Saturday, August 31, 2019

Harrah’s Database Gamble Essay

Harrah’s is the world largest provider of branded casino entertainment; it has around 25 million customers (2001) 25 casino with 40,000 gambling machines in 12 states. For years it had been a fairly small gambling company but, by 2001, had emerged as the second largest in the industry. By the mid-1990s, the gambling Business was flourishing and it was difficult for Harrah’s to survive in the markets due to intense competition, so they came up with a strategy of introducing a customer relationship management (CRM) software which helps to know their customers exceptionally well. A CRM system coordinates all business processes for dealing with customers, which in Harrah’s case includes both gambling and hotel customers. .The overall system Harrah’s developed has been named WINet (Winner’s Information Network) . The heart of CRM strategy was customer loyalty program called total rewards . Harrah’s CRM-based strategy appears to be a great success. Harrah’s say it keeps the customer information confidential and that it is not out to exploit gamblers. However, opponents of the gambling industry have criticized Harrah’s use of customer data. Harrah’s claims the Total Rewards program actually gives these people rewards instead of encouraging them to gamble more. He Further clarified that All we used to know was how much money we made on each machine, but we couldn’t connect what kind of customer used them , but with the help of technology he could get all the data of the customers. 1. Analyze Harrah’s using the competitive forces and value chain models. Harrah’s is facing intense competition. This competition is coming from established competitors as well new players Customers have many options in terms of how, when, and where they gamble. Harrah’s is using its new business strategy to create a new service, and catch its customers. Harrah’s new information system is having a strategic impact on its operations, sales and marketing, and service activities. 2. Describe Harrah’s business model and business strategy. How do they differ From those other gambling companies? Harrah’s business strategy is a customer relationship management strategy. (CRM). CRM system coordinates all business process for dealing with customers. Harrah’s uses its CRM software to identify and track its profitable customers. Harrah’s Total Rewards program allows gathering information about its customer’s gender, age, location, games they like to play as well as reward its customers for the amount of time that they spend gambling at Harrah’s casinos. Harrah’s competition relies on fancy reward schemes, due to which Harrah’s is getting to know its customers by studying and analyzing their behavior. 3. What role has database technology played in Harrah’s strategy? How Critical is it to the success of the company? Database technology is the heart of Harrah’s strategy. Harrah’s database Record information about Harrah’s customers, including gender, age, home location, Favorite games, length of playing time, size of bet, number of bets, average size of the bet, and total points. Harrah’s uses information for its business Processes to create marketing programs for its customers and also retaining in its customers each time a customer makes a transaction his record is updated. Harrah’s all casinos have access to the centralized database because of which Harrah’s employees are able to view each customer’s record and offer that customer same treatment regardless of which casino the customer visit. Database technology helped them to gain a 13% profit in the first year itself. 4. How did Harrah’s use CRM software and modeling tools to address the Company’s problem? Harrah’s uses CRM software to organize business processes that deal with Customers. After combining its gambling and hotel reservations data, Harrah’s uses its CRM software to build gambling profiles for each of its customers, analyze the customer data, and create different marketing programs. Harrah’s WINet system enables the company to estimate how much money the company can earn from a customer over a period of time. 5. Are there any ethical problems raised by Harrah’s use of customer data? Explain your answer. There is an opportunity to gain more money by selling the customer data but Harrah’s has said that it will not sell customer data to any organization. Some competitors criticized that Harrah’s is exploiting gamblers, If this argument is true, then encouraging a person with a gambling addiction to spend more of his money, is obviously wrong. He Justify by saying that the Total Rewards program actually gives these people rewards instead of encouraging them to gamble More. 6. What problems can database technology and customer relationship Management software solve for Harrah’s? What problems can’t they address? The database Technology and customer relationship management software enable Harrah’s to Maintain sharp customer profiles, analyze its data to identify the most profitable customers, improve its customer service, and offer consistent customer service. The database technology and customer relationship management software help Harrah’s achieve a competitive gain in the gambling industry. The database technology and customer relationship management software cannot address organizational issues, such as the switch from a casino-focus to a Customer focus, loss of privacy fears, and gambler exploitation criticisms.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Financial services Essay

HSBC wants to be known as the world’s local bank and this tagline reflects HSBC positioning as a globe spanning financial institution with a unique focus on serving local markets. The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd (HSBC) was established in 1865 to finance the growing trade between China and the United Kingdom and currently, it is the second largest bank in the world. In spite of serving more than 100 million customers through 9500 branches in 79 countries, the bank works hard to maintain local presence and local knowledge each area. Its fundamental operating strategy is remaining close to its customers. As chairman Sir John Bond said â€Å"our position as the World’s local bank enables us to approach each country uniquely, blending local knowledge with a worldwide operating platform. † Ads for the HSBC campaign depict two different ways of culture Profile of company and the description of the market where HSBC operates HSBC has got over 7. 500 offices in 87 countries. It is very widespread and has around 220. 000 shareholders in 124 countries and territories. It provides a full range of financial services being Personal Financial Services, Commercial Banking, Corporate Investment Banking and Markets Private Banking. HSBC mainly operates in Europe, Hong Kong, Asia-pacific region, Australia and America. It is interested in the emerging markets of Asia-Pacific region and is continuously heavily investing in these regions. The major top UK competitors of HSBC are Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland and Those are the corporations operation where HSBC carefully investigates and tracks at all times. However HSBC is not a bank that follows the ideas and the management manners of its competitors. HSBC Holdings PLC has shown steady growth in share price over the last five years and clearly indicates that a company is worth investing in. HSBC Group also demonstrates constant growth and is a very reliable corporation. These enable us to recommend investing in HSBC because of its growth opportunities and bright profitable prospects. The HSBC banking corporation is on third position in the world in regard to assets ownership. Almost 22% of HSBC’s profits have been derived from Hong Kong, which is a well known operational centre. Known as the world’s local bank, HSBC has a history of helping millions of customers globally in order to achieve their financial aspirations. They understand the importance and functioning of different markets through their experience in international trade. As a result, HSBC has grown into a company or banking institution that has the deepest respect for different cultures and people connected to these cultures. Their motto is to look at their customers as individuals and strive towards providing them with a personalised service and credit card products that will fit each of their specific needs. Simultaneously, HSBC Group has been trying to build up a good reputation in the US and conquer the markets of HSBC – North America, proudly stands one of the top 10 financial services companies in the United States. Its combined team reached more than 53,000 employees works with the common goal of meeting the needs for about 100 million customers. After achieving the goals in US, the company focused on developing countries and is more interested in the emerging markets of Asia-Pacific region and is continuously heavily investing in these regions. Furthermore HSBC is considering moving its head office from London to Hong Kong. Britain’s greatest bank, warned key shareholders that this was unsatisfying full-year results have made arguments for shifting HSBC’s domicile to Hong Kong â€Å"unsatisfying†. The investors have been shocked by the swift gear-change in HSBC’s review of its domicile but some others have already told the HSBC that they would sponsor the move. Some other investors said that they understood the move and that the bank had been a change of tone as HSBC reviews its domicile. UKs capital terms for the main banks, now is one of the greatest in the world and according to the Basel terms, is expected to go even higher. Although HSBC refine to the investors that if the terms in Hong Kong is more relaxed requirements, that can cost less and develop more profit by making it the best use of its balance sheet. The loss of HSBC’s head office in London, despite the fact that abused for months because of the raise in financial arrangements, would be a severe blow to the Coalition which, admitting some of its banker criticism is relying on a private-sector-led recovery. However, HSBC supported that it elects to stay in UK and told that an approaching change in its position was entirely hypothetical. Marketing environment of HSBC The most important intention of the report is to investigate the business environment of HSBC Holdings PLC. HSBC Holdings also is one of the market leaders in today’s banking world. HSBC head office it can be found at London’s Canary Wharf on the HSBC tower. HSBC stands for Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, which was established by a man from Scotland, named Thomas Sutherland, in 1865. The report presents information about the company’s activities, financial performance and market environment. Going through few major topics will provide investors with reasonable overview. The first part of the main body will primarily focus on the Company’s Profile and Activities, afterwards the analysis of macro-environment and the micro-environment of the company, evidence of an audit of key competences within the company followed with the recommendations and conclusion. Macro-Environment Analysis PEST ANALYSIS POLITICAL Government is responsible for protecting the public interest. Political stability affects business decision. Consumer protection. Regulations of business activities. ECONOMIC Competitor activity. Competition for resources. Savings. Unemployment numbers. SOCIAL Work life balance. Trends in consumer behaviours. Leisure. Lifestyle. TECHNOLOGY Technological arrange is speeding up. Technology develops now products (internet). Improved communication. Internet business. POLITICAL ANALYSIS HSBC banking has been sheltered by the regulations and policies made by different governments in the countries where they are working. The company has been able to remain to the policies agreed by each government to make sure that the company will be able to accomplish business operation successfully and effectively. HSBC Company also formulates their own defence strategies besides any governmental restrictions and limitations. ECONOMIC ANALYSIS Being one of the world’s leading and completive businesses in conditions of banking and finance HSBC said to have a secure and successful economic strength. In spite of lots of dangers that they meet in many parts of the world, the management of HSBC make what they need to be able to go beyond such struggles and to have a better economic condition and create a shield against unemployment. SOCIAL ANALYSIS HSBC is being affected by the circumstances of the society in which they are in use. By the side of this HSBC tries harder to make sure that each society is given the same chances to take the benefit of the resources given by the organization. The company adhere to having good name and relations in the society that belong to secure that everything will be customary and under control. TECHNOLOGICAL ANALYSIS The urgent situation of information technology, internet and generally the improvement of technology effects how HSBC has been working in the past years. The company search for different systems and used internet to get to their costumer all over the world and also help them know the latest trends in the global business. Except from these, the company also uses special facilities which help then to advance their productions and operations and also make them to achieve their goal. Technological breakthroughs can create new industries which might prove a danger to presented organizations. To summarise PEST analysis looks at the business strategies to understand the environment that the company is working and also to take the advantages and benefits to minimize the threats and the dangers for the business. Micro-Environmental Analysis -Porter’s Five Forces Potential entrants HSBC has many threats from Tesco, Sainsbury’s and a large number of other markets consider to enter into banking industry as a result of high profits that the specific kind of industry offers. Large super-markets in UK seek to enter without considering that those threats sometimes breakdown organisations such as HSBC. Although, HSBC received several threats from the market, they were still able to create high standards for the competition. Strong branding images are used from HSBC, so the company will not result in loss of customers. Bargaining power of customers An organisation created a value which has affected the occupation from one of the two important forces customers’ power. The role of this force contains the customers concentration along with the size. In other words, HSBC managed their customers as a result of allowing the company to gain customer loyalty. The strategy that was used by HSBC allows them to have a chance becoming a world leader in banking industry. Threat of substitutes: Another significant threat that HSBC faces is that competitors provide new products and services. This threat gives the opportunity to the company to work hard as a result of being sustain to its position. HSBC’s strategy focuses on the four different customers’ sections. Bargaining power of suppliers: Customer power mirrors to supplier power. This force focus on two important points. The first one is the significant size and concentration of suppliers and the second one the differentiation in the materials being supplied. HSBC use the strategy of charging markets with different prices according to differences of the price of each buyer. Rivalry among current competitors: There have many rivals in the banking and financial sectors. HSBC used efficient strategies to ensure its leadership position in the market among rivalries. Moreover, due to the capabilities of other rival companies, HSBC develops strategic plans to confirm that they are permanently being the first choice of their customers in banking industries. Nowadays, as we cross the mountain of financial crisis, a number of banks went to liquidation . SWOT Analysis STRENGTHS International Finance. Record Profits. Listed in London. China. WEAKNESSES Poor Performance. Brand Name. OPPORTUNITIES Growth on emerging economies. Biggest Bank in Middle East. Low mortgages interest rates. THREATS Moving back to China. New Regulations. Fewer Revenues from the integration of financial markets. STRENGTHS International Finance Since HSBC is a global company itself is well qualified to advise other companies on aspects of international business. With offices around the world, for the international client HSBC often cannot be defeated in this area. HSBC knows how to succeed in Mergers and Acquisitions (M & E) and the organic and the effective development. Record Profits Last year, HSBC experienced the most profits ever for a UK high street bank. HSBC have revealed their profits more than doubled in 2010 to ? 10 billion with every region in the black for the first time since 2006. Listed in London HSBC is listed primarily in London and Hong Kong stock exchanges, which saves the company a lot of grief in complying with new U. S. legislation Sarbanes-Oxley law. Many companies have chosen to list on foreign stock exchanges, except America, because of expensive new regulations. China HSBC has 140 years of experience in China. Since China is the place to be today for companies and banks, HSBC benefits for being so old Chinese company and accepted by the Chinese people. The best news for HSBC is that, like other companies grow in China, it does too. The reason this happens is that it wins new customers and new global opportunities with each passing day. The HSBC has the largest network of any foreign bank in China and deeply understands the Chinese market and the customer. In a world that is increasingly going the way of China, this is quite a boon to HSBC. WEAKNESSES Poor Performance There is a poor performance in the section of â€Å"personal finance services†. HSBC try to fix these problem years ago. But the problem is there every year. Brand Name While it is certainly a global company, HSBC came late in the game to decide to execute a comprehensive marketing strategy and take advantage of the global brand. Because he had created so many different banks in different countries at different times over a period of one hundred years, which set them up with different names – Hong Kong Bank of Canada, the British Bank of the Middle East, etc. Not even all of these banks prior to 1998, bore the logo of HSBC. In 1998, they were all branded together, but the previous lack of branding and name changes can damage the HSBC brand recognition. Customers may have thought that HSBC was responsible local bank and did not realize that HSBC had already serving for decades. OPPORTUNITIES Growth on emerging economies Apart from the growing Chinese middle class Brazilians and Indians have begun to appear as consumer culture, and thus increases wasteful consumers. Some residents of those countries in the past does not even own a bank account, but companies such as HSBC is ready to move in and benefit from the growing middle class in these areas. In places like Argentina and Turkey, HSBC experienced pre-tax profits by 50% in the past years. This is where it grows more. Biggest Bank in the Middle East The other banks are removed from the Middle East. However, HSBC has been running regional activities at the local level and have been rewarded for his efforts with numerous awards and honours for the Middle East market. HSBC is a trusted name there, and the company benefited from new democracy in Iraq by establishing a presence in the country. HSBC is the largest international bank in the Middle East. Low Mortgages Interest Rates The low mortgage interest rate increases the revenues and market’s shares. HSBC has made some records on this. THREATS Moving Back to China The banking colossal HSBC has been most explicit threat yet that it might move its headquarters from London because of the narrowing regulatory noose. New Regulations The investors of HSBC have been warned that future profitability will be affected by the new global policies designed to make the sector of financial more secure, but smoothed the blow with the promise of increasing dividends. Marketing Mix Of HSBC Marketing: HSBC was known as one of the biggest banking and financial services organization in the global. It has more than 9,800 offices worldwide and employs over 253, 000 people in 85 countries in the world and nowadays, the competition of banking company is very demanding and challenging. Therefore, many different organizations should be used strategic management so that compete effectively and successfully in theirs. In order to competing with other organization successfully, HSBC was able to use many strategies such as Marketing Mix, SWOT Analysis, PESTLE Analysis, and Porters Five Forces Analysis. These strategies focus on four customer groups include Private Banking, Personal Financial Services, Commercial Banking, and Corporate & Investment Banking and Markets, and these will help HSBC reach their organization goal. In Marketing Mix once the company is ready to choose business strategy, it has to begin planning the details of marketing mix or 4Ps (Kotler at el. 2008). The main aspect of Marketing Mix is product, price, place and promotion that the firm combine to produce the response it wants in the target of market segmentation. Product HSBC uses hexagon symbol which means one of the world leading brands for customer experience, corporate social responsibility and represents brand recognition. HSBC provide a full range of service, such as personal finance, commercial banking, corporate investment banking and markets, private banking, insurance, mortgage, credit cards and so on. Price In Price and Service Strategies, normally a low price will attract more customers, but HSBC did not focus on pricing strategy. They decided to use service strategy. For example, employee in HSBC serve customer with the best service. Place HSBC comprises around 9,800 offices in 85 countries especially Hong Kong, China, and UK. HSBC group moved its headquarters from Hong Kong to London. Also, HSBC provide the facility of â€Å"Internet Banking† where customers can access their account 24 hours per day and 7 days per week without going bank. Promotion Advertising is the best way to do promotion. HSBC also used many kind of advertising for their promotion, such as billboard, TVC, print ad, newspapers, spot radio and also website. In addition, HSBC sponsored with many company and exhibition, such as Jaguar, HSBC Women’s Champions. Segmenting, Target Markets and the behaviour of customers in segmenting of HSBC Marketing: The market segmentation can help the marketing manager to determine the best marketing mix for organizing and serving the unique segment. This process is dividing the markets into the segments for the potential customers and has the objective for improving the competitive position of the company which can serve its customer better customer service. Market Segmentation is a subgroup of people or organizations sharing one or more characteristics that cause them to have similar product needs. Generally, the segmentation strategy is the division of the defined market in the smaller groups for the potential users of the products and can exhibit significant and meaningful variables which can represent the increased and measurable opportunity for the products positioning or investing the resources within the organization and can raised the forecasted marketing achievement objectives in the entire organizational goals of the business. The information technology is considered to be one of the major tools for the functionality scale worldwide of the company. It has its own website and it also has the e-business for internet, interactive, PC internet, and the telephone banking. In order to achieve the company’s marketing objectives, the organization needs to develop its marketing strategy or the marketing program that is centre to the detailed specification of marketing mix and it also includes the internal control as well as the procedures for assuring of effectively implemented and part of this is the market segmentation whereas if this is properly controlled or implemented, then it will greatly contribute to the achievement of the overall goals and the marketing objectives of HSBC. Many of the analyst believed that most of the financial institutions rely mainly on the generic marketing strategies. For the past years, HSBC is known as having the strong brand which can maintain the string perception for the minds of the customers. This can take the time for establishing much resource in keeping be remembering by the other customers as the local banks as well as managing in transferring the brand equities to the corporate brands. The Market Segmentation is the centre for the strong development of marketing strategy which involves the identification of the customers’ perception, needs, expectation, and the buying behaviour in order for them to group homogeneously for the customers who can be satisfied as well as marketed to the similar manner. Therefore, there had been expectation that the one segment can differ from the another activity to the customers profile and to the buying behaviour which has the connection to the sales and marketing activity in establishing these customers which is an ample factor for having these knowledge. The market segmentation is not only to group the customers but to shrewd the certain segment for the development of the clear brands position which as part of the integral process of market segmentation. The company now can launch the marketing strategies which use the marketing segmentation for managing its growth for strategic outlook. This can be done by the deliberation of the revenue generation culture and maintaining the prudent risk or the market risk while investing further to the people. The company has focused on the customers’ needs as a main issue for their development and had been done by dividing the customers in their location and with respect to their culture. In this regard, the company had recognized that most of the customers want to have the long term relationship to the company, ambitious and confident, and has the high productivity and focused to the marketing. In the detailed telephone interview, the respondent noted that the market segmentation of the company for the products and services for the groups of different location worldwide are effective and most of the generated profits had been use in overseas subsidiaries. In this regard, the company can manage to capitalize the presence overseas as well as the local knowledge and the expertise so that they can bring the new customers for opening the new accounts as well as looking at the other services and products that offered by HSBC. The company also had been optimistic that most of the customers prefer HSBC for the long term experience and having the well trained staff added to the lower charges and to the broad range of the products. Lastly, this market segmentation is considered to be generic wherein it greatly depends on the region for the several subsidiaries of the location of HSBC and some of the strategies are put to good. In 2003, HSBC had invested huge amount for proprietary relationship to the customers and to their management system so that the customers are managed efficiently. Therefore, they handled greater customer care and process of financial requirements in order to generate the customers’ satisfaction. For example, In UK HSBC generated much customers contacts for more than one million and led to the expansion of the existing relationship while the internet goes to the heart of every customers and their convenience which is important channel to the customers. In this manner, the e banking of HSBC can be available for the 17 territories and countries worldwide. The commercial banking is one of the strengths of the company which includes the incorporated business as the partnership, sole traders, trading entities, and associations. In this area of business, the company main contacts to the customers are the network managers’ relationship which managed and established to the local branch level or the expansion of the commercial banking centres so that they can meet their future and existing customers into their international reach while the corporate and investment banking can prove that the company can give the competitive advantage which can provide services for 25,000 subsidiaries and 1,200 customers for more than 50 countries. Because product managers can understand customers needs, then the group is supporting the teams through investing into the increase automation for the software and to the risk management, to the intranet site, to the central support of relationship management and having the geographical knowledge. In line with the private banking, the relationship to the managers can operate on the cross border basis in order to serve requirements which specialize for the clients for the different sectors which are all in line to the differentiated approach of the group into the international private banking. Because of increasing the customer base for the company, it build services centre for every particular transactions. In order for the company to remain competitive, it had invested that it can introduce the company in the introduction of the supporting and functionality expansion. The company had compelled to the metric of high level which can provide the actionable data. In line with this, HSBC had surveyed 27,000 customers all over the 24 countries which consist of customers’ experience. The findings that presented by are higher cost-t-serve goes across the entire aspect of HSBC in the professional or personal experience. Upon the movement of the company in its segmentation to the other regions, its product and services had been aligned to the needs of the market segments as the needs to banking through information technology. Through this service, the design for the right distribution channel in reaching the every distinct group so that they can stay contact. This segmentation had been essential to every single business detail that runs the bank in recognizing its long term growth. Conclusion and Recommendation for improvements of HSBC: In conclusion we would like to state that HSBC Group is in constant search of further development and its key data of latest year’s financial performance proved that they are succeeding in their aims, as the company is showing increase in almost all aspects of its business. It has shown steady growth in total profits in all most important regions of operation. It has also achieved large earnings per share increase over the last five years. The company has recently made a successful growth in the Middle-East region and expects continuous growth in profits from that region. In Asia all business segments exceeded and also contributed to overall function of the HSBC Group. From our point of view, in a company that has reached such huge size and success, there is not much that can be improved, considering their financial performance. It is worth mentioning, that HSBC Group should give more attention to the rapidly developing internet banking system. The information presented in this report is enough to make the final decision and as far as we are concerned it is good and reliable company to invest in. It is a perfect long-term investment. HSBC Group has around 220. 000 shareholders in over 124 countries and this only adds to its reputation and proves its trustworthiness.

Through a Different Perspective

Asian and Asian American culture are historically known for having a strict, distinctive boundary between the traditional roles of women and men, where, In the domestic sphere, women are submissive to male authority figures, which are typically embodied in the father or husband. One well known example that calls to mind this subordination of women to men is China's one-child policy, which often leads to ill treatment, abandonment or leaving up for adoption of female infants and children as a result of wanting a male child to lead the family and carry on the family name.While this might be a more extreme result of this stereotype, there are many other similar historical stereotypes that subordinate the woman to the man In Asian and Aslant American culture. Regardless of historical stereotypes, however, It Is clear to many individuals today that times are changing and causing culture to shift. One accessible way of highlighting the degree to which Asian and Asian American culture has c hanged from past to present is through film.Alice Wow's Saving Face and Ketene Meat's Spices note a number of historical stereotypes, but more importantly, they pen up dialogue about the slightly functions of female and male roles. Through the combination of symbol and metaphor, setting and situation, and most Importantly, contrast between traditional and non-traditional, Alice Www and Ketene Meta enable a different understanding of Asian and Asian American femininity and masculinity in their respective films, Saving Face and Spices.Several historical stereotypes characterize traditional Asian and Asian American culture; Alice Www and Ketene Meta address these stereotypes and more. Many historical stereotypes of Aslant and Asian American culture revolve around the way a Oman should act in and outside of marriage and the way In which her Individual role contributes to the identity of a given cultural or familial group. Both Www and Meta present the traditional heterosexual married co uple where the husband's word is comparable to law.In Saving Face, Www provides the grandparents and although the grandmother can offer her input and opinion to her husband, when it comes to serious matters like kicking out their daughter as a result of an illegitimate child, which goes against another stereotype, the grandfather's decision holds fast. In pieces, Meta presents Sarasota and the mukluk, where the authority of the husband's word is even more evident.Stereotypically, the wife and husband are also either fairly close in age or the husband is older. Other obvious historical stereotypes relate to how a woman should act in general. According to stereotypical Asian and Asian American culture, the woman should dress femininely and be passive and non- defiant, not only to the dominant male figure In her life, but In general as well. Historically, women could not receive an education either.Altogether, this creates the tropically impression of an Asian or Asian American woman w ith little or no personal identity, but rather an identity where she blends into the cultural group she is a part of. Historical stereotypes of Asian and Asian American men revolve around his status as an authority figure in the family. He generally has a very dominant and controlling point of view and way of interacting with his family. By addressing these points historical stereotypes both directly and Indirectly and combining them with Asian American femininity and masculinity.Through setting and situation, Www and Meta heighten the contrast between satirical stereotype and changing times, thus allowing viewers to experience dynamic characters who change and come to exemplify transgressing individuals, as opposed to having only static characters that are stuck in a historically stereotypical mentality. Saving Face is set in what seems to be modern day New York, where diversity in all forms is represented. The openness of thought in this setting creates all sorts of situations tha t are starkly different from traditional Asian and Asian American stereotypes, which shy in comparison in the film.For example, the introduction of an African American best friend in the form of Jay, which the mother meets and initially Judges close-minded because of his differing race turns into a situation later on in the film where the two of them are sitting side by side on the couch sharing the experience of an Asian television show. There are also more subtle situations where anti-stereotypical, and even transgressing, thought is expressed.Another such example is the instance when the grandmother mentions how Wig's more masculine attire is fine for a woman. These situations and similar ones pugnaciously give viewers a different understanding of how times are changing, especially in relation to Asian and Asian American femininity and masculinity, thus opening up viewers' thoughts to other, more transgressing situations like LIGHT issues surrounding Wig's official coming out and her acceptance into her family, as well as the idea of an illegitimate child to a much younger man.In a setting full of diversity like that in Saving Face, the unique characteristics of each individual are heightened, thus eventually giving Will the â€Å"validated[ion] for both [her] ethnic and lesbian/gay densities† and a â€Å"sense of social belonging and group cohesion† that Connie S. Chain notes are usually afforded as a result of coming out (Chain, 241).Proof of this success of both sexual and ethnic identity comes at the end of the film where the dance party, a common part of the Asian American community represented in the film, accommodates all the transgressors and accepts them, ultimately dismissing those who do not accept them by having them leave the party. In contrast, the setting of Meat's Spices is one of rigidity and at its most basic level, uniformity. It is set in sass India, a period of British colonialism, which enforces the ideas of oppression an d fear of resistance (Shores, April 9, 2014).This setting makes any type of resistance all the more outlandish and outrageous, thus drawing attention to the transgressing women and men in the film and the way in which they struggle to break historical stereotypes and gender norms. The setting of the film allows for the placement of the â€Å"all-powerful Subdued†, who exemplifies not only overbearing characteristics of colonialism, but more generally speaking, the sexual dominance of the Asian man over the Asian woman (Shores, 251).The Much plays a similar role but really expounds upon the domestic dominance an Asian or Asian American husband stereotypically has over his wife. To contrast these static characters who continue to represent these aspects throughout the duration of the film, Meta introduces transgressing men such as Master's and ABA Mania who both have more enlightened ways of thinking in comparison to the other male characters. The stark difference in these two different sets of men, again, highlights the more of Asian and Asian American femininity and masculinity.In terms of female ranginess, this is even more evident than male transgression because of the way in which females are naturally expected to be non-defiant, especially towards the men of power in their family and in the community they are a part of. In a way, Meta uses this play on power between the Subdued and Sinbad to empower Sinbad more. If â€Å"the Subdued wants Sinbad because of her defiance† and if â€Å"her resistances is a power that excites him,† Meta suggests that a woman who is not completely submissive is more desirable than one who is because of the way she can more equally challenge a male counterpart (Shores, 250).Similarly, Meta empowers Shirtwaist by giving her acts of transgression real purpose. Each of her transgressions from putting her daughter into school, to kicking the Much out of their house, to leading the protest against the Subdued and her husband are followed by strong protests, and even violence, from her husband, thus emphasizing the true strength and ability of a female through persistent resistance and the effect it has on the dominant male figure in her life.If a woman's role were to really be passive and unimportant, the man's word to the public would be final and the woman loud either be literally or figuratively silenced, however the Much constantly brings up the way in which her actions continually affect his political and communal appearance, thus depicting the existence of a permanent voice. While the settings of each of the films more directly set the tone for enabling a different understanding of Asian and Asian American femininity and masculinity, symbols and metaphor enhance this understanding on a more subconscious level.In Saving Face, Www constantly brings in the image of the face, both clear and unobstructed as well as partially hidden from view (Shores, April 2, 2014). The title even mentions the face as well. This constant symbol of the face suggests personal identity and in terms of this film, alludes to an identity not based solely on either sexuality or ethnicity, but rather a cohesion of â€Å"ethnic and lesbian/gay identities† (Chain, 241). The recurrence of the image of the face hints at the importance of individual identity, especially for what would be transgressors of historical stereotypes.There is a constant reminder about the image one gives to the public and the way it differs from one's true self. A symbol that enhances a different understanding in Spices, is the symbol, or trope, of the chili pepper. The chili peppers â€Å"symbolize women's sexuality,† but more importantly, they not only â€Å"offer a literal and metaphoric form of resistance,† but also come to symbolize the power of colonialism and violent dominance in general because of their blood red color (Shores, 247).The scenes where Sinbad runs through and over the chili pep pers and falls down symbolizes the success of colonialism and the way in which it has led to the overcoming of not only villages as a whole, but also the women themselves. At the name time, however, Sinbad gets up and continues to run over the chili peppers, showing how colonialism and oppression are overcome.By the end of the film, it is the very symbol of colonialism and violence that causes the women to come together in resistance against the Subdued, thus showing how colonialism and oppression become the very reason and purpose behind resistance, essentially acting as a spearhead against whoever imposes those things to begin with. In a more literal way become the literal weapons against the Subdued, who â€Å"embodies the colonizers power† (Shores, 249).Through this change in purpose of the symbol of chili peppers as a result of the unification of transgressing thought personified in Sinbad, Shirtwaist, ABA Mania, and the women who eventually come to use the ground up chi li powder as a weapon, viewers come to a subconscious realization of a different understanding of Asian and Asian American femininity and masculinity and the way in which this understanding is truly sculpted at the hands of those who are oppressed as they come to face and conquer their oppressors.Alice Www and Ketene Meta use these various strategies and more in their exceptive films, Saving Face and Spices to enable a different understanding of Asian and Asian American femininity and masculinity. By enabling these different understandings, they break historical stereotypes of Asian and Asian American women and men and empower females in a way that gives them a starkly different image than what is commonly attributed to them.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

MGMT 670- STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

MGMT 670- STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT - Assignment Example The possession of a very strong brand name as well as image, which will boost the company’s growth and the reach to the customers. The establishment of a very good supply chain management capability, which will help the smooth inflow and outflow of the retail products along with good customer service. The presence of a very good and attractive customer base and a global presence through a wide global network, that is ready to buy the products available in the retail outlet. The possession of the capabilities and also the competencies by the organic foods retail outlet, which very well matches the key success factors of the industry. The five competitive forces that are the weakest in the Organic foods retail industry are: Product differentiation from those of the rivals. There is no need for the possession of superior technological skills amongst the different competing organic food retail outlets, since they are not in the process of manufacturing products but are involved on ly in the selling of the finished products. Joint ventures with the other firms for possession of superior technology is not required in this case, since the organic food retailers only requires good marketing and advertising skills that are needed for selling the product.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Collaborative Team Meetings and Collaboration Techniques Essay

Collaborative Team Meetings and Collaboration Techniques - Essay Example There are several elements that must be present in a collaborative team meeting. One of these elements is participation and leadership (Schied 2010). Members of the collaborative team must at all times view themselves as equals. This helps in encouraging and supporting participation. The person with the greatest expertise is normally assumes the role of leader or facilitator. In some cases however, leadership is held by the members in rotation. This is commonly the case when the tasks to be performed are repetitive with members holding responsibilities jointly. The facilitator must be unbiased in the meeting to avoid being regarded as a manipulator. Another element of the collaborative meeting is the establishment of collaborative strategies and goals according to Mcie (1999). Goals and strategies to be achieved by the team must be developed through cooperation. Ensuring that the members of the team understand the goals help in keeping the team on track and helps in directing the teams activities and decision making. Decision making is one thing that cannot be avoided in collaborative team meetings according to (Pascale, 2008). Decision making is a joint responsibility, such decisions being made by consensus. Having consensus as opposed to voting ensures that the decisions made by the team are agreed on by members of the group. Without good communication, decisions cannot be made in a group setting. Collaborative meetings involve communication in which cases members of the team are encouraged to open up and express themselves freely without regard to the extent to which other members will agree with their opinions (Mcie, 1999). Whenever the collaborative team is faced with an issue, brainstorming is applied to come up with possible solutions (Pascale, 2008). The ideas that members in the meeting come up with are noted down and discussed as the meeting progresses. Since

Monday, August 26, 2019

A summary post us even more important in this forum given the range of Coursework

A summary post us even more important in this forum given the range of issues thathave been covered - Coursework Example market and sets high prices than the prices at which the buyers are willing to buy at leading to the restriction of supply quantity and a reduction in the demand of the consumers for the product due to the high prices (Varoufakis, 1998). One example of a monopoly is the government of Saudi Arabia that has total control for supply of oil and the whole oil industry. Other examples include Sky film that has led to increased prices in the pay television business in the UK. Inappropriate competition may result to an oligopoly, which is a form of market failure where a small number of firms dominate the market and decisions by one firms influences that of other firms in the market (Howard et al., 2009). Collusion among the firms leads to setting of higher prices and limiting of supplier affecting the consumers in the market. Examples of oligopolies include Tesco, Sainsbury, Morrisons, and Asda, which have 74.4% of the grocery market and Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds TSB, Natwest, and Halifax, which together dominate the banking sector in the United Kingdom. Inappropriate information may also result to a situation characterized by one buyer influencing the decisions of the suppliers in the market, a situation referred to as a monopsony (Ferguson, 2004). An example of a monopsony in the Natural Led Lumber Media Company where it is the only company conducting lumbering operations in Lumber town. As demonstrated in the above examples of monopoly, oligopoly, and monopsony as cases for inappropriate competition, leading to market failure, which results in the lack of a free market mechanism for allocation of goods and services demonstrated by these conditions in the

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Discussion Board reply Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Discussion Board reply - Assignment Example s emerged due to its associated costs especially to the insurance industry, where it cost the American populous roughly $520 billion over a period of five years. In biblical reference, we are required to help the poor, orphans and widows thus the government helps the church through donations, and the church helps the poor. While it is evident that costs may be towards unemployment compensation, it is hard to ignore the benefits, the economy stands to gain. Association of demand and supply determines if a company can produce goods for a market that are willing and can afford to buy the product. If demand or market of good exists then a company can produce and sell the product (Asmundson, 2013). The company will be willing to produce and sell the product if the profit margins are right for the business. If the costs exceed the profit margin then, the product is not viable for the business since the product will not be marketable. If the company can produce and sell a product to which a market exists and the possibility of profit making then the firm should produce and sell the

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Nursing research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 54

Nursing research - Essay Example Importantly, avoiding entrained thinking is crucial in eliminating conformist tendencies in a team. Consequently, this promotes the formation of a strong team in a healthcare facility with this team working together to achieve the objectives of a healthcare facility since nurses are equipped and well prepared to perform their roles. A nurse manager is an important component in the healthcare system’s overall objective of providing quality care to patients. In line with this, it is important that these nurses focused on engaging every staff member under their department in order to provide quality care to their clients. In line with this, a nurse manager should engage their staff members in practice by ensuring that members provided input on programs that the hospital implemented to promote quality care. By participating in development, implementation, and evaluation processes of programs, a nurse manager ensures a total engagement of all members of staff in practice since they participate in the development of program that promoted quality

Friday, August 23, 2019

Session Hijacking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Session Hijacking - Essay Example There are two types of attacks in session hijacking namely; the active and passive attack. In active attack, the hacker identifies a session that is active and takes over by force by forcing one member to be inactive (offline). In passive attack, there is hijacking of a session by a hacker who remains inactive and observes information being transmitted from and to the computers. The attack strategy known as the denial of service is used as a common component in these attacks to either crash it or jamming its network connection. In some instances a hybrid method of attack exists which the hacker may either watch an active session for sometime before taking over or the attacker may decide to inactively watch a session for sometime before becoming active and hijacking it (Hope & Walther, 2008). Another form of the hybrid method is where one watches a session and introduces data into the session that is active periodically with no intentions of hijacking the session In perpetrating a session hijack, four methods are used. These are session fixation, session side jacking, and cross-side scripting. In session fixation, the attacker sets the id of the user’s session to another one, which is known to him. For instance, he can send an email to the user containing a link that has an id of a particular session and wait for the user to log in.

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Telecommuting (Working from Home) Research Paper

Telecommuting (Working from Home) - Research Paper Example separated from the work environment with the surroundings of encouraging you to try harder. But this system is getting more and more efficient and advanced as technologies get more advanced. (1)The local loop is the connection between the person that is utilizing the telecommunication network and the main service at which it is. The system of networking telecommunications was widely used sense the beginning of the industry of the telephone, and offered, and started with a simple network which was not interconnected nationally or internationally; but was based on small networks connected in a small area that were generally not connected to a lager network. This then connects the VPN format to the business and makes it so that you have, all day during your work, a connection with your employer to be free to ask them any questions you have and to receive assignments when they come in. As the telecommunication industry gets more and more advanced, so does the telecommute industry. The cell phone gets more and more advanced,; along with lap tops and I cams and other techniques that then become more practical and easier to use, bringing more from the work environment to home with the concept of a local loop(as afore mentioned, the connection process from the person that is utilizing the network to the main service at which it is). These more advanced communication gets, the more connection there is within the work at home telecommuter, and the person is connected to for the higher instructions and the specifier of what the projects to complete daily are. 1. Bringing telecommunicaation services to the people9Chapter 5) TELECOMMUTING... with your work environment at the same time. The process of this is very valuable to such issues as pollution and other resources. It provides the employer with wanting to be the professional employee with working from home being a perk. It is a growing industry that grows more and more all the time.

Crime and Punishment Analysis Essay Example for Free

Crime and Punishment Analysis Essay Raskolnikov’s redemption is an essential element to the story. His interaction with Profiry is a catalyst for this change. Additionally, the psychological concepts and techniques used by the investigator are crucial aspects of the narrative. In fact, his entire investigation involves the use of psychology to lure out the murderer in what Raskolnikov refers to as a â€Å"cat and mouse game. † Though Raskolnikov considers hi an adversary, his admiration for Porfiry’s intelligence and the good use to which he puts it are critical in redeeming certain aspects of his character. Porfiry Petrovitch is an intelligent young man who works for the betterment of his country. He is greatly devoted to Russia and believes his nation has a bright future. He sees Raskolnikov as a bright young man who can contribute to Russia. Through the story Petrovitch comes to realize that Raskolnikov has fallen under the influence of radical new ideas. He is clearly not a common policeman; otherwise he would have arrested the young man much earlier in the novel. Indeed, Petrovitch’s advanced knowledge of psychological methods makes him come across as an open-minded intellectual. He reads the article Raskolnikov had written about crime. He brings this up in their first encounter and Raskolnikov provides details on his ubbermensch theory. Porfiry concludes that the young student must have included himself in the theory, as he was the one who spread the new idea. He also uses other tactics, such as asking whether Raskolnikov noticed two painters at Ivanova’s apartment. This is an attempt to trap Raskolnikov, who realizes it because there were no painters on site until the day of the murder. However these clever mind games and exchanges provide the novel with a rich, compelling interaction. Raskolnikov recognized Porify’s intelligence, and fears him as an antagonist. The investigator however looks at his suspect differently. Soon Petrovitch’s aim is to show Raskolnikov the error of his theory; that his ideas cannot serve humanity unless they are executed by humane people. Thus a person must employ both humanity and intellect simultaneously in order for their ideas to improve society. By discovering the inaccuracy of his theory, Raskolnikov can begin to accept blame and punishment for his actions. Through suffering for his actions, Raskolnikov can begin his ehabilitation and progress towards becoming the valued addition to society that Petrovitch thinks he can be. Petrovitch believes that he can rehabilitate Raskolnikov into someone who can serve Russia in a useful way. This is exemplified by the final interview, in which he gives Raskolnikov additional time to confess to the crime and thereby reduce his level of punishment. Throughout their exchanges, Petrovitch pushes the main character to do the right thing by appealing to his intellect. His influence on Raskolnikov helps the young man to accept responsibility for his actions and move towards rebuilding his life.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Financial Ratio Analysis of Sainsburys

Financial Ratio Analysis of Sainsburys A sustainable company needs effective planning and financial management. Ratio analysis is a useful tool to get the financial results and the companys development tendency. It can be divided into four parts. They are profitability, liquidity, efficiency and gearing. This report discusses the analysis of two companies, one is Sainsbury, and the other is Tesco. It is necessary to compare these companies from the data and information in 2011 and 2012, so that demonstrates the use of an appropriate range of ratios. Sainsbury is engaged in grocery and related retailing. It is separated three segments: Retailing (Supermarkets and Convenience); Financial services (Sainsburys Bank joint venture), and Property investments (The British Land Company PLC joint venture and Land Securities PLC joint venture). In 2012, this company has operated over 1000 stores comprising 572 supermarkets and 440 convenience stores (Sainsbury company information, 2013). In the current competitive food retail market Sainsbury has focused on its clear strength: providing shoppers with an easy alternative to the larger out-of-town supermarkets whilst maintaining a commitment to fresh quality foods (Sainsbury, 2012). Tesco has the biggest supermarket chain in the UK. It has over 280, 000 employees working with them (Tesco, 2012). It can maintain their market share and profit in the UK, they also use social network to maintain the relationship with the customer. It is the biggest and most profitable supermarket chain in Britain; it has 30 per cent of grocery market. Tesco has over 2200 stores in the whole United Kingdom (Tesco, 2012). It is a superb development of Tesco, it is from a smaller store to be a superstores. Sales of non-food is one of the key parts of their strategy, it contributes to the growth picture in the UK. Tesco is launching a low price strategy; they offer the lower price for the similar product compare to others competitors. By comparing Sainsbury and Tesco, it is easy to use financial ratio analysis to pinpoint the strengths and weaknesses. This report provides an analysis based on ratio calculation and then compares these companies data to help grasp the current performance of the companies and thus showing a financial snapshot of the companies position. Financial Analysis The following part will analysis the two companies performance in the criteria of profitability, efficiency, liquidity and gearing ratios. Ratios are important when companies need to compare the financial health of various businesses in order to understand the performance and position in the industry. Although some companies are relatively larger than the others such as comparing Tesco with Sainsburys, different scale of operations can be eliminated using the ratios for the same market (Atrill McLaney, 2008). Profitability The purpose of profitability ratio is to measure the degree of success towards business objectives in terms of profit (Atrill McLaney, 2008). It express the generated profit such as expenses, labour cost and sales revenue in relation to a companys business resource. Gross profit margin measures differences between cost of sales and sales revenue, in other words a measure of profitability in purchasing and selling before any other expenses are taken into account. The data shows that gross profit margin had a slight decrease from 5.50% (2011) to 5.43% (2012), although both gross profit and Revenue increased, it could mean that sales prices were lower or an increased on purchasing. Operating profit margin is the comparison of both outputs of businesses: operating profit and sales revenue. It is used to measure the profit from trading operations before interest payable expenses are calculated. The operating profit margin has also decreased from 4.03% (2011) to 3.92% (2012) indicating a change in 2 %. ROCE describes the relationship between operating profit and non-current liability. It has decreased from 10.06% (2011) to 9.50% (2012) by 6%. The results indicate that Sainsburys profitability has decreased by a small amount. Liquidity Liquidity ratios represent the ability of business to meet its short-term financial liabilities in one year time (Atrill McLaney, 2008). The purpose of using current ratio is to compare the assets of the company that will be turned into cash with current liabilities. Different businesses have different rate of ratios, supermarket such as Sainsburys and Tesco usually have relatively lower ratio than 1:1 since the companies are to sell FMCG and all sales are converted into cash immediately. The calculation shows that current ratio of Sainsburys increased by 12.07% from 0.58 (2011) to 0.65 (2012). This suggests that the company is more efficient at converting its assets into cash in comparisons with current liabilities. Acid ratio is similar to current ratio but is calculated excluding inventories therefore the changes from both ratio changes should reasonably be similar. Therefore the result also shows an increase of 12.9% from 0.31 (2011) to 0.35 (2012), it suggests that the business of Sainsburys became more liquid throughout 2011. Efficiency Efficiency ratio is use for assessing the extent to how well assets are being managed (Atrill McLaney, 2008). Inventories turnover period represents the average period of inventories are being held. Since maintaining inventories require higher cost, therefore it is advisable for businesses to have shorter inventories turnover period. The data suggests that Sainsburys inventory turnover period increased by about 1 day from 15 (2011) to 16 (2012), meaning it took longer for the company to sell its goods. The data may also suggest that an increased number of inventories take longer to sell. Moreover, competitor Tesco had inventory three times more than Sainsburys and it took them even longer to clear their goods. Gearing Gearing ratio is a measurement of contribution of long-term lenders to the companys long-term capital structure (Atrill McLaney, 2008). The higher gearing ratio the higher risk for businesses because a small increase in operation profit tends to increase greater amount of returns to shareholders, but small decline also result in greater decline. The gearing ratio of Sainsburys increased by 8.31% from 35.86 (2011) to 38.84 (2012). It indicates a higher risk than the previous year. Interest cover ratio measures the quantity of available operating profit to cover interest payable (Atrill McLaney, 2008). Calculation shows a decrease on interest cover of -1 time from 7.34 (2011) to 6.33 (2012). It indicates greater risk for lenders where interest payments might not be met. However, Tesco has a higher rate of interest cover; the reason may be due to their higher operating profit with less interest payable comparing with Sainsburys. Comparative Financial Analysis In the context of financial report, it is essential to compare ratios internally and externally. In terms of internal, the objective is to criticise whether Sainsburys performance has an improvement or deterioration and it is usually being measured over time such as one, five or ten years. Such comparison helps the company to detect trends for example the ways of how Sainsburys should control the flow of its stock or the amount of dividends which affect its stakeholders action. Comparing financial performance with other competitors within the same industry is also essential, because having comparable levels of performance is one of the major ways to survive in the market (Atrill McLaney, 2008). Analysing from both annual report of Sainsburys and Tesco, the profitability section indicates that Sainsburys had a decrease on both gross profit and operating profit margin while Tesco had an increase performance on profitability for gross profit margin by 4.05% ((8.48 8.15) / 8.15) and operating profit margin by 5.02% ((6.48 6.17) / 6.17). In other words it means Tesco is more capable at generating profit in 2011 / 2012, the reason is probably due to Tesco is a larger company than Sainsburys in terms of the number of stores at about 6 times more than Sainsburys and higher market share at 26.9% while Sainsburys had 14% during 2011 (Mintel, 2012). The previous annual report of 2010 / 2011 shows that the online checkout system helped increase Sainsburys sales by 20% (130,000 weekly orders) which was the strength of the company (Sainsburys, 2011a). However the sales decreased in 2012 which was also partially caused by online shopping. The financial damage was due to sales cannibalisation and charging delivery at low rate. The reason to that is because the trend towards online grocery shopping where more and more customers are shopping online (Guardian, 2013). Another weakness of Sainsburys causing it to lose shares to its competitor Tesco was because of lack in investment internationally, particularly in China (The Independent, 2012). Currently Tesco already has over 100 stores in China. Sainsburys did not fully understand the trends and operating environment comparing to its home competitors. In addition, Current Ratios are also needed to make comparisons between two companies because the current ratios provide us with the first slight of the financial strength of a company, but the current ratio analysis of different companies can be misleading in some case so that investors must be careful while evaluating a company on the bases of its current ratio (Atrill McLaney, 2008). The Liquidity section demonstrates that Sainsburys had a modest increase on current ratio by 12.07% ((0.65-0.58) / 0.58) while the current ratio of Tesco had remained intact. In spite of this, it can be seen from comparison that Tesco is the winner in the current ratio contest as it has more current ratios that is 0.67 in 2012 compared to Sainsbury where the result is 0.65. Consequently, Tesco has more money to afford the liabilities and deal with its bills better than Sainsbury. The reason of this is probably due to the number of operating profit for Tesco at about 4 times more than Sainsburys in 20 12, which was 3,985Â £m and 874Â £m respectively. In order to make an exact measure of financial leverage, demonstrate the degree to which a firms activities are funded by owners funds versus creditors funds, the gearing ratios are needed to be compared also (Atrill McLaney, 2008). According to the annual report of Sainsburys and Tesco, it can be shown that in this section, Sainsbury is doing better because its lower proportion of debts. The calculations demonstrate that the liability of Tesco shows more than approximately 73% of its debt is from borrowings while the loans of Sainsbury is lower than about 73% comparing with Sainsbury. Limitation Ratios provide an efficient and straight forward method to analyse the performance and position of businesses, however there are limitations companies should take into account. Firstly, all numbers are taken and are used from the financial statements; therefore the results of all ratios can only be based on the quality of the information. It indicates that intangible non-current assets such as the value of brand names and goodwill cannot be included into the balance sheet. Moreover, no businesses are identical therefore companies should be aware of differences in accounting policies, financial year ends between businesses and financing methods when carrying out ratio analysis especially during benchmarks. Secondly, inflation can affect the values of ratio analysis. Since balance sheet is made for the previous financial year, therefore the values of assets held could change in a period of time which results little relation to current values. Inflation can also affect the measurement of profit, it may show that the current prices does not reflect to previous expense, in that case profit may be overstated leading to inaccuracy. Thirdly, companies should only use ratios as an insight but not fully rely on it. The reason is due to the fact ratio cannot measure information such as differences in scale between businesses and capital employer, profit / sales used for measuring changes of company size over time. As ratio can only measure relative position and performance of a business. Conclusion Recommendations This report reveals the financial analysis techniques used to evaluate the financial performance of Sainsburys, and the evaluation of the companys position and performance. The result shows that Sainsburys overall performance in 2012 was similar to 2011 but with minor decrease which may affect shareholders / investors decision on whether or not to continue investing on the company. It is advisable for Sainsburys to increase dividends in order to keep its investors at a satisfy level. As the company is also the initiative to the Click Collect service, it should focus investment on improving its quality and differentiation from the competitors. In terms of pricing issue leading to decrease on profitability, there are two choices for Sainsburys. First is to keep the pricing at the same level because its market share has been increasing, or secondly to increase price to gain profit where the decision is depending on Sainsburys objectives.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

A Rejected Child Children And Young People Essay

A Rejected Child Children And Young People Essay Elementary school age or middle childhood, is generally termed from the age of 6 to 12. Children from this age group are beginning to develop their character at a more mature and concrete operational cognitive level. According to developmental psychologist Jean Piaget (), school-aged children have the ability to mentally classify groups or act on concrete objects in their head. They are also able to find solutions to problems which are not too hypothetical and abstract. Psychologist Erik Erikson (1868) also claimed that a child at the age of 6 to 12 must master social and academic skills and keep up with their peers or faces inferiority. Inferiority may develop into low self-esteem issues. Children who face inferiority or low self-esteem might develop symptoms of withdrawal or aggression and find ways to compensate by defense mechanism to reaction in reality (Lin, 1997). Children who turn away negative emotions through withdrawal would usually be neglected as they tend to be shy and assertive. Aggressive children tend to be rejected as they are submissive and seen as easy to bully. Children from a minority group (e.g. race, social-economic status etc.) or children who are disabled in any way have higher risk of being rejected socially. The Rejected Child The children who are socially rejected due to their aggressive behavior tend to remain rejected as they move on (Keenan Evans, 2009). They lose their chance to socialize with other peers and may develop negative attitudes towards other people. Some of their peers do not always discriminate the rejected child like the others, but they do not want to be left out or mocked at and hence conformed due to peer pressure. Boys face stronger pressure than girls to comply with group behavior (Martin Ruble, 2010). Some kids who discriminate or have prejudice against the rejected children act as they receive satisfaction and support when bullying and achieve a sense of common identity. As social rejection usually stables down gradually, it becomes hard for the child to get over (Cillessen Bukowski, 2000). Rejected children tend to have lower self-esteem; they are more likely to hang out with other socially rejected children. They would then form their own social group and negatively influence one another with anti-social behaviors. They become easily angered and turn hostile to whoever that tries to harm them (Trembley, 2000). They also show little empathy and concern for others, and often feel little guilt and remorse. Intervention As the instructional leader of the school, the principal assist, instruct, plan and implement systems and programs to meet the childs needs. They have to work closely with the teachers and give advice and updates to parents on the current situation of their child in school. Therefore the principal, teacher and parents should work hand in hand, in every childs development for a better future. Teacher Teachers can group students with similar personality up to encourage friendship and cohesion among the students. Students can get over rejection a lot easier as they do not have to get into a larger peer group with majority strangers. The teachers should judge their students social skills and find out if they are being socially rejected. The teachers can pay attention to their students level of classroom participation. Through careful observation and interview, the teachers can identify victims of peer rejection. The teachers should also carefully distinguish the important figures in the social group and counsel them if needed. With proper education, chances of social rejection in school will be reduced and peers will learn to accept each other better. The teacher will set and maintain high and positive classroom standards where every student has the same amount of respect and value for one another. They can do so by having a group project with students identifying positive social skills from negative behaviors like bullying. Students will have a clear mind of what negative behaviors are and are educated not behave in that manner. The teachers shall be reminded not to single out negative points of the rejected students, or compare them to others as it might add-on to the peer rejection and unknowingly add-on to the students weakness. Parents The teacher and students parents must also remain in contact and update each other on the childs progress. Both the parent and child should accommodate to each others needs. The child would understand their parents perception and become more sensitive and independent. When the parents understand the childs needs, insecurities and fears, they can help the child to overcome them. When parents realize that their child is a victim of social rejection, they should not overreact. Instead, they should encourage their child to participate in extra-curriculum activities. Participating in extra-curriculum activities like sports, art and hobbies can build up the childs confidence outside school. Parents can also encourage their kids to ask their classmates or friends over to play together or for sleepovers. The children would learn how to interact among themselves which is very important for their social skills. The children can also identify how to be a good host or guest and behave accordingly. This also develops close-friendship between the child and their friend as they spend more time together and understand them better. When they are being confronted by other kids, they will know how to react and avoid being bullied. Teachers and Parents Intervention Once, the teachers to found out if there is any kids who are rejected among their peers in class, they will rearrange their seating locations so that it is easier for the child to participate in class and to monitor them. When setting up group projects, the teacher should appoint the rejected child with more responsibly than the other children. This would allow the rejected child to feel valued as they are entrusted by a person of authority, responsibility of the group and lies in their hands. The teacher can also take the opportunity to encourage the students to help one and other and not to seek help from the teacher. The children would learn to work as a group and foster a good relationship. The children are also encouraged to start a conversation or take turns during a conversation. After school, the teacher would conduct extra-curriculum activities for all the rejected children that were identified and spend more time with them. The parents of the child are also invited to join so that the parents can also understand what their children is going through and how the teachers are helping them. Both parents and teachers should teach or have one-on-one coaching sessions with the children. The child will learn how to take turns, share and abide by the rules of any event. The child should also be taught the ways to cope with teasing by their peers. Conclusion During a childs development phrases, parents, teachers and the childs peers are very important roles that would influence the child. With positive and authoritative parents, children can recover from peer rejection and build up their self-esteem. Parents are also one of the best listening ear for the child. If the teacher or parent is unable to encourage the child, they should consult the school psychologist or counselor for more strategies that could help the child cope with social peer rejection.

Monday, August 19, 2019

New Internet Marketing Landscape Essay -- essays research papers

The internet is changing marketing not to mention the world. "The number of internet users worldwide is expected to reach almost 1.4 billion by 2007" according to Armstrong & Kotler (2007) p. 26. The internet is also changing the ways that companies are conducting their marketing. A great example of a company that has been transformed by the new digital age is Melendi Photography (wwww.melendiphotography.com), owned and operated by my dear uncle Luis Melendi and his wife Maria, located in Key Largo, Florida. Originally a mom & pop photography company, it has now been revolutionized by the internet and telecommunications in the past 10 years. They?re main source of marketing came from local newspapers. When they first opened there storefront in 1975, they concentrated on locals and local businesses as their own means of business. Business was steady, but in a small community like Key Largo, Florida, at times business could be very slow. After analyzing and planning a new marketing tactic, they decided it would just be better to close. The year that they decided to close their photography company was the year when the internet took a nose-dive. Many dot-com companies were going out of business, but shortly after the dot-com revolution began to get stronger, and it came back with a vengeance. In 2000 with the revolution of the internet, they created a website, a virtual gallery, a virtual spot on the World Wide Web (WWW) where customers- not only from their small Florida community could view their portraits, but statewide, nationwide and worldwide, in a last ditch attempt to keep their small photography studio alive. They designed an effective website. Melendi Photography took a chance, on something they new very little of.... ...as available on the Melendi?s new site, which they could only offer in there storefront location originally. They really began to see a difference in profits. In addition, using the internet in their photography business, the Melendi?s have been able to offer greater product access and selection. Conducting business in the traditional form is still habitual, but as technology is ever-changing, business will eventually need to keep up with technology and the changes in the environmental factors and understand that with the coming of the digital-age, every aspect of a business is affected, including marketing. References Kilby, Nathalie (2007). Get connected to affiliates. Journal Marketing Week Volume 30 Issue 12. p35-36 Armstrong G. & Kotler P. (2007) Marketing: An Introduction 8E Upper Saddle River, NJ Pearson Prentice Hall Publishers

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Aggressive Driving in Massachusetts :: Transportation Aggression Essays

Aggressive Driving in Massachusetts Driving in Massachusetts, doesn’t always get you somewhere. There were 141,675 motor vehicle crashes in Massachusetts in 2003. In response to the problem, Massachusetts law enforcement officials are vowing to get aggressive on aggressive driving, a growing danger in the state. â€Å"We will catch you and there will be consequences, criminal consequences, loss of licenses and even a jail term,† Col. Thomas Robbins, Massachusetts State Police warned aggressive drivers at the launch of ‘Road Respect’, a Spring Mobilization program at the Newton Police headquarters on the morning of April 4. ‘Road Respect’ is an attempt to educate Massachusetts drivers on the dangers of aggressive driving and enforce its decline. The Governor’s Highway Safety Bureau (GHSB), the State Police and over 255 local police departments are participating in the ‘Road Respect’ campaign to make it a success. Over 5,300 people suffered incapacitating injuries and 462 people died from the crashes in Massachusetts in 2003. While there was a decline in traffic accidents nationwide in 2003, Massachusetts experienced an increase of 1.9% from the previous year. â€Å"A friend of mine, Barbara Silva, a nurse at Waltham school was driving to work on Route 128 when another car suddenly cut her off. For some reason the truck ahead of [that car] braked abruptly and [the car] banged into it. She slammed into [the car]. It was a horrible accident. It could have been avoided if [the other car] hadn’t jumped lanes. â€Å"I call it a pinball game that aggressive drivers play when they bounce from one lane to the next. â€Å"It was 8 a.m. in the morning last March when it happened. [The driver] wasn’t drunk or anything and it didn’t have anything to do with the weather conditions,† said Carole Ferguson Page, a Massachusetts resident. The Massachusetts state and local police issued approximately 148,000 aggressive driving citations from 2000 through 2003. 17,950 of these citations involved a crash. The number of aggressive driving citations issued by Massachusetts state and local police increased approximately 3% during this time. Aggressive driving involves failing to yield right of way, making improper and unsafe lane changes, passing on the shoulder, ignoring traffic lights, following too closely (tailgating) and speeding. An aggressive driving citation involves two or more of these violations. Aggressive driving can also result from drunk or drug driving and distracted driving. It is hence densely woven into multiple road dangers. â€Å"Aggressive driving behavior is among our top traffic problems,† said Lt.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Battle of Trafalgar Essay

The Battle of Trafalgar was the most significant battle won by the British against the combined forces of the French and Spanish fleets during the Napoleonic Wars. This battle also had significant impact on the concept of navigation when it comes to the Naval Doctrine of War. This battle proved that tactical unorthodoxy could win battles; even though you might be outmanned and outgunned by your opponent you can still win battles by deviating from the old Naval Doctrine. This battle was part of a much larger campaign called the Trafalgar campaign which included several different battles that led up to the final battle at Trafalgar. This campaign was a long and complicated series of fleet maneuvers carried out by the combined French and Spanish fleets and the opposing moves of the British Royal Navy during much of 1805. These were the culmination of French plans to force a passage through the English Channel, and so achieve a successful invasion of the United Kingdom. The plans were extremely complicated and proved to be impractical. Much of the detail was due to the personal intervention of Napoleon, who was a soldier rather than a sailor. This was largely because Napoleon failed to consider the effects of weather, difficulties in communication, and the intervention of the Royal Navy. Despite limited successes in achieving some elements of the plan the French commanders were unable to follow the main objective through to execution. The campaign, which took place over thousands of miles of ocean, was marked by several naval engagements, most significantly at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805. The naval doctrine at the time dictated that both sides should line up parallel to eachother in a straight line so that they could engage in battle and bring all their guns to bear against the enemy. One of the reasons for the development of the line of battle was to help the admiral control the fleet. If all the ships were in line, signaling in battle became possible. The line also had defensive properties, allowing either side to disengage by breaking away in formation. If the attacker chose to continue combat their line would be broken as well. This type of warfare allowed each side to fight a battle and then to disengage at any time to minimize the losses to their fleet. However with England under threat of invasion by Napoleon and his grand army, British Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson needed to ensure that the British were in control of the seas. In order to do this Nelson needed to fight and win a decisive battle that would clearly establish Britain’s naval supremacy. However in order to do this he would have to make sure that the combined French and Spanish fleets actually remained in the battle long enough to win a decisive victory. What Nelson planned on doing was instead of lining up parallel to the opposing fleet, Nelson would take his navy and charge at the enemy and deliberately cut the their battle line in two. This type of deviation from normal naval warfare in terms of navigation was unheard of at the time. Despite the risk to the British fleet, Nelson believed that this was the best way to engage the enemy fleet in the upcoming battle because it had numerous advantages. The primary advantage was that this would allow the British to cut half of the enemy fleet off, surround it, and force a fight to the end. This is unlike normal engagements where the battle was often inconclusive due to the fact that both fleets would withdraw before a clear winner could be seen. The plan had three principal advantages. First, it would allow the British fleet to close with the Franco-Spanish fleet as quickly as possible, reducing the chance that it would be able to escape without fighting. Second, it would quickly bring on close quarters battle by breaking the Franco-Spanish line and inducing a series of individual ship-to-ship fights, in which the British were likely to prevail. Nelson knew that the better seamanship, faster gunnery, and higher morale of his crews were great advantages. Third, it would bring a decisive concentration on the rear of the Franco-Spanish fleet. The ships in the front of the enemy fleet would have to turn back to support the rear, and this would take a long time. Additionally, once the Franco-Spanish line had been broken, their ships would be relatively defenseless to powerful broadsides from the British fleet and would take a long time to reposition and return fire. The main drawback of this strategy was that sailing the British fleet into the combined French and Spanish battle line, the British ships would be fully exposed to the enemy broadsides without the ability to return fire. In order to lessen the time the fleet was exposed to this danger Nelson would have to drive the fleet straight into the enemy battle line as fast as he could. This was yet another departure from navigation rules of naval warfare. Nelson was also well aware that French and Spanish gunners were ill-trained, nd would probably be supplemented with soldiers. These untrained men and would have difficulty firing accurately from a moving gun platform. This was in stark comparison to British gunners who were well drilled, and the Royal Marines who were expert marksmen. Another advantage that the British fleet had was that the enemy was sailing across a heavy swell, causing the ships to roll heavily and exacerbating these problems. Nelson’s plan was indeed a gamble, but a carefully calculated one. The battle itself started exactly as Nelson wanted it to. The British fleet was able to successfully cut the French and Spanish battle line in half thus forcing a close quarter’s battle. Despite the huge risk that Nelson was taking his plan ended up working. Nelson scored a huge victory against the combined French and Spanish fleet. He managed to capture over twenty of the enemy ships and inflicted heavy casualties against while suffering few casualties himself. Unfortunately during the battle Nelson was pierced by a musket ball and died from his wounds before he could see the outcome of the victory. Some argue that his loss outweighed any gains made by the British Navy. Following the battle, the Royal Navy was never again seriously challenged by the French fleet in a large-scale engagement. Napoleon had already abandoned his plans of invasion before the battle and they were never revived. This battle firmly established Britain’s naval supremacy over France. In terms of navigation, this battle was very significant. The most important thing is that it proved that following standard navigational techniques during an engagement won’t always win a battle. The best tactic is to be unpredictable so that the enemy has to adapt to what you are doing thus giving you the tactical advantage. This is exactly what Nelson did in the Battle of Trafalgar and it paid off. He proved that sometimes in battle deviating from the norm of battle navigation is the best thing to do, and ever since navies around the world have looked to the strategies employed by Nelson. What is being done today is that naval commanders are being educated about naval history so that they can learn and even employ these types of strategies if they need to in battle. In conclusion, the Battle of Trafalgar was a turning point in which ships would fight naval battles in terms of navigation due to the tactical unorthodoxy employed by Nelson. This battle has had long term effects and even today commanders look back and employ some of the same strategies used. The importance of this battle cannot be underestimated because not only was it the turning point in the Napoleonic Wars for the British in terms of establishing naval supremacy at the time, it was a turning point in naval warfare. Navigation would never be the same thanks to one man and one decisive battle.

Improvement of the Road Safety

A car accident is part of a list of problems on the road. Car accidents can happen to drivers anytime, anywhere, and even with those who are careful. This essay will deal with the road safety problem. I will discuss about main causes of the car accidents, and possible solutions for this problem. Now let’s look at the problem more closely. Every year the number of car accidents increase, due to increasing the number of cars on the road. Preston, 2007) The main causes of the car accidents are driver distractions, drunken drivers, driver fatigue, using cellular phones while driving, speeding, aggressive driving, mechanical failure, road conditions and weather. (Morris, n/d) (Unknown 1, 2005)Usually the most affected in car accident is driver, but passengers and pedestrians also are affected by the road accident. Brown, 2007) In general, about 1. 2 million people die due to car accidents each year nationwide andOne of the possible solutions of this problem could be car safety, whi ch include active and passive safety. Active safety means that this system helps driver to avoid an accident. Passive safety serves to save alive for driver, passengers in case of accident. Unknown 2, n/d) Nowadays some of the active and passive safety features already installed in majority of cars for example such systems as Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) which helps to stop car more effective and Electronic Stability Control (ESC) which stabilize a car on the road by correcting oversteering or understeering, improving traction on slippery or icy roads. (Unknown 2, n/d) There are such systems as proximity monitors which shows how close is your car to the vehicle ahead and drifting monitors which alert driver when car drifts.

Friday, August 16, 2019

Healthy Personality: Ability to Adapt Change and Handle Stress

The road to a healthy personality is like a road itself. It has many curves and blind corners. Ones ability to adapt to this constantly changing road is one of the most important components of a healthy personality. That is, the ability to adapt to a changing world. Another important component is the ability to handle stress. We are just beginning to find out what stress does to our bodies and minds, and most of it is not good. Some other components I will discuss are having a good self-concept and everything that encompasses self . Our world is constantly changing and putting different pressures and demands on us. We have to adapt to many new kinds of stressors resulting from evolution alone. Time is changing constantly and that brings on new situations we need to cope with. When a person can adapt well, they have less stress and in general have a healthier personality. Adapting gives us the means to survive. It provides us with shelter, food, and a competitive edge. Without these things its hard to survive. There are people like this too. Some people, whether it be circumstantial or relative, just do not have what it takes to make it these days. These people usually do not have a healthy personality. It would be hard to even think about what a healthy personality is like. The ability to adapt gives us access to the resources needed for lives essential biological needs, which in turn allows us to think deeper about our state of mind and relationships with others. The way we handle stress and how we react to it plays a big role in the development of a healthy personality. To go out into the world not prepared to handle stress would be like going into war with no ammo in the guns. You would not last very long in either situation. There is no denying the fact that all of have stress to deal with. I'm not going to tell you or anyone else what I'm going through. You don't need to hear it and I don't like hearing it from other people. What it comes down to is how one deals with their individual stressors. Psychological hardiness comes into play here. If you are a psychologically hardy person, stress may be a foreign word to you. On the other hand if you are not a psychologically hardy person you will have a very good idea of what stress is. Psychological hardiness, to me, is the act of actively knowing you have stress and using three simple guidelines to deal with that stress. Those three are commitment, control, and challenge. These three things are very important in stress management. Especially in comparison to other ways of stress management like substance use, withdrawal, or defense mechanisms. While these things temporarily relieve the effects of stress they usually are short lived or have negative consequences attached to them. If you commit yourself to do something you are actively staying involved in that activity. This helps you to set goals and achieve them. Challenge is taking a stressful situation and turning it into a challenge instead of some situation you just have to deal with. When you take on something it doesn't quite seem the same as a stressful situation. The situation may be very stressful, it's all about the attitude one takes on before going into a certain situation. Finally control can aid in stress relief. When people feel that they are in control they have an easier time dealing with whatever situation they are in. If you feel that you are in charge of your life and the decisions you make and the attitudes you take on are your own you will have an easier time dealing with stress. These are not the only ways of dealing with stress. There is Albert Ellis's concept of controlling stressful thoughts. Ellis says that what we think is directly correlated to what we feel. His theory includes concepts like catastrophizing thoughts and irrational beliefs. These things are hard to detect, but I think we all do them. Irrational beliefs and catastrophizing thoughts are negative feelings about situations you feel stress in. An example would be thinking you have to act a certain way to get the approval of others in a social setting, or thinking that there is nothing that you could possibly do in a situation. The main point in dealing with stress that Ellis is trying to make is realizing that we all have these negative thoughts and beliefs. When something happens to us, Ellis called this event the activating event, we have consequences that follow. In between those two events is when the belief or thought will take place. An example would be if you lose your job, activating event, you will have negative consequences. A lot of people would add in a catastrophizing thought like â€Å"that job was everything to me† or â€Å"I'll never find a job as good as that one†. When we do that it makes it easier to look at our failures and concentrate on them instead of trying to fix them. It also makes it easier to become depressed or anxious. People get in the habit of using these beliefs and thoughts over time and have a hard time breaking there habits. My final component to a healthy personality is a collaboration of several different theories. They all have to do with how we perceive ourselves and how we feel about ourselves. Individual theories that will be discussed are self perception, the self concept, self esteem, and ideal self. I feel that all of these things are closely related and tied together very intricately. They are reflected within each other and none could really be complete without the others. Self perception is an ongoing and constantly changing view of what we are. It can be broken down into three major components, they are: the physical self, the social self, and the personal self. The physical self is the bodies we walk around in and the unique features each of them possess. Our physical appearance has an enormous effect on a healthy personality. Some people tower over others and some, like me, wish they had a few more inches. Some people are physically more beautiful than other people, and in turn get more attention for their appearance. Other people are ridiculed for their appearance. How people deal with their physical self has a lot to do with a healthy personality. For example if a young girl really wants to be a model, but is not cut out to be one, the realization that she will not be a model will have a profound effect on her personality. Perhaps she will take on negative attitudes about her body and appearance. Maybe those attitudes will develop into false beliefs that people, including her, are somehow not as valuable unless they are beautiful. You can also look at it from the other end, perhaps a very beautiful young lady develops negative feelings about unattractive people. And those feelings develop into beliefs that she is better than everyone else and the most beautiful person on earth. How we deal with the fact that we are constantly being judged and evaluated on our physical appearance has a profound effect on personality. The social self is the many different masks and roles we play in social and home settings. You might play the role of a sophisticated gentleman at a fancy Christmas party, or the role of a brother, sister, mother, father, or child within a household. How we use these different roles and masks has an effect on our personality. What if you went to fancy Christmas parties in wholly jeans and a t-shirt? You would probably be looked down upon. And if you did that all the time, that is use the wrong social masks in the wrong situation, it would affect your personality negatively. The personal self is the part of you that nobody else knows. It is the constantly changing feeling of being yourself, with always changing emotions, attitudes, and feelings. The personal self includes our names and self concept. Our names do have a small effect on our personality. They can change others perception of us, which can lead to many different things, but for the most part peoples names do not have a profound impact on personality. A self concept is an impression or concept of yourself. It is a collaboration of personal traits you feel are important, and your own impression on how you stack up to these traits. Your self concept can have positive and negative impacts on your personality. If you have a very rigid view on what values you should have and you do not live up to them you could consider yourself not worthy. It can lower your self esteem, which is another closely related concept. Self esteem is approving of yourself. It is respecting yourself as a valuable person. Self esteem is said to form in childhood when parents either show conditional or unconditional love. This can have a profound affect on personality. People with lower self esteem tend to be depressed more and are shown to be more susceptible to suicide. Flip side of the story, people with high self esteem tend to live happier lives with overall healthier personalities. Concepts of how we ought to be is our ideal selves. This is all the traits we think we should be full of. Things like compassion, honesty, or it can be things like physical appearance, height, and hair color. The closer we actually are to what we think we should be correlates to ones self esteem. That is, the closer we are, the higher our self esteem. If we think we are not up to par with ourselves it can lower self esteem. Our concept of self is a very intricate and delicate web of emotions and outside pressures we need to keep tabs on. The concepts in this essay are a lot like car accessaries. You can add new shiny paint to show of its physical appearance and you can add snow tires to adapt to different road conditions in the future. What we do to our vehicles that we have is up to us. We have the innate ability to change our surroundings and ourselves. That is why a lot of these components are related. If we feel like we have low self esteem we can start exercising to feel better, which will in turn allow us to be physically fit. Physical fitness will allow us to feel less stress about being overweight or lazy, and that in turn will allow us to concentrate on adapting to our natural surroundings.