Case study on Bestbuy from HBR Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

On Bestbuy from HBR - Case Study Example Problems continued to increase after a tornado hit the company in 1981 forcing Schulze to shift his strategic plan from services to discounted brands. Eventually, he ventured into superstores in 1983 and thus, rebranded the business Best Buy (2). Best Buy faces stiff competition both locally and globally from these chains necessitating it to initiate different strategies to cope with competition. The company partnered and acquired different businesses in a bid to expand its market share and product lines to increase its revenue base and gain the competitive advantage over the rival firm Wal-Mart. The company acquired Pacific Sales Kitchen, partnered with Carphone Warehouse, Dell, Apple, Napster Inc., Jiangsu Five Star Appliance Co. among much other business in the U.S., Europe, Canada and China (5). Conversely, due to competition and the changing market environment, the company has experienced fluctuating revenues and net profits. For instance, in 2009 due to pressure from rivals, the company’s operating profits declined to $2.0 billion up from $2.2 billion in 2008, despite a growth in sales. Similarly, in the fiscal year 2012, the company’s stock closed at $24.70 up from $ 56.86-year-end close in 2006 resulting in approximately 55% loss in market capitalization (1). The electronics industry is a competitive market with some of the world’s well-established retail chains and superstores such as Wal-Mart. This has resulted in Best Buy losing its market share gradually to online retailers such as Amazon and discounters (1). Best Buy can leverage from greater international expansion, The Company has penetrated international markets over the years through partnerships and acquisitions of other businesses, which has enabled it to open new stores in these markets.

UNICEF Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

UNICEF - Essay Example UNICEF’s main aim is to provide humanitarian and developmental services to deprived children and women in third-world countries. The organization wants to help these children to survive and thrive from the time to their born till their adolescent years. It is also known to provide the most number of vaccines to third world nations. They basically strive to provide hygienic water and sanitation facilities, quality education and basic healthcare services to children. They want to protect boys and girls from exploitation, abuse, and chronic diseases and fight for their human rights. UNICEF is steadfast and dedicated to changing the lives of such deprived children of the world. Their selfless motives work towards their protection, prevention and development with the help of positive and sensible planning and supervision of policy results. UNICEF has established Millennium Developmental Goals (MDGs) to monitor child related issues globally. Their aim is to study the situation of children and women in different parts of the world, by collecting and analyzing data and work to resolve their issues by sensible tactics and methodologies. The collected data work as indicators. Then they are further disseminated and published as databases for authentic use and purposes. UNICEF is given funds, donations and grants by individuals, foundations, enterprises and the State, voluntarily (http://unicefinnovation.org/ ABOUT UNICEF). The organization has to rely on private donations and grants from governments to fulfill their mission. ... vernments contribute the most, to about two-thirds of UNICEF’s resources while the rest is contributed by private individuals through the National Committees. UNICEF aims to provide community-level services and amenities for the long-term developmental goals of children. It is also privileged to be awarded by the Nobel Peace Prize in 1965 and the Concord Prince of Asturias Award in the year 2006. UNICEF is actively operating in 190 countries around the world. They support for children’s rights through their country programmes and National Committees. They have their goals and achievements in each one of these countries. With head-quarters in New York and 200 operating offices in the other countries, their mission is collectively pursued with the help of host governments. There are seven regional offices which is available for any technical help that any of these country offices require. In fact there are only 9 countries and territories of the world where it is not acti vely operating. These include; Singapore, Monaco, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Mauritius, Malta, Cyprus, Brunei Darussalam and Bahamas. UNICEF’s New York headquarters is responsible for the management and administration of resources. Their main supply of resources is done from Copenhagen. These include basic items like vaccines, medicines, nutritional supplements, equipment for emergency shelter, food items, and educational materials. Their board of directors comprises of 36 Executive Members who continue to develop policies, approve strategies and supervise administrative and financial plans. The United Nations Economic and Social Council appoint government representatives to be a part of the UNICEF’s Executive Board. They are usually elected on a three-year term basis. The current Executive Director

Business Intelligence - Assignment 2 Case Study

Business Intelligence - Assignment 2 - Case Study Example They did their best for their business to be competitive among market. However, they are running their business on website and have other small databases handling small different departments of organizations; moreover, giving best at their marketing department but though that is not enough to compete business in this technical world of computers. In other words, IT world has change the way to trade; the way of in-house management and the way to sale their production. The CEO, Mr. Peter Rada of Teen_R_Us concede this when he attended industry conference where business intelligence was discussed. He was keen to implement Business Intelligent solution for his business consisting of a web analytics, the data ware house, an OLAP system and data mining capabilities. A companied with Mr. Ben Etton, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company and Mr. Jean Price, the senior accountant of the company worked out on this new technical change for the company and ask for different proposals explaining business system with its components in detail and their specific implementations. They set their budget that affords a system in every two years and though wants the priority implementations of the whole system in ten years. Business Intelligence is a collective word, which describes a deep analysis on the trade made for last few years. This is a system, which shows up with concepts and methods to improve business. In other words, business intelligence is the name of analysis made upon the past information of the organization along with providing data management of the organization using different latest tools and technologies. It more over allows the business users and other management to keep the records of all critical activities took place in form of data mining carrying in a collective data called data ware house. This business intelligence system provides reports in a style that are practically used by senior managers, leads and other members of team. These reports help the business royals to take actions in positive successive way towards their organization. Though making decisions on information provided by the organization doesn't covers the whole business; as business is the name of management of production and it's trading. Data Mining may allow analyzing for the futuristic step taken for the company's growth; data warehouse might keep the records of all trades but more important to all this is to make the production in demand. To satisfy the customers by giving the best in services. To make more and more customers by providing them with products they need in a comfortable price range. This all is about marketing which may be performed by web analytics; i.e., providing the trade online to its customers in a form of website. More parleying about business information is that it's a process to enhance business in a competitive means giving advantage to business by using the available data for decision-making. Major five steps for business intelligence are as follows: Data Sources Data Analysis Situation Awareness Risk Assessment Decision Support Data Sources: Business intelligence system needs data extraction and that can be done from report, emails, memos, documents, images, sounds, formatted texts, web pages and other list. The data is sourced electronically so that it can further used by the business intelligence system installed on an electronic machine like computer. Though,

UNICEF Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

UNICEF - Essay Example UNICEF’s main aim is to provide humanitarian and developmental services to deprived children and women in third-world countries. The organization wants to help these children to survive and thrive from the time to their born till their adolescent years. It is also known to provide the most number of vaccines to third world nations. They basically strive to provide hygienic water and sanitation facilities, quality education and basic healthcare services to children. They want to protect boys and girls from exploitation, abuse, and chronic diseases and fight for their human rights. UNICEF is steadfast and dedicated to changing the lives of such deprived children of the world. Their selfless motives work towards their protection, prevention and development with the help of positive and sensible planning and supervision of policy results. UNICEF has established Millennium Developmental Goals (MDGs) to monitor child related issues globally. Their aim is to study the situation of children and women in different parts of the world, by collecting and analyzing data and work to resolve their issues by sensible tactics and methodologies. The collected data work as indicators. Then they are further disseminated and published as databases for authentic use and purposes. UNICEF is given funds, donations and grants by individuals, foundations, enterprises and the State, voluntarily (http://unicefinnovation.org/ ABOUT UNICEF). The organization has to rely on private donations and grants from governments to fulfill their mission. ... vernments contribute the most, to about two-thirds of UNICEF’s resources while the rest is contributed by private individuals through the National Committees. UNICEF aims to provide community-level services and amenities for the long-term developmental goals of children. It is also privileged to be awarded by the Nobel Peace Prize in 1965 and the Concord Prince of Asturias Award in the year 2006. UNICEF is actively operating in 190 countries around the world. They support for children’s rights through their country programmes and National Committees. They have their goals and achievements in each one of these countries. With head-quarters in New York and 200 operating offices in the other countries, their mission is collectively pursued with the help of host governments. There are seven regional offices which is available for any technical help that any of these country offices require. In fact there are only 9 countries and territories of the world where it is not acti vely operating. These include; Singapore, Monaco, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Mauritius, Malta, Cyprus, Brunei Darussalam and Bahamas. UNICEF’s New York headquarters is responsible for the management and administration of resources. Their main supply of resources is done from Copenhagen. These include basic items like vaccines, medicines, nutritional supplements, equipment for emergency shelter, food items, and educational materials. Their board of directors comprises of 36 Executive Members who continue to develop policies, approve strategies and supervise administrative and financial plans. The United Nations Economic and Social Council appoint government representatives to be a part of the UNICEF’s Executive Board. They are usually elected on a three-year term basis. The current Executive Director

History of Measurment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

History of Measurment - Essay Example The Egyptians were not able to monopolize the measuring system. The Babylonians also devised measures stemming from a cubit, though 6 mm longer than that of the Egyptians. This cubit was then divided into 30 kus, roughly equal to a digit. The earliest known decimal system is the Harappan system; from 2500 B.C. to 1700 B.C. Evidence suggests that they had two different series of weights. One system was based on a measurement of the Indus inch (1.32 modern inches). Since their system was based on base-10, ten Indus inches equaled 13.2 inches, the measure of a foot. The other scale was discovered in the form of a bronze rod with markings of 0.367 in. 100 units of that would be 36.7 inches, approximately the length of a stride. Measurements of the Harappan ruins show that they used these measurements extremely accurately. European systems of measurement were based on the Roman system. The Romans, in turn, borrowed their measurements from the Greeks, who had based it on the Babylonians and the Egyptians. Their base unit was the breadth of a finger. Unlike the other cultures, they only had three widely used units of measurement: the finger, the foot and the Greek cubit. The Greeks also standardized weight by stabilizing the size of containers to weigh goods and by creating a standard set of measures. The Romans changed the Greek system slightly, by creating the pace, equal to five feet. Thousand paces was a Roman mile, extraordinarily close to the modern British mile. It was in 1672, that Sir Isaac Newton actually made a vital discovery about the "Newton Rings" which actually used light to measure distances. Neither he nor the world at large understood the great implications of it, and today "interferometry" as it is called helps measure precise distances to within millionths of an inch or a millimeter. The French, on the other hand, used a bewildering array of measures. Standardization was a big problem since no one could come to an agreement. As late as 1788 Arthur Young wrote in "Travels during the years 1787, 1788, 1789" published in 1793, "In France the infinite perplexity of the measures exceeds all comprehension. They differ not only in every province, but also in every district and almost every town". The English though tried to standardize as early as in the 13th century, by England issuing a royal ordinance "Assize of Weights and Measures" to bring some unity. Wren had proposed a new system based on the yard defined as the length of a pendulum beating at the rate of one second in the Tower of London. Britain and Scotland uniting ensured a better prevalence for the system but it was hard when each province wanted its own system followed. In 1824, the English Parliament legalized the yard that was first proposed in 1760. In 1870 the French in Paris convened an International Conference with the aim of improving international scientific cooperation by having the metric system as the worldwide standard. This resulted in seventeen nations signing up and later a few more nations joining in and kind of standardized the metric system. US though were influenced by the colonists who brought with various measurements from their places of origin and for a long time it was an array of measurements. In 1821 John Quincy Adam for the first person to propose to the

Media Influence on Body Image Essay Example for Free

Media Influence on Body Image Essay So many people today are insecure about the way they look, either thinking themselves too fat, or having bad hair, skin, or simply just not attractive enough. Of course, much of this line of thinking is encouraged by the barrage of advertisements which portray skinny women and muscular men with perfect skin and hair traipsing around in exotic spots and driving the opposite sex crazy. More than any other outlet, the media is guilty of creating a misperception of what beauty really is and the anxieties and problems in society are exacerbated by their efforts. Celebrities make regular people feel that they need to spend a ridiculous amount of money and time on external appearance, as infomercials for beauty creams, workout regimens and equipment, foods and drinks, diets and countless other means of body modification are continuously hocked as ways to achieve happiness and contentment. Very few outlets in the media, whether television, movies, magazines, or the Internet encourage people to be comfortable with their bodies, even though reason dictates that true beauty is not something that relies completely on external appeal, but rather beauty is something that comes from within and can be shared with others. Beauty is everywhere. It can be in a sunset, a work of art, or in a masterpiece of architecture. There is manmade beauty and natural beauty, and both have unique appeals that inspire people to feel good about themselves and life. However, when it comes to human beauty, we are educated from the earliest ages that it is almost completely physical. The media portrays this in the form of men and women with perfectly sculpted bodies without an ounce of fat, lustrous and clear skin, soft, flowing hair, and a perfectly symmetrical face. The images of beautiful celebrities and fashion models stare at us from magazines in the checkout line at the grocery store. It seems everywhere that the media is telling people what beauty really is, and the effect is severe insecurities in the masses. This leads to pills, creams, hair restoration, breast implants, plastic surgery, and all kinds of other drastic actions in the hopes of attaining beauty. The inundation of media images of unnaturally thin women also has a significantly negative effect on young girls. Professor of psychology and body-image researcher, Sarah Murnen, and her colleagues reviewed 21 studies that looked at the media’s effect on more than 6,000 girls, ages 10 and older, and found those who were exposed to the most fashion magazines were more likely to suffer from poor body images (Hellmich). This can also lead the young girls to adopt unhealthy eating habits such as bulimia and anorexia in hopes to maintain what they feel as the ideal â€Å"beautiful† body. However, some companies are making an effort to dispel this, like Dove. Instead of images of long locks, longer legs and incredibly lean bodies, Dove brand beauty products and American Girl are promoting their products with a message of â€Å"real beauty† by encouraging women and girls to celebrate themselves as they are — while using the products, of course (Howard). While they are encouraging women to pursue a greater beauty than physical, they are still sending the contradictory message that young women need to use their products. However, the true definition of beauty is something that goes far deeper than these profit-driven interpretations espoused by the media. It is impossible to deny that certain men and women are not beautiful, for a perfect face and body attracts many people from all around, however like the old adage that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, everyone else may not universally agree upon the external and physical beauty of these people. Some people make think blonds are beautiful, while others prefer brunettes; some people may like blue eyes, while others only find brown beautiful. This shows the subjective nature of external beauty, which begs the question as to whether this beauty is significant at all or merely a matter of taste. To that end, it is far more productive to pursue a greater beauty in life, and not worry about physical beauty or achieving it. I believe the greatest beauty in life comes from within; and this kind of beauty can be achieved by everyone without pills, painful operations, or costly beauty treatments. I have learned not to put too much stock in the media’s representation of beauty, because I feel it robs from the more significant beauty that can be achieved in society when people think of each other and treat each other with equal respect and consideration. I do my best to live by the golden rule, and find situations the most beautiful when others do the same. I feel that many of the popular conceptions of beauty are based on half-truths and blatant deceptions, encouraging people to hide their flaws rather than love themselves. For me, honesty is beautiful, and I am always honest, unlike the advertisers that have something to gain by creating untruths and anxiety. Life is beautiful enough without having to worry about perfecting physical attributes, and the truth is that aesthetic beauty is not nearly as lasting as emotional, spiritual, and mental beauty. These are the kinds of beauty to which I aspire and have successfully managed to cultivate. I consider myself beautiful because I am generous to others, and see myself reflected in their appreciating eyes. I love to share my time and effort with others, and do so sincerely with no expectations for recognition or reciprocity. The reward for me is simply being alive to share what I have, and I find life itself beautiful. I try my best not to get caught up in the conventional definitions of conventional beauty, because they would expect me to devote my time to working on my physical attributes rather than my spiritual and mental beauty. I know my actions make me beautiful, because when I help others I also recall all the times that others have helped me and I realize that this is one of the most beautiful things that humans can achieve, as powerful as the most perfect sunset or double rainbow. While beauty may truly be in the eye of the beholder, I feel confident in my own beauty because I treat everything in life as it is: beautiful. I find joy in everything, am compassionate, and try to make everyone share in the beauty that I possess, hoping that they can also create his or her own. I try to be truthful in all regards, and try never to feel insecure that my beliefs in my own beauty are false. I refuse to adopt the media’s perception of beauty, and prefer to find my own conceptions in what I see is true beauty: generosity, compassion, and joy. For me, this is the truth, and like the words of John Keats, â€Å"Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all/ Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know† (Keats). Works Cited: Hellmich, Nanci. â€Å"Do thin models warp girls’ body image?† USA Today. 26 Sep 2006. 29 Apr 2008. http://www. usatoday. com/news/health/2006-09-25-thin-models_x. htm. Howard, Theresa. â€Å"Ad campaign tell women to celebrate who they are. † USA Today/Dove. 8 Jul 2005. 12 Apr 2008. http://www. campaignforrealbeauty. com/press. asp? section=newsid=3073. Keats, John. â€Å"Ode to a Grecian Urn. † The Oxford Book of English Verse. 1901. Ed. Quiller- Couch, Arthur Thomas, Sir. Bartleby. com. 1999. 12 Apr 2008. www. bartleby. com/ 101/625.

Conflict :: essays research papers

Jack London’s â€Å"To Build a Fire† and John Updike’s â€Å"A&P† were very different, but interesting stories. Both authors chose a different approach to their chosen tone. Updike wrote in a more laid back and entertaining way, while London, on the other hand, chose to write in a more formal and serious way. The authors also developed much different characters. London’s main character was much older and rugged than the complicated teenage girls and grocery clerk that Updike chose to focus his story around. The most significant difference, however, is the choice of conflict. Updike’s conflict was a simple one focusing on man versus man, but London’s story had many conflicts that dealt with much more serious issues like, for example, life and death.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  From the beginning of both stories one can get an immediate sense of where each story is headed. The author’s very appropriately set the tone to each of their stories early on. The first sentence in London’s â€Å"To Build a Fire† said, â€Å"Day had broken cold and gray, exceedingly cold and gray, when the man turned aside from the main Yukon trail and climbed the high earth-bank, where a dim and little- traveled trail led eastward through the fat spruce timberland† (561). From that very first sentence the audience can immediately tell that this is going to be a dramatic story. The strong and descriptive language prepares us for the rest of the story. The beginning of Updike’s â€Å"A&P† sets a much different tone for the story to follow. He wrote, â€Å"In walks these three girls in nothing but bathing suits. I’m in the third checkout slot, with my back to the door, so I don’t see them until they’re over by the bread. The one that caught my eye first was the one in the plaid green two-piece† (612). The beginning of this story has a relaxed and enjoyable tone. We, the audience, are now prepared for some easy reading.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Next, focusing on the characters, we see another big difference. London’s story had very few characters. London took his time and very descriptively developed his main character throughout the entire story. The story is periodically filled with bits about how the unnamed man feels and what he’s thinking. London paid very close attention to how his main character physically felt. For example, he wrote, â€Å"After a time he was aware of the first faraway sensation in his beaten fingers.