The High Cost of Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The High Cost of Education - Essay Example As the report highlights  the cost of college education in America has over years increasingly gone too high. High tuition fee charges in colleges is now proving to be the biggest problem facing college students, parents and sponsors. In this hard economic time, students and parents are now struggling a lot sourcing for funds to meet this high cost of tuition fee. This has ranged from sourcing school loans from banks and including selling of property assets to fund education.   This trend has negatively impacted on the concerned parties to an extent where students have almost lost hope for a better future. One very strong negative impact that has so far been noticed is the discouragement it has had on the students undertaking various courses in various universities. It is quite clear from studies conducted by this team that on completion of college education individuals who graduate hardly get well-paying jobs that match the cost incurred while in college.  From this discussion it is clear that  a greater percentage of the little money earned from these jobs end up being used to repay the loans that were borrowed during school days leaving a minimal percentage for investment. This therefore renders a larger population of the newly employed and young hustling for their entire life. From these insights it is therefore paramount to consider the cry of the large young population and consider a thorough review of the entire fee payment systems in colleges with intent of lowering its cost for the benefit of the future generation.

Ethical Decision Making Essay Example for Free

Ethical Decision Making Essay Abstract Ethics is the branch of philosophy that examines questions of morality, or right and wrong. In this paper we will discuss the philosophical approaches used in ethical decision making. The two approaches that will be elaborated on are the utilitarian approach and the universal approach. Several questions will be addressed, (1) what is the utilitarian and universal approach? (2) How do we use them in the ethical decision making process and (3) examples of how it relate in the field of Criminal Justice? When conflict arises it’s not always possible to decide who is right or wrong; however our moral responsibility is to resolve problems to the best of our ability. The utilitarian and universal theories are two of several philosophical approaches or methods that can be implemented when making these types of decisions (Zalta Geoff, 2008). The Utilitarian Approach: Utilitarianism is one of the most powerful and persuasive approaches to normative ethics in the history of philosophy. The utilitarian approach to ethical decision making focuses on taking the action that will result in the greatest good for the greatest number of people. It also focuses on the consequences of the course of action and policy, as well as the affects it has on the well-being of the people directly or indirectly impacted by that action or policy. This approach is used to promote the welfare of everybody by maximizing benefits and minimizing harm (Zalta Geoff, 2008). For instance, when faced with a situation your first thought or question is what should you do? Once you assess the situation then you would apply which ethical decision is the best action to take. If you implement the utilitarian approach you did so with the intent of producing the greatest balance over harm. Utilitarianism offers a relatively straightforward method for deciding the morally right course of action for any particular situation we may find ourselves in. In the criminal justice field this approach can be widely used. To discover what we ought to do in any situation, we first identify the various courses of action that we could perform. Second, we determine all of the foreseeable benefits and harms that would result from each course of action for everyone affected by the action. And third, we choose the course of action that provides the greatest benefits after the costs have been taken into account (Velasquez, Claire, Shanks, S.J). The Universal Approach: The universal approach to ethical decision making is similar to the Golden Rule. The golden rule is best interpreted as â€Å"Treat others as you want to be treated†. Universalism argues that knowledge can and should be applied to everyone in every similar situation (Williams Arrigo, 2008). This approach can be taken in two steps. First, determine whether or not a particular action should be applied to all people under all circumstances. Second, decide if you would be willing to have that same rule to you. This approach claims that ethical principles hold for all and not for some, it is for everybody without exception (Williams Arrigo, 2008). In other words if you act a certain way towards another and are not willing to be treated in that same regard than you are in violation of the universal rule. To apply the universal approach correctly we need to take into consideration the effects our decision making have on other people’s lives. We also have to be able to imagine ourselves in the other person’s shoes on the receiving end of the action. Imagine you are a police officer in pursuit of what seems to be a drunk driver, while in pursuit the drunk driver hits a pregnant woman crossing the street. What do you do, do you stop for her and leave a drunk driver on the road, or do you call the accident in and continue to pursue the drunk driver to keep him from potentially killing himself and others. The utilitarian approach would more likely call for back up and continue after the drunk driver, but if we use this same example and compare it to the universal approach, the question then becomes what would you want done to you. Both philosophical approaches are infused with flaws, the use of â€Å"utilitarian† thinking is not always clear of what form of action should be taken or if the action you took will have a favorable outcome for the majority. It is difficult to judge what decision will supply the best way to respond to a situation. The universal approach unlike the utilitarian bases its decisions on the facts that the action taken is best for everyone regardless of the situation or the difference in people. My choice between the two is somewhat tossed, because my belief is that you should do unto other as you would want done to you, but at the same time my desire to ensure the greatest number of success is important to me as well. Within the Judicial system decisions are made with or without the input of others; however it is our moral obligation to ensure that we make the best ethical decisions that we can, because every decision somehow directly or indirectly affects someone else. References Velasquez, M., Claire, A., Shanks, M. M., S.J. (n.d.). Markula Center for Applied Ethics. Retrieved from Santa Clara University: http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/thinking.html Williams, C. R., Arrigo, B. A. (2008). Is Morality Relative? The variability of Norms and Values. In C. R. Williams, B. A. Arrigo, Ethics, Crime and Criminal Justice (p. 77). Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall. Zalta, E. N., Geoff, S.-M. (2008). The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosphy : http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/metaethics/

Explanation Of Choice Of Competitors

Explanation Of Choice Of Competitors The report is regarding Velour which is a Swedish fashion company in the upper medium price segment. The company has existed for 9 years and has succeeded to sustain and also expand on the Swedish market throughout the years. We as a consulting group have focused on Velours womens wear collection. Under a 6 week period we have been investigating how the fashion company Velour is operating. We have looked into the main competitors to the brand which we defined as Acne and Whyred. These are also Swedish companies which have the same target audience group as Velour; young women. The companies are also using the same kind of style in their design in womens wear and are strongly involved in the artistic sphere. The report describes Velours strategy of purchase, assortment and their different use of sales channels. The competitive brands are presented in the same way to create a coherent impression for the reader. The purpose of this report was to develop different parts within the company to be able to achieve its growth in the Swedish market. The improvements of Velours strategies are presented in the end of this thesis. A budget and time plan is also presented in the report. Table of contents 1.Introduction We have chosen Velour which is a brand based in Gothenburg. We were able to get in contact with Ann-Sophie and Hanna who are working with the brand and are also the persons who provided us with information about the company. We consider the brand to be interesting since it is a rather small clothing brand with clothes that attract us and we saw opportunities to develop brand strategies. The brand is still small but we think that Velour has capabilities to become an even stronger brand than it currently is on the Swedish market for womens clothing. We consider the design to be timeless and stylish which can be interesting for a lot of women in the Swedish market. Assignment We are acting as a consultant group with the purpose of developing new strategies for the brand Velour. This is made to be able to increase the sales volume and to increase the awareness of the brand. Method To be able to develop these strategies for Velour we have been in contact with employees of the company and also with employees of the competitors. We have also been visiting the stores and done researches on the Internet to increase our knowledge of the brands. Delimitations We are only focusing on womens wear on the Swedish market. Therefore other collection lines from the brand will not be mentioned in this report, neither will international markets. 2. Industry definition The industry contains of companies that are in the wholesale segment acting as product developing brand suppliers; that means that they are working with product development, design, marketing, purchasing and producing womens wear with a creative twist within the upper medium priced segment on the Swedish market. 3. Industry description Below description of the industry will be presented. Choice of competitors and an explanation of the five force model can also be found. 3.1 General description The fashion industry within textile is one of the most globalized sectors, this due to the great amount of employment opportunities the industry provides. The industry of fashion constantly changes and as a company in this industry one always has to pay attention and be first to deliver the latest trends. What is the latest today is not the latest tomorrow. There are constantly new competitors to the industry and to survive one really has to have a strong business idea and be clear about the message of the companys brand. http://www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/sector/themes/crisis/textil.pdf The Swedish fashion market contains mostly of small to medium sized companies. The Swedish fashion market is of high importance for Swedish trade and today around 300 000 people work within the Swedish fashion industry and this is approximately 5 percent of the Swedish GDP. Many of the Swedish brands have succeeded on an international level. Velour is one of them and is followed by HOPE, Filippa K, Anna Holtblad, Whyred and many other fashion brands. http://www.sweden.gov.se/sb/d/9622/a/96709 Velour is categorized to be an upper medium price brand on the Swedish market. The industry Velour belongs to, has a target group of young women to middle age women in Sweden. The woman is someone who is aware of her approach and has a rather large interest in fashion. However she is not a fashion slave since she does not follow all current trends, instead she creates her own style by combining different pieces. The woman in Sweden is a person who is down to earth and is conscious about society and environmental issues (M. Solomon and N. Rabolt, 2009). In the industry Velour belongs to, collections consist of quite plain designed clothes with a creative twist that very simply create recognition about the brand. Brands in this industry have a collection that fits in a base wardrobe with tops, dresses and chinos. Statistics kring turnover industry- mailat svensk handel 3.2 Explanation of choice of competitors Through the description of the brand and the description of the customer we can say that the competitors of Velour on the Swedish market for women swear are Acne and Whyred. We choose to select Acne and Whyred as competitors of Velour on the Swedish market for women swear through issues of price, presence in the country, style and interest in arts. To begin with Acne it is a young Swedish fashion brand which was founded in 1996. Acne represents the Swedish style for women from 18 to 45 years old and is the typical brand of style without efforts. We see Acne to have the same target group as Velour and to also have the interest in arts just like Velour but more interested in graphics and design. Acne has a Swedish style of clarity, fluidity and urban design and considering the price Velour and Acne are in the same price range. Our other competitor Whyred which was founded in 1999 also has interest in arts, especially in music. Whyred ´s clothes are classic, with a modern twist which give them this artsy touch that inspires Whyred designers. Considering the price Whyred and Velour is in the same range. Whyred as the other two companies have a Swedish styl e in their design. When looking at the three companies we can see that they all three have the same target group. 3.3 Five force model To understand the industry of Velour within the fashion industry we have been using the model of Porters five forces. The model is used to understand the structure and profitability within an industry. Porter states that the underlying economic structure is a factor that plays a great role of a companys strength to be competitive. The company analyzes Industry competitors, Potential establishers, suppliers, customers, substitutes. The five fundamentals in this model establish the strength for each force (Hollensen, S 2007). 3.3.1 Industry competitors Strong competitors on the Swedish market to Velour are Acne and Whyred. Both this companies are Swedish and have a Swedish background. When looking at Acne and Whyred one can see that they have quite the same target group within the women collection. Both Acne and Whyred have similar design of their collection as Velour and they all three is categorized within the middle price brand. You can find the collections near each other in the same town in Sweden. Other competitors on the Swedish market are brands like Filippa K, Carin Rodebjer, Carin Wester and Hope. 3.3.2 Potential establishers Both existing and potential companies in an industry can affect the profitability of the industry. As we already have mention the fashion industry constantly changes and the level of new players is also in constantly movement. The fashion industry has a high level of new entrants and the competition for Velour we see as quite tough. This due to new designers that more easily enter as an middle price brand than in comparison as an high price or luxury price brand. Some French brands like Sandro, Claudie Pierlot, Comptoir des Cotonniers and Maje are today not on the Swedish market but we see these brands to have the potential to become competitors on the Swedish market. They could compete with Velour if they were entering the Swedish Market. They are powerful French companies focusing on women, targeting the same group of people and really involved in arts. The price range is the same and they could offer a wider group of products, where customers could find anything: from shoes, via c oats, to evening dresses. 3.3.3 Suppliers Within the fashion industry the supply chain is of high importance. Merchandise trade in the fashion industry plays a very central role and the suppliers have to take action very fast. The bargaining power is high for the supplier of fashion companies and this due to the fact that they mostly have the control of the production. Some fashion companies own big parts of the suppliers themselves and this result in more control for the fashion companies. The most comment is that the fashion companies outsource some parts of the value chain to another company. Velour has manufacturers of fabrics, trimmings and garments. Velour design within the company and own their designers. The production and distribution is outsourced to other companies and today the company has dependency on single suppliers. 3.3.4 Customers We have been focusing on the companies bargaining power due to the suppliers within the industry. In the industry of fashion the buyers have a restrained power to effect to their benefits, this because there is a great amount of small buyers and retailers in this industry. Velour is selling to retailers who are selling to the end-consumers. Velour is also acting as an integrated retailer since they have their own stores. 3.3.5 Substitutes Substitutes can affect the attractiveness of the industry and also influence the profitability within the industry. A substitute in an industry depends on buyers willingness to substitutes but also of the cost performance of the substitutes. The risk of substitutes in this industry is very high and this because of the great amount of designer cloths and fashion houses. Another factor that influence is high threats between substitutes is the generic substitutes that mostly very easily enter the fashion industry. This with help from the already existing well know name that help the generic substitutes to be introduced on the market. We see luxury brands to be a substitute for Velour and this because the luxury brands offer high fashion products and also the absolutely latest trends to wear. Secondhand are also within this category and this because like Velour, secondhand products offer uniqueness and inspiration to create a style of your own. The option of tailor made fashion we also s ee as a substitute and this since customers today are more aware than ever to have perfect fitted clothes. It becomes more and more usual to travel abroad and in many countries you can get your tailor made items at a very reasonable price. We think this option is going to increase and the prices should decrease if the demand for tailor made clothes gets higher. We also place made to measure and swopping with colleagues as substitutes for Velour. Suppliers Manufacturers of fabric, trimmings and garment Substitutes Secondhand, luxury brands, tailor made, made to measure, swopping with colleagues Buyers Retailers + Velour is acting as an integrated retailer Potential establishers Maje, Comptoir des Cotonniers, Sandro, Claude Pierlot, Industry Rivalry Velour ACNE, Whyred, Filippa K, Hope, Carin Wester 4. Commissioned company description and analysis 4.1 General description The Velour brand was created by Per Andersson and Johan Lundell. The idea for the brand was created through the store Nostalgi which they operated in Gothenburg. The store was opened in 1997 and the idea was to sell never worn clothes from the 1940s and 1980s. The shop found success and became popular amongst the independent scene in Sweden and design and music people found the store interesting. Per and Johan started to design t-shirts during 2001 and the Velour label was created. A third person joined the team at this time, Andreas Remling who had knowledge in finances and could handle the brands economics. http://www.va.se/nyheter/2007/01/19/bakom-kulisserna-pa-svensk/ Mattias Lind also joined the brand but left the company and started his own brand Julian red in 2003. Today the company has got 14 employees working with the brand. At first only a few basic casual clothes were designed but this soon developed into whole collections of garment. The first real collection of the brand was launched in 2001 and could be found at the Nostalgi store. In the year of 2005 a woman named Titti Andersson was hired for the design of the womens collection. http://www.alltomstockholm.se/shoppingmode/article29059.aos The company has had several different designers working with the brand during their years in the business, one of them is Karl-Wilhelm Bjà ¶rk who previously worked with Vivienne Westwood. http://www.kingmagazine.se/Markeslistning/?designer=17771 The core values of the brand are tailoring, graphic and casual. Perfect fit and focus on beautiful details should create the opportunity for the person who wears the clothes to be able to create its own style by combining pieces from the brand. The overall design concept of Velour springs out of a classic preppy look with traditional garments redesigned in a new stylish, yet effortless, way. We call this Feelgood Preppy. [1] The clothes are for people who are interested in fashion but not follow all trends that are present, Velour is for the people who wants to create their own unique style. The colors used in the different collections are mellow with colorful accents. The brand is present in 100 stores spread through Europe countries such as Holland, Belgium, France, Germany, United Kingdom but its largest market is still in Scandinavia. Velour can also be found overseas in Canada, Australia, the United States and in Japan. The target group of the brand is people between 20-35 years. http://feed.ne.cision.com/wpyfs/00/00/00/00/00/0D/6A/CE/wkr0010.pdf The Velour creator Johan Lundell is no longer working with the brand and neither is Andreas Remling, however, Per Andersson has continued his work at Velour and is the head designer for the mens collection. He is at this point alone running the brand management for Velour. The turnover for Velour in 2009 was 19,807 million SEK. In 2008 the turnover was 13, 302 million SEK which was a small growth from the year before. http://www.foretagsfakta.se/G%C3%B6teborg/Velour_By_Nostalgi_AB/989686 Velour has used creative ideas in their marketing. For example in 2006 Velour held a fashion show in a tunnel in Stockholm. They got permission to block off this area and do this project. http://www.foretagsfakta.se/G%C3%B6teborg/Velour_By_Nostalgi_AB/989686 According to Velour people in the music business are dedicated to the brand and find it interesting. Velour is a brand which is inspired by the music branch and they mean that their design is following that lifestyle. http://feed.ne.cision.com/wpyfs/00/00/00/00/00/0D/6A/CE/wkr0010.pdf http://www.businessregion.se/download/18.8afae6210a70372e0c8000236/Business1-06_klar_pdf.pdf According to Velour they have a competitive advantage of being situated in Gothenburg. According to Andreas Remling their main competitors are located in Stockholm and this can result in that the brands from the same city become coherent in their design, they are inspired by each other and the uniqueness can fade. Another positive thing about Gothenburg is the good solutions for logistics and the existence of good suppliers. http://www.businessregion.se/download/18.8afae6210a70372e0c8000236/Business1-06_klar_pdf.pdf 4.2 Value chain 4.3 Brand promise Velours nerve springs out of their history, eclectic inspiration and their values. Velour is offering a perfect fit and beautiful details, leaving it up to the wearer to create his or her own individual style, offering key pieces or a whole wardrobe. Beautiful details Create an individual style Perfect fit To claim to be offering a perfect fit is crucial according to us. Everybody is different and do probably not fit perfectly in Velours clothes. Velour means that they are leaving it to the wearer of the clothes to create their own unique style which we think is correct. The customer is as mentioned above in the report aware of her appearance and approach and is combining different pieces to create her own individual style. They depend on the customer to be able to do this on her own which we think is the case. 4.4 Current Strategy In this part we will explain how Velour works with its purchase strategy and explain lead times within the company. The different lead times are regarding the different activities from idea to finished product and the time to perform the different activities. For Velour from the first day the inspiration starts to the day that the products is out in the stores it takes around 12 months. If Velour starts in August on a new collection the sales samples are done in December. The company uses different manufactures and the samples are sent to manufactures abroad and the manufacturers are choosing matching suppliers to Velour. Below the process will be explained more detailed. 4.4.1 Purchase strategy Velour gets a lot of inspiration from the city Gothenburg where the brand also was founded. The studio of Velour is located in the long streets in the Linnà © district in Gothenburg and this street represents a classic mixed- use variety. They all share the same precious urban oxygen and here you can find galleries, recording labs, artist studios, coffee shops and sex shop all in the same street. This gives a feeling of uniqueness to the design and the brand of Velour. The preppy classic look is the overall design concept for the company. The designers make new collection in an effortless, new stylish way with traditional garments. The Swedish west coast also influences the designers mind when it comes to creating the right style of Velour ´s collection. When the inspiration and the design are finished, Velour picks sober colors to use in the collections and this with colorful touch. The choices of the colors are often grey, black or marine blue. The prints and patterns that are u sed together with the colors are gently created where every image, square and pigment has its place. (www.velour.se ) The inspiration together with product development and the ready sales sample takes for Velour 4 month. (Interview with Velour) The company does not have any production of its own; instead the production is handled by manufacturers abroad in countries like India, China, Portugal and Tunisia. The lead time at the manufacturers is around 3 months. Velour ´s manufactures are always working with different suppliers and this to be able to find suppliers that can produce Velour ´s needs to the price the company is able to pay. The amount of different supplier varies from season to season, usually 20-25 different suppliers are used each season. (Interview with Velour) Velour is using the full price purchase which means that the product development manufacturer place a purchase order to the producers of finished products. Then it is up to the producer to (according to the description of the purchase order) to do the purchase of the different garments and trimmings. Then the producer send Velour a full price suggestion which consists of a total price to produce the products ( Interview with Velour).This way of work can also be called purchase of ready-made garment (RMG) (Hedà ©n, McAndrew, 2005) The transportation is at all times made through shipping by boat and Velour always has the FOB (Free on board) agreement. When a company has the FOB agreement, the company takes the risk of the goods when the goods have been shipped and are placed on the pier. The transportation from the factories to Sweden takes around 3 months. From April to July Velour have sell-in to their different retailers and for Velour this has a show room in Stockholm were they show all new collections to the retailer. Under this period the product also is placed in stock and Velour has their warehouse in Borà ¥s. When the time is ready for the collection to be out in stores all products are sent from the warehouse in Borà ¥s to all the retailers within the Swedish market and to the single store in Gothenburg. The company has no written code of conduct and does not follow any initiative but examines their businesses as well as they can. Velour tries to be as ethical and critical as possible regarding the process of making the clothes. In environmental aspects the clothes that are made in cotton are all made by ecological cotton. 4.4.2 Assortment strategy Velour uses different types of fabrics; the company describes them as traditional. Fabrics they use repeatedly are wool, nylon, lining, acetate, cotton, elastane, lambswool, polyester, polycrepe, acrylic, mohair and ramie. The cotton that is used in the garment making is ecological. The sizes of the womens collections are divided into 4 steps; XS, S, M and L. Two collections are launched each year and these are called spring and autumn. The product groups that Velour offers are visible below. This is based on the womens autumn collection 2010. The assortment in each product group are not the same in every collection, that is why for example no shoes are present in the womens autumn collection 2010. The product groups stay the same, but the number of products in each category varies from the different collections. 4.4.3 Sales channel strategy Velour has only got one store of its own. This store is situated in Gothenburg at Magasinsgatan 19. The brand Velour was founded in 2001 and at this point the brand was sold through the store Nostalgi which was operated by the founders of the brand. However, this store does no longer exist and has been replaced by the one on Magasinsgatan. Velour is mainly sold through retail stores and department stores where the brand is presented amongst other clothing brands. Velour is also sold through their own online store which can be found at the companies website. The reason for using this kind of sales channel strategy is because of the fact that it is requires a high financially capacity to own its own stores. Through shop-in-shops which are currently used, the brand is represented in a lot of location but at a smaller amount of costs. 4.5 Future goals In 2006 the goal was, within a ten year period, to be one of the top fashion brands within Scandinavia. http://www.businessregion.se/download/18.8afae6210a70372e0c8000236/Business1-06_klar_pdf.pdf 5. Brief competitor description and analysis for 2 competitors Below the first chosen competitor, Acne will be described. 5.1 General description of Acne Acne was founded in 1996 and the first collection of Acne clothes was launched in 1998. The company was founded by Jonny Johansson who did not have any background in design before starting the brand. The brand has been a success in Sweden and currently a well known brand among young people which are interested in fashion. Acne studios have an advertising agency, art gallery, furniture collection, magazine. (Acne Official Website) Today the Acne studio represents 5 brands (Acne Paper, Acne Advertising, Acne Art Department, Acne JR and Acne Fashion and Denim) with 200 employees and has approximately an annual turnover of 38 millions Euros. (Georgina Safe, 2010) . The company also enjoy the involvement of a Capital-Risk firm: ÃÆ'-resund, which opens Acne to a wide range of possibilities in term of development and investments. When it comes to self expression Acne sees fashion to be the best way of have that (Acne Official Website). The style is typical Scandinavian, with simple lines, without abundance of colours: The style is simplistic but in the same time Acne clothes can be identified to be cool and personal. They are creating an image, not only a clothing brand. They are building a Lifestyle brand through desirable products. They also created an identity through their jeans with the famous red stitching. This identity is the result of Jonny Johanssons will of a garment that makes you feel stronger and more self confident. The brand is known of the denim jeans but the company dont want to be a denim brand, instead they wanted to offer ready to wear where the denim is included as a product. According Jonny Johansson they did not wanted to categorize themselves (Nina Jones, 2009). When Acne opens a new shop they dont think in the way of where they need to be located, instead they use the strategy of where they want to set up new stores. They are based the store locations on friendship and people who really want to have the brand located in that particular area. Acne doesnt believe in the strategy to put stores everywhere just to cover the map. In terms of strategy they also have an attitude of branding by doing,not advertising(JC Marcus, 2010, [1]). Acne adopted a code of conduct; they joined the Fair Trade Foundation. Acne is in accordance with their value and this new value of the fashion industry: labour practices and conditions have to be taken in account to preserve social matters of the value chain. There are also two types of production, one for their own stores and the other for all the other retailers and franchises. This difference of production shortens or lengthens the lead-time. 5.2 Value chain Acne buys material and produces in factories in Italy, Portugal, Hong Kong and Turkey. All of the production is outsourced. They act in the textile value chain in the wholesale segment as product developing brand suppliers which means that they concentrate on design, purchase, marketing and distribution. Concentrating on distribution, Acne is present in the retail segment in several levels: as a retail branch company (they own 4 stores in Sweden), as integrated wholesalers through Corner in department stores for example, in the Internet through their website on which one can shop online and through outlets with two outlets in Sweden, one in Gothenburg and one in Stockholm and also the web outlet. 5.3 Brand promise; Create novel expression Current strategy We have to precise first that Acne does not have a proper strategy that leads the brand. The team does what is necessary to both realising Acnes envies and to satisfying customers. If once they have to change their own strategy, theyd do it. In fact, the brand is lead by its Brand Promise, its Values and Vision. 5.4 Purchase strategy Acne buys material from Italy, Portugal, HK and Turkey. These counties they also have al the production placed (S.Jà ¶nnson L.Lagerdahl, 2005).In the factories Acne has divided two groups: production for their own stores, and production for the other retailers. They have through this organisation different lead-times between inspiration and arrivals of the clothes on the shelves. Inspiration to garments in the stores takes approximately 10 months year since we first do a sell collection to our WH clients, then we need to wait for their sales figures before we place the production orders. If we do garments only for our stores it takes 4-6 months(Therese Munthe, Acne Chief of Production ) 5.5 Assortment Strategy The assortment strategy comes from a great group work. Jonny Johansson said that in Sweden he was used to work in groups and for him it is the only way to succeed. The brand produces two collections a year: Autumn/Winter, Spring/Summer. The collections do not have so many articles and are made on an arithmetic scale, 15 pieces for each product group (11). 5.6 Sales Channel Strategy In Sweden Acne develops itself through its 4 own stores situated in Gothenburg and Stockholm, they also own a corner in Ã…lhà ©ns and an Outlet Store in Stockholm. They also sell through department stores and via the Internet. Acne choose to work through this way to be able to control the image they have of their brand, they can choose the department stores they want to work with and with their own shops and the Internet they have a total image control of the brand. Moreover, they spotted a trend with the Outlets thanks to which they can sell what was left from the previous collections. 5.7 Future goals New collaborations. Bags/ Underwear 6. Brief competitor description and analysis for 2 competitors Below the second chosen competitor, Whyred will be described. 6.1 General description of Whyred Whyred is a Swedish fashion brand which is founded by three ex-employees of H&M; Roland Hjort, Lena Patriksson Keller and Jonas Clason, in 1999. The story began with a Mens collection in 1999 and one year later the first Womens collection was in the shelves. The brand is positioned in the middle high price segment, with a turnover of 45 million SEK in (2006/2007) and 75 million SEK in (2007/2008) the brand is really growing, touching new customers. The first own shop is opened in 2001 in Stockholm, they have in 2010, 4 stores in the main Swedish cities. In 2005 they launched the shoe production line and also they set up the online outlet stores in 2007. The interesting part is that Whyred has labeled the products with Stockholm instead of Sweden, because Stockholm shows the country of origin (Sweden) and it is known as a beautiful city (Knudsen Lind 2007). The name of the brand comes from a radio interview with Roland Hjorts grandfather who was a famous Swedish artist. In that interview he was asked, What is your favorite colour? He replied: Red and the interviewer asked immediately Why red, he quipped Well, blue then. (A.K Sari, 2010) The strong inspiration of Whyred has been from the iconic style of the 1960s to give to the consumer the possibility of a Clean Living under Difficult Circumstances, inspired from THE WHOs manager Pete Meaden(Whyred Official Website). Whyred is strongly involved into the arts (especially in Cinema and Music) since the primary steps, they have project through collaborations. For instance, for their fourth art project, the short movie La Vitesse Et La Pierre is directed by Igor Zimmermann and the music is composed by Yourhighness which unveiling will happen on November 2010 in Sweden (Whyred Official Website). Moreover, they are pursuing the pull strategy by publishing the pictures of well-known people who dressed Whyred garments in the magazines or the newspapers (Knudsen Lind 2007). The brand is following simplicity by considering postmodern aesthetics, giving aesthetic awareness and making new expressions for their customers. They have ambition to make a brand as a leading European premium fashion brand (A.K Sari, 2010). 6.2 Value chain 6.3 Brand promise 6.4 Current strategy 6.4.1 Purchase strategy 6.4.2 Assortment strategy Whyred has set up its production to tow collection per year f

Methods of Business Research Essay -- Business and Management Studies

Methods of Business Research According to the American Marketing Association, marketing research is the systematic gathering, recording, and analyzing of data about problems relating to the marketing of goods and services. Marketing research is not a perfect science. It deals with people and their constantly changing feelings and behaviors, which are influenced by countless subjective factors. To conduct marketing research you must gather facts and opinions in an orderly, objective way to find out what people want to buy, not just what you want to sell them. It is impossible to sell products or services that customers do not want. Learning what customers want, and how to present it attractively, drives the need for marketing research. Small business has an edge over larger concerns in this regard. Large businesses must hire experts to study the mass market, while small-scale entrepreneurs are close to their customers and can learn much more quickly about their buying habits. Small business owners have a sense their customers' needs from years of experience, but this informal information may not be timely or relevant to the current market. Marketing research focuses and organizes marketing information. It ensures that such information is timely and permits entrepreneurs to reduce business risks, Spot current and upcoming problems in the current market, identify sales opportunities and develop plans of action. Business research is essential because it involves statistical information about the external and internal environment of the company. This information is required while planning strategically, setting objectives and determining the competitive advantage of the company or the product. Studies based on morale, employee opinions, absenteeism and the management of people provide valuable insights into the prevailing conditions of employee management relations and tend to strengthen and improve levels of productivity and growth by fostering efficiency and effectiveness as well as competitiveness. Research on financial matters can guide the company with respect to financial issues and problems as well as opportunities. This research can lead to financial prosperity. While research is used widely to study markets and their opportunities, research is also used to study the company’s production and marketing operations. ... ...text of marketing plans. Since the business has to carry out strategic planning with reference to a company and its functions a separate specialized R&D department should be made. The reason is that research provides information on the external and internal environments of the company, on the development of a competitive edge, goals and performance measuring controls. The information collected may not be interpreted in the same way, which may lead to chaos and confusion and accurate and appropriate decisions may not be made. An un-integrated department for R&D would mean the employment of research specialists who have the expertise to collect accurate information, provide information about different opportunities and interpret it accurately. Researchers need to be well equipped with data collection, measurement and analysis tools to make the best possible use of the information gathered. There fore, in larger businesses, it is almost essential for company to have a separate well equipped research department to deal with large amounts of data in an effective manner in order to maintain the focus of strategic development on the different functions of the organizaiton

Organizational Culture: the Case of Turkish Construction Industry Essay

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/0969-9988.htm Organizational culture: the case of Turkish construction industry Ela Oney-YazÄ ±cÄ ±, Heyecan Giritli, Gulfer Topcu-Oraz and Emrah Acar Department of Architecture, Division of Project and Construction Management, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey Abstract Purpose – The main stimulus of this study is to examine the cultural proï ¬ le of construction organizations within the context of Turkish construction industry. Design/methodology/approach – This study is a part of a cross-cultural research, initiated by CIB W112 (Working Commission W112 of the International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction), concurrently ongoing in 15 different countries. Data were collected from 107 contracting and 27 architectural ï ¬ rms, by means of a questionnaire based on OCAI (Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument), a well-known and widely used measurement tool developed by Cameron and Quinn (1999). Findings – The ï ¬ ndings show that the Turkish construction industry has been dominated by ï ¬ rms with a mixture of clan and hierarchy cultures. In addition, the analysis reported here indicates cultural differences at organizational level in terms of ï ¬ rm type, size, and age. Originality/value – This paper contributes to the understanding of organizational culture in the construction industry by providing empirical evidence from the Turkish construction industry. As future research direction, it highlights the need of a cross-cultural comparison among different countries, and an investigation of the effects of cultural proï ¬ les of the organizational members on organizational culture. Keywords Organizational culture, Construction industry, Turkey Paper type Research paper Turkish construction industry 519 Introduction Understanding of organizational culture is fundamental to examine what goes on in organizations, how to run them and how to improve them (Schein, 1992). Organizational culture is deï ¬ ned as the shared assumptions, beliefs and â€Å"normal behaviors† (norms) present in an  organization. Most organizational scholars and observers recognize that organizational culture has a powerful effect on the performance and long-term effectiveness of organizations. Cameron and Quinn (1999) propose that what differentiates successful ï ¬ rms from others is their organizational culture. With the worldwide globalization trends, special attention has been given to the study of organizations and their cultures. Empirical studies of organizational culture have been carried out across various countries and industries (Hofstede, 1997; Trompenaars and Hampton-Turner, 1998; Cameron and Quinn, 1999; see among others). In comparison there seems to be a limited number of published studies related The funding for this study was provided by the Istanbul Technical University, Turkey and is gratefully acknowledged. After reviewing research on organizational culture, Ankrah and Langford (2005) have concluded that there is a need to become more aware of the importance of this phenomenon and its impact on organizational performance in the construction industry. The main reasons for the growing importance of the organizational culture can be explained by the internationalization of the construction markets (Low and Shi, 2001), and the fragmented nature of the industry (Hillebrant, 2000). It is a well-known fact that international construction ï ¬ rms have faced many problems due to conï ¬â€šicts, confrontations, misunderstandings, and the differences in ways of doing business with other cultures (Gould and Joyce, 2000). On the other hand, the adversarial relations between different project participants are assumed to be inï ¬â€šuenced by the cultural orientations of the stakeholders (Phua and Rowlinson, 2003). Thus, the study of cultural issues should be addressed when considering the globalization of construction markets. Additionally, it is a common belief that organizations that have developed within similar environments usually have similar cultures and related mindsets with regard to ways of doing business. For this reason, the research reported in this paper, aims to contribute to an understanding of organizational culture in the construction industry using data from a developing country, such as Turkey, where there is no study in this ï ¬ eld. Findings of the study may also have implications for other cultures with a similar make-up. Background study Despite different deï ¬ nitions of organizational culture, there is a consensus among organizational researchers that it refers to the shared meanings or assumptions, beliefs and understandings held by a group. More comprehensively, Schein (1992) deï ¬ ned organizational culture as: [. . .] a pattern of shared basic assumptions that the group learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration that has worked well enough to be considered valid and therefore to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think and feel in relation to those problems.  ´ Similarly, Deshpande and Webster (1989, p. 4) proposed that organizational culture is: [. . .] the pattern of shared values and beliefs that help individuals understand organizational functioning and thus provide them with norms for behaviors in the organization. There is an extensive body of knowledge in the literature that deals with organizational culture. Many researchers have proposed a variety of dimensions and attributes of organizational culture. Among them, Hofstede has been very inï ¬â€šuential in studies of organizational culture. Drawing on a large sample of 116,000 employees of IBM in 72 countries, Hofstede identiï ¬ ed four dimensions of culture. These four dimensions used to differentiate between cultures are: power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity/femininity and individualism/collectivism. Beyond these, Hofstede (1997) also identiï ¬ ed the process/results oriented, employee/job oriented, parochial/professional, open/closed system, loose/tight control and normative/pragmatic dimensions of culture. These dimensions have been commonly adapted and applied in studies of organizational culture  (Sà ¸dergaard, 1996). Other comprehensive studies into organizational culture have been carried out, notably by Trompenaars and Hampton-Turner (1993), who conducted an extensive research into the attitudes of 15,000 managers over a ten-year period in 28 different countries. They proposed ï ¬ ve cultural dimensions: (1) universalism/particularism; (2) collectivism/individualism; (3) neutral/affective relationships; (4) diffuse/speciï ¬ c relationships; and (5) achievement/ascription. When dealing with a multitude of dimensions, typologies are usually considered as an alternative to provide a simpliï ¬ ed means of assessing cultures. In this regard, typologies are commonly used in the studies of organizational culture. Notable contributors to these typologies include Handy (1993, 1995) who identiï ¬ ed the club, role, task and person typologies, and Quinn (1988) who identiï ¬ ed the market, hierarchy, adhocracy and clan typologies of culture. Since the culture is regarded as a crucial factor in the long-term effectiveness of organizations, it becomes important to be able to measure organizational culture. Accordingly, a range of tools designed to measure organizational culture have been developed and applied in industrial, educational, and health care settings over the last two decades. All these tools examine employee perceptions and opinions about their working environment (the so-called â€Å"climate† of an organization) but only a few, such as the Competing Values Framework and the Organizational Culture Inventory (OCI), try to examine the values and beliefs that inform those views (Scott et al., 2003). The majority of the existing studies in the Construction Management ï ¬ eld mostly attempt to appropriate the theoretical models and measurement tools of the management literature. For instance, Maloney and Federle (1991, 1993) introduced the competing values framework for analyzing the cultural elements in American engineering and construction organizations. Focusing on the relationship between the organizational culture and effectiveness, Zhang and Liu (2006) examined the organizational culture proï ¬ les of construction enterprises in China by means of OCI and Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI), the measurement tool of the Competing Values Framework developed by Cameron and Quinn (1999). Rowlinson (2001), using Handy’s organizational culture and Hofstede’s national culture frameworks, investigated the cultural aspects of  organizational change in the construction industry. Ankrah and Langford (2005) proposed a new measurement tool after analyzing all cultural dimensions and typologies developed in the literature and highlighted the cultural variability between organizations in the project coalition. Literature review shows that despite the growing importance of organizational culture in construction research, there are few cross-cultural, empirical studies. This may be due to the difï ¬ culties of conducting research in several countries. The study reported in this paper forms a part of a cross-cultural research, initiated by CIB W112 on â€Å"Culture in Construction†, concurrently ongoing in 15 different countries. The aim of the research project is to develop an international â€Å"Inventory of Culture in Construction†. It continues to stimulate new participants from Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and America. Research methodology Measurement of culture represents difï ¬ culties, particularly in respect of the identiï ¬ cation of cultural groups and boundaries. This is further complicated by the nature of the construction industry in which projects are temporary and participants are subject to the values and beliefs of their employing organization, professional groups and project organizations. There is an ongoing debate concerning the study of culture among construction management scholars. However, it is beyond the scope of this paper to discuss the methodological aspects of studying culture in the construction industry. In order to be compatible with the studies conducted in other countries participating in the CIB W112 research, Cameron and Quinn’s (1999) â€Å"Competing Values Framework† (CVF) as well as their measurement tool named â€Å"Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument† (OCAI) are adopted as the conceptual paradigm for analysis in this study. The CVF was originally proposed by Quinn and Rohrbaugh (1983) to understand organizational effectiveness, and was later applied to explore different  issues relative to organizations (Al-Khalifa and Aspinwall, 2001). The CVF is based on two major dimensions. The ï ¬ rst dimension emphasizes the organizational focus (internal versus external), whereas the second one distinguishes between the stability and control and the ï ¬â€šexibility and discretion. These two dimensions form four quadrants (see Figure 1), each representing a major type of organizational culture: (1) clan; (2) adhocracy; (3) market; and (4) hierarchy. Figure 1. The competing values framework Theoretically, these four cultural typologies exist simultaneously in all organizations; therefore, archetypes may be used to describe the pattern of the organizational culture (Paperone, 2003). Sampling and data collection Unit of analysis for this study were the contracting and architectural ï ¬ rms operating in the Turkish Construction Industry. A number of 351 ï ¬ rms were contacted, and 134 of them participated in the study giving a response rate of 38.18 per cent. The ï ¬ rms were selected by judgmental sampling procedure. The judgment criteria used for selection were: . origin of nationality, with emphasis on local ï ¬ rms; . size based on number of employees, with emphasis placed on medium and large ï ¬ rms; and . industry position based on market share, with the focus on the 12 largest ï ¬ rms. Sample consisted of a total of 826 respondents (74.9 per cent male, 25.1 per cent female) including both managerial and non-managerial professionals. The questionnaire comprised two parts. Part I included questions regarding the demographic characteristics of the ï ¬ rms and respondents, which are presented in Table I. Although the analysis conducted in this study was at ï ¬ rm level, the characteristics of the respondents are also provided in Table I to reï ¬â€šect a better proï ¬ le Frequency Characteristics of the ï ¬ rms (N  ¼ 134) Number of ï ¬ rms: Contracting Architectural Firm age (years): ,15 16-25 .25 Size of ï ¬ rms (number of full-time employees): Small Medium Large Characteristics of the respondents (N  ¼ 826) Number of respondents: Contracting Architectural Gender: Female Male Age of respondents (years): 30 and under 31-40 41-50 51 and above Percentage  of the sample. As is seen in Table I, contracting ï ¬ rms are representing the 79.9 per cent of t he sampled organizations and 87.5 per cent of the respondents. For the purpose of this study, organizations with less than 50 employees were classiï ¬ ed as small (46 per cent), those with 51-150 as medium (28 per cent), and those with more than 150 as large (25 per cent). The contracting ï ¬ rms in the survey were generally medium and large-sized whereas the architectural ï ¬ rms were small in size. Searching for the cultural orientations of the ï ¬ rms, Part II was adopted from the â€Å"Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI)† developed by Cameron and Quinn (1999). OCAI consists of six different questions which are relevant to the key dimensions of organizational culture: (1) dominant characteristics; (2) organizational leadership; (3) management of employees; (4) organizational glue; (5) strategic emphases; and (6) criteria for success. Each question has four alternative statements representing different cultural orientations making a total of 24 questions. All respondents were asked to rate their organizations’ culture on a ï ¬ ve-point Likert scale. In this scoring system, for each of the ï ¬ ve response categories (completely true, mostly true, partly true, slightly true, never true) a score of 1-5 was assigned, with the highest score of 5 being assigned to â€Å"completely true†. The overall cultural proï ¬ le of an organization was then derived by calculating the  average score of all respondents from the same ï ¬ rm. Reliability coefï ¬ cients (Cronbach alpha) were calculated for each of the different culture types being assessed by the instrument. Coefï ¬ cients were 0.89 for the clan and adhocracy cultures, and 0.86 for the market and hierarchy cultures, which indicate the fairness of all culture types. Results and discussion A cultural proï ¬ le score for each organization was obtained by averaging the respondent’s rating for each cultural type across the six dimensions. This provided an indication of the cultural orientation of sampled ï ¬ rms based on the four cultural types. The average scores for all the participating ï ¬ rms are shown in Table II. As is seen from the table, the dominant culture of the sample is clan culture. Respondents identiï ¬ ed hierarchy type as the next most dominant in their organizations. These predominant cultures were followed by adhocracy and market, respectively. The sampled ï ¬ rms tend to have values consistent with employee focus or clan culture and internal process or hierarchy culture. The values consistent with external orientation and results focus are emphasized to a lesser extent. This ï ¬ nding contributes to our understanding of the alignment between national and organizational cultures. According to Hofstede’s (1980, 2001) model of national culture, Turkey has been described as being high on the collectivism and power distance value dimensions. This suggests that organizational cultures in Turkish ï ¬ rms are characterized by both unequal (or hierarchical) and harmonious, family-like (clan) relationships.

Virtual War essays

Virtual War essays Virtual War by Gloria Skurzynski, who lives in Salt Lake City, was copyright February 1999. It is a book of the science fiction genre. It is based in the future around 2053. By now the earths population is only around 2 million because of disease, chemical and nuclear war-fare have made much of the planet unsuitable for living. Now citys people live in huge bubbles for ozone and toxin protection. They no longer fight wars. There are too few people. They instead wage virtual wars where a team of three of their finest fight for them. (They are now fighting for an island that has recently became safe for The main character, Corgan is a boy. He is only 14 years old and has lived in a aerogel box for all his life. The world he knows is all holographic. He was genetically made for one purpose, the virtual war. Corgan has acquired the traits of Loyalty, Honorability, and Trustworthiness from the box. He has genetically superior traits of coordination and quickness. He is to be the team leader. He does not know much of the outside world, except for what Mendor Corgans box provided him with everything he needed. A program was written to act as a mother and father to him, called the Mendor. It mended back and forth as parents depending on the situation. His team was of great excellence. The two chosen to be on his team are much different than he, however their roots are very similar. Sharla, he finds out, is to be his code breaker. She was from the same batch of babies as he was. She had golden blonde hair, and blue eyes. Corgan felt embarrassed but he liked her. She was unruly however, and escaped from her box many times as a result of being a code breaker. She was experienced and knew of the outside world first hand. She did not care for nobility and Honor like Corgan, she just ...

Free Essays on Humanistic Therapy

HUMANISTIC THERAPY Humanistic psychology focuses on psychological health rather than on mental illness. â€Å"Its view is optimistic, with an emphasis on the human potential. It's a healthy viewpoint. In 1942, Rollo May was stricken with tuberculosis. After eighteen months in a sanitarium in upstate New York, he decided that his attitudes and his personal will were more important to his recovery than the treatments. He entered the graduate psychology program at Columbia University in New York City, receiving his Ph.D. in clinical psychology in 1949 with the highest honors. In the decades that followed, May's dissertation, The Meaning of Anxiety, published in 1950, and revised in 1977, had a major influence on the development of humanistic psychology† (Crompton). Rollo May argued that culture was in an "age of anxiety" and, furthermore, that channeling his own high anxiety was a major factor in overcoming his tuberculosis. (This would be the first we’ve heard of the mind/body connection to illness in the field of psychology I believe.) May was one of the most influential American psychologists of the twentieth century. He helped to introduce European existential psychoanalysis to an American audience. He was a founder of humanistic psychology, with its focus on the individual, as opposed to the behaviorist psychology and Freudian psychoanalysis that was prevalent in the 1940s and 1950s. May's writings were both practical and spiritual and they promoted the power and worth of the individual. As such, they contributed to the development of the human potential movement. May maintained that widespread alienation and anxiety were a result of breakdown and upheaval in culture and society, rather than the result of individual psychological problems. I would add that the lack of spiritual awareness is another component of breakdown and upheaval. Maslow's thinking was surprisingly original - most psychology before him had been concerned... Free Essays on Humanistic Therapy Free Essays on Humanistic Therapy HUMANISTIC THERAPY Humanistic psychology focuses on psychological health rather than on mental illness. â€Å"Its view is optimistic, with an emphasis on the human potential. It's a healthy viewpoint. In 1942, Rollo May was stricken with tuberculosis. After eighteen months in a sanitarium in upstate New York, he decided that his attitudes and his personal will were more important to his recovery than the treatments. He entered the graduate psychology program at Columbia University in New York City, receiving his Ph.D. in clinical psychology in 1949 with the highest honors. In the decades that followed, May's dissertation, The Meaning of Anxiety, published in 1950, and revised in 1977, had a major influence on the development of humanistic psychology† (Crompton). Rollo May argued that culture was in an "age of anxiety" and, furthermore, that channeling his own high anxiety was a major factor in overcoming his tuberculosis. (This would be the first we’ve heard of the mind/body connection to illness in the field of psychology I believe.) May was one of the most influential American psychologists of the twentieth century. He helped to introduce European existential psychoanalysis to an American audience. He was a founder of humanistic psychology, with its focus on the individual, as opposed to the behaviorist psychology and Freudian psychoanalysis that was prevalent in the 1940s and 1950s. May's writings were both practical and spiritual and they promoted the power and worth of the individual. As such, they contributed to the development of the human potential movement. May maintained that widespread alienation and anxiety were a result of breakdown and upheaval in culture and society, rather than the result of individual psychological problems. I would add that the lack of spiritual awareness is another component of breakdown and upheaval. Maslow's thinking was surprisingly original - most psychology before him had been concerned...

Blue Jeans Essays - Marketing, Management, Strategic Management

Blue Jeans Essays - Marketing, Management, Strategic Management Blue Jeans Marketing Plan for the introduction of Wide-bottom jeans Business Mission Purpose In order to understand why the Wide-bottom Jeans Group exists, it is inalienable to especially focus on one person, the founder and the core of the company Christie Clark. Her personality alone already legitimates the purpose of the company, playing the role of the every positive thinking entrepreneur, that is strongly drawing together stakeholders and employees by showing them that they can commit themselves to the business not only because of financial benefits. Clark's and therefore Wide-bottoms higher ideal just simply seems to be to have fun and find new challenges while doing business. Strategy Wide-bottoms core strategy seems to be to go into those markets were complacent industries have held high prices for years because of their monopolistic size. And they try to take an advantage of that complacentness. The markets itself can not be defined exactly as the Wide-bottom Group never had a core business thing. Thus the business where Wide-bottom wants to be in is also hard to define, but there is an opportunity for Wide-bottom wherever the monopolistic position of a competitor can be beaten. Another basic strategy of the Wide-bottom group is always to use its undoubtedly strong brand name which is one of the view that is elastic enough to bind together a clutch of diverse products without snapping. It is part of Clarks strategy that the Brand name is not so much a product that it stands for, rather it stands for values: youth, iconoclasm, cheeky and perky informality. This provides the Wide-bottom Group with a flexibility that is almost unbeatable in terms of brand name. The key is to make sure that the Wide-bottom name stays fresh and not to overuse it, and certainly the product has to have a certain quality. The third part of any Wide-bottom strategy that has to be emphasized, is the strategy of public figure marketing. Like no other entrepreneur in Longview, Texas, Christie Clark has the talent to market her products by going into the media with extraordinary actions that get her into the front-pages of the newspapers without paying any money for this advertisement. Company Values The values seems to be having fun in the business and to do things differently. The goal of the Wide-bottom Group is to be the ultimate outlet and to provide the best value for money to customers. They believe that there should be some kind of fun to go into the big monopolistic businesses and then shake them up by offering good value quality based products, and a better service and people care to the customers and last but not least to make a profit at the end of the day. Overall the mission statement has clearly been defined by Christie Clark over the last 5 years. She has the Vision, the strategic intent, and she is the motivator for any person who is part of the company. Strengths The Wide-bottom group has the advantage that they are experienced in two different kinds of distribution. Firstly in stationary trade and secondly in mail ordering. The group is far less integrated than other big groups like Daimler or Smiths Industries. This gives Wide-bottom the advantage of higher flexibility. This effect is even more extreme since Wide-bottom has very small Strategic Business Units. The Wide-bottom Group has a strong brand name incorporated by Christie Clark and is experienced in introducing new products in an competitive marketing environment. Weaknesses The strength of being not too integrated into the concern can also be a weakness, when errors are discovered too late because of a too loose supervision or when the support of the mother company becomes insufficient or because of sluggish communication. Christie Clarks chaos approach is therefore less efficient. Opportunities The jeans market is an old and established market. The leading companies - being in the market for a century or more - have established themselves in a monopolistic situation with the help of huge advertising budgets. The magic concept of Christie Clark in the past was to exploit the inefficiency of these kinds of markets normally protected with high barriers of entry. Threats The jeans venture is only one of the many in the big group and could

Phil in literature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Phil in literature - Essay Example What does it entail? What kind of statement is this--a definition, a description, or an exhortation? The given statement means that a literary activity arises out of a special occasion of encountering the established order. While lacking the possibilities of development and enhancing the potential of coercion, the statement entails that a social order gives way to the human expression, in the form of literary expression, linked up with the conscience having concern for humanity. The literary activity has to address its social environment and can not remain in isolation. The solipsistic activity can generate a literary activity but it will not be considered a literary piece unless it imbibes within it the cries of uneven social justice. The given statement tries to develop a definition for the literary expression. To identify an expression as a literary expression, the expression must be seen in the light of three things: challenging the existing legal order; having conscience; and mu st have a concern for the humanity. A literary piece must be having all these three elements in order to be identified as a literary expression. In this sense the statement can be considered as a definitional statement. However, the statement is also exhortative. It is certainly not a universally accepted truth that literary piece must be having all three given elements. ... b- Testing the Truth: Is it true? Can we test its truth? How can we justify (or refute) Algren's claim, and what kind of evidence might suffice? The statement makes a point in such a way that it should be considered as a truth. However, the truth of this sort is different from the truth of many other sorts. There are truth-claims making an objective universal claim of truth. From any perspective such truth-claims can be accepted as truth positions. Sciences, especially those of physical and natural sciences make such claims. For Jurgen Habermas, these forms of truth-claim are purposive-rational and directed towards technical interest of controlling the environment (McCarthy 55). Sciences employ Empirical-analytic method for following purposive-rationality within their specific tradition in order to gain better control on natural environment. The empirical-analytic method brings forward objective truth claims through collecting sufficient experimental evidence. There is however anothe r form of expression that brings forward different sort of social interest, as what Jurgen Habermas says, practical interest (McCarthy 56). Truth generates within society and also embeds within itself the social interests. It is not possible for any individual to transcend this condition, even a scientist needs to be a social being first for producing a scientific fact. Society however does not only generate interest emerged out of as scientific interests; an objective observatory tendency to generate a truth-position for finding out the essential-truth of the natural environment in order to have a predictable control. Society also brings forward the conflicting tendencies rooted in the existing social justice. An expression that emerges out of aesthetic feelings

Health Care Informatic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Health Care Informatic - Essay Example For instance, an employee with the proper security clearance can look up medical information on the patients he is treating, but he can also look up ex-girlfriends, neighbors and anyone else his security clearance allows him to access. Because of such abuse, many information systems professionals run random system checks to see which employees are accessing records and for what reasons. However, it is not feasible to think that every employee can be monitored all of the time. Health care informatics make a patient's medical information accessible to anyone that might need it, but they also make it vulnerable to prying eyes that don't. Even worse, information that is on a computer system may be vulnerable to access by outside parties that were never intended to access the system, like "hackers" for instance. Such people could perform mass identity thefts, since social security numbers and even credit card numbers are often stored in health care information systems. This would result in unimaginable losses for patients, as well pose a huge liability for the health care provider. Some people worry that security precautions have not been able to keep up with the speedy evolution of health care informatics, and this may be a valid concern. If an entire information system was crippled or destroyed by such a hostile attack - or even by an act of nature, like a flood or tornado - and the back-up systems for the data were not preserved, an entire healthcare network could lose countless patients' medical records, possibly putting the lives of some patients at risk or even causing possible deaths due to treatment errors. Th e shift from filing paper charts on patients to digitally storing medical records has definite advantages, but such technology certainly comes with a serious set of security risks. As with many modern medical topics, the subject of the ethical use of medical records is under great scrutiny. Should private insurance companies be allowed to use medical records to deny coverage to people who are too old Should life insurance be denied to people with genetic disadvantages, like maternal cancers or paternal hypertension Medical research questions also come into the debate. Is it fair to collect data and research from medical records without the consent of the patients For instance, can you look at the rate of blindness of patients with diabetes at a certain hospital without informing the patients or their families New technological advances are even making it possible to enter a patient's symptoms and allow a computer program to suggest a diagnosis. Many health care providers think this is a wonderful new technology that will assist doctors in caring for their patients, but many others think it will become a crutch that will prevent physicians from properly practic ing the art of medicine. When should computers be used to compile information Who should access this information How vulnerable does technology make medicine All of these questions about health care informatics will need to be answered as the field evolves. 2. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, also known as HIPAA, is an act issued by the United States government that attempts to define the relationship between a patient's right to confidentiality and the need for medical

Reaction Paper Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Reaction Paper - Personal Statement Example ise in relationships between physicians and nurses are signals of absence of effective communication skills, which, in its turn, affects the attitude of patients towards nurses and the system of medical care in total. There have been multiple approaches to the issue of communication between a physician and a nurse: from the fields of cooperation, feminist studies, team psychology, cultutal perspective, organizational behavior, human factors science, etc. It has been proved that certain aspects of patient outcomes and safety are related to the level of this professional communication, and some of communication strategies in hospitals turned out to be more effective than others. So the bottom line is – communication between nurses and physicians should be improved by all means, no matter what specific method is used (in the chapter among others the author lists such methods as recognizing corporate culture, quality improvement, continuous assessment, reducing conflict etc). Pretty much all of these methods yield their results, proving effective, and there is no sufficient empirical evidence to prioritise any of them above the others. Claiming that â€Å"there is mixed or weak evidence to su pport using some of the techniques described in the cited literature†, Jean Ann Seago suggests a number of steps to be taken in the course of improving professional communication in a hospital – from evaluating strategies using measuarable outcomes and selecting the one that suits the particular organization to slow and step-by-step implementation of these strategies during a long period of

Improving Organisational Performance Assignment

Improving Organisational Performance - Assignment Example It is an ongoing process, where a supervisor should communicate the job responsibilities to an employee, make him/her aware of the expectations from him/her by the management and ensure that mutual understanding prevails between them. Performance management regularly monitors the position of the organisation and implements any skill development tools or training modules for the employees. The principle objective of performance management is to make optimum use of the resources that the employee is capable of to deliver (Parmenter, 2011). In the paper, the different performance management systems used by two large organisations in the UK i.e. Tesco PLC and Sainsbury’s in the retail segment will be discussed. The implications and challenges faced by the two organisations while implementing the performance management system will be observed in the paper and certain proposals will provided to the organisations to overcome those challenges. One of the largest British multinational grocery and general merchandise, Tesco, has spread its operations over 14 countries, employing over 492,000 people. The group after its incorporation in 1920 has extended over different sectors and formats. It has approximately 5,380 stores throughout 14 markets in Asia, Europe and the United States (Tesco PLC, 2012). United Kingdom’s oldest retailer, Sainsbury’s was originated in London in the year 1869. At present, it is the third biggest chain of supermarkets in the UK. It opened its first store in Drury Lane which sold eggs, milk and butter products. Later, the group has transformed itself from being a retail outlet with diversity in different sectors like Finance, Entertainment, Toys and Nursery (Sainsbury’s, 2012). Business Case for Tesco Tesco has introduced performance management in their organisation to analyze and to evaluate the performances of their employees. Therefore, performances in Tesco can be measured by tracking the results of a few of the fa ctors, namely, Key Performance Indicators (KPI), productivity, quality and safety. An employee’s productivity is measured by the quantity of work performed by the amount taken to do the work. Simultaneously, the quality factor falls in place when measuring productivity. Therefore, Tesco measures performance of the employees by measuring the KPIs. To measure the KPIs, Tesco introduced a management tool called â€Å"Steering Wheel†. It consists of four quadrants–‘Customer, Operations, People and Finance’ (TESCO an ADVENT Company, 2011). These quadrants are separated into small segments which focus on measuring the KPIs of each segment which are based on the targets achieved. The performances of an employee are communicated daily by their supervisors on the basis of their daily improvements, average performance in the group and within the organisation. This helps the employee to know where he/she stands in the group and what measures he/she should take to improve the average performance in the group (TESCO an ADVENT Company, 2011). Customer Operations Earn the reliability of the customers for lifetime All kinds of products are available Value for the prices Admirable staff and fast services Pleasurable shopping for the customers Work is clearly defined and it becomes simpler for the staff

Management Information and Communication Systems (MICS) Assignment

Management Information and Communication Systems (MICS) - Assignment Example This is because it helps in the management of resources that is at the disposal of the organisation in such as way that a little resource can be used to achieve several constitute components of the organisational processes. By extension, any organisation that is implementing MICS must be in a position to do things right and in the best approach to achieve needed results. There are times that organisations may be found to be in very good positions to execute IT and e-commerce for themselves. There are other times that doing this for themselves simply do not seem the best way out. In such instance where going about IT and e-commerce does not seem the best way out for an organisation, it tends to resort to the outsourcing of IT and e-commerce. Given the important role that MICS plays in organisation and the fact that it is not always that organisations will be in a position to undertake such IT processes for themselves, the paper seeks to critically discuss reason why organisations outsource IT and e-commerce. IT and e-commerce outsourcing will thus be treated as constitute components of the larger concept of MICS in this paper. To this better, the nature of MICS as a collective concept in organisational management shall be reviewed. This will lead up to an understanding of how MICS helps organisations to improve their management decision making, noting that the outcome of the organisation’s processes is largely dependent on its management decision making (quote). After noting the nature of MICS and how it improves management decision making, the various strategies of MICS in different organisations shall be examined. More particularly, the researcher will be looking into the case of small and medium scale enterpri ses (SMEs) and large multinational companies (MNC). As these different organisations engage in MICS strategies, the factors they consider to yield innovation and some of the key limitations

Recruitment plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Recruitment plan - Essay Example Recruitment plan It is located near New York City right at the foothills of Blessed Valley Mountains. Sincere College is a reputable institution offering higher education by promoting teaching as well as learning based on curriculum formulated under strong liberal arts. To this account the institution is accredited by Middle States Commission dealing with Higher Education earning high honours for exemplary performance in arts. The institution’s curriculum emphasises on sciences, liberal arts, professional programs as well fine and performing arts within a learning and suitable living environment. Today, the institution is acknowledged for its academic excellence based on its interdisciplinary curriculum, intercultural understanding, international education and also experimental learning opportunities. Job Description: The qualified candidate will teach mainly in the faculty of business particularly in business ethics. Additionally, the candidate may teach required elective courses like perspectives of Business and the Society. Qualified candidates must have a doctorate in a business related field. However, candidates who have completed their dissertation with a stated date of completion will also be considered. Successful candidates must have some teaching experience from a college institution and research interests in the area of Business Ethics. Experience also in the private sector under a for-profit organization will be highly regarded. Candidates who will demonstrate to be in possession of commendable teaching experience will have an added advantage.

Improving Organisational Performance Assignment

Improving Organisational Performance - Assignment Example It is an ongoing process, where a supervisor should communicate the job responsibilities to an employee, make him/her aware of the expectations from him/her by the management and ensure that mutual understanding prevails between them. Performance management regularly monitors the position of the organisation and implements any skill development tools or training modules for the employees. The principle objective of performance management is to make optimum use of the resources that the employee is capable of to deliver (Parmenter, 2011). In the paper, the different performance management systems used by two large organisations in the UK i.e. Tesco PLC and Sainsbury’s in the retail segment will be discussed. The implications and challenges faced by the two organisations while implementing the performance management system will be observed in the paper and certain proposals will provided to the organisations to overcome those challenges. One of the largest British multinational grocery and general merchandise, Tesco, has spread its operations over 14 countries, employing over 492,000 people. The group after its incorporation in 1920 has extended over different sectors and formats. It has approximately 5,380 stores throughout 14 markets in Asia, Europe and the United States (Tesco PLC, 2012). United Kingdom’s oldest retailer, Sainsbury’s was originated in London in the year 1869. At present, it is the third biggest chain of supermarkets in the UK. It opened its first store in Drury Lane which sold eggs, milk and butter products. Later, the group has transformed itself from being a retail outlet with diversity in different sectors like Finance, Entertainment, Toys and Nursery (Sainsbury’s, 2012). Business Case for Tesco Tesco has introduced performance management in their organisation to analyze and to evaluate the performances of their employees. Therefore, performances in Tesco can be measured by tracking the results of a few of the fa ctors, namely, Key Performance Indicators (KPI), productivity, quality and safety. An employee’s productivity is measured by the quantity of work performed by the amount taken to do the work. Simultaneously, the quality factor falls in place when measuring productivity. Therefore, Tesco measures performance of the employees by measuring the KPIs. To measure the KPIs, Tesco introduced a management tool called â€Å"Steering Wheel†. It consists of four quadrants–‘Customer, Operations, People and Finance’ (TESCO an ADVENT Company, 2011). These quadrants are separated into small segments which focus on measuring the KPIs of each segment which are based on the targets achieved. The performances of an employee are communicated daily by their supervisors on the basis of their daily improvements, average performance in the group and within the organisation. This helps the employee to know where he/she stands in the group and what measures he/she should take to improve the average performance in the group (TESCO an ADVENT Company, 2011). Customer Operations Earn the reliability of the customers for lifetime All kinds of products are available Value for the prices Admirable staff and fast services Pleasurable shopping for the customers Work is clearly defined and it becomes simpler for the staff

Recruitment plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Recruitment plan - Essay Example Recruitment plan It is located near New York City right at the foothills of Blessed Valley Mountains. Sincere College is a reputable institution offering higher education by promoting teaching as well as learning based on curriculum formulated under strong liberal arts. To this account the institution is accredited by Middle States Commission dealing with Higher Education earning high honours for exemplary performance in arts. The institution’s curriculum emphasises on sciences, liberal arts, professional programs as well fine and performing arts within a learning and suitable living environment. Today, the institution is acknowledged for its academic excellence based on its interdisciplinary curriculum, intercultural understanding, international education and also experimental learning opportunities. Job Description: The qualified candidate will teach mainly in the faculty of business particularly in business ethics. Additionally, the candidate may teach required elective courses like perspectives of Business and the Society. Qualified candidates must have a doctorate in a business related field. However, candidates who have completed their dissertation with a stated date of completion will also be considered. Successful candidates must have some teaching experience from a college institution and research interests in the area of Business Ethics. Experience also in the private sector under a for-profit organization will be highly regarded. Candidates who will demonstrate to be in possession of commendable teaching experience will have an added advantage.

Decision Making and Reasoning Essay Example for Free

Decision Making and Reasoning Essay There are different types of decisions that we must make as well. From simple choices when planning for a vacation or making more life changing choices that require a detailed, logical analysis concerning what to do. Questions about strategy use have been treated in several different lines of decision-making. Largely, a distinction arises in terms of when and why deliberative processing best describes decision-making behavior. Under novel decision-making conditions, there is no prior experience to guide the decision-making process. The process involves selecting the appropriate strategy. Under repetitive successful decision-making conditions, there is a long history of experience. Some decisions become automatic in the sense that they require no deliberation. In this process, we address the issue of how decision processes transit from more controlled or deliberative strategies, to simple decision rules, and finally to automatic or routine strategies. What one sees as rational behavior in many of the social situations that have been studied is likely to depend on whether one conceives of rationality as enlightened self-interest in a fairly narrow sense, or one factors in the roles of such variables as self-image and conscience, or one allows for the possibility that a rational person might take a genuine interest in the welfare of other people, independently of his or her own. In other words, what is perceived as a dilemma from one perspective may not be a dilemma as perceived from another; a decision problem that is very difficult when assessed relative to one set of values may be very easy when assessed relative to another set. Dilemmas are difficult decision problems, necessitating, as they often do, choices between equally unsatisfactory (or in some cases equally attractive) options. Some social dilemmas pit self-interest against the common good. What constitutes rational behavior in dealing with dilemmas has been a question of interest to many theorists and students of human reasoning. Certain prototypical situations—notably various versions of the prisoners dilemma have been intensively studied with the hope of gaining insights into the determinants of competitive and cooperative behavior. However, along the way, we may use simple rules to decide when and where to stop and which specific routes to take, depending on incidental factors such as traffic. It is important to understand how these various decision domains are differently perceived and processed. (Betsch et al, 2004, p1) Strategies That Guide Human Decision Making A strategy is used to refer to processes which are relatively slow, goal-directed, systematic, and under explicit conscious control. However, it is also argued that to reason deductively rather than inductively does require a conscious effort at deduction and only occurs in response to specific instructions. Thus deduction is seen as a strategy. An account of strategic deductive reasoning with the mental models framework is preferred. (DYdewalle et al, 2000, p1) The strategic phases of decision making are the generation phase, the evaluation phase, and the learning phase. In a very rough sense, these phases correspond to the periods before, during, and after one makes a decision, respectively. Hence, they can be viewed as three successive points in time, but there is a great deal of recursion that can occur between phases. (Klein et al, 2001, p31) The tendency to implement appropriate behaviors strategies is apparent by the number of techniques available. For example, vigilant problem solving found that most executives report that they engage in one of a number of simplistic strategies for arriving at a solution. These simplistic strategies of simple decision rules are grouped them into cognitive categories. The cognitive decision rules: 1. Unreflectively using a standard operating procedure, 2. Accepting the first alternative that comes to mind that is good enough to meet the minimal requirements (satisfying), 3. Searching ones mind for a well-known analogy that turns out to be inappropriate (analogizing), 4. Consolidating the choice discovered through rules (1) to (3) and bolstering it in ones mind by focusing mainly on the positive features of the choice, 5. Saving time and effort by getting someone who has looked into the issues to provide a brief description of what one should do and why (the nutshell briefing rule). (Byrnes, 1998, p21) For example in a case study format, Suppose that a student already possesses some automatic but dysfunctional strategies for making the decisions the instructor seeks to have make well. Then, before the training effort can begin in earnest, those â€Å"bad habits† have to be eliminated. This will be a prodigious task because, by their nature, the already established strategies will initiate themselves effortlessly, uncontrollably, and beyond the trainees consciousness. Because decision making is such a fundamental human activity, which each of us has practiced day-in and day-out all our lives, perhaps the majority of our decision strategies are automated. This means that it is folly to think that it is even possible to fundamentally change a persons basic decision-making dispositions. (Klein et al, 2001, p25) Managerial leadership is generally considered a major factor in organizational behavior because of its putative effect on individuals, groups, and organizational outcomes. Some regard leadership as a special case of social influence. But progress has been very slow in understanding why leaders exert influence in certain situations while not in others. Research has not produced particularly robust and reliable findings in this regard.

Impact of Globalization on Translation

Impact of Globalization on Translation Introduction Under the circumstances of globalization, the demand for high-quality and high- speed translations has been increasing worldwide. Satisfying these demands may result of the increasing of time and cost for translators and translation companies. Thus how enhance the quality and productivity with low cost is one of the problems. In order to achieve the time and cost saving, the computer assisted translation (CAT) tools is playing an important role in translation industry. The CAT tools enabling to cover the whole translation process at a time has been created and commercialized by the language industry in recent decades (Austermuhl, 2001). Amongst translation tools, translation memory (TM) systems are considered as the effective tools due to increasing translation productivity by offering previous translation automatically (Austermuhl, 2001). However, there are various TM systems worldwide and which is the most effective may vary depends on individual requirements such as language syste m or text types. This essay will attempt to assess two TM systems, SDL Trados Studio and Wordfast classic, by comparing each feature of operational functions. To compare and assess two TM systems, the concept of TM systems, features of respective TM systems first will be explained as background knowledge of the discussion in this essay. The outline of TM systems Translation memory is a database of multilingual texts which allow to storage both the source and target text segments in parallel and retrieved accordance with the set criteria (Austermuhl 2001 cites Expert Advisory Group on Language Engineering Standards, EAGLES ). Namely, the target text is first divided into segment units and stored in TM through translation process. These stored segments are available to be reused for the new translation project. If the segments stored in TM are perfectly matched or similar to the new source text, TM offers the previous translations automatically to a translator. The translator can decide whether these offered translations should be accepted or not. Also it is possible to revise the previous translations in TM through and after translation. Esselink (2000) points out some disadvantage of TM as follows: The Final layout of translated text is not displayed until finishing the translation. In this case, proofreading after the translation is required. Some problems may occur in TM management, especially in the case of multilingual project. Revising TM after re-converted into the original style is not available, namely, in order to update TM, the translated file is required to be converted into TMs acceptable format again. Time consuming due to the requirement of converting the source text into the appropriate format for translation. TM filter is not updated when the source text is a new file format. As a result, some arrangement is required in order to be accepted. Changing the structure of the text is not available within paragraph. It is necessary to create the file filter depend on the file format if it is different from the default. Considering above mentions, he (2000) suggests that the material text should be examined before translation, and translators should decide whether to use TM, because in some cases, translating without TM is more effective than using TM system. Meanwhile, TM has recognized as effective and time-saving technology for massive translations, especially technical or manual text which include some repetitive use of technical terminology (Mitkov 2007). This is mostly due to the effectiveness against reducing duplicative work and to enhance the uniformity of terms. For example, in the case of the continuous translation project of the specific field, the TM is offered to the translator and the technical terms will be transferred from TM precisely to the new source text. By this means, TM allows translators to share the unique terminology used in the specific field and contributes to maintain the translation quality. The specific features of Wordfast Classic TM operational functions Wordfast Classic is defined as a CAT tool designed as a Microsoft Wordâ„ ¢ add-on. Its lightweight, flexible structure makes it easy to install and use (Wordfast 2010). This CAT tool comprises some useful operational functions, such as terminology management, importing exporting glossary and TM, document conversion, analysis and alignment (Wordfast 2010). Amongst the operational functions, some beneficial features of Wordfast Classic will be explained here. ITI Bulletin (2006) points out that Wordfast Classic is simple to use, which can not only apply to Word but also to Power Point, Access and Excel files by connecting directly with Word application interface. It is also compatible with other machine translation programs such as PowerTranslatorâ„ ¢ and other CAT tools such as Trados, by converting TM into another format which is appropriate for respective program and exporting it (ITI Bulletin 2006). Importing other TM to Wordfast is also available (ITI Bulletin 2006). In addition, alignment function allows editing the translation stored in TM after translation. Since this CAT tool is available of free download to own computer with some limitations, those who are considering to use this tool can try and examine how useful or not for them before paid registration(ITI Bulletin 2006). If download PlusToolsâ„ ¢ and add-in to the source document, Wordfast Classic is available for a variety of file format from HTML/ XLM to other tagged files (Miller 2002). However, there are some important reminders for using Wordfast Classic. One of them is that it is necessary to do clean-up TM after translation for updating the TM database (Miller 2002). Since database is stored as txt. format, revising the translated text is possible without Wordfast (Miller 2002). Thus translators tend to forget to update TM and glossary. As a result, the accuracy of TM will be lost and TM can not apply to other new translation project. The specific features of Trados TM operational functions Trados TM which comprising the source and target segments, is created in the Translation Memories view (Trados 2010). Respective segment pair of the source and target is called a translation unit and it is possible to add some information for each translation unit such as when it was created and updated, and who created it (Trados 2010). Thus it might be useful to manage the translation history. The translation unit is displayed in parallel, which is conducive to comparison of the source and target segment when editing. There are three types of matching function: fuzzy, context and 100% match (Trados 2010). Although the default of Fuzzy matching rate is set at 70% or over, this rate is able to be changed (Trados 2010). Context match is applied when the source text and TM segment match perfectly and have the same context (Trados 2010). 100%match means the source text segment match exactly with the TM segment (Trados 2010). In terms of the segmentation, Trados can customise the segmentation rules depend on respective languages; Chinese, French, English, German, Spanish and Japanese, which are supported by Trados (Trados 2010). Therefore, there is not required to adjust the segmentation each time. As mentioned above, fuzzy match is applied when the matching rate is 70% or over (Trados 2010). This indicates that if the matching rate between the source and the TM segment is less than 70%, TM will not return any translation (Trados 2010). Therefore, if preferring more or less than 70% matching customise of the fuzzy matching rate should be required. Comparison of feature between Wordfast and Trados TM With the avobe description as background, the feature of Wordfast and Trados TM will be compared and assessed. First of all, in terms of using TM in othe tranlation tools, both Wordfast and Trados can import/ export TM database by converting the file type into the acceptable format for respective TM. For example, Wordfast TM is stored in txt. format, while Trados TM is stored in sdltm. format. If converting Trados TM to Wardfast, it is necessary to export to a tmx.file. Then open it with MS Word and open Wordfast, then select it as TM. Likewise, Wordfast also can export its TM by converting TM into tmx.format, open Trados, creating new empty TM and import the txt.file. Secondly, although creating or opening Wordfast TM is almost as simple as that of Trados, Trados TM is enriched with various optional functions, such as Enable character-based concordance search and fuzzy match threshold, compared with Wordfast. However, when compareing the source segment with target segment for translaiton, Wordfast seems to be more useful than Trados. In wordfast, the segment is highlighted with gray color and it is not allowed to jump sentences till click the icon which represent to confirmation each time. By contrast, Trados does not have any specific functions which privent from moving to the next segment. As a result, skipping segment sometimes occur in Trados. Since generally translation project have a tendency to demand for high-speed and quality, translators are often forced to work long hours a day. This will result in a higher rate of translation leakage. Finally, while Wordfast can not allow a user to confirm the translated text layout during translation, Trados can display the finished translation within the edditing window. Therefore, the TM user can available to confirm the translated text layout even during translation. This display function of Trados might be effective to time saving, because the mistranslations or text layout and presentation can be recognized easily and translating and modifying can be available simultaneously in the editing window. Conclusion Although Wordfast and Trados share certain simiralities in those operational functions such as the availability of importing/ exporting TM, some merit and demerit of respective TM were also recognized. It is difficult to recommend which is more excellent CAT tool, bacause the detarmination of merit and demerit is affected by the situation. In the case of the massive translation team project, Trados may be more effective than Wordfast due to a variety of optional function. On the contrary, if translating relatively simple and short text, Wordfast may be convenience due to its simplicity of program configuration process. Therfore, it might be significant to examine which CAT tool is suitable for the translation text or project.