Behaviorist description of depression Essay Example for Free

Behaviorist description of depression Essay The behavioral perspective of depression links the disorder to a deficit of positive reinforcements in ones life. This lack of reinforcement results in the decline of constructive behavior, which in turn results in depression. Behaviorists posit that a person suffering from depression can develop a plan of action to replenish the deficit of positive reinforcement through the cooperation of family, friends and the therapist. In other words, according to behaviorists, the patients inability to cope with life stress leads to social withdrawal, which reduces the rate of positive reinforcements, which then results in depression. The belief that a person suffering from depression can behave him- or herself out of it is both appealing and troublesome. The benefits of constructive activity notwithstanding, dependence on others for positive reinforcement could result in depression that waxes and wanes in direct proportion to the presence or absence of external stimuli. The danger inherent is this view is of placing too strong a focus on those external reinforcements. A patient who places conditions of worth on his or her actions may be convinced that others will never be in a state of approval of those actions. Such a patient may benefit more greatly from a cognitive therapy that addresses his or her maladaptive thinking patterns and self-deprecating automatic thoughts. It is the therapists responsibility to assess the most effective treatment based on the patients individual profile. The specific therapeutic approach must be tailored to the patents needs and capabilities. If the patient requires guidance to change maladaptive thinking, then a plan to simply change behavior is doomed to fail. The behaviorist perspective can also be interpreted as placing responsibility for depression squarely on the shoulders of the patient. Encouragement (of the patient to take charge of his or her own recovery by changing the nature of his or her personal relationships) can be effective with a strong-willed person who is committed to recovery. By helping to develop a plan of action and monitoring its success and opportunities for improvement, the behavioral therapist maintains at once a reliable presence at a respectful distance. The patients relationships are also important factors in depression that must be addressed to treat depression; ergo behavioral therapy must tackle negativity in that facet of the patients life. The therapist must assess the overall relationship dynamic and any negative patterns of communication between the patient and his or her most significant others. Ideally, a behavioral therapist has evaluated the patient and hypothesized that he or she will benefit from changing behavioral patterns. The therapist patient will then work closely with the patient to assess the nature of his or her innate behavioral patterns to determine which are constructive and which detract from his or her impression of positive reinforcement. Classical conditioning is not suited for this task but modeling and shaping may be effective. Operant conditioning, by definition, is the order of the day. The patient will receive continuous positive reinforcement for behaviors that combat his or her depression, while those that feed the depression will become extinct.

The Values And Ethics Social Work Essay

The Values And Ethics Social Work Essay Social workers are faced with making decisions about risks whilst managing the pressures of limited resources such as a lack of social workers and societys view of social work (11). This can cause a social worker to be risk averse and become more concerned with avoiding risk to protect themselves instead of taking action that may be right for the service user. 88% of social workers have expressed a concern that cuts in services can put peoples lives at risk and 77% stated that they were unable to manage their caseloads (1). Wales has the second highest vacancy rate of social workers in the UK at 9% with England at 11% (Lombard, 2010). There are 3 different types of risk (Adams, Dominelli Payne). These are the risk to service users from others, the risk to service users from themselves and the risk to others from service users. In the statutory sector risk assessment is a mandatory part of casework as it is within law and agency policy to assess risk to an individual (Healy,2012). S17 and S47 of the Children Act 1989 places a duty on a social worker to investigate when it is believed that a child is at risk of harm. The difference between S17 and s47 is the urgency and seriousness of risks (Beckett, 2010). Risk to the child includes some form of harm and the probability of that harm occurring. 2. Factors of Risk There are certain factors in a childs life that may be linked to poor outcomes (Parton, ) These include low family income, homelessness, parenting capacity, post natal depression in the mother, low birth weight, substance misuse and community factors such as residing in a disadvantaged neighbourhood. Protective factors may include a strong relationship with parents and other significant adults, parental interest and involvement in the childs education and positive role models. There are also other protective factors if the child is outgoing, has self motivation, has intelligence and plays an active role in family and community life. The more risk factors present the more likely it is that they would experience abuse or poor outcomes (5). Early intervention to identify risks can help to reduce problems. Identifying the risk and protective factors can give a prognosis on the childs future development (8). Assessing their needs and risks will help to identify the services that should be in place to prevent further impairment to their health and development (BASW, 2012, 3.2). In assessment we must recognise the factors that could have harmful consequences and the severity and the likelihood of harm (Beckett, ). The difficulty in assessing risks is that we may see a high risk factor that may be unlikely to materialise but dismiss low risk factors which may cause more harm long term. There is the potential to reinforce social inequalities as many factors are strongly associated with socioeconomic disadvantage such as single parents, low income and previous institutional care (CCW, 2002, 1.5). 3. Assessment In social work the assessment of children involves analysing the childs development needs, parenting capacity and family and environment factors (Welsh Government, 2001). Using the assessment triangle gives a holistic view of the child and the influences upon them. Once all the information is gathered it can be easier to identify the areas in which a child is most at risk and how those risks maybe addressed (BASW, 2012, 3.2). Risk is an aspect of all assessments (Whittington, 2007). The aim of a risk assessment is to consider the situation, decide on the likelihood of the risk happening and aim to reduce the identified risk having a negative impact. There are different types of risk assessment (Coulshed Orme, ). These are preventative, investigative and continuation. Preventative is undertaken before intervention to decide on whether or not to intervene. It involves looking at the situation and assessing the risk factors along with balancing the rights of service users and the responsibilities of the social worker. Investigative is carried out during an initial assessment to identify the current and potential risks. Continuation assessment is balancing the risks of intervention against no intervention. A social worker should evaluate the original situation then acknowledge changes and what effect these changes will have if any at all. In social work the actuarial and clinical methods of risk assessing are used (Cree Myers, ). The actuarial method uses statistical calculations of probability and how an individuals behaviour is judged on the basis of behaviours in other people in a similar situation. The clinical method uses personality factors and situational factors relevant to risky behaviour and the interaction between the two. Adhering to legislation, policy and procedures and the rights of the service user should ensure good practice in relation to assessment and managing risk and protection (Adams, Dominelli and Payne, ). Legislation and policy shapes and determines the actions, duties and powers of a social worker (CCW, 2002, 6.1). Failure to follow set policies and procedures can result in things going wrong. 4. Skills and Judgements in Assessment Management of risk is often judged by the outcome and not the process of the assessment (7). When examining a case that has had negative outcomes it is easy to see the presence of heightened risk. This can reinforce the view that the outcome could have been avoided had the risks been realised. Conducting an initial assessment requires interview skills to get the information and reasoning skills to analyse the information and identify risks (CCW, 2002, 4.2). Assessment is an essential skill in itself (9). It requires effective communication skills to gather the necessary information and critical analytical skills to interpret that information. A social worker will need the appropriate skills to be able to negotiate with a service user or an agency in order to provide appropriate services (BASW, 2012, 2.2.3). Serious case reviews often highlight the importance of assessment and analysis (Good practice in assessment book). An effective assessment looks at the overall situation to explain what has happened to a child and provides a framework for analysing the needs of the child and the dangers that individuals pose to children. Particular care must be taken so that the assessment does not become over optimistic and minimise the risk to the child. The focus should be on gathering evidence to make professional judgements about whether a child is safe from harm, neglect, and abuse. Other skills in assessing risk is the ability to predict what may happen in the future in areas of uncertainty (Trevithick, ). If the information gathered is accurate and up to date and the social worker has a sound knowledge and skill base there is less chance of over or underestimating the risks involved. In order to gain accurate information a social worker should use effective communication and listening skills to pick up on the risks presented. Communication between professionals and agencies may be difficult as there may be issues of power, different priorities and professional values (10). For example a doctor will be more concerned with discharging a service user once their medical issue has been addressed. A social worker will be concerned that services are put in place to ensure that the service user is safe to return home. Skills and knowledge are frequently criticised in serious case reviews into child protection services and can adversely affect risk management. 5. Risk Management In a review of child protection services it was identified that mistakes in assessment of risk have been either over or under estimating the risk posed to the child (2). Risk management cannot completely eliminate risks only reduce them. An assessment may decide that the risk of harm to a child will be low but low risk events can still happen. A social worker should use their professional judgement when deciding on actions to take as all options will involve a certain amount of risk (CCW, 2002, 4.1). For example when a child is removed from their family and placed in local authority care they may face other risks such as being unable to settle with a new family. The principles of working in child protection are to maintain the safety, security and well being of individuals. A social worker should use their judgement to balance the possible benefits of a decision against the likelihood of possible harm. They should work with other professionals to make decisions on risk involved so th at errors can potentially be reduced (BASW, 2012, 3.1). Lessons can be learnt to improve decision making from the successes as well as the failures. Positive risk taking relies on quality information. Agencies should share appropriate information on those individuals who pose a risk to others or those that are at risk from harm. A serious case review identified several failings in the protection of Baby P (6). Two of the children in the family were already subject to child protection plans which may be seen as a risk factor. The adults involved had refused to explain Ps injuries. It would have been reasonable to believe that Baby P was at risk if the adults were not willing to provide an explanation if they had nothing to hide. It was recommended that interagency working and communication must improve to ensure that children have a greater level of protection from different professionals. Professionals should recognise and respect each other roles and be trained appropriately together (BASW, 2012, 3.14). Supervision for the social worker in the case of Baby P was inconsistent and often cancelled. When carrying out S47 enquiries a social worker should be supported by their manager and have periods of supervision to review their caseload. This provides the opportunity to view the actions of the social worker f rom another perspective so that other options can be explored. A criticism of social workers in child protection is over familiarity with a family (10). The social worker may have long term involvement with the family and are unable to take an unbiased view of the situation. Therefore it is important that supervision takes place to gain another perspective (BASW, 2012, 3.13). Child protection conferences should involve the parents (AWCCP). Professionals should determine how information about the case will be shared with them to ensure that a child is not put at further risk. Unless the criteria for exclusion are met parents should always be encouraged and supported to attend the conference. By attending the conference parents will be clear on what the concerns are, understand the risk to their children and the reason for the involvement of the different agencies. This will ensure that they are aware of the changes that need to be made to protect their children from harm. During the conference professionals involved must consider the risks of harm if the child were to remain at home and how those risks can be managed. A plan will be created which will detail the arrangements for managing the risks identified and how it will be monitored. The child protection plan must consider the wishes of the child and the parents (CCW, 2002, 1.2). A solution focussed approach can be utilised by the social worker to plan the necessary services required to manage the risk (Creer and Myers). This approach is used when finding solutions to the current situation. A social worker may consider services such as family counselling to explore and understand the issues the family have. 6 Values and Ethics etc There are times when taking a risk is a positive move (Beckett, ). It provides an opportunity to learn to manage risk. If a child is over protected they cannot be expected to understand how and when to take risks. If risks are unavoidable then the positives and negatives of the outcome should be analysed. In child protection the dilemma may arise when deciding on whether to remove a child and place them in foster care or remain with the family. As previously identified there are risks in placing a child in foster care. If they are unable to settle they may experience multiple moves. When there are risks of harm to children there will be pressure on the social worker to act quickly but this may be difficult as exploring the risks and benefits effectively may take time. There are also risks to social workers from aggressive parents when working in child protection (Lindon, ). The social worker should acknowledge the parents feelings and refrain from arguing back. As the social worker has a responsibility towards the children they should attempt to diffuse the situation to prevent upsetting the children (CCW, 2002, 5.7). The anger from the parents could present a risk to the children and should be acknowledged as such. A child has the right under Article 19 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child to protection from abuse and neglect (WAG, 2008). The parents could also argue that they have the right to a private family life under Article 8 of the Human Rights Act 1998 but if they are subjecting their child to abuse or neglect then this right is over ridden. There are many uncertainties regarding risk in child protection (Adams, Dominelli and Payne). There may be no right or wrong decisions if it is approached correctly. However, there is always the possibility of a negative outcome which can be difficult for all involved and have serious implications for a child. It is difficult to make decisions where there is incomplete knowledge and uncertainty of a situation. The social worker must use their professional judgement to ensure they have taken as much care as possible to address risks with the information available (BASW, 2012, 2.3.4) In conclusion risk can be difficult to manage as it contains many areas of uncertainty. The negative factors should be identified early to prevent further risks occurring. The assessment must take into account all areas in a childs life to ensure a complete picture is gained and all risks are acknowledged. If the social worker has good communication skills then the quality of the information gained should be high and will enable them to make a more informed assessment. If the relevant information is not gathered then appropriate decisions may not be made. Several recommendations were made in the serious case review of Baby P. Supervision is important as it can ensure the quality of a social workers practice, provide other perspectives on relevant cases and potentially can improve outcomes for service users. Multi agency working is a requirement in social work. It must be utilised to gain a holistic view of the child and identify various services that can be put in place to manage ris ks. A service user still may not experience a positive outcome even though the most appropriate services are utilised to reduce and manage risks. If the social worker has carried out their duties correctly in accordance with legislation and policies, identified the risks and worked with others to manage those risks then they can be satisfied that they have done all they can and accept that not all outcomes will be positive.

What are the key considerations in branding exercise

What are the key considerations in branding exercise Brands can be defined as the promises that consumers believe in. In general, brand is an image that makes its way into consumers mind to influence how they think and buy. It is based on the promise of the products to the consumers. A brand, in essence, is related to the promise you are going to deliver to the consumers about the products and the benefits after using or purchasing the products. (Keller, 1993) A lot of people have misunderstanding towards concept of brand. They thought changing the logo and company are the complete set of brand exercise. Branding isnt a veneer that you slap on (usually in the form of a new logo) to mask or transform a product offering. Treating branding like some skin-deep solution to your businesss problems is like putting lipstick on a pig: People see through the makeup, no matter how thick the application. According to Aaker, and Keller (1990), branding has to go all the way to the core of everyone and the identity for all. Before starting doing any brand exercise, there are some mindset preparation needs to be established. First when you start building your brand, you must let the whole world to believe and confident towards your promise on your products. The product promises should be unique and represent the values of the products to be delivered to the customers. The promises you have made, should be delivered to your consumers at the same pace in term of name, logo, message and the company name. The consistency of the brand is important especially when doing publicity, advertisements or even maintaining customer relationship. After building up the brand, brand maintenance is very important. (Muniz and OGuinn, 2001). We must reinforce the brand promise. We must have self evaluation on the brand consistency with the message that we hope to deliver. If the brand does not show consistency, you tend to spoil your brand and put your brand at risk because consumer would think that you are breaking your pr omise to deliver the message to the consumers. No branding exercise is going to success if you are rushing for building up the brand. When building up a brand, we must always focus, persistence and put passion into it. Besides, branding exercise needs high investment. The higher the risk, the higher the return. The return on investment for brand exercise is huge because you will increase the involvement of market share at long run. Remember, you would not be able to see the results of branding at short time. Hence, building up branding exercise of a product or company follows the principle of Rome is not built in one day! Time, effort are the success key for building a brand. Brands create consumer trust and emotional attachments. For example, when we think of a convenient store, we will definitely think of 7-11. Why? This can be explained that the store has created the trust and emotional attachments among us. Branding exercise enhances customer loyalty and help the organization to win through even when they are having price war or having new competitors in the market. In consumer behaviour studies, brand actually a perception neurologically. For example, you are able to identify a logo because you believe how and what the logo represents. For example, Coffee Bean sells coffee. It stands for daily respiration. Remember, the brand lives in consumer minds, so branding is the process of development consumer beliefs and perception that are accurate and in alignment with what you want your brand to be. Key Considerations in Branding Exercise There is several keys consideration in branding exercise. It can be described through the diagram when taking action of brand exercise. The first key of consideration is the product definition. According to Balmer (1995) you can actually brand anything that wish to such as services, products, organisation, even people. Complete understanding of the product you would like to brand is the first consideration to be taken into account. The second consideration is the positioning of products. During positioning, we have to find out the is found in the consumers mind. Hence, the positioning should be unique, meaningful, and available spot in the marketplace. The uniqueness of the product that enables the product to stand out from the market is essential to understand your own product before taking the decision to brand the product. Next, the promise is the important element in branding exercise. In fact, the promise delivers by the product is the fundamental of the message to be delivered to the consumers. This promise shows what the product can deliver or how the product does helps the consumer. The key promises actually create the interest among consumers and credibility of the products. Most of the brand consultant would start the branding exercise by giving a fantastic name, creating a nice logo and launch the product to the market place with nice and beautiful packaging. (Keller, 2003). Persistence plays important role in branding. It is the important key consideration during branding. This is the point in the branding cycle where too many brands lose steam. After brands are launched, brand owners often get tired of their own looks and messages and begin to improvise with new looks, new messages, and even new brand personalities and promises. Just when consistency is most necessary in order to gain clarity and confidence in the marketplace, brands that lack persistence go off track. The persistence of the brand can be evaluated through perception analysis. In a consumers mind which is where brands live and thrive a brand is a set of beliefs about what a company offers, promises, and stands for. Great brands continually monitor brand per ­ceptions to see that theyre in alignment with the brand owners aspira ­tions and in synch with consumer wants and needs. Based on the results of perception analysis, brand owners begin their loop around the branding cycle again, this time adjusting their products, fine-tuning their positioning statements, strengthening their promises, updating their presentations, rewriting their brand management rules, and once again monitoring perceptions in order to guide ongoing brand realignments and revitalizations. 2. Never in my life did I think that any of my traditional dishes.. that I cured in my backyard would one day appear in store say Tescos partner Khun Kanungnit. Explain the key benefits of branding and how does branding change the way Tescos partner Khun Kanungnit operate his business? Key Benefit of Branding Most businessmen have the dilemma the statement, To Brand or Not to Brand. The consideration involved of the return on investment (ROI) worth for the value. However, the concept of branding brings more advantages to the business. First, the brands unlock profitability. Doing business in this competitive world creates problems to the new comers. All businesses are focusing on different areas and they are competing with each other. Product differentiation, provide a better service become the competitive key for all business. According to Berry (2000), consumers now are smart to do comparison on the price, quality of the products. Brands provide the platform for the product and business to venture into strategic advantage environment. Second, brands prompt consumer selection. The buying process now has changed. Traditional purchasing behaviour focus on direct selling and also face to face communication. Now, with advancement with internet and wireless connection, people can even use hand phone or ipad to purchase. The change of the buying behaviour breaks the geographic limitation. The boundless marketplace creates more challenge to the business and creates the needs of branding to the businesses. Third brands build name awareness. According to Theory Reasoned and Action (TRA) model awareness is the fundamental of purchase behaviour. Creating a brand can be enhanced through logo trademark registration. According to Ha (1998), there are nearly 99% of the words found in the English dictionary has been registered as the domain name to be used as the marketing strategy. Some of the names even are put as the trademark. Now, a lot of new business created words is not found in the dictionary to be used as their business. Those invented names have strong and diligent word so they create consumer awareness, recall, and meaning. Forth, Park, Jaworski and Maclnnis (1986) reported the brands increase the odds of business survival. When analysing product life cycle, we understand that boost up a product is essential in order to avoid the product reaches saturated stage. Brand helps to break through this barrier. With this strategy, products would continue to survive without having strike by the sinking of consumer awareness, understanding, and preference In fact, brands do not only brings advantages in financial prospective but it also creates non financial benefits such as customer loyalty, words of month marketing strategy and others. Even branding exercise needs high investment but the outcome of successful branding exercise would create unlimited benefit to the products and also organisation in the long run. Change of business operation due to branding There are several changes that were done by Tesco in Thailand in order to win the local market. The following strategies are implemented: Continue to develop market of quality Thai products so that every customer can discover, use the goods that are made for Thailand citizen. Involve in local participation Surin Limited partnership. Continue to maintain quality, cleanliness and general statements of products Continue to work hard to find useful information, and constantly getting advice from Tesco Britain to provide the best service to the consumers Provide strategic differentiation in term of service and product to the consumers. During implementing branding exercise, Tesco in Thailand continue to develop market of quality Thai products so that every customer can discover, use the goods that are made for Thailand citizen. All products that are displayed in Tesco Thailand have undergone product quality assessment. During quality assessment, health, food safety, varieties issues are taken care to ensure customer satisfaction. Besides, marketing research is conducted from time to time in order to know the needs of the consumers in term of price strategy, product range in order to satisfy the customers. The center wants to brand them as the one stop center that the customers can find everything in there. Hence, Tesco Thailand tries to fulfill the quality not only products but also the service. Tesco in Thailand involve in local participation Surin Limited partnership. When implementing branding exercise, culture issues are essential to determine the success in a local market. Internationalization is important when penetrating in new countries (Welch, 1988). Tesco Britain can be successful in their home country, but they have to based on local culture on the concept of do and dont in management so that would not offense local people. For example, certain words can be used in Britain in the advertisement. However, the same words can be offensive in local market. The cultural issue consideration can be achieved with local participation Surin Limited partnership. Tesco in Thailand brand themselves as the quality, cleanliness and general statements of products. They continue to maintain this concept the give comfortable feeling to the consumers. As in ISO 9002 of Tesco, washrooms need to be cleaned every two hours to ensure the cleanliness. (Smith and Sparks, 2004). Besides, the expired date of the products is checked by the stock keepers every month so that the product quality is maintained. Not only that, Tesco works together with local farmers to supply the fresh food, meat and meat to them. This exercise in fact becomes the branding identity for Tesco with the tagline, Fresh vegetable everyday. In order to maximize satisfaction level of customers, Khun Thanyapat always continue to work hard to find useful information, and constantly getting advice from Tesco Britain to provide the best service to the consumers. Thailand has move to knowledge society. Product information is important to ensure customers satisfaction. Leaflets are put on the entrance of the Tesco so the consumer are awared of the product range and also this increase the decision making process of consumers. Hence, this strategy improves and encourages purchase behaviour among consumers. Provide strategic differentiation in term of service and product to the consumers. Tesco Thailand brings all the products into the store. Besides, the center can be an entertainment center for children, shopping gallery for housewife. A business center for businessman and also the family gathering center also. In term of entertainment center for children, they have playground and game center for the children to have joy and fun there. Children would love to visit the place because they are place for them to do some activities. In term of housewives, they can buy groceries, fresh vegetables, meat and others to fulfill the needs of the family. The housewives do not need to travel to grocery to buy a broom and travel to wet market to buy a fish and even to dry market to buy onion. Now, Tesco Thailand gathers all the products according to the household needs. Not only there, bank services are available to help businessman to do their work while their wife are shopping. Besides, these facilities encourage shoppers to buy more because they can withdraw money anytime when they shop. 3. How does Tesco differentiate its brand from the competitors and build brand-loyalty among the consumers in Thailand? After analyzing the case study of Tesco, I have generally identified the brand strength of Tesco Thailand are: Customer Relationship management Commitment to quality Global-local adaptation Breadth of product Service offering Target market strategy. Customer Relationship Management Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a business strategy that aims to understand, anticipate and manage the needs of an organisations current and potential customers (Reinartz, Krafft, Hoyer, 2004). It is a comprehensive approach which provides seamless integration of every area of business that touches the customer- namely marketing, sales, customer services and field support through the integration of people, process and technology It is a shift from traditional marketing as it focuses on the retention of customers in addition to the acquisition of new customers. The expression Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is becoming standard terminology, replacing what is widely perceived to be a misleadingly narrow term, relationship marketing (RM) Tesco Thailand focuses on customer relationship management. They believe that customer satisfaction is the first priority to be set by the organization. Tesco Thailand builds the customer relationship with the consumers. According to research, a lot of consumer purchases a product not because they need the products but it is due to the emotional needs. (Morris, 1998). In relationship management, Tesco wants their clients to achieve highest customer satisfaction. They differentiate themselves by providing the return product policy when they do not feel satisfy with the products. Generally, when a customer satisfies with the products or services, they would tend to repurchase or revisit the store again. Besides, Tesco Thailand understands that it is cheaper to retain the current customers rather than making promotion and advertisements to recruit new customers. Tesco Thailand always put clients as the top priority in all purchasing process. With this policy, the customers would feel more secure to purchase and shop in the shop. Besides, Tesco provides membership for the customers. The clients can accumulate points when shopping in Tesco Thailand. The points can be used to redeem vouchers or products from Tesco. Besides, the members would receive updates of promotion from time to time. These strategies promote the relationship with the customers and this lead to the customer loyalty and brand identity among customers. Not only membership, Tesco Thailand provides exclusive discount for members. Members day are conducted yearly only for members. During the members day, members are given opportunity to shop with higher discount. Each member can only bring a friend to shop on the day. This strategy improves customer relationship and made the Tesco membership to be more exclusive. (Shaffer, 1991). Commitment to Quality Product quality is customers overall evaluation of the excellence of the performance of the good or service. Kellers (1993) 7 basic dimensions of quality Performance Employee Interactions Reliability Durability Timeliness and convenience Aesthetics Brand Equity Tesco Thailand cares of the product quality. They understand price is a factor of decision making but the quality of products is the key element that sustain the customers to stay and can be converted as the customer loyalty in the future. Besides, there is a strong relationship between quality products and customer satisfaction. High customer satisfaction promotes customer loyalty in a long run. As the implementation strategy, Tesco Thailand always maintains the product quality by doing stock check to keep track on the freshness of the products. Besides, Tesco has a computerized system to evaluate the expired date for the products. This strategy maintains the quality of the products. Global-local Adaptation Global-local adaptation is used by the Tesco Thailand to win the market. Manager from Tesco Britain can be familiar with retail business but localization is important based on the culture and taboo. Products that are sold in large quantity in Britain might not be able to win the heart of the local community. As the result, Tesco Thailand takes initiative to set up a production unit (local company Surin Limited Partnership) that has no negative association with quality, premium products. With this strategy, Tesco Thailand actually undergoes internationalization and localization to achieve the support from the local community. Some products sold in Tesco Thailand are only being found in Thailand but you would never find it in the Tesco internationally. These products are specially design for the local community. Salty fish is the best example, Thailand community likes the product and they want to buy it from Tesco Thailand. However, the product might not be accepted by Britain community. The integration of local culture is taken care when providing service to the local community. Not only that, Tesco Thailand employs only local staffs. The managers and CEO are local community. With local management team, they would able to plan effectively. For example, for advertisement and promotion program, the local marketing manager would be able to know the culture in Thailand. The preference of the consumers is identified. The words choice, colours and models used in the advertisement can be localized to increase the acceptance of the local community. Hence, Global-local adaptation in term of staffs is an essential factor to be taken care off. Breadth of product Depth of product line can be defined as the variety of products that are carried by any retails shows such as cloths, electrical products, food, furniture and others. . The breadth of the product is important to ensure Tesco Thailand success in differentiating themselves and to create customer loyalty. As review in the case study, Tesco Thailand can be an entertainment center for children, shopping gallery for housewife. A business center for businessman and also the family gathering center also. In term of entertainment center for children, they have playground and game center for the children to have joy and fun there. Children would love to visit the place because they are place for them to do some activities. In term of housewives, they can buy groceries, fresh vegetables, meat and others to fulfill the needs of the family. The housewives do not need to travel to grocery to buy a broom and travel to wet market to buy a fish and even to dry market to buy onion. Now, Tesco Thailand gathers all the products according to the household needs. Not only there, bank services are available to help businessman to do their work while their wife are shopping. Besides, these facilities encourage shoppers to buy more because they can withdraw money anytime when they shop. With the breath of products, customers satisfaction level increases and this builds the customer loyalty in the long run. Service offering Tesco Thailand has undergone market and product development strategies to provide a better service to the consumer. Tesco has used the Internet to extend its market into new product markets, such as financial services, white goods and DVD rentals. While these are promoted through the store, the web provides a wider choice of products, more detailed information about products and a method of purchase. The internet can also support entry into new geographical markets. New revenue sources are available through extending the product range online as explained above, and also with new digital revenue streams such as those for music downloads and e-Diets. Tesco also supports advertising on its site of related product such as financial services. Differentiation through Target market strategy. Tesco.com has a broad market of customer types, so it is less relevant for them to use online to selectively target these with communications. However, the article explains how Tesco has used the web and e-mail to target more closely through targeting different lifecycle groups these are customers who are grouped according to their level of adoption of online service. Tesco also uses the web to target specific requirements such as Diets and Financial Services through search engine marketing. Not only this, Tesco offers some unique online promotions and lower online prices for select products such as financial services which could attract a percentage discount when purchased online. It appears not to use the service elements of the mix for positioning beyond the slogan You Shop, We Drop. But attention has been paid to improving the customer experience through usability activities and reduction of download times. Conclusion Strong brands never happen by accident. Yet only 53% of firms say they have a long term brand strategy in place. A brand strategy is simply a plan for developing a coherent brand. It provides the means for systematically creating differentiation and consumer appeal by empowering better brand decisions across the organization. An effective brand strategy influences the total operation of a business to ensure consistent brand experiences for the customer. Tesco Thailand has become a successful story of branding that can be learnt by everyone. Differentiation and innovation are important to sustain the success of the brand. Reaching the heart by creating memory and customer loyalty is the final destination for all branding exercise.

Oedipus The King :: Oedipus Rex, Sophocles

Oedipus The King; Did the prophecy cause his destiny?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Undoubtedly there has been a tremendous amount of speculation and dissection of this play by countless people throughout the ages. I can only draw my own conclusions as to what Sophocles intended the meaning of his play to be. The drama included a number of horrific and unthinkable moral and ethical dilemas, but I believe that was what made the play so interesting and that is exactly the way Sophocles intended it to be. The play was obviously meant to entertain and portray the author’s own insight. The underlying theme to the play is that no man should know his own destiny, it will become his undoing. This knowledge of things to come was presented to both Laius and Oedipus in the form of prophecies well in advance of it coming to be. The prophecies told of things that were so morally disturbing that they both aggressively did everything in their power to try and stop them from coming true. The story begins with Oedipus at the height of power as King of Theb es. His kingdom has encountered rough times and he has sent his nobleman Creon to seek help from the god Apollo to restore his land. Creon tells Oedipus that he must find the murderer of the previous King Laius and by finding this man and banishing him, his land will be restored. The murder occurred some time ago and King Oedipus sends for the seer Theiresias with his powers of prophecy to aid in the search for the murderer. Sophocles cleverly projects his feelings on wisdom and knowledge through Teirsias when he says â€Å"Alas, how terrible is wisdom when it brings no profit to the man that’s wise!†(23) Teirsias knows that this terrible prophecy has already been set into motion and the damage has already been done. There is really no point in telling it to Oedipus because it will only cause more harm than good. Oedipus provokes Teirsias into telling him the prophecy, â€Å" à  tell you, king, this man, this murderer-he is here. In name he is a stranger among citiz ens but soon he will be shown to be a citizen true native Theban, and he’ll have no joy of the discovery: blindness for sight and beggary for riches his exchange, he shall go journeying to a foreign country tapping his way befor him with a stick.

Essay --

The Pura Principle is one of the most interesting stories written by Junot Diaz. The narrator of the story is Yunior a character that Junot had used in earlier stories. The story is also full of potent language further makes it quite interesting to read. Analysis of the plot it is also evident that the story also flows nicely especially due to the presence of several interesting imagery. Upon reading the story one of the issues that come to the mind of every reader is the question of what was main theme that the writer of the story wanted to convey. In this essay I argue that the writer of the story mainly wanted to bring out theme of conflict that exits in the modern Americans family setting. This essay therefore presents a strong view that the story bring out theme of peace and conflict that every family is subjected to. Right of from the beginning of the story the author first tries to describe the conflict that existed between Yunior and his elder brother Rafa. The author states that Yunior started drinking while he was still in high school. Whenever Rafa came home he does not have time to talk to his brother since he mostly spends time partying and drinking with his friends. Rafa even goes a step further where he comes home with women despite the objection by his mother of bringing women home without her approval. Rafa assumes that whatever advice he is given by his mother he can ignore with no consequences since at times he even goes ahead to spend time with his old girlfriend knowing very well that she is married. In most families peace is assumed to exist whenever the family members are able to sit and enjoy time together. This type of peace is rarely seen in this story since in most cases no one seems to care what th... ...ossible to conclude that the author mainly wanted to show some of the conflicts that exist in the contemporary society. Family conflict is depicted in the story as inevitable but the critical issue is how one deals with such issues. Others can also argue that the story does not have a specific theme since it only consist of a plot and voice of Yunior who is the main character. Lack of specific theme is also related to the fact that the story seems to be too simple. The story can also be seen to lack any specific theme since the author of the story makes several grammatical mistakes in mixing Spanish language with English. In addition the author also incorporates several unprofessional languages in the story that further interfere with any plot of the story. The story can also be seen as to bring out feminist related issues where women are demonstrated as powerless.

Comparing the Role of the Black in the South in Clotelle and Absalom, A

Role of the Black in the Southern Family as Evidenced in Clotelle and Absalom,   Absalom!  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚   Southern Literature, more than anything else, is a discussion of the family. And in the family, particularly the Southern family, no question is as pivotal--or causes as many disputes--as "who belongs?" Southern Literature has been, in many ways, a canon of exclusion. From a culture built upon controlling and utilizing an entire race for the express purpose of advancing another, a canon of yearning and despair is left. And in no place is this as clear as within the family, the unit by nature designed to nurture and support--and ultimately overcome. Stereotypically, the family longed for by every Southerner is one of impeccable repute, a white triumph, clean of any African blood, with a heritage predating the Revolution and a lineage reaching beyond the next millennium. Clotelle, by William Wells Brown, is an appeal to the Southern ideal that African-Americans do not and can not fit into the traditional, lily-white aristocratic familial structure which ruled the South during his time--and reigned for many years thereafter. Traditional Southern canon emphasizes the Thomas Sutpens--of William Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom! --who ejects African-Americans from his family (as he attempts to create a new one), and men like the Sheriff of Charles W. Chesnutt's "The Sheriff's Children," who sells a pregnant slave--carrying his unborn mulatto child--into slavery. The advancement and protection of one's name is also highlighted by Sutpen and by Clara Hohlfelder in another Chesnutt tale, "Her Virginia Mammy." These are ideals which Brown understands and resists, and tries--ultimately in vain--to defy. Clotelle does not adjust itself to the tr... ...ildren are born as a result--are disposed of as quietly as possible, in order to keep the familial superstructure as maximally pure as possible. A white man does not marry a slave, or make a respectable woman of her. He keeps her and his child in a shed outside of town, he sends them to New Orleans, or sells them to the rice swamps to toil under the whip for the remainder of their lives. Southern literature excludes the African-American from its families, thus robbing her of her identity and forcing her to become a mere brick in the base below the superstructure. Works Cited Brown, William Wells. Clotelle. Miami: Mnemosyne Publishing, 1969. Chesnutt, Charles W. "Her Virginia Mammy" and "The Sheriff's Children." Collected Stories of Charles W. Chesnutt. New York: Penguin, 1992. 114-148. Faulkner, William. Absalom, Absalom! New York: Vintage, 1990.   

Factors for Going Public Through an Ipo Essay

When an organization is private they have decisions to make. Going public through an initial public offering, or IPO is one decision they can choose. When going through an IPO there is going to be increased capital. A public offering will allow a company to raise capital to use for various corporate purposes such as working capital, acquisitions, research and development, marketing, and expanding plant and equipment (FindLaw, 2013). Other advantages of choosing an IPO would be liquidity, increased prestige, valuation, and increased wealth. Weaknesses Even though going public has some advantages, it can also have some disadvantages too. The time and expense is probably one of the biggest disadvantages with this choice. It can take over a year and much money for fees to even start the process of an IPO. Other disadvantages to going public through an IPO would be disclosure, decisions based on stock price, regulatory review, falling stock price, and vulnerability. Disclosure is another part that can be costly when starting an IPO. That means that the organization has to make all financial records available to the public. Opportunities Going public is a way to increase public awareness of the company. The company will have more exposure of its product line. This awareness will increase sales because the product will be introduced to a new group of potential clients. An opportunity to increase clients will have an increase in market share. Investors will have a positive reaction to the company as it increases its market share. Threats As a public company, there will be accounting practices that will need to be met. The SEC requires public companies to comply with the regulations. The cost to comply with SEC regulations can be expensive in addition to the regulations the SOX Act will require an external accounting firm to audit the company adding additional cost. Since Lafleur will now be operating as a public company, they will have the pressure to perform for the market. â€Å"The actions of the company’s management also become increasingly scrutinized as investors constantly look for rising profits. This may lead management to perform somewhat questionable practices in order to boost earnings† (K. Balasubramaniam, 2009). Factors for acquiring another organization in the same industry Strengths An organization can also acquire another organization in the same industry. A major strength with acquiring another organization is that Lafleur Trading Company would be the owner of both organizations and would hold the power of both at the same time. The new organization loses its power and sometimes even loses the name. Acquiring another organization might be done to save the original smaller company while boosting sales for the larger company. If Lafleur would choose to keep the client list of the new organization it would be strength for them and those clients. The clients would still be able to receive the same products, but under new owners. With the new organization being in the same industry Lafleur would not have to buy any additional equipment for the new product. They could just bring the product over to their buildings. Weaknesses Acquiring another organization has its weaknesses too. Customers can become upset over this because they want to be loyal to the previous owners over the newer ones. Lafleur would have to pay a premium to the affiliate of the organization to keep the customers happy (if they can) and without upsetting cash flow. Opportunities There is opportunity in a company’s strengths. Lafleur can take advantage of the successes the acquired company has accomplished in the areas of product, marketing, research and development, and staffing. They can also avoid mistakes that have been made in the past. Using a synergy strategy in this process of acquisition will require Lafleur to be knowledgeable in the operations of the new company. Threats The threat of acquiring another company in the same industry is in its customer base and product line. Lafleur may not be gaining new clients or offering new or improved products. The sales team may be making the same sales calls to the same customers the other company. In this scenario, Lafleur will be gaining the company’s debt without the benefit of expanding resources for future growth. Merging with another organization Strengths Mergers are different than acquiring a new organization because when two companies merge they work together instead of taking full control of the weaker company. Mergers can help both organizations while also benefiting the public. The new firm will have increased market share, which reduces competition (Economics Help, n.d.). The merger will help financially because the company will get a better interest rate for the size. Efficiency is strength for mergers because the companies can bring the more experienced employees from both organizations together. An important strength of a merger is having diversity between the two original organizations. Other strengths would be research and development, avoiding duplication, and regulation of monopoly. Weaknesses Mergers have weaknesses just like any other choice to expand the organization. Mergers mean higher prices for products because competition is cut when two organizations become one. A merger also means fewer choices of products for customers. One of the biggest weaknesses for a merger would be fewer jobs in each organization. This means that Lafleur would have to let go of some of their employees while the organization it mergers with would have to also let go of some. The employees that are left might experience diseconomies of scale. This means that the employees will feel like they are part of a big corporation and their motivation will start to go away. Opportunities Opportunity lies in a merger with a larger well known company. Lafleur will gain the experience of growth from a larger company. There is also the opportunity of better benefits, salaries, increased revenue, and the expansion of offices in other markets. There must be research to be done to choose a company that will aid in future growth. This company will need to be a worthy partner and not a company that needs a lifeline to survive. Threats If a company does not have a growth opportunity on its own, it will not have growth opportunity when it merges with another company. The threat of Lafleur not benefitting from shared resources can result in failure for both companies. Another threat to a merger is mis-management. If the other company is poorly managed, Lafleur will suffer with unrealistic strategic goals, poor communication, and uncertain future success. It is because of these reasons that most companies do not experience more than one merger in their lifetime, they usually fail. Balasubramaniam, K. (2009). Advantages and Disadvantages for a Company Going Public. Retrieved from http://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/06/ipoadvantagedisadvantage.asp