Laura Ashley is a global British iconic brand. With reference to Assignment

Laura Ashley is a global British iconic brand. With reference to knowledge management strategies and effective use of technology - Assignment Example Through KM, knowledge is appropriately distributed among every member of the organisation in order to enhance knowledge based productivity (Henczel, 2000). Contextually, it has been observed that since the past few decades a majority of the organisations have begun to emphasise on managing workforce in order to survive in a rapid changing competitive environment. KM primarily focuses on this accelerated changing environment through which organisations can transform their entire activities into ‘knowledge work’ and all of its employees into ‘knowledgeable workers’ (Uriarte, 2008; Fao, 2013). Laura Ashley plc is considered one of the leading United Kingdom based organisation whose operations are primarily based on dealing with designing, distributing, sourcing and selling of apparel items, accessories as well as home furnishing products. In the UK, the company operates with over 211 stores in which 134 stores deal with selling activities of various product cat egories, 54 home stores operates under home furnishing and accessories products and 21 stores act as a gift as well as clearance outlets (Laura Ashley, 2013). The essay intends to discuss the aspect regarding the way Laura Ashley implements KM strategies in order to attain competitive advantages. Additionally, this essay intends to delineate regarding the various approaches of KM strategies which Laura Ashley execute and follow in order to enhance its overall operational performance. Knowledge Audit Link to Strategy Codification Knowledge audit is considered as a systematic and strategic approach towards the dimension of KM by which managers obtain an opportunity to incorporate its diverse operational activities within their organisation. Knowledge audit facilitates to bring efficiency within the productive procedures and also assists to share valuable knowledge amid the internal as well as external shareholders (Botha & Boon, 2003). With the help of well-developed knowledge audit s trategies, an organisation can be able to identify suitable strategic directions in order to improve its knowledge based productivity. The objective of this strategy is to influence an organisation to maintain collaboration, coordination and make more consistent approach towards its goals (Hansen & et. al., 1999; Janicot & Mignon, 2012). In order to understand the role of knowledge codification, it is necessary to evaluate the attributes of the strategic options which are primarily implemented by Laura Ashley. With the aid of the KM strategies, the company can improve its work performance and also identify the sources of competitiveness. By emphasising on knowledge codification strategy, the company’s Information Technology (IT) and Research & Development (R&D) departments play an imperative role for sharing the knowledge production information by which it can instantly access and distribute valuable knowledge amid its team members (Che Pa & et. al., 2012; Laura Ashley, 2013) . Laura Ashley has primarily adopted and follows two major knowledge audit strategies i.e. codification and personalisation which helps the company to improve

Herbert Spencer Essay Example for Free

Herbert Spencer Essay He was a biologist first before he became a philosopher. Spencer was born on 1820 of April 27. He never had a formal education, instead he was being taught home by his parents. He was taught of math, social sciences and science and he was also taught of a variety of speaking languages which made him very intelligent and proficient. He was a typical, ordinary boy who loves to play around but unfortunately he easily gets sick and even he was an adult he easily catches illnesses. He had an insomnia which greatly affected him physically. He had his job when he was still on his teenage years in the railways and loved to write things. This contributed to what he has become and what great things he has achieved in his life. Herbert Spencer was born 1820- 2903, a British philosopher. He is noted for his effort to devise a philosophical system incorporating all scientific learning. In this â€Å" synthetic philosophy,† as he called it, Spencer applied to all branches of knowledge the principle of evolution, which he defined as the change of all things from simple to more complex forms. Spencer achieved particular renown as a social evolutionist. His conclusion that society evolves by the biological process of natural selection, a process for which he coined the phrase â€Å"survival of the fittest†, was highly influential. Some of his ideas, however, were based on the largely discredited notion that acquired characteristics can play a role in evolution. Spencer’s first book, Social Statistics in 1850 , presented a theory of evolution predating Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species by nine years; unlike Darwin, however, Spencer, did not present scientific evidence to support his theory. After Darwin’s theory of natural selection was published, Spencer adopted it enthusiastically. He then wrote a series of volumes surveying biology, sociology, ethics, and psychology from an evolutionary point of view. These works brought him world recognition. The first book in the series, First Principles in 1862, presented his synthetic philosophy. It caused much controversy on the relation between science and religion. Spencer, an agnostic, rejected all theological systems as futile attempts to know the unknowable and concluded that knowledge can be gained only through the study of science. Spencer was taught by his father who was a schoolmaster and uncle who was a minister, and did not attend college. Although his real interest was science, for several years he worked as a civil engineer for an English railway and later as an editor for the Economist in 1848- 1853. He is an English Philosopher; he generalized evolutionary theory outside the confines of biology. He wrote the principle of Psychology in 1870-1872 and Sociology in 1873- 1896, he applied his encyclopedic knowledge to support his historicist concept of progress. The common origin of European Sociology was the Enlightenment. Different national traditions reacted to the enlightenment inheritance in different ways. The only British innovations were Spencer’s adaptation of Darwin’s model of Biological evaluation to provide explanations of societal change. In France, however, the conservative reaction to the French Revolution rejected atomistic models of society which is centered on the individual and questioned the validity of empirical inquiry. The man who added something new to this idea was only Herbert Spencer. He recognized that the Orthodox interpretation of society assumed but did not explain change. Spencer, however, did not abandon the ideas of the Enlightenment but regarded them in relation to a model of social change owing much to Darwin’s origin of species. He argued that societies were driven forward to more complex and higher forms by the struggle for the survival between individuals, and that the struggle had produced in Britain a Laissez Faire industrial society, which was a yet the highest social form. He was said to be the competitor of Charles Darwin. Survival of the Fittest and Evolution are the common terms being made known by this Victorian Biologist  who eventually became a philosopher. He viewed evolution as the same that he thought was not consistent. He had formulated different concepts and these are the Adaptation, Integration, Growth and Differentiation. Spencer’s remaining years were still focused on his thought of evolution of mankind and its outcome in the future. He was full of pessimism and thought that maybe mankind will not be able to survive. Herbert Spencer was idolize by many and many were influenced by him and they were Charles Darwin, Alfred Marshall, Henry Sidgwick, William Graham Sumner and many other sociologist and theorists. He became known duet to his Positivism and Evolutionism. He developed ideas which helped made other ideas which explained more of the existence of man. His greatest contribution to mankind was to think and explore more from their minds and not just settle in mediocrity. He wants us to be concerned of the society in which we are existing and the culture that we are following and passing on to other generations. In 1903, Herbert Spencer died. He died with dignity and great reputation, bringing with him the appreciation and love by the entire individual’s around him that time.

Satisfaction and Turmoil in Medea and the Twenty-third Psalm :: Euripides Medea Essays

Satisfaction and Turmoil in Medea and the Twenty-third Psalm We are all familiar with the Bible and its contents in general, yet a few individuals know it better than others. The twenty-third Psalm in particular is one that some know by heart. Then, there are those of us that are fascinated with other ancient histories and literatures.   Medea is one such literature that illustrates the classical Greek culture of the day.   These two literary works come across as strikingly different, and their disparity can be attributed to the authors' different styles and the different ethical beliefs that lie behind the works. The twenty-third Psalm soothes the reader with gentle language whereas Euripides' play somewhat irritates the reader's emotions with its diction and flow of events. The first line in the Psalm is "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want."   This clearly emphasizes a very important point: the fact that "I", being whoever reads this, will never have to concede to desire.   The language is as plain as it can get; this point cannot be conveyed in any simpler form. However in Medea we see a nearly total opposite view.   "What profit have I in life?   I have no land, no home, no refuge from my pain"   (782-3).   Although this statement also uses "I" as its subject like the Psalm, its focus is clearly that life's purpose is to live for a profit and self-satisfaction. The Psalm uses the word "shepherd" to symbolize a feeling of security, while the line from Medea speaks of "no refuge from my pain."   This shows us that the speaker does not know that such a "shepherd" even exists, as does the peaker in the Psalm.   The diction in Medea from this line also paints a picture of frustration while the Psalm applies a mood of satisfaction.   This is just one of many places where we sense frustration in Eurpides' play. Medea makes the statement, "I weep to think of what a deed I have to do next after that; for I shall kill my own children" (775-6).   This line is very powerful in that the speaker is telling the reader of her plans, which are utterly gruesome.   It seems as though she has only a little remorse for what she plans to do, because she makes her plans sound so straightforward while only claiming that she will simply "weep" for her actions.

Different Types of Database Management System Essay

A database can be a set of flat files stored on computer tape or disk or it could consist of database tables that are managed by a Database Management System (DBMS). There are different types of DBMS products: relational, network and hierarchical, multidimensional, object. The most widely commonly used type of DBMS today is the Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS). Database management systems (DBMS) are designed to use one of five database structures to provide simplistic access to information stored in databases. The five database structures are: the hierarchical model, he network model, the relational model, the multidimensional model, and the object model. Inverted lists and other methods are also used. A given database management system may provide one or more of the five models. The optimal structure depends on the natural organization of the application’s data, and on the application’s requirements, which include transaction rate (speed), reliability, maintainability, scalability, and cost. Hierarchical Model The hierarchical data model organizes data in a tree structure. There is a hierarchy of parent and child data segments. This structure implies that a record can have repeating information, generally in the child data segments. Data in a series of records, which have a set of field values attached to it. It collects all the instances of a specific record together as a record type. These record types are the equivalent of tables in the relational model, and with the individual records being the equivalent of rows. To create links between these record types, the hierarchical model uses Parent Child Relationships. These are a 1:N mapping between record types. This is done by using trees, like set theory used in the relational model, â€Å"borrowed† from maths. For example, an organization might store information about an employee, such as name, employee number, department, salary. The organization might also store information about an employee’s children, such as name and date of birth. The employee and children data forms a hierarchy, where the employee data represents the parent segment and the children data represents the child segment. If an employee has three children, then there would be three child segments associated with one employee segment. In a hierarchical database the parent-child relationship is one to many. This restricts a child segment to having only one parent segment. Hierarchical DBMSs were popular from the late 1960s, with the introduction of IBM’s Information Management System (IMS) DBMS, through the 1970s. The hierarchical structure was used in early mainframe DBMS. Records’ relationships form a treelike model. This structure is simple but nonflexible because the relationship is confined to a one-to-many relationship. IBM’s IMS system and the RDM Mobile are examples of a hierarchical database system with multiple hierarchies over the same data. RDM Mobile is a newly designed embedded database for a mobile computer system. The hierarchical structure is used primarily today for storing geographic information and file systems. Network Model The popularity of the network data model coincided with the popularity of the hierarchical data model. Some data were more naturally modeled with more than one parent per child. So, the network model permitted the modeling of many-to-many relationships in data. In 1971, the Conference on Data Systems Languages (CODASYL) formally defined the network model. The basic data modeling construct in the network model is the set construct. A set consists of an owner record type, a set name, and a member record type. A member record type can have that role in more than one set, hence the multiparent concept is supported. An owner record type can also be a member or owner in another set. The data model is a simple network, and link and intersection record types (called junction records by IDMS) may exist, as well as sets between them . Thus, the complete network of relationships is represented by several pairwise sets; in each set some (one) record type is owner (at the tail of the network arrow) and one or more record types are members (at the head of the relationship arrow). Usually, a set defines a 1:M relationship, although 1:1 is permitted. The CODASYL network model is based on mathematical set theory. The network structure consists of more complex relationships. Unlike the hierarchical structure, it can relate to many records and accesses them by following one of several paths. In other words, this structure allows for many-to-many relationships. Relational Model (RDBMS – relational database management system) A database based on the relational model developed by E. F. Codd. A relational database allows the definition of data structures, storage and retrieval operations and integrity constraints. In such a database the data and relations between them are organised in tables. A table is a collection of records and each record in a table contains the same fields. Properties of Relational Tables: Values Are Atomic Each Row is Unique Column Values Are of the Same Kind The Sequence of Columns is Insignificant The Sequence of Rows is Insignificant Each Column Has a Unique Name Certain fields may be designated as keys, which means that searches for specific values of that field will use indexing to speed them up. Where fields in two different tables take values from the same set, a join operation can be performed to select related records in the two tables by matching values in those fields. Often, but not always, the fields will have the same name in both tables. For example, an â€Å"orders† table might contain (customer-ID, product-code) pairs and a â€Å"products† table might contain (product-code, price) pairs so to calculate a given customer’s bill you would sum the prices of all products ordered by that customer by joining on the product-code fields of the two tables. This can be extended to joining multiple tables on multiple fields. Because these relationships are only specified at retreival time, relational databases are classed as dynamic database management system. The RELATIONAL database model is based on the Relational Algebra. The relational structure is the most commonly used today. It is used by mainframe, midrange and microcomputer systems. It uses two-dimensional rows and columns to store data. The tables of records can be connected by common key values. While working for IBM, E. F. Codd designed this structure in 1970. The model is not easy for the end user to run queries with because it may require a complex combination of many tables. Multidimensional structure The multidimensional structure is similar to the relational model. The dimensions of the cube-like model have data relating to elements in each cell. This structure gives a spreadsheet-like view of data. This structure is easy to maintain because records are stored as fundamental attributes – in the same way they are viewed – and the structure is easy to understand. Its high performance has made it the most popular database structure when it comes to enabling online analytical processing (OLAP). Object/Relational Model Object/relational database management systems (ORDBMSs) add new object storage capabilities to the relational systems at the core of modern information systems. These new facilities integrate management of traditional fielded data, complex objects such as time-series and geospatial data and diverse binary media such as audio, video, images, and applets. By encapsulating methods with data structures, an ORDBMS server can execute comple x analytical and data manipulation operations to search and transform multimedia and other complex objects. As an evolutionary technology, the object/relational (OR) approach has inherited the robust transaction- and performance-management features of it s relational ancestor and the flexibility of its object-oriented cousin. Database designers can work with familiar tabular structures and data definition languages (DDLs) while assimilating new object-management possibi lities. Query and procedural languages and call interfaces in ORDBMSs are familiar: SQL3, vendor procedural languages, and ODBC, JDBC, and proprie tary call interfaces are all extensions of RDBMS languages and interfaces. And the leading vendors are, of course, quite well known: IBM, Inform ix, and Oracle. The object oriented structure has the ability to handle graphics, pictures, voice and text, types of data, without difficultly unlike the other database structures. This structure is popular for multimedia Web-based applications. It was designed to work with object-oriented programming languages such as Java. Object-Oriented Model Object DBMSs add database functionality to object programming languages. They bring much more than persistent storage of programming language objects. Object DBMSs extend the semantics of the C++, Smalltalk and Java object programming languages to provide full-featured database programming capability, while retaining native language compatibility. A major benefit of this approach is the unification of the application and database development into a seamless data model and language environment. As a result, applications require less code, use more natural data modeling, and code bases are easier to maintain. Object developers can write complete database applications with a modest amount of additional effort. The object-oriented database (OODB) paradigm is the combination of object-oriented programming language (OOPL) systems and persistent systems. The power of the OODB comes from the seamless treatment of both persistent data, as found in databases, and transient data, as found in executing programs. In contrast to a relational DBMS where a complex data structure must be flattened out to fit into tables or joined together from those tables to form the in-memory structure, object DBMSs have no performance overhead to store or retrieve a web or hierarchy of interrelated objects. This one-to-one mapping of object programming language objects to database objects has two benefits over other storage approaches: it provides higher performance management of objects, and it enables better management of the complex interrelationships between objects. This makes object DBMSs better suited to support applications such as financial portfolio risk analysis systems, telecommunications service applications, world wide web document structures, design and manufacturing systems, and hospital patient record systems, which have complex relationships between data.

Summary of World Future Society

The article entitled â€Å"World Future Society† talks on how the world economic system has made different countries interconnected with each other through the growth of the information and technology system.Nowadays, the current trend of immense development within the field of information technology has outgrown all of the technological innovations from the past decades altogether. And as such, businesses across countries rely heavily on such developments in this field.However, despite these improvements and developments in the realm of information technology, this same field is also deemed as the probable reason of economic breakdown in the future.The saturation in terms of market and development, the inevitable breakdown and its characteristic vulnerability to error may be experienced in the future in this field and will greatly affect how the system will work and how certain business enterprises will respond.In addition, the development in this field will enormously put in to jeopardy the individual talents that each person holds.As such, though technological development may be one of the greatest achievements ever discovered by human beings, it still has downsides that the society must carefully watch out for.Although it has been proven that through the years, technological innovations allowed for great changes and development in the society, too much reliance on it may be dangerous to the people in general.ReferenceBrown, A. (2000). World Future Society. Gale, Cengage Learning. Retrieved September 22, 2008, from http://www2.bc.edu/~rappleb/informationoverload.htm

Qulitative vs. Quantitative Essays

Qulitative vs. Quantitative Essays Qulitative vs. Quantitative Essay Qulitative vs. Quantitative Essay Qualitative vs. Quantitative In this paper I will be explaining the differences between qualitative and quantitative research. Qualitative research will help you learn about individuals experiences of emotion and behavior, and explains human behavior into detail. Whereas quantitative research will be in hard numbers, it will provide you with data and is the most common method of research. Qualitative research should, in my opinion, be the most common method of research due to the fact that it focuses on certain individuals with fewer restrictions; the individuals are able to provide data in their own words with subjective information. The researchers could ask the participants about how their life has been so far, or how they think they did in school, and they would respond in their own way, with no numbers, just their own words. Qualitative can also explore new areas of research and build new theories because they ask for people’s opinions. The downside to qualitative research is that it’s difficult to test its hypotheses and theories with large groups. This method of research is only supposed to target smaller, more convenient groups, which is good if that’s your goal but bad if, let’s say, you wanted to find out the percentage of how many people are happy with their lives. With qualitative its very time consuming, unless you have the time for it, but if you don’t then quantitative research might be what you want. There are different methods of qualitative research, such as the action method. Action research tries to understand the concerns of people and immediate problem situations. The second one, the case study, is the most common method within the qualitative research. It considers the phenomenon within its real life context. They study many of the different aspects of people. The process of qualitative research is fairly simple, you have to find which questions you want to ask your subjects and collect the relevant data from them and find out how to interpret it, and lastly you just have to write up our findings and conclusions. Quantitative research is what you will most likely come in contact with, in school, at work, in the store, etc. it’s mostly population focused like how on some maps it shows the percentage of different races in each state, and that’s due to quantitative research. Tables, graphs, and other figures would be needed to write out your findings to understand what you tested people or populations on, most of them will be in hard number s with no explanations. Its most commonly used in politics, like for presidential elections for each state and then all is brought together in the end to eventually find out who the new president would be and has the highest credibility with people in power. You can ask your subjects to provide data about themselves such as age, number of people in their families, what their address is, basically anything to do with hard numbers or statistics. Even though it has the highest ratings for research and its most commonly used, it does have its weaknesses. Like, for instance, the knowledge produced by researchers might be too abstract and they could be missing out on the phenomenon by collecting a much narrower data set with being limited to just numbers. Even though quantitative research is the most widely known method of research, it still has some holes in the research that can only be filled by qualitative research. Like within the statistics of quantitative can also be an explanation on how you’ve accumulated your research or you can go into detail about the numbers and what your opinion would be.

How Search Engines Work essays

How Search Engines Work essays Search engines are among the most popular and most useful tools that the web has to offer. The vast amount of information that can be found on the internet can be accessed by using popular search engines such as: Yahoo!, Altavista, Hotbot, Excite, Lycos, Google, and many more. The importance of search engines can easily be seen since its the place on the internet we all visit to find information on just about any topic. When it comes to search engines there are three types: crawler-based, human-powered, and hybrid (a mix of crawler-based and human-powered). Crawler-based engines are among the most popular. They work using software robots called spiders or crawlers. The purpose of these crawlers is to sift through web pages and follow links within websites. The crawler revisits the page from time to time to check for any changes that may have been made. The information found by the spider is then placed into the index. The index (sometimes referred to as the catalog) stores all the information like a library. The search engine then uses specific software to sort through the index to find the most useful and relevant matches according to your query. The second type of search engine, human-powered, is based on people submitting a short summary of a site which is then used to find matches, again, based on your query. The summary of the site can be written by the author or an outside editor. The last form of search engines is the hybrid engines which combine both crawler-based and human powered engines. With companies always trying to improve, hybrid engines have become a lot more common. Now you might wonder if all search engines fit under these three categories, why is that different engines produce different results. One cause is that the indexes of the engines differ. This means that the spiders used by different engines use different techniques in searching through sites. Some crawlers search through the w...

Cute Graduation Quotes That Say It All

Cute Graduation Quotes That Say It All Do you need to make a graduation speech? Whether youre the valedictorian, class speaker, or the featured guest speaker at the graduation ceremony, you dont want to put the audience to sleep. The crowd is already dressed in black, so you probably want to brighten the gathering with wit and wisdom. While its a formal occasion, you can show a little of your fun side at the ceremony. Here are cute quotes to sprinkle into your graduation speech. These quotes may also be appropriate if youre making a custom graduation card, writing a note to the grad, or posting them a message. After all, you dont want them to think that they are the only ones with the talent and brains to compose a cute but uplifting missive, right? Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So... get on your way. -Dr. SeussYou have to be odd to be number one. -Dr. SeussYou have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. -Dr. SeussShoot for the moon. Even if you miss, youll land among the stars. -Les BrownJust about a month from now Im set adrift, with a diploma for a sail and lots of nerve for oars. -Richard HaliburtonGo for it now. The future is promised to no one. -Wayne DyerThe young graduate is discovering that among the necessaries of life, the most important is living. -AnonymousIf you think education is expensive, try ignorance! -Andy McIntyreHitch your wagon to a star. -Ralph Waldo EmersonLife has no remote. Get up and change it yourself. -Mark A. CooperMinds are like parachutes- they only function when open. -Thomas DewarIf opportunity doesnt knock, build a door. -Milton BerleLife has a very simple plot: first  youre here and then youre not. -Eric Idle Heres the thing: the world is not going to issue you an engraved invitation to this life. -Sarah HeidtWhenever Id complain or be upset about something, my mother had the same advice: Darling, change the channel. You are in control of the clicker. Dont replay the bad, scary movie. -Arianna HuffingtonIsnt it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different. -C.S. LewisThere are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind. -C.S. LewisThe difference between school and life is that in school youre taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, youre given a test that teaches you a lesson. -Tom BodettYou will never have more energy or enthusiasm, hair, or brain cells than you have today. -Tom and Ray Magliozzi

Franchise Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Franchise - Research Paper Example The agreement is based on the periodic loyalty payments made by the franchisee to the franchise, in regards to the revenue generated from the business operation (Rupert et al, 2008). In the context of selecting the appropriate franchise, various factors are considered, which include the requirements, its market viability, competition among other factors. Therefore, as a started, it is financially rational to select a franchise with reasonable investment requirement (Mendelsohn, 2010, p.120). In Richmond, Indiana, there are numerous franchises already operating. One of the rarely seen but viable business opportunities is the Archive IT franchise. This is one of the potentially profitable franchises with many suitable features. Archive IT is in a category comprising the emerging industry franchises. Archive IT franchise’s deals with the provision of document archiving and digital scanning among other computer related services. Their systems allow for record conservations, secure cloud access and the option of searching text stored. The mission of the company is to enable other businesses to handle the issue of data and information storage in a more advanced manner. The operating philosophy of the franchise is that in the near past, most companies have been struggling with the aspect of data storage in paper work. Considering the next few years, many companies will go paperless. Therefore, this franchise aims at providing the best solution to the older resource intensive data handling methods. This corporation began franchising in 2011. This franchiser is currently selling franchises throughout the US. The total investment required from the franchisee ranges between $66, 350- $196, 300. The exact amount of the investment depends on many factors including the geographical location of the franchisee and the infrastructure proximity of the business. Franchise fee is $ 25, 000, with a periodic royalty fee of 5% of the total revenue

Choose one Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Choose one - Essay Example They think creatively and can perform activities which other children of their age cannot and this factor creates problems in social and emotional adjustment of such children. Parents of such children who are gifted in any sense should acknowledge and understand the emotional needs of their child. Going for extremes is a very wrong strategy often implemented by parents. It is because controlling a child severely and hiring foreign coaches for training purpose can have negative effects. The tutors or coaches hired by the parents can use aggressive methods for training such talented children stubbornly overlooking their individual preferences and such a pattern of coaching can inculcate overwhelmingly strong feelings of rejection and anxiety in the child. Instead of grooming of the talent, complete severe controlling in terms of hiring tutors who may rely on aggressive techniques or subjecting the child to make use of options he/she may not want to use, can potentially ruin any excepti onal skills or talent such a child may have been born with. As in case of the movie (Searching for Bobby Fischer) when Joshua Waitzkin is discovered with a rare chess talent, his parents hire a strict coach Bruce Pandolfini for him who tries to control him by trying to transform him into someone else. In contrast, doing nothing at all to influence a child’s interests in fear of ruining the talent and pushing the limits is another extreme and should be considered a flawed parenting strategy by all. This is because not playing any role to make sure the talent is groomed and developed with time could also lead a child to slack off and not make full use of his/her skills. This is also because childhood is an age when children have raw minds and are not in the position to make mature decisions about themselves. Such incapability to decide for themselves coupled with total absence of any kind of parental supervision can execute harmful influence on a child’s raw talent. On g rounds of obnoxious influences produced by extreme parental strategies I feel compelled to stress on using mid way approaches when intending to groom a gifted child’s talent. It is implied by a Polish child psychologist and psychiatrist Dabrowski (cited in Silverman 113) that creatively gifted children are emotionally more complex than others and exhibit more pronounced and well developed responses to various types of external stimuli. Examining the moral sensitivity in highly intelligent, sensitive, and creative children, it is identified that external stimuli in the form of anger, frustration, pressure, and disappointment can all have disastrous effects on the gifted children and as they are claimed to be more emotionally groomed, they can show more sensitive responses to any such stimuli. Now children learn mostly from their parents and raising and nurturing a gifted child can prove to be very challenging for the parents. Responsive parenting could be one effective approac h in this regard. Spending enough time with the talented children is one way by which parents can effectively relate to them and tune in to their exceptional interests. Many times parents

Advocacy and issues in physical education Essay

Advocacy and issues in physical education - Essay Example A lot of them are so fat! In the last two decades the number of obese children in our country has tripled. In fact, they comprise 17.1% of children including teenagers (Advocacy Issues). The figure is daunting!There is need for setting up after-school physical activity program in the school's main gym for non-athletes, increase in the amount of physical education currently offered in the school, adding physical education to No Child Left Behind law, and maintain 30 minutes recess in the regular school day.In the absence of adequate physical activity, the actual performances of the students suffer. They are unable to attain peak performance. They do not maintain the level of concentration required. They tire easily. They lack resilience.You can see that there are serious consequences awaiting these kids. From the viewpoint of health, obesity is the single cause for most diseases like cardiovascular problems, blood pressure, hypertension, type-2 diabetes, stroke, etc. (Advocacy Issues) . Apart from this, obesity comes in the way of physical activities and fast thinking that make careers. Parents too urge physical education in view of this situation.In a few years from now, these kids could be looking back with regret why they could not partake of a healthier system. They may feel they ought to have done more in the physical realm. They may even consider starting at that point. However, a great number of these students may drop out in the absence of sustained efforts of others over them, something that they can get in the school. It is here that we could do something positive and have the students put on the right track so that they can continue with it even after they complete school. I think there is the need to nurture physical exercise. Much of the time is spent on the mental aspects. Indeed the best times are spent studying. The physical attributes are hardly touched upon. It is high time the physical aspects are given their due. If we fail to act now the day is not far off when we will pay for the lapse with serious consequences to the individual and to the nation. Build better society The inclusion of physical education in school will have tremendous impact in the hearts and lives of the students. Given the right approach, they will grow to appreciate life better. The level of their thinking will improve. They will have better self-respect and they will learn to make more correct evaluations. Apart from better learning, their contributions to society will improve. It is important to bear in mind that we are handling children entrusted to us by parents who are keen to see that their wards receive the best attention and nurture not only mentally but also in the physical domain. Besides, society needs strong, self-oriented students. The capacity to perform and excel is inculcated in students who are well disposed to physical education. These students possess the attitude to awaken in society the right beliefs and traits so that the composite whole is reflected in the students. Building self-respect Students with physical education not only receive training and workout whereby they have better build physically but also score on self-evaluation. They are also well-informed and

Vice President of a Supply Chain Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Vice President of a Supply Chain - Case Study Example In other words, effort should be made to ensure safe passage of the goods being supplied at each stage along the supply chain. Efficiency can be achieved through implementing various measures. It is also essential for businesses and suppliers to create quality relationships in order to improve their operations in the supply chain. Thus a clear supply network ought to be created so as to be in a position to achieve the desired goals. This is known as the value delivery network which is made up of the firm, suppliers, distributors and ultimately customers who partner with each other to improve the performance of the entire system (Kotler & Armstrong, 2010). In such a scenario, all the parties involved should be coordinated in such a way that there is efficient passage of the goods from one point to the next. The channels upon which the goods will be delivered should be clearly identified so as to avoid confusion. Transport logistics ought to be clearly defined so as to enable the suppliers to efficiently move different goods and products from one point to the other. The other measure that can be taken in order to ensure efficiency is to make sure that the goods supplied do not outstrip the capacity to store them. This means that the inventory at one stage should not be larger than the storage place available. In order to measure the benchmarks of success of this initiative, I will make a follow up to ensure that there are no breakages and that all goods have been delivered as per expectations. It is also imperative to engage all members involved so as to be able to gain feedback from them to ascertain if they are satisfied with the distribution system implemented by the suppliers. The limited number of breakages and complaints from the customers is another benchmark that can be used to make sure that the initiative has been a success. The period taken for a particular product to be delivered from the manufacture to the retailer can also be used

Recent developments in the treatment of asthma Essay

Recent developments in the treatment of asthma - Essay Example Asthma is known to have caused by various factors. These include allergens, irritants, and other factors. The signs and symptoms of asthma are unpredictable and vary from one person to another. The four levels of asthma identified depending on the symptoms are: mild intermittent asthma, mild persistent asthma, moderate persistent asthma, and severe persistent asthma. Asthma is diagnosed by spirometry, allergy testing, peak flow meter, chest x – rays and electrocardiogram, and tests to determine how airways would react to exercise, presence of gastroesophageal reflux disease, and presence of sinus disease. Patients must work together with their health care providers in order to achieve the goal of asthma control. The two types of medicine used to control asthma: Quick relief medicines and Long term control medicines. Asthma is a poorly understood, highly complex disease whose main cause remains unknown (Steinke et al, 2001). The pathogenesis and susceptibility of asthma involves interplay between genetic and environmental factors that are complex in nature (Laprise, et al, 2004). Butz et al. (2000) noted that asthma is the most common long – term childhood disease. Laprise, et al (2004) and Kips (2001) stated that the interaction of cytokines regulates inflammation of the airways and process of remodeling that are present in milder form of asthma. These govern the appearance of asthma as well as the severity of symptoms of airway responsiveness (Laprise, 2004). Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease affecting the airways. In asthma, the airways become swollen making them sensitive and react to various allergens and lung irritants. As a result, the airways react by becoming narrower making the air flowing to the lung tissues decreased. Consequently, symptoms such as wheezing, coughing, tightening of the chest, and breathing difficulty especially at night and early morning are manifested (Jeffery, et al., 2006; Courtney, et

Vice President of a Supply Chain Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Vice President of a Supply Chain - Case Study Example In other words, effort should be made to ensure safe passage of the goods being supplied at each stage along the supply chain. Efficiency can be achieved through implementing various measures. It is also essential for businesses and suppliers to create quality relationships in order to improve their operations in the supply chain. Thus a clear supply network ought to be created so as to be in a position to achieve the desired goals. This is known as the value delivery network which is made up of the firm, suppliers, distributors and ultimately customers who partner with each other to improve the performance of the entire system (Kotler & Armstrong, 2010). In such a scenario, all the parties involved should be coordinated in such a way that there is efficient passage of the goods from one point to the next. The channels upon which the goods will be delivered should be clearly identified so as to avoid confusion. Transport logistics ought to be clearly defined so as to enable the suppliers to efficiently move different goods and products from one point to the other. The other measure that can be taken in order to ensure efficiency is to make sure that the goods supplied do not outstrip the capacity to store them. This means that the inventory at one stage should not be larger than the storage place available. In order to measure the benchmarks of success of this initiative, I will make a follow up to ensure that there are no breakages and that all goods have been delivered as per expectations. It is also imperative to engage all members involved so as to be able to gain feedback from them to ascertain if they are satisfied with the distribution system implemented by the suppliers. The limited number of breakages and complaints from the customers is another benchmark that can be used to make sure that the initiative has been a success. The period taken for a particular product to be delivered from the manufacture to the retailer can also be used

Incredible India Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Incredible India - Assignment Example The former capital of India was Kolkata, situated in the east of India. Today the capital of this country is Delhi located in the northern part of the country. Its flag has 3 horizontal bands of 3 colors with a blue Ashok chakra (24- spokes wheel) in the middle of the white band. First band is of saffron color which stands for courage and sacrifice, the second band is white which symbolizes peace and honesty, whereas the third band which is green signifies hope, joy, fertility and love and in many cultures have a sacred significance. Blue symbolizes vigilance, truth and loyalty, perseverance and justice. The currency of India is denoted in rupees. II. When we hear the name â€Å"India† one thing that comes to our minds is a huge country full of different colorful cultures and people coming from different religions with unlike beliefs speaking diverse languages having dissimilar lifestyles staying together with peace and harmony in one country. India was once known as the †Å"Golden bird† and today it is considered as the country of colors. From the deep red –orange marigold flowers that festoon almost every festivity to the tones of deep red that become the adornment of the bride on her most important day, India without colors cannot be imagined. Colors, becoming a vital part, controls every aspect of life in India when it comes to religions, festivals ,cultures , politics be it anything. In India be it north, south, east or west, color and culture go hand in hand. If I had to define India in one line it would be a magical experience which must not be missed. III. Below I will be discussing about language, art, marriage, family and religion in India. First we need to know the definitons of language, art, marriage, family and religion. IV. According to dictionary.reference.com, â€Å"a body of words and the systems for their use common to a people of the same community or nation† is called a language. In simple words a language is a way of communication between two or more living beings in such a way that both can understand what the other is trying to share. India is a vast country and therefore has many people belonging to diverse cultures. Each culture and community has its own language. Languages in India have evolved from two families, the Aryan and the Dravidian. Languages spoken in the southern part of India belong to the Dravidian family whereas the languages spoken in the northern part of Indian come from the Aryan family. Apart from these two families of language there is another language known as Sini-which come from the Mongoloid family mostly spoken in East India. Languages have evolved in different phases of history of India. The languages in which the holy books of different religions have been written is not spoken commonly any more. The holy books of hindus are written in Sanskrit, the holy books of Buddhism are written in Pali whereas Qoran is written in Arabic. Though these languages are not spoken in day to day life yet sanskrit is acknowledged as one of the official languages of India. Today Hindi is recognized as the official national language of India. Hindi is easily understood everywhere in India. People who speak other languages have also got quite familiar with Hindi due to media. Second to Hindi comes English. Today english is widely spoken

Factory job Essay Example for Free

Factory job Essay I am seriously going to explode one day. That Mr Birling is being totally out of order, he pays us girls nothing more than 20 shillings a day and that cant keep me alive for much longer. I have spoken to the girls and they agree with me that we should go on strike. That will make him think about the wages he gives the girls and me. I would rather quit but that would show the wrong side of me I am not a quitter, I am a fighter. I should of taken the job in the bakery but no I had to choose the factory job which could have been good and well paid but no they lied to me about the wages. Anyway I saw my Nan today, she is really ill I need the extra money for her medicine but if you ask me I think she will be going soon. I wish I could see my mum but she is in Yorkshire. I could not stay there because there was no work. There was work but I would never stoop that low. My sister got into that kind of work and she got pregnant out of that sort of business. This all the countrys fault I had to move here because of the lack of jobs in Yorkshire its ridiculous. The strike will still go on. Talk soon, thank you for listening. I am sacked now, looks like I need to starve my self once again all because I wanted more money to actually stay alive, hence I am starving myself now. Most of the girls got their jobs back and I loose mine that fair. Mr Birling has to learn that it is not business all the time, he has to think about other peoples lives that are not rich. I told him that and he obviously did not understand about higher and lower class, all he concentrates on is higher class and spends money like a fire in a wood. I better look for a job soon other wise I will die like my Nan did poor and helpless. I am living in my Nan house but I will probably not stay here that long because she has probably given the house to sally her friend on the street. Thank you for listening bye. I am so happy, I went to a interview last week with Milwards and I have a job now and its good pay and I can help sewing the dresses which is my life long dream. I have not got the house any more, Sally and Frederick her boyfriend live there now and I live in a run down hovel and nothing in it. I have no money and I have changed my name to Sarah so I can get a job because I got sacked and you what Mr Birling is like, he knows everyone. I am gradually getting richer but not much, I have got 40 shillings and I need to save that so I cant eat again. Hopefully this job will be successful and its nearly Christmas bonus but I wont get my hopes up. I have realised that my behaviour at Mr Birlings factory was bad but I was desperate and I need the money. I need to be really polite in this shop because lots of posh and higher class shop here and like I said I dont want to work on the street. Thank you for listening. I got sacked once again. I have not been a pain but I did make a funny look when Miss Birling was showing her dress to mum. Even her mum didnt like the dress, you could tell by her face. I laughed as well but that was because I tripped other the stall. I think she complained about me and said to Samantha the boss to sack me. The Higher class always gets their way and bosses always want money. Thank you for listening. It has come to the worse now. I am getting money but I hate sleeping with scummy old men who smell of beer and sometimes dont even pay you for your time. I really did not want to become a slut and sleep around but I am and I had to change my name again. My name is Daisy Renton now. I have lost two stone. I am probably going to die one day and probably poor, helpless and with no family by my side. I might go back to Yorkshire but I have myself into a business. I am going out with Gerald. He was a customer but he likes talking to me and he bought me food recently and I that was touching. I met him in the palace bar. I was there for business and business is good there because all the rich people are there and have no lady of there own because they are so ugly. Gerald is so sweet. Talk soon. I am really depressed and my live is over now because Gerald has left me he gave me some money but I love Gerald I need him he kept me away from trouble. A man recently beat me up and Gerald looked after me. He is a star and he always will be. The money has been going down the drain I need more money, I might need to do extra nights and double shifts a night. Old men are the worst they are so old and horrible. I need a good job because I have not got a enough money for the place I am renting. I will talk to you soon bye.

Morrison Takeover Safeway Plc

Morrison Takeover Safeway Plc This part of the proposal provides the overview of the study relating to merges and acquisition in UK grocery retailers giants. One of the most maligned antitrust decisions in the history in UK involves acquisition of grocery retailer giant, the fourth largest supermarket Safeway takeover by Morrison in 2004. In 1990s, retail markets throughout the world began to be transformed by acquisition and merges. Many of the worlds largest retailers, particularly in the food and grocery sectors involves and this is to reduce the struggling competition between the leading competitor and positioned themselves to dominate or becomes holders of major market share (wrighley, 2000a, lowe, 2002). However such an event still remain a non-routine and challenging occurrence within the life time of the individual organisation and its members merges and acquisition is still one of the areas of finance which attracted interest from the general public as well as the finance analyst and the managers According to (Glen 2008) said that expanding the activities of the firms through acquisition involves significant uncertainties (Schweiger and Ivancevich, 1985) Rappaport (1998) stated that, the basic objectives of making acquisition is identical to any other investment associated with a companys overall strategy, i.e. to add value. In practise, the motivation for expansion through merges, and the diverse range of issue such as action rises by using discounted cash flow technique. First of I would like to define merges and acquisition:- MERGES- Is used to mean the combing of two business entities which result in common ownership. Merges could be either horizontal integration, vertical integration and conglomerate integration. Horizontal integration, where two companies in the same industry, whose operation are very closely related is combined, that of the case of Morrison and Safeway. One of the motives advanced for horizontal merges is that economic of scale can be achieved, but not all merges achieve such gains or enhancement of market power resulting from the reduction in competition Merges and acquisition can have a profound impact on an organisational member and their family (Hayes,1981) indeed, merges and acquisition can sufficiently transform the organisational structure ,system ,processes and culture of one or both of the firm that people often feel stressed, frustrated and even frightened {Schweiger and ivancevich 1985} Although, the recent retailing revolution in the early 1990s resulted in a number of very significant developments. The grow in size of retailers not only replaced the manufacturers dominance in the supply chain but also eliminated many wholesaler and started the trend towards backward integration of the retailer. in 1990s,there is continued concentration and consolidation in all areas of supermarket sector (Davies and Ward, 2000). The industry structure is characterised by a number of common attributes including greater store size increase in retailer concentration and adoption of a range of formats by retailers to reach as wider as their customer catchment areas. Back in January 2003 Morrison, the mostly north of England based supermarket chain, announced that it had been in discussion with Safeway over a proposed takeover. The takeover would give Morrison access to the market in the south which has been difficult to break into. Morrisons bid to buy 480 stores of Safeway that will put it major competitors for the other big supermarket chains, Tesco, Sainsbury and Asda. The current market share of Morrison as at January 2008 is at 11.4% and make it the smallest of the big four supermarket and behind Tesco (31.5), Asda (16.8) Sainsbury (15.9), but far head off the fifth place Co-operative Group (4.4%).The merges could put Morrison on a par with Sainsbury. After the takeover of Safeway, the Morrison family currently owns around 15.5% of the company. According to Hayes 1981, stated that indeed, merges and acquisition often feel stressed and frustration because of the fear of loosing their job, their family life and the culture that they must have to changes. In light of this economic approach to defining markets and approaches that turn entirely on how customers respond to prices changes. In the u k, following the Wal-marts market entry in 1999, popular perception has focused on Alhoids acquisition with Sainsbury. Indeed, Alhold has regularly been obliged to damp down market speculation on the issue .However, given such a merges, not only would it then faced competing head to head in the UK market with the other supermarkets. Although the competition commission found that little evidence of monopolistic behaviour, the findings indicated both the significance of buyer concentration and the need for voluntary regulation (Cooper, 2003 Dobson et al, 2003) The takeover has not yet gone through smoothly due to the involvement of other potential buyer, including the other main supermarket entering the race. As a result of this, the Competition Commission investigated the issue. The commission found that, of the major supermarkets, only Morrison should be allowed to proceed with a potential takeover of Safeway. However this does not rule out another potential buyer. Phillip Green, billionaire owner of Top Shop and British Home Stores (BHS) has also expressed an interest in Safeway. The commission has recommended that if Morrison is successful in their bid that they will have to sell off some of the stores to ensure that competition is not compromised. Here in UK regulation which is the issue both the land-use planning regulation which restricts the other supermarket Wal-Marts ability to develop ASDA stores at a sufficiently rapid pace to challenge for market leadership and the threats of regulatory action to safeguard competition . UK food retailers makes clear Competition Commission ,2000 Vol. 1 Morrison could safely add significant market share in the southern England, Northern Ireland ,Scotland and Wales without triggering regulatory action. As a result, although Safeway as an operational entity would be unattractive to Wal-Mart, and some of the assets of Safeway certainly would be (Poole et al.,2002) stated that for an attempt to address this issue, similar scenario can be considered in the case of Safeway and Morrison s which has stores with a price-positioning and format ideal for Wal-Mart. Unfortunately Morrisons regional market strength mirror those of ASDA and acquisition of Morrisons operations in west-midlands and Southern would inevitably trigger regulatory action. Morrison with the family-owned regional chain, is likely to want to see that independent maintained or, at least its essence continued, in any link up with larger retailer Morrison has slashed prices on over 800 Safeway products to bring them in line with its prices strategy. After the takeover of Safeway in march 2004, of the leading supermarket chain which owned 479 stores, mainly in Scotland and South of England. The acquisition ran into difficulties caused by the outgoing management of Safeway changing their accounting system just six weeks before the transaction was completed. This results of series of profit warning being issue by Morrison that leads to poor financial results and a need to revert to manual system. Morrison currently has 375 superstores in the UK, this including new store opening by the end of 2007. Until 2004, Morrison superstores were largely concentrated in the English midland and the north of England, but expanded southward, Most of its stores operates home wares with fewer electronic, clothing than the main supermarket rivals. Morrisons strategy is based on doing the basic efficiently, selling predominantly food at lower prices and doing so only from large stores. This is the different approach from the other three big chain, which have moved into service such as banking and insurances, place greater emphasis on non-food In March 2009, after completed takeover of the Somerfield, Morrison purchases 30 stores from the combined group with the commend of the competition commission. This marks the move away from the post-Safeway strategy of concentrating on superstores, to adopt the work in a smaller space of a new smaller store as its aims to have a store within 15 minutes every UK homes According to Thomas (2008) in some circumstances, acquiring management seriously underestimate the complexities involved in merges and post-acquisition integration (Robino and Demeuse 1985) The history of Wm Morrison First of all let me give the history back ground of Wm Morrison. Morrison was founded in 1899 by William Morrison, an egg and butter merchant. In 1958, the company opened its first counter service store in a small town of Bradford, UK. Morrison opened its first supermarket in Victoria, in 1961 and stated trading on London stock exchanges in 1967. The lack of opportunities for the leading UK grocery retailers to increase market share through large-scale organic store development and has made merges and acquisition strategies particular important (Poole et al., 2002) Wm Morrison carryout the expansion programmes and in 1978, the company acquired Whelan Stores and began operating in Lancashire in UK, and opened the distribution centre Wakefield and expanded its operation to include chilled stores and an ambient storages area for produce In 2004 march Morrison takeover Safeway supermarket at  £3bn, this enables them to become the fourth largest retailers and more than double its store presence. In 2007 January, the company gave access to two new in-store recycling services in over 345 store spread across England, Scotland and Wales The media have highlighted the fact that Morrison and Safeway are an ideal geographical fit in that there are no areas of overlap. It was clear from the findings of the Competition Commission that these two companies would not imposed local monopoly and the customers interest would served. The debated concerning each of these bids by different companies, have not simply been financial. The distinctly geographical issues have been very much to the force. First the commentators have talked about geographical fit, not a subject always prominent where, merges and acquisition are debated (Bikini et al 2002). The ASDA and Morrison bids look more promising in term of geographical fit although Sainsburys fit in northern England and Scotland is also good, but the objective was to creates more level-playing field and although of course this bid may not be acceptable to the shareholders of Safeway, especially taking account of the ASDA /Wal-Mart financial packages said to be on offer Safeway stores and therefore present fewer problem of high local market share, and their acquisition of Safeway would leap-frog them above Sainsbury and leave three major players well ahead of the chasing pack (Poole, Clerk and Clerk 2002) 4.1 Empirical reviews In the real world the takeover and merges have several motives behind (Glen Arnold 2008.Buono and Bowditch 2003), among which the following could be associated with the Wm Morrisons takeover 4.1.1 Synergy= which mean the combine entity will have a valve greater than the sum of its part. This increases in valve comes about because of boost to revenue and the cost base when two firms AB are to be combined or gain may result fro synergistic benefit to provide a valve above that of the present valve of the two independent cash flow :- PVAB= pva+ pvb+ gain PVA=discounted cash flow of company A PVB=discounted cash flow of company B PV AB=discounted cash flow of the merged firm Therefore synergy is often expressed in the form 2+2=5 4.1.2 Market share/power==One of the most important forces driving merges is the attempt to increase market power {Alderson 2002}This is the ability to exercise some control over the prices of the products, and this can be achieve through either monopoly, oligopoly or dominant producers position. However, Wm Morrison, this is one of the objectives to gain the market share in the South where it was very difficult to break into and the shareholders valve would be maximised .Its the fourth largest company by sales and the second by market capitalisation, The strong market presence enhances the brand images of the company and provides economic of scale 4.1.3 Economic of scaleAnother important contributor to synergy is the ability to exploit the economic of scale. The larger size often leads to lower cost per unit of out put. In the case of wm Morrison, this is not the main motive of takeover 4.1.5 Financial Performance for six years 1feburary 2009 turnover  £14528m compare to two year after the takeover January 2006  £12115m. The profit and loss before tax in 2009 February  £655m compare to January 2006 of ( £312.9) The profit after tax in 2009 January  £460m compare to January 2006 ( £250.3) In 2005 immediately after the takeover, Wm Morrison give the profit warning and the share price drop drastically and the turnover was down to  £12116m compare to February2004 and the profit before tax in 2005 was  £193m to ( 312.9) loss in 2006. These are due to the pos-acquisition syndromes and the managements reaction to the takeover of Safeway .The accounting system were changes few weeks before the completion of the acquisition 4.1.6 The market share As of August 2008, according to TNS World panel, Morrison is the smallest of the Big Four supermarkets with a market share of 11.1%. Whilst Tesco, Asda and Sainsburys saw increases in market share from July 2008 of 31.6%, 17.0% and 15.9% respectively. Morrisons saw a smallest sized decrease of 0.2% in the same period There has been a significant amount of empirical research into merges and acquisition and the impact 4.2 The strength and weakness of Wm Morrison 4.2.1 Strength Strong market presence In examining the strength and the weakness of wm Morrison in its operation as the fourth largest supermarket in the UK ,this is to discover that competition in grocery industry in the southern market is intensified ,but Morrison is able to gain the market shares of strong presence in those areas. It serves over nine millions shoppers every week. Strong market presence enhances the brand images of the company Strong geographical presence Poole et al 2002 stated that Wm Morrison has strong geographical presence across the UK, both in superstores and petrol filling station .The company spread across Scotland with 50 stores ,Northern UK55 stores , 20 stores in Wales ,62 and 42 stores in midlands East and midland West respectively . Therefore, because of it geographical presence enhances the companys sale penetration opportunities and gives it a competitive advantages Extensive ranges of food and services The companys fresh food counters offer valve added services including personal advice, cleaning and preparation of fresh meat and fish according to customer s requirement {Troy 2003}Morrisons extensive list of specialized food products and services helps the supermarket chain to differentiate itself with competitors and thereby provides it with an exclusive bran identity Vertical integrated operations A study has been performed by Balto (2001) to examine the uniqueness of the services provided by the supermarket chain. Morrison is the only major food retailers to own and operate fresh food manufacturing and processing facilities. The companys operations are vertically integrated in its food category, which allows it to manufacture, distributed and retail the vast majority of its fresh meat and dairy requirement 4.2.2 Weakness Lack of presence in the online channel Online shopping has steadily grown in popularity in the UK. The amount of money spent online by consumers in the UK increased to  £14.7billion in 2007 Over the next five years online sales are expected to more than triple to £44.5billion by 2012 (Datamonitor-Uk Retail issues 2008:Time to re-evaluate propositions, BFVT0041,May 2008) With internet shopping rising at a rapid pace, supermarkets are establishing their online sales channel to increase revenues. Asda, Tesco and Sainsbury in the UK have establishing the presence in the internet online shopping, in order to capitalize on this rapidly growing trend towards convenience. However Morrison is yet to capitalize on this trend which limited the companys potential growth opportunities 4.2.3Opportunities Increasing demand for organic products Looking in the real world of the grocery industry, wm Morrison have the opportunities to increase the demand for the organic produces, where the Big Four supermarket chain are real competition , The increasing consumer awareness of health and environmental issue along an increasing resistance towards genetically modified (gm) food products and GM farming. Has led to rapid increase in the demand for organic food (Andrew 2004) Growth in private label market The private label market in the UK is witnessing a strong growth in sales. The UK private label sector is one of the most developed in the world. The valve of the sector is at  £45billon and forecast suggests that this will increase to  £ 52billion by 2011. Morrison has increase its private brand product portfolio over the years (DTI, 2008) 5. Research Methodology The way in which research in conducted is not the easy process of transforming the information into reality, but it need cautious planning exercise which follow the procedures and stages Before commencing the study, appropriate selection of the vital research methodology is essential to ensure that the proposal is in the correct steps. Research methodology is divided into two methods of qualitative and quantitative methods. In some circumstances the two methods are combining together as well depending the nature of the study i.e. multiple method (Litter, et al 2003), Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003) Industrial economist argue that market structure is intrinsically linked to firm behaviour and financial performances (Scherer and Ross, 1999; Martin ,1994) ,which look at the financial performances of the company wm Morrison and the market share above In this research proposal, the quantitative method will be use heavily because of the information provided and as the data resources are secondary data which considered the extraction of data manually from the statistical reports available on the website . Secondary data are used for research projects that were originally collected for some other purposes. It includes both raw data and published summaries. Most organisations collect and store a variety of data to support their operation. Secondary data could be divided into three parts=1. Documentary secondary data, 2.Multiple source of secondary data and third the survey based secondary data. The reasons for the uses of Quantitative method is that, its objective, systemic and orderly way of gathering and interprets the information for the use of the study Quantitative approach is predominantly used as a synonym for any data collection technique such as questionnaire and analysis procedures like graphs or statistic, that generate a numerical data Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003) In contrast, Qualitative is used predominantly as a synonym for any data collection technique such as an interview and analysis procedure like categorising data that generates or use non- numerical data Qualitative therefore can be refer to the data other than words. The qualitative data is very expensive to carryout and costly to undertake. It involve primary data analysis which are gathered from the the interviews, questionnaire, field survey carryout during the research study. The technique of both quantitative and qualitative methods, as maintain earlier, refer to some authors as multiple method (Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003) Also mixed method is the general term for when both qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques and analysis procedures are used in research design. It was argue that multiple method are useful if they provide better opportunities for the users to answer the research question and where they allowed the user to better evaluate the extent to which your research finding can be trusted and make better references 5.1 Empirical question The centre issue is the effect of the big firm merges on competitive pricing, which we sum up in the following question: What are price effects for clients of Wm Morrison and Safeway following merges? Merges can improve consumer or customer welfare by creating efficiencies or decrease consumer welfare by creating conditions conducive to monopoly pricing (Sullivan, 2002:381-3284). Simunic (1980) argues that some segments of the market could be more competitive than others; this could have an impact on the effects of the merges. Also test whether the merges have enabled the brand name firms to pass on any cost saving associated with efficiencies to their clients in the form of reduction in competitive price. Therefore the research question is very important and cannot be overemphasised. It is one the key criteria of the research success will be whether you have a set clear conclusion drawn from the data you have collect the research question is one of key question that the research process will address. These are often the precursor of research objectives. 5, 2 Research Ethics When doing research proposal the ethic should be bear in mind. This is considering the integrity of work as well as to give utmost respect of people and the organisation. In any research undertaken the ethical behaviours should be put into consideration not to offended any one in any manner When using other peoples works and materials for any research, their permission should be obtained or information should be given to them. In some research where the individual permissions are require, ethics play a very important part ,However in this study the research ethics is not very much applicable because the information used are secondary data which is already available in the website and internet Your research design may need to consider the extent to which you should collect data from a research population that is unaware of the fact that they are the subject of research and so have not consented It may be quite a different matter if you are collecting data from individuals, rather than from an organisation. However, there may be a case if you are conducting your research while you are an employee in an organisation and you are collecting data on individual was not disclosed, then this would pose a similar ethical dilemma(Gibb,1995). Conclusion The competition in UK food retail sector has been intensified in the recent years, and the four big supermarkets are competing among themselves. In these aspects, this study has not concluded that there was little evidence of the retailers having adverse effects on the consumer; nor was there significant evidence of the price changes at the wholesale level not passing effectively to the consumer. Traditionally, as UK food retailers have become ever more concentrated and consolidated, increasing levels of power have enabled them to exercise substantial control over the supply chain. In this case study analysed the competition commissions report will do little to stop the trend of expansion, as a means of entry into different market. Recently, there is another merges and acquisition of Somerfield by Co-operative Group which was completed in March 2009. From the recent literature on retail competitiveness and observations made regarding current developments within the competitive environment, it is evident that buyer power will definitely concentrate in the hands of the major retail players .The fact that the retailer are expected to grow their market share by acquiring another companies for them to compete with the others Wm Morrison the fourth big supermarket has this opportunity to expand into the Southern England which was very difficult or not impossible without the takeover of Safeway. During the takeover process many speculators were predicting another foreign takeover and were subsequently surprised by Morrisons unexpected interest

Beats as a counterculture Essay -- essays research papers

The Beats As A Counterculture Many of the Beat writers wrote in a style known as spontaneous prose. Allen Ginsberg often writes in this style. He does so in the poem â€Å"Howl† in which he rants and raves about society via his friends – Jack Kerouac, Willaim S. Burroughs, Lawrence Ferlingetti, and Neil Cassidy to name a few, live. He discusses their poverty, civil disobedience, the ways that they fight society, and his personal fight against industrialization; he uses many images in order to allow the reader to understand his lifestyle, the lifestyle of his friends and points of view, specifically their rejection of society. Ginsberg depicts the deprived environment in which he chooses to live in through imagery. For instance the speaker proclaims: â€Å"†¦Dragging themselves through the Negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix.†(Ginsberg 62) This is a scene depicting an average morning after a night of partying. His friends are trying to make their way back to reality. They search the streets where they have been in Jazz clubs for more drugs so they do not have to â€Å"suffer[ing] Eastern sweats and Tangerian bone grindings and migraines of China under junk-withdrawal†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Ginsberg 63) Ginsberg is telling of his friend’s addiction and fear of withdrawal. The speaker states: â€Å"†¦Yakketyyakking screaming vomiting whispering facts and memories and anecdotes and eyeball kicks and shocks of hospitals and jails and wars†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Ginsberg 63) In this passage the speaker of â€Å"Howl† depicts an insane asylum because his mother, himself and many of his friends; specifically Carl Solomon, who the poem is dedicated to, had been admitted or admitted themselves into hospitals.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Beats were all connected to the reality of poverty. Ginsberg states: â€Å"Who poverty and tatters and hollow-eyed and high sat up smoking in the supernatural darkness of cold-water flats floating across the tops of cities contemplating jazz.†(Ginsberg 62) The obvious image of poverty is when he clearly states â€Å"poverty† but along with this image Ginsberg says â€Å"cold-water flats,† meaning that there was not enough money to have hot water. Another image of poverty is â€Å"who plunged themselves under meat trucks looking for an egg.† They were so desperate for food that they jumped under trucks in search of a single egg. The Beats chose this poverty stricken lifestyle in order to further rej... ...e of a world that no one wants to come. He is using his own version of propaganda to persuade the reader not to support industrialization.. Ginsberg reinforces the second section with the first and third sections. He prepares the reader for a dramatic change from the first to the second section by showing the reader that he is anti-society. By showing that he and his friends are anti-society it is a logical step to say that he is against what society is planning and creating. They are planning and moving toward industrialization. Ginsberg is against industrialization partially for the reason that it is the societal norm to support it. Howl is a poem in which Allen Ginsberg complains about his life and about society. The speaker of the poem describes that he/she and his/her friends reject society and therefore are prone to act in a manner counter to common culture. He explains his points using amazing imagery that allows the reader to see exactly what he/she is writing about. In section two Ginsberg states his complains about industrialization, which was beginning at the time. These ideas are reinforced throughout the poem. I will forever enjoy these rantings and ravings.

Sociology and Coffee

Writing Assignment #1 Coffee is a beverage that is globally consumed, but also a product that has different values in different parts of the world. The role coffee plays in society differs around the world, from the farmers who grew the crops to the people who constantly consume them. Social theoretical perspectives are capable of showing the different roles coffee has in different societies. Symbolic interactionism, functionalism, and Marxism are three theories which show coffee’s role sociologically.These theories show how coffee affects people physically, how it affects them emotionally, how it leads them to have interactions, how it connects different parts of society, and how it’s economically controlled by a select few. Symbolic interactionism is a social theoretical approach established by George Mead, which emphasizes the importance of symbols and language in understanding the social world. This theoretical theory first allows us to derive the symbolic meanings coffee has on society. Coffee is often viewed as a beverage for energy.It’s often drunk in the morning for means of getting drive after one has woken from sleep, or during the day when one is having a tiresome day, or sometimes after the consumption of alcohol to sober up. All these symbols can be used to identify the nature of coffee consumption within society. These symbols can lead to the social interaction, which George Mead said, involved the exchange of symbols. People can understand a person’s state of mind and mood when they see them drinking coffee, because coffee is capable of symbolizing certain moods.When people see one another drinking coffee before conversing, in Mead’s theory, it’s the exchange of symbols, in this case how one is feeling at that moment. After understanding one another, the people then can start talking in the manner in which they want to. Functionalism is another social theoretical approach which emphasizes the study of soc ial activity as society functions as a whole. In the case of coffee, this involves the chain of events that take place, starting with the coffee as a form of a crop all the way to it reaching the consumer.This gives us a clear understanding of society’s role in the production and consumption of the beverage, and the important role each one plays. Coffee is consumed around the world, but the wealthy nations consume far more than anyone else, even than the countries which produce the coffee. Functionalism advocates moral consensus, which is the maintenance of equality within society. In the case of coffee though, the wealthy countries have completely forgotten about equality and often economically oppress the countries which produce the coffee.People within these wealthy countries simply demand their coffees and have forgotten about the lengthy process coffee takes to get to them. In the functionalism of coffee, everyone plays an important part and it’s possible the disa ppearance of one group can lead to the collapse of the whole chain. Yet coffee has led to divisions being created as well as conflicts arising, all due to the wealthy and powerful creating policies that only benefit them and their associates. Functionalists stress to people to understand everyone’s importance within society, and to oppose those who seek to create social ranks.Marxism is also another social theoretical approach which emphasizes political reform but basically leads to more conflict. Marxists are often open to these changes in policy for their own advantages, in order to get more for their respective groups. Coffee is a valuable product on the world market and is often an issue of conflict over who receives more. The wealthy countries, through their power and shared ideologies, are able to dominate this area of the market and retrieve more coffee for themselves.When these groups with extensive powers come together with similar values, they legitimize their hold on the product of coffee. Similar to how the colonial powers dictated the route of coffee, these powerful groups with similar ideologies, will be able to control the market and decide if and how much coffee other countries will receive. This will cause rank division and ultimately lead to class conflict among nations. The powerful groups actually prefer these conflicts though, because it enables them to show their strength and have a stronger say in the coffee market.The sociological nature of coffee consumption can be defined through three theoretical methods. The first is symbolic interactionism and involves the observation of coffee as a symbol within society. Coffee can be regarded as an energy beverage, since it allows consumers to go on when tired. The second is functionalism and involves the chain of events which lead coffee from the farms around the world to the consumer. Coffee goes through a lot of steps to reach consumers around the world, but most are not aware of the lo ng journey it experiences.The third is Marxism and involves the groups, mostly the wealthy, who are in favor of changing policies to receive more coffee and dictate the market due to their wealth and similar ideals. The countries which produce the coffee as well as other poor countries which demand coffee are often oppressed financially by the wealthy that control all the influence in who receives the coffee. Coffee is no longer seen as a beverage but as a pile of money to the people who control its value on the market.

Formulate and implementation of research question following agreed procedures and to specifications Essay

How can Ferrero attract more customers to its brand therefore increasing its market share in Shanghai? Reason to choose this working titleï ¼Å¡ China’s economic development and social openness is growing, and larger imports of goods from abroad. Rising income levels and growing interest for western products have been driving chocolate confectionery demand in the last decades. With double-digit growth year after year, the market offers huge opportunities for development but also requires foreign companies the implementation of consistent marketing strategies and proper targeting to meet local consumers buying patterns. As for Ferrero, there are already many chocolate brands in China market, such as Dove and Mï ¼â€ M. So, it is really important to ensure the present strategy of Ferrero is appropriate for China market, and the methods of how to attract more customers. In order to appeal to more customers by enhancing Ferrero’s market sale in China becomes the mainly concept in my research. Background of Ferrero History of Ferrero In 1946, Pietro Ferrero invented a cream of hazelnuts and cocoa, derived from Gianduja and to be spread on bread, and called it Pasta Gianduja. Ferrero created the new company to produce and market it. Later on his sons became joint chief executives. Michele Ferrero modified his father’s recipe to produce Nutella, which was first sold in 1964 and has become popular around the world. The company places great emphasis on secrecy, reportedly to guard against industrial espionage. It has never held a press conference and does not allow media visits to its plants. Ferrero’s products are made with machines designed by an in-house engineering department. Products In addition to Nutella, Ferrero produces many other products, including Ferrero Rocher, Pocket Coffee, Mon Chà ©ri, Giotto, Confetteria Raffaello coconut cream candy, Hanuta chocolate hazelnut-filled wafers, the Kinder line of products, as well as the Tic Tac breath mints. Ferrero also produces the Kinder product series and The company received an innovation award for the frozen products called â€Å"Gran Soleil† in March 2011. The main background and related research content Ferrero is an Italian manufacturer of chocolate and other confectionery products. It was founded by confectioner Pietro Ferrero in 1946 in Alba, Piedmont, Italy. Reputation Institute’s 2009 survey ranks Ferrero as the most reputable company in the world. Ferrero is a private company owned by the Ferrero family and has been described as â€Å"one of the world’s most secretive firms†. The Ferrero Group worldwide – now headed by CEO Giovanni Ferrero – includes 38 trading companies, 18 factories and approximately 21,500 employees. Ferrero International SA’s headquarters is in Luxembourg. Its German factory is the largest of all and Pasquale Giorgio is its current CEO. High quality, crafted precision, product freshness, careful selection of the finest raw materials, respect and consideration for customers: these are Ferrero’s â€Å"key words† and values which have helped make its confectionery well-known and loved by millions of cons umers all over the world. And I will focus on how to attract consumers through the advantages of products for Ferrero in the competitive market. Purpose The aim of this essay is to conduct a market research to explore the opportunities that Ferrero can still exploit in the chocolate market in China. Moreover, the objective of my tentative research will be listed as follows. Theories and marketing concepts are used to analysis the Chinese consuming behavior, which plays a very important role in shaping the market of chocolate. Environment has to offer in relation to the features and the objectives of the company analyzed, the research focuses on the marketing strategy adopted by Ferrero in China. The evolution of its marketing approach is studied into details, in order to highlight what are the key success factors for Ferrero. Ferrero’s marketing tools, data collected from  the survey and a case study are applied to develop viable marketing strategies that aim to take full advantage of a market that offers considerable resources still unexplored by the company. Findings reveal that the possibilities for Ferrero to expand in t he market of chocolate for self-consumption in China are enormous. According to these, this essay is going to analysis the SWOT and PEST of Ferrero. And find out how Ferrero takes into consideration local consumers’ needs and wants in the formation of the marketing mix of its products. Scope Ferrero is an international company, and Corporation engages in a diverse range of businesses, so I just research the Ferrero’s market sale in China chocolate market. I will find out a theoretical review regarding the implementation of a complete and sound market analysis, executed through the application of theoretical models, information and data collected from appropriate and academic research and surveys conducted on the field. Besides, I am going to gather information from outside through questionnaire format to investigate local customers in two weeks. Not only hand out questionnaires to the public in the open, but also distribute them by e-mail or website. And I will interview some marketing personnel who worked in hypermarkets to perfect the information resources. Theoretical framework For the part of theoretical framework, SWOT and PEST will full-scale propose about advantage and disadvantage of Ferrero’s market sale in China. a) SWOT S: 1. Brand advantage: being the first company to introduce chocolate in the country soon after its reopening to the outside world, Ferrero succeeded in establishing its chocolate as a luxurious and exotic product. 2. Marketing benefit: do not have joint venture enterprises and manufacturers in China. Make the decision more flexible with fewer risks. 3. Source of origin in Europe: the country of origin is Italy. 4. Technological superiority: possesses of more than 60 years’ experience and advanced craft technology of making chocolate. 5. Quality advantage: regardless of cost, has always been sticking to the best natural raw material, including hazelnut, cocoa, and  coffee beans. W: 1. Sales disadvantage: there is no production factory in China, so it carries many time-consuming in the transport. 2. The price is too expensive. 3. Without some sort of specific policies: compared with China’s domestic brands of chocolate, Ferrero lack of government policies to protect its market sale. 4. The lack of brand management: copies are full of Chinese market. For example, intellectual property rights cases of Montresor (zhangjiagang) food co. Ltd. O: 1. The chocolate market in China has great development potential: Rising income levels and growing interest for western products have been driving chocolate confectionery demand in the last decades, the China chocolate market offers huge opportunities for development. 2. For competitors: for example, Leconte did not set up the premium brand image. And it is a opportunity for Ferrero. T: There are too much competitors in the chocolate high-end market; Ferrero has only a limited presence in China’s marketplace, which is 2.32%. b) PEST Political: China’s entry into the WTO, international trade and further strengthening of internal and external communication become more and more. Also it is the main reason that Ferrero can enter the Chinese market. Italy is in the European Union: In recent years, China trades more with the EU than any other partner. The products of Ferrero certified by SGS, food safety certification, IOS and GMP Economic: There is an expanding market in China for chocolate Cost-conscious Increasing of average Chinese income Social-cultural: Chinese customers become more health conscious Chocolate shows how people’s physical and cultural lives are changing Have been retained by Ferrero loyalty Technology: Strengthen the development of new tastes Continuous improvement in terms of chocolate preservation Growth of internet use to increase demand for online and mobile phone shopping Conclusion (size 14) (Insert conclusion text here – size 12) Recommendations (size 14) (Insert recommendations here in BULLET POINT FORMAT – size 12) List of references – Harvard References (size 16) (List references here in Harvard format – size 12) (If you are having problems with referencing – see your lecturer for guidance)

Finance and Short Term Debt

EncanaCost of Capital Before calculating the cost of capital I'll calculate cost of equity and cost of dept and capital structure for ENCANA: 1 Cost of Debt: ENCANA cost of debt included cost on short term debt , long term debt and publicity traded interest amount 1. 1 Short term Debt: Short term obligations (Ex. 1) = $ 1425 million Interest Rate (Ex. 1) = 3. 52% Total amount for short term debt interest = 1425 ? 3. 52% = 50. 16 million 1. 2 Long term Debt: Other long term liabilities (Ex. 1) = $1278 Interest rate (Prime rate charged) = 5. 25%Total amount for long term debt interest = 1278 ? 5. 25% = 67. 095 million 1. 3 Publicity traded: Publicity traded interest = total interest – (short term debt interest amount + long term debt interest amount) Publicity traded interest = 524 – ( 50. 16 + 67. 095) = 406. 75 million Interest rate on publicity traded = Publicity traded interest ? L. T debt on publicity traded Interest rate on publicity traded = 406. 75 ? 5351 = 7. 6% Cost on debt = Weight of long term debt ? Rate of interest on L. T debt + Weight of short term debt ? Rate of interest on S.T debt + Weight of publicity traded ? rate of interest on publicity traded = 1278/8054* ? 5. 25 + 1425/8054 ? 3. 52 + 5351/8054 ? 7. 60 = 0. 833 + 0. 622 + 5. 049 = 6. 5% *The amount $8054 is total amount of debt given in Exhibit 3 1. 4 Determining Tax rate: Tax rate for ENCANA can be determined as follow: Tax Rate= T= Net earnings before interest and tax ? tax expense T= 1260 ? 4089 = 30. 81% 1. 5 Cost of debt after tax: Cost of debt after tax = cost of debt before tax (1- Tax Rate) Cost of debt after tax = 6. 5% ( 1- 30. 81%) = 4. % ==; rate of debt (rd) 2 Cost of equity: There are following two ways to calculate ENCANA's cost of equity : 1. Using SML equation 2. Calculating cost of equity by dividend growth model 2. 1 Calculation of cost of equity for ENCANA by using SML equation: rs = r* + MRP (b) r* = 4. 20 % (Govt. long Term Treasury Bills) rm = 13. 9% (S &P arithmetic average return) MRP = rm – r = 13. 9-4. 20 = 9. 7 Beta = 1. 27 rs = 4. 20 + 9. 7 *1. 27 rs = 16. 519 % 2. 1 Calculation of cost of equity for ENCANA by using dividend growth model: rs = (D1/ Po – F) + gWhere: D1= next year dividend Po = current price of share in market F = Floatation Cost Growth from past data: Year | Dividend per share | Growth * | 2002 | 0. 2 | | 2003 | 0. 15 | -25% | 2004 | 0. 2 | 33. 3% | 2005 | 0. 28 | 40% | *Growth rate is calculated as: 0. 15/0. 2= 0. 75-1 = -0. 25? 100 =-25% 0. 2/0. 15= 1. 33-1= 0. 33 ? 100 = 33. 3% 0. 28/0. 2= 1. 4-1 =0. 4 ? 100 = 40% Average Growth= -25 + 33. 3 + 40 = 16. 1% rs = (Do (1+ g) / Po – F) + g rs = 0. 28 (1+0. 1611) / 56. 75 (1- 0. 05) + 0. 1611 rs = 0. 25108/53. 9125 +0. 1611 rs = 16. 713% Average rs = (16. 713+16. 519)/2 = 16. 616% WACC: The WACC equation  is the cost of each capital component  multiplied by its proportional weight and then summing:   WACC = rD  (1-  Tc  )*(  Dà ‚  /  V  )+  rE  *(  E  /  V  ) Where, Re = cost of equity Rd = cost of debt E = market value of the firm's equity D =  market value of the firm's debt V = Total Capital = E + D E/V = we = percentage of financing by equity D/V = wd= percentage of financing by debt T =  corporate tax rate By putting Values:Total Equity= E = no of shares * price of shares = 854. 9 * 56. 75 = $48515. 575 million Total Capital = Equity + Debt = 48515. 575+ 8054 = $56596. 575 Million WACC = wd * rd + we * re = 8054/56596. 575 * 4. 5 + 48515. 575/56596. 575 * 16. 616 = 0. 6404 + 14. 2436 = 14. 884% ENCANA should accept this project which will give a return of more than 14. 884%, because ENCANA has to pay their investors a return of 14. 884 and this will also generate profit which can be utilized as retained earnings and increase growth of its dividend.