Paralanguage And Proxemics

Paralanguage And Proxemics Paralanguage, It refers to something that may be expressed consciously or unconsciously and it includes the pitch, volume and in some cases intonation of speech. Example: A teacher shouting after giving prior polite warning to a student misbehaving again and again in the school. The volume as well as the pitch can be seen changing from low (polite warning) to high (anger). Kinesics: Kinesics is the interpretation of body language such as facial expressions and gestures or, more formally, non-verbal behaviour related to movement, any part of the body. Example: A supervisor moving his head from left to right to his junior employee engaging in a argument situation with a customer at the till. Proxemics: It means the distance between people when they are interacting with each other. Example: Informal communication, between friends and peers is usually marked by lesser distance between them as compared to greater distance between delegates in a formal communication. Chronemics: It means that use of time, waiting or pausing etc. Chromatics is related to culture. It includes punctuality, willingness to wait, and interactions. Example: In the business world, peoples are living in western countries and Americans are expected to arrive to meetings on time and, usually, even early. On the other hand, Arabs give less preference to time. Haptics: is the means by which people communicate via touching. Touch is an extremely important sense for humans; as well as providing information about surfaces and textures it is a component of nonverbal communication in interpersonal relationships, and vital in conveying physical. Example: A doctor touching a patients wrist to measure the heartbeat rate. Oculesics: Oculesics is the study of eye-contact as a form of non-verbal communication. In my opinion, eye contact is one of the most important aspect of nonverbal communication. Example: A teacher expects direct eye contact with his students during lecture as a mark of attention. Environment: A good environment plays a great role to run the business. It is obvious that your personal space and environment affect the level of your comfort and your status and facilitate the communication process. Example: Wearing a proper uniform at workplace to suit the surrounding environment. ii) How did the use of them effect the communication? Processes in the situations explained in affect? Ans: Effects in accordance with the above stated examples: Paralanguage: The effect was the student feeling insulted and stopped doing what the teacher didn`t wants him to do. Kinesics: The result was the junior employee backing out of the argument and apologising to the customer. Proxemics: Close distance communications gives a sense of friendliness whereas greater distance as compared to informal communication creates a required formal environment. Chronemics: An Arab arriving late at a meeting with an American and the American feeling insulted as a result. Haptics: The effect is the doctor being able to assess the patient`s health. Oculesics: Effect is the teacher being able to assess as to who is paying attention and who is not. Environment: The effect is the creation of an ethical workplace environment. 2) QUES: Give two examples of when active listening skills were applied in a work/study situation to ensure was effective? In both instances first describe the situation and state who were involved? Ans: Example 1: (work related) When I got my first job. My manager addressed me in the organization as an orientation programme. Me and manger were involved in this situation. Manger told me about the history of the organization, introduced me to my fellow workers, addressed me about the job rules and regulations. Example 2: (study related) A business tycoon addressed us students in college sharing his strategies to success. He and the students were involved in this situation. He shared his personal life experience with the students and told them what to do and not to do in life. He also told them different strategies to adopt to be successful in life. (i) Explain what active listening skills you used in each situation and how you used them? Ans: Active listening skills used: Example 1: I listened to my manager with full attention while he was explaining me about my job description. I also used supportive eye contact and showed that I was listening to the speaker. Then I asked him questions to my queries and my manager gives me answers and then I was able to remove my queries. Example 2: Business tycoon addressed us and told us different things to do in life. We were listening effectively to him. We were raising questions on his speech and examples and satisfied ourselves by getting suitable answers from that experienced person. (ii)Describe what the outcomes were in each situation? Ans: Outcomes: Example 1: I was able to get a friendly environment as well as all the answers to my questions and lot more information regarding my work so that I could do my job effectively and efficiently. Example 2: We got a preview of what is ahead in our life as well as tips and success mantras to move on the road to success. 3)Ques: interview someone you know has a fulltime or part time job and find out what they like and dislike about job. Use a questionnaire with open, close and probing question to get the information required. I took an interview of my friend who is working as a Customer Service (Check out) Manager in WOOLWORTHS RETAIL STORE COUNTDOWN. Before starting the interview, I clarified him that this interview will be considered as part of my college assignment. 1. Describe about yourself? Ans: Myself Manav Sharma I have finished my study in business L-6. At the moment I am working here as a manager. 2. Why did u choose this field? Ans:Because of my versatile personality and good communication skills. 3. What are your responsibilities at work? Ans: Preparing rosters and handling customer grievance system. 4. Is there anything you dislike about the job? Ans: Though I am quite satisfied with my job except two things: When people engage in unethical activities like theft, stealing things etc. When people are drunk and misbehave with the staff (ii) In the report offer them suggestions on how might remove any of the dislikes they might have about the job. Ans:1) You should equip your security system with latest cameras. 2) There should be adequate security guards at the store and the staff should be advised to be more calm and composed. In case of a heated argument between the staff and the respective customer the case should be referred to a senior executive in charge. (iii) Obtain written feedback from the person you interviewed on how well you conducted the interview and how relevant or helpful your feedback of them was? Ans: I MANAV SHARMA am quite happy to talk about my job, responsibilities, likes and dislike etc. about my work. Having freely discussed my problems, likes and dislikes I also welcomed suggestions on the things that I disliked and it is also good to learn and gain knowledge from any source possible. After reading the suggestions I would like to mention that these are worth applying to my work related problems and reflect the interviewers maturity and knowledge sphere. I think I gave my best and real answer of my job and the interview has been well conducted by the interviewer. 4) Ques: Describe the situation at work / study in New Zealand where you had to be assertive in negotiate with your boss, another colleague, customer or client, or someone in a more senior position. 1) Describe the situation and who was involved? Ans: Having employed at MASALA RESTAURANT as a receptionist, one day I was on work and a customer complained my manager regarding the delivery of a wrong meal. The case was that he had ordered cheese chilly but the one that was actually delivered was chilly chicken. The people involved were me and the customer. 2) Explain the outcome you wanted? Ans: I wanted to make sure that the customer is satisfied at any cost because for us customer is the king. 3) Explain the outcome the other party wanted? Ans: The other party wanted what he had originally ordered. 4) Explain what steps you took in the negotiation to work towards your outcome? Ans: In order to rectify the mistake and Compensate for the same I made sure that the customer is made happy and retained for the future by providing the actual ordered dish and gave the wrong delivered dish as a complimentary one to compensate for the mistake plus 25% discount on the next dine in. 5) Explain the outcome i.e. whether you received all you wanted, some of it or none of all? Ans: Having taken the necessary corrective action the customer was again restored and thus my main motive of retaining the customer was fulfilled. 6) Explain the assertiveness techniques you made use of in your negotiation? Ans: Firstly, I felt sorry and tried to calm him down. Next I tried to bring the customer back on track by offering him a deal he couldnt refuse by providing him the wrongly delivered dish as a complimentary one as well as a 25% discount on the next dine in which he perceived as a beneficial one and agreed at last. 7) Use the experience you have gained from this exercise to draw up an action plan explaining how you might work towards further improving your negotiating and assertiveness skills? Ans: 1) Firstly, I need to improve my listening skills so that this won`t happen in future. 2) Write the order first on a piece of paper and confirm it twice and then put it in the order list. 3) Learn more and more from my seniors by asking them for suggestions from their experiences. 4) Improve my conflict handling skills by trying to be calm and flexible in every situation.

Career Summary Of A Dietician Essay -- essays research papers

RESEARCH & FACTS The career I researched was that of a dietician. Someone who wishes to become a dietician must first obtain a bachelor’s degree, which would be considered a minimal requirement. Most dieticians will tell you that it would be within the best interests of a student wishing to become a dietician to get a master’s degree. Dieticians must have a love for science (chemistry in particular) and algebra as these skills are practiced routinely in the profession. It would also be a good idea for someone wishing to become a dietician to take some kind of accounting or book-keeping class, as dieticians must work on and file multiple records for each of their patients.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To become a dietician you must be willing to research every day. New scientific breakthroughs are made on a regular basis that are constantly changing the shape of the practice. Dieticians must also be willing to regularly meet with patients and physicians to accurately determine if their current dietary plan is working or not and what steps they should take to reach their final goal. Hospital dieticians correspond with the kitchen staff to make sure healthy diets are supplied for each patient in the hospital, as well as on an individual level.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In a hospital environment there are typically a group of dieticians to handle all of the inpatient diets. These dieticians in turn answer to their department manager, who works under a chairman. In the dietary department there are also several filing and appointment clerks who help the dieticians to manage their work and keep them on track. These clerks are required because of the high-volume of work a hospital dietician is responsible for. Even though dieticians must regularly meet with patients and physicians, schedules for dieticians are very loose, and they can usually pick their own hours as long as they are at work for a certain amount of time each week.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dieticians are typically very friendly and social people. In the mornings, a dietary department will usually spend an hour or so casually talking about their current cases or new dietary breakthroughs. In these sessions, dieticians will discuss important new knowledge about their field and about their patients while they drink a cup of coffee.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dieticians will usually ge... ...of us want to help other people, and both of us are concerned with our own health and nutrition.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many positive reasons for me to become a dietician. As a dietician I would make a good amount of money, and could find work almost anywhere in the country. I would also be able to feed my love for science and researching skills. The only problem I could find with becoming a dietician is that I am a very mechanical person. This has been proven by the tests, but it is also backed by my own beliefs. Unfortunately, there is little hands-on physical work to be done by dietitians. Perhaps I could volunteer to rearrange the furniture once a week.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Educationally I am on the right path. In several weeks I will graduate high school with almost thirty college credit hours. I will need to take more chemistry, biology, and math classes. I plan on earning a masters degree in nutrition.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Overall, this is a very fitting choice for me. A dietitian has been something I have always wanted to become. After researching the job more and interviewing an actual dietitian, I have decided that it a sure bet for me. Career Summary Of A Dietician Essay -- essays research papers RESEARCH & FACTS The career I researched was that of a dietician. Someone who wishes to become a dietician must first obtain a bachelor’s degree, which would be considered a minimal requirement. Most dieticians will tell you that it would be within the best interests of a student wishing to become a dietician to get a master’s degree. Dieticians must have a love for science (chemistry in particular) and algebra as these skills are practiced routinely in the profession. It would also be a good idea for someone wishing to become a dietician to take some kind of accounting or book-keeping class, as dieticians must work on and file multiple records for each of their patients.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To become a dietician you must be willing to research every day. New scientific breakthroughs are made on a regular basis that are constantly changing the shape of the practice. Dieticians must also be willing to regularly meet with patients and physicians to accurately determine if their current dietary plan is working or not and what steps they should take to reach their final goal. Hospital dieticians correspond with the kitchen staff to make sure healthy diets are supplied for each patient in the hospital, as well as on an individual level.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In a hospital environment there are typically a group of dieticians to handle all of the inpatient diets. These dieticians in turn answer to their department manager, who works under a chairman. In the dietary department there are also several filing and appointment clerks who help the dieticians to manage their work and keep them on track. These clerks are required because of the high-volume of work a hospital dietician is responsible for. Even though dieticians must regularly meet with patients and physicians, schedules for dieticians are very loose, and they can usually pick their own hours as long as they are at work for a certain amount of time each week.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dieticians are typically very friendly and social people. In the mornings, a dietary department will usually spend an hour or so casually talking about their current cases or new dietary breakthroughs. In these sessions, dieticians will discuss important new knowledge about their field and about their patients while they drink a cup of coffee.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dieticians will usually ge... ...of us want to help other people, and both of us are concerned with our own health and nutrition.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many positive reasons for me to become a dietician. As a dietician I would make a good amount of money, and could find work almost anywhere in the country. I would also be able to feed my love for science and researching skills. The only problem I could find with becoming a dietician is that I am a very mechanical person. This has been proven by the tests, but it is also backed by my own beliefs. Unfortunately, there is little hands-on physical work to be done by dietitians. Perhaps I could volunteer to rearrange the furniture once a week.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Educationally I am on the right path. In several weeks I will graduate high school with almost thirty college credit hours. I will need to take more chemistry, biology, and math classes. I plan on earning a masters degree in nutrition.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Overall, this is a very fitting choice for me. A dietitian has been something I have always wanted to become. After researching the job more and interviewing an actual dietitian, I have decided that it a sure bet for me.

Cinematic Techniques in Strictly Ballroom Essays -- Baz Luhrman Film M

Extended Film Response How the film techniques used by Baz Luhrman to influence the portrayal and development of characters in the film Strictly Ballroom? In the film Strictly Ballroom, the director Baz Luhrman uses many different film techniques to influence the portrayal and development of characters. Costume and makeup is used as a vital technique to show the audience the characters’ personalities and also the development of some characters. Camera angles and lighting is another technique that is used to exaggerate the characters’ personalities and the scenes they are in. Luhrman also uses character behaviors as an effective technique in portraying each characters’ personality. In the film Luhrman uses costume and makeup to portray characters’ personalities. Such as Shirley Hastings. Shirley’s costume and makeup shows the audience a great deal about her personality. Shirley always wears pink, puts ‘over the top’ makeup on and wears a lot of jewellery. This tells the audience that she is ‘over the top’ and maybe insecure about herself or her past. Liz Holt is another character whose personality could not have been portrayed if it wasn’t for the costume and makeup used. Liz is a drama queen and exaggerates everything including her costume and makeup. She nearly always wears yellow and also exaggerates her makeup with bright colours even when she’s not dancing. Luhrman also used costume and makeup to show the development of one of the main characters, Fran. At the start of the film, Fran is introduced with acne, glasses and baggy clothes, which shows the audience that she is not comfortable with herself and not confident. But when Fran starts dancing she slowly becomes more confident and her costume and makeup changes. Fr... ...eally talks and is presented as someone who is quite awkward. Doug also gets pushed around by everyone, until at the end of the film when he yells at his son Scott to listen to him, giving the audience the impression that he is tired of getting pushed around and no one listening to him and also because he didn’t want his son to make a mistake. Film techniques are used extremely effectively in Strictly Ballroom by the director Baz Luhrman. Costume and makeup, camera angles and lighting and also character behaviours were used to influence the portrayal and development of all of the main characters. Without these film techniques, Strictly Ballroom could not have been made into a film as entertaining as it is and the characters personalities and development would not have been portrayed. Bibliography Baz Luhrman, 1992, Strictly Ballroom, Motion Picture, Bazmark.

Investing Stocks and Bonds Essay

Investing in Stocks and Bonds Stocks and Bonds are different in many ways. A stock is a portion or share of the ownership of a corporation. A share will give the owner of the stock the company’s profits or loses over time. The good thing about stocks is they can be sold at almost any time as long as there is someone willing to buy. A bond, on the other hand, is a fixed interest financial asset issued by governments, companies, banks, and other large entities. Bonds also are called funds. Bonds pay the owner a fixed amount a specific date, or on specified dates depending on the type of bond. If the bond is a discount bond, then there is one pay date at the end. If the bond is a coupon bond, then it pays a fixed amount over a specific time. The time could be by month, or by year. My team was assigned the task of investing 120,000 dollars over ten years. We were to invest 80% of 120,000 dollars in stocks and 20% in bonds. We invested in six different stocks and two bonds. Also, we split the money. Therefore, we each invested 6,000 dollars per year in three stocks and one bond. The first stock I decided to invest in was Nike Inc. Nike Inc. is a strongly advertised and a well-distributed company (Nike). Nike Inc. is known well across the world (Nike). When it comes to shoes, clothes, or sports apparel, everyone has at least one item of Nike. In most cases, people own multiple things of Nike equipment. Nike Inc. spends great amounts of time and money on their products (Nike). Also, Nike Inc. is extremely popular among sports. That is relevant because I am an athlete, and own many Nike products. Almost every pair of shoes I own is Nike, besides dress shoes. This all proceeded to tell me, as an investor, to get involved in a part of the company. I took 2,000 dollars of the 6,000 dollars and invested in Nike Inc. Every year for ten years I bought 2,000 dollars worth of shares. The number of shares each year ranged from 24 shares to 42 shares of Nike Inc. stock. In April of 2007, there was a stock split for Nike Inc. The shares split 2:1. So the number of shares I owned up to that point doubled. I owned roughly 197 shares before the 2:1 split. After the split I accumulated about 395 shares. The total number of shares at the end of ten years was approximately 527 shares. My shares sold for $89. 34 each. The total earned from Nike Inc. was $47,130. 76. Another stock is Buckle Inc. This is another company in the clothing industry; however, Buckle Inc. urprised me with how well they did. Buckle Inc. is a popular clothing store for young adults (Buckle). They have jeans, dress shirts, shoes, and other clothing (Buckle). Their products can get expensive, but they are made well (Buckle). Many young adults shop at Buckle Inc. for the variety of trendy options they offer (Buckle). This is relevant beca use I am a young adult, and have shopped at Buckle before. I also know many friends and family who has shopped in Buckle as well. If someone asks around looking for a nice pair of jeans the answer is, â€Å"Have you tried Buckle? They have a nice selection. Like in Nike Inc. , I took 2,000 dollars to invest in this fine company. In 2001 when I started, the shares were quite low in price. The first year I owned over 100 shares. Unlike Nike Inc. , there was more than one split for Buckle Inc. There were two stock splits within the ten years. One split came in January of 2007, and another split came in October of 2008. Both of the stock splits were 3:2 splits. Prior to the first split I owned around 460 shares. After the split I owned about 690 shares. Before the second split I had approximately 786 shares. Following the second split I owned around 1,180 shares. The total number of shares in the end was about 1362 shares. Each sold for $44. 21 coming to a total of $60,238. 45. The last stock I invested in was in the outrageous oil and gas industry. The oil and gas industry can be a risky investment; therefore, I was not guaranteed to come out on top or, in another words, succeed. If success were the outcome, the profit would be fairly significant. I tried Chevron Corporation because they seemed reliable compared to other oil and gas companies (Chevron). Chevron Corporation has been known to strive beyond expectations, and care for the safety of the workforce and environment (Chevron). Chevron products are recognized for their quality, performance, and technology around the world (Chevron). I decided to be on the safe side and only invest 1,000 dollars in Chevron Corporation because of the risk factor that comes into play with the oil and gas industry. Chevron Corporation actually did well after all. The share prices were high to start with. Chevron Corporation had one stock split within the ten years. In September of 2004, the 2:1 split helped my number of shares go from about 48 shares to around 97 shares total. In the end I owned a total of approximately 180 shares. These shares sold for a big $105. 38 each. This nearly doubled the 10,000 dollars. The total after the ten years in Chevron Corporation was $18,982. 67. The one mutual fund I invested in was with PIMCO. This global investment authority offers many different bonds such as: absolute return bonds, asset allocations, convertibles, municipal bonds, core bonds, etc. (PIMCO). The bond I chose was a core bond. This bond was the PIMCO Total Return Fund. This particular fund focuses on a solid core fixed-income (PIMCO). The fund will typically invest in a diversified portfolio of securities (PIMCO). One thing I noticed when researching PIMCO Total Return Fund was that the worst one year return for this bond was 0. 28% (PIMCO). This made PIMCO a reliable source in my eyes. I selected to invest 1,000 dollars with PIMCO because it is a popular, reliable investment company. The shares for this fund had a low price. Each share was $10. 65 in July of 2001. This investment consisted of many more shares at a much lower price. I owned roughly 90 more shares every year. The total number of shares after ten years was about 1030 shares. Each share sold for $11. 12. This gave me a total of $11,456. 71 in returns. After investing 60,000 dollars over ten years in three stocks and one bond, I accumulated a total of $137,808. 59. Buckle Inc. was my best investment earning $60,238. 45 over ten years. Surprisingly Buckle Inc. was able to triple its profit over the total ten years I invested. Nike Inc. over doubled in the ten years. Nike Inc. did quite well throughout the ten years. Chevron was the least earning stock; however, this investment earned almost double the 10,000 dollars initially spent on the stock. The PIMCO Total Return Fund was what Dr. Duke considers a low risk/low reward investment. The PIMCO Total Return Fund was conservative. The total at the end of ten years in the PIMCO Fund was $11,456. 71. This fund earned a small amount over 14% profit. This was actual a very respectable profit for a mutual fund. Overall the total return from all the investments was a tremendous profit. Going from 60,000 dollars to 137,000 dollars was remarkable. Not everyone succeeds in the market; however, this is a great illustration of how well someone can do in the world of investment when it comes to stocks and bonds. Works Cited â€Å"Buckle Inc. † Buckle. com: Men’s and Women’s On-Trend Fashion Clothing & Designer Jeans

Kmart and Sears Merger Essay

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

Assessment and Management of Pain

Morphine is one of the prevalent analgesic opioid that is considered as potent and effective pain relievers and has been undertaken for past many years. This is used for undertaking both acute and chronic pain management. Morphine targets the pain due to myocardial infarction, surgery, injuries and others (Macintyre and Schug 2014). Morphine is an opiate drug that targets opioid receptors leading to the formation of the analgesia with the help of the mechanism of hyperpolarisation of interneuron and decrement in the release of the transmitters of pain. Human body consist of inbuilt analgesic and pain relieving system that regulates in the body by minimizing the sensations in the spinal cord that further transmits the sensations of the pain to different locations with the help of synapse within the neurons. Activation of the pain management in the spinal cord occurs by the supraspinal mechanism. This mechanism includes opioid system that is responsible for the release of endorphins, the adrenergic system that is responsible for the release of norepinephrine and serotogenic system that is responsible for the release of serotonin. Synergy and communication among all leads to the activation of analgesic activity. When the inbuilt analgesic system fails to control pain, additional analgesic drugs such as morphine is used to increase the working capacity of this inbuilt system. Besides this, morphine also regulates the generation of supraspinal structures leading to the activation of the whole system. Adrenergic drugs react with specific receptors for the production of the analgesia and morphine further reacts with these drugs for the regulation of the analgesia (Stang et al. 2014). Visceral pain targets the thoracic, abdominal and pelvic organs of the body and it is considered to be one of the most common types of the pain a doctor responds to. Visceral pain targets chest, prostate gland, pelvis, gastrointestinal tract, gall bladder, scrotum and vulva (Mayer et al. 2015). Surgical treatments available for the treatment of Angina pectoris and other chest pain is coronary artery bypass surgery or grafting and percutaneous coronary intervention that undertakes the change in the oxygen concentration in the body with the help of certain channel blockers such as nitrates and calcium. Alteration in the oxygen demand and supply leads to the reduction of the pain. Besides this, Cordotomy is another surgical procedure that is used for the treatment of visceral pain due to terminal maladies or illness such as cancer, AIDS, pulmonary fibrosis and many others. This surgery is undertaken percutaneously with the help of fluoroscopic or computerized tomography scan. The laminectomy surgery is undertaken in the spinothalamic tract under the presence of anaesthesia. Another technique that is appropriate as the surgical treatment for the visceral pain is myelotomy which are of two types Commissural and Punctuate or limited Midline. Commissural Myelotomy undertakes the m ultiscale laminectomy in the spinal cord. This targets the nerve fibre joining the brain with spinal cord and interrupts the pain there. While Punctuate or Limited Midline is a neuroablative surgery that undertakes the treatment of bladder, pancreas and colon by interrupting the center of dorsal column. This is one of the most effective methods as it can be used for the treatment of posterior columns of the organs (Lazzeri et al. 2015). Lazzeri, L., Vannuccini, S., Orlandini, C., Luisi, S., Zupi, E., Nappi, R.E. and Petraglia, F., 2015. Surgical treatment affects perceived stress differently in women with endometriosis: correlation with severity of pain.  Fertility and sterility,  103(2), pp.433-438. Macintyre, P.E. and Schug, S.A., 2014.  Acute pain management: a practical guide. CRC Press. Mayer, E.A., Gupta, A., Kilpatrick, L.A. and Hong, J.Y., 2015. Imaging brain mechanisms in chronic visceral pain.  Pain,  156(0 1), p.S50. Stang, A.S., Hartling, L., Fera, C., Johnson, D. and Ali, S., 2014. Quality indicators for the assessment and management of pain in the emergency department: a systematic review.  Pain Research and Management,  19(6), pp.e179-e190.

Philosophy Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Philosophy - Assignment Example 104-105). A person or human is defined by the author as a creation of God that possesses moral freedom with the capacity to make decisions at will, which can either be good or evil. This distinct character is what makes a person what he or she is (p. 107-108). Free will is the human being’s freedom to make decisions in their own ‘volition’ and to take responsibility or accept the consequences that can occur through the interplay of different factors such as morality. Hick equated freewill with personal or moral freedom (p. 107). 2. In the creation of man by God the main aim is to have moral freedom which is defined by the process of making a decision or choice on the basis of his own will. For that matter if man is exposed in the natural evil that is present in his environment, he acts on his moral freedom. Man is different from God, thus, mistakes and evil acts can occur as a manifestation of being human. For that matter, the actions and behavior of man is not a ground to question the omniscience of God (p. 107). Evil is necessary because without it goodness has no worth (p.104-105). Evil is natural since the only perfect being is God and every entity can be influence by the presence of pain, suffering or degradation (p.106). The human or moral evil is a distinct characteristic of people since they are finite beings. If they only do the right things then they are ‘self-contradictory’ because they cannot randomly choose the right or the good decision in every step of the way (p.107). 4. Hick would express his view that natural evil is present as good is but it depend on the choice of the human to choose evil over goodness. For that matter it cannot be stated that human evil comprise the evil present in the world since there are pain and suffering that cannot be related to man. In addition, decisions made by