Business problem analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Business problem analysis - Assignment Example An effective business plan should take factor in its calculations the costs, revenue, and flow of cash on a regular basis. This is used to calculate the business’s profitability or discover incidents of loss. Such a plan can be used to project future expenditure plans and guide managers’ decisions about such decisions. The task of understanding such accounting techniques should not be left solely to accountants as managers’ knowledge is critical. Information on the business plans can be presented on a number of models in excel such as charts, graphs, tables, and other presentational formatting. These are further divided into sub-models such as frequency distributions, cumulative frequency distributions, scatter grams and time series distributions. Such presentations provide the selling points for one’s ideas, therefore, they have to be accurate and self-explanatory and simple to understand. The mode of presentation depends on the audience and channel of presentation to be used. Business planning is a strategy that all managers need to learn. Basic accounting techniques are a requirement for all managers and they cannot afford to leave all the accounting to the accountants. Business planning is crucial for a business’s survival and sustenance as it elaborates the business’s future, making vivid aspects that have great impact on the business such as unforeseeable

Qualititve research preposol Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Qualititve preposol - Research Proposal Example Thus it is imperative for the managers of the organizations to have detailed understanding of the changes taking place in the organization and adequate knowledge of change management for accommodating their organization in this rapidly changing business environment. Paton and McCalman (2008) emphasizes on the fact that for adaptation to any change in an organization, it is necessary to have a well management of the organizational change process. This includes designing, planning, implementing, sustaining and assessing the changes taking place within the organization (Lientz & Rea, 2004). Winch and McDonald (1999) emphasized on the fact that change management is somewhat different when it comes to SMEs. One of the major rationales behind such statements by Winch and McDonald (1999) was that SMEs often lack the required managerial skills and also have limited experience of managing change (Tilley and Tonge, 2003). Moreover, SMEs are less formal and as a result of that they have less st ructural resistance are obvious to be more agile. Nevertheless, it is important for the SMEs to make use of these changes as the means of gaining edge over the competitors. Yet, at times due to inadequate technological know-how and managerial skills, they fail to plan and execute the change. The subject of change management in SMEs is not new as a number of studies about the change management in SMEs have been carried out previously. Majority of the studies have tried to underline the hurdles faced by the SMEs in the implementation process of change management. For example, the studies carried out by Macri, Tagliaventi and Bertolotti (2002) are such studies that explain the challenges of SMEs in driving and managing change. Apart from highlighting the challenges, these studies have also offered recommendations regarding how these challenges will be tackled. Studies have been also conducted that focused on the appropriate methods and approaches of change management in SMEs

Tao Heung Case Study Analysis

Tao Heung Case Study Analysis ABSTRACT Tao Heung is a listed company focusing on Chinese restaurant business in Hong Kong and Guangdong. By utilizing Porters five forces model, Chinese restaurant industry is identified to be intensively competitive. Nevertheless, Tao Heung still recorded slight growth by 2009 through successful cost control measures and operational efficiency. The company has strengths of strong financial position, cost efficiency, and good marketing and management capabilities, and weaknesses of imbalanced market presence, business portfolio, and capital structure. The business environment provides it new opportunities for developing new markets and businesses because of improving living standard and purchasing power. Major threats include severe inflation leading to soaring costs related to labour, rent, and food ingredients. TOWS matrix is a technique to formulate possible strategic alternatives matching internal factors to external opportunities and threats. In corporate level, Tao Heung is suggested to adopt market development strategy by using merger and acquisition and leveraging of debt. In business level, enhancing currently adopted cost leadership strategy is recommended. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION Tao Heung is a catering company, focusing on operating Chinese restaurants and mainly operating in Hong Kong and China market. The company was founded in 1991 and was listed on the main board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited in 2007 (Stock code. 0573.HK). It is now operating 66 outlets, including various styles of restaurants, in Hong Kong and more than 10 outlets in Mainland China. The business philosophy of Tao Heung is Delicious and Value for Money. It is well known for its quality foods and quality services at relatively low prices, and innovative marketing campaign, such as One Dollar Chicken, at the minds of Hong Kong consumers. One Dollar Chicken campaign was a marketing promotion during the period of financial tsunami in 2008. Consumers could enjoy a dish of chicken for only One Hong Kong Dollars at the restaurants of Tao Heung. The campaign effectively enacted the companys Value for money philosophy. Chinese restaurant is a traditional industry in which there are many inherent shortcomings and flaws. However, Tao Heung is renowned for the use of innovative marketing strategies and modern management techniques in running this traditional business. The objectives of Tao Heung are to become one of the most esteemed and premier Chinese restaurant groups in Hong Kong and China, recognized for innovations and its capabilities to provide high quality food and restaurant service that promise customers exceptional dining experiences (http://www.taoheung.com.hk/eng/corporate/overview.jsp). The goal of strategic management is to leverage a firms capabilities to accomplish its strategic objectives with the balance of all stakeholders interest. Mr. Chung Wai Ping, who is one of the founders of Tao Heung, owns 36.7% of shares in Tao Heung and must be the key stakeholder. However, share owners of a firm are not the only group of stakeholders of the firm in the sense of strategic management. Stakeholders refer to the groups of people who have interests in a firms activities and affect or are affected by the achievement of the firms objectives (Wheelen Hunger, 2010). Therefore, creditors, suppliers, customers, competitors, employees, governments, and public in the communities are the stakeholders of Tao Heung. Tao Heung tries to maximize profit through providing quality foods and exceptional dining experiences to its customers. As a result, it has the capability to repay loans to its creditors, pay taxes to governments, share profits with employees, satisfy the business need of suppliers, and contribute to communities. Meanwhile, its status as one of the most esteemed and premier Chinese restaurant groups in Hong Kong and China inevitably has impact on its competitors. 2. LITERATURE REVIEW AND METHODOLOGY Strategy is defined as a firms theory about how to gain competitive advantages (Barney Hesterly, 2010). Therefore, strategic management is a set of managerial decisions and actions that generates the firms competitive advantage, and, hence, gains above average return (Wheelen Hunger, 2010) (see Figure 1). Mission Objective External Analysis Internal Analysis Strategic Choice Strategy Implementation Figure 1 Strategic Management Process This article aims to critically evaluate the strategic position and direction of Tao Heung. Johnson and Scholes (2007: 16) point out that understanding the strategic position is concerned with impact on strategy of external environment, internal resources and competencies, and the expectations and influences of stakeholders. Therefore, this article will present external environmental analysis and internal analysis of resources and competencies for Tao Heung and evaluate its strategic options accordingly. By conducting external analysis, the critical opportunities and threats in external environment of Tao Heung will be identified, including macro-environment and industry environment in which the firm operates. Porter (1980) contends that a firms profitability is determined by the intensity of competition within the industry it competes. As a result, he developed Five Forces Model for examining the intensity of competition of an industry. In addition, generally adopt PESTEL framework for analyzing a firms macro-environment. The following factors are included in the analysis: Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, and Legal factors (Harvard University Press, 2007). By conducting internal analysis, the organizational strengths and weaknesses of Tao Heung will also be identified. The resources and capabilities which are the source of competitive advantage will be identified by internal analysis (Barney Hesterly, 2010). Porter (1985) proposed that Value Chain Analysis is a technique for analyzing source of competitive advantage of a firm. However, according to the Resource-based View, competitive capabilities must be rare, durable, valuable, robust, and not easily be imitated (Grant, 2002). Then, external analysis and internal analysis are synthesized into a SWOT analysis. SWOT is an acronym used to describe the particular Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats that are strategic factors for a specific company (Wheelen Hunger, 2010). Utilizing the result of SWOT analysis, a number of strategic options can be generated. A TOWS Matrix is produced to show how the external opportunities and threats facing a particular firm can be matched with the firms internal strengths and weaknesses (Wheelen Hunger, 2010). Finally, this article will critically justify the strategy that Tao Heung is using and suggest corporate and business level strategy that Tao Heung should use to improve its performance. Corporate level strategy refers to the strategy that creates value to the firm in line with the overall purpose and scope of the firm. Diversification, merger and acquisition, are examples of corporate level strategy. Business level strategy refers to the strategy about how to compete successfully in particular market and achieve competitive advantage (Johnson Scholes, 2007). Porter (1980) suggested three generic competitive strategies: cost-leadership, differentiation, and focus. They are examples of business level strategy. Secondary data from company annual reports, Internet, government statistics, academic journals, CEO interviews, magazines and newspapers will be collected for conducting analysis. 3. ANALYSES Four analyses will be presented here: Industry analysis, Macro-environment analysis, Internal analysis, and SWOT analysis. 3.1 INDUSTRY ANALYSIS According to Five Forces Model, the intensity of competition within Chinese restaurant industry in Hong Kong is determined by five competitive forces (Porter, 1980): Threat of new entrants New entrants are threats to the existing firms within an industry because they bring new capacity to the industry, and a new desire to gain market share and resources. If the entry barrier to the industry is high, the threat of new entrants is lower. The relatively high capital requirements and sunk costs create certain degree of entry barriers for Chinese restaurant industry. According to the information provided by Trade and Industry Department (2006), the capital requirements for opening a Chinese style cafà © was HK$1,275,500. The scale of a Chinese restaurant is 10 to 20 times greater than a cafà ©, the capital requirements are estimated to more than HK$15,000,000. Most of the investment is spent for decoration, facilities, and marketing activities. They are all sunk costs that cannot be recovered. Economies of scale also help establish barriers to entry. Therefore, the major rivals of Tao Heung are big Chinese restaurant groups such as Maxims and Star Seafood. Companies with limited capital have been not easy to start up a new Chinese restaurant in Hong Kong recently. Rivalry among existing firms Hong Kongs Chinese restaurant industry is dominated by several large restaurant groups now. They are Maxims restaurants, Federal Restaurants, Hsin Kuang Restaurants, East Ocean Victoria City Restaurants, Star Seafood Restaurants, and Tao Heung Restaurants. The relatively small number of competitors and roughly equal in size create intensively competitive environment. In addition, the growth rate of this industry is slow. The value of Chinese restaurant receipts and purchases for the first half of 2010 was HK$19,600 million, accounting for 6% increase compared with last year (Census and Statistics Department, 2010). Moreover, the exit barriers of this industry are high because of high sunk costs. Diversity of rivals and differentiation are low. These factors contribute to fierce competition within this industry. Threat of substitute There are many substitute products that can satisfy the same needs of dinning in Chinese restaurant. Consumers would like to gather to mingle and socialize in Chinese restaurants, besides of the dinning needs. But they could satisfy the same needs by going to Western restaurants, fast food restaurants, or even at home. According to Porter (1980), substitute limits the potential returns of an industry by placing a price ceiling. Chinese restaurants cannot charge profitably beyond the perceived values of dinning experiences. Bargaining power of buyers The bargaining power of buyers in this industry is high. The major reason is that consumers can choose their favorite restaurants free of switch costs. The restaurants can create greater product and service differentiation by introducing innovative recipe, and leveraging quality foods and services, in order to erode the bargaining power of buyers. Bargaining power of suppliers The major suppliers of Chinese restaurants are the food suppliers. They are numerous in the market. The products are not unique and restaurants have almost no switch costs to change suppliers. Substitutes are always readily available. Therefore, the bargaining power of suppliers is low. Overall, collective strengths of five competitive forces determine high level of competitive intensity in Chinese restaurant industry. The profit potential of this industry is limited. 3.2 MACRO-ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS PESTEL framework is employed for analyzing macro-environment: Political factors The economic transition policy of the government of Guangdong province intended to change the manufacturing-based economy into high-value-added economy. The results lead to severe factory closure in Southern China. It is a drawback for the market development strategy of Tao Heung since its physical presence in China is mainly in the cities in Guangdong province. On the other hand, after the 2008 financial tsunami, Chinese government introduced measures which aimed at promoting domestic demand and increasing welfare benefits. The purchasing power of Chinese consumers has been increased. Tao Heung is definitely benefited from these measures. Overall, the market potential for Chinese restaurants business seems to be optimistic in the long run. After all, factory closure in Guangdong province is a temporary phenomenon. It will recover when the transition is successful achieved. Economic factors Financial tsunami in 2008 created a very volatile economy for catering industry. Tao Heung recorded a relatively low revenue growth of 5.5% only in 2009 (Tao Heung, 2010). Fortunately, economic conditions both in Hong Kong and China are gradually recovering. However, another economic force has been negatively affecting Chinese restaurant industry since economic recovery. Inflation has been very serious for the recent two years. As a result, the costs of raw materials have been soaring. The profitability of Tao Heung is inevitably eroded. In addition, Tao Heung also faced rental and labour market pressure because of severe inflation. Indeed, rent, food and labour are three major inputs to Chinese restaurant industry. Increased Costs associated with rent, food and labour cause significant negative impact on the Chinese restaurant industry. Social factors Living standard is high in Hong Kong. Besides, as economic growth in China is substantially, living standard is improving accordingly. Thus, there is increasing demand for quality cuisine. Restaurant goers both in Hong Kong and China are not only seeking for food, but also for specialty recipe, quality service, and excellent atmosphere. In addition, there are rising concerns for food safety also. It may be because of recent food safety problems in China and the emerging environmental conservation sentiment. Increasing demand for quality and safety will impose challenges to that industry. On the other hand, it may be opportunities for Tao Heung. Tao Heung is a pioneer in adopting modern management and marketing skills to operate traditional Chinese restaurants. If Tao Heung can cope with the challenges, they can outperform its rivals. Besides, improving living standard in China means more market opportunities, for example, banquets market. Technological factor Advanced information system technology is an enabler of modern supply chain management. Tao Heung has utilized bulk purchase and direct food supply from its logistics centres to enhance cost efficiency. The advancement in food processing technology also creates new opportunities for food catering industry, chilled food trading business. Environmental factor Chinese restaurant operations pollute water when washing foods and dishes. According to the Polluters Pay Principle, restaurants need to pay additional sewage charges. Because of the increased environmental concern in our society, the sewage charges are expected to rise. Besides, consumers are more concern about food safety now because of severe pollution problems. Legal factor The minimum wage legislation process is about to complete in Hong Kong. The initial minimum wage rate will be HK$28 per hour. It is expected to come into force on May 1, 2011 (Labour Department). Tao Heung will face increasing labour costs and human resources pressure. 3.3 INTERNAL ANALYSIS Internal analysis is concerned with identifying a firms internal strategic factors which is the firms critical resources and competencies for success (Wheelen Hunger, 2010). With reference to resource-based view of strategic management, Grant (2004) suggested that an organizations sustainable competitive advantage is primarily determined by its strategic resources and competencies. The following internal strengths are identified to be critical for the success of Tao Heung: Strong financial position Tao Heung has very low debt ratio (about 1%). The value of cash and cash equivalents asset is 428 million at the end of 2009 (Tao Heung, 2010). In addition, Tao Heung is listed company so that it has capability to raise funds from shareholders or public when needed. The strong financial position can support Tao Heung to grow naturally or grow by merger and acquisition. Logistics centres Tao Heung owns a logistics centre in Tai Po (Hong Kong) and Dongguan (China). The logistics centre in China enables it to achieve bulk purchase of food ingredients from their sources. Logistics centres have another role of supplying food products to restaurants of Tao Heung. Foods have been processed before delivering to restaurants. The semi-processed food ingredients can help (1) save the cooking time in restaurants, (2) use less skillful chef, and (3) save kitchen space. Besides, the excess capacities of logistics centres are utilized to manufacture pre-packing chilled food supplied to its own outlets, supermarkets and food centres, providing another source of revenue. Marketing and management capabilities Tao Heung has profound marketing capability. The marketing team has launched some excellent promotion campaigns such as One Dollar Chicken. They have also developed brand awareness in China and have won some awards such as Top 500 Quality Brands in China 2009 and Top 500 Overseas Chinese Merchants in Chinas Market (Tao Heung, 2010). Tao Heung has a lot of innovations in Chinese restaurant management, for example, achieving cost efficiency by using operation of logistics centres. Moreover, Tao Heung will establish a training institute providing professional training to restaurant workers with the cooperation of VTC. The program can ease labour pressure of the industry. Although the economic situation was bad in 2009, Tao Heung could still achieve growth through stringent cost control measures and streamlining of operations. On the other hand, Tao Heung has some weaknesses. It has been too focus on Chinese restaurant business and Hong Kong market. Its peripheral businesses including airline catering, chilled food trading and bakery accounted for a relatively modest amount of total turnover (HK$52 million) in 2009. Besides, Mainland China business accounted for only 17.3% of total turnover in 2009. In addition, its use of debt has been too little. Better use of debt can enhance returns of shareholders, although high level leverage of debt will increase business risk. 3.4 SWOT ANALYSIS A SWOT analysis summaries the key issues from the external environment and the strategic capabilities of an organization that are most likely to impact on strategy development (Johnson Scholes, 2007). Figure 2 shows the internal strengths and weaknesses of Tao Heung, as well as the opportunities and threats from the external business environment. The strengths are strong financial position, cost efficiency, and marketing and management capabilities. The weaknesses are imbalanced market coverage, business portfolio, and capital structure. Opportunities include increasing purchase power, living standard, demand for quality cuisine, and advanced IS technology. The threats include inflation pressure, minimum wage, intense competition, and food safety concern. Strengths Strong financial position Cost efficiency through the use of logistics centres Good marketing and management capabilities Weaknesses Imbalanced market coverage Imbalanced business portfolio Imbalanced capital structure Opportunities Increasing purchasing power in Mainland China Increasing living standard leading to new business opportunities such as banquet Demand for quality cuisine Advanced IS technology enabling efficient supply chain management Threats Severe inflation pressure leading to rising costs related to rent and food. Minimum wage legislation leading to higher labour market pressure Intense competition in Chinese restaurant industry Concerns about food safety Figure 2 SWOT Analysis for Tao Heung TOWS matrix is used to illustrate how the external opportunities and threats facing a particular organization can be matched with that organizations internal strengths and weaknesses to result in four sets of possible strategic alternatives: SO strategies, WO strategies, ST strategies and WT strategies (Wheelen Hunger, 2010) (see Figure 3). Strengths (S) Weaknesses (W) Opportunities (O) SO strategies Generate strategies that use strengths to take advantage of opportunities WO strategies Generate strategies that take advantage of opportunities by overcoming weaknesses Threats (T) ST strategies Generate strategies that use strengths to avoid threats WT strategies Generate strategies that minimize weaknesses and avoid threats Figure 3 TOWS Matrix The possible strategies are listed in the Figure 4. In summary, Tao Heung is suggested to develop new markets, enhance its operation efficiency, rapid expansion into Mainland China, and better use of debt. The strategies can be consolidated into two levels of strategies: corporate and business level. Strengths (S) Strong financial position (S1) Cost efficiency (S2) Good marketing and management capabilities (S3) Weaknesses (W) Imbalanced market coverage (W1) Imbalanced business portfolio (W2) Imbalanced capital structure (W3) Opportunities (O) Increasing purchasing power (O1) Increasing living standard (O2) Demand for quality cuisine (O3) Advanced IS technology (O4) SO strategies Expansion to various food catering businesses (S1O2O3) Rapid expansion into Mainland China (S1O1) Enhance capacities of logistics centres (S2O4) WO strategies Acquire other catering businesses (W2O2) Merger and acquisition in Mainland China (W1O1) Threats (T) Severe inflation pressure (T1) Minimum wage legislation (T2) Intense competition (T3) Food safety concerns (T4) ST strategies Leveraging the use of logistics centres (S2T1) Stringent quality control (S3T4) More stringent cost control (S2S3T1) Improved employee training (S3T2) WT strategies Diversify into other market segments (W1W2T3) Figure 4 TOWS Matrix for Tao Heung 4. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS Ansoff product/market growth matrix (Figure 5) suggests that a business attempts to grow depend on whether it should market new or existing products in new or existing markets (Johnson Scholes, 2007). Existing Products New Products Existing Markets Market Penetration Product Development New Markets Market Development Diversification Figure 5 Ansoff Product/Market Growth Matrix Concerning with Tao Heungs corporate level strategy, market development is a more suitable strategy. Both new geographical markets and new segment markets should be explored. Although Tao Heung has established its presence in Chinese market, it has only less than 15 restaurants in China by the end of 2010. All of these restaurants are located in Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Tao Heung should expand more rapidly in China market and open more new restaurants in other cities within Guangdong province. Regarding to segment markets, most of restaurants in Hong Kong are seafood restaurants targeting to medium income level families. Tao Heung has adopted multi-branding strategy. The different brands are targeting similar segments using different products. For example, Hak Ka Hut, Chao Inn, and Shanghai Inn provide different style of dishes but target the same segmented customers. Chao Inn and Shanghai Inn even located at the same place. HIPOT is a new brand of Tao Heung. This new brand target young customers. It is a good direction. Tao Heung is encouraged to explore more new segment markets by building more new brands. Tao Heung has mainly used internal development for growth. The only acquisition in the past few years is the acquisition of Tai Chong Bakery. Using companys own resources to develop new businesses is actually a play safe game. However, Tao Heung is suggested to use more merger and acquisition to expand into China market in a more rapid pace. Since Mainland China is a massive market, growth by acquisition could be better than by organic growth. Besides, Tao Heung can better use of debt to balance its capital structure. Porter (1980) suggests three generic strategies to compete with rivals in a market. They are cost leadership, differentiation, and focus strategies. Cost leadership is the strategy that Tao Heung is currently adopting. Tao Heung put much effort on achieving cost efficiency by utilizing logistics centres and stringent cost control measures. . It is a correct direction since Chinese restaurant is a very intensively competitive industry. However, Tao Heung is suggested to focus on maintaining quality cuisine while achieving cost efficiency. To complement cost leadership strategy, diversifying into other food catering business such as bakery and school catering to balance its business portfolio.

crime soars as villians remain free :: essays research papers

In this question there are several points to consider. Firstly there is the opening sentence. Does it mean that we are either not catching villains, or when they are being caught, the judiciary are not imposing custodial sentences and therefore they are back on the streets committing more and more crime. When dissected and taken apart the gripping headline that appeared in the Daily Express means nothing of the sort. It is merely an eye catcher that will draw people’s attention to the article. What the article is actually saying is that although the crime figures in some Police forces in England and Wales has only risen slightly the detection or clear up rate has actually fallen, this is due in some part to the home office guidelines as to what Police can now regard as a ‘clear up’. Robbery is and always will continue to be a problem, although as Richard Garside of the crime prevention charity NACRO said â€Å"There is a good deal of confusion and misunderstanding among the public about violent crime, particularly as nearly half of violent offences do not result in injury†(Resource file section1) Although Garside is right in what he says the definition of force when it is applied in the case of robbery is that, â€Å"The threat of force need only to be the victim being in fear of being subjected to such force. It can also be the force used, to forcibly remove or snatch a bag in a street robbery† (Butterworths P109). The article also says that crimes such as Burglary have in fact fallen by 9% in 2000-2001, and that motor vehicle has also gone down to the lowest figure in thirteen years. What appears to have sparked this and other similar news items is the rise in mobile phone thefts. There are now very few youngsters without the obligatory fashion accessory. Therefore it is easy pickings for the opportunist thief, or in most cases gangs of thieves. Because of the age of the victims, in most cases at least the chance of the perpetrators making good their escape is a foregone conclusion. The escalating price of the mobile telephone is rising rapidly with the advancement of technology. With it the manufacturers reluctance to install devices to incapacitate the phone, it makes it a very re-saleable item. In twenty-three per cent of incidents victims were using their mobile phone or had it on display when it was targeted. crime soars as villians remain free :: essays research papers In this question there are several points to consider. Firstly there is the opening sentence. Does it mean that we are either not catching villains, or when they are being caught, the judiciary are not imposing custodial sentences and therefore they are back on the streets committing more and more crime. When dissected and taken apart the gripping headline that appeared in the Daily Express means nothing of the sort. It is merely an eye catcher that will draw people’s attention to the article. What the article is actually saying is that although the crime figures in some Police forces in England and Wales has only risen slightly the detection or clear up rate has actually fallen, this is due in some part to the home office guidelines as to what Police can now regard as a ‘clear up’. Robbery is and always will continue to be a problem, although as Richard Garside of the crime prevention charity NACRO said â€Å"There is a good deal of confusion and misunderstanding among the public about violent crime, particularly as nearly half of violent offences do not result in injury†(Resource file section1) Although Garside is right in what he says the definition of force when it is applied in the case of robbery is that, â€Å"The threat of force need only to be the victim being in fear of being subjected to such force. It can also be the force used, to forcibly remove or snatch a bag in a street robbery† (Butterworths P109). The article also says that crimes such as Burglary have in fact fallen by 9% in 2000-2001, and that motor vehicle has also gone down to the lowest figure in thirteen years. What appears to have sparked this and other similar news items is the rise in mobile phone thefts. There are now very few youngsters without the obligatory fashion accessory. Therefore it is easy pickings for the opportunist thief, or in most cases gangs of thieves. Because of the age of the victims, in most cases at least the chance of the perpetrators making good their escape is a foregone conclusion. The escalating price of the mobile telephone is rising rapidly with the advancement of technology. With it the manufacturers reluctance to install devices to incapacitate the phone, it makes it a very re-saleable item. In twenty-three per cent of incidents victims were using their mobile phone or had it on display when it was targeted.

Art & Literature Have No Place in the Modern World Essay

Creating and expressing ones’ self through various media, such as art and literature, has been a desire of mankind since the beginning of time. Art form and literature has been used to express mankind’s deepest observations, most profound thinking and firmest beliefs; it encompasses many genres such as paintings,drama, poetry and novels. While both the physical arts and literature are a form of self-expression, each also represents a profession. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become. This adage is perhaps the most appropriate description of the importance of literature in our lives. As Amy Lowell quotes, ’Art is the desire of a man to express himself, to record the reactions of his personality to the world he lives in. ’ When we look around us, we see a lot of things that relate to art.. , contain art.. , are art.. and shows art.. Art is everywhere because people need to use it for daily uses. Art can come in the form of many things, including posters, murals, portraits, covers, paintings and more. This is enough to show how art and literature are blended into our lives. Music, paintings, sculptures, epics, fictions, movies, stories†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. and so on and so forth are all a part of us. Is there a home in this modern world without a painting on the wall or a deck which doesn’t hum their favourite tune or a rack with Fredrick Forsyth or James Hadley Chase novels? Even a child of this generation has his ears plugged all the time either listening to a soulful raga or a foot tapping Michael Jackson and reading either a religious book or a comic or an encyclopedia†¦. this is the common usage of art and literature. Art can also be used to liven up things in this world. It may not have a specific idea or meaning but it can be used to make things look better and more complete. When you write a project, it looks dull just with words, but when you add a picture or two to it, it looks much better because now there is visual aid. Art is found everywhere, including parks, school, malls,homes†¦ and is used just to make the place more comfortable and appealing to the eye. It can sometimes act as filler because it looks better than to just leave something on its own. It is through reading great literary and poetic works, that one understands life. They help a person take a closer look at the different facets of life. In many ways, it can change one’s perspective towards life. Lives of brilliant achievers and individuals who have made a valuable contribution to society, are sketched in their biographies. These works give the readers an insight into the lives of these eminent people and sometimes help people change for the good. Friends, don’t you agree that Art and literature are great tools for learning. They can be found almost everywhere where there is a school. They are important because of what they can be used for. It is fun and acts as an interactive tool for learners who learn to appreciate art and literature for what it can do for them. In the process, people can learn a lot. Sometimes, art and writing go hand in hand. Art and literature serves as an enormous information base. Many people depend on art and literature. People who draw and write are not the only people who use and make money out of it. People who are book publishers, magazine editors, newspaper people, painters, actors all need to use art to supplement their work. Art and literature are used by some people directly andsome indirectly. People can choose to make a profession out of this because it is fun for them; it is something that they like to do, and more. Hence I strongly believe that we had art and literature in our blood since ages and is still used and appreciated by us in different forms in the modern world. There is not even a single person in this room who doesn’t love music or reading!

German social life between 1933 and 1939 Essay

Using all Sources and your own knowledge, assess the view that the Nazis successfully managed to control all aspects of German social life between 1933 and 1939 [70] The Nazis tried to control all aspects of German social life so that they would support the Nazi party thus giving them more power. This meant they wanted to control who the followers spoke to and who they were friends with. They did this with many different techniques; the main one being propaganda. The Nazis used propaganda to control the beliefs of the German people. The used many different ways to control aspects of a person’s social life to gain popularity and power. These included: radio, music, literature, art, film and festivals. Most of these are aspects of a German’s social life. They also tried to control who the German’s interacted with and who they had relationships with. For example they would portray Jews as ‘bad’ people to stop others from socialising with them, thus pushing them out of society. They did this by showing the Jews as evil and influential to others on posters and other propaganda documents. But some people were not influenced by these techniques and if they didn’t up rise against the Nazi takeover, they just carried with their lives as usual. This is shown in Hitler Youth organisations, many of the children who joined didn’t actually ‘love’ the Furher like they were meant to and did not hope to serve the country; they joined purely because they wanted to have fun and join in with activities they couldn’t do at school. However, once they had joined most of them were indoctrinated and sucked into the Nazi lifestyle. The Nazis knew that a majority of Germans listen to the radio and so gained control over it. In 1934 regional radio stations were removed from the control of the lander and the Reich Radio Company took over. This meant that any music or anything that was played on the radio had been accepted by the Nazis and so was probably Nazi-related. For example the radio was used to transmit Hitler speeches to everyone across the country. This is shown in source B where a journalist reports on the response of Germans to a Hitler speech in a Berlin cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½. This implies that important things like this were played in local places so that everyone could hear. This is an aspect of a German’s social life because they used cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s to socialise with people. The Nazis managed to control this by installing radios and loudspeakers so things such as the speech could be heard. This was successful because Hitler was a very good public speaker and managed to win over masses of supporters with his inspirational talks. In spite of this, source B suggests that this was not very successful. ‘No one else in the crowded cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ listened to Adolf Hitler’. This shows that although Hitler was an extremely good speaker, some people did not react to this and so this part of their social life remained uncontrolled. Moreover, to gain control over the German people, the Nazis tried to get through their sub-consciousness. This meant using propaganda through things such as music and film. These were things that the Germans would watch or listen to and take in whatever information that was played, but this was done sub-consciously, as they were not aware of the information they were actually taking in. Source D shows this ‘National Socialist doctrine’ was in ‘every painting, film, stamp†¦, public building†¦, toys†¦, people’s houses, in tales and costumes†¦, songs†¦, poems†¦, in schools’ and ‘even in household goods.’ This source shows that this propaganda was literally everywhere , people could not get away from it. Therefore because it was everywhere the Germans would have sub-consciously taken in all of these things, and started to believe and support the Nazis. Source D also suggests how successfully they did this ‘ everyone played a part. Discipline, obedience, self-sacrifice, loyalty, duty†¦ The penetration of Nazi culture into every sphere of social life never ceased.’ This suggests that this technique worked; everyone was ‘indoctrinated’ by the Nazis and supported them. They did whatever they could for their country and Furher. However this source could be questioned as it was written in 1992, therefore the author: P. Adam, was not there at the time and the information he may have gathered may be false. In contrast to this as it is a book purely on the Nazis: ‘The Arts of the Third Reich’ the author would’ve researched for the book a lot. He would have made sure that all information was from a reliable source and that it was a true as possible. Both source B and D speak about the response to the Nazi propaganda. Yet, they contradict each other; source B talks about how the public showed no response to the speech that was being played in the cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½. Whereas source D says that the Nazis successfully managed to win over everybody, and these people sacrificed everything for them and their country. Another part of a German’s social life the Nazis took over was a child’s education. Source D talks about how ‘National Socialist doctrine’ was in ‘the songs and poems taught in schools,’ this shows how the Nazis tried to indoctrinate children while they were young. When they are young they are more vulnerable and more influential. This means the Nazis have more chance of making the children support them. This was successful because most children, when they finished school, were true Nazis. The boys became soldiers for their country and were willing to die for it. The girls became the perfect housewives and mothers. Nonetheless most of the children joined groups like the Hitler Youth because they thought it was fun; they could do activities that they wouldn’t usually do at school. This is another example of the Nazis controlling another aspect of a German’s social life. However, the real question is whether this actually impacted on the German population. Source C shows it did; as it shows in the provenance that ‘99% of the 48 million votes cast in Germany and Austria voted in favour’ of the union of Germany with Austria. This shows that the Nazis had successfully completed the task of making people follow them; almost the whole population. However, many of these votes may have just voted for to follow the rest of the country. Moreover, the voters may have felt pressurised into voting which is also shown in Source C. The poster shows a lot of soldiers in uniform saluting. This would make people feel intimidated because of the power the soldiers have over them; if instructed, they have the authority to take away anybody’s life. People may feel pressurised into following them, just to keep peace with the Nazis and just because everyone else is. This shows that although the Nazis were successful in controlling German social life, they were unsuccessful in gaining true followers. In contrast to Source C, Source B speaks how ‘No one else in the cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ listened to Adolf Hitler’ when his speech was played on a loud speaker. This shows the Nazis successfully controlling this part of the population’s social life. But it also suggests that some of the public were not swayed but this, and they just chose to go on with their lives a usual, and ignoring the changes around them. In conclusion, Nazis did control almost all aspects of a German’s social life. They did this to gain popularity and more followers. Through controlling a German’s social life they were able to indoctrinate them, with the thought that the Nazi party was the best for the country, and to make them become a follower of them. Furthermore, the more fans they gained the more of the German population would follow their example. Overall the Nazis were successful in controlling all aspects of a German’s social life, which is shown in source D. In which a modern historian describes how ‘National Socialist doctrine’ was in literally every part of German social life. Although this shows they were successful in controlling the social life, it does not show whether this domination actually swayed the public into following the Nazis.

The Elizabethan Era Essay Example

The Elizabethan Era Essay Example The Elizabethan Era Paper The Elizabethan Era Paper By definition, a class is a group of people with a related social standing. There are often distinct differences between the classes, denoted by characteristics such as one’s wealth, education, career, and health. These principles applied for the Elizabethan Era as well. Elizabeth herself was a member of the upper class, while other fairly successful people belonged to the middle class. Peasants were the lowest ranked class, usually because they were unfortunate enough to either contract a disease that disabled them from work, or they were farmers that were stricken with poverty when a harvesting season went bad. The â€Å"upper class† consisted mainly of nobility and wealthy landowners. Those in this class generally handled governmental affairs. They also had their children brought up with an education in music, math, and history. It wasn’t rare for many of them to be literate in multiple foreign languages, as well as their own, such as Latin, English, French, and Spanish. Also, the men usually received a better education than the women. The men of nobility were taught extra skills such as horse riding, hunting, shooting, and hawking as well. Because of this class’s social statute and wealth, they were easily able to treat themselves to the best of the food available during their time, especially meaty foods. But because of the large consumption of meat with few vegetables, many eventually suffered from diseases such as scurvy, which is weakness of the bone. The dinnerware consisted of wooden plates, like those of the lower classes, but these were accompanied by other delicacies of the Elizabethan period, such as chairs, forks, and glasses. The favorite drink of all the classes was beer, although the upper class favored wine imported from French vineyards. One custom between the people of this class and the peasants was known as the giving of â€Å"alms† to the poor. This was were a wealthy person would contribute money and sometimes provide supplementary shelter to a less fortunate person. Although the upper class was a minority in Elizabethan times as it is now, it kept the thriving European kingdom alive. The second class of the Elizabethan Period was the â€Å"middle class†. This class usually consisted of merchants and some landowners, although the number of peasants who rose and fell between this class and the lower class varied depending on the health of the seasonal harvest. Those in this class lead a fairly peaceful, easygoing life, other than common household chores and visits to the local market. If possible, they would hire a servant to keep up with some of the household chores, such as the tedious task of clothes washing. They sent their children to a formal school if they could afford it. The parents were so intent for their children to learn the material that they encouraged teachers to beat them if they made mistakes or became lazy. The middle class often could not afford some of the things taken for granted by the upper class, such as chairs instead of stools, forks, glasses, and a large selection of meats. The middle class drove the economy of Britain through its trades with other European countries. The peasants made up the lower class. These people were either ill, lazy, became laborers, or were just turned a bad hand during the harvest season. The laborers and servants served long hours each day handling the least favorable jobs, such as field work and laundry. During bad seasons, as many as 25% could not afford food, and often the most they ever ate was bread. In many cases they turned to thievery, otherwise they would starve. Some were lucky enough to receive â€Å"alms† from the wealthy, but many didn’t, because of their great number. The upper class pitied the peasants that were ill or that couldn’t find work, so they created a system to care for them. If there were able men that were just lazy and rather beg on the streets, a Parish, or the person in charge of the system locally, would send them to a larger city were they would be whipped and then sent back and assigned a job. If a man was ill, then they would often try to take him in and give him enough food to survive on. Widows and their families were also treated in the same manner. In the end, when harvest was well, every class benefited, and it created especially good seasons for the poor, otherwise it was the peasants who suffered most. The classes of the Elizabethan Period established a society which became a model for many present-day cultures. Though not perfect, it still exists today, even in America to some degree. The upper class was the wealthiest and had the most power, while the middle class was mostly involved in trade, and the lower class made up the remainder who were often ill or widowed.