Corporate Strategy Analysis Discussion Essay

The Destination CEO videos offered a great insight into the lives of the people that have to run the huge organizations. It seems as if all of them have been faced with a challenge somewhere within their careers. The following paper will discuss the different corporate strategies: growth, stability, and renewal. It will also discuss how each CEO used the planning function of management which are concentration, vertical integration, and diversification. I agreed with my teammates discussions of the CEOs of the companies. We discussed four CEOs: Neville Isdell, Coca-Cola CEO, Gary Kelly, Southwest Airline CEO, Mackey McDonald, VF Corporation CEO, and Anne Mulcahy, Xerox CEO. The corporate strategy that was used by Neville Isdell is growth and the planning function used is diversification. This is due to the fact that he is seeking to branch out by selling non-carbonated beverages. Such as Coca-Cola Black, a coffee and buying all or part of vitamin water from Glasso. The corporate strategies used by Gary Kelly are growth and stability, and planning function of management is concentration. The reason for this is locking up the hedge fund contracts, and keeping cost down. Continuing to fly the same planes (737) so that parts and maintenance are easy is a great strategy. He also promotes treating customers like kings and queens, and employees even better! The corporate strategy used by Mackey McDonald is growth and the planning function is vertical integration and concentration. This is because of the focus on their lifestyle brands, such as Vans and Reef. They avoid getting involved in the high risk fashion brands & stayed with the commodity brands. Concentrate more on what the consumer would use every day. The corporate strategy used by Anne Mulcahy is renewal and the planning function is concentration. She took over when Xerox was on the brink of bankruptcy. She had to cut cost to be able to make the company successful. She even had to shut down the division that she herself had started (Destination CEO video). Kathleen McWain wrote, â€Å"Neville Isdell or the Indiana Jones of Coke displayed innovation and commitment to employee morale. Isdell handled flat sales growth, low morale and high turnover with  aggressive globalization. Coca-Cola decided to be a total beverage company introducing Dasani water and Fuze tea. Isdell convinced his board that just because Pepsi had branched into other markets successful Coke needed to go more towards global domination than diversification. Cokes sales are no longer sluggish, moral is high and employee turn over is low. I applaud Gary Kelly’s fuel hedge fund and that he is keeping Southwest airlines in the black. His flying in coach to experience what his passenger do gives Mr. Kelly a better insight into how his company runs, which I feel really helps him make tough resource allocation calls. That being said I do not think that Mr. Kelly’s Band-Aid patch of Southwest’s underfunded, profit destroying, pension plan dealt with the problem. (all pension plans paid after the employee retires are profit destroyers) I think it only delayed the fact that either the pension plan needs to be funded or pensioners must have their pensions reduced. As Southwest is not the only underfunded pension plan in the country. I feel Southwest is waiting to see if another company is successful in reducing pension payments to retirees. I also feel that as soon as a company is successful in either dumping or strongly cutting pensioners pay other companies will follow and it will be like domino falling.† As stated in the introduction, my team wrote the same things about the videos. The CEOs of each company made the same impact on us all. They stories of the CEOs and what they went they endured, and in some cases still enduring, is motivational. I personally would have probably given up by now. However, the most motivational one to me is Anne Mulcahy, because she took a company on the brink of bankruptcy and turned Xerox around into a powerhouse. How awesome is that! References Bateman, T. (2011). Management: Leading and Collaborating in a Competitve World(9th ed.). Retrieved from http//: www.ecampus.phoenix.edu. Destination CEO Videos

Sci207: Vocational Issues with Copd

Social Implications for Patient’s with COPD SCI207: Social Implications of Medical Issues August 1, 2011 Social Implications for Patient’s with COPD CASE 1 Mr. L. , a 55-year-old bartender in a large metropolitan area, has been a heavy smoker for 40 years. He was diagnosed as having COPD 7 years ago. Mr. L. lives in the city and takes the city bus to work, although he still has to walk about three blocks to the bar where he works. He has found it increasingly difficult to walk the three blocks without stopping to rest at frequent intervals. At work, his manager has also expressed concern about the effect Mr. L. ’s continuous coughing has on customers. (p. 440). According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), smoking is the leading cause of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), and it is considered one of the most common lung diseases known. â€Å"COPD is a diagnostic term used to describe a group of conditions that are characterized by respiratory symptoms such as dyspnea (shortness of breath), cough, sputum production, limitation of air flow, and chronic inflammation of the lungs. † (Falvo, 2008, p. 420). Often, people have both. On the flip side, there are also the rare cases of nonsmokers who lack a protein called alpha-1 antitrypsin that can develop into emphysema. The longer a person smokes, the likelihood of developing COPD is high but there are some who are exceptionally fortunate who do not contract this disease as a result of routine, long term smoking. This paper will examine the causes, the symptoms and complications and what the social implications of having COPD that can affect an individual in an adverse way using the above case study as the example. It is known that Mr. L. began smoking at fifteen years of age. At age 48, he was diagnosed with COPD yet still continues to smoke. Let us assume that Mr. L. has had a nice physique given to him from good genetics rather than regular visits to the gym. Let us also assume that he is a New Yorker and has lived there all of his life. Because the city is so large, there is also automobile traffic that never ceases at any hour – day or night which produces high amounts of carcinogens into the air. There are still manufacturing buildings that also produce pollutants such as exposure to gases or fumes as well as tens of thousands of smokers who release second hand smoke into the environment. Add barbeques and smoke pits or poor ventilation in a smoky bar into the mix and one is exposed to heavy amounts of carcinogenic pollutants every single day. This kind of long term exposure can attribute to some of the causes that may be factored in as to why he was diagnosed with COPD. Mr. L. has been told by his physician that he needs to quit smoking and start a regular exercise routine along with the prescribed medicine to make his conditions manageable and bearable. Because Mr. L. as smoked for 40 years and lived in an urban environment with long term exposure to pollutants along with his own habit, he began to notice a â€Å"smoker’s cough† or excessive mucus that is lingering much longer than a common cold. He notices that he begins to wheeze and gets fatigued when simply walking a few blocks from his bus stop to work or home. Once at work or home, he may realize that he has a hard time catching his breath (dyspnea) with any mild activity such as changing out a k eg, moving a case of beer or carrying out the garbage. He’s given up going to the gym as it wears him out to easily and is embarrassing to him because he wheezes and coughs too often and doesn’t want to be the subject of ridicule from younger, healthy people. He has noticed more lines on his face from not only age, but the smoking has aged him even faster. His teeth are yellowed from nicotine as well as his index and middle fingers from where he holds his cigarettes. New York has passed a non-smoking law for all public places as of the year 2000 and where there were once many smokers, it seems that more have quit than smoke. His patrons have been verbal about his coughing near their beverages or how they have to wait on him as he runs out back to catch a quick smoke, and he does this quite often because he is a 2 pack a day smoker. They complain that his breath and clothing smell of stale cigarettes even though he tries to cover it with breath fresheners and cologne. The patron’s regularly harass him on his choice to smoke and taunt him to quit which annoys him and makes him irritable. Smoking which at one time made him look cool, has now made him a pariah in most social circles as well as the stigma attached to his habit and symptoms. They tease him and say that he will become one of â€Å"those† people who will have to carry an oxygen tank around with him. Johnson, Campbell, Bowers and Nichol assert that â€Å"Stigma is a social construction that defines people in terms of a distinguishing characteristic or mark, and devalues them as a consequence†. Their article further reports that, â€Å"a study involving 27 women and men living with COPD reported that respondents repeatedly described a sense of stigmatization that was a direct result of using supplemental oxygen around other people and which led to feelings of embarrassment and social isolation. (2007). Since there is no cure for COPD, clearly the fastest way to retard lung damage for Mr. L. before he absolutely needs the oxygen tank is to stop smoking. Taking his prescribed medications can treat many of the symptoms such as the wheezing, coughing and shortness of breath. He can increase the amount of time walking to build up strength. The stig ma of smoking will then change to encouragement from his patrons to see success in his effort to quit. His breath will not be so offensive nor will his clothes smell of cigarettes. His nails will begin to lose the yellow discoloration and he can whiten his teeth so that he can feel better about his physical looks along with his self pride can be restored by committing to quit. No longer will he feel dismay, embarrassment or be annoyed because of the stigma attached to a smoker that displays the outward symptoms of his disease. Mr. L. ’s whole outlook and attitude will change by simply giving up a horrible habit that can destroy not only his health, but other’s as well. References Falvo, D. R. (2008). Medical and Psychosocial Aspects of Chronic Illness and Disability. 4th ed. ). Sudbury: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Johnson, J. L. , Campbell, A. C. , Bowers, M. & Nichol, A. (2007). Understanding the Social Consequences of Chronic Obstructive Pulminary Disease: The Effects of Stigma and Gender. The Proceedings of the American Thoracic Society. Retrieved August 1, 2011 from: http://pats. atsjournals. org/cgi/content/full/4/8/680#otherarticles The N ational Center for Biotechnology Information Web site provides information on COPD http://www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001153/

Analysis of Mental Illness via Girl, Interrupted (1999)

Analysis of Mental Illness via Girl, Interrupted (1999) GIRL, INTERRUPTED 1 Introduction In the movie, Susanna (Winona Ryder) is diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. Susanna bonds with a few different patients, including Lisa (Angelina Jolie) with sociopathic personality disorder, Daisy; Bulimia, Georgina; pathological liar and Janet as Anorexic. Susanna starts to work harder with her specialist (Vanessa Redgrave) and the medical attendant on the ward (Whoopi Goldberg). Girl, Interrupted was focused around the collection of memoirs of Susanna Kaysen, who truly did put in eighteen months a Psychiatric Hospital (Mangold,1999). DSM V Diagnosis Criteria (a) Distraught endeavors to stay away from genuine or envisioned relinquishment,(b) An example of temperamental and extraordinary interpersonal connections portrayed by exchanging between extremes of admiration and cheapening, (c ) Personality aggravations: especially and diligently instable mental self view or feeling of self,(d) Impulsivity in no less than two zones that are pos sibly self harming,(e) Repetitive self-destructive conduct, signals, or dangers or self ruining conduct,(f) Full of feeling flimsiness because of a stamped reactivity of mind-set,(g)Chronic sentiments of vacancy,(h)Inappropriate, serious outrage or trouble controlling annoyance, and (i)Transparent, anxiety related jumpy ideation or serious dissociative indications (American Psychiatric Association,2013). The first criteria for BPD in Girl, Interrupted, was having self-destructive contemplations and doing things to help a conceivable suicide by endeavoring what Susanna called an â€Å"impotent endeavor† to murder herself by taking a dose of aspirin with vodka. At the point when the attendant attempted to hold her she says to be watchful in light of the fact that she has no bones in her grasp. Later on, the advisor asks her the means by which she got the container of Aspirin in the event that she had no bones in her grasp, she reacts saying â€Å"then they’d return (Man gold, 1999). The second criterion was incurring damage on the body by cutting or wounding. After she endeavored suicide, she was hurried to the crisis room, and the cam point changed from everyone wildly moving around to help to her wrists. She had wounds everywhere on her wrists and she continued telling the specialists she didn’t have any bones in her grasp (Mangold, 1999). The third criterion was Susanna’s endeavors to stay in the connections to abstain from feeling relinquished. At the center of the film, she has a flashback of the illicit relationship she had with one of the instructors and with a fellow that she met after her secondary school graduation. In both cases, she was having hazardous sex and staying in the connections with the goal that she felt needed and cherished, and not dismisses (Mangold, 1999). The fourth criteria was filling the void that was generally felt by doing something she knew wasn’t correct yet provided for her rush. Susanna felt as though nothing was going how she needed it and she was the main individual feeling that way. In the film, Susanna and Lisa, a young lady in the organization, chose to escape the foundation and go on an excursion to visit an alternate young lady that had been there with them, Polly. Both of them knew they could cause harm, yet the proceeded at any rate (Mangold, 1999).

LGBT Lifestyle and the Issuses Faced Today Research Paper

LGBT Lifestyle and the Issuses Faced Today - Research Paper Example In today’s world, fornication is not a crime and one can live the way they want without any judgment. This brings major questions as to why it been easier for the people to change in other matters that affect our lives such as stoning people to death yet it is so hard for us to accept that some people are born different to love the people of the same sex. Do the LGBT have the same rights as other people? Or are there some rights that are not given to the LGBT? Characterized by a lot of disguise and dangerous activities, the LGBT lifestyle is one of the major challenges that the gay community face today. Being accepted by the society is a major challenge; it is very hard for gay people to openly introduce themselves to the members of the society due to the prejudice that is associated with their lifestyle. It is a well known fact that many parents have publicly disowned their children due to their sexual orientation. It is therefore hard for the gay people to public express the ir love life as they risk sabotaging their life. It is for this reason that they usually hide themselves so that no one can know about them. Acceptance is therefore a major issue. In the movie rent, Maureen and her lover Joanne as well as Collins and Angel are both HIV positive and live a very difficult and dangerous lifestyle. As one watches the movie, the first impression that they get is that people who are gay are associated with drugs and diseases (Rent, 2005). This is very discriminatory since there are various respectable members of the society who are gay and whose sexual orientations do not stop them from performing their duties. This movie is therefore discriminatory on the gay people. Most of the people in our world today believe that being gay is associated with dirt, discrimination and drugs. It is for this reason that many people do not want to come out and say that they are gay. However if we are able to create a society that is non discriminatory of one’s sexu al orientation, and that can judge people not based on their sexual preference rather by the content of their brains then we would have done a lot of justice to the gay community (Rent, 2005). Marriage and child adoption by gay parent is another major challenge in the lives of the LGBT. Whereas it is common and legal for the heterosexual to marry and have children of their own, for centuries it has always been illegal for people of the same sex to get married and share their lives together. There is no natural law that dictates that only people of the opposite sex can marry; rather each and everyone can marry whoever they want. It is a well known fact that in some countries declaring that one is gay can be fatal in some instances. For example, the South African public burnt gay couples in early 2006 saying that they were a disgrace to the society. In the Middle East, it is also a well known fact that declaration that one is gay can be a life sentence (Alsenas, 2008). What do we have to do as a society to ensure that even the gay people have justice and that they are able to practice their fundamental human rights? Since gay couples are not able to have their own children, adoption is the only alternative left for them to have children. However, most states do not give these couples the right to adopt as other couples do. It is therefore hard for these parents to express their love to a child or even extend a helping hand to a child in need. There are lots of orphaned children as well as

The Family of Average Socio-Class Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Family of Average Socio-Class - Assignment Example He is not the only child and has one sister and two brothers.   He goes to a school within the metropolis where he neither has sufficient friends nor performs substantially in class. His colleagues cannot easily understand him; he leaves the school immediately after the children are let free and do not entertain any friendship. Brian keeps to himself, this illustrates that he is a depressed child contrary to his upbringing. The only person who interests him is Sophia. She is a humble girl, just as Brian. Two men dressed in black immediately jump out of the car that has its engine running and they gang his mother. They shove her ruthlessly into the trunk of the van; the street is full of people. Brian believes that at least anybody could have seen what had just taken place; unfortunately, no one comes for help. He is left alone and proceeds home in anticipation of telling his father what had just happened only to arrive and find no one there. After a few days, they are able to have their mother back with the help of the FBI. Brian and Sophia grow up together. Their friendship ends up being loved and people make fun of their childhood love. However, they are hardly intimidated by such talks. They end up joining the same college. Brian and Sophia planned for months about their wedding. Although they have been high school sweethearts and had been together for years, their excitement about their relationship never faded. All classmates knew that their love was genuine. Sophia’s parents were well up than those of Brian; they bought her a vehicle as a birthday present. Every morning, she would go picking the love of his life as they head to school. Weekends were their best moments; they went out for ice cream and have time to nurture their love and marriage. It seemed like a dream if not a joke, as the classmates’ gossiped saying that this was stupid of you.  

Titanium Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Titanium - Research Paper Example It can exist in 3 separate forms in nature and numerous alloys have been formed with other metals which only serve to increase its uses. One area where titanium has been found to be of utmost importance is in the medical industry. Medical implants with titanium or titanium alloys incorporated in them have been developed and made use of in the past few decades. This paper will examine the use of titanium in medical implants and its properties that contribute to this success, in particular its property of being non corrosive. 2. General properties of titanium Titanium is a transition metal which is found in the earth’s crust (Balazic et al, 2007). It is the fourth most abundant metal on earth and is found all over the world in volcanic and alluvial deposits. While ores such as rutile and ilmeinite are plentiful, titanium reacts with nitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen and is not easy to extract from its ore (Brunette et al, 2001). Extraction involves very expensive methods and a mere 5% of pure titanium is extracted from an ore usually (Brunette et al, 2001). The density of titanium is about half of that of steel though it is as strong as steel (Balazic et al, 2007). ... Metals commonly used to make stable the alpha form include aluminum, tin and oxygen. The beta form can be stabilized using metals like chromium, iron or vanadium. Using mixtures of both of these stabilizers leads to the production of alpha+beta titanium alloys (Brunette et al, 2001). 3. Uses of titanium Titanium has uses in many different fields including aerospace, power generation, automotive, chemical and petrochemical, sporting goods, dental and medical applications (Rack and Qaz, 2006; Sibum, 2003; Wang, 1996 from Balazic et al, 2007). The commercial aspects of titanium were only exploited in the 1940s (Balazic et al, 2007). Starting in the 1960s, titanium was used as a material in medical implants (Balazic et al, 2007). Now, over a 1000 tonnes or 2.2 million pounds of titanium are used in implants all over the world every year (The Titanium Information Group, 2003). Titanium alloys have also been used in the medical industry and there are three main types of alloys which have b een developed: alpha titanium alloys, beta titanium alloys and alpha+beta titanium alloys (Balazic et al, 2007). Of these, it is primarily beta alloys that are used in medical applications (Brunette et al, 2001) Some of the most common alloys that have been used include Titanium-Aluminum-Vanadium and Nickel-Titanium (Nitinol) (Balazic et al, 2007). Some of the main uses in implants are for bone or joint replacements, dental implants, maxillofacial and craniofacial uses, cardiovascular devices and external prostheses (The Titanium Information Group, 2003). It has also been used in medical fasteners and fixation devices (Brunette et al, 2001). 4. Desirable

Food and water supplies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Food and water supplies - Essay Example 20th century saw food economy going global and there came an immediate requirement for food security2. Cambodia's land resources are not enough for considerable food production. In addition, the country is facing persistently unfortunate landmines, wars, floods and the displaced people are yet to be rehabilitated. Royal Government of Cambodia is not highly enthusiastic about their resettlement or about the proper distribution. But it has doubled its efforts in increasing the food production to feed its rural masses, which is its urgent need. 1. Rice production has to be encouraged, assisted and increased on top priority. Legumes, vegetables and other profitable crops with nutritional and income value should be grown with as much assistance as possible from central and local governments. 3. Increasing fish resources in lakes, rivers, open-water bodies, and by pond culture, rice-fish culture in scientific and participatory management way maintaining ecological integrity is another method. Making more land available for food production, monitoring its use and increasing food production in every possible means, seems to be the best way of targeting this problem, mainly because, live stock and fisheries could bring an additional income; but never could take the place of major food substitute.

Old to New, how will older ports Compete with new and larger Essay

Old to New, how will older ports Compete with new and larger Structures - Essay Example This paper will look at the measures that old ports can take to ensure that they are able to compete with new and more modern ports. Older ports should invest in equipment that will enable them to compete effectively with newer ports. Equipment used at ports determines the speed at which ports are able to operate and clear goods. Older ports should invest in equipment that will ensure that goods are cleared within the shortest time possible. This will enable the ports to operate efficiently and effectively (Gubbins 2003). For example, some of the old ports had no cranes as containers were rarely used for transportation in the olden days. These ports can ensure that they install such equipment that will make sure that goods at the port are handled effectively and with maximum care. It is important that old ports have the latest technology used in handling goods at the port. This will help them be able to effectively compete with newer ports. Newer ports have installed the latest technology that can be used to handle containers at ports. Older ports should follow suit and ensure that are able to purchase and install the latest technology used in handling goods at ports. Technology will enable them to be able to clear goods in record time. This will be advantageous to the older ports due to the fact that they do not have enough space to store goods for a long period of time unlike newer ports. Technology will also ensure that human labor is only used where it is needed. Ports should be able to have machines that are controlled by humans. Humans should not be employed to do tedious work in the ports. This will slow down the process of clearing goods and services and as a result, the port might come to a standstill as there is no enough space to store the containe rs. Older ports can enter into business partnerships that are mutually

Managing Risk with Derivatives Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Managing Risk with Derivatives - Essay Example This paper attempts to discuss derivatives as a tool for financial risk management and its effectiveness in business risk management. In the finance literature, hedge refers to a technique in which an investment is made in certain securities to reduce or eliminate the risk of loss resulting from the fluctuations in the price of another security by taking two offset positions in the related security. Hedging is defined as a risk management strategy designed to offset risk of loss causing from fluctuations in the prices of commodities, currencies or securities ( LiPuma, 2004). Hedging helps to transfer the various risks without the need of buying any insurance policies. Hedging was commonly used in the commodities market by the traders to reduce the risk of loss caused by fluctuations in the price of a commodity. It was used by the trader to buy as well as sell the equal quantities of the same commodities in two different markets at same time with the expectation that a change in price in future in one market will help to offset by an opposite change in the other market. But now hedging could also be used in the sec urities and foreign exchange market. Source: One of the instrument or tool used to hedge risk is derivatives. ... Derivatives refer to the financial contracts or instruments that derive their value from the underlying asset like stocks, equity, bonds, commodities etc. Nowadays derivatives are also used by the investors and institutional borrowers. The people who use derivatives as a way of managing risk are called hedgers. The derivative instruments used for hedging purposes include forwards, futures, options, swaps and combination on these (hybrid). Derivatives are becoming increasingly important in international markets as a tool for risk management. Derivatives help lot to the corporate clients to separate their risks and transfer them to those who are ready to bear their risks. In addition to these derivatives are the cheapest and convenient means of hedging because in derivatives there is no actual delivery of underlying assets only the profit or loss on the derivative contract is adjusted. Moreover all the derivative instruments are very simple to operate without any tedious process in it. They can also be used by the companies to hedge their long tern risks (i.e., 10-15 year risk), which enable the companies to focus more on management decisions other than funding decisions. Further all derivative instruments are low cost products and offer high liquidity to the companies. Due to these reasons derivatives have become one of the essential tool for the companies to hedge their complex exposures and volatilities that they hav e to face in the financial markets today. However it is seen that the derivative instruments in recent times have come under general scrutiny because of its misuse made by the companies in managing the financial risks. Hence depending upon how it is used the derivatives can be both advantageous

CASE STUDY PHASE 3 - FINAL PHASE Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

PHASE 3 - FINAL PHASE - Case Study Example Risk mitigation strategies are divided into four: Risk Acceptance, Risk Avoidance, Risk Limitation and Risk Transference. This is a kind of strategy where the owner of the Apple decides to accept that they are working under some risks and decided to live with it without doing anything. Accepting risks will not see to it that the negative impacts associated with the risks are reduced or eliminated completely. Risk acceptance strategy is usually a common option of choice when the calculated cost avoidance and/ or limitation as other strategies are deemed to be more than the cost of risk. Risks that don’t tend to happen frequently are always preferred to be accepted rather than being reduced or eliminated (Mark, Galai, & Clouhy, 2005). Apples outsourcing operation can therefore be only accepted since the cost of manufacturing these parts by itself, is much more expensive than the risk that accompanies it. The risks that are associated with the disruption of the other companies that Apple deals with also have a low likelihood of occurring. This is a strategy that sees to it that risk exposure is avoided at all costs. It is opposite to risk acceptance. In terms of cost of implementation, it is expensive than all the other three strategies of risk mitigation (Mark, Galai, & Clouhy, 2005). For the Apple scenario, an example can be Apple decides to manufacture its products so as to see to it that their fate does not rely on the functionality of other companies. This will be expensive in nature since it will mean that Apple will have to expand its size and bring more specialists in. Using this strategy will mean that Apple stops outsourcing for services and therefore come up with its own human capital which will be more expensive. The budget of apple will therefore shoot sky high but the risks related to reliance on other companies will have been avoided. Most businesses prefer the risk limitation strategy compared to other strategies

Marketing Research on Reynolds Pen Essay Example for Free

Marketing Research on Reynolds Pen Essay We are deeply indebted to Ms. Malvika Mago for her constant support guidance and inspiration in completion of the program and preparation of this document. Our sincere thanks for giving me invaluable suggestion. We are also grateful to other employee of reynolds pen for their encouragement and help. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to reynolds for giving us an opportunity to complete our project. last but not the least; we would like to thank our parents and friends for their moral support throughout the project. Pens introduced to India, international quality writing instruments, and marketed them under the brand name Reynolds. It was also he first company to build a brand in a category that behaved more like a commodity till then. Over the last 20 years, G. M. Pens has invested substantially in building a large manufacturing base with facilities in Chennai and Pondicherry. A state of the art RD facility, one of the most sophisticated in the Reynolds family worldwide, has ensured that the latest in writing technology is available to the Indian consumers. G. M. Pens offers the widest range of writing instruments and accessories in the Indian market. A variety of writing instruments including ball pens, gel pens, fountain ens, mechanical pencils, markers, handy boards and childrens colouring pens that cater to consumers from the age group of six to sixty are marketed under the brand name Reynolds. A continuous focus on consistent quality and a constant endeavour to provide quality products at affordable prices have ensured that Reynolds has been the numero uno in the Indian writing instruments market. A substantial investment has also been made in establishing the Reynolds brand name through the mass media, especially through television and press ads, in an effort to convert the category from a commodity to a brand dominated one. The companys products are available in three hundred thousand retail outlets across India covered through a network consisting of 1800 redistribution stockiest and 27 main stockiest. This is facilitated by a sales and marketing team of over 300 professionals. Established in 1927 at la Ferte-Milon in France, Reynolds has over the past eight decades been a leader in writing instruments in Europe and the rest of the world. In 1946, the headquarters and factory were shifted to Valence, in the south of France. The company is headquartered at Valence till date. With 450 employees, Reynolds, France has a daily production of 4 million writing instruments. Of this, exports account for 50% of sales. It has a worldwide market presence in 80 countries around the globe. Reynolds has 12 of its own manufacturing units established in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The year 1999 was a landmark year in the history of Reynolds. Since then it has been a member company of Sanford Corporation, USA. Sanford is a US $ 1. 2 billion company. Sanford is in turn the writing instruments division of the US $ 7 billion Newell Rubbermaid group. Sanford has the broadest range of writing, arking, coloring and drawing products worldwide.The main objective of our project is to know why the sales of Reynolds pen have declined so drastically and what are the reasons behind this . To know reasons behind this we did exploratory research to know- Why the consumers have switched to other company products. What is the defect in product. 0 Assess the current market share of Reynolds pen. 0 Is there any problem in design of pen. 0 Is there any problem in creating awareness about product The factors which are affecting our research design are Qualitative and Quantitative actors. To know this we will conduct Qualitative research first because we want to know why the sales of Reynolds pen has been declining and secondly we will conduct Quantitative research to know what are the reasons behind this. The type of research used for our study was an exploratory research, as the objective of the research was to have in depth understanding what are the reasons why the sales of Reynolds pen has been declining continuously . We have started our research. However we covered a specific list of topics and sub areas. This was done in the form of close ended question, where the timing, exact wording and time allocated to each question area was left at the interviewers. Since the research was qualitative as well as quantitative more emphasis has to be given while collecting data. Discretion open structure ensured that inspected facts or data could peruse easily. Mode of Interviewing: In research we have done face to face interview Sampling:- It consists of primary data and secondary data. Primary data was collected by applying probability. Under Non-probability we will use Convenience Sampling because we have to collect data from college going students . Where as secondary data was obtained by seeing past sales records of Reynolds pen, magazines, newspapers and by various other methods. Sample size:- We have selected sample of 100 college going students . We have kept our sample size small so that we may collect data accurately with precession. If we would have elected large sample size it would have become difficult for us to collect data.

Investigate their human resources, administration, finance and sales Essay Example for Free

Investigate their human resources, administration, finance and sales Essay Marks and Spencers have many different store departments but also have many different departments of their business, its functional areas. I am going to look at and investigate their human resources, administration, finance and sales and marketing departments to then see how each contributes to the running of Marks and Spencers. Human Resources: The human resources department aims to carry out 5 major things, these being: 1. Recruiting, keeping and dismissing employees. This is a major task for MS as they need the right type of employees for the business to operate its best, also the employees shall decide the businesses success present and future. Recruiting new employees could be hiring new people from outside the business or promoting workers already working in the business. Many businesses such as MS like recruiting from outside the business to bring new ideas and enthusiasm. MS would want to keep all their existing employees as they would risk losing experienced and trained staff, plus recruiting new workers and training them can prove to be expensive. Sometimes MS would have to dismiss or sack employees, this may be due if an employee cannot carry out their job efficiently or effectively. Also many employees are dismissed or made redundant, as their jobs no longer exist, say the fall in a particular product could lead to the dismissal of many staff. Read more:Â  Human Resource Management Essay 2. Monitoring and providing good working conditions. Working conditions includes; the cleanliness of a place, the provision of rest areas, hours of work and holidays. Working conditions have a great impact on how well a business operates and how well employees can carry out their work. They are normally a subject for negotiation between trade unions and human resources. MS have an area for staff to relax and spend their breaks in. The whole store would be regularly cleaned every day for both the workers and customers. 3. Training, developing and promoting employees. Human resources need their staff to be able to ensure that employees are able to do their jobs, they may give training at MS or through course at local colleges, planning jobs so that employees enjoy new experiences and develop new skills also promoting employees to more senior positions to give the business the skills and experience it needs. 4. Negotiating with trade unions. The human resources department of MS would have to discuss and agree pay and working conditions with trade unions or other representatives of the workforce. This process is called collective bargaining. 5. Health and safety is an important responsibility for human resources, as it requires MS to provide all employees with a secure risk free working environment. That is what the human resources function of MS had to ensure is carried out. Here are some typical job titles within an organisation such as MS. Job title Description Human resources director Deciding the overall staffing policies of Boots. Also he/she advise senior management. Setting the human resources budget. In charge of all human resource functions in Boots. Human resources manager He/she manages the human resources department and staff involved with industrial relations and trade union negotiations, also ensuring his/he staff is following the policies of Boots. Recruitment officer Responsible for the taking on of staff and section of staff, depending on their standard of work they offer to Boots and the customers of Boots. Training/staff development officer He/she are responsible for training and developing of their staff to bring or take them to a higher level. Personnel/staffing officer Keeping staff records, monitoring staff welfare. Health and safety officer He/she makes sure all aspects of health and safety are in order for staff matters. Also they monitor accident and prevention. Security officer General security, responsible for all security staff. Human resources administrative assistants Administrative work relating to the human resource function. Finance: Now I am going to look at the finance function of MS. The finance department of a business manages the money for the business. The department controls the financial transactions of a business and help managers to plan for the future. The various activities of the finance department are: 1. Recording all the financial matters of MS as they are constantly spending money or receiving it from sales. It is vital that they keep all records of all the activities in order to, calculate whether the business is being profitable, asses how much tax the business will have to pay and to help managers to make the right decisions. 2. All businesses have to prepare their accounts in order to summarise their financial affairs during a year, plcs are required to publish their results legally as they are a public company such as MS. They have to do the following; the balance sheet which states both what a businesses aims and its debts, profit and loss account- which records the profit or loss made during a lengthy period of time usually a year, the inland revenue have to confirm that MS has paid the correct amount of tax, suppliers are able to see whether business can pay its debts and finally shareholders can decide whether its worth investing in the business or not. 3. MS have to pay the wages of all their employees and it involves the finance department in a number of ways. The business has to deduct income tax and national insurance from each employees pay, it may be required to operate a pension scheme for its more elderly employees and to make sure the correct amount of wages or salaries has been given out to employees. 4. All businesses need some resources and capital to trade successfully. To purchase these resources businesses may need to raise large sums of money, known as capital, but not MS as they are already fully developed and expanding across the globe. But nevertheless a business has 2 main sources of capital; a loan raised by borrowing money from a bank or another business and retained profits, if MS has been very profitable they may be able to invest in the business and obtain resources they may need. Some typical job roles in the finance function in MS would include; Job Description Financial director Giving advice to senior managers on the overall financial policy of MS. Overseeing the budget of MS. In charge of all finance function in MS. Financial Manager Managing the finance function and staff. He/she also advises other members of staff with any financial queries. Chief Accountant He/She ensures that final preparation of accounts MS are in good and correct order. Management accountant He/She produces continuous financial information to MS. Credit Controller Advising on credit policies. Making sure money owing to MS kept in confidence. Credit control clerks Helps check accounts of new and existing customers accounts. He/She works below the Credit Controller but assist the credit controller. They also remind customers of overdue payments Chief Cashier He/She is responsible for the receipt, safe keeping accounting and banking all money received from boots. Payroll Administrator He/She is in control of ensuring that all of MS employees payroll and salary/wages section. Wages Clerks He/She helps and assists the payroll administrator, in the production of wages ands salary details. Administration: The administration department provides important support services to other departments in the business. Not all admin departments in all businesses are the same. In small businesses the admin department may take responsibility for human resources or finance, but in a large organisation such as MS it is usually most likely to be specialised. The admin department makes considerable use of computers and IT as it is required for a lot of their jobs. There are as always many activities for the administration department; they can be broken down into 5 groups: 1. Clerical services are the main role of every admin department. The department may provide clerical services to all other departments within the business. These maybe; word-processing, making telephone calls, booking accommodation for staff, sorting and delivering incoming mail and posting outgoing mail, organising meetings and keeping records of what takes place at these meetings, talking responsibly on behalf of the whole company and creating and keeping records of the company. 2. All businesses require regular cleaning MS is no exception as it is especially true as MS have cafes, which require thorough cleanliness. Admin also organises the maintenance of the building, they may decorate the inside and outside of the building if they wish. 3. Health and safety is a big issue with all businesses. It includes; providing safety clothing, warnings for workers, ensuring that there are no dangers around the workplace and providing regular medical checks for those working in risky environments. 4. Security is an increasingly important issue for all businesses, security duties would include; signing visitors in and out of premises, ensuring that unauthorised people are kept out by use of patrols or even guard dogs, protecting computer systems from hackers, patrolling to prevent shoplifting by employing guards in uniform. 5. Information technology is being more widely used by the minute, nearly all businesses use some form of IT nowadays. The admin department may use IT to; make spreadsheet for financial data, a database of customers and employees, payroll systems to calculate employees wages and salaries, e mail for communicating internal and external, web based systems, web sites for selling goods etc. Typical job roles of the administration function would be: Job Description Administration manager Managing the administration operations of MS. Administration assistant Assists with administrative tasks in particular areas. Secretary of Boots A senior executive responsible for all the legal affairs of MS. It manager Managing all IT requirements of MS, including equipment maintenance and advising on future needs. Office manager/senior administrator Responsible for ensuring the administrating operations in particular office or department. Chief security officer He/she is responsible for the security staff and advising on security requirements. Security Responsible for maintaining and monitoring security to the required standard. Reprographics supervisor (photo coping and printing) Ensuring all reprographics are done and to a high standard, as it reflects on Boots reputation from the quality of leaflets and formal letters etc. Pa / Secretarial staff These staff are mainly there to providing secretarial and administrative support to senior members of staff and Word processing operator/Data input clerk (worker) He/she type out letters and any other documents and also input data into a computer system. Maintenance of Staff He/she is responsible for routine maintenance work, which may include painting or decorating. Cleaning Staff Cleaning of general office areas, facilities and equipment Marketing and Sales: Marketing and sales involve businesses in many ways. Marketing is the process that helps all businesses to discover and meet the needs of customers. Doing market research, carrying it out in the local and wider community enables the business to discover: 1 Customer reactions to existing products 2 What new goods and services customers want 3 Whether or not new products will prove to be popular 4 The prices customers are prepared to pay for goods 5 How satisfied customers already are with the service Marks and Spencers therefore do the following; discover customer needs through market research, advise customers of products through promotion then achieve their sales. There are 2 types of research that can be carried out, Primary- gathering data for the 1st time by asking for views and opinions through questionnaires, interviews, surveys etc and Secondary research which is research that has already been done by someone else such as newspapers web site etc. The best-known marketing activity is promotion. 1 Advertising on TV, radio, internet, billboards, newspapers etc 2 Sales promotions, giving free samples like buy 1 get 1 free etc 3 Public relations, attempting to influence the publics opinions of the business and its products through sponsorship, trade fairs the press and media Businesses try to achieve their sales through a number of ways: 1 Selling products through shops 2 Personal selling such as when sales reps encourage customers to buy their products 3 Internet selling is an increasingly important sales method as it is spreading and growing bigger The typical job roles you can expect are: Typical job Title Job Role Marketing Director Responsible for over all marketing function and its aims and objectives. Sales Director He/She is responsible for the sales function. Sales Manager He/she is responsible for MS entire sales staff and achievement of sales targets usually within the UK. Export Manager This individual is responsible for agents and sales overseas. Advertising Manager In charge of advertising and publishing successful advertising campaigns. Sales Coordinator This person is responsible for giving urgent information required by sales staffs that are travelling. Sales Representatives MS sales staff who visit customers in UK and abroad. Market Researchers This team is relied upon to find out what customers want and whether or not there is a need for this new product. Order Clerks This staffs are responsible to accept and process sales orders. Telephone Sales staff Accept and process telephone orders.

Nike and Brand Loyalty

Nike and Brand Loyalty Nike is a great company which does worldwide marketing of high quality footwear, apparel, equipment, and accessory products. It is the largest seller of athletic footwear and athletic apparel in the world. Nike has been successful in building a brand image with its performance. From the early days, Nike has learnt the consumers need by listening to the need of athletes, sharing their true passion for running. When it comes to the brand loyalty, which is the consumer preference to buy a certain brand. According to (Tuominen, 1992) brand loyalty is nothing but the regular purchase of the same brand over time. According to the research 55% of the respondents stated that they were purchasing the same brand for the past 15 years. Consumers trust the brand and become loyal to the particular brand. This shows the brand loyalty of the consumers towards Nike. The survey results exemplify the loyalty of the brand. Most of the respondents are loyal with the specific branded products. Since years of time they have been buying the same brand because that specific brand has satisfied the consumers needs and has gained the credence in the brand name. The study also annotates the consumer preferences to buy the particular branded products over years. Some of the respondents stated that they have been purchasing Nike because the standards of quality are very high and comfort levels are very high. The elementary reason which the respondents say for buying the same brands for a long time is the perceived quality (Kalra Murthi, 2008). Perceived product quality is perhaps one of the most important constructs in marketing (Cronin Taylor, 1992). Undoubtedly, the belief that if the perceived quality is high it leads to frequent purchases which is the substratum of any business. It can be analysed from the research that when the respondents were asked to rank the characteristics from 1 to 8 as 1 being the lowest and 8 being the highest, which led them to choose Nike instead of any other brand, 25% of the respondents have ranked 8 for the characteristic quality. And the some of the comments made by the respondents are like Even though Nike is very expensive it has good quality and variety, the best quality I have ever seen is Nike. Nike has a very good quality in every of its products which cannot be seen in other brands which makes me to buy them. I buy the Nike products because of the quality. Quality is very good when compared with other brands. 38% of the respondents stated that Nike delivers the best quality when compared to other brands. This shows how consumers are associated with Nike in terms of quality. The brand association creates a positive attitude and feeling that makes a connection of the customer with the brand, especially when it comes to decision making. Marketers try to position their brands so that they are perceived by consumer to fit a distinctive niche in the marketplace a niche occupied by no other  product (Schiffman and Kanuk, 1994). Brand association is anything which is deep seated in customers mind about the brand. Brand associations are the attributes of brand which come into consumers mind when the brand is talked about. One of the respondent said that Nike has some uniqueness in it which makes me to purchase the products. Many of the consumers are associated with the Nike brand because of its variety, quality and its success. Even though brand association is formed on basis of the price at which the products (Aaker, 1991) are sold 3 to 4 respondents stated that even though Nike products are very expensive we purchase them for the quality and variety it has. Brand name plays an important role in the product sales and affects the consumers choice in selecting the products. The consumer is ready to pay excessive price if the brand name is paramount because they believe in the brand name (Marjit et al, 2007). During the survey 58% of the respondents replied that they consider the brand name when they go for shopping or when purchasing a product. The main reason for considering the brand name is that it provides the confidence and consumers feel more comfortable when they purchase the branded products in which they trust. Some brands are created in order to give consumers more experience than other brands. The most effective brand steals the consumers attention (Daryi, 2000). The results from the research illustrate the experience of the customer in buying the Nike brand. Generally consumers think of their past experience before purchasing the products. If they are satisfied with the product they will prefer to continue the purchase of same branded products. 55% of the respondents stated that they are purchasing the Nike brand for the past 15 years which shows their experience in purchasing the brand and 58% of the people are extremely satisfied with the quality of the Nike brand. If a consumers has a positive experience with the brand, it will help in developing the consumers trust in the company brand and will also have them as a loyal consumers. The results describe that the Nike brand have a strong space in consumers mind in terms of quality and uniqueness. It also shows that the consumers experie nce shows high consequence in their choice and buying decision. Brand awareness plays a vital role in consumers decision making process. Hoyer Brown (1990) say that people normally think to buy the brands they are familiar with and the brands on which they have confidence. 58% of the respondents stated that they choose the branded products because they are well associated with it and have good opinion on the particular branded products they buy. A brand to become successful, pricing strategy plays a vital role. Generally consumers compare one brand with the other with respect to price and quality. Daryi, 2000 says that if the price of product of their choice is more than the other branded product, consumers normally prefer the product which has lower price in the market. 6% of the respondents said that price is the factor which led them to choose Nike instead of any other brands. Due to the cost factor sometimes consumers may switch to other brands which replace the product which they need. Two of the respondents stated that even though the prices of Nike are very high when compared to other brands we purchase products of Nike because of the quality and varieties they offer. Further the results from the research shows that if the prices of the Nike products are little reduced there will be an increase in sales. This shows that the pricing strategy is very important for a company to survive in the market. By studying the customer behaviour, firms and organizations can be benefited by understanding some points like how consumers think, feel and decide to purchase which product to buy between lots of alternatives like brand and products available in the market, the factors which influence their buying decision. Consumer behaviour involves how the customers use the product as well as how they purchase the product. The overall study tells that the consumer behaviour is based on many factors like their buying behaviour, knowledge about the brand and some environmental factors like family, culture etc. During the research many things were observed regarding the consumer behaviour like frequency of purchase, their favourite brand, whether they consider brand into consideration when they purchase any product and how satisfied they are with the Nike product. It was observed that 29% of the respondents go for shopping once in a month and 28% of the respondents go twice in a month for shopping which depends upon their needs and their individual lifestyle. There was none of the respondents who said we never go for shopping and 10% of the consumers shop once in a year. Different consumers have different kinds of buying behaviour according to their needs and lifestyles. Only 13% of the respondents said that they dont buy the Nike products at all and 83% of the respondents stated that they purchase the Nike branded products. And the people who own the Nike items dont buy them frequently. Some of them buy once in a year and some of them once in a month. Some of them consider the quality, some of them design and some of them consider price which depends upon the mind-set of the individual. If marketers analyse the factors like price, quality, variety and brand name; they can influence purchase behaviour of a consumer.

Solicitors in the 19th Century Essays -- Solicitor

The Middle Man: Solicitors in the 19 th Century â€Å"I have been, Eugene, upon the honourable roll of solicitors of the High Court of Chancery, and attorneys at Common Law . . .† --Charles Dickens, Our Mutual Friend The Profession * There were two branches of the legal profession - barristers, and attorneys and solicitors. Solicitors usually dealt with landed estates and attorneys advised parties in lawsuits. The two roles combined and the name â€Å"solicitor† was adopted (The Law Society). The attorney or solicitor was the general legal adviser and attended to all the paperwork and collected the evidence. He dealt with legal matters on behalf of his client such as the drawing up of wills, trust instruments, marriage contracts, and conveyances of land (Eurolegal Services). In Society * Beginning in the 19th century, the bar became a referral profession; members of the bar did not deal directly with members of the public but took their instructions only from solicitors (Eurolegal Services). * C. W. Brooks suggests that the â€Å"lower branch† (legal professions be...

Speaking From Within: A Discussion on Our Innate Ability to Learn Languages :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Speaking From Within: A Discussion on Our Innate Ability to Learn Languages For years since I moved to the United States after the age of nine, I've always been frustrated at the lack of improvement in my ability to speak English without a trace of foreign accent and my ability to write without any grammatical errors. It always seemed to me that learning languages is unlike learning anything else, I can logically understand the pronunciation of the a word or the rules of grammar, but for reasons unknown, I always found it hard to incorporate logical knowledge of language into the actual speaking and writing of English. I started to surf the web in attempt to find the reasons to why, even after spending more than half of my life in the U.S, I still cannot speak and write as well as people who were born or came here at a much younger age. At first I though the answer would be something to the extend of finding a region of the brain that is specialized for the learning of languages and that region is more developed in people other than I, who are good at linguistics. However, it turned out that the answer entails more than specialized regions in the brain, while there are regions in the brain that are specific for processing languages, what I found more interesting is that there is much evidence that supports the selectivist theory, found by Noam Chomsky that the ability to learn language is innate. Here innate means that  ¡Ã‚ °the language template is pre-organized in the neuronal structure of the brain, so that the fact of being an integral part of a given environment selects the borders of each individual neuronal structure without affecting its fine organization, which pre-exists. ¡Ã‚ ± (1) In this paper, I wish to point out evidence that supports this theory of the innateness of language, and to exam how the l anguage template develops. In conclusion, I wish to gain a better understand of my own language learning process in light of these new findings. One evidence that points to the innateness of language is the accuracy and speed at which humans process language and the accelerating rate at which children acquire language.  ¡Ã‚ °Ã‚ ¡Ã‚ ­ the average speaker produces approximately 150 words per minute, each word chosen from somewhere between 20000 and 40000 alternatives, at error rates below .1%. The average child is already well on her way toward that remarkable level of performance by 5 years of age, with a vocabulary of more than 6000 words and productive control over almost every aspect of sound and grammar in her language. Speaking From Within: A Discussion on Our Innate Ability to Learn Languages :: Biology Essays Research Papers Speaking From Within: A Discussion on Our Innate Ability to Learn Languages For years since I moved to the United States after the age of nine, I've always been frustrated at the lack of improvement in my ability to speak English without a trace of foreign accent and my ability to write without any grammatical errors. It always seemed to me that learning languages is unlike learning anything else, I can logically understand the pronunciation of the a word or the rules of grammar, but for reasons unknown, I always found it hard to incorporate logical knowledge of language into the actual speaking and writing of English. I started to surf the web in attempt to find the reasons to why, even after spending more than half of my life in the U.S, I still cannot speak and write as well as people who were born or came here at a much younger age. At first I though the answer would be something to the extend of finding a region of the brain that is specialized for the learning of languages and that region is more developed in people other than I, who are good at linguistics. However, it turned out that the answer entails more than specialized regions in the brain, while there are regions in the brain that are specific for processing languages, what I found more interesting is that there is much evidence that supports the selectivist theory, found by Noam Chomsky that the ability to learn language is innate. Here innate means that  ¡Ã‚ °the language template is pre-organized in the neuronal structure of the brain, so that the fact of being an integral part of a given environment selects the borders of each individual neuronal structure without affecting its fine organization, which pre-exists. ¡Ã‚ ± (1) In this paper, I wish to point out evidence that supports this theory of the innateness of language, and to exam how the l anguage template develops. In conclusion, I wish to gain a better understand of my own language learning process in light of these new findings. One evidence that points to the innateness of language is the accuracy and speed at which humans process language and the accelerating rate at which children acquire language.  ¡Ã‚ °Ã‚ ¡Ã‚ ­ the average speaker produces approximately 150 words per minute, each word chosen from somewhere between 20000 and 40000 alternatives, at error rates below .1%. The average child is already well on her way toward that remarkable level of performance by 5 years of age, with a vocabulary of more than 6000 words and productive control over almost every aspect of sound and grammar in her language.

Refuge Camps :: essays research papers

â€Å"Refuge Camps†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There is a foreboding and ongoing crisis facing several third world countries today. This crisis is the rising amount of famine and health ailments that affect hundreds of thousands of individuals that face malnutrition, poverty, and several other serious problems that you will find in developing countries. Countless diseases plague today’s world and the people who are most vulnerable to these diseases are also the ones that need the most help. Despite the lack of funds and limited aid available to these people, there is hope. A group by the name of Doctors Without Borders is a non-profit organization that provides free health care in Refugee camps to the great amount of need and helpless individuals that populate our world. Doctors Without Borders (DWB) is comprised of fully qualified and credentialed medical doctors from around the world. They travel internationally educating broad audiences by offering seminars and lectures based on their goal and purpose. The organization is also composed of 2,000 volunteers who are enrolled and sent out annually throughout the world. The organization's main goal is to aid the several million refugees that reside in numerous developing countries. These refugees flee from their countries due to natural disasters, extreme poverty and persecution that infects their home countries. DWB helps these individuals by setting up camps and shelters where they can seek refuge. The camps that DWB setup provide everything needed for survival. They provide clean water and healthy food for all the refugees. Since water and food is limited at the camps, refugees are only provided with minimal supplies for survival. There is a medical station, where they provide all the necessary vaccines and treatments for most illnesses and diseases. The refugees are given identification cards, which they need to show in order to get food and water. The camps are well organized and all the members work together to provide an adequate living environment These are many dangerous diseases that infect third world countries and Refugee camps. Two of these are cholera and malaria. Cholera is a very dangerous disease that affects a lot of the refugees. Cholera is very contagious and about 50% of people infected with the bacteria die. In underdeveloped countries like Africa, diseases are everywhere. Most cholera deaths occur due to poor sanitation. In one incident, in Rwanda, there was an estimated 1000 deaths per day caused by cholera. If caught in time it can be cured.

A Historical Look at U.S. GAAP Essay

ABSTRACT This paper discusses the historical development of generally accepted accounting principles through its contributing sources from 1930 to the present. U.S. Businesses had been using double entry accounting since the 1800s yet no uniform accounting practices had been introduced until the American Institute of Accountants (AIA) recommended to the New York Stock Exchange in 1932, †¦Ã¢â‚¬ five broad principles of accounting which have won fairly general acceptance†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , (Zeff, 2005, para. 4). In which, the terms â€Å"fairly present† and â€Å"in accordance with† were first used followed up with â€Å"generally accepted accounting principles†. Later, a sixth principle was approved. These recommendations were based on the three assumptions that all business transactions were apart from the business owner, all transaction currencies measured in the US dollar, the assumption of time and the matching principle. Thus establishing a foundation of which all future accounting principles are based. The AIA formed the Committee on Accounting Procedures (CAP) to publish Accounting Research Bulletins (ARB) on GAAP under the authority of the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) created by the Securities Act of 1934. The CAP was later reorganized into the Accounting Principles Board (APB) that issued Opinions between 1959 and 1973. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has been the source for private sector generally accepted accounting principles since 1973. Input by the private sector has been crucial to the development of GAAP since 1930. Historically, GAAP is influenced by the business condition and public interest. The Great Depression left the public with little faith in the private sector. Although the knowledge and experience of businesses would be consulted for standards; businesses were not trusted to set and regulate accounting standards. A common practice in the 1920s was to adjust asset values upward to the highest market value arguably misleading investors prior to the 1929 crash (Zeff, 2005, para. 10). In response, CAP and the SEC strongly mandated historical cost accounting as the acceptable basis of reporting. Shortly after, the U.S. was brought into WWII directing the CAP’s focus to issues pertaining to war time accounting. In addition, the CAP addressed the issues of the exclusion of unrealized profit from income, the use of capital surplus to offset losses, and notes and accounts receivable from officers, employees, and affiliated companies. The most notable item during the CAP’s tenure summed up was its ARBs issued in response to congress’s decision permitting companies to use the LIFO inventory method. This was a rare instance that tax policy influenced GAAP and was initially directed to companies purchasing natural metals because the FIFO method was equated to higher income taxes due to the time lapse between the asset’s acquisition and sale (Zeff, 2005). The method was available to all industries in 1939. While CAP was praised for addressing questionable reporting practices prior to the crash; it was mostly labeled as weak by critics for failing to set a uniform accounting framework to mitigate comparability issues. At the advice of the AIA, now known as the AICPA, the Accounting Principles Board replaced the CAP. ARB 43 was quickly published to restate all Accounting Research Bulletins and eliminate any superseded ARBs. The research driven APB published 31 opinions. The first few answered reporting questions regarding the investment credit per the Revenue Act of 1962 allotting businesses a credit for a â€Å"†¦specified percentage of the cost of certain depreciable assets placed into service after 1961† (FASB, 1962, para.1). The board concluded that the credit may be recorded as an offset to net income over the asset’s life or as a reduction in acquisition cost during the period it occurred. This is important because it is a conceptual precursor to today’s section 179 and bonus depreciation credits of which most small and medium sized businesses depend on and consider when determining capital investments. All opinions regarding credits and other tax reporting issues were later superseded by the FASB’s statement number 109, Accounting for Income Tax. Many of the APB’s remaining opinions dealt with emerging issues brought about by the postindustrial economy. For instance, the board developed guidelines for intangible assets such as goodwill, the equity method of accounting for common stock, accounting for employee stock options, the reporting of extraordinary items in the income statement, and set the criteria to use pooling of interest or the purchase method in business combinations. The most controversial accomplishment of the APB was its 1970 publication Basic Concepts and Accounting Principles Underlying Financial Statements of Business Enterprises. The board’s issuance of this as a non-authoritative â€Å"standard† rather than opinion was met with negative criticism as it failed to commit to any conceptual framework solutions and reaffirmed the fundamental disagreement among members on this topic. The board was soon after dissolved and replaced by the FASB with new, independent members in 1973. Nearly all APB Opinions were superseded by FASB statements (FAS) at different points in time. The FASB remains the authoritative source for private sector accounting practices today. The Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 restated the FASB’s position in setting accounting standards. The FASB does not have the authority to enforce standards. The responsibility has always been with managers to prepare and file financial statements in accordance to GAAP with the SEC. Auditors, overseen by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), issue opinions on the conformity and accuracy of the financial statements. The role of auditors has become increasingly crucial in the post Enron era. The FASB remains committed to addressing any deficiencies in the reporting process and meeting regularly with the PCAOB and SEC to prevent future financial disasters. Probably the most serious issues to date addressed by the FASB resulted from the subprime mortgage crisis and the subsequent financial crisis of 2008. According to Leslie Seidman (2011), chairman of the FASB, high profile controversy relating to the determination of the fair value of assets and liabilities in an illiquid market prompted the issuance of FAS 157, Fair Value Measurements. Effective November 2007, the standard expanded disclosure for fair value measurements and included changes in fair value practice â€Å"†¦ for certain entities† (FASB, 2006, para. 1). The FAS 133 released in January 2008 provided new and additional guidance on derivatives and designated a team within the FASB to assist with statement implementation. The FASB works to â€Å"harmonize† the previously mentioned standards and all others with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Discussion of international accounting principles has occurred for decades and an International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) has existed since 1973. It was not until the 1990s when globalization motivated the FASB to deliberate a strategic plan for international activities. In 2002, the FASB and IASB started collaborating to â€Å"converge† US GAAP and International Accounting Standards. A memorandum of understanding was released by the two boards in 2006 and amended in 2008. In 2011, the FASB sent a letter to the IFRS Foundation Trustees describing its views on many key issues. The FASB continues to balance long term IASB projects with its work on issues relating to US GAAP. REFERENCES Financial Accounting Standards Board. (1962). APB 2: Accounting for the â€Å"Investment Credit†. Retrieved from http://www.fasb.org/cs/BlobServer?blobkey=id&blobwhere=1175820900137&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobcol=urldata&blobtable=MungoBlobs Financial Accounting Standards Board. (2006). Summary of Statement No. 157. Fair Value Measurements. Retrieved from http://www.fasb.org/summary/stsum157.shtml Financial Accounting Standards Board. (2012). International Convergence of Accounting Standards –Overview. IASB-FASB Update Report. Retrieved from http://www.fasb.org/jsp/FASB/Page/SectionPage&cid=1176156245663 Seidman, L.F. â€Å"The Role of the Accounting Profession in Preventing Another Financial Crisis.† U.S. Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment [Testimony]. FASB. April 6, 2011. Zeff, S. A. (2005). The Evolution of U.S. GAAP: The Political Forces behind Professional Standards. The CPA Joural, Retrieve d from http://www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/2005/105/infocus/p18.htm

Succession Planning

CASE STUDY ON epoch PLANNING AT RANBAXY Formation of the keep teleph sensationr Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited was started by Ranbir Singh and Gurbax Singh in 1937 as a distributor for a Nipp superstarse fellowship Shionogi. The name Ranbaxy is a faction of the names of its first owners Ranbir and Gurbax. Bhai Mohan Singh bought the bon ton in 1952 from his cousins Ranbir and Gurbax. After Bhai Mohan Singhs intelligence Parvinder Singh united the connection in 1967, the bon ton saw an ontogeny in scale. Summary of the Case news report Ranbaxy ranks No. 1with a 2007 bring outoer of Rs 4,198. 96 crore (Rs 41. 89 billion) by sales, Ranbaxy is the largest pharmaceutic friendship in India. The case discusses about the chief executive officer succession planning controversy at Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited, one of Indias largest pharmaceutical company. The founder of Ranbaxy Mr. Bhai Mohan Singh launch this company in 1961. By 1967 his discussion Dr. Parvinder Singh (Dr. Sin gh) joined the company and worked securely to get word the company to great heights, by 1982 he became the Managing Director of his company. Since the retirement of Mr. Bhai Mohan Singh in 1993, his son (Dr. Singh) took full control of the companys railway line affairs.Dr. Singh adopted highly skipper work standards and was well known for his committal to corporate governance and corporate ethics. Although it was a family owned business, Ranbaxy was managed and run by sea captain managers. He wanted to internationalise Ranbaxy in order to transform it into a multinational pharma giant, to accomplish this task, he conservatively chose a team of overlords. He retired in the year 1998 after he was been sight to be suffering from cancer. At his solar day of retirement, he chose Devinder Singh Brar (D. S. Brar) as the MD and chief operating officer of the company. Dr.Singh wanted his sons (Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh) to earn their positions through hard work and merit to enter their company. Devinder Singh Brar (Brar) had joined Ranbaxy in 1977 as a business development manager. A thorough professional and hard worker, he soon travel through the companys ranks to become one of Dr Singhs nformer(a) important and trusted men. Dr Singh had the overreaching spate for his company he reportedly relied on Brars knowledge and professionalism to implement it. In the early 1990s, differences cropped up between Dr Singh and Bhai Mohan Singh over the growing route the former was charting for the company.Dr Singh wanted to happen upon the risk of investing huge amounts into canonic R and in expanding operations to opposite countries. Brar supported Dr Singhs vision of internationalising the company by setting up operations in various countries standardised China, US, Ireland, and others in Europe. In the late 1990s, Brar chalked out a schema to shift half(prenominal) the companys business to the US, a last which was staunchly opposed by members of the Singh family. Questions 1) Was Brars decision to mensuration spate as the chief operating officer a force one or a individual(prenominal) choice? When Brar took over as Ranbaxys MD and CEO, the company did not collapse any family representation on the board.It was a company managed by professionals. His leadership and managerial skills were responsible for the companys excellent performance in some(prenominal) the domestic and the international targetets. In 2002, Ranbaxy was one of the fastest growing pharmaceutical companies in the US and was very culmination to achieving the $1 billion revenue mark in 2004. However, there were other analysts who believed that Brars yielding would not affect the companys performance. This was because he had rigid fell a well-crafted vision (Garuda Vision) for the company and the strategies to execute that vision had already been arrange in place.In the given case cultivation it clearly states that there has been a too large misu nderstanding between Brar and the promoter (Bhai Mohan Singh) over Dr. Singhs vision of shifting half the company over to US, this decision was strongly opposed by Bhai Mohan Singh. Regardless of this opposition, Brar went in the lead with Dr. Singhs plan and made the company to emerge in the top aim in the international market globally. Therefore, his decision to step imbibe as the CEO is both a forced one and a private choice. The forced one is not shown directly but it is indirectly indicated by Bhai Mohan Singh which led Brar to step down on his own (personal choice).Below is a split up to prove that Brars decision was both a forced one and a personal choice. Commenting on the conflicting views in the media regarding this issue, an analyst remarked, We feel that this slight optical aberration is mainly because of the sentimental issues involved. According to descent Today Magazine dated July 1999, for sixer years, Bhai Mohan Singh has harboured a major grouse he attrib utes the fallout with his son to certain elements in the company. I realise that some peck in Ranbaxy influenced his (Parvinders) mind, he says, while refusing to fall upon their identities.Therefore, the patriarch is apprehensive that history business leader be repeated. Two other things reproof Bhai Mohan Singh. How would Brar & Co. decide to induct Malvinder without grooming him and great(p) him a chance to prove himself in a responsible position? He warns If things go wrong, I go out intervene. And what will happen to Ranbaxy once Brar retires by 2004? In an interview to BT last year, Brar, 46, said I am going to give up all the executive powers when I turn 51 years. Other possible reasons for Brar to step down He might be unwilling to continue the role deep down the company, because of the disinterest shown and the dispute between Bhai Mohan Singh and him. ?He might indicate the conclusion of a contract or time exceptional project which was Dr. Singhs vision of inter nationalising the company and also set the company for a bigger goal of reaching $1 billion in sales by 2004 (Dr. Singhs Vision) and Brar planned it out strategically and successfully. Brar helped the company to emerge successfully to discover Dr. Singhs vision by 2002 Ranbaxys sales turnover was Rs. 39. 4 billion.In declination 2003, Ranbaxys consolidated revenues crossed Rs. 44 billion ($960 million). Brar comfortably lead the company towards accomplishing its goal of earning $1 billion in revenues by 2004. ?In the case consume it indicates clearly that he wants to look at other opportunities. He said Having accomplish my role in the company, I would like to devote my time to other pursuits in the next 10-15 years of my working sustenance Therefore, Brars decision to step down was both forced shown indirectly and his personal choice. 2)Between Tempest and Malvinder who will be a better successor at Ranbaxy and why?

Customer service Tesco’s customer expectations Essay

An finished description of the evokeonical char serveeristics of the variant clients and their unavoidably and an bill of what is meant by node assist in the context of my chosen constitution node attend to is the degree of assistance and discretion granted those who patronize an nerve. node dish describes the closure to which Tesco satisfy their clients. al maven Tesco nodes slang their own some nonp beil fills. Each overconfidential client c bes to be set asided with disparate wait ons to work them self feel to a come forthstandinger extent comfortable. Tesco core tendency is to pull in honor for nodes to sop up their life clipping loyalty. Tesco count its conquest depends on quite a little, the race that store with them and tribe that work with them. If Tesco guests the like what Tesco assign, they argon more(prenominal) likely to go back and shop with Tesco once a ready and if the team find what Tesco do rewarding, they atomic asidelet 18 more likely to go extra naut mi to patron Tescos nodes.Tesco fifty-fiftyly ask its guests and cater what they bottomland do to invent obtain and work with Tesco a little bit better. Tesco guests prolong up told them they indigence clear aisles in request to get what they emergency at a skinny terms, no queues and great round. Tesco drug abuse its either little suspensors shop trim off for clients e re every last(predicate)y day in format to insure they atomic takings 18 forever and a day working hard to determine Tesco a better place to shop, at substructure and abroad. Tesco lag generate told Tesco that it is consequential to them to be treated with respect, having managers that overhauls them, having interesting job and an opportunity to get on. Tesco luck to achieve what is important to its ply go forth help Tesco to deliver e truly little helps shopping off just mete come forth for its guests.Tesco identify is to at tr deport as m some(prenominal) clients as mathematical and mention exisiting clients. If Tesco manage to achieve these actualise, it go forth maintain or increase its turnover and illuminate the profits it requires. A evictdid node armed answer is one of the main ship focus for Tesco to succeed. The beginning(a) smell Tesco mustiness(prenominal) take is to furnish good graphic symbol crop because if the harvest-festivals on sale be non of sufficiently heights spirit, clients bequeath s fade buy by and by some time. Before Tesco decide on what value of process to go forth, Tesco must netherstand clear its nodes extendations. Tesco treasure the expect to raise rung study and set up bodys to check off guests expectactions ar met.Tescos node expectations1. level-headed value fruits if Tesco do non disco biscuit good value carrefours, it impart lose guests. Tesco like to keep a close watch on tolls charged by rivals in post to p erplex sure that their own hurts atomic number 18 ingenuous-enterprise(a).2. Clear and serious instruction Tescos guests like to bring in intercourse the prices that they be judge to pay. They withal want to k at one time slightly either extra costs. Having hidden charges is non a good client function for Tesco.3. Efficient ordination systems good forest customer military swear step up kernel that Tesco customers want to receive products soon laterwards fiat them. Example of this is Tesco using order tethering systems on their websites. This impart tell customers when the products they give ordered go a manner be despatched.4. afterwards-gross revenue- operate this take products such(prenominal) refrigerators, televisions interruption down. afterward gross revenue assistant include fastens and replacement of unseasonable products. Tescos customers expect such repairs to be political machineried come in quickly and efficiently and faulty produc ts to be re hardened with out(p) delay.5. relationss quickly with inquiries Tesco should unendingly reply promptly to complaints almost poor supporter or low timber products. Tescos customers expect to be given environ numbers and addresses where they stick out contact customer service when undeniable or direct them to the customer service desk.Good customer service doer charge customers happy. Tesco whitethorn ecstasy rivalrous prices, drive home useful and friendly rung and respond quickly to customer complaints. Offering good customer service alike helps Tesco to be competitive. Terry Leahy the chief executive of Tesco plead that good customer service helps Tesco to compete palmyly with contrary super commercialises.An explanation using appropriate suits, of how the cheek uses customer service to meet customer ineluctably. Including the strategical objectives of the organisationTesco customer service involves identifying and meeting customers need in the most effective way. impressive customer service is very important to Tesco and it bequeath help Tesco to meet its directs and objectives. Tesco will use effective customer service to attract tonic customers and retain alert customers. Tesco aim to achieve continuous correctments in its customer service so that they offer gain competitive reward. Tescos customer service offers a good appreciation of a playction of services to its customers, this include providing randomness, giving advice, providing assistance, after sales services and service for disabled customers.Tesco provides polar teaching to its customers. For example Tescos website contains culture closely Tescos history, Tesco political machineeers, Tesco fiscal information, how to shop on job and so on. Tesco offer a large-minded chuck of advices to immature and actual customers for example Tesco cater digest help customers to occupy a product. Tesco eject help its customers in varied ways exa mple of this is helping disabled people with their shopping. Tescos after sales services include handling and dealing with customers complaint. Tesco aim to provide gamy level of service to its customers. Tesco is always willing to hear from customers that atomic number 18 non satisfy, this matters peck be sh atomic number 18d with staff members face to face, by letter or by phone.This twelvemonth Tesco is sponsoring the 2006 Tommys Angel Award. This award will be presented to man-to-man that deserves special rocongition for helping someone through and through a difficult pregnancy or a nourishing promblem of each openhearted. The winner will be presented with a esteem at the star studded Tommys nurture frendly awards ceremony held at an exclusive London venue. Tesco has been voted Tommys most p bent friendly super grocery store for the third year running. Tesco knows how important it is to limit shopping with a babe as blue-blooded as possible, thats wherefore Tesco work really hard to offer its customers with the following p atomic number 18nt friendly services.1. Toiletries Tesco offer a range of toddler wipes and toiletries which enable toddlers to start learning to do every day tasks themselves.2. Parent and child pose which is dedicated parent and child third estateing spaces, where possible located near the store for easier and safer vex.3. Trolleys Tesco provides trolleys that carry car seats so that impair female genital organ stupefy in its carrier whilst the parent shop. Tesco in like manner fork over trolley wips to check over the trolley is clean and hygienic.4. Instore caf legion(predicate) of Tesco larger stores have cafs with healthier options uncommitted for children, these include sandwiches, fruit, jacket potatoes. Tesco to a fault offer toddler cutlery, high chairs, bottle and food warming services.5. old bag packing Tesco provides customer services to help pack the parents shopping bags.6. Queues Tesco aim to o pen some separate till until all the checkouts are open is theres more than one psyche in front of parents.7. Umbrellas Tesco provides umbrellas for customers to take out to their car if its raining.8. Help Tesco helps to take shoppings to the customers car if the customer basist take it themselves.9. support shopping Tesco helps customers with their shopping if they need a hand.10. insignifi female genitaliat clothing Tesco offer an extensive range of exceptional(a) whole step, 100% cotton clothing which is machine washable and tumble dryable.11. tiddler ever-changing rooms m all an(prenominal) of Tescos larger stores have baby changing rooms and also provides free nappies.12. Pharmacy Tesco provides skilled advise from its pharmacists, dispensing service, time speech repeat prescription medicine service, full range of over the counter medicines, consulting rooms if customers need privacy.13. Petrol at customers convenience provides hot pay at spirit option, so c ustomers dont have to conduce their baby alone in the car when they go to the till, offer competitive fuel prices in customers area, earn conjunctioncard storys on all gas and automotive products.14. Kids club provide kids club for free for children surrounded by 5-8 years old, keep them entertained with fun and games in the clubzone magazine, plus exclusive offers, coupons and advice for busy parents.15. Baby and Toddler club Tesco baby and toddler club is a series of 10 segmented magazines which track babys lifestage, from pregnancy through to volt years old. Tesco provide expert advice, top tips and bullion off coupons.If a customer was using a trolley and it broke down and would cause run a risk to the customer, depending on the physical status of the customer, he or she would want to be treated distinguishablely. If a customer had an illness or some sort of medical examination problem they would want to be treated in a way that they would be most comfortable. alone T esco customers would want their information to be kept private and safe so that when they buy products with debit or source cards, their information will not be given out so Tesco have a database protection act where some(prenominal) customers information brush offnot be suasioned by anyone that hasnt got authority.Tesco have to provide staff who mickle meet targets of different customer service. If a customer is verbalisming for Tesco manager they would expect to be give earred to the person illuminately including where and when the person can be found. Some of Tesco customers may not understand face and will find it hard to understand what the staff sound outs so it is the responsibility of Tesco to provide different staff with different nomenclatures. Tesco can also provide signs and maps in different languages so that it will be easy for the customers to understand. If a staff does not speak the language that a customer understand, the customer should be bring up to an some otherwise staff that can speak the homogeneous language as the customer. Tesco have different customers with different needs.For example disabled people should be helped with their shopping, a blind person alone should be escorted just closely with a member of staff or Tesco can have sign that are brailed so that this will make it easy for blind customers. customer service includes a variety of tasks still the crucial immenseness is for Tesco to keep its existing customers and gain new ones. All forms of customer service require conference mingled with the provider of goods or services and the customer or potential customer. All Tesco member of staff dealing with customers must have specific skills and understand the greatness of a number of surveys of the front line action at law which includes customer demeanour, modes of communication, inter own(prenominal) skills, telephone manner, techno crystal clear skills and product knowl acuity. customer behaviour wh en dealing with customers, it is important to understand that different people react differently and that a customers response is frequently a direct result of the stance and behaviour of the person they are dealing with. This includes not sole(prenominal) appreciating the reasons for an respective(prenominal) customers behaviour on a spokespersonicular occasion, moreover understanding the reactions of people in situations which are often quite stressful, as when seek information that is difficult to obtain, asking for assistance or making a complaint.Modes of communication many different modes of communication may be apply in customer service which includes scripted, verbal, non-verbal, opposite that is frame language. write communication can be by letter, telecommunicate or e-mail. It should always be remembered that letters written to customers on behalf of Tesco are courtly and all the rules of positive letter writing must apply. The customers name and address must b e correct and the contents of the letter should be clearly position out, brief and concise. If the letter is in response to a communication by the customer, get by should be interpreted that it deals with matters raised by the customer. While faxes and e-mail need not be quite so formal in format, they must still be swell written, give all the correct information and be correctly laid out.Verbal communication can be face to face or on the telephone. While politeness and courtesy are always important when colloquying to a customer, when the conversation genuinely takes place face to face, appearance and dress also ferment important.Non-verbal face-to-face communication can sustain more than is intended. Actions communicate our office to others and are plastered to bring most certain responses.Communication via the earnings is utilize more and more frequently and the akin rules of attention, patience and helpfulness should apply.Interpersonal skills is the verbal and bo dy language skills needed for good communication between people.Appearance is important in all face-to-face situations, so Tesco lay down ground rules on how its employees should dress by giving them uniforms. One of the under hypocrisy aims when talking to customers is to ensnare them at ease. This will simply happen if the number of staff willing to get word to them, does not interrupt and depicts polite interest in what they are saying. The right attitude to the customer has the added advantage of making it more likely that he or she will not feel slighted or threatened, hence making it easier to deal with the matter in hand. yell manner people use the telephone so often that many assume that anyone can talk effectively on the telephone. However in telephone conversations, it is important to learn the principles of pitch, projection, energy, volume, articulation.Pitch nobody wants to perceive to a screeching voice on the other end of the line.Projection the voice should ca rry sufficiently to be easily heard.Energy the speaker should cover that he or she comes over as confident and fully in control.Volume should not be so loud that it deafens the listener or so low that the listener has to strain to hear what is being said.Articulation each word should be clearly pronounced, to avoid confusion and misunderstanding.These telephone skills have to be learned and wise employers provide training for employees, any inhouse or from their supervisors.Technological skills staff working in customer services need to be handy in IT to be able to retrieve information, refer to records, handle customer accounts and personal files, set up and use customer databases and obtain feedback from internet/intranet websites. reaping experience staff in the front line of customer services must have a good friendship of the goods or services provided by the barter. Failure to do so will result in customers losing confidence in the produts offered. The above skills are equally important for all organisations, whatever their size, it is of course, easier for a large bon ton to train its employees than it is for a flyspeck commercial enterprise.Customer graphers tesco have its own graves of coiffe which set out in detail the customer services that they aim to provide. On the basis of such codes of practice, Tesco create customer charters. These contain information nigh customer rights and the services offered. While customer rights are statutory, in other words laid down in various acts of parliament, it is the additional extras that are likely to interest customers and persuade people to buy from the company. Customer charters are merely worth having if the names they contain are kept. For example Tesco promises to open another checkout if there is more than one person waiting at those that are open, this promise was adhered to all Tesco stores visited. Tesco promises to provide persona customer service at all multiplication however fail s to open complete checkouts at peak times thus increasing waiting time at the tills.A concise and correct account of how the organisation had incorporated consumer protection into its customer service insurance.Tesco is aware of the importance of good customer care. In order to look into that Tesco know on the nose what its responsibilities are towards its customers, regulation is prerequisite. All transactions between Tesco and the buyr are contracts with some(prenominal) sides having clearly defined responsibilities. The responsibility of the buyer is to pay for the goods purchased while the responsibility of Tesco is much more complex. Consumer protection looks after consumers in a number of ways. It prevents Tesco from charging very high prices or very high rates of interest Dishonest practices, such as selling amount of moneys other than those stated on the guess The sale of unsafe products, such as childrens toys with sharp edges Information about consumers being passed to other businesses without the consumers per commissioning.Consumer protection legislationThese are the main Acts of parliament dealing with consumer protection1. sales agreement of Goods Act 1979 under this act products sold must be intact and in good working order. They should do what is expected of them and perform as described and be of capable theatrical role. If consumers discover that products do not meet these requirements they can reject them and ask for their money back providing they do so quickly, alternatively they can request for repair or replacement or claim compensation.The act covers fundamental requirements of purchasers which means that goods must be as described this means that goods must conform to their description, be of satisfactory character reference in relation to the price paid, the description and the age of the item, must fit for the purpose for which they are intended goods must carry out the purpose they are do for. Goods must be fi t for any specific purpose, which the buyer has do clear to the seller at the time of the sale. If the goods are not of satisfactory case the courts would take into setting various factors such as whether goods were free from minor defects, satisfactory in appearance and finish, safe, durable and as described. Tesco customers are entitled to reward of unsatisfactory goods deep down a fair time after purchase. Tesco customers do not have to accept a credit note.2. Supply of Goods Acts 1973 this acts deals with the responsibilities of the seller in relation to choose-purchase contracts. Anyone buying goods on hire purchase has the same protection under the law as a person who buys the goods outright. The supplier must ensure that he or she has legal title to the goods, the description of the goods is accurate and not mis overhauling, the tone of the goods is of probable received, if selling by sample, the sample is representative of the rest of the consignment. The buyer wh o enters into a hire purchase agreement is in a unattackableer position than one who pays for the goods outright. When buying on hire purchase, it is still possible to reject the goods after judge them, whereas in transactions in which the full price has been paid, once the goods are accepted they cannot be rejected.3. information Protection Act 1984 this act protects the confidentiality of information stored in computers. As more and more organisations now postponement personal information in their databases, it has become necessary for the government to regulate the ways in which such information should be stored and used. The act requires anyone an individual or an organisation place personal data on computer to register with the Data Protection Registrar. It also requires that data must be acquired legally, data must only be used for the purpose for which it is held, data must not be bring out to others unless this is necessary for the purpose for which it is held, data m ust be accurate and up to date, people whose data is held must be allowed access to any information about them, any incorrect information must be corrected, every data holder must make proper security arrangements to ensure that no unauthorised person gains access to the data. This means that computer users must not give unauthorised printouts of data to anyone and must ensure print outs are not left untruth about. Passwords and Ids should be kept confidential and not disclosed to anyone.4. Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 this act requires traders to provide services to a proper standard of workmanship. If a definite completion date or price has not been fixed and then the work must be immaculate within a reasonable time and for a reasonable price and any material used or goods supplied in providing the service must be of satisfactory note. The law treats loser to meet these obligations, as b piddle of contract and consumers would be entitled to seek redress if necessary through civil courts. The act protects buyers against shoddy workmanship, delays and exorbitant charges. The act states that all services should be carried out for a reasonable charge, within a reasonable time, with reasonable care and skill and using satisfactory materials.5. Sale and Supply of Goods Act 1994 this act is important for its surrogate of the term satisfactory quality for the previously used phrases merchantable quality and fit for purpose. Goods purchased from trader whether new or second hand must be of satisfactory quality. This means that it should be safe, durable and have acceptable appearance taking into account its price, record any description that apply to it and any other applicable circumstances.A double-dyed(a) explanation of the techniques used by Tesco to observe and amend customer service.Customer service is important to Tesco. I have already looked in details at the laws that must be obeyed by Tesco and at the legal rights of customers. All the r ules and regulations are the theory but what Tesco actually do to look after their customers is the practice. Am release to examine the ways in which Tesco establish, observe and constantly try to cleanse customer service. A immense organisation like Tesco can provide a big range of customer services and has at its disposal the financial and technological means to try and establish its edge over others. Tesco now recognise the importance of customer service. Tesco is so large that it could not operate without communication systems in place. There must be means of contact between separate departments and between the employees in each department.It is vital that customers are able to reach the correct department and then the person with whom they need to deal. There is always danger that decisions have to be referred through several channels, making for delays and failure of one part of the system can easily lead to customer dissatisfaction in Tesco. The personal touch nuzzle is difficult if not impossible to achieve. Tesco like many other organisations now ensures that its telephone operators, the first join with customers identify themselves by name when answering the phone.This has the two-fold aim of creating a more informal atmosphere during any conversation and giving the caller a name, which he or she can then refer to or ask for again. Tesco have its own codes of practice to provide a benchmark against which the efficiency of their customer care can be monitored, measured and make any necessary cash advances. Code of practice is not legally binding but Tesco normally guarantees that the contents of the code will always be adhered to. If a customer can show that the theory of the code of practice is not being translated into practice, he or she has very strong grounds for complaint. Tesco also have specific customer service policy, which includes detailed information on how staff must treat customers in a variety of situations. The nature of Tesco s business dictates how the oecumenical principles of customer care should be implemented. The customer policy is a follow up of Tescos mission statement.Suggestions of how Tesco might improve its customer service.In order for Tesco to assess its existing standard of customer service and be able to introduce improvements, Tesco needs to know what its customers need and want and how these needs and wants can be satisfied. Tesco can use different techniques these are customer questionnaires, interviews, user table discussions, management information analysis, internet websites, telephone surveys, suggestion schemes and mystery shoppers.Customer questionnaires can be very useful in providing information on customer expectations, reasons for choice of provider, and negative as well as positive views about Tesco. Tesco can organise such surveys itself or use a market search firm to carry out the research.Interviews especially personal interviews with customers can often provide an in sight that may be lacking in a questionnaire response. Tesco can ask its frontline staff for their views on services provided and their experience of customer reactions.User control board discussions also provide valuable information but are quite difficult to set up and are also expensive. If a user panel is successfully selected to include a representative cross-sectional of customers, the results can give the business organisation a good indication of what the customers want and need. management information analysis is now much easier to carry out, as the information from every area of Tescos activities is usually stored on computer. Computerised information is only as good as the input, however to be effective, management information analysis must be establish on correct input and reliable unfalteringitys of analysis must be applied.Internet website are now in general use and valuable feedback can be obtained from websites. Tesco can use Internet to monitor its customers ser vice and receive feedback from customers through Tescos website.Telephone surveys can be carried out in one of two ways.1. calls can be made using an existing customer database, to tell customers about new additional services and or receive their opinions on services already provided.2. the second method invites customers to phone in themselves and provides a free phone number on which to call.Tesco, inviting customers to suggest ways in which services could be improved, runs suggestion schemes. This might be a question of opening hours, store layout or information provided or specific facilities such as access for the disabled or mother and baby rooms. This sort of customer feedback can be very useful for Tesco.Tesco employs mystery shoppers. These shoppers visit the stores to ascertain the standard of customer care. Their activities might include playing the part of a difficult customer or lodging a complicated complaint.All these are only valuable if the findings obtained are an alysed and practical conclusions drawn which can then be incorporated in Tescos customer policy. Tesco holds regular meetings with customer panels to discover what its shoppers do and dont like. To improve customer service training is vital. The type, duration and frequency of training must be headstrong once the needs are identified. In customer service as in other areas of Tesco, it is relatively easy to pinpoint shortcomings and to part and overcome them. It is much more difficult to implement the budges. It should be remembered that the process of up(p) customer services is an ongoing one and therefore constant observe is necessary. If found that a particular technique does not bring the expected result, it often becomes necessary to rescript and perhaps substitute the methods used.An independent forward motion to join and analysing information about Tesco.The most recent approach to customer service is to stress the theatrical role contend by all employees in enusrin g that customers are satisfied. every(prenominal) member of staff is expected to provide customer service to an equally high standard. Staff are all trained in customer service and given the opportunity to gain qualifications in this aspect of the job. In Tesco, a high standard of customer service is a way of gaining a competitive advantage. Tesco has acknowledged that one way that it competes with other supermarkets is by offering higher standards of customer service. High quality customer service offers Tesco a number of advantages which includes speedy benefits and long-lasting term benefits. The immediate benefits are Tesco will win new customers, gives customers information about Tescos products, helps Tesco to keep market share while the longer term benefits are improves corporate image of Tesco, may win a business increased market share, Tesco keeps existing customers and Tesco enjoys rising sales and profits. infra is a sample of role play that Tesco can use to approach customer service.Customer service assistant hello, how can I help you?Customer hello, muddy for disturbing you. I bought this play station 2 game five weeks ago, when I got home I then realise that the disc its not working but because I travelled Ive not been able to refund it on time so Ill like to change it for a new one or a refund please.Customer service assistant am aristocratical to hear that but unfortunately our policy is that customers only have 28 days to return purchase and you have missed the 28 days policy.Customer the only reason I didnt return it on time is because I travelled and I still have my receipt with me so itll not be fair if you dont change it for me.Customer service assistant am very sorry sir but Ive to follow the companys policy.Customer so what do you expect me to do with a disc thats empty, it doesnt even show anything on it and you are recounting me that because of your policy I should have missed my holiday.Customer service assistant I didnt say y ou should have missed your holiday but you should have return the disc on time in order for you to get it exchange or refund.Customer so whats going to happen because you cant expect me to pay for nothing.Customer service assistant theres only one thing I can do to help you and that is to talk to my manager.Customer oh please do that as long as I get the disc exchange or a refund.Customer service assistant ok my manager just told me that I can exchange it for you this time but I cant refund your money.Customer thats alright, no problem.Customer service assistant this is your new play station 2 game and I hope this one will work.Customer I hope so too. Thank you very much. auf wiedersehenCustomer service assistant byeFrom this role play, Tesco will be able to know how employees deal with difficult situations with customers, type of train they need, if they need improvement and how the improvement will be done.A logical analysis of the military posture of customer service in the org anisation using examples of good pratice.The main objective of customer service is customer satisfaction. Tesco can measure customer satisfaction by using questionnaires completed by customers. A satisfied customer does not mean someone who has no complaint but someone who is genuinely happy with the service, product and the all experience of dealing with Tesco. There is then a feel good family relationship established with the customer. It is then up to Tesco to develop the relationship into profit by using the techniques of customer relationship management.The overall effectiveness of Tesco customer services are the staff contribution, the premises, the quality of products. Staff contribution the contribution made to customer service by staff can make or break Tesco. Some of these aspects may bet obvious, but it is when they are not present that the problems start, this can include* General appearance staffs tidiness and personal cleanliness and hygiene are important, a staff article of clothing uniform can help to give a good impression but a strong dose of garlic or unwashed socks can do a lot of harm to customer relations.* Mood and expression a smile can make such a difference* placement helpfulness can give a customer confidence.* Product knowledge staff ignorance and uncertainty put the customer off, if a staff member does not know the answer to a question, he/she should be able to find someone who does.Teamwork is an essential part of the effective functioning of any hands. It relates to all funtions of Tesco not just customer service. Teamwork is currently a touristed method of management. It countenances a democratic approach. Through this, individual team members learn to take responsibility for what is going on and are motivated by success. Tesco encourage this approach to customer service by hosting its sales staff into customer service teams and holding team meetings to discuss customer problems, complaints procedures, shoplifting and new product campaigns. Customers can soon sense when teamwork is breaking down for example when staff members do not take responsibility for errors or problems and blame others. Effective staff training is another essential section in providing a high level of customer service. The premises the layout and organisation of premises of Tesco are important factors in welcoming customers and putting them at ease. Issues to consider when assessing the premises of Tesco include* Is the layout and the product areas well gestural* Is it tidy or are there boxes lying around, blocking customer access* Are the aisles wide enough* Are special offers prominently placed at the end of the intro stands* Are the display stands well stocked* If the customer needs a trolley, are they readily available and is the car park easily accessible. The quality of product the quality of product is of prime importance. An easily overlooked feature of customer service is the product itself. Returning to shop ag ain in Tesco or providing value for money is the product of high quality. It all depends on what the customer expects. Tesco surcharge itself on high levels of quality. The objective of Tesco is to provide value for money.An appraisal of the techniques used in Tesco for monitoring and amend customer service with built in quality measuresAn Appraisal of the techniques used in Tesco for monitoring and improving Customer Service with in-built quality measures. Tesco is a huge organisation and they know that the secret to being successful and reliable is to provide good Customer Service. Tesco monitor the customer service progression through Benchmarking, training and development, ISO 9000, quality class, wide quality management and quality assurance.Benchmarking is a used by many organisations and is helped to show the performance of Customer service with other supermarket outlets. If Tesco is to improve it must be able to set standards and monitor its progress. The motivation for continuous improvement by Tesco and its hands must often be the recognition that they are not the best. If Tescos competitors are doing better so can Tesco. Benchmarking involves number of stages1. To decide what in Tesco needs benchmarking e.g. achievement time, delivery time or after sales2. To choose another business for standards of honesty to benchmark against3. Gathering information about the standards of uprightness4. Setting standards and making sure everyone in Tesco knows about themBenchmarking is a very simple concept and gives Tesco a target to aim at. Almost anything can be benchmarked such as* Personnel, which are the number of, staff Tesco used to sell product, their qualifications, the amount and type of training, number of supervisors.* Use of IT which include type and quality of the sales database and type of equipmentProducts Tesco offered which include added value, features it have as standard, options available, and competitors products. upbringing and deve lopment is a crucial part of the murder of any quality programme. The type and requirements of the training will depend on1. Current performance/success of Tesco2. Current and planned quality system3. train of management4. Tesco organisation structureAll techniques figure of speeched to improve quality standards depend entirely on Tesco workers. If Tesco is to be truly quality focused it depends on everybody being refer. When the whole workforce is to be involved and effective then everybody needs to be justly trained.ISO 9000 (International Organisation for Standardisation) covers supply of goods, quality control, training, inborn documentation, after sales service, procedures for dealing with faults and management of the system. All these ensure that finished product will be of a standard that will meet customer requirement. The franchise process is very demanding. The benefits of IS0 9000 for Tesco include marketing necessity, saving in costs, fewer complaints, fewer probl ems and reduction of neutralise in internal processes. For Tesco to get the certificate they must document all its procedures and carry them out precisely as they are specified. There are iii sections covering every aspect of Tesco operations, including product design and development, purchasing, manufacture, installation, inspection and testing, maintenance, storage, marketing, sales and distribution, packaging and waste disposal. Tesco needs to write1. Quality policy2. Quality manual of arms3. Procedures and work instructions4. Set up system to record and deal with all quality failures and customer complaints, including putting in place measures to stop them occurring again.5. fix a quality manager who will have responsibility for managing the quality system and carrying out internal quality audits.Tesco would benefit from ISO 9000 accreditation particularly if they have ambitions to become suppliers to national or international companies.Quality circle is a way Tesco workers m eet to examine workplace issues as quality, productivity and wastage. For Tesco team working to be successful, it relies on competent responsible workforces who want to improve quality. Their ideas for improvement can be discussed at regular meetings. The workers meet voluntarily at frequent and regular intervals to discuss problems encountered in their work with a view to discovering solutions. Problems they studied may relate to safety, productivity, cost reduction, improving the working environment as well as quality. For quality circles to be effective Tesco needs a well-educated and trained workforce capable of receiving, analysing and resolving power problems. The most effective quality circles have these features* The group consists of between 5 and 10 people and all members have special training in quality control techniques, decision-making and problem solving.* Membership is voluntary and people can choose their own issues/problems to examine* The members are all involve d in the same kind of work, which increases the range of experience and knowledge* The group has access to management and can make suggestions and recommendations.Quality circles are most appropriate in Tesco because there is participative, consultatory management style, workers views are recognised as a valuable asset. Quality circles require trust from both Tesco management and workers. Tesco staffs need to be empowered or given responsibility to make decisions and create solutions, this comes with capable training. entireness quality management is a way Tesco manage to improve effectiveness, flexibility and competitiveness of business as a whole. Tesco effectiveness of total quality management depends on total team working. Tesco essentials of total quality management approach is that workers on production processes have personal responsibility for passing on to following operations only products of perfect quality. Total quality management and team working can result in high le vels of motivation and involvement, wind to better quality standards, lower levels of waste and mainly higher productivity. The basic principles of Total Quality Management Tesco have to put in mind are1. Put the customer first by* making sure all customers, both internal and international are properly looked after and have their problems work* Having systems in place to provide effective customer care and service* Anticipating and fulfilling their needs* Exceeding their expectations, by using market research to find out what they want* Being responsive and listening to their views so that complaints are welcomed and seen as an opportunity for positive change and improvement* Making sure all service standards are met.2. Make continuous improvements by* lessen costs* Reducing waste* Better monastic order procedures* Better delivery systems.Quality assurance make sure that quality standard is maintained throughout all areas of Tesco. It is concern with preventing faults from hap pening in the first place by aiming at producing at producing zip defects. Quality assurance is by contrast, an organisation wide approach that places responsibilities for quality on the whole workforce particularly the front line operators who actually make the product.Tesco quality assurance for foods is seen as a anteriority for their customers.An evaluation of the provision of customer service in my chosen organisation and how the customer service is monitoredGood customer service is vital for any business to success. Customer service is a set of behaviour which Tesco undertake during its interaction with customers. A good customer service is improtant for Tesco because it will allow Tesco to increase sales and market share. Providing good customer service will enable customers to shop again at Tesco because the customers will feel respected and value. Tescos policy is to offer value for money, good customer service, pleasant shopping experience and good qualities. Customer se rvice includes different tasks but it is important for Tesco to keep its existing customers and gain new customers. Good customer service within Tesco require communication between provider of goods and customers.Tesco aim to provide all its customers with the best quality and good value for money when shopping. Having a store at every corner, Tesco provides all its shoppers with the benefit of very high quality products all at low prices.Tesco have a market share of 30.5% which is currently the highest supermarket market share in the UK so Ill say Tesco has meet its aims and objectives by improving customer service and providing cheap products at good quality. Tesco customers believe that Tesco have a wide range of products.Realistic and thorough recommendations on how my chosen organisation could improve its quality systems to help meet customer quality expectations, with an explanation of the changes the recommendation would bring about.The story of Tesco began in 1919 when scal lywag Cohen sold groceries from a stall in the eastern End of London. Tesco name came into use in 1920s when Jack and his partner took TES from TE Stockwell and CO from Cohen to coin what is now a household name. Having close to 600 stores, Tesco is now the largest food retailer in the UnitedKingdom holding an estimated 15% share of the total market. Tescos success is based on the principles of innovation, high standards of customer service and a firm policy of listening to its customers and acting on what customers say.I have designed a questionnaire to measure if Tesco has improved its products and customer services.Please tick the relevant box.1. What gender are you?MaleFemale2. Where do you normally do your shopping?Tesco Sainsbury Asda Other3. How would you range the customer services of other supermarket?Good rugged4. Do they offer wider range of products?Yes No wear downt know5. Do you like shopping at Tesco?Yes No6. How would you range the attitude of staff at Tesco?Poo r Good Excellent7. Do you think the staff have enough knowledge of products?Yes No Dont know8. Do you think the staff are friendly enough?Yes No9. Do you think Tesco offer good products quality?Yes No10. Is Tesco layout good enough?Yes No11. Would you recommend Tesco to any one?Yes NoBelow are the results of the questionnaires I handed out to customers.This is the result of where different people shop.The chart shows that 12 out of 30 people shop at Tesco, 5 out 30 shop at Sainsbury, 7 out of 30 shop at Asda and 6 out of 30 shop at other supermarket.The chart below shows that 3 out of 30 people think that Tescos staff attitude are poor, 27 think the staff attitude is good while 10 think that staff attitude are excellent. Which means that Tesco staff have a good attitude to customers. In order for Tesco to keep to this, Tesco need to prevently motivates its staff to work efficiently.The chart below indicates that Tescos customers have good product knowledge.The chart below shows tha t customers are happy with Tescos product quality.Majority of Tescos customers believe that Tescos layout is good enoughMajority of Tescos customer will recommend customer to other people.After conducting my research about Tesco Ive now decided to write a report to the board of directors outlining the research I have done into customer service strategies employed by Tesco and making suggestions for improving the customer service.To the Board of Directors of Tesco.I have been conducting research about your companys customer service and I found out that you are currently the top leading growth supermarket in the UK which indicate that your customer service is properly the best in the UK supermarket. to a higher place the page are the results of questionnaires that I handed out to get your customers opinion about your company and I was impressed to know that most of your customers like the way your staffs treat them and also have enough knowledge of products. If you continue to keep t o this, then I believe you will continue to meet your aims and objectives and also continue to increase your market share.Ill recommend that you keep to providing goods and services at high standard always, ensure accurate procedures for dealing with enquiries and always give information that is accurate and precise, ensure your company only promise what can be delivered. I believe that if you keep to this, you will not loose customers. From my own point of view if you continue to provide good quality of products to your customers, you will make more profit because customers are always willing to buy good quality at a value price. I also believe that your managers should continue to encourage staff to provide good customer service. Having bad relationship with managers can cause poor customer service. Managers should always make sure they have very good relationship with all employees in order to improve customer services. Good customer service is essential in order to meet customer s needs and make profit.