Aldo Leopold- Ecocentrism Essays - Environmental Ethics, Land Ethic

Aldo Leopold- Ecocentrism Environmental Ethics 1) Leopold strongly suggests the need for land ethic because he sees a great lack for it. Humans see land as an economical resource. Land is used for our needs and enjoyment with the belief that we are the ruler and conqueror of the land. Humans feel superior to the land and all that live on it and therefore lack the sense of being a part of land. To have land ethic is to become a part of the land not a disconnected from it. When we separate ourselves from the land, we forget our obligation to take care of it. We use, abuse, and take land for granted. We are the ultimate consumers of land. Leopold suggests that adopting land ethic will change the human role of conqueror to a plain member citizen. I strongly agree with this point. Like everything else in nature, humans tend to think that anything that is incapable of speaking for itself is there for our use. We have all grown to be consumers. Not many of us think about how much of our resources are extracted and depleted from land eve ryday. We need to incorporate land ethic into education so that future generations can start thinking differently. If we don't start thinking differently, we are going to lose a lot of our precious land. 2) The community concept that Leopold refers to derives from the human-nature relationship. As humans, we think of ourselves as superior beings to the environment. We treat the environment in a way that it suits us. We fail to take into consideration that we are a part of the environment, not the master of it. The lack of this realization is the cause of most of the harm that we inflict on the earth. It is because we are so disconnected from the rest of the environment that we do not feel as though we are harming the earth. It is the day that man feels one with the environment he starts treating it as his own, with love and respect. 3) Leopold calls ?Ecological Conscience,? he speaks of the humans process this issue. So far, many land conservation efforts have been underway, but it is a hard concept to advocate and educate people about. Leopold explains, ? it defines no right or wrong, no obligation, calls for no sacrifice, implies no change in the current philosophy of values.? Leopold points out that there is a lack of initiative in society to actually take the responsibility to take care of the land. Education is also a big factor of the problem. How much and what kind of conservation education is needed is uncertain. And even the education does not guarantee action. Self-interest and profit takes priority over conservation and preservation. In a world as advanced as ours, it is almost too late to start to take such precautions. Problems with land abuse have a deeper root that starts with society, starts with our children. There is no meaning to conservation preaching if it starts too late. 4) The land pyramid as Leopold describes it is the ?biotic pyramid.? Leopold sketches the pyramid as a ?successive layer of species that depend on each other for food and services.? Humans, known as carnivores, are at the top of the pyramid. There is a balanced relationship (ideally) between the species where each successive layer decreases in numerical abundance. From this formula we would gather that the pyramid is self-sustained and balanced. However, with the growth of human population and the demand for more and more resources, the ecological balance of the pyramid is thrown off and reversed. People are flourishing while land is disappearing. That means the number of species in the lower part of the pyramid is shrinking. The question is, will this balance be able to handle this sort of change? The sort of change where land is eroded away by constant use and species are forced to extinction. I personally don't think that this fragile balance can handle such a change. This all tie s back into land ethic. If we don't adopt it now, we are going to destroy one of the most amazing natural systems that man has ever

John Brown Essays - Bleeding Kansas, Rebellions In The United States

John Brown Essays - Bleeding Kansas, Rebellions In The United States John Brown John Brown's raid on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, In October 1859, involved only a handful of abolitionists, freed no slaves, and was over in two days. Although many Northerners condemned the raid, by 1863 John Brown had become a hero and a martyr in the North. The views about John Brown expressed in the documents illustrate the strained relationship between the North and South before the civil war(1859-1860) and the severely crippled relationship after the civil war. In 1859 before the Civil war the Northern-Southern relationship was strained with such laws as the Kansas-Nebraska act, 'legalizing' slavery through popular soveirgnty in the territories, and the Dredd Scott decision practically legalizing slavery in any territory(without popular sovereignty). Soon after John Brown's famous raid, Northerners condemned him(Doc. A) for combating a 'great evil'(Slavery) in an 'unfit way'(through fighting), They said this because it was unconstitutional to fight without going through the government and there are other ways to get rid of slavery. This basically was a last ditch effort to save the south from succeeding from the union and to hold the thread that was holding the relations of the North and South together. By 1860, the dreaded election of 1860 was here and the Civil war would soon start due to the 'Railsplitter' Lincoln winning the election. Views of John Brown in the North were gaining more momentum as he became more popular(Doc. D). More Northerners began to feel it that John Brown had done it the right way. The Democrats at this time were using tactics to use John Brown against the Republicans that were for it, this failed and showed that most northerners were with John Brown all the way(Doc. E). He began to be more like a martyr in the north toward the end of 1860(Doc. F). When Lincoln was elected the South immediately succeeded and the Civil war began shortly after. During the Civil War John Brown rose to Hero and Martyr status and a famous song of the civil war was pledged to him(Doc. G). In Conclusion, the views of John Brown between 1859-1863 clearly showed how the North-South relationship was hanging on a thread and was cut as John Brown became more famous between these periods and into the Civil War.

Tourism Concepts Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Tourism Concepts - Research Paper Example Tourism is all about the specifications of a place; with specific details present, these tourists can wander around in the city with much ease. San Diego County is a county located in the southwestern corner of the State of California (San Diego, 2010). It is the most newest and dynamic metropolitan areas in the country America. San Diego has an attraction that can draw people’s attention towards it. The sights and sounds of the city center is the objective of the attraction. With the inland mountains and one of the most beautiful natural harbors in the world, San Diego is a result of years of development and vitalization (Trains Magazine, 2009). The report will be discussing the places of attraction situated at San Diego, the facilities of food, accommodation, and transportation. It will also be presenting the culture, hospitality of people, and the infrastructure of the county. This report will mainly be targeting the tourists and tourism planners. San Diego is considered as one of the most developed and pleasant counties of America. There are many attractive and major sites of interest for the tourists and the tourism planners. Alta Vista Garden is a garden that is established with the theme of bringing together people, nature, and art. The garden is situated on over 14 acres and the admission is free for the public (Kragen, 2009). The garden is a cultural botanical park and provides an interactive method to teach botany and other subjects to the students. The water paths are constructed in such a way that the water falls into natural pools and gives a natural waterfall-look. The other places of interest include Lego land, which is a theme park. It is the only Lego land situated outside of Europe. Lego land has nine main sections, each constructed on a separate theme (Kragen, 2009). Mission Bay is a recreational area includes sea world, and Fiesta Island etc. Mission Bay has sandy beaches spread over miles with a long pedestrian path. It is the larges t man made Aquatic Park in America (National Park Services, 2009). Sea world is famous for the facility of all kinds of water sports. Fiesta Island is located within Mission Bay. Charity walks, bicycle races, and other special events of this kind are held here. Tourists who are fond of jet skiing, sailing, camping, and water sports must visit Mission Bay. Balboa Park is also a worth visiting site. It has numerous museums and other cultural places (National Park Services, 2009). San Diego Zoo is also located in Balboa Park. The park itself has many beautiful and rare trees, which makes it a place of interest for the visitors; moreover there are several gardens in the Balboa Park. Also, there is Cabrillo National Monument that is the historical exhibition of Juan Rodeiguez Cabrillo and World War 2. (National register of Historic places, 2007). The park also presents a view of San Diego’s harbor and skyline. The means of transportation in San Diego County is unique too. There ar e highways which connect the neighboring states, roads for public transport, railroads for trolleys and coasters etc. Airports and ships are also used as a medium of transport. The airport of San Diego is located close to the downtown area. On arriving at San Diego airport, the visitors and tourists are given information by volunteering airport ambassadors. They provide information regarding airport and other travel facilities. The highways and roads of San Diego County are quite affordable and good for transport. The visitors can

North Movie Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

North Movie Review - Essay Example The researcher of this essay states that this movie is an ideal example of the failure of a marketing plan. The movie is â€Å"North†. Released in 1994, â€Å"North† is a movie based on a novel by Alan Zweibel. Though it was directed by famous Rob Reiner, who directed movies like â€Å"When Harry Met Sally†, â€Å"The Princess bride† and â€Å"the Sure thing†, that were well-known and greatly accepted by the critics, still the movie lacks a strong plot. The story revolves around a kid named North, is panic stricken about his parent’s arguments and wants to divorce them. The researcher also states that actors in the movie did well. However, some portion of the movie was just superfluous and can be trimmed. The audience feedbacks and the critic’s reviews disclose an important characteristic, â€Å"Audience too has brains and they are not fools.† Technology, special effects, lots of money, good actors etc. all will go in vain if th e storyline is not appealing. The researcher then concluds that not only a movie was badly written and had meaningless characters in it, such as a cowboy, a beach bum and the Easter bunny, but also the movie has a negative impact on the kids of the society because all the kids got influenced by the movie and kept on threatening to leave their parents like North did in the film. One more thing can be concluded from the review is that a plan should be tested on the maker himself before he decides to launch it in the market. Similarly the director would have analyzed the taste of his audience before making â€Å"North†.

The Indian Ocean Tea Trade Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

The Indian Ocean Tea Trade - Research Paper Example The trading ecosystem that thrives in the Indian Ocean does so because of the strategic location of the Indian Ocean, whose size makes it comprises about 20 percent of the total ocean surface of the earth, and whose location makes it ideal for all kinds of business activities, spanning Iran, Bangladesh, Pakistan and India to the north, Indonesia, Australia and the Malaysian Peninsula to the east, the Arabian Peninsula and Africa to the west, and Antarctica to the South. In the southwestern portion of the Indian Ocean, the body of water shares its boundaries with the Atlantic Ocean. Here it meets the southern end of the African Continent. The Indian Ocean also joins the Pacific Ocean meanwhile on its southeastern portion (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2013). The Indian Ocean had been a traditional center of trade even in ancient times, extending as far back as the slave trade, where the trade in slaves in those earlier times coincided with mass migrations of peoples across the three conti nents of Africa, Europe, and Asia. In modern contexts, trade in the Indian Ocean has evolved to be concentrated on a few key commodities, including oil, which is the biggest item of trade in the Indian Ocean, as well as tea, rubber, coal and iron, with seafood being a relatively minor object of trade among key states along the Ocean and in the key destinations of Europe and Asia. Tourism has also grown to be a key aspect of trade in the Indian Ocean. This paper focuses on the trade in tea. (The Economist, 2013; Boston University, 2013; Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2013b; Hatcher, 2013; Asia Society 2013; UNESCO, 2013). II. Industry Background- Tea Trade in the Indian Ocean The literature tells us that the history of general trade in the Indian Ocean has ancient roots, extending to the early migrations of peoples along the bordering continents, and involving not just the trade in goods but also in slaves. Slaves are an important aspect of the ancient trade in the Indian Ocean, extending to the time of the European wave of colonization from the 16th century onwards. That trade would come to focus on a few key commodities in more present contexts, as discussed in the Introduction, and tea is one of those key commodities. There is meanwhile a deep historical basis to the trade in tea in the Indian Ocean itself, which is the subject of this section. (The Economist, 2013; Boston University, 2013; Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2013b; Hatcher, 2013; Asia Society 2013; UNESCO, 2013). When one talks of the modern tea trade one goes back to the roots of tea production and consumption in this part of the world, and here the references to the consumption of tea in Europe extend all the way back to the 16th century, with the consumption being attributed first to Portuguese traders and adventurers to the sea, with the tea being originated in the East, in China in particular, and finding their way via the ancient Indian Ocean trade routes to select members of the trading classes in Europe. That said, the formal attribution to tea being used as a key item of trade was given to the Dutch, who by the waning years of the 16th century had all but usurped the Portuguese role in being the facilitators of trade and the primary proponents of the routes of trade from Europe to the Far East and vice versa. The establishment of a Dutch trading post in Java in 1606 paved the way for the initiation of the trade of tea between Holland and the Chinese.  Ã‚  

An Analysis Of Sainsburys Supermarket

An Analysis Of Sainsburys Supermarket Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury along with his wife Mary Ann in London and then gradually grew to become the largest grocery retailer by 1922. Sainsburys is the UKs oldest major food retailer with their first store opened in 1869. It strives to keep up with its trusted heritage of quality with best services. Past: In the early 1990s Sainsburys, market leader so far, lost its position to Tesco and in 2004 it came down to no. three after Tesco and Asda. The downfall involved many reasons including changing managements, lack of innovative strategies, failing to assess the impact of loyalty cards scheme, unhealthy acquisition in Egypt and a misleading marketing strategy which failed to communicate the right message to the consumers. Present: Sainsburys started to fight back and be noticed after Justin King took over the management role in early 2004 and came up with a revival strategy under the name of Making Sainsburys Great Again. The process involved a no. of mergers and acquisitions of small chains in the south east England and the Midlands. The new message of Try Something New Today went really well with the media and the consumer led by the famous celebrity chef Jamie Oliver it encouraged buyers to innovate in their kitchens and make their food interesting. Future: The supermarket industry has reached a saturation point in the UK. How long can Sainsburys go on opening up new stores at locations such that its stores do not start to cannibalize each other? Using the Ansoff Growth Matrix two future strategies are suggested for Sainsburys: Opening up of Sainsburys Travels and Tours Product Development On the basis of the success potential in the travel business, Sainsburys might venture into the Travel and Tours business by way of Product Development as per Ansoff Growth Matrix tool for future strategy selection. Sainsburys has a very high probability of success as measured with the help of SWOT analysis and assessing the keys to success and the critical factors. Sainsburys China Market Development Sainsburys might opt for the Market development strategy by offering the supermarket business to the land of opportunities China. The move will be mad after the necessary PEST analysis has been done and companys SWT has been assessed with Chinese perspective. Sainsburys Strategic Corporate Development History: 1990 to 2004 Corporations are required to add value by mans of their business. The goal is to manage and control the businesses for a long term and sustainable success. The corporate level strategy deals with the choice of the business and the growth and development related to it. Sainsburys enjoyed the position of the leader in the UK supermarket industry up to the early 1990s. It had sustained its image of a name trusted with quality and service. British like old names with some history behind them. The company started to lose its grip in the early nineties due to a number of reasons. There was a change in management after the longtime CEO John David Sainsbury retired. He was replaced by David Sainsbury who bought about a change in the management style. Although the times were changing and some of the people in the management thought strongly about launching loyalty card schemes and also favored introduction of non-food items in the stores, both the options were rejected by the fresh management. The biggest rival Tesco had gradually moved up on the market scales and the internal indecisions help it get hold of better deals from suppliers. We will analyze Sainsburys approach in view of Ansoff Growth Matrix perspective. Ansoffs matrix is a tool that helps businesses decide their product and market growth strategy. Market Penetration: The strategy had been the simple approach of Market Penetration Strategy. As per Ansoff Matrix, this can be easily explained as the company keeps on offering the same product into the existing market. From 1993 onwards Sainsburys was unconsciously moving forward on the basis of wait and see policy. Up till now Sainsburys had enjoyed the position with no real threat. It started with price cuts on almost 30 of its labels, three months after came up with Tesco Value Lime. The move affected Sainsburys profit margins. Product Development: This made the management realize to offer something new to the customers and after Tesco came up with new format stores named Tesco Metro serving the town centers in 1994, Sainsburys responded with announcement of Sainsburys Central format. This approach is interpreted as Product Development strategy where a new product is introduced into existing market. The new project offered shopping facilities to the small towns was initiated leading to Country Town stores. The stores were formatted keeping in mind the distance the buyers have to travel for their weekly grocery shoppings. The new service enabled the customers to do so without going to large, out of town stores. They were mainly planned to be opened I the south east, which has always been Sainsburys strong hold. The 1st store was opened by the end of 1998 in Ongar (Essex). These stores have now been standardized as per the regular stores and they maintain even trading terms Setbacks: The company fell behind yet again in 1995 when the management failed to realize the importance of loyalty cards schemes and refused to go ahead with launch of any such offer. They had to reconsider their decision 18 months later after Tescos club card was introduced. In 1996 the company ventured into opening up of Sainsburys Bank. In addition it acquired Texas Homecare for 290M (GBP) in 1996. These expansions had a major effect on the financials and Sainsburys announced first fall in profits in 22 years. Another reason which affected Sainsburys sales was the perception among the customers that it is more expensive than its rivals. The marketing campaigns failed to convey the message that Sainsburys offers as good quality and value for money as its rivals. The marketing failed to communicate the required message of low cost and high vale and the company endured the consequences. The year 1996 saw Sainsburys losing its position of market leader to Tesco. Acquisition and Divestment: Sainsbury attained 80.1% of share in an Egyptian distribution group SAE. The group provided retailing services in Egypt with 100 stores and almost 2000 employees at the time or acquisition. The decision was criticized by the analyst as it was made during the most testing times of Sainsburys history. The reason behind the decision might have been the success Tesco outside UK. However the meager results shown by the Egyptian business led to the divestment of the share and sale of shares in 2001. The brand re-launch In 1998 the company again went under a management change and George Bull, the new Chairman took over and decided to re-launch the Sainsburys Brand. The new management targeted to revive Sainsburys corporate identity and started with the launch of a new logo, going for a slightly informal font and new slogan of making life taste better. Staff uniforms were redesigned The company underwent a Business Transformation Program (BTP) after the appointment of Peter Davis who showed significant improvement in the companys turnover and exceeded the targets. The BTP involved a 3.00bn (GBP) upgrade of the stores, distribution and IT equipment. The distribution setup included construction of fully automated depots which cost 100m (GBP) each and was later criticized by the new management. Sainsburys moved into the current headquarters at Holborn in 2001. The Nectar loyalty card scheme was launched in 2002 which replaced the Sainsburys Reward Card. Current Strategic Situation: 2004 to date: At the end of March 2004, new CEO Justin King joined the company who came up with a recovery plan for Sainsbury under the banner of Making Sainsburys Great Again. It was a three year recovery plan which was very positively received by the media and the stock market. The strategy involved laying off redundant staff from the head offices and recruiting additional staff for shop floors to increased and improved customer service quality. Sainsburys was having major issues with its stock availability, inventory and supply chain management. The new depot monitoring systems were to be implemented and IBM was given the deal to upgrade the system. Mergers, Acquisitions and Divestments: In 2004 Sainsburys new management under the Making Sainsburys Great Again plan to concentrate on its strong UK customer base, divested the American subsidiary Shaws. It was sold to Albertsons. The no. of convenient stores was increased through an acquisition of 54 Bells Stores chain which was based in the north-east of England. Another Acquisition took place with purchasing o 114 stores of Jackson Stores based in Yorkshire and the North Midlands. The acquisition took place in November 2004. Another small chain of 6 stores was acquired from SL Shaw lt. in April 2005. New Marketing Strategy Try something new today: Sainsburys is at a critical stage at the moment. Sainsburys Supermarkets have gone through a period of dramatic regression, in which they have been surpassed by rivals Tesco and, more recently, in 2004, Wal-Mart-owned Asda. (Global Market Information Database, 2004). It is not easy for an established and old UK brand to vanish off from the market but the competitors have. While it is rare for major brands to disappear completely from the UK high street, these competitors have acquired share from Sainsburys by way of their commitment to low and attractive prices, whereas Sainsburys has been focusing on its Business Transformation Program and has indulged itself in promoting an image of quality, and value rather than being affordable The present day UK customers which have a huge percentage of non British are heavily influenced by the economical changes and are passing through tough times. The message which has been conveyed by the Tesco and Asda was received warmly as it assured them of a combination of quality and assurance along with low price. As a result, Sainsbury is still considered comparatively expensive just because it failed to convey the message through proper marketing. A massive marketing campaign of Try Something New Today was launched in September 2005, which was designed to make people go off the shopping routine encourage them to be more adventurous in food eating. Under the campaign umbrellas, the spokesperson for the campaign Jamie Oliver encouraged the customers to be. The message conveyed was it supplies quality food as well as the only one offering useful ideas to make your food interesting. The aim was to reach and convince all the customers and not only the well off. Sainsburys is attempting to respond forcefully to the challenges it faces, however competition in the UK market is becoming increasingly intense, and Sainsburys faces a difficult struggle to regain the ground it has lost to rivals that continue to expand aggressively The management has a continuous approach towards work with responsibility. They attempt to provide fresh food and innovate with respect to customers needs. It serves over 18.5 million customers every week. The large stores offer over 30000 products along with complementary Non-Food products e.g. the TU clothing range which has over 1 million transactions every week. Along with other services, an Internet based shopping service has also been made available, keeping in trend with the changing requirements o the customers, to almost 90% of UK households. The company has a chain of stores with 537 supermarkets and 335 convenience stores, hence a total of 872 stores in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, including Hypermarkets (super large stores- Sainsburys stores- main plus), Sainsburys Central and Sainsburys local (supermarket and local convenient stores format main mission). The company has been eyeing the opportunity of expanding its business outside the UK. Especially the hyper potential in Asia (especially South East Asia and China). By analyzing Tescos huge success in the market outside UK, Sainsburys venture might not be far away. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index http://www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/index.asp?pageid=12 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sainsburys Strategic Direction for the Future: Sainsburys has a history of innovation and it continues to strengthen its relationship with its customers and has gone ahead with the growth of their convenient store operations, the online offers and the Sainsburys Bank. They have a constant approach towards developing new offers in line with the evolving customers demands resulting in operational growth and profitability. http://www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/ar08/businessreview/corporateobjectives.shtml Choosing a Strategy: A marketing tool for making the market strategy is the Ansoff Matrix, which gives us strategic choices for obtaining our business and market objectives. It offers four choices which deal with marketing and growth of existing or new products in existing or new markets. Ansoff On the basis of current scenarios there are two pathways for Sainsburys to opt from, for a sustainable growth and presence for a long time to come. Product Development Strategy: Sainsburys has a huge loyal customer base. The suggested new service product through Sainsburys Travel and Tours will provide these customers to utilize yet another trustworthy service by their trusted name. Market Development Strategy: Although Sainsburys has not yet ventured into the International market but the step might not be that far away keeping in mind the huge success TESCO has had in the international market. Sainsburys could venture into international expansion keeping in mind the growing and still unsaturated markets of China and Southeast Asia. Product Development Sainsburys Travels and Tours: Sainsburys can opt for launching Sainsburys Travels and Tours is by choosing the Product Development Strategy and is introducing a new product into existing market. The growing Travel and Tours market will definitely have a positive effect on the Sainsburys portfolio by increasing its profits and hence strengthening its business. Why Product Development? The Sainsburys Travels and Tours will provide the company to excel and achieve its strategic goals on the basis The supermarket industry has become fairly saturated in the UK and at present Sainsburys is eyeing to expand itself in the International market but it will be a while before it actually does. The Travel industry is a growing market and has a huge potential of growth. The new product will benefit the company earn huge profitability margins which are becoming hard to achieve I the supermarket industry. The Sainsburys has a huge loyal customer base which will be utilized for promotions and marketing purpose. The project has a high probability of success given a chance of a fresh new product offered by a supermarket chain. Market Demographics: Although year 2009 has seen the worst recession since 1930, there are definite signs that the cycle is now turning. Travel industry has suffered consequences of economic crush but the consumer confidence is indicating escalating progress. UNWTO is expecting a reasonable growth of 5% in 2010. There was an upward trend during the last quarter of 2009 which showed 2% upswing. The development is further strengthen by the Air Transport Data from IATA, which shows passenger traffic strength since September 2009 Asia is expected to show the greatest recovery being less effected by the economic crush (comparatively). Growth is also expected to resume in America and Europe. A large number of countries around the world have shown positive growth in the first two months of 2010. Overall the total of tourists arrivals during the first two months of 2010 was 119 million showing 7% improvement as compared to 2009 SWOT The SWOT analysis summarizes the vital strengths and weaknesses of the company. This SWOT analyses the new product line and reviews the opportunities and threats which Sainsburys may face Strengths Image differentiation with respect to Brand name The customer to employee ratio is low Staff is highly trained and customer focused Loyal customer base An interesting, diverse and new product offered by a trusted service provider Established network of outlets Weaknesses Difficulties related to finding employees with required skills and attitude Presenting the customers with interesting offers on continuous basis Lack of experience in the new industry Business limited to UK only Opportunities rapidly growing market all over the world Growing number of people with increasing need and desire for holidays The existing Utilizing the existing Nectar database for identifying potential customers Threats Lingering effects of the slump in economy Natural disaster such as he recent Icelandic volcanoes eruption Highly competitive industry Key to success Sainsbury has always aimed to be the consumers first choice for food, delivering quality products with great service at a competitive cost. The company is striving to achieve the objective of leading margins with diverse market and delivering strong profits every year. The new product will benefit the company earn huge profitability margins which are becoming hard to achieve in the supermarket industry. Critical Issues: What can go wrong? The Sainsburys already has an established huge no. of loyal customers who would be happy to have an option o a different kind of service offered from their trust worthy service provider. The expectation for a stable turnover is based on the fact that it is an established name offering a new product on the basis of its goodwill. How likely it is to happen? The expected growth can be effected by increasing inflation rates. The Travel Industry faced a huge blow after 9-11 incident. What are the consequences? Any unforeseen incident like this (God forbid) will have long lasting effects on the companys growth, profitability and future expansions and plans. Competitive Advantage Nectar Loyalty Card Database The database can provide an excellent competitive advantage because It will help the management to design the product, offerings, and travel and tour packages as per the preferences. The database can also be utilized to acquire knowledge about customers such as No. of family members Spending habits Income estimates Preferences with respect to food etc. Holiday routines Market Development Strategy: Sainsburys could also opt for the Market Development strategy with offering its existing product of Supermarket and offering it to a new market by venturing into a growing international market such as China. China is the promising power in todays business world and its domestic market allows huge potential for international companies with promising growth. Sainsburys is the third largest supermarket name in UK after Tesco, which already has a huge presence outside the UK and Asda which is owned by the industry giant Wal-Mart. The immediate rivals have other sources /markets to benefit from other then UK. But Sainsburys has so far only focused on the UK market and from last two decades its concentration has almost completely been occupied by gaining back the lost market shares from its competitors. For Sainsburys to venture into a new market, a PEST has to be made to know the market better and plan the strategy accordingly. PEST Analysis China: Political and Legal: Since 2001, china has entered into WTO and its market is open or multinationals to trade in. In china, supermarket industry is not considered as a prestigious as some other industries so the government rules and regularities are not so tough. The government is favoring development in the supermarket industry. Social: The demographics of china show that population growth rate 0.629% (2008) in which the youth from 0-14 years comprises of 20.1%. The Chinese customers have become more concerned about issues related to health and safety after the 2008 melamine contaminated milk issue. As per the current shopping trends in China, people prefer to buy in person (online buying is almost non-existent especially daily grocery). The families are very small units on average maximum of 4-5 per unit in sub urban areas where as mostly population in the larger cities is singly. Chinese prefer to buy on daily basis, fresh produce as per days requirement. Technology and development: China is a vast country with underdeveloped infrastructure so there will be immediate warehouse setup requirements. Chinese households have a very low trend of keeping refrigerators at home so big weekly supplies trips will take time to adjust in the culture. Environmental Factors: The plastic bags have been recently stopped in china. The govt. is still trying to establish regular and long term procedures for recycling. All these factors will be required to be kept during the planning and project development phase for Sainsburys China. Furthermore we will perform a SWOT analysis for Sainsburys with respect to its entry in the Chinese market. Strengths: Over a century of supermarket and retail experience Ambition for growth Experience from failed International acquisitions as Egypt. Weaknesses: Cultural difference Expansion will be slow initially Opportunities: A very large market size Huge potential of industry growth Govt. policies favor the Industry Expansion opportunities in the rural/western parts of China Changing consumer awareness with respect to shopping habits Threats: Immature market Rivalry to increase immensely Weak infrastructure Untrained local staff Increasing prices of raw materials Strategic Recommendations: Based on the above analysis Sainsburys should consider a slow and steady expansion strategy in China for long term results and sustained presence. Initially the stores should be opened in the urban and economically grown regions where customers will more readily adapt to change and new trend. Gradually then, on the basis of acquired knowledge, preferences, culture etc Sainsburys should venture into the suburban and rural areas. Sainsburys should use the critical factors involved in the success of the strategy such as It should strive to obtain consumers trust by offering good quality products at affordable prices. Health and safety measures should be the first priority so that no incident like the contaminated milk will occur. China is a big country and the company should fully utilize this factor for the locations o the stores. The locality factor should be given priority wile employing the Chinese as trust and ownership has a great value in Chinese culture. China is a growing country and its economic conditions will affect the pricing of the products Sainsburys should work on differentiating itself from the rivals from day one for developing long tem and healthy relationship with the consumers. Once Sainsburys makes its entry into China market, there is no looking back from the kind of growth and expansion opportunities it may provide. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sainsburys ) Conclusion: During the last decade of 1990s and early 2000s saw Sainsburys going through a very testing time in its history. It lost its no. 1 position to Tesco and then no. 2 to Asda. Time saw Sainsburys make some serious lack of judgments on behalf of management decisions related to adapting to the changing times, acquisitions and divestments. The management made a serious lack of assessment while deciding for bringing out the loyalty card scheme. The profit margins were affected as the companys marketing campaign failed to register with the consumers. The mid 2000 saw Sainsburys coming out again to be a Supermarket force lead by Justin King. The new campaigns Making Sainsburys Great Again and the companys new slogan of Try Something New Today succeeded in reach the customers positively. Given the market saturation of the industry Sainsburys has been suggested two options for business expansion using Ansoff Growth Matrix tool. Product Development Sainsburys Travels and Tours Market Development Sainsburys China The necessary SWOT and PEST analysis tools have been used to assess and measure the factor involved and could affect the growth suggested. The Travels and Tours Industry promises growth based on demographics provided by the WTO and the UK travel forecasts. The loyal customers of Sainsburys would be more the happy to have another product offered by their trustworthy service provider. Sainsburys China will provide an opportunity for immense growth of supermarket industry in a vast and massive population of China. Sainsburys should take a steady approach by starting from the urban areas and slowly expanding in the remaining country while studying and adapting to the new culture and country.

Albert Speer - Differing Historical Interpretations :: essays research papers

They are many factors influencing the different historical interpretations of Albert Speer. The most influential was Speer’s own character construction of himself in his defence at the Nuremberg trials. This view was held by a majority of historians until Matthias Schmidt found holes in Speer’s story. A large blow was dealt to Speer’s own construction of his role in Nazi Germany when the Walters’ chronicles were released containing various incriminating evidence. There are still a number of historians who prefer to view Albert Speer as the Good Nazi, even though most historians now believe that the image created by Speer of himself was self-serving and false. Speer’s well structured and thought out defence shaped historical interpretation for years to come. At Nuremberg he presented himself as a pure technician and not involved in the politics or ideology of the party. He also claimed collective responsibility for crimes against Jews but also his ignorance of the Nazi intentions. As he stated at a later time: â€Å"I just stood aside and said to myself that as long as I did not personally participate it had nothing to do with me. My toleration for the anti Semitic campaign made me responsible for it.† This admission of guilt won a fair amount of sympathy from the court. The reasons he gave for being with the Nazi party was that he was taken by Hitler’s personality and also realised that if he was to achieve his dream as an architect he will have to sell his soul to the party. This image of Speer was to be accepted for a while by most historians and was given little attention. This was probably because Speer was a litt le less ‘spectacular’ than Hitler’s other henchmen. There were however some suspicions. John Galbraith, a member of the US team that debriefed Speer before the Nuremberg trial, said in Life magazine 1945 that Speer’s claims contained â€Å"elements of fantasy†. He also believed that Speer’s confession was a part of his â€Å"well developed strategy of self vindication and survival.† Most historians believed in Speer’s testimonies until Wolters’ Chronicles were released. W Shirer The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (1960), A Bullock Hitler a Study in Tyranny (1962), and Joachim Fest The Face on the Third Reich (1970) all portray Speer as the good Nazi, the apolitical technocrat and a repentant German. Raul Hilberg, in The Destruction of the European Jews (1973) discusses in passing Speer’s involvement in the ‘Jewish affair’ but he does not delve in the matter.