could cost them even more. The first stage is to identify the vacancy that is needed, e.g. new manager, new shelf stacker etc. After human resources have chosen their job vacancy they start to draw up a person specification of what is needed from the applicant e.g. essential skills, knowledge, qualities etc. They then need to decide which type of staff they would like. The different types are:- * Seasonal staff- working at a time when the business is busy in a seasonal time, e.g. Christmas * Temporary staff- working for a certain period of time set by the recruitment department to which if they think that an employee is good enough they might keep on. * Part time- only works a short amount of times/hours but is still

Subjects for Other Conversations :: essays research papers

Categorized Poems from Subjects for other Conversations   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In John Stigall’s book, Subjects for Other Conversations, all of the thirty-seven poems can be placed into one of five different categories. These categories include sadness, racism, happiness, sex, and religion.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sadness, the first category, includes ten of the thirty seven poems. These poems express hate, anger, and depression about many things in life, from growing old to losing a child. These poems are â€Å"Poem on Turning Forty,† â€Å"Poem on Turning Forty-Five,† â€Å"Blues,† â€Å"Impromptu,† â€Å"Into the Life of This World,† â€Å"Some People,† â€Å"The Revenant,† â€Å"In the Bibleblack Air,† â€Å"Approaching,† and â€Å"Final Approach†. In Stigall’s poem, â€Å"Poem on Turning Forty,† he talks about how women aren’t as attracted to him now. And you can tell he’s depressed about growing old. The poem â€Å"Into the Life of This World,† talks about losing a child at birth. Stigall’s light use of words, such as perfect, calm, and silent agony, shows that this poem is full of intense emotions and sadness. I. At thirty-three, too young to be sickened into the light, my father’s body-perfect, calm-forms a fetal curl about its silent agony. His eyes, suggestive & articulate, explain. The light wanes II.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Silent, I refuse the firsts breaths (cradled in   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  the light). My   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  body- stillborn, calm, numb from the canal-appears   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  deaf, dumb See the physician & my mourning mother curl over me, warping my flesh, weeping, praying me into the life of this world (30)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The next category is racism. These three poems describe how racism still exists today. The poems show how hateful people can be towards someone of a different race. These poems are â€Å"December/ January,† â€Å"Brazil Nuts,† and â€Å"Up in Dixie†. In all three of these poems, Stigall never seems to show any anger. He just tells of his experiences in plain and simple terms. In â€Å"Brazil Nuts,† Stigall talks about how when he was a child, how he never questioned racism. But now as a man he doesn’t understand why racism hasn’t gone away. When I was a Child I understood as a child I did not question as a child I accepted as a child   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   But when I became a man the old folks down south still call them Nigger Toes (39)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Four of Stigall’s thirty-seven poems can be put into the category happiness. These four poems are light and pleasant. They talk about things such as music, people and Stigall’s children. These poems are â€Å"This Sabbath Afternoon,† â€Å"No 3 Tanka,† â€Å"If the Past Ever Existed,† and â€Å"†101 West 123Rd Street†. In â€Å"This Sabbath Afternoon†, Stigall talks about watching his children playing.

Marketing Principles Essay

It is very important that an organization considers its environment before beginning the marketing process A marketing environmental analysis helps a business understand external forces that can affect it. The environment, or external forces, are often factors that a business cannot control, yet it is important to be aware of environmental concerns when preparing a marketing plan or introducing a new product to the market. The most common method for preparing a marketing environmental analysis is to conduct a PESTLE analysis, which stands for; Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental. This covers all areas affecting a business. Political The first element of a PEST analysis is a study of political factors. Political factors are factors connected with the government and its activities. Politics affect organisations because governments introduces rules and regulations that organisations and their customers have to abide by. Economic The second element of a PEST analysis involves a study of economic factors. All businesses are affected by national and global economic factors. National and global interest rate and fiscal policy will be set around economic conditions. The climate of the economy dictates how consumers, suppliers and other organisational stakeholders such as suppliers and creditors behave within society. Social The third aspect of PEST Social is about forces within society such as family, friends, colleagues, neighbours and the media. Social forces affect our attitudes, interests and opinions. These forces shape who we are as people, the way we behave and ultimately what we purchase. For example within the UK people’s attitudes are changing towards their diet and health. Technological The fourth element of PEST is technology, as you are probably aware technological advances have greatly changed the manner in which businesses operate. Organisations use technology in many ways, they have: -Technology infrastructure such as the internet and telephone

Branding versus Brand Equity

Branding is technically defined as a way to be able to provide the clients a perfect impression about a certain product to make them finally decide to purchase it (Business.. n. p. ). On the other hand, brand equity is technically defined as a way to calculate the value of the brand (Wikipedia n. p. ). This paper entitled, â€Å"Branding versus Brand Equity† aims to look into the differences between two technical terms known as â€Å"branding† and â€Å"brand equity†.There are several differences between â€Å"branding† and â€Å"brand equity† and some of these are the following: First of all, branding carries the goal of a certain business or product wanting it to be the client’s first choice (Business.. n. p. ). Brand equity’s goal, on the other hand, is to find out â€Å"the value built up in a brand† (Wikipedia.. n. p. ). Second, to achieve the goal of branding as previously mentioned, what it takes for that to occur entails â€Å"building and managing a brand† (Business..n. p. ).Meanwhile, in brand equity, the goal of branding may be reached by â€Å"calculating then drawing a comparison between the expected future profits from the branded manufactured goods with the anticipated potential or upcoming revenue from an equivalent non-branded item† (Wikipedia n. p. ). Third, branding can provide the prospective clients an unyielding idea of what they are about to purchase, making it easier for them to decide to make a purchase (Business.. n. p. ).On the other hand, brand equity, makes it a little excruciating for a client to buy a certain product simply because brand equity may either be positive or negative (Wikipedia n. p. ). Positive here means that it may provide prospective clients an unbending thought with regards to the product or negative, which means, it may give forthcoming clients to see a product not worthy of attention and money (Wikipedia n. p. ). Fourth, since branding is foun ded on the goal which is to become the best alternative for prospective client, then it is most likely to result in a positive outcome (Business..n. p. ).On the other hand, since brand equity is founded on a neutral goal, then it is most likely to result in a bad management, and eventually, a bad product as well (Wikipedia n. p. ). Fifth, branding may be utilized by all types of companies, big and small alike (Business.. n. p. ). Brand equity, however, cannot cover all types, it is limited to large companies since it entails calculations and comparison of branded and non-branded products (Wikipedia.. n. p. ).Last but not least, branding seeks to build a flourishing brand by: 1) paying attention to the wants and needs of the clients; 2) staying honest and believing in your own brand; 3) keeping the simplicity of the brand; 4) being extensive; 5) making sure of the employees’ involvement and their believe and support on the brand itself; 6) proper articulation of the brand thro ugh print & television advertisements, leaflets, written communications etc so that the same slogan and idea is reinforced; 7) utilization of the same logo everywhere; 8) meeting the promises kept related to the â€Å"brand promises† and even exceeding if circumstances allow; and last but not least 9) looking for opportunities to improve the brand and continuously seeking for room for growth (Business.. n. p. ). Simply put, it focuses on what should be aware on, the quality, how much a client is aware of such, as the trend goes for brand equity (Wikipedia n. p. ). Conclusion Branding and brand equity are different in terms of goal, technique of reaching for that goal, in terms of appeal to clients, in terms of the size of the companies that it may serve, as well as, the focus (whether quality or quantity).

Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark Hero’s Journey Analysis Essay

Ordinary World In the first opening scene we see is Indiana Jone’s whip in his pocket. Then we see the hat from behind and that is when the die-hard Indiana Jones fans realize that they are witnessing the entrance of a great hero. The ordinary world for Indiana Jones is really not that boring at all. He is constantly hit on by many undergraduates that he teaches in his Archaeology class. A prime example being an extremely attractive undergraduate girl closes her eye lids to display the message â€Å"LOVE YOU.† The Call The call to action in this movie was when the two federal agents came to enlist the help of Indiana Jones to acquire the Ark of the Covenant. Indiana Jones informs them of the history behind the Ark and is informed that the Nazis have found Tanis the last known location of the Ark. Jones informs the federal agents that he is no expert on the subject of Ark myth, but they should be asking Abner Ravenwood. Ravenwood collected many relics of Tanis including the head piece to the Staff of Ra. The head piece is the key to finding the Well of Souls where the Ark is kept. The Refusal Indiana Jones is gung ho about embarking on his quest to find the Ark of the Covenant. Marcus Brody, the head curator of the National Museum tells Jones that is might not be a good idea to go seeking the Ark. Brody expresses his convern when he says, â€Å"Well, I mean that for nearly three thousand years man has been searching for the lost ark. It’s not something to be taken lightly. No one knows its secrets. It’s like nothing you’ve ever gone after before.† Jones tells Brody not to worry, for he does not believe in the supernatural.† Meeting the Mentor This movie has a slight twist in terms of meeting the mentor. The mentor, Abner Ravenwood is mentioned but we never get to meet him, for Jones and he had a falling out many years prior. Jones later meets up with Sollah who guides him through Egypt. Crossing the Threshold In this movie, however, Jones goes to Nepal to go see Marion, Abner Ravenwoods’ daughter, to obtain the head piece to the Staff of Ra. Accomplishing this task is not easy for Jones because a romantic encounter he had with Marion years earlier. Test Allies & Enemies Indiana Jones is greeted quite rudely when he enters through Marion’s door she says, â€Å"Always knew someday you’d come back through my door!† and then proceeds to punch him, â€Å"In the last ten years, I learned to hate you. I was a child. You knew what you were doing.† Jones finds out that his mentor is dead. He gives her money to buy the head piece, and she tells him to come back tomorrow to retrieve it. After Jones leaves the bar, agents from the German Gustapo looking for the head piece. They subdue her and threaten to burn her with a hot poker in order to torture her for information about the whereabouts the head piece. Right as they are about to start the torment Jones comes in and saves her by whipping out the hot poker out of the tormentor’s hands. The hot poker lights the curtains ablaze resulting in the head piece heating up. The head Gustapo officer grabs the medallion and burns his hands in the process. Marion then pays back the favor to Jones by shooting an assailant saving Jones’ life. She looks and turns to Jones and says, â€Å"I’m your god damned partner!† At this point a partnership has been formed and we have Jones’ first major ally in the quest to find the Ark. The Approach * They arrive in Cairo in Egypt, where they meet up with Sollah, and an old colleague of Jone’s. * Rene Belloch is running the archaeological dig in Tannis * The Germans have found the map room that Jones had mentioned before, but cannot find the location to the Well of Souls without the head piece. * Sollah acts as their guide and warns them of the dangers * â€Å"The Ark. If it is there, at Tanis, then it is something that man was not meant to disturb. * Death has always surrounded it. It is not of this earth.† – Sollah * Jones and Marian start to rekindle their relationship * They are attacked by the Nazis and Jones throws Marion in a basket to keep her safe from harm * While hiding in the basket the monkey hops on the top cover of the basket, giving her position away * Indiana Jones seeks out Marion but is unable to find her * He shoots the explosives truck and the truck explodes which leads Jones to believe that Marian is dead * He meets up with Sollah after and they come to the conclusion that they only have one side of the head piece * The Nazis are digging in the wrong place * Sollah and Jones realize they do not have much time, for they must get to the map room around 9:00am when the sun hits the map room * The sun shines through and points them to the location where they must dig * Jones goes to Balloch’s tent and finds Marion * Jones promises to come back for her after he retrieves the Ark * They find the entrance to the Well of Souls when they are ambushed by Belloch and his Nazi cohorts Supreme Ordeal Jones is locked inside with Marion in the Well of Souls. The floor is covered with snakes which makes this even more excruciating for Jones. Snakes are Jones’ worst fear and he despises them with a passion. At this point it seems as if all hope is lost, but Jones and Marion manage to escape the Well of Souls and try to flee the archeological dig site at Tannis. The Reward After a fistfight with a giant Nazi mechanic, blowing up an airplane on the airstrip, and chasing down a fleet of trucks, Jones takes back the Ark before it can be shipped to Berlin. He obtains what he was looking for all along plus he has Marion by his side, which is what he really wanted all along. The Road Back Indiana and Marion leave Cairo to escort the Ark to England on board a steam boat. The next day, their boat is breached by Belloch, and the Nazis, who once again steal the Ark and kidnap Marion. Indiana stows away on their U-boat and follows them to an isolated island where Belloch plans to test the power of the Ark before presenting it to Hitler. Indiana reveals himself and threatens to destroy the Ark with a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, but Belloch calls his bluff, knowing Jones cannot bear to eradicate an important historical artifact. The Resurrection Indiana surrenders and is tied to a post with Marion as Belloch performs a ceremonial opening of the Ark, which appears to contain nothing but sand. Belloch’s Nazi cohorts start laughing thinking they had just wasted their time. Suddenly, angels start to emerge from the Ark. Aware of the supernatural danger of looking at the opened Ark, Indiana warns Marion to close her eyes. The apparitions suddenly morph into gruesome creatures of death, and lightning bolts and burst of fire and flame begin flying out of the Ark, killing the Nazi soldiers, while Belloch and the rest of the commanding officers meet their fates as well. Return with Elixir Indiana and Brody ask about the whereabouts of the ark and are informed by the federal agents that the Ark â€Å"is someplace safe† to be studied by â€Å"top men†. The Ark is sealed in a wooden crate and stored in a giant government warehouse in Area 51 filled with countless similar crates.

Business Competition Essay

Abstract   In this paper, I am discussing the relevance of the peaceful humanitarian cocept to the hard environment of business compeition. The paper will elaborate types of competition and how they exist in the global world. The paper also reveals shortly on their roles and benefits in the global world. In the final chapter, the paper discovers that the latest developmet of business practices gave birth to further tendencies toward the peaceful humaitarian concept. The increasing practice of CSR concepts is an indication that the peaceful competition atmosphere is gaining attention within the business world. Business Competition Proposition:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The nature of competition in modern business environment can co-exist with the peaceful humanitarian ideals Introduction Business and competition has always been inseparable activities in life. Furthermore, as activities of business became the most important activities of our lives, we identify our world with competition and competitive acts. In the midst of this hard and competitive world, we often forgot that we do not exist simply to do business; instead, we do business in order to maintain our existence. In the light of this logic, we should be able to comprehend the role of business as one of the facilitators of life and not becoming life itself. Life on the other hand, is depending on how we choose to live. Mother Theresa, one of the most loved humanitarian in the world, often stated that in the midst of all the hub-hubs, people tend to loose their inner peace, in the sense that they forget what they live for or what makes their life valuable. In one of the speech, she stated that this is caused by the tendencies of our environment. Mother Theresa stated that we lost of sense of peace in life because we forget how to care for each other and co-exist in peace. In this paper, I am trying to address the relevance of these humanitarian ideals to the modern business environment. Can there be peace among the competitive nature of the business environment and the peaceful ideals of the humanitarian concept? The paper will display some arguments regarding this topic (‘Competition vs Cooperation’, 2007). Overview   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the short, business understanding, competition is the act of striving against other for dominance or attainment of goals. Today, the term is familiar to us in various fields like politics, sports, business, etc. In this paper however, we are aiming to focus on business competitions rather than other types of competitions. Levels of Competitions   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In business competition has slightly different definition than in other respects. It is the independent effort of two or more parties to secure business by offering the most favorable terms and business conditions to the third party. Competition in the world of business can be found right in heart of every business endeavors themselves. Experts identified three types of competition in its relevance to business. The first type is called direct competition. Direct competition is the field where products that has the same functions compete against each other. Business conditions could lead owners and managers to avoid such competition by differentiating product features, or to seek for it by offering the products with similar virtues as others (Kohn, 1986).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The second type of competition in business is called substitute competition. These means products and services that substitute for each other compete. Business competition can also lead managers to create substitution products to take away a part of the market share from their competitors. The third type of competition in business endeavors is called the budget competition. This is the general form of competition in business. It involves competing for consumer’s disposable income. This means that in the business world, any products with any feature are generally in competition with one another.   Different Forms of Competitions   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Besides existing in different levels, competition in the business world also exist in different forms. For instance, competition exists whether internally or externally within most companies. Beside the external competition we are accustomed with, there is the internal competition that occurs within companies. Often, managers of the company themselves created the competitive atmosphere inside the corporate structure. Sometimes, this is done by deliberately creating overlapping areas which causes divisions to compete against each other. Furthermore, the leader of the company can also instill competition between different product managers or brand mangers. They can compete in terms of sales or growth of sales of the products or brands under their responsibility (Ryckman, 1994). Business Competition and Its Global Practices In the increasingly global atmosphere of competition, companies are now fighting not only against its neighbor companies, but also companies that headquartered thousands of miles away. The prevalence of communication and information technology has allowed this condition. Companies are creating businesses regardless of national and cultural boundaries. Some countries however, reacted by limiting the competition that might occur within their territories by restricting trade activities to certain levels. Because competition is subject to legal restrictions in most independent countries, it can be legally prohibited using monetary or fiscal tools and also trade barriers (Kohn, 1986).. However, instead of limiting competition between them, countries can compete against each other using competition policies and competition law. The competitions between countries are often varying subtle and hard to detect, however, their presence in the global economy are apparent for business observers. For instance, the United States, Japan, and The European Union are always in fierce but disguised competition to achieve economic supremacy in the global markets (Kohn, 1986). Analysis   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Despite the tension and difficulties created by competition, most have understood that competition is a natural part of life. By this, I mean that along with its good and bad effects, the human race will always need competition to survive. This is proven by researches in the biology field, where competition created adaptation and the tendency to constantly improve oneself. In the business world, competition is seen as the pillar of capitalism itself. Competition in the business world stimulates creativity and innovation, supports eficency, lowering prices and enhances product qualities. Competition is also the reason why companies develop new technologies, new products and new services, which provided us better and broader product selection.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   However, competition is also recognized for its negative effects. It leads to duplicated effort and in some conditions, increased costs. Competition often leads to stressful way of life and destructive behaviors. Psychologically, over-competition will create a highly stressful environment which is horrible for a human soul. Materially, competition could lead to unjust acts of economic endeavors. Frauds and similar activities ruin the image of business as they are finally revealed to the society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Nevertheless, I personally believe that even the harsh competitive world of business has its compatibility with ideals of humectation concepts. For instance, recent development indicated the prevalence of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) demands and initiatives. People are starting to realize that companies are also parts of the society which contains the obligations to co-exist in harmony within its environment. Companies are now demanded that they take full responsibility for their actions in consideration of the economic, social and environmental issues. Ethical concerns and competition laws are gaining people’s attention in evaluating corporate performance. Companies are actually loosing customers for their bad social values (Leef, 1996).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Observing the latest development in the world of business, we can conclude that the humanitarian principles have taken their place in business activities. People in general have started to develop the sense that business endeavors should not be above the values of life. In a sense, the practice of business must now take account of social values and environmental concerns. Although we haven’t seen such a development that would allow Mother Theresa’s philosophy of peace to be the guiding light for global business practices, but the direction of today’s development indicated that the scenario of a peaceful competition atmosphere as suggested by Mother Theresa is gaining supporters. References Kohn, Alfie. 1986. ‘No Contest – The Case Against Competition’. Boston New York London: Houghton Mifflin Co. Ryckman, R. M., Thornton, B., Butler, J. C. 1994. ‘Personality correlates of the hypercompetitive attitude scale: Validity tests of Horney’s theory of neurosis’. Journal of Personality Assessment, 62, 84-94 ‘Competition vs Cooperation’. 2007. Retrieved February 26, 2007 from http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/L-spectrumfive.htm Leef, George C. 1996. ‘The Virtues of Competition’. Retrieved February 26, 2007 from   http://www.libertyhaven.com/theoreticalorphilosophicalissues/ethics/virtucomp.html