Skills of Tourism graduates Essay Example for Free

Skills of Tourism graduates Essay The primary objective of this study is to determine the employability skills of Tourism graduates from the year 2005 to 2009 of University of Perpetual Help System Dalta Molino such as Communication Skills, Human Relation Skills, Technical Skills, Management Skills, Research Skills and Leadership Skills. The study is anchored in the theory of Gazier as cited by Weinert who stated that employability is supply and demand. The Descriptive research design was utilized to analyze and delineate the current work abilities of the BST graduates. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to determine if significant difference exist in the employability skills of Tourism graduates in relation to their year of graduation. The study revealed that there were significant differences in the employability skills of the Tourism graduates when they are grouped according to year graduated. The differences among the batches can be accounted from the variable factors and circumstances during the period of their study. Hence, from the results, the institution can improve the quality of teaching by bringing students outside the classroom setting, hiring faculty who are equipped with background and experience in the tourism industry and related jobs, and the University should extend utmost effort to provide facilities of the tourism college Introduction The University of Perpetual Help System DALTA (UPHSD) – Molino Campus, College of International and Hospitality Management is committed to providing quality education by offering a wide range of theoretical, practical knowledge and skills through various aspects of hospitality management which is necessary to every student in becoming competent individuals of society. The college offers study programs such as Bachelor of Science major in Hotel and Restaurant Management (BSHRM), Associate in Hotel and Restaurant Management (ASHRM) and Bachelor of Science in Tourism (BST). The Bachelor of Science in Tourism is a discipline that provides a wide array of experiences that leads to the understanding of history, customs, traditions, values and culture of different places both here and abroad. Further, the BS Tourism program includes a course on Tour guiding, Foreign language, Tourist destination marketing, Thesis writing, Tourism Planning and Development, Personal Development and Public Relation, Cruise management, Travel Agency Management and Operation, Principles of Tourism with Tourism Laws, Philippine Tourism: Geography and Culture, World Tourism: Geography and Culture, Principles of Management, Front Office Management, and Convention and Recreation Management. These are the courses being taught to the students to gain the employability skills of tou rism such as the Communication skill, Human relation skill, Tour guiding skill, Management Skill, Research Skill and Leadership skill. Student capabilities as used in this study refer to abilities learned in the four corners of the classroom preparing graduates for employment as they step out of the portals of their alma mater. Such skills result in better employability of graduates. According to Hind and Moss (2011), employability is a person’s capability to gain and maintain employment. Further, it depends on the knowledge, skills and abilities possessed by the latter. Employability of graduates therefore depends on the trainings they attended from first year to their graduation. According to Walker (2006), tourism as career is a dynamic, evolving and consumer – driven force it is also the world’s largest industry or collection of industries. When all its interrelated components are placed under one umbrella: tourism, travel, lodging, conventions, expositions, meetings, events; restaurants, managed services: assembly, destination and event management, and recreation. Walker also said that tourism plays a foundational role in framing the various services that hospitality companies perform. In the past five years, the UPHSD – Molino has produced number of graduates that have eventually joined tourism industry works in the tourism industry. Their work is crucial in creating appreciation of the beauty of the world; therefore, these graduates need certain skills and knowledge in order to be considered assets to tourism establishments and maintain employability. The study provides documentary analysis about the employability skills of Bachelor of Science in Tourism graduates batch 2005 – 2009 of UPHSD- Molino Campus to meet the demands of the industry of the new century. Further, responses from graduates concerning various issues related to teaching and learning were also considered. Such information is essential to assist the University in planning and determining factors linked to student learning, curriculum design, and improvement of services provided by UPHSD. Therefore the researchers opted to conduct a study about the employability skills of Bachelor of Science in Tourism graduates batch 2005 – 2009 of UPHSD- Molino Campus. Specifically it aims to determine the capabilities, knowledge, and skills possessed by graduates in finding and maintaining work. The study is anchored in the theory of Gazier as cited by Weinert (2001). According to Gazier, employability attempts to influence the â€Å"supply† side of the labo r market, that is, the workers and their productive capacities and performance, while the â€Å"demand† side is made up of the companies’ requirement. This theory of Gazier as cited by Weinert (2001) guided the researchers in the research because it gives an idea that employability is supply and demand where in the University produces supply to the Tourism industry yet the â€Å"product†; graduates should meet the demand of the Tourism industry. The researchers believe that to be able to market the graduates, the supply must possess communication skills, human relation, tour guiding skills, management skills, research skills and leadership skills. These skills are crucial to meet the demand of the industry to further promote employability. IMPROVEMENT EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS Figure 1. Conceptual Framework Figure 1 shows that employability is dependent variable from graduates’ skills and the improvement of the university in terms of Curriculum design, services offered by the University and hiring faculty. In relation to the study, the graduates should focus on enhancing both students’ skills and their facilities to have a high employment opportunity. To determine the target respondents for the study, the researchers used the list of graduates. The researchers analyzed the aforesaid skills using Mean, Percentage, ANOVA and Frequency Distribution to determine if significant differences exist in the employability skills of Tourism graduates in relation to their civil status, gender, and year of graduation. The study focused on the BS Tourism Graduates of University of Perpetual Help System DALTA- Molino Campus from year 2005-2009. The respondents were only 25 graduates of tourism from 2005-2009 1. Descriptive Research 2. Researcher –made Questionnaire 3. Statistical Treatment * Frequency * Percentage * Mean * ANOVA Improvements of: -Curriculum Design -Services offered by the University -Hiring Faculty 1. Profile of the Respondents * Civil Status * Gender * Year Graduated * Employment Status * Employed * Unemployed * Nature of Work * Airline * Travel Agency * Cruise ship * Front Office (Hotel) * Hospitality Related Jobs ( Tourism Officer, Casino, Event Organizing) * Others 2. Skills * Communication Skills * Human Relation Skills * Technical Skills * Management Skills * Research Skills * Leadership Skills INPUTProcess OUTPUT Figure 2 Operational Framework Figure 2 above shows that the study will use the demographic profile of the respondents in terms of civil status, gender, nature of work, year of graduation, employment status, and employability skills of the graduate of BST from 2005 – 2009. Such data will be the inputs for the study. A questionnaire developed by the researchers will be used as research instrument. Statistical treatment in the form of frequency distribution, percentage, mean, and ANOVA will be applied to process and interpret the collected data. The inputs and process described above will assist the University in planning and determining factors linked to students learning, curriculum design, and improvement of services provided by UPHSD. This study aims to determine the employability skills of Bachelor of Science in Tourism graduates batch 2005 – 2009 of UPHSD- Molino Campus. METHODS The study covered the Graduates of BS-Tourism Students of batch 2005 – 2009 from University of Perpetual Help System – DALTA Molino Campus as respondents of study which is compose of 25 students. To collect/gather the names of the graduates as well as their contact numbers and addresses to get the total population needed for the study, the researchers sought permission from the office of Student Personnel Service. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the respondent. The researchers used a descriptive quantitative design for this research After the researchers gathered the list needed for the research, they distributed and administered the questionnaires to the respondents through social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and email and researchers also reached them with their contact numbers. Further, the researchers also conducted field work (i.e., home visits) to reach the graduate and completed the data gathering for the period of 5 months. Data we re tabulated after the retrieval and brought to a statistician for statistical treatment, after which the researchers interpreted the result to give recommendation. There are more female graduates of tourism. The dominance of female students in the Tourism programme in this study is in line with a previous study on study motivations in Korea, Taiwan, and China (Kim, et al., 2007), indicating the popularity of hospitality and tourism Management among female students in Asian countries. 1.2 Civil Status; Almost all of the respondents are still single, which implies that if not for personal reasons, the quality and the demand of their current job kept them unmarried. In a book entitled â€Å"Introduction to Hospitality Operations† by Walker 2009, the WTO (World Tourism Association) has declared that tourism industry work is very demanding; it is a 24hour-a day, 7-day-week, 52-week-a-year economic driver. 1.3 Year Graduated Most of the respondents are graduates of Batch 2008-2009. Respondents that graduated earlier from the UPHSD-Molino are less accessible than those who graduated recently, which can be attributed to the demands or location of their jobs as those who have graduated earlier tend be more established in their jobs. 1.4 Employment Status? Most of the respondents are already employed. This indicates the high employability of the graduates of UPHSD-Molino. The program BS Tourism offered by the UPHSD- Molino provides many opportunities for graduates to work in various professions in different sectors such as restaurants, resorts, air and cruise lines, theme parks, and casinos. 1.5 Nature of Work It can be gleaned from the table 1.5 that 88% are employed in work aligned with their course. This indicates that he graduates are generally qualified to jobs aligned or closely aligned with their course, while the 8% are employed to other industry such as in business sector. The remaining 4% is a respondent who resigned from her work, which was inclined to tourism industry, and now focusing on her family. As stated above, the tourism program provides many opportunities for employment, which includes land, air and sea-based work. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS College of International and Hospitality Management is committed to providing quality education by offering a wide range of theoretical and practical knowledge and skills through various aspects of hospitality management which is necessary to every student in becoming competent individuals of society. The above discussion has evaluated the skills of tourism students who graduated from the UPHSD -Molino, particularly, their technical, managerial, research, leadership, human relation, and communication skills. The null hypothesis, in which the researchers assumed no significant difference in the employability skills of the respondents, was rejected. The graduates of each batch rated themselves differently on various skills because of the different situations and factors that affected them during their study. According to the summary of data on different employability skills of tourism graduates, the researchers found significant differences in the employability skills of the respondents. In their analysis, the researchers gleaned that Tourism graduates have strong potential for employment as they have acquired the necessary tourism skills. Along with the Tourism skills, the institution can improve the quality of teaching by bringing students outside the classroom setting such as seminars, hotel and airline familiarizations, tour guiding competition and other tourism-related activities for them to fully experience and understand their field. Because the researchers believe that learning never stops in the four walls of the classroom itself instead they need to be exposed. Hiring faculty who are equipped with background and experience in the tourism industry and related jobs, such as those employed in tourism bureaus in government or tourism-related businesses, and those who have experience in organizing events/programs and activities. Certificates of accreditation from the DOT and other organizations such as TESDA on tour guiding, travel management, and so on would help instructors in molding and developing students as better tourism industry professionals with high employability. Faculty with tourism industry experience can share more of their familiarity with the industry that is not purely textbook-dependent. In terms of technical skills, revealed as a weakness among the graduates, the University should extend utmost effort to provide facilities of the tourism college such as ticketing office with systems of Fidelio, Abacus, and Amadeus. Offer different language course in every year for them to be globally competitive. REFERENCES Claire Rees, Peter Forbes and Bianca Kubler Student Employability Profiles: A Guide for Higher Education Practitioners Communication Skills http://www.communicationskills.com.in/definition-of-communication- skills.htm Final pre – proof draft of Harvey, L., 2001, â€Å"Defining and Measuring Employability†, Quality in Higher Education 7 (2), pp. 97 – 110 Lamberton and Minor (2010)http://wiki.answer.com/Q/whatishumanrelations Lomax, R.G. (2007) Statistical Concepts: A Second Course ISBN Management Skills www. buzzle.com/articles/management-skill Planet Philippines by Pepper Marcelo (March 30, 2011)After College, Now What? Planet Philippines Leandro Milan (January 23, 2010) Migration: Oversupply of Unemployable Graduates The Higher Education Academy Graduate Impact, Student Employability and Academic Integrity University of Glasgow: Employer’s Perception of the Employability Skills of New Graduates www. kent.ac.uk/careers/docs/graduate-employability-skills%202011.pdf Weinert, P., Baukens, M., et. Al (2001) Employability: From Theory and Practice, Transaction

Marketing Challenges: Woolworths

Marketing Challenges: Woolworths Woolworth is one of the successful U.S companies, the history of the Woolworth Retail Company is more than one century. According to the Telegraph.co.uk (2009) the history of the organization can be traced back to a chain of five and dime stores founded by Frank Woolworth in 1879 in Watertown, New York. It was only a short period of time before the company opened its first UK facility in Liverpool in 1909. It was not long until the retailer had become a major fixture on most high streets across the nation and the retail model that most people recognize had emerged. They sold childrens clothing, toys and stationary at beginning, this was the born of British shopping institution. By 2008 there were 807 stores and around 25,000 employs working in the store chain of Woolworth. It was the first chain to make brand items with its own name. In 1960s when chain was at its peak with more than 1,000 shops across the UK Woolworth declared I believe that a good penny and sixpence store, run by a lively Yankee, would go down a storm in England. (Tom Geoghegan, 2008) Woolworths Group plc is one of the UKs best knows oldest group, they are general merchandise retailer, entertainment wholesaler and publisher. They had two broad lines of business Retail and Entertainment wholesale. Woolworths, Streets Online Limited, Flogistics Limited and WMS Card Services Limited are within Retail, with Entertainment UK Limited, 2entertain Limited and Disc Distribution Limited being part of Entertainment wholesale and Publisher. They brought everything under one roof the home, family and entertainment. Woolworths key products include toys, confectionary, electronic media, childrens clothes and small household and entertainment items. Their outlets allocated in small towns and city suburbs targeting the basic shopping requirements, and big stores located in larger cities on shopping streets and centers. (Graham Charlton, 2008) The name of Woolworths evokes memories of some Britons childhood but the future of Woolworths in United Kingdom doesnt look promising at present and its really hard for them to get their original niche back in market. Woolworth is the most high profile UK High Street causality of the economic down turn and ran into trouble this year after struggling under the weight of its debt. The recession has taken out Woolworth a tragically mistimed management. (Tom Geoghegan, 2008) Woolworths have gone into administration in 2009 with debts of  £385m and had to close down all Woolies store. Woolworths relaunched by Shop Direct Group on 25th June 2009 as an online retail company Woolworths.co.uk and offering half of the million products and they also launched an Easter Egg website called Woolies Wonderland for Easter of 2009. Methodology: We have taken valuable inputs from our module instructor during our semester various stages which helps us to form a frame work of our assignments. We have met regularly during the course to complete the task and conclude that Is there a future of Woolworths particularly in the region of UK as Woolworths has closed operation and stores in the UK, the reasons of their failure we had to investigate and it was quite hard objective to achieve. To find out about the company who is no more operating was not that easy task but we have found so many reasons and conclude with some recommendations in this report. Data Collection: For the research we have used Inductive method and approach, and collected data from different resources available online about Woolworths which includes case studies and the information provided in different discussion forums, through news articles, journals, research papers and secondary data was collected. Information relating to history and growth were resource mainly from BBC.news official website. The directions of the company in the recent times 1) Market Penetration: (Wall Worth) established its website which focuses to serve all the categories of the family. Wall Worth in its marketing strategy considered that it would make it easier for consumers to see the specifications and offers of goods quickly and at low cost, then it chose to make a lot of shown goods digital , and this is what the company focuses on (books, songs, electronic games, I Pod, movies). In terms of advertising , it worked to market their products through the brothers (Brooklyn) to develop the brand and logo and this was not traditional advertising, but by the Ads-mail mail for the storage of its goods and put as nearly half a million products on its website. the company also made a combination of competitive pricing strategies and the promotion for its sales and ad through Web sites as it is found in the Home page (example: if a customer bought more than 30 pounds ,you would receive goods free of charge). After this big transformation in the entering of Woolworths as a retail store by Internet ,it was ranked among the 50 brands that are searched by customers through the Internet in the United Kingdom on the (Wutscher)site. More than one million visitors accessed the company site when it opened on the Internet in the first week in February 2009. The company achieved this success through a combination of products with a great value and great offers and discounts. On the other hand, demand increased for discount Tesco coupons by 5% from the last year and 49% of people say that they use the Internet to buy their products by the Tesco website for retail sells. Woolworths also had a new marketing strategy to sell all its products under one roof by its website .So it has three shops for selling on its website including main store to sell electronics, store for entertainment, store for clothes and fashion. When developing a marketing plan, Woolworths found that the strongest area of its business is concentrated in computer games (such as Nintendo), and there was an increase in demand in 2007_2008 and this is what led it to sell them on its website at the beginning of 2009 to the e-games and DVDs . it did this to reach operational low costs and the minimum number of employees after seeing that consumers prefer to buy this type of merchandise through the Internet . First of all , by designing products in line with the wishes and needs of t consumer with different aspirations , and on the other hand. to retain the current consumers and attract potential consumers 2 Developing the market: Woolworths had got new and different sales channels from traditional stores such as portals as a new market places for industry / consumers , e-mail, and also Facebook, from these channels (I U k) company .In early 2008 , Wall worth started a new experience in selling digital products for this reason the total sales rose to 23.5% and this equals 240 million pounds through this joint project. 3 Developing the Product: Woolworths considered after the entry of foreign competitors to the UK market specifically in the area of food , and found that it needed to new strategies for keeping of their competition trend : innovation, uniqueness and quality and it continues in this until now by innovating and developing new products and developing modified products to increase sales. So it kept developing its products by products concern Christmas trees and decorations. In 2008, the company produced a total of 2200 products . the company aims in this marketing strategy to increase sales. In this time, Tesco entered on the line of Christmas products which is focused by Woolworths , so Tesco contracted with Cadbury Chocolate company to buy millions of units at a cheaper price than Woolworths and this was a great challenge to it in their direction to increase sales, while Tesco tries to reduce the unit value and enhanced service to its customers. The company also had got exclusive partnerships for some global products in a move to introduce new products and monopoly them as well. 4 Diversification of new products in new markets: Woolworths has new buying lines and adds new products such as televisions, mobile phones and (I Pod) devices directed at consumers, particularly young people. Multi-services to all members of the family , the tendency is to make the price competitive, but not the cheapest in the market. Wall Worth entered the field of clothing for children by using shopping and direct distribution on the internet. It aims to provide better customer service than its competitors. Tesco company did this too , but with less costs in the market. In conclusion, Woolworths put all the strategies that make it succeed in the coming years according to their capabilities .It is an important step to know what its customers need and what they are looking for, so Its current focus is on the non-food products, and this will be achieved entirely by its website. Relate the issues to appropriate concepts introduced in the Module There are few strategies and concepts within marketing that can be relate to the Woolworths strategies and method they used. Woolworths mission and strategy was to deliver to customers the right shopping experience each and every time, vision to provide quality products and services to customers through price strategies, human resource strategies and fresh food strategies. To achieve this they integrated and execute several strategies which include low prices strategy, project refresh strategy. The Woolworths strategy was purely and completely on the basis of price and they implement every-day low prices strategy to offer customers lower prices through reductions on all products but there was no brand status. This was a very good strategy for many years and it made Woolworths fortune and achieved the goals. Woolworths experienced great success through innovative, tactful and profitable strategies their organizational structure, staff leadership and stakeholders all played an importan t role in executing these strategies. It is really important for any company to understand the marketing environment and customer needs/wants to target the correct costumer for the product sales. Woolworths was successful all over the world and in UK also they enjoyed a time as a leading and dominant company capturing the most market shares and there was no threat for Woolworths till 1960s. Woolworths business also had an important part to market their products in the people with understanding of products and result in increased in sales and customer interest. They succeeded to change their new customers into retain and loyal customer and Woolworth understand and targeted the customer values, reliability, credibility, accessibility and provide them with satisfaction of shopping at their stores and build their trusts. Macro environment was in the favor of Woolworths from the start as there was no political and technological awareness in early 1900, factors and forces that affects the Woolworths capability to operate effec tively was not there. Woolworths destabilized by the combination of supermarkets, cheap discount stores and online buying stores offering products at lower prices. Thus the market becomes more competitive since the internet and globalization have made international foundation as reality. There was no spending on frills having relied exclusive on prices with no position in market. Their stores were old fashioned and unappetizing because they dont use to spent money on stores to catch the attention. There lack of property portfolio also discourages government to rescue them and creditors start claiming and suppliers asking for cash for the goods. BCG Growth/Share Matrix: We can analyze Woolworths through BCG growth/share boxes as David Jobber (2007). Hence, Woolworths was at their peak in 1960s and they were the leading company having big chains of stores in retail industry. Woolworths completed century and prove to be the star of the industry. Market and business growth rate graph was on its peak in 1990s, market share was even very high and the stars of the past was proving to be the cash cows and company having the high turnover and revenue. Their market position was indefinite with no competitors in the industry. But, today Woolworths is being a problem child with negative growth and their shops are closed leaving 25,000 people unemployed and in 2009 they completely closed down retail operations in UK. Woolworths is creating new solutions and have come into business with new strategy to open few new shops with different ideas and they have gone into administration with re-launching of the company as an online retailer with new product lines which better meets customer needs and they can easily access the market. David Jobber (2007) Discuss the Customers Perspective The purpose of this essay is to discuss the topic issue of whether or not there is a future for Woolworths from the perspective of the customer. It will provide a prediction for the outlook of the organization from the perspective of customers. Whilst the organization was known as the Woolworths Group Plc the company according to BBC News (2009) the company closed all 807 if its retail stores and the company was ultimately liquidated in February 2009 and for purposes of this paper the focus will be on the online retail operations of the company. This has made a huge impact on the way the company deals with customer and what customers can expect from Woolworth. According to the Laurence writing for the Dailymail (2008) the company had experienced years of poor performance. In the wake of increased competition and a global economic downturn it was the case that the holding company for the organization decided to liquidate all physical assets and focus on online retail operations. According to an interview with Gordon Brown in the Telegraph, the Prime Minister stated that the government had considered bailing out the organization but had decided that the business model was financially unviable (Prince, 2009). Upon examination of the company website (2009), when speaking in relative terms, the company has product offerings that closely mirror that of what was on offer in the former retail outlets. Furthermore, there has been a modernization of the entertainment offerings over the previously employed retail model (Company entertainment website, 2009). That said, from a customers perspective Woolworth now offers very little that cannot be purchased at other online retail outlets such as Amazon or EBay. Furthermore, these companies are much more experienced and economically healthy than Woolworth, and therefore have a much larger market share. This is unlikely to change. From the perspective of the average consumer it is unlikely in the near future there will be a return to Woolworths traditional business model. It is simply the case that the environment is far more saturated with traditional and specialty retailers. According to TNS World Pannel (2008) it is the case that a number of already established grocery retailers are offering clothing, house wares, gifts, and electronics which is a market traditionally dominated by Woolworths. Whilst it remains to be seen whether or not the continued success of the organization using the current online retail business model will continue indefinitely, the initial success is certainly promising. According to an article by Marketing Week (2009) it is the case that 68.7% consumers are planning on doing more of their Christmas shopping online this year which represents a huge growth opportunity for the Woolworths if they can capitalize on this growing market. This is supported by an article by Huber (2009) the parent company to Woolworths launched a massive advertising campaign to help promote the services offered in an effort to boost consumer confidence to one of the busiest retail spending times of the year. An additional problem to consider, however, is that Woolworths target demographic has traditionally been older shoppers. Because such shoppers are less Internet savvy than younger shoppers, Woolworth will have to work hard to reach out to its traditional base. Traditional customers might be tempted to simply continue shopping at places where they can pick up and look at the goods they are interested in. Some do not even have credit cards. Woolworth must work hard to differentiate itself in an online marketplace dominated by big, experienced retailers. If it does not do so, it will go the way of the dodo bird. In conclusion, any return to the previously employed retail business model as employed by Woolworths is unlikely. That is not to say that people will not continue to enjoy the level of service and product offerings that the company had offered but this must be done so by new means. Assess the Perspective of Competitors There was the time when there was a demand for Woolworths in the Market, but after a certain period of time we witnessed that the Woolworths was off the market in a few years. The sudden debacle of Woolworths from the market can be because of various aspects. With the increase in the numbers of its competitors and the woolsworth unable to compete with them accordingly and improper strategies and not updating with the technology as well as with the change in the needs and the demands of the consumers. Woolworths Competitors The loss of Woolworth in Shirley was echoed in about 800 High Streets across UK, breaking the record of 99 years in the history of the British towns and cities. The main cause can be named as recession as with the impact of recession many of the stores were closed and increment in the number of charity shops. The streets were having now the three times more the charity and the discount shops. These great losses in the business were due to the recession, the rise of the supermarkets and the increasing popularity of the weekly shops. The debacle of Woolworths had a few other aspects and they were its competitors. The major competitors of Woolworths were the Tesco and the Wall-mats. The main reasons which led to the downfall of the Woolworths are Fewer womens clothes shop One in every five womens as well as childrens clothes shops were closed in UK. This was one of the most important and discretionary area were there were a lot of money was spend so when there were locks on such doors people then decided or rather started going to the discount outlets and were fully satisfied and were satisfied in a cheap price. Next is a diagram representing the actual diagram representing a proper data showing the approximate loss of the market in according to the closure of the shops of Woolworths. This data is been taken from a local data company which is depicting the % of loss of a business dealing in a particular product. And as we go throw the data we can see that there has been a major loss to the woolsworth in the near future and compare with its near competitors. Shops mostly empty The shops became empty because of increment of the competitors and effect of the recession that led to the downfall of major businesses. Woolworths have so many competitors. The competition was basically amongst the super markets specially Tesco, as they started selling more and more household products as well as toys and electronic goods and many such other products that can be considered as gift items. Woolworths on the other hand was not looking over the aspects that other large markets were giving them a stiff challenge. The first ever store of Woolworths was opened in Liverpool in 1909. And it was selling almost all the products right from the tools to clothes, it was selling cheaps of things and none other stores were such big. The greatest of Woolworths was from its main rivals probably individuals stores themselves, the consumers were going regularly to the Woolworths because the specialist stores were not having appropriate stuff that the consumer were demanding but with the increase in the number of super markets there were more stuff along with the relevant information so consumer started going towards those who were new but were very promising namely Tesco the competitor of Woolworths Tesco was founded in 1929 by J. Cohen. The company was not on the London stock exchange till 1947, unlike the Woolworth and the Wall-Mart as their primary focus was on the groceries right from the beginning was struggling at the time in 1970, it only expanded when it introduced the club cards and entered the European and the Asian markets expanded into non food banking and telecom products. Tesco that reportedly having half of its sales in the UK at present. According to Tesco inflation had dropped substantially since three month till September. They keep on launching cut-price ranges and by these aspects they were attracting almost 300,000 more customers every week and they witnessed strong improvement in their sales volume. Tesco is due to complete the purchase the remaining of the 50% stake of Tesco Personal Finance from the Royal Bank of Scotland in a very near future. The group has also said that they will put brakes over their expansion in the US and will only focus on the hitt ing the key areas. Tesco being the greatest threat to the Woolworths is implementing the strategies to take over it in every aspect. Tesco has also confirmed that they are surely interested in buying the Woolsworth as the chain has almost collapsed just after they were not able to stabilise their company with major threats from the markets. Woolworths kept its regional focus on the other hand was concentrated on the supermarkets in the future might focus on the food products as recently bought the 10% shares of New Zealand based The Warehouse Group. They copied high success retailing fuel strategies from the Tesco which has been largest retailer of petrol since 1991. Tesco on the other hand developed 4 main formats to suit different locations. Also used the supermarket in selling the liquor which became major threat to the Woolworths.

Anderson And Hemingways Use Of The First Person Essay -- essays resear

"It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."At one point in his short story, "Big Two-Hearted River: Part II", Hemingway's character Nick speaks in the first person. Why he adopts, for one line only, the first person voice is an interesting question, without an easy answer. Sherwood Anderson does the same thing in the introduction to his work, Winesburg, Ohio. The first piece, called "The Book of the Grotesque", is told from the first person point of view. But after this introduction, Anderson chooses not to allow the first person to narrate the work. Anderson and Hemingway both wrote collections of short stories told in the third person, and the intrusion of the first person narrator in these two pieces is unsettling. In both instances, though, the reader is left with a much more absorbing story; one in which the reader is, in fact, a main character. With the exception of "My Old Man", which is entirely in the first person , and "On the Quai at Smyrna", which is only possibly in the first person, there is just one instance in In Our Time in which a character speaks in the first person. It occurs in "Big Two-Hearted River: Part II", an intensely personal story which completely immerses the reader in the actions and thoughts of Nick Adams. Hemingway's utilization of the omniscient third person narrator allows the reader to visualize all of Nick's actions and surroundings, which would have been much more difficult to accomplish using first person narration. Nick is seen setting up his camp in "Big Two-Hearted River: Part I" in intimate detail, from choosing the perfect place to set his tent to boiling a pot of coffee before going to sleep. The story is completely written the in third person and is full of images, sounds, and smells. In "Big Two-Hearted River: Part II" Hemingway exactly describes Nick's actions as he fishes for trout. Details of his fishing trip are told so clearly that the reader is almost an active participant in the expedition instead of someone reading a story. He carefully and expertly finds grasshoppers for bait, goes about breakfast and lunch-making, and sets off into the cold river. By being both inside and outside Nick's thoughts, the reader can sense precisely the drama that Hemingway wishes to bring to trout fishing.... ...art of the story. The entire book is a dialogue between narrator and reader. The effect is that the reader becomes even more involved in the stories. Both of these works are unlike others from the same time period which are told completely using first person narration. Gertrude Stein's The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas and Anita Loos' Gentlemen Prefer Blondes are both written wholly in the first person. But both of these read like diaries, of which the reader is just that - a reader. Neither one has a point at which the reader is so definitely brought into the story consciously by the author. By jumping abruptly into first person instead of using it all along, Hemingway and Anderson more effectively do this. Anderson's and Hemingway's sudden switches to first person narration of course could not have been mere mistakes, and their reasons may have been even more convoluted than imaginable to late twentieth century readers. What is left are two collections of short stories in which the reader plays an actual role. The intrusion of first person narration makes these stories come alive in a way that a third person narration cannot, a tribute to the skill of both of these authors.

A More Perfect Union: Japanese Americans and the U.S. Constitution Essa

A More Perfect Union: Japanese Americans and the U.S. Constitution Introduction Located on the third floor of the National Museum of American History, "A More Perfect Union" documents the forced relocation of thousands of Japanese Americans during World War II. The exhibit focuses on the violation of constitutional rights that occurred during this process. The purposes of this review are as follows: describe the scope, purpose, and message of the exhibit, analyze how that message is organized and communicated, evaluate the effectiveness of the exhibit, and interpret the exhibit as a cultural artifact. Description During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many Japanese immigrated to the United States and started new lives on the West Coast or Hawaii. The majority of these people, as well as their children, held U.S. citizenship; however, due to the racial prejudice and distrust of World War II these Japanese Americans were denied their rights guaranteed in the Constitution. This statement is the overall message of "A More Perfect Union." "A More Perfect Union" begins with the image of the Constitution portrayed on a large wall. Nearby, the Bill of Rights is shown and explained. The privileges guaranteed by these documents are fully developed through prose and quotations. The freedoms associated with U.S. citizenship are all clear in the minds of the museum goers as they proceed to the next section. The second section of the exhibit contains information on the immigration and assimilation of the Japanese into the culture of the West Coast and Hawaii. This area shows how the first generation of immigrants, or issei, traveled over the Pacific to an entirely new nation and society. Many soon became citize... ...on. She felt the message of the exhibit was "to apologize for the Americans who acted out of hysteria in imprisoning a multitude of fellow citizens who were completely innocent." A large portion of her review is devoted to expanding this apology concept. In my opinion, the purpose of the exhibit should be to educate, not to ask forgiveness. Conclusion I feel that "A More Perfect Union" did an excellent job of telling the true story of the Japanese internment. It also was successful in celebrating the achievements of the Japanese American people. The only flaws I found in the exhibit were the unnecessary emphasis on Japanese American soldiers and the praising of the American people and their use of the Constitution. All other aspects of the exhibit, especially the artifacts and audio-visual displays, were suitably used to tell the story of the Japanese relocation.

Intertextuality in Robert Kroetschs Seed Catalogue Essay -- Kroetsch

Intertextuality in Robert Kroetsch's Seed Catalogue The late poet John Donne said, "No man is an island." Donne passed away in the earliest part of the seventeenth century, and yet he recognized an idea upon which much of modern philosophy and literary criticism is built. Donne said, in effect, that any individual man is nothing outside the body of mankind; Donne thereby supports a theory of cultural subjectivism. In the field of literary criticism, particularly modern and postmodern criticism, the term intertextuality refers to the phenomenon of interconnectedness that exists specifically within literature. Just as Donne believes man to be nothing outside the context of his culture, so too does modern literary criticism support the idea that a text is nothing outside of the whole body of a culture's literature. In this way, it is fair to say that no text is an island. As in any discussion of theoretical topics, it is vitally important for those involved in a discussion of intertextuality to fully understand the definition of the word before any meaningful discussion of the term or its application can occur. According to M. H. Abrams: The term intertextuality, popularized by Julie Kristeva, is used to signify the multiple ways in which one literary text is made up of other texts, by means of its open or covert citations and allusions, its repetitions and transformations of the formal and substantive features of earlier texts, or simply its unavoidable participation in the common stock of linguistic and literary conventions and procedures that are "always already" in place and constitute the discourses into which we are born. In Kristeva's formulation, accordingly, any text is in fact an "intertext"-the site of... ... virtue of their unique relationship. The metaphor of seeds may not be limited to what constitutes the seeds of a prairie town or the seeds of a poet but rather to what constitutes the seeds of a poem. Just as plants grow to maturity and create the seeds for a new generation of plants, the texts of one's life become the beginning of new texts to be created. The seeds catalogued within Seed Catalogue are texts. Works Cited Abrams, M. H. "Text and Writing (Écriture)." A Glossary of Literary Terms. 7th ed. Boston: Heinle & Heinle, 1999. Garret-Petts, W. F. "Novelist as Radical Pedagogue." College English 54.5 (1992): 554-572. Herk, Aretha van. "Robert Kroetsch Biocritical Essay." The Robert Kroetsch Papers: first accession. Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 1986. Kroetsch, Robert. Seed Catalogue. Winnipeg: Turnstone Press, 2001.

Fraud Invalidates a Contract

Week Four Assignment By: Kelly Sciberras November 25, 2012 DeVry University Business Law – BUSN420 ? Week Four Assignment As our textbook explains fraud invalidates a contract. â€Å"The presence of fraud affects the authenticity of the innocent party’s consent to a contract. When an innocent party is fraudulently induced to enter into a contract, the contract usually can be avoided because she or he has not voluntarily consented to the terms. Normally, the innocent party can either cancel the contract and be restored to her or his original position or enforce the contract and seek damages for harms resulting from the fraud (Miller 281). Generally, fraudulent misrepresentation refers only to misrepresentation that is consciously false and is intended to mislead another. Typically, fraud involves three elements; a misrepresentation of a material fact must occur, secondly there must be intent to deceive, and lastly the innocent party must justifiably rely on the misrepre sentation. To collect damages, a party must have been harmed as a result of the misrepresentation. Fraudulent misrepresentation can also occur in the online environment.Undue Influence and Duress Undue influence arises from relationships in which one party can greatly influence another party, thus overcoming that party’s free will. A contract entered into under excessive or undue influence lacks voluntary consent and is therefore voidable. The essential feature of undue influence is that the party being taken advantage of does not, in reality, exercise free will in entering into a contract. It is not enough that a person is elderly or suffers from some mental or physical impairment.There must be clear and convincing evidence that the person did not act out of her or his free will Miller explains. Forcing a party to enter into a contract because of the fear created by threats is referred to as duress. In addition, blackmail or extortion to induce consent to a contract constitu tes duress. Generally, for duress to occur, the threatened act must be wrongful or illegal. Threatening to exercise a legal right, such as the right to sue someone, ordinarily is not illegal and usually does not constitute duress.Duress is both a defense to the enforcement of a contract and a ground for rescission of a contract. Therefore, a party who signs a contract under duress can choose to carry out the contract or to avoid the entire transaction. (The wronged party usually has this choice in cases in which consent is not voluntary. ) Economic need generally is not sufficient to constitute duress, even when one party exacts a very high price for an item the other party needs. If the party exacting the price also creates the need, however, economic duress may be found (Miller 286-287).Examples of undue influence and duress can been seen in various types of relationships in which one party may dominate another party, thus unfairly influencing him or her. Minors and elderly people , for example, are often under the influence of guardians. If a guardian induces a young or elderly ward to enter into a contract that benefits the guardian, the guardian may have exerted undue influence. Undue influence can arise from a number of confidential or fiduciary relationships, including attorney-client, physician-patient, guardian-ward, parent-child, husband-wife, and trustee-beneficiary (Miller 286).Damages and Equitable Remedies There are basically four broad categories of damages; compensatory damages which are intended to cover direct losses and costs, consequential damages which cover indirect and foreseeable losses, punitive damages are supposed to punish and deter wrongdoing, and nominal damages which recognize wrongdoing when no monetary loss is shown (Miller 323). Our textbook discusses how there are times when damages are an inadequate remedy for a breach of contract.In these situations, the non-breaching party may ask the court for an equitable remedy. Equitabl e remedies include rescission and restitution, specific performance, and reformation. Restitution is an equitable remedy under which a person is restored to his or her original position prior to loss or injury, or placed in the position he or she would have been in had the breach not occurred. Specific Performance is an equitable remedy requiring exactly the performance that was specified in a contract; usually granted only when monetary damages would be an inadequate emedy and the subject matter of the contract is unique (for example, real property). Reformation is an equitable remedy used when the parties have imperfectly expressed their agreement in writing. Reformation allows a court to rewrite the contract to reflect the parties’ true intentions. Courts order reformation most often when fraud or mutual mistake is present. ? References Miller, Jentz. Business Law Today: Comprehensive, 9th Edition. South Western Educational Publishing, 01/2011. .

Taco Bell

â€Å"For us, the process of reengineering is like a sailing adventure which has been going on for more than ten years, and we know that as long as the Taco Bell still engaged in service to the customer's business, the sail will continue to persist. † –chief executive and chairman of Taco Bell. John Martin The Taco Bell's CEO and chairman John Martin is one of the most influential man in the fast food industry, he has a reason proud for his achievements over the past few decades in Taco Bell company.He's guidance on the value – oriented reengineering to Taco Bell company marks an era of the fast food industry. He set off a revolution in the fast food industry, each Taco for 59 cents and still profitable. Starting in 1983, John Martin began a series of changes in the Taco Bell organization designed to alter the company’s mind-set, as well as its capabilities for pursuing a strategy to compete with the major fast-food chains. The first thing he did was to mo dernize Taco Bell’s physical units.These changes included remodeling the restaurants, increasing seating capacity, adding drive-through windows, installing new signs, and outfitting employees in more contemporary uniforms. The company also added new menu items, including Nachos, Taco Salad, Mexican Pizza, Double Beef Burrito Supreme, Seafood Salad, and Soft-Shell Tacos. 2In addition, Martin accelerated the company’s growth, averaging 249 new stores per year from1983 to 1988, an increase from less than 100 units per year that had been added in the late 1970s.This expansion also extended Taco Bell’s geographic presence into the Midwest, Southeast, and Northeast. In the process, the company replaced its old 1,600-square-foot mission-style restaurants with more modern2,000-square-footunits. 2 Dean Takahashi: â€Å"Taco Bell†¦,† The Orange County Register, August 13, 1989. The first four products mentioned are trade marked products of Taco Bell Corp Taco Bell â€Å"For us, the process of reengineering is like a sailing adventure which has been going on for more than ten years, and we know that as long as the Taco Bell still engaged in service to the customer's business, the sail will continue to persist. † –chief executive and chairman of Taco Bell. John Martin The Taco Bell's CEO and chairman John Martin is one of the most influential man in the fast food industry, he has a reason proud for his achievements over the past few decades in Taco Bell company.He's guidance on the value – oriented reengineering to Taco Bell company marks an era of the fast food industry. He set off a revolution in the fast food industry, each Taco for 59 cents and still profitable. Starting in 1983, John Martin began a series of changes in the Taco Bell organization designed to alter the company’s mind-set, as well as its capabilities for pursuing a strategy to compete with the major fast-food chains. The first thing he did was to mo dernize Taco Bell’s physical units.These changes included remodeling the restaurants, increasing seating capacity, adding drive-through windows, installing new signs, and outfitting employees in more contemporary uniforms. The company also added new menu items, including Nachos, Taco Salad, Mexican Pizza, Double Beef Burrito Supreme, Seafood Salad, and Soft-Shell Tacos. 2In addition, Martin accelerated the company’s growth, averaging 249 new stores per year from1983 to 1988, an increase from less than 100 units per year that had been added in the late 1970s.This expansion also extended Taco Bell’s geographic presence into the Midwest, Southeast, and Northeast. In the process, the company replaced its old 1,600-square-foot mission-style restaurants with more modern2,000-square-footunits. 2 Dean Takahashi: â€Å"Taco Bell†¦,† The Orange County Register, August 13, 1989. The first four products mentioned are trade marked products of Taco Bell Corp