6 Disappeared LinkedIn® Partner Applications and What to Do About Them †Part II Amazon Reading List

6 Disappeared LinkedIn ® Partner Applications and What to Do About Them – Part II Amazon Reading List Are you an avid reader? It used to be that you could share your passion easily on LinkedIn with the Amazon Reading List application. With the disappearance of LinkedIn partner applications came the elimination of this option. Amazon Reading List was a valuable way to let people know what type of professional development you were engaged in, as well as to round yourself out as a human being (read any good novels lately?) Many people are wondering how to include a reading list on LinkedIn now that the old method has vanished. I was fortunate to have one of my fellow LinkedIn authors, Patrick Gallagher, (LinkedIn Secrets Revealed) do some research on this topic. He wrote to Amazon and received the following email: Thank you for using Reading List by Amazon and for your patience as we’ve worked to make your book information available after LinkedIn deprecated their application program. Your Reading List information has been preserved and is available for import on Shelfari.com. Shelfari is an Amazon-owned site that helps you keep track of the books you’ve read and are reading, discover new books and interact with other readers. Go to https://www.shelfari.com/addbooks. You can sign in to Shelfari using your Amazon account (or your existing Shelfari account). If you’re already a member, click â€Å"Import Books† from the Your Shelf drop-down on the home page. Click the â€Å"Import Books† from the Your Shelf drop down or go directly to: https://www.shelfari.com/addbooks and you will be guided through importing your books and reviews to your Shelfari bookshelf. I followed these instructions and the process was pretty straightforward. I went to the link provided, www.shelfari.com/addbooks, and created an account. I then entered the same link again and was brought to this screen: When I clicked on IMPORT next to Import Your LinkedIn Reading List, all I had to do was provide my LinkedIn password and my reading list showed up in Shelfari! I then clicked on the Account Settings tab and customized my Shelfari link: Now that I have a link, I can add it to my LinkedIn Profile using the new platform. Here’s how to add a link in the new LinkedIn: In the Summary section, click on the blue box with a + sign in the corner. You will be brought to a box where you can paste a link: After you paste the link, you can provide a title and description: Unfortunately, there’s a small glitch. When I clicked on the link, the following screen appeared: I had to click on Read Original to get to the actual Shelfari list, which looks like this: In Shelfari, you can add books you have read or that you are reading, rate them and review them. I won’t give a tutorial on the website since I think you can figure it out by poking around! If this all seems too complicated, you can do as Patrick Gallagher did and add the Projects section to your profile. You can then create a â€Å"project† called â€Å"Amazon Kindle Book Reading List† or something similar, and list your books there. Here’s Patrick’s list: Another option would be to create a document with your list of books and upload it to Box.net. You can then add a link to the Box.net file on your LinkedIn profile. I will cover more about Box.net in my next entry of this series. Stay tuned, and happy reading! Want to read How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn Profile on Kindle? Curious about Patricks book? Check it out here: Category:Archived ArticlesBy Brenda BernsteinJanuary 28, 2013 2 Comments Laveda says: June 24, 2014 at 7:27 am The nerd in me was thoroughly excited to read this article because the Amazon Reading List was one of my favorite LinkedIn apps and I was a little dishearten to see it wasnt there anymore. Thank you for finding other options to provide a reading list. Ill definitely add one later this week. In all honesty, I enjoyed viewing my LinkedIn network readings on my news feed. That I will always miss. Laveda Log in to Reply The Essay Expert says: June 24, 2014 at 8:16 am Thanks for your comment Laveda. With LinkedIns new Publishing platform, you should once again have easy access to educational content from your network! Log in to Reply

Free Essays on Diversity On Campus

Diversity on Campus Richard J. Light’s book â€Å"Making the Most of College,† can be very beneficial to the freshman student body coming fresh out of high school. This book discusses many issues that first year college students might go through, such as good study skills, interaction with faculty, and diversity on campus. Since all of which Light discusses in his book I’ve already heard before, reading about diversity really caught my attention. After reading this, a question popped into my mind; â€Å"What is the impact, educationally and personally, on students from all ethnic backgrounds of attending college with fellow students from diverse backgrounds?† Since this question applied to me in every way possible, I will use myself, and some of Light’s quotes, to explain how it has impacted on my life thus far. Since I grew up in a town were the majority of the population was Hispanic and/or white, I was never really exposed to the black community. I did have a few co-workers who were black, but I never really developed a friendship with them. Little did I know that this was a major lack of cultural understanding on my part and it eventually caught up to me. As I quote from Light, â€Å"These differences may be substantial. For some students they may be jarring.† (Light, 132) Light states that â€Å"Students point out that how well ethnic and racial diversity actually enhances learning depends largely on how well a college builds on, capitalizes on, and proactively strengthens this basic assumption.† (Light, 133) What he means is depending on how your college addresses diversity issues; it can either affect you in a positive in negative way. If your school does nothing to get different cultures to mingle with each other, then they are not reacting in a very positive way. William Paterson University deals with their diversity in a very positive way. An example of this is how colleges set up their dormitories. Most col... Free Essays on Diversity On Campus Free Essays on Diversity On Campus Diversity on Campus Richard J. Light’s book â€Å"Making the Most of College,† can be very beneficial to the freshman student body coming fresh out of high school. This book discusses many issues that first year college students might go through, such as good study skills, interaction with faculty, and diversity on campus. Since all of which Light discusses in his book I’ve already heard before, reading about diversity really caught my attention. After reading this, a question popped into my mind; â€Å"What is the impact, educationally and personally, on students from all ethnic backgrounds of attending college with fellow students from diverse backgrounds?† Since this question applied to me in every way possible, I will use myself, and some of Light’s quotes, to explain how it has impacted on my life thus far. Since I grew up in a town were the majority of the population was Hispanic and/or white, I was never really exposed to the black community. I did have a few co-workers who were black, but I never really developed a friendship with them. Little did I know that this was a major lack of cultural understanding on my part and it eventually caught up to me. As I quote from Light, â€Å"These differences may be substantial. For some students they may be jarring.† (Light, 132) Light states that â€Å"Students point out that how well ethnic and racial diversity actually enhances learning depends largely on how well a college builds on, capitalizes on, and proactively strengthens this basic assumption.† (Light, 133) What he means is depending on how your college addresses diversity issues; it can either affect you in a positive in negative way. If your school does nothing to get different cultures to mingle with each other, then they are not reacting in a very positive way. William Paterson University deals with their diversity in a very positive way. An example of this is how colleges set up their dormitories. Most col...

Faculty Evaluation Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Faculty Evaluation Development - Essay Example Faculty evaluation usually involves assessment of the faculty members based on a set of performance indicators such as teaching, scholarly activity or creative endeavors, professional development and institutional/university involvement and community service. Such evaluations should use multiple sources including students, peers and the faculty members themselves (Paulsen, 2002). As the chairperson of the Faculty Evaluation Development committee of the University, I would like to co-opt the following members of the committee and for reasons detailed below. 1. All Academic Deans of the university who will be responsible for providing collated data obtained from students, peers, and faculty through the department heads/chairpersons. These data will be used to evaluate each faculty member. The deans will also be entrusted with the responsibility, at the end of the annual performance appraisal, of holding discussions with the faculty members under their jurisdiction to motivate and guide them to better their performance. The department heads/chairpersons, on the other hand, will hold private discussions with each of their faculty members on their assessment and also make discussion on assessment a regular part of departmental faculty meetings. 2. External expert/consultant. This person will be an important component of the committee to deal with the faculty concerns that are bound to be there to the evaluation system. Having an outside consultant as a conduit between faculty and the administration could help overcome faculty resistance to the evaluation process (Arreola, 2007). A consultant could also help to convert the ambivalent faculty. It would help if the consultant is someone preferably trained in educational psychology and of an affable and non-threatening demeanor. Â  

Experiential Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Experiential Marketing - Essay Example Based on the two definitions and in relation to the concept of marketing it is correct to state that experience is an opportunity that enables the audience to get firsthand knowledge on the facts associated with a certain event, product, and or service.The integration of experience to marketing practice led to the emergence of experiential marketing, which is described by Addis and Holbrook as â€Å"a form of advertising that focuses on helping consumers experience a brand.† Experiential marketing is different from the traditional forms of advertising since it engages all the critical senses of a targeted consumer with a particular product or service, thereby giving the targeted consumer a firsthand ‘feel’ of the product or service.This present essay seeks to critically review the nature, role, and development of experiential marketing, evaluate its drawbacks, and discuss its potential contribution to theory and practice. Relationship between stimulus and reaction is a process that led to the notion of experience within the field of marketing, which acknowledges the marketing knowledge that consumers or the target audience already have. It is because of the marketing knowledge that consumers have, that it became necessary for marketers to engage their consumers in a manner that is memorable unlike the traditional forms of marketing. Grundey stated that through this memorable experiences, marketers are able to engage the audience from various fronts that include spirituality, socially, mentally, physically, and emotionally. Through this engagement Grundey (2009 p137) stated that marketers are able to create sensual perception among the target audience, which guarantees them reliability on their observations and/or the facts that they have read. Therefore, it can be argued that because of the marketing knowledge that consumers currently have, it has been impossible to build a trustworthy relationship with them because of their rational behavio r and skepticism on adverts that are purely one-side i.e. mainly communicate about the benefits or advantages of a particular product and/ or service (Katona (1953, p 307-318). By providing an experience in order to communicate to the target audience about the benefits/ advantages of a particular product and/ or services, marketers enable the audience to have an independent view that is devoid of any forceful persuasion (Lee and Overby, 2004, 54-67). This result in the audiences building trust on the business organization and its associated products and/ or services, as it was not in a hurry to influence their purchasing decision but rather it focused more on providing a memorable experience to the audience that can be used to make a rational purchasing decision. Affirming the previously mentioned argument, Shmitt (1999, p 23-54) developed a framework that contained key elements of experiential marketing. One of the elements is sense of which Shmitt (1999 p 58) stated that sense, wh ich is offered through experience is important in differentiating a product/ service and consumers will develop a sense of value on the aforementioned product or service. The second element is ‘feel’ of which Shmitt (1999, p 34) stated that a clear and positive feeling on a particular service or product is capable of influencing its consumption. The third element is ‘think’ and Shmitt (1999, p 41) on this element stated that experiential marketing, accord the target audience an opportunity to conduct a critical and logical thinking on a company and its associated products/ services. The fourth element is ‘

Trade or Not to Trade Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Trade or Not to Trade - Essay Example The major impact can be felt in sectors such as agriculture, automobiles, consumer goods, textiles and fashion accessories, and electronic goods. If one country imports agricultural products at certain costs that may be higher than its original costs, it probably gains by exporting electronic goods by producing the same at lower costs and selling at higher prices. It can save resources, money and time in producing agricultural goods and instead devote more towards production of electronic goods. However, proportionate benefits for all NAFTA countries in terms of labor, environment, and resources cannot be guaranteed through this agreement. These issues were regulated through formation of the NAAEC and NAALC. Initially, for the first 10 years GDP grew steadily and exports by NAFTA countries also increased tremendously. Mexico’s imports rose from 6.8% to 11.6% and earned huge profits by increasing their net trade surplus. Mexico’s per capita income decreased and resulted in loss of millions of jobs in agricultural sector. Mexican exports remained stagnant due to slowdown in US. NAFTA helped in elimination of various other pacts and further improved free trade. For example, the two classes of auto manufacturers, those with Auto pact status and those without were merged into one class after NAFTA came into existence. NAFTA brought about significant impact on cross border trade and increase in exports of raw materials and/or OEMs rather than commodities. Both export and import increased and therefore the productivity; during this process, job losses also increased in Canada in the manufacturing sector. However, job losses in one sector were compensated by creation of jobs in other sectors; this means, enhanced innovation and creativity and greater potential for harnessing unexplored areas resulted from the constraints brought by these trade agreements. Uniformity was not followed in terms of regulations followed by

Strategic Analysis and Strategy Formulation of Tesco

Strategic Analysis and Strategy Formulation of Tesco Jack Cohen founded Tesco in 1919 when he began to sell surplus groceries from a stall in the East End of London. His first days profit was  £1 and sales  £4. The Tesco brand (Tesco Tea) first appeared in 1924. The name comes from the initials of TE Stockwell, who was a partner in the firm of tea suppliers, and CO from Jacks surname. The first Tesco store was opened in 1929 in Burnt Oak in North London, and Tesco was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1947 as Tesco Stores (Holdings) Limited. Nowadays its market capitalisation is about  £35 677 billions, which rank it at the 10th position. The first self-service store opened in St Albans in 1951 (still operational in 2009 as a Metro), and the first self-service supermarket in Maldon in 1956. Originally specialised in food and drink, it has gradually diversified into areas such as clothing, consumer electronics, financial services, telecoms, home, health and car insurance, dental plans, as well as retailing and renting DVDs, CDs, music downloads, Internet services and software. The principal activity of the Group is retailing and associated activities in the UK, the Republic of Ireland, Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Turkey, Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia, Japan, China and the US. The Group also provides retail banking and insurance services through its subsidiary Tesco Personal Finance. Tescos net sales excluding VAT reached  £62.5 billion (US$95 billion) in the financial year to February 2010. Tescos revenues are considerably smaller than Wal-Marts, which reached US$405 billion for the financial year ending January 2010, up by 1% , but they are comparable to Carrefours, whose turnover reached EUR 85.9 billion in 2009 (US$114 billion), down by 1.2%. The Groups selection, training, development and promotion policies ensure equal opportunities for all employees regardless of factors such as gender, marital status, race, age, sexual preference and orientation, colour, creed, ethnic origin, religion or belief, or disability. All decisions are based on merit. Internal communications are designed to ensure that employees are well informed about the business of the Group. Employees are encouraged to become involved in the financial performance of the Group through a variety of schemes, principally the Tesco employee profit-sharing scheme (Shares in Success), the savings-related share option scheme (Save As You Earn) and the partnership share plan (Buy As You Earn). 2. Strategic analysis 4 pillars sustain Tescos strategic positioning in any region of the world SWOT Strengths Supermarkets/hypermarkets, steady growth Private label Established position gives buying power and economies of scale Weaknesses Customer service Relatively small overall market share (just over 3%) Opportunities Different store concepts Room to increase market share Growing demand for premium/imported/organic stuff Car insurance and other non-food products Online shopping Threats Competition intense Saturation: hypermarkets 5 forces: Industry rivalry Very strong Fragmented and competitive market (consumers have wide choice) International retailers and smaller local rivals Threat of substitutes Also supply products (mainly private label) at discount Online retail (new and underdeveloped opportunity) Threat of new entrants Low, saturated, relatively high barriers to entry If large retailers were to start buying up smaller domestic rivals it would be a threat They would be bigger more economies of scale Bargaining power of suppliers Low As the market becomes less fragmented, will get even lower Customers such as Tesco represent large % of their revenue, so Tesco can dictate to suppliers Margins and prices lower with increase in private labels The retail business is very competitive and Tesco is fighting against several different competitors around the world to remain as one of the biggest retailers. A ranking of the different competitors shows that Tesco arrived at the 3rd place, distanced by Carrefour and Wal-Mart, which is much bigger in comparison of all other opponents. We will cast a glance to four main competitors: Wal-Mart, Carrefour, Schwart Beteiligunfs and Seven and I holdings. Wal-Mart is a giant in comparison of other, and that retailing share are slowly improving, around 0,1%, except for Wal-Mart which has a 0,3% growth. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Wal-Mart (New York Stock Exchange) is an American retailer founded in 1962 by Sam Walton. In less than two decades the company was the dominant player on the American market and is nowadays, seen as a titan among other retailers. Its world retailing share is impressive and rose from 3,5 to 3,9% between 2008 and 2009. They had a profit of more than $ 13,4 billion for the year 2009, it is an increase of 5% in a difficult financial context, far ahead of Carrefour and Tesco. Moreover they have a cash flow of more than $ 11 billion, and we can easily imagine that they will be able to easily continue their expansion abroad. They are the main player on the American market and have different size of store : Hypermarkets, supermarkets, discounters, variety stores, mass merchandisers, warehouse clubs, clothing and footwear specialist retailers, internet retailing. Sales are still improving in the US market, probably because of the always low prices policy. A basic SWOT analysis shows: Strengths: Sales and profit, rivals are dwarf in comparison Performance in Latin America: they implemented with success in Brazil and Mexico Weaknesses: Saturation of the large format in the USA. They built as many supercenter as possible, and now have to target a new kind of hypermarket. Dependence on home market: the USA still remains Wal-Marts core activities, and it is quasi impossible to increase significantly its market share in this country. Opportunities: New concept of small stores: until now Wal-Mart is known for its supercenter, which are closer from a warehouse than a supermarket. They tried to developed new types of store, smaller to attract more clients from cities. Existing presence and future in emerging market. Wal-Mart is targeting expansion in Russia, but has a strong presence in Mexico and Brazil. Threats: Corporate image: this is probably the major threat for Wal-Mart. Dozens of articles were published, several movies and books as well to highlight how employee are treated. The company has a very bad image, and an anti union policy. This policy explains the failure of Wal-Mart in Germany. Sources: www.euromonitor.com Carrefour S.A Carrefour (Euronext) is a strong number 2 in the retailing sector, and Tesco clairly explained that its main objective was to take its seat. Even if in comparison of Wal Mart, Carrefour remains a dwarf, it is still far ahead of Tesco. Its world retailing share is between 1,1% in 2008 and 1,2% in 2009, its total net sales reached $ 144 billion in 2008, and those of Tesco were of $ 99 billion. However, Tesco had greater profits, but only in 2009 and due to the fact that Carrefour is facing difficult issues in emerging markets. They recently acquire several competitors in emerging markets, and their integration takes time and is quite costly. But the company will soon see its profit increasing. A SWOT analysis highlights: Strengths: Brand awareness and large size group: the group is well known and has the advantage to be very diversified, they are present on every segment: from the small to giant retailer. International and multi format reach: Carrefour is present in more than 30 countries, among retailing firm it is the one with the strongest presence abroad. Weaknesses: Low margins: they faced price pressure from Tesco abroad and Leclerc in the home market (France). So they are force to reduce their margin. Reliance on Western Europe Market: the company is still using western markets as its main cash cow, the development abroad has been very costly and is still not very profitable. But it is mainly due to a transition period. Opportunities: Recent and future new market entries: recent entry in Russia and Bulgaria will increase profits. The group is also targeting India. Re branding to bring more synergies: until now a lot of shops still had their own names like Champion, Shopià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ There is a new policy of rebranding all shops to gain in visibility. Threats: Challenges from the two largest discounters: Aldi and Schwartz are implementing Carrefours home market: France. There is a growing pressure on prices. Unfavourable economic conditions: even with a catch up of the world economy, some of Carrefour main markets like France, Italy or Spain are likely to have a weak economic growth which could have a negative impact on sales. Sources: www.euromonitor.com Seven I Holdings Co Seven I is the main retailer in Japan, far ahead in front of its main competitor AEON and a world retailing share of 0,7%. Profit for 2008 reached $892.3 million, down by 29% due to difficulties in the Japanese economy. SWOT analysis: Strengths: Brand awareness and efficiency: they are very present in Japan. Global presence, especially in Asia: this company is operating in 17 countries, with special focus on Asian market like South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and Japan. Weaknesses: Under performance in non grocery retailing: in its store non grocery items represent 32% of sales, and this kind of product make the group more vulnerable. Heavy reliance on Japan: the group is in a tight corner, Japan remains its main cash cow and they need to diversify their funding sources. Opportunities: Growth opportunities in emerging market: the presence in China might be increased if they receive an authorization for franchising. They also have expansion plans in Thailand, but nowadays it might be risky due to political trouble. More synergy and economies of scale : among all its subsidiaries they can still improve economies of scale between brands and internet retailing. Threats: Price battle: there is an intensive price battle in Japan. AEON and Wal Mart developed aggressive pricing strategies, and forced Seven to reduce its margin. Japan might face demographic and economic difficulties. There is an ageing population and it could turn as a threat for this retail firm. Sources: www.euromonitor.com Schwarz Beteiligungs Gmbh Schwartz is a German firm mainly active in the hypermarket and discounter business. It is mainly known for its discount branch Lidl. It ranked 8th among global retailer, with a constant world retailing share of 0,6%, but it is the first discounter. Its main competitor is Aldi, ranked at 10th place. It is a family group and has a secret policy, so they do not release publicly the profit results, but the group cash flow reached $ 1,7 billion for 2008. SWOT analysis: Strengths: Group ownership and store concept: the group remains the propriety of one family, so they are well protected from takeover threats and shareholder pressure which could affect a long term strategy. Broad presence in Easter Europe: there is an important presence of the company in eastern Europe with two different brands, far ahead from its competitor Aldi, but still far behind other important competitors like Tesco or Carrefour. Weaknesses: International development confined in Europe: the group is present in Europe, but has no presence in any emerging market like BRICS. Bad corporate image: accused of spying its employee in Germany in 2008. Opportunities: New store formats and internet retailing: the group can develop new format in Europe which are saturated market. Extend presence in Easter Europe: expansion in Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria could generate important profits increase. Threats: Price wars: most of the discounters are engaged in a price wars to gain more and more customers, it could be a important threat because they are force to reduce their margin. Intensive competition among discounters. Sources: www.euromonitor.com Tesco is present in numerous different markets. We couldnt present all of them. So we choose the most strategic for the company in term of sales and profit, and we also add China and the USA because they are two giants market. We didnt show Tescos market share in Japan, because its present is not very important, the company is not in the top twenty retailers, the market is strongly dominated by Seven and AEON. A rapid overview of the table shows that Tesco expansion abroad is very successful. Indeed, in most of the case Tesco is number one in term of market share (Hungary, Czech Republic, Thailand), or number three (Poland and South Korea). Furthermore, in its home market Tesco is an unquestionable leader with more than 13,4% of market share. Abroad Tesco met its goal; the abroad expansion was always leaded by the motto abroad expansion is only justified to become number one, and in several markets like Czech Republic and Hungary, Tesco beneficiated of the first mover advantage. Tesco is definitely the most influent retailing firm in CEE countries, even if in Poland retailers like Biedronka or Carrefour are serious competitors. In comparison, results in China and in the USA might be seen as counter performance, but we have to adopt a relativist posture. China is a very competitive market, the market leader is GOME Electrical Appliances Holding Ltd, and has only 0,9% of market share. The first European firm is Auchan China, ranked at the 4th place and with 0,8% of market share. All competitors are in a tight corner, and no one can dominate the market. In the United State, Wal Mart dominates the market, and all others are dwarf in comparison. Becoming the market leader in the USA is an unrealistic goal. 3. Strategy formulation Tesco has a well-established and consistent strategy for growth, which has allowed them to strengthen their core UK business and drive expansion into new markets. The rationale for the strategy is to broaden the scope of the business to enable it to deliver strong, sustainable long-term growth by following the customer into large expanding markets at home such as financial services, non-food and telecoms and new markets abroad, initially in Central Europe and Asia, and more recently in the United States. The strategy to diversify the business was laid down in 1997 and has been the foundation of Tescos success in recent years. The objectives of the strategy are: To be a successful international retailer To grow the core UK business To be as strong in non-food as in food To develop retailing services such as Tesco Personal Finance, Telecoms and tesco.com To put community at the heart Their long term strategy is pictured in this Steering Wheel scheme: Source: Tesco Annual Report 09 Tesco is implemented in 14 countries, employing 470,000 people and has 4  331 stores worldwide. Source: Tesco Annual Report 09 First, in order to increase sales, Tesco needs to sell more products to existing customers in existing stores. In order to do so, the company has divided its offer into two main streams: products and services. Food and non-food products (fuel, closing, household, health beauty and entertainment goods) are leveraged by private labels programs. Customer segmentation was enhanced by the introduction in 1995 of the companys loyalty card, Tesco Clubcard, which provides benefits and discount to the firms regular customers. In addition, it provides a solid database on the customers needs and profiles. This substantial database is currently used to target identified customers segments by launching private labels which are sub-brands. Tescos Corporate Strategy can be summarized with this statement: Tesco has pulled off a trick that as no any other retailer. That is to appeal to all segments of the market. Tescos Private labels targeting identified segments: Source: Tesco: A case of retailing excellence-Coriolis Research On the other hand, services were expanded into four kinds: Tesco Financial Services named Tesco Bank which is 50/50 joint venture with Royal Band of Scotland. Products on offer include credit cards, loans, mortgages, savings accounts and several types of insurance, including car, home, life and travel; Travel Services: Focused on low-cost packages and travel deals. Joint-venture with Travelcare (UKs largest independent travel agency); iVillage.com: Shopping and information website for women in the UK. Tesco initially acquired a 50% stake and later 100%. It expanded the brand into magazines and books. Tesco Telecom: Home telephone and Internet services offering lower prices than British Telecom. Moreover, they launched a 50/50 Joint Venture with O2 to provide mobile phones services. A similar service has since been launched in Ireland and Slovakia. However, Tesco has not purchased or built a telecoms network, but instead has pursued a strategy of pairing its marketing strength with the expertise of existing telecoms operators. Second, Tesco developed new store formats to capture more customers. It was designed in order to suit varied shopping patterns of their customers. Its store portfolio was splitted into four different store formats: Express: Tesco Express stores are neighbourhood convenience shops, stocking mainly food with an emphasis on higher-margin products (due to small store size, and the necessity to maximise revenue per square foot) alongside everyday essentials. They are found in busy city centre districts, small shopping precincts in residential areas, small towns and on petrol station forecourts. Metro: High street store/shops in large city centre shopping areas aimed at workers, shoppers and local residents. Tesco Metro stores are sized between Tesco superstores and Tesco Express stores. The first Tesco Metro was opened in Covent Garden, London in 1992. Superstore stores offer a full range and many non-food products. These are standard large supermarkets, stocking groceries and a much smaller range of non-food goods than Extra stores. Extra hypermarkets are very large stores offering the maximum food and non-food range situated mainly out-of-town. Their number of these is now being increased by about 20 a year. Newer Tesco Extra stores are usually on two floors, with the ground floor for mainly food and the first floor for clothing, electronics and entertainment. Older stores have all sales on one floor and a cafe on a large upper balcony. In addition, Tesco became the world leader in e-grocery. Tesco has operated on the internet since 1994 and was the first retailer in the world to offer a robust home shopping service in 1996. Tesco.com was formally launched in 2000. It also has online operations in the Republic of Ireland and South Korea. Grocery sales are available within delivery range of selected stores, goods being hand-picked within each store. Third, Tesco expanded on global level. By the mid-90s Tesco realized that the UK retail market was saturated and the growth opportunities would be few. This necessity to expand its business, which was financed with its UKs operations profits, has to be leveraged by 5 prerequisites framing the market. It has to be a large market meaning that it must add significant scale to existing U.K business; The market has to be growing in order to participate in strong organic growth; Retail market has to be underdeveloped which means that there would be an underdeveloped competition and a large availability of premium location store; Opportunities for mass merchandise have to be high in order to use hypermarkets as the vehicle for growth, and thus skip the supermarket phase; Tesco seeks a direct market-leading position usually associated with higher returns. By the mid 90s, Tesco realized that the UK market is saturated and it would offer few opportunities for growth. To continue its success in the retail business, the company recognized the necessity to expand its retail business in the international markets. First, it has targeted the developing markets in Asia and Central-Eastern Europe. Then it decided to enter some developed market such as Japan in 2003 and the United States in 2007. After selling its operations in 1986, Tesco re-entered the Irish market in 1997 after the purchase of Power Supermarkets Ltd. Now it operates from 101 stores. They offer a home delivery shopping service as well as petrol, mobile telephone, personal finance, flower delivery service and a weight-loss programme. Also available is Tescos loyalty programme, the Clubcard. Tesco is now the grocery market leader in the Republic of Ireland. Tesco Ireland also claims to be the largest purchaser of Irish food with an estimated à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬1.5 billion annually. Tesco opened its first store in the Czech Republic in 1996 and now has over 84 stores, with further planned. Tesco opened its first stores in the Czech Republic by buying Kmarts operations for  £79 millions and converting them into Tesco stores. The retail sector in Czech Republic was highly fragmented which attracted Tesco to implement in this country (50 retailers covering about 20% of the total market). Tesco is also keen to expand non-food items and has already opened petrol stations and offers personal finance services in the Czech Republic. In 1995 Tesco launched in Hungary its first operation abroad, after purchasing US Kmarts operations. It also opened its first hypermarket in Hungary in the same year. Tesco operates through 101 stores in Hungary with further openings planned. Tesco offers its value, standard, healthy living and finest range in its stores. Tesco Hungary also offers a clothing line and personal finance services. Tesco entered the Polish market also in 1995. It currently operates from 334 stores. Tesco Poland offers the value, healthy living and own branded line of products as well as regional produce, petrol, personal finance services and on-line photo processing. In 1996 Tesco expanded in Slovakia. Now days there are 48 stores. They plan to introduce Tesco Express like local stores. Tesco Slovakia has recently put great emphasis on organic products. However, Tesco Slovakia caused controversy amongst the Slovak government when it was found to have come foul of food safety laws in 2006. In the year 2010 were in Tesco Extra in Bratislava opened the first self-service cash flow, which is also the first of its kind in Central Europe. Tesco entered Turkey in November 2003 by acquiring 5 hypermarkets of Kipa. Tesco remains focused on building infrastructure in Turkey to complete its expansion plans and has already introduced the Tesco Express format. There are plans to increase the rate of expansion as basic infrastructure is built. Lets just remind that Tesco has a small outlet in Calais, France since 1992. It is selling wine, beer and spirits in a single store of 1  400 m ². In 1999 Tesco bought 51% stake in the supermarket retailer Homeplus, which is a part of Samsung, to enter South Korea. The company had focused its location around Seouls developed region in order to become the countrys leading food retailer. Currently Tesco holds 94,6% of the shares in the venture. It operates hypermarkets as well as a home delivery shopping service. It is the second largest retailer in South Korea, just behind Shinsegae Group. On 14 May 2008, Tesco agreed to purchase 36 hypermarkets with a combination of food and non-food products from E-Land for $1.9  billion ( £976  million) in its biggest single acquisition, making Tesco the second largest in the country. The majority of the E-Land stores formerly belonged to French retailer Carrefour before 2006 and most of the stores will be converted to Tesco Homeplus outlets. Tescos South Korean discount store chain, Home Plus, currently has 66 outlets. Tesco entered China in 2004 by acquiring 50% ownership of Hymall, a Taiwan based hypermarket operator. In December 2006 it raised its stake to 90% in a  £180  million deal. Most of Tesco Chinas stores are based around Shanghai. However, Tesco plans to equip the business to expand more quickly and in different areas and take advantage of one of the largest market in the world. Tesco has been increasing its own brand products into the Chinese market as well as introducing the Tesco Express format. Tesco entered Japan in 2003, even though it is the second biggest food market after the US. In fact, the company considered that Japanese market has a strong potential, as it consisted of large number of consumers with high disposable income. Thus, they bought 78 stores of C Two stores for  £139  million in July 2003 by a buy-out. Later on April 2004 they bought stores from Frec. Tesco has adopted an approach which focuses on small corner shops operating similarly to its Express format rather than opening hypermarkets. It has also launched its range of software in Japan. Tesco opened its first store in Malaysia in May 2002 with the opening of its first hypermarket in Puchong, Selangor. It bought a 70% stake of Sime Darby, Malaysias oldest industrial group, to form Tesco Stores. Tesco Malaysia currently operates 32 Tesco and Tesco Extra stores. One third of total shops are in Selanagor with 11 stores. Tesco also acquired Makro, a local wholesaler which was rebranded Tesco Extra and provides products for local retailers. Tesco Malaysia offers a value range; own branded range, electronic goods, the loyalty clubcard and clothing. Tesco Malaysias clubcard introduced Green ClubCard Points in 2007 making Tesco Malaysia to be the first Tesco international business to introduce the scheme. Tesco entered Thailand in 1998 and operates through 380 stores as part of a joint venture with Charoen Pokphand and named the operation Tesco Lotus. This partnership was dissolved in 2003 when Charoen Pokphand sold its shares to Tesco. Tesco Lotus sells a diverse range of products from value food products to electronics to personal finance services. The company is keen to promote its green values and has partnered with the UNEP. Tesco Lotus claims to serve 20 million customers every month and that 97% of its goods are sourced from Thailand in order to fit local needs. In December 2000, Tesco acquired shops of Mackro Asia and entered Taiwan market. It offered special value lines targeting specific customer segments. However, in September 2005 Tesco announced that it was selling its operations to Carrefour and purchasing Carrefours stores in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Both companies stated that they were concentrating their efforts in countries where they had strong market positions. In February 2006, Tesco announced its intention to move into the United States market, opening a chain of grocery convenience stores on the West Coast (Arizona, California and Nevada) in 2007 named Fresh Easy. Tesco purchased a 130,000  square metres (1,400,000  sq  ft) distribution centre in Riverside Country. The company established its U.S. headquarters in El Segundo, California. The first store opened in November 2007 with 100 more expected in the first year. They plan to open a new one every two-and-a-half days in the United States, to mimic the successful expansion of pharmacy chains such as Walgreens in the U.S. Currently Fresh Easy operates 135 stores in the United States. The company announced plans to open stores in wealthy suburbs of the Pakistans capital cities, Islamabad and Karachi. These new stores will be wholesale cash-and-carry businesses. They will compete with Makro and Carrefour who already operate in Pakistan and have done so for many years. Tesco have not yet ruled out plans to open stores in an Express format, though this format would cater more towards the countrys growing middle class. In addition, the project of implementing in Croatia is under construction. In 2009, Tescos International business delivered a very strong performance, helped in part by favourable exchange rate movements during the year, and excluding the United States contributed 51% of the growth in Group sales and 45% of the growth in Group trading profit. Total International sales grew strongly by 30.6% at actual exchange rates to  £17.9bn ( £13.7bn in 2008) and by 13.6% at constant exchange rates. Sales growth slowed in Europe during the second half, which reflected deteriorating economic conditions in a number of markets. In contrast, sales growth in Asia accelerated, driven by the acquisition of the 36 Homever stores in South Korea at the start of the second half. Finally, we can notice in this Group Sales/Space by Region chart that Tesco keep UKs market as their core business Source: Tesco Annual Report 09 4. Recommendations for long term strategic positioning for Tesco in Poland Be as strong in non-food as in food Develop retailing services such as Tesco Personal Finance, Telecoms and tesco.com Develop online shopping Improve customer service Acquire domestic small chain from traditional trade to reach consumers in small towns Open more Tesco Express in the cities for people looking for proximity Open delicatessen like stores Open small inside restaurants in the supermarkets

Is the World Developing a Homogenous Culture? Essay -- Globalization

Introduction In response to globalization, many critics have become concerned with its effects on other cultures. Globalization is not merely the sharing of goods and people, but also the spread of ideology and values. So, what happens when the ideologies of different nations conflict? For those who support the cultural imperialism theory, the answer is simple? The more powerful countries’ ideas prevail, forcing the people of the less powerful country to quickly abandon their former ideas and adapt to the new ones. The result is that authentic cultures are ruined which will lead to a global homogeneous culture. However, those who oppose this theory contend that cultures are not ruined but expanded and enhanced to create more complex and diverse societies. In my paper I examined both arguments as well as the way in which American popular culture is spread. In particular, I will focus on the impact of American influence in Japan and Korea, both of which have been receptive to Americ an culture, and France. Most often, scholars cite media and business as the main form of cultural imperialism, but what is the true effect of watching American television and movies, listening to music, or eating a Big Mac? I don’t believe that there is a significant impact because while people from other cultures may emulate common American images and ideas, they also find different ways to adapt these new ideas into their traditional culture. These different methods of adaptation will lead to an even more complex global culture instead of a homogeneous one, while concepts of ethnocentrism will maintain diversity. Theories First, what is culture? Furthermore, is it destructible? Marvin Harris and Orna Johnson, the authors of Cultural A... ...cohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=16&hid=107&sid=c517a5a1-cad3-4e0a- 8850-8b75290ad3cc@sessionmgr114&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ== Rauth, R. (1988). The myth of cultural imperialism. The Freeman, 38(11), Retrieved from http://www.thefreemanonline.org/columns/the-myth-of-cultural-imperialism/ Rinaman, K. (n.d.). French film quotas and cultural protectionism . Retrieved from http://www1.american.edu/ted/frenchtv.htm Rothkopf, D. (1997). In praise of cultural imperialism?. Foreign Policy, (107), Retrieved from http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/protected/rothkopf.html Top 10 ways kfc in japan is different from kfc in the us . (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.facingtherisingsun.com/japan-travel-tips-eating/japan-kfc-different U.S. Department of State. (2012, March 5). U.s. department of state. Retrieved from http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/4142.htm Is the World Developing a Homogenous Culture? Essay -- Globalization Introduction In response to globalization, many critics have become concerned with its effects on other cultures. Globalization is not merely the sharing of goods and people, but also the spread of ideology and values. So, what happens when the ideologies of different nations conflict? For those who support the cultural imperialism theory, the answer is simple? The more powerful countries’ ideas prevail, forcing the people of the less powerful country to quickly abandon their former ideas and adapt to the new ones. The result is that authentic cultures are ruined which will lead to a global homogeneous culture. However, those who oppose this theory contend that cultures are not ruined but expanded and enhanced to create more complex and diverse societies. In my paper I examined both arguments as well as the way in which American popular culture is spread. In particular, I will focus on the impact of American influence in Japan and Korea, both of which have been receptive to Americ an culture, and France. Most often, scholars cite media and business as the main form of cultural imperialism, but what is the true effect of watching American television and movies, listening to music, or eating a Big Mac? I don’t believe that there is a significant impact because while people from other cultures may emulate common American images and ideas, they also find different ways to adapt these new ideas into their traditional culture. These different methods of adaptation will lead to an even more complex global culture instead of a homogeneous one, while concepts of ethnocentrism will maintain diversity. Theories First, what is culture? Furthermore, is it destructible? Marvin Harris and Orna Johnson, the authors of Cultural A... ...cohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=16&hid=107&sid=c517a5a1-cad3-4e0a- 8850-8b75290ad3cc@sessionmgr114&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ== Rauth, R. (1988). The myth of cultural imperialism. The Freeman, 38(11), Retrieved from http://www.thefreemanonline.org/columns/the-myth-of-cultural-imperialism/ Rinaman, K. (n.d.). French film quotas and cultural protectionism . Retrieved from http://www1.american.edu/ted/frenchtv.htm Rothkopf, D. (1997). In praise of cultural imperialism?. Foreign Policy, (107), Retrieved from http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/protected/rothkopf.html Top 10 ways kfc in japan is different from kfc in the us . (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.facingtherisingsun.com/japan-travel-tips-eating/japan-kfc-different U.S. Department of State. (2012, March 5). U.s. department of state. Retrieved from http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/4142.htm