A report on A Rose For Emily by William Faulkner

A report on A Rose For Emily by William Faulkner It has been said that love is truest in death. The short story "A Rose For Emily", by William Faulkner, reflects the meaning of this phrase, though in a slightly psychotic way. Faulkner leaves hints of his twisted ending throughout the story. The footsteps lead the reader to the grave and include a container of arsenic, a disappearing Yankee man and the beautiful, but dark way Faulkner unweaves his yarn.Entering the drug store Miss Emily asks for poison, the stronger the better. Under the druggist's questioning, Miss Emily implies that the arsenic was meant for her rat problem (Faulkner III). Miss Emily has been known to be a lonely lady so the gossip around town predicts that she will soon be a victim of suicide. The story continues and the arsenic becomes momentarily forgotten as the predictions of impending self-death pass and Miss Emily continues to live her solitary, quiet life.William Faulkner, 1954The arsenic is a planted hint to what will come as Miss Emily's secret is found out in the end of the story. The arsenic was used to kill Miss Emily's beau, Homer Barron.Miss Emily had an affair with Homer Barron, a Yankee who came to town with a crew of road workers. The rumors around town were that Homer was not the marrying type; some cackle-eyed old ladies mused that he liked men. Homer was not a likely marriage candidate for Miss Emily. He was a rough man, a laborer, and Miss Emily was from a refined, traditional, wealthy family. At the age of thirty she had little chance to be picky however, since her father had very successfully chased away any possible suitors long ago. Just as the town gossips had decided that Miss Emily and Homer really were to be...

One of the most original features of Stuurmans bo Essays

One of the most original features of Stuurman's book is his account of "the anthropological turn," which isn't a single turn in time but a recurrent turning of travelers and ethnographers toward the outside and the "other." Stuurman begins with the Greek historian Herodotus and the much less well-known Sima Qian , who lived in China three centuries after Herodotus and wrote about the Han empire and the surrounding lands. Both Herodotus and Sima Qian traveled widely, crossing the political and cultural frontiers that separated Greeks and Chinese from the people they called "barbarians." And both suggested that the separation wasn't as great as their compatriots thought. Again and again, the anthropological turn has produced reports similar to theirs: The natives of this or that foreign country, for all their strange customs and beliefs, are remarkably like us. Here, according to Stuurman , is a critical moment in the "invention" of humanity. But one wonders whether what he is describing isn't more a matter of discovery than invention. When Herodotus writes that the Egyptians call people who don't speak their language "barbarians," exactly as the Greeks do, is this an act of inventing or discovering humanity? Herodotus's aim is to unsettle his Greek readers and force them to recognize their fellowship with the Egyptians. Similarly, when Sima Qian visits the nomads who live north of the Great Wall and reports that their way of life is remarkably and intelligently well-adapted to their environment, this is again a discovery meant to challenge the complacent self-regard of his fellow Chinese: They are not alone in their human ingenuity. Nothing like invention is going on here. Perhaps the most engaging, and also the most disturbing, of the travelers and ethnographers in Stuurman's account are the Dominican and Franciscan priests or friars who went to Central America in the wake of the Spanish conquest. Writers like Bartoleme de Las Casas and Bernardino de Sahagun described the high civilization of the indigenous peoples (another discovery), and Las Casas conducted a years-long campaign against the greed and brutality of the Spanish colonizers. With Sahagun's help, a number of Aztec writers "drafted an account of the siege and destruction of the magnificent city of Tenochtitlan by Cortez." So the colonized were given a voicethough Sahagun later wrote his own account, presenting the conquest as "providential." Las Casas and Sahagun were hardly in full possession of the ideas of humanity and equality. But they portrayed the Spaniards as far less civilized than these indigenous peoplesand so they took a stand against the pr evailing Spanish belief in their own racial and cultural superiority. The anthropological turn continues with modern academic anthropology. Stuurman writes about the critique of "scientific racism" by Franz Boas and Ashley Montagu, both of whom would certainly deny that their defense of human equality was an invention; they meant to tell it like it is. But when it comes to the big philosophical and theological systems within which the ideas of humanity and equality have sometimes been defended, Stuurman is correct: These are indeed designed and constructed. Here we can see a long series of historical inventions of our shared humanityStoicism, Catholic natural law, Kantian idealism. Consider one of the earliest examples: From a secular standpoint, the God of biblical theology, in whose image all human beings are created, is an invention. The common image, however, is discovered again and againby Las Casas, for example, and centuries later by Boas.

Asian Emigration Patterns, Similarities, and Perspectives essays

Asian Emigration Patterns, Similarities, and Perspectives essays Meantime, the first pattern of arrivals of Asians to America - in any significant numbers - were the Chinese, in who were pushed out of their homeland but also drawn to the opportunities for employment in Hawaii, the American West, and British Columbia. There were also Korean, Filipino and Japanese immigrants who followed a second pattern, which was bolstered by a vigorous recruitment effort on the part of sugar plantation owners in Hawaii. The cultivation of sugar was a growth industry in Hawaii, and workers were needed, and were welcomed from those three Asian nations. The third pattern of Asian immigrants mentioned by the author was groups of "Asian Indians" (people from the northwestern region of India) who purchased passage to Canada and the Pacific Coast of America. These three patterns of immigration into the U.S. and Canada, by Asians from five different nations were only a small part of a much larger "global phenomenon" occurring in this time period - and the author describes it thoroughly on page 4. "The capitalist form of production, under which goods are produced for sale in order to make the largest profit possible and workers receive wages for selling their labor," appeared first in England, then elsewhere in Western Europe, and then in the United States. Workers were moved across "national boundaries to enable entrepreneurs to exploit natural resources in more and more parts of the world," Chan continues. The colonial governments such as England, in many cases, were not hesitant to bring in workers from the far corners of the globe when the indigenous populations in those conquered colonies could not provide a sufficient workforce for the exploitation of the natural resources in those colonies. That was a large part of the global phenomenon of workers moving from place to place - beyond the basic emigration which was already taking place...

Social work and advocacy essays

Social work and advocacy essays Advocacy is the corner stones of the social work profession and a vital role for the professions future. Section 6.04 of the NASW Code of Ethics charges "social workers to engage in social and political action that seeks to ensure that all people have equal access to the resources, employment, services, and opportunities they require to meet their basic needs and to develop fully. Social workers should be aware of the impact of the political arena on practice and should advocate for changes in policy and legislation to improve social conditions in order to meet basic human needs and promote social justice."(NASW, Code of Ethics, 1999). Advocacy and political action by social workers has been overshadowed by the shift to clinical social work. This however is due in part to social workers seeking positions with better pay. To some degree, the profession has only its self to blame for not advocating for our clients and ourselves as a profession. In addition, funding sources that wo rkers relied on for salaries have been cut and there has been a shift to a more conservative political view in Wahsington. Due to the lack of a better analogy, programs have disappeared while we were sleeping. Like a a thief in the night, social workers had a false since of security in government funding programs. We sat idol while conservative governmental officials came in the unlocked back door and cut programs. Because we have not advocated for policies and have gotten away from out roots, we find ourselves now wondering why we have to obtain master degrees yet expect only $40K at best. Because the level of apathy we seemed to have developed, and because of current events such as the War against Iraq, social workers are beginning to see the importance in the role of advocacy and political action. In only 3 1/2 years the current conservative administration has in one way or the other harmed virtually every aspect of American life that a...

Matthew Shepard Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Matthew Shepard - Essay Example This paper examines the murder of Matthew Shepard with respect to the circumstances leading to his death and his legacy. Alongside his younger brother, Shepard led a normal childhood attending school in Wyoming since his freshman to junior years. Shepard completed his education at The American School, Switzerland after his parents moved to the Saudi Aramco Residential Camp in Dhahran owing to his father's work. His experience abroad largely influenced his desire to travel, which led to an unfortunate incident during a school tour to Morocco where he was beaten and raped. This ordeal triggered a bout of depression and panic attacks that are attributed to his involvement with drugs during college. Shepard attended college in Casper, Wyoming to major in political science where his interest in politics sought him a position as a student representative at the Wyoming Environmental Council. Friends and family described Shepard as an overly optimistic individual looking forward to new chall enges. In addition, he held great passion for equality and acceptance as demonstrated in his roles at the community theatre and thus, was very approachable (â€Å"Matthew’s Story†). The tragic events that transpired shortly after midnight on October 7, 1998 followed the conclusion of a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Association (LGBTA). The organization comprised mostly of university students, but welcomed the indulgence of staff members as well as the townspeople. In spite of a low attendance during its meetings, the association’s email list was illustrated as a long one. The meeting on the night of October 6 was meant to organize last-minute details of the Gay Awareness Week slated for the following week. The association’s chair, Jim Osborn, had been attacked before the meeting where he described the events to fellow members and asked them to be vigilant. LGBTA traditions involve late night coffee breaks before adjournment. Shepard visited a lo cal bar where he was approached by Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson who offered him a ride home. However, events took a dramatic turn after the two drove to a rural area and proceeded to rob, bind Shepard to a fence, and whip him with the butt of .357 Magnum in their possession. He suffered had severe brainstem damages, fractures on his head, and numerous lacerations on his face and neck. The combination of these injuries incapacitated his body’s ability to control the heart rate, temperature among other vital functions. Shepard was discovered over 12 hours later by cyclist who perceived his bound composure and comatose state as a scarecrow (Thernstrom). Found in a near death state, doctors described his condition as too severe to risk an operation and as such, Shepard was placed on life support. Meanwhile, the brutal attack attracted the attention of local, national, and later international media shaping the calls for legislations to include the sexual minorities to the list of protected individuals by the law. Shepard was pronounced dead about a week later with his family by his side at the hospital. All the while, Laramie authorities investigating the heinous crime sought to retrace the last events of Shepard’s life McKinney and Henderson were arrest after they were found in possession of Shepard’

Rewrite sentences Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Rewrite sentences - Essay Example Yoruba lies in the Southwestern Nigeria and Benin of Africa. It is said to be populated with one million people. It Ancestry was a myth. State formation began with trading first among themselves then later, with neighboring areas. They are credited for carving mountains into farms which they planted with yams, coco yams and bananas. Copper is an important commodity for the Yurobians, but its beginnings were doubted from where they came from. They traded these crops and copper with horses and salt. Later on Yorubians used these horses to form a cavalry to expand its territories. As they expanded trade with Europeans, slavery began because the rulers began to export slaves by as many as 20,000 per year during 1630 to 1730. Its political communities were developed as villages that later on turned into a kingship led by a leader Oduduwa wherein people believed was sent by the Creator to establish lands and kingdoms. Second state is Benin Kingdom. Political reforms as well a trade were th e greatest contributions of the first king of Benin. During this period, the Oba Ewuware, the first king introduced the law of succession, the primogeniture, a rule that father should be succeeded by his son whom they called Oba. Oba Ewuware formed a government with checks and balances powers, created and appointed chiefs as what we may call cabinet misters today. He created opportunities for advancement of the people through grades and authority. However, even there were appeals for freedom of slaves, but people were not given these opportunities. Trade with Portuguese continued to be a pillar of growth since the Oba has a monopoly of trade of pepper, ivory and copper. This period also reflected the spread of artisan craft of items made from brass, and the abolition of slave trade in 1807. Asante is one of the richest states in the African region because of its gold. They used gold to purchase slaves to do the gold mining for them to expand production. The slaves were also instrume ntal in introducing agriculture to the land as they cleared dense forests, and planted wide variety of crops brought to Africa by the Europeans. The clearing of forests gave way for the development of communities. As things developed, the earlier peaceful community was ruled by politically ambitious group that wanted to control the gold production. This showed the way to warring factions that created wars and havocs to the people. d. Luba and Kuba Infrastructure developments through cooperative efforts of the people of the village gave way to the productive lifestyle of the people. Its marshy environment led the people to build dikes, drainage channels and dams to store water for dry season-fishing. Historians believed that the large scale public cooperation in Luba led the people of the village to a political community. Organized community led people to manage its resources as people lived continuously on the place as fishing village, and workings on iron. By the turn of the 10th c entury, people had diversified economy with trading their fish, farm products, and metals with salt and iron items, imported glass beads and cowry shells from the distant Indian Ocean. Next to infrastructure, trade largely contributed to its development. Copper was abundant in this side of Africa. In Kuba, growth was funneled by agriculture production of various crops. The introduction of taxes by the governmente brought to the division of labor between men and women, lowering of marrying age of young male to draw them

William Barton and the Australian Youth Orchestra Assignment

William Barton and the Australian Youth Orchestra - Assignment Example The ranges of the instruments are also different: the didgeridoo is unable to reach high pitches and, therefore, has a low range, whereas the orchestra with its instruments has a rather high range. The music has a compound meter. The didgeridoo also has no regular accents, it is possible to say that it is used in an impromptu music performance, while the orchestra has some of them and something similar to a structural organization. There are also no repeating rhythms in the music video analyzed, it is developed without them.  The contour of the melody is both ascending and descending, therefore, the overall contour of the melody of the analyzed music video is undulating. The music is disjunct because it contains leaps and intervals. The noticeable leaps occur when the didgeridoo fades and the orchestra starts playing, and the intervals are generally wide. The melody is also a wide-range one, combining the above mentioned low range of the didgeridoo and the high range of the orchest ra instruments.   It is possible to state that there is some dissonant present when the orchestra and the didgeridoo play simultaneously due to their different ranges and the ability to produce sounds of different pitches. The melody is also loud in dynamics, especially when the didgeridoo starts and goes on playing. There are also decreases and increases in loudness, when the orchestra is fading, the didgeridoo is louder, and the otherwise situation is also observed. The tempo of the music may be characterizes as moderate as there is no too fast.

Covenants of God with His Children. Pentateuch discussion Research Paper

Covenants of God with His Children. Pentateuch discussion - Research Paper Example Throughout the Old Testament are historical covenants which advance and refine the Covenants of Redemption and Grace. In another perspective of Covenant Theology, the Covenant of Redemption is without evidence, the Covenant of Grace is implicit as the main covenant, and the historical covenants reflect different administrations of the Covenant of Grace. A third perspective of Covenant Theology is that, since the Bible does not specifically refer to any covenants of redemption, works or grace, it is more scripturally accurate to see all covenants as historical, and to see god’s plan of redemption/grace as an overarching purpose, but not specifically as covenants. This paper will discuss these major areas, as well as the historical covenants, as they are found throughout the sections of the Old Testament (Pentateuch, Historical Books, Poetical Books, and Prophesy), shaping Christian understanding and appreciation of the fulfillment of God’s purpose through Old Testament t imes, transitioning our understanding readiness, and application of covenant truths in the New Testament. A covenant is a promise, a contract of protocol, which outlines specific expectations and outcomes of keeping and breaking the expectations, binding on all parties and descendents. In the case of God’s covenants with people, God dictates the terms. The Covenant of Works was established with Adam and Eve, in Eden. God’s instruction was explicit. Adam was told to name the animals and to be a steward over God’s creation. God commanded them to be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth. They were invited to partake of the abundance of paradise, but were forbidden to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The latter stipulation had a consequence of death, for violation of terms. Freewill obedience demonstrates faith. In exchange for abiding by this covenant, God gave them eternal life in a perfect paradise, control over plants and animals in the garden, protection, and God’s own companionship and love. This covenant was binding on Adam and Eve and all descendants, even to us. When Eve was persuaded by Satan to eat forbidden fruit, and Adam also accepted from Eve, because of Satan’s false rationalization about God’s motivation and agenda, sinful choice separated them from God and paradise, but also separated us from God and paradise. The consequence of death and suffering that became theirs also became ours. There are two kinds of covenants which God makes with man: conditional and unconditional (Warren, 2000). Conditional covenants are where God says what he will provide â€Å"if† people will do what he instructs them to do, and to not do what he instructs them to not do. The Covenant of Works is a conditional covenant (Warren, 2000). The Covenant of Grace, however, was an unconditional covenant (Warren, 2000). There was no â€Å"if† clause. God made a gift, no strings attached. His gift was to send his son, Jesus, to be born without sin (as the child of God), to live a life without sin, and to die as a sacrifice for all the sin ever committed and all the sin ever to be committed by everyone everywhere. This was nothing we could earn, because we had already failed that test, through Adam and Eve, already shown that we would use our free choice in a wrong way. The consequence of death was part of the contract. Only Jesus could pay it, and he willingly did so, and God willingly sent Him. The Covenant of Redemption is the everlasting agreement, within the Godhead, before history began, for Jesus, the Son, to be born as a man, to live a life of obedience to the law and to God, and die a sacrificial death to atone for human sin. This agreement was powered by the Holy Spirit. This can be seen as a covenantal arrangement

Discipline Profile of the Field of Accounting Research Paper

Discipline Profile of the Field of Accounting - Research Paper Example To determine how financially healthy a business is, the accounting statements prepared are based on accounting laws which are standardized to allow for fair comparison and the contrast between competing businesses (Rosacker et al, 2009). The language of accounting consists of symbols of currency, graphs, charts, reports and tables which express the business ideas of a company. This is because the accounting language is a clarification of a definite purpose. As such, it is imperative to logically hold that the major accounting purpose emanates from a definition, which is just like any other language which seeks to explain the meaning of term or concept. The genre of the language used can be classified as Metalanguage. Metalanguage is the language which uses symbols to explain or examine language. Such language is prevalent in accounting as the use of unique words such as ‘net income’ ‘equity’, ‘liabilities’, assets’, balance sheet’, ‘financial reports’ among others, creates a meaning which is only specific to business persons and the accounting field. In Meta language used in accounting, less importance is given to explanation or definitions (Pasternak, 2011). Extensive Business Reporting Language (XBRL) is a recent Meta language which has been introduced in the field of accounting. The new language seeks to improve the field of accounting by developing a customizable and standardized digital demonstration of accounting aspects such as data extracts, business reports, tax returns and financial statements. This language is an integral part of the accounting profession as it is being integrated into the accounting curriculum. Furthermore, businesses are required to submit their financial information in the form to XBRL to different authorities such as government regulators or the SEC (Cohen et al, 2005). The major method of communication among accountants is the memos and the emails. Memorandums are used to communicate internally with accountants, departments or clients.  

Christian scriptures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Christian scriptures - Essay Example The Christian holy scripture forms the starting point of the great majority of the doctrines and theological concepts adopted as well as disputed by the numerous denominations of the Christian faith.2 Today as much as in the past the Old Testament could be read to give the reader an indication of what Jesus Christ was expected to achieve, whilst the New Testament describes what he is supposed to have actually achieved. The New Testament also mentions how the Early Church started to spread the Christian religion whilst having debates about the best means of leading Christian lives.3 The studies of the New Testament soon came to the conclusion that there was a great deal that the Synoptic Gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke held in common with each other.4 The study of holy scriptures was tightly restricted before the Reformation yet that altered with the spread of Protestantism, especially in its most evangelical guises.5 The consequences of the Protestant Reformation as well as the Roman Catholic counter - Reformation could be arguably discerned in the study of holy scriptures right down to our own times.6 The numerous Protestant sects and the Roman Catholic Church even now present their own, sometimes very different interpretations of the holy scriptures.7 Yet in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries many Biblical scholars were of the opinion that the Synoptic Gospels all shared at least shared one common source of information about Jesus before using different sources to raise the unique parts of their own gospel accounts.8 Those different understandings of holy scriptures are shaped by theological differences and how literally the text of the Holy Bible is, or is not taken to be. The Christian holy scriptures had a very strong influence over the development of many Western cultures and societies although there are convincing indications of declining religious affiliations in

A Marketing Analysis Of Air Asia Marketing Essay

A Marketing Analysis Of Air Asia Marketing Essay In order to make sure that the slogan of Now Everyone Can Fly, Airasia had launched Low Fare Campaign in order to attract the customers to fly with a low fare. The objectives of this campaign are to offer low fares to customer to travel and offer discounts to the public in order to encourage more people to fly with Airasia. Moreover, this will lead to new market entry of first-time user. (Thestar, 2007) 2.0 Airasia Market analysis 2.1 PESTEL analysis Political Factor Airasia airline had planned to build a new single-runway airport in Labu, Negeri Sembilan with the Sime Darby in 2009 and been approved by the government. However, the plan has been cancelled due to the Stated-owned Malaysia Airports had tried to stop to build the new terminal and disagreement with former Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir. (Flightglobal, 2009) Economic Factor In 2010, Malaysia Government had introduced one government policy which is 10 Malaysia Plan to the public in order to unleash the growth of economic. The Airport development is one of the plans as Malaysia Government expects the passengers amount will increase to 62 million in 2015. A new low cost terminal will be built by the in Kuala Lumpur International Airport for Airasia and has larger terminal. (Midfresearch, 2010) Social Cultural Factor Malaysia is the country which has 3 ethnics and the cultures are unique. Airasia believes that the communities are expecting that the airline can treat every ethnic equally. In order to do that, Airasia is practicing the meritocracy culture whereby the employees hired not based on the age and ethnic. (Airasia, 2009) Technological Factor Airasia has implemented information technology in running the operations of the airline to save the costs. The information technologies that implemented are yield management system and computer reservation system. The systems can help the airline to save the costs by recording on revenue and transactions in daily operations. (Management of Technology, 2009) Environmental Factor Airasia has invested in the latest technology and full utilization of the aircraft in protecting the environment and A320 airbus which is more efficient to operate and more save fuel is used. Airasia ticketless system and near paperless office are the strategies to cut down the waste of paper. (Airasia, 2009) Legal Factor In order to operate in Malaysia, Airasia must apply the Air Service License from the Malaysia Civil Aviation. The regulations such as Civil Aviation Act 1969 and Aviation Offences Act 1984 must be followed. (Airasia, 2004) 2.2 SWOT analysis Strength Analysis Low Cost Carrier business model is one of the strength of Airasia in order to compete in the airline industry. The second is Airasia has a very strong relationship with the government and the airline industry leaders. The third is well established of brand name in Asia Pacific. (Management of Technology, 2009) Weakness Analysis The Airasia main weakness is the airline more reliable on the out sourcing workforce. The other weaknesses are the service resource is limited and the airline is receiving many complaints on the no-refundable of the ticket canceled and the delay of flight. (Management of Technology, 2009) Opportunity Analysis The first opportunity is the ever-increasing oil price which enables Airasia to compete with other low cost airline. (Management of Technology, 2009). ASEAN Open Skies agreement that achieved which is allows Airasia to run unlimited flights among ASEANS regional is also an opportunity. (Wong, 2009) Threat Analysis The first threat is the services rates (airport departure, security charges) are controlled by the airline. The other threats are other entrance of low cost airline and the operation cost is increase due to the services that added. (Wong, 2009) 2.3Trend and Current Position 2.3.1 Airasia Trend In 2009, the low-cost carrier airline that established well had proved that has sufficient power to operate across the region in different market and economic. Airasia airline is the fast-growing and profit earning steadily airline which had increased the profit for the past. Airasia is also able to grow the market share in the Southeast Asia and had introduced the low-cost long-haul carrier whereby can offering the passenger cheaper fare. Airasia has started to have partnership with other low cost airline to reduce the airline operation costs such as ground-handling services. (Flightglobal, 2010) 2.3.2 Airasia and Competitors Current Position In Malaysia, the main competitor of Airasia is the Malaysia Airline System (MAS) which is Malaysias National Airline. In order to compete with Airasia, MAS had launched the first low cost airline which is Firefly. The airline is the test-bed in running low-cost operation. In March 2007, Malaysia Airline System had launched the first community and low cost airline which is Firefly to compete with other low cost airline. The Firefly airline is the test-bed of Malaysia Airline System in running the low-cost operation instead to test for new market segmentation and the Malaysia Airline System will adapt and expand it into national carrier if the operation of Firefly is proven success and gain stability. (Datamonitor, 2008). Due to the existing of new competitor, Airasia Malaysia has two competitors in Malaysia. However, the prices of airline ticket in Airasia is the main advantage and able to maintain current position as low-cost carrier. Particular Malaysia Airline Airasia Firefly Airfare Non RM15 RM130 Service Charge RM9 Non Non Surcharge RM76 RM47.50 RM51 Total RM85 RM62.50 RM181 (Prices Comparison for one person one way ticket to Pulau Langkawi during promotion) (Reference: Amdtaufik, 2008) 3.0 Objective 3.1 Corporate Objective The first objective of Airasia is to become the largest low cost airline organization in Asia by provide services to 3 billion people. Second objective is to attain with the lowest cost and lead to everyone can fly. The third objective is to maintain the product quality and reduce the costs. 3.2 Communication and Marketing Objectives The first communication objective of Airasia is to promote the organization, services and products through the effective communication program to the customers. The second objective is to make sure that there is a communication relationship between the Airasia and the customers and the relationship can be strengthen through the campaign awareness and brand reputation. The third objective is to expand the communication and media strategy in order to create brand or product awareness to the customers in order to achieve the organization goal. The last communication objective is to maintain the good relationship with the customers and keep updating customers with organization informations. (JobDB, 2011) 4.0 Marketing Communication Tool Low Fare Campaign 4.1Advertising In order to communicate with the target audience, Airasia is using advertising as a tool in introducing the products and services. One of the important advertising media that frequently used is the social media. The advantages of using social media are the internet enable the interactive capabilities, high selectivity by the users and the cost is low. In Airasia, the organization strongly agrees that social media is playing an important role in order for the organization to do advertising and build a consumer group that contributing trust to brand and value. Nowadays, the internet had made the people able to connect with the whole world people easily and more time is spending for online. By using social media, the messages of the products and services can be reaching out and able to share out the content of message effectively. Besides that, the social media is able to provide a channel of communication for the organization to run the activity such as low fare promotions, new product launching and news announcement. Moreover, the social media able to create a communication platform for the Airasia to connect with the people and enable the people to have more understanding on the organization. (Airasia,2009) Airasia had started the corporate blog (www.blog.airasia.com) in 2008 and Facebook (www.facebook.com/AirAsia) in 2009. The effectiveness and efficiencies of the social media enable Airasia to reach the number of fans and creating a strong relation community. For the community, they are able to get the latest information about the campaign that launched by Airasia through the social media. (Airasia, 2011) Another method of Airasia to run the advertising is using the Airspace advertising whereby the unique and effective way of advertising can be done to reach all the customers who take the flight. With the new approach of advertising and more cost saving, the messages can be reaching to large coverage of passengers.   This allows the messages of the campaign directly communicate with the passenger and can across effectively whether on the ground or in the sky. The advertisements of the campaign can be placed in the auto boarding pass, the information counter, sales office and on the passengers seats. (Airasia, 2010) Besides that, Airasia use newspaper as advertising media. By using the newspaper, the messages of the campaign can be more flexible to access to the different coverage of markets and the target audiences are different. The newspaper medias that used by Airasia in Malaysia are Star, Sin Chew Daily, China Press, Berita Harian and others. (Lee and Johnson, 2005) 4.2 Direct marketing Direct marketing is an interactive system that can helps the organization to personalized communications between them and the customers. With the help of computer and internet development nowadays, the organization is able to run two way communications for their products and services. (Lee and Johnson, 2005) In order to increase the awareness of the organization to the customers, Airasia is using direct marketing in order to encourage the interactions between organizations and allow users to be more understanding on the brand. One of the direct marketing tool that used by Airasia is the Yahoo Mobile. Airasia is promoting and sending the messages to the customers by using other website. Airasia has corporate with Yahoo Mobile whereby the organization allows Airasia mobile website to put the banner advertisement on the Yahoo mobile homepage, yahoo mail and yahoo search. The mobile users just need to access to the Yahoo Mobile and click to the Airasia banner, the link will automatically connect to the Airasia Website. By this, the customers can book the flight tickets, checking the ticket booking status and access to the promoting campaign. These services and information assessment through mobile technology has lead to the increasing in awareness of the organization and campaign promotion. Moreover, this direct marketing method had lead to the good responses from the users whereby the total click to the website is 108,405 clicks and the rate is 1.78 percent after 28days launching. (Mobilemarketer, 2009) 4.3 Public Relation There are many activities that can be carried by the public relation in order to communicate to the related party. In Airasia, one of the activities that carried out by the Public Relation is the Corporate Social Responsibility. The features in this concept are the organization shares the values and joyfulness in with the related parties. Airasia is celebrating the times of joy with the communities, practicing the communities value and traditions and delivering cares to them. There are few area that focused by the Airasia in caring out this activity. The first area is the organization work place. Airasia is practicing the meritocracy culture and the employees are hired due to their performance and ability. The elements like gender, creed, age and ethic are not considered in the hiring process. By practicing the meritocracy culture, Airasia believe that they can strive to exceed the communitys high expectation and provides equally treatment to all the communities. The second area that focused is helping the communities to pass the hard time. There was an earthquake happened in 2009 and had shocked many communities in Indonesia. At that moment, the Airasia decided to lend a hand and running the charity flight to help the victims to go out from that place. Moreover, the Airasia in Malaysia is also helping out in providing the cargo space to deliver the goods for the victims. Airasia always help the victims of disaster and providing joyfulness and hope to them. The last area that focused is minimizing the environment impact in creating greener environment. The first thing Airasia do is promoting the recycle concept to the work place environment and encourage paperless system office to be run. Moreover, self service check-in options is encouraged by the organization in order to helps in reduce the need for expensive airport infrastructure. The efficient and simple ground environment is the main policy in protecting the environment. (Airasia, 2009) 5.0 Airasia Marketing Strategies 5.1 Pull and Profile Strategy Airasia is using the Pull Strategy to deliver the low fare campaign information directly to the end-user customers. The purposes of the messages delivered are to increase the campaign awareness, encourage the customers involvement and to influence the customer perception. By these, the customer behavior and perception may be changed and lead to the purchasing of the products. Moreover, Airasia use this strategy to encourage and attract the customers to purchase airline through the website channel. For Airasia to complete and deliver the pull strategy, the method that use can be deliver the message through the social media or website by offering the low fare promotion to the customers. (Fill , 2006) Airasia is using the Profile Strategy which is using different messages in target all the stakeholders that related. The stakeholders of Airasia are customers, employees, regulators and the local communities. This strategy is including the pull selling which is requires high promoting to attract the customers and push strategy which is forces from the organization to increase the customer demand. By using this strategy through different marketing communication tools to deliver different message, Airasia is able to build up the awareness of the low fare campaign and the perception of communities toward the campaign. (Fill , 2006) 5.2 Unique Selling Propositions In order to be unique selling proposition, the strategy that used by Airasia is low cost carrier and has come out the vision of in becoming the largest low cost airline in Asia and makes the dream of average income people to fly happens. The slogan that implement for the strategy is Now Everyone Can Fly whereby the tickets prices are lower. To become differently from others airline, Airasia has implementing few strategies in order to make sure that the low fare model is possible to run. The first strategy that Airasia apply is the Safety First strategy on the maintenance of the airplane. The organization is follow the others world airline operation safety strategy and partnering with the worlds recognize repairing and maintenance manufacturer. The second strategy is the High Aircraft Utilization where the Airasia implementing the fastest turnover time in make sure the cost can be lower and productivity is high.   The third strategy is low fare and no frill whereby providing the services without promises on the quality. The last strategy is providing more different distribution channels such as Airasia Mobile and booking website for the customers to check the booking and the flight schedule informations. (Airasia, 2010) 6.0 Airasia Communication Campaign Cost Outline Cost 2008 2009 Revenue RM 2,81,526,000 RM3,072,049,000 Marketing Communication Campaign Cost (Avdertising, Direct Maketing and Public Relation) RM 5,630,520 RM 61440980 (Reference: Airasia, 2009) Airasia is using 2% of the yearly avenue to invest in the marketing communication campaign in order to create awareness of products and services among the communities. (Low, 2010) The costs that spend for 2008 are RM 5,630,520 and RM 61440980 for 2009. 7.0 Methods of measuring the effectiveness of the marketing communication There are few methods that Airasia can use to measure the effectiveness of the marketing communication in the Zero Fare Campaign. The first method is the Pre-Testing whereby the marketing communication concept, targeting group and behaviour are pre-test before the launching of campaign. This test can be done by the qualitative and quantitative method which is giving out survey forms and collect opinions. The second method is Post-Testing whereby the effectiveness of marketing communication is evaluated after the campaign launching. Airasia can use the behavioural test to measures the responses and perception of consumer on the marketing communication after Zero Fare campaign was launched. Moreover, Airasia can also use the sales test which is the measures on the sales and then will get result on the marketing communication effectiveness. The third method is Tracking Studies which is the study is involves the collection data of the consumer perception toward the campaign. Airasia can use the interview method to collect the data of consumer perception on the marketing communication of the campaign and what message that gets from the campaign. By this, the organization is able to more understand on the consumer perception and a good record for future marketing communication plan. The fourth method is Likeability test which is testing the level of consumer enjoyment on the marketing communication of the campaign. The result will lead to the sales result and the consumer satisfaction result. (Fill, 2006) Total word count: 2986 words

The Nature And Characteristics Of Australian Smes Business Essay

The Nature And Characteristics Of Australian Smes Business Essay The term Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is used to collectively group micro, small and medium-sized business (Schaper Volery 2007). In order to be classed as an SME, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) requires that the business be independently owned and managed by an individual or small number of persons as wells as employ less than 199 staff (ABS 2001). In addition to this, typical SMEs share other similar characteristics such as start-up finance is generally provided by the owner, they hold a limited market share and have a limited life span, they earn low levels of net profit and they a most often a family business (Schaper Volery 2007). SMEs play a vital role in the Australian economy as they account for more than 95% of business and provide a significant proportion of national employment (OECD 2000). SMEs also play an important role as market makers. They increase the level of competition within the market, encourage innovation and development of goods and services as well as provide specialised products and services for niche markets (Schaper Volery 2007).Without SMEs there would be limited competition and high prices for consumers. As at June 2007 there were 2,011,770 actively trading businesses in Australia (ABS 2007), of which 98% were SMEs. A key trend in the Australian business environment has been the increasing number of non-employing-single operators, with now 58% of businesses not employing any staff (ABS 2004, 2007). Home based businesses make up a very large proportion of these businesses. The remained of the SMEs is made up of 26% micro businesses, those with less than 4 employees, 12% small businesses and medium businesses hold a share of 4%. 2 Factors influencing SMEs success and failure The nature of SME operations in Australia is that every year there are many start-ups and almost as many failures. During the 2006-07 financial year the rate of entry for new businesses into the market was 17% while the exit rate was at 14.6% (ABS 2007). Of the businesses that remain in the market, ABS (2007) data shows that only four in 10 businesses were remain in operation after 4 years. Recent studies on SMEs have identified five main factors influencing SME success and failure are financing, marketing, production, personnel and personal (Schaper Volery 2007). Yusaf (1995) places high importance on the personal factor, and states that the success and failure of an SME can often be attributed to the owner, depending on the level of their management skills. Owners with strong skills are able to develop and affect business plans, employ appropriate staff for the business, as well as accurately maintain records and control finances (Yusaf 1995). Personal qualities and traits such as self-confidence, perseverance and the ability to cope with stress and maintain a work-life balance are also considered very important (Schaper Volery 200). Finance is a significant issue for SMEs because insufficient capital combined with poor cash flows makes it difficult to establish, maintain and expand a business. Effective marketing is also an essential element of business success or failure because it strongly impacts on the firms ability to attract clientele (Cromie 1991; Yusaf 1995.Production refers the physical premises, quality of the products and services produced the ability to obtain supplies. It is essential when establishing a business that extensive market research is undertaken when selecting location and time and effort are given in order to develop business relationships. Quality personnel are essential for successful businesses however, as previously mentioned, this requires the owner to have sufficient management skills is order to recruit and retain qualified staff. A recent study conducted by the New Zealand Ministry of Economic Development (2005) also found that the use of business plans increased the rate of business success. This is because the development of a business plan provides clarity of direction, encourages goal setting, provides a holistic perspective on the firm and encourages entrepreneurs to fully research their ideas before making significant investments into the business (Schaper Volery 2007). However, despite this, research shows that the majority of Australian businesses do not undertake this type of planning (Schaper Volery 2007) 3 Leadership/Entrepreneurs 3.1 Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurship is the process brought about by individuals, of identifying new opportunities and converting them into marketable products or services (Schaper Volery 2007, p. 4). While there are many entrepreneurs in the market place, only a handful of them are successful in their pursuits. According to Schaper and Volery (2007) there is an endless list of characteristics and traits that are often attributed to successful entrepreneurs, however research has shown that of these, only three have shown a high level of validity. These three characteristics include the need for achievement; an internal locus of control; and a risk-taking propensity (Gartner 1985). The need for achievement is important because it means that the entrepreneur has an overarching desire to excel or succeed in their undertakings (Schaper Volery 2007). Entrepreneurs also need a strong internal locus of control in order to remain positive and continue working, even in adverse situations. A risk-taking propensity is essential characteristic because without it, they may not be willing to pursue and undertake opportunities when they arise. 3.2 Janine Allis Janine Allis is the founder and managing director of the Australian company, Boost Juice. From what started as single store in Adelaide, Boost Juice has grown to 180 outlets within Australia and a further 50 in Singapore, South Africa and Britain (Boost Juice 2010). This year, the company is expected to post revenue in excess of $130 million and a net profit of around $10 million (Thomson 2010). Janine Allis, through her desire to establish her own business has become one of Australias leading entrepreneurs. The process Janine took in developing the Boost Juice concept mirrors the aforementioned definition of entrepreneurship. Prior to developing her product she reviewed the retail market to identify an unfulfilled consumer need, which she found to be a lack of healthy fast foods (Boost Juice 2010). It wasnt until after investigating several other products and a trip to America, where she was exposed to the fresh juice and smoothie concept, she developed a product the Boost juice concept for the Australian market (Ovations 2008). From the outset Janine demonstrated a strong need for achievement. According to an interview in the Australian Business Review (2010), Janine Allis is quoted as saying, I never had intention of opening just 1 store, hence why we opened the first one in Adelaide. We always had bigger plans to have world domination. Her unyielding commitment and perseverance as well as her strong internal locus of control have contributed to the success of the business. Prior to establishing Boost Juice, Janine had not previously run her own company but was confident in herself and her concept that she was willing to invest her familys financial future in her business (Elder 2004). However Janine also understood the need to transfer the risk of operating a business to other parties, and in 2010 sold a 70% stake in the company for to a US private equity firm (Thomson 2010). Based on these demonstrated characteristics and traits, Janine Allis should be considered a successful Australian entrepreneur. 4. Analysing opportunities and developing a framework for business 4.1 Nature of the fitness industry Demand for health and fitness services has, for the past five years, increased annually with approximately 1.6 million Australians (8%) now using or holding a membership to a gym (ABS 2008). Research into health and fitness trends attributes the increased membership rates to improved awareness of the health risks associated with modern lifestyle choices as well as reductions in leisure time and the availability of private recreation areas (Diabetes NSW 2010; Sydney Morning Herald 2003). The Australian fitness industry is currently undergoing significant change is response to changing consumer needs. Kirby-Brown and Hall (2010) identified three major trends that are now redefining gym standards and practices. The first trend, referred to as nowism, is a reference to values and attitudes displayed by Generation Y. The main impact of this societal attitude has on health and fitness centres is on membership structure. Patrons do not want to be locked into but instead prefer pay-as-you-go or no minimum term contracts. The second key trend is personalisation, which proposes a major step away from traditional large gym models towards more boutique structures. This is the market that the Breeze Fitness Studio is attempting to capture. The boutique gym caters to time poor professionals who require flexibility and not predetermined schedules; patrons who would prefer alternative exercise forms; and those who do not feel comfortable in the traditional gym environment (The Age, 2003). The boutique gym model also provides a more flexible structure because when workouts become unfashionable they are no holding large quantities of expensive equipment, purpose-built rooms or an inflexible class schedule (Kirby-Brown Hall 2010; The Age 2003). These factors all positively indicate towards the viability of establishing a boutique fitness centre. 4.2 Viability of Breeze Legal Structure There are four main types of legal structures used in SMEs, Sole trader, Partnerships, Companies and Trusts. The most commonly used form is Sole trader. In this type of structure the business is not considered a separate legal entity, which means business profits are taxed at the marginal tax rate of the owner and that owner is personally responsible for all of the liabilities of the business (Schaper Volery 2007). However this structure is simple and inexpensive to establish. A partnership is an arrangement between two or more people to start a business and legally share the profits, risks and losses according to the terms set out in the partnership contracts (DEEDI 2009). The main disadvantages of this form are the loss of control and that, like sole traders, there is unlimited liability. The company structure is a legal entity separate from the owner, which provides for limited liability and separate taxation of business earnings (Schaper Volery 2009). Compared to the other two structures, it is more costly to establish a company. A trust is a structure where the business is transferre d to a third party who has legal control and has a duty to run that business to benefit someone else (DEEDI 2009). This structure, while providing tax minimisation, is complex and costly by nature (DEEDI 2009. Of these four structures, a Proprietary Limited Company is most suitable for Breeze Health and Fitness. While this structure requires higher costs to maintain due periodic reporting to ASIC, the benefits received outweigh this. With a high level of expected profit forecast for the business, it is not economically feasible to have this taxed at the marginal tax rate of 45%, when the company tax rate is considerably lower at 30%. The other key reason for the use of the company structure is the access to limited liability. The owner does not wish to have their personal financial assets placed unnecessarily at risk, as would be in the case in a sole trader and partnership arrangement. 4.2.2 Market Size It is proposed that Breeze Fitness Studio be established in Toowoomba, Queensland. Recent economic reports put together by the Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC) show that there is strong market for health and fitness to support the establishment of the Breeze Fitness Studio. The 2010 Economic Report compiled by the TRC shows that demand for arts and recreation services has grown 14.8% in the past financial year, compared to the negative average growth of 3% for the state. In 2007 recreation services had a combined annual turnover $60.7 million, with the average annual business turnover being $243,800p.a (TRC 2010). The current female population in Toowoomba and surrounding local areas, aged between 20 and 55 is 33,267 (ABS 2006). With approximately 8% of the population holding or using gym memberships, the market size is expect to be around 2660. The characteristics of the market support the establishment of Breeze Fitness Studio. 4.2.3 Target Market According to Cooper (1993) the target market needs to be an attractive market where the competition is weak, there is potential growth, there are only few players and the customer base has an unsatisfied need for a particular product. After an evaluation of the current market in Toowoomba revealed two distinct and complimentary markets which will both be targeted by Breeze Fitness Studio. Currently there are no female-only fitness centres located in the Toowoomba Central Business District. This is a very profitable market because, if the product is tailored correctly, there is a large population of professional women who work in the vicinity. With the current health focus for professionals, there is an established need for Breeze Fitness Studio. The profile for this market is shown in the table below. Table 1: Characteristics of Target Market 1 Base Descriptor Justification Geographic Region or area   Toowoomba CBD Demographic Gender Female Psychographic Lifestyle Busy lifestyle, want to maintain health is a convenient manner The other potential market that was identified was that there are only a small number of gyms offering alternative fitness programs aimed at young females who are not content with standard gym offerings. Their profile is outlined below. Table 2: Characteristics of Target Market 2 Base Descriptor Justification Demographic Gender Female Income High Disposable Income Age 18-30 Psychographic Lifestyle Interested in maintaining a healthy lifestyle but are not contempt with standard exercises offered at gyms. 4.2.4 Nature of Product Kotlers three levels of product are used to understand how a customer views a product and service. The most basic level of a product is its core, which is what is the customer buying? Breeze Fitness Studio offers it members womens-only health and fitness. This can be seen as a transformational product because women who join are not just purchasing a gym membership they are purchasing a new lease on life, self-esteem and a release from the stresses of everyday life. The second level of product is referred to as the actual product, and these are the things that need to be provided in order to achieve the core benefit. For Breeze Fitness Studio the actual product is characterised by high levels of customer service, a wide and varying array of programs, qualified staff, appearance of the staff and quality equipment. The final level of product, the augmented product, is the additional benefits the customer receives from purchasing this product. Augmented product for Breeze includes flexible membership options and the packaging as well as personalised service. For a visual representation of the three levels of the Breeze Fitness Studio Product, please see Appendix 1. 4.2.5 Competitive Edge/Unique Selling Proposition Due to the use of multi-segmented targeting, Breeze Fitness Studio will use two different Unique Selling Propositions. For the first target market Breeze will focus on differentiating themselves from competitors by convenience of location and high levels of personal attention not offered at large fitness centres. As the gym is aimed at professional women, who are often under considerable time constraints, workouts will be structured on achieving maximum benefits in minimum time. To attract the younger market, Breeze will market the uniqueness of its alternative fitness programs. Breeze will be the only fitness centre offering Juakri and Silks, in addition to Bikram Yoga and Pole Fitness. 4.2.6 Finance Breeze Fitness Studio will be financed through personal savings of the owner, a loan from family as well as a loan from business angel, Lee Gend. It is estimated that the initial costs involved in establishing the business will amount to $102,500. These costs are funding are broken down in detail in Appendix 2. The expected start up costs take into account the cost of fit out of the premises, the costs associated with establishing and registering a company with ASIC, the cost of equipment for the studio, the initial marketing of the centre and a margin for incidental costs. Working capital of $15,000 is required to pay bills and wages that occur before the centre is opened. The loans from Lee Gend and the owners parents will be repaid over a period of 2 years at a fixed interest rate of 7%. The breakdown of loan repayments is shown below. Table 3: Loan Repayment Schedule Terms 2 years, 7% Total Cost Monthly Repayment Loan from Parents 22898 954 Loan from Lee Gend 37210 1550 Total Monthly Repayment 2505 Total Annual Repayment 30054 Membership levels for Breeze Fitness Studio has been based on an initial membership base of 100, which is to be achieved in the membership presale, with a growth rate of 7% per month for the first year, which is in line with industry standards. It is expected by the end of the first year the membership base will level out. Wages for the year have been calculated on the basis of one full-time staff member, 2 part-time staff and 2 casuals, using the industry award. It is estimated that wages in the first year will be $82,500. Breeze Fitness Studio will be located in the Toowoomba CBD and the lease costs for this property are $66,000 per year (Ray White 2010). This rate is consistent with other comparable CBD locations. Insurance costs for the studio have been estimated at $5500 p.a. An allowance of $10,000 has been set aside to cover phone and internet bells, equipment replacement costs, accountant and solicitor fees and other incidentals. Using this data, it is projected that Breeze Fitness Studio will earn a net profit of $16,403 in its first year of operation. A breakdown of this is shown in the profit and loss statement below. Breeze Fitness Studio Profit and Loss Statement For Year Ended 31 December 2011 Revenue Membership Fees 210457 Less Expenses Loan Repayments 30054 Property Lease 66000 Wages 82500 Insurance 5500 Other Expenses 10000 194054 Net Profit 16403 6. List of References ABC 2010, Female Fitness Centres, viewed on 20 August 2010, Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2001, 1321.0 Small Business in Australia, viewed on 1 August 2010, Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2004, 8127.0 Characteristics of Small Business, viewed on 22 August 2010, Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2006, Census, viewed on 15 August 2010, Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2007, 8165.0 Counts of Australian Businesses, Including Entries and Exits, viewed on 12 August 2010, Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2008, 2007-08 National Health Survey, viewed on 21 August 2010, Australian Business Review 2010, Business Legend Janine Allis, Boost Juice, viewed on 22 August 2010, Boost Juice 2010, Janines Success Story, viewed on 12 August 2010, Cromie, S 1996, The problems experienced by young firms, International Small Business Journal, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 43-61 Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation  2009, Smart Skills Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovations, viewed on 20 August 2010, Diabetes NSW 2010, Australias Obesity Problem Continues to Growà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, viewed on 21 July 2010, Elder, J 2004, Allis charms judges of national business award, viewed on 2 August 2010, Gartner, WB 1985, A conceptual framework for describing the phenomenon of new venture creation, Academy of Management Review, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 696-706 Kirby-Brown, C Hall, S 2010, The Top 10 Consumer Trends Impacting the Fitness industry in 2010, viewed 2 August 2010, Kotler, P, Adam, S, Brown, L Armstrong, G 2006, Principles of Marketing, Prentice Hall, Sydney Ministry of Economic Development 2005, SMEs in New Zealand: Structure and Dynamics, Ministry of Economic Development, Wellington OECD 2000. OECD Small and Medium Enterprise Outlook 2000 Edition. Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development. Ovations 2008, Janine Allis Speaker, viewed 4 August 2010, Ray White 2010, Commercial Real Estate, viewed on 23 August 2010, Schaper, M Volery, T 2007, Entrepreneurship an Small Business, John Wiley Sons, Milton Sydney Morning Herald 2003, A Pointless Exercise, viewed on 12 August 2010, The Age 2003, Tight Fit, viewed on 3 August 2010, Thomson, J 2010, Boost Juice founder Janine Allis sells 70% stake, viewed on 8 August 2010, Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC) 2010, Toowoomba Regional Council Economic Profile 2010, viewed on 8 August 2010, Yusaf, A 1995, Critical success factors for small business, Journal of Small Business Management, vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 68-73

The Outsiders :: essays research papers

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton Published 1967 Published by: Puffin Books Genre: fiction The book The Outsiders is the realistic story about this between two very different groups in a town in the United States: the poor Greasers from the east side, and the Socs, whitch is what the greasers call the socials, the richer boys from the other side of the town. Ponyboy Curtis is the narrator of the story, a 14-year-old boy who lives with his two older brothers, Darry and Soda. He is a pretty good athlete and student, but is not treated the same as the richer students at his school. Ponyboy uses to have long hair that he greases back, a symbol of being in the outsider gang. He is unhappy with his situation, because Darry is too protective of him and he always has to be afraid of Socs attacking him. One night Pony and his best friend Johnny are attacked by a group of drunken Socs. When one of the Socs tries to drown Pony, he goes unconscious and when he wakes up, he sees that Johnny has killed one of the Socs. The two boys decide to go to their friend Dally; he gives them money and directions to a church in the country. There they hide out for a long week, and after it Dally comes to find them. After eating, they return to the church and see that it has caught fire. A group of children are stuck in the burning building. Pony and Johnny do not hesitate and jump in to save the children, Pony gets out ok but Johnny is hit with a piece of falling wood and serious burnt. The boys appear in the news as heroes, even though they are still wanted for murdering the Soc. Pony is fine, but Johnny is badly hurt. After a while, there is a big fight between the Greasers and the Socs. The Greasers win, but when Dally and Pony go to tell Johnny that they won, he dies during their visit. Dally is destroyed by this and later he calls Pony to tell him that he robbed a store and is being chased by the cops. They hurry to meet him, and see him shot down after he pulls a gun on the police. Pony is scared by what has happened, and convinces himself that he, not Johnny, killed the Soc.

An Analytical Essay on the Duality of Man in Hamlet :: The Tragedy of Hamlet Essays

An Analytical Essay on the Duality of Man in Hamlet    Day after day on television, in the movies, and even in some modern literature we see characters falling within those same old categories of "good guy" or "bad guy".   Life would be much easier to figure out if human beings were so definitely good or bad, but we're not.   Four hundred years ago William Shakespeare wrote a play that presented characters how human beings truly are, neither all good nor all bad.   Hamlet is a play twisting and turning so much in human emotion that at times it almost seems to come alive and give us an accurate depiction of inner-torment, death, and humanness. In such scenes as the one where we see Claudius praying for forgiveness for the murder he has committed, guilt is seen in who would be the easy-to-hate "villain" in other stories.   He is depicted as a human being with the capacity to be sorry for what he has done.   The good and bad qualities of characters in Hamlet makes it harder for the audience to know who is right or who they want to see succeed.   This duality is seen in many other Hamlet characters and it is most interesting to examine this mix of good and bad in Hamlet, because he is the play's supposed "good guy".   Since Claudius wronged Hamlet and his father the audience wants to sympathize with Hamlet and see him triumph over Claudius.   When his decency and moral appeal are seen as questionable Hamlet becomes a story immersed in the positive and negative qualities of character and the ambiguity of life. In the beginning of the play the audience sees Hamlet struggling with his father's death and his sincere mourning appeals to us; it is something that makes us feel for him.   After his encounter with the ghost we are given a Hamlet with a horrible mission, to murder.   Anyone can imagine how being faced with the truth of his father's death would anger Hamlet, but to murder in cold blood is something that wouldn't come easily to a young man.   The audience longs to see Hamlet find a way to make better what has happened, because he is innocent, young, and a man who lost someone he loved.   To deal with the murder of his own father and then being asked to murder are things that make us pity him and his confusing situation. An Analytical Essay on the Duality of Man in Hamlet :: The Tragedy of Hamlet Essays An Analytical Essay on the Duality of Man in Hamlet    Day after day on television, in the movies, and even in some modern literature we see characters falling within those same old categories of "good guy" or "bad guy".   Life would be much easier to figure out if human beings were so definitely good or bad, but we're not.   Four hundred years ago William Shakespeare wrote a play that presented characters how human beings truly are, neither all good nor all bad.   Hamlet is a play twisting and turning so much in human emotion that at times it almost seems to come alive and give us an accurate depiction of inner-torment, death, and humanness. In such scenes as the one where we see Claudius praying for forgiveness for the murder he has committed, guilt is seen in who would be the easy-to-hate "villain" in other stories.   He is depicted as a human being with the capacity to be sorry for what he has done.   The good and bad qualities of characters in Hamlet makes it harder for the audience to know who is right or who they want to see succeed.   This duality is seen in many other Hamlet characters and it is most interesting to examine this mix of good and bad in Hamlet, because he is the play's supposed "good guy".   Since Claudius wronged Hamlet and his father the audience wants to sympathize with Hamlet and see him triumph over Claudius.   When his decency and moral appeal are seen as questionable Hamlet becomes a story immersed in the positive and negative qualities of character and the ambiguity of life. In the beginning of the play the audience sees Hamlet struggling with his father's death and his sincere mourning appeals to us; it is something that makes us feel for him.   After his encounter with the ghost we are given a Hamlet with a horrible mission, to murder.   Anyone can imagine how being faced with the truth of his father's death would anger Hamlet, but to murder in cold blood is something that wouldn't come easily to a young man.   The audience longs to see Hamlet find a way to make better what has happened, because he is innocent, young, and a man who lost someone he loved.   To deal with the murder of his own father and then being asked to murder are things that make us pity him and his confusing situation.

Target Corp Strategic Recommendation

Target Corp. Strategic Analysis MAN4720 Section 22 -Wednesdays 7:30pm Team: Risky Business Christine Majewski Jake Morgan Kristin Stearker Cory Verez Executive Summary ?The purpose of this analysis is to inform the board of team Risky Business’ strategic proposal related to Target Corporation’s Health & Wellness category. Target is already a multi-million dollar company, but after analyzing the company, our team has come up with a few strategic recommendations to aid in the continued success of Target.We have found that Target strives to combine top of the line innovation, excellent customer service, and unparallel value at attractive prices to customers using their Expect More. Pay Less ® brand promise. The Target Corporation has many strengths that will help our recommendation succeed including a wide scope of products and brands, strong internal logistics, convenience of online shopping, and an already strong brand and financial position. We feel that Target create s a sustained competitive advantage by leveraging the different aspects of their integration strategy to attract customers.Target is able to keep volumes high, driving costs down to offer lower prices on the differentiated products that Target’s guests have grown to love and expect. ?Team Risky Business’s strategic recommendations for the Health & Wellness sector include expanding initiatives and educational programs associated with organic and gluten free lifestyles. Target already has brand exclusive organic lines and our team recommends making consumers more aware of the products offered as well as benefits their guests can reap from changing their lifestyles.We suggest increasing advertising in order to promote these product lines to a market that is increasingly more health conscious than ever before. As with any strategic option, there are fall out risks associated to this plan that include increased costs and a potential lack of interest or demands. The full ana lysis gives a more in depth look at the current position of the company and future problems it could face along with the strategic recommendations we have chosen, and potential fallout risks associated with our solutions.Identify your client’s current vision and mission and analyze your client’s strategy ? Target’s ultimate goal is to become the most favored shopping destination for customers throughout all existing channels. The company plans to achieve their overall vision by continually being a top innovator in the industry, delivering outstanding customer experiences and terrific value at attractive prices, and by constantly fulfilling their brand promise of Expect More. Pay Less ®. Target tries to live up to their statements and this can be seen throughout many areas of the company.In March, 2013, Target received one of only 13 ratings of â€Å"excellent†, the highest available, from the Forrester Customer Experience Index, which measures customer experiences by survey (Target Brands, Inc. , 2013). As far as innovation is concerned, Target has made a positive imprint within the industry. Target has received many awards for its innovative excellence and is continuously reinventing its stores, layouts, and product assortments to better serve the ever-evolving needs of their guests (Target Brands, Inc. , 2013b). Target sells high-quality, trendy merchandise, at affordable prices which allows guests to â€Å"Expect More.Pay Less ®Ã¢â‚¬  when they shop at Target. Target combines innovation, value, and commitment to their brand promise through their actions, such as partnering with popular fashion designers to create affordable lines specifically for Target. This combining of differentiated products with lower prices is one way that Target incorporates its mission statement into their everyday operations. Target is still working on reaching its end goal of becoming the preferred outlet, as shown by its #2 market share position in the discount department store industry. Target is surpassed in market share only by Wal-Mart at this time (Biesada, 2013). Three segments are operated by Target; US Retail, Canadian, and US Credit Card. Two branded credit cards, the Target Card and the Target Visa, and one Target branded debit card, offer credit to customers through the US Credit Card segment (Reuters, 2013). In 2012, the total REDCard penetration was 13. 6%, up from 9. 3% the prior year. Although more people are signing up for credit, the total revenue generated from this segment has been declining since 2010 (Target Corporation, 2013). See Exhibit 1 for US Credit Card segment details. The Canadian segment includes the recently acquired Zeller’s, Inc. tore locations in Canada. Start-up costs for this segment were $272 million in 2011 and $74 million in 2012 (Target Corporation, 2013). ?The US Retail segment includes Target’s online business, its general merchandise stores, and SuperTargets (Reuters , 2013). Target. com is designed to allow guests to purchase products directly from online and/or to assist them in locating the product in a store near them. To aid in differentiating themselves, Target uses the web platform to sell not only its general merchandise, but also to introduce six brands sold exclusively through this medium (Target Brands, Inc. 2013c). The online presence aids in the vision of the company by offering multiple channels through which a customer can interact with Target. The brick and mortar stores of the US Retail segment offer general merchandise and groceries through the discount chain. Target and SuperTargets differ in that SuperTargets offer a larger line of food assortments. Target’s product mix includes household items, electronics, apparel and accessories, food and pet supplies, and home furnishings (Reuters, 2013). Exhibit 2 shows the percentages of sales each category holds. Within the retail segment, a portion of Target’s sales are generated through a mix of nationally branded goods, as well as private-label brands. In addition to general merchandise, Target also generates revenues from facilities in store â€Å"†¦such as Target Cafe, Target Clinic, Target Pharmacy and Target Photo, and from leased or licensed departments such as Target Optical, Pizza Hut, Portrait Studio and Starbucks† (Reuters, 2013). Target Corporation generates the majority of its sales revenues from the US Retail segment and revenues have been increasing since at least 2007 according to the company’s past 10K forms.Even through the 2008 recent recession, Target’s sales revenues have continued to increase within this segment (Target Corporation, 2013). Sales revenue overall, including all three segments, also has been rising since at least 2007. Although revenues continued to increase through the recession, net earnings dropped from $2,849 million in 2007 to $2,214 million in 2008. Target’s net earnings rec overed and have been increasing every year since the recession (Target Corporation, 2013).In addition to increasing sales revenue and net earnings, Target’s stock prices have also been above both the S&P and Dow Jones indexes for the last 10 years (Target Brands, Inc. , 2013d). See Exhibit 3 for US Retail Segment sales figures and Exhibit 4 for other selected financial data. ?The Target Corporation currently operates 1,784 of these SuperTarget and Target stores in the United States, as well as their online site, Target. com. Target recently began expansion into Canada; 24 stores are operational at this time (Target Brands, Inc. , 2013b).Target plans to continue with its growth tactics through 2013, bringing its Canadian fleet up to 100-150 stores (Biesada, 2013). At the same time that Target is expanding into new markets, the company is also penetrating further into existing markets with plans to remodel more of its store formats and to include additional food assortments. Ac cording to Hoovers, â€Å"nearly 900 Target stores (up from 462 last year) now feature expanded food assortments†¦In fiscal 2013 Target plans to remodel an additional 230 general merchandise Target stores †¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Biesada, 2013).The remodeled stores, with better food assortments and innovative design changes, seem to be part of a strategic effort to stay competitive with the only company out-performing them, Wal-Mart. ?Finally, the Target company operates using an integration strategy, and is one of few companies that has found success using this type of strategy. As IbisWorld states, â€Å"Target offers daily essentials and consumables at discounted prices; however, the company has carved out a niche market by focusing on selling fashionable and trendy products† (IBISWorld, 2012).Target is unique because it has successfully managed to operate with low costs while providing differentiated products that satisfy their customers’ needs and wants. Being able t o continuously offer quality, innovative products while keeping costs low lays a foundation for the company to create competitive strengths on. Analysis Strengths: ?A couple of strengths that we found Target is posting is their large variety of product and brands. They offer a wide arrangement of goods that can attract an excessive amount of consumers to come through the store.Another strength that Target holds is a strong internal logistics structure. Their 37 distribution centers located across the US gives them a strong chance to open more stores, and reach more potential customers. (Target Co. ) They also offer the convenience of online shopping for all of their customers, not only offering ease of shopping, but also allowing those who may not have a target nearby still enjoys their goods. We also found that Target is in a unique position in respect to their current sales, over the last few years they have consistently posted growth in revenue, and gross profit.Weaknesses: ?A we akness that was found through our research was a decrease in liquid capital over the last 2 years, potentially making it difficult to manage working capital and operational needs. Furthermore, they have increased the total debt that they are obliged to, making the lack of current assets evermore detrimental. Another possible weakness is their lack of exposure to countries other than the US, they are currently only operating inside the US which could pose many problems due to their dependence on one market. Target Co. ) Opportunities: ?There are plenty of opportunities for Target when it comes to the expansion of their company into new markets. In 2013 Target will take its first step into an international market when they expanded in to Canada, creating Target Canada Co. (Target Co. ) Target has opportunities to expand their products, and broaden the breadth of their goods, especially the expansion of private label brands. Threats: ?The largest threat to target is that it is in a hig hly competitive market.There are a plethora of other stores selling the same goods, as well as the threats of counterfeit goods in the industry. (Target Co. ) Another threat is the potential of change in consumer preferences, creating a lack of demand for Targets goods. Threat of Substitute Products: ?We feel the threat of substitute products is high, there are many stores that offer similar goods that could be considered more attractive than buying from target; usually this is derived from the desire to obtain private label goods. Intensity of competitive rivalry in the Industry: The competitive rivalry within the industry is high, there are many companies competing against each other for the same customers, and market share. On top of the brick and mortar traditional shopping, there are now arising e-commerce competitors that intensify the competition within the industry. Threat of new Entrants: ?Considering the wide arrangements of goods offered by Target, we believe that the thr eat of new entrants is high. It’s also a highly competitive market, will low barriers of entry, so the combination of those two things creates an ease of entry for new ventures.Power of Buyers: We find that the power of buyers is high at Target, while they may not have much negotiating power within the store; they do have many options on where they are going to buy the particular good, which gives them the power to shop around and find the price that they like. Power of Suppliers: ?The power of suppliers at Target is low, since there has been a decrease in import barriers that has caused an increase in competition between suppliers. So the power of the suppliers to name the price has nearly been eliminated.Sustainable Competitive Advantage ?To operate effectively in the discount retail industry you need to be able to master some key functions, not only to achieve competitive advantage, but also to make it sustainable. Target displays a couple features we have noticed, that we feel allows them to obtain a sustainable competitive advantage. These SCA factors consist of the ability to manage and perform off a highly effective supply chain and the ability to achieve high economies of scale, due to their huge market presence and mix of private branding. One of the factors that helps Target obtain an effective supply chain is the wide geographical coverage of their distribution centers. They currently control and operate 37 distribution centers ranging from the West Coast of Lacey, Washington all the way to the North East location of Wilton, New York. By having multiple disperse locations they have allowed themselves the opportunity to expand across the whole country. They have the capabilities to service any of their 1,700 plus stores in a timely manner.This in turn creates a larger geographical market to operate in effectively that some of their smaller competitors may not have the means to. ?A second important factor that Target masters is its offering of diverse products coupled with high economies of scale. Target offers product lines in departments such as; household, hardline goods (non-informational goods), apparel and accessories, home furnishings and food and pet supplies. By doing this they create a one stop shop effect which holds a high convenience factor in the eyes of consumers.In 2010, the highest percentage of sales was in household goods at 24%, the lowest percentage was food and pet supplies at 17% (Target 2012 10k). These statistics support the idea that Target is not just specialized in one department, but has been able to offer a wide variety of products, all of which hold a high demand. Coupled with the wide diverse product range, Target has been able to do this while achieving high economies of scale. They have incorporated 30 plus mixed and licensed brands which helps keep their operating cost low, giving them a higher profit margin.In addition, Target outsources their goods to multiple countries which helps gen erate lower costs. They currently have 27 offices in 18 different countries. Problems Moving Forward ?Looking forward, Target may continue to see problems in a couple areas. They currently face the struggles of competing with Wal-Mart internationally, driving traffic through their store/ online website and the ability to implement quality control. ?The biggest current problem is competing with their largest competitor, Wal-Mart, at an international level and depending solely on the American market.It is known that the American economy has taken a hit in the recent past and that can be reflected in Target’s recent profits. Being solely dependent does not allow them to mitigate their risk, which Wal-Mart has done by tapping into different countries. This may not be an existing problem for long. Target is exploring the Canadian market and expects to have 125 of 135 stores remodeled and opened in the years 2013-2014. This shows some promise because over 30,000 Canadians currently hold Target’s REDcard, which shows a strong brand presence (FOX). A second problem Target faces is driving consumer traffic through their stores and website. With the new emerging strategy of E-Commerce, consumers now have the ability to shop online in the comfort of their own home. This adds more competition to the market that Target already faced and these new entrants have the option to operate at a minimal cost. ?The last pressing issue Target may face for the future is quality control. Dating back to the start of 2012 and currently into the 2013 year, Target has recalled over 55 products sold.This damages the image of Target and the products it offers. We do not believe this should hinder their operations too heavily but it is something to take notice of and work on fixing for the future (Target). Strategic Recommendation Our strategic recommendation for Target is to implement a comprehensive, multi-pronged, in-store advertising campaign that focuses on organic and all natural products sales and promotions. Target’s commitment to healthy living and high wellness standards is consistent with the benefits of this growing organic market.Target is able to add to their bottom line by tapping into this already established market, stealing market share from other retailers, and creating a new demand with non-organic users. Organic food sales in the U. S. comprise nearly half of global organic food sales. The global organic market reached $54. 9 billion in 2009, more than triple the $18 billion recorded in 2000 (Organic Agriculture in Wisconsin). Target has met the needs of the rapidly growing demand of healthier foods, more effective forms of exercise, and a booming interest in organic products, but have not taken full advantage of the market opportunity.Recently Target and Harris Interactive carried out a survey that polled American families and found that consumers are confused about how, why and where to shop for organic foods. Many families ar e unfamiliar or even unaware of the benefits of the organic foods and products. For instance the study showed that, â€Å"one-third (34 percent) of consumers surveyed believe that organic foods are superior to non-organic foods, but nearly two-thirds (61 percent) want to be better informed on the value of where it pays to buy organic† (Organic Consumers Association).It is not enough to just offer organic food and natural products, Target needs to educate their consumers and persuade them to buy those products offered at Target. â€Å"People want to know more about organic products and where to best spend their money on them,† says Dr. Susan Mitchell, registered dietitian and SuperTarget Health and Nutrition Expert. â€Å"Target provides their guests with product choices for the whole family; products that enhance their lives in an affordable and accessible way.When it comes to feeding your kids, certain conventional choices are fine, but parents should be informed on where organic is the better bet. With the new Archer Farms organic product, Target has made it easy for parents to make better decisions on what to feed their families† (Organic Consumers Association). Not until recently have a vast percent of our generation been diagnosed with allergies related to gluten, wheat, soy, etc. This is growing allergies are found to be passed on through genetics, and is only treatable through dietary changes.This means that the market will only continue to grow in future generations, not only by people who have the allergies, but also chose to limit their nutritional diet by choice for health reasons. Many companies now carry gluten free and organic food lines permanently and these product lines are continually growing. â€Å"a 2011 survey by the Organic Trade Association found that more than three-quarters—78 percent—of U. S. families are buying organic food, up from 73 percent in 2009. Forty percent of families say they are buying more organic food now than they were a year ago† (Organic Trade Association).In order for Target to fully tap into this growing market, they will need to continue expanding their current food departments in Target stores or convert them into Super Target stores. Target invested $500 million in 2010 in a new push on groceries, retrofitting some of its general merchandise stores with full-blown food sections. Sales and traffic at stores with the new grocery areas are about 6 percent higher than at similar stores without them, the company says (NY Times) Last year, nearly 1,000 Target stores offered an expanded food layout.At these Target stores, approximately 10,000 square feet is dedicated to a vast array of fresh food choices, including a curated assortment of fresh produce, fresh packaged meat and pre-packaged baked goods, in addition to dry and frozen offerings. By the end of 2012, more than 1,100 Target stores offer the expanded fresh food layout compared to 450 in 2010 (Ta rget Press Release). Annette Miller, Target’s senior vice president for grocery, said she expected an expanded food department to move into most Target stores eventually.While the gross margins of the grocery business are about 18 percent, well below those of retail, which are about 30. 5 percent, groceries both drive visits and make existing stores more profitable, said Colin McGranahan, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein (NY Times). Target and Super Target carry many private labels and brands that specialize in healthy lifestyle and organic products. The Archer Farms brand offers organic products while remaining exclusive to Target, and continues to expand their brand with new product introductions regularly.Both Super Target and Target stores will continue to offer a variety and vast selection of organic products to meet the needs of all their consumers (Organic Consumers Association). Since Target Corp. has been successful with the launching and selling of their exclusi ve organic product lines, as well as mainstream brand organic products, we feel they need to focus on this demand instead of starting a new venture. â€Å"Target is committed to helping guests see the value of organic products and their role in maintaining a healthy lifestyle,† says Greg Duppler, senior vice president, Target. We want our guests to have one-stop access to the healthy products they need without sacrificing the convenience and value that Target consistently delivers through our owned brands† (Organic Consumers Association). There is a lot more opportunity in this market than they have tapped into and we feel they should expand their educational programs and initiatives for them to fully take advantage of the organic product demand. Since Target Corp. already has the brand equity and brand awareness, we want to make their consumers more aware of the benefits and facts about living a healthy lifestyle and using organic and all natural products.Although Targ et has different advertisements and programs about healthy lifestyle, we feel they could incorporate a greater amount of product promotion and educational programs to increase their both their sales and brand image. Target Corp. needs to focus some of their advertising dollars on promoting these organic product lines. Not only the food and produce, but also the organic body care lines, and organic cleaning and household products. Organic is not just food. Over 2 billion worth of organic fiber, cosmetic, and household products were sold last year (Consumer demand for organic food boosts sales).They should increase and reposition their in-store signage and displays to create buzz and inform the shoppers of what organic products they carry. Similar to Publix â€Å"GreenWise† organic section in their store, Target should group their organic products together in each department of the store with attention grabbing, easy to read signage. Each department will include an organic aisl e or section with end-cap aisle displays. Within these displays they will include informative, educational facts or promotional videos explaining the benefits of the organic products versus the non-all natural products.Larger signage and end-cap aisle displays will increase awareness and curiosity. Many people do not want to take the time to research the information about organic products, but if Target offers it in the store, the consumers will be more likely to read it and become interested in the product lines. ?Many shoppers associate organic products and food to Publix and Whole Foods, but we want consumers to also include Target in this category. This advertising boost is more of an initiative than a campaign, to increase awareness and drive profitability in the all-natural product market.We want to enhance Target’s brand image by incorporating more healthy lifestyle programs. Target would build and enhance their â€Å"wellness† section of their website for consu mers to educate themselves on everyday wellness tips including organic foods and product ads, recipes, articles regarding the benefits of all-natural products. This would also include fitness tips, Target ads for exercise related products, vitamins, and more. We will focus this initiative towards mothers or heads of the households who do the family shopping. Why do people buy organic food? Parents tend to be motivated by health concerns.The Organic Trade Association found that nearly half of parents surveyed—48 percent—were motivated to buy organic food because they believe it is healthier for themselves and their children. Other motivators for parents include concerns over the effects of pesticides, hormones and antibiotics on children, and avoidance of highly processed food and artificial ingredients (Haumann). Many organic consumers are mothers who care about the wellness of their children and families, so we will focus mainly on healthy lifestyles for families. We will also offer special shopping lists and recipes for food allergies.Many mothers already shop at Target for their everyday needs and we want them to also buy any of the food products they can while they are there, especially organic. Based on these numbers, the organic food and beverage industry presents an opportunity for growth in both revenue and jobs during the downturn. Target has a huge advantage with their Red-card, that shoppers who have this credit or debit card receive 5% off their entire purchase every time they shop at Target or Super Target. This is another discount on top of Target’s everyday low prices compared to Whole Foods, Publix, and World Market.No other grocery store offers a credit card that allows a discount every time they shop, on top of sales and promotional items. With this Red-card, we suggest Target offers additional discounts, like Win-Dixie does with their shopping card. The consumers would receive Bo-Go discounts, weekly promotional prices o n certain items and more when they use their Red-card to buy groceries. This would increase their credit card sales, total purchases, and especially grocery and food sales (exhibit). The marketing and advertising of this wellness and organic initiative will cost about $3. million for four months of in-store promotion and an additional $500k for enhancing Target’s website design. Remodeling an existing store to include the expanded fresh food layout requires an investment of around $1. 5 – 3 million, of which about 60 percent is related to merchandising initiatives like the expanded food selection and transformations in Beauty, Home, Shoes and Baby (Target Summary Financials) Our expanded fresh food layout offers around 90 percent of the food categories found in a Super Target with about 60 percent of the items, in approximately half of the space devoted to food in a Super Target (Target Summary Financials).With every store Target remodels to expand their grocery depart ment, they increase their revenue by at least 6 percent. The advertising and in-store promotions will increase revenue by at least 4 percent within 6 months after we begin the initiative and increase total organic food sales by 12 percent within the year. This is a perfect time to start the in-store organic promotional campaign for Target. Summer and early fall is the highest revenue time for organic produce. Since the advertising and promotional collateral will mainly stay in-store and online, we can start right away and be ready to launch within 45 days.The website can be enhance as soon as possible, as well as the start of training for the current employees. Exhibit 7 in the Appendix shows a proposed timeline for our strategic recommendation for Target Corporation. Fallout and Summary These are the risks associated with our recommendation 1. Higher prices for organic food and products 2. Lack of demand and interest in organic food and products 3. Increase in a. operation costs fo r training of employees on education of organic benefits etc. and additional employees b. dvertising/marketing costs for signage and promotional advertising of organic product lines and foods c. costs associated with updating website content d. costs associciate with creating and expanding educational programs and sponsorships that promote organic products and food and healthy life styles References: 1. Organic Consumers Association. Another Big Box Chain, Target, Jumps Onto Organic Bandwagon. 28 Sept. 2006. Web. 05 Apr. 2013. . 2. Biesada, Alexandra. Target Corporation. 2013. Web. 5 April 2013. . 3. Clifford, Stephanie. â€Å"Big Retailers Fill More Aisles With Groceries. The New York Times, 16 Jan. 2011. Web. 6 Apr. 2013. . 4. Organic Agriculture in Wisconsin. â€Å"Growing Demand for Organic Food: A Bright Spot in a Tough Economy. † N. p. , Feb. 2012. Web. 06 Apr. 2013. . 5. Haumann, Barbara. â€Å"Seventy–eight Percent of U. S. Families Say They Purchase Organic Foods. † 2011 Press Releases. Organic Trade Association's Organic Newsroom, Nov. 2011. Web. 09 Apr. 2013. . 6. IBISWorld. Major Companies. 2012. Web. 5 April 2013. . 7. Reuters. Profile: Target Corp (TGT). 2013. Web. 5 April 2013. . 8. Target Brands, Inc. orporate fact sheet. 2013. Web. 5 April 2013b. . 9. Target Brands, Inc. shop Target's exclusive online-only brands. 22 January 2013. Web. 5 April 2013. . 10. Target Brands, Inc. stock information. 2013. Web. 6 April 2013. . 11. Target Brands, Inc. Target tops for customer experience. 5 March 2013. Web. 5 April 2013. . 12. Target Corporation. â€Å"Form 10K. † 10K. 2013. PDF. 13. Target Corporation – Financial and Strategic Analysis Review. 5-Nov-2012. Web 5 April 2013. reference code: GDRT33397FSA . 14. â€Å"Target Remodels 90 Stores to Expand Fresh Food Selection. Press Room. Target Corporation, 24 Apr. 2012. Web. 09 Apr. 2013. . MAN4720 Section 22 -Wednesdays 7:30pm Team: Risky Business Christine Majewski J ake Morgan Kristin Stearker Cory Verez Executive Summary ?The purpose of this analysis is to inform the board of team Risky Business’ strategic proposal related to Target Corporation’s Health & Wellness category. Target is already a multi-million dollar company, but after analyzing the company, our team has come up with a few strategic recommendations to aid in the continued success of Target.We have found that Target strives to combine top of the line innovation, excellent customer service, and unparallel value at attractive prices to customers using their Expect More. Pay Less ® brand promise. The Target Corporation has many strengths that will help our recommendation succeed including a wide scope of products and brands, strong internal logistics, convenience of online shopping, and an already strong brand and financial position. We feel that Target creates a sustained competitive advantage by leveraging the different aspects of their integration strategy to attra ct customers.Target is able to keep volumes high, driving costs down to offer lower prices on the differentiated products that Target’s guests have grown to love and expect. ?Team Risky Business’s strategic recommendations for the Health & Wellness sector include expanding initiatives and educational programs associated with organic and gluten free lifestyles. Target already has brand exclusive organic lines and our team recommends making consumers more aware of the products offered as well as benefits their guests can reap from changing their lifestyles.We suggest increasing advertising in order to promote these product lines to a market that is increasingly more health conscious than ever before. As with any strategic option, there are fall out risks associated to this plan that include increased costs and a potential lack of interest or demands. The full analysis gives a more in depth look at the current position of the company and future problems it could face alon g with the strategic recommendations we have chosen, and potential fallout risks associated with our solutions.Identify your client’s current vision and mission and analyze your client’s strategy ? Target’s ultimate goal is to become the most favored shopping destination for customers throughout all existing channels. The company plans to achieve their overall vision by continually being a top innovator in the industry, delivering outstanding customer experiences and terrific value at attractive prices, and by constantly fulfilling their brand promise of Expect More. Pay Less ®. Target tries to live up to their statements and this can be seen throughout many areas of the company.In March, 2013, Target received one of only 13 ratings of â€Å"excellent†, the highest available, from the Forrester Customer Experience Index, which measures customer experiences by survey (Target Brands, Inc. , 2013). As far as innovation is concerned, Target has made a posit ive imprint within the industry. Target has received many awards for its innovative excellence and is continuously reinventing its stores, layouts, and product assortments to better serve the ever-evolving needs of their guests (Target Brands, Inc. , 2013b). Target sells high-quality, trendy merchandise, at affordable prices which allows guests to â€Å"Expect More.Pay Less ®Ã¢â‚¬  when they shop at Target. Target combines innovation, value, and commitment to their brand promise through their actions, such as partnering with popular fashion designers to create affordable lines specifically for Target. This combining of differentiated products with lower prices is one way that Target incorporates its mission statement into their everyday operations. Target is still working on reaching its end goal of becoming the preferred outlet, as shown by its #2 market share position in the discount department store industry. Target is surpassed in market share only by Wal-Mart at this time ( Biesada, 2013). Three segments are operated by Target; US Retail, Canadian, and US Credit Card. Two branded credit cards, the Target Card and the Target Visa, and one Target branded debit card, offer credit to customers through the US Credit Card segment (Reuters, 2013). In 2012, the total REDCard penetration was 13. 6%, up from 9. 3% the prior year. Although more people are signing up for credit, the total revenue generated from this segment has been declining since 2010 (Target Corporation, 2013). See Exhibit 1 for US Credit Card segment details. The Canadian segment includes the recently acquired Zeller’s, Inc. tore locations in Canada. Start-up costs for this segment were $272 million in 2011 and $74 million in 2012 (Target Corporation, 2013). ?The US Retail segment includes Target’s online business, its general merchandise stores, and SuperTargets (Reuters, 2013). Target. com is designed to allow guests to purchase products directly from online and/or to assist th em in locating the product in a store near them. To aid in differentiating themselves, Target uses the web platform to sell not only its general merchandise, but also to introduce six brands sold exclusively through this medium (Target Brands, Inc. 2013c). The online presence aids in the vision of the company by offering multiple channels through which a customer can interact with Target. The brick and mortar stores of the US Retail segment offer general merchandise and groceries through the discount chain. Target and SuperTargets differ in that SuperTargets offer a larger line of food assortments. Target’s product mix includes household items, electronics, apparel and accessories, food and pet supplies, and home furnishings (Reuters, 2013). Exhibit 2 shows the percentages of sales each category holds. Within the retail segment, a portion of Target’s sales are generated through a mix of nationally branded goods, as well as private-label brands. In addition to general m erchandise, Target also generates revenues from facilities in store â€Å"†¦such as Target Cafe, Target Clinic, Target Pharmacy and Target Photo, and from leased or licensed departments such as Target Optical, Pizza Hut, Portrait Studio and Starbucks† (Reuters, 2013). Target Corporation generates the majority of its sales revenues from the US Retail segment and revenues have been increasing since at least 2007 according to the company’s past 10K forms.Even through the 2008 recent recession, Target’s sales revenues have continued to increase within this segment (Target Corporation, 2013). Sales revenue overall, including all three segments, also has been rising since at least 2007. Although revenues continued to increase through the recession, net earnings dropped from $2,849 million in 2007 to $2,214 million in 2008. Target’s net earnings recovered and have been increasing every year since the recession (Target Corporation, 2013).In addition to incre asing sales revenue and net earnings, Target’s stock prices have also been above both the S&P and Dow Jones indexes for the last 10 years (Target Brands, Inc. , 2013d). See Exhibit 3 for US Retail Segment sales figures and Exhibit 4 for other selected financial data. ?The Target Corporation currently operates 1,784 of these SuperTarget and Target stores in the United States, as well as their online site, Target. com. Target recently began expansion into Canada; 24 stores are operational at this time (Target Brands, Inc. , 2013b).Target plans to continue with its growth tactics through 2013, bringing its Canadian fleet up to 100-150 stores (Biesada, 2013). At the same time that Target is expanding into new markets, the company is also penetrating further into existing markets with plans to remodel more of its store formats and to include additional food assortments. According to Hoovers, â€Å"nearly 900 Target stores (up from 462 last year) now feature expanded food assortme nts†¦In fiscal 2013 Target plans to remodel an additional 230 general merchandise Target stores †¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Biesada, 2013).The remodeled stores, with better food assortments and innovative design changes, seem to be part of a strategic effort to stay competitive with the only company out-performing them, Wal-Mart. ?Finally, the Target company operates using an integration strategy, and is one of few companies that has found success using this type of strategy. As IbisWorld states, â€Å"Target offers daily essentials and consumables at discounted prices; however, the company has carved out a niche market by focusing on selling fashionable and trendy products† (IBISWorld, 2012).Target is unique because it has successfully managed to operate with low costs while providing differentiated products that satisfy their customers’ needs and wants. Being able to continuously offer quality, innovative products while keeping costs low lays a foundation for the company to create competitive strengths on. Analysis Strengths: ?A couple of strengths that we found Target is posting is their large variety of product and brands. They offer a wide arrangement of goods that can attract an excessive amount of consumers to come through the store.Another strength that Target holds is a strong internal logistics structure. Their 37 distribution centers located across the US gives them a strong chance to open more stores, and reach more potential customers. (Target Co. ) They also offer the convenience of online shopping for all of their customers, not only offering ease of shopping, but also allowing those who may not have a target nearby still enjoys their goods. We also found that Target is in a unique position in respect to their current sales, over the last few years they have consistently posted growth in revenue, and gross profit.Weaknesses: ?A weakness that was found through our research was a decrease in liquid capital over the last 2 years, potentially making it difficult to manage working capital and operational needs. Furthermore, they have increased the total debt that they are obliged to, making the lack of current assets evermore detrimental. Another possible weakness is their lack of exposure to countries other than the US, they are currently only operating inside the US which could pose many problems due to their dependence on one market. Target Co. ) Opportunities: ?There are plenty of opportunities for Target when it comes to the expansion of their company into new markets. In 2013 Target will take its first step into an international market when they expanded in to Canada, creating Target Canada Co. (Target Co. ) Target has opportunities to expand their products, and broaden the breadth of their goods, especially the expansion of private label brands. Threats: ?The largest threat to target is that it is in a highly competitive market.There are a plethora of other stores selling the same goods, as well as the threats of counterfeit goods in the industry. (Target Co. ) Another threat is the potential of change in consumer preferences, creating a lack of demand for Targets goods. Threat of Substitute Products: ?We feel the threat of substitute products is high, there are many stores that offer similar goods that could be considered more attractive than buying from target; usually this is derived from the desire to obtain private label goods. Intensity of competitive rivalry in the Industry: The competitive rivalry within the industry is high, there are many companies competing against each other for the same customers, and market share. On top of the brick and mortar traditional shopping, there are now arising e-commerce competitors that intensify the competition within the industry. Threat of new Entrants: ?Considering the wide arrangements of goods offered by Target, we believe that the threat of new entrants is high. It’s also a highly competitive market, will low barriers of entry, so the combination of those two things creates an ease of entry for new ventures.Power of Buyers: We find that the power of buyers is high at Target, while they may not have much negotiating power within the store; they do have many options on where they are going to buy the particular good, which gives them the power to shop around and find the price that they like. Power of Suppliers: ?The power of suppliers at Target is low, since there has been a decrease in import barriers that has caused an increase in competition between suppliers. So the power of the suppliers to name the price has nearly been eliminated.Sustainable Competitive Advantage ?To operate effectively in the discount retail industry you need to be able to master some key functions, not only to achieve competitive advantage, but also to make it sustainable. Target displays a couple features we have noticed, that we feel allows them to obtain a sustainable competitive advantage. These SCA factors consist of the ability to m anage and perform off a highly effective supply chain and the ability to achieve high economies of scale, due to their huge market presence and mix of private branding. One of the factors that helps Target obtain an effective supply chain is the wide geographical coverage of their distribution centers. They currently control and operate 37 distribution centers ranging from the West Coast of Lacey, Washington all the way to the North East location of Wilton, New York. By having multiple disperse locations they have allowed themselves the opportunity to expand across the whole country. They have the capabilities to service any of their 1,700 plus stores in a timely manner.This in turn creates a larger geographical market to operate in effectively that some of their smaller competitors may not have the means to. ?A second important factor that Target masters is its offering of diverse products coupled with high economies of scale. Target offers product lines in departments such as; hou sehold, hardline goods (non-informational goods), apparel and accessories, home furnishings and food and pet supplies. By doing this they create a one stop shop effect which holds a high convenience factor in the eyes of consumers.In 2010, the highest percentage of sales was in household goods at 24%, the lowest percentage was food and pet supplies at 17% (Target 2012 10k). These statistics support the idea that Target is not just specialized in one department, but has been able to offer a wide variety of products, all of which hold a high demand. Coupled with the wide diverse product range, Target has been able to do this while achieving high economies of scale. They have incorporated 30 plus mixed and licensed brands which helps keep their operating cost low, giving them a higher profit margin.In addition, Target outsources their goods to multiple countries which helps generate lower costs. They currently have 27 offices in 18 different countries. Problems Moving Forward ?Looking forward, Target may continue to see problems in a couple areas. They currently face the struggles of competing with Wal-Mart internationally, driving traffic through their store/ online website and the ability to implement quality control. ?The biggest current problem is competing with their largest competitor, Wal-Mart, at an international level and depending solely on the American market.It is known that the American economy has taken a hit in the recent past and that can be reflected in Target’s recent profits. Being solely dependent does not allow them to mitigate their risk, which Wal-Mart has done by tapping into different countries. This may not be an existing problem for long. Target is exploring the Canadian market and expects to have 125 of 135 stores remodeled and opened in the years 2013-2014. This shows some promise because over 30,000 Canadians currently hold Target’s REDcard, which shows a strong brand presence (FOX). A second problem Target faces is dri ving consumer traffic through their stores and website. With the new emerging strategy of E-Commerce, consumers now have the ability to shop online in the comfort of their own home. This adds more competition to the market that Target already faced and these new entrants have the option to operate at a minimal cost. ?The last pressing issue Target may face for the future is quality control. Dating back to the start of 2012 and currently into the 2013 year, Target has recalled over 55 products sold.This damages the image of Target and the products it offers. We do not believe this should hinder their operations too heavily but it is something to take notice of and work on fixing for the future (Target). Strategic Recommendation Our strategic recommendation for Target is to implement a comprehensive, multi-pronged, in-store advertising campaign that focuses on organic and all natural products sales and promotions. Target’s commitment to healthy living and high wellness standard s is consistent with the benefits of this growing organic market.Target is able to add to their bottom line by tapping into this already established market, stealing market share from other retailers, and creating a new demand with non-organic users. Organic food sales in the U. S. comprise nearly half of global organic food sales. The global organic market reached $54. 9 billion in 2009, more than triple the $18 billion recorded in 2000 (Organic Agriculture in Wisconsin). Target has met the needs of the rapidly growing demand of healthier foods, more effective forms of exercise, and a booming interest in organic products, but have not taken full advantage of the market opportunity.Recently Target and Harris Interactive carried out a survey that polled American families and found that consumers are confused about how, why and where to shop for organic foods. Many families are unfamiliar or even unaware of the benefits of the organic foods and products. For instance the study showed that, â€Å"one-third (34 percent) of consumers surveyed believe that organic foods are superior to non-organic foods, but nearly two-thirds (61 percent) want to be better informed on the value of where it pays to buy organic† (Organic ConsumersAssociation). It is not enough to just offer organic food and natural products, Target needs to educate their consumers and persuade them to buy those products offered at Target. â€Å"People want to know more about organic products and where to best spend their money on them,† says Dr. Susan Mitchell, registered dietitian and SuperTarget Health and Nutrition Expert. â€Å"Target provides their guests with product choices for the whole family; products that enhance their lives in an affordable and accessible way.When it comes to feeding your kids, certain conventional choices are fine, but parents should be informed on where organic is the better bet. With the new Archer Farms organic product, Target has made it easy for parent s to make better decisions on what to feed their families† (Organic Consumers Association). Not until recently have a vast percent of our generation been diagnosed with allergies related to gluten, wheat, soy, etc. This is growing allergies are found to be passed on through genetics, and is only treatable through dietary changes.This means that the market will only continue to grow in future generations, not only by people who have the allergies, but also chose to limit their nutritional diet by choice for health reasons. Many companies now carry gluten free and organic food lines permanently and these product lines are continually growing. â€Å"a 2011 survey by the Organic Trade Association found that more than three-quarters—78 percent—of U. S. families are buying organic food, up from 73 percent in 2009. Forty percent of families say they are buying more organic food now than they were a year ago† (Organic Trade Association).In order for Target to full y tap into this growing market, they will need to continue expanding their current food departments in Target stores or convert them into Super Target stores. Target invested $500 million in 2010 in a new push on groceries, retrofitting some of its general merchandise stores with full-blown food sections. Sales and traffic at stores with the new grocery areas are about 6 percent higher than at similar stores without them, the company says (NY Times) Last year, nearly 1,000 Target stores offered an expanded food layout.At these Target stores, approximately 10,000 square feet is dedicated to a vast array of fresh food choices, including a curated assortment of fresh produce, fresh packaged meat and pre-packaged baked goods, in addition to dry and frozen offerings. By the end of 2012, more than 1,100 Target stores offer the expanded fresh food layout compared to 450 in 2010 (Target Press Release). Annette Miller, Target’s senior vice president for grocery, said she expected an e xpanded food department to move into most Target stores eventually.While the gross margins of the grocery business are about 18 percent, well below those of retail, which are about 30. 5 percent, groceries both drive visits and make existing stores more profitable, said Colin McGranahan, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein (NY Times). Target and Super Target carry many private labels and brands that specialize in healthy lifestyle and organic products. The Archer Farms brand offers organic products while remaining exclusive to Target, and continues to expand their brand with new product introductions regularly.Both Super Target and Target stores will continue to offer a variety and vast selection of organic products to meet the needs of all their consumers (Organic Consumers Association). Since Target Corp. has been successful with the launching and selling of their exclusive organic product lines, as well as mainstream brand organic products, we feel they need to focus on this dem and instead of starting a new venture. â€Å"Target is committed to helping guests see the value of organic products and their role in maintaining a healthy lifestyle,† says Greg Duppler, senior vice president, Target. We want our guests to have one-stop access to the healthy products they need without sacrificing the convenience and value that Target consistently delivers through our owned brands† (Organic Consumers Association). There is a lot more opportunity in this market than they have tapped into and we feel they should expand their educational programs and initiatives for them to fully take advantage of the organic product demand. Since Target Corp. already has the brand equity and brand awareness, we want to make their consumers more aware of the benefits and facts about living a healthy lifestyle and using organic and all natural products.Although Target has different advertisements and programs about healthy lifestyle, we feel they could incorporate a greater amount of product promotion and educational programs to increase their both their sales and brand image. Target Corp. needs to focus some of their advertising dollars on promoting these organic product lines. Not only the food and produce, but also the organic body care lines, and organic cleaning and household products. Organic is not just food. Over 2 billion worth of organic fiber, cosmetic, and household products were sold last year (Consumer demand for organic food boosts sales).They should increase and reposition their in-store signage and displays to create buzz and inform the shoppers of what organic products they carry. Similar to Publix â€Å"GreenWise† organic section in their store, Target should group their organic products together in each department of the store with attention grabbing, easy to read signage. Each department will include an organic aisle or section with end-cap aisle displays. Within these displays they will include informative, educational fac ts or promotional videos explaining the benefits of the organic products versus the non-all natural products.Larger signage and end-cap aisle displays will increase awareness and curiosity. Many people do not want to take the time to research the information about organic products, but if Target offers it in the store, the consumers will be more likely to read it and become interested in the product lines. ?Many shoppers associate organic products and food to Publix and Whole Foods, but we want consumers to also include Target in this category. This advertising boost is more of an initiative than a campaign, to increase awareness and drive profitability in the all-natural product market.We want to enhance Target’s brand image by incorporating more healthy lifestyle programs. Target would build and enhance their â€Å"wellness† section of their website for consumers to educate themselves on everyday wellness tips including organic foods and product ads, recipes, article s regarding the benefits of all-natural products. This would also include fitness tips, Target ads for exercise related products, vitamins, and more. We will focus this initiative towards mothers or heads of the households who do the family shopping. Why do people buy organic food? Parents tend to be motivated by health concerns.The Organic Trade Association found that nearly half of parents surveyed—48 percent—were motivated to buy organic food because they believe it is healthier for themselves and their children. Other motivators for parents include concerns over the effects of pesticides, hormones and antibiotics on children, and avoidance of highly processed food and artificial ingredients (Haumann). Many organic consumers are mothers who care about the wellness of their children and families, so we will focus mainly on healthy lifestyles for families. We will also offer special shopping lists and recipes for food allergies.Many mothers already shop at Target for their everyday needs and we want them to also buy any of the food products they can while they are there, especially organic. Based on these numbers, the organic food and beverage industry presents an opportunity for growth in both revenue and jobs during the downturn. Target has a huge advantage with their Red-card, that shoppers who have this credit or debit card receive 5% off their entire purchase every time they shop at Target or Super Target. This is another discount on top of Target’s everyday low prices compared to Whole Foods, Publix, and World Market.No other grocery store offers a credit card that allows a discount every time they shop, on top of sales and promotional items. With this Red-card, we suggest Target offers additional discounts, like Win-Dixie does with their shopping card. The consumers would receive Bo-Go discounts, weekly promotional prices on certain items and more when they use their Red-card to buy groceries. This would increase their credit card sales, total purchases, and especially grocery and food sales (exhibit). The marketing and advertising of this wellness and organic initiative will cost about $3. million for four months of in-store promotion and an additional $500k for enhancing Target’s website design. Remodeling an existing store to include the expanded fresh food layout requires an investment of around $1. 5 – 3 million, of which about 60 percent is related to merchandising initiatives like the expanded food selection and transformations in Beauty, Home, Shoes and Baby (Target Summary Financials) Our expanded fresh food layout offers around 90 percent of the food categories found in a Super Target with about 60 percent of the items, in approximately half of the space devoted to food in a Super Target (Target Summary Financials).With every store Target remodels to expand their grocery department, they increase their revenue by at least 6 percent. The advertising and in-store promotions will increase revenue by at least 4 percent within 6 months after we begin the initiative and increase total organic food sales by 12 percent within the year. This is a perfect time to start the in-store organic promotional campaign for Target. Summer and early fall is the highest revenue time for organic produce. Since the advertising and promotional collateral will mainly stay in-store and online, we can start right away and be ready to launch within 45 days.The website can be enhance as soon as possible, as well as the start of training for the current employees. Exhibit 7 in the Appendix shows a proposed timeline for our strategic recommendation for Target Corporation. Fallout and Summary These are the risks associated with our recommendation 1. Higher prices for organic food and products 2. Lack of demand and interest in organic food and products 3. Increase in a. operation costs for training of employees on education of organic benefits etc. and additional employees b. dvertising/marketing costs for signage and promotional advertising of organic product lines and foods c. costs associated with updating website content d. costs associciate with creating and expanding educational programs and sponsorships that promote organic products and food and healthy life styles References: 1. Organic Consumers Association. Another Big Box Chain, Target, Jumps Onto Organic Bandwagon. 28 Sept. 2006. Web. 05 Apr. 2013. . 2. Biesada, Alexandra. Target Corporation. 2013. Web. 5 April 2013. . 3. Clifford, Stephanie. â€Å"Big Retailers Fill More Aisles With Groceries. The New York Times, 16 Jan. 2011. Web. 6 Apr. 2013. . 4. Organic Agriculture in Wisconsin. â€Å"Growing Demand for Organic Food: A Bright Spot in a Tough Economy. † N. p. , Feb. 2012. Web. 06 Apr. 2013. . 5. Haumann, Barbara. â€Å"Seventy–eight Percent of U. S. Families Say They Purchase Organic Foods. † 2011 Press Releases. Organic Trade Association's Organic Newsroom, Nov. 2011. Web. 09 Apr. 201 3. . 6. IBISWorld. Major Companies. 2012. Web. 5 April 2013. . 7. Reuters. Profile: Target Corp (TGT). 2013. Web. 5 April 2013. . 8. Target Brands, Inc. corporate fact sheet. 2013. Web. 5 April 2013b. 9. Target Brands, Inc. shop Target's exclusive online-only brands. 22 January 2013. Web. 5 April 2013. . 10. Target Brands, Inc. stock information. 2013. Web. 6 April 2013. . 11. Target Brands, Inc. Target tops for customer experience. 5 March 2013. Web. 5 April 2013. . 12. Target Corporation. â€Å"Form 10K. † 10K. 2013. PDF. 13. Target Corporation – Financial and Strategic Analysis Review. 5-Nov-2012. Web 5 April 2013. reference code: GDRT33397FSA . 14. â€Å"Target Remodels 90 Stores to Expand Fresh Food Selection. † Press Room. Target Corporation, 24 Apr. 2012. Web. 09 Apr. 2013. .