Monday, September 30, 2019

Kool-Aid Plus with Centrum

Kool-Aid has been a drink of choice for kids for the past two decades. It is known for a tasty, cool, and refreshing taste for many generations of children and their parents. Kool-Aid has been able to identify their target market and market towards the specific needs of these families. Kool-Aid has always been very affordable however, not the most healthiest of choices. The environment of marketing towards families today has swayed towards being more health conscious. Health issues are becoming a main concern for parents because of the growing number of obese and inactive children who live in the United States. Kool-aid has now found a way to make its product new and improved to the more health conscious consumer. It’s called Kool-Aid Plus. The company is strongly committed to providing moms and kids a product that combines the great flavor of Kool-Aid while providing a â€Å"better for kids† beverage option to help support a healthier lifestyle. The goals are to make a real difference for kids that are growing for a healthy lifestyle. The consumer target market: Families, especially mothers, with average incomes and a kid or kids that are over 18 months old to 12 years old. How are we going to target our market: We will attempt to reach our target market by advertising through channels read and watched by mothers. Magazines, such as Better Homes and Gardens or Oprah, are the perfect channels to reach these mothers with families. We will also advertise our product on major television networks watched by women. The Lifetime Network, The Home and Garden Network, The Cooking Channel, and The Oxygen Channel are all good examples of networks watched by women. Major retailers like Wal-Mart or Target would carry our products because they are major superstores. These superstores are great one stop destinations for mothers because these stores carry many products. Mothers will not have to give up their precious time traveling from store to store. The company will also give specific details on how we want our product placed on shelves or displays. Grocery stores will also be primary targets of which we will distribute the product because of the amount of mothers who shop there. These consumers also have the desirable amount of income needed to buy our product. Product development: The idea to make an alternative solution besides regular Kool-Aid was developed because parents are becoming more educated about kid’s health and fighting child obesity that has been an issue across America. Since Kool-aid has instructions to add a significant amount of sugar content rather higher than other kid’s drinks, we decided to make the product with less added sugar and cobrand it with Centrum for kids. Parents will have to worry less about their child’s daily vitamin intake. The product will still not be the healthiest of products however, it provides competition with healthier drinks like V8 and milk. The product will also be able to compete with soda. It may not provide the taste of soda however, it is a significantly healthier solution. [pic] As you can see from the Nutrition Facts there is low fat and cholesterol however, there is a significant amount of sugar. Instead of 7 grams of sugar the company would like to lower the amount to around 5 grams. The less sugar intake along with Centrum Vitamins will allows the company not to sway too far from the original taste of the product. Price Point: The price will vary depending on the product of quantity. Kool-aid plus will be priced slightly higher than the regular kool-aid products. Regular Kool-Aid packets are around 50 cents, the company plans on selling Kool-aid Plus for 55 cents. This will keep our existing customers because of the slight differential however, allows the company to sustain higher revenues. The price will also help place the product as being better than the previous Kool aid products. Promotion: The Kool-aid mascot is seen by mothers and children and is easily identifiable. We have decided to add a headband to the Kool-aid mascot to show that he is more health conscious now. He will emphasize the importance of daily vitamins in child’s lives. Placement: We will try to hit heavily on commercials between 8:00 a. m – 12:00p. m on Saturdays because of cartoons. Our hope is that children will be excited about the Kool-aid mascot and will encourage their mothers to buy it. We will also have the product placed at the end of the aisles in grocery stores to bring attention with people who walk by. The marketing mix will have to be perfectly used in order to promote and sell Kool-aid Plus. By identifying our target market which are mothers and families with children and average incomes, and advertising towards that market, we hope that our product will sell. Advertising will need to be directed towards these mothers by using media channels directed towards mothers. Magazines, such as Better Homes and Gardens and Oprah, are examples of where printed advertisements will be effective. There are media channels such as commercials on networks largely watched by mothers such as lifetime and The Soap Opera Network where women could see the commercials. The product will be located in one stop superstores as well as grocery stores so the product will be easily accessible for women. We want to position our product on ends of aisles as well as near water so the product will be seen as complementary with other groceries. Our hope is to offer a product that is healthier than our previous products and still has that great Kool-Aid taste.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Health Cruises Homework Essay

1. What is the minimum number of passengers Health Cruises must sign up by November 20th to break even? *Fixed costs = $220,000 (Ship rental and crew) + $65,000(initial advertisement expense) +$10,000(administrative expense) = $295000 *Contribution per unit = $1500 -$200 = $1300 *Breakeven point (in units)= 295000/1300 = 226.92 : At least 227 passengers should sign up for Health Cruises by November 20th. 2. Should Health Cruises go ahead with the cruise since 200 people have signed up by November 14th? Why or why not? : Though I concede that Health Cruises do not reach the break-even point and is very likely to make loss at this situation, I suggest them to keep running this trip from a long term perspective. The company should not consider only financial issue in operating business and miss an opportunity to make huge profits and create new spectrum of service. If Health Cruise efficiently proceed this trip and offer fine quality of service to these 200 passengers, this package cruises would go famous through word of mouth and gain effective advertising effect. Also, the company can better understand the operating system of its product and reconstruct its business and financial system to make profit. Therefore, instead of losing enormous amount of fixed costs by cancelling this whole cruise, I believe Health Cruises should present its product regardless of its current financial stat us. 3. The advertising agency has proposed two alternative campaigns to help fill the boat. One will cost $6000 and the other would cost $15,000. Which would you suggest? *Breakeven point including = 295000+6000/1300 = 232 another ads cost $6,000(in units) * Breakeven point including = 295000+15000/1300 = 239 another ads cost $15,000(in units) : I suggest the corporation to choose the campaign that costs $15,000 since, as calculation shown above proves, it has higher possibility of bringing enough number of passengers to exceed breakeven point in units and earn profit. 4. Should Health Cruises consider cutting its prices for this trip? Why or why not? What other factors could impact the go/no-go decision in addition to the break even? : The corporation should not cut its price for this trip because considering the fixed and variable costs its current price which ranges from $1500 to $2200 seems reasonable and at this point where this trip is the first product presenting and only 200 passengers signed up for it, we cannot guarantee that enough number of passengers would come to make profit even if we drop the price. Moreover, Health cruises should consider other internal and external factors to make this trip successful such as other ways to reduce its fixed and variable cost, its competitors’ prices and products and nation’s economic status.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Daddy by Sylvia Plath

The poem â€Å"Daddy† by Sylvia Plath paints a great picture of a daughter and her Nazi father, but this poem is more than just that. It symbolizes the relationship that they once had, and how it has affected her throughout her whole life. This poem also shows a very generalized depiction of how women see men who have treated them not so greatly. Although Sylvia’s father was German, he was not a Nazi, which is how she depicted him in her poem â€Å"Daddy,† She imagines her father as an ordinary man when she states: â€Å"You stand at the blackboard, daddy, in the picture I have of you. A cleft in you chin instead of your foot but no less a devil for that, no not any less the black man who bit my pretty red heart in two, I was ten when they buried you. At twenty I tried to die and get back, back, back to you.† This â€Å"ordinary man,† in her eyes, has turned into a devil that broke her heart. He treated her poorly, or so that this is impression that we get when she tells us that she was treated like a â€Å"Jew in Dachau.† Having a father figure in one’s life is very important in how that person grows up, and in what type of person they become, as they grow older. Sylvia’s father had a great deal influence in her life, both for the good and the bad. But, she has always been scared of her father by the way he treated her. This may have been one of the biggest reasons why she was suicidal, and why many people considered her crazy. You can tell that Sylvia very much has had a love-hate relationship with her father throughout her whole life, and we can tell that she has always wanted to love her father. But, her relationship and her memories of her father all seem to go downhill, even after he had died. In writing this poem, Sylvia may be trying to dismiss her memories of her father, and finally let go of the fact that he is dead. She is clearly not over her father’s death at the time this poem was written, which was twenty-two years after the event. Sylvia attempts to show that her relationship with her father was a love-hate relationship many times in this poem. To prove the hate side of the relationship, she states â€Å"Daddy, I have had to kill you. You died before I had time,† in the first stanza, in the eleventh stanza, â€Å"No less a devil for that, no not any less the black man who bit my pretty red heart in two,† and in the last stanza, â€Å"Daddy, daddy, you bastard, I’m through.† To prove that she loved her father she states, â€Å"I used to pray to recover you† in the third stanza, and â€Å"At twenty I tried to die and get back, back, back to you† in the twelfth stanza. Many people say that they have a love-hate relationship with someone close to them, but I think it is rare if it ever reaches the severity of Sylvia’s relationship with her father. We see many different events of Sylvia’s relationship with her father in this poem, and although he died when she was eight, she seems to remember much of that time in her life. This could mean two things, either she is blowing her relationship with her father way out of proportion, or this relationship really was terrible. Either way, she is putting the issue on a pedestal, and letting it affect her much more than it should. Most suicidal people tend to think that the issue that they are dealing with is not worth living with. Life is precious, whether we believe it or not. No issue should affect us so greatly that we do not want to live life anymore. I am not trying to mock, but I honestly feel that people who are suicidal are just trying to get attention, but that’s a different topic for a different paper. On another note, this poem assumes that all Germans were people who hated Jews, and were Nazis. She writes, â€Å"I thought every German was you.† Sylvia has made the same mistake that many people have made since before World War II. Not all Germans were Nazis, just as all Russian soldiers in the Red Army were not considered Communist, although Russia was a communist country at the time. That is one assumption that this poem makes that is false. Emotions are what drive us to sanity's edge and the effects are far greater than what you would expect out of mere feelings. Unfortunately, Sylvia Plath committed suicide not long after this poem has been written. This poem shows her feelings regarding that of her father throughout her life, and we can only hope that she and her father are in a much more peaceful state now.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus - Essay Example However, the disease epidemiology is incompletely understood (Rahman & Isenberg, 2008). The disease involves the production of IgG autoantibodies that are specific for self-antigens including DNA, nuclear proteins as well as cytoplasmic components. The disease, therefore, is characterized by inflammation, vasculitis, vasculopathy. Further, a deposition of the immune complex especially in the renal glomeruli leads to a systemic inflammatory response through activation of complement (C5), or of Fc{gamma}R-mediated neutrophil and macrophages. While the activation of former leads to the formation of membrane attack complexes (C5b-9) or anaphylatoxin and cell activator C5a; that of latter causes release of oxidants and proteases; both leading to injury (KEGG, 2009). The mechanism of the disease development has been proposed to involve an abnormal apoptosis followed by elevated levels of cell death and immune intolerance. Cellular antigen redistribution to the cell surface coupled with lym phocytes targeting them leads to injury and inflammation (Andrade et al., 2000). Treatment Diagnosis of SLE is based on the detection of high levels of antinuclear and other antibodies in the blood along with symptoms of SLE. The techniques used for the detection include urinalysis, CBC, ESR, complement levels, ANA (antinuclear antibody test) and other antibody tests, skin and kidney biopsy along with quarterly follow-ups. The treatment involves control of disease symptoms and is determined by the severity of the symptoms. Acute SLE involving CNS, cardiovascular and renal diseases are treated with high doses of intravenous steroids and cytotoxic therapy involving corticosteroids, immunosuppressives, antimalarials, and antipsychotic medication (D’Cruz, 2006). Prognosis Early detection is the key factor in the improved prognosis of SLE. Prognosis in severe cases to has shown marked improvement during the recent years as a consequence of aggressive treatments available. Common c omplications associated with SLE include deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, hemolytic anemia, pericarditis, endocarditis, myocarditis etc (Makover, 2011). Health Disparity SLE exhibits high correlation with women of childbearing age and therefore has been associated with exogenous hormone intake (Costenbader et al., 2007). Lower socioeconomic status further has been linked to higher disease prevalence as well as resultant mortality. Prevalence and Epidemiology The National Arthritis Data Working Group reports that approximately 250,000 Americans have SLE, the worldwide prevalence rates vary with race, being higher in people with African and Asian origins. The disease is more common in the female sex and in individuals within the age group of 20-40yrs. (D’Cruz, 2006).

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Acts of Faith Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Acts of Faith - Essay Example In this book, the author talks about various identity related issues that young Muslim immigrant generation faces in America. The author tries to find a perfect balance between the life of a Muslim and a fully American person. A person taking birth in America comes usually faces identity crisis because he/she has to cope with the challenge of finding the real identity out of the pool of incomplete identities. In this book, the author has mentioned that in the process of finding his true self, he experienced different aspects of a mixed culture. For example, the author was taking inspirations from people from other religions and had relations with Mormon and Jewish women. Practicing a different religion (Buddhism), having parents from some other religion (Islam), and discovering roots in some other culture (Indian Culture) are the basic elements of this book. This book is mainly for such immigrants who are in despair or feel alienated about their future. In a world full of fundamentalist aggression and noticeable religious division, this book provides a way and hope for people to find their real self, as well as a direction towards their future. I think this book is a good source of hope for people taking birth and growing up in America as Muslim immigrants. In general, such people face difficulty in finding their origin in terms of culture and region because they live in a Western culture that does not hold the same cultural or religious values as of their real cultures and religions. In some cases, they face identity crisis in their whole lives. This book provides them with some hope to find their identities while living in a different society. One of the main challenges for a second generation Muslim immigrant is to find the roots of his/her own religion and culture after facing a series of rejections all through his/her adolescence and early adulthood. This book can help such

TV Makes People Dumber Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

TV Makes People Dumber - Essay Example This essay generally believes that TV is bad for the youth. TV makes people dumber because it teaches racial prejudice and discrimination, it may boost memory, but not critical thinking skills, and it may be too complex for their cognitive and emotional levels, thereby limiting their ability to maximize potential learning from it. TV shows, even those with complex narratives, contains ideas that promote racial prejudice. Steven Johnson, in his essay, â€Å"Watching TV Makes You Smarter,† maintains that TV is good for people’s brains because many shows, including bad ones, have complex narratives with multiple-occurring plots. The complexity of TV stories compels people to think deeply, and this thinking makes them smarter. This paper opposes this argument because 24 may have a complex narrative, but it promotes racial stereotypes about Arabs and Muslims. It turns race into a literal black-and-white plot of morality, disabling people from realizing that TV is just a stor y, not a valid generalization of racial identities. Furthermore, some reality TV shows suggest that racial prejudice is fun and entertaining. Scholastic Scope explores the dangers of watching reality TV shows in â€Å"Is Reality TV Making You Stupid?† ... ho are negatively portrayed on TV and movies, such as what Dana Stevens highlights in â€Å"Thinking outside the Idiot Box.† Teenagers might think that racism is nothing serious and become discriminatory to minorities. Moreover, Reality TV might be making people stupid because it portrays negative values and conduct. It teaches selfishness. Most shows are about â€Å"me† than about â€Å"we.† In addition, reality TV teaches materialism. Shows such as My Super Sweet 16 underscore the negative effects of TV on the young mind. They might learn that materialism is good for their lives. Aside from potentially forming negative conduct, TV may improve memory, but not critical thinking skills. Susan Smith presents some evidence that TV is good for the brain in â€Å"TV Makes You Smart.† She mentions a study which provides findings that watching TV, especially comedy, can enhance memory. Johnson agrees with Smith and says that TV is a memory-booster because people have to memorize plots and characters to understand what they are watching. However, this essay argues that comedy and complex dramatic narratives might be good for the memory, but they are not true cognitive workouts as Johnson claims. It may produce short-term memory enhancement, but it does not train young minds to challenge what they watch. Moreover, watching TV makes people want to watch more TV only because it captures attention. Stevens believe that instead of making people smarter, TV merely conditions people to watch more. Watching more TV, if it does not make people smarter and can even make them dumber, will only make matters worse for people’s ability to think critically. In addition, watching TV trains people to be sensitive to changing actions and social relationships, but not how to question these

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

The Emerald Forest Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Emerald Forest - Movie Review Example Spirituality is revealed in the Invisible People’s culture through their beliefs in spirit animal guardians, in reading nature through the noises in the forest, and attaining a higher level of spirituality through snorting psychedelic substances from a narrow pipe (â€Å"Emerald Forest†). This may not seem much but in reality, it is through these trances that these people were able to view the world from above, and helping them gain perspective in choosing what actions to take, including actions that do not impact future generations greatly or actions that venerate the people that lived before them.In my view, the Invisible People have a happier culture that gives a greater amount of satisfaction than the Termite People or Modern People culture. Because the Invisible People work in harmony with nature, they do not cause problems in nature such as rising water levels during rains, high levels of destruction during storms, and even overhunting of animals. This is in large contrast to the Termite People that destroy large areas of forests that not only ruin the habitats of plants and animals but also drive away the tribes that were originally living in these areas (â€Å"Emerald Forest†). In addition, the Invisible People also have higher levels of spirituality and community connections as compared to the Termite People, which makes the former to create decisions that not only impact their present but also their future, while the latter only caters to the need for monetary gain., essentially becoming slaves to money and forgetting about their own selves and the well-being of others from different communities. Lastly, because the Invisible People have simpler needs, this makes it easier for them to be happy and share this happiness with other

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Report on operations management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Report on operations management - Essay Example The first floor also has a big supermarket where people can shop for groceries as well as other types of goods. The second floor has a variety of shops ranging from restaurants, electronics shops sports shops etc. The third floor also features the same types of shops. It also contains a banking lobby and the other peculiar shops offering special products. There is an electronic massage parlor located in a public place (not enclosed). The shopping mall has two wings, with an expansive area between the wings. In this area are the elevators and lifts that can be used to reach the various floors. The users also have an option to use the stairs. Every floor has modern toilets. With regard to operations management, volume refers to the volume of productivity in relation to the amount of resources such as labor that are needed for the production. High volume refers to a high ratio of production versus resources needed. Supermarkets such as Tesco have high volume of operation throughput due to use of automation. In the Mall, there are various factors that have made it possible to increase the volume in its operations management. The factors have to look at the following; The shopping mall has to be able to allow for a smooth flow of people in and out of the shopping mall twenty 24 of the day. The guards at the entrance of the mall have to know how to enforce security to deal with any insecurity threat that may be coming into mall and at the same time be able to allow for the smooth flow of human traffic. The supermarket in the mall is not just a small grocery store but is a fully fledged supermarket selling all types of merchandise. The supermarket needs to bring in merchandise into the mall and at the same time, be able to release merchandise after customers have bought the merchandise. The submarket has its own loading area and therefore does not interfere with the traffic flowing into the mall. The

Monday, September 23, 2019

The relationship between humans and their technology Essay

The relationship between humans and their technology - Essay Example The application and use of technology is replacing the human being services in the world. Currently, the technological machines are replacing human being in performing dangerous work, repetitive tasks and expensive but simple tasks. There are benefits accompanied with this aspect of machine replacing human in industries. The machines are faster than human being and this speed up the process of production. Some tasks are more dangerous and expose human beings to danger. Safety is ensured when machines perform work which could be performed by human being. For example, in a construction site machines are used to lift building bricks instead of having them carried by people. These safes people because the bricks can knock someone down (Cavan Group, 2013). In respect to speed, machines can perform task without resting. They do not need rest unlike human beings who need to rest after performing difficulty tasks. In places where machines perform task, work is done faster than in places where human perform the task. For example, typing using computer is faster because one can ma ke more copies at the same time unlike hand writing which requires one to write more copies. Machines produce high quality work than human beings. Machines are set by human being to perform a certain tasks. A well maintained machine does not alter the information but performs the task depending to the setting. Human beings can forget at times and produce low quality work. The machines always ensure quality of the work performed. For example, computers make an exact copy of information in disks. The application of technology is slowly replacing human beings in performing tasks (Karlen, 2014). Technological devices work alongside human beings. The machines can not perform any work without being directed by people. It is better to have a machine working alongside human being than leaving a machine to work alone. For example, people are working to build up robots to work together with people. It

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Effectiveness of United States Business Practices Laws Essay Example for Free

Effectiveness of United States Business Practices Laws Essay Effectiveness of United States Business Practices Laws Introduction Do you think that such laws are effective?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   United States of America has some laws which are supposed to further balanced, fair and competitive business practices. The laws are basically effective because control measures meant to reinforce and foresee business practices that are fair are adhered to. With this, the determination of either success or the failure of any specific regulations or specifications can depend on the angle that you look at them from. With the anti-trust laws safeness from any form of unreasonable trade, unfair and non-competitive business acts and price discrimination are fully insured. For instance, each time new laws and regulations are initiated initial skepticism concerning their intended purpose and their impact as laws which are supposed to promote competitive and fair business practices. People may however not realize it citing an example of consumers where antitrust laws have effects on their daily life in many different ways.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Federal Trade Commission of the United States Act came up with a government commission which was meant to help prevent unfair come uncompetitive business practices. 2014 FDIC’s compliance Manual states that:In order to prevent deceptive, uncompetitive or unfair business practices to consumers; to facilitate informed consumer choice and public awareness of a competitive process and in order to accomplish all this having not unduly burdening legitimate business activities (FDIC, 2014).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Many other regulations come laws have been enacted to fully protect workers and consumers (since 1930s). It’s illegal for any employer to discriminate in terms of hiring on the age, race, sex or even their religious believes. Child labor is highly prohibited. All independent labor unions are assured of total rights to bargain or even organize a strike. These laws are fully enforced to help maintain everyone’s safety and protection.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Back in 1890, the United States Congress enacted the popular Sherman Antitrust Act which is basically a law intended to restore free enterprise and competition through breaking up of monopolies. According to the US Congress (1890), â€Å"Sherman Anti-Trust Act† illegalizes all combinations, contracts or conspiracies that may unreasonably restrain both foreign and interstate trade. This shall include agreements amongst competitors to rig bids, fix prices and allocate customers all which are considered as criminal felonies and are punishable.’’ Why are the laws effective?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The original purpose of enacting the Sherman Antitrust Act was basically the protection of consumers from established businesses which might decide use unscrupulous ways to artificially raise prices, this may be through purposive production of few goods which do not meet the consumer demand thus automatically raise the products price and value. The US Justice Department states, â€Å"This law principally shows our commitment to a free market economy which there is no competition from both governmental and private restraints leads to good results for all consumers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The United States government has really tried in keeping the consumers and trade industries safe from unfair treatment during any business practices. In 1914 the Congress thus passed 2 more laws which were designed to reinforce the Clayton Antitrust Act Sherman, other significant business related acts. The Clayton Antitrust Act clearly defined what the components pertaining illegal restraints of trade. The International Economics Institute clearly states that: â€Å"The act illegalized price discrimination which gave some buyers advantages over others, did not allow agreements in which any manufacturer can sell only to dealer(s) who willingly agrees to never sell any of rival manufacturers product(s) and prohibits specific merger types or other acts that can reduce competition (U.S Congress, 1914). Conclusion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It’s always difficult to determine when one violates any of the antitrust laws. Interpretations of the laws have varied and many analysts disagree after assessing if companies have really gained much power which may interfere the market operations. The Department of Justice states, â€Å"Effective enforcement of antitrust requires huge public support. However, public ignorance and apathy can adversely weaken the enforcement antitrust even more than any other issue. A consumer or businessperson who encounters business behaviors which appears to truly violate the antitrust laws should contact with immediate effect the enforcement authorities.† Corporate arrangements and conditions that might seem to have some antitrust threats in a particular era and may as well appear as a small threat in another.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In conclusion, whether buying a car, doing some food shopping at the grocery or downloading some new software from any site in the Internet, antitrust laws perform an important role in making sure people have full benefits of high quality goods or services at the most efficient and competitive prices. These antitrust laws achieve these targets through fostering and promotion of market competition and prevention of business practices and mergers which are not competitive. It is therefore evident that the United States has laws that are meant to further competitive, fair and balanced business practices are highly effective. References Pitofsky. E. M. (1978). Institute for International Economics. New York. FDIC. (2014, January 5). Federal Trade Commission Act. New York. Retrieved from fdic.gov: http://www.fdic.gov/regulations/compliance/manual/pdf/VII-1.1.pdf U.S. Department of Justice. (1997). Antitrust Enforcement and the Consumer. Washington. Source document

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Relationships Between Vision Mission And Objectives Commerce Essay

Relationships Between Vision Mission And Objectives Commerce Essay From the vision and mission of Shangri-La Hotel, we know that Robert Kuok was concerned about the customers. He would like to delight each customer for every time the customer visit the Shangri-La Hotel. From the mission statement, Shangri-La Hotel is trying to make the entire customer feel happy and satisfy. However, Robert Kuok also knows that besides the customer, employees, shareholder or business partner also important. This point we can see from the vision statement where Robert Kuok is mention it. He also cares about the employees because he hopes that all the employees can show the perfect work performance. Since the Shangri-La provided a service to customer and without a good work performance, the customers were not satisfied. This reason might cause a bad image. As a result, there will be less and less customers come to Shangri-La Hotel. Without good employees, an organization is hard to have any improvement or changes. Therefore, Robert Kuok was concerned this problem and would like to avoid it happen. As a result, Shangri-La hotel is provide the best service to the customers and the employees were provide the best work performance all the time moreover Shangri-La Hotel could achieve their objective easily. When Shangri-La Hotel is maintain the vision this can help them to achieve their mission. This is because good employees can ensure that the way to delight each customers for every time they visit. Vision is more like a tool to ensure that the mission and objective is being achieved. There are relationship between vision, mission and objective. Task 2 (Loc 1: Ac 2) Considering the benefits to stakeholders is an integral part of the companys existence. Briefly explain the importance of stakeholder analysis to (SKL). 2.0 Definition of stakeholder Stakeholder can be defined as person, group or organization that has direct or indirect stake in an organization because it can affect or be an affected by the organizations actions, objectives and policies. Key stakeholders in a business organization include creditors, customers, directors, employees, government (and its agencies), owners (shareholder), suppliers, unions, and the community from which the business draws its resources. Although stake-holding is usually self-legitimizing, all stakeholders are not equal and different stakeholders are entitled to different considerations. Stakeholder can defined as a party with an interest in an organisation, e.g. employees, customers, suppliers or the local community. This is due to the effect that the organisations activities will have on them, although they are a third party in that they are outside of the organisation. It can also be used to describe people who will be affected by a project, or who can influence it, but who are not directly involved in doing the work. Stakeholders are an integral part of a project. They are the end-users or clients, the people from whom requirements will be drawn, the people who will influence the design and, ultimately, the people who will reap the benefits of your completed project. It is extremely important to involve stakeholders in all phases of your project for two reasons: Firstly, experience shows that their involvement in the project significantly increases your chances of success by building in a self-correcting feedback loop; secondly, involving them in your project builds confidence in your product and will greatly ease its acceptance in your target audience. There are different types of stakeholders and each type should be handled differently. 2.1 Definition of stakeholder analysis The definition of stakeholder analysis is means managerial step taken to identify each stakeholders level of interest or involvement in a given project and how that involvement can influence the project. Based on this analysis, project managers may alter how a project will be executed or decide the necessary steps that must be taken in order to limit a stakeholders influence over the project. The first step in stakeholder analysis is identifying major stakeholder groups. The groups of stakeholder who will be affected either direct or indirect by or have an effect on the firms strategy and its execution can run the scope from employees to customers. In Shangri-La Hotel, director, business partner and investor is playing an important characteristic because their decisions can affect the whole organization performance. They are very influence stakeholder for Shangri-La Hotel. For example, if one of the employees is not performing well it is not affect the Shangri-La Hotel much but if an investor is stop invest in Shangri-La Hotel or director is making a small mistake of making a decision. This might direct influence the Shangri-La Hotel if the problem is serious. 2.2 The importance of stakeholder Why are the stakeholders such important to Shangri-La Hotel? As we all know that, customer, supplier, worker is part of the stakeholders of Shangri-La Hotel. Below are shown explanation about the importance of stakeholder. 2.2.1 Customer Customers are important to Shangri-La Hotel this is because if the customers of Shangri-La Hotel is feel satisfy with the service that provided by the Hotel it means that, the customer will automatically become the promotion of the hotel. Robert Kuok knows that customers satisfaction is one of the main reasons that he could get for more customers. Customer was part of tool to help the Shangri-La Hotel promote; in the other word, when the customer feel satisfy with the Hotel they will mention to their friends and family. This kind of mouth-to-mouth promote is much better than an advertisement thus, it doesnt use any cost. There will generate more new customers within this kind of promotion and at the same time royal customers will exist too. 2.2.2 Supplier Supplier was one of the stakeholders which can influence the Shangri-La Hotel. Why is supplier important to Shangri-La Hotel? Is can be explain as Shangri-La Hotel is provided services which means the quality of raw material which supply by the supplier is important and must high quality so that Shangri-La Hotel is provided a good quality services to customers. However, the supplier should deliver the raw material in time so that the Shangri-La Hotel had enough time to produce. Shangri-La Hotel is included provide food in restaurant and service of hotel. Hotel is a place that needs to renew all the stuff inside the room everyday example, towel, mattress, shampoo, and so on. This all material is needed every day by the hotel in other to provide a good service to the customer. Moreover, the restaurant also needs a good supplier to supply fresh food to the hotel. Without a fresh food, the restaurant cant provide a good quality food to the customer. As a result, supplier is important to Shangri-La Hotel and without a good supplier it can direct effect or influence the performance of Shangri-La Hotel. 2.2.3 Workers The last part is Workers. As all know that, workers in an organization are playing an important characteristic which is help the organization to move forward and achieve the goal. So as Shangri-La Hotel, workers are important because if an organization is without any workers, the organization is considered as not functioning. The ability of the workers also can influence the performance of the Shangri-La hotel because the good workers will help the organization to achieve the objective or goals. However, there are not all workers is perform well in their work. This kind of workers should give some advised and hope they will change through the counselling. A good worker is influence the performance of Shangri-La Hotel. 2.3 Mapping of Stakeholder Stakeholder Oppose Neutral Support Supplier XX Customer X X Worker X X Task 3 (Loc 1: Ac 3) Identify and briefly the terms organizational audit and environmental audit. Select two internal and two external factors to SKL. Explain how you would conduct an audit for these. 3.0 Definition of audit The audit is means by which a company can understand how it relates to the environment in which it operates. It is the means by which a company can identify its own strengths and weaknesses as they relate to external opportunities and threats. It is thus a way of helping management to select a position in that environment based on known factors. (McDonald, 1989, p21) 3.1 Organizational Audit Organizational Audit was also known as internal audit. Internal audit get information from management, marketing, financial/accounting, production/operations, research development, and management information systems. I am going to explain about two internal audit factors to Shangri-La Hotel. First, I would like to explain about management. In Shangri-La Hotel, management is one of the tools to manage the whole organization move forward. Besides that, management function consists of planning, organizing, motivation, controlling and also leading. This all element is very important to for a manager to manage the organization. Example, Shangri-La Hotel chairman, Edward Kuok Khoon Loong should know well about the element of management so that the workers will be more effective and efficient. Furthermore, the second internal factors need to be explain is marketing which also playing an important role for the Shangri-La Hotel. Without a good marketing department, Shangri-La Hotel cant organize with properly and this will influence the performance. A marketing department of Shangri-La Hotel is needed to plan for more promotion or advertisement about the hotel so that there are more people know about the hotel. Besides that, the hotel needed to implement about the marketing strategies so they can maintain in a high level of performance. 3.2 Environmental Audit Environmental audit was also known as external audit. In external audit I am choosing two external factors to Shangri-La Hotel. The first external audit is supplier. Supplier is able to audit an organization because an organization is needs the supplier to supply the ingredient, material or product needed by particular organization. Example, Shangri-La Hotels supplier was make a mistake on supply wrong material or wrong amount this will direct effected the performance of the day. However, Shangri-La Hotel has to be careful in choosing a good supplier. First of all, they have to identify the supplier after that evaluate about the supplier next is deciding to choose which supplier. As a result, good supplier is making a profit to an organization. The second external audit is government where playing an important role too; this is because government is able to control the Shangri-La Hotel before they want to make any event or planning. Example, Shangri-La Hotel had to apply and get the license on the business first before they start any planning or construction. Moreover, government will have to check the Shangri-La Hotels operation make sure that there is no illegal thing happen. The government is the way prevents the illegal thing happen. Besides that, when the government had to make any meeting or any event with other country they could choose Shangri-La Hotel as the place to operate the entire event. As the result, government is a good external audit to Shangri-La Hotel. Task 4 (Loc 1: Ac 4) Select and explain two strategic positioning techniques that you would propose to SKL. 4. 0 Definition of positioning Positioning is refer to the development of a distinct image for the product or service in the mind of the consumer, an image that will differentiate the offering from competing ones and squarely communicate to the target audience that the particular product or service will fulfill their needs better than competing brands. (Leon G S. and Leslie L.K 2007, pg 7) 4.1 Strategies Positioning There are few strategic of positioning which consists of product, service, location and image and I would like to explain two type strategic of positioning which is service and location. 4.1.1 Service Shangri-La Hotel desires to develop a distinct image for the service in the mind of customers. The first step is Shangri-La Hotel should determine about the service quality of the hotel, thus hotel image is good and the customer will come back again. Other than that, Shangri-La Hotel also need to provide a good service in all concept which included helping the customers take luggage to the room, when customer is calling for customer service Shangri-La Hotel should fulfill all the demand required from the customers. In the other word the positioning can be improve by more value for more price. 4.1.2 Location Location of Shangri-La Hotel is a good strategic place for business. From the map we can see that there is much other company such as shopping mall, kl tower, and big company and so on. With this strategy place, Shangri-La Hotel will easy to get more customers because if the tourist come to Malaysia they will choose Shangri-La Hotel since this hotel is near to go everywhere. Moreover, the workers of the other company will come to Shangri-La hotel to having a breakfast, lunch, tea time, or dinner because Shangri-La Hotel is provide restaurant. Other than that, if the client of the other company which is near to Shangri-La Hotel where they come from other country, they will choose to stay at Shangri-La Hotel. It is because the location is near the company and its providing a high quality service. Task 5 (Loc 2: Ac 1) Design and explain the steps in strategies planning process. Please use diagrams if necessary. 5.0 Steps strategies planning process VISION AND MISSION I FORMULATION FORMULATION LONG TERM OBJECTIVE GENERATE, EVALUATE, SELECT STRATEGIES IMPLEMENT STRATEGIES MANAGEMENT ISSUES II IMPLEMENTATION IMPLEMENT STRATEGIES MARKETING, FINENCE, ACCOUNT, R D, CIS III EVALUATION MEASURE EVALUATE PERFORMANCE. 5.1 Explanation of strategies planning process Step 1- Vision and Mission The mission statement describes the companys business vision which including the unchanging values and purpose of the firm and forward-looking visionary goals that guide the pursuit of future opportunities. The company guided by the business vision, the firms leaders can define measurable financial and strategic objectives. Financial objectives involve measures such as sales targets and earnings growth. Strategic objectives are related to the firms business position, and may include measures such as market share and reputation.Step 2- Formulation Long Term Objective Performance goals of an organization, intended to be achieved over a period of five years or more. Long-term objectives usually include specific improvements in the organizations competitive position, technology leadership, profitability, return on investment, employee relations and productivity, and corporate image. Step 3- Generate, Evaluate, select Strategies. In this step may apply to develop some important key which potential strategies to deal with the organizations objectives. Other than that, in this step also need to evaluate some potential strategies. The last part is to select the some potential strategies and every one of them is important. Step 4 Implement strategies management issues There are numerous company was failed to realize its complete potential of its strategies was due to some weak implementation. In this step the company have to implement the potential strategies to develop. Step 5- Implement Strategies Marketing, Finance, Account, RD, CIS Very often, management team assigned selected strategies to key personnel and left it to the individual to carry out the task. Step 6- Measure Evaluate Performance The last step is the motive of accomplishment factors for an efficient strategy operation is constant review of its development and needs to makes decision for any difference to plan.