Social Science Study Guide

Study Guide: Intro to Social Sciences Anthropology: * How culture contributes to the make-up of humanity * Science of people (origin, classification, distribution, races, physical character, culture) * Emphasis on cultural relativity, in-depth examination of context and cross-cultural comparisons * Anthropologists: Ruth Benedict, Margaret Mead * Both quantitative and qualitative methods of research * Fields: Biological/physical anthropology, Sociocultural anthropology, archaeology, anthropological linguistics Sociology: Studies the actions of members within a specific society * How people organize themselves in groups, institutions and associations * Fields: Demography, criminology, gender studies, social stratification * Sociologists: Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, Talcott Parsons, George H. Mead * Both quantitative and qualitative research methods Psychology: * Science of mental processes of a group/individual * Used in counselling to business * Fields: Developmental psychology, abnorm al psychology, clinical psychology, social psychology, organization psychology, cognitive psychology, personality, neuroscience. Psychologists: Sigmund Freud, Ivan Pavlov, B. F. Skinner, Albert Bandura, John B Watson Sociology * One area of society affects another directly or indirectly * Ideology of society influences marriage, economics, love, freedom, politics * Sociologists seek to make sense of the beliefs and values of the personalities interacting within the complex society that is continually being recreated. KARL MARX (1818-1883) * Study society using a scientific method to try to predict social outcomes (Marxist theory) * Production is essential for the advancement of society A few individuals will control the majority of the resources and production * Conflict in his theory: division of social class one person’s status is elevated while other workers are forced to make money. * Labour Theory of Value: human productive power will be exploited in order to maximize pr ofits for the bourgeois. * Proletariat produces goods valued at more than they are being paid rich getting richer. * Money is the driving force in our society * Businesses are exploiters, cannot see positive nature of the bourgeois TALCOTT PARSONS (Structural Functionalism) * As much as things change they stay the same Believed society will create structures within itself that will help with its basic functioning requirements * Our society will work to achieve a homeostasis where equilibrium is achieved * Every aspect of society contributes to the successful function of another aspect. (Relies on each other) * When a system breaks down, it is necessary for other components in society to take over or assist the malfunctioning social structure. * Ex: Legal system * Structural functionalism: Does NOT look at social change; deals with the maintenance of a society (seeks normality, equilibrium).GEORGE H. MEAD (Symbolic Interactionism) * Symbolic interactionism: Focuses on how humans inte rpret (define) each other’s actions. Their response is based on the meaning which they attach to such actions (not the actions directly). * Individuals learn and react from interactions within a society. * People influence their surroundings and shape the development of a society. * Society shapes the individual as he/she is shaping the society. * Analyses from the â€Å"standpoint of communication as essential to the social order†, not individual psychology. FEMINISM Liberal Feminists: Examine social institutions, equal access to increase women’s influence on society. * Radical Feminists: Focus on the exploitation of women. Seek to change the patriarchal social structure through complete structural changes. * Marxist Feminists: Focus on women’s labour being underpaid. * Social Feminists: Focus on the overthrow of the capitalism; believe it is the root problem of inequality of sexes. Fields Demography * Demography is the scientific study of human populati ons-their size, composition and distribution across an area. * Fertility, mortality, and migration.These three processes influence how people inhabit the earth, form nations and societies, and how they develop culture. Criminology * Criminology is the study of the criminal justice system and the law enforcement from a social and individual perspective. * Focuses on the behaviour which may have caused the criminal to violate a law, and seeks its influences, whether it is psychological, social or cultural. Gender Studies * Gender studies seeks to analyse gender identity and gendered representation in the fields of psychology, political science, sociology, media studies, human development etc. Gender studies investigates the physical and biological gender differences between sexes, nationality etc. Psychology * Study of human behaviour. * Examines actions, responses, how someone reacts under specific conditions, how this individual affects society. SIGMUND FREUD * Creator of psychoanal ysis * Human behaviour is driven by desires and the suppression of these desires. * Mind has three areas: Conscious, Preconscious, Unconscious * Personality is motived by drives= Id (part of the unconscious mind) * Superego= socially conscious of all decisions Ego= mediator between Id and Superego * Too much Id= not worry about social responsibilities; engage in dangers, breaking social rules. * Too much Superego= too uptight, too worried about social expectations and rules * Freud view human development as progressing through stages of development where the main conflict deals with an erogenous zone of the body. * Human development is understood in terms of changing focuses of sexual desire. B. F SKINNER (Operant Conditioning) * Interested in outward behaviour; believed that our personality develops because of external events. He used a rat experiment to show the idea of positive reinforcement; praise for good behaviour has the highest chance for producing long-term behaviour chang e. * Humans develop their behaviours due to a set of rewards that promote activities being repeated and reinforced. * Skinner believes that Operant Conditioning is good tool to promote an individual to make changes in their behaviour. IVAN PAVLOV (Classical Conditioning) * He wanted to see how the mind could be conditioned to make the body respond to the possibility of an event occurring. * Ex: Salivation reaction of a dog to a meat powder ERIK ERIKSON (development stages table) Believed that at a certain stage of someone’s life there are tasks (milestones) to achieve in order to have a healthy development. * Unlike Freud, he believed that a person can pass through a stage and not get â€Å"stuck† at a certain level of psychological development. Fields Developmental psychology: Developmental psychology is the science of studying developmental growth in humans over the course of their life span-from conception until death. Neuroscience: Neuroscience psychology is an int erdisciplinary field which applies the knowledge and study of the nervous system, including the brain, spinal cord and networks of sensory nerve cells.Abnormal psychology (deviance): Abnormal psychology is the branch of psychology that studies deviant (unusual) behaviour, emotion and thought. Personality psychology: Personality psychology is a branch of psychology that strives to determine how different personality traits and tendencies influence our thoughts, behaviour and actions and makes each human unique. Clinical psychology: Clinical psychology is a branch of psychology which applies scientific, theoretic and clinical knowledge in order to assess, prevent, predict and to treat abnormal behaviour, ysfunction or mental disorders in order to improve the individual’s well-being and personal growth. Social psychology: Social psychology is the study of individuals’ thoughts, feelings and behaviour and how they perceive and influence others. Organizational psychology: O rganizational psychology is the scientific study of employees, workplaces and businesses. Cognitive psychology: Cognitive psychology is a branch of psychology which studies the mental processes including how people learn, remember, think, perceive and solve problems. Anthropology * Science of studying people and their culture. Anthropologists pose important questions concerning the continuation of poverty, racism, violence, and social inequality around the world. FUNCTIONALISM (Margaret Mead) * Understanding how social institutions fill social needs. * Every custom or practice in society provides a form of stability for the entire system. * All aspects of a society—institutions, roles, norms, etc. —serve a purpose and that all are indispensable for the long-term survival of the society. * Having established laws, customs, and agreed upon practices provides a sense of predictability and stability within a society. In order to understand a society, researchers must under stand the function of social institutions and their respective contributions to the stability to their society. * A critique of functionalism is that all institutions are considered to provide stability, when this is not the case. * Ex: The presence of family violence produces instability in the culture with a difference in power among the different sexes. STRUCTURALISM * Reinforcement of a norm or a value increases the acceptance of the practice within a given society. * Cultures, viewed as systems, are analyzed in terms of the structural relations among their elements. Structuralists believe that meaning is produced and reproduced within a culture through activities and various practices that show their significance. * For example, North American society values the concept of romantic love and close friendship. This social idea is reinforced through media and national celebrations. Ex Valentine’s Day. * Different societies' institutions reinforce different values. Fields Bi ological/physical anthropology: Biological anthropologists seek to understand how humans have evolved and what affect that has had on our behaviour.Sociocultural anthropology: Sociocultural anthropology examines social patterns and practices by studying and comparing human societies across the world. Archaeology: Archaeology is the study of past people, cultures, and civilizations through the analysis of material remain, ranging from artefacts and evidence of past environments to architecture. Linguistic Anthropology: Linguistics is the study of languages; how they are formed, evolved, and how it has interacted and contributed to a culture.

The Background of DAY

Background of DAY Background Our brand is a renowned international Danish-owned clothing company founded in 1997 by Keld Mikkelsen and Malene Birger, headquartered in Odense and at Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. Our profit in 2006 was up to 13 million and has been expanding in recent years. Moreover, we hold two fashion shows in Copenhagen fashion week every year. Products Our brand’s products can be classified into three main lines, which are male, female and home decor. Designet tilhorer hojeste kvalitet med etnisk inspireret broderi og udsmykning. The design of which belongs to the highest quality with a distinct Scandinavian style inspired by the true craftsmanship of Asian tailoring, the meeting of art and craft – embroidery, prints, patterns, edging and trimming. Our unique design includes modern, individual, bohemian and international styles with inspiration from the colonial period in the Far East, vintage flea market treasures and the glamour of the twenties and thirties. Retail format Our brand was originally a local retailer selling private labels but is now expanding into a global multichannel retailer. In less than 15 years of existence, our company has opened around 40 self-named boutiques. In total, 800 retailers in 25 different countries, such as Sweden , England and Germany, are currently selling our collections, out of which 60 can be found in France. Target market The target groups are women and men aged 25-40 with high income. Our new line 2nd DAY, on the other hand, is aimed at a slightly younger target market than the main range. The market segment is mainly Scandinavia, but is now expanding to other parts of Northern Europe. Konceptet bag tojet er, at tilbyde festtoj til hverdagen til den modebevidste kvinde og herre. The concept behind our clothes is to offer evening wear to everyday life for the fashion-conscious women and men. Background of Hong Kong The main focus of our brand is in the Northern Europe, but the fact is that it is also suitable for the Asian market. We think that DAY can do that, by choosing Hong Kong as a starting point. Hong Kong, as a metropolitan, contains elements which fit the attitude and concept of our brand. Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, located on the southern coast of China. This location provides a good connection for the linkage of international companies to China. Besides, Hong Kong is one of the most famous international financial centres of the world with stable economic situation and is a developed city where the citizens can enjoy good quality of lives. These characteristics effectively help our brand to build its image in Asia as a brand new market. Hong Kong was a colony of Britain, and now it becomes the SAR of China. Therefore, the concept of â€Å"East meets West† is rather familiar in Hong Kong. We can find both British architectures and Chinese markets in Wan Chai. We can also enjoy both steak and congee at Cha Chaan Tengs. This kind of fusion matches the concept of our brand, combining local with global, as we create our design by mixing Asian embroideries and Western contemporary cutting together, making pieces of daily couture. We believe that the fusion concept can arouse a pretty large market for Hong Kong people and they can adapt to our brand easily. The location of Hong Kong is also perfect for us to enter a larger market. Through Hong Kong, our products can be sold to China and other Asian cities. This is rather important as the interest of Danish fashion for Chinese companies is now rapidly growing. For instance, the Copenhagen Fashion Week this year attracted 50 Chinese buyers, media and producers like Vogue China, showing that a number of Chinese companies are giving a big recognition to Danish fashion. Now, there are approximately 30 Danish companies and 4000 retail stores operating in China, and the export level of the Danish fashion industry has increased its earnings by 11. 4%. Thus it is no doubt a suitable time for us to enter the Asian market for Danish fashion companie. However, the Chinese may not be able to digest this new style so fast. Hong Kong is a good indicator though. If this style is suitable for Hong Kong people, the products can be promoted to the Mainland more easily. After that, the promotion of our brand in China would be much more effective. More than that, Hong Kong is much more developed than the Mainland in terms of transportation. It would be easier to transport products to various places in Asia through Hong Kong. Apart from that, logistic costs can be minimized. The economic position of Hong Kong is another point which stands out. Hong Kong is a renowned financial and trading city, and the policies of Hong Kong suit these characteristics. Noticing the economic freedom, low tax rates, stabilized currency and complete law of Hong Kong, many companies are willing to have their business there. We could accomplish this as well. In addition, the economic situation fits our target. The annual GNP of Hong Kong is about US$45000, which tells us that Hong Kong citizens are generally rich, with a large purchasing power. Since our target market mainly focuses on high income customers, we believe that our brand can generate a large market in Hong Kong. Apart from that, our brand also matches the taste of Hong Kong citizens. As a metropolitan, the information flow of Hong Kong is rapid, and citizens can receive information directly. As a result, many citizens are familiar with fashion. They know how to mix and match and they notice good foreign brands. This attracts more and more fashion brands to enter Hong Kong. Recently, another Danish top brand Bruuns Bazaar has had their business in Hong Kong because of the market potential of Hong Kong. Currently, a number of citizens know what bohemian style is and they are interested in it. Having so few bohemian boutiques in Hong Kong, this would be a great opportunity for us to be the leader of this style in Hong Kong. Moreover, Hong Kong people generally like dressing casually, and that is why the simple cutting of H&M and Zara satisfies what they want. This can also be accomplished by us. The earth tone we are using is popular in Hong Kong, too. Therefore, we are sure that we can satisfy Hong Kong people’s specialized taste. The last point is related to our founder, Keld Mikkelsen. Before founding DAY, he had studied Asian tailoring and culture for over a decade in Hong Kong. He is familiar with the characteristics of Hong Kong. If our brand is open in Hong Kong, it would be not only meaningful but also useful to develop a large business with Mikkelsen’s knowledge. To develop our brand as a global business, a start in Asia is essential. There are significant cities in Asia like Singapore, Bangkok and Tokyo. However, from the perspectives of economy, physical location and social culture, Hong Kong is the best choice to promote our brand globally. Starting our business in Hong Kong would bring us to a new and more successful chapter of DAY. Mission statement, goals, objectives Mission statement To drive bohemian style into Asia and to be the leader of bohemian style in Asia by providing mass appeal but creative and unique merchandise offering superior value to customer. Through the inspirational key look and iconic design, we are committed to provide our customers with the ultimate creative design. Goals We aim at making Hong Kong citizens become interested in our unique design with bohemian style, bear in mind that DAY is a well known brand name in Hong Kong and make purchase in our shops. In addition, we will introduce our home collection into Hong Kong market within a few years. Objectives Our objective is a 40% increase in traffic in the first half month, following by a 90% increase in transactions from the first month of trading to the sixth. In the first year, we will open a flagship store. It is the first step for our brand to enter Hong Kong market and to make a great profit. Then we will open a branch store each year. With our existing non-transactional brand site already attracting 2000 visitors a day, we are tasked with increasing this number, as well as growing our 14,000 database. We have to ensure that most Hong Kong citizens aged 25-40 will recognize our brand in five years. Outside Hong Kong, we will have our self-named boutiques in ten other Asian cities within five years. SWOT analysis Strengths The first competitive advantage of our company is the experience of opening retail stores in foreign countries. We have got over 40 self-named boutiques all around Europe and 800 retailers in 25 different countries. We also have over 15 years experience of running our stores and maintaining our reputation in the market. Secondly, our unique style, bohemian style, is rarely found in Hong Kong and this is beneficial for us to enter the market. Even if the style is similar, our target customer may be different as we focus on high income customers. This would avoid direct competition with those brands having similar style as ours. For instance, in the recent spring / summer, the sub-brand of i. , b+ab, has opened a line of bohemian style clothing. However, it would not become a great competitor of our brand due to the difference in price range and customer group. b+ab targets at a younger customer group (20+) while our brand targets at a maturer customer group (30+). In addition to that, the casual style would be easier accepted by this group of customer. Furthermore, our popularity in foreign are a has built up a good image to Hong Kong. As the information flow of Hong Kong is rapid, some of the customers may already know our brand even we do not have any stores in Hong Kong. Apart from that, our high-end product strategy has kept the quality assurance of our brand and we hold two fashion shows in Copenhagen fashion week every year in order to increase our publicity. Lastly, the low inventory of each item has led to lower carrying cost and would not tide up the cash flow. The small quantity of each design has also created a sense of scarcity. We can let the customers differentiate themselves from the others with our design. Weaknesses One of the weaknesses of our brand is the location of our production factories. As they are far away from Hong Kong, the running cycle will be slowed down, which is a serious problem for a fast fashion company. Moreover, the far-away-distribution centre will cause longer lead time and high transportation cost. In addition, as the assortment of our business concentrates mainly on one specific type, Bohemian style, if Hong Kong customers do not have interest in this style, possibly there will be no market in Hong Kong. What is more, as our brand is mainly for high class customers, the customer range is narrow, and so opening chain stores in Hong Kong can be quite risky. Unlike those fast fashion brands with medium price range, it is far more difficult for high class customers to have impulse purchasing. As buying high-priced clothes is only a hedonic need, customers may have to think twice before buying the clothes, and their desire to buy the products may be lowered after considering the price and the use of the clothes. Opportunities The opportunities of our brand include the market potential in Hong Kong. Since Hong Kong customers tend to buy new clothes regularly, they are willing to accept and explode new things. Generally, they welcome new brands to enter Hong Kong market. In addition, bohemian style is quite a new style to Hong Kong. Compared with the sporty and normal casual style which has already existed in Hong Kong, it is rare to have such a retailer store selling bohemian style clothing only. The unique style may attract customers to make a visit or even make a purchase in our store. Moreover, we notice that Japanese has recently become interested in bohemian style, and quite a number of Hong Kong customers tend to follow Japanese fashion. Since Hong Kong customers today can get fashion information from different media like newspapers, television, radio, magazines, direct mail, Internet and so forth, with so many Japanese magazines reporting the latest wearing trend in their own country, which can be easily bought in Hong Kong, Hong Kong customers can access Japanese information and follow the trend easily. Threats Talking about the threats we may face, lacking experience would be one of them. As this is our first time to open a store in an Asian country, opening a flagship store in Hong Kong would be rather experimental. Operating a store in Hong Kong may not be the same as operating our own local store. The second threat is the difficulty in finding a location for the flagship store in Hong Kong, which is a crowded place and in which the rent of a store is high. As the main purpose of opening the first store in Hong Kong is to promote our brand to the public and let Hong Kong customers concern about our design, the location of the store ought to have heavy traffic of high class customers, for example, a fashion centre. However, the rent of a store in a fashion centre is always high due to the designated atmosphere and the erfect facilities. Besides, there are too many intertype competitions and so it can be difficult to enter and stay in the market. Although bohemian style is a new style to Hong Kong, there are many other fashion brands with different kinds of style with the same price range and customer group as ours. Economic recession of Hong Kong will be another threat. As the unemployment rate has been quite high, our target group may not accept the price. In 2008, Hong Kong's economy has fallen into recession for the first time in five years, and the territory's gross domestic product has contracted 0. % on a seasonally adjusted basis, after a 1. 4% fall between April and June. In 2009, according to official records, Hong Kong's economy has left a year-long recession, recording a growth of 3. 3% in the second quarter ended in June. The figures, which were seasonally adjusted, were higher than forecast by economists. As a result, the government has increased its growth predictions for 2009. Even though the economy of Hong Kong is improving, concern still exists as the purchasing power of Hong Kong customers has decreased. Retail market strategies Retail format Being a multichannel retailer, we allow customers to make their purchase at our self-named boutique, pop-up store or on the Internet. Later on, in order to let people concern more about our brand, we will also run collection shops in Hong Kong. Besides, we plan to create a Chinese version on our website so as to make Chinese customers’ purchase even more convenient, and the products would be sent to the customers’ homes directly or they can take the products personally from our store. Target market Our main target customers include high income Asian and European women and men who are fond of trendy and casual fashion and are aged 25 to 40. Their expense on clothing would be approximately $5,000 to $10,000 per month. Retail Mix Location For our first specialty store in Hong Kong, we would choose a fashion centre as our store location. Being a newly developed brand in Hong Kong, it is too risky for us to locate our first store in freestanding sites, central business district or main streets, where we are responsible for all the operation and promotion. It is also quite difficult to attract customers for their initial visit as our brand is not widely known by Hong Kong customers. Renting a store in a fashion centre, on the contrary, is much securer. Being controlled by the mall developer, common facilities like outdoor signage, parking area, parking lot light and security are provided in the shopping centre. Advertising and special events to attract consumers are also available, and operating costs can be shared with others. Apart from that, shopping centres can usually draw a large number of customers due to the wide range of product offerings, easy access, lower crime rate, and last but not least the clean and comfortable shopping environment. Our ideal fashion centres include Elements in Kowloon and Landmark in Central. Being composed mainly of upscale apparel shops, boutiques, and gift shops carrying selected fashions or unique merchandise of high quality and price, the two fashion centres successfully attract a wide range of high income and fashion-conscious local customers and tourists. Other upscale apparel shops located there may be our competitors, but we would consider them as complementary shops as we are selling completely different types of clothes. We have our own unique style. For the most significant advantage of these two malls, we would say it is the convenience brought by the public transport as both Elements and Landmark are located very close to the MTR station. In such a small city with such a dense population and so many buildings like Hong Kong, we understand that finding a store can be difficult and each foot of a store in a fashion centre can cost us a lot. Yet, we would keep paying attention to the arrangement and changes of our chosen fashion centres and properly transfer our cash flow and properties to ensure we are well-prepared for renting a store in Hong Kong. Merchandise assortment For our product categories, we aim at providing a deep assortment of simple and basic clothing. In each category, quite a number of styles would be provided in order to satisfy the customers, and there will not be big differences between the products sold in Hong Kong and our original merchandise assortment. In order to meet our customers’ needs, we will provide a wide size range of clothing from XS to XL. A wide variety of colour will be provided, too. On the other hand, only women’s and men’s wear would be sold first. As it is quite rare for Hong Kong people to buy furniture or something else in shops held by a fashion brand, we are afraid that it may be risky if we introduce our home collection at the same time we launch our first store in Hong Kong. As for the decoration of our store, items from our home collection will be used, and we will think about operating the line as well at a later stage if we notice that customers also show their interest in those items. Pricing The price range of our products is now high, and this can be also applied to Hong Kong because of the favourable economic condition of Hong Kong. The economic condition creates a lot of high income consumers to purchase goods of high prices. Therefore the adjustment of pricing will not be large. Besides, the low inventory adds value of the products. As each kind of our products is only available in a limited amount, higher price can even be achieved in Hong Kong. However, the pricing will be set lower in the first two months, about a 10% off sale, in order to attract more consumers, who always love to purchase cheaper goods. Notice that our products in Hong Kong are sold at a lower price than the initial one, they would be pleased to make a purchase and our company can gain positive images. Eventually, our company can earn long-run profits. Generally, big sales will not occur, and this can be explained by our physical location. For example, one of our chosen locations Elements has a lot of specialty stores selling luxurious and expensive products. If we offer large discounts, our products would  be  much cheaper than those of other boutiques and shops for high income consumers, and as a result we will not be favourable in this high price market competition. Another point is that when we have only one flagship store but without any outlet stores or discount stores, steady pricing, instead of offering big sales such as 70% off, which can be offered in Denmark, would be more appropriate. Yet, seasonal discount is still acceptable. We can offer about 25% off sales at the end of the seasons. On the other hand, we offer VIP systems. Inside our VIP room, there are two types of products. One is our normal products sold at a 20% discount. Another is the exclusive and limited products available only in our VIP room and sold at a price about 15% higher than our normal products, aiming at showing the special identity of the VIP members. What is more, a free home decor style reusable bag would be given to each of our VIP members as a gift after his or her purchase. Promotion In order to bring more traffic to our store, we would like promote ourselves in three aspects, which are advertising, sales promotion and public relations. 1) Advertising We would like to have institutional advertising to promote the reputation of our company by taking a series of promotion photos which can represent the style of our brand. The photos would express the relaxing and leisure feeling of bohemian lifestyle. As Hong Kong people are generally stressful and busy, photos with relaxing and comfortable feeling would be attractive and conspicuous. On the other hand, newspapers, magazines, Internet, transit advertising and outdoor advertising would be our ideal advertising media. We would like to have one to two full page advertisement on newspapers and magazines. We would choose the South China Morning Post to be the first newspaper we have our advertisement on since it is one of the most famous English newspapers in Hong Kong and their target readers are similar to our target customers. As for magazines, Hong Kong fashion magazines like Jessica and Cosmopolitan would be our choices as quite a lot of our target customers would like reading these kinds of magazines. Moreover, we would add a Chinese version to our online shop and our advertising page on Facebook in order to attract and provide convenience to the Asian market. This kind of advertisement would be less expensive but more effective than the others as we have already set up the basic program. Furthermore, transit and outdoor advertising are two effective forms of advertising to attract traffic as most people can read the advertisement when they pass by. Our advertisement would be set up on the wall of the fashion centre where our store locates, and bus-body advertisement would also be our choice as buses would run around the central business district and let people know about our brand. 2) Sales promotion In order to promote our brand, holding special events would be effective, too. For instance, we can have catwalk shows in our shop and exhibitions in different shopping malls. The exhibitions would show our new clothing of the coming season in the display area of the shopping malls, so as to provide opportunities for people to appreciate our products. Moreover, we would like to hold a seasonal discount before the coming of the next season. This can help clear the dead stock in the store effectively. Besides, we would like to set up a pop-up store for a month. The pop-up store would possibly look like a home and would be decorated in the style of our home collection, showing our comfortable and leisure bohemian style. This can let our customers view our products comfortably. One of the most suitable locations for setting up our pop-up store is Festival Walk in Kowloon Tong as the visitors of Festival Walk are quite similar to our target customers. It is also easy to access and has an ideal exhibition area in the middle of the mall. What is more, people who are attracted by our pop-up store can easily travel to our store as Festival Walk and one of our chosen locations Elements are quite nearby. Moreover, we would set up a VIP system. When customers shop for a certain amount of money, they can join our VIP. VIP members of our store can enter our VIP room and make their purchase freely and comfortably with a 10% discount. In addition to that, each of them can get a free home decor style reusable bag as a gift for packing his or her goods. This can please the customers with an exquisite packing and also help us promote our home collection line. Apart from that, letters would be sent to inform the customers of our latest news and products, and well-designed cards would also be sent on their birthdays and at some special festivals, aiming at maintaining the firm connection between our customers and our brand. ) Public relations As for the public relations, we would donate parts of our profits to Red Cross as our company has joined the Red Cross Club. This can help improve our image and more importantly support charitable foundations. For instance, we can donate 5% income of a set of product to Red Cross. We can also hold some events from which benefits would be donated to Red Cross. One exa mple is that when a customer donates his or her old pair of jeans, he or she can get a 15% off discount when he or she buys a new pair of jeans from our store, and the old jeans collected would be donate to Red Cross. Customer service In order to increase the brand loyalty of our currently existing customers and to encourage them to make their next visit, customer service is an integral part to operate our brand. As customers’ trust can be destroyed at once by a major service problem, we would like to avoid this by providing return policies, pre-order service, delivery service, and more importantly, strengthening our personal service. 1) Personal service We believe in the friendly face of retailing. Our highly professional, responsible and trustworthy staff would warmly greet our customers with courtesy. They are good at answering queries and solving problems, too. Besides, they are able to offer reassurance whenever it is needed, turn complainants into brand champions, and more importantly, actively offer assistance in selecting fashion merchandise. For example, they cross-sell related products, follow up abandoned carts, track order progress, keep a trained eye out for suspicious activities, and provide weekly activity reports. We perform promises to customers and the degree of trendy  apparels with different colors for mix and match. 2) Return policies We offer product exchange and return policies and money back guarantees. Refunds or gift cards would also be given to customers if they change their mind in respect of their purchase, as long as the items are returned within 2 days of purchase with the original receipt, original tags and original bags attached. Gift cards, sale items and samples are excluded from this policy. Customers may choose the refund by exchange to bonus point for next time purchase. 3) Pre-order Apart from return policies, pre-order service is also provided. Before making purchase, customers can take notice on our leaflet showing detailed information of each product. As they may not be able to find a suitable size of clothing for themselves, they can pre-order a specific size of clothing. Pre-order items will be arrived within two to three weeks, and customers are welcome to settle the payment within one day after placing an order. We will arrange the reservation for our customers as soon as possible, and inform customers by email before shipping and once the pre-order has been arrived at Hong Kong. 4) Delivery In order to encourage customers to buy and to provide them with convenience, free delivery service is offered on orders $5000 or over. The delivery will be made the next day after the customers settle the payment. Store design and display Similar to our local store in Denmark, simple and warm tone with yellow lighting would be the main layout of our flagship store in Hong Kong in order to provide customers with warm feeling. The display window would be plain in colour and our latest design would be shown there. In order to provide customers with home feeling, clothes racks instead of dummies would be used. For instance, a whole set of clothing can be displayed with a big whiteboard card as the background, and with the model’s face being drawn on the card. Inside our store, a VIP room exclusive for our VIP members would be built. We plan to set up the room on the second floor of the store and there would be luxurious and comfortable sofas for customer. Furniture from our home collection will possibly used to decorate the room, aiming at promoting our home collection products. Relaxing and slow background music will be used in our store. As for the wallpaper of our store, unobvious floral print will be chosen as it is widely used in home decoration. In short, we will follow the general style of Europe’s housing as our store layout. Roberto Cavalli – our existing competitor Type of products clothes, accessories, eyewear, shoes, jewels, perfumes, watches, underwear, bags Target Market high income group middle age -25-40 years old Style The main color is the series of earth tone color, blue, black and white. The exaggerate pattern are always used in their design. l  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Retailer distribution cha nnels Boutiques (2067-2069,IFC Mall, Central[+852 22347621]) online store Mission| To provide women with timelessly dramatic pieces that flatter the female form. | Types of products| Mainly clothes, accessories, eyewear, shoes, jewels, perfumes, watches, underwear and bags are sold. Style| The main color of the series is earth tone color, blue, black and white, and exaggerate patterns are always used in their design. | Retailer format| Both boutiques and online shops are available. | Target market| High income customers aged 25 to 40 are their main target group. | Pricing| Most products are sold at a high price and VIP is offered. VIP can enjoy special discounts, fashion shows and parties organized by Roberto Cavalli. | Store Display| The store display of Roberto Cavalli is clean, modern and simple. White is usually used in the store color, while the lighting is direct and white. With mannequins standing behind the window, the layout is no different from many boutiques. | Promotion| As a worldwide famous brand, Roberto Cavalli puts a large amount of effort on promotion. Each season, campaigns are shot and put in large billboards outside specialty centers. These campaigns are also posted on famous fashion magazines like Elle and Vogue. Besides, under publicity, Elle often reports news of Roberto Cavalli. The target customers of Roberto Cavalli are powerful women, therefore they often organize big shows and welcoming celebrities stand on red carpets, and generate promotion with publicity. What is more, Roberto Cavalli had a crossover with H;M to organize campaigns in 2007. | Customer Service| Generally, the service approach of Roberto Cavalli is expressive. The staff care about customers' choice of clothing. They also offer the best size of clothing for the customers. Besides, Roberto Cavalli provides customers with care service, allowing customers to ask questions about their shopping experience by e-mail. | Type of products clothes, accessories, eyewear, shoes, jewels, perfumes, watches, underwear, bags Target Market high income group middle age -25-40 years old Style The main color is the series of earth tone color, blue, black and white. The exaggerate pattern are always used in their design. l  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Retailer distribution channels Boutiques (2067-2069,IFC Mall, Central[+852 22347621]) online store (http://store. robertocavalli. com/navigation. asp? tskay Comparison with Roberto Cavalli The style between DAY and Roberto Cavalli is slightly different. However, as both are high-end fashion brands, some strategies are similar. For example, pricing, location and customer service strategies are relatively standard aiming at attracting the same kind of customers. Yet, our emphasis is mainly n merchandise assortment, promotion and store display to create sustainable differential advantages. In terms of the style of merchandise, DAY is presenting its specific style. As the wild, sexy style is quite common in the Hong Kong market, Roberto Cavalli can hardly provide a unique image for customers. On the contrary, the bohemian s tyle of DAY cannot be easily found in Hong Kong, especially the high-end bohemian fashion items. Therefore, it is quite hard to copy the style of DAY, and this can definitely attract a certain amount of customers. In addition, DAY’s products are more suitable for the Hong Kong citizens. Although Roberto Cavalli is also selling expensive clothing with earth tone colour, the style is more dramatic and exaggerated. The dramatic style had once been fashionable in Hong Kong in the 80s, but this trend is now fading. Hong Kong people are going back to basic, simple and relaxing clothing style. As DAY is doing the mixing of Western and Eastern styles, our products do not contrast a lot, but instead have a harmonic look. The style DAY runs is the style Hong Kong people currently want and it would last for a period of time. This creates an advantage in selling the appropriate products to the right market. As for the promotion strategy, Roberto Cavalli is very good at promoting its brand, but we have a different approach that can create a specific image of DAY. The campaigns of Roberto Cavalli are international, sexy and passionate. Yet, to develop in Asia countries, a mild advertising package would be more approachable to the customers. Considering the stressful lifestyle of Hong Kong people, the promotional photos of DAY Hong Kong express leisure bohemian lifestyle to comfort the customers. What is more, Day offers a Chinese version online shop, facilitating more Chinese consumers and Asian tourists to purchase our products. Although DAY’s target market is high income consumers, using the close and considerate promotion strategy can help us create a different image of our high-end products, and differentiate from other high-end brands like Roberto Cavalli. Talking about the store display, DAY can have a more appealing store display. Roberto Cavalli’s store display is just too simple, just like many other specialty stores. However, Day is presenting a home feeling store display. Using warm lighting and floral-printed wallpaper to comfort our customers, the environment we provide is more attractive than Roberto Cavalli does. In fact, DAY is not simply selling fashion merchandises, it is selling lifestyle. The store display and the promotion strategy are to create relaxing bohemian lifestyle to the customers. However, Roberto Cavalli is just presenting luxurious clothing and does not give a strong impact to the customers. As a matter of fact, all kinds of lifestyle are related to fashion as trend does affect lifestyle. To conclude, it is more appropriate to say that DAY is a high-end brand with our own personality, but not only a luxurious brand. Future prospects We can foresee that DAY can achieve a great success in Hong Kong. Noticing that Scandinavian fashion has been introduced to Hong Kong in recent years, and many Hong Kong citizens are quite fond of this kind of fashion, we believe that Hong Kong has a large market potential for DAY, and this potential can last for a long time. While H&M is currently the leader of Scandinavian fashion for the general public, we trust that DAY can be the leader for the high income group. In the future, we would have the following goals and objectives, in an attempt to further consolidate our business in Hong Kong. Our first goal is to introduce DAY’s lifestyle to Hong Kong citizens. Consumers purchase products only if the brand is highly recognized. To achieve this, the lifestyle of DAY should be introduced further. The simplistic lifestyle we present is what Hong Kong people are looking for. Being busy and stressful all the time, they do need a city escape. The campaigns we are currently doing can show what city escape is about. Therefore, promoting this point can advance the sales of DAY. Moreover, we would like to introduce our home collection to the customers within a few years so as to earn more profits and complete the image of DAY as a brand. To facilitate the development of our home collection, our store would mainly be plain in colour and decorated with products from our home collection. Home decor style gifts would also be given in order to provide customers with a comfortable and relaxing home feeling of DAY. Another goal is to enlarge our business by opening more shops. Our plan is to open a branch store in Hong Kong each year. Another objective of this goal is to develop our business into Asian countries. As globalization continues and imitation happens globally, we cannot focus on one location only. Being one of the fashion centres in Asia, we believe that Hong Kong can influence other Asian cities. From the starting point Hong Kong, the leader of DAY Asia, we will have our retail shops in ten other Asian cities within five years, to achieve DAY as a global brand. We hope that DAY can create bigger and bigger business. As a result, we propose that DAY should have its business Hong Kong. We hope the proposal can help continue the DAY story. Reference www. day. dk/ http://us. fashionmag. com/ http://www. tifdb. com/ www. wikepedia. org/ http://www. modeshanghai. net/ Fourthly, our high-end product strategy has kept the quality assurance of our brand. Fifthly, we have organized fashion shows regularly in order to increase our publicity. We hold two fashion shows in Copenhagen fashion week every year, spring/summer and fall winter. Sixthly, the low inventory of each item has led to lower carrying cost and would not tide up cash flow. The small quantity of each design has created a sense of scarcity. We can let the customers to differentiate themselves from the others with our design. Our aim is to carry out everyday contemporary glamor_____ Weakness One of the weaknesses of our brand is the location of our production factories. As it is far away from Hong Kong, the place we shot, it will slow down the running cycle, which is a serious problem of fast fashion industry. Moreover, the far-away-distribution centre will cause longer lead time. Secondly, as the assortment of our business has concentrated in one specific type(i. e Bohemian style), if Hong Kong customers do not have interest in this style, there will be no market in Hong Kong. Thirdly, as the brand is for high class customers, the customer range is narrow, so there will be risks on opening chain stores. Unlike the fast fashion brand which has medium price range, it is far more difficult for high-class customer to have impulse purchasing. As buying high priced clothes is only a hedonic need, customers will have to think twice before buying the clothes. The customer will be less desire to buy the product after considering the price and the need of the clothes. * Factories set in foreign countries * -> far away in Hong Kong, shipment and transportation cost is high * -> Slow down the running cycle (fast fashion) * ->Long lead time (distribution centre) assortment concentrate in one specific type * -> if Hong Kong customers do not accept/ favor on this style, there will be no market in Hong Kong. * As the brand is for high class customers, the customer range is narrow, so there will be risks on opening chain store. * Opportunities The opportunities of the brand included the market potential in Hong Kong, as Hong Kong customers tends to buy new clothes regularly, they are willing to acce pt and explode new things. They welcome new brand to enter Hong Kong market. Secondly, Bohemian style is a new style to Hong Kong. Compared with the sporty and normal casual style which have already existed in Hong Kong, there is rare to have such a retailer store selling Bohemian style clothing only. The unique style will interest the customers to make a visit or even a purchase in our store. Thirdly, as Japanese started the interest in Bohemian style recently, Hong Kong customers tends to follow the Japanese style. Nowadays Hong Kong customers can get the fashion information from different media like newspaper, television, radio, magazines, direct mail and Internet, etc. There are many Japanese magazine reporting the latest wearing trend in their own country, and these magazine can be easily bought in Hong Kong. In other words, Hong Kong can easily access the Japanese information and follow the trend. Threats Talking about the threats which would be faced, lacking experience will be one of them. This is our first time to open a store in Asian country so the flat ship store in Hong Kong would be rather experimental. The method and operation of a store may have slightly different compared with our own local store. The second threat is the difficulties in finding a location for the flat ship store in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is a crowded place and the rent of a store is high. As the main purpose of opening the first store in Hong Kong is to promote our brand to the public and let Hong Kong customers concern about our design, the location of the store ought to have a heavy traffic of high-class customers, for example, fashion centre. However, the rent of fashion centre is always high due to the designated atmosphere and the perfect facilities. Thirdly, there are too many intertype competitions so it is difficult to enter and stay in the market. Though Bohemian style is a new style to Hong Kong, there are still different style of the brand appear in Hong Kong, In short, there are many fashion brand with many kinds of style according to the same price range and customer group. Economic recession of Hong Kong will be another threat, as the unemployment rate is high, our target group may not accept the price. In 2008, Hong Kong's economy has fallen into recession for the first time in five years amid a global economic slowdown the third quarter, the territory's gross domestic product contracted 0. 5% on a seasonally adjusted basis, after a 1. 4% fall between April and June. The government's economist, Helen Chan, said domestic demand faltered significantly in October, while exports fell to the lowest level since 2002. What;s more, in 2009, according to official records, Hong Kong's economy has left a year-long recession, recording a growth of 3. 3% in the second quarter ended in June. The figures, which were seasonally adjusted, were higher than forecast by economists. As a result, the government has increased its growth predictions for 2009. Though there's improvement in the economy of Hong Kong, concern is still existed as the purchasing power of Hong Kong customers is decreased.

Strategic Management Real insurance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Strategic Management Real insurance - Essay Example Insurance provision flourishes on records and the skill to strategise information from a range of diverse sources to issue course of actions and supervise. Consequently the rapidly growing division in the insurance business is the incorporation of wide-ranging business processes, for instance underwriting policies, executing policy controller services, and reporting argues into workflow structures. Sensitive industry antagonism, augmented customer hopes and requirements for larger effectiveness are chief drivers shoving the insurance business to reassess its tactics and to adjust its long-established in use processes. Insurance organisations, such as Real Insurance, should gather the advantages of modernised Web-based flow mechanisation, lessening expenses of operations and cutting decision making time. By employing online automation, Real can divest the vastness of this practice and enhance profits by giving end users direct access to their records online instantaneously and letting them to deal their own service requests, ask for an excerpt and even join and download a policy (Liang, 2000). Sharing and swap of confidential information between numerous public and corporations need by insurance industries. The test is how to achieve this harmlessly and cost effectively while promising customer trustworthiness and keeping high levels of customer satisfaction. Likewise it is essential to certify that only authorised staff can access restricted consumer statistics or supervise claim records in line with the Privacy laws. This process can be considered a great innovation by handing over not only information access but also operational transactions to the end user. The revolution will have the following impact on the insurance industry (Cockburn, 2001): Upgrading level of service to clients, Noteworthy cost reduction Versatile flexible, groups and products presented, Updated procedural effectiveness Better control of technology. 2. Outline of the analysis with reasons of the selections The link between Knowledge Management and Strategy (Zack, 1999) is the key to Web-based Insurance Structure of Real Insurance and will enable this organisation to find gap between knowledge and strategy (Refer figure 1). Figure 1: 2.1 Modernised form of Insurance The function of Internet and associated information technologies is to create and allocate insurance functionalities. In an advanced sense, it

Energy saver Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Energy saver - Research Paper Example Literature Review During the 2008 presidential election campaign green energy became an important issue as never before in presidential elections. Both the candidates strongly supported an economy which gave strong support for green energy over fossil energy. The difference lay in that John McCain favored the use of market-based approaches towards this objective Obama emphasized the use of governmental initiatives. (2). Thus progress towards greater use of green energy under the Obama administration would depend on the governmental initiatives put in place and the support levels and success of these initiatives. On Inauguration Day the keenness of the Obama administration can be seen in these words of the White House, â€Å"the energy challenges our country faces are seve3re and have gone unaddressed for a long time. Our addiction to foreign oil doesn’t just undermine our national security and wreak havoc on our environment – it cripples our economy and strains the bud gets of working families all across America. President Obama and Vice President Biden have a comprehensive plan to invest in alternative and renewable energy, and end our addiction to foreign oil, address the global climate crisis and create millions of new jobs. (3, p.64). Words were translated into action by the Obama administration. ... (4). Towards this end the EPA was asked to look into California’s long standing request to set strict tailpipe emissions to restrict the greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, the Department of Transport to develop the regulations to enable the implementation of a 2007 law that required elevated fuel efficiency benchmarks for automobiles and light commercial vehicles by the year 2020. (3). Within the first month of assuming office the Obama administration got the economic stimulus bill passed by Congress. The bill though targeting the severe recession faced by the country, contained several important provisions towards the green energy and environment initiatives. $45 billion within the historic $787 billion bill was meant for energy efficiency, alternate energy programs ad tax breaks towards the use of green energy. $20 billion was set aside for the development of renewable energy power, while $18 billion was meant for environmental projects, and $2 billion towards R&D for ca rbon capture and storage. Tax cuts of up to $7,500 were also provided for those purchasing plug-in hybrid cars. (3). While these initial successes may point to the Obama administration succeeding in its drive towards growing dependence on green energy and lowering dependence on imported oil, the going has become tough, because of the bi-partisan politics involved in it. The Republican party as demonstrated by the John McCain is more oriented to market corrections to lead the way in energy dependence (2). This means that there will hardly any support from the party towards the policy and actions of the Obama administration for increasing use of green energy through government action. This will

The Moussaoui Trial Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Moussaoui Trial - Case Study Example The prosecution, and public opinion, pursued the charges on the basis of the emotional tidal wave in the wake of 9/11. By legal standards, the trial was questionable, though technically correct. By moral and ethical standards, Moussaoui did not have an opportunity for a fair trial under the intent of the law and was convicted as an example as the only living perpetrator loosely connected to Al Queda's 9/11 action. The Federal Bureau of Investigation had lost credibility with their under handling of the Moussaoui situation in late August 2001. After extensive questioning of Moussaoui the FBI was convinced that he has some connection to a terrorist network. According to testimony by FBI agent Harry Samit, there were multiple signs of a possible terrorist link. Samit testified, I was aware that frequently terrorists to mask suspicious travel or frequent travel, that couldn't be explained by their job or by their nationality, would regularly destroy passports accidentally or report them stolen in order to mask that travel, so they weren't carrying incriminating entry and exit stamps ("Testimony", 888). Clearly Moussaoui fit all these criteria for suspicion. However, the most the FBI could legally charge Moussaoui with was a Visa violation. He was arrested on August 17, but posted bond and was released on August 20, 2001 ("Testimony", 898). Moussaoui's arrest and quick release was the result of disinterested attitudes by FBI administrators as well as policies that were legally hampered by bureaucracy. In the retrospect of 9/11, the FBI had an image to protect. As a map to the road the trial was to take, we need to look no farther than the opening statement of U.S. attorney Robert Spencer. Though there was never any evidence that Moussaoui had any detailed knowledge of 9/11 prior to the action, the prosecution painted a different picture. In his opening remarks, Spencer declares, "One of the people in that plan, one of the conspirators is among us still, right here in this courtroom today. That man is the defendant, Zacarias Moussaoui" ("Opening Statement", 22). The government's case rested to a large degree on the fact that Moussaoui had lied to Federal agents in August 2001. But were the lies responsible for 9/11' Did Moussaoui have detailed or even cursory information of the imminent attack' Spencer contends that he did when he states in the opening statement, "And with that lie, his part, he caused the deaths of nearly 3,000 people, the destruction of the Trade Towers in New York, part of the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and four co mmercial aircraft" ("Opening Statement", 24). The FBI's assertion and Spencer's opening remarks are refuted by the written testimony given by Sheikh Kahlid Mohammed. Sheikh Mohammed contends that, "[...] Missaoui did not know Atta and there was never any contact between the two of them" ("Substitution", 3). Missaoui may have had intentions of carrying out a future attack, but evidence does not show that he had any involvement in 9/11. Mohammed further explains Missaoui's role and claims that he was to participate in a second wave of attacks that had not yet been planned and had not even been formulated to the point of deciding the type of attack ("Substitution", 39). Though Mohammmed

The Analysis Of Article A Phony Hero For A Phony War Essay

The Analysis Of Article A Phony Hero For A Phony War - Essay Example In regards to General David Petraeus’ case, Lucian K. Truscott argues that he did not achieve anything during his service in Iraq and Afghanistan. Instead, Lucian views General David Petraeus’ strategy of seeking the loyalties of various factions in Iraq as a strategy of seeking personal fame and acclamation. This, according to Lucian, influenced General David Petraeus’ appointment as the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (Truscott, 2012). Lucian views the achievements and high publicity acclaimed to General David Petraeus as inappropriate in comparison to the Generals of the World War II era who achieved significantly more than David did. In essence, Lucian K. Truscott’s article seems to criticize General David Petraeus viewing him as a blustery individual who sought media publicity to advance his personal course. In light of this, Lucian views the appointment of General David Petraeus to the Directorship position of the Central Intelligence Agency as well as his deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan as erroneous measures that would have cost the nation greatly (Truscott, 2012).

The work of Pollock, Newman, Rothko Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

The work of Pollock, Newman, Rothko - Essay Example The essay "The work of Pollock, Newman, Rothko" analyzes the ways that late modernist abstract painting has been theorised. The focus is on such artists as Pollock, Newman, Rothko. One of the most vocal critics of Modern art, Clement Greenberg, also became the unwitting champion of this form of art as he wrote about the theories behind its use, the value of art as art and the importance of artistic purity in conveying these concepts in his essay â€Å"Modernist Painting† published in 1961. Also writing about the theories behind the avant-garde artist, Donald Kuspit recently explored the issues of the meaning or import of art especially as it applies to this more ‘pure’ art form. While exploring the theories of these two men regarding the purpose of art and how abstract art is in the best position to convey this purpose, the artwork of Jackson Pollock, Barnett Newman and Mark Rothko will be used as illustrative examples of how to apply these theories. When discussi ng the art practices of the late Modern movement, it is important to include the main ideas associated with the â€Å"politics of representation† that form part of the basis for the methods and theories behind abstract art’s creation and appreciation that are not necessarily separate from the reason or method by which the artist attained his expression. This collective term makes a distinction between the content of an image and the form of the image, or the sublime versus the visual. The reason for this phenomenon being that art is not static.

Good Writing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Good Writing - Essay Example I discovered that writing this semester raised my confidence in high school educational writing. My style of writing at the beginning of the semester was not the same as the one I used recently. I was able to master a collegiate style of writing on a high school project individually. In spite of this mastery, lasted three assists couples for this class truly challenge me to maintain my choice of words a high school level while maintaining an intriguing flow, content, and structure. In retrospect, the first essay that I composed this semester was a rough guide to the new style of academic writing that I was to integrate into my writing soon and master it. After reading the first three papers I composed this semester, I discovered that my focus was not enforcing other writers’ ideas. Instead, my focus was grasping new ways of articulating my ideas successfully. The introduction and ending of my first essays this semester were sections for me to demonstrate this new skill properly. More precisely, I posed questions for the reader to ponder on reading the rest of the essay or simply reflecting on its message. The only way to peek into the interest of the reader was to address him or her directly. This style of writing was a strong suit at the beginning of the semester. However, I cannot continue this writing style in the future since much of the work may not involve addressing readers directly or posing questions. The second strong suit that I discovered in my writing was taking into account the significance of using drafts during the onset of the writing process. I was not familiar with ways to exploit the revision practice before learning the skill of clarifying and polishing my ideas for writing. I became more accustomed to using drafts for revision purposes after writing six more research papers and before completing the final paper.  

Tax Law Research Worksheet Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Tax Law Worksheet - Research Paper Example Rulings in agreement with administrative rules together with court rulings permit for the formation of public agencies that regulate and govern statutes and judicial decisions. The purpose of these administrative agencies aid in administering rulings that are being geared towards implementation of the duties and powers of the laws stipulated. Additionally, it prevents against impunity regarding the violation of laws and regulations enforced by these administrative agencies. Administrative rulings and court cases have helped in the design of a system of checks and balances that aims to minimize the risks of bureaucracy (Tax Law, 2003). In many occasions, there has been inconsistencies and conflict about court rulings. If I had a choice to choose the judgment to go with, then I would rely on the hierarchical rule between the two court rulings. The hierarchical rule will dictate the case ruling that will dominate over the other and that is the position I will take. It is because a court case ruling based on the internal revenue code will always prevail over a case ruling basing on other tax law. It is because the code is supreme over the other tax laws (Tax Law, 2003). It is possible to use timing strategies to have an impact (AGI) Adjusted Gross Income deductions, tax credits, itemized deductions and dependency exceptions. It is possible by strategically timing when the year ends. It means that there will be less uncertainty to the short-term viewpoint for tax law as opposed to the beginning of the next year. With this brief tax reprieve comes the opportunity to form a tax saving plan that is sound. It is essential to time strategically the moment to implement the plan. For example, one can reap benefits on tax retirement savings by making a maximum amount allowable at the end of every year. On the other hand, income shifting strategies impacts or alters these deductions by reducing the central income tax

The effects of mobile devices on cybersecurity Essay

The effects of mobile devices on cybersecurity - Essay Example The development of the mobile technology has significantly changed the way people live. It played a notable role in making modern life convenient and flexible. The mobile technology grew rapidly that it took hardly ten years to enter the mainstream use, and, when compared to the growth of telephones this growth was unusually fast. According to Cisco’s 2013 global mobile data forecast (2014), today the number of mobile devices equals the number of humans on the planet. The mobile technology fact sheet published by the Pew Research Center (2014) indicates that 90% of American adults own a cell phone, 58% of them own a smartphone, 32% own an e-reader, and 42% own a tablet computer. It is interesting to note that 67% of cell phone users check their phones frequently for calls, messages, or other alerts when while their phones do not ring or vibrate. There are another 44% of cell users sleeping with their phones next to the bed so as to make sure that they do not miss any call, mes sage, or update. The fact sheet also reflects that 29% of cell users consider their cell phone as â€Å"something they cannot imagine living without† (The mobile technology fact sheet, Pew Research Center, 2014). The term cybersecurity refers to the process of providing security to devices such as computers, cell phones, smartphones, and tablets, as well as the whole internet. In the current world, promoting cybersecurity is of great importance because modern people increasingly depend on computer networks to store and transfer their confidential data/information. Magid (2014) says that since such sensitive personal data is exposed to computer networks, hackers or other cyber criminals may intrude into the privacy of network users and empty their bank account if proper cybersecurity measures are not in place. Business enterprises are no exception to such cyber challenges. Hence,

Free

Free Space Optics Essay ABSTRACT: FSO may sound new and experimental but in fact it predates optical fiber and has its roots in wartime efforts to develop secure communication systems that did not require cable and could withstand radio jamming. FSO has been around for more than a decade, but it is only recently that interest in this technology has started to grow. Free Space Optics (FSO) communications, also called Free Space Photonics (FSP) or Optical Wireless, refers to the transmission of modulated visible or infrared (IR) beams through the atmosphere to obtain optical communications. Like fiber, Free Space Optics (FSO) uses lasers to transmit data, but instead of enclosing the data stream in a glass fiber, it is transmitted through the air. Free Space Optics (FSO) works on the same basic principle as Infrared television remote controls, wireless keyboards or wireless Palm ® devices. How Free Space Optics (FSO) Works Free Space Optics (FSO) transmits invisible, eye-safe light beams from one telescope to another using low power infrared laser in the terahertz spectrum. The beams of light in Free Space Optics (FSO) systems are transmitted by laser light focused on highly sensitive photon detector receivers. These receivers are telescopic lenses able to collect the photon stream and transmit digital data containing a mix of Internet messages, video images, radio signals or computer files. Commercially available systems offer capacities in the range of 100 Mbps to 2.5 Gbps, and demonstration systems report data rates as high as 160 Gbps. Free Space Optics (FSO) systems can function over distances of several kilometers. As long as there is a clear line of sight between the source and the destination, and enough transmitter power, Free Space Optics (FSO) communication is possible. [pic] Free Space optics (fso) technology Lasers are one of the most significant inventions of the 20th century they can be found in many modern products, from CD players to fiber-optic networks. A laser generates light, either visible or infrared, through a process known as stimulated emission. To understand stimulated emission, understanding two basic concepts is necessary. The first is absorption which occurs when an atom absorbs energy or photons. The second is emission which occurs when an atom emits photons. Emission occurs when an atom is in an excited or high energy state and returns to a stable or ground state – when this occurs naturally it is called spontaneous emission because no outside trigger is required. Stimulated emission occurs when an already excited atom is bombarded by yet another photon causing it to release that photon along with the photon which previously excited it. Photons are particles, or more properly quanta, of light and a light beam is made up of what can be thought of as a stream of photons. [pic] A basic laser uses a mirrored chamber or cavity to reflect light waves so they reinforce each other. An excitable substance – gas, liquid, or solid like the original ruby laser – is contained within the cavity and determines the wavelength of the resulting laser beam. Through a process called pumping, energy is introduced to the cavity exciting the atoms within and causing a population inversion. A population inversion is when there are more excited atoms than grounded atoms which then leads to stimulated emission. The released photons oscillate back and forth between the mirrors of the cavity, building energy and causing other atoms to release more photons. One of the mirrors allows some of the released photons to escape the cavity resulting in a laser beam emitting from one end of the cavity. Terrestrial Laser CommunicatIOns Challenges FogFog substantially attenuates visible radiation, and it has a similar affect on the near-infrared wavelengths that are employed in laser communications. Similar to the case of rain attenuation with RF wireless, fog attenuation is not a â€Å"show-stopper† for optical wireless, because the optical link can be engineered such that, for a large fraction of the time, an acceptable power will be received even in the presence of heavy fog. Laser communication systems can be enhanced to yield even greater availabilities by combining them with RF systems. Physical Obstructions Laser communications systems that employ multiple, spatially diverse transmitters and large receive optics will eliminate interference concerns from objects such as birds. Pointing Stability Pointing stability in commercial laser communications systems is achieved by one of two methods. The simpler, less costly method is to widen the beam divergence so that if either end of the link moves the receiver will still be within the beam. The second method is to employ a beam tracking system. While more costly, such systems allow for a tighter beam to be transmitted allowing for higher security and longer distance transmissions. Scintillation Performance of many laser communications systems is adversely affected by scintillation on bright sunny days. Through a large aperture receiver, widely spaced transmitters, finely tuned receive filtering, and automatic gain control, downtime due to scintillation can be avoided. FSO: Wireless, at the Speed of Light Unlike radio and microwave systems, Free Space Optics (FSO) is an optical technology and no spectrum licensing or frequency coordination with other users is required, interference from or to other systems or equipment is not a concern, and the point-to-point laser signal is extremely difficult to intercept, and therefore secure. Data rates comparable to optical fiber transmission can be carried by Free Space Optics (FSO) systems with very low error rates, while the extremely narrow laser beam widths ensure that there is almost no practical limit to the number of separate Free Space Optics (FSO) links that can be installed in a given location. How Free Space Optics (FSO) can help? FSO’s freedom from licensing and regulation translates into ease, speed and low cost of deployment. Since Free Space Optics (FSO) transceivers can transmit and receive through windows, it is possible to mount Free Space Optics (FSO) systems inside buildings, reducing the need to compete for roof space, simplifying wiring and cabling, and permitting Free Space Optics (FSO) equipment to operate in a very favorable environment. The only essential requirement for Free Space Optics (FSO) or optical wireless transmission is line of sight between the two ends of the link. For Metro Area Network (MAN) providers the last mile or even feet can be the most daunting. Free Space Optics (FSO) networks can close this gap and allow new customer’s access to high-speed MAN’s. Providers also can take advantage of the reduced risk of installing an Free Space Optics (FSO) network which can later be redeployed. The Market. Why FSO? Breaking the Bandwidth Bottleneck Why FSO? The global telecommunications network has seen massive expansion over the last few years. First came the tremendous growth of the optical fiber long-haul, wide-area network (WAN), followed by a more recent emphasis on metropolitan area networks (MANs). Meanwhile, local area networks (LANs) and gigabit ethernet ports are being deployed with a comparable growth rate. In order for this tremendous network capacity to be exploited, and for the users to be able to utilize the broad array of new services becoming available, network designers must provide a flexible and cost-effective means for the users to access the telecommunications network. Presently, however, most local loop network connections are limited to 1.5 Mbps (a T1 line). As a consequence, there is a strong need for a high-bandwidth bridge (the â€Å"last mile† or â€Å"first mile†) between the LANs and the MANs or WANs. A recent New York Times article reported that more than 100 million miles of optical fiber was laid around the world in the last two years, as carriers reacted to the Internet phenomenon and end users’ insatiable demand for bandwidth. The sheer scale of connecting whole communities, cities and regions to that fiber optic cable or â€Å"backbone† is something not many players understood well. Despite the huge investment in trenching and optical cable, most of the fiber remains unlit, 80 to 90% of office, commercial and industrial buildings are not connected to fiber, and transport prices are dropping dramatically. Free Space Optics (FSO) systems represent one of the most promising approaches for addressing the emerging broadband access market and its â€Å"last mile† bottleneck. Free Space Optics (FSO) systems offer many features, principal among them being low start-up and operational costs, rapid deployment, and high fiber-like bandwidths due to the optical nature of the technology. Broadband Bandwidth Alternatives Access technologies in general use today include telco-provisioned copper wire, wireless Internet access, broadband RF/microwave, coaxial cable and direct optical fiber connections (fiber to the building; fiber to the home). Telco/PTT telephone networks are still trapped in the old Time Division Multiplex (TDM) based network infrastructure that rations bandwidth to the customer in increments of 1.5 Mbps (T-1) or 2.024 Mbps (E-1). DSL penetration rates have been throttled by slow deployment and the pricing strategies of the PTTs. Cable modem access has had more success in residential markets, but suffers from security and capacity problems, and is generally conditional on the user subscribing to a package of cable TV channels. Wireless Internet access is still slow, and the tiny screen renders it of little appeal for web browsing. Broadband RF/microwave systems have severe limitations and are losing favor. The radio spectrum is a scarce and expensive licensed commodity, sold or leased to the highest bidder, or on a first-come first-served basis, and all too often, simply unavailable due to congestion. As building owners have realized the value of their roof space, the price of roof rights has risen sharply. Furthermore, radio equipment is not inexpensive, the maximum data rates achievable with RF systems are low compared to optical fiber, and communications channels are insecure and subject to interference from and to other systems (a major constraint on the use of radio systems). Advantages A free space optical (FSO) system offers a flexible networking solution that delivers on the promise of broadband. Only free space optics or Free Space Optics (FSO) provides the essential combination of qualities required to bring the traffic to the optical fiber backbone – virtually unlimited bandwidth, low cost, ease and speed of deployment. Freedom from licensing and regulation translates into ease, speed and low cost of deployment. Since Free Space Optics (FSO) optical wireless transceivers can transmit and receive through windows, it is possible to mount Free Space Optics (FSO) systems inside buildings, reducing the need to compete for roof space, simplifying wiring and cabling, and permitting the equipment to operate in a very favorable environment. The only essential for Free Space Optics (FSO) is line of sight between the two ends of the link. âž ¢ Freedom from licensing and regulation leads to ease, speed and low cost of deployment. âž ¢ Since FSO units can receive and transmit through windows it reduces the need to compete for roof space, simplifying wiring and cabling. âž ¢ Only need is the line of sight between the two ends of the link. âž ¢ Providers take advantage of the reduced risk in installing FSO equipment, which can even be re-deployed. âž ¢ Zero chances of network failure. âž ¢ Virtually unlimited bandwidth. APPLICATIONS âž ¢ Metro network extensions – FSO is used to extend existing metropolitan area fiberings to connect new networks from outside. âž ¢ Last mile access – FSO can be used in high-speed links to connect end users with ISPs. âž ¢ Enterprise connectivity The ease in which FSO can be installed makes them a solution for interconnecting LAN segments, housed in buildings separated by public streets. âž ¢ Fiber backup FSO may be deployed in redundant links to backup fiber in place of a second fiber link. âž ¢ Backhaul – Used to carry cellular telephone traffic from antenna towers back to facilities into the public switched telephone networks. Free Space Optics (FSO) Challenges The advantages of free space optical wireless or Free Space Optics (FSO) do not come without some cost. When light is transmitted through optical fiber, transmission integrity is quite predictable – barring unforeseen events such as backhoes or animal interference. When light is transmitted through the air, as with Free Space Optics (FSO) optical wireless systems, it must contend with a complex and not always quantifiable subject the atmosphere. âž ¢ Fog and free space optics (fso) âž ¢ Physical obstructions and free space optics (fso) âž ¢ Free space optics (fso) pointing stability – building sway, tower movemen t âž ¢ Scintillation and free space optics (fso) âž ¢ Solar interference and free space optics CONCLUSION FSO enables optical transmission of voice video and data through air at very high rates. It has key roles to play as primary access medium and backup technology. Driven by the need for high speed local loop connectivity and the cost and the difficulties of deploying fiber, the interest in FSO has certainly picked up dramatically among service providers worldwide. Instead of fiber coaxial systems, fiber laser systems may turn out to be the best way to deliver high data rates to your home. FSO continues to accelerate the vision of all optical networks cost effectively, reliably and quickly with freedom and flexibility of deployment. REFERENCES 1)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free-space_optical_communication 2)http://www.freespaceoptics.org/freespaceoptics/default.cfm 3) http://www.freespaceoptic.com/

Actions and context of social Essay Example for Free

Actions and context of social Essay Hale arrives in Salem and begins to interrogate Abigail. He is very direct and soon Abigail realises that she cannot avoid his questions any more. She knows she must escape his attention but she cannot run otherwise she will look suspicious. Instead, she cleverly implicates Tituba. Abigail constructs her involvement to become the leader of the proceedings, trying to force the other girls and her into following her lead. After confession, Tituba is told to tell the names of people seen with the devil. Mrs Putnam asks whether her past midwives had been in contact with the devil. Abigail soon says the names of Sarah Good and Goody Osburne as she quickly reveals that they are in contact with the devil. By satisfying her interrogators suspicions, despite their untruthfulness she can divert attention away from herself. Her intelligence and unique influence is demonstrated as she does so and sends the professional men of the court into a frenzied excitement, as they believe they have found someone in touch with the devil. By being the first and shouting out names, she has power and trust with the court. She then begins to call out more names, adding to Titubas list. This excites Betty whom immediately rises and joins in the chanting of names. She is described to be calling out hysterically and with great relief. Then their ecstatic cries turn into a gleeful tone, adding an evil edge. Abigail has forged her way out of trouble and Betty has picked up on the plan, assured that she is safe from punishment and joins Abigail. They are now beyond accusation or danger and happy to call names out. Betty is following Abigail, but Abigail has no need to continue as she has already said Elizabeths name. The other names of people, she has no involvement with and most importantly, people who bear no importance in Salem and are vulnerable to prosecution. It is a fiendish scene, as if the girls are possessed by evil. They are not however and that leaves only one reason, that Abigail is wreaking her specific revenge for her parents deaths. It is one of her more evil actions in the play, as it cannot be accounted for. This shows that she does not hate and have power over people she wants revenge for, but everyone of human society. In my opinion, she is a disturbed character. She is initially perceived as being wild bright and proud. Her character then develops a ghastly quality that becomes a large influence over everybody in the village of Salem. She abuses this ability to turn things to her advantage and others fate. She develops an evil insensitive, which would seem to be her character, however occasionally she shows different emotions in moments of intense passion and fear. Abigail is the hidden secret of the play. She covers behind her sweet little girl innocence and manipulates it between the characters, which brings up many truths from the past. Her quest however, soon becomes an addiction as she has people killed and blames anyone to get back John Proctor.

Using The Macro External Environment Analysis

Using The Macro External Environment Analysis Macro external environment here includes the factors such as issues related to politics, economical reforms and achievements, social behaviour, technological enhancements and inventions, environmental changes and environmental concerns and legislation and legislative changes. All these factors bear a significant effect on any industry and business. A business has take into consideration all such effects and then formulate its strategies and policies to work along with them and prosper. PESTEL analysis tool helps in determining the effect of all such factors on an industry and businesses. With the help of PESTEL analysis we will be seeing the affects of such factors on Indian Bakery and Dairy Industry. PESTEL analysis is a technique for identifying and listing the political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal factors in the general environment most relevant to an organisation. (Boddy, D (2005). Management An Intoduction. 3rd ed. UK: Pearson Education. 88.) Type of Factors Effecting Factors Political Economical Social Technological Environmental Legal Exemption on Customs on Sugar Raw Material Import Shortage of Milk Need for Healthy Eating Habits Cloning of Livestock Change in the Climatic Conditions Raising the Norms for the Probiotic Food VAT on Biscuits Rise in Sugar Production and Duty Free Sugar Imports Problems with Cloned Livestock New Age Packaging Removal of Import Duty on Dairy Products Globalization Incentives to Build Cold Storage Facilities Requirement for Logistics Political Exemption on Customs Duty on Sugar Raw Material Import Due to the shortage in the production of sugar the deadline for the exemption on customs duty on raw sugar imports has been extended by the government to April 1, 2011 (Dey, A Jha, Dilip K (2010) Duty-free sugar imports extended till April 2011, Business Standard). Since sugar is a major input in the bakery, the price of sugar highly influences the price of inputs of the bakery industry. Exemption on customs duty will help in purchasing sugar at lower cost, which in turn will control the cost of production. VAT on Biscuits The VAT of 12.5% on Biscuits, being the only processed food item to attract such high VAT rates, will affect the pricing of the product (Bhushan, R (2009) Biscuit prices to rise by 10%, The Economic Times). Price of the biscuits might need to be increased due to the high VAT rates which may result in switch of brands due to the highly competitive market. Removal of Import Duty on Dairy Products The whole-sale price based inflation indicates that the milk prices have moved up by 14.73% over the last year. Worried about the rising prices government announced the removal of duty on Skimmed Milk Powder (SMP) and other dairy products (Govt removes import duty on dairy products (2010), Business Standard). The imports at cheaper rate would help in reduce the cost factor for dairy products. Incentives to Build Cold Storage Facilities Wastage of food items due to lack of cold storage facilities lead to a loss of Rs. 500 billion every year. The government announces schemes and incentives to attract investments in cold storage warehousing (Union Budget 2010: Cold-storage incentives to attract fresh funds (2010), The Economic Times). Increase in the number of cold storage facilities would help in preserving products better and reduce the wastage cost. Economical Shortage of Milk Even though the milk production has risen by 4.6% compound annual average growth rate, it still cannot match up with the increasing demand. The demand for milk has been growing at a faster rate than the growth rate of milk production resulting in the shortage of milk supply (Milk output would stagnate (2010) The Economic Times). India cannot meet its expected demand if the demand and supply rise at the same rate. For the same the reason, the milk prices are on a constant rise. Price of milk increased by 12.6% to 13.6% (Goyal, K (2010) Indias Food-Price Inflation Holds Near 11-Year High- Business Week). This can cause an increase in the input cost for the dairy products and which in turn can lead to hike in price or lower profit margins. If the company increases the price of its products, it may affect the sales as it might lose on consumers. Rise in Sugar Production and Duty Free Sugar Imports The total sugar production in the first six months ending September 2010 is expected to be 22% more than the output in the unchanged phase last season, the total production expected is at 16.7 million (Press Trust India (PTI) (2010) Sugar output rises 22% in first half of 2009-10, Business Standard). Due to the shortage in the production of sugar the deadline for the exemption on customs duty on raw sugar imports has been extended by the government to April 1, 2011 (Dey, A Jha, Dilip K (2010) Duty-free sugar imports extended till April 2011, Business Standard). The increase in sugar production and the duty exemption on raw sugar can help in purchasing sugar at lower prices and this in turn can help in producing goods at lower prices. Globalization Globalization a universal phenomenon is affecting each and every industry. The world is coming closer, the communication gap is closing and the businesses are going global. This can serve as an opportunity to expand the business to a global level but on the other hand there is a threat of new entrants from international market. Requirements for Logistics Logistics in India suffer due to the poor infrastructure and other limitations. There is a high demand for sophisticated third party logistics so the domestic logistics service providers are trying to improve their service. International participation is also expected in the logistics industry (Pandey, S Basu, A (2010) Logistics cos ramp up supply chain to meet rising demand, The Economic Times). Sophiscticated logistics system will help in proper supply chain management and on time delivery of goods, which help in maintaining the shelf life of goods on meeting the demand on time. Social Need for Healthy Eating Habits Studies say that Indians are more prone to Coronary Artery Disease (CAD), which is the major independent risk factor causing Cardiovascular diseases, due to the smaller calibred arteries found in Indians (Isalkar, U (2009) Indians more prone to heart disease, The Times of India). This suggests that Indians should move towards more healthy food and diet. This could be a new area to explore for Britannia with its new health associated products like Nuti-Choice biscuits and Actimind flavoured milk. Problems with Cloned Livestock Cloned animals are supposed to be suffering from large-offspring syndrome. The mother cows face a problem in giving birth to the cloned animals as they are larger than normal. Also these cloned animals suffer from health issues (Gogoi, P (2007) The case against cloning, BusinessWeek). It is morally wrong to clone animals as they cause problems to the mother during the birth and moreover the cloned livestock suffer from health issues which might make unsafe to consume the produce from them. Technological Cloning of Livestock India, a late entrant in cloning research, is now moving with a great pace in cloning technology. Hand guided cloning technique, a technique very different from the conservative cloning practice has been a successful venture (Mahalakshmi, BV Chowdhary, S (2009) Cloning Glory, The Financial Express). New Age Packaging The new packaging systems help in protecting food from micro-organisms by creating shelter layer. It uses new technologies like oxygen scavenging function, atmosphere control, biodegrability etc. and is low cost (Han, J Packaging Innovations, Bakers Journal). The packaging technology helps in preserving food for longer by protecting them from micro-organisms with the help of new technologies, thus resulting in longer shelf life of the food. The advantage of low cost packing and longer shelf life could be very beneficial for the company in increasing its profit margin. Environmental Change in the Climatic Conditions Climate plays an important role in the agriculture process. The change in the rainfall pattern has been a matter of concern now in India. The agriculture sector in areas which are monsoon dependent suffered badly due to the change in the rainfall pattern. The sector suffered a huge loss in terms of total output (Bhosale, J (2009) Farmers worried over climate disturbances, The Economic Times). The loss in crop will affect the input supply and this might delay or cause problems in the production. So the industry might not be able to meet the demands resulting in the loss of customers. Legal Raising the Norms for the Probiotic Food There is a need for setting the standards for probiotic food. Clinical tests should be conducted on the probiotic foods before they could reach the market for sale. The Indian Council of Medical and Research has submitted the proposal for the same to the government (Das, S (2009) Probiotic food likely to come under clinical trial ambit, The Financial Express). Strict norms will help in raising the quality standards but on the other hand the cost and time of production might subsequently increase. Micro External Environment Analysis Factors that influence the micro external environment are Competitor Rivalry, Threat of New Entrants, Threat of Substitutes, Buyers Power and Suppliers Power. These factors play a vital role in determining the current situation of the business and to plan strategies accordingly. With the help Porters Five Forces we will be analysing these factors and their immediate effect on the company. Five forces analysis is a technique for identifying and listing those aspects of the five forces most relevant to the profitability of an organisation at that time. (Boddy, D (2005). Management An Intoduction. 3rd ed. UK: Pearson Education. 83.) Competitor Rivalry: BIL has a market share of 38% and has been growing at 27%, compared to the industry growth rate of 20% (Saxena, R (2007) Battle-scarred Britannia on expansion spree, Business Standard) and has many competitors based on the nature of product. Parle and ITC (Sunfeast) pose a great competition to BIL (Biscuit Industry: India (2010), Market Research India). BIL earning major of its income from the biscuits (Britannia Annual Report 2007-08 (2008)), and Parle and ITC are the other major players in biscuit market. BIL is also into the production of dairy products, where the two major players in market are Amul and Nestle. Amul is the leader in the dairy industry. There is also a high level of competition from the unorganised baking sector. Overall rivalry is high. Threat of New Entrants: The entry on a small scale dairy industry and in the unorganised baking sector is easy. But on the other hand to enter the large scale dairy industry and organised baking sector a huge amount of investment is required in terms acquiring assets and to establish supply and distribution chains. Government regulations pertaining to food norms and others may also seem to be unattractive. Looking at the latest trends, the bakery industry is expected to earn huge revenues which might attract new entrants (Vijay, N (2008) Indian Bakery sector foresees high growth and increasing interest in product offering, FnBNews.com). So the threat of new entrants is moderate. Threat of Substitutes: Savoury snacks, crisps, cereals, fruits and other fast food can be substituted for biscuits. Dairy products are dubious to be replacing with other products as they key ingredients of majority of peoples diet. So the threat is a very moderate threat of substitutes. Buyers Power: The buyers of these products could be a retailer or the consumer. Both the dairy and bakery industry are price sensitive, so a little increase in price might lead the consumer to shift other brand or product. So the buyers power is calculated to be very strong. Suppliers Power: The major supplies for a bakery industry include wheat, sugar and other agriculture products. And the major supplies for dairy product is milk. Its difficult to bargain with the suppliers of the above mentioned inputs as the price of these inputs is majorly influenced by the production of these inputs. The prices tend to be high as the demand for these products is rising at much faster rate than supply. The secondary supplies include the packaging material. The secondary supplies can be easily substituted with the low-cost ones to save on cost. Overall the suppliers power is assessed to be moderate. Conclusion of Five Forces Analysis: There is an existence of major players in the market with a moderate level of threat of new entrants and substitutes. The suppliers power is moderate but the buyers power is measured to be strong. So the rivalry is suggested to be high. Stakeholders and Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) Freedman (1984) defines a stakeholder as any individual or group who can affect, or is affected by, the achievement of the organisations objectives. Further in addition to that, Clarkson (1995), stated that the government and the other communities that effect the working of the business and the market also form as a part of stakeholders. Stakeholders, except the employees, have a high power over the strategic change ideas (Hayes, J (2007). The Theory and Practice of Change Management. 2nd ed. UK: Palgrave Macmillan. 153). Internal Stakeholders The internal stakeholders are the ones associated with the company internally. For BIL its internal stakeholders would be: The Shareholders The Board of Directors, and The Employees Currently, nearly 51% of shares are held by Corporate Bodies and the rest 49% is held by the public (Statement showing shareholding pattern (2009), Britannia Industries Limited). The board consists of 11 members (Company Overview, Britannia Industries Limited) and employees nearly 2000 people (Britannia Industries Ltd. Overview, MarketLine). External Stakeholders The external stakeholders are the ones who are not immediately associated with company but influence the decision making of the company. To BIL the external stakeholders are as follows: Customers Suppliers Contractors Government Regulatory Agenices (like Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, etc.), and Society Britannia being the leader in the baker industry of India has a huge amount of customers to cater. Britannia has to keep up the tastes and quality preferences of its customers. The government plays an important in influencing the market by creating and changing the policies. BIL has to adhere to the rules and regulations formulated by the regulatory agencies. The suppliers and contractors form an important part of a business. Britannia completely relies on its suppliers and contractors for its raw materials. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) For years corporate entities followed the practice of providing goods and services and maximizing wealth. But the trends have changed over the period of years. The companies are now expected to be more socially responsible. The company now has to be responsible to the stakeholders, society and environment. They are expected to pay back to the environment and society for all the affects that are caused due to its operations (Idowu, S Filho, W (2009) Global Practices of Corporate Social Responsibility. Berlin: Springer. 1-2). BIL believes in working with the society and the culture. It gives a premier importance to the nation and its policies. It believes in being a good corporate citizen by not just adhering to the rules and regulations but also by helping the community to improve the quality of life. BIL involves itself in initiating and providing support to community health and family welfare, water management, vocational training, educating people and encouraging the application of modern techniques and technologies. BIL believes in ethical behaviour.