Supermarkets in UK Essay Example

Supermarkets in UK Essay Example Supermarkets in UK Paper Supermarkets in UK Paper The normal way to buy food has changed dramatically over the last half century, with the small independent shops such as butchers, greengrocers, fishmongers and bakers which dominated the High Street in the 1950s disappearing and being replaced by the ubiquitous supermarket. Today, 60% of British shoppers purchase most of their groceries in one weekly shop. The growth of the sector over the last fifty years has been remarkable. In 1950 the multiple supermarkets represented just 20% of the food retail market. By 1961 this had risen to 27%; by 1971 to 44%. As the trend continued, a generation has grown up relying on the convenience and choice of supermarket food. Of course some independent retailers went out of business, but the consumer is king and consumers felt that the price was worth paying. But the price tag got higher. Between 1997 and 2002 more than 13,000 specialist stores around the UK including newsagents, Post Offices, grocers, bakers, butchers closed, unable to cope with the competition from the multiples. A recent study by the Institute of Grocery Distribution revealed that 2,157 independent shops went out of business or became part of a larger company in 2004, compared with a previous annual average of around 300 a year. Traffic congestion rocketed as more large stores were constructed out of town. Tales abounded of the negative impacts of low supermarket prices on farmers and food processors, whether the UK or abroad. By 2005 a mere 8% of food was purchased from the independent sector. Tesco and other supermarkets claim that their growth is occurring purely in response to the desire of consumers. Market structure The UK supermarket industry is led by the `big four (Times Online, 2009), Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys and Morrisons. Thus it can be defined as an oligopoly. In the 12 weeks to 29th November 2009 these four competitors accounted for 75.6% of UK consumer spending on groceries. The market average increase in sales over this period was 4.4%. Tesco hold an actual monopoly over the industry, with 30.7% market share. The industry is currently worth à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½146.3bn and is predicted to grow to à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½175.9bn by 2014 according to UK Grocery Retail Outlook 2009 Repositioning for Growth Market share The market in which Tesco operates is supermarkets. Although this is a highly competitive one Tesco holds a disproportionate amount of power. The figures below indicate that Tesco holds over a third of the market share, and even double the amount of Asdas market share, the second leading supermarket. Market share is the percentage or proportion of the total available market or market segment that is being serviced by a company (Wikipedia 2006). Bargaining Power of suppliers Supplier power is an important part of the Porters five forces model. Implications for Tesco are many. Supplier power is wielded by suppliers demanding that retailers pay a certain price for their goods. If retailers dont pay the price, they dont get the goods to sell. But large supermarkets, like Tesco, have an overwhelming advantage over the small shopkeeper-they can dictate the price they pay the supplier. If the supplier does not reduce the price, they will be left with a much smaller market for their produce. Bargaining power of buyers Buyer power also acts to force prices down. If beans are too expensive in Tesco, buyers will exercise their power and move to Sainsbury. Fortunately for Tesco, there are few other large supermarket companies. This means the market is disciplined the supermarkets have a disciplined approach to price setting. Discipline stops them destroying each other in a profit war. Threat of new entrants Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury and other supermarket chains put up considerable barriers to entry. For instance, Tesco may have cornered the market for certain goods; the new supermarket will not be able to find cheap, reliable suppliers. Tesco also has the advantage of economies of scale. Thus, barriers to entry as well as the possibility of sunk costs will help restrict the level of new entrants. Threat of substitutes Its more difficult for Asda to try to raise prices and make greater profits if there are close substitutes available at Tesco But, in some cases, customers may be reluctant to switch to another product even if it offers an advantage. Customers may consider it inconvenient or even risky to change if they are accustomed to using a certain product in a certain way, or they are used to the way certain services are delivered. Competitive rivalry Classical economics predicts that rivalry between companies should drive profits to zero. This is partly down to the threat of substitutes. For instance, Tesco has competition from companies like Sainsbury that can provide substitutes for their goods. This drives the prices of groceries down in both companies. Monopsony issues There has been growing concern over the monopsony power of the big four supermarket chains: Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury. Technically, none is a monopsonist because none is the sole buyer of a particular category of products. Tesco, for example, is not the sole buyer of soap powders or frozen chicken. However because of their size, the big four supermarket chains enjoy much greater buying power than smaller buyers. The OFT has investigated the grocery market on several occasions over the last decade. Researchers asked suppliers for their opinion on the level of negotiating power they felt they had with different retail customers. Their responses showed that they felt they had less bargaining power with the Big Four than with smaller chains and groceries. Supermarket chains argue that they provide value for money to their customers through the efficiency of their operations. Some evidence suggests that the supermarkets do not always pass on cuts in supplier prices. Controversially, between 201 and 2003 when many UK dairy farmers were either barely profitable or making losses, prices paid to them dropped when supermarket milk prices were still rising: Illustration of monopsonistic power in the UK retailing industry Summary of the Big Fours competitiveness The Big Four (Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys and Morrisons) have gained a combined market share of 75.9% by pursuing a hybrid low price strategy with perceived benefits. In recent years Sainsburys has moved towards a differentiation strategy by focusing on quality and has implemented a higher pricing structure. These competitors have diversified their product offering and sell a variety of non-food goods including, financial services, clothing, electrical goods, and DIY products. All four possess huge buying power and high economies of scale. Each has invested in own label brands, which have risen in demand during the recession. All four have prime store locations in out of town and inner city locations. Tesco have over 2,000 UK stores. Tesco have developed a number of store formats including Tesco Express, Extra and Metro. This allows Tesco not only to compete in the convenience market but also get around the rules imposed by the Competition Commission, restricting the number of stores Tesco is allowed to have in one area. In October 2009 the Competition Commission recommended the introduction of new tests that would make UK expansion more difficult for Tesco .This may prove problematic as Tescos like-for-like sales slowed in 2009 and profit increases are driven by new store openings. Asda Relocation to larger, out-of-town sites in the 1980s gave many supermarkets the additional space required for extending their non-food offering. Asda in particular, focuses on non-food sales, because its 400 stores are generally much bigger than its competitors. Some of Asdas non-food brands have been phenomenally successful the George clothing brand has helped the chains clothing sales to outstrip those of Marks Spencer. Asda is currently the only UK supermarket offering the facility to purchase clothing online, in addition to groceries and other non-food items. Asda does not offer a loyalty scheme and claims to invest in a strategy of everyday low pricing. Asda expanded into the South in 1989 by buying out Gateway superstores. Asda became a subsidiary of Wal-Mart (the worlds largest retailer) in 1999 and hence enjoys huge buying power. Sainsburys 830 UK stores are mainly located in affluent areas. Sainsburys have diversified from their superstore format into convenience stores (Sainsburys Local). Sainsburys is the only competitor within the top four that has the strategy of quality goods for a fair price. The other three are positioned as low price supermarkets. Sainsburys hope to double the customer base of its larger stores within five years by expanding its non-food range (TU clothing range is very successful) and branching out into the North of England and Scotland Morrisons have 420 UK stores and three distinct brand values: Fresh, Value and Service. These values provide the flexibility to react to market changes and consumer trends. Morrisons aim to offer more freshly prepared food than any other retailer and have more staff preparing food than any other supermarket. The retailer grew in strength and expanded into the South of England following the acquisition of Safeway in 2004. Unlike its closest rivals Morrisons decided not to enter the convenience store sector. Vertical integration is key to the retailers success; Morrisons own their factories, production facilities and distribution network. With these facilities Morrisons can get food to stores faster so that its fresher. Morrisons have invested heavily in training and their staff is highly skilled and know their trade. Level of contestability A contestable market occurs when there is freedom of entry and exit into the market. Thus there will be low levels of sunk costs. Thus, when considering the contestability of supermarkets it is important to consider the following points: Barriers to Entry Barriers to entry in the supermarket industry are obviously extremely high, due to the massive market share held by the four main UK supermarkets. Small food retailers can be assisted in their growth by the government, with incentives such as tax relief and grants. Economies of scale are the second important barrier to entry. In addition to the usual one, the UK grocery retail market has a special economy of scale arising from the substantial bargaining power which retailers enjoy over their suppliers, the manufactures of food and grocery product. Updating earlier analysis, it has been observed that the European new contracts, Aldi and Netto have some ability to defeat this barrier. Aldi enjoys a buying-power derived economy of scale advantage in the European countries in which it has a large market share. The third major barrier to entry, the shortage of unexploited store sites, is again one that European discounters may be able to penetrate. A preliminary analysis would suggest that the UK market should be a difficult prospect for a new entrant. Unexploited superstore sites are running out. Mintel 91 has an estimated saturation point for superstores in the UK at about 800, only around 150 more than the present total. Furthermore, a barrier of entry may present itself in the sheer amount of land that a store owns; in the case of Tesco which limits the amount of new entrants into the UK market Sunk Costs If Sunk costs are high this makes it difficult for new firms to enter and leave the market. Therefore it will be less contestable. In the supermarket industry, spending on advertising are an example of costs that cannot be recovered when the firm exits the market. High sunk costs are a constraint on the level of contestability. Level of advertising and brand loyalty If an established firm has significant brand loyalty such as Tesco, then it will be difficult for a new firm to enter the market. This is because they would have to spend a lot of money on advertising, a sunk cost, which as explained above reduces the level of contestability in a market Levels of Profit If a firm is making very high profit, this is an indication that the market is not contestable, because hit and run competition should enable new firms to enter and reduce the profitability. Each of the Big Four have seen their profit margins expand while Tesco and Asda have enjoyed abnormal profits continuously Pricing and non-pricing strategies The following section discusses how each firm operates in the competitive environment of the retail grocery industry. Tesco battles by expanding market demand, increasing market share and defending market share with strategies such as flank, pre-emptive or mobile. In return the main competitors Asda and Sainsburys are attacking the market leader by using offensive strategies such as frontal, flank or bypass, in order to gain market share. Tescos understanding of its customers as well as its strong defensive marketing strategies against competitors assure them the leading position in the market. The vast majority of both marketers and practitioners frame a stores pricing decision as a choice between every day low prices or deep but temporary discounts, labeling the first strategy EDLP and the second PROMO. The kinked demand curve theory shows us that firms would lose out if they changed their prices relative to other major players i.e. if the firm increases its price, it will lose out on market share due to an asymmetric response from other competitors. If he firm reduces its price, other competitors would lower their prices too so that very little extra demand would be generated. Successful implementation of EDLP may involve offering a deeper and narrower product line than PROMO, allowing firms to exploit scale economies (in particular categories), reduce their inventory carrying costs, and lower their advertising expenses. Article by Retail Week as at 21 February 2005: Tesco shows no signs of letting up its position of dominance in the UK grocery sector, according to the latest market share figures from Taylor Nelson Sofres. Other EDLP players, such as Asda and Morrisons, also enjoyed solid growth, but Sainsburys and Safeways share dropped. Tescos market share rose by 0.7 percentage points to 26 per cent year-on-year for the 12 weeks to February 2. Asdas share increased by 0.6 percentage points to 16.7 per cent for the same period, while Morrisons share rose by 0.1 percentage points to 6 per cent. In practice, firms can choose a mixture of EDLP and PROMO, varying either the number of categories they put on sale or changing the frequency of sales across some or all categories of products. Not surprisingly, practitioners have coined a term for these practices, hybrid pricing. What constitutes HYBRID pricing is necessarily subjective, depending on an individuals own beliefs regarding how much price variation constitutes a departure from pure EDLP. Because of the price rigidity, supermarkets have resorted to non pricing strategies as a means of capturing market share. Examples of non pricing strategy may include:   Traditional advertising / marketing   Store Loyalty cards   Banking and other Services (including travel insurance)   In-store chemists and post offices   Home delivery systems   Discounted petrol at hypermarkets   Extension of opening hours (24 hour shopping)   Innovative use of technology for shoppers including self-scanning and internet shopping services Legal issues concerning public interest As with any large corporation, the supermarket chain has been involved in lawsuits, usually from claims of personal injury from customers, claims of unfair dismissal from staff, and other commercial matters. Two notable cases were Ward v Tesco Stores Ltd, which set a precedent in so-called trip and slip injury claims against retailers, and Tesco Supermarkets Ltd v Nattrass, which reached the House of Lords and became a leading case regarding the corporate liability of businesses for failures of their store managers (in a case of misleading advertising). Criticism of Tesco includes disapproval of the effects supermarket chains can have on farmers, suppliers and smaller competitors; along with claims of generally poor labour relations with its staff concerning sick leave regulations. Accusations concerning using cheap and/or child labour in Bangladesh amongst other places have also arisen from Sainsbury. Asda and Sainsbury are among companies that have agreed to pay near record fines of 116 million after admitting they fixed the price of milk, cheese and butter between 2002 and 2003. The supermarkets claimed they joined forces to help raise the price of milk to farmers who were suffering badly from falling milk prices and the after effects of an outbreak of foot and mouth disease. In contrast, consumers had to pay an extra 3p for milk and 15p extra for a pound of butter. The total cost to consumers form the higher prices was 270 million. Tesco, Sainsburys and Asda, as well as Imperial Tobacco and Gallaher, were among those accused of increasing profits illegally by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). Cigarette brands at the centre of the investigation include Embassy, John Player Special, Lambert Butler, Benson Hedges and Silk Cut. Tesco has been heavily criticized by the media in both the UK and Ireland among other places over its comparatively more ruthless and harsh business tactics compared to its rivals, all of whom stand charged, like Tesco, of bullying farmers to lower their prices to unsustainable levels. Waitrose was the only major supermarket to come out of this accusation relatively unscathed. Tesco has been subject to several claims of apparently out-of-date food being back-labeled to appear to still be in date, poor cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ hygiene and a staff member contracting legionnaires disease in the Wrexham store. Tesco has been involved in the areas of employment law, personal injury, intellectual property disputes, and taxation amongst others.

Definition of Boycott

Definition of Boycott The word boycott entered the English language because of a dispute between a man named Boycott and the Irish Land League in 1880. Where Boycott Got Its Name Captain Charles Boycott was a British Army veteran who worked as a landlords agent, a man whose job was to collect rents from tenant farmers on an estate in northwest Ireland. At the time, landlords, many of whom were British, were exploiting Irish tenant farmers. As part of a protest, the farmers on the estate where Boycott worked demanded a reduction in their rents. Boycott refused their demands and evicted some tenants. The Irish Land League advocated that people in the area not attack Boycott, but rather use a new tactic: refuse to do business with him at all. This new form of protest was effective, as Boycott wasnt able to get workers to harvest crops. By the end of 1880 newspapers in Britain began using the word. A front-page article in the New York Times on December 6, 1880, referred to the affair of Capt. Boycott and used the term boycottism to describe tactics of the Irish Land League. Research in American newspapers indicates that the word crossed the ocean during the 1880s. In the late 1880s boycotts in America were being referred to in the pages of the New York Times. The word was generally used to denote labor actions against businesses. For example, the Pullman Strike of 1894 became a national crisis when a boycott of railroads brought the nations rail system to a halt. Captain Boycott died in 1897, and an article in the New York Times on June 22, 1897, noted how his name had become a common word: Capt. Boycott became famous through the application of his name to the relentless social and business ostracism first practiced by the Irish peasantry against the detested representatives of landlordism in Ireland. Although a descendant of an old Essex County family in England, Capt. Boycott was an Irishman by birth. He made his appearance in County Mayo in 1863 and according to James Redpath, he had not lived there five years before he won the reputation of being the worst land agent in that section of the country. The 1897 newspaper article also provided an account of the tactic that would take his name. It described how Charles Stewart Parnell  proposed  a plan to ostracize land agents during a speech in Ennis, Ireland, in 1880. And it described in detail how the tactic was utilized against Captain Boycott: When the Captain sent for the tenantry on the estates for which he was agent to cut the oats, the whole neighborhood combined in a refusal to work for him. Boycotts herdsmen and drivers were sought out and persuaded to strike, his female servants were induced to leave him, and his wife and children were obliged to do all of the house and farm work themselves. Meanwhile his oats and corn remained standing, and his stock would have been unfed had he not exerted himself night and day to attend to their wants. Next the village butcher and grocer declined to sell provisions to Capt. Boycott or his family, and when he sent to neighboring towns for supplies he found it absolutely impossible to get anything. There was no fuel in the house, and nobody would cut turf or carry coal for the Captains family. He had to tear up floors for firewood. Boycotting Today The tactic of boycotting was adapted to other social movements in the 20th century. One of the most significant protest movements in American history, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, demonstrated the power of the tactic. To protest segregation on city buses, African American residents of Montgomery, Alabama, refused to patronize the buses for more than 300 days from late 1955 to late 1956. The bus boycott inspired the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and changed the course of American history. Over time the word has become quite common, and its connection to Ireland and the land agitation of the late 19th century has been generally forgotten.

Business Communication - how to become more effective within the Essay - 1

Business Communication - how to become more effective within the organization - Essay Example in today’s business environment ushered in by technology and globalization, which is characterized by dispersed work groups that operate away from the home office. The current vogue in such a flexible working arrangement has added to the difficulty of getting business communication right. As it is, there are already enough sociological and psychological factors that prevent business communication from going around the organization in the sense that it was intended. This paper thus discussed all the perceived shortcomings in communication practices that have made businesses falter, and subsequently explored the methods by which business communication can be made more effective for the immediate and long-term benefit of the organization. People in organizations spend over 75 percent of their time in an interpersonal situation (Van Acker, online). Thus, it is no surprise to find that at the root of a large number of organizational problems is poor communications. Effective communication is an essential component of organizational success whether it is at the interpersonal, inter-group, intra-group, organizational or external levels (How-to Books, online). For human communication to be high in quality or effective, it must take into account not only the choice of language but also the movement of vocal cords, the reception of sound and its translation into neural signals, syntactic and phonological processing (Hauser, 1996). Even facial expressions and gestures influence the quality and outcome of communication (How-to Books). As for the communication message, social psychologists give it three components: content, context and treatment. Content is the essence of what one person desires to communicate to another, whil e context is the way the communicator presents the content of his message to his audience. As for treatment, it is how communication is arranged and conducted by the speaker, which supports the content and context of the message. In a business

Contemporary Management Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Contemporary Management Practice - Essay Example Various theories have been created in the past about management and researchers continue to use old theories and come up with new ones. Over this time period, great approaches to management have been identified. This paper will cover various management approaches and how these approaches are used by managers and those who are studying management. Body Empirical or case approach is one of the various management approaches that have been studied and often used in organizations. It is based on the assumption, that current managers can solve their problems through the experience of previous managers and what those managers did to solve issues faced by management (KOONTZ, 2004, p.16). This study states that people new to the management positions in the organizations can learn from the successful and the unsuccessful experiences that other managers have already been through. This approach is used in management educational centres for the help upcoming managers. This kind of management appr oach does not provide any practical aid until it is applied to practical problems. The downside of this approach is that this approach is based on generalization. This means that managers who follow this approach end up applying same problem solving methods to new scenarios although new scenarios may be different from older ones. Human behaviour approach is yet another approach that scientists came up with to explain what managers have to do to operate an organization successfully. The behavioural approach of management suggests that managers can operate in a better fashion if they learn about individual as well as group behaviour and they can use this knowledge to make people to work for the interest of the organization (DAFT, 2011, p.33). The theorists of this approach suggest that satisfied workers work harder and their levels of productivity are high. Behavioural studies only pay emphasis to the human part of the organization and exclude the remaining parts with which managers h ave to deal. Vilfred Pareto and Chest Bernard came up with the social systems approach, according to this approach an organization consists of various individual who work together to achieve organization’s aims and objectives (JACKSON, 2000, p.100). This approach states that managers need work in cooperation with workers by understanding the behaviour of individuals working in an organization to achieve organizational goals. Socio technical systems approach is a management approach that suggests that managers should not only pay emphasis to the social system of the organization, they even have to give importance to the technical system (CHASE, 2006, p.195). The approach further suggests that if an organization has to run successfully, then both the technical system and the social system of the organization should work together. This approach of management does not only focus on the human part of the organization, it even pay emphasis to the technological part of the organizat ion that managers have to deal with to bring in change and keep the organization updated. Every manager’s main duty is to make decisions to help solve organization’s problems. One management approach that only pays emphasis to the decision making side of a manager is known as decision theory approach (FLOMBERG, 2008, p.60). The theory suggests that all managers have to make decisions each day and the main task of all managers is to make rational decisions. They have to ensure that the decision they are making is in the best interest of the organization and the people they are representing. The downside of this approach is that this approach ignores other elements of management and only emphasises on the decision maki

Examine Hamlets Relationship with Gertrude Essay Example for Free

Examine Hamlets Relationship with Gertrude Essay At the beginning of the play, during Hamlets first soliloquy, Hamlet contemplates suicide because he is so furious with his mother for marrying Claudius within a month of his fathers death. This is when Hamlet comments, frailty thy name is woman to express his bitter feelings towards his mother for not only the speed of her remarriage and betrayal of his father, but the dexterity to incestuous sheets. The situation, and Hamlets reaction to it, is a trigger of an increasing negative attitude towards all women, viewing them as weak. It is shown through his relationships with Gertrude and Ophelia. The audience learn through the other characters that Hamlet has shown affections towards Ophelia; whether they are genuine and lasting feelings is uncertain as Leartes advices Ophelia that they are not. Leartes asks Ophelia to hold it a fashion, and a toy in blood;/ A violet in the youth of primary nature. Leartes not only says that Hamlets feeling towards Ophelia is short-lived nonsense of his youth but highlights that for he himself is subject to his birth. Polonius also echoes a negative portrayal of Hamlets relationship with Ophelia as he advises her to be somewhat scaner of your maiden presence. Ophelia sees that Hamlets feelings are genuine as he hath importuned me with love / In honourable fashion and hath given countenance to his speech with almost all the holy vows of heaven. However, she is obedient and follows the wishes of her brother and father to keep as watchman to my heart or to not give words or talk with the Lord. The rejection of Hamlet by Ophelia is a significant influence in him believing that frailty thy name is woman as Ophelia could be seen as weak for following the orders of others who assumed that Hamlets affections could not be trusted when she, herself, believed them to be true. Hamlets reaction to Ophelias rejection is extreme and she is affrighted by his state of knees knocking each other with a look so piteous in purport/ As if he had been loosed out of hell. His bitterness has been exaggerated by the antic disposition that he has adopted since learning that his father was murdered by his uncle from his fathers ghost. This would make him feel even more anger towards his mother for marrying Claudius. He is manipulated by the Ghost who encourages his frustration for her when he says, shameful lust/ The will of my most seeming-virtuous Queen. Hamlet is in a vulnerable position as he is shocked by the revelations and is still grieving his father; it is comforting to ally his own feelings with his fathers in his resent towards Gertrude for marrying Claudius so soon after the Kings death and is quick to believe that he is a murderer. Hamlet follows the Ghosts orders to not seek revenge on Gertrude but to leave her to heaven. Hamlets despise for Gertrude festers within him through the play and with it, his views of women. Hamlet follows the Ghosts wishes not to take action against Gertrude and as a result he makes Ophelia suffer for his hatred of his mother. The extreme behaviour which Ophelia reports to her father leads Polonius to believe that he is mad with the very ecstasy of love. Ophelia was obedient to her fathers wishes and did repel his letters, and denied/ His access to me. In contrast to Hamlets mad behaviour a letter written by him to Ophelia shows his strong feelings of affection towards her as he says, To the celestial and my souls idol, the most/ beautified Ophelia. The language is passionate in a very exaggerated style and shows that Hamlet had powerful emotions for her, and a rejection would cause an exaggerated reaction also. In conversation with Polonius, Hamlets bitter feelings towards women come out through quick and crude puns: Let her walk not I th sun. Conception is a blessing, but not as your daughter may conceive. This echoes Hamlets comment that frailty thy name is woman as the punning suggests women are improper and easily influenced. In Hamlets next meeting with Ophelia he is harsh towards her and denies sending her letters but speaks abruptly to her, making connections between chastity, beauty and immorality. He repudiates Ophelia, the woman he once claimed to love, in the harshest terms and urges her to go to a nunnery as she wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners and comments unfavourably on the flirtatious tricks of women such as lisp and nickname. Hamlet says we will have no more marriage, this is not only because he believes women make monsters of their husbands but the resent of his mothers marriage to Claudius is also implied. When Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are sent to find out what is troubling Hamlet he feels betrayed his mother as his mother and Claudius are together plotting together ways spying on Hamlet; his mother is being led by Claudius. He goes on to say that he has lost all interest in life, Man/ delights not me; no, nor woman either. He talk of men and women separately suggesting that they are different creatures. During the play Hamlet is cold towards both Gertrude and Ophelia, when his mother asks him to sit by her he refuses as metal more attractive. He comments, how cheerfully my mother looks, and my father died within these two hours, and speaks of country matters crudely to Ophelia. Hamlet is thinking about the way his mother has acted and as he cannot confront her he offends Ophelia. Even though it is not suggested that Gertrude connived at her husbands murder, but by marrying Claudius she is guilty by association, None wed the second but who killed the first. It reminds the audience the way in which the circumstance has changed him to believe frailty thy name is women. Once the play has been stopped, Gertrude asks to speak to Hamlet which is when he confronts her about his feelings as before he had to hold my tongue. He tells her that it was Claudius blasting his wholesome brother. He asks why she would desert his father for his uncle and aggressively shames her in the rank sweat of an enseamed bed/ Stewed in corruption, honeying, making love/ Over the nasty sty. The audience recognise the crude language that he used when speaking to Ophelia as he condemns the frail women. Gertrude is convinced mainly by Hamlets insistence and power of feeling, which illustrates her frailty and tendency to be dominated by powerful men and her need for men to show her what to think and how to feel. Ophelia is driven mad by her fathers death and it contrasts strongly with Hamlets, differing primarily in its legitimacy: Ophelia does not feign madness to achieve an end, but is truly driven mad by the death of her father. After Poloniuss sudden death and Hamlets subsequent exile, she finds herself abruptly without any of them. She is obsessed with death, beauty, and an ambiguous sexual desire, expressed in startlingly frank imagery: Young men will dot, if they come tot, By Cock, they are to blame. Quoth she Before you tumbled me, You promised me to wed. Shakespeare has demonstrated her chaste dependence on the men in her life; similar to Gertrudes character. Ophelia is in such a frail state when in the same situation as Hamlet their fathers both murdered she commits suicide, which Hamlet also contemplated in his first soliloquy. Ophelia is associated with flower imagery from the beginning of the play. In her first scene, Polonius presents her with a violet; after she goes mad, she sings songs about flowers; and then she drowns amid long streams of them. The fragile beauty of the flowers resembles Ophelias own fragile beauty, as well as her nascent sexuality and her exquisite, doomed innocence. Despite Hamlets harsh treatment of Ophelia, Hamlet is grief-stricken and outraged when declaring in agonised fury his own love for Ophelia. He fights with Laertes, saying that forty thousand brothers / Could not, with all their quantity of love, / make up my sum. This shows that his despise of women could not overcome his love for Ophelia in the same way that Hamlet had trusted his mother to believe he is not mad but not tell Claudius that is an act, even though he had felt betrayed by her throughout the play. Therefore, Hamlet was shattered by his mothers decision to marry Claudius so soon after her husbands death, Hamlet becomes cynical about women in general, showing a particular obsession with what he perceives to be a connection between female sexuality and moral corruption. This motif of misogyny, or hatred of women, occurs sporadically throughout the play, but it is an important inhibiting factor in Hamlets relationships with Ophelia and Gertrude. He urges Ophelia to go to a nunnery rather than experience the corruptions of sexuality and exclaims of Gertrude, Frailty, thy name is woman. Gertrude seems to have a powerful instinct for self-preservation and advancement that leads her to rely too deeply on men much like Ophelia who is also submissive and utterly dependent on men. As these are the only two significant women in Hamlets life it is easy for him to conclude that frailty thy name is women.

Essay on the Departure from the Romantic Novel in Pride and Prejudice

A Departure from the Romantic Novel in Pride and Prejudice      Ã‚  Ã‚   In Pride and Prejudice, Austen describes the union of 4 couples -- namely, Elizabeth and Darcy, Jane and Bingley, Lydia and Wickham, and Charlotte and Collins. For the Elizabeth-Darcy relationship, it is clearly an inversion of romantic expectations, and Austen makes it clear that this steadfast, rational relationship is desirable, yet the Charlotte-Collins relationship, [very rational] while also being unconventional, suffers some criticism. Jane and Bingley, though playing very much to expectations of a romantic-story, are dealt with gently and not unkindly by Austen. The same sort of tempestuous emotional impulsiveness of Lydia and Wickham, so typical of romantic novels at that time, is clearly criticized.    Many critics in the nineteenth century approved of Austen's work, as she was vastly different from other novelists, injecting little of the "screams along the corridor" variety of novels that is suitable only for "maids and chamberwomen". This is characterised largely by the story of Elizabeth and Darcy, which is an inversion of romantic book expectations. Unlike the instantaneous, fiery passion that Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights had for Catherine, [not true, but I see what you mean] for this couple, it was more akin to extreme dislike-at-first-sight. Haughty, reserved Darcy, revealing none of the gushing, wondrous, she-is-the-most-beautiful-creature-in-the-world type of sentiment, caustically notes that she is "tolerable ... but not handsome enough to tempt me." Elizabeth, rightly incensed, takes a "decided dislike" for him throughout much of the first 2 volumes of the novel. This inauspicious beginning, in no way signifies to readers the fir... ...ald Gray.   New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1996. Hennelly, Jr., Mark M. "Pride and Prejudice." Jane Austen: New Perspectives. ed. Janet Todd. New York: Holmes & Meier Publishers, Inc., 1983. Jane Austen Info Page. Henry Churchyard. U of Texas, Austin. 23 Nov. 2000.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   <http://www.pemberly.com/janeinfo/janeinfo/html>. Monaghan, David.   Jane Austen Structure and Social Vision.   New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1980. Poplawski, Paul.   A Jane Austen Encyclopedia.   Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1998. Reidhead, Julia, ed. Norton Anthology of English Literature vol. 7, 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2000. Ward, David Allen. "Pride and Prejudice." Explicator. 51.1: (1992). Wright, Andrew H. "Feeling and Complexity in Pride and Prejudice." Ed. Donald Gray. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1966. 410-420.      

He Steps in the Planning Process Essay

Breaking them down and justifying the reason of choosing them as way to anticipate the outcomes of these goals. It will be a must to make these objectives clear, specific and enough information, such as dividing them in sectors or even in departments in order to guarantee realistic objectives and showing the opportunities as well as problems that the company will experience on the course of the activities. Thirdly will be a the stage of Drawing up Premises. This will involve the establishment of planning assumptions, for instance, to show the future environment in which the plans are expected to occur (Cronje, 2004). The setup of premises is vital to the success of planning and before plans are prepared, the assumptions and conditions need to be defined in order to make possible prediction of the events or activies to happen in the future. Therefor contingency plans may be prepared for alternate possible situations. The fourth stage on this process will be Development of Various Course of Action as a way to establish alternative ways in which the identified goal can be achieved. It is on this step that as a manager will need to outline the tasks required to meet the objective, as each goal should have a task or projects associated with its achievement. Step five will be Evaluating Alternatives, it is important to bear in mind that the alternatives defined in the previous step need to be evaluated in terms of various factors, including the planning premises developed in step 3. Prioritizing goals and tasks is about ordering objectives in terms of their importance, so the tasks deemed most important will theoretically be approached and completed first. Because the prioritizing process may also reflect steps necessary in completing a task or achieving a goal. On the step six, Selecting a Course of Action is the result of step five. A management plan should include a contingency plan if certain aspects of the master plan prove to be unattainable. The selection of course of action can be incorporated into each segment of the planning process or for the plan in its entirety. The seventh step is Formulating Derivative Plans, it involves the drawing up of plans which support the initial plan says Cronje, 2004. Once the goal are defined and planning premises are identified, management can formulate plans and strategies for the accomplishment of desired results. Although the responsibility of planning belongs to the managers, the subordinates ought to be consulted, as the are the one who will curry out the development of the activities. The available alternatives should be evaluated in the light of objectives and planning premises. If the evaluation shows that more than one alternative is equally good, the various alternatives may be combined in action. The last step on this process will be the Budgeting, it serves to establish the resources available for the manger to carry out the plans and achieve organizational goals Cronje, 2004. In order to any business plan be possible we must have financial and human resources projections that will make the goals achievable. Depending on what to achieve a management plan may identify the number of people required how much money will be needed for instance. Reference: Du Toit, Erasmus and

Apush Chapter

Slaves gets accuse of stealing for possessing items that they earn Slaves gets whip as a punishment 7) Summary: In this passage written by Frederick Douglas who was an escaped slave that became known as the greatest Black abolitionist of the time for sharing his terrible experience as a slave in order to stop slavery, it discusses the cruel treatments that the slaves are expose to.For instance, if the slaves perform at a poor rate or produces insufficient work, their master would hit them with a whip as a symbol of punishment. Sometimes, the master doesn't even need a reason to torment the slaves other than for his/ ere own satisfaction. In addition, Douglas who was a slave for the majority of his life, claims that the laws created by the Southern states were unfair since it was design to give the master full control over the slaves which took away their freedom.Moreover, Douglas supported his idea by repeating the same phrase and adding the different things that were restricted agai nst the slaves such as earning a proper education, receiving good food/clothes, and working hard to make money. Furthermore, Douglas asserts that the physical cruelties that are brought upon the slaves are sufficiently harassing and revolting since t inflicts on the mental, moral and religious nature of the helpless victims.All of these reasons explain why Douglas decided to risk his life in order to escape from his master to become a free and independent African American. 2) The â€Å"Blessings† of the Slave (1849) 3) Author: Solon Robinson 4) Author's Position: Supports the African American community. Against masters who abuses their slaves. 5) Bias: Robinson was born in Connecticut but he soon moved to Indiana which to become a trader and agriculturist which changed his views on slaves to look at them more positively. 6) Arguments:It is hard to find anyone around the world who likes being poor and control by the upper classes Freeing the slaves can be consider as a punishm ent for the slaves since God has deprived them of it The slaves has worked hard to meet their master expectations Over-driving slaves is the poorest way to get work out of them Slaves can't be force to do more than a certain amount of work The masters are only treating their slaves kindly because of self-interest The deep South is known for its cruelty towards the slaves The large plantations owners make the slaves perform tasks more regularly or bigger audiences 7) Summary: In this excerpt written by Solon Robinson who was a Puritan born and raised in Connecticut that switch from being a Yankee peddler to being a trader and agriculturist, discusses the benefits that some slaves has over the others as well as the poor conditions that they live in.First off, Solon admits that nobody in this society would ever Want to trade in their luxurious, relaxing and comfortable life in for a poor one fill with sufferings and tragedy. However, slaves also gets to enjoy some these factors such as the fine uniforms and full course meals that is given to them after a Eng and hard day at work. In addition, Solon supports his claims by explaining that he has witness very few plantations that abuse their slaves since it is looked down upon. Moreover, Solon describes how as the consumer market expands, the owners must force their slaves to work at a faster rate to reach the amount of products that gets demanded and the only effective way for them to do this is by using physical force.However, the owners obviously knows that the slaves too have limits which means that they can't perform more than a certain amount of tasks given to them. Furthermore, Solon confess from experience that as times goes by, the masters are becoming more temperate and better men so they treat the slaves better, but mainly because of self-interest. Solon the ends on a determine note on how the inhumane people who abuses their slaves will eventually gets punish for their wrong actions. 2) Comparing Slave L abor and Wage Labor (1850) 3) Author: Cartoonist from Boston 4) Author's Position: Supports Slavery 5) Bias: The British thinks that slavery in England was good.They wanted to prove that slavery conditions was different in various places 6) Arguments: Slaves in Southern America are very happy Slaves in England are peaceful The slaves are calm and collective 7) Summary: The picture illustrated in this cartoon that was published in Boston signifies the different slaves conditions in Southern America as compared to England. The author supports slavery so he/she drew the slaves looking very happy and even celebrating with music in the â€Å"Slavery as it exists in America† picture. Then in the â€Å"Slavery as it exists in England† image, it shows the slave and his owner talking to each other casually and other people being shock about it.

The glass Menagerie By T Williams Essays

The glass Menagerie By T Williams Essays The glass Menagerie By T Williams Essay The glass Menagerie By T Williams Essay Essay Topic: Literature The Glass Menagerie The glass menagerie is a play written by Tennessee Williams in the mid 1940s and is what many consider to be his best ever work. Like many of his plays, The Glass Menagerie is set in the south of Northern America and consists of five characters. The play is said to mirror Tennessees life very closely as he was brought up with an overbearing mother, a disabled sister and devoid of a father figure in his life. The play shows the Tom characters struggle for independence and freedom from his current existence. The entire play is centred on two of the five characters, even though one of these characters, the gentleman caller, only arrives in the final scenes, and the father, who is illusive throughout the entire play but is mentioned and referred to throughout. For the performance piece, I played the character of Amanda, Toms imperious mother. The scene that we performed was directly after a scene where Tom and Amanda had had a furious argument with Amanda and Tom both saying how they truly felt about how the other one treats and acts towards them. Our scene starts with lots of stage directions that truly build up the tension between Tom and Amanda that grows and grows with the silence and the physical distance between them, and is only broken by Tom breaking this strain of characters by saying the first sorry. There is very strong sub- text to the scene that is shown more in the stage directions then in the text. The sub- text being that Amanda was truly hurt by the things that Tom had said to her and is genuinely terrified that she will once again be left another loved one, but this does not mean that she is scarred because she will miss her son solely as a mother, but because the more manipulative, self centred side of her will miss him as the provider and the bread-winner. This sub- text is apparent when she turns the conversation from Toms love of the movies to how he should completely forget about his own aspirations and dreams and concentrate more on his job, most young men find adventure in their careers. which is paying for the house which he coincidently he shares with his mother and sister. The main plot in the scene is not set and changes from Tom apologising to his mother, to her trying to talk to him about Laura, to them both ultimately arguing about what they where arguing about in the previous scene. I played the character of Amanda to demonstrate the plot and the sub-text by using the dialogue and the stage directions that are given and exaggerated them slightly as the play is that of memory and is not a realistic play. I used facial expressions to display the way I felt about the way the conversation was going and to show the way that my character was feeling, such as the look of embarrassment when she asks Tom, promise me son that you will never be a drunkard. I think that while asking Tom this Amanda has an uncomfortable look because that is how she feels, she thinks that Tom may dismiss her worries as a load of over the top dramatisation that his is so used to seeing from his mother, or because she is revealing one of her biggest fears to her son, that stems from her husband leaving her, and will also expose an extremely venerable side of her that her son has probably never seen to her before. The start of the scene is one of the most important parts, as it is the part that has the most stage directions in it. The stage directions that were given told me that I should play Amanda as a hard character, I showed this by turning away from Tom as soon as he entered the room, and saying like this throughout, until he apologised. When he did apologise I remained facing away from him because even though Amanda was crying, Tom had given her the higher status by making amends first, and I feel that Amanda is a character that would want to hold on to the higher status for as long as she could, and by turning away from Tom she is keeping him in suspense as to how she is going to react to his request for forgiveness. The staging of the scene is very simple as the entire play is a memory and is therefore very selective. The set for this scene is a small dining table and two chairs. All of the props are mimed as directed at the very beginning of the play. The audience were end on as we felt that they could then see all of the facial expressions and gestures better in this type of staging. The only entrance made is from Tom as we thought that is would be better if Amanda was already in the scene, that way the audience would be able to see the contrast between how she behaves and her body language is before Tom is in the scene, and how she is and how they are towards each other after he has entered. There is a moment at the very beginning of the play where there is no dialogue but lots of stage directions. This creates a very tense atmosphere as neither of our characters was doing a lot of movement, but because they have just had a dispute and you can see that Tom is going to make an attempt to talk or apologise to Amanda it builds and builds the tension so much that with every failed attempt Tom makes, the atmosphere is at breaking point, until Tom actually speaks and it is somewhat of an anti-climax as all of a sudden all of the dramatic tension is lost and Amanda cries. This section as an opening to the scene also shows pace as well, as the pace in the beginning is very slow and almost not moving at all, as where in the middle of the scene where Tom and Amanda have started arguing again the pace is very quick with lines overlapping. This also created a tense atmosphere between our two characters but in a different way to the start of the scene. The moment in the middle of the play where Amanda changes from the nicer Amanda back to the familiar aggressive Amanda, I made a long pause to show that a change had occurred, and also to allow time for the audience to take in what had happened in the scene and what would happen. I tried to make the change in her personality clear also by using lots of facial expressions.

How Express Opinions in French

How Express Opinions in French If you want to have a debate in French or discuss your opinions, you need to know the relevant vocabulary and expressions. This page offers suggestions for offering, supporting, asking for, and avoiding opinions in French.Of course, the subject pronoun je, object pronoun me, stressed pronoun moi, and possessive adjective mon in these expressions can all be replaced to express other opinions than your own. Offering an Opinion   Ã‚  Ã‚   mon avisIn my opinionCest du moins mon opinion.At least, thats my opinion.Daprà ¨s moiIn my viewEn ce qui me concerneAs far as Im concernedIl est / Cest certain queIts certainIl est / Cest clair queIts clearIl est / Cest à ©vident queIts obviousIl est / Cest impossible queIts impossibleIl est / Cest injuste queIts unfairIl est / Cest juste queIts fairIl est / Cest possible queIts possibleIl est / Cest probable queIts probableIl est / Cest sà »r queIts surelyIl est / Cest vrai queIts trueIl me semble queIt seems to meJai lidà ©e queI have the impressionJai limpression queI have a feelingJe considà ¨re queI feelJe crains quil ne soitI fear that it isJe crois queI believeJe dois dire queI must sayJestime queI consider itJimagine queI imagineJe pense queI think (that)Je suppose queI supposeJe ne pense pas.I dont think so.Je ne peux pas mempà ªcher de penser queI cant help thinkingJe suis certain queIm certain thatJe suis convaincu queIm convinced thatJe suis davis queI m of the opinionJe suis persuadà © queIm convinced thatJe suis sà »r queIm sureJe trouve queI find, I feelMoi, je... As for me, I...PersonnellementPersonallyPour ma partFor my partPour moiIn my viewQuant moiAs for meSans vouloir vous contredireWithout meaning to contradict youSelon moiIn my viewSi vous voulez mon opinion/avisIf you want my opinionTelle est mon opinion sur...Thats my view of/on... Supporting an Opinion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Jai entendu dire que dependent clauseI heard thatJai entendu parler de nounI heard aboutJe sais / Nous savons queI / We know thatOn dit queOne says, They sayPar exempleFor example Asking for an Opinion   Ã‚   votre avisIn your opinionAvez-vous une opinion surDo you have an opinion aboutComment percevez-vousHow do you viewJaimerais connaà ®tre / avoir votre avis / opinion surId like (to know) your opinion onJaimerais connaà ®tre / avoir votre rà ©action face Id like (to know) your reaction toJaimerais / Je voudrais savoir ce que vous pensez deId like to know what you think aboutJe voudrais connaà ®tre / avoir votre avis / opinion surId like (to know) your opinion on/aboutJe voudrais  connaà ®tre / avoir votre rà ©action face Id like (to know) your reaction toPourriez-vous me donner / faire  savoir votre avis/opinion surCould you give me your opinion aboutPourriez-vous me donner / faire  savoir votre rà ©action face Could you give me your reaction toPourriez-vous me dire ce que vous pensez deCould you tell me what you think aboutQuelle est votre attitude là ©gard deWhat is your attitude toward/toQuelle est votre opinion/avis surWhat is your opinion aboutQue pensez-vo us deWhat do you think aboutSelon vousIn your opinion Avoiding Expressing an Opinion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Cela dà ©pend deThat depends onCest une question de point de vue.It all depends on your point of view.Il est / Cest difficile deIts hard toIl mest impossible de donner un avis (dà ©finitif) surI cant express a (definite) opinion onJe nai jamais vraiment rà ©flà ©chi I have never really thought aboutJe nai pas dopinion bien prà ©cise / arrà ªtà ©e surI dont have strong feelings aboutJe ne me le suis jamais demandà ©.Ive never wondered about it.Je ne me suis jamais vraiment posà © la question.Ive never asked myself that question.Je ne suis pas mà ªme de dire siIm not in a position to say whetherJe prà ©fà ©rerais ne pas (avoir ) me prononcer surId rather not commentJe prà ©fà ©rerais ne pas mengagerId rather not commit myselfJignore tout deI know nothing aboutTout dà ©pend deIt all depends on

Influence of Third Party Candidates on the Outcome of the 2008 Essay

Influence of Third Party Candidates on the Outcome of the 2008 Presidential Election - Essay Example In fact, the third party was likely to get on a ticket to winning, since numerous citizens were seeking a change in ways that the government is run; thus the third party was becoming more attractive to the current "two party" system (Abramowitz, 594). Moreover, the current stagnant political atmosphere was objecting progress due to two leading parties, which spend time bickering and seeking ways to oppose each other within their own party as evidenced in the primary campaigns. Therefore, the "two party" system has differences with substantial consequences on Precedential elections. Moreover, the control maintained by the Republicans and Democrats has established an environment, where voters have little choices to select. Nevertheless, the paper will discuss the influence of third party candidate on the outcome of 2008 presidential elections. There has been frustrations expressed Americans in relations to the US political systems, which is protecting two main parties and eliminating t he chance at the third way. Therefore, if 2008 presidential race were severely disrupted by the third party candidate, then Barrack Obama would not have won the presidential elections (Scotto, Clarke, Kornberg, Reifler, Sanders, Stewart and Whiteley, 545). On the other hand, there were campaigns of Cecilia Garza, which was an independent from Texas; Bob Barr, who was a Libertarian impeaching former president Bill Clinton, Ruth Bryant, who is a Christian minister from Nevada, Steven Hoefflin, who was a celebrity plastic surgeon humanitarian and inventor, and Ralph Nader were third party candidates in the 2008 presidential elections. However, in 2008, there were a lot of media coverage of Democrats and Republicans, thus making it difficult to remember alternative candidate from third party exists. Therefore, the third parties gave the voters a chance to think beyond the boundaries imposed by the media and the "two-party" system. Therefore, the third party had an influence of the race, since it made the content high competitive in a way that the candidate with the ability to change 800,000 voters was not able to determine the outcome of the election. Nevertheless, there were challenges related to running as a presidential candidate as a third party candidate, since there is no support by the political system or the mainstream media. A candidate like Dr. Hoefflin with brilliant ideas for altering politics and rectifying embedded problems in the U.S was not given a chance by media (Clem, Dodson and Nikole, 518). The media refused to pay attention at Dr. Hoefflin’s ideas concerning the changes on U.S politics, thus the frustrated voices of Americans who were supporting the third party made the media pay attention to their issues through the internet. However, the American economy was deteriorating; the dollar was losing value against other main currencies, while China’s shadow is weakening the leadership in U.S, in the world. Approvals made by Presiden t Bush are considered the worst in the history, since two thirds of the American populations believed that the Iraq war was a mistake. Therefore, the third party candidates were focused on changing the course, but the Americans and media could not pay attention to their ideas. The political situation has always been dominated by the Republicans and Democrats; thus, they have left diminutive room for change, but the third party offered norms, whereby each party was able to choose against opposition. It also facilitated disillusions that focused on independent learning for Americans who were fed up with the "two party" systems. In this way, the Republicans and Democrats seemed not to be taking their stand in their issues; instead, they made declarations in