The Hardy Boys Series Of Books Was My Choice Of Reading Material. The

The Hardy Boys' series of books was my choice of reading material. The books chosen were Rigged for Revenge (Hardy Boys Casefiles) and Hunting for Hidden Gold (Hardy Boys revised a hardback book). These books are very similar because they are both mysteries, have a lot of the same characters, and plot Developments of investigative work by the Hardy brothers. The author (Franklin W. Dixon [Leslie McFarlane]) and the series of books, on the other hand, has an interesting story behind them. The stories were created in 1927 by Edward Stratemeyer, who also created Nancy Drew, Tom Swift, the Rover Boys, and dozens of other memorable characters. The Hardy Boys remain popular today with well over 250 titles published. Their adventure continues in three series of paperback books (The Hardy Boys, The Hardy Boys Casefiles, Frank & Joe Hardy: The Clues Brothers) as well as the revised hardcover books published by Grosset Starting in 1959, the first 38 stories were revised. The series has been published the world over in many languages. The Hardy Boys is the all-time best-selling series of books for boys. In 1927, the first three "breeder" volumes of the Hardy Boys were released. The stories were written by Canadian newspaper writer, Leslie McFarlane, who was hired by Edward Stratemeyer to ghostwrite the stories from Stratemeyer's outlines. McFarlane continued to write the stories, with brief interruption, for 20 years. Leslie McFarlane eventually wrote the original texts for most of the first 26 volumes in the series. After the late 1940's, the Stratemeyer Syndicate (then run by Harriet S. Adams) hired a variety of other writers to work on The Hardy Boys. Few of them had McFarlane's gift for detail and humor, and the later volumes are less fun to read. The fun was further squeezed out of the books in 1959, when Adams decided her series needed updating and recruiting. She was correct in some ways; the early Hardy Boys, Nancy Drews, etc. had not been written with the knowledge that they would still be in print thirty years later. By then, times had changed so much that many details in the original stories were too old-fashioned, and risked alienating young readers. The obvious racism of the earlier books was insulting to adults, who sent angry letters to Adams, protesting her books' chilling portrayals of Blacks, Asians, and Latinos. Wanting her books to remain welcome , Adams set about a massive revision project which lasted for several years. Each Hardy Boys book (and Nancy Drew, and Bobbsey Twins) was re-written. Some received entirely new plots. The Hardys and Drews continued for another 20 years to be Gosset & Dunlap's best-selling juveniles. The Stratemeyer Syndicate took full credit for the name (Franklin W. Dixon) . However, the origin of Franklin W. Dixon, came from Leslie McFarlane naming himself after two of his brothers (Frank- [Franklin], and Wilmot [also known as Dick] [both the W. and the Dixon]). He also wrote some of Ted Scott's books, and other series work (Dana's, etc.). He once mentioned that he penned a couple of Nancy Drew's books. This caused quite a furor in the NewsGroup, as the identities of the various Carolyn Keene's over the years have had a certain cloud of mystery around them. There is really no proof that he did so, just a comment he made back in 1974, saying he did. It has been said that he ghosted for another ghost, and never received credit The details of the author and book series was as much of a mystery as were the books. The protagonist of Rigged For Revenge was Dudley Baker. Baker is the President of Lone Star Oil Company, Headquarters based out in Texas. The company has oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico that are threatened to close down because of sabotaged efforts of an unknown enemy. Several attempts of planned incidents almost puts the multi-million dollar company out of business. Dudley hires the Hardy brothers and their father to investigate, and find the saboteur. The antagonist of the story was Clem Maxwell, the Chief Operating Officer of the oil rig. Although he is employed by the oil company, he was out

Discipline in High School Class

Discipline in High School Class Free Online Research Papers Subject: Discipline Topic: Use some ideas from Kounin or Skinner to solve a classroom problem One of my classes is made up for the most part of good students. The class is not large, although the room is tiny and crowded. Some of the students are excellent, always having the answers ready. Others listen for the most part, and learn. Two students, who we will call Amit and Gal, are different. They don’t seem to take the class seriously, and like to laugh and joke, even when nothing is funny. Amit doesn’t always pay attention, but when his behavior in class is commented on by the teacher, he always makes a big argument and defends himself. â€Å"Why me? I’m not the only one talking. And anyway, I wasn’t disturbing the class. I work hard to assimilate the material, see how my grades have come up since the beginning of the year. Why do you pick on me? I wasn’t fooling around at all. â€Å" He never admits anything. You would think he was being interrogated by the police and was afraid to admit even one thing, because it will be held against hi m What advice can Skinner and Kounin give me? How can I control this student’s behavior, or get him to control himself? I think I would try Skinner’s successive approximations and positive reinforcement. If Amit doesn’t disturb for a half an hour, make a positive comment even if he doesn’t listen. When he listens attentively make another positive comment. (These students are too old for stickers or Smileys). After a few days of this, discuss with him his improvement but insist in the future on no disturbances and also attentiveness. I would also try and keep up the Kounin student accountability pressure on Amit by peppering him with questions more frequently than other students. I would do this even though he will resent it. Gal’s problem is very similar. I once told of a humorous comment of the Ibn Ezra, at which Gal laughed uproariously. Gal constantly refers to this comment and laughs, even though it’s not that funny the tenth repetition. He also talks in class much too much, and is called to task frequently. I and using Kounin’s student accountability, but that has only limited effectiveness. I think I should try a schedule of reinforcement if Gal does not disturb, and note and praise his positive (or really non-negative) classroom behavior. Research Papers on Discipline in High School ClassStandardized TestingTrailblazing by Eric AndersonHip-Hop is ArtUnreasonable Searches and SeizuresThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UseBook Review on The Autobiography of Malcolm XPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyWhere Wild and West MeetQuebec and CanadaMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever Product

Business and commercial awareness Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business and commercial awareness - Coursework Example One of the biggest stakeholders that view.com rely upon are its customers and by offering good DVD’s, its customers are entertained while the company makes profits (Bruce, 2005). Channel Islands are also stakeholders interested in View.com’s performance; this is because the island levies taxes on the company. Moreover, View.com has employed British citizens and this is helps in reducing unemployment levels in the UK. View.com has competitors who are also stakeholders since if view.com folds up its DVD business then the competitors are going to have an easy time in selling their merchandise (Crabb, 2007). d) Offering online videos at a discount for overseas and unreachable customers would help in increasing the DVD sales. Offering online videos would help on reducing postage stamps costs (Bradbury, 2005). e) By opening an online DVD sale system, movie previews can be availed to customers and this will help in increasing the sales for view.com. Moreover, view.com can make more money from adverts in the online website. The sales for view.com have reduced drastically over the last two years and this has been attributed to declining sales. However the costs of achieving the sales figures shown in the graph below have relatively the same. The new investment in the view.com must be higher than anticipated and it should reflect the sales for the year 2011. The new investment should be able to replace the sales and costs figures for 2011 and gradually grow in future periods. For the sales figures to be upbeat and good, view.com should be able to achieve figures of 300 and above so that the business can be competitive. The cost of running view.com should also be brought down to a level of around 150 for the business to become cost effective. It is important to understand the costs that are spent by view.com in its pursuit of achieving good profit margins in its business (Andersen, 2007). The levels of sales of DVD’s should be

Global economic Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6000 words

Global economic - Assignment Example Simon, an economist, and P. Ehrlich, a biologist (Economist 2011). In the book of Ehrlich under the title ‘Population bomb’ reference is made to five metals, the price of which was expected to increase in the following ten years because of the increase of population globally; a bet has been set between Ehrlich and Simon who opposed the above argument, noting that no such increase would take place, a view that was verified up to 1990s (Economist 2011). According to the article, if the above issue were reviewed now, a different result would be revealed. Indeed, if the views of these scientists were compared today, Ehrlich would have won the bet (Economist 2011). In other words, the article aims to highlight the different effects of growth of global population, as reported through the decades. It is noted that in the past, the effects of the increase of population globally would be less negative for the environment compared to today; this view is based mostly on the argumen t of the World Bank that the global food production would have to increase by about 70% by 2050, so that the food needs of global population, estimated to 9 million in 2050, to be covered (Economist 2011). However, it has been proved that areas with stable population, like Europe and USA (Economist 2011) tend to affect more the global climate, compared to countries where the level of population is unstable. Under these terms, it is suggested that the control on the rate of growth of population should be developed both at state and at family level. 2nd version The rate of increase of population globally has been often considered as related to the economy of countries worldwide. At the same time, the effects of increase of population on global climate seem to be important. However, these views have not been standardized through the decades. For example, according to the book ‘The Population Bomb’ of Ehrlich, the increase of global population between 1980 and 1990 could le ad to the increase of the price of five metals: ‘copper, chromium, nickel, tin and tungsten’ (Economist 2011). By 1990, no such increase occurred, a fact that was already highlighted by Ehrlich opponent, Julian Simon (Economist 2011). In the years that followed, a different trend appeared: it was made clear that the increase of global population could lead to the increase of food required for covering people’s daily food needs, an issue highlighted by the World Bank (Economist 2011). In addition, it was proved that the increase of global population could negatively affect the environment. It seems though that the economic and environmental effects of the increase of global population are more intensive in rich countries, like USA and China. Introducing a birth-control policy, as in China, would minimize such risks. Still, the article notes that the control on global population should be rather based on appropriate family planning and less on the intervention of s tate, which can lead to severe demographic and economic turbulences, as in the case of China. In the above country, the one-child policy promoted by the government has helped to control the excessive increase of population, which would have adverse effects on the country’s economy and climate, but this policy is expected to lead to the radical decrease of the country’s working population in the near future (Economist 2011). B. Peck, Don. â€Å"Can The Middle Class Be Saved?† Atlantic Monthly September 2011 1st version Commonly,

Case comment coursework Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Case comment coursework - Essay Example Through the privatization, the government was allowed to retain a special share. This entitled the government, according to the company’s constitution, to appoint two of the eight directors but with no voting rights (Patterson, 2001). History Belize privatized its telecomm network in 1989. Under the privatization, the government was to gradually sealed off its shares and, in the process, retained a special share (Redfem, 2004). According to the company’s constitution, 8 directors would be appointed as per the shareholding in the following manner: The special share holder can appoint 2 of the 8 directors. In this case the government had a special share which entitled it to appoint two directors. Class â€Å"B† shareholders comprising private investors could appoint two directors. Class â€Å"C† shareholders could appoint four directors. The government also owned Class â€Å"C† shares. A further provision for the election directors was made, stating t hat if a special shareholder possessed over 37.5% of the share capital in total, it would appoint two of the 4 Class â€Å"C† directors. The government in 2003 completed the privatization process. A law was passed to this effect to enable the completion (Richardson, 2004). In 2004, Belize Telecommunications bought the special share and the Class â€Å"C† shares from the government. To enable Belize Telecommunications to purchase the shares, the government changed its shares into a loan to enable Belize to finance the transaction. Since this was a loan from the government, it needed security from Belize. Belize gave the government a ‘pledge’ on the shares that it had just sold, i.e. the Class â€Å"C† shares, but not on the special share until the debt was repaid (Robertson, 2006). In February 2005, Belize defaulted in the loan repayment and the government’s pledge under the loan agreement was enforced. The government now had more than 37.5% o f the class â€Å"C† shares but without the special share. Belize now had less than 37.5% of shares. The main issue of the case is on whether the directors subject to appointment by the special shareholder with over 37.5% of class â€Å"C† shares could be removed. In this instance, there was no shareholder who held both the special share and over 37.5% of class â€Å"C† shares. Belize Telecommunications argued that the two directors were not removable whereas the Attorney General argued otherwise. The argument was that the articles of association regarding the appointment of directors should be made to provide that vacation of office by a director should happen if the shareholding specification that brought him there ceased existing. The Belize Supreme Court’s Chief Justice agreed with the government. With its 37.5% shareholding, the government should be given power to dismiss the two directors and recruit new ones (Olivelle, 2005). Analysis Court Analysi s. The Chief Justice in the Belize Supreme Court agreed with the Attorney General that the government may be allowed to remove the directors in question and appoint new ones. The Privy Council’s advice through Lord Hoffman came up with the principles of interpreting the company’s articles of association. The interpretation principles apply, whether it is an act of Parliament or company contract. A search for the meaning of the

Tesco PESTEL Framework

Tesco PESTEL Framework Introduction Tesco is the largest organization in the UK and one of the biggest supermarket chains in the world. Tesco is one of the top three supermarkets in the world, Tesco operating over 3700 stores globally and employing over 440,000 people. The company operates in 13 countries outside the UK. There are many factors which contribute directly to the success of this leading super market chain. Business Strategy plays a pivotal role in the success of Tesco. Tescos History Tesco was founded in 1920s by Sir Jack Cohen, to setup high street grocery stores in and around London. Tesco name used for the first time in Edgeware London in 1929. The name was drawn from the initials of the companys tea supplier (T.E Stockwell), and Cohens own name. In 1930s when Mr. Cohen built a headquarters and warehouse in North London, its brand continually rises. In 1932 Tesco formally established as a private limited company. In 1947 Tesco stores (holdings) ltd floated on the stock exchange with a share price of 25p. In 1990s the company introduce a slogan Every Little Help, they also introduce Club card scheme in 1995. Tesco personal Finance was introduced in 1997, in order to provide its customers with a wide array of financial services, including visa card, and Tesco saving account in stores bank branches. Today it reported that group sales were  £51.8bn in the year to February 23 2008. Pre-tax profit rose to  £2.8bn. Company Analysis: PESTEL Framework Political Factors Tesco is operating in different countries, so due to its globalised operation its performance is highly affected by the Political and legislative conditions of these countries. According to Balchin, 1994 the Govt encourages the retailers to provide mix job from flexible and locally based jobs to highly skilled, higher-paid and centrally located jobs. (Balchin, 1994) Economical Factors Tesco is also affected by economical factors, such as costs, demand, prices and profits. Unemployment is the most important influential factor which decreases the effective demand for many goods. Basically Tesco is affected indirectly by the economic factor, but their affect on performance and the marketing mix can be learned. Social/Cultural Factors Due to the rapid change in trends, the company expand the amount of non food items available for sale. The UK customers have moved towards one stop and huge shopping, due to the variety of social changes. It also affected by Demographic changes such as population, female worker are increased, so the company will have to focusing added- value products and services. Technological Factors Technology factors are affected the development of many of the Tesco products. Both customers and company are capitalized from the Technology, because customer satisfaction mount for goods readily available, services becomes more quick and shopping more convenient. The lunch of the efficient Consumer Response initiative provided the shift that is now apparent in management of food supply chains. (Data monitor Report, 2003) The company uses the following technologies: Wireless Devices Intelligent scale Electronic shelf labelling Self check-out machine Radio Frequency identification (RFID) Companys Analysis: Porters Five Forces Threat of New Entrants The UK grocery market is primary henpecked by few competitors, including four major brands of Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys and Morisons that process a market share of 70% and small chain of Somerfield, Waitrose, and lidle with further 10%. However, due to the large operation they built their power to operating efficiency, one-stop shopping and major marketing mix expenditure. Hence, nowadays it possesses a strong barrier for new companies who crave to enter the grocery market. To become a market leader Tesco invest huge money in large chain, advance technology for checkout and stock control system that impact the new entrants and existing ones. Bargaining Power of Customers According to Michael Porter, the more products that become standardised or undifferentiated, the lower the switching cost, and hence more power is yielded to buyers. Porters M. (1980). Tescos famous loyalty card Club card keep the most successful customer holding strategy that tremendously increases the profitability of Tescos business. To fulfil customers needs, custom-make service, ensure low prices, better choices, constant flow of in store promotions enables brands like Tesco to control and hold their customer base. Bargaining Power of Supplier Tesco has negotiating better promotional prices from supplier that small individual chains are unable to match. And this is company policy and company main approach to have unparallel relationships with suppliers. Threat of Substitutes According to the Porters theory, General substitution is able to reduce demand for a particular product, as there is a threat of consumers switching to the alternatives (Porter M1980). However in the grocery market this can be seen in the form of product for product, new trends such as the way of small and convenient stores are emerging in the market. Bargaining Power of Competitors Tesco is operating in mature market, where growth is difficult, and consumer are extend demanding and advanced, large chains as company take place large amounts of consumer information that can be used to communicate with consumer. Therefore the preponderant market leaders have responded refocusing on price and value, whilst reinforcing the added value elements of their service. Analysis of Resources, Competence and Culture For the company, customer is first priorities, by the time of recession, a research shows that price are ranked as the most important margins not seen in twodecades. Therefore the company believe that their job is to help the customer with less spending. So the company launched value line, the famous blue stripes, the company would be able to provide the cheapest grocery shop in the country discounter included. The company maintain its position through a clear focus, well targeted product offer and excellent record both in product and format design. Core Competence Core competence is the processes that critically underpin the companys competitive advantage. Tesco primary target is to recognise that competition between businesses is as much a race for competence as it is for market position and market power. Hence, the Company have to focus the attending on competencies that really influence competitive advantage. Core competence is basically the process to develop the key area of a business in which the company expert, which bring a distinctive advantage over the competitors, and also critically connected with company long term growth. However, it will be important for Tesco to look at the generic level. Therefore in this case, Tescos expertise are most likely to mature central area of business where the most value added to its services and its devilries. For example, trust on Tesco brand prevarication at the heart of these services In addition, Core competencies of a Tesco have rather rigid, but a research shows that core competencies have to elastic, and it should be change in response to change in companys environment over the time. Therefore the company need to accommodate and create new idea and also new opportunity in the market. For example, Tesco launched its loyalty card and went into banking. Tesco able to enter into retailing of food and non food products was a clear distinctive brand proposition that had a focus on a properly define market section. The company also provide a strong and efficient customer service, based on a good customer relationship. Tesco Strategic Options: Generic Strategies Introduction: According to Porter (1985), competitive advantage arises from selection of the generic strategy that best fits the organisations competitive environment and then organizing activities to support the chosen strategy. These strategies are characterised by the company in response to their structure and environment of the organization. However to obtain a competitive advantage Tesco should follow one of the three strategies, which is developed by Porter. Cost Leadership Tesco accommodate the first strategy of cost leadership in which can endeavour the lowest costs in the market and offer its products and services to broad market at the lowest prices. The company are more focusing on the effective saving programme call Step-Change. By this programme the company delivered  £540 million of productivity and other saving in the year, which mostly reinvested in improving the shopping trip for customers. To reducing the amount of energy the company introduce better ways of working to improve the efficiency by making things better for customers, simpler for stop and cheaper for company. For example, according to a report, in the last year the company saved 52,000 deliveries to companys stores by using larger-fill-double-decked vehicles, which in turn have also 12 million road miles. Some other example of these projects which delivered substantial savings in the year includes: Saving in the Supply Chain-the company using more shelf-ready packaging and reconfiguring the depot network to increased vehicle utilisation and more productive work methods in depots and stores. For example the distribution cost more held in cash terms and reduced in percentage of sales terms. By this method the company achieved despite higher fuel costs. Installed Energy Saving-the company significantly invest in energy-saving projects across the business- such as new refrigeration, store lobbies and lighting, its helping the company to absorb utility costs. From the energy consumption the company fell by 8% last year despite business growth. Low wage employees- the company have around 31000 employees working in India as Global Support Centre, which provides IT and administrative support to UK and International operationsfrom software development to management accounting and payroll. If the company use another strategy of differentiation, the company then tries to offer a good services and product with unequal features that customers value. With the differentiation strategy the company created a brand loyalty for their offering, and price inelasticity on the parts of buyers. For example to achieve a better and more efficient service provide by the company to checkouts, many more customers didnt have to queue last year and customer continue to rank the company for speed of services at the checkout. Another example of this approach, the company have different brand product according to their feature, speciality, and reliability. Such as Tesco value, Finest, Organic etc Value Chain Primary Activities Inbound logistics According to Alex Laffey, we choose G-Logs logistics and transportation technology because their solution will support and enhance our low-cost, high quality approach to growth in the retail market. Major factors in our decision to select G-Log were the close and demonstrable fit of their software to our requirements, and their ability to rapidly deploy the solution in phases to meet our aggressive project time frame. G-log is providing visibility, optimization, and execution will enable the company to integrate their supplier, partners and logistics service providers, delivering real-time visibility of in transit orders, whilst optimising the transportation resources by both consolidating loads and selecting the most cost effective carrier. The G-log continues to shows to deliver significant result, and to provide value to its customers, in terms of improved customer services, reduced costs and enhanced competitive advantage. Outbound Logistics Outbound logistics is concerned with the delivering the product to the customer. The company adds value to its home delivery services. Tesco also trying to improve other tangible that have to be improved, such as parking facilities, trolley collectors, staff on self service checkout, and also to saying to customer hello hey and thank you with smiling face. The company making small improvements in everything with Every Little Help is about the company work together on the little things, its amount to a great deal. It keeps the focused on what matters most to customers. The company do not sacrifice all the other things that are so important to customers, such as not having to queue and being able to get everything that they want. Support Activities Company Infrastructure The company introduce software Real Time Integrator (RTI) which provides retailer with faster access to critical business information, through the provision and use of accurate, detailed, point-of-sale (POS) information. Sale data from individual store database will be routed to head office in XML to Microsoft server and Microsoft SQL. The solution handles 1500 sales transactions a second at peak times, which each have an average of between 50 and 100 items. To reduce the number not the on file items the first application for RTI will pilot for 120 stores, which improve the customer experience. Human Resources Management Tesco introduce a high commitment model which offers training and development to all employees. In addition the company extend their logo through their culture to prove their commitment to employees as well as to customers. The company continue to invest in customer services where training is also directly linked to pay, therefore the staff is motivated to learn and encourage their approach to customers and services and the provision of qualities. Conclusion With the research carried out, the company shows how the branding and effective service delivery can come in moving beyond splashing ones logo on billboard. The company made their market leader due to their successful and dynamic strategies. The company also made a powerful brand and powerful identities making their retailing concept into various and spending it out into the culture via a variety of channels. Such culture sponsorship, political controversy, consumer experience and brand extensions. The company change their culture and business environment very rapidly due to the high competitors pressure. The company also have to diversify the product and expand their strategies in order to sustain in its leading market position. This is already established by the company. Tesco need to make sure, to have the combination of good customer services, competitive pricing and efficiency when they launching a new product. Tesco has definitely has the potential and can compete with other store if the company get the above combination right. REFERENCES http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2007/nov/09/supermarkets.tesco1 Tesco history from. http://www.telegraph.co.uk http://www.cn.tesco.com/en/aboutus/aboutus_history.htm http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/tesco-thinks-small-to-be-big-in-america-394385.html Datamonitor Report (2003) Food retail industry profile: United Kingdom, January; Datamonitor Report (2003) SWOT Analysis Tesco PLC, July; Datamonitor Report (2003) Company Profile: Tesco PLC Analysis, October; Tesco Annual Report and Financial Statement 2009, To find out more go towww.tesco.com/annualreport09 De Toni A. and Tonchia S. (2003) Strategic planning and firms competencies: Traditional approaches and new perspectives, International Journal of Operations Production Management, Vol. 23 Issue 9, pp.947-976; http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FNP/is_4_44/ai_n13248624/ http://www.tesco.com/talkingtesco/oldDefault.asp Drejer A. (2000) Organisational learning and competence development, The Learning Organization: An International Journal, Vol. 7 Issue 4, pp.206-220; Finch P. (2004) Supply chain risk management, Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, Vol. 9 Issue 2, pp.183-196; Graiser A. and Scott T. (2004) Understanding the Dynamics of the Supermarket Sector, The Secured Lender, Vol. 60 Issue 6, November/December, pp.10-14; Johnson G. and Scholes K. (2003) Exploring Corporate Strategy, 6th ed.,Prentice Hill: London; Lindgreen A. and Hingley M. (2003) The impact of food safety and animal welfare policies on supply chain management: The case of the Tesco meat supply chain, British Food Journal, Vol. 105 Issue 6, pp.328-349; MarketWatch (2004) Company Spotlight: Tesco, Datamonitor, September; Mintel Report (2004) Food Retailing -UK, Retail Intelligence, Nobember; Myers H. (2004) Trends in the food retail sector across Europe, European Retail Digest, Spring, Issue 41, pp.1-3; Palmer M. (2004) International retail restructuring and divestment: the experience of Tesco, Journal of Marketing Management, November, Vol. 20 Issue 9/10, pp.1075-1101; Porter M. (1980) How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy, The McKinsey Quartely, Spring 1980, pp.34-50; Ritz (2005) Store wars, Business Review, Vol. 11, April, pp.22-23; Veliyath R. and Fitzgerald E. (2000) Firm Capabilities, Business Strategies, Customer Preferences, and Hypercompetitive Arenas: The Sustainability of Competitive Advantages with Implications for Firm Competitiveness, Competitiveness Review, Vol. 10 Issue 1, pp.56-82; Bibliography Anon (2004) Case Study IV: Tesco implements the business engine network to gain full control of it IT Project Portfolio, Journal of Database Marketing Customer Strategy Management Vol.12. Tesco business strategy, 2008 available at http://www.bized.co.uk/ Tesco business strategy 2008 available at www.tescocorporate.com/images/TescocsrReview02_0.pdf Datamonitor Report (2003) Company Profile: Tesco PLc Analysis, http://university-essays.tripod.com/porters_generic_strategies.html Palmer, M. (2005), Retail multinational learning: a case study of Tesco, International Journal of Retail Distribution Management, Vol. 33 No. 1

Richard B :: Business and Management Studies:

Richard B The cost of the plant renovation is paid in full on December 31, 1991. 1) Changes to analysis: a. The lost output due to construction should reflect the higher output of the renovated plant (24,075). Thereby the net output for the year corresponds to 10 months of the new output. b. The DDB depreciation should switch to straight-line when straight line is greater. Otherwise the plant does not get fully depreciated. c. The 3.5% overhead on capital for new projects should not be applied for the renovation of existing equipment. The overhead of the existing plant is not affected. Since there is no incremental change in overhead, it should not be included in the analysis. d. The preliminary engineering cost should not be included in the analysis for making a decision to renovate the plant. These are sunk costs and therefore are not included in an incremental analysis. e. A cumulative DCF was added so the payback period is clearly illustrated. The Hawkins' analysis appeared to add the "Free Cash Flow" without discounting to obtain the payback period. The revised payback period is 5.21 years. f. The equivalent annuity was added. The annuity equivalent to the revised NPV of 6.08 million pounds is 0.80 million pounds. This figure can be divided by the number of shares FYE 91 to obtain the average earnings per share of 0.0086 pounds. The Hawkins' analysis appeared to average the "Free Cash Flow" without discounting then divided by the number of shares to obtain the EPS. g. Hawkins should perform sensitivity analyses to the market price of polypropylene, the cost of the renovation, and the efficiency advantage of the renovated plant. (These are shown in Exhibits 2b through 2e). The margins are revised for the new prices keeping the cost of production fixed. Transport Division The cost of the additional capital required by the transport division should not be included in the analysis. Empirical Chemicals is actually helping the transport division by using its excess capacity. Additional capital obtained by the transport division should be paid by all of its customers through transportation fees. Director of Sales ================= There are a number of producers of polypropylene that have higher costs than EC Rotterdam. These producers will be the first to feel

Indian Premiere League Controversy

Board of control for Cricket is the most powerful and most influential organization in the world of cricket. It is one of the richest sports organizations in the world. Mr. N Srinivasan came a long way starting as a cricket administrator in Tamil Nadu in 2001 to becoming President of Board of Control for Cricket in India in 2011. Indian Premier League is considered as the world’s show case for the T20 cricket. Eight teams will be participating in this tournament. An UK based consulting firm Brand Finance has valued it at 4. 3 billion US dollars in 2010. During N. Srinivasan term as president IPL has faced lot of controversies. Being the most powerful man in world of cricket administrators he refused to quit when his son in law was caught being involved in the purported illegal betting. He gradually worked his way to become the President of the most powerful board in the world of cricket. He has been charged with conflict of interest by owing an IPL franchise the Chennai Super Kings. He refused to resign from the president post after his son in law was caught for alleged illegal betting on the IPL matches. Former BCCI president AC Muthiah has filed a case in Supreme Court challenging the board rules that permits the BCCI officials to own an IPL franchises (Singh, 2013). Three players S Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chnadila from Rajasthan Royals were arrested for alleged spot fixing by Delhi police. Srinivasan clamorously said that the guilty will not be spared and was surprised and disappointed with the spot fixing events. Nobody expected his son in law Gurunath Meiyappan will be involved in the illegal betting allegations. Being in a responsible position, instead of stepping down as President on morality basis and this is one of the worst scandals of Indian Cricket he became argumentative and even criticized the media for going after him (Singh, 2013). The India Cements owner of Chennai Super Kings had issued a statement stating that Meiyappan is not a CEO of the company after he was subpoenaed by Mumbai Police and he is in anyway not related to the franchise. But twitter account status of Meiyappans’s said that he was the Team Principal of CSK, was titled as the owner of the franchise at a particular event , he was sitting in the player’s auction and was present in the dugout of CSK for all the matches where only the team management was allowed to be present in the dugout. So India Cements argument that he is not related to the franchise is absolutely false (Singh, 2013). He was involved in illegal betting of CSK matches too. This raises lot of questions as he may have passed the team combinations and planning to the bookies as he has access to all the players (Singh, 2013). If Srinivasan tries to brush off things and cover up the whole situation then BCCI will jeopardize the faith and entrust of millions of people who follow the game of cricket and where cricket is a religion in India. For the betterment of cricket, cricket lovers and inviolability of cricket in India Srinivasan must resign and ensure that all the guilty are served with the punishment. The other members of the board have resigned as they are not satisfied with the Srivasan’s decision and how he handled the situation (Singh, 2013). Source of Conflict: This conflict can be an example for Substantive conflict. This occurs when two or more organizational members disagree on their task or content issues. Conflict of values: This occurs when two social entities differ in their values or ideologies on certain issues (Druckman, Broome & Korper, 1988). Srinivasan differs with the ideologies and values of the BCCI this can be recognized as conflict of values. Level of Analysis: This can be an example of Interpersonal conflict. It refers to conflict between two or more organizational members of the same or different hierarchical levels. This situation has created differences between the board members and the treasurer and other board members have resigned it can be classified as interpersonal conflict.References:Rahim, M. A. (2001). Managing conflict in organizations. Westport, Conn: Quorum Books. Druckman, D., Broome, B., & Korper, S., (1988).  Value differences and conflict resolution: Facilitation or delinking?  Journal of Conflict Resolution, 32, 489 – 510.  Ã‚   Singh, M. (2013, may 26). IPL spot-fixing: Why N Srinivasan should quit as BCCI president. Retrieved July 7, 2013, from Zeenews.india.com: http://zeenews.india.com/blog/ipl-spot-fixing-why-n-srinivasan-should-quit-as

How to Avoid the Freshman 15

How to Avoid the Freshman 15 The Freshman 15 is one of the things incoming students hear about the most. Legend has it that the average student gains fifteen pounds during their first year in college. Urban myth or not, keep these tips in mind to ensure you eat and stay healthy as you adjust to eating on campus. Walk whenever and wherever you can on campus. Your campus may be big or small, hilly or flat, but regardless: its probably walkable. Do your best to take the long way when you can. Join an intramural sports team. Never played rugby or softball before? Who cares! Intramural sports can be a fun way to learn a new sport, meet people, and stay healthy during your time at school. Use the campus gym. Its most likely free, or very cheap. Make the most of it while you can. Get a workout partner. Not good at always making it to that 8:00 a.m. spin class? Find someone else who is interested in attending on a regular basis, and help hold each other accountable. Choose diet soda instead of regular. You might be surprised at how quickly all of those calories add up! Eat a salad (or a piece of fruit, or a healthy side veggie) with whatever else you grab for dinner. And do it every time. Eat a healthy breakfast. Your mom was right: your day does go better when you eat a good breakfast. Avoid the d onuts and grab some oatmeal to go. Keep healthy snacks in your room. Even if you dont have a fridge in your room, you can still keep pretzels, fruit (dried or fresh), healthy nuts, and energy bars on hand. Dont get dessert every time you eat. True, the dining hall may have unlimited self-serve ice cream, but that doesnt mean you should eat it every night. If youre going to order food late at night, make smart choices. Up late studying with your roommate and want to order pizza? Choose cheese only instead of loading up on toppings. Do something physical every weekend. Go for a run, join a pick-up game, play Ultimate Frisbee with some friends. Just get your body moving. Walk when you go off campus. Are your friends and you heading to a nice, neighborhood restaurant to get away for a while? If you can, try walking as a group instead of hopping in a car. Let yourself splurge every once in a while. Giving in to the self-serve ice cream machine is fine, as is the donut you are craving for breakfast, as long as you dont do it every day. But you do deserve a treat every once in a while! Drink water throughout the day. Do you go for 8 hours straight, from work to class to your club meeting to work again? Bring a water bottle with you to make sure you stay hydrated and healthy. Dont go long periods without eating. Running around all day, only to realize you havent eaten in a long time, isnt good for your body. It also may increase the likelihood that youll eat whats first available, instead of the food and nutrients your body needs. If you know you have a long day coming, pack some snacks ahead of time so your body has the fuel it needs to keep up with that big, college-educated brain of yours.

Tearing, Ripping, and Rending

Tearing, Ripping, and Rending Tearing, Ripping, and Rending Tearing, Ripping, and Rending By Maeve Maddox English is rich in words to describe the act of cutting and pulling things apart, words like tear, rip, hack, slash, stab, and rend. Writers of violent fictionor journalists reporting the daily newscan choose just the right word to describe an injury: A taxi driver hacked an American to death after an argument over a $1.60 fare, Thai officials said late Sunday. [On a New York subway platform], a 24-year-old man was slashed with a Corona bottle in the neck, arms, and hands, and is recovering at Bellevue. Likewise, writers of romance are able to convey degrees of emotional pain by using the words figuratively. It’s the rejection that stabs you in the heart and crushes your soul. Here are six verbs to describe tearing, ripping, and rending: hack: This verb suggests heavy blows, possibly made in the heat of anger. tear: In modern usage, this is the verb we use with paper or another flimsy substance. If complete destruction is meant, we say â€Å"tear to pieces,† or â€Å"tear in pieces.† rip: This word can also be used of tearing paper, but carries a more forceful connotation. rend: A bit old-fashioned, rend has a Biblical ring to it. Mourners rend their garments; the Lord threatens to rend Solomon’s kingdom from him. The past tense is rent: â€Å"When the town of Sunnydale slid into the hellmouth on ‘Buffy,’ my fellow fans and I rent our hair and blubbered.† (OED example) NOTE: Rend is the verb in the expression â€Å"heart-rending†: â€Å"causing intense sorrow or emotional anguish.† Google Ngram Viewer indicates that the frequently heard eggcorn â€Å"heart-wrenching† first appeared in the 1950s. slash: This word suggests a sweeping blow with a sword, although in our day, a broken beer bottle will do. stab: This word implies the thrust of a short weapon, like a dagger. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:How to Format a UK Business LetterPeople versus Persons5 Examples of Misplaced Modifiers

Journal Entry Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Journal Entry - Personal Statement Example Unit six was another important learning package for me because it really relates to my area of work in real estate. I work for Qatar Diar, hence, I feel that the lessons on product and price as the focal points of a marketing mix help me in my position as an executive assistant in the department of contracts and procurement. Combining the concepts of market research and marketing mix can be very efficient at the workplace. The organization can source for information using surveys, personal interviews and focused groups to determine the type of product the market requires, in my case this would be housing, and the pricing that is favorable depending on the quality of the product. On a personal level, learning about market information and research enables me to provide my director with relevant information as to the type of materials that the company should procure to enhance the quality of the company’s product and give it a competitive advantage over its

Human resource - service industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5250 words

Human resource - service industry - Essay Example The airline company, which has been chosen to structure this report, is the British Airways. It is one of the world's leading scheduled international passenger and cargo airlines catering to about 300 destinations across the world. ("Annual Report of British Airways", 2008). According to the International Air Transport Association the airline industry, lost up to $8 billion in the year 2008 which surpassed previously forecasted amount. The marketing environment is constantly changing and with every change the industry gets affected. The demand for airline industry is highly income elastic ("An analysis of British Airways Marketing Environment", 2008). Thus the rise in fuel price last year and the recent economic turmoil has affected the airlines industry in a huge way as passengers are avoiding more expensive travels. According to a report by Air Transport Association (ATA), the revenue generated from passenger travels for all airlines fell by 19% during the month of February, 2009 when compared to February 2008. The company saw a decline in 8.6 percent in premium traffic and 4.1 percent in non premium. ("Lucrative Business class air travel hit by crisis", 2009). Thus the situation within the company is not showing encouraging signs. In such operating e nvironment the company is applying reactive strategies by planning to cut down on employees. It has to be remembered that British Airways is formed by the collaboration of two state owned airlines. As a result the company previously lacked in any focused Human Resource Management policy. The significant changes took place when Lord King was appointed as the chairman of the company in the year 1981, and he was quick to identify the low employee moral that was present within the organization. The company's core values lies with the quality of customer service they provide which is attached to its brand. Given this operating environment in the industry, the company needs to incorporate concentrated human resource management policies into their revival strategy. This is because of the fact that, in the case of industries like this industry, where the most of the employees are coming in direct contact with the customers the level of employee motivation required is very high. The way in w hich the employees are being treated and compensated will reflect the effectiveness of value proposition being delivered to the customers. British Airways was formed by the merger of British European Airways and British Overseas Airways Corporation in the year 1974. (Lundy, Cowling, 1996). As both of the merging airlines were state owned the merger resulted in the overstaffing (more than 50 thousand) of the new enterprise and also there were evident management related issues within the organization. In the year 1980 the management style of the company was bureaucratic in nature containing many layers of hierarchical management. (Lundy, Cowling, 1996). At that time less importance were given in the qualitative aspects like employee relation, customer loyalty etc. Focuses were more given on the operational aspects but till then the company was incurring heavy losses. The significant