Organisational Buying Process free essay sample

Loginova Olga Organizational buying behavior in Business tourism market Case Holiday Club Resorts Oy 50 pages, 1 appendix Saimaa University of Applied Sciences, Lappeenranta Business Administration, Degree Programme in International Business Bachelor’s Thesis 2011 Instructor: Ville Lehto The purpose of this Bachelor’s thesis is to provide understanding of the organizational buying behavior in Russian companies in context of business tourism market. This includes describing the general model of the process, identifying people, responsible for decision making and analyzing factors, that influence their decisions. Another objective is to give recommendations to the case company about how to reach right people in Russian organizations with their message. In the theoretical part of the study the main issues are related to the general principles of organizational buying behavior and main concepts of the topic. When conducting this research both Russian and English sources are used. The most related topics of the literature are  «Organizational Buying behavior »,  «Business-to-business marketing » and  «Industrial marketing », presented by Philip Kotler, Frederick E. We will write a custom essay sample on Organisational Buying Process or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Webster Jr. and Yoram Wind and Kovalev A. I Empirical part is based on a case study and describes the organizational buying process on example of 3 Russian companies, which were chosen according to the criteria of location, size and industry. The data for case study is gathered by conducting an interview with members of buying centers within these companies. Implementation of theory to the practice faced some difficulties such as misunderstanding of the topic and unwillingness of companies to provide full information. Business markets mostly concerns producer and reseller markets (Vitale et al, 2010, p. 131) Generally, business markets consist of fewer, but larger customers than consumer markets and are involved in purchases of significantly large value having complex economic, technical and financial considerations. Business markets also differ from consumer markets in such aspects as: sales volumes, marketing structure and demand, nature of products and most relevant for this thesis – types of decision and decision process (Ibid). Organization buying is the decision-making process by which formal organizations establish the need for purchased products and services and identify, evaluate, and choose among alternative brands and suppliers (Webster Wind, 1996). The nature of the buyer decision process in a business-tobusiness environment differs from the consumer ones, that is why understanding of organizational buying behavior is essential– it helps to develop the right approach to corporate clients and establish strong bonds between  «sellers » and  «buyers ». 4 1. 1 Background of the research Organizational buying behavior is an extensive concept as it depends on many factors. However, understanding the organizational buying process is a key prerequisite for the development of business marketing strategy. With knowledge of the customer firm’s decision making process and buying behavior, market managers are in a far better position to develop marketing strategies, build win-win relationship with customers and influence purchasing decisions successfully. The case company Holiday Club Resorts Oy is one of Europe’s largest vacation enterprises. The company’s specialization is holiday centers, spa hotels and time share apartments. Holiday Club operates both on consumer and business markets as their customers are different companies and organizations as well as representatives of public sector. This research is done to support the new project of the company – Saimaa Gardens large tourist and leisure time resort in Finland that will be opened in Autumn 2011. New holiday center will provide large facilities for conferences, business meetings and corporate parties (Holiday Club Oy 2010). While Finland and Russia are neighboring countries with well-developed connections in tourism area, Holiday Club’s officials are willing to attract Russian corporate clients. This thesis is a part of a bigger project, that consists of two studies. The first one is devoted to Russian outbound tourism and gives understanding of  «What organizational clients want?  », the second one answers the question  «How organizations buy?  ». The whole project is carried out by two students. Alena Tsyvinskaja is responsible for the first part, called  «Russian outbound MICE tourism – demand and concept », while this study is accomplished by Olga Loginova. The purpose of this study is to find out reasons and factors which affect the buying decisions and choice of leisure service provider. The research is aimed to analyze buying behavior process in Russian organizations and provide 5 possibilities for Saimaa Gardens to fulfill corporate requirements and reach their target market successfully. 1. 2 Research problem and objectives The main objective of this thesis is to give understanding of organizational buying process in Russian companies and provide recommendations to Saimaa Garden, how to reach right people with their message. For this purpose few Russian companies will be targeted as potential customers. Each organization has buying center – a group of people, who are responsible for buying decisions. (Webster Wind,1996). The research will be based on direct communication with these people in order to understand their roles and identify factors that affect their decisions. Main research problem consists of 3 parts: -find members of the buying center -analyze their roles and decision making process -describe an organizational buying process in general In the final outcome, Holiday Club will benefit from thesis in several ways. Firstly, this project will give an understanding of organizational buying behavior in Russian companies. Secondly it will provide a framework that will help to affect decision making process in a most efficient way. And finally, as research involves communication with companies, it will give a good opportunity to find first corporate customers. In general, possession of such knowledge will facilitate entering a new market for Holiday Club. 1. 3 Theoretical framework The theoretical framework of this thesis includes theories about nature of organizational buying in general and decision making process particularly. Theories, concerning organizational buying and decision making process gives an overall understanding of how organizational purchasing is executed, how 6 decisions are made and which factors influence them. Organizational buyers decision process model gives a clear guidelines how decision is made step by step. And Buying center’s analyses provide ideas for the practical part about how to recognize people, responsible for decision taking and to define roles and motives of those people. When conducting this research both Russian and English sources were used. The most related topics of the literature are  «Organizational Buying behavior  »,  «Business-to-business marketing » and  «Industrial marketing ». In theoretical part of the study information from Philip Kotler’s  «Marketing management »,  «A general model for understanding organizational buying behavior », written by Frederick E. Webster Jr. nd Yoram Wind and book of Russian author Kovalev A. I.  «Industrial Marketing » was used. The full list of sources provided at the end of the study. 1. 4 Research context 1. 4. 1 Business tourism As this study is devoted to business tourism, it is appropriate to give a small overview of this topic. In recent times more and more organizations have gone global, business connections have become international and economic activities are spread all over the world. As it’s commonly known, successful business is impossible without contacts, technologies and information exchanging, gaining new partners and customers. Due to the rapid growth of business contacts with foreign partners, business tourism is seen as an important niche market, and is one of the fastest growing sectors of the tourism industry. This segment of the tourism industry has also been referred to as Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE). The concept of MICE stands for corporate outbound tourism, aiming to bring people together for a particular entertaining or business purpose. (Business Travel Worldwide 2011. ) 7 In general, MICE encompasses the following activities: ? ? ? ? ? Meetings and conferences Exhibitions and trade fares Incentive travel Corporate events Outdoor events Individual corporate travel (Ibid) According to the statistics, provided by RBTA (Russian Business Travel Association,2010), in share correlation the structure of MICE travelling has the following form: 71% for individual travelling, 16% for participation in conferences and congresses, 11% for visiting exhibitions and approximately 2-3% for incentive travel. Business travelling may peruse different aims and according to  «Business Travel Worldwide » (2011) some of them are: ? ? ? ? ? Establishing partner relations, negotiating the contracts, concluding deals Visiting and taking part in the exhibitions Participating in congresses, conferences and seminars Trainings, professional development trips Incentive trips (trips, usually granted as a reward for employee’s outstanding performance) According to Business Tourism Partnership (2010) principal characteristics of business tourism include the following: †¢ it is at the high quality, high yield end of the tourism spectrum †¢ business tourism is year-round, peaking in Spring and Autumn but still with high levels of activity in the Summer and Winter months †¢ it is resilient, being much less affected by economic downturns or by disasters than leisure tourism and other sectors of the national economy 8 †¢ business tourism stimulates future inward investment as business people see the attractions of a destination while travelling on business or to attend a conference, exhibition or incentive, and then return to establish business operations there. According to Swarbrooke and Horner (2001), the participants of business tourism market can be divided into 3 groups: Consumers: Individuals Companies Associations Intermediaries: Travel Agencies Exhibition companies Event management companies and others Suppliers: Transport operators Accommodation operators Incentive travel venues Specialist services Figure 1 Participants of business tourism market. The figure represents the simplified scheme of business tourism market. In the reality the process might look different, including several intermediaries or ,vice versa, the link of intermediaries might be excluded as consumers are willing to arrange their business trips on their own. 1. 4. 2 MICE in Russia Although the thesis topic doesn’t cover business tourism market analysis, several words should be said about MICE market in Russia. Russia is a country where business tourism in general is actively developing now. However, the concept of MICE is still rather new for Russian companies. The reasons for this might be the insufficient development of corporate culture in general and small amount of international business contacts. Anyway, Russian corporate travel has not the same level as  «ancestors » of business tourism USA and European countries. 9 In general, MICE tourism in Russia can be characterized by following features (RBTA 2010): ? ? ? ? Outbound tourism is prevailing (most Russian companies prefer travel abroad rather than within the country) Problem such as lack of qualified agencies still exist. The demand for MICE services is fluctuating and not stable Incentive tourism is significantly less popular comparing with other parts of MICE 1. 4. 3 Case company profile Holiday Club Resorts Oy is one of Europe’s largest vacation ownership enterprises. It was established in 1986 and in the beginning it focused primarily on the vacation ownership business, purchasing hotels on the territory of Finland (Holiday Club Oy 2010) The company has been buying hotels and resorts as well as building their own holiday homes and spa centers. The growth of Holiday Club vacation ownership system continued and by 2007 Holiday Club expanded to Sweden (Ibib. ) By 2009, after several successful acquisitions Holiday Club becomes the leading vacation ownership enterprise in Europe. At 2010 a building of new resort – Saimaa Gardens was started (Ibid. ) In overall Holiday Club Resorts Oy owns holiday homes in 26 destinations in Finland, a holiday destination in Calahonda, Spain, as well as Holiday Club Are and Ekerum Golf and Resorts (Oland) holiday destinations in Sweden. Holiday Club’s 6 spa hotels in Finland have belonged to the S-Group’s subsidiary, Sokotel, since April 2006, and they operate under the name Holiday Club Spa Hotels. The chain comprises Holiday Club Caribia in Turku, Katinkulta in Vuokatti, Tropiikki in Kuusamo, Eden in Oulu, Saariselka and Tampere Spa (Holiday Club official web-site 2011. ) 10 1. 4. 4 Saimaa Gardens In this study the analysis is carried out from the standpoint of Saimaa gardens spa resort, as it is the nearest hotel of Holiday Club chain to Russia. Saimaa Gardens is a wellness resort, comprising spa hotel, holiday houses, various top-class apartments, golf centre, a great variety of shops, restaurants and galleries. It’s located at the shore of Lake Saimaa, nearby Imatra and occupies approximately 300 hectares of total area. Saimaa Gardens is also the nearest large tourist attraction to St. Petersburg in Finland. Companies’ clients belong both to consumer and business markets. Holiday club’s resorts provide services for public consumers as well as for corporate clients because they have good amenities for family vacation and honey moons along with facilities for conferences, corporate parties and business travelling. Holiday Club sees a great potential particularly in Russian tourists and organizations, as it will be situated near Saint-Petersburg, a city, where travelling to Finland is popular and easy. 1. 5 Limitations This thesis does not handle deep analyses of business tourism market and just gives a small overview of this topic to provide basic understanding of this tourism sphere. Consumer needs and preferences as well as product specifications are not covered by the study as this is a topic of a parallel research, prepared by another student. The theoretical part of this thesis is limited to theories about composition of the buying center and it’s characteristics, decision making process and factors, influencing it. The theories also describe the difference between organizational and consumer buying. These theories were chosen, because they are closely related to the research problem and they support the empirical part of the thesis by providing guidelines how the organizational buying process looks in real life. This thesis does not cover theories about sales techniques and relations between buyers and sellers, because one of the main objectives of bachelors’ thesis is to make the topic narrow but analyze it deeper. 11 2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND IMPLEMENTATION The research was done according to a plan that consisted of 3 stages. The first stage involved analyzing of theoretical background and gave a comprehensive view on organizational buying behavior process, describing composition of buying center, identifying factors, influencing decision making process and exploring all stages of this process. After that the theory was ready to be implemented in life. On the second stage the search of companies that may be interviewees for the research and potential clients for Holiday Club was done. The search criteria was explained in empirical part. When organizations were identified, their portfolios should be created to obtain knowledge about potential customers. The final and most important stage of research was identifying the buying centers in chosen organizations and conducting an interview with it’s members. This was done to identify roles and motives of members, analyze the decision making process and finally develop an effective framework according to gained information. Figure 2 represents the plan research. Theory analyses Buying behavior -main concepts -influencing factors -buying center -decision making process Companies’ portfolio gathering What size? What industry? What location? Interview Figure 2. Research plan. 12 As it was stated above, the main research problems were: finding members of the buying center, analyzing their roles and decision making process and describing an organizational buying process in general. In order to understand, what the most effective methods for solving these problems are, a book of Tony Proctor (2005 p. 63)  «Essentials of Marketing research » was read. After examination of possible methodology, it was concluded that the most appropriate methods to solve thesis problems were qualitative research, case study and analyzing of primary and secondary data. 2. 1 Quantitative research Quantitative research produces numbers and figures, while qualitative research provides data on why people buy, what motivates them to buy, or their impressions of products, services or advertisements. It also produces information on behavior, attitudes and intentions. Simply put, qualitative research goes inside of people’s thinking, value system as well as decision making process, what fitted perfectly objectives of this study. This type of research involves different approaches such as focus groups, interviews, feedback analysis, surveys and others. It relies on primary data as well as on secondary. In this study the object of qualitative research was an organizational buying behavior (Proctor, 2005 p. 71. ) The research was carried out in a context of business tourism, which is very specific area of business market. That is why organization buying process in business tourism market is based on general model of organizational buying. So first of all, problem solutions required general knowledge about such concepts as buying center, organizational buying and others. That kind of information was necessary for good orientation in actual topic and for further planning of the research. To gain this information secondary data analysis was used. 13 2. 2 Secondary data analysis Secondary data analysis is the method of using preexisting data in a different way or to answer a different research question than that intended by those who collected the data (Schutt 1999). The sources of secondary data may be different: books, magazines, newspapers, internet, earlier conducted surveys, etc. The organizational buying behavior has been studied by many authors such as Philip Kotler, Frederick E. Webster Jr. , Yoram Wind, Ajay Kumar Kohli and others. Their books and articles were used as sources of theoretical information. Secondary analysis of different statistics was also conducted to help to choose the right kind of companies for the case study, which is described further. 2. 3 Primary data analysis and case study The study was accomplished for the particular organization, one of the needs of which was understanding of organizational buying process in Russian companies. Solving this problem required a primary data analyses. Primary data is data observed or collected directly from first-hand experience. There are many methods of collecting primary data: ? ? ? ? Questionnaire Interview Observation Case study, etc. (Proctor 2005, p74. ) This research is based on a case study. The purpose of case study is collecting information about organizational buying in Russian companies from the  «first hands ». The most appropriate method to collect it was interview. For that purpose 3 Russian companies were chosen. The amount of 3 went from the principle, that analyses of 1 company is definitely not enough, while 5 or more requires much more time. Moreover 3 companies represent 3 kinds of organizations: small, medium and large. In order to choose 3 respondents, it 14 was needed to find out what kind of companies normally buys the MICE trips and how they can be specified according to the industry, size, location, and etc. As Saimaa Gardens will be the nearest Finnish leisure attraction to the SaintPetersburg, it was quite obvious that case companies would be located in SaintPetersburg, Leningrad region and Vyborg. Another criteria, size of case companies, was based on assumption, that organizational buying process in small organizations differs from one in big corporation’s due to the amount of staff, availability of funds and corporate culture in general. The last aspect of the choice was the industry. There was no difference for Holiday Club Oy which kind of companies would use their services. So it was necessary to investigate what kind of companies buy MICE trips more often. According to the statistics for the year 2009-2010, provided by VIP-tour agency (contact person- Stanislav Lisovsky, sales manager), companies, represented 5 industries, used MICE services more frequently: ? ? ? ? ? Metal industry IT industry Oil and gas industry Estate industry Pharmaceutical and medicine industry According to this information a list of potential companies was created and proposals to take part in the interview were sent. Some companies didn’t respond at all, some provided unclear and poor information. However, it was possible to choose 3 companies, whose response was full and actual. That is how 3 case companies were chosen. Using the knowledge and information gathered for the theory, the research questionnaire was developed so that questions were straight, easy and aimed to minimize the uncertainties. Finally, despite of all difficulties, 3 interviews were carried out. Based on these interviews, it was possible to gain valuable and unique information, concerning compositions of buying centers and organizational buying processes in context of business tourism. 15 3 THE NATURE OF ORGANIZATIONAL BUYING 3. 1 Organizational vs. onsumer buying According to Webster and Wind (1995), organizational buying is the decisionmaking process by which organizations establish the need for purchased products and services and identify, evaluate, and choose among alternative brands and suppliers. It takes place i n the context of a formal organization influenced by a budget, cost and profit considerations. Consumer behavior has not much relevance for the industrial marketer. This is due to several important differences between the two purchase processes. Comparing complicity of buying processes, buying decisions are made relatively easily and quickly by individual customers, organizational buying involves thorough and deep analysis. This is because organizational buying usually involves many people in decision process with complex interactions among people and among individual and organizational goals. Furthermore, rganizational buyer’s decisions require more information, undergo longer evaluation and more uncertainty about product performance. Companies usually adopt certain methods for buying products and employ skilled professionals for purchasing departments. (Kotler 1997, p. 205. ) According to Sandhusen (2000 p. 248), when compared to demand patterns in consumer market, demand p atterns in industrial markets tend to be more concentrated, more direct, more dependent on other markets and purchases of related products and reciprocal agreements. Demand for goods in consumer markets is heavily affected by the changes in the prices so that it can be concluded that consumer market demand is price elastic. The organizational demand for products or services can be elastic only on early negotiation stage when many suppliers are actively competing on price for contracts. Once contracts are negotiated, however, demand becomes inelastic and is not influenced by short-run price changes. Frequently, demand for some b2b products is related to demand for other b2b products, what is called joint demand. For example, if Food Drink supplier for a hotel restaurant has delivery problems or poor service, it will probably cut back on its purchases of 16 foodstuffs. It’s also important to mention that demand for industrial products derives largely from demand for consumer goods. It’s quite typical or tourism market as purchasing travel package for the company’s purposes, organizational buyers sometimes follows consumer’s opinions and reputation on the consumer market. According to Kovalev (2003 p. 203), despite of ordinary consumers, industrial buyers are more likely to purc hase products directly from suppliers or manufacturers and in larger quantities, than consumers. Buying decisions of a consumer market is simple where it purely depends on the wish of consumer. But business buyers face complicated buying process where they have to adhere to purchasing standards, satisfy complex requirements and involve approval of many people. Consumer buying is generally short term focused where they conclude the relationship with seller upon the transaction is completed.

Sedimentation

Sedimentation SedimentationAbstractSedimentation is the process of separating a liquid mixture of suspended particles into clear supernatant liquid and denser slurry having a higher concentration of solids. This is usually accomplished by allowing the particles to settle through the force of gravity, mechanically using centrifugal force, or electrostatically using an electric current. Continuous sedimentation tanks are usually used in wastewater treatment facilities to separate suspended particles from wastewater.This experiment aims to determine the effect of initial concentration and initial height of the slurry on its settling characteristics. Using a set of data obtained from the experiment, a continuous thickener or clarifier must then be designed. The batch sedimentation experiment was accomplished by measuring the height of the clear liquid interface at two-minute intervals using initial concentrations of 25, 50, and 75 grams per liter and initial volumes (convertible to height) of 1000, 90 0, and 800 milliliters. Two trials were conducted for each matrix.Figure 1From the data, it was observed that as the initial concentration of slurry is increased, the initial settling velocities decrease. The initial height has no effect on the initial settling velocity but can affect the rate at which solids compact. However, it was found that how the height affects compaction can be unpredictable. For the design of a thickener using batch sedimentation data, the required area was calculated using the Coe and Clevenger, and the Talmadge and Fitch methods. The results were 1.3112 m2 and 2.2714 m2, respectively.During the course of the experiment, various problems were encountered that may have lead to slight errors. These problems were usually problems of measurement. Using masking tape can cause slight errors if not applied to the cylinder properly. There were slight difficulties during the initial stirring of the slurry because of the lack of long stirring rods. Furthermore,

Definition and Examples of Lexicogrammar

Definition and Examples of Lexicogrammar Lexicogrammar is a term used in systemic functional linguistics (SFL) to emphasize the interdependence ofand continuity betweenvocabulary (lexis) and syntax (grammar). The term lexicogrammar (literally, lexicon plus grammar) was introduced by linguist M.A.K. Halliday. Adjective: lexicogrammatical. Also, called lexical grammar. The advent of corpus linguistics, notes Michael Pearce, has made the identification of lexicogrammatical patterns much easier than it once was (Routledge Dictionary of English Language Studies, 2007). Examples and Observations Vocabulary and grammatical structures are interdependent; so much so that it is possible to say with some justification that words have their own grammar. This interdependency of lexis and grammar is evident everywhere in language. For example, lexical verbs have valency patterns: some verbs can be used with a direct object (I made some oven gloves), or with both a direct object and an indirect object (The government awarded them a pay rise), others need no object at all (The Colonel was laughing).  (Michael Pearce, The Routledge Dictionary of English Language Studies. Routledge, 2007)The heart of language is the abstract level of coding that is the lexicogrammar. (I see no reason why we should not retain the term grammar in this, its traditional sense; the purpose of introducing the more cumbersome term lexicogrammar is simply to make explicit the point that vocabulary is also a part of it, along with syntax and morphology).  (M.A.K. Halliday, Systemic Background, 1985. On Langu age and Linguistics. Continuum, 2003) [A]ccording to systemic functional theory, lexicogrammar is diversified into a metafunctional spectrum, extended in delicacy from grammar to lexis, and ordered into a series of ranked units.  (M.A.K. Halliday, Hallidays Introduction to Functional Grammar, 4th ed., revised by Christian M.I.M. Matthiessen. Routledge, 2013)[L]exico-grammar is now very fashionable, but it does not integrate the two types of pattern as its name might suggestit is fundamentally grammar with a certain amount of attention to lexical patterns within the grammatical frameworks; it is not in any sense an attempt to build together a grammar and lexis on an equal basis...Lexico-grammar is still firmly a kind of grammar, laced, or perhaps spiked with some lexis. (John Sinclair, Trust the Text: Language, Corpus and Discourse, edited with Ronald Carter. Routledge, 2004) Lexicogrammar and Semantics Just as lexis and grammar are considered to form a single stratum, Halliday considers that the lexicogrammar is not a separate system or module apart from semantics, but is rather an underlying component of the meaning-making system of a language. The stratum of semantics is thus not thought of as an abstract or logical structure, but rather as the medium through which humans use language to interact in their social and cultural context. A consequence of this is that the language, and in particular the lexicogrammar, is structured by the expressive and communicative functions it has evolved to convey.   (Christopher Gledhill, A Lexicogrammar Approach to Checking Quality: Looking at One or Two Cases of Comparative Translation. Perspectives on Translation Quality, ed. by Ilse Depraetere. Walter de Gruyter, 2011) Lexicogrammar and Corpus Linguistics Generalizations on the structure of language tell us little about how people actually use the language, and consequently how a language really is. The patterns of structural and lexical behaviour are not revealed by the linguists introspection or from a few examples chosen to fit the pattern. This is the conclusion that increasingly is being drawn from a growing body of linguistic research on large computer corpora or databases. It is only when we come to investigate a language from samples of millions of words of running text that we can really begin to understand how words and structures behave and interact...A theory of language or a model of a particular language . . . has to account for use as attested by corpus linguistic research. If such a theory purports to give rise to language description, it must have the potential to incorporate the vagaries and idiosyncrasies of lexicogrammatical behaviour and the cryptotypical phenomena which are uncovered by the observation of languag e use on a significantly larger scale.  (Gordon H. Tucker, The Lexicogrammar of Adjectives: A Systemic Functional Approach to Lexis. Continuum, 1998) Alternate Spellings: lexico-grammar

Result of Survey About Consumer's Buying Preferences towards Essay

Result of Survey About Consumer's Buying Preferences towards Technological Goods Produced using Sustainable Business Practices - Essay Example II. Introduction Knowing the preference of a market or determining how will consumer respond towards a certain good is critical to a business success especially when it is about to introduce a product in the market. The information regarding the market’s preference, behaviour or response towards a certain product is critical because this will give the company an idea whether to push through with the product or not and if ever it will push through with the product, on how will it position itself in the market that would optimize its success. In the case of this paper, the research will determine the consumer buying preference towards technological goods produced using sustainable business practices. Albeit it is ideal to produce products using sustainable business practices, it is not yet known whether there will be a business incentive in terms of market acceptance in the market of Dubai towards green products. This paper will attempt to determine Consumer buying preferences t owards technological goods produced using sustainable business practices and if they are, what particular consumer demographics are susceptible to it so that a company can focus on a particular segment of the market to optimize its success. III. Description of methodology The information used in research paper came from primary data through the form of a survey. The survey had 40 respondents from the Dubai market. The demographics of the market are consumers age 30-60 above, who have a source of income of USD 20,000 to USD 59,000 that ranged from single people to couples with family. Suffice to say that the respondents were a fair representative of consumers of technological goods. The purpose of the survey however was to determine their preference towards technological goods produced using sustainable business practices. Albeit it is the ideal business practice, it is yet to be determined if sustainable business practice can translate to sales and ultimately profit. The survey came in the form of a questionnaire which requires respondents to indicate their age, gender, approximate annual income and civil status. The questionnaires were designed to be simple to easily determine consumer response towards technological goods produced using sustainable business practices. IV. Analysis of the data from the survey The result of the survey was an eye opener as well as encouraging. For one, there are already segments in the market who particularly conscious about the company’s business practice and in fact has a bearing in their purchase decisions. Survey result showed that the age group 35 to 39 and 40 to 44 strongly agreed that consumer should completely stop buying products that are unsustainable to the environment. This indicates that a particular segment in the market has a strong opinion about the environment friendliness of a product. This is being supported by another statistical data that these age groups are responsive to the environmentally sustaina ble practice of a company. Age group 35 to 39, 40 to 44 and 45 to 49 proved to be willing to pay extra as long as the product/s is/are environmentally friendly. They would also ask or inquire about the business practice of a company of which they deemed to be important in the decision making process of purchasing their electronic goods. Consumers also do not merely associate environment friendliness to energy consumption because respondents on all age group did

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Roles and Responsibilities of Nurses - Research Paper Example If the nurse fails to observe her duty with sincerity, it would become very difficult for the doctors to perform their jobs. A professional nurse must be competent enough to meet the standards defined by clinics and hospitals and must have proper education regarding the field (Blais, 2006). A professional nurse must reflect professionalism from her attitude and behavior towards the assigned responsibilities. It is of extreme importance that the nurses are sincere to their job and duties because they have got many lives at stake (Child & Institute of Medicine (U.S.), 2004). Nursing has been stereotyped with many other characters and professions. It is a general conception that nurses are only female and if male nurses are seen in the profession, they are generally resembled to female and are considered gay. Male nurses are usually not treated with the same respect that they deserve. It is a common belief that the people who adopt nursing are dropouts from universities and are failures (S. Summers & H. Summers, 2009). It is also considered that students who are weak in their studies and are not interested in studying are sent to study nursing. It is also considered that the nurses are working for the doctor, whereas actually they work under the doctor’s guidance and have the responsibility to update the doctor. In reality nurses are figures of sincere devotion, care, patience and strength. The strength, sincerity, feeling of care, love for the people and selflessness are some attributes that should be present in a nurse (Chitty & Black, 2011). The nurse plays a major role in curing the patient by providing the patient with psychological support and reviving the patients who have lost hope to recover. It is one of the major roles played by a nurse, which is generally not known by the people. Oftentimes a nurse can do what doctors cannot. Doctors can only treat the patient with medicines, but the psychological support can only be given by the nurse, and that plays a major role in curing the patient. A nurse also plays a role of a teacher. She helps the patient to get to know about their health condition in detail. This role is not known by many people in general either (Guine?e, 1970). My role model in nursing is Callista Roy. She is a complete woman and an outstanding nurse who has strived to serve the patients with all her heart and soul. Her views and concepts regarding this profession are very unique and practical. It is a general misconception that nurses have a very easy job as they just follow the doctor’s order. Nurses are responsible for doing much more than that. They have the responsibility to support the patient throughout his recovery process, remain attentive and alert during their entire working time in order to take timely actions which could otherwise lead to serious consequences. Their sincere duty can save lives while on the other hand, any mishandling or irresponsibility can lead to death of patients concerne d. They are obliged to remain aware of the patient’s conditions more than a doctor and update the doctors regularly (Blais, 2006). It is the core responsibility of a nurse to treat patients without any discrimination of cast, color or creed. A nurse must see each patient as a suffering human only and nothing other than that (Allen, 2001). A nurse

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Essay Example for Free

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Essay In his book, ‘post-traumatic stress disorder source book’, Schiraldi, Glenn identifies three major causes of post-traumatic stress disorder. These are, â€Å"intentional Human causes (the most difficult to recover from), unintentional Human causes and the acts of Nature (least complex and can be resolved quickly)† (Schiraldi, 2000: pg.4). The intentional human causes include those traumatic events that are intentionally caused or triggered by humans. These events include war, rape, physical torture, robbery with violence, use of bombs and explosions, killing someone, kidnapping and holding others hostage. Unintentional human causes involve those traumatic events that occur accidentally. These include car accidents, plane crash, collapse of a building, fire and exposure to nuclear reactants. There are also post-traumatic stress disorders that are caused by events of nature. These natural catastrophes are always more severe and disastrous. It includes earthquakes, flood, drought, outbreak of certain diseases, hurricanes and occurrence of volcanic activities. Other cause that may trigger post-traumatic stress disorder involves the changes in the normal biochemical rate in the brain which results to a condition known as Neuroendocrinology. Apart from this condition, morphological changes in the brain have also been identified as another cause of post-traumatic stress disorder. Various studies have shown that the existence of amygdale in the brain usually result to the development of emotional flashbacks. These flashbacks are mainly those related to worry and horror. Genetics have also been identified as another cause leading to post-traumatic stress disorder. Various studies in genetics have shown that some characteristics that are possessed by a parent who is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder are sometimes passed on to the children. These characteristics that are usually passed to the children include violence and aggressiveness. Signs and symptoms: The signs and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder usually manifest itself within three to four months following the trauma. In other cases, these symptoms might last for a year or even several years. The symptoms in most cases manifest in various ways as discussed below. 1) Recurring memories: Memories and experiences of the real traumatic event usually re-emerge in form of dreams, images and thoughts. The re-emergence of these memories is usually unexpected and the victim usually undergoes difficult moment since the memories are so hard to bear. Such memories in most cases inflict feelings of fear to the victim, anger and also guilt. In his book, Schiraldi Glenn provides an example to this scenario by stating that, â€Å"a survivor of a Russian prisoner-of –war camp often daydreams, absorbed in unpleasant memories and out of touch with his surroundings. A number of cues can trigger this re-experience, including thin soup, walking in the woods, Russian music, a harsh rebuke by a supervisor, or any unpleasant confrontation. Sometimes there is no apparent connection to the thoughts or feelings that are replayed,† (Schiraldi, 2000: pg 7). Recurring memories usually manifest in terms of nightmares. These nightmares in most cases reflect the accurate traumatic events or almost similar events as those of the real trauma. Most individuals who experience nightmares in most cases do not get enough sleep as they are being interrupted by the imaginations. Recurring memories can also manifest in terms of flash backs. Flash backs makes an individual feel as if the real traumatic events are being revived and can influence the behavior and the feelings of an individual. 2) Arousal: Post-traumatic stress disorder is also characterized by over reaction of an individual to any event that seems to cause panic. The victims’ reaction becomes spontaneous due to the sensitivity of the nervous system as a result of destructive traumatic events. The reaction of an individual to even smaller interruptions is as spontaneous as the bigger ones. As a result of arousal, an individual usually develops difficulties in falling asleep, lacks concentration, becomes short tempered, overcautious, develops fear to the recurrence of the same event, becomes over expectant to disasters and overprotective. 3) Avoidance or numbing: Because the thoughts of traumatic events are very painful to most of the victims, most people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder usually look for various ways of avoiding the reminders to such events. In most cases, they avoid talking about it while in other instances they restrict their minds from thinking about such events. Most of the victims therefore end up staying indoors to avoid coming in contact to reminders of the tragic events. 4) The normal routine of an individual is disrupted: One losses interest in his/her future ambitions due to too much cautiousness and the avoidance of exploring different avenues and mingling with other people to gain more knowledge. Victims of post-traumatic stress disorder are therefore in most cases locked in their own world. Treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder: Treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder is mainly aimed at relieving symptoms because there is no treatment that can completely wipe out the post-traumatic stress disorder. Treatment can therefore be achieved by use of two methods. These include use of drugs and non-drug treatment methods. Non-drug treatments involve the following; a) Cognitive therapy: It is believed that different ways of thinking can lead to various mental disorders including the post-traumatic stress disorder. Therefore, during the cognitive therapy, the patient is advised on various thinking patterns and how to avoid false perceptions and thoughts. They are also thought on the importance of thinking positively and constructively. At the end of every session, each and every patient is given an assignment to go and try it out at home (http://www.ncptsd.va.gov/ncmain). b) Eye movement Desensitization and Reprocessing: This treatment usually involves therapist asking the patient to think about any traumatic occurrence. As the patient is thinking about the event, the therapist moves his/her fingers so that the patient can follow it with his/her eyes (Schmeltzer Bhagar, 2007). It is not clear how this treatment works but after a couple of therapy session, most of the patients are no longer worried by the thoughts of the event. c) Individual Help: This involves all the individuals having the same signs coming up together. The patients can then share their experiences and learn from one another on the possible ways of overcoming the trauma. Medication treatment: a) Antidepressant drugs: These drugs are in real sense used in the treatment of depression but it has also been found out to suppress the post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. They usually work by blocking the chemicals in the brain that lead to the development of the symptoms. These drugs usually take two to four weeks or even months before their results can be noticed. b) Benzodiazepines: These drugs are used for short term mainly to reduce the chances of an individual not falling asleep and also to get rid of those symptoms leading to sleep interruptions. The problem with this drug is that they are not effective if taken for a longer period of time. The patient is supposed to use it within two to three weeks (Rose Armstrong 1997). Prevention: Post-traumatic stress can be prevented by employing the following measures; 1) Debriefing: This technique is usually employed to soldiers after war and also to those victims that underwent through events of natural catastrophes (Schmeltzer Bhagar, 2007). It mainly involves victims exchanging feelings and thoughts about the tragic event. 2) Immediate therapy: Studies have shown that incase an individual is provided with therapy within the first two weeks of trauma, the chances of individual developing long term post-traumatic stress disorder is drastically reduced. 3) Taking short medication drugs: Drugs such as benzodiazepine when taken by the victim immediately, the chances of him/her developing long-term symptoms is also reduced. Conclusion: Though most of the victims of post-traumatic stress take long to experience the symptoms; it is very crucial that an individual who is suffering from trauma seek for help immediately. The treatment that the victim is able to obtain will be very useful as it will suppress the long term symptoms from re-emerging. Victims of trauma that usually don’t get treatment can be completely crippled by the post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. Some victims may feel guilt of surviving a tragic event or not providing enough assistance to those who perished. These may negatively affect on the normalcy of an individual.

Transcontinental Runs :: Running Athletics Papers

Transcontinental Runs One of the most distinct features of humans exists in the fact that we are innately motivated to achieve certain goals. We are in essence a species of curiosity, always testing how much stress we can take both mentally and physically. There have been many people over the years that tested their mental and physical states, but few can say they put their very existence to the limit like James Shapiro and Bhaktimarga Swami. Shapiro, an American runner and author, completed a virtually solo run across the United States in 1980, covering 3,026 miles in eighty days of trials and tribulations.(Shapiro preface) Swami, a Hare Krishna monk in Canada, is well on his way to completing his trek across his native land.(Internet 96) It was the age of 33 in 1980 when Shapiro started to run from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean.(Shapiro preface) While the distance of over three thousand miles seems near impossible, Shapiro had plenty of experience in ultra-running prior to his trip. He began running in his early youth, participating on his schools’ track teams. He enjoyed little success in these early races but was confident that one day he would find a long distance where he could excel. In 1975, after witnessing the Boston Marathon, Shapiro decided that he would run a marathon himself. Five years and thousands of miles later Shapiro had run several marathons and even ultramarathons up to fifty miles long. But the thought of the solo venture across America was not a glimmer in Shapiro's eye until he met two runners who had run the length of England across America. He then made it a point to train twenty miles a day for eight weeks up until his departure in July of 1980.(Shapiro preface) If he finish ed he would join a select group of twelve living runners that have mastered comparable runs.(Shapiro preface) After catching a one way flight to California from his native state of New York, Shapiro settled on Dillon Beach as his starting point for its beauty and openness.(Shapiro preface) Shapiro was going to have to get used to this sense of openness, for except for parts of Utah, Nevada, and Wyoming where a car accompanied him for hydration purposes, he would be traveling the open lands of America alone. "It was scary to sense how alone I was going to be and how much I would have to live with myself, and be comfortable doing so.

Because It Is Running by

Because It Is Running By – 2. Delprove A. â€Å"This is Edie, Wil, said his mother. She’s going to be helping me out. [†¦] When was this decided? he said. † Edie meets Wil, opposites meet. In Because It Is Running By these two main characters, Wil and Edie, meet when Wil’s mother hires Edie to help out with some chores. As the first quote might allude to, Wil is not very happy with Edie coming into his life. Eventually Wil seems to accept Edie as they spend some time together and get to talk. One thing leads to another and one day Wil invites Edie out and buys her a drink. When Wil realizes that Edie is leaving soon, he accuses his mother of throwing Edie out of the house. Edie is heading for Marrakesh, Morocco and, as the text ends, Wil is with Edie and Wil suggests that he could go to Morocco. Wil is a young man who is not in his teenage years anymore. He lives with his mother and has probably done so most of his life. We know that he has never left Great Britain and, at this point, the only woman in his life is his mother. We don’t know much of Edie’s past. We only know of where she is now and where she’s going. These two main characters have completely different approaches to life. Edie is staying with his mother where everything is safe, while Edie dares to enter new areas unknowing of what will happen. â€Å"Never been abroad. Never been on an aeroplane. I’m just a fucking peasant. † â€Å"Don’t do that, she said. † â€Å"I seen you thinking it, he said. With your Pernod and your fancy accent† [†¦] â€Å"I think you are where you are. † I think this is a very interesting dialogue between Wil and Edie, which gives us some idea of who our main characters are, especially Wil. Wil is very much aware of his lifestyle, within the safety borders, and the dialogue might indicate that he is somewhat ashamed of it. When later, he says that â€Å"I could go to Morocco†, he is probably fascinated by Edie and her way of life. He wants to see what happens if you leave the comfort zone. All in all, the last sentence of the text basically sums up Wil’s way of life: â€Å"[†¦] things continuing in the same way. † While Edie is the opposite who has only been at their place during summer, until she is moving on to another distant location – which is fascinating to Wil. There are several themes in this text: relationship between a mother and her son, relationship between a boy and a girl. But in my opinion the main theme is breaking the comfort zone or, as the old Latin phrase goes, Carpe Diem – seize the day. Wil probably had his reasons for living with his mom, but if you’re too scared to go anywhere else, who knows, you might just end up dying as the same â€Å"fucking peasant† that you have been your entire life. The title of the text, Because It Is Running By, could refer to Wil who is just letting life run by, instead of getting the best out of it and becoming a part of it. Text 4, Making the decision to take a gap year, deals with this matter. There are many things to worry about when leaving the comfort zone, such as loneliness and language problems. But all these factors are just a part of the adventure that life is supposed to be. You can’t know what experiences you’re missing out if you’re well pleased with where you are. It’s our life and our responsibility to get the best out of it – seize the day or die regretting the time you lost. Picture 1, Desired Freedom, shows a man leaning, with his arms, against the window and a dove painted on the wall. Like Wil and Edie; the man and the dove are opposites. Since there are no bars on the window we can conclude that he is not in prison. But then again, this man has probably imprisoned himself, by not living life to the fullest. He has only spectated life from the sidelines, but he doesn’t dare to go to the other side of that window and experience what it’s like. The dove, on the other hand, is completely free. And the dove knows what to do to survive. Its mother might have fed it at first, but eventually it has to live life on its own. Even if that means going to dangerous territories to find food, the dove knows that it must be done in order to survive. It doesn’t wait in its own prison and end up dying in regret. Which way of life would you rather imitate? B. Because It Is Running By is a text which is basically built up of dialogues, with remarks from a narrator. Since there are many dialogues in the text, it is written in colloquial language. That means a large amount of very short sentences, which aren’t necessarily grammatically correct. An example of this is the above-mentioned dialogue: â€Å"Never been abroad. Never been on an aeroplane. I’m just a fucking peasant. † â€Å"Don’t do that, she said. † â€Å"I seen you thinking it, he said. † However, typical slang used in colloquial language, such as â€Å"gonna† and â€Å"wanna† is not used in the text. The text is not written with formal language and there are very few difficult words. The text can be rather annoying to read, due to the fact that there are many stops throughout the text, caused by small sentences. Also, Wil often jumps from one subject to another, which can be frustrating for the reader. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Song: Avenged Sevenfold – Seize The Day

East Orchids

THE CASE STUDY OF EAST ORCHIDS AREAS OF CONSIDERATION: The East Orchids is an orchid farm in the campus grounds of the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City. It was formally opened on May 31, 1989, by Mr. and Mrs. Max Prieto. East Orchids sold both cut flowers and plants. As a typical with orhidariums, the farm has a 3,000 sq. m. Canopy enclosure of green netting that covering a huge inventory of orchids. HISTORY The Prieto’s family was one of the prominent families in Davao, where Mr. Prieto was a former mayor. It was during the term of Mr. Prieto that his wife Princess became interested in orchids. The decision to breed orchids was very arbitrary and definitely not for the purpose of putting up a business. The East Orchids was started as a hobby of Mrs. Prieto before it was organized as a business. She got curious when her friends were into orchids. She bought a couple and decided to try to take care of them just for fun until she became obsessed with them. She treated the orchids like her babies that she felt that she just had to take care of them. Mrs. Prieto’s orchid collection grew. Soon, the orchids filled the entire garden and were running over into their driveway and some of them had to place outside the house. Soon, neigbors and nearby flower shops were offering to buy cut flowers from her. At first, she simply gave the flowers but as the offer increased she began selling these. It was when the orchids alarmed to take over every living space in the home of family Prietos that Mrs. Prieto decided to sell the whole plants. Because of enormous money was coming into their way, they started to think about orchids as a business. In 1989, when the Prieto’s family moved to Manila due to Mr. Prieto’s commitment, they also made up their minds to lease 5,000 sq. m. of land from University of the Philippines at the lease price of P12,000. 00 a year. They invested to clear up the land which was originally the garbage dump and for the net enclosure and putting other facilities to start their business. OBJECTIVE The Prieto’s family is planning for the expansion of their orchid farm in either Davao or Los Banos and Antipolo. The goal of this case is to determine if the East Orchids has the capabilities to exploit such opportunities. S. W. O. T. ANALYSIS The strengths the EAST ORCHIDS †¢The price is a bit lower than other competitors which will attract more customers to buy on them. †¢The overhead expenses are much lower †¢The location is very accessible The weaknesses of the EAST ORCHIDS †¢No internal control in the business and the owner has no management background †¢The owner is lenient in financial aspects of the business †¢No business plan was made before starting the Orchids farm, just started out as the hobby. †¢The workers are not well-trained The opportunities of the EAST ORCHIDS The East Orchids has the greater chance to expand if just to have proper management and new technologies and skills to improve the cultivation of orchids at minimal cost †¢It can compete to others because of low prices †¢The orchids are saleable even the onset of the rainy season doesn’t seem to threaten a reductions in sales The threats of the EAST ORCHIDS †¢The workers might hike because they are not-well compensated †¢There are no new technologies in improving the orchids growing †¢ The approaching termination of the lease contract to University of the Philippines. COURSE OF ALTERNATIVE TO DETERMINE THE OBJECTIVES ALTERNATIVESADVANTAGESDISADVANTAGES 1. )Training program and study for the expansion of orchid farmsThe owner should broaden her knowledge in cultivating the orchids though she already had personal experience in raising the orchids. The owner should attend proper training in order to cut costs and know some new technologies to improve her orchid’s farm. And also she should study on how to run a business and have basic accounting knowledge. She should know the operations of her business and focus on the financial aspects. If she will attend the training and seminars regarding orchids business it will be expensive and time consuming on her part. 2. )Hire an expert or managerIn expanding the East Orchids, it should have a manager, who is knowledgeable about orchids business and have a management background, to help the owner in managing the business because it is already a big business to handle by an owner who has no formal training on orchid growing and business management. Additional employee which may ask for a high salary and the owner has no control to run the business all by herself because has to consider the opinion of the manager first. . )Evaluating the operations of the business and make a business plan for expansionTo determine business plan will make a business success. The owner should evaluate first the business operation if it is doing well and know what should have to do to meet the goal. In determining the financial aspects of the business the owner will see the capabilities of the co mpany to expand or not. It will hold back the expansion due to procedure in evaluating and making a business plan and also it will be expensive RECOMMENDATIONS Alternative no. , there should be proper evaluation of the financial statements of the East Orchids to determine the cash position and the results of the operations. And SWOT analysis should be taken into consideration so that Mrs. Prieto should understand her business she would know what these are and how to improve such weaknesses and how to combat the threats on her business. CONCLUSIONS Some additional questions that must be taken into consideration that might help in expanding their business are: 1. Is East Orchids really a profitable enterprise? If it is so, do the margins justify the company’s existence? If not, what justifies the company’s existence? Based on Figure 1 below shows that the company has very minimal margins and that margins do not justify the company’s existence if it will continue to be like that. The East Orchids should so something about their business operation and what strategies to be apply for them to boost their revenues. EAST ORCHIDS UP Compound, Diliman, Quezon City Sales:(average sales for 3 months 200,000 x 4 quarters)P 800,000. 00 less: Cost ( 30% of sales) 240,000. 00 Gross Sales 560,000. 00 less: Operating expenses Salaries (10 boys @ P1,200. 00x 12 months)P 144,000. 0 Ferilizer ( P 5,000 x 12 months) 60,000. 00 Water bill ( P 6,000 x 12 months) 72,000. 00 Electric bill (P15,000 x 12 months) 180,000. 00 456,000. 00 Estimated Net incomeP 104,000. 00 2. How is Mrs. Prieto, who is not a trained orchid or businesswoman, able to compete with established orchid growers? Mrs. Prieto has interest, skills and talents in growing business and she is a ble compete in the sense that she has this marketing strategy of lower prices which attracts the customers to buy orchids to East Orchids. 3. Should the Prietos push through with their plans to expand their business? Would such expansion compatible with the Mrs. Prieto’s current method of managing the business? I think the Prietos should hold back first their plans to expand their business until they see the problem with their business. Mrs Prieto’s current method of managing the business is not compatible if they will expand because it will require proper accounting system and competent manager who knows the orchid farms operation. 4. Is she a true entrepreneur? Mrs. Prieto is not a true entrepreneur although she has interest and skills in growing orchids but her attitude does not illustrate being a true entrepreneur. East Orchids THE CASE STUDY OF EAST ORCHIDS AREAS OF CONSIDERATION: The East Orchids is an orchid farm in the campus grounds of the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City. It was formally opened on May 31, 1989, by Mr. and Mrs. Max Prieto. East Orchids sold both cut flowers and plants. As a typical with orhidariums, the farm has a 3,000 sq. m. Canopy enclosure of green netting that covering a huge inventory of orchids. HISTORY The Prieto’s family was one of the prominent families in Davao, where Mr. Prieto was a former mayor. It was during the term of Mr. Prieto that his wife Princess became interested in orchids. The decision to breed orchids was very arbitrary and definitely not for the purpose of putting up a business. The East Orchids was started as a hobby of Mrs. Prieto before it was organized as a business. She got curious when her friends were into orchids. She bought a couple and decided to try to take care of them just for fun until she became obsessed with them. She treated the orchids like her babies that she felt that she just had to take care of them. Mrs. Prieto’s orchid collection grew. Soon, the orchids filled the entire garden and were running over into their driveway and some of them had to place outside the house. Soon, neigbors and nearby flower shops were offering to buy cut flowers from her. At first, she simply gave the flowers but as the offer increased she began selling these. It was when the orchids alarmed to take over every living space in the home of family Prietos that Mrs. Prieto decided to sell the whole plants. Because of enormous money was coming into their way, they started to think about orchids as a business. In 1989, when the Prieto’s family moved to Manila due to Mr. Prieto’s commitment, they also made up their minds to lease 5,000 sq. m. of land from University of the Philippines at the lease price of P12,000. 00 a year. They invested to clear up the land which was originally the garbage dump and for the net enclosure and putting other facilities to start their business. OBJECTIVE The Prieto’s family is planning for the expansion of their orchid farm in either Davao or Los Banos and Antipolo. The goal of this case is to determine if the East Orchids has the capabilities to exploit such opportunities. S. W. O. T. ANALYSIS The strengths the EAST ORCHIDS †¢The price is a bit lower than other competitors which will attract more customers to buy on them. †¢The overhead expenses are much lower †¢The location is very accessible The weaknesses of the EAST ORCHIDS †¢No internal control in the business and the owner has no management background †¢The owner is lenient in financial aspects of the business †¢No business plan was made before starting the Orchids farm, just started out as the hobby. †¢The workers are not well-trained The opportunities of the EAST ORCHIDS The East Orchids has the greater chance to expand if just to have proper management and new technologies and skills to improve the cultivation of orchids at minimal cost †¢It can compete to others because of low prices †¢The orchids are saleable even the onset of the rainy season doesn’t seem to threaten a reductions in sales The threats of the EAST ORCHIDS †¢The workers might hike because they are not-well compensated †¢There are no new technologies in improving the orchids growing †¢ The approaching termination of the lease contract to University of the Philippines. COURSE OF ALTERNATIVE TO DETERMINE THE OBJECTIVES ALTERNATIVESADVANTAGESDISADVANTAGES 1. )Training program and study for the expansion of orchid farmsThe owner should broaden her knowledge in cultivating the orchids though she already had personal experience in raising the orchids. The owner should attend proper training in order to cut costs and know some new technologies to improve her orchid’s farm. And also she should study on how to run a business and have basic accounting knowledge. She should know the operations of her business and focus on the financial aspects. If she will attend the training and seminars regarding orchids business it will be expensive and time consuming on her part. 2. )Hire an expert or managerIn expanding the East Orchids, it should have a manager, who is knowledgeable about orchids business and have a management background, to help the owner in managing the business because it is already a big business to handle by an owner who has no formal training on orchid growing and business management. Additional employee which may ask for a high salary and the owner has no control to run the business all by herself because has to consider the opinion of the manager first. . )Evaluating the operations of the business and make a business plan for expansionTo determine business plan will make a business success. The owner should evaluate first the business operation if it is doing well and know what should have to do to meet the goal. In determining the financial aspects of the business the owner will see the capabilities of the co mpany to expand or not. It will hold back the expansion due to procedure in evaluating and making a business plan and also it will be expensive RECOMMENDATIONS Alternative no. , there should be proper evaluation of the financial statements of the East Orchids to determine the cash position and the results of the operations. And SWOT analysis should be taken into consideration so that Mrs. Prieto should understand her business she would know what these are and how to improve such weaknesses and how to combat the threats on her business. CONCLUSIONS Some additional questions that must be taken into consideration that might help in expanding their business are: 1. Is East Orchids really a profitable enterprise? If it is so, do the margins justify the company’s existence? If not, what justifies the company’s existence? Based on Figure 1 below shows that the company has very minimal margins and that margins do not justify the company’s existence if it will continue to be like that. The East Orchids should so something about their business operation and what strategies to be apply for them to boost their revenues. EAST ORCHIDS UP Compound, Diliman, Quezon City Sales:(average sales for 3 months 200,000 x 4 quarters)P 800,000. 00 less: Cost ( 30% of sales) 240,000. 00 Gross Sales 560,000. 00 less: Operating expenses Salaries (10 boys @ P1,200. 00x 12 months)P 144,000. 0 Ferilizer ( P 5,000 x 12 months) 60,000. 00 Water bill ( P 6,000 x 12 months) 72,000. 00 Electric bill (P15,000 x 12 months) 180,000. 00 456,000. 00 Estimated Net incomeP 104,000. 00 2. How is Mrs. Prieto, who is not a trained orchid or businesswoman, able to compete with established orchid growers? Mrs. Prieto has interest, skills and talents in growing business and she is a ble compete in the sense that she has this marketing strategy of lower prices which attracts the customers to buy orchids to East Orchids. 3. Should the Prietos push through with their plans to expand their business? Would such expansion compatible with the Mrs. Prieto’s current method of managing the business? I think the Prietos should hold back first their plans to expand their business until they see the problem with their business. Mrs Prieto’s current method of managing the business is not compatible if they will expand because it will require proper accounting system and competent manager who knows the orchid farms operation. 4. Is she a true entrepreneur? Mrs. Prieto is not a true entrepreneur although she has interest and skills in growing orchids but her attitude does not illustrate being a true entrepreneur.

Waist-to-Hip Ratio Essay Example

Waist Waist-to-Hip Ratio Paper Waist-to-Hip Ratio Paper It can be seen that the relationship is linear between the WHR, i. e. the lower the WHR value the more attractive the image is considered to be. Whereas, the BMI the data is not linearly related and that the lower the BMI score the image seems to be unattractive and the higher the BMI score the image is also considered to be unattractive. As the BMI is not linearly related a quadratic formula had to be used in order to better predict the rating. Therefore the residuals had to be analysed in order to justify this. Graphs 5 and 6 show the distribution of the residuals for the attractiveness rating and the relationship of them with the fitted values, respectively. The residuals were distributed normally and the relationship seemed linear, but seemed to have a high variance. Similarly with the residuals of WHR (graphs 7 and 8), residuals were normally distributed and an approximate linear relationship with the fitted values. However, the residuals for the BMI, although normally distributed (graph 9), did not have a linear relationship with their fitted values (graph 10). So a quadratic formula was used which resulted in a much smoother parabola (graph 11) showing the same relationship from graph 3 but more clearly. As all the residuals were approximately normally distributed regression analysis was valid and applied (table 1) using the quadratic (BMI2) as one of the predictors. This resulted in only just under 30% (R-sq = 29. 0%) of the variance being explained by the three predictors. This was probably due to other contributing factors that were not taken into account during the experiment such as the gender of the subjects, cultural differences e. t. c. An analysis of the variance was applied and resulted in a very highly significant variance ratio (874. 55) suggesting that both the BMI and WHR were significant contributing factors. The first table of best subsets (table 3) shows that the WHR is the more influential of the two factors. However, only 29% of the variance has been explained and this is not much, so could be inaccurate. So, a cubic formula was tried and this resulted in a more accurate regression equation (table 4) and a greater proportion of the variance was explained (46. 4%). The best subsets (table 6) showed that the BMI was the best contributing factor with the WHR second. The analysis of variance (table 5) confirmed that the significance of the two factors in predicting the attractiveness rating had increased (variance ratio = 1390. 05). The same test was done to discover if using a formula with the power 4 would make a more accurate predictor. This was true and R-sq = 48. 8%, so the accuracy was beginning to plateau off at around 50%. The best subsets of the power four attempted, however was impossible to compute as the correlation was too high. Using firstly, the quadratic allowed a relationship between the three values WHR, BMI and attractiveness to be formulated and plotted against one another (graph 12). This shows that the relationship between the BMI and the attractiveness is always curved, however, the height and elevation of the curve always depends upon the WHR. The values are greatest for attractiveness where WHR is high and the BMI is in the middle of the range. This contradicts graph 4 where the lower the WHR the more attractive the image is considered to be. However, graph 4 only takes into account the influence of WHR alone, not the joint influence of both factors together like graph 12. Greater information could be been obtained if the subjects were asked their gender before rating the images. This would have allowed insight into whether males perception of attractiveness if different to that of womens. Also the age of the subjects could have been varied to see if the age of the individual has an affect on their perception of attractiveness. This has been researched by Fallon and Rozin (1989, cited in Singh 1994) as womens perception is thinner than that of mens ideal. This also works the opposite way, as the age and gender of the images could have been varied to see if either one has an effect upon attractiveness. Cultural differences both of the subject and of the image should be investigated. If the culture of the subject influences their perception, or if, for example, the colour of the person in the image matters to the subject. Are coloured people considered to be less, more or indifferent in their attractiveness to other different coloured people? Also, geographical differences, whether the ideal image of attractiveness varies between the populations of different countries. Yu and Shepard (1998, cited in Tovee Cornelissen 1999) have investigated this and among their findings concluded that Americans prefer higher WHRs to the English. Possibly a more important and more interesting factor could be eating disorders and the effect that they have upon the individuals perception of attractiveness. With the medias representation and obsession with supermodels there has been a steady increase of eating disorders among the population. This rise was predicted by the studies of Agras (1987 cited in Morris et al 1989) when the change in the body shape of women began to appear in fashion magazines. To conclude at first the WHR seemed to be the more important contributing factor (table 3) however, when using a cubic and the power of 4 the accuracy began to increase and it became apparent that the BMI was quite considerably the more influential of the two factors (BMI = 11. 3% and WHR = 9. 8%). This is supported by other research; however, there are many other contributing factors such as, age, culture and eating disorders, which need further investigation. References Morris, A. et al (1989). The changing shape of female fashion Models. Journal of Eating Disorders. 8: 593-596. Singh, D. (1994) Ideal female Body Shape: The role of body weight and Waist-to-Hip Ratio. Journal of Eating Disorders 16:283-288. Singh, D. (1994) Is thin really beautiful and good? Relationship between Waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and female attractiveness. Personal and Individual Differences 16: 123-132 Tovee, M. J. Cornelissen, P. L (1999). The mystery of Female beauty Journal of Nature 399, 215-216

Building a ‘Beauty Brand’ Veet India

Building a ‘Beauty Brand’ Veet India Beyond Hair Removal Executive Summary The solution attempts to address the transition of Veet from a hair removal brand to a true beauty brand. Starting with a study of the depilatories market in India and Veet’s growth over the years to create a platform, the results of the primary research have been presented. The primary research was a combination of questionnaire based research and PAPIs (paper aided personal interviews). The brand awareness of Veet was measured through both recognition and recall of the brand. The salience for the competitor brands like Anne French and Fem were also analyzed. Responses were gathered to identify the preferred usage locations of hair removal products. The product attribute associations, both positive and negative, were measured. An assessment of the brand personality was also undertaken by means of projective market research techniques. A combination of the strong functional values along with the emotional benefits was used to identify the key categories that were suited for brand extension. Elimination of product categories were based on reasoning related to inappropriate associations as well as data on market dynamics achieved from secondary research. Finally, three extensions in two phases have been proposed with a market potential study for each. Highlights of the communication strategies have also been proposed. The recommended strategy aims to initialize the transition of Veet as a true beauty brand in the coming years. Contents Executive Summary2 Introduction3 Hair Removal Market in India3 Veet in India6 Veet Brand Image6 Primary Research amp; Data Analysis7 Research Overview7 Data Analysis8 Brand Equity, Brand Personality amp; Possible Extensions12 Brand Equity12 Brand Personality Model12 PossibLe Extensions13 RoadmaP amp; Positioning16 Brand Extension plan16 Positioning In New Segments17 Conclusion19 Introduction Personal care sector covers segments like hair care, body care, baby care etc. In India this sector is currently valued at around INR 320 billion and is posting robust growth year-on-year. Veet is player in the niche depilatories segment within this market. Hair Removal Market in India Hair Removal or depilatories segment in India is relatively niche segment. It is valued at around INR 4 billion which means its contribution to the personal care market is a modest 1. 27%. While the market size is small the segment has tremendous potential and has been seeing robust growth year on year. As seen above, the segment was a ‘late bloomer’ showing exponential growth in 2004-05 and in 2006-07. Over the past few years year on year growth has stabilized around 19%. To better understand the nuances of this segment one must look at target consumer segments as well as the competing brands in this space. Brands in Depilatory Segment The brands dominating this segment are: Anne French dominated this category as the first mover and the only player for almost 4 decades. Anne French’s product positioning was primarily functional showing usage and highlighting product attributes. The entry of Veet in 2004 changed the face of the market with player moving from product centric, functional adverts to emotional benefits. Veet’s entry and new positioning strategy also explains the 60% y-o-y growth spurt in 2004-05. Currently Veet is the market leader in hair removal creams with a market share of around 34. 1%. Fem is the market challenger with its presence in hair removal creams and bleaching products. Target ConSumer Segments The penetration of hair removal products is relatively low with the young, single, educated and urban women being the prime users. * With a 68% category penetration there is enormous untapped potential in the segment. However this potential can only be realized with category expansion. * Increasing urbanization and more women entering the main stream white collar work force Growth in consumer base is on the cards

Cultural competence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Cultural competence - Essay Example We the World Hunger Eradication Grants Organization (WHEGO) of the United States strive hard to eradicate hunger and make people in the world to live a healthy life. Our motto is to exterminate hunger and poverty by funding deserving and innovative projects that address world hunger and so we are about to look at proposals from countries and its organizations. I am a member of the grant awarding committee and I would explain in this report what are the eligibility criteria that a country must demonstrate in order to be considered for the grant, to what kind of organizations we would award the grant, and what are the required elements of the progress report/proposal that needs to be submitted in order to successfully avail the grants issued by our organization. Every year we allot US $50,000 to $500,000 for various poor and developing countries and their organizations that come forward with sustainable solutions to eradicate hunger through innovative food projects. In spite of the civil society’s efforts to provide food for the people suffering from hunger through food pantries, food banks, and other direct servicing programs, the numbers of starving people continue to swell in countries like Africa particularly in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern, South-eastern and Southern Asia (â€Å"2015 World hunger and,† 2015). So, this time we are looking for conceptualized projects from the African country of , that are yet to be implemented and those which are having high potential for accomplishment and replication. The first and foremost eligibility criterion for a country to receive our grant is to be a current dues-paying member of WHEGO. As the African country of Burundi is a current member of our organization, it duly satisfies this criterion. The country which has received our granting award in the last two years can neither apply