Role Of Uniformity In Utopia - 1019 Words

The Role of Uniformity in Utopia Utopia by Thomas More creates a unique opportunity for readers to examine the society of a fictional island filled with practices out of the collective norms. More’s Utopia written in 1516, addresses the customs, faith, and politics of a fictional island. Utopia is described by traveling philosopher Hythloday as a perfect society that values sameness and old traditions. Utopia, a crescent-shaped island built by General Utopus, is 500 miles of uniformity in every aspect imaginable. In Utopia, the uniformity of the country involves a range of things from the control of family sizes to the community eating regimen. The eating regimen in Utopia is begun by the trumpet sounding and the community†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"†¦they take care that there should be no more than six thousand households in each city†¦each family containing between ten and sixteen adults.† (235). Utopians make sure there is a balance amongst their island in hopes to give every fam ily a fair chance of being successful. In traveling, Utopians show solidarity by caring for one another as they travel throughout the island. Utopians do not travel with anything but themselves because they are taken care of by their hosts. â€Å"Wherever they go, though they take nothing with them, they never lack for anything because they are at home everywhere.† When traveling through their district in Utopia, it is custom to provide the sector with assistance as if you are at home. Utopians are considerate of one another in every way. Uniformity is represented even in the way the citizens of Utopia regard silver and gold. Although the island has a large amount of treasure, they only use it externally. Gold is used to pay for emergencies that could arise amongst themselves with other nations. Utopians have gold throughout their homes even used as means for building chamber pots because they all believe the value of gold to extend that low. In most countries, gold is valued so highly it is often the reason behind corruption. The Utopian people could easily turn against one another and begin to value gold more than their sense of unity. Hythloday shares with More the philosophy of the Utopians, â€Å"however abundant goodsShow MoreRelatedKirstie Williams. Benson. English 271 Distance Education.1481 Words   |  6 Pagesthis essay, we will analyze Utopia’s role in the common laws, the religious freedoms, and dystopia/utopia similarities throughout More’s literature. I. Introduction A. Imagine you are a sailor, sailing the vast emptiness of the ocean. B. To your dismay, the storm thrashes waves against your boat. C. You find yourself on the island of Thomas More’s Utopia D. Some facts about Thomas More II. Common Law / Commonplace / Customs A. The commons in Thomas More’s Utopia are drastically different from theRead MoreUtopia And The Tempest By William Shakespeare1368 Words   |  6 PagesUtopia and The Tempest In Shakespeare is last play, the Tempest, originality is shown in the different settings and themes within the story. Within the Tempest, there is a world of imagination and illusion that challenges readers to look beyond reality and the world of non-existence, not existence. Through the play a utopia what can be found. It is something that many characters when they are on the island throughout. Within the tempest and Utopia, many differences and similarities between the socialRead MoreUtopian and Dystopian Fiction2498 Words   |  10 PagesWhat is Utopia? According to The Random House Dictionary, utopia is a place or state of political or social perfection based upon the novel of Utopia by Thomas More. Philosophers, writers of all sorts of novels and movies are constantly trying to imagine and conceive plans for an idyllic state of today. The irony of utopia is that it means ‘no place, good place’ implying that utopia is an idealistic place that can never happen in rea lity. Then, what is dystopia? Thefreedictionary.com’s definitionRead MoreIn The Period Following World War Ii, There Were Drastic1715 Words   |  7 Pages the pseudo-utopias ultimately collapse on both a physical, social, and political level. The decay of the natural environments in the texts reflects the unstable reality of the political environment in Britain during consensus. With the restructuring of British society in the second half of the 20th century and the overwhelming anxieties regarding decline and the role of genetics, political rhetoric stressed a nationalistic identity based on faulty notions of sameness and uniformity. With the constructionRead MoreThe Chinese Exclusion Act Suspended The Immigration Of All Chinese Workers2025 Words   |  9 Pagescontinues to ruin American culture by deporting immigrants. Yet researchers have shown the positive effects of immigration. Immigration is beneficial to America because immigrants provide cultural diversity, suppor ts the economy, and eliminates uniformity that creates a dystopian society. Firstly, immigration in America allows cultural diversity to flourish. One example of cultural diversity is spirituality. Spirituality is a process of personal transformation, whether in accordance with traditionalRead MoreApplication of Marxist Theory of Socialism in Philippine Setting1647 Words   |  7 Pagesis no utopia but the only alternative to a slow and painful descent into barbarism. But it will not come about automatically even in a million years. Only a socialist revolution, that is, the conscious movement of the working class to take control over their own lives, can effect this change. This requires the building in advance of a trained and educated leadership that can ensure its success. For the last hundred years, the capitalist system has ceased to play a historically-progressive role. ItRead MoreBrave New World, Representative Of A Utopia Or A Dystopia?2190 Words   |  9 PagesAccording to critics, is â€Å"Brave New World â€Å"representative of a utopia or a d ystopia? Throughout history, many have wondered about what the future may hold for mankind. Will there be war or peace, success or failure, unity or disunity? One of the most asked questions, society can ever form a utopia. There are countless theories and opinions as to what will truly become of this planet in the years to come. As a result, there has been a tremendous amount of works dedicated to the concept of a futureRead MoreThe Theory Of Science And Architecture2038 Words   |  9 Pagestheir dream and science made building possible. Science and architect share a mutual goal where both intended to improve the society life style or in another word, to achieve community utopia. Science and architect is one of the main elements to promote utopia and this really make the society to believe that utopia exist. The future will be the combination of science and spirituality, and they should be together forever. In fact, only when we successfully continue to improve our level of consciousnessRe ad MoreThe Practice Of The Garden City Ideas1567 Words   |  7 Pagesprinciples for design. Also, they recommended relocating employment and providing different housing types and tenures in order to achieve a socially and economically balanced community. Besides that, they encouraged freedom in ideas and avoiding uniformity. 32 New Towns were designated in the United Kingdom between 1946 and 1970. The principles for design have evolved. However, there are some common design elements through all New Towns: (1) Neighborhood unit: the neighborhood units contained housingRead More Brave New World Introduction Essays2157 Words   |  9 Pagesconsequences upon his novels and upon his critical reputation. In a 1961 interview Huxley explained his conception of Brave New World. quot;The new forces of technology , pharmaceutics, and social conditioning can iron modern humans into a kind of uniformity, if you were able to manipulate their genetic background. if you had a government unscrupulous enough you could do these things without any doubt.we are getting more and more into a position where these things can be achieved. And it is extremely

With Independence Comes Greater Responsibility. Free Essays

â€Å"With independence comes greater responsibility. † Ring! Ring! the alarm clock wakes me up at precisely 7:30 am on the first day of summer. My parents rush into my room yelling at me to get up. We will write a custom essay sample on With Independence Comes Greater Responsibility. or any similar topic only for you Order Now I’m oblivious to what’s happening because my eyes are still half closed. As I regain my senses I see that my parents are wearing tank-tops and shorts. Instantly I remember that we’re going to China for the summer. After that commotion my parents left the room leaving me with two empty bags to be filled with my belongings that would last me two months. It’s inevitable that I’ll forget something, I mean I always do. Every summer we go to vacations and I always forget to bring the right amount of underwear or my prescribed cream because usually my mom does it for me. This time it’s different, I’m older and I should be able to do it myself. I arbitrarily put everything in my bag. From every item of clothing, every pair of shoes plus the things in between. Next thing you know I’m at the airport with my parents unloading our luggage onto a cart. Inside, at the terminal desk the woman behind the counter was telling us that they were overbooked causing us to get upgraded to first class, but there was a problem. There were only two spots available, and one of us had to wait for the next flight. I told my parents that i wanted to stay behind, i mean, i wanted to prove to them that i was responsible enough plus it was kind of romantic for them to be alone. They actually listened to what i had to say and gave me what i wanted. Fast forward to the plane being boarded i was watching my parents leave without me, i had a little anxiety because it would be the first time that my parents let me go alone. Soon after they left i went to my gate with the help of the airport employees because i didn’t have a clue where anything was. I was on my own and i felt a little heartache watching the families around me having fun and bonding. We were being called onto the plane. First they called first class, seniors then it was my turn. I handed over my ticket and showed her my passport she noticed the tenseness in my body language and said â€Å"you look nervous, are you okay? †. I managed to let out a quiet â€Å"yes† even though i was telling a lie. I entered the plane and found my seat and sat down. After everyone settled down the plane started to move. It was doing circles around the driveway to warm up it’s engine. Then it stops and i could hear a huge roar from the engine. Before lift off my dad would always give me gum before liftoff so my ears wouldn’t pop. He would always buy juicy fruit but this time he wasn’t here and i didn’t have any. I forced myself to withstand the pressure. After the successful liftoff my moms lap would be my pillow and my mom would ask for a blanket. I was getting cold and tired so i asked the stewardess for a pillow and a blanket, just like how my parents would ask if they were with me. The blanket and pillow were amazingly comfy and i quickly fell asleep. Excuse me sir! Excuse me sir! It was the flight attendant asking me if i want beef or chicken. My parents would usually get my food for me and let me sleep longer. They weren’t here so i just picked what the guy beside me picked, beef. The airplane food was gross, i never liked it. I could see the family across from me and how they were all enjoying their meals and pretending that they were at their dinner table exchanging stories that happened to them. I sat quietly eating my meal. Then the guy beside me started to talk to me about the show i was watching. I usually never talk to anyone on the plane, but this time i thought i would give it a try. So i talked to him and he seem to be an interesting person to talk to. We talked the whole way before the seat belt sign went on. This is when we start landing and at that point my body started to shiver. I was always afraid of landing. My mom would usually hold my hand to keep me calm, but she wasn’t here. The guy who had become my friend saw me shiver and asked me what’s wrong with me. I manned up and told him nothing’s wrong. Those last few seconds as the plane started to descend were the scariest time of my life. I kept my composure, and stayed calm. I knew i could do this , i know i can, I can, I can, I can. The heart was beating super fast. Then i heard â€Å"SCREECH† and i was safe. I knew my parents were waiting for me and i couldn’t wait to get off to see them again. I was so proud of myself. How to cite With Independence Comes Greater Responsibility., Essay examples

Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement free essay sample

Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement Assignment 3 Understanding the legal and good practice requirements in relation to assessments It is imperative for all assessors to have an in depth understanding of the legal and good practice requirements in relation to assessment. Furthermore, the Awarding Body have their own stipulations regarding assessment. These include; educational centres must ensure that they employ assessors that are suitably qualified and meet the occupational competency requirements of the sector assessment strategy and ensure that the assessment process is robust. Assessment carried out by an unqualified assessor must be countersigned by a qualified assessor who is occupationally competent. The assessment process should be informed by best practice and the latest NOS for Learning Development. Centre assessors are responsible and accountable for: a) Â  managing the assessment system, assessment planning, making and recording assessment decisions b) Â  assessing evidence of learner competence against NOS and the requirements of the assessment criteria in the qualification c) Â  ensuring that learners’ evidence is valid, authentic and sufficient ) Â  maintaining accurate and verifiable learner assessment and achievement records. The assessment process should support learners towards the achievement of their qualification aim, whilst ensuring that the requirements of the NOS for assessment and the sector are met. Part of the role of the assessor is to raise the quality of assessment through: a) engaging learners at an early stage in the assessment process b) Â  effective and efficient assessment of naturally occurring activity c) Â  holistic assessment to maximise assessment opportunities ) Â  using interim assessment to provide advice and support at an early opportunity e) Â  encouraging access through using the range of assessment methods f) Â  using technology to reduce the assessment and administrative burden Assessors should always be aware that assessment needs to be fair, consistent and transparent, with all students having the opportunity of attaining the assessment criteria. All learners should be treated as individuals to ensure that no learner is discriminated (directly or indirectly) against and to uphold a ‘fair playing field’ in respect that no learner has any advantage over another. In order to ensure this happens the assessor has a legal and moral obligation to share the same information to all learners, along with appropriate support and development of all learners in order for them to complete assessment tasks. Therefore, one additional aspect of assessment is an appeals procedure for candidates not happy with results. Assessment within NVQ is ongoing with the candidate fully participating in the assessment process, e. g. through assessment planning and reviews of performance. If this participation is taken seriously then it must be accepted that there will be times when the candidates and assessors perceptions, of whether agreed evidence (agreed during assessment planning/review stages) meets the standards, are going to be different. If this occurs, the candidate should have the right to appeal via an accessible and open system. The characteristics of our appeals structure related to NVQ will include: Access to fair and reliable assessment Clear and prompt response times Stages that provide all parties with the opportunity to put their case Clear outcomes Constructive feedback Be related to the Candidates assessment records A formal recording system Evaluation of appeals Response times to appeals will be measured in days rather than in months or years and not be so bureaucratic as effectively to nullify the purpose of having such a system. From a legal standpoint it is an Assessors remit to enforce strict guidelines with regards to the difference between guiding and supplying the learners with answers for assessment tasks. Legally, assessors cannot give assessment answers or condone learners copying each others learning and assessment material. As an NVQ Assessor I am aware of the duty of care encompassing the legislation and code of practice regarding the following: Health and Safety Act of 1974 Equal opportunities Act of 1974 Data protection act of 1998 Disability discrimination Risk Assessment Lone working The Health and Safety Act 1974 (HASAWA) places certain responsibilities on the employer, or in this case, the Assessor. The Assessor has to provide a safe working environment, provide information on health and safety, such as emergency exits and fire assembly points, and also undertake risk assessment of all hazards in the working/assessment environment. However, risk assessments are primarily the responsibility of the owner or manager of the facility. Moreover, all staff must be CRB checked in order to confirm that there is no risk whatsoever to the learner, in line with the Child Protection Act of 1984. Equal opportunity Act of 1974 also needs to be implemented, as was alluded to in the above paragraph, by adopting an inclusion policy and understanding that each learner will have specific and unique needs and that it is the job of the Assessor to differentiate tasks and lessons to meet these individual needs. For example, in my NVQ class I had a variety of needs from, learners with dyslexia, partial sighted and also with speech impediments. Therefore I made sure that I always used a variety of tools in which to teach and assess, such as, reading material in larger print, visual aids on the projector which explained what I was teaching and also electronic recording equipment (video and dictaphone) as another option for learners to utilise in learning and assessment. However, due care needs to be taken and strict adhesion to the Data Protection Act of 1998 in order for any material not to fall into the wrong hands. In terms of confidentiality regarding assessment all exams papers and any other marking material must not be shared with the learners before assessment in accordance with Award Body regulations. Assessment guidelines and assessment criteria can be shared as long as it is not providing answers that can be used by learners. This can be done by formulating individual action plans with learners, to highlight how learners can improve. Furthermore, all completed assessments must be located securely as to ensure no students can acquire papers or material and duplicate answers. In the case of my NVQ group all assessment material was locked away in head office and was only accessible to me and senior management. Senior management would have the final say if ever an event occurred in which a learners welfare was at risk and then safeguarding the learners welfare becomes the higher priority (Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act, 2006) The welfare of learners, whether that be my NVQ learners, school pupils or any other individuals in the community, is paramount and also a legal requirement. In the community that we serve there are many vulnerable individuals who’s safety can be at risk without any obvious signs, and also individuals with many kinds of underlying medical conditions which need to be considered by the assessor. During the first week of my NVQ class we had a ‘Protecting child welfare’ course in which we were taught how to identify warning signs of; abuse, depression and other mental health issues. Therefore, it is always of paramount importance that as an assessor you are vigilant and aware of all your learners behaviours at all times and if need be intervene and assess steps that may need to be taken. As far as the physical health related issues are concerned, we (NVQ class) used confidential pro-forma’s to identify any issues of individuals so that we could be prepared and have any relevant equipment close at hand and maybe also adapt sessions accordingly with respect to individual needs. Health questionnaires are in the award body regulations and can be found in the Health Related activity book. Technology can vastly improve the assessment process as it makes it a more dynamic process in which all learners have an opportunity to show their true understanding of the subject matter covered and their particular skill set. I also believe that it interlinks with fair assessment as no learner is at a disadvantage due to the fact they cant show their understanding in one medium. Therefore everybody has the same opportunity to display their knowledge. For example, a learner may have a great understanding of subject matter, yet may not be able to put their understanding down in words. Therefore, if they could be video recorded displaying their knowledge practically (with written consent from themselves or carers if pre 16 years of age) or audio recorded giving answers to questions they could be graded accurately and attain the optimum level of achievement. Another great advantage to the integration of technology is that it is relatively simple and easy to use, sometimes even more straight forward than traditional assessment, and brings a new exciting dimension to learning which in turn can inspire and motivate learners to achieve more. Some great wall displays have been produced and a good database full of information due to the integration of technology in class and assessment. Furthermore, greater feedback can be given as learners can see themselves in real time on video instead of trying to decipher pages of feedback. They can see exactly where they need to improve and develop in a very clear and concise manner. Another main area of concern regarding the principles and practices of assessment is equality and diversity (Equality Act, 2010). There are many issues which need to be taken into consideration regarding assessment with respect to equality and diversity. Individual needs, beliefs and cultures need to be respected and treated with the appropriate sensitivity. For example, in my NVQ class I had learner ‘O’. Learner O was of Muslim faith and was celebrating the festival of Eid, which requires followers to fast for a large part of the day for a month. During this month all learners were scheduled to perform their practical sessions and take part in other sessions. However, it would not have been ethical to expect learner O to take part in these sessions as he would be depleted of energy and could be at risk of negatively effecting his health. Therefore, special dispensation was afforded to learner O to take part in these sessions the following month. Furthermore, I was aware that concentration may decrease during this month. Other areas which need to be considered from equality and diversity prospective are; gender, race, sexual orientation and age (Disability and Equality Act, 2010). These factors give rise to a number of individual needs. Assessment needs to be age specific and be compared to relevant performance criteria, along with being written in age appropriate language as to not confuse or patronise learners. Moreover, topics covered need to ensure that no offense will be incurred by any party with regards to the above categories. For example I would not start a debate regarding the idea of male dominance in sport or peoples view of homosexuality. Another aspect of diversity in the assessment process may be a language barrier, especially in the case of my NVQ class who were predominantly from an ethnic background. There are ways to overcome such barriers. The use of an interpreter could be used for assessment (a dialogue being recorded and sent off) with the aid of assessment material converted into the required language. If one thing is abundantly clear in the nature of assessment, it is the need for individuals to constantly develop. Nobody has ever learned enough and there is always room for improvement. Therefore, this goes for the assessor themselves. It is imperative that assessors constantly monitor their own progress with self assessment, peer review, learner feedback and continued development of CPD’s. The act of reflective practice is the driving force that spearheads future development and evolves the assessment process by ascertaining what aspects work best, when, how and why. Furthermore, sharing this reflective practice with other assessors fosters an environment and situations which aid the effective use of assessment and help reach the goal of accurately and fairly assessing learner knowledge along with realising potential. Without reflective practice the assessor risks walking blindly down a ‘dark alley’ of assessment where they fail themselves, but more importantly fail the learner, which is wholly unacceptable. Effective planning also aids the reflective process, as you can see the amount of work covered and the result of certain class dynamics, i. e. group work, group size etc. This gives you a great visual format in which to adapt your future plans in order to maintain optimum, effective performance in sessions and assessment. Assessment will always carry some for of risk at some level. Perhaps one of the greatest risks posed in my NVQ group was the risk of injury and participant health safety whilst taking part in a variety of sports. The best way to protect against the risks are to have effective planning in place with all relevant risk assessment completed, checking pitches for broken glass, making sure goals are anchored and equipment checks, along with alternative provisions incase your first plan of action cannot go ahead. Moreover, another challenge is not discriminating against any learners. This could involve taking all learning types into consideration to ensure that all learners understand what they have to carry out through agreement on the assessment action plan that the learner signs, so effective communication is extremely important, which means the assessor listening as giving input. Furthermore, clear guidelines on discipline are needed in order to prevent any hazards occurring and also to foster a safe, productive learning environment.

Understanding Meta Descriptions and How Best to Use Them

Understanding Meta Descriptions and How Best to Use Them Although many people dont give meta descriptions much thought, they can play a huge role in determining what websites we click and how much traffic a given page will receive. Whether youre running a new website or trying to boost traffic to your company page, it is important to understand what meta descriptions are and the role they play. Stay tuned to learn more about meta descriptions! CortezTextbroker Marketing and CommunicationsEven if you dont realize it, you probably see meta descriptions on a daily basis. Although many people dont give meta descriptions much thought, they can play a huge role in determining what websites we click and how much traffic a given page will receive. Whether youre running a new website or trying to boost traffic to your company page, it is important to understand what meta descriptions are and the role they play. Stay tuned to learn more about meta descriptions, how long they should be, what information they contain and why they matter. What Are Meta Descriptions? Before diving into the value and purpose of meta descriptions, it is important to define exactly what they are. The short definition is that a meta description is an HTML attribute that briefly summarizes the content of a particular webpage. An HTML attribute is a way to provide additional information about an element using code. This makes it possible for search engines to understand and display information correctly.The longer definition of a meta description is that it is the information that a user will see when on a search engine results page (SERP). Say, for example, that you go to Google and search for vacation destinations near Boston. When you click search, youll see the first page of results. Each of those results will have a title tag, which is like a headline, and underneath that will be the actual link to the page, known as the slug. Both of those items are clickable, which means that users can click on them and be instantly directed to the webpage. Below those elements, there is a brief description in black text. This description is the meta description. It summarizes the content of the page linked above it, and it helps users determine which of the links on the SERP will be most valuable to them. Using Meta Descriptions to Boost SEO SEO is the acronym for search engine optimization. The objective of SEO is to get more users to your website organically. The goal is to have your website appear in SERPs and then have more people click on your website to learn more. There are many different ways that you can boost SEO through metadata, but one of the most effective is through the use of meta descriptions.Think about the last time that you navigated onto a SERP. You probably faced at least 10 results on a single page, not to mention endless other pages with countless more results. How do you choose which of these results to click on? Many people will click on the first link on the results page no matter what, and others will look for a website name they recognize. Others, however, will pay close attention to the meta descriptions under each link to find out which website is the right fit for their query.If your meta description is appealing and accurate and it communicates the right amount of information, then users are more likely to click on your link. Over time, this increases your traffic substantially. Perhaps even more importantly, it shows search engines like Google that users prefer your content to the content of your competitors, boosting all of your content over time. The Value of an Up-to-Date Meta Description In terms of timeliness, there are two major types of content: Timely content and evergreen content. Timely content is only relevant for a short period of time, but evergreen content can be valuable for years to come. Take a look at these two examples of timely and evergreen content titles:Timely Content: 10 Ways to Celebrate New Years in 2019 Evergreen Content: 10 Fun Ways to Ring in the New Year at HomeOften, websites go back and update older content so that it remains relevant. While this can be a great idea, dont forget to update the meta description as well. If a webpage talks about 2019 fashion trends but the meta description still talks about 2017, then both Google and users will skip over your content in favor of something more relevant.Plus, you want your meta description to be an accurate reflection of the content it is summarizing. If your meta description promises an in-depth analysis of the 2018 election but your content talks about something different, then users will leave your page quickly in search of the information they are truly after. What Is the Ideal Length of a Meta Description? There is only room for a sentence or two underneath the title tag and web address in a search engine results page. Because of this, youll need to craft a meta description that can sum up your content in a set amount of words. Ideally, your meta description should be at least 1 1 words long. This ensures that it contains enough information to be informative to users as well as to search engines.In the past, Google has recommended that meta descriptions be anywhere from 135 to 160 characters. However, that has recently been updated to a maximum of 230 characters. If you use more than 230 characters in your meta description, there is a risk that it will be cut off. To include the whole description, cut it down until youre confident that it is somewhere between 135 and 230 characters. Crafting the Perfect Meta Description Now that you know how long your meta descriptions should be and why they are so important, it is time to learn how to write the perfect meta descriptions. The following are some of the top tips to keep in mind when writing meta descriptions.Keywords or Key Phrases: One of the most critical things youll need to include in your meta description is a keyword or a key phrase. This ensures that search engines know when to suggest your content and your page. If youre writing about restaurants in New York, be sure to include those exact words in your meta description. At the same time, dont stuff keywords in your meta description. The writing should be natural and geared toward readers, not toward robots.Include a Call to Action: What do you want people to do after they read your meta description? Most of the time, the goal is for them to click on your link. Dont be afraid to include a call to action right in your meta description to encourage them to take the next step. Great words and phrases to include could be some of the following: Click here Check it out Learn More Read on DiscoverSummarize Your Content Accurately: It might be tempting to elaborate or embellish within your meta description. However, that can be a mistake. Your meta description should always accurately depict what users can expect to find if they click through. Accurate descriptions mean that users will be pleased with the results. If they click thro ugh and leave immediately, that wont help your business or your rankings on search engines like Google.Make Each Meta Description Unique: A surprising number of websites use the same meta descriptions for each of their pages. While that might save a little time, it wont help your SEO rankings. Your meta description should be specific to each page, so using the same description twice isnt going to be accurate. Every single time that you create new content in the form of an article or a blog post, make sure that you also take a few minutes to create a brand-new meta description for that content. Typically, it is best if the author of the content also writes the meta description.Use an Active Voice: To encourage people to click through to your link, and to excite them as they read your meta description, aim to use an active voice. Keep the tense present whenever possible since using past tense can make the description feel dry or outdated. Think about how you might talk to a friend. Yo ull probably have a conversational tone, and thats the same tone you should strive for when writing meta descriptions. Google Updates That Impact Meta Descriptions Google has made it very clear that meta descriptions do not factor in their algorithm when ranking websites. That might sound discouraging, but dont stop writing meta descriptions just yet. Your meta description will still impact the CTR, or the click-through rate. The better your meta description, the more people will click through to your link. Google does take the CTR into consideration when ranking pages. So, in a roundabout way, meta descriptions can impact your rankings over time.It is also important to know that in some cases, Google will override your meta description. If search engines dont feel that your meta description is accurate, or if they feel a different snippet of your webpage is a better representation of your content, they can replace your meta description with alternate content from your page.Meta des criptions are incredibly important, and they should be written with care. Once you understand the value of meta descriptions, youll start to see just how much they can impact everything from click-through rates to web traffic. With the right meta descriptions, your content will be seen by more users organically.

010 Syllabus and Introduction Professor Ramos Blog

010 Syllabus and Introduction Introductions Welcome to English 010, Preparation for College English at Crafton Hills College. We will be using the blog to post comments and final drafts of essays in order to help us learn from each other. One of the best ways to improve your writing is to study the writing of others. This blog will allow us to share and see others’ writings. I will also be posting updates and assignments to make sure we are all on the same page. The syllabus will be posted under Syllabus. The resources page with have links and videos to help you with citations, WordPress, and more. Textbook The textbook for this class is â€Å"They Say, I Say†Ã‚  with readings, 4th edition. Make sure to order the textbook that has the readings included! The cover should be bluish, not black. Introductions Ice breaker. In groups of 2 or 3 answer these questions. Name Major Like to read or write? 1 2 Interesting facts We will introduce one another. You have six minutes to answer the questions. Genre

Bread Mold Experiment

Bread Mold Experiment By: Stephanie Westover PURPOSE The purpose of this experiment will be to determine how temperature affects the growth of mold on wheat bread. The researchers choose this topic because she thinks it will be beneficial to find a way to keep food from molding. Determining how long bread can be stored before molding can help save money, prevent illness and preserve freshness. The question the researcher will attempt to answer is how freezing affects the rate of mold growth in wheat bread.The information gathered in this experiment may be relevant to those individuals who contend with food borne molds at home, or professionally. Because the rate of mold growth can vary depending on the type of bread tested, the researcher will limit this study to a commonly available variety of wheat bread that can found in most stores. This will make the results of this experiment more relevant to average consumers and it will enable the results to be generalized across a larger selection of commercially produced wheat breads. Having some understanding of common practices regarding food storage and mold growth, the researcher sought out formal studies of food borne mold growth to help develop my hypothesis. What the researcher discovered was that food storage at low temperature slows many of the enzymatic reactions involved in spoilage and reduces the growth rate of microorganisms. (Microsoft Encarta, 2007) This literature review shows that refrigeration slows the growth rate of mold. Further, the article demonstrated that refrigerators should be kept at temperatures 32 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit to minimize bacterial growth.In this procedure the researcher discovered that refrigeration does indeed slow the growth rate of mold. Many organisms will not grow at all or will grow at a slower rate if stored in low temperatures. While low temperatures are not bactericidal, the low temperatures do slow the growth rate of bacteria. Although a few microbes will grow in super cooled solutions as low as minus 20o c, most foods are well-preserved against microbial growth in the household freezer. (Todar, Kenneth, 2011) In this article it states that even a household freezer can preserve foods against growth of mold if set at the right temperature.The researcher discovered that the zip lock baggie that the freezer in this experiment did in fact preserve the bread against the growth of mold. DESIGN The experiment design will be as follows: The researcher will purchase a loaf of commercially produced wheat bread and record the rate of mold growth on that bread over a period of 10 days at three different temperatures. The researcher will use commercial grade thermometers placed in a standard refrigerator, freezer and kitchen countertop to measure temperature. A commercial grade thermometer was used as it is close to the same type used in a typical restaurant.The researcher will place one piece of bread in a clear, sealed zip lock bag and put one of those bags in each of the three temperatures zones. Zip lock baggies were chosen over any other standard container because it was t he best choice to keep out any bacteria that might give false results. She will remove each test bag from its controlled temperature zone and measure the mold growth on each piece of bread through the clear zip lock bag using a fractional ruler. The researcher will record those measurements in a log book noting the time, temperature variation if any, and size of mold growth in inches.She will then immediately replace the bag back into its respective temperature zone. The researcher will repeat those measurements for 10 days and summarize my findings at that time. The researcher will be using commercially available wheat bread so that the results of this experiment can be at least partially generalized to all commercial bread products. She will be using common temperature settings throughout the experiment to mimic what is found not only in most households, but also in many commercial food establishments.

Type of Federalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Type of Federalism - Essay Example Each of these has many departments, and each of these departments uses a suitable type of federalism when solving its issues (Dye, 2010). The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in the US government is concerned with preventing and disrupting terrorist attacks, protecting American citizens from any aggression, protecting infrastructural facilities and resources in the US, and enforcing immigration laws. In order to do this, the department patrols borders regularly, protects travelers, responds to emergencies and disasters, and also ensures that citizens are prepared for any form of emergency situations (Zimmerman, 2010). Cooperative federalism should be applied in homeland security issues since it would produce better results than the other types of federalism. Cooperative federalism requires that the federal government, local governments and state governments share responsibilities in governing the people. Therefore, applying cooperative federalism in the Department of Homeland security would ensure that all units of the federal government cooperate in ensuring that security of citizens is promoted and terrorism is combated from the grassroots. Cooperative Federalism would also ensure that illegal immigrations are prevented from local borders of all states. This form of federalism would also ensure that the state’s resources and infrastructural facilities are protected from destruction from the lowest government unit to the highest. If such measures were only directed at the level of the federal government, the mission of the department would not be realized at the level of the local government and the state government. New Federalism is analogous to Cooperative Federalism since it entails devolution of power from the Federal government to the state government. This type should also be applied by the DHS in solving issues as it would ensure that grass-root issues are solved. Permissive federalism should not be used by the DHS since it

U. S. Constitution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

U. S. Constitution - Essay Example itution; â€Å"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States, respectively, or to the people† (Tenth Amendment, 2012). In other words, state governments can make laws related to any issues which is not delegated to the federal government and prohibited to the state government. For example issues such as drink age, same sex marriages etc are issues which come under state’s jurisdiction. State governments have the authority to fix the drink age or legalize same sex marriage. On the other hand voting age is a federal matter and only the federal government will be able to raise or lower the voting age in America. Dual system in America has lot of merits as well as demerits. It is not necessary that the people in all the states may have same opinion on certain issue. The authority to make laws state-wise may help the states to formulate laws and policies based on the interests of the people. At the same time, state laws may create problems also. For example, underage drinking is prohibited in some American states whereas it is allowed in other states. In Alaska, minimum licensing age for driving is 14 whereas in Kentucky, it is 16. In other words, a teenager who is able to drive in Alaska cannot drive his car in Kentucky. In short, dual systems have its merits and

Country Lovers Essay Example for Free

Country Lovers Essay A story of forbidden love on a South African farm, one child nothing more than a farm worker, as the other one prepares for boarding school. Both ignorant to the color of their skins, all they knew they were best friends playing together until they grew up and then it was not allowed. But when Paulus turns fifteen and goes to school things start to change he begins to realize the difference between boys and girls, and then the consequences behind his actions, but then it’s too late to turn back. What drew me into this story was the title country lovers, and then the forbidden love on a South African farm I wanted to see what it was about, curios to know if it was about two people of different races falling in love, creating racial relationships in a place that forbid it. And that was exactly what it was, two kids playing together as kids, a boy white and girl black, everyday playing on his father’s farm. What I couldn’t understand was why they were able to play as kids but not be able to socialize when they got older. If it was because of racial boundaries, why not keep them apart even when they are kids, then it wouldn’t be so confusing. The literary term and concept that best describes they way I am feeling about this would be Imagination because it expresses how the author was feeling about racial differences and allows the reader to feel what the author is writing about. I am using the Reader – Response approach to analyze my story because it asks you to connect with the literature, and find a personal link or imaginative entry into a story. And that is what this author makes you do. While reading this story I had a lot of different emotions like why did he change when he went to school, but when he came home he was with thebedi. Even though he met people at school whose family’s was prosperous famer’s? He still was bringing gifts to thebedi, she making gifts for him and both lying about where they came from and why. They had been sneaking around for months, so when she was eighteen and the farmer’s son was nineteen he left for veterinary college, Njabulo’s parents asked Thebedi’s parents to marry their son and they agreed on it, not telling Paulus or Njabulo that she might be pregnant. When the baby was born looked nothing like Njabulo, but he still was going to take care of her as if she was his own. This would be Satire because he should feel anger but instead he is willing to take care of her. My thinking didn’t change because in that time that’s what happens when two different races mix and have children, I just thank god it’s not like that now to the extreme it was then. Because I love people for who they are not because of where they come from. Because of the author’s background growing up in South Africa I can understand why she feels this way, they have different traditions and beliefs. This was a very good story; I enjoyed reading it and feeling what they were going through.

Why Plea Bargaining in Criminal Trials is Important :: Plea Bargain Trial Court Justice Essays

Why Plea Bargaining in Criminal Trials is Important Screeech! That is the sound of our court system coming to a grinding halt, if plea bargaining were no longer utilized. Not only does plea bargaining save taxpayers an enormous amount of money, it often provides the evidence for a conviction and allows public defenders and other court officials to concentrate their limited resources on more important or difficult cases. Some people may believe that plea bargaining with criminals is wrong. The entire basis of the argument against plea bargaining says that criminals should not testify or have anything to do with the prosecution because they were involved with the crime. We fail to realize that without plea bargaining many criminals would never be punished for their crimes at all. It is as simple as that. Granted, a plea bargain is, by definition, a compromise. But it is a compromise that is absolutely necessary for the judicial system to function. While it may seem that a person who exchanges his testimony for a lighter sentence would have sufficient motivation to lie in court the fact is that his testimony is simply verifying the testimonies of other witnesses. In a majority of cases plea bargains is utilized to ensure that the truly guilty criminal is punished. In our less than perfect world, plea bargaining is easily the lesser of the evils. I agree with the definitions submitted by the affirmative speaker. Americans have always emphasized getting a job done. We place a great deal of value on efficiency and industry. The government is expected to run with efficiency and operate with the good of the people in mind. Every aspect of our lives is governed by this utilitarian value. Why do we place such importance on efficiency? Because without it nothing would ever get done. If we all constantly obsessed over minute details and unrealistic ideals we would live in poverty. In the real world compromises are made because without them no amount of success could ever be achieved. In the words of John Stewart Mill, the father of utilitarianism, "The creed which accepts as the foundation of morals utility, or the greatest happiness principle, holds that actions are right in proportion as they promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness". This means that in a world of compromise, the most success is achieved by giving the greatest good to the greatest number of people. This belief applies directly to plea bargaining.

Argument Against Gun Control Essay

Final Paper: Argument Against Gun Control The argument on firearm regulation has been a heated discussion for many years. On one side of the debate, we have people in favor placing restrictions on guns, while, on the opposite end of the spectrum, we have people fighting the regulation of guns. People in favor gun restrictions believe gun control can reduce crime ,while, the people against gun control believe having the right to bear arms is an effective crime deterrent. I believe that every law abiding citizen should be able to carry a gun and defend themselves against people who intend to harm them.Gun control laws are simply ineffective and they have an adverse effect on crime. Instead of reducing crime, gun control laws just simply take guns out the hands of good people and puts the guns into the hands of the bad guys. Gun control laws do not deter criminals from possessing firearms. Whether or not there’s a law restricting gun use, criminal will always find a way to get a gun because criminals are less likely to obey laws. That’s why they are called â€Å"criminals†. Also there’s no law that can stop the supply and demand of the illegal arms trade. If there’s money to be made in the black market, someone will profit from it. Criminals can easily obtain a gun through the black market. An unnamed felon was quoted, â€Å"There’s guns everywhere. If you got the money you, can get a gun.† If a criminal wanted to get a gun,they are not likely to walk into a store to buy one. Therefore, they could care less whether they had a background check or not. No law can stop criminals from arming themselves to protect themselves. Most criminals have lots of enemies and they rather get caught with a gun than get caught without one. (Stossel). The more gun control rules and regulations there are, the happier the criminals will be, for they know the more gun laws there are the less chance they have of having a crime victim defend themselves with a lawfully-owned  firearm. In many right to carry states, crime statistics are lower than the states with gun laws. The reason why is because guns are used more defensively than criminally. Criminals are usually rolling the dice when they are targeting law abiding citizens in right to carry states. (Polsby) Criminals do not fear the police or other authorities. What they fear most is the citizens who might be potentially armed. It makes it harder for criminals because they do not know what to expect from them if they’re planning to rob them. They’re either fortunate to have an unarmed victim or they become a victim with a citizen that is ready to shoot and defend their families. (Stossel). Gun control laws only affect the citizens who follow the law. The law does not apply to the criminals. Regardless if theres a gun ban or not, criminals will find a way to obtain guns. The gun laws have no way in curtailing the illegal arms trade. In Chicago, handguns are not for sale legally. Only shotguns, rifles and ammunition can be bought with people with a Firearm Owners Identification Card. The Chicago area is one of the most difficult places to legally obtain a gun. In order to get a gun license, people have to go through a background check and wait up to a month to legally carry a weapon.(Polsby). While it is difficult to legally possess a gun, it is way more easier to illegally carry a gun in Chicago. There are thousands of unregistered firearms in the streets with thousands more coming in every month. Banning the sale handguns in Chicago makes no difference as well too. People can go elsewhere to buy a gun. They can go out of town or even out of state to buy a gun with Indiana and Wisconsin in close proximity.(Moorhouse and Warner). Another example why gun control law are ineffective is the staggering increase in crime in England since they imposed a ban on guns. In 1997, England passed a ban on all guns, which makes it illegal for all citizens to carry guns. England’s gun sanctions made it one of the most strictest law in the world. The new law only created an illusion of the country being more safer. Instead of reducing crime, the law put it’s citizens at the mercy of criminals who are well assured that their would be victims are unarmed and defenseless. In the two years after the law was enacted, gun related crimes  increased to 40% and armed robberies rose to 53%. From 1997 to 2001, violent crimes more than doubled. People are six times more likely to be robbed at gunpoint in London compared to New York. In the United States, the occurrence of home burglaries is 13% because the majority of burglars fear armed homeowners more than they fear the law. England’s burglary statistics are 5 t imes higher compared to the United States at 55%. England’s gun ban created the unintended consequences of lawlessness in the streets, as well as, it did not stop criminals from possessing guns and committing crimes. (Malcolm) Even in the United states where states and cities that passed strict gun laws have found them to be ineffective. The places where gun control laws are the most strictest are places that have the most crimes are committed with firearms.(Piquero). Of the 15 states that have the highest homicide rates, 10 have very restrictive gun laws. New York, for example, has one of the most restrictive gun laws in the nation has 20 percent of the nations total of armed robberies. Another example, Washington D.C., since guns were banned in 1976 the murder rate has risen 200 percent. In Chicago, the city consistently had one of the highest homicide rates in the nation since they enacted a ban on gun in 1982. In May 2010, a month before the Supreme Court overturned the ban, Chicago already had 113 homicides for the year.(Piquero). Since gun restriction laws were repealed by the Supreme court in 2010, Chicago and Washington D.C. received significantly lower crime rates. The murder rate in Chicago in the first six months of 2011 is 14% lower than the first six months of 2010. This is the first significant drop in the murder rate since gun sanctions were first passed in 1982. In 2008, the Supreme Court lifted the gun ban in D.C. in the case of the District of Columbia vs. Heller. Since the gun ban was repealed, the murder rate in D.C. has dropped 35% from 2008-2010. The rate of assault with weapons decreased by 37% and armed robberies fell as well too by 25% (Lott). These statistics further prove how ineffective gun control laws are. Not only they do not work in reducing crime they create adverse effects on crime. Instead, they make the problems worst. I believe that the right to bear arms is an unalienable right and I don’t believe that government have that right to take it away. I feel that all citizens have the right to protect themselves and their families. Gun laws restricting the use of guns does not help law abiding citizens. These laws only take away the ability of each citizens to defend themselves and makes us helpless against criminals. Gun control only creates an illusion that a society is safer and it does not solve the root cause crime. One cannot solve the crime problem by just simply taking away guns. The crime problem goes way deeper than just guns. Criminals will find a way to get guns regardless if theres a strict law or not . Most criminals are opportunist and having a strict gun law only gives them the opportunity to commit more crime with less worry about that person being armed. I believe that there is other ways to fight crime, however, I don’t believe gun control is the answer to making our world a safer place.

Pilinut Essay

Our company engages into pilinut business. Pili tart is a very profitable product, it has the so called 3C’s of Bicol pili nut: Competitive (market); Capability (financial); and Capacity (production) (Melchor A Aguilar). Because the Philippines is the only country where the fruit has market. No other country process pili in commercial quantity, meaning, we have the monopoly of processed pili in the foreign market, this kind of business has a very high potential of being successful especially if it will engage in exporting. There are many producers and processors of pili tart in the Bicol region, but this will be very few compared to the world market. Only few of these processors are into exporting business. Pili are very nutritious even as confection. Nutritionally, the kernel is high in calcium, phosphorous, and potassium, and rich in fats and protein. (DOST), so there is no issue to health concious. Our products will be of superior quality associated with the right price so that almost every body can afford it. We will produce product using ingredients of high quality so that it is guaranteed to be tasty and delicious. We will provide products that are not health and environmental hazard but instead a pilinut product that everyone can enjoy and environmental friendly that undergo in the right procedure. We will produce different pilinut products that are best for export, which does not easily spoil, and remain fresh even on long period of time. Pilinut for ordinary people may not be so important, but for a business person like us, pilinut has a long way to go and has a very large market to serve. Profit from this business may be abundant due to the monopoly of the products. We can start at a small capital but the comeback will be great. In not more than three years, we will regain our investment from this business and still continue to grow.

$1.67 Billion Typo - Forgiven

$1.67 Billion Typo - Forgiven Image via Wikipedia Ive always thought that typos, so long as they are few and far between, are less egregious errors than misspellings and other errors that stem from lack of knowledge. Apparently a U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals judge agrees that people and multi-billion dollar companies who make typos should be given a second chance: Verizon $1.67 bln typo can be fixed: court I imagine my own typos and yours wont have such monumental consequences. Our readers are our judges, and we can only hope they have the same understanding as our nations highest courts. That said, if you are applying for jobs, your resume and cover letter are not the most ideal places to err. Make sure to read, re-read, and re-read again. There’s no need to risk judgment from a hiring manager that costs you a job. For editing help, contact The Essay Expert.

EXAM QUESTION Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

EXAM QUESTION - Essay Example The Hagia Sofia construction dates to the Byzantine period while the empire was under Justinian’s rule. Historically, the Hagia Sofia’s construction was targeted to honor the Byzantine art practitioners (Saoud, 2003). The building betroths the Byzantine artistic practices during the civilization period as the aspects present that period were incorporated in the construction of the ruins. The building’s height was unchallenged by many of the period’s architectural designs with many other artistic revelations from the Byzantine and Roman empires of the period including the use of circular domes on square buildings. Historically, the findings denote that the infamous empires embraced monumental artistic buildings through the established researches (Ashkan & Ahmad, 2012). The intensified research about the Hagia Sofia and the Pantheon indicate that the two buildings shared similar architectural designs, and the meanings. Therefore, the use of circular domes was a sign of power in the buildings’ constituent empires. The study’s findings imply that the use of unreinforced domes in the Pantheon building make it the tallest ancient structure at over 2,000 years (Ashkan & Ahmad, 2010). The opening of the Pantheon dome named â€Å"Oculus† appears at the height of 143ft above the square building (Ashkan & Ahmad, 2012). The several imperial palaces in the Roman and Byzantine empires and commemorative Roman columns along the ancient buildings are a significance of the artistic correlation between the Pantheon and Hagia Sofia architectures (Saoud, 2003). The evidence of water reservoirs and cisterns built in the two buildings comprise of expensive red and rare square tiles. The reportedly exotic materials depict the devotion that the two different empires adapted in order to construct the two monumental structures. Therefore, the two buildings’ architectures concentrated on the

Novel Response Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Novel Response - Essay Example However, somehow despite the hostile environment and state, immediate sense of awe and wonder that is evoked is felt.  The members come to realize that they play a vital role individually and corporately to return the land. P. 72  "Shall we head up further for him, to the crags? Theres an Ogre or two and could introduce a Hag to it, up there." "Certainly not," said Caspian. "I should think not, indeed," said Truffle-hunter. "The same variety needs nothing on the minor." Besides the appropriate requirements. The imagination of the sense of unity and responsibility drives them to stand up for change in something real. P. 187 â€Å"However, the new bout went well. The shield may have certainly been used well by Peter and make use his feet skillfully. He almost played Tig with Miraz; shifting his ground to keep out of range, making the enemy work.† It is all about taking steps driven by the desire for change in order to attain the destroyed glory. (Lewis) The main conflict in the book is leadership tussle between a prince who is fighting for his crown and a false king who has taken the mantle. The prince was dethroned because he was young. Therefore, he was seen as not capable of leading. It narrows down to a battle of only two men who are to determine the fate of the entire world. This conflict is an external conflict that later involves all the members of the land. The conflict is resolved through battle and unity amongst the members of the land ending up in victory. The most favorable part is when Miraz is challenged by Peter to a High King duel. Peter become victorious as Miraz had tripped over a tussock and could never get up. Lord Glozelle whom he had earlier insulted in revenge killed him. The Narnians did the consequent battle with the help of Aslan. Finally Caspian is crowned as King of Narnia by Aslan, and this resulted to the door opening at the edge of the cliff. Telmarines who had gathered were give an option to choose to

Stress Management and Its Effect on Efficient Work Performance Dissertation

Stress Management and Its Effect on Efficient Work Performance - Dissertation Example One of these is the distractions they get away from their work due to stress. In a recent study, Michelson (2004) noted that the commonest cases and instances of stress arise when the roles of employees demand that they have a lot of interaction with people as a means of serving the interest of these people. Employees whose work also put a lot of mental strain on them, as well as those who are engaged in the use of heavy and multiplex machinery have also been identified to be victims of some of the worse cases of stress (McIntosh, 2011). Sadly, even though it is generally appreciated that stress is a major hindrance to successful organisational running, not much has been done by way of managing stress among workers. Coldwater, Mohl, Denny and Mote (2012) blame this situation on the wrong identification and classification of the nature of stressors that employees are commonly faced with. In another instance, Michelson (2004) pointed to the fact that the best form of stress management can only come when there is the right identification of stress that employees are faced with. Purpose of the Study It will be noted that the Administrative Stress Index ASI ascribes five major areas of stressors namely administrative constraints, administrative responsibilities, interpersonal relations, intrapersonal conflicts, and role expectations. As part of the problem of wrong identification and management of stressors faced by employees within the labour force, this research is being conducted with the purpose of using the Administrative Stress Index (ASI) to identify the commonest forms of stressors that employees within three major labour forces namely the education, health and security sectors face in the delivery of their duties. Having used the ASI to identify the types of stress, a questionnaire that seeks to classify the stress management mechanisms used by workers will then be used. This purpose of the study can be noticed to be multi-variant in the sense that it will make it possible to collect sufficient data on all possible stressors that come with the delivery of administrative roles within the education, health and security sectors. The purpose of the study also encompasses stress management of specific stressor. This study is therefore being conducted as an opener to the issue of corporate management of stress by first focusing on the identification of stressors. Aim and Objectives The purpose of the study will be achieved with the aim of identifying different forms of stressors and how they are managed within the educational, health and security sectors. This can however be seen as a very broad and generalised goal, that cannot be achieved by performing only a single task or duty. The aim of the study has therefore been broken down into specific objectives, which signify the very specific tasks that will be undertaken to bring about the achievement of the research aim. The specific objectives of the study are thus given below. To achieve t he research aim therefore, the researcher has a responsibility of achieving all the specific objectives. 1. To identify various forms of stressors with different categories of jobs in the educational, health and security sectors. 2. To ascertain the different forms of stress management mechanisms that work best with each category of stressors identified. 3. To examine the impact and effectiveness of stress manage

Child and Family and their Social, Cultural and Relationship Problems Essay

Child and Family and their Social, Cultural and Relationship Problems - Essay Example A family assessment should contain discussions regarding the type of family, family finance, safety, health, emotional support within the family and outside the family and family roles. (Pillittery, 2007). This will be the guide that this paper will use in order to gain the necessary information it needs in order to create an appropriate conclusion. This will also help in the goal of the paper, which is to provide recommendations on nursing recommendations for a six(6) week period. This papers main discussion points are; The case we are presented with provides us with a multitude of variables, facts, ideas and sources. Most, if not all of these things are things that will have some sort of effect on the child, either for short-term or in the long run. We were provided with a short family background, relationship descriptions, summaries of actions and histories, and these are the points of the case that our paper will focus on and use in order to get the needed results. We will also be relating these facts to current literature in order to get a bearing on the correct path to take for the assessment and nursing care plan. Aside from the family influence, cultural, religious and environmental influences also play an important role in this case, as, according to a paper by oregonstate.edu, these social influences will have a resounding effect a persons attitude or outlook. Aside from the factors stated above, the case had also described some issues such as the child's difficulty in adjusting to life in a foreign place, being diagnosed with Post-traumatic stress disorder, suffering from a form of Dyslexia, being diagnosed with Epstein-Barr virus, having been teased at school due to his racial background, and being unable to be with the people he is comfortable  with for one reason or another. On their own, these issues may be minor, but combined, they create a massive impact on the child and his wee-being. We will take all of these factors into consideration for the entire duration of the case.

Marketing Analysis of Tesco

Marketing Analysis of Tesco 1.ORGANIZATIONS ORIENTATION An organization orientation depends upon the marketing concept and the market orientations, which are the foundations of strategic marketing. Marketing concept exists on the fusion of all marketing activities. When they are combined, the company can achieve higher profitability (Hooley 2008: 6, 7). Tesco has developed a strategic customer relationship management which builds and keeps a valued customer awareness and powerful brand engagement. Its position in UK is strengthened by overtaking Sainsbury in 1995 and by its online home grocery service (Jobber 2010:583). 2. MARKET SEGMENTATION, POSITIONING, TARGET MARKETING Market segmentation is the process of understanding the characteristics and demand of different individuals. Tesco gather customer information from the loyalty card scheme and identifies their purchasing habits and behaviour patterns, which are used for segmenting customers based on their needs. Customers are grouped based on their similarities. With this information, Tesco introduced different clubs like the kids club, the food club, the baby and toddler club, Healthy living Club. Market segments are chosen for targeting and a marketing mix strategy is selected for that target market (Jobber 2010:262,584).To develop an effective strategic marketing there should be an upstanding positioning of product and services in the market. Positioning is an iterative and vital process in retail marketing. The main goal of positioning is to develop and maintain a remarkable place in the market for the company and its product. Positioning starts with the product (Kalafatis 2000).Nevertheless, Tes co has a brand image and they are proud of its brand value ( Martenson 2007).Keys to successful positioning is clarity, consistency, competitiveness and credibility. Repositioning is carried out when customer needs or target market changes. Repositioning strategies include image repositioning, product repositioning, intangible repositioning, tangible repositioning (Jobber 2010:285,288). 3. MARKET ORIENTATION Marketing orientation is achieved by marketing concept (Blois 2000: 21). It is defined as all the departments working together to develop and understand customers current and future needs and to meet them to keep the customers satisfied (Hooley 2008: 8). The elements of market orientation include Customer orientation, Competitor orientation, and inter functional orientation. 4. CUSTOMER ORIENTATION Marketing oriented companies are primarily focused on customers. They get the needs and problems of their customers and find a better solution for them (Blois 2000: 22). Tesco strategy is based on loyalty card scheme and gets information about individual customers and their different needs. The club card helps the customers to save their money when they accumulate points in the card. Club card can be used at any Tescos partners (Jobber 2010:583). Tescos objectives and guidelines are aimed directly at customer satisfaction and it is assessed regularly (Hooley 2008: 11). Customer orientation depends on the employee performance. It results in positive outcomes of the company. It determines the relationship quality of the organization and relationship quality highly depends upon the company loyalty (Macintosh 2007). 5. COMPETITOR ORIENTATION The organization should identify the short-term and a long-term capability of the competitors. A deep understanding of the competition is needed. For Tesco the competitive positioning applies at the level of the companies. In UK the leading grocery retailing competitors include Tesco, Sainsburys and Asda (Hooley 2008: 208).We need to understand the competitors profit sources, position in the market, marketing strategies (Best 2004: 7).Tesco collects information about the activities and conduct regular benchmarking against the competitor offerings (Hooley 2008: 12). 6. LONG-TERM PROFIT FOCUS This is the ultimate objective of all the business. The main objectives of Tesco are to be a successful international retailer, to be strong in non-food as in the food business, to open more stores across the world. The International strategy of Tesco requires a long-term approach (Tesco PLC 2009).The decisions of Tesco are guided by long- term plans rather than short -term benefits (Hooley 2008: 12). 7. INTERFUNCTIONAL COORDINATION Interfunctional coordination concerns with the coordination of all company resources to create a value for target customers. To create an impenetrable competitive position, we have to rely on the coordinated efforts of various functions and people within the organizations. Cross-functional relationship plays a decisive role (Hooley 2008: 12). Tesco has a dedicated team approach to develop and deliver market-based customer solutions (Best 2004: 48).They work together and support each other to serve customer .The financial and management department work closely with the operators of the retailer world. Commercial departments make decisions to deliver best products at best possible prices. Corporate purchasing departments work with suppliers. The graduates in Tesco strive to generate revenue. Distribution team works to deliver products in the right time to different stores. The effective systems IT department improve online shopping for customers and they raise the contacts between vari ous business areas to streamline the entire processes. The marketing team of Tesco works with customers to understand their needs and current trends. The property and engineering department do all the support works of the stores (Hooley 2008: 12). 8. ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE Marketing orientation can be described as a variety of organizational culture that places the highest priority to establish and maintain the best customer value while considering the interests of stakeholders like investors, employees, suppliers (Blois 2000: 21). The core purpose of Tesco is to create value for customers to earn their lifetime loyalty (Tesco PLC 2009). All the staffs work like a team .They gives respect each other and treat customers in a way they feel satisfied. Face to face meetings, trips are conducted and Staffs are rewarded for their work they do. They offer discounts and benefits for the staffs also provide more salaries, training, flexible working hours and health and safety measures are observed as compared to other retailers. Tesco welcomes all people regardless of age, sex, ethnicity etc. Human rights policies are applied to all members (Tesco PLC 2009). Store Loyalty is the output of customer satisfaction and customers will visit the store regularly. All e mployees understand their responsibilities to create satisfied customers (Martenson 2007). 9. TESCO STRATEGIES Tesco has a well-established strategy for their business success. About 70% of the trading and profit is from UK. They are the market leaders in markets outside UK. They have four different store formats like Express, Metro, Superstore, Extra and one trial format Home plus, for non-food and clothing. As an international retailer, they mainly focus on the local customer needs and understand them. They make sure the board appeal. They have various own brands of superior quality to customers to compliment their style of living. Tesco looks after the people working with them (Tesco PLC 2009). Market Corporate responsibility is an opening for growth. The values are the no one tries harder for customers and treat people how they want to be treated (Tesco PLC 2009). The Tesco steering wheel represents performance and is a strategy-driving tool. (Tesco PLC 2009). A sale in non-food is a key part of the strategy. They provide with the best quality and price. Tescos non-food includes electrical, home entertainment, clothing, health and beauty, stationery, bookshop and soft furnishings, seasonal goods, opticians and pharmacies (Tesco PLC 2009). In retailing services, Tesco offers more to the customers. Tesco personal finance has products from credit cards to insurance. Online grocery shopping is made effortless with Tesco.com. Tesco Telecoms offers a wide range of services from mobile network, home phone service, internet access and an internet phone service (Tesco PLC 2009). The Success of Tesco depends on trust and satisfaction of the customers. Overall, Tesco has a strong marketing orientation and compelling marketing strategies which results in the customer satisfaction and the higher levels of profitability. Every Little Helps Tesco to be a market leader (Tesco PLC 2009). 10. COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE As Armstrong (2005) defined, competitive advantage is the advantage over competitors obtained by providing better value to customer. It is important to company who wants to win the customers and establish a profitable relationship with them (Armstrong Kotler, 2005). Before the organisation is choosing the right competitive advantage on which to build up its competitive strategies it must analyze the industry environment normally by using the porters 5 forces analysis. 11. Porters Five Forces Analysis Introduced by Michael Porter in 1979, Porters 5 Forces is a powerful tool to analyse the attractiveness of an industry. This framework involves a relationship between competitors within an industry, potential competitors, suppliers, buyers. It helps management to understand both the strength of the current competitive position, and the strength of a position organization want to be. (Michael Porter, 2008) A diagram below shows the Porters 5 forces clearly. 12. Threat of New Entry: As porter said the ability of people who newly enter your market might affect your power. If the barrier to entry the market is low and your have little protection for current position, then the new competitors can easily enter the market and weaken your position. (Michael Porter, 2008). In terms of new entrants Tesco does not have much threat because of the high barriers for new comer to entry into the supermarket industry. According to the TNS (Taylor Nelson Sofres, the leading market research group) data Tesco occupies over one third of grocery market share in UK, and is along with Asda, Saintsburys, Morrisons become the big four which has hold over 68% of UK overall grocery market. This strong solid position makes Tesco the market leader and giant in UK supermarket industry. Due to the massive market share has been hold by the big four, the barriers for new entrants are obviously quite high. It is hard for new retailer to obtain the market share and challenge the existing powerfu l player such as Tesco. In addition, another high barrier for new entrants is the supermarket industry needs huge capital and personnel involved but needs long time to get the return. Therefore, there are high barrier for new retailers entry into the existing supermarket industry dominated by big four. Thus, if Tesco sustains its strong position in the market it will have less threat from new entrants. 13. The power of buyer: According to Porter the buyers have the power to drive price down. Small number of buyers and powerful buyers for a company can likely having greater power on driving the price (Michael Porter, 2008). Generally say, in supermarket industry there is little bargain power for buyers with supermarket because all the prices are fixed price. Moreover, the bigger number of consumers will reduce the power of buyers. Therefore, it is little power of buyers to Tesco due to huge number of customers and little bargain power of buyers in this industry. However, customers can still switch buying from one supermarket to another by many factors. First, the price is the primary factor determinates customers buying activities. In this respect, Tescos strategy is based on its cost advantages. The organization aims to be the best value retailer. Tesco stated its price has been cut by 17% between 2000 and 2006; even facing the higher energy price challenge during the recent recession Tescos price has bee n dropped down by 1.8% last year. Second, due to the differentiation of product is little in the supermarket industry; customers can switch buying easily, thus, to attract and keep customers is relying on their loyalty to the store. Tescos report claims it has the UK number one loyalty card scheme and it has over 13 millions active Clubcard holders. Overall, the power of buyer is little to Tesco and Tesco has big advantages on low price and customer loyalty. 14. Power of suppliers Porter said the suppliers also have power to drive up the price. The power of driven is determined by the number and the strength of suppliers. To the Britain biggest grocery supermarket Tesco, the power of supplier is very little because Tesco has vast numbers of supplier across overall markets. The overwhelming market power of Tesco makes suppliers have no bargain power to it; instead, some of suppliers rely on Tesco. As a buyer Tesco has huge demand and great power to the supplier. However, Tesco also relys on their suppliers to achieve its objectives, without those suppliers Tesco could not deliver best value goods to the customers. Therefore, Tesco has established the long term constructive partnership with suppliers. According to Tescos report, it has over 1,500 suppliers who have been working with Tesco for five years or more. Based on a survey taken in 2008 by Tesco, there were over 90% of UK suppliers thought Tesco was trustworthy. Moreover, Tesco also provide the opportunit ies to small producers and local suppliers. For example, Tesco has opened five new regional buying offices around Britain and hosted regional road shows to attract and increase the number of local suppliers for selling their goods through Tesco. As the result, the small suppliers get more business opportunities meanwhile they help Tesco getting hundreds of new lines into stores. In sum, Tesco has little threat from power of supplier and company achieved its objectives by establishing the trustable partnership with suppliers. 15. The Threat of substitutes Porter introduced this threat as the other industry or business has the ability to substitute you and attract your customers. Although Tesco has head position in the supermarket industry, somehow, the substitutes still exist. For example, eating-out is a substitute to buying food from supermarket. However, a recent survey by analyst Buckingham Research has found that 75% of British families will stay at home during the recession rather than eating out. Under recession, the threat of eating-out to supermarket is less than ever. Another substitute worth to be considered is the online shopping. Nowadays, as the technology growing fast the online shopping becomes easy and trendy. However, it can not completely substitute the real life shopping especially for the food purchase. The technical problem, delivery problem and communication problem may bother people to buy online. Moreover, the real life shopping is also a part of social life to most of people, which would be simply substitute by clicking screen. In sum, the threat of substitute to Tesco is higher than buyer, supplier and new entrant. 16. The Threat of Competitive Rivalry: This threat comes from the competitors and also is affected by the new entry, substitute, power of buyer and supplier. The threat of competitive rivalry to Tesco is high although it is the largest grocery supermarket in UK. Asda, Sainsburys and Morrison are the three main competitors of Tesco. These three companies also have big portion of market share and compete with Tesco through price, product and promotions. The competition between the main grocery supermarkets remains fierce. Tesco has been reported that the market share has been losing and dipping in UK market since 2009 by many main Medias such as Times, BBC news and Guardian. Reports said according to the last figures of 2009 Tescos market share dropped from 31.3% to 30.7% of UK grocery sales. Meanwhile, Asdas market share rose to 17 % from 16.7 % and Morrisons went up to 12.1% from 11.7 %. TNS reported against the UK grocery sales rise 6%, Tescos sales rose 4% which below the market growth. However, Morrisons and Asda were all found beyond the growth of the market, seeing sales rise 9.7% and 7.2%. Moreover, the discounter supermarkets Aldi and Lidl also compete with Tesco as consumer cut back on spending during the recession. In addition, TNS also claimed that Waitrose, the John Lewis-own supermarket as the up-market grocer is fast growing in grocery market. On the other hand, because Tesco also set foot in non-food industry there are so many competitors such as Shell, BP, Amazon, O2, etc. To sum up, Tesco has highly threat from many competitors in both food and non-food industry. Therefore, Tesco must take its competitive advantages to prevent from threats of competitors. 17. Competitive Advantage of Tesco Through the porters 5 forces analysis the competitive advantages of Tesco can be outlined. First, the significant market power is the big advantage of Tesco. The great market power makes Tesco is able to put up barrier to new entrants and weaken the power of buyer and supplier; it also gives Tesco ability to beat the competitors. Second, namely cost advantage, the big economic scale enables Tesco to reduce the cost at extremely low level and thereby providing the low price to customers. Third, diversification makes Tesco has a further advantage to win the market because Tesco expands the broad markets such as financing, telecom and retail service rather than just food market and spread its business worldwide. To sum up, if Tesco follows its competitive strategy by aware of the threats and competitive advantages, it will keep the strong position in the industry and beat its competitors. 18. MARKETING MIX Firstly, the term Marketing Mix was widely adopted after Neil H. Boren published his article The Concept of the Marketing Mix in 1964, where he described marketing managers as a mixer of ingredients. The ingredients in Borens marketing mix included product, planning, pricing, packaging, branding, distribution channels, personal selling, advertising, promotions, display, servicing, physical handling, fact finding and analysis. Which was later grouped into four categories by E. Jerome McCarthy, today know as the 4Ps of marketing, shown below However, some people argue that along with the Marketing Mix 4 Ps concept, we should add another 2 Ps, which are people and packaging. 19. PRODUCT It is rare to discuss price without the presence of a product and to enable us understand the link between Price and Product. Kotler Armstrong (2006) define a product as anything that can be presented to a consumer for attention, acquisition, use, or consumption that might satisfy a want or need. They further define a consumer product as the product bought by the final consumer for personal consumption. According to Ferrell (2005), the product is the core of the marketing mix strategy in which retailers can offer consumers symbolic and experiential attributes to differentiate products from competitors. However, it is also concerned with what the product means to the consumer. Product is about quality, design, features, brand name and sizes (Borden, 1984). Wulf et.al. (2005) found that private label products could offer even better quality than national brands but at a lower price. The domestic competitor reacts to the intensifying price competition by engaging in selective price cha nges. A product is a physical good, service, idea, person, or place that is capable of offering tangible and intangible attributes that individuals or organizations regard as so necessary, worthwhile or satisfying that they are prepared to exchange money, patronage or some other unit of value to acquire it. (Blythe 2007) Core products: Core Products are the core benefit that is being sought by the consumer by buying the product, like the cheaper call rates and ease of recharge top up available to Tesco Mobile customers. Actual /Tangible products: Actual Products are all the tangible features/benefits that are associated with the core product such as its features or design, level of quality, packaging, size. There is no clear distinction between a pure tangible product and a service. The Tescos give away deals for the new 3G i-phone deal Augmented products: are the intangible features/benefits associated with the core actual product such as the branding, warrantees, delivery, guarantee, and after sales service. Tesco mobile, for example, is a tangible product, but it often comes with a warranty and software updates. A firmsproduct line refers to the variety of similar commodities that the firm holds, Tesco for example, makes a large range of inter-related goods, Many of Tesco stores stock over 40,000 product lines. Even a Tesco Express stores stock a choice of well over 2,000 lines. ProductDepthrefers to the variety of commodities offered within each product line. Tesco stores stock : Healthy Living products, Free From products for people with food allergies and intolerances, Special healthy Kids snacks and Organic product lines and the recent announcement by the Tescobank CEO Benny Higgins of plans to launch an assault on the mortgage market by the end of 2010, hoping to take advantage of the current problems in the sector. Targeted at providingTescocustomers with financial advice, car and home insurance credit cards, mortgages and current accounts.(MINTEL 2009). Products often go through alife cycle.Initially, at the introduction stage a product is launched. Since the product is not well known and is usually expensive (e.g. the , as). Eventually, many products reach agrowthphase where sales increases dramatically. More firms enter with their models of the product, sometimes with added innovations. Unfortunately, the product reaches amaturitystage where little growth is sighted. For example, in the UK, almost every household has at least one stereo sound system. Some products may also reach adeclinestage, usually because the product is swapped for something better. For example, CDplayers experienced declining sales as more consumers switched to MP3 players and i-pods. Ansoff Theory is a series of suggested growth strategies that set the direction for the business plan. illustrated below Market Penetration: here the business strategy focuses on selling existing products in existing markets.This strategy aims at four major objectives: Maintaining the market share of current products Securing growth market Dominance Drive out competitors with support of an aggressive promotional campaign and favorable price strategy Increase product usage by existing customers e.g. With the Tesco Loyalty Club card scheme. Market Development: here the business strategy seeks to sell its existing product into a new market. The various approaches to this include: New geographical markets e.g.- exporting Tesco UK products to the Express shops in Ireland and Malaysia New Product Dimension or Packaging New Distributional channel Implementing different pricing policies for different markets segments Product Development: refers to a growth strategy where new products are initiated in existing markets. This often requires development of new competencies in the case of Tesco Bank and its new job vacancies for competencies in the financial sector. Diversification points to the growth strategy where a business markets a new commodity in a new market. Unfortunately, for this strategy to be adopted a clear objective of its advantages should be explored and risk assessments carried out seeing as the business may have little or no experience in the new area. Roughly one quarter of Tescos sales, was own label. Many leading retailing companies have substantial grocery interests. Of the top 25 companies in 1978, 22 were involved in groceries retailing, of which 10 can be considered leading firms in the groceries sector [Akehurst, 1983: 169, Table 5] 20. Price : Price refers to the value assigned to something by the seller to something purchased, offered for sale, to a buyer as their willingness to pay for the product and services delivered (Gilbert 1999). Price is the only element in the marketing mix that is revenue generating- all of the others are costs. It should therefore, be used as an active instrument of strategy in the major areas of marketing decision making. Pricing in the international setting is more complicated than in the domestic market, because of factors such as government influence and additional costs (Becker and Thorelli 1980). The price of an item is an important influence on the value of sales made. In theory, price is really determined by the discovery of what customers perceive is the value of the item on sale. Recent research has shown that demand-based pricing is associated with higher retailer gross margins; whereas past price dependence is associated with, lower retailer gross margins (Nijs, Srinivasan, and Pau wels 2007). There are a number of pricing policies used by Tesco today, which include: 21. Market-led Pricing: also known as competitive pricing, this simply accepts the price which competitors are charging for a product and then price its product at the same level or slightly lower in order to gain some advantage over competitors. Significantly found in markets where there is close competitors. For a company like TESCO it is important to monitor other competitors and in order to maintain customer loyalty against discounters, the adoption of a more aggressive pricing strategy was launch by the advent of budget private label ranges and backed up by advertising focusing on price comparisons. Despite challenges due to rising energy prices, but with innovations such as the reusable plastic trays, which was introduced in the fresh food areas have helped make savings these savings are pass on to customers. According to the OFT this led to a fall in real food price between 2000-2005.as shown below 22. Cost-Based Pricing: also known as cost plus Pricing, involves working out the businesss total fixed and variable costs and then adding a percentage of profit. Here the business has to consider the total number of items that it plans to produce and sell. The big advantage of cost-based pricing for TESCO is that the company is guaranteed to make a profit on its sales since it has covered its costs. However, in operating cost-based pricing it is very important to be aware of competitors price. However, this poses a threat when businesses are unable to sell the expected quantity of the product, perhaps because competitors are offering the same goods at a lower price. 23. Price wars In a competitive market such as grocery market, businesses sometimes engage in price wars in which prices of some goods are slashed to a very low price in order to secure sales. Price wars swamped grocery retailers, as the switch to private labels from branded packaged food continued to gather pace. For instance, Tesco and ASDA propose freezing of tax on some products at 15% despite an increase in rates to 17.5%(MMR 2010) This is risky because advantages gained are short-lived and rival, businesses tend to respond by slashing prices even further. If pursued long enough, price wars would cut profits seriously and in the end, only customers benefits by the low prices. 24. PENETRATION PRICING 25. ECONOMY PRICING: Stores such as TESCO, which allegedly charge the lowest prices, attract many consumers based on this conception alone (Peter Donnely, 2007). Among retail stores, the pricing strategy has become the fundamental point, as they need to compete in terms of pricing to lure more customers. Berman (1996) added that among the pricing policies which are of major concern to retail store outlets are the High-Low Pricing and Every Day Low Pricing (EDLP) strategies. This is sighted in operators who have significant economies of scale and buying power (Gilbert 1999). 26. VALUE PRICING This ensues where external factors such as the recession or increased competition forces companies to provide VALUE product and services to retain sales, they are especially important to families on a budget and have made a significant contribution to making healthy food accessible to all. Tesco now has in store 95 fresh fruit and vegetable value lines, and are working with the Pre-School Learning Alliance to help parents and children in some of the UKs most deprived areas make healthier choices. Value pricing may have a negative impact on the profit margin of the company (tesco.com N.D). 27. GEOGRAPHICAL PRICING This is evident where there are variations in price and demand in different parts of the world. TESCOs prices are a little higher in some town centre and neighbourhood stores because of higher overhead costs (mainly rents and rates). These costs are spread over a smaller volume of sales, and can only be recovered by charging prices that are, on average, higher. Example was when Tesco first moved into Ireland the products it sold was more expensive than they were in their UK stores (Irish Times 1998). This was because the UK suppliers were charging the Ireland stores more than they were charging the UK stores. This triggered some conspiracies and allegiances between key stakeholders in the industry resulting in a widespread anti-Tesco campaign (Poole and Clark 2002). In Conclusion Pricing a product too high or too low could mean a loss of sales for the organization. Therefore, appropriate pricing strategies and policies should be put in place for the various market segments, to ensure 28. PROMOTION Significant P in Marketing Mix 4P (Product, Price, Promotion and Place). Although the 4P characterization has led to widespread use of the term promotion for describing communications with prospects and customers, the term marketing communications is preferred by most marketing practitioners as well as by many educators. Consider that we may want to use marketing communications to refer to the collection of advertising, sales promotions, public relations, event marketing, and other communication devices. Promotion is considered as Sales Promotion (Shimp 2007). Marketing Communication is used by organisations to communicate with customers with respect to their product offerings. In this sense, Marketing Communication is one side of the communication process with customers. Market research, in which suppliers seek to elicit information on consumer requirements from consumers, is the complementary component of the communication process. The following summarises this very simply: (Rowley 1998). According to Rowley (1998) producer should communicate to reach the customers and in turn should listen to the customers needs and requirements to enhance the product and service. Tesco proudly announced that one of the reasons to its Success is listening to their Customers and its suppliers. Tesco has adopted multiple qualitative research techniques to reach their customers such as focus groups, accompanied shops, home visits to collect the feedback and respond quickly with corrective measures. Modestly they say, Its simple we listen and respond, providing customers with Marketing Analysis of Tesco Marketing Analysis of Tesco 1.ORGANIZATIONS ORIENTATION An organization orientation depends upon the marketing concept and the market orientations, which are the foundations of strategic marketing. Marketing concept exists on the fusion of all marketing activities. When they are combined, the company can achieve higher profitability (Hooley 2008: 6, 7). Tesco has developed a strategic customer relationship management which builds and keeps a valued customer awareness and powerful brand engagement. Its position in UK is strengthened by overtaking Sainsbury in 1995 and by its online home grocery service (Jobber 2010:583). 2. MARKET SEGMENTATION, POSITIONING, TARGET MARKETING Market segmentation is the process of understanding the characteristics and demand of different individuals. Tesco gather customer information from the loyalty card scheme and identifies their purchasing habits and behaviour patterns, which are used for segmenting customers based on their needs. Customers are grouped based on their similarities. With this information, Tesco introduced different clubs like the kids club, the food club, the baby and toddler club, Healthy living Club. Market segments are chosen for targeting and a marketing mix strategy is selected for that target market (Jobber 2010:262,584).To develop an effective strategic marketing there should be an upstanding positioning of product and services in the market. Positioning is an iterative and vital process in retail marketing. The main goal of positioning is to develop and maintain a remarkable place in the market for the company and its product. Positioning starts with the product (Kalafatis 2000).Nevertheless, Tes co has a brand image and they are proud of its brand value ( Martenson 2007).Keys to successful positioning is clarity, consistency, competitiveness and credibility. Repositioning is carried out when customer needs or target market changes. Repositioning strategies include image repositioning, product repositioning, intangible repositioning, tangible repositioning (Jobber 2010:285,288). 3. MARKET ORIENTATION Marketing orientation is achieved by marketing concept (Blois 2000: 21). It is defined as all the departments working together to develop and understand customers current and future needs and to meet them to keep the customers satisfied (Hooley 2008: 8). The elements of market orientation include Customer orientation, Competitor orientation, and inter functional orientation. 4. CUSTOMER ORIENTATION Marketing oriented companies are primarily focused on customers. They get the needs and problems of their customers and find a better solution for them (Blois 2000: 22). Tesco strategy is based on loyalty card scheme and gets information about individual customers and their different needs. The club card helps the customers to save their money when they accumulate points in the card. Club card can be used at any Tescos partners (Jobber 2010:583). Tescos objectives and guidelines are aimed directly at customer satisfaction and it is assessed regularly (Hooley 2008: 11). Customer orientation depends on the employee performance. It results in positive outcomes of the company. It determines the relationship quality of the organization and relationship quality highly depends upon the company loyalty (Macintosh 2007). 5. COMPETITOR ORIENTATION The organization should identify the short-term and a long-term capability of the competitors. A deep understanding of the competition is needed. For Tesco the competitive positioning applies at the level of the companies. In UK the leading grocery retailing competitors include Tesco, Sainsburys and Asda (Hooley 2008: 208).We need to understand the competitors profit sources, position in the market, marketing strategies (Best 2004: 7).Tesco collects information about the activities and conduct regular benchmarking against the competitor offerings (Hooley 2008: 12). 6. LONG-TERM PROFIT FOCUS This is the ultimate objective of all the business. The main objectives of Tesco are to be a successful international retailer, to be strong in non-food as in the food business, to open more stores across the world. The International strategy of Tesco requires a long-term approach (Tesco PLC 2009).The decisions of Tesco are guided by long- term plans rather than short -term benefits (Hooley 2008: 12). 7. INTERFUNCTIONAL COORDINATION Interfunctional coordination concerns with the coordination of all company resources to create a value for target customers. To create an impenetrable competitive position, we have to rely on the coordinated efforts of various functions and people within the organizations. Cross-functional relationship plays a decisive role (Hooley 2008: 12). Tesco has a dedicated team approach to develop and deliver market-based customer solutions (Best 2004: 48).They work together and support each other to serve customer .The financial and management department work closely with the operators of the retailer world. Commercial departments make decisions to deliver best products at best possible prices. Corporate purchasing departments work with suppliers. The graduates in Tesco strive to generate revenue. Distribution team works to deliver products in the right time to different stores. The effective systems IT department improve online shopping for customers and they raise the contacts between vari ous business areas to streamline the entire processes. The marketing team of Tesco works with customers to understand their needs and current trends. The property and engineering department do all the support works of the stores (Hooley 2008: 12). 8. ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE Marketing orientation can be described as a variety of organizational culture that places the highest priority to establish and maintain the best customer value while considering the interests of stakeholders like investors, employees, suppliers (Blois 2000: 21). The core purpose of Tesco is to create value for customers to earn their lifetime loyalty (Tesco PLC 2009). All the staffs work like a team .They gives respect each other and treat customers in a way they feel satisfied. Face to face meetings, trips are conducted and Staffs are rewarded for their work they do. They offer discounts and benefits for the staffs also provide more salaries, training, flexible working hours and health and safety measures are observed as compared to other retailers. Tesco welcomes all people regardless of age, sex, ethnicity etc. Human rights policies are applied to all members (Tesco PLC 2009). Store Loyalty is the output of customer satisfaction and customers will visit the store regularly. All e mployees understand their responsibilities to create satisfied customers (Martenson 2007). 9. TESCO STRATEGIES Tesco has a well-established strategy for their business success. About 70% of the trading and profit is from UK. They are the market leaders in markets outside UK. They have four different store formats like Express, Metro, Superstore, Extra and one trial format Home plus, for non-food and clothing. As an international retailer, they mainly focus on the local customer needs and understand them. They make sure the board appeal. They have various own brands of superior quality to customers to compliment their style of living. Tesco looks after the people working with them (Tesco PLC 2009). Market Corporate responsibility is an opening for growth. The values are the no one tries harder for customers and treat people how they want to be treated (Tesco PLC 2009). The Tesco steering wheel represents performance and is a strategy-driving tool. (Tesco PLC 2009). A sale in non-food is a key part of the strategy. They provide with the best quality and price. Tescos non-food includes electrical, home entertainment, clothing, health and beauty, stationery, bookshop and soft furnishings, seasonal goods, opticians and pharmacies (Tesco PLC 2009). In retailing services, Tesco offers more to the customers. Tesco personal finance has products from credit cards to insurance. Online grocery shopping is made effortless with Tesco.com. Tesco Telecoms offers a wide range of services from mobile network, home phone service, internet access and an internet phone service (Tesco PLC 2009). The Success of Tesco depends on trust and satisfaction of the customers. Overall, Tesco has a strong marketing orientation and compelling marketing strategies which results in the customer satisfaction and the higher levels of profitability. Every Little Helps Tesco to be a market leader (Tesco PLC 2009). 10. COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE As Armstrong (2005) defined, competitive advantage is the advantage over competitors obtained by providing better value to customer. It is important to company who wants to win the customers and establish a profitable relationship with them (Armstrong Kotler, 2005). Before the organisation is choosing the right competitive advantage on which to build up its competitive strategies it must analyze the industry environment normally by using the porters 5 forces analysis. 11. Porters Five Forces Analysis Introduced by Michael Porter in 1979, Porters 5 Forces is a powerful tool to analyse the attractiveness of an industry. This framework involves a relationship between competitors within an industry, potential competitors, suppliers, buyers. It helps management to understand both the strength of the current competitive position, and the strength of a position organization want to be. (Michael Porter, 2008) A diagram below shows the Porters 5 forces clearly. 12. Threat of New Entry: As porter said the ability of people who newly enter your market might affect your power. If the barrier to entry the market is low and your have little protection for current position, then the new competitors can easily enter the market and weaken your position. (Michael Porter, 2008). In terms of new entrants Tesco does not have much threat because of the high barriers for new comer to entry into the supermarket industry. According to the TNS (Taylor Nelson Sofres, the leading market research group) data Tesco occupies over one third of grocery market share in UK, and is along with Asda, Saintsburys, Morrisons become the big four which has hold over 68% of UK overall grocery market. This strong solid position makes Tesco the market leader and giant in UK supermarket industry. Due to the massive market share has been hold by the big four, the barriers for new entrants are obviously quite high. It is hard for new retailer to obtain the market share and challenge the existing powerfu l player such as Tesco. In addition, another high barrier for new entrants is the supermarket industry needs huge capital and personnel involved but needs long time to get the return. Therefore, there are high barrier for new retailers entry into the existing supermarket industry dominated by big four. Thus, if Tesco sustains its strong position in the market it will have less threat from new entrants. 13. The power of buyer: According to Porter the buyers have the power to drive price down. Small number of buyers and powerful buyers for a company can likely having greater power on driving the price (Michael Porter, 2008). Generally say, in supermarket industry there is little bargain power for buyers with supermarket because all the prices are fixed price. Moreover, the bigger number of consumers will reduce the power of buyers. Therefore, it is little power of buyers to Tesco due to huge number of customers and little bargain power of buyers in this industry. However, customers can still switch buying from one supermarket to another by many factors. First, the price is the primary factor determinates customers buying activities. In this respect, Tescos strategy is based on its cost advantages. The organization aims to be the best value retailer. Tesco stated its price has been cut by 17% between 2000 and 2006; even facing the higher energy price challenge during the recent recession Tescos price has bee n dropped down by 1.8% last year. Second, due to the differentiation of product is little in the supermarket industry; customers can switch buying easily, thus, to attract and keep customers is relying on their loyalty to the store. Tescos report claims it has the UK number one loyalty card scheme and it has over 13 millions active Clubcard holders. Overall, the power of buyer is little to Tesco and Tesco has big advantages on low price and customer loyalty. 14. Power of suppliers Porter said the suppliers also have power to drive up the price. The power of driven is determined by the number and the strength of suppliers. To the Britain biggest grocery supermarket Tesco, the power of supplier is very little because Tesco has vast numbers of supplier across overall markets. The overwhelming market power of Tesco makes suppliers have no bargain power to it; instead, some of suppliers rely on Tesco. As a buyer Tesco has huge demand and great power to the supplier. However, Tesco also relys on their suppliers to achieve its objectives, without those suppliers Tesco could not deliver best value goods to the customers. Therefore, Tesco has established the long term constructive partnership with suppliers. According to Tescos report, it has over 1,500 suppliers who have been working with Tesco for five years or more. Based on a survey taken in 2008 by Tesco, there were over 90% of UK suppliers thought Tesco was trustworthy. Moreover, Tesco also provide the opportunit ies to small producers and local suppliers. For example, Tesco has opened five new regional buying offices around Britain and hosted regional road shows to attract and increase the number of local suppliers for selling their goods through Tesco. As the result, the small suppliers get more business opportunities meanwhile they help Tesco getting hundreds of new lines into stores. In sum, Tesco has little threat from power of supplier and company achieved its objectives by establishing the trustable partnership with suppliers. 15. The Threat of substitutes Porter introduced this threat as the other industry or business has the ability to substitute you and attract your customers. Although Tesco has head position in the supermarket industry, somehow, the substitutes still exist. For example, eating-out is a substitute to buying food from supermarket. However, a recent survey by analyst Buckingham Research has found that 75% of British families will stay at home during the recession rather than eating out. Under recession, the threat of eating-out to supermarket is less than ever. Another substitute worth to be considered is the online shopping. Nowadays, as the technology growing fast the online shopping becomes easy and trendy. However, it can not completely substitute the real life shopping especially for the food purchase. The technical problem, delivery problem and communication problem may bother people to buy online. Moreover, the real life shopping is also a part of social life to most of people, which would be simply substitute by clicking screen. In sum, the threat of substitute to Tesco is higher than buyer, supplier and new entrant. 16. The Threat of Competitive Rivalry: This threat comes from the competitors and also is affected by the new entry, substitute, power of buyer and supplier. The threat of competitive rivalry to Tesco is high although it is the largest grocery supermarket in UK. Asda, Sainsburys and Morrison are the three main competitors of Tesco. These three companies also have big portion of market share and compete with Tesco through price, product and promotions. The competition between the main grocery supermarkets remains fierce. Tesco has been reported that the market share has been losing and dipping in UK market since 2009 by many main Medias such as Times, BBC news and Guardian. Reports said according to the last figures of 2009 Tescos market share dropped from 31.3% to 30.7% of UK grocery sales. Meanwhile, Asdas market share rose to 17 % from 16.7 % and Morrisons went up to 12.1% from 11.7 %. TNS reported against the UK grocery sales rise 6%, Tescos sales rose 4% which below the market growth. However, Morrisons and Asda were all found beyond the growth of the market, seeing sales rise 9.7% and 7.2%. Moreover, the discounter supermarkets Aldi and Lidl also compete with Tesco as consumer cut back on spending during the recession. In addition, TNS also claimed that Waitrose, the John Lewis-own supermarket as the up-market grocer is fast growing in grocery market. On the other hand, because Tesco also set foot in non-food industry there are so many competitors such as Shell, BP, Amazon, O2, etc. To sum up, Tesco has highly threat from many competitors in both food and non-food industry. Therefore, Tesco must take its competitive advantages to prevent from threats of competitors. 17. Competitive Advantage of Tesco Through the porters 5 forces analysis the competitive advantages of Tesco can be outlined. First, the significant market power is the big advantage of Tesco. The great market power makes Tesco is able to put up barrier to new entrants and weaken the power of buyer and supplier; it also gives Tesco ability to beat the competitors. Second, namely cost advantage, the big economic scale enables Tesco to reduce the cost at extremely low level and thereby providing the low price to customers. Third, diversification makes Tesco has a further advantage to win the market because Tesco expands the broad markets such as financing, telecom and retail service rather than just food market and spread its business worldwide. To sum up, if Tesco follows its competitive strategy by aware of the threats and competitive advantages, it will keep the strong position in the industry and beat its competitors. 18. MARKETING MIX Firstly, the term Marketing Mix was widely adopted after Neil H. Boren published his article The Concept of the Marketing Mix in 1964, where he described marketing managers as a mixer of ingredients. The ingredients in Borens marketing mix included product, planning, pricing, packaging, branding, distribution channels, personal selling, advertising, promotions, display, servicing, physical handling, fact finding and analysis. Which was later grouped into four categories by E. Jerome McCarthy, today know as the 4Ps of marketing, shown below However, some people argue that along with the Marketing Mix 4 Ps concept, we should add another 2 Ps, which are people and packaging. 19. PRODUCT It is rare to discuss price without the presence of a product and to enable us understand the link between Price and Product. Kotler Armstrong (2006) define a product as anything that can be presented to a consumer for attention, acquisition, use, or consumption that might satisfy a want or need. They further define a consumer product as the product bought by the final consumer for personal consumption. According to Ferrell (2005), the product is the core of the marketing mix strategy in which retailers can offer consumers symbolic and experiential attributes to differentiate products from competitors. However, it is also concerned with what the product means to the consumer. Product is about quality, design, features, brand name and sizes (Borden, 1984). Wulf et.al. (2005) found that private label products could offer even better quality than national brands but at a lower price. The domestic competitor reacts to the intensifying price competition by engaging in selective price cha nges. A product is a physical good, service, idea, person, or place that is capable of offering tangible and intangible attributes that individuals or organizations regard as so necessary, worthwhile or satisfying that they are prepared to exchange money, patronage or some other unit of value to acquire it. (Blythe 2007) Core products: Core Products are the core benefit that is being sought by the consumer by buying the product, like the cheaper call rates and ease of recharge top up available to Tesco Mobile customers. Actual /Tangible products: Actual Products are all the tangible features/benefits that are associated with the core product such as its features or design, level of quality, packaging, size. There is no clear distinction between a pure tangible product and a service. The Tescos give away deals for the new 3G i-phone deal Augmented products: are the intangible features/benefits associated with the core actual product such as the branding, warrantees, delivery, guarantee, and after sales service. Tesco mobile, for example, is a tangible product, but it often comes with a warranty and software updates. A firmsproduct line refers to the variety of similar commodities that the firm holds, Tesco for example, makes a large range of inter-related goods, Many of Tesco stores stock over 40,000 product lines. Even a Tesco Express stores stock a choice of well over 2,000 lines. ProductDepthrefers to the variety of commodities offered within each product line. Tesco stores stock : Healthy Living products, Free From products for people with food allergies and intolerances, Special healthy Kids snacks and Organic product lines and the recent announcement by the Tescobank CEO Benny Higgins of plans to launch an assault on the mortgage market by the end of 2010, hoping to take advantage of the current problems in the sector. Targeted at providingTescocustomers with financial advice, car and home insurance credit cards, mortgages and current accounts.(MINTEL 2009). Products often go through alife cycle.Initially, at the introduction stage a product is launched. Since the product is not well known and is usually expensive (e.g. the , as). Eventually, many products reach agrowthphase where sales increases dramatically. More firms enter with their models of the product, sometimes with added innovations. Unfortunately, the product reaches amaturitystage where little growth is sighted. For example, in the UK, almost every household has at least one stereo sound system. Some products may also reach adeclinestage, usually because the product is swapped for something better. For example, CDplayers experienced declining sales as more consumers switched to MP3 players and i-pods. Ansoff Theory is a series of suggested growth strategies that set the direction for the business plan. illustrated below Market Penetration: here the business strategy focuses on selling existing products in existing markets.This strategy aims at four major objectives: Maintaining the market share of current products Securing growth market Dominance Drive out competitors with support of an aggressive promotional campaign and favorable price strategy Increase product usage by existing customers e.g. With the Tesco Loyalty Club card scheme. Market Development: here the business strategy seeks to sell its existing product into a new market. The various approaches to this include: New geographical markets e.g.- exporting Tesco UK products to the Express shops in Ireland and Malaysia New Product Dimension or Packaging New Distributional channel Implementing different pricing policies for different markets segments Product Development: refers to a growth strategy where new products are initiated in existing markets. This often requires development of new competencies in the case of Tesco Bank and its new job vacancies for competencies in the financial sector. Diversification points to the growth strategy where a business markets a new commodity in a new market. Unfortunately, for this strategy to be adopted a clear objective of its advantages should be explored and risk assessments carried out seeing as the business may have little or no experience in the new area. Roughly one quarter of Tescos sales, was own label. Many leading retailing companies have substantial grocery interests. Of the top 25 companies in 1978, 22 were involved in groceries retailing, of which 10 can be considered leading firms in the groceries sector [Akehurst, 1983: 169, Table 5] 20. Price : Price refers to the value assigned to something by the seller to something purchased, offered for sale, to a buyer as their willingness to pay for the product and services delivered (Gilbert 1999). Price is the only element in the marketing mix that is revenue generating- all of the others are costs. It should therefore, be used as an active instrument of strategy in the major areas of marketing decision making. Pricing in the international setting is more complicated than in the domestic market, because of factors such as government influence and additional costs (Becker and Thorelli 1980). The price of an item is an important influence on the value of sales made. In theory, price is really determined by the discovery of what customers perceive is the value of the item on sale. Recent research has shown that demand-based pricing is associated with higher retailer gross margins; whereas past price dependence is associated with, lower retailer gross margins (Nijs, Srinivasan, and Pau wels 2007). There are a number of pricing policies used by Tesco today, which include: 21. Market-led Pricing: also known as competitive pricing, this simply accepts the price which competitors are charging for a product and then price its product at the same level or slightly lower in order to gain some advantage over competitors. Significantly found in markets where there is close competitors. For a company like TESCO it is important to monitor other competitors and in order to maintain customer loyalty against discounters, the adoption of a more aggressive pricing strategy was launch by the advent of budget private label ranges and backed up by advertising focusing on price comparisons. Despite challenges due to rising energy prices, but with innovations such as the reusable plastic trays, which was introduced in the fresh food areas have helped make savings these savings are pass on to customers. According to the OFT this led to a fall in real food price between 2000-2005.as shown below 22. Cost-Based Pricing: also known as cost plus Pricing, involves working out the businesss total fixed and variable costs and then adding a percentage of profit. Here the business has to consider the total number of items that it plans to produce and sell. The big advantage of cost-based pricing for TESCO is that the company is guaranteed to make a profit on its sales since it has covered its costs. However, in operating cost-based pricing it is very important to be aware of competitors price. However, this poses a threat when businesses are unable to sell the expected quantity of the product, perhaps because competitors are offering the same goods at a lower price. 23. Price wars In a competitive market such as grocery market, businesses sometimes engage in price wars in which prices of some goods are slashed to a very low price in order to secure sales. Price wars swamped grocery retailers, as the switch to private labels from branded packaged food continued to gather pace. For instance, Tesco and ASDA propose freezing of tax on some products at 15% despite an increase in rates to 17.5%(MMR 2010) This is risky because advantages gained are short-lived and rival, businesses tend to respond by slashing prices even further. If pursued long enough, price wars would cut profits seriously and in the end, only customers benefits by the low prices. 24. PENETRATION PRICING 25. ECONOMY PRICING: Stores such as TESCO, which allegedly charge the lowest prices, attract many consumers based on this conception alone (Peter Donnely, 2007). Among retail stores, the pricing strategy has become the fundamental point, as they need to compete in terms of pricing to lure more customers. Berman (1996) added that among the pricing policies which are of major concern to retail store outlets are the High-Low Pricing and Every Day Low Pricing (EDLP) strategies. This is sighted in operators who have significant economies of scale and buying power (Gilbert 1999). 26. VALUE PRICING This ensues where external factors such as the recession or increased competition forces companies to provide VALUE product and services to retain sales, they are especially important to families on a budget and have made a significant contribution to making healthy food accessible to all. Tesco now has in store 95 fresh fruit and vegetable value lines, and are working with the Pre-School Learning Alliance to help parents and children in some of the UKs most deprived areas make healthier choices. Value pricing may have a negative impact on the profit margin of the company (tesco.com N.D). 27. GEOGRAPHICAL PRICING This is evident where there are variations in price and demand in different parts of the world. TESCOs prices are a little higher in some town centre and neighbourhood stores because of higher overhead costs (mainly rents and rates). These costs are spread over a smaller volume of sales, and can only be recovered by charging prices that are, on average, higher. Example was when Tesco first moved into Ireland the products it sold was more expensive than they were in their UK stores (Irish Times 1998). This was because the UK suppliers were charging the Ireland stores more than they were charging the UK stores. This triggered some conspiracies and allegiances between key stakeholders in the industry resulting in a widespread anti-Tesco campaign (Poole and Clark 2002). In Conclusion Pricing a product too high or too low could mean a loss of sales for the organization. Therefore, appropriate pricing strategies and policies should be put in place for the various market segments, to ensure 28. PROMOTION Significant P in Marketing Mix 4P (Product, Price, Promotion and Place). Although the 4P characterization has led to widespread use of the term promotion for describing communications with prospects and customers, the term marketing communications is preferred by most marketing practitioners as well as by many educators. Consider that we may want to use marketing communications to refer to the collection of advertising, sales promotions, public relations, event marketing, and other communication devices. Promotion is considered as Sales Promotion (Shimp 2007). Marketing Communication is used by organisations to communicate with customers with respect to their product offerings. In this sense, Marketing Communication is one side of the communication process with customers. Market research, in which suppliers seek to elicit information on consumer requirements from consumers, is the complementary component of the communication process. The following summarises this very simply: (Rowley 1998). According to Rowley (1998) producer should communicate to reach the customers and in turn should listen to the customers needs and requirements to enhance the product and service. Tesco proudly announced that one of the reasons to its Success is listening to their Customers and its suppliers. Tesco has adopted multiple qualitative research techniques to reach their customers such as focus groups, accompanied shops, home visits to collect the feedback and respond quickly with corrective measures. Modestly they say, Its simple we listen and respond, providing customers with