Fashion - customer service can help in build the loyalty of a brand Essay

Fashion - customer service can help in build the loyalty of a brand - Essay Example The paper "fashion - customer service can help in build the loyalty of a brand" talks about how the customer service can help in build the loyalty of a brand. The luxury fashion retailing sector of Hong Kong is exceptionally well developed hence one of the fashion capitals of Asia. The fast growing expenditure from Chinese tourists has turned Hong Kong into a regional distribution hub for popular designer brands around the world, providing a great variety of high-end fashion brands and luxurious products in the market. With the Chinese tourists continuing to pour in, the product demand is high. Many high-end retailers try to provide extra services to retain their customers. Top brands try to find ways to capitalize on the buying interest of their customers and provide quality customer service due to the limited space. Besides globalization, many prestigious retailers are turning their focus to generating a greater profit from their existing customer base by developing brand loyalty. Such ideas are also backed by a number of researchers. Homburg, Koschate & Hoyer (2005) stated that brands were benefited from brand-loyal customers due to repeated patronage and their tendency to pay premium prices for additional services. The findings of Graner and Sterling (2003) further strengthened the incentive for retailers to develop brand loyalty as they found that retaining 5% more customers would boost profits by 25% to 125%. Quality customer services provided by the business are essential.

Whole Life Cycle Costing Application Barriers Construction Essay

Whole Life Cycle Costing Application Barriers Construction Essay Ellingham and Fawcett (2006, p. 18) indicate that the net present value method for evaluating an investment cashflow was first developed about 50 years ago and is widely used in many spheres. In property and construction projects it has acquired a special name: whole-life costing. In fact, whole-life costing is simply the application of net present value analysis to construction projects. Most people will confused about the term of life-cycle costing, whole life costing, and whole life-cycle costing. As stated in Boussabaine and Kirkham study (2004, p. 4), prior to the 1970s, investment decisions made by most clients, developers and professionals was solely on the basis of capital cost. It appear a thought that spending more in capital cost will realize substantial cost savings in long term compared with a cheaper alternative, which we known as terotechnology. This concept was largely ignored because the lack of available data and collection mechanisms, and it shown that investor had no interest in the subsequent operational cost of the building. In the early 1970s, the term cost-in-use appear in the industry. It was recognized the concept of cost in use could apply to building and critical structures as to calculate the expenditure related to the operation of an asset. However, it also failed to consider the necessity for accurate future cost forecasting. It required some kind of technology to facilitate this problem (Boussabaine and Kirkham, 2004, p. 5). Until the mid to late 1970s, life-cycle costing emerged as a solution to this problem. It fostered a wide-ranging approach to cost appraisal, encompassing all perceivable cost from construction through to eventual disposal the whole life. By using a variety of forecasting techniques, the analyst was able to demonstrate how increase capital cost could be offset by long-term cost savings (Boussabaine and Kirkham, 2004, p. 5). As stated by Ashworth (1989), LCC is clearly a technique, which (at least in theory) has a potential for the correct financial evaluation of construction works. In should be noted that the concepts of LCC are not new. The principles are based upon economic theories, which have been used in investment appraisal in many areas of industrial and commercial activity.White and Ostwald (Korpi and Ala-Risku, 2008, p.241) show that LCC was originally designed for procurement purposes in the US Department of Defence and Woodward (Korpi and Ala-Risku, 2008, p.241) indicates that LCC is used most commonly in the military sector as well as in the construction industry. Towards the late 1990s, the concept of whole life costing and whole life-cycle costing emerged. The terms whole life costing and whole life-cycle costing are interchangeable (Boussabaine and Kirkham, 2004, p. 6). Whole life-cycle costing is a relatively new concept to the construction industry. It is essence an evolution of life-cycle costing techniques that are commonly used in many areas of procurement (Boussabaine and Kirkham, 2004, p. 3). Theoretically speaking, there is no different between LCC, WLC and WLCC. Schade (2007, p. 2), in reporting Flanagan and Jewell study, emphasizes that it is just a change of term form cost in use to life cycle costing and further to whole life cycle costing. Problem Statement According to Boussabaine and Kirkham (2004, p. xi), the construction industry has recently experienced a paradigmatic shift in its approach to product deliver and the achievement of customer satisfaction. Where previously the design and construction teams placed a heavy emphasis on delivering buildings at the lowest capital cost, a greater awareness and desire to consider cost over the whole life of the building have prevailed. Clients now want buildings that demonstrate value for money over the long term, and are not interested simply in the design solution which is the least expensive. These changes have lead to and highlighted the important of whole life-cycle costing approaches to the design, construction and operation of buildings. Schade (2007) claims that, production cost is the main cost factor in construction and is often set to the minimum in commonly, which does not necessarily improve the lifetime performance of buildings. Therefore, it is important to show the construction client in the early design phase the relationship between design choices and the resulting lifetime cost. Boussabaine and Kirkham (2004, p. ix) also note that the award of public construction contracts based on simply the lowest capital cost bid is no longer recognized as good practice; best value must be taken into account and thereby WLCC should be fully appraised as part of the decision making process. The research of Swaffield and McDonald (2007, p. 132) identify that contractors quantity surveyors generally did consider LCC when procuring new products/elements for Private Finance Initiative projects, but in certain circumstances, such as during exceptionally busy times or when working within tight construction budgets, LCC were not considered and procurement decisions for some product/elements were made on the basis of lowest capital cost. As Byron A. Ellis (2007, p.1) said, Designers, engineers and constructors are under pressure from owners to minimize total project cost. Unfortunately, many owners do not understand the concept of total project cost. As a result, they seek to minimize acquisition (first) cost. Economists Alchian and Allen (Byron, 2007, p.1) argue that the term cost should never be used by itself; they noted that it should always be identified with total, average, or marginal. According to Fischer et al (Tah and Aouad, 2007), although the significance of LCC has been recognized as early as 1980s, the current implementation has not been very satisfied due to two major barriers: first barrier is the historical data of building operation and maintenance. Second barrier is the complexity of the procedures and algorithms of calculating the LCC. For example, a building concern thousands of elements and construction method and maintenance activities. A simple change in the building material might take long hours of recalculations, it is therefore difficult to assist users to manipulate the large design and LCC analysis. However, even the idea of WLCC analysis is to help the owner to examine a economically alternative, there will always have the possibility of misleading the decision making by the error result of WLCC due to lack of data or unpredictable changes. There have no such as 100% accuracy for WLCC analysis because the limitation of forecast ability of human being are impossible to forecast everything that could be happen in future. This paper addresses the problems above by providing a detail discussion of WLCC for assisting and simplifying the application of the technique based on the WLCC in construction industry. At the same time reveal the popularity of application of WLCC in Malaysian construction industry. Aim To identified the barriers of applying whole life-cycle costing and investigate the popularity of implementation of whole life-cycle costing in Malaysian construction industry Objectives To review the important of usage of whole life-cycle costing in construction industry. To identify the barriers of application of whole-life cycle costing in construction industry. To analyse the factors affecting the accuracy of whole-life cycle costing. To investigate the popularity of application of whole-life cycle costing in Malaysian construction industry. Scope of Study The concept of Whole life-cycle costing (WLCC) can be use as many sector, to narrow the scope of study, the study will only be focus on the construction industries. Besides that, case study would not conduct to the project for the calculation of WLCC because it will be extremely difficult to obtain the large quantity of information across the long term of a building life cycle and data such as the project operation and maintenance cost, replacement cost, disposal cost could be confidential to its owners. Thus, to manually collect this data has to be very costly and time consuming and the missing of any result above will cause inaccurate of result. This study will focus on reviewing the important of application of WLCC into construction industry. The first issue to be study in deep is the discussion on the principles, advantages and purposes of WLCC analysis. The second issue is to identify the error and the difficulties of applying WLCC due to lack of necessary information and unpred ictable changes. The third issue is to do a research on the understanding of WLCC among owners and their frequency of applying WLCC. Research Methodology The methodology should be targeted at a consistent whole life-cycle costing (WLCC) approach and calculations and should not be aimed at reducing costs but at making more informed and consistent economic, financial and environmental decisions. The study was conducting in four stages. The first phase is the literature review. Second phase will be interview pilot study to the issue. Third phase will be constructing questionnaires. The last phase is to writing the research report. First stage: The literature review started with the important of application of WLCC and required data for a WLCC analysis. Searching of article about WLCC and the searching key words would be whole life-cycle costing, whole cycle costing and life-cycle costing. And the information of search will be limited into construction industry to filtered unnecessary information. The main sources for the literature research were databases, such as Emerald, web of science, Google and library of college Tunku Abdul Rahman. Second stage: Data collection will take form of a structured postal questionnaire. However an initial pilot study may be conducted to test the validity of the questionnaire through interviews with relevant parties. Third stage: Questionnaires will be conduct and send to respondent. The main ideas of the questionnaires are to test the owners of understanding about WLCC, and also research on the preferable of low initial cost or low WLCC when owner make decision of choosing alternatives. The questionnaire should be highlighted more prominently, to make it easier for respondents to participate in the final questionnaire survey. Last stage: This stage involves writing up the content of the dissertation and should cover the chapters proposed in the following section. The result of interview and questionnaires will be analysis and conclude. Example of WLCC analysis will provide by searching through media resources and calculate by myself with simple and reality assumption based on the WLCC principles.

What is the role of the river in The adventures of Huckleberry Finn? :: essays research papers fc

What is the role of the river in The adventures of Huckleberry Finn? The Mississippi river seems to control the form of the story. In Mark Twain’s The adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck’s adventure is affected by the river in three parts; These parts are before the river, on the river and after the river. Huck’s adventure is steered by the river to show that, in any story, the beginning and end are undefined.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Before the river, Huck and all of his friends are introduced, and he is in civilization, which Huck despises. Eventually, Huck his to escape. Huck eventually gets to the river, when his real adventure begins. Huck meets Jim on the island where he is hiding for the time being. This is when the river seems to start to influence them. They both decide to go on the raft, and travel down the river, unknowing of what could happen. T.S. Eliot says â€Å"What we call its headwaters is only a selection from among the innumerable sources which flow together to compose it† (154.) This beginning of the story starts in the middle, which reflects the river; One does not see the beginning of the river, only all of its sources moving together. Huck’s story is just like this. The story also develops and progresses while on the river.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Huck and Jim continue on the river as it guides them and forms the story. The river â€Å"cannot tolerate any design, to a story which is its story, that might interfere with its nce. Things must merely happen, here and there, to the people who live along its shores or commit themselves to its current† (154). The river surely seems to do this in Huck’s adventure, casting them into unsuspected adventures, introducing them to odd new people. Huck and Jim also come across problems that they need to figure out on the fly, problems that seemingly come from nowhere. The river also seems a sanctuary to Huck and Jim. These things are undefined especially because they seem random, or unpredictable. Of course, the river has these paths that it steers Huck and Jim on, and they accept them and go with the flow, no pun intended. Huck and Jim also finish the story with something that doesn’t seem to end their story- merely a continuation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A continuation, like the river always displays because â€Å"at the end it merely disappears among its deltas: it is no longer there, but it is still where it was, hundreds of miles to the North† (154).

Ida’s Impairment

1) (1) The U. S. GAAP section 360-10-35-21 states â€Å"A long-lived asset (asset group) shall be tested for recoverability whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that its carrying amount may not be recoverable†. An example of an event like this is a significant decrease in the market price of a long-lived asset. As stated in the case, one of Ida’s competitors sold its extremely comparable commercial building for an amount significantly less than its asking price.Since these assets are very similar in comparison, this significantly less price for the competitor’s building is an example of a decrease in the market price of Ida’s commercial building. Therefore under the U. S. GAAP, Ida needs to test the U. S. commercial building for recoverability. (2) Under IAS 36. 12, there are certain external factors that lead you to want to test for recovery such as a decline in market value. The sale of the building across the street is an example of one of those external factors.IAS 36. 6 explains impairment and how to record impairment. Under IFRSs IAS 36. 66, the recoverable amount of cash-generating units (CGUs) should be determined for the individual asset. Therefore, a recoverability test must be done. 2) As of U. S. GAAP 360-10-35-17, when reporting to its U. S. based lender as of December 31, 2010, Ida should record $600 for impairment on the U. S. commercial building. Under GAAP, one must compare the fair value to the carrying amount.Since the fair market value is $3,900 and the carrying amount is $4,500, impairment is calculated as the difference $600. *All dollars in thousands (U. S. GAAP 360-10-35-17) 3) Under IAS 36. 6, when reporting to its parent as of December 31, 2010, Ida should record $500 for impairment on the U. S. commercial building. The recoverable amount for the commercial building is $4,000. The carrying amount is $4,500. Since the carrying amount is greater than the recoverable, the impairment is the diffe rence. *All dollars in thousands (IAS 36. 6)

Concept Comparison and Analysis Across Theory Essay

Nursing has evolved into a science. Like other scientific disciplines, the practice of nursing is guided by nursing theories. According to Julia George, â€Å"practice is based on the theories of the discipline that are validated through research† (George, 2011, p. 7). The major shift in theoretical thinking in nursing is said to occur in the 1960s when the focus in nursing shifted from simple problem/need and functional role, to the relationship between nurse and patient (George, 2011, p. 10). The aim of this paper is two-fold: First, I will compare and analyze the concept definition of care (caring) across Dorothea Orem’s self-care theory and Madeleine Leininger’s theory of culture care theory. Second, I will present the concept statement, metaparadigms, philosophies, and conceptual model of Dorothy Orem’s self-care theory and discuss where and how Orem’s self-care theory can be applied to nursing. I will explore the major concepts and assumptions of Dorothea Orem’s self-care theory and Madeleine Leininger’s culture care theory, and compare and analyze the two theories in terms of the similarities and differences. The concept of care (caring) is a core concept common to many nursing theories. Boykin and Schoenhofer in presenting their theory of Nursing as Caring maintain that caring is the moral imperative for nursing (see George, 2011, p. 11). Dorothea Orem’s self-care theory and Madeleine Leininger’s culture care theory both focus on patient care. I can easily identify with both theories. As a practicing nurse, my personal philosophy is that nursing is about caring; this apart, Orem’s and Leininger’s theories are not as abstract as some of the theories. Both theories can therefore be still be used by the nurses who are not in academia to guide and improve their practice. Orem’s theory focuses on the key concept of self-care. According to Orem’s theory, every individual adult has the capacity for self-care. â€Å"Self-care implies that when they are able, individuals care for themselves. When the person is unable to care for himself, the nurse provides the assistance needed. For children nursing care is needed when the parents or guardians are unable to provide the amount and quality of care needed† (George, 2011, p. 114). I find Orem’s theory to be logical. There are certain situations when one is ill and does not require a nurse. For example, most people do not immediately go to the hospital with the common cold. In this case they take care of themselves. When a health problem arises for which â€Å"self-care† is insufficient to take care of the situation, one has to seek the attention of the â€Å"nurse† who compensates for this deficit. According to Orem, a nurse is needed when someone needs nursing care because of inability to care for oneself. The environment is to foster and maintain nurse therapeutic relationship between nurses and patients, to determine when someone needs help or assistance, attention to patient response, giving direct aid to individuals and families and collaboration with other health professionals. The â€Å"nurse† according to Orem can be a parent or another human, family or community, not necessarily a health care nurse. As outlined in her theory, there are three interrelated actions or measures used to provide self-care. The first is the Universal self-care requisites; this is self-care that is holistic and includes the need oxygen, water, food, elimination, activity, and rest, to prevent trauma and other necessities of life. The second type is the developmental self-care requisites; this is self-care that should be undertaken in accordance with human growth and development. The third type is the health deviation self-care requisites; this self-care carried out because of health problem or disease prevention and health promotion (George, 2011, p. 116). Orem’s concept of â€Å"self-care† theory seems to have a universal appeal. In a sense one can say that Orem is not just referring to individuals who are sick. For example, new-born babies need nursing care not necessarily because they are sick but because they are unable to â€Å"self-care† for themselves and the parents typically might not be able to provide the quality of specialized care needed at birth; nursing care is therefore needed for the first couple of days and then the parents can take over the care until the child becomes a self-caring individual. Orem defines nursing as â€Å"the provision of self-care which is therapeutic in sustaining life and health, in recovering from disease or injury, or coping with their effects† http://www.faculty.ucc.edu/nursing-gervase/orem. Madeleine Leininger, like Orem, sees the importance of the element of caring in the profession of nursing. As Leininger puts it, â€Å"care (caring) is essential to curing and healing, for there can be no curing without caring† http://www.Madeleine-leininger.com. The term †transcultural nursing† is used to refer to humanistic and scientific knowledge and practices that focus on assisting individuals, families and communities to maintain or regain health and to deal with disability, dying or other human conditions in a culturally respectful and beneficial manner http://www.Madeleine-leininger.com. Leininger’s theory of transcultural care theory is derived from the disciplines of (cultural) anthropology. Key concepts in this theory include cultural diversity (the differences between and among the various cultures) and cultural universality (the common elements or similarities found in various cultures). While she was working as a nurse, in a child guidance home Leininger observed recurrent behavioral differences and eventually concluded that the differences had a cultural base (George, 2011, p. 405). Leininger’s cultural care theory aims to provide culturally congruent nursing care through â€Å"cognitively based assistive, supportive, facilitative, or enabling acts or decisions that are mostly tailor-made to fit with individual’s, group’s, or institution’s cultural values, beliefs, and lifeways† (Leininger, M. (1995). Transcultural nursing: Concepts, theories, research and Practices. New York: McGraw Hill, Inc., p. 75). Leininger uses the four nursing metaparadigm differently in her theory. For example, she uses the concept to refer to families and groups or communities; health is not limited to nursing. Leininger’s Culture Care Theory views nursing as a transcultural, humanistic and scientific care discipline and profession with the central purpose to serve human beings worldwide. â€Å"Whereas it is important to look at a patient as a whole person from a physiological, psychological, spiritual, and social perspective, it is also important to take a patient’s culture and cultural background into consideration when deciding how to care for that patient. For example there should be no when attending to people from other minority cultures such as gay, lesbians, and trans-gender individuals. Nurses, when using this theory, can recognize and understand cultural similarities and differences to influence the person’s health status. In essence the theory assumes that nurses who understand, value, and practice culturally competent nursing care are more effective and capable of achieving positive outcomes in the healthcare of their patients. The theory assumes that culturally nursing care will occur when the patient’s beliefs and value systems are carefully incorporated the patient’s nursing care plan. From the above outline of Madeleine Leininger’s culture care theory and Dorothea Orem’s self-care theory one can see that both theories see (patient) care as the central focus of nursing. Both theories are very practical; one can even describe them as â€Å"empirical.† The two theories do differ in one very important focus: Leininger focuses on culture to influence health, whereas Orem focuses on the self (self-care) to keep the body healthy and functioning. It is evident that both theories have undergone some significant revisions over time. In this section, I will shift the focus of the discussion of where and how Leininger’s cultural care theory may be best applied to nursing practice. The Transcultural theory considers the component of culture as an important factor that needs to be included when planning the care of the patient. For family assessment, the theory can serve as basis and guide in evaluating the different factors that need to be assessed in the family. In application of transcultural theory in family assessment there are three points that need to be considered. First, the nursing care should incorporate the cultural backgrounds of the family by appropriately doing culture and background interview to the family Second, the family nurse should incorporate the inquiry on health beliefs, heath patterns, and practiced superstitions and beliefs that propose significance to the health condition of the family. Finally, the nurse needs to incorporate the most suited interventions that called for by the clients for care modalities and health care interventions (e.g. hospital, clinician, family, herbalist, etc. The use of transcultural theory in family assessment further enhances the nursing care being administered to the patient http://www.Madeleine-leininger.com. In terms of application, one can see certainly where exercising cultural sensitivity as advocated by the culture care theory would lead to better rendering of healthcare and faster recovery. The theory raises a number of serious questions. For example, how does one handle emergency situations? Giving the current nurse-patient ratios in hospitals and the vast array of cultures that nurses are likely to encounter, especially in a county hospital like the one in which I work? This apart, communication and language is a hallmark of any culture; does Leininger culture care theory implies that nurses should begin to attempt to render service to patients in the patient’s native language? These are questions that we might not have answers for at this point. Here is where philanthropic organizations like Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI) and the Joanna Briggs Institute can continue to support further research into nursing theory and health education that would help bridge the gap between nursing research and clinical practice. REFERENCES: Leininger M. (1991). Culture care diversity and universality: A theory of nursing. New York: National League for Nursing Press. George, Julia B. (2011). Nursing theories: The base of professional nursing practice 6th edition. Pearson Education, Inc. Leninger M, McFarland M. Transcultural Nursing: Concepts, Theory, Research, and Practice; 3rd ed., McGraw-Hill Professional; New York, 2002. Websites: http://www.Madeleine-leininger.com. http://www.faculty.ucc.edu/nursing-gervase/orem. http://www.joannabriggs.org http://www.nursingsociety.org http://www.faculty.ucc.edu/nursing-gervase/orem

Marketing audit of Cambridge Elite Soccer School The WritePass Journal

Marketing audit of Cambridge Elite Soccer School Introduction Marketing audit of Cambridge Elite Soccer School Introduction Cambridge Elite Soccer SchoolCambridge Elite Soccer School’s objectives and mission The External and Competitive EnvironmentCustomers and products  Recommendations  ConclusionReferences Appendix Related Introduction Marketing refers to the process of management through which goods and services move from being a concept on to the consumer, a process which broadly consists of the identification, selection and development of a product, pricing, distribution and its promotion (Gladden 2005). Sport marketing therefore involves the application of these processes in the development of sport products to enhance their consumption on the one hand, and the use of the attraction of sport of an audience to market other varied goods and services (Matthew 2005). Sport marketing is therefore broadly defined as the anticipation of consumer wants and needs, and its management and satisfaction through the application of principles and practices of marketing. This is inclusive of the marketing through sport facet which entails the use of sport as a promotional vehicle, a sponsorship platform for companies marketing consumer or industrial products (Blann 2003). This report is formulated to serve as a marketing audit of the Cambridge Elite Soccer School in which I have recently worked in as an Administration Assistant, doubling up as a Brand assistant for its Brand management team. It seeks to create some understanding of ways in which the School applies marketing concepts in its area of performance and specialty (and generally in the sports sector), its strategies in this endeavor and possible avenues for improvement. The structure of the report entails an introduction to the Cambridge Elite Soccer School and description of its history and achievements in its line of business, its objectives and mission. Further, the report delves into a description of the competitive environment in this sports sector and the factors affecting the organization’s business success broadly categorized under political, economic, social and technological spheres. It also delves into a description of its customers and products covering individual details of members and various other participants, an overview of their involvement. Finally, the report gives recommendations deemed appropriate to the School, developed from the marketing audit. Cambridge Elite Soccer School Located in the Neale-Wade Community College, Wimblington Road, March, Cambridgeshire Elite Soccer School is a growing organization that offers top quality coaching to enthusiastic football players in the under 14/15 (U14/U15) category throughout Cambridgeshire. The School has been developed to give these young, high standard and able players an opportunity to enhance their skills further. This is enabled by its highly qualified coaches with extensive experience in the football sector. The School started out in 2009 with its main aim being to educate this category of players in all aspects of training towards professionalism, providing the right environment so as to maximize their chances of success. It seeks to offer useful advice, good facilities, and appropriate football knowledge along with lots of valuable experience imparted by its resident coaches having many years’ experience in the football sector. These coaches are certified, all qualified to a minimum of FA level 2 and include three coaches and one goalkeeper coach and one among them has a Degree in Sports Science and Coaching. The primary aim of the school is to educate its players in all requisite aspects towards professionalism so as to maximize their chances of future success. Selection for training is done over a four week trial period and those that succeed are then taken through continuous training at the school in a professional development scheme by the excellent and FA qualified coaches. The school is deliberately designed to improve both physical and mental performance, creating the right environment to back such an endeavor. For the players’ success, a favorable environment has been sought and the schools facilities, mostly provided by the Neale Wade Community College include an ‘astro’ training pitch, two classrooms, boarding facilities that enable weekend stays during intensive training, entertainment and dining areas enjoined to a modern kitchen. For major events that the school seeks to engage more in, to enhance its presence and create better awareness, the management has sought the use of the local stadium so as to enable attendance of large crowds. The school also has a van that enables the transportation of students to various locations for training or for events. The school’s marketing orientation consists of a focus on the application of marketing principles including the anticipation, management and satisfaction of consumer’s wants and needs. The school identifies its consumers to include the young football players and their immediate families as its dominant target market and the consumer base is expanded to include their families and the local community in general. Also included in the consumer base though secondary are the spectators in the various events, and finally the major teams that consume the school’s product, the trained professional players. To identify and manage the needs and wants of the various stakeholders requires a well-defined strategic approach is required and especially since the school’s main product entails the offer of services in training and development of young players for the club market. In summary, the marketing program that the school engages in involves the creation of a marketing mix that is focused on the dominant target market (the young boys and their immediate families making the decision to enroll in the school so as to foster professional development, as well as the local loyal fan base that can influence such decisions). Its marketing strategy includes the use of traditional broadcast media of TV and radio carrying paid advertisements, extensive signage locally, and print media (newspapers, magazines and brochures). These tools are used to communicate to consumers and thus create an enhanced awareness of the schools events. The school is also seeking to enhance its online presence to serve as a marketing platform so as to enhance its reach limited by the reach of the various media already employed. The internet has grown faster in recent years than the other forms of electronic technology. It offers a new economic opportunity for business through commerce and trade based on the web (Howard 2000). It provides access to a desirable target market and is not limited by distance as the other promotional campaigns can be and therefore presence online can be justified as an effective tool to reach potential markets. It gives fans and other interested parties an opportunity to access information on the schoo l and its events via the internet (Griffin 1996). Cambridge Elite Soccer School’s objectives and mission Objective  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To train the young, high quality players to professionalism and to enable them to realize their football dreams.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The primary aim of the school is to educate its players in all requisite aspects towards professionalism so as to maximize their chances of future success. Mission  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To be a high class development and training school for the soccer sector with an output of all rounded high capacity junior players. The External and Competitive Environment A marketing audit consists of a review of a companys marketing planning, organizational and control processes and their results, looking at the framework for action as well as its performance and potential (Gladden 2005). This report is a horizontal audit of CESS examining the schools mission, its markets, sustainable competitive advantage, marketing plans, coordination of marketing mix, among other critical factors. It is necessary for an organization to consider its environment continuously as it follows through in its strategic path, and this should feed all aspects of planning (Brian 2000). The School’s marketing environment is made up of three levels; its internal environment which include its members of staff and management, technology and finance; its micro-environment which include the   customers, agents and distributors, suppliers and competitors, etc.; and its macro-environment which includes the political (and legal) forces, economic forces, socio-cultural forces and technological forces (the PEST factors). Several factors influence the strategies adopted by the school in its marketing and overall business approaches. Political factors include the influence of events in the political arena upon the regulation of businesses such as the school, and the spending power of the population that constitute consumers of the schools products. With a stable political environment and favorable government policy that influences laws surrounding business, the school is well placed to benefit from its positive influence. The success of the soccer sector in the UK has been beneficial in bringing about the enhancement of goodwill and appreciation of government of all aspects related to football. The governments policy on the economy including the taxation of clubs and sport schools are indicative of its desire to enable the successful realization of objectives in the sport sector and especially football. Economic factors entail a consideration of the economy of the state regarding both the short term and the long term. These include factors such as interest rates, inflation levels and the long term prospects of the economy (pointers to continued performance) with focus on details such as the Gross Domestic product per capita. The challenging economic recession has been a major factor that has negatively affected the business of the Cambridge Elite Soccer School, with its effect upon the disposable incomes of the families in the region that forms the dominant target market for the school and consumer of its products. Socio-cultural factors include factors such as attitudes, leisure times for consumers, life expectancy of the population, and wealth levels among other factors. The school benefits from positive influences of the socio-cultural factors such as the availability of leisure times for the players and their families over the weekend enables the success of such training endeavors. Overall wealth of the population is beneficial to the schools business success and strategy as it enables availability of enhanced disposable incomes that can be utilized in such ventures as paying for the enrolment in the school. The general attitude of the population towards the game and all its affiliated programs and events is also positive and this enables the school to enjoy goodwill and support from the community in many of its events and activities if they are well planned and inclusive. Technology is vital for competitive advantage and in these modern times of the internet, also serves as a major driver for the enhancement of business processes and efficiency. The internet offers a cheaper advertising platform and a direct communication channel with consumers which also allows for the reception of feedback real-time. Other processes such as ticketing, enrolment, bookings and sale of the schools branded items which were hitherto a challenge to see through have been made easier with the employment of the internet avenues. The effective use of the internet by the school for all the above-mentioned processes has however been limited through a lack of consistency in the integration of these processes to benefit from the overall efficiency. The school mainly uses its online presence for communication with consumers and has recently sought to create content for advertising. There still untapped capacity on this platform and it is evidently an area that can enable greater i mprovement in the marketing potential of the school. Competition for the school features both locally and further afield from similar training clubs and schools. Presently, the school’s management focuses on local competition within Cambridgeshire offered by several football clubs featuring programs for a similar age bracket, and soccer training schools. Among the major competitors are; Wisbech St. Mary Football Club, Stukeley Meadows Youth Football Club, Hampton Football Club, and Tony Russell Soccer School among many others. These clubs and organizations are both direct and indirect competitors in the school’s line of business and the school’s management has endeavored to create strategy to enable its differentiation from its competitors through its offer of unique services and competitive pricing. Its unique services include mid week training sessions and the creation of events that involve the participation of the youth and their families. Opportunities are created for the trained youth to play in trials before pro and semi-pro club scouts and give support to them every step of the way, an offer of a comprehensive training program integrated with other activities while the other business competitors focus on playing league games in their claim to offer training. Its indirect competitors include the in-house training programs of the major league clubs’ pro academies though these have limited and difficult to obtain available spaces and are often the preserve of the intensely talented individuals. The challenge offered by these is therefore minimal as there is a major gap in coaching that can only be offered by academies at the grassroots level. This challenge is therefore not a major factor in CESS’ strategic planning and implementation. Customers and products The products offered at the school include professional soccer training of the under14/15 youth so as to enhance their chances of success in pro football and to enable them to increase their capacity to look for professional opportunities playing for the major league clubs. Also included in its product offerings are minor league games and weekend fixtures that have gained in following to become an appreciable income earner for the club. The club also benefits from sales of merchandise including branded apparel, equipment and souvenirs which are part of recent developments brought up during my time of placement. The school’s customers include the young players enrolled in the training programs of the school, their families, spectators that attend the school’s events and fixtures, and the local population as well as people from further afield who purchase merchandise from the school. To gauge the participation of several of these groups of participants, several hundred participants and stakeholders including spectators, parents and members of the general population were selected and questionnaires were administered to them to gain useful information on the marketing success of the school, the general awareness of the schools activities and the services that it provides, as well as their willingness and desire to participate and to attend the school’s events and fixtures. The survey entailed a self-administered survey with questionnaires distributed through mail to several homes in the locality and email to homes further away. This was attained through stratified sampling to select subjects which divides a population into groups from which random samples are chosen. Instrument used for data collection was a survey questionnaire which sought to detail the identification details of those sampled including their locality, their involvement with the school and its activities, how and when they got to learn about the school, their willingness and desire to participate in future events organized by the school’s management. They were also asked to rate the school’s performance on several fronts including its capacity thus far to create awareness of its activities and capacity. The results (collated) are presented in the appendices section of this report. In the results obtained, 70% of the respondents (a total of 410 respondents) confirmed having participated in the school’s events and activities ranging from being spectators at fixtures and league games, to in-house participatory games and even bringing young family members to enroll at the school. Of these, 45% confirmed having participated for two and a half years of the schools three and a half year existence, which characterizes the school’s success at its marketing endeavors early in its life and a capacity to retain its customer base and clientele over this time. 80% of the respondents were willing to participate in the school’s events going forward and the school generally received a high rating at an average of 6.2 points in a scale of 1 to 10. These results are telling of the school’s high capacity at managing its marketing process and creating a loyal fan base.   Recommendations To further enhance its marketing capacity and reach, the School’s management needs to develop strategies including competitive pricing that would enable greater reach. This would enable the school match up to its competitor offers while offering differentiation in training and development. It is also essential that the school tackles the lack of consistency or integration in its marketing initiatives. There is therefore need to do an extensive and comprehensive audit to inform planning for such an endeavor and creation of a workable and effective strategy towards that end. Appropriate Sponsorship programs should also be sought and developed to benefit both the development and financial standing of the school, as well as individual players in their professional development (Barrand 2005). Sponsorships could come from local companies that would like to affiliate so as to benefit the school as well as gain from the school’s target market and marketing potential. Other sponsors can be sought from the manufacturers of sports apparel and equipment, who can help kit the school and offer its branded merchandise at discounted rates to the school’s growing membership and following. They in turn can gain from the marketing platform and mutually with the school from proceeds from sales. The school should also leverage on its earlier products (the high capacity and successful players who have managed to gain entry into professional football and fame) and their success. These individuals can be engaged in advertisements and the enhancement of awareness of the school’s capacity and ability to bring forth desired success (Fullerton 2007). They can also feature in events of the school providing acknowledgement of the school’s capacity and also to motivate the trainees in camp. The school should focus more of its marketing effort on the enhancement of the online platform and its development for extended usage such as in the communication with its consumers and their feedback, enrolment, advertising, and general trade including sale of tickets for events and the school’s branded promotional items and apparel. This is essentially because the Internet is fast becoming a point of convergence for all media and a platform for socialization on a global scale (Howard 2000).   Conclusion This report consists of a marketing audit that I conducted during my placement at the Cambridge Elite Soccer School as an Administrative assistant and doubling up as a Brand assistant. The report has in summary described Cambridge Elite Soccer School (CESS), its history and achievements in its line of business, its objectives and mission. The report has further described its marketing approach as well as discussed its strategic approach and the various external/environmental factors that have influenced it in its line of business. Added to this, its standing compared to its direct and indirect competitors has been described detailing its relative success at a differentiation strategy. The report then gives the result of a study done through the administration of questionnaires which shows success in the schools marketing in its early life and which serves as impetus to the schools management team to find strategies, ways and means of enhancing its potential in marketing. The report finally gives recommendations on the areas of potential improvement and enhancement. References Barrand, D., 2005. Why brands are banking on sport. Promotions Incentives, 13-14 Blann, F., and K.,   Armstrong, 2003. â€Å"Sport marketing.† In:   J. Parks J. Quarterman (Eds), Contemporary Sport management (2nd edition). Champaign, JL: Human Kinetics. Brian, T., and B., Michael, 2000. The Match-Up Hypothesis: Physical Attractiveness, Expertise, and the Role of Fit on Brand Attitude, Purchase Intent and Brand Beliefs. In: Journal of Advertising 3, pp1 – 13. Fullerton, S., 2007. Sports marketing. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Gladden, J., and W., Sutton, 2005. â€Å"Marketing principles applied to sport management.† In: L. MasteraJexis, C. Barr, M. Huns (Eds), Principles and practice of sport management. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Griffin, J., 1996. The Internets expanding role in building customer loyalty. Direct Marketing, 59(9), 46-50 Howard, D., and R., Burton, 2000. The Internets role in shaping the future of sport. Paper presented at the Third International Sport Management Alliance Conference, Sydney, Australia. Matthew, S., 2005. Sport Marketing. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall Appendix CESS – Cambridge Elite Soccer School. Results collated from questionnaires administered Number of respondents – 410 (both email and post) 70% (287 respondents) confirmed participation in the school’s events and activities ranging from being spectators at fixtures and league games, to in-house participatory games and even bringing young family members to enroll at the school. 45% of the respondents above (129 respondents) confirmed having participated for two and a half years of the schools three and a half year existence. 80% (328 of the 410 respondents) were willing to participate in the school’s events going forward. The school received a high rating at an average of 6.2 points in a scale of 1 to 10. Most of the respondents were from the locality of Cambridge at 89 %. The rest were spread out in the environs.

Free Essays on Yellow Wallpaper

What a Night! It was a beautiful, warm Thursday evening. I was wandering foolishly through the neighbor’s gardens in search of glowing fireflies. I stumbled across a group of three fireflies, all with their lights shining, except for one. As I knelt down to pick up the helpless little creature, I heard a strange and unfamiliar noise. I flung myself to the ground as not to be caught. I clung to the grass for a few minutes, but the sound would not stop. I slowly raised my head to see what could be capable of making this sort of strange noise. A third story window in the house that occupied the property I was trespassing on caught my attention. A dim, yellow light shined in the room. I saw strange shadows on the ceiling, which I made out to be a woman. She looked to be circling the room in a slow manner. In her hands she grasped a large object, something flimsy and lightweight. I crawled to the base of an apple tree and carefully climbed up to the top branch. From there, I could confirm my speculations. I could not believe what my eyes saw; a deranged woman tearing wallpaper off the wall of her room, and flailing it around violently. The tearing of the wallpaper was the unexplainable sound that I had been hearing. Scared, I jumped out of the tree and ran home in fear of my life. Since that night, I have never stepped foot on that property again.... Free Essays on Yellow Wallpaper Free Essays on Yellow Wallpaper â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†, written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is an account of a mentally disturbed woman. The woman portrayed in this short story plays the role of a dominated, inferior lady who is not outspoken and willing to take a stand on behalf of her own well being. She does not realize she can have her own ideas and stand up for herself; this is her main problem in the story. By applying all the concepts of style, symbolism and time era Charlotte Perkins Gilman has conceived a well-written story. The time frame has a great importance to the overall story. The account does not just deal with a woman going insane but a woman’s standing in society in the late 1800’s. During the time in which Gilman’s piece was written, women were not often prominent figures in society. Men frequently dominated them, and it was rare to find a very outspoken female willing to stand up for her own well-being. It is a very disturbing look at how a man could have dominated a lady in the time frame in which the story was set. It exemplifies how woman were disregarded at times and treated like frail beings at others. All woman really needed was moral or emotional support to break free of a male dominated society. Throughout the story symbolism is a strong key point. The wallpaper has many symbolic examples in it. The pattern at one point in time start to look like bars and the woman behind them is constantly shaking them at night to escape. The key factor is that the woman is somehow freed from the bars during the day, yet trapped behind them at night. This is symbolic of her husbands not being home during the days, while he is working. During this time she is alone and free to be herself, without anyone’s rules to suppress her emotions. Because of this she does not feel the urgent need to escape. At night however when her husband returns home she is thrown back behind those imaginary bars that symbolize her feelings of control. In the ... Free Essays on Yellow Wallpaper What a Night! It was a beautiful, warm Thursday evening. I was wandering foolishly through the neighbor’s gardens in search of glowing fireflies. I stumbled across a group of three fireflies, all with their lights shining, except for one. As I knelt down to pick up the helpless little creature, I heard a strange and unfamiliar noise. I flung myself to the ground as not to be caught. I clung to the grass for a few minutes, but the sound would not stop. I slowly raised my head to see what could be capable of making this sort of strange noise. A third story window in the house that occupied the property I was trespassing on caught my attention. A dim, yellow light shined in the room. I saw strange shadows on the ceiling, which I made out to be a woman. She looked to be circling the room in a slow manner. In her hands she grasped a large object, something flimsy and lightweight. I crawled to the base of an apple tree and carefully climbed up to the top branch. From there, I could confirm my speculations. I could not believe what my eyes saw; a deranged woman tearing wallpaper off the wall of her room, and flailing it around violently. The tearing of the wallpaper was the unexplainable sound that I had been hearing. Scared, I jumped out of the tree and ran home in fear of my life. Since that night, I have never stepped foot on that property again.... Free Essays on Yellow Wallpaper Take control â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† is a story based on â€Å"rest cure† treatment, developed after the Civil War by famous physician S. W. Mitchell, which required confining the patient to a remote residence on complete bad rest, increased food intake, supplements and exercise, massage and, at times, electric shock therapy. But the story actually is not a discussion about treatment methods of common mental disorders but about a struggle of personality- about a woman that tying to find independent way of living. The narrator, a young women in her thirties, faces deep identity problems, that lead her to extraordinary ways to express herself. To understand what is really going on with the person, we have to take a look at the environment that surrounds her. The fact that she is not at home but in temporary â€Å"ancestral hall for summer† and moved there just a few weeks ago, to the idea that this is not about her physical environment, but her emotional state we are talkin g here and the problem has not appeared itself just a few weeks ago; rather physical environment only triggered it making it noticeable. As opposite to temporal, that can be changed, her emotional surrounding is constant and this is what we will try to focus on. We believe, that â€Å"nervous breakdown† was result of continuous struggle to find her own personality and be accepted as she is, not the way it convenient for others to see her. The first figure that mention here is her husband John, who is her physician as well, and the reason she does not get batter, from her words. There are many reasons for psychological problems to occur, and one of them is extreme loneliness of narrator and lack of support from others. In this family husband presents a narcissistic, self-loving figure, that confident in self-perfection. He does not take his wife seriously as a partner and friend, keeping her away from his business. He leaving in a morning and come back late, only tell...