Local Partnerships in Community Empowerment Essay

Local Partnerships in Community Empowerment - Essay Example It is actually a fuzzy spectrum of activities. People may engage at different depths, in different parts of the spectrum, at various times in their life. The easier it becomes for people to become involved, and, crucially, to disengage at personal need, the more likely they are to feel able to act. It is this principle which operates behind local partnerships - to enable the person to become engaged and become empowered without having too much burden to bear. Local partnerships have been established particularly in the United Kingdom and in Poland which is the focus of this study. In this paper, I will be determining whether local partnerships are effective in empowering the community. I will be looking at how the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) of the United Kingdom and the Local Initiatives Program (LIP) of Poland have fared in the years of its implementation. In the end, I will be arriving at some conclusions about whether local partnerships deserve a place in public governance. In the UK, community involvement has been integrated in public governance. It finds expression in the so called Local Strategic Partnerships (LSP) which is non-statutory, multi-agency partnerships that match local authority boundaries. LSP's bring together at a local level the different parts of the public, private, community and voluntary sectors allowing different initiatives and services to support one another so that they can work together more effectively. (ODPM, 2004, 2006) Lack of joint working at local level has been one of the key reasons why there has been little progress in delivering sustainable economic, social and physical regeneration, or improved public services, that meet the needs of local communities. Ideally, a combination of organisations and the community working co-operatively as part of an LSP will have a far greater chance of success. To achieve these improvements, the Government, local authorities and other service providers must work co-operatively, change the ways they work, reallocate resources and 'bend' their mainstream programmes to tackle issues that really matter to local people.(Orton, 2004) LSPs have the aim of bringing about widening involvement in governance. LSPs are a long way from uniform institutions. Their history, composition and working arrangements vary enormously. The 'board' of an LSP may include anything from 12 people to more than 60. Board members may be nominated by sub-groups or partner organisations, or invited by the board, or recruited through public appointment processes, or elected by community forums. I LSPs were introduced by the Government as a means of improving inclusion in the development of priorities for service provision on a local level as well as in its continuing governance. In its 2002 report 'We Can Work it Out' the Local Government Association said that LSP's have been established to support localities in their attempts to work together more coherently in the pursuit of community wellbeing and good governance by providing a single strategic focus within a locality. (Local government Association) Hillary Armstrong wrote in the DETR Local Strategic Partnerships Consultation Document of October 2000: We do not want to start

Product Portfolio Analysis of Heinz Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Product Portfolio Analysis of Heinz - Case Study Example The BCG growth-share matrix displays the positions of business units on graph of the market growth rate against their market share relative to competitors. Of all the products launched by Heinz between 2003 and 2006, sauces, dressings and condiments took the largest share, of 25.5%. However, ready meals also took a sizeable share of 20.9%. Other categories that been key to the company's new product developments include canned food (13.1%) and fruit and vegetable products (9.2%). Of all the products launched between 2003 and 2006, 1.5% products were classed as innovative. When looking at innovation within Heinz, the company is most innovative in meat, fish and poultry products with 6.1% of all meat products launched by the company, innovative (Datamonitor Inc., 2007). Additionally, from the information that is available about the business units of the company, it can be stated that the Tinned Pasta and Retail Brown sauce business units were the most profitable with a revenue generation of 78.2 and 74% respectively. From this information, according to the BCG Matrix, these two units can be termed as Stars. Secondly, the Retail Ketchup and Baked Beans divisions were other two divisions which generated considerable revenues. Baby food and drink products are another area in which Heinz is a leading innovator. 3.1% of all baby products launched were classed as innovative. One of the most impo... The company also increased its focus on the consumer with a strong spotlight on health and wellness. Apart from these, the company also increased investment in marketing for future growth, greater R & D and impressive productivity measures (Merrett, 2007). Heinz's international growth strategy of acquiring new companies in the Netherlands, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Costa Rica also have been of great help to the company's growth and improved performance. The company also launched growth and reorganization plans to focus on Meal Enhancers and Meals & Snacks. The historic transaction with Del Monte Foods is designed to make Heinz a more focused company able to invest more effectively in its strongest brands (Heinz). Heinz intends to build growth and value over the long term through a strategy based on certain imperatives like expansion and improved consumer price-value, remove the clutter by reducing the complexity of Heinz's business processes and continuing to focus resources on those products and activities that maximize profitability; Task 1 - C Pricing Strategies & Porter's Five forces Pricing again also played its part in the company's overall performance as changes in pricing and improved volumes, through key brands like weight watchers and Heinz baked beans, were offset by difficulties in Russia for its non-Heinz products and unbranded frozen foods. By maintaining the key initiatives of the yearof pushing both innovation and the number of its brands globally, Heinz believes that it can continue the strong performance into the 2008 fiscal year. The company was also keen in squeezing out costs to deliver the margin improvements necessary to underwrite greater marketing investment. The effective formulation

Analysis of umbrella branding

Analysis of umbrella branding The 1980s witnessed a revolution in the understanding of the working of the brands. Marketers describe brands as a mirror image of customers own personalities, so that customers can relate to their products well. In fact the unique aspect of the modern marketing has been that it has focused upon the creation of differentiated brands and using them as weaponry for initiating multi-level attacks on the opposition. Market research has been used as a marketing tool to help recognize and develop the bases of brand differentiation. A brand not only identifies a product but also its sources. Along came brand extension. At present brand extension strategies and policies are widely engaged because of beliefs that they build and communicate strong brand positioning, amplify profitability and enhance awareness. Brands are often extended beyond their initial categories to incorporate new product categories. Research has proved that the success of brand extension depends on the transfer of parent brand awareness and associations to the extension. The transfer of these quality perceptions is the key in umbrella branding. An umbrella brand is a type of brand that covers various kinds of products which are more or less related. It applies also to any company that is identified only by its brand and the brand history. It is contrasted with individual branding in which each product in a portfolio is given an exclusive brand name and identity. An umbrella brand is an overarching brand used across multiple products which are related to each other. Another name for umbrella branding is family branding. Time and again economies of scope are related with umbrella branding since multiple products can be proficiently promoted with a single advertisement or campaign. This type of branding facilitates new product introductions by providing a familiar brand name, which can lead to product acceptance, trial purchase and other advantages. Umbrella branding may impress on the brand owner a superior burden to sustain constant quality. If the quality of even one of the products in the brand family is compromised, it could have an impact on the reputation of all the others. This is a major reason why umbrella branding is generally limited to product lines that consist of products of similar quality. Umbrella branding is extensively practiced. The umbrella brand and individual brands are compared to an Indian family, where in umbrella brands like the Indian family, the father is the head, looking over the children (individual brands). When they grow up and become independent, they hold the umbrella for the family. On the other hand the individual brands are like a western family, who grow up fast and leave the family behind. EXAMPLES OF UMBRELLA BRANDING: Amuls strategy of using umbrella branding has really paid off. Amuls marketing and advertising spend has never exceeded 1% of its revenues. Most of the other food companies spend 6-7% of their revenues on advertising and marketing. They are not big spenders compared to Nestle or Britannia. Despite a limited budget, Amuls creatives in the form of: 1) Billboards or 2) The Taste of India campaign have always managed to remind a larger-than-life brand feel, reliability and spirit of Indian culture in a modern way. Hindustan Unilevers beverage brands have been combined under two umbrella brands Brooke Bond and Lipton. In the fabric wash category, it has retained only Surf, Rin and Wheel. With time HUL has withdrawn its brands such as Nihar, Dalda, 501 and Sunlight; it plans to extract some more brands and put them under a few umbrella brands. HUL is currently focusing on its 35 power brands. Nivea the cosmetics brand has its presence in a huge number of product categories and countries. Niveas performance impelled a yahoo.com news article to name it the Queen of Mega Brands. This title was appropriate since the brand was present in over 14 product categories and was available in more than 151 countries. Nivea was reportedly believed to be a brand of local origin having been present in them for many decades. This fact went a long way in helping the brand attain the leadership status in many categories and countries. According to analysts, the brand was the single largest factor for the 4.6% increase in the companys revenues and 10.8% increase in after-tax profit. Beiersdorf never tried to change the umbrella branding of Nivea and got prolific results. PROCESS OF BRAND EQUITY BRAND EXTENSIONS A company may use its existing brand name to launch new products in other categories. Honda uses its name to market various products like automobiles, snowmobiles, motorcycles and lawn mowers. This allows Honda to advertise that: It can fit six Hondas in a two car Garage Godrej now features its name on soap, lotion, shampoo, conditioner, locks, shower gel, raw chicken, almirahs, etc. The latest trend in corporate brand building is that corporation is licensing their names to manufacturer of a wide range of products from bedding to shoes. Brand extensions also involve risk. The new product might disappoint buyers damage their respect for the companys other product. The brand may lose its special positioning in the consumers mind due to dilution. When consumers no longer correlate a brand with highly similar products or a special power Dilution occurs. History of Brand Extension Brand extension is being used since a long time and is not a recent phenomenon. It has been prominent since a long time in the luxury goods sector. India has been fortunate enough to always have big business houses like Godrej, Tatas, and Birla who have always pushed newer and varied products under one Brand Name. Tata From Steel to Cars Godrej -From locks to Farm fresh Chicken Ambanis after decades of distinction in Industrial chemicals have now entered into telecom and power sector. WHY EXTEND THE BRAND? Innovation allows the brand to remain up-to date, allows a company to achieve a competitive advantage over the other and demonstrate a continuous attentiveness to the changes in customer taste. Also a major factor in brand extension is the cost of advertising. BRAND EXTENSION: HOW? There are two preparatory stages, before setting any practical extension. The first is the exploratory stage- It probes all the memories and the associations that the people have in their minds with the brand. This stage helps in assuming as to which products would be compatible with the brands meaning. Second study phase- New products ideas are tested. A decision cannot be made on the basis of this information alone. Strategic decisions lead to brand extensions. It also involves factors linked with marketing, finance, human resources and production. It cannot be over-emphasized that extension cannot be contemplated without the complete knowledge of the brands attributes. Why Brand Extension Fail? The various reasons why the effort of brand extension can fail are that the strategy presupposes one or more assumptions. Assumption one: It will help get trial / sell the new product. This need not be unavoidable, even if it is reasonable. The extension of the brand name will help to get trial only if it is seen to Add Value to the new product. Example, when Nirma introduced toothpaste -many consumers who saw a value in Nirma washing powder, did not find it in the toothpaste. Assumption Two: It will help to reinforce the existing product. A brand extension can easily achieve this, but only if the new product incorporates a truly New Idea. Example, the Apple computers brand was actually enhanced by the introduction of the iPod MP3 Player but this was a result of the iPod being a sensationally new idea. The Apple brand could not have achieved this, if the iPod was just another regular MP3 player. Assumption Three: The brand equity will ensure ready recognition in the new category. A common assumption is that the brand has enough Stretch to carry its strength into a new category. Example, Bournvita was unable to extend its strength to biscuits from a health beverage. One of the most critical weaknesses in many Brand extension initiatives is that they start with the marketer and not the consumer. Brand Extensions will succeed only when they research and have a Consumer Connect. Guidelines for Brand Extension Guideline One: Extend a strong Performance Characteristic Association. This is the simplest level at which to begin. Amul stands for pure milk. Indeed it is likely that to many consumers, Amul is milk. Therefore, it is easy to extend the brand from wet milk, to butter, to cheese, to dairy whitener, and recently, to ice cream. However, with pizza, Amul may now be moving just a bit too far from the core milk association. Does the consumer think Pizza = cheese (=milk) or is Pizza = baked food? Guideline Two: Extend a strong Benefit Association. Fair Lovely owns the skin fairness benefit strongly enough to extend the brand from the original fairness cream to a lotion to a soap to an under-eye cream. Guideline Three: Extend an association with a Consumer Attitude or Belief. Nike and its swoosh stand for pushing oneself beyond the limit and an individualistic attitude so the brand appeals to those who share this view and who wear the brand as a badge: in sports shoes, sports goods, bags, casual wear, even watches. Guideline Four: Extend the brand based on Brand Essence. There are also several watch-outs to note before extending brands. Watch-out One: Is your brand extension sending out contradictory signals? This could be happening in the case of Nivea, where after offering skin-care products for women for years, a range of mens toileteries was introduced under the same name. Bad idea. Watch-out Two: Is there any link to the brand extensions or is it merely a convenient, available name thats being used? Maggi came into India with 2-Minute noodles a hearty, anytime snack. Since then the Maggi brand has been extended to sauces, soup cubes, even pickles. There is nothing that holds this set of products together. Is it surprising that the extensions are not resounding successes? Watch-out Three: Check the interpretation of the link across extensions. Dettol was the ubiquitous antiseptic liquid (and then cream). When the brand was first extended to soaps, the antiseptic property was interpreted to mean care and Dettol was launched as The Love and Care Soap. It did not work. Today, many years later, Dettol soap offers protection a more realistic interpretation of the antiseptic property, and the soap is doing far better. A few umbrella brands or individual brands? According to experts, independent brands only make sense when the product clearly has a different proposition from the company brand; like Lexus from Toyota and Swatch from Omega. In the case of Asian Paints, there were so many sub-brands, there was a reduction of media weights for advertising each entity. Then, the company shifted to a brand-centric portfolio, which involved a change of logo, product names, packaging and advertising. But the response from the trade and consumers has been positive, overall brand synergy and shop presence have increased, and the advertising is more effective. Most probably in near future the media environment will make it impossible to create newer brand names and the conditions at the consumer level, as well as the environment. So unless the product is clearly different in the mind of the consumer, umbrella branding is the way to go. Umbrella brands are going to rule! Nestle SA , the worlds leading food manufacturer and the market leader in both coffee and mineral water, produces a wind range of products including prepared dishes and cooking aids, milk-based products, cereals, instant coffee, pharmaceuticals and baby foods. Nestle SA is a publicly owned company, with subsidiaries across the world. It website addresses in 104 countries. It is also the world largest food and beverage company with $71 billion in annual sales and almost 230,000 employees around the world. It markets some 8000 brands that include instant coffee. Remarkably, its products are sold in every country in the world, including in North Korea. Nestle coat of arms, the birds nest, which refers to his name, has become a symbol for the products being a safe care for their consumer product safety and quality. Research and development based innovation capacity and strong brands are priority for Nestle.

Bill Cosby :: essays research papers

Bill Cosby was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 12, 1937. He was the oldest of four boys. He had three brothers, and their names were: James, Russell, and Robert. His father ran away near Christmas time when he was very young and he had to get a job to help support the family. In school he was the class clown and was sent to a special school for rowdy boys. In his new school his teacher was Mary Forchic. She saw that he was a great comedian and she put that into her lessons to make them more understandable for Bill. She made the lessons fun for him and made it easier to learn. He said that she made him what he is today. After a couple years he went back to his old school and even though his grades were dropping he still kept it together. Bill was starting to look up to comedians on the radio and the TV. They were comedians like Sam Levenson, Sid Caesar, and Carl Reiner. Even though his grades were poor in junior high, when he took the standardized tests he was accepted to Central High School, which was a school for all the gifted children in Pennsylvania. Now being six feet, he was on the high school football team. But in the first week of football he broke his arm. Since there were few blacks in the school and he was slightly a target of biggotous remarks he went back to getting attention by clowning around in class again. He was later sent to Germantown Highschool where all his neighborhood friends went. He was back with his friends but his grades started to drop. He was left back twice. He was also too old to participate in the city track meets (which he could easily win). Bill dropped out of high school. He went to be a shoemaker=s helper, but the shoemaker didn=t like it when he nailed the ladies heels onto the mens shoes!Then Bill decided to join the Navy. There he found discipline and no room to joke around. He spent four long years in the Navy but he says that it made him more mature and able to control himself better. He was trained as a physical therapist. Helping men who lost their legs and arms, he finally realized how lucky he was. While in the Navy

Case Write-Up for Sunshine Foods Marketing

Case Write-up Sunshine Foods Problem Sunshine Foods biggest problem is their declining profits. They also have had minimal growth and have high overhead costs, which are a large part of their declining profits. Causes Sunshine Foods has three major areas that need to be address in order to increase their profits. First, their motto: â€Å"As long as new products look like they will increase the company’s sales volume, they are introduced. † This is causing the company to take on too many products that don’t increase their revenues. It spreads them to thin and makes them too generic. Second, adding more products to use the unused areas of production. They need to do a cost analysis to see if using that unused production time has any cost/revenue benefit. Just because it is unused doesn’t mean that it will generate more money if it is used. Third, their contract states a grocer needs to carry at least 65 Sunshine Food items. This forces only large grocers to carry their items, which limits their market area. By limiting their market area to only large grocers they are unable to have price control and they are always competing against all of the other brands that the store carries. Sunshine’s lack of growth is primarily caused by their lack of specialization. If they can and freeze everything and anything then a consumer doesn’t see them as being â€Å"the best† in any product. Their lack of expansion into smaller stores is also holding back their growth. High overhead costs are created by Sunshine’s need to use every second of factory time. This is causing them to spend too much to create a product that returns very little. If their factories have that much unused time they should just close a few factories and focus on what is really important. Recommendations I would recommend that they first do a cost analysis on the products that they are producing. This will allow them to see which products sell the most and create the highest return. Once they know this information they need to produce more of those items and stop producing the items that aren’t helping their bottom line. Along with this, they will be able to identify which factories are the most efficient at producing those items. They can then close the slower factories and use the money to make the remaining factories more efficient. I would then have them change their contract to a much smaller number of items for stores to carry. If they lower their number to 25 items then they could sell items in more boutique shops that will have lower competition and higher prices. To really increase their profits they should pick a few â€Å"specialty† items and market themselves as having the best in those items. This will help them create more of a brand name, especially if they sell those items in the boutique shops.

Ramon Magsaysay Essay

Last Thursday, November 29, 2012, this is the day that were waiting for. I was so excited to have our last field trip as a high school. This field trip is very memorable for me because Clare, Alaica, Kim, Ray, and I are first time to be late in our last field trip. We arrive at south supermarket at 5:25am, and almost 5 minutes when the bus left us. There’s no extra bus for the late comers like us. I feel nervous at this time because we don’t know what were going to do. No one knows how to go to our first destination. Ray suggested that it’s better for us to go home and ask help to our parents to bring us to Pasay. Clare, Alaica, and I, didn’t agree to his suggestion, because we know that it will only takes a lot to time before we arrive at our first destination. Alaica decided to ask for help in the guard inside the south supermarket. The guard teach us how to go to MOA in Pasay. We ride at the LRT, from Santolan to Cubao. After that we ask the taxi driver to bring us in Mall of Asia, where Nido Fortified Science Discovery Center are found. We finally reached our first destination. We felt happy because we didn’t expect that we did it. Our friends hug us tight like we’ve never seen for a long years. My heart is jumping because of happiness. We roam around and we saw several stuff that are related to science like, earth science, biology, chemistry, and physics. We also had a short film viewing on how the celestial bodies are being formed. We are all amazed on what we’ve seen. It’s like you were in the outer space when you start to watch that video. We are all entertained and at the same time we are learning. Before we leave this place, our mind are filled with the new knowledge and new experience. Our next destination is in Tzu Chi Foundation in Sta Mesa, Manila, whare you can found a good hearted persons. The people here are working hard not for themselves, but for the people who are disabled. They do it without waiting for any return. When you go inside, you will found their low price shop, where recycled bottles are turned into useful once. All of the items inside are very affordable and useful. The money that are being entered to them, will add to their fund that supports to their charity. Our last destination is in Galilee Mansion Garden Resort in Bulacan. Here, we enjoy our last tour even in the middle of the hottest of the sun. We don’t care on what will happened to our skin texture, because all we want is to  grab this opportunity to feel relax, enjoy, and have bonding with my fellow students and friends. After this adventurous field trip, we ended our day with the smile in our faces. This is our last field trip as 4th yr. student, that’s why this field trip is very memorable for us. I.Hindi pinayagan ng gobyerno ang pag-alis ni former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo at ang asawa nito na si Jose Miguel â€Å"Mike† Arroyo.Papuntang HongKong para mag pagaling sa hinarap na sakit ng dating pangulo na hypoparathyroidism.Pinigilan sila ng mga opisyales ng â€Å"immigration† sa pag-sakay nila sa anumang eroplano o sa pag alis ng Bansa. Ngayon ay nagpapagaling siya sa Saint Luke’s Hospital.Madaming napahayag kung ano na ang kalagayan ng dating pangulo,Kaya ipapatawag ang mga doktor na nag-aalaga ngayon sa dating pangulo. II.Para sa akin ay tama lang ang hindi pag-payag ng ating pamahalaan na makaalis ng bansa para mag-pagamot si Gng.Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.Dahil pwede naman siyang pag-gamot dito sa Pilipinas at mag-pagaling,Madaming magagaling na doktor ang Pilipinas.At saka baka siya lamang ay tumakas sa isasampang kaso sa kanya. III. Panghuli at pinakamahalaga sa akin bilang isang batang Pilipino ay ang pag-titiwala ni Gng.Gloria Macapagal Arroyo sa mga doktor ng Pilipinas na magagamot siya kahit mas maunlad ang mga kagamitan ng ibang bansa sa pag-gamot kaysa dito sa Pilipinas Ito na ang ating huling sandali Di na tayo magkaka mali Kasi wala ng bukas Sulitin natin ito na ang wakas Kailangan na yata nating umuwi Hawakan mo aking kamay Bago tayo maghiwalay lahat lahat ibibigay lahat lahat Paalam sa ating huling sayaw Mag dulo pala ang langit Kaya’t sabay tayong bibitaw Sa ating huling sayaw Di na malayan na malalim na ang gabi (malalim na ang gabi) Pero ayoko sanang magmadali (wag kang magmadali) Kay tamis kay sarap Ngunit ito na ang huli Kailangan na yata natin umuwi Hawakan mo aking kamay Bago tayo maghiwalay lahat lahat ibibigay lahat lahat Paalam sating huling sayaw Mag dulo pala ang langit Kaya’t sabay tayong bibitaw Sa ating huling sayaw Paalam sa ating huling sayaw May dulo pa la ang langit Kaya’t sabay tayong bibitaw Sa ating huling sayaw Paalam sating huling sayaw May dulo pala ang langit Kaya’t sabay tayong bibitaw Sa ating huling sayawa

Essay Electoral College system to elect the President of the USAEssay Writing Service

Essay Electoral College system to elect the President of the USAEssay Writing Service Essay Electoral College system to elect the President of the USA Essay Electoral College system to elect the President of the USAThere are two main reasons why we should continue to use the Electoral College system to elect the President of the USA:First, the Electoral College system ensures broader public support of the candidate elected to become the U.S. President. Without this system, candidates could win the elections based on the votes of the heavily populated areas, such as large cities.Second, the Electoral College can be viewed as an important tool to promote an maintain federalism in the United States because this system is based on the principle of equality. In other words, each state has equal rights, no matter what size the state has. The system of federalism guarantees distinct rights which play an important role in the development of the states.There are two main reasons why the Electoral College should be abolished:First, the Electoral College system should be abolished because this system does not promote democracy. Its flaws incl ude the â€Å"faithless elector, the winner take all system, the constant two electoral votes, the uncertainty of the winner winning and the contingency procedure† (Rose, 2004, p. 199).Second, the Electoral College does not support the worth of votes of minority groups, intensifying the racial imbalance in the country. The Electoral College system privileges the lightly populated areas, inhabited by white people.I agree with the Electoral College because this system promotes the use of the two party system, which guarantees political stability and supports the U.S. Constitution. The Electoral College is part of the system of checks and balances, promoted by the U.S. Constitution. Besides, I believe that the Electoral College guarantees fair elections due to the truly national appeal to the President.

buy custom The Contract Law essay

buy custom The Contract Law essay A contract can be defined as an agreement between two or more parties or organizations and the requirements that the contract forms are recognizable by the law. Therefore a contract law is an agreement between organizations that if one organization is dissatisfied with another, the law can intervene and make a judgment (Miller, 2009). Many organizations, for purposes of correlation with others, enter into contracts though many end up in the hands of the law due to various misunderstandings between the two. I many cases, the offering company always wins most of the case due to ignorance of the contract terms by the offered. For a contract to be enforceable, it must be legal, it must have an offer, it must be accepted by both parties and it must have considerations to both parties. It is therefore advisable to keenly read the terms and conditions of a contract before entering in to it. Body In our case here, we have two companies involved that are Clean and Tidy Ltd and PC Ltd. Clean and Tidy Ltd has been offering computer cleaning services to PC Ltd for four years now. It is seen that some computers are damaged and PC ltd is asking for compensations but Clean and Tidy Ltd look upon a clause that they had given to PC ltd. Before the cleaning took place, PC Ltd did not sign the contract. Clean and Tidy Ltd claims that they are only eligible to pay for any damages if they are notified in advance that the item damaged is particularly valuable, which PC ltd had not done. For the law to intervene in a contract case, it has to look at a number of things. First of all, was the clause incorporated as a term or a contract? It could be said that the clause was a term rather than a contract. This is because it was written at the back of slip of paper that Clean and Tidy had given to PC Ltd. For the clause to be termed as a contract, it has to be well defined at the front of the written contract. As in the case of Woodruff vs. Clarke Company Farm Bureau Cooperative Association, where a farmer purchased chicken for the purposes of laying eggs. Most of them died after illness and the farmer sued the seller. The seller pointed to the language on the receipts that he gave to the farmer that stated no warranties either express or implied have been made by the seller as to the condition of the poultry. The court ruled the case in favor of the seller though it questioned whether the language was conspicuous enough to draw the attention of the farmer. In the case of Clean and Tidy Ltd and PC Ltd, it can be seen that the clause was written at the back of a slip of paper and so it was not conspicuou at all to the PC ltd company to see. The court should rule the case in favor of the PC ltd company. Secondly, the terms of the contract should be visible and clear. As for the case of Henderson vs. Stevenson where a passenger travelling with luggage from Dublin to White haven on a ticket (Miller ,2009), which had a term written on the back which exempted the shipping company from liability for the loss of luggage. He never looked at the back of the ticket. He lost his luggage and sued for damages. He was entitled to damages as he was not bound by something which was not communicated to him. In our case here, it can be seen that the term on the Clean and Tidy Ltd being liable to pay for the damaged is not visible. It is situated at the back of a slip of paper that Pc Ltd was given. Therefore PC Ltd is entitled to damages and the law should rule the case in favor of it. Thirdly, timing of the notice also matters. The major question here is was the notice given before or during the contract period? As for the case of Ramsgate Victoria Hotel Co., vs. Montefiore where an individual offered to purchase shares in a company by writing a letter on June 8 (Kelly Anne, 2002). The company released the shares on 23rd November. The individual refused the shares. The law held to that the offer lapsed as it was not accepted within a reasonable time. In our case here, it can be seen that Clean and Tidy Ltd did not give their terms on damaged computers to PC Ltd on time or within a reasonable time. It was after the damage of the computers that the term came to light. The slip of paper that the term was written was given to PC Ltd on the day that Clean and Tidy Ltd cleaned the computers. This was too late since it was long after the contract was signed. Also, in our case here, the Clean and Tidys term was written on a slip of paper. If the conditions are contained in a separate document that is delivered after the contract is complete, then the offeree is not bound by them. Such document is taken as a non-contractual document as it is not supposed to contain the conditions of the contract. According to R.S. Deboo vs. M. V. Hindlekar, it cannot be assumed that the printed conditions that are on any document attached to the actual contract (Gilles, 2004), may it be a receipt or a piece of paper, automatically become contractual terms or part of it. Take for example this case; a person hired a chair from the municipal council in order to sit on the beach. He paid the rent and was given a ticket which had a clause on an attached slip of paper at the back that exempted the council for any accident or damage arising from the hiire of chairs. The person sustained injuries as he was sitting on the chair after it broke down. He sued the coun cil for damages. The law ruled that the council was liable for the persons injuries since the clause on the attached slip of paper do not automatically become contractual terms. This is according to Chapleton v. Barry U.D.C (Gilles, 2004). The other essential thing is the reasonability of the term of contract (Kelly Anne, 2002). In our case here, it can be seen that the term stated that Clean and tidy Ltd will not be responsible for any injuries or damages howsoever caused. The term then continues to say that the company will however pay a certain amount per computer damaged if it is informed in advance that the item is particularly valuable. This does not make sense at all. It either you are eligible or not. The term also states that it will pay a certain amount for a computer that is damaged if they are informed in advance of its value. This is an offer and for an offer to be valid, it must be communicated in time. In this case, it was not communicated to PC ltd and they were not aware of it. As for the case of Felthouse vs. Bindley a supplier sent a draft agreement relating to the supply of coal and coke to the manager of a railway company for his acceptance. The manager wrote the word approved on the draft and put it in a drawer with an intention of sending it to the supplier for a formal contract to be drawn up. The draft remained in the drawer. In this case, there is no contract since the manager had not communicated his acceptance to the supplier. In our case here, it can be seen that PC Ltd did not accept or respond to the offer that Clean and Tidy gave since they were not aware of it. The offer was revealed after the damages of the computers and therefore the law should rule the case in favor of PC Ltd since they were not aware of the offer and they even did not respond to it. Conclusion PC Ltd was not bound to the term that Clean and Tidy ltd gave on the damaged computers. First of all, the term was written on a slip of paper. Secondly, it seems that PC Ltd was not aware of the terms since they demanded compensation immediately there were damages on their computers. Thirdly, the term, having an offer in it was not communicated to the offeree. It was also communicated to the offeree at a very late stage when the damages had already occurred. Though, Clean and Tidy could however not be liable to the damages since they requested a notification of the value of the computers before cleaning them otherwise they are liable for the damages and they should compensate PC Ltd for them. Buy custom The Contract Law essay

The 6 Elements That Are Liquid at Room Temperature

The 6 Elements That Are Liquid at Room Temperature There are two elements that are liquid at the temperature technically designated room temperature or 298 K (25 °C) and a total of six elements that can be liquids at actual room temperatures and pressures. Elements That Are  Liquid at 25 °C Room temperature is a loosely defined term that can mean anywhere from 20 °C to 29 °C. For science, its usually considered to be either 20 °C or 25 °C. At this temperature and ordinary pressure, only two elements are liquids: BromineMercury Bromine (symbol Br and atomic number 35) is a reddish-brown liquid,  with a melting point  of 265.9 K. Mercury (symbol Hg and atomic number 80) is a toxic shiny silvery metal, with a melting point of 234.32 K. Elements That Become Liquid 25 °C-40 °C When the temperature is slightly warmer, there are a few other elements found as liquids at normal pressure: FranciumCesiumGalliumRubidium These four elements all melt at temperatures slightly higher than room temperature. Francium (symbol Fr and atomic number 87), a radioactive and reactive metal, melts around 300 K. Francium is the most electropositive of all the elements. Although its melting point is known, there is so little of this element in existence that its unlikely youll ever see a picture of this element in the liquid form. Cesium (symbol Cs and atomic number 55), a soft metal that violently reacts with water, melts at 301.59 K. The low melting point and softness of francium and cesium are a consequence of the size of their atoms. In fact, cesium atoms are larger than those of any other element. Gallium (symbol Ga and atomic number 31), a grayish metal, melts at 303.3 K. Gallium can be melted by body temperature, as in a gloved hand. This element displays low toxicity, so its available online and may be used safely for science experiments. In addition to melting it in your hand, it can be substituted for mercury in the beating heart experiment and can be used to make spoons that vanish when used to stir hot liquids. Rubidium (symbol Rb and atomic number 37) is a soft, silvery-white reactive metal, with a melting point of 312.46 K. Rubidium spontaneously ignites to form rubidium oxide. Like cesium, rubidium reacts violently with water. Other Liquid Elements That state of matter of an element may be predicted based on its phase diagram. While temperature is an easily controlled factor, manipulating pressure is another way to cause a phase change. When pressure is controlled, other pure elements may be found at room temperature. An example is the halogen element chlorine.

How convincing do you find Stuart Hall's approach to 'race' Essay

How convincing do you find Stuart Hall's approach to 'race' - Essay Example Therefore, Stuart Hall’s approach to race is totally convincing to me, and it is practical in a number of situations; it provides vast knowledge on race dynamics. Stuart Hall argued about the human culture and the tendency to categorise human beings into subgroups, as well as fragment human society diversity into discrete types with regard to characteristics and qualities, which are deemed essential and are always extremely high. The qualities and characteristics according to which human beings are categorised may include intellectual, body and physical characteristics among others (Smaje, 2000, p.55). This categorisation is a reflective cultural impulse; it gives human beings a chance to understand various meanings in classification. Stuart Hall argued that classification is an extremely fundamental aspect of the culture of human beings (Rex and Mason, 1989, p. 35). Further, the significant aspect of classification to people is when the classification becomes the power dispos ition object. This point is relevant to the extent that marking of the similarities and differences across populations of human beings becomes the reference point for treating one group of people with privileges, which may not be enjoyed by another group of people (Malik, 1996, p. 43). In essence, classification facilitates one group to be treated favorably, and the other group gets subjected to a wide range of discriminations and suffering. This juncture marks the union of classification of human societies and cultures and power and authority. Classification assumes the status of a power system, and this power system is evidenced in a wide range of characteristics, especially in human beings (Smaje, 2000, p.57). For instance, this system of power is evidenced in gender, which ascribes feminine and masculine identities to people in a cultural setting. From these ascriptions, a vast range of opportunities, aspirations and behavior can be predicted from the classifications (Omi and Wi nant, 1994, p. 33). Therefore, classification is an extremely generative term, and the moment an individual is classified into any group or race, many things and aspects assume their position in the life of the individual, as a result of the classification. However, classification has another significant aspect in the life of people; it awakens the minds of people and maintains order and stratification of a system. This order is retained at all times, and anything which disturbs this order is viewed negatively, and people who strive to retain the status quo fight to return the order to its original position (Rex and Mason, 1989, p. 46). Apparently, it becomes clear that classification is not only a division into whites and blacks, but also that one of these groups has more value (positive) than the other group. This is the path always taken by power, and any person who attempts to ascribe white characteristics to blacks generates immense worry in society. In such instances, people e xperience misplaced priority and misappropriated ascription, which is described as â€Å"matter out of place† (Malik, 1996, p. 43). This phrase denotes that all societies and cultures have classification orders, which can be said to be inbuilt and out of the culture (Augstein, 1996, p. 36). This order informs people about their position in a society, their rank, as well as

Fluid Mechanics (civil) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Fluid Mechanics (civil) - Essay Example However, it is a proven fact that dams are also responsible for causing low to high degree tremors, soil erosion and they render the site useless for future cultivation. Typical dam location can be represented as: Dam Design and Operation: Effective dam designing requires a clear understanding of destructive potential of uncontrolled water. To ensure that its force is subdued, it must be confined to safe passages. A dam alters natural equilibrium at its site. As water is impounded, a new regime of seepage develops in the barriers that form reservoir. The characteristics of the materials used in the dam construction give different capabilities to the dam structure. Water in rivers is obstructed with the dam walls and guided to an inside chamber for storage. It is then released as and when required by the doors of these chambers. Released water is either mixed with river water and supplied to irrigation land or is used to run turbines for electricity generation. 1. google search engine, google book search, Robert B. Jansen(1988), ‘Advanced dam engineering for design, construction, and rehabilitation’, Springer publication, March 9, 2009, 2-3; retrieved from 2. google search engine, google book search, Imre V. Nagy, D. Kofi Asante-Duah, Istvà ¡n Zsuffa (2002), ‘Hydrological Dimensioning and Operation of Reservoirs: Practical Design Concepts and Principles’, Springer publication, March 9, 2009, retrieved from

What did Malcom X do for Islam Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

What did Malcom X do for Islam - Research Paper Example At the age of 20, Malcolm X was arrested and taken to prison for criminal offense (larceny, breaking, and entering). It was during his prison life that Malcolm X joined the Nation of Islam; a movement founded by Wallece Fard in the 1930s (DeCaro 76). He rose to the ranks to become a leader in the Nation of Islam. He opted for the name X on the belief that he had lost his true lineage following forced slavery on his African ancestors. For years, Malcolm X featured as the public face of this controversial Islamic group that believed and worshipped Allah and also lived to Mohammed’s teachings. In protecting the Nation Islam’s teachings, Malcolm X strongly advocated for Black-White separation, scoffed at the American’s civil rights movement, and espoused black supremacy by emphasizing on white-black integration (Kly 77). Following the mysterious disappearance of Fard, Elijah Muhammad ascended to the leadership of the movement. The Nation of Islam became very powerful and influential, especially among the African-Americans who had been released from prison and where in search of help and guidance (Turner 54). The group preached strict adherence to moral codes as well as relying on fellow African-Americans for guidance and support. The primary goal of this movement was not integration, but empowering the blacks to establish their own churches, support networks, and schools (DeCaro 85). After making his personal conversion to Muhammad, Malcolm X’s talents were recognized by Elijah, making to become the spokesperson of the Black Muslims. Having been disillusioned with Muhammad and the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X led repudiation to the Nation of Islam and its fundamental teachings (Sabrina 6-7). It was after this walkout that Malcolm X embraced Sunni Islam. Following years of Middle East and Africa n travels, Malcolm founded the popular Organization of Afro-American

What Marx Appear To Mean By The Term Alienation Essay

What Marx Appear To Mean By The Term Alienation - Essay Example His political, economic and social ideas gained rapid acceptance despite the fact that he was largely ignored by other scholars and regimes during his lifetime. His fame rose further after his death in 1883. Marx was a communism’s most zealous intellectual advocate. He made comprehensive writing on the subject which laid the basis and foundation for the political leaders who were to come after him. He studied philosophy but turned to economics and politics in his twenties. Karl Marx’s theories of politics, economics and society, which are collectively referred to as Marxism, argued that all human societies progress through dialectic of class struggles. Such class struggle occurs in a capitalist state. Within such a society, the capitalist classes; the owners of capital compete with the workers. The workers solely have their labour power to offer as a means of obtaining daily bread for their livelihood. Karl Marx referred to the capitalist societies as the â€Å"dictato rship of the bourgeoisie†. Such a society is run by the wealthy class of individuals. Such a management or rule is purely meant to benefit the rich ruling class. A class struggle between the bourgeoisies would lead into a dialectical series which enables the society to be transformed from one state to another. The bourgeoisie would always struggle to maintain and expand their wealth in terms of land and other factors of production. This group of individuals does this by exploiting and exposing the proletariat to harsh conditions characterized by poor wages, less food and poor housing. This would enable to capitalist class to make maximum profit and reduce competition from the proletariat. Alienation basically refers to an act of separation from what is most desired by individuals or from whatever is desirable. Alienation is a discrimination of individuals based on something which is valuable to their existence. A society in which alienation is practiced tends to have some of i ts members get extremely wealthy at the expense of other members of the population. Individual are alienated when they live in conditions which they do not approve of and believe to have been caused and forced into them by external forces. It is a form of discrimination in which individuals are denied or prevented from accessing their rights. Forceful denial of self determination, where individuals lack the power to determine whatever happens to them, is a form of alienation which Karl Marx explained. This paper tries, therefore, to make an analysis into what Karl Marx implied by alienation. Karl Marx and Alienation Karl Marx expresses the meaning of alienation in two words; estrangement and reification. Reification refers to the externalization of aspects of self which there exist a dual sense of lose and identification. This implies that labour became a remote or external action since there is the act of selling one’s self just as a commodity and also an individual no longe r relates or identifies with the outcome of ones labour since it has been an independent action. Estrangement on the other hand refers to a situation in which an individual has a feeling of separation or distance from the society or community. Karl Marx understands the concepts of alienation from a capitalist point of view. His argument of alienation is based on a capitalist context. The capitalist mode of production forms the basis for alienation according to Karl Marx. This focus enables us to look at the source of alienation in its actual context in the human societies that we live in. it also enables us to understand the manner in which all the rest forms of alienation are deeply rooted in the prime cause which is capitalism. Marx identified a mechanism through

Writing 102 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Writing 102 - Essay Example Red even comes to believe in Andy’s innocence. In the initial days of his prison life, Andy has difficulties adjusting. Most of the prisoners think of him as a snob. As a result, he undergoes many tribulations including rape from a prison gang that refers to themselves as the sisters. Red is the prison smuggler from whom you can get anything you need from the outside. After a while in prison, Andy begins to work for the guards, filling their tax returns (King 56). This makes him a hero in the prison community. He also helps to set up a prison library. In the process of working for them, he begins to launder money for them, reducing his chances of getting out of prison. Andy admits to Red that he had friend set up a false identity through which he now has a lot of money. He dreams of an escape from prison and he dreams of Red going with him to Mexico. One day he manages to escape and his escape signifies hope for the other prisoners. Eventually, Red gets out of jail and finds the rock that Andy had described to him, underneath which the keys to the bank’s safety deposit box were to be. He instead find a letter inviting him to join Andy in Mexico and a $100 0 gift. Red feels a sense of renewed hope as he plans to join Andy in Mexico. The movie ‘Shawshank Redemption’ is based on Stephen King’s book. It was adapted screen directed by Frank Darabont. Just like the book, the movie takes one through the journey of despair that inmates can go through, and the importance of having hope and a strong spirit. Unlike the book however, the movies uses film language to bring forth its theme of despair and hope. Film language includes lighting effects, music, and different camera angles (The Shawshank Redemption, Dir Frank Darabont). In the movie, most scenes do not have background music to represent the lack of life that is characteristic of life in prison. There is only one scene that has music when Andy

An ethical analysis of the September 11 attacks Essay

An ethical analysis of the September 11 attacks - Essay Example These attacks were however carried out by Muslim extremists whose ideals were not representative of the Muslim sentiment as a whole. Nevertheless, this attack created a significant rift between the US and the Muslim community. There are various explanations which have been suggested in order to make sense of this attack. These explanations always return to the core issues of terrorism and Muslim extremism. This analysis shall now consider two approaches (Marxism and Realism) to the incident, evaluating the ethics of the situation. The US policy in relation to the developing world soon after the 9/11 attacks shall be the main focus of this analysis, utilizing Marxist and Realist approaches to ethical assessment. The 9/11 terrorist attack and the subsequent War on Terror and the Iraqi War led to instances of western bigotry against the east (Bai). Based on the need to react to the atrocities perpetrated by the Muslim followers, the attacks might be understandable, however, such racism is often carried over to designate Marxism (MacGregor and Zarembka). Some analysts have mentioned, without any sufficient reason for religious fundamentalism in the East, they labeled such religions and practices as the source of crazy fundamentalism, labeling Marxism with the same negative connotation (MacGregor and Zarembka). The 9/11 report on the attacks also established similar connotations, and blamed all the problems on the underachievement and jealousy issues of eastern working class citizens. There are arguments which hold Marxism to task for being too western a philosophy (MacGregor and Zarembka). Edward Said (p. 153) claims that Marxism views Asia as a group entity, not as a plurality of individuals with varying and diverse identities. He does not acknowledge that Marx seems to apply the same ideals to England and India (Said, p. 154). Such criticism may also be based on Marx’s perception of the working class and the bourgeoisie of England where they are grouped to gether based on class. While Said might justifiably accuse Marx with an overall view of class struggle, Marx would likely agree to these same precepts (Said, p. 153). The Marxist theory often supports leftist ideals and has always acknowledged that states operate to protect the interest of the economic working class (Owusu, p. 3). Marxist commentators agree to the outcomes of the 9/11 attacks, most of them are not willing to agree that 9/11 in a manner which was not validated by the US officials; in effect, they discount the possibility of conspiracy of capitalists (Owusu, p. 3). Although the attack established a means for the US to undertake military action, no thought was given to the fact that the attack may have been based on state actions (Owusu, p. 3). However, in general, the Marxist connotations do not support a planned and convoluted action by the US. Marxism is based on economic and sociopolitical ideals which highlight the materialist evaluation of history, and a critique on the development of capitalism (Callinicos, p. 5). In reviewing the 9/11 attacks, terrorism was built on economic hardships, mostly exacerbated by the dominance of capitalism and Western capitalism in the developing countries (Carmody, p. 85). These terrorists believe that their economic

Writing 102 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Writing 102 - Essay Example Red even comes to believe in Andy’s innocence. In the initial days of his prison life, Andy has difficulties adjusting. Most of the prisoners think of him as a snob. As a result, he undergoes many tribulations including rape from a prison gang that refers to themselves as the sisters. Red is the prison smuggler from whom you can get anything you need from the outside. After a while in prison, Andy begins to work for the guards, filling their tax returns (King 56). This makes him a hero in the prison community. He also helps to set up a prison library. In the process of working for them, he begins to launder money for them, reducing his chances of getting out of prison. Andy admits to Red that he had friend set up a false identity through which he now has a lot of money. He dreams of an escape from prison and he dreams of Red going with him to Mexico. One day he manages to escape and his escape signifies hope for the other prisoners. Eventually, Red gets out of jail and finds the rock that Andy had described to him, underneath which the keys to the bank’s safety deposit box were to be. He instead find a letter inviting him to join Andy in Mexico and a $100 0 gift. Red feels a sense of renewed hope as he plans to join Andy in Mexico. The movie ‘Shawshank Redemption’ is based on Stephen King’s book. It was adapted screen directed by Frank Darabont. Just like the book, the movie takes one through the journey of despair that inmates can go through, and the importance of having hope and a strong spirit. Unlike the book however, the movies uses film language to bring forth its theme of despair and hope. Film language includes lighting effects, music, and different camera angles (The Shawshank Redemption, Dir Frank Darabont). In the movie, most scenes do not have background music to represent the lack of life that is characteristic of life in prison. There is only one scene that has music when Andy

Roles, Responsibilities and Skills of a Coach Essay Example for Free

Roles, Responsibilities and Skills of a Coach Essay Alex Ferguson A role model is a person who serves as a positive example and whose behaviour and success is emulated by others. The way the coach conducts themselves in the presence of their athletes is important to get the respect of their athletes so they are able to coach them successfully. Alex Ferguson is a fine example of a role model because he produces such successful teams and always conducts himself in a professional and respectful manner which rubs off on his players. This is especially evident in players such as Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes who are also great role models of the game and they have been heavily influenced by Alex Ferguson throughout their careers. This is one of the reasons his team has won the league so many times, became European champions and he has created so many world class players. An example of him using this is with Wayne Rooney. When he came to United he had a very fiery temper and would often break the rules and end get yellow carded or sent off causing a disadvantage for his team but after being coached in the right way by Ferguson and following his example he has learnt to conduct himself properly and control his anger much better. This influence from Alex Ferguson has been vital in making him the top class player that he has become. Linford Christie – Is also a great role model but in a different way. He is more of a role model to his athletes because of his own sporting achievements. He is the only British man to win a gold medal in the 100 m at all four major competitions: the Olympic Games and the World, Commonwealth, and European championships and he still holds the British 100m record. This would be impressive to any aspiring athlete and they would be more likely to respect what he says and more likely to listen to him because they know he knows what he’s talking about. His athletes are inspired by his achievements and will be more motivated by him being their coach because of all of his achievements. He is quoted in The Independent saying: â€Å"I think the athletes respond well to me because I have been successful. I know what it takes to get to the top. I know what psychological games to play and the importance of mental power. Alex Ferguson and Linford Christie are similar in that they are both well respected and great role models to their athletes. Coaches like this are typically very successful because to be successful it is important for their athletes to look up to them so they listen to and respect their advice so the coach can do their job effectively and improve their performance. The differences between the coaches are that Ferguson earns his status as a role model for his coaching success and Christie gets his from his sporting success. This means that they both have different types of knowledge and would probably have completely different coaching styles. Ferguson is more experienced in coaching and a better manager of his players whereas Christie would have a better understanding of any issues his athletes may have because he has been there himself at a higher level than them and he probably doesn’t stick to the conventional coaching methods and would have his own ways of doing things. Manager Alex Ferguson – One of Alex Ferguson’s most important roles is being a good manager. Being a manager involves him being able to man manage players to ensure he gets the best out of them. Management is especially to Ferguson because he coaches football, a team sport so his role as a manager is important to make sure he is picking the right players in the right positions in the right games and also deciding when to make substitutions at the right time. An example of good managing by him is when he brings on Carlos Tevez as a sub in a tough game when the other forwards are tiring because he has fresh legs and a very good work rate. This has proved to be very effective for him because he has brought Tevez on at the right time in some important games and he has changed the game. Linford Christie – One of the roles that Linford Christie would have to fulfil is being a manager. For him this would include being well organised for example having the training sessions planned before the session and most importantly the one to one man management of each of his athlete’s. This is obviously very important for Christie to have as he coaches individual athletes and he has to manage them in the right way to get the best out of them. For example, some of his athletes might respond better to him having a go at them after a poor performance and some might respond better to a friendly arm around the shoulder. It is vital that he is able to recognise which athlete’s need which type of management or he could be damage his relationship with the athlete which could result in a drop in their confidence and their performance. Alex Ferguson and Linford Christie are similar in that they both have to have good man management skills which means they have to be good communicators, good leaders and be able to support their athletes individually. The main difference between these two coaches when it comes to managing is that Ferguson has to make a lot more decisions because he has to make a whole team work together successfully so he has the added responsibilities of picking the squad, when to drop players and who needs to be rested whereas Christie only has to be concerned with one athlete at a time and to make sure that athlete is happy and performing well. Friend Alex Ferguson – It is important that the coach of a successful team is also a friend to their athletes. This is because if an athlete feels that they have a good relationship with their coach they will perform better overall. Being a friend to their athletes is important to develop loyalty and a good understanding of their athletes. This enables them to know which way to coach them individually also to help the athletes overcome issues and problems such as injuries and personal problems. The main skill needed to fulfil this role effectively is good communication skills. An example of Alex Ferguson being a friend is the way he has supported and encouraged players such as Wes Brown and Owen Hargreaves through career threatening injuries and offering them advice and help. Linford Christie – One of Linford Christie’s roles as an athletics coach is to also be a friend to his athletes. It is especially important for Christie to have this kind of relationship with his athletes because they are individual athletes and they don’t have team mates or many other coaches to rely on for support. Darren Campbell, one of his star athletes said, Well, to begin with, he is compassionate, says Campbell. He is not a bully. He doesnt throw cups of tea. People who say he is arrogant dont know him. What it is about him is confidence, belief. I know its a fine line, but I have known him since I was a 14-year-old and he has always had a soft side. One of his greatest assets is that mentally he is one of the strongest people I have ever met. It is clear from this statement that he is a friend as well as a coach to this athlete. Darren Campbell is Britain’s top sprinter so this type of coaching has proved to be a success because he is inspired by Linford Christie, he trusts him and will therefore make his job easier to coach Campbell as he will listen to his advice and put 100% into training. Alex Ferguson and Linford Christie have similar roles to play as a coach and one of the roles they have in common is to be a friend to their athletes. They both do this well and have a good balance of when to be a friend and when to be a coach which can be a difficult balance to have but it is a vital part of achieving success with a team or an individual athlete. I think it is more important for Linford Christie to be a good friend to his athletes because he works with them on a one to one basis mainly whereas Alex Ferguson’s main role is to pick a successful team for each game and this is more important than being friendly with the players. It is part of his job to upset players because all of his players in the squad would like to play every game but obviously they can’t all the time. Educator Alex Ferguson – An important part of being a successful coach like Alex Ferguson is to be an educator. Even though his players are some of the best players in the world, he still has a role of educating them further so they can continue to develop as players. The educator role for a football coach includes educating the team about new formations, new positions that players may be put in and to further educate them about the game in general. A sports coach also has to have a good amount of knowledge about the scientific side of the game, such as nutrition, recovery and fitness and have the communication skills to get these messages through to the players. An example of his success because of the way he has educated his players is when the champions league semi final against Arsenal. Every player had a full understanding of the formation and their role in the team, even though some players were in a different position than what they’re used to such as Ronaldo playing cent re forward when he’s usually on the wing. This is because they would have been training during the week before the game getting used to playing this way and so they could ask Alex Ferguson any questions they had about where they were playing so they knew exactly what to do when it came to the game. Linford Christie – Also has to be a good educator in order to produce successful athletes. He has to educate his athletes mainly on their technique because he coaches sprinters and to improve their times they have to improve their technique. Christie has a lot of experience of being a successful sprinter so he passes down this knowledge to his sprinters to improve their times. An example of Linford Christie educating an athlete is when he first had Darren Campbell he realised that the best part of his 100 meter race is the last 40 metres so they needed to work on his start and his coach has educated him to improve this. Alex Ferguson and Linford Christie both need to be educators to ensure their athletes are successful but in different ways. Alex Ferguson’s role as an educator is less specific than Linford Christie’s because the smallest detail or a slight different technique in sprinting can mean the difference between a gold medal and not even getting a medal. So Christie may have to concentrate on coaching something specific like an athlete becoming quicker off the blocks. Alex Ferguson has to concentrate mainly on team performance so his educator role mainly concerns coaching the team as a unit on larger scale things such as formation. Sometimes though, Ferguson would also have to coach individually like Christie. Responsibilities Legal obligations Alex Ferguson – Even coaches of professional teams have legal obligations which include abiding by the rules that have been put in place by FIFA. Some of these rules include player protection especially those under 18 and the rules that are set regarding signing players or selling players. For example, if Alex Ferguson wanted to sign Kaka he couldn’t approach him or even get in contact with him without his clubs consent or he would be breaching the rules. It is also his legal responsibility to make sure his players are training in a safe environment with safe equipment. He also has to make sure that there are the appropriate medical staff and facilities to take proper care of his players. Linford Christie – Also has to apply with the legal responsibilities that come with being a sports coach. He has to make sure that he is using suitable and safe equipment and facilities when working with his athletes. Christie would also have to have the appropriate coaching qualifications to coach at the level does. Another one of his legal responsibilities is to educate his athletes and to enforce the rules and regulations put in place by the governing body of the sport. For example, Linford Christie has to discourage his athletes from using illegal performance enhancing drugs because they are banned from the sport and if he is caught they could both be in serious trouble for breaking the rules. Both of these coaches have to satisfy their legal obligations as sports coaches and they are similar in doing this because they have the same general legal responsibilities for any coach of any sport, some of which I have already discussed. Their roles differ slightly due to the obvious difference in the sport they are coaching. Alex Ferguson has to deal with the issue of buying and selling players and all of the rules that come with it but because Linford Christie is only dealing with individual athletes and it’s a different business where they don’t really buy and sell their athletes. Both coaches obviously have to discourage drug use but it is less popular in football than it is in athletics, particularly in sprinting so it plays more of a role in Linford Christie’s job than in Alex Ferguson. Professional conduct Alex Ferguson – One of Alex Ferguson’s important roles is to conduct himself professionally especially because he is in the media so much and he would get in all sorts of trouble if he didn’t act this way especially on television because there are a lot of people that look up to him. He also has to act professional around his players and his staff which would include using appropriate language, being well presented and not smoking or drinking at inappropriate times such as during training. An example of him being professional is last week when Ronaldo had a tantrum after being substituted against Man City which would have been quite embarrassing for him but when he was interviewed about it he acted professionally and didn’t turn on his player he just said that it was good that he wanted to play so much and that he’d spoken with him about it. Linford Christie – Also has to conduct himself professionally because he is a professional sports coach and he has to be a good role model to his athletes. He has to act professionally with his athletes so things such as executing good practice, setting an example to his athletes, not swearing, drinking or smoking in his athlete’s presence and complying with the rules the governing body has set.. He should also have the appropriate coaching qualifications to be coaching Olympic athletes. An example of him being professional is when he took two of his athletes to the Olympics but because of a rule saying he couldn’t work behind the scenes with his athletes during the competition because of being caught for drugs when he was an athlete he didn’t argue it and just sat in the stands to support his athletes. Both of these coaches need to conduct themselves professionally at all times especially when they are with their athletes because they have to set a good example to their athletes and have their respect. Their responsibilities, as far as professionalism goes are the same because they both have to be well presented, execute good practice, adhere to their code of conduct, have the appropriate qualifications to coach at the level they do and act and speak appropriately. Health and safety Alex Ferguson – It is his personal responsibility to ensure his players train and play in a safe environment. For example he can’t let his team train on a pitch covered in pot holes because it is dangerous and could cause injuries. He has a duty of care to follow to protect his athletes. It is also his responsibility to have the appropriate equipment and facilities as well as the health issues he will have to deal with. Issues such as, being aware of illness and injury and taking the appropriate precautions to ensure the care of the players. For example when Ronaldo was injured at the start of this season, even though he is the best player in the world and obviously he would be a big loss to the team, Ferguson has a duty of care to take care of him and not to let him play before he is properly ready because they need to win a particular game. Linford Christie It is his responsibility to make sure his athletes have a safe environment to train on and to make sure they are wearing the correct equipment for the training surface. For example, if an athlete turns up for training with only his running spikes and Christie has a road running session planned, he can’t let the athlete run on the concrete with running spikes on because it is dangerous. He would just have to adjust the session. He has to make sure his athletes aren’t over trained and make sure they have appropriate rest, especially before a competition so they can perform well and be successful. It is also his responsibility to be aware of any illness or injuries that means the athlete either can’t train at all or can only do certain things so training would have to be adjusted. Alex Ferguson and Linford Christie have the same health and safety responsibilities even though they coach different sports. They have to take health and safety precautions to ensure the safety of their athletes by preventing injuries because an athlete of a team of athletes can’t be successful if they cant participate in competition due to injury. Linford Christie has to be even more careful with his athletes because they are individual and if the athlete can’t perform they cant just be replaced like in Alex Ferguson’s team. Equal opportunities Alex Ferguson – Has to make sure he treats everyone fairly and gives everyone equal opportunities and pick his squad based on the player’s talent not on where they’re from or what they look like. It is his responsibility to pick a successful squad of the best players to win trophies and competitions. For example, Ferguson couldn’t refuse to pick someone from Brazil just because he doesn’t like them. Alex Ferguson doesn’t discriminate against anyone which is one of the reasons he has such a successful team, because he picks the best person for the job regardless. For example, his team comprises of people from all over the world including Anderson, Rafael and Fabio from Brazil, Ji Sung Park from Korea, Nemaja Vidic, Zoran Tosic and Adem Ljajic from Serbia and Patrice Evra from France. Linford Christie – It is also one of his responsibilities to give equal opportunities to any athlete that he coaches. He can’t discriminate against anyone, he just has to coach any athlete that he thinks he can have a positive effect on and help become successful. At the moment he is coaching Katharine Merry and Darren Campbell which proves he doesn’t discriminate against gender or race, he coaches who he thinks is going to be successful. Both of these coaches have a responsibility to give everyone equal opportunities by not discriminating against things such as age, gender or race. They have to treat everyone as equals and respect their rights. Skills Communication Alex Ferguson – It is important for Alex Ferguson to have good communication skills because he has to be able to get his coaching points across effectively. Alex Ferguson is a successful coach because he has very good communication skills and uses all the different types, including verbal and non verbal which includes things like hand signals, body language, eye contact and facial expressions. He is often standing at the side of the pitch shouting instructions and using hand signals to further get the point across. This type of communication can be important in a successful team performance like when he wants players to swap positions or change formation during the game. He also has to have good one on one communication skills to give feedback and advice to players. Linford Christie – It is important for him to have good communication skills so he can get coaching points across so the athletes understand it and it can help them improve their performance. Linford Christie has to have good one on one communication skills and the main type of communication he needs to use is verbal. An example of him using verbal communication with his athlete is when Darren Campbell came second in a race and Linford congratulated him, gave him some positive and negative feedback because he came second and maybe could have won but he explained that he was still proud of him and that he had done very well. It is important for every coach to have good communication skills to be successful coaches in any sport. They have to be able to interact with their athletes to be able to get a good understanding of them and therefore the best ways to coach them to get the best out of their athletes. Linford Christie has to focus more on one to one communication with his athletes individually whereas Alex Ferguson is more concerned with team dynamics and making sure they are ok individually so the team performs well. Both coaches use their communication skills effectively to get the best out of their athletes and to keep a high standard of performance. Organisation Alex Ferguson It is vital for him to have good organisation skills in order for his athlete’s to be able to train and play the best that they can. He has to have training sessions planned and set up before they are due to start and he has to employ people at the club that ensure everything to do with his athletes and their needs are sorted so all they have to worry about is training and winning games. For example, he has other coaches that help him with the sessions and people like a kit manager and other managers and administrators are employed to help things run smoothly. The coach has to be very well organised because he has many people working for him and they all have to be organised, where the players have to be and where has to be very well organised because Man United couldn’t turn up to a game half an hour late. Everything has to be on point when it comes to running one of the best football clubs in the world successfully. Linford Christie – He has to have good organisation skills especially when it comes to training programs, training sessions and competitions. Sprinters have all different kinds of training that they need to do to be successful and they need to have good balance and fit into the training program so that the athlete gets enough rest and recovery and isn’t over trained because this would have a negative effect on their performance. They have upper and lower body strength sessions, Plyometrics and power training as well as the obvious sprint training. For this to work well the coach has to be very well organised and have all of the sessions planned in advance and the athlete has to be at events on time and well prepared. Both of the coaches are similar because one of the skills that they have to possess to be successful sports coaches. They both have to plan and organise training sessions, they have to have good time management skills and make sure their players are where they need to be early so they have time to prepare for their competitions and perform their best. It is probably harder for Alex Ferguson because he has to organise an entire squad of players effectively.

The Fast Food And Quick Service Restaurant Industry Marketing Essay

The Fast Food And Quick Service Restaurant Industry Marketing Essay For the mid-term paper I have chosen the food beverage category from the 2008 Inc 500 list. Companies in this industry are involved in processing, packaging and delivering of food and beverage. This includes prepared foods, packaged foods, alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages. The company with the highest revenue on this list is Wingstop with revenue of $206.6 million in 2008 and the company with the highest growth rate is The Snack Factory with a growth as high as 18,371.3%. The company in lowest quartile of the top 2008 Inc. 500 Food Beverage list that I think will move up the most positions is a company called Saladworks. In this paper I will evaluate for the different companies what industry they are in and if it is an attractive industry. I will use Michael Porters five basic competitive forces to evaluate the competition and profitability of the industries. The basic forces are threat of new entrants, power of suppliers, power of customers, threat of substitutes and rivalry among existing competitors. For Wingstop and The Snack Factory I will further evaluate positioning, competitive advantage, trends, customers, products, business model, core competencies and competition for each. For Saladworks I will explain why I think they will move up the most positions. Wingstop is a Restaurant chain serving made-to-order buffalo chicken wings, side dishes and beer in 28 states across the U.S. (Inc 500) The company was founded in 1994 and was successful in creating a niche in chicken dining. They started franchising in 1997 and have a nostalgic, aviation-theme in their restaurants. The industry that they are in is the fast food and quick-service restaurant industry. I will have a look at industry competition to evaluate if this is an attractive industry. The threat of new entrants in this industry is moderate. There are some important barriers to entry but the lack of some significant ones makes it vulnerable. The barriers that are in place are high investments and high fixed costs. Especially marketing and advertising costs to keep existing customers and getting new ones are high for the big chains. There is relatively high degree of brand loyalty to some branded chains and franchise licenses are protected as intellectual property. The barriers that are not in place includes the absent of economics of scale meaning even small local stores can be profitable. Many consumers are also price sensitive and the cost of switching is low. Because of the lack of some of the most important barriers the threat of new entries is substantial. The power of suppliers in this industry is considerable but mostly for small restaurants. The distribution to the fast food chains is dominated by a few large suppliers that can put pressure on smaller businesses. But with the bigger chains like McDonalds the suppliers stand weaker in a bargaining situation. The power of customers and the pressure they can put on the industry is relatively moderate. This is because the consumers in principle can produce the product themselves if they want. They are also price-sensitive so the prices are kept low and it doesnt cost customers anything to switch to an alternative product. The threat of substitutes in the industry is high. Fast food faces constant competition from home cooked food. In addition the fast food product is not differentiated and consumers can easily go from McDonalds to for example Burger King. The price for most fast foods is in the same low range and it is easy to switch to an alternative restaurant. Rivalry among existing competitors is also high. There are many small players with the same size but in the high end a number of big franchise chains. They have many of the same strategies such as low price, quick service and quality. There is almost no differentiation between the businesses and the growth of one company goes on the expense of a competitor so spending on advertising tends to be high. The industry has suffered a lot of criticism coming from the high coverage of negative health effects and obesity from diverse media. Even do rivalry between competitors is high and there is a lot of negative media coverage this is an attractive industry to be in. People are still buying these often calorie busting products and the sales were more than $180 billion in 2007. (Hoovers) Positioning Wingstop position itself as healthy finger food chain. They use lot of funds to market that the chain is not selling unhealthy fast food and that they always serve fresh homemade food. Their competitive advantages include their award-winning recipes and simple concept, but also important is their marketing and distribution partnership with high profile American football team Dallas Cowboys. Their deal with the team has made them the exclusive chicken wing vendor in the team stadium and also made a lot of hype around the chain. With more than 600 open or under development restaurants in 27 states they have proven that the concept is scalable in the U.S. The simple concept of selling just chicken wings with some side dishes has been well received by the public. Scalability internationally is more difficult because buffalo chicken wings are a traditional American bar food and are not widely available outside the U.S. Scalability in the ranks of McDonalds is therefore questionable but no t impossible with the right use of resources. Their advantage is also sustainable if they continue with the simple concept, focus solely on the chicken wings and invest further in the process that makes them unique among competitors. This chain is definitely here to stay. Trends A trend that is working against the company is the increased media focus on health and diet issues associated with fast food chains. The industry is also very competitive and Wingstop has to spend a lot on advertising to keep consumers away from their competitors. Another trend that is acting for the company is the increasingly busy workdays that make people eat out instead of making food at home. Consumers often chose the fastest and cheapest alternative when they are in a hurry and need to eat on the go. Problem The problem Wingstop is solving is the elementary need for food and the need for having it made and served fast when people dont have time do make it themselves. The need for food is an aspirin problem with regards to Maslows hierarchy of needs because the physiological need must be met or the human body simply cannot continue to function. But the need for a fast meal is rather a strong vitamin problem because even with hectic workdays you can decide to take time to make your own food. The job to be done is to be available and visible to serve customers. Customers The customers are everyday consumers that have a liking for chicken wings. The consumers are families looking to have a good time without having to cook themselves and singles with a hectic workdays that doesnt have time cook and need something easy. Product Their product is primarily Buffalo style chicken wings but they also sell different chicken types, side dishes and beer. Other chicken alternatives are boneless strips and breaded chicken. Their side dishes includes fresh cut seasoned fries, potato salad, creamy cole slaw, hot cheddar cheese sauce, bourbon baked beans, crispy veggie sticks and dips. More than just the physical products they sell an experience. The American bar experience in a 1930-40s pre-jet aviation theme inspired setting. Business model Their business model is that of a manufacturer. Their main product is a nondurable physical asset in the form of food and they buy the raw materials and transform them into their product as a creator. Even do they outsource much of the actual production as a large part of their branch consist of franchises they are still a creator. Wingstop have clear routines for every franchise so that the product tastes the same everywhere you buy it and so they do substantial design of the product and are therefore not a distributor. Core competencies To continue to succeed Wingstop need to be top of the line when it comes to marketing. In addition to the process of making the popular chicken wings they sell their most important core competency is the ability to advertise the brand and create hype around their restaurant chain. They have extended a contract with their national spokesman, Super Bowl hero Troy Aikman and this shows that they are on the right track. As mentioned earlier the competition among fast food chains are tough and the only ones that survives are the ones that get through too consumers and keeps them coming back. To get consumers to come back the food and service in the restaurants needs to be excellent. Because many of their restaurants are franchises they need to be good at creating solid routines so the experience in the restaurants doesnt differ from each other. But the most important factor to continue the success is to be visible and stand out among the fast food restaurants and this must be done by adve rtising and creative marketing. Competition The competition Wingstop faces is all the different fast food chains including not only the restaurants that sell chicken wings but also the ones that offer hamburgers, pizza tacos and more. The big competitors in the segments as a whole are McDonalds, Burger King, Wendys, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell to mention some that has a large part of the market shares. More directly Wingstop has to compete with the other restaurants offering similar chicken wing meals. Some of the competitor chains are Buffalo Wild Wings, Hooters, Wing Zone, Applebees, Brinker, Carlson Restaurants, Damons, Darden, Family Sports Concepts, Fox Hound Restaurant, Ker Inc, Papa Johns and Zaxbys (Hoovers). The biggest competitor from the list is Buffalo Wild Wings (BWW). They had revenues of $422.4 million in 2008 and operate a chain of more than 550 restaurants in nearly 40 states. Besides the chicken wings they are very famous for their dipping sauces that accompanies. They also sell appetizers, burgers, tacos, salads, beer wine and other beverages. Like Wingstop they have used relationships with sports to market themselves as a sports bar franchise. Another competitor worth mentioning is Hooters which have had success with the restaurant experience they offer consumers and this factor is more important than the food they serve. Hooters have a beach theme and their waitresses dress in the chains trademark bright orange short shorts and tight T-shirts and are known as Hooter girls. By focusing on the special atmosphere they have managed to differentiate themselves and gained a competitive advantage. This has also opened the door for international expansion and they now have 450 Hooters restaurants in about 45 states and more than 25 other countries. The Snack Factory Background The Snack Factory is a family owned and operated business that makes and sells crunchy snacks. The company was founded in 1981 by Sara and Warren Wilson. Warren started out with selling funnel cakes based on his grandmothers recipe on country fairs in 1969 and paid his way through college with the proceeds. After college he opened a store selling funnel cakes in New Jersey and here he met Sara. The two of them started to develop the company called Funnel Cake Factory and eventually made a concept of bagel chips that was flat crunchy chips made from bagels into a company called New York Style Bagel Chip Company. This was a new idea and consumers welcomed the new product. The bagel chips company was later sold to Nabisco in 1992 and the funnel cake company was sold to JJ Snack Foods a few years later. The entrepreneurs didnt stop and used the following years to develop a thin but crunchy pretzel great for dipping and spreading that became known as Pretzel Crisps. Industry The Snack Factory is in the snack foods industry which can be explained as Companies that manufacture, process, and/or package snack foods, including salty snacks, nuts, snack bars, and snack mixes (Hoovers). The threat of new entrants in the industry is low on national and international level. A major barrier of entry in this market is very high degree of brand loyalty. The big companies with their popular brands make it very difficult to come in to the market and establish a new brand. It is easier to enter on the local level because the consumers are open to local products. Customers are price sensitive in this industry too but with already very low prices it is difficult to enter and compete with the larger corporations. The power of suppliers in this industry is low. Most of the raw foods for the snack manufacturers come from farmers and they dont have strong bargaining power. Farmers have no choice but to follow the prices the snack manufacturers will give them. The power of customers is also not very high in this industry. Customers are supermarkets that again sell to consumers. The supermarkets and the likes need to provide the consumers with the snack brands they want or they will go somewhere else. The stores therefore have weak bargaining power towards the manufacturers but indirect the manufacturers have to listen to the consumers that are price sensitive and set the price so they will buy the product. The threat of substitutes in the industry is on the other hand high. There is continuous threat from existing snack food and also from new alternatives. There isnt much to differentiate a bag of chips from another and the customers have to buy in what the consumers want the most because they cant carry every brand. Rivalry among existing competitors is also high. There is fierce rivalry among the biggest companies and advertising and marketing budget are extremely high. Because of low differentiation and that growth goes on the expense of a competitor making customer buy and keep buying is crucial. Despite high costs on promotion and brand advertising and large corporations competing to capture larger shares of the market this is also an attractive industry. The industry generates billions of dollars in revenue and if you as a company manage to take some shares of the market there is large profit involved Positioning The Snack Factory position themselves as a healthy snack alternative with less calories, cholesterol and fat compared to other snack alternatives. Both the founders and their family members are involved with the company and this gives the company a family business image. Their most important competitive advantages are the made in America brand and recipe that is developed over several years combined with the expertise the Wilsons holds. They have already demonstrated that it is scalable by increasing distribution to some of Americas largest retailers having a growth as high as 18,371.3% last year. But the family based company can only supply to so many before they need to expand production and that can be in conflict with their image. The growth may therefore not be too sustainable, but with the product in the hands of a bigger snack manufacturer the growth might continue. This would mean an exit for the Wilson like they did with the other two companies but they are entrepreneurs and will probably keep going for the next big thing. Trends A trend that is acting for the company is the media focus mentioned earlier on health effects from eating food with high calorie and fat amounts. People are becoming more and more concerned about these issues and have started to choose more healthy alternatives. Another trend working for them is the consumer interest for made in America brand products. Having this label can appeal to Americans who associate this with high quality and the feeling of contributing to keep production in the U.S. A trend that is acting against the company is that many of the large competitors also have shifted focus over on healthy snack products and have much more money to use on marketing their products. Problem The problem The Snack Factory is solving is the hunger consumers have between the main meals of the day that are breakfast, lunch and dinner. Snack food is an alternative to be eaten between these meals as an energy supply or for taste enjoyment. This problem is also is also a vitamin need. The job to be done is to provide a product that the consumers see as an alternative to the many different types of snack foods. It also has to be available as many consumers buy these products on impulse usually when they are shopping for something entirely different. Customers The Snack Factorys customers are the large retailers, supermarkets and fine stores who sell the products to the end customer the consumers. Retailers and supermarkets they are already supplying to include Sams Club, Whole Foods, Shaws Supermarket and many others across the U.S and Canada. Sams Club is a chain of membership-only retail warehouses and is today serving more than 47 million U.S. members. Whole Foods is a food retailer of natural and organic products and have more than 275 locations in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom. Shaws Supermarket is the second largest grocery group in the New England States and operates 200 stores solely across New England. Product The product The Snack Factory is selling is Pretzels Crisps. The product is like a normal pretzel only that the middle is removed. The product has a lot of crunch and flavor and is made with no trans fats, no saturated fat and no cholesterol and only containing 110 calories per serving. The product is meant as a snack straight from the bag but also for dipping and spread for toppings. The Pretzels Crisps come in many different flavors including original, garlic, honey mustard onion, buffalo wing, dark chocolate, peanut butter and chipotle cheddar. The price out to the end users from retailers and supermarkets is around $2.99. Business model Their business model is that of a manufacturer like Wingstop. The Pretzels Crisps they are making is a nondurable asset so they are classified as physical. The pretzels are made from raw material to the final products that they sell out. This kind of transformation of the asset classifies the company a creator. A creator of physical assets follows the basic business model of a manufacturer. Core competencies To continue the success The Snack Factory need to put more capital into marketing if they are going to continue the growth they have experienced. Their core competency lies with the experience in developing new food products and recipes for the preparation of the Pretzels Crisps. Sara says, We believe its the product that catapults us. Sure, we do some marketing, but our success came before we did any marketing. The product itself makes people come back for more. (Inc 500. Sep 1, 2008) It is obvious that the company is not spending much on advertising and they have been using in-store samplings as the most used marketing method. This approach has gotten the company so far and they have said they were looking into the opportunity to expand to Asia and Europe while keeping the business personable and family oriented. But coming from a local factory start and beginning to compete with the large snack manufacturers this will provide some challenges. The industry consists of large corpora tions competing hard to capture shares and they spend heavily on promotion campaigns to convince customers to buy their product. To compete with these corporations they have to be good at marketing in a big scale. The company doesnt have the experience with taking products to compete in the top since they sold the previous companies before they got there. If they are to pursue international growth they need to get better in marketing, partner up with companies that have the experience or they should make an exit and sell. Competition Their competition is as mentioned the large players in the snack industry. There was no company information on The Snack Factory in the Hoovers database but looking at the information for the company J J Snack Foods that acquired their funnel cake company I found a list of competitors in the snack business. In the US they will have to compete with companies like J J Snack Foods, Frito-Lay, Mrs. Fields, Snyders of Hanover, American Dairy Queen, Auntie Annes, Cinnabon, Dawn Food Products, Dreyerss, General Mills, Interstate Bakeries, Jamba, Jel Sert, Juice It Up, Kellogg U.S. Snacks, Kraft Foods, Lance Snacks, Mister Twister Pretzels, Nestle USA, Otis Spunkmeyer, Planet Smoothie, Pretzels, Inc, Ruiz Foods Inc., Sara Lee, Smoothie King, Sorbee International, Wetzels Pretzels, Dippin Dots, Flowers Foods, Golden Enterprises, Goya, Hanover Foods, Mckee Foods and Tasty Baking. There are a lot of players in the industry and they are all looking to maximize market share. One competitor worth mentioning is Frito-Lay that sells more chips than any other company in North America. Their top selling food snacks include well known products such as Cheetos, Doritos, Fritos and Lays. They have responded to the market trends and have bought several healthy snack brands and they spend heavily on marketing to stay on the top. Saladworks Saladworks is in the lowest quartile of the top 2008 Inc. 500 Food Beverage list. The company had revenues of $5.5 million and a growth of 98.3%. Saladworks was founded by John Scardapane in 1986 and started out with a single location in the Cherry Hill Mall in Southern New Jersey. It is the first and largest tossed-salad franchise in the U.S. with 104 locations in 9 states today. The idea of the franchise and their positioning is to provide fresh and healthy salads as alternative food for consumers on the go. They sell primarily gourmet salads but also soups, wraps, sandwiches and more. In 2008 they also added signature salads to the menu. They invited four A-list chefs to create four different salads that became the signature series. The competitive advantage that Saladworks has is being first with turning fast food in to a healthier meal and the chef expertise in the development making it hard for copycats to follow. The company had a major growth in 2002 when they managed to add 21 new franchise locations in only 10 months. Consumer response and the growth Saladworks has experienced prove that it is scalable. The company is in the fast food and quick-service restaurant industry same as Wingstop. As mentioned earlier the competitive landscape is hard in this industry with moderate threat of new entrants, considerable bargaining power of suppliers, moderate power of customers, high levels of both threats of new substitutes and rivalry amongst the competitors. A large trend in this industry is need for healthy alternatives among the many unhealthy fast foods. The businesses that sell products with high calories have started to include some healthy alternatives as side dishes in their menus. But unable to shift entirely over to healthy alternatives is difficult because their brand is associated with their products. Where would McDonalds be if they threw out their burgers and started selling only salads? Because SaladWorks is first and largest and places itself in the industry with trends on their side I see the potential of the company franchising more across the U.S and possible also to Europe. They signed a contract for ten new locations in Metro Atlanta in 2008 and in 2009 they have expanded with new stores in Virginia. They have also made deals for opening new locations in California and Boston. With the plans for expansions, market trends on their side and the advantages of being one of the first I think this company will move up many positions on the Inc 500 Food Beverage list for the years to come.