Causes of Global Warming

Natural causes of global warming include the release of methane gas from arctic tundra and wetlands, climate change, volcanoes etc. Methane, a greenhouse gas which traps the heat within the earth's atmosphere, is let out in large quantities in the arctic tundra and wetlands. In case of volcanoes, when a volcano erupts, tons of ash is let out into the atmosphere. Even though nature contributes to global warming, this contribution is very insignificant when compared to human contribution for this hazard. Anthropogenic Causes. Anthropogenic causes for global warming are those which are caused due to human activities. The most prominent cause being man-made pollution. A large part of this pollution can be attributed to the burning of fossil fuels. This includes burning coal to produce electricity as well as burning gasoline to power internal combustion engine vehicles. When these fossil fuels are burnt, they let out carbon dioxide, which is yet another greenhouse gas which traps heat within the atmosphere of the Earth and contributes to global warming. Secondly when the Earth is dug to extract these fossil fuels in the process known as mining, the methane inside the Earth's crust escapes into the atmosphere and adds to other greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. If we start investigating the anthropogenic causes of global warming, we zero in on one of the most important cause of global warming – population. More population means more requirements, which includes food, electricity and transport. In order to fulfill these requirements, more fossil fuels are consumed, which eventually leads to global warming. Humans breathe out carbon dioxide, and with an increasing population, the amount of carbon dioxide humans breathe out also increases and leads to global warming. Even agriculture contributes to global warming, owing to the extensive use of fertilizers, and the dung produced by cattle which is another prominent source of methane. These were just a few of the numerous global warming causes. Many people argue that global warming is a slow process, But they forget that the factors which cause global warming are rapidly rising. The rate at which we are contributing to global warming has rose considerably, and is expected to rise at a faster rate in the future. We have already done enough of damage, and hence it's high time we understand the global warming causes, we may not live to face the dreaded consequences of global warming, but if we don't act fast, it will be our future generations who will have to bear the brunt.

Moral panic

The public has always used the Mass Media as the primary source of information about most topics especially crime. The Mass Media has the power to convey messages and ideas to a large audience but how truthful or factual these messages are has long been a debate of sociologist, due to news broadcast being so criminogenic for example, Ericson et al (1987). â€Å"Study of news-making in Toronto found that a remarkably high proportion of news was about deviance and control.Ranging from 45. % in newspaper to 71. 5% on radio stations. ( Maguire,Morgan and Reiner 2012, p. 248) Therefore this use of Media may create fear amongst the public which in turn causes â€Å"Moral panic† and â€Å"Folk Devils†. Therefore I will outline and Illustrate the term â€Å"Moral Panic† and the effect it has on the public, also aiming to show the role the Media plays in creating panic. â€Å"Moral panic†is a term used to describe groups or subculture as a threat to the way of lif e for society's, norms and values.There are several organisations who claims a oral breakdown such as the â€Å"Mass Media, Politicians and churches†(Tim Newburn 2013, p. 96). Stanley Cohen's research into the Mods and Rockers gave a clear view of the media classifying these subcultures as deviant and creating panic amongst the public. Cohen's had three main ideas to illustrate how â€Å"Moral Panic† was created during the 1960s. Firstly Exaggeration and Distortion. â€Å"The exaggeration of seriousness†¦. the proportion engaged in violence†. Secondly Prediction. † Media coverage regularly assumed events would be even worse†.Lastly Symbolisation † Mods and Rockers appearance became associated with delinquency and deviant behaviour. (Tim Newburn 2013, p. 97). This indicates that the Media's use of emotive language used in broadcast and newspapers created â€Å"Folk Devils† of these subcultures and wide scale panic in Britain and subs equently creating stigma towards Mods and Rockers. However there has been criticism of the â€Å"Moral Panic† Theory. Jewkes (2004) states that the audience may not be as receptive to the â€Å"Moral Panic† as Cohen mentioned. Tim Newburn 2013, p. 101).This indicates that the public are more aware of issues in society and are able to think rationally without becoming fearful of news reports. Secondly â€Å"an occasional over-reading of the extent of â€Å"panickyness† in media representations†. This demonstrates that Cohen had no real evidence to prove that â€Å"moral panics† created panic amongst society, as it would be difficult to measure the level of concern throughout communities. To conclude â€Å"Moral Panic† may sometimes be created by the Mass-Media through the se of emotive and sensationalised heading to make a story more entertaining or appealing to its audience.Through this process they create fear amongst the public and stigmat ize subcultures which in turn may cause these social groups to be the truth out for themselves and come to their own conclusion without relying on the media as a primary source of information.

Controlling Organized Crime Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Controlling Organized Crime - Research Paper Example 3). Apparently, organized crimes raise a number of issues to the American society. Organized criminal groups have taken steep root that they even influence the media, win votes in the election, and influence and use officers who are in charge of law and order. In a democratic government, sometimes the political leaders also become the key elements in such organizations by providing as much support to the members. When such criminals get into the political institutions, the entire political system gradually becomes undercut, and nobody gets benefited from it except those schemers and manipulators. The money that is derived from the organized crime is so huge that can create a parallel economy in the country. Once this situation continues longer, country’s economy may suffer from inflation and price hikes. The illegal supply of arms can cause subversive activities and subsequently a kind of chaos unless the scenario becomes under control. Altogether, organized crime is a potenti al threat that can raise numerous challenges to a nation’s existence. According to Shelley (2002), today terrorism and transnational crime are the two central threats to our national and international safety. According to the author the linkage between the two is highly evident, for both use the similar mean to exploit the modern technology, use the same operators and same systems to move their fund, maintain a good network, and involve in crime in order to meet fund for their activities. Organized crime is the main source of income for the modern terrorist groups. They always want to conceal the source of money. As Schmid (2006) points out, according to the general concept, terrorism is aiming at certain changes in the political scenario; whereas organized crime looks at fiscal benefits through the illegal means (p.3). Admittedly, the author’s findings on terrorism seem rather weak in the present global scenario because the real objective of the modern terror organiza tions is ambiguous. However, the aim of the organized crime is explicitly monetary profit. Yet to make their task easy, as Forest (2007, p. 116) points out, they often involve in combined venture with the terrorists especially in international trade and trafficking of drugs and weapons. Admittedly, despite the genuine efforts made to address the over presence of the illegal organizations in the US, organized crime has been becoming one of the leading threats to the federal law enforcement officials for the past few decades. The major advantage the transnational criminals enjoy is that there are no universally accepted measures to fight the organized crime. The organized crime is so powerful enough to influence the industrial sectors and even the economy of many of the developed countries. Berdal and Serrano (2002) put forward a good example for this. According to them, the legal industries rely on the precursor chemicals in large quantities for the cocaine and heroin processing; and attempting to restrict these chemicals can hinder legal trade and have been resisted by the chemical manufactures in the US and Europe (p.43). Effective prosecution often becomes difficult once the culprits are the members of the political institutions or because of the technical skills they possess when compared

American Civil Liberty And Federal Law Term Paper

American Civil Liberty And Federal Law - Term Paper Example The constitution was basically designed in the way where it could be amended, though it was not easy to design. There are many different textbooks that describe the civil rights era in detail. In the civil rights era, there were number of events that happened during 1950s to 1970s. The movement was essentially at the peak of a great effort that begun almost a century earlier, during the reconstruction era (Latimer 2011). After the civil war, the American political parties â€Å"Congress† approved number of civil right laws, and the U.S government passed amendments to the Constitution. And then a vast change occurred on domestic legislation due to the civil rights movement. This drastic change impacted the movement during Lyndon B Johnson’s government in the 1960s (Stephens and Scheb 2011). There were many leaders who tried to divert the attention to the fact that the number of poor residents of America needed equality in their social right. Most of the people who were poor and having a difficult time in America were majorly black people. It was an intense issue to be solved for the American government. The civil rights act 1964, in which predecessor John F. Kennedy’s efforts brought some difference in the civil rights movement as he worked hard to grab the attention of congress towards requirements to outlaw discrimination on religion, nationality, or gender. President John F. Ke nnedy set social policies, which were for the war on poverty and on the effective growth in the movement for cultural equality.

To what extent does Channel Four continue to fulfil its original remit Essay

To what extent does Channel Four continue to fulfil its original remit Is that remit still relevant in the current broadcasting environment - Essay Example The recent reality show of the Big Brother has been a huge hit among the viewers of the UK. From its humble beginnings, the channel has matured to one of the most popular channels in the UK. In 1995, Brookside attracted nine million viewers. â€Å"Four Weddings and a Funeral† drew eleven million viewers. These programs have been an integral part of the success of the channel. The channel has been following its remit in the broadcast of its programs. The remit of the company as stated in its website is as follows: â€Å"Foster the new and experimental in television.   It will encourage pluralism, provide a favored place for the untried and encourage innovation in style content perspective and talent on and off screen†. (Twenty years of Channel 4; Statement of promises). Throughout its history, the channel has been introducing programs that have been hardly viewed by the people of the UK earlier. The remit of the channel has been to introduce innovation in the programs in the channel. The channel has a full repertoire of programs ranging from drama, films, comedy, documentaries etc. Channel 4 has covered almost all the genres of entertainment. The channel has been targeting the youth with its programs, which has been attacked by Sir Jeremy Isaacs, the founder of the channel. In his words, "To target and reach a demographically clearly defined audience - the 18-35 year-olds - and single-mindedly commission a bulk of programmes that suits their tastes, however laddish or yobbish." (Twenty years of Channel 4) The choice of the programs in the case of the channel has been increasingly linked to the needs of the younger generation. The use of the adultery, sex etc. in the programs has been popular. This has been seen in the case of all the genres of the programs. In the case of comedy, the programs like â€Å"Balls of Steel† have a rich content of adult humor. The program

Food label Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Food label - Essay Example Although the sugar content may be highest in any food item, still it is distributed in different ingredients, which does not reveal the maximum quantity of total sugar present in the food item. For example, the label of a food item could detail combination of ingredients like Sucrose, Corn-syrup, Corn-syrup solids, fructose, brown sugar and dextrose, listed separately on the label. While individually these ingredients would not get a place in the top five of the listed items, the fact remains that sugar would be on the top of the list if revealed as the combined quantity. This is one of the ways to misinform the consumers about an ingredient which most of us would like to avoid in our daily intake of food, particularly the people with diabetic and sugar related history.. Similarly, junk food manufacturers would list a few ingredients, which have any relation to health and nutrition, while the proportion of the same may be even less than one percent. (Adams, 2007) A particular item, for example the strawberry yogurt, may have â€Å"insect-based red food coloring†; yet the label will describe the coloring agent as â€Å"carmine†. Similarly, to hide the real names, manufacturers may list in the label, â€Å"Yeast Extracts†, which is actually Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) that enhances taste of the food. Likewise, sodium Nitrate is a dangerous chemical, which can cause cancer and brain tumors. Therefore consumers need going into the depth of the items listed in the food labels.(Adams, 2007) Under this act, the food manufacturers are required to use common names for popular food allergens, like fish, wheat, soy, shellfish, milk, eggs and peanuts. Although this is a step in the direction of helping the consumer for identifying the ingredients in these items that may cause worry, particularly for people with history of high blood pressure, heart problems and hypertension,

Information Technology in Healthcare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Information Technology in Healthcare - Essay Example As the paper highlights obtaining images of X-ray from Radiology Information System (RIS) a component of eHealth requires access to the site. An x-ray taken today can be shared and deliberated as soon as it is available electronically.  From this research it is clear that  to obtain x-ray image from PACS, a client of physician should have correct credentials for the search. Firstly, the client establishes network connection with PACS server. Second step involves preparing C-MOVE or C-GET request message through filling C-MOVE requisition, which should be matched with those in the server. The request is sent and a feedback is given in a list of DICOM attributes. From the feedback, the client extract images. Often takes approximately less than 10 minutes depending on the network strengths. The major errors encountered when getting images from EHR includes patient identification errors. These errors occur as a result of incorrect information is used to link an individual to an actio n. It causes a mismatch between patient and the care plan. Another error occurs during patient journey, and as a result repetition of images may occur. Lastly, the flow of patient identification mismatch occurs at the initial stage of data entry. When using PACs, the common errors is the hanging protocol display, which causes retrieving of images to take unnecessarily longer. Since the images are not organized by default, identification and processing of images may result in misalignment, which is a potential error.  

Project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Project - Assignment Example This is because 64.1% of the male population and 63.8% of the female population strongly believe that everyone at Indiana State University cheats at some point in their courses. 66.9% of these scholars are from the upper level while 60.9% are from the lover level. 60.2% of the scholars reside on campus while 66.8% reside off campus. In addition, 46.2% of the male population and 45% of the female population know of a student who has used their phone to take a picture of an exam. 48.0% of these scholars are from the upper level while 43.6% re from the lover level. 46.4% of the scholars reside on campus while 45.4% reside off campus. Finally, 79.3% of the male population and 76.3% of the female population believe technology advances have made it easier to cheat. 78.6% of these scholars are from the upper level while 77.0% are from the lover level. 79.6% of the scholars reside on campus while 76.4% reside off campus (Punch

Sustainability Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Sustainability - Essay Example In the article by Koch (2015) for instance, the passive homes are designed to use less energy at act like thermos flasks. Energy is an interesting aspect because everybody uses energy in one form or the other on daily basis. One thing about sustainability that makes sense is that new and innovative ways of doing things are shaping the sustainability agenda. For example, in the article by Phansey (2014), the author shows how 3D printing has shaped manufacturing from its traditional form to additive manufacturing. Everybody appreciates that in order to lead a sustainable life, there is need to change the traditional way of doing things and adopt new strategies. However, I do not understand the issue of standards as they apply to sustainability. For example, in the article by Koch (2015), the Passive House Institute U.S. (PHIUS) sets the standards relating to passive houses. How such standards are developed and regulated is not clear to me. I would like to know more about recyclable materials. In particular, am interesting in knowing the various recyclable objects and materials around us and how to best use them. For example in the article by Phansey (2014), the author shows how thermoplastics such as polylactic acid (PLA) can be recycled and used in 3D printing. Knowing more about such materials will be beneficial in contributing to the sustainability efforts. I believe that since we live in an era when resources are scarce, sustainability should be a tenet of every society around the world. This will make the world a better place. Koch, W. (2015). Thermos-Like Passive Homes Aggressively Save Energy.  National Geographic. Retrieved from

Understanding Leadership Styles Essay Example for Free

Understanding Leadership Styles Essay 1.1 Describe the factors that will influence the choice of leadership styles or behaviours in workplace situations Introduction I work as a manager for Innovations which is a day-care facility for individuals with learning disabilities; the majority of the individuals who attend the resource centre I manage can be very challenging and have very complex needs and behaviours at times. It is my job to create intervention plans and work closely with care co-ordinators, other agencies such as safeguarding, Intense homes support services, and the behaviour team to put strategies in place to safeguard service users and staff. It is my job to identify strengths and weaknesses in team members and ensure they get relevant training to help them develop in their role or to give praise and build on skills helping them to gain recognition on their accomplishments and support them to gain promotions should this be their aim. As a manager I feel I need to be an example to others—either positive or negative. It is necessary for me to adopt characteristics from a variety of leadership styles based on the situation at hand. Regardless of the leadership activity needed, it is important to act with integrity, to set realistic goals, to communicate clearly and often, to encourage others, to recognize the successes of other team members, and to inspire them to provide the best of care. Hopefully my actions will be reflected by my staff in the care they give to our service users each day regardless of which style I practice. Management by walking about (MBWA) I use this style of leadership quite often in the workplace as this gives me the opportunity of observing team members interacting with our service users and evaluate the quality of care being delivered. It also lets staff know that I am interested in them and their work and lets them know that I am approachable. I ask about the work they are doing in a way that sounds interested not intrusive and try to discover what motivates them and whether or not staff and residents are satisfied. When I see a success I applaud it and thank them on the spot for doing well. Autocratic leadership This style of leadership is essential at times within the organisation I work for due to supporting vulnerable individuals and situations can arise which require fast responses i.e. emergency situations where a service user has had an accident or is putting others at risk by using challenging or aggressive behaviour, it could be that staff have tried every other resource they have and will then call the office for advice, I would then make the ultimate instant decision of what needs to be done. This style of leadership is only used when necessary as it does not promote trust, communication, or teamwork which is paramount in our service and it can alienate people and stifle flexibility and innovativeness. Democratic leadership I choose to use this style of leadership on a daily basis as the opinions of the team are always taken into account when finding effective solutions and protocols to effectively deal with the individuals we support. The team are the most important influence on these individuals as they work closely with them each day and know their behaviours, likes and dislikes and what could potentially trigger an undesirable situation to occur. Team member’s feedback daily to management and share any concerns and pass on all relevant information and ideas to enable others staff and management to deal with similar situations in the future and allow for interventions and protocols to be drawn up and put in place for all team member’s to follow and have a consistent approach. Staff also share ideas, concerns and issues during their monthly supervisions and staff meetings. All decision making is shared with staff and all critique and opinions of each member of the team are taken into acc ount which encourages group participation and allows every team member to feel more important than the actual problems they are encountering in their day to day role. Laissez-Faire Leadership Style This style would not work in my organisation as staff need the constant availability and advice from management to feel secure and to support when problems arise, we work with challenging individuals on a daily basis and  staff are not always confident when confronted with abuse both verbal and physical and need immediate interventions that only management are able to implement. we are bound by strict codes of practice and guidelines to follow in these situations both by the care standards act and the CQC (care quality commission) also our own organisational policies and procedures which are constantly updated, there is also annual training and courses and the need for constant feedback and communication on a daily basis to provide support to our staff and the best possible care and outcomes for the individuals we support, I liaise with crisis teams and care co-ordinators with the information and reports that I receive from staff to find suitable outcomes for any concerns or issues they have with the people they support making this style of leadership inappropriate for our organisation. 1.2 Explain why these leadership styles or behaviours are likely to have a positive or negative effect on individual and group behaviour. Autocratic leadership Factors that would influence me using this style of leadership (positive effect) I would use this style in an emergency situation.  When my staff arrived to pick up a particularly complex service user she was extremely agitated and throwing cups and other items at staff in her home, she then turned her attention to my staff verbally abusing them and threatening harm to them. As we were responsible for supporting her at this time one member of staff needed to stay at the service user’s home to support her as it was not deemed safe to continue with her on community based activities while she was showing such aggression. The staff member I was speaking to said she was concerned about staying with the service user as she informed me that she had now attacked her home staff and another service user who lived there and that the police had been called for assistance, I told the staff member that she was to follow her training and keep herself out of danger at all times, I told her to support the house staff as far as she could without putting herself in the line of fire and that the other members of staff needed to bring the other service user on the bus back to the unit and drop her off, they could then return and support. I told her she needed to record everything and report to me frequently so that I was kept up to date with the situation and make any  decisions as deemed necessary to the ongoing situation. I needed to be autocratic as decisions needed to made as a matter of urgency and there was no time for discussion with the staff involved. I would use this style when managing a new or untrained member or members of staff who does not know what tasks to perform or what procedures to follow. Due to staff holidays or sickness, my unit often uses groups of staff from other units who do not have experience and knowledge of the complex service users we support at Brantwood. This can be extremely difficult for me as a unit manager as I need them to be knowledgeable as I don’t always have enough of my own staff to mentor them on these occasions due to holiday and sickness. it is important that support plans are read and signed and that these staff are aware of all strategies and interventions that we use to overcome behaviours that could occur whilst supporting service users. This is necessary as this will prevent situations escalating. When staff arrive at the unit I brief them on the expectations of the unit and make sure that they are aware of the routine and procedures we follow on a daily basis, staff can quite often be sat reading files but chatting amongst themselves therefore not digesting the information in the files. I have no hesitation in these circumstances instructing staff to move to a quiet area and sit in different rooms where they are able to read without distraction and will emphasise the importance of having enough knowledge to support the service users to the standard required. The team members skills in this situation are low and they are novices with the service users they are going to support therefore need clear direction which will help them to learn and apply their skills in the correct way. If a member of staff challenged my position as a manager, I had a member of staff who was part of a team of three who were supporting a service user who needed 1-1 support and another who needed 2-1 support when in the community. I asked my deputy to request that they return to the unit and drop one member of staff off so they could take another staff member back to another unit, my deputy informed me that the staff member told her that she was not willing to do this as both service users needed an escort, I called the staff member in question and asked her what the problem was and why she was refusing to follow instructions from the deputy manager who was  her senior, she told me that in her opinion the instruction she received was wrong and believed that both service users needed an escort each and when they dropped the staff member of at another unit there would only be two staff left on the bus. I pointed out that they both needed an escort however they would still have an escort on the bus, I told the staff member that she was refusing to fulfil the requirements of her job role by supporting requests from her manager and that as a company we take this very seriously and that this would lead to an investigation. I also asked the member of staff to return to the unit as requested and that another member of staff would take her place, I advised her that she should read the service users files in the meantime and ensure that she understands the contents and the context in what is written, I pointed out that the service users need the full support of three staff when in the community not when travelling on the bus. I would not use this leadership style with a member of staff (negative effect) Who becomes tense, fearful, or resentful, a member of staff had not checked the contents of a service users medication box when they signed it out from their home despite being prompted by her colleague on the bus with her who later reported this. When the box arrived at the unit and another member of staff signed it out they checked the box and realised that the wrong medication was in the box, the medication was life saving and could of had serious results for the service user had it been needed in an emergency. When the staff member was asked if she had checked the box on the morning, she said she had when she clearly hadn’t. The staff member was visibly upset as she had not followed the correct procedures and then had subsequently lied to her colleague and to management. This had to be addressed but I knew that she was sensitive and possibly fearful of what action would be taken against her. However I had to address what had happened. I would normally call staff members into the office in this type of situation but when I had gone to the kitchen I found the staff member making a cup of tea and decided to ask her informally how this had happened, she broke down in tears and said she knew it was wrong and it was a person’s life she had put in danger. I told her not to get upset and that I was sure she had learnt a very valuable lesson from this however I stressed the seriousness of the  situation but offered her support. I felt that this lessened her anxiety by addressing the situation but in an informal manner and that had she been brought into the office it would of had a demoralising effect and be detrimental on her self confidence cause resentment and mistrust towards her work colleague who had reported the issue. Democratic leadership Factors that would influence me using this style of leadership I would use this type of leadership with highly skilled or experienced staff or when implementing new strategies and protocols and resolving individual or group problems. Each morning I speak to staff about ongoing issues with service users as staff rotate on a daily basis working with different service users. Staff who have worked with them previously share experiences, successes and failures when dealing with recent behaviours they have encountered with our service user’s passing on valuable strategies and techniques to their colleagues. If incidents occur staff complete incident reports which are then passed to our quality assurance manager who carries out reflection work which enables staff to offer suggestions of how things could have gone better, reflect on their practice and share ideas of how to prevent these incidents in the future. I also promote feedback with an open door policy, through staff supervisions and staff meetings where all staff are encouraged to share their experiences and how they have effectively dealt with situations. I then build strategies and interventions from the feedback from the staff that work with service users on a daily basis and incorporate this information into the care plans. Other factors include:- Keeping staff informed about matters that affect them. Enabling staff to share in decision making and problem solving. Providing opportunities for staff to develop a high sense of personal growth and job satisfaction. Dealing with a large or complex problem that requires a lot of input to solve Sharing changes or problems that affect staff. To encourage team building and participation. I would be influenced to not use this method when:- There is not enough time to get everyone’s input Mistakes are not an option. Staff and service user safety is a critical concern. As detailed in my autocratic leadership style above. Laissez-Faire Leadership Style I use this style with my senior staff who are very experienced in their role and know our service users very well as they are working front line with them. I allow them to use their initiative and make decisions when they are working with them but at the same time offer guidance and support when requested. This allows the seniors in the unit to take a pride in their work and the drive to do it successfully on their own and reach their goal. For example a new senior felt that the deputy manager was not relinquishing various duties as outlined in the senior job description i.e. allocating staff to service users each day, ensuring they had lists and money and ultimately are organised and on time for activities, this made the new senior feel that she was not trusted to do the job she had been promoted to do and not directly able to participate in decision making and prove her worth, leaving her feeling demoralised and unworthy of the job she had been promoted to do. I spoke to the deputy and explained how this would ease her own workload and build the confidence of the senior. I do use this style with my deputy manager at times for example when it comes to day to day decisions about the service users we manage as this is one of the principle parts of her job as is managing the staff in day to day activities and ensuring they are working to required standards, however when it comes to speaking to staff about bad practice she finds this very difficult and despite requests from myself to confront certain staff about bad practice or misconduct she is reluctant to do so and feels unsecure without my leadership, I therefore have to deal with such issues myself and at times take an autocratic approach with my deputy. AC 2.1 Assess own leadership behaviours and potential in the context of a particular leadership model and own organisation’s working practices and culture, using feedback from others The particular leadership model I have chosen to highlight in 2.1 is the autocratic style although this is the one style I would choose to use less if possible it is the one that causes the most contention, I have reflected briefly on other styles I prefer to use this is one that is necessary at times. In my organisation I work as unit manager in a day care setting for adults with learning disabilities. On a daily basis I have to use my leadership skills in order to manage the work and people in order to fulfil the company’s objectives and vision. In my opinion my leadership style for the most time is a democratic style, however at times my leadership style may have to adapt itself to the given situation. For example if a new employee has joined my team I would probably use a more supportive leadership style to help them learn and adapt. The company directors set the company culture in our unit. They use a very democratic and supportive leadership style which reflects how we work however at times a more autocratic leadership style is required. For example the company directors frequently monitor and controls individual and team performances, I have to do the same within my team. For example (A member of staff was sat with a group of elderly service users they were sat round a table and the staff member was sat with them, despite there being a planner in place for activities the staff member had not bothered to look at it and was sat with their mobile phone texting. I spoke to the staff member in my office and carried out a supervision so that the conversation would be documented and informed them they were not carrying out there outlined duties as an activities facilitator and not meeting the criteria of their job role. I informed them this was not acceptable and that apart from not interacting with and motivating th e service users they were breaking company policies by using their personal mobile phone without prior permission from management I informed the staff member I had no choice but to take it to an investigation meeting which could lead to disciplinary action). I always ensure that all staff understands my expectations up front so they are under no misunderstandings of what actions will be taken if the service we offer is compromised and staff are not performing to the required standard. I am consistent and fair and apply my expectations to all staff, however I make it clear that I want staff to feel that they are listened to and can bring their opinions to me and that they are heard no matter what the outcome. I  believe that as a manager it is important to be a master of not only one but all leadership styles and to know when to use them appropriately. Furthermore I use the following leadership style within my team. Creating and sharing a vision with the team, setting smart objectives, allocating tasks, allocating roles and responsibilities, monitoring performance, observation of individual team performances, giving constructive feedback and ideas for the development of skills where needed, in supervisions and staff meetings. The feedback from my team during their supervisions and staff meetings has suggested my leadership style is mostly democratic however there were certain elements of autocratic and supportive styles present. My team referred to the following leadership skills such as resolving conflict, facilitating discussion, motivating, encouraging, being approachable and listening, empowering and facilitating development. However they have also suggested that at times my leadership style is autocratic as I can be assertive, direct and quite blunt when they have not fulfilled the company’s or my expectations and directions and have not complied with company policies and procedures. I also assess my leadership through monthly supervisions and yearly appraisals with my director VA who I am directly responsible to, I take on board her feedback, an example of this is when I needed advice of how to address some concerns relating to a staff member not being able to carry out the work expected of h er. I found this awkward due to the fact that she was once my senior (deputy manager, when I started with the company, and I have since worked to gain a management position over her)Victoria and I discussed the options available to improve the staff member’s practice, and she offered to speak to the member of staff on my behalf, however Victoria felt that I had the relevant leadership skills to resolve this myself she said she would like me to understand my professional worth and be assertive in this situation. She felt that I was feeling a lack of empowerment and needed to all I could to address the balance and that this could only enhance my leadership skills. I addressed the issues with the staff member and told her it was constructive criticism I was offering and would give support to her whenever she felt she needed it. AC 2.2 Describe appropriate actions to enhance own leadership behaviour in the context of the particular leadership model Appropriate actions to enhance my own leadership behaviour in the context of the particular leadership model I chose in 2.1. Taking into consideration the chosen leadership style is autocratic there are several ways which I could enhance my leadership behaviour. One way would be to practice self-knowledge and self-awareness, these are both qualities required by any manager. In order to develop these qualities I must act upon constructive feedback I receive from internal or external environment. The feedback I attained from a number of sources including team members, other colleagues and line managers. I need to be observant and take into account my own actions and the impact it has on others. I need to be mindful of my own strengths and weaknesses and know when to ask for assistance and when I am good on my own. One of my strengths is I am serious about my work and my passions and keep my boundaries firm to maintain the integrity of my goals and the work I put into them, my weakness is I expect the same from others and can be disillusioned when this is not the case. I need to be willing to accept my failures and weaknesses and know that the key to success is not avoiding failure but learning from my mistakes and allowing others to do the same. I need to believe that making a mistake does not mean it is a mistake it gives people the opportunity to improve and grow. I need to enhance my communication skills and be able to clearly and specifically communicate my vision, goals, skills, intentions and expectations to others and strive to improve my verbal, nonverbal and listening skills without interrupting others as it can be too easy to jump in with an objection too quickly. It might be wise for me to find a role model I can learn from. It would have to be someone I respect highly and whose leadership I admire. If the role model agrees to mentor me, my leadership skills could greatly benefit. I have a great respect for my director VA and aspire to lead how she leads, she is just, fair and supportive and deals with subordinates in a manner that others find hard to challenge. She is very disciplined at work and I need to learn to apply this to my role and every area of my life, I feel  this is a character trait that will provide me with the enduring focus necessary for strong leadership.

The Restaurant Industry Today Marketing Essay

The Restaurant Industry Today Marketing Essay Restaurants are one of the most highly regulated businesses today. The nature of the project is starting a new Asian restaurant in North West London. We decided to open the new restaurant in Wembley central. According to the National Restaurant Association, the restaurant industry sales are expected to reach a record $537 billion in 2007 and they have estimated that there are approximately 935,000 restaurant-and-food service centres. Firstly we need to do first business plan in order to open a new restaurant. Project objectives Opening up a new Restaurant in Wembley central area will meet the following set of objectives: Achievement of companys objective which includes maximisation of shareholders wealth. Fulfil its growth organically. Accomplishing customers requirement such as easy access to our stores and good customer services. Industry Analysis Although the restaurant industry is very competitive and as the number of people have less time, resources, and ability to cook for them it is important that the restaurant is well positioned for the current interest and people get healthier foods at moderate to low prices. The Restaurant Industry Today The food service business is one of the third largest industries in the country. It accounts for more than $240 billion sales annually. The independent restaurant accounts for 15% of that total. According to a survey the average American spends 15% of his/her income on meals eating away from home. This number has been increasing for the past seven years. In the last five years the restaurant industry has out-performed the national GNP by more than 40%.Due to the change in people lifestyles, economic climate, and due to the increase in the variety of products there are more than 600 restaurants opening every month and over 200 more needed to keep pace with increasing demand. Future Trends Strategic Opportunities The predicated expansion movement is very positive both in short and long-term projections. Folkney states again that as modern living creates more demands, people will be forced to eat more meals away from home. According to the DMR Industrial Report (April 1995) estimates this as high as 30% over the next five years. According to the National Restaurant organization (1998) released that how the Foodservice industry might look in the year 2000. Some highlights from the panels findings are as follows: Consumers will spend a superior quantity of their food dollar away from home. Independent operator and entrepreneurs will be the main source of new eating place concept. Food concern will be critical at all types of foodservice operations, and food flavour will be of greater significance. Ecological concerns will receive increased interest. Feasibility Study Financial Feasibility A Financial Feasibility study is an estimation of the financial aspects of something. This project has been assessed in terms of its financial feasibility and it feasibility in terms of cost and benefit analysis. The benefit that can be derived from this project and will outweighs it initial cost. Taking into account performance of restaurant with similar size in Wembley area, I have used those performances as to project the expected cash flows where on average they both produce  £10,000 per week. Operational Feasibility I recommend that this restaurant will be able to achieved these targeted payback period of five months to make back the initial investment. This analysis has been shown below: Revenue per month:  £78,350/5 =  £15,670 Revenue per staff per operating hours:  £78,350/ (10*8) =  £980 as part of company training policy, all staff will be well trained to deliver excellent customer service standard. Revenue per week:  £15,670/5 = £3,134 Social and Environment Feasibility I have undertaken a market a market research and environment scanning to ascertain whether there will be interest on our restaurant, what is the demographic settlement like in terms of food. My study indicated that most people will like our food because we will provide different kind of variety. Timescale In order to open a restaurant, we need to prepare business plan first. It will take around 1 month. About finding location and finding restaurant name will take 1 month. Finance the business will take 2 month because sometimes it takes time. Installation of electricity and equipment will take also 1 to 2 month. And last we need to obtain business licence. Task-1.2 SWOT Analysis SWOT Analysis is a tactical preparation process used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture. It involves specifying the purpose of the business course or project and identifies the internal and external factors that are favourable and unfavourable for achieving the business objective. Strengths Brand equity The Restaurant location ( Wembley area ) Reliability of food Consumers choice at reasonable value and great service Cheaper price than others We have take-away option Different menu items Weakness Quality and taste of products Our restaurant is new and not established Our restaurant has poor disabled facilities Limited funds Opportunities A new office complex is being built near by A new housing development is planned Threats The high street brand is moving into the area A main competitor has lowered their prices Our operational costs are set to boost PEST Analysis A PEST analysis stands for Political, Economic, Social, and Technological analysis and describes a framework of macro-environmental factors used in the environmental scanning component of strategic management. Political Factors This relates to direct impact of political influences and it impacts our project. In the case of this project local council will support to our business because it will create jobs as well as optimize councils tax revenue. Especially creating job is a major priority for the national government so they will be in support of the project. And also there will be less political risk that will affect this project such as government rejection of the propose moved, increased in tax at present time in very unlikely. Economic Factors The general economic environment shows that spending level among some people individual will fall due to difficulty in gaining credit but most young people with relative disposable income can at least spend and these are the people we are targeting. Social Factors Social factors mainly include the educational aspects and include health consciousness, population growth rate, age distribution, career attitudes and emphasis on safety. In this area I have undertaken a market research and environment scanning to ascertain whether there will be interest on our restaurant food. My study indicated that most people are Asian in Wembley area and will be interested in our Asian. . Technological Factors A technological factor includes the ecological and environmental aspects, such as RD activity, automation, technology incentives and the rate of technological change. Here the impact of technological changes which we already possessed will help the company to gain competitive advantages such as e-commerce. Stakeholder Analysis A Stakeholder Analysis is a essential tool for identifying those people, groups and organisations that have significant and genuine interests in a specific urban issue. Clear understanding of the likely roles and contributions of the many different stakeholders is a original condition for a successful participatory urban Governance process, and stakeholder analysis is a basic tool for achieving this understanding. The Stakeholders are; Customers Suppliers Employees Shareholders Customers Each of the stakeholders will have different expectation of an organisation. They try to engage with customers. They provide sales information, monthly monitoring of views. Their customer question time meeting help to identify and respond to changing customers needs. Suppliers The relationship of interests between an organisation and its suppliers can be seen as very similar to that between the organisation and its customers, but reversed. They do regular visits, meeting and discussions with suppliers. They have direct relationships with important raw material suppliers. Suppliers stock the business with all its business supplies. Suppliers may want an increase in wages. Suppliers have an interest in ongoing and mutually beneficial business relationships, and they expect to be paid on time. Employees The Company try to engage with employees. They have many ways such as internal communications including an employee magazine and regular business updates. Employees many want an increase in pay rise. Staffs have a very big interest in the business in the form of wages, bonuses, discounts and holidays pensions. Employees interests may be seen as the assertion of certain rights deriving from what is seen to be acceptable in the way in which employees are treated within society. Shareholders The Company have shareholders. They do collection of feedback questions from individual shareholders. Shareholders are the owners of a company. Their only real involvement in the organisation will be at the Annual General Meeting, when they are called upon to approve, by a vote, the overall direction of the organisation and the senior management team responsible for achieving that direction. Oftentimes, the only difference between floating and drowning is the direction. Without the restaurant financial analysis, a restaurant may be face downwards without even knowing it. A restaurant financial analysis analyzes routine metrics such as profits and losses, cash flow, cost of sales and cost of labour. By assessing this data, operators can evaluate their finances and establish systems and structures to keep their restaurant a float. Restaurant financial analysis performance metrics Profits and losses Whether we are produced monthly or weekly, profit and loss statements give restaurant operators a broad overview of their sales history. But the information only becomes useful when broken down to reflect the cost of sales, cost of labour and other overhead costs. Restaurant financial analyses assess the profits and losses With a vital eye to settle on specific areas taht should be improved upon. . Cost of sales A restaurants cost of sales, sometimes referred to as cost of goods, is the sum of all expenses associated with producing the menu items. Should food costs be running at 20 percent or 40 percent? The answer can vary depending on A restaurants positioning (fast casual, casual or upscale) and menu mix. Restaurant financial analysis can help operator decide where their cost of sales should be by building academic food and beverage costs. Cost of labour Cost of labour is another donor to cost of sales. A fine line exists between overstaffing a Restaurant and scheduling enough employees to run a restaurant effectively. Sensible setting up and employee output are the best ways to control cost of labour. In addition, tools should be available to assess mid-shift needs. Many restaurateurs are unwilling to phase out employees in a timely fashion. Restaurant financial analysis can re-examine payroll reports, sales reports and customer counts to optimize Scheduling and productivity and decrease cost of labour. When to undergo restaurant financial analysis Opening a new restaurant When opening a restaurant, restaurateurs can make use of financial analysis to forecast their success. A restaurant financial consultant can sketch a five-year plan and financial forecast based on industry and division standards. Financial analysis can also be used to establish financial systems for a new restaurant. Wheels for cash handling, inventory, payroll and daily sales reconciliations should best established well in advance of a restaurant opening. By implementing these systems early in the game, a restaurant can effectively monitor them, giving it a greater chance of succeeding financially. Purchasing an existing restaurant Before the purchase of an existing eating place concept, restaurateurs should conduct financial analysis and feasibility studies to determine the productivity probable of the operation. This can be sketchy by evaluating pattern and trend in the restaurants past presentation and estimate the effect of probable changes. Running an operating restaurant Restaurant financial analysis is not just for new operations. Generally, it is most beneficial for restaurants already in operation. Whether a restaurant has been in business for a year or 20, financial analysis can help identify losses and hidden costs. That information will help establish proper financial systems or process existing ones to keep money from slipping through the crack. Who can perform a restaurant financial analysis? Restaurant financial analysis shouldnt be performed by just any financial consultant. It is best to work with consultants that specialize within the restaurant industry. The main goal of restaurant financial analysis is to help operator understand how their restaurant can become more profitable. A restaurant-specific consultant can explain the analysis course and their findings in terms that restaurant operators will know. A financial consultant will know the aim routine metrics for specific restaurant categories and the industry as a whole. They can provide guidance for the selection and performance of point-of-sale and accounting systems and show operators how to get best results from these systems. A financial consultant can help eating place operators build the necessary tools to pull and analyze their own financial reports. Eventually, financial analysis should be ongoing, becoming an everyday part of a restaurants thinking. Restaurant financial analysis doesnt just keep a restaurant floating, it helps their business fly. Task-1.3 Market Competitively and Activity This project will fit the business strategic of the restaurant because it will help gain competitive advantage, create new market for potential customers, gain market share in as well as responding to changes in business environment, increase profitability, establish local branch, obtaining new customers, expansion of business and improve companys image which could be achieved since there is an existing market gap which we can fill via Ansoffs matrix. Marketing Analysis shows that this project will make the business more competitive in the following ways: Demographic population: In west London area, the population is very high. There are many Asian restaurants available in the area. And the all restaurants provide good services and good food. Food variety: The social society will be interested in our food because we will provide variety in the food along with music. Market gap: the economic feasibility have highlighted that our competitors are doing well in these area. Industry Trends Studying industry trends is one of the first steps in conducting a market analysis. It will help you recognize opportunity and threats in the industry that may affect your productivity. Consider the following Food Service Industry 2000 Trends, reported by the National Restaurant Association: Consumers will spend a greater portion of their food dollars away from home; Competition in the food service industry will be more intense as growth continues; Major food service chains will increase their shares of both sales and units; Independent operators will be the main source of new restaurant concepts; Nutritional concerns will be critical at all types of food service operations; and Service will become a more important point of differentiation. Industry Tends Checklists: Growth in Industry Sales Quick-service vs. table-service Chain vs. Independent Types of restaurants (steakhouses, ethnic) Catering Deli, bakery and takeout operations Monthly/seasonal dining out patterns Industry sales outlook Market Demand Economic trends Consumer confidence Demographic trends Food away from home trends Factors that motivate one to dine out Eating habits of different market segments Menu Preferences Appetizers/soups Entrees Sandwiches Desserts Nutritional concerns Menu pricing Alcoholic beverage consumption Vegetarian trends Restaurant Success Factors New and popular concepts/themes Customer service innovations Pricing practices Food production methods Labour saving techniques Debt-to-Sales ratios and other statistics Legislative and Regulatory Issues Business meal tax deductibility Health insurance Wage and hour requirements Americans with Disabilities Act Competition:- This is restaurant in the area is very good because in this area almost Indian and mix people living. So restaurant is also provide verity of foods and dices serve. But in our restaurant totally different from other like blue ginger, Panther, Tikka world, Bombay bits etc .these all are our competitors but we provide best services, best food, best drinks so automatically our restaurant beet our restaurant . Competitive Strategy There are three major ways in which we will create an advantage over our competitors; product identity, quality, and novelty high employee motivation and good sales attitude Innovative and aggressive service options The restaurant will be the only restaurant among all the competition which focuses the entire menu on healthy, low-fat cooking. Each of the competitors offers at least one healthy selection on their menu. The target market will perceive the restaurant as the destination location for healthy, low-fat cooking. The main points are Pricing, Location, Reputation, Image/Brand, Choice/Variety, Service and Atmosphere. References www.essortment.com (12th June 2010 ) www.awib.org (12th June 2010 ) www.mplans.com (12th June 2010 ) www.virtualrestaurant.com (12th June 2010 ) http://www.bplans.co.uk/steak_buffet_restaurant_business_plan/financial_plan_fc.cfm (12th June 2010 Part 2 Task 2.1 Resources Materials: Rented property from an individual landlord in west London as a perfect location for the new restaurant to be open, this is critical factor in terms of visibility and easy access of the restaurant for our customers. Equipments: Different kinds of restaurant will require different kinds of equipment. Typically equipment needed to open a restaurant includes a service kitchen (oven, microwave, heat lamps, prep tables and dish washer, fryers, boilers, refrigerators (table, chairs, spoon, glasses and cash registers). Labour: Ten staff normal standard hours (8 hours per day) and contractors the fixed day of work for one month. Finance: Most banks and lenders require you to put some of your own money into the business and contrary to popular belief, they do lend money for businesses. The project financed can be source from long term borrowing from bank in Iceland of  £50,000 to finance the project deliverables. Cost Associated With Resources These are one-off capital cost required immediately to deliver project deliverables. Materials: property rent in west London area will requires a normal rental agreement with the landlord. A deposit of  £15,550 plus one months rent in advance including council tax will be require total  £32,350. Equipments: Kitchen equipment will cost  £10,000, boiler will cost  £2000, till and it maintenance will cost  £12000 and general things e.g. tables, chairs will coat  £8000. Labour: External contractors for refurbishment are expected at  £12,500 this will includes: electrician, refurbishing the restaurant and painting the restaurant. Sources of Finance The project financed can be source from long term borrowing from bank of  £78,350 to finance the project deliverables. They could be approach on the based that this project will recoup its initial investment within four months time; and that revenue generate can be used to pay of principal loan plus interest. Budget for the Project This project has been budgeted on the grounds of Zero based budgeting which involves identification of tasks to be performed and then funding resources to complete the task independent of current resourcing it ensure that resources are efficiently allocated. The project budgets have been made on this bases with each cost justify in terms of their usage in the project: Resources  £ Cost Rent 16,800 Total 16,800 Resources  £ Cost Deposite 15,550 Equipments 32,000 Labour 12,500 Miscellaneous expenses 1,500 Total 61,550 Cost Benefit Analysis Cost Benefit Analysis is classically used by governments to assess the attraction of a given interference; it is an analysis of the cost success of different alternative in order to see whether the benefits outweigh the costs. The aim is to gauge the competence of the involvement relative to the status quo. The costs and benefits of the impacts of interference are evaluated in terms of the publics willingness to pay for them (benefits) or willingness to pay to avoid them (costs). Inputs are typically measured in terms of opportunity costs the value in their best alternative use. The guide attitude is to list all of the parties affected by an intervention, and place a monetary value of the outcome it has on their benefit as it would be valued by them. Years 0 1 2 3 Present value 78,350 3,90,180 1,090,860 1,072,163 Probability 50% 50% 50% Certainty equivalent 1,95,090 5,45,430 5,36,082 D.F 9% 1.000 0.880 0.945 0.820 Present value (75,000) 1,71,679 5,15,431 4,39,587 NPV  £10,51,697 The project is viable because it will yields to shareholder wealth conception of about  £2.01 million in three years time. However incorporate rick to the cash flows using certainty equal, and for the fact that current economic climate in terms of expenses will affect all industries, I am certain that the 50% of the cash flows will be generate in each of the years. This is show below: One time investment Budget Overview    Sources of Funds Proposed Loan from Bank  £100,000 Uses of Funds Construction  £65,000 Walk-in Refrigerator  £10,000 Cooler for Beverages  £5,000 Stove oven  £5,000 Deep Fryer  £4,000 Two sinks for Kitchen  £1,000 Microwave  £500 Toaster  £100 Cash Register  £400 Furniture  £7,000 Dinnerware  £1,000 Pots and Pans  £1,000 Plan by Month or Period Most of the restaurants use a scheme of 12-month or 13 four-week periods to way their yearly accounts. By infringement the budget down into these types of sections, it is easier to see when money is moving in and out of the eating place. Anticipate Your Costs In the eating place, budget is often a game of evaluation costs and income. In fact, a budget is much like a profit and loss (PL) account extended over a longer period of time. Be set to account for the following costs in your yearly budget: Rent or mortgage payments Taxes Insurance Labour/payroll Utilities Loan payments Operational supplies Repairs and maintenance Marketing Training Food service professional recommend that you plan to spend about 30 percent of your budget on food, 25 percent on labour, 10 percent on rent or advance, and 3 percent on utilities.1 The rest goes in small part to operational charge, promotion, taxes, continuation and other patchy costs. These are purely sketchy plan to follow, as every restaurants payment and budget are different. Look below for a graphical image of these suggested expenditures: Know Your Breakeven Point The cope point is the volume of sale needed to cover all charge without making a profit. It is the bare least amount amount of sales the restaurant process needs to bring in to survive. It is central to know your restaurant breakeven point so that future monetary decisions can be made in hopes of making a reasonable profit. Analyze Your Financials Every Period Exploratory your PL and your budget on a weekly and monthly basis will help you keep your bases covered in terms of realize your payment and income. Appraise your budget operational payment and your actual expenses, as well as the net profit you expected and what your eating place actually made. Make a note of any areas in which your expenses exceed your budget amount. When budgeting for the year, especially if you are doing so for the first time, it helps to have a budget worksheet. Download a sample budget worksheet to your own back office computer. Cost of Goods Sold The cost of goods sold was strong-minded by taking actual Profit and Loss statement from various eating place concepts and then using our price structure and guest counts to arrive at costs. Management Payroll Figures are based upon the use of five managers per unit at our maximum bonus and salary levels. If we use four managers per restaurant, this will lower our payroll. Fixed and Variable Expenses The various fixed and variable expenses were determined by taking actual numbers from several different restaurant concepts. Marketing Fees These funds will be used for the production of various marketing materials. Advertising These funds will be used, if necessary, to maintain our sales at projected levels. If we are management appreciably ahead of our sales projection, then these funds may not be necessary. Management Fees We will use these pounds for accounting and payroll services of our firm. As we grow in size, this cost burden will shrink per store due to efficiencies in volume. Important Assumptions The financial plan depends on important assumption, most of which are revealed in the following table as annual assumption. The journal assumptions are included in the annotation. Interest rates, tax rates, and personnel burden are based on traditional assumptions. Some of the more important causal assumption is: We assume a strong economy, without a major recession. We assume, of course, that there are no unforeseen changes in consumers tastes or interests to make our concept less competitive. Task 2.2 Report TO: Management FROM: Project Manager DATE: 20th May 2009 SUBJECT: Staff Development and Training Cost Introduction This report is concerned staff training and development it related cost associated to this project. The company sales force plays a vital role in delivering better customer services and each member have different training needs depending our their position. The companys their future depends on nurturing great individual talent and providing an environment where staff can flourish personally and professionally. Successful training will help to develop the following skills. Deliver excellent customers Well motivated Increase morale Improved job and staff performance. Recruitment takes place from the point when a business decides that it needs to employ somebody up to the point where a pile of completed application forms has arrived in the post. Selections then involve choosing a suitable applicant through a range of ways of organization out suitable candidates leading to interview and other tests. Training involves providing a range of planned performance that enable an employee to develop the skill, attitudes and knowledge required by the organisation and the work required. A job account is also helpful because it sets out: The job description can be sent out to probable candidate along with a person arrangement, which sets out the pleasing and vital description that someone will need to have to be selected to the post. A variety of media will be used to be a magnet for applications e.g. national newspapers for national jobs, and local papers and media for local posts. Objectives of Training and Development The main objective of staff training and development is to improve the qualities of the trainee, formulation of objectives for different needs and ways to achieve it. The training objective is very important because it determine the calculated and content of the training programme. Contents of the training stay put the same no matter the type of training occupied. It is to increase personnel efficiency, professional growth and smooth and more useful organizations operations. Methods of Training and Development On the job training/coaching: This relates to formal training on the job. A worker becomes experienced on the job over time due to modification of job behaviours at the point of training or acquisition of skills. Induction/orientation: This is carried out for new entrants on the job to make them familiar with the total corporate requirements like norms, ethics, values, rules and regulations. Apprenticeship: A method of training where an unskilled person understudies a skilled person. Demonstration: Teaching by example, whereby the skilled worker performs the job and the unskilled closely observes so as to understand the job. Vestibule: This is done through engineering part for the purpose of skills and technology transfer. It is therefore achieve through residency of an individual within anothe

Perspectives on Shylock from Shakespeares Merchant of Venice Essay

Shylock is a character famously known as being the antagonist of Shakespeare’s play merchant of Venice. In this play, Shakespeare portrayal of Shylock the moneylender is one of anti-Semitic stereotype. Shylock is depicted as a typical bloodthirsty Jew who lives a life void of any depth or meaning. His sole purpose for living seems to be to amass wealth and vengeance as seen from his adamant claim for his â€Å"pound of flesh†. Despite Shakespeare’s attempts to humanize Shylock at points in the story, it appears that his primary focus is to steer the audience against Shylock, painting him as being a cruel, bitter and inaffable figure. It is clear that in both Shakespeare’s merchant of Venice and Grace Tiffany’s Turquoise Ring, Shylock exposes his dark side of hatred and contempt. However, by providing keen insight into Shylocks personal life prior to the events of the court case, Grace Tiffany adds a complexity and depth to Shylock, which allows the reader to sympathize and understand what compelled him to be the man he was. The novel begins by describing Shylock’s relationship with his wife Leah and the events leading up to there subsequent marriage. In so doing, it shows an aspect of Shylock not seen in the merchant of Venice. It reveals Shylocks sense of kindness and sensitivity through his romance with Leah. Never in this ordeal is Shylock portrayed in a negative light. This point is best illustrated in the incident where Shylock returns from being interrogated by two men from the Christian brotherhood. Although Shylock tells his wife the events which transpired, seeing that his wife was already in a fragile state of shock, he refrains from mentioning the harsh details of their threats, as it says â€Å"he said nothing to Leah of the c... ...esses the fact that he recognizes that not all Christians are inherently evil as he says â€Å"good gentiles live†. As well, he obviously had the generosity to lend Bassanio money in the first place, despite the apparent risk of nonpayment which proves that he could not have hated them. Shylock even states that he has no real intentions of enforcing his bond. It is only because of the way Antonio persecutes him both verbally and physically, which evokes past memories of Christians abuse, that his tolerance is pushed to the limit so that he is forced to act the way he does. Shylock is generally a kind, caring, and sensitive person as seen through his relationship with his wife. â€Å"His ability to mask his anger was the means by which he thrived†. It is only through cumulative stress that he explodes, a common human flaw which is understandable and somewhat pardonable.

Regret and Obligation :: Just Assassins Camus Essays

Regret and Obligation ABSTRACT: In Albert Camus' 1950 play Just Assassins, terrorists are at work in nineteenth-century Russia. They kill people, and they all believe that there is a superior moral reason for doing so. But they also know that killing is wrong. In their own view, they are innocent criminals; innocent, because their action is justified, but criminals, because they kill. So tacitly they conclude that they deserve punishment that will remove the regret from their shoulders. Their execution, by the same despotic authorities they are attacking, completes their actions: regret, caused by justified killing, gets its counterpart. Regret is an interesting mental phenomenon. Some people say that feeling regret is irrational, or even that it is immoral. But surely the usual opinion is that in some situations regret is an appropriate way to react. An interesting question is what it means to say that sometimes it is 'appropriate' to feel regret. Do we have a moral obligation to feel regret sometimes? H ow could one have an obligation to feel anything, since, at least seemingly, feelings are not voluntary acts. If we do have a moral obligation to feel regret in some cases, does it follow that all good people are emotionally "hot," while "cool" persons, who are not able to feel deep regret, are bad? It is not crucial what one does; it is crucial what one does after that. Robert Musil, Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften Regret is an interesting mental phenomenon. (1) Some people say that feeling regret is irrational, or even that it is immoral. (2) But surely the usual opinion is that in some situations regret is an appropriate way to react. An interesting question is what it means to say that sometimes it is 'appropriate' to feel regret. Do we have a moral obligation to feel regret sometimes? How could one have an obligation to feel anything, since, at least seemingly, feelings are not voluntary acts? If we do have a moral obligation to feel regret in some cases, does it follow that all good people are emotionally 'hot' while 'cool' persons, who are not able to feel deep regret, are bad? If persons feel automatically regret when they realize that they have done something blameworthy, is it not useless to suppose that they have a moral obligation to do so? In the next few pages, I would like to briefly consider the above questions and to explicate ways how regret might be a moral virtue.

The Psychological Dimension of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Birthmark Essa

The Psychological Dimension of â€Å"The Birthmark†Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This essay will analyze Nathaniel Hawthorne’s â€Å"The Birthmark† in order to demonstrate that it is a â€Å"psychological† short story both in its themes and in its emphasis on the moral-psychological aspect of the main characters. There is probably unanimity among literary critics that Hawthorne is a â€Å"psychological† writer. Consider some of their statements chosen at random from various critiques of Hawthorne’s literary works: Stanley T. Williams in â€Å"Hawthorne’s Puritan Mind† says: What he wrote of New England was . . . .the subconscious mind of New England. It was. . . . unforgettable case histories of men and women afflicted by guilt, or, as he called it, by â€Å"a stain upon the soul.†. . . . His were grave and acute reflections upon the way in which the Puritan mind worked. . . .† (43) Edmund Fuller and B. Jo Kinnick in â€Å"Stories Derived from New England Living† state that Hawthorne liked to â€Å"explore uncertainties of belief that trouble a man’s heart and mind† (31). Clarice Swisher in â€Å"Nathaniel Hawthorne: a Biography† states that Hawthorne’s interest tended toward the heart and the psychological effects of these moral and ethical issues† (13). A. N. Kaul considers Hawthorne â€Å"preeminently a ‘psychological’† writer – â€Å"burrowing, to his utmost ability, into the depths of our common nature, for the purposes of psychological romance. . . . He was deeply preoccupied with the modern themes of alienation, isolation, and guilt consciousness – and with modern spiritual problems generally† (2). There appears to be more agreement among literary critics regarding the interpretation of Hawthorne as a â€Å"psychological† writer than upon any other aspect of his writi ng. .. ...athaniel Hawthorne, edited by Clarice Swisher. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Melville, Herman. â€Å"Hawthorne and His Mosses,† The Literary World August 17, 24, 1850. http://eldred.ne.mediaone.net/nh/hahm.html Peckham, Morse. â€Å"The Development of Hawthorne’s Romanticism.† In Readings on Nathaniel Hawthorne, edited by Clarice Swisher. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Swisher, Clarice. â€Å"Nathaniel Hawthorne: a Biography.† In Readings on Nathaniel Hawthorne, edited by Clarice Swisher. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Waggoner, Hyatt. â€Å"Nathaniel Hawthorne.† In Six American Novelists of the Nineteenth Century, edited by Richard Foster. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1968. Williams, Stanley T. â€Å"Hawthorne’s Puritan Mind.† In Readings on Nathaniel Hawthorne, edited by Clarice Swisher. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1996.   

Develop positive relationships Essay

Learning Outcome 1 : Be able to develop positive relationships with children and young people. 1.1. . Explain why positive relationships with children and young people are important and how these are built and maintained. Developing a positive relationships with children and young people is extremely important as it could impact hugely on their learning, development confidence and skills learnt as they grow. Nurseries and schools have allocated key workers assigned to develop a bond, care for the childs welfare and liaise closely with parents of the child. Children and young people thrive in all stages of learning and development if a positive relationships are in place and maintained. Children and young people need to feel comfortable with the people around them and one another. This will build confidence and encourage them to try new areas of learning at every stage of their development. If relationships between parents, care providers are positive the child will feel secure and can easily separate from parents when needed. Children are more likely to want to participate and enjoy activities if the feel happy and safe in their environment. Positive relationships also alleviate to some degree negative/unwanted behavior, as caregivers are more likely to recognise the initial signs and meet the child’s needs prior to any adverse behavior. Verbal communication between child and adult will also help the child develop language skills and the confidence to express themselves. Practitioners/care providers should try to recognise a child’s needs by their emotions/facial expressions. Knowing the child well – their interests/likes and dislikes will enable the practitioner to responding to its needs and emotions, plan for the child’s future developmental needs and build strong positive relationships. 1.2. . Demonstrate how to listen to and build relationships with children and young people. When building relationships with children we first need to get to know them – how they like to communicate – this may be through facial expressions, body language and gestures especially in the very young. They need to feel  confident and secure within that relationship. When trying to build relationships practitioners need to be consistent and fair – listening to the child and understanding the message they are trying to portray. Children need to know their feelings are important and their needs will be taken into consideration. Practitioners should ensure that their own emotions/feelings (having a bad day/quite and withdrawn) are not transferred on to the child. Building good relationships with parents is important as they too need to feel that they and their children are being treated fairly within the setting and that everything that can be done is being done to assist their child. Being able to identify and sort out conflicts and disagreements fairly and calmly will develop trust between adult and child and will teach the child how to respond to future disagreements with other children. Respect and courtesy should be shown to children and young people at all times to that they may in turn learn how to develop these skills when interacting with others. Practitioners can being to teach children from a very young age how to respect other people (feelings and emotions)/their belongings/teach good manners and how to act in an appropriate way. If children are spoken to warmly, encouraged and shown respect they will in turn develop these skills for themselves. Valuing and respecting individuality will help children to develop their own strengths, talents and attitudes and be accepting of another childs individuality. Allowing children to explore their individuality will show that we respect and are comfortable with their differences and encourage them to try new activities/skills which they may also enjoy. Show that we all accept and encourage individuality in people. To feel secure children need to know that they can rely on their care providers. We should therefore honor all promises and commitments made. Forgetting a promise or changing our mind may cause a child to distrust or become wary of adults. They may feel let down or disappointed. Keeping a check on the way we interact with young people, monitoring their reactions to us will indicate if we need to change our approach or way of teaching. Some children are sensitive, some outspoken and confident etc. Once we know the child we should then adapt our approach accordingly. Maintaining confidentially is extremely important when working with children and young people. Children need to know that they are valued and respected and that if they have worries or concerns they can talk with an adult confidentially. However, circumstances where abuse/neglect have taken place or are suspected, care providers have a duty to report the situation to the appropriate person thereby protecting the child. Documents/reports should be kept locked away. Permission should be sought prior to photographs/information being shared. Personal information regarding a child or young person should not be discussed /given out unless requested by professionals or appropriate authorities. Parents also need to feel that their information or conversations will be treated with respect and confidentiality. Consideration should be given to how care providers speak and give direction to children and young people. Responses should be appropriately given so the child does not feel intimidated or ordered. Children should always feel protected and secure in their environment. 1.3. . Evaluate own effectiveness in building relationships with children or young people. I believe I am able to build positive relationships with children and young people. With younger children, having a calm and gentle manor, making eye contact (at the childs level), expressing concern when needed will begin to form a positive relationships. When possible new children arriving at my setting are offered one to one time so that a strong initial relationship can begin to develop. Spending time with them alone, showing an interest in their skills/activities, encouraging and playing with them whilst trying to form a special bond with the child will help them to see me as a person  they can trust and someone who cares about them. Babies need physical contact to build a relationship – cuddling and talking gently to will reassure and settle . Babies will often cry as they need to be comforted, others may need some kind of interaction for a while. Getting to know the baby, understanding its body language and responding to its needs will help form and build a trusting r elationship. With older children I believe taking an interest in their abilities and skills, talking about their hobbies, listening to them, praising and giving encouragement, showing approval enables me to build strong relationships. Learning Outcome 2 : Be able to build positive relationships with people involved in the care of children and young people. 2.1. . Explain why positive relationships with people involved in the care of children and young people are important. Positive relationships are important because personal information has to be shared regarding the childs education and well-being. Good communication is essential to allow various carers/agenices/schools etc to communicate and pass on accurate information. It allows a childs care to be consistent, identifies needs, monitors the childs progress and ideas and skills can be shared regarding the child. It also shows the parent that professionals and carers alike are all working towards the development and well being of their child. 2.2. . Demonstrate how to build positive relationships with people involved in the care of children and young people. To ensure that positive relationships are maintained all parties concerned regarding the development and needs of a child should be invited to comment, offer advice, make suggestions and pass on information to plan for the immediate and future needs of the child. There are various ways that all parties who have an interest in the child can be kept in the loop – on-line communication, meetings , telephone, written reports etc. Sharing and  recording information is fundamental to a childs progress and to ensure all needs are met. Parents hold valuable information regarding their child so should be kept informed of decisions made regarding their childs emotional and educational development. – their opinion sought and be allowed to contribute in the decision process. Parents should be invited along to meetings, regularly updated and be given the opportunity to talk with all parties involved in their childs welfare. Confidentiality should be remembered at all times.

Background of Oldtown Essay

The biggest kopitiam restaurant linkage in Malaysiais Oldtown Berhad .Oldtown Berhad occupied in the manufacturing of beverages and manage a chain of cafà ©under the OLDTOWN WHITE COFFEE brand name. Oldtown using its formulated blendof coffees to served. Its major headquarters is in Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia. The served areas are Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and China. Its linkage of Oldtown cafà © outlets is sustain by two coffee manufacturing equipment,consist of three centralized food processing centers and bean roasting and processing facilities . Oldtown Berhad is a Public Limited Company. Oldtown Berhad has been created in 1999, with the purpose to output the quality white coffee to Malaysian family and food service industry. Mr Goh Ching Mun and Mr Tan Say Yap, the co-founders and administrator director of Oldtown begin the manufacturing and create their own 3-in-1 instant white coffee. Both of the co-foundershave the experience that more than 10 years in the coffee beverage industry. They were helpful in the growth of Oldtown group of firms. The group administrative director, Mr Lee SiewHeng who was responsible in carry out the integrated vision, plan and growth of the Oldtown group also give a lot of support to this company. Under the ‘OLDTOWN’ brand name for the retail sector in 1999,they commercialized their instant 3-in-1 coffee mix smoothly. The ‘OLDTOWN’ 3-in-1 coffee mix was sold in about 1,348 retail outlets nationwide in Malaysia, about 550 retail outlets in Singapore and about 2,100 retail outlets in Hong Kong in 31 October 2009. They started their first export of the ‘OLDTOWN’ brand 3-in-1 instant coffee mix to Singapore in 2000. In 2001, their branches, White Cafà © Marketing began production as the marketing arm for their group’s beverage goods. They also extended their output line to involve different changes of their instant coffee mix and also extended their export markets to Hong Kong for their instant coffee mix. White cafà © received a HALAL certification from the Islamic Reeligious Department of Perak for the Group’s beverages in year 2002. This is their part of purpose, which is to generate beverages in accordance with the Islamic law. Oldtown Berhad have been achieve the goal that extended their nationwide retail allocation of their 3-in-1 instant coffee mix to cover East and West Malaysia through the main hypermarkets and supermarkets. Their own formulated blend of 3-in-1 instant milk tea  also smoothly commercialized for the retail market under the ‘OLDTOWN’ brand name in 2003. OldtownBerhad has been expand their manufacturing activities and they incorporated Gongga Food in 2003 and begin operations in 2004 to creating roasted coffee powder for the food service sector by using the ownership bean roasting process. Roasted coffee powder to traditional coffee shop in Ipoh and others states in Malaysia have been distributed by OldtownBerhad. ‘OLDTOWN’ is also marketed to the retail sector under ‘NANYANG’ brand in an addition to the food services sector. Oldtown Berhad has been penetrated the export markets for the 3-in-1 instant coffee to cover the United States,United Kingdom, Canada, Taiwan and Indonesia in 2004. Based on the traditional Ipoh coffee shop environment and the surrounding feeling under the ‘ OLDTOWN WHITE COFFEE’ brand name, Oldtown has been extended vertically into the food services sector by developing a chain of cafà © outlet in 2005. ‘OLDTOWN WHITE COFFEE’ brand in the food services industry is the part of Group’s plan of capitalizing and strengthen. With the same year, ‘OLDTOWN WHITE COFFEE’ cafà © outlets has been begin the operations in licensing,supply of beverages and food, others item and provision thread ministration service from Kopitiam Asia Pacific. Linkage of ‘OLDTOWN WHITE COFFEE’ have been extended to 137 cafà © outlets involved fully and partially owned and franchised in Malaysia since the first beginning of the first cafà © outlets in Ipoh in 2005 and at Singapore as at 31 October 2009. In 2005 and 2006, they have been fixed their subsidiaries name as Oldtown Kopitiam, Oldtown Kopitiam Kuala Lumpur, Oldtown Kopitiam Butterworth, Oldtown Kopitiam Cheras to focus on managing cafà © outlets in distinct areas and states within Malaysia. Besides, between 2005 and 2007 they also fixed the following subsidiaries as central food processing centre to sustain their cafà © business operations. Emperor’s Kitchen begin operation in 2005, Dynasty Confectionery and Esquire Chef started the operations in 2007. Gongga Food’s business also extended to ingratiate to the procurement of food items for ‘OLDTOWN WHITE COFFEE ‘ cafà © outlets in 2005. With the same year, HALAL certification from the Islamic Religious Department of Perak for the operation of its roasted coffee powder also received by Gongga Food. White Cafà © ,the subsidiary received a HACCP certification from BM TRADA Certification Ltd for the manufacturing and processing of beverages product  in the same year. In 2007, they incorporated Dynasty Kitchen as a allocation centre which begin operations. They also extended their export markets to China and Japan in 2006. Besides, they also incorporated Oldtown Berhad which concentrate on investment keeping and precaution of administration services according to its listing on the Main Market of Bursa Securities. Later, they also begin exporting to Philippines and Thailand during the same year. They also plan to extended their cafà © outlets business to Singapore. Soon, they have been incorporated Oldtown Singapore in 2007 to supply administration services, food and beverages items to cafà © outlets in Singapore. OTK Singapore begin operations in 2008 with the emission of their first ‘OLDTOWN WHITE COFFEE’ cafà © outlet in Singapore. Dynasty Confectionery and Esquire Chef, the subsidiaries, received HALAL certifications from the Islamic Religious Department of Perak for the processing of different food in 2008. Emperor’s Kitchen, the other food processing subsidiary received HALAL certification from IFRC ASIA. Even more confirm their adhesion to international food safety criterion, their subsidiary White Cafà © reach ISO 22000:2005 certification and ISO 9001:2000 from BM TRADA Certification in 2008 in extra to GMP Certification by the Department of Public Health, Ministry Health Malaysia with the same year. They also extended their product line to comprise 3-in-1 instant coffee mix with cane sugar in 2008. Gongga Food also received a HACCP Certification from BM TRADA Certification Ltd for the operation of roasted coffee powder in 2009. The vision of this company is to be Asian Pacific’s guiding white coffee producer supplying a high quality of goods or product to customers worldwide and locally.

An Analysis of ‘Giorgio Armani’

FASHION RESEARCH, MARKETING AND TREND FORECASTINGAn Analysis of ‘Giorgio Armani’ Victoria Joana Scherer Due: 14. 12. 2012 Word Count: 2219 +/- Abstract, Introduction and Conclusion not included Table of Contents Abstract4 Introduction5 1. Analysis of the socio-cultural framework6 Social trends6 PETA activists6 Size Zero7 Cultural evolution7 Economical evolution8 2. Analysis of the fashion trends/fads affecting the brand9 Mood-board9 Description of major fashion trends12 Colours12 Fabrics/ Materials13 Silhouettes13 3. Brand scan14 Analysis of targets/ customers14 Positioning14 Marketing Mix16 Analysis of fashion collections16 Competitive benchmarking compared to main competitors17 SWOT Analysis17 4. Definition of a forecasting plan18 Branding (image and recognition)18 Collection architecture18 Distribution plan19 Communications19 Conclusion20 Overall recommendations20 Appendix21 1. 121 Bibliography22 Articles22 Books22 Images23 Press Release23 Websites23 Youtube24 Abstract The following fashion brand forecasting plan stories Giorgio Armani’s previous and current designs, analyzing in terms of existing strategy, and market research. In the process of researching I paged through newspapers, extensively, many magazines, viewing past catwalks, scrutinized the internet media; in order to depict a sense of chosen colour, fabrics and styles, hence propose a new complete strategy. The project analyzes the four key aspects of: 1. Analysis of the socio-cultural framework (mainstreams in terms of social trends, cultural and economical evolution) 2. Analysis of the fashion trends/fads affecting the brand 3. Brand scan (analysis of targets/customers; fashion collections, competitive benchmarking compared to 2/3 competitors) 4. Definition of a forecasting plan The reason for me to choose this brand is that I did a summer internship which I greatly enjoyed and therefore had previous knowledge on the brand which I could integrate in my research. Further, did I use the same brand for my midterm assignment, having now the opportunity to make an even greater in-depth examination of Giorgio Armani. Introduction Giorgio Armani was born in 1934 in Piacenza, Italy. In the year 1975, he and his cohabite Sergio Galeotti founded the company ‘Giorgio Armani SpA’ in one of the worlds fashion capitals, Milan. Having studied two terms of medicine prior to the launch of the company, Mr. Armani completely changed his professional orientation when he started working as a visual merchandiser for department store ‘La Rinascente’. It was in 1990 when he first started to segment his company into sub-labels; ‘Emporio Armani’ & ‘Mani’. After some time he also created Giorgio Armani Prive, , Armani Collezioni, Armani Jeans, AX/Armani Exchange, Armani Junior, Armani Underwear, EA7, Armani Casa, Giorgio Armani Cosmetics, Armani Libri, Armani Flori, Armani Dolci and many more. The graph above, illustrates the various facets of Armani’s designs, having created a label which covers each category and customer interest. He is many celebrities favourite fashion designers; distinctive and famous for his elegant designs. His style is to be identified by unusual and unique cut combined with an elegant monochromatic colour palette. â€Å"Elegance doesn’t mean being noticed, it means being remembered. † – (Giorgio Armani) Armani is known for presenting himself in his signature simplistic style of jeans, silver/ grey t-shirt, black blazer. His look has become a holistic concept of life. Not only has he built an empire, he created a whole new world. 1. Analysis of the socio-cultural framework Social trends In fashion one â€Å"trend† chases the other. Nothing is as â€Å"old† as the collection of yesterday. Fashion trends are simply the surface phenomena of deeper social developments. They are the visual manifestation of desires and needs. The interesting question arises: What lies behind the current fashionable forms of expression and what kind of influence does society have on the fashion trends? What did constitutes for Armani and issues he had to tackle thereupon. PETA activists In the year 2009, PETA activists affronted Giorgio Armani, who promised to not produce any fur in his future collections. Anyhow, Armani failed keeping his promise. As a result PETA called for a boycott of his fashion – No Armani gowns at the Oscar ceremony! (February 22nd, 2009) Further did they publish a poster which shows Armani with a long Pinocchio nose. In several places such as Las Vegas, Milan, Paris, there were anti-fur demonstrations in front of the stores of the designer. See Appendix 1. 1) The social trend of fighting for animal rights was an issue Armani had to work upon. Instead, he claimed never to have made such a promise, anyhow apologized in public for any misunderstanding. It seems he did not deem it to be necessary to tackle this problem any further, as it is a small niche of society and would accordingly only have a small effect on Armani’s customers buying habit. Further, are other luxury brands, competitors using fur in their collections which makes the issue even less meaningful. Size Zero Size zero – a craze and controversy. As the 22- year-old Uruguayan model Luisel Ramos died after having starved herself to death, the organizers of the 2006 Madrid Fashion Week decided to ban skinny, size zero models. The World Health Organization is concerned that â€Å"the use of underweight models sends out dangerously wrong signals to girls, who look models as role models†. In November, the same year, the Brazilian model Ana Carolina Reston died at a young age of just 21 from anorexia. This tragedy made Armani being first of all luxury brands to introduce his own policy of only engaging ‘healthy-looking’ models with a BMI of 19. Many brands followed this social trend. Cultural evolution Today, regarding the ambience of lifestyle the Italians are seen as role models many societies: Espresso, Pinot Grigio, Tartufo Bianco, Gigli, Alessi, Armani. As any art mirrors design, whether for product or fashion, nothing represents a society more clearly. These mirrors are not placed in museums or elsewhere, we see them everywhere in life. Fashion is a sensual and rapid response to the now. Dealing with it, encounters the loving of surfaces, the study and cultivation which can be regarded as a profound thing. Milan, the origin and headquarter of Giorgio Armani, is one of the most famous fashion metropolis of the world. A mecca where various cultures come together, being inspiration for the designer himself and for society. Each trend emerges of society, having similar perception and emotions in different countries, can be combined together to then aspire a connectedness. Giorgio Armani receives lots of cultural influences of Asia for his designs. For example in 2010, he set the trend of an asymmetric neckline with a single sleeve (Sari), interpreted in a more modern way. When observing his catwalks, it is to mention that Armani engages ethnically diverse runway models. This emphasize the multi-cultural influence, Armani has on the world, as each customer, no matter which origin can feel connected to the brand. Economical evolution Due to the serious financial crisis that hit the world markets in 2009, Giorgio Armani proved outstanding staying power, when comparing it to the average performance of the industry. Giorgio Armani generated a turnover of 6â‚ ¬ billion at retail value (including licensed products), of which 4â‚ ¬ billion were made by their core business and 2â‚ ¬ billion from third party licences. The general slowdown in the fashion and luxury markets that also affected Giorgio Armani is largely due to a decline in GDP, in particular in North America, Europe and Japan†. Nevertheless, Armani succeeded and had stable increasing sales in China, a 32% boost, when comparing it to the year before which proves a momentum of recent y ears in the region. â€Å"I have to say that the interest of the Chinese public for Giorgio Armani is outstanding. I have experienced this through my stores and also through the welcome I was given in China. † (Giorgio Armani) 2. Analysis of the fashion trends/fads affecting the brand Mood-board The Timeless Description of major fashion trends The fashion maestro demonstrates in his haute couture a precision of unusual cuts, complex designs and valuable fabrics, all abiding the pure elegance in usual monochromatic colours. Elements of severe men’s wear are transferred to the women’s design, shaping the unmistakable Armani style. Colours Armani’s brand mark has always been the colour black, believing it gives a sophisticated and elegant touch to each and every design. Throughout the years, he complemented these with signal colours to create a modern look, being influenced by the Asian theme. In 2010, his collection emerges influences with a poppy red being its primary colour, as traditionally seen in ‘Qi Pao’s’. One year later, one could believe Mr. Armani himself has fallen in love. Into a theme which one would expect least of such a rationalist, the lascivious world of Boudoir. Powdery rose tones, a touch of grey complement his basis colour black. In the year 2012, mottled grey and black severe pantsuits harmonized with bright and vibrant colours such as pink, coral and tangerine. â€Å"Enlightened by bright ‘twinkle’ colours as in Tokyo†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . Fabrics/ Materials When analyzing Armani’s collection from the previous year it is to recon that he has a distinct use of silk, categorizing it as his main fabric. Starting in 2010, where the fine lustrous fiber sticks superbly to the Asian theme, adding an incredible intense touch of elegance. Further, he used velvet which has a smooth dense pile and plain underside, creating a mysterious hint to the collection. Later in 2011, Armani uses flowing fabrics, such as chiffon and satin. Silhouettes The silhouette of Armani’s collection is based on the Asian culture, a theme which shows great influences on his collections in the past three years. In 2010, blazers, skirts and dresses are designed that fabrics overlap as seen in the traditional ‘Qi Pao’. Further, he gathered inspiration of the Sari; a long shawl which is wrapped around the waist and the end draped over the shoulder. The trend of an asymmetric neckline with a single sleeve (Sari), interpreted in a more modern way. The dresses are cut short, instead of long, slim cut – the western chic. In 2011, a paradigm of simplicity; straight-cut silk tops which is attached together with a brooch below the left breast and simply combined with matching silk trousers. 012 he referred back to his brand mark of transferring elements of men’s wear into severe pantsuits for women. Mottled grey ensembles on which huge rosettes of colourful pochettes are clinged together, complemented with diagonally placed trilby hats and men’s shoes. 3. Brand scan Analysis of targets/ customers Giorgio Armani has an iconic popularity amongst the elite of society, b eing one of many celebrities favourite designer. Nowadays, Giorgio Armani SpA encompasses a brand architecture of one corporate brand and five sub-labels, â€Å"each catering to different sets of target customers and at different price evels†. His main collection of apparel for ‘Giorgio Armani’ are of the ultra-premium price points, which accordingly more likely to target elderly consumers, therefore reaching the 35-50 year old age group segment. Positioning Defendability Operating in a small niche market, where 1st mover benefit and followers are at â€Å"disadvantage†. Erecting barriers to competition by discouraging entry through expertise, customer loyalty and continuous innovation of new designs, keeps the company ahead from its competitors. Differentiation Giorgio Armani’s brand concept is being sophisticated, targeting the upper-class with high-quality and innovative, elegant designs. â€Å"Elegance doesn’t mean being noticed, it means being remembered. † – (Giorgio Armani) Strategic Orientation Product leadership achieved through good performance having a clear mission for the company: â€Å"My mission has always been to help women and men feel comfortable and confident through the clothes they wear, rather than to create decoration for the sake of it. † (Giorgio Armani, Squidoo, 2012). Giorgio Armani’s symbolic expressive value appeals to consumer’s self-concepts and self-worth prestige, status image. Marketing Mix The 4 P’S demonstrate with what, where and how Giorgio Armani promotes his products in order to succeed with his marketing strategies. Analysis of fashion collections By means of the positioning and the marketing mix of the brand, it clearly illustrates how well Giorgio Armani integrates the concepts, making a clear statement through his collections towards his competitors. Due to the vast increase of sales in Asia, especially in China, after the financial crisis in 2009, the designer himself traveled regularly to the East for certain matters, by which he got the greatest experiences and influences for his pcoming collections. From 2010 onwards, one can indicate a strong emphasis of the Asian culture. â€Å"China approaches fashion with strong enthusiasm, and I believe that this enthusiasm can be translated into something interesting, economically speaking. Not only for my brand, but also for other brands†¦ We notice this, by wandering around in Shanghai â € ¦ Beijing †¦ and also smaller cities. † (Giorgio Armani) Competitive benchmarking compared to main competitors SWOT Analysis Even though Armani has high brand recognition, being well-known all over the world, faces fierce competition in its industry. Its greatest competitors are Hugo Boss and Gianni Versace since they target the same market. Especially the German brand, Hugo Boss is regarded as a great threat, since the brand implements stringent design and quality standards to produce superior products that deliver value for money. This is difficult to keep up with as Giorgio Armani’s price range is higher than that of Boss’. Further this strength may implicate the threat of brand duplicity. This is due as Armani is catering to a very small upper premium segment target group. An average salary in the UK amounts to approximate 30000? per annum (Council of Mortgage Lenders, 2012). This wage does not make it possible to purchase such expensive goods of Giorgio Armani wherefore brand duplicates seem as a good alternative for the customer. Especially in China, where Giorgio Armani seeks the opportunity of developing and expanding its branches, is considered as the mecca of fakes. 4. Definition of a forecasting plan Branding (image and recognition) Having sponsored the Italian team in the Olympics, Giorgio Armani made great awareness of its brand. Since, Armani is willing to have even greater brand recognition; the Olympics and the world cup in Brazil are a great opportunity to achieve so. Millions of people will be following these events, by interacting in such, Armani could gain a competitive advantage to Hugo Boss and Gianni Versace. Collection architecture The Asian theme appears throughout the years of Giorgio Armani’s collection. Being inspired by the ‘Qi Pao’s’ first, followed by ‘Sari’s’, both serve as great inspiration. In the year 2012, bright colours are combined with black and grey, which could be interpreted as the ‘up and coming’ colourful skyline of Tokyo. Due to the appearances of velvet and wave-like designs in 2010, it is to state that Armani could use these two variations as inspiration for the upcoming season in 2013. Blouses will be straight-cut with a balloon-like ending, such as seen in seasons 2010 and 2011. These will be combined with straight-cut trousers, edging it with a comeback of pointed shoes and a finish-off with trilby hats, as seen in the collection of 2012. These symbols represent power and being dynamic, as the fast-pasting metropolis of Asia. Colours will range from darker Bordeaux reds into degrees of purple, complementary to the beloved plain colour of Mr. Armani himself, black. Distribution plan Giorgio Armani employs 5500 in their direct workforce, having 13 factories and a perpendicular network of exclusive retail stores in 46 countries worldwide. In order to increase their annual revenue of 1,8 â‚ ¬ [=1. 453. 750. 000? (Exchange rate on the 13. 12. 2012) Press Release 2011] billion, Armani could increase their presence of branded flagship stores, with independent retailers and department stores, as well as increasing the availability of online distribution, as Brazil is not listed. Brazil definitely has to be included as this country will have great influence on future campaigns. Communications The world community will come together to celebrate the festivities of the Olympic Games and the World Cup in Brazil together. Brazil being host to many people around the world; creating a feeling of togetherness. Armani can be part of this by sponsoring the Italian team and making aware of themselves. Building up on this strategy, Armani should invest in advertising campaigns, billboards etc†¦, raising positive awareness and excitement towards the brand and the events. Conclusion Giorgio Armani is one of the most famous Italian fashion designers. His style is classic, elegant and discrete – this is reflected in each of his puristic designs. He is the creator of an empire which successfully operating due to efficient marketing strategies, using celebrities to raise awareness with advertising, engaging the company on events such as sponsoring the Olympic team or promoting the new James Bond â€Å"Skyfall† [Vogue, Germany Premiere), the movie in which he accouters the actors. To mention is the correlation between the movie and the designer’s inspirational Asian theme, as Skyfall’s settings partially take place in Shanghai, China (Movie Trailer, Youtube). By means of this, Giorgio Armani outperforms his competitors, bringing his competitive advantage to a new level. Armani, is that what one wants to wear – the oh so traditional, new trend. Overall recommendations When analyzing the world of Giorgio Armani, it seems nearly useless to give recommendation to the company, as he has been successfully managing the company, in all areas, since years. Anyhow, there are little areas where he could make some improvements. Even though Giorgio Armani is a luxurious brand, the brand could offer accessories slightly cheaper such as scarves, since these prices start from 248â‚ ¬ [=200,29? Exchange rate on the 13. 12. 2012) Armani Website] in order to make it possible for customers who desire the brand to make a purchase on a good which they could wear on a daily basis. This would increase even greater brand recognition and higher customer satisfaction, even for those who can’t afford Giorgio Armani itself. It makes them feel to be a small part of the world of Armani. Regarding the failure of interacting the social trend of â€Å"going green† and â€Å"being socially active† in 2009 where Armani presented fur in his catwalk, after making great announcements to PETA. To get rid of his negative image, and create a more valuable relationship to celebrities, he could get involved in social activities. Due to his great relations to celebrities, he might use these, to get those who are highly involved with PETA, such as Katie Holmes, to change his image. Appendix 1. 1 (PETA, 2008) Bibliography Articles| | | Fleuranvil, Fabiola. â€Å"Fashion Marketing Planning. †Ã‚  Ezine Articles. SparkNET, 11 July 2009. Web. 13 Dec. 2012. . | | Modeopfer. Modelabel Giorgio Armani. †Ã‚  Modeopfer 110. N. p. , 15 May 2012. Web. 13 Dec. 2012. . | Books| | | McKelvey, Kathryn, and Janine Munslow. Fashion Forecasting. Chichester, U. K. : Wiley-Blackwell, 2008. Print. | Images| | | * â€Å"Google. †Ã‚  Google. N. p. , n. d. Web. 13 Dec. 2012. | | * http://image. rakuten. co. jp/playerz/cabinet/ax/img55589066. jpg| | * http://www. citypictures1. com/Tokyo-Pictures/Tokyo-Night-483-588-picture. htm| | * http://www. google. de/search? ource=ig&rlz=1G1SVED_ DEDE394&q=logo+armani+jeans#hl=de&tbo=d&rlz=1G1SVED_DEDE394&sclient=psy-ab&q=logo+armani+collezioni&oq=logo+armani+colle&gs_l=serp. 1. 0. 0i30j0i8i30l3. 2513. 15980. 0. 17458. 17. 17. 0. 0. 0. 0. 395. 4859. 2-13j4. 17. 0†¦ 0. 0†¦ 1c. 1. d2_ergZZgEg&pbx=1&bav=on. 2,or. r_gc. r_pw. r_qf. &fp=6d03cd0ad1005791&bpcl=38897761&biw=1366&bih=667| | * http://www. italiadesignerbrands. com/ekmps/shops/annajones198/resources/Design/aj-armani-jeans-logo-56aa0ab37e-seeklogo-com-1-20120718143314-8b93d953. gif| | * http://www. outlet-cities. e/uploads/pics/armani-logo. jpg | Press Release| | | * â€Å"FASHION LEGEND GIORGIO ARMANI ON CNN'S ‘TALK ASIA' – Press Releases – Turner Asia. †Ã‚  FASHION LEGEND GIORGIO ARMANI ON CNN'S ‘TALK ASIA' – Press Releases – Turner Asia. N. p. , n. d. Web. 13 Dec. 2012. | | * Armani SpA, Giorgio. â€Å"2009 Annual Report. †Ã‚  Giorgio Armani Press Release. 2010 Giorgio Armani SpA. Via Borgonuovo 11, Mila no. Printed in Italy, 2010. Web. 13 Dec. 2012. . | Websites| | | * â€Å"2011 Esc Pau Armani Final Ppt.   2011 Esc Pau Armani Final Ppt. N. p. , n. d. Web. 13 Dec. 2012. | | * â€Å"Armani. com Online Store – Autumn-Winter Collection 2012-13. †Ã‚  Armani. com-Online Store. N. p. , n. d. Web. 13 Dec. 2012. ;http://www. armani. com/gb;. | | * â€Å"ELLE a? â€Å" Home – Fashion, Kollektionen, Models, Designer, Mode, Style, Trends. †Ã‚  ELLE a? â€Å" Home. N. p. , n. d. Web. 13 Dec. 2012. | | * â€Å"Fashion News, Latest Trends, Catwalk Photos & Designers (Vogue. com UK). †Ã‚  Vogue UK. N. p. , n. d. Web. 13 Dec. 2012. | | * â€Å"Mode, Trends, Beauty Und People – VOGUE. †Ã‚  VOGUE. N. p. , n. d. Web. 13 Dec. 012. | | * â€Å"Oil Rich. †Ã‚  ELLE. N. p. , n. d. Web. 13 Dec. 2012. ;http://www. elle. com/;. | | * â€Å"Peta. de. †Ã‚  :: Pinocchio Armani. N. p. , n. d. Web. 13 Dec. 2012. ;http://www. peta. de/web/pinocchi oarmani. 1842. html;. | Youtube| | | * James Bond 007 Skyfall | International Trailer (2012) ; Gewinnspiel. †Ã‚  YouTube. YouTube, 31 July 2012. Web. 13 Dec. 2012. . | ——————————————– [ 1 ]. This research is based on my experiences of the internship I took part during Summer 2012 in London.