Evaluation of London 2012 Olympics Sustainability Plan The WritePass Journal

Evaluation of London 2012 Olympics Sustainability Plan Evaluation of London 2012 Olympics Sustainability Plan , the International Olympics Committee (IOC) published a sustainability plan that indicated ways in which sustainability issues like healthy living, climate change, waste management, biodiversity and inclusion could be dealt with. This paper provided an overview analysis of this plan, covering all these sustainability aspects. It later focuses on reviewing the aspect of climate change and efforts that were made to reduce the carbon footprint of the games. Findings from a small opinion survey that was carried out at GSM with ten students as respondents are also presented in this report. Introduction Sustainability is among the factors that are put into consideration when preparing for major sporting events (Kim, 2013). Within the past decade, there has been a growing increase in the level of attention by sports organizing committees on this issue. Before the Olympics and Paralympics Games that were hosted in London in 2012, the international Olympics Committee (IOC) prepared a plan that was to ensure sustainability during and after the games (LOCOG, 2009). With reference to these summer games, this paper intends to provide a brief analysis of the plan drafted by the event organizers, which will incorporate biodiversity, waste management, climate change, healthy living and inclusion. It also intends to provide a further detailed review of the inclusion aspect of sustainability, which shall be backed with evidence from news and academic perspectives. In establishing the effectiveness of sustainability efforts, an opinion survey was carried out with a section of students from GSM L ondon as respondents. Even though most of them were satisfied by the progress made so far, a small section of respondents opined that more needs to be done. Whereas this report highlights the progress that has been made by the IOC’s sustainability efforts, some of the drawbacks are also mentioned. Overview Analysis of the IOC Sustainability Plan Due of the fact that the Olympics attract millions of people, they can be detrimental to different aspects of sustainability if there is no detailed plan of their potential adverse impacts (Pedersen et al., 2011). In an effort to ensure this, the IOC focused on five aspects key aspects and prepared a sustainability plan to address the potential risks that could be posed to them. These are; biodiversity, inclusion, healthy living, waste management and climate change (LOCOG, 2009). This section provides a brief analytical overview of these aspects based on how attainable they are and their potential effectiveness. Waste Wastes during the Olympics and Paralympics are from a wide range of sources, which include construction, and other activities that relate to sporting (Douglas, 2012). In an effort to limit the impacts of wastes during and after the Olympic Games, the IOC had several strategies in plan. Its main objective was to attain zero waste during the games through utilization of exemplary management strategies. These included minimization of wastes at their sources, diversion of wastes from construction sites to other feasible locations, promotion of the reduce-reuse-recycle waste hierarchy and facilitation of individual behavioural changes (IOC, 2012). Another strategy was ensuring that all wastes resulting from the games were not directed to landfills. Whilst all these approaches were ideal, instilling a behavioural change in individuals to make them conscious about how they deal with their wastes can be considered as the most appropriate. This is because of the long-term impact it can have, not only on waste management but on the whole aspect of sustainability (Commission for a Sustainable London Olympics, 2007). On the other hand, the most challenging strategy to attain is the diversion of waste materials from construction sites. This is particularly challenging if the waste is bulky or the distance to where it is to be diverted is long. Climate Change Effects that Olympics and Paralympics could have on climate change were mainly as a result of carbon emissions. With the high numbers of people within and out of the UK and heavy energy consumption, the carbon footprint was bound to be enormous (Gold Gold, 2013). Therefore, the IOC was to establish and implement long term solutions to this issue. Some of the key areas that were to be addressed included the management of water and energy resources, infrastructural development, transportation and carbon offsetting strategies. To minimize the carbon footprint, the strategies that were used included optimization energy demand and efficiency and encouraging the use of renewable energy sources that had lower levels of carbon emission. With the increased global concerns of climate change that are caused by greenhouse emissions, these strategies received support from many stakeholders (Commission for a Sustainable London Olympics, 2007). Even with the optimism, reduction of the carbon footp rint during the games was affected by the high population of that attended the games and limited amount of available renewable energy. Biodiversity The existent biodiversity in London and other venues that hosted the 2012 Olympics had to be maintained and even further enhanced. For conservation of diversity, the IOC saw it necessary to use the Olympics as an avenue for increasing the public’s awareness about conservation and the role that natural environments play maintaining and promoting biodiversity (LOCOG, 2009). To attain this, the IOC pledged its commitment towards ensuring that natural resources in the Lower Lea Valley, London and across all other venues in the UK were effectively managed. The potential of success for this strategy is high. However, it was largely dependent on the availability of resources to facilitate management and promotion of public awareness (Commission for a Sustainable London Olympics, 2007). Inclusion The IOC’s objective was to make the London Olympics and Paralympics the most inclusive since the start of the Olympics (IOC, 2012). Therefore, the games were expected to bring together people from diverse social and cultural backgrounds. The games were also expected to facilitate regeneration on economic, physical and social aspects of the lower lea valley and its surroundings. By celebrating the diversity that exists in the UK and global population, the London Olympics and Paralympics encouraged participation from everyone with an aim of promoting social cohesion, fair play and respect (Karamichas, 2013). One of the strategies that were used to ensure inclusion was encouragement of communities across the UK to take advantage of opportunities that were presented by the games. These included trade, employment and new infrastructural facilities. Healthy Living Promotion of healthy lifestyles was also among the aspects that were addressed during the 2012 summer games (Wheeler, 2013). These games were to be used in inspiring people in London and across the United Kingdom to take up sporting activities to keep them active. Healthy and sustainable lifestyles should be attained by refraining from overexploiting natural resources. According to LOCOG (2009), there are many health benefits that can be attained through people’s own efforts. These include engagement in physical activities and maintaining a healthy living environment. This message was to benefit people from the UK as well as tourists who came as spectators. Review of the delivery of the Climate Change aspect of Sustainability There have been several mixed views about the success levels that were attained in the last Olympics to reduce the potential amount of carbon emission during the Olympics and Paralympics. As discussed earlier, a high percentage of greenhouse emissions originate from transportation and energy uses. Therefore, it is vital for the responsible bodies to consider addressing the aspects of energy and transport to realize a reasonable reduction of the overall emission (Siikamki et al., 2012). Chaabane et al. (2012) suggests that greenhouse gas emission can be managed by reducing motor transport. This can be achieved through avoiding unnecessary trips, using public transportation or alternative transportation methods that require less energy. There are direct and indirect consequences of this measure. The direct impact will be reduction of the total energy used in transportation, which directly reduces the volume of greenhouse gases emitted (Melanta et al., 2012). One of the indirect impacts is the reduction of congestion and traffic jams, which economizes the amount of fuel used by vehicles on the road and ultimately, the amount of carbon emissions (Droege, 2011). The use of sustainable energy sources is also suggested as an ideal approach towards reducing the carbon footprint (Droege, 2011). Some of the available sources of alternative sustainable energy include wind energy, solar power and geothermal power, among others. Given that the amount of energy produced from sustainable sources is limited, the public should be sensitized about the efficient use of energy in their workplaces and in their homes (Droege, 2011). One of the simple approaches that can be used is the purchase and use of energy efficient vehicles and electrical appliances. However, Saunders argues that a rebound can be experienced as an impact of attaining high energy efficiency levels. With reference to the neoclassical theory, Saunders argues that increased energy efficiency leads to a drop in its prices. As a result, it may be used to run machines as a substitute to human labour. This creates an increase in the greenhouse gas emission from fuel usage. He also argues that an increase in energy efficiency results in an increase in economic growth, which results into an increase in energy use (Saunders, 2013). Regardless of the neoclassical theory presented by Saunders, the current climatic situations present the need for increasing energy efficiencies (Droege, 2011). With reference to the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, it was established that the carbon dioxide released in the course of the games was 28% less than the projected amount. According to the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), the initial projection of carbon dioxide emission reductions was at 6,000 Mt but the attained reductions were at 31,000 Mt (Environmental Leader, 2012). The success in this reduction was attributed to a concept referred to as â€Å"the four R’s (reduce, re-route, re-time and re-mode)† by Transport for London (TfL). This approach is similar as to those suggested in literature. It involved reducing the need to travel by taking leaves working at home, planning to travel before or after peak times, taking an alternative route and using different transportatio n means (LOCOG, 2009). The alternative transport modes that were used on the widest scale included walking and cycling. Even though LOCOG (2009) is credited for provision of this information, it is worthy pointing out that most of the reports about sustainability during the Olympics were positive, even though several observers identified shortcomings in these efforts. Even though the carbon footprint from transport was less than the projected levels, the carbon emission from spectators was estimated to be 913,000 Mt, which exceeded the expected emissions by approximately 36% (Environmental Leader, 2012). This difference between the estimates and the actual emissions was argued to have been caused by the high number of spectators, athletes and the Olympics and Paralympics workforces. There were a total of 11 million spectators, thousands of athletes and more than 200,000 people in the workforce. Even with the higher amount of emission from spectators, the overall amount of emissions was at 3.3 million Mt, which was much lower that the estimate of 3.4 million Mt that was made in 2009 (LOCOG, 2009). Even after the Olympics and Paralympics, these strategies for reducing the CO2 are still being used in the UK. In addition to the climate change aspect of other aspects like waste management, biodiversity and inclusion also attained reasonable levels of s uccess. Opinion Survey Methodology used To get a further understanding of the effectiveness of strategies that were formulated in the IOC sustainability plan, a small opinion survey was carried out. The main objective was to obtain their views on how effectively the emission of greenhouse gases was managed. A semi-structured interview approach was utilized to allow the respondents to freely give their opinions about the subject of the opinion survey (Yin, 2010). Ten students from the Greenwich School of Management were selected as respondents the selection was random and was based on their willingness to participate in the opinion survey. During the survey, two main questions were asked to the respondents. The first was their opinions on the achievements made in efforts to reduce carbon emissions. The seconds was their opinions on what could be done to attain better results. The answers that were given by respondents were recorded on paper and stored for analysis. One major limitation that was experienced was the lack of i nterest by some of the students who were approached to participate in the survey. There were also cases where students were willing to participate, but lacked the background information about the subject of the survey. Findings Out of the ten the students who were interviewed during the survey, six were satisfied with the carbon management efforts while three were unsure about whether the strategies were effective. However, one was sceptical about the management of carbon emissions. For instance, one of the respondents argued â€Å"During the games, I was impressed by how transport was managed. Though I expected many challenges because of the millions of people who attended, I can’t remember seeing any big traffic jam or related issues.† This signifies how effective the transportation plans were during the games. As aforementioned, reduction of traffic jams and congestion contributes towards energy efficiency. Another respondent based his argument on the reviews he had read on different news periodicals he argued â€Å"after the Olympics, many news outlets have indicated their satisfaction about the reduction of carbon emission by the efficient use of energy. Infact, there was an article that indicated that the footprint was much less than what was anticipated.† The scepticism of one of the respondents was based on his opinion that there was no appropriate way of accurately estimating the volume or weight of carbon emissions from the Olympics (Droege, 2011). He said â€Å"I don’t believe there’s an appropriate method to measure the exact amount of carbon emissions. The stuff we hear in the news is based on estimates. They might have reported a smaller value of emissions just to portray a good image of the UK or the IOC to the world.† Even Though one respondent was sceptic about the achievements of the IOC, TfL and LOCOG, the fact that most of the respondents were positive about the efforts made to achieve a low carbon footprint during the Summer Olympics indicates the strategies in the sustainability plan published by the IOC were ideal (Environmental Leader, 2012). Some of the recommendations that were made by the respondents to further reduc e the carbon footprint in future games included increment of fuel prices to discourage travel by personal cars and increasing the energy production from sustainable energy sources. Conclusion As presented in this paper, sustainability has been among the key aspects for consideration in major sporting events within the last decade. In this regard, the organizers of the 2012 summer Olympics and Paralympics prepared a detailed plan on how to address several suitability issues that could have arisen in the games. These include healthy living, waste management, inclusion, biodiversity and climate change. This paper focused more on the how effectively the aspect of climate changes was managed. The main area of focus was the approaches that were uses to ensure energy efficiency and reduce the carbon overall carbon footprint of the games. The effectiveness of these measures were reflected in the fact that there CO2 greenhouse gas emissions caused by energy use was less than the projected amount by 28%. A small opinion survey also was carried out with help of students from the Greenwich School of Management. From its findings, there was a further indication that the sustainability plan or ensuring a smaller amount of carbon gas emissions was ideal. One major drawback was that there was a higher amount of carbon dioxide emission from spectators that was anticipated. However, this was attributed to the high population of spectators, officials and sportsmen who were approximately 11 million in total. In order to further reduce the carbon footprint during major games in future, organizing committees have to carry out an extensive review of the strengths and drawbacks of the strategies applied in London in 2012. This will help them modify the sustainability model and make it better. In future research, a more in-depth survey that involves more respondents drawn from across the UK should be carried out. All the other elements of sustainability should also be addressed. References Chaabane, A., Ramudhin, A. Paquet, M., 2012. Design of sustainable supply chains under the emission trading scheme. International Journal of Production Economics, 135(1), pp.37-49. Commission for a Sustainable London Olympics, 2007. On Track for a Sustainable Legacy: Review of Governance Arrangements for the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Programme. London: Governance Review Commission for a Sustainable London. Douglas, L., 2012. Zero-waste olympic games. Engineering Technology, 6(12), pp.46-47. Droege, P., 2011. Urban Energy Transition: From Fossil Fuels to Renewable Power. Oxford: Elsevier. Environmental Leader, 2012. London Olympics Generated 28% Less CO2e Than Forecast. [Online] Available at: environmentalleader.com/2012/12/12/london-olympics-generated-28-less-co2e-than-forecast/   [Accessed 5 December 2013]. Gold, J.R. Gold, M.M., 2013. Bring It under the Legacy Umbrella†: Olympic Host Cities and the Changing Fortunes of the Sustainability Agenda. Sustainability, 5(8), pp.3526-42. IOC, 2012. Sustainability through Sport. London: IOC. Karamichas, J., 2013. London 2012 and Environmental Sustainability: A Study Through the Lens of Environmental Sociology. Sociological Research Online, 18(3), p.17. Kim, H.D., 2013. The 2012 London Olympics: Commercial Partners, Environmental Sustainability, Corporate Social Responsibility and Outlining the Implications. The International Journal of the History of Sport, pp.1-12. LOCOG, 2009. London 2012 Sustainability Plan. London: LOCOG. Melanta, S., Miller-Hooks, E. Avetisyan, H.G., 2012. Carbon Footprint Estimation Tool for Transportation Construction Projects. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 139(5), pp.547-55. Pedersen, P.M., Parks, ‎J. Quarterman, J‎., 2011. Contemporary Sport Management. Illinois: Human Kinetics. Saunders, H.D., 2013. Historical evidence for energy efficiency rebound in 30 US sectors and a toolkit for rebound analysts. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 3(24), pp.34-58. Siikamki, J., Sanchirico, J.N. Jardine, S.L., 2012. Global economic potential for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from mangrove loss. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(36), pp.14369-74. Wheeler, S.M., 2013. Planning for Sustainability: Creating Livable, Equitable and Ecological Communities. New York: Routledge. Yin, R.K., 2010. Qualitative Research from Start to Finish. New York: Guilford Press. //

The Company Law for Accounts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

The Company Law for Accounts - Essay Example In case a promoter makes a profit secretly, the company may commence a legal action for rescission or recovery of the profits made secretly. This promoter is assumed to have executed without utmost good faith. This means that disclosure of their activities is the most important issue and they must work within the objectives of the promoters and must use their skills knowledge for the best of the firm (Siddharthacadey, 2010).A promoter is any person involved in the planning to incorporate or initiate a running of a company, other than persons involved in a purely professional capacity. A promoter need not necessarily be the main person behind the incorporation, but he must have some executive function. The stereotype of a company and sells his business to it is a promoter. A promoter has a fiduciary duty to the company he is forming and this requires him to disclose all profits he makes during the promotion of the company...The courts have established the principle that a promoter stands in a fiduciary relationship with the company, which he is forming. This does not mean that he is barred from making a profit out of the promotion. It means that any profit made must be disclosed to the company. Breach of promoters’ duty If a promoter makes a profit and fails to disclose he breaches his duty of fiduciary. In the event of non- disclosure of profits the company may commence proceedings for rescission or for recovery of the undisclosed profits. The case study The case at hand is that Candy received a gift that he did not disclose to the other promoters. Therefore, he should be compelled to rescind the property to the company. The law prohibits individuals from unjustly enriching themselves at the expense of other partners. The other party should be compensated adequately to act as consideration. However, it should be noted that not all instances that parties are required to make compensated. In the case of unformed company the promoter is required to disclose rather compensate. In contract law, the pre-incorporation contracts are not enforceable, but the benefit accruing from it is disclosable. Being the fiduciary person Candy had certain legal obligations to fulfil towards the beneficiary. However, the very moment the Candy has taken a wrong approach of lying company, the bond of fiduciary relationship has been violated. This was confirmed in the case of Gluckstein v Barnes [1900]. In the case promoters had made profits before incorporation but they failed to disclose this fact. In their case, they misrepresented facts in prospectus that they were to buy a property at certain amount which they were unable to raise.

The Linguistic Acquisition Device Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Linguistic Acquisition Device - Essay Example He was able to give an evident account of the case of Victor of Aveyron who showed severe difficulty in developing language skills after years of isolation in the woods where he only interacted with animals. Subsequent observed improvement in language acquisition by Victor of Aveyron and a similar case of Genie in the United States seemed to provide reliable backup towards the theories of Chomsky. In the two cases of feral children, isolation from human interaction at childhood was attributed to the slow rate of language acquisition. The film Secret of the wild child is a reflection of how one United States girl commonly known as Genie was discovered in 1970 after suffering from physical abuse over a decade of isolation. The ensuing efforts to make her learn language proved difficult to achieve and this led to the advance element of Critical Period Hypothesis. In this theory, it is emphasized that there is a period mostly from infancy to adolescence when a human being has the highest potential of gaining native language competency. Outside this time limit, a child will experience severe difficulty in learning a language. The case of Genie who was discovered having been isolated for more than the critical age was an evidence of this research finding. This theory further asserts why adults find it difficult to learn the language than children as they have exceeded the critical period. After 13 years of isolation and deprivation, the mother of Genie left her abusive husband.Her mother, grandmother and herself had gone into the Social Welfare office in Temple City, California, to learn about resources for the blind in November 1970. It is at this point that a social worker grew curious over the possibly abnormal posture of the young girl who also looked younger than her actual age. The social worker’s initial thought of autism of the girl compelled her to enquire and subsequently.

Great Expectations Essay Example for Free

Great Expectations Essay As part of my GCSE coursework, I have read two novels written by Charles Dickens. The first novel is Oliver Twist, from, whwhich I will look at a villain called Bill Sikes who is a thief, a housebreaker, a murderer and one of Ddickens most menacing characters. I will look at how Dickens characterises him as a villain. s makes him a villain. The second book I read was Great Expectations, infrom which I will look at another villain called Magwitch who bullies a young boy named Pip into helping him q. escaping from prison. I will also look at how Dickens characterises himmakes him as a villain.. I will then compare Bboth characters will then be compared and contrasted in my study. . The first person I will look at is Bill Sikes who is a murderer, a thief, a housebreaker, a bully and is part of Fagans gang. Before we meet Sikes, Dickens dDescribes his environment. Firstly it is described as an obscure parlour of a low public house, a dark and gloomy den, in the filthiest part of Little Saffron Hill and where no ray of sun ever shone in the summer. Adjectives such as obscure, low, dark gloomy and filthiest are all negative and suggest to me a very unpleasant and rough environment. The place being described as where no ray of sun ever shone in the summer, suggests to me further of the places depravity and that the public house is set in a back ally. The room Sikes is situated in is called a Den, A den is a place where animals usually live, so it suggests to me that this is an inhuman place, not suitable for a persons habitation. Over all I can say that the atmosphere is excessively bleak and miserable, the setting is used to reflect character and to create atmosphere suggestingand Sikes is in part, athe product of his own environment. Sikes is said to have been brooding, this suggests that Sikes had been in deep thought, scheming and plotting evil things. Sikes is described as strongly impregnated with the smell of liquor, this suggests to me that he we was highly intoxicated and the result, would mean that he would be grumpy, and irrational. He wares a velvet coat, drab shorts, half-boots and stockings. As you can see his clothing is very drabmonotonous and this suggests to the reader the obscure and sinister nature of Sikes and the world he inhabits. ity Sikes of which Sikes can possess. Sikes is described as even by that dim light, no inexperienced agent of police would have hesitated for one instant as Mr. William Sikes. This suggests to the reader that Sikes is well known by the police and is obviously a common criminal. Sikes dog is described as being red-eyed. This is symbolic of depression and anger and many other negative emotions, so it is apparent that the dog is symbolic to the negativity in Sikes environment and is also a product of bad environment may be symbolic that the dog is symbolic of the harsh environment. The dog sits at his mastersmasters feet, this shows the relationship between the dog and his master as being close and intermit and proves Sikes ownership of the animal. Later the unoffending dog is attacked and by Sikes, this shows that Sikes is very volatile, unpredictable, unstable and dangerous because he attacks his dog for no cause and acts very spontaneously with his aggressiveness. After the attacking, the dog avenges his attack it, by attacking Sikes half-boots. This shows that the dog has a bad temper and has a lot in common with his master. This eventually leads to a fight and Sikes attempted murder of the dog. This shows how malevolentsatanic Sikes can be. Sikes is a very aggressive man in his language, he blasphemes and curses, thrusts and swears This type of language is rather unpleasant, shows negative emotions to a reader. This sort of dictionspeech gives a sense of violence to the reader. When Sikes speaks to his dog he says Keep quiet, you warmint! Keep quiet! Here he commands and insults, so it shows that he is violent when he talks. We know this because Dickens has used exclamation marks to show that he was talking in anger. This can also be seen when he talks to Fagan for example you white-livered thief! This shows the anger in the voice with the use of insults and exclamatoryion phrases. marks. Sikes also seeksspeaks to Fagian with a fierce gesturegesture; this adds to Sikes sinister character because it suggests that again Sikes is angry and violent with his oral expression. Sikes often growled, had a fierce sneer and speaks savage like. This further makes him look obnoxious and unhappy. These details present him as brutal, animalistic and primitive. Sikes speaks with the harshest key of a very harsh voice. This suggests that he is very unpleasant when he usually speaks. Therefore I would say that the way in which Sikes speaks shows that cruelty and ill-intent of his character. Thus from this extract we are given the impression that Sikes is incredibly evil, menacing, he is unhappy, intimidating, ferocious and volatile. This impression is reinforced later in the novel in which we look at Sikes killing his prostitute lover Nancy and the events leading up to it. It begins with Noah, repeating what he told Fagin to Sikes. Fagin cries, and says Tell him that, tell him that.

Enlightenment: The Light Bulb Of The 1700s :: essays research papers

Enlightenment: The Light Bulb of the 1700's Throughout history many people have changed society with their ideas and actions. Two philosophers whose ideas and actions changed society are Voltaire and John Lock. Martin Luther and Galileo also changed society. John Lock and Voltaire both fought for basic human rights. Voltaire fought for basic religious freedom. He claimed that if god created the Catholic religion and god loves all people, then why does the Catholic religion have the right to torment other religions. As a result of this, Voltaire was exiled. John Lock also fought for human rights. He thought that government should protect the people. John Locke and Voltaire both spoke against a major power. Voltaire spoke against the church while Locke spoke against the government. Thus, change began occurring in both the church and government. John Locke and Voltaire changed society, because now people were beginning to challenge authority. John Locke influenced Thomas Jefferson because Thomas Jefferson believed in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Martin Luther and Galileo both disagreed with certain things that the church believed in. Martin Luther said that the only way to atone for your sins were through prayer and contrition. In his 95 Thesis he established that salvation is within oneself and that individual faith in God is very important . But the church did not see it that way. The church believed that the only way to atone for your sins were through indulgences. Indulgences were paying for the removal of your sins. Martin Luther was later excommunicated from the church. Galileo also disagreed with certain things that the church believed in. Galileo proved Aristotle's theory wrong about gravity. One night during dinner, Galileo picked up two pieces of fruit of unequal size. He then dropped them and established that they dropped at the same rate. The church had believed Aristotle's theory. Aristotle said that the two pieces of fruit of unequal size would drop at different rates. Although his theory might have been correct, he

Kmart and Sears Merger Essay

Kmart had been established in 1962 by its parent company S. S. Kresge as a discount department store offering the most variety of goods at the lowest prices. Un- like Sears, the company chose not to locate in large shopping malls but to establish its discount stores in highly visible corner locations. During the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s, Kmart prospered. Retail formats in operation Kmart – is a chain of discount stores that are usually free standing or located in a strip malls. Big Kmart – signals a different kind of Kmart. These stores are bigger, brighter and offer big savings, big value, big selection and big convenience. Big Kmart stores are designed to increase store sales by increasing the frequency of customer visits. The format focuses on three distinct businesses – home fashions, children’s apparel and consumables – and features an expanded food area known as the â€Å"Pantry†. Kmart Super Center – is a chain of hypermarkets that carry everything a regular Kmart carries, but also have a full grocery section with meat and poultry, baked goods, a delicatessen, garden produce, and fresh seafood. Most Kmart Super Centers operate 24-hours a day and offer special services. In 1999 Kmart began offering a dial-up internet service called BlueLight, which was eventually spun off as an independent company. BlueLight was initially free and supported by banner ads. BlueLight dropped the free service in February 2001 and was reacquired by Kmart in July 2001. In 2002 United Online, which also owns NetZero and Juno, bought the BlueLight service after Kmart filed for bankruptcy. In August 2006, Bluelight dropped the banners. As of August 2006, the service costs $14. 95 a month and has around 165,000 subscribers. Promotional Pricing model Promotional pricing had always been the forte at Kmart. Offering a lower price temporarily in order to enhance the effectiveness of product sales efforts to cost sensitive consumer. In 1990, Wal-Mart overtook Kmart in sales, they tried to wean the company away from this strategy. Kmart cut process on 38,000 items and promoted the with expensive television commercials, which failed to lure younger shoppers. Then Wal-Mart countered by using its greater efficiency and economies of scale to fight back on pricing. The outcome was 1% drop in Kmart’s sales in December and 8% increase in those of Wal-Mart. Financial Analysis Prior to 2001, company was making continues losses, in order to understand scenario; we first analyze the period from 1995 to 1998. Here, Kmart started making some profit. And the second part from the year 1998 to 2002, where they actually went bankrupts. In 1995, the firm suffered a huge loss of $571 million. This was because of the non-performance of 127 international stores. It was in the same year that COGS as a percentage of sales were too high as 78%. Operating expenses as a percentage was in proportion to that of the industry. However due to the low performance of the international stores, stores outside t United States, Kmart had a bad financial year in 1995. It was the same year that the management decided to do away with the non preforming stores and thereby closed all its international stores and started four new stores in the home market. The list of stores by Kmart during the period can be seen as under: In 1999, COGS was 78% of sales as compared to 72 % of sales in the year 1998. Also, COGS increased drastically compared to increase in sales. Sales in 1999 increased by 6. 26%, however COGS increased by 12. 23%. Thus, there was a major decrease in the grow profit from 27% of sales to 21% of sales. This was the beginning of the downfall of Kmart. From here on, COGS kept on increasing. In 2002 COG reached 85%, thus gross margin reduced from 21% in 1999 to 14% in 2002. During the same time, Kmart’s operational efficiency too decreased and it increased from 18% in the year 1999 to 21% in 2002. Thus, increase in the COGS, lowering of the gross margin and increase in the operational costs, all contributes to the fall of Kmart. Competitors within the industry Its primary competitors were Wal-Mart, Sears, Target, Kohl’s, and J.  C. Penney, with secondary competitors in certain categories. Wal-Mart Wal-Mart followed the lower cost competitive strategy of cost leadership. According to our textbook cost leadership aims at the broad mass market and requires efficient scale facilities, cost reductions, cost and overhead control; avoids marginal customers, cost minimization in R&D, service, sales force and advertising. Therefore Wal-Mart could get following benefits: this strategy provided defense against competitors, provides a barrier to entry for new competitors and generate increased market share. Wal-Mart managed to maintain â€Å"everyday low prices† and achieve highest sales in the industry. It should be noted that Wal-Mart’s 2005 revenues exceeded that of the next ? ve U. S. retailers combined: these are Home Depot, Kroger, Sears Holding Company (which includes Sears and Kmart), Costco, and Target. Wal-Mart’s technological edge is in its logistics, distribution, and inventory control helped it reduce cost and offer customers product cheaper than its competitors. Moreover it could benefit from economies of scale. Wal-Mart also used differentiation focus strategy by creating a product and service unique to customers, according to ReferenceForBusiness. com. It could be argued that this feature is not real and just in the mind of the customer; customers believed they were being offered something special. Wal-Mart achieved this strategy by offering unique warranties and brand images. Wal-Mart customers believed they were being provided with something that they cannot find at any of the store’s competitors. Wall-mart’s value chain worked in following way: Vendors, Wal-Mart’s suppliers delivered products to Wal-Mart’s distribution center or directly to one of the stores. Wal-Mart was able to bargain for the lowest possible price because of the high volume of sales. Therefore, Wal-Mart could pass this savings to its customers. After that once the products were delivered to the distribution center, they were sorted and placed on trucks to be delivered to stores. This allows for less than 48 hour deliveries to stores and increased efficiency on trucks with backhauls. After products were delivered to the stores, they were placed on the appropriate shelf location for customers to view. Store locations were located throughout the U. S. in rural and urban towns. Moreover customers could purchase products at very low prices and have the ability to return any item. These were the key elements of Wal-Mart value chain. Overall Wal-Mart’s competitive advantage over its competitors was efficient supply chain management and lower prices achieved through maintaining low costs. Sears Sears, with the second-highest annual sales, had a strong position in hard goods, such as home appliances and tools. Around 40% of all major home appliance sales continued to be controlled by Sears. Nevertheless, Sears was struggling with slumping sales as customers turned from Sears mall stores to stand-alone, big-box retailers, such as Lowe’s and Home Depot, to buy their hard goods. Sears main competitive disadvantage was its store locations. Sears has been too slow to expand away from mall locations, industry analysts said. As Sears Chairman Alan Lacy said: â€Å"Our service and products are as good as our competitors but they’re not where our customers are. † Target Target was third in sales but second in profits, behind Wal-Mart. It used differentiation strategy and tried to offer customers quality products and had distinguished itself as a merchandiser of stylish upscale products. Targets mission statement focused on great guest service, clean stores and speedy checkouts. Along with Wal-Mart, Target had flourished to such an extent that Dayton-Hudson, its parent company, had changed its corporate name to Target. Its main focus was statically higher income consumers and early internet adopters. Target’s main competitive advantage was good customer service and quality product. This is where it creates value for its customers. Kohl’s, and J. C. Penney Both Kohl’s and J. C. Penney emphasized on soft goods, such as clothing and related items. They both chose differentiation strategy. Kohl’s concentrated on selling both private and exclusive brands which were â€Å"only at Kohl’s† as well as national brands like Nike, Adidas, Lee, Levi’s, Jockey, Van Heusen. Private and exclusive brands contributed a lot more to the gross margin as Kohl’s has significant control over the production, manufacturing and marketing expense of these brands. Keeping this in mind, Kohl’s has shifted its merchandise gradually towards this section of merchandise. In 2004, Kohl’s carried 25% in Private and Exclusive Brands, and this figure rose to 50% in 2011. Moreover it tried to provide â€Å"convenience† promise to customers – an easy and satisfying shopping experience. Kohl’s organized departments by lifestyle, added signage and graphics depicting key trends, and presented merchandise to suggest how customers can create new looks. They also continued to improve inventory management to deliver more new product more often, to differentiate line mixes according to geographic preferences, and to assure a â€Å"shelf never empty† of products the consumer desires. J. C Penney targeted moderate income customs, mainly women who as company executive said that were with, â€Å"too little time, too little money, and two little kids. † Kmart versus Competitors Kmart’s main problem was that it did not have clearly defined competitive strategy. In 2001, Kmart proclaimed a new retailing strategy that included less advertising, fewer advertised specials, and lower daily prices on many items. In short, Kmart tried to challenge Wal-Mart as the everyday low-price leader. Wal-Mart responded to the Kmart challenge with still lower prices. These new initiatives further weakened the ? nancial position of Kmart Corporation. The Kmart assault on the Wal-Mart image as the low-price leader failed, and Kmart was left with huge volumes of unsold merchandise (Turner 2003, 71–72). Kmart forgot to take into consideration that its capacity to lower prices was limited because of its poor supply chain management, often popular products would be out of stock, in some cases stored in trailors outside of the stores. Kmart was not successful in using differentiation competitive strategy either. While Wal-Mart reigned supreme as the low cost leader, Target was perceived as being a â€Å"higher quality† retailer. There was basically nothing left for Kmart. In attempt to pursue differentiation strategy Kmart updated and enlarged the stores, added name brands, however this was not successful either, acquisitions all performed poorly posting minimal net income or losses and distracted management from core business. Kmart’s main competitive disadvantages were problems in value proposition, poor supply chain/inventory management and poor customer service. It needed to choose competitive strategy suitable for it and concentrate on it.

Tattoos a Permanent Mark on Pop Culture Essay - 6526 Words

The word tattoo comes from the Tahitian tatu which means to mark something. It is arguably claimed that tattooing has existed since 12,000 years BC. The purpose of tattooing has varied from culture to culture and its place on the time line. But there are similarities that prevail form the earliest known tattoos to those being performed on people around the world today. Tattoos have always had an important role in ritual and tradition. In Borneo, women tattooed symbols on their forearm indicating their particular skill. If a woman wore a symbol indicating she was a skilled weaver, her status as prime marriageable material was increased. Tattoos around the wrist and fingers were believed to ward away illness.†¦show more content†¦1 The tattooed in the western world today include many people from various walks of life including doctors, skateboarders, artists and teachers, punks and bus drivers, lawyers,bikers, convicts, mothers, fathers, grandparents, gang members, professors, students, street performers and even dentists. Tattoos today seem to cross all boundaries, cultural, political and socio-economic. The act of tattooing, one of but many forms of intentional body modification, has been enveloped by the mainstream into the popular culture of the new millennium. Tattoos have become contemporary symbols of western identity and individualism. 1Atkinson, Michael. Tattooed: The Sociogenesis of a Body Art. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2003. As elements of mainstream, consumer culture, tattoos today have essentially become fashionable art. Those that tattoo are ‘tattoo artists; those that get tattooed bear ‘skin art. This has not always been the case. The introduction of tattoos into popular culture has been a very recent phenomenon. Tattoos were once the exclusive domain of sailors, bikers, convicts and punks, and were considered, through the eyes of the mainstream, a deviant behaviour, a low culture. In fact, tattoos for most of the twentieth century in North America existed solely at the sub- cultural level WhenShow MoreRelatedTattoos Of Ancient Egyptian Women Essay1687 Words   |  7 PagesOne in every five Americans have a tattoo. It is no longer surprising to see people with markings on their bodies. Many believed it is a form of self-expression. Even though some cultures or religions view tattoos as a negative thing, that does not stop people from getting them. To have a better understanding about tattoos we must go back and trace how it all began. From the tools, they used to the ink, it is incredible how tattooing has evolved over the years. Tattoos have been