How Does Advertisement Influence People’s Behaviour?

In the modern world, advertisement is everywhere. In every abundance walk of life, there are huge competitions. As a result, advertisement has become more important. If you can be more noticeable, it means you would have chances to market. Therefore, advertising has great impact on different people. Advertising, is mainly used in market, refer to marketing message, which is presented by an identified sponsor in extinctive media such as the television, newspapers, radio, magazines and Internet. The term may be used to refer to message presentation in the marketplace.The term may also be extended to show a product in a television program or movie, which in order to target audience. This research paper focus on how does advertisement influence children and women on the society? Nowadays, advertisements can be found everywhere in our daily life.When you are walking on the street, you can see the advertisements in the shops or markets. When you are watching TV, advertisements appear betwe en programs. When you are reading newspapers, there are advertisements in the newspapers.Since advertisements are so popular in our daily life, they have great impact on the society and people’s behaviors. The influence can be in positive and negative ways. First of all, since advertisements are what we use to provide information for the customers, through advertisements, customers can get a lot of useful information like the functions of a product, the price of it and where they can buy it. In a manner of speaking, advertisements give us suggestions on what to buy and how to improve our life quality. Secondly, good advertisements can always stimulate consumer’s purchase desire.Such advertisements can usually help increase the sales of a kind of product. Therefore, advertisements can boot the profit of a company and stimulate the economy of a district. And they may create new fashion trends. Thirdly, good advertisements are usually great works of art, too.They are beau tiful and creative. So they have positive impacts on both the society and the people. Through advertisements, social aesthetic level can be raised, and people will be encouraged to appreciate beauty and to be creative. However, advertisements are not all good.They have bad impacts on the society and people’s behavior as well. As we all know, advertising is the most commonly used way by the companies to increase the sales. As a result, companies will try their best to attract audience even some times neglect bad impacts.Advertising is routinely being targeted to children in all over the world. â€Å" Media’s influence on children is mainly due to two dimensions-advertising and editorial/programming contended(O’ Guinn and Shrum,1997) –with advertising specifically intended to inform young consumers about products and encourage their purchase.†1 Because advertising makes effect on children, the media must impact the children, in other words, the child ren must reach the media, and then, interact with them. Children play passive role in the learning process, and they are good at imitating. When they are growing, they are trying to find a person such as their parents as models.Some of them will study on magazines; watch movies and TV shows to find out how to be a successful boy or girl. From the most fashionable hairstyle, the most popular music and dance, to the views to different kind of things.There are two ways that children can obtain about products. One is from parents, and the other one is from peers. Parents as consumer socialization agents. In western nations, it has been shown that parents teach children how to choose products, which are satisfied in the marketplace.Meanwhile, teaching them understand how to compare products in price and quality. Evidence shows that the more often that parents take young people shopping, the more aware the young people turn to purchasing information. Moreover, the communications among fam ily members may also impact young people’s interactions.Another significant evidence suggests that advertisement in television effect children a lot. Media influences most children’s requests for advertised products. Another important way young people can be affected is peers. At school, children spend long time studying or playing together.They can learn from each other what clothing styles are popular right now or how to wear can get more attention from others. In addition, peers influence a lot in children’s interaction for products. For example, they learn from their friends which stores are cheaper, which brands of selected products are much better.It is logical that if child A and child B are good friends, they always paly together, and if child A likes a brand of products, then child B will be influenced by child A, and start loving this brand of products. Also, there is an increasing evidence show that the more children affect each other, the more produc ts will be purchased by children.Thus, children are the huge consumer group in the world. The effect of advertisements on women in society. In the history, there is a standard of â€Å"beauty† during every period of time.But never like today, all kinds of media, especially television media, trying to teach us what is beauty should look like. In order to satisfy the needs males, advertisements are trying to define female beauty. Try to make women be seen as the aesthetic object and use this kind of â€Å" copy beauty† to attract consumers.Meanwhile, as a target group of consumer, women are apparently influenced by advertisements during watching process. The images in the advertising become emulating the target. In these pictures, the models are wearing pretty clothes, and they are having perfect bodies, long hair.They look sexy and attractive. In the society, this kind of advertising images are seen everywhere. Also, it influences women how they should look like and dre ss. For example, when several graceful air hostess who are dressing in a suit, having the long hair floats walking row tidy out from the plane.And telling others the reason why they have beautiful hair it is because they use â€Å"LOREAL† shampoo. After that, do you think women can just wait or ignore? All above, the unreal â€Å"female beauty† standard misled the female consumption. According to the stereotype image, there is few woman can achieve â€Å" young† and â€Å"beauty†.So, women start to re-create themselves. They use cosmetics, beauty, breast augmentation surgery and even cosmetic surgery to make themselves follow advertising images’ beautiful figures. As a result, women fall into the trap that shops made. Women accept advertising values, aesthetics propaganda and at the same time, they will act.Eventually, advertisement leads them to consume. It can be said that the whole industry are describing the â€Å" perfect female† in adv ertising, meanwhile, using women’s fear and upset feeling which is they are not as good as the models in the advertising to sell products to promote  consumption.Therefore, because of stereotyped advertisement, the consumption from women becomes modeled. â€Å"One study of a sample of Stanford graduates and undergraduates found that sixty-eight percent of students felt worse about their own appearances after reading women's magazines† (Crafting a Perfect Body).For example, â€Å"Allure† magazines, in 30 advertisements, 90% of them are thin Caucasian women who have long golden hair and blue eyes. Even the African American women, they changed hair to make it light and straight and try to look like Caucasian women.

Impact of External and Internal Factors on the Four Functions of Management

Impact of External and Internal Factors on the Four Functions of Management External and internal factors such as globalization, technology, innovation, diversity and ethics can greatly impact the four functions of management. Functions such as planning, organizing, leading, and controlling can be influenced by these different internal and external factors since organizations need to ensure that they are addressed properly for business success. In addition, knowing the external and internal factors help organizations in identifying the business risks that exist in the environment in which they operate.This paper will focus on United Way, a non-profit community-based organization that was initially found in communities, large and small, across the United States. Globalization Globalization has invoked extensive debate over its impact and credibility, giving rise to a number of perspectives. Indeed increased globalization has prompted remarkable economic growth around the world. It has led to job opportunities in making the products that are exchanged with different countries. This has produced specialization and comparative advantage.The power of foreign competition has encouraged domestic industries to innovate and it has allowed resources to flow to their highest use as well. Further, globalization is the process that increased the link and interdependence of the world markets and businesses. It is a route of interaction and integration of the people, companies, and governments of different nations, a process motivated by international trade and investment and aided by information technology. The volume of world trade has increased due to globalization.Consequently, more jobs are being available to people and consumers all over the world are enjoying a wider selection of products made from different countries. Today, United Way does not only serve in strengthening families, helping children and youth, and building stronger communities locally. Aside from its 1 300 local organizations in America, it has also 3000 organizations in 47 countries. Due to globalization, United Way is able to tap not only the local communities but the international communities as well.The organization is able to help other nations through United Way International. As of 2008, United Way International started new United Ways in some parts of India, Brazil, Peru, France, Argentina and Johannesburg, South East Asia, Latin America and South Africa. (United Way International, 2008). United Way raises sources through donations to be able to help people in need in different countries. Globalization has indeed impacted the four functions of United Way management since the organization now needs to consider developing the budget and business plans for a global organization.United Way’s Founding Committee discusses challenges of what may come up during this process. The committee chooses members that will oversee the board and hires the director and the first manag ement team who will spearhead during the changes due to globalization. Planning, organizing, leading, and controlling an organization that serves a bigger area need to implement changes in its conventional way of doing things to ensure that the same quality services are provided in all the countries that it serves. Technology Technology impacts management and business decisions on multiple levels.During the December 1999 Conference of the Alliance for Nonprofit Management, Executive Director Roni Posner states: Technology is the backbone of management and organizational effectiveness. It equips people with data and information that can be then synthesized into learning and knowledge; and, this knowledge is what gives organizations more powerful voices in, and greater impact on, community change–the ultimate goal of nonprofit capacity building. (Osten, 2001, para. 1). The United Way implements technological plans to remain competitive with fundraising and accounting, volunteer management and community services.To improve management of accounting and fundraising practices, nearly 200 United Way organizations are opting to use Sage Software’s MIP Fund Accounting application (Sage Software, 2005). MIP Fund Accounting is designed to ease reporting and transaction management for nonprofits. With this system, chart of accounts are easily created with transaction tracking capabilities. Reports are generated within the program and reporting cycles are significantly shortened by hours or even days. MIP Fund Accounting is user-friendly and easy-to-learn, with grouped tasks according to accounting functions (â€Å"Sage MIP fund accounting,† n. . ). In addition to incorporating technology to manage multiple account funds, United Way is developing new technologies to garner donor contributions. Donations are the economic capital United Way relies on to provide quality services in their respective communities. Thus, United Way must be creative in its pur suits to compete with other nonprofits for this income stream. One viable solution was the creation of the United eWay Consortium. The consortium, founded by Phoenix’s Valley of the Sun United Way, allows participating United Way agencies to create customized Web sites for online pledging.This system eliminates the use of paper pledges and makes donation tracking effortless for both United Way organizations and gifting firms (Wallace, 2001). Cash donations are not the only gifts needed by United Way to meet its organizational goals. Human resource donations or volunteers are a significant portion of the United Way workforce. Technology was again utilized by the nonprofit to meet managerial needs. A local United Way agency in Indiana launched an online matchmaking site to connect volunteers with giving opportunities.Volunteer Solutions is a medium used by area helping agencies to post their volunteer openings on the site. Potential volunteers register on the site and search fo r possible positions by their zip code, area of interest or agency name. When a match is found, volunteers are then notified. During the first week of its inception, Volunteer Solutions matched approximately 40 volunteers to local nonprofits (Davis, 2003). Not only does the United Way use technology to enhance business operations, the nonprofit also employs technology to better serve its constituents. United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta and its partners†¦piloted an electronic benefits calculator, a tool that streamlines the eligibility and enrollment process for federal, state and community benefits† (United Way of America, n. d. , pg. 11). Over a two-year period, awards for benefits increased by $453,000. Technology is an essential tool used by United Way to increase efficiency and allocation of resources, generate donor contributions and expand community services. Without the use of technology, United Way and its benefactors would not reap the benefits of its continued s uccess as a dominant nonprofit organization.Innovation Innovation is important for an organization to succeed in its endeavor. For a non-profit organization like United Way, innovation is significant in order to find more ways to help and serve communities in need better. Innovation can greatly impact the four functions of management since innovation needs to be considered in all functions of management to improve and advance the ways and means of United Way in serving people. Diversity Diversity is â€Å"variety of something, such as opinion, race, color, style and or gender† (â€Å"Diversity,† 2008, n. . ) In order for a company or organization to be diverse it needs to value diversity by respecting and appreciating all aspects of an individual, including race, gender, religion, skin color, nationality, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical abilities, age, parental status to name a few. That is what The United Way of America stands on and strives for. United Way is built up of all different walks of life and in order for the non-profit organization to be able to strive everyone must be able to get along and work well with each other.To make sure the organization stays diverse, United Way of America has formed a Diversity Cabinet to eliminate discrimination. United Way is made up of all types of individuals from every walk of life to form their cabinets, their volunteers and their customers. United Way’s Core Value statement is â€Å"Diversity and Inclusion are core values for United Way. We aspire every segment of the community in every aspect of our work and to demonstrate our commitment to and accountability for an inclusive environment in which differences are recognized, respected, valued and celebrated† (United Way, 2008, n. . ). United Way also feels that its inclusive and diverse organization gives the organization the opportunity to actively live and achieve its mission and values to attract, develop and return mor e diverse talent. It also helps the organization to grow and broaden its base of support from volunteers, donors and other stakeholders. Diversity also helps the United Way to model, facilitate and lead the collaborative efforts needed to make changes in community conditions. It is also a way to become innovative and develop better solutions leading to better performance and results.In addition, diversity enhances the organization’s reputation and brand in the philanthropic community and global market place (Live United, 2008, n. p. ). United Way does not care if an individual is someone who wants to be a volunteer or one of the organization  boards/committees or someone who needs the help. United Way is here to help. Ethics Code of Ethics in any organization is extremely important. Code of ethics deals with organizational values and principles and behaviors on what is and is not acceptable.It helps to ensure people are treated equally and justly in all matters. United Way does have Code of ethics and it may differ according to each location. However all communities in which the organization is located is governed by the overall America Code of ethics that United Way has set forth (â€Å"United Way of America Code of Ethics Guide, 2004). United Way code of ethics was created and discussed amongst the employees and volunteers and believe these codes will help the organization through the work that is encompassed each day.United Way code of ethics is based on core values which are: integrity, impact, volunteerism, inclusiveness and catalytic leadership In addition, the organization believes that the staff will be able to make great decisions that are legal and binding when ethical codes are set forth. Code of Ethics from United Way Association (UWA) (United Way of America Code, 2004) also ensures personal and professional integrity. UWA is motivated in performance to meet the mission. In addition, UWA believes communication is a powerful source when us ed effectively. Equal Opportunity is another important factor governed under the Code of Ethics.UWA believes conflict of interest could degrade the organization and should refrain from personal gain to include gifts that does not relate to the mission. To include, UWA no one should be family affiliated or dating within the organization because it is believed that it affects the appearance of impartiality. Confidentiality and privacy is believed to be handled at a professional level in the UWA organization by respecting the privacy rights of individuals and to make sure information is not disclosed. United Way is committed to the highest ethical standards. It has an obligation to everyone to act ethically at all times.United Way believes that its continued success comes from everyone affiliated with the organization who lives by the code of ethics. United Way came up with their code of ethics by collaborating with their employees, volunteers and anyone else with interest (United Way of America Code, 2004). Holding an organization to a high ethical standard will always set the organization apart from other organizations. The United Way is such a highly reputable organization due to the implementation of its code of ethics. Delegation in Managing the Impacts of External and Internal FactorsManagers can use delegation to manage the impact that the factors have on the four functions of management by ensuring that the process of delegation is done well. One person can not run the show all on his/her own. Delegation plays a huge role in getting the job done successfully. In order to make this happen there must be a clear plan of action. All parties have to be informed as to what duties they are responsible for and how those duties must be carried out. There must be clarity that supports how the responsibilities will be completed and if support from other team members is needed for that completion.These things must be  discussed in the planning and or organization s tages. There has to be contingency plans and structure to any project in which a manager is delegating responsibilities. Delegation of responsibilities, projects, duties or tasks can be a double-edged sword. In order for a manager to manage effectively it has to be used with finesse. The parties that a manager delegates tasks should be responsible and trustworthy. While it is not always possible to do so, it is important to implement accountability to each team responsible for every task.Delegation will only work if the manager who is delegating also does his/her job properly. Follow-up and constructive feedback is important for the delegation process to be effective. Conclusion The external and internal factors can indeed impact the four functions of management. As observed in the United Way organization, globalization, technology, innovation, diversity and ethics can affect planning, organizing, leading, and controlling of its organization. While globalization has helped United Wa y in serving other countries in need it has also impacted the four functions of management. Considerations now need to be done in a larger scale.The four functions of management have to be done in a global scale with the same standards as the organization has locally. Technology impacts the four functions of management on multiple levels. Proper planning on what technology to use, organizing the people who needs to spearhead the use of new technologies, leading and controlling the people who will be involved in the use of different technologies need to be considered. If these are not done, the effectiveness of the technologies that the organization uses may not be fully maximized. Innovation impacts the four functions of management since innovation needs to be considered in ll functions of management to improve and advance the ways and means of United Way in serving people. Diversity can also impact the functions of management since most organizations like United Way has diverse emp loyees that can affect the decisions that are involved in planning, organizing, leading, and controlling of its organization. Ethics can also impact the four functions of management since an organization cannot create good credibility without acceptable code of ethics. Thus, it is essential that internal and external factors are considered when using the four functions of management.References Davis, A. M. (2003, August 18). Technology connects volunteers: local United Way launches online matchmaking service. Indianapolis Business Journal, 24(23), 3, 60. Retrieved September 14, 2008, from Gale PowerSearch database. Diversity. (2008). In Encarta World English Dictionary Online. Retrieved September 14, 2008 from Live United: United Way: Diversity and inclusion. (2008). Retrieved September 14, 2008 from Osten, M. (2001, May). Technology and nonprofit management: Themes from the conference of the alliance for nonprofit management. Nonprofit Online News.Retrieved September 14, 2008, from http://news. gilbert. org/features/featureReader$3842? print-friendly=true Sage MIP fund accounting. (n. d. ) In Sage Software. Retrieved September, 14, 2008, from http://www. sagenonprofit. com/products/fundaccount/ Sage Software continues to attract United Way organizations. (2005, August-September). The National Public Accountant, 4(4), 19. Retrieved September 14, 2008, from Gale PowerSearch database. United Way International. 2008. Official website of United Way International. Retrieved September 14, 2008 from http://uwint. org/devfinal/ United Way of America. n. d. ). Goals for the common good: The United Way challenge to America. Retrieved September 14, 2008, from http://www. liveunited. org/goals/upload/UW_Common_Good. pdf United Way of America Code of Ethics Guide. (2004). In United Way. Retrieved September 14, 2008 from United Way: United Way of Greater Los Angeles: Creating Pathways Out of Poverty. (2008). In United Way Los Angeles. Retrieved September 14, 2008 from Walla ce, N. (2001, April 5). Technology: New online option for United Ways. Chronicle of Philanthropy, 13(12), 36. Retrieved September 13, 2008, from EBSCOhost database.

Is Price the Only Factor That Determines a Buyer’s Decision Essay

When consuming products and services, customers pay attention to several factors to make sure that they have made a sensible decision. Perhaps, the very first thing to be taken into account, under some circumstances, is price. However, it should not always be the sole consideration for purchasing decisions. From my point of view, apart from price, there are other determinants that can have a strong impact on a buyer’s decision, namely quality, buyer psychology and commitments that a firm offers its customers. To begin with, it can be said for sure that for most wise consumers, the quality of products or services is remembered long whereas the price is soon forgotten. When people make up their mind to consume something, they definitely want it to be worthy of their money. To be more specific, they are willing to have their ideal products although their prices can, sometimes, be very costly simply because of their durability. Long-lasting products are preferable, especially for careful consumers who are always in pursuit of the stability of the products. From another context, in terms of buyer psychology, many customers are not afraid of high cost to own certain products since not only do the products serve their needs, but they also help them to express their fashion-consciousness and status. For example, fashionable clothes enjoy increasing demand from celebrities every year though the producers set high prices. In addition, pricing low does not always work, even it can be counter-productive because consumers may assume that the products are below normal standards or the firm is going bankruptcy, which may lead to the damage of the company’s image and prestige. Last but not least, commitments to customers that a producer makes are also of great importance. These commitments usually come along with guarantees or after-sales services. Customers may pay higher amount of money for the products, however, in exchange, they are certain that they can have substitutes or indemnities when problems associated with the products happen. In other word, regardless of high prices, consumers are satisfied because they are offered certainty. In these cases, prices are also not the matter. In general, price is a significant factor that affects buyer decisions, but it is not the only determinants. Wise customers always seek for perfection from the products or services; hence, price should only be one of the aspects to be considered.

HS5500 FINAL RESEARCH PAPER Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

HS5500 FINAL - Research Paper Example Furthermore, it is found that spies play an important role in enhancing the safety of citizens of nations from various threats of terrorism and other enemies. In modern day scenario, crime and terrorism activities are firmly embedded within the societies and are increasing at a rapid rate. As a consequence, governments of every country are largely determined towards enhancing their security and intelligence services. In this regard, the roles of spies or secret agents have grown to be of paramount importance. It has been ascertained that the concept or the idea of having spies in security services of countries has increased considerably in recent years. Spying or espionage for government security agency generally involves obtaining confidential information without the consent of the holder. However, activities performed by spies or secret agents are mostly considered to be illegal and immoral (Clapper, 2012). With these considerations, the paper emphasizes certain crucial information about the impact that spies usually have on intelligence. In everyday life, people interact with various kinds of other individuals having different cultures, origins and behaviors. Among them, it is often very difficult to identify spies or secret agents as they are trained in a way that enables them to represent themselves every time as a different person with diverse identities. However, there are certain characteristics of intelligence secret agents that can be considered while differentiating them from general public or civilians (Kackman, 2013). As mentioned above, there are certain characteristics of spies that differentiate them from others. It has been observed that intelligence agents or spies are aware of almost all the latest technologies and are also able to make the best use of these technologies during certain critical and complicated circumstances. It has been

Phases of Transition for Nurses Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Phases of Transition for Nurses - Essay Example The gaps between theory and praxis will percolate within their system, as the abyss between reality and expectation brings innate confusion and perplexity. Phases of Transition for Nurses Duchscher (2001) explained that transition shock reinforces the need for new graduates to bridge their educational curricula with increasing workplace expectations with the aim of integrating new nursing professionals into such rigorous and dynamic context of healthcare practice. The transition phases include the following: a. The Honeymoon phase- this is the phase when a new practitioner attempts to reconcile one’s excitement and enthusiasm in the performance of job with such oozing expectations. New graduates express comfortability in the learning the variables from patients; not only settling on default information but also of other possibilities (Duchscher, 2001). They perform their new in accordance to standard policies of the practice in accordance to set of rules and standards set by t he medical institution with hope that they will be accorded with necessary counselling, mentoring, guidance, and evaluative care from their respective managers (Duchscher, 2001). ... b. Shock and Rejection– The feeling of shock and rejection often happens when the new practitioner’s expectation and assumption seemed to be incompatible or is in a mismatched to the empirical realities and demands of one’s job. When the feeling of shock is not remedied or not responded positively, frustration and disappointment may seep in the practitioner’s system. Confronted by this possibility, it is significant that neophyte healthcare provider should be oriented thoroughly of the demands of the job, the policies inherent in their respective duties, the potential stresses that their profession entails, as well as the standards imposed upon them as institutional protocols of the profession. Such orientation will help them cope from the competitive nature of their profession that require their core competence and positive attitude in dealing with the multiple tasks embedded in healthcare delivery. Guidance, mentoring, and professional support from the m edical institution’s management could help provide psycho-emotional balance to new practitioners amid variants present in medical care. It is also significant that new practitioners are able to understand exactly the caring profession hence, there is an imperative for them to act in accordance to their professional and ethical goals while providing support and compassion to patients or clients. Healthcare advocates should fully transcend the hassles and stresses of criticism, lack of support, or maybe those mockeries-- at an optimal level to meet their oath and to cope against potential rejection. It is therefore important that they too are able to understand the entire operational mechanism and framework of healthcare

Psychological effect of Leishmaniasis Assignment

Psychological effect of Leishmaniasis - Assignment Example Due to lack of knowledge and literacy, the people in these areas find it better to keep away from such patients in order to avoid being affected by it themselves. These patients face a discouraging behave from everyone, and everywhere they go. In their report, Kassi et al. have mentioned the case of a poor girl suffering from Leishmaniasis, who was deprived of her basic education just because she was a victim of this disease. In addition, nobody was ready to marry her, due to this problem. [2] An important factor of these psychological effects is the involvement of the exposed parts of the body, like the facial lesions affecting nose and ears and sometimes leading to severe disfiguring of face; thus further increasing the social isolation of the patient. We prepared our report on the basis of the interviews conducted with the affected persons. There were ten male and ten female patients interviewed. Out of the ten male patients, five were between thirty to forty years of age, while the other five were above fifty years of age. Moreover, all of them had Leishmaniasis affecting their arms or legs. The questions conducted in our report comprised of questions covering the psychological effects of Leishmaniasis. This questioner is about asking the effects of this disease on patient’s personal life, family life, spouse relationships, disturbance at job place, psychological effects like embarrassment ant depression, outcome of this disease, social communication and also about any ways adopted by the patient to get rid of this lesion. The results of this short survey show different facts for the male and female patients. Among the male patients, it is seen that the psychological as well as social effects of Leishmaniasis were associated basically with the patients between the age group thirty to forty, while those above fifty, seemed to be less affected by such affects. While for the female patients, almost all of them suffered with

Critically analyze the impact that terrorism has had on tourism Essay

Critically analyze the impact that terrorism has had on tourism - Essay Example Tourism generally wields tremendous economic benefits and in some countries, it remains an economic backbone. When tourism is conducted well it has social, political, economic, cultural, and environmental developments that boost a country and its society. Tourism offers a significant number of jobs especially in the hotel and transport industries that provide direct services to the tourists (Korstanje & Clayton, 2012, pp.8-25). Tourism involves enjoyment and relaxation while terrorism intends to cause death and fear (Liu, 2010, pp.8-25). Terrorism attacks in a country lead to vulnerability of tourism through the exposure of traumatizing images to the clients making uncomfortable. They cannot enjoy with fear. The ideology is perpetuated against unknowing civilians and unarmed members of the disciplinary forces, in an attempt to seek an audience from a government or an authority. The fact that terrorism targets innocent civilians, it means that there is indiscriminate killing of people including tourists. The primary objective of terrorism is creating fear through coercion and killings, leading to decline of tourism (Morgan, 2009, pp.7). According to Abraham Maslow, it is impossible to satisfy the human nature when their basic need of security is threatened. The fear of being attacked vehemently reduces the number of tourists in a particular destination leaving a country economically stunted and devastated. Terrorism being a global threat, has necessitated coming up with formidable strategies such as, the formation of â€Å"tourism against terrorism action group† that facilitates better communication between stakeholders, introducing destination tourist intelligence officers and the Sensitization of tourists on terrorism before going for a trip. The pointed measures can alleviate the impacts that terrorism has on tourism (Stickel, 2011,

Introduction to Microeconomics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Introduction to Microeconomics - Essay Example Figure 1 shows the pattern of farm gate prices: In 2004-2005, UK still remained as the lowest farm gate priced dairy producer for the 7th consecutive year. Comparing prices, the UK has a 37% gap as compared to Italy who receive a milk price of 35.8 euros/100kg compared to UK at 25.9. The reasons that were deemed to have caused this low farm gate price are the industries poor selling systems, bad forward contracts, excess profits up the dairy food chain, too much spring milk and currency effect or the  £ / Euro relationship. However, even with the loss of farmers, the UK milk and dairy industry has grown gradually but steadily since 1998 and the total value of the market increased by 2.9% to  £7.23bn in 2002 (DEFRA, 2006b).Why then in spite of the loss of producers, is the industry thriving? A September 2005 report by the Milk Development Council revealed that there was a discrepancy between the profits received by sectors of the supply chain. That is, some of them are earning excessive profits at the expense of the others. The report showed that supermarket, retail and processor gross margins on dairy products have increased over the past 10 years. Farm gate prices were also higher on average during 2004 as compared to 2003 but this increase was minimal as can be seen by the figure below: The problem now becomes apparent. The farm gate prices being low, it is expected that local and international sales of the product would be high. This is because low production costs usually mean low sales price. However, because of the high margin imposed on the product by businessmen, the products total production costs becomes much larger leading to higher sales price. This translates to lower sales volume because there is an inverse relationship between price and demand. This unfair share of profits and the low farm gate are what caused Scottish dairy farmers to conduct a blockade over the countrys major milk

Money, Banking, and Financial Markets Assignment - 1

Money, Banking, and Financial Markets - Assignment Example 3). Around the world key indexes are on the rise, fuelled by the reduction in the benchmark interest rates by the Central Bank of China (The Globe and Mail Par. 4). The Eurozone has also announced it is acquiring assets in a move to bolster the economy of that region (The Globe and Mail Par. 4). The Canadian dollar is growing against other currencies, and there is an expectation that there will be an increase in Interest Rates by the Bank of Canada to reflect on the new levels of inflation. Moves made by the Government have situated Canada as an inexorably appealing spot to open and develop a business. A solid and aggressive business environment, thusly, helps the economy develop (The Globe and Mail Par. 4), makes new occupations and raises our expectation for everyday life. The Government has conveyed duty decreases totaling more than $60 billion to occupation making organizations from 2008–09 through 2013–14 (Bankofcanada.ca Par. 23). To build business investment and enhance gainfulness, the government general corporate pay assessment rate was diminished to 15 for every penny in 2012 from 22.12 for every penny in 2007 (Bankofcanada.ca Par. 23), including the disposal of the corporate surtax in 2008 for all organizations. In recognition of the especially unsafe impact that capital expenses have on business investment, the government capital expense was killed in 2006. The Government likewise gave an interim money related motivating force to urge the prov inces to dispose of their general capital expenses (Bankofcanada.ca Par. 24). The last commongeneral capital duty was dispensed with in 2012. To empower the development of little organizations by abandoning them with duty funds that can be held and reinvested in the business, the little business assessment rate was decreased to 11 for every penny in 2008, and the measure of wage qualified for

Risk of Derivatives Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Risk of Derivatives - Essay Example Derivatives are either traded in stock markets or can be quickly made or created through any financial institution (including banks). Derivatives are widely used these days by corporate entities and other users in order to manage and control the risks associated with financial transactions and to limit the risks of changes in rates of commodities, interest rates, market conditions, or foreign currency rates. Derivatives can occur in many forms and types â€Å"including futures, forwards, swaps, options, structured debt obligations, and deposits,† (Comptroller of the Currency Administrator of National Banks, 1997, p. 1). These financial instruments produce many risks for the users and both the parties involved (that is, the drawer and the drawee of the derivative contracts). Some of the dangers include the risk of change in the price of the derivative itself, a change in interest rates, and a change in foreign exchange rates, if applicable, to name only a few. In this paper, the manageability of risks of derivatives, as per the given text, is discussed and evaluated. The ideas of Thomas A. Bass, who considers that the risks of derivatives are manageable are compared and evaluated with the ideas presented by Justin Welby who argues that the risks of derivatives are not controllable. The management of risks associated with the use of derivatives and the ideas and conclusions of two authors, Bass and Welby, were discussed. In his article, â€Å"The Ethics of Derivatives and Risk Management,† Welby’s view was that the vast use of derivatives in the financial markets these days in order to reduce certain financial risks and control them is itself quite dangerous. However, the risks associated with the derivatives are quite doable with the help of implementing ethical investment policies, including transparency, governance, and so forth. He believed that derivatives are those financial instruments that can be used to â€Å"alter the risk profiles† rather

Implementation and communication of a strategic plan Essay

Implementation and communication of a strategic plan - Essay Example ication could improve the effectiveness in the organization through enabling various stakeholders to be apprised of any significant changes in the strategic plan; especially those who would be most affected by the changes. When any transformations in strategies are made and not communicated, those who are expected to carry out the changes would not be able to effectively implement these. As such, the intended goals, which these plans are supposed to achieve, would not be effectively attained. Employees are considered one of the crucial stakeholders of the company. They ensure that the goals of the organization are achieved. Strategies are designed to provide the direction towards accomplishing these goals. As such, it is important for employees to know the strategic plan of a company to enable them to follow the guidelines and directions that would facilitate the achievement of goals (Green, 2011). Otherwise, much resources (time, money and effort) would be wasted if the strategic plan is not appropriately communicated to those who are expected to fulfill the goals of the organization. Green, H. (2011, March 16). Why Engaging Your Employees Is The Answer To Strategic Planning. Retrieved from Forbes:

What Are Some Obstacles You May Face as a Teacher Essay Example for Free

What Are Some Obstacles You May Face as a Teacher Essay What are some obstacles you may face as a teacher, and according to the context in this unit, how can you overcome these? Throughout their careers, teachers face many obstacles in their classroom that may hinder their teaching. These obstacles come in many different shapes and sizes. It is the effective and successful teacher who is able to overcome these obstacles while maintaining a happy, positive and joyful attitude. A teacher must remember that it is not the information they possess along with various skills that affects teaching, rather it the ability to overcome challenges in a positive manner that impacts on learning. Some of the many obstacles a teacher may face are; engaging unmotivated children in the classroom, promoting positive conditioning and reinforcement and accommodating those with development disabilities (Symonds, 1941). Keeping students motivated in the classroom and out is an obstacle many teachers will face. Unmotivated students tend to have negative attitudes, a general dislike for school, give up easily on set tasks and are the major cause of classroom disruption (Eggen Kauchak, 2010). These factors lead to students having a negative impact on other students in the classroom, thus making teaching difficult for the teacher. In order for the teacher to motivate these students, different theories of motivation such as behaviourist and humanistic must be implemented. These theories focus on motivating students through rewards and encourage them to reach their total potential not only as students but also as human beings (Eggen Kauchak, 2010). Although many critics believe that rewards send the wrong message to students about learning, many teachers use them as forms of motivation in the classroom. Rewards such as computer time, free time, praise and candy incite children to continue performing well. Also compassionate and caring teachers who care about their students both as human beings and pupils contribute to their motivation (Eggen Kauchak, 2010). When teachers show that they are concerned for their pupils, make time to talk to them individually, ask them about their problems and maintain high expectations in them, they are indirectly encouraging students to keep up their efforts and inciting them to do even better. Educators who display unconditional positive regard in their students, which, as defined by Eggen Kauchak (2010, p. 88) is, â€Å"the belief that someone is innately worthy regardless of their behaviour,† contribute to the personal growth of students as students accept their mistakes as part of their make-up and are encouraged to rise above them by challenging themselves to tackle academically stimulating assignments and activities and completing set tasks because they want to and not because they have to (Eggen Kauchak, 2010). Once the obstacle of engaging unmotivated students has been overcome, motivation levels need to be kept at a high at all times regardless of students performance. This can be achieved through positive reinforcement . â€Å"Positive reinforcement is the process of increasing the frequency or duration of a behaviour as a result of presenting a reinforcer† (Eggen Kauchak). In classrooms, teachers need to use positive reinforcers rather than show negative behaviour to encourage students to do better next time, repeat their good actions and increase positive behaviour. For example, Students are disappointed and miserable after performing poorly on a test. The teacher instead of telling the students off and pointing out all their mistakes, should give positive feedback to the students by telling them how well they performed in certain areas and where they improved. The teacher should then gently point out to the students the areas they had difficulty in without criticizing them and encourage them to partake in a class discussion on how they can improve in these areas. Then the teacher should present an incentive such as bonus points, stickers or a most improved certificate for those students who perform better on the next test. By using this approach, the teacher is giving both positive and negative feedback on performance and at the same time reinforcing students with a rewards incentive encouraging them to try their hardest next time. This type of reinforcement coupled with positive feedback tends to be the most effective (Jones, 2007). Another way teachers can offer positive reinforcement is by implementing the Premack principle. The Premack principle, named after David Premack is â€Å"the principle stating that a more-desired activity can serve as a reinforcer for a less-desired activity† (Eggen Kauchak, 2010, p. 69). Teachers often implement this strategy in their class sessions by offering them incentives to finish a certain task. In addition to the above positive reinforcement strategies, positive reinforcement also occurs through a teachers behaviour (Eggen Kauchak, 2010). When students are engaged in a lesson and indicate through their actions that they are involved in the lesson, then they are called on by the teacher to give their opinion on the topic as it is evident that they are fully aware of what is being discussed. Teachers who are able to implement positive reinforcement in their classrooms will ultimately get more out of their students than those who implement negative reinforcement . Another major obstacle teachers may face in the classroom is accommodating those students with development disabilities . Every individual being develops at a different rate and this is not any different for students. Students, regardless of being the same age or in the same year level tend to develop at different rates to each other. A common form of disability that is found in many classrooms today is intellectual disability . According to Fuchs, 2006; Nokelainen Flint, 2002, as cited in Eggen Kauchak (2010, p. 142), â€Å"intellectual disability is either caused by genetic factors, such as down syndrome, or brain damage to the fetus during pregnancy†. In order for teachers to be able to accommodate students with this disability they need to be aware of the characteristics of it as some of these characteristics tend to affect learning directly. These characteristics include but are not limited to; weak motor skills, underdeveloped interpersonal skills, poor memory, weak reading and language skills and little knowledge of the outside world (Eggen Kauchak, 2010). The theory relating to teachers overcoming the obstacle of having intellectually disabled students in their class is to include these students in the mainstream sessions conducted where instruction is modified to meet the needs of these students and help their social development (Eggen Kauchak, 2010). Case study shows and proves that students with intellectual disabilities want to participate in the same activities, be given the same reading material, handed out the same homework, issued the same judging criteria and be able to join in the same activities as their classmates. The same study showed that the peers of those with intellectual disabilities agreed with this as every child should be given a fair chance (Klingner Vaughn, 1999). Also, in order to ensure ease for teachers teaching those with intellectual disability and to ensure those students that have development disabilities receive the education they re entitled to, the federal government has set requirements that educators who teach students with disabilities must guarantee a free and suitable public education, instruct children in the least constricting setting, protect against bias in testing, include parents in developing each child’s learning program and develop an individually tailored education program of education for each student (Eggen Kauchak, 2010, p. 133). Teachers who adhere to these guidelines and take heed of the advice given and implement the findings of the case study will find that teaching those with development disabilities will no longer remain an obstacle. Rather it will become an educative and joyful experience . In conclusion there are many obstacles that a teacher will face in their teaching career. Their success will not be determined through avoidance of these obstacles but rather it will be determined through overcoming these obstacles in the most positive manner they can. Teachers who are able to develop motivation, promote positive conditioning and reinforcement and accommodate those with learning disabilities while keeping students successfully engaged and absorbed have indeed overcome some of the most difficult hurdles faced in their teaching career.

Inditexs Zara: An Analysis

Inditexs Zara: An Analysis The overall focus of this dissertation will be the Spanish organization Inditex, in particular its clothing brand Zara. More specifically it will concentrate on Inditexs past and current performance and its unique business model. In order to effectively write this dissertation it will be split into five sections. In the second section a brief overview of the company, operational and financial performance will be described as it is vital to establish an understanding of Inditexs background before commencing on further analysis. The third section will provide an industry analysis in relation the organisations business environment which will include a PEST analysis and Porters Five Forces model analysis. This will allows for an understanding of Inditexs external business environment which can then be used to analyze the marketing strategy (PEST) and an understanding of the industry in which Inditex is located (Porter). The next section involves an evalutation of Inditexs business strate gy through all stages of business process; design, manufacturing, distribution and marketing stages. The fifth section consists of the business model analysis and a SWOT analysis of Inditex. The business analysis explains why Inditex use a vertical integration model and the SWOT analysis allows for clear evaluation of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the organization. The final section offers a series of recommendations that I will put forward based on my research and analysis carried out in the preceding sections. The company overview 2.1 The company profile Inditex ( Industria de Diseno Textil) is a global fashion retailer and has expanded rapidly to become one of the largest fashion retailers in the whole world. The company designed, manufactured and retail apparel, footwear and accessories for women, men and children through its seven apparel retail chains: Zara, Bershka, Stradivarius, Massimo Dutti, Oysho, Pull and Bear, Skhuaban. Each of these brands targets varied market segments in terms of age and disposable income. The group owns more than a hundred companies involved in different textile, manufacturer, infrastructure and distribution businesses. At the end of the 2009, the group operated 4607 stores around the world. At the beginning, Inditexs operations were mainly focused on its domestic market in Spain with the first Zara shop was opened in 1975. Following on the company has expanded internationally quite quickly within clothing sector. History of Inditex In 1963, Amancio Ortega Gaona, Inditexs founder, founded confecciones Goa to manufacture products such as housecoats. As the demand increased, the company integrated forward into retailing, then the first Zara store was opened in 1975. Zara stores expanded quickly within Spain market. In 1985, Inditex was founded as the holding company of the group of businesses operating at the time. In 1988, Zara opened its first store outside of Spain and began to expand internationally. In 1991 , Pull Bear was founded, and Inditex bought 65% of the Massimo Dutti Group in 1991. Shortly afterwards, Inditex acquired 100% of Massimo Dutti Group and launched its first shop in 1995. Inditex launched the Bershka chain and then acquired Stradivarius respectively in 1998 and 1999. Soon after, the group launched Oysho chain in 2001 and Zara home in 2003. Zara home was introduced as Inditexs first online store in 2007. Exhibit 1 Timeline of Inditex Picture 1.png 2.3 Products Mix Over past few decades, Inditex has built its own multi-brand portfolio, which has allowed Inditex to target various market segments more effectively. The group uses a multi-brand name strategy to diversify their seven endorsed brands and one extended brand. Zara is the flagship brand of Inditex . Although Pull and Bear and Massimo Dutti are both fashion brands for women and men, their target market is different. The former brand targets a younger group with more leisure and sports based design, while the latter one targets men and women from 24 to 45 providing a higher quality. Bersha and Stradivarius provide elegant and latest fashion for only young woman. Exhibit 2 Inditexs brand portfolio 2.4 Financial Performance and comparison Exhibit 4 Total revenue Exhibit 5 Net profit margin Operating profit margin and return on capital employed  ¼Ã‹â€ ROCE ¼Ã¢â‚¬ ° are two indicators used to evaluate profitability of the firm. The comparison of net profit margins between Inditex and its main competitors over the same period is another indicator to show how effective a company is at cost control and profitability. Net profit margins are calculated from the Net profit divided by net revenues. The net profit margin is a good measure to compare companies in the same industry due to similar business environment all companies confronted. The higher the net profit margin is, the more profitable the company is. To put it in another way, the more effective the company is at converting sales into profit . According to exhibit 4, we can see that HM have strong capacity to consistently convert around 22% of its total revenue into profit; Inditexs net profit margin is similar. However, when compared with Inditex and HM, GAP has lowest net profit margin. Exhibit 6 Return on capital employed Exhibit 6, above, demonstrates return on capital employed (ROCE) demonstrating how much profit a company can earn from the investments of its shareholders have made in their company. It basically is used to show how much a company is gaining from its capital. In figure 6, GAP underperforms in this measure, not just due to low profit levels, but also because of huge amount of capital in order to generate profit. However, GAPs return on capital employed ratio is increasing gradually. On the other hand, Inditex requires higher capital per unit of profit than HM. there has been a decline in its ROCE ratio since 2007. HM vastly outperforms all other firms. Inditex invests more than HM in fixed assets dues to its vertical integration. Inditex has 5371 million euro in assets, plants and equipment ¼Ã‹â€ Inditex Annual Report, 2009 ¼Ã¢â‚¬ °, while HM only has 661 million euro. This is the main reason that HM has much more higher ROCE ratio than Inditex. Inditexs business model focuses mai nly on vertical integration and in-house production. While at the same time outsourcing is becoming a popular trend in clothing industry. Inditexs closest comparable competitors had narrower vertical scope than Inditex but outsourced all productions. In todays competitive business environment, more and more companies choose to send out non-core operations or their manufacturing sections to a supplier in order to reduce the cost by specializing and making the firm focus purely on its core operation. This is due to the low labor cost in some developing countries such as China and Vietnam. On the other hand, there are some companies that constantly try to gain control over as many sections as possible within entire value chain, usually by in-house production. 3. Industry Analysis The culture of fashion has been changed from haute couture and ready-to-wear to fast fashion. Generally, fast fashion retailers do not heavily invest in the creation of fashion trend and designs, but instead are inspired by the most attractive and promising trends spotted at fashion shows and by cues taken from mainstream consumers (Agins, 1999; Reinach,2005). They are able to keep up with these new fashion trends and add them into their products that can be provided on the market almost immediately with relatively lower price. Fast fashion is dominating the industry on the premise of several conditions. Firstly, short lead times and life cycles are two of key precondition of fast fashion. Secondly, considerable number of retail stores can reach potential customers. In addition, a very fast supply chain is required to connect customers demand with upstream operations from design, manufacture to distribution. Nowadays, more and more fashion retailers across the world engaged in this kind of fast fashion race. They make every effort to minimize the time in which they respond to fashion trends and the speed of their supply chains. For examples, Spanish Inditex (Zara), US GAP, Swedish company Hennes Mauritz (HM). British Topshop and Next, all focus on a fast fashion model. This fast fashion retail can be divided into two categories: some with factories to produce its products represented by Zara (Inditex); some without manufacturing competencies of their own such as HM and Gap, which therefore means they outsource production to labor intensive countries. 3.1 PESTEL Analysis Political factors Since 2005 the global system of quota has phased out, textile and apparel industry entered the global free market. In the meanwhile, the textiles and apparel market has become more competitive than before and has also become more intense for the small and marginal players due to such intense competition. It seems that large fashion companies such as Inditex, HM, can dominate the fashion industries due to economy of scale, which gives big companies lower cost per unit resulting from increased production. Also, the remove of all import quotas in clothing industry gives Indiex access to a larger market to operate with greater geographical reach and then generates more sales. Economic factors The world is facing global economic recession. Consequently, the business environment is difficult to operate within, which in turn has a huge influence on textile industry and fashion industry. This due to rising unemployment, the so-called credit crunch and reduced disposable income forcing changes in consumers spending habits. Many consumers have become more price-sensitive and cautious. Consumers are more likely to cut budgets on apparel and fashion accessories. Such a change allows Inditex to attract more consumers shopping at its chain stores. Social factors Strong brands play a significant role in sales, because consumers prefer branded products as oppose to generic products. Most consumers value highly good branded products or services. Even though many companies went to bankruptcy in economic recession, most Brand fashion retail still managed to remain profitable. In the international fashion retail market, strong brand identity is very important. This is not only a precondition to attract customers, but also is a foundation of global expansion. Inditex not only provides fast fashion with relative lower price, but focus on brands building as well. Technological factors Technology is not only limited to companies within the software and computer industry such as Microsoft and Intel. Currently, technology plays a very important role on the fashion industry. With the increased competition, companies are taking advantage of IT to improve its Supply Chain Management (SCM) and using it to ensure a competitive advantage is gained. Many fashion companies are relying on the technological capabilities to add value to their products. More and more companies have adopted an online shopping platform to enhance their service and increase sales. Legal factors The fashion industry has been calling for stronger worldwide copyright protection and intellectual property protection for fashion designs because they fear major losses to their competitors. Fridolin Fischer pointed out that a dynamic interaction between innovation and imitation can be seen as a competition. Indeed, new innovation creates superior products; imitation makes these products more available to a greater number of consumers. Therefore, a lively imitation process is crucial for dynamic competition. It is true in reality, but it is not fair to the designer. At present, more developed countries expand their copyright Law to include fashion designs, fashion design owners would be granted the exclusive right to place their design on the marketplace. These copyright Act will limit the development of some fast fashion retailer, such as Zara. Environmental factors The environmental impact of the textile and apparel industry stems from its consumption of energy and toxic chemicals. The apparel industry contributes to climate change indirectly through the burning of fossil fuels to create electricity which is used to produce chemical materials which are then used as raw material to take place of cotton. Other major energy consumed involves using fuel for agricultural machinery and for distribution. Toxic chemicals are used widely in cotton planting and in many manufacturing stages such as pre-treatment, dyeing and printing. The volume waste from the fashion industry has become higher because of the advent of fast fashion. It is undeniable as regard to the current situation that the Fast fashion is causing a pollution issue due to shorted clothing life cycle, which has more negative impacts on environment. 3.2 Five Force Analysis Fashion apparel is a highly competitive business industry that is completely internationalized and posses no boundaries to its operations. The fashion retail industry is a large, mature and highly competitive industry. The annual growth rate of the market was about ** in the past decade. In 2009, total apparel sales were 362 billion. However, high fragmentation gives rise to intensive competition and price pressure in this market. Porters Five-Forces Model will be used to illustrate business environment of apparel industry. Threat of entry The apparel industry has very low entry barriers. Entry does not require huge amount of capital, workshops can be set up with workers with relative low skills. However, the economy of scale in production has significant impact on the entrant. It forces the entrants either to accept cost disadvantage or produce in a large scale. On the other hand brand identification and production differentiation plays the significant role, because brand identification creates a barrier to entry. Threat of substitutes The threat of substitution in this market is very high. The threat comes from other apparel retailers, designer retailers and tailor houses. On the other hand, Generic substitution is more likely to present a threat by offering products at lower prices. Power of buyers Todays buyers have more purchasing power than ever before. Customers demand high quality, a large variety and more frequent changes in the choice available to them. They want the exact garment they require when they want it and accessories in their preferred color and size in same store. This is the reason that retailers differentiate its product in order to satisfy the consumers needs. This is done by ensuring there are alternative sources of supply available for consumer and the cost of switching is almost zero. Inditex exactly meets the these customer demand by offer most fashionable clothes to cover various target markets at inexpensive price. Power of suppliers Power of suppliers in apparel market is low because most of fashion retailers outsourced the production section to developing countries, switching costs are low, buyes brands is powerful enough to get strong bargain power. There existing fashion retail brands command strong enough bargaining power to attain low costs. Therefore, the possibility of forward integration and suppliers customers are not fragmented. One the other hand, Inditex has more bargain power due to its vertical integration business model. Competitive rivalry The apparel industry, due to its low barriers of entry and declined obstacles to trade among nations, is one of the most highly competitive industries in the world. Hennues and Mauritz (HM) and Gap are Inditexs major competitors in terms of size and sales. Hennes and Mauritz ( HM) Hennes and Mauritz, was founded in Sweden in 1947, is another high performing fashion retailor. Today HM has expanded to 2000 stores acorss the world with more than 76,000 employees(HM Annual report,2009). HM offers similar product mix with Inditex in the same market, such as clothes, accessorise, nightwear and underwear to women, men and children. While HM is considered as the closest rival to Inditex, there are many key differences. First of all, HM outsourced all its production section. Moreover, HM tends to offer prodcuts at a slightly lower price than Zara by outsourcing it production. Beyond store-based retailing, HM also ventured into online shopping and Internet retailing. Inditex has been relatively slow to develop its online selling. However, HM has relied almost exclusively on only one brand. Inditex has broader brand portfolio, which is made up of eight brands in order to reduce risk and refine the companys targeting of specific consumer groups Gap The second biggest clothing retailor, Gap, is American fashion retailer founded in 1969. The company has five brands: GAP, Old Navy,Banana Republic, Piperlime and Athleta. At the beginning, Gaps merchandise consisted of other brands such as Levis and LPs. After Gap continuing to expand rapidly across the United States, Gap started to sell its private label products in its stores. Gap is a famous fashion retailer with a distinct marketing campaign consisting of mainly primetime television adverts which target the fashion conscious 15 to 35 age old women and men. The company operates over 4000 stores all over the world. Gap was well known for extensive collections of T-shirts and jeans which is simple but stylish. However, since 2001 the pace of development became slow due to lack of a clear fashion positioning and failing to meet consumers fast fashion demand. More than 90% of its products are outsourced, which has meant the supply chain is too long and they have therefore a slow resp onse to fashion. Also, Gaps core customer base has aged. Gap needs a reposition for its brand and design, but the chain has struggled to attract a younger generation to its stores. The company lacks an effective approach to deal with it. Gap is suffering from a plummet in sales and its competitors such as Zara and HM have consequently profited from Gaps downfall. In 2008, Inditexs fashion chain Zara overtook Gap to become the worlds largest clothing retailer. Inditexs Business Strategies 4.1 Design-Fashion follower, industry leader The process of Inditexs product development design programme is constantly working in order to adapt to new fashion trends . Designers and managers attend high-fashion fairs and exhibitions to obtain fashion information and then convert the latest fashion trends of the season into their designs. Other sources of design inspiration come from TV, Internet, film content or trend spotters. product development teams focus on venues such as university campuses and clubs around the world to capture fashion trends and customer preferences. Zaras product development teams have frequent dialogue via their internal IT system. Inditex gave significant autonomy to each store manager in deciding the quantity of product needed by each store. Moreover, the store manager is able to decide which product to display in their stores and which product is to be sold at a reduced price. The managers responsibility is to make these decision based on market research and sales trends. Moreover, by employing yo ung and fashionable member of staff ensures that employees also contribute by helping to report the sales analysis, the product life cycles, and the store trends to the designers. There are specialized teams in headquarters to analyze feedbacks and information from each store, then design and produce their products. These sales analyses allow the designers to develop the right products to meet consumer Demand. Design team issues up to approximately 12,000 new design styles per year. Such a design concept obviously depends on the regular creation of new design. For example, Zaras designer team came up with approximately 40,000 new designs per year, from which only slightly more than one-quarter of them for production. Zara often follows the fashion trends of the high-fashion houses and offers similar products at much lower prices by using less expensive fabric. It also attempts to offer more colors and larger range of sizes to meet the need of consumers. After a prototype of new design was selected, a computer-aided design system is used to refine colors and textures. Limited number of new items were produced and presented in certain stores for a trial period and large volumes of the product are produced only if customers reaction is positive. As a consequence, failure rates on new products is only 1% which is less than the average rate of 10% of other fashion retailers. 4.2 Manufacture process Inditex has been able to obtain excellent financial record due to its vertical integration and fast fashion business strategies which provide Inditex with a competitive advantage over traditional fashion retailers in the industry. Generally speaking, apparel retailers always try to keep slower costs by outsourcing production to developing countries where the lowest labor could reduce its manufacture cost. On the other hand, Inditexs subsidiary retailing chain adopted a successful diverse method of doing business by working through the whole value chain. Highly capital intensity and vertical integration is a distinctive feature of Inditexs business model. From the upstream value chain, a subsidiary of Inditex company, Comdietel, funnels fabric and other input supplied by external suppliers. More than half of the fabric was undyed which provide maximum flexibility to produce in-season clothes. Comdietel is able to dye and process gray fabric into certain pattern within only one week to meet the requirement of downstream value chain. Inditex has 20 fully owned manufacture factories across the Europe. These factories use capital intensive production processes and provide cut garment and semi-manufactured products to approximately 500 in-house workshops. The relevant cutting machines and other systems produce semi-manufactured items and cut garments which will be transited directly into workshops. The progress looks rigmarole, but it is quite efficient because bar codes track the cut pieces through the every production steps. Workshops are located in labor-intensive areas across Europe such as Spain and northern Portugal. These workshops manufacture clothes in small scale to offer specialization in product type. The sewn clothes were sent back from these workshops to various product line under different brands. The center will inspect, iron and fold before sending finished garment to distribution center. The secret of Inditexs success is that vertical integration leads to short turnaround times and great flexibility. By implementing in-house production, inditex has obtained high level of variety, quantity and frequency of new styled clothes. Inditex adopts market orientation by reducing lead-times and increasing flexibility. Zara is able to upgrade products in its stores within 10 to 15 days from design to stores. Vertical integration decreased Inditexs stock to a minimum level and reduced fashion risk. In the mean time, providing small amount of products in a great variety of styles rendered Inditex shorter lead times and high level flexibility. As a consequence of offering fewer amount of product more often, Indite obtains larger percentages of the full price due to in-season sell and thus achieve higher net margins on sales. By focusing on shorter response times to fashion trends and keeping up with fashion. Inditex made efforts to make sure that its stores are able to offer latest fashion items that consumers desired at a given time. Inditex can move from coming up a design to having clothes in its stores within 2 weeks. Short lead times is Inditex one of the most important competitive advantages over its competitors. When Inditexs retail stores provide consumer with latest fashion items and gain huge amount of sales, its competitors have still struggled to catch up. In comparison, HMs lead time is more than 20 days. Traditional retailers use 4-6 months . 4.3 Distribution A more systematic approach to inventory distribution is another feature of Inditex. Each retail chain has its own centralized distribution system. Distribution center is located in Arteixo and small satellite centers across the world. In order to keep its stores refreshed with new merchandise every two weeks, the warehouses of Inditex is simply a place to transfer merchandise rather than store them. Under Indetexs distribution system, most of merchandise stayed at the distribution centers for only few hours. Products are inspected and shipped immediately in distribution center. Store managers can check lists of items available to be shipped to their stores. Based on their store inventories, they can request quantities and type of products. However, Inditexs international expansion required constant adjustment on distribution. Zara schedules the shipment by time zone to make sure distribute effectively. Inditex uses this method to gain a competitive advantage by minimizing the lead ti mes. 4.4 Marketing mix Placement Inditexs marketing strategy is very effective because its marketing policy involves zero advertising. Inditex invest in selecting locations for its subsidiary retail chains and the presentation of those stores. For example, products in Zara are relative inexpensive, but shopping in Zara shores does not feel cheap. Zara stores are centrally located with spacious and nice interior. The clothes were presented very tide and upscale. There is a big difference between Zara stores and the store of some upper scale stores. Product Inditex constantly changes its products. Therefore, customers are never sure what is going to be on Zaras shelves the following week. Zara designs apparel to meet consumer demand, attempting to pull customers in by producing small amount to create a fear that if customers do not buy immediately, the product will soon be out of stock. There is not any other company that can produce high fashion clothes faster than Zara, which positions itself as high fashion at cheap prices. Although Zara has been accused of copying the design of other upscale fashion retailers, the prime difference is the price, which allows high fashion to be affordable for average consumer. Price The pricing strategy chosen can affect revenue. The price of a product is very vital for a company to get back all its effort. The other three elements of marketing mix are costs. Thus, no matter how good the garment is. How efficient the supply chain and how creative the promotion, unless the price covers cost, the company will not make profits. Clothes might suffer from prices that are too low among competition. Pricing is very important since it often send quality cues to customers  ¼Ã‹â€ Jobber, 2007 ¼Ã¢â‚¬ °Inditex does not compete on price because they know their customers are more sensitive to fashion instead of the price. Inditexs subsidiary brands follow a market-based pricing strategy. Inditex sets price in line with its marketing strategy with reference to other marketing decisions such as position, strategic objective, promotion and value to customers. Therefore, Inditex sets price differently on different brands. Zaras prices are very reasonable. Its objective is to set price as cheap as possible to allow people to have fast fashion clothes. Inditex will adjust its price for certain product to keep low inventories if the company overestimated the demand. Promotion The fact that there is no advertising promotion strategy is another effective cost cutting approach for Inditex. Other fashion retailers spend 3.5% of their revenue on advertising, while inditex only spends 0.3% on promotion. Advertisement is carry out only at a new store opening. But that does not means Inditex make less efforts on promotion. Zara does not engage in large advertising campaigns on television and magazines. It just adopts a different approach to promote its products. It invests its money on location, Zaras stores are situated at commercial center. The company believes that their shop windows presentations are all the advertising it needs and its sores only opened in the most fashionable district. 4.5 International Expansion Inditex has become possibly the most internationalized fashion retail chain. Zara operates 2707 stores in countries outside its home market Spain. By 2010, its has 1900 stores in rest of Europe, more than 150 stores in Asia, 366 in America, 485 elsewhere in the rest of world. Inditex generates 68 percent of its total revenue from oversea markets. Zara contributes most of international sales and revenue to Inditex. Zaras international expansion started in 1988 with the opening of store in Portugal, when Inditex found that the company has dominated domestic market and abroad market was very profitable. Since then, Zara entered into one country per year until it opened stores in 7 European countries. After that, the pace of Zara expansion has speed up more rapidly. Zara has successfully entered 74 countries. On the same period, HM expanded its retail network to 36 countries, and Gap entered into 30 countries worldwide. .( Indetex Annual Report, 2009 ) SALES 2008 2009 Spain 3.730.099 3.708.967 Rest of Europe 4.809.263 5.221.491 America 1.038.065 1.096.709 Asia and rest of the world 829.333 1.056.347 Total 10.406.960 11.083.514 5. Business model Analysis This section will further analyze the reasons why Inditex, who are competing in the same business field and under the same conditions as rivals such as HM, next, Gap and Mango, choose different business models. It describes exact competitive advantages that have derived from Inditexs business model and the negative sides of business models. According to Inditexs financial ratios and business models, we can conclude that Inditexs higher income result from its business model of vertical integration which keeps costs and operating expenses much lower than Gap and HM. In-house production allows Inditex have little transaction costs. In light of the transaction cost theory, Madhok said that manage business activities inside the company is direct way to diminish the transaction costs. The costs of managing upstream or downstream of business activities within an institution will be much lower than through the market. Meanwhile, vertical integration gives a firm more control and flexibilities to operate directly. Forward integration can provide product differentiation advantages that are difficult to imitate as well as superior design intelligence. Potential advantage from integration is the degree of value added at the throughout all stages of the business. The group has authority to operate directly through designing, manufacturing and distribution. Due to vertical integration, the group gains a better po sition in the purchasing of raw materials, controlling the manufacturing process and obtaining better lead time to market. Decreased Cost does not only derive from lower transaction cost but also comes from waste reducing. This happens by designing and cutting its fabric in-house and it acquires fabrics in grey to keep costs low. Zara dyeing and printing fabric until close to manufacture to acquire more flexibilities in order to meet various design requirements, thereby minimize raw material waste and rendered Zara great flexibilit

Travel And Tourism Industry Of Greece Tourism Essay

Travel And Tourism Industry Of Greece Tourism Essay Greece is one of the most popular destinations in the world. Greece comes in the 15th place in the world rating of tourist destinations, since, according to the National Statistical Service of Greece, it receives more than 15 million tourists every year, after countries such as the USA, China, Spain and Great Britain. According to the 2009 Travel Tourism Competitiveness Report published by the World Economic Forum, Greece holds the 24th overall position among 133 countries, 3rd place in the prioritization of travel tourism subindex, 9th place in the number of World Heritage cultural sites, 5th place in tourism infrastructure and 1st place in the physician density subindex.. Demand Supply: Total demand: The number of international tourism visit over has been steady increase from 14.2 million in 2004 to 17 million in 2008. It is expected to reach 20 million in next few years, almost twice the countrys population. Tourist Arrivals http://www.investingreece.gov.gr/files/sectors/charts/tourism/tourism_arrivals1_en.jpg Source: Greek National Tourism Organization and National Statistical Services of Greece Key markets Source regions Greece has today managed to become one of the most favourite tourist destinations among Europeans, Asians and Americans. Approximately 85% of arrivals originate in Western Europe: 21.2% from the United Kingdom, 17.5% from Germany, 8.8% from Italy, 5.3% from France, 5.2% from Holland, and 7.5% from the Scandinavian countries. However, significant numbers of visitors from Eastern Europe, USA and China are making Greece their preferred destination. According to a survey conducted in China in 2005, Greece was voted as the Chinese peoples number one choice as a tourist destination. In November 2006, Austria, like China, announced that Greece was the favourite tourist destination for its citizens. It creates a wider base of origin countries and new demands for services, facilities, and attractions. Supply: Currently, more than 9,000 hotels operate in Greece. According to the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels, the number of hotels in Greece was by classification (bedplaces): Star rating Number Beds 5 star 176 64,913 4 star 994 176,631 3 star 1,804 163,077 2 star 4,460 231,333 1 star 1,677 57,298 Total 9,111 693,252 535 hotels were built under Development Law 3299/04 in the period of 2005 to 2009 in Greece, with a total budget of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 2.6 bn, 44% (à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ ~1.2 bn.) of which was subsidized by the government. The number of beds added through these investments is approximately 50,000. The breakdown per hotel category is as follows: Below are key statistics about cost per room and subsidies paid out by the government, per hotel category The Greek government has announced plans for a new Development Law, providing financial incentives for investment in Greece in the form of extensive tax breaks and subsidies of up to 50%. Economic Impacts GDP Contribution: Greeces TT Direct Industry is expected to contribute 7.0% to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2010 (EUR15.4bn or US$22.8bn), rising in nominal terms to EUR27.9bn or US$36.4bn (8% of total) by 2020. The TT Economy contribution (% of total) should rise from 15.5% (EUR33.9bn or US$50.2bn) to 17.3% (EUR60.7bn or US$79.1bn) in this same period. Employment Greeces 418,000 TT Direct Industry jobs account for 10% of total employment in 2010 and are forecast to total 483,000 jobs or 11.1% of the total by 2020.The contribution of the Travel Tourism Economy to employment is expected to rise from 18.8% of total employment, 785,000 jobs or 1 in every 5.3 jobs in 2010, to 21% of total employment, 916,000 jobs, or 1 in every 4.8 jobs by 2020. Industry Challenges Greek travel and tourism is affected by economic crisis in 2009 The number of arrivals to Greece was decreased affected by the 2009 economic crisis. In Q3 2010 number of international arrival in Athens drop by 5.2% in compare to 2009 leading to a ytd drop of 5.3% The RevPAR in Athens dropped by -11.3% in Q3 leading to a ytd drop in the RevPAR of -6%. The RevPAR in Thessaloniki continued its sharp drop, -22% Resort hotels, however, showed a significant improvement in their Total RevPAR, by 5.1%, leading to a reversal of the previously negative trend in the ytd figure, which improved by 4.4%, compared to -4.0% in Q2. Therefore, fears that Greek tourism would collapse this year did not materialise. Greece 2010 debt crisis The Greece debt crisis, which started at the beginning of 2010, exacerbated the effects of the global economic crisis on the Greek travel and tourism industry. The debt crisis will certainly affect consumer confidence in the country and is expected to negatively impact outbound and domestic tourist flows in 2010, especially as the bailout has involved the European Union combined with the IMF. Other difficulties expected: The further increase of the VAT on hospitality services to 11% from July 1st, 2010 (from 9% at the beginning of the year) will have a negative impact on the profitability of the industry overall, particularly in combination with the price reductions taking place due to current market conditions. The Hotel Federation and the Hotel Employees Union have announced that they have reached a 3 year agreement on labour relations; salary increases will be 1% in 2010 and a further 1% in 2012. Industry Competitiveness: Most of the hotels in Greece are categorized as 1- and 2-starhotels, meaning there is plenty of room for investors to establish 4-and 5-star properties. According to the Greek Hotel Branding Report, branded hotels in Greece account for 4% of the total number of hotels and 19% of total availability of rooms, while in other European countries this figure lies between 25 and 40%. Infrastructure Infrastructure in Greece is very developed with 40 airports throughout Greece of which 15 are international and well-designed national highway system. Investment Incentives Law: Greeces newly implemented PPP (Public Private Partnership) scheme provides significant opportunities to investors to participate in new infrastructure projects, including marinas and thermal springs. The National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) for the years 2007-2013 establishes the broad priorities for EU Structural Funds Programmes in Greece. For tourism, NSRF provides significant financial support, with a budget of more than 500 million Euros until 2013 A draft Investment Law has been issued by the government including financial incentives in the form of subsidies up to 50% or equivalent incentives in the form of tax breaks for companies carrying out new investments or buying assets of companies that have seized operations. Human Resources Because Greece, a country of 11 million inhabitants, hosts more than 17 million visitors, education and training in tourism services is paramount. The workforce is multilingual, well versed in the tourism sector, and willing to respond to new challenges. From management to catering, human resources for tourism enterprises is a Greek strength. Hotel Chain Project Company background : Starwood Hotels Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the largest hotel companies in the world. As of December 31, 2009, Starwood Hotel Resorts Worldwide, Inc owned, managed or franchised 992 properties under its nine owned brands. It has 145,000 employees worldwide, of whom approximately 34% were employed in the United States. W Hotels is Starwoods luxury boutique hotel brand. The hotel brand, which generally markets towards a younger crowd, was launched in 1998 with its first property, W New York. The brand has expanded internationally with properties opening first in Mexico City, Seoul, and Istanbul. The W Barcelona hotel was the Ws first in Western Europe and opened in October 2009. The W plans to double its number of properties by 2011 with hotels planned in Austin, Texas (2010); Taipei, Taiwan (2010); Marrakech, Morocco (2011); Guangzhou, China (2011); Bangkok, Thailand (2011); Paris, France (2011); Athens, Greece (2011); St. Petersburg, Russia (2011); and London, England (2011) Investment project: W Athens Astir Palace Beach is going to open on 1 April 2012. It is a part of Astir Palace Resort beside Arion, a Luxury Collection Resort Spa and The Westin Athens. W Athens is converted from the 165-room Aphrodite Hotel under an extensive refurbishment. Sustainable Concerns : Fearing the spread of Greek debt crisis, the EU and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have agreed to launch a bailout package worth nearly $ 1,000 billion. However, the key issue here is not just saving Greece from a short-term debt crisis, or cut the budget deficit of the Greek government, but the country economics growth in future According to the ease of doing business index of the World Bank (WB), Greece is ranked 109, after countries such as Egypt, Ethiopia and Lebanon. In rating the business environment of high-income countries, Greece is almost bottom, just above Equatorial Guinea The Euros is stronger than the currency of other countries those are not in Eurozone, therefore cost to travel in Greece is more expensive. However, Greece does not have enough luxury hotels, golf courses, and resort for that difference in cost Expensive prices of goods and service in Greece created by the strength of euro, has weakened the countrys competitiveness on international market. This problem will become worse if the labor productivity of countries such as Germany and France growing constantly and increase value of the euro. It will push the price of Greek exports higher that market realities. Greece should change to another currency that is weaker than Euro to increase their competitiveness. Cà ³ mà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â€ž ¢t già ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ £i phà ¡p khà ´ng dà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ dà  ng Ä‘Ã ¡Ã‚ »Ã†â€™ Hy Là ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¡p thoà ¡t khà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ i tà ¬nh trà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¡ng tià ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿n thoà ¡i lÆ °Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ¡ng nan nà  y. Ä Ãƒ ³ là   tà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¡o ra mà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â€ž ¢t và ²ng xoà ¡y già ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ £m phà ¡t già ¡ cà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ £ và   tià ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ n lÆ °Ãƒâ€ Ã‚ ¡ng. NhÆ °ng, ngÆ °Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ i dà ¢n Hy Là ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¡p thà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ i gian qua Ä‘Ã £ lià ªn tà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ¥c Ä‘Ã ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ ra Ä‘Æ °Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ng Ä‘Ã ¡Ã‚ »Ã†â€™ gà ¢y à ¡p là ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ±c buà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â€ž ¢c chà ­nh phà ¡Ã‚ » duy trà ¬ chà ­nh sà ¡ch tià ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ n lÆ °Ãƒâ€ Ã‚ ¡ng và   phà ºc là ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ £i, do Ä‘Ã ³, vià ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ¡c à ¡p dà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ¥ng bià ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ¡n phà ¡p già ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ £m phà ¡t sà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ½ khà ³ duy trà ¬ Ä‘Æ °Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ £c trong bà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¥t kà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ³ trÆ °Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ng hà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ £p nà  o. Chà ­nh phà ¡Ã‚ » Hy Là ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¡p ngà  y 23/12 Ä‘Ã £ thà ´ng qua kà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿ hoà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¡ch ngà ¢n sà ¡ch khà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¯c khà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ 2011 nhà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ±m Ä‘Ã ¡p à ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ©ng nhà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ¯ng Ä‘ià ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ u kià ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ¡n khà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¯t khe do Lià ªn minh chà ¢u Âu (EU) và   QÃ…Â ©y tià ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ n tà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ¡ quà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬Ëœc tà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿ (IMF) Ä‘Æ °a ra Ä‘Ã ¡Ã‚ »Ã†â€™ nhà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ­n Ä‘Æ °Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ £c gà ³i cà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ©u trà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ £ tà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ « cà ¡c tà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ chà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ©c nà  y. Kà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿ hoà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¡ch nà  y Ä‘Ã £ Ä‘Æ °Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ £c quà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬Ëœc hà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â€ž ¢i Hy Là ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¡p thà ´ng qua và ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ºi 156 phià ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿u à ¡Ã‚ »ng hà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â€ž ¢ và   142 phià ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿u phà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ £n Ä‘Ã ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬Ëœi. Thà ¡Ã‚ » tÆ °Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ºng Hy Là ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¡p Georges Papandrà ©ou hi và ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ng rà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ±ng, kà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿ hoà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¡ch nà  y thà ¡Ã‚ »Ã†â€™ hià ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ¡n sà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ± quyà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿t tà ¢m thà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ±c hià ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ¡n nhà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ¯ng bià ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ¡n phà ¡p cà ¡Ã‚ ºn thià ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿t Ä‘Ã ¡Ã‚ »Ã†â€™ Ä‘Æ °a kinh tà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿ Hy Là ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¡p thoà ¡t khà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ i khà ¡Ã‚ »ng hoà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ £ng. Theo Ä‘Ã ³, ngà ¢n sà ¡ch năm 2011 sà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ½ già ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ £m tà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ « mà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ©c 9,4% tà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ng sà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ £n phà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ©m quà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬Ëœc nà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â€ž ¢i (GDP) dà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ± kià ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿n năm nay xuà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬Ëœng cà ²n 7,4%. Và   trong 3 năm tià ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿p theo, nÆ °Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ºc nà  y  phà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¥n Ä‘Ã ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¥u già ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ £m thà ¢m hà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ¥t xuà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬Ëœng cà ²n 3%. Vià ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ¡c cà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¯t già ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ £m sà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ½ tà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ­p trung và  o lÄ ©nh và ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ±c cà ´ng, bao gà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬Å"m: y tà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿, già ¡o dà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ¥c, cà ´ng trà ¬nh cà ´ng cà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â€ž ¢ng nhÆ ° Ä‘Æ °Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ng sà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¯t và   cà ¡c loà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¡i hà ¬nh và ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ­n tà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ £i khà ¡c.

Greek Mythology :: essays research papers

The Greeks believed that the earth was formed before any of the gods appeared. The gods, as the Greeks knew them, all originated with Father Heaven, and Mother Earth. Father Heaven was known as Uranus, and Mother Earth, as Gaea. Uranus and Gaea raised many children. Amoung them were the Cyclopes, the Titans, and the Hecatoncheires, or the Hundred- Handed Ones. Uranus let the Titans roam free, but he imprisoned the Cyclopes and the Hundred- handed Ones beneath the earth. Finally, Gaea could not bear Uranus's unkindness to the Cyclopes and the Hundred-Handed Ones any longer. Gaea joined Cronos, one of the Titans; and together, they overcame Uranus, killed him, and threw his body into the sea. Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty, later rose from the sea where Uranus's body had been thrown. Now Cronus became king of the universe. Cronos married his sister, Rhea, and they had six children. At the time of Cronos's marriage to Rhea, Gaea prophesied that one of his children would overthrow Cronos, as he had overthrown Uranus. To protect himself, Cronos swallowed each of his first five children -- Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon -- immediatly after birth. After the birth of her sixth and last child, Rhea tricked Cronos into swallowing a rock and then hid the child -- Zeus -- on earth. Zeus grew up on earth and was brought back to Mount Olympus as a cupbearer to his unsuspecting father. Rhea and Zeus connived against Cronos by mixing a noxious drink for him. Thinking it was wine, Cronos drank the mixture and promptly regulated his five other children, fully grown. Then Zeus and his brothers waged a mighty battle Greek Mythology :: essays research papers The Greeks believed that the earth was formed before any of the gods appeared. The gods, as the Greeks knew them, all originated with Father Heaven, and Mother Earth. Father Heaven was known as Uranus, and Mother Earth, as Gaea. Uranus and Gaea raised many children. Amoung them were the Cyclopes, the Titans, and the Hecatoncheires, or the Hundred- Handed Ones. Uranus let the Titans roam free, but he imprisoned the Cyclopes and the Hundred- handed Ones beneath the earth. Finally, Gaea could not bear Uranus's unkindness to the Cyclopes and the Hundred-Handed Ones any longer. Gaea joined Cronos, one of the Titans; and together, they overcame Uranus, killed him, and threw his body into the sea. Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty, later rose from the sea where Uranus's body had been thrown. Now Cronus became king of the universe. Cronos married his sister, Rhea, and they had six children. At the time of Cronos's marriage to Rhea, Gaea prophesied that one of his children would overthrow Cronos, as he had overthrown Uranus. To protect himself, Cronos swallowed each of his first five children -- Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon -- immediatly after birth. After the birth of her sixth and last child, Rhea tricked Cronos into swallowing a rock and then hid the child -- Zeus -- on earth. Zeus grew up on earth and was brought back to Mount Olympus as a cupbearer to his unsuspecting father. Rhea and Zeus connived against Cronos by mixing a noxious drink for him. Thinking it was wine, Cronos drank the mixture and promptly regulated his five other children, fully grown. Then Zeus and his brothers waged a mighty battle