Strategic Retail Management in Competitive Environment Essay

Strategic Retail Management in Competitive Environment - Essay Example Perception of many people from brand name has moved towards product quality cost and service delivered (Experian, 2011). This has motivated several new retailers to enter into the already competitive market. This has raised survival issues for many new and old retailers, and demands for new strategies and activities to sustain their position in the market (Experian, 2011). The culture of buying has shifted largely towards online viewing and ordering. People visiting the store are easy to urge towards company’s product, and they are the ones who gives the company greater revenue than the online buyers (Experian, 2011). However, this ratio has also taken a 180 degree change in many of the top retail stores, including the ones discuss in this paper, where online buyers makes around 80% of the total income of the company (Experian, 2011). 1. Competitive Environment of UK Retail Industry The retail sector of UK is the only largest private recruiter because it employs around three m illion people. This sector covers a prominent percentage of employment in UK because more than half of the UK population work part time in retail stores. The retail industry of UK is immensely supportive for the economy of the region as it generates abundance of revenue to sustain the economical position of UK. Therefore, the in order to evaluate the environment of this sector Porter’s five forces analysis and PEST analysis of the industry are being done (Obitz, 2009). Porter’s Five Forces Analysis of UK Luxury Retail Sector The analysis of the retail industry of UK is significant for accomplishing the purpose of the paper. Therefore, when it comes to analyze the competitive environment of any industry, Porter’s Five Forces Model appears covering all the areas required for evaluating a competitive environment. i. Threats of Substitute The threat for substitute products in the luxury retail market of UK is quite low as non-food items sold by luxury retailers do n ot have major substitutes. This is due to the fact that buyers purchase luxury items as a result of their perceived luxury associated with their purchases and therefore they do not substitute these products. The threat of substitute is not apparent and the actual threat is only limited to the pricing offered by different retailers for similar products (Nwankwo & Gbadamosi, 2011). ii. Threats of New Entrants In the luxury retail side of the market, there are lower threats of the new entrants in the industry. This is due to the high level of barriers for developing brand and then high level of investment is required for developing brand recognition and its positioning in the luxury brand market. It is difficult for new market entrants to offer product differentiation in the cloth retailing and also change buyers’ attitude which keeps them loyal to already existing luxury brands. Moreover, it has been noted in the luxury retail market that existing brands place barriers for the new entrants by increasing their marketing activities and also undertaking other initiatives that could

A Look At Counselling Psychology Essay

A Look At Counselling Psychology Essay Introduction This essay will comprehensively provide definition of counseling and discuss what the counselor can do with regards to the counseling setting to make the client feel safe. It will also discuss the characteristics of an effective counselor and discuss the importance of unconditional positive regard, empathy and congruence in the counseling process, and attribute to Carl Rogers Person-Centred Approach. It will also discuss importance of self-care for the counselor. Reference will be included. Counselling is a relationship between a trained counselor and a client. They interact with one another to produce change in the clients cognition, feelings and behaviour. Counselling is a  process that enables a person to figure out and gain insight in issues and reach decisions affecting their life. Often counselling is practiced out in challenging times in a persons life, it need not be so, however, as counselling can also be helpful and necessary in ones life at any time. Talking with a person (client) is the essential factor in counselling in a way that the client acknowledges the problem and strive to solve it or help create conditions that will adhere understanding to the client and/or improve his/her behaviour, character, values or life circumstances. Counselling is often performed face-to-face in confidential sessions between the counsellor and client(s). However, counselling can also be practiced by telephone, internet, by email or video conferencing and in writing, but most preferably by face-to face in an appropriate venue confortable to the client. For a client to feel safe, the counselor should create a setting- physical and emotional space for the client to develop a strong therapeutic alliance. Creating a warm and safe environment is essential for a client to break the tension and build trust and boundary issues such as such as contracting and terminating sessions on time. According to Jan Sutton (2009), the counselor should strive to keep the room neutral, in other words free from personal belongings such as books, ornaments and family photographs, to reduce the quality gap. And barriers such as a desk should be avoided, and chairs should be uniformed and placed approximately three to four feet apart and slightly at an angle. Sutton advises that a box of tissues must be strategically placed where the client can easily reach them, and a vase of fresh flowers or a potted plant can add some kind of warmth and colour to the setting. The setting should be private and the same every session. The confidentiality of the client must be assured at all times. It is also suggested that addressing the client with their first name builds comfort ability and acceptance, but first ask how the client wants to be addressed. Also the counselor referring themselves by their first name breaks the barrier of inequality. An effective counselor should clearly define his expectations to achieve with his client and discuss realistic time frames for reaching his goals and agree on how he will measure his clients progress. He will establish a good relationship with his client and allow the client to be completely honest about his thoughts and feelings. He will create chemistry that the client feels comfortable, and help cope with the trying circumstances. An effective counselor can identify negative thinking pattern that may be feeding feelings sadness, depression or anxiety. By encouraging you to build upon personal strengths and suggesting skills that can overcome self-afflicted feelings of hopelessness, a counselor can help develop a more positive attitude (Poston,L. 2006). A good counselor can assist the client in making effective changes and help establish acknowledgement or bring insight of the clients behavior and can teach the client effective ways of communicating with the people who may be causing the distress. The counselor should be able to empower and create personal growth in the clients life. The personal qualities found in effective counselors include self-awareness and understanding, good psychological health in terms of being qualified to perform and being cognitively constructed and ready. It also involves the counselor being sensitive and considerate of racial, ethnic and cultural factors in self and others. And possessing the ability to be open-minded having a broad perception and being objective. This also should acquire Person Centred counseling. Carl Rogers is known as the father of counseling. He believed that people are relatively good and born independent. He helped change Patient to Client. He invented the humanistic approach named Person-centred Approach- which is basically focusing on the client being in control of the therapy, which encourages the client to develop sense of autonomy, self-exploration and improves self-concept and their perception. There are three main core condition considered to be essential in an effective counseling are; Unconditional Positive Regard (UPR), Empathy and Congruence. These core conditions are needed to facilitate change. Congruence is the first element; it is called genuineness and realness. It is considered that the counselor becomes himself during the session and not put up the professional facade. This will suggest that the counselor shows feeling according to the manner of the session. And make the client feel comfortable to make alterations and grow in the constructive manner. Unconditional Positive Regard is important in creating a climate for change by the counselor to possess an attitude of acceptance, caring or prizing. The counselor should enforce positivity towards whatever the state of the client is so change can occur. Prizing the client as a total rather than a conditional manner is necessary. Empathy is the third facilitative aspect of the relationship between the client and the counselor. This is where the counselor picks up the feelings of the client and reflects back to the client. It is based on understanding the clients feelings and personal meaning of what the client is experiencing. The counselor also reflects the private side of the client by observing below the level of the clients awareness and bringing it insight to be acknowledged and understood. Empathy is shown through way of being non-judgmental and understanding from the clients perspective. Counselors use an approach of being empathetic, such skills involve; active and empathetic listening, reflection of the clients feelings and content, and include appropriate self-disclosure of the counselor. Roger also emphasize other skills such as; active listening, encourage body language, open ended and closed questions- questions that allow the client to express feeling and openness- good tone, paraphrasing so the client can see that you are listening and also acknowledge him about what he said out of the unconscious mind and summarizing so that he knows in words what he is really feeling and feel accepted. Core conditions can improve relationship between client and counselor. If one feels safe and comfortable, he will open up and completely express himself, which will empower change and growth. The way the counselor represent himself also has an effect on the clients perception and where his cognitive approach is constructed. It is important for a counselor to always look representable. Self-awareness and self-care include the counselor reflecting on their personal issues first and their own development before attending the client. For the counselors self-care, it is advised that they take note of the important aspects of self-care; firstly, Physical self-care which consist of eating breakfast, lunch and dinner, eat healthy and exercise, get enough sleep, do activities that are fun, take time to be sexually active, and take vacations and time away from the telephone. Secondly, Psychological self-care; have your own counselor, reflect on yourself, engage yourself in new areas, socialize, talking to colleagues and decrease stress in your life. Thirdly, Emotional self-care means spending time with loved ones and those you value the most, and find ways to increase self-confidence and esteem, cry when you feel like it and value and praise yourself. Lastly, Spiritual self-care includes spending time with nature, meditate, pray, sing, journaling and be open for inspiration. It is also considerable to seek social support of peers as an asset to maintain self-care. Being active with a supportive relationship is valuable and helpful. Conclusion This essay comprehensively provided definition of counseling and discussed what the counselor can do with regards to the counseling setting to make the client feel safe. It also discussed the characteristics of an effective counselor and discussed and elaborated further on the importance of unconditional positive regard, empathy and congruence in the counseling process, and considered Carl Rogers Person-Centred Approach. It also discussed importance of self-care for the counselor. Reference is included. Bibliography ACAs Taskforce. (2010) Counselor Wellness and impairment. American counseling association. Retrieved 11,2012 from http://www.counselling.org/wellness_taskforce/tf_wellness_strategies.htm. Cormier,S, Hackney,H. (2012). Counseling Strategies and Interventions, 8.(221) Online, retrieved 11, 2012 from http://garethmartin.hubpages.com/hub/The-core-conditions-which-Carl-Rogers-considered-essential-for-effective-counselling. Ponton, L. (2006) characteristics of effective counseling. Psych central. Retrieved on April 12,2012, from http://psychcentral.com/lib/2006/characteristics-of-effective-counselling/ Table of content Page Introduction 1 Question 1 Definition of Counseling 1 Factor in Counseling 1 Question 2 Safety of the client 1 Comfort of the client 2 Question 3 Effective Counselor- Goals 2 Good Counselor- Establish change 3 Personal Qualities in effective Counselor 3 Question 4 Carl Roger: Person-Centred Approach 3 Congruence 3 Unconditional Positive Regard 3 Empathy 3 Core Conditions 4 Question 5 Self-awareness and Self-care 4 Physical Self-care 4 Psychological, Emotional and Spiritual Self-care 4 Conclusion 4

The Lord Of The Flies :: essays research papers

The Lord of the Flies essay In William Golding's Lord of the Flies a group of kids who are fleeing a war, plane crashes and they are stranded on a deserted island without Adult supervision. The first thing all the kids do is vote for a chief and Ralph, who is more responsible, wins over Jack. They are the choices because Ralph is the Colonel of the whole group and Jack is the oldest out of all the boys. As the story goes on and when Jack starts his own group all of the kids lose sight of their main goal, to be rescued. They're all having too much fun when they switch over to Jack's group hunting and killing for food. In the story there are four main characters that are in a sense the leaders of the crew. There's Piggy and a quiet Simon who do not possess the scrappiness that Ralph and Jack do. These strengths are what help Ralph and Jack survive. Piggy is always talking about how his Auntie would not let him do this or that and Simon was just a quiet, reserved kid who is regarded as weird just due to the fact t hat he is calm. The first two kids are considered leaders but only to the littluns who really do not matter in the big picture. To the bigguns, Simon is just a silent and, 'batty'; kid who is called odd the entire story. Until he thinks he sees the beast everyone ignored him and when this happens he's running to tell all the boys that he had seen the beast and when they see him coming they mistake him for the beast and stab him repeatedly until he is dead. Simon is really just misunderstood because Ralph thinks he is a big help. As he says in the story, 'Simon, he helps.'; Ralph is referring in this quote to the building of the shelters. The only people who work to get shelters from the rain are Ralph, Piggy, and Simon. Now Piggy did not stand a chance from the beginning. When they first get on the island all everyone does is make fun of him and that does not stop until his death in the end of the story. The thing that the others do not notice is that Piggy is a smart kid who knows what he is doing.

Abstract to Tata Motors Essay

Tata Motors Limited (formerly TELCO) is an Indian multinational automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India and a subsidiary of the Tata Group. Its products include passenger cars, trucks, vans, coaches, buses and military vehicles. It is the world’s eighteenth-largest motor vehicle manufacturing company, fourth-largest truck manufacturer and second-largest bus manufacturer by volume. Tata Motors has auto manufacturing and assembly plants in Jamshedpur, Pantnagar, Lucknow, Sanand, Dharwad and Pune in India, as well as in Argentina, South Africa, Thailand and the United Kingdom. It has research and development centres in Pune, Jamshedpur, Lucknow and Dharwad, India, and in South Korea, Spain, and the United Kingdom. It has a bus manufacturing joint venture with Marcopolo S.A.,a construction equipment manufacturing joint venture with Hitachi and a joint venture with Fiat in India. Founded in 1945 as a manufacturer of locomotives, the company manufactured its first commercial vehicle in 1954 in a collaboration with Daimler-Benz AG, which ended in 1969.[6] Tata Motors entered the passenger vehicle market in 1991 with the launch of the Tata Sierra and in 1998 launched the first fully indigenous Indian passenger car, the Indica. Tata Motors acquired the South Korean truck manufacturer Daewoo Commercial Vehicles Company in 2004 and the British premium car maker Jaguar Land Rover in 2008. Tata Motors is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange, where it is a constituent of the BSE SENSEX index, the National Stock Exchange of India and the New York Stock Exchange. Tata Motors is ranked 314th in the 2012 Fortune Global 500 ranking of the world’s biggest corporations. Mission To be passionate in anticipating and providing the best vehicles and experiences that excite our customers globally. Vision Most admired by our customers, employees, business partners and shareholders for the experience and value they enjoy from being with us. Culture * Accountability * Customer & product focus * Excellence * Speed Values * Inclusion * Integrity * Accountability * Customer * Innovation * Concern for the environment * Passion for excellence * Agility Product Portfolio| Brands| 1. Tata Sumo 2. Tata Safari3. Tata Indica 4. Tata Indica Vista5. Tata Indigo 6. Tata Manza7. Tata Indigo Marina 8. Tata Winger9. Tata Magic 10. Tata Nano11. Tata Xenon XT 12. Tata Aria13. Tata Venture| SWOT Analysis| Strength| 1. One of the most established company in automobile sector2. Wide & extensive distribution and service network3. Good market penetration in the taxi & rental segment4. Expert service professionals available5. Many associations like Jaguar Land Rover, Hispanso, Macropolo etc which increases international presence6. Dedicated engineering and R&D department7. More than 60,000 employees8. Highly diversified product portfolio| Weakness| 1. Limited international presence2. Sometimes faces alleged quality and durability issues3. Not much customer engagement programs and activities| Opportunity| 1. Expanding automobile market and available space for competitors2. Increasing per capita income and purchasing capability of potential customer base3. Leveraging customer engagement experience to acquire new customers4. Leveraging mergers and acquisitions to acquire newer technology5. Augmenting the distribution and service network in various countries| Threats| 1. Increasing fuel costs2. Competition from other big automobile giants3. Competitive products offering same level features at a lesser price4. Product innovations and frugal engineering by competitors| Automobile market in India: The automotive industry in India is one of the larger markets in the world and had previously been one of the fastest growing globally, but is now seeing flat or negative growth rates.India’s passenger car and commercial vehicle manufacturing industry is the sixth largest in the world, with an annual production of more than 3.9 million units in 2011. According to recent reports, India overtook Brazil and became the sixth largest passenger vehicle producer in the world (beating such old and new auto makers as Belgium, United Kingdom, Italy, Canada, Mexico, Russia, Spain, France, Brazil), grew 16 to 18 per cent to sell around three million units in the course of 2011-12. In 2009, India emerged as Asia’s fourth largest exporter of passenger cars, behind Japan, South Korea, and Thailand.In 2010, India beat Thailand to become Asia’s third largest exporter of passenger cars. As of 2010, India is home to 40 million passenger vehicles. More than 3.7 million automotive vehicles were produced in India in 2010 (an increase of 33.9%), making the country the second (after China) fastest growing automobile market in the world in that year.According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, annual vehicle sales are projected to increase to 4 million by 2015, no longer 5 million as previously projected. â€Å"The production of passenger vehicles in India was recorded at 3.23 million in 2012-13 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13 per cent during 2012-2021, as per data published by Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA)†. The majority of India’s car manufacturing industry is based around three clusters in the south, west and north. The southern cluster consisting of Chennai is the biggest with 35% of the revenue share. The western hub near Mumbai and Pune contributes to 33% of the market and the northern cluster around the National Capital Region contributes 32%. Chennai, with the India operations of Ford, Hyundai, Renault, Mitsubishi, Nissan, BMW, Hindustan Motors, Daimler, Caparo, and PSA Peugeot Citroà «n is about to begin their operations by 2014. Chennai accounts for 60% of the country’s automotive exports.[10] Gurgaon and Manesar in Haryana form the northern cluster where the country’s largest car manufacturer, Maruti Suzuki, is based.[11] The Chakan corridor near Pune, Maharashtra is the western cluster with companies like General Motors, Volkswagen, Skoda, Mahindra and Mahindra, Tata Motors, Mercedes Benz, Land Rover, Jaguar Cars, Fiat and Force Motors having assembly plants  in the area. Nashik has a major base of Mahindra & Mahindra with a UV assembly unit and an Engine assembly unit. Aurangabad with Audi, Skoda and Volkswagen also forms part of the western cluster. Another emerging cluster is in the state of Gujarat with manufacturing facility of General Motors in Halol and further planned for Tata Nano at their plant in Sanand. Ford, Maruti Suzuki and Peugeot-Citroen plants are also set to come up in Gujarat.Kolkata with Hindustan Motors, Noida with Honda and Bangalore with Toyota are some of the other automotive manufacturing regions around the country. Competition: Tata Motors enjoys giant-sized growth thanks to its Nano cars. The company — India’s largest automobile maker by sales — makes buses, trucks, tractor-trailers, passenger cars (Indica, Indigo, Jaguar, Land Rover, Safari, Sumo, and the popular micro car Nano), light commercial vehicles, and utility vehicles. It also makes construction equipment and provides IT services. Tata Motors sells through more than 1,000 dealers in India, as well as exports vehicles to countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and South America. In addition, the company distributes Fiat-brand cars in India through its Tata-Fiat dealer network. List of Competitors: Commercial vehicles: 1. Ashok Leyland 2. Volvo motors 3. Swaraj Mazda 4. Mahindra motors Passenger Vehicles 1. MSIL 2. Hyundai motors 3. Honda motors References: http://www.slideshare.net/ykartheekguptha/tata-motors-2010-ppt-by-karthik http://www.tatamotors.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tata_Motors http://www.mbaskool.com/brandguide/automobiles/5022-tata-motors.html

Redemption in The Kite Runner Essay

It is only natural for humans to make mistakes, just like Amir in the novel The Kite Runner, but it is how the mistakes are resolved that will dictate ones fate. The main character of The Kite Runner, Amir, knows a thing or two about making mistakes. What he struggles with throughout the novel is finding redemption for those mistakes. Throughout all stages of Amir’s life, he is striving for redemption. Whether Amir is saying the wrong thing or hiding from a hurtful truth, he always finds new things he will have to redeem himself for. That is why redemption is a huge underlining theme in The Kite Runner. When Amir is a child, he feels his father blames him for his mother’s death and cannot love him. He does everything he can think of to try and make up for the mistakes he made in the past. Since Amir feels his father does not love him, he thinks of ways to make things right with him. Amir sees Baba as a perfect higher presence that he could never amount to. When the kite running competition comes around he takes this opportunity to prove to his father that he can be more of an â€Å"ideal† son to Baba, ultimately getting redemption for everything his father has not approved of. Amir sees Baba as a perfect father figure because everyone looks up to him. Amir could never live up to Baba’s expectations of him and that is where the theme of redemption comes to play between these two characters. Although Amir impresses his father by winning the kite running competition, he ends the day by hurting his best friend in a terrible way and one day he will have to find a way to make up for it. Amir and Hassan are two inseparable children, but their relationship is unusual because Hassan is Amir’s servant. Amir is never very nice to Hassan, but Hassan would never turn his back on Amir. This is evident when he says, â€Å"For you a thousand times over†. Amir makes a huge mistake one day by hurting Hassan and it takes a ver y long time for him to find a way to redeem himself. The kit running competition was supposed to be the best day of Amir’s life. He would win, and earn his dad’s unconditional love once and for all, but things are not always as they seem. Although Amir did win the competition, something went very wrong. Hassan will always have Amir’s back, until the day he dies he would do anything for him. When Amir cut the last Kite down from the sky, Hassan decided to run it. Assef and his two friends didn’t exactly want Hassan to bring the kite back to Amir. Amir is a very evil young boy and since Hassan would do anything for Amir, he refuses to hand the kite over to Assef. Hassan’s final act of bravery results in his rape and Amir’s next big mistake. Amir watches Assef and his friends rape Hassan, but he does nothing to help his friend. Amir goes many years knowing this information but never tells anyone, but what goes around comes around. When everything finally catches up with Amir, he is a grown man. Things in Amir’s life have finally settled down, but now the past is brought b ack up; he must go find redemption once more. Amir survived his childhood, made a good life for himself and marries a beautiful Afghan woman named Soraya. One thing Amir is deprived of in his life is the ability to have children. Amir’s inability to have children could possibly be looked at as coincidental or symbolic to him making amends for his past mistakes and misgivings. Amir receives a phone call from his father’s old friend Rahim Khan. Although Rahim is dying, he asks Amir to come visit him in Afghanistan. Amir soon realizes that the main reason Rahim Khan asked him to visit was not to see him before he died, but because Rahim wants to help Amir succeed in reaching his final redemption. Rahim Khan has known about the kite running competition for Amir’s entire life, and he has a way for him to try and set things right. Hassan, who is dead now, has a son, but he is an orphan boy. The Taliban has taken over Afghanistan and they killed Hassan and his wife in cold blood. Sohrab, who is Hassan’s son, has been taken by the Taliban as payment for the orphanage. Rahim Khan puts Amir up to the challenge of going to find Sohrab and giving him a proper home. He states, â€Å"I have a way to make things right again†. In order for Amir to redeem his past with Hassan, he must go and find Sohrab, who is the ultimate symbol of redemption in Amir’s life. Finding Sohrab was Amir’s greatest accomplishment, it was the ultimate redemption for all the evil and unjust things that have haunted his past. Amir fails to stand up for himself and others, as a child. As an adult, he redeems his uncourageous past by setting it right with the help of some very close family members. Amir goes through many stages in his life, but he always seems to be redeeming himself for something. Sometimes life seems to work out in the end, and the search for redemption may not always be easy, as witnessed in Amir’s case. However, a strong will and determination can help guide the road to redemption and possible forgiveness.