Minimalism From Shaker Furniture to Oki Sato Research Paper

Minimalism From Shaker Furniture to Oki Sato - Research Paper Example Minimalism, today, has inspired millions of architects and designers around the world. While many have been exposed to minimalism in one form or another, very few understand and appreciate the underlying thought behind minimalism. Minimalism began as a very disjointed movement. It can be traced back to the time of the Shakers. The Shakers were basically a strong religious communal group of people who believed in simple living. Their belief of simple living extended to their architecture and furniture design which carried traced of minimalistic design. However, Minimalist design did not begin as a proper movement until the twentieth century. Minimalism in design gained momentum as a reaction towards Abstract Expressionism. It follows the principles of achieving more in less. Negative spaces in minimalist design are not feared; rather they appreciated by exposing them to bright white light. Oki Sato is one designer who appreciates the beauty of minimalism. For him, minimalism is beauti ful with its simple design. This paper will discuss the simplicity inherent in minimalistic design by exploring the characteristics of both ancient and modern minimalistic design. The Shakers represent the old minimalistic style while Oki Sato through his design studio, Nendo represent the modern take on minimalism. Because simplicity in design is straightforward, this paper displays the progression of minimalism from Shaker furniture to the more modern Oki Sato designs. The paper will first focus on defining the scope.

Manager Interview Activity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Manager Interview Activity - Essay Example - Rewarding tasks are interacting with guests that come in and meeting interesting people from all over the world. Most challenging is continuing to make sure the hotel continues to abide by the corporate franchise rules and regulations. People from corporate office will sometimes pop in for a night’s stay just to ensure everything is running smoothly and it can be tough on your nerves. More flexibility and time with family but most be available in emergency. -An open door policy with her employees. Everyone must know their tasks but then she has to sometimes delegate other people to do other jobs too in case someone calls in sick. She also said it’s important for everyone to know each other’s roles and to let them communicate in case they have schedule conflicts. Must be friendly and courteous to guests and must also reiterate to someone if a mistake is made or a problem needs solved. Holding quarterly staff meetings and sometimes meetings that are urgent just to identify a problem and discuss the solution of how it is going to work. Everyone from the housekeepers to the maintenance people and desk clerks know how to do each other’s jobs in case someone needs to fill in. - Getting attached to employees since it is a small branch and trying to find ways not to make them angry enough to quit. Halting any office gossip is also hard. Scheduling can be difficult. Not everyone is set but she remains flexible. -Be strong, friendly and respectful. Always look to bosses above you for help. Make sure you know the roles of others and are prepared to be motivated and also have to take responsibility for the whole branch. Any mistake made by an employee under her supervision reflects on her. When they mess up she gets called upon by people higher up. I was surprised to find out the manager was actually not formally educated and just had a high school diploma. When I discussed

HIV Patients Should Have Equal Access to Kidney Transplantation Essay Example for Free

HIV Patients Should Have Equal Access to Kidney Transplantation Essay HIV infection may be obtained by patients receiving renal replacement therapy (RRT) through blood transfusions, renal allograft, sexual contacts, or needle sharing of drug addicts. Viral infection or HIV-associated nephropathy can cause renal failure. In the early 1980’s, prognosis of patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) was very low, and survival rate of HIV-infected individuals with ESRD was miserable. Accordingly, several people even doubted the worth of providing continuance dialysis to patients with AIDS. Due to progress in diagnostic techniques in serologic and viral markers of disease, and use of extremely efficient antiretroviral agents, the prognosis of HIV-positive individuals has radically improved. Today, skills and knowledge in hemodialysis are effective modes of therapy and many centers, though some are reluctant, are now starting to practice renal transplantation in HIV-infected patients. Human Immunodeficiency Virus HIV infects CD4+ T cells, making the immune system weak as these cells malfunctions. Abnormal activation ofCD8= T cells may contribute to the loss of both CD4+ AND CD8+ T cells through apoptosis, which may represent a major cause of infected and non-infected cell death in HIV infection. Many HIV-infected individuals proliferative responses to recall antigens, irradiated stimulator peripheral blood mononuclear cells from healthy, unrelated donors, or T cell mitogens (Roland Stock, 2003). HIV infection can worsen existing renal disease and can trigger pathologically distinct disease named HIV-associated nephropathy (HIVAN), a focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) associated with severe cystic tubular lesions, leading to chronic renal failure. Renal syndromes include: fluid and electrolyte malfunction, proteinuria, nephrotic disease, progressive azotemia, inflamed kidneys, and fast succession to end stage renal disease (ESRD). HIV-infected patients who developed renal disease have short survival span. Transplantation process may increase the risk of HIV-infected patients in accelerating the depletion and dysfunction of their CD4+ T cells, which may further result in the development of more serious and complicated disease, such as AIDS, making HIV replication harder to control. On the other hand, immunosuppression might reverse the immuno-pathology associated with HIV disease (Roland Stock, 2003). End Stage Renal Disease  When the kidney totally lost its ability to filter waste from the circulatory system, renal failure finally meet the end stage renal disease or ESRD, the final stage of nephropathy or the premeditated degeneration of the kidneys. In 1998, over eighty-six thousand patients received therapy for treating ESRD in the United States. Autonomously, Medicare expenditures rose to 12. 9 billion dollars from 12 billion in 1998. The total cost of ESRD program through medicare was 17. 9 billion and is now projected to be 28. 3 billion dollars by 2010 (Winsett et al, 2002). The most common causes of ESRD include diabetic nephropathy, systemic arteral hypertension, glomerulonephrities, and polycystic kidney disease. In the case of ESRD, GFR declines to less than 10mL/min/m2, once it declines to that level, the normal hemeostatic function of the kidneys can not be sustained anymore. Whatever the cause, if untreated, ESRD may cause severe infection and even death to the patient. When the kidney function decline to less than twelve percent to fifteen percent, the patient survival will depend on the kidney transplantation and the therapies associated to it (Winsett et al, 2002). Chronic Dialysis versus Kidney Transplantation According to the New England Journal of Medicine (1999), transplantation is superior in saving life than long-term dialysis. The mortality rates were analyzed among over 200, 000 patients who underwent dialyses for ESRD and only twenty-three thousand received a kidney. Based on the research, patients who undergo transplantation live twice more than the projected years of life of patients who remained on the waitlist having dialysis. A successful transplantation improves the quality of life and lessens the mortality rate for many patients. Moreover, it consumes less time and energy. However, this procedure may cause bleeding, damage, and infection to other organs inside the body, even death can occur. That is why after transplantation, patients must undergo immunosuppression process for a lifetime period to monitor signs of rejection (Berns, 2007). Despite the greater risks, when it comes to quality and length of life, a transplanted kidney is more preferred. It’s man over machine. Statistics Over ten thousand kidney transplantations are being performed each year on patients with ESRD. Records show that patients who undergo kidney transplantation live longer than those who are just taking dialysis; but eight to nine patients on the waitlist die every day due to scarcity of organs to be used in the transplantation. Cadaveric kidney supply has an average of more than two years to come, and only 15-20 % of patients in the list were granted to receive them. The condition of renal failure and what causes them have direct effects on the transplantation rates of patients. Individuals with cystic kidney disease (25. 5%), obstructive nephropathy (24. 9%), and glomerulonephrities (23. 2%) have the utmost successful transplantation rate while patients having diabetes (13. 3%) and hypertension (8. 5%) have the lowest rates (Wallace, 1998). Why transplantation should be considered in HIV-infected patients? Organ malfunction has been the principal grounds of morbidity and mortality of HIV-infected patients, AIDS-related complication is only secondary. Before, immunosuppression was thought to be an unconditional contraindication in the circumstance of HIV infection, now, it is gradually more valued that immune activation is a major aspect of HIV pathogenesis. Consequently, immunosuppression has advantageous effects in people with HIV infection through temperance of immune activation or reduction of HIV reservoirs. Some specific immunosuppressant agents also have antiviral properties or interact synergistically with certain antiretroviral agents (Roland Stock, 2003). Reasons for reluctance of performing Kidney Transplantation for HIV-infected patients: In a survey conducted to 248 renal transplant centers in The U. S. in 1998, 148 requires HIV testing of prospective kidney recipients and that the vast majority denies patients with HIV to undergo transplantation. Most centers believe that transplantation is not suitable for HIV-infected patients (Spital A. , 1998). Before, chronic dialysis was the only option for treating ESRD of HIV-infected patients for fear of increased morbidity and mortality due to therapeutic immunosuppression. The allocation of cadaver kidneys to these patients was also considered improper due to expected inferior patient graft survival (Anil Kumar et al. , 2005). Also, according to the research led by Professor Andrew Grulich from the University of the New South Wales’ National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Search (NCHECR), immune deficiency is responsible for the increased risk of contracting several types of cancer than the general population. HIV patients are eleven times more expected to develop Hodgkin’s lymphoma while there is almost four times the risk for those who had transplants (Staff Writers, 2007). Professor Grulich further proposed that people’s immune system must be maintained at a higher level through the use of anti-retroviral drugs. The main historical exclusion of HIV-infected patients with ESRD was rooted in the coherent basis that immunosuppression necessary for organ transplantation would aggravate an already immunocompromised state. Although there were numerous initial reports signifying worse outcomes after solid organ transplantation in HIV seropositive recipients, there have been reports as well suggesting there were no unpleasant effects of HIV infection on allograft survival (University of California, 2007). Indeed, there have been two reports of HIV-infected patients going through liver or renal transplantation who demonstrated normal graft function for at least eight years following the transplant. The HIV status of the two was unknown at the time of transplantation; therefore no endeavors were prepared to adjust immunosuppressive therapy. The distinction in these studies may recount to differences in the time of HIV acquisition, with those of longstanding HIV infection prior to transplantation having a faster end relative to those who acquired HIV infection at the time of transplantation. Regardless of standard cyclosporine-based immunosuppressive treatments, there was no proof of OI or progression to AIDS in the first eight years following transplantation (Roland Stock, 2003). There are multiple other reports of patients with HIV who had gone through transplantation and demonstrated long-term graft survival in the presence of immunosuppression with variable rates of developing AIDS or death. Six of eleven renal allografts were functioning at a mean follow-up of thirty-one months (Roland Stock, 2003). Effects of Immunosuppressant Agents In order to avoid rejection reaction of the body against transplanted organs, immunosuppressant drugs are being taken to block the immune system from attacking the transplanted organ and preserving its function. As side effect, these drugs can help in HIV progress to AIDS. However, recent studies show that these drugs can also contribute in the reduction of HIV. Inactive T lymphocytes serve as a vital reservoir for HIV regardless of HAART. Immunosuppression may affect the reservoir of HIV-infected cell that persist throughout HAART through reduction of cell-associated HIV by either direct inhibition of viral replication, potentiation of HAART effects, or exhaustion of infected cells and lessening in the accessibility of permissive target cells by preventing T-cell activation. Otherwise, improvement in viral reservoirs can be caused by reduced immune management of HIV-expressing cells (Roland Stock, 2003). Ethical and Medical Issues Organ shortage is one of the ethical issues in organ transplantation. One distributive fairness criteria is equal access which include length of time waiting (first come, first saved basis), and age (youngest to oldest). The supporters of this criteria has a strong belief that since kidney transplantation can save live, it is an important remedial practice and worth offering to anyone who needs it (Center for Bioethics, 2004). The second type is the maximum benefit, aiming to maximize the quantity of successful transplants. The maximum benefit criteria include medical need (the sickest people are being prioritized for a transplantable organ), and probable success of a transplant (giving organs to the person who will be most likely to live the longest). People who support the maximum benefit philosophy aspire to avoid the wasting of organs, which are quite scarce, so that the greatest benefit is derived from every available organ (Center for Bioethics, 2004). During the Pre-HAART era, HIV-infected patients have a very poor prognosis, many people believes that it would be a waste to use the limited supply of organ to those group of patients that is why many transplant centers are reluctant to practice the transplantation. However, now that the HAART has been launched and the mortality and morbidity rate has been decreasing, it would be unethical to withhold this option in the absence of evidence that it is either unsafe or ineffective. Advancement in HIV Therapy: HAART era Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) has been the primary improvement in the treatment of HIV-infected patients in the previous decade. Numerous studies and observations had proven that advantageous outcomes of HAART also include improvement of HIV-related renal complications. Virologic and histologic evidences imply that HIVAN perhaps the result of HIV-1 reproduction in the kidney. The potential relation of HIVAN with HIV-1 replication in the kidney is associated with epidemiologic and medical records showing that HAART may improve HIVAN. On the other hand, from nephrologist’s perspective, one effect of this achievement has been the emergence of new kidney diseases related to (1) enhanced management of the HIV infection and (2) the prospective nephroxicity of antiretroviral treatments. According to the studies of MD Roland and Stock, medical tests have confirmed apparent survival benefits linked with the use of protease inhibitor (PI)-containing or non-nucleoside reverse-transcriptate inhibitor (NNRTI)-containing regimens (HAART). Epidemiologic statistics show reduced mortality, hospitalization rates, and opportunistic infection (OI) incidence associated with HAART. There have been vivid decline in new AIDS-related OIs, the majority of which are now occurring in people with low CD4+ T cell counts and those who are not receiving medical care (University of California, 2007). Epidemiologic and modeling information sustain the clinical trial efficacy data, signifying that HAART has a considerable effect on medical result (Roland Stock, 2003). Survival Rate Using the United States Kidney Data System (USRDS) data, the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology analyzed and studied these inputs to find out whether recipient HIV serologic status remains the primary factor in graft and patient survival in modern clinical transplantation. Ninety-five percent of the HIV-infected patients survived after transplantation and only 4. 3% died. Although in the earlier USRDS studies of kidney recipients before the introduction of HAART, the results showed that HIV-infected recipients had a survival of eighty-three percent while the uninfected patients have eighty-eight percent survival rates. While endurance records of HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected patients is almost the same, selection bias may have occurred, prioritizing the healthier patients than HIV-infected individuals. Also, in the studies of MD Roland, data showed that graft survival and rejection rates of HIV-infected patients who had gone through transplantation were similar to those HIV-negative patients (Roland Stock, 2003). Studies and Observations Methods. This study aims to observe safety and success of kidney transplantation, and learn the effects of immunosuppressant treatments on HIV infection, with the approval of the Institutional evaluation board of two universities: the Drexel University College of Medicine and Hahnemann University Hospital. Forty-five recipients with HIV infection from February 2001 to January 2004 were observed. Patient inclusion criteria were maintenance of HAART, plasma HIV-1 RNA of 400 copies per milliliter, absolute CD4 counts of at least 200 cells per micro liter. Immunosuppressant treatment includes the use of basiliximab stimulation and maintenance with cyclosporine, sirolimus, and steroids while HAART was still being applied after the transplant. Biopsy detected acute rejection; methylprednisolone was used as a treatment. Every after twelve months, surveillance biopsies are being done and evaluations include testing for subclinical acute rejection, chronic allograft nephropathy, and HIVAN (Anil Kumar et al. 2005). Results. The results demonstrated that patients with HIV infection who maintained HAART are capable of increasing an immune reaction, as proven by twenty-five percent rejection rate, signifying allograft reactivity is preserved and that no immunosuppression will lead to allograft rejection. The data showed that the combination of HAART and low-dose immunosuppressant drugs is not associated with serious adverse effects (Anil Kumar et al, 2005). The records show one- and two-year patient survival rate of eighty-five percent and eighty-two percent respectively, in comparison to the reported fifty-eight percent and forty-one percent survival of patients on dialysis. The United States Renal Data System accounted a one-year death rate of 32. 7% in HIV patients uphold on dialysis. The graft survival in this series of HIV-infected recipients is comparable to the UNOS data on non-HIV recipients (Anil Kumar et al, 2005). The monitoring of combined immunosuppression and HAART due to major drug interactions needs thorough supervision and synchronized care of transplant professionals, pharmacists, and HIV specialists. The overall result of this study proves that kidney transplantation in selected HIV-positive patients who were maintained on effective HAART is safe and has higher one to two year patient survival compared to dialysis treatment of selected HIV patients. Actual graft survival in HIV recipients is equivalent to other high-risk groups. The patients observed didn’t developed AIDS or opportunistic infection caused by immunosuppressant agents. Therefore, positive HIV status should not be considered a contraindication for kidney transplantation in selected patients. Conclusion Ethical concerns and safety of transplantation and post-transplant immunosuppressant treatment in HIV-positive recipients advances radically in recent years. Due to improvements in morbidity and mortality, the safety of this complicated intervention was further evaluated. The preliminary outcomes are promising. Proper management and control of transplantation team will determine the success of the renal transplantation. Since many advancements and developments regarding the HIV therapy, kidney transplantation is now possible for HIV-infected patients as morbidity and mortality rate keeps on decreasing. Therefore, with all the results of the research studies and observations, there is sufficient evidence that can support the equal access of patients with HIV infection on kidney transplantation.

Tesco Rapidly Changing Environment Business Essay

Tesco Rapidly Changing Environment Business Essay Todays world is a rapidly changing place. Part of rapidly changing environment that managers face is the globalization of business. Management is no longer constrained by national borders. In order to function and to survive, organization has to interact constantly with the world outside. Developments across a range of factors will have an impact on your business or industry. Business environment is a set of political, economic, social and technological (PEST) forces that are largely outside the control and influence of a business and that can potentially have both a positive and a negative impact on the business. You need to understand how the external environment affects and influences the organization structure. In this situation for achieving high performance manager need to adapt an organization. In this report TESCOs business environment is describe here. Using SWOT and PESTLE analysis tool TESCOs business strategy clearly define. Introduction of TESCO Tesco was founded by Sir Jack Cohen in 1924. In 1919 Jack Cohen started to selling groceries in Londons markets. The Tea is the first product in which the brand name of Tesco appeared in 1920. So the name Tesco comes from the initials of TE Stockwell who was a partner in the firm of tea suppliers. The first store of Tesco was opened in 1929 in Burnt oak, Edgware. Today TESCO is one of the top three international retailers with 366,000 worldwide staff, more than 2500 stores in twelve countries which sales  £41.8 billion. The vision and philosophy of TESCO is that Every Little Helps is behind everything we do. The Corporate Social Responsibility policy objective is to earn the trust of customers by acting good services and good relation between customers and suppliers and by building goodwill. They doing this only for earn customers loyalty and it is core purpose of Tesco. Tesco has four types of store formats for instance, Tesco Metro, Tesco Express, Tesco superstore and Tesco Extra (24 hour) all of them provide different shopping experience but same outstanding value. Tesco sells both food and non-food items. The leading market position improves its brand image and it provides a platform to start private label brands. The items include food, CDs, Books, medicine, tobacco, fruits, vegetables, alcohol, clothes, toys and electrical goods. Tesco has an exciting brand name. It is related with the good quality, honest goods and services that characterize excellent value. A strong brand name and moreover the attractive customer preservation rates are helps the group to introduce more products under its own labels and allocate it to enter new markets. Tesco.com is one of the leading online grocery shopping services in the world and the fourth biggest online retailer in the UK. Amazon, Dell and Argos are placed in the first three positions. Tesco.com serves m ore than one million regular customers in the UK including households from both urban and rural areas. The group has developed tesco.com-only store, an online service, for the customer in the UK with limited accessibility to physical stores. Tesco operates three types of operations: The First one is UK operations; it is categorized by five formats which are different from size, location and products. The largest operation of UK is in new cast. In addition to food, it also operates in the non food fragment items including clothing, electrical goods, home entertainment, stationery, kitchen items and furnitures. The Second operation is outside UK. The other British retailers who tried to expand international business have failed but Tesco has been succeeding to build an international business. It started this operation in 2004. The Third one is Internet operations. In 1994 Tesco also started to operate internet and it is the first retailer in the world who offered home shopping service since 1996. It expanded online ranges as books, wine, movies and electrical goods. From the above information it is clear that although the performance of TESCO has been affected in some areas but it has still value in the market due to reput ation and name of TESCO in the market. However TESCO achieved its target in food sector. TESCO ltd has been survived through competition over the last four years in the market but still it is one of the largest retailer companies in the UK. SWOT ANALYSIS: SWOT analysis is a tool for auditing an organization and its environment. It is the first stage of planning and helps managers to focus on key issues. SWOT means Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Strengths and Weaknesses are internal factors. Opportunities and Threats are external factors. Strengths In global market place TESCO have secured commercial standing because of winning World Retail Awards in Year 2008. This can be used for marketing campaigns to drive advantage towards the demographic base for future growth and sustainability. In an environment where global retail sales are showing decline TESCO Group has published sales gain of 13% for UK markets and 26% growth in international markets. Tesco.com is the worlds biggest online supermarket. Tesco online now operates in over 270 stores around the country, covering 96% of the UK. With over a million households nationwide having used the companys online services, the company has a strong platform to further develop this revenue stream. Profits for Tescos operations in Europe, Asia and Ireland increased by 78% during the last fiscal year. The company has a strong brand image, and is associated with good quality, trustworthy goods that represent excellent value. Since acquiring number one ranking in 1996, Tesco has developed a successful multi format strategy that has accelerated its advantage. Its UK sales are now 71% larger than Sainsburys. Weaknesses: TESCOs position as a price leader in UK markets can lead to reduced profit margins in order to retain the key price points on must have commercial items. TESCO Finance profit levels were impacted through credit card arrears, bad debt and household insurance claims. One of Tescos weaknesses has been its failure to dominate the city centre marketplace. Although it has some prominent city centre stores, e.g. the Carlisle store in the North of England, it has failed to make them universal. Grocer outlets are not set up to operate as specialist retailers in specific areas of product which can be capitalized on by other smaller bespoke retailers. Opportunities: Statistics suggest TESCO is the third largest global grocer which indicates a level of buying power to ensure mainstream economies of scale. The acquisition of whoever provides the opportunity to develop the brand through Asia, specifically South Korea and further grow International markets for the group. The development of Tesco Direct through online and catalogue shopping will grow the use of technology. Providing non food based products with moderate to high margin returns and less focus on sales and margin per foot return to space. TESCO mobile have grown 0.25 million customers in 2008 and moved into profitable status suggesting further growth and development within this technological area can be developed. Threats: Food and non food items raw material cost is rising, will impact profit margins overall. In far East locations exporting restrictions on some non food product areas will reduce margin rates on products with already low margins. American and UK markets have been affected by economic concerns through the credit crunch. Lower available income will impact and strategic focus may need to change to lower priced basic products with less focus on higher priced brands suggesting a switch in price architecture. For TESCO, there is a persistent threat of takeover from the market leader Wal-Mart who has both means and motive to pursue such action. PESTLE analysis: In analyzing the macro-environment, it is important to identify the factors that might in turn affect a number of vital variables that are likely to influence the organizations supply and demand levels and its costs (Kotter and Schlesinger, 1991; Johnson and Scholes, 1993). Because of ongoing changes that impact the whole organization. PESTLE analysis categorizes environmental influences as Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal forces. The analysis examines the impact of each of these factors (and their interplay with each other) on the business. Using these results take advantage of opportunities and to make contingency plans for threats when preparing Business and Strategic plans. Political Factors: Tesco now operates in six countries in Europe in addition to the UK. Tescos performance is highly influenced by the political and legislative conditions of these countries, including the European Union (EU). For employment legislations, the government encourages retailers to provide a mix of job opportunities from flexible, lower-paid and locally-based jobs to highly-skilled, higher-paid and centrally-located jobs (Balchin, 1994). Also to meet the demand from population categories such as students, working parents and senior citizens. Tesco understands that retailing has a great impact on jobs and people factors, being an inherently local and labour-intensive sector. Tesco employs large numbers of student, disabled and elderly workers, often paying them lower rates. In an industry with a typically high staff turnover, these workers offer a higher level of loyalty and therefore represent desirable employees. Economical Factors: Economic factors are of concern to Tesco, because they are likely to influence demand, costs, prices and profits. One of the most influential factors on the economy is high unemployment levels, which decreases the effective demand for many goods, adversely affecting the demand required to produce such goods. These economic factors are largely outside the control of the company, but their effects on performance and the marketing mix can be profound. Although international business is still growing and is expected to contribute greater amounts to Tescos profits over the next few years, the company is still highly dependent on the UK market. Hence, Tesco would be badly affected by any slowdown in the UK food market and are exposed to market concentration risks. Social Factors: Current trends indicate that British customers have moved towards one-stop and bulk shopping, which is due to a variety of social changes. Tesco have, therefore, increased the amount of non-food items available for sale. UK retailers are also focusing on added-value products and services. In addition, the focus is now towards; the supply chain, the own-label share of the business mix and other operational improvements, which can drive costs out of the business. National retailers are increasingly reticent to take on new suppliers (Clarke, Bennison and Guy,1994; Datamonitor Report, 2003). The type of goods and services demanded by consumers is a function of their social conditioning. Consumers are becoming more and more aware of health issues, and their attitudes towards food are constantly changing. One example of Tesco adapting its product mix is to accommodate an increased demand for organic products. The company was also the first to allow customers to pay in cheques and cash at the checkout. Technological Factors: Technology is a major macro-environmental variable which has influenced the development of many of the Tesco products. The new technologies benefit both customers and the company: customer satisfaction rises because goods are readily available, services can become more personalized and shopping more convenient. Tesco stores utilize the following technologies: Wireless devices Intelligent scale Electronic shelf labeling Self check-out machine Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). The adoption of Electronic Point of Sale (EPoS), Electronic Funds Transfer Systems (EFTPoS) and electronic scanners have greatly improved the efficiency of distribution and stocking activities, with needs being communicated almost in real time to the supplier (Finch, 2004). Environmental Factors: In 2003, there has been increased pressure on many companies and managers to acknowledge their responsibility to society, and act in a way which benefits society overall (Lindgreen and Hingley, 2003). The major societal issue threatening food retailers has been environmental issues, a key area for companies to act in a socially responsible way. Hence, by recognizing this trend within the broad ethical stance. Tescos corporate social responsibility is concerned with the ways in which an organization exceeds the minimum obligations to stakeholders specified through regulation and corporate governance. (Johnson and Scholes, 2003) Graiser and Scott (2004) state that in 2003 the government has intended to launch a new strategy for sustainable consumption and production to cut waste, reduce consumption of resources and minimize environmental damage. The latest legislation created a new tax on advertising highly processed and fatty foods. The so-called fat tax directly affected the Tesco product ranges that have subsequently been adapted, affecting relationships with both suppliers and customers. Legal Factors: Various government policies and legislations have a direct impact on the performance of Tesco. For instance, the Food Retailing Commission (FRC) suggested an enforceable Code of Practice should be set up banning many of the current practices, such as demanding payments from suppliers and changing agreed prices retrospectively or without notice (Mintel Report, 2004). The presence of powerful competitors with established brands creates a threat of intense price wars and strong requirements for product differentiation. The governments policies for monopoly controls and reduction of buyers power can limit entry to this sector with such controls as license requirements and limits on access to raw materials (Mintel Report, 2004; Myers, 2004). In order to implement politically correct pricing policies, Tesco offers consumers a price reduction on fuel purchases based on the amount spent on groceries at its stores. While prices are lowered on promoted goods, prices elsewhere in the store are raised to compensate. Organizational Business Strategy: To produce great business performance it is necessary to turn strategies and plan into individual actions but it is not easy. Many companies repeatedly fail to truly motivate their people to work with enthusiasm, all together towards the corporate aim. Most companies and organizations know their businesses and strategies required for success. However many corporations especially large ones struggle to translate the theory into action plans that will enable the strategy to be successfully implemented and sustained. Formalization: Formalization is the extent to which rules and procedures are followed in an organization. This element varies across organizations. For example in some organization arrival and departure times to and from work are specified. In other organizations employees will spend sufficient time on the job to get the work done. In some organizations many rules are codified in huge manuals but no one pays attention to them. In others little is written down but rules are informally understood and followed. The most useful definition of formalization is that it represents the use of rules in an organization. The degree to which rules are followed not the degree to which they are codified. In Tesco shift type working system is there. Time punctuation is most important in Tesco. Each and every staff wears particular uniform. Specialization: Work specializations to describe the degree to which activities in the organization are subdivided into separate jobs. The essence of work specialization is that rather than an entire job being done by one individual it is broken down into a number of steps with each step being completed by a separate individual. In essence individuals specialize in doing part of an activity rather to the entire activity. In Tesco according to different positions different roles are there like general manager, purchasing manager, technical manager, finance manager, HR manager, customer service assistance etc. Hierarchy: In a hierarchical organization employees are ranked at various levels within the organization, each level is one above the other. At each stage in the chain, one person has a number of workers directly under them, within their span of control. The chain of command is a typical pyramid shape. A tall hierarchical organisation has many levels and a flat hierarchical organisation will only have a few. Tesco has a flat hierarchical structure with just six levels between checkout staff and chief executive. Each store manager is responsible for their store. External Environment: In retail Tesco is top of supermarket in UK. There are many competitors like Asda, Sainsbury. In current market position Tescos share is more than other retail company. Every year growth of Tesco is increase. In market position Tesco is stable. Culture: Tesco is now in international market. In Tesco many different culture people are working together not any obligation for culture and peoples value is same. In Tesco clear norms and value are there. Professionalism: Training is most important for every company. In some companies training is given by professional way while in small companies training is formal. Tesco gives high professional training. Goals and Strategy: Top management is to determine an organizations goals, strategy and design. Organizations mission is the official goal whereas in organization actually pursues, specific outcomes like resources, overall performance, market, employ development, innovation, productivity are operative goals. Strategy means plan for achieving organizational goals in competitive environment. Goals define where the organization wants to go, strategy how it will get there. Tescos main goal is to create value for customer to earn their lifetime loyalty. For achieving this goal Tesco do something new for customer. Tesco will remove plastic and paper bags. Size: Size of company is determined by number of stores it has and number of employees it has. It is also determined by revenue of company. It had revenue of 47.3 billion pounds for the year 2008. This made Tesco the fourth largest retailer of the world. Tesco is operating as 2318 stores and more than 326000 employees. Conclusion:

It is important to diferentiate between capital expenditure and revenue expenditure

It is important to diferentiate between capital expenditure and revenue expenditure Fixed Asset is last longer and not for resale. For example is premises, motor vehicles, machinery, and fixtures and fittings. Current Asset is liquid and bought for resale. For example is cash in hand, cash at bank, stock and debtor. i) Business entity concept is the affairs of a business are to be treated as being quite separate from the non-business activities of its owners. Example is the figure for fixed assets includes a camera that the owner of the business has bought for his own use. Accrual concept is concerned with the different between cash receipts and cash expenditure (actual payments and receipts of money for items) and revenue and expenditure. It states that items should be recorded when used and not when paid for. Example is a bill for electricity was received in the lost financial year but has been recorded in the current year as payment was only made recently. Going Concern Concept is it implies that the business will continue to operate for the foreseeable future. Example: the assumption should not be made are: If the business is going to close down in the near future Where shortage of cash makes it almost certain that the business will have to cease trading Business have to close down because of shortage of cash The term is about to close down as the owner is retiring the accounts have not been altered. Consistency concept is each firm should try to choose the methods which give the most reliable picture of the business. Example is the method used for calculating stock has been changed from LIFO to FIFO to overage cost. i) Capital expenditure is made when a firm spends money either to: Buy fixed assets, or Add to the value of an existing fixed asset. Included in such amounts should be those spent on: Acquiring fixed assets. Bringing them into the firm. Legal costs of buying buildings. Carriage inwards on machinery bought. Any other cost needed to get the fixed asset ready for use. Revenue expenditure is expenditure which is not for increasing the value fixed assets, but for running the business on a day-to-day basis, is known as revenue expenditure. The difference between revenue and capital expenditure can be seen clearly with the total cost of using a motor van for a firm. To buy a motor van is capital expenditure. The motor van will be in use for several years and is, therefore, a fixed asset. To pay for petrol to use in the motor van for the next few days is revenue expenditure. This is because the expenditure is used up in a few days and does not add to the value of fixed assets. Revenue expenditure is treated to expenses and they will posted to Income statement. Capital expenditure is treated to fixed assets and transact to Balance sheet. Difference between capital and revenue expenditure Expenditure Type of Expenditure 1. Buying motor van Capital 2. Petrol costs for motor van Revenue 3. Repairs to motor van Revenue 4. Putting extra headlights on motor van Capital 5. Buying machinery Capital 6. Electricity cost of using machinery Revenue 7. We spent RM 1,500 on machinery. RM 1,000 was for an item added to the machine: RM500 for repairs Capital RM1,000 Revenue RM 500 8. Painting outside of new building Capital 9. Three years later- repainting outside of building in (8) Revenue d) Reducing balance method Cost price 1 year Cost = RM 100,000 % = 10% 2005 Cost = 100,000 X 10% = 10000 X 7/12= 5833 100,000 5833 = 94167 2006 Cost = 94167 X 10% = 94167 X 7/12 = 5493 94167 5493 = 88674 e) i) Relevance is one more factors that must be present in the information for it to be useful. Information that is not relevant is considered as a waste of valuable time in decision making. ii) Reliability is the right decision based on a set of financial information would also depend on the reliability of the information. In the context, self generated information is considered to be the most reliable as compared to information gather by third parties. The user must be able to depend on the truthfulness of the information. iii) Comparability is procedures and practices should remain the same across time and reports, if difference is occurs they should be due to substantive differences in the events and conditions reported rather than arbitrarily implemented practices or procedures for data collection. iv) Understandability is information should be simple but not over simplified. Explanations and interpretations should be included where necessary. Understandability of information is governed by user characteristics and characteristics of information provided. Understandability may be relating to a particular decision makes. i) Share holder ii) Manager iii) Bank iv) Government v) Creditor QUESTION 2 You have been supplied with the following balances for Betsy Li, a sole trader, for the year ended 31 December 2009: RM Property at cost 140,000 Equipment at cost 70,000 Provision for depreciation at 01/01/09: Property 4,200 Equipment 17,500 Purchases 385,000 Sales 592,000 Stock at 01/01/09 17,400 Discount allowed 14,000 Discount received 1,900 Returns outward 17,600 Wages and salaries 43,400 Creditors 28,500 Debtors 15,800 Bank overdraft 2,900 Cash in hand 520 Drawings 17,950 Provision for bad debts at 01/01/09 200 General expenses 11,400 Long term loan 20,000 Capital at 01/01/09 30,670 The following adjustments need to be taken into account: Stock at 31/12/09 is $21,600 Wages and salaries outstanding at 31/12/09 are $4,,100 General expenses includes a prepayment for rates of $1,000 The provision for bad debts needs increasing to $280 Depreciation for the year has still to be provided as follow: Property 1.5% per year using the straight line method Equipment 25% per year using the reducing balance method Loan interest of $2,000 is outstanding Required: a) Prepare a trial balance for Betsy Li as at 31 December 2009. (10 marks) b) Prepare the Income Statement and Balance Sheet for Betsy Li for the period ending 31 December 2009. (15 marks) ANSWER QUESTION 2 Trial Balance at 31 December 2009 Property 140,000 Equipment at cost 70,000 Property 4,200 Equipment 17,500 Purchases 385,000 Sales 592,000 Stock 174,00 Discount allowed 14,000 Discount received 1,900 Return outward 17,600 Wages and salaries 43,400 Creditors 28,500 Debtors 15,800 Bank overdraft 2,900 Cash in hand 520 Drawings 17,950 Provision for bad debts 200 General expenses 11,400 Long term loan 20,000 Capital 30,670 715470 715470 Income statement for Betsy Li for the year ending 31 December 2009 Sales 592,000 592,000 less) Cost of good sales Opening stock 17,400 Purchase 385,000 less) Return outwards (17,600) 367,400 Net purchase 384,800 less) Closing stock (21,600) (363,200) Gross profit 228,800 add) Revenue Discount received 1,900 230,700 less) Expenses Discount allowed 14,000 Wages and salaries (43,400+4,100) 47,500 General expenses (11,400-1000) 10400 i) Provision for depreciation = Property at cost 2,100 ii) = Equipment at cost 13,125 iii) Provision for doubtful dept 80 Loan interest 2,000 (89205) Net profit 141,495 140,000 X 1.5% = 2100 70,000 17,500 = 52,500 X 25% = 13,125 iii) Provision for bad debts Balance b/d 280 Balance b/d 280 Income statement 80 280 280 Cost Accumulated Depreciation Fixed assets Property 140,000 6,300 133,700 Equipment 70,000 30,625 39,375 173075 Current assets Stock 21,600 Debtor 15,800 Provision for bad debt (280) 15,520 General expenses prepayment 1000 38,640 Current liability Creditor 28,500 Bank overdraft 2900 Wages and salaries outstanding 4,100 Loan interest outstanding 2000 (37,500) 1,140 174,215 Financed by Capital 30,670 add) Net Profit 141,495 172,165 less) Drawing (17,950) 154,215 Non-current liabilities Long term loan 20,000 174,215

The New Face of Black Feminine Beauty Essay -- Hairstyles Beauty Adver

The New Face of Black Feminine Beauty Since the early 1900s, Black women have had a fascination with their hair. More explicitly, they have had a fascination with straightening their hair. The need to be accepted by the majority class has caused them to do so. Though the image of straight hair as being better than coarse hair still hasn’t left the Black community, there has been a surge of non straight hairstyles since the nineteen sixties. Wearing more natural hairstyles, which ironically enough include ‘weaves’ and ‘hair extensions’ has been considered to be more empowered and more enlightened. However, this image comes with a price, and though it appears the ‘natural’ hairstyle movement has advanced Black women, it has actually set them back. The color of the ad is done in browns, earth tones. The signifier in this ad is the colorless sketch drawing of a woman that takes up one page of the two-page ad. She is a symbolic, versus an iconic sign, because the images that lead people to assume the picture is of a Black woman are learned, symbols such as ‘thick lips’ and the way her hair looks, not straight lines, but dotted. The signified is a Black woman, with ‘natural hair’, presumably pretty. The next part of the ad, and as equally important as the first, is on the second page. Large, in bold, is the word ‘naturally’. Beneath it are the words â€Å"If citrus sheen fell on shimmering braids and soothing mist caressed short twists. How lovely would that be?† It has the feel of a poem, and the different shades of brown add to the artistic feel of the page. The artistic feel is important, because it adds the idea of a woman with natural hair as being both bohemian and sophisticated. Beneath the ‘poem’ is an introduction to the product. It emphasizes the product’s natural ingredients, things that seem as though they would be better in a salad dressing than on one’s hair. However, these ingredients are important. First, the emphasis the ‘naturalness’ of the product in turn emphasizes the natural state of the projected audience’s hair. Secondly, its use of Americanized products instead of typical African products (olive oil versus jojoba oil) separate this ad from the typical ‘natural hair care product’ ads. This ad is geared towards a new type of Black woman, one who is more interested in a connection to spirituality and art than to Africa. The actual... ...ce political and socially, the harsher the beauty myth is used against them. In this case, the punishment for rebelling against the majority culture by adapting a ‘subversive’ hairstyle, the thinner you have to be in order to still be considered beautiful. Furthermore, thinness in the Black community is difficult to achieve. Typically, Black body structure, food and eating culture doesn’t easily result in thinness. This is the price Black women pay for this new expression of self. The new face of Black feminine beauty comes with a price. It alienates nearly half of those in the culture that don’t fit the standard. While the hairstyle challenges the majority culture, the newfound search for thinness that comes with the hairstyles returns Black women to the confines of White beauty standards. The ideology that natural hairstyles bring enlightenment came from the Rastafarian tradition. However, what new ads and cultural myth discount is the religious dimension that the Rastafarians placed on their hair. Natural hair doesn’t mean immediate spiritual or intellectual wisdom. What at first seems to be the advancement of Black women, shows the backwards regression of Black beauty.

Executive Summary Essay -- Economics

Executive Summary ----------------- The 2000 were a period of enormous growth, Australian is a prosperous nation has benefited from 9 years of uninterrupted economic growth. However, the international tourist industry was suffer from the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon in the USA on 11 September 2001. Overall, the Australian international tourist industry continues to be strong because of the board mix of natural environment and cosmopolitan cities located here, including high-tech, stable international political situation and economic prosperity. In order to increase Australian international tourist industry, Sport and Tourism of Australia’s Department of Industry, Science and Resources must develop a strategic plan to reach more potential visitors. With Australia unique natural resources, its appeal to more Asian travellers come to Australia. Over the past decade, most visitors came from the UK, Europe and North America. Now, Australia must begin some strategies to attract more travellers from Asia countries. This will give Australia the best opportunity to expand its tourism. Introduction Although Australia has been booming, the world economy has been in recession for some time. Indeed, Australian tourism is slowly declining has been far less than originally expected. Even though the Australian government strives to sustain growth in the economy without damaging the natural environment, but these improvement do not seem to be reaching the travellers its need to influence. Therefore, I am asked to summarise the marco environmental issues affecting Australian Tourism and propose additional strategies that the Sport and Tourism of Australia’s Department of Industry, Sc... ...ung singles, offer a lower price during peak season by effectiveness of adverting campaigns and promotion in generating more Asian, including: Â · Australia and Singapore have established a Joint Tourism Council that will aim to increase international arrivals to both Australia and Singapore from key markets through a co-operative partnership between the Australian Tourist Commission and the Singapore Tourism Board. Â · Most key operators selling Australia have developed websites providing product information, special deals, travel clubs and newsletters and online enquiry response mechanisms. Â · There are 10 major wholesalers/retail agents selling Australian group tour packages, with extensive branch office network of sales point location. These agents are linked with the three major carriers: Qantas, Cathy Pacific and Singapore Airlines.