Thursday, November 21, 2019
Smart House for Senior with Alzheimer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words
Smart House for Senior with Alzheimer - Essay Example According to (Latfi,2000, pg.1-10)â€Å"The life of a person suffering from Alzheimer’s is literally governed by the disease which keeps on progressing as time goes on. As the disease progresses, the subject become more vulnerable and finds it harder and harder to adapt to new situations, even very simple ones†. One group of people who has benefited enormously from the smart home facility is the senior citizens of America. The American population with Alzheimer and who are in their 60s and 70s are able to live intelligently with this medical facility. Since this medical facility offers many technological devices for the patients to use the life comes with much ease to them. Senior citizens with Alzheimer’s mostly have memory loss and physical impairment which can be overcome with smart home technology. An old person can engage in daily chores with smart home facility as they can participate in verbal and physical activities with less difficulty. Senior citizens can age gracefully with smart home and this point will be further established with following explanation of smart phone medical facility. Smart home is a haven for Alzheimer patients as it is a solution to them to lead a healthy life. These intelligent houses fit well with the needs of senior citizens as they give cognitive assistance in the form of prompts and technical devices. These technical devices are embedded within the house amenities they use and co- ordinate well with their home environment. Thus senior citizens who are AD patients can adapt well to their living environment as smart homes gives efficient lifestyle to them. The smart homes offer automation technology and innovative home atmosphere which gives senior citizens with AD a life of comfort and health. In his article (Mahoneya,2007,pg.217-226) states that â€Å"Residential monitoring technologies are applications designed to be used in consumers’ personal living spaces, ranging from private homes to multiple-unit
Tuesday, November 19, 2019
Differences Between Virtual and Concrete Manipulatives Essay
Differences Between Virtual and Concrete Manipulatives - Essay Example 117). Physical or real-world features do not define a concrete experience in a mathematical context; it is by how significant the connection is to the mathematical ideas and situations. For example, a student might create the meaning of the concept "four" by building a representation of the number and connecting it with either real or pictured blocks. Virtual manipulatives, also called computer manipulatives, appear to offer interactive environments where students can manipulate computer objects to create and solve problems. Furthermore, perhaps because they are receiving instant feedback about their actions, students then form connections between mathematical concepts and operations. However, whether using physical or virtual manipulatives, it is necessary to connect the use of a specific manipulative to the mathematical concepts or procedures that are being studied (p. 119). Some researchers have observed that some of the constraints inherent to physical manipulatives do not bind v irtual manipulatives. Use of models and/or manipulatives gives assessment of mathematical learning a cohesive connection to mathematical instruction (Kelly, 2006). Kelly’s study examines the relationship between mathematical assessment and the use of manipulatives. ... The use of such assessments in combination with the use of manipulatives should build strong student investment in the teaching-learning process while developing deeper mathematical learning. Physical Manipulatives Relative to the teaching and learning of mathematics, physical, or concrete, manipulatives are three-dimensional objects used to help students bridge their understanding of the concrete environment with the symbolic representations of mathematics (Clements, 1999; Hynes, 1986; Moyer, 2001; Terry, 1996). There has been historical documentation of the use of manipulatives such as the abacus, counting sticks, and of course fingers, prior to the Roman Empire (Fuys & Tischler, 1979). Examples of teacher-made manipulatives include those that use materials such as beans, buttons, popsicle-sticks, and straws (Fuys & Tischler). Today’s teachers have access to a wide variety of commercially available manipulatives designed to aid in the teaching of most elementary mathematical concepts. Examples include Algebra tiles, attribute blocks, Base-10 materials, color tiles, Cuisenaire rods, fraction strips, geoboards, geometric solids, pattern blocks and Unifix cubes. The appearance of commercially made manipulatives in the United States increased during the 1960s after the work of Zolten Dienes and Jerome Bruner was published (Thompson & Lambdin, 1994). Many educators continue to view manipulatives as teaching tools that involve physical objects that teachers use to engage their students in practical and hands-on learning of mathematics. These manipulatives continue to be instrumental to introduce, practice, or remediate mathematical concepts and procedures. Concrete manipulatives come in a variety of physical forms, ranging from grains of rice to
Sunday, November 17, 2019
Therapeutic Cloning Essay Example for Free
Therapeutic Cloning Essay Introduction            Cloning is the practice of creating a genetically the same copy of an original creature. And although it seems like twentieth-century idea, cloning is actually a part of natural processes, and had taken place many decades before though it was attainable. Since a variant of the cloning process plays such a large role in stem therapies, it’s worth taking a look at how cloning processes work (Cohen, 2002).            Most public attention has been focused on the area called reproductive cloning – reproducing an entire creature be it frog, sheep, dog, or human being. As the twenty-first century unfolds, it is far more likely that what has been called therapeutic cloning – cloning used to cure disease – is going to have a more immediate impact on all our lives. Your chances of getting a cloned liver are greater than your chances of seeing a cloned you (Avise, 2004). Therapeutic Cloning            Relative to genetic testing, therapeutic cloning is a technology very much in its infancy. Whereas we can plausibly predict, that genetic testing methods and the scope of such tests will dramatically improve in the proximate future, a like projection in the case of therapeutic cloning is more of a stretch. This view notwithstanding, analysis of current regulation of therapeutic cloning does have something to gain from postulating a future world in which therapeutic cloning is in clinical application (Savulescu Hendrick, 2003).            One likely application of therapeutic cloning is in the treatment of leukemia, and more broadly in various types of tissue and organ transplantation. Therapeutic cloning is important for four seasons. First, there is a shortage of tissue for transplantation. Second, there are problems with compatibility of transplanted tissue form another individual, requiring immunosuppressive therapy with serious side effects. Cloned tissue would be compatible without the infectious risks of xenotransplants. Third, the role of transplantation might be expanded to include common diseases such as heart attack and stroke. Fourth, cloning may prove to be a cost-efficient means of preventing disability and morbidity, and of promoting distributive justice (Shannon, 2005).            In considering the ethical aspects of therapeutic cloning there are two separate issues: should embryos produced during in vitro fertilization (IVF), which would otherwise be discarded, be available for research (with the consent of the couple who produced them); and, should we deliberately create embryos for use in research? It is difficult to argue against using embryos that would otherwise be discarded. The main ethical issue raised by both the production of ES cells and therapeutic cloning, is that of destroying embryos for the purposed of research or tissue for transplantation. If the embryo is considered to have a moral status similar to, say, a child, them embryo research would normally be wrong. On this view, IVF and almost any termination of pregnancy would also be wrong. A less absolute position would be that what is wrong with destroying embryos is a need to respect human life in general. But that wrong need to be balanced against the value of such research. Furthermore, for every live birth, up to five embryos will miscarry. In attempting to have a child by natural conception, we implicitly accept that this loss is a price worth paying to produce a new life. If the loss of embryos is an acceptable price to pay to produce a new life, is it not also an acceptable price to pay to save an existing life (Avise, 2004)? Tissue Therapy via Therapeutic Cloning            More than 40 years elapsed since Joseph Murray and his colleagues at a Boston hospital successfully transplanted a kidney between identical twins. This landmark approach was later extended by the medical community to other organs (e.g., heart, liver, lung, and pancreas) and to transplants involving more distant relatives and unrelated individuals. Transplants between unrelated individuals are especially challenging because, unless ameliorative actions are taken, the immune system of a transplant recipient sooner or later rejects the alien cells. To alleviate this problem, donor and recipient typically are matched as closely as possible for genes underlying immune responses, and immune-suppressive drugs also are administered. Such procedures are fairly common and have saved many lives. Nonetheless, modern transplantation surgery remains risky due to inherent immunological intolerances of patients to foreign tissue (Cohen, 2002).            Thus, many research professionals are excited about â€Å"therapeutic cloning,†a new genetically modified (GM) approach that in theory should avoid the immunorejection problem. In this procedure, genes in cells to be transplanted originate from the patient, who therefore serves in effect as both donor and recipient. Because the donor and recipient tissues have identical genotypes, presumably the immune system would not recognize the implanted tissue alien. Another reason for enthusiasm about therapeutic cloning is that this research gives scientists welcome opportunities for basic research on human genetic disorders as they unfold during cell and tissue development (Bellomo, 2006).            The notion of therapeutic cloning for tissue or organ reconstruction in humans traces to the development of nuclear-transfer cloning methods for sheep and other farm animals. As applied to human cells, the procedure might work as follows: A suitable cell is removed from a patient and its nucleus is inserted physically into an enucleated egg. The egg then begins to multiply in a test tube, and, from the developing mass, pluripotent cells (those that possess a capacity to differentiate into multiple tissue types) are induced to grow replacement cells needed by the patient. Nerve cells might be grown to treat Alzheimer’s disease or spinal cord injuries, skin cells could be used to repair burn damage, retinal cells for macular degeneration, pancreatic cells for diabetes, hematopoietic cells for leukemia, neuroglia cells for multiple sclerosis, and so on. When returned to the patient’s body the cloned cells in such tissues or organs ideally would repair or replace the damaged body part, without evoking immunological rejections (Avise, 2004).            Several technical challenges must be overcome before this approach is medically viable. First, nuclear transfer (NT) techniques developed for farm animals will have to be improved and adapted to our species. Second, cells in the proliferating mass must be generated in such a way that they indeed are pluripotent at the outset. Third, the developmental potential of those flexible cells then must be channeled to produce the specialized kind of tissue that the patient requires. Fourth, methods must be devised to put those now-dedicated cells together properly to make therapeutically useful tissue or organ. This may take place naturally when the cells are placed in a patient’s body, or in some cases it may be accomplished initially in vitro. For example, replacement skin tissue for burn victims might be constructed by seeding the cloned cells onto sheets of a polymeric scaffolding substance. Finally, tissue therapy must be conducted such that the cloned cells do no harm when returned to the patient. It would be disastrous, for example, if even a few cells in the transplanted tissue began to divide in an unregulated, cancerous fashion (Shannon, 2005).            Of course, ethical issues will have to be addressed as well. When the initial oocyte created by NT begins to divide into two cells, then four, then eight, and so on, when does the cloned mass become a new human being worthy of protection under the law? Opponents of therapeutic cloning often contend that an individual arises at the exact moment that the first appears, such that any sacrifice of an early cell mass, even for medical purposes, is tantamount to slaughter. Proponents of therapeutic cloning view this notion as nonsense. How, they as, can a few amorphous cells be granted legal rights that take precedence over those of sentient human beings is desperate need of cell therapy? Remarkably, in US society, most of the debate over the possible legalization of therapeutic cloning hinges on this one emotion-laden philosophical issue (Bellomo, 2006).            In such public discussions, a common error (or often, an intentional argumentative ploy) is to equate therapeutic cloning with reproductive cloning. Although the initial laboratory steps in the two procedures are identical – both begin by inserting a cell nucleus into an unfertilized egg – that is where the similarity ends. In reproductive cloning, the GM egg would be re-implanted in the womb and allowed to grow into a fetus and baby, the intent being to generate a fully functional and independent human being genetically identical to its predecessor. In therapeutic cloning, the early clump of pre-implantation cells that comes from the GM egg would be grown in vitro and used to produce replacement tissues for medical rehabilitation (Avise, 2004). Elimination or Treating Heritable Diseases via Therapeutic Cloning            Although therapeutic cloning does not reproduce an entire organism to develop in utero and live life outside the womb, one motivation for reproductive cloning might be therapeutic. Reproductive cloning could allow genetic engineering interventions to correct defective genes before they have a chance to exert detrimental effects. Correction at the earliest stage would also free germ or reproductive cells and hence subsequent generations from carrying the defective gene (Savulescu Hendrick, 2003).            Certain genetic disorders may enhance certain universal human vulnerabilities, such as those to infection, bleeding, and aging. Beyond increasing these, everyone has inherited vulnerability to some disease or diseases. We would all like to be free from the threat of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and Alzheimer’s disease. Therapeutic cloning might substantially improve the treatment for these diseases since therapy for these is currently limited by the availability or immunocompatibility of tissue transplants (Avise, 2004).            Among the genetic disorders, some are so highly heritable and horrific that we might wish to employ reproductive cloning to enable the use of genetic engineering to correct the defective gene. That would free the clone and all subsequent generations from their ravaging impact (Savulescu Hendrick, 2003).            However, reproductive cloning is an inefficient and error-probe process that results in the failure of most clones during development. For a donor nucleus to support development it must properly activate genes important for early embryonic development, it must properly activate genes important for early embryonic development and suppress differentiation-associated genes that were transcribed in the original donor cell. Inadequate â€Å"reprogramming†of the donor nucleus is thought to be the principal reason for the developmental loss of most clones. In contrast, reprogramming errors do not appear to interfere with therapeutic cloning, because the process appears to select for functional cells (Shannon, 2005). Ethics of Therapeutic Cloning            Can therapeutic cloning be ethically tolerable? Debates about the theory of proportionality, the slippery slope and the principle of subsidiarity here center again in a little dissimilar way (Savulescu Hendrick, 2003).            It is uncertain whether the principle of proportionality offers a believable a priori opposition against therapeutic cloning. If it is well thought-out suitable to make embryos for study aiming cryopreservation of oocytes; in vitro maturation of oocytes and the like, then it is contradictory to decline therapeutic cloning in advance as being disproportional (Avise, 2004).            A consequentialist opposition, as a slippery-slope disagreement, is that therapeutic cloning will unavoidably direct to reproductive cloning. This objection firstly presumes that reproductive cloning is necessarily and categorically wrong, a premise still debated. Clearly, it would be premature, if not criminally irresponsible, in view of the serious health risks for children conceived by cloning to start clinical trials on reproductive cloning right now. But what if, somewhere in the future, these risks could be controlled? Would cloning then still be entirely baseless – even if it were ‘safe’ – then it is practical to exclude reproductive cloning, and not to forbid other, non-reproductive, relevance of cloning (Bellomo, 2006).            Are there suitable alternatives to therapeutic cloning? First, it is important to note that therapeutic cloning strictu sensu, starting with the first clinical trials, will not come up soon. Much basic research is needed, about the question whether it will be possible to control the differentiation of human embryonic stem (hES) cells in vitro. This study can, and ought to, be made with additional IVF embryos. At the same time, research into potential ‘embryo-saving’ alternatives for therapeutic cloning should be stimulated. For the relative ethical examination it is once more essential to evade the drawback of one-dimensionality. Amongst others, the following options are suggested in the literature: a) the use of adult stem cells; b) transferring a human somatic cell nucleus into an enucleated animal egg; and c) the direct reprogramming of adult cells, i.e., to reprogram an adult cell to make it revert to it unspecialized state so that it can then be influenced to develop into a specific type of tissue (this involves the development of undifferentiated cells without the need to create an embryo) (Shannon, 2005). Summary and Conclusion            Cloning can be divided into therapeutic and reproductive cloning. Therapeutic cloning is the use of cloning technology to produce, for example, tissues for transplantation to people with disease. Reproductive cloning is cloning to produce a liveborn offspring (Avise, 2004).            The possibility of therapeutic cloning focuses on the concept of stem cells. Stem cells have the ability to develop into different mature cell types. Totipotent stem cells are cells with the potential to form a complete animal if placed in a uterus. They are early embryos. Pluripotent stem cells are immature stem cells with the potential to develop into any of the mature cell types in the adult (liver, lung, skin, blood etc.), but cannot by themselves form a complete animal if placed in a uterus. Human embryonic stem (ES) cell lines obtained from the inner cell mass of the blastocyst or pre-implantation embryo have recently been established. ES cells are pluripotent. Possible future clinical applications of human ES cell technology include: hemopoietic repopulation (‘bone marrow transplant’); treatment of diseases or spinal cord injury; screening of drugs; and as vectors for gene therapy (Cohen, 2002).            We should distinguish reproductive cloning with a therapeutic intent from therapeutic cloning to produce stem cells. Most of us are familiar with the nightmare scenario of reproductively cloning a person in order to use him as possession for â€Å"spare parts.†Parents who conceive children in the hope that the new child would be a good match immunologically to donate an organ needed by an existing child contribute to this image. With a child cloned from the original, there would be no doubt that the needed organ would perfectly match the recipient immunologically. Creating a person to be a source of spare parts is not what therapeutic cloning is about (Bellomo, 2006).            Therapeutic cloning provides hope for cures or better medical treatment for people with many diseases. These include many of the genetic disorders for which reproductive cloning with a therapeutic intent might be entertained, but they also include diseases that are not necessarily genetic. A therapeutic cloning, cells are extracted from an embryo to clone specific bodily tissues for medical use, particularly transplantation. Type I or juvenile diabetes is one example of a disease that might be cured by therapeutic cloning to produce stem cells. Without contradiction, we can condemn reproductive cloning and at the same time, if we choose, support research with embryonic stem cells (Cohen, 2002). References: Avise, J. C. (2004). The Hope, Hype Reality of Genetic Engineering: Remarkable Stories from Agriculture, Industry, Medicine and the Environment. New York: Oxford University Press US. Bellomo, M. (2006). The Stem Cell Divide: The Facts, the Fiction, and the Fear Driving the Greatest Scientific, Political, and Religious Debate of Our Time: AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn. Cohen, D. (2002). Cloning. Brookfield, Connecticut: Twenty-First Century Books. Savulescu, J., Hendrick, J. (2003). Medical Ethics and Law: The Core Curriculum. New York: Elsevier Health Sciences. Shannon, T. A. (2005). Genetics: Science, Ethics, and Public Policy : a Reader. New York: Rowman Littlefield.
Thursday, November 14, 2019
Technology and Education Essay -- Internet Computers Learning Papers
Technology and Education Technology has revolutionized the way in which all humans go about their daily lives. In every second of every day, our world and way of life becomes more developed and dependant on technology for the basic needs of human existences. Whether it is at home, work, school, walking down the street, or listening to music, technology has allowed people to do things better, faster, and more efficiently. As the world continues to explode with new technology being developed and current technology being refined, the emphasis on technology in education will be increasingly important. Technology can significantly enhance the development of learning and it is important that an understanding of technological principles and instruction be establish in our educational systems. Through the proper use, having technology incorporated into the curriculum of school systems gives children the opportunity to become smarter and more well rounded individuals. One may ask of how much of an impact that technology has on the development of students or why it may be needed in the classroom. For starters, technology flat out makes kids smarter. Now I am not say that simply placing a child in front of computer screen will increase their literacy, mathematical skills, or scientific capacity, but a properly structured computer or other technological program dealing with any of the subjects of study will have a greater positive impact on the learning of all students than the traditional teaching methods alone. Even so, how does technology make kids smarter? Well first of all, technology can refine the skills of teachers through further education, give them access to new and interesting concepts, a better unders... ...leave the classroom. Nothing will ever take the place of physically going to these places in person and experiencing all of the wonders that this world has to offer, but the use of technology creates means by which we can all experience new and wonderful things. That is teaching, gathering new and important information and shaping the minds of the future to carry on the existence of our society. Technology makes this possible and should continue to make this possible in the generations to come. References: www.education-world.com/a_admin/admin121.shtml www.education-world.com/a_admin/admin122.shtml). www.edweek.org/sreports/tc/class/cl-n.htm http://finney-mathew.tripod.com/Tech.html www.kitzenberg.net/education/debate/point.htm www.mff.org/edtech/article.taf?_function=detail&Content_uin1=127 www.weac.org/Kids/1998-99/sept98/ownmoney.htm
Tuesday, November 12, 2019
Pizza Hut Mkarekting Strategy Essay
The journey began in 1958, when two college students and brothers from Wichita, USA, Frank and Dan Carney, opened the first Pizza Hut restaurant at their hometown on June 15, 1958. After borrowing $600 from their mother, they purchased some second-hand equipment and rented a small building on a busy intersection in Wichita. The result of their entrepreneurial efforts was the first Pizza Hut restaurant, and the foundation for what would become the largest and most successful pizza restaurant company in the world. Many people ask how Pizza hut got its name. When Carneys were setting up their first restaurant, the building had sign with room for just nine characters. They wanted to use â€Å"pizza†in the name, which left room for a word with only three letters. A family member suggested the building looked like a hut –and Pizza Hut was born. Pizza Hut: Today Pizza Hut is not only the acknowledged leader of pizza industry worldwide, but it is also the world’s largest pizza chain, with over 12,000 restaurants across 100 countries, employing more than 300,000 people, serving 1. 7 million pizzas everyday to more than seven million customers. Pizza Hut is the high-flying brand of Yum! Restaurants International, which is also the parent company of KFC, Taco Bell, A&W and Long John Silvers. Taking other four brands with Pizza Hut, Yum! Restaurants International makes up the world’s largest restaurant group. Pizza Hut in Bangladesh Transcom Foods Limited, a concern of Transcom Group is the franchisee of Pizza hut in Bangladesh. With a seating capacity of 220 persons, the first outlet of Pizza Hut is located on South Avenue, Gulshan-1. Pizza Hut provides the perfect mix of great food, great service and great place at a great value to customers who are looking for a grand experience. We believe in positive intension, and maintain a strong internal environment by developing our competitive work force, which we trust. The latest technological tools along with the best support systems from our franchiser YUM! International is used to ensure easy workflow and to make our restaurants the favorite in the Country. The success of Pizza Hut relies heavily on delighting our customers by ensuring that all their needs and desires are met in every way. Hence, the company give strong importance to marketing efforts to ensure that. Along with customer satisfaction, make sure, that the business makes money! Therefore, the first task is to understand our consumers from every aspect. In this regard, we have tried to gain a thorough understanding of our competitive environment and continuously strive to develop unique business ideas to make our business a success. Thus, Pizza hut has successfully attained a broad range of loyal customers, to whom pizza has gained extreme popularity. In order to expand this range, our marketing team is involved in developing new products and concepts, all the time. Above all, not only do we make GOOD FOOD, we are also famous for providing great service and dining experience, to give our valued customers more reasons, to return. Due to the vast success of our flagship restaurant in Gulshan, and huge demand from consumers, opening of new stores in different cities are already under way. And from this experience marketing team has the recognition and understanding of * cultural influences * governmental and political influences * demographic and lifestyle trends * local and national economic trends. In Pizza Hut the role of operations is to be obsessed with the quality of our pizza and the experience that our customers receive. There are 3 distinct categories of restaurants. Full Service Restaurants These are the traditional pizza restaurants that offers seated service and take-away. Home Service Restaurants Restaurants that offer home deliveries and take-away. Restaurant Based Delivery A full service restaurant in combination with delivery and takeaway service. Currently, they are operating as the first category of restaurant, i. e a full service restaurant, with take-away facility. In the near future we will plan to introduce the other categories as well. All Pizza Hut sites work on the CHAMPS standard Cleanliness Hospitality Accuracy Maintenance Product Speed These six objects define the very core of customer expectations. CHAMPS have become the vehicle, which drives Operations Excellence into our business and is also supported by a reward and recognition scheme for the Team members. The ‘CHAMPScheck’ is a tool used to ensure consistency of service and product quality across the entire Pizza Hut estate; in fact it is used for all the Yum! Brands internationally. Environmental considerations Pizza Hut uses environmentally friendly materials where applicable, e. g. water based paint and recycled Pizza boxes. 2. 1 Environmental forces: Strategies are not and should not be developed in a vacuum. They must be responsive to the external and internal environment. Otherwise the firm become, in effect, the most efficient producer of buggy whips, leisure suits, or slide rules. To avoid such strategic mistakes, firms must knowledgeable about the business environment. Here we analyze the pricing strategies of Pizza Hut. In order to developing the pricing strategies and implementing these strategies into program they must scan the major internal and external factors. a. The Company Pizza Hut is a chain restaurant, operated by Transcom Group in Bangladesh. In designing the pricing strategies, they must take account the other company groups. Top management sets the company’s mission, objectives, broad strategies, and policies. They must work closely with departments. Finance department of the Pizza Hut is concerned with finding and using funds to carry out the long run and short run cost and different promotional program. The R&D department focuses on designing tasty and attractive pizzas. The purchasing and operations are responsible for getting supplies and materials, producing and distributing a desired quality and quantity of the foods. b. Suppliers The marketing manager of the Pizza Hut must monitor the price trends of their key inputs or raw materials such as bread loaf, different meats, capsicums, oregano, different flavor souses etc. Because it charges the price of a pizza that both covers all its costs for producing, distributing, and selling the product and delivers a fair rate of return for its efforts and risk. As cost is an important element in its pricing strategy so they should try to reduce supply cost of the inputs. c. Marketing Intermediaries Pizza Hut uses direct marketing to sell their products. Their cost of serving customers is comparatively high than the others. Besides they uses marketing service agencies such as research and development firm, advertising agencies, media firms and marketing consulting firms to promote their products and target the right market. Developing pricing strategies involve the cost of maintaining these intermediaries to sell their final product to consumers. d. Customers The Company believe that customers estimate which offer will deliver the most value. They face a vast array of product and brand choices, prices and suppliers. Whether the buyers are satisfied after purchase depends on the offer’s performance in relation to the buyer’s expectations. As the customers are the value- maximizers then if the total customer value and the total customer cost doesn’t equal then they become dissatisfied. So it is the most important factor for Pizza Hut to implement effective pricing strategy that match the customers’ expectations to incur in evaluating, obtaining, using and disposing of the given market offering. e. Demographic Environment Pizza Hut chooses Bangladesh to set up their outlets as it is one of the mostly dense countries in the world. Growing population means growing human needs to satisfy. Depending on purchasing power, it also means growing market opportunities. This large and highly diverse population poses an opportunity for them to capture the increasing market share. Pizza Hut established their outlets exclusively at Gulshan in Dhaka, at Agra bad in Chittagong. Pizza Hut divides its population group into six different levels: 1. Preschool 2. School-age children 3. Teens 4. Young adults age 25 to 40 5. Middle aged adults age 40 They provide different offer with changing prices to the customers. f. Changing pricing strategies with changing family structure The traditional family structure is changing with the modern world. The number of working women has also increased. This trend has increased the consumption of convenience foods and services. In order to capture big market share and consumers’ support they must design their pricing strategy that satisfy the consumers’ perceived value. g. Economic Forces Pizza Hut use market skimming as their pricing strategy. They charge high price at the initial stage. It focuses on the changes in income of the consumers, their changing spending patterns. Pizza Hut target the high class people as their potential customers. They also set the outlets exclusively in the city. It also monitors the changing spending patterns of the people. Today people spend more in the foods. h. Natural Factors The deterioration of the natural environment is a major global concern. As a restaurant Pizza Hut should take the pricing strategies that also contribute the improvement of green movement. Recently they use recyclable or biodegradable packaging of their products. i. Technological Advancement New technologies create new markets and opportunities. Developing the pricing strategy, technological advancement should give the priority. Pizza Hut uses internet to serve online orders with the help of Bangladesh, keep account of raw materials, and they use consumers’ database of the regular customers.j. Political Environment Pizza Hut makes their marketing environment in Bangladesh by following the rules and regulation of the government. It considers several laws covering issues such as competition, fair trade practice, environmental protection, product safety, truth advertising, labeling, pricing and other factors in setting their product price. h. Cultural Factors Recently the people of Bangladesh have tried to copy the Western culture. They are becoming interested to the western food like pizza, burger, hot dog, pasta, and so many foods. Pizza Hut uses this changing trend in their marketing as well as a pricing strategy. They spend more funds in product promotional program in this country. They offer Ramadan discounts, Valentines Day offer for the couples, friendship day program and so on. All of these schemes must match with their pricing style. COMPETITORS OF THE PIZZA HUT Today, competition is not only rife but growing more intense every time. In Bangladesh the most dominant competitors of Pizza Hut are the BFC, KFC, CFC, DOMINOUS PIZZA, HELVITIA, SHARMA PALACE, CHICKEN KING, BURGER KING, BELLA ITALIA. As the basic product of Pizza Hut is the different flavors pizza, the other fast-food shop is also serve pizza and may copy the marketing strategy of Pizza Hut. It has a certain cost burden that shares much of its strategic conduct. In developing an effective strategy it makes a clear difference between the market concept of competition and the industry concept of the competition. They analyze their competitors’ base on the following characteristics: a. Objectives b. Strengths and weaknesses c. Reaction patterns International Competitors of Pizza Hut. * Papa John’s * Domino’s * Little Caesar’s Domino’s Pizzas Founded in 1960, Domino’s pizza is the recognized world leader in pizza delivery operating a network of company founded and franchise-owned stores in national and international markets. Domino’s Pizza’s vision illustrates a company of exceptional people on a mission to be the best pizza delivery company in the world. With more than 8000 restaurants and delivery units spread across in 50 countries, Domino’s holds the 2nd position in international pizza market. Domino’s is the world’s fastest pizza maker. It makes 14 pizzas in 2 minutes and 35 seconds. In 2004, Super Bowl Sunday was the busiest day of the year when Domino’s sold close to 1. 2 million pizzas which is approximately 42% more pizzas compared to a normal Sunday. Super Bowl Sunday ranks among the top five days for pizza deliveries annually along with Thanks giving, New Year’s Day, New Year’s Eve and Halloween. Little Caesars Little Caesars is 4th largest pizza manufacturer in USA. The company claims to be largest carry-out pizza chain in the world. The company is famous for its advertisement campaign of â€Å"pizza! Pizza! †which was later altered to â€Å"pan! Pan! ’ to promote their pan pizzas. Little Caesars is famous for selling more pizzas at fewer prices. It has notable â€Å"differentiating Strategy†wherein Little Caesars sells â€Å"Hot-N-Ready†pizza for $5. 00 only which means those customers do not have to call before taking the delivery of their pizza. They can just drop in to a â€Å"Little Caesar†outlet and collect their hot-n-ready pizza instantly. Marketing Strategy Pizza Hut follows the following strategy: * Total market strategy: Pizza Hut started with a single product i. e. Pizza but with different segments emerging and the degree of competition increasing, it diversified into several products to serve different segments. It came up with chicken nuggets, wedges, garlic bread, smiley etc. * International marketing strategy: Pizza Hut started with local market strategy in Kansas, USA then moved on to regional markets in and across USA. In 1968, Pizza Hut started its international movement by opening its 1st restaurant in Canada. And today Pizza Hut is world’s largest pizza chain with its presence in more than 100 countries. * Early Entry Strategy: Though Pizza Hut was not the first entrants in the pizza market in USA. But Pizza Hut followed an early entrant strategy. Customers knew what a pizza is but still there was huge potential to tap. In order to become a leader, pizza hut continued to refine their product & develop new product to suit their customer’s changing tastes. Ultimately Pizza Hut with its superior promotion, manufacturing and distribution activities has turned out to be the â€Å"winner†. * Strong Commitment Strategy: Pizza Hut has been operating in the pizza market by realizing all economies of scale in promotion, distribution and manufacturing facilities. If Papa Johns or Little Caesars come out with a new competitive pricing strategy or innovative product, then Pizza Hut quite aggressively fights back by bringing more competitive prices or better innovations in product category. In simple words, Pizza Hut takes all possible measures to defend its leadership position in the market. Customer Focus. â€Å"Consumption is the sole end and purpose of production; and the interest of producer ought to be attended to only so far as it may be necessary for promoting that of the customer†- Adam Smith Frank and Dan Carey recognized that the concept of Pizza was quite new to American. Although frozen pizzas and pizza mixes had entered into the market and started penetrating in non-traditional food market. Initially Pizza sampling was done to test the product and consumer’s preferences about the product. Thus first Pizza Hut was a success. From the very start, Pizza Hut aimed to get pizza’s to the masses. Initially, the entire world was a common market for Pizza Hut until it began segmenting and targeting particular market segments by differentiating and developing diverse products for them. Pizza Hut as a company has always tried to target and satisfy various diverse customer categories in different countries depending upon various factors and situations. Pizza Hut in order to fulfill its marketing objective of maximizing customer satisfaction by providing high quality products, has believed in the following marketing strategy: â€Å"Think Global, Act Local†. In Malaysia for instance, Pizza Hut targeting both urban adults as well as families with pre-teens and teenage children by offering a delicious mix of nutritious Itlaian-Amercian cuisine which includes world’s favorite pan pizza. Pizza Hut Malaysia at the same time offers a cozy, friendly ambience in which to relax and have a great time with family or friends. Pizza Hut Malaysia’s success has been due to imaginative and innovative thinking in continuously developing, marketing and promoting new pizza products with unique and distinctive flavor, taste, style and appeal. In order to target the entire family experience, Pizza Hut launched a Hand Tossed Pizza which was pizza hut’s first step in traditional stuffed crust segment. It offers not-to-thin and not-to-thick crust on which the entire family agrees. To tap the market for young single in-hurry office goers looking for â€Å"fast lunch†, Pizza hut came up with â€Å"personal pan pizza for one†. The Personal Pan Pizza ® revolutionized lunch and became the perfect solution to satisfy pizza cravings in a hurry. Pizza Hut introduced America to the perfect pizza for on-the-go back in 1983. Today, we can find Personal Pan Pizzas ® in airports, college cafeterias and even sports arenas. To satisfy the New York pizza lovers, Pizza Hut introduced a â€Å"The big New Yorker Pizza†. This pizza was 30% larger than pizza hut’s largest pizza. It is New York style pizza at un-New York price introduced in 1999. In some countries, to capture the interest of â€Å"Echo Boomer generation†which the ultimate cheese loving population, Pizza Hut launched â€Å"The Ultimate Cheese†to give them the ultimate pizza experience. As Pizza Hut is the world’s largest Pizza manufacturing company believing in strategy of â€Å"Think Global, Act Local†, somewhere in USA pizza hut introduced variants with extra cheese or large in size, at the same time, when pizza hut to grow in international waters as Asia, it diversified to adapt their cultures and provide their favorite flavors. In order to tap huge spices lovers’ population in India, Pizza Hut recently has launched â€Å"The Great Indian Treat†which is rich in Indian spices and garlic. In order to tap market segment less than 18 years, pizza hut introduced â€Å"Stuff! Under 18 only†in United Kingdom, to tap the kids segment, various â€Å"Value combos†are introduced comprising of a Pizza, Chicken wedges, Fruit drink and ice cream. Whereas to tap the teenage market, Pizza hut introduced different flavors of pizza along with fruit beer was offered. At the same time, Teenagers were lured by promotional schemes as â€Å"DUBIT CARD†which will allow them to take discounts at various entertainment places including pizza hut. In an attempt to target, the people who are young and romantic at heart, whether it is an 18 year old boy friend or 50 year husband, on the occasion of â€Å"Valentine’s Day†, Pizza Hut launched a limited edition â€Å"Sweetheart Pizza†in the shape of heart. In nutshell, Pizza Hut tried to target each and every diverse population segment either on the scale of age (kids, teenage, office goers, senior citizens) or on basis of lifestyle (singles or couples) or special interest groups (celebrations, parties, festivals). Pizza Hut: An Overview of the â€Å"Product Strategy†â€Å"Product Strategies specify a market needs that may be served by different products offerings†. * Product Positioning Strategy: Pizza Hut has always followed â€Å"Single brand positioning†strategy wherein it has positioned only its pizzas. Although the positioning statement has been different in different countries but it has always hovered around its â€Å"PIZZAS†. For instance, in Canada, its positioning statement is â€Å"The best tasting pizzas under one roof†which reflects a great variety of pizza being served , in China it has positioned on â€Å"Dine-in restaurants†, in Australia, it is â€Å"made fresh, served hot and on time†which reflects that best of ingredients are used and pizza is delivered on time. Similarly, in India, pizza hut’s positioning has been â€Å"Good times, Great pizza. * Product-Scope strategy: Pizza Hut follows a â€Å"multiple product strategy†as pizza hut not only sells pizzas, but also deals in a variety of other products as Product-Scope Strategy Soups and Desserts Salads & Pastas Appetizers Pizzas Although all the product offerings in pizza hut are not as fast moving as its pizza, but they usually complement each other. For instance, a family coming for a dinner usually starts with some soup and garlic breads and then moves on to pizzas along with some diet salads. In this way, pizza hut caters to different people with different needs and tastes and preferences. This helps in increasing sales, profitability, market share and above all â€Å"Customer’s Mind Share†* Product-Design Strategy: Pizza Hut follows the strategy of selling Standardized Products with modifications. Pizza Hut mainly sells 4 types of pizzas: Pan Pizza, hand-tossed pizza, stuffed crust pizza and Thin N Crispy pizza. Pizza Hut serves these standard style pizzas everywhere in the world but at the same time, it offers its customers to choose different toppings as extra mushrooms or extra capsicum and onions with extra cheese or chicken toppings like toppings of meat, bacon, fish, ham, beef topping, pork toppings etc. Secondly it offers what is known as â€Å"Value meal combos†wherein it offers a combination of pizzas, appetizers, beverages etc at lower prices. For instance, Pizza hut introduced â€Å"Meal for 2†which offers a medium pan/freshizza pizza, garlic bread sticks with 2 glasses of pepsi. Similarly pizza hut also offered â€Å"Meals for 4†where it offered 2 medium pan pizzas, with one plate of garlic bread and one portion of wedges with 4 glasses of Pepsi/Soup. Pizza Hut by offering standard products seeks economies of scale and by offering modification options enhances customer satisfaction which adds to brand equity of Pizza Hut. * Product innovation strategy: Pizza Hut has been constantly involved in innovating new products. It started as Pizza chain in 1958. On one hand, it offers traditional Italian pizzas while on other hand, it innovated several new varieties as pan pizza, thin n crispy, stuffed crust, the big New Yorker pizza, hand tossed pizza, the edge pizza along with the Sicilian Pizza. Pizza Hut spends extensively on research and development of its innovative products. At the same time, customer’s feedback also plays an important role in preparing new pizzas. For example, The Big New Yorker Pizza. Pizza Hut continued to make innovations as it followed â€Å"International marketing strategy†. In India, Pizza Hut launched international style pizza in localized Indian flavors like Tandori pizza range with Punjabi flavors, vegetarian tama-tam, Murgh Mazedar Pizza etc. Similarly, in China along with traditional pizzas, it served â€Å"Sangria†and â€Å"Escargot†. Along with pizzas, Pizza Hut also innovated beverages and drinks to satisfy the tastes of consumers. For e. g. Pizza Hut in Oman has added a refreshing splash of tropics to their menu with the launch of Monin, a new line of flavored drinks. Value Marketing Strategy: Pizza Hut as far as value marketing is concerned follows Quality strategy Customer- service strategy. Time-based strategy Pizza Hut promises its customers to give them best quality product by using best quality ingredients. Time and again it re-emphasizes on this fact through its advertisement campaigns. Pizza Hut main motive is to enhance its customer’s satisfaction by providing them best quality products at affordable prices. At the same time, pizza hut always tries to deliver on time. Although Pizza Hut’s competitor Domino’s differentiates on basis of timely delivery in 30 minutes, however, Pizza Hut through its innovative technology is also trying to reduce its delivery time to 30 minutes and fight back Domino’s. PRICING STRATEGIES OF PIZZA HUT IN THE PRODUCTS’ LIFE CYCLE STAGES Their pricing strategy usually changes as the product passes through its life cycle. As Pizza Hut chooses the market- skimming pricing strategy by setting a high price for their pizzas at the initial stage to skim maximum revenues layer by layer from segments (high society people, exclusive outlets) willing to pay the high price, their introductory stages were especially challenging. Here example given for Bangladeshi Context. Pricing strategies: Product Development Stage. This stage begins when the parent company (Transcom Group) finds an idea to purchase the franchise of selling pizza at a particular area. During this stage the sales are zero and their investment cost mounts. Pricing strategies: Introduction Stage Introduction stage starts when the Pizza Hut was launched their basic product first at Gulshan in Dhaka. In designing their pricing strategy they face the following factors: 1. Their opening cost was very high because they organize a grand party and use heavy sales promotion to entice trial. 2. At the initial time their sales were comparatively low. 3. High cost per customer for creating superior image was increasing. 4. Their profit was positive. 5. The customers are the innovators of the new flavors pizzas with an attractive presentation style. 6. They charge the higher price with the justified quality. 7. They build only two exclusive distribution outlets. 8. Build mass advertising in newspaper, bill boards etc. 9. They compete with few competitors. Pricing Strategies: Growth Stage In this stage their sales are rising. The customers are properly known about the brands and the goods. 1. High cost per customer reduces and become the average cost. 2. During this stage profits are rising. 3. They maximize their market share. 4. They use product line extension by adding new flavors, ingredients, sizes such as family size, single pan pizza etc. 5. Their competitors are growing. 6. Develop new marketing plan to make the product superior from the competitors. 7. They also organize birthday party, marriage day party and so many occasions for a payment. By these they enhance their brand image. Pricing strategies: Maturity Stage Pizza Hut is now passing through the maturity stage. Their profits are at the peak. This stage normally lasts longer than the previous stages, and poses formidable challenges to marketing management. 1. Product modification by modifying the products’ quality improvements, feature improvements and style improvements. 2. Stable number of competitors is beginning to rise. 3. They change the price to match or best competitors’. 4. Pizza Hut is building a new outlet at Dhanmondi to meet the increasing demand of customers. 5. They create significance brand differences from competitors and take the advantages. Pricing strategies: Decline Stage This is the product life cycle stage in which a product’s sales decline. Pizza Hut doesn’t reach in this stage at present. Pizza Hut: An Overview of Franchise Model â€Å"Franchising†involves a contractual arrangement between a franchisor (a manufacturer, a wholesaler, or a service sponsor) and a retail franchisee, which allows the franchisee to conduct a given form of business under an established name and according to a given pattern of business. Pizza Hut after its incorporation in 1958 opened its first franchise unit in Topeka, Kansas. Followed by a Pizza Hut restaurant built in just 5 days by franchisees in Oklahoma State Fair. In 1968, Pizza Hut made a global entry by entering in Canada. Then it made a strong foot holding in Australia, Japan, England, Kuwait, and Abu Dhabi. By 1989, Pizza Hut was already serving 54 countries. In 1996, Pizza Hut entered India with the first dine-in restaurant in Bangalore. While entering in the international arena, Pizza Hut used the â€Å"Franchising Route†as the entry strategy. In Bangladesh Pizza Hut enter Franchising with â€Å"Transcrom group†. Reasons why Pizza Hut adopted â€Å"Franchising†as the entry strategy: * The best method to establish operations without risk of operations in an unfamiliar country. * Franchising root helps in learning the buyer behaviour, consumer preferences, market realities etc. * Franchising helped Pizza Hut in building a brand name and creating efficient distribution system. * In certain socialist countries as China, Russia etc, direct foreign investment is not allowed, so pertaining to the local legal framework of these countries, Franchising is an easier route to enter into these countries. Pizza Hut: An Overview of the Global Strategy Pizza Hut before entering into any new country conducts a comprehensive market survey of that country to learn about the culture that prevails in that country, the state of government and politics, the legal framework (product quality laws, packaging laws) , commercial practices (business structure, patterns of competition). Strategy Adopted by Pizza Hut for Global marketing programs: Localized strategy: Pizza Hut follows the strategy of â€Å"Think Global, Act Local†. For e. g. in India, the 1st Pizza Hut which was launched in Bangalore served complete vegetarian meals. Similarly, in China, along with serving Pizzas, Pizza Hut also serves â€Å"Sangria†and â€Å"Escargot†. Similarly, in India, to match the spicy tastes of Indian consumers, Pizza Hut launched â€Å"Tandoori Treat†, â€Å"The Great Indian Treat†. For the cheese lovers in the United States, Pizza Hut launched Cheesy Bites Pizza and Stuffed Crust Pizza. In South Asian Muslim Country (like Bangladesh) Pizz Hut giver special Offer during Ramadan like â€Å"eat as much as You can†in iftar. International Marketing Coordination: Pizza Hut’s international marketing activities though dispersed in different countries are properly coordinated to gain competitive advantage as * All marketing activities as market research, advertisements, and restaurant interiors are done using a similar method. * Marketing know-how and skills are transferred from one country to another. For e. g. the â€Å"franchising model†is used successfully in all the countries by Pizza Hut. Scanning the Environment: S. W. O. T Analysis Strengths * Name Recognition * First-Mover Advantage (pioneer advantage) * Competitive advantage as pizza hut has he largest network of full service restaurants and delivery services. * Broad selection of products to target different segments. * Strong Franchisee network. | Weakness * High overhead costs due to large number of restaurants * High price pizza which leads to loss of customers. * Internal conflicts among franchisees. | Opportunity * Increase revenue through more and more innovative pizzas. * Increase in brand loyalty through good customer service. * Pizza hut has tremendous scope of expansion through its new online ordering system. * Pizza Hut home delivery network and entry in to new markets. | Threats * Main threat is from competitors. Out of these threat from Domino’s is main concern. * The differentiation strategy followed by any pizza chain is sooner or later adopted by all pizza industry players. New and newer methods to lure the customers must be found out. * Any competitor offering the same quality and diverse flavours might be a real threat to Pizza Hut. | Pizza Hut: An overview of â€Å"Promotion Strategies†Pizza Hut uses a wide assortment of promotion tools to achieve the following: * Increase the market share * Increase the sales volume * To increase repeat purchase * To induce the non buyers to buy the product. The Promotion mix which it uses is as follows: Sales Promotion Advertising Promotion Mix Personal Selling â€Å"Advertising†: Maximum used Medium of Pizza Hut Promotion Strategy The main objective behind every campaign is either to increase sales by encouraging potential purchasers or inducing repeat purchases or prompting immediate purchase by offering special schemes or to create awareness about a new product offering by highlighting a new flavor or announcing price changes or demonstrating the product in use by depicting an experience. For instance, to launch a new flavor in India named â€Å"The Great Indian Treat†, Pizza Hut signed a Javed Jaffrey for its new TV commercial. Similarly to inform the customers about Rs. 50 pan pizza, Pizza hut showed Zayed Khan as a young teenager boy friend who has to treat his large number of girl friends with something trendy and affordable. Pizza Hut also launched certain ad campaigns to counter attack its competitors promotions. For instance, in 2005 Pizza Hut launched â€Å"Freshizza†ad campaign featuring Malika Arora Khan and counter attacked Domino’s campaign showing Anupam Kher and Paresh Raval. At the same time, Pizza Hut brings about local flavor in its ad campaigns. In different countries, it uses models, situations, positioning clearly related to that particular country.
Saturday, November 9, 2019
How sympathetic a character Essay
Upon reading Aristophanes’ Wasps for the first time, Procleon, the antihero of the play, evokes a strange sort of sympathy. The part of us that wants to rebel against the system identifies with his character, and admires the way in which, in the second half of the play, he â€Å"does what the man in the street would really like to do†(K Dover) and generally places himself above authority. Aristophanes loads Procleon’s character with vulgarity and nastiness, but does it in such a way that an audience seeing the play for the first time will focus on sympathizing with him as the `heroic’ character more than his deep-seated and twisted darker side. For instance, in the first scene we see Procleon trapped inside his own home, treated not like a villain or monster, but a mentally ill obsessive, or trialophile. â€Å"†¦ The more you warn him, the more he goes to court. That’s why we’ve had to bolt him in and guard the house for fear he gets out. †The way the two slaves describe Procleon’s personality is quite comic. They describe him as a sad old man. He then tries to escape later on by holding on to the bottom of a donkey as it comes out of the house, in a parody of Odysseus in Homer’s Odyssey. On one hand, we find his wit amusing, and he tries to mirror the cunning of Odysseus, and on the other hand we laughingly pity him for trying such an idea, especially onstage as it looks absurd. Aristophanes is poking fun at the latest trend in Athenian society in the ridiculous person of Procleon. However, Athenian litigiousness and trial mania are not his only target. In his conversion from his former juryman’s life, Procleon becomes a caricature of an upper-class snob engaging in one of the well-heeled set’s favourite addictions: dressing up in your finery, attending drinking parties and meetings of secret societies and going on drunken rampages through the streets, beating up passers by, knocking over statues, mauling slaves and women, etc. By the end of the play, it’s hard to tell whether Procleon is ny better off for having traded a poor man’s pastime for a rich man’s. In the first half of the play, we see Procleon as a bloodthirsty bastard, a sadistic slave to Cleon whose only friends are the similarly savage, vespine jurymen. Just seeing this feeble army of nasty old men, we find immediate comedy. On the surface, nothing about Procleon seems too bad, just a rather crazed old man with a strange obsession. â€Å"He enjoys voting defendants down: he is comically sadistic. †– D. MacDowell However, when we look deeper into the play and Procleon’s character, we see that there is a far darker and more sinister side to him. First of all, there is the fact that the only reason he enjoys sitting on the jury so much is so that he can wreak pain and suffering upon innocent people. â€Å"I long to come to court with you, some solid, lasting harm to do. †There is also the way in which he treats his daughter, in a rather incestuous manner. â€Å"she leans over to give me a kiss – and fish out those three obols with her tongue! †â€Å"spends his days in the infliction of pain on others and his evenings in running his hand up his daughter’s skirt. †– K Dover.
Thursday, November 7, 2019
Working Capital and Financial Environment Essays
Working Capital and Financial Environment Essays Working Capital and Financial Environment Essay Working Capital and Financial Environment Essay Imagine the way Amazon.com, the most successful e-company besides e-Bay, financing their operation. In the end of 90s, the Amazon.com have been known as a huge online book stores worldwide although we got surprised to see that the company continued recording financial losses for several years. The way the company could resist despite the losing strict is because Amazon’s strong financial strategy that known as budgeting and forecasting. The reason of conducting budgeting is to anticipate times when a business needs to incur a great amount of expenditure before the company harvests the profits. Any shortage of cash will put the company in a dangerous situation. Furthermore, this situation highlights the needs of providing enough working capital for a company to fund their day-to-day activities. The appropriate working capital also helps the company to finance their product and services improvement, technological invention, network expansion, and so many other things that help them to strengthen their presence and hence position in the markets. Concerning the issue, this paper will elaborate the working capital, intermediaries, and control programs in two companies: Walmart and Target. 2.                 Elements of working Capital As explained above, company needs to provide enough working capital to ensure that the company is able to finance their activities. The main sources of working capital are the current assets since this kind of assets are short-term in nature so that a company could convert this capital easily into cash (Working Capital,†n.d.). In addition to current assets, the company also has current liabilities as the results of the company expenses when investing some machines or gadgets to help the company conduct their activities.  Therefore, a company’s working capital can be written as following: Working Capital      = Current Assets – Current Liabilities In which current assets equals to stock + debtors + cash In order to ensure that a company could finance their activities appropriately while preventing the company from financial collapse, therefore, they need to plan careful plan their capital structure, which long-term financing of a company such as long-term debt, common stock and preferred stock, and retained earnings. It differs from financial structure, which includes short-term debt and accounts payable and the issuance of the most basic and important instruments such as stocks or bonds (Investor Words, 2009; Harvey, n.d.). In the 2009 annual report of Walmart, it is revealed that the working capital of Walmart shows their current liabilities far exceed the current assets by $4.0 billion since the company reduces the commercial paper outstanding. In addition, the company ratio of current assets to current liabilities was 0.9 at January 2009 and was 0.8 at January 31, 2008. Walmart also describes that they have working capital deficit because of efficient use of cash in funding operations. The deficits are also the results of provision of shareholders returns in the form of stock repurchases and dividend payments. Meanwhile for Target, the company decides to increase the working capital especially in the yearend, which the company promises to peak the sales during the period. Unlike Walmart that reduce the operating costs, Target increases their working capitals through operating cash-flow and short-term borrowings. 3.                 Functions of intermediaries and financial regulatory bodies Financial institutions compose of several institutions such as banks, credit unions, insurance companies, mutual funds, and other financial intermediaries. The existence of the institutions aimed at providing bridge of or channeling funds from those people/organizations who have surplus funds to those with shortage ones. Among intermediaries that companies use usually banks and securities that have function as mediators from those who act as the borrower and the lender of capital. At Walmart, the role of financial intermediaries represent is indispensable as the company has short-term borrowings consisting of $1.5 billion and $5.0 billion of commercial paper. In total, the company has particular lines of credits amounting $10.2 billions from 29 financial institutions. Table 1          Commercial paper and long-term debt of Walmart Meanwhile for Target, the use of financial intermediaries is also important as the company can continue their operations and growth by using the debt financing in addition to internally generated funds. 4.                 Importance of control programs and effective internal control techniques In July 30, 2002, the United States government enacted the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 in response to the worrisome crisis of trust generated by major corporate and accounting scandals. There are debates regarding the costs and benefits of the Act and how it really affected American businesses. The objective of Sarbanes-Oxley law is to enhance internal control qualities and capabilities of public companies in the U.S. The role internal control has been one of the most frequently discussed issue in the regulatory environment, following the accounting scandals that occur in several large companies in the U.S. Therefore, internal controls are responsible in protecting the organization’s resources, and resources of its partners and clients (Kohn, 2004). In short, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was designed to enhance the qualities and capabilities of internal control, thus preventing corporate failures mentioned previously from becoming ‘common corporate practices’. Besides protecting corporate assets, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act has its usefulness in several levels of corporate management. In the organizational level, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act uses internal controls to enhance the reliability of financial reporting, the delivery of timely feedback in the process of achieving operational or strategic goals, and the compliance to laws and regulations. At Walmart, the role of internal control is also indispensable as the company has listed their share in stock exchange in which it would increase the investors’ belief over the company’s operations. In their 2009 annual report, the company reveals that in order to comply with the requirements of Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), Wal-Mart stores set up internal control based on the criteria issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of Treadway Commission. At Target, the role of internal control is also indispensable as the company decides to provide the comprehensive systems of internal control that would lead to reasonable assets assurances. In addition the Audit Committees also pay attention to the system of internal control that consists of accounting practices, financial reporting, and audits to ensure that they are sufficient to protect the shareholders’ investments.
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