Media Violence And Children s Behavior Within The...

Daly, L. A., Perez, L. M. (2009). Exposure to Media Violence and Other Correlates of Aggressive Behavior in Preschool Children. Early Childhood Research Practice, 11(2), n2. Problem Statement: This experiment looks at the link between children’s behavior within the classroom and violent images viewed on television. Unlike similar experiments, this study looks at the self-regulation that is associated with classroom play behaviors. Literature Review: The article presents an issue with exposure to media violence. Children ages 2-18 watch an average of twenty-six hours a week of television. Sixty percent of programs being watched display violence. Children exposed to aggressive scenarios are likely to imitate those behaviors. Children†¦show more content†¦Research Approach/Method: 70 children from seven preschools participated in the experiment. Of the 70 children, 32 were females, and 38 were males. The researchers used a Temperament and Atypical Behavior Scale to measure the child’s self-regulation. In each classroom, the teacher would monitor the children with the given TABS regulation sheet. The sheet categorized the children’s behavior based on a number system for behavioral difficulties, such as hypersensitive or overactive. The experiment also used other survey methods to track the surrounding environments. The participants were given an Early Childhood Rating Scale-Revised for t he quality of each classroom. The parents of the children were administered a Parent Survey for information based on living situations. The teachers were also given a Teacher Survey to learn more about their experiences. A researcher videotaped the children’s play for 3 months. The preschool rooms were visited for 3 hours each morning for 5 days a week to examine the children during free playing time. Different areas of play came into factor when recording their play behavior. The experimenter monitored the block corner, and the dress-up corner during indoor play. The sandbox and playground equipment was monitored during outdoor play. The researchers divided children’s behavior by the amount of time he or she was observed to calculate their scores. Results: The

Monetary Policy And The Financial Crisis - 1583 Words

The financial crisis in the early 2000’s has raised questions on the linkage between the monetary policy and the financial markets. This document will analyze the impact of a country’s net balance of payments on the exchange rate of the country’s currency. An analysis of the impact of a country’s net level of interest rates and nominal inflation rate on the country’s exchanged rate will also be reviewed. In addition, a review of the growth in a country’s Gross National Product will be analyzed to determine if there is any relationship to a country’s trade deficits. Finally, a recommendation will be presented on how monetary policies could be employed in the future. Monetary Policy A model developed by Robert Mundell and Marcus Fleming†¦show more content†¦560). The second market in the model is the money market of that country. The demand of money for a nation depends on the value of the gross domestic products and the prices of those products. On the other hand, the supply of money is influenced by the monetary policy. The Monetary policy is defined as â€Å"the set of central-bank rules, regulations, and actions that determine the availability of bank deposits and currency in circulation, and is the top influence on money supply† (Pugel, 2012, p. 562). In addition to interest rates and the product’s a country produces, a nation’s supply and demand of money can be swayed by exogenous focuses. The third market is the foreign exchange market or balance of payments. This is where the availability of foreign currency is balanced against the demand for it (Pugel, 2012, p. 564). The term foreign exchange market is used when referring to the exchange rate and the term balance of payment is used when referring to the country’s settlements balance. When understanding the balance of goods and services that are traded by a country, it is reliant in a negative manner on the imports needed to produce the products. Also, the flow of money in the international market is depending on interest rates from all nations and can be positively or negatively affected dependent on how high or low these rates are by nation. When investors are looking to increase their financial position, country’s offering higher

A Day of My Life Free Essays

It was a fine morning, soothing breezes were moving at a sluggish pace, and clouds filled the sky like slowly dissipating smoke after a huge explosion. I was driving my car at a speed of 40 mph. This beautiful scenario had restricted my adrenaline rush and I didn’t feel like hitting the accelerator. We will write a custom essay sample on A Day of My Life or any similar topic only for you Order Now I just wanted to make the most of this beautiful time. I turned the radio on and fortunately a soothing melody hit my ears. All these factors were quite unusual for the place where I lived. Weather here was usually quite hot and irritating. Suddenly I realized I was getting late, I had promised my parents to be at the venue in time. But it seemed like once again I was going to miss the party. This thought brought out all my childhood memories in the foreground, all the time I had spent with my parents, all the love, all the care I had enjoyed. That unconditional love is very rare in this world; I realized this fact when I moved away from my parents. Everyone, at some point or the other, has to take some important decisions regarding his life. I did the same. I wanted to be an independent, self-reliant person and for that I had to make the most of any opportunity that knocked my door. Unfortunately the job offer I got was for another city, almost 250 miles away from where I actually lived with my parents. So I had to move away, rather unwillingly. It started drizzling and those droplets like diamonds started to fall on the windscreen. This was quite significantly positive addition to the beauty of the current scenario. This light rain reminded me of all the time I had enjoyed in the rain with my mom and dad. They knew I loved rain so much, it made me so happy. And just for the sake of my happiness, they used to take me out to my favorite places whenever the weather was nice. I still remember the time when I was in school and my mom used to wake me up every morning. Her face was the first thing I used to see every morning, and no doubt, my days went great. My dad used to drop me off to school every morning. He never leaved unless I waved my hand from the edge of the main gate of the school. These memories were making me feel good and equally sad. I just couldn’t wait till the moment I saw my parents again. I accelerated the speed a little. I was only 15 miles away from home now. It breathed a new life in me, as soon as I entered the limits of the area. Everything seemed so familiar, so known and strangely fascinating. I could relate to almost everything I saw. These shops, these buildings, these parks, these malls, everything reminded me of the time I had spend here. I suddenly saw a restaurant where I used to eat every Friday with my friends and then at walking distance was the theater where we used to come for movies after dinner at that restaurant. It all reminded me of the time I had spent with my classmates and friends, the parties we used to have, the little fights we had and then the childish patch-ups. It all sounded quite funny now. I was driving quite slowly once again. My surroundings fascinated me to the level that is hard to be described in words. The road was quite straight with so much of green on both sides of it; I had a memory of this road. Then I realized that this was where my school had been. It had changed quite so much, it was not that green back then. I saw the building of my school which had not changed at all, the main gate, the parks, the windows; everything had some memories attributed with it. I still remember how much I loved my school, may be because of my classmates. I loved being with my friends. I remember those never ending conversations we used to have, regarding movies, music, TV shows, food, new trends in fashion and so much more. All this was playing like a distant echo in my head. I could now see the block where my house was, my destination. My heart throbbed at the thought of seeing my parents and luckily some of my friends again. What I felt at that moment was a mix of excitement and gloom. Both were for the same reason, I was going to see them after a long time. How to cite A Day of My Life, Papers

Rural Marketing of Dabur free essay sample

Rural marketing of Dabur Here is an interesting example of rural marketing in India FMCG major Dabur is unleashing a marketing blitz across the country through beauty pageants, singing contests and model hunts to penetrate rural and semi-urban market. Dabur is focusing on states like UP, Punjab, Bihar, Rajasthan and MP for promoting various brands, including Dabur Amla Hair Oil, Vatika hair care range and Gulabari skin care products. Target Segment: Rural sales accounts for 50 per cent of Daburs turnover and hence this push into Rural heartland, with these activities Dabur seems to be targeting young ambitious youth in rural India. Daburs strength has always been in North India and it is aiming to build upon its strengths by focusing on this core 5 North Indian states with huge populations and some amount of purchasing power Activities: †¢ Dabur is planning to tap the existing users of loose mustard oil, around 80 per cent of whom reside in rural India, and convert them into loyal customers of its brand. We will write a custom essay sample on Rural Marketing of Dabur or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In order to reach out to them Dabur Amla has launched Banke Dikhao Rani Pratiyogita in Rural India which is a rural beauty and talent show. This will be spread across 5 states UP, Punjab, Bihar, Rajasthan and MP spread across 1000 cities. †¢ Dabur is also launching a singing and talent hunt contest Dabur Vatika Koyal Punjab Di to mark the launch of its range of natural conditioners, including the Vatika conditioners and a college beauty contest Dabur Gulabari Miss fresh face of UP.

Osmosis Potato Lab Report Biology Essay Example

Osmosis Potato Lab Report Biology Paper If the two solutions are of equal concentrations, they will be isotonic. If the concentrations are unequal, the solution with the higher concentration is hypersonic, and the solution with the lower concentration is hypotonic. What is the solute concentration of potatoes? We can determine this by conducting an experiment in which involves the process of osmosis. Potatoes are full of sucrose used for energy storage in plants. Sucrose is a carbohydrate found in food. It is a disaccharide, with a combination of fructose and glucose. Consumers break sucrose down into two inconsistencies so they can be absorbed more easily onto the blood. Sucrose is too large of a molecule to diffuse through a semi- permeable membrane, and therefore needing to be broken down so they can move in and out of cells effectively. If potatoes are placed in a solute containing sucrose, then a concentration gradient would be present and the process of osmosis would naturally occur by moving water through the semi-permeable membranes. If the concentration of sucrose in the solution is less than the concentration of sucrose found in the potato, then the potato would decrease in mass. We will write a custom essay sample on Osmosis Potato Lab Report Biology specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Osmosis Potato Lab Report Biology specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Osmosis Potato Lab Report Biology specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The opposite would occur as well, if the concentration of sucrose in the elution is more than that of the potato, then the potato would expand and gain in mass. In conducting this as an experiment, we can determine what the solute concentration of potatoes is. Materials The materials used to conduct this experiment are as follows: * Potato * Test-tube Rack * one loom Beaker * One ml Beaker * Distilled Water * Paper Towels * Marker for Test Tubes * 1 mol/L Sucrose Solution * 2 Pipettes * 10 ml Graduated Cylinder * Electronic Balance * Test Tubes * Razor Blade/Scalpel Figure 1. : Cutting of potatoes, weighing of potatoes, and potatoes placed in sucrose solution. In figure 1. 0, we can see that the potatoes were cut with a scalpel into thin slices so they could fit the test tubes appropriately. Then their mass was recorded using the electronic scale. They were placed into the test tubes containing sucrose and were to be left on the test tube rack over a 24 hour radius. The next day, the potato slices were to be taken out and measured again. Safety Considerations It is important for one to be careful using sharp instruments. When there were higher concentrations of sucrose solution, the potato decreased in weight. This is due to the fact that the potato was hypersonic in comparison to the potato. Through osmosis, sucrose from the potato moved along the concentration gradient out and into the test tube making the potato hypotonic. When the potato was distributed into 0. 2 mol/L of sucrose solution, there was no change in weight. This was due to the fact that both were isotonic, and with this, we can infer that the potato contains 0. 2 mol/L of sucrose solution. Discussion and Analysis The percentage of change in mass if the sucrose solution had the same solute concentration as the potato section would be 0%. This is due to the fact that the change in mass occurs in osmosis. Osmosis occurs when an area of higher concentration is trying to get to an area of lower concentration in a semi- ramble solution. If the concentrations are the same, being isotonic, there would be no osmosis occurring, and therefore no change in mass. This occurred when there was a 0. 2 mol/L concentration of the sucrose solution, therefore we can justify that the potato had that same concentration. Figure 1. 4: Graph Results After OH in Solute Concentration With Labeled Hypotonic, Hypersonic, Isotonic The above graph is similar to that of Figure 1. 3, but this has labeled which solutions were hypersonic to the potato cytoplasm, which were hypotonic, and which was isotonic. As the concentration of the sugar increases, the more mass the potatoes would lose. This would make the potato hypersonic. This is because when potatoes are in sugar solution that is of a higher concentration of sugar than the cell sap, (cytoplasm in a plant cell), the water moves out of the cell causing the reduction in mass. Opposite of this, when the potatoes are in a lower sugar concentration than their cell sap, the concentration of water is higher outside the cell so the water moves in the cell causing the potatoes to gain mass through the process of osmosis. This would make the potato hypotonic. When the sucrose solution was at 0. 2 mol/L however, the mass stayed the same because the concentrations were the same. This means that the potato and the sucrose solution were isotonic. Practical Application Fluids that are the same solute concentration as human blood are isotonic. We want this so that cells in our body wont else, or break. If the inside of the cell has less solutes and more solvent, the solvent inside, (water), would diffuse out of the cell by going down the concentration gradient, which would make this hypersonic, causing the blood cells to shrivel and become insufficient. On the other hand, if the inside of the cell has more solutes and less solvent, the solvent outside would diffuse into the cell with the same process potentially causing the blood cell to burst due to it being hypotonic. As mentioned earlier, we know that mass will not change if concentrations of a solute and a solvent are the same, or that are isotonic. If we were to prepare a solute with the same concentration as the potato, 0. 2 mol/L, and to leave it in the solution for 24 hours, we could expect that there would be no change in mass. This being due to the fact that they have he concentrations, and not needing to move along the concentration gradient because they are already of equal concentrations. Grass contains water and the salt does not. When the grass comes into contact with salt, the water escapes and travels into the salt. This is because plant cells have a high concentration of water whereas the salt has low concentrations. Due to osmosis, the water solution in the grass of which is of higher concentration moves to the area of lower concentration in the salt to try to make their concentrations equal. This process in turn causes the grass to dry out and die. Sources of Error Equipment errors include: 100 ml beaker: +/- 0. 05 ml 50 ml beaker: +/- 0. 2 ml 10 ml graduated cylinder: +1-0. 05% 10 ml pipette: 0. 02 ml analytical balance: +/- 0. Eggs Human error could include a variety of things. One could simply read a measurement wrong when filling the test tubes with solution. One could calculate incorrectly by typing in the wrong number. If one fails to put the potatoes into each test tube at the same time, the results could be off ever so slightly. Environmental factors could change results as well, if temperature i s higher than room temperature, osmosis could occur faster than usual. Conclusion In conclusion it was proven that on average, the potatoes that were in the test tube containing little to no sucrose solution gained in mass, and those that were in test tubes containing more or only sucrose had a decrease in mass. Results could have been more accurate if all of the potatoes were placed in each test tube and taken out of each at the exact same time. This would mean that the potatoes would have the same time contacting with the sugar solution. Another way results could have been more accurate would be if each potato was cut into the same shape and size. If the potatoes all had the same mass, then results would be more specific and accurate. It also depends on how the thickness differentiates from potato to potato. If there was one potato thicker than the other, then it may make a difference in how long it takes for the osmosis to occur. If we were to do the experiment again and take the average of both sets of results then it may be more accurate as well. When a plant cell is placed in a solution containing a higher concentration of solute, the water in the cell would move towards the solution. The plant cell would shrink and the flower would wilt.

The eNotes Blog Close, But No Pulitzer How Three Novels Lost Out on This Year’s FictionPrize

Close, But No Pulitzer How Three Novels Lost Out on This Year’s FictionPrize The three works that lost out on this year’s Pulitzer Fiction Prize: the dazzling debut Swamplandia! By Karen Russell; posthumously published  The Pale King by David Foster Wallace; and noteworthy novella  Train Dreams by Denis Johnson. A rare occurrence in Pulitzer history took place this week, with the panel electing not to award any of its three finalists the prestigious prize for a work of fiction. Though not unheard of, the decision is uncommon, the last instance of which took place 35 years ago. Says Sig Gissler, administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes, This is the 11th time this has happened in the fiction category; the last time was 1977. Its unusual, but it does occur. For any unfamiliar with the Pulitzer selection process, who may be scratching their heads as to how a prize such as this could go unclaimed, here is some insight: A jury of three (made up of novelist and Pulitzer winner Michael Cunningham, critic for NPR’s Fresh Air Maureen Corrigan, and former book editor of The Times-Picayune Susan Larson) read a whopping 300 novels each in only six months. Their next task was to whittle this massive number down to just three titles that would be reviewed and put to a vote by a second panel of 20 academics. The majority winner there would, theoretically, take home the prize. But a majority vote was never reached on any of the three novels, hence no Pulitzer. It’s sparked quite the outrage across the twitterverse, though perhaps none feel quite as annoyed as Cunningham, Corrigan, and Larson (save, perhaps, the authors themselves). Corrigan has said: â€Å"I can safely say that anger and surprise/shock, and just sort of feeling this is an inexplicable decision on the part of the board- that really characterizes, I think, the way all three of us feel  The obvious answer is to let the [jury] pick. We’re the people who have gone through the 300 novels. All the board is asked to do is to read three top novels that we’ve given to them†¦ In fact, what’s happened today is a lot of the articles and blog posts have gotten it wrong- they’ve been blaming the three of us! She and Cunningham have publicly come forward suggesting the selection process be changed. The publishers of the three chosen novels are also, reportedly, enraged, fearing the loss of a post-Pultizer sales bump. Although, it might be argued that the books are getting much more attention now than they might’ve had the selection gone smoothly. What’s your opinion on this no-win year? Do you agree with the Huffington Post’s report that â€Å"this year, nobody was good enough†? Which novel, in your opinion, should have taken home the prize? From Pulitzer history: another occasion when the panel decided not to give out the award for Fiction involved a famous but controversial title. In 1941, Hemingway’s masterpiece For Whom the Bell Tolls was deemed too offensive, and the Pulitzer Prize was again withheld.

Catharine Parr Traills The Backwoods Of Canada English Literature Essay

Catharine Parr Traills The Backwoods Of Canada English Literature Essay Nevertheless, one of the ship’s officer’s soon dissuades Traill and her husband of this opinion as he states that, if they were closer, they would find â€Å"every variety of disease, vice, poverty, filthy and famineà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬ human misery in its most disgusting and maddening form.† They move up river towards Quebec. However, once again, they are not allowed to go ashore due to â€Å"pestilence† within the city. Traill’s account of her experiences thus far, that is, the voyage and her first views of the Canadian landscape convey both the beauty of the vistas she perceived and their inherent dangers, as one can gather that hardship and disease were the constant companions of the land’s natural beauty, which Traill is very good at describing in lyrical detail. Throughout her account, the modern reader learns interesting details of Canadian life during this era. For example, she is intrigued when the ship passes islands that have herd of cattle grazing on them. The captain explained that local farmers ferry the animals to the island on flat-bottomed boats or swim them across, if possible, and leave them to graze, with someone from the farm canoeing out to milk them on a daily basis. In Lower Canada, below Quebec, the land has a â€Å"wild and rugged aspect,† but Traill comments on the increased fertility as the ship approaches Montreal and how the land surrounding this city seems â€Å"willing to yield her increase to a moderate exertion.† Having landed in Montreal, Trail is struck by the â€Å"dirty, narrow, ill-paved or unpaved streets.† Ultimately, Traill and her husband settle near the town of Peterborough and become true pioneering settlers, as her husband is entitled to land due to his British military service. Furthermore, they are able to purchase land that will give them a water frontage. Throughout her letters, it is fascinating to read Traill’s very British take on Nor th American life. For example, she is critical of log cabins that she views from the river where the settlers have not taken time out from survival to plant roses around their casements. Likewise, she is amazed that â€Å"the sons of naval and military officers and clergymen† stand behind the counter in shops or wield an â€Å"axe in the woods† and still maintain their rank and status among the â€Å"aristocracy of the country.† Likewise, she is equally surprised that the Americans she meets are â€Å"polite, well-behaved people† rather than the exhibiting the â€Å"odious manners† that she expected. Those people with the worst manners, who displayed a sense of â€Å"independence† that was not â€Å"exactly suitable† to their actual station in life were people who, like themselves, were European settlers. In particular, Traill criticizes a young Scotsman who seemed to be particularly adamant on stressing to Traill and her husband, as English aristocrats that in the New World, he was not obliged to observe the niceties of the European class system. At every juncture in their journey, the Traills seem to have an easier time of handling the many transitions of emigration as they have money and can purchase assistance. For example, when they finally arrive at their homestead, Traill’s husband â€Å"hired people to log up (that is, to draw the chopped timbers into heaps for burning) and clear a space for building our house upon.† Nevertheless, she explains to her British mother, and in doing so also to her British readership, that they were also expected to â€Å"call the ‘bee,'† that is, to provide everything necessary for the â€Å"entertainment of our worthy hive,† i.e., the neighbors who assemble to â€Å"raise the walls of your house, shanty, barn or any other building† in a â€Å"‘raising bee.'† Once again, Traill appears to be astonished that all evidence o f class distinctions are laid aside in order for neighbors to help each other.

Chapter 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Chapter 4 - Essay Example Most clients who are interested in different adverts online will depend on the information that is provided by these companies to float their adverts. The information provided gives them an opportunity to understand the regions and durations when the adverts should ne floated. There are a.lso cellular providers that have now gotten into data mining. The signals amongst the best stations and the cellular users can be used to market products that are directed to specific phone users. The calling records are projected to be one of the assets to various marketers. However, it will depend on the possibility of the customers browsing the web and accessing some sites to purchase products online. Analysis of the market is necessary given that the company finds an opportunity to understand what the customers are likely to consume and at what quantities and durations. There are four main users of data mining to marketers currently, which includes; acquisition of the customers, analysis of the basket market, analyze customer abandonment and finally to enhance customer retention and

Apply the concepts of the expectancy theory of motivation as an Essay - 1

Apply the concepts of the expectancy theory of motivation as an approach to improving performance in a given workplace situation - Essay Example This belief is founded on past experience, self-efficacy as well as the perceived difficulty of the performance standard. Secondly, instrumentality is based on the belief that if the set performance expectation is reached, then there is an accompanying reward for the work done. The reward can either be a promotion, a salary increment, a sense of accomplishment or even recognition. If the rewards are made to be similar for all irrespective of the individual performance, then instrumentality reduces. The individual’s instrumentality is based on trust, control, and policies. The perception that individuals have a control on how the rewards are distributed results to an increased instrumentality. Trust mainly comes from the leadership, if the individuals can trust their leader, then it means they will believe in whatever they are promised. Policies are also very important when it comes to instrumentality. The perception that a certain level of performance attracts certain rewards in accordance to the organizational policy will exponentially increase instrumentality (Vroom, 1964). The other component is valence. It basically deals with the value that a person gives to the rewards of an outcome. This value is founded on the basis of the person’s needs, values, preferences, sources of motivation and their goals. The potential valued outcome can range from promotions, recognition, pay rises, bonuses, intrinsic satisfaction based on validation of one’s abilities and skills, time off, new and interesting assignments, or it can also result from an intrinsic satisfaction based on the view that their efforts positively impacted others (Porter and Lawler,1968). The company in the case scenario can effectively adopt the expectancy motivation theory in order to improve the performance of its employees. There seems to be an attitude by the employees towards work,

Sports Drinks Industry Analysis Essay Example for Free

Sports Drinks Industry Analysis Essay Coconut water is technically a fruit juice, extracted from coconuts. It is a popular refreshing beverage widely consumed in tropical countries, commonly sold fresh by street vendors still in its green shell, and drunk through a straw. Euromonitor Internationals soft drinks data shows that Brazil is currently the worlds largest market for packaged coconut water. Coconut waters success in Brazil indicates that major opportunities exist in other tropical countries where the drink is part of local beverage consumption culture, such as Indonesia, India, Malaysia and Ecuador. At present, virtually all coconut water in such markets is still consumed fresh rather than packaged. However, as these countries packaged food and beverage markets continue to develop in terms of sophistication, consumers will eventually be compelled by the advantages of purchasing their favorite liquid refreshment in an easily portable, convenient and hygienic format to suit consumption occasions in more formal environments. Seeing the marketability and increasing demand for coconut beverage, it gives the proponents an idea to establish this kind of business through feasibility study. Since there is no existing industry of tonic drink in Sultan Kudarat, it will encourage investors to invest in a newly proposed project. G. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT COCO DRINK is a natural isotonic beverage that is high in potassium and other electrolytes. Great for any active lifestyle, it is an effective rehydration beverage for before, during or after exercise. COCO DRINK is a milk-like beverage product that was process through spray drying technique that can be reconstituted in hot or cold water. For those unflavored drinks, it has a milky-white color, bland or neutral. It has a smooth mouth feel and safe to drink, with long shelf life and is cheaper than dairy-based milk drinks. COCO DRINK is also available in different blends, such as coco-Choco, coco-ube, coco-pandan, and other natural flavorings. These are available in bottles, cans, and tetra-packs. H. RISK AND MITIGATION RISK MITIGATION Peace and order Coordinate with the Philippine National police in the locality in case unnecessary events will occur. Unavailability of raw materials Seek for other suppliers of raw material to meet the daily demand and to make raw materials available at all times. Theft/ pilferage Built- in Close Circuit Television would be of help in determining fraud in the business. Hire a well oriented and trust worthy employees. Facilities Malfunction Check and maintain the facilities weekly. Purchase a high quality equipment to meet its useful life. Hire qualified and responsible operator. Product spoilage Refrigerate and freeze the product to prevent from spoilage. Pasteurize the coconut water to prolong its shelf life. Fortuitous events such as, earthquake and fire Secure the building and personnel through insurances. Presence of other tonic drinks. Promote the health benefits of COCO DRINK Develop good technical and marketing strategies. Produce high quality products. I. DEFINITION OF TERMS Electrolytes- is a solution that is capable of conducting electricity. (Electrolytes are commonly found in fruit juices, coconut water, sports drinks, milk, and many fruits and vegetables) Rehydration- is defined as the excessive loss of body fluid. Isotonic- Pertains to a solution in the body having the same osmotic pressure. (Sports drinks are sometimes designed in an isotonic way to assist athletes in rehydrating while balancing electrolytes). Pasteurize- is a process of heating a food, which is usually a liquid, to a specific temperature for a predefined length of time and then immediately cooling it after it is removed from the heat. (This process slows spoilage due to microbial growth in the food. ) Chlorinated water- is water added by chlorine and serves as a method of water purification to make it fit for human consumption as drinking water. J. SUMMARY AND FINDINGS A. MARKETING FEASIBILITY Energy drinks market has experienced significant growth in recent years owing to the craze toward high activities. The proposed project will be materialized in the form of quality products. The target customers are local markets through pharmaceutical drug stores, health and food stores, grocery stores, supermarkets and the likes. B. TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY The manufacturing company will operate 8hrs/day at 26 days a month for 12 months. In terms of technology, the company is aided of modernly designed factory equipment to ensure effective and efficient operation. The company is concerned to improve the quality of its product by choosing the right technology to fill in the packaging that cannot be spoiled by weather or other factors. C. FINANCIAL FEASIBILITY Based on the financial assumptions and projections, the project has the capacity to absorb all the expenses even there is a yearly increase in expenses. Moreover, the company has continuous increase in income yearly. D. MANAGEMENT FEASIBILITY The proponents are all capitalist partners. They will both contribute an equal amount of money or property to start the business. The manager will be responsible in establishing management. They will be responsible for the effective and efficient operation. The personnel will be hired based on the qualifications required. E. SOCIO-ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY The establishment of Coconut Tonic Drink will contribute to the economy particularly of Sultan Kudarat. It will encourage investors to venture because it has no existing industry here in the province yet. It will help to generate additional income to the government through taxes. F. CONCLUSION Based on the findings, supported by the financial projections, the establishment of coconut tonic drink is feasible. It is feasible because of the increasing demand of energy drink and nutritious beverages in local market. It will help generate additional employment in the community and improve domestic production by providing market opportunities. G. RECOMMENDATION Based on the assessment and result of the study, the following are recommended: 1. The company should find ways and means to improve the quality of their products to meet the standards and satisfaction of the customers. 2. Manage the risks that may occur in their dealings with competing companies. 3. Other studies should be conducted to determine other processes to prolong the shelf life of the product, without adding chemicals and to preserving its natural flavor. I. INTRODUCTION Coconuts are different from any other fruits because it contains large quantity of water. When immature they are known as tender-nuts or jelly-nuts and may be harvested for drinking. When mature they still contain some water and can be used as seed nuts or processed to give oil from the kernel, charcoal from the hard shell and coir from the fibrous husk. Coconut water has a numerous health benefits associated, including improved digestion, boost immune system against certain infections, and aids in regulating body temperature. These are just few of the many benefits drinking coconut water can provide. Drinking coconut water daily may help to improve skin elasticity, and avoid wrinkling by keeping the skin well hydrated and providing rich nutrients to nourish, making it looking smoother. Coconut water can provide wonderful alternative to some fruit juices and whole milk, since it contains less fat and calories, and no cholesterol. Compared to energy drinks, coconut water contains less sodium, no sugar and more potassium. Through pasteurization, matured coconut water can be processed into tonic drink that is good alternative for electrolytes and milk. Coconut water could be added a mild flavor and commercialize to public. Of all natural beverages from Mother Nature, coconut tonic drink is an ideal drink, aside from water, to quench thirst and provide renewed vitality and energy for our body with all the basic nutrients, protein and vitamins this. II. MANAGEMENT ASPECT A. FORM OF BUSINESS ORGANIZATION The form of ownership is partnership which owned by the proponents namely: Sharmaine Alimajen and Hyaseth Hope Berin. B. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE C. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF OFFICERS AND KEY PERSONNEL The data for officers and key personnel are shown in the following job classification and its corresponding capabilities. POSITION NO. OF EMPLOYEES REQUIREMENTS RESPONSIBILITIES OWNER 2 Must be 25 years old and above, male/ female. Financially capable of putting up the business. At least Baccalaureate degree holder of BS Business Administration or BS Accountancy. With a strong vision toward the business. Can handle business operation in all aspect. With a good moral character. will act as a financial provider and has a power over his subordinates. MANAGER 1 Age 25 years old and above. With extensive experience in manufacturing company as Production Manager With strong leadership and communication skills. Knowledgeable in production planning and control. will be responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the company. Making sure that major administrative and technical problems and concerns of the company and its clients should be monitored and addressed accordingly. Determines appropriate staff-management levels and implement strategies to ensure the efficient operation of the department. ACCOUNTANT 1 must at least a Bachelor’s Degree in Accountancy. Must have 2 years accounting work experience. Can work with minimum supervision, organized and possess good working attitude. Report to management regarding the finances of establishment. Analyze business operations, trends, costs, revenues, financial commitments, and obligations, to project future revenues and expenses or to provide advice. Advise management about issues such as resource utilization, tax strategies, and the assumptions underlying budget forecasts. BOOKKEEPER 1 Male / Female 21-30 years old. Must possess at least a Bachelor’s / College Degree, Finance / Accountancy / Banking or equivalent. At least 1-year experience as a Bookkeeper. Knowledgeable in preparing Book Reconciliation.record about the day-to-day financial transaction of the entity. Reports to the manager the financial condition of the business. CASHIER 1 Male/Female, 20-30 years old. Graduate of any four –year Business course preferably in Accounting or Banking Finance. At least 1-2 years experience in same field or clerical work. Have an experience in cashiering, check payments, remittances, reports, and transactions. will be responsible of receiving and disbursing cash. Enter purchases into cash register. Counts money, give change, and issues receipt. Maintain sufficient amounts for change. Calculates Discounts or references. Balances cash drawer and receipts. FACTORY SUPERVISOR 1 At least 2 year(s) of working experience as supervisor. Must possess at least bachelor’s degree in Business studies/ Administration/ Management. Engineering, as the job requires sufficient knowledge in plant mechanics. Control and monitors processes and operations that take place at a plant or factory. FACTORY WORKER 10 Male/ Female Highschool Graduate 18 to 30 years old Preferably have 1 year experience in production work. Willing to work overtime. will be the one to operate the factory equipment, in-charge of packaging and sealing the product. DRIVER. 1 Has a 6 months experience Male not more than 35 years old. At least high school graduate or college level Will drive truck to transport and deliver materials. Maintains telephone contact with base to receive instruction. Keeps record of products transported. Obtains customer signature or collects payments for delivered goods or delivery charges. Assists in loading and unloading truck items. Other task that might be assigned from time to time. SECUTITY GUARDS 2 at least have a 1-year experience as security guard. Male, 25-35 years old. Must possess at least a Vocational Diploma / Short Course Certificate. Willing to work nine shifting hours. whose duty is to keep the area free from espionage and other harmful individuals and attacks. D. LABOR REQUIREMENTS TABLE 2. 1 SCHEDULE TIME POSITION SCHEDULE TIME Monthly Salary Monday- Friday Saturday IN(am) Out(pm) IN(am) Out(pm) Manager 8:00 5:00 8:00 5:00 P 8,060 Accountant Visit only once a week Visit only once a week 4,000 Bookkeeper 8:00 5:00 8:00 5:00 7,280 Cashier 8:00 5:00 8:00 5:00 7,280 Factory Supervisor 7:45 4:45 7:45 4:45 7,800 Factory workers 7:45 4:45 7:45 4:45 7,020 Driver 7:45 4:45 7:45 4:45 7,020 Security guards 8:00. 5:00 8:00 5:00 7,020 Coffee break time will be ten minutes only anytime between: 9:30 A. M. –10:30 A. M. and 2:30 P. M. –3:30 P. M. Lunch break will be between 12:00 NN –1:00 P. M. (Monday to Saturday). E. BUSINESS POLICIES AND REGULATION These will be the formal statement and rules of the projected project to be implemented by the future management. 1. The manager will report all related problems and all project aspect to the management 2. The cashier is required to perform cash count every day and report to the management about receipts and disbursement every month. 3. Manager should report to higher authority major administrative and technical problems and concerns of the company. 4. The bookkeeper should present financial report monthly. 5. Segregation of duties shall be properly observed. 6. The operation shall be monitored regularly. 7. All transaction must be properly authorized and approved by the manager. 8. Information about the project operation shall be held strictly confidential and shall not be divulged to any person, except authorized by the manager. 9. Terms of sale will be on cash basis. In case of receivables, 30 days will be the credit term. 10. Help each employee to obtain his maximum efficiency and effectiveness through a updated training and development program. 11. Treat each employee with fairness and respect. 12. Recognize and reward efficiency, discipline, and dedication to duty and responsibility. F. PROJECT SCHEDULE TABLE 2. 2 TIME TABLE ACTIVITIES MAR APR JUN JUL AUG SEPT OCT NOV DEC Planning Building of factory Business permits preparation Canvassing and acquiring of office supplies, furnitures and office and factory equipments Positioning of purchased materials into the building Hiring of employees Negotiate to suppliers Formal start of operation III. MARKETING ASPECT A. INDUSTRY The coconut, popularly known as the â€Å"Tree of Life†, is one of the most important crops in the Philippines. It substantially contributes to the countries yearly income and is a major source of foreign exchange being an export winner. The Philippines remains as the world’s leading supplier of traditional coconut products. In 2010, 3. 56M hectares areas planted to coconut. Forty-eight percent (48%), (1,595,120 ha) of all coconut is planted to Mindanao and is produces fifty-six percent (56%), (8. 1M tons) of the total production. In Region XII alone, production of coconut was up by about 11%. Around 44% of coconut production of the region was in Sarangani Province. Cotabato Province contributed about 20% and Sultan Kudarat and South Cotabato produced about 18% each. Crop Production in region XII. The coconut production growth rate in first quarter is 11. 25% generally. (Source: regional Economic Situitioner-First quarter 2012). B. COMPETITION In Philippines energy drinks market, new entrants do not seem as a strong competitive pressure. The existing soft drink industry is already dominated by experienced dominant players with over century-long experienced. Other energy drinks dominate the industry with their strong brand name and great distribution channels. In addition, the energy drink industry is fully saturated unless the new entrants come with an acceptable differentiation. Despite the previously made optimistic postulation that coconut tonic drink could turn out to be the next Gatorade, there are other impediments still to be hurdled like widespread consumer unfamiliarity. These are the competitors existing: Extra Joss (PT Bintang Toedjoe) Lipovitan ( Taisho Pharmaceutical) Powerade (The Coca-Cola Export Corp) Gatorade (PepsiCo International Inc). Samurai ® energy drink (Coca-Cola Philippines) Cobra (Asia Brewery Inc) C. THREAT OF ENTRY Generally, when industry profits increase, it would be possible for additional firms to enter the market to take advantage of the high profit levels, over the driving profits for all firms in the industry. However, in Philippines energy drink markets, new entrants do not seem as a strong competitive pressure. Experienced dominant players already dominate the existing soft drink industry over century-long experienced. Other energy drinks dominate the industry with their strong brand name and great distribution channels. In addition, the energy industry is fully saturated unless the new entrants come with an acceptable differentiation. As entrants, the proposed project should truly â€Å"somebody† to be able to gain an absolute competitive advantage within this industry. If the product were distinct, there will be no fear of product substitution. Once the proponents gained an absolute advantage within the industry, they should deal with suppliers who may have strong bargaining power over pricing on the ingredients needed. D. MARKET ENVIRONMENT The COCO DRINK will be distributed in leading markets and drugstore all over the Province. E. MARKETING STRATEGIES A. MARKET The manufacturing company will produce a quality healthy drink that can renew vitality and energy for our body with all the wonderful nutrients, protein and vitamins this drink contains. The variety of flavours that COCO DRINK has gives consumers a wide selection of its taste preference. The selling of coconut tonic drink does not limit only within the locality but also to the nearby provinces. Products will directly distribute to supermarkets, grocery stores and health food stores. The selling price is is affordable which can reach by all people especially for low income. People can found COCO DRINK easily. The distribution spreads well until the end users. So that more people can have tonic drink as their energy drinks choice B. CHANNEL OF DISTRIBUTION The proposed business will act as a supplier of coconut tonic drink into local markets. FIGURE 3. 1 CHANNEL OF DISTRIBUTION C. PRICE STUDY In a research conducted, there is no existing industry of coconut tonic drink here in Sultan Kudarat. Since coconut tonic drink is the best alternative for electrolyte drinks, the project had foregone a research in pricing of different energy Drink Company of its products. They are selling with a mark-up of 20% to 35% more than the average factory price of the product. As a strategy, the project will reduce 20% in the price of the product of the existing competitors. F. DEMAND AND SUPPLY ANALYSIS Total Philippines Energy Drink Sales Volume 2006 – YTD OCT 2009 Source: Nielsen Retail Index FIGURE 3. 2 ENERGY DRINK SALES The geographic scope of the competitive rivalry explains some of the economic features found in the energy drink industry as shown in Figure above. Two major players dominate the sector – Extra Joss ® is the leader of the energy drink Philippines and boasts a market share of around 68%, followed by Cobra at about 18% in 2008. As we can see in the figure above, the portrait of energy drinks lifecycle have high demand. Overall, energy drinks category only accounts for 0. 5% of the Total Philippines Beverage industry. IV. TECHNICAL ASPECT A. PRODUCT The main product of SHASETH manufacturing company is a coconut tonic drink, coconut juice extracted from a mature coconut, process, and add some flavours to prolong its shelf life. The product will be available in three kinds of packaging: bottle, can, and tetra pack. The said product is process in two different ways: flavours, and unflavoured. This tonic drink is packed full of electrolytes as potassium, magnesium, calcium and phosphorus, affording its naturally isotonic composition. Hence, it has the potential to pull in a completely new audience, such as health-conscious women who have previously shied away from conventional sports drinks. It is a natural tonic or high-energy drink, a good alternative for electrolytes. This product is also good for infants, since the percentage of arginine, alanine, cysteine and serene in the protein of coconut water is higher than those of cow’s milk. Mature Coconut Water Tender Coconut Water Total solids% 5. 4 6. 5 Reducing sugars % 0. 2 4. 4 Minerals % 0. 5 0. 6 Protein % 0. 1 0. 01 Fat % 0. 1 0. 01 Acidity mg % 60. 0 120. 0 pH 5. 2 4. 5 Potassium mg% 247. 0 290. 0 Sodium mg% 48. 0 42. 0 Calcium mg% 40. 0 44. 0 Magnesium mg % 15. 0 10. 0 Phosphorous mg% 6. 3 9. 2 Iron mg% 79. 0 106. 0 Copper mg% 26. 0 26. 0 Source: SatyavatiKrishnankutty (1987) Recommended Nutrient B. MANUFACTURING PROCESS. A product facility was set-up and operated in a semi-commercial scale with the following general specifications: Capacity: Medium scale operation (approximately 500 nuts/day) Expected yield: Approximately 50kg. instant coconut skim milk per day. Starting process for instant (mature) coconut beverage FIGURE 4. 1 MANUFACTURING PROCESS Mature coconut beverage is process through medium scale operation. It needs the mature stage of a coconut (approximately 500 nuts per day), soak, and wash it in chlorinated water (200 ppm). De-shell, pare, and disintegrate coconut meat and coconut juice. Extract and separate the cream. Collect CSM (heating to 90C to coagulate the proteins) decanting whey to concentrate the protein coagulum. Add back some of the cream, centrifuge solids, premixed encapsulating agent, bulking agent, and other required ingredients. Blend, filter, and homogenize using high pressure to reduce fat sizes. Place in a holding tanks and feed in a pre-heated spray dryer stabilized at 150-180+/-5? C. Spray dry at 150? -180C inlet, 70-95? C outlet, with feed rate of 30-50 ml/min. Air-cool to room temperature. Add premixed flavouring, sweetener and other ingredients, dried fruit bits etc. , vitamin mineral blends. Dry mix, pack, seal and label. Store in a cool and dry place. (Source: Department of Science and Technology) C. LOCATION AND AREA The proposed project is located at Barangay Obial, Kalamansig, Sultan Kudarat, portion of lot 437, pls-50, Title no. T-15843 port. That is near to the coconut federation, which is located at lot 472, pls-504, to sustain the daily capacity of nuts needed for manufacturing. The building that consists of factory and office has an area of 200 square meters within the total land area of 400 square meters. The distance of the manufacturing company is 150 meters away from the coconut plantation. D. FACTORY EQUIPMENTS TABLE 4. 1 FACTORY EQUIPMENTS DEPRECIATION Equipments Quantity Acquisition cost Useful life (Years) Annual depreciation Desheller 1 P 63,000 15 P 3,780 Disintegrator 1 126,000 15 7,560 Screw press 1 21,000 15 1,260 Centrifuge 1 63,000 15 3,780 Homogenizer 1 84,000 15 5,040 Holding, Blending and Balance tanks 1 277,200 15 16,632 Spray dryer 1 210,000 15 12,600 Tumble 1 67,200 15 4,032 Ribbon mixer 67,200 15 4,032 Form-fill-seal machine 1 105,000 15 6,300 Walk-in-freezer 1 252,000 15 15,120 Upright refrigerator 1 50,400 15 3,024 TOTAL 11 P 1,386,000 P 83,160 Note: Factory equipment has a salvage value of 10% of its acquisition cost. Factory equipment must be reacquired after 15 years and unit cost is projected to increase by 5%. E. OFFICE EQUIPMENT AND FURNITURES TABLE 4. 2 OFFICE AND FURNITURE DEPRECIATION Office equipment furniture Quantity Acquisition cost Useful life (years) Annual depreciation Computer 1 P 20,000 10 P 2,000 Printer 1 3,500 10 350 Aircon 1 16,700 10 1,670 Table 2 2,000 10 200 Office chairs 2 1,500 10 150 Plastic chairs 2 300 10 30 Cabinet 1 6,000 10 600 TOTAL P 50,000 P 5,000 Note: Office equipments and furniture must be reacquired after 10 years and unit cost is projected to increased 5% per annum. F. OFFICE SUPPLIES. Office supplies Qty. / year Price Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Computer ink 24 P 150 P 3,600 P 4,680 P6,084 P 7,909. 2 P 10,282 Calculator 3 125 375 487. 5 633. 75 824 1,071 Puncher 3 70 210 273 354. 9 461 600 Fastener 2boxes 50 100 130 169 220 286 Ball pen 2 boxes 150 300 390 507 659 857 Bond paper 18rims 200 3,600 4,680 6,084 7,909 10,282 Scissor 10 15 150 195 253. 5 330 428 Scotch tape 30 15 450 585 760. 5 989 1,285 Pencil 2 boxes 32. 50 65 84. 5 109. 85 142. 80 186 Carbon paper 6 rims 145 870 1,131 1,470. 3 1,911 2,484 stapler 4 70 280 364 473. 2 615 799 TOTAL P 10,000 P 13,000 P 16,900 P21,970. P28,561 Note: Office supplies will be acquired every year. Unit cost will increase 3% per annum. TABLE 4. 3 G. PLAN LOCATION AND FLOOR PLAN The manufacturing company is placed at the portion of lot 473 with area of 400 square meters located at Barangay Obial, Kalamansig. V. SOCIO-ECONOMIC DESIRABILITY OF THE BUSINESS The proposed project carried cheep is the development of socio economic sector particularly here in Sultan Kudarat. 1. Establishment of this business will help to generate additional employment in the community. 2. It will improve domestic production by providing market opportunities. 3. It will generate additional income to the government through taxes. 4. It will raise additional income to the coconut growers in the municipality. 5. It will provide additional revenue to the province and it will help to improve the said municipality. SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATION A. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS Based on the assessment and result of the study made by the proponents, establishment of coconut tonic drink in Obial, Kalamnsig is feasible. The proponents prove that the place where proposed project is located is the best source of coconut tonic drink due to wide plantation of coconut. B. CONLUSION After considering the different aspects in conducting this feasibility study, the proponents found out that the establishment of coconut tonic drink in Kalansig is feasible. It is because of the increasing demand of energy drink and nutritious beverages in local market. C. RECOMMENDATION After assessing the result of the study, the following are highly recommended: 1. The company should find ways and means to improve the quality of their products to meet the standards and satisfaction of the customers. 2. It should manage the risk that may occur in their dealings with competing companies. 3. Further studies should be conducted to determine other process to prolong the shelf life of the product without adding chemicals on it and to preserve its natural flavour. 4. Product should undergo laboratory test to make sure that it will pass the quality food standard. 5. Proper sanitation must highly observe. VI. FINANCIAL ASPECT A. UNDERLYING ASSUMPTIONS These assumptions are the basis in computing the financial projections. 1. Sales will increased by 6% per annum. 2. Purchases will increase by 3% annually. 3. Operating expense except for depreciation and legal fees will increase by 3% per annum. 4. Trade receivables at the end of the year are 30% of the year’s sales. 5. Assumed that the target markets are local health food stores, supermarkets, and grocery stores. 6. Project cost is P 4,107,938 with bank financing of 75% payable within 5 years with 8% interest rate and based on diminishing balance. 7. Finished goods inventory at the end of period will be 5% of goods available for sale. 8. Operating hours per day is 8 hours for 26 days monthly. 9. Depreciation expense will be based on straight line method. (see exhibit D) 10. Sales schedule 11. Salary is composed of their respective salary, SSS, and other benefits. It is assumed that SSS and other benefits is 20% of their salary. 12. Withdrawal is 30% of year’s net income starting 2nd year. 13. Income tax provision is 30% of income before tax. B. BALANCE SHEET PROJECTIONS C. INCOME STATEMENT PROJECTIONS D. CASHFLOW PROJECTIONS E. FINANCIAL SUMMARY F. PRODUCTION/OPERATING REQUIREMENTS The SHASETH manufacturing company will operate at Barangay Obial, Kalamansig, Sultan Kudarat. In operating the business, it will require a capital of P 4,107,938 that will be used at the start of operation to fund the purchase of goods and other necessary materials needed to manufacture the coconut tonic drink. Also included to the capital required are the cost of 400 square meter land and 200 square meter building. The factory equipment that has been purchased has a capacity of working 500 nuts a day. G. SUPPORTING SCHEDULE VI. SOCIO ECONOMIC DIVERSITY OF THE PROJECT REFERENCES: Sources and Cites Alibaba. com Google. com Wikipedia. com Organizations/Local Government Department of Trade and Industry Department of Science and Technology Sultan Kudarat Provincial Assessor’s Office Others Regional Economic Situitioner Nielsen Retail Index SatyavatiKrishnankutty We have noticed an increasing number of businesses catering to the recent rise of a new target market: the health-conscious consumer. At Nike, our goal has always been to give consumers what they want now, as well as to anticipate their future tastes, and to thus tailor our strategy to accommodate those tastes. We have recognized an unfilled market potential in the non-carbonated energizing sports drink arena, thus developing an entirely new product category. Our branding strategy is to enter the market by carving a new niche of protein-enriched energizing sports drinks. Our objective is to educate consumers about the new drink, as well as to make a profit and gain market share in the industry. We hope that by being market leaders, our name will become synonymous with the new drink category, and will aid in our sustaining a competitive advantage over the copy-cats that are sure to flock the market after the new products’ introduction and subsequent success. Our primary target market is 18-34 year old females who will use our sports drink whenever they needed a boost: at work, in the gym, or just when they felt like it. The secondary target market is 18-34 year old males who fall into much the same socio-cultural and economic category as the primary target market. The Nike Motion energy drink will be positioned as a high-end item, costing $2 per environmentally-friendly can. It will come in a variety of fruit flavors and will boast the replenishment of electrolytes and other essential vitamins and minerals. We hope that high-frequency mass market penetration using multi-media advertisements will spread the word and raise awareness about Nike Motion. National distribution will follow in supermarkets, pharmacies, health food stores, and gourmet retailers. The Nike brand name, accompanied by its strong brand image, will differentiate the product and maintain its popularity via the market leader and differentiation strategy the company has chosen. [2. 0] Environmental Analysis Economic Trends: The X and Y generations, our target markets, comprise about 110 million people of the United States population. They are, generally speaking, well-educated, and earn relatively higher incomes, thus allowing for much of their disposable income to be spent on health-oriented products, such as the new beverage we are planning to launch, Nike Motion. Neither positive, nor negative economic trends, such as changes in interest rates, inflation, DGP, etc. are not likely to have a significant impact on our product, since it’s not a high priced luxury item whose demand would be affected by theses factors. The quality of sports drinks consumed doesn’t really depend on the income of the consumers, since these are relatively inexpensive, everyday products. As a general trend however it is worth mentioning that the economy as a whole is growing in the United States as well as in other parts of the world, allowing for an ever increasing standa.

Ambition Essay -- Definition Ambitious Essays

Ambition   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Before I could really start to write about ambition, I had to ask myself what ambition really was. What causes people to be ambitious, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of being an ambitious person? At first, I must admit it was fairly difficult to comprehend. But I found it to all come together when I related it to another kind of person or group of people – dreamers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When I think of ambitious people I think of dreamers. These are the people with hopes of one day conquering and ruling the world single handedly, and having everything work out just the way they want it to. I also feel that an ambitious person is a confident one. And because of this, they feel there is nothing they cannot accomplish. There are they types of people who often set goals so high and glamorous that they often set themselves up for disappointment when things do not work out their way. This, I guess, would qualify to be one of the disadvantages of ambition. But since I am the kind of person who believes that the sky is the limit, and if you put your mind to it you can accomplish anything, I choose to stay away from the disadvantages of ambition for the time being.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Evver since I was a little boy, I have always been ambitious. But who wasn’t? Before writing this paper, I did a little research to help me better understand the different forms of ambition, and if it differs between younger and older groups of people. I sat and asked my little brother what he ...

Key Economic Indicators and Changes over time in Bangladesh

The ancient region that in 1000 B.C. was called the Vanga, or Banga, Kingdom is considered to be #8 among the poorest and most densely populated countries today. Bangladesh, an independent country with parliamentary democratic government at the head of the state, remains dependent on foreign investors, grant aids and loans from the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the U.S., Japan and some Western countries, and suffers from corruption, lack of reforms, weak infrastructure and unstable financial system.The economic exploitation of the East Bengal (contemporary Bangladesh) by the West Pakistan, contemporary Pakistan, has turned out to be the complete deficit for the first player and the surplus for the other one. Yet, the advantageous climate, fertile soil, abundance of water and population growth are still playing the essential role and bringing the balance in economic indicators: income and employment rates, productivity, import and export prices, inflation, balance of trade, balance of payments, etc.Till the 10th century the East Bengal was ruled by Buddhists. Since that time the power had been handing over to Hindu, then Islamic converts in 1576 and British India from 1757 till 1947. However, the foreign dominance has shifted to domestic one and for 24 years the historic region of Bengal was a part of Pakistan. Though, the most of Pakistani population were the residents of East Pakistan (contemporary Bangladesh), the West Pakistan was holding the control over politics and economics.Grace to Sheik Mujibur Rahman and other Bengali nationalists, the independent state of Bangladesh with the capital of the state – Dhaka, and Sheikh Mujibur, as its head, was proclaimed on March 26, 1971. However, 1 million Bengalis had to pay the price during the four-year civil war that followed the independence of Bengali nation. On February, 1974, Pakistan finally accepted their autonomy attempt and a slaughter of brave soldiers was compensated in an unexpected way .The greatest problem, which has affected the devastated economy in 1980s, was the population growth. According to the facts, provided by Heitzman, J., and Worden, R., the population of East Bengal in 1901 numbered 29 million people, of East Pakistan – 44 million in 1951, of Bangladesh – 71 million in 1974, 87 million in 1981 and 110 million in 1988 (1989). It was expected that Bangladesh will reach the mark of 140 million by 2000 and today it numbers 150 million people. Today, Bangladesh takes the first place in population among Asian countries, the third one in national debt and the lowest GDP growth – 4.5 percent (Vital Statistics, 2006).Though Bangladesh had such natural resources as natural gas, timber, coal and agricultural land, they could not cover the demand of the growing population, along with natural disasters, such as cyclones, tropical monsoons, droughts, tornadoes, tidal bores and floods; therefore, agriculture – the key economic factor â⠂¬â€œ was rising from ashes over and over again.So, the newly proclaimed government had to seek answers to the following issues:1) environmental – degradation and erosion of soil, deforestation, lack of lands for cultivation, shortages of water and its pollution, natural disasters;2) national – overpopulation, illiteracy, technological regress and diseases.The independence has also brought some economic concerns, which have to be solved with the help of brand new economic policies and planning. The government of Bangladesh had to manage over 300 industrial enterprises (90 percent out of all enterprises such like), which West Pakistani owners left after 1971. The grant aid and loan commitments to the developing economy at that time numbered $15 billion disbursed out of $22 billion planned. The UN Development Program, along with the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and developed countries gave a hand to strengthen the new nation.In order to manage the economy, the government of Bangladesh had to develop new industrial capacities and rehabilitate the economy itself. The West Pakistani economic model turned out to be inefficient and has led to economic stagnation. In 1975, the government resolved to organize public corporations and gave a greater scope to private sector, which is still working on. The state-owned enterprises that were targeted at: sugar, cotton textiles, steel, fertilizer, chemicals, minerals, pharmaceuticals, food, forest, paper newsprint, cement, garments, tea processing, engineering and shipbuilding products have been privatized; while banking sector, jute, oil and gas production remained under the governmental control.Bangladeshi government endeavored to encourage private sector and investments, denationalize public industries, ease up the import system and reinstate budgetary regulation. Yet, the reforms, expected from an enhanced structural adjustment facility (ESAF), along with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), were affected by political confrontation in 1991-1993. That very year, Bangladesh received $3.3 billion in food and development assistance from the United States and was forgiven $293 million of national debt. The corruption level and political troubles cut the foreign investments in 2000-2001 and led to the economic regress.In 2003, after liberalization reform, the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) $490-million plan for 3 years was approved by the IMF. Also, the World Bank has approved $536 million in interest-free loans. Other economic policies originated from the West Pakistani model and estimated the Annual Development Program, Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRSs) and the five-year plans for the economy.The first two waves of the Five-Year Plan failed to meet the objectives; but the last one, which lasted from 1985 to 1990: reduced poverty, â€Å"[brought] down the rate of population growth to 1.8 percent annually (present rate is 2.2 percent (Vital Statistics, 2006)), in crease[d] exports by 5.9 percent and  domestic savings by 10 percent, attain[ed] self- sufficiency in food production, [stated] GDP of 5.4 percent† (Heitzman, 1989). In its turn, the government of Bangladesh maintained institutions, responsible for implementation of economic policies and planning. The Planning Commission, the National Economic Council, the Executive Committee and the Project Evaluation Committee were and are still monitoring the reforms and progresses of economic policies and plans.According to the â€Å"Bangladesh† fact sheet, the key economic indicators between 2001 and 2006 are as follows: GDP showed a stable increase from $47.2 billion in 2001 to 63.0 billion in 2006, therefore, real GDP growth varied from 4.8 to 6.2 accordingly; GDP per capita have increased from $335 to $407; goods exports varied from 14.5 percent of GDP to 16.1 percent. The Central Bank of Bangladesh in its publication â€Å"Major Economic Indicators† provided the ample data on other economic indicators. Hereby, the Bangladeshi inflation rate increased from 1.5 % in 2001 to 6.94 % in 2007; balance of trade, 2007, amounts $-2,551 million, exports increased by $1519.05 to $9036.45 million (20.21 %) and import payments increased by $2172.8 to $12743.5 million (20.55%) in 2007.These promising facts show that foreign investments and loans, along with domestic policies, improved infrastructure and financial system, made economic reforms, and strengthened Bangladeshi positions on the global market. Yet, the growing number of labor force earns its livings from agriculture, while undeveloped industrial sector, inefficient power supplies and underdeveloped energy and gas resources hide the potential for economic growth, developed market, and the way out of poverty. The government of Bangladesh had turned its blind eye towards the economic perspectives of technological progress, the interrelationship between transportation and communication, and the core econ omic factor – industrialization in the very beginning of the new nation, so today it remains underdeveloped and holds the place of one of the poorest countries in the world.References:Central Bank of Bangladesh. (2007, May). Major Economic Indicators: Monthly Update.Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. (2006, July). Bangladesh: The Economy FactHeitzman, J., Worden, R. (1989). Bangladesh: A Country Study. Washington: GPO for theLibrary of Congress.Virtual Bangladesh. (2006, August). Economy: Vital Statistics. Retrieved June 5, 2007, from Read also: Padma Bridge

Handphones should be banned from schools Essay

Based on my opinion, I strongly believe that hand phones should be banned from schools. This is because the detrimental effect of students’ usage of hand phones in school weighs heavier than its benefits. Firstly, hand phones should be banned in school because students’ easily loses focus in class. Acquiring knowledge, learn something new and to educate one-self are the reasons students go to school. If learning is the priority, then what role do hand phones play in classrooms? They serve as distracters, what else? Students who use hand phones in class get distracted and distract the learning of process of the other students in class as well. For instance, if a student’s hand phone rings, everyone’s attention is set on the student rather than on the teacher standing in the frontier of the class. Moreover, on many occasions students’ have been caught text-messaging each other in class or playing games on their phones. Other than that, hand phones should be banned from schools because students’ tend to surf the websites in the classroom. When the lesson is taking place in the class, students who chooses to rebel, shows complete attachment to the phone. Rather than, paying attention during the class, students surf the internet and actively interact in social medias such as Face book and Twitter. Worst still, students who use hand phones are prone to visit illegal and inappropriate websites for their age. For instance, there are chances for students to have access to pornography in hand phones. Many students have been known to download pornographic pictures from the Internet to their phones. Adding on, students tend share those videos with their peers through Bluetooth which opens gate for social problem. Moreover, hand phones should be banned from schools because it creates opportunity for thefts to occur. It is a norm for teenagers to display their belongings to their fellow peers. Additionally, if they own something new, latest, trendy and mostly what the others do not own. This allows the occurrence of petty thefts in school as hand phones, especially those that are expensive and have additional features that draws unnecessary attention, gets stolen. Here, the safety of students also comes into the picture. Especially students who hold their expensive gadgets are sometimes accosted and assaulted outside the school gate as they lure the attention of snatch thieves. Victims with hand phones and other valuable will most certainly have these items taken away by force when they are not aware. Who is to be blamed here? The student with the hand phone? Or the thief? In addition, hand phones should be banned from schools because it encourages dishonesty. Students who have access to hand phones in class, may cultivate the habit of cheating. For instance, students can text test answers to other people in the classroom or also the school. Students too may have internet access on their phone and look up answers for examinations that way. Even though cheating has always been an issue, using cell phones in school only makes the issue bigger. Stressing again; I strongly believe that hand phones should be banned from schools because students’ easily loses focus in class, students’ tend to surf the websites in the classroom, creates opportunity for thefts to occur and finally encourages dishonesty. Since, the usage of hand phones in school contributes to multiple problems, I assert that hand phones should be banned from schools.

Self-appraisal Essay Example

Self Self-appraisal Essay Self-appraisal Essay I perfectly know and understand myself because I simply follow my heart desire; I got almost all my personality from the people around me. Before I perfectly regard myself more than anybody, but now that I’m married I regard my family first more than myself. I rate my attitude in handling about life as perfect with Gods help. I handled perfectly when I’m stress and emotionally hurt because I prayed a lot. I perfectly know and understand my values at an early age because my parents first taught me. I’m 100% satisfied with my career choice because they let me decide. I reached my career and job opportunities by myself only because I tried hard enough. I rate my writing skills as very good because I’m still new though I did some documentation in our company before. I’m perfectly prepared when I have job interviews by researching some topic that is related to the position I applied. I perfectly get along with people because I love being with people. I d on’t like to be alone. My average self-appraisal score is 4.8.One of the traits that I like in myself and I got it from my father is the willingness to sacrifice for the sake of the love ones. That was when I diagnosed with hypertension and was prescribed with some medications, I did not tell my husband about my maintenance because I don’t want to bother him and I don’t want to ask money from him for my personal needs because I know how he work hard to earn a living. I just find another way like I will engage in buy and sell business that won’t need some capital, in this way I can buy my medicines through the profit.One of the traits that I don’t like in me is my temper and I got it from my mother, I easily got mad even in small things especially when they won’t meet my expectations, I don’t have patience. All I want is for them to follow what I want. As of the moment I tried to control it because it’s not good and I donâ€℠¢t want my kids to be like that. I pray that God will help me and will give me more patience and understanding.

Emerging Market Economy; a Case of China Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Emerging Market Economy; a Case of China - Essay Example This essay describes economic achievements of China on the way of successful transforming its economic system towards market economy, while establishing the reasons behind such success. Also the essay discusses the reasons that could lead to differences in mode of entry strategies of foreign direct investment between emerging markets and developed markets. It is shown in the essay, that China has had a rapid economic growth in the last three decades since the initiation of economic reforms in the year 1979. This fast rate of economic growth has caught the world's attention, and China is now a strong emerging economy almost closing the gap between it and the US. China is now a strong emerging economy almost closing the gap between it and the United States of America. It has become a major world economic power. There has been a tremendous improvement in the macroeconomic indicators over the past decade. From 2004, the China's GDP has been growing steadily at the rate of between 9.9% and 10%. There has also been a positive growth in net export, increase foreign reserves and of great significant increase in the outward Foreign Direct Investment. In the past decade, the country has benefitted from FDI and also had some negative spillovers as an emerging economy. Some of the benefits include the generation of exports and imports, labor mobility, horizontal and vertical integration, creation of more employment opportunities, capacity building of human capital and increase in Gross Domestic Investment among others.

World History 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

World History 1 - Essay Example In the civilized society, the role of the individual still might be deemed important, but not in the same close-connection sort of way. In terms of the educational area, one of the hallmarks of civilization is its ability to pass on its legacy through literature. Nomadic peoples tended to provide oral traditions and stories, but it wasn't until these became written down that society advanced to what might be called a civilized state. Through education in general, and literacy in particular, civilization developed into its modern form. Thirdly, there is a distinct difference between the commercial activities of hunter/gatherer tribes and civilized society. For nomadic tribes, goods were acquired primarily for consumption. Excess items could be traded with other groups, but the primary goal was meeting daily need. Modern civilization is characterized by elaborate trading patterns that have no equal in the hunter/gatherer world. Finally, the political difference is dramatic. While hunte r/gatherers had political rank or pecking order, it consisted primarily of who was strong enough to lead the tribe; and conducted through a fairly straightforward means of combat or test of skills.

Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Summary - Essay Example The strontium 90 released into the air is in the form of rain and lodges into the soil and pollutes the plants which are eventually consumed by humans. The effect to humans is diseases such as cancer thus leading to death. The article also talks about the effect of use of insecticides and pesticides including DDT that are used to destroy harmful insects (Carson 9). The insecticides destroy the pests intended and other insects as well thus causing equilibrium imbalance. Argument is that the insects also evolve and develop resistance to the pesticides. The article also talks about the hasty way in which new situations are generated through the influence of humans instead of allowing nature to take its course. An example of radiation is given, and how it has changed from backdrop radiation of rocks, ultra violet light from the sun and attack of cosmic rays to deviant radiation. The deviant radiation is caused by man’s interference with atoms of metals such as copper, calcium and silica making them unstable (Carson 12). The ways in which man uses chemicals has been censured since no proper investigation is done on their effects to water, soil, animals and human being. The environment should be preserved for upcoming generations and other forms of pest control should be used to avoid dire

History of scientific method Essay Example for Free

History of scientific method Essay Francis Bacon was born in London in 1561 and died 1626. He ended up being a great philosopher, an author, and the inventor of the inductive method, also known for advancing the scientific method. He was the second son of Sir Nicholas Bacon and Lady Anne Cooke Bacon. Lady Anne was the second wife of Sir Nicholas. Sir Nicholas was also the Lord Keeper of the Seal at the time, which is a job that would eventually be held by his son, Francis Bacon. Bacon started going to Trinity College in Cambridge in 1573, when he was only 11 years old. He completed his course of study there only two years later. After that he went to the school that his older brother, Anthony, went to which was Grey’s Inn, where he studied law after his father died in 1579. Bacon’s involvement in high politics started in 1584. He always aimed to change the thoughts of natural philosophy and tried to get himself in high political offices. However, Queen Elizabeth tended not to trust him very much especially he refused to agree to her request of funds for the Parliament. He decided to vote to allow the subsidies but to double the amount of time it takes to deliver them. â€Å"Bacon had emphasized the necessity of scientific improvement and progress. Since he failed to secure for himself a position in the government, he considered the possibility of giving up politics and concentrating on natural philosophy. It is no wonder, then, that Bacon engaged in many scholarly and literary pursuits in the 1590s†(Klein). In 1597, he published his first book, the seminal version of his Essays, though his income was still fairly unstable. I find it fairly humorous that Bacon planned to marry a rich widow named Lady Hatton, but was unable to because a man named Sir Edward Coke was courting her. In 1617, Francis Bacon was made the new Keeper of The Seal, and was made lord chancellor the next year and received the title of Baron Verulam. In 1620, Bacon wrote the book â€Å"Novum Organum,† which means â€Å"New Method. † He was the leading advocate of the inductive reasoning method. Inductive reasoning is the process that draws on the particulars of sensory evidence to form general principles(Fiero). He used inductive reasoning in attempts to improve the errors made by both Plato and Aristotle. â€Å"Aristotelian philosophy was based on a set of rules that governed the consistency between conclusion and a foundation that was accepted as unquestioningly true; Bacon’s philosophy was the opposite†(Soibelman). Bacon turned his back on Aristotle and Classical science. He looked to remove errors by blind obedience of religions and traditional authorities(Fiero). Bacon was also warned against four â€Å"Idols† that make clear and objective thoughts difficult. The first he called The Idols of the Tribe, which are deceptive things inherent in the mind of man, and so the entire human race has it. These may include that people always try to fit things into patterns, even if it isn’t actually in a pattern. They see what they want to see according to their beliefs because their six senses are flawed and are able to fool them(Terry). The next he called The Idols of the Cave, which are in the minds of each individual and are based on the individual education and background of each person. The â€Å"Cave† represents the mind. The person’s thoughts wander, some peoples thoughts wander more than others, through the cave of the mind. They can be changed by the person’s mood, education, background and habit. People will usually look back on conclusions they have learned before or come up with themselves and they will tend to favor the ideas that support those previous ideas. Individuals also tend to favor different things because of their background or education. For example, some will favor differences, while others favor similarities. People will see different things depending on their interests as well. The mathematician will see math and numbers in all things, like the T. V. character Charlie Eppes from the show Numb3rs. The chemist will see chemistry in all things and the architect tends to see shapes in all things. The third he called The Idols of the Marketplace, and that one was based on the verbal communication of people. It is based primarily on bad word choices and misunderstanding of others. He believed that, though people like to think they use words to express their thoughts on a subject, the words would replace thoughts all together. â€Å"†¦Words arise as substitutes for thoughts and men think they have won an argument because they have out-talked their opponents†(Hall). Words can have several different meanings. For example, the word light could mean the opposite of heavy or it could mean something that illuminates, such as the sun, a lamp, fire, or a beacon. Another example of this is the word like. Like could mean to be similar to, or it could mean to have a preference for something. Words can frequently work against what the speaker is really trying to say. They can make things seem different than what was really intended. The last was known as The Idols of the Theatre, which are hindrances caused by philosophy, tradition, theology, and science. Since these idols are practiced and defended by the well-educated people, the less-educated people tend to just accept their validity without question. This is how cults and even some religions have started. A person will take a single verse or small group of verses out of the Bible completely out of context and build a whole religion off of it. Using that method, a person could make the Bible say whatever they wanted it to say. The really sad part about that is that those cults will often still see themselves as, and call themselves Christians. People who follow these ways of thinking have children and grandchildren who just accept it as truth because it’s all they’ve known, so it becomes part of their way of life and influences their way of thinking. In 1626, Francis Bacon decided to try an experiment on how the cold would affect the decay of meat. So he bought a chicken and stuffed it with snow. Unfortunately, he caught a cold, which developed into pneumonia, and he died on April 9th. Bacon was the man that set up the basis that let people like Galileo come up with the theories that they did. Before this peoples’ philosophies were based on pure faith and, actually, had very little to do with logical reasoning. He was the guy that disagreed with the way things were and pointed them out. Descartes probably would not have gotten along with him very well. Even today, we base the majority of our philosophies on reasoning rather than just human belief. Actually, Bacon’s Four Idols are, even still, good things to watch out for and avoid. They do pose serious problems even if you aren’t a philosopher. There is a lot to be learned from the way Bacon looked at the world. Works Cited

Ryman Is Famous For Customer Service Marketing Essay

Ryman Is Famous For Customer Service Marketing Essay Introduction Ryman is famous for customer service. Everyone who works at the 237 Ryman stores nationwide aims to deliver the best possible customer experience to everyone who visits the specialist stationery stores.   This is achieved through a number of routes, including the companys investment in training so that people in the stores have an in-depth knowledge of their product range. Employees feel valued by the organization that encourages them to come up with bright ideas that are then shared within the business.   As well as being the nations high street stationery specialist, many Ryman stores offer additional services to customers. For example, many stores have a photocopier machine for customers to use and all stores provide printed stationery.   Other services range from document binding, a fax service, a photo booth, laminating, and a bulk copying service. Some stores usually based in the larger cities have a Copy Shop where all these services are offered. There are four Ryman stores that also have a Post Office. Industrial Plan Industry analysis is a tool that facilitates a companys understanding of its position relative to other companies that produce similar products or services. Understanding the forces at work in the overall industry is an important component of effective strategic planning. Industry analysis enables small business owners to identify the threats and opportunities facing their businesses, and to focus their resources on developing unique capabilities that could lead to a competitive advantage. Many small business owners and executives consider themselves at worst victims, and at best observers of what goes on in their industry. They sometimes fail to perceive that understanding your industry directly impacts your ability to succeed. Understanding your industry and anticipating its future trends and directions gives you the knowledge you need to react and control your portion of that industry, Kenneth J. Cook wrote in his book The AMA Complete Guide to Strategic Planning for Small Business.However, your analysis of this is significant only in a relative sense. Since both you and your competitors are in the same industry, the key is in finding the differing abilities between you and the competition in dealing with the industry forces that impact you. If you can identify abilities you have that are superior to competitors, you can use that ability to establish a competitive advantage. http://www.enotes.com/small-business-encyclopedia/industry-analysis An industry analysis consists of three major elements: the underlying forces at work in the industry; the overall attractiveness of the industry; and the critical factors that determine a companys success within the industry. The premier model for analyzing the structure of industries was developed by Michael E. Porter in his classic 1980 book Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors. Porters model shows that rivalry among firms in industry depends upon five forces: the potential for new competitors to enter the market; the bargaining power of buyers and suppliers; the availability of substitute goods; and the competitors and nature of competition. These factors are outlined below. INDUSTRY FORCES The first step in performing an industry analysis is to assess the impact of Porters five forces. The collective strength of these forces determines the ultimate profit potential in the industry, where profit potential is measured in terms of long term return on invested capital, Porter stated. The goal of competitive strategy for a business unit in an industry is to find a position in the industry where the company can best defend itself against these competitive forces or can influence them in its favor. Understanding the underlying forces determining the structure of the industry can highlight the strengths and weaknesses of a small business, show where strategic changes can make the greatest difference, and illuminate areas where industry trends may turn into opportunities or threats. http://www.enotes.com/small-business-encyclopedia/industry-analysis EASE OF ENTRY Ease of entry refers to how easy or difficult it is for a new firm to begin competing in the industry. The ease of entry into an industry is important because it determines the likelihood that a company will face new competitors. In industries that are easy to enter, sources of competitive advantage tend to wane quickly. On the other hand, in industries that are difficult to enter, sources of competitive advantage last longer, and firms also tend to benefit from having a constant set of competitors. The ease of entry into an industry depends upon two factors: the reaction of existing competitors to new entrants; and the barriers to market entry that prevail in the industry. Existing competitors are most likely to react strongly against new entrants when there is a history of such behavior, when the competitors have invested substantial resources in the industry, and when the industry is characterized by slow growth. Some of the major barriers to market entry include economies of scale, high capital requirements, switching costs for the customer, limited access to the channels of distribution, a high degree of product differentiation, and restrictive government policies. POWER OF SUPPLIERS Suppliers can gain bargaining power within an industry through a number of different situations. For example, suppliers gain power when an industry relies on just a few suppliers, when there are no substitutes available for the suppliers product, when there are switching costs associated with changing suppliers, when each purchaser accounts for just a small portion of the suppliers business, and when suppliers have the resources to move forward in the chain of distribution and take on the role of their customers. Supplier power can affect the relationship between a small business and its customers by influencing the quality and price of the final product. All of these factors combined will affect your ability to compete, Cook noted. They will impact your ability to use your supplier relationship to establish competitive advantages with your customers. http://www.enotes.com/small-business-encyclopedia/industry-analysis POWER OF BUYERS The reverse situation occurs when bargaining power rests in the hands of buyers. Powerful buyers can exert pressure on small businesses by demanding lower prices, higher quality, or additional services, or by playing competitors off one another. The power of buyers tends to increase when single customers account for large volumes of the businesss product, when a substitutes are available for the product, when the costs associated with switching suppliers are low, and when buyers possess the resources to move backward in the chain of distribution. AVAILABILITY OF SUBSTITUTES All firms in an industry are competing, in a broad sense, with industries producing substitute products. Substitutes limit the potential returns of an industry by placing a ceiling on the prices firms in the industry can profitably charge, Porter explained. Product substitution occurs when a small businesss customer comes to believe that a similar product can perform the same function at a better price. Substitution can be subtle-for example, insurance agents have gradually moved into the investment field formerly controlled by financial planners-or sudden-for example, compact disc technology has taken the place of vinyl record albums. The main defense available against substitution is product differentiation. By forming a deep understanding of the customer, some companies are able to create demand specifically for their products. http://www.enotes.com/small-business-encyclopedia/industry-analysis COMPETITORS The battle you wage against competitors is one of the strongest industry forces with which you contend, according to Cook. Competitive battles can take the form of price wars, advertising campaigns, new product introductions, or expanded service offerings-all of which can reduce the profitability of firms within an industry. The intensity of competition tends to increase when an industry is characterized by a number of well-balanced competitors, a slow rate of industry growth, high fixed costs, or a lack of differentiation between products. Another factor increasing the intensity of competition is high exit barriers-including specialized assets, emotional ties, government or social restrictions, strategic inter-relationships with other business units, labor agreements, or other fixed costs-which make competitors stay and fight even when they find the industry unprofitable. http://www.enotes.com/small-business-encyclopedia/industry-analysis http://kelas.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/porters-five-forces-model.jpg Production Plan Production planning is the function of establishing an overall level of output, called the production plan. The process also includes any other activities needed to satisfy current planned levels of sales, while meeting the firms general objectives regarding profit, productivity, lead times, and customer satisfaction, as expressed in the overall business plan. The managerial objective of production planning is to develop an integrated game plan where the operations portion is the production plan. This production plan, then, should link the firms strategic goals to operations (the production function) as well as coordinating operations with sales objectives, resource availability, and financial budgets. The production-planning process requires the comparison of sales requirements and production capabilities and the inclusion of budgets, pro forma financial statements, and supporting plans for materials and workforce requirements, as well as the production plan itself. A primary purpose of the production plan is to establish production rates that will achieve managements objective of satisfying customer demand. Demand satisfaction could be accomplished through the maintaining, raising, or lowering of inventories or backlogs, while keeping the workforce relatively stable. If the firm has implemented a just-in-time philosophy, the firm would utilize a chase strategy, which would mean satisfying customer demand while keeping inventories at a minimum level. The term production planning is really too limiting since the intent is not to purely produce a plan for the operations function. Because the plan affects many firm functions, it is normally prepared with information from marketing and coordinated with the functions of manufacturing, engineering, finance, materials, and so on. Another term, sales and operations planning, has recently come into use, more accurately representing the concern with coordinating several critical activities within the firm. The production plan also provides direct communication and consistent dialogue between the operations function and upper management, as well as between operations and the firms other functions. As such, the production plan must necessarily be stated in terms that are meaningful to all within the firm, not just the operations executive. Some firms state the production plan as the dollar value of total input (monthly, quarterly, etc.). Other firms may break the total output down by individual factories or major product lines. Still other firms state the plan in terms of total units for each product line. The key here is that the plan be stated in some homogeneous unit, commonly understood by all, that is also consistent with that used in other plans. PRODUCTION SCHEDULING The production schedule is derived from the production plan; it is a plan that authorized the operations function to produce a certain quantity of an item within a specified time frame. In a large firm, the production schedule is drawn in the production planning department, whereas, within a small firm, a production schedule could originate with a lone production scheduler or even a line supervisor. Production scheduling has three primary goals or objectives. The first involves due dates and avoiding late completion of jobs. The second goal involves throughput times; the firm wants to minimize the time a job spends in the system, from the opening of a shop order until it is closed or completed. The third goal concerns the utilization of work centers. Firms usually want to fully utilize costly equipment and personnel. Often, there is conflict among the three objectives. Excess capacity makes for better due-date performance and reduces throughput time but wreaks havoc on utilization. Releasing extra jobs to the shop can increase the utilization rate and perhaps improve due-date performance but tends to increase throughput time. Quite a few sequencing rules (for determining the sequence in which production orders are to be run in the production schedule) have appeared in research and in practice. Some well-known ones adapted from Vollmann, Berry, Whybark and Jacobs (2005) are presented in Operations Scheduling. THE PRODUCTION PLANNING AND PRODUCTION SCHEDULING INTERFACE There are fundamental differences in production planning and production scheduling. Planning models often utilize aggregate data, cover multiple stages in a medium-range time frame, in an effort to minimize total costs. Scheduling models use detailed information, usually for a single stage or facility over a short term horizon, in an effort to complete jobs in a timely manner. Despite these differences, planning and scheduling often have to be incorporated into a single framework, share information, and interact extensively with one another. They also may interact with other models such as forecasting models or facility location models. It should be noted that a major shift in direction has occurred in recent research on scheduling methods. Much of what was discussed was developed for job shops. As a result of innovations such as computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) and just-in-time (JIT), new processes being established in todays firms are designed to capture the benefits of repetitive manufacturing and continuous flow manufacturing. Therefore, much of the new scheduling research concerns new concepts and techniques for repetitive manufacturing-type operations. In addition, many of todays firms cannot plan and schedule only within the walls of their own factory as most are an entity with an overall supply chain. Supply chain management requires the coordination and integration of operations in all stages of the chain. If successive stages in a supply belong to the same firm, then these successive stages can be incorporated into a single planning and scheduling model. If not, constant interaction and information sharing are required to optimize the overall supply chain. productdevelpment Operational Plan An  operational planning  is a subset of strategic work plan. It describes short-term ways of achieving milestones and explains how, or what portion of, a strategic plan will be put into operation during a given operational period, in the case of commercial application, a fiscal year or another given budgetary term. An operational plan is the basis for, and justification of an annual operating budget request. Therefore, a five-year strategic plan would need five operational plans funded by five operating budgets. Operational plans should establish the activities and budgets for each part of the organization for the next 1 3 years. They link the strategic plan with the activities the organization will deliver and the resources required to deliver them. An operational plan draws directly from agency and program strategic plans to describe agency and program missions and goals, program objectives, and program activities. Like a strategic plan, an operational plan addresses four questions: Where are we now? Where do we want to be? How do we get there? How do we measure our progress? The OP is both the first and the last step in preparing an operating budget request. As the first step, the OP provides a plan for resource allocation; as the last step, the OP may be modified to reflect policy decisions or financial changes made during the budget development process. Operational plans should be prepared by the people who will be involved in implementation. There is often a need for significant cross-departmental dialogue as plans created by one part of the organisation inevitably have implications for other parts. Operational plans should contain: clear objectives activities to be delivered quality standards desired outcomes staffing and resource requirements implementation timetables a process for monitoring progress. Helping Students   Budgeting can be difficult for students, which is why Ryman offers a discount on line of 12.5% for extra NUS customers. All you need to do is enter your card number in the shopping basket page or show your card in store.   If you are student but not a member of NUS Extra, you can receive a 10% discount in store if you show your student ID.   Helping those Looking for Gift Ideas   The great thing about stationery is that it is always useful, so it is an ideal gift for the practically-minded. You can now buy special pre-paid  gift cards  at various prices. Helping sport the Ryman League   Ryman are proud sponsors of the Isthmian Football League, called the Ryman League. The clubs are highly supportive of the companys charity fundraising and played with red footballs in support of the Red Nose Day and Sport Relief, as well as organising bucket collections.   Helping those in Need   The business has a great track record in supporting  good causes  and raised half a million pounds for Red Nose Day in 2009 and over  £225,000 for  Sport Relief  this year.   Employee fundraising is encouraged at all levels.   Ryman people   The companys dynamic Chief Executive Officer, Kypros Kyprianou, says that business should be fun, as well as being about making money. Perhaps this is why the company holds conferences for employees twice a year and encourages high performance through bonus schemes.   The high level of employee satisfaction might explain the low turnover of employees within the business, something that is very unusual within the competitive retail industry.   It is the belief of Chairman  Theo Paphitis, who is the Skillsmart Retail Apprentices Champion, that happy employees provide the best possible customer service.   All store employees have to be thoroughly trained before they can serve a customer, not least because they need to be aware of legislation relating to the sale of various goods. Training is then run on an on-going basis, resulting in employees joining the companys own Five Star Training program.   In addition, the company has just set up a Retail Academy that is currently training groups of store employees who are gaining a new qualification while working and so far the feedback has been very positive all round.   Ryman is a supporter of the  retail trust  charity which offers a confidential counselling service to retail employees.   Product Range and Sourcing   Product quality is important to Ryman and the company makes sure that all suppliers comply with the code of ethical trading (The Ethical Trading Initiative Base Code) and continues to monitor these standards on a regular basis. Like all forward-thinking companies, Ryman aims to minimize its carbon emissions and has put plans in place to achieve this important aim. Marketing plan A  marketing plan  is a business document written for the purpose of describing the current market position of a business and its  marketing strategy  for the period covered by the marketing plan. Marketing plans usually have a life of from one to five years. Purpose of a Marketing Plan The purpose of creating a marketing plan is to clearly show what steps will be undertaken to achieve the business marketing objectives. While some small business owners include their marketing plan as part of their overall business plan, if a business owner follows the recommended SBA format, parts of the marketing plan will be included in the various areas of the business plan. As an alternative, the marketing plan may be attached in its entirety as an appendix to a business plan. Whats in a Marketing Plan? A typical small business marketing plan might include a description of its competitors, the demand for the product or service, and the strengths and weaknesses from a market standpoint of both the business and its competitors. Other elements usually contained in a marketing plan include: Description of the product or service, including special features Marketing budget, including the advertising and promotional plan Description of the business location, including advantages and disadvantages for marketing Pricing strategy Market segmentation (specializing in specific niche markets or, if mass marketing, how marketing strategy might differ between different segments, such as age groups). Behind the corporate objectives, which in themselves offer the main context for the marketing plan, will lie the corporate mission, which in turn provides the context for these corporate objectives. In a sales-oriented organization, the marketing planning function designs incentive pay plans to not only motivate and reward frontline staff fairly but also to align marketing activities with corporate mission. This corporate mission can be thought of as a definition of what the organization is, of what it does: Our business is. This definition should not be too narrow, or it will constrict the development of the organization; a too rigorous concentration on the view that We are in the business of making meat-scales, as IBM was during the early 1900s, might have limited its subsequent development into other areas. On the other hand, it should not be too wide or it will become meaningless; We want to make a profit is not too helpful in developing specific plans. Abell suggested that the definition should cover three dimensions: customer groups to be served, customer needs to be served, and technologies to be utilized. Thus, the definition of IBMs corporate mission in the 1940s might well have been: We are in the business of handling accounting information [customer need] for the larger US organizations [customer group] by means of punched cards  [technology]. Perhaps the most important factor in successful marketing is the corporate vision. Surprisingly, it is largely neglected by marketing textbooks, although not by the popular exponents of corporate strategy indeed, it was perhaps the main theme of the book by Peters and Waterman, in the form of their Super ordinate Goals. In Search of Excellence said: Nothing drives progress like the imagination. The idea precedes the deed.  If the organization in general, and its chief executive in particular, has a strong vision of where its future lies, then there is a good chance that the organization will achieve a strong position in its markets (and attain that future). This will be not least because its strategies will be consistent and will be supported by its staff at all levels. In this context, all of IBMs marketing activities were underpinned by its philosophy of customer service, a vision originally promoted by the charismatic Watson dynasty. The emphasis at this stage is on obtaining a complete and accurate picture. A traditional albeit product-based format for a brand reference book (or, indeed, a marketing facts book) was suggested by Godley more than three decades ago: Financial data-Facts for this section will come from  management accounting, costing and finance sections. Product data-From production, research and development. Sales and distribution data Sales, packaging, distribution sections. Advertising,  sales promotion, merchandising data Information from these departments. Market data and miscellany From  market research, who would in most cases act as a source for this information. His sources of data, however, assume the resources of a very large organization. In most organizations they would be obtained from a much smaller set of people (and not a few of them would be generated by the marketing manager alone). It is apparent that a marketing audit can be a complex process, but the aim is simple:  it is only to identify those existing (external and internal) factors which will have a significant impact on the future plans of the company.  It is clear that the  basic  material to be input to the marketing audit should be comprehensive. Accordingly, the best approach is to accumulate this material continuously, as and when it becomes available; since this avoids the otherwise heavy workload involved in collecting it as part of the regular, typically annual, planning process itself when time is usually at a premium. Even so, the first task of this  annual  process should be to check that the material held in the current  facts book  or  facts files  actually  is  comprehensive and accurate, and can form a sound basis for the marketing audit itself. The structure of the facts book will be designed to match the specific needs of the organization, but one simple format suggested by Malcolm McDonald may be applicable in many cases. This splits the material into three groups: Review of the marketing environment. A study of the organizations markets, customers, competitors and the overall economic, political, cultural and technical environment; covering developing trends, as well as the current situation. Review of the detailed marketing activity.  A study of the companys  marketing mix; in terms of the 7 Ps (see below) Review of the marketing system.  A study of the marketing organization,  marketing research  systems and the current marketing objectives and strategies. The last of these is too frequently ignored. The marketing system itself needs to be regularly questioned, because the validity of the whole marketing plan is reliant upon the accuracy of the input from this system, and `garbage in, garbage out applies with a vengeance. Portfolio planning.  In addition, the coordinated planning of the individual products and services can contribute towards the balanced portfolio. 80:20 rule.  To achieve the maximum impact, the marketing plan must be clear, concise and simple. It needs to concentrate on the 20 percent of products or services, and on the 20 percent of customers, which will account for 80 percent of the volume and 80 percent of the profit. 7 Ps: Product, Place, Price and Promotion, Physical Environment, People, Process. The 7 Ps can sometimes divert attention from the customer, but the framework they offer can be very useful in building the action plans. Financial plan A financial plan consists of sets of  financial statement  that forecast the resource implications of making business decisions. For example, a company that is deciding to expand e.g. by buying and fitting out a new factory will create a financial plan which considers the resources required and the financial performance that will justify their use. You can see from this statement that the financial plan will need to take into account sources of finance, costs of finance, costs of developing the project, as well as the revenues and likely profits to justify the expansion program.   Planning models may consist of thousands of calculations. Typically these plans will be constructed with the aid of forecasting models and spreadsheets that can calculate and recalculate figures such as profit, cash flows and balance sheets simply by changing the assumptions. For example, the business may want to do one set of calculations for low, medium, and high demand figures for its products. Financial plans Financial plans are typically made out for a given time period, e.g. one, three or five years. The length of the time considered depends on the importance of projecting into the future and the reliability of estimates the further we consider the future. Long-term plans are created for major strategic decisions made by a business such as: take over and merger activity expansion of capacity development of new products overseas expansion. In addition financial planning will be carried out for shorter time spans. For example, annual budgets will be created which can be analysed by month and by cost centre. Short term financial plans then provide targets for junior and middle management, and a measure against which actual performance can be monitored and controlled. In addition it is normal practice for a business to prepare a three- or five-year plan in less detail, which is updated annually. A  budget  is a short term financial plan. It is sometimes referred to as a plan expressed in money but it is more accurately described as a plan involving numbers. A cost centre is defined by CIMA as a production or service location, function, activity or item of equipment whose costs may be attributed to cost units. This Financial Plan template will help you to identify the: Types of labour costs to be incurred during the project Items of equipment needed to deliver the project Various materials needed by the project Unit costs for labor, equipment and materials Other costs types such as administration Amount of contingency needed You can then use the Financial Plan template to create a budget by: Calculating the total cost involved in completing the project Identifying the total cost of each project activity Creating a schedule of expenses Creating a project budget is an extremely important part in any project, as it gives you a  goal post  to aim for. This Financial Plan will help you meet that goal post, by giving you a clear process and template for creating a budget for your project. http://www.myrightplan.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Financial-planning-process.jpg