Strategic Evaluation Document for Boots

| Strategic Evaluation Document for Boots| e-Commerce| Words: 4,998| Ei Cho Mon| MCC Training Institute, Yatanarpon| | Contents 1 Management Summary3 2. Introduction4 3. Strategic Evaluation6 3. 1 SWOT analysis6 Strength6 Weakness6 Opportunity7 Threats7 3. 2 PEST analysis7 Political7 Economic8 Social8 Technology8 4. Impact of IS9 5. E-Marketing Strategy11 5. 1 E-Marketing strategy I will advise the organization to adopt11 5. 2 The value proposition and differential advantage of this strategy11 . Legal and ethical issues13 7. Conclusion14 8. References15 1 Management Summary As an experienced consultant, I have been invited by Boots Senior Management. I need to put together a strategic plan based on the evidence supplied. The Management is also seeking a thorough investigation into the analysis of the impact of the new system on the culture and the productivity of the organization. I produce a management report title by â€Å"Strategic Evaluation Document for Boots†.In this rep ort, I investigate the impact of the new IT/IS system on the culture and productivity of the organization and also I identified the evidence that corroborates, or falsifies the claim that the new system has delivered value and provided the organization competitive advantage that Boot’s management were seeking. Boots is a retailer company that launched Advantage Card base on the result of recording purchasing patterns and customers’ behaviors. Boots already have analysts and marketers and also the database system exist too.But Data didn’t flexible and also query response times are taking so long. Therefore, Boots managed Customer Data Analysis System (CDAS) by using the help of IBM. After using this system, the problems are nearly solved. Boots want to gets customer to use their brand all over their lifetime. So, it intends to make Campaign Management System. In the future, Boots’ valuable customer will purchase Boots product peacefully and happily. To ach ieve all of this, Boots’ analysts try to research all possible ways of marketing strategy, legal and ethical issues.It is a bit difficult to research the big company system but I try my best to collect all require data and information. 2. Introduction Boots is the long life retailer that stands as a private limited company. Its main marketing environment is the Toiletries, Pharmaceuticals, Healthcare, Beauty, and Photography. Boots also have a strategy for their market. But for the company’s growing team of analysts and marketers, it is driving to change its strategy as a customer-centered view from the traditional product category focus according to the information on purchasing patterns.According to the result of strategy manager, Boots have the loyalty data related with customer for a real impact on the business. To fulfill their plan of changing company’s culture, Boots intend to make Advantage Card for their customers. Advantage Card plan is depend on custo mer behaviors for Boots. So, they research extensive trials for two year in the Norwich and Plymouth areas. These trials tested out the reward levels and had begun to identify what card holders wanted from Advantage Card plan. Boots targets women as the majority. For this time, Boots want heir scheme different from the others. So, they focus to give ‘treats’ to card holder customers. Customer will be rewarded with a personal item that they would not normally buy for themselves. This scheme got a good result for Boots because its sales growth is even greater than expected in two years. Boots invested around ? 25 million for Advantage Card including database in first year to get a significant sales growth that was an important part of the rational for the scheme. Boots more value the records that focus to consumer behavior which can reveal the buying patterns.To get these valuable records, Boots use sophisticated data management and analysis tools. The grower the customer database, the greater the result of boots will be. Boots’ IS team and the marketing department researched thoroughly the available options for the new customer analysis system even though it is a long-established customer of IBM. But IBM can offer a complete solution and the retail experience of their support team to Boots. So, database project started at 1997 and project went well. But it is very much state of the art technology and IT is also difficult for everyone at first.After researching more than 2 years about individual card holder transaction records and a selection of non-card holder sales records, the size of the database was larger and larger. Therefore, Boots wanted to get the right structure database with maximum flexibility and also it can achieved to store data at the lowest level of granularity for user to build it up to any level they require during analysis. Commercial analysts can also have rapid real time access to all of the data without having to make special requests on IS support. The database structure should be to support the analytical process.To fulfill all the requirements, Boots decided to use Customer Data Analysis System (CDAS) by giving advice from IBM. According to the support of this system, most queries response times were 30 times faster than before even though the database has reached 1. 200 GB. Because of this, the analysts of Boots were delighted. CDAS includes IBM’s intelligent Miner for Data being used for more advanced data mining such as segmentation and predictive modeling. Analysts are more interests in the behavior of groups of customers. They use market basket analysis to provide insight into the product purchasing repertories of different groups of customers.By using the advantage card data, the insight team has been able to identify four groups of promotion buyers. They are:The deal seekers (ever buy promotional lines), Stockpilers (bulk buying and then don’t visit for weeks), Loyalists ( revert to their usual buying patterns),New market (buy items on promotion, continue to purchase same product). By using the result of analysts, marketers can understand what they are achieving via their promotions, rather than just identifying the uplift. Analyzing market basket trends by shopper over time is also providing Boots with a new view of its traditional products categories.Boots builds up its understanding by combining data from a number of customer dimensions: RFM (Recency, Frequency and Monetary value) analysis enhanced with profitability. Boots managed Boots relationship marketing programme enabled by the Advantage Card. To fulfill this relationship marketing, Boots is planning to make Specific campaigns system. This system will provide customer-center view technique. Campaign management system is based on CDAS development by IBM. By integrating campaign management system within the analytic environment of CDAS become the main strengths of Boots. 3. Strategic Evaluatio nBoots is a retailer company in United Kingdom. Boots marketing strategy change from the traditional product category focus to a customer-centered view. Boots already launched Advantage Card to fulfill customer requirements. By recording consumer behaviors in database, Boots collect the source data for their strategy. This technique is useful for Boots but database size is larger and larger and also data doesn’t flexible. The users, analysts took a long time to research require data. So, this becomes one of the problems for Boots. By using Customer Data Analysis System (CDAS), Boots can solve this problem.One of the purposes of Boots is to change Loyalist customer to New Market and to remain New Market customer as Loyalist. The later, Boots also want to create Campaign Management System to give pleasurable shopping to loyal customer of Boots. To complete these purposes, Boots need to consider the organization’s current position by using SWOT and PEST analysis. 3. 1 SWO T analysis Strength * Launching Advantage card scheme- This is a very valid vision. It can improve Boots sales growth and also can get the trust and respect from customers. It can also supply a loyalty market environment. Real time access over CDAS- It can reduce the time that will take to ask special requests on IS support. By having real time access, analysts can analyst consumer data more effectively. * Making Brand Loyalty over customer- Customer loyalty is one of the important parts for Boots marketing strategy. Having loyalty customers supply Boots to create strong business environment. For an instant, a shopper visiting Boots once a fortnight and buying nappies is probably buying from a number of supply sources whereas one calling at the store twice a week probably gets most of her baby’s nappy needs from Boots.This increases nappy sales. * Customer Focus- Boots pride itself on developing experience retail and wholesale teams which manages their respective areas. By do ing this, Boots creates an internal management system, managing customers purchasing habits. Weakness * Treats – Rewarding Treats to customer can be pleasure but too much treats can make customers annoying and also become careless vision for Boots products when treats are repeat and repeat. * Large stores overwhelm small stores – Branching a group of stores in particular geographical area can provide Boots customer to buy boots products any time, any where.But large stores are more persuade customer than the small stores. So, it will be a waste of store, staff, money and time. E. g. Boots large store and small store are together in the same area, and then customer will go to large store and ignore small stores. * Cannibalization – Customer behaviors can supply Boots analysis a lot but customer manners can change. If it comes out like that, that will be a big damage for Boots. For example, when boots produce a new and similar products, customer only buy these new products and never return to his/her original products. CDAS – This system can almost fulfill the requirements of database system but it also has a weak point. When analysts analyst the result of recording data, there can be different point of view to make decision. Sales growth conversion can appear also. * Time delays can be caused at the Point of Sales due to updating of points into card. Opportunity * Campaign management system – This will be a good opportunity for Boots. By planning campaign management system, Boots can persuade customer according to seasons, holiday and festival. Boots Gifts & Christmas TV show launched in December is a good example of this.This will give customer’s peace and earn extra points. * Relationship marketing – By making customer to become lifetime customer, boots will get a valuable customers of the future. Relationship marketing can give personal or emotional connectivity to Boots customer. By giving direct mail to valu able customer will be an example for this. * From Loyalist to new market – this will also be a good opportunity. If loyalist customer changes to new market, boots products point of sale growth will increase and also boots need to maintain new market customer as loyalist.For an instant, Customer buy skin care products often buy hair-care products in promotions and then Customer continually buy both skin care products and hair-care products. * 4% growth – quantifiable growth rate in second year Threats * Customer personal data usage – This can suffer customer personality by recording consumer purchasing data. * Competition – there will also be other companies that will use the same techniques and strategies. * Loss of revenue – promotion will get revenue in average. If deal seekers and stockpilers involved then that will be damage to point of sales system. E. g.When Boots promote bodycare products, deal seekers and stockpilers bought these more then promotions will meet fill. * If Loyalist customers get multiple treats then it will be co placement and also overwhelm options for repeat purchase as new market. 3. 2 PEST analysis Political * Toiletries and pharmacy market are the market provided the basic requirements of daily life so that this can’t affect Political directly. But making a promotion system will directly relate to Political. If Country policy changed, then promotion techniques will be unstable conditions. * Planning Campaign management system will also directly imply Political.For example, Boots plan to produce new Christmas TV show but policy change than it will be a failure. * Advantage Card can also affect on political. Advantage card scheme based on customer behavior so policy changing can be imply to reduce or improve sales growth of Boots business strategy. Economic * Rewarding treats may be a good idea for promotion. But sometimes too much rewarding treats make affects to Boots promotion system. * Boo ts launched Advantage Card scheme in 1997 and this will be a great future for Boots as this development is more efficient and reliable for most customers. Investigating ? 25million over database system will be an important part of the rational for Advantage Card Scheme. It already had great profit in first year. So, sophisticated data management and analysis tools can give Boots a big effort. Social * Relationship marketing system will change according to the culture of people. This can affect Boots’ sales growth. * Discussing basic customer demographic data (such as age, gender, number of children and postcode) to expend business environment can affect Social. Sometimes, customers don’t like to tell their personal. Targeting geographical area to open a group of Boots stores led to a greatly improved understanding of the role different stores play within that area. Technology * Customer Data Analysis System (CDAS) is one the main techniques for Boots database system. I t can reduce time and cost. * Analyzing market basket trends by shopper over time is also providing Boots with a new view of its traditional product categories. * Real time Access – This can improve analysts’ analyzing system more rapidly. By using this, can reduce time to requests on IS support. 4. Impact of ISBoth Science and technology are already developed and also technological innovations develop along already. It results to the emergence of new equipment and gadgets. For all big or small company, technology transports both intangible and tangible advantages to turn into cost efficient and to get together the growing orders and requirements of customers. Technological advances change business efficiency, traditions and relationship between employees, clients, suppliers and customers. The type and quality of technology used influence the security of classified business information.All big and small companies depend upon computers to achieve their administrative wo rks when the trouble brought by organizational tasks, like inventory, bookkeeping and records keeping. Because of producing Internet and online social networking sites reduced the costs of business operations. One advantage of it is to become more useful and easy for companies to use Six Sigma management methodologies. Some firms changed to outsourcing rather hiring their own personnel between the low costs correlated with it.According to the huge impact of technological innovations to companies, it will be impossible for them to live with it. Advantages of Technology to Business: * Customer Relations. Technology concerns the way companies correspond and create relations with their clients. In a fast moving and business environment, it is crucial for them to interrelate with clients frequently and rapidly to expand their trust and to attain customer reliability. By using Internet and online social networks, firms cooperate with consumers and respond all their queries concerning the product.Launching useful communication with customers not only produces connection with them, but it also creates strong public image. It permits business enterprises to decrease and to slice carbon dioxide emissions. * Business Operations. Amid the exercise of technological improvements, business owners and entrepreneur understand their cash flow better, how to manage their storage costs well and enables business to save time and money. * Corporate Culture. Technology lets employees communicate and interact with other employees in other countries.It establishes clique and prevents social tensions from arising. * Security. Modern security equipment enables companies to protect their financial data, confidential business information and decisions. * Research Opportunities. It provides a venue to conduct studies to keep themselves ahead of competitors. It allows companies to virtually travel into unknown markets. * Corporate Reports. With technology, business enterprises communicate e ffectively with their branch offices to deliver quality financial and operational reports. Disadvantages of Technology to Business Unemployment – While information technology may have streamlined the business process it has also created job redundancies, downsizing and outsourcing. This means that a lot of lower and middle level jobs have been done away with causing more people to become unemployed. * Privacy – Though information technology may have made communication quicker, easier and more convenient, it has also bought along privacy issues. From cell phone signal interceptions to email hacking, people are now worried about their once private information becoming public knowledge. Lack of job security – Industry experts believe that the internet has made job security a big issue as since technology keeps on changing with each day. This means that one has to be in a constant learning mode, if he or she wishes for their job to be secure. * Personal Touch â€⠀œ Technology streamlines business processers, but in order to do so, it often displaces the personal touch of business (e. g. getting an automated service instead of a phone representative when calling a company. ) * Commonness – The commonness of a technology in business tempers the disadvantages of that technology to some degree.For instance, since so many companies use the Internet, network specialists are very familiar with how to fix issues of network security, speed and connectivity. Boots culture also has significantly changed over the years. In the early years boots had its own its structure which basically dealt with all IT needs. Consequently, boots has realized that over the years it can improve on its IT infrastructure, granted that the company boost its pride on consumer satisfaction. Boots launched its Advantage Card scheme by researching in Norwich and Plymouth areas between two years trials.According to these trials, reward levels are tested out. This had beg un to identify what card holders wanted from the scheme. Boots total invest ? 25 million to both Advantage Card and database. For boots, a significant slaes growth was an important part of the rationale for the scheme. Boots already have IS team and database. Boots is a long-established IBM customer. Before the implementation of available options for the new customer analysis system with IBM, Boots’ IS team originally researched it. IBM can give the real value during the solution development cycle.The database project started in 1997 and the project generally went well. But it is very much state of the art technology and it give a lot more painful at times than expected. At first, IT is very uncomfortable and so no one wants to use it. After using this more than 2 years, card holder transaction records and a selection of non-card holder sales records that provides card holder behavior are increased and increased. The size of the database was going to be a challenge for perfor mance. Analysts want database flexibility, rapid real time access to all of the data without having to make special request on IS support.It was necessary for Boots to restructure their ongoing out sourcing deal with IBM. The company’s main aim for the improvement in its IT sector, is to focus on how it can improve its customer relationship, decreasing its IT operational cost and improve on its delivery capabilities. To fulfill this, Boots create CDAS according to IBM’s DB/2 UDB database under AIX. After 18 months the database has reached 1,200 GB but most queries take a few minutes to run. Boots customer insight strategy team runs 23 full-time analysts. Finally, Boots plan to manage Campaign Management System to provide customers’ peace of mine. . E-Marketing Strategy E-Marketing Strategy is a major part for every kind of business. By using e-marketing strategy, there are many aspects to be a successful business. The e-Marketing Strategy is normally based and b uilt upon the principles that govern the traditional, offline Marketing. E-marketing strategy is significant as with any strategy to recognize. Finding the business environment is also the important part such as intentional groups, originating massage, choosing the right media, tools and services. Thinking based on strategy is also an essential part.Therefore will I look into the; â€Å"how†, â€Å"what† and â€Å"why† of e-marketing, remote the advantages and pointing out how it varies from traditional marketing and communication methods and how knowledge about communication and marketing theories, technology tools, innovation and creativity can assist an enterprise to advance its e-marketing. E-marketing strategy in this term paper represents the whole thing from the conceptualization of a full e-marketing strategy, during to the completion of a range of methods, tools and services needed to make that strategy a reality.A defined e-marketing strategy should ex plicitly identify the business goals which e-marketing efforts support the enterprise to achieve. 5. 1 E-Marketing strategy I will advise the organization to adopt There are four targeting strategies that E-marketers mostly select. * Mass marketing (undifferentiated targeting) – when the firm offers one marketing mix for the entire market. * Multi-segment marketing – when a firm selects two or more segments and designs marketing mix strategies specifically for each.Most firms use a multi-segment strategy. * Niche marketing – when a firm selects one segment and develops one or more marketing mixes to meet the needs of that segment. * Micromarketing (individualized targeting) – when a firm tailors all or part of the marketing mix to a very small number of people. In this case of Boots, the best e-marketing strategy will be to pursue Multi-segment marketing, by dividing into many sub-markets from bigger markets and an organization chooses different marketing strategies to reach each sub-market it targets.The reason of choosing this strategy is because Boots offer multiple products within a larger product category for consumer. For an instant, the main category, Toiletries, there are many kinds of products such as Hair care, Hair Accessories, Tooth brushes, Tooth paste, etc. 5. 2 The value proposition and differential advantage of this strategy There are different segmentations of marketing strategy that I chose. They are Geographic segmentation, demographic segmentation, Behavioral segmentation and Psychographic segmentation, etc. All of these segmentations focus on customer center view.For analysts and marketers of Boots, this strategy will probably apply effectively. Geographic segmentation divides the Boots market into regions characterized by climate, population and cultural differences. This type of segmentation often occurs naturally. For example, Boots produces Suncare of Beauty products and it won’t advertise in the midd le of December. However, some geographic segmentation strategies are deliberate: Boots will produce Beauty products in different countries based on cultural tastes. This segmentation strategy can provide Boots effectively when promotions come.Demographic segmentation divides the market into groups based on age, family, income, occupation, education, religion and many other variables, For example, Children clothing from Boots only target on children and mother and target higher income families. Demographic targeting is so specific that marketers have developed acronyms for certain markets; for example, Drinks stands for double income, no kids. Most tactical plans in marketing involve demographic segmentation. Boots really need this segmentation for researching of purchasing patterns and customer behaviors.Behavioral segmentation focuses marketing efforts on consumers’ researched behavior toward the product. For example, if most consumers purchase a product during the Christmas holiday season, behavioral segmentation would encourage heavier marketing in the time leading up to that season. In addition to specific occasions like holidays, other variable include usage rate for the product, the benefits consumers seek from the product and consumers’ status as a first-time or card holder. This segmentation will effect at Campaign Management system.Marketers who distribute activities, interests and opinion (AIO) surveys are conducting research for psychographic segmentation, which alters marketing strategy according to consumers’ lifestyle preferences. This method of segmentation is useful when Boots wants to make its brand’s image more appealing to specific consumers. By discovering the values and attitudes of consumers who most frequently use the product, Boots can improve their public relations strategies and build brand lyalty. Multi-Segment Marketing helps companies achieve stronger positioning.Positioning is creating a distinct percep tion in customers’ mind about what makes Boots products different and better. Having more narrowly defined segments makes it easier for marketers to deliver effective messages that convey the benefits and value desired by that distinct segment. By breaking customers into defined segments, Boots can remove prospects from consideration when selecting media for message deliver. Messages delivered to people not in a given segment have little business benefit and wastes money. Segmenting markets and selectively distributing marketing messages improves the value of the message.Carefully and accurately defined market segments can gives a competitive advantage over competitors. Essentially, Boots that best understands what makes customers unique within a segment, and different from one segment to the next. By better knowing customer segments, Boots is most likely to deliver an effective value proposition that entices the customer to Boots brand. Boots can perform more targeted resear ch to learn more about customers and deliver messages that best match their brand strengths to their needs and wants.If Boots is planning camping system, for instance, presenting an add in an outdoor or adventure magazine might make sense given likely interests of the business market. Selecting the best media class and vehicle to deliver Boots marketing messages is crucial to efficient marketing. Market segments are known for utilizing certain types of media more often. 6. Legal and ethical issues As a long range business company, Boots need to consider Legal and ethical issues. Legal and ethical issues are directly affect business strategy, and how business deal with challenges involving government agencies, legislation, or the press.Ethics is a branch of philosophy and according to the â€Å"Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, â€Å"business ethics is the branch of ethics that considers moral activities in a commercial enterprise. In practice, businesses are looking for policie s that ensure legal compliance and confidentiality, examine diversity and management issues, and encourage employee honesty. In these legal and ethical issues, minimizing the privacy issues of organization is an important part of Business Company. That guideline is very useful in Boots because Boots marketing strategy is based on customer data and purchasing pattern.If the important data are spreading to the other rival company, this will cause a big scratch for company. So, Access to personal information should be limited to individuals that have proper authorization. Individuals should be able to review their records and correct any inaccuracies. For instant, allowing all users to read, write and edit every part of organization can occurred data lost and data copyright. So, this way will be save ethical issues. Boots also use internet to give information, promotion message to its valuable customer.By using internet is very supportive for business but the raise of the Internet has brought forth many new legal issues. For instant, Cybercrime, a term for illegal acts that occur online, includes â€Å"phishing† and identity theft. â€Å"Phishing† occurs when an official-looking email, usually spam, asks for a user’s private information. To prevent this, there must be a well-defined purpose for collecting and maintaining the Internet user data and also only the data that is needed for the specified purpose should be collected. To protect Data of business organizations, US produce Selected US Data Protection Laws.They are: * Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act requires websites to get parental consent before collecting personally identifying information from children 13 or younger. * Graham-Leach-Bliley Act- requires notice and â€Å"opt-out† consent before financial business may sell or share consumers’ financial information. * HIPAA – protects the privacy of health care information by medical providers and in surers. * ADA – limits access and requires employers to protect the confidentiality of disability-related information. Above laws are very essential for all organizations and already fit for Boots business.By using these laws for company, organization system will be secure to the gathering, processing, distribution and use of information on the Internet. 7. Conclusion Finally, is is a summary report based on the expert study required from the management of Boots. In this report, I consider strategic evaluation by using SWOT and PEST analysis. Both analyses for Boots are really useful for considering the organization’s current position. For example, In Strength, Launching Advantage card scheme- This is a very valid vision. It can improve Boots sales growth and also can get the trust and respect from customers.It can also supply a loyalty market environment. For weakness, Treats – Rewarding Treats to customer can be pleasure but too much treats can make customers annoying and also become careless vision for Boots products when treats are repeat and repeat. In PEST analysis, investigating ? 25million over database system will be an important part of the rational for Advantage Card Scheme. It already had great profit in first year. So, sophisticated data management and analysis tools can give Boots a big effort is sample for Political. In my report, I already use Four (4) E-Marketing Strategies.Mass marketing (undifferentiated targeting),Multi-segment marketing, Niche marketing, Micromarketing (individualized targeting). For Boots, I chose Multi-segment marketing because of its segmenting strategies are the most suitable for Boots. Finally, Boots has done so far with developing a loyalty card scheme to collect data then analyzing them by using the CDAS system is a excellent basis for the understanding the consumer behavior in order to implement recommended e-Marketing strategies to raise the generally long term sales growth. 8. References http ://www. azpublishing. org/articles/hd/index. php? =disadvantages+of+relationship+marketing : 12:28 AM 11/20/12 http://www. strategicdriven. com/marketing-blog/bid/78310/5-Benefits-of-a-Relationship-Marketing-Strategy : 12:29 AM 11/20/12 http://www. boots. com/en/Photo/Digital-Cameras/ : 12:29 AM 11/20/12 http://ezinearticles. com/? e-Marketing-Strategy:-7-Dimensions-to-Consider-%28the-e-Marketing-Mix%29&id=21976 : 1:04 AM 11/20/12 http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Supply_and_demand : 1:51 AM 11/20/12 http://www. slideshare. net/RuneHaugestad/emarketing-strategy : 3:26 AM 11/20/12 Rune Haugested, e-marketing strategy, [email  protected] no, Oslo University College http://www. nowthis. com/principles-of-marketing-tutorials/targeting-markets/develop-marketing-strategy/: 4:09 AM 11/20/12 Decision Analyst; Market Segmentation; Jerry W. Tomas Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Research on Market Segmentation Variables (PDF); Wei He, Yingzi Liu : 8:19 AM 11/20/12 Business Dictio nary: Market Segmentation Definition Strategic Marketing Segmentation: Four Benefits of Market Segmentation Strategic Marketing Segmentation: Market Segmentation: Media http://www. ehow. com/info_8124974_effects-market-segmentation. html http://www. ehow. com/info_8406701_market-segmentation-variables-characteristics. html

The Friendly Correspondence

A horrible series of events took place about a day after Belinda wrote her last letter to Krysta. On the afternoon of the 22nd of December she sat in her living room reading one of Krysta’s recent letters in which she said that she had received her present and had told the authorities to not to give it to her until Christmas. Belinda’s parents had gone out shopping when suddenly the door opened and her brother Ron ran into the room. His face was all red with anger, he was holding some papers in his hand which had been ripped into many pieces. Belinda was so used to her brother’s tantrums that she did not stir from where she was sitting. But as her brother walked by she looked discreetly at the torn papers and saw the words â€Å"failed† and â€Å"Year 12†. She then understood the cause of her brother’s anger and what made him so wild and furious. Ron stopped at once and saw Belinda reading her letter. He asked her where mum and dad were. She didn’t reply. He stomped like a bull who had seen red, suddenly snatching Belinda’s letter out of her hands. He read it quickly and saw a paragraph addressed to Isobel in which it was asked that Ron be taken care of. He stuffed the letter into his pocket in spite of Belinda’s constant groaning to return it. That was the beginning of a quarrel to which Belinda contributed by adding her provoking spiteful remarks and insulting Ron for having failed to graduate. The brother and sister began throwing things at each other, at first paper weights and then dangerous objects such as sharp knives. In her fury Belinda threw a knife at Ron and unfortunately did not miss his hand from which blood started gashing out. Ron went off to his room not paying any attention to his sister who by that time had realised the seriousness of the situation, had stopped fighting. She then started to apologise while looking for a bandage to put and his hand. After having written one page or two of sentences that somehow made sense, Krysta decided to stop wielding her pen for a moment and take a short break. She sat back in her armchair and relaxed, or some minutes she lost in her thoughts, thoughts about life, thoughts of love, happy thoughts, sad ones and thoughts about Gary. Ooh Gary! Her heart stopped beating for a moment at the very thought of it. She remembered herself as a teenager shut in her heart wailing every moment in the depths of her heart for freedom†¦ She recalled how she had come there and how she spent each day of her life thinking it was her last one and that she would not get out of there alive. She shuddered as she thought of the cruel faces of her authorities or the ‘hacks’ as they were often called, of the stale food they gave with malicious faces, the way they eagerly roamed around like hungry dogs putting somebody’s name in their Punishment Sheets. She thought of her friends at Gary. Were they real â€Å"friends†? She thought of Linda McAllam and some other girls who let her down. But then she remembered Macy and girls who were nice to her at some of the times, her sweet voice, which often made her and others, weep or feel lonely, were still in her ears. Everything was clear and vivid in her memory as if it had taken place yesterday and not twenty years ago. On her table shone the paperback cover of a book titled ‘My life at Gary† with the words Krysta Bonbons in bold letters below it and the words BEST SELLER on its side, despite of all her horror of Gary she felt she owed it something. She felt pretty sure she wouldn’t have become a writer if she hadn’t been at Gary and had never met her so-called â€Å"friends†. Where could they all be now? What could they be doing? Directing great companies, catching burglars, smiling at children with books in their hands and blackboards behind them†¦who knows? Were they still alive? She felt her eyes pricking as she remembered Belinda, her pen-pal whom she’d never met in person, who wrote her consoling letters -and also rang her sometimes- during almost the whole of her second year at Gary. She had died that same year a few days before Christmas killed by her violent brother. She looked at her watch, it was 2. 30pm. She hurried so as not to break a routine, which had become a part of her life. At about 3’clock she got off the Vaudeville tram and ran to the cemetery behind St. Michael’s church. She stood still before Belinda’s grave who was no relative of hers but with whom she had a relation stronger than with anyone else. From her purse she took out a letter Belinda had written to her and read it all over again with tears rolling down her cheeks. Thank you, Belinda! â€Å"she said in a feeble voice, â€Å"Thank You for loving me†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . She entered the church, said a small prayer and left, a habit she never had before visiting Belinda’s grave for the first time. It was as if Belinda had become an angel and was strengthening her belief in God praying for her everyday. Her next destination was the nearest newspaper office where she ga ve a note with all her brother Simon’s to be published in the classifieds She had put the same ad in the same paper for the past five years. Not that she thought it would do much good but one never knew†¦Krysta was pretty sure that if one day a man younger than her walked towards her calling her â€Å"sister†, she would be very happy and once again would have somebody to love unconditionally just as Belinda loved her. On arriving back home, Krysta threw the pages she had written some hours before into the dustbin and started writing on a new page. Somehow she felt confident the book she was writing would be really good. It would be called â€Å"My Friend whom I’ve Never Seen†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦

Urban wildlife management in arizona Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Urban wildlife management in arizona - Essay Example This is something that makes the wild animals insecure and can be used in explaining the fact that they have been attacking human beings without being provoked. The fact that their natural habitat has been invaded is already enough provocation to them (Luniak, 2004). This leads to the solemn point that the government should also make sure that in the bid of expanding citys wildlife should always be considered. There are a number of ways in which wildlife can be considered in such a case. This is because in this case they as just as endangered by the situation just like human beings are. There can be made plans that will see to it that their inhabitants are fortified in such a way that they will not be easily found in the areas that are inhabited by human being (p. 67). The wild animals that cannot be easily put away from human beings habitat could also undergo scientific gene modification to make sure that the hostility that they have towards human beings is moderated. Some people would argue that this would be endangering the wild animals, but industrialization and urban growth are already putting them and human being in danger with each side fighting for survival at any cost (p.

Strategic Management of the Next PLC Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Strategic Management of the Next PLC - Coursework Example The present study would focus on Next as a UK based retailer offering exciting, beautifully designed, excellent quality fashion and accessories for men, women and children together with a full range of homewares. Analyzing the 2010 and 2009 financial reports of Next PLC it shows that the firm has been earning constant revenue and accordingly the profit for both the years has also increased by almost 21%. Accordingly, the firm has also increased its basic and diluted earnings per share. The basic earnings per share in 2009 and 2010 were 156 and 188.5 pound per share. In 2010, the total assets of the firm stood at 1693.5 while in 2009, the total assets of the firm stood at 1760.4. In 2010, the total liabilities of the firm stood at 1560.1 while in 2009 the total liabilities were 1619.9. The total assets of the firm decreased by 3.8% in 2010 as compared to 2009; similarly the total liabilities also decreased by 3.8%. Next is a UK retailer whose principal activities are excellent quality clothing and home products. â€Å"The primary financial objective of the group remains the delivery of sustainable long term growth in earnings per share†. The industries in which Next plc competes are mainly the departmental stores, the retail sector, the shoe and the apparel industry. While next plc has a number of competitors, its main competitors are Arcadia Group, ASDA group, Body shop, Marks & Spencer Plc etc. Arcadia group has more than 2540 stores operating only in the UK. The one year growth of the firm as on August 2010 has been around 33% while the increase in net profits has been around 11%. Body shop PLC has also declared 44.9% of its profits as dividend in the year 2010 while in the year 2009, 43.9% has been declared as dividends. Comparing the two years 2009 and 2010, body shop’s assets and liabilities had grown by around 3.2% in 2010 as compared to 2009. Recommendations: Among its competitors Next Plc has suffered negative profits in the year 2010 as c ompared to the year 2009 but yet Next Plc has an established market in comparison to its competitors. â€Å"The Internal Analysis of strengths and weaknesses focuses on internal factors that give an organization certain advantages and disadvantages in meeting the needs of its target market† (Internal Analysis 2010). The firm is recommended to increase its profits through increasing its sales. External analysis Rivalry (Existing Firms): There is no such rivalry between existing firms other than capturing the market share. External analysis consist of the Porters five forces in analyzing the firm which include the firm’s rivalry between the existing firms, the firm’s bargaining power among its suppliers, buyers. The threat of new entrants into the market and the threat of the product diversity are also included in Porter’s five forces. â€Å"The industry forces take the form of competitive rivalry, barriers to entry, threat of substitutes, buyer power, and supplier power† (Lynch 2003). Bargaining Power of Suppliers: â€Å"Supplier power is increased if there is a high degree of rivalry between companies trying to obtain the supplies† (Porters Five Forces n.d.). The firm has a number of suppliers and in 2009 – 10 there were 463 suppliers while in 2010-2011 the supplier base has increased to 492. Next works directly with it suppliers and monitors the supplier’s progress. The firm uses six tier rating system as a supplier management tool. Bargaining power of buyers Next Plc’s buyers are its retail customers. Next provides excellent customer service and lays high importance in maintaining good relation and

Entrepreneurship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Entrepreneurship - Essay Example There is also political entrepreneurship which is a discipline involving the application of the entrepreneurial principles by politicians to benefit from the political arena. Intra-prerneurship is another form of entrepreneurship that entails the application of the entrepreneurial principles within the organization in order to transform the whole organization by changing the way things are done in that organization. Within the organization, an entrepreneur acts as an agent of change, seeking to change the status quo of the organization. The entrepreneurial activities involve changing the way the business is done through an introduction of new goods and services or new processes. It also entails the exploration of new sources of material for use in the production process as well as new combinations that gives quality products while minimizing on the costs incurred. Thus, entrepreneurship is about creating business efficiency and effectiveness. It involves the process of creation of new business entities or making the already existing ones more productive (Livingston, 2007 p45). My future ambition is to become an astute entrepreneur, establishing new business and making them more productive and profitable. This is in line with the entrepreneurial characteristics that I posses. The fact that I have discipline is a pathway towards enabling me become an entrepreneur. This characteristic is desirable for any one aspiring to become an entrepreneur, in that it determines the commitment that the individual will have towards the business they seek to establish or run. Even though capital and visionary objectives may count as necessities towards becoming a successful entrepreneur, they do not count as does discipline. Discipline ensures that individuals commit themselves to the business they want to start or the one they are heading, giving it all their efforts. It is this discipline that ensure that the entrepreneur do not give up trying when the business seems not to be performing as expected (Bailetti, 2012 p120). Further, discipline ensures that individuals takes responsibility, and are accountable for each of their activities. Without discipline, an individual would skip some of their duties and opt to indulge elsewhere, when they are not supervised or monitored by other people. It is discipline that guarantees individuals good leadership, which is a necessity for achieving success. To achieve team work, which is a necessity for success in any business undertaking, an individual needs to be disciplined. It allows them respect other members of their team and accept to be led by others without feeling as though they are the best in everything (Howkins, 2005 p11). High risk propensity is the other of my trait that can see me through my ambition of becoming an entrepreneur. This characteristic is desirable since the world of business is very dynamic, and some occurrences are never foreseen or anticipated until they occur (Duening, 2009 p66). It is difficult to adapt to market changes, if an individual lacks this trait in them. Risk taking prop ensity allows an individual to invest in a field that others consider inappropriate to commit their resources. A high risk taking propensity allows individuals to seek for resources to start businesses, when they are in shortage of such resources. If individuals

Workforce Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Workforce Development - Essay Example According to Thomas Guskey the best fit of a expert development occurrence for any local background requires acknowledgment, "collection and psychiatry of the five critical stages of information" (Guskey 2002). Each stage is more compound than the stage before. Success at an early stage may be essential for optimistic results at the next higher one; it's clearly not enough. Stages progress from decisive (especially stages one and two) to collective appraisal (especially stages four and five). The power of thinking in terms of the five estimation stages is engaging teachers in the planning of skilled development activities. Guskey defines the procedure for "running backwards" from Stage 5 "the student knowledge outcomes that you want to attain" and through each succeeding stage to "what set of experiences will allow participants to get hold of the needed knowledge and skills (Stage 1)." The depiction of each stage follows. Second, most of the currently identified characteristics of effective professional development seems best described as "yes, but . . ." statements. For example, yes, enhancing teachers' content and pedagogical knowledge is important, but existing research is limited mainly to investigations of mathematics and science instruction. Yes, professional development should provide sufficient time and resources, but such time and resources must be used wisely, focusing on activities that positively affect learning and learners. Yes, professional development should include procedures for evaluation, but evaluations that focus narrowly on educators' self reported satisfaction with professional deve

Research Proposal Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Proposal - Research Paper Example Despite this people are still motivated to go for the procedure, doing something that will drastically change their lives for the better or for worse (Camille 93). Plastic surgery has been in existence for quite some time now in the history of the US and the world over. It is a big business in the US and statistics showed that despite the recession, the business was still booming. Statistics from The American Society of Plastic Surgeons show that Americans underwent 14 million cosmetic procedures in 2010, spending approximately 10.1 billion in the process (Roger and Vanco). The procedure range from Botox, breast enhancements, to transplants and chin augmentation. Two kinds of plastic surgery are common, the reconstructive surgery after accidents and aesthetic surgery for purposes of beauty (Engler 9). Much as plastic surgery has been used to solve clinical problems it has continuously created ethical problems and debates whether some of the procedures should go on or not. Reconstructive surgery has been carried out mostly for clinical purposes to correct problems that come as a result of injury, accidents and tissue damage. It is mostly acceptable because of its ability to give victims a normal life they had before (Johnson and Whitworth 319). Cosmetic surgery on the other hand has been widely criticized by people because of ethical questions that arise as a result of the procedure (Engler 30). Adjusting body parts or changing appearance for beauty purposes involves changing nature and creation which amount to questioning the creator as some argue. Despite this debate cosmetic surgery is still a big business and many people are still going for it despite warnings and consequences that come with some of the procedures (Roger and Vanco). There exists a lot of literature on the topic of plastic surgery that can inform this study. This study is built on a mixed approach kind of

Individual Reflection Accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Individual Reflection Accounting - Essay Example The author’s life and learning experiences will be used to explain learning perspectives objectively Introduction Self assessment and reflection on one’s contributions to learning and one’s own learning is an important aspect of the overall learning process. An individual learning experience can be looked at as all the circumstances an individual finds himself in during both the official and unofficial learning activities; it is what an individual considers to have changed or adjusted their way of thinking and approach to different situations based on self reflection (Gallagher). The society today has expectations that make people adjust their behavior to fit in, be liked or appreciated and sometimes this is just a mask to fit in a given environment; at school, home or work. However, we need to be critical of ourselves by evaluating the self, achievements, experiences and how they have shaped the way we interact with and contribute to the immediate and wider soci ety in which we live in. this should be in reference to utilizing self awareness, thinking critically, and analyzing our experiences by trying to make sense of what we have experienced and learned. This report will look at four perspectives of learning named the behavioral, cognitive, humanist, and social learning by evaluating my experiences as a ‘facilitator’ of learning and ‘team member’ during the learning process. Discussion As a group member that discussed topics and made a presentation, the author facilitated learning by helping people investigate, find out and transform themselves. As a facilitator the objective is to get involved in a group’s activities to assist the group make better decisions in problem solving in order to improve its overall effectiveness. This is in reference to Schwarz’s definition of group facilitator as a neutral person without direct clout in reference to making decisions and who is acceptable to all. In terms of humanist course, as a facilitator, I must be real and true to self to facilitate learning and be effective; the facilitator must enter into a ‘one on one’ relationship with the learners without appearing to be unreal. The facilitator must also be accepted and trusted by the learners; the learners must feel that they value and respect the facilitator and his/ her experiences to be able to accept whatever material I intend to give them. As an individual within a group, I must be conversant and have expertise in the subject I want to facilitate to earn me the authority to encourage the audience to reflect on what I as the facilitator is presenting. Being appreciative of the learners’ or audience needs and their possible responses to the material the facilitator is presenting enables the facilitator to adjust to assist the learners gain from the presentation. As a group facilitator, I must have a group mentality and think and act in the interest of the group and its members in view of social, organizational and political aspects. In brief, the facilitator must be guided by the completeness of the group in helping initiate the change process as it is in this wider audience that the gist of the facilitators’ intervention is seen. This will ensure the facilitator helps the group help itself. As a facilitator, I

History of Clubs Playing Foreign League Cups Essay

History of Clubs Playing Foreign League Cups - Essay Example Cardiff, one of the main welsh clubs have been in the FA Cup competitions all through. The most remarkable period for the club was in 1920s when they ended up as runners to Hunder field Town FC during the 1924 football league first division on goal differences. This was followed by two FA Cup finals in the year 1925 where they took on Sheffield United. The team's spirit for competing in the English FA Cup did not end there, in 1927, Cardiff took on Arsenal at the final and went on to emerge the winner of the cup. It become the first and only team ever to snatch the FA Cup out of England after the 1-0 win over finalists and English footfall giants Arsenal. The match had also caused much enthusiasm since it was the first game that BBC radio had ever broadcasted to the whole country. This win gave Cardiff much psyche to keep on participating in the FA Cup after other teams had withdrawn. Swansea City and Cardiff city are the only Welsh clubs that have participated at the high level of the English soccer. They both took part in the Country's FA Cup and Division One. During the 1914-1915 season competitions of Southern League, Cardiff finished in the third position. The league was however suspended following the out burst of the world War One. The club also finished fourth in their last season in the Southern League on some hostilities cessation, before it was promoted to football league second division as the most competitive club in Wales. The other southern league clubs later on formed the football league third division. Wrexham, another welsh club that has been in the English side, started their journey to join the English competitions back in 1905 when they beat Kidderminster Harrier and finished sixth in the Birmingham District league. It was... The researcher discusses the issue when some Welsh teams to take part in the English FA Cup. It is stated that during its creation the English league was named the football league. This was because it was meant to allow football teams from other countries in the United Kingdom to take part in the FA cup competitions. The teams started to take part in the FA cup after EUFA allowed clubs to play in the other countries league in early1900. Although the clubs were allowed to play in the English league they could not participate in the European Cup since any team must get the ticket to the league through its domestic league. This decision has hindered the teams from taking part in the European league for that time thus most of them withdrew from the English FA cup competitions and started to play the Welsh League instead for a chance to venture in the European cup. The FA Cup is one of the most competitive in England attracting teams in all levels including the English football super powe rs who have been taking part in all major competitions in the continent. The Welsh clubs, if therefore would win the FA cup in the country would have climbed to high level in the world of football thus get better chance to market themselves as well as the players. A winner of the FA cup meets the premiership champion in the community shield and also gets a direct entry into the European cup competitions. It is concluded that this provides the clubs the best chance to climb to lime light in football competition.

The Exploration of Womanhood in All About My Mother Essay Example for Free

The Exploration of Womanhood in All About My Mother Essay In his critically acclaimed 1999 character-driven drama film All About My Mother (1999); writer-director Pedro Almodovar cements his reputation as an expert on the complexities and intricacies of womanhood. The film features several complex and multi-layered female characters that are portrayed with great emotional depth. Throughout the course of the film, these characters are forced to struggle with impediments such as loss, betrayal and societal prejudice. Yet, in the end, they triumph over these obstacles and take control of their lives. The protagonist of the film, Manuela, suffers the loss of her son, Esteban, early in the film and is prompted to go on a journey to Barcelona, where she meets other women who are dealing with their own issues in life. Through the events that take place in Manuela’s life and the relationships she forms with these other female characters following Esteban’s sudden and tragic death, the film explores the trials and tribulations women universally face and the various ways in which they cope and deal with these ordeals. The film also pays homage to two of the most influential representations of female characters in cinematic history: All About Eve (1950) and A Streetcar Named Desire (1951). The plot structure of the film serves to outline the various stages that take place in Manuela’s life at the wake of Esteban’s death, and, by extension, exposes the anatomy of how one in general deals with loss and tragedy. The film follows a linear plot structure that begins right before the death of Esteban and ends a few years later, when Manuela manages to overcome the tragedy. During the exposition, the character of Esteban and his relationship with his mother are introduced and built up. This contributes to the great shock and sympathy the audience feels when he unexpectedly dies in a car accident immediately after. The exposition also addresses the issue of suffering the loss of a loved one through sequences involving the reactions of the family members of recently demised individuals. Manuela’s subsequent journey to Barcelona signifies her immediate reaction to delve into the past and inability to move on in her life. Her goal is to locate Esteban’ s father and inform him of his death. However, upon reaching there, she appears to begin the process of forgetting her sorrows and beginning a new life. When she returns on the same train to Madrid, her priorities shift to her new adopted son, also named Esteban. In the concluding segments of the film, frequent jumps in time are used to display how life begins to move faster once Manuela is no longer holding on to her loss. In the closing sequence, when Manuela visits Barcelona again, all the characters are shown to have overcome the struggles of their past and moved on in life. The structure of the narrative is quite unconventional and serves to explore the intricacies of the characters rather than present much action. Initially, the plot seems to be goal-driven and based on uncovering Manuela’s quest to find Lola – Esteban’s father. From the beginning of the movie, suspense is created about the father, when Esteban repeatedly inquires about him. However, as Manuela reaches Barcelona and her life gets intertwined with other women who are trying to cope with their own problems, the plot loses a sense of purpose a nd no longer has a clear direction. This lack of focus parallels Manuela’s state of mind. Manuela is in a period of self-discovery and does not have a specific goal in life at this point in the narrative. It also allows the film to freely explore the lives of these different women and achieve a level of emotional depth into their characters, and the issues they face. The audience, however, is gradually made aware of Manuela’s past and her relationship with Lola. In addition, she does end up meeting Lola, even though her priorities have changed by this point. Manuela’s past is revealed to be full of betrayal and loss, which puts her struggle to overcome it during the course of the movie into context. It is the struggles and triumphs of the characters in the film, led by the protagonist Manuela, that drive the narrative and keep the audience engaged. The film employs a first-person point of view, as we witness the events of the plot through the eyes of Manuela. This provides an emotional connect between the audience and Manuela while she faces the loss of her son and endeavors to recover from it. During her train journeys between Madrid and Barcelona, Manuela’s inner thoughts are revealed though voice-over narrations. Each time she boards the train, she is at a different stage in her recovery process and her thoughts drastically change over time. The voice-overs help to reveal details from her past to the audience as well as her plans for the future. Although Manuela acts as the protagonist of the narrative, there are several peripheral characters in the film that help to move it forward. Upon reaching Barcelona, Manuela’s life is intertwined with many different female characters that are struggling with their own problems. As Manuela gets progressively more involved in the lives of these characters, she begins to leave her own sorrows behind. These characters also represent the different kinds of problems women face. Manuela, Agrado and Sister Rosa are linked by the fact that the same man, Lola, has adversely affected all three of their lives. Manuela also gets entangled in the lives of Huma and Nina, when she becomes their secretary. The wide variety of problems these women face includes betrayal, neglect, societal prejudice and drug addiction. The ways in which they each deal with these problems also differs. They also end up helping each other in different ways to get over their troubles. These characters represent every woman. They play the roles of mothers, sisters, lovers and friends. They also come from different backgrounds; a prostitute, a nun and an actress. With Manuela at the center, the relationships that develop and grow between these female characters changes the nature of the plot from a search for Esteban’s father to a celebration of womanhood. It also provides hope for the future, through the solidarity of their friendship. At one point, the plot becomes increasingly complex, with Manuela acting as a nurse to Sister Rosa, secretary to Huma and trying to get over her son’s loss all at the same time. Yet, the manner in which these inter-relationships are presented is seamless. The script includes several recurring motifs and cultural allusions that reinstate the challenges faced historically by women and suggest different mechanisms that they have used to cope with these hardships. It is often said that life and art have a reciprocal relationship; while art is usually based on life, life is in turn often influenced by art as well. This idea is highlighted throughout the script of All About My Mother (1999). In particular, two cinematic classics that deal with gender issues; All About Eve (1950) and A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), are strongly woven into the narrative of the film. In fact, the title of the film is a reference to the title All About Eve (1950). Moreover, Almodovar draws numerous parallels between his narrative and the plots of these two films. Manuela is forced to depend on the â€Å"kindness of strangers† on many occasions, just like Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951). In addition, she acts as an understudy for the role of S tella, usually played by Nina, and ends up giving a stellar performance; similar to the way Eve steals the role of her idol Margo in All About Eve (1950). Long sequences with scenes from a television broadcast of All About Eve (1950) and enactments of A Streetcar Named Desire also make their way into the script. These works, through the characters of Eve Harrington, Blanche DuBois and Stella Kowalski, represent three diametrically opposite ways of dealing with the injustices faced by women. While Eve displays a ruthless ambition and drive to overcome the traditional prejudices of the theatre establishment against women actors, Blanche distorts her view of the world as a means of escape and Stella displays a submissive acceptance to the status quo tries to adapt with the harsh realities of traditional gender roles. The female characters of All About My Mother, and especially its protagonist Manuela, adopt all three of these different stances at different periods of time in the film. Sister Rosa, much like Stella, accepts her fate without questioning when when she contracts HIV. In contrast, Agrado shows great Eve-like courage when she attempts to take control of her life through plastic surgery and when she remains unaffected by the physical and psychological violence of her clients. Yet, there is a part of each of these fictional icons and their ideologies in all of these characters, and in every woman in general. Art in various forms, such as theatre and cinema, also acts as a structuring motif in the film. The concept of art and storytelling are touched upon through Esteban’s ambitions of becoming a writer, Manuela’s past as an actor and the productions of A Streetcar Named Desire starring Nina and Huma. The role of art as a source of inspiration for women and its power to influence their lives is encapsulated by Huma’s confession, â€Å"I started smoking because of Bette Davis†. Moreover, the potential of art to be used as a means of escapism is exhibited through Manuela’s repeated viewings of A Streetcar Named Desire after the death of Esteban. The idea of escapism as a means to cope with the harsh realities of life is further exemplified through Nina’s heroin addiction. One of the most important motifs presented by the script is the train that Manuela takes to travel between Madrid and Barcelona. Each time she travels in the train, she enters a new phase of her life. The train symbolizes her ability to leave the past behind and move on. Through All About My Mother (1999), Almodovar pays tribute to the female gender and its cultural icons. The film is a celebration of all that it means to be a woman. It is also reminiscent of the strong and influential female characters in film history. In fact, he expressly conveys these sentiments in the acknowledgments at the closing of the film, â€Å"To Bette Davis, Gena Rowlands, Romy Schneider. To all actresses who have played actresses, to all women who act, to men who act and become women, to all people who want to become mothers. To my mother.† By closely blending a unique plot structure, strong character building and the use of cultural allusions, Almodovar creates a film that is unconventional, yet , simple.

Celtic Tiger Irelands Growth Economics Essay

Celtic Tiger Irelands Growth Economics Essay The Harrod-Domar (CITE!!!) model developed in the 1940s was originally intended to analyse business cycles, but has since been adapted to economic growth. In the model, growth is dependent on the levels of labour and capital. As developing countries typically have a plentiful supply of labour, their growth is more dependent on physical capital and savings to create growth. Growth is achieved through net investment which will lead to capital appreciation thus producing higher levels of output and income; with higher levels of income there will be higher levels of saving. Thus, economic growth is dependent on policies and practices that will promote savings and/or create technological advancements that will decrease the capital-output ratio. However, this does not provide a complete picture and as a result, further models have since been developed. The traditional neoclassical growth model as developed by Solow (1956) and others builds on the Harrod-Domar model by including labour as a factor of production. However, the model allows little room to explain any impact other outside factors, such as foreign direct investment, may have on economic growth. In the model there are diminishing returns to capital and long run growth will be determined through exogenous factors such as technological advancement or population growth. Growth only lasts for a transitional phase until the economy reaches its new steady state level of output and employment. The model also states that growth rates are inversely related to a countrys income per capita; a poor country with similar endowments to a richer country will grow faster and eventually converge to the income per capita level of the richer one. Exogenous factors will only affect growth in the short term and the only way they can have lasting effects is via permanent technological shocks. H owever, Romer (1986), Lucas (1988) and Barro and Sala-i-Martin (1995) among others are credited with the development of the endogenous growth model which considers technological advancements as endogenous to the model. In his seminal paper on growth, Romer (1986) provides an alternative model for long term economic growth. He states that income per capita among developed countries does not necessarily converge with that of developed countries and that in fact there may be differing levels of growth. In particular, less developed countries can exhibit low levels of growth or may not grow at all. The factors that do lead to growth are not dependent on exogenous technological changes or differences between countries, but rather technology is endogenous to the model. Even holding technology, population and other factors constant, the most important idea is to ignore the traditional assumption of diminishing returns. Thus, long run growth will come from the accumulation of knowledge. Knowledge can demonstrate increasing returns and marginal product and can have limitless, constant growth. New knowledge will be transferred between firms and have positive externalities thus leading to increased growth. Ro mer (1986) argues that these positive externalities are able to explain growth and are necessary for an equilibrium state to exist. Similar to Romer, Lucas (1988) adds technology or human capital to the neoclassical growth model. The model in his paper also considers learning by doing as a way of capital accumulation. Population growth is held constant and both physical and human capital are included. Physical capital is taken from the traditional neoclassical growth model and human capital boosts productivity, where a stable effort level will lead to stable growth rates in productivity. For a closed economy, poorer countries will continue to stay poor, but will actually have the same growth rates as richer countries. Therefore, there will be constant growth rates and a steady distribution of income. For the open economy with free labour mobility and free trade of capital inputs, externalities and spillovers will lead to higher wages and higher skill levels, thus increasing the wealth of a country. Lucas also states that different growth rates amongst countries can be due to different levels of human capital grow th associated with different goods. Accordingly, it is evident that the same levels of technology and human capital are not available in every country as the neoclassical model assumes. Barro (1991) examined 98 countries to test the neoclassical idea that poorer countries will grow faster than richer countries. Rates of school enrolment were used to measure levels of human capital. The results find that GDP per capita growth rates are significantly positively related to initial endowments of human capital and based on these initial levels, growth is negatively related to the initial level of GDP per capita. These findings seem to support the neoclassical model that poorer countries will eventually converge with richer countries. However, this only holds for the poorer countries that have relatively high levels of human capital, meaning that the human capital level is above what would be expected given the relatively low level of GDP per capita. The paper also takes into account other factors, such as fertility rates, government expenditure, political instability and corruption, and price distortions. Despite these considerations, Barro concedes that the results are unable to explain the poor growth rates for countries in Latin American and Sub-Saharan Africa and suggests that other factors must be involved. Convergence or Regional Boom? From the theory, it is evident that convergence of less developed countries is not automatic and that many factors are responsible for economic growth. For the case of Ireland, there is debate as to whether or not it was simply a matter of delayed convergence or as a result of a regional boom. There are several papers arguing both sides, which will now be examined. Ó Grà ¡da (2002) argues that the economic performance of Ireland in the 1990s is mainly a matter of delayed convergence and making up for many decades of underperformance. He finds that Ireland underachieved compared to other Western European countries from the end of World War II until the late 1980s. Throughout that period, the 1960s provided a glimpse at possible future economic growth. If the period is extended to 1998, Ó Grà ¡da states that Ireland performed as expected given the low initial level of income per capita in the 1950s in order to achieve convergence. Thus, the economic slowdown evidenced at the time of writing, 2002, seems to be in line with convergence theory and to be expected as Ireland had reached its new steady state level. However, if the Celtic Tiger is simply a matter of delayed convergence, then why it took so long also needs to be examined. Ó Grà ¡da attributes this to poor fiscal policy practices and protectionism during the 1970s and early 1980s. Ó Grà ¡da and ORourke (1996) examine in detail why Ireland underperformed in previous decades relative to other Western European countries. Ireland experienced much lower rates of GDP growth as evidenced in Figure 1. The richest countries in 1950, Switzerland (CH), UK and Denmark are compared with the poorest countries, Greece and Spain. Ireland is the clear outlier and exhibits much slower growth than would be expected. They attribute the weak performance to a variety of factors particularly trade protectionist policies, heavy reliance on agricultural exports, and rent-seeking behaviour. In particular, Ireland failed to participate in the economic recovery of the rest of post WWII Europe by maintaining barriers to trade and waiting to open up the economy until the 1960s. However, they do not find that low levels of investment in human and physical capital to have been significant factors. Ó Grà ¡da and ORourke also suggest that Irelands proximity and reliance on the UK cou ld have led to slower growth rates since the UK, while not underperforming, was not experiencing particularly high levels of growth. Figure 1: Average annual growth rates, 1950-1988, for Western Europe Source: Ó Grà ¡da and ORourke (1996) Honohan and Walsh (2002) also take the view that Irelands economic performance can be attributed to delayed convergence. They argue that there was no productivity miracle but instead the boom was mainly due to a change in fiscal and monetary policies and an improvement in the labour market, which allowed productivity to finally catch up to the levels of the rest of Europe. While an increase in the population employed and demographic trends are unlikely to be repeated, Honohan and Walsh argue that if the policy changes had been made earlier, Ireland would have achieved convergence earlier. The argument that the increased growth was due to a regional boom is also considered. However, it is immediately discounted when Irelands population and economic growth is compared to that of individual states of the U.S., ranking 23rd out of fifty (Honohan and Walsh, 2002). Barry (2000) examines if Irish growth can be attributed to changes in policy and to what extent, which would support the convergence hypothesis. The most important factor is correct microeconomic and industrial policy, which Barry argues is the main reason for the delay in development. However, he finds that there are other certain characteristics necessary for convergence to be achieved, including a stable economy, an effective labour market, a developed market for exports, and sufficient levels of education. Thus, Barry seems to provide mixed support for the convergence theory. The delayed convergence hypothesis suggests that Irelands economic growth was simply a matter of catching up with the rest of the developed world. However, it has some shortcomings including not satisfactorily explaining why Ireland failed to converge sooner like the other peripheral EU countries of Spain, Portugal and Greece. Delayed convergence also does not give a role to the large increase in foreign direct investment as the theory does not suggest that anything other than sound economic and industrial policies are necessary. The theory also suggests that since convergence has been achieved, all that is required to maintain it is to ensure the same sound policies are followed. The regional boom theory, on the other hand, does take into consideration other non-traditional factors such as FDI and the boom of the US economy. It particularly focuses on an economys export base as key for economic growth. This theory also leaves room for unexpected shocks, such as a decrease in FDI or downturn in the US economy to have an impact on the economy, which in light of recent events, would seem to be more accurate. The regional boom theory will now be examined in more detail. A regional economy differs from a national economy in that there is free movement of labour in and out of the region (Barry 2002a). Krugman (1997) has suggested that Ireland be treated as such a regional economy due to the fact that it exhibits many of the features of a small region of a larger economy rather than a larger independent nation. Ireland is a small, extremely open economy and before the adoption of the Euro, had a currency that was mostly pegged to another. With the free movement of labour, wages are determined by those of the larger region, rather than within the country itself and job numbers are based on labour demand rather than labour supply determining job creation based on wages (Krugman, 1997). Also, adjustment to exogenous shocks will be dealt with differently by a country in a regional economy versus a sovereign country. If a shock occurs to the labour market in an open economy, labour will simply leave, rather than a wage adjustment occurring and new industrie s arising, as in a closed economy. Krugman argues in favour of the regional boom hypothesis because of the large increase in the export economy and the increase in jobs in the services sector as a result. The majority of the increase in exports during the Celtic Tiger was in foreign-owned companies. Barry (2002b) examines Irelands economic performance and the factors that lead to convergence compared to the other peripheral EU countries of Spain, Portugal and Greece. Ireland, unlike the other countries, failed to reach EU average levels of growth until much later. Unlike previously argued by Ó Grà ¡da and ORourke, Barry finds that this was not in fact due to macroeconomic policies, as all four countries had similar practices and in fact, Ireland was the most export oriented country of the group, as shown in Table 1. Barry finds the main difference between Ireland and the rest is actually in labour market operations. Ireland experienced high unemployment, high emigration and increased wages from the 1960s to the late 1980s. The relatively high wages meant domestically owned labour-intensive firms were unable to compete with foreign-owned firms as high levels of FDI, particularly in the manufacturing sector, started to enter the economy. Thus, Barrys findings seem to support the regional boom hypothesis with exports and FDI playing a key role in explaining Irish growth. Table 1: Exports of goods and services as a percentage of GDP Barry (1999) argues that in order to achieve high levels of growth in a regional economy, a nation needs to be internationally competitive in the non-agricultural sector, as increased capital in an agriculturally based economy will lead to more emigration. He argues that industrialisation policy is crucial, whereas proponents of the convergence theory, including Ó Grà ¡da consider this a distortion with Ireland merely switching from import-substitution industrialisation to export-substitution industrialisation (Ó Grà ¡da, 2002, p. 8). However, others, such as Barros and Cabral (2000) and Fumagalli (1999) suggest that in order to industrialise, such a distortion is necessary. Hill et al (2005) consider both theories and come to the conclusion that perhaps it cannot be explained solely by one theory, but rather a combination of the two. They argue that the necessary conditions for convergence were in place by the 1970s, but that Ireland suffered as a result of poor policy practices from 1973-1986 and global economic downturn. However, this is not sufficient to explain the economic growth fully and thus, Hill et al also incorporate the regional perspective. Labour and capital inflows were as equally important as sound policies in Irelands growth. Ireland was able to attract foreign investment, create more and higher quality jobs and as a result, the levels of labour force participation increased. They cite increases in employment and job creation as extremely important in the Irish case, which implies a larger role for government than in convergence theory. Government needs to do more than just maintain proper fiscal policy and must ensure there is a compet itive environment for business. Ó Grà ¡da (2002) also considers the regional boom hypothesis, but finds it overly optimistic for proposing that high growth rates could be sustained without sustained increases in labour. However, both Barry (2002c) and Dascher (2000) develop a model of a regional boom economy with Irelands specifications and find that labour inflows will decline as infrastructure and housing become more congested. Yet, growth can still continue without more labour if sufficient stocks are maintained and there are no negative exogenous shocks to the larger regional economy. The regional boom theory also suggests that just because Ireland has caught up to average EU levels, it does not mean that further growth cannot be achieved as convergence theory would suggest. Indeed, if Ireland could continue attracting FDI and supplying labour, growth should still be able to continue, despite convergence already being attained. Blanchard (2002) comments on Honohan and Walshs 2002 paper and argues that convergence theory is not the appropriate model to describe Irelands growth, but rather endogenous growth theory is. Instead of the Solow model which has diminishing returns to capital, he suggests the AK model of economic growth is more appropriate, where output and capital accumulation move together because of consistently increasing employment levels. Thus, the economy will move towards producing more capital intensive goods. This is similar to the regional boom perspective where increases in labour and capital will stimulate each other to create more growth than would be possible in a national economy. The regional boom theory, unlike convergence theory, allows for negative exogenous shocks to affect growth. For example, a downturn in the global economy or a withdrawal of FDI in favour of Central and Eastern European countries, would significantly impact the Irish economy. However, convergence theory would consider these to be temporary shocks and since no policy changes have been made, they should not affect growth. Conversely, the regional boom theory allows for the possibility that these could be permanent shocks with tremendous negative effects, including even a return to pre-Celtic Tiger levels of unemployment and emigration and the undoing of the catch-up. Overall, both perspectives offer valid reasons to explain Irelands economic growth however, in view of the recent financial crisis and Irelands sharp economic decline, it may be more appropriate to view the progress of the 1990s in terms of a regional boom. While Ireland had relatively similar policies to Greece, Spain and Portugal, it did not catch up with European averages in the 1960s like the others did. Thus it seems perhaps more suitable to view Ireland in terms of part of a regional economy tied to the UK for that time period and again connected to the US during its boom years starting in the late 1980s. This theory also suggests that industrialisation strategy, creating an export-based economy and attracting FDI are the key factors for growth, rather than just appropriate macroeconomic policies. Both of these theories can provide useful lessons for other developing countries seeking to follow in Irelands footsteps of rapid economic growth. Lessons from Ireland for other countries There are many papers discussing the Irish economic boom, its causes and what lessons can be learned for other countries seeking to achieve such rapid economic growth. Acs, et al (2007) examine whether the Irish miracle could be duplicated in Hungary. The paper focuses specifically on the impact of FDI and how it affects entrepreneurial activity. While they find significant differences between the two, the results do suggest several policy outcomes based on the Irish experience that Hungary could implement, including boosting human capital, improving the quality of FDI and encouraging more enterprise development. Andreosso-OCallaghan and Lenihan (2005) focus on economic policy and whether Ireland can provide a good example of economic development for NMS, with particular regard to developing small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). They find that Ireland does indeed supply a useful model for others to follow. Developing the growth of SMEs is important for overall economic growth and it was a key focus of Irish industrial policy, particularly after 1993. Andreosso-OCallaghan and Lenihan suggest that adopting Irish policies, such as dedicated development agencies, and proactively evaluating industrial policies, would help SMEs grow in NMS. However, they also warn of the dangers of relying too heavily on FDI as some would suggest Ireland has done. Hill et al (2005) examine the Irish experience in great detail, beginning with considering whether convergence theory or regional boom is more appropriate. They then recognize that for a small, open economy to develop and create quality jobs, the country needs to be competitive in the following four areas: context for firm strategy and rivalry, demand conditions, factor (input) conditions and related and supporting industries (Hill et al, 2005, 5). There are also corresponding policy initiatives for each of the four areas: tax policy, educational system, regional economy and institutions and consumer protection laws. They then analyse these four areas for Ireland and how policymakers have performed. The economic conditions and performance of Arizona in the United States is then compared to Ireland, to see what lessons Arizona could learn and if they could replicate Irelands growth. The results show that Arizona shares some similar characteristics with Ireland and thus has some opport unities for similar growth. Bailey et al (2009) examine industrial policy in both the Celtic Tiger and East Asian Tiger countries to see what potential lessons African nations could learn. They focus primarily on the Irish experience and provide several reasons why Ireland is a better example for Africa, including that most African countries, like Ireland are small and open, Ireland had a more corporatist experience than in East Asia, and that in some East Asian countries the rights of trade unions were suppressed. Bailey et al take a holistic approach to analysing Irish industrial policy, instead of focusing solely on policies that promote just FDI, or developing SMEs or Research and Development (RD), and then apply it to Africa. They find that Africa can learn from the policy examples and mistakes of Ireland and East Asia. In another paper, Bailey et al (2008) examine and compare the Irish and Hungarian experience, with particular focus on industrial policy and then determine what lessons other Central and Eastern European nations could learn. Hungary is selected as a comparison because it has closely followed the Irish model and has been cited by others, including the World Bank and the OECD, as a potential example for other developing countries (Fink, 2006). Like previously mentioned, Bailey et al implement a holistic approach to industrial policy. They assess both countries policies and find that attracting FDI has had the most significant impact on growth. However, they find that there are limitations to FDI based growth and thus emphasize the need to also develop domestic industry. Fortin (2000) discusses and analyses the characteristics and causes of the Irish economic boom. It is divided into two main sections, a long-term productivity boom and a short-term employment boom. Key lessons as well as appropriate policies for other countries, particularly Canada, are identified based on the Irish experience. These include encouraging free trade and investment, industrial and tax policy conducive to business and ensuring high levels of education. Fortin examines Canadas recent economic performance and discusses what changes Canada can implement based on these lessons from Ireland. Although not all Irish policy is applicable, Canada can emulate the policies of fiscal discipline, openness and free trade. Hansen (2006) examines the Irish determinants of growth individually and assesses whether Latvia could repeat Irish success. The approach is more holistic and based on the methodology of Mancur Olson (1996) and Hansen states that this approach could be applied to any of the other New Member States of the EU. The results show that Latvia has already implemented many of the same policies that contributed to the Irish boom. Other factors are considered to be specific to Ireland, and consequently unable to be replicated. Overall, Hansen suggests that Latvia cannot adopt much more from Ireland and goes so far as to suggest the Irish case is no miracle as others have proposed, but rather a combination of sound policy, timing and a bit of luck (2006, 13). With the exception of Hansen (2006) and Fortin (2000), most of the literature on Irish growth and lessons for other countries focuses on specific determinants or policies rather than taking a holistic approach. Therefore, this paper seeks to follow this example and examine the Irish boom in detail and then apply it to country. The individual determinants of Irish growth will now be examined in more detail. The Irish Experience Macroeconomic Stability Convergence theory cites effective policy as an instrumental part of economic growth and indeed Irelands failure to catch up until recently has been attributed to this. In the immediate post-War period, much of Western Europe began to recover and experienced economic growth. However, in the 1950s, Ireland still relied heavily on agriculture, had high levels of emigration and protectionist policies. In the 1960s, the economic conditions began to turn around, with better macroeconomic policies being adopted. As Honohan and Walsh (2002) state, these include pegging the exchange rates to the British pound, managing a reasonable balance of payments deficit, conservative fiscal policy of borrowing only to finance public capital investment and relatively low tax rates. Previous protectionism was dropped and foreign direct investment was encouraged through grants and tax exemptions. Ireland entered into the Anglo-Irish Free Trade Area Agreement in 1965 and also decided to apply for membershi p in the European Economic Community (EEC), hence opening itself up for more trade. It would seem that during the 1960s Ireland was poised to catch up with the rest. However, in the 1970s, with the global oil crisis and inappropriate policy response, Ireland was unable to capitalise on the progress made in the previous decade. In an attempt to recover from the crisis quickly, expansionary practices were pursued, which caused real wages to escalate and crowded out productive growth. Consequently, in 1987 there was public debt in excess of 130%, an unemployment rate of about 16%, inflation level around 9.5%, high interest rates and there was an average growth rate of 3.2% during the 1980s (Hansen, 2006). All of these elements were not conducive to economic growth and as a result, Ireland faced a severe recession. Accordingly, it became evident that economic policy changes needed to be made and the general election of 1987 heralded the beginning of a more stable macroeconomic policy. The new government, employers and trade unions developed a social partnership known as the Programme for National Recovery to reach an agreement on wages, taxes, and other social welfare improvements. The government offered lower income tax rates in exchange for wage moderation by the trade unions. As a result, the labour market became more competitive and effective and more employment opportunities were created in both the services and manufacturing sectors. Fiscal Policy Fiscal policy from the 1970s to late 1980s was quite varied and went from being expansionary in 1977, to taxing and spending in 1981 and then to cost-cutting in 1987. These changes coincided with different governments in power and corresponding different policy goals. It was not until 1987 that appropriate fiscal policy was adopted for the economic situation and as a result, stabilisation began to occur. The government focused on reducing the budget deficit, which had reached levels between 6.1% and 8.2% of GNP between 1978-1987 and the debt to GNP ratio was a massive 131.4% in 1987 (Leddin and OLeary, 1991). By the end of 2001, the debt to GNP ratio was only 38% (Honohan and Walsh, 2002). Government spending also decreased from about 46% of GNP in 1987 to 37.2% already in 1991 (Leddin and OLeary, 1991). (For graphs see H and W). In addition to cutting spending and reducing the debt, the government cut tax rates. Comparing 2001 and 1985, the top income tax rates decreased from 65% to 42%, corporate tax rates fell from 50% to 16%, capital gains tax was reduced from 60% to 20% and capital acquisitions tax fell from 55% to 20% (Honohan and Walsh, 2002). From the 1960s until 1981, Ireland has a 0% tax rate on export profits. However, such low tax rates drew complaints from other EU members and, as a result, Ireland was forced to raise it to 10% in 1981. This preferential corporate tax rate was put in place for profits in the manufacturing sector, internationally traded services, and activities in the Dublin based International Financial Services Centre (IFSC). Again, due to complaints, Ireland agreed to raise rates to 12.5% in 2003 for manufacturing and internationally traded services and in 2005 for IFSC activities. It is generally recognized that such low corporate tax rates were instrumental in attracting inte rnational companies to conduct business in Ireland. Gropp and Kostial (2000) estimated that if Ireland had increased corporate tax rates to the EU average from 1990-1997, there would have been a loss of more than 1.3% of GDP per year in net FDI and a 0.8% loss of GDP in revenue. As a result of Irelands success, lowering of corporate tax rates has also been adopted by other countries, perhaps most significantly, Germany, who reduced their tax rate from 40% in 2000 to 25% in 2001 (Walsh, 2000). Despite this, it is also important to note that the effect of low corporate tax rates on attracting FDI may be distorted as a result of transfer pricing. This means that foreign-owned companies may use pricing adjustments to allocate a larger share of their profits to their Irish operations and thus pay less taxes. This may be responsible for the large gap between GDP and GNP in Ireland during the 1990s. In 1998, GDP surpassed GNP by 14.3%, well higher than any other country in the OECD (Walsh, 2000). However, Walsh also states that the effects of transfer pricing on the measurement of economic growth should not be exaggerated (2000: 225). Generally, GNP is used to measure the performance of the Irish economic boom because of the high levels of FDI. Overall, corporate tax rates have played an important role in attracting FDI, which in turn has been a significant factor in Irelands growth and will be examined more fully below. Monetary Policy Ireland decided to join the European Monetary System (EMS) and an adjustable peg system in 1978 and end its parity with the pound sterling in 1979. Although the decision was made more for political rather than economic reasons, there were definite economic implications. Throughout the period of EMS, many exchange rate readjustments occurred and for most of them the Irish pound was devalued against the German Deutschmark, which allowed Ireland to gain wage competitiveness. Overall, though, Irish membership in the EMS was not as successful as hoped and served to increase uncertainty and discourage anti-inflationary practices. However, joining EMS laid the groundwork for signing the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 and thus the agreement to join the European Monetary Union (EMU). As a result of joining EMU and giving up their independent currency, Ireland experienced a onetime decrease in interest rates.