Individual summary report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Individual summary report - Essay Example The research also revealed that there was a robust demand for sweets in the university, chocolates being the most preferred item, followed by hard-boiled sweets. More imporatantly, majority of the respondents said that they would visit a sweet shop weekly, followed by x% who said they would visit daily! The average consumer expenditure on sweets was determined to be between one and five pounds. Therefore, the market seems to be buoyant and MM would like to cash in on the prevailing demand and the consumer’s willingness to spend. A set of well-defined objectives is paramount for any organistion, irrespective of the scale of operations.Oraganizational and individual objectives must be integrated, and endeavored to be accomplished within a finite time. Clearly spelled objectives, enable devising of appropriate means for the realization of those ends. Thus, strategies and policies can be formulated accordingly. Offering quality products and good customer service are the inherent goals of any organization. It ensures sustainability for a business, and helps in winning consumer’s confidence and brand loyalty. Enhancement of individual experience is also stated, thereby integrating personal and organizational goals. Improving profitability is the most important aspect of any corporate activity. It is an economic index to measure success. However here it is also proposed that how the profit shall be used, ie; charity.Keeping in mind the above objectives, the mission statement was made: â€Å"We endeavor to offer best possible range of confectionary to our consumers conducive to the creation of lasting memories and magic moments.† An analysis of this statement reveals the overriding importance given to consumers and giving them not only quality products but memorable experience as well. Key competitors for Magic Moments are the Students Shop on

Explore the reasons why Othello orders the death of Desdemona Essay Example for Free

Explore the reasons why Othello orders the death of Desdemona Essay Othello is a play about love, hatred, death and deception. Othello is partly betrayed by flaw in his own character. He orders the death of Cassio (his friend and ensign) and Desdemona (his wife) for a number of reasons. Chief among these are is that he is rash, violent and aggressive. He is an angry man who believes whatever Iago tells him with blind faith. He is confused by Iagos tricks and does as he is told without thinking about its consequences. He is impulsive. He is acting like a true moore (or as what people consider him to be) in Shakespeare days. Othello has the tendency to believe whatever Iago tells him. Even before he is shown any evidence to prove that Desdemona is cheating on him. He starts to hate her Now do I see tis true. He turns a blind eye on the fact that he has not seen what the proof is yet. The proof could have been so insignificant that Othello would not trusted it, however in this case the evidence have been planted to mislead Othello. Othello is impulsive. He is rash as fire for numerous reasons. He doesnt trust his wife (who he married with his happiness) or trust his friend, Iago, Who is his enemy. He believes that his wife is cheating on him and becomes enraged very easily. Ill tear her whole to pieces. It tells us that his intentions arent very good. Rather than killing her he could Shake he off to beggarly divorcement and let her live her life. Furthermore, after Iago has completely misled him, Othello finds no other way other than thinking and ordering the death of Cassio. Let me hear thee say that Cassios not alive. He acts hastily without letting Cassio stand trail nor defend himself. He is sure that Desdemona and Cassio have become disloyal to him. The audience that Othello is an angry man and rash as fire by his behaviour towards Iago. If thou dost slander her and torture me then thou hast, better been born a dog than answer my wakd wrath. This show that Othello cant comprehend it that his wife might be cheating on him so he is taking his anger out on others. An example of that is he takes his anger out on Iago, who he believes to be his friend. However, he is not rash as fire because he resists the urges. He shows this when he is in conversation with Iago. Ill not believe it. Here Othello is trying to imply that he doesnt believe Iago fully until he sees the evidence in the form of the handkerchief. This shows that he still trust s his wife. He is saying she is as pure as a goddess and if she isnt then heaven isnt so perfect when he says if she be false then heaven mock itself. He also proves he trusts his wife. Ill se before I doubt. He still wants evidence before doing anything. When I doubt, prove. This shows that Othello doesnt have complete faith in Iago. The audience cannot really blame Othello for being rash as fire as Iago keeps provoking his temper. Iago convinces Othello of Desdemonas and Cassios guilt by using different techniques. To convince Othello, Iago plants circumstantial evidences in order to make Othello think that something is really going on between Cassio and Desdemona. He steals Desdemonas handkerchief and leaves it in Cassios bedroom. Such a handkerchief did I see Cassio wipe his beard with. This helps Iago prove Desdemonas infidelity as it will give Othello evidence. Trifleare to the jealous confirmation strong as proofs of holy writ. Furthermore, Iago is reticence and implies he is withholding information. He acts like he doesnt want to say anything. Should you do sospeech should fall in vile success. This entices Othello to say I pray thee speak to me as to thy thinking. This makes it seem like Iago is trustworthy because he seems to want to protect his friend, when really he wants to get Othello to hate him. Oft my jealousy shapes faults that are not. Iago start to lie outright. However he only does this after he has largely convinced Othello. He says that he heard Cassio talking to Desdemona in his sleep. Sweet Desdemona let us hide our love. This is a blatant lie but Othello is fooled and believes him. He falls into Iagos trap. It works as he creates hideous images of Cassio and Desdemona. This is when Othello for the first time concludes that Desdemona is gone. His trust and faith in his marital happiness fades into the belief he has been rejected by Desdemona. A technique that works very well with Othello is when Iago implies he knows more than he does, making leading statements. He first introduces the topic by deliberately leading a question for Othello to ask rather than stating the full facts thus playing on Othellos paranoia. Did Michael Cassio, when you wood my lady know of your love? This makes Othello wonder why he would want to know that. He later serves to make Othello think of Desdemona. Iago is clever and subtle in his tricks; Othello cannot be blamed for believing him. Later, when Othello is convinced, he reinforces his honesty by saying perhaps you mind might change. He does this because he knows Othello wont. Another skill which works well is making Othello angry on purpose. Iago uses graphical language to make Othello picture Desdemona and Cassio in compromising situation. Wouldst thou grossily grape on behold her topped? This gets Othello worked up. He uses shocking and profane language such as prime as goat, hot as monkey by saying this Othello believes Iago and becomes all senseless and wrathful. Thou hadst better been born a dog than answer my wakd rath. This makes Othello irrational and witless. The audience may also consider the social and historical background to be a reason. During the time when the play was written, many events were taking place (we can see hints of this in the play). When Othello was convinced that Desdemona was cheating him, he decided he would kill her. Divorce was not an option for him as the pope, who was at time was the most important man in Europe, would not allow Othello to divorce Desdemona without a trial. Othello didnt want to do this as he would have to prove Desdemona guilty of infidelity. Othello didnt want to do this as he still loved Desdemona with all his heart and thought Desdemona cheated him. Another point we must consider is that when the play was written there was a good deal of racism and mis-trust for non-Christians. Shakespeares audience may have seen moors as barbarous heathens. This would explain his propensity for violence. Consequently coloured people such as Venetians were given fewer rights as they were regarded as barbarians. Such barbarians would react violently, because they were uncivilised. O blood, blood, blood! Othellos Moorish heritage may also have influenced his anger at the loss of the handkerchief as he actually believed in its magic. Tis true. There is a magic in the web of it. Othello having been a soldier since he was 7 and then a general, meaning he spent his life in the army and therefore he didnt know women well. He was also an outsider to the Venetian society and so it made it easier for Iago to convince Othello. In Venice they do let god see the pranks they do not show their husbands. A number of factors contribute to the killing of Desdemona and Cassio. One of the major reasons influencing Othellos decision is Iagos numerous lies and his way of manipulating and confusing Othello. These play a major part as, if Iago hadnt lied to Othello, he wouldnt have thought his wife betrayed him. Another factor that led to Desdemonas and Cassios killing is that the fact that in his personal life he knew nothing about women. Iago took advantage of this and lies outright. Iagos lies wouldnt have worked if Othello had trust in him. If divorce was an option he probably would have considered it letting Desdemona live her life. Another reason that Othello was harsh was because thats what moors were considered to be.

Employment of elderly people in Hong Kong

Employment of elderly people in Hong Kong In the past decades, the discussion of work and aging has aroused widely public and professional thinking. In this paper, I would begin with the analysis of the current Hong Kong situations and characteristics of older workers, among which I pay most of attention to the low participation rate of elderly workers and try to demonstrate the reason accounting for that. The second part can be seen as a brief summary of the productivity and limitations of old workers in Hong Kong today. Finally, I would come up with several suggestions on how to encourage labor force participation. Keywords: employment of elderly, productivity, functional limitation, old worker Employment of elderly people Situations of the employment of elderly in Hong Kong With the baby boomer generations entering into their old years, the employment of older people has brought about wide public concern. According to the sources from Census and Statistics Department, at the middle of 2010, there are more than 1.78 million Hong Kong people over the age of 55, 51.46 percent of whom are age 65 and above, and 25.76 percent of whom are age 75 and above. Many of these people are working or have had work experience and, many of retired persons work at least part time after they leave their permanent job. Among all the features of older workers in Hong Kong today, we would focus on several main characteristics to help us understand the situation. Labor force participation rates In Hong Kong 2009, the labor force participation rates, which refer to the proportion of economically active population (that is the labor force) in the total population aged 15 and above was 26.5 percent for the age 55 and above. Among that, we can find that the labor force participation rate for this age group was apparently higher for males (37.6 percent) than for females (15.9 percent). Nevertheless, nearly ten years ago, the labor force participation rates of the age 55 or over was 56 percent, which is almost twice the number of today. The employed and unemployed population The unemployment rate of older worker is relatively lower than that of young workers. In 2009, the unemployment rate for age group of 60 or above was 3.1 percent, which substantially lower than its counterpart aged 20-29 group of 7.3 percent. There are a few reasons accounting for that, but the most important one would be that older people can retire as an alternative choice. On the other hand, people over the age of 50 are still employed for a number of reasons. Thomas Leavitt once mentions that, the majority of people at ages 50-62 would still choose to work mostly because they enjoy the satisfaction and useful feeling brought by working, which followed by the need to make money. However, at the age of 62 or over, the requirement for money becomes their major concern. Low labor force participation rate among older persons The downward trend in labor force participation rates among elderly is considered by many people. First of all, many would agree that the current social security policy carried out by the government is encouraging the increased employment rate for young people by removing the old workers in the labor force. Turner claims that: for any given employee at any given time, the alternative of retiring on a pension is more attractive than to keep working for a salary. (Turner, 1993) The social security and medical care of old people do protect them from low income, but is also reduces the employment rate. The productivity and functional limitations of older workers Most of us would agree that productive activity plays a significant role in successful aging and higher self-related happiness. Older people who remain high level of productivity accomplish better physical functioning and are less likely to die six years after self-report. Therefore, we would like to ask: how elderly Hong Kong people will take part in economic and social activities? The assumption that age and job performance are closely related has been confirmed by a variety of aging researches (McEvoy and Cascio, 1989). On one hand, many reported that older workers are more productive than younger workers for that they tend to be more dependable, careful and responsible. Certainly, no evidence shows that learning capacities will significantly fall with the aging process. Therefore, it is important to find out aged related decline causes so that we can extend work-life for elderly by providing protections, services and benefits. On investigating the effects of the potential of aging have on the productivity of older worker, I pay attention to the following factors: Age-related physical changes and limitations There are many indications imply that the strength of people declines with the aging process. Many people at age of 60 report that physically demanding job is hard and strenuous for them to carry on, so they tend to leave the work that is highly physical in nature. Apart from changes in strength, old people also experience the physical loss of endurance and balance and, an increase of reaction time as a result of peripheral nervous system gradually slows down. With regard to health and rehabilitation, it is well-accepted that the measures of functional capacity can reflect the extent to which elderly are able to work. However, the functional capacity does not merely mean an absence of disease. There are conditions which are directly related to aging, such as heart disease, cancer and stroke. While for those conditions such as hearing and visual impairment, they are not necessarily the functional limitations preventing people from work. Annis and colleagues (Annis et al. 1991) also conclude that weight gains are regarded as the fifth decade of life, followed by declines. They mentions in their research on anthropometric changes with age: the individuals body dimensions change also, characterized by increases in the size of the stomach and hips. Moreover, some old workers admit that they have difficulties to perform tasks involving highly repetitive manual actions, the use of small hand tools or using force (Tayyari Sohrabi, 1990). Age-related cognitive changes and limitations The traditional discussion about changes in cognitive ability of old people focuses on intelligence, memory, and learning and so on. According to medical findings, brain loses weight as a result of shrinking neuron size in cerebral cortex and some mental problems such as depression and dementia occur with aging. Yet in order to perceive the complicated relationship between cognitive change and working ability, I refer to some mental models of cognitive sciences to help us understand the situation in which old people gain knowledge, skills and experience through aging while loss perceptual capacity and motor speed. When assessing the changes in intelligence, major longitudinal studies (Schaie, 1985) claim that most individuals can maintain the stable intellectual level well into their seventies and over and that modifiability in brain function continue well into late adulthood. But findings also suggest that people tend to less efficiently process complex information with increase of age. Overall, there is no obvious evidence show that old peoples performance is unsatisfactory under the daily and ordinary job situations. Even if there are changes in problem-solving ability of older people, they can use job experience and extensive skills to compensate age-related slowing performance. Older adults deliver a decline performance on lab-related cognitive task but demonstrate good level performance in real-world job, and there appears to be no significant relationship between age and job capacities. Warren Buffett, born in 1930 and ranked as the worlds second wealthiest person in 2009, is one of the most successful, active and smart investors in the stock and capital market of the world today. He is often called the legendary investor Warren Buffett for his precisely judgment of the market and value invest philosophy. But he is not a special case in the expertise, problem solving and decision making condition of old people. Actually, everyday plenty of old adults are making the most important and complicated decisions in the world as executives, politicians, and world leaders. Researches find that cognitive processes appear to be more important in the differentiating the old and young managers. Expertise in a certain field can act as an improvement to cognitive aging. In a research conducted to investigate the relationship between cognitive aging and experience, sociologists find that among experienced players, those who are skilled in bidding strategies could ameliorate the neg ative influence of cognitive aging until nearly the age of 60. The highest level of a job description would be the creative thinking. The researches focus on creativity and idea productivity state that originality declines gradually from younger worker to older workers. Age-related sensory and perceptual changes and limitations When concern about old peoples visual changes, Fozard (1990) presents four main sensory and perceptual capacities we need to focus most. Firstly, he concludes that excessive extent of illumination can cause elderly workers adversely reactions. For example, older workers have shown to be more adversely affected by glare from lights in workplace. Secondly, he also mentions the disability of older adults to detect different visual stimuli, which he calls poor contrast. Old workers require more contrast between the stimuli before distinguishing them. Furthermore, a third age-related change in visual ability is the useful field of view, in which older workers gain messages from environment. Finally, he also points out that the decrease level of visual activity of older adult bring about the fact that they are not favorable to read printed material (Fozard, 1990). It is well recognized that many older people experience hearing changes such as difficulties to hear sounds at high frequencies. Sometimes we find older people would speak louder because they cannot hear themselves. What is more, many manifest trouble to understand what they have clearly heard at a given loudness. Suggestion about this can include reduce distracting noise in working place for old people. When we talk about older people, the most common stereotype of them would be slow to perceive things as an aging deficit. Scientific research findings indicate that it will take nearly 1.2 times longer for older people to finish cognitive process than their counterpart. In a conclusion, job performance is closely related to functional ability but deficits with aging can not necessarily prevent most of older workers from being still effective and qualified employees. Older workers have positive effects on labor force productivity and economic growth Encourage the labor force participation rate of elderly After talking about all the strength and deficits of older work, I would like to focus on the dealings with means of expanding the opportunities for them to regain active participants in the labor market. In the first place, empirical evidence that elderly have difficulty integrating information from multiple sources gives us a clue to develop communication and information-handling systems for older workers in workplace. For this reason, the priority for designing the system is to be acceptable by majority of users. What is more, in order to integrate into the labor force, older worker are longing for training of the new technology or skills in an easy to comprehensive way when they face up the difficulties with computerized work situations. Training and educational programs would be really helpful if we handle them on the right direction. That means we understand that elderly employees have alternative requirements for different position. Finally, if the government could apply more practical social policy and promote the social perspectives of the whole community, the low labor force participation rate may grow to meet the need of older people in Hong Kong. Even though we understand unemployment, no matter for young or old, is a problem brought about by economic recession, policy can still try to help aging who really need assistance in meeting their daily needs and can live peacefully.

Pool Boy :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  *::* Book Report *::*   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Pool Boy was a well written story about a 15 year old boy, Brett Gerson, whose life is changed dramatically. Brett is the main character in this novel. The book Pool Boy is set in a rich part of present day California.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Let it be known that the Gerson’s are EXTREMELY rich, not just fairly rich ,extremely rich. One day Brett’s father was taken away and thrown in jail for insider trading. The Gerson family had to sell almost everything that they own to try and pay back the money to the government that they owed. They were forced to move out of their luxurious home to their great aunt Mary’s house on the â€Å"other side of the tracks†, which was the poorer side. The house isn’t much, it is filled with dust and dirt balls and the beds aren’t comfortable, but it is somewhere they can live.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The struggle begins. Brett is forced to get a job to help pay for the debt, start saving for college and just for spending money. The first job Brett gets is at a fast food restaurant. This is the kind of place that he would have never gone and ate at let alone work. He is always yelling at the boss and then the boss yelling back. This job does not work out with Brett very well.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After quitting his job flipping burgers, he takes a job with Alfie Moore, the old man that used to clean the pool at his old house. Brett never thought cleaning pools would be this tiring. Worst of all, after a hot summer day of work, Alfie and Brett can’t even take a quick swim in the pool that they just cleaned. At lunch time every day, Alfie would have a new recipe something like â€Å"tabbouleh†. He would make Brett try it whether or not he wanted to or didn’t want to. The men became close Brett could talk about his problems mostly with his dad and Alfie wouldn’t judge him, maybe a side comment here or there but not much. Often Alfie would talk about how he left his wife and child and he wishes his daughter would have given him a second chance when she was younger to make up for what he did. While cleaning pools everyday, the men became very close. One morning when Brett went over to Alfie’s house early one morning, as he did everyday, he found Alfie lying on the ground, the door was locked, Brett threw a rock threw the window to brake the glass to get in.

Developing Shop Online in China Essay

I. The development of new technology A. The Internet communication skills B. Computer program systems 1. The feedback-based reputation system 2. The E-payment system II. The characteristics of shopping online A. Low-price strategy B. Diversity of products III. Some changes in people’s lifestyle A. Logistics development makes life more convenient B. People prefer to stay at home because of the Internet Developing Shopping Online in China Have you had a good experience of shopping online? It might have been common in the US; however, the only approach for Chinese to buy clothes or food was to go to the mall or supermarket ten years ago. Shopping online has become more and more popular in China and has been adopted as a common way to shop. A report, conducted by iResearch, an online market research company, said that the first year’s trade volume of Chinese online market soared 95.8% (as cited in Ding, 2009,  ¶2). People in China now prefer to click to the website, select products and make sure to purchase. There are two common types of e-commerce websites in China: B2C and C2C. B2C presents business-to-consumer, and C2C stands for consumer-to-consumer. A few e-commerce websites, such as Dangdang (www.dangdang.com.cn, the largest and most popular B2C website in China), and Taobao (www.taobao.com, the largest C2C website in China, owned by Alibaba.com), â€Å"have won great success and established good reputat ion among online consumers†(Lu, Zhou& Bin, 2007,  ¶1). The reasons that shopping online has been developed and improved in such a high speed in China are the development of technology, the characteristics of shopping, and the improvement of people’s lifestyle. The first reason why shopping online has become a significant role in China is the development of the technology, such as network communication skills, e-payment system and the feedback-based reputation system. The Internet has had widespread effects on Chinese since it was first introduced into China in 1995. The Internet, a recent innovation, has become a significant intermediary for not only communication but also commerce. Compared with traditional shopping approaches, the features of the Internet will be considered by buyers, and people will think whether the characteristics of the Internet are preferred when shopping online (Joseph& Dong, 2006,  ¶6). The three steps when consumers are shopping in the Internet are to click their mouse, search for what they want to buy , and make sure to purchase, while they even don’t have to talk to sellers. The convenience of the Internet leads shopping online to be the first choice. Moreover, most consumers are concerned with computer program systems related to payment safety or product reputation when shopping online. Such computer program systems have been set up to ensure consumers’ profits. A lot of online shopping websites, such as eBay.com and Taobao.com use feedback-based reputation system, in which the sellers’ and buyers’ reputation and credit will be recorded and marked based on transaction in the past. It means a lot in online C2C market, and the seller will be trusted if s/he has a good reputation, which brings about good sales (Bo, Zhangxi, & Bingjia, 2010,  ¶20). Nelson (1970) sorted products into experience and search goods. People want to try the quality of experience products right before they buy the products, while people have to see search products through some information provided online. In other words, the products bought online are search goods. People have to decide whether to buy only after reading a few lines of words (as cited in Bo, Zhangxi, & Bingjia, 2010,  ¶22). Without feedback-based reputation system, potential consumers would not have accepted the new approach of shopping. Also, the former comments and scores from buyers and the scores which buyers get from sellers, depending on whether the buyers pay in time or not make feedback-based reputation system become a special credit system for not only vendors but also consumers. Another important system researched and developed for shopping online is payment system which protects consumers’ money from being taken away by sellers without receiving products or not being satisfied with the products. â€Å"Alipayment†, which belongs to Taobao.com, is the typical payment system known among online buyers. Even though there are still some shortcomings needed to be improved in these systems, technology makes it possible and promotes the development of shopping online in China. Secondly, the characteristics of shopping online are considered to be another important reason that promotes the development of shopping online in China. Low-price strategy, diversity of products and convenience of shopping style are three of the most obvious features of shopping online, which attracts more and more people in China involved in shopping online, and not only young people but also old people are interested in online shopping. Price and type are two of the most significant features of product, which influence buyers’ choice when they are shopping online (Bo, Zhangxi, & Bingjia, 2010,  ¶21). Because sellers can reduce operation and storage cost, products online are usually less expen sive than products bought in a traditional way. Lower price has been one of the most important factors, which makes shopping online the best choice in China. There are 10,000 shops which were opened everyday in 2008, while more than 140 million Chinese became loyal customers of shops online (Lan, 2009,  ¶4). Nevertheless, product price is sometimes connected with cheating and fraud, and buyers can’t recognize whether or not the sellers online are cheating on product price. That will be an important issue in online shopping (Bo, Zhangxi, & Bingjia, 2010,  ¶21). Had sellers online had the same price as traditional sellers or higher price, the online market would not have bloomed. Another characteristics of shopping online, diversity of products, promotes the development of shopping online. Imagine that there are two choices for consumers when shopping: buying goods in different shops or buying all stuff in one big shop. Obviously, people prefer to shop in one place and purchase all the stuff they list. Like shopping in a big shopping mall, people buy all they need online on one website without driving out or walking a long distance, crowding in the crowd and sweating in different shops. All consumers need is to search what they want, and compare the prices and comments. Liu claims, â€Å"Best selling online items include clothing, cosmetics, home furnishing, outdoor sports equipment, personal computer, jewelry, laptops and small home appliance†(Liu, 2009,  ¶27). The characteristics of shopping online, low-price strategy, diversity of products and convenience of shopping style, attract more and more people and lead to the promotion of shopping online. Thirdly, the development of people’s lifestyle contributes to the emergence and development of shopping online in China. With the rapid growth of Chinese economy, not only has per capita income improved significantly, but also people are getting accustomed to the faster pace of life. That involved in the development of shopping online as an important factor. Due to the faster pace of life, a kind of new industry—express delivery industry—has arisen. The convenience of shopping online is considered to be a significant reason for consumers. Because of the development of express delivery industry, which belongs to modern logistics, the buyers don’t have to go out to take stuff back home, and just sit in front of the monitor to wait for delivering. Express delivery industry is developing in a rapid pace because of the boom of online shopping. In China, people now are interested in sitting in front of a computer, clicking the mouse, and shopping online (Liu, 2012,  ¶1). The development of express delivery industry has been outstanding in recent years, which has been proven by a year-on-year increase of 20% from 2009. There are 542,000 people working for express delivery industry, and express delivery companies have been set up everywhere around China. Because of the appearance of online shopping, the express delivery industry developed better and faster (Liu, 2011,  ¶3, 4, 5, 6). At the same time, express delivery industry promotes the development of shopping online. The promotion of express delivery industry makes more and more people trust in shopping online.What consumers need to do after making sure to purchase is to wait for stuff being delivered in a few days. Such convenience really helps people who suffer from the faster pace of life: they don’t have to go out to shop, and just stay at home to get everything they want. Another change in people’s lifestyle is that people prefer to stay at home rather than go out for fun. Because of the Internet, online entertainment has become the most popular way to spend time. Not only chatting online or playing online games but also shopping online has been a significant role in people’s daily life. Evidences are that not only can people buy concrete goods online, but also a lot of abstract goods, such as game cards and mobile phone recharge cards, can be found in online shops. The changes of people’s lifestyle and the emergence and development of express delivery industry make contribution to the development of shopping online in China, which makes life more convenient. In conclusion, the development of technology, the characteristics of shopping and the improvement of people’s lifestyle are three main reasons why shopping online has become an important role in China. Due to the developing of shopping online, a new approach of shopping has appeared which makes shopping more convenient for consumers; moreover, it promotes the development of tertiary industry and economic development in China. Shopping online offers many jobs in China; for example, Taobao.com, the biggest shopping online website, provided 570,000 jobs in 2008. Moreover, shopping online offers much more chances for young persons between 23 and 32 years old to run their online shops with government’s support (Lan, 2009,  ¶16, 17, 18). Because of the development of Chinese shopping online, many overseas shopping websites have noticed the future of this market flourish. Alipay, third party payment tool, has enrolled 300 overseas online shops to get access to Chinese online shopping market (Lan, 2009,  ¶9). In other words, the local online shoppers will face more opportunities in the future. References Bo, X., Zhangxi, L., & Bingjia, S. (2010). Factors affecting consumer behaviors in online buy-it-now auctions. Internet Research, 20(5), 509-526. doi:10.1108/10662241011084086 Ding, W. (2009). Cheaper prices or better services?. Beijing Review, 52(37), 28-29. Lan, X. (2009). Online shopping spree (cover story). Beijing Review, 52(37), 26-27. Liu, X. (2009). You want it, the web has it. Beijing Review, 52(37), 30-31. Liu, X. (2011). Express reform for speedy deliveries. Beijing Review, 54(30), 36-37. Liu, X. (2012). Delivering satisfaction. Beijing Review, 55(2), 34-35. Lu, Y., Zhou, T., & Bin, W. (2007). A comparison of prices in electronic markets and traditional markets of China. Chinese Economy, 40(5), 67-83. doi:10.2753/CES1097-1475400504 Joseph, R., & Dong, S. (2006). E-commerce adoption among Chinese consumers: an exploratory study. Journal Of International Consumer Marketing, 18(3), 33-55. doi:10.1300/J046v18n03-03

Intro to Business Essay

FRANCHISE Case Study Questions: 1) Discuss the benefits and drawbacks of opening a franchise. (6 marks) The benefits of opening a franchise is that the franchisor would provide support, assistance and training; they would have a recognized name and products and; opening the franchise would be a reduced risk to the franchisee. The drawbacks of opening a franchise is that there would be restrictions on operations as the franchisee would have to follow the franchisor’s rules and regulations; must pay franchise fees and the percentage of sales to the franchisor and; there would be a loss of management control, prices, wages or even innovation. 2) Evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of running this franchise with a partner rather than doing it on your own. The benefits/advantages of running this franchise with a partner would be; It would be fairly easy to start the partnership with an agreement between two people; It would be easier to raise more capital than a sole proprietorship; We would have greater skills and expertise with two of us as partners and; flexibility to support and help each other. The drawbacks/disadvantages of running this franchise with a partner would be; there could be conflicts or disagreements with a partner; we would be sharing the profits and; there could be difficulty in leaving or ending the partnership. 3) List 6 key characteristics that you and your partner will have to display in order to be successful in this entrepreneur endeavor. The key characteristics that my partner and I would have to display to be successful in our entrepreneur endeavor would be, to be: Ambitious, committed, self-confident, energetic, passionate, creative, passionate, determined and risk takers. 4) List 6 stakeholders and discuss how they are impacted by your business. 1.Employees – my business would create jobs Customers – my business would be a convenience of another franchise available Suppliers – my business would give suppliers more business Government – my business would pay taxes (business and employee, etc) to help the economy Local Community – to create a better local economy of having a business Environment – to be environmentally responsible by using reduce, reuse and recycle FRANCHISE Case Study 1: Intro to Business 5) Using your knowledge of demand and supply theory. Draw a market for Dominos Pizza with demand (BLUE Line) and supply (RED Line) equilibrium assuming the average price customer pays for a Domino’s pizza is $9 and sells an average 500 units a week. (2 marks) Dominos Pizza – Supply and Demand in One (1) Week UNITS The pizza market is highly competitive and competitors prices impact and demand. On your diagram, draw the shift in demand that will result from new low price $5 hot and ready pizza offer by its competitor Little Caesar’s. Discuss the impact on Domino’s (in terms of its price and profits) . (2 marks) Due to the low price of the competition (Little Caesars) means Dominos pizza’s Demand Curve will DECREASE (GREEN Line) which means the profits will decrease along with the demand for Domino’s higher priced pizza. 6) As a local franchise, using your knowledge of the promotional mix, describe 4 tactics/strategies from the promotional mix that you could use to promote your local store. Be sure to explain how it will increase sales. (4 marks) 1. Personal Selling – to use a sales person to assist customers in making a purchase 2. Advertising – using different media channels to build awareness of the product 3. Public Relations – to create a good image of the company & product through publicity and sponsorship 4. Sales Promotion – to stimulate sales through coupons, discounts, contests & special offers 7) Make 2 recommendations to Domino’s Pizza Corporate on how the marketing mix could be changed in order to meet customer needs and continue to grow the company. (4 marks) The Marketing Mix is a blend of product offering, pricing, promotional methods and distribution system that brings a specific group of consumers superior value. My two recommendations to Dominos Pizza Corporate would be concerning the ‘Product’ to make smaller personal sized pizzas and my second recommendation would concern ‘Pricing’ to have a special introductory low price to attract customers, to the new personal sized pizza. My recommendations would meet the more ‘healthy = smaller sized portions’ of food to the healthy minded customer – and this would help with the growth of the company.