Walker Surname Meaning and Origin

Walker Surname Meaning and Origin Walker is an occupational surname for a fuller, or one who originally walked on raw, damp cloth in order to shrink and thicken it. Derived from the Middle English walkcere, meaning a fuller of cloth, and the Old English wealcan, to walk or tread. Walker is the 28th most popular surname in the United States and the 15th most common in England. Surname Origin:   English, Scottish Alternate Surname Spellings:   WALLKER, WALKAR, WALKERE   Where in the World is the WALKER  Surname Found? The Walker surname is mainly characteristic of the midlands and of the north of England, according to  surname distribution data from  Forebears, especially in Yorkshire, where it ranks 5th, as well as Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire, Durham and Lancashire. Based on their data, Walker ranks as the 18th most common surname in England, 14th in Australia, 12th in New Zealand, 21st in Scotland and 25th in the United States. WorldNames PublicProfiler  identifies  the Walker surname as most common in East Riding of Yorkshire, England, followed by the regions of middle and northern England and southern Scotland.   Famous People with the Surname WALKER: George F. Walker - Canadian playwrightCharles D. Walker - American astronautDorothy Walker Bush - mother of the 41st U.S. President George H. W. Bush, and grandmother of the 43rd U.S. President George W. BushHerschel Walker - American football playerMary Edwards Walker - American activistWilliam Walker - American adventurer, filibuster and soldier; President of Nicaragua (1856-1857).Alice Walker - African American novelist and author of The Color Purple.Craven Walker - Inventor of the lava lamp. Genealogy Resources for the Surname WALKER: 100 Most Common U.S. Surnames Their MeaningsSmith, Johnson, Williams, Jones, Brown... Are you one of the millions of Americans sporting one of these top 100 common last names from the 2000 census? Common English Surnames Their MeaningsExplore the meanings and origins of the 100 most common English surnames. Walker Family History ProjectThis site is dedicated to collecting and recording genealogical information about Walker ancestors worldwide, and includes a number of online databases. John Walker Family OrganizationFamily history of the descendants of Robert Walker and Sarah Leager who came from England to Boston via the Winthrop Fleet of 1630. Walker Surname DNA ProjectOver 500 Walkers from around the world have joined together to establish a database of Walker DNA haplotypes to determine which Walker lineages share a common ancestor. FamilySearch - WALKER GenealogyExplore over 10 million historical records and lineage-linked family trees posted for the Walker surname and its variations on the free FamilySearch website, hosted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. WALKER Surname Family Mailing ListsRootsWeb hosts several free mailing lists for researchers of the Walker surname. DistantCousin.com - WALKER Genealogy Family HistoryFree databases and genealogy links for the last name Walker. Walker Genealogy ForumSearch the archives for posts about Walker ancestors, or post your own Walker query. - References: Surname Meanings Origins Cottle, Basil.  Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967. Dorward, David.  Scottish Surnames. Collins Celtic (Pocket edition), 1998. Fucilla, Joseph.  Our Italian Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 2003. Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges.  A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989. Hanks, Patrick.  Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003. Reaney, P.H.  A Dictionary of English Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1997. Smith, Elsdon C.  American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997.    Back to  Glossary of Surname Meanings Origins

Ethical Business Behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Ethical Business Behavior - Essay Example The bottom line is that the conceptual framework in the organization is laid upon the ethical framework. This study would include assessment of two famous organizations called Anglo American and Primark on the basis of their ethical practices. Ethical business practice is like a hot selling cake in the global market, but the question is that how many organizations are following them too. Formulation is easy, but implementation, control, monitoring and evaluation of the same are tough and require knowledge and expertise (Svensson, & Wood, 2011, p. 2-3). The study would begin with a brief overview of business ethics in organization and its significance, further leading to detailed description of the essay structure. In the body, a comprehensive discussion regarding the ethical business behavior has been presented, followed by ethical business practices of Anglo American and Primark. Furthermore, a cost benefit analysis has been drawn to show that how ethical business practices benefit organizations and reduce cost. In order to support the view point, Svennson & Woods’ Model has been utilized to throw light on other facade of ethics and its importance in business. Finally a conclusion has been included to summarize the learning and to highlight the key areas from the study. Ethical Business Behavior of Organizations - Anglo American and Primark Most of the newspapers are filled with the names of those executives or organizations that follow unethical practices. Companies like Tyco International, Global Crossing, Parmalat, Systembolaget, WorldCom, Qwest, Arthur Andersen, Barings Bank, Enron, and Skandia (Carroll and Meeks, 1999) have all come to eminence on immoral grounds. Across the world it has been seen that eminent personalities, highly influential people, etc have faced issues due to their unethical practices. The word ethics has many nuances. It basically deals with the enquiry of morality and setting grounds based on the morality to make judgment, st andards, or code of conduct. Business ethics deals with standards, principles or values which draws the line between wrong and right organizational practices (The Times Newspaper, 2011, p. 1-2). Ethical misconduct has become a major issue in the organization nowadays. The resource center for ethics, National Business Ethical Survey (NBES), has conducted a survey among 3000 US employees in order to collect reliable data on the ethical practices of the organizations. It was found that about 49 percent employees reported to have seen at least one type of misconduct was surely seen in their organization. About 63 percent of the employees reported about such misconduct to the management (Ferrell, & Fraderich, 2012, p. 8). The results depicted that almost all the organization were the victims of unethical practices. Ethical business practices comprises of assuring that the maximum lawful and ethical standards in case of maintaining relationships with the organization and its people (Anglo American, n. d.). Anglo American is an American mining company, who are highly committed to follow the ethical business standards for conducting business. They also include their employees in their campaign of following ethics in business. Even the stakeholders of the company are not exempted from the policy of ethical business practices of the company. The company has independent whistle-blowing facilities for both internal and external stakeholders of t

Queen Victoria Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Queen Victoria - Essay Example When she was only an infant, her father who was the fourth son of King George the III expired and her mother brought her up single-handedly in a manner that was â€Å"both simple and spare,† by keeping a very keen eye on her and restricting all her movements. (Brad Hooper, 2005) However, in 1837, after the death of her uncle William IV, she assumed the throne and brought her cloistered existence to a close. Arnstein also sheds light on how Queen Victoria, under the guidance and influence of her beloved consort, Prince Albert, worked hard behind the scenes all through her years as a reclusive widow. (Brad Hooper, 2005) Queen Victoria has been the subject of the most number of biographies, than any other lady born since the 1800’s. However, Arnstein is one of the latest biographers who has carried out an in-depth research on the Queen and has shed light on many of the neglected areas of the Queen’s life. Arnstein’s biography is based on authentic manuscript sources such as journals and letters from the Queen’s own writings. ... Arnstein’s depiction of Victorian society is so well expressed in his biography, giving his readers a deep understanding about the administration and the political scene that existed during that time. These facts are not found in the biographies of other authors. He especially examines the political, social, economical and cultural background that was prevalent in Victorian society which makes it easy for his audience to understand how the administration was carried out during those days. In his enlightening and engaging study of the Queen, Arnstein makes an investigation of the public and private life of Queen Victoria. He makes use of the Royal Archives of the Windsor Castle, biographies, monographs, surveys and past research studies and incorporates them together with his own findings to provide us with an insightful view of the Victorian Age. For his study, he made use of various sources of previously unpublished journals and letters written and received by the Queen that contributed towards making his biography of Queen Victoria one of the most outstanding biographies ever. In the history of the world, Queen Victoria is considered as one of the most influential octogenarians to head one of the most powerful nations in the world. Arnstein sheds light on some of the controversial domestic issues and the various international conflicts that faced Victoria during her reign, which is considered to be the longest in the history of Britain. He also made use of secondary sources from collections of already published material to gain insight into the Queen’s life. He speaks of her marriage to Albert and of her being the mother of nine children who proudly showed them to ‘domestic and foreign dignitaries’ (Walter

Manilatown Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Manilatown - Research Paper Example Because of the attractive agricultural jobs in California Central valley, numerous young Filipino men found their way in Stockton (Rao, 2006). The discriminatory and racism laws that existed until the mid 60s discouraged these young active men from undertaking the American dream of a United States Education, higher economic status and a family, even limiting them from crossing main street into the then considered white section of the city. Responding to these discriminations, the Filipino American pioneers constructed their own community on the south of the main street. They started business premises and organizations of all kinds so as to meet their own social and economic needs. These businesses included: grocery shops, hotels, restaurants, barber shops, the Daguhoy lodge, the Rizal Social club, a rescue mission and many others, hence the rise of the Stockton’s Little Manila (Rao, 2006). Filipino labor leaders such as Andy Imutan, Larry Itliong, Ernesto Mangaoang, Philip Ver a Cruz and Carlos Bulosan all worked out of Stockton at one point in time. Meetings of the historic labor unions were held at the Mariposa Hotel on Lafayette Street. Mangaoang and Mensalvas were influential to the ground breaking asparagus strike that came to an end in 1939. These courageous labor leaders and farm workers are the unsung heroes that were behind the success of the UFW and its most iconic leader Cesar Chavez. The population inhabits an area of only 38.55 Square kilometers making the City the most densely populated in the world. Filipino is the vernacular language, based mostly on the Tagalog of the neighboring areas, and this Manila kind of speaking Tagalog has developed to become the dialect of the Philippines. In the meantime, English is the language most widely used in business, education, and greatly in daily usage throughout the Philippine as a whole and Manila specifically. Quite a number of old people in the city are able to speak in basic Spanish this because i t was a compulsory subject in the Philippine colleges and universities. Many children of Latin America, India, Arab, Europe or other migrants also speak their parents’ languages at home besides Filipino or English (Nederveen, 2007). Because manilatown mostly borrow from Manila City, Christianity as a religion dominates the town with Roman Catholic comprising of 93.5% of the population. Manila city host Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila which is the oldest in the country. Because it is the seat of the Spanish colonial government in the past centuries, the city has been used as the base of many Roman Catholic missions to the Philippines. The city also hosts other faiths. There are many Taoist and Buddhist temples constructed by the Chinese community in Manila. There exists a large Hindu temple for the Indian population. The nightlife in Manila offers everything from casinos, discotheques, fashionable cafes and entertainment lounges. The city celebrates both national and civi c holidays. It also hosts the Feast of Black Nazarene which is celebrated on 9th January every year. As a tourism and cultural center of Philippine, the city acts as a home to numerous museums such as Museum Pambata, the Museum of Philippine Political History, the National Museum of the Philippines, the UST Museums of Arts and Science and the DLS-CSB Museum of contemporary Art and Design (Laguerre, 2002). Manilatown features a tropical savanna climate that borders on a tropical monsoon climate; that is according to the Koppen climate classification

Effects of Hybrid Strategy on Zara UK

Effects of Hybrid Strategy on Zara UK CHAPTER ONE 1. INTRODUCTION 1. 1. Rationale for Chosen Topic To achieve competitive advantage in a highly competitive market such as a fashion market is not an easy process, what is more difficult than that is to achieve sustainable competitive advantage in like this market which also describe as fast changeable and unpredictable market. This opens the field to know about the competitive strategies, and to choose the best strategy among them to achieve the objective of sustainable competitive advantage. This research focuses on the Generic strategies which suggested by Michael Porter in 1980 who set three different strategies which are the low-cost leadership strategy, differentiation strategy, and focus strategy. Porter (1980) argued that these strategies are the road map for the companies to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage, however he warned that the combining two of these strategies will put the company in a position defined by him as ‘Stuck in the Middle and therefore will not lead a high performance. However, other researchers in the strategic management field such as Miller and Dess (1993), Kekre and Srinivasan (1990), Faulkner and Bowman (1992) and Hill (1988) suggest that combination of two strategies would let the companies achieve a high performance, and achieve sustainable competitive advantage. Recognising the debate in the academic world suggests exploring whether application of â€Å"hybrid strategy† will help companies in achieving sustainable competitive advantage or not. To do this, Zara UK is chosen since it has the highest contribution to the overall revenues of Inditex, the mother company, which was accounted 65.6% of the whole sales (Inditex Annual Report, 2008). 1. 2. Research Background Inditex group is a Spanish company and is one of the largest fashion distributor groups in the world. The group was established in 1975 and opened its first branch in Coruà ±a city in Spain (Inditex, 2009). The international expansion of Inditex started in 1988 by openings its store in the UK which is now the fifth largest market of the group after France, Italy, Portugal, and Germany in terms of number of stores (Inditex Annual Report, 2008). In 2009, Inditex operates in 73 countries through 4430 stores and among those 1340 are under the name of Zara. In 2008, the number of Zara stores in the UK was 63 (Inditex, 2009). â€Å"Inditex† consists of six subsidiary companies working in the retail industry and one of them is Zara which generates the highest income in overall revenues of Inditex. Zara is the most internationalised business unit of the group and therefore has the largest of chain (Inditex, 2009). 1. 3. Research Aim Ultimately, this research aims at exploring whether hybrid strategy helped Zara UK in creating sustainable competitive advantage or not. Reaching this aim requires conducting external and internal analyses. Applied tools and their justification are given below: The external environments which surround Zara are analysed by using: PESTLE tool to analyse the impact of Political, Economical, Social, Technological, Legislations, and Environmental factors on Zara to explore weather it would formulates opportunities or threats. Porters Five Forces model to analyse the competitive environment which surrounds Zara in order to explore the market conditions in fashion industry. Key Competitors analysis in order to examine the key competitors of Zara in the market to identify their similarities and differences as well as the business process in Zara. The internal environment of Zara is analysed by using: Values Chain analysis in order to explore how efficiently Zara uses the value chain system to create value for its customers. Financial analysis in order to analyse its financial performance from 2006 until the first half of 2009. Resource-based View analysis to determine core competences, and capabilities of Zara. Grand Strategy analysis to identify the grand strategy used by Inditex and to examine the effectiveness of this strategy. Competitive Strategy analysis in order to determine the competitive strategy used by Zara in achieving sustainable competitive advantage and analyse the effectiveness of this strategy. SWOT analysis in order to determine the internal strengths and weaknesses of Zara as well as the opportunities and threats that Zara faces due to forces exist in external environment. It is believed that after conducting these analyses, it would be possible to reach a conclusion about whether hybrid strategy is effective or not in achieving sustainable competitive advantage in the UK fashion industry. CHAPTER TWO 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 2. 1. Competitive Strategy Literature in competitive advantage strategy is a well developed topic and many scholars such as Milles and Snows (1978) Mintzberg and Quinn (1992) Faulkner and Bowman (1995) introduced several models to explain how companies can achieve sustained competitive advantage. However, one of the most famous and effective model in this field was Michael Porters framework which was introduced in 1980. in this framework which is called ‘Generic Strategy, he mention that the firm can achieve competitive advantage from three different bases. According to Porter (2004): â€Å"The two basic types of competitive advantage competitive advantage combined with the scope of activities for which the firm seeks to achieve them lead to three generic strategies for achieving above- average performance in an industry: cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. The focus strategy has two variant, cost focus and differentiation focus† Having briefly described the Generic Strategies, it is necessary to look at them in details. 2. 1. 1. Cost Leadership Strategy To achieve competitive advantage according to Porter (1980, 2004), the company has to decrease their cost, and to achieve cost advantage below its competitors in the market. By doing this, a company is able to lower prices and performs above the average performer in its industry thanks to the fact that the cost for the company will be less than its rivals. The company can succeed in its cost leadership strategy if it focuses in decreasing the overhead cost, uses a low-cost product design and automated assembly and pursuits economies of scale and so on. However, David (2005) highlighted some risks associated with applying this strategy. According to him, competitors may imitate this strategy and increase the competition and make a head on collusion, which will drive the overall profit of the industry down (David, 2005). 2. 1. 2. Differentiation Strategy According to Porter (1980, 2004), to achieve competitive advantage, the company has to seek to be unique in its industry. In another words, gaining a competitive advantage can be achieved by increasing the willingness of customers to pay for the company products or services that the company sell (Barney, 2007). According to Gaik (1993), in differentiation strategy, the customers look at the attributes of the products other than looking at the price. To apply this strategy, the firm has to differentiate itself in terms of its products for instance by focusing on the quality of the products or in terms of provided service by focusing on the delivery system by means of decreasing the lead or delivery time. Moreover, the company has to focus on the promotion and the packaging of products. The firm can also differentiate its products by competing on both cost and differentiation, by decreasing the cost and by adding value at the same time. One of the tools for achieving both strategies is managing the supply and value chain systems and designing, structuring, modifying and operating efficiently to add value to the products at the lowest cost possible. However, David (2005) mentioned that the risks of this strategy might be that the product or the service may not be valued enough for the customers to buy it at the price of which the company desires and/or that competitors will be able to imitate the products or services. Therefore, if a company seeks to be successful and sustain its advantage in the market, it should pursue a creative strategy which makes difficult for competitors to imitate and replicate the products or services. 2. 1. 3. Focus Strategy According to Porter (1980; 2004), focus strategy is different than other strategies this is because this strategy aims to narrow the competitive scope in the market, requires selecting a specific segment or group and focusing on it by tailoring the strategy to an exclusive and particular market. This strategy has two variants which are differentiation focus and cost focus. Differentiation focus aims at differentiating a segment or a group by satisfy their unusual needs and the in Cost focus, the firm seeks to achieve low-cost advantage in order to provide the products at cheap prices and the concentration is made only for a small number of the market segments. However, the risk of these strategies is that competitors can easily recognise the success and may copy them (David, 2005). Porter (1980; 2004) mentioned that each strategy is fundamentally different from the other strategies in terms of creating sustainable competitive advantage. Therefore, a company has to make a choice among these strategies and does not combine them. Otherwise, it will lead the firm to get â€Å"stuck in the middle†. He also stressed that being ‘all things to all people is the recipe for strategic mediocrity and if the performance is below the average, it often means that a firm has no competitive advantage at all (Porter, 1980; 2004). However, according to Porter (1980), there are three circumstances where a firm can combine two strategies given in the Generic Strategies framework: First, when all of the other competitors are stuck in the middle; second, when the cost is strongly affected by share or interrelations and finally, when a firm pioneers are a major innovation. Also Porter (1980) mentioned that even under these circumstances, a firm would not be able to compete with a firm which pursues either differentiation, cost leadership or focus strategies. Therefore, according to Porter (1980), a hybrid strategy is unlikely to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. 2. 2. Empirical Studies Porters framework both supported and criticised by the scholars. For instance, Dess and Davis (1984) and Kim and Lim (1988) supported Porters claims and found that companies have to employ only one of the Porters generic strategies if their aim is to achieve higher performance. On the other hand, several authors such as Miller and Dess (1993), Kekre and Sriniva-San (1990), Faulkner and Bowman (1992) and Hill (1988) criticised Porters claims and provided evidence that â€Å"the combination between the cost leadership and the differentiation strategy† would help the company to achieve high performance in the market. For example, Miller and Dess (1993), Kekre and Sriniva-san (1990), Faulkner and Bowman (1992) and Hill (1988) demonstrated that it is not necessary to choose between one of the competitive advantage strategy in order to achieve a high performance. They argued that a company may achieve high performance against its competitors by combining differentiation strategy and cost leadership strategy. This is because integration of these strategies allows being flexible against the changes in the environment. Barney (2007) mentioned that a company can use low-cost and product differentiation strategies simultaneously and this is often expected to create sustained competitive advantage. Moreover, Miller and Dess (1993) mentioned that conceptualisation of Porters model enables the researcher in a strategic management field to explore the viability of the Hybrid strategy. Miller and Dess (1993) gave an evident of Toyota and Lincoln Electric companies as highly successful companies which are applying the Hybrid strategy. Moreover, Wright et al. (1990) also proved that use of Hybrid strategy in apparel industry brought higher financial performance. In addition, Hall (1980) explored that use of Hybrid strategy is the main reason of high successful of firms in low-profit industries. Murray (1988) proposed that firms can use hybrid strategy successfully by focusing in two areas: areas of production and functional areas. In terms of production areas, Murray (1988) threw an argument based on the research conducted by Hayes and Weelwright (1984) and Schonberger (1982) and asserted that achieving greater market responsiveness depends on higher product quality. Using techniques such as Total Quality Control (TQC) and its integration with Just In Time (JIT) for inventory control and purchasing procedures are key to the success. Benefits would be reduction of cost as use of these techniques will be resulted in higher customer satisfaction. As a result, the conflict between the production and the marketing functions can be eliminated and therefore cost minimisation and price maximisation strategies can be implemented together. In terms of functional areas, conflict resolution techniques can be applied which will minimise the conflict to a point that permits the firm to pursue cost leadership and product differentiation strategies simultaneously. More recently, Grant (2005) pointed out the changes occurred in the management techniques and the industries and stated that the market leaders in most industries are the firms whom are able to maximise the customer appeal by reconciling effective mixture between differentiation and low cost. The examples of these firms include Toyota, Dell and Canon. More importantly, he underlined the fact that the success of these firms relies on the implementation of new management techniques such as Total Quality Management (TQM) of which exploded the myth that there is a trade off between high quality and low cost. Grant (2005) also mentioned about the role of the innovation in the manufacturing technology and the manufacturing management in producing simultaneous increase in productivity and quality. Thompson et al. (2005) called hybrid strategy as the ‘best-cost provider and stressed that in order for a firm to gain a competitive advantage among the competitors; it should have a lower cost than its competitors and should position its products with good-to-excellent attributes. They also stated that this strategy can be effective in markets where the buyers are sensitive to the price and the value and then the firm can position itself near the middle of the market by providing customers with either a medium quality products at below average price or by providing with high quality products at an average price. However, they warned that the firm which does not have the capabilities to integrate the upscale product attributes at lower prices compare to its competitors, the hybrid strategy would be ill-advised for them. CHAPTER THREE 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3. 1. Chosen Topic The â€Å"Hybrid Strategy† has been challenged by many strategic management scholars who argued that this strategy can be harmful to the companies. However, substantial amount of research showed that several companies like Toyota, Dell Inc, etc. have achieved a superior success. In order to assess whether this is true or not, this study examines the strategy of Zara in the hybrid strategy framework to determine whether it is successful or it â€Å"stuck in the middle†. 3. 2. Research Question In the light of the ultimate aim, the research question of this study is to what extent Hybrid Strategy can achieve a sustainable competitive advantage for firms in fashion retail industry in the UK. The research focuses on Zara UK which is one of the important business units of Inditex Group. 3. 3. Research Technique The dissertation is qualitative in nature. The exploration is based on data obtained from secondary sources of which include information that is already collected for other studies and documents. The main secondary sources used in this study include reports and documents such as annual reports, press releases and other documents published by the company as well as official statistics and other publicly available data collected by research institutions. The research did not attempt to collect a primary data due to barriers in communicating with the company as well as time limitations. 3. 4. Advantages and Disadvantages of Use of Secondary Resources The main advantage of using secondary data is embodied in saving time and resources. There are some disadvantages associated with the use of the secondary data in this particular study. First of all, collected information does not answer the research question fully. However, they are good enough to be relied upon to reach a conclusion. Secondly, secondary data has reliability issue as there are many resources but in some cases it is not possible to determine whether it is valid or not and this limits the accuracy of the analysis based on secondary data. To overcome these limitations, the coverage of the information was enlarged and multiple sources were used to improve the reliability of the data. 3. 5. Quality of Resources Zara is a leading company in the industry and have competitors. Therefore, before using the data obtained from secondary sources, it was assessed in terms of quality in order to verify whether the data is consistent with the purpose of the research and whether it is reliable and up-to-date. Quality standards were determined by identifying directions of bias in the resources by means of attempting both biased and unbiased sources, by checking the background and reputation of the provider and their level of education, and experience in their professional career. The assessment also considered the target audience in terms of their knowledge as a bias direction. The resources were also assessed in terms of their relevance to the research, their readiness and usefulness in achieving targeted quality and in the analysis of anticipated results. 3. 6. Case Study To enrich the quality of the research particularly in terms of its practicality and its rationality, it used empirical inquiry methods for analysis to investigate the contemporary phenomenon within Zaras real-life context. Therefore it has boundaries between phenomenon and context aimed at providing clear evidence by using multiple sources to assure quality and objectivity. In developing and conducting this study, the researcher was influenced by the case study produced by Ghemawat and Nueno and published in 2003. In their study, the authors explained the rapid changes occurred in the fashion industry, by focusing on the global apparel chain Zara and its structure from the producers to the ultimate customers. Although this study influenced by the Ghemawat and Nuenos (2003) work, it did not depend on the case because of two reasons. First of all, the case study focuses on the corporate level and the mother company and therefore did not include the strategic planning techniques and analysis to explore the advantages of using hybrid competitive strategy. Having said that, this study made use of information about Zara provided by the case study in developing the strategic analysis. Secondly, the case study was prepared in 2003 and the facts given in that study was outdated to some extent. As this paper needs to be based on most recent data particularly for external analysis, financial analysis, current trends in fashion market, it is different than the case study provided by Ghemawat and Nueno (2003). CHAPTER FOUR 4. ANALYSIS 4. 1. External Analysis 4. 1. 1. Characteristics of Fashion Retail Market 4. 1. 1. 1. Overview of Fashion Retail Market in the UK The apparel retail market contains three main sectors: the womenswear sector, menswear sector and infantswear sector. According to Data Monitor (2008), womenswear sector consists of retail sale of clothing for girls and women and generated 66.90% of the whole market in 2007 in the UK. The menswear sector consists of retail sale of clothing for men and boys and generated 30.90% of the whole market. And the infantswear sector includes retail sale of clothing for children between ages of 0 to 2 years of age and it accounts 2.20% of the sales generated by the whole market in the UK in 2007. According to Data Monitors (2008) report, the UK apparel retail market has the highest percentage of revenue in the Europe market value with 24.1% in 2007. The clothing market in the UK grew significantly between 2001 and 2005 when the total spending on clothes in the UK in 2005 reached at  £38.4 billion. Womens clothing sector showed the highest growth with 21% and the total value reached at  £24 billion in the same year. More interestingly the clothing market has been growing even though the recession which hit the UK in October 2007 and affected most of the UK sectors. According to the National Statistics (2009), the sales volume in retail sector in June 2009 was 2.9% higher than in June 2008. In the non-food sector, the sales increased by 2.4% and the largest increase occurred in textile, clothing and footwear by 11.3%. Fashion is a part of the clothing and textile industry and the fashion industry is characterised by the rapid change and the high competition particularly after the year 2005 because of permission of unrestricted access of all members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to the European (Lopez and Fan, 2009). This created a big opportunity for the multinational companies to invest in the UK market. Moreover, the rapid change in technology has given the chance for companies to reduce their cost and to increase the quality of their products. In addition, companies which are searching to decrease their costs started to outsource their production with the companies from the countries with low-labour cost such as China, Singapore. This led the competition in the clothing industry to increase and as the competition increased, the prices went down; as a result a market for ‘Discount Apparel Retail emerged and started to grow (Datamonitor, 2008). However, in the fashion industry, customers do not consider prices but look at the quality, variety, design and the availability of the products. Due to characteristics of the market, no particular group or company dominate the market since the market is driven by â€Å"customers†. In addition, due to increased competition, switching cost for the customers also diminished. This resulted in changes in the direction of competition. Today, the rules of the game in the clothing market have changed and meeting with customer expectations turned into achieving fast fashion production (Walters, 2006). Bruce and Daly (2006) describe todays fashion industry in the following way: â€Å"In fast fashion, buying activities play a crucial role through supplier selection and product decision-making, and indeed, buying is arguably changing from purely operational to much more strategic† And according to Walters (2008), the retailers in â€Å"fast fashion† can satisfy consumer expectations by the speed, variety and style of the products and by selling the products in low prices. 4. 1. 1. 2. The Nature of Fashion Market According to Christopher et al. (2004), there are four elements which determine the characteristics of the fashion market. These are: Short life-cycles products have short life, it is often for a moment when designs catch the style. As a result, the period of selling products is very short and seasonal: it could months or even weeks. High volatility the demand in the fashion market is rarely stable; the demand may be influenced by several factors, such as the weather, movies or even footballers or pop stars. Low predictability it is not easy to predict the desire of the market in the fashion industry, because of the volatility of the demand. Therefore, it is very difficult to predict total demand within a period accurately even week-by-week or item-by item. High impulse purchasing the availability of the products increases the need for the customer to buy it. Consumers decision making for buying fashion clothes occur at the point of purchase. 4. 1. 2. 3. Key Success Factors for Fashion Industry To conclude, as the fashion products have a short life cycle and as it is difficult to predict the market demand due to unstable demand as well as characteristics of fashion market, several key success factors were identified. These are outlined below: Price: Prices should be affordable for the customers. Quality: Fashion products should have a good quality. Quick Response: Companies should respond to market demand quickly by launching rapidly. Design: Should match with the current fashion. Availability: Products should be available on the shelves of the store as long as there is demand. Variety: Companies should provide variety of products for the customers. 4. 1. 2. PESTLE Analysis PESTLE framework provides a comprehensive list of environmental influences on the possible success or failure of particular strategies (Johnson et al., 2008). PESTLE framework contains six factors, which are the external factors that have effect on companies. It is argued that if companies major these factors they can formulate strategies from the opportunities or be prepared for the threats. 4. 1. 2. 1. P Political Factors Since 2005, no restrictions left on all import in the textile and clothing industry. This gives unrestricted access to all members of the WTO to the European. This would formulate an opportunity for Zara as it imports products from outside the UK with low cost without any restrictions. However it could pose as a threat for Zara, as the competition in the market can be increased especially by the companies which have products with lower prices. 4. 1. 2. 2. E Economic Factors Most recent recession hit almost all countries in the world, including the UK. As a result of global recession, the unemployment rate in UK started to increased. According to the National Statistics (2009), the unemployment rate was 7.6% for the first quarter of 2009 and it was the highest rate since 1981. The impact of recession in the UK is a threat for Zara, as the number of unemployed people increase, their expenditures decrease. Moreover, for employed people, current economic conditions bring uncertainty and therefore they tend to decrease their expenditures and increase their saving. This could affect Zaras sales in an adverse way since unemployment rate has been on the rise. Moreover, as a result of economic recession, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been declining in a dramatic way in the UK. According to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (2009), the GDP in the UK fell by 0.3% ending in July 2009; in addition, according to Financial Times (2009), it was the worst quarterly performance since 1958. However it is predicted that it rose by 0.2% starting from August. Decline in the GDP posed a threat for Zara as it indicates decline in consumers income. In terms of exchange rates, the situation is also not that bright. According to Economy Watch Website (2009), since December 2008, the Great Britain Pound (GBP) lost value at a rapid rate and reached a 24-year low of $1.35 per  £1 in January 2009. The impact of weakening of the pound against euro and dollar is pushing up the prices of imports and therefore forces retailers to increase their prices. According to Financial Times (2009), this would formulate a threat for Zara as the retailer will need to increase its prices. However, depreciation of GBP would be an opportunity for the mother company Inditex because of the strong Euro against the GBP. More interestingly, despite the recession, the clothing industry in the UK is still growing. In general, the retail industry in UK has grown during 2009 and the growth was predominantly in non-food goods particularly in textile, clothing and footwear stores by 11.3% (National Statistics, 2009b). 4. 1. 2. 3. S Social Factors The social factors are one of the most important factors which affect the fashion industry. Culture of the society is viewed as the most significant factor in terms of its effects in fashion since it is different from one country to another, even it might be different in the same country. Moreover, culture changes as time passes and these changes affect preferences in fashion. As a result, predicting changes become difficult since taste of consumes can be influenced by several factors, such as weather, movies, or even footballers or pop stars (Christopher et al., 2004). The impact of this would be a threat for all companies in fashion industry if they company cannot be able to adapt themselves with ever-changing nature of tastes. Other thing which might affect fashion preferences is education which triggers continuous searching for knowledge. In the UK, education level is high and it causes fashion preferences change rapidly. This is because, as a result of high education level, the awareness of customers to new areas of experience expands and it increases the interest in and desire for a more fashionable appearance. Moreover, increases in the number of working women let them more confident in their judgments when making decisions about clothing (Kiran et al., 2002). The increase in population in the UK is also an opportunity for Zara. According to National Statistics (2009), the UKs population increase with an annual growth rate of 0.5% which is about 1000 people per day due to increase in number of births. This means the market for fashion clothing will continue to grow thanks to the increase in the number of customers, particularly in children clothing sector. UK clothing market is well-developed market and it is growing. According to the research conducted by Allwood et al. (2006), consumers in the UK spent  £38.4 billion in 2005 in clothing and of which  £24 billion was on womens, girls and infants clothing and  £12 billion on mens and boys clothing. Growing fashion clothing market is an opportunity for Zara, especially in women and girls sectors. To conclude, it can be said that the impact of the social factors on Zara would be positive as they create opportunity for the company if it quickly responds to the market and the changing in customer preferences. 4. 1. 2. 4. T Technological Factors The technology is the corner stone for any company since it helps in decreasing the cost in manufacturing process. Therefore, technological developments stand as an opportunity for Zara as advance technology helps in developing better business process. In addition to this, technology led to development of new marketing channels. The internet is a good example for such development. Recent figure showed that online retailing has been increasing particularly in the UK. According to IMRG Cap Gemini (2009), e-retail sales index showed an increase around 12% in the second half of 2009 and in the first half o 2009, UK consumers spent  £22.9 billion in their online purchases. This suggests that increase in online retailing transactions stands as an opportunity if Zara starts online retailing. 4. 1. 2. 5. E Environmental Factors Watson (2001) argued that as much as organic food products have become popular, it is inevitable that consumers will extend their scope of purchase to the organic textiles and this trend is already started as some retailers such as Marks and Sp

Descartes Skeptical Argument And Reponses By Bouwsma And Malcolm Essay

Descartes' Skeptical Argument and Reponses by Bouwsma and Malcolm In this essay, I will examine Rene Descartes' skeptical argument and responses by O.K. Bouwsma and Norman Malcolm. I intend to prove that while both Bouwsma and Malcolm make points that refute specific parts of Descartes' argument in their criticisms, neither is sufficient in itself to refute the whole. In order to understand Descartes' argument and its sometimes radical ideas, one must have at least a general idea of his motives in undertaking the argument. The seventeenth century was a time of great scientific progress, and the blossoming scientific community was concerned with setting up a consistent standard to define what constituted science. Their science was based on conjunction and empirical affirmation, ideally without any preconceived notions to taint the results. Descartes, however, believed that the senses were unreliable and that science based solely on information gained from the senses was uncertain. He was concerned with finding a point of certainty on which to base scientific thought. Eventually he settled on mathematics as a basis for science, because he believed mathematics and geometry to be based on some inherent truths. He believed that it was through mathematics that we were able to make sense of our world, and that the ability to think mathematically was an innate ability of all human beings. This theory becomes important in Descartes' Meditations because he is forced to explain where the mathematical ideas that he believed we were born with came from. Having discussed Descartes' background, I will now explain the specifics of his argument. The basis of Descartes' entire argument is that the senses can not be trusted, and his objective is to reach a point of certainty, one undeniable truth that fixes our existence. He said it best in his own words, "I will . . . apply myself earnestly and openly to the general destruction of my former opinions."1 By opinions he meant all the facts and notions about the world which he had previously held as truths. Any point which had even the slightest hint of doubt was discarded and considered completely false. Descartes decided that he would consider all things until he found that either nothing is certain, which is itself a point of certainty, or he reached the one undeniable truth he was searching for. In order to accom... ...admirable case for the validity of the senses, but upon careful examination he says very much the same thing as Bouwsma. Namely, that the senses are real to us. Bouwsma came to this point by examining the idea of the evil genius and the idea of "illusions". Malcolm came to it through examining the differences between fact, belief and sensory information. Despite the differences in how they discovered it, they both came to the same conclusion. The point is valid and their reasoning is sound, but it does not prove that Descartes is wrong. The strength of the skeptical argument lies in the fact that it can not be completely disproved. No one can prove or disprove the existence of an evil genius, they can only go so far as to say that it does not matter. This is essentially what Bouwsma and Malcolm have done. They tried to prove that the existence of the evil genius would not make a difference in our lives. For this reason, I believe that although Bouwsma and Malcolm have made a valid point, they have only touched the surface of Descartes' argument. They have succeeded in proving that life is not meaningless, but that was not the purpose of Descartes' argument to begin with.

Literature Comparison Between a Short Story and a Poem Essay

Literature? This form of entertainment had been around for ages, whether be in a form of a Poetry, a Drama or a Short Story. This Type of literature had been used by Poets and Authors to convey their deepest desires, feelings, Ideas, amazing imaginations which makes us, whoever we want and an escape to daily normal life and with this making it humorous and lively. Everyone definitely have been exposed to a genre of literature in their life at one point. It comes from the French language and is used to identify types or categories of literature. Clugston, 2010). This can be further classified or in such a way, be selected by the readers by type they can relate into. One might consider reading short stories quietly or pronounce a poem loudly to get into the climax, bringing such poems rhythm into life. A novel, A short story, A tragic or splendid drama and poems that entice every that hears it, these different types of literature brings the authors work into life for the readers to see , feel or hear. The two short stories I have chosen to compare and contrast is the poem â€Å"Because I Could Not Stop for Death† written by Emily Dickinson in 1890/1983 and story â€Å"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty† written by James Thurber in 1939. These two stories take place in two different time periods. The main character, in each story, differs in death and position. However, these two stories share a similar message concerning life and marriage. Obviously, Emily Dickinson and James Thurber are two very different writers who lived in different periods, but their shared internal struggles with marriage, life and escapism undeniably connects them. Surely, each of these stories is a literary portrait of marriage, but more specifically, each is a description of the constraints of marriage for both men and women. Each story explores a married individual’s loss of self and the need to revisit independence through some form of escapism. In Emily Dickinson of â€Å"Because I Could Not Stop for Death†, a woman with a weak heart discovers her husband has been killed in an accident. Instead of expressing sadness, she becomes invigorated when she realizes the new life his death has granted her only to die upon learning she was misinformed and he’s alive. In the same way, James Thurber’s â€Å"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty† visits the restrictive nature of a civil union by detailing the persistent day dreaming of a married man who is held captive by his own lack of self-confidence and his wife’s overbearing nature. Furthermost, the life understanding of any author has an excessive influence on the subject matter he/she chooses for the base of the story being written. It is important to know the circumstances of the perspectives and ideas of the theme. An author’s background or environment is often offers the source of the author’s motivation. Emily Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts in December of 1830 to Edward Dickinson and Emily Norcross Dickinson. Emily spent her childhood and adulthood living in the family home with her sister Lavinia. Emily received her education through the local schools and at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (Johnson). Emily appeared to have an active and social presence in society until her return from a trip to Philadelphia in the early part of the 1850’s. It is said that her withdrawal from society began shortly after her return from Philadelphia because she had fallen in love with a married minister (Emily Dickinson). It has also been said that Emily suffered an emotional crisis in the early 1860’s that led to her writing over three hundred poems in 1862 (Because I Could Not Stop for Death). Emily began to isolate herself even more after the death of her father in 1874 and the death of her mother in 1882. In the early part of 1886 Emily was diagnosed with a kidney dysfunction that she later died of in May of that same year (Emily Dickinson). On the other hand, James Thurber was born on December 8, 1894. Thurber was encouraged by his family as well as society to advance himself socially. He had two brothers and a father to constantly enforce male views. However, his mother was dominant personality of the family. Described as a larger than life, born comedienne, Mary Anne (Mame) Fisher Thurber was a source of inspiration for her son’s literary works. James Thurber attended college at Ohio State University from 1913 to 1918. Shortly after returning from Paris, France as a code clerk for the U.  S. Department of State, Thurber married Althea Adams. Unfortunately, the marriage was troubled and ended in divorce 12 years later in 1935. Emily Dickinson of â€Å"Because I Could Not Stop for Death† and James Thurber’s â€Å"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty† are both great literary works. Although these stories are well written, they both own a different character. Emily’s story is a solemn and c ompacts with the matter of death and tragedy events involving a women who remains so busy that she never has time to stop and think about anything else, including death. In contrast, Thurber’s story has a comedic sensibility presented through the acts of a somewhat unlucky man. â€Å"The main theme of this story is escapism, in which the main character deals with his everyday frustrations by escaping into daydreams† (Cummings, 2009). Alongside the advantage of the enormous differences, a commonality exists which describes the negative compromise of situation. This compromise is projected from two very different points of view. One story is told from the perspective of a woman appears to not be afraid of â€Å"Death† or â€Å"Immortality† and joins them on the carriage ride. The woman’s acceptance to take a carriage ride with â€Å"Death† suggests that the woman has no fear of dying and welcomes death happily. The other story is stated through a man who daydreams of various jobs and want to define himself a very timid husband that uses his imagination to cope with his wife and the various aspects of married life. It is just as important to indication, these two stories were not only written from opposite viewpoints, but they were also written 45 years apart. Even though these two different story in a time periods symbolize a great change in social approaches and social practices, it decide that Dickinson’s character’s escapism is rooted in reality and Thurber’s character’s escapism is imagined, each story’s main character’s desire to escape is the same. In Dickinson’s â€Å"Because I Could Not Stop for Death†, the first thing we learn about the main character, is that she appears to not be afraid of â€Å"Death† or â€Å"Immortality† and joins them on the carriage ride. The carriage slowly moves along as if there is no time schedule and â€Å"Death† has no pressing matters. The woman seems as if she no longer has a care in world and nothing else matters except her carriage ride with â€Å"Death†. The carriage signifies a coffin inside of a horse during a funeral procession. The slowness in which the carriage is moving could be the result of a slow death for the woman, meaning, that her death could have resulted from a disease or disability that kills slowly over a period of time. The woman still appears to be unafraid because of â€Å"Death’s† civility. As they pass the school where the children strove in the ring at recess, she reflects on her on childhood. As they slowly move passed the school yard, they pass the fields of gazing grain, in which she reflects upon her adulthood. â€Å"Death† then drives passed the setting sun. The driving passed the setting sun has two representations: 1) for mortals, who gage the time they have left in the day, and 2) for immortals, the passing into another life – death. At this point she realized just how slow â€Å"Death† is driving, it is at such a slow pace, it is as if they are not moving and the sun has passed them. The Dews drawing a quivering chill is just another indication of her death. When the woman makes reference to â€Å"For only Gossamer, my Gown – My Tippet – only Tulle†, she is referring to her clothing. She feels as if she is not dressed appropriately hence the chill, which is another indicator of death or a spiritual presence. As they are paused before what she perceives as a house in the distance, she is only able to see what she believes to be the roof. She is so comfortable with death that she does not realize the house with the swelling ground is actually her grave site, which also explains the reasoning behind the cornice appearing to be in the ground. She is actually observing the house from her grave. This setting affects the character because now she has realized all the things she has missed out on, and how much she is gaining from this carriage ride. Since she has taken away her labors and her leisure she has time to look at all the wonderful things of life. Therefore, in James Thurber’s â€Å"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, the main character, Walter Mitty, this man was a hopeless daydreamer as well as a unique individual in many ways. I imagined seeing Walter in a navy airplane as a very small grey haired elderly gentleman, also as a surgeon trying to help an Englishman in his time of need as well. Walter seemed to be a very intelligent yet cunning individual, with a great imagination, as well as a great sense of humor. I would have loved to meet this man when he was living as I believe the stories that Walter had were very interesting to listen to. I enjoyed reading the story and learned a lot about a man named Walter Mitty. According to the story that was written I gathered that Walters wife was a very demanding and also controlling person. Walter followed her lead and did everything that was asked of him by Mrs. Mitty. Although she did not give Walter a chance to be himself as she controlled Walters every move. When asked to meet her at the hotel Walter was sure to follow what she had asked of him, although when Mrs. Mitty arrived at the hotel Walter was nowhere to be found as he was sitting in a chair turned towards a window having yet another daydream. Mrs. Mitty got very upset when she could not find Walter anywhere. When she did finally locate him she fussed at him about the fact that Walter seemed to be hiding from her. Even though this was not the case. Mrs. Mitty had her own ideas as well as thoughts about her husband and was not changing her mind. The way I understand his wife she is definitely in charge of the household and what goes on there. I believe the way Walter escapes from the anxiety of his wife nagging him by daydreaming as he can block out all of things she says to him that stress Walter out. Then Walter is in his own little world away from all of the worries and anxieties of daily life. Both â€Å"Because I Could Not Stop for Death† and â€Å"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty† are written as short stories and both display characteristics of a drama but not throughout. However, the poem and stories could be altered a bit and turned into great plays! The authors Emily Dickinson and James Thurber each had their own way of applying different basics into their pieces of work. Although each author successfully connected their messages through their work. Both stories revolve around the same theme of a life or imagination but with completely different content and style. Each short story could be turned into and performed as a play that would be both entertaining and interesting. These short stories or poem had many similarities and differences but the final results of each of the poem or stories was that they were well constructed, easily understood and they each were very unique.