Strategic Marketing

Table of Contents Introduction Marketing Mix SWOT Analysis PESTEL Analysis Competitive Analysis Using Porter’s Five Forces Conclusions List of References Introduction Sainsbury’s is a large retail outlet that was started by John Sainsbury in 1869, in the City of London, United Kingdom. During its earlier years, Sainsbury did not face any major market competition, and this helped it prosper in the market. As Griffin (2010, p. 67) notes, this firm grew to become the largest retailer in the United Kingdom in 1922.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Strategic Marketing specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It was the pioneer of self-service retailing, and it was able to maintain a pool of loyal customers (Roberts 2012, p. 89). The firm started facing serious market competition in the 1980s. However, it was still able to remain the market leader until 1995 when Tesco displaced it as the top retailer in the country. The level of competition became stiffer as Asda also managed to surpass it in terms of revenue generation. The firm however, has been able to regain its strength, and the recent reports have indicated that it is currently the second largest retailer in the United Kingdom. The financial statements of this firm as at December 11, 2012, show that its revenue currently stands at  £ 22.294 billion with a net income of  £ 598 million. During the same period, its number of employees was estimated to be 152,000 people. Industry in which this firm operates is very competitive. According to Clarke (2000, p. 113), the retail industry has become very competitive with the introduction of many players. Many firms are currently fighting for the market share in order to remain competitive. With such stiff competition, it forces firms to come up with unique ways of remaining competitive. Major competitors like Tesco and Asda are real threats that the management of Sainsbury cannot ignor e. The management must also understand other external factors in this industry that may affect its operations in one way or the other. Marketing Mix In marketing, it has become important to understand all the elements which may affect the normal operations of a firm in one way or the other in order to develop strategies that match market needs. Marketing mix elements have been used as a way of understanding some of the market forces that may affect operations of a firm either directly or indirectly. In this study, the researcher will analyze the 7Ps of marketing mix elements.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The first element in the marketing mix is the product. In this industry, the retailers have a variety of products, ranging from electronics, to foodstuffs, housewares, apparels, and stationery. Most of the products that are offered by various players are similar because they come from same suppliers. The retailers such as Sainsbury are forced to differentiate their products using unique packaging strategy as a way of gaining competitive advantage over other market rivals (Baker 2007, p. 38). Pricing has been the main differentiating element of the marketing mix. Sainsbury has been keen to avoid using pricing as a marketing strategy, and instead, it has employed cost leadership strategy. Being the second largest retailer in the country, this strategy has proven to be very appropriate. Sainsbury has been employing the right workforce at various levels of the firm’s operations. The firm has employed highly qualified individuals at the top management unit. The leadership team has made it possible for the firm to be flexible in its operations. The firm has also employed dynamic and highly skilled people who have the capacity to change with the changing market forces. The place element for this firm has been defined by retail and wholesale outlets . Although this firm has embraced online marketing strategies, its operations are still primarily based on brick-and-moter strategy. Promotional element of the marketing mix has been considered as one of the major ways of gaining competitive advantage in this market (Aaker 2001, p. 87). Sainsbury has been very active in both the social and mass media campaigns. In the social media, this firm has been using Facebook, Tweeter, and YouTube to reach out to the customers. The physical evidence has lately been considered as another important marketing mix element (Shanker 2002, p. 123). The infrastructure and the physical design of the outlets have been considered to be a factor that can help attract customers to a given facility. Sainsbury has modernized all its stores to reflect the changing trends in the modern building strategies. At most of its stores, there are numerous outlets to reduce human traffic within the facility and make it easy for people to exit the facility in cases of e mergency.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Strategic Marketing specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The process, as the seventh element of the marketing mix, has also played a role in helping this firm achieve its current success (Schneider 2011, p. 45). Sainsbury has always ensured that there is uniformity in its service delivery. Customer satisfaction has been the main aim of this firm when offering its products to the customers. SWOT Analysis In order to understand some of the internal factors that have helped this firm attain its current market position, it is necessary to analyze it using SWOT analysis. Strength One of the main strengths of this firm lies in its many years of experience in the retail industry within this country. Sainsbury is one of the oldest supermarket in the United Kingdom. This means that it has a deep understanding of the marketing forces, and the changing trends in this industry. The firm is therefore in a better position to predict some of the possible market changes that may have impact on its normal operations. Its large volume of wealth it has generated over the years is another factor that makes it stronger in the market. With such finance, it is able to support its market research, and other promotional strategies without any difficulty. According to Henioe (2008, p. 56), firms have been struggling to fund most of their market awareness campaigns, including corporate social responsibility. It has been a preserve for large firms with huge capital base such as Sainsbury. Weaknesses Sainsbury has had some weaknesses that has made it difficult to become the market leader. One of the main weakness is that it has been slow in changing within the changes taking place in the field of technology. This is one of the main reasons why its archrival, Tesco Supermarket, was able to surpass it as the market leader. Opportunities The market has some opportunities tha t Sainsbury is yet to exploit fully. The stable economy of this country means that the purchasing power of the market has improved. The stable political environment has also offered Sainsbury a peaceful market environment where it can conduct its operations without any fear of the consequences of political instability. The government has also kept of any direct interference in the business sector, and the laws governing this industry has been favorable. The slow, but steady increase of the country’s population is also a sign that the market size is increasing. Threats The external environment has had some threats that the management of this firm has been trying to manage. The main threat in the external environment has been the stiff competition the firm faces in the market. Until 1995, Sainsbury was the undisputed market leader in this industry for one century. However, it was supposed by Tesco Supermarket. Asda has also been offering stiff competition in this market. The e conomic recession that hit the country in 2009 also affected the sales of this firm. PESTEL Analysis It is important to analyze the external environment in order to determine some of the environmental factors that have had direct influence in the operations of the firm (Ruskin 2005, p. 96). As stated above, the political environment in the United Kingdom has been stable, offering Sainsbury a conducing market for its operations. The economic environment has experienced both positive and negative growths. Although the economy has stabilized over the last three years, the 2008-2009 economic recession affected the operations of many firms in the market, including Sainsbury. According to Hoffman (2002, p. 18), the economic environment always direct impact on sales of firms. When the economy slows, the rate at which people purchase various products slows. Consumers would consider avoiding consuming some product, especially those that they consider that are meant foe leisure (Bhattachar jee 2006, p. 29). The social environment in this country has brought positive impact to this firm. There is a spending culture in this society, especially for products meant for leisure. The firm has also mastered the socio-cultural differences in this society that may shape buying patterns, and has designed its products to meet all their needs. The technological environment has been challenging for this firm. The management of Sainsbury has been struggling to manage the changing technological environment. However, the report by Jorgensen (2002, p. 90) shows that this firm recently hired techno-savvy employees who have been able to understand the dynamic technological environment.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The legal environment has not been disruptive of the firm’s operations. The law in this country is very clear on how a business unit should relate with its customers, other business units, the government, or any other stakeholder within this society. Sainsbury has not faced any major litigation in the recent past over its operations (Rama 2011, p. 38). The management has been keen on ensuring that its operations are sensitive of environmental concerns. It has been actively participating in environmental conservation programs, through its corporate social responsibility strategies. Competitive Analysis Using Porter’s Five Forces According to Boutellier (2008, p. 90), competition is one of the most destructive forces in the environment if a firm fails to manage it properly. Kodak was once the largest firm in the film industry and its sales were very attractive, but the stiff competition it faced from Fujifilm almost brought it to its knees (Homua 2009, p. 82). However, p ositive competition is very good as it offers firms the opportunity to improve their service delivery. Analyzing competitive forces for Sainsbury using Porters Five Forces would help determine the competitiveness of this firm in the market. Porters Five Forces The diagram above shows Porters five competitive forces. To manage industry rivalry, Sainsbury has improved its promotional and service delivery strategies in order to protect its market share. It has also made an effort to ensure that its products are unique and focused on meeting the changing market needs. In order to manage suppliers’ power, the management has developed strategic alliance with most of its major suppliers to ensure that they deliver their products to this firm at fair prices that allows it make attractive profit margins. To manage the increasing buyer power, the Sainsbury has consistently been offering high quality products through quality product delivery strategies that has convinced its market tha t the prices they charge are worth the value they offer. To manage the threat of substitutes, the management of this firm has introduced variety of products in its stores, making it possible for it to compete directly with substitute products. The large size of the firm and its profit margin has enabled it fight new market entrants. The firm has several outlets in major cities across this country. This makes it easy to monitor activities of the new entrants, making it easy to define appropriate competitive approach to take when dealing with them. Conclusions Sainsbury is the second largest retail outlet in the United Kingdom. The firm is facing stiff competition from other market rivals such as Tesco and Asda supermarkets. The external environment has posed many challenges but this firm has been able to overcome them. The firm has been able to use its internal strength to maximize on some of the market opportunities. This has helped it retain its position as the second biggest super market in this country. List of References Aaker, D 2001, Developing Business Strategies, Wiley, New York. Baker, M 2007, Marketing strategy and management, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke. Bhattacharjee, C 2006, Services marketing: Concepts, planning and implementation, Excel Books, New Delhi. Boutellier, R 2008, Managing Global Innovation: Uncovering the Secrets of Future Competitiveness, Springer, Berlin. Clarke, G 2000, Marketing a service for profit: A practical guide to key service marketing concepts, Kogan Page, London. Griffin, D 2010, Business with a purpose: Starting, building, managing and protecting your new business, Outskirts Press, Denver. Henioe, A 2008, Understanding strategic management, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Hoffman, K 2002, Essentials of services marketing, Harcourt College Publishers, Fort Worth. Homua, G 2009, Services marketing: Concepts, strategies cases, Cengage Learning, New York. Jorgensen, A 2002, The food service professionals guide to: 365 s ecrets revealed, Atlantic Publishing Group, Lauderhill. Rama, M 2011, Services marketing, Pearson, New Delhi. Roberts, B 2012, Walmart: Key Insights and Practical Lessons from the World’s Largest Retailer, Kogan Page, London. Ruskin, I 2005, Marketing your service business, Thorogood, London. Schneider, G 2011, Electronic commerce, Cengage Learning, Boston. Shanker, R 2002, Services marketing: The Indian perspective: text and readings, Excel Books, New Delhi. This report on Strategic Marketing was written and submitted by user Aydin N. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here. Strategic marketing Strategic Marketing

buy custom Quality Improvement at MedStar Medical Center essay

buy custom Quality Improvement at MedStar Medical Center essay People who work in the medical sphere definitely put a lot of emphasis on customer satisfaction and continuous quality improvement initiatives and programs meant to help provide data that shows how those two concepts, the quality and level of satisfaction can be measurable and quantifiable (Kahan Goodstadt, 1999). MedStar Montgomery Medical Center is one of those institutions that care much about quality and patients satisfaction and the following paper discusses how it works. Headquartered in Olney, Maryland, MedStar Montgomery Medical Center has been serving as a communitys cornerstone since 1918. It has joined the MedStar family in 2008, and since then, the organization has started to operate as one of the largest non-profit healthcare delivery institutions in its area. For the moment, the hospital has around 140 inpatient beds and a newly reconstructed Emergency Department with other expansions. The hospital also has a fully operating MGH Health Foundation that raises funds for trainings building of new facilities and development of the special care programs for those patients who continue their treatment at home (MedStar Montgomery Medical Center, 2014). MedStar Montgomery Medical Center has been working hard to improve patients safety, and the report Quality Matters that has een an issue for many years is a proof to that. It includes certain programs, where the center is actively participating and yielding positive results. Thereafter, the key elements of the organization include concentration over strategy that covers hygiene, safety programs and specific projects that target improvements. Some of the improvements include compliance rates of the hand hygiene was very high; the number of the infections that are related to blood transfusion reduced by 50%; breathing device complications reduced for around 15%; reduced number of falls among the patients and other. Moreover, this institution has achieved zero rate in the Intensive Care Unit, in relation to blood infections already two years in a row and zero ventilator rate in relation to breathing deceases, such as pneumonia. The strategic plan of quality improvement includes the part icipation of certain programs and for MedStar Montgomery Medical Center those are Maryland Hand Hygiene Collaborative, IHIs Project Joint (former participant), MHAs Surgical Unit-based Safety Program and others. The president and the CEO of this medical center, Carmela Coyne, has been always emphasizing in her statements that quality and safety are the key priorities in the organization and the Quality Matters Report is the proof to that, as many have been accomplished already, but there is still no intenntion to stop. In addition to that, the strategy includes the cooperation with such institutions as Maryland Patient Safety Center, Maryland Hospital Association and others (MedStar Montgomery Medical Center, 2014). MedStar Montgomery Medical Center is a large institution in healthcare industry, which is why it gets to be accredited by many regulation bodies. Thereafter, the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, the Joint Commission, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are the key institutions that provide the accreditation (MedStar National Rehabilitation Network, 2014). In conclusion, this is important to mention that the dominant position of setting the standards is given to the Joint Commission that sets the relevant measures to every healthcare organization and for the MedStar Montgomery Medical Center two key performance categories have been identified. Those are National Patients Safety Goals (it falls under category of the Behavioral Health Care) and National Quality Improvement Goals. The medical center that is being discussed in the following paper is not only accredited by the Joint Commission, in relation to the mentioned categories, but it has managed to achieve high rates among quality measurement indicators and the Quality Report is a proof to that (MedStar Montgomery Medical Center, 2014). Buy custom Quality Improvement at MedStar Medical Center essay

Analyze a passage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 10

Analyze a passage - Essay Example When God told man to subdue the world, He meant that he should improve the world for his benefit. There was still enough and good enough left. However, man’s enclosure for himself left very little for others to use. The author gives a few reasons in support to his thesis. For instance, he says that if someone leaves as much as another man can make use of, does just as good as the one that has taken nothing at all. He goes further to say that labor was the title for the land that God gave to mankind. However, if one meddles with what has been improved by another man’s labor, it is arguable that he has desired the benefits accrued from another man’s labor. According to the writer, this is wrong because each man should labor for his own gains. The reasons the author gives support his thesis. He emphasizes on man’s greed and rebukes those that desire what is not rightfully theirs. The reasons are plausible on their own right. This is because when God created man and commanded him to till and subdue the earth, His intentions were that people should live in harmony. However, man’s greed increased that he annexed what was initially common for all men. This passage has a significant role to the rest of the world. The author mentions an example that serves to remind people that common land is not individual land. He says that even in England, or any part of the world, within a government, no one has the right to appropriate or enclose any part without the consent of the rest of the people

My Firms Acquisition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

My Firms Acquisition - Essay Example Large enterprises acquire smaller firms to eliminate competition and to fetch a larger market share in the industry. However, still there are many challenges in implementation of acquisition process, which seemed to be as bleak as ever. This report is an effort to look into the acquisition process to answer certain questions. The Bidding and the Target Firms As a CEO, you are trying to acquire a foreign firm. The size of your firm will double, and it will become the largest in your industry.   What does your firm do and what does the foreign firm you are trying to acquire do?   Where are the firms based? Both of the bidding and target firms are based in United Kingdom. The bidding firm is an established retail outlet and looking forward to an expansion in Asia. The firm deals in consumer durable goods including food and beverage as well as other products like technology products. The company has its maximum share in food and beverage section. The company wants to explore the Asia n market. The bidding firm has taken a calculated approach while choosing both the target market and the company in there. China has been decided to be the destination country. This was because of China’s attractive economic growth and this can be used as a base to expand the company’s business in other Asian countries. The target company is a well known local retail firm in China with a large local customer base. The target firms also deals in consumer goods like food, beverage, technology products and other such household products. However, it is expected that the acquisition will not be a smooth process. It would also require the cooperation from all the employees, the management, investors and others stakeholders of the company. It will require a strong yet flexible strategy framework to make the process proceed and at the end to make it a success. Proceeding to the Acquisition You are very enthusiastic about the opportunity to be a leading captain of industry and the associated power, prestige, and income.   (You expect your salary, bonus, and stock option to double next year).   However, you are troubled by the fact that 70% of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) reportedly fail.   How would you proceed?  Ã‚   It has been reported that since many years a considerable number of merger and acquisition efforts had failed. The success or failure of the process was due to several reasons including implementation chaos, inadequate planning, cultural difference and insufficient attention paid to the soft issues such as human resource. The bidding firm would surely follow a proper acquisition framework, fit to address most of the above issues. The following image displays the various stages in the acquisition process. Figure: Acquiring Process  ­Ã‚ ­ (Source: Hubbard, 2001, p.4) In the acquisition process, planning, communication and implementation would be dealt in full with a focus on the human issues (Pande & Krishnan, n.d., p.1-3). In the following image, the entire process has been divided in five stages. It is very much important that the bidding firm must be clear about its objectives to acquire any firm. Once decided about the objectives, the

Analysis of Healthcare Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Analysis of Healthcare Leadership - Essay Example In the healthcare sector, the provision of quality healthcare has always been a key point of concern. The reason is that in healthcare, the lives of patients and their future lie in the hands of hospital practitioners like doctors, nurses and the support staff. All of these fragments of the hospital structure work together in liaison with the administration to ensure that quality service is provided to better the lives of the patients. To achieve quality; however, flexible and appropriate leadership styles need to be applied to ensure that the whole hospital structure's coordination effects service provision. To bring about this quality also requires effective leadership styles that aim to address any resistance to change and flexibility. In leadership, understanding the application and development of leadership theories prepares a healthcare manager in his tasks of predicting, explaining ad controlling operations. I challenge the validity of Kumar’s support for the transforma tional style of leadership and propose that the contingency style of leadership is the best option for ensuring change through the engagement of those resistant to it. Good leadership in health care has increasingly become a major issue as stakeholders have made the realization that through effective leaders, institutional change can occur. Robin Kumar in Leadership and Healthcare proposes that the transformational style is most effective in leadership since it attracts followers to own change.

Early Attempts on Gene Modification

Early Attempts on Gene Modification Gene Modification Using Virus as Vehicle In 1974, a geneticist studied the use of a virus as a vehicle for gene therapy by injecting a gene-modified SV40 virus into early mouse embryonic cells. There were two unexpected findings: (1) Even though the viral genes were present in the cells of the newborn mice, the delivery of the viral genes into sperm and eggs was extremely inefficient; and (2) The expression of the viral genes was completely shut down, resulting in an inert gene that did not make RNA or protein. After this setback, there were no major advances in gene therapy for a decade, until biologists discovered embryonic stem cells, or ES cells, in 1981. Gene Modification Using Embryonic Stem Cells A stem cell is a cell that can (1) give rise to other functional cell types, such as nerve cells or skin cells, through differentiation; and (2) renew itself i.e., divide to produce more stem cells. Most stem cells live in particular organs and tissues and can only produce special types of cells. Stems cells in the bone marrow, for example, can only produce blood cells. But embryonic stem cells, which live in the inner sheath of an organisms embryo, are pluripotent, i.e., they can give rise to every cell type in the organism. ES cells also possess some unusual characteristics: (1) they can be isolated from the embryo of an organism and grown in Petrie dishes in the lab; (2) they can be frozen in vials and thawed back to life; (3) the cells can be propagated in liquid broth for generations; and (4) genes can be inserted into their genome or excised from their genome with relative ease. Using stem cells, a scientist could incorporate a genetically-modified gene permanently into the genome of an animal to form transgenic animals. In early 1990s, hundreds of strains of transgenic mice had been created in laboratories around the world to decipher the functions of genes. With gene alterations, one mouse would grow in the dark under blue lamps; others would develop Alzheimers disease, epilepsy, or premature aging.   In 2014, researchers created a mouse carrying a mutation in a gene that control the communication between neurons in the brain. These mice have substantially increased memory and superior cognitive function. Much of the work on ES cells including transgenic modification of embryos had been done using mouse cells. Could this technique be used for humans? In the early 1990s, when human ES cells were derived from early human embryos, scientists found out that human ES cells did not behave in culture. You cant clone them. You cant use them for gene targetingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦They are very different from mouse ES cells, which can do everything. So the transgenic modification of human embryos was out of the question for a while. Gene Therapy Trial for ADA Deficiency Adenosine deaminase (ADA) deficiency is caused by mutations in the ADA gene, depleting the T-cells, resulting in the collapse of the immune system. The only treatment is to the use of a medicine called PEG-ADA, which has to be injected into the blood every month. In 1990, a team of gene therapists, led by William Anderson and Michael Blaese, used variants of retroviral vectors to deliver the ADA gene into children with ADA deficiency. The plan was to put the virus into the T cells taken from the blood of ADA patients, and delivered the cells back into the blood of the patients. The T-cells might live just long enough to make the ADA protein and correct the deficiency. Although the T cells would fade from the blood, the procedure could be repeated. In September, 1990, with the approval of the Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee, Anderson and Blaese performed the gene-therapy trial on two children with ADA deficiency. Did the gene-therapy experiment work? We do not know and perhaps we will never know, because both patients were allowed continued treatment with PEG-ADA. Any effect of the gene therapy was confounded by that medicine. Gene Therapy Trial for OTC Deficiency OTC deficiency is a hereditary disorder caused by the mutation in a single gene involved in metabolism. The mutation causes accumulations of ammonia in the blood, damaging blood vessels and cells, resulting in the slow poisoning of neurons in the brain. In 1993, two pediatricians in Pennsylvania, Mark Batshaw and James Wilson, experimented with gene therapy to cure children with OTC deficiencies. The form of therapy that Wilson and Batshaw had in mind was more radical than the protocol used by Anderson and Blaese for ADA deficiency. Batshaw and Wilson would create a virus carrying the OTC gene and deliver the virus into the liver through the bloodstream, leaving the virus to infect cells in situ. The virus-infected liver cells would produce the OTC enzyme, correcting the enzyme deficiency.    In the summer of 1993, Batshaw and Wilson injected the modified adenovirus into mice and monkeys. The mouse experiments worked as predicted, but the monkey experiments were more complicated: some monkeys had liver failure and one monkey died. Wilson and Batshaw changed the virus, and reduced the potential human dose to ensure the safety of the virus. In 1997, they received the approval of the Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee to perform the trial on patients with mild variants of OTC. On the morning of September 13, 1999, Jesse Gelsinger, an eighteen-year-old patient with mild variants of OTC, received the viral injection. Jesse died on the fourth day after the gene delivery. Investigation into the OTC Trial A postmortem the OTC trial reveal a damming pattern of incompetence, blunders, and neglect, compounded by fundamental gaps in knowledge. An analysis of Jesses blood at autopsy found antibodies highly reactive to the virus dating back even before the viral injection. The hyperactive immune response, which was possibly triggered by a prior exposure to a common cold, had spiraled out of control for unknown reasons In January, 2000, when the FDA inspected twenty-eight other trials, nearly half of them required immediate remedial action. Justifiably alarmed, the FDA shut down nearly all the trials.

Report on Key Issues in Small Business Enterprises

| Key issues in small business enterprises| Personal Reflective Report| | Zdravko Mihaylov| BA (HONS) Business Enterprise Development2012| | Introduction Small business enterprises are important for the modern market economy in terms of innovation, employment and flexibility. They are the backbone of our economy. Around 98. 6% of all businesses are considered small (Goodman, 2006) and every large business was at some point small. Small business enterprises are very different to large business enterprises.They operate in different circumstances, such as having different management techniques, facing different financial constraints and production choices, and bearing different relative regulatory burdens. This report’s aim is to identify some of the key issues facing small business enterprises today, addressed in the Enterprise Finance unit, in order to give better view of the challenges presented in their survival and growth. Small business enterprises are often at a competitiv e disadvantage to large business enterprises.They may have difficulty achieving economies of scale, where large enterprises have already been well established, they often have difficulty in acquiring sources of finance and they may have problems with government policy and regulation, which are often designed to assist specifically large enterprises (Holmes et al, 2003). Other factors that may bring to small enterprise failure include: poor credit management, poor stock management, poor pricing practice, excessive profit distribution, excessive investment in long term assets and others (Holmes et al, 2003:142).They are very dependent on the founding owners and have higher business risk. Evaluation In summary, two broad forms of business failure can be identified. The first involves the start-up of the business, bankruptcy, liquidation, voluntary wind-up/closure. The second form is where the business continues to operate, but the return on capital, time and effort contributed by owner s is bellow the desired. Small business enterprises have difficulty competing with already established large enterprises.New enterprises rarely have the financial backing to set up a large-scale operation to take immediate advantage of scale economies. Except the challenges brought by the lack of history and reputation, a development of a price cutting war may become a great threat to small enterprises, as they may not have the financial capacity to withstand such competition. Some of the scale economies not available to small enterprises are listed in Figure 1. 1 in the Appendices. A way of overcoming those issues is adopting strategies to overcome some of the disadvantages or to target small niche markets in which to operate.Small business enterprises suffer from chronic undercapitalisation as they often have limited access to the capital and money markets (Tamari, 1980). Two main â€Å"gaps† can be identifies as responsible for that: Knowledge gap – lack of awarenes s of appropriate sources of finance and their relative merits resulting in restricted use of debt; Supply gap – unavailability of funds or exceeding cost of debt. Another barrier is the required higher rate of return on funds invested or lent due to the higher risk in small business enterprises (Storet, 1994).Problems can even arrive from the owners’ inclination of not wanting to share control of the business with investors. Other frequent cause of small business failure is the lack of liquidity or little financial planning and control. Two critical periods of financial needs are identified within the business life cycle: the start up and the rapid expansion. To overcome this problem and avoid overtrading1, a long-term finance source is needed. Different financial stress factors have also been identified by Hutchinson and Ray (1986) in each stage of the lifecycle, which can be seen on Figure 1. in Appendices. Another major challenge for small enterprises is the burden of complying with government regulations. Part of the burden problem can be attributed to poorly designed legislations. Two disadvantages are seen by this, listed in Figure 1. 2 in the Appendices. While a lot of studies show that small enterprises face a greater relative compliance burden than large enterprises, some consider that many of them ‘are so flawed that we must view their findings with scepticism’ (Brock and Evans, 1986: pp. 134-5).When looking at the small firm survival over a period of time, a key variable is net profit. It is defined by subtracting all operational costs from gross profits and the costs of closing down a business. For staying in business over a period of time, it is required that net profit should not fall below zero. In case of being positive, the firm might have some prospect for growth, while in case of being zero, it is just breaking even. If it stays negative for a period of years, it invites failure and exit from the market.Thus one mi ght express that for staying in business, net profit should be non-negative. Small business enterprises usually have centralized control by the owner, thus his managing skills are critical for the survival of the business. Perry and Pendelton (1983) estimated that 90% of the business failures are associated with management inexperience and/or incompetence. It has been identified that managerial roles relate to the lifecycle of a business enterprise (Holmes et al, 2003:150), so different managerial skills are required for each lifecycle stage.In other words, if owners do not have the necessary managerial skill for each stage, the business might be at a great risk. Conclusion The objective of this project was to determine the key issues facing small business enterprises today, discussed in the Enterprise Finance unit, and to draw the knowledge gained. Firstly, the report begins with analysis of the disadvantages of barrier of entry, Overtrading1 – when a business expands withou t a solid financial foundation financial and government regulation issues of small enterprises.The report continues with examination of the survival over a period of time and the role of the owner-manager in small business enterprises. The issues listed in this report cannot be generalised for all small business enterprises, as each one has a unique structure, resources and capabilities. Further research may be required in this area before any decisive conclusions can be drawn. Bibliography Brock, W. A. , & Evans, D. S. (1986). The Economies of Small Businesses: Their Role and Regulation in the US Economy. Holmes and Meier: New York. Goodman, G. (2006).Five Challenges Every Small Business Owner Faces. From http://ezinearticles. com/? Five-Challenges-Every-Small-Business-Owner-Faces&id=158921 Holmes et al. (2003). Small Enterprise Finance. John Wiley & Sons Australia Ltd: Sydney Perry, C. , & Pendelton. W. (1983). Successful Small Business Management. Pitman Publishing: Sydney. Store y, D. J. (1994). Understanding the small business Sector. Routledge: London. Tamari, M. (1980). The financial structure of the small firm. American Journal of Small Businesses, 4:4 20-34. Appendices ————————————————-Figure 1. 1 Scale economies of large enterprises, not available to small enterprises | Longer production runs based on larger and more technologically advanced plant and machineryQuantity discounts on input purchasesEmploying specialistsMore widespread advertisingAccess to more forms of finance on better terms and conditionsMore sophisticated information gatheringLower unit costs in complying with government regulations and reporting obligations| (Adopted from Holmes et al. , 2003, pp. 52-53) ————————————————- Figure 1. 2 Government regulation disadva ntages |A greater relative cost burden in complying with many forms of government regulation, because of the substantial fixed costs involvedGovernment policy measures being designed to assist large enterprises more than small enterprises| (Adopted from Holmes et al. , 2003, pp. 54) ————————————————- Figure 1. 3 A view of the financial lifecycle of a smaller growth enterprise Stage| Finance used| Predominant financial stress factor| Inception| Owner’s resources| Undercapitalisation| Growth 1 (Take-off)| Owners’ resources plus retained profits, trade credit,

Cyber Hacking

Cyber Hacking Cyber hacking is an act of modifying computer hardware and software, in order to cause damage to other computer system. People who engage in computer activities are known as hackers. What are their purposes to do so? For some hackers, it is just a hobby and the way to determine their level of computerization. They enjoy learning more about how computer works and consider it is an â€Å"art† form. Besides, hackers apply their skill to break passwords, send viruses, and damage computer network security system for their deceitful purpose.Some hacking activities are directed towards individuals, families and organizations as an actual attack. There are many effects caused by cyber hacking. For example financial losses, hackers steal financial information to withdraw funds from an organization. Other than that, some of them received ransom from an organization to bombard other organization’s servers to become overloaded and crash. Furthermore, hackers also pret end to be someone determines to gain unauthorized access to information property. Similar essay: The Other Side of Email Robert KuttnerThey get to use the information to steal funds from banks or credit cards. Apart from that, hackers may hijack politician identity to circulate propaganda that panics the population. As an internet user, we actually are at risk for becoming a victim of cyber hacking. So, how can we avoid from getting hacked? The ways to protect ourselves are do not engage in conversation with strangers, keep passwords protected, do not keep any sensitive materials on computer and make sure the antivirus software is always updated.

The Five Orange Pips Essays

The Five Orange Pips Essays The Five Orange Pips Paper The Five Orange Pips Paper In The Final Problem we see how Holmes must use all of his intelligence to defeat his arch nemesis, professor Moriarty. The case Holmes has to solve will uses his mental and physical strength. There fore we know that the professor is smarter than Holmes, and can use more manipulative ways to destroy Holmes. This story has many emotions, which reveal the character and genius of Holmes. We firstly see that Holmes runs to his house in Bakers Street, as he is frightened. This is the first time we see Sherlock Holmes scared. This is shown as he speaks to Watson asking him to go on a journey with him, anywhere. We are shown that Holmes is scared as Watson tells us It was not in Holmess nature to take an aimless holiday and Pale, worn face told me that his nerves were at their highest tension. This is proof that Holmes is scared at this point of time. We are told that Holmes is frightened of professor Moriarty, The Napoleon of crime. Through out this story we see how a new side of Holmes is revealed, and how he is terrified of the dangers he will face. This is not danger, It is inevitable destruction. You stand in the way not merely of an individual, but of a mighty organisation. As we know Holmes is scared, however later in the story we see that he is calm and jokes with Dr. Watson in the train. We see that Holmes continues his enigmatic approach as Moriarty escapes from the police and Holmes tells Watson to leave him Because you will find me a dangerous companion now. In the final parts to the story we see how Holmes and Moriarty both use their strength and desire to defeat each other, which ironically is the death of both of them. They both fall down the cliff to the water and die, whilst Watson is left on top of the waterfall, reading the letter that Holmes left for him. In these stories we are shown how Dr.  Watson describes the intelligent mind of his good friend Sherlock Holmes. The three stories I used The Speckled Band, The Five Orange Pips and The Final Problem all showed the character and genius of Sherlock Holmes. These three stories all showed different characters of Holmes as he was terrified of Moriarty, observant in The Speckled Band and he was courageous in The Five Orange Pips. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, has used Watson in such a way that Watson is the narrator to the cases that Holmes solves. Although Watson is involved in the stories, he is used as an informer and as a good, reliable friend.

50 Words with the Most Whimsical Prefix

50 Words with the Most Whimsical Prefix 50 Words with the Most Whimsical Prefix 50 Words with the Most Whimsical Prefix By Mark Nichol The prefix be- has a variety of interesting roles in language: Causation The prefix is affixed to a verb to indicate a causative agent, as in belittle, meaning â€Å"to diminish by criticism or mockery.† Creation Become and begin, and the archaic-sounding beget, are words starting with the prefix that indicate something coming to be; the prefix also appears in words expressing the near opposite, such as behead. Intensification It’s one thing to be dazzled by a luminous object, but a reference to being bedazzled implies a higher order of enchantment. Position Be- indicates relative placement, as in below or between. Its addition to a word transforms nouns and adjectives into verbs, as in besiege and beware (â€Å"be aware†). It also changes intransitive verbs (those that do not take an object) into transitive ones, as with becalm. The simple act of attaching these two letters to an existing word enhances English by providing us with terms that entertain us with their vivid imagery. Here are some more or less obscure be- words and their definitions: becloud: to obscure or muddle bedaub: to excessively ornament or anoint bedazzle: to enchant bedeck: to fancily clothe or decorate bedevil: to annoy bedew: to moisten bedight: to equip or adorn bedim: to obscure, or to reduce light bedizen: to adorn or dress in a tacky manner bedraggle: to drench befit: to be appropriate for befool: to delude or trick begrime: to make dirty begrudge: to give reluctantly beguile: to seduce behoove: to be appropriate bejewel: to adorn with jewelry belabor: to emphasize unnecessarily belaud: to fulsomely praise belay: to stop or hold off from beleaguer: to trouble or bother belie: to falsely imply, to reveal something as false, or to contradict bemire: to expose to or engulf in mud bemock: to ridicule benight: overcome by literal or figurative darkness benumb: to deprive of sensation bepuzzle: to confuse bequeath: to leave an inheritance (the noun form is bequest) bereave: to deprive (one so treated is bereft) beseech: to beg (the past tense is besought) beseem: to be fitting or suitable beset: to attack, harass, or surround besmear: to stain or obscure, or to defame besmirch: see besmear besort: to fit or become (also a noun meaning â€Å"appropriate associate†) besot: to infatuate or muddle besoul: to endow with a soul bespatter: to splash bespeak: to claim, request, address, or identify besprinkle: to scatter or disperse bestir: to rouse bestow: to put to use or in place, or to convey a gift bestrew: see besprinkle betake: to commit, or cause to act bethink: to recall, or to cause to consider betroth: to promise to marry, or to give in marriage bewhisker: to provide with whiskers (or, as bewhiskered, to have whiskers) bewhore: to corrupt sexually, or to characterize as a whore bewig: to place a wig on bewray: to betray Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Definitely use "the" or "a"35 Genres and Other Varieties of FictionCaptain vs. Master

South And East Asia - Environment And Society Essay

South And East Asia - Environment And Society - Essay Example The people belonging to the Austronesian family who originated from the southern part of China and Taiwan began to move into the islands of South and East Asia around four thousand years ago. The original inhabitants were either displaced or absorbed by the wave of migrations. Nearly all the languages that are being spoken in the insular South and East Asia belong to the Austronesian family group. Cultural variations began to affect the regions as a result of increased influences from the expansion of the South by the Chinese controlled regions leading to the colonization of Vietnam. The Buddhism and Taoism arrived in the region of Vietnam from China resulting in a remarkable cultural influence. The expansion of trade across the Bay of Bengal resulted in increasing Indian influences that were well represented in large populations where the people were deeply involved in rice growing activities that were being supported by irrigation. These were seen in regions such as Vietnam, Cambod ia, Myanmar, and Java. The aspects of local societies were linked up with the various forms of Buddhism and Hinduism to form part of the laws that government leadership and court systems. The variations in the environmental conditions greatly affected the political structures of the region. In cases where the people were mainly nomadic or semi-nomadic, it was a major challenge to be able to come up with a proper means of governance that were to be marked by reliable tax systems as well as stable bureaucratic approaches.

Industrial Relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Industrial Relations - Essay Example As the discussion declares the first stature for the labourers was formulated to help the community get access to physically well built men who were not engaged in any other activity of craftsmanship etc. to work for hire on a standardized wage rate. This was the first time that the wages were standardized through a public legislation. In the middle ages there was a shortage of labour owing to an epidemic. Legislations were made so as to prevent people from taking advantage of the situation by asking for exorbitant remuneration in return for the labour. Thus, there were penalties not only for those asking for an increase in wages but also for those lords who were ready to pay extra for getting their work done. There were even statues for those workers who moved to other countries in search of better wages and work. The statute allowed the sheriffs to arrest such workers and bring them back to Britain. This paper stresses that the early 15th century saw some more liberalization on working laws and even child labour statutes. Earlier laws required parents to put children in such labour which was the requirement of their estates. But the new statute gave freedom to the parents to decide for their children’s future and allowed them to send their children to school. There were modifications to the law restricting free movement of labour and also no control of workers over the decision of setting wages for work. Though freedom was given to the lords over decision regarding wages, the workers were still not free to decide what wage they can work for.