Approaches to Climate Change and Energy Crisis Essay Example for Free

Approaches to Climate Change and Energy Crisis Essay The acclaim and mass appeal that was garnered by the An Inconvenient Truth, no to mention Al Gore’s Noble Prize win, is a testament to the interest on the issue of climate change (Lawrence Bender Productions Guggenheim, 2006). One of the main areas of concern is the development of industries that do not damage or endanger the environment is an urgent concern as industries now face dwindling resources, greater demand and more regulation both locally and internationally (Schnietz Epstein, 2005). Whereas before when interest in environmental concerns were seen more as deterrents to a company’s operations. The increase of judicial decisions levying companies to pay for environmental damages due to their products or manufacturing processes has changed the view to one that treats environment concerns and conserving energy resources as part of ensuring profitability. An assessment done by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) (2002) indicates that the deterioration of the environment has global implications. They point that the depletion of the ozone layer has been linked to stress marine and terrestrial resources though the depletion is mainly concentrated on the poles. Furthermore, scientists estimate that at the current rate of consumption and pollution, the earth’s ecosystems will simply collapse from human demands. De Man (2005) also points out that there are higher social expectations concerning environmental awareness and responsibility among business organizations. National and international efforts have sought to develop universal relevance of the issue not only to promote it as a concern but also to established responsibility for the issue. Robbins (2003) considers these an indication of the urgency and importance of the issue which in turn is to establish it as global critical priority. At the same time, climbing of energy prices due to demand has highlighted the need to raise efficiency and promote conservation. However, there are varying opinions on the approaches to be taken. One of the issues that have been subject to extensive debate is in the development of air pollution control programs. Wigley (2006) points out that because air has no geographic border nor physically contained and all countries have to compete for energy sources such as oil, the issue is an inherent global concern. This global perspective is the basis for the Kyoto Protocol which aims to establish an international monitoring and management system for carbon emissions. The Kyoto Protocol sets a quota for industrial emissions per country where residual allowances can be traded off to other countries and economic sanctions can be applied to violators. Thus, countries are not only politically motivated to control their emissions but also can gain monetary compensation for their efforts. Accession and implementation of the protocol has proven challenging. Opposition to the policies point out that aside from the operational difficulties of the policy and can deter economic growth and development since most industries are energy-intense and impact the environment (Bohan, 2007). Critics of the Kyoto approach to the issue suggest a national interest approach. In contrast to the former, the latter suggests that, â€Å"whats good for the nation as a whole in international affairs†. Using this perspective, instead of developing an international policy, each country must formulate its own towards a common goal (Roskin, 1994, p. 1). As each country is able to achieve individual environmental goals, public interest, which includes the global community, will be met effectively. Thus, what seems to be an inward-looking or even selfish approach to environment and energy issues can be in fact a means to accomplish international goals. Critics of the approach contend in turn that there are no assurances that independent states will develop and implement environmental and energy efficiency protocols. Also, they believe that by leaving consequence at the discretion of national governments, implementation will not be effectively policed. To date, there has still has not been full accession to the Kyoto Protocol: the Untied States and Australia have both rejected it. At the same time, national interest approaches have been significant deterred through the need for compliance to international political, security or economic organizations. According to Setting a Value on the Future, Stephen Gardiner believes that the lack of a consensus on how to deal with the world’s environmental and energy crises is because it is â€Å"politically convenient not to deal with†. Both approaches have proven to be extremely problematic. One difficulty that Thomas Palley of the Economics for Democratic and Open Societies sees in national interest perspectives is a failure to recognize the distinction between corporate and national interests, (as cited in Jacobson, 2006). The suggestion is that confusing corporate interests, which primarily is centered on profit, the national interests that will be defined will be the interest of a few instead of the public’s and that it most likely will neither support environmental or conservation objectives (Wigley, 2006). On the other hand, without industrial development, there will be little headway in the development of efficiency and productivity technologies or the means to put them in practice (Jacobson, 2006). The most critical realization is that the issue is not just a political issue. Just as critical should be the realization that whatever, polices are to be implemented, they should be able to stand the test of time and changes in international relations. This because, achievement of environmental and energy goals will likely take a number of years before they are attained. President George W. Bush has raised a valid point regarding this issue: The fundamental question is whether or not we will be able to grow our economy and be good stewards of the environment at the same time, (as cited in Jacobson, 2006). Neither the Kyoto approach nor the national interest approaches, as they are utilized today, seem to fully address these concerns. However, this should deter the commitment to environmental protection and rehabilitation as well as energy conservation. In conclusion to recognize non-political elements influencing the issue, to institute long-term policies and resources and to develop and implement policies that recognizes both perspectives. Reference http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN1537871920071015

Case Studies of Organizational Change

Case Studies of Organizational Change CASE BACKGROUND The RTAs approach was to just involve the executive level management and the consultants in the strategy making process without including the middle and lower level management. The approach of the company shows its high level confidence in its top level management and it wants none other those to get involved in the decisions which are of utmost importance to the company and all of its employees (Heathfield). There are both positive and the negative aspects of such a strategy. Taking this change management policy positively, the company wants do not want any kind of issue arising during its process of changing the organizational management to save its time, energy and the focus which is a good decision in itself but if we consider the negative side of this strategy, the company will not have that support from its lower and the middle position employees which is very essential in order to have success in achieving the targets of changing the organization and in the worse case they eve n may fail to accept it at all. ISSUES INVOLVED The concept of organizational change is a wide process aiming at achieving some overall goals and objectives rather than the smaller change. This includes the big changes like the change in mission, restructuring the operations, changes in the technologies, re-engineering, major collaborations, etc. (Basic Context for Organizational Change) Such changes may be regarded as the changes that re-orientate the whole fundamentals in which the organization operates. These changes are the ones which affects the being and the corporate lives of each and everybody in the organization. THEORETICAL UNPINNING OF THE ISSUES INVOLVED In order to achieve certain organizational and group goals, the involvement of those very elements in the organization that are very close to these setting up of goals along with those who are going to be highly affected with that is very important. It can never be expected the one hundred percent support from any employee to support the changes made in his work or way of work who was not involved in the process of decision which will have a long lasting impact on his work. For such changes to succeed the involvement of those individuals whose working is going to get highly effected is very essential. Though it is quite admissible that during the changes, especially the ones which have an effect on the whole organization, the involvement of each and every individual is not possible but it would be highly worthy to try the involvement of the individuals as much as possible from the lower as well as the middle management. ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATIONS The changes in such a strategy is quite possible with a program that in a way involves these lower and the middle level management too, but not affecting the positive interest of the company for which it was adopted in that way. The changes can be explained as follows: If the role of the middle management as a whole cannot affect the overall decision of the change, at least the involvement of each and every employee in taking the meaningful decisions which involves their own work or the work of their respective unit or group. During the change management process, the suggestion for the changes can be taken from the middle management in the form of survey or the request for the submission of the changes to the executive management or the consultants can be taken. This would not only help the top level management in making the changes but would also involve all the employees in the organization. The suggestions which are found effective enough can be called for the discussion in the conference center and in this way the middle position managers having the considerably effective and the efficient ideas can have a chance to make a big contribution in the change management process. CONCLUSIONS With the certain involvement of the middle or the lower level management in the decisions related to the change management the immense amount of support and the confidence from the employees will be confirmed for such decisions by the executive level management and also with these suggested changes in the process of the change management, Al Ammeri can get his ideas considered and if found feasible by the consultants and the executives he can get those included. Organizational Situation 2: Why is Cultural change so hard? CASE BACKGROUND Fatima Al Hebsi is a student of a Master Degree at BHMeU and her discipline is change course management. In her first interview, she was offered the job as the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Organizational Change Consultantà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  for an old and well established electric power company. The company is expected to make major organizational changes and now it concerns Fatima how hard it would be to change the major components of the culture being followed in the company over a long period. ISSUES INVOLVED Organizational culture is the set of the guiding tools and the ideology that guides and the interpretations and the actions in any organization. It describes the various attitudes, beliefs, the way of doing the work, psychologies, experiences, etc shared commonly by all the employees in the organization. It is basically the ways and the values followed by each and everybody in the organization whether directly or indirectly related to it. The organizational culture of any organization is highly dependent upon the goals and the objectives of the it and the appropriate kinds of the standards adopted for the needs to achieve those. Actually, these are the norms which lays down the guidelines or the expectations that prescribes the kind of behavior is expected from its employees which controls the behavior of the members of the organization towards each other. THEORETICAL UNPINNINGS OF THE ISSUES INVOLVED The consensus about the concept of organizational culture is bit difficult to understand theoretically, as they are quite holistic, historical involving the various anthropological and socially constructed concepts which are also very much difficult to change. Changing the organizational culture is one of the toughest task in the organizational change as this component of the organization was developed over a long period of time by the interaction and the confidence of its participants in the organization. The current organization culture matches the comfort and the style of its employees especially its executive level managers which ultimately reflects the prevailing management style in which the employees are well settled and used to in that working environment. ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATION First of all, the need of initiating the change in the organizational culture is itself a big decision which requires some extremely reason or set of reasons. These reasons have to be of the class of significant loss of sales or customers, fear of bankruptcy, or loosing the millions of dollars in the market, etc and for that too blaming the organizational culture itself needs a harsh journey. But after recognizing the organizational culture as the reason for these troubles and there is a need to change the culture the process require a deep understanding and commitment along with certain tools and knowledge. Doing the change itself is not pretty enough and also the changes are not that easy. Before changing its culture the organization must understand its current culture and the values, the way the things are going on in the organization. Once the organization has understood its current culture, the consultant needs to understand what changes or alterations may be required to guide the organization to the success along with taking into the consideration the well being of its employees, stake holders, partners and the others. This should reflect the future mission and the vision in the future and what will be the major steps to achieve that and path to be folled. This needs high degree of the future predictions according to the current scenario. The next step which would be the toughest step is to convince its employees to change their behavior as per the requirements and the needs of the changed organizational culture. CONCLUSION The change management and especially the changes in the prevailing organizational culture may although be a tough task to be accomplished in the light of fact that these cultures have been developed over the long time and it would be difficult for each and every element of the organization to get adapted for these changes. But for a smart and efficient consultant, he/she has to understand the very roots and the soul of these cultures, to get started right from these ends to get the solutions of the issues involved. Organizational Situation Scenario:3 How do you change a complacent organization? CASE BACKGROUD Ahmed Al Shammsi is the CEO of a well established organization Trans-Tech Solutions which is the market leader in manufacturing the avionics components for the commercial airlines. Even though the organization is doing extremely well in the current situation but the CEO is foreseeing the future problems that is bound to occur in the organization for which the acute changes in the management is required in the organization. Now, CEO is finding another issue about how to convince the top managers to go for some of major changes in the organization. ISSUES INVOLVED The current era of fast industrial and business growth, more competition and the need of more innovation has become the utmost important tool for achieving the success and making stability in that success. The change has to be taken as the most important capability of any business operating in todayà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s era without which the organization could not just wish to get the success and get adapted to a changing world. Without the effective and efficient changes required from time to time, the organization is bound to become obsolete some day and eventually die out. THEORITICAL UNPINNING OF THE ISSUES Every organization gets formed on the basis of some ideas and the innovations. They have a distinctive vision with some of those dedicated and devoted people with fresh mind set up to accomplish these very things. Not only the top level management but the organization as a whole have to kept together while making such decisions which as big as the changes in the way they are working, the motive for which they are operating and mission they are acting day and night for the well being of the organization. The settled and the complacent organization like the Trans-Tech Transportation must have started with a fresh idea through which they grew into a market leader and reached a certain level of excellence. But the flexibility is the thing which is required by this corporation to continue as the market leader in the future. ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATIONS It is quite possible that the top level managers have become quite matured with enough resistance to the changes but this may become the reason due to which the company may fall on to a senility mode in which the efficiency of the company slows and may even stop causing the ultimate downfall and then die out. Keeping ourselves in the place of Ahmed Al Shamsi, the owner has to convince its managers even though they are the market leaders, they have been doing well enough in achieving its objectives and goals, there excellent performance has been based on their organizational strategies and cultures but the change is the law of nature which applies here as well. They will have to see not only the prospects coming out for the near future but also the far future which would help them to maintain its leadership as long as possible (Theories of Motivation). They will have to keep in mind that they became the leader by replacing somebody and it would not be impossible that some other innova tion may pull them next to the leader. CONCLUSION Based on the analysis of the complacent organization of Trans-Tech Corporation, the top level managers should look forward for looking for some changes based on some exciting and new idea through which the company may continue its strong and fine edge to continue as a firm with solid vision, strong vision with clear objectives for not only the well being of itself or the executive level management but the organization as a whole.

Sainsburys: Strategies for Customer Retention

Sainsburys: Strategies for Customer Retention CHAPTER (1) Abstract My research paper basically seeks to understand the priorities of customer in Sainsbury of selection of products while shopping. And Sainsburys efforts to work on their new products with maintenance of their class and reasonable value to give best services to their loyal customers. My research also seeks to highlight the consumer behaviour which makes them to keep visiting Sainsburys. UK retail market is the best example of competitive market. Research need to understand the product class which leads to quality of product and categorization of products, secondly the product value which shows pricing with different aspects in the UK market and specially in Sainsburys. And I am also going to research about the failure strategies of the Sainsburys. I will conduct this research by the one to one interview with the senior manager of Sainsburys as well as there would be a deep research which will be taken out from the questionnaire with the customer of Sainsburys. Basically the interview will give me the basic line of action of the marketing strategy of the new product of Sainsburys and also it will identify the different products class and with their different values. Questionnaire from the customer will highlight the requirements and basic theme of the consumer that what they think, what they plan and how they choose. I shall also discuss the last two years of the Sainsburys progresses about the products because in past two year Sainsbury has improved their activities under the new management. Introduction United Kingdom is one of the most fast growing markets in fast moving consumer goods in the world. Market opportunities are comparatively very better than the other countries. Resources and legal GOVT. policies are very helpful for the new entrants in the retail market even though the UK five hundred retailers are enjoying about 85 percent of the whole market and rest of 215000 retailers are struggling for remaining market shares. And this trend or market competition encourages or forces the retailers to focus only the customer needs. This trend gives the opportunity to big retailers to make the huge supermarkets. That all the fast moving products include food and noon food item, home appliances and much more under the same roof to fulfil the customer needs and these supermarkets proved more convenience for the consumers. In early 19 century in UK, the retail market had different shape which calls co-operative movement where the multiple retailer or group of retailers comes under one management for working together to sell their products in reason able price to their customers. This trend of co-operative movement started in UK by Rochdale, Lancashire in 1840 and later in north of Englands retailers. But this merging was only for the customers who purchased the products in bulk. After Second World War when the economy of United Kingdom was rebuilding, that was the perfect time for the investors to invest in the different fields of business and retailers also made their positions. Like after four year of war end Marks Spencer opened their first supermarket in 1948 then Sainsburys opened in 1950, Tesco opened their first self service store in 1954, Morison opened 1958 and ASDA opened first supermarket in 1963. The era of 1960, 70s, 80s was the time of expansion of these giants who later opened their sup ermarket with different sizes in all over the places in UK, made their stores more convenience and gave more reliable services to their customers. In todays fast paced life nobody has time to go at individual shops for all the household needs and supermarkets has fulfilled this deficiency by providing their target market all the products i.e., from grocery to personal care, and from children items to medicines and electronics, furniture, fresh items, meat, etc. etc. The availability of all these items under one roof has various attractions which encourage a customer to visit in supermarkets. (www.tescopoly.org) (Raphael Moreau: franchiseek.com) Supermarkets have one major advantage that customer come mentally prepared to make heavy shopping i.e., at least the stock of one week household items so that he / she do not have to come again and again for small items. As London is one of most populated city in the world and day-to-day expenses needs to be made by everyone, in this way supermarkets are able to make large volume of sales. Due to large scale of purchasing supermarkets are able to make different offers especially on the frequently moving items like snacks, cheese, drinks, chocolates, bakery items, beers, wine, vegetables, fruits, meat, etc. etc. In this way consumers are tempted to make forced selling. Due to large sales volume the selling costs goes down which in turn enhances the profits of the supermarkets. (Grahame Dowling: Buying Behaviour) At the start of 2007 the UK retail market was worth about 128.2 billion with the comprehensive increase of 4 percent after 2006. End of 2007 that was reported that there are about 99, 134 retail stores in the United Kingdom which contain the small stores like Spar or Londies and also include the supermarkets like Tesco, Sainsbury etc. These all stores, grocers and supermarkets are expanding their businesses widely as their target market is expanding which made the UK market best example of perfect competitive market. (www.igd.com) UK retail Market Growth UK Grocery Market Performance (Source: IGD Research 2007) As discussed about the supermarkets and different retailers it shows that the customers of UK have wide range of option of selection. In order to evaluate the customer selection of product is the firm it should mostly refer to the traditional forms of marketing as they can be observed in most companies internationally. In this context, the study of Aufreiter et al. (2000) showed that when traditional marketers think of organization, they mean structure: distinct product, channel, and customer groups focusing on specific functional tasks, such as brand differentiation, customer segment management, and market research while functional managers play the pivotal roles in these functionally focused customer groups, which are responsible for generating ideas and taking them to market. (Aufreiter, N., Lawyer, T., Lun, C. (2000) In a sense, customer selection of product is formulated in each case in accordance with the needs of the particular company but most importantly with the conditions of the market. The term of focusing the product is often used in this case to show the involvement of entrepreneur in the design and the application process of the customer satisfaction of specific product and the main targets of the marketing policies used by a specific organization. In this context, Welsh (2003) supported that this term can be defined as â€Å"the proactive identification and exploitation of opportunities for attracting and retaining customers through innovative approaches to risk management, resource leveraging and value creation† (Welsh, 2003, 5). On the other hand, it is necessary that firms internationally use the appropriate techniques of communication in accordance with the social and cultural conditions of the market involved. Regarding this issue, the study of Dobie et al. (2003) showed t hat â€Å"marketing communications are an important element of any product as it is essential to inform potential and existing customers regarding product/service availability and application, and to persuade potential users to investigate, examine, and/or try the proffered product/ service†. (Dobie, K., Grant, J., Megehee, C. (2003). After reviewing the different views of customer selection one could easily notify that in UK where about 10 percent of the whole country is not native can be a complicated market where the product selection can be different and these people have to cover by supermarkets to attract them by their native products with concern food and grocery products. And this objective forces them to make new product lines in their stores. As I mentioned about the trend of supermarket in the UK and further on the three top supermarkets are following: Tesco ASDA Sainsburys This is the recent research that Tesco has 31.5 percent of whole UK retail market share further on ASDA who has 16.7 percent as well as Sainsbury who covered the 16.3 percent market share. In 1980s and early 90s Sainsbury had the leadership of UK market how ever in 1995 Tesco leads with 17 percent market share with rapidly increasing following years. But from past two years when the Sainsbury comes under new management with Justin King they increased well and fortune is this that could compete their rival ASDA and could regain on number two position in UK retail market. Sainsburys management is now improving under the new managerial structure and introducing the wide range of production their stores with different class and value. They increased their organic range and new lines of something new which also include the food items which concern their other countries customers who are living in UK. (news.bbc.co.uk) In 2005 Sainsbury also changed their slogan â€Å"try something new today† to introduce their wide range of new products to their loyal customers. As the Sainsbury is the UK third largest supermarket has increased its like to like sale from last two years. And this method encourages them to deliver large number of products in their stores which is a challenge and if they cant do so they can lower their growth rate as per their other competitors who are increasing significantly. Sainsbury also increased their non food products in the stores. They want to entertain their customer with their new product line including food and non food products. But the challenge is if their other rivals like ASDA and Tesco dont slope down their non food products offers it can be a big lose for Sainsbury. Sainsbury who has about 2.2 billion turnover per year has the fortune to increase it to 3.5 billion by 2011. Sainsbury also have smaller stores then Tesco and ASDA which they are planning to inc rease their stores next year as well as likely to increase the senior management of their stores. As we know Sainsbury has the massive 136 years history in the UK market even though some of the time likes 1995 when Tesco increased its market share till now which is incredible effort of Tesco. But from last two years as under new management they increased their number of stores with their new products. (The telegraph: 27/03/2008) Sainsburys supermarket chain is increasing their new product lines to fulfil the consumer requirement more customers are also making their shopping trend toward Sainsbury. Sainsbury is also managing the price strategy to maintain their sustainability in the market where there other rivals like Tesco and ASDA have vast pricing strategies. New offers are flourishing rapidly in Sainsbury. As I mentioned that UK customer have large number of selection which gives customer freedom of choice thats make Sainsbury to do more efforts. Sainsbury categorize their products with different ideas, thoughts and according to needs of consumer. I will discuss about it in next chapter but some are following with there basic themes. Taste the difference Be good yourself Basic organic Non food items These all Sainsburys categorize food products give the different consumers to different priorities like if we talk about the â€Å"taste the difference† products it covers those customers who come to Sainsbury to buy the quality products with the reasonable price. Second is â€Å"be good yourself† which always keep remember their customer that they are eating low fat food which makes them more healthy and specially those customer who are diet conscious. Third Sainsbury has a wide range of own manufactured brand called Basic which is key area of the Sainsbury turnover. In basic products they promise their customer to give them good products in very low price as per other supermarkets doing. Forth Sainsbury has organic products which give the opportunity to their consumers to buy the products which are total artificial ingredients free. And Sainsbury has introduced organic products in the UK market first in 1985 and latter other retailers got fruit from this product plan. (The telegraph: 11/01/2008) (www.j-sainsburys.co.uk) It is recently been announced by UK retail supermarket giant Sainsburys that their profit increased to 488 million pounds at 2007 which is 28 percent increased form last year. The declaration comes just a day after price rises leapt to three per cent, partly fuelled by improving grocery products prices. Chairman Philip Hampton said: â€Å"This year has been mainly important for Sainsburys since it marked the achievement of the Making Sainsburys Great Again revival plan represent in October 2004 and we stimulated from a period of improvement to development.† Last financial year Sainsburys also take over their target 2.5 billion to 2.7 billion. As for the competitive prices Sainsbury also increase their number of customer visit from 14 million to 16.5 million. And Sainsburys also going to distribute around 47 million pounds to their colleague this year which will come average 401 pounds to every worker. (The Metro UK, May 14th 2008) CHAPTER (2) History of Sainsburys The early years (1869-1940) Mr. John James and Marry Ann Sainsbury was the founder of Sainsburys in 1869. The first shop they open in London at â€Å"Drury Lane†. It was the small dairy shop as well as the area where they open the shop was the poorest area but this shop becomes very popular in the local area as their high quality product in very low price as compared to others. This success encourages Sainsburys owners to open more shops in surrounding areas. In 1882 this short period James Sainsburys had four shops and also he was planning to expand his business in other areas. On the meanwhile they also made their own brand product. Sainsburys also opened its wide range products shop in Croydon which become familiar in very short period. Furthermore in 1890 and 1900 the Sainsburys branches increased from 16 to 48 in all over London as well they open the depot at Black friars which was near to wholesale markets. Era of World War I The world was 1 led the Sainsbury to face the shortage of staff. in 1914 one third of the male staff left to join the armed forces. Women replace the men after getting the training from the school at Blackfriars. Company started to expand during the inter war era. Sainsburys expended in the suburbs of London like Luton, Cambridge, and St Albans. in 1939 there were 244 shops in the UK. Post War Era (1939-1969) This era was the most difficult for the Sainsburys as its assets were badly damaged by bombing and few of them were used by the army as warehouse. This era was not only hard for the Sainsburys but for the British people. The acute shortage of food in June 1950 Sainsburys reopened its first store in Corydon from there Sainsburys started to boom again. In 1969s Sainsburys started to expand in the west and Midlands. Sainsburys: Contemporary Image (1979-2000s) After the world war two, Sainsbury enter a new era of prosperity and growth till then the Sainsburys completed its age of a century. And it was still owned by the founding family. One of the major problem faces by the company in early 1970s was the shortage of oil due to which the cost increased many faults. The increase cost was overcome with the help of bulk merchandizing decreasing per unit cost. The largest stores like one in Cambridge which was opened in1974 offered a wide Varity of product range. It further started to expand in north east England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Thus becoming a national symbol. Sainsburys innovated a lot of techniques and styles of retailing using various tools and technology like scanning, computerized stock control and sale base ordering system. Sainsburys was the pioneer which gave a new face to the retailing system for example by using computerizes, energy management, refrigerate plant in store bakery, chillers and freezers. The produ ct ranges got twice till 1994 representing the numerous range of product like produce fresh foods, salads, ready meals, reduced fat milk and different types of specially breads. Sainsburys was the first British market to mark the â€Å"fair trade† products and using the recycle martial for the paper products and the carrier bags. The profitability measures of Sainsbury are 1991 2002: Sainsbury Profitability ratios 1991 1992 2000 2001 2002 Total operating profit margin 5.10% 4.85% 3.74% 3.41% 3.72% Group profit before tax margin 4.70% 4.62% 3.33% 2.98% 3.44% Interest payable as a percentage of turnover 0.50% 0.31% 0.41% 0.41% 0.27% Source: http://www.bized.co.uk/compfact/ratios/profit_add6a.htm Sainsburys maintained the profits in the years 2000 to 2002. In 1998 – 1999, the profits were better than year 2000. The shows that the profit slump is noticeable and was due to the management failure and high competition. Source: http://www.bized.co.uk/compfact/ratios/profit_add6a.htm Clear form the chart that Sainsburys lost its profit sharing in the year 2001 and 2002 and it discontinued many operations and it earned the minimum profit in the year 2002 which started to decline from the year 1998. Today Sainsbury serves more than 16 million customers each week. it has 455 supermarkets and 301 convenience stores across UK. More then 148000 people work under the umbrella of Sainsburys. Sainsburys strongly believes in high quality products and low price. Following that Sainsburys decrease 8500 prices in 2006. Keeping in view the advanced customer concerns about the health (health conscious customers). It introduced the â€Å"Wheel of health† following the traffic light system, highlighted the ingredients and calories presented to customer. These days more then 2000 products has been labelled by the wheel of health. Sainsburys also contributes in charities and local community as well. It donated 70 million pounds to all primary and secondary schools with the help of its â€Å"active kids campaign† using the fair trade products as a priority projects its image as the strong supporter of poor deserving farmers through out he world. In2005 and 2006 Sainsburys staff donated around 9 million pounds in several of charities. Sainsburys also support the comic relief and sorts relief. Sainsbury is also committed towards the environment and does not support the use of plastic carrier bags, which are made of 33 percent recycle martial processed in most advanced recycling units. Sainsburys has lunched a lot of campaign to reuse the plastic bags. Such sort of activities has reduced the carbon emission by 20 percent since the year 2000. At 14 May 2008 announcing the results of last financial year 2007 Justin King Chief Executive said â€Å"since then we have grown sales by 2.7 billion pounds, betting the target of 2.5 billion we said ourselves, and in march we reported our 13th consecutive quarter of like for like growth. I am also pleased to be able to let you know that, we have reported an increase in profit of 28 percent, up to 488 million pounds for the year ending 22 March 2008, more then double the 238 million pounds we reported for the year ending March 2005†. Research Question What makes the customers to opt the products in terms of class or value in the Sainsburys? This research will provide the essential key points of customer selection of products in terms of quality and price in Sainsburys. Aims and Objectives The main aims and objectives of this research project are to: Analyze the customer priorities by quality, price and quantity while shopping in Sainsburys. Find the purpose of range of products in Sainsbury in terms of quality and price. Prices of the product as per other competitors. Marketing strategy of Sainsburys for their new products with different prices. Purpose of product categorization in Sainsburys. Critically evaluate and make out the upgrading which could be introduced into Sainsburys based on the price and quality. Scrutinize the past activities to identify the areas of failure of their products by price and quality. Personal Objectives My personal objectives are: To get aware from leading supermarkets marketing strategy for their range of products and boost my international marketing edge. Secondly to complete my subject and go further for my MBA degree. CHAPTER (3) Literature Review Promotion The retailers having more items and products meeting the customer needs and information called as full service retailers covering every phase of the market segment and Operating such type of retailer service not to be an easy job to be done. Due to the high cost of staffing, higher number of goods including the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and slower moving items. Therefore the resulting of towering cost of the business. Hence the promotion of the product of such type of retailer like Sainsburys is highly debatable so as to increase the sale and profit margin. The marketing promotion can not be neglected. In this phase of increase competition, adopting such strategies can easily make a difference. A retailers most important decision depends upon the target market. One has to define and profile the target market before taking any decision. The retailer especially like the Sainsburys emphasises on the product assortment and procurement to comply with the target market demand. Chal lenge of the product assortment leads to develop a product differentiation strategy which differentiates the seller or retailer or merchandiser from the competitors on behalf of product. Seven known possibilities of the product differentiation strategy are Exclusive national brand private branded merchandise Distinctive merchandise events Surprise merchandise New merchandise first Merchandize customizing service Highly targeting assortment Although Sainsburys does not fall in all of such category and has not still adopted but the strategies like private branded merchandize, newest merchandise and targeted assortment have effectively been adopted. Sainsbury can make a difference by product differentiation such as offer merchandise which has been successfully introduce by Harrodss of London which makes customer oriented/tailored suits and further clothe accessories. Such type of customer assistance increases the customer satisfaction as well as customer confidence. Retailers like Sainsbury Tesco, ASDA Morison are improving there efficiency by forecasting and merchandizing for stock control, space allocation and display. For ordering the goods, measuring the inventory and analyzing the sales. The supermarket chains have adopted there computers and scanners to manage there merchandize mix. Direct product profitability (DPP) is currently being used to measure the cost of the product in store from the point of arrival till a customer buys it. Low volume products have normally low handling and keeping cost as compare to the high volume products which have high handling cost and therefore are less profitable. Thus they are kept in a low volume normally. This strategy has been successfully by the Sainsburys by keeping the more number of groceries and a less number of home ware items therefore Sainsbury makes a profit margin from the FMCG products. (Philip Kotler, Millennium Ed ) Sainsbury supply chain The supply chain strategy of Sainsbury was lunched in autumn 2000. The supply chain strategy if Sainsbury is focused on managing all segments starting from logistics and distribution to the shelf of the store. The goal of the Sainsburys supply chain strategy in base on the following few principles: Paper less Stockless Simple Automatic Precise and accurate Sainsbury emphasize at improved performance via reducing the cost improving the accessibility and availability, minimum loss and maximum level of services. Development of such innovative processes is developing to provide most effective and efficient service with least cost, thus delivering the reduced cost and profit to the customer in aspect of price. Sainsburys replaced all of the warehouse management and data base management over a 3 year period time since year 2000. (www.sainsburys.co.uk) J Sainsbury chief executive Justin King announced the â€Å"Recovery to growth† at 14th may 2008. He said â€Å"†¦we have already celebrated our success in growing our sales by 2.5 billion pounds but today we confirmed that we have achieved all of the target we set ourselves in our three year recovery plan. Looking to the future: we now need to continue this success so that we can achieve our new three year target, which we set out last May, of an extra 3.5 billion pounds of sales by March 2011. this is the next part of our, `Making Sainsbury Great Again plan,` where we will be focusing on moving from recovery to growth. Its another challenging target but I am confident that we will achieve it. We will continue to concentrate on the things that have helped us succeeded so far- great service and great availability to drive great sales. We will also continue to carefully manage our costs, so we can increase our profit. Store development will also be big focus for us, with our half of our stores undergoing works and opening the hundred new convenience stores over the next three years. We will also be expanding our online operations to two hundred our stores.† By March 2008 Sainsbury achieved 2.7 billion extra sales over the original target of 2.5 billion. (The Telegraph, May 18th 2008) He also declared 45 million pound to be distributed as bonus among 118000 colleagues this June. It is very clear statement of Justin King that the key to success is the great service and great availability which proved Sainsburys great again. Great service includes the customer service after sale services and customer convenience in the stores. Where as great availability covers the availability all of the products at all time making successful the supply chain of the Sainsburys. The higher sales are result of supply improvement since 2005. Sainsburys has been focusing to improve the stock availabilities by resolving information technology issues and delivery problems which was affected by its bad supply chain earlier. In 2005 the sales increased 3.7 percent which latter on lifted up to 7.2 percent in late 2005. Justin King said â€Å"our major focus on availability in beginning to show results with both colleagues and customer noticing improvement in store†. Justin King alway s emphasizes on the availability in any aspect starting from improving themselves in terms of refurbishment and colleagues training. (www.bbc.co.uk) Supply Something New -Value and Quality For the very begging Sainsbury has been struggling to provide the customer satisfaction via quality and price. Sainsbury has adopted a number of strategies regarding the concern for example Taste The Difference, Be Good Your Self, Basic, Organic, special offers like Buy One Get One Free, Buy Four Cheapest Free, Multi buy Price Offer, Buy One Get One Half Price and many more. Sainsbury does not only keep the concern with the customer but with the supplier as well. Sainsbury launched its new plan regarding the innovation in retail industry by introducing the supply something new scheme. Scheme was offered from 21 SEP 2007 and is offered to all sized food supplier. Scheme encourages the suppliers to offer the best they can offer to be shelved in Sainsburys. Kellys of Cornwall, Danby Dale Pie Company, Jack Scaife Bacon and Honey Buns have been recently added on the list of Sainsburys products. The process is quick and reliable and takes only three months to complete. The successful appli cants are approached by the supply chain team to transport the product from producer to stores. The scheme has only been offered to small and medium size manufacturing companies so as to offer a minimal price to the end user depending upon the level of productivity of the producer for example cranberry, flap jack, and plain vanilla flap jack are offered at the price 2.59 pound and 3.39 pounds respectively. The scheme does not only reflects the innovative thought of the producer but the user himself because the scheme is valid for small and medium base firm only and it is only the buyer or journal customer/user who operates at such level. (http://www.supplysomethingnew.co.uk/index.asp?pageid=11) Sainsburys and Fare trade The fair trade label was first defined four decades ago in 1988 by Max Havelarr used for a coffee from Mexico. Basically fair trade is a strategy develops to minimize the poverty and growth for the developing and under developing countries. The fair trade was specially design for such formers who lake the access the world market possessing improved trade benefits. Sainsbury is the UK biggest fair trade retailer. The fair trade certify products are those which are bought from the marginalised small scale farmers and agricultural workers, keeping a non fixed minimum price that a buyer has to pay to the seller. It is the set price which covers the cost of the product. The fair trade price has the safety advantage to the farmers even if the price of the product falls below the market level. On the other hand if the market price higher then the fair trade prices the buyer has to pay the market price. Through this fair trade the buyers and sellers sign the long term trading relationship fo r a specific predefine grades of produce. The fair trade law tells the end user advantage of the usage of the product and helps in effective promotion and identification of deserving quality products. Sales of Fair-trade certified products in the UK Estimated UK retail sales by value 1998-2007 ( £ million) Estimated percentage increases from 2006-2007 Total sales: 127% increase by volume and 72% by estimated retail value Total coffee: 33% increase by volume and 24% by estimated retail value Total tea: 21% increase by volume and 24% by estimated retail value Wine: 47% increase by volume and 51% by estimated retail value Flowers: 71% increase by volume and 72% by estimated retail value Cotton: 1,655% increase by volume and 658% by estimated retail value The volume of the fair trade products has been doubled between year 2006 and 2007. according to the data, consumers spent 1.1 billion pounds on fair trade products in 2006. As an average Sainsburys sales around 10,00,000 fare trade bananas. Justin King said, â€Å"by working together on this scale, the new fund will help to dramatically extend the benefits fare trade create to more farmers and worker in new areas, which have previously note been fait trade accredited†. Sainsbury has a land mark to converte all of his bananas to fair trade in July 2007. According to the s Sainsburys sells 1000 bananas a minute, 150 thousand a week and 700 million bananas a year and all of the bananas are fair trade. The sale of bananas have been increased by 5 percent (approximately 35 million bananas) since the Sainsburys has jumped to 100 percent fare trade bananas.

what is philosophy :: essays research papers

Very briefly, philosophy might be regarded as a conceptual enquiry dealing with fundamental issues relating to life, knowledge and values. By conceptual enquiry we mean an enquiry that relies primarily on critical reasoning. This includes : Analysing the meaning of concepts Identifying logical connections between theories Evaluating arguments and exposing fallacies Here is a Chinese newspaper article from MingPao on how philosophy improves critical thinking. Philosophy and other subjects According to such a conception of philosophy, philosophy is distinctive in both its method and subject matter. Art or literature might also deal with fundamental issues in life, but the use of critical reasoning is not a necessary part of artistic expression. Critical reasoning of course plays an important role in science, but science is an empirical enquiry into the nature of the world, relying on observations and experiments. In such respects philosophy is more like mathematics and logic. However, the subject matter of philosophy is more general in that it deals with all sorts of different areas outside mathematics and logic, such as religion and morality. Although philosophy is different from science, it would be a mistake to conclude that philosophy cannot contribute to the development of science. Philosophers can help scientists clarify the basic concepts in scientific theories, and use their skills in logic to evaluate the strength of evidence supporting or criticizing particular theories. Many sciences (e.g. psychology) originally developed out of philosophy. What philosophy can do Why should you study philosophy? If you are busy and don't have the patience or interest to reflect on fundamental issues, then perhaps philosophy is not for you. But for people who are interested in critical reflection, philosophy can be an enjoyable activity. There are other reasons for doing philosophy apart from pleasure. First, philosophical skills in thinking and writing and help us in describing and understanding theories and ideologies. Here philosophers take up the task of a cartographer, mapping out conceptual terrain and logical structure. Second, as mentioned earlier, philosophy can be an important tool in helping us acquire knowledge. Logic and critical reasoning are necessary to achieve consistency and in determining the right conclusions to be drawn given our observations and experiences. Finally, philosophy can also play a transformative role in our lives and social institutions. Through critical reflection on the justification and coherence of the values in social practices and our own actions, we do not just acquire a deeper understanding of our culture and of who we are.

The Annual Cycle of Eudyptula Minor, Its Phases and Major Effects :: Penugins Animals Wildlife Essays Expository

The Annual Cycle of Eudyptula Minor, Its Phases and Major Effects Abstract The Eudyptula minor, the smallest member of the penguin family, is an indigenous species of Australia, located on the southeastern coast. Little penguins follow an annual energetics cycle. The Little penguins go through periods of fasting which occur while incubating and molting. During the rest of the year, E. minor forage for numerous fish types. Foraging behavior relies on the aerobic diving limit as well as the amount of sunlight present. Fish, cephalopods, and crustaceans provide all the nutrients E. minor needs although one species might not be enough. Some prey types fulfill only partial daily requirements of the Little penguin’s diet. Introduction Australia is home to a numerous variety of flightless birds like emus and cassowaries. A unique member of the penguin family, Eudyptula minor can be found on the southeastern coast of Australia. The locals have given these penguins numerous names such as: Little penguin, Little Blue penguin, Blue penguin, and Fairy penguin. Unlike their arctic cousins, E. minor have adapted to a much warmer climate. The Little penguins have maintained the penguin species’ exceptional swimming abilities, and are able to stay out to sea for great periods of time. While out to sea the Little penguins must eat almost constantly to keep up their energy in order to maintain metabolism and energy levels. On shore during times of molting and egg incubation, the penguins can fast for many days. Little penguins have an annual energetics cycle that is affected by seasonal changes and during times of fasting and re-feeding. E. minor has a preferred choice of food and using information taken from s tudying captive Little penguins’ nutritional requirements can be determined. Life History The smallest member of the penguin family, the Little penguin at adulthood stands at 35 cm tall and weighs between 1-1.5 kg. As the alternative name Blue penguin indicates, adult E. minor have blue feathers on its dorsal side and white feathers on its ventral side. Females lay two eggs in a nest burrowed into a rocky shore or in dense vegetation. Many nests are now being made by scientists so that the threat of predators as well as other unfortunate circumstances that would cause an early death to the chicks or to the parents is reduced (Dann et al. The Annual Cycle of Eudyptula Minor, Its Phases and Major Effects :: Penugins Animals Wildlife Essays Expository The Annual Cycle of Eudyptula Minor, Its Phases and Major Effects Abstract The Eudyptula minor, the smallest member of the penguin family, is an indigenous species of Australia, located on the southeastern coast. Little penguins follow an annual energetics cycle. The Little penguins go through periods of fasting which occur while incubating and molting. During the rest of the year, E. minor forage for numerous fish types. Foraging behavior relies on the aerobic diving limit as well as the amount of sunlight present. Fish, cephalopods, and crustaceans provide all the nutrients E. minor needs although one species might not be enough. Some prey types fulfill only partial daily requirements of the Little penguin’s diet. Introduction Australia is home to a numerous variety of flightless birds like emus and cassowaries. A unique member of the penguin family, Eudyptula minor can be found on the southeastern coast of Australia. The locals have given these penguins numerous names such as: Little penguin, Little Blue penguin, Blue penguin, and Fairy penguin. Unlike their arctic cousins, E. minor have adapted to a much warmer climate. The Little penguins have maintained the penguin species’ exceptional swimming abilities, and are able to stay out to sea for great periods of time. While out to sea the Little penguins must eat almost constantly to keep up their energy in order to maintain metabolism and energy levels. On shore during times of molting and egg incubation, the penguins can fast for many days. Little penguins have an annual energetics cycle that is affected by seasonal changes and during times of fasting and re-feeding. E. minor has a preferred choice of food and using information taken from s tudying captive Little penguins’ nutritional requirements can be determined. Life History The smallest member of the penguin family, the Little penguin at adulthood stands at 35 cm tall and weighs between 1-1.5 kg. As the alternative name Blue penguin indicates, adult E. minor have blue feathers on its dorsal side and white feathers on its ventral side. Females lay two eggs in a nest burrowed into a rocky shore or in dense vegetation. Many nests are now being made by scientists so that the threat of predators as well as other unfortunate circumstances that would cause an early death to the chicks or to the parents is reduced (Dann et al.

The Effects of Second Hand Smoke Essay -- Smoking Tobacco Health Lung

The Effects of Second Hand Smoke Did you know that 3,000 American non-smokers will die this year from lung cancer? Those deaths are entirely preventable. Their lung cancer is caused by second hand smoke. Second hand smoke is smoke they have breathed in from other people's cigarettes. It is also known as involuntary or passive smoking. There is nothing passive however about the effects of this smoke. It is lethal and it is dangerous. It may give as many as 300,000 children under the age of one and half bronchitis and pneumonia. It could even be responsible for more than 35,000 deaths from heart disease. Smoking causes lung cancer. This fact is indisputable. What is sometimes disputed is the extent to which the smoke from other people's cigarettes damages those around them. Some in the tobacco industry play down this effect. They say that passive smoking is at worst a minor irritant. They say the recorded illness, deaths and cancers of those who have to live and work with smokers is a coincidence. They even have the audacity to suggest that those illnesses may be caused by diet or other environmental factors. Let us look at the facts. There are two ways in which passive or second hand smoke can affect non- smokers. Mainstream smoke is that smoke that has already been inhaled and then exhaled by the smoker. Sidestream smoke is the smoke that comes off the burning end or tip of the cigarette. Both of these sources are responsible for passive smoke inhaled by non-smokers. Second hand smoke is chemically similar to that inhaled by smokers. After 30 minutes exposure to second-hand smoke the blood flow to the heart is reduced. On top of this a non-smoker who is regularly exposed to second hand smoke has a 20 to 30% increased risk of lung cancer. Tobacco smoke contains 4,000 chemicals in the form of particles and gases. 200 of those chemicals are very poisons. 43 of those chemicals are proven to cause cancer. This lethal combination is what causes tobacco smoke to be classified as a Group A carcinogen. Incredibly 85% of the smoke from a cigarette will not be inhaled by the smoker. Instead it will fill up the room. That means only 15% of the smoke from a cigarette is actually inhaled by the person smoking it. On top of this, many of the toxic poisons and gases in sidestream smoke are present in higher quantities than in mainstream smoke. The poisons an... ... a welcome move. It means that we can start to look forwards to a smoke free environment for ourselves and our children. Unfortunately the statistics tell us that there are still many millions of people who still insist on their 'right' to smoke. The children who are exposed to their smoke do not have such a choice. Protecting children and non-smokers from the effects of second hand smoke must be a priority for everyone. A smoker chooses to smoke but a non-smoker's risk is involuntary. Exposure to second hand smoke is a real and present threat to our health. As a result there are many non-smokers who are needlessly dying from heart disease and lung cancer. Second hand smoking causes asthma, reduces lung function and bronchitis, pneumonia and causes middle ear infections. Many of these illness are inflicted upon small children. Bans on smoking in workplaces exist. So do bans on smoking in restaurants. Unless they are rigidly enforced they won't make a difference. Smoking, unfortunately, cannot be banned in homes. Passive smoking should be shown for exactly what it is, a dangerous killer. Maybe then non-smokers, especially children, will not suffer from second hand smoke.

Writing in a Relaxed Atmosphere

Writing in a relaxed atmosphere, for me, was extremely hard to do in the beginning. As a single mother of two little ones, my mind constantly races through the ins and outs of our daily life. Once I finally found my very own quiet time and place, the words came freely and surprisingly, so did the emotion I have worked so hard to keep under control. In searching for my very own â€Å"relaxed atmosphere†, I took a blanket and chair out to the campsite that my husband and I camped at shortly after we wed. My husband, Kevin, committed suicide in March of 2009. As the assignment was given in class, I knew exactly who I would write to. Though unsure of what I would say, to whom I would write was never a question. Sitting alone thinking of what I would say, I realized why writing in solitude could be very beneficial. With daily distractions, my concentration is easily broken causing me to lose my train of thought. Writing a letter to Kevin in a place that held many special memories helped me to embrace the emotions and thoughts that I ignore daily. As I got comfortable with being alone, this is a rare occasion for me, I was shocked when the words just came. While the words in the letter came to me with great ease, the essay was more difficult. Even knowing that this was a letter that will never be read by the person it was wrote to, I am extremely thankful for this assignment. I found the seclusion to be soothing, comforting and for once felt that I could be honest about how his actions made me feel. The noises found in nature were distracting for me at first. After I really got going, the sounds faded away causing me to lose track of time I spent on the letter itself. To me, it seems solitude and writing go hand in hand. The silence and lack of distraction allowed me to write freely and without interruption. Since this was a personal letter and it was something I was comfortable writing, I embraced the alone time. However, I can see that if I were writing about something that was not of interest to me, it would be hard to do alone.