Lewis Jeans Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Lewis Jeans - Case Study Example This calls for developing innovative designs and utilising information technology in your company to study the market. Rupert has asked me to address his findings which show several problem areas within your organisation that need to be evaluated. The first area covers the style of the product itself, and Rupert is concerned that the jeans produced by the company do not appeal to younger customers. This report will offer possible solutions to this problem by suggesting ways to establish positive brand recognition. A study of the market for jeans indicates the need to offer a unique style or marketing method that will bring younger buyers to Lewis Jeans. The next area of concern is the quality of the product. Because retailers are returning 15% of sales, it is important to test the quality of the jeans manufactured to see where the weaknesses are. By improving durability, the brand will eventually be known for its wearability in addition to style. One of the most serious problems to be addressed is the high turnover of the workforce. It would appear they might not have the incentive to commit themsel ves to the company. Because you communicate only with the managers at your different factories, you may be unaware of how your workers see the company. More interaction is needed with staff from your office to each factory to encourage employees to propose innovative ideas on how to improve sales. Finally, the cost of manufacturing your line of jeans is 25 per cent more than other clothing lines in the industry, and it is important to study the various stages of manufacture to see where savings can occur without impacting quality. The report will present suggestions on how to evaluate the company and show different methods of improving all aspects of your business by applying the SWOT Analysis and developing a balanced scorecard. As the CEO, you have the opportunity in such a small company to meet personally with all of your staff and make sure your managers are reflecting your beliefs on how the company should be run. Organization Structure and Culture In studying the structure of the company according to its diagram, it is immediately obvious that there are too many managerial positions at too many levels, and sales and marketing have no real connection to the rest of the company in any of its locations, including the main office. Restructuring after setting up a strategic plan for the future is recommended. The first step would be to apply a SWOT analysis, determining strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT). Strengths: Although a small company faces competition from major companies such as Levi, the benefit of a small company is the opportunity for leadership to interact with all areas of the business. Another strength is that the product has been successful in the past and by establishing a different marketing method and improving quality, the company can be successful again. Weaknesses: One of the most serious weaknesses for Lewis Jeans is the dependency of leadership on the telephone in a technological society. Another weakness is the high turnover of staff and lack of connection with the leadership. Opportunities: By restructuring the company and establishing new communication equipment, the company would

ASSESSMENT 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

ASSESSMENT 2 - Essay Example This demonstrates the interdependence that exists between the managerial decisions made by the two firms and this affects the pricing and output in the market. Monopolistic market structure is characterized by the presence of multiple of firms that sell similar but non-identical products to equally informed consumers. Consumers are thus presented with an opportunity of picking either product from any of the consumers, as they are substitutes of each other and thus serve the same purpose. Edward Chamberlin and Joan Robinson first described the monopolistic market structures in the 1930s and generated the characteristics of such a market. Duopoly and monopolistic market structures differ significantly in the number of producers, type of goods and the government influence that is exerted in each situation. This paper seeks to highlight the differences between the two market structures and this affects the performances of the firms involved. The paper also seeks to provide a case study of firms in the united states that operate under the two different market structures and how their success and failure has been influenced by this market struct ure (Weron and Weron, 438). The first obvious characteristic of duopoly market is the presence of only two firms, sellers or produces whose actions or lack of it affects the managerial decisions of the other. For long, a number of firms in the United States have operated under a duopoly market structure but has since changed due innovation and technological advancement. Pepsi and Coca-Cola are the major soft drink manufacturers in the United States and they literally control the market and its dynamics. Visa and MasterCard have also remained as the major plastic money providers not just in the United States but also in major economies around the world (Weron and Weron, 439). In a duopoly market structure, the decisions made by one of

Strategic Analysis Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Strategic Analysis Case Study - Essay Example Current paper focuses on the examination of the performance of a specific British firm, O2; this firm has achieved to keep its position in its market and further expand its activities through the continuous review and update of its strategies. The specific issue is analytically examined in the sections that follow; the position of the firm in its industry will be identified and evaluated taking into account the response of the firm to the challenges set by the global political and financial crisis. The position of competitors will be also examined while specific suggestions are going to be made regarding the potential improvement of specific parts of the corporate strategy. Appropriate theoretical models (like PESTEL analysis and ANSOFF matrix) will be used in this paper in order to show the changes in the firm’s performance through the years; in this way the choice of this firm as a ‘model’ for business analysis will be justified. In Stakeholder analysis all people or groups of people influencing the firm’s performance have to be identified. In order to understand and evaluate the role of various stakeholders in the performance of O2, it is necessary primarily to identify the firm’s stakeholders; at a next level, their role in the firm’s performance within its industry is going to be appropriately evaluated. The firm’s stakeholders can be listed as follows (a numeric scale from 0-10 [10 is the highest grade] has been used in order to identify the impact/ importance of stakeholders for the performance of O2 and their influence on the firm’s success). The influence of the above listed stakeholders on the performance of O2 has to be further assessed and evaluated taking into account the conditions of the British market but also the conditions of the international market. It is clear from the list presented above that the firm’s customers have a significant influence on the firm’s success within the British market (given the rank 9);

Te Uku - wind farm project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Te Uku - wind farm project - Essay Example Networks that constructed the 33kV transmission line with a length of 25 kilometers in order to distribute electricity generated by the 28 wind turbines of the wind farm. Overall, the wind farm has a capacity of 64.4 MW coming from 28 turbines, with an average of 2.3MW of power from each turbine (Discover Te Uku, 2014). The Te Uku Wind Farm project in Waikato is very efficient in terms of energy production in supplying the area which it is supposed to supply with electrical power. Moreover, when it comes to sustainability, the assessment of environmental effects shows that the wind farm has mostly a neutral relationship with its surrounding flora, fauna and earth. However, in terms of its earthworks, the Te Uku Wind Farm project somehow falls short of some of the requirements of the RMA. Nevertheless, the company’s continued existence proves otherwise. Lastly, the economic value of the wind farm is that it has somehow provided so many jobs to workers. The Resource Management Act, or RMA, is the specific national policy or the aspect of the law that explains the laws that govern the establishment, maintenance and operations of certain projects, firms and infrastructures in New Zealand. Specifically, when it comes to the operation of wind turbines, wind farms do not actually qualify as â€Å"rural industries† because the term â€Å"rural industries† excludes the generation of electricity (Resource Management Act, 2007). Therefore, wind farms are known as a â€Å"Discretionary Activity† and may not comply with some of the standards of Permitted Activity as specified by the law (Resource Management Act, 2007). Nevertheless, the continuous operation of the Te Uku Wind Farm up to this day implies that its requirements as a discretionary activity have been complied with. The earthworks plans for the project have also been considered questionable by virtue of the provisions of the Resource Management Act, but the fact that the wind farm operates until now somehow

Financial Aid and its Affect on Grade Point Average Research Proposal

Financial Aid and its Affect on Grade Point Average - Research Proposal Example Using an exploratory research design, the researcher will investigate whether merit-based financial support to the students has any considerable effect on the class and exam performances of students or not. Problem Statement The problem statement for the research paper is: "Financial aid plays a significant role in improving the grade point average of first year students of both private and public higher education institutes". Conceptual Framework Aim of the Research Merit-based financial aid programs help both poor and academically brilliant students to study in prestigious institutes and prove their academic skills and potential. Such schemes not only provide a chance for the students with high academic potential to get higher education but also play a valuable role in improving overall class grade point average. The researcher believes that when students having academic brilliance will get a chance to study in high quality educational settings, they will also provide academic supp ort to other students which will consequently increase their GPAs as well. Therefore, the research in this area holds great importance. The aim of this research is to identify whether financial aid programs play a considerable role in improving the academic performances of students or not. The researcher will also examine the structure of financial aid being provided to students in both public and private institutes. The researcher will examine the data collected from 3 public and 2 private institutes and will analyze them to come up with the final stand point. Literature Review There has been some research in the area of student retention and higher education access through the implementation of financial aid programs in higher education institutes. According to Alon, the results of previous researches in this field provided all sorts of effects, which include positive, negative, and mixed (122). However, positive effects overshadow the negative effects as provided by the research. The main reason behind positive effects as provided by Alon in this regard is that students get the time to concentrate on studies instead of finding ways to earn money. A recent research aimed at identifying the effects of financial aid programs found that the retention rate of aid recipients is usually high which may be because of the fact that students like to be the part of the institute which provide them with financial support during the whole duration of the course (Kuh et al. 545). As Curs and Harper state, â€Å"merit-based financial aid has a positive and significant effect on first-year collegiate grade point average† (627). Other researchers studying the effects of both need-based and merit-based financial aid programs have also found that merit-based programs have more significant effects as compared to the need-based programs (Stater 782). Merit-based financial aid programs are also associated with a number of positive outcomes, such as high rate of retention, increased motivation among students, creation of a collaborative learning environment, completion of the study program, and increased academic competition among students (Dynarski 285). Methodology The researcher will perform a deep analysis of the data gathered from 5 public and private

Common Law Essay Example for Free

Common Law Essay a)Â  In a letter dated 14/02/2011, the manager (Dave) of Excellent Foods (EF) outlined conditions in writing to the manager (Ben) of Safe Foods (SF) in relation to the purchase of EF. These conditions were that SF must pay the valued amount of EF, which totaled $120,000, $30,000 more than the original amount that SF had been prepared to pay and stipulated during earlier negotiations. At the time of the earlier negotiations, SF also had set a purchase requirement, which was that EF’s sales must increase by 20% over the next two months and if this requirement was met, SF would be prepared to pay the ,000. After earlier negotiations, EF had their business valued at $120,000 and notified SF of the valuation and that they now required this amount, not the $90,000 that SF had offered. SF did not reply to EF. Whilst EF met the sales increase target and forwarded the record of sales to SF along with the transfer of business contract as well as a new condition of the contract being that EF require 10% of the 120,000 within 14 days, SF responded in writing stating they no longer were interested in purchasing EF. It would appear that EF are no longer interested in purchasing SF due to the $30,000 price increase and the term that they would now need to pay 10% within 14 days. An important aspect in forming a legally binding contract is giving and receiving the acceptance of an offer. The requirement of acceptance with every binding legal contact is tied closely to the concept of unqualified mutual assent. Only when both parties have given their mutual consent does the law consider a binding legal contact to have been formed. Hence, if the offeree remains silent, their silence cannot constitute an acceptance.[1] Another important aspect when creating a legally binding contract is that the acceptance of the offer must exactly mirror the terms and conditions of the offeree and vice versa. If there is even a slight difference, this will most likely not constitute a valid acceptance. If an offer is made that does not mirror the terms of the original offer, than this is considered a counter-offer, which now negates the original offer. An example of this is demonstrated in the case of Hyde v Wrench (1840) where Wrench offers to sell his land to Hyde for the price of 1200 pounds of which Hyde declined to accept. Wrench responded with a counter-offer of 1000 pounds and Hyde responded with another counter-offer of 950 pounds. When Wrench declined the counter offer, Hyde decided he would accept the earlier offer of 1000 pounds, however Wrench decided he would no longer sell his land to Hyde for this amount. As Hyde had made another counter-offer after the earlier offer, the offer of 1000 pounds was now destroyed. Hyde sued Wrench for breach of contract claiming that the earlier offer was not withdrawn however the court found that Wrench did not need to withdraw the offer of 1000 pounds as it was destroyed when the counter-offer of 950 pounds was made.[2] In this case, SF made an offer to EF, being $90,000 if sales increase by 20% in two months. EF later responded with a counter-offer of $120,000, which then destroyed the earlier offer of $90,000. SF did not respond to this counter offer, therefore not accepting the new offer. EF also added terms to the offer that were not previously discussed with SF, which also did not mirror the terms of the earlier offer of which the court considers being a strict requirement for full and unequivocal assent.[3] Excellent Foods cannot commence an action for breach of contract against Safe Foods as the counter-offer negates the original offer of which Safe Foods did not respond to and therefore is not considered as an acceptance of the terms. b)Â  Promissory estoppel is an equitable action, which is designed to enforce promises made from one party to another where the promises are not supported by consideration. The doctrine of promissory estoppel can only be applied if a clear promise was made from the promisor to the promisee, if the promisse has suffered a significant loss from the promiser now going back on its promise, if the promiser acted unconscionably, and if the promisse undertook certain acts (or refrained from undertaking certain acts) due to the promiser’s initial promise. A leading case which illustrates the purpose of promisary estoppal is Waltons Stores v Maher where Waltons negotiated with Maher over the grant of a lease of property that Maher owned. Maher agreed to demolish a building in order to make way for a new custom designed building to be occupied by Waltons. Changes and agreements were made by both parties over the following months. Waltons later decided that they no longer required the building after Maher had already informed then that they were proceeding with the demolition and despite being aware of this, advised their solicitors to ‘go slow’ in informing Maher of their reservations. Due to Maher having initially received a clear promise, suffered considerable loss and completed many acts under the belief that Waltons would go ahead with the promise as well as Waltons acting unconscionably against Maher in ‘going slow’ in informing Maher of their true intentions, Maher was able to rely on promisary estoppel and therefore won on first instance and later at the appeal.[4] In this case, Excellent Foods did not suffer any considerable loss from Safe Foods not following through with the business transfer. Whilst there was an initial promise made by SF to EF, EF later requested 10% of the transfer price of $120,000 within 14 days– a term that had not previously been negotiated. It may be because of this term that SF does not wish to continue with the transfer in which case they have not acted unconscionably. EF informed SF in writing that they did not wish to continue with the transfer.

The Natural And Human Sciences

The Natural And Human Sciences Our knowledge in the natural and human sciences has evolved significantly over the past centuries. This can be primarily attributed to disagreement within these fields of science. Disagreement can be understood in different ways; it may be over the logic of the arguments or the value of evidence presented or it may also refer to differences among scientists or differences amongst scientists and society. The disagreements may be over in their views of scientific paradigms, assumptions or research methods. However, just because an individuals idea may be rejected, or disagreed upon, in the marketplace of scientific ideas, it does not mean that one shies away utterly defeated. Instead, one can try to increase their efforts to uncover more evidence, or attempt to formulate an experiment that can provide a more rigorous test of the ideas, or try to make a slight modification to the discarded idea to provide an improved fit to the evidence. Through these methods of counteracting disagreeme nts in science, new knowledge or evidence is likely to be discovered. Hence, the knowledge issue that will be focused on in this essay is as follows: To what extent are disagreements useful in the creation of knowledge in the natural and human sciences?  [1]   The generation of new knowledge in the natural sciences can be notably credited to disagreement. For example, before the theories of plate tectonics and continental drift were proposed, geologists assumed that the Earths major features were fixed. Additionally, most Europeans thought that a Biblical Flood played a major role in shaping the Earths surface.  [2]   However, in the early 1900s, Alfred Wegener opposed the logic of these hypotheses and formulated his own hypothesis that a single landmass called Pangaea split up about 40 million years ago, and the resulting continents eventually drifted to their present locations. In contrast to the previous hypotheses mentioned, Wegener provided evidence to support his theory stating that fossils of the same species were found in two different continents, rock sequences were nearly the same on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean and geological structures matched up with one another suggesting that Pangaea once existed. The opposition of Wegners views against the previous beliefs on why the Earth is shaped as it is has proved to be useful in generating new knowledge. His theory of Pangaea has acted as a root on which scientists have branched out to explore. It has revolutionized our understanding of Earth and has provided explanations to questions that scientists had speculated upon for centuries suc h as why earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur in very specific areas around the world, and how and why great mountain ranges formed.  [3]   In addition to Geology, another natural science where disagreement is beneficial in creating new knowledge is in Biology. For instance, in my IB Biology HL course, it is required to create and conduct your own independent research paper. In investigating the effects of different concentrations of coffee on heart rate, I recognized that I was not getting the desired results, as there was no effect on the subjects heart rate a few minutes after they drank the diluted coffee. However, it has been scientifically proven that coffee, no matter what concentration, will ultimately have an effect on ones heart rate.  [4]  The discrepancy between the data I collected and the already proven science allowed me to learn two things. Firstly, the reason I was not getting the desired results was because any liquid ingested within the body needs about 10-15 minutes to be absorbed by the respective organs hence why the heart rate had not increased. Finally, I was also able to create a new scientif ic method hence demonstrating the new knowledge I acquired through the disagreement of my initial data and previous scientific knowledge. Despite these situations, having demonstrated that disagreement plays a strong role in the formation of knowledge in the natural sciences, this does not hold true for all circumstances. Take, for instance, Global Warming. For the past years, there has been an on-going debate about the causes of Global Warming and whether or not it is man-made. The small percentage of scientists who believe that man-made actions are not the sole cause for this epidemic have used logic to appeal to those who disagree. Their points include that there is measurement technology bias, meaning that improvements in our ability to accurately count or measure a phenomenon is mistaken for a real underlying change in the frequency of the phenomenon. This means that we cannot categorize weather patterns as normal or abnormal since we only have a short history of measurements to support these claims and finally climate is an extremely complex system with many variables changing simultaneously. Even with an appeal to logic, the majority of scientists still disagree with this theory. Therefore, this illustrates that although there was disagreement amongst the views of scientists, it was not useful in creating accepted knowledge as the majority refuted over these claims.  [5]   Similar to the natural sciences, disagreement plays an equally significant role in making new knowledge in the human sciences. Psychology, for example, is divided into many subfields like biological, cognitive and social psychology due disagreements on how to best explain human behaviour. Nevertheless, having these different explanations provides us with more of an understanding of the factors that influence behaviour and consequently aid the pursuit of knowledge regarding human behaviour.  [6]   Furthermore, in the human science of Economics, dispute in the explanation of how economies function led to the formation of two schools of economic thought, namely Keynesian economics and Laissez-faire economics. Keynesian economics holds the belief that in order for an economy to flourish and function, it is necessary that there be a combination of involvement from the government and the private sector. On the other hand, free-market economists believe in the hands off policy where there is no government intervention.  [7]   These two ways of economic thought have allowed me, as an HL Economics student, to gain an understanding of economic concepts. For instance, I realize that although a laissez-faire economy may be beneficial in that it allows an economy to naturally reach equilibrium without interference, an economy with government intervention will ensure that the economy is stabilized with no hyperinflation and a relatively high employment rate thus, making Keynesian economics the more suitable economic choice. Hence, this shows that due to the disagreement between economists on the explanation of how economies function, I was able to create new knowledge as by analysing the pros and cons of each school of thought, I came to the decision that Keynesian economics is the more logical economic choice.  [8]   Although disagreement in the human sciences has illustrated to be useful in the generation of knowledge, there are also times where it has not. For example, in 1996, Mark Rosenweig conducted an experiment on rats to see the effects of enriched environments on rats brains. Despite there being disagreement on the ethical considerations of the use of rats in the experiment, it was conducted anyways. The results from this experiment showed that rats exposed to enriched environments had greater dendritic connections, meaning a greater formation of knowledge compared to the rats that were put in dim cages with no toys or enriching activities. However, despite showing that enriched environments could benefit knowledge acquisition, this experiment was conducted on rats. Therefore, it was not useful in that it could not be applied to humans as the physiology of humans and rats are completely different. Furthermore, this shows that while there was disagreement against the use of rats in Rosenw eigs experiment, it did not create useful knowledge, as the results from the actual experiment were hard to relate to the brains of humans.  [9]   Disagreement has aided the pursuit of knowledge in the natural and human sciences; however, many disagreements are based on ways of knowing like sense perception, reason, language and emotion. For example, even though Einstein and Bohr were able to perceive the data of the double slit experiment in the same way their interpretation of this perception was different due to fundamentally different assumptions regarding quantum physics. Consequently their explanations of the double slit experiment findings were different, even to the point that the terminology they used was different. At times the debate between the two physicists got quite emotional. Einsteins view that God does not play dice annoyed Bohr to the point that he finally responded to Einstein asking him not to tell God what to do. Consequently, disagreements within areas of knowledge are often rooted in differences in ways of knowing.  [10]   While writing this essay I have become increasingly aware of the fallibility and limitations of human knowledge. Even theories that seem most unshakable are changed due to new discoveries. Sometimes these changes result paradigm shifts within an area of knowledge. Subsequently, to ensure progress in knowledge, one should, as a knower, remain both open minded and critical. By entertaining ideas that may initially seem impossible to accept, it is possible to push the limits of ones understanding. Consequently, without disagreement in science, or any area of knowledge, progress would not be possible.