Whole Foods Swot Analysis free essay sample

Dept-High inventory cost-Price point-Narrow Target customers Base-Declining net income-Fast expansion-Low cash reserves-lack of innovation-High staff costs-High health care for employees-Limited add and marketing-Wild acquisitions –Unionization-Lower market share-commodity Opportunities: International expansion-Increasing demand for products-Becoming and staying as top leading organic producer-Expanding private label-partner with new customer portals-Consumers against big box stores- Partner with new customer portals. Threats: Competition-Stability and recession- Sameness experience-Diseases tied to organics- Became too big and fancy for customers-No more stores to acquire chains-food recall-contamination-Lower ad budget- . Problem Statement –– Whole Food faces new treat of competition and the challenge of an outdated growth model. Critical Issues – (Segmentation strategy) Target audience for Whole foods? Price sensitive or Health sensitive, Quality ,Selection A) Cost of inventory B) Out leveraged by competitions buying power C) Competition is increasing Alternative Solutions (15 pts. ) –. A. Maintain and Keep up with mission statement and core values. (keep growing) B. Sell Whole Foods. C. Maintain current differentiation strategy because they are leading the market. We will write a custom essay sample on Whole Foods Swot Analysis or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page D. Decrease employee costs. E. Focus on international markets since Souring USA economy hurt sales. F. Open Smaller stores and increase marketing. 5. Solution (10 pts. ) – Open Smaller Stores and increase marketing. They are under the industry average. There is room for improvement. 6. Summary of Recommendations (10 pts. ) – Maintain current differentiation strategy because they are leading the market. Focus on opening smaller stores. We need to do sensitivity analysis. 7. Analysis (25 pts. ) –(Sensitivity) By decreasing store size we will decrease our store opening cost to 33% ( Number we are thinking) This will decrease the numbers from 1. 7 B to 1,1 B per store ,overall we will bring total store opening costs from 15M to 10M. We will increase marketing from %5 of sales to 2. 5 to directly confront competition.

Media futures and new technologies

Researchers have been discussing distinctions between new and old media for two decades. Many researchers note that the term ‘new media’ is quite irrelevant as the Internet and related products were used as far back as the late 1970s (Stafford 2005).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Media futures and new technologies specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Some claim that there is no competition at all and all types of media develop in their own ways and there is no or little distinction between the two types of media (Bunz 2010). However, the distinctions are apparent and quite numerous. These distinctions affect politics, business and, of course, people’s everyday life. It is possible to take a closer look at two types of media (newspapers and social networks like Facebook) to see the difference and particular influences of these types of media. In the first place, it is important to note that both types of media (newspapers and Facebook) are regarded as major sources of information spread. A decade ago the major distinction between the two sources of information was the format. Newspapers represented print sources and Facebook is only associated with digit. However, the things have changed within ten years and now newspapers can be found in a digital format. Thus, another important distinction comes into play. The primary source of information is the distinction that remains. Facebook often operates opinions and rumours. Facebook users also discuss news provided in newspapers. On the contrary, newspapers (reputable newspapers are taken into account) use checked information only. They extract information from primary sources. Therefore, newspapers can be regarded as the sources of reliable information which is backed up by facts and checked data.Advertising Looking for essay on communications media? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF L earn More Of course, it is possible to consider times when newspapers were the only way to spread news. However, the present paper will not focus on the distant 18th and 19th centuries. Newspapers were also the major way to obtain news in the twentieth century (Hendricks 2010). The twenty-first century is characterised by a certain shift. Now people share news via such social networks as Facebook. However, people often cast doubt on the news provided in Facebook. Moreover, Bunz (2010) mentions that 83% of stories are repetitive these days. Thus, Facebook users extract information from the so-called conventional sources, usually newspapers. On the other hand, the case with the so-called Arab Spring and revolutions in countries of the Middle East and Africa show that Facebook sometimes becomes the only reliable source of information. When there is evident lack of free media in a country, the Internet provides vast opportunities and such social networks as Facebook are becoming poten t tools to share news (Sreberny 2012). People shared their experiences and people could find out about the real situation in their country reading Facebook posts (and other Internet posts). The newspapers available provided information which was dictated by the forces in power. Ironically, Facebook (as well as some other Internet resources) was the only source of reliable information. People could know what was really happening with the help of Facebook. At this point, it is necessary to note that, the cases of revolutions and oppressive regimes are quite exceptional, but they still contribute to the overall picture. As far as the countries with free media are concerned, the situation with trust to Facebook and newspapers has not changed dramatically. People still trust conventional media more (Stafford 2005). Even in people’s everyday life this is apparent. Thus, when speaking of news provided as Facebook posts, people can be impressed and start discussion, but they will sti ll look for some evidence in newspapers (Fenton 2009). Therefore, newspapers are still considered to be primary sources of information.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Media futures and new technologies specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Some researchers note that now there is decline in readership (Fenton 2009). Fenton (2009, p. 37) notes that â€Å"local newspaper circulation declined from nearly 48 million in 1989 to 41 million in 2004† and there was â€Å"a fall of 15 per cent†. Some claim that this decline is the result of increasing popularity of emerging Internet resources. However, Fenton (2009) also adds that there were a number of declines throughout the second part of the twentieth century. For instance, from 1960 to 1995, there was a significant drop in the USA (31% decline), 38% decline in the UK, 48% drop in Australia (Fenton, 2009, p. 189). At that, Fenton (2009) notes that there was a n increase of newspaper circulation in such countries as Finland (52% increase) and Japan (45% increase) in the same period. Obviously, decline or increase of newspaper circulation has little to do with development of new technology. Nevertheless, newspaper owners have been trying to address the problem of decline and came to quite a similar decision. Now newspapers have acquired digital format to become more up-to-date. Researchers state that now the two types of media merge (Rogers 2005). French (2011, p. 17) notes that newspapers have â€Å"toyed with experiments including advertising price increases, paid subscriptions to their websites, and even developing iPad-only magazines†. Pfeiffer and Zinnbauer (2010) also note that major newspapers are now available online, which makes them available 24 hours a day. Now they can provide news 24 hours a day, which makes these sources almost equal to Facebook. Newspapers are almost equal in terms of the load of information as they s till have comparatively scarce resources. Facebook posts can be created by any user of Facebook who witnessed something (or decided to share his/her opinion). At the same time, qualified reporters (the number of these professionals is almost insignificant compared to the number of Facebook users) generate news which appear in newspapers.Advertising Looking for essay on communications media? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It is necessary to note that these differences affect politics, business and people’s everyday life. For instance, politics used to rely on newspapers and television in the twentieth century. The politics of the twenty-first century resort to new media. Thus, US President Obama resorted to Facebook and YouTube during his election campaign, which proved to be successful. As for business, in the twentieth century, business sent their releases to newspapers to spread news about their companies (Rogers 2005). Now there is no need in such precision as any company has its own website where news concerning the company can be posted. Companies also resort to Facebook quite often. Nonetheless, companies still rely on conventional resources especially when it is important to cover a large audience and spread some important news. The differences between the two sources are quite evident in the field of advertisement. Thus, Facebook as any other Internet resource is very attractive for a dvertisers due to quite vast opportunities. Pop-ups and a variety of other types of advertisement can be available online. However, the policy of this resource is to have small amount of advertisement. At the same time, print newspapers do not have so many opportunities due to quite restricted space. Nonetheless, online newspapers are not inferior to Facebook and any other online resource. More so, newspapers do not have such restrictions as Facebook, which makes the former more attractive for advertisers. As has been mentioned above, the distinctions between Facebook and newspapers can be traced in people’s everyday life. Though there is certain decline of readership, people still read newspapers (print as well as digital). Of course, young people tend to spend more time socialising in Facebook. Older people tend to read newspapers more, whereas young people read Facebook posts. Notably, one of the major distinctions between the two sources, i.e. the primary source of news, has led to certain change in people’s life and their aspirations. Thus, to become a newsmaker, one should have become a famous person, a person who stood out against the crowd. To provide news to public, people also had to study and become professional journalists. However, now Facebook provides a lot of opportunities to all people who have access to the Internet. Thus, Facebook users reveal their opinions or share their routine and are already regarded as newsmakers. As for professional journalists, Facebook does not need such professionals. Any Facebook user can write about an event which took place in his/her community. Again, a Facebook user can provide his/her opinion on some news, events or even opinion provided by another Facebook user. All these people feel they are journalists who contribute to spread of important or meaningful information. On balance, it is possible to note that newspapers and Facebook are regarded as some of the major resources of information sprea d. The two major distinctions between the two sources are the format and the primary sources used. Thus, newspapers (both print and digit) are still regarded as reputable sources which provide reliable information whereas Facebook is not seen as a reliable source of information and Facebook users often refer to newspapers. However, it is important to note that in some countries under specific circumstances Facebook have been the only source of reliable information. All these peculiarities of the two sources have affected people lives in many ways. Of course, one of the most meaningful changes is that people are now becoming active agents in the process of information sharing which is important in the contemporary globalized world. Reference List Bunz, M 2010, ‘Old media or new media – who breaks the news today?‘, Guardian. Web. Fenton, N 2009, New media, old news: journalism and democracy in the digital age, SAGE Publications Ltd., London. French, K 2011, ‘E merging convergence’, The HUB. Web. Hendricks, JA 2010, The twenty-first-century media industry: economic and managerial implications in the age of new media, Lexington Books, Plymouth. Pfeiffer, M Zinnbauer, M 2010, ‘Can old media enhance new media? How traditional advertising pays off for an online social network’, Journal of Advertising Research 50.1, pp. 42-50. Rogers, R 2005, ‘New media effects: do formats organize networks?’, Complexity 10.4, pp. 22-34. Sreberny, A 2012, ‘ New media and the Middle East: thinking allowed’, II Journal. Web. Stafford, MR 2005, Advertising, promotion, and new media, M.E. Sharpe, New York. This essay on Media futures and new technologies was written and submitted by user Nancy L. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Mobile Phone and Core Brand Values free essay sample

With a portfolio as diverse as Googles, what are the companys core brand values? Is Google doing the right thing by diversifying into so many different product/service areas and taking on so many potential competitors (cloud computing, smart phones, high-speed Internet service, etc. )? Despite Google’s diverse portfolio, the company manages to maintain a very people-focused set of core brand values. Google’s core brand values consist of maintaining its position as the leading organizer of information for its web search users, providing the best web-based marketing resources for its advertising clients, and being an excellent employer for their employees. Google’s ten part philosophy includes values such as â€Å"You can make money without doing evil† and â€Å"Focus on doing one thing really, really well† (Kotler Keller, 2012, p. We will write a custom essay sample on Mobile Phone and Core Brand Values or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page 38). The firm’s mission is to â€Å"organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful† (Kotler Keller, 2012, p.  30). It’s important to Google that users find their products and services useful because the more utility end users find in their products, the more they will frequent Google’s sites. The more users visit Google’s sites, the more the company is able to display its ads; which are the cash cow of the business. In fact, 90% of Google’s revenue stream comes from advertising services. Google creates and distributes many of its applications and services for free as part of its strategy to dominate the search engine industry. In doing so, they create new opportunities to sell more ad space (Kotler Keller, 2012). I believe that Google is doing the right thing by diversifying its product offerings. However, I think they should be very selective of who they decide to compete against and how their strategies measure up against their core philosophies. Two of Google’s core beliefs are that they should do one thing really well and that they can make money without doing evil. Google purchased Motorola and sold it only two years later for a loss because they realized that the cell phone handset industry wasn’t for them. Thus, they went against one of their core beliefs of doing one thing really well. Google realized that they could continue to provide their Android software free to cell phone manufacturers and display their ads to end-users without the unprofitable Motorola manufacturing aspect of the business (Winkler Ramachandran, Motorola, 2014). Google also entered the fiber optic market where there has not been any true demand for their speeds by consumers, yet they are taking business away from Comcast and other cable and phone companies (Winkler Ramachandran, Fiber, 2014). Marketers have often been accused of manipulating consumers into making purchases that they do not need. Therefore, one might question if they are holding true to their belief of making money without doing evil. Google has always been known to be a very people-focused organization. If the company continues to diversify and take on new competitors, they should be careful not to stray away from their core beliefs. After all, it is their core beliefs that have gotten them this far.

Essay about Communication Audit Report

Essay about Communication Audit Report Essay about Communication Audit Report Company Communication Audit Due Friday, May 23 Communication Audit Report Purpose: The communications audit is an important tool for planning and evaluation in public relations. An audit does three things: 1) Reviews how well an organization communicates internally and externally. 2) Focuses on messages exchanged, media used, and the outputs and outcomes of the communications process. 3) Helps identify missing linkages or blocked circuits in the communication process. It’s an examination of an entire communication process. Doing a Communication Audit. (n.d.). Retrieved May 7, 2014, from prsa.org/Intelligence/Tactics/Articles/view/6C-129404/101/Doing_a_Communications_Audit#.U3AGd-ZdUSg Specifications: Write a communication audit report for a global company of your choice (see the list on canvas of possible companies that operate globally that Prof. Price provided. These companies are companies that operate in the West and the Middle East). The report can be of any length and should contain appendices of communication pieces, which might be in the form of links. Please turn in a copy of the case study on CANVAS. The format should be a mix of descriptive narrative, some market and media research, and evaluation and interpretation. We will follow a format similar to the process found here: ccmc.org/sites/default/files/WorkingPaper1.pdf Sections might include: 1. Overview of Company This is the exploratory part of the report. Tell the story of company, some history, including products and service provided, who the publics are (primary, secondary, internal, external, latent, etc.) Organizational structure and something about the funding/financial information. 2. Data Collection and Organization Similar to the first step in the working paper linked above, This section might be a mix of charts, examples and market research. You are building a picture of what their strategic communication process looks like. The strategy, how it is implemented and the tactic outcome (see the chart on page 3 of working paper above), should be identified, defined and organized. Because you are not a working member of the company you are collecting mostly secondary information here. By exploring the company’s website you can identify what they think they have done well and for mostly an external public. The resources explored in the library guides Wednesday will help provide a broader picture. Media clippings may also be a very useful part of your data collection. Basically you are discovering: a) What their communication plan was (find their mission statements or internal plans, but most likely you will search for a pattern in what they said/printed/communicated; you might be able

Social policy & housing. refugees, asylum seekers and the homeless Essay

Social policy & housing. refugees, asylum seekers and the homeless - Essay Example William Beveridge identified five key problems that the society faces and stressed the need for elimination of the Giants as he called them. These vices include ignorance, squalor, idleness and disease. His report known as The Social Insurance and the Allied Services was published in 1942 and issued to parliament for consideration (Groves, Murie and Watson 2007). He had proposed the assistance of the working class to the dependent group of the society - those who are working are to save some amount of their salary to assist the needy people such as the unemployed, the sick, widows and widowers, retired and the orphans. By doing this, Beveridge was convinced that the welfare of the state would be met. However, this can not be achieved without proper social policy. Social policy is linked with legislation and social work practice intricately. Social policy is the result of input from various sectors of the society and usually entails wide consultations to address an issue in the society. This is then underpinned in law, thus bring in the legislation aspect. For instance, social services have statutory child care and protection roles which lead to involvement with homelessness and housing policy and legislation (Stewart and Stewart 1992, p. 76). According to the Department for Social Development (2011), social policy streamlines the law to reflect changing social attitudes and making it responsive to the society. Social workers not only need to operate within the law, but also understand social policy in their areas of practice in order to maintain social work values. Social policy also helps social workers to comprehend political and ethical questions on responsibility and also understand individual and societal rights (Krieger and Higgins 200 2, p. 758). The current British housing and urban policy classifies housing according to tenure; owner occupation, housing from local authorities, registered social landlords and private rented housing.

Gulf Real Estate Properties Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Gulf Real Estate Properties - Essay Example The current research focuses specifically on real estate with respect to condominiums. In order to focus our research a company centering specifically on the real estate relative to condominiums, â€Å"Gulf Real Estate Properties†, has been chosen for study. A real estate company native to southwest Florida, the Gulf Real Estate Properties proves its mettle in the real estate arena by making sound practical research regarding condominiums. This, they accomplish by collecting on site data, monitoring information relative to the sale and purchase of condominiums. The number of days it takes for each condominium to be sold is also taken into account and recorded for analysis and reference. The Gulf Real Estate Properties has classified the condominiums by separating those present on the areas of the Gulf from those present elsewhere such as on the bay or a golf course. The data relative to the recent sales of Condominiums both on and off Gulf, which is in thousands of dollars, has been selected. Statistical analysis of the acclaimed data would reveal facts which would be accommodated within a managerial report. Data The data comprise of three variables namely list price, sale price and days to sell for both the categories of condominiums that are â€Å"Gulf View† and â€Å"No Gulf View†. The sample size for former is 40 while for the latter it is 18. The price values are given in thousands of dollars. ... The descriptive statistics highlight multiple factors that would assist a real estate agent comprehend the real estate market. The sample mean of days to sell variable for Gulf View Condominiums (= 106 days) is comparatively lesser than the sample mean of No Gulf View Condominiums (= 135 days). This apparently shows that the condominiums located directly beside the Gulf of Mexico are sold in lesser time than those that are not. Despite the fact that the sample mean values of price variables for Gulf View Condominiums are higher than the other category condominiums it seems that the Gulf View Condominiums are quicker and easier to sell. This fact is asserted by the sample standard deviation values (= 52.22 & = 76.3) of both the samples by highlighting the fact that the sample mean of â€Å"Days to sell† variable (= 106 days) for Gulf View Condominium represents the sample data with more consistency and lesser dispersion. The margin of error for No Gulf View category is also hig her as compared to the Gulf view category due to higher standard deviation value. Further analysis along with interval estimations is presented in the next section. Table 1.0 Descriptive Statistics of each of the three variables Descriptive Statistics Gulf View Condominiums No Gulf View Condominiums List Price Sale Price Days to sell List Price Sale Price Days to sell Mean 474.01 454.22 106.00 212.81 203.19 135.00 Standard Error 31.19 30.44 8.26 11.54 10.35 17.98 Median 437.00 417.50 96.00 212.50 203.50 126.00 Mode 975.00 305.00 85.00 279.00 179.00 #N/A Standard Deviation 197.29 192.52 52.22 48.95 43.89 76.30 Sample Variance 38923.36 37063.09 2726.51 2395.64 1926.48 5821.65 Range 805.10 810.00 254.00

Management Contracting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Management Contracting - Essay Example Furthermore, it is considered that using the design and build approach tends to produce projects that are poorly adapted to complex technical or aesthetic requirements (Quatman & Dhar, 2003). Additionally it is argued that the design and build approach fails to utilise competitive bidding so that prospective builders might bid on the very same design. The selection criteria for contractors is often subjective and becomes hard to justify in the later stage of the project (Broyles, 2011). In contrast research has shown that the design and build approach provides projects 33.5% faster than projects built using the separate design and build approaches. In addition the same research has highlighted that the design and build approach allows 12% faster construction along with a 6.1% lower unit cost (Construction Industry Institute, 1998). 2. NEC3 Approach The New Engineering Contract (NEC) is a formal system of contracting adopted by the Institution of Civil Engineers which provides guideli nes for drafting various kinds of documents for construction projects. These documents relate in general to obtaining tenders as well as awarding and administering different kinds of contracts (Gerard, 2005). In legal terms these prescribe the duties and responsibilities of Employers and Contractors through the Works Information (Brook, 2004). In itself the Works Information comprises of the Contract Data part one which details the Data provided by the Employer as well as the Contract Data part two which details the Data provided by the Contractor. The flexibility provided by this contracting approach makes it a popular choice as it provides the Employer and the Contractor with a number of choices for contracting... This essay describes the management contracting, that recently has diversified the approach to contracting in a number of ways. Employers today may choose to use any types of contracts in order to deal with design, building, procurement and other aspects of construction. Typically it is up to the requirements of the individual build to define the most suitable form of contract. The current situation at hand requires that a flagship store be built for a high value client. This indicates that the build needs to provide the client with a fresh and innovative design. There might be chances that the unique design would require special expertise in modern construction techniques. Therefore, it could be surmised that the required building requires innovation in both the design and construction phases. The different options available to the client are presented in the essay including the design and build approach as well as the NEC3 approach to discern a fitting solution for the issue. In co nclusion, the researcher states that for the case of the customer being discussed it would be highly appropriate to suggest a NEC3 framework based contract. The design contract should be well separated from the construction contract in order to ensure that the best possible Designers and Contractors bid for both aspects of the project. This in itself will ensure competition and better results, the use of the NEC3 framework design and build fronts will ensure that cooperation is promoted along with a sustainable working relationship.