Assgn Wilson

I will demonstrate some understanding of the principal areas of Philosophy covered in this course. To do this, I will respond to the following questions- What these two works say about the nature of reality, what roles does the problem of appearance and reality play in these two works? Next, I will state what ethical implications I think these works may suggest, and how do the two works explore the nature of knowledge. I will also compare my â€Å"What is your Philosophy? † survey results with the ones had completed in the first week of this class.Afterwards, I will answer the allowing questions- How has my knowledge base grown in the areas identified during my week one discussion. What insights have gained about my beliefs related to those statements and lastly- Did my philosophy changed? The paper will end with a conclusion. Solomon and Higgins' (2014) definition of Philosophy sums up what my understanding of philosophy has turned out to be during these past weeks of the cou rse. In my comparison and contrast of Plat's ‘The Allegory of the Cave† with the motion picture The Matrix, I was able to see the connection.In Plat's ‘ ‘The Allegory of the Cave†, here is a conversation between two men, Socrates and Glaucoma- In the conversation, Socrates is presenting his abstract interpretation of what he sees as he analyzes a picture. In the picture, there are a number of men bound to a wall, with symbols sketched into the wall. In the motion picture, The Matrix, there is also a conversation between Morpheme and Neo. They are inside a computer program. Morpheme turns on the television and shows Neo a picture of the world, as he knew it. He begins to talk about this world, and gives his interpretation of what he knows this world to be.Then, the stricture changes to a world that appears destroyed, and Morpheme again gives his interpretation. In week four (4) of our course, we were introduced to the topics, The nature of Reality and th e nature of Truth. In ‘ ‘The Allegory of the Cave† and The Matrix, the characters are analyzing reality from the unreal and truth. The conversation between Socrates and Glaucoma is about when the unreal becomes real. Morpheme is discussing the same thing with Neo when he asks him, ‘M/hat is real'? During our discussion for week four, we read a story entitled An Occurrence at Owl Creek where we had to separate the real room the unreal.During that time, learned about metaphysics. Metaphysics attempts to explain what reality is. Solomon and Higgins (2014), explained reality as, â€Å"The distinction between what we simply see, what appears to be the case, and the deeper picture that allows us to explain it, forces us to introduce the concept of reality' (p. 112). In relation to the nature of reality, the two works say that reality is what we interpret it to be. For example, in the â€Å"Allegory of the Cave†, Socrates explained the picture the way he per ceived it would be if the people in the painting came to life. In The Matrix, Morpheme gave his interpretation of the real world.The role that the problem of appearance and reality play in these two works was that nothing appeared to be as it was. For example, in The Matrix, the way the real world appeared to Morpheme in reality, was not how Neo saw it to be. In the beginning of the movie, when the woman named Trinity was being attacked by the police officers, she was able to run across the walls. This did not appear to be real. Then near the ending of the movie, Neo was able to dodge bullets and even appeared to hold them in his hand. This could not be real. During my analysis of these works, did not see any ethical implications.The way in which the two works explore the nature of knowledge is as follows. Socrates explains the interpretation of the picture based on his knowledge. For example, Glaucoma demonstrated that he had limited knowledge based on the levels Of his conversatio n. He saw the picture exactly as it appeared, and he agreed with everything Socrates said without offering his own opinions. Socrates on the other hand demonstrated that he possessed the gift of knowledge. His interpretation of the picture was more in-depth. During this course, I learned hat Epistemology was the theory of knowledge.Socrates based his interpretation of the picture on his philosophical knowledge. For example, he spoke of truth when he asked the question, â€Å"Altogether then, I said such men would believe the truth to be nothing else than the shadows of the artifacts? † (p. 246). In The Matrix, Morpheme also demonstrated his level of knowledge. He appeared to be all knowing (Omniscient) just like God. For example, when he met Neo for the first time, he was able to tell Neo a lot about his life. He told Neo that he knew why he was there. He was even able to read Neon's Houghton. Morpheme knew who and what the Matrix was.He described it as being everywhere, and that it was the â€Å"wool that was pulled over your eyes to blind you form the truth' (Quote from The Matrix movie). In week one (1), I took a survey entitled ‘V'/hat is your Philosophy? † Today, when I looked back at the results of that survey compared to the one I took again, I could say that my knowledge base has grown. From the topics that we covered in this course, I Was able to expand my knowledge of life and its meaning along with knowing who God is, and that He exists. In relation to the survey, number nine (9) stated that â€Å"An all-powerful, all knowing, all-good God exists†.In learning about Ultimate Reality in week three (3), I was able to prove that this statement is true. In week one (1), I found it difficult to immediately respond to statements number three (3) and four (4). Number three stated â€Å"Humans have free will† and number four â€Å"All of our actions are determined by forces beyond our control†. In the latest survey I took, I still gave the same numbers for some statements that I had given in the previous survey. For example, I gave a five (5) for number two (2), and a five for number seven (7). I still gave five for number three, but I gave a five for number four. Ad previously given that statement one (1). The insights I have gained about my beliefs related to those statements are as follows. I still believe that humans have free will. For example, I am able to do whatever I want to do. Of course, I realize that cannot use this statement loosely because in some countries, even though humans have free will, they are restricted by rules and laws to freely exercise their will. At first, did not believe that all of our actions were determined by forces beyond our control, now I think I can say that All of our actions are determined by forces beyond our control.For example in this world, there are laws and policies made by government. Everything we do is based on what we know is right and wrong, oth erwise known as moral ethics. We pay our taxes because it is law, and refusal to pay is punishable. We are put in prison when we commit murder, because there is a law that condemns the act of killing. Therefore, we act in accordance to the rules and regulations set out by those in authority. The function of the police is to keep peace and safety, in case we decide to break the law. Overall, believe my philosophy as changed. Now look at life and the reason for living with a different perspective.At first, my thinking was, we were all put here on earth to live, die than go to heaven or hell. Today, I view this ideology differently. There is a reason why I am here, there is a reason for circumstances that occur in my life, and there is a reason for the hope that is in me. Philosophy has helped me understand the meaning of life and its existence. In conclusion, philosophy addresses reality, knowledge, values, reason, mind and even language. If we do not know how the many things we commo nly experience re connected together, then we cannot know the source of truth.

Perfume Market in China

Strategy for UNIQLO in India Class: Global Strategy – Optimizing your Global Footprint Professor: Mark Roeske Students: Hidenobu Hayakawa Nagasaka Sohta Nguyen Thanh Thi Phuong Waseda Summer Intensive , August 2012 Final Report Final Report [STRATEGY FOR UNIQLO IN INDIA CONTENTS Executive Summary PART I/ UNIQLO and Apparel Industry – Overview of UNIQLO business – Apparel Industry: Value Chain & Key Success Factors PART II/ Environmental Analysis – PEST analysis for India – 5 Forces analysis for Apparel industry in India – SWOT analysis for UNIQLO’s entering into IndiaPART III/ Strategy Formation – Entry Strategy: Entry Mode – Expansion Strategy: 3 Phases – Implementation Plan: 4P, AAA Conclusion Reference Appendix 2 Final Report [STRATEGY FOR UNIQLO IN INDIA EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Japan is famous for innovation and high-tech manufacturing industries but not for fashion. However, this fact should be reconsidered since th e brand UNIQLO, a true Japanese fashion brand, now can be found in the biggest cities of the world from world-class shopping malls like Ginza (Tokyo), Fifth Avenue (New York) to the streets of Shanghai and Malaysia.UNIQLO is the main brand of Fast Retailing Co. , Ltd (see Appendix 1 for Corporate Profile), the largest producer in apparel retailing industry in Japan and ranks the fourth in the world (after ZARA, H&M and GAP). Mr. Tadashi Yanai, the founder a nd current CEO of Fast Retailing (FR) used to be the richest man in Japan. In this report, we develop the strategy to bring UNIQLO to the world second largest population, India. The reasons why we choose this plan can be explained briefly as following.Fast Retailing aims at becoming the number one apparel retailer in the world by 2020. In order to achieve this ambitious vision, they need to boost up sales from other markets other than depending only on the already-saturated Japanese market. First venturing into international mark ets in 2001, UNIQLO now has worldwide operations, including in the U. K. , China, Hong Kong, South Korea, the United States, France, Singapore, Russia, Taiwan and Malaysia. There are very few big economies in the world that UNIQLO has not touched, which includes India.The reason for choosing India as the next destination of UNIQLO brand is mainly because of the attraction of India itself with a big population and rising GDP growth as well as an warm-welcome legal environment for foreign investment. About the structure of this report, we divide in three different parts. The first one will give an overview of UNIQLO brand, its position versa other world-top apparel brands. This part also explains the value chain of apparel industry focusing on SPA model and its relevant key success factors. The second part provides an in-depth but compact environmental analysis of India n general and its apparel industry. Based on the country and industry analysis, a summary of external and internal f actors affectin g the introduction of UNIQLO brand into India is shown in the SWOT analysis. The last but most important 3 Final Report [STRATEGY FOR UNIQLO IN INDIA part of the report focuses on forming the entry strategy as well as expansion strategy for UNIQLO in Indian market. The main data source for this report is the FR’s latest annual report for fiscal year ended August 31, 2011 as well as information available on reliable websites, which are shown in the Reference.PART I/ UNIQLO and Japanese Apparel Industry UNIQLO of Fast Retailing â€Å"Changing the World with Truly Great Clothing† is the motto of Fast Retailing which show s the corporation’s spirit, vision and strategy. The specialty retailer UNIQLO, the Group’s mainstay operation, has enjoyed strong growth by offering high-quality casual wear at reasonable prices based on its SPA (Specialty store retailer of Private label Apparel) business model, which spans product design, manufacture, distr ibution and retail. UNIQLO’s products range from denim, cashmere, knitwear & underwear to men & women jeans, trousers, shorts, shirts and t-shirts.The first UNIQLO store opened in 1984 and as mentioned above, UNIQLO now has operations in U. K. , China, Hong Kong, South Korea, the United States, France, Singapore, Russia, Taiwan and Malaysia. In 2011, th ey opened global flagship stores in Taipei, Seoul and on New York’s prestigious Fifth Avenue, as part of plans to grow business worldwide. At the end of fiscal 2011, they had 843 stores in Japan and 181 stores in other markets. Their breakthrough products include HEAT-TECH inner wear line, Ultra Light Down jackets and Cool biz line. In Japan, UNIQLO is the nation’s largest apparel retailer, with a 5. % 1 share of the 10. 7 trillion yen Japanese apparel market, and 843 stores nationwide at the end of fiscal 20 11. In fiscal 2011, sales increased 28. 7% year on year to 93. 7 billion yen and operating profit grew 40 . 6% to 8. 9 billion yen. While this is still only a small amount compared to UNIQLO Japan’s sales of 600. 1 billion yen, UNIQLO international’s operations in Asia are providing highly profitable. The total number of UNIQLO International stores stood at 181 at the end of August 2011. They plan to add another 107 to boost the total to 288 stores by the end of August 2012. Fast Retailing’s Annual Report 2011 4 Final Report [STRATEGY FOR UNIQLO IN INDIA The chart below envisions the breakdown of UNIQLO sales in the future: (Source: Annual report yearend 2011, Fast Retailing Co. , Ltd) Apparel Industry The following chart shows the current ranking of major global SPAs in the apparel world (Source: Annual report yearend 2011, Fast Retailing Co. , Ltd) SPA business model incorporates the entire clothes-making process from procurement of materials, product planning, development and manufacture through distribution and retail to inventory management.To ensure the develo pment of products of exceptional quality, UNIQLO has refined its SPA business model to control the entire business process (see UNIQLO business model in Appendix 2). UNIQLO successfully differentiates itself from other companies by developing unique products and minimize store operation cost. This model is described in the flow of supply and key success factors are identified as below: ?1) Product Planning Key Success Factor: Product development based on customer feedback. Market-Out is a one of key driver for UNIQULO to attract consumer where their preference are diversified. Final Report [STRATEGY FOR UNIQLO IN INDIA ?2) Raw material Purchase Key Success Factor: Material procurement from around the world. The UNIQLO Material Development Team is able to procure high-quality materials at low costs through direct negotiations with and bulk purchases from material manufacturers globally. ?3) Production Key Success Factor: a) Expert technical guidance at factories emphasizes quality in order to produce millions of products of standardized quality. b) Flexible to produce in small unit(lot) ? 4) Sales & Marketing Key Success Factor: Flagship Stores Boosts the BrandUNIQLO is seeking to build its brand through its network of global flagship stores. Global flagship stores serve as hubs to get out the UNIQLO message, and concept of high-quality basics, while showcasing what sets UNIQLO apart from competitors such as H&M, Zara or Gap. PART II/ Environmental Analysis 1/ PEST analysis for India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. Its population is around 1. 2 billion, second largest after China. In term of the ease of doing business, India ranks 132nd, even worse than Pakistan (105th). ? Political factor:About its political system, India is the world's most populous democracy with a parliamentary republic with a multi-party system. However, India ranks 95th over 185 countries in term of corruption rate and the corporation tax is really hig h at 40%. The law was changed in 2011 and it allows foreign companies to have wholly own subsidiary. Although tax and corruption are negative points, there are lots of positive points as the current Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, promised to bring more transparency in work of public servant and create no barriers to investment in India ?Potential impact to UNIQLO: It is an ideal timing for UQNILO to go to India now because from 24th November 2011, Indian government allowed a foreign company to have its wholly-own subsidiary of retailer. However, it needs to pay attention to potential legal risks from Indian inflexible Labor Law, for 6 Final Report [STRATEGY FOR UNIQLO IN INDIA example, practically impossible to fire someone in India, requiring payment of annual bonuses even if the company wasn’t profitable, high compensation for workers that suffer injury/death on site of employment and trend of getting stringent on working condition and minimum wage law enforcement. Economi c factor: India is a rapidly rising power. Its GDP growth rate is impressively high (2009: 8. 24%, 2010: 9. 55%, 2011: 6. 86%). In term of nominal GDP, it ranks 11th in the world. Nevertheless, GDP per capita is very low compared to the other BRIC countries ($1,389, 140th ranking). India contains the largest concentration of people living below the World Bank's international poverty line of US$1. 25 per day. Inflation rate is very high of 11. 99% in 2010 and 8. 63% in 2011. As for apparel industry, the total market capitalization is expected to increase from US$32. billion in 2009 to US$57 billion in 2015. ?Potential impact to UNIQLO: consumer’s demand is increasing more and more in the future. Therefore, Indian apparel market creates a huge chance for UNIQLO. However, India is too big to deal with as a one country, so that cities are important to define business strategy. The first targeted destination should be Mumbai, which is the biggest city in population (12. 5 mil peop le) and its density (20,694/km2) is four times higher than Tokyo (5,541/km2). It is absolutely a very promising business because there is no tariff to clothing between Japan and India from 2010. Social factors: Population growth rate is 1. 4% per year and India is expected to reach 1. 4 billion in 2030. The literacy rate is about 74. 04% (2011) and there are more than 90 million English speakers. This population is divided in the following age structure: 0-14 years: 31. 8%, 15-64 years: 63. 1% and 65 years and above: 5. 1%. Their lands are fertile and very good for agriculture. The weather is various in locations and there are summer and winter and raining seasons. ?Potential impact to UNIQLO: UNIQLO should make unique comfortable products suitable for various climates.Although India provides cheap labor cost, the deviation in salary base in India is very large, 2-3 times difference by education and 20-30 times difference for professionals. Another important factor for consideration is related to the labor union in India. There are about 8,000 Labor Unions and they are very active. 7 Final Report ? [STRATEGY FOR UNIQLO IN INDIA Technology factors: India is well-known as the land of IT outsourcing, so the infrastructure as well as transport and communication should be good. Nevertheless, there are more and more blackouts recently.As for textile, India is a big textile producer as being the largest producer of Jute, Cotton, Silk, Cellulosic and Synthetic fiber/Yarn. ?Potential impact to UNIQLO: in the long run, UNIQLO should make its own products in India to take the advantage of cheap raw material and low-paid labor sources. However, they now need to build up their distribution from the scratch. 2/ 5 Forces analysis for apparel industry of India In general, the PEST analysis shows favorable results to the business plan of introducing UNIQLO brand in India.In order to form the entry mode as well as competition strategy for UNIQLO, an in-depth understanding of cu rrent apparel industry of India is needed. The 5 forces model of Porter is applied to identify involving forces of this industry and details are shown below: ? Threat of new entrants: High Barrier to new entrant into apparel industry is low because there are no restrictions and the current Indian government shows warm welcome to foreign investment. On the other hand, â€Å"Functional Fiber’’ could lose its uniqueness and distinctiveness by products from other apparel companies.For example, Private brand from Chemical companies (like Du Pont Company) could be our rival in this category. ? Bargaining power of suppliers: Low As the main raw materials are â€Å"Cotton and Functional fiber’’ and cotton is commodity, UNIQLO can find the cotton source from various suppliers in and outside the country. More importantly, UNIQLO has a strong sourcing of functional fiber from Toray, its strategic partner. They have had a good corpo ration on global base under a lo ng-term contract. Finally, access to distribution channels is not limited and retailers provide shelf-space when they receive listing fees here in India. Bargaining power of buyer: Medium There is no switching cost for buyers. Most of the POS (Point of sales) are PAPAMAMA shop but they are small in size and not able to exercise buying power. However, due to the regulation change in 2010 8 Final Report [STRATEGY FOR UNIQLO IN INDIA with regard to the field of retailer, quantity of mass–retailers has been increasing at urban area, making buyer bargaining power stronger. Consumer spending on fashion products has grown at 7. 1% annually from 2002 through 2010. There is a rising affluence which helps to increase brand awareness among Indian consumers.Indian is among the most brand conscious countries in the world (according to the â€Å"Nielsen Global Luxury Brands Study†). Indian often spend around 100$ on an average for apparel. To them, the most important factor is the l ook and feel of the product and price is also another important factor. Therefore, UNIQLO should market itself as the highly functional and innovative clothing brand from Japan to be sold at reasonable price. ? Threat of substitute products of service: High The substitutes are various from price, quality to brand as well as ease of access to customers.Local apparel manufacturers have consolidated in group and they are strong at low-cost operation. Still people have preference in local style outfit (their traditional custom: sari). ? Rivalry of competition: High India is considered an attractive market for luxury brands, about 50 premium and luxury brands, including Zara, GAP, Tommy Hilfiger, Guess, Benetton, Levi’s etc, have opened stores in India in recent years. Direct competitors of SPAs like UNIQLO (GAP and Zara) have been doing business in India and they have solid portions of market share in the non-functional category. Rivalry among existing companies is fierce.Regardi ng strengths and weaknesses of current competitors, Zara’s strength lies in its ability to quickly bring the latest designs to its stores while Levi’s and Benetton strengths are in their supply chains as they have been in India for more than 10 years. Shopper’s stop and Provogue are local players and they are available in more locations of customer attraction. However, current competitors also have weaknesses like: due to fewer seasonal variations, driving new fashions every season hasn’t been easy for them. Except Benetton, most of other brands do not offer traditional (embroidery) and colorful stuff, which Indians prefer more.Some of the competitors do not have good distribution infrastructure. In brief, the market in India is still in its early ages and is growing at a high rate. A lot of other premium brands are planning to open their stores in India soon. Market size is big especially in its tier-1 three most populous cities namely Mumbai, New Delhi and Bangalore (more than 30 million people in total). 9 Final Report [STRATEGY FOR UNIQLO IN INDIA UNIQLO targets customers of all ages and genders, but in its first bricks, it should focus on customer aging from 15-64 and who is more brand conscious.The targeted customers should earn more than $100 dollars per month to afford UNIQLO products. 3/ SWOT analysis for UNIQLO in India The overview of UNIQLO business and the results of PEST and 5 forces analysis help us recognize the external factors and internal factors affecting to the investment decision and strategy formation of UNIQLO in India. All important factors are summarized in the SWOT frameworks below: Strengths Weakness – High quality, functional products for wide range of customer and to be sold at – UNIQLO originally had image of cheap clothes for everybody with basic designs Japanese culture is still the core value of FR reasonable price – Being famous for innovative products back up by Japan technolo gy innovation while Indian working culture is very much different. – Having strategic cooperation with suppliers (TORAY) – Shortage of global human resources due to the language barriers. – Having strong global footprint – Lack of well-established distribution network – Good SCM with SPA model – The financial status is very healthy Opportunities Threats – Increasing demand of functional products with high-tech and innovative materials in government welcomes oreign investment (apparel) – High Yen – Increase of purchasing power and brand consciousness in India price for market share. – Instability of consumption tax and regulations the second populous world. – Indian – Strong competition which may cause a war of – Different wear behavior of targeted customers and poor access to shopping centers – The global economic downturn and Indian slow GDP growth – Social matters (labor union, war with Afghan, security risk, market exit) – High rental at shopping mall 10 Final Report [STRATEGY FOR UNIQLO IN INDIA PART III/ Strategy Formation 1/ StrategyBased on environmental analysis as well as strengths and weaknesses of UNIQLO, following is the suggested strategies for UNIQLO upon entering into India. Vision: Becoming the number one lifestyle apparel SPA in India in next 10 years. ? Value Positioning: highly functional clothes selling at middle to high price ? Competitive strategy: Differentiation by innovative product and aiming to be creator of new clothe types (ex: HEAT-TECH or Ultra Light Down Jacket lines) ? Targeted segmentation: Customer aging from 15 to 64 years old of both genders, belonging to the social classes having medium and high-income, living in urban area. Entry mode: first entering as a wholly-own subsidiary of Fast Retailing Co. , Ltd and later expand the store networks through alliance with strategic retailers or franchising/licensing models . UNIQLO had very successful business results with the wholly-own branch model in other countries like China, US and EU, which should be an advantage for them in India. ? Expansion Strategy: Phase-based model Phase 1 (Year 1 – Year 2) Market penetration & Brand and Network building Target: Having piloted 5 big-sized stores in the five most condensed shopping malls of Mumbai (5 stores) Phase 2 (Year 3- Year 5)Brand building & Regional expansion Target: Having 10 stores in malls of 4 big cities: Mumbai, Delhi, new Delhi and Bangalore (40 stores) Phase 3 (Year 6 ~ Year 10) Brand strengthening & National expansion Target: Building the first flagship store in Mumbai and having in total 100 stores nation-wide (1 flagship and 100 stores) 2/ Implementation plan: To realize the above strategy, 4P marketing framework has been applied and details are shown in the table below: 11 Final Report [STRATEGY FOR UNIQLO IN INDIA Products Place – Phase 1: emphasize functional inner wear à ¢â‚¬â€œ Phase 1: start from big-sized stores in top-tier ine (heat-up and cool-biz types). This makes shopping malls in Mumbai and corporate with Indian more comfortable when combining domestic retailers who are easy to be controlled UNIQLO innerwear with their traditional by UNIQLO. sari. – Phase 2: develop various stores in big and – Phase 2: offer diverse casual apparel small shopping malls in top 4 biggest cities products of vivid designs for men and including Mumbai, Delhi, New Delhi, and women for any occasions. (T-shirt, sleeveless Bangalore. dress, jackets, jeans, etc ) – Phase 3: design styles and develop materials for Indian market to turn UNIQLO as the Phase 3: Open one world-class flagship store in Mumbai and increase the store quantity through franchising or licensing nation-wide. leading lifestyle clothes for domestic people. Price Promotion – Pricing for UNIQLO in India will be based – The store design, furniture, fixtures and music competitors’ pricing in India as well as its are all carefully planned and coordinated to global price strategy. create a shopping experience that reflects – Considering UNIQLO’s unique differentiated products and the income of target customers, the price will range from medium to high. global UNIQLO's brand concept. Marketing strategy will emphasize on the senses to inspire the aspiration lifestyles as – The possibility of lowering price of some Unique Clothing via strong investment in products is high because GPD per capita of advertising on TVs, journalism and on-line India is still very low compared to other websites. Discounts at weekends and special BRICs. ceremonies will be applied to boost the sales. Moreover, India is a totally different market compared to its home Japan in term of culture, religion and politics. Therefore, in order to win in this market, UNIQLO must follow the triple A strategy for its global operation and planning. Adaptation: India is very big and varies in climate, tribes, religion and tradition. Therefore, UNIQLO has to provide diverse products adapting to wear behavior of localities . For example, in Mumbai, where UNIQLO aims to open first stores, is very hot so UNIQLO's high -tech dry T-shirt would be ideal. At the very end, UNIQLO should provide the specific design and fabric exclusively for India (ex: embroidery products with vivid color). By adapting the firm’s products and services to the local 12 Final Report [STRATEGY FOR UNIQLO IN INDIA context, it can boost revenues and market share. ?Aggregation: India's population is 10 times than Japan and this market is getting bigger and bigger. Therefore, if UNIQLO makes a big success in Indian market, they would get the benefits of economy of scale by turning India into regional or even global operation of UNIQLO. Although they now have a production factory in Sri Lanka, India is a very much bigger market connecting to the Asian sub continent. I n the future, all development, production and marketing can be grouped in India as the regional operations headquarter. ? Arbitrage: India has a big apparel cluster and cheap labor force.On the other hand, now in China, where 80% productions of UNIQLO products are there, labor wage is increasing rapidly. If UNIQLO decided to go to India, they can move factories from China to India to reduce to cost burden as well as avoid the threat of intense political conflict between China and Japan. CONCLUSION UNIQLO aims to create apparel MADE FOR ALL, offering the elements of style in clothes that suit diverse values of customers. Therefore, although India is diverse in term of culture and shopping behavior, in the one-world one-market era, UNIQLO has a big chance.According to us, short-term goal for UNIQLO is to set up profitable business model and increase brand awareness. Long-term goal is to be a leading lifestyle brand in India. Starting from high-profile shopping centers, then flagship s tores but eventually UNIQLO would become popular functional casual clothing that its shops can be found in every cities of India. As for organization and operation, to meet up with the huge demand of labor force in the future, we suggest UNIQLO to recruit and train university graduates in India in the same way as in Japan (either in India or Japan).The fresh approach to staff training will facilitate aggressive new stores openings in India later. Finally, regarding the corporate culture, in order to avoid cultural conflicts as well as to preserve UNIQLO’s Japanese Core Values amid Globalization, (UNIQLO is a company born and bred in Japan), they should balance and integrate its Japanese DNA and Indian DNA to feature itself as a new type of Japanese-originated global corporation. 13 Final Report [STRATEGY FOR UNIQLO IN INDIA REFERENCE 1/ Note on Globalization and Strategy http://www. iese. edu/en/files/AR-Apuntes9. pdf 2/ Fast Retailing Latest Annual Report 2011 http://www. as tretailing. com/eng/ir/library/annual. html 3/ Other websites: http://www. jetro. go. jp/world/asia/in/biznews/4ed43b5b0cb20 http://www. jetro. go. jp/world/asia/in/invest_04/ http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index http://ja. wikipedia. org/wiki/%E3%82%A4%E3%83%B3%E3%83%89 http://www. google. co. jp/publicdata/explore? ds=d5bncppjof8f9_=ny_gdp_mktp_kd_zg m=country:IND=ja=ja=%E3%82%A4%E3%83%B3%E3%83%89gdp%E6%88%90%E9%95 %B7%E7%8E%87) http://ja. wikipedia. org/wiki/%E3%82%A4%E3%83%B3%E3%83%89) http://www. google. co. jp/url? sa=t=j==s=web=1=0CGAQFjAA =http%3A%2F%2Fcsi. ckinsey. com%2F~%2Fmedia%2FExtranets%2FConsumer%2520Shopper%252 0Insights%2FReports%2FIndias_fast_growing_apparel_market. ashx=LtM0UN7mGIb4mAWmwoG YCQ=AFQjCNE5VELIQ-B385iwXw_VnAjkCscOCw=rXzMNQp0szM7wLXWKzPqXQ http://ja. wikipedia. org/wiki/%E3%82%A4%E3%83%B3%E3%83%89 http://ecodb. net/country/IN/imf_inflation. html#pcpipch http://www. meti. go. jp/policy/trade_policy/epa/country/pdf/india0408. pdf h ttp://www. google. co. jp/url? sa=t=j==s=web=1=0CGAQFjAA =http%3A%2F%2Fcsi. mckinsey. com%2F~%2Fmedia%2FExtranets%2FConsumer%2520Shopper%252 0Insights%2FReports%2FIndias_fast_growing_apparel_market. shx=LtM0UN7mGIb4mAWmwoG YCQ=AFQjCNE5VELIQ-B385iwXw_VnAjkCscOCw=rXzMNQp0szM7wLXWKzPqXQ http://www. indexmundi. com/india/age_structure. ht 14 Final Report [STRATEGY FOR UNIQLO IN INDIA APPENDIX Appendix 1: Fast Retailing Corporation Profile Index Figure Country Japan Found year 1963 Sales( billion) 820. 35(2011. 8) Net profit( billion) 54. 35 Total assets( billion) 533. 78 ROE(%) 18. 1 Market value (() 14,742 Stores 2088 (10 countries) Employees (full-time) 14,612 Region sales rate 73(Japan):27(Oversea) (Source: Annual report yearend 2011, Fast Retailing Co. , Ltd) 15

To Kill a Mockingbird: Significance of the Title

Significance of the title: The title To kill a mockingbird is in a way a symbol of almost the entire book. From part 2 on Maycomb County and its people were all engulfed in the Tom Robinson rape trial. As Atticus and Miss Maudie said â€Å"it`s a sin to kill a mockingbird† and â€Å"Mockingbirds don’t do one thing except make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corn cribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird. †(p. 19) Tom Robinson can be seen as a mocking bird in the sense that he has never done anything to purposely hurt anyone, his only sin was that he tried to help people out of the kindness of his heart. Setting: The story takes place in Maycomb County Alabama in the 1930`s. Maycomb is the typical southern town, small square houses, everybody knows everybody, a feeling of hominess, only one of everything (post office , grocery store, school etc. ) Maycomb County is a bit of a special case because it is rather far from any other towns.When Maycomb was founded it was built a very long way upstream from the ocean on a small river which was unusual back in the day considering boat was the main mode of transportation then. Maycomb is a kind of boring uneventful town the most interesting thing to happen is what Miss Stephanie can manage to come up with and gossip about. The setting of Maycomb county relates to the main theme of the book in the way that Mood: In the first part of to kill a mocking bird Maycomb County is portrayed as a small, quiet southern town, nothing interesting ever happens.The town has a naive, innocent, immature and mischievous feel to it and everyone mostly keeps to themselves and you never really know much about anyone, except for a few characters. In the second part however everything and everyone changes. Once the Tom Robinson case comes to light you can say that everyone sho ws their true colors and who they really are deep down inside. The mood in the air shifts from nice and quiet to harsh, dangerous and hostile, every person in Maycomb is rattled to the bone with this case it will never be the same like it was before. Everyone loses their innocents

Managing Uncertainty Business Plan Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Managing Uncertainty Business Plan - Coursework Example It is always advisable to settle on a business enterprise that is not only viable, but also within your area of expertise in order to ease its management. In this case, I am intending to start up Electronic repair Services Company, in the City of Birmingham which its capital will be around  £ 250,000 in its first year of operation. The organization will specialize in repairs of home electronics, most particularly home entertainment electronics, such as; DVDs, TV, VCRs, and CD players among many others. The small enterprise is created with an idea of providing top notch innovation to the general repair service business. It will offer a one stop solution for the repairing or renovation of home electronics and phones in Birmingham. This business is aiming to offer its services to home owners and phone users who are often caught unawares with unexpected electronic malfunction. The unique and distinguished services of the Electronic shop will give it the much sought after competitive ad vantage against other repair services businesses. (Apple, 2013, pp. 24)Market analysis There are around 0.9 million households in Birmingham, U.K. Virtually, all these households at least have phones, TVs, VCRs and many other   types electronics. The electronic service company will segment its market into product categories, which will reflect the projected number of each electronic device, being used in Birmingham city, because these devices may malfunction at any time, and they may require repair services.

Love between Fathers and children Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Love between Fathers and children - Essay Example The first similarity is that the two poems have the dad as the main subject. In â€Å"Those Winter Sundays†, the poet states that â€Å"Sundays too My Father got up early/ and put his clothes on in the blueback cold† (1, 2). This line introduces the theme of the poem. In the entire poem, the poet continues to depict the figure and their role in the family setting. â€Å"My Papa’s Waltz† was the poet also introduces the father figure, â€Å"†¦the whisky on your breath/could make a small boy dizzy†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (1, 2). In this line, the narrator describes the habitual trait of their father. The same is emulated across the entire poem. The second similarity is that the two poems also depict the responsibility of the father in the family. In â€Å"My Papa’s Waltz† the poet asserts that, â€Å"we romped until the pans/ slid from the kitchen shelf† (4, 5). This line introduced the role of the dad depicted in the poem. In addition, the poem also displayed an exceptional responsibility of the father in the poem. In the poem â€Å"Those Winter Sundays† the poet states that, â€Å"who had driven out the cold/and polished my good shoes as well† (11, 12). This line depicts the father’s responsibility in the family setting. In addition, the narrator appreciates and recognizes the efforts of their father. The major difference in the two poems is that the perception of the father figure is represented differently. In â€Å"My Papa’s, Waltz† the narrator is appreciative of the role of the father. The narrator states that, â€Å"†¦then waltzed me off to bed/ still clinging to your shirt†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (15, 16). The narrator appreciated the efforts put by their father to make their night confortable. However ¸ in â€Å"Those Winter Days†, the narrator is fearful of their father; fearing the chronic angers of that house. In the poem, the narrator describes their father as one to be feared for their personality. In addition, the narrator includes

The Role of Pharmacy in Todays Modern Healthcare Environment Essay

The Role of Pharmacy in Todays Modern Healthcare Environment - Essay Example Like all medical fields, the field of pharmacy is facing formidable challenges. According to the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy in 2000, there are approximately 201,700 pharmacists in the United States with the numbers increasing by about 2,200 annually. Also, pharmacists are the third largest group of health care professionals, exceeded only by physicians and nurses. Unfortunately, most pharmacists entering the workforce today choose to practice in community pharmacies, and a substantial number take positions within the pharmaceutical industry. This is because community pharmacists make higher salaries than hospital pharmacists and the latter spend more time on patient care functions. Thus, this trend has left a shortage of pharmacists available to work in the hospital setting (Raffel and Barsukiewicz, 2002). Another issue that hounds pharmacists today is the danger of committing medical errors. In today's pharmacy environment, there are many potential sources for error when filling a single prescription. For instance, prescription errors may be stratified into problems with drug prescribing, transcribing, administration, and dispensing.

HIV in Nursing Annotated Bibliography Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

HIV in Nursing - Annotated Bibliography Example The study refers to a treatment program available to people with HIV in Uganda. Bakanda et al. (2011) have used data released by the AIDS Support Organization (Bakanda et al. 2011). The site of the above organization in Uganda has collected data addressing a series of issues related to HIV in Uganda, such as: the number of healthcare providers per patient and the number of patients who managed to follow strictly the guidelines of healthcare providers in regard to the HIV treatment program (Bakanda et al. 2011). The above data were used for calculating a range of ratios, aim to show that the number of healthcare providers working in this field affects the progress of the treatment provided to people with HIV. It has been proved that there is a close link between the number of healthcare providers involved in the program and the outcomes of the treatment. The particular study is quite important because of the following fact: it highlights the value of healthcare providers, including nu rses and medical staff of other duties, in facing HIV. It is assumed that by increasing the number of nurses working on HIV-treatment programs a state can increase its effectiveness in controlling the expansion of HIV across the local population. The financial aspects of such initiatives should be, however, taken into consideration. The study of Bakanda et al. (2011) reveals that the inability to locate adequate healthcare providers can result to the failure of a HIV-treatment program even if existing infrastructure is of high quality. A clinician-nurse model to reduce early mortality and increase clinic retention among high-risk HIV-infected patients initiating combination antiretroviral treatment Braitstein, P., Siika, A., Hogan, J., Kosgei, R., Sang, E., Sidle, J., Wools-Kaloustian, K., Keter, A., Mamlin, J. & Kimaiyo, S., 2012 The study of Braitstein et al. (2012) focuses on the following issue: can the use of nurses in promoting HIV-treatment programs cover gaps resulted by poo r resources in a healthcare setting? The specific issue seems to be of particular importance specifically in areas where antiretroviral treatment is available to people with HIV. Braitstein et al. (2012) aim to prove that even when the resources available for the treatment of AIDS are poor, still the success of the treatment provided to people with HIV can be successful under the terms that appropriate skilled healthcare providers participate in the particular scheme. Braitstein et al. (2012) have used a series of routine clinical data (Braitstein et al. (2012). The specific data have been analyzed using a retrospective analysis technique (Braitstein et al. 2012). The data are related to about 140,000 patients, adults and children, with HIV in western Kenya (Braitstein et al. 2012). The patients have participated in a program aiming to support the control of AIDS in the specific area. The programme, named as ‘Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare’ (Braitstein et al. 2012), has been established for monitoring the progress of the treatment of people with HIV in western Kenya. A ‘combination - antiretroviral treatment (cART)’ (Braitstein et al. 2012) has been provided to the members of the programme. It has been proved that the development of emergency-assessment clinics based on nurses can help towards the reduction

The Responsibility of Intellectuals, Redux Essay

The Responsibility of Intellectuals, Redux - Essay Example Historically, intellectuals who disagreed with the authorities suffered severe consequences as illustrated by, Eugene Debs, Rosa Luxemburg, Bertrand Russell, and Karl Liebknecht and Zola. This shows that intellectuals who pose a challenge to governments are usually painted as public enemies, while those who help the government to carry out their policies were regarded responsible. The trend has not changed much up to now, as illustrated with the intellectuals in Latin American, who despite their call for justice over the years, they have not received due honor compared to their counterparts who support the authorities. The author also condemns various injustices practiced by the U.S government, among them the support of the military junta in Haiti, planning and implementation of military coup in Brazil, and the brutal murder of Osama Bin Laden, as opposed to apprehension and prosecution, a clear illustration of governments’ act in overriding the process of justice. ... He calls upon intellectuals to take up the role of protecting various principles they uphold, which are mainly the principles of peace (Chomsky). Response I am in agreement with Chomsky’s observation, that Governments have not been fair in recognizing the achievements of these intellectuals, as they have always privileged those who help them pursue their policies and interests, and condemn those who stands for their principles, even if it is against the interest of the government. The example Chomsky gives, of John Dewey, who was a well-respected policy maker until his ideas of freedom of press conflicted with the government is a perfect prove that Chomsky is not just making claims, but he is supporting them with real life examples. Another example is Nelson Mandela, who fought tirelessly for end of apartheid and racial discrimination, only to be viewed as a criminal with no rights to visit United States until 2008. The same principles advocated by Mandela, are the same ones t hat Martin Luther King Junior advocated for in America but the later was highly valued in Kennedy Administration, unlike Mandela. It seems therefore that some intellectuals are privileged not by the values they stand for, but by the aspect of how well they relate with the government of the day. Chomsky calls upon Intellectuals to play a major role in upholding values of the society, despite what status the authorities may put to them. He insists that social evils that our governments promote should be openly rebuked by intellectual, which in my view is a very good advice that intellectuals should adopt. Chomsky also makes a very important and genuine plea to intellectuals, when he says that they should not be used by government to scheme injustices like manipulation of democracy to reserve

The Historical Development of the Juvenile Court Essay

The Historical Development of the Juvenile Court - Essay Example In 1825, a refuge institution was opened in New York that was the first of its kind to deal with the juvenile delinquents, followed by the opening of two other institutions of the same kind. The methods of treatment used in these institutions included corporal punishments and heavy labor. Voices were raised against such a treatment of the children and eventually, a juvenile court bill was passed in 1899 in Illinois. The main role of these courts was to rehabilitate and reform neglected children, children who committed offences not deemed appropriate for their age and who committed offences that would be considered crimes if carried out by adults. 2. Discuss the development of due process rights for juveniles through several key U.S. Supreme Court cases. Answer: The U.S. Supreme Court did not recognize procedural restrictions for juvenile courts because of their rehabilitative nature as opposed to punitive nature. But the Gerald Gault case of 1964 set precedent for the subsequent deve lopment of the due process rights for juveniles. In this case, the child was initially institutionalized for six years, the punishment for the similar offence for adults was a mere 50$ or a few months detention. On the appeal of the parents, the Supreme Court reversed the Arizona case decision and the development of due process rights started taking shape. Other significant developments in defining procedural restrictions which resulted from case trials were: the decision in the Mckiever v Pennsylvania case that the states had the right to use jury trials independently in juvenile cases but this was not a constitutional requirement, the Roper v Simmons case which resulted in the minimum age for death penalty being set at 18 years and many other such cases. 3. What are different models used to transfer a juvenile to adult court? Why would a state want to transfer a juvenile out of the juvenile justice system? Answer: There are three models of transferring juveniles to adult courts: a ) Judicial Waiver: It is the instance of transferring a juvenile case to a criminal court due to the transfer or waiver of jurisdiction by the judge himself. b) Concurrent Jurisdiction: It is also known as the Prosecutorial Discretion because in these cases the prosecution has the choice of either filing the case in the juvenile court or the criminal court. c) Statutory Exclusion: The cases where the criminal courts have original jurisdiction, the juvenile cases are transferred through this model. The reason why some of the juvenile cases are transferred to adult courts is that the nature of their offences is extremely violent and the public outrage over some of the offences like school shootings etc. makes it difficult to prosecute them under juvenile due process.  

Ethical Issues in the Criminal Justice Field (Untruthfullness) Article

Ethical Issues in the Criminal Justice Field (Untruthfullness) - Article Example s; stealing money and/or drugs from drug dealers; selling stolen drugs; protecting drug operations; providing false testimony; and submitting false crime reports† (General Accounting Office, 1998: 8). Between 1993 and 1997, at least half of the law-enforcement personnel convicted of corruption offenses while on duty were led to their actions through drug-related activities. In addition, more than 100 drug-related cases involving police officers are prosecuted within the country every year. Another indication of the widespread problem is found in the fact that all of the nation’s federal drug enforcement agencies have had at least one of its agents implicated in a drug-related offense. Throughout the country, officers have capitulated to the same temptations and potential rewards of the drug market that attracts their criminal counterparts. The ethical cost of this corruption has far-reaching repercussions not only within our law enforcement units, but also in our concept ion of society itself. It seems the causes of police corruption would be fairly easy to explain given the tremendous rewards associated with the drug trade. The financial rewards offered by the sales of illegal drugs in relation to other forms of income are enormous. This temptation comes on top of an increasing sense of frustration among law enforcement officers realizing the futility of their efforts as the number of drug traffickers continues to grow. This is also exacerbated by a society that has come to value material wealth much more than personal integrity or honorable behavior. The War on Drugs has been officially declared for 30 years now, resulting in the incarceration and prosecution of millions of people, but there has been no discernable positive effect. Drugs are now more available, cheaper and often more potent than ever before. Disheartened police officers often put their lives in jeopardy daily to fight against drugs, but must also deal with being under-paid and

Psy 104 Final Paper Essay Example for Free

Psy 104 Final Paper Essay Classical conditioning is a developmental theory introduced by a man by the name of Ivan Pavlov. Ivan Pavlov was born on the 26th of September in 1849 in a town called Ryazan in the country of Russia. Ivan Pavlov’s father was a priest and Ivan was the oldest out of 11 children. When Ivan was seven years old he had an accident where he fell from a balcony onto his head. Because of the injuries he sustained from the fall Ivan had a hard time with academics and was kept out of school till he was eleven years old. Ivan Pavlov went to college at St. Petersburg University and was originally going to school for science but since he was bad at math he decided to go for physical science. He ended his schooling in the Academy of Medicine. Before Ivan Pavlov went on to develop his theory of classical conditioning â€Å"In 1904 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for his researches into the neural mechanism by which the secretion of gastric juices was stimulated. † (Harre, 2006) Classical Conditioning is a process of behavior modification by which a subject comes to respond in a desired manner to a previously neutral stimulus that has been repeatedly presented long with an unconditioned stimulus that elicits the desired response. Ivan Pavlov liked to test his theories out on animals mainly dogs. An explanation of his studies with dogs is â€Å"In this type of learning, a neutral stimulus is paired with a stimulus that naturally elicits a response. For instance, a lab coat would not ordinarily bring any response—it is a neutra l stimulus; food naturally elicits a salivary response. When the lab coat is paired with the food repeatedly and learning is complete, the lab coat is no longer neutral. The dog has learned to associate the lab coat with food, even when no food is present. The former neutral stimulus (lab coat) now elicits the response (salivation) even in the absence of the original stimulus (food)† (Mossler, 2011) Another example of classical conditioning is â€Å"John B. Watson and his assistant, Rosalie Raynor, invented a different version. They quickly taught an infant named Little Albert to fear a white rat by banging a loud gong just behind the tot whenever the rat appeared. After just seven gongs, Little Albert was scared to death of the same rat he had played with before the training began. His fear was so great that it generalized to other furry objects, including a Santa Claus mask. (Johnston, 1999) The Second developmental theory I will be discussing is Jean Piaget’s cognitive theory. Jean Piaget was born on the 9th of August in 1896 in Switzerland. His father was a professor of medieval literature at the University of Neuchatel. Jean Piaget was originally interested in zoology and by the age of 15 he had written several artic les on mollusks. Jean Piaget went to the same university that his father taught which was the University of Neuchatel and he also studied at the University of Zurich for a small amount of time. Jean Piaget changed his interest of oology. â€Å"Piaget’s interests turned to child cognitive development while working to standardize tests for schoolchildren. At this time, he witnessed a pattern among children’s correct and incorrect answers, leading him to develop a theory of the stages of understanding through which a child’s cognition passes. He quickly established a clinical method of study, involving not only observation but also verbal interaction with the child subjects of his research. Piaget’s writings on the subject attracted much attention initially and then fell into obscurity for many years. Upon publishing detailed analyses of his work involving his three children, his work once again received wide recognition in the field† (Edinburgh University Press, 2005) Jean Piaget’s theory was his idea that children learned through stages which each one was crucial into leading the child into the next stage of development. Jean Piaget’s theory was broken down into four stages. Those stages are sensorimotor stage, preoperational stage, concrete operations, and formal operations. Each stage is very important to the development of a child and I will explain each one. The sensorimotor stage is the first stage of Jean Piaget’s theory in which† infants gain cognitive understanding primarily through their senses and movements, which are coordinated through reflexes. † (Mossler, 2011) The second stage of Jean Piaget’s theory is the preoperational stage which lasts from ages two to seven. This is the stage where children begin to acknowledge the world through mental structures and symbols. Children learn to play make believe and learn to speak whatever language they are being taught by their parents. They use inadequate logic because at this time they can only view things with one perspective. The third stage of Jean Piaget’s theory is called concrete operations which lasts between the ages of seven and twelve. This is the stage where a child’s thought is guided by logic and they have learned to view things from multiple perspectives. The fourth and final stage is called formal operations. This stage lasts through adulthood and is the stage where children begin to learn complex forms of thought such as being able to hypothesize, think of complicated plans, and accurately predict outcomes. An example of Jean Piaget’s theory is â€Å"in order to understand behavior and outcomes, an infant may experiment by throwing food. The infant gets to understand how the explosion of food behaves as well as the potential explosion by parents. Because adolescents have more sophisticated cognition, they can understand the consequences of throwing food—both what it might look like and the reaction of others—without actually experimenting with the behavior. † (Mossler, 2011) The third and final developmental theory I will be discussing is Albert Bandura’s social-cognitive theory. Albert Bandura was born on the 4th of December in 1925 in Mundare, Alberta, Canada. Albert Bandura went to college at the University of British Columbia where he got into psychology by accident because he had no classes in the morning so he decided to take a psychology class. He got his B. A in psychology. Albert Bandura then went to get his M. A at the University of Iowa Social Cognitive theory is a theory that states that portions of an individuals knowledge acquisition can be directly related to observing others within the context of social interactions, experiences, and outside media influences. What I am trying to say is, people do not learn new behaviors solely by trying them and either succeeding or failing, but rather, the survival of humanity is dependent upon the ability of people imitating and replicating the actions of others. Depending on whether people are rewarded or punished for their behavior and the outcome of the behavior, that behavior may be imitated. An example of Albert Banduras social cognitive theory is â€Å"study influences on aggressive behavior in children, during which children were shown to imitate, without prompting or incentive, aggressive adult behavior towards a large blow-up doll (Bandura et al. 961). This raised fears that have never been resolved that children might mimic aggressive or violent behavior seen on television. † (Walker, 2007) Another example is â€Å"In his classic study using children who watched adult models punch Bobo dolls, Bandura demonstrated that humans could learn simply by observation. That is, he showed that re inforcement was not always a factor in eliciting behavior. Instead, we know that children also learn by modeling (or imitating) the behavior of others. Imitation partly explains how babies learn to smile, children learn to do cannonballs in a pool, or adults learn to behave in a new environment without being reinforced. † (Mossler, 2011) The difference between classic conditioning and the social cognitive theory is that instead of using associations, reinforcement, and punishment to make someone do something or not do something the social-cognitive theory is teaching people to do things through observation and imitation. The difference between Jean Piaget’s theory and the others that I have wrote about are the fact that he believes that things we be learned without being shown that they will eventually acquire the skills through stages. Another difference between classical conditioning and the social cognitive theory is the need for social interaction with other people. Classical conditioning does not require one human interacting or observing but the social cognitive theory requires it. There are not many similarities between classical conditioning, cognitive theory and, the social cognitive theory. The only similarity I could find is that they are all learning based. In conclusion classical conditioning, social cognitive theory and, cognitive theory are some of the most common developmental theories. Though they may not be that similar a lot of the developmental theories are sometimes ideas that branch off from other theories. I am sure fifty years from now there will be knew theories that come out that can better explain the development of humans physically, mentally and, emotionally. I say that because the social environment changes all the time with new trends and fads and acceptance of things that were once taboo. Reference Mosser, K (2011), Child and adolescent development. Bridgepoint Education, Inc BANDURAS THEORY. (2006). In Elseviers Dictionary of Psychological Theories. Retrieved from http://www. credoreference. com. proxy-library. ashford. edu/entry/estpsyctheory/bandura_s_theory JEAN PIAGET. (2005). In Key Thinkers in Linguistics and the Philosophy of Language. Retrieved from http://www. credoreference. com. proxy-library. ashford. edu/entry/edinburghthinkl/jean_piaget Walker, J, (2007) Psychology for Nurses and the Caring Professions (3rd Edition) Retrieved from

Typical Families Today Essay Example for Free

Typical Families Today Essay To even a casual observer of American society over the past five decades, drastic changes in the fundamental makeup of the American family and the perceived image of the American family are readily apparent. Many factors have contributed to the evolution of the American family;   along with those changes, specific positive and negative impacts on the familial unit as a whole have been posited by sociologists and other observers and commentators. For many, the evolution of the American family signals a greater freedom for the individual; for many others, the evolution of the American family merely records a devolving of traditional cultural values and social support systems to modes of cultural disintegration.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Although it is difficult to determine with any reliability, the nature and true composition of a traditional American family, the surface-level societal image that stands as the most predominant is that of the nuclear family, which, while maintaining close ties among the immediate family members; mother, father, children differs from European (and other) cultures where family is extended much further into more distant relatives and tribal associations.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     At any rate, and despite the differences between the nuclear family and deeper historical models, the American family as nuclear stands as the single most definable image of family in the recent past. This model emphasized a patriarchal power-structure with the father as provider and protector and the mother as home-maker and care-giver. Just as many familial models from other cultures prioritize the family itself as the focal point of preservation and development, the American nuclear model places scant interest on individual growth or happiness. Family conflicts and interpersonal estrangement were regarded as obstacles to be overcome within the inter-dynamics of the family itself; individual happiness was desired or permitted in relation to its overall impact on the familys security and foundations.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Although the model of the nuclear family was likely never more than a functional abstraction for many people, for others, it did comprise a model by which to live and, indeed, sizable amounts of people did live their lives under the auspices of the nuclear family. In time, cultural evolution suggests that the restrictions on individual freedom, identity and ambition played a crucial role in the eventual breakdown of the nuclear family.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Among other key elements, The sexual revolution, womens liberation, relaxation of divorce laws, and greater mobility have been cited as forces which   are fracturing the traditional family structure, and these fractures are typically viewed as quite serious and with long-lasting consequences. In considering the sexual revolution it must be noted that this concept extends not only to unmarried couples with children, but to homosexual couples, childless couples, and those who are involved in some combination of the above. The opening of individual freedoms relative to sexual behavior has plunged the U.S into a rapidly changing family relationship landscape. Every assumption made about the family structure has been challenged, from the outer boundaries of single mothers raising out-of-wedlock children to gay couples having or adopting children to grandparents raising their grandchildren (Lebey, 2001, p. 20).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   the increase in womens rights and legal recourses resulted in a rising number of divorces which contributed to the evolution of the American family. Single mothers and divorced couples rose in prominence among the statistical realities of how people actually lived rather than how Americans would like to imagine they lived. The evolution in traditional family structure started slow but maintained a steady pressure:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Fault lines in Americans family structure were widening throughout the last 40 years of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   the 20th century. The cracks became evident in the mid 1970s when the divorce rate   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   doubled. According to a 1999 Rutgers University study, divorce has risen 30% since   Ã‚   1970; the marriage rate has fallen faster; and just 38% of Americans consider themselves   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   happy in their married state, a drop from 53% 25 years ago. Today, 51% of all marriages   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   end in divorce.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (Lebey, 2001, p. 20)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The basic shift is one from prioritizing the family, itself, as an end to be attained and the idea of the individual as the most important factor in developing life-relationships, career paths, sexual orientation, and lifestyle. Whereas by compulsion under the nuclear family, those family members who felt alienated or disregarded by their families were expected to deal with their alienation within the context of the family itself and certainly not by leaving the family, out-right, or out-right rejecting the familys primacy. If we grant Lebeys assertion that the four main societal changes [that have] occurred that have had an enormous impact on the traditional family structure. The sexual revolution, womens liberation movement, states relaxation of divorce laws, and mobility of American families then we should also take special note that her latter point: mobility of families and family members has probably played a larger role than any other single component in the actualization of the modern family.   (Lebey, 2001, p. 20)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     If our culture tends to focus on the individual, or, at most, on the nuclear family, downplaying the benefits of extended families, though their role is vital in shaping our lives it also protects and preserves individuals freedom of choice and freedom of lifestyle far above the sanctity or preservation of the family. Mobility is the most direct expression of individual freedom: The notion of moving on whenever problems arise has been a time-honored American concept. Too many people would rather cast aside some family member than iron out the situation and keep the relationship alive (Lebey, 2001, p. 20).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Mobility is not always a matter of choice but is often a matter of personal necessity driven on by employment conditions or other economic factors. Statistically, during the 10 years from 1989 to 1999, more than 5,000,000 families were relocated one or more times by their employers and this relocation is often driven by economic advancement and/or a safer place to raise children. From March, 1996, to March, 1997, 42,000,000 Americans, or 16% of the population, packed up and moved from where they were living to another location(Lebey, 2001, p. 20).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In addition to mobility, another aspect of lacing such a large emphasis on individual happiness and orientation is the idea that individual happiness is not only the paramount objective for personal decision making and interpersonal relationships, but that this idea of happiness should be also considered nearly inviolable. That is, the individual is socially conditioned to believe that any state that is less than happy is somehow abnormal, undesirable and should be remedied as soon as possible by whatever means: For at least 20 years, the pharmaceutical industry has learned how to cash in on the American obsession with feeling good by hyping mood drags to rewire the brain circuitry for happiness through the elimination of sadness and depression and this idea of constant happiness of course extends to ones marriages and familial relationships.   (Lebey, 2001, p. 20)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   If one begins to regard individual happiness and individual ambition as the primary points of consideration in resolving inter-personal conflicts and especially inter-familial relationships, it is far more likely that breaks rather than repairations will be the result when issue of personal alienation or the restriction of self-expression and lifestyle intrude upon familial relationships. The overall decrease in an individuals willingness to work out tehir problems whatever they are and wherever they find themselves, along wiht a corresponding increase in the idea   of mobility, freedom, disposable jobs and relationship, brings about conditions which highly favor the radical evolution of the American family from its not-so-distant nuclear image.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The central question regarding the societal impact of the evolution of the American family on the societys well-being as a whole pivots on the idea of individual vs. collective rights. In other words, the evolution away form traditional family models toward those which encourage and encompass a much larger degree of individuality has resulted in a breakdown of the traditional family but also a breakthrough in individual freedoms and liberties. Whether or not the cult of the individual will provide a sufficient enough   substitution for nuclear family values in terms of providing for a healthy, growing, and just society remains to be seem. What is obvious is that traditional family models: one man, one women with fairly rigid gender roles and social mores is, indeed, a thing of the past.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The increasing number of non-married couples with children, of gay and lesbian couples with children, of single-parent families, and other non-traditional models is a highly visible indication of the social changes now occurring in America. No less visible or impacting is the rise of individuality and individual-orientation in American society which has both occasioned the breakdown of traditional family models and been enabled by the breakdown of traditional social mores and images of the typical American family.                   Reference Lebey, B. (2001, September). AMERICAN FAMILIES Are Drifting Apart. USA Today (Society   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   for the Advancement of Education), 130, 20.

Company profile and SWOT analysis for Saravana stores

Company profile and SWOT analysis for Saravana stores Saravana stores is a chain of retail stores located in the heart of Chennai, TamilNadu, India. It sells textiles, jewellery, vessels, leather goods and other wide range of products under one roof. It is the No.1 retailer in Chennai and is the leader in the sector. The founder of Saravana Stores is Mr.Selvarathinam, died in 2003 following which his elder brothers namely Rajarathinam, Yogarathinam takes control of their different shops. The company has started as a textile showroom in Ranganathan Street, T. Nagar, Chennai and later diversified into Apparels and Accessories, Perfumes, groceries, Restaurant, shoes and much more. The companys tagline Good Quality at Reasonable Cost is much attractive that the customers in Chennai always prefer low price products which offers reasonable quality. Saravana Stores assures the customers a wide range of products and collections in almost all categories of products it offers. It is the first of its kind in Chennai to start a multi-storeyed shopping mall spread over 100,000 Sq.ft with 5 floors. It is now operating under 4 buildings in T. Nagar, Chennai including three in Ranganathan Street and one in Panagal Park, T. Nagar which is operating under the name New Saravana Stores which is specially constructed to avoid overcrowding during festival seasons. 1.1 VISION AND MISSION STATEMENTS The companys vision and mission statement is mentioned in Tamil saying Truth, Hard work and Growth (à  Ã‚ ®Ã¢â‚¬ °Ãƒ  Ã‚ ®Ã‚ £Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¯Ã‚ Ãƒ  Ã‚ ®Ã‚ ®Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¯Ã‹â€  à  Ã‚ ®Ã¢â‚¬ °Ãƒ  Ã‚ ®Ã‚ ´Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¯Ã‹â€ Ãƒ  Ã‚ ®Ã‚ ªÃƒ  Ã‚ ¯Ã‚ Ãƒ  Ã‚ ®Ã‚ ªÃƒ  Ã‚ ¯Ã‚  à  Ã‚ ®Ã¢â‚¬ °Ãƒ  Ã‚ ®Ã‚ ¯Ãƒ  Ã‚ ®Ã‚ °Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¯Ã‚ Ãƒ  Ã‚ ®Ã‚ µÃƒ  Ã‚ ¯Ã‚ ). Our objective is to provide customers with wide range of collections in almost all the categories at reasonable cost. Saravana Stores The name Chennaites consider as the meaning of Good Quality at Reasonable Cost. 2. INDUSTRIAL ORGANISATION ENVIRONMENT Any organisation stand on the environment and not by themselves. The company environment and external environment are connected with each other and has a close relationship. The main objectives of any organisation are profitability and sustainability. The optimal positioning of the company in the dynamic and complex environment is achieved through proper strategic planning. How to achieve optimal positioning? It is achieved by analysing all the environment factors both internal and external environment. The organisations environment is depicted as below. 3. SWOT SWOT is an essential and the most important method to analyse the overall position of an organisation. SWOT includes analysis of Strengths and weaknesses of the company within its internal environment and matching them with the opportunities and threats that exists in the external business environment. This analysis can be used as a benchmark to develop strategic alternatives and focus on planning for the time ahead. Now let us analyse the strengths and weakness of Saravana Stores and the opportunities and threats it faces from its competitors and external environment. 3.1 STRENGTHS Saravana Stores has better understanding of the customers in Chennai and focuses on serving them better. They provide wide range of services and products under one roof which helps in attracting customers who prefers shopping with their family together. They have the First of its kind advantage as they are the first to provide such shopping experience in Chennai. They offer low price and reasonable quality on products which is the main reason for the customers. Diversified business in Chennai offering most of the consumer much needed products under one roof. They offer variety of discounts and deals everyday providing value for money shopping to the customers. The consumers in Chennai fall under serving class and they do not hesitate to shop even at crowded places. They expect good value for money even in a crowded environment and ready to compromise on quality to an extent. Saravana Stores has understood this and provides such products which the customer exactly wants. Understanding the customer preferences is considered as one of the major strength of Saravana Stores. Saravana Stores follow tall organisation structure as this type of business needs the workers to be highly supervised. It has also lot of promotion opportunities for the employees. Their simple philosophy is Low Margin High Turn Over. 3.2 WEAKNESSES There is a very high attrition rate of employees in Saravana Stores. The staffs are not well trained, not educated and not motivated. Most of the staff comes from rural areas and they are paid less. These people join the company because of poverty and compulsion that still exists in many rural parts of India. The operational level people are being suppressed and sometimes being treated as slaves. It is a company following THROB model where a single person takes control over all his stores in Chennai. Due to this, the responsibilities and the freedom which should exist at least to some extent is restricted. Even though THROB model is considered as the perfect choice for this kind of store especially in India, the truth is Saravana Stores suppresses the operational level and dominates to exert its power and control on them. The management does not care their employees at all. Saravana stores does not want to sell most of the reputed brands. Nowadays the expectations of customers are changing and expect more quality. But Saravana Stores compromises on the quality aspect and just sell products that are of low quality at cheaper price. The customers are increasing day by day and Saravana stores is not able to manage the crowds properly (especially during the festival times). There are not adequate staff to manage them. Saravana Stores does not have many counters for cash and card payments. Due to this, Customers need to wait in a long queue for payments. Most of the products are not properly organised and are not found in their respective place. Many products are found on the floor and the workers too does not care about it. Customer Service and Customer Satisfaction are very less. This is due to the carelessness of the workers as they are not at all motivated and managed efficiently. 3.3 OPPORTUNITIES They have many opportunities to expand their market in other cities including Madurai, Trichy, Salem, Coimbatore and so on. Since Saravana Stores has understood the needs of many customers who mostly fall under lower middle class categories, it can offer more products and services. Saravana Stores has a first-mover advantage. They have a reputation. Customer preferences are evolving. Most of the customers prefer to visit stores that provide wide range of products under one roof. 3.4 THREATS The buildings of Saravana Stores are constructed by violating most of the security regulations. It may have to face legal threats by the concerned authorities. There was a fire accident inside the building on 2 September, 2008. It has resulted in the death of two employees and more than 10 million worth of products damaged. The main reason considered for this incident is ignoring the safety measures. The perception of the customers towards Saravana Stores is changing and many customers are switching to their rival stores. The competitors of Saravana Stores provide a pleasant shopping experience which attracts customers towards them. Saravana Stores may lose most of their upper middle class customers. Rising number of competitors pose threat to Saravana Stores. The cleanliness and hygiene factor is missing in the premises of Saravana Stores. This may act as one of the factors to lose the customers. Saravana Stores faces many legal complications that affects its reputation. The customers feel that the products are over-priced for their quality. Initially, they offered low price and reasonable quality. But now Saravana Stores has increased its price on all its commodities. Customers also recognised the increase in price. The Government policies are changing and the company would face more and more problems. Other International competitors look forward to enter Indian retail industry. 4. ANSOFFS MATRIX ANALYSIS Ansoffs Matrix is used to analyse the growth strategy of a company. It serves as a decision making tool to choose a suitable product and market growth strategy for a company depending upon the internal and external environment. Ansoffs matrix suggests four different strategic options for a company. They are as follows. Market Penetration Market Development Product Development Diversification Saravana Stores can adopt Market Development strategy geographically. It can spread into other major cities in TamilNadu and can gain additional market shares and increase its revenue. The biggest advantage of developing its market along other areas is that customers from those areas find the store within their reach and shop over there. As many people from other cities come to Chennai to visit their relatives , they shop at Saravana Stores and they dont want to miss the opportunity. But in case Saravana Stores is in their locality, they can shop at any time as they wish. This is a great opportunity because most of the people in the mentioned cities fall under middle class segment and they wish to buy products at low prices and good quality. Saravana Stores already introduces many new fashion and material range continuously which is one of their core competencies. If they continue to do that in the new geographical areas, they can surely succeed. 5. PORTERS VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS This analysis is intended to analyse the internal strengths and weaknesses of the organisation i.e., the internal environment analysis. The role of any organisation is to add value to all its stakeholders. The more important stakeholders considered in the organisation are mentioned below. Shareholders Employees Suppliers Customers Financial Institutions Society Government Every organisation competes with its competitors with their unique resources and core competencies. It is these two capabilities that drives the organisation to sustain in the competitive market. The greatest advantage of being participating in the competition is gaining more margin than others in the specific segment and establish itself from others. In order to compete successfully, analysis of the firm process and the work system of the firm is needed in time. An organisation is often viewed as a chain of value creating events. To analyse the firms activities which can create a competitive advantage, Michael Porter described a model called Value Chain in his book Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance published in 1985. Porter classified the organisations activities into 2 types Primary Activities and Support Activities. 5.1 PRIMARY ACTIVITIES These activities are most important for any organisation and is the core activities. These activities cannot be outsourced. These activities includes the following in order they operate. Inbound Logistics : This includes the received inventories, inventory control and storing of the input materials. Saravana Stores receive the fully made products and store them in their warehouse located underground of their main store. Operations : This is concerned with the processing of the input materials received through inbound logistics. The operations part of Saravana Stores is service oriented. The activities include providing the products and services to the customers, maintaining the shelves and store with the products and stock management. To gain competitive advantage in this department, Saravana Stores has to closely monitor the maintenance and filling of stocks neatly. When customers arrive at the shop, they find most of the products found scattered in the premises and it is annoying. Saravana Stores could try focussing on this and can gain even more advantage over its competitors who provide excellent services in this department. However, rectifying this problem has to deal with the motivational factors of the employees. Outbound Logistics : It is related to delivering the services/products to the customer. Saravana Stores creates and adds more value to its customers through its Home Delivery system. However, it needs to improve on its parking facilities, shopping bag, security, bill counter staff and systems which if done efficiently, can save the customers time and earn their loyalty thereby gaining more competitive advantage. Marketing and Sales : Saravana Stores attracts the customers through advertisements in Media, Newspaper and Radio channels. These advertising campaigns are carried out more perfectly as Saravana Stores has endorsed most of the leading top actors and actresses for its campaign to promote its current offers (Eg., Festival Discounts) . The advert in the TV appears once every 10 minutes and this is apparently one of its competitive advantage. This department works perfectly and this has helped Saravana Stores in tasting the success. Service : It includes the service of the products after it has been sold and delivered. It means keeping the customer satisfied with his product and carrying on the activities to ensure his satisfaction. Saravana Stores does not provide after sales service for all the electrical and electronic items whereas it has exchange system for its textile section. Though they provide after sales service for few products which they offer at low cost (below market price), the service is not at all satisfactory among the customers because of the very poor service. If this area is improved, customer satisfaction which is one of the intangible resources can be gained which in turn can act as a very big competitive advantage. It can also help in increasing the profit margin. 5.2 SUPPORT ACTIVITIES The support activities are the functions that supports the primary/core activities within an organisation. These activities are as follows. Infrastructure : This is concerned on the departments including accounting, finance, planning, controlling, quality assurance and generic management. The planning and control functions ensure the companys cash and cost control with a strong and continuous focus. Saravana Stores has emphasized on the security to avoid the internal and external theft by installing more security cameras and experienced staff. Human Resource Management : HRM consists of the activities starting from the recruitment to dismissal or lay-offs. It takes care of activities like hiring, training, developing, compensating.. etc. Saravana Stores is good in terms of its recruitment but fails in providing proper training and motivation. The staffs of Saravana Stores are not at all motivated and encouraged. The service is also not linked to their wages. They pay very low wage and extract more work from the employees which is unfair. Hence the HRM part is really poor in Saravana Stores. Most of the customers in Chennai knew about the staff treatment by Saravana Stores management and they feel it is highly unethical and unfair. Due to this, the reputation of Saravana Stores, an intangible resource is deteriorating nowadays. Technology Development : It is concerned with the innovation, technical knowledge, hardware and software which is important for the companies today to survive in the market. As mentioned earlier, Saravana Stores is still lagging behind the technology and a strong focus is needed in this department to add more value to the customers and the company. Procurement : This department is responsible for purchasing the essential materials to be used by the operations department. In Saravana Stores, procurement department is operates well as it buys the materials at very low cost and sells it a moderate price with moderate quality. 6. MARKET ANALYSIS STP 6.1 SEGMENTATION Market segmentation is the process of segregating the market into groups of customers with specific needs and requirements, specific characteristics and behaviours. This process is useful in identifying the potential competitors, segments, the power of the competitors based on which a suitable segment is selected to attract the customers. Segmentation of a market is important because the market is heterogeneous. Segmentation can be based on several ways. Some them are lifestyle segmentation, Psychographic segmentation, Age Lifecycle segmentation, Behavioural Segmentation, Geo-demographic segmentation. Saravana Stores targets the lower middle class and the lower class customers. This segmentation is based on the behaviours of the customers. It is now targeting the upper middle class segment in order to gain market share. Customers under the above categories prefer to buy products with low cost and reasonable quality offered by Saravana Stores. Moreover, these customers serve the highest population in the city. The perceived quality and the cost of the product helps Saravana Stores to taste the success further when introducing a new product or service. This is very well notable in their stores such as Saravana Stores Jewellery and Saravana Stores utensils section. 6.2 TARGETING After the most appropriate market segments are being selected, the company starts targeting those selected segments. Certain other factors are also to be considered such as competitive analysis and internal analysis. The internal analysis include activities such as analysing companys ability to outperform its competitors in the segment. As in the case of Saravana Stores, family and youths are being targeted. In recent times, youths who work in corporate prefer to shop most of the time whenever they get off. A typical family shopping is being found only during the festival days. Saravana Stores offers more deals and discounts in the textiles segment to family shoppers during festive days whereas it raises its prices marginally during other days when the young people shop. 6.3 POSITIONING When the targets are being targeted, the company decides on the marketing mix or strategy to position itself to that targeted segment. Saravana Stores has positioned itself as a store offering low cost and good quality product among the middle and lower class customers successfully. This can also be considered as one of their competitive advantages over its competitors like The Chennai Silks, Pothys, RMKV etc. Now Saravana Stores is well established in the city. 7. EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS 7.1 PEST ANALYSIS PEST analysis is used to analyse the external macro environment in which the company operates. Several factors are considered to find the opportunities and the threats that exists in the macro environment. PEST is an acronym of 4 factors which includes as follows Political Factors Economic Factors Social Factors and Technology Factors 7.1.1 POLITICAL FACTORS Political factors should be considered for the smooth flow of business. It has a high influence on the business regulations and spending power of the customers. There are not many factors to be considered for Saravana Stores as the top management has fixed everything using its influence over the ruling party. To say literally, Saravana Stores has taken advantage of the bribery that prevails in the State Government. The stability of the political environment also influences the industry. In TamilNadu, the forthcoming state assembly elections play a vital role for all the sectors. The winning partys policy towards businesses and taxation schemes is expected to create an impact on retail industry. 7.1.2 ECONOMIC FACTORS The economic factors are considered the most important aspect for any industry in any area. A companys growth depends on the economy of the country in which it operates. The financial system of India is good and so the GDP is also good. The growth rate of GDP is approximately 6-6.5%. The Indian retail industry is expected to grow by 25% annually and its worth is expected to be $175-200 billion by the year 2016. All major economic factors such as inflation rate, exchange rate, interest rate considerably affects the buying power of the customers as well as the organisations capital cost. These factors also decide the price of the product. People in Chennai begin to shop at the start of every month and most of the time their shopping place is T.Nagar. The inflation rate is becoming high nowadays and this has led Saravana Stores to increase their prices. 7.1.3 SOCIAL FACTORS The cultural and social factors differs from one country to another. In India, these factors vary from one state to other. It is often said about India as Unity in Diversity. In TamilNadu, the social and cultural aspects are more traditional than the other states. These aspects directly affects customer needs. Though Western fashions are introduced in TamilNadu, people still prefer traditional garments and other products. For example, in cosmetics department ayurvedic and natural products are preferred by the customers more than the other International branded products such as Lo`real, Neutrogena. Saravana stores is facing many complaints regarding the social issues such as ignoring the safety regulations and polluting the environment. Other factors also include heavy traffic in the area all the time which creates a discomfort for the customers to shop peacefully. Moreover, customers are not preferring T.Nagar as their shopping spot due to high traffic and the inconveniences that prevails. Saravana Stores does not have a special parking area for its customers and so the customers have to find the spot by themselves. This even worsens the reputation of Saravana Stores as it is in the verge of losing most of its customers. People nowadays prefer to shop in the local stores nearby that are within their reach at an acceptable price. The customers are shifting their preferences in product and services. Saravana Stores should act immediately before the situation worsens. 7.1.4 TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS The technology is considered as the important factor for competitive advantage. These factors can minimise the barriers of entry, aids in efficiency and can even influence the decisions. Saravana stores has not concentrated till now on the technology department. They still use the old system for billing and services. The supply chain management, customer relationship management, store management is not yet computerised. Card payment counters are relatively very less in the store. Most of the customers would wish to pay by card and there exists a long queue for card payment. There is no online service such as online shopping till now. Though online shopping is not suitable for garments and clothing department which is the main department of Saravana Stores, it can still provide that facility to other sections like Consumer Electrical and Electronics. But Saravana Stores is not willing to offer online shopping at all. Since Saravana Stores lack in technology aspects, it is difficult to maintain the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and communication with the customers (Feedback). These are missing with which business can be improved by analysing the customers more perfectly. Saravana Stores can concentrate on its technological factors which may increase the quality of the products and services they offer at a low cost. These developments benefits customers and the company as well. 8. PORTERS FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS Porters five force analysis is a simple but effective tool to figure out the potentiality of the organisation in a given business scenario. It is very useful to find out the strengths of the current position and the position where the company is intending to get into. This is considered as an important tool for planning as it helps in taking advantage of the strengths and avoid the mistakes by recognising the weaknesses. It is an internal micro environment analysis. However, the analysis is generally static. The competitive environment is dynamic and is changing constantly. There is a high chance of these forces changing at any time more rapidly. Though it is considered as an internal environment analysis, this framework ignores the human resource aspects for strategic analysis. But this model serves as a starting point for environment analysis. According to Porter, there are five different forces determining the competitive advantage of a company in a business scenario. They are Bargaining power of suppliers Bargaining power of customers Competitive rivalry within an industry Threat of the substitutes Threat of new entrants 8.1 BARGAINING POWER OF SUPPLIERS Here, we can assess the bargaining power of the suppliers that determine the prices of the product they supply to the company. It is often described as market inputs. The factors responsible for increasing the supplier power is contrary to that of the buyer power. Saravana Stores supplier power is low as they deal with huge amount of stocks. And moreover, those brands are not recognised by the customers often. Customers just buy them for their low price alone. In the current scenario, the suppliers find it difficult to sell their stocks by setting up a new store. Their entry cost is too high that they cannot afford. They run their businesses by supplying huge volume of stocks to Saravana Stores and gain profit. There are many suppliers and there are many substitutes for them. So it is highly likely to have less bargaining power of the suppliers of Saravana Stores. The cost of switching the suppliers for Saravana Stores is not too high as they are well balanced and managed in these aspects. Since the retail industry in India is unorganised, this has dominant position over the suppliers. 8.2 BARGAINING POWER OF CUSTOMERS The buyers are called customers who exerts more power under many conditions. Some of them are mentioned below. If the customers are focussed and there are few of them Undifferentiated product Vulnerability of Backward-Integration The customers are always price-sensitive. The perceived value by the customers is the strong advantage for Saravana Stores. The customers are also not focused and prefers unbranded products rather than the branded items. So the threat of backward-integration (influencing the power of suppliers) is also low. The availability of many alternatives is the main issue to be considered in the case of Saravana Stores. 8.3 THREAT OF NEW ENTRANTS New entrants foray into the market if the profit margins are highly attractive and their barriers of entry is low. According to Porter, there are seven sources of barriers to enter the market. Economies of scale Product differentiation Capital requirements Switching costs Access to distribution channels Cost disadvantages independent of scale Government policy In the case of Saravana stores, Government policy acts as a high barrier for the International companies. FDI policy of the Government is unfavourable for the International companies. The local domestic companies such as Wipro and other conglomerates are planning to start the retail chains in India. This is really a threat for Saravana Stores as it has to devise a new strategy and plan to minimise these threats. 8.4 THREAT OF SUBSTITUTES In the business scenario, substitutes are often considered as the most important threat to any company. If the company offers products, it can be easily replicated in the industry. More often, substitutes introduce new technologies or reduce the prices of the same product but do not replace the existing products in the market. To be precise, the profit gained from the substitutes is kept low by the followers. Unorganised retail industry is the main threat for Saravana Stores. As there are more substitutes for the unbranded products, customers are more likely to switch where the prices are very low than Saravana stores offers. This threat is relatively less in grocery department as there are not much substitutes for the branded products. Though some substitutes are available for the groceries, customers prefer branded in this department. All the other departments like textile, jewellery has more substitutes and Saravana Stores is pushed to keep its prices low to attract customers. 8.5 COMPETITIVE RIVALRY Some of the competitors for Saravana Stores are The Chennai Silks, Pothys,Big Bazaar,Kumaran Stores, RMKV and few others. These stores are located in and around T. Nagar shopping area. The rivalry is high between these companies as each fights to gain the market share. Because of this extent of rivalry, the profits fall. But Saravana Stores is the larger company amongst the rivals and is able to interrupt any actions taken by its small competitors. The emerging Big Bazaar poses a high threat to Saravana Stores as it gaining its market share significantly over the years within a short span of time. The competition is price-based and hence it is very hard to gain the customer loyalty. In a recent study, middle class customers are switching from Saravana Stores to Big Bazaar as both the companies offer same products and services. Saravana Stores is losing its middle class customers and should act immediately. 9. MARKETING MIX This is also called as the 4 Ps of marketing. The decisions for marketing a product or service can be made considering the 4 Ps as follows. Product Price Place (Distribution) Promotion Just like cooking where all the ingredients are to be included in the right amount and at the right time to get the tasty food, these 4 Ps are considered at the right time to taste the success of a product or service. Note that the internal and external constraints of the marketing environment is to be considered while making marketing decisions. The objective of right marketing mix is to create a positive value and positive response from the customers in the targeted market segment. 9.1 PRODUCT Saravana Stores offers wide range of products that ranges from Apparels, Accessories, Food, Furniture, Groceries, Utensils, Textiles, Toys, Electricals Electronics, Stationary items, Jewellery etc. Apparels Casuals, Formals, Jeans, T shirts, Party wear, Under garments, Night wear, Sarees, Silk Sarees, Ladies wear, etc. Home Personal Care products Utensils, Shampoos, Detergents, Soaps, Creams, Plastics, Cookery, etc. Electrical Electronics Mobile phones, TV, Radio, Speakers, Computers, Peripherals, Watches, Hair trimmers, shavers, etc. 9.2 PRICE Saravana Stores objective of pricing is to gain more market share thereby sustaining its position as a leader in the segment. The pricing strategy of Saravana Stores lies balanced between penetration pricing and economy pricing but it is more inclined towards penetration pricing. Saravana Stores adopts Value pricing, promotional pricing and Bundling. They assures consumers low prices everyday without any coupons. They also caters special event pricing on special occas