Levi Strauss free essay sample

As one attempts to assess the business ethics of Levi Strauss and Nike in this writing assignment, we are again compelled to revisit the critical distinction of conduct that is legal, yet still unethical. In both instances, Levi Strauss and Nike behaved with the parameters of legal conduct, yet few would argue that profiting from exploitive work conditions is an ethical behavior of any socially responsible organization (broad view social responsibility). Obviously, it’s very tempting to just condense this argument to the point of â€Å"bad companies boosting profits from lower labor costs via exploiting foreign workers in sweatshops†. I am going to take a much broader approach here in my assessment, as complete fairness to the two corporations here requires a bit of an indictment of the legal, regulatory, political, and socioeconomic environment that they operate in. So, let’s start there †¦ how is it that both of these large corporations are permitted (and driven) to outsource (with relative impunity) labor to countries with poor labor laws? In order to fairly assess their conduct, one must first examine the system under which they operate. We will write a custom essay sample on Levi Strauss or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page How has corporate America gone down this path? Why do so many large U. S. corporations outsource labor en masse, which costs the U. S. economy so many jobs domestically? Let’s start by looking in the mirror and by that I mean you and I †¦ the U. S. consumer. Our thirst for cheap merchandise made overseas knows no limits. Do any of us look at the country of origin for goods, and if it’s non-U. S. do we even pause for a second to consider boycotting said goods due to loss of American jobs? Or boycott due to the nation of origin’s reputation for worker abuse? Of course we don’t. We want that Japanese high definition television from Wal-Mart that costs $100 less. We want the clothing from China or Indonesia that is 30% cheaper than similar brands made here. So, my first premise in this entire argument is that American consumers are NOT socially responsible in their purchasing habits. This lack of social responsibility on the demand side is a catalyst for Levi Strauss and Nike to seek cheaper labor overseas – for if they do not, their competitors assuredly will and they will be at a competitive disadvantage. Now, let’s assess the legal and regulatory environment under which both entities operate in the United States. Has Congress made it illegal to outsource labor to countries that they know are abusing their labor forces? In general, of course not. Congress maintains a blind eye to the problem, debating it over the years here and there in a politically motivated, half-hearted effort to occasionally placate certain voting segments (labor unions; displaced workers). Do they tougher their stance? Do they for one minute say to themselves, â€Å"this is really wrong, and socially irresponsible†? By inaction Congress is tacitly approving this practice, which of course is what powerful corporate lobbyists want. The profit motive has large U. S. corporations addicted to cheap labor now; Pandora’s Box has been opened and no one has the political will to attempt to close it. So let’s recap so far: we’ve indicted the U. S. consumer and our lawmakers in the legislative branch of the U. S. government (Congress) as major cultivators of the pro-outsourcing environment for which Levi Strauss and Nike must successfully operate under. Next on our list of socially irresponsible contributing parties – the judicial branch of the U.S. government. When the U. S. Supreme Court found in 2010 that the formation of so called â€Å"Super PACs† for campaign donations was legal, this gave corporations new powers under the law to, in effect, buy our government via opulent and obscene campaign spend funneled to candidates. The end result of this ruling is that corporations that profit greatly from outsourced labor are now able to pay for the elections of our Congressmen – and gee, wonder how this economic â€Å"favor† will be repaid when attempts to rein in outsourcing come up in Congress? Let’s move on to our two protagonists in this debate: Levi Strauss and Nike. Now that we’ve got the backdrop well in hand, and a reasonable person would agree that a massive systemic failure in the U. S. has allowed and promoted unchecked outsourcing of jobs, it’s time to discuss these two corporate giants and their respective behaviors here. Do these two corporations have a responsibility to monitor the conduct of the companies they do business within particular, their contractors and suppliers? As a personal believer in the broader view of corporate social  responsibility, I believe that they do. Notwithstanding the fact that all of this outsourcing is legal, and despite the mitigating factors that I’ve argued above that do alleviate these two companies of all of the blame – I still believe that they need to take the higher moral ground. Levi Strauss overall has conducted itself with far greater corporate social responsibility than Nike has, in my judgment. Strauss for many years withdrew from China due to their notoriety as a non-democratic country with abusive labor conditions. Regrettably, it had to re-enter China eventually to keep pace with competitors. Also, witness the way that Strauss treated its displaced U. S. workers as it (with some remorse) eventually had to close all its U. S. plants due to competition from outsourcers. Strauss gave generous severance and retraining dollars to the affected workers. In my estimation, Strauss has had to compromise its socially responsible corporate culture due to pressures from the warped competitive environment that was designed around them. It became a matter of survival for their corporation; their management had to adapt or risk failure and loss of the shareholders’ investments in the company. That is why I authored the overview above – I think it’s highly relevant to assessing Strauss’s conduct here. The system failed Levi Strauss – they wanted to behave under the broad definition of corporate social responsibility, but the demand for cheaper outsourced goods by consumers and the legality of outsourcing jobs (Congressional oversight failure) forced an adaptive change against their moral grain. Nike, however, is no apologist when it comes to their outsourcing. In fact, they are proud of it – even boasting that they pay outsourced workers higher than average wages for their region. To me, this is tantamount to bragging that â€Å"we don’t abuse those workers as badly as others do†. Frankly, that attitude offends my sensibilities and my personal set of ethical standards. I also deem it to be in direct conflict with the broader definition of corporate social responsibility. Lastly, I think that corporations have the obligation to take the ethical high ground and behave in a socially responsible manner (broad definition). That said, however, I do not believe that it’s a fair expectation to demand that high standard if adhering to same places the company’s very existence at risk due to systemic failures beyond their control. Levi Strauss attempted to â€Å"do the right thing†, but poor rules and oversight make competing in a broad ethical manner quite dangerous to its ultimate survival. Strauss’s example should serve as a wakeup call to U. S. consumers and our Congress: systemic change is needed, and it’s needed NOW. Levi Strauss free essay sample CUSTOMERS’ SATISFACTION LEVEL OF LEVI’S JEANS SEC-F Submitted To: Prof. Suptarishi Purkaystha Submitted by: Akanksha Gupta Komal Shanjan Sinha Tuhina Mandowara Shweta Puri Sujata Barua Akshay Sharma 09BSHYD1012 09BSHYD0386 09BSHYD0765 09BSHYD1032 09BSHYD0807 09BSHYD0866 09BSHYD0060 1 INDEX CONTENTS INTRODUCTION LITERATURE REVIEW HYPOTHESIS FORMATION DATA SAMPLE SIZE CONSOLIDATION RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ANALYSIS CONCLUSIONS REFERENCES ANNEXURES PAGE 3 5 8 9 11 12 20 22 24 2 INTRODUCTION The modern age is known as the â€Å"Age of Consumers†. In today? s cut-throat competition the consumer is considered as the â€Å"KING† and the main objective of the various organizations are aimed at keeping the consumer happy and satisfied. It is very important for each and every organization to keep its consumers satisfied in order to maintain its competitiveness in the market. However when we take a closer look, we find that the consumers satisfaction level towards a company and its leading products vary on one aspect or the other based on a variety of attributes (Kotler, 2009). We will write a custom essay sample on Levi Strauss or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Fashion is a highly customer oriented industry with innovative products, where there are large number of competitors giving you a intense competition. Thus companies have to come up with something different and unique keeping the target buyer group and the time factor in mind since in the fashion industry the product life cycle is very short. LEVI’S STRAUSS CO. : Statistics show that every day millions of customers go for shopping worldwide. Hence every company wants to attract customers and increase their customer base. To ensure this companies have to keep up with the latest fads for satisfying customer requirements. For those of us that want to wear jeans with style and make a fashion statement about who we are, then finding the right pair(s) of designer jeans is crucial to our social standing. Levis offers a great range of jeans for both men and women, but variety is not the only factor influencing Levi? s customer? s purchasing behavior. There may be other factors because of which customers are more or less satisfied which influences their repurchasing decision of Levis Jeans. Invented in 1873, Levis ® jeans are the original, authentic jeans. Levis ® brand is one of the most widely recognized brands in the history of the apparel industry. From updating classics with the latest finishes, fabrications and colors, to reinventing five-pocket jeans, they are always creating new and innovative products The company has also been worldwide appreciated for the perfect fit. The specialty of Levis lies in the fact that it is very empathetic towards people. A good pair of jeans can bring dignity and honor to everyone from common man to the high profile business men, across both the sex and irrespective of income groups. The search for decent jeans is a kind quest, with moments of translucent success alternating with tragedy failures. From its foundation in 1853 and patenting of riveted pants 20 years later, Levi Strauss has become an instantly recognizable global brand. With sales in more than 100 countries, the company employs 12,500 people worldwide. Nonetheless, the last six years have seen the company struggling to come out of a slide in sales. Traditional customers have started buying 3 cheaper or more fashionable clothes. Prices have come under pressure from clothing competitors and from retailers like Tesco buying Levis product on the â€Å"grey market†. Levis response involved product diversification and brutal trimming. Thus in this age of global trading for establishing one as a leading brand in different regions it is necessary to analyze the satisfaction level of customers in that region and cater to their needs by improving on attributes on which customer is not satisfied. Jeans are the nondurable goods, Nondurable goods are goods that are used up quickly or purchased frequently, as food and apparel. Jeans are now a very popular form of casual dress around the world, and have been so for decades. However, there are certain factors that affect their sales, in addition to increase in customer specific needs in recent time there are other factors which affect sales of apparel industry (in particular jeans) like recession, inflation and shortening of fashion products life cycle.. Consumer satisfaction is a desirable outcome for apparel manufacturers and retailers, since satisfied customers can lead to increased store patronage, repeat purchase and brand loyalty. Thus we seek to ascertain the factors for which Levis jeans users are satisfied to ensure that identifying these factors will result in the company implementing policies to increase the satisfaction level of its users thereby assuring increased sales in future. 4 LITERATURE REVIEW Consumer satisfaction is a desirable outcome for apparel manufacturers and retailers, since satisfied customers can lead to increased store patronage, repeat purchase and brand loyalty (Otieno, 2000). Many people have worked on relationship between satisfaction level of customer towards a particular brand and buying behavior of customers. Satisfaction is often used as a predictor of future consumer purchases (Newman and Werbel, 1973; Kasper, 1988). Satisfied customers have a higher likelihood of repeating purchases in time (Zeithaml et al. , 1996), of recommending others to try the source of satisfaction (Reynolds and Arnold, 2000; Reynolds and Beatty, 1999), and of becoming less receptive to the competitors offerings (Fitzell, 1998). Prior research on the economic impact of defecting customers suggests that service companies can boost profits by almost 100 per cent by retaining only five per cent of their customers (Reichheld and Sasser, 1990). Retaining existing customers is generally more profitable to companies than attracting new customers (Hawkins et al. , 1995; Sirohi et al. , 1998). Therefore, it is critically important for apparel industry in particular LEVI? S to identify customers desired service levels in relation to their patronage intentions. The expectations of nondurable goods such as jeans should become strong, stable and generally consistent with a product? s perceived performance (Johnson 1991). â€Å"Levi Strauss: an international marketing investigation†: by Demetris Vrontis and Peri Vronti talks of the Levis jeans business and investigates whether LEVI? S should choose global standardization or adaptation to local market conditions. The authors propose the Levis approach which combines aspects of both solutions as the best way to secure competitive advantage and satisfy its customers ensuring retention as well as increase of its customer base. The understanding of consumer behavior appeals to a set of different areas of knowledge/factors like psychological, cultural, social, genetics, anthropological (POLSA et. al 2002). On the basis of previous studies and research paper and literary articles from PROQUEST and EBESCO a number of variables were found to be responsible for influencing consumers to opt for a branded apparel, of which a 33 variables have been taken up in our study to understand whether they have any implication on the consumers? preference for a branded apparel or not. BRAND IMAGE (PREFERENCE FOR A PARTICULAR BRAND): Customers orientations towards shopping are considered to be important predictors of patronage behaviors, such as preference for brands as well as for certain stores (Darden and Howell, 1987; Gutman and Mills, 1982; Shim and Kotsiopulous, 1992b). Research on brand personality acknowledges that consumers often â€Å"humanize† brands. Respondents typically describe a brand using human personality traits such as extroversion, agreeableness, and dependability (Aaker, 1996; Aaker and Fournier, 1995). o their decision of buying a particular brand is highly influenced by brand image of that product. 5 QUALITATIVE VARIABLES: Jeans attributes such as fabrics, comfort, fit, durability have been defined in previous research (Kaiser et. al. 2003, chowdhary 2002, Enoch 1993, young 1980) as an important factor that contributes towards customer satisfaction about the product. STATUS: Research also associate meaning of wearing jeans(Enoch? s 19 93; Delong et al. 1998), apparels are often associated with status symbol, hence people wear a particular brand which adds or suits their status in the society. For instance in the USA and Europe, jeans have connotations of casualness and rebelliousness where as in Russia, jeans denote sophistication and high status and in Spain the high price turns them into a high fashion item. COMFORT: Brand name and comfort are found to be really important (young 1980) to people though degree of importance of these factors is variable. Here we can take the example of Americans, for who comfort matters above brand name whereas for the Chinese brand name matters most (Minglue marketing shanghai co ltd. 1998). CUSTOMER SERVICE EXPERINCE: There repurchase behavior of individuals are based on the company redressed their grievances in the past. Relationships of redress and repurchase have been examined with service retailing and with durable products but not with apparel products. Though limited research has been done on consumer complaint behavior and apparel purchases, but it is found that there is need to focus on complaints redressed time, response to enquiries and reliability of customer services(LaBarbera and Mazursky,1990) since these factors determines the satisfaction of customer towards the brand. DISCOUNTS: Discount outlets sell about one-fifth of all jeans in the $12. 4 billion U. S. market, according to research firm Mintel International Group Ltd. Hence Levi Strauss opts for the discount game at Wal-Mart? s. There has also been a strong growth in shopping at discount stores.. VALUE FOR MONEY: Fornell in his study found some interesting results about customer satisfaction and price. Price expectations are highly linked to quality and value. There was a direct relationship between expectations of the product and satisfaction (Fornell 1996). Thus we can say that the customer is satisfied if he gets quality in respect of the money he pay for the product. PRICE: Higher price seems to form high status feature along with affordability both of these factors are linked to the economic and demographic factors of the company (Rao 1989). Denim, formerly an affordable classic, has been changed into a product that is highly coveted and highly priced. Consumer? s satisfaction level depends on price as a measure of quality (Lichtenstein et al. , 1993, Veek Burns, 1995). The various studies conducted by Suri Monroe, 2002; Adaval Monroe, 2002; O? Cass Lim, 2002 lead to the conclusion that consumers in general on their market experience tend to decide on an acceptable price which they confirm with the quality of product and determine if it is too high or low . 6 ADVERTISING: There is large number of studies that focus on relationship between advertising, service quality and satisfaction issue of consumers (Lewis 1993). Advertisements are responsible for the creation of a brand image and brand loyalty among customers. Moreover the use of celebrity to endorse these brands has an impact on the brand image and brand loyalty (Aakar, 1991). It is found out that advertising can yield significant marketing advantages by increasing brand preference (Rajagopal, 2007) for a particular product. FASHION TRENDS: Just as the apparel industry is constantly changing, the denim industry is also struggling to keep a pace with it. Every year new cuts, colors, styles, stitching, etc. emerge (FORNELL 1996). So to keep pace with customer satisfaction level, fashion trend is an important variable. AVAILABILITY: Consumers want every design and style, color and shade offered by the company to be available in the company? store at all times thereby increasing customer satisfaction level towards the product. RANGE OF STYLE: Teenagers do not want to wear a brand that isn? t stylish enough. So in apparels range of styles offered by a company matters a lot adding to the customer satisfaction level towards a particular brand. RANGE OF SIZE: There should be a size that fits all. As people all over the world have different tastes as well as sizes , so a customer is satisfied more if the company offers him a design in many sizes so that one size fits him well. CONVENIENCE OF WASHING: Since convenience of washing of denim is an important factor towards adding customer satisfaction for buying a particular brand therefore in July of 2003, Levi Strauss Company finally decided to follow the successful example of others and launch a new casual clothing brand called Levi Strauss Signature targeted towards U. S. consumers for whom convenience of washing of denim is an important factor. PRODUCT PROPERTIES (DESIGN, COMFORT): The products? properties, like design, comfort, individuality, have a decisive role on apparel? buying behavior, which individually may vary depending on a set of factors, mainly on sex (Fischer and Arnold, 1994). DURABILITY OF CLOTHING: European markets are happy with standard weight denim but hotter climates require lighter weight denim and even brighter colors over lighter shades of denim. So the durability of clothing (DENIM) in various regions is an important factor regarding customer satisfaction about jeans So these are the variables we look for making our final questionnaire, comprising of 33 variables from the above mentioned parameters. HYPOTHESIS FORMULATION Null hypothesis, H0: Factors identified do not affect the level of satisfaction of the customer Alternate hypothesis, H1: Factors identified affect the level of satisfaction of the customer In this project we measured the levels to which the customers are satisfied with the product, Levi’s Jeans. This yielded the reasons for their buying preferences and the current level of satisfaction. By using the results of the analysis we will able to answer the problems: Are Levi’s Jeans Users Satisfied With What The Company Is Offering? And What Measures Need To Be Adopted To Increase Their Current Level Of Satisfaction? The rationale behind conducting this project is to recognize the extent to which Levi? s brand is satisfying the customers. Moreover we can gauge where the company lags in serving its customers so as to improve on measures on how we can retain them. The variables obtained would be helpful to understand the buying behavior of the customers . For example, the customers of the particular region want classic Levi? jeans instead of the new designs and those jeans are out of stock ,the satisfaction level of customers in that region is low, the company can improve on it by having an up to date stock of classic jeans. Retaining existing customers is generally more profitable to companies than attracting new customers (Hawkins et al. , 1995; Sirohi et al. , 1998. Therefore, it is critically important for apparel industry to identify customers desired service levels in relation to their patronage intentions. This is just an instance through which we are showing that how by recognizing the variables affecting the buying behavior of customer , the company can improve and work on to have more customer retention and brand loyalty. However, the real variables can only be determined after conducting the survey. 8 DATA SAMPLE SIZE CONSOLIDATIONS DATA The study was conducted to measure the satisfaction level of Levis jeans users. Data was collected through secondary as well as primary sources. Secondary sources included articles on jeans from internet, books, and journals. Primary data was obtained by conducting the survey on the sample size of 350 respondents. Relevant variables were generated and questionnaire was developed to obtain the same. Findings based on questionnaire filled were analyzed using SPSS software. QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN Preliminary Decisions Required information: The questionnaire was designed with the view of finding out how much each of the identified factors affects the respondents? level of satisfaction in his / her purchase of the Levi? s jeans. Target respondents: As the research aims at identifying factors affecting customer satisfaction, the survey has been conducted on 350 respondents consisting of IBS students who were the users of the brand. SAMPLE SIZE Primary data was collected for which the target populations were the students of Hyderabad. The target sample size was of 350 however the data for 330 were analyzed, 20 respondents discarded due to inconsistency SAMPLING: The non random sampling technique was chosen, i. e. , the population elements? selection to form the sample depends, partly, on the researcher? judgment as only the existing customers of Levi? s jeans were taken as respondents. There are no known conjectures that a random element in the population may have a share in the sample. MEASUREMENT SCALE Likert Scale Likert scale indicate the attitudes of the respondents by checking how strongly they agree or disagree with carefully constructed statements that range from very positive to very negative 9 towar d attitudinal object. In our questionnaire we have designed questions of variables with different levels of response each denoting a particular preference. 1. 2. 3. . 5. Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree (SA) (A) (N) (D) (SD) Desired pair of Levi? s jeans is easily available? SA A N D SD If the respondent answers as SA meaning 1, this means that he strongly agrees to the fact that the he is fully satisfied with the Levi? s jeans. This scale was selected by us as it is suitable for calculation purposes like arithmetic mean, standard deviation and co-relation coefficient etc. because the research we are conducting requires us to analyze the correlation between the variables, responses and also for factor analysis. GENERALIZABILITY Generalizability refers to the amount of flexibility in interpreting the data and ability to collect data from a wide variety of respondents. Also we consider flexibility to interpret data gathered from variety of respondents. In our survey, we have considered all close ended questions. So, the respondents just have to select their choices from the given options. Close ended questions in our survey helped us to collect and analyze the data because it provides us luxury to collect data in the identical format from wide variety of respondents. 10 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY PRELIMINARY INTRODUCTION We have taken the help of reports from various websites and databases including EBSCO and ProQuest in order to identify important secondary factors which influence the decision of users of Levi? s jeans. These databases feature highly-respected, diversified mix of scholarly journals, trade publications, magazines, and newspapers enabling us to identify variables for our study and design our questionnaire. Reliability Statistics Cronbachs Alpha . 828 N of Items 21 SAMPLING Primary data was collected for which the target populations were the students of Hyderabad. The target sample size was of 350 however the data for 330 were analyzed, 20 respondents discarded due to inconsistency 11 ANALYSIS Descriptive statistics is run and the output obtained shows the mean, standard deviation and variance, the sample size and missing values, if any. Mean These are the means of the variables used in the factor analysis. Std. Deviation These are the standard deviations of the variables used in the factor analysis. Analysis N This is the number of cases used in the factor analysis. 12 FACTOR ANALYSIS IN SPSS Factor Analysis is a technique for analyzing complex, multidimensional problems. It is used to Examine the underlying patterns or relationships for a large number of variables and condense the information to a smaller set of factors or components. Purpose of factor analysis Identify a set of dimensions that are latent Combine large number of objects into distinctly different groups or factors Create an entirely new set of factors for further analysis. For example, use the orthogonal factors to remove multi-collinearity in a regression analysis. The method used for running the factor analysis is Principal Component. In our case, we will continue with the default method keep Eigen value =1. The maximum number of iteration is kept at 25. KMO Bartlett’s Test The first table that we will get in the SPSS output is the „KMO and Bartlett? s Test?. The KMO (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy) tests whether the partial correlations among variables are small. In other words, it tells us whether the data that we have for factor analysis is good enough. A general guideline is KMO ; or = 0. 90 : Excellent 0. 80 to 0. 0 : Very Good 0. 70 0. 80 : Good 0. 60 to 0. 70: Fair 0. 50 0. 60: Bad ; or = 0. 5: Forget Normally KMO below 0. 60 is unacceptable. The Bartletts test of sphericity tests whether the correlation matrix is an identity matrix, which would indicate that the factor model is inappropriate. The significance level of this test should be lower than 0. 05 in order to proceed further. KMO and Bartletts T est Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy. Bartletts Test of Sphericity Approx. Chi-Square df Sig. .891 2356. 530 210 . 000 13 Interpretation In this case the KMO value is 89. % which according to the standards is considered VERY GOOD also the model is significant @ 5%. Hence the data seems to be acceptable for the study. COMMUNALITIES Communality of a variable is the proportion of the variance accounted by the factors included in the solution. The method used is Principle Component Analysis and the communalities are well above 0. 5 which indicates that all these factors can be considered for the Factor Analysis. However, if we feel that the variables that have low communality are important to our study, we may keep them and run the full factor solution (i. . the rotated component matrix) and see if the results obtained are meaningful. Interpretation The communality of Affordability- Price of the product variable is 0. 733 and the number of factors in the solution is 10, it implies that these 10 factors explain 73. 3 % of the variance of that particular variable. It is always good to remove those variables that have communality less than 0. 50. In our result there is only one variable „Convenience in washing’ (0. 467) whose values is 14 very are marginally less than 0. 5 so we do not remove them from our analysis. All the other variables have reasonably high communalities. The next table is the „Total Variance Explained? table. Eigen values are the variance explained by each factor. It is called the „initial Eigen value? because the factor solution that we have obtained is not rotated and thus may not be optimum. The percentage of variance is the proportion of variance explained by that factor to the total variance. Also notice that the number of factors that are shown in the output is restricted by the condition of Eigen value greater than 1. Interpretation For example, if the Eigen value is 6. 795, then the factor corresponding to this Eigen value i. e in this case FACTOR 1 explains 6. 795variance. The percentage of variance is the proportion of variance explained by the factor to the total variance. Also the number of factors that are shown in the output is restricted by the condition of Eigen value greater than 1. In this case, the first 6 factors have the Eigen values greater than 1 and they cumulatively explain 62. 67% of the variance, therefore we take into account only the first 6 factors to continue. 5 SCREE PLOT The next plot is the Scree Plot which is graph between Component (read factor, in your case) and Eigen value. This plot is a visual inspection as to how many factors explain your data suitably. Normally, the number of factors is chosen where the scree plots flatten out. The scree plot also gives you an idea as to whether you can relax your Eigen value greater than 1 criterion. Interpretation The Scree Plo t which is graph between factor and Eigen value. This plot is a visual inspection as to how many factors explain your data suitably. Normally, the number of factors is chosen where the scree plots flatten out. In this case the plot starts to flatten at 10. So we are considering the first 10 factors only. It also gives an idea as to whether we can relax the Eigen value greater than 1 criterion. Here we are not relaxing this condition. Rotated Component Matrix Like the „Component matrix? , the „Rotated Component Matrix? specifies the correlation between Rotated factors and the variables. Normally, a rotated factor loading of more than 0. 5 is considered to be high. The variable that has at least a factor loading of 0. is said to have highly loaded on to that factor. All variables that have high loadings are loaded on to that factor. 16 Rotated Component Matrix Component 1 Affordability- Price of the product Desired pair of levis jeans is easily available? Durability of clothing (Levis Denim) Durability of Stitching of Levis Jeans Comfortability of Levis jeans Variety/ Designs offered by Levis Strauss Ra nge of shades offered by the brand Range of fitting styles offered Range of sizes Convenience in washing Discounts/schemes offered by Levi Strauss Value for money w. r. product Levi’s responsiveness towards the latest fashion trends Reliability of customer services offered at Levis stores Response to enquiries regarding the porduct from the company Complaints redressed time Advertisements promotions of the product Location of Levis Stores Proximity of Levis Stores Layout of Levis stores Salesmens Promptness in service . 818 . 802 . 728 . 494 . 649 . 657 . 939 . 530 . 725 . 654 . 705 . 767 . 743 . 632 2 3 4 5 . 791 . 464 6 .631 .636 .767 Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization. A Rotation converged in 8 iterations. 17 Interpretation Absolute values less than 0. 45 have been suppressed. This was done to make the Rotated Component matrix look less cluttered as all factor loadings below 0. 45 would be suppressed but not deleted. From the final rotated Component matrix, all the variables have been loaded into the factors according to the value of their Loadings. And it can be observed that related variables have been collated under one factor. For example, variables like durability, affordability, comfortability, value for money latest styles have been collated under factor1 named QUALITY. Likewise all the other related variables are also combined into one factor whose names have been mentioned. Component Transformation Matrix The final table that is to be looked into is the „Component Transformation Matrix? is the correlation between your rotated and un-rotated factors. Model Summary a Predictors: (Constant), REGR factor score 6 for analysis 4, REGR factor score 5 for analysis 4, REGR factor score 4 for analysis 4, REGR factor score 3 for analysis 4, REGR factor score 2 for analysis 4, REGR factor score 1 for analysis 4 b Dependent Variable: How satisfied are you with the product? Interpretation 18 In regression, the validity of the factors is tested by comparing them with the dependant variable. For this purpose, the significance values at 95% significance level are tested. For a particular factor to be significant, the significance should be lesser than 0. 05. The adjusted R2 (coefficient of determination) shows the percentage of variance in the dependant variable that is explained by the independent variable. In this, the adjusted R2 value is 0. 418 which is good. Since the P value is less than 0. 05(0. 03 in this case) the model holds well. We can see from the normal PP Plot that the regression line is a fairly good estimation of the expected values. The F statistic value is high this shows that the explained variance is 5. 945 times the unexplained variance which again reiterates the validity of the regression model. Interpretation The model is significant at 5% significance level. 19 CONCLUSION The sample is a representative of the target population. The conclusion we can draw from the above statistical research is that the major factors are: Quality of Levi? s Jeans Levi? Store Designs Offered Customer Service Experience Price Discounts offered The above factors are the major indicators of the satisfaction level of the customers. We reject the null hypothesis that Factors identified do not affect the level of satisfaction of the customer as the model is significant at 5%. Hence we conclude that the identified factors significantly affect the level of satisfaction. 20 The variables the factors summary is given below : FACTORS Factor 1 OLD VARIABLES Durability of clothing, durability of stitching, comfort, range of sizes, NEW FACTORS Quality of Levi’s Jeans Levi? s responsiveness towards the latest fashion trends Factor 2 Factor 3 Location, Proximity, Layout Designs, range of fitting style, range of size offered by Levi? s Levi’s Store Designs Offered Factor 4 Reliability of customer services, Response to enquiries regarding the product from the company, Complaints redressed time, Salesmens Promptness in service Affordability, Desired pair of Levi? s jeans is easily available, Value for money Discounts/ Schemes offered Customer Service Experience Factor 5 Price Factor 6 Discounts offered Thus we seek to ascertain the factors for which Levis jeans users are satisfied to ensure that identifying these factors will result in the company implementing policies to increase the satisfaction level of its users thereby assuring increased sales in future. 21 REFERENCES Aaker, D. (1996). Building Strong Brands. New York: Free Press. Aaker, J. L. (1997). Dimensions of Brand Personality. Journal of Marketing Research, 34: 47-356. Ailing Levi Strauss refits U. S. strategy. By: Cuneo, Alice Z. , Advertising Age, 00018899, 7/15/2002, Vol. 73, Issue 28 Anderson, Brian. â€Å"Levi? s are out, khakis are in. 1999. http://www. wearablesbusiness. com (16 Sept. 2004). Anderson, E. W. , Fornell, C. , Lehman, D. R. (1994). Customer Satisfaction, Market Share and Profitability: Findings from Sweden. Journal of Marketing, 58, 3, 53-66 Bolton R and Drew J H (1991) A multistage model of customer? s assessments of service quality and value. J Consumer Res 17: 375-84 Boulding W, Kalra A, Staelin R and Zeithmal VA (1993) A dynamic process model of service quality: from expectations to behavioral intentions. J Mktg 30: 7-27. David K and Wilton P C (1988) Models of consumer satisfaction formation: An extension. J Mktg Res 25: 204-10 Dodds, William B. , Kent B. Monroe, and Dhruv Grewal. â€Å"Effects of Price, Brand, and Store Information on Buyers? Product Evaluations. † Journal of Marketing Research 28, no. 3 (1991): 307-319 Durable Goods. Dictionary. com. Dictionary. com Unabridged (v 1. 1) Random House, Inc. http://dictionary. reference. com/search? q=durable%20goods (accessed: April 23, 2007). Fornell, C. (1992). A National Customer Satisfaction Barometer: The Swedish Experience,Journal of Marketing, 56, 1, 6-21. Fornell, Claes, Michael D. Johnson, Eugene W. Anderson, Jaesung Cha, Barbara Everitt Bryant. The American Customer Satisfaction Index: Nature, Purpose, and Findings. † Journal of Marketing 60, no. 4 (1996): 7-1 Fournier, S. (1998): Consumers and their Brands: Developing Relationship Theory in Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research, 24: 25-50 Gardyn, Rebecca. â€Å"The Shape of Things to Come. † 1 July 2003. http://www. findarticles. com/p/articles/m i_m4021/is_6_25/ai_105777516 (23 Nov. 2004 Grewal D, Monroe K B and Krishnan R (1998) The effects of price-comparison advertising on buyers, perceptions of acquisition value, transaction value, and behavioral intentions. J Mktg 62: 46-59 Garbarino E and Johnson M S (1999) The different roles of satisfaction, trust and commitment in customer relationships. J Mktg 63: 70-87 Gilly, M. C. , Postcomplaint Processes: From Organizational Response to Repurchase Behavior, Journal of Consumer Affairs, Vol. 21 No. 2, 1987, pp 293-313 Gilley, M. C. and Gelb, B. D. , Post-purchase Consumer Processes and the Complaining Consumer, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol 9 No. 12, 1982, pp. 323-8. 22 Jean Therapy, $23 a Pop. By: Lee, Louise, BusinessWeek, 00077135, 6/28/2004, Issue 3889 Levis struggles to peddle Signature to men. By: Cuneo, Alice Z. , Advertising Age, 00018899, 12/1/2003, Vol. 74, Issue 48 Lessons From a Faded Levi Strauss. By: Zellner, Wendy, BusinessWeek, 00077135, 12/15/2003, Issue 3862 McDonell, Meghann. â€Å"Denim Dilemma. † 2003. http://www. journalism. ryerson. ca/online/downlo/selfhelp/denimdileme2. htm (24 Nov. 2004). Morganosky, M. A. and Postlewait, D. S. , Consumers Evaluations of Apparel Form, Expression, and Aesthetic Quality, Clothing Textiles Research Journal, Vol. 7 No. 2, 1989, pp. 11-15. Morganosky, M. A. and Buckley, H. M. Complaint Behavior: Analysis by Demographics, Lifestyle, and Consumer Values, in Wallendorf, W. and Anderson, P. (Eds), Advances in Consumer Research, Association for Consumer Research, Provo, UT, Vol. 14, 1987, pp. 223-6 Oliver, R. L. (1980), â€Å"A cognitive model for the antecedents and consequences of satisfaction†, Journal ofMarketing Research, 17, 460-469. Rao, Akshay R. and Kent B. Monroe. â€Å"The Effect of Price, Brand Name, a nd Store Name on Buyers? Perceptions of Product Quality: An Integrative Review. † Journal of Marketing Research. 6, no. 3 (1989): 351-357 Semon Thomas T. Marketing News. Chicago: May 9, 1994. Customer satisfaction is relative Vol. 28, Iss. 10; pg. 15, 1 pgs Steven T. Goldber (April 2006)consumers will pay for jeans: Kiplinger? s p-66 Swan, J. E. and Oliver, R. L. , Postpurchase Communications by Consumers, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 65 No. 4, 1989, pp. 516-33 . (Vrontis, D. , Vronti, P. (2004), Levi Strauss: an international marketing investigation, Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, ISSN: 1361-2026, Vol. 8 No. 4, pp. 38998) â€Å"Why Levi? still looks faded. † 2002. http://www. businessweek. com (19 Sept. 2004) Walton, Scott. â€Å"Low-cost, high-fashion. † 2004. http://www. azcentral. com (20 Sept. 2004). Youn, Soo. â€Å"Levi? s jeans going discount. † 2004. http://www. nydailynews. com (19 Sept. 2004). â€Å"Levi Strauss Company. † 2 004. http://www. levistrauss. com (20 Sept. 2004) http://www. ucimc. org (18 Sept. 2004) http://www. responsibleshopper. org (18 Sept. 2004) 23 ANNEXURES QUESTIONNAIRE Consumer Satisfaction level of Levi’s Jeans users * Required Do you possess a pair of Levi? Jeans? * Yes No How many pairs of Levi? s jeans do you have? * 1 2 3 More than 3 Gender Male Female Age How often do you purchase a pair of jeans? Occasionally Once every three months Once every 6 months Once a year In which of the following family income group? * Below 200, 000 200, 000 400, 000 400, 000 – 600, 000 above 600, 000 Your decision of buying towards THE BRAND Levi? s, depends upon: 24 Brand linked status Authenticity of products Publicity Versatility Are You satisfied with the product, Levi’s jeans on the following parameters. Tick appropriate satisfaction level. Affordability- Price of the product * 1 Strongly Agree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Disagree Desired pair of Levi? s jeans is easily available? * 1 Strongly Agree Durability of clothing (Levi? s Denim) * 1 Strongle Agree Durability of Stitching of Levi? s Jeans * 1 Strongly Agree Comfortability of Levi? s jeans * 1 Strongly Agree Variety/ Designs offered by Levis Strauss * 1 Strongly Agree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Disagree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Disagree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Disagree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Disagree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Disagree 25 Range of shades offered by the brand * 1 Strongly Agree Range of fitting styles offered * 1 Strongly Agree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Disagree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Disagree Range of sizes * 1 Strongly Agree Convenience in washing * 1 Strongly Agree Discounts/schemes offered by Levi Strauss * 1 Strongly Agree Value for money w. r. t product * 1 Strongly Agree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Disagree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Disagree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Disagree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Disagree Levi? s responsiveness towards the latest fashion trends 1 Strongly Agree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Disagree Reliability of customer services offered at Levi? s stores * 26 Strongly Agree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Disagree Response to enquiries regarding the porduct from the company * 1 Strongly Agree Complaints redressed time * 1 Strongly Agree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Disagree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Disagree Advertisements promotions of the product * 1 Strongly Agree Location of Levi? s Stores * 1 Strongly Agree Proximity of Levi? s Stores * 1 Strongly Agree Layout of Levi? s stores * 1 Strongly Agree Salesmens Promptness in service * 1 Strongly Agree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Disagree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Disagree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Disagree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Disagree 2 3 4 5 Strongly Disagree 7 How satisfied are you with the product? 1 Satisfied 2 3 4 5 Dissatisfied CATEGORICAL DATA: PAIR OF JEANS 1: 1pair 2: 2pairs 3:3 pairs 4: More than 3 pairs GENDER 0: Male 1: Female AGE 1: 18-22yrs 2: 23-26yrs 3: 27above FREQUENCY OF BUYING JEANS 1: occasionally 2: once in three months 3: once in six months 4: once a year INCOME 1: less than 200,000 2: 200,000-400,000 3: 400,000-600,000 4. 600,000 above DECISION IS RELATED TO: 1: Brand Linked status 2: Authenticity of products 3: Publicity 4: Versatality 28 29

Free Essays on Management Skills For The Non-Profit

Management Skills For the Nonprofit The deeper my dealings with the nonprofit sector become, the more completely I have come to understand, and appreciate the need for leaders in this field to possess outstanding business management skills. In addition to management skills, not-for-profit leadership must also become adept at understanding financial reports, developing and administering a budget, and it is greatly desirable to have a strong understanding of computers and the ways in which they can be used to increase productivity while reducing costs. Many nonprofit directors and board members have a background that is firmly rooted in the humanities and therefore it is to be expected that their education would have focused primarily on human service issues rather than business classes. This however leaves a gap in the knowledge base of the primary leaders in many nonprofits. This is particularly true in the case of the nonprofit that I am affiliated with. In The Non-Profit Management Handbook: Operating Policies a nd Procedures, Connors (1992) points out that leaders in the nonprofit sector are just as much in need of â€Å"the 4Ms† as those managers and directors who work in the world of for profit business. The M’s of which Ms. Connors speaks are â€Å"Mission†, â€Å"Marketing†, â€Å"Money†, and â€Å"Management† principles based on the premise that a well-educated nonprofit leader will have had a fusion of both human service and business education in their background. It is a decided advantage for the not-for-profit leaders of today to be thoroughly versed in computer usage as well as having a good exposure to business principles. The primary reason behind the existence of every for profit business is to earn a profit which will then be distributed to shareholders, owners, and/or employees to their benefit. Some profit will of course be reinvested into the company in most cases, but the primary goal is to make money for ... Free Essays on Management Skills For The Non-Profit Free Essays on Management Skills For The Non-Profit Management Skills For the Nonprofit The deeper my dealings with the nonprofit sector become, the more completely I have come to understand, and appreciate the need for leaders in this field to possess outstanding business management skills. In addition to management skills, not-for-profit leadership must also become adept at understanding financial reports, developing and administering a budget, and it is greatly desirable to have a strong understanding of computers and the ways in which they can be used to increase productivity while reducing costs. Many nonprofit directors and board members have a background that is firmly rooted in the humanities and therefore it is to be expected that their education would have focused primarily on human service issues rather than business classes. This however leaves a gap in the knowledge base of the primary leaders in many nonprofits. This is particularly true in the case of the nonprofit that I am affiliated with. In The Non-Profit Management Handbook: Operating Policies a nd Procedures, Connors (1992) points out that leaders in the nonprofit sector are just as much in need of â€Å"the 4Ms† as those managers and directors who work in the world of for profit business. The M’s of which Ms. Connors speaks are â€Å"Mission†, â€Å"Marketing†, â€Å"Money†, and â€Å"Management† principles based on the premise that a well-educated nonprofit leader will have had a fusion of both human service and business education in their background. It is a decided advantage for the not-for-profit leaders of today to be thoroughly versed in computer usage as well as having a good exposure to business principles. The primary reason behind the existence of every for profit business is to earn a profit which will then be distributed to shareholders, owners, and/or employees to their benefit. Some profit will of course be reinvested into the company in most cases, but the primary goal is to make money for ...

How to Be Imprecise or Use Vague Expressions for ESL

How to Be Imprecise or Use Vague Expressions for ESL There are a number of ways to give imprecise information in English. Here are some of the most common: There are about 600 people working in this company.There are approximately 600 people working in this company.There are a large number of students interested in taking his course.Its  almost  impossible to get tickets for the concert.Management predicts up to 50% growth for the coming year.Its kind of a bottle opener which can also be used to peel vegetables.Its the type of place you can go to relax for a week or so.Theyre the sort of people that like going bowling on Saturday evenings.Its difficult to say, but Id guess that its used for cleaning house.Im not really sure, but I think they enjoy hiking in the mountains. Construction Formula Form There are about 600 people working in this company.I have almost 200 friends in New York. Use about + a numbered expression.Use almost + a numbered expression There are approximately 600 people working in this company. Use approximately + a numbered expression. There are a large number of students interested in taking his course. Use a large number of + a noun. Management predicts up to 50% growth for the coming year. Use up to + a noun. Its kind of a bottle opener which can also be used to peel vegetables. Use kind of + a noun. Its the type of place you can go to relax for a week or so. Use type of + a noun. Use or so at the end of a sentence to express the meaning approximately. Theyre the sort of people that like going bowling on Saturday evenings. Use sort of + a noun. Its difficult to say, but Id guess that its used for cleaning house. Use the phrase + Its difficult to say, but Id guess an independent clause. Being Imprecise Dialogue Mark: Hi, Anna. Can I ask you a few questions for a survey Im doing in class?Anna: Sure, what would you like to know? Mark: Thanks, to begin with how many students are at your university?Anna: Well, I cant be exact. Id say there are about 5,000 students. Mark: Thats close enough for me. What about classes? How large is the average class?Anna: Thats really hard to say. Some courses have a large number of students, others not so many. Mark: Could you give me an estimate?Anna: Id there are approximately 60 students in most classes. Mark: Great. How would you describe your university?Anna: Once again, theres no clear cut answer. Its the kind of place students choose if they want to study non-traditional subjects.   Mark: So, youd say students are not what youd find at other schools.Anna: It has the sort of students that arent exactly sure what they want to do in the future.   Mark: Why did you choose to attend your university?Anna: Its difficult to say, but Id guess it was because I wanted to stay close to home.   Mark: Thanks for asking my questions!Anna: My pleasure. Im sorry I couldnt give you more exact answers.

Women and Publishing in Early America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Women and Publishing in Early America - Essay Example It is therefore pleasantly surprised to discover that as far back as 1476, women have made lifelong occupations in journalism and printing, and in various capacities including that of the owner. Mayo (2009) names at least 21 women who ran their husbands’ or fathers’ printing businesses after they died. Among them was Clementina Rind, who took over as publisher of the Virginia Gazette after she was widowed. Women of different races and classes contributed to the printing trade. For instance, Phillis Wheatley was a black poet and slave who wrote Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral in the year 1773 (Duboi & Dumenil, 2005, in Mayo, 2009). Born in Africa (most likely Senegal), she was kidnapped at the age of eight years and brought to Boston. The white family which brought her gave her their family name as was the custom then, and she was taught English and Christianity, and later on ancient history, mythology and classical literature. She was intelligent, and her masters were a family of culture, so she was allowed to study and write. Her first poem was published in 1767 in the Newport Mercury. A collection of her poems was published in 1773 in London, and what was unusual was the â€Å"attestation† by seventeen men in the volume’s preface that, indeed, the poems were written â€Å"by Phillis, a young Negro Girl†¦a Barbarian from Africa†¦a Slave in a Fam ily† who was â€Å"examined by the best Judges, and is thought qualified to write them† (Lewis, 2007). Phillis Wheatley is acknowledged to be the first black woman poet in American history. The â€Å"attestation† is a clear bias against women, people of color, and of the lower classes (i.e., slaves). The need for such attestation by sixteen men, and the requisite to be examined by â€Å"the best Judges† provides a picture of how women who were in the literary and printing trades were regarded; the obvious presumption about women in their day-to-day life is that they are normally not capable of producing literary and journalistic pieces, and such works by women should be properly certified by white men.

Real Leadership essay on a person Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Real Leadership on a person - Essay Example Ahmed Mohammed Jumaa Alhanaey is the leader of the company, ZDKO and it is under his guidance that the company has been capable of attaining the desired level of success in the marketplace. When the person was asked as to what influenced him to be a leader, he replied that his previous job instilled lots of confidence within him. He learnt the leadership traits from his previous boss. Ahmed Mohammed Jumaa Alhanaey demonstrated many instances when he had been effective as a leader in the previous job assignments. This motivated him to be leader. It has been found that this leader has been capable of effectively dealing with the challenges that the company faced. In the interview with the leader it was identified that development of the vision and then identifying the vision turning into reality is one of the significant qualities of the leader (Klein & Et. Al., â€Å"Dynamic Delegation†). The leader of ZDKO describes himself as a passionate and dedicated human being. Ahmed Mohammed Jumaa Alhanaey has worked with a company named Etisalat for three years where he had experienced most of the leadership attributes that helped him in his future days. He demonstrated the fact that promoting consultation, unity and open communication with the followers are the pre-requisites for successful companies. Ahmed Mohammed Jumaa Alhanaey revealed that most of the troubles can be eradicated in any company if the leader is capable of maintaining good relation with his followers. In an organisation people belonging to different culture work together. Managing these diverse group tends to be the biggest challenge for the leaders according to Ahmed Mohammed Jumaa Alhanaey. The managers are also faced with the issues relating to wider social, political, cultural, ethical and business representation. Cross cultural issues have been a significant problem in ZDKO. Successful are the leaders who are capable of

How to Motivate Student in Their Academic Essay Example for Free

How to Motivate Student in Their Academic Essay I. INTRODUCTION Motivation is the combination of desire, values, and beliefs that drives you to take action. These three motivating factors are at the root of why people act the way they do. Because they ultimately control values, beliefs, and desires, it can influence motivations. This means, if you consider something important and assign value to it, you are more likely to do the work it takes to attain a certain goal. When motivation originates from an internal source and combined with a realistic goal and circumstance, the result of a good outcome or output are greatly increased. II. MAIN DISCUSSION To understand what motivates them, they need to know what is important to them. Consider issues such as family, relationships, learning or school, grades, work, aspirations, achievement, money, social causes, social life, following a dream, and many more. Students goals and desires grow from their values and beliefs. Once they have made their personal list, they begin to think about how the items relate to one another. These issues and relationships are always alive inside of them. By becoming consciously aware of their selves, they can begin to modify, control and understand their selves. Judging the quality and depth of their motivation is important, because it is directly related to their commitment. Often students find that they want a good academic outcome, but they cant seem to make it happen. Sometimes, this gap occurs when there is a clash between what they are striving for a good academic outcome/degree and what they would rather be doing in following a dream. It’s fo r values, beliefs, and desires to be in conflict, it is important to recognize when they are and act appropriately on this information. III. MY POINT OF VIEW One of the keys to college success is having a realistic view of strengths and weaknesses. Do an informal assessment of abilities. Reflect on what they have learned about themself in the past from classroom experiences, conversations with teachers and advisors, standardized tests, projects and activities, and outside activities. Consider specifically their reading, writing, oral communication, interpersonal, and analytic skills. An accurate and honest assessment of their abilities is essential. It prevents them from under-estimating or over-estimating their skills and directs toward attainable and appropriate goals. Having an accurate direction is important in maintaining motivation. Knowing what their value and desire, along with an assessment of their strengths and weaknesses, makes it possible to establish personal goals. Most students already have a mix of short-term and long-term goals in mind for themselves. Students often are aiming towards a particular test, project, class, grade point, degree, graduate program, professional school, or career. These are often complemented by other goals such as living a healthy lifestyle, maintaining personal integrity, volunteering, working, nurturing relationships, or growing as a person. It is not unusual for short-term goals to support long-term goals. IV. CONCLUSION Once I have set goals that match my beliefs, values and desires, I should be in position to act on them successfully. However, my motivation can be undermined if I fail to consider my circumstances or if my circumstances change, but my goals dont. A goal may match my values that I want to earn a degree in Tourism and may be realistically set that I want to do it in 4 years when I began my academic journey, but may need modification and readjustment as time passes. If I earned grades lower than I expected to, I may need to lighten my course load or adjust my work and leisure hours. A loss of interest might mean my need to explore other majors. Changes in relationships or family make-up can also introduce new constraints on my plan. Unfortunately, when circumstances change, students are often unwilling to make related adjustments in their self-expectations. In this case, I as a student rarely perform up to the expectations, become frustrated, and lose motivation. However, motivation and performance can be maintained when personal circumstance is taken into. Students who are willing to redefine their goals to account for their changed circumstances can remain motivated and on the path to success. Motivation, goals, and circumstance are all related to success. I can increase the odds of my success by first, defining what is important to me, establishing goals based on these values, desires, and beliefs, and finally, tailoring my achievement expectations to match my circumstances. If I fail in any of these steps, I will undercut my motivation, fail to work up to my abilities, and diminish my chances of success. V. ANALYSIS Be realistic is setting your goals and always consider your circumstances. When goals arent realistic or when circumstances conspire against you, it is important to adjust. A student who comes to college with the goal of expecting to earn a tourism degree in 4 years, but finds the work more difficult than he anticipated may need to adjust his time frame in order to achieve his goal. Likewise, if this same student found that he needed to work to support his college costs or took on greater family responsibilities, it might be similarly necessary for him to adjust his goals as well. When goals are realistic and match desires, you will be motivated. When youre motivated and work hard towards your goals, you will succeed. When you succeed, your motivation will grow, you will set new goals, and continue to achieve.

The Friendship of Gilgamesh and Enkidu Essay -- The Epic of Gilgamesh,

The Epic of Gilgamesh is a historic story of the king of Uruk, Gilgamesh. The story depicts the short lived friendship of Gilgamesh and Enkidu. The story begins as Shamat the harlot seduces Enkidu and convinces him to go to the city of Uruk and meet Gilgamesh. From that moment on, the two were very close. They planned a trip to the forest of cedars to defeat the monster known as Humbaba so that Gilgamesh could show his power to the citizens of Uruk. However, Enkidu tried â€Å"vainly to dissuade† (18) Gilgamesh in going to the forest. Despite Enkidu’s plead, the two continued on their voyage to the forest where Humbaba lives. Once they arrived, they found the monster and killed him. They cut down trees, â€Å"then Enkidu builds a gigantic door†¦as a gift to Enlil.† (44) Upon their arrival to Uruk, Ishtar the goddess of sex, love and warfare wanted to wed Gilgamesh. In spite of this, Gilgamesh did not feel the same and did not wish to marry her. Ishtar was so upset with the decision of Gilgamesh that she sent down the â€Å"Bull of Heaven† (50) to kill him. The bull ultimately met its’ demise when Gilgamesh and Enkidu killed it. Of all of the events that occurred, the gods were not pleased. After the bull was killed and the cedar trees were cut, Enkidu had to be seen by the gods in council. Thus, the decision that Enkidu must die because of these acts was established. (53) The death of his friend is unreal to Gilgamesh. Thorkild Jacobsen points out that â€Å"†¦it touches him in all its stark reality, and Gilgamesh refuses to believe it.† (Thorkild Jacobsen, â€Å"And Death The Journey’s End,† 191) Gilgamesh goes on to seek eternal life. Death had never been a topic he had to deal with. Jacobsen explains, â€Å"death, fear of death, has become an ob... ...ves after him. There is a measure of immortality in achievement, the only immortality man can seek.† (Jacobsen, 196) The whole reason Gilgamesh takes this journey to search for eternal life is due to the death of Enkidu, with whom he was close with. Before all of the events occurred, Gilgamesh had never thought about the topic of death. It’s as if it never crossed his mind; as though he would live forever. He went through phases along his journey. The first was not accepting reality, the second was fighting for eternal life, and the last was accepting reality. Now, his aspirations for immortality are no longer apparent as he enters the last stage. Works Cited Thorkild Jacobsen, "'And Death the Journey's End': The Gilgamesh Epic" â€Å"The Epic of Gilgamesh,† trans. and ed. Benjamin R. Foster, A Norton Critical Edition, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2001

System Administrator

Internet Mini Case #10 Intel Corporation J. David Hunger In 1968, Robert N. Noyce, the co-inventor of the integrated circuit, and Gordon E. Moore left Fairchild Semiconductor International to form a new company. They took with them a young chemical engineer, Andrew Grove, and called the new firm Intel, short for integrated electronics. The company successfully made money by manufacturing computer memory modules. The company produced the first microprocessor (also called a â€Å"chip†) in 1971. A key turning point for the new company was IBM’s decision in the early 1980s to select Intel’s processors to run IBM’s new line of personal computers.Today, more than 80% of the world’s PCs run on Intel microprocessors. One of the company’s early innovations was centralizing its manufacturing in giant chip fabrication plants. This allowed Intel to make chips at a lower cost than its competitors who made custom chips in small factories. The founders enc ouraged a corporate culture of â€Å"disagree and commit† in which engineers were encouraged to constantly think of new ways of doing things faster, cheaper, and more reliably. Massive investment by Japanese competitors in the late 1970s led to falling prices in computer memory modules.Faced with possible bankruptcy, CEO Moore, with Grove as his second in command (Noyce had retired from active management), made the strategic decision in 1985 to abandon the computer memory business to focus on microprocessors. Projected growth in microprocessors was based on Moore’s prediction that the number of transistors on a chip would double every 24 months. In what was soon called â€Å"Moore’s Law,† Gordon Moore argued that microprocessor technology would improve exponentially, regardless of the state of the economy, the industry, or any one company.Thus, a company had to be at the cusp of innovation or risk falling behind. According to Moore, â€Å"If you lag behi nd your competition by a generation, you don’t just fall behind in chip performance, you get undercut in cost. † ______________________________________________________________________________ This case was prepared by Professor J. David Hunger, Iowa State University and St. John’s University. Copyright  © 2006 by J. David Hunger. The copyright holder is solely responsible for case content.Reprint permission is solely granted to the publisher, Prentice-Hall, for the books Strategic Management and Business Policy–11th Edition (and the International version of this book) and Cases in Strategic Management and Business Policy–11th Edition, by the copyright holder, J. David Hunger. Any other publication of the case (translation, any form of electronics or other media) or sale (any form of partnership) to another publisher will be in violation of copyright law, unless J. David Hunger has granted an additional written permission.Sources available upon req uest. Reprinted by permission. To raise money, Intel’s management agreed to sell 12% of the company’s stock to IBM for $250 million, a stake it later repurchased. Moore’s Law soon became part of the corporate culture as a fundamental expectation of all employees. Andy Grove replaced Gordon Moore as Intel’s CEO in 1987. Moore continued to serve on Intel’s board of directors until 2001. During Grove’s tenure as CEO from 1987 to 1998, Intel’s stock price rose 31. 6% annually and revenues grew from $1. 9 billion to $25. 1 billion.With 55% of its sales coming from outside the United States, Intel was transformed into a global corporation. The company became central to the growth of personal computers, cell phones, genomic research, and computer-aided design. Strategic Decisions Lead to Market Dominance IN ORDER TO SUCCEED IN THIS HIGH-TECH BUSINESS, MANAGEMENT WAS FORCED TO MAKE A NUMBER OF RISKY STRATEGIC DECISIONS. FOR EXAMPLE, INTELâ₠¬â„¢S BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOUND IT DIFFICULT TO VOTE FOR A PROPOSAL IN THE EARLY 1990S TO COMMIT $5 BILLION TO MAKING THE PENTIUM MICROPROCESSOR CHIP—FIVE TIMES THE AMOUNT NEEDED FOR ITS PREVIOUS CHIP.IN LOOKING BACK ON THAT BOARD MEETING, THEN-CEO ANDY GROVE REMARKED, â€Å"I REMEMBER PEOPLE’S EYES LOOKING AT THAT CHART AND GETTING BIG. I WASN’T EVEN SURE I BELIEVED THOSE NUMBERS AT THE TIME. † THE PROPOSAL COMMITTED THE COMPANY TO BUILDING NEW FACTORIES—SOMETHING INTEL HAD BEEN RELUCTANT TO DO. A WRONG DECISION WOULD MEAN THAT THE COMPANY WOULD END UP WITH A KILLING AMOUNT OF OVERCAPACITY. BASED ON GROVE’S PRESENTATION, THE BOARD DECIDED TO TAKE THE GAMBLE. INTEL’S RESULTING MANUFACTURING EXPANSION EVENTUALLY COST $10 BILLION, BUT RESULTED IN INTEL’S DOMINATION OF THE MICROPROCESSOR BUSINESS AND HUGE CASH PROFITS.In 1994, soon after the introduction of the Pentium microprocessor, users noticed a small defect in the chip and be gan demanding replacement chips. The company soon fixed the problem and quickly sent their computer-maker customers new Pentium chips to replace the defective ones. Even though Intel had no obligation to deal directly with end users, the people to whom the computer makers sold their PCs, Grove and the board decided to replace all defective Pentium chips wherever they might be. This was an expensive decision, but one for which the firm received high praise throughout the industry.Realizing that future development of microprocessors would involve RISC technology—a technology Intel did not then have—CEO Grove persuaded Hewlett-Packard’s CEO in 1994 to combine HP’s work in RISC technology with Intel’s ability in product development. This joint venture took on the multibillion-dollar expense of creating 64-bit chip architecture—thought to be crucial to Intel’s continued success. Along with Bill Gates at Microsoft and Steve Jobs at Apple, A ndy Grove had become a major figure in the computer industry at the dawn of the 21st century.Although Grove retired as CEO in 1998, he continued to serve until 2005 as Intel’s Chairman of the Board. Like Noyce and Moore before him, Grove took on the mantle of corporate guru. His 1996 book, Only the Paranoid Survive, in which Grove described how companies should deal with new competitors that emerge suddenly and change the fundamental shape of the industry, was widely read. Even with no official title, Grove continued to serve the company as its â€Å"senior adviser. † Intel After Andy Grove: A New Strategic Direction CRAIG BARRETT REPLACED ANDY GROVE AS INTEL’S CEO FROM 1998 TO 2005.HE WAS ABLE TO PERSUADE THE BOARD IN 2002 TO INVEST $28 BILLION IN THE LATEST MANUFACTURING PLANTS AND TECHNOLOGIES DURING THE LONGEST DOWNTURN IN THE CHIP INDUSTRY’S HISTORY. THE BOARD HAD BEEN WORRIED THAT NEW PLANTS COULD BURDEN THE INTEL WITH OVERCAPACITY IF DEMAND FAILED TO MATERIALIZE. BY 2005, FIVE FACTORIES WERE ABLE TO MAKE 21? 2 TIMES MORE CHIPS THAN THE OLDER-GENERATION FABRICATION PLANTS—1. 25 MILLION CHIPS DAILY. BECAUSE OF THE HUGE COST TO BUILD THIS TYPE OF PLANT, RIVALS TI, AMD, AND IBM EACH HAD ONLY ONE PLANT OF THIS ADVANCED TYPE IN 2006.TI CONCEDED THAT ITS CAPACITY TO PRODUCE THE LATEST-TECHNOLOGY CHIPS WAS LIMITED TO ONLY 250,000 PER DAY. During Barrett’s tenure, the company also invested billions of dollars in businesses outside the computer market that largely failed. In 2001, the firm exited from making cameras and other consumer electronics gear after key customers Dell and Hewlett-Packard (HP) complained that Intel was competing against them. In 2002, Intel took a $100 million charge against earnings when it cancelled its entry into Web hosting.In 2004, Intel attempted to go after Texas Instruments with its version of digital signal processors, a key ingredient in cell phones. Unfortunately, cell-phone manufacturer s ignored Intel’s product in favor of those by TI. Industry analysts concluded that Intel had a steep learning curve outside of personal computers. Even with this checkered history outside the PC business, in 2004 CEO Barrett launched an ambitious strategic move. Instead of â€Å"Intel Inside,† the plan was to be â€Å"Intel Everywhere. Under the new strategic plan, Intel would offer chips that would be used in all sorts of applications, including PCs, cell phones, flat-panel TVs, portable video players, wireless home networking, and medical diagnostic equipment. The company targeted 10 new product areas for its chips, primarily in the consumer electronics and communications markets. This plan was based on the movement in multiple industries from an analog to a digital format. According to Barrett, â€Å"Communication is going digital. Entertainment is going digital. We are able to bring our expertise into different areas where we really had no unique capability befo re. Supporting this announcement, Intel introduced a chip based on a new technology called WiMax that could be used to deliver high-speed wireless Internet access throughout a small city for about $100,000, one-tenth the cost of fiber-optic lines. Competition Heats Up MEANWHILE, INTEL’S PC CHIP BUSINESS WAS RUNNING INTO SOME DIFFICULTY. WHEN, IN 2004, INTEL AND HEWLETT-PACKARD RELEASED THE ITANIUM SERVER CHIP THEY HAD JOINTLY DEVELOPED THREE YEARS EARLIER, CRITICS CALLED IT â€Å"THE ITANIC. † DELIVERED TWO YEARS LATE AT A COST OF $2 BILLION, THE 64-BIT CHIP PERFORMED MORE SLOWLY THAN INTEL’S OWN 32-BIT CHIP AND SEEMED TO HAVE NO FUTURE.IN FEBRUARY 2004, CEO BARRETT ANNOUNCED THAT THE COMPANY WOULD RECONFIGURE ITS 32-BIT XEON CHIP FOR SERVERS AND ITS PENTIUM 4 FOR DESKTOPS SO THAT THEY COULD HANDLE 64-BIT APPLICATIONS. UNFORTUNATELY, ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES (AMD) HAD ALREADY BEGUN SELLING ITS OPTERON SERVER CHIP IN APRIL 2003. THE OPTERON HAD THE CAPABILITY OF RU NNING BOTH 32-BIT AND 64-BIT APPLICATIONS. SURPRISINGLY, INTEL’S JOINT VENTURE PARTNER HP DECIDED TO SELL SERVERS WITH AMD’S OPTERON CHIP ALONG WITH INTEL’S PRODUCTS. BY DECEMBER 2003, AMD HAD OBTAINED 3. 9% OF THE MAINSTREAM SERVER MARKET AND WAS TAKING AIM AT THE PC MARKET AS WELL.Since 2003, AMD’s chips had been faster, used less power, generated less heat, and cost less than did Intel’s. As a result, Intel’s share of the market in servers fell from almost 100% in 2001 to less than 85% in 2006. Its market share in laptop PCs declined from 88% in 2001 to 86% in 2006. Its share in desktops also dropped from 80% in 2000 to 74% in 2006. Dell, the biggest PC maker in terms of sales, decided in May 2006 to abandon its policy of only using Intel chips in its PCs by offering AMD chips in its computer servers. This was a serious blow to Intel’s continued dominance of the market.AMD was able to make a significant dent in Intel’s marke t share by focusing its limited resources on microprocessors for PCs and servers and letting others supply the remaining chips. When Intel ran into a parts shortage for its desktop PCs in December 2005, AMD quickly dispatched its sales people to fill the void. AMD-based desktop PCs began to dominate the shelves at Best Buy, Circuit City, and other stores. By mid-2006, AMD held a 26% share of the U. S. server chip market and a 48% share of the multi-core processors, which put at least two chips on a single piece of silicon.As a result, AMD’s gross margin of 58. 6% exceeded Intel’s of 55. 1% during the first quarter of 2006. In response, Intel began offering the first in a family of revamped chips called Core 2. These chips used less energy while offering better performance. Intrigued by AMD’s success, industry analysts wondered if AMD would be able to continue offering innovative products without succumbing to the supply problems that had dogged it in the past. R einventing the Company IN MAY 2005, CRAIG BARRETT TRANSFERRED THE CEO POSITION TO PAUL OTELLINI AND BECAME CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD.PAST-PRESIDENT OF INTEL UNDER BARRETT, OTELLINI CONTINUED BARRETT’S STRATEGIC DECISION TO PUSH THE COMPANY INTO MULTIPLE FIELDS WITH NEW CHIP â€Å"PLATFORMS. † PC GROWTH WAS SLOWING. CELLULAR AND HANDHELD DEVICES WERE NOW COMPETING FOR THE PRIMARY SPOT IN PEOPLE’S LIVES. OTELLINI AGREED THAT HE MUST REINVENT INTEL OR FACE A FUTURE OF EVENTUAL DECLINE. THE PC BUSINESS APPEARED TO HAVE REACHED MATURITY. REVENUE GROWTH HAD AVERAGED 13% FROM 2002 TO 2005, BUT ANALYSTS WERE ESTIMATING THAT THE COMPANY’S SALES WOULD ONLY GROW 7% IN 2006 TO $42. BILLION. PROFITS, WHICH HAD BEEN INCREASING ON AVERAGE 40% ANNUALLY FROM 2002 TO 2005, WERE EXPECTED TO RISE ONLY 5% IN 2006 TO $9. 5 MILLION. Ortellini proposed that Intel should not just make PC microprocessors, but should also create many types of chips, as well as software, and then combin e them into what he called â€Å"platforms. † Since taking over as CEO, Ortellini had reorganized the company, created business units for each product area, and scattered the processor experts among the units. He added 20,000 people in 2005. Note: Intel’s annual and quarterly reports and SEC filings are available via the company’s web site at www. intel. com. ) Paul Ortellini was the first non-engineer to serve as Intel’s CEO. He put particular emphasis on marketing because he thought that the only way Intel could succeed in new markets was by communicating more clearly what technology could do for customers. This went contrary to the corporate culture in which engineers had been the key players who made ever-faster chips and then let marketers try to sell them.Ortellini created development teams with people having a cross-section of skills. Chip engineers, software developers, marketers, and market specialists now worked together to develop breakthrough innovations. Many engineers were frustrated with the changes and their loss in status. Some of the design specialists who had been working on the Pentium 4 before it was cancelled left Intel for jobs at TI or AMD. Ortellini’s ultimate goal was to provide the manufacturers of everything from laptops and entertainment PCs to cell phones and hospital gear with complete packages of chips and software.The old logo of â€Å"Intel Inside† was to disappear, replaced by an updated Intel logo with a swirl to signify movement and a tagline of â€Å"Leap Ahead. † Meanwhile, the Pentium brand was to be slowly phased out and replaced by Viiv, Centrino, and Core. Intel was on a new path. It was leaving the Grove era behind and moving into uncharted territory. This was not the first time that the company had bet everything on a new strategy. Would Intel succeed with its new strategic direction?

Gun Ownership Essay

KENNESAW, Ga – Several Kennesaw officials attribute a drop in crime in the city over the past two decades to a law that requires residents to have a gun in the house. In 1982, the Kennesaw City Council unanimously passed a law requiring heads of households to own at least one firearm with ammunition. The ordinance states the gun law is needed to â€Å"protect the safety, security and general welfare of the city and its inhabitants.† Then-councilman J.O. Stephenson said after the ordinance was passed, everyone â€Å"went crazy.† â€Å"People all over the country said there would be shootings in the street and violence in homes,† he said. â€Å"Of course, that wasn’t the case.† In fact, according to Stephenson, it caused the crime rate in the city to plunge. Kennesaw Historical Society president Robert Jones said following the law’s passage, the crime rate dropped 89 percent in the city, compared to the modest 10 percent drop statewide. â€Å"It did drop after it was passed,† he said. â€Å"After it initially dropped, it has stayed at the same low level for the past 16 years.† Mayor Leonard Church was not in office when the law was passed, but he said he is a staunch supporter of it. â€Å"You can’t argue with the fact that Kennesaw has the lowest crime rate of any city our size in the country,† said Church, who owns a denture-making company in Kennesaw. The author of the ordinance, local attorney Fred Bentley Sr., attributes at least some of the decrease in crime to the bill. â€Å"I am definitely in favor of what we did,† he said. â€Å"It may not be totally responsible for the decrease, [but] it is a part.† Although he is pleased with the outcome, Bentley said he was originally opposed to drafting the law. â€Å"I didn’t think it could be written in a constitutional fashion,† he said. â€Å"Obviously, it was constitutional, because the American Civil Liberties Union challenged it in court and we won.† Jones said the ACLU challenged the law in a federal court just after it was passed. In response, the city added a clause adding conscientious objectors to the list of those exempt. Although the law is now being credited with a drop in crime, Jones said that was not the law’s original purpose. He also pointed out that Kennesaw did not have a big problem with crime before. â€Å"The crime rate wasn’t that high to start with. It was 11 burglaries per 1,000 residents in  1981,† he said. According to the Kennesaw Police Department, the city’s most recent crime statistics show 243 property crimes per 100,000 residents in 1998, or .243 per 1,000. The city’s crime rate continues to be far below other metro Atlanta city’s with similar populations, like Decatur. In 1998, Decatur recorded 4,049 property crimes per 100,000 residents. Jones said one motivation for the council passing the ordinance had to do with publicity. â€Å"It was done in response to a law passed by Morton Grove, Ill., outlawing gun ownership within the city limits,† he said. â€Å"Several council members were upset Morton Grove had gotten a lot of attention with their ordinance so they decided to top them. â€Å"They figured the gun ownership ordinance would knock that city right off the front pages. They were right.† Jones said the ensuing publicity surrounding the law has given Kennesaw worldwide name recognition. â€Å"I have been to Australia and Europe and when I tell people I am from Kennesaw they recognize the name as the place that requires everyone to own a gun,† he said. But Stephenson said the issue was not pub licity-driven but issue-driven. â€Å"We believed in the right of people to own guns,† he said. Jones said he has sold 550 copies of a 1994 book about the first-of-its-kind law, â€Å"The Law Heard ‘Round the World.† He said the law in its final form has many loopholes, so not everyone is required to own a gun. â€Å"There are many outs,† he said. â€Å"When you look at it, almost anyone could fit into one of the exempted groups.† Kennesaw Police Chief Dwaine Wilson said no one has ever been prosecuted under the ordinance. Among those exempt are residents â€Å"who conscientiously oppose maintaining firearms as a result of beliefs or religious doctrine.† Others exempt include the physically and mentally disabled, paupers and those convicted of a felony. The law contains no clause addressing punishment for violating the law. If convicted, City Clerk Diane Coker said punishment would be determined by the general penalty clause of the Kennesaw Code Ordinance – probably a fine of about $100. Jones said the unusual law has not deterred anyone from moving to Kennesaw. â€Å"Our population has increased just like everyone’s in Georgia in the past 20 years,† he said. â€Å"The law really hasn’t done any harm to the city’s growth.† The city’s population in 1998 was recorded at 14,493 – a sharp increase over the 8,936 residents recorded in the 1990 census. C obb Chamber of Commerce president Bill Cooper said odd laws are typically not counted as strike against a city when a business is looking to relocate.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"These laws don’t have laws don’t have an impact on a company’s decision to move to Cobb County,† Cooper said. â€Å"Many communities have strange laws that are out of date. Businesses look at many factors when relocating, such as quality of life, education, infrastructure and available workforce.† Bentley said the law actually may have helped business development. â€Å"Kennesaw is home to more manufacturing businesses than any other Cobb city,† he said. â€Å"Companies have said they want to be located in conservative areas.† And Kennesaw isn’t the only city in Cobb with an unusual law on the books. According to Jeff Koon, who runs a Web site specializing in funny laws, Dumblaws.com, Acworth has an ordinance requiring residents to own a rake. In Marietta, it is illegal to spit from a car or a bus, but perfectly legal to spit from a truck.

weeping willow tree

weeping willow tree Free Online Research Papers When I was a little girl I had no idea what a Weeping Willow Tree was, I had never even heard the name before. I can remember in great detail the first time that I ever laid eyes on a weeping willow tree. My family, which includes my mom, my dad, and my three brothers and me, were driving to my uncle’s house in Sacramento California for a visit. There are many things that I do remember about my uncle’s house. For instance, I remember that he had a big red house and he had a lot of land. He had horses and chickens, and other animals, but none of these things stood out in my mind as much as the weeping willow tree. The first time that I remember driving up to my uncle’s house off to the right I saw this amazingly beautiful tree. It was all by it’s self in the middle of a field. I could not take my eyes off of it. It was so different from any tree I had ever seen. The branches looked like they were tall enough to touch the stars, and yet they reached all the way back to the ground. The color of the leaves was a vibrant emerald green. They were greener than any pasture that I had ever seen. When I was a young girl I used to pretend that I had a fort deep inside the branches of this tree. At times I felt like this tree was my friend. This friend could not talk to me, but I knew that my new friend was always listening. I could hide there under the branches escaping judgment, and with no one telling me what to do. I felt safe and happy when I was near this tree. This was a truly magical place for me as a child. This tree offered so much more than what the eye can see. One moment it was a friend and confidant and another moment it was a place to play and have fun. It was a place to be able to be a child with out the watchful eyes of the adults. My brothers and I would play hide and seek for hours. We never grew tired of playing outside with the weeping willow tree. Often times when we would visit my uncle’s house and I would have to go inside to visit my family. For a child this was a pretty boring experience. I don’t remember interacting with my aunt and uncle very much, but I do remember playing outside. I spent all my time outside by the weeping willow tree. My uncle and aunt didn’t have any young children for me to play with. This made my decision that much easier. Either I stayed inside with the adults that talked all day, or I could go outside and play in the sunshine. Usually, I would make the first mad dash that I could out to the back yard. I would run straight to the weeping willow tree. I would bypass the horses and the chickens. I was never allowed to be around the animals unsupervised anyway so it really diminished any interest that I had in those animals. Instead I focused all of my attention on my new friend. I can remember swinging on the strong and reliable branches. I could swing back and fourth for what s eemed like a long time. I remember the wind blowing in my hair, and thinking I never wanted to leave. I never got bored when I was outside with the weeping willow tree. There were always new adventures to be had. On one particular day I recall my father telling all of us children to get into the car. He said that we were going to my Uncle Ronnie’s house for the day. I was so excited that I tripped and fell on my way to the car. While I was sitting in the car I was already imaging that I was swinging on the branches. My eyes were closed and I could feel the wind blowing on my face. The moment that we got there I jumped out of the car with barely enough time to say hello to my aunt and uncle. I was running as fast as I could to get to my new friend. I stayed down by the tree the entire day. When it was time to leave I was tired, but I still felt sad that I had to leave my new friend. I didn’t know when we were coming back and that mad e me sad too. The greatest thing about being young is having an active imagination. When you combine an active imagination and this beautiful tree the sky is truly the limit. I can remember so many times pretending that inside the branches was a secret hospital. Where I was the only surgeon and I was saving lives. I felt like being there under the weeping willow tree gave me special powers. I felt like there wasn’t anything that I could not do. As I look back and I remember those days at my Uncle’s house I have nothing but fond memories. I enjoy remembering a time in my life where I was free and happy. Since that time whenever I see another weeping willow tree it takes me back to when I was a young girl. It reminds me of another time in my life a time that I would like to remember more often, a time that puts a smile on my face. 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Analyse The Factors Affecting The Strategic Plans

Analyse The Factors Affecting The Strategic Plans Tesco plc is a well-established and consistently growing food retailer global company operating in UK and many other countries like USA, Europe, Thailand, China, Japan and so on. It was established in 1919 by Jack Cohen, when he sold some groceries in the stall in East London and then it later lead to the opening of the first Tesco store in 1929 in North London. Using the well-researched and consistent strategy for growth, Tesco has been able to strengthen their core UK business and lead them to expand into new markets. Tesco has already been declared as the no.1 superstore in UK against its rivals Asda, Sainsbury and Morrison. Tesco is still aiming to broaden the scope of their business to enable it to deliver strong sustainable long-term growth by following the customers into the basic and the large expanding markets at cheaper price. Currently, Tesco has over 2200 stores in UK and has been able to reach every possible customer through its different types of outlets as superstore, metro, extra, express and by various means as online shopping through Tesco direct, Reserve and collect plus loyalty/club cards, insurance, clothing, banking and financial services, telecoms, insurance. So this report will be identifying Tesco’s vision, Mission, its current strategic objectives, evaluates them and analyses the factors that will be affecting strategic plan. The purpose of this case study is to review and determine the organizational strategic aims and objectives identify and analyse the progress towards organizational strategic aims and objectives and to determine and evaluate strategic options to support a revised strategic position. 1.1 Identify the current strategic aims and objectives TESCO’S STRATEGY Our well-established and consistent strategy for growth has given the business momentum to grow through the downturn. (1) Long term Strategy According to Tesco’s official website it is clearly evident that Tesco has a well-established and consi stent strategy for growth. The rationale for the strategy is to broaden the scope of the business to enable it to deliver strong, sustainable long-term growth by following customers into large expanding markets at home – such as financial services, non-food and telecoms – and new markets abroad, initially in Central Europe and Asia and more recently in the United States. Objectives:- The objectives of the strategy are: Successful global retailer Tesco aims to be one of the most successful global retailer organisation in the world. With this idea in mind they have opened stores in many other countries like Canada, USA, Europe, Thailand, China and Middle East. Growth in core UK business Tesco also aims on growing its business as the core UK business as it is originated here. It had 1500 stores in UK in 2007 whereas the number has reached to over 2000 by now. And it has diversified its market from only being a food retailer to selling fuel, clothes, housing, finance, bank ing, insurance, mobile broad band and electronics. Strong non food retailer As Tesco has been known for its food items and is the leader in food retailing, Tesco also aims to develop the rest of the retailing it has been doing. They are working hard to be as strong in non-food as they are in food.

How firms gain competitive advantage in the changing business dynamics Essay

How firms gain competitive advantage in the changing business dynamics - Essay Example The intention of this study is the change management that has increasingly become key element of competitive advantage for the business organizations in the current environment of volatility and rapidly transforming socio-economic and political imperatives. The need to identify the drivers of change and incorporating the same within the business strategies by organizational leadership has become top priority for mot only to succeed but also to survive. The five authors discussed in the paper believe that changes are good for the firms and firms which have flexible approach are better able to absorb changes and surge ahead of others. In the highly competitive market, firms need to leverage their competencies for competitive advantage. The various modules and mechanisms of evaluating and analyzing the performance metrics become highly critical factors for success of the firm. The internal and external exigencies influence the performance of the firms and therefore need to be analyzed, evaluated and exploited for gaining leverage against their rivals in the industry. Indeed, the firms survive or fail in the competitive market mainly because they either unable to anticipate changes in the environment or failed to exploit the opportunities that were offered by the changes to survive and gain competitive edge. The visionary outlook of the leadership and the innovative approach of the firms are vital inputs that facilitate and create opportunities to maintain their niche market position. The paper would primarily be evaluating the works of five authors who have introduced radical concepts in the business strategies to cope with the environmental changes.... The paper would primarily be evaluating the works of five authors who have introduced radical concepts in the business strategies to cope with the environmental changes. Section 1 What is change and how companies cope with changes Change is inevitable and irreversible process that provokes reaction and forces people out of their comfort zone. Most importantly, impact of change becomes most visible when it is viewed adversely. Bateman and Zaithaml (1990) stress that organizations need to change because the environment within which they operate is constantly changing. The organizational leadership therefore becomes the vital ingredient that prepares and motivates people to become flexible. It not only helps them to adopt changes but also to look for opportunities in contextual changes which can be exploited for improving their productivity and outcome. As the following authors assert, changes become enabling factors when they are explored for opportunities. Indeed, the authors have dif ferent perspective on change and change management. Change management has become a critical issue for firms. They emphasize that it helps them to understand, anticipate, evaluate and analyze changes to identify the drivers of change and explore opportunities for exploiting them. They believe that changes are good for the firms and firms which have flexible approach are better able to absorb changes and surge ahead of others. Some of the mechanisms that are evolved to cope with changes are: fostering business alliances; using technology; thinking out of the box; being innovative through new development and R&D; creating learning environment; exploiting human