Jared Diamond On Advantages Of Being Agricultural People Essay

Jared Diamond On Advantages Of Being Agricultural People - Essay Example Domesticating animals follows when a civilization applies agriculture because it helps in plowing hard soil. Farm animals are also a good source of edible meat, milk and eggs. An acre of land can therefore feed more herders and farmers as much as 10 to 100 times as what the hunter gatherers can gather in a same sized area. In ancient times, these meant more surviving people and thus a military advantage that agricultural tribes had. Another advantage of agriculture is that it enables agricultural people to have higher birthrate than the hunter-gatherers. Mothers of hunter-gatherers society are capable of carrying only one child at a time. And so, mothers of these societies need to lengthen the time of the next birth of a child until the infant is able to walk. Agricultural people on the other hand need to stay close to their farms. They are not burdened with the problems of constant traveling and so are able to have as much children as they want. Higher birthrate and the ability to produce food enable agricultural people to have higher population densities than the hunter-gatherers. A settled existence for the agricultural people enables them to develop a skill for storing food. Unlike the hunter-gatherers, food lasts for a short time because they are not able to protect them if they are to store them at some place.

Abuelitas Beans Essay Example for Free

Abuelitas Beans Essay Nothing can be more enticing to a nose than waking up to the delicious aroma of simmering beans. The scent compels one to peal away the comforter and stagger into the kitchen for a bowl of creamy delicious beans. Pinto beans have been a staple in Mexican cuisine for hundreds of years, and every family has his/her own recipe. I recall, as a young girl growing up in a large, Mexican family, that there was always a large pot of legumes ready to nourish twelve mouths for less than five-dollars. Dad always ended his meal rubbing his barrel stomach while saying his favorite aphorism, â€Å"Pansa llena, corazon contento† (â€Å"Full belly, happy heart†), which always meant that the beans were delicious. Here is Abuelita’s recipe to fill the tummy of those that are endearing to one’s heart. Cooking beans really is not that hard. First, gather the supplies needed: one, five-quart slow-cooker with a ceramic liner with a glass lid cover, a sturdy plastic cooking spoon ( Abuelita always said that one should never stir the beans with a metal spoon or they will stick and burn. I obey her. ), one-pound dried pinto beans, one-half aromatic white onion, two fresh garlic cloves, water, and two tablespoons kosher salt. Several people have asked me, â€Å"Why a slow-cooker? † Well, all the women in the family cook the legumes in a cazuela (an earthenware pot made of clay). The cookware is either given to the bride at her wedding with hopes that her culinary endeavors will produce a happy marriage, or it is an inheritance from her mother or grandmother. The beans have a better taste if cooked in the cazuela, at least that is what the women in my family declare. I on the other hand, embrace the beauty of the slow cooker; it frees me to leave the house to run errands, and I have never endured stinky-burned beans. Once all the supplies and ingredients have been gathered and prepped, proceed by placing beans in a colander. Rinse the beans and run them through one’s hands to make sure debris is washed away, and small stones are picked out. Put the beans into the slow-cooker and cover them with water. Furthermore, add all the ingredients in the cooker. Except for the salt. Set the temperature at high for six to eight hours. After one hour, the earthy aroma starts to penetrate the whole house, reminding one of what will be for consumption. Please, if you want plump beans do not stir the beans during the first two hours. After approximately three hours, check to see if water is needed, due to water evaporation, and the legumes absorb a lot of water. Always add hot water never cold because the cold temperature lowers the heat and toughens the beans. Once another three hours has past, test the legumes for doneness. I was told when one bites into a bean, it should be soft and creamy. As a result from respecting the process, and not disturbing them, the pot liquid will have thickened leaving a delicious dark chocolate color broth for a healthy soup. Lastly, but not least, it is time to salt the beans. Add two tablespoons of kosher salt and stir with a wooden or plastic spoon. Go ahead and taste the broth and decide if more salt is needed. Always remember to gradually add salt to the beans since adding is easier than extracting. In the end, set the temperature to warm and ladle beans into the bowl of one’s choice. In conclusion, if an individual follows these simple steps of gathering supplies, for example, a slow-cooker, it will make the process of cooking worry free. Basically, pinto beans are easy to make, but easier to consume any time of day, resulting in everyone rubbing his/her tummy’s with contentment. â€Å"Buen Provecho! †(Enjoy your meal).

Building A World Class Hr Organization Management Essay

Building A World Class Hr Organization Management Essay The situation facing Sonoco is that the company has grown rapidly over a period of several years, largely through acquisitions in a growing packaging industry. This has led to the development of a large number of silo based HR systems for each of the companys divisions, which are largely influenced by the specific demands of the divisions and by the acquired businesses, and hence are divergent in nature without a strong level of strategic direction. This is causing issues for the company, as HR is now an expensive function that is not providing significant strategic value. As a result of this, the company has appointed a new senior vice president of Human Resources, Cindy Hartley, with a mandate to develop new organisational structures for HR in order to save costs; improve talent management; develop more effective performance management systems; and provide customised strategic support to the overall business. Hartley has already implemented a number of new systems and process chang es, and has seen some benefits, but still needs to overcome issues related to ineffective talent management and a lack of alignment between performance management and company strategies (Sonoco Products Company, 2012, p. 5). This essay will critically reflect on your own personal learning by drawing upon various academic themes and concepts around managing human resources in order to offer and propose interventions on the case study, as well as to assess the actions already taken and their effectiveness. Diagnosis As noted above, the core issue in the case study appears to be the fact that the company has grown by acquisition with a relatively rapid pace of growth, including making over 60 acquisitions in just a single decade (Sonoco Products Company, 2012, p. 1). When a company grows through such an acquisition focused approach, it is almost inevitable that the HR resourcing and development functions will not be perfectly aligned, and this will hence create silos of HR functionality, with each individual silo only considering their own specific role and function rather than the strategic goals of the organisation (Alberg, 2007, p. 9). This form of silo based approach to HR can be very damaging for a company, as it will create an HR function which is aligned to the requirements of each individual division or department, rather than to the requirements of the business as a whole. The negative impacts of this can be seen in the case of Sonoco, where HR is focused primarily on day to day employee relations issues rather than strategic concerns, and where there are high levels of non cooperative competition between the individual divisions (Sonoco Products Company, 2012, p. 3). The other major crucial HR problem that exists in the company is that there has been a lack of effort to develop a strategic and proactive HR culture in Sonoco. This has resulted in the emergence of an HR culture which is highly reactionary, with the HR function viewed primarily as a watchdog to head off legal and employee relations problem, as well as to assist managers with specific employee issues such as helping managers tell employees they are being terminated even when they have excellent performance evaluations (Sonoco Products Company, 2012, p. 3). The reactionary nature of the HR culture also sees the company being broadly unable to hold underperformers accountable. This has resulted partly in poorly performing employees being able to free ride through the company, and partly in compensation being viewed as an entitlement rather than a reward, and hence failing to improve performance levels. This has led to employees generally being paid at or near the midpoint for all indiv iduals and jobs, which has prevented the creation of any form of meritocracy on the company. According to Weinberger (2003, p. 29), this creates the peanut butter issue where wages are simply spread evenly to avoid any discontent that can come from rewarded highly performing employees and penalising others. This is again evidence of the reactionary culture that avoids conflict and thus fails to boost performance. These two main issues can be seen to be responsible for the majority of HR problems encountered by Sonoco. Specifically, the company is failing to achieve good talent management due to a lack of a coherent HR approach across the company and a lack of desire to identify the best individuals out of all employees. The silo based approach to HR also prevents effective performance management leading to the peanut butter issue identified above. These silos and the reactionary culture also mean that HR is not able to provide strategic support to the business as a whole. Finally, the lack of a mechanism for identifying and disciplining or terminating poorly performing employees has prevented the company from eliminating poor performance, thus hindering cost control as the company cannot effectively save costs by removing the poorest employees. Analysis This section of the work will focus on appraising the environmental and organisational context of the case to identify the main issues these contexts create for the company and the strengths and weaknesses of the HR policies, practices, and systems in light of these issues. The analysis will also consider Cindy Hartleys objectives for changes at Sonoco and the drivers of these objectives. The primary environmental issues at the time of the case came from the changes in the packaging industry. In particular, the industry was going through a period of stagnation and change, with volume now less likely to increase and revenues under threat from low cost foreign competition whilst the industry as a whole began to consolidate (Sonoco Products Company, 2012, p. 2). These trends highlighted the major weakness in Sonocos silo based approach to HR and the resulting disparate systems they created. Specifically, Sonocos HR practices tended to make it difficult for the company to control costs, and hence made it difficult for the company to respond to market changes in a manner as aggressively as its rivals. This can be seen in the fact that the companys stock price significantly trailed the SP 50 between 1995 and 2000, despite the company increasing net income at this time (Sonoco Products Company, 2012, p. 1). This indicates that investors felt the company was underperforming r elative to the market, implying that costs could be cut in a more effective manner. The other main change in the packaging industry was that customers were becoming more demanding, with more variations in packaging and higher levels of segmentation of many markets. As a result of this, clients expected the packaging companies they purchased from to be able to supply them with competitively priced packaging that was highly responsive to industry trends, and to be able to apply new technologies and innovative tools to provide higher levels of customised service (Sonoco Products Company, 2012, p. 2). This is another area in which Sonocos reactionary policies and practices made it difficult for the company to compete, and hence acted as a strong weakness. Specifically, the company lacked a strategic and proactive approach to HR, which reduced its overall ability to respond to trends in the marketplace. This meant Sonoco was restricted to developing new approaches as they were required, thus slowing the packaging concept to market delivery cycle. The company hence had fa iled to align its HR function with the demands of the market, which is a key weakness in any HR system (Aswathappa, 2005). In light of these two issues, it can be seen that Cindy Hartleys objectives for changes at Sonoco are not simply those addressed in the case. The case states that the objectives were to increase accountability for talent management; to distribute HR talent and make systems and processes more consistent; and to provide strategic support to the individual business units. However, in light of the environmental issues identified, her objectives can also be seen as being to improve talent management and performance management in order to increase overall performance; to improve performance management in order to facilitate cost control by allowing the company to terminate underperforming employees; and to provide strategic support to enable the company to be more proactive when responding to the demands of the market. Evaluation This section will consider the success of the HR changes at Sonoco, as well as the extent to which they are in line with state of the art HR policies, practices, and systems, and how they could be improved through the implementation of best HR practices relevant to the case. The fundamental change at Sonoco has been the introduction of a top down approach to performance management, with goal setting and targets being implemented at corporate level and trickled down to individual performance goals through negotiation. This practice has the benefit of attending to employee development needs and career development, as well as linking to the financial rewards system. The system as it stands appears to delegate significant authority to the divisions to set their own goals, and lacks the crucial control and assessment techniques such as business intelligent and analytics to ensure that the performance management system provides strong support to the goals of the business (Elbashir et al, 2011, p. 155). On the other hand, the system has the benefit of being relatively simple and easy to implement, which Muras et al (2008, p. 65) argue is more important that using complex processes which often confuse employees and managers. The system also implements 360 degree feedback for managers, which is vital in ensuring strong managerial development (Carson, 2006). One of the main issues that can be identified with the new performance management system is that it is focused on the value added by the individual. Whilst individual performance important, and will help overcome the problem of employees free riding, it is not in line with best practice performance measurement techniques. These techniques generally focus on the combination of individual and team performance, in order to ensure a balance between the individual and team levels of performance (Addison and Haig, 2012, p. 37). In particular, a failure to incorporate team performance into the performance measurement approach risks harming team identification levels as employees see themselves as individuals rather than members of a team. As Solansky (2011, p. 247) notes, team identification is a vital driver of performance, and hence by failing to attend to this there is the risk the new performance measurement system will hamper levels of team work. This is thus something that needs to be addressed through the implementation of best practice in the future. Design This section will focus on identifying ways of improving the existing HR policies, practices, and systems and how they can become state of the art or best practices. It will hence focus on making recommendations for improving the HR practices and addressing the problems identified in the case, as well as determining the right HR structure for Sonoco: either centralisation or hybrid. As noted above, one of the key methods that can be used to improve existing HR practices is to improve the performance management system to measure team work and individual contributions to team performance. According to Levasseur (2011, p. 204), contemporary organisation development theories hold that this needs to be achieved through consideration of various issues such as team development, conflict management and change management in the team context in order to create high performing teams. Hartley should thus look to include these factors in the new performance measurement framework to ensure high quality outcomes. The other primary issues to be resolved are how to ensure effective talent management, how to be responsive to industry and market requirements, and how to save costs. All of these issues are linked to the fundamental question of which HR model to implement: the centralised model or the hybrid structure. Of these, each option has its own specific focus on different aspects of the organisation. The centralised model will offer greater cost savings as well as improved talent management across the entire organisation, as HR will be able to identify talented employees on an organisation wide basis and move or promote them as necessary. In contrast, the hybrid model will allow for greater responsiveness to industry and market requirements due to the support provided to the general managers. The hybrid model also offers improved talent management at the divisional level as managers are encouraged to invest in their own people and staff them accordingly, although there are concerns over the level of companywide coordination and change management under a hybrid model (Sonoco Products Company, 2012, p. 6). In general, the hybrid model appears to be more desirable as it improves market responsiveness and proactive behaviour due to the support offers to the general managers. Whilst it saves $400,000 less in costs, it still comes close to meeting the $2,800,000 cost saving target, and the improved revenue is likely to be much more important for a business with revenues of around $2.5 billion (Sonoco Products Company, 2012, p. 1). In general, current HR best practice is that the HR function and HR metrics should be focused on strategic alignment ahead off cost saving, as this will allow for higher levels of performance and a more positive HR strategy (Gates and Langevin, 2010, p. 111). The main question is hence which approach to talent management and change management is more appropriate. In this regard, it is important to note that, according to Martà ­n-Alcà ¡zar et al (2008, p. 103), best practice HR is moving away from universalistic and centralised approaches, and towards the acceptance of more contingent approaches. This provides further support to the hybrid model, as a model which is more contingent on divisional requirements and hence better able to adapt to specific organisational requirements, including providing the general managers with the specific intelligence, support and responsiveness they need in order to deal with the more competitive industry environment. At the same time, it is important to note that organisational strategy itself has an impact on the most effective HR practices, and hence the company should consider a more universal and centralised approach if its strategy will better lend itself to such an approach. Determining the most e ffective approach to support the organisational strategy should thus be what Cindy Hartley should attend to next. 5. Implementation This aspect of the essay will consider how the changes should be sustained and the schedule and resources required in order to effectively bring about the suggested changes, as well as how the company will you know that the changes are effective. The first aspect of the implementation should be to implement the hybrid model, once this has been formally selected and adapted as necessary to fit the organisational strategy. This will require the concerted effort of all the HR resources, with the specific implementation strategy depending on the availability of these resources and the ability of the company to organise them to obtain the necessary capabilities (Wright et al, 2001, p. 701). The relative success of these implementation efforts should be measured by considering the levels of support provided to the managers, as reported by the managers, as well as the achievement of the cost savings projected from the implementation of the new model (Becker and Gerhart, 1996) A similar appr oach can then be used to adapt the performance management approach in the company to the new organisational realities in order to improve team work, with levels of team performance used as a way to know these changes are effective (Armstrong and Baron, 2011). Reflection The learning activities undertaken in this module and during the analysis and completion of this case study have provided significant abilities with regards to my ability to provide solutions to the case. In particular, whilst studying this module I have learnt how to apply theoretical techniques and models from organisation development and human resources to specific cases and examples. This can be seen in my ability to apply theoretical concepts such as universalistic and contingent HR practices, as well as team work and performance management to the case of Sonoco. This will also assist me in my future managerial career, as I will be able to apply these concepts to the companies I work for. The other primary way in which the learning activities on this module have contributed to my ability to provide solutions to the case is that they have helped me to analyse a practical situation and determine the root causes of the situation from the symptoms. For example, in this case I was able to use the literature to link the acquisition based nature of the companys growth to the development of its HR silos, and use this to make recommendations to address this issue. I was also able to identify and analyse the implications of the hybrid and centralised models using theory, and hence make appropriate recommendations in this area, something which will be useful if I face a similar situation later in my career.

Psycho Motifs :: essays research papers

PSYCHO MOTIFS   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Have you ever seen Psycho? I have, and in my opinion this movie is one of the best horror flicks ever. Part of the reason I think this because of the motifs Hitchcock added to the movie. Some of these motifs are the motion down, eyes, and circles.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What is a motif? Better yet, what is the motif I’m about to tell you about? Well, let me start by giving you a definition of the word.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Motif : A recurrent thematic element used in the development of an artistic or literary work. (In this case, a movie.) One motif in this movie could be circles. For example, the eyes of all the characters, and the Norman’s birds. How about the police man’s sun glasses, they were also circular. Here’s a creepy one, the peep hole that Norman spies on Marion with. Another example could be the drains, which in two cases both had blood being washed down. Eerily, there is the empty eye sockets of Norman’s dead mother. There is even the letter O in Norman’s name. To sum this set of motifs up, circles are shown throughout this film, and to find these really shows the extent Hitchcock would travel to set his movies above the rest.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Throughout the movie PSYCHO, I noticed several points where it seemed that an object or person was going downward. For instance, the rain descending for quite a long period of time in the beginning when Marion left town with the stolen money. Then there’s the water flowing down the sink drain and the bathtub drain. Also, the way everyone seems to be looking down on Marion. Then there’s Norman, and how the you see him always coming down his steps, but rarely up them. For my last spotted example, the bodies and their cars sinking into the swamp is one creepy instance of the downward motif. I don’t know the point of these motifs, this one included, except for the extra spice it just gives to the watchers who plan on picking through the movie to find these â€Å"Hitchcock bonuses†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Do you ever feel like you’re being watched? Well, in Psycho another motif is eyes. One example I used earlier is the police man’s sun glasses. You can’t see his eyes, but you know he’s watching or more likely inspecting Marion for any trace of trouble. Later in the film, Marion pulls into to a car dealership to trade in her car.

The Clifton Suspension Bridge

FunctionThe Clifton Suspension Bridge was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and completed in 1864. The span spans 214m across the Avon Valley Gorge from Clifton to Leigh forests as shown in figure 3. The towers are 26.2m high and the span concatenation has a breadth of 6.1m Centres to center. There are two vehicle lanes and two prosaic waies. The prosaic paseo is to boot used as a sing topographic point along the Avon gorge. There are about 10,000 autos traversing per twenty-four hours with a gross vehicle weight bound of four dozenss. The toll for the span is presently 50p ( 27/11/09 ) . Bing an historic span, the construction requires changeless services which the tolls fund. The velocity bound on the span is presently 15mph and the weight bound is controlled utilizing a modern weight beam ( Mitchell-Baker, D. Et al 1988 ) . The span was designed to originally take the weight of Equus caballuss and passenger cars. The site location was chosen because of its short and flat span.St ructureThe span takes the signifier of a convention suspension span. This signifier was ambitious at the clip of design and if it was completed on agenda it would hold been the longest suspension span in the universe. The suspension span was a suited pick for two chief grounds. The first ground is that the tallness between the deck and the river below is 75m and to build a tower would be expensive. It besides would hold been expensive to build any signifier work. A suspension span can be constructed without the assistance of signifier work and Brunel ‘s design did non necessitate a tower compared with Telford proposal which included two Gothics styled towers ( Moore, Fuller. 1999 ) . The 2nd ground is that the strength of the environing topography allowed the being of ground tackles. In state of affairss where a suspension span would be suited, the status of the land is unsuitable for bearing the force per unit area from the overseas telegrams. One of the disadvantage of utili zing a suspension span on the site is that it can merely be a individual span. The ground tackles have to take the entire tenseness of the concatenation compared with a three span span where the deck on the side span acts as a counter weight, alleviating tenseness in the ground tackle. The construction is formed chiefly of a long concatenation, similar to a motorcycle concatenation, two towers and the span deck. As it is shown in figure 5 the concatenation is formed of three sub-layers on each side, each bed dwelling of an jumping 10 and 11 level wrought Fe bars. By increasing the figure of concatenation beds the overall opportunity of prostration lessenings. The level wrought Fe bars were designed to be every bit long as operable. The long bars decrease the entire weight of the ironss by cut downing the sum of heavy articulations. . By increasing the sum of ironss, the construction becomes less reliant on each person concatenation ; hence failure of a concatenation should non take to prostration. The dip to cross ration of the ironss contribute to the efficiency of the construction. High span to depth ratios cause high tenseness in the concatenation, this is because of the way of the concatenation reacts about perpendicular to the weight, making an inefficient construction. Low span to depth ratios do a more efficient concatenation but the tallness of the towers have to increase hence increasing the cost. The most effectual span to depth ratio is about 1:10 which is what was adopted by Brunel for the span. This is an betterment to the 1:13.5 ratio which Telford antecedently adopted on the Menai span. The chief catenary ironss are non attached straight to the deck at mid span ; this is done to let the chief deck to hover freely in the air current without seting strain on the ironss ( Pugsley, Sir A. 1976 ) , ( Porter G. 1974 ) . Hanging at 8ft intervals are the shaped Fe rods, which transfer the burden onto the concatenation. The array of rods is designed to oppose prostration if a individual rod should neglect. The rods are attached slackly between the concatenation and longitudinal girder, see figure 5 ; this allows motion which decreases the opportunity of failure from span motion. This so imposes a perpendicular downward force onto the towers and tenseness along the concatenation and in the ground tackles. The longitudinal girder as shown in figure 5, is a uninterrupted stiffened I beam. The girder is 3ft deep and connects the cross girder to the rods. The original design proposed by Brunel used a timber lattice girder with a matching stiffness, but by the clip of the Bridgess building the lumber lattice was replaced by an Fe plated girder. The girder takes the emphasis applied to a individual articulation on the concatenation and traverses it along the longitudinal length of the concatenation. As illustrated in figure 4, a truss construction is adopted for the cross girders. The truss construction is a really strong and efficient construction along the length. The shallow deepness allows thin strips to organize the trusses without clasping. The place of the cross girder is shown in figure 5. The cross girders are braced horizontally utilizing thin Fe strips to respond against air current burden. The quadrangle form deforms under burden by rotary motion at the articulations. The brace forms a triangular molded construction ; distortion in the triangular molded construction occurs by flexing of each member, therefore increasing the elements stiffness. Live tonss are transferred onto the lumber beams which span between each cross girder ; using a perpendicular burden and doing a bending minute in the girder. The lumber decking was chosen because it was light and suitably strong ; it besides allows easy accessible fixs. A shaped Fe adorning frame was added by Barlow and Hawkshaw to increase rigidness. The saddles are situated on top of the towers. The saddles allow sidelong motion of the ironss. Lateral motion occurs due to temperature alterations or unsymmetrical burden. The saddles besides allow the perpendicular emphasis to be reduced in the rock tower by increasing the contact country, understating the hazard of oppressing the rock. The ground tackles are 17m below the land and the ironss are spread into a chamber to make a stable foundation. The spreading of the concatenation allows the tenseness to be opposed by the compaction of the drop, non entirely trusting on the clash. The advantage of this is that the strength of the ground tackles increases ; it besides takes advantage of the strong limestone foundation. ( Pugsley, A. 1976. )StrengthThe constructions weight bound for vehicles is presently four dozenss. This weight bound was introduced about 50 old ages ago when applied scientists decided that the big tonss and weariness could take to fall in. The sum of vehicles on the span at one clip is controlled by the toll booths. This is done to cut down the entire burden on the span at any minute. Brunel designed the span to defy an adventitious burden of 100lbf/sq.ft which is about equal to 4.7 KPa of force per unit area ( Porter G, R.F.D. 1974 ) . . This is simular to the unrecorded burden which is adopted on modern Bridgess with similar spans ( Bangash, M, Y, H. 1999 )ConstructionAfter planing the span, the foundations and abutments were the first elements to be constructed. Then the towers were the following thing to be constructed. The ironss were pulled across by rope and so the deck was attached to the concatenation.CareBetween 1864 and 1953 the lumber decking had been replaced three times and the ironwork had been treated twice and at the terminal of this period was still in good status. Two suspender rods had failed in a terrible storm in 1877 and three more had failed in 1887. Both occasions the exact cause of the failure is still non convincingly known. In 1861 a 6 metric ton vehicle weight bound was appointed to the span. The size and weight of vehicles was continuously increasing and applied scientists were concerned with the Bridgess construction. It was based on the theory that repeated lading on metal causes its hempen construction to go crystallite. In 1918 one every 10 bolts from the rods were removed for proving, and they were all found to be of equal strength though some cleft appeared ; these clefts were likely to happen from hammering. The drainage of the span had caused serious corrosion to anchor degree ironss. In 1925 an excess nexus was added to the ironss but there were still concerns for the ground tackles status. To get the better of this concern concrete was poured to a deepness of above 9ft above the ground tackle. In 1953 the duty of the span was passed to the trusses and the national heritage. The point burden of wheels was known to be more detrimental to the deck than to the construction as a whole, doing the deck to be once more in a terrible status. The weight bound was so changed from 6 ton bound to 2.5 ton axle weight and 4 ton vehicle weight. ( Mitchell-Baker, D. . Cullimore, M. S. G. 1988 ) In 2009 a prosaic noticed a serious cleft in one of the suspension rods and the closing of the span followed. Impermanent supports were put in topographic point while the rod was replaced. A twelvemonth earlier work to better the sealing, drainage and new route surface was completed. This would diminish the sum of corrosion of the Fe work. ( BBC News. 2009 )AestheticssThe span is really aesthetically delighting, it has few single elements, and each component is similar in map. The girders are really thin and it has a uninterrupted span which besides makes it more appealing to people, most people would hold the span is beautiful. The form of the construction besides reflects the force applied to it, being dilutant in the center and thicker as it gets towards the borders where the greater minutes would happen. The span besides has a bold and dramatic lineation when viewed from along the vale ( Gottermoeller, F. 1998 ) . The towers are curved so that they appear tall from below, organiz ing a bold construction. The towers are besides in good proportions compared with the immediate surrounding and harmonious in three dimensions. The span is constructed utilizing locally sourced stuffs, incorporating the construction into the environment. ( Chen, W et Al. 1999 ) . The span is 3ft higher on the Clifton side. This is done to halt the semblance that the span deck is falling towards the drop.

Free Essays on Fiber Optics

The Technology of Fiber Optics A fiber optic is a cable that is quickly replacing out-dated copper wires. Fiber optics are based on a concept known as total internal reflection. It can transmit video, sound, or data in either analog or digital form. Compared to copper wires it can transmit thousands of times more data and has many general uses ranging from telecommunications, computing, and medicine. In the summer of 1970, scientists at the Corning Glass Works developed a single mode fiber with a loss of 20 dB/km. This corresponds to over a 99% loss over one km, which may seem useless, but at the time it was a spectacular breakthrough. On October 30, 1986, a fiber across the English Channel became operational. In December 1988, the TAT-8, the first transatlantic fiber cable became fully functional. Currently, the standard losses of fiber are within 0.5 – 0.25 dB/km with a data transfer rate of one trillion bits per second. The basic setup for a fiber optical system is that first, a transmitter receives an electrical signal, usually from a copper wire. The transmitter drives a current on a light source and the light source launches the optical signal into the fiber. Inside the cable, repeaters often amplify the signal due to slight losses in power. Once the signal is through the cable, a light detector receives and converts it back to an electrical signal to send down another copper wire. There are five layers in almost all fiber optic cables. The inner most layer is the optical core. This is the light-carrying element typically made of silica or germania with an index of refraction of 1.48. The layer surrounding the central core is the optical cladding made of pure silica and has an index of refraction of 1.46. It is the boundary between these two layers that the light reflects off of, so the light never actually enters the cladding, it just reflects off the boundary. The next layer is the buffer material that shields the... Free Essays on Fiber Optics Free Essays on Fiber Optics The Technology of Fiber Optics A fiber optic is a cable that is quickly replacing out-dated copper wires. Fiber optics are based on a concept known as total internal reflection. It can transmit video, sound, or data in either analog or digital form. Compared to copper wires it can transmit thousands of times more data and has many general uses ranging from telecommunications, computing, and medicine. In the summer of 1970, scientists at the Corning Glass Works developed a single mode fiber with a loss of 20 dB/km. This corresponds to over a 99% loss over one km, which may seem useless, but at the time it was a spectacular breakthrough. On October 30, 1986, a fiber across the English Channel became operational. In December 1988, the TAT-8, the first transatlantic fiber cable became fully functional. Currently, the standard losses of fiber are within 0.5 – 0.25 dB/km with a data transfer rate of one trillion bits per second. The basic setup for a fiber optical system is that first, a transmitter receives an electrical signal, usually from a copper wire. The transmitter drives a current on a light source and the light source launches the optical signal into the fiber. Inside the cable, repeaters often amplify the signal due to slight losses in power. Once the signal is through the cable, a light detector receives and converts it back to an electrical signal to send down another copper wire. There are five layers in almost all fiber optic cables. The inner most layer is the optical core. This is the light-carrying element typically made of silica or germania with an index of refraction of 1.48. The layer surrounding the central core is the optical cladding made of pure silica and has an index of refraction of 1.46. It is the boundary between these two layers that the light reflects off of, so the light never actually enters the cladding, it just reflects off the boundary. The next layer is the buffer material that shields the...

A Brief History of the Clarinet

A Brief History of the Clarinet Most musical instruments evolve into their present form so gradually over many centuries that it is hard to pinpoint a date they were invented. This is not the case with the clarinet, a tube-shaped single-reed instrument with a bell-shaped end.  Although the clarinet has seen a series of improvements over the last few hundred years, its invention in around 1690 by Johann Christoph Denner, of Nuremburg, Germany, produced an instrument very similar to the one we know today. The Invention Although Denner based the clarinet  on an earlier instrument called the chalumeau, his new instrument made such important changes that it really could not be called an evolution. With the help of his son, Jacob, Denner added two finger keys to a chalumeau- which at the time looked much like a modern day recorder, though with a single-reed mouthpiece. The addition of two keys might sound like a small improvement, but it made an enormous difference by increasing the musical range of the instrument more than two octaves. Denner also created a better mouthpiece and improved the bell shape at the end of the instrument.   The name of the new instrument was coined shortly thereafter, and although there are different theories about the name, most likely it was named because its sound from a distance was somewhat similar to an early form of trumpet. (Clarinetto is an Italian word for little trumpet.)   The new clarinet with its improved range and interesting sound quickly replaced the chalumeau in orchestral arrangements. Mozart (d. 1791) wrote several pieces for the clarinet, and by the time of Beethovens prime years (1800 to 1820), the clarinet was a standard instrument in all orchestras.   Further Improvements Over time, the clarinet saw the addition of additional keys that improved the range and airtight pads that improved its playability. In 1812, Iwan Muller created a new type of keypad covered in leather or fish bladder skin. This was a great improvement over felt pads, which leaked air. With this improvement, makers found it possible to increase the number of holes and keys on the instrument.   In 1843, the clarinet was further improved when Klose adapted the Boehm flute key system to the clarinet. The Boehm  system added a series of rings and axles that made fingering easier which greatly helped, given the wide tonal range of the instrument.   The Clarinet Today The soprano clarinet is one of the most versatile instruments in modern musical performance, and parts for it are included in classical orchestra pieces, orchestra band compositions, and jazz pieces. It is made in several different keys, including B-flat, E-flat, and A, and it is not uncommon for large orchestras to have all three. It is even sometimes heard in rock music. Sly and the Family Stone, the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Aerosmith, Tom Waits, and Radiohead are some of the acts that have included the clarinet in recordings.   The modern clarinet entered its most famous period during the big-band jazz era of the 1940s. Eventually, the mellower sound and easier fingering of the saxophone replaced the clarinet in some compositions, but even today, a great many jazz bands feature at least one clarinet. The clarinet has also helped to inspire the invention of other instruments, such as the flutophone. Famous Clarinet Players Some clarinet players are names many of us know, either as professionals or well-known amateurs. Among the names you might recognize:   Benny GoodmanArty ShawWoody HermanBob WilburWoody Allen

Essay To Do

Essay To Do Essay To Do Analysis of Blood Alcohol by Gas-Liquid Chromatography Virtual Lab Respectfully Submitted to the Forensic Science Department Abstract The researchers experiment was about the police officers investigation on whether or not John Johnson who had initially been pulled over after being seen crossing the double line on a crowded highway. Johnson was pulled over and alcohol was detected. The officers tested Johnson for alcohol with two field sobriety tests. Which involve standing on one foot for thirty seconds and walking in a straight line heel-to-toe. Johnson failed both tests which led for his blood samples to be tested and his blood alcohol content to be investigated. The researcher found that Johnson was indeed intoxicated and had an EA area of 191 with a peak of 1.7, and PA area of 312 with a peak of 3.2 in the unknown blood. In standard 1 the PA area was 298 with a peak of 3.2. In standard 2 the EA area 82 had a peak of 1.7 while the PA area of 297 had a peak of 3.2. Finally in the researcher’s standard 3 the EA area was 272 with a peak of 1.7 and a PA area of 319 with a peak of 3.2. Table of Contents Introduction Pre-Lab Questions Materials and Methods Results Discussion Conclusion Appendix References Introduction The researchers experiment involved the testing of a suspected drunk driver’s blood alcohol context. Once the sample was taken to the hospital the researchers used a Blood Alcohol by Gas- Liquid Chromatography using an internal standard to test it. Gas chromatography is a process by which a mixture of compounds in volatilized form may be separated into its constituent parts by moving a mobile (gas) phase over a stationary phase (sorbent or liquid phase). The progress of each component through a column is decreased in proportion to the component's affinity for the stationary phase. Each component is detected as it emerges from the column by a flame ionization detector. The components can be identified by their characteristic time required for emergence (retention time) and quantities by determining the ratio of the detector signal strength for the component to the signal strength for a reference compound (internal standard). (Angelos, 2010) In the researchers experiment the researcher applied gas chromatography to the separation of a water-ethanol mixture. This method is often used in the determination of alcohol (i.e. ethanol) in blood or urine. One obvious application is when law enforcement agencies need to determine whether or Not someone is inebriated. In these cases, high sensitivity is required since 0.1% blood alcohol Content is considered to be legally intoxicated in most states. The researchers own determination dealt with higher concentrations (up to 25% by volume) which are more typical of alcohol levels Found in many alcoholic beverages. (Angelos, 2010) Gas chromatography is a powerful and widely used tool for the separation, identification And quantization of components in a mixture. In this technique, a sample is converted to the Vapor state and a flowing stream of carrier gas (often helium or nitrogen) sweeps the sample into A thermally-controlled column. (Jain, 1971) The analysis of blood and other body fluids for alcohol is most commonly performed using headspace gas chromatography due to its simplicity and the number of samples that normally run daily. The quality of GC results depends on many factors, including the stability of the gas chromatograph, the ruggedness of the injection system, and the sensitivity of the detector. Within this process, sample preparation and introduction provide the foundation for repeatability and reliability that are essential for the generation of quality data. Robustness and easy maintenance are also paramount to ensure continuous operation. (Gemme, 2012) In the case of gas-liquid chromatography, the

Current Events-Native American Communites Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Current Events-Native American Communites - Essay Example This essay analyzes this auction as part of the enduring fights against modern forms of colonization. Evidently, Native Americans continue to be bullied in and displaced from their original lands, as some people use the law to violate existing treaties and rulings that give property rights to the former. History repeats itself, as the Lakotas fight for what is theirs because they are under siege from the same forces that ejected them from their lands more than five hundred years ago. In Chapter 2 â€Å"The Invasions of America† of the book First Peoples: A Documentary Survey of American Indian History, Calloway (2012) described the centuries of land grabbing and extermination that Native Americans endured, since Columbus first stepped on the New World. The European settlers created laws and waged wars that aimed to take away the lands from the natives. Up to now, the same strategy persists. The descendants of these settlers continue the practice of using the law to dispossess the natives of their lands. Black Hills is a sacred site that the United States government and its Supreme Court recognize as the property of the Lakota people. The Reynolds family, however, â€Å"owns† it too, and so they can do as they please with it. At present, the Lakota tribes are accumulati ng funds to buy at least Pe’ Sla, which is quite saddening, because they are raising so much money to buy land that belongs to them. Hence, even in the twenty-first century, the natives continue to battle the settlers, who want to take fundamental signifiers of their culture- their sacred ancestral lands. The century has turned but the fight against colonization continues. This time, no blades, cannons, and guns are used, and instead, property rights laws are used. The victims have the same faces, the faces of the native tribes of America. Black Hills is a sacred site. More than that, it belongs to the Lakota. They do not even use it to make money. They need it to

Report about Greece Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Report about Greece - Essay Example This has been the state of affairs affecting Greece. This paper looks at the turnaround experienced by Greece through analysis of the country’s GDP growth and its economic performance of the region. The GDP of Greece since 2008 has been on the rocks according to statistics provided by the World Bank (2014). The nation has experienced a mere 0.46 percent growth since this time with a low of -2.80 percent in 2010 (Tradingecomomics, 2014). Based on this, it is clear that the nation is facing an economic crisis. Despite this there is, the nation is forecasted to do better as it is now picking up from the low it experienced as shown in the graph below. From the above, one can see that the GDP of the state has been taking a downward trend, but has picked up in the last few years. This can be attributed to the reforms placed in the employment sector. According to BBC’s Mark Lowen (2014), through the job cuts and firm restructures, the rate of unemployment has reached an all time high of 28 percent and contrasts the turnaround experienced by the nation in terms of economic growth. Before, at least 50,000 jobs a year were made available to the citizens of the nation and the economy was growing at 5 percent annually. After the crash, the inverse was experienced with the rate of growth plummeting and the unemployment rate increasing rapidly. In accordance with Herbert Grubel (2013), the problem resulted from the instability of prices. That is to say inflation caused by those in government. The problem began when wages were reduced, resulting in the leaders increasing the nominal wages in the public sector. The higher wager resulted in the printing of more money, increasing the deficit experienced by the nation. All this resulted in inflation in the region and led to the collapse of the Greece economy and thus the increased rate of unemployment and the fall in the growth of the GDP. According to N. Roubini (As cited by George Alogoskoufis, 2012),

Tintern Abbey Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Tintern Abbey - Essay Example These lines capture in essence the role played by memory in preserving emotion and in poetic expression. Tintern Abbey in particular is imbued with the spirit of these lines and best embodies the role of memory in Wordsworth's poetry. At the onset of the poem Wordsworth declares that five years have elapsed since his visit to this idyllic location. With gentle contentment he allows the sheer beauty of the well remembered and much beloved landscape to sink into his being and permeate his very senses. His detailed description of nature bedecked in all finery transports the reader and one can almost see the "steep and lofty cliffs" and hear the "soft inland murmur" of the flowing water (Wordsworth 112). He becomes nostalgic and is filled with bittersweet remembrances connected to this gorgeous spectacle. Slowly he is lifted up on the wings of memory and he sees himself as the boy he once was and as the man he has become and recollects the eventful time between the two stages of his life. In the said five years, Wordsworth's life had been tumultuous and he bore witness to much suffering, sorrow and pain brought on by the darker side of human nature. He had spent time in France at the time of the French revolution and had been an idealistic supporter of the revolutionaries' cause. However in light of the tide of violence that swept the country and subsequent hostilities between France and Britain he became disillusioned and heartsick and returned to his country. Therefore his return to Tintern Abbey and its idyllic setting is a homecoming of sorts. Spurred by his memory he recollects the pleasurable bond he forged with nature and how it sustained him in trying times and happily looks forward to forging a new bond for the future. Wordsworth describes the profound effect his memory of this location has had on him despite his prolonged absence. Even as he nursed his loneliness in crowded cities and towns, his memories of this picturesque scene eased his fatigued state and rejuvenated his wearied spirit as it filled him with "sensations sweet,/ Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart,/ And passing even into my purer mind,/ With tranquil restoration" (Wordsworth 113). Thus for Wordsworth his memories serve as an opiate for the senses, bruised and battered by a harsh life. He further credits memory for his random acts of kindness. His memories of nature's bounty is like a wellspring of goodness that never runs dry and spurs him on towards achieving a state of perfect morality. Thus pleasant sensations induced by memory are responsible for bringing out all that is pure and true in him. Wordsworth also attributes memory with providing him an insight "into the life of things" (114). Oftentimes he is baffled and bogged down by the thick fog of mystery surrounding the mechanism of the world and thus obscuring his vision of life itself. But he is relieved of this cumbersome burden by memory which allows him to reach deep within himself to find answers and ultimately enlightenment. He is able to shed the trappings of civilization and

Operations Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Operations Management - Assignment Example For this purpose, two different case studies have been analyzed. It is important for the organizations to come up with proper quality management and production management strategies, in order to make sure that the organization is able to meet the overall objectives and show high growth and increasing profits (Charvet, Cooper, & Gardner, 2008; Dahlgaard and Dahlgaard-Park, 2006). CASE STUDY: THE REALCO BREADMASTER Master Product Schedule for the Bread maker       Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Forecasted demand    20,000 20,000 20,000 20,000 20,000 20,000 20,000 20,000 Booked orders    23,500 23,500 21,500 15,050 13,600 11,500 5,400 1,800 Projected ending inventory    7,000 27,000 47,000 67,000 87,000 107,000 127,000 147,000 Master production Schedule    40,000 40,000 40,000 40,000 40,000 40,000 40,000 40,000 Available to promise    16,500 16,500 18,500 24,950 26,400 28,500 34,600 38,200 The projected ending inventory gives a clear notification o f extra production by production department. The amount or units of projected ending inventory is increasing with the passage of weeks and increasing the inventory holding or maintenance cost for the company. Available-to-promise inventory number tells that the rate of holding inventory is increasing week-by-week and which causes the increment in ware house cost and inventory management cost. Realco already have excess production and has a capacity of producing more than the demand so the Realco can make promises with the customers to meet the demand with its available projected ending inventories. Realco should improve the production level by analyzing an accurate demand from the market. Realco needs to analyze and determine the gap between the demand and supply to understand the market variations then produce according to the market requirements. This practice will reduce the cost of holding inventory and contain the organization with the balance figure of demand and supply which gives handsome profits in short term period (Barlow, 2005). Jack’s Approach to Order Promising: Jack does not have a formal production plan and he has not analyzed the demand and supply on the basis of any formulated schedule or any economic analysis. Jack’s forecasting strategy is based on analogy which means future expectation is completely rely on past experiences, with this approach Jack make assumptions for meeting the demand. It has a benefit of availability of inventory because of excess amount of production. Benefit in a way that the ending inventory is utilizing by the Jack’s promises. On the other hand this unformulated and informal strategic planning has a dark side too which can cause a big down fall in company’s financial position. If the demand would exceed from the production then it will be difficult for the company to meet the demand of people which will directly affect the brand loyalty and at that point competitor will fill the gap of d emand and get the competitive advantage. And if the demand gets decreased with the passage of time and production level is same then the company will bear a high holding inventory cost. The formal master scheduling will design the balance structure of demand and supply by analyzing the market trends. It will reduce the c

New Public Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5250 words

New Public Management - Essay Example This review will then investigate the observed impact of NPM on the health sector and the effects of adopting market-oriented concepts, as reported in a study conducted by the World Bank (p.13) Moreover, NPM will be a viable reference because it has been documented to influence the financial policies of many governments. Policy issues directly affect public institutions like hospitals because reduced funding restrictions - a reality in many countries and one of the benefits of the NPM approach - will ultimately have an effect at the operational level. That is, hospitals may be compelled to improve procedures and practices, especially in terms of resource allocation, but they must also strive to improve the level of customer satisfaction. The market orientation of the NPM model will be particularly helpful in this area. Thus, with NPM theories as basis, this review will proceed to investigate process level concepts that are also oriented towards efficiency (p.15), which include action research, clinical pathways, service redesign, and operations management. The final section (p.18) looks at several initiatives that aimed to improve operations and practices in hospitals and especially, in operating theatres. The sources cited in this review are summarized in Table 1. DisTable 1. Summary of Reviewed Literature Author/s Date Title Subject/Topic Baird 2004 The Global Influence of New Public Management: Case Studies from Africa Explains the use of NPM in several African countries, with special focus on the importance of capacity building, especially in developing countries where governance issues remain a major challenge. Barry-Walker 2000 The Impact of Systems Redesign on Staff, Patient, and Financial Outcomes Discusses the findings of a study introducing "inpatient bed consolidation" and "patient population reaagregation" in a U.S. hospital and how such change initiatives affect staff, patients, and financial performance. Borins 2000 New Public Management, North American Style Lists the characteristics of NPM and how it has influenced the governments of the U.S. and other developed countries in attempts to reform the public sector. Costello 2003 Action Research Provides a useful general reference for managers wanting to undertake action resarch, from planning to reporting. European Communities n.d. Increasing Institutional and Administrative Capacity Establishes the importance of institutional and administrative capacity in socio-economic development programmes, debating the impacts of NPM especially in developed countries. Khaleghian and Das Gupta 2004 Public Management and the Essential Public Health Functions Discusses attempts to improve the public sector and their impacts on providing health services, including adoption of NPM concepts. Mahaffey 2004 Optimizing Patient Flow in the Enterprise Explains how use of technology can enhance hospital operations and

MUSIC (Freewrite) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

MUSIC (Freewrite) - Essay Example r contemporary artists carpenters’ greatest sounds Michael Jackson erytha franklin local talents pure inate skills banjo guitar piano groovy nights night out dancing socializing midnight blues spontaneous personal expression sentimental no bounds lyrics crying Christmas medly remembering good days bad days people loved smile faces philharmonic harmony melody noise banging fireworks nostaligic calming spring water warm peaceful merican idol beatles riding radio on google upload swigning breathtaking sopranto alto crescendo mother singing baby lullaby association to music was inferred from one’s family members and the experiences shared with them. As such, music was more of a personal and family experience as memories seemed to have formed through established bonds with loved ones. As evident, the correlation to music was expressed through words that were descriptive of sounds of music: soft, mellow, loud, fast, crescendo, alto, among others. Then, there were adjectives that focused on associating music with particular events or days: Sunday afternoon, father and mother singing, baby’s lullaby, Christmas, fireworks and even watching American Idol. Concurrently, music was clearly related to artists such as Josh Groban, the Carpenters, Michael Jackson, and Aretha Franklin; in conjunction with remembering terms that are specifically related to musical elements and genres: rhythm, harmony, melody, pop, jazz, and rhythm and blues. The fun part was that the freewrite exercise provided one with the opportunity to burst for th with whatever came to one’s mind regardless of order, pattern, grammatical rules, or whimsical sense. Food was evidently part of the musical experience with pizza, potato chips and chocolates topping the list. However, remarkably, since the topic on music was initially provided, the free flow of words, ideas, and associated terms all reverberated to anything that has some special relation to music: people, events, sounds, artists, and even the

Operations Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Operations Management - Assignment Example For this purpose, two different case studies have been analyzed. It is important for the organizations to come up with proper quality management and production management strategies, in order to make sure that the organization is able to meet the overall objectives and show high growth and increasing profits (Charvet, Cooper, & Gardner, 2008; Dahlgaard and Dahlgaard-Park, 2006). CASE STUDY: THE REALCO BREADMASTER Master Product Schedule for the Bread maker       Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Forecasted demand    20,000 20,000 20,000 20,000 20,000 20,000 20,000 20,000 Booked orders    23,500 23,500 21,500 15,050 13,600 11,500 5,400 1,800 Projected ending inventory    7,000 27,000 47,000 67,000 87,000 107,000 127,000 147,000 Master production Schedule    40,000 40,000 40,000 40,000 40,000 40,000 40,000 40,000 Available to promise    16,500 16,500 18,500 24,950 26,400 28,500 34,600 38,200 The projected ending inventory gives a clear notification o f extra production by production department. The amount or units of projected ending inventory is increasing with the passage of weeks and increasing the inventory holding or maintenance cost for the company. Available-to-promise inventory number tells that the rate of holding inventory is increasing week-by-week and which causes the increment in ware house cost and inventory management cost. Realco already have excess production and has a capacity of producing more than the demand so the Realco can make promises with the customers to meet the demand with its available projected ending inventories. Realco should improve the production level by analyzing an accurate demand from the market. Realco needs to analyze and determine the gap between the demand and supply to understand the market variations then produce according to the market requirements. This practice will reduce the cost of holding inventory and contain the organization with the balance figure of demand and supply which gives handsome profits in short term period (Barlow, 2005). Jack’s Approach to Order Promising: Jack does not have a formal production plan and he has not analyzed the demand and supply on the basis of any formulated schedule or any economic analysis. Jack’s forecasting strategy is based on analogy which means future expectation is completely rely on past experiences, with this approach Jack make assumptions for meeting the demand. It has a benefit of availability of inventory because of excess amount of production. Benefit in a way that the ending inventory is utilizing by the Jack’s promises. On the other hand this unformulated and informal strategic planning has a dark side too which can cause a big down fall in company’s financial position. If the demand would exceed from the production then it will be difficult for the company to meet the demand of people which will directly affect the brand loyalty and at that point competitor will fill the gap of d emand and get the competitive advantage. And if the demand gets decreased with the passage of time and production level is same then the company will bear a high holding inventory cost. The formal master scheduling will design the balance structure of demand and supply by analyzing the market trends. It will reduce the c

MUSIC (Freewrite) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

MUSIC (Freewrite) - Essay Example r contemporary artists carpenters’ greatest sounds Michael Jackson erytha franklin local talents pure inate skills banjo guitar piano groovy nights night out dancing socializing midnight blues spontaneous personal expression sentimental no bounds lyrics crying Christmas medly remembering good days bad days people loved smile faces philharmonic harmony melody noise banging fireworks nostaligic calming spring water warm peaceful merican idol beatles riding radio on google upload swigning breathtaking sopranto alto crescendo mother singing baby lullaby association to music was inferred from one’s family members and the experiences shared with them. As such, music was more of a personal and family experience as memories seemed to have formed through established bonds with loved ones. As evident, the correlation to music was expressed through words that were descriptive of sounds of music: soft, mellow, loud, fast, crescendo, alto, among others. Then, there were adjectives that focused on associating music with particular events or days: Sunday afternoon, father and mother singing, baby’s lullaby, Christmas, fireworks and even watching American Idol. Concurrently, music was clearly related to artists such as Josh Groban, the Carpenters, Michael Jackson, and Aretha Franklin; in conjunction with remembering terms that are specifically related to musical elements and genres: rhythm, harmony, melody, pop, jazz, and rhythm and blues. The fun part was that the freewrite exercise provided one with the opportunity to burst for th with whatever came to one’s mind regardless of order, pattern, grammatical rules, or whimsical sense. Food was evidently part of the musical experience with pizza, potato chips and chocolates topping the list. However, remarkably, since the topic on music was initially provided, the free flow of words, ideas, and associated terms all reverberated to anything that has some special relation to music: people, events, sounds, artists, and even the

Culture of Cherokee American Indians Essay Example for Free

Culture of Cherokee American Indians Essay Scholars differ on where the Cherokee subculture came from and when they arrived on their traditional lands in the Southeast. The archaeological record of human occupancy of the Southeast goes back to at least 10,000 B. C. (Muller, 1978, p. 283; Canouts and Goodyear, 1985, p. 181), but this does not mean the Cherokees, or even their very distant ancestors, were there that early. Cherokees, as Cherokees, did not exist nearly so far back in time, nor did they necessarily emerge from the first or even from early occupants of the Southeast. The Cherokees as a more or less distinct American Indian people seem to be at the very most only one or two thousand years old. They may have developed from other American Indian peoples already in the Southeast, or they may have migrated there from another region. The Cherokees say they and other human beings were created after plants and animals were made. Plants and animals were told by the creatorthe Cherokees do not know who he or she wasto stay awake for seven nights and watch the world. Most could not do so. Of the plants, only the spruce, cedar, pine, holly, and laurel trees were able to watch so long: that is why they are now green all year. Of the animals, only the owl, the panther, and a few others were able to stay awake: that is why they see at night and prey on those who must sleep. Human beings were then created: At first there were only a brother and sister until he struck her with a fish and told her to multiply, and so it was. Seven days afterward the girl had a child; another came seven days later, then another, and so forth, and the human beings increased very fast until there was danger that the world could not keep them. Then it was made that a woman should have only one child in a year, and it has been so ever since (Mooney, 1982, p. 240). The Cherokees do not now know when or how some humans first became Cherokees. Almost certainly they had their origins in an ancient time, distinct from the present, when things were not as they are now. The Cherokees think they may even have emerged from the ground after other human beings were created, for it is said there is another world under the surface, identical except that the seasons are different. According to the Cherokees, The streams that come down from the mountains are the trails by which we reach this underworld, and the springs at the heads are the doorways by which we enter it, but to do this one must fast and go to water and have one of the underground people for a guide ( Mooney, 1982, p. 240). Some scholars have asserted that this is where the name Cherokee came fromgiven them by their neighbours. The scholars have argued that Cherokee means cave people, for the Cherokees are said to have come from under the ground (Reid, 1970, p. 3) and also lived in a mountainous land full of caves. The eighteenth-century trader James Adair asserted that the name came from the (apparently Cherokee) word chee-ra, meaning (sacred) fire, forming cheera-tahge, or men possessed of the divine fire (Adair, 1930, p. 237). Probably the name is from the Creek chilokee, people of a different speech, as John W. Swanton has stated; perhaps it is the name from which the form Chalaque was derived (Swanton, 1985, p. 49-50). The anthropologist John Witthoft supported this interpretation, based on his work with Eastern Cherokee informants: The name came from the Creek, Celokokalke, people of another language. He asserted, The Creek name by which the Cherokee were first known to Europeans became the general name for them in the Southeast, and was soon accepted even by the Cherokee themselves; names for other tribal groups have come into existence after a similar fashion (Witthoft, 1947, p. 305). The Cherokees commonly called themselves Tsalagi or, in the plural, Ani-Tsalagi, perhaps corrupted to form the name Cherokee or perhaps derived from the same word as Cherokee. According to James Mooney, their proper name for themselves was Yunwiya or, in the plural, Ani-Yunwiya. It means, more or less, the people, the real people, or the principal people (Mooney, 1982, p. 15). Tradition played an important role in Cherokee clans. It made sure certain elements of a culture from generation to generation were passed down. Such as, the traditional matrilineal Cherokee family structure, which means descent, is traced through the female line (Conley, 2002). The children belonged to the mother and her family clan. There was not any relatedness with the father and he’s family clan. This family structure provided a safe and secure environment for women and children. Also, it meant the man lived in the wife’s house, surrounded by her clan’s people, so he would not dare to abuse her unless he wanted a tribal beating. Women were largely incorporated into the tribes. Not only was she the head of her domain with mutually respected power and authority, she had equal say in the affairs of war and peace. She was also in charge of the household and nourishment of her family. The women were involved in many functions of daily life. It seems as if the women were the tribe, but not for long. Years after the first American contact, European traders living amongst would marry Cherokee women. European traders could not accept that fact of tracing descent through the female line, but slowly the clan system gave into the European style bilateral family, which traced descent through both male and female (Conley, 2002). The Cherokee were not too happy with this movement. It jeopardized the Cherokee’s clan traditional ways of a matrilineal family structure carried on for many centuries. Nevertheless, the Cherokees could do nothing about it. Before the first known contacts, life of the Cherokee nation had grown and thrived for many years in the south-eastern United States in the lower Appalachian Mountains in states such as: Georgia, Tennessee, North and South Carolina, and parts of Kentucky and Alabama. However, in less than thirty years, after the first recorded contact with outsiders, in particular with Hernado De Soto in his expedition of 1540, the Cherokee Indians reformed their culture. Many adaptations took place which resembled similar American cultures. The Cherokee soon built schools and court systems. This infuriated Andrew Jackson, a supporter of the Indian removal policy. After awhile, George Gist, also known as Sequoyah, established a Cherokee written language, utilizing an ingenious alphabet of 86 characters in 1821 (Ehle, 1925). Soon, this was adopted into Cherokee culture and a newspaper was formed. Again, Andrew Jackson grew more furious. He wanted the Cherokees removed off their lands. In 1830, United States Congress passed an Indian Removal Act pushed by President Andrew Jackson following the recommendation of former President James Monroe in his final address to Congress in 1825 (King, 1979). This act enforced the previous Georgia Compact of 1802, since many were ignoring that removal act. But, many opposed this Indian Removal Act ratified by congress. After debates over this issue, the oppositionist won. However, Andrew Jackson was able to reinforce the act, due to the Treaty of New Echota on Dec. 29, 1875 (Conley, 2002). The signing of the Treaty of New Echota set the stage for the beginning of Cherokee extermination. The treaty signed away the entire remaining tribal territory east of the Mississippi in exchange for five million dollars and the right to occupy lands west of the Mississippi (King, 1979). Major Ridge, John Ridge, Elies Boudinot, and the rest of the Treaty Party doomed the whole Cherokee Nation when they agreed to sign a fraudulent treaty with the federal government, which did not represent the Cherokee Nation as a whole (Martin, 2001). The Ross Party, people who oppose the removal treaty, tried to resist, but nothing else could be done. This removal process started what was to be known as the â€Å"Trail of Tears† or â€Å"Trail where they cried. † This forced migration journey consisted of thirteen groups of consecutive waves led by Cherokee captions that lasted from August 28, 1838 to March 18, 1839 (Conley, 2002). Over the journey many Cherokees died, approximately, four thousand out of sixteen thousand, due to diseases, exposure, or fatigue (Martin, 2001). The history of the Cherokee people is one of defeat and despair. After the first encounters with Americans, the Cherokee Nation was deteriorating. For instance, Cherokee family structures were changing, vast amounts of lands were being ceded to Americans, and Cherokee Indians were forced from their lands. Overtime, this constant chipping away at the Cherokee Nation, lead to the final Indian removal from homelands and the demise of the Cherokee Nation in southeastern United States. References Adair, James. (1930). Adairs history of the American Indians. Johnson City, Tenn. : Watauga Press. Canouts, Veletta, and Goodyear, Albert C. (1985). Lithic scatters in the South Carolina Piedmont. In Structure and process in southeastern archaeology, ed. Roy S. Dickens Jr. , and H. Trawick Ward, (pp. 180-94). University: University of Alabama Press. Conley, Robert, J. (2002). Cherokee. Portland: Graphic Arts Center Publishing Co. pp. 24-5, 44. Ehle, John. (1925). Trail of tears. New York: Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. King, Duane, H. (1979). The Cherokee Indian Nation. Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press. pp. 16, 129. Martin, Ken. (2001). History of the Cherokee. Retrieved February 13, 2006 from cherokeehistory. com Mooney James. (1982). Myths of the Cherokee and sacred formulas of the Cherokees. Nashville: Charles and Randy Elder. Muller Jon D. (1978). The Southeast. In Ancient Native Americans, ed. Jesse D. Jennings, (pp. 281-325). San Francisco: W. H. Freeman. Reid, John P. (1970). A law of blood: The primitive law of the Cherokee Nation. New York: New York University Press. Swanton, John R. (1985). Final report of the United States De Soto Expedition Commission. Washington, D. C. : Smithsonian Institution Press. Witthoft, John. (1947). Notes on a Cherokee migration story. Communicated by W. N. Fenton. Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, 37, 304-5.

A Strategic Analysis Of J Sainsbury Marketing Essay

A Strategic Analysis Of J Sainsbury Marketing Essay J Sainsbury plc  consists of Sainsburys a chain of 509 supermarkets and 276 convenience stores, Sainsburys online, Sainsburys property and Sainsburys Bank. Sainsburys Supermarkets is the UKs longest standing major food retailing chain, which opened its first store in 1869. The Sainsburys brand is built upon a heritage of providing customers with healthy, safe, fresh and tasty food. Today it differentiates itself by offering a broad range of great quality products at fair prices with particular emphasis on fresh food, a strong ethical approach to business and continuous leadership and innovation. At Sainsburys products are improved and developed to ensure the company leads in terms of the ingredients used and integrity of sourcing. Sainsburys goal  is to improve quality shopping experience for customers with great products at fair prices. Their aim is to exceed customer expectations for healthy, safe, fresh and tasty food, making the customers lives easier every day. Sainsburys brand Values-passion for healthy, safe, fresh and tasty food, their focus is on delivering great products at fair prices, they have a history of innovation and leadership and a strong regard for the social, ethical and environmental effects of their operation, and this has continued to stand the test of time. Sainsburys five principles are at the core of their business:  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The best for food and health  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sourcing with integrity  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Respect for our environment  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Making a positive difference to our community  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A great place to work. And at Sainsburys they believe that these principles provide differentiation from their major competitors and define and direct all their activities. Sainsburys business priorities are:  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Great food at fair prices  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Accelerating growth of complementary non-food ranges  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Reaching more customers through additional channels  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Growing supermarket space  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Active property management The organisation that has been selected to examine and analyse is Sainsburys.  Ã‚   Sainsburys has started its journey in 1869 and since then it has gradually established itself as the third largest supermarket chain in UK. Over the past few years its parent company   J Sainsbury plc   has prolonged its business and now owns a whole range of other companies like Sainsburys Supermarkets, Sainsburys Local, Bells Stores, Jacksons Stores and JB Beaumont, Sainsburys Online and Sainsburys Bank. The increasing figures of Sainsburys  Ã‚   global sales and purchasing operations contributes to a significant rise in the business competence and productivity. However, this report will be examining Sainsburys position in the retail industry, explaining the role of interaction within the macro and micro environment, drawing up a detailed competitive advantage of the organisation and the strategies that influence the business policies to survive in the competitive market. Analysis of Financial data Gross Profit Margin (GPM)- Due to the intense competition in the supermarket industry margins are generally low. See the following table for comparators which shows relatively poor margins for Sainsbury even compared to other retailers ; Company Industry ROA Profit Margin Marks Spencer Retailer and Financial Services 4.43% 3.91% J Sainsbury Retailer and Financial Services 5.60% 3.61% Thorntons Retailer of Chocolates etc 8.43% 6.45% Next Retailer of Clothing 26.14% 13.82% Dixons Group Retailer of Electronic etc Goods 19.78% 14.41% Yates Group Retailer of Food 9.13% 13.34% Safeway Retailer of Food 7.24% 4.14% Morrisons Retailer of Food 12.93% 5.87% Tesco Retailer of Food and Household Goods 9.99% 5.72% Strategic analysis of Sainsbury PLC using Porters 5-Force Model SWOT Analysis A  SWOT Analysis  is a strategic planning tool used to evaluate the  Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities,  and  Threats  of an organization. With the help of this SWOT analysis we will be able to find out the positives and negatives of Sainsburys. Strengths: Sainsburys has had thirteen straight quarters of growth showing real turnaround in its business. Even for 2007 it has shown an increase of 7% in turnover and a huge 450% increase in profit after tax (Annual Report 2007).It has an extremely experienced leadership team. Sainsburys seems to be very well placed on green and environmental issues due to its various recent initiatives, like buying fair-trade bananas (economist.com 2008 [online]). Furthermore its help in closing down gang master has had a positive effect on the public in general. It has a positive consumer brand and its liked by both green activists and consumers. It is one supermarket chain that has a clear celebrity endorsing products, leading to increased sales. With Jamie Oliver, it has been simple for Sainsburys to see uplifts in sales of specific ingredients that have been featured in ad campaigns. The supermarket had to order nine tons the equivalent of two years supply of nutmeg to meet demand when it appeared in one of Jamie Olivers ads. Weakness: The takeover bid by the Qataris Private equity firm last year can have some implications as people are gravitating towards British companies and the prospect of Sainsburys being governed by a foreign firm can lead to consumers switching loyalties. Unlike Tescos expansion plan (economist.com [online] 2008), Sainsburys is not present in markets other than the UK. This can lead to trouble especially if there is some problem within food retailing in the UK or if there needs to be a source of extra growth. Opportunities: Sainsburys alternative business presents a great opportunity for future growth. Its investments in property and a goal of  £40 million profit through its bank seem like a good strategy to pursue. Online sales are a great opportunity as well, since online margins are higher and investments are not huge. Threats: There needs to be continuous heavy investment in environmental and green issues without immediate benefits. The problem lies in maintaining a balance e.g. Bio-fuel is an important tool to curb global emissions and its use affects Sainsburys supply chain directly, so Sainsburys should support it. However, a spurt in bio-fuels has made corn dearer (independent.co.uk [online] 2008) affecting its prices within the UK and making Sainsburys consumers bear the brunt. Sainsburys operations are subject to a broad spectrum of regulatory requirements particularly in relation to planning, competition and environmental issues, employment, pensions and tax laws and in terms of regulations over the groups products and services. This  concludes  that with the help of this SWOT analysis Sainsbury would now know where they stand. This will also allow them work on their opportunities, weaknesses and threats and build up on their strengths giving them a cutting edge. Macro-Environment: At this present phenomenon the nature of the retail industry is changing its image dramatically and the importance to survive with the competitors and remain as a leading company in the market has reached its highest peak. However, there are some issues which may have some impacts on the business.    Political factors: At present the changing trend of globalised business could be a challenge as well as an opportunity for the Sainsburys because they would have to compete against new forces from all over the world to maintain best quality of the products and services they offer. Customer may get a negative impression because of the investigation going on price fixing as Sainsburys is listed in the top four retailers in UK (Rigby 2008). The UK Government is to reduce corporation tax rates from 30% to 28%, which will help Sainsbury, to save large amount of money (HM Treasury 2008).    Economical factors: The rising food prices because of global food crisis may have impacts on the business of Sainsburys as it will definitely increase their purchasing and production cost (economist.com 2008). And eventually it will increase the overall price of the products in the super market     Supply chain of Sainsburys may get affected with the rising cost of fuel which may lead to an overall increase in prices.   The credit crunch will cut the purchasing power of the consumers as they would have less money to spend on luxury products. Therefore, automatically it is going to decrease profit margins for Sainsburys. On the other hand Sainsburys operates financial services company with HBOS (Annual Report 2007) and also a bank. However, both of are directed affected due to recession. As the competition in the market is really high other big competitors like ASDA ,TESCO ,MORRISON ,LIDL , ALDI are cutting down their product prices and giving lot of incentives to customer which may bound Sainsburys to drop their prices to survive in the market. (Annual Report 2008) SOCIAL FACTORS: Sainsburys may introduce new recipes to cook easy and healthy food because now a days consumers tend to eat fresh food and   seem to be more health conscious. According to the health department the obesity rate in UK is increasing (department of health 2008). And because of that reason the UK government has emphasised on healthy eating (eatwell.gov.uk 2008) which gives Sainsburys to an opportunity to manufacture more healthy foods at a cheaper price to match the ongoing trend. Technological: It is predicted that by 2011 the online retail sales in Europe will hit approximately 263 Billion Euro because of the rapid increase of internet shopping in which the shoppers in UK may accounting for more than a third of all revenue.   Sainsburys can take the advantage of utilizing internet as an advertising media as 8% of the global advertising is spent on the internet and the percentage is increasing day by day (The Economist, 2007).  It will be very cost effective and help the company to globalize very easily. Self checkout machines may increase customer loyalty as they dont have to wait in long queues sometimes for very few products. It saves their time and increase comfort while shopping. It can also be very cost effective as it will require less worker to work and can be in operated 24 hour shops which will boost up the sales figure. RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Device) is a new technology yet to be popular but can play vital role in supply chain management fort the company. It can benefit big companies like Sainsburys to save their valuable time as it requires less inventory and offers more efficiency. (Directions magazine 2008) Environmental factors Environmental factors are one of the key issues these days.   Every company has to ensure that they contribute in reducing carbon footprint and to increase energy efficiency (Bream 2008) which means big companies like Sainsburys would have to invest more money to sort out Green issues. With the growing ethical issues such as selling organic foods and treating animals in a good way may have impacts on the business of Sainsburys because they would have to retain their customers   and   balance their pricing after   maintain all the environmental issues. Legal factors: Sainsburys would have to develop its packaging and labelling policies to meet all the implications of LAW on food and drinks. Which will add extra cost to their overall budget. As Sainsburys operate a bank and is involved with financial services they would have to be more concerned about the legal issues and risks involved with their business. Porters 5 Forces Competitive rivalry-The retail market is enormously competitive with a very crowded market. Now, as more and more companies are trying to get into non food sectors it further intensifies the competition. Sainsburys has a market share of 14.9% in 2007, steadily increasing since its restructuring programme that started in 2004 (Annual Report 2007). This is a positive trend but it lags well behind the runaway market leader Tesco, showing that there is considerable distance to cover. Tesco, Asda, and Morrisons are the other three big supermarket chains in the UK retail sector. All of them have a different competitive advantage over their competitors. Sainsburys reach in the convenience stores makes it have a larger customer reach. Banks and building societies compete with Sainsbury bank but it is not a core business for Sainsburys. Barriers for entry-Barriers to entry are extremely high in the food retail market due to a number of factors. Firstly, organised retail is amongst the most sophisticated sectors within the UK and needs a lot of investment, along with significant brand development, which takes years to establish. Secondly, retail is also at an advanced stage within the UK and most of the western world, which means there is little scope for new entrants to establish themselves. Local knowledge is extremely crucial within the food retail sector, something that is difficult for foreign firms to replicate. This is corroborated by the presence of few global supermarkets within UK. Threats of Substitutes-  The threat of substitutes in the food retail industry is a low one simply because consumers view it as a necessity, especially in the developed world and increasingly in the emerging markets. The retail market is always trying to converge and assimilate new innovations with respect to food products or alternative businesses, to make shopping an extremely pleasurable experience. This makes them extremely difficult to substitute. The only major threat of substitute is an internal industry threat whereby one supermarket can lap up the business of other supermarkets. Buyer power-  Buyer power is high in this industry simply due to the presence of so many competitors selling the same products. It is only differentiated in price and consumer loyalty and increasingly on green credentials. Moreover, the switching costs are low for consumers. As the economy goes further towards recession consumers needs are likely to be given more weight, increasing their power considerably. Supplier power-  Supplier power is usually more complicated as it is difficult to categorise it. It is safe to call it a mutually dependent relationship as suppliers are in itself huge companies, like PG, Unilever, Cadbury etc. with huge brand appeal. It can be argued that if supermarkets do not sell their products consumers will shift loyalties, making suppliers very powerful. However, if the products of big companies do not reach supermarkets, their sales volumes will be affected hugely. The relationship might change depending on the situation of the big branded supplier, for example, when sales of Cadburys dairy milk increased through the successful Gorilla ad campaign. Supplier power of smaller suppliers will not be considerable because of their sales volumes on dependence on these supermarkets. Competitive advantage: Sainsburys has got some competitive advantage which made its business so successful all over UK and established the 3rd  food retail chain in United Kingdom. The competitive advantages are discussed below: Æ’ËÅ"  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  16 million customers visiting every week Æ’ËÅ"  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  More concerned with the environmental issues such as green house effect , reducing fuel emission , providing 15 million reusable bags , 8 million car stickers and fridge magnets to remind and encourage people to use environmental friendly resources. Æ’ËÅ"  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Performing social responsibility while working with Comic Relief to raise money and help poor neighbourhood. Æ’ËÅ"  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  22% market share makes them one the power key player after Tesco in the British retail industry. Æ’ËÅ"  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  They have established a brand image and are considered to have the supermarket power which is Locations. Æ’ËÅ"  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sainsburys marketing strategy is   to attract the middle class consumers   with an affordable cost   while maintaining   particularly   quality of the food they simultaneously. Æ’ËÅ"  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  They are promoting a new section name Active Kids to help school kids and teachers to overcall child obesity.http://www.bitc.org.uk/resources/case_studies/afe_1343.html) Æ’ËÅ"  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sainsbury is the first super store to start One Hour Delivery slot outside of London. In addition if the y fail to do so on time customers will be paid  £10 next time they do online shopping.  (http://www.sourcewire.com/releases/rel_display.php?relid=19562hilite Æ’ËÅ"  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sainsburys bank loans ranked 13 out of 16 in the Ciao top list as The Best Loan Lenders   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://www.ciao.co.uk/Sainsburys_Bank_Loans__6914648) Æ’ËÅ"  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Developing customer service is a key advantage for Sainsbury. They discovered their highly skilled employees focus on their duties rather than Customers. So therefore , they changed the strategies and focused more to   improve customer service to get extra advantage. Æ’ËÅ"  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The adoption of RFID has brought new competitive advantage as only few companies has the privilege to use this innovative technology. Æ’ËÅ"  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Making Sainsburys store more accessible for its customer while keeping in mind about some facts such as geographical aspects, ever changing lifestyles, and   Government restrictions. Æ’ËÅ"  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cutting cost , giving incentives and introducing constant innovative products is a core advantage over competitors. Æ’ËÅ"  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sainsbury manufacturers their own products and has their own brands which helps them to produce products in a bulk quantity at a cheaper price. Æ’ËÅ"  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The company has a unique core competency which is they promote value by providing good quality products at a competitive price. Æ’ËÅ"  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Vertical integration in between buyers and suppliers has managed to organise and run a healthy supply chain system for the company which may help them to expand their business in future. . Limitations inter-related with the PEST Analysis: In analyzing the macro-environment, it is important to identify the critical factors that might have affect on the business. A number methods of have been developed so far. PEST analysis happens to be one of the key tools to determine those factors in a various way. Kotler (1998) claims that PEST analysis is a useful strategic tool for understanding market growth or decline, business position, potential and direction for operations. The utilization of PEST analysis could be considered effective for the corporate benefit and strategic developments of the company. Although everything has its own Pros and Cons , PEST analysis as a tool is not unlikely to them. It can be said that Pest Analysis are sometimes done on simple assumptions which may not even exist in real. The reason behind may be the facts we take into account while doing a PEST for any company. It may not be considered on specific area or may be they less possibility to happen reality. It is also considered that PEST analysis doesnt really emphasise on critical factors and it one of the major lacking of this method is it only covers external issues without concerning the internal environment of the company and position of competitors in the industry. Another disadvantage for PEST would be it is not done on a regular basis as the rules and regulations, currency rate , variables , foreign investment and   economic figures etc .change quite often. Indeed to make it more realistic and practical it is important to gather information and obtain different perspectives based on individual point of view which is going to increase cost thus, results as a limitation for this vastly use d tool. The current position of the company in the market is quite strong though with the booming recession and business expansion of   other competitors may cause some difficulties in future.  Sainsburys being   one of the largest supermarket company in UK should set some standards to achieve outstanding performance as a overall company. Moreover,   Sainsbury should introduce some new business policies to expand its business outside of UK and explore the new markets like China, India , USA, Australia. Conclusion: From this investigation it can be seen through the various analyses methods used; Marketing Audit, Porters 5 Forces and SWOT, that Sainsburys is an iconic British food brand, well loved by its consumers and importantly profits, have improved tremendously. Although it has shown steady growth it is important for Sainsburys to go the next level by challenging Tesco, a competitor identified in the Porters 5 forces analysis, either by thinking of international expansion or on price. This in conjunction with its increasing property portfolio and alternate businesses should help in continuing the strong growth path, as well as tiding over threats (SWOT) in its external environment.