Thursday 27 September 2012

E-BusinessAC omparison of the Dell and Compaq Websites

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E-Business

A comparison of the Websites for

Dell and Compaq Computers




Introduction

e-Business The conduct of business with the assistance of telecommunications equipment and the Internet

e-Commerce The conduct of commerce transactions having the objective of supplying commodities, goods and services on the Internet.

I believe the terms e-Commerce and IBM’s coined term e-Business are interchangeable and mean essentially the same thing. These definitions I believe, will allow the most effective way of analyzing the two business modules I have chosen for this paper.

The two business modules are websites that offer similar products and services namely computers, these sites are

Dell computers http//www.euro.dell.com/countries/uk/enu/gen/default.htm

Hewlett Packard (HP) http//www.hp.com/country/uk/eng/welcome.html

The Market

Marketers need to promote what customers want. However what the customer considers of value from their purchase is the benefit(s) derived from it. These benefits can be wide ranging i.e. do they help the environment, does this company contribute to charities, the after sales service.

Marketing is not just about these things, it entails a much more complex framework and this must include four crucial areas Analysis, Planning, Implementation and Control. Within e-Business, analysis is of great importance, it will show you where an opportunity exists or could exist, appropriates initiation of a new value chain, identifies which segment of the market to target and establish possible tactics of potential competitors. The value chain, being the business model, can be very simple but also very complex.

“The value system can be thought of as the entire ‘chain’ of suppliers, distributors, competitors, buyers, and intermediaries that bring an existing offering to the market”.

(J. F. Rayport & B. J. Jaworski, 001 7)

Market segmentation very rarely rewards companies on their intended objectives because there are different segmentation approaches and each of them must be conducive with the way the company approaches the market. Segmentation consists of many variables geographic; demographic; behavioral; situational; and psychographics to name but a few, and having the right blend could mean success or failure. However with the use of e-Business some of these variables pose less of a problem than they previously did. E-Business reduces the geographic ties with the use of the Internet. Potential consumer information that was previously very difficult to obtain can be acquired from various data information providers such as www.nua.ie/surveys and cr.yp.to/surveys.html. Using the Internet to increase the sales pipeline you must focus on understanding your target audience; have an effective Internet Marketing Strategy; deliver the message on what your product to increase the conversation about your website; and finally analyze your strategy to improve it and, as an on flow of that, improve the Return of Investment (ROI). These aspects overlap and relate to each other.

To achieve a better understanding of the market the use of a SWOT analysis as a framework to help decision-making is favorable. Both Dell and HP need to constantly assess their situation under each of the headings

• Strengths what their advantages are, what do you do well

• Weaknesses what could they improve, what do they do badly, what they should avoid

• Opportunities identify emerging trends and advantageous circumstances’)

• Threats what are the obstacles, where is the competition, is the change in technology threatening their position, could any identified threats harm profits.

By doing this, they should be in a better position to plan for all eventualities and better able to focus activities to where they are strong and where the greatest opportunities lie.

Micro-marketing

Micro-marketing is the process of individualizing marketing, so that the product fits the customer perfectly. Dell does this much more convincingly than HP. However much of the marketing that Dell and HP undertake seems to fit fairly well into this category.

As the Internet companies become more profit-driven and accountable, marketing research must play a role in providing actionable measurements of marketing efforts. Marketers need to develop their research techniques which will provide them with the ability to correlate market spending to resultant returns in sales and profits. The use of databanks will provide marketers with research results which will assist the marketer in thoroughly understanding the relationship that the consumer has with the brand and how that relationship may be optimized from a profit point of view.

Product Life Cycle

To be able to market their product(s) properly, Dell and HP must be aware of the product life cycle of its product(s). The standard product life cycle tends to have five phases

• Development

• Introduction

• Growth

• Maturity

• Decline

It can also be shown graphically. This graph has two lines-one to show the level of profit and one to show the level of sales

Firms will often try to use extension strategies. These are techniques to try to delay the decline stage of the product life cycle. The maturity stage is a good stage for the company in terms of generating cash. The costs of developing the product and establishing it in the market are paid and it tends to then be at a profitable stage. The longer the company can extend this stage the better it will be for them. Dell does not purchase components until a customer has ordered the component; this allows Dell to stay up to date with the changes within technology without worrying too much about the product life cycle.

The Product/Service

Dell and HP sell basically the same product(s) computers. They sell them to the same market segments at similar prices and with similar benefits. What lies beneath the surface is what makes one company more profitable than the other. After all, profit is the primary focus as you need this in order to continue business, expand and diversify. You need a profit to continue business, to expand and to diversify.

Dell’s Business Model

This is very simple make-to-order, cash is received before the product is built or delivered and produces custom results from standard inputs. Cleverly, they reversed the designing and customizing of the individual systems back out to the customer on the website. This gives the potential customer complete control on the specifications of the product and a higher level of service.

“Dell has a negative cash conversion of five business days, meaning customers pay Dell for their computers, on average, about a week before the money goes out to the suppliers of parts for those very same computers”.

(E. I. Schwartz, 1 118)

HP’s Business Model

Again very simple combine the products, services and partnerships to produce cost-effective systems integrated into their global services and deliver an end-to-end business continuity solution designed to meet everybody’s needs.

Timmers (1) describes a business model as

• An architecture for the project, service and information flows, including a description of the various business actors and their roles; and

• A description of the potential benefits for the various business actors; and

• A description of the sources of revenue.

If you get the business model correct, the harder you work, the more money you make. If you get the business model wrong, no matter how hard you work, you will end up losing more and more money. The Business Model is supplanting, to some extent, the Business Plan. The Business Model is defined as the engine of the business. It is where and how the business acquires money from the customers, how it uses that money by tracking cash streams from customers and throughout the business to the suppliers, how product and services flow from the suppliers and the customers in the reverse direction and finally there is an orthogonal connection dimension that shows how the business connects with its customers.

Dell and HP

What Dell and HP learnt from the burst of the dot.com bubble was that they had to offer something different from all previous suppliers of computers and to do this they developed a value chain which comprises of the following

• Unique websites

• Control of their product line

• Introduction of new products on a regular basis

• Provide a customer-friendly service

• Ensure safe and efficient on-line payment

• Keeping their promise

Soon Dell became not just a company name and logo but a brand which encompassed the customer’s entire experience with the company. The brand ‘Dell’ defines simply the immediate image, emotion, or message experienced when a person thinks of the company and its products. This ‘brand’ has enabled Dell to pioneer the Internet computer sales industry and has allowed them to gain market share and create customer loyalty.

“Dells shares have appreciated more than 0,000-fold since 10”.

(E. I. Schwartz, 1 118)

Creating customer loyalty is very important on the Internet as timescales are short, competition intense and mistakes can be costly. Dell got where it is because they are the most efficient marketer and assembler of other people’s computer and software technology.

“Customer support is the most beneficial�and least applauded�application on the web”.

(P. B. Seybold, 18 47)

One of the causes that made HP re-evaluate their business model was information released to the general public. It was reported in 17 by Business Week that Dell was selling increasingly well via the Internet. So we must ask ourselves how does the Internet transform business models when the processes used by HP and Dell to produce a computer are completely different?

HP Dell

Component forecast Component forecast

Batch Assembly Customer order

Storage at a factory Customized assembly

Customer order Stocks on the “road”

Customized at the reseller Delivered to the end user

Delivered to the user

Internet Population

With the development of their websites getting people to visit it and, once there, make it interesting enough so they stay and make a purchase is something completely different. This is where Dell excels and all the rest are followers.

Dell’s services provide a complete package; from the customer designing the computer they want to solutions based on real world needs. These services can be offered individually or on a company level fully supported by highly qualified support staff located all over the globe. From the moment you visit the website you feel as though it is a one-on-one service where you can track what stage your order is at in construction and feel safe and secure with the customer orientated view they project. HP does follow this methodology where the customer always comes first and offer very similar services but what are the keys to success with e-Business? The two charts below give you an example of the Internet population, favorable language and revenue from Internet products and services.

(http//glreach.com/globstats/)

Worldwide Internet and Intranet Products and Services, 16 and 000

Source International Data Corporation, 17, How big is the Internet/Intranet Market?

Product/Service 16 ($M) 000 ($M) Growth (%)

Internet access ,14 11,00 7.6

Personal computers 5,511 16,00 0.

Network computers 706 15,440 116.

Servers ,47 1,150 55.5

Network equipment ,500 10,00 1.0

Software 16 1,1 1.1

Services ,477 1,770 5.6

Total 18,506 ,81 4.5

(www.december.com/present/ecsize.html)

Key Factors for Success

When an individual decides they need a computer, for what ever reason, they have various options. They could buy a computer magazine; talk with colleagues; visit a local computer store; or, in today’s technological world, log-on to the Internet. So how do Dell and HP make sure that when people ‘search’ the Internet for computers that their sites are the ones that appear in the top ten ‘finds’ when the search is complete? There are various ways of doing this and the easiest way is for them to list their website in hundreds of ‘search engines’ and directories. But it doesn’t stop there, these search engines then have to put your website high up on the ‘search engine’ placement table for you to be noticed. Another method of making yourself more visible is for you to have links from other websites to yours.

Search Engines

Search engine websites are a vital tool in helping to categorize, navigate and display the information which is on the Internet. These engines also assume an important role as a virtual guide for a potential customer to a business. Companies are spending a large proportion of their marketing budget to improve their profile on top ranking search engine sites. For a search engine to recognize a particular website before it recognizes others is mainly down to an unpublished algorithm. This algorithm typically calculates the frequency of a phrase within a web page, the title page and the popularity of that site relative to other pages on the web.

“The term algorithm (pronounced AL-go-rith-um) is a procedure or formula for solving a problem. The word derives from the name of the mathematician, Mohammed ibn-Musa al-Khwarizmi, who was part of the royal court in Baghdad and who lived from about 780 to 850. A computer program can be viewed as an elaborate algorithm”.

(http//searchvb.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid8_gci11545,00.html)

Webmaster and programmers can write keywords and phrases etc that search engines look for when people do searches. Source codes (sometimes called object codes) and the use of Microsoft® smart tags are other ways to get a website in the top ten on the hit list.

“Microsofts Smart Tags were a proposed feature of Windows XP that would allow Microsoft and its partners to insert their own links into any Web page viewed through its Internet Explorer browser. These links are similar to traditional hyperlinks, but more complex and interactive when the cursor hovers over a Smart Tagged word, a drop-down list appears with a selection of links related to the word”.

(http//searchwin000.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid1_gci75518,00.html)

“The object code file contains a sequence of instructions that the processor can understand but that is difficult for a human to read or modify”.

(http//searchwebservices.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid6_gci100,00.html)

If you were to do a search on Google using the keyword ‘computers’ it brings Dell up in second position and HP does not appear in the top forty. Yahoo.com brings Dell up in seventh position with HP in ninth and AltaVista.com brings Dell up in second place with HP nowhere in sight. So you can see, by ensuring that you have the search engine key words/phrases in your source code the algorithm will pick it up and place your company in the top ten search results.

Source code taken from Dell’s website

TITLEDell - EMEA Home Page/TITLE

META NAME=KEYWORDS CONTENT=Custom, Configuration, PCs, Laptops, Portables, Computer, Notebook, Hardware, Build, Value, Technology, Servers, Dell, Online, Order

Source code taken from HP website

titleWelcome to HP United Kingdom/title

meta name=Keywords content=hp, hewlett-packard, compaq, driver, printer, scanner, pc, software, monitor, server, laserjet, deskjet, officejet, scanjet, vectra, pavilion, omnibook, jornada, presario, evo, prosignia, deskpro, armada, ipaq

It is only Dell’s site that includes the word ‘computer’ under its keywords. HP fail to target the more uneducated user of computers, only by knowing a model name would HP be on the same page of results as Dell when searching for a computer on the Internet.

The positions on the search result for ‘computers’ are excellent for Dell, however Dell does not limit its online marketing strategy to search engines. Another online marketing strategy they use is a banner exchange affiliate program for their web hosting services. Dell’s customers get monetary benefits by placing advertising banners on their own sites if a click-through results in a sale, the affiliate gets a reward.

“Depending on how its used, a banner is either a graphic image that announces the name or identity of a site and often is spread across the width of the web page or is an advertising image”.

(http//searchwebservices.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid6_gci1165,00.html)

Because of the continual advancements in search engine development the search engines used by Dell and HP require continual attention.

XML (Extensible Markup Language) & HTML (Hypertext Markup Language)

For information to be shared on the web, intranets and elsewhere a common creative information format must be utilized. This format is called XML. Once computer makers agree on a standard or a common way to describe the information about a computer product they would then describe this information format with XML. This then enables users to send an intelligent agent (a program) to each manufacturer’s website, groups, individuals and companies that want to share information in a consistent way. XML, recommended by the World Wide Web Consortium (WC) is very similar to today’s language of web pages HTML. HTML contains markup symbols which describe the contents of a web page or file. The downside is that HTML describes the contents only in terms of how it is to be displayed, how it should look when printed and how it can be interacted with.

Once a potential customer accesses the website, ease of use becomes a major factor. Too many ‘clicks’ to too many pages could deter people from purchasing. In this regard, Dell has an advantage in that once you have chosen the model you want, you then have only one page to visit where you can configure to your requirements. The HP website has substantial listings of pre-configured models for you to choose from and if you want to configure to your specifications then you require an additional software program (Adobe® Acrobat® Reader®. Adobe® Acrobat® Reader®) which is available as a free download to view your options, something which can be more of a deterrent than an ease of use interface. Once a decision has been made on the product, the purchasing process on-line becomes the next logical step.

EDI (Electronic Data Interchange)

An EDI message contains data elements such as a price, model number etc and this string is called a data element. One or more of these data elements, together with a header or trailer, are called a transaction set which in EDI language is called a message. This message would usually be construed as something equivalent to a business document. This means that when two parties exchange these EDI’s we would refer to it as trading partners.

“The main benefit of computerized transaction processing is increased administrative efficiency”.

(E. G. C. Collins & M. A. Devanna, 14 175)

The Internet is a powerful customer service tool because companies can use it to provide 4/7 product and service information and develop customer relationships all at relatively low cost. For Dell and HP this allows customers to browse products, configure to their liking and then pay on-line. However Kalakota and Whinston (16) see the Internet as a threat, particularly to brands, making brands weaker than before. Hagel & Armstrong (17) argue that virtual community members focus less on the brand and more on the product and service features. If this is the case, then Dell has focused on the latter aspect in terms of services they offer.

Value

The information received by a customer on-line depends mainly on how the Internet/website responds. The Internet allows customer communication in two ways firstly, the communication depends on customer choice and secondly with potential for collective customer action. But it wasn’t always like that.

One �to � many communications





(Hoffman and Novak, 16)

The above illustration demonstrates that the firm (F) can communicate to the customers (c) only. No interaction between the customer and the firm is possible. A good example of this would be TV, radio, billboards etc.

Many-to-many Communication



(Hoffman and Novak, 16)

This illustration employs the technology of the medium (Internet) to allow communications both ways. Both the medium and customer become senders and receivers. These simple models show how communication advancements have addressed the potential for conversation and intimacy.

Timmers (1) lists the key features of the Internet 4/7 availability, ubiquity, global yet local, digitization, multimedia, interactivity, one�to�one communication, network effects and externalities, and information integration.

The value of being able to conduct business on a one�to�one basis becomes immeasurable to all who conduct business via the Internet. These values are forever changing traditional marketing by providing segmentation information, a targeting instrument, a source of market research while also augmenting the areas of traditional marketing promotion; distribution; product; and price.

Both Dell and HP offer all of the above benefits associated with the Internet however. One-to-one communication with providers is the key and it is a great motivator when a successful transaction is carried out. A person’s self esteem can be raised and the ‘feel good’ factor kicks in, this in itself produces customer loyalty. It would only be also fair to say that personal experience with both companies/websites would provide the answer to whom does it better.

Implementation

There are many ways of connecting to the Internet. This diagram illustrates a few but not all methods however, the more time and effort invested in research to determine the more reliable and secure media is paramount.

The stages of e-Business usually have to start with two questions

1. What business processes touch the customers?

. How can we improve those customers facing processes with web technology?

The first mode of attack for implementing an e-Business is the development of a simple but effective website. Secondly, enable the website to facilitate transactions, if people cannot complete the whole process in one go they would probably go to a website which is enabled to do so. Thirdly, streamline the internal business operations, this will allow the processing of the web transaction to be handled more efficiently. Finally, personalize the website to build loyalty and community. However these four start-up points are there for you to create a presence and further requirements are needed to ensure success. Identifying potential partners with whom you can implement a business process must also be achieved remembering that one of the major draw backs with websites can be access, this could be due to over subscription to the Internet Service Provider (ISP) resulting in heavy traffic or the technology used by the website being antiquated, careful selection of the providers and equipment is crucial. Having the state�of�the�art hardware and software is high on the list of importance because this is the backbone of you company, should it fail then the business fails. The interface allowing for transactions, viewing, and printing has to be compatible with the operating systems in use within the general public, failing to allow someone to conduct e-Business defeats the object. Having an understand of how the Internet works is beneficial and by using this knowledge you have to determine the messaging and transport requirements as these could dictate or influence your requirements. The Internet is becoming more and more accessible and requires a secure environment, hence when using the on�line transactions facility security is of paramount importance to ensure that bank or credit card details sent over the Internet are safe from interception and malicious use. Levels of security are flexible because of different partners and business processes however a minimum of 18 � bit encryption is recommended.

“Encryption is the conversion of data into a form called a ciphertext that cannot be easily understood by unauthorized people”.

(http//searchsecurity.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid14_gci106,00.html)

The experience gathered from a pilot-planning phase will increase the confidence and reduce risk in the implementation. Integration and interdependence with other departments within the company is required while success in converting a prospect to a potential buyer still requires efforts from a sales force. Integration of Internet marketing with offline marketing efforts and business processes will result in a competitive advantage in a crowded market of similar offerings.

Conclusion

Internet marketing is evolving into the next phase of a mix of direct selling and influencing one-on-one via a broad platform approach. New low cost marketing techniques enable personalized communications with consumers, however, it also enable consumers to play a more proactive role as the consumer can now solicit information, share information in communities, specify their products and even propose prices. This move of power to the consumer can be seen on the Dell and HP websites radically changing the nature of marketing.

Dell and HP have successfully captured the attention of the computer communities and have very successful websites. The more rewarding of the websites has to be Dell’s because of the ease of use and no requirement for additional software. Dell has successfully understood the core market principles and defined the character of their marketing strategy. These principles carry forward the actual implementation of various efforts and ensure a linkage back to their initial beliefs. Finally, a key competitive element is recognizing that Internet marketing is not a standalone activity and should be integrated within the existing processes and Information Technology systems.

Bibliography

Algorithm, (http//searchvb.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid8_gci11545,00.html)

Banner, (http//searchwebservices.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid6_gci1165,00.html)

Collins, Eliza G. C. and Devanna, Mary Ann (14), The New Portable MBA, John Wiley & Sons, Inc, New York

Dell’s source code, available at (http//www.dell.co.uk), Tool bar�view�source

Encryption (http//searchsecurity.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid14_gci106,00.html

Hagel, John and Armstrong, Arthur G. (17), Net Gain, Boston, Harvard Business School Press

Hoffman, Donna L. and Novak, Thomas P. (15), Project 000 Research Program on Marketing in Computer � Mediated Environments, Working Paper No.1 (Revised July 11, 15)

HP’s source code, available at (http//www.hp.co.uk), Tool bar�view�source

Jeffrey F. Rayport & Bernard J. Jaworski (001), e-Commerce, McGraw-Hill/Irwin, New York, NY 1000.

Kalakota, Ravi and Whinston, Andrew (16), Frontiers of Electronic commerce, Addison-Wesley, Reading, England.

Schwartz, Evans I. (1), Digital Darwinism, Broadway Books, New York, NY 1006.

Seybold, Patricia B. (18), customers.com, Times Books, New York.

Smart Tags (http//searchwin000.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid1_gci75518,00.html)

Source Code (http//whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,88,sid_gci100,00.html)

Timmers, Paul (1), Electronic Commerce, John Wiley and Sons Ltd, Chichester, England.

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Last Friday night I went to see an exiting dance performance. When I entered the studio I could hear the first notes of the Rumba music wash over the expectant audience as the girl began to dance. I could feel the energy inside her as she danced across the floor. She displayed unique dramatic expressions in her face that added deep feeling to her dancing. As she faced her partner she had a look of contentment. As she looked away she had a look of longing.

Last Friday night I went to see an exiting dance performance. When I entered the studio I could hear the first notes of the Rumba music wash over the expectant audience as the girl began to dance. I could feel the energy inside her as she danced across the floor. She displayed unique dramatic expressions in her face that added deep feeling to her dancing. As she faced her partner she had a look of contentment. As she looked away she had a look of longing. The audience could taste the passion as she placed her flared hand on her partners shoulder, and threw her head back; as her hair stayed tightly woven in a sleek bun. Her compelling hip motions hypnotized the audience as she allured them with her charm. I looked down as I heard the quick but soft steps of her heels hitting the wood floor. I could hear the song gradually coming to an end. Her dancing began to slow down, and her movements were

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In the Egyptian era there were many art forms that were done and sculpted. Seated Scribe is one of these Egyptians sculptures. It was done in 400 B.C.E and was done in limestone by subtractive sculpting. The colors that are used in this sculpture are very plain and bland. You can notice that the color is wearing away at the sculpture because there are blotches where the paint has started to chip away. The sculpture is physically accurate of a middle-aged man because you can see the definition of the extra fat on his body and you can tell that he has some intelligence because of the way that he is presenting himself and that he is ready to write. The man is sitting on a square piece of stone and it seems as though he is about to jot a few notes down or write a letter. You can see that he is holding something that looks like a writing pad of some sort and you see his writing utensil in his left hand. The actual pose of the man is very stiff, very perfect. The Man is sitting with good posture and he does not let his back slouch one bit. It seems to be an uncomfortable position for the man.

The artist wants us to see that the man in the pose is beginning to write a story about what he is observing. The man is sitting outside on a rather warm day and he is observing the Pharaoh and how he is treating his people. The man is about to take some notes so that his mind will not draw a blank when he goes to writing the actual story about the Pharaoh. The man is very intelligent and very wise. People come to him when they need advice or answers to a problem. He is trusted by all because he is the writer that the Pharaoh trusts. The man is also admired by all because he is one of the few who can read and write. Many people did not have this type of advantage during these times.

A more modern sculpture was done in 440 B.C.E by a Greek sculptor and it is entitled the Doryphorus Spear Bearer. The sculpture was also done with subtractive sculpting done in stone. The sculptor uses a naked man figure and makes his body look perfect. The figure is sculpted into a fine S-curve of the body. The man’s left knee is bent which puts the weight on his right foot. This makes his left hip and shoulder rise to form this S-curve. The man is looking to the right off into the distance like he is in deep thought. His body is exaggerated because there are hardly any men that have the perfect body like this man does. There is no fat that is noticeable because he is pure muscle. You can see every definition of is body. You see every line of his muscle definition and every line of his body parts. The sculptor made this man look very life like. On his left hand you see that he must have been holding something at one time, but because the sculpture was lost at one time, the object that he was holding was lost somewhere over time. The title of the piece leads us to believe that the object he was hold is a spear.

This guy seems to be an egotistical man. He knows that all the women want him, and all the men wish that they could be him and have the body that he has. He is a young man in his mid-twenties. He has just got back from hunting and he is rather proud of himself because he has done a “man’s game” and he has done is successfully. He has just returned and the people around him stare at him with envy. He looks away over the crowd in boredom because this always happens to him anytime that he returns from an adventure. In the distance and over the crowd he spots a woman that he cannot keep his eyes off of. He notices how beautiful she is and how much he would like to make her happy and become hers. Then the woman disappears in the crowd and he cannot fin her and he keeps looking as his eyes wonder back and fourth, but he see no one that looks like his mysterious woman.




Next we are taken way into the future to sometime during 1501 to 1504. A world-renowned sculptor by the name of Michelangelo sculpted David, again using subtractive sculpting with marble. Michelangelo scu

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Jlo's appeal

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We’re a nosy bunch, the human race. We like to gossip, and we enjoy celebrities, especially in America. Our wanton desire for the Beautiful People leads us to elevate public figures of any sort as role models and shining examples. They’re supposed to be our best, so perfect. She is the American Dream. A rags to riches story that is proof that anyone can do great things with hard work, talent and a little luck. With charisma and charm, Jennifer Lopez has been able to reach almost unparallel success in her acting, singing career and also appearance.

Jennifer’s biggest asset in typical culture is her bottom. Sadly, she has become a target of sexist, chauvinist, and racist jokes. Even in major music award shows, such as MTV Music Awards and American Music Awards the male hosts opened the event with vulgar and humiliating jokes about her body shape. VH1 also in its Pop-Up Video program, overdoes the usage of the preposition “but” to laugh at, and they would play up (further humiliate) the rising Latina pop star.

In this add, Jennifer represents the stereotype of passion, uncontrollable desire, bodily abundance, and sexual energy that characterizes people of color. Her body is turned into a spectacular object embodying the racist vision of others. In this image she is seen to be very sensual but at the same time pure. She is acting like her fragrance with her feminine curves that replicate the fragrance bottle. As a viewer I see her as fresh, clean and sexy which is what we, as consumers would feel if we bought her fragrance. How can anyone find a walking skeleton “sexy” or even healthy? I think that’s why there is such interest in the likes of Jennifer Lopez. Her curvy figure is a new phenomenon to Hollywood. People are falling over themselves to get that look. The newest thing is to get bottom implants. It’s actually called the “Jennifer look”. I’m going to let you into a secret. Shall I tell you how to get a cast iron Jennifer Lopez curvy, big bottom look? Eat a meal! She manages to muster so much sex appeal that you question whether sexiness is more about poise and less about cleavage. In our minds, she is the epitome of sex appeal, even if we havent fallen under the spell she has shown to all our males.

There are two major weapons that an advertiser can use on teenagers; the first is sex appeal. While this may also influence adults, teens are especially vulnerable. They have just gone through puberty and often have nothing on their mind but the opposite sex. One needs only to look at the recent flow of “boy bands,” bands that put together four or five good-looking, young men, to see that this is true. Bands such as N’ Sync and the Backstreet Boys have sold millions of albums, not because their music is wonderful, but because they make teenage girls go gaga.




This strategy may work even more highly on the male part of the teenage population. It has repeatedly been shown that teenage boys have raging hormones; their recent discovery of the opposite sex often makes them act like wild animals. So, one can only imagine how well the sex appeal marketing scheme would work on them.

In response to seeing an ad featuring a beautiful model, I once heard my friend say, “What’s she selling? I’ll buy it.” Needless to say, this was an exaggeration, but this marketing approach works. However, advertisers decide to use celebrities to promote their products for the same kinds of reasons. Teenagers look up to sports figures and movie stars, often wishing that they could be in their shoes. Teens see those personalities on television, living the good life and being adored by everyone. They think that if they buy the products that are being advertised by stars they too will attain that status. It may sound crazy, but it is true.

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Thursday 13 September 2012

How to be accepted.

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[I’m writing this letter to my friends and family because I’ve decided to let go of this life that I have been suffering from. I’m not happy with the turn of events in this life of mine. This soul that I bare is being tortured. I feel like I’m not able to breathe in this world. This soul of mine has to be at peace. Please don’t be sad by the time you finish this letter. All I ask is that you forgive me for what I have done, but I am now at peace.] This could be an example of a note one leaves when they have committed suicide. Sometimes no notes or any writings are left after a friend or a family member has taken his or her life. It leads people to wonder why they have done this. On the outside, it might look like an unnatural act, but everything in life should never be taken at face value. There is always meaning when you read between the lines. When we want to figure out a person’s suicide, we have to put ourselves in their shoes and figure out what went wrong. Maybe there was no solution to their problems. Maybe this act in life was seen as a liberating move for them. Freeing their spirit from the many issues they face. Which could be seen in The Awakening by Kate Chopin and The Outcasts of Pokers Flat by Brette Harte? The awakening of one’s spirit through suicide could be seen as a liberating act.

Suicide is the intentional killing of oneself. Suicide is view as an unnatural act in life because of how we are brought into this world. We were given life by God and when our time is over in this world, God also has that ability to take it away. We as people shouldn’t prematurely take away the life that was created for us. That’s why suicide is looked so negatively by society.






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Tuesday 11 September 2012

Discrimination

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Discrimination

Discrimination- “a positive or negative attitude toward an individual based on his or her membership in a religious, racial, ethnic, political, or other groups”. (Webster’s New Word Dictionary). Discrimination is still among our nation and our world today. Many people would argue this accusation, but the fact is that if discrimination was not still present then why are there laws still banning it? Discrimination can be viewed as favorable or unfavorable, depending if a certain party receives favors or opportunities, or that party is denied these favors or opportunities. Discrimination is not just among races or ethnic groups, it is among different genders, religions, preferences in partners, and different economic qualities. The people of the world today argue about discrimination all the time. Why is it still among us? Why do people still rant and rave about it? What can be done? Why don’t we just let it be? These are the questions that people ask all the time. But, in fact, none of these questions are ever solved because of the beliefs of society. Society has put discrimination into stereotyping and many other different forms, but the point is that discrimination is here to stay and most likely will never leave.

Affirmative Action is used for a diversity in the workplace or university so that discrimination can not be apart of the work environment. But, this is not the case. If discrimination was not among us than why is Affirmative Action still in play. Affirmative Action’s whole use was to get rid of discrimination but, owners of companies or schools still can find a way around the system. This is a big factor in universities today. The University of Michigan under went investigation due to the fact that they were taking less qualified students over more qualified students. But, this case was different than others. Instead of the African Americans not getting selected the white students were not getting selected. This caused a whole controversy, based on if Affirmative Action was still needed. Some people say yes it is needed and that the University of Michigan was only doing the right thing by helping out less fortunate kids. But others say no, due to the fact that if a kid is less fortunate, than that kid should work harder to get into a school of his or her choice. However, Affirmative Action is not only a controversy in the Universities but also in the workplace. In the workplace there is a great deal of evidence that shows racial and gender discrimination still are apart of the American workplace. Studies have shown that when hiring people that a black man vs. a white man or a white woman vs. a white man, that the white man will get the job 45% of the time (Donald Tamaskovic-Devy). Studies have also shown that if a white woman were to go head to head with a white male in sales that the white man would sell more than the female. Does this mean that the white man is a better sales rep than the white female? No it does not, it just means that a business man feels more comfortable buying from a white male than a white female. In Sociologist Donald Tamaskovic-Devy study of workplaces he found that 70% of the workplaces in North Carolina had coworkers of the same gender, and 56% of these workplaces had the same race. This statistic means hat Affirmative Action is not doing its job. Do we still need Affirmative Action? Based on what is happing in the world today Affirmative Action needs to be more aggressive and punish the companies that are being very discriminate.

Racial Discrimination is probably the worst discrimination that this world has ever seen. Back in the 160s when the riots took place to today when it is hard for some kids to fit in at school, racial discrimination is the most hurtful discrimination in effect. It is easy to see what racial discrimination is, just go to downtown Chicago and see how the people in the projects will act towards you if you are white. But racial discrimination is not just among the whites and blacks, it is among all of the races. Whether that be between the Hispanics, Hindus, Indians, or French, it is among us all. Racial discrimination has been around us for a very long time and at times it looks like it will never leave. Racial discrimination has brought out groups such as the KKK, Black panthers, Tailban, etc. that commit acts that are unhuman. This people give this world today a bad name. However, racial discrimination is not just among these groups it is among us at college. Here at college there is a lot of racial discrimination going on. Sometimes it is hard to see but it is here. A personal story that has happened to me is when I wet down to Mississippi Valley State to attend college. Mississippi Valley State University is located in Itta Bena, MS, two hours south of Jackson, MS. MVSU is an predominately black school, with the occasional foreign exchange student or white student. The reason why I went to MVSU is because I had received a full ride scholarship to run track and play football. When I took my visit everything seemed to be okay, and I was looking forward for the fall semester. The time finally came for me to go to college and when I arrived I was very excited. But when I met some of the kids that went there I knew that this was going to be interesting. Everything was going okay until I wanted to go and get my music out of my car. When I was walking down to my car four African Americans started to harass me about being white, and a few words were said that probably shouldn’t have been said but, this went on for about two weeks. The situation only seemed to worsen because I was scared and didn’t know what to do so, I called my dad and he told me to talk to the campus police which, didn’t do me any good. By the time talking to the campus police I decided to transfer to St. Norbert where I was supposed to come if I didn’t get the scholarship. As you can see I was harassed because I was white and at time it looked like I was going to get beat up but, luckily I never did get beat up or hurt but, millions of other people out there are not as lucky as I am. Some of the people that face racial discrimination go through it everyday, sometimes it is light and all that will happen is a few choice words. And the other times the words go into fists, and the fists are thrown, then somebody gets hurt or killed. “Racial discrimination is among us today and it will never leave. Discrimination happens for a reason, it happens because somebody is afraid of what a person might accomplish, or what that person might do, but most of the people are just plain afraid of that person’s success ( Darren Higgs)”. Dominos delivery would not even send their delivery boys into the bad parts of Washington D.C. because they were scared to venture into a place that was unknown to them. The drivers were too afraid to go into that neighborhood, and Dominos got sued for being racists(Time Magazine). Racial discrimination is one of the worst kinds of discrimination, but if people look at the color of a human beings skin, instead of the person that they really are, than we are all in for a long, long period of hatred.




Another part of discrimination that has been around for along time and is still around is sexual discrimination. Sexual discrimination is if one is refused employment, or any other work, on the ground that the job traditionally is regarded as being ‘a man’s job’ or as being ‘a woman’s job’ ( Bakesha -v- Suy 177). A lot of workers today still have a prejudice against a man, or a woman working for them, because they fell that that person cannot get the job done as good as the other person. However, other companies do not mean to discriminate it is just that the other sex, whether that be male or female, is better qualified for the job. This brings up the directness or indirectness of sexual discrimination. Indirect sexual discrimination would be a requirement which would require a justification that can or cannot be met by one sex (www.geocities.com). What this means is that if a job opening came about, the person that was hiring put a certain qualification on the job. An example of this would be if a employer required a age of 8 to get the job. But this is unlawful and discriminatory. This is what happened to a person in England and she took her case to court. The case was Price -v- Civil Service Commission in 178. This kind of discrimination is against European law’s and the court found the employer guilty of sexual discrimination. On the other hand there is direct discrimination. Direct discrimination is when a company knowingly discriminates against a person due to their gender not their qualities. This causes many problems and is strictly enforced around the country. Sexual discrimination is unlawful, and it shows people how chauvinistic we as people really are. If we want to be a great country than we need to group together one by one.

As a part of our culture, religions has tended to stir up controversy. Religious discrimination is still around due to the fact that others believe that their religion is better than another. This can go from friend to friend, family to family, or extend from a worker to his employer. We as a nation have tried to enforce against religious discrimination with bills and acts however, people somehow get around this and discriminate against each other. The Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 164 prohibits employers from discriminating against a person because of their religion or beliefs. A employer cannot fire, hire, or give benefits to a person because of his or his religious beliefs ( www.eeoc.gov). To me, religion is a big part of life. We were put here from God and we need to do as he says, we all worship him in different ways but that is how it is supposed to be. Nobody is the same in this category. Religious discrimination is not as bad as other discriminations however, it is still apart of our society.

Discrimination is still among our nation and our society today. We discriminate on people because of their color, beliefs, gender, and sexuality. How can we become a better nation if we hate our own people? How can we leave this Earth knowing that we loved and cared for every creature that was on this Earth? As put in the words of Darren Higgs “We as people need to realize that all of us are the same, despite our slight differences. We all eat, sleep, work, and provide for our loved ones. We might not look the same however, we should look into each other’s personalities to see the person that is in front of us.” Darren is right, he has gone through discrimination and he still has a loving heart. If we as a society can pull together, we can put an end to this discrimination. We are all the same people just with different looks and styles.









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Old man

We are ready to represent the best custom paper writing assistance that can cope with any task like Old man even at the eleventh hour. The matter is that we posses the greatest base of expert writers. Our staff of freelance writers includes approximately 300 experienced writers are at your disposal all year round. They are striving to provide the best ever services to the most desperate students that have already lost the hope for academic success. We offer the range of the most widely required, however, not recommended for college use papers. It is advisable to use our examples like Old man in learning at public-education level. Get prepared and be smart with our best essay samples cheap and fast! Get in touch and we will write excellent custom coursework or essay especially for you.



A man was sent many years back to Venice, Italy to finish his education. He knew Italy has the country of romance. While he was there he wanted to find out all about men and their personalities. He wanted to learn about his gondolier, but he was a man who kept everything to himself. One night the man was at casino in St. Mark and there he was seated next to a bunch of Italian men. They seemed like normal Italian men except for one of the men who seemed extremely nervous. The Italian man would look over his shoulder every minute with a frightened look on his face. The man ran into the group of Italian men almost everywhere he went. He noticed that the one Italian man was always there, but was never in the conversation with the other Italian men.

After running into the Italian man in several places the man decided to become friends with the stranger. The Italian man was so excited to have a friend and have someone he could talk to, but he still seemed nervous all the time. The man wanted to help the stranger and told him he wanted to help him and find out what was wrong with him. The stranger said there was nothing the man could do to help him and to never bring it up again. It bothered the man that he didn’t know what was the matter with his new friend, but he didn’t want to hurt him by bringing it up. Carnival time came in Venice and the men had a great time together, but when the carnival ended Lent came.

When the men were at church the man’s new friend became tense when the music was playing. His rolled to the back of his head and he clamped his hands really tight. He then began to sob. On the way home he seemed more nervous than usual and said, “I know my Redeemer liveth!”

They went to their separate rooms, which weren’t very far apart so the man could hear his friend don the hall moving around in his room. The man awoke before sunrise to see his friend standing above his bed. His friend was holding a small package that told his life story in it. The Italian man kissed the other man on the hand and said farewell. The package said not to open for 6 months, and the men kept his word.






Mind that the sample papers like Old man presented are to be used for review only. In order to warn you and eliminate any plagiarism writing intentions, it is highly recommended not to use the essays in class. In cases you experience difficulties with essay writing in class and for in class use, order original papers with our expert writers. Cheap custom papers can be written from scratch for each customer that entrusts his or her academic success to our writing team. Order your unique assignment from the best custom writing services cheap and fast!

Sunday 9 September 2012

konbini

We are ready to represent the best custom paper writing assistance that can cope with any task like konbini even at the eleventh hour. The matter is that we posses the greatest base of expert writers. Our staff of freelance writers includes approximately 300 experienced writers are at your disposal all year round. They are striving to provide the best ever services to the most desperate students that have already lost the hope for academic success. We offer the range of the most widely required, however, not recommended for college use papers. It is advisable to use our examples like konbini in learning at public-education level. Get prepared and be smart with our best essay samples cheap and fast! Get in touch and we will write excellent custom coursework or essay especially for you.



Executive Summary

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the business of the convenience store in Japan retail sector. This paper addresses the general concept, the structure, and the changing roles in the convenience store in Japan.



Introduction




The concept of convenience stores was originally from the United States nearly 40 years ago. When the first convenience stores in the U.S. opened in 174, they were just places to sell daily necessities, from food, magazines, to clothing and only be paired with gas stations. Convenience stores in Japan, however, differ from those in the United States although the major role is still to provide daily necessities food.

Japanese had studied management practices from the U.S. convenience store and invented their own business techniques. With its dense urban populations, limited-space homes, and small retail-store stock, Japan was ideally suited to the convenience-store format. Two possible reasons that convenience store position in Japans retail sector is so strong today are from their innovative products and service and the unique distribution system. The concept of U.S. convenience store was modified and transformed into Japanese original retailing concept to focus on achieving both on the economy of scale and scope. “Konbini or Konbiniensu stoa”, which is the term Japanese calls the convenience stores, is a high-technology version of the U.S. convenience store. It is a place for customers not only to buy products but also to get services. They also fit into Japans logistics system since delivery companies use Konbini like distributing offices. There is highly competitive in this business and companies are trying to use several strategies to increase its sales and retain customers and use e-commerce as the driving force to gain the competitive advantage in the future.

History

In the Japanese retail sector history, convenience stores have been growing significantly in recent years. In the earlier years, convenience stores introduced itself as the general store which provides a wide range of products operating 4 hours a day. The first technology used in convenience store was called “Point of Sales system”. It helped store managers gather in the information storing that was related to sales. The benefit from using Point of Sales (POS) helped managers a better decision on product order volume and delivery which links to the concept of Just-in-time (JIT) in the present. Thus, convenience stores had improved better performance than general stores. General stores later had experienced declining in sales due to the increased competition, economic downturn, and the deflation. However, convenience store sales still rose from .8 trillion yen in 1 to 6.18 trillion yen in 18. Although the economy in Japan has experienced ups and downs since then, convenience stores have remained at that desirable level throughout this year.

After the retail industry deregulation, it was opening the way for new offerings that fit the convenience store services strategy. The convenience store has been dominated by three stores, Seven-Eleven Japan, Lawson, and FamilyMart since then. In 16, there were only about ,000 convenience stores in Japan, which estimates a population per store around 4,000. The key companies perceived this as a chance to expand as many as stores. With the increasing and intensive competition, many independent stores could not survive and completely shut down which resulted the total convenience store to decline by ,000 to ,67 stores in early 001. In 00, the top four convenience stores had sales over 67 % of total convenience store sales. By that year, convenience store business was expected to reach its market saturation level. There were 55,658 convenience stores in 00 and a population of ,000 people per store.

General information of key companies

Seven-eleven Japan

Seven-Eleven Japan is the largest convenience store in Japan by stores volumes and sales. The total sales in 00 was 44.0 billions yen which was increasing 10.% from last year and the total stores nationwide was ,60 which was up for 1.4% from last year. It successfully keeps the position of the first rank in convenience stores for rd consecutive years through this February 00. Store locations heavily concentrated in the Tokyo region in which 1,00 stores are and also in Osaka. The majority earnings are from the rice balls and streak products. The company has branched out its business model into e-commerce (7dream.com) and food delivery (Seven-Meal service). Seven-eleven Japan is a 50.6%-owned subsidiary of Ito-Yokado, the Japanese retailer that holds 7% of Seven-eleven in Northern America.

Lawson

Lawson is the second largest convenience store. Lawson, which headquarter located in the Osaka area, is the only chain store that operates in everywhere in Japan. It has more than 7,700 stores throughout Japan and nearby countries. The company was established in 175 as a subsidiary of Daiei, Inc, Japan’s largest GMS. Daiei has been reducing its shareholding, making the company essentially independent, though it has come increasingly under the influence of Mitsubishi Corp. However, during a year through February 00, Lawson got decreases in profit for 45% of about 8.86 billion because of the 1 unprofitable stores and their early retirement program. At the end of the February, Lawson has remaining stores on 7,65 domestic outlets.

FamilyMart

FamilyMart is the third largest convenience store company by number of stores and sales in Japan but becomes one of the largest franchised retailers in Korea. Their store locations are primarily located in Tokyo area. FamilyMart was established in 181. It was a former member of the Seibu Saison group, and considered to be a part of the Itochu group since 18. FamilyMart is focused in Tokyo and Nagoya, Japans third largest metropolitan area.

Table 1 shows the company performance and financial statement of key convenience stores in 00.

Table 1 General information on key conveniences stores in Japan in year 00 (ending at February 00)

(Yen billions) Seven-Eleven Lawson FamilyMart

Revenue 44.0 56.11 15

Operating income 155.86 6.6

Number of stores ,60 7,65 6,01

Average daily sales per store 656 48 50

Source Japan’s retail industry and Seven-eleven, Lawson Company, and FamilyMart annual reports in year 00.

Target Market

In 00, Japanese marketers formed the target groups of convenience store by this

- Men between the ages of 5-60, shop at a convenience store three times a week.

- Students and single men average shop at a convenience store four times per week.

- Working women from 1 to 4 years old shop two to three times per week.

- Housewives and female teens visit two to three times per week.

Business strategies

The key strategy for most Japanese convenience store is to concern on the economy of scope by adding products and services to attract more customers, even though most services do not contribute to profits directly. Another strategy used is to form partnership outside the convenience store sector to create the strategic alliances and expand the potential sales. However, only Seven-eleven Japan company still exploits the benefit of the economy of scale and scope. Seven-eleven Japan still focuses on the aggressive store expansion to take advantage of cost-effective distribution and higher local recognition. There are 10,000 seven-eleven stores expanding ever since started and around 1 outlets in the first six-month period on 00. It also starts to expand around the country. In 00, Seven-eleven opened 54 outlets in Aichi where it has never accessed this location before. In term of economy of scope, besides the main benefit for their original items, which account for the majority sales, the firm also seeks to find products and services diversification as well as the variety kinds of their proprietary merchandise, which is developed together with makers of national brands.

Product and service diversification and differentiation

Box-lunch

Seven-eleven successfully targeted the local tastes in target areas such as Sendai where the company introduced beef-tongue boxes lunch.

Seven-Meal Service

Seven-eleven created a new business model as an expansion of the chains extensive fast-food operation called “Seven-Meal Service”. The service provides prepared meals and packages of cooking ingredients for customers who find that daily meal preparation is not convenient. Items can be ordered by telephone, fax, and Internet, or at Seven-Eleven stores and can be picked up at the store or delivered using vehicles that can keep the food at required temperatures. The service was established in August 000 and was available about 40% of Seven-eleven Japan stores in February 00.

Oden

Oden, which means vegetables, fish dumplings and other types of food simmered slowly in a soup, becomes more attractive and result as the competitive merchandise among convenience store in the winter session. FamilyMart pushed the oden times as its product differentiation by investing in those cooking equipment in their 4,000 stores. FamilyMart accounted for oden products to boost up the profit in 00 as they predicted that there would be increasing in the average sales of oden from last winter of 0,000 and 10,000 yen per store per day.

Tickets

Lawson established its own concert, movie, and event ticket company called “Lawson Tickets Co. Ltd (LTCL)”. TLCL started in July 1 to handle airline tickets and tickets to Disneyland and Universal Studios. Distribution channels are Lawson and Daiei stores, including via phone. LTCL was growing about 0% per year, reaching ¥ billion in revenues for 001. LTCL is profitable than PIA, the Japan’s largest ticket company because PIA sold tickets for a wider range of events while Lawson targeted customers in age 0s and 0s by knowing that their existing customers are in range. The idea seems to have worked, though overall ticket sales in the first part of 00 were down 11% from the previous year and operating income was down 4%.

Point Programs

Most convenience stores offer point cards”, which give their customers points based on the amount of purchases. Lawson and Family Mart were firstly introducing this idea. Although Seven-eleven Japan resisted following this idea, it was forced to do the same. The point card intention is to reward customer loyalty. Getting a credit card issued by one of the convenience stores automatically makes customers become members to earn points. FamilyMart claimed that a list of items points could be redeemed for. When purchasing, it awards 1.4 points for each 100 yen, and after collecting 1000 points, a customer can use them to buy items at FamilyMart stores.

Utility payment (electricity, water, gas, telephone bills)

Convenience stores provided payment services for utility bills in 187 and have become an important activity. In 001, Seven-eleven Japan reported that it had over % of the total Japanese payments market, which includes payments from banks and the postal system. This represented some ¥0 billion in payments and involved over 16 million transactions on behalf of 1 companies. During 000, Lawson processed 8 million transactions for a total of 650 billion yen. In 001 transaction value, mainly from public utility payment (telephone, electricity, gas, water), rose to 74 billion yen and commissions were 5.7 billion yen, up to 7.% year on year. Payment services have grown about 0% annually since 15.

Package shipping

In the mid 10s package shipping was added in convenience store by evolving into a drop-off site and as the ship-to address for their customers. Seven-eleven Japan used Yamato Unyu (Black Cat), Japans largest package-delivery firm. During the year ended February 00 SEJ handled 1.8 million such parcels.

The competitive advantage of using e-commerce strategy

Convenience stores in Japan are now facilitating Internet access and e-commerce. Japanese convenience stores are exploiting the concept of technology differently from the United States e-commerce business model. Because knowing that their customers are reluctant to make credit card payment over the Internet or telephone, Japanese convenience stores now concern on evolve themselves as a third-party payment services which requires substantial IT infrastructure. They are cooperating tightly with their IT-based alliances called “e-retsu” and deal with the database management with the use of smart cell phones called telematics.

retsu often refer to those companies which have no previous alliance relationship but have common shareholding. Japanese firms are normally used to cooperate to take advantage of new business opportunities. Similarly to keiretsu concept, the motivation in forming an e-retsu is to form expertise in a new venture in which all companies hold share and raise capital to invest in R&D and technical expertise.

Telematics referred to interactive computer mediated communications. It is the intersection of informatics (the processing and application of data with specific goals and objectives) and telecommunications, especially wireless communications in a mobile environment. For example, it enables the linking of mobile devices and wired solutions to achieve a multi-media result. Seven-Eleven Japan and Sony is one of the good example that Sony have an agreement to offer high-speed downloading of games for PlayStation using its centralized server. Seven-Eleven stores can offer a selection of games and only has to store blank CDs. This is how convenience stores cooperate with their partners to use telematic idea to create their strategies and build competitive barriers. The pressure on video game rental stores and software shops is enormous.

The first e-retsu was 7dream.com. It owned by seven companies and involving several others that provide goods and services, its web site was launched in February 000. Seven-eleven Japan intended to promote it as the largest e-commerce businesses in Japan. The concept of the service comes from the result polls indicate that 70% of Japanese dislike using credit cards for online purchases. Thus, after placing orders on the Web, customers can pick up and pay for them at any Seven-Eleven shop. Seven-Eleven attracts .6 billion customers yearly--a daily average of 50 per shop. 7dream.com can be accessed directly over the Internet and other networks, including those open to mobile phones and direct TV. Net sales in 001 were 1,170 million yen, compared to ¥617 million in 000.

Lawson, on the other hand, recognized the entrance into e-commerce actually began with the development of third-party bill settlement services in 15. Lawson has developed a multi-channel e-commerce system based on the Internet, mobile phones, and multimedia kiosks. It calls this business model as the BC e-commerce activity @Lawson, and its web site, at lawson.co.jp, was launched in December 1. An affiliate, e-Context, handles product delivery, agency transaction settlements, and other @Lawson agency activities. It is 48 % owned by Lawson, 10% by Mitsubishi Corp, and the balance by various other companies. Lawson perceived e-commerce to be very important currently and prospectively. “In e-commerce, which include the Internet and NTT DoCoMo’s i-mode mobile service, our store network facilitates Lawson’s existing services-settlement services and product pick-up at stores. We aim to provide these services for a fee to retailers and service providers that sell on line. The key element differentiating Lawson from other chains is our nationwide presence. Clients using Lawson services will thus have access to consumers throughout Japan, unlocking a host of new Net business opportunities. Leading companies have already honed in on our strengths. We have, for example, launched joint ventures with NTT DoCoMo, Inc, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd and Mitsubishi Corp. Indeed, Lawson’s competitive advantage also lies in being able to tap into these companies’ wealth of resources.” (Lawson 000 Annual Report.)

Situation Analysis

In order to analyze the future position of the firms in the convenience store sector, I use the situation analysis theory to analyze the past and current situations, strategies, and trends to predict the future outcome. It can be divided into five major areas of concern.

1. The Cooperative Environment

Konbini is now cooperating with several companies outside the convenience store industry. For example, Japan Post, a public corporation that took over postal services from the government, has been reinforcing tie-ups with Lawson, which operates convenience stores across Japan. Japan Post had an agreement to analyze the possibility of letting all Lawson stores accept postal parcels. If the process is successful, Lawson will represent as Japan Post to deliver small parcels throughout its nationwide convenience store chain in order to strengthen their business alliance. Lawson offers facilities where customers can write letters or work on their own computers to browse the Internet via the stores wireless LAN network. The store sells envelopes, postcards and other merchandise related to postal services, in addition to goods sold at other Lawson stores. The store, which is open 4 hours, sells stamps and accepts parcels outside the post offices business hours.

. The Competitive Environment

Potential Competition

Except for the rivals inside the convenience store industry, Konibi companies have to aware of the new competitor outside their sector called “Supa”. Supa stands for the newly open 4-hour supermarket. Although Konbini is still proliferating and expanding, Supa copy the concept the all-day-available service like convenience stores and has opened more than 100 stores around the country. The main strength of Supa is that it offers lower price comparing with Konbini and Supa has more various merchandises than Konbini. However, Supa had to consider the cost involving with the new concept it used. In order to open 4-hour, it requires the technology to run refrigeration system all day and need to acquire overnight workers like Konbini does.

External Competition

With the highly demanding consumers and intensive competition, convenience store market in Japan has become a challenge for foreign companies to invest. Japanese convenience store market is the worlds second biggest market after the United States, and these shows the opportunities for foreign companies to penetrate into the market. Massive foreign supermarket store companies such as Tesco and Carrefour have tapped into Japan and tried to conquer both in wholesaling and retailing sector. Although Japanese convenience store sector is fragmented, it is still difficult for foreign companies to acquire the market share due to the already saturated market, international acquisition law, and the consumer behavior in Japanese people. It resulted that Carrefour had to scale back its expansion from 1 stores in 00 to only 7 stores while Tesco is still trying to acquire C Two-Network, one of the retailing companies in Japan.

Outsider Competition

Regarding with utility payment service, the convenience stores are competing against the banks, which accept payments at their teller windows and through their ATMs. The ubiquity and longer hours of convenience stores give them a clear advantage for those paying cash. However, according to the Japan Bankers Association, banks also offer automatic direct-debit transfers, and an estimated 80% of utility bill payments.

. The Economic Environment

According to the Japan Franchise Association, In this year, the sales of Japanese convenience stores fell down for 1.% from last year. The primary reason focuses on the decline on a fall in the average spending per customer resulting from the prolonged economic recession. However, the number of customers on the February 00 showed the increasing of .6% from last year.

4. The Political Environment

Besides those financial institutions such as bank and brokerages, which allow to sell bonds in public, Japanese financial minister expected to sell government bonds to individual via convenience stores. In order to fill the government budget deficit, government analyzed the convenience stores as the connection to the individual investors. Because convenience store provides the idea of easy buy and familiar setting, it is likely that convenience stores could easily offer the government bond transaction to encourage the individuals. Although the process has not approved in the final procedure yet, the financial service agency has to submit to the current diet session an amendment to the securities and exchange law to allow convenience stores to be commissioned by brokerages to engage in equity and government bond transaction.

5. The legal environment

Due to the recession from the bubble economy period that affected sever decline in many Japan sectors, Japan government started to restructure the fundamental of the law since then. The Japanese government started amending the Law in 1. Among its provisions, the amended Law reduced the coordination period for new store openings to one year from a year and a half, and it eliminated the coordination processes by local business people altogether. Further changes were made in the regulatory implementation of the Law in May 14. The floor area subject to advance review was raised from 500 m to 1,000 m. Also, the number of unregulated closing days per year was reduced from 44 to 4, and stores that formerly were required to close at 7 PM were allowed to stay open until 8 PM. These changes made it easier to open and operate large retail stores. Convenience store sector are one of those sectors which using this deregulation to push the strategy of the aggressively opening stores to expand its revenue. In the other hand, the deregulation was also destroying the barrier entry which allows the foreign companies to gain the market segmentation of the Japan convenience store.

Conclusion

Although most convenience stores are successfully using product and service diversification, partnership alliances, and e-commerce distribution channel. It could not guarantee the continuing successful outcome in the future. E-commerce in the convenience store last year accounted for $. billion which is relatively small comparing with the total e-commerce industry.

Many companies tried to expand to the nearby countries FamilyMart and Lawson are now considering to move into China. They realized that Chinese market would have more potential to grow greater than the Japanese Market. However, in Shanghai, there are more than ,000 convenience stores and the number of these shops is still increasing rapidly. Lawson launched an outlet there in 16 and now has about 0 shops in Shanghai. But most outlets are locally owned. FamilyMart also doubted about the certain level of demand and people’s income to tap into those countries. Moreover, the consumer behaviors in China are also different from those in Japan. How could they successfully introduce the traditional Japanese food into Chinese people? It requires more market research and the new product and service development to fit with Chinese people, and the more important thing, they have to analyze the distribution system which will be suitable with the China’s big geographic area, which is totally different from Japan.

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Thursday 6 September 2012

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