Departments Store Industry in the UK - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1506 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? Departments Store Industry in the UK Question 1 (250 words)  ¨C (1) what are the key drivers of change affecting UK Department stores? You should list at least 3 in order of impact; Identify the critical success factors (critical for a company to succeed) in this industry. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Text book used: Strategic Management by Paul Finaly, Prentice Hall replacing Hill Jones. Strategic management Theory. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Departments Store Industry in the UK" essay for you Create order 6th Edition Answer: The UK departments store industry has faced intense competition over the last years due to new entrants in the clothing segment mainly from the superstores/multiples segment leaders such us Tesco (Largest UK Supermarket chain) and Asda (A Wall-Mart Company). In addition, cheap-led chain stores like Primark are mounting pressure as they are outperforming leading stores such us Next and MS (Financial times, July 12th 2005). Figures from the Business Ratio report (2005) illustrate that compound growth sales average between 2001 and 2004 has rose by 14%. This rather flat trend has been impacted primarily by declining prices instead of consumption stagnation. Robert Lynch (2006, p196) proposes three main pillars to identify the critical success factors, which are applicable for any industry. These are Customers, Competition and Corporation. Looking at the elements presented by Lynch, and based on data obtained from Datamonitor (June 2006) and the business r atio report on the sector (2005); the department stores industry in the UK has become more customer oriented and regardless the population segment that any company may target, the overall commitment is to focus on an integrated price and value added offer. As the competition is tightening, the second factor is location, distribution and right stock; a combination of tangible and intangible resources to ensure that busy customers are expected to increase footfall yields through visiting prime locations, finding what they want easily and leading to high density sales areas. Based on Paul Fynesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ critical offer concept, the third CSF is the development of flexible portfolios, with emphasis on food access; consumer trends are heading towards wide options, versatile retailers delivering quick changing fashionable products. Question 2a (100 words)  ¨C Analyse the tangible and intangible resources of your chosen company in the last 5 years. Answer: Bas ed on Finlayà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s exhibit (Strategic Management, p286), the critical offer features for Mark Spencer are reputation, high quality merchandise, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“no quibble take-backsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  and skilled staff. FIVE YEARS AGO 2005/2006 Type Strategic resource M Sà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s position Todayà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s belief Structural Asset (Tangible Resources) Occupancy Cost Freehold location 1% occupancy cost versus a 3-9% industry average Biggest realignment programme and key locations expansion. Focused on Products and Store Environment. Food Halls Reputation (Intangible Resources) Reputation Customer recognition with minimal advertising, no promotional sales Strong Brands- Brands Rationalization: Simply Food MS Collections Internal Architecture (Intangible Resources) Labour costs Quality of Employees Employee Loyalty, lower labor , turnover 8.7% labour costs vs. 10-20% industry average Fewer layers of hierarchy Than competition Loyalty, staff turnover the lowest in the sector Strong Service Training Programme External Relationships Input costs Suppliers have lower costs and provide high quality of goods sold. Better Price Architecture leading to price reduction awareness amongst loyal and potential customers Source: Collins and Montgomery, Strategic Management Paul Finlay, MS Annual Report 2002-2005 Question 2b (200 words)  ¨C Analyse the capabilities of your company using the list of capabilities discussed in Hill and Jones (efficiency; quality; innovation; knowledge learning; links with suppliers and customers) in the past 5 years. Answer: -Efficiency: By understanding the way of linking the right products with the right customer baseà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s needs and life style, the company is developing a comprehensive value chain programme through introducing several good practices: Centralising purchasing activities and exercising a better utilisation of manufacturing and logistic practices = Supply Chain Savings (3%). Improvement of higher sales density by 45% (Datamonitor, June 2006). Price reduction over 30% of products. -Quality: Following the underperformance of key categories (i.e. womenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s underwear) MS continues strengthening its brand recognition with strong ranges i.e. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Girls Boutiqueà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ , à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Autographà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Per Unaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (Lingerie). Committed to high quality offers, MS has now rapidly improved presence with its Food offer with à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Simply Foodà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Stores (Companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Annual Report, 2005) -Knowledge and Learning: Overall reasonable contingency over 3%is available to the group. Based on continuous analysis and know-how the company intends to approach the right balance to hit its customerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s main needs. -Innovation: Fresher layout, better use of space and stylish clothing, For MS, its store spaces have to deliver the right environment in order to attract more people and retain them as loyal customers. As expressed by CEO, Stuart Rose, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Quality, Value, Service, Innovation and Trustà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Question 3 (200 words) Use Bowmans Clock (see Johnson and Scholes book Exploring Corporate Strategy) to identify the chosen business strategy of your company. Source: Johnson and Scholes (p211) By using the strategy clock featured by Johnson and Scholes (2003), MS business strategy continues to target perceived value in its portfolio of products, but with the intention of moving away from position 5 to position 4 against clockwise. Over the last years the company has shown special focus on a middle age segment, which now is ageing. This scenario creates MSà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s mission of attracting younger generations. An important decision on the strategic focus implemented by MS and included in its 3-year plan of redefining and transformation is the way the company underlines its priority to understand the mindset and changing habits of its current and potential customer base. Nowadays, the defini tion of value and service (main stratetegic position for MS) has changed evolving into a hybrid portfolio between price, accessibility, stylish fashion and personality (Financial Times, July 12 2005) Stuart Rose, companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s chief executive has a clear position on the need to strive on low prices, maintaining quality and improving presentation at every single store. Hence, base on the strategy clock, Mark Spencer aims at securing loyalty from its customer base, similarly to former Chief Executive Roger Holmesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ plans, but looking into gaining customers and widening prospects. Customers expect dynamic, fresh and fast changing portfolios at less premium price. Question 4 (150 words)  ¨C Analyze the financial performance of your chosen company over the past 5 years and discuss the implications of its financial situation. Answer: MS five-year financial outlook reflects key points on its profitability, efficiency and growth as a company and investment decisions for market participants. Mark and Spence 5-year Financial Highlights (in millions of  £) 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Revenue 6939 7399 7728 7490 7797 6.63% 4.45% -3.08% 4.10% Operating Profit 525.9 678.7 807.8 648.8 855.8 29.05% 19.02% -19.68% 31.91% Earnings Per Share 5.4 21.8 24.7 17.6 31.3 303.70% -13.30% 28.74% 77.84% Net Assets 3081.3 2108.3 2454 909.2 1155.3 -31.58% 16.40% -62.95% 27.07% Net Debt 1907 1831.4 1994.7 2147 1729.3 -3.96% 8.92% 7.64% -19.46% CAPEX 290.5 311 433.5 218.5 326.8 7.06% 39.39% -49.60% 49.57% Source: Companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Annual Reports and Author Calculations Profitability: The company has shown a positive rebound from 2005 fall and against industrial average MS is keeping up and outperforming its major competitorà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s John Lewis pace. MS is delivering consistency in an expected stable performance with potential improvements, if the company manages to offset price reduction plans with value chain efficient practices. Operating Profit:  £855.8m (2205/2006) from  £648.8m (2004/2005) ROC (Return on Total Assets): 14.3% higher than industrial average (13.8%) Efficiency and Sustainability: Quick Ratio (52 weeks 2006) = 0.39, it is concerning as the company can only cover 39% of current debts. (Declining position) Asset Utilization: 0.92, weak performance against industrial average and main competitors, meaning that the level of assets is high for the level of sales achieved. Growth and Strategy: Revenue: After a se tback in 2004/2005, the company rebounded with a modest 4.1% increase, which is below the industrial average over the last four years and also outperformed by major competitors in the top 5. CAPEX: 2005 was not a positive year for MS as CAPEX position fell; however, it was balanced out during the 52 weeks in 2006 in line with the 3-year plan. Investors: Earnings per Share: This is the attractive point for investors. MS has delivered as earnings have followed a profitable trend over the last five years. Top Five UK Department Stores (Financial Indicators) Company T/over Profit Margin Asset Utilization Total Debt/Net Worth Sales growth Report Average 03/04 9.0 02/03 8.8 01/02 7.7 03/04 1.55 02/03 1.56 01/02 1.53 03/04 48.2 02/03 42.7 01/02 26.1 6 M S Plc 8019.1 8.9 4.2 1.9 0.92 0.92 1.05 59.4 58.5 38.5 0 John Lewis Plc 4414.6 2.0 1.9 2.1 1.58 1.55 1.61 37.6 35.0 29.0 5 Next Plc 2516 14.1 13.7 14.3 2.16 2.22 1.90 228.0 105.9 5.4 16 Woolworths PLC 2120.1 1.1 0.9 -0.7 2.6 2.46 2.47 311.6 360.3 338.5 1 Debenhams Retail PLC 1810.2 8.0 8.9 8.6 1.44 1.41 1.38 54.8 47.2 50.3 7 Source: Business Ratio report 2005 Company Profile Conclusion: MS is the leading department store in the UK market in terms of turnover. It sales performance over the last five years has shown a flat growth compared to its peers impacted by price-led department stores such Primark. The company has not managed to increase its market share in major business lines such us clothing. Uncertainty remains as the company has to regain market share, increase sales more rapidly and most of all improve liquidity position. Bibliography Business Ratio Reports, Department and Variety Stores, Prospect Swetnehams Edition 32, 2005 ISSN 1473-107x Datamonitor (2006), Mark Spencer analysis, British Library Database: Dbic.datamonitor.com/Industries, Finlay, P. (2000) Strategic Management, An introduction to business and corporate strategy, Prentice Hall: England Johnson G, Scholes K. (1993), Exploring Corporate Strategy, Third Edition. Prentice Hall: United Kingdom. Lynch R. (2006), Corporate Strategy, Prentice Hall 4th Edition 2006 Mark Spencer annual reports 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 available: https://www2.marksandspencer.com/thecompany/investorrelations Rigby E, Burgess K. Canny consumers dictate the in-store trend, Companies UK, Financial Times Newspaper July 12th 25

The Mind-Body Problem of Physicalism - 1731 Words

Physicalism is the thesis that everything is physical, or at any rate everything is necessitated by or supervenes on the physical. In contemporary philosophy , physicalism is most frequently associated with the mind-body problem in philosophy of mind , regarding which physicalism holds that all that has been ascribed to mind is more correctly ascribed to brain or the activity of the brain. The mind-body problem is the problem of explaining how our mental states, events and processes—like beliefs, actions and thinking—are related to the physical states, events and processes in our bodies. A long tradition in philosophy has held, with Renà © Descartes, that the mind must be a non-bodily entity: a soul or mental substance. This thesis is called ‘substance dualism’ (or ‘Cartesian dualism’) because it says that there are two kinds of substance in the world, mental and physical or material. The philosophical rival of dualists have been the phil osophical doctrine of monism. 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Current Ethical Issues Paper Free Essays

Current Ethical Issues Paper Heidi L. Hinckley XMGT/216 December 16, 2012 Dan Mitchell In creating this paper I have decided to use the Kudler Fine Foods organization, due to the fact that I enjoy trying new flavors from around the world. Kudler Find Foods is â€Å"a local upscale specialty food store† (Kudler website) located in California. We will write a custom essay sample on Current Ethical Issues Paper or any similar topic only for you Order Now Kudler Fine Foods currently has three locations in the state of California. There focus is to bring the finest foods and finest team members they can to their potential customers. They offer a wine steward at each location, as well as monthly classes for customers to lean about various wines in the store. Kudler Fine Foods wants to promote the best in food and service. The Kudler Fine Foods organization first opened their doors on June 18, 1998. The owner and creator, Kathy Kudler, decided to take her passion for gourmet cooking and turn it into a business that she could be successful at as well as enjoy doing. That success has been proven in the opening of two additional stores one in 2000 and another in 2003. Kudler Fine Foods offers a variety of ingredients, fresh baked goods, meats, local seafood, cheeses and wines. Kudler Fine Foods is a one stop shop for any gourmet cook or even want to be gourmet cook in the family. One large ethical issue is the lack of leadership on the part of the owner Kathy Kudler. She lacks interaction with her customers as well, spending most of her time doing all of the ordering for all three of her stores. This can create large ethical issues in that she is not in touch with what her customers really want. There is also the ethical issue of using family to when referring to legal issues. First is the issue of nepotism and secondly there is the advice to always settle on customer accidents. This action makes the business appear as if they are always at fault and not taking the customers safety into consideration. Another issue that jumped right out is in the wording of certain areas of her website. If she truly wants to bring the best to everyone, then she needs to remove statements from her website that list herself as upscale. I understand that she is trying to create an atmosphere, but in that statement it would seem that she only want to work with certain kinds of customers. This could lead some consumers to think that they are not welcome in her stores. .Kathy Kudler has a moral and ethical obligation as a business owner to promote an atmosphere that is open and welcoming to all. There is also the questionable promotion on Kudler Fine Foods website on how they only hire the best employees. Although I personally understand the statement, it can be considered unethical in the terminology. There is an insinuation that in that way that terminology is presented. There should be a change there in that all Kudler Fine Foods employees are trained to assist customers with any questions they may have on the products that are available in the store. There is also an ethical issue in the description of the stores themselves. The website promotes the locations as â€Å"8,000 square feet of retail space in a fashionable shopping center† (Kudler Fine Foods). Again the terminology in that statement may be perceived as condescending as if certain individuals would not be welcomed within the locations. With a store like this it is important that if you are promoting the flavors of the world they you would also represent the people of those regions. A diverse workforce that is familiar with these ingredients and foods would also show that the owner take a strong diverse attitude with her business. This would also bring a welcoming atmosphere to all in the neighborhoods around these store locations. If Kathy Kudler makes that type of promotion that her store is diverse and open then her stores will be considered a gem in their neighborhoods and she will continue see more growth, and it may even be faster than she planned. Offering top services to her customers, by offering the best training and information for her employees, will help to lead to a business that Kathy Kudler can not only be successful at but that she can also enjoy doing. Reference: https://ecampus. phoenix. edu/secure/aapd/cist/vop/index. html https://ecampus. phoenix. edu/secure/aapd/cist/vop/Business/Kudler2/internet/index. asp How to cite Current Ethical Issues Paper, Essay examples

The Hunger Artist free essay sample

Does Kafka’s Hunger Artist create a new sense of the body? If so, how? And how does the Hunger Artist’s strange human body compete against animals’ bodies in this story? Create a clear and direct overall thesis and argue. ! Kafka’s â€Å" A Hunger Artist†, illustrates a compelling reinvention of the body through the story of a single act in a circus where a man goes forty days without the consumption of food in efforts to horrify his audience. Kafka’s story portrays the artist’s internal con? icts as he faces his own addiction to starvation, with the external destruction of the artist’s withering body. As the story develops, the hunger artist becomes less of a spectacle to the audience and more of an unrelatable freak and is eventually replaced, ironically, with a healthy young panther. Kafka’s â€Å"A Hunger Artist† exposes the fundamental will to defy traditional human convention, by de? ning a new sense of the body as the power of the mind through characterizing a basic need as a common desire. We will write a custom essay sample on The Hunger Artist or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Kafka contrasts the artist’s diminished body with an ordinary panther that presents the spectators with a symbol of life and complete ful? llment. The hunger artist is able to construe a contemporary sense of body with his indifference to temptation and neglecting to be glutinous, therefore pushing his mind farther then his body. The artist also shapes the new sense of body through building on the idea that there is a distinct difference between desire and need. In articulating this distinction, the artist creates a paradox based on the idea that by desiring nothing, he will be ful? lled. Kafka takes the human body to new extremes and pushes the hunger artist to the boundaries of desire, rede? ning the traditional sense of body. The hunger artist was genuine about his form of art and fully immersed himself into fasting. The hunger artist was constantly bomb-barred with the allurement of food, however,â€Å"the initiates knew well enough that during his fast the artist would never in any circumstances, not even under forcible compulsion, swallow the smallest morsel of food† (Kafka 223). The artist is able to displace his biological hunger, with his hunger to push himself to the limits. Throughout the story, the artist has many opportunities to break his performance, after all â€Å"no one could possibly watch [him] continuously, day and night† (Kafka 224). The hunger artist is his own spectator and wants nothing more but to see him   nish his act, but â€Å"[feels] that there [are] no limits to his capacity for fasting† (Kafka 225). The Hunger artist’s is determined to surpass all expectations over rides his gluttonous temptations. Kafka goes on to compare the human artists emancipated body with his replacement, the young panther. The panther, unlike the hunger artist, â€Å"[was brought] the food he liked† (Kafka 231) whereas the hunger artist was aiming for a lifetime of grati? cation rather then instant temporary food ful? llment. The story unravels to reveal the artist â€Å"was never satis? ed†(Kafka 224) even after completing his forty day fast. Kafka describes the artist feeling resentment towards the public questioning â€Å" if he could endure fasting longer, why shouldn’t the public endure it? † (225). The audience â€Å"began to lose interest, sympathetic support began to fall off†(Kafka 225) yet the artist was not ful? lled by himself like much of the spectators were. Kafka explains the artist â€Å"couldn’t ? nd the food [he] liked. If [he] has found it, believe me, [he would] have made no fuss and stuffed [himself] like you or anyone else† (Kafka 231). To the public, the artist seems to have considerable amounts of self control, however, what the public neglects to see is his true talent, determination. The artist is able to clearly separate his needs and desire and has been indifferent towards food for he has yet to ? nd something he desires. One thing he desires is to push himself farther and farther into his addiction to starvation. The artist feltâ€Å"he was working honestly, but the world was cheating him of his reward†(Kafka 230). The audience only saw the artist as an old, lifeless man with no ambition. The artist’s internal buzz was masked by his deteriorating body. The young panther who replaced the artist was full of life and was whole, which contrasted the artist. The one thing the artist desired more left him dying â€Å"no longer proud persuasion that he was still continuing to fast†(Kafka 231). The panther lived everyday in full harmony, ? lling his wishes day by day. The hunger artist understood he needed only to live to have what he desired. Besides living, the artist needed no other form of comfort, knowing each day he was getting closer to his wish, which was comfort enough. By establishing his needs and desires, the artist creates a new sense of body, one where needs and desires are driven harmonically.   The panther had â€Å"seemed to carry freedom around with it; somewhere in his jaws it seemed to lurk; and the joy of life streamed with such ardent passion from his throat that for the onlookers it was not easy to stand the shock of it† (Kafka 231) whereas the artist â€Å"merely staring into vacancy with half shut eyes, now and then taking a sip from a tiny glass of water to moisten his lips† (Kafka 223). The panther and the artist, both are trying to achieve their wishes. The panther doing so in a traditional materialistic manor and the artist rede? ning the ordinary sense of body by attempting to achieve his wish of absolute nothing. The artist displays the enormous efforts he must go through to achieve his dreams, and through all of his efforts the artist is able to show how one can manipulate themselves to go places they have never gone before.

Why People Write Essays - Lecturers, Maya Angelou,

Why People Write? Why People Write ? People write for many reasons. They write to educate, , and to entertain to express their feelings of emotions of joy or sadness, also to preserve history In Maya Angelous story Graduation in Fields of Reading she teaches us about racism in the south in the 1940s. Angelou writes about how schools in the south were segregated. Black students were deprived of resources to enable students to learn. While schools were endowed with all the resources needed for a prominent education. They were going to have the newest microscopes and chemistry equipment for their laboratory.1 Not only does Maya Angelou write about lack of resources in the black schools she also writes that even after the students graduated that they merely going to be carpenter, athletes and entertainers. and our boys ( the girls werent even on it) would try to be Jesse Owenses and Joe Louises.2 Maya Angelou is not the only writer who wrote to educate her readers. Prince Modupe who wrote The Royal African, educated people about his culture, his religion and how power among his people was passed down through women. Prince Modupe tells us about how his courage was tested by the elders by fighting with leopards. this is the way a youths courage was tested by the elders of the community. I am that youth whose courage was tested in hand to hand combat with a leopard.3 Prince Modupe also talks about how everything is passed down through the women from generation to generation. These things consisting of property, rights, and even the succession to the throne. .Our nations system was matriarchal. Grandfather sat the throne because there was no female successor for the office in his mothers familydescended through women.4 Another writer who writes to educate is Martin Luther King . He writes about racism and about non-violence in the United States in the 1960s. King speaks of liberalism and neo-orthodoxy. King says that these two theories are inadequate. Man needs a reason as much as \ he needs God. Liberalism was too sentimental concerning human nature and that it leaned toward a false idealism. On the other hand he says that neo-orthodoxy fell as the mood of anti-rationalism and semi-fundamentalism , ( stressing a narrow biblicism). While I saw neo-orthodoxy as a helpful corrective for a sentimental liberalism, If liberalism was too optimistic neo-orthodoxy was too pessimistic. 5 People also write to entertain, whether it be a funny quote or a full comedy to make people laugh or to keep people interested to continue reading. One Hundred Years of Solitude written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is a great example of people writing to entertain. In this story he talks about a person by the name of Arcadio Buendia and a gypsy by the name of Malquiades. Buendia is stated to be not trustworthy of gypsies. But Jose Arcadio Buendia, at that time Did not believe in the honesty of gypsies.6 In One Hundred Years of Solitude. Marquez writes about a man who practically gives up everything he owns to invent things from inventions from the gypsies in which Buendia did not trust. Not only do authors write to entertain and to educate they also write to express feelings of pain or joy. Anne Frank in her diary tells us about her struggls and pains during the Holocaust. Not only do we know that we also feel for the struggle in living in an attic with the rest of her family. Anne Franks also talks about having no friends and the only real friend that she had was a diary, one of the reasons for this is because she says that paper was patient Paper has more patience than people.7 Acceptance Essays

A Look At Muslim Birth Rites Religion Essay Example

A Look At Muslim Birth Rites Religion Essay Example A Look At Muslim Birth Rites Religion Essay A Look At Muslim Birth Rites Religion Essay Moslems have some really simple rites for welcoming a kid. The babe s first gustatory sensation should be something sweet, so parents may masticate a piece of day of the month and rub the juice along the babe s gums. It was a pattern carried out by the Prophet Muhammad and is believed to assist bantam digestive systems to kick in. There are a figure of events that take topographic point on or after the 7th twenty-four hours. After seven yearss the babe s caput is shaved ( a tradition besides carried out by Hindus ) . This is to demo that the kid is the retainer of Allah. Although Hindus may take the babe s hair to India and spread it in the sanctum river Ganges, Muslims weigh it and give the tantamount weight in Ag to charity. Ideally, Muslim babe male childs are circumcised when they are seven yearss old although it can take topographic point any clip before pubescence. It is besides tradition to take a name for the babe on the 7th twenty-four hours. The aqeeqah is besides traditionally carried out on the 7th twenty-four hours. This is a jubilation which involves the slaughter of sheep. Sheep are sacrificed ( in Britain the meat is ordered at the meatmans ) and the meat is distributed to relations and neighbors and besides given to the hapless. The reaching of a new babe is a affair of great joy for any household. For the Muslims, this occassion is described as glad newss from Allah in the Holy Quran. Hence Muslims welcome the new babe in an ehsan manner . This means that the birth of a babe is celebrated in a manner that is prescribed by the dictates of Shariah and the traditions of the Holy Prophet ( peace and approvals of Allah upon him ) . ~Dua for the new born baby~ The birth of a babe is a ground to observe, to joy and to thank Allah for His Blessings. To compliment Muslim parents upon the birth of the babe, it is mustahib ( preferable act ) to state: You have been blessed in what you have been given. May you give thanks to the One who granted it. May your kid reach adulthood and right-guidance, and may Allah do him/her a approval for you. ~Welcoming the baby~ It is forbidden by Allah and His Messenger ( peace and approvals of Allah upon him ) to demo letdown over the sex of the babe. In pre-Islamic epoch, the birth of a girl was greeted with plaints of suffering and sorrow. Sons were much preferred and pre Islamic Arab male parents used to bury their infant girls in sand. This pattern has non changed much in some civilizations but as Muslims we should cognize that boies and girls both are approvals from Allah. The act of ungratefulness and harbouring evil ideas for the guiltless babe has been declared a wickedness in the Holy Quran. The preferable act is to ask after the babe s wellness and general well being and so thank Allah in these words All congratulations and thanks for Allah, Lord of all creative activity . ( Bukhari ) ~Azan in the ear~ After the babe is cleaned and dressed, a male grownup normally the male parent or a gramps recites adhan ( call for supplication ) in the right ear and iqamah ( proclamation for get downing the supplication ) in the left ear. Hence, the first sound that reaches the ears of the neonate is the call to Allah and the testimony that Allah is Great. The sound of the adhan besides keeps the little babe safe from immoralities by driving Satan off. ~Tahneek~ It is in the tradition of Holy Prophet ( peace and approvals of Allah be upon him ) to offer the Tahneek to the babe. For tahneek a day of the month or a sweet thing like honey is softened and placed in the neonate s oral cavity. This act is followed by invocation to Allah to bless the babe. ~Naming the baby~ Many parents decide the name of the babe before the birth if they have ascertained the babe sex beforehand. Some parents maintain two names in head, one for the male and the other for the female progeny. It is allowable to call the babe right after his birth or delay for seven yearss. The name must hold a good significance. It is customary amongst the Muslims to call their babe after the properties of Allah, His Prophetss who came before Prophet Muhammad, the names of Prophet Muhammad, his baronial comrades and other pious personalities. The babe should non be named after those who defied Allah and His Messengers. ~Aqeeqah and Circumcision~ The Prophet Muhammad ( peace and approvals of Allah be upon him ) said: For the male child there should be an aqeeqah. Slaughter ( an animate being ) for him and take the harmful thing [ i.e. , the foreskin ] from him. January 1 is besides compulsory in instance of a male child and should be done every bit shortly as possible. The new born babe s caput is besides shaved and an sum of Ag equal to the weight of his hair is given to the hapless. For the aqeeqah , Muslims forfeit two sheep for a boy and a individual sheep for a girl. The meat can be distributed amongst household members or the same can be cooked and everybody invited to a banquet to observe this event. Gifts and money are normally given by friends and household members to the proud and happy parents on this happy juncture. Birth Two rites accompany the birth of a kid. First, the Call to Prayer is whispered into the neonate s right ear as the first sound it hears. This act symbolically brings the babe into an consciousness of Allah from the first minute of life. This is accompanied by reading from the Quran and other little rites. Second, after a few daysaa‚Â ¬ imposts in some states specify seven daysaa‚Â ¬ a appellative ceremonial is held. At a assemblage of household and friends, the kid is officially given a name, and frequently a lock of hair is cut from its caput. This is frequently accompanied by other rites, such as a repast, forfeits, readings from the Quran, and so on. On rite frequently practiced is that of almsgiving. The babe is weighed and an tantamount sum in Ag is given to charity. The naming ceremonial besides serves as an entryway rite for those who convert to Islam subsequently in life. During it, they receive an Islamic name, normally in Arabic, and seen to be freshly born into the religion. Muslim belief holds that all males should be circumcized, although at what point in a childaa‚Â ¬a„?s life this happens is non specified. It is frequently performed when the male child is still a yearling. Traditionally, the Circumcision was accompanied by a jubilation, while today is often takes topographic point in a infirmary clinic.

Discussion paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Discussion paper - Essay Example The IT issues draught down by authors and researchers are numerous, but some of them which can be highlighted; such as, job security risk, IT network security risk, difficulty in learning new trends of the society, misuse of IT, vulnerability of IT from outer sources of education, hardware/software selection, access, equity, educational society issues in IT, censorship, privacy policies, home use or school use of IT, staff development and training, funding, copyright issues, plagiarism issues and ethics (Sanders 56). All these matters would be judged in provisions of the impact of IT as it has altered the way in which we function in our society. This topic would highlight the aspects of Information Technology which have supported the teaching and learning process in the education sector. The applications of IT has changed a lot in the education field since the last 15 years and all educational institutions including students are availing this facility for learning and teaching purposes with the help of IT (Pea, Wulf, Elliott, Darlin 5). However, the availability of computers at school and home for students have also raised many issues for the educational leaders.

Field Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Field Report - Essay Example It can be apparently observed with the occurrence of physical changes amid the individuals affected with late adulthood. Usually, people with late adulthood will possess advance ageing and might lead to a retirement stage (Potter & Perry 191-211, 2009). The association amid the biological, psychological and the cultural factors aid in the identification of late adulthood (Pearson Education, 2013). In this article, a filed survey has been conducted in a community wherein older adults have been residing. The main purpose of this field experience is to find out the thoughts and the feelings of this specific group of people i.e. the late adulthood. Description of the Experience The field experience or the survey in terms of interacting with older adults in a community setting aims at finding out the development of late adulthood in that particular community and the way they lead their life. Moreover, the experience tends to verify whether the people with late adulthood were leading a bet ter life and attend various recreational activities or not. The targeted group of people in the field trip was 68 residents and the retirement home is 26 years. They were offered with two sorts of special care namely independent care and assisted living. The term ‘assisted living’ denotes the housing facility which is provided to the people having disability. In relation to the special features, the residents of the home were taken for shopping a month and provided church service twice a week. Other facilities such as beauty salon and haircut were also offered. Exploration of the Experience, Thoughts and Feelings Nursing is such a profession wherein a person must be treated as a human being rather than a patient. At an old age, a person is in utmost need of care, love and affection. The prime duty of the nursing professionals is to deliver proper care with affection especially to the older adults. After visiting the community of the older people, it was observed that th ose living in the retirement home were not only provided with the basic needs, but also with other necessary requirements and recreational activities. The activities such as band performances have been arranged for them so that the older people can lead a better life at the end of their life (BVT Publishing, 2001). An effective care was being provided as they were taken for shopping and visiting church regularly. Hence, from the field experience, it can be concluded that the old people residing in that community were provided with better physical along with mental care. Analysis of Learning The above field experience can be related with the learning of effective nursing programs linked with the perceptions of health, growth and development of late adulthood. From the experience, it can be affirmed that the people with late adulthood were at the end of their life and thus require to be enjoyed with their family and friends along with proper health care. Specially mentioning, delivera nce of an effectual nursing care is quite indispensable in their life along with the support of family and friends. Numerous physical and health related changes occur during this period that needs to be treated quite effectively by the trained health professionals. As a learner in the nursing program, one can be clear about the ways of taking the best care of the people residing i

Human Resources Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Human Resources Management - Essay Example In this case, there are many legal, ethical and HR issues to address; issues of legal liability, bribery and workplace bullying. This case highlights the recent exposure of sexual assault allegations against sports professionals and the actions taken by club presidents, members, the media and the police in regards to dealing with the issue appropriately. The legal issues raised by this particular case include duty of care, bribery, and preventing the course of justice. If the Carringbush Cheetahs Football Club give the woman $20,000 as â€Å"hush money† (Stone 2010 pp539) they would be commenting illegal bribery. Also, by ‘paying her off’ they are preventing the course of justice. The club have a duty of care not only to their players but to the alleged victim and the public. They are committing a crime by covering up the incident. In Australia, there have been similar cases involving the use of â€Å"club members’ money paying for court trials, settlement s and even private detectives to follow and build up a file against alleged rape victims† (Krien 2011). ... ng similarities to St Kilda coach Ross Lyon when he tried to distance the club from a police investigation into allegations of a rape cover-up in 2011 (McMahon & Hunt 2010). As well as these legal and ethical issues, from the HR perspective, workplace bullying is present with Troy Sanders pressured into agreeing to bury the accusations and bribing the woman. The Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 (1(a)(b)) defines ‘workplace harassment’ as when a person is subjected to repeated behaviour by a person, employer, co-worker or group of co-workers that a reasonable person would consider to be intimidating (Jones 2009 pp14). Troy can seek remedy for workplace harassment under common law for breach of duty of care or under Occupational Health and safety legislation. However, it is unlikely he would choose this action as in sport societies there is a strong â€Å"family† subculture (Krien 2011). An incident like this would be seen as â€Å"testing loyalty† and Tr oy’s allegiance would be rewarded (Krien 2011). It has been suggested that sporting clubs, such as the Carringbush Cheetahs, adopt more â€Å"vigorous education programs† and HR strategies to teach the players acceptable social behaviour as well as to protect them from â€Å"predatory behaviour† (Silvester 2010). Since players are seen as role models in the eyes of the public, they then have the responsibility to behave appropriately, as does the club. It is unfortunate this is not always the case. Response to the Case Study Answer: I agree with most points raised by the answer to the case study above. The analysis rightly points out that the case in question is typical of many sexual transgressions that male sports professionals are making a habit of. It also correctly identifies the numerous facets to the case,

Truman Doctrine And The Marshall Plan History Essay

Truman Doctrine And The Marshall Plan History Essay On the eve of their victory in World War Two, the leaders of the so-called Big Three nations (Winston Churchill from Britain, Joseph Stalin, from the Soviet Union, and Franklin Roosevelt from the United States) met to negotiate the post-war administration of the vast European territories liberated from Nazi occupation and the captured territories of the Axis nations themselves. The two meetings at Potsdam and Yalta were actually the second and third (respectively) following the first of the Big Three meetings at Teheran in 1943. At the time of the final meeting at Yalta, all three leaders expressed genuine optimism that a peaceful and fair collaboration that had begun of necessity in their combined effort to defeat Hitler could last beyond the war years and into a prolonged period of international peace thereafter (Alterman, 2004). However, there were fundamental conflicting interests and concerns that had begun to develop even before the conclusion of the war. Both the United States and the Soviet Union had already begun to view one another as rivals in Europe, both for territory captured from the Germans as well as for the technological spoils of war, such as German aviation and ballistic rocket technology in particular (Roberts, 2000). During the last year of the war, the Western Allies had feared that Stalin would continue his advance well into central and western Europe and all the way to the Mediterranean (Alterman, 2004). To a large degree, those fears were unfounded as Soviet troops halted after occupying the Baltic States and territories in Germany, Poland and the Balkans (Alterman, 2004). Nevertheless, the Soviet Union did also exert continual pressure elsewhere, particularly in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Greece, and Turkey. When Britain could no longer afford to support the needs of Greece and Turkey, the U.S. stepped up and in 1947, announced a broad approach to providing economic support to those regions (and others believed by the Truman administration to be potentially at risk of Soviet domination) economically in what came to be referred to as the Truman Doctrine (Gaddis, 1997; Judge Langdon,). That same year, U.S. Secretary of State, General George C. Marshall, introduced an even broader approach, that came to be called the Marshall Plan which included all of the mechanism outlined in the Truman Doctrine, in addition to a comprehensive fight against hunger, desperation, poverty, and chaos and whose aims included the revival of a working economy across the European continent but also in all the nations of the world ( Gaddis, 1997; Judge Langdon,). In fact, the principal motivation for this plan was a policy analysis authored by George C. Kennan, counselor in the U.S. embassy in Moscow entitled The Sources of Soviet Conduct (Roberts, 2000). That analysis led directly to the adoption of a containment policy by the Truman administration (and subsequent U.S. presidential administrations designed expressly to oppose perceive Soviet expansionist aims everywhere in the world (Goldfield, Abbot, Argersinger, et al., 2005; Roberts, 2000). Throughout the Cold War, the official position of the U.S. was that its policies with respect to the U.S.S.R. were strictly defensive and designed, of absolute necessity, to prevent the global domination sought by Soviet Communist leaders (Alterman, 2004; Gaddis, 1997; Judge Langdon, ; McNamara, 1995). In truth, the U.S. policies to oppose Soviet Communist expansion and the imposition of Communism beyond Soviet borders were not unfairly viewed by the U.S.S.R. as an expansionist attempt to export and impose Western Democracy beyond U.S. borders. The Deterioration of Relations between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. after 1945 Even before the end of World War II, the provisions of the February 1945 Yalta Conference set in motion conflicting priorities and zones of occupation that helped trigger the eventual deterioration of the wartime alliance between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union (Goldfield, Abbot, Argersinger, et al., 2005). Specifically, the agreement left Britain, France, and the United States in charge of Western Germany, Italy, and Japan while the Soviets controlled Eastern Germany, Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary. By comparison, the territory controlled by the Western Allies was much more valuable in terms of its economic potential than that held by the Soviet Union. The same was largely true in connection with the relative economic potential of Western and Eastern Germany. Under the terms of the Yalta Agreement, the Western Allies administered what later became West Germany and the U.S.S.R. controlled what later became East Germany. Even the capital city of Berlin was divided into zones o f occupation; within a few years, the geographical layout of Berlin and the shared occupation between the Western Allies and the U.S.S.R. would trigger a prolonged crisis as well (Goldfield, Abbot, Argersinger, et al., 2005). Although perceived by the West as being stubborn and acting out of a specific motivation to dominate Europe, Stalin expressed genuine confusion over the inability or unwillingness of the Western Allies to appreciate the importance of Eastern Europe from the Soviet perspective, particularly with respect to Poland (Alterman, 2004; Judge Langdon, ). Recent and not so recent history demonstrated full well the vulnerability of the Soviet Union to hostile invasion through Poland. Moreover, Stalins liberation of Poland from the Nazis had cost the Soviet Union as many as 20 million dead, making it the costliest war campaign in the entire history of warfare, by far. From the Russian point of view, Poland should rightfully have remained under Russian control for those two specific reasons alone (Alterman, 2004; Judge Langdon, ). In other respects, the Western Allies may have been right to question Stalins motives. During the war, both Churchill and Stalin had sent troops to occupy portions of Iran to prevent their rich oil fields from falling into the hands of the Nazis (Alterman, 2004; Roberts, 2000). Already at Yalta, Stalin had begun demanding oil concessions as a condition of removing Russian troops from Iran. Likewise, Stalin had insisted that Turkey permit the Russian Navy permanent unrestricted passage from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean through the Dardanelles. Stalin yielded on both accounts only after the U.S. expressed its intentions to back Iran and after the U.S. sent its own Naval warships to the region. Nevertheless, U.S. foreign policy thereafter would reflect the growing fears over such incidents that Stalin expressly intended to capitalize on any perceived weakness on the part of the West to oppose Communist grabs for global territories and resources (Roberts, 2000). The Importance of Kennans The Sources of Soviet Conduct In 1946, the U.S. State Department received a very long telegram from George C. Kennan, counselor in the U.S. embassy in Moscow, detailing his analysis of what he called The Sources of Soviet Conduct (Gaddis, 1997; Goldfield, Abbot, Argersinger, et al., 2005; Judge Langdon, ; Roberts, 2000). Among other conclusions, Kennan wrote that the Soviet Union was eternally committed to global expansionism and to the spread of Communist ideology at all costs. Kennan warned that the Soviet Union would never stop probing non-Communist societies for weaknesses and that the Western democracies had no other choice but to remain vigilante in their opposition to Communism lest is spread throughout the entire world to the extent efforts toward that end were not opposed appropriately by the West (Gaddis, 1997; Goldfield, Abbot, Argersinger, et al., 2005; Judge Langdon, ; Roberts, 2000). Kennan concluded that what would be necessary and appropriate to prevent Communist expansionism from dominating the word would be a comprehensive policy of global containment of any efforts toward that end by the Western democracies (Gaddis, 1997; Goldfield, Abbot, Argersinger, et al., 2005; Judge Langdon, ; Roberts, 2000). At approximately the same time, also in 1946, Winston Churchill delivered his infamous Iron Curtain speech in which he warned of the same danger with respect to the European continent and advocated a strong opposition on the part of the Western democracies. (Gaddis, 1997; Goldfield, Abbot, Argersinger, et al., 2005; Judge Langdon, ; Roberts, 2000; Westad, ). In principle, this containment strategy would be adopted by the West, most immediately in the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan. The Truman Doctrine By 1947, Greece was in the midst of internal warfare between the government and Communist rebels (Alter, 2004; Goldfield, Abbot, Argersinger, et al., 2005; Roberts, 2000). Britain had been funding the counterrevolutionaries but eventually announced that it could no longer do so for economic reasons. The U.S. administration argued to Congress (and to the American people) that the fall of Greece to Communism would lead inevitably to the subsequent fall of Italy, France, and the entire Middle East to Communism as well (Gaddis, 1997; Goldfield, Abbot, Argersinger, et al., 2005; Judge Langdon, ; Roberts, 2000). Truman succeeded in obtaining congressional authorization for $400 million to fund anti-Communist rebels in both Greece and Turkey as well. This was the first implementation of what came be known as the Truman Doctrine, according to which It must be the policy of the United States to support free people who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pres sures. Truman went on to say that this support from the U.S. should be primarily through economic and financial aid, which is essential to economic stability and orderly political process (Goldfield, Abbot, Argersinger, et al., 2005). Officially, the Truman Doctrine focused on economic assistance to the needy populations of the struggling nations; unofficially, the real purpose of the Truman Doctrine was to fund anti-Communist forces and virtually any related effort to undermine Soviet attempts to spread Communism anywhere in the world. While being promoted primarily as a humanitarian gesture, the principal purpose of the Truman Doctrine and the reason for its existence was to oppose Soviet Communism (Gaddis, 1997). To be fair, there were reasons that the West was right to be so concerned about Soviet Communist expansion but there were also reasons that, with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, the West in general and the U.S. in particular overreacted in implementing the Truman Doctrine. The Western Allies had only recently learned a very difficult lesson after failing to respond appropriately to the rise of Nazism throughout the 1930s and to the expansionist aggression demonstrated by Hitler for years before the outbreak of World War II. Undoubtedly, that was foremost on the minds of Churchill and Truman and everyone else in foreign policy-making positions in the post-war era (Alterman, 2004; Roberts, 2000). The Soviets were hardly innocent either. In addition to the attempted exertion of influence in Iran over the removal of their troops and over control over shipping lanes in the Dardanelles, they also aggressively supported Communist revolutions anywhere they could in Eastern Europe, particular ly in Bulgaria and Romania in connection with Communist takeovers and in Poland by helping to eliminate the last source of political opposition to Communism (Goldfield, Abbot, Argersinger, et al., 2005). On the other hand, and again, in retrospect with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, the Western Democracies were also somewhat blind to apparent signs of Soviet restraint and concessions to the West. After initially insisting on shared control over defeated Japan, the Soviet Union eventually accepted exclusive American control over that nation (Gaddis, 1997; Goldfield, Abbot, Argersinger, et al., 2005; Judge Langdon, ; Roberts, 2000). Likewise, they withdrew their troops from Manchuria, allowed free elections in Hungary and Czechoslovakia and a neutral democratic Finnish government, and they also withdrew significant numbers of their forces that had been assembled in Eastern Europe since the end of the War (Gaddis, 1997; Goldfield, Abbot, Argersinger, et al., 2005). It may be unfair to re-evaluate tensions of the time with the benefit of historical records available today (including those pertaining to Stalin that only became available after the collapse of Communist Russia). However, objectively, and with the benefit of hindsight, it would seem that a more measured and objective response on the part of the U.S. and her allies in the post-war years other than the full implementation of the Truman Doctrine might have allowed for a much less costly and potentially dangerous outcome than a four-decade-long Cold War with the Soviet Union. The Marshall Plan One of the major initiatives implemented within the general framework of the Truman Doctrine was General George C. Marshalls European Recovery Plan, which quickly became known as the Marshall Plan (Gaddis, 1997; Goldfield, Abbot, Argersinger, et al., 2005; Judge Langdon, ; Roberts, 2000). In principle, the Marshall Plan aimed to do the same thing (i.e. contain Soviet Communism from global expansion) although through incentivizing cooperation and conciliation on the part of foreign nations in return for U.S. economic assistance. It was, in essence, a tremendous carrot instead of a stick-based approach to encouraging foreign nations to implement democratic governments and to reject Communist overtures (Roberts, 2000). The U.S. even invited the Soviet Union to participate but they refused, believing (probably correctly, given the overall objective of the Truman Doctrine) that the terms in connection with which Soviet participation was being welcomed would have undermined Soviet control over the Eastern European countries under Soviet influence (Goldfield, Abbot, Argersinger, et al., 2005; Judge Langdon, ). Two years later, the Soviet Union would create Comecon, their own plan for an Eastern European Mutual Economic Assistance organization. The Marshall Plan was an unparalleled success in Western Europe: it facilitated infrastructure recovery in war-torn countries; it enabled economic growth while simultaneously reducing class conflict. More importantly, from the U.S. perspective, it established an economic dependency for U.S. goods and industrial machinery and for the U.S. goods, services, and labor to support it (Goldfield, Abbot, Argersinger, et al., 2005). Certainly, the Marshall Plan was a more humane approach to expanding U.S. influence and discouraging Communist tendencies among Western European populations than the Soviet Union had employed in Eastern Europe. However, its fundamental purpose was much more similar. Moreover, the U.S. was guilty of the same degree of meddling in the domestic affairs of sovereign nations as was the Soviet Union, albeit through much more peaceful means that relied upon the carrot rather than the stick. Nevertheless, from the point of view of exporting its own political ideology to other nations, the U.S. was actually engaged in the same business as the Communists that the West continually portrayed as expansionist (Hunt, 1987; LeFeber, 1994; McDougall, 1997). For example, because of the dependence of Italy on American foreign economic aid and supplies of goods and services, the U.S. was able to convince the Christian Democrats to oust the Communist Party out of it governing coalition. In fact, General Marshall personally warned the Italians that continued economic aide was directly dependent on the Communists not succeeding in the elections of 1948. At the same time, the U.S. State Department recruited Italian relatives in the U.S. and Italian-American organizations in the U.S. to influence Italian political outcomes as much as possible (Goldfield, Abbot, Argersinger, et al., 2005; LeFeber, 1994; Hunt, 1987; McDougall, 1997). Ultimately, the U.S. cannot claim to have meddled or micromanaged Western European political affairs any less than their Communist counterparts in Moscow. While there is a strong argument that the methods chosen by Moscow were less humane, it would be a fiction to suggest that the Soviet Union exported Communism and was expansionist while the U.S. merely supported political self-determination and opposed the imposition of political ideology from abroad. Certainly, from the Soviet perspective, Washington was engaged in very similar processes that differed much more in their means than in what they hoped to achieve. Moreover, whereas the U.S. had the choice between brutality and economic pressure and incentivization, the U.S.S.R. had no such choice, at least not that could have competed against the economic and industrial strength of the U.S. Conclusion Throughout the Cold War, the predominant view in the Western hemisphere was that the Soviet Union was continually engaged in an aggressive campaign to export Communism while the West, led by the U.S. was merely resisting that expansion by supporting the freedom and self-determination of those nations that would otherwise have been at the mercy of Communist takeover. In reality, the U.S. was no less aggressive in exporting Democracy, although it had the economic means to do so much more gently and humanely, and by inviting membership in their democratic vision rather than by coercion and brutality. However, in terms of precipitating what became a four-decade-long Cold War between East and West, the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, and the policy of containment first articulated and promoted by George Kennan in 1946 were no less responsible than Soviet expansionism through intimidation and force. The Cold War eventually resulted in the collapse of the Soviet Union by virtue of the strength of the U.S. economy and industrial capacity. However, it was really only a matter of luck and restraint on the part of Soviet leaders that prevented the Cold War from suddenly becoming anything but cold particularly in connection with the Bay of Pigs fiasco and the Cuban Missile Crisis. In both cases, Soviet forces were armed with tactical battlefield nuclear weapons and authorized to use them on U.S. forces. Ironically, those facts only became public as a direct function of the fall of the Soviet Union and the doctrine of Glasnost instituted as a result (Gaddis, 1997; Judge Langdon, ). The Cold War grew out of a combination of factors and was probably not as inevitable or as much the result of aggressive Soviet expansionism as is widely believed in the West. To be sure, its roots were partly the result of the paranoid personality of Joseph Stalin. Similarly, the U.S.S.R. had given the Western Allies reason for concern over Stalins intentions in the Middle East (and elsewhere) even before the end of the war. The historical record suggests that at the time of the final Big Three meeting at Yalta, Stalin genuinely hoped for a collaborative and cooperative relationship with the American and British governments. On the other hand, even during those most hopeful of times, Soviet spies were busily at work successfully and thoroughly infiltrating the Top-Secret U.S. Manhattan Project at Los Alamos. However, the relative insensitivity of Western leaders to appreciate the legitimate historical basis and geographical realities facing the Soviet Union, especially in Eastern Europe is equally to blame. To a much greater degree than is often acknowledged by Western historians, the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan were, in fact, less about achieving the specific objectives laid out publicly as their fundamental purpose than they were about implementing a global containment strategy designed expressly to counter perceived Soviet expansionism. It is likely that but for paranoia and overreaction on both sides, the legitimate geopolitical concerns of both the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. could have been negotiated more successfully and at far less cost to both sides. In that regard, the long-term effects and consequences of the American foreign policy approach with respect to the U.S.S.R. that was outlined and established by the Truman Doctrine and by the Marshall Plan within the first few years after the cessation of World War Two hostilities would have to be considered as responsible for the development of the Cold War as Soviet Communist expansionism.

Does CSR Work? Essays -- Business Essays

Does CSR Work? Adam Smith founded the modern study of economics on the premise that all businesses are driven by the invisible hand to seek as much profit as possible while society will take care of itself. However, as the public’s opinion of big business has steadily declined in the recent decades, big business has developed a social conscience to improve all aspects of society from worker compensation to protecting the environment to helping the needy. As Stephen Cook indicates in the January 2003 edition of Management Today: â€Å"Everyone cares these days. You can hardly walk through the door of a major company in the western world without tripping over stacks of glossy reports telling you how they care for the environment, their community, their stakeholders.† John G. Ruggie believes that the increase in corporate social responsibility (CSR) stems from three reasons: 1) companies have made themselves targets by doing â€Å"bad† things in the past (Shell in Nigeria; N ike in Indonesia), 2)public perception that the global marketplace is more police-able and international rules and standards are more enforceable, 3) companies large growth as made them the only ones capable of policing themselves in a global capacity. However, two questions arise from this new branch of the corporate hierarchy: 1) does CSR produce results? And 2) does the public care about CSR. Gereffi et al. and John G. Ruggie both indicate that the social pressure has pushed corporations to act: Under increasing pressure from environmental and labor activists, multilateral organizations, and regulatory agencies in their home countries, multinational firms are implementing â€Å"certification† arrangements—codes of conduct, production guidelines, and monit... ...ally responsible, only a minority will punish socially irresponsible companies. Cook indicates similar trends in the UK where only 20% of the people would be prepared to boycott a product on social grounds. Cook, goes on to indicate, however, that the number of people who care is steadily increasing: â€Å"there’s been a 40% surge in UK purchases of ‘fair trade’ products giving a better deal to third world farmers.† As more and more of the world’s population becomes aware of the growing need for corporations to maintain a strong sense of social responsibility, corporations are adopting self-regulatory policies to please the public and enhance their own reputation. All this benefits both the consumers and corporations until a company makes another Enron-like blunder. Then all the good credentials these pacesetting companies have accumulated disappears instantly.

Benefits of the Internet

Reviews and investigation have concluded that the Internet was one of the most important inventions in the last years, and its development is growing every day. People’s lives have changed since this technology arrived.The main idea of my speech will be to explain the audience how   we benefit from the internet today, and how its development has made our lives easier. It will be an informative speech, but the idea is not to make it a technical speech with technical content, but a speech easy to understand for others. I will have to take into account that almost everybody knows about the internet, but the audience may not realize how useful it is, and how we benefit from it.I will try to give the audience some examples that will make them understand what do I mean by â€Å"benefits†, trying to make clear stories about each of the main uses of the internet, as for example how people started using email instead of regular letters, or visiting web sites instead of spendin g hours in a library. I will have to be clear with my messages and try to maintain the audience’s attention by using simple ideas because people usually don’t like to listen about technology as it seems a boring subject. The information I will use it will be based on my own experience, so that will help the speech content to have a humanized aspect.I don’t think that I will be using many kinds of visual aids in this subject, although I might be presenting some transparencies with facts about the increase in the usage of the internet and the benefits of it, and this will help to reinforce the ideas to the audience while I explain them.While I was having a conversation with my classmates that helped me choose the topic for my speech, I tried to talk to them and see what each of them did with the internet and how they took advantage of it. This will help me to more or less see what can I focus on, and on what I will have to be more specific.The interest of the audi ence will be difficult to maintain if I don’t start with a good motivation, so I will try to begin the speech with something interesting and completely new about the internet, like a future project that engineers are working on that might not be known yet, but that the audience might like for the future. It is a wide topic, so I will try to make it as clear as possible, so as to be manageable and understandable.     

Christmas lights Essays

Christmas lights Essays Christmas lights Paper Christmas lights Paper To start a fire there has to be an ignition source. Possible sources could be faulty wires rubbing together causing friction and getting hot enough to start the fire, overloaded plugs and oil lamps etc. Some other sources could be cigarettes. They may not have been put out properly, matches and gas lighter. Another source could be computer/ other electrical items. If they are left on for a long period, they will become hot and possible trigger a fire. Christmas lights can also play a part in a ignition of a fire because they are also normally on for a long period causing the Christmas tree to become how and burst into flames. Items in the kitchen like ovens, kettles, chip fryers etc also have heat coming from them. If they are not working properly, they will also become a source of ignition. A drink placed near a electrical item can also start a fire. Lastly, arson could be an ignition source. If somebody wanted to have a financial gain, they could start the fire their self. Task 3 (D1) From studying the text I was given the main causes of the fire were people smoking. Because there were rags on the floor, when the fag was dropped/ attempted to be put out, it was not fully out and was the ignition source of the fire. Another cause may have been faulty wires/cables from the sewing machines. They may have been rubbing together causing friction, eventually making it hot enough to ignite and start the fire. Another reason may have been that the faulty cables/wires may have caused sparks which again could of caused the fire to start. Lastly, the only other thing I could find/ think of is, back in those days there may of been candles as lights and if one was to be knocked onto the floor where the rags were this again could have caused the fire to break out. The most likely explanation to the spread of the fire is that the hanging patterns, the rags on the floor and the shirts that were already made would be everywhere around the factory meaning it would spread very quickly. Lastly, in those day the factory may of only been small and if the fire started in a corner it would spread even quicker than it would of done if it was in the middle of the room. There are ways in which the fire could have been prevented. For example if the already make shirts were stored in a separate room, if the rags were pick up and put into a bin every time a bit was dropped or cut etc. Another way it could be prevented if people were not allowed to smoke in the work place and if the sewing machines were to be checked every so often and fixed if there were faults cables/wires.

Scarlet Letter & Hester essays

Scarlet Letter & Hester essays It is adequate to begin a composition of this caliber with the quote, It (the scarlet letter) had the effect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity, and enclosing her in a sphere by herself (56). This confinement, undoubtedly, keeps Hester closer to God than without the scarlet letter attached to her bosom. Throughout The Scarlet Letter, an extremely religious book, the letter A, which was impressed on Hester Prynnes bosom, did not completely shun her out of society. Even in a Puritan society, the letter actually brought Hester closer to God himself. A direct reference to the scarlet letter bringing Hester closer to God would be easily exemplified in Hawthornes continuous attempt to connect Pearl with the letter. It was most obviously seen when Hester stated, God gave me the child... See ye not, she is the scarlet letter (116). Pearl was an emblem and product of sin (97) because of Hester, yet God gave Hester the child. Clearly, the letter A, a symbol of sin, is constantly reminding Hester that she is directly tied to God. Another strong connection of Pearl to the scarlet letter is when Pearl actually makes a letter of her own to place on her bosom. Pearl took some eel-grass, and imitated... on her own bosom, the decoration with which she was so familiar on her mothers: A letter- the letter A (185). Hesters own gift from God, as she had stated before, then wore the same symbol as her mother did. Even more so, Hester would always have rather wore the scarlet letter on her bosom than announce Pearls father. In fact, Hest er once told the clergymen, my child must seek a heavenly Father; she shall never know an earthly one (71). At times, Pearl seemed to see the scarlet letter as a symbol of her father. When she was just a baby, Pearl would often ...

Obesity and Physical Activity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Obesity and Physical Activity - Essay Example In fact, of a recent study done on city ranking, which ranks some of the largest metro areas against each-other, the Twin Cities ranked 46 out of 46 for levels of deaths associated with Heart Disease. The actual count comes down to 109 deaths per 100,000 people, compared to the number 1 city (which is Detroit) having 236.4 heart disease deaths per 100,000 people 2. There are multiple reasons why the levels are so low, but probably one of the largest reasons has to be the low levels of air pollution and the emphasis on physical activity within the Metro Area. Many schools across the metro have been cracking down on teaching students about physical activity, and often there is not much else to do in the winter time anyway. A lot of people love to take walks early in the morning to get used to the cold so that it doesn't bother them throughout the rest of the day. Not only that, but the community has become strongly involved in the spread of information about obesity and physical activity. In fact, there is a number you can call to hook up with Health Partners in the Twin Cities and speak about obesity as well as request several documents and fliers to hand out to people. Health Partners also offers educational training courses and public announcements as well through this hot-line.

Employees Job satisfaction in Pakistan banking sector Essay

Employees Job satisfaction in Pakistan banking sector - Essay Example s not feel like his job is contributing anything to his growth or the organization; he also feels that the job is not in tandem with his ideals and values for work anymore. The problem with Salim was that he was not feeling ‘job satisfaction’ anymore. To elucidate this concept, I carried out research into different resources including journals, magazines, websites and books. Job satisfaction is the consequence that one feels ‘from the perception that one’s job fulfils or allows the fulfillment of one’s important job values† (Henne & Locke 222). These job values are individualistic in nature therefore when one job satisfies person A, it is not unlikely that the same job will not satisfy person B. This is because their definitions of what their job values are and how the current job is fulfilling them is quite different. To understand what constitutes job satisfaction, I looked into the work of Saleh & Hyde who say that job satisfaction is the combined result of ‘intrinsic’ and extrinsic’ factors (47): intrinsic factors include things like the kind of work performed, sense of achievement and responsibility associated with it, development of new skill and maturing of the mind; extrinsic factors are more tangible such as the work environment and ambience, salary and bonuses, rewards and promotions, job security and interpersonal relationships developed. Saleh and Hyde found that the people who are more intrinsically motivated are able to gain higher levels of satisfaction (52). The study correlated the intrinsic values to the theory of activation where a certain activation level, which is devoid of external factors, determines how positively or negatively – in turn satisfied or dissatisfied – the individual feels towards any stimulus. Authors Saleh and Hyde write that simple jobs provide lesser stimulation to reach the activation level (52) and thus, will likely take harder to reach the threshold for satisfaction; this explains why a new job is

Chekhov's Attitude to Romantic Love Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Chekhov's Attitude to Romantic Love - Essay Example Conversely, Dimitry’s â€Å"an absence of emotional involvement† is short-lived due to Anna’s â€Å"unquestioning love†, which gave him the confidence to dispel his â€Å"egocentricity† (Llewellyn 884). Yes. This is evident in the account’s unfolding circumstances whereby at the onset of the illicit affair, they seem much engraved into the humanity’s nature. For instance, Dimitry’s â€Å"an absence of emotional involvement† which slowly changes due to Anna’s â€Å"unquestioning† affection towards him (Llewellyn 883). Besides, Anna’s unique character and love towards Dimitry utterly changes his long held perception towards the female gender (Llewellyn 884). Love has the power to conquer diverse and numerous circumstances due to its unique force. For instance, Dimitry’s affair with Anna changes his perception regarding normal life’s material wealth and his associates, which he thought they were of considerable essence before their encounter (Llewellyn 884). The text also contends love is a â€Å"force for good† whereby those who embrace or employ it as necessitated alter their varied circumstances, which may seem t o challenge them (Llewellyn

Civil Rights Movement Was Slow Between 1955-68 Essay Example for Free

Civil Rights Movement Was Slow Between 1955-68 Essay Explain why the civil rights movement was slow between 1955-68 The civil rights movement was slow between 1955-68 for multiple reasons, these being the falling out of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King along with the Civil rights groups splitting and changing their tactics between violent protest or peaceful protest which consequently lead to them being less effective. Also Presidential action could be said to be lacking therefor acts to improve civil rights weren’t passed or were unaffected. One reason that the civil rights movement was slow was due to Eisenhower’s stance on the topic during his presidency (1953-1961). Eisenhower believed that the position of the black people would improve of its own accord over time. In this sense he did not think that it was the government’s job to improve conditions for black people. We can see this form his reaction in regards to Little rock campaign and his reluctance to become involved with it. This is a reason why the civil rights movement was slow because the president was unwilling to pass civil rights laws to change the situation of the blacks due to his belief that it would change in their favour in time. Also because of conflict between Malcolm and King the two main black men that were leading the campaign the African Americans were side tracked, essentially forgetting their main aim; racial equality. Malcolm X was very critical of Martin Luther King calling him the â€Å"Twentieth century Uncle Tom† and banding around rumours that he was being paid by the white government to preach Christian love and forgiveness which was all in aid of preventing the black people from effectively fighting for their freedom. This conflict would not achieve anything for the black power movement because it could potentially divide public opinion. People who supported King may have lost some faith if they believed there could be any truth that he was really working with the white American government, whereas the camp who were following X may have felt a sense of divide between them and the people who liked Kings ideals. The reason why this wasn’t going to help the black power movement is that the African Americans needed to fight together to gain equality but their fight was being split into their fight for this and for who’s leader was strongest. A final reason as to why the progress for civil rights was slow was because the civil right groups split and were no longer co-operating with each other. CORE and the SNCC took a stance closer to that of X’s beliefs. They became more violent unlike the NAACP who stuck to  peaceful protest. The problem that this created the civil rights movement is that they are now sending the government mixed messages and are not helping their cause. Also staging violent protest didn’t seem any way near as effective. Because the government and the media generally seemed weighted to the whites side, violence of black was blown out of proportion and shown as propaganda as to why the blacks shouldn’t have power on equal terms with whites. This would mean that blacks wouldn’t be taking steps on the right direction because they would be setting themselves up for a fall in public opinion, something which needed to be on their side for them to gain equality. In conclusion the civil right gains between 1955-68 were slow due to the fact that there was conflict between the blacks who were fighting over the best way to gain their goal when there focus should have been solely on trying to get this goal. They were side tracked and this proved detrimental giving their reputation further dents, even if there are minor positives amidst the movement along with the fact that the resident weren’t too focused on helping the civil rights movement.

The success of starbuck

The success of starbuck Terms Of Reference This report was commissioned to examine the use of the marketing mix and the contribution of the design function in the success of Starbuck. This report is presented to Dr. Daniel Wade Clarke and the due date is 22nd February 2010. Recommendations are provided in the end. Procedure Organisations own literature has been used in this report. Online textbook and newspapers has been followed to complete this project report.   Nature Of The Organisation Starbucks Coffee Company is the leading retailer, roaster and brand of specialty coffee in the world, with more than 15,000 retail locations in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and the Pacific Rim wherever there is a demand for great coffee. In 1970 the first Starbucks was open. The name comes from Herman Melvilles Moby Dick, a classic American novel about the 19th century whaling industry. The seafaring name seems appropriate for a store that imports the worlds finest coffees to the cold, thirsty people of Seattle. In May 1998, Starbucks successfully entered the European market through its acquisition of 65 Seattle Coffee Company stores in the UK. The two companies shared a common culture, focussing on a great commitment to customised coffee, similar company values and a mutual respect for people and the environment. (Source www.starbucks.co.uk ) Marketing Mix And NPDs Relation To Starbucks? The marketing mix concept is one of the core concepts of marketing theory. According to Rafiq and Ahmed (1995, p.4) that in recent years, the popular version of this concept McCarthys (1964) 4Ps (product, price, promotion and place) has increasingly come under attack in different marketing contexts. Because 4Ps do not take sufficient account of people, process and physical evidence in service marketing. In particular Booms and Biters (1981) extension of the 4Ps framework to include process, physical evidence and participants, has gained widespread acceptance in the services marketing literature. Furthermore Jobber (2004, p.21) adds to this â€Å" In services ,people often are the service itself; the process or how the service is delivered to the customer is usually a key part of the service, and the physical evidence should be considered as a separate element in the services marketing mix†. Nevertheless, there is no absolute reason why these extensions cannot be incorporated w ithin the 4Ps framework. The elements of the marketing mix are the followings; (1) Product (2) Price (3) Place (4) Promotion (5) People (6) Processes (7) Physical Evidence Product The Product decision involves deciding what goods or services should be offered to a group of customers. Brassington and Pettitt (2003, p.25) state that â€Å"it is about not only what to make, but when to make it, how to make it, and how to ensure that it has a long and profitable life†. Clearly product is the important element any company will needs to consider product features/ benefits, branding, packing and after-sales service after its development. Coffee is at the heart of Starbucks history. Starbucks sample coffees from around the world more than 150,000 cups a year. Coffee is the core product of Starbucks as defined by Brassington and Pettitt (2003, p.268) â€Å"core product represents the heart of the product, the main reason for its existence and purchase†. It is coffee which provides the functional or psychological definition of Starbucks towards its customers. Below is the diagram of Strategic thrust model, which is effective in marketing planning. Starbucks is using two marketing strategies towards their products.   First one is Product development and second is Market development. According to Jobber (2004, p.47) that product development involves improving current products or developing new products for current markets. As we know Starbucks offer convenience and non durable products in the form of coffee, when it comes to product development they are continuously differentiating their product (coffee) in the form of mild, smooth and bold categories, which increases their product line although their core product is the same. Starbucks also offer merchandise and gifts and fresh food just to increase their product range or product mix for the competitive market. This type of newness can be called new to the company, a significant innovation for the market. Furthermore Jobber (2004, p.47) also explains market development when current products are sold in new markets. This may involve moving into new geographical markets, as Starbucks has done moving into European market segments. But sometimes thes e strategies can be costly for example they have divided their coffee into three categories and they are getting their product from different regions which can be more costly then the product itself. Guardian (18th February 2009) reported that in the second half of 2008 Britain and the US fell into recession because of the credit crunch, but that so many other countries tumbled in even quicker. Germanys economy contracted by 2.1% in the fourth quarter of year 2008, Italys by 1.8%, Britains by 1.5% and Frances by 1.2%. All are significant, the worst for decades and worse than the USs 0.9% fall in the same period. Starbucks seems heavily exposed in countries such as Britain and the US, where consumer confidence and spending have shrivelled. But it also has plenty of stores across mainland Europe so no doubt they have experienced a cooling off in demand as cash-strapped consumers opts for cheaper drinks. Price Brassington and Pettitt (2003, p.392) explains price in a more interesting way according to them â€Å"price might seem to be the least complicated and perhaps the least interesting element of the marketing mix, not having the tangibility of the product, the glamour of advertising of the atmosphere of retailing†. Price however, play a very important role in the lives of both marketers and customers, and deserves as much strategic consideration as any other marketing tool because of it company receives some units for the actual product or service which is being marketed.   Starbucks main competitors are Costa coffee and Caffe Nero to compete with them Starbucks applies competition based pricing strategy. According to Brassington and Pettitt (2003, p.452) its very dangerous setting prices without knowing what is happening in the market, particularly with respect to ones competitors. There are two aspect of competition that influence an organisations pricing. The first is the structure of the market and the second is products perceived value in the market. When a product is more differentiated then its competitors product the more autonomy the organisation has in pricing it. Hence Starbucks has a range of different product they have slight advantage over their competitors and for that reason buyers come to value its unique benefits. However sometimes setting a high price then your competitors is not a good tactics. According to Times (24th July 2008) Starbucks is peddling the worst coffee at the highest prices according to a survey of the big three coffee houses on Britains high streets. The Which? Magazine survey that choosing the worlds largest coffee chain (Starbucks) instead of an independent shop for your cappuccino three mornings a week will cost you  £126 a year. Coffee Prices Starbucks Medium cappuccino  £2.29; single espresso  £1.40 Costa Coffee Medium cappuccino  £2.27; single espresso  £1.33 Caffe Nero Medium cappuccino  £1.80; single espresso  £1.25 Clearly setting high prices will not only effect Starbucks position in the market but also it will result a down turn in the demand curve. In another example The Observer (18th October 2009) reveals that at Starbucks, a slice of chocolate cake costs  £2.30 and a small English breakfast tea is  £1.40. But a pack of four cupcakes costs  £2.99 from Marks Spencer and a box of 80 Fairtrade Extra Strong tea bags is  £1.89. So clearly it is not only the core product which is expensive but also the other product range as well. Place According to Jobber (2004, p.634) â€Å"product need to e available in adequate quantities, in convenient locations and at times when customers want to buy them†. Producing products that customers want, pricing them correctly and after that made them available, is necessary for any business. But for that accurate channel strategy is very important for any business. Starbucks has their own of distribution channel. A channel of distribution is very important element. All products whether they are consumer, industrial goods or services require a channel of distribution. Starbucks apply consumer channel strategy in which producers have a direct contact to consumer. According to Jobber (2004, p.637) producer use this strategy to cut out the distribution profit margin. The consumer and manufacturer deal directly with each other. Direct selling is more effective then involvement of a distributor. The following present direct supply channel or producer direct to consumer. Starbucks has more than 15,000 retail locations in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and the Pacific Rim. Starbucks has coffee stores in every part of the UK. Guardian (21st January 2010) reveals that Starbucks UK management reckons that the chain will end the year 2010 back above 700 stores compare to its current 661 stores. However intensive distribution of the product (Starbucks stores) is not a good strategy because Starbucks has to compete in all sorts of markets in the same time, which is very costly in the current economic climate. The second most important thing, which is Starbuck lacking, is the franchisees. According to Brassington and Pettitt (2003, p.473) â€Å"A franchisee holds a contract to supply and market a product or service to the design or blueprint of the franchisor (the owner or originator of the product or service)†. Starbucks want to expand their business in the whole word a franchisee will be best available solution for them. McDon alds is an indication of the level of detail covered by a franchise agreement then why Starbucks are not following the same path as their other companies are following. National or regional advertising in addition to any undertaken by the franchisee can play an important role in building a stronger system brand identity. Promotion According to Jobber (2004, p.18) promotional mix involve advertising, personal selling, sales promotions, public relations, direct marketing, and internet and online promotion. By which we can easily made aware the target audience of the existence of a product or service, and the benefits it confers to the customers. Marketing communication is a very important element; no organisation can afford either the financial or reputational damage caused by poorly planned or implemented communication campaigns. Starbucks use all of the promotional mix ingredients to target their audience they made good use of internet and online promotion. They target their audience through social networking website such as FaceBook and Twitter. They also use YouTube for their promotion and other social campaigns. Starbucks is also using social and cultural aspect of the environment for their sale promotions and public relations. Brassington and Pettitt (2003, p.587) explains that â€Å"Social and cultural a spects of the environment will mostly have an impact on the message element of communication†. According to Guardian (2nd September 2009) Starbucks has launched a multimillion-pound ad campaign promoting its ethical values as it makes the vast majority of its UK coffee Fairtrade. Clearly they are using a social issue to make public relation with their target audience, and also Shared Planet (Guardian 2008) the Starbucks initiative launched in year 2008. Its a collection of goals, by 2015 they promise to have all their coffee ethically sourced and all their cups recyclable. Starbucks is using these issues to defend their selves against the environmental campaigners. According to Guardian (2nd September 2009) at Starbucks millions of litres of water are wasted in its coffee shops every day, contradicting its much-boasted green credentials. An investigation by the Sun revealed that over 23.4m litres of water are poured down the drains of 10,000 outlets worldwide due to a policy of keeping a tap running non-stop; Which is totally unfair because on oneside Starbucks run its campaign to save the earth and on the other side they are doing things which are against their campaign. People Brassington and Pettitt (2003, p.28) describes that services often depends on people to perform them, creating and delivering the product as the customer waits.   It is dependent upon people and interaction between people. Rafiq and Ahmed (1995, p.7) adds that â€Å"Marketing managers therefore need to manage not only the service provider-customer interface but also the actions of other customers†. For example, the number, type and behaviour of people will partly determine the enjoyment of a meal at a Starbucks coffee store. Therefore observation of everything in the surrounding of stores environment is very important for any organisations. Especially it is more important for Starbucks because they are their own producer and retailer so anything lacking in the consumer attraction can easily put a bad image on Starbucks brand name. If there is any need for training it will be the best solution for getting service delivery from employees. Processes Processes are all the administrative and bureaucratic functions of the organisation. In the process mechanisms there are flows of activities by which services are acquired. Marketers, therefore, have to ensure that customers understand the process of acquiring a service (Rafiq and Ahmed, 1995, p.7). Performance of the product can be separated from the customer but on the other hand, the customer cannot be separated from an experience good. Therefore his degree of involvement in the process of interaction is always high towards the final product (Moorthi, 2002, p.266). Adding to this by Brassington and Pettitt (2003, p.28) marketer also has to think carefully about how the service is delivered, and what quality controls can be built in so that the customer can be confident that they know what to expect each time they consume the service product. In Starbucks there are number of process mechanisms, which involve customer serving, telephonic customer services, online shopping, and Starbucks reward card. Well designed processes are needed as the service is delivered to ensure that the customer gets through with minimum fuss and delay and that all elements of the services are properly delivered. Process is all about quality improvement of any service which Starbucks provide. Physical Evidence   Physical evidence in the Booms and Bitner framework refers to the environment in which the service is delivered and any tangible goods that facilitate the performance and communication of the service. Physical evidence is important because customers use tangible clues to assess the quality of service provided (Rafiq and Ahmed, 1995, p.7). The physical environment itself is instrumental in customers assessment of the quality and level of service they can expect, for example in Starbucks stores. In fact, the physical environment is part of the product itself. The need for offering physical evidence is high. In the case of Starbucks the intangible (Service delivery) comes first and the tangible (final product coffee) later. Newness of the environment (Starbucks Stores) can also have a positive effect on customers purchase decision. Starbucks announcement to redesign its stores in UK will put a positive effect on their brand name as well as their customer involvement (Guardian October 20 09). Conclusion Starbucks Coffee Company is the leading retailer, roaster and brand of specialty coffee in the world, with more than 15,000 retail locations in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and the Pacific Rim wherever there is a demand for great coffee. Starbucks exclusively divided their product in to three categories, which increases their product line, Starbucks also offer merchandise and gifts and fresh food just to increase their product range or product mix for the competitive market. This type of newness can be called new to the company, a significant innovation for the market. Starbucks is also involved into new geographical markets, as Starbucks has done in Europe moving into new market segments. But sometimes these strategies can be costly. Starbucks apply competition based pricing strategy. Hence Starbucks has a range of different product they have slight advantage over their competitors and for that reason buyers come to value its unique benefits. Starbucks is peddling the worst coffee at the highest prices according to a survey of the big three coffee houses on Britains high streets. Starbucks has their own of distribution channel. However intensive distribution of the product (Starbucks stores) is not a good strategy because Starbucks has to compete in all sorts of markets in the same time, which is very costly in the current economic climate. National or regional advertising in addition to any undertaken by the franchisee can play an important role in building a stronger system brand identity. Starbucks use all of the promotional mix ingredients to target their audience they made good use of internet and online promotion. Starbucks is also using social and cultural aspect of the environment for their sale promotions and public relations. Starbucks is using these issues to defend their selves against the environmental campaigners. Starbucks needs to focus on their because they are their own producer and retailer so anything lacking in the consumer attraction can easily put a bad image on Starbucks brand name. If there is any need for training it will be the best solution for getting service delivery from employees. Starbucks needs continuous improvement of their processes mechanism. Physical evidence is important because customers use tangible clues to assess the quality of service provided. Starbucks announcement to redesign its stores in UK is good strategy which will put a positive effect on their brand name as well as their customer involvement. References Booms, B.H. and Bitner, M.J. (1981), â€Å"Marketing strategies and organization structures for service firms†, in Donnelly, J.H. and George, W.R. (Eds), Marketing of Services, American Marketing Association, Chicago, IL, pp. 47-51 [Accessed: 20/02/2010] Brassington, F. and Pettitt, S. (2003) Principles and Practice of Marketing: 3rd Edition: Pearson Education Limited [Accessed: 17/02/2010] Jobber, D. (2004) Principles and Practice of Marketing: 4th Edition: McGraw-Hill International (UK) Limited [Accessed: 17/02/2010] Kotler, P. (2003) Marketing Management 11th Edition: Pearson Education Limited [Accessed: 17/02/2010] Moorthi, Y.L.R. (2002), â€Å"An approach to branding services†, Journal of Services Marketing, Vol.16 (3), pp.259-274 [Accessed: 21/02/2010] Rafiq, M. and Ahmed, P.K. (1995), â€Å"Using the 7Ps as a generic marketing mix: an exploratory survey of UK and European marketing academics†, Marketing Intelligence Planning, Vol. 13 (9), pp. 4-15 [Accessed: 17/02/2010] The Story of Starbucks [online] http://starbucks.co.uk/en-GB/_About+Starbucks/ [Accessed: 15/02/10] Times Online, (24th January 2008) Best coffee on high street? Not Starbucks by Nico Hines [on-line] http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3245914.ece [Accessed: 18/02/2010] The Guardian, (6th October 2008) Starbucks wastes millions of litres of water a day by Angela Balakrishnan [on-line] http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/oct/06/water.drought [Accessed: 18/02/2010] The Guardian, (5th October 2008) Starbucks to redesign shops [on-line] http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2009/sep/18/starbucks-rebrand-branding-coffee [Accessed: 18/02/2010] The Guardian, (November 2008) Regular or decaf ? 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