Failure Analysis/Change Strategy Essay

While there is no guarantee of the success of a business, there are indicators that can be learned from analyzing organizations that have failed to those that succeed. In this paper, we compare two organizations, Blockbuster Video and Netflix that exemplify effects of leadership, vision, strategy and planning, and the importance of customer satisfaction that influence the success or failure of a business. Mission, Vision, and Objectives The mission, vision, and values statement defines an organization’s brand, culture, and customer experience. Blockbuster was founded by David Cook in 1985 and quickly went public a year later. In 2004, Blockbuster had up to 60,000 employees and over 9000 stores that provided home movie and video game rental services through video rental shops (Forbes, 2011). It’s mission and vision was to â€Å"provide our customers with the most convenient access to media entertainment, including movie and game entertainment delivered through multiple distribution channels such as our stores, by-mail, vending, and kiosks, online and at home† and to â€Å"offer customers a value-priced entertainment experience, combined with the broad product depth of a specialty retailer with local neighborhood convenience† (Farfan, 2015). Its objectives were to provide a large number of copies and broad selection of movie titles, operative conveniently located highly visible stores, offe r superior and consistent customer service, optimize pricing to local market conditions, and nationally advertise and market the brand name (Farfan, 2015). Netflix was founded by Reed Hastings in 1997 is now the world’s leading  entertainment network of streaming movies with over 57 million members in 50 countries (Netflix, 2015). Its mission statement is to â€Å"grow our streaming subscription business domestically and globally. We are continuously improving the customer experience, with a focus on expanding our streaming content, enhancing our user interface and extending our streaming service to even more Internet-connected devices, while staying within the parameters of our consolidated net income and operating segment contribution profit targets (Netflix Company Profile, 2015). Co-founder and CEO expressed Netflix vision for the future and objects to become the best global entertainment distribution services, license entertainment content around the world, create markets that are accessible to film makers, and help content creators around the world to find a global audience (Netflix Company Profile, 2015). Indicators of Business Failures and Success Comparing successful organizations, such as Netflix, to a failed organization, such as Blockbuster, allows us to identify predictors and understand critical elements that lead to the success or failure of a company. In our case, the role of leadership, strategy and planning, vision, and customer service played a role in the failure and success of both companies. A recent survey by the Turnaround Management Society indicates that most crises are caused by top management and include management continuing with a strategy that was no longer working for the company, underestimation of changes in the market and lack of adaptation, a loss of vision and a disconnect with customers (Lymbersky, 2014). The Blockbuster Board, made several poor choices in hiring incompetent leadership who did not understand their business. The company had a lack of vision and could not decide whether they were in entertainment or retail. Most detrimental to the Blockbuster brand, was the refusal to recognize and adapt to changing technology that affected their market. All these poor choices compounded on Blockbusters problem of disengagement with their customers by not attending to customer demand and their un-customer friendly policies of charging late fees. During the same period, Netflix provided continuity in leadership, had a strong strategy built around adapting to rapidly changing technology that supported video streaming, created a strong  sense of vision and connected intimately with its customer’s demands and incorporated customer friendly pricing strategies of fixed monthly pricing with no late fees. Organizational Behavioral Theory Netflix and Blockbuster were companies with a vision one that had a vision of the future and one that did not understand how fast technology was vastly approaching. Netflix saw that technology was coming and wanted to stay ahead of the game with video streaming, DVD-By-Mail, and producing popular series only seen through Netflix similar to a cable network. Blockbuster started with video rentals and ended with video rental, and expanded their stores into outlets for books, toys, and other merchandise. When YouTube erupted in 2005 Netflix realized that they need to jump on the video streaming and allow customers to get the movies they wanted directly to TV’s, computers, mobile phones, and other devices. Blockbuster did try a similar outlet as Netflix but failed to understand customers did not like late fees, are hidden costs. Blockbuster forgot to adapt to the changes in technology, and this is what ultimately caused the company to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy and close its doors. Technology within the movie and movie rental industry has been a significant factor since VHS tapes, and Netflix saw an opportunity and ran with it. With the ability to see the future and adapt to changes within their industry they are succeeding. With Blockbuster not understanding technology, consumers wants, and industry changes they failed. Decision making of management and leaders with in an organization is how Netflix succeeded and how Blockbuster failed. When a business loses focus on what business they are in they are doomed to fail. Blockbuster did not keep its focus on movie rental they started to think and make decisions like a retailer and that was the beginning of an end of the blockbuster era. Netflix knew the future of DVD-By-Mail was going to short lived and decided to focus on the internet and technology to succeed in the industry. If Blockbuster would have stayed focused on movie rentals and not retail they would still be in business. The Role of Leadership The leadership and corporate structure of Blockbuster and Netflix were identical however each organization demonstrates the critical component of an organization to adapt and change its strategy and build a culture that supports a clear vision. When leadership makes decisions, or neglects to make the right choices, then the company will fail. Blockbuster’s leadership was dysfunctional and refused to adapt their strategy or have a clear vision of their business. Netflix Netflix organizational structure is the same as a matrix and consists of the board of officers. The key component that made Netflix a success was the leadership and their ability to take risk, adapt, and have a solid vision that understands consumer demands. â€Å"We compete very broadly for a share of members’ time and spending, against linear networks, pay-per-view content, DVD watching, other Internet networks, video games, web browsing, magazine reading, video piracy, and much more. Over the coming years, most of these forms of entertainment will improve.† (Netflix, 2015). As a company grows, their culture allows freedoms in leadership, management, and innovation. Evidence of this is displayed in Netflix’s insight to move from mailing out DVDs to embracing the streaming world, on the World Wide Web. The introduction of this opened profits for Netflix that Blockbuster refused to embrace. Blockbuster â€Å"The irony is that Blockbuster failed because its leadership had built a well-oiled operational machine. It was a very tight network that could execute with extreme efficiency, but poorly suited to let in new information† (Satell, 2014). As a company grows it’s business and a great customer base, there is always a need for growth and adaptation. Netflix even gave Blockbuster a chance to merge with them when the internet streaming hype hit, but Blockbuster declined. Better and faster connections, transactions, and easier purchases on-line, are what made Netflix blossom and Blockbuster fail. Blockbuster refused to adapt or take advantage of opportunities that would have aligned them for the future. The Change Process Vital Areas of Change Vital areas of change include strategy and planning that supports a growth platform, establishing a strong sense of vision, and reconnecting with the  needs of the customer. The first vital area of strategy and planning includes embracing innovation and adapting to a changing business environment. When the advent of something new, such as the Internet, introduces itself into the business world, all businesses must be able to manage their existing business force and integrate the new concept. The company should be keeping stores open in areas that are profitable, while leveraging its marketing and brand to introduce new streaming distribution channels. The second concept of change is to establish a strong vision and culture that supports the vision of the organization. When a company fears growth in any direction, whether it is expansion or introduction of a new idea, it will only lead to failure. The company needs to examine its market space and see where some finely tuned execution might provide another business opportunity for growth and success. One must analyze the impact the change is going to have on the organization as a whole and embrace that change. One must incorporate into the business all changes that will positively affect the future successes of the company. Finally, is to never forget about the customers and their demands. Policies should be implemented that are customer friendly and meet customer demands. For example, a better pricing strategy would be something to initiate immediately and the organization should make changes based on customer desires. Customers will end a relationship with a company who does not supply or cater to their needs and wants. All businesses need to realize that a growing customer base leads to success. Power and Political Issues (Whitney) John Kotter’s 8-Step Plan (Mirsada) Conclusion (Melody) Reference Baskin, J. S. (November 8, 2013). The Internet Didn’t Kill Blockbuster: The Company Did It To Itself. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathansalembaskin/2013/11/8/the-internet-didn’t-kill-blockbuster-the-company-did-it-to-itself/ Farfan, B. (2015). Blockbuster Company Mission Statement. Retrieved from

Bureaucracy and self-government Essay

When a government creates policies, regulations, laws and guidelines, it rigorously and astutely applies them through what is called an act and service of public administration. Public administration is then implemented within an organizational structure. The bureaucracy that this structure operates illustrate the various operatives and/or personnel and/or leaders that makes the decision and leads the methodologies, tactics and strategies to implement the said policies, regulations, laws and guidelines. The bureaucracy is likewise responsible in ensuring the efficient and effective ways and means for such act and service. In executing its mandate, public administration must be dynamic. It must have a natural course of evolution and appropriate change and improvements that responds to the multifarious and complex demands of public service; constituent needs and demands and expectations. â€Å"Bureaucracy and Self-Government†¦Ã¢â‚¬  is a book that gives enlightenment and on how concepts of public administration renders its appropriate service to the American people. The Book’s Insights Bureaucracy in its principle is the rational and academic structure of the organizational process in rendering service and implementing policies and procedures of any institution – like the government. The positive principle of bureaucracy has however evolved into a negative context in the modern time wherein red tape and other forms of inadequacies. It is because the bureaucracy in rendering public administration operates within two types of concepts. It is therefore very important and interesting that Dr. Cook laid out in his book that public administration in American politics is operated both within the instrumental concept and in the constitutive concept. The instrumental concept believes that the job of bureaucracy in public administration is to execute the instructions of public officials. Within the simplicity of this concept there lies the insufficiency of complete rendering of public service. That is the reason why Dr. Cook has outlined that the past two centuries of America is a struggle to create life and meaning and expectations of the instrumental concept of public administration and service. The constitutive concept believes that the job of bureaucracy in public administration is to shape and characterize public policy and political community. This concept allows formative methods that bring shape and structure to laws and policies of government. Creativity and dynamic insights and foresights of government officials and public administrators are exercised in using this concept. The concluding insight of Dr. Cook in â€Å"Bureaucracy and Self-Government†¦Ã¢â‚¬  outlines principles of responsible public administration. Firstly, with proper responsibility in governing and administering comes along an unlimited ability. A complete and consummate commitment to adherence to the law must be characterized in the proponents of public administration. Government leaders and officials must take the rule of law as their way of life. Secondly, within the rule of law â€Å"an adequate sphere of constitutionally legitimate independence must be carved†. (Cook, 1996, page 177). This principle is coherent with what government administrators have sworn to in fulfilling their duties and responsibilities. It is important that discretion of the law is carried out with integrity. The Book’s Presentation The book is presented in a very scholarly format. He extensive experience of Dr. Brian J. Cook in the study of politics and public administration render authority on the subject matter. The book is seemingly passionate in pursuing ways and means for public administration to still attain its ideals. The book traced well established historical background that served the impetus on how American government administration and management has evolved – thus providing the foundation of the conduct and manner of public administration of modern day. Whatever the course of history and evolution American politics and public administration may have tracked and traced, the book offers confidence and hope that the better of valor shall surface in public administration in America. The Book’s Author Dr. Brian J. Cook is presently a Professor in the Center for Public Administration and Policy in the School of Public and International Affairs of Virginia Tech. He earned his BA degree in Political Science in 1977 from Cleveland State University with magna cum laude honors. His further education in government and politics earned him is masters in 1982 and doctorate in 1984 – both from the University of Maryland. He has taught; lectured and done research on politics and government since 1979. Dr. Cook has been endowed with numerous foundation and university grants and government sponsored research. He has written and published three books: â€Å"Bureaucratic Politics and Regulatory Reform: The EPA and Emissions Trading† (1988); â€Å"Bureaucracy and Self-Government: Reconsidering the Role of Public Administration in American Politics† (1996) and â€Å"Democracy and Administration: Woodrow Wilson’s Ideas and the Challenges of Public Management† (2007). In addition he has written and published numerous book chapters; peer reviewed and non-reviewed articles; book reviews; conference papers and reports covering a very wide array of thoughts, principles and theories in American politics, government, administration policies. (Brian J. Cook Curriculum Vitae, 2008, pages 1-2) Works Cited: Cook, Brian J. Bureaucracy and Self-Government: Reconsidering the Role of Public Administration in American Politics John Hopkins University Press, 1996 Brian J. Cook Curriculum Vitae, September 2008 http://www. cpap. vt. edu/doc/BJC_Curriculum_Vitae_09-08. pdf [accessed 2 June 2009]

Latin american relationships Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Latin american relationships - Essay Example The George W. Bush presidency brought a new type of foreign policy to the United States, no doubt tempered by the events of September 11, 2001. The if youre not with us, then youre against us temperament of this policy did not play well in Latin America. One nation after another elected leaders firmly dedicated to left leaning policies such as nationalization of key industries, direct welfare relief to the impoverished, and increased taxation on the wealthy. This skewing of national governments to the left side of the political spectrum has affected Latin Americas relations with the United States and the world as a whole. A mistake many on the outside make when looking at these left leaning leaders in Latin America is to fail to recognize the dual nature of this group. Castaneda argues that there are actually two separate groups of leftist leaders exercising power today in Latin America (3). One group has grown out of the old Communist and Bolshevik movements in the 1920s and 1930s. They have experience and have seen what has worked and failed in the past. This group, represented by Michelle Bachelet of Chile, Tabare Vazquez of Uruguay and to a lesser extent Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva of Brazil has moved to strengthen and uphold existing ties with the United States, the world at large and international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund. Lula welcomed president Bush on his visit to Brazil and expressed his determination to keep his economic initiatives within the bounds suggested by the IMF. Bachelet has remained close to the United States, despite his open opposition to the war in Iraq. A free trade agreement was signed by Bush and ratified by congress between the two countries, establishing mutually beneficial economic partnerships. In Uruguay, Vasquez has shown himself to support globalization and stood in league with the United States by protesting

Implications Of Business Ethics For Quality Management Essay

Implications Of Business Ethics For Quality Management - Essay Example Most managers are aware of the need to re-evaluate their priorities and approaches to conducting business (Heller, 2006) so that most adopt ways to improve "corporate image" and business standards with the understanding of the origins of ethical thought with reference to codes of ethics (McNamee, 1992). 2. Evaluating the self for improvement and development could mean combining personal care with control of processes to achieve the highest level of quality in business and management (Fisscher and Nijhof, 2005). In this process, the manager must define his own and the organization's strengths, detail weaknesses, ready to seize opportunities and acknowledge threat with preparation. Once again, Heller (2006) emphasized agility in this aspect. Personally, I may include personal and academic achievements and personal attitudes such as boldness, hardworking, honesty and integrity as my strength. These attributes cannot be easily taken away from me and is a part of me that goes where I am. Therefore, knowledge and skills gained, all the things I have undergone while learning, my experiences and the values I have cultivated and maintained are my own treasures that I can use in present and future endeavors. Weaknesses include impatience due to age as most youths like me crave for a fast, active lifestyle and working environment. Results are wanted immediately, which could be futile at times, but can cause anxiety even in a short time basis. Another weakness could be a lack of work environment political knowledge. As most organizations have a socio-political atmosphere, my lack of exposure may cause work-related stress and conflicts with inter-personal relations. Opportunities include career expansion and endless possibilities, self-improvement, career specialization, access to more and specialized data and information.

Personal Investment in the UK is it Science of Matter of Good Fortune Essay

Personal Investment in the UK is it Science of Matter of Good Fortune - Essay Example More evidently the increase in the number of retirement people in the region has led to the fall in the demand for saving and investment in the region. Again the level of investment practices carried out by the people gains a larger relation to the insurance and pension related schemes where the people invest out of a precautionary motive. Different economic changes like crash in the housing market also tends to lower the practice of personal investment in the region (Banks and Tanner, 1999, p.6-9). Different Types of Investment in United Kingdom In United Kingdom people tend to invest or conduct their personal savings through the use of different tools like investing in mortgage funds, investing on pension or other insurance related funds, depositing money in banks or in securities issued by different financial institutions. Further people also tend to invest their money in many asset related or commercial funds apart from investing in agricultural and national savings deposits. The major part of the personal savings owes to funds related to pension and insurance other than mortgage or housing properties (Banks and Blundell, 1994, p.67). Types of Personal Investment in United Kingdom and Popularity of Use In United Kingdom the aspect of personal savings and investment gains attention in regards to categories like pension funds and other insurance related sectors. However other than the pension and insurance related funds the personal investment activities of the people also centre on deposits made in banks. Investment is again made by the people in funds created for the housing societies. Moreover other than the listed areas the people also tend to invest largely in sectors such as shares and dividend mainly equity based issued by registered companies operating in United Kingdom. In other types of personal investment practices the people also tend to invest largely in different types of asset funds bearing interest gains and in other savings fund issued by the national government. The six different areas into which the people residing in United Kingdom tend to invest their personal finances also contain of security deposits and other unit trust schemes (Banks and Blundell, 1994, p.69). Out of the six listed avenues available to the people in United Kingdom to conduct their personal savings it is found that the sector of pension funds and insurance schemes gains the highest amount of attraction. The main reason inferred for the growing attention of the people to invest along the pension and insurance related funds is to gain a large amount of tax benefits. The people avail the exemption advantages from tax charges in regards to their investment in pension and insurance funds. Moreover in regards to the insurance sector the people also avail benefits linked to the market where the insurance schemes chosen for investing by the people stand to be market linked. Thus the people through the

Presidental and Parliamentary Systems of Government Term Paper

Presidental and Parliamentary Systems of Government - Term Paper Example Finally, conclusions were arrived at. The presidential separation of powers is not typical of modern constitutionalism. As such, there are several constitutional democracies that depict the commingling of governmental powers. Most of these systems of government are parliamentary systems. Such systems exhibit reliance of the head of government on the legislature for political survival. Another important trait exhibited by such governments is the power of the executive to declare elections by bringing about dissolution of the legislature.1 In the presidential systems of government, such powers are rarely encountered. These systems uphold the principle of separation of powers. The latter provides a governmental branch with the power to oversee the actions of the other branches, which generates a system of governance based on mutual distrust between the various branches of the government. Such invasive overlap among government branches ensures that no specific branch of government obtain s absolute power.2 In the US, delegation of power is quite strong, and society is politically active to a considerable extent, and there is extraordinary support from all quarters to the principle of democracy. Thus, the US represents a strong presidential system of government that differs from the Westminster model of democracy. The latter supports parliamentary democracy.3 The presidential system of the US establishes a strong President in the White House, who acts as the head of the state. In the Westminster model, the Prime Minister holds the position of pre-eminence. Despite these differences, both models focus on the concentration of power in the political party that has control over the legislature. In some democratic countries of Latin America, power is concentrated in the hands of a single person or party. Examples of such regimes are to be found in Venezuela, Colombia, and Costa Rica. 4 In the presidential systems of Greece and France, the President is elected by the peopl e and power is concentrated in the office of the President. These systems are known as delegate democracies. 5 The presidential system of government frequently includes a bicameral legislature. The passage of any law requires control over the executive, and the upper and lower houses of the legislature. These three entities are not elected at the same time and in the same election, which drastically increases the scope for dissent. 6 Parliamentary democracy is characterized by comparatively better stability. However, development in a country results in people aspiring for greater freedom with regard to expressing dissent. In addition, there is a greater tendency to spread different viewpoints. In the UK these desires have led to a gradual transition of the system of government towards the presidential system. 7 In fact, there is little of the original Westminster model that pertains to the political system prevalent in the UK. It is now quite apparent that the parliamentary system w ith its stability and authoritarian norms is apt only as far as the developing nations are concerned. With growth among the populace of a nation, it becomes essential to adopt a system of government that replicates a presidential system of governance. 8 The President in a presidential system of governance appoints the members of the Cabinet. In general, the latter are not members of the

Kuwait-Iraq War (The Gulf War) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Kuwait-Iraq War (The Gulf War) - Essay Example After the cease fire of Iraq-Iran war in 1988, Kuwait’s oil pricing policy was pushing Iraq into a bankrupt state. Iraq threatened Kuwait to change its oil prices and stop directional drilling in Iraq’s Rumaila Oil Field. The first phase of the conflict of Gulf War was diplomatic negotiation to convince Iraq to leave Kuwait. It started from August 1990 and ended in the Second phase that was air war between Allied Forces and Iraq started in January 1991. The third phase of the conflict was ground war which ended, in the end of February 1991, in cease fire and with drawl of Iraqi forces from Kuwait. The parties in this conflict were the Governments of Iraq, Kuwait, United States of America, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the United Nations. A lot of other countries provided their troops to support US attack on Iraq. Geneva Convention: Geneva Convention was named after the establishment of Red Cross in Geneva. It was formulated to reduce the damages of war by protecting civilians, war prisoners and wounded fighters. US forces reportedly violated Fourth Geneva Convention of protecting civilians by making attacks on residential areas of Iraq. On the last day of ground fighting, the last of the Iraqi troops were massacred, by US forces, by dropping fragmented bombs over them that could be avoided. The Third Geneva Convention was also violated by United States and Saudi Arabia by not registering their war prisoners. Iraqi government clearly did not bother to follow Geneva Convention through out the war. Iraqi troops were reportedly harassed, tortured and killed several civilians in Kuwait. Iraq also fired several SCUD missiles aimed into the non-military areas in Saudi Arabia and Israel, provided that Israel was not even a party to the conflict. Iraq also did not attempt to register war prisoners with the International Committee of Red Cross and several war prisoners were humiliated by showing

Cuneiform and Pictograms Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Cuneiform and Pictograms - Research Paper Example Indeed, it is certain that Cuneiform and pictograms are the gateway of the normal symbols that are palpable in our everyday life as it all started thousands of years ago. As a one of the greatest contributors to Cuneiform development, the Sumerians developed this early form of civilization writing using pictures. Later the Babylonians and Assyrians adopted the use of Cuneiform as a system of writing. As an ancient form, of writing Cuneiform entailed the use of wooden reeds on pieces of clay that were used to impress shapes on the moist clay tablets evidently in Mesopotamia. This mode of writing used wedged shaped stylus as a means of making impressions on the tablets that were made up of stones, metal, clay, or wax. However, the clay tablets were mainly used, as they were cheap and easily available. On the contrary, the clay tablets tended to be more fragile because of the tablets being sun-baked. There are different forms of wedges as they ranged in their various shapes from upright wedges, horizontal wedges, and the most common diagonal wedges through the frequently interchanging of slopping wedge. The Cuneiform impressions that were left by the pictogram, which was being imposed on the tablet left the stylus on the tablet as wedged shape thus, the up rise of the name wedge-writing that was significantly another name of Cuneiform writing. It is notable that after the pieces of clay tablets dried up the preservation of the information was achievable through maintain ace of remarkable accuracy and durability levels. It is because of this reason that hundreds of cuneiform tablets are evidently widely spread all over the world (Radner, and Robson 60). However, in instances where the information was not needed in terms of their permanency the tablets were recycled as they were remolded again. Archeologists established that a majority of the tablets found from the debris and archives were baked especially as they found them in the building where the armies burnt it down. Majority of the museums and private collections still hold the tablets up to date as a form of history. Individuals who utilized this form of writing were Egyptians who have had thousands of clay tablets safely stored discovered in Egypt. The use of the tablets in Cuneiform writing began as a system of writing symbols as a way of expressing the ideas commonly rather than the use of in sounds that they felt a need of noting them down for remembrance. Majorly the information that was featured in these tablets were those of business activities that needed recording in order to act as evidence against a transaction that transpired between two parties (Radner, and Robson 61). In addition, other tablets included information traceable back to the field of medicine as there is evidence of tablets with medical texts imposed on them besides other subjects. Cuneiform form of writing developed later into alphabetic syllabus through the Babylonians and Assyrians who were primarily dominan t in the in Egypt during the middle of the third millennium. As a result, the form of Cuneiform writing shifted from being mainly featured in the field of business and medicine as it spread into other areas of writing. This change is more significant as there is evidence of cuneiform scripts use in the representation of texts that are from various fields of several languages. These languages include those of the ancient ones that are more

Politicial Science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Politicial Science - Essay Example Miranda Rights is a preventive criminal procedure where suspected criminals are given a warning at the time of the arrest. This warning gives criminals the choice of remaining silent until they talk to their attorney to prevent police officers from taking advantage of the situation. The Fifth Amendment creates this right. Executive Order is an order issued by the President which is legally binding. Such orders do not require the approval of the Congress and cannot be overturned by the Congress. Even though there is no provision in the Constitution that defines the rule of Executive Order but such orders have been issued and accepted by the US Supreme Court. Bureaucracies perform a multitude of functions for the government. They are important for effective functioning of the entire system because they introduce accountability and efficiency in a broad range of task. Bureaucracies exist mainly to increase productivity and efficiency in the system through a set of standards and guides. Department of Defense: The role of this department is to protect the country from any internal or external threat. This department monitors different forces including the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Independent executive agency is an agency that is created outside the control of the Federal executive department. They are outside the control of the President. These agencies oversee different aspects of governance. They have been created to function independently so as to improve their efficiency and prevent them from being controlled by the

Explain Kants Theory of Ethics Essay Example for Free

Explain Kants Theory of Ethics Essay Kant was born in 1724-1804, he was a German thinker from East Prussia (now Russia), and he spent his whole life in his hometown. Kant wanted to create a logical, stand-alone theory that wasn’t just based on assumptions, he believed in an objective right or wrong that is decided on reason and that we shouldn’t do the right thing just because it’s right and not to fulfil our desires. Can we lead a life following his ideals are there not some situations where a perfect moral decision cannot be made, are all our choices fuelled by personal gain and desire? He has a deontological and absolute approach to ethics, to Kant what makes an action good is when you do your ‘duty’ and that one’s duty is to always flow the moral law. We should not act out of love or compassion. The motive is what makes an action good –nothing else! The consequences to Kant are meaningless it’s the act itself that needs to be right an example of his thinking would be its immoral to kill 1 man in order to save 10. For Kant the fact that we ‘ought’ to do something implies that it is possible to do it. Thus moral statements are prescriptive: they prescribe an action. Ought implies can, ‘if I ought to do X’, it means ‘I can do X’. Kant also believed that moral statements are a priori (knowable prior to experience) and synthetic, that they can be verified by our empirical evidence so are either true or false. Kant put forward the idea of two imperatives the hypothetical imperative, these are not moral commands and they don’t apply to everyone. In Kant’s eyes you only need to obey them if you want to achieve a certain goal. An example of this would be that Kant observed that the word ‘ought’ is often used none morally, for example ‘if you want to become a better artist or guitarist, you ought to practice’. On the other hand Kant also proposed the Categorical Imperative, these are moral commands that can be universalised and do not depend on anything else. Whereas the hypothetical imperative requires you to go from ‘a’ to ‘b’ then categorical imperative only requires you to just do ‘a’. â€Å"Duties for duties sake† this related to the categorical imperative. Kant then goes on to the 3 maxims, first off to test a moral maxim as it’s a universal law either everyone should follow it or everyone should reject it. The first maxim is ‘Your action should be able to be universalised’ before you act in a certain way, would you like everyone in the same situation to act in the same way. If not, then you are involved in a contradiction it goes against reason, â€Å" so at that principle of action might safely be made of law for the whole world† if you were to take lying through the first maxim its clear it would fail as that would mean everyone would be lying to one another and trust is completely destroyed. The second maxim is ‘Don’t treat people as a means to an end’ Kant strongly believed that you can never use human beings as a means to an end, to exploit or enslave them. Humans to Kant are all the highest point of creation and so demand a unique treatment. This guarantees that all individuals are afforded the moral principles; therefore no humans can be used for the sake of others, he also explained that we have a duty to develop our own perfection, developing our moral, intellectual and physical capabilities. We also have a duty to seek the happiness of others as long as that is within the law and allows the freedom of others. â€Å"Always recognise that human individually are ends and do not use them as a means to your end† therefore you can’t lie for example to further your own needs at the cost of using someone. Kant’s final and third maxim ‘ work towards a kingdom of ends’ this is an overall culmination of the first two, everyone should act as if every person was a ‘end’ and that moral choices be based on any empirical consideration about human nature, human flourishing or human destiny. However it needs to be clear that despite this autonomy this does not mean that everyone can just decide their own morality but rather that each individual has the ability to understand the principles of pure practical reason and follow them. It is impartial and must apply to everyone. If one maxim is disproved then the law becomes immoral and can’t be universalised. Kant also talked about good will and duty, to Kant the ‘greatest good or summon bonum’ is what Kant terms as good will. Someone of good will is not good because of what they achieve (the consequence) but because he/she acts out of duty. Good will to Kant is the only thing that is truly pure, as we can get our reasoning wrong or it can be manipulated, but to have the good will to perform your duty cannot be manipulated or got wrong. Kant contrasted ‘doing your duty’ with ‘giving into your emotions’ or doing what you feel like. The main two meanings of duty come into conflict as the first thought meaning of duty is to obey your superior, this is what the Nazi soldiers claimed innocence about when they were trialled for war crimes they were just following orders but is that moral? To obey the moral law do the right thing and think a situation through is Kants meaning of duty â€Å"Good will shines forth like a precious jewel† –Kant. Kants theory of ethics seems to grant freedom to do anything that can be universalised. This sets the limits but does not give guidance; therefore in order for it to make sense Kant proposed the three postulates, the existence of god, freedom and immorality. We know that morality can exist because we can observe it. However we must be free to perform it as otherwise the act wouldn’t be truly moral. Morality and freedom must come from somewhere to Kant this is God. Kant argues that there must be a God and an afterlife as there has to be some sort of reward. As we cannot be perfect in this life. This is known as reaching the summon bonum that I mentioned earlier, as this cannot be achieved in this life, there must be an afterlife where this can be achieved. For Kant, morality leads to God. Part B: Assess the view that it is always right to keep one’s promises. In Kants view immorality occurs when the categorical imperative is not followed: when a person attempts to set a different standard for themselves then for the rest of humanity. In the Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals, once Kant has derived his categorical imperative he applies it to a number of examples. The second example and probably the most analysed is that of an unfaithful promise. Kant applies his imperative to a person who is short of money who intends to ask for a loan, promising to repay it, but with no intention of doing so. When Kant applies the categorical imperative to this situation he discovers that it leads to a contradiction, for if breaking promises were to become universal then no person would ever agree to a promise and promises would disappear. Kant connects rationality with morality, and sees contradictory behaviour as immoral. Some critics have argued that Kant never asserts the connection between rationality and morality, but most dismiss this and point out that Kant clearly explains how morality must be based upon reason and not upon desires. Another weakness is that what if your friend told you a secret that he was planning to murder someone, it would be your obligation to keep it but is that morally right? Could that surpass the 3 maxims, in the second maxim there can be no use of one individual for the sake of another, are you forsaking the person that is planned to be murdered just to keep a promise. However on the other hand there are strengths to Kants way of thinking as it means everyone single human has intrinsic value, actions are based on reason and logic and there are 3 straightforward maxims that need to be followed so it cuts out many grey areas as if it simply doesn’t follow the maxims it can’t be universalised. Other theories, utilitarianism for example would say it would be wrong to keep a promise of a secret of planned bomb attack that would kill hundreds as you would be saving hundreds of lives by informing the police. Utilitarian’s believe that the outcome outweighs the action. In my opinion I agree with Kant theory as I believe there needs to be trust between people, as relationships with people would mean nothing also it’s a matter of honour if you gave your word to someone I will promise you this etc. then it has to be in the best of your ability to fulfil it if it’s a good cause and not unjust. However in extreme cases such as say the promise of keeping a secret of a planned terrorist attack I would have to side with the utilitarian approach.

New Look Is Privately Owned Fashion Retail Company Marketing Essay

New Look Is Privately Owned Fashion Retail Company Marketing Essay For this Report it was requested to analyze the company New Look. To recognise the key issues those have an influence on the company to perform to its best, and to make recommendations for these. As a group tasks were divided; each person was assigned to analyze an influential issue and make recommendations for the information it had gathered. For the recommendations to be pleasing and realistic research had to be done. Resources such as: the internet, the companys website, website electronic resources, books, magazines, and general knowledge. For proof measures references were added for realistic purposes and avoid plagiarism. After finding the key issue an in-depth analysis of internal and external environment were conducted in which the New Look was operating. On doing the analysis next step was to decide the strategy options for resolving the issue faced by New Look. The major findings found in this case study based on the questions were: the standardised approach New Look as a company uses and whether it worked well. This research was carried out by analyzing reports and articles based on the strategy. It was found that the strategy worked well so far. Other factors are like the acceptance of New Look into developing countries such as India and the reason behind the frequent targeting from Non-tariff barriers. The organization is lacking knowledge on recognizing the number and nature of competitors in the fashion retail industry which could affect, directly or indirectly, business in the future in the form of decrease in revenues and closure of outlets. Research was done to understand adaptation of Polycentric approach in emerging economies. In the report success was achieved by finding the issue, analysing it and then giving the recommendations on it. All the findings and research conducted has been put in systematically in this report. INTRODUCTION Background New Look is a privately owned UK based Fashion retail company, and offers clothing, footwear, and accessories for men women. The company started its operation in 1969, and opened its first store in Taunton, UK and in 1988 its also spread its wings and entered French market and in 1995 opened its first store in Scotland. New Look was purchased and taken private by a private equity consortium in 2004 for GBP 700 million. In 2000 New look sold its French stores to French company Mim in return for 51% stake in company and then in 2003 it acquired remaining 49% share. Now it operates over 650 stores in U.K and has subsidiaries in France. Its manufacturing took place in over 1000 factories in 45 countries which include Europe Asia. Now in 2006 company have opened number of trial stores in Belgium and now looking forward to expand in Netherlands, Luxembourg, Eastern Europe, Middle-East and Asian Markets (www.newlook.com). Nature, Size, and Structure of the Market According to google news, New look is the UKs third largest womens retailer store. It is increasing range of its menswear to cope with the competition. According to Wrigley, New look is worth now between  £1 billion and  £1.5 billion. Company is keeping on penetrating its business in the UK. It has purchased 34 stores from the Littlewoods chain owned by retail group Associated British Foods. New Look is looking to boost its retail space to 2.4 million square feet by March 2006 from 1.6 million square feet last year. Market Segment, Nature of Competition New Look faces intense competition in the UK market. Because of its investment in design technology and low prices it keeps them ahead of competitors. Company is now focussing on menswear and children wear. By the end of 2005, New Look plans to extend its menswear ranges from 14 to 30 stores and is also planning to extend its fashion ranges to cater for children under nine (www.newlook.com). New look have strong working relationships with its suppliers and they are treated like their partners and even share the same values on Trust, ethics, quality, speed and ambition. Company deals with most up to date international fashion trends for both Men Women at low prices. KEY ISSUE FACING COMPANY Main Key Issue As a research on New Look proceeds, the group unanimously agreed that the global expansion can be the key issue for New Look Group. This was later confirmed with the course tutor. Explanation The decision was made on the basis of comparison of profits with major rivals (e.g. Gap Inc), slow growth in profits, emerging economies of India and China, and the boom in online shopping. Graph below shows the slow increase in profits to the year 2005. As many companies are rapidly going globally and making India and China their primary targets, it is urging New Look to react to this trend. According to the history of new look, they do have ambition to go global and they have started opening stores in France from 1988 but that strategy fails. In the report, we will analyse internal and external environment of new look and how they can manage to enter in different market segments globally with low risk of failure. Methodology After doing all our research, I found out that the major issue the company is facing to expand globally in order to cope with intensely increasing competition in the UK which is reducing profits. Its time now for New Look to think about expanding globally in order to increase sales and profits. To make it effective, we need to analyse the tangible and intangible resources which ensures expansion is feasible. It makes no difference whether they target their neighbour markets or the foreign market as New Look cant afford to fail in any of their global markets due to the fact that New Look is not a public limited company (PLC) so its got no shareholders to invest in them. New Look might consider other options such as outsourcing etc to reduce capital investment. In the report I aim to analyse the environment under which company is operating and look up for the strategies which will help them to overcome any potential threats in the global markets. After critical analysis of environment, we will be able to identify companys major strength and weaknesses and the potential opportunities and threats globally. Because of the nature of the business, I will have to look each market individually and provide options for mode of entry in each market. Initially, for each given option for the target market, I would advise company to test the option prior to make final decision. However, I will provide analysis evaluation for each given option in this report with the use of latest material available. . AIMS AND OBJECTIVES The aim of this essay is to investigate the internal external strategies of the business environment for NEW LOOK group. To achieve this aim I have planned to use Porters five forces and the PESTEL tools to analysis the intensity of the external environment and financial ratios to calculate whether or not the strategies are successful. Finally I will use a SWOT analysis to be specific and critical in our conclusion. ANALYSIS OF EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT The external environment is often referred to as the macro environment. The external environment is often out of a businesses control none the less businesses use tools to achieve their goals. The external environment is divided into three major areas: the general, industry, and competitor environments as shown in figure below: GENERAL ENVIRONMENT PEST Analysis Political factors Government sometimes have direct control or influences to greater or lesser extent over legislation and regulations, this covers laws that influence employment, consumers protection, health and safety at work, contract and trading, trades unions. (Business Strategy, David Campbell). Chip PIN is the new, more secure way to pay with credit or debit cards in the UK. Instead of customers using their signature to verify payments, they will be asked to enter a four-digit Personal Identification Number (PIN) known only to them. Chip PIN is the biggest change to the way we pay since decimalisation. It is part of a global programme to tackle the soaring levels of plastic card fraud (BBC News). Economical Factors Governments usually set policy concerning these of taxation and expenditure in the country. With an increase of the grey market who have more disposable income due to the fact that there is a boom in the housing market a lot of these elder generation are now selling out from 3 to 4 bedroom houses in to smaller houses as a lot of there kids have grown up and moved out. There for this market has more disposable income then before, therefor new look should give more emphasis on this market then they have done previously Social Cultural Factors The cultures of countries in which a business operates can be of particular importance. The culture of a country consists of the values, attitudes and beliefs of its people. These in turn, will affect the way individual act and behave when dealing with certain product and services. In order for new look to go global they would have to consider the religious and cultural issues that will differ In different country such as Saudi Arabia were the grater number of the population would be offended by seeing a female in a mini skirt so there for new look should also conceder making different styles of clothing for different countries e.g. for Saudi Arabia less reviling clothes Technological Factors With the introduction of the internet and the success of it uses new look should provide a bigger emphasis on providing the merchandise on the internet such as ordering, reserving and selling on the internet., in order to increase there market share and compete with other online retailers. With the introduction to new and better technologys British fashion chain New Look is investing in new technology to help combat potential theft and the possible loss of stock worth  £4 million, according to a media report. New look is aware of the technological influence that involve developing and understanding that effects changes in their company. For new look technology is vital for competitive advantage, this is a major drive of globalisation for their company. New look produce good quality cloths and the best at a reasonable price, because technology has improved new looks production processes and deliver their service through its catalogue and via the Internet this has developed their information and communication technology. Industry Environment PORTERS FIVE FORCES To analyse New Look external environment, a business tool known as Porters five forces will be used. Porters Five Forces helps the marketer to contrast a competitive environment. These forces can be neatly brought together in a diagram like the one below: Porters five forces in accordance with New Look The Threat of new entry New Look has been established for almost a 37 years and has a considerable amount finance should the worst happen. At the moment they face competition from already established competitors for e.g., Debenhams, HM (datamonitor.com). For a new entrant to be a threat they would need to offer something different apart from trendy clothing and newer technology. New Look also face competition from new fashion stores being opened and to have the advantage over New Look would need to have better location and a wider selection of clothing including accessorise. Threat of Substitute Products New Look branch out in to five main areas these are women wear, menswear, children wear, footwear and accessorise. This means they are active in five different markets and to reduce the pressure of competition allow other companies to franchise there products or services allowing them to have a substantial amount of control. Threats from already established competitors come from Debenhams, HM, Top- Man, MS, Next and Claires. Bargaining Power of Buyers Generally the bargaining power of Buyers is low because the customers understand that they are paying Reasonable prices for up to date fashion clothes and services. However for the fashion retail market they have a considerable amount of choice so its important for New Look to get the service right to keep loyal customers and attract new ones. Power of suppliers Suppliers are also essential for the success of an organisation. Raw materials are needed to complete the finish product of the organisation. Suppliers do have power. This power comes from: If they are the only supplier or one of few suppliers who supply that particular raw material for this point the power of the supplier is low because there are several other suppliers that will sell to them. If it costly for the organization to move from one supplier to another also known as switching cost. Again on this point New Look has the upper hand because there are many suppliers that will want to sell there good to them. This means that the powers that the suppliers have over New Look and other major fashion producers around the world are under constant pressure to supply at lower prices in order not to loose a major client. Competitive Rivalry New Look group face intense competition from other well known fashion brands producers such as Debenhams, HM, Top-Man, and MS and NEXT; therefore compete through price wars in order to attract customers. Debenhams is a competitor because they make high levels of fashionable clothing selling different types of brands such as, John Rocha, Jonh Richmond, and variety of accessorise including gifts, home accessorise, electrical appliances. Also another competitive rivalry for New Look is Top Man. The reason it is competitive rivalry is because they are similar to New Look as they also offer fashionable up to date clothing at reasonable prices. They also sell their own brand of clothing like New Look. The barriers that affect this market to new entrance are havig the money to set up the business in terms of human resources, machinery and location. Finding a supplier for fashionable clothing wont be difficult for new businness. Almost half of sales are in Women wear. A quarter of sales are dedicated to Menswear and Children wear, with other items constituting the remaining sales.. COMPETITOR ANALYSIS Competitor analysis focuses on each company against which a firm directly competes. Four dimensions given below helps the firm prepare an anticipated response profile for each competitor. According to datamonitor.com, The New Looks top competitors are Associated British Foods plc, Debenhams PLC, Marks and Spencer Group PLC, Matalan PLC, NEXT PLC, Arcadia Group Limited. Some of the above mentioned competitors have already strong presence in some of the Global Markets. They are described below: Primark Stores Ltd is a subsidiary of Associated British Foods plc (ABF) Primark targets young, fashion-conscious under 35s, offering them high quality, fashion basics at value for money prices. Almost half of sales are in Women wear. A quarter of sales is dedicated to Menswear and Children wear, with other items constituting the remaining sales. Debenhams is a leading department stores group. Debenhams has a strong presence in key product categories including women wear, menswear, home wares, health and beauty, accessories, lingerie and children wear. A unique mix of exclusive own brands, including Designers at Debenhams, and third-party brands helps differentiate Debenhams from its competitors. In addition Debenhams has 30 international franchise stores in 14 countries outside the UK and Ireland, with a further 15 franchises scheduled to open by the end of the 2008 financial year. Debenhams is also extending its customer reach by making direct sales through its internet website. Marks and Spencer is a UK retailer of clothing, foods and home ware. It operates through both wholly owned stores and franchise stores. It has over 450 stores in the UK. The company is structured into four main operating divisions: food, clothing, home and international. The clothing division offers womens wear, mens wear, lingerie and childrens wear and footwear. The international division operates eight wholly-owned stores in Hong Kong as well as 198 franchise stores in 30 territories around the world. Matalan is a retailer of discount fashion and home wares. Matalan sells name-brand and private-label apparel for men, women and children, as well as some household products, at discount prices. The company operates primarily in the UK. Matalan sells discount fashion and home wares through its network of out of town UK stores. Matalans product range includes home ware, ladies, mens and childrens clothing, and footwear. Arcadia Group is a clothing retailer that operates approximately 2,000 stores throughout the UK, mainly in urban areas. It also controls over 200 franchised stores in about 30 countries worldwide. Arcadia operates eight store banners: Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Top Shop, Top Man, Evans, Miss Selfridge, Wallis and Outfit. Each brand targets a distinct market. As well as its eight shopping banners, the company also operates a complementary catalogue and online shopping business through its Dial Home Shopping unit. All the competitors have strong intentions to expand in the UK market as well as globally. As described above, they are targeting new markets and entering some the markets through acquisitions. It is affecting New Look because expansion is increasing their profit potential and they are making prices more competitive in the UK markets.. However New Look does hold an advantage over its competitors. According to Mintels consumer research the average age of the New Look customer is slightly older than at most specialist chains, but Next and Gap also record above average penetration figures in the 35-44 age band. For New Look this reflects its move to become more of a family fashion destination in its bigger stores. Price points are pitched low to attract young, less affluent women who want fashion but are restricted by tight budgets. New Looks combination of low prices and fashionable merchandise pitched at the younger end of the market is absolutely right in current conditions. The company has invested heavily in design facilities and producing a distinctive and unique handwriting is what is setting it apart from competitors this investment has made it a competitive edge on its competitors. And the retailer is moving towards being a distinctive fashion brand- with an attractive price tag attached to it. New Look faces some very competitive times. But it is well-established, has an excellent brand name and a considerable following. It should be one of the survivors. New Looks combination of low prices and fashionable merchandise pitched at the younger end of the market are the major plus point for the company. Delivering product with current market fashion with low price tag keeps New Look strong. Competitors are strong in online stores. Although a selection of products and their prices are featured on the New looks website, it is not transactional and customers are urged to visit their nearest store and see the full range. Before analyzing internal environment of New Look, the serious intention was given to context of Internal Analysis which is Global Economy, Global Mind-Set, and Analysis outcome. Analysis of Internal Environment The internal environment is divided into several stages as shown in figure below: Resources According to google news, New Look is a developed brand name and the group itself is a 3rd largest retail clothing company in the UK. It manufactures its products in 1000 manufacturing plants in 45 countries all over the globe which contributed to a large portion of companys physical resources. They have developed their organizational resources to manage, plan, and control their stores and manufacturing plants effectively. They own all of their stores in the UK and their subsidiaries in France which are their main fixed assets. It owns technological resources in the form of registered trademark, copyrighted designs. New Look has a reputation in producing latest design by the use of latest technology. It is investing in new technology to help combat potential theft and the possible loss of stock worth  £4 million, according to a media report. They have high calibre staffs which are the valuable assets of the company. They have focussed deeply on customer services by operating most of their women wear, menswear, and children wear stores separately. It is keen on employing key people in its board of members to increase the value of intangible human resources e.g. Phil Wrigley, Richard Lapthorne. By the combination of all above resources they are becoming more innovative in developing new designs and brining new ideas to attract more customers e.g. in 2005, their first national brand campaign New Look, The New Now was launched nationwide in-store with product, signage, POS and window displays. Customers are invited to become part of the New Look window display with the launch of the ultimate window shopping experience; customers will have their picture taken through the store window by a simple press of a button and their face then becomes the face for the mannequin. By making the effective use of all resources New Look can able to produce high quality and durable products. Capabilities New Look is effectively allocates and schedule for all its time and resources. They have very highly competitive human resource system which makes sure they select best people they want. It can be varied from store staff to the high management people. Because of their target market among the teens with unique fashion design with economical prices with effective marketing policy leads to brand promotion, high quality customer services and innovation merchandising. Core Competencies The company manufactures its products in 45 countries which increase rivalry among its suppliers which can act as a source of competitive advantage as they will produce durable products on cheap prices. They have developed a unique transport system which connects all 1000 factories which deliver all the manufactured garments to the company on time. This system is difficult to imitate for competitors and they can use it as a source of competitive advantage in order to operate globally. As far as outbound logistics concerned, they have developed such a system inside their business that it has to become one of their core points. They apply strict rules and regulations on outbound logistics and give good rates to the outsource company so that it becomes vital point for their business to deliver the product on time. New Look supply chain starts from the getting of raw materials and finished at the end products available for the customers in their stores. They have experts from buying raw materials and despatching them to warehouses where it goes through the manufacture processing and where quality control is assured. Then the finished product despatched to the market and the way its market is completely unique. They have expertise designers from very high reputative and innovative people which are meant to be made for designing. New Look have their designers from Turkish company called Saide which has a high reputation in giving new designs with a good quality product. They have unique style of marketing their product through prints, electronic, store promotion and through various schemes which attract lot of customers. In September 2005, New Look launched its first national brand campaign, New Look, The New Now. The New Now is designed to amplify New Looks ability to release affordable of the moment fashion onto the high street with most products hitting the stores within six weeks of the initial vision. Key Success Factors New Look target value-conscious customers who are aged 15-24 and tend to come from lower socio-economic groups. New Look set up its own sourcing arm in Turkey as a joint venture with Global Textiles, part of the Saide Group, in order to speed up its fast fashion even more. As well as economical cost, they highly focussed on innovative designs which make their products successful. The company has doubled the number of designers working on new ranges to 22 and has also strengthened its buying and merchandising team. Effective marketing strategy is one of the key factors which make them successful in the UK. SWOT ANALYSIS Strengths New look is a powerful retail brand. It has a reputation for value for money, convenience and a wide range of products all in one store. New look is a global fashion brand built upon a reputation for fine products and services. It has 650 stores in the UK and over 50 stores in France. A focused strategy is in place for human resource management and development. People are key to new looks business and it invests time and money in training people, and retaining a developing them. Weaknesses The organisation is dependant on a main competitive advantage, the retail of cloths. This could make them slow to diversify into other sectors should the need arise. Since new look sell products across many sectors (such as cloths, shoes and accessories), it may not have the flexibility of some of its more focused competitors. New looks logo has a very feminine look to it such as the use of the colour of the logo witch is in pink and the style of the logo which does discourage a lot of the single male to go and shop because they think it is only for the female shoppers Opportunities New look is becoming global and they are taking there trades to other countries such as India, where the younger generation are adopting a more of a westernise fashion and we see a lot of this in Indian bollywood films. With the introduction of the internet a wide access of the internet new look should think to sell more of there products over the internet witch would reduce more costs as thee will not need as many more employees. New products and services that can be retailed in their shops, such as Fair Trade products. New Look has the opportunity to expand its global operations. New markets for fashion retail such as India. Co-branding with other manufacturers of fashion, and brand franchising to manufacturers of other goods and services both have potential. New locations and store types offer new look opportunities to exploit market development. Threats New Look being one of the biggest fashion retailer means that they are a target for competitors to improve on. New look being a global retailer means that they are exposed to political problems in the countries that they operate in. New Look is exposed to the international nature of trade. It buys and sells in different currencies and so costs and margins are not stable over long periods of time. Such an exposure could mean that New Look may be selling at a loss. This is an issue that faces all global brands. Online retailers are a threat as they are often able to sell at a cheaper price than shops WHAT I FOUND AFTER ASSESSING METHODOLOGY? After assessing the methodology, it was found that New Look should expand its business globally. New Look has to be very cautious and careful while expanding its business and keeping in mind all the pros and cons which are vital in any expansion of the business. Therefore, they must follow reasonable set of rules before stepping into new market. The methodology discussed in section 3 is one of the courses of actions available to the company. If the company follow this as explained in section 4, 5 and 6 they can make successful expansion across the globe because of the opportunities available in the global market. Although there are some threats of new rivals, cultural and geographical differences but keeping in mind the big picture in a strategic long run business plan expansion can become one of the strongest strength of the company. LIST OF POTENTIAL OPTIONS After analysing the external and internal environment of New Look Group I am able to make some suitable options. As the clothing industry has intense competition all over the globe, I have to split options according to each segment. They are outlined below: Option 1) The best mode of entry in India and Middle East is through Franchising because of Government regulations and competitive market. Many companies have entered through franchising and they were been successful. Option 2) As the New Look lacks the investment of shareholders, they should make cautious approach to North American market as they will face high competition but early returns on investments are implausible. Presence through e-commerce is moderately attractive but this will have positive effect on overall image of the company. Option 3) Openings of stores in Far East is attractive but geographical locations needs to be given importance as access to logistics will be limited. Option 4) According to the findings I have made, we conclude that New Look has high profit potentials in European Markets and they need to invest more in new stores throughout Europe. ANALYSIS OF POTENTIAL OPTIONS Strategic Options Analysis Evaluation Consistency Suitability Validity Feasibility Business Risk Appeal to Shareholders Option 1 Æ’- Æ’- Æ’- Option 2 Æ’- Æ’- Æ’- Æ’- Option 3 Æ’- Æ’- Æ’- Æ’- Option 4 Æ’- Æ’- Æ’- Æ’- EVALUATION Evaluation of the project report After initial test been done, company should launch full expansion in the target market/country. Evaluation and maintenance of sales revenue needs to be done and if the expansion is successful than they should target 2nd attractive market and so on. Future recommendations Technology New Look can use the latest technology available in mechatronics to made products more cost effectively to compete in global markets. E-commerce They need to introduce online shopping as much of their rivals already have a strong online presence. Going online with their sales will also cut down on money spent on shops, distribution, transportation, staff and other sundries. The customer when buying something online also pay money for shipping so there is added cost to the company. It is expected in the next 15 yrs 70% of all retail businesses will be done online so implementing this is not only beneficial but very necessary. E sale will help them to move from only high street presence to thousands of customer homes. Stock market In order for New Look to expand globally, they need a strong investment in the company. The best way to have this is by allowing investors to invest in the company. To make it attractive they need to register on the stock exchange. Whit there growing profits they can expect to command a good price for there stock. Doing this

Whitmans O Captain! My Captain! And Dickinsons Hope is a Thing with F

Whitman's "O Captain! My Captain!" And Dickinson's "Hope is a Thing with Feathers" America experienced profound changes during the mid 1800’s. New technologies and ideas helped the nation grow, while the Civil War ripped the nation apart. During this tumultuous period, two great American writers captured their ideas in poetry. Their poems give us insight into the time period, as well as universal insight about life. Although polar opposites in personality, Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman created similar poetry. Dickinson’s â€Å"Hope is a Thing with Feathers† and Whitman’s â€Å"O Captain! My Captain!† share many qualities. "Hope is a Thing with Feathers† and â€Å"O Captain! My Captain!† contain a similar scansion. Both have a predominantly iambic meter. The unaccented beat followed by the accented beat creates a rising meter. Each poem also contains notable exceptions to the iambic meter. In "Hope is a Thing with Feathers,† the first line ‘Hope is the thing’ contains a trochee followed by an iamb. â€Å"O Captain! My Captain!† contains even more exceptions to the iambic meter. Line 5, ‘But O heart! heart! heart!’ consists of an imperfect root followed by two spondees, or feet with two equally accented syllables. Both Line 6 ‘O the bleeding drops of red’ and line 8 ‘Fallen cold and dead’ have trochaic meters with an imperfect root at the end. The remainder of the poem has an iambic meter until the last two lines: ‘Walk the deck my Captain lies, /Fallen cold and dead.’ The iambic meter... Whitman's O Captain! My Captain! And Dickinson's Hope is a Thing with F Whitman's "O Captain! My Captain!" And Dickinson's "Hope is a Thing with Feathers" America experienced profound changes during the mid 1800’s. New technologies and ideas helped the nation grow, while the Civil War ripped the nation apart. During this tumultuous period, two great American writers captured their ideas in poetry. Their poems give us insight into the time period, as well as universal insight about life. Although polar opposites in personality, Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman created similar poetry. Dickinson’s â€Å"Hope is a Thing with Feathers† and Whitman’s â€Å"O Captain! My Captain!† share many qualities. "Hope is a Thing with Feathers† and â€Å"O Captain! My Captain!† contain a similar scansion. Both have a predominantly iambic meter. The unaccented beat followed by the accented beat creates a rising meter. Each poem also contains notable exceptions to the iambic meter. In "Hope is a Thing with Feathers,† the first line ‘Hope is the thing’ contains a trochee followed by an iamb. â€Å"O Captain! My Captain!† contains even more exceptions to the iambic meter. Line 5, ‘But O heart! heart! heart!’ consists of an imperfect root followed by two spondees, or feet with two equally accented syllables. Both Line 6 ‘O the bleeding drops of red’ and line 8 ‘Fallen cold and dead’ have trochaic meters with an imperfect root at the end. The remainder of the poem has an iambic meter until the last two lines: ‘Walk the deck my Captain lies, /Fallen cold and dead.’ The iambic meter...

Blindness Essay -- essays research papers fc

The term blindness implies total or partial loss of vision involving both eyes. The exact level of vision defined as blindness, however, varies in different countries because of differing legal or social requirements. In the United States, blindness is defined as unimprovable vision of 20/200 (6/60) or worse. This means that an individual is generally considered blind who, even with the use of ordinary eyeglasses, can see no better at 20 ft (6 m) than a person with normal vision can see at 200 ft (60 m). On the other hand, the World Health Organization (WHO) Program Advisory Group on the Prevention of Blindness lists the vision level suggested as blindness as a visual acuity of less than 10/200 (3/60), which is twice as low as the U.S. definition. The WHO level of visual acuity is also described as the inability to count fingers in daylight at a distance of 10 ft (3 m), because in many regions a great number of people cannot receive formal eye examinations but may be tested by unspecialized personnel. From data available in the mid-1980s, the number of persons worldwide who have a visual acuity of less than 10/200 is estimated as 28 million. This level of handicap precludes an individual from functioning effectively in the community without special assistance and rehabilitation (see BLIND, EDUCATION OF THE). Were the definition of blindness instead taken as 20/200, as is done in a number of industrialized countries besides the United States, t... Blindness Essay -- essays research papers fc The term blindness implies total or partial loss of vision involving both eyes. The exact level of vision defined as blindness, however, varies in different countries because of differing legal or social requirements. In the United States, blindness is defined as unimprovable vision of 20/200 (6/60) or worse. This means that an individual is generally considered blind who, even with the use of ordinary eyeglasses, can see no better at 20 ft (6 m) than a person with normal vision can see at 200 ft (60 m). On the other hand, the World Health Organization (WHO) Program Advisory Group on the Prevention of Blindness lists the vision level suggested as blindness as a visual acuity of less than 10/200 (3/60), which is twice as low as the U.S. definition. The WHO level of visual acuity is also described as the inability to count fingers in daylight at a distance of 10 ft (3 m), because in many regions a great number of people cannot receive formal eye examinations but may be tested by unspecialized personnel. From data available in the mid-1980s, the number of persons worldwide who have a visual acuity of less than 10/200 is estimated as 28 million. This level of handicap precludes an individual from functioning effectively in the community without special assistance and rehabilitation (see BLIND, EDUCATION OF THE). Were the definition of blindness instead taken as 20/200, as is done in a number of industrialized countries besides the United States, t...

The Use of Performance Enhancing Drugs in Sports Essay -- Papers Stero

The Use of Performance Enhancing Drugs in Sports Is the use of performance-enhancing drugs in sports dangerous? To what degree do these drugs really enhance strength, size, training ability, and muscular performance? Not only are the answers to these questions still unclear, they are the subjects of deep controversy. In order to understand why we are confronted with the problem of performance-enhancing drug use in athletics today, we must look at the history of the development of anabolic steroids: a group of powerful synthetic chemical compounds that resemble the natural male sex hormones (Schwarzenneger 722). Anabolic steroids were first developed in the 1930's as a therapeutic drug to treat growth hormone replacement in deficient children, menopausal symptoms, impotence, and the retardation of the effects of aging by stimulating the rate of synthesis of protein molecules (Biology 121 Web Project 1). These steroids are a simulated testosterone hormone of the ?steroid hormone? group. The steroid hormones (which are also produced naturally) are synthesized from cholesterol. Most simply understood, the hormones function by passing from the blood stream into individual cells where they bind to a receptor and activate certain genes that cause the production of a protein, especially muscle proteins (et. al.). By the late 1940?s, bodybuilders had discovered the effects of testosterone as a means to stimulate muscle growth and to make themselves train with more intensity and aggression (Schwarzenneger 723). In 1953, the first truly synthetic anabolic steroid was developed, having a strength-building effect three to five times higher than testosterone. From bodybuilders to other athletes, steroid use quickly gaine... ... in Sports: Side Effects and Links.? Biology 121 Web Project/Anabolic Steroids. 9 Nov. 2000. 6 Nov. 2000 *http://www.people.virginia.edu/ abs9f/*. Meoreira de Araujo, Mario Cesar and Marcelo R. Facio. ?The Use of Anabolic/Androgenic Steroids by Athletes.? Use of Anabolic/Androgenic Steroids by Athletes MEDSTUDENTS-SPC. 9 Nov. 2000. 6 Nov. 2000 *http://www.medstudents.com.br/sport2.htm*. Schwarzenegger, Arnold. Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1987. Vecsey, George. ?The Real Goal is Protecting the Children.? The New York Times 17 Sept. 2000, col. Sports of the Times: 1-3. 18 Sept. 2000 *http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?TS=969323324&RQT=309&CC=1&Dtp=1&Did=000000060561967&Mtd=1&Fmt=*.

Different Media Coverage of Israel-Palestine Conflict

The movie â€Å"Wag the Dog† is supposedly a fictitious film about a group of publicity managers who fabricate a war in an unknown country in the Middle East and then work their publicity magic in order to create the persona of a president in charge. The movie was a highly comical yet engrossing look at how mass media easily manipulates the public into believing what they want the public to believe. What is highly disturbing is that the movie, made by Hollywood for the entertainment of the masses, is actually based on reality.This reality is deeply embedded in the Israel – Palestine conflict that has been raging on for as far back as I can remember. Politics is a very dirty and secretive game. The government and its supporters will utilize anything and everything in order to achieve their endgame. The public is the unwitting spawn in this power struggle and the controlling method of choice is the mass media. The manipulation happens so high up in the government power hi erarchy that even the media no longer realizes that their supposedly independent and free thinking job of keeping the public informed is a well thought out and planned outcome of Washington's needs.Media coverage of the Israel-Palestine conflict is considered an important tool in understanding the source of their bad blood relationship. The media reports that are seen worldwide are an influential source both political and social support for both nations. This is the reality that is presented to the world and it is the basis for the creation of a strong public opinion either in support of or against the goings on between the two countries.In the opinion column of Sonia Nettnin that she entitled â€Å"U.S. Media Coverage of Israel-Palestine Conflict†, she informed her readers about the reality of who really controls the US Media when it comes to the coverage of the Israel – Palestine conflict: Few Americans realize that U. S. mainstream media coverage of the Israel-Pales tine conflict passes through America's political elites, Israeli public relations organizations and private American organizations, before it reaches the public. In other words, we get the sanitized version of the reports.Nothing we see on the nightly news, or hear on the radio reports, even what we read in the newspapers, can be taken to be the unabridged truth of the goings on in that part of the world. She invites her readers to watch the film † Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land: U. S. Media and the Israel – Palestine Conflict† in order to realize how much our media is censored without realizing it. Nettnin specifically wants the viewers to understand how the director of the film, Sut Jhally:Examines how these filters distort the realities on the ground. It demonstrates how through word choice, limited historical context and one-sided perspectives, U. S. journalists provide the American public with limited news coverage. The media's misinformation campaig n is actually a public relations manipulation being masterminded by American corporations and lobbyist groups. The manipulation of the news allows the media and various interests groups to mold the public opinion towards beliefs that will be beneficial to those concerned.Simple word play can totally alter the way news video footage is presented to the public. In reference to an actual event that happened in September 3, 2001, Nettnin relates that: Through interviews with journalists, media analysts and political activists, the film explores the co-opted media's techniques for reporting the conflict and mobilizing public opinion. For example, on September 3, 2001, a news network did not want its journalists referring to the Israeli settlement, Gilo, as a â€Å"settlement. † Instructions given to journalists explained that â€Å"?We don't refer to it as a settlement? † so in one of the network's news clips that followed, the journalist reporting from Gilo used the offici ally substituted word â€Å"neighborhood. † The word change altered the perspective of the news report drasttically because it removed an perception of colonization from the report's context. Clearly, replacing or eliminating words from a report can assist with removing skepticism about the nature of its subject matter. Moreover, it helps modify public perceptions as to who is the aggressor.Last February 5, 2006, Alison Weir, founder of If Americans Knew (IAK) presented a compelling power point presentation titled â€Å"Israel-Palestine: What the Media Leave Out† at the Meditation Center in Fairfax, California. Here, she showed her audience of 14 people her personal statistical analysis pertaining to the American media reporting of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. According to her, their group research discovered that television reports covering the conflicts between September 2000 – 2001 reported:Israeli deaths at a ratio of three to four times greater than re ports of Palestinians killed. In addition, Israeli deaths frequently would have a prominent follow-up report, whereas Palestinian deaths were rarely reported even once. What further disturbs Weir is that this pattern of inaccurate and biased reporting continues to be the format for news reports of similar events up to the present time of the conflict. Basically, the whole world will depict the ongoing war between Israel and Palestine based upon reports coming out of the USA.This is because the USA is considered the World Police by majority of the nations thereby giving the country the right to dictate how other countries will be viewed in the context of a battle. According to a joint article entitled â€Å"America's One-Eyed View of War: Stars, Stripes, and the Star of David† by Andrew Gumbel and Donald Macintyre of The Independent: There are two sides to every conflict – unless you rely on the US media for information about the battle in Lebanon.Viewers have been fed a diet of partisan coverage that treats Israel as the good guys and their Hizbollah enemy as the incarnation of evil. American media has portrayed the Hisbollah as the bad guys in this ongoing religious war. This is not to say that the Hizbolla's are not the bad guys, but the Israeli's, the people viewed as the innocents may not really be all that clean either. But, the U. S. has made such a clear cut decision on who the bad guys are in this scenario that the attitude of the country has left no room for any sort of debate on the topic.While watching the cable news reports, I have come to realize that the reason we feel such empathy for the Israeli's is because these networks all have their reporters in the thick of the action within Israel and none in Palestine. There is also a lack of real interest in getting a professional opinion from a historical expert who is familiar with the roots of the Israel-Palestine conflict. But, the report goes on to say that: A startling amount of air time, meanwhile, is given to the likes of Michael D Evans, an end-of-the-world Biblical â€Å"prophet† with no credentials in the complexities of Middle Eastern politics.He has shown up on MSNBC and Fox under the label â€Å"Middle East analyst†. Fox's default analyst, on this and many other issues, has been the right-wing provocateur and best-selling author Ann Coulter, whose main credential is to have opined, days after 9/11, that what America should do to the Middle East is â€Å"invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity†. It is said that the Bush Administration has a solid view of the Hizbollah as, according to Gumbel and Macintyre:Part of a giant anti-Israeli and anti-American terror network that also includes Hamas, al-Qa'ida, the governments of Syria and Iran, and the insurgents in Iraq. It is this view that the media of the world has interpreted and believed. Mainly because the conflict is presented in such a cut and dri ed manner by the United States government that nobody will dare to ask questions such as what the difference between the 2 groups are or perhaps wonder aloud as to what their goals might be. Mainly because according to San Francisco rabbi Michael Lerner:There is no major figure in American political life who has been willing to raise the issue of the legitimate needs of the Palestinian people, or even talk about them as human beings. The organised Jewish community has transformed the image of Judaism into a cheering squad for the Israeli government, whatever its policies are. That is just idolatry, and goes against all the warnings in the Bible about giving too much power to the king or the state. But just like everything else that has to do with war, the media has slowly come to realize that Palestinians are not just people across the border from Israel.They too have their own stories to tell about the atrocities of war, and, their story must be told as well. According to the video Der Yassin Remembered: Westerners now realize that Palestinians, as a people, do exist. And they have come to acknowledge that during the creation of the state of Israel, thousands of Palestinians were killed and over 700,000 were driven or frightened from their homes and lands on which they had lived for centuries. Deeper research into this topic led me to information about how the Czech media handles the reporting of the aforementioned events.In her article † Are Czech Media Reports on the Arab World Objective†, Dita Asiedu asked Jan Krecek, a faculty member at Charles University if the Czech media was providing the public with an unbiased coverage of the events in the Middle East and the Arab World. The reply received was quite straightforward: The media institutions are normal firms that are working on the market and you can see it in their content – the news is somewhat biased. This is because they have to make a profit. He points out that the worldwide medi a exercises 2 different powers when reporting the news.That of a selective power when deciding what news feeds are newsworthy, and descriptive power, or the power to choose how a story is presented. These are the main moneymakers for the company and are therefore are the major factors in making their decisions. When Czech reporters are asked why they report so little about the real status of the Israel-Palestine conflict, the usual reply is that Arab countries seem to have a closed door policy when it comes to information dissemination. According to Bretislav Turecek, reporter for Pravo, a paper in Czechoslovakia:Even Arab journalists who go to Israel see an openness of the Israelis – it's possible to call the spokesman of the Israeli Army 24 hours a day and it's possible to reach the spokesman of the Prime Minister. This is really unusual in most of the Muslim countries in the Middle East, where there are so many restrictions for journalists, or generally for foreigners. So Israel knows use the foreign press for its purpose – in both the positive and the negative way. As Mr. Turecek mentioned, the Arab community is not really interested in sharing their views and information with the rest of the world.Which is why my research turned up no Middle East media views on the media coverage of the Israel – Palestine conflict. Instead, what I did turn up were the opinions of various Israeli and Palestinian citizens who have migrated to the USA and have shared their personal views with the western media. Thus, it is this viewpoint that will be thrust of my paper from this point on. Leon T. Hadar, author of â€Å"Quagmire: America in the Middle East† is also a former New York correspondent attached to the Jerusalem Post. He related that during a conference discussing† Is the American media coverage of Middle East biased?† which he attended 2 years ago.He was hosted by the New York Times and Washington Post who allowed him to pres ent various media reports related to the Israeli – Palestinian conflict to his audience and asked them to guess what particular newspaper covered the issue. He shocked the audience when he told them that the articles were not from American, British, nor European based newspapers. Nobody could believe that: The articles, however, were all published in the leading Israeli Hebrew-language daily, Ha’aretz, also known as â€Å"the New York Times of Israel.†Ha’aretz is read by government officials, business executives, and the professional and intellectual elites in Israel. In addition to its exceptional coverage of current events, which has garnered the newspaper many national and international awards, Ha’aretz carries editorials and commentaries that help set the public agenda in Israel. It is a â€Å"must read† among diplomats and foreign correspondents stationed in Israel, who receive a more accurate and balanced picture of what is happening t here than the one presented by most leading American newspapers.Ha’aretz—unlike the Times or the Post—even employs a full-time correspondent who is stationed in the West Bank and Gaza and who provides the Palestinian perspective on the conflict, which explains why the articles by correspondent Amira Hess were considered so â€Å"pro-Arab† by my hosts. Additionally, he mentions that: Questioning the credibility of news reports from the Middle East has been one of the major tools of American Jews trying to cope with the continuing cognitive dissonance.I am amazed sometimes that, even in this age of the internet, with Ha’aretz and other Israeli newspapers maintaining English-language websites and cable news networks broadcasting around the clock, for many American Jews (and for many Christian evangelicals), Israel still remains a fantasy—and they would like to keep it that way. Meanwhile, Remi Kanazi of the Palestine Monitor author if the artic le † US Media Bias: Covering Israel/Palestine† and was really troubled by the marked discrepancies between reports from CNN and Haaretz regarding an encounter between Israel – Palestine troops:The contrast in coverage between CNN and Haaretz is staggering. The CNN headline was written in absolutes: â€Å"5 militants shot in raid. † The CNN article continues by stating only the Israeli claim that five militants were killed, making the headline biased and misleading. The Haaretz headline read: â€Å"U. S. urges restraint after IDF raid that killed 5 Palestinians. † This headline refers to the people who were shot as Palestinians and not solely militants. The Haaretz article covers conflicting Israeli and Palestinian claims, which made it impossible to determine whether or not all five killed were militants or civiliansHe mentions that he considers CNN and The New York Times . as â€Å"left wing† media outlets and wonders why they never present t he Palestinian side of the war. He claims that the answer is that both companies are neither liberal nor honest. They are simply out to sell a product and will only cover a story properly if covering it does not pose a risk of losing readers or advertising revenues. But, it is not to say that the only reason there is a slant in the coverage of this war is for financial or political reasons. Both Israel and Palestine accuse the media of being bias although these accusations have never been proven.One of the main reasons that Israel gets more news coverage in both print and television news the world over is because Israel knows how to play the lobby and public relations game. Israel has put together a highly impressive public relations team that speaks English, has knowledge of western media, and is very much at home being interviewed in front of the camera. The same public relations department also insures that informative emails are send to various news wires everyday. On the other hand, Palestinians, due to their intense secrecy, prevents itself from presenting their side of any given situation.Their grasp of the English language is so poor that the language ends up a mangled mess when they try to communicate in it thus opening themselves to misinterpretation each time anybody from their side is interviewed. The roads leading to and from Palestine are also hard to traverse making the best way to get an interview from them over the phone. They also do not have an efficient public relations team and only manages to send out about 5 emails a week to keep the international press informed of their situation.These are but a few reasons that explain why the Western news teams rarely get assigned to cover such country territories. There is so little for the other world media to go on when covering Palestine so that they instead spend their time explaining to their readers and viewers about why they don't have any information that is necessary to explain what is going on to them. For far too long, Israelis have been using the term â€Å"war against terror† in a manner that exploits the current actions of Palestine against Israel.It is this Israeli battle cry that has gotten the most media coverage over the decades much to the detriment of the Palestinians who are seemingly unable to express themselves effectively to the world. Quite recently though, there seem to have been observable changes to the way the Israel-Palestine conflict has bee playing out. With the support of British 24 hours news channel BBC, once formally accused of bias leaning towards the side of Israelis, there has been a slowly developing trend towards improving news coverage in the area. Nachman Shai an Israeli spokesman was asked about how he viewed the media coverage of the war and he replied:It (meaning the media coverage of the Israel – Palestine conflict) has gradually become more balanced than in the beginning—the media are now seeing more of the co mplicated issues than at the beginning, because of the indiscriminate violence of the suicide bombers against the Israeli population. The bottom line is that the varying differences in the media's coverage of the ongoing Israel – Palestine conflict is due to the very conflicting reports coming out of the opposing camps. Reporters are seemingly welcome only on one side of the border and this certainly affects the way they present the information they gather to the public.There is no bias or hidden agenda on the media's side. It is simply a matter of using the information that they can get their hands on in the best way they know how. Perhaps in the future, all of this will change and their will finally be a balanced and unbiased view of the events as they unfold in the Middle East. After all whether he is a television or print journalist, the main objective of a news reporter remains the same. To present the events as they happen in unbiased reporting styles.