Argos of Leadership and Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Argos of Leadership and Management - Essay Example Argos is a fully owned subsidiary of Home Retail Group, UK. Argos sells general merchandise and products for household consumption from about 700 stores in UK, online and also through telephone. In the previous financial year, sale of Argos amounted to ?4.3billion and had also employed about 33,000 people across the business (Argos, 2011). Multichannel sales have grown in recent years and represents about ?1.9bn or about 46% of the total sales of Argos. Sales through internet represented about 36% of sales and the remaining 10% through in store sale or by telephone. Argos is the second largest internet retailer operating in UK comprising of about 400 m websites visit during a year (Argos-a, 2011). Argos has adopted the differentiation strategy of Porters generic strategy as the stores of Argos act as a key component of the multichannel model which provides convenient pick up points for its customers. Also with latest technology like ‘voice put away’ which enables the sto res to chose the location of the stocks and thus maximize the utilization of space available from stockroom, the multichannel retailer aims to create a competitive advantage (Argos-b, 2011, p.14). Argos faces a stiff competition from Amazon, internet retailer and has been suffering from consumer downturn and also the likes and demands for Amazon and other competitors. As compared to price, Amazon products was rated cheaper than Argos and in an online survey it was revealed that electrical of Argos was ranked 20 with customer score of 62% as compared with Amazon of 88% (The Guardian, 2012). 2. Monitor the environment Organization tends to monitor the environment by many different ways as per the convenience and requirement by the company. Most of the organization conducts market research to analyze the environment and to know the strategies that its competitors have adopted to overcome the challenges in the competitive environment. Some does it through scenario planning, benchmarking and also through industrial publications. Argos multichannel retailers use the method of benchmarking in order to monitor the environment. Scenario planning has also formed an important part of Argos while dealing with the environment. Benchmarking is an important tool as it helps organisation to gather information about its competitors and the globe, highlights the area which are in need of improvement and set performance standards (Evans, Walters & Palmer, 2002, p. 19). According to Sara Weller the Managing Director of Argos have commented that Argos has set benchmark for the model of multichannel retail and because of its strategy the multichannel retail stores has been doing well than its competitors. The retail giant continues to focus on the customers and delivery as per their requirements. The firm has benchmarked profit before tax to about 60% less at about ?102million (News Reach, 2012). With respect to scenario planning, Argos has realised that the role of physical stores are changing and thus it needs to incorporate to the change in order to stay competitive. The mostly likely scenario is that retail stores will serve two purposes, as showroom and secondly as convenient transaction point. Thus Argos plans to segment their related estates. Some of the flagship stores would focus on the function of the showrooms and

The Scientific Method Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Scientific Method - Essay Example Used materials: I required three items to complete this research: 1. A notebook in which I recorded the results 2. Five 1.5 ounce Planter's NUT.rition bags 3. Five paper towels on which to place the contents of each bag Methods: Each bag of Planter's NUT.rition was poured out onto a paper towel, and the nuts sorted by type. The total number of nuts per bag and the number of each type were recorded in a notebook. Results and Analysis: The number of nuts per bag and the type are given in Table 1: Bag Number Peanuts Hazelnuts Pistachios Almonds Pecans Total Nuts 1 30 2 16 9 9 66 2 27 1 15 10 4 57 3 33 3 14 8 6 64 4 31 5 8 5 9 58 5 29 1 12 7 7 56 These results tell us that the proportions of types of nuts in a Planter's NUT.rition bag are not equal between bags. The proportions of each type of nut in the bag are given in Table 2: Bag Number Peanuts Hazelnuts Pistachios Almonds Pecans 1 0.45 0.03 0.24 0.14 0.14 2 0.47 0.02 0.26 0.18 0.07 3 0.51 0.05 0.23 0.13 0.09 4 0.53 0.08 0.14 0.09 0. 16 5 0.52 0.02 0.21 0.13 0.13 The biggest variation was seen in the pistachios (+/- 0.12) and the smallest difference was seen in the peanuts and hazelnuts (+/- 0.06). However, none of the bags showed similar proportions in all five types of nuts, even if proportions were similar between one or two types.

Asbestos hazards Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Asbestos hazards - Essay Example The case of James Hardie Industries in Australia is a learning experience on how failure of the businesses to induce a mechanism of occupational health issues can remain critical to its operations. Occupational health hazards do exist in daily operations in most businesses. However, it remains the role of the managers and the health department to ensure that the staff and the target consumers are safe, during the process of conducting the sales as well as production. That is the reason the national department on safety does recommend that every business should have a safety program for its workers prior to kicking off its operations. Some of the business products are at the verge of posing long-term effects to the victims of the same. It, therefore, remains expensive to compensate the victims as long-term damage has already occurred in their system. Prevention is always better than cure. It is advantageous for a firm to come up with outlines of hazards prevention rather than coming u p with them when damage has already happened. Utilization of protective devices is also important especially in areas where various lethal gases or solids are at risk of coming into contact with the bodies of the victims.Deaths related to asbestos toxicity were on the increase. Everybody was aware that the firm was responsible for the effects. Mesothelioma was the main condition that the majority of people suffered from. More than 10000 deaths did occur in Australia due to the toxicity emanating from asbestos.

Interactive Training of Hospitality Operations Personnel Essay

Interactive Training of Hospitality Operations Personnel - Essay Example The rise in employee turnover costs and the increased use of technology in the industry further emphasizes the need for training (Sheldon and Gee, 1987). Internet based 'interactive training' programs (an umbrella term that includes both computer based and multi-media training) of hospitality operations staff provides access to on-demand training, tracking of each trainees' progress, as well as in-depth reporting of each trainee (hotelonline.com, 2000). The training is provided with an interactive format that includes text, animation and audio. A successful interactive training program in the hospitality sector ensures consistency in providing a quality environment for employees, guests and visitors. It is a cost effective way of upgrading skills of hospitality personnel, the benefit of which can be visible from consistent and quality delivery of essential guest services and avoidance of any litigious situation. In the present age of IT dominance, interactive training of hospitality personnel is an integral part of the industry without which introduction of technologies in the hospitality sector would not have the desired result. ... With new innovations in the IT sector, more and more hotels are equipping themselves with the tools of modern technology to ensure global connectivity to their customers, particularly corporate executives. Without upgrading, the knowledge and skills of hospitality personnel rapidly gets outdated. In the competitive atmosphere of modern day hotels it is crucial to satisfy and win the loyalty of each customer. A satisfied customer apart from becoming prospective customer for the future may also bring in more customers through positive multiplier effect (Duprey & Kearsley, 2005). In the new e-economy, the value of human capital, meaning mainly employees' skills, competencies, and knowledge is greater than any other form of business capital and can crucially drive competitive advantage (Cohen & Levinthal, 1990). Increase in skills leads to improved performance which enables the employer to meet the needs of the employees also helping in retention of the precious talent. "No hotels can have excellent operations without excellent employees and that requires excellent human resource practices" (Siguaw & Enz, 2000, p.48). Human resource skills have always been an important element in the hospitality industry. "Friendliness and a willingness to serve others are the tools of the hotel trade, and training is the sharpener that refines the tools into hospitality machines" (Higley, 2004). Proper attitude starts with management and ends with diffusing it to all the staff of the hotel. It is of utmost importance to make right impression at the front desk which is reflected through a positive, outgoing and friendly attitude and also through efficient service. Increasingly intense competition, high customer expectations and retaining

Arms Trade Is Big Business Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Arms Trade Is Big Business - Research Paper Example In fact they are spending even more to strengthen their military assets than on health and social development sectors. There has started a race of arms among all the countries a craze of gaining ultimate power and influence.1 There can be no denial to the fact that arms trading involve huge investments and great boost for economy. Millions of dollars are earned every year from the arm trading deals. With the export of arm, huge amounts are invested for the up gradation of security as well as on research and development.2 The other major benefit of arms dealing is national security and defense. It has always been and still is the main concern of every country. On this plead only a huge sum is spent by every single country to gain access to the most up to date and modern technology in the field of arms and weapons. Huge sums are also being spent in creating most effective weapons of mass destruction that can annihilate maximum percentage of enemy area in minimum time. In order to gain power in a certain area countries help each other by trading arms among each other to gain power and influence upon other countries in that area that pose threat to them. Along with this, arms trading provide jobs opportunities. A huge number of people are involved in this weapon making business, supporting number of families.3 With the positive aspects of making economy flourish, providing employment as well as ensuring security on national level, arms trading negative impacts on overall humanity cannot be ignored. An immense number of people are dying due to this legal as well as illegal trading of arms. It is the main threat to global peace as it is endangering civilization on everyday basis. The impact of nuclear bombings on Japans should have been a wakening call to the world, but in fact it has increased the battle of obtaining the most destruction able weapons. The influential nations sell arms to the third world in order to spend money to create even more disastrous weapons than are sold. While the third world countries are trying to create their defense stronger to protect themselves from the foreign invasion, and so are trying to spend every dime on the procurement of deadliest weapons they can lay their hands on. As the former U.S. President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, so rightly put the whole situation, in a speech on April 16, 1953, by saying â€Å"every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. The world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children†¦This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening wall, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.†4 His words so rightly justifies the scenario of the present world, where children are dying of hunger and cold and the people elected to provide for their needs are busy making weapons and bringing the world to the brink of another deadliest ever war. With every trade of weapon, the looming sense of danger gets stronger. This weapon traded has no surety of being

Politics and Government Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Politics and Government - Essay Example She can start her campaign from advertising on TVs and Radios. Although the costs may be very high for such campaign, but, since she needs to reach out to a vast audience, this type of campaign is necessary. Another reason why we should advertise on TV and Radios is that not all people can read newspapers because of low-literacy rate and since the governor needs to reach out to everyone, from the most learned to an ordinary man, who cannot read or write. Only mass-media like TV and Radio would help her to meet her target of reaching out to everyone in Alaska. Only advertising on mass media would make sure that everyone gets her message and this would make her campaign more efficient, even though it will be costly. Similarly, when she decided to run for the seat in the Senate, she can advertise her campaign on print media such as Newspapers and Pamphlets. The reason behind this is that in this scenario she would need not to reach out to the every single person of Alaska but only selected few. As a PR officer, we would first assess what kind of people we are targeting and then we can design and advertise the campaign accordingly. Similarly, since we do not need to reach out to everyone, we will not waste our money on mass media.

The perception of freshmen computer engineering students Essay Example for Free

The perception of freshmen computer engineering students Essay Poverty is one of the biggest concerns that our world encounters at present. Many solutions have been made to alleviate this problem but none of them seem to work. Everyone thinks that overpopulation is the reason behind why the populace lives in a life of insufficiency. Because of this common thought, the United Nations Organization (UNO), in collaboration with the World health Organization (WHO) started to inform the people concerning reproductive health and everything tied with it. The UNO and WHO thought that this would be the answer to overpopulation. By informing the people about natural and artificial family planning methods, it will be of great help in minimizing and controlling the birth rate. In this world with over 7 billion population, in the years that passed by, we cannot negate the fact that our world will be occupied to spilling level soon. And because of this, poverty might be a greater issue. Our country is considered a third world country. This only indicates that most of the people living in this nation are below average. According to United Nations World Population Prospects, the Philippines is ranked 12th among countries with large population. And to overcome this problem which results to poverty, many programs and solutions were made and one of them is the Reproductive Health Bill which was signed into law on December 21, 2012 and now known as Republic Act 10354. It is an act providing for a National Policy on Reproductive Health, Responsible Parenthood and Population Development, and for other purposes. It is also an act which guarantees universal access to methods on contraception, fertility control, sexual education, and maternal care. It is also an act aiming to fight against poverty. But as a Christian country, the Catholic Church emphasizes the rejection of the RH Law. The Catholic Church strongly opposes the said act. The Catholic Church pointed out that the opposition was not about a Catholic decision but a deliberation of the â€Å"fundamental ideals and aspirations of the Filipino people† (Sison 2011). There are also many people and agencies that are against the RH Law. Even so, the Congress, the Senate and the President of the country believe in its potential to answering problems on overpopulation. Saint Mary’s University, as a Catholic School, and a center for excellence, has also a side in this issue. The young students must be knowledgeable of what is going at present. The RH Law is a current issue and a good subject to deal with. Every individual should involve himself in present concerns. Dr. Jose Rizal once said that young people are the hope of the nation. In this context, everyone must know the position of every youth. This study was conducted in order to know the perception of youths particularly the freshmen Computer Engineering students toward the RH Law, if either they say Yes or No. Statement of the Problem Reproductive Health Law is a timely issue and a good subject to talk about. Students who belong to different gender, religion and cultures of Saint Mary’s University should be involved in it. This study was conducted to know the views of freshmen Computer Engineering students towards RH Law and its benefits. Specifically, it seeks to answer the following questions: 1. What is the perception of students towards the Reproductive Health Law (Republic Act 10354) and its benefits? 2. Is there a difference in the perception of students in terms of: a. Gender, and b. Religion? Conceptual Framework Figure 1. Conceptual Framework The study is about the Reproductive Health Law. This topic was chosen for it is timely and a good subject to talk about. The perception of the students will be known through the perceived benefits of the Reproductive Health Law. As the study goes further, the researchers will determine the relationship of gender and religion on the perception of the respondents. Significance of the Study This study was conducted to help people widen up each and every individual’s mind setting about our society nowadays. This study will relatively serve the following. The Students. This study will be of great help to them in becoming aware and knowledgeable about the current situations. This will also help the students to think of their stand on the subject of this study. The Church. The results of study will help the church become aware of the thoughts of the young generation particularly the students. The Government. The results of this study can be one of the basis of the government to know whether the implementation of RH Law is significant or not in the present times. The Future Researchers. This study will also be important to the researchers that will study the same subject in the future. With this study, it will help them think of the ways to improve this research. Because the topic of this study is a current issue, with its limited resources, the results will be helpful to them. Serving as a supplement to their study. Scope and Delimitation This study is only about the perception of the young generation particularly the freshman Computer Engineering students of Saint Mary’s University towards the Reproductive Health Law (Republic Act 10354). This is conducted during the second semester of the School year 2012-2013. Moreover, this study is also conducted to determine if there is a difference in the perception of students in terms of their gender and religion. Other students of different courses are not included for easier data gathering process. Definition of Terms The following terms are defined operationally to facilitate comprehension of the study. Bill. This term in the political process refers to a proposed law placed before a legislative body for examination, debate, and enactment. Law. This term refers to body of official rules and regulations, generally found in constitutions, legislation, judicial opinions, and the like, that is used to govern a society and to control the behavior of its members. Perception. This refers to the view, opinion, and stand of the respondents towards the benefits of the RH Law which reveals if they disagree or agree with the subject. Reproductive Health. This term refers to the state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, reproductive health or sexual health/hygiene, that address the reproductive processes, functions and system at all stages of life. Chapter 2 METHODOLOGY Research Design This study used descriptive and survey type of research in determining the perception of the respondents. It aimed to find out if there is a difference of the respondent’s views in terms of gender and religion. Understanding the sections of the Consolidated Reproductive Health Law and classifying the benefits of the Law made it descriptive. The study was made a survey type of research because of the manner of data gathering. Research Environment This study was conducted at Saint Mary’s University, a Roman Catholic institution owned by the Belgian missionary congregation CICM located in Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya. This learning institution is comprised of 8 college departments, namely School of Engineering and Architecture, School of Accountancy, School of Business, School of Health Sciences, School of Arts and Sciences, School of Public Administration and Governance, School of Education, and School of Computing Science and Information Technology. Subjects of the Study The participants of the study are the freshmen Computer Engineering students of the Engineering and Architecture Department of Saint Mary’s University S.Y. 2012-2013. The researchers randomly chose 40 respondents. The participants are 28 males and 11 females. They are again classified according to their religion. There are thirty (30) Roman Catholic respondents, five (5) Born-Again, four (4) United Methodist, and one (1) Jehovah’s Witnesses. Research Instrument This study used questionnaires. The questionnaire contained the benefits of the Reproductive Health Law as stated in the sections of the Consolidated RH Law. The sections which the benefits were derived from are the following: Data Gathering Procedure Figure 2. Data Gathering Procedure Everyone was given the task to get information about our subject in the library. The researchers gathered data from newspapers and some used the internet in finding resources. With the information sought, we formulated our research problem. Given the needed information and the problem, we were able to create and formulate the questionnaire. The questionnaire was verified and was readied for distribution. The questionnaire was distributed to 40 freshmen Computer Engineering students. The results were gathered, classified, assessed and interpreted. Data Analysis To answer the questions, the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequency counts and percentages. The researcher tallied the respondents’ answer on component numbers 1-15 and also if it was â€Å"strongly agree, agree, undecided, disagree, or strongly disagree†. After it, the tallying the result were summed up. To get the percentage, the frequency count was divided by the total respondents multiplied by 100. Chapter 3 presentation, analysis, and interpretation of data This chapter describes the analysis of data followed by a discussion of the research findings. The findings relate to the research questions that guided the study. Data were analyzed to identify the perception of Computer Engineering students toward the Reproductive Health Law. The data were also analyzed in order to describe the relationship and difference in the perception of the respondents in terms of gender and religion. A total of 40 questionnaires were received, however, only 39 were usable in classifying the male and female respondents because 1 respondent did not complete the questionnaire and left the gender unchecked, and so in tallying, 1 respondent checked twice under the component number 6 making it null and void. The table shows the perception of Catholic Computer Engineering students about the RH Law. It can be seen that 13 or 43.33% strongly agree on the component number 6 (Parents will be instructed and become knowledgeable about responsible parenthood.); 20 or 66.66 agrees on the component number 5 (All serious Reproductive Health conditions such as HIV and Aids will be given maximum benefits as provided by Phil Health programs.); 11 or 36.66% are undecided on component number 2 (Hospitals will be established and upgraded.); 6 or 20% disagree on component number 15 (Unwanted pregnancies will be avoided.); and only 1 respondent strongly disagree on component number 8, 11, and 14 (Children will know the limitations in their sexual life/aspects; Individuals will have an easier access in purchasing Family Planning Supplies; and Abortion will be prevented). We can see that Catholic Computer Engineering Students supports the benefits that RH Law gives. We can infer in the table above that opposing the RH Law is one of the teachings inside the Roman Catholic Church. This implication is in accordance with Sison (2011) in which he said that there is an obvious and strong disagreement of the Catholics toward the RH law. Table 4 shows that 3 out of 4 or 75% of United Methodist Computer Engineering students answered strongly agree on the benefit of RH law which is stated on item 8 (Children will know the limitations in their sexual life/ aspects.); 4 or 100% agreed on the component number 10 (Maternal death will be lessened.); 3 or 75% are undecided on components number 5 (All serious Reproductive Health conditions such as HIV and Aids will be given maximum benefits as provided by Phil Health programs.) and 9 (Violation against women will be eliminated.); 1 or 25% disagreed on components number 2 (Hospitals will be established and upgraded.) ,11 (Individuals will have an easy access in purchasing Family Planning supplies such as contraceptives, pills, etc.), and 13 (The youth will become more responsible through sex education.); and none strongly disagreed on the benefits stated. This implies that United Methodist Computer Engineering students are pro-RH Law. This is contrary to Silverio (2012) in which she said that the non-Roman Catholic Churches in the Philippines (NCPP), which includes the United Methodist Church, supports the RH Law mainly because it dwells on the issues of responsible family and recognizing the right of couples to determine how to plan their family. Alonto, N. (2011). Unknown voice: A Muslim’s view of the RH Bill. Retrieved January 15, 2013, from http://fightrhbill.blogspot.com/2011/04/young-muslim-versus-rh-bill.html. Amores, A. Capistrano, J. (2007). Pills be with you: A comparative content analysis of thecoverage of reproductive health bill issues by the Philippine Daily Inquirer and the Philippine Star from 2008-2010. Comparative Content Analysis, University of the Philippines Diliman, College of Mass Communication.p.34. Bill. Microsoft ® Student 2009 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2008. Cabradilla,P.M. and Malaki,N.M.R. (2007). The allocative efficiency of the devolved Department of Health and its impacts on family planning. Undergraduate Thesis, University of the Philippines Diliman, School of Economics.p.6. Diaz, J. (2012, December 3). RH fight in final stage. The Philippine Star, p. 22. Gonzales, J. (2011). Reproductive Health Bill in the Philippines (Part 1): Facts and salient features. Retrieved on January 4, 2013 from the website http://politikalon.blogspot.com/2011/02/reproductive-health-bill-inphilippines.html. Introduction to Jehovah’s Witnesses. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14, 2013, from http://www.ethnicityonline.net/jwitnesses.htm Macaraig, A. (2012). Senators approve RH bill on final reading. Retrieved January 4, 2013, from the website http://www.rappler.com/nation/18112-senators-approve-rh-bill-on-final-reading. Probert, Walter. Law. Microsoft ® Student 2009 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2008. Silverio, I. (2012). Non-Catholic groups recognize value of RH bill to maternal health. Retrieved January 4, 2013, from the website http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/08/10/non-catholic -groups-recognize-value-of-rh-bill-to-maternal-health/. Tinoco, M.L.A.K. (1999). A study on the perception of child-bearing couples on themessages conveyed by television advertisement on contraception. Undergraduate Thesis, University of the Philippines Diliman, School of Economics.p.10, 13.