The Story of Jane Addams

Growing up without a mother and having a very prosperous father is quite a combination. Jane Addams had to deal with that, served her life and made the best of it. Addams did what she loved. Starting and having very much progression in a settlement house was her dream. The Hull-House helped the underprivileged people, people who needed attention, care, and love. Addams provided that and much more. Ever decide that if you wanted to do something real bad, you would know you would be doing it in the end? Saving lives, protecting families, helping the disabled, provide clubs and museums, and encourage communication. Then, the future is here and you are doing what you love. Occupation is a passion and your place of work! Born in Cedarville, IL, in 1860, Jane Addams had some rock times in her childhood. Addams was the eighth child born of nine others. Mr. Addams was a prosperous miller, local political leader as state senator for sixteen years, and he fought as an officer in the civil war. When Addams was two years old, her mother died of childbirth. At age seven, her father remarried causing her to distant the relationship between her and her father. As the years went on Jane Addams had her ups and downs. But that did not stop her from her succeeding. Addams did not go to her choice college, Smith College. She was sent to Rockford Female Seminary, a college mounted on Mount Holyoke College, which set students up from missionary work. She graduated with the class of 1882. The first graduating class of Rockford. In the next six years, she studied medicine, but has to leave due to poor health. In this process she was faced with a dilemma. Her father†s sudden death, only person she depended on the most, caused her stepmother to claim her. Addams education needed serious work while family issues and illnesses caused even more pressure. Also, Addams heath was not that good either. She has had several years of neurotic illness. She extended the American Girl†s Tour of Europe to two years of travel and study of reading and writing from 1883 to 1885. Addams working on avoiding family issues, she and a couple of college friend returned to Europe in 1887. Ellen Starr and Addams returned to the United States in 1889 and opened a settlement house after ending her studies. In 1889, Addams and Starr opened a home by Charles Hull in Chicago. The purpose of this settlement house was to â€Å"provide a center for a higher civic and social life; to institute and maintain educational and philanthropic enterprises and to investigate and improve the conditions in the industrial districts of Chicago. † Addams and Starr made speech, raised money, took care of children, helped the sick, listened to trouble individuals, and more. By the second year of the Hull-House, they have two thousand people that come every week. There were many programs they provided. Kindergarten classes, adult classes, club meetings for older children, nigh school. Many facilities were added to the settlement house also. The first that was added was an art gallery, the second was a public kitchen, then a coffeehouse, a gym, more and more was added as the years went on on help the people. Jane Addams was eventually a known woman of progress, great progress. People knew who she was, she became famous. In 1905, she was appointed to Chicago†s Board of education and made chairmen of School Management Committee. In 1909 she became the first women president of the National Conference of Charities and Corrections. In 1910, she received an honorary degree ever awarded to a women at Yale University. Addams believed strongly in women†s right and they should speak out, hear a woman†s point of view. She was involved in many, many programs and took charge in many of them. In 1926, Addams suffered from a heart attack and never fully recovered. She†s remembered and thank. She helped society greatly and helped people smile in the end. The Hull-House was on great accomplishment of her many. On December 11 1931, the day she won the first Noble Peace Prize ever awarded to a women, she in the hospital and couldn†t make it. May 21, 1935, Addams dies of an unsuspected cancer. She was buried in her childhood town of Cedarville, IL. The Hull-House was a huge establishment Jane Addams held. It was very popular and helped save many and to just be happy. Addams accomplished a lot in her life and died a proud woman. She will and is remembered.

Immigration Outline Essay

About 40% of illegal immigrants enter legally and then overstay d. Crime rate viii. .2011 saw 396,906 deportations ix. 216,698 had been convicted of crimes x. 44,653 convicted of â€Å"drug-related crimes† xi. 35,927 convicted of  driving under the influence xii. 5,848 convicted of  sexual offenses xiii. 1,119 convicted of  homicide III. Impacts: d. Economic xiv. They pay $7 billion in social security e. Law inforcement and expenses xv. costs $90 a day to keep them in detention facilities xvi. Identity theft  is sometimes committed by illegal immigrants who use  social security numbers  belonging to others xvii. f. Enviorment xviii. 45 abandoned cars on the Buenos Aires refuge near  Sasabe, Arizona  and enough trash that a volunteer couple filled 723 large bags with 18,000 pounds of garbage over two months in 2002. â€Å"[132] xix. Illegal immigrants trying to get to the United States via the Mexican border with southern Arizona are suspected of having caused eight major  wildfires  in 2002. The fires destroyed 68,413 acres (276. 86  km2) and cost taxpayers $5. 1 million to fight g. National security xx. out of the 48  al-Qaeda  operatives who committed crimes here between 1993 and 2001, 12 of them were illegal aliens when they committed their crimes, xxi. seven of them were visa overstayers, xxii. four of the 9/11 terrorists. Were illegal immigrants xxiii. llegal immigrants within the United States have attempted to carry out other terrorist attacks as well. IV. Democratic view on Illegal immigration: h.

Project Management Organizational Structures Paper

A project organization is a structure that facilitates the coordination and implementation of project activities. Its main incentive is to create an environment that encourages interactions among the project personnel with a minimum amount of distractions, overlaps and conflicts. At the start of every project, it is important to first select the organization structure. On the basis of unique characteristics of the project, each project structure various forms its own advantages and disadvantages. The main goal of an organizational structure is to reduce confusion and uncertainty that is almost certain to occur in a project’s early stages. The structure defines the relationships among members of the project management and the relationships it has with its stakeholders. It does this by using an organizational chart. There are three organizational structures that will be the focus of this paper and they are functional structure, matrix structure and pure project structure. There are many project considerations that need to be taken into account when choosing a project management structure. The size of the project is one of the main concerns since it is an all encompassing topic that needs to be addressed early on in the timeline. Next is strategic importance. Who or what stands to gain from the success of this project? There is also the need for innovation and technology. Projects are sometimes meant to break boundaries and existing resources might not be able to cut it. The project manager needs to see if the required technologies will be developing along side the project to ensure it’s on time completion. Also, there is the need for integration, which is if multiple departments need to be involved. Sometimes departments run on different schedules and uniting them together means some very tricky scheduling. Having this schedule written up and agreed upon by all departments can make this much easier to accomplish. There is also environmental complexity, which is the number of external interfaces that could possibly affect the project during the course of its construction. Things like the weather, the government or people are some examples of things that need to be analyzed carefully to ensure they do not cause any significant delays. Lastly, and certainly the most important, is budget and time constraints and the stability of those resources. A project cannot go beyond just a blueprint of an idea without the time and money eeded to make it take shape. Sometimes a company needs to prepare for years in order to raise the required resources to even begin a project. It would not be hard imagine the forethought that goes into this. Also, finding the available time to dedicate to the project is a difficult task itself. How can a company allot time to a project without it hampering its everyday tasks? What good is a project if the resources going into cripple the company it is for? It is a delicate balance to maintain which cannot be decided on a whim. Once all of these concerns have been thought through, a management structure can finally be decided on. Each structure has its own advantages and disadvantages, which makes choosing the structures a fairly complicated task. Let us go through each of them to see what they are capable of allowing managers to do. The functional structure allows employees within the functional divisions of a company to perform a set of specialized tasks. Each department is staffed with the appropriate employees. Engineers stay in the engineering department and human resources stay in HR. It is a very clear cut method to keep the right people in the right place doing the job they are suited to do. The one downside to this structure is that there is very little communication between the different divisions. If there is an urgent change that needs to be done, it is very likely that all the divisions would be able to react at the same time. A functional structure is best suited for a producer of standardized goods and services in large volumes at low costs. Every department knows what it needs to do and how to do it. Let the divisions work on their specific tasks is basically the motto of this structure. The next structure to discuss is the matrix structure. In a matrix structure, employees are grouped based on function and product. The employees are selected based on strengths and weaknesses so that the entire group can cover for each other and form an effective team with all its bases covered. Individuals are chosen according to the needs to of the project and the project managers of each group are directly responsible for completing the project within the agreed upon deadline and budget. There are downsides however. Since every group has its own project manager, there can sometimes be a conflict between them over the allocation of resources. One group might need more money or time to finish their tasks, but that would leave the other groups with less to work with. Also, the independence granted to each of the groups can make it difficult to monitor them all if the need arises. Lastly, costs can increase exponentially if each group has more and more managers and sub managers. The last structure is pure project which gives the project manager total control over the project they oversee. Simply put, a pure project organization might also be termed a task force. In the case of a pure project, the leader of this task force would have to be given total authority for a limited period to solve a particular problem. The pure project structure offers powerful advantages of clear project authority, access to special expertise, project focus and priority. This also simplifies project communications since all messages and concerns are taken directly to the leader for them to look over and decide upon. The disadvantages, on the other hand, include a duplication of effort, intercompany rivalries, uncertain reintegration of resources and unclear motivations and loyalties. If a project has an all powerful leader, the project essentially becomes their project. It can potentially steer the project on a course that the rest of the staff does not agree with. This is another source of significant delays and can change what the project is about and affect its chances of success. All of these structures have their own strengths and weaknesses, which have to be adapted to the projects they support. A simply error in selecting the wrong one can spell disaster for a project before it even has a chance to start. A manager should look at every aspect of a project, both in the current time and in the near future; to decide which structure will give it the best chance to accomplish its objectives. After all, the structure is made to help the project along, not drag it down.

Business insurance and how it affact on the taxes Essay

Business insurance and how it affact on the taxes - Essay Example The tax on insurance premium does not in reality have an effect on the individual policy holder in drastic ways. The more flourishing an insurance cover provider is, the higher their taxation on the insurance premium. Both IRS publication 334 (small business tax guide) and IRS publication 535(business expenses) are readily available in the internet and are a perfect resource for many business owners. Certain types of enterprises should be cautious, and make sure they get skilled tax assistance when they are preparing their income and when they are listing their premium deductions. This is as a result of the tax avoidance schemes which have been caught by IRS over the years. These unscrupulous people have made taxation in businesses exceedingly difficult no for everyone i.e. even for the fair tax payers. There is two common set of laws that are usually applied during the deduction of premiums. One of these laws is that insurance premiums have to be to the advantage of the enterprise and should be intended for a business purpose. The other is that, insurance covers benefitting groups e.g. managers, employees and owners alike and identifying the enterprise, are good. Those premiums that are paid for the advantage of one, normally the owner of the business are bad. There are a number of commonly accepted premium deductions. One of these is credit insurance. Credit insurance is used to cover losses from bad debts for business in order for it to continue running its activities. Another one is group hospitalization and employees’ medical insurance. This one also includes the long term care insurance. Liability insurance is also another one. It helps to protect the business from any losses which would arise from the liabilities within the business. Malpractice insurance also accepts premium deduction. This insurance covers one on personal liabilities for professional

Economics Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Economics Paper - Essay Example The product or service a firm offers is usually the only one present in the market, therefore, the distinction between a firm and an industry becomes blurred. The firm becomes synonymous to its product/service and to the industry. Monopolistic market deviates from a perfect competition market. A perfect competition market is characterized by infinite number of competing firms, many product/service offerings, and perfectly elastic demand, to name a few. Monopolistic market, on the other hand, has a single firm, limited number of product/service, and a relatively inelastic demand. The differences between the two are greatly felt from the point of view of the consumer in a monopolistic market who has a limited choice of product/service, supply, and unregulated price. Since the product/service offered by a firm in a monopolistic market is usually the only available choice, product/service substitutes are usually absent. It is difficult to find a product/service that closely resembles the one offered by a firm in a monopolistic market. Consumers are left with a choice of either buying the product the firm offers, buy a poor substitute (if a competition is present), or not buy at all (which is unlikely since the product/service offered in a monopolistic market is usually a basic need or commodity). A firm in a monopolistic market determines the price since it is the only supplier present. As opposed to a perfect competition environment where buyers/consumers dictate the price, a firm in a monopolistic market has the solitary control of price (i.e. price maker). Where there are more players in the market, more choices are offered to consumers; hence, the power to control the price is left at the hands of consumers. In a monopolistic market, the power lies in the hands of a single firm. Monopolistic competitive market is occupied by many competing firms while

Protecting Environment via Civil Regulating of Firms Behaviour Dissertation

Protecting Environment via Civil Regulating of Firms Behaviour - Dissertation Example This essay discusses that there are essentially three actors in environmental regulation: governments, businesses and civil society. The three actors in environmental regulation do not function separate and apart from one another as the three interact to formulate regulatory and enforcement frameworks for environmental protection. The role of civil society can be direct in terms of putting pressure on business firms to adopt environmental friendly policies or by putting pressure on governments to implement and enforce tighter environmental protection policies. Civil society has been receiving increasing attention as governments have been losing authority and resources. Civil society has been viewed as either a suitable replacement for directly regulating environmental practices by governments or a complement to state regulation of firm’s behaviour relative to the environment. This paper examines the feasibility of replacing states’ regulation of environmental behaviour by firms with civil society forms of regulation. This paper is therefore divided into three parts. The first part of this paper identifies and analyses the concerns relative the environment as a result of the behaviour of businesses. The second part of the paper analyses traditional approaches to environmental protection and thus the regulating of businesses’ environmental behaviour. The third and final part of this study analyses arguments for civil society’s involvement in the regulation of the environmental behaviour of business organizations.... role of civil society can be direct in terms of putting pressure on business firms to adopt environmental friendly policies or by putting pressure on governments to implement and enforce tighter environmental protection policies.5 Civil society has been receiving increasing attention as governments have been losing authority and resources. Civil society has been viewed as either a suitable replacement for directly regulating environmental practices by governments or a complement to state regulation of firm’s behaviour relative to the environment.6 This paper examines the feasibility of replacing states’ regulation of environmental behaviour by firms with civil society forms of regulation. This paper is therefore divided into three parts. The first part of this paper identifies and analyses the concerns relative the environment as a result of the behaviour of businesses. The second part of the paper analyses traditional approaches to environmental protection and thus the regulating of businesses’ environmental behaviour. The third and final part of this study analyses arguments for civil society’s involvement in the regulation of the environmental behaviour of business organizations. The Environment and Firms’ Behaviour By the 1980s, â€Å"social anxieties† associated with the environment, including the creation of nuclear power, advances in medicine, biology and chemicals intensified.7 Invariably, any factor connected with compromising the environment is related to nature and as such fits into Beck’s theory of risk society which takes the position that the risk society begins where nature is in danger of ending. 8 To this end, the risk society provides a conceptual framework for examining what mankind has done to nature rather than inquiring as to what

Acting and Performance in Films Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Acting and Performance in Films - Term Paper Example The profound performance by late Hollywood actor Heath Ledger puts life into the movie in a spectacular way that makes the actor and the movie both memorable to the audience. The social commentaries on the film contain few issues that are the key factors of controversy in this movie. The theme of romantic relationships between the two men is a primal point of focus in this film, which seems to rupture the conventional definition of relationship. The relationship that had sprouted long back between the two men could not come to its full bloom due to several social barriers. Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) get married to, two women – Alma Beers (Michelle Williams) and Laureen Newsome (Anne Hathaway). The strain and ambiguity in relationship is clear from this action of the two men. Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist are two farm associates, who are hired to take care of the thousands of grazing sheep, but these two men are extremely distinct by nature. Jack Twist is sparkling and emotional, while Ennis hardly talks, or frequently mumbles somewhat in a grumpy way. The ambience of a cold night, a little alcohol acts as the stimulant factors and they come across a sexual soiree that none of them ever expected. At a very young age, Ennis father had taught him about a firm example that tells the dire consequences that homosexuals face in the West. Therefore Ennis considers this incident as a one-time phenomenon. Jack is more certain about the feelings of this relationship and he is ready to explore them further. After their summer work comes to an end, they depart in their different ways and carry on their individual family lives. Ennis gets wedded and has two kids. Jack returns to the rodeo. After four years, they get back to each other, and are instantly set to revital ize their summer liaison. "Going fishing on Brokeback

Article abstract assignments Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Article abstract assignments - Essay Example In addition, the author uses the empirical studies to ascertain his conclusion on league variations in terms of competitive balance. Notably, lee identifies the effect of, open and closed leagues, intra-seasonal and inter-seasonal measures, and winning percentages aspects on competitive balance. Lee’s methodologies have successfully proved the parity effects of the 1193. Critical assessment of the author on other research and studies appreciates the effect of the 1993 Collective Bargain Agreement for its contributions towards a competitive balance. National football league commitments have led to inter-frachise balance. Although a number of factors are related to competitive balance, CBA triggered an increase in competitive balance. Lee’s review distinguish the different levels of competitive balance in the leagues The author explains the different aspects and factors affecting variations in performance and competitive balance, but used probability analysis in some parts instead of facts. However, there are drawbacks of the report by lee. One of the drawbacks is that the empirical method used arbitrary teams, which might have distorted the overall results owing to the fact that different teams differ in terms of rules and regulation not included on the review. Second, the author should have incorporated and compared other Football league associations to come into concise conclusions regarding competitive balance in NFL aster the 1993

History Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

History Analysis - Essay Example Imperialism is also always associated with the autocratic rule of the empires (Johnston, â€Å"The Dictionary of Human Geography†). The term ‘empire’ basically denotes those nations, which have or had many of the countries or territories under its control. Few of the leading imperialist nations include Great Britain, United States of America, Russia and France. It is commonly perceived by the experts of the discipline that imperialism has greatly affected the development and the normal standard of living in the subordinate countries for ages. Even after the dominating countries moved back from the conquered nations, the after affects of imperialism continued in lieu of the plights of the citizens of those nations. Among the global imperial powers, Britain deserves special mention. It is often a food for thought for the research scholars that how could such a small nation of Europe successfully rule almost all of the world for years. The history of British Empire builds up as it establishes relationship with Ireland, the America, the Caribbean Islands and India. Great Britain also had deep past of rivalry with the other imperial nations like that of the Netherlands, Portugal, France and Spain. The ‘credit’ of setting up of slave trade also goes to the British Empire of West Indies (the Caribbean) and Africa. Apart from slavery, which is considered as the height of all oppressions, the ill effects of imperialism can also be understood through in-depth study of British Raj in India. One of the fast emerging economies and most promising democracies of the present world, India had been under British rule from 1757 till 1947. Great Britain built relationship with India through trade and formed British East India Company. Soon from the company, the powers were transferred to the government of UK. A country with huge stock of natural resources, India was virtually robbed of its resources. The scholars of the arena remarked

Evolutionism Essay Example for Free

Evolutionism Essay Essay Critically discuss the Nineteenth Century theory of Evolutionism in relation to the social development of cultures. special development of cultures. Anthropology originated in the late 18th and 19th centuries. Missionaries, traders and travellers in Africa, North America, the pacific and elsewhere provided the first great anthropological works. Anthropology is the holistic study of the biological, social and cultural aspects of mankind, paying particular attention to the relationships between our physical and cultural natures and between culture and the nvironment. Anthropology is basically the study of the human species and its immediate ancestors. Early thinkers such as Hume, Smith and Montesquieu wrote about primitive institutions which they argued about amongst themselves. Their conclusions were not based on any scientific that could be tested but from principles found in their own culture. They laid the foundations for modern social anthropology believing that universal laws found in nature could be applied to human society. The thinkers were concerned with social evolution and progress. The term evolution was opularized during the 19th century by Herbert Spencer to mean cultural evolution. Evolutionists were those who believed that the cultures and life forms being studied are evolving toa particular form. Evolutionism is the idea that this universe is the result of random cosmic accidents, life arose spontaneously through chemical processes and all life forms are related and share a common ancestor. Evolution is a process of formation, growth and development from generation to generation. Socio- cultural evolutionism describes how cultures and societies have changed over time. In the nineteenth century Edward B. Tylor maintained that culture evolved from simple to complex and all societies passed through three basic stages of development which was originally suggested by Montesquieu. The three stages are called the lines of human progress which states that man evolved from savagery to barbarism and finally to civilization. Man became civilized after discovering pottery. To account for cultural variation different societies were at different stages of evolution. Simpler people of the day had not yet reached higher stages. Some ocieties were more evolve than others. Evolutionists believed Western Europe had evolved from a backward society to a more advanced society. Simpler contemporary societies were thought to resemble ancient societies. More advanced societies exhibited traces of earlier customs that survived in present day cultures, this was known as survival. Pottery is an example of survival, earlier people made their cooking pots out of clay, today pots are most often made with metal because they are most durable but dishes are preferred to be made out of clay. Tylor correlates the hree levels of social evolution to types of religion: savages practicing animatism, barbarians practicing polytheism, and civilized man practicing monotheism. Tylor includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society, Tylor believed that because of the basic similarities common to all peoples, different societies often find the same solutions to the same problems independently. Tylor also noted that different cultural traits may spread from one society to another by a simple means of diffusion hich means the borrowing by one culture of a trait belonging to another as the result of contact between the two societies. Lewis H. Morgan was one of the most influential evolutionary theorists of the nineteenth century. In his book Ancient Society, he divided the lines of human progress into the three stages and further divided savagery and barbarism into upper, middle and lower segments. Each stage was distinguished by technological development and connected in patterns of subsistence, marriage, family, and political organization. Middle savagery was arked by the acquisition of a fish diet and the discovery of fire, upper savagery by the bow and arrow, lower barbarism by pottery, middle barbarism by animal domestication and irrigated agriculture, upper barbarism by the manufacture of iron, and civilization by the alphabet. Morgan believed family units became smaller and self contained as society became more developed. Johann J. Bachofen developed a theory of evolution of kinship systems which was agreed upon by Morgan. Morgan believed in the theory of primitive promiscuity, which means that human society had o sexual prohibitions and no real family structure. Primitive promiscuity can be divided into matriliny where descent was traced through the female only, patrilinV where descent was traces through the male only and polyandry were several husbands shred one wife. Morgan believed that family units became progressively smaller and more self-contained as human society developed. However, his postulated sequence for the evolution of the family is not supported by the enormous amount of ethnographic data that has been collected since his time. For xample, no recent society that Morgan would call savage indulges in group marriage or allows brother-sister mating. Modern social anthropologists regard these reconstructions as over amplifications of events that can never be known in detail. The efforts of early writers were only historical enquiries. At this stage it became clear that there was no evidence which could detail the earliest stages of society and few societies developed in total isolation of other human cultures or outside influence. The evolutionists became unpopular by the nd of the nineteenth century. The school of Diffusionists became popular, they brelieved tahat cultural change and progress were mainly due to borrowing because items of culture were mainly transmitted from one society to another. Despite the errors of the nineteenth century scholars, modern social anthropology owes much to their efforts because of their interest in the social institutions of different societies and the methods used to draw conclusions. The current anthropological view concentrates mainly on the institutionalized aspects (kinship, marriage and religion) of culture taking into ccount systems of belief, values and ideas. Modern anthropology relys mainly on fieldwork which is the gathering of data which organizes, describes, analyzea and interprets to build and present that account which may be in the form of a book, article or film. The latest investigations regarding early humans is that mankind civilization through the slow gain of knowledge. Reference: * Introduction to anthropology 101 (course book 2010) * Culture vs civilization http://www. edward]ayne. com/culture/fallacy. html http://www. as. ua. edu/ant/Faculty/murphy/436/evol. htm * Wikipedia

Mobile Computing with WirelessLAN and its Modes

Mobile Computing with WirelessLAN and its Modes Mobile computing with WirelessLAN And its modes Ad hoc network with challenges Pallavi D. Dudhe, Prof. P. L. Ramteke Abstract In this paper, we summarized Mobile computing with WirelessLAN and its modes Ad hoc network and infrastructure. We define the operational model of our mobile computing environment, where we plan to demonstrate our proposed solutions. Mobile cloud computing is the combination of both cloud computing and mobile networks to bring benefits for mobile users, network operators, as well as cloud computing providers. In the present mobile communication environment, lot of research is going on, to improve the performance of issues like handoffs, routing etc. Security is another key issue that needs to be considered, when the setup of communication channel is to be set. Wireless local area network (WLAN) security are inherently weak and do not provide adequate security. Newer, more robust, wireless security technologies are being developed but have not had widespread acceptance within corporate information infrastructures. An ad hoc network is a collection of mobile nodes equipped wi th wireless communication adapters; these nodes dynamically form a temporary network without the need of any existing network infrastructure. Earlier studies on ad hoc networks aimed to propose solutions to some fundamental problems, such as routing, coping with the new challenges caused by networks and nodes features without taking the security issues into account. Keywords – Mobile computing, mobile computing security, mobile agent’s security, mobile ad hoc networks, wireless networks. I. INTRODUCTION Mobile computing requires wireless network to support outdoor mobility and handoff from one network to the next at a pedestrian or vehicular speed. Traveler in car using laptop connected with a GSM phone engaged in mobile computing. One of the more exciting information technologies to come about in the last several years was wireless computing. Computer users have to be tied to massive desktop computers to accomplish their daily tasks. Ubiquitous computing or pervasive computing refers to access to computer network at any location by any person all the time. With the rapid growth in the wireless mobile communication technology, small devices like PDAs, laptops are able to communicate with the fixed wired network. Because of its flexibility and provision of providing ubiquitous infrastructure, there is need to provide security at any level. As wireless communication takes place mainly through the radio signals rather than wires, it is easier to intercept or eavesdrop on the communicat ion channels. Therefore, it is important to provide security from all these threats. There are different kinds of issues within security like confidentiality, integrity, availability, legitimacy, and accountability that needs to be individually taken care off. Mobile Cloud Computing at its simplest refers to an infrastructure where both the data storage and the data processing happen outside of the mobile device. Mobile cloud applications move the computing power and data storage away from mobile phones and into the cloud, bringing applications and mobile computing to not just Smartphone users but a much broader range of mobile subscribers. Nowadays, microprocessors and wireless adapters are embedded in many devices, as cell-phones, PDAs, Laptops, digital sensors, and GPS receivers. These well-equipped devices allow the creation of wireless mobile networks, which make the vision of nomadic computing with its ubiquitous access more and more attractive. II. VARIOUS FORMS OF COMPUTING Mobile, ubiquitous, nomadic, untethered, pervasive and anytime, anywhere, any person computing  are used by researchers to refer to computing that uses small portable devices and wireless communication network. Nomadic computing refers to limited migration. Migration is within a building at a pedestrian speed. In the same vein, users carrying laptop with DIAL-UP modems are engaged in nomadic computing. Ubiquitous computing or pervasive computing refers to access to computer network all the time at any location by any person.Ubiquitous computing can not be realized unless mobile computing matures. Figure 1. Relationship between computing One of the more exciting information technologies to come about in the last several years was wireless computing. WirelessLANs operate in one of two modes, ad-hoc or infrastructure. Ad-hoc defines a method of wireless computer peers to exchange data without a predefined network infrastructure and has not met with great success. The infrastructure mode of operation is predominantly used for construction of wireless networks and requires two components; wireless access point(s) connected to a traditional wired network and wireless network interface card(s) installed into the computing devices. III. GENERAL ARCHITECTURE OF WIRELESS NETWORKS Wireless LAN is a traditional LAN architecture extended with a wireless interface to service small low-powered portable terminals capable of wireless access. The wireless LAN is further connected to a more extensive fixed network such as LAN or WAN. Wireless LANs have limited range and are designed to be used only in local environments. There are two types of wireless LAN architectures: ad-hoc networks and infrastructure networks. The Wide-Area Wireless Networks are special mobile radio networks that provide wide coverage for low bandwidth data services. In paging networks the service is usually receive-only and has very low bandwidth. The initial applications for satellite systems are voice and paging. Additional services planned include messaging and fax transmission. Wireless networks communicate by modulating radio waves or pulsing infrared light. Wireless communication is linked to the wired network infrastructure by stationary transceivers. The area covered by an individual transceivers signal is known as a cell. Cell sizes vary widely: Figure 2. Architecture of wireless networks A. Operational problems associated with wireless network Disconnection:-Wireless communications suffer from frequent disconnections due to a higher degree of noise and interference as well as the process of inter-cell hand-offs. Disconnections can be hidden by asynchronous operation. Heterogeneous network:-To achieve wireless communication a mobile host must get connected to different and heterogeneous networks. The general problem of heterogeneity can be addressed by exploiting emerging distributed systems. Bandwidth and Interface Variability:-Bandwidth can shift one to four orders of magnitude, depending on whether the system is plugged in or using wireless access or switching interfaces, e.g. from infrared to radio when the user moves from indoors to outdoors. Mobile applications have to adapt their behaviour properly. Security Risks:- Precisely because connection to a wireless link is so easy, the security of wireless communication can be compromised much more easily than that of wired communication. B. Challenges regarding wireless network Main cause of loss of packets in wired network is congestion because error rates are very low. In wireless network, congestion still remains a problem, but this situation is somewhat reversed. Wired and wireless network require different techniques to achieve reliability and flow control. TCP works is unsuitable for wireless network as it interprets errors as packet loss. ITCP (split/indirect TCP) splits TCP into two parts , One between sender and local MSS of the recipient. The other between local MSS and recipient. If MH switches cell during life time of a ITCP Connection center point of connection moves to new MSS. sender remains completely unaware about it. IV. AD HOC NETWORK An ad hoc network is a collection of mobile nodes equipped with wireless communication adapters, these nodes dynamically form a temporary network without the need of any existing network infrastructure. A mobile ad hoc network, or MANET, is a temporary infrastructure less network, formed by a set of mobile hosts that dynamically establish their own network, without relying on any central administration. Mobile hosts used in MANET have to ensure the roles that were ensured by the powerful fixed infrastructure in traditional networks. This is a challenging task, since these devices have limited resources such as CPU, storage, energy, etc.Moreover, the networks environment has some features that add extra complications, such as the frequent topology changes caused by nodes mobility, and the unreliability and the bandwidth limitation of wireless channels. A. Security requirements of ad hoc network The security services of ad hoc networks are not different than those of other types of network communication. The goal is to protect the information and the resources from attacks and misbehavior. In working with network security, there are many requirements that an effective security must ensure: Availability: ensures that the desired network services are available whenever they are expected, inspite of attacks. Systems that ensure availability seek to combat denial of service and energy starvation  attacks that we will present later. Authenticity: ensures communication from one node to another is genuine. It ensures that a malicious node cannot masquerade as a trusted network node. Data confidentiality: is a core security primitive for ad hoc networks, It ensures that a given message cannot be understood by anyone else than its (their) desired recipient(s). Data confidentiality  is typically enabled by applying cryptography Integrity: denotes the authenticity of data sent from one node to another. That is, it ensures that a message sent from node A to node B was not modified by a malicious node, C, during transmission. Non-repudiation ensures that the origin of the message is legitimate. i.e. when one node receives a false message from another, nonrepudiation allows the former to accuse the later of sending the false  message and enables all other nodes to know about it. Digital signature may be used to ensure  nonrepudiation B. Challenges regarding Ad hoc network Ad hoc network routing is the ultimate challenge. Ad hoc networks arise in rapid deployment scenarios: Emergency disaster management. Military operation in remote sites. Business meeting venues without infrastructure support. Many routing algorithms are designed: AODV, DSR, DSDV, TORA, FSR, LAR, ABR, etc.There are interesting application of conventional graph theoretic problems in ad hoc network routing. V. CHALLENGES REGARDING MOBILE COMPUTING Mobile computing affects entire spectrum of issues in computing. First of all it is distributed and mobile computing. Distributed computing as we know works on static wired network. Node may initiate computation somewhere and migrate to another place. So two major problem that arise due to mobility are Searching for current location of a mobile node and to impose a communication structure among nodes. Physical location of mobile is not the network address, so how do we route the message to a mobile host. This question is being addressed by two different communities: Internet community and cellular community . Work of Internet community involves Mobile IP which work as assumes connection-less, packet switching scenario. Cellular communitys effort based on location management of cellular phone users. It deals with connection oriented communication, since it is motivated by issues in call-setup in telephony. Main problem in mobility management is to find an appropriate trade-off between searching and informing. Searching is performed when address of the message recipient is not known or at least not known precisely. Informing is a responsibility of the mobile unit when it migrates. Extreme situations can be Mobile unit never informs works for units receiving few messages and for units which dont move during receiving. Always informs works well for units receiving messages frequently. VI. CONCLUSION In this paper we have studied the different challenges regarding wirelessLAN, its modes Ad hoc network and infrastructure as well as requirement regarding security. As with every Information technology project, security must be a primary consideration. For security to effective, it must be deployed proportional to risk. WLANs present a security risk to organizations but providing security for WLANs is not an insurmountable challenge. There are security solutions available for WLANs to mitigate those most conceivable risks we think securing ad hoc networks is a great challenge that includes many opened problems of research, and receives more and more attention among ad hoc networks community. REFERENCES [1] Abolfazli, Saeid; Sanaei, Zohreh; Ahmed, Ejaz; Gani, Abdullah; Buyya, Rajkumar (1 July 2013). Cloud-Based  Augmentation for Mobile Devices: Motivation, Taxonomies, and Open Challenges.IEEE Communications Surveys Tutorials 99 (pp): [2] R.K.Ghosh ,CSE100, April 2005. [3] Arbaugh, W. A., Shankar, N., Wan, J. Y. (2001). Your 802.11 Wireless Network has No Clothes. Unpublished manuscript, University of Maryland at College Park. Retrieved October 21, 2004, from http://www.cs.umd.edu/~waa/wireless.pdf [4] William Stallings. Cryptography and Network Security principles and practices. Pearson Education  Inc, third edition edition, 2003. [5] Frank Stajano and Ross Anderson. The resurrecting duckling: Security issues for ad-hoc wireless  networks. In 7th International Security Protocols Workshop, Cambridge, UK, April 1999. [6] Duchamp, D. (1992) Issues in Wireless Mobile Computing. Proceedings Third Workshop on Workstation Operating Systems, April 1992, 2-10. [7] Sumi Helal,Ph.D Associate professor, computer information science Engineering Department , University of Florida, Gainesville.FL32611,[emailprotected]. [8] Berghel, H. (2004). Wireless Infidelity I: War Driving.Communications of the ACM, 47(9), 21-28. [9] Forman, G.H. and Zahorian, J. (1994) The Challenges of Mobile Computing. IEEE Computer, April 1994, 38- 47. [10] Charles.E. Perkins and Elizabeth.M. Royer. Ad hoc on demand distance vector (AODV) algorithm.  In the 2nd IEEE Workshop on Mobile Computing Systems and Applications (WMCSA99), pages 90-100, 1999.

Osteomyelitis Etiology Pathogenesis Differential Diagnosis And Treatment Biology Essay

Osteomyelitis Etiology Pathogenesis Differential Diagnosis And Treatment Biology Essay Osteomyelitis presents as an infection of the bone that is caused by different forms of bacteria. The infection of the cortical and medullary bone can often lead to distinct forms of necrosis, formation of new bone, and obliteration of the bone in its entirety. (3) It is a disease that can cause morbidity. Cases are usually based on a causative agent, the infections duration, the anatomy of the infected bone, and the path the organisms follow in order to gain passage into the bone. (4)With the increasing cases of osteomyelitis being linked to diabetes, peripheral vascular disease, and the aging population, this disease is becoming more difficult to treat and cure. (1,2,3,4,5,6) Over the past few decades, osteomyelitis has changed its form. Evolving into a disease with many backgrounds, this disease takes heed amongst many polymicrobials. In the past, osteomyelitis cases involved a link to strains of Staphylococcus Aureus. Although Staphylococcus Aureus, also known as S. Aureus, a bacterium, is still the most common organism involved in this disease, a number of infections have been caused by gram negative organisms. These cases would find treatment in surgical debridement and therapy for 4 to 6 weeks of methicillin.(1) Some organisms include mycobacterium, Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, which is found in drug addicts, and organisms that are active in the Gastrointestinal Tract of the elderly. Coagulase-negative staphylococci are pathogens whom also play a distinct role in the presentation of osteomyelitis. (1,4) Pathogenesis   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Osteomyelitis is caused by microorganisms entering the bone by various mechanisms. These mechanisms include inoculation by distant substances, direct transmission from neighboring soft tissue infection, and hematogenous dissemination via bacteriemia. (3) Ischemia, trauma, and foreign substances can expose vulnerable sites to which bacteria penetrates defenses set by the host. Enzymes are released by a number of phagocytes that attempt to hold the infection. Bacteria can connect tightly to damaged bone. Through interaction with the damaged bone, bacteria withdraws from the host defenses and enters inside the osteoblasts. Furthermore, the infection can lead to sensitive neutrophils, congested blood vessels, and microorganisms which is the basis for acute osteomyelitis.(2) Acute osteomyelitis is an infection that may develop over a short span of time. In children, this osteomyelitis may present as fever, chills, and even pain. The feature that is known to disting uish chronic osteomyelitis is the depletion of living osteocytes also known as necrotic bone.(3) This can occur when osteomyelitis is not properly treated, thus the chronic type of infection may occur.(1) Moreover, two classification systems exist in the Waldvogel and Cierny-Mader Classification in regards to osteomyelitis.   Waldvogel classifies adult osteomyelitis by chronicity and its pathogenesis. These categories of osteomyelitis are labeled hematogenous osteomyelitis, osteomyelitis secondary to a contiguous focus of infection, and chronic osteomyelitis. Acute Hematogenous Osteomyelitis involves a single bone, usually the tibia or femur, and is where bacteria resides in the metaphysis of growing bones. Hematogenous infection in adults is uncommon for the long bones and thus involves the diaphysis. It accounts for 20% of cases of osteomyelitis and is the main cause for children.(3) The common site that affects the adults the most is the vertebrae where hematogenous ostemyeliti s thrives. Patients with this infection tend to have pain in the neck and back. Osteomyelitis secondary to a contiguous focus of infection occurs mostly in adults and accounts for about 80% of all cases.(3) This can occur through bites, wounds and open fractures. The main group of focus here are the individuals who have Peripheral Arterial Disease and Diabetes. This can result in numerous amputations for diabetics. The patient here does not have the proper knowledge to know that the infection is flourishing inside the bone. Trauma and sores can make the foot vulnerable to diabetic neuropathy. In regards to chronic osteomyelitis, about 5% of cases from acute hematogenous osteomyelitis leads to chronic osteomyelitis.(3) Chronic infection tends to have a more contiguous-focus origin than that of a hematogenous osteomyelitis due to the presence of foreign substances inhabiting the infection for a significant amount of time. Furthermore, Cierny- Mader classifies by condition of the patie nt by an anatomic stage and a physiological stage. (3,5) Differential Diagnosis   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Diagnosis of osteomyelitis may involve numerous procedures. These procedures should be a factor in patients with fever, inflammatory reactions, regional skeletal pain, and positive blood cultures. Blood tests are usually done in order to determine the amount of white blood cells present to battle with the infection. Blood is cultured to reveal the causative bacteria in the specimen. Moreover, an Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR), blood cell count, and C-reactive protein test can help to indicate osteomyelitis. (2,3)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Scanning examinations such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging(MRI), x-rays, three phase bone scans , and other radionuclide studies, may help determine bone inflammation. Bone inflammation is witnessed through injection of radioactive elements into the blood stream. Biopsies can also be performed in order to determine various bacteria lurking in the area. (1,2)The differential diagnosis for osteomyelitis is neuroarthropathy of the foot. On radiographs, bone infections are equivalent to bone lesions. However, if there is no ulcer present, the diagnosis can be viewed as damage to the bone and thus, is a result of neuroarthropathy. (2,3) Treatment   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The two forms of treatment of osteomyelitis most commonly used are surgical therapy and antibiotic therapy. Surgical therapy is distinguished based on the infections extent. When dealing with acute osteomyelitis, the key component deals with debridement of the dead tissue. In regards to chronic osteomyelitis, there is a resection of foreign substances, and also debridement of soft tissue.(1,2,3,4) Skin and bone grafts may be used to potentiate the start of new bone growth by covering the wound. Furthermore, surgical approach may increase the chances for re-ulceration. This surgical approach is understood with help from biomechanics of foot function. (2)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Antibiotic therapy is used to kill bacteria. There is oral and intravenous therapy used to target these causative organisms. Intravenous antimicrobial therapy is the treatment of choice for chronic osteomyelitis. In adults, four to six weeks of intravenous antibiotic treatment is needed along with sufficient bed rest. Usually, surgery may be needed to drain the pus accumulated and to clean the affected areas. (4)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Alternative treatments also exist in attempts to treat osteomyelitis. Some have recommended that increasing the use of particular vitamin supplements, garlic extracts, herbal remedies such as Echinacea, golden seal, and even ginseng may help to relieve certain pains associated with infections. Homeopathic remedies may be useful in counter acting inflammation. (7) Antibiotic-impregnated acrylic beads have also been used for bone infection treatment. The beads should be used along with certain antibiotics. This requires adequate surgical placement in the area specified. Non-biodegradeable beads may be removed surgically after 2-4 weeks. While biodegradeable beads do not require surgical removal and may help for an extended period of time. (3,7) Conclusion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Osteomyelitis requires excellent care of injuries and wounds. It may require surgical treatment and antibiotic therapy in order to reduce its effects. Osteomyelitis accounts for a great percentage of cases in adults. Typically, diagnosis of osteomyelitis presents with pain, fever, and other inflammatory signs due to bony infection. This disease has surfaced in Peripheral Arterial Disease and in the small bones of diabetics. Once a bone infection is confirmed by efficient procedures such as biopsy, treatment should follow accordingly. Following protocol consisting of debridement and appropriate IV antibiotics for 4 to 6 weeks helps in the general outreach of proper osteomyelitis management. (1,2,3,4,5,6)  

The Left Hand of Darkness: Gethenian Society Essay -- Ursula K. Le Gui

The Left Hand of Darkness: Gethenian Society Upon finishing the novel, The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. Le Guin, what stands out the most in my mind is the strange and complex Gethenian society. There are many aspects, some of which we are accustomed to, and others we would never consider a part of our society. There are things we have never heard of, like kemmer and shifgrethor. As well things every society should have like politics and human interaction. Politics are an important part of the Gethenian society. The political structure varies from country to country, the main two countries being Erhenrang and Orgoreyn. Erhenrang has one supreme ruler, King Argaven, and the equivalent of a prime minister, whereas Orgoreyn, is ruled by a group of thirty-three commensals. Both political structures seem to only have a loose authority over their various domains, and both are concerned with what the other is doing, but neither one wants to be overshadowed. They are aware of what is going on in the opposite government, but only release to the public what they want to have known. That is, whatever makes them look better and the other look much worse. The truth is very hard to come by in these political institutions. Gethenians are not an aggressive people. Violence is not a large problem in the Gethenian society. Violent crime is virtually nonexistent, and is never talked about. However when a crime does occur, usually treason, the perpetrator is sentenced to exile if they live in Erhenrang, or can be sent to a voluntary farm if they are from Orgoreyn. Once exiled, the individual has a certain amount of time to get out of the country or they can and will be killed. Furthermore, anyone who aids them by giving them money, g... ...e is considered lesser or even more qualified for one thing. Every person is considered equal. There is however still a hierarchy of money and power. The people who have greater wealth are usually government officials and people close to the king. Otherwise, everyone shares what they have. A Gethenian would take you in a give you all they have to give, no questions asked. These are the main aspects of Gethenian society as I see them. It seems to me similar to ours; some parts better, some parts worse. It is hard for me to imagine a world where there is no division of stronger and weaker sex as it is still so dominant in our society. It would have an overwhelming effect on everything, which Le Guin shows through her explication of the Gethenian society. Works Cited 1. Le Guin, Ursula K. The Left Hand of Darkness. New York: The Berkley Publishing Group, 1969.

Pete Rose Essay -- Baseball Hall of Fame Baseball Players Essays

Pete Rose Bart Giamatti’s decision to ban Pete Rose from the Baseball Hall of Fame was not a fair decision at all. Pete Rose was placed on Baseball’s ineligible list in 1989 when commissioner of baseball, Bart Giamatti concluded that Rose had bet on baseball games, including games involving his own team, the Cincinnati Reds. In an agreement made with Baseball, Rose accepted his banishment from the sport. Although he never admitted to having gambled on baseball games (Maury). Pete Rose was a phenomenal baseball player and manager. He was accused of gambling. His team while he was managing was supposedly involved. Bart Giamatti’s severe punishment of Pete Rose is a very controversial topic in the world of sports. There are a few rules that must have been followed to be inducted to the Hall of Fame. The one that is keeping Rose away is rule five. Rule five states: Voting shall be based upon the player’s record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team or teams on which the player played (Maury). This rule has been tested and beaten many times. Many players have entered the Baseball Hall of Fame such as the very unlikable Ty Cobb, the drinking Babe Ruth, the umpire abusing John McGraw, the racist Cap Anson, Gaylord Perry a suspected cheater, and the gambling Leo Durocher. Those are just a few of the baseball players who somehow made into the Hall of Fame and got passed rule five (Ritter). Pete Rose’s problem was not even as severe as all of these other men. The argument to this is that if these men can make it into the Hall of Fame why is Pete Rose banned. It is obvious that these players made it there with just their playing abilities and not by all of the other characteristics needed to be inducted into the Hall of Fame (Maury). Pete Rose started playing professional baseball in 1960 in the minor leagues and by 1963 he reached the Major Leagues as a rookie second baseman with the National Leagueà ¢â‚¬â„¢s Cincinnati Reds. Rose won the National League’s Rookie of the Year Award for 1963. He spent most of his 24 year career playing with the Reds, Rose also played with the Phillies and the Expos. In 1985 Rose broke one of the most â€Å"unbreakable† records of all time, by passing out Ty Cobb for the most career hits ever (Sports Illustrated.). Rose holds many records, some of which are: most games played, most at bats, and mos... ...cardinal rule of baseball and bet on baseball games. The day after Giamatti banned Rose from baseball, Giamatti held a press conference. He said that the matter of Pete Rose is now closed. It will be debated and discussed. Let no one think Rose has hurt the game, it will pass, and the game will go forward. Bart Giamatti made it clear that Rose was forever banished from baseball and he will never have another chance (Ritter). When Pete Rose was place on the ineligible list in 1989, the Hall of Fame rule number three said that any player on Baseball’s ineligible list shall not be eligible for the Hall of Fame. According to the current version of Baseball’s rules, Rose can be eligible for the Hall of Fame by getting of the banishment list. No one in the history of Major League Baseball has been able to get off the list. Pete Rose can petition Baseball’s powers to get off the list. Once he is off the list, he can be considered for the Hall of Fame (Ritter). No on e is sure if it is Pete Rose’s goal in life to be in the Hall of Fame. It might be hard but it is possible that Rose can be taken off the ineligible list. If he really wants to be in the Hall fame, he has the chance (Ritter).

Chip and Bins Case

The project is not fully-developed: Because the project is not well-prepared which leads to more problems when it was carried out in Southeast Norfolk like : Technical Failure, Lack of knowledge†¦ 2/ Examine the problem Definitions: After discussing the above definitions, we decided to classify the problems as below: We think that the cause of all troubles is because the project was not well- planned. 3/ Here is our alternative solutions for the problems: Solutions Time Money Practicability Hold a workshop about the benefit of this project x Find out alternative technologyCreate a competition for household in which house have least waste they will win and get reward X Conducting a survey on the residents' opinion and collecting their suggestions for the problem. X Enforcing fly-tipping legislation, prosecuting those dumping rubbish. X Reward for households that have the least waste. Reward for denouncing fly-it peers. Reducing a reasonable amount of council tax for the residents Postpone the project for at least 6 months. Showing people the negative effect on their lives if they don't recycle. X using some celebrity endorsement/ambassador.David Beckman, Adele†¦ ) X FREE Establish a technical team that can fix the system 24/7. 4/ Finally, we decide to choose these solutions: Establish a research on Southeast Norfolk District. This solutions will help us understand more about the people, what do they want from the project, what do they misunderstand about the project. Showing people the negative effect on their lives if they don't recycle. This solution will take a direct impact on people's kindness when they realize what they've done to the environment around them. Using some celebrity endorsement.They will act as Environment Ambassador to help promote the project, usually they will do it for free because this is also a good chance to promote their images. Hold a workshop about the benefit of this project. After TA king research, we will organized a wo rkshop to deliver the message to the people about the project, the environment to make them understand the true purpose of the project. Reward for households that have the least waste. It will encourage people to be more active, competitiveness is something that everybody has so they will be more happy to join the project.

Project Report on Retail

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Retailing consists of all activities involved in selling goods and services to consumers for their personal, family or household use. It covers sales of goods ranging from automobiles to apparel and food products and services ranging from hair cutting to air travel and computer education. Sales of goods to intermediaries who resell to retailers or sales to manufacturers are not considered a retail activity. Retailing can be examined from many perspectives. A manufacturer of white goods like washing machine and refrigerators has many options to reach out to consumers. It can sell through dealers, the company showrooms (Sony World, Videocon Plaza) or hypermarkets (Big Bazaar). The retail sector in India is highly fragmented with organized retail contributing to only 2% of total retail sales. The retail sector in developed countries was also highly fragmented at the beginning of the last century but the emergence of large chains like Wal Mart, Sears, and Mc Donald’s led to rapid growth of organized retail and growing consolidation of the retail industry in the developed countries. Today, in India we see a rise in the purchasing power and growth of a middle class which follows the western lifestyle. Hence, conditions are conducive for the rapid growth of organized retail in India. Organized retail is growing rapidly and we see the emergence of large organized retail chains like Shoppers’ Stop, LifeStyle and Westside. We also find retail malls mushrooming all over the country. The opportunities in retail industry in India will increase since Indian retailing is on the threshold of a major change. However, with the rapid growth in organized retail and increased emphasis of manufacturers on understanding sales at the retail level, the study of retailing has become increasingly relevant. -1- OBJECTIVE OF PROJECT v To understand the concept of retailing. v To understand the role and relevance of retailing for business and economy. v To identify the activities associated with retailing v To understand the operational structures associated with retail organizations v Understanding consumer behaviour in retailing v Understanding the importance of store location for retailer v To understand the nature of merchandise budgeting and unit planning v To understand the concept of relationship marketing and how does it apply to the retail sector. -2- METHODOLOGY This project is the mixture of theoretical as well as practical knowledge. Also it contains ideas and information imparted by the guide. The secondary data required for the project was collected from various websites and books of re puted authors. The project started with sorting all the raw data and arranging them in perfect order. To add value to the project and to understand the practicality of retailing business, I have visited various stores who are the best ones in retailing business. Further, to understand the consumers better, a field survey was also conducted to find out the tastes and preferences, purchasing habits, expectations of the consumers etc. Analysis of this primary data has been done to actually understand the survey in a better way. -3- ORIGIN OF RETAILING Although retailing does not enjoy the status of an Industry, the sheer size this behemoth will develop into, is grabbing attention. The origin of retail in India dates back to ancient times when the melas and mandis made heir presence felt. The changing socio economic patterns coupled with the consumption increase led to the emergence of the convenience stores, which became a par of the civic planning. The next step was the commercial plazas, which comprised merely shops offering a variety of goods and services clubbed together. The inconveniences caused by lack of parking place, toilets and maintenance, ushered in the entry big international brands opening their exclusive showrooms. The opening up of the economy only fueled this globalization. There are, however, certain bottlenecks as well; the scarcity of space, coupled with the stringent provisions of the Rent Control Act, act as a dissuasive factor for many players to initiate operations in the main markets. This also explains why the Raheja’s forayed into their retail venture- Shoppers’ Stop. CURRENT SCENARIO The Indian population is whooping 1 billion with 75% of the people living in villages and small towns. It is only natural that the agricultural sector is the biggest employer with its contribution to GDP pegged at 26. %. Retail is India’s larges industry after Agriculture with around 20% of the economically active population engaged in it and generation 10% of our country’s GDP. The growth of the efficient small store culture can be attributed to the 6 million villages distributed across the length and breadth of the country. The 12 million retail outlets in India are the hi ghest in the world, and cater to the purchase need of its pole. It is interesting to note, that the Urban Population although just 25% of the total, is an astounding 250 million in size and is growing at a healthy rate of 7% per annum. The chief driver of growth in the retail sector has been the consumer, with the spending increasing at an average of 11% per annum. The Core and the Lower middle have increased their share in the Growth. -4- The Indian consumer’s shopping needs are and traditionally have been fulfilled by Kirana sores (corner stores), Kiosks, street vendors, weekly bazaars and high-street shops for consumer durables and luxury goods. To cater to this, each city developed its own identity and shopping cluster, for instance in Pune there is MG Road, Bangalore has Brigade Road and Commercial Street, Delhi has Connaught Place, Karol Bagh and South Extension. India will have 358 shopping malls by 2007. Droves of middle-class Indians have broken off their love of traditional stand-alone shops that have no ACs, organized parking lots and other public amenities, according to a study by fashion magazine Image. At present (September 23, 2005), In India we have 96 malls, covering an area of 21. 6 million sq ft. And by year end the count will shoot up to 158 malls. It will cover 34 million sq ft area. Currently estimated at $205 billion to grow to $400-500 million, over the next 2-3 years. v Smaller cities will have about 12. 8 million sq ft of mall space by 2007. Ludhiana to account for 2. 5 million sq ft. v Ahmedabad about 3. 4 million sq ft. v Delhi and Mumbai now have maximum number of shopping centres. v Gurgoan saw the largest development in terms of retail outlet. v North region has 39% of India’s retail share. v East region has 10% of India’s retail share. v West region has 33% of India’s retail share. v South region has 18% of India’s retail share. v Government and co-operative sector is also making their steps in retailing. For example, Kendriya Bhandar, Apna Bazar, Mother Dairy, Super Bazar etc. -5- MAJOR RETAILER SPACE HOLDERS IN INDIA ORGANIZATION Bata RPG Raymond Area Sq. ft 10,00,000 6,00,000 5,42,000 Pantaloon/Big Bazaar 5,00,000 Metro cash-n-carry Spencer LifeStyle Shoppers Stop Trent Globus Piramyd 3,00,000 2,80,000 2,50,000 2,00,000 2,00,000 1,75,000 1,50,000 The 2nd Annual Images Retail Awards (September 22, 2005):v Retail Face of the Year: Kishore Biyani, MD, Pantaloon Retail India Ltd. v Retail Destination of the year: Shoppers’ Stop v Retail Launch of the Year: Pantaloon Central. v Shopping Centre of the Year: Inorbit Mall v Retail Brand of the Year: Titan v Retail Concept of the Year: Reliance Truck Stop. Retailer of the Year: Value Retailing: Big Bazar v Retailer of the Year: Catering Service: McDonald’s. v Retailer of the Year: Food & Grocery: Food Bazaar. v Retailer of the Year: Health & Beauty: VLCC. v Retailer of the Year: Entertainment: PVR. v Retailer of the Year: Department Store: Westside. v Retailer of the Year: Forecourt Retailing: Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. v Retailer of the Y ear: Leisure: Crossword Bookstore. -6- SWOT OF THE MARKET STRENGTH 1. Organized retailing at US$ 3. 31 billion, growing at 8%. 2. 2nd largest contributor to GDP after agriculture at 20%. . Pattern of consumption changing along with shopping trends. 4. A Growing population will translate to move consumers. 5. Consumer spending increasing at 11% annually. 6. Almost 25 million sq. ft. retail space available. 7. Paradigm shift in shopping experience for consumers pulling in more people. 8. Most of the entrants to organized retail come from 3 main categories, and have ventured into retail as their business extension. v Real Estate Developers v Corporate Houses v Manufacturers/Exporters WEAKNESSES 1. Shortage of quality retail spaces at affordable rates. 2. Government regulations on development of real estate(Urban Land Ceiling Act) 3. Need to provide Value for Money-squeezing margins 4. Lack of industry status. 5. Retail revolution restricted to 250 million people due to monolithic urban-rural divide. 6. Footfalls not a clear indicator of sales as actual consumers lower in number. 7. Lack of huge investments for expansion. OPPORTUNITIES 1. Increasing urban population-more participants in retail revolution. 2. Increase in consuming middle class population. 3. Social factors like dual household income has enhanced spending power. 4. Spends moving towards lifestyle products and esteem enhancing products. 5. Availability of old industrial lands-prime real estate locked in sick industrial units. -7- 6. Average grocery spends at 42% of monthly spends-presents a huge opportunity. 7. Increase in use of credit cards. THREATS 1. Rising lease/rental costs affecting project viability 2. FDI restrictions in the retail sector 3. Poor monsoons and low GDP Growth could affect consumer spending drastically. 4. Archaic labour laws are a hindrance to providing 24/7 shopping experience 5. Personalized service offered by Mom-&-Pop stores. 6. Unavailability of qualified personnel to support exponential growth in retail. 7. Differentiate taxation laws hindering expansion. RETAIL VIABILITY As per the CII McKinsey report, based on a GDP growth rate of 6-7% per annum, by 2010 the retail sector is expected to be US $ 300 Billion industry. Some of the major factors hindering the growth of this sector are as follows: v The non-industry structure and status v The lack of adequate infrastructure v FDI restrictions in this sector v The huge investments required in expanding their markets, v Problems associated with working Capital funding from lending Institutions. 8- BIG BAZAAR: THE INDIAN WAL-MART Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited is today recognized as one of the poneers in the business of organized retailing in the country with a turnover of over RS 400 crores in the financial year ending June 2003. The company is headquartered in Mumbai with zonal offices at Kolkata, Bangalore and Gurgaon (Delhi). It has 4 kinds of stores; 14 P antaloon Family Stores, 7 Big Bazaar discount hypermarkets, 6 Food Bazaar Stores with over 6. 5 lakh sq ft retail space across Kolkata, Mumbai, Thane Pune, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Bagpur, Ahmedabad, Kanpur, Chennai and Gugaon (Delhi). Pantaloon Retail India Limited is the flagship company of the Pantaloon group promoted by Mr Kishore Biyani. It has been one of the pioneers in organized retailing in India. It began its retailing operations in India way back in 1987. Currently, it manufactures and sells ready-made garments through its own retail outlets and two discounting stores. The company plans to diversify into the business of discounting in a big way, which is targeted at the growing middle class segment. It has India’s second largest retail chain with 17 retail outlets and two discounting stores branded as Big Bazaars across the country at an estimated retail space of ,01,300 sq. ft. The company plans to double its retail space in the next couple of years. Pantaloon has come up with an excellent revenue model, focusing on ‘value for money’ segment. Pantaloon plans to target the upper middle and the middle class segment, which forms the large chunk of Indian population. This segment is very price conscious and always looks out for value for money. Pantaloon successfully launched its discount store chain, which targets the large and growing upper-middle and middle class of Indian society. This is totally in contrast to the other organized retail players, which focus on high net-worth of individuals. Big Bazaar has strong own brand names in its portfolio across product categories. The brands include Pantaloon, John Miller and Bare. Higher percentage of ‘own brand’ sales improves margins, thus reducing the breakeven level of sales. Big Bazaar has diversified from apparels to household items in its discount stores. This has enabled them to enlarge their basket of offerings. -9- RETAIL CONCEPT The distribution of consumer products begins with the producer and ends at the ultimate consumer. Between the producer and the consumer there is a middleman—the retailer, who links the producers and the ultimate consumers. Retailing is defined as a conclusive set of activities or steps used to sell a product or a service to consumers for their personal or family use. It is responsible for matching individual demands of the consumer with supplies of all the manufacturers. The word ‘retail’ is derived from the French work retaillier, meaning ‘to cut a piece off’ or ‘to break bulk’. A retailer is a person, agent, agency, company, or organization which is instrumental in reaching the goods, merchandise, or services to the ultimate consumer. Retailers perform specific activities such as anticipating customer’s wants, developing assortments of products, acquiring market information, and financing. A common assumption is that retailing involves only the sale of products in stores. However, it also includes the sale of services like those offered at a restaurant, parlour, or by car rental agencies. The selling need not necessarily take place through a store. Retailing encompasses selling through the mail, the Internet, doorto-door visits—any channel that could be used to approach the consumer. When manufacturers like Dell computers sell directly to the consumer, they also perform the retailing function. Retailing has become such an intrinsic part of our everyday lives that it is often taken for granted. The nations that have enjoyed the greatest economic and social progress have been those with a strong retail sector. Why has retailing become such a popular method of conducting business? The answer lies in the benefits a vibrant retailing sector has to offer— an easier access to a variety of products, freedom of choice and higher levels of customer service. As we all know, the ease of entry into retail business results in fierce competition and better value for customer. To enter retailing is easy and to fail is even easier. Therefore, in order to survive in retailing, a firm must do a satisfactory job in its primary role i. e. , catering to customers. Retailers’ cost and profit vary depending on their type of operation and major product line. Their profit is usually a small fraction of sales and is generally about 9-10%. Retail stores of different sizes face distinct challenges and their sales volume influences 10- business opportunities, merchandise purchase policies, nature or promotion and expense control measures. Over the last decade there have been sweeping changes in the general retailing business. For instance, what was once a strictly made-to-order market for clothing has now changed into a ready-to-wear market. Flipping through a catalogue, picking the right colour, size, and type of clothing a person wanted to purchas e and then waiting to have it sewn and shipped was the standard practice in the earlier days. By the turn of the century some retailers set up a storefront where people could browse, while new pieces were being sewn or customized in the back rooms. Almost all retail businesses have undergone a similar transition over the years. DRIVERS OF CHANGE IN RETAILING v Changing demographics and industry structure v Expanding computer technology v Emphasis on lower costs and prices v Emphasis on convenience and service v Focus on productivity v Added experimentation v Continuing growth of non-store retailing. In today’s competitive environment retailers have redefined their role in general, and in the value chain in particular. Retailers act as gatekeepers who decide on which new products should find their way to the shelves of their stores. As a result, they have a strong say in the success of the product or service launched by a business firm. kA product manager of household appliances claimed, ‘Marketers have to sell a new product several times, first within the company, then to the retailer and finally to the user of the product. ’ It is a well-established fact that manufacturers need to sill their products through retail formats that are compatible with their business strategy, brand image, and market profile in order to ensure a competitive edge. The role of retailers in the present competitive environment has gained attention from manufacturers because external parties such as market intermediaries and supplying partners are becoming increasingly powerful. It is necessary for -11- marketers of consumer products to identify the need and motivations of their partners in the marketing channel. This is especially true in the case or new products. The increasing numbers of product categories followed by multiple brands in each category complicate decision-making for both manufacturers and market intermediaries. Retailers want of optimize sales within the limited shelf space, governed by their individual sales philosophy. Retailers undertake risk in selecting a portfolio of products or brands to offer to their customers. Retailers have to make optimum selection of goods to be sold given the following major concerns: v Selling space available is relatively fixed and must return maximum profits. If such space is occupied by merchandise that is not moving, it will not result in profit. The retailer may have to resort to substantial price reductions in order to get rid of the unsold stock. There is always the risk of non-performance in terms of quality, supplies etc. , which in turn harms the image of the retail outlet. Retailing is a dynamic industry—constantly changing due to shifts in the needs of the consumers and the growth of technology. Retail formats and companies that were unknown three decades ago are now major forces in the economy. Therefore, the challenges for retail managers the world over are increasing—they must take decisions ranging from setting the price of a bag of rice to setting up multimillion dollar stores in malls. Selecting target markets, determining what merchandise and services to offer, negotiating with suppliers, training salespeople—these are just a few of the many functions that a retail manager has to perform on a perpetual basis. The world over retail business is dominated by smaller family run chain stores and regionally targeted stores but gradually more and more markets in the western world are being taken over by billion dollar multinational conglomerates, such as Wal-Mart, Sears, McDonald’s, Marks and Spencer. The larger retailers have managed to set up huge supply/distribution chains, inventory management systems, financing pacts and wide-scale marketing plans. In the backdrop of globalization, liberalization and highly aware customers, a retailer is required to make a conscious effort to position himself distinctively to face the -12- competition. This is determined to a great extent by the retail mix strategy followed by a company to sell its products. GLOBAL RETAIL-INDUSTRY-RELATED FACTS v Worldwide retail sales are estimated at US $7 trillion. v The top 200 largest retailers account for 30% of the worldwide demand. The money spent on household consumption worldwide increased by 68% between 1980 and 1998. v Retail sales are generally driven by people’s ability (disposable income) and willingness ( consumer confidence ) to buy. v The 1998 UNDP Human Development Report points to the fact that global expenditures on advertising are ( including in developing countries ) increasing f aster than the world economy, suggesting that the sector is becoming one of the major players in the development process. REGIONAL FACTS v Some two-thirds or US $6. 6 trillion out of the US $10 trillion American economy is consumer spending. About 40% or that ($3 trillion) is spent on discretionary products and services. v Retail turnover in the EU was almost 2,000 billion in 2001 and the sector’s better than average growth looks set to continue in the future. v Retail trade in Europe employs 15% of the European workforce (3 million firms and 13 million workers). v The Asian economies (excluding Japan) are expected to have 6% growth rates in 2005-06. -13- CONSUMER EXPECTATIONS v Time and quality of life are becoming relatively more important than money; 60% of Americans want to lead a simple life. Product performance was found to be the top purchasing criterion, while environmental features were a close second in a survey conducted by the Alliance for Environmental Innovation in conjunction with SC Johnson Wax. CHARACTERISTICS OF RETAILING Retailing can be distinguished in various ways from other businesses such as manufacturing. Retailing differs from manufacturing in the following ways: v There is direct end-use r interaction in retailing. v In is the only point in the value chain to provide a platform for promotions. v Sales at the retail level are generally in smaller unit sizes. Location is a critical factor in retail business. v In most retail businesses services are as important as core products. v There are a larger number of retail units compared to other members of the value chain. This occurs primarily to meet the requirements of geographical coverage and population density. Direct Interaction with Customers Retail businesses have a direct interaction with end-users of goods or services in the value chain. They act as intermediaries between end-users and suppliers such as wholesalers or manufacturers. Therefore, they are in a position to effectively communicate the response and changing preferences of the consumers to the suppliers or sales persons of the company. This helps the manufacturers and markets to redefine their product and change the components of its marketing strategy accordingly. Manufacturers require a strong retail network both for reach of the product and to obtain a powerful platform for promotions and point-of-purchase advertising. Realizing the importance of retailing in the entire value chain, many manufacturers have entered into retail business by setting up exclusive stores for their brands. This has not only provided direct contact with customers, but has also acted as advertisement for the companies and has provided -14- the manufacturers with bargaining power with respect to other retailers who stocked their product. Retailing provides extensive sales people support for products which are information intensive, such as in the case or consumer durables. Lower Average Amount of Sales Transaction The average amount of sales transaction at retail point is much less in comparison to the other partners in the value chain. Many consumers buy products in small quantities for household consumption. Due to lower disposable incomes, some consumer segments in India even buy grocery items on a daily basis rather than a weekly or a monthly basis. Inventory management becomes a challenge for retailers as a result of the many minor transactions with a large number of customers. Hence, retailers must take care of determining average levels of stock, order levels and the retailer has to keep a tight control on costs associated with each transaction in the selling process. Credit verification, employment of personnel, value-added activities like bagging, gift-wrapping and promotional incentives all add up to the costs. One way to resolve this is for the retail outlets to be able to attract the maximum possible number of shoppers. Point-of-purchase Display and Promotions A significant relevant chunk of retail sales comes from unplanned or impulse purchases. Studies have shown that shoppers often do not carry a fixed shopping list and pick up merchandise based on impulsive or situational appeal. Many do not look at ads before shopping. Since a lot of retail products are low involvement in nature, impulse purchases of the shopper is a vital area that every retailer must tap into. Therefore, display, point-of-purchase merchandise, store layou8t and catalogues become important. Impulse goods like chocolates, snack foods and magazines can sell much more quickly if they are placed in a high visibility and high traffic location. Larger Number of Retail Business Units Location of retail store plays an important role compared to other business units. Manufacturers decide the location on the basis of availability of factors of productions -15- and market. Similarly, retailers consider factors like potential demand, supply of merchandise and store image-related factors in locating the retail outlet. The number of operation units in retail is the highest compared to other constituents ot the value chain, primarily to meet the needs for geographic reach and customer accessibility. THEORIES AND MODELS OF RETAILING 1. DIALECTIC PROCESS: – An evolutionary theory based on the premise that retail institutions evolve. The theory suggests that new retail formats emerge by adopting characteristics from other forms of retailers in much the same way that a child is the product of the pooled genes of two different individuals. 2. GRAVITY MODEL: – A theory about the structure of market areas. The model states that the volume of purchases by consumers and the frequency of trips to the outlets are a function of the size of the store and the distance between the store and the origin of the shopping trip. 3. RETAIL ACCORDION THEORY:- A theory of retail institutional changes that suggests that retail institutions go from outlets with wide assortments to specialized, narrow, line store merchants and then back again to the more general, wide-assortment institution. It is also referred to as the generalspecific-general theory. 4. RETAIL LIFECYCLE THEORY:-A theory of retail competition that states that retailing institutions, like the products they distribute, pass through and identifiable cycle. This cycle can be partitioned into four distinct stages: i. Innovation, ii. Accelerated development, iii. Maturity, and iv. Decline. 5. WHEEL OF RETAILING THEORY: – A theory of retail institutional changes that explains retail evolution with an institutional life cycle concept. 6. NATURAL SELECTION THEORY: – A theory of retail institutional changes that states that retailing institutions that an most effectively adapt to environmental changes are the ones that are most likely to prosper or survive. -16- 7. CENTRAL PLACE THEORY: – A model that ranks communities according to the assortment of goods available in each. At the bottom of the hierarch are communities that represent the smallest central places (centres of commerce). They provide the basic necessities of life. Further up the hierarchy are the larger central places, which carry all goods and services, found in lower-order central places plus more specialized ones that are not necessary. FUNCTIONS OF RETAILING Retailers play a significant role as a conduit between manufacturers, wholesalers, suppliers and consumers. In this context, they perform various functions like sorting, breaking bulk, holding stock, as a channel of communication, storage, advertising and certain additional services. SORTIONG Manufacturers usually make one or a variety of products and would like to sell their entire inventory to a few buyers to redu7ce costs. Final consumers, in contrast, prefer a large variety of goods and services to choose from and usually buy them in small quantities. Retailers are able to balance the demands of both sides, by collection an assortment of goods from different sources, buying them in sufficiently large quantities and selling them to consumers in small units. The above process is referred to as the sorting process. Through this process, retailers undertake activities and perform functions that add to the value of the products and services sold to the consumer. Supermarkets in the US offer, on and average, 15,000 different items from 500 companies. Customers are able to choose from a wide range of designs, sizes and brands from just one location. If each manufacturer had a separate store for its own products, customers would have to visit several stores to complete their shopping. While all retailers offer an assortment, they specialize in types of assortment offered and the market to which the offering is made. Westside provides clothing and accessories, while a chain like Nilgiris specializes in food and bakery items. Shoppers’ Stop targets the elite urban class, while Pantaloons is targeted at the middle class. -17- BREAKING BULK Breaking bulk is another function performed by retailing. The word retailing is derived from the French word retailler, meaning ‘to cut a piece off’. To reduce transportation costs, manufacturers and wholesalers typically ship large cartons of the product, which are then tailored by the retailers into smaller quantities to meet individual consumption needs. HOLDING STOCK Retailers also offer the service of holding stock for the manufacturers. Retailers maintain an inventory that allows for instant availability of the product to the consumers. It helps to keep prices stable and enables the manufacturer to regulate production. Consumers can keep a small stock of products at home as they know that this can be replenished by the retailer and can save on inventory carrying costs. ADDITIONAL SERVICES Retailers ease the change in ownership of merchandise by providing services that make it convenient to buy and use products. Providing product guarantees, after-sales service and dealing with consumer complaints are some of the services that add value to the actual product at the retailers’ end. Retailers also offer credit and hire-purchase facilities to the customers to enable them to buy a product now and pay foe it later. Retailers fill orders, promptly process, deliver and install products. Salespeople are also employed by retailers to answer queries and provide additional information about the displayed products. The display itself allows the consumer to see and test products before actual purchase. Retail essentially completes transactions with customers. CHANNEL OF COMMUNICATION Retailers also act as the channel of communication and information between the wholesalers or suppliers and the consumers. From advertisements, salespeople -18- and display, shoppers learn about the characteristics and features of a product or services offered. Manufacturers, in their turn, learn of sales forecasts, delivery delays, and customer complaints. The manufacturer can then modify defective or unsatisfactory merchandise and services. TRANSPORT AND ADVERTISING FUNCTIONS Small manufacturers can use retailers to provide assistance with transport, storage, advertising and pre-payment of merchandise. This also works the other way round in case the number of retailers is small. The number of functions performed by a particular retailer has a direct relation to the percentage and volume of sales needed to cover both their costs and profits. As a result of these functions, retailers are required to perform the following activities: ACTIVITIES PERFORMED BY RETAILERS Retailers undertake various business activities and perform functions that add value to the offerings they make to their target segments. Retailers provide convenient location, stock and appropriate mix of merchandise in suitable packages in accordance with the needs of customers. The four major activities carried out by retailers are: 1. Arrange for assortment of offerings 2. Breaking quantity 3. Holding stock 4. Extending services ARRANGING ASSORTMENT An assortment is a retailer’s selection of merchandise. It includes both the depth and breadth of products carried. Retailers have to select the combination of assortments from various categories. The assortments must include substitutable items of multiple brands and price points. They should be distinguished on account of physical dimensions and attributes e. g. , colour or flavour. The small retailer takes assortment decision on the basis of his experience; -19- on the other hand retailers from organized retailing depend on a detailed study of past trends and future projections. Retailers need to consider certain factors while devising assortment plans for their stores: profitability associated with particular merchandise mix, store image, layout and the level of compatibility between the existing merchandise. For example, FoodWorld, a leading food supermarket positioned as a one-stop shopping centre, deals in multiple product categories along with all possible variants of brands, stock keeping units, and physical attributes in order to meet the expectations of their consumers and survive in the business. Whereas, Subhiksha, a grocery chain in south India has impressive assortments of only the fast moving brands rather than all available variants in the market. Their assortment plan is governed by location, size and store image of their stores. BREAKING BULK Breaking bulk means physical repackaging of the products by retailers in small unit sizes according to customer’s convenience and stocking requirements. Normally, retailers receive large quantities of sacks and cases of merchandise from suppliers to reduce their transportation costs. In order to meet their customers’ requirements retailers have to break or arrange the bulk into convenient units. This entire function of the retailers adds value to the offerings not only for the end customers but also for the suppliers in the value chain. Even in the earlier days of generic and commodity-based trading most of the retailers used to perform this important function in the value chain. This function receives negligible attention from the retailers now due the introduction of new product categories, such as FMCG and readyto-wear apparel. HOLDING STOCK To ensure the regular availability of the offerings retailers maintain appropriate levels of inventory. Consumers normally depend on the retailers directly to replenish their stocks at home. Therefore, retailers, on periodic basis, maintain the required levels of stock to meet the regular or seasonal fluctuations in the demand. Retailers need to maintain equilibrium between the range or variety carried and the sales which it gives rise to. Retailers have to face the negative consequences of holding unwanted levels of stock—for instance, too little stock -20- ill hamper the sales volume, whereas, too much stock will increase the retailer’s cost of operation. Generally, in small towns of India most retailers have arrangements with the nearby warehouses to stock the goods. Some are so small that they have to stock only on the shop floor. Retailers in the organized sector, to a certain extent, are using effective software packages for maintaining adequate leve ls of inventory. At the same time, retailers avail of just-in-time deliveries with the help of efficient consumer response systems, which reduces the burden of maintaining high levels of stocks. EXTENDING SERVICES Retailing provides multiple services to immediate customers and other members of the value chain. The set of services extended by particular retailers may be part of their core product offerings or it may be ‘add on’ to their product or service. Retailers offer credit, home delivery, after-sales services and information regarding new products to their customers, thereby making the shopping experience convenient and enjoyable. At the same time, they provide stocking place, reach to the ultimate customers, and information about the oncerned target segment to the suppliers. For example, Time Zone, the first organized retail chain of wristwatches in India, started by leading watch manufacturers Titan, set up in all its stores, service centres with proper equipment and trained manpower. This has not only diluted the relevance of service providers in the unorganized sector but has also enhanced the confidence of the customers in the retai9l services provided by the particular retail chain, as after-sales service is considered to be an integral ingredient of the watch purchase. CATEGORIZING RETAILERS Categorizing retailers helps in understanding the competition and the frequent chandes that occur in retailing. There is no universally accepted method of classifying a retail outlet, although many categorization schemes have been proposed. Some of these include classifying on the basis of v Number of outlets v Margin Vs Turnover v Location v Size. -21- The number of outlets operated by a retailer can have a significant impact on the competitiveness of a retail firm. Generally, a greater number of outlets add strength to the firm because it is able to spread fixed costs, such as advertising and managers’ salaries, over a greater number of stores in addition to acquiring economies of purchase. While any retailer operating more than one store can be technically classified as a chain owner, for practical purposes a chain store refers to a retail firm which has more than 11 units. In the United States, for example, chain stores account for nearly 95% of general merchandise stores. Small chains can use economies of scale while tailoring merchandise to local needs. Big chains operating on a national scale can save costs by a centralized system of buying and accounting. A chain store could have either a standard stock list ensuring that the same merchandise is stocked in every retail outlet or an optional stock list giving the outlets the advantage of changing the merchandise according to customer needs in the area. Because of their size, chain stores are often channel captains of the marketing channel—captains can influence other channel partners, such as wholesalers, to carry out activities they might not otherwise engage in, such as extended payment terms and special package sizes. Big stores focus on large markets where their customers live and work. They use technology to learn more about their customers and target them with point-of-sale machines interactive kiosks, and sophisticated forecasting and inventory systems. They tend to stock a narrow range of inventory that sells well and maintain an extensive inventory of the fast selling products. Branding is important to them. Pricing is often a key area of focus for these retailers. Big stores have many strengths, including regional or national reputation, huge buying power, vast inventory and hassle-free return and exchange policies. Their prime locations, the consistency in their products and services, the fact that they are open when people can and want to shop and the clear consistent image and identity they develop and maintain challenge the abilities and resources of many small retailers. Perhaps their biggest advantage is their knowledge in every aspect of their business, from inventory selection to store layout. However, large retailers are not perfect. They have competitive weaknesses that small retailers can exploit. Most offer the same standardized assortments of products nationally. Local managers have little say in inventory selection. Often, sales staff has minimal product knowledge. Staff turnover is extremely high. Most large retailers have little connection with -22- the community they serve. They usually do not offer special services. Larger companies are often slow to recognize and react to changes in their local markets. Independent retailers can co-exist and flourish in the shadow of the big chains by developing a niche within the diverse market. The niche should be developed on the basis of new or unusual product offerings, superior service and overall quality. While value is important, price may be less important. Efficient operations, including precise buying practices, are a must. Customer contact within the niche market must be characterized by ‘high-touch’ service. The key factor is innovation: stores that do not change will perish. The road to success for the independent retailer lies in doing all the things those big chain stores can not or will not do. The successful independent retailers embrace the following principles: v Be prepared for change. v Move to a narrower niche market and stop competing directly with the big retailers. v Learn more about customers and include best customers in a database. Invest appropriately in advertising and promotion. v Charge regular prices and avoid discounting (ensure requisite mark-up). v Buy with precision and search out speciality suppliers. v Maintain essential inventory. v Focus on profit instead of volume (be ready to lose an occasional sale). v Provide extraordinary service. v Employ the best possible staff. v Understand the signi ficance of the Internet. Gross margin and inventory turnover is another means of classifying retailers. Gross margin is net sales minus the cost of goods sold and gross margin percentage is the return on sales. A 30% margin implies that a retailer generates Rs 30 for every Rs 100 sales that can be used to pay operating expenses. Inventory turnover refers to the number of times per year, on average, a retailer sells his inventory. On the basis of this, retailers are classified as low margin low turnover—those that cannot survive the competition—and low margin high turnover, exemplified by Amazon. com. Jewellery stores and appliance stores are examples of high margin low turnover stores and only a few retailers achieve high margin high turnover. These -23- etailers are in the best position to combat competition because their high turnover allows them to withstand price wars. The drawback of the classification by this method is that service retailers who have no inventory turnover cannot be encompassed. One of the old means of classification of retailers is by location, generally within a metropolitan area. Retailers are no longer satisfied with traditional locations within a cit y’s business district but are on the constant lookout for alternate locations to reach customers. Besides renovating old stores, retailers are testing unorthodox locations to expand their clientele. With the advent of the Internet, this area of retailing is likely to undergo tremendous changes in the coming years. Size is often used as a yardstick to classify retailers because costs often differ on the basis of size, with big retailers having lower operational costs per dollar than smaller players. However, in this sphere too, the Internet may make size an obsolete method of comparison. TRENDS IN RETAIL FORMATS Retail industry is continuously going through changes on account of liberalization, globalization and consumer preferences. While multinational retail chains are looking for new markets, manufacturers are identifying, redefining, or evolving new retail formats. The existing retail houses are also gearing up to face the emerging competition from the organized sector and the changing outlook of the consumers. For example, consumer spending is shifting from goods to services. Accordingly the retailers too are fast adjusting to the changing consumer preferences. Consumers are not only looking for the core products or functional benefits from the retailers but also the non-functional benefits, which need to be compatible with their lifestyles. For example, most of the traditional eating joints in India such as Haldiram, Bikaner and Sagar Ratna have revised their product offerings and atmospherics on the lines of the multinational chains to compete with them and to serve changed expectations of the consumers. Mom-and-pop Stores and Traditional Kirana Stores The retail sector is changing as new store categories have started dominating the marketplace. Mass merchandisers (Wal-Mart, Big Bazaar), discount clubs (Subhiksha), -24- so-called category killers (Home Depot, Vishal chain), and speciality retailers (Time Zone, Tanishq) have all developed a successful retail models. At the same time, the small mom-and-pop stores and the traditional department stores, are finding the competition intense. In 2002, while Wal-Mart and Target saw revenues grow (by 12% and 10%, respectively), department stores such as Saks and Federated experienced declining revenues (down 3% and 1% respectively). But even in the mass-merchandising segment, the competition is fierce, as is evidenced by Kmart’s bankruptcy announcement in 2002. Small independent stores, across product categories, is a very common retail formats they are also undertaking large scale renovations to appeal and attract their target consumer segments. E-commerce The amount of retail business being conducted on the Internet is growing every year. Indeed, Forrester Research Agency projects e-commerce revenue to rise to $123 billion in 2004, an increase of some 28% over the previous year and for e-tailing to comprise a bigger slice of the overall retail pie (5. 6%, up from 4. 5% in 2003). Many major retail organizations and manufacturers have online retail stores. Companies like Amazon. com and First and second. com, which helped pioneer the retail e-commerce concept, are now being followed by bricks-and-mortar and catalogue retailers like J. Crew, which are expanding retail e-commerce into new markets. Department Stores A few years ago, names like Sears, J. C. Penney, Macy’s, and Montgomery Ward dominated malls and downtowns all over America. Over the last decade or so, however, these department stores have suffered badly. In part, this is a result of changing shopping patterns and increased competition from discount stores. It has also come from financial burdens incurred by companies that acquired competing companies and grew too fast. It is unlikely that these players will disappear from the market. However, they should be ready to expect more bumps as the strong get stronger and the weak get absorbed. -25- Discount Stores These are giants such as Wal-Mart (the largest retailer in the world, with more than a million; employees), Target and Kmart, as well as membership warehouses, such as Costco. These, along with the category killers, have changed the landscape of both the retail industry and America. Where once mom-and-pop and department stores dominated retail, now the discount retailers and category killers are at the top of the heap. And where once shopping malls, anchored by at least one major department store, ;used to be the dominant retail presence lining the nation’s roads, now it is the behemoth Wal-Marts and Home Depots. Category Killers These are the giant retailers that dominate one area of merchandise (e. g. , Office Depot, Tower Records and The Sports Authority). They are able to buy bathroom tiles, file cabinets, electronic goods or pet food in such huge volumes that they can then sell them at prices even fairly large competitors cannot match. The future of this category is better than that of many of the more general discounters, but the same employment caveats apply. For most job seekers, these companies offer earn-and-learn experiences with vendors and distributors before they move onward and upward. Speciality Stores These include Crate & Barrel, the Body Shop, and Victoria’s Secret. These stores concentrate on one type of merchandise and offer it in a manner that makes it special. Some are very high-end (Louis Vuitton) while others cater to the price-conscious masses (Old Navy). Many are so successful that department stores have started to emulate their buying, marketing, and merchandise display strategies. Industry experts predict growth in this segment, particularly in home furnishings and home improvement, and it seems to attract many of the best and brightest in retail. Promotion and responsibility come quickly to those willing to work hard, and in many of these stores the hand of bureaucracy is not heavy. -26- E-tailers While most retailers have online storefronts, strictly online purveyors with no bricksand-mortar counterparts are hoping to snare a percentage of the retail profit. Major players, such as Amazon. com, have generated enough business to cause top brick-andmortar competitors to come up with their own Internet sites. Traditional retailers like Wal-Mart and Starbucks, hugely successful in their own right, have also set up online stores so as not to miss out on the revenue opportunities that the Interned offers. -27- BARISTA Barista positioned its outlets as a place where people meet each other in an environment, which fulfills both their social and intellectual needs. The music is not too loud and encourages conversation, and the person behind the counter is non-intrusive and friendly. Any consumer knows that even when it is crowded at Barista, you will have your share of privacy. This is because the other consumer is not listening in; he is too involved in himself. MARGIN FREE MARKETS Margin Free Markets is the largest retail chain in the state of Kerala and one of the leading retail chains in India. The first outlet of this chain started functioning on 26 January 1994 at Thiruvananthapuram. There are currently more than 275 franchisees of Margin Free Markets spread all over south India. The outlets are franchises and are not actually owned by the chain. The Consumer Protection and Guidance Society currently control Margin Free Markets, which is registered charitable institution that started functioning in 1993. The consumers are assured of quality, quantity and fair price of the goods sold through the Margin Free Markets. Any retailer can upgrade his shop to a Margin Free outlet by sending in an application to the society. If his application is accepted, he has to make the necessary investment as required. These shops deal in the enter gamut of foods required by a home for its monthly onsumption, grocery, food and non-food FMCG items, fruits and vegetables, consumer goods and household articles. Margin Free outlets are typical discount stores, offering one-stop-shop convenience and self service facility at significant discount to its customers. Most of these customers, in time, turn out to be its permanents customers by taking discounts cards, which permit them to obtain larger discounts than the non-card holders. The necessity to o ffer protection against the rising prices gave birth to the idea of Margin Free Markets. An enthusiastic entrepreneur, named Mr N. Ravikumar, conceived the idea. The idea turned out to be an instant success in Kerala especially because Kerala is more of, a ‘consumer’ state than a ‘producing’ state Kerala depends on her neighbouring states for her consumer needs. Due to the large number of intermediaries involved and the transportation costs, the prices are high and there is a wide fluctuation in the prices of groceries, fruits and vegetables. -28- RETAIL ORGANIZATION The term retail organization refers to the basic format or structure of a retail business designed to cater to the needs of the end customer. Recently, some scholars have started referring to India as a nation of shopkeepers. This epithet has its roots in the huge number of retail enterprises in India, which were over 12 million in 2003. About 78% of these are small family businesses utilizing only household labour. Retail firms may ;be independently owned, parts of a retail chain, operated as a franchisee, leased departments, owned by manufacturers or wholesalers, consumersowned or co-operative society. A retail unit could be owned by: v Manufacturer (e. g. , company owned retail outlets) v Wholesaler (e. g. Vastra outlet in Rajouri in New Delhi) v Independent retailer (Chanakya Sweet Shop near Hazratganj in Lucknow) v Consumer (consumer owned grocery stores in man y residential societies) v Co-operative society (e. g. , Mother Dairy milk booths in Delhi) v Government (e. g. , Cottage Emporia) v Ownership shared among franchiser and franchisee (e. g. , Archies Gallery) Although most Indian retailers fall in the category o f small-scale units, there are also some very big retailers. Organized retail stores are generally characterized by large, professionally managed store formats providing goods and services hat appeal to customers, in an ambience that is conducive for shopping and provides a memorable experience to customers. From positioning and operating perspectives, each ownership format serves a marketplace niche and presents certain advantages and disadvantages. Retail executives must not lose sight of this in playing up their strengths and working around their weaknesses. THE CHANGING STRUCTURE OF RETAILING All dynamic developments in retailing, from the birth of departmental stores in the last century to the recent emergence of warehouse clubs and hypermarkets, have been -29- responses to a changing environment. Changing customer demand, new technologies, intense competition, and social changes create new opportunities even as they shake up existing business. The retail business formats have been changing very fast mainly due to technological influences. The Internet and the Web technologies have created a myriad f opportunities for the Web-based business model of retailing. This has created a competition for the retailer with its own self. Besides, the challenge for the retailer now is to keep abreast of these latest formats in order to maintain and grow its share of market and compete within its band of retailers. A key impact of technology has been provision ;of greater information to the customer. Hence, a big challenge for the retailer in the information savvy world of today is that the opportunities for price differentiate itself qualitatively by superior customer services or better value for money to the customer. CLASSIFICATION OF RETAIL UNITS Conceptual classification of a business unit provides the marketers with strategic guidelines, useful in the design of retailing strategy. Besides, retail businesses are extremely diverse and there are quite a few types of retail units. Therefore, retail units are classified on multiple of ownership, geographical locations, kind of customer interaction level of services provided etc. Retailers Classified on the Basis of Ownership One of the first decisions that the retailer has to make as a business owner is how the company should be structured. This decision is likely to have long-term implications, so it is important to consult with an accountant and attorney to help one select preferred ownership structure. There are four basic legal forms of ownership for retailers: 1. Sole proprietorship: – The vast majority of small businesses start out as sole proprietorships. These firms are owned by one person, usually the individual who has the day-to-day responsibility for running the business. -30- 2. Partnership: – A partnership is a common format in India for carrying out business activities (particularly trading) on a small or medium scale. In a partnership, two or more people share ownership of a single business. 3. Joint venture: – A joint venture is not well defined in the law. Unless incorporated or established as a firm as evidenced by a deed, joint ventures may be taxed like association of persons, sometimes at maximum marginal rates. It acts like a general partnership, but is clearly for a limited period of time or a single project. 4. Limited liability Company (public and private):- The Limited Liability Company (LLC) is a relatively new type of hybrid business structure that is now permissible in most states. The owners are members, and the duration of the LLC is usually determined when the organization papers are filed. Classification of Retailers on the basis of Operational Structure Retail businesses are classified on the basis of their operational and organizational structure. Operational structure defines the key strategic decision of retail entity, whether to hire employees and manage the distributed sales function internally or to reach customers though franchised outlets owned and operated by local entrepreneurs. Retail firms can be classified into five heads on the basis of their respective operational structures: 1. Independent retail unit: – The total number of retailers in India is estimated to be over 5 million in 2003. About 78% of these are small family businesses utilizing only household labour. An independent retailer owns one retail unit. 2. Retail Chain: – A chain etailer operates multiple outlets (store units) under common ownership; it usually engages in some level of centralized (or coordinated) purchasing and decision making. 3. Franchising: – Franchising involves a contractual arrangement between a franchiser (which may be a manufacturer, a wholesaler, or a service sponsor) and a retail franchisee, which allows the franchisee to conduct a -31- given form of business under and establishments name and according to a given pattern of business. 4. Leased Department or Shop-in-shop:-It refers to department in a retail store that are rented to an outside party. Usually this is done in case of department and speciality stores and also at times, in discount stores. 5. Co-operative Outlets: – Co-operative outlets are generally owned and managed by co-operative societies. In this context the detailed example of Kendriya Bhandar in India. Classification of Retailers on the basis or Retail Location Retailers have also been also been classified according to their store location. Retailers can locate their stores in an isolated place and attract the customers to the store on their own strength—such as a small grocery store or paan shop in a colony, which attracts the customers staying close by. Classification of retailers on the basis of location is discussed below: 1. Retailers in a free-standing location:- Retailers located at a site which is not connected to other retailers depend entirely on their sore’s drawing power and on the various promotional tools to attract customers. This type of location has several advantages including no competition, low rent, better visibility from the road, easy parking and lower property costs. For example the Haldiram’s outlet on the DelhiJaipur highway and the McDonald’s outlet on Delhi-Ludhiana highway. 2. Retailers in a Business-associated Location:-In this case, a retailer locates his store in a place where a group o retail outlets, offering a variety of merchandise, work together to attract customers to their retail area, and also compete against each other for the same customers. 3. Retailers in Specialized Markets: – Besides the above location-based classification, we also have in India-retailers who prefer specialized markets, particularly traditional independent retailers or chain stores. -32- In India, most of the cities have specialized markets famous for a particular product category. For example, in Chennai, Godown Street is famous for clothes, Bunder treet for stationery products, Usman street for jewellery, T Nagar for ready-made garments, Govindappan naicleen street for grocery, Poo Kadia for food and vegetables. 4. Airport Retailing: – For quite some time, duty-free shops and newsstands dominated the small amount of commercial space provided at airports. Lately, serious efforts are being made to design new airport facilities in order to incorporate substantial amounts of retail space. The key features of airport retailing are: v Large groups of prospective shoppers v Captive audience v Strong sales per square foot of retail space v Strong sales of gift and travel items v Difficulty in replenishment v Longer operating hours v Duty-free shopping possible. ` -33- VARIETY OF MERCHANDISE MIX The retail merchandising has come a long way in India since the days when general stores (kirana) that stocked everything from groceries to stationery and small shops that sold limited varieties of products (such as clothes, furniture, medicines) reigned supreme. There are many different retail stores in India—convenience stores, supermarkets, hypermarkets, department stores, brand stores and discount stores characterized by the variety of merchandise mix offered by a respective retail format. The consumer can choose between different stores for different needs. Retail units, on account of variety of merchandise mix, can be classified as follows: . Department Stores: – It is a large retail store organized into a number of departments, offering a broad variety and depth of merchandise, commonly part of a retail chain. Usually, department stores are located within the planned shopping centres or traditional up market downtown centres. The leading fashion department stores in India are Ebony, Globus, LifeStyle, Pantaloon, Shoppers’ Stop and Westside. All of them are multiproduct stores, Ebony has 7 stores, Globus has 4 stores, LifeStyle has 3 stores and there are 12 Pantaloon Family Stores. Discount Stores: – Retailers offering a broad variety of merchandise mix, limited or no service and low prices are characterized by low margins, heavy advertising, low investments on fixtures, limited support from sales people etc. Discount stores prefer shopping centres that provide space at lower rents as they attract customers from other adjoining stores in the shopping centre. Speciality Stores: – Speciality stores stress on one or a limited number of complementary product categories and extend a high level of service to their customers. In India, the traditionally independent retailers in the specialized market centres operate in a particular product category, at these centres attract large crowds. Such specialized retail operations provide expertise economies of scale, bargain and image to the particular stores. Supermarkets and Hypermarkets:- A hypermarket is a very large retail unit offering merchandise at low prices. Superstores have a sales area of over 50,000sq. ft. Hypermarkets are characterized by large store size, low operating costs and margins, low prices and comprehensive range of merchandise. -34- RETAIL IN INDIA The retail industry in India is largely unorganized and predominantly consists of small, independent, owner-managed shops. Retailing is India’s largest industry in terms of contribution to GDP and constitutes 13% of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product). There are around 5 million retail outlets in India. There are also an unaccounted number of low cost Kiosks (tea stalls, snack centres, barber shops) and pushcarts mobile vendors. Total retail sales area in India was estimated at 328 million sq. mt. in 2001, with an average selling space of 29. 4 sq. mt. per outlet. In India, the per capita retailing space is about 2 sq. ft. , which is quite low in comparison to the developed economies. In 2000, the global management consultancy AT Kearney put retail trade at Rs 400,000 crore, which is expected to increase to Rs 800,000 crore by the year 2005—an annual increase of 20%. According to a survey by AT Kearney, an overwhelming proportion of the Rs 400,000 crore retail markets is unorganized. In fact, only a Rs 20,000 crore segment of the market is organized. There is no integrated supply chain management outlook in the Indian traditional retail industry. Food sales constitute a high proportion of the total retail sales. The share was 62. 7% in 2001, worth approximately Rs 7,039. 2 billion, while non-food sales were worth Rs4189. 5billion. However, the non-food retailing sector registered faster year-on-year growth than the food sales sector. The trend to market private labels by a specific retail store is catching on in India as it helps to improve margins. The turnover from private labels by major retail chains was estimated at around Rs 1200 million in 2000. Growth in retail outlets (millions) Year 1978 1984 1990 1996 Urban 0. 58 0. 75 0. 94 1. 80 Rural 1. 76 2. 02 2. 42 3. 33 Total 2. 35 2. 77 3. 36 5. 13 Source: indiainfoline -35- Composition of urban outlets Retail Outlet Grocers Cosmetic stores Chemist Food stores General stores Tobacco, pan stores others Source: indiainfoline Composition 34. 7% 4. % 6. 3% 6. 6% 14. 4% 17. 0% 17. 0% Composition of rural outlets Retail Outlet Grocers Composition 55. 6% General stores 13. 5% Chemists Others 3. 3% 27. 6% Source: Indiainfoline EMERGENCE OF ORGANIZED RETAILING Organized retailing in India repres