Business Market analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Business Market analysis - Essay Example Footballers are one of the highly paid professionals in the world. In recent years, soccer industry has turned to internet marketing where they carry out their marketing deals. Almost all the famous clubs in the world have opened web sites where they conduct their business. These sites are visited by millions of fans each and every day. However there are professional bodies which have opened up web sites although they don't own any clubs. As has been mentioned this industry is highly organized. In the world, the industry is headed by an umbrella organization called FIFA. This is the umbrella body which sets out rules under which the industry is to operate. FIFA is an umbrella body of continental soccer bodies. Then each and every country has a body that regulate the sport in the individual country although these country bodies can be brought together to form a lager regional body. The organization that manages foot ball in each country holds tournament in the country. Some of these leagues or tournaments are famous all over the world. Premier League in England is perhaps one of the most famous leagues in the world that brings in billions of pounds in returns. The La Liga in Spain is also very famous and brings in more dollars. As has been mentioned there are two kinds of website which carry out soccer business on the internet. One there is the club website. All the major clubs in the world have opened websites from where they conduct their businesses. In this category soccer clubs in England have some of the sites that are visited mostly by people in the world. Then there are websites which are operated by tournament like Premier League website of La Liga Website. These are also famous and are visited by many people. There are also websites which are operated by individual bodies which manages the sport like UEFA website, FIFA website, and other sites which are run by bodies doing soccer business over the internet. Some of the sites which are visited regularly include the following: Club websites: - Manchester United website (Manchesterunited.com), Arsenal website (arsenal.com), Real Madrid website, Barcelona website, Chelsea website, and others Tournaments website: - UEFA website (Uefa.com), La Liga website, Premier league website (premierleague.com), and others Managing bodies' website: - FIFA website (FIFA.com), FA website (FA.com), and others Other soccer websites: - 365 Media website (365mediagroup.com), UKSOCCER SHOP (www.uksoccer.com), English Soccer net, and others. Individual player sites: Some players have developed their own sites or have been included in other sites. E.g. thiery-henry.net How the sites make money These clubs make a lot of money each and every day. Soccer websites are some of the most visited sites in the internet world today. They are mostly visited by youths who are fans of these clubs. It has been recorded that club websites are frequently visited on daily bases by the fans of those clubs who want to catch the recent results from the played games of catch up with the recent development in sports. The clubs have learned a way of keeping their fans glued to their sites by ensuring that they have a section where fans can interact with one another by posting their comments after every game. Apart from club websites, soccer tournaments

The Clouds Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Clouds - Essay Example After realising that my digital camera would be unable to truly capture the vision before me, I put the device aside in order to study the cloud from every viewing point available to me. Although I am no meteorologist, this cloud is an outstanding specimen of nature. This is an enormous lenticular cloud, created and moulded by the wind. Hovering above the craggy horizon dominated by peaks competing for dominance, this cloud is a cohesive whole. Butting against the blue background in a scalloped and varying edge, it appears to be in overhanging layers. With edge conditions comparable to the exterior of a geode, less and less light flows through as the layers get deeper and lower. Through the varying shades of white, black and grey, I begin to fathom how large and intricate this formation truly is. This also makes for fascinating shadow play between the elements of this majestically still phenomenon, highlighting the collected microchasms creating the scene before me. Haunting my path throughout my explorations of the landscape, the cloud's massive thin and white expanse distinctly dominated an otherwise pristinely blue sky.

Why College Education Is Important to Me Essay Example for Free

Why College Education Is Important to Me Essay Why College Education is important to me?, Its so important to me because it ONE of the most pompous thing you need in this world today to get somewhere in life, and survive so you can support yourselves, and yours kids. When I see the words â€Å"College Education† First thing pop up in my Mind is my Mother Smile, able to make her proud!, Not to be worried about her little baby-girl taking on this big world By herself. And to able to give her a little peace of mind that â€Å"I can† survive and support myself because I finished my College Education to get a Higher paying job and not Struggle. Another good reason why College Education is so important to me so I can be a Motivation for my younger sibling also nieces and nephew to see me â€Å"FINISHED† College to persuade them to follow in my footsteps to help them in their own lives, and be a inspiration for them, so that one day they realize that its not as hard as some people make it seems, that if you put your mind into it and have faith anything is possible When I Finished High-school I knew that it wasn’t enough!, I knew a high school diploma wasn’t going to get me so far, but a Job in a fast-food restaurant or a sale clerk at a local store, and maybe a Apartment that I have to work two jobs to just pay all my bills and live, that’s not the life I wanted to choose for myself, so when I think about the words â€Å"College Education† I imagine myself working at good paying job with benefits or owning my OWN business, I see myself being a Homeowner and specially when I have kids able to pay for them when they go off to college. I wish kids nowadays in this generation will understand a college education Is very important to achieve your dreams, in order to have better life, because children today need to know with a education you can be ANYTHING in life, they can be the next President of United State Of America if they finished college and have some motivations, so I hope for myself getting my Bachelor Degree in business show my friends and family anybody can or go  back to school to Finished can be successful. A College education can get you so Far in life just with a little motivation from knowing that a better education means a better job, better self-confidence and more motivation to achieve my goals in the job career that I have chosen. I feel achieving a college degree will help me climb up the ladder in the job I choose when I finished getting my Degree, I also feel that going after my dreams and achieving my goals and showing determination will help for my Future kids as they grow up to do the same. The most important things In my life is God, faith, Family, and my education to reach high to complete all my goals. Jim Rohn Quoited: â€Å"Unless you change how you are you will always have what you got.† I really like this quote because it speaks the truth if you don’t change the situation you in now, couple years later down the road you’ll be in the same situation procrastinating. Another Quote from Brian Tracy Quoited â€Å"One of the marks of successful people is they are action oriented. One of the marks of average people is they are talk oriented.† this quote speaks to me, it saying that action speaks, you can talk, or you can prove yourself by your actions, for me my actions is getting a college education, so that I dont have to talk, but let my actions speaks for itself.

The aspects of social responsibility

The aspects of social responsibility In what ways does Priestley explore the theme of social responsibility in â€Å"An Inspector Calls†? In this essay I aim to explore all the aspects of social responsibility shown in â€Å"An Inspector Calls†. I will endeavour to do this by using dramatic devices expressed throughout the play and their significance to the play; I will also discuss the effectiveness in which Priestley conveys the theme of social responsibility. Throughout the 1930s Priestley became very aware of the social inequality in Britain at that time and in 1942 he decided to form a political party with some like-minded colleagues. The party was called the Common Wealth Party and it argued that Land ownership should be given to the public and that Britain should be more democratic in politics. In 1945 the Common Wealth Party was merged into the Labour party, but Priestley was still very influential in the way that the party was being run and helped develop the idea of a welfare state which was implemented after the war. Priestley also made many BBC radio broadcasts to try and promote the idea of socialism within the Labour Party. Social responsibility is the most discussed and possibly the most important aspect of â€Å"An Inspector Calls†. Priestleys message seems to be: Do not only look after yourself but also care for others and that people have to accept the consequences of their actions. Arthur Birling is a perfect example of this. â€Å"But take my word for it, you youngsters and Ive learnt in the good hard school of experience that a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own..†. In this quote Arthur is encouraging selfishness, being irresponsible and having no social responsibility, this is the complete opposite of everything that Priestley stands for as a socialist. Although this happens to work in Priestleys favour throughout the course of the play as the Inspector, who seems to voice Priestleys views as a socialist, frequently overturns Mr. Birlings and others views forcing them to be heard more habitually throughout the audience which will influence their opinions. The Birlings as a family seem to have no social responsibility, in particular Arthur makes it apparent that he has no social awareness; he illustrates no remorse when talking about Evas death, or that of his factory workers and the horrendous conditions they work in. In his speech to Eric and Gerald prior to the arrival of the Inspector he offers some ‘guidance in which he lectures on how he thinks others should be treated. â€Å"But the way some of these cranks talk and write now, youd think everybody has to look after everybody else as if we were all mixed up together like bees in a bee hive- community and all that nonsense.† Mr. Birling carries qualities such as arrogance, inconsideration, irresponsibility and lacks social awareness. The Inspectors function in the play is to educate the Birlings about collective responsibility, equality, union and consideration of others. He achieves this by using various techniques such as a shock and awe method and forcing them to feel guilt for what they have done by encouraging them to empathise with their victims. Priestley specifically set the play in 1912; this was because at this time society as a whole was completely different to how it was when Priestley wrote the play (1945). The play has investigated the matter of social class and the restrictions that come with it and also the matter of gender with one gender being dominant over the other. Although in 1945 almost all of these restrictions were gone. For instance, in 1912 it was considered compulsory for women to behave dutifully to men. The expectations on women were high and even women of aristocracy could do nothing but marry on, and for those who were born of a lower social class, it was an opportunity for cheap labour, much like the case of Eva Smith. However by 1945, the consequences of war enabled womens role in society to grow considerably. Priestley liked to see these unusual situations as an opportunity and thought that his audiences would see the potential as he did. All the way through his play he constantly encourages his a udience to take hold of the opportunity that the end of World War 2 has given them, to construct a superior more socially responsible society. When Priestley set the play in 1912 it gave him the opportunity to include references to major historical events such as the HMS Titanic, World War 1 and mining strikes. This allowed Priestley to make the audience involved and one step ahead of the ignorant characters. At first glance the genre of the play: ‘An Inspector Calls seems to be a typical murder mystery. Although as the play expands, the genre seems to transform from a theme of ignorance to a ‘whodunit as the Inspector cross-examines his way through each and every one in the Birling household. The Inspector manages to maintain control of the pace and the tension by dealing with each query individually. The story is revealed gradually, bit by bit. The lighting plays a significant part in assigning the mood and atmosphere of the play. We start Act One with a description of the scene, followed by an introduction of the main characters. At this point we are told â€Å"The lighting should be pink and intimate until the Inspector arrives, and then it should be brighter and harder.† Priestley uses a pink, warm theme of lighting to portray a sense of calm, success and self-satisfaction, ultimately reflecting the characters. Dan Anahory

Reality in Wallace Stevens’ The Man with the Blue Guitar Essay

Reality in Wallace Stevens’ The Man with the Blue Guitar For Wallace Stevens, reality is an abstraction with many perspective possibilities. As a poet, Stevens struggles to create original perspectives of reality. Wallace Stevens creates a new, modern reality in his poetry. Actually, Stevens decreates reality in his poetry. In The Necessary Angel, Stevens paraphrases Simone Weil’s coinage of decreation as the change from created to uncreated or from created to nothingness. Stevens then defines modern reality as, â€Å"a reality of decreation, in which our revelations are not the revelations of belief, but the precious portents of our own powers†(750). Stevens relates, through poetry, a destruction of traditional reality leading to a realization that the meaning of a poem is not truth, always recognizing that the poem is the poets perception of reality. This perception of reality is based on experience, historical context, and poetic skill, among others. â€Å"The Man with the Blue Guitar† is a long poem that al lows Stevens to change perspectives and create abstract realities. Parataxis in such a long poem allows for the decreation of reality and the relation of imagination. In his book, The long poems of Wallace Stevens: An interpretive study, Rajeev S. Patke describes varied progression within â€Å"The Man with the Blue Guitar† as â€Å"an indefinite improvisatory series. In such a series the unitary sections lose their independent status as poems, and their masks and metaphors become stages in the continual play of metamorphosis which is the true life of Stevens’s poetry†(241). Imbedded in Patke’s description of â€Å"the true life of Stevens’s poetry†, is the parataxis that a sectioned poem provides. Each movement from section t... ...ique and presentation of Stevens’s concepts may be confusing and/or contradicting, but the overall presentation allows for the full realization of different perceptions and their comparison and contrast all lead back to Stevens’s purpose for poetry. This purpose being to relate experience while recognizing that each experience/perception/reality/dream is unique and insightful. In a long poem with many sections, an overall theme or fiction may not be attainable or seen as contradictory. The value of this poem lies in the realization and acknowledgment of different perspectives, and the acceptance an evolving world. Work Cited Patke, Rajeev. The Long Poems of Wallace Stevens: An interpretive study. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985. Stevens, Wallace. Collected Poetry and Prose. New York: Literary Classics of the United States, Inc. 1997.

The Case Against Science Essay -- Philosophy Religion Papers

The Case Against Science Science has become an unreliable epistemological resource for several reasons. First, the assumptions of science are suspect. Second, the scientific method exhibits narrow limits to the acquisition of universal knowledge. Third, the conclusions of the scientific community at large are questionable and inadequate. Fourth, the practice of science has developed a particular perspective about its place in the world of knowing that diminishes all other avenues of knowledge, to its detriment. Finally, the practice of science involves a philosophical approach which makes scientism and "pure science" hard to differentiate. Thus, science itself, as an epistemological discipline, has been discovered to be unworthy of the extreme admiration granted it by the present technology-loving world. 1. The assumptions of science are suspect. Historically and philosophically, empiricism has been shown to have clear limitations, since many persons recognize that reality consists of things which can be known through the human senses as well as things which are not known by them. In fact, the very foundational assumptions of science are suspect. Markos indicates that "many of the givens we take for granted (most notably, that the foundation of all true knowledge is material, empirical, and quantifiable) are as recent as they are unproven" [1]. There also appear statements that seem to indicate that scientific assumptions should not be challenged. "No one would today think to ask why the interior angles of a Euclidian triangle sum to precisely 180 degrees. The question is closed because the answer is necessary "[2]. The answer may be necessary but perhaps is not true; perhaps it is only a convention for the use of th... ...rk: New American Library and University of Chicago Press, 1986. Lewis. C.S. Miracles. New York: Macmillan, 1978. Markos, Louis A. "Myth Matters," Christianity Today. Christianity.com, 16 April 2002. Otto, Rudolf. The Idea of the Holy: An Inquiry into the Non- Rational Factor in the Idea of the Divine and Its Relation to the Rational. London: Oxford University Press, 1970. Park, Robert. Voodoo Science. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. Schleiermacher, Friedrich. On Religion: Speeches to its Cultured Despisers. New York: Harper and Bros, Publ., 1958. Singh, Jagjit. Great Ideas of Modern Mathematics. New York: Dover Publ., Inc., 1959. Trefil, James and Robert M. Hazen. The Sciences: An Integrated Approach. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 2000. Trueblood, D. Elton. Philosophy of Religion. New York: Harper and Bros. Publ., 1957.

Ikea SWOT analysis Essay

1. Customer knowledge: one of the key competitive advantages IKEA has the deep knowledge about the customer. The company understands the purchasing factors that influence customers to buy and implements the best practices to induce that decision. IKEA offers low prices and a huge range of products. Designers constantly introduce new design products that look stylish in the eyes of customers. All the products are designed so it would be easy to transport and assemble. Moreover, the company offers the widest product range and positive shopping experience. All of these factors are aligned with what customers want and need and which results in higher sales. 2. Constantly using innovations to drive costs down. Low prices are the core business of IKEA business idea and company always tries to do things as efficient and cost-effective as possible. To drive costs down all the time, the company must find new and innovative ways to do that and to incorporate them in its businesses model. The business’ innovations include new materials that help IKEA using the recycle material to become a friendly environment company or using the newest ways of packaging. 3. Supply chain integration. IKEA is committed to long lasting relationships with its suppliers. In this way, the company can order large volumes and benefit from lower prices and greater quality while suppliers are assured of guaranteed orders. IKEA sources its materials close to suppliers to reduce transporting costs. All the efforts of closely integrating supply chain results in lower costs and a competitive advantage. 4. Brand reputation and market presence. According to Inter brand, IKEA is the most valuable furniture retailer brand in the world, valued at nearly $US 12. 8 billion in 2012. The business operates 332 stores in 38 countries and is present in the major world markets. More than 600 million customers visit IKEA stores every year. Worldwide market presence and strong brand reputation ensures that customers will often choose IKEA over its competitors. 5. Diversified product portfolio. Unlike IKEA’s largest competitors, the company has fairly diversified businesses. In addition to its furniture products, the company operates restaurants, houses and flats. Although, firm’s main business is designing, manufacturing and selling furniture it is not so affected by the changing forces in this market as other furniture retailers. 6. IKEA uses cheap labor which keeps its costs down and gives them a competitive advantage. Starting from the days when it discovered that furniture manufactured in Poland was as much as50% cheaper than furniture made in Sweeden, IKEA has started looking for cheap labor. It top five supplying countries are China (21% of supplies), Poland (17%), Italy (8%), Sweden (6%)and Germany (6%). China, as everyone knows, provides really cheap labor so IKEA gets its largest chunk of furniture manufactured from there. Cheap labor keeps the costs down and allow them to charge customers low price and helps IKEA sustain its competitive advantage. (IKEA SWOT 2013 ) Weaknesses 1. Negative publicity. The company has been criticized many times for issues like poor treatment of employees, questionable advertising practices or lobbying government authorities. Negative publicity decreases brand reputation and customer loyalty. 2. Low quality of products and services. IKEA is unable to find compromise between continuous cost reductions while maintaining the same quality of products. According to UK Customer Insights report on IKEA by Verdict, IKEA’s customers are less satisfied with its product and services quality than the average customer in UK buying at other stores. Firm’s cost reductions lead to decreasing product quality, which was followed by higher number of products returned and damaged brand. Furthermore, the Ikea product lack of innovation like KEA designs the price tag first, then the product. IKEA’s product strategy council is so much Obsessed with low price that they spend almost no time on product innovation. IKEA has been enjoying sustainable competitive advantage due to their low cost strategy 3. Standard products. IKEA’s main competitive advantage derives from low costs, which in part are achieved due to standardized products. Standardized products attract fewer customer segments. Therefore, the business inability to offer better quality more customized products allows its competitors to fill that niche and fortify their position in it. 4. It lacks thorough market research on customers’ preference before entering into a new market. To provide a good quality product and also value the customers need and wants should be the organizational motto; this is because it’s a furniture company. IKEA did not do any sort of market research regarding customer’s needs and wants. So they should come up with a market research results that will give them more profit. > Furniture > Ikea Online > Strategic > Ikea Design Opportunities 1. Further expansion into developing economies. Retail markets grew by at least 5% on average in emerging markets in the last year, opening huge opportunities for IKEA’s revenue growth. The company currently operates in most of the developed economies but hasn’t firmly stepped into developing economies, except China. There are great opportunities for IKEA to expand into Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia and Malaysia to increase its presence in these markets to sustain future growth. 2. Growing online sales. Online retail sales account for 17% and 4% of total retail sales in UK and US respectively. Online sales grow constantly and with 870 million visitors to its website IKEA could exploit this opportunity and benefit from increased sales and lower costs. 3. Expansion to growing grocery market. The current trend of eating healthier food has resulted in higher demand for grocery products in many developed economies. IKEA has an opportunity to expand its grocery business by introducing more grocery stores in its current retail places. The company is already successfully managing its food outlets, so this expansion opportunity would be well aligned with the current operations. Threats 1. Intensifying competition. Many low cost retailers such as Walmart, ASDA or Tesco are entering homeware specialists market where IKEA operates. These large retailers have similar specifics as IKEA, including low costs, well managed supply chain and huge market presence and can easily gain some market share from IKEA. 2. Growth of average consumer income. Growth of average consumer income means that people buy less low price and low quality products, which is exactly what IKEA offers in its stores. With the rising income people will be less attracted to IKEA and will turn to retailers that offer higher quality home ware products. ( IKEA SWOT 2013 ) Porter†s Five forces Analysis 1. Rivalry within the industry In Sweden there is handful of companies involved in the furniture industry. Moreover there are a lot of retailers in the market. The condition is pretty much same in USA. There are Home Depot,Wal-Mart, Costco and many other small retailers. On top of this many retailers import from china and sell it in the market at low price. This indicates that the competition within the industry is very high. 2. Bargaining power of suppliers It can be say that the bargaining power of suppliers is low. IKEA has a well-established relation with suppliers all over the world. Till 2008 IKEA has 1380 suppliers in 54 countries 21% of which are in China. Moreover IKEA also own manufacturing company like Swedwood Manufacturer. So it is evident that IKEA can threats the suppliers to enter into their business. 3. Bargaining power of buyers There are a lot of retailers who are directly involved in price war against each other. There are importers who are importing from china also in direct competition in the market. So the consumers have many alternatives. They can chose which manufacturers they will buy from. So the bargaining power of buyers is high. 4. Threats of new entrants There are no entry barriers in the industry. But the intensity of competition may scare off potential entrants. The required initial investment is not too much. Anyone can open a retail shop with small investments. But if someone wants to become a major player in the industry; than the firm needs to invest a lot of money, need to establish relation with suppliers, select suitable locations for outlets. These will require a lot patience and capital. So it is safe to say that the threats of new entrants are high if competitors want to do business for a long term. 5. Threats of substitutes Since the born of civilization men are using furniture. The styles are changing so as the trends. The industry is moving wood to plywood, rot iron even plastics. As the market is becoming more environment concerned many firms are giving slogan to go green. But the basic functional demand has remained the same. So it is safe to say that there are no threats of substitutes Opportunities IKEA can expand its product line by producing high end products From the very beginning IKEA’s target market has been the middle class to lower middle class people. This strategy has been worked for a long time but IKEA never wondered about how farther they can reach. In USA the trend was changing; people were getting thirstier for elegant design. IKEA can develop products that are designed for the high class people who are sensible about the design and quality and do not care about the price. For example Toyota: Lexus. IKEA can expand its business into interior designing and crockery products IKEA can expand its core business of furniture to a next level. IKEA can place crockery item swith the kitchenware furniture. This way when a customer walks through the kitchenware department he/she will be attracted to these products and may end up buying some. IKEA can go for environment friendly technology Customers now a days are now more concerned about the environment than ever. So IKEA can make products that are environment friendly; products that consume less water so the carbon footprint will be at minimum. Product customization can boost up IKEA’s sales IKEA can call for idea from its customers. This will definitely bring in some unique idea to the tent. IKEA can initiate a service that will allow customers to order customized products for some extra charges. This will help IKEA to capture the particular segment of the market who loves customization Threats Changing social trend can hinder the growth of sales of IKEA IKEA’s objective is to provide products to its customers at cheaper rate than the competitors. This objective does not recognize the necessity of a constant development of design and quality. In the pursuit of becoming a cost leader in the market IKEA can lose a major portion of the market that want quality and well designed products. Accelerated market competition in USA The furniture market of USA is very fragmented. But there are some well-established retailers who are selling functional furniture at a very low cost for example: Wal-Mart, Office Depot. These retailers will be in direct competition with IKEA. On top of this there are also some high end retailers who sell high-quality, well designed furniture. These high-end retailers often provide additional services like interior designing, home delivery and free set-up. The risk of global financial crisis The global is under a constant threat of depression since 2007. The whole economy of the world is suffering from a recession since fiscal year 2006-07. This economic condition may affect IKEA. Since the purchasing power of buyers has gone down they would be reluctant to purchase products that are not vital to them. This can cause a free-fall of sale revenue of IKEA worldwide; especially in USA ( Dahman J 2011). Reference Dahman, J 2011, IKEA’s Strategic Management, Scribd, viewed 12 October 2013,< http://www. scribd. com/doc/59951004/Case-Analysis-IKEA>. SWOT analysis of IKEA, IKEA’s Strategic management, viewed 11 October 2013, < http://www. strategicmanagementinsight. com/swot-analyses/ikea-swot-analysis. html>