King Lear Essays (500 words) - Fiction, Literature, Philosophy

Ruler Lear Annonymous In the novel Heart Of Darkness, composed by Joseph Conrad, the fundamental character settles on a choice to conflict with his feelings by telling a lie about Kurtz?s passing to the expected. After cautious examination of the circumstance, one can see that Marlow is advocated in deceiving the proposed in light of the fact that the falsehood empowers Marlow carry on with an amazing remainder without bearing the heaviness of truth on his shoulders. There was extraordinary significance in the real last words expressed by Kurtz. Kurtz had seen the genuine heart of man, and he knew about the abhorrence. In his last words ?the ghastliness, the horror?(68), Marlow comes to comprehend what's more, to acknowledge Kurtz?s perspective on life. The things that Kurtz had both done and found in his life were in actuality horrendous, however was something that Marlow had the option to look past. This is later clear by what is in his musings as he converses with the lady. He denouncing humanity as a entire with this announcement. . This is the reason Marlow keeps the words to himself. It permits him to protect trust both in the proposed, and then some critically in himself. From the get-go in the story Marlow clarifies that he loathes lies. He says ?There is a corrupt of death, a kind of mortality in lies-which is actually what I loathe and disdain in the world(29).? This statement comes to mind toward the finish of the book when Marlow glaringly deceives the planned, yet there is bounty proof that Marlow?s has not changed, just his strategy for keeping away from what he loathes. He says that he detests the ethical quality, and the spoil of death related with lies, yet in this case these things are related with reality. Marlow recounts a vision that he has on his way into see the planned. He says that he saw Kurtz ?on the cot opening his mouth ravenously as though to eat up the entirety of the earth with all its humankind? what's more, that he had seen Kurtz as ?a shadow unquenchable of awesome appearances, of terrible real factors, a shadow darker than the shadow of night,(72). This is a genuine and distinctive depiction of his affections for Kurtz. To Marlow, Kurtz was an abhorrent power that spoke to frightfulness of what individuals could without much of a stretch become under the correct conditions. Marlow deceived the lady in an endeavor to hinder this harsh truth from his brain. In this story, the fundamental character is confronted with a choice. He had the choice to either tell the lady the real last expressions of her adored one, or to make up new ones which she would discover alleviating. Marlow pick the last of the two, however it was nearly as if he couldn't come clean with her. He guaranteed that the reality of the situation was excessively dim, however that clarification could mean anything. The explanation he didn't advise her was on the grounds that he feared reality, and was absolutely unfit to manage it, aside from in his inner mind. It is clear that he was supported in his activities, since he had just one genuine decision, and that was to lie.

The calculations for the capital gains tax Case Study

The estimations for the capital additions charge - Case Study Example The counts for the capital increases charge are appeared in the informative supplement. From the figurings it might be seen that it is prudent to auction the business working before 05th April 2008 as you can benefit the indexation recompense and tighten alleviation which are not any more accessible. It might be noticed that the indexation and tighten help are the allowanced conceded by the legislature to accommodate the expansion in the advantage an incentive because of swelling (Chris Horne). On the off chance that you choose to sell of the property after 05th April 2008 you many need to pay higher CGT of 18,000. Anyway on account of the individual works of art since they have been obtained uniquely in the year 2005 they don't stand qualified for any recompenses and the capital additions will essentially be the distinction between the deal continues and the expense. Thus for this situation it is fitting to sell the works of art after 05th April 2008 as the CGT on the chargeable add itions can be paid at lower charge pace of 18 percent. Salary from work is exposed to annual expense just as Class 1 National Insurance Contributions NIC). Installment of the Tax and NIC are regularly attempted by the business through the PAYE framework. Anyway the representative who has different livelihoods exposed to burden and whose expense isn't completely paid by the business may finish an assessment form and pay the NIC. Commitments to NIC are being made by both the business and worker. The worker needs to make commitments to NIC at 11percent or 9.4 percent between the essential edge limit and the upper income limit. A charge of 1 percent is payable for profit over the upper income limit. No NIC is payable by the worker or manager on the profit up to the essential edge limit. Contingent upon whether the worker is inside the State Second Pension (S2P) or whether he has contracted out utilizing a last pay (FS) or cash buy plot (MP) the paces of NIC payable on income are resolved. Points of interest Contracted in Inside S2P Contracted Out Other than S2P Essential Threshold to Upper Earning Limit 11.0% 9.4% Above Upper Earning Limit 1.0% 1.0% According to the computations appeared in the annexed pay proclamation expecting that you have contracted out of the state annuity plot, you may need to contribute 9.4 percent of 23,760 for example 2233.44 towards the National Insurance Contribution. Extra Tax Burden on Cigarettes and Wines We comprehend that you and your significant other are both substantial smokers and consumers. Be careful that the spending plan for the year 2008 has put extra taxation rate on the cigarettes, wine, and brew to the degree of 0.14p on a container of wine, 0.4p on a 16 ounces of lager and 0.11p on a pack of cigarettes and to this degree the expense of these things would go up. We do trust you will reexamine your utilization of these things taking into account expanded weight on your pay. Other Tax Credits The financial plan for the year 2008 has made the accompanying changes in other Tax Credits for which you are entitled. Assessment Credits 2007-08 2008-09 Kid Tax Credit - Family Element 1,845 2,085 Working Tax Credit - Basic 1,730 1,800 Hitched Couple Allowance 2,440 2,540 We have given

Incoming students, join our New Students Series COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog

Incoming students, join our New Students Series COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog Every summer, I introduce our readers to  the incoming class of Seeples. We learn about the experiences that led them to SIPA, their ambitions for the future, and a few quirky details about their personalities. So today I’m excited to share that I’m now accepting submissions for this year’s questionnaire! If you’re an incoming  Fall 2017 MIA/MPA/MPA-DP student and want to e-introduce yourself to the masses, make sure you submit the New Student Self-Interview Form. I look forward to reviewing your submissions!

Persuasive Essay On Bullying - 1352 Words

If you saw someone getting bullied, would you try to stop it, or would you ignore it and walk away? Bullying is a big problem, especially in the United States. There are active efforts to stop it, but many studies show that a simple intervention from a bystander can work wonders. In fact, a study done by Hawkins and Pepler from York University, along with Craig from Queen’s University, shows that a whopping 57% of interventions (in bullying situations) are effective. A few days ago, during my stay at the Avera-McKennan medical hospital in Sioux Falls, I met many new people, however, I was shocked at how mean and catty the girls were. I grew up in a small school, and while everyone can be mean at times, our entire grade is very loving and†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"It’s a puke bag,† piped up Monica. â€Å"Yeah, I kinda feel like throwing up,† said Abby, shrugging her shoulders. She did look a little pale. Snorting, the girl looked Abby up and down. â€Å"Well she needs it,† she stated with a laugh. Everyone looked at Abby. Her pain was visible on her face. She looked down, her smile gone, and the girl said, â€Å"Are you seriously going to get mad over that?† Standing up, she put her hands on the table and leaned toward Abby. In a quiet voice, yet still audible to the quiet room, she whispered, â€Å"You tell any of the nurses or doctors about this, and I’ll make sure you never tell anyone else.† She looked up at the rest of the table to see if we had heard, and everyone quickly looked down and went back to eating. She grabbed her tray and turned to walk away. I looked around the table, and seeing that everyone was ignoring this awful event/situation, I stood up. Not really sure what I was doing, I walked directly in front of the girl and stopped. She told me to get out of her way, using a few choice swear words. â€Å"No,† I said flatly, â€Å"not until you turn around and apologize to Abby.† â€Å"I don’t even know who that is,† she said, rolling her eyes and reaching out a hand to push me aside.† Gently grabbing her hand and pushing it ever so slightly back down, I looked at her and said, â€Å"Abby is the girl with long blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes. The one that you just threatened and insulted,† I said calmly. Narrowing her eyes, sheShow MoreRelatedBullying Persuasive Essay730 Words   |  3 PagesBullying is a problem that happens in almost every single school and it can have many different reasons and ways. Bullying can happen online or at schools. It is becoming a big problem because it is worldwide and it is not good for kids to get bullied. Kids can become depressed when they are being bullied. Also they can have mental health problems later on. It already has a lot of attention but it needs more so it can be stopped. Bullying needs a lot more attention because too many kids are beingRead MorePersuasive Essay On Bullying1203 Words   |  5 Pagesfather had been jailed for hit ting her† (Goad). Bullying has been a major problem in our society. The power of bullying can ruin someone’s life. Nothing good can ever come from bullying no matter how it happens. Bullying has been around for a long time, and it must come to an end. Bullying should be stopped because of the terrible and heartbreaking outcomes. To begin, the power of bullying is disgraceful land will always have a negative outcome. Bullying occurs when someone is repeatedly harmed by someoneRead MorePersuasive Essay On Bullying865 Words   |  4 PagesThis was said during a period of time where bullying was not as big of an issue as it currently is. Whether someone has been bullied, been a bully, or have seen bullying happen, it has come up in some way at a point in their life. Bullying has affected various generations of people in many ways, causing a lot of different problems throughout the world. Some of these may include mental and physical health issues which can also lead to suicide. Bullying must be stopped in order to improve our livesRead MoreBullying Persuasive Essay718 Words   |  3 Pagescommunities filled with individuals who are being affected by bullying from a range of young children to adults. According to the internet, bullying is the use of superior strength or influence to intimidate (someone), typic ally to force him or her to do what one wants. Therefore, bullying can affect everyone for those who are affected by the bullying, those who cause the bullying, and those who witness the bullying. In other words, bullying can have a crucial influence on mental health and in extremeRead MorePersuasive Essay on Bullying1241 Words   |  5 Pagesthey think about classes, friends, and books. They think about the minor struggles of drama and studying for next week’s big test. For them, school is just school. It’s something that has just become a part of life, not good or bad. For victims of bullying, school is a living nightmare. School is harassment, and pain, and a whole series of struggles too much for the normal person to comprehend. Schools have created this image of â€Å"normal† that many people strive to fit into. But when there is someoneRead MorePersuasive Essay On Bullying1259 Words   |  6 PagesThroughout my childhood, I was bullied. This bullying lef t physical and mental scars, as well as me lacking self-confidence. Whenever I attempted to defend myself or tell someone of the situation, it never worked. Either I would get bullied more by both students and teachers, or be ignored completely. This is when my father grew tired of me coming home sad and injured, he consulted the school, but they suggested settling it out with the bully’s parents. This resulted in my father meeting the parentsRead MoreBullying Persuasive Essay1247 Words   |  5 Pagessame† - Thirteen Reasons Why. Over 3.2 million students are victims of bullying each year. Bullying is a serious offence and shouldn’t be taken lightly, students around the world should be aware of what bullying does and how it affects the other person. Seventeen percent of American students report bullying two to three times a month or more within a school semester. Bullying has been occurring for years and bullying in schools was one of the first manifestations. Kids go home every dayRead MorePersuasive Essay On Bullying1011 Words   |  5 PagesBullying, bullying has been around for a long time. Bullying has been in America since the country’s founding. Created from a competitive environment, bullying has remained a relevant issue throughout the years. Cyberbullying, has allowed the problem to expand, the thought to survive is an instinct and is common among all humans. Survival is associated with competition due to the large amount of species and limited resources on the planet. Since the dawn of time there has been a constant thoughtRead MorePersuasive Essay On Bullying834 Words   |  4 Pagesenvironment. Bullying effects millions of students in schools each year. This can lead to heartbreaking consequences to the victim and their families. Tyler Clementi, a freshman at Rutgers College, took his own life by jumping off the George Washington Bridge over the Hudson River in New York City, after two of his fellow classmen allegedly streamed live video on the internet of him and another fellow student, who was male, in a sexual encounter (Billiterri, â€Å"Preventing Bullying† 1015). ThisRead MorePersuasive Essay On Bullying841 Words   |  4 Pagesbecause they don’t agree with who they are. Bullying LGBTQ is wrong because no one should be subjected to cruel treatment. Many LGBTQ human rights are being violated through harassment and cruel treatment. By bullying LGBTQ people are taking away many LGBTQ’s human rights. And as article 5 states that â€Å"No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.† Studies show that LGBTQ students receive 24% more bullying per day than a non LGBTQ. Because some LGBTQ

Persuasive Essay - Puppy Farming - 997 Words

Persuasive Essay – Puppy Farming To passers-by it looks like a normal shed, run by normal people. But inside this â€Å"normal shed† is a scene so horrific, it beggars belief that it has been legalised. Inside, cages upon cages of dogs are kept in squalid conditions, with barely any human contact. Puppies are wrenched away from their mothers at birth and are kept alone with only each other for company. Disease and illness are rife, leaving the dogs in pain and discomfort, and, in some cases this can lead to death. This hellish scene is disgustingly designated a puppy farm. One of the most disturbing problems out of many, in puppy farming, is the nightmarish conditions in which the dogs are kept. These innocent animals are kept in constant confinement, packed together in ridiculously small cages. As well as living in cramped conditions, they are also neglected by their â€Å"caring† breeders, and have almost no human contact until they leave the farm. A lack of human contact can lead to many problems, such as aggressive behaviour, and extreme antisocial behaviour. In a recent news article, the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ISPCA) shut down a puppy farm in Carlow, Ireland. Inspectors described the scene as â€Å"appalling and horrific†. The ISPCA also reported that â€Å"dead animals were strewn around the premises,† and the animals that were not dead were in urgent need of attention. This harrowing report sickens me and highlights the exact reason why puppy farming

Sauna pants Free Essays

The pants are simple to wear with adjust-ability in waists and thighs but still, since it has limited sizes to fit all types of body shape for both men and women, there are complaints grading inconvenience among users’ reviews. You have the option to dial your desired temperature, but by sacrificing the moving-around due to the 4- inch cord. On the other hand, it is guaranteed 100% money back in 90 days after purchase for the relatively reasonable price $29. We will write a custom essay sample on Sauna pants or any similar topic only for you Order Now 99 – $39. 95 (compared to a standard sauna normally around $40-$60). No matter how promising this product may sound, if you wish to lose real weight this is not a desirable equipment. One deficiency is no clinical test or patent being mentioned; hence, skin irritations or other health-related problems like infertility are upon your own risk. Like how the claim ingeniously claims, the user just gets rid of some extra water weight, a small amount of weight that will be easily gained back during a re-hydration session. No muscle workouts or any kind of physical activities is needed while the real weight loss plan lies in the reduction of fat volume, leaving muscle and water remained. Same heating mechanism to accelerate water weight loss, we have another apparel item, the sauna suit. Unlike the sauna pants, the sauna suit â€Å"features high insulation and low water vapor permeability, due to the thickness and the lit-layered fabric design†, then serves as a major physiologic defense against overheating through sweating during vigorous physical activity, which makes it by far a more effective product in support of weight loss according to a research about sport bra and integral fitted sauna suit. Regarding the warm, relaxed treatment for soothing sore joints or tight muscles, it is just a temporarily relieved feel due to the heat, which a light intensity of exercise or a heating pad can do the same with far lesser cost. Legend the discussed understandings, would not use it for the sake of losing weight, nor commend it to anyone. This product is no use in any perspectives, also promotes laziness towards work-outs and unrealistic crave for healthy well- being with no effort. How to cite Sauna pants, Papers

One Theme Present In Ernest Hemingways Short Story, The Short Happy Li

One theme present in Ernest Hemingway's short story, The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber, is that the way a person views his life can change completely in one fulfilling moment, if only for an instant. This is a story of a man's continuous display of cowardice, his wife's retaliatory love affair, and his recovery of integrity and pride as he bravely faces a charging buffalo. Francis Macomber is a prominent American businessman with a beautiful, dominating wife who holds the control and power in their marriage. At the start of their safari trip to Africa, Francis Macomber is regarded as a coward and endures the embarrassment from his own cowardliness during the hunt, the disrespect from his wife, as well as a feeling of weakness when compared to Robert Wilson, his safari leader. He regains his integrity and confidence when he faces a charging bull only to have his life cut short when his fires a bullet through the back of his head. At the start of the safari, Francis Macomber must endure the embarrassment of his own cowardliness during the hunt. He is first presented in a mock triumph, since he had only half an hour before, been carried to his tent from the edge of the camp in triumph on the arms and shoulders of the cook, the personal boys, the skinner and the porters. The gun-bearers had taken no part in the demonstration (DiYanni 337). This is evident that Macomber has withdrawn from his prior hunt for a lion and has already been recognized as a coward in the eyes of the gun-bearers. They do not wish to pretend along with everyone else that Francis deserves praise for a lion that he supposedly shot. Macomber, however, does finally shoot a lion during his second outing with Wilson and his wife. Upon approaching the injured lion hiding in the tall grasses, Macomber heard the blood-choked coughing grant, and saw the swishing rush in the grass. The next this he knew he was running; running wildly, in panic in th e open, running towards the stream (DiYanni 347). Macomber does here what most any man would do if confrotned by a lion. He runs. His wife, however criticizes him for what she sees as weakness in her eyes. Another factor contributing to Francis Macomber's suffering self-esteem is that he must also withstand the constant disrespect from his own wife, Margot. She is the power in their marriage and refuses to let him show any type of influence in their relationship. Margot readily shows everyone around them how humiliated she is of her husband's actions even at the beginning of the safari when she shuns her husband's choice of drink. She maintains much control and is open with her affairs with other men. After the incident with lion and she witnesses Francis's terrified retreat from the lion, she blatantly leaned forward over the low seat and kissed him on the mouth, referring to Robert Wilson (DiYanni 347). She does not consider any of Francis's feelings. When he asks her where she has been when she finally returns in the middle of the night to their tent, she reply's Out to get a breath of air, to which Francis reply's That's a new name for it. You are a bitch(DiYanni 347). This seems t o imply that this is not the first time she has been caught in an affair. She states that the reason for her behavior is the result of his cowardice. She turns to other men who demonstrate what she believes to be strength and bravery. She holds absolutely no respect for her husband, and insists on accompanying them on the safari even though even Wilson openly opposes her request and thinks to himself that women are a nuisance on safari (DiYanni 350). Francis Macomber, although wealthier and more prominent when compared to his safari leader, Robert Wilson, also lacks the strength and self-knowledge that Wilson seems to carry naturally in order to survive in the African wildlife. Wilson represents the brave and courageous man that Francis Macomber wants to become. He is introduced ordering a gimlet and therefore rejecting Macomber's kind of drink. Macomber feeling ashamed of himself and unsure of his

Todays And Yesterdays Laws On Drinking

Todays And Yesterdays Laws On Drinking Todays and Yesterdays Laws on Drinking By john doe English Composition I Professor Louis M. Rosenberg Massasoit Community College April 14, 2002 Laws on alcohol have come along way. Back when the legal age for drinking was eighteen, teenagers were still too irresponsible to handle this privilege. I feel the ways the laws on alcohol are now are much more appropriate for society today. Since prohibition was repealed by the twenty-first amendment in nineteen-thirty three, the drinking age laws were set by the state; and many states allowed the purchase of alcohol at eighteen years old, which I believe is too young. Other people also believed there were many reasons that this age was appropriate, due to the amount of accidents caused by this age group. Later the law was changed to a National law that you must be twenty-one years of age to purchase alcohol. After the law was changed many I would agree that it was extremely effective, the statistics showed a dramatic drop in automobile acc idents among teenage drivers.David Vitter with Laura Dean-Mooney, the National ...This lead Americans to believe it was a good law and should be kept in effect. Although this law made a large change in our society, under age drinking is still a major problem in this country and many new laws are still being made today to try and solve this dilemma of under age drinking.After Prohibition was repealed and people were given back the right to purchase alcohol, there were many debates to what age a person should be allowed to purchase or consume alcohol. During the seventies nearly all of the states lowered their legal drinking age to eighteen from where it used to be at twenty-one. One argument in an essay written by Alex Koroknay, that made a very strong point to support the...

17 Amazing Scholarships for Moms and Single Mothers

17 Amazing Scholarships for Moms and Single Mothers SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Mothers and single mothers have it harder when trying to get a college education. In addition to balancing a full academic course load, they are also responsible for feeding, clothing, and financially supporting their children. Studies suggest that up to 60% of families headed by single mothers are living in poverty- which makes the idea of spending money on education even more difficult to fathom. Fortunately, there are multiplecompanies who want to help moms and single moms improve their situations through education. Read on to see a list of scholarships directly aimed at mothers who are pursuing higher education. Who Are These Scholarships For? Many organizations want to help mothers get back into the classroom. They believethat if moms are getting college degrees,thenthey will be able to get better jobsand eventually be able toprovide morefor their families. There is a lot of help out there for mothers and single mothers who are ready to put in some hard work. Use this article as a starting point to explore some of the opportunities out there for moms to return to school. I have split the scholarships into two categories: Scholarships for moms returning to college after a break Scholarships for single mothers However, if you're serious about funding your education, don't stop there. There are many other scholarships available that are not aimed specifically at moms, but that mothers who are pursuing degrees can and should still apply for. They're discussed in more detail at the end of this article. Scholarships for Women Returning to School These scholarships are for students who are returning to school after taking a break. If you're fresh out of high school, these are not for you! AARP Foundation Women’s Scholarship This scholarship is aimed at women aged 50+ who want to go back to school. Awards range from $500 to $5,000 and are given to around 350 people every year. Winners must enroll in an accredited university within six months of winning the scholarship. Applicants will have to write a short essay about their educational goals and significant obstacles that they have overcome. AAUW Virginia Beach Branch Scholarship Students who are residents of Virginia Beach and at least 23 years old may apply for this scholarship. You should currently be enrolled in an undergraduate program at an accredited institution and have returned to school after being away. You should have a GPA of 3.0 or higher. Applicants must write a short essay about their career goals and special circumstances. At least one award of $500 will be given. Arizona BPW Foundation Annual Scholarship The Arizona Business and Professional Women's Foundation gives out several scholarships aimed at women who are returning to school to better their career prospects. Applicants must attend a community college or trade school in Arizona and will need to write an essay about their career goals and financial situation. The application deadline is December 10th. Award amount varies. BK Krenzer Reentry Scholarship This scholarship is awarded by the Society of Women Engineers to a non-traditional student who has re-entered education after a break. Students should be studying any kind of engineering and may be college freshmen, sophomores, juniors, or seniors. The award is for $3,250. Dr. Wynetta A Frazier Sister to Sister Scholarship This scholarship is aimed at African American women who are either returning to school after a break or who are starting college for the first time following a break after high school because of family responsibilities or other personal demands. Applicants must be able to confirm acceptance into a college or university to pursue a BA degree, must be at least 21 years of age, and need to write an essay on a given topic. Two awards of $500 will be given. Emerge Scholarship Emerge Scholarships are aimed at non-traditional women students who are going back to school after a break. Applicants must be residents of Georgia who are planning to study in Georgia, be at least 25 years of age, and must express their career and life goals in the application. The number of awards given varies every year; last year 14 were given. The award amount ranges between $2,000 and $5,000. Executive Women International Scholarship EWI offers the Adult Students in Scholastic Transition Scholarship (ASIST) for adults who are facing economic, social, or physical challenges and are looking to improve their lives through education. Students must first apply through local chapters, and then chapter winners will be entered to win at the corporate level. Corporate level scholarships are for amounts ranging from $2,000 to $10,000. There are 13 winners. Jeannette Ranking Women’s Scholarship This scholarship is aimed at women who are 35 years of age or older, low-income, US citizens or permanent residents, and are pursuing their first bachelor’s degree, associate’s degree, or technical degree. Selection will be based on applicants'stated goals and plans for reaching them, and how theyplan to use theireducation to give back to the community. The award amount is around $2,000. Non-Traditional Student Scholarship Applicants must be members of The American Legion, American Legion Auxiliary, or Sons of the American Legion. Applicants should be non-traditional students returning to the classroom after a period of interruption, or be starting education at a later point in life. Winners will be selected based on need, academic achievement, character and leadership, and personal goals. A $2,000 scholarship is awarded in every Auxiliary geographic division. The deadline is March 1st. P.E.O. Program for Continuing Education This grant is intended for women whose educations have been interrupted and who want to return to school to complete a degree or certification. Applicants should be citizens of the USA or Canada and be studying in one of those countries. They should have had at least 24 consecutive months as a non-student in their adult lives and be within two years of completing their desired educational program. Awards are up to $3,000. Society of Women Engineers Olive Lynn Salembier Scholarship and Mary V. Munger Memorial Scholarship Applicants must be members of the Society of Women Engineers and must have been out of the engineering workforce and school for at least two years prior to re-entry. The Olive Lynn Salmbier scholarship awards $2,000 and the Mary V. Munger Scholarship awards $3,000. Scholarships for Single Mothers These scholarships are specifically aimed at single mothers. Helping Hands for Single Moms This scholarship is designed for low-income single mothers who are earning a college degree. Applicants should have US citizenship and live in Maricopa County or the Phoenix metropolitan area. They must also be legally single and not living with a partner, be registered in college with a GPA of at least 2.8, carry at least a 9-credit-per-semester course load, and have at least one child under the age of . The award amount varies. The Patsy Takemoto Mink Education Foundation This Foundation offers five scholarships for moms every year to women who are at least 17 years oldandare mothers with minor children. Applicants should be pursuing an Associate’s degree, Bachelor’s degree, or a vocational degree or certificate, and be low-income. Awards are up to $5,000. WISP: Change Your World Scholarship Applicants must be women who are direct survivors of an abusive partner. You must have been separated from the abusive partner for at least one year. Special consideration will be given to women who plan to use their educations to further the rights of other women and girls. Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers Single Mother Scholarship Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers offers two $1,000 scholarships to single mothers who are looking to go back to school to improve their living circumstances. Applicants must write a 500+ word essay on the advantages of going back to school while caring for their children. They should explain how motherhood has prepared them for the challenges of being a student. Live Your Dream Awards Program These scholarships are for women who provide primary financial support for themselves and their dependents and have overcome obstacles such as poverty, domestic violence, or drug and alcohol abuse. Applicants should have financial need and live within a Soroptimist International member territory. Local-level award amounts vary; local award winners become eligible for regional awards of $3,000 or $5,000, and regional award winners are eligible to win international-level awards of $10,000. The application is open August 1st-November 15th of each year. Ford Opportunity Scholarship The Ford Family Foundation offers scholarships to assist single parents in pursuing a bachelor’s degree. They recognize that as the head of household and without the support of a partner, single parents face many challenges that most students do not face. Applicants must be single parents of dependent children and live in Oregon or Siskiyou County, California. Up to 50 students receive scholarships every year. The scholarships cover 90% of the student’s costs that are not covered by other resources, generally ranging between $1,000 and $25,000. If you're looking for moreways to fund your education, there are many other scholarships available. Read on to learn about some of your other options and how to apply to them. How to Find Other Scholarships No matter what you are studyingor where you plan on attending school, you will likely be eligible for scholarships beyond those that are just for mothers. Finding and applying to these other scholarships is a great way to increase the amount of money you have for school. A good place to start is by looking into scholarships for the areas you want to focus your studies on. Almost all disciplines have a number of scholarships available. Furthermore, if you have chosen to pursue a field in which women are traditionally underrepresented, such as the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and math), you will find that there are scholarships specifically set aside for women in these areas. Next, try searching for scholarships that relate to your interests, hobbies, or special circumstances. For example, there are a number of weird, random scholarships out there for people who happen to have certain last names or characteristics (like being left-handed), and there are even more scholarships for people who have more conventional qualities, such as an interest in art or music. Keep searching until you come up with a long list of scholarships that you can apply to. Now that you know about your different options read on to learn how to win these scholarships! How to Win Scholarships Rule 1: Applyto Multiple Scholarships Keep in mind that many scholarships are competitive, meaning there are hundreds- or thousands- of people applying for them. You can greatly increase your chances of winning a scholarship or two by applying for a large number of scholarships.We recommend applying to anywhere between five and 30 scholarships. Rule 2: Be Meticulous Follow the required instructions for every essay and question. Pay particular attention to supporting documents that you will need to send with your applications, and keep on top of deadlines. As mothers, you're short enough on free time as it is- don't make it worse by spending time on incomplete or incorrect applications that will get you nowhere! Rule 3: Keep Applying Don't stop applying for scholarships just because you're in your second, third, or fourth year of college. In fact, there are many scholarships out there that are aimed specifically at students in the final yearsof their education. If you're able to continue bringing in new money sources throughout your academic career, you will end up with much less debt when you graduate. Rule 4: Find Other Support Keep an eye out for any other support that will help you. For example, some parents are eligible for government grants while they're studying. You will likely find that you are not the only parent at your school- see if you can coordinate childcare with others so that you can get the most for your money. Also, see if your school offers any special aid or discounts for parents to provide their children with safe housing and hot meals. You may be surprised by how much your university or college will want to lend a helping hand! What's Next? Now that you know about scholarships for moms, take a chance to learn about other scholarships and how to apply for college. If you want to apply to some great scholarships not listed above, check out our guides to theNational Merit Scholarship,McDonald's Scholarship, andTylenol Scholarship. Did you know that sometimes getting a scholarship is as easy as applying to your school of choice? Check out thislist of schools that automatically offer scholarships based on grades and test scores. Need a letter of recommendation for a scholarship? Here's how to get one. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Impact of Social Heterogeneity and Population Size and Density on Essay

Impact of Social Heterogeneity and Population Size and Density on Social Relations - Essay Example Heterogeneity leads to gradual breaking down of rigid customs and social structures causing increased instability and insecurity. The city being the hub of economic, political and cultural life, human beings from different areas are attracted to it. These human beings come from diverse backgrounds and cultures. According to Wirth, "69.2 per cent of the total population of those countries that do distinguish between urban and rural areas is urban" (Pearson, cited in Wirth 1938, p.2). Moreover, the growth of the cities is far greater in areas where industrialisation is more advanced than those where it is not as progressive. This transition from a rural area to an urban city has impacted every phase of social life. A city is a product of evolution rather than spontaneous creation, and hence it is only natural that "the influences which it exerts on the modes of life should not be able to wipe out completely the previously dominant modes of human association" (Wirth 1938, p.3). Moreover, a great section of the inhabitants of a city, who have moved in from different and most probably rural areas, bring with them i nfluences of their own cultural backgrounds and previous modes of lives. Such influences leave their imprint on their personalities also. From a sociological perspective, urbanism refers to the characteristic mode of life of the aggregation of human beings living in the city. The dominance of the city is the result of its concentration of industrial and commercial, financial and administrative, transportation and communication, cultural and recreational, healthcare and hospital facilities along with its professional and educational, and religious and welfare institutions. Urbanisation, thus, is the mode of life distinctive to the city as well as the changes that it causes to modes of lives of the people who are under the influences of the predominant features of the city (Wirth 1938, p.5). The social aspects of a city depend on the essential characteristics of the city. For example, an industrial city is significantly different in social respects from a commercial, mining, fishing, resort, university or capital city. Similarly, the social characteristics of a single-industry city differs significantly from a multi-industry city as do that of a residential suburb from an industrial suburb and an old city from a new city, etc. A city, for sociological purposes, may be therefore defined "as a relatively large, dense, and permanent settlement of socially heterogeneous individuals" (Wirth 1938, p.8). Hence the social relationships between individuals in a city are influenced by the population size, density of settlement and the heterogeneity of its inhabitants. Large numbers are naturally consistent with a great range of variation among individuals in human interactions. Therefore the personal traits, the beliefs, the ideas, the cultural lives and occupations of individuals in an urban community are spread over a far wider range than those of individuals in a rural community. In such a setting, human bonds of kinship, neighbourliness and sentiments "arising out of living together for generations under a common folk tradition are likely to be absent, or at best, relatively weak" (Wirth 1938, p.11). In such a situation, formal control systems take the place of

School-Based Physical Education Programs and Childhood Obesity Essay

School-Based Physical Education Programs and Childhood Obesity - Essay Example A growing segment of the population for which obesity is becoming a serious problem is school-aged children. Current research shows that obese children perform worse academically than normal weight children. Obese children affected by deteriorating physical and mental health lack the ability to stay intellectually focused in school. Thus, childhood obesity in the context of educational settings will be the focus of this dissertation. Specifically, this study will delve into the subject matter with a particular focus on African American female high school students. Furthermore, the focus of this study is the connection between the efficacy of exercise programs and regimens for school aged children. The United States, like other countries, depends upon having a healthy youth base to take over and eventually lead. If we cannot reasonably conceive that our youth will be healthy enough to lead, that presents substantial political, economic and national security problems. More fundamentall y, however, as adults, we represent the first and last line of defense for children as their caregivers. In this regard, the role of caregiver is not merely relegated to children’s parents, but also their educators, and those in the community. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), when students are physically unhealthy, they are also at risk for deficiencies in other areas pertaining to their health including mental health, intellectual health (ability to learn), and the ability to socialize. Further, the CDC observed that a sick body often translates into a deficient ability to stay focused, learn in school and grow (Centers for Disease Control, 2012). Attending school is not exclusively meant for studying the subject matter, but also for enhancing individual and social growth. Thus, mental health can rarely thrive, without physical health, since physical health ultimately affects learning ability (Bailey, 2006). Thus, there are several potential positive socia l outcomes that can arise from this study. First, by investigating the relationship between childhood obesity and the efficacy of physical education programs, answers can be provided to a number of related questions. The answers can provide information to educators and administrators as how they can alter current educational methodologies and pedagogy to effectively create physical, mental, intellectual, and social environments that are conducive to youth development. Second, such a study will further a dialogue about the importance of applied educational research into topics that are not traditionally thought of as germane to education such as physical education. This study has potential to demonstrate that adequate physical education programs are necessary to support physically healthy students, which will help to facilitate improved health in other categories that ultimately affect learning outcomes. Early childhood through adolescent years mark the most critical physiological, p sychological, and physical development periods (Belgrave, 2009). Thus, without good physical health, the corresponding steps of individual growth can be disturbed, and growth can be stunted to the degree that youth can fail to thrive in the educational setting with respect to actual learning, as well as feeling secure in their bodies. Background The broader discussion of how to tackle childhood obesity, especially in the

Retail Management On Hardware Store Information Technology Essay

Retail Management On Hardware Store Information Technology Essay My term paper is to open up the retail store of the HARDWARE GOODS. The name of my store is COMPLETE HOME. This store to be contains the number of variety and assortment of the hardware goods. My retail store COMPLETE HOME to be contain the Binding wire, Paint, Putty, Cement, Wood Varnish, Door Handle, Lock, Fevicol, Polish, Primer, Needle, Ply wood, Screw, Nut Bolt etc In general description I can choose the type of store which open in the market and also made mission goals and objectives of the retail stores. Hardware stores, sell household hardware including: fasteners, hand tools, power tools, keys, locks, hinges, chains, plumbing supplies, electrical supplies, cleaning products, house wares, tools, paint, and lawn and garden products directly to consumers for use at home or for business. Home Hardware consists of four separate banners, offering goods such as the following: Home Hardware house wares, tools, paint, garden supplies Home Building Centre lumber, plumbing and electrical supplies, building materials Home Hardware Building Centre full range of Home Hardware and Home Building Centre items Home Furniture furniture and major appliances Business Mission The mission of Complete Homes Hardware is to offer quality  hardware products in a customer-friendly shopping environment. Our customers will get assistance quickly and will leave the store prepared to get the job done right the first time. Complete homes Hardware will also focus on anticipating the seasonal needs of its customers and providing the best products at competitive prices.   Most importantly, Complete homes Hardware will make the additional 15 minute drive to a mega-hardware store, too far to go and too expensive to entertain. INDUSTRY ANALYSIS Market -In Indian retail sector rapid growth in sales from Hardware stores. Sales from Hardware stores are set to expand at growth rates ranging from 37% to 57% during year 2003-2008. Customer- This customer group can have the most frustrating experience in the hardware stores. If they cant make the scheduled demos or trainings, they are left to sort thing out with whoever they can flag down in the store help them. Complete homes Hardware will be set-up to provide resources and assistance as soon as they walk into the store. Technology- Today more technology used in the hardware stores. There are some obvious area and some hidden areas where cost can be pruned and the benefit of this lower cost of retailing can be passed on to the customer as lower prices, which in turned should fuel demand. Competitors- At present time in India market there is more competitor who give competition to each other. Keys to Success Location:   Complete Homes Hardware is located in  Chunchura town near Edwardian Clock Tower.   The foot traffic in the tower is very strong.   The towers primary tenants are the areas successful supermarket, drug store, and appliance store.   Edwardian Clock Tower has easy access points on both of the areas major cross streets and is the biggest shopping center in  tower residential area. The closest hardware store to the clock tower area is a 45 minute drive. Seasonal Products: Each season has it own unique demand on a homeowner.   Complete homes Hardware will focus on this pattern and bring in local customers by marketing these items at competitive prices. Repair/Project Resource Area: The first section customers will find when they enter is a repair/project resource area that they can use to  plan repairs or projects.   There will be a repair/project resource person to answer questions and direct them to the  section of store where the needed products are.   In-Store Expertise: Store employees will be knowledgeable in home repairs/projects.   In addition, the repair/project resource area will be used to conduct short trainings and demonstrations in home repair and home projects. Products And Services of Complete Home Hardware Stores Complete homes Hardware offers the parts, material, and advice to tackle any home repair, as well as lawn care.  The primary focus will be to satisfy the seasonal needs of the areas customers. Fall/Winter: Weatherization projects. Spring: Garden/lawn projects/home improvement projects. Summer: Outdoor building projects. Complete homes Hardware will offer traditional retail hardware.   These products include electrical supplies, automotive, hardware, house wares, lawn and garden, building supplies, paint, plumbing, tools and rental.   There are other small services that will be offered including key cutting, glass cutting, and other small repairs.   C.H Hardware will work with Building Blocks to develop the right product mix.   The initial order of inventory will take into account the fact that this is an urban store and the product mix may contain different items than a suburban store.   Complete homes Hardware will stock traditional retail hardware items.   The product mix will be changed slightly from suburban stores.   Complete Homes Hardware will open the Tool Room Rentals store within the hardware store.   This is a program that will help cash flow as well as increase sales of rental accessories and support items.   Future Products and Services Complete Homes Hardware will listen to its customers to understand what other needs are not being met.   Those needs could include additional store locations in the future and an expansion of products and services offered at the current location.   There may be other businesses that can be offshoots of retail hardware that help service or provide convenience to C.H customers CREDIT SERVICE- We give services to the our customer in which one of the services is to be credit service means a customer can purchase product without pay cash but he/she will pay after some period of time. And this facility depends on the price of the product. DISCOUNTS discounts was also important factor for our store. Because many people want to good quality goods in low price so we also give discount on the product which helps to us in growing. Marketing Plan Now I open my Hardware store in Chunchura town because oldest cultural hubs of west Bengal so I can do survey to check the demand of my Hardware store in that area and we also need to check preference of consumer. Focus on Target Markets The goal is to have our customer base become  reliant on Complete home to  stock items and have solutions  for their needs.   The customers will soon understand the value of the relationship.   Each of the  market segments will have sales initiatives to focus on each group. Complete homes Hardware  cant just market and sell products and services; we must actually deliver as well.   We need to make sure we have the knowledge-intensive business and service-intensive business we claim to have.   This service has to be consistent and deliver what the customer is looking for. Complete homes Hardware will also place ads in the News paper.   The news continues to be a source of a good number of customers. TV9 kannda local  morning TV show goes on location to promote local businesses.   Radio can be used in many different ways,  radio remotes for the opening of the store.   Monthly west Magazine has already identified an issue, a follow up story is very appropriate.   The Monthly west covers new and significant businesses in west Bengal; Complete home feels this store will fit that description. Sales Strategy Complete homes Hardware  will be offering a  convenient solution which  all Chunchura residents need.   Customers will be introduced to C.H through targeted advertising, direct mail,  signage, and word of mouth.   C.H will also take advantage of all the Building Blocks programs that help create loyalty and awareness among the potential customers in the market.    The focus will be on property managers and all Chunchura town businesses to create an awareness of the store location and the fact that the store is a potential solution for retail hardware needs. The sale strategy of Complete homes Hardware is simple. First, create a shopping environment that will create confidence in the customer that he or she will get the needed material, part, or instructions to get the job done right the first time. Second, make the store easy to navigate, so customer can get in and out as quickly as possible. Third, know your customers seasonal hardware needs and offer it at competitive prices . Sales Forecast The goal of Complete homes Hardware will be to develop programs that take as much slack out of the sales as possible and get them in line with the rest of the sales year.   There is a 25% growth predicted for the second year of sales driven by awareness, growth in rentals and growth in commercial sales.   The immediate goal is to achieve  robust sales in the first year.   It is thought that double digit percentage total sales increases  can be achieved and maintained throughout the  five years of this  business plan. Sales Programs Building Blocks has loyalty programs like Building Blocks Rewards that Complete homes Hardware  will participate in.   This program has been developed to build a loyal following of customers that use the card for shopping benefits.   This program will allow these customers to shop  and  make it easy for them to pay for items on account Competitive Edge Location is the biggest key to this business.   There are no true competitors in our business in Chunchura town.   Our future customers have had to work harder to get the same or lesser service less conveniently.   We will be in their back yard and be easy to work with and have products they need.   Complete homes Hardware have staff that understand customer service and how to treat customers so that they want to shop in the Complete homes Hardware environment. Operational Plan Management Summary Gurpreet singh is a excellent staff supervisor and will do very well in managing the staff of Complete homes Hardware. Personnel Plan Complete homes Hardware will have the following staff members: Manager. Assistant Manager. Office Manager/Accountant. Checkers (full time and part time). Two Customer Assistants. Stockers (full time and part time). LAYOUT For opening the hardware store (COMPLETE HOME) for the effective and efficient layout must be based on the following consideration:- Selecting a layout while allows for complete presentation of the merchandise to the customer. A good layout encourages customer to move around the complete store and at times, make an unplanned purchase. Keeping this objective in mind, we have different entry and exit points for the store. We also striking the right balance between space used for displays and services areas so that the returns on the investment is maximized. We also designing the store needs of women, the elderly and disabled person who may visit the store, need to be taken into account and provided for. In our Hardware store also has to be designed keeping in mind the merchandise that we sell in the store and it also target audience. LOCATION So location of my department store in Chunchura town because oldest cultural hubs of west Bengal . Location of retail store is important aspect as customer point of view because location is the critical factor in consumer selection of store and whenever we opened a retail store than we have assumed the different factor which showed our retail store features like as: Demographic features(to know about the potential customer in that area, metropolitan statistical area) Competition(to know about the competitors and how they far from my retail store) Strategic fit(to must know about the life style of potential customer) Operating cost(different area have different cost) No. of small shops in that area Economy of scale MULTI CHANNEL DECISIONS COMPLETE HOME use the multi channel, These channel were used for selling the Hardware good. My Hardware retail use all three channels to interact with its customers. These are following STORE CHANNEL It is provide the browsing to the customers before purchasing of products It is also provided touching and feeling products opportunity to the customer Store channel to given advantage for the customer to get the product immediately after they buy it. INTERNET CHANNEL Our hardware retail provides the information to customer about which the hardware good are available in our retail store. These Internet channels also contain the all information about hardware good price. The benefit of Internet channel as compared with the other two channels is the vast number of consumers to purchase the product easily. RETAIL FORMAT In which I have included the different strategies which lead our business and used different competitive promotional planned which make our retail store attractive and effective. And these should be done according to these points; Nature of merchandise and services offered Pricing policy Advertising and promotion programs Store design and visual merchandising Customer services FINIANCIAL PLAN FOR OUR HARDWARE STORE In this project a huge funds is needed for the Building hardware store so then we can project that how much amount will be need, so it organized into six sections; 1) Cost of project-First step is to be estimate the cost of project and represents the total of all items of outlay associated with a project which are supported by long term funds. It is the sum of the outlays on the following: Land and Site development Buildings and civil works Miscellaneous fixed assets Pre-operative expenses 2) Means of Finance-after estimate cost of project the following means of finance are available: Share capital- there are two types of share capital A) Equity capital-represents the contribution made by the owners of the business B) Preference capital- represents the contribution made by preference shareholder Term Loans-In this project a huge funds is needed for the hardware store so in this way I take a secure loan from bank for this hardware store I secure my own property now which present market value is 3cr it is sufficient for the bank security to give me loan for my project. Miscellaneous source- A small portion of project finance also from miscellaneous source like unsecured loans, public deposits, and leasing and hire purchase finance. 3) Cost of production-The cost of production may also worked out. The major components of production are: Material cost Utilities cost Labour cost Factory overhead cost Profitability projections-The project profitability is good as I choose a profitable location in the heart of the city. My target is that to earn good profits in year. For this goal I really to do work hard and do many things like publicityadvertisent in this way people know about the new hardware store is open in the city. And also projected the profit and loss for the four years. Personnel Plan Year 1 Year 2 Manager 36,000 40,000 Assistant Manager 36,000 39,000 Office Manager/Bookkeeper 36,000 39,000 Checkers 32,400 35,500 Customer Assistants 60,000 68,000 Stockers 39,600 44,000 Other 0 0 Total People 9 9 Total Payroll 240,000 265,500 5) Projected cash flow statements- Then after project profit we also shows the movement of cash into and out of the firm and its net impact on the cash balance. So with this better financial planning, project evaluation and fund control. We also projected the cash flow statement Cash Received (RS IN LACS) Cash from Operations Cash Sales 964,000 Subtotal Cash from Operations 964,000 Additional Cash Received Sales Tax, VAT, HST/GST Received 0 New Current Borrowing 0 New Other Liabilities (interest-free) 0 New Long-term Liabilities 0 Sales of Other Current Assets 0 Sales of Long-term Assets 0 New Investment Received 0 Subtotal Cash Received 964,000 Expenditures Year 1 Expenditures from Operations Cash Spending 240,000 Bill Payments 648,662 Subtotal Spent on Operations 888,662 Additional Cash Spent Sales Tax, VAT, HST/GST Paid Out 0 Principal Repayment of Current Borrowing 0 Other Liabilities Principal Repayment 0 Long-term Liabilities Principal Repayment 30,000 Purchase Other Current Assets 0 Purchase Long-term Assets 0 Dividends 0 Subtotal Cash Spent 918,662 Net Cash Flow 45,338 Cash Balance 166,338 Projected balance sheet- we also in the last projected our assets and liabilities of the business. With this we know about our financial strength. Projected balance sheet PARTICULAR OPENING BALANCE CLOSING BALANCE Assets Current Assets Cash 166,338 Inventory 46,200 Other Current Assets 0 Total Current Assets 212,538 Long-term Assets Long-term Assets 30,000 Accumulated Depreciation 4,284 Total Long-term Assets 25,716 Total Assets 238,254 Liabilities and Capital Year 1 Current Liabilities Accounts Payable 61,715 Current Borrowing 0 Other Current Liabilities 0 Subtotal Current Liabilities 61,715 Long-term Liabilities 120,000 Total Liabilities 181,715 Paid-in Capital 80,000 Retained Earnings (79,000) Earnings 55,539 Total Capital 56,539 Total Liabilities and Capital 238,254 Net Worth 56,539 CONCLUSION So after project all the things like market plan, operational plan and also financial plan then we all plan put into the action and control them so the work was going effectively and efficiently. As I select the take a loan from the banks and some fund collect by issue of securities so I have build a good Hardware store which become attractive. So my hardware store name is COMPLETE HOME which means complete your dream home. And we always aim to provide the good product and services to our consumer . REFRENCES www.businessplan.com http://www.bplans.com/hardware_retail_franchise_business_plan/financial_plan_fc.cfm http://www.scribd.com/doc/21040477/Retail-Formats http://www.indiahardwarestores.in/ BOOKS SWAPNA PRADHAN PRASANA CHANDRA

Kfc Pizzahut Supply Chain

KFC/Pizza Hut makes efficiency gains with Zap Business Intelligence Businesses become more agile, responsive and performance-focused Situation There are over 120 KFC and Pizza Hut outlets in Singapore, employing about 5,000 staff. Both brands also offer Singapore-wide delivery services. In the face of rapid business growth, KFC/Pizza Hut found that their business intelligence (BI) system was unable to cope. It fared badly when meeting corporate reporting requirements, benchmarking store performance, and reducing the time and costs spent on day-to-day reporting across multiple business systems. We faced daily challenges in producing timely reports and complex analysis across our many restaurants and product lines to make informed decisions,† said Mr Tan Teng Sern, System Analyst with KFC/ Pizza Hut in Singapore. For example, day-to-day operational reporting is required to calculate the pay to daily-rated workers like delivery staff. Using the old BI system, it could take restaur ant managers hours at the end of each day to tally the number of deliveries that each rider had made, resulting in restaurant managers working overtime, and riders waiting for their payment.The system was also difficult to use and rigid in design. Work which could take up to a few days every month also went into generating reports to meet corporate requirements. The problem in generating timely reports also hindered KFC/ Pizza Hut’s ability to respond quickly to changes in the business environment. What they needed was a solution that would let them set different objectives for different departments, and monitor each department’s performance. Case Study Name: KFC & Pizza Hut Overview: KFC and Pizza Hut are major players in the local food and beverage market.Since establishing the first KFC outlet in Singapore in 1977, the chain has grown to over 120 outlets employing about 5,000 staff. KFC/Pizza Hut faced difficulties when meeting corporate reporting requirements, benc hmarking store performance, and reducing the time and costs spent on reporting across multiple business systems. Products Used: Zap Business Intelligence â€Å"Improving reporting and analysis across our restaurants and head offices offers considerable gains in efficiency and will enable our businesses to become more agile, responsive and performance-focused. Mr Tan Teng Sern System Analyst KFC/Pizza Hut Solution KFC/Pizza Hut embarked on a search for an affordable, high-performance and easy to maintain business intelligence and data warehousing solution. â€Å"We could not afford to have a data warehouse project that would take months or years to implement,† said Mr Tan. â€Å"With the scale of hundreds of users, it would have been very costly for us to adopt most of the available solutions in the market. † These requirements led KFC/Pizza Hut to Zap and its solution, Zap Business Intelligence. We chose Zap Business Intelligence because it offers powerful functionali ty and proven scalability, and yet is easy to install, maintain, and use,† said Mr Tan. The deployment aced its test with KFC/Pizza Hut when Zap was rolled out in the production environment. Here, users wanted to incorporate other data sources to complete the corporate data warehouse, including Pointof-Sale, Marketing, HR/Payroll, and Supply Chain Management. â€Å"With Zap’s help, we built the data warehouse, OLAP cubes and business analytics content for the delivery service business in 10 days.After two months of parallel run and testing, we went live with the Zap Business Intelligence in September 2009,† said Mr Tan. The Zap solution supports close to 400 users, including restaurant managers, operations managers, and back office directors. It brings together key BI capabilities including dashboards, analysis, reporting, KPIs and scorecards, all in a user-friendly web portal. â€Å"We chose Zap Business Intelligence because it offers powerful functionality and proven scalability, and yet is easy to install, maintain, and use,† Mr Tan Teng Sern System Analyst KFC/Pizza HutBenefits Zap’s Business Intelligence has resulted in many significant benefits for KFC/Pizza Hut. â€Å"Improving reporting and analysis across our restaurants and head offices offers considerable gains in efficiency and will enable our businesses to become more agile, responsive and performance-focused,† said Mr Tan. The BI system contributes to greater business agility in several ways: 1) Optimizing marketing spend: The system allows KFC/Pizza Hut to evaluate the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, enabling immediate adjustment of these campaigns to target them more effectively. ) Enabling strategic restaurant planning: By analyzing sales and demand, KFC/Pizza Hut can conduct more effective strategic planning to open the right restaurant at the right location at the right time. 3) Enhancing customer service: The system analyzes delivery punctualit y, and correlates it with parameters such as restaurant and rider, allowing management to make decisions to fine-tune operations, and improve customer service. 4) Improving sales: The analysis of point-of-sale data enables KFC/Pizza Hut to measure the effectiveness of their package deals in order to improve sales.Cost savings Mr Tan estimated that KFC/Pizza Hut will gain a return on investment from Zap Business Intelligence within 12 months, particularly in reducing the amount of staff time spent on daily reporting. The Zap solution has resulted in cost savings in several areas, including improving labor efficiency. With Zap, the time taken for restaurant managers to check reports has been reduced from 30 minutes to about five minutes, and while operation managers and administrators used to spend about an hour a day retrieving reports, this can now be done almost instantly.This has resulted in significant labor cost savings. Another cost saving measure has been reducing the reliance on IT. â€Å"Improving reporting and analysis across our restaurants and head offices offers considerable gains in efficiency and will enable our businesses to become more agile, responsive and performance-focused,† Mr Tan Teng Sern System Analyst KFC/Pizza Hut www. zaptechnology. com  © 2010 Zap Technology – v0510

Do price cautious consumers benefit from supermarket expansion - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 18 Words: 5345 Downloads: 6 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? Title: Write a literary review: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Do price cautious consumers benefit from supermarket expansion?à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ 4000 words. This paper focuses on the question of whether expansion in the supermarket sector has produced real benefits for the retail consumer in terms of cost. It sets out to examine this issue through a collective review of the associated literature, and especially media reports, official sources, and academic publications. It will focus predominantly on the UK market as an empirical model: however, where appropriate, it will also consider the implications of globalization for British supermarkets and consumers. This topic, it may be argued, has been rendered highly topical by contemporary events. An environment of economic uncertainty has had the effect of focusing consumer and media attention squarely on retail price reductions à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" and rises. Background and Conceptual Issues. There is no question that there has been a huge expansion in the UK supermarket sector over the last twenty years. Furthermore, this expansion has been multi-faceted. Not only has the number and variety of supermarket retailers grown dramatically, but the latter have been actively re-defining the nature of the business in a manner which far exceeds its former model. This diversification has seen the range of products and services available to consumers expand beyond all recognition, and one feature above all characterizes the strategy and accomplishment of this: competition on price. It is arguably a generally held principle that the supermarket business as a whole has sought, gained and maintained its competitive advantage predominantly on price. As the Office of Fair Trading observes, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦We have received no firm evidence to show that below-cost selling and price flexing are affecting competition adversely. The opinion has been expressed to us that price-flexing has decreased since 2000 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (OFT 2005: p.9) This is not to say that the sector has not also attempted to increase market share à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" and access new markets à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" through innovation. Online shopping and e.commerce provides a key example of this. However, the latter arguably still augments any convenience derived from internet purchases with the assurance that the customer is receiving the best available price for their merchandise. It is also important to differentiate between the principle supermarket businesses, which cannot be seen as a homogeneous block: their pricing policies are intrinsically connected to the vagaries of their own business fortunes. Asda continues to leverage on the buying power of its US parent company Wal-mart, to pressurize its rivals. The current sector leader, Tesco, with a market share fluctuating around 30%, continues to invest hundreds of millions of pounds in price cuts, to retain its self-proclaimed à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"drivi ng forceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ status in what it terms à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"bargain Britain.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ As former CEO Tim Mason put, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"I believe (the) Tesco Value range has been a driving force in bringing prices down for shoppers. That is what today we sell a Value iron for under a fiver, a pair of jeans for three pounds and a kilo of potatoes for forty penceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Rigby 2005). In an age of savvy Category Management however, where planograms may attract footfall business in carefully constructed ways, this foregrounding of deeply discounted lines may mask the overall cost of essential shopping for consumers. The question which must be asked here is therefore, how true are such claims? In other words, is the case that consumers can rely totally on supermarket claims of truly competitive pricing in favour of the consumer, or is this idea a misleading one? The basic contention of this paper is that, although supermarket expansion does confer certain benefits on the consumer in terms of price, it is not necessarily the case that continued expansion will automatically do so. As Seth and Randall suggest, there are several ways in which the cost-effectiveness of supermarket shopping for UK consumers could be measured. As they put it, two comparisons should be made: specifically, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦what shoppers could buy the same or similar goods for in Britain, and the price levels in other countries compared with Britain.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. As they themselves concede however, the results are by no means incontrovertible or clear. (Seth and Randall 1999: p.259). There is also a sense in which such data would, in any case, be inadequate to address the question under discussion here. Seth and Randallà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s argument is, in a sense, a totalizing critique, applicable to the supermarket sector as a whole. For a number of reasons, it is a generally held truism that UK consumers get a relatively poor deal compared to their continental or North American counterparts: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"..one view is that the British grocers have managed to persuade their shoppers to accept higher price levels in return for the range and quality of goods, and the ambience of their more attractive stores.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Seth and Randall 1999: p.259). There are arguably a number of social, economic and cultural factors which could be brought to bear here. However, in absolute terms, a rather different type of enquiry needs to be pursued in this context. Specifically, the fact UK consumers on aggregate pay a higher price, may apply in spite of supermarket expansion, or because of it. In other words, the only way to identify the precise role of expansion within this equation is to isolate it, a process only practicable over a very long term analysis. This might be achieved, for example, by comparing price levels in the earlier, pre-expansion manifestation of the UK supermarket sector, with more contemporary figures. The oth er conceptual question which needs to be asked is, whether major supermarket price wars can actually have a benefit to consumers beyond the confines of the supermarkets themselves. In other words, does supermarket discount policy force other, non-supermarket high street retailers to reduce their profit margins by reducing costs to the end user? Circumstantially, the answer would seem to be yes. When struggling to explain a drop of almost 46 per cent in its pre-tax profits, previously buoyant high street player JJB Sports attributed the loss to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦competition from rival chains, department stores, supermarkets and the internet.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Callan 2006). Research of this depth is, however, beyond the scope, and tangential to the purpose of this particular discussion. The point being made here is arguably a highly relevant one: how, precisely, can the real benefits to consumers from supermarket expansion be measured and assessed in terms of price? In te rms of a literature review, how has this question been treated in the different genres of scholarship devoted to supermarket retailing? There is much circumstantial evidence to show that the proliferation of supermarket chains can and in some instances has led to an overall price reduction. For example, in 2006 the Office of National Statistics reported a 0.4 percent reduction in food and alcoholic beverages across the sector, instrumental in achieving the Bank of Englandà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s annual 2 per cent target. (Chisholm and Scheherazade, 2006). As will be discussed below however, these general statistics can mask the important details of pricing structure in non-discretionary spending: when viewed more closely à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" and critically -, a far more complex picture emerges. In essence, it is not the scale of the expansion but the element of true competition which exists within it, which is the most useful indication of benefit to the consumer. In other words, it i s perfectly possible for expansion in retailing to militate against the interests of the consumer, if certain conditions prevail. For example, as Braithwaite reports of contemporary conditions, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"The price of non-discretionary items, such as fuel and food has been rising sharply, a trend that affects retail in different ways.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Braithewaite, 2008). As this indicates, supermarkets have been passing on the higher supply chain costs of raw materials to consumers quite happily, a situation which can only prevail when all the major supermarket chains maintain pricing policies which are more or less aligned. Literature Review: Methodology. A key problem in deciding how to approach this topic, is that of integrating several different, but overlapping forms of literature devoted the supermarket business. In real terms this means that texts on business, performance management, corporate responsibility, business ethics, sustainability, technical and marketi ng specialisms, consumer affairs, politics and economics, must all be taken into account. The issue here is that whilst all of this disciplines produce research on the supermarket sector, they do so from quite different perspectives, and for radically different purposes. This situation arises basically out of their respective authorship and intended audience: for example, a supermarket groupà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s report to shareholders is likely to maintain a completely different perspective and argument from a report from a consumer association document, even though they might have the same business as their core subject. However, from the researcherà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s point of view, the existence of these parallel positions is arguably a distinct advantage, since it means that the claims and counter-claims of each party may be extensively cross-referenced, and their argument objectively assessed. What, specifically, are the most useful sources for this kind of discussion? It may b e helpful here to visualize the different types of texts available in terms of their likely objectivity, in relation to the specific question under discussion here. Where are we likely to find the most objective and reliable assessment of whether consumers benefit from supermarket expansion, in terms of retail pricing? On the industry side there are Company Reports, Corporate Responsibility Reports and Financial Statements. Government and official sources include the Retail Price Index, which offers an aggregate assessment of the pressure on consumer expenditure, Office of Fair Trading reports and proceedings, as well as the output of various standing and specially appointed parliamentary bodies. Moving on from this there are a plethora of specialist industry and marketing analyses to incorporate, followed by parties with vested interests such as investor and consumer groups, then academic and vocational literature and journals. There is also a vast amount of commentary on this topi c in the UK media, which, it may be argued, fuels the public preoccupation with retail price movements. It can also be argued that the depth and quality of analyses in terms of contemporary events is likely to improve with the passage of time: the longer the period which elapses between events and research, the greater the increase the amount of genuinely valuable material available. Company reports and Corporate Responsibility Reports are as good as any place to start the process of research. The latter in particular are a relatively new genre in the associated literature, and their format has rapidly evolved into a recognizable format. CSR reports are not as yet a statutory requirement, in the UK, however, increasing numbers of companies are joining the ranks of those who choose to publish them. It could be argued that membership of this group represents an article of faith with consumer sentiment: as Brewster points out, the number of FTSE 100 companies who participate in this movement stood at 69 in 2007. (Brewster 2007). It therefore can reasonably be argued that these documents have become a space where corporations can acknowledge public concerns, and the extent of corporate responsibility can be informally agreed with the readership. As such, it is often what CSR reports omit, rather than what they include, which is of interest to the researcher. Collectively, and perhaps understandably, they say very little about the issue of price and competitiveness. Media Reporting. In this context, we are chiefly concerned with hard copy publications in the mainstream press, and in particular long established and respected organs such as the Financial Times, the Economist, and occasional specialist articles from the glossy and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"lifestyleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ genre. It is argued here that, compared to other research topics, press reports on retailing have a significant import: this situation may be illustrated through comparison with another sub ject. Take politics as an example. If we were engaged in a literature review of a political career, party, or movement, the conclusions which could be drawn from media reporting would be superficial at best. Although such articles might be useful for foregrounding issues and identifying key factors, little or nothing of true significance could be positively decided purely from their content. Such conclusions would have to await the inevitable memoirs, publication of official papers and diaries, accounts assembled through scrutiny of Hansard, and subsequent in-depth academic studies. The competing interpretations could then be drawn up, and the usually inconclusive debate over blame and responsibility could begin in earnest. The reverse is true of contemporary economic journalism, a situation based in its content and purpose, and perceptible in the example of the Financial Times. Although it is perfectly possible for that product to be consumed for interest and entertainment, t he bulk of its reporting is functional in nature, and relies for its success on the accurate and objective reporting of events as they happen. This is because a good proportion of its private and corporate readership rely on FT reporting to help form business and investment decisions. Therefore, although its reports are, like any other journalism, subject to scrutiny and interpretation, they are unquestionably influential in forming business community perceptions and opinion. Not only will they report accurately on issues such as price, but also link such issues with those of supermarket share prices, the trust indicator of their business performance. Bearing this in mind, it is important to note the research of observers such as Braithwaite, who reports that, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦for all the talk of supermarket price wars, there is little evidence of stark margin attrition, and food retail stocks remain far more resilient than their non-food sector counterparts, most of wh ich are selling wholly discretionary items.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Braithwaite 2008). It may fairly be assumed that stock prices retain their value through the maintenance of margins, itself at least partly due to a commensurate pricing ratio. Some of the clearest evidence of this comes from the rigorous analyses offered by market observers and investment fund managers, as the Financial Times reports. Contemporary supermarket group share prices appear to be based on extremely optimistic valuation multiples of price/earnings ratio, indicating a belief that earnings are recession-resistant, and the stocks consequently asset backed. As one leading analyst revealed, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"We have doubts on both countsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. (Hume 2008). In terms of prices charged to consumers, this suggests that supermarkets will not be reducing their margins through heavy discounting, but will instead expect shoppers to accept pre-recession prices for their non-discretionary purchases. In any case, as John reports, intensifying competition based on price often indicates other factors in the market, such as take-overs and forthcoming expansion, as in the case of the Morrisons bid for Safeway: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Morrisonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s gambit of 1.32 shares for each Safeway share was seen as high priced and the identification of  £250 million of compensatory cost savings was viewed as the precursor to a round of internecine cost-cutting.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (John 2003). In other words, resulting price concessions to consumers were seen as distraction and a means of maintaining short term share price and liquidity. Little attention was given to the affect on those shoppers when such tactical reductions were arbitrarily withdrawn. However, as mentioned earlier, the overall effect of supermarket price competition is not restricted purely to those retailers themselves, but may impact more generally on the prices consumers pay in the high street. As Rigby reported of supermarke t discounting in 2005, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"The latest round is indicative of the wider trend of price discounting. Retailers such as Boots, WH Smith and Marks and Spencer have been reducing prices for months to fight off competition from supermarkets.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Rigby 2005). Similarly, the slump experienced by JJB Sports in 2006 was only addressed by matching the discounts of supermarket rivals. (Callan: 2006). Official Sources. We are here considering documents such as the Office of Fair Tradingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s, (Supermarkets: The code of practice and other competition issues. Conclusions. (2005), ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Annual Report and Resource Accounts 2007-08, (2008), and the Competition Commission, Market investigation into the supply of groceries in the UK, (2008). Official literature features some of the most comprehensive, extensively researched and detailed texts available on the issue of supermarket behaviour. This is arguably attributable to two factors. Firs tly, agencies such as the Competition Commission and Office of Fair Trading are the platforms on which statutory responsibility for the healthy operation of markets is built. They are à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" nominally at least responsible to the appropriate government ministries, and also have significant resources of manpower, time, and public funds to expend. This means they are by no means ineffective: as the OFTà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s own report indicates, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"We estimate that our efforts into preventing anti-competitive mergers saved the consumers on average around  £115 million annually over the period 2005-06 to 2007-08.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Office of Fair Trading, 2008: p.43) However, these very strengths also imply certain limitations on their operation however. In the first instance, it is by no means straightforward to insulate the governmentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s officiating agencies from the editorial pressures implicit in both parliamentary and extra-parliamentary lobbying. Royal Commissions, composed of M.P.s, members of the House of Lords, and invited à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"expertsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, and Select Committees of M.P.s, are notoriously capable of stage-managing official enquiries, to produce certain outcomes. By implication, the OFT is obliged to assume what it terms a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"balancedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ approach, or, as it puts it, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦focus on outcomes which support productivity, growth and the prosperity of the UK economy as we believe this is in the best interests of businesses and consumers.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Office of Fair Trading 2008: p.22) To the objective observer then, the extent to which government action would militate against entrenched corporate positions is a debatable point. Nevertheless, if only because of their use of conventional economic taxonomies and analyses, official sources contain some of the most closely argued cases for and against the supposed effectiveness of supermarke t price competition. Take for example the Competition Commissionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s latest analysis of loss-leader behaviour via the mechanism of below-cost selling. As the latter observes, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Opinion varies as to the conditions necessary for predation to occur. We believe that for below-cost selling by large grocery retailers to be a predatory strategy aimed at operators of independent non-affiliated or symbol group convenience stores or specialist grocery storesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Competition Commission 2008: p.95 para.5.57) The corollary to this, as the Commission observes, is a conventional economic elasticity in such strategies: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦for a large grocery retailer to recoup losses incurred during any predation period, it would need to eliminate all grocery retailers capable of constraining its prices so that it could subsequently increase prices and recover the profits forgone. This would need to include other large grocery reta ilers. Alternatively, it would have to collude with the grocery retailers that were not eliminated in the predatory phase to increase prices.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Competition Commission p.96, para 5.59). In other words, cutting prices may not benefit the consumer in the long term. Certain categories of price cuts are made purely to undercut competition: once this object is achieved, the consumer has nowhere else to go but the victorious supermarket outlet for their essential grocery or produce purchases, so they must pay whatever is being asked. The strength of official literature lays in its capacity to reveal these strategies, a fact emphasized by the recent testimony of John Fingleton, director of the Office of Fair Trading, who asserted that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦for markets to work well for consumers, it is a fundamental principle that pricing decisions should be made independentlyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. He added that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦if evidence of anti-compe titive activity was found, the OFT was prepared to use the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“appropriate powersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  to punish the companies involved, and to deter other businesses from taking part in such behaviour.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Peel, Braithwaite and Murphy, 2008). Such official sources do not come without their own inherent problems however, a fact which may be illustrated by cross referencing with related media reports. As Urry relates, the Competition Commission was recently forced to apologized to Morrisons, and pay  £100,000 in damages, after its allegations of price fixing of tobacco products were proved to be groundless. This is not to say that the supermarkets are not regularly caught with their hands in the till, or, metaphorically speaking, picking their customerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s pockets through collusion on price. In December 2007, a group of leading supermarkets and dairies were collectively fined a total of  £116 million for the price-fixing of milk and a ssociated products: Tesco alone continues to contest this case. (Urry 2008). Academic Commentary. Compared to the literature of marketing the range of academic studies devoted purely to supermarket retailing is relatively small, perhaps because of the difficulty of empirical research in an atmosphere of company confidentiality. Perhaps for the same reasons, much of this literature tends to be retrospective in nature, assembling a long overview of the supermarket sectorà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s trajectory into modernity. Typical of this sub-genre is Seth and Randallà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s The Grocers, (1999), as well as Randallà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s own Marketing in the Retail Trade, (1997), Jeffreyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Retail Trading in Britain 1850-1950, (1954), and Murcottà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s The Nationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Diet: The Social Science of Food Choice, (1998). Another sub-genre lays in the academic and semi-academic sphere of organizational history, biography and autobiography. Typical examples of this lay in publications such as Emersonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Sainsburyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s: The Record Years, (2006), Powellà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Counter-Revolution: The Tesco Story (1991), and Bookbinderà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Simon Marks, Retail Revolutionary, (1993). What, precisely, do these genres contribute to the debate about consumer benefit from supermarket expansion? From the critical perspective, the answer is that the benefits to the UK consumer are not only relative, and minimal., but also highly contradictory. For example, Seth and Randall observe that, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"It is well known that British food retailers make margins that are significantly higher than those of their European and American rivals à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" around 5-7 per cent compared with around 2-4 per centà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, although they concede that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦there is considerable argument about which exact figures to quote and what they mean.à ¢Ã¢ ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Seth and Randall 1999: p.259). This is directly contradicted in the views of the Sainsburyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s boardroom, as reported by Emerson, which assert that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦contrary to some reports, UK food prices are generally lower than in other European countries. This is in part a tribute to our food industry as a whole, and in part due to the stronger place that retailersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ brands have in the UK food trade, compared to other countries.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Emerson 2006: p.230). Elsewhere, a predictably corporate line is maintained, to the extent that the whole is issue of value to consumers is subsumed beneath other considerations. As Emerson relates, the official line at Sainsburyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s, when confronted with official pressure to curb prices, was that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the word à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“profità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  had been turned à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“an emotive term of abuseà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  and that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Å“the true nature and need for profit is not widely understoodà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ .à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Emerson 2006: p.132.). Again, this needs to be balanced against media reports which perceive the problem in another way. As Hall reports, other perspectives hold that inflated prices are the consequence of too much market liberalism, and see the need for à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a public policy, a means of intervention and stabilization.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Hall 2008). Crucially, organs such as the FT also provide a platform for perspectives which argue that supermarket pricing will, eventually, militate against the UK consumerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s best interest. Take for example the plight of small producers who, cumulatively, represent a key factor in food security of supply, but may not be able to withstand the short-terms pressures on margins which supermarkets demand. As Henley reports, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"The supermarkets are well aware of this but their view is, let the market work. Yes, it will work eventually, but only after many farmers have gone out of business and supply falls dramatically. Farming is long term. I must look a year in advance and decide what to do but accept what is offered every Friday. In my view, with size comes responsibility. In order to ensure future supplies, sometimes and now is definitely one of those times à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" the market must be ignored. We must never forget that food is needed every day, by everyone.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Henley, 2008: n.p.). This, in a sense, is another form of loss leadership, albeit distributed along the supply chain. As the commentator points out, the gradual elimination of small producers is one means by which supermarkets preserve their margins. Ultimately, it is debatable whether this is in the consumerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s best interests in terms of the variety and quality of food available. Bibliography. Arnold, M., à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Private equity chief in warning on code.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ , Financial Times, : November 18 2007 https://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/067ae5a2-9605-11dc-b7ec-0000779fd2ac.html , [viewed 22.10.08], n.p. 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