Substance abuse Essay Example for Free

Substance abuse Essay Substance abuse is the manner in which the use of a specific drug is used that is outside the specified usage. For instance drug abuse, drug addiction and chemical dependency all point to the same i. e. abuse. Hence the use of drugs or chemicals outside the specifications prescribed by the doctor or the norms followed in society is all a definition for substance abuse. When someone uses drugs or chemicals in a manner that is not prescribed by the doctor, then, there are symptoms that mostly follow the use. They mostly vary depending on the substance used. The common types of a person who has an abuse on any substance are:†¢ There is significant impairment or distress in the person that will always show in a period of about 12 months; †¢ There is physical hazard to the user where for instance the person is supposed to operate machines; †¢ There is also failure to be able to perform specific tasks like at school or at work hence poor output that is one cannot fully concentrate. †¢ The person might also become an enemy to the law hence display oneself in a conduct that is not impressive to the society; †¢ Lack of control to the emotions or cannot be one who keeps good relationship with close family or friend; †¢ Alcohol causes sedation and relief of anxiety when used in high consumptions there is slurred speech, ataxia, impaired judgment, and disinherited behavior. The person in picture here being an actress in the SHERRYBABY has been portrayed as being a nuisance to the public and also to the workmates. This seen so because she has been in prison due to the use of heroin. In specific acts in her movie, she tries to also show the steps that any addict of any illegal substance might be able to follow. For instance in one of the movies she follows the track where an addict does i.e. her ability is totally shuttered when she portrays where she drops of a hat, she makes Sherry Swanson turn from sexual to vulnerable, violent to passive, indifferent to invested, self-assured to insecure. Through it all, she is endearing enough to win over even the most ignorant viewers the kind who shields their eyes when in real-life Sherry’s pass them on the street. Chronic alcohol consumption profoundly affects the function of several vital organs, particularly the liver and the nervous, gastrointestinal, and cardiovascular systems. Ethanol has direct toxicity. In addition, since it is a very weak drug that requires concentrations, thousands of times higher than other misused drugs (e. g. , cocaine, opiates, and amphetamines) to produce its intoxicating effects, it is often consumed in quantities large enough to qualify it as a food. Consumption of large amounts of alcohol increases the mortality rate of any consumer, though light to moderate drinkers have a chance of having between changing the habit or also increasing the chances too (Linda A.Mooney, David Knox, Caroline Schacht, 2005). Deaths linked to alcohol use are caused by the cancerous diseases, liver failure suicidal wishes and accidents when driving and the use of machines. In most cases, the drunken take this alcohol with an aim of forgetting their problems, some take alcohol to raise their sexual urge and ability to work. However, according to research, excessive abuse of alcohol does not help one to forget his or her own problems. This is a fact that most drug abuse victims do not have an idea about. In the Sherry Baby movie, this is clearly brought about when Sherry Swanson turn from sexual to vulnerable, violent to passive, indifferent to invested, self-assured to insecure. There are so many effects of the use of illegal substances but the following are the effects that are encountered by the user. They are: 1. Tolerance and physical dependence -The consumption of alcohol in high doses over a long period results in tolerance and in physical and psychological dependence. That is, the victim is not in a position to make independent decisions or handle a situation on his own. 2. Neurotoxicity- Consumption of large amounts of alcohol over extended periods (usually years) can also lead to neurological deficits. That is, some body functions will not take place normally. 3. Cardiovascular System: Alcohol alters the cardiovascular system in many ways. Heavy alcohol consumption of long duration is associated with a dilated cardiomyopathy with ventricular hypertrophy and fibrosis. 4. Blood: Alcohol indirectly affects hematopoiesis through metabolic and nutritional effects and may also directly inhibit the proliferation of all cellular elements in bone marrow. The most common hematological disorder seen in chronic drinkers is mild anemia resulting from alcohol-related folic acid deficiency. 5. Endocrine System and Electrolyte Balance: Chronic alcohol use has important effects on the endocrine system and on mineral and fluid and electrolyte balance. 6. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: Chronic maternal alcohol abuse during pregnancy is associated with important teratogenic effects on the offspring. Therefore, pregnant mothers are not allowed to consume this substance. 7. Immune System: Alcoholics have a higher than normal rate of infection and are especially prone to respiratory infections such as pneumonia and tuberculosis. This is the reason why most of the cough during cold seasons. 8. Increased Risk of Cancer: Chronic alcohol use increases the risk for cancer of the mouth, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, and liver. Reference Thomson Wadsworth (2006) Understanding Social Problems; Wadsworth Publishing. Page 161-186.

Christmas - An Extraordinary Holiday Essays -- Personal Narrative Writ

Christmas - An Extraordinary Holiday As I grow older, Christmas is the greatest holiday for my family and me. The powerful feeling of family is never any stronger than on Christmas Day. The stress of the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve all seeps away as our children come running into our bedroom to see if we are awake yet. Even though our children are teenagers, the tradition doesn't change; Santa is real if you believe in him. I've seen our children wake up as early as 5:00 a.m. As our children awake us, my husband tries to draw out the anticipation by telling them he needs to take a shower first. After much begging and grumbling, they agree and the three of us make our way into the kitchen to bake cinnamon rolls. While my husband is showering, we are in the kitchen preparing the cinnamon rolls. By the time he is done, the smell of the gooey sweet cinnamon rolls is drifting through the house. As I pull the rolls out of the oven, my daughters are tearing into the stockings Santa filled while visiting the night before. Santa always remembers Mom and Dad, too. W...

Social Media Marketing

Evaluate the Effectiveness of Social Media Marketing on Hotels Jennie Russell 1. Abstract Purpose; The internet has forced companies to transform themselves to be more interactive, innovative and efficient as the online consumer is more active, demanding and in control; if unhappy about a service the hotel’s reputation c an be damaged as negative information posted online is instant and public; sharing their opinion with hundreds of thousands of potential customers. However, savvy marketers are increasingly using social media to let guests sell their hotels, which is authentic marketing at its best.Marketers need to implement dedication, time and resources in social media marketing to be successful and stay ahead of their competitors; most hotels lack the resources required to effectively implement social marketing strategies. Methodology; This paper integrates triangulation to ensure all views of social media marketing are portrayed; three hotel marketing managers were questi oned, consumers on PollDaddy answered polls and the role of the practitioner research was undertaken to analyse Cedar Court’s Facebook campaign.Secondary research was used to develop recommendations for the effective use of social media marketing. Findings; This paper presents the results of an exploratory study on the different perspectives of social media marketing. It was found that some hotels have more developed social media marketing strategies than others but all are willing to learn and develop. Consumers had mixed opinions on social media marketing which lead to calls for recommendations to be derived from secondary research for the effective use of social media marketing.Research Limitations; More time was needed to research and analyse the Facebook campaign and a payable account was needed on PollDaddy to increase the exposure of the polls. Value; Social media marketing is a fairly new trend; it will be a key factor in the future of marketing; Large hotels like Hil ton and Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts have fully integrated social media into their marketing strategy, but for most hotels the difficulty is not only where to begin, but who to use and what to do; this paper will significantly impact how hotels market on social media sites.Keywords; Social Media, Marketing, Hotels, Effective, Participation, Interaction 1|Page 2. Context & Objectives Long before the Internet, people shared their opinions of products with friends and family through word of mouth; ‘a happy guest tells five others; an unhappy guest tells 9-10 others. ’ (Kennedy, 2009) Nowadays, consumers are spending more and more time on social network sites where they can broadcast their experiences directly online via social media sharing their opinion with hundreds of thousands of potential customers; hotel marketers need to reach these communities and interact with them to stay competitive.TIG Global (2009) describes how the internet has changed marketing; ‘what was once an efficient one way communication tool has evolved into an interactive two way communication device. ’ The internet is forcing companies to transform themselves to be more interactive, innovative and efficient. Kozinets (1999, p254) discussed that ‘online consumers are not merely passive recipients of consumption information but active creators’; consumers are now in control. The information the consumers post is instant and public; giving them the opportunity to be heard in large numbers.Marketers need to form alliances with these online consumer communities as it is the dawn of customer engagement; ‘Engaged customers spend more money and come back more often. ’ (Mclean, 2008) Social media marketing requires participation, interaction and dedication (Raza, 2006); time, commitment and resources are essential for the efficient use of social media marketing; however most hotels lack the resources required to effectively implement social mark eting strategies.Most hotels either don't do social media marketing or they don't do it efficiently; W eber (2009) understands that marketers have to be aggregators not broadcasters; they have to be part of the consumer’s conversation, not bombarding them with constant sales pitches. (Evans, 2009) Marketers have to ensure their content is beneficial to the hotel and their consumers; they should not perceive the hotels presence to be a nuisance.Large hotels like Hilton, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts and MGM Grand have fully integrated social media into their marketing strategy, but for most hotels the difficulty is not only where to begin, but who to use and what to do. Is it detrimental for a hotel not to use social media sites? Can it be detrimental if social media sites are used but not appropriately? The aim of this study is to evaluate the role of social media in hotel marketing. The objectives of this study are to; ? Evaluate how the internet has changed hotel marketing. |Page ? ? ? Assess the key activities involved in social media marketing. Evaluate the role of social media marketing within hotel marketing strategies. Develop recommendations for the effective use of social media marketing in hotels. 3. Literature Review Marketing Raza (2005, p 2) defines marketing as an ‘ongoing process comprising various co-ordinated activities a company must perform to develop and/or wanted product, bring it to the market, maintain it there and maximize the customers benefit. The customer is an integral part of the marketing process; marketers need to focus on their customer’s needs, wants and expectations which will reflect in their services and result in a successful hotel. ‘For many years hospitality firms have believed that the goal of marketing is to create as many new customers as possible. ’ (Shoemaker & Lewis, 1999, p345) They believed it was important to satisf y the guests while they were on the property, but the real goal w as to continue to find new customers; their interest in getting new customers dominated the task of keeping customers.Nowadays, companies have realized that both aspects are vital; finding n ew customers and keeping current customers; Chen et al (2009) suggest that companies exploit the internet to become more innovative and effective at this task. Marketing using traditional methods used interruption techniques which consumers accepted as they classed them as necessary ‘happenings’; the marketers were in control. But the internet forced marketers to transform themselves; Chen et al (2009) discovered that marketers were no longer in control; the balance of power had shifted to the consumer.The existence of united groups of online consumers interacting shifts knowledge and power from marketers to consumers; Kozinets (1999, p258) supports this; ‘The more online consumption members communicate with one another through the internet, the more bold they feel about chall enging marketers and marketing claims. ’ Scott (2009) & Tuten (2008) realized that the ‘old rules’ of marketing were ineffective in a web 2. 0 world; (consumer generated content) marketers have to work harder as consumers control their media content.Saugestad (2009) reinforces this; ‘research shows that there is a growing proclivity among web users to tune out ‘corporate speak’. ’ Miguens, Baggio & Costa (2008) clarify that the internet is no longer just a static page, but a dynamic platform which allows consumers to independently generate their own content; sharing with other users and passing on their own experience. Marketers need to realize that online consumers are much more ‘active, participative, resistant, activist, loquacious, social and communitarian. ’ (Kozinets, 1999, p261) Social Medias 3|PageIt is important to ensure social media is explained to avoid confusion; ‘Social media is about sharing information and experiences with acquaintances in your networks. ’ (TIG Global, 2009) Weber (2009) noted that social networks are places where people with a common interest or concern, meet and express themselves, their opinions and ‘vent’. There are different social media channels depending on the desired goals; Table 1; Authors Analysis of Social Media Sites Type of Description Statistics Social Media Facebook Facebook is a social networking website that Facebook reports was originally designed for students, but is n average of now open to anyone 13 years of age or older. 250,000 new Facebook users can create and customize registrations per their own profiles with photos, videos, and day since January information about themselves. Friends can 2007. (Scott, 2009, browse the profiles of other friends and write p229) messages on their profiles. Twitter Twitter is an online service that allows you to There are a share updates with other users by answering reported 3 million on e simple question: â€Å"What are you doing? † tweets posted per Twitter is a free social networking and micro- day. (Social Media blogging service that enables its users toStatistics, 2008) send and read other users' updates known as tweets. TripAdvisor TripAdvisor is a free travel guide and 90% of online research website that hosts reviews from consumers trust users and other information designed to help recommendations plan a vacation. from reviews (Mclean, 2008) YouTube YouTube is a video sharing service that ‘Videos posted on allows users to watch videos posted by other You tube attract users and upload videos of their own. The more than 40 slogan of the YouTube website is â€Å"Broadcast million visitors Yourself. † This implies the YouTube service monthly. ’ (Weber, s designed primarily for ordinary people who 2009 p4) want to publish videos they have created. ‘Social networking continues to grow and shape the way people communicate. ’ (Hotelworld, 2010) There are hundreds of active social networking websites, but the social media sites listed in table 1 are relevant to this project as hotels are currently using them to market themselves. The internet is becoming one big social networking site; ‘Over 44% of all internet users are active in social media’ (TIG Global, 2009) Saugestad (2009) & Miguens, Baggio & Costa (2008) argue that social media sites are the most 4|Page opular sites on the internet due to the fact it is available 24/7, giving potential online customers the opportunity to access information at their own convenience. Starkov & Mechoso (2010) acknowledges that internet users spend 17% of their surfing time on social network and blogging sites, nearly triple the percentage of time spent on sites than a year ago which is beneficial to marketers if they use social media effectively, as they are reaching a growing audience. Using Social Media Effectively Many authors agree that social media marketing needs to be fully integrated in the hotel’s marketing process.Marketer’s need a solid internet strategy; merging social media marketing into their marketing plan and the hotels brand; integrating videos, images and blogs to increase exposure and improve online positioning. (Davis, 2009, Raza, 2005, Tikkanen et al, 2009) Social media gives marketers an incredibly inexpensive way to build brand awareness, while doing it in a way that makes the hotel seem simultaneously hip, down to earth and fun. Hotels (2009) explain how savvy marketers are increasingly using social media to let guests sell their hotels, which is authentic marketing at its best.Kennedy (2009) found that guests who have had extremely positive experiences do often feel motivated to post their positive feedback on the internet. Successful word of mouth marketing isn’t about what the hotel thinks it represents; it’s what the consumers choose to talk about; ‘Word of mouth hinges on real consumers spreading the word for you. ’ (Mclean, 2008) It’s the best marketing tool; with high credibility as it comes from previous customers and there is no cost to the hotel.However, if consumers have a bad experience it can be unfavourable for the hotels reputation; ‘a single negative online guest review can cause significant damage by scaring off future potential guests. ’ (Kennedy, 2009) The scope of internet marketing is huge; numbers could be in the realms of tens of thousands of potential guests scared off from one bad review on the internet. Hotels reputations are at stake; consumers are going to be talking about how they were treated for better or for worse.Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts has set the bar for social media customers service care; a guest went on twitter whilst staying at the Biltmore Four Seasons Resort to make a criticism about the hotels music, to her surprise she received a bottle of wine and a note from the general mana ger apologizing. Another situation at Four Seasons Bangkok, where a guest complained on twitter about the lack of appealing movies on TV that night; management were notified and the guest was informed about the hotels in-house DVD library. Kirby, 2009) These situations show the effective engagement and participation required with social media marketing that results in high customer satisfaction. Interaction, Participation and Authenticity Social media is all about forming relationships, trust and building an online reputation. The main focus in social media marketing is to keep consumers informed and not to fool them. TIG Global (2009) explain that social media users 5|Page will likely be appreciative of hotel marketers updates and more inclined to pass them along to their networks of friends and family, if they feel the updates are authentic and useful.The main purpose of social media is social interaction and networking with other users; hotel marketers need to enhance their socia l interactions to be successful; ‘the speed of the response is a significant factor in interactivity. ’ (Tikkanen et al, 2009, p1371) The stronger a hotel’s genuine interactivity on social media sites, the stronger their social media brand will be. Starkov & Mechoso (2010) reveal that if a hotel enhances its social media presence on Facebook and Twitter, it can create a buzz around the property and contribute to increased awareness and booking considerations.Engaging and dynamic content can enhance a hotels presence and generate continuous interest; ‘the online social media process is all about the ‘word of mouse’. ’ (Parsippany, 2009) Social media sites are all about customer engagement; companies who focus on engagement rather than selling will see success. (Mclean, 2007, Tikkanen et al, 2009) By incorporating value, interactivity and engagement; hotel marketers could thrive with social media marketing. Valuable Content Evans (2009) ad vises marketers to ensure they have significant cont ent on their social media sites otherwise they will lose consumers and search engine rankings.Consumers aren’t afraid to tell hotel marketers if their content is rubbish but at least social media offers the ability to make instant adjustments in case they need to change detrimental content. ‘Marketers have to provide customers with value to have a better chance of engaging their customers in their marketing activities. ’ (Parsons et al, 1998 cited from Tikkanen et al, 2009, p1369) Value is one of the most important things to keep in mind when creating great social media content that will persuade consumers to interact and engage with marketers.Armstrong (2001) understands that marketers are sceptical about social media marketing but tries to convince them to use the internet as a sales and marketing tool; he summarizes that the issue is not only how to engage the consumer, but also how first to attract the cons umer to the website and then to retain them; however this book is dated with basic knowledge of the internet and limited reference to social media marketing. Saugestad (2009) argued that successful social media marketing requires meaningful participation, authenticity and real engagement.Social media is a continual process of evolving and updating to ensure exciting and lively content; ‘Involvement in (and success with) social media takes time and commitment. ’ (TIG Global, 2009) Future of Marketing Hotels (2009) predicts social media will become firmly entrenched as a marketing channel in 2010. Savvy marketers will continue to shift marketing funds to online channels at the expense of traditional marketing methods which Starkov & Mechoso (2010) reinforce ‘social media and mobile marketing are quickly becoming the mainstream in the hospitality industry. Accelerating technological 6|Page developments are evolving as a new generation of opportunity and challenge for the marketer. The issue with social media marketing isn’t whether to use it or not but to ensure the time, commitment and resources are spent developing it effectively. There is a lot of literature around social media marketing but no distinct recommendations for effective usage. 4. Method of InvestigationAn exploratory research approach will be used to gather information; a mixture of deductive and inductive; deductive as I want to find if hotel marketing managers find social media marketing useful, also want to find if the level of communication on social networking can gain loyalty from consumers or discover if social me dia marketing is beneficial to a hotel or detrimental to their image. Inductive secondary research will develop recommendations for the use of social media marketing. Triangulation refers to the use of different data collection techniques in ne study in order to ensure the data is correct and precise. (Saunders, Lewis, Thornhill, 2005) Triangulation will be used in this project as it will provide better opportunities to gather all perspectives on social media marketing and will allow effective evaluation of the findings. A mixed method research approach will be undertaken and data will be analyzed throughout the process; Tashakkori & Teddie (2003) quoted in Saunders, Lewis, Thornhill, (2005, p 146) argue that ‘multiple methods are useful if they provide better opportunities for you to answer your research question. The role of practitioner researcher will be undertaken as I designed a Facebook page for Cedar Court Hotel Wakefield when I worked for them on my placement which I now manage. I plan to add 1 event and 3-4 status updates per week as well as requesting at least 40 friends. I understand it will be time consuming; I’m a full time student so all my time is spent on university work which does not allow me to be fully immersed in the daily events at Cedar Court.Therefore familiarity may affect the research as I don ’t have any up to date information to enable me to frequently update the status with current issues; I have overcome this problem by asking the sales manager to keep me informed. I will analyse the campaign for 3 months to observe the impact and responses from the hotel’s social media activities. Structured questionnaires will be conducted using purposive sampling (typical case) with three hotel marketing managers that are currently using Facebook to market their hotel in order to explore their opinions of social media marketing.The questionnaires will be conducted through email so the managers can complete the questionnaire at a time and place convenient to them. The delphi technique will be used to ensure the key issues are addressed; when all the data is collected I will distribute it to the marketing managers to see if they agree with 7|Page the findings and to ensure all the important issues have been illustrated. All three managers will answer the same set of que stions to ensure reliable data. From these questionnaires I will develop polls to ask the general ublic their opinions on social media marketing using PollDaddy as the sampling frame ‘The larger your sample size the lower the likely error in generalising to the population. ’ (Saunders, Lewis, Thornhill, 2005, pg. 210) Poll Daddy has 500,000 users around the world (PollDaddy, 2009) which should generate a good response rate; I am aiming for at least 100 answers to each question to generate findings that are representative of people who are interested in social networking. There is no limit to the amount of questions I can post as PollDaddy provides interactive polling, which I thought was relevant to this project.I will post the questions in November and 3 months later I will gather the quantitative data which allows easy comparison. As well as primary data, documentary secondary data will be gathered from literature on the internet; journals and articles from websites s uch as e. hotelier. com/caterersearch. com will be used to develop recommendations for a hotel marketer to efficiently use social media marketing. Secondary data is unobtrusive; it will aid the project’s objectives and will enable triangulation.An external ethics committee is not required for this research; none of the participants will be vulnerable and social media marketing is a neutral subject. Participant error, bias or observer error shouldn’t occur as triangulation should yield consistent, reliable findings. For this project written consent will be implemented, if participants do not want to participate then they simply do not have to answer the questions. Participants will be volunteers and will be adequately informed of the research; they will be free to withdraw at any time and if necessary the findings can be anonymous.I will monitor Facebook and PollDaddy 4 times a week to ensure the activity is sincere and will re evaluate the validity if I feel it’ s being compromised. 8|Page 4. 1 Research Agenda From the literature review the key issues were highlighted and incorporated into the table below; these issues will form the basis of the questionnaires and polls. Table 2; Table of Issues Issues Reference The more online consumption members communicate with one another through the internet, the bolder they feel about challenging marketers and marketing claims. KOZINETS, Robert, V. (1999) E-Tribalized Marketing? The strategic Implications Of Virtual Communities of Consumption. European Management Journal. 17 (3) 252–264. Online social networking sites are the most popular sites on the internet. MIGUENS, J. , BAGGIO, R. , COSTA, C. (2008) Social Media and Tourism Destinations; TripAdvisor Case Study. Advances in Tourism Research 2008. Aveiro. Portugal RAZA, Ivo. (2005) Heads In Beds; Hospitality & Tourism Marketing. 1st Edition. United States of America. Pearson Prentice Hall. DAVIS, John. (2009) Social Media; Marketing Magic or Madness. [online] 16 July. Article from Hotel Online; News for The HospitalityExecutive. Last accessed on 19 October 2009 at: www. hotel- It is virtually impossible to compete in today’s marketplace without a solid internet strategy. Hotels need to merge social media marketing into the brand and the marketing plan; integrating videos, images and blogs to increase exposure and improve online Question derived from issue Do you find that online consumers are much more active, participative, resistant and more demanding? What types of social media marketing do you use and how do you use it? Do you have an internet marketing strategy? How important is social media marketing in your arketing plan? Is it fully integrated? 9|Page positioning. online. com/News/PR2009_3 rd/Jul09_SocialMediaMagic. html Engaging and dynamic PARSIPPANY, NJ. (2009) content can generate Introducing: CoMMingle continuous interest; ‘the Social Media Marketing online social media Agency for Hospitality. process is all about the [online] 21 September. ‘word of mouse’. ’ Article from Hotel Online; News for the Hospitality Executive. Last accessed on 19 October at: http://www. hotelonline. com/News/PR2009_3 rd/Sep09_CoMMingle. html Successful social media SAUGESTAD, Stephen. marketing requires 2009) Social Media and the meaningful participation, Hospitality Industry. [online] authenticity and real 23 September. Article from engagement. ehotelier. com; the one stop website for hoteliers. Last accessed on 19 October 2009 at: http://ehotelier. com/hospitali tynews/item. php? id=P17166_ 0_11_0_C Four Seasons Hotels & KIRBY, Adam. (2010) MGM Resorts has set the bar Grand Billboard Takes for social media Twitter to Masses. [online] 4 customers service care; January. Article from Hotels; a guest went on twitter The Magazine of the whilst staying at the Worldwide Hotel Industry.Biltmore Four Seasons Last accessed on 6 January Resort to make a 2010 at: criticism about the http://www. hotelsmag. com/b hotels music, to her log/Musings_Miscellany/296 surprise she received a 91bottle of wine and a note MGM_Grand_Billboard_Tak from the general es_Twitter_To_Masses. php manager apologizing. 1. Does your social media site incorporate engaging and dynamic content for your consumer? 2. How often do you update your content on your social media sites? 1. Successful social media marketing requires meaningful participation, value and real engagement do you feel you give this and how? 2.How often do you check/interact on your social media sites? 1. If you find a negative comment online what do you do? 2. Can you give me 3 examples of how social media marketing has worked well for you and what was the impact? 10 | P a g e 5. Findings & Analysis 5. 1 Facebook Research The impact and responses from Cedar Court’s social media activities on Facebook were recorded. Every week Cedar Court’s status was updated 3 times, a new event was added and an average of 40 friends were requested; the campaign was analysed for 3 months to investigate positive and negative reactions of the consumers.It can be immediately seen from column 2 that Cedar Court’s friends have consistently increased, doubling the amount of friends it started off with from 323 on 24. 11. 09 to 692 on 19. 02. 10. The number of people adding Cedar Court to be their friend (column 5) also consistently increased, in the first month Cedar Court had 0-1 people requesting to be their friend but towards the end of the campaign an average of 6 people were requesting to be their friend with a maximum of 8 people on 19. 02. 10.The popularity of Cedar Court definitely increased; at the start only 1 person ‘liked’ the status, then only 1 person commented on the second status, gradually throughout the weeks more people started to ‘like’ and comment on the statuses. Towards the end of the campaign an average of 30 people were ‘liking’ the sta tus and an average of 3 people were commenting; the Valentine’s Day status (15. 02. 10) had 70 friends ‘like’ it and 3 comments which is significant. Generally, the popularity of Cedar Court’s profile did increase however there was a decrease of 7 friends on 24. 2. 09 which could be due to the fact 4 events were sent out the previous time or it could have been due to festive pessimism, after this incident I ensured I would only send 1 event out each week to ensure I didn’t annoy any more of Cedar Court’s friends. The number of people accepting Cedar Court to be their friend and adding Cedar Court to be their friend consistently increased, which could be due to the fact that more consumers are accepting companies presence on social media sites owever consumers tended to ‘like’ and comment on the personal status update; not the sales pitch status es, which goes against companies objectives to use social media as a marketing tool. A ll the comments were positive which is encouraging; this shows a positive impact as consumers enjoy participating in the personal statuses; they take pleasure in the engagement and interactment with the hotel’s day to day activities; birthday’s, promotions, new employees etc. 11 | P a g e 5. 2 Questionnaires with Marketing Managers Questionnaires were emailed to the marketing managers of Hilton, Marriott and Malmaison.They were given 1 month to reply; giving as much detail as possible. To analyse these questionnaires, themes have been derived to allow ease of comparison between the hotels. Marketing the Hotels At the moment all three hotels use a variety of sources to market their hotels; social media, emails, newspapers, tradeshows, search engines, word of mouth and leaflet dropping. All three also have an internet marketing strategy; Hilton explained their marketing team works together with their PR and promotions to shape this strategy.Social media is important in t he hotels marketing plans; Marriott have only been using social media for around 6 months and hopes to be fully integrated by the end of the year. Hilton acknowledges social media is a ‘new space’ and have integrated it through PR and partnerships/promotions. All three hotel’s use Facebook, plus another social media form, however they all use them in slightly different ways. Malmaison started using social media marketing after attending a ‘future of hospitality’ course and uses Twitter and Facebook to update promotions and news etc.Hilton recognised that conversation about their brand were taking place on Facebook and Twitter whether they were participating or not; they use the same sites as Malmaison as ‘additional channels’ for brand news and giveaways. Marriott started in response to their sister hotel having used it for several months and uses Facebook and LinkedIn. Opinions on Social Media Marketing Malmaison’s opinions are m ixed; they believe it is the way forward because it has many benefits but understand there are negatives and that hotels should be careful.However Marriott is not in favour of it; ‘using sites that are not necessarily business focused as a marketing tool can cheapen your product and portray the wrong image. ’ Hilton understands the need for a sound strategy, time and commitment before adopting it; ‘social media marketing should never be used in place of traditional marketing tactics. ’ 12 | P a g e All three hotels agree that social media marketing is useful; Malmaison finds it easy to a point, ‘its quick, reaches a mass audience, builds relationships and is relatively cost effective. ’ Marriott thinks it is cost effective and likes the ‘speed to market. Hilton states that it is ‘extremely helpful in building buzz for our brand , sharing news quickly. ’ Occurrence of Content Updates and Interactions All three hotels interact on their social media sites however there are different levels; Hilton is the highest and checks theirs frequently throughout each day whereas Marriott only check theirs once a week; hotels on social media sites should be giving instant information; a week is far too long. Malmaison checks theirs as ‘often as they can’; but this is a loose term and could range from Hiltons highest level to Marriott’s lowest level of interaction.Again, with content update the rankings were the same; Hilton was the leader as they ‘post multiple messages to Twitter each day and add content to Facebook regularly’, Marriott only update their content on average once a month which is insufficient and Malmaison were vague with ‘as often as we can. ’ Participation, Engagement and Valuable Content Malmaison follows up on complaints and says thank you for good comments, they offer incentives and promotions their customers would appreciate.Hilton talks with their â €˜fans’ rather than ‘at’ them, they try to provide content that has real value, rather than simply ‘pushing marketing messages. ’ Whereas Marriott acknowledges that they are not giving the ‘appropriate level of participation’ however this year they do hope to overcome this and build their online profi le. Malmaison believes that their site incorporates engaging and dynamic content for their consumers; Hilton always ‘tries to provide information that is valuable to our audience. ’ Marriott is drawing up plans to address their ‘limited’ content.Champions and Time Spent with Social Media Marketing All three hotels understand the importance of assigning a dedicated social media marketer; Hilton has ‘an agency team and three internal team members’; Malmaison has 1 person from each hotel responsible and Marriott has nominated six people for their social media activities. Marriott only spends a couple o f hours per week on social media marketing whilst Malmaison spends ‘as much time as we can’ which is again vague but sounds keen! Hilton understands that ‘time investment is considerable and necessary. Attracting the Active and Demanding Online Consumer Malmaison attracts online consumers to their social media sites through exclusive offers and competitions; Hilton has integrated their Facebook and Twitter with their official brand site and other microsites; they also rely heavily on 13 | P a g e word of mouth from their current ‘fans’ and use giveaways. In the near future Marriott will be adding their social media addresses to their traditional ‘collateral’ that they hand to clients. Malmaison agrees with the statement that ‘online consumers are more active, participative, resistant and demanding. Hilton thinks it varies; ‘most followers are honest and enjoy travel so their posts and comments are positive’ but Hiltons social media channels are ‘not intended to be a guest assistance centre. ’ Which I disagree with; guests should be able to have their p roblems resolved through social media, I do understand that it’s an international company but strategies should be in place for these encounters. Marriott said ‘we will only really begin to see this in the coming months as our exposure grows. ’ Analysis of Social Media MarketingMalmaison analyses their social media marketing at the end of every week using tools such as ‘trendistic, tweetbeep, twittercounter, twitpwr. ’ Hilton receives weekly reports from an agency that ‘tracks major topics. ’ However Marriot t’s focus is ‘bringing our profile to a level where it actually merits tracking. ’ TripAdvisor Reviews Malmaison and Marriott both stated that they use TripAdvisor reviews but didn’t say how they used them. Hilton encourages its hotels to monitor consumer revie ws as ‘they are a great way to understand what is and is not working for a particular property. ’ Negative CommentsIf Malmaison finds a negative comment then they ‘address and investigate the situation, if a contact number/email address is left then the matter will be dealt with in private. ’ Hilton does their best to resolve the issue; ‘just as we do at our hotels when a guest complains. ’ Until this year Marriott only acted on feedback without replying to the customer; but now they use the ‘Manageme nt Response’ function to post replies to both negative and positive comments. Hilton doesn’t believe social media can necessarily go wrong, but negative posts about customer’s experiences at their hotels is ‘disheartening. Malmaison stated that they seem to be doing ok and Marriott said ‘this remains to be seen. ’ Social Media Working W ell All three hotels have had positive experiences with social med ia; Malmaison has had positive feedback from its ‘fans’, the events they advertised have had favourable responses and offers have been well received. Hilton asked ‘Tweeters’ to cheer for the film premier ‘Up in the Air’ for a chance to win various prizes; this was mutually beneficial and increased the hotel’s profile; reporters often post stories from Hiltons Twitter or Facebook.Marriott use Facebook to advertise charity events and to drive exposure of their Christmas party packages. 14 | P a g e Recommendations Malmaison and Marriott are welcoming of recommendations ‘that are tailored for our product and the market we are in. ’ Hilton are ‘always looking for suggestions that we can use at the brand level and share with our hotels. ’ Social media is a continual process of evolving and updating that takes time and commitment, even though Hilton are the most advanced in social media, the willingness for suggestion s shows true commitment and is an important attribute.Hilton are the most savvy in social media marketing; Marriott is fairly new in this concept and need more time to extend their strategies. Malmaison is well developed but not up to Hiltons standards however Hilton is a multi-national company which is hard to compete with. Unfortunately some managers did not answer in as much depth as I would have liked; none would disclose any financial information which is understandable but disappointing as it would have been interesting to compare the financial implications and set a guideline amount in the recommendations.One manager took 3 months to fill out the questionnaire and only replied when I used Facebook to prompt them to fill it in. 5. 3 PollDaddy Results Polls were developed on PollDaddy to ask the general public their opinions on social media marketing. Originally I had problems with the response rate as I only had a free account, if I had a paid account I would have received mor e responses and more exposure, but I overcame this by using Facebook to link my questions from PollDaddy and the responses increased rapidly; reinforcing the argument that social media is effective.Table 3; Key Points from PollDaddy 1. 87% think that social media marketing isn’t just a trend. 2. 50% think that marketers abuse social media marketing. 3. 48% think there should be rules for the appropriate usage of social media marketing. 31% think marketing on social media is innovative. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 60% find it easier to challenge marketer’s claims through social media marketing. 30% use Facebook and 27% use Twitter as their main social media forms. 36% think companies on social media are demonstrating meaningful participation, authenticity and real engagement. 2% engage in social media if they see it as beneficial. 15 | P a g e 9. 57% think social media marketing is a convenient and efficient way of finding information and interacting with an organisation Source; Aut hor’s Analysis of Poll Daddy Results 1. This is a significant percentage of people who think social media marketing isn’t just a trend; they believe it will be around permanently so hotels should take up this information and use this to their advantage through marketing. 2.Half who answered thought that marketers ‘just don’t get’ social media marketing; people felt that marketers could make more of the opportunities they have; the ‘recommendations’ may help marketers use social media marketing more effectively. 3. This point reinforces the need for marketers to effectively use social media marketing; it is a fairly new concept and marketers need to develop their strategies if they want to succeed. 4. 31% think marketing on social media is innovative which is encouraging for marketers; 32% of people don’t mind social media marketing as long as it isn’t excessive. 5.Online consumer aren’t afraid to challenge marketers claims; they are more assertive which strengthens Chen et al (2009) and Kozinets (1999) argument that the balance of power has shifted away from the marketer to the online consumer. 6. Most people who answered used some form of social media marketing, from Facebook to LinkedIn; companies should begin marketing on Facebook and then develop their strategies from there. 7. 36% thought that social media marketing shows companies commitment to engagement and interaction; however the polls were very close with some people being suspicious of social media marketing and the marketing ploys. . Social media sites are all about customer engagement with beneficial content this point reinforces Mclean (2007) and Tikkanen et al (2009); companies who focus on engagement rather than selling will see success. 9. This supports TIG Global’s (2009) point that social media users will likely be appreciative of hotel marketers updates and more inclined to pass them along to their networks of frien ds and family, if they feel the updates are authentic and useful.All questions answered had different response rates ranging from 97 to 497. Even though some of the percentages are fairly inconclusive, social media 16 | P a g e marketing is a growing trend and it would be interesting to see the results in a year’s time. 5. 4 Recommendations The dynamic growth and popularity of social media sites has created new opportunities for hotels; I have created recommendations to ensure proper usage of social media marketing and eliminate the risks involved for hotels. 6. ConclusionThe purpose of this project was to evaluate social media in hotel marketing; this project aims to help hotel marketers assess the key activities involved in social media marketing and evaluate the impact on a hotels marketing strategies and their image. Literature Review The internet has forced companies to transform themselves to be more interactive, innovative and efficient as the online consumer is more a ctive, demanding and in control; if unhappy about a service the hotel’s reputation can be damaged as negative online information posted is instant and public; sharing their opinion with hundreds of thousands of potential customers.The more online consumers communicate with one another, the bolder they feel about challenging marketers and marketing claims. Social media marketing requires participation, interaction and dedication; time, commitment and resources are essential for the efficient use of social media marketing; it is a highly engaging and innovative marketing method. Engaging and dynamic content can enhance a hotels presence and generate continuous interest; it needs to be focused on the consumer, it’s not what the hotel wants to talk about it’s about what the consumers want to talk about.If a hotel enhances its social media presence, it can create a buzz around the property and contribute to increased awareness and booking considerations. Savvy market ers are increasingly using social media to let guests sell their hotels, which is authentic marketing at its best. Findings By analysing the impact of social media marketing through different mediums the research was able to demonstrate the impact of social media marketing. More time was needed to analyse the Facebook campaign and a payable account was needed on PollDaddy to increase the exposure of the polls.Despite the limitations there are a number of important points that came from the research; more consumers are accepting companies presence on social media sites like Facebook however consumers prefer personal status updates; not 17 | P a g e sales pitch statuses. The company profile needs a personality in order for engagement to be fulfilled. Social media is a continual process of evolving, updating and developing; hotels should be consistent in regularly usage on social media sites; instant information is needed to be given; a week is far too long to interact and deliver thei r message effectively.Hotels should implement weekly analysis of their social media marketing strategies to ensure effective usage. All three marketing managers have positive experiences with social media marketing with Hilton stating ‘social media marketing can’t necessarily go wrong. ’ PollDaddy consumers don’t mind social media marketing as long as it isn’t excessive; it shows companies commitment to engagement and interaction; however the polls found some people being suspicious of social media marketing and the marketing ploys.Consumers thought that marketers ‘just don’t get’ social media marketing; they felt that marketers could make more of the opportunities they have; the ‘recommendations’ may help marketers use social media marketing more effectively. Recommendations have been derived through secondary research for the effective use of social media marketing. A dedicated and committed employee needs designat ing to monitor and interact on the social media sites.Marketers should establish themselves as credible members of the community and legitimate experts in their field by sharing knowledge and useful links. To Conclude Social media marketing is a fairly new trend; marketers should intensify their efforts to develop and expand their social media marketing strate gies to improve their online positioning. There are positives and negatives to any new venture but overall if social media is effectively used the positives out weight the negatives.It is virtually impossible to compete in today’s marketplace without a solid internet strategy and hotels need to merge social media marketing into their brand and their marketing plan. Social media will soon be the norm in marketing and marketers need to implement dedication, time and resources to be successful and stay ahead of their competitors; most hotels lack the resources required to effectively implement social marketing strategies s o this paper should significantly impact how hotels market on social media sites.Social media marketing is a free marketing tool and if used effectively can be beneficial to the hotel with high returns, however if hotels use social media but not effectively then this can be detrimental to their image; online consumers will perceive them as a nuisance and their online reputation will be ruined. Referring back to the questions asked at the start of this paper; ‘is it detrimental for a hotel not to use social media sites? ’ and ‘can it be detrimental if social media sites are used but not appropriately? I think it can be both detrimental to a hotel to not use social media, as they are missing out on a mass online market, who will be 18 | P a g e discussing their brand whether they are participating or not, however it can also be detrimental if social media is used but not appropriately. By incorporating value, interactivity and engagement; hotel marketers could thriv e with social media marketing. Future research from this paper should look into the long term benefits of social media marketing.Some of the percentages were inconclusive from PolDaddy, it would be interesting to see the results in a year’s time to discover how opinions had changed. 8. Bibliography ARMSTRONG, Steven. (2001) Advertising On The Internet; How to Get Your Message Across On The World Wide Web. 2nd Edition. Wales. Kogan Page. CHEN, Wei, et al (2009) Strategic Management: Undergraduate Programme in Service Sector Management. Essex. Pearson Education. DAVIS, John. (2009) Social Media; Marketing Magic or Madness. [online] 16 July.Article from Hotel Online; News for The Hospitality Executive. Last accessed on 19 October 2009 at: www. hotelonline. com/News/PR2009_3rd/Jul09_SocialMediaMagic. html DELUZAIN BARRY, Susan. (2009) Ten Reasons to Use Social Media for Launching a Hotel. [online] June 2009. Article from Hotel Online; News for the Hospitality Executive. Last acce ssed on 19 October at: http://www. hotelonline. com/News/PR2009_2nd/Jun09_TenReasons. html EVANS, Liana. (2009) Your Social Media Content Must Be Valuable. [online. ] 9 November. Article from search engine watch. com.Last accessed on 10 November 2009 at: http://searchenginewatch. com/3635597 HOTELS. (2009) ‘Twend’: Social Media Evolving Into Social Marketing. [online] 30 November. Article from Hotels; The Magazine of the Worldwide Hotel Industry. Last accessed on 5 December 2009 at: http://www. hotelsmag. com/article/409358_Twend_Social_Media_Evolving_Into_Social_Marketing. php? q=twend%3B+soci al+media+evolving+into+social+marketing HOTELWORLD (2010) Fairmont Launches Social Networking Website for Guests. [online] Last accessed on 20 February 2010 at: http://www. hotelworldnetwork. om/social-networking/fairmont-launches-socialnetworking-website-guests-7305 19 | P a g e IBM (2009) IBM Social Computing Guidelines. [online] Last accessed on 8 January 2010 at: http://www. ibm. com/blogs/zz/en/guidelines. html KENNEDY, Doug. (2009) Hotel Hospitality Training Tips For The Era Of Social Networking. [online] Hotel Online; News for the Hospitality Executive. 16 October. Last accessed 19 October 2009 at: http://www. hotelonline. com/News/PR2009_4th/Oct09_SocialTips. html KIRBY, Adam. (2009) The Greatest Twitter Hotel Service Story Yet. [online] 17 December.Article from Hotels; The Magazine of the Worldwide Hotel Industry. Last accessed on 20 December 2009 at: http://www. hotelsmag. com/blog/Musings_Miscellany/29418The_Greatest_Twitter_Hotel_Service_Story_Yet. php KIRBY, Adam. (2010) MGM Grand Billboard Takes Twitter to Masses. [online] 4 January. Article from Hotels; The Magazine of the Worldwide Hotel Industry. Last accessed on 6 January 2010 at: http://www. hotelsmag. com/blog/Musings_Miscellany/29691MGM_Grand_Billboard_Takes_Twitter_To_Masses. php KOTLER, Philip, et al (2005) Principles of Marketing. th European Edition. Spain. Pearson Education. KOZINE TS, Robert, V. (1999) E-Tribalized Marketing? ; The Strategic Implications Of Virtual Communities of Consumption. European Management Journal. 17 (3) 252–264. MCLEAN, VA (2007) Report Predicts Dramatic Changes in Hotel Marketing Discipline as Result of Consumers Use of Social Media; The Cost to Use these Tools is Low and the Impact is High. [online] 4 September. Hotel Online; News for the Hospitality Executive. Last accessed on 19 October 2009 at: www. hotelonline. com/News/PR2007_3rd/Sept07_SocialMedia. tml MCLEAN, VA (2008) Changes in Communication, the Social Media Revolution, and Evolving Search Engine Optimization Forcing Marketers to Rethink How They Market Destinations and Hotels; Recap HSMAI-CHA Conference. [online] In Caribbean Sales & Marketing Strategy Conference, San Juan. 13-14 December. Hotel Online; News for the Hospitality Executive. Last accessed on 19 October 2009 at: www. hotelonline. com/News/PR2008_1st/Jan08_RecapCHA. html MIGUENS, J. , BAGGIO, R. , COSTA , C. (2008) Social Media and Tourism Destinations; TripAdvisor Case Study. Advances in Tourism Research 2008. Aveiro.Portugal 20 | P a g e PARSIPPANY, NJ. (2009) Introducing: CoMMingle Social Media Marketing Agency for Hospitality. [online] 21 September. Article from Hotel Online; News for the Hospitality Executive. Last accessed on 19 October at: http://www. hotelonline. com/News/PR2009_3rd/Sep09_CoMMingle. html POLLDADDY. (2009) The PollDaddy Platform. [online] Last accessed on 15th January at: http://polldaddy. com/about/ RAZA, Ivo. (2005) Heads In Beds; Hospitality & Tourism Marketing. 1st Edition. United States of America. Pearson Prentice Hall. SALERNO, Neil. (2009) What is Your Hotel’s Online Market Share? online] October 2009. Article from Hotel Online; News for the Hospitality Executive. Last accessed on 19 October 2009 at: http://www. hotelonline. com/News/PR2009_4th/Oct09_MarketShareOnline. html SAUGESTAD, Stephen. (2009) Social Media and the Hospitality Industry. [online] 23 September. Article from ehotelier. com; the one stop website for hoteliers. Last accessed on 19 October 2009 at: http://ehotelier. com/hospitalitynews/item. php? id=P17166_0_11_0_C SAUNDERS, Mark, LEWIS, Philip, THORNHILL, Adrian. (2007) Research Methods for Business Students. 4th Edition. Spain.Pearson Education. SCOTT, David M. (2009) The New Rules of Marketing & PR; How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing & Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly. Canada. John Wiley & Sons. SHOEMAKER, Stowe, LEWIS, Robert, C. (1999) Customer Loyalty; The Future Of Hospitality Marketing. Hospitality Management. 18. 345-370. Social Media Statistics. (2008) Twitter. [online] Last accessed on 20 January 2010 at: http://socialmediastatistics. wikidot. com/twitter STARKOV, Max, MECHOSO, Marina. (2010) 2010 Top Ten Internet Marketing Resolutions. [online] 4 January.Article from Hotels; The Magazine of the Worldwide Hotel Industry. Last accessed on 6 January 2010 at: http:/ /www. hotelsmag. com/article/4424032010_Top_Ten_Internet_Marketing_Resolutions. php? rssid=20620=2010+top +ten+internet+marketing+resolutions TIKKANEN, Henrikki, et al (2009) Exploring virtual worlds: success factors in virtual world marketing. Management Decision. 47 (8) 1357-1381. TIG GLOBAL (2009) Why All Travel Pros Must Use Social Media. [online] 17 November. Article from Hotels; The Magazine of the Worldwide Hotel Industry. 21 | P a g e Last accessed 18 November 2009 at:

Specialized courts in the US Court System Free Essay Example, 1750 words

Another prime reason for the formation of the specialized courts in the country relates to the increasing amount of time spent in deciding the cases in the generalized courts. In the regard, the formation of specialized courts will ensure that judges take less time in deciding the cases which I turn can significantly enhance the efficacy of the entire legal system of the country (Zimmer, 2009). Main Objectives of the Specialized Courts As mentioned previously, the formation of the specialized courts in the United States court system has certain objectives to be accomplished in the long run within the legal system of the country. The first objective of the formation of the specialized courts has been to enhance the efficacy of the legal system of the nation. With the prevalence of the specialized forms of courts within the country, the decision making process will probably receive a positive impact. Furthermore, the formation of the specialized courts within the legal system of the nation is also expected to enhance the overall legal system in terms of accuracy and promptness of the judgments laid down. We will write a custom essay sample on Specialized courts in the US Court System or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now Since in the presence of the specialized judges the complex cases within the nation are expected to be solved more effectively with consuming less amount of time, the overall legal system of the nation is deemed to get impacted positively. Ensuring uniformity within the legal system is another objective with regard to the formation of the specialized courts in the country. It has been noted that in the presence of the specialized courts within the United States, the decision making in the complex and controversial cases will be equal and uniform further ensuring the deliverance of universally accepted results. Furthermore, the formation of the specialized courts is also intended towards enhancing the expertise of the courts in the presence of specialized jury. Additionally, the formation of the courts is also deemed to enhance the aspect of case management within the judicial domain of the country (Zimmer, 2009). The accomplishment of these objectiv es as per the operations of the specialized courts will surely benefit the entire legal system of the United States altogether up to a considerable extent. Forms of Specialized Courts in the United States Notably, a few of the prime forms of courts that fall within the specialized courts include the drug courts, the commercial courts, youth courts, domestic violence courts, mental health courts and veteran treatment courts among others (National Institute of Justice, 2013).

Evaluation Of The Anterior Cruciate Ligament - 971 Words

Estimations indicate that each year in the United States 200,000 ACL tears occur, with approximately 50 percent of those tears requiring reconstructive surgery: Furthermore, about half of those ACL tears are accompanied by a torn meniscus (the cartilage that acts as the shock absorber between the shin bone and the thigh bone) and/or injuries to other ligaments. Common symptoms of a torn ACL include knee instability, swelling and pain. What is the ACL? The Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) and the Posterior Cruciate Ligament (PCL) are located inside the knee joint. The ACL and PCL form an ‘X’ behind the kneecap (patella), with the ACL resting in front of the PCL. Both of these ligaments are responsible for controlling the back and forth motion of the knee joint; however, the ACL is responsible for stabilizing the kneecap ). In addition, the ACL is responsible for preventing the shin bone (tibia) from sliding forward on the thigh bone (femur). The ACL provides the knee with stability while an individual pivots or twists. This ligament is critical because without it, performing any kind of rotational activity is impossible, particularly when it comes to playing sports like soccer and basketball. What Does It Mean When Someone Has a Torn ACL? An ACL tear is among the most common knee injury reported. This injury involves a breakage of the fibers making up the ACL. Sometimes, the entire Anterior Cruciate Ligament is torn; whereas, other times it is just partially torn. WhatShow MoreRelatedAn Evaluation Of An Anterior Cruciate Ligament ( Acl ) Tear866 Words   |  4 PagesAn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear occurs in one of the knee ligaments that join the bones of the upper and lower leg, keeping the knee stable. After reconstructive surgery patients need extensive rehabilitation and healing time before even considering any physical activity. 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The Issue Of Illegal Immigration Essay - 2314 Words

Immigration Immigration has been a controversial topic for decades. It began a long time ago when slaves were brought in from the atlantic as a response to the increasing demand for labor in the United States. There were no legislative restrictions on immigration until the 1800s. Immigration began to become more of an issue as more and more people began to enter the United States, and as more people were found to be living illegally, the problem of illegal immigration arose. There are many different types of immigration, this essay focuses on illegal immigration and undocumented immigrants who live in the United States without citizenship. There is no significant difference between the two, however they can be interpreted very differently. The issue of illegal immigration has become especially substantial in the 2016 United States presidential election. There are those who see good in it, and those who believe that illegal immigration does nothing but wound America. 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They have the proper, legal documents that allow them to live and work in the U.S. without complications. Illegal immigrants are defined as anyone who was born in a country other than the U.S. to parents who are not official U.S. citizens; they enter the U.S. without legal documents to prove their legalRead MoreThe Media And The Issue Of Illegal Immigration777 Words   |  4 Pages Paper #1: Discuss how the different media outlets frame the issue of illegal immigration? It is commonly known that media coverage of anything controversial can be faulty, and biased. ABC News and CCN News could cover the same story, in different ways. This is amplified in cases that affect different audiences (as in age, race, financial class), because certain stations are aimed towards a certain audience. A great example of this is FOX and FOX Latino. The two stations, though sister stations

Business Plan for Boutique Fashionable Clothes

Question: Describe about the Business Plan for Boutique for Fashionable Clothes. Answer: Business details This business plan is about a fashion boutique and the name of the boutique will be New Look fashion boutique. The New Look fashion boutique is the start-up retail which will sell out the fashionable clothes to women. The New Look fashion boutique will be located in the Singapore which is the famous and popular place for the tourist destination. The primary aim of to open the boutique is to build the well-recognized brand name with the effective expansion plan. Along with this, it is the objective to focus on the online retail market also. The fashion and retail industry is very attractive for the youth so the boutique will focus on the youth. The boutique will follow modern fashion trends and focus on the preferences of the consumers. Based on the taste and preferences of the consumers, the boutique will try to meet the needs and demands of the customers by using proper inventory. The boutique will focus on the style, colours and fits for the women to meet their needs. To provide th e best quality of work will be specialty of the boutique (Drummond, Ensor Ashford, 2012). Products or services The New Look fashion boutique will provide the combination of various clothing for women from recognized name brands. The boutique will provide the wide range of clothes from selected fashion designers. The company will use the modern fashion trend by focusing on the purchasing preferences of the customers. The company will use the inventory to meet the requirements of the customers. Women are very conscious for their clothes and fashion sense so the main products of the company will be casual wear, business clothing, formal wear and jeans. Along with this, company will also offer some accessories such as hats, belts and scarves. Profit will be gained by the sales of variety of products. The pricing structure of the company will be flexible as the company will implement the reasonable prices on the common brands. The company will use value based pricing structure which will provide customer service, quality, style and easy access of products to attract the target customers. At the en d of season, sale, multi-buy savings and promotional coupons will be helpful to implement the strategies. The key message connected with the New Look fashion boutique will be classy, versatile and expensive clothing for women (Jones Hayes, 2008). Mission: The mission of the company is to give a new way of fashion to the consumers in the basis of style and quality. Vision: The vision of the company is to develop the lines of fashion products for men, women and children. This fashion line will include all type of clothes that will meet the expectations and demands of the consumers. Objective: The aim of the boutique is to differentiate itself from other boutiques by providing stylish and quality clothing products to the women. The primary objective of the company is to ensure that customers are happy with their purchasing. So the company will provide the products in all the shapes and size for women. Along with this, the company will make purchasing easy, cheap and efficient for consumers (Hoskisson, 2009). Market analysis Market and structure The company will focus on the women for its products. The current population of Singapore is around 5,399,200 and there are 54% women if total population. So it will be easy to attract the women by providing various types of clothing that meet to the demand of the customers. There are many women who look for the clothes those are both fashionable as well as comfortable. Along with this, the company will focus on the tourists also. Singapore is the popular tourist destination for the travellers across the world. People come here to spend their vacation and they enjoy the shopping also. So, company can be able to take benefits from the tourists. Apart from this, Singapore organizes various events and fares for the travellers which bring many targeted travellers to the country every year. Market trend The fashion boutique is the strong business in the retail fashion industry having different changing styles and changing demands of the consumers. In the past, there were megastores foe the fashion clothes and at that time customer wanted change. The customers always seek for the customer friendly experience of shopping. In present days, women are working and they seek different wears ford all purpose such as business wear, and casual wear. So the demand of the clothing will always be high in the market. Many things are changing in the clothing industry and now consumers wants to buy the clothes for all the seasons. To stay connected with the needs and requirements of the consumers, company will establish internal team to collect the feedback given by the important customers. The New Look fashion boutique will work on the strategy of buy now, wear now. It has been seen that there are many companies in the retail industry who are using domestic plant to fulfil the small orders. (Mounc ey Baker, 2009). Market segmentation with target market The New Look fashion boutique is the company having the business to consumer strategy. Females are the main target of the company. So, the company will also attract the younger women by some special products such as scarves, handbags etc. There will be products to target the young generation. In present time, customers value uniqueness, quality, services and convenience. Pricing is the important factor while consumer is taking decision to buy something. Company is planning to target female between the ages of 20 to 40. Within this group, there will be no restrictions of colour and background of the consumers. The customer of the New Look fashion boutique will be someone who will be able to pay worth price for the quality products. The target group of the company will be those women who will be able to spend the worth money for the quality clothing. There are many female consumers who are interested in buying the clothes having different patterns and designs. So, there will be easy fo r the New Look fashion boutique to attract its target customers by providing best quality and designs to them. Buying behaviour of consumers The buying behaviour of consumers plays an important role in the success or failure of a particular company, brand or product. It ensures the company that the market strategy which is adopted by the company to gain success is beneficial for the customers or not. In case of the consumer behaviour, consumers give the preferences to those products which are easily accessible for them. In case of the New Look fashion boutique, the company will try to provide those products that will match the needs or demands of the consumers in the affordable price. Because of best quality and affordable prices, customers will be easily attracted towards the clothes. The buying behaviour of the consumers is based on the prices of the products also. High prices of the clothes can distract the consumers and their buying behaviours. So, the company will set the prices of products that will meet the needs of the consumers. Competitors analysis Strength: The strength of the New Look fashion boutique is that it will provide unique and different shopping experience with excellent customer services. Along with this, company will be on such location from where the products can be easily accessible by the consumers. There is more strength for the New Look fashion boutique that it has large and wide customer base because it is targeting women in its segmentation. The company has the chance to understand and experience the fashion industry because it is new in the market it will get lots of opportunities to expand its business. Weakness: Although it is good for the New Look fashion boutique that it is new in the industry and it may get many opportunities to learn and experience the business. But this is also weakness of the company. Fashion market is large and it is very difficult for the company to satisfy the demands of the consumers. There are established competitors in the market who are operating the business of clothes. There are also some associated with the opening of new boutique that it might be successful or not. Customer and value proposition The company will attract the younger women by some special products such as scarves, handbags etc with clothes. The customer of the New Look fashion boutique will be someone who will be able to pay worth price for the quality products. The target group of the company will be those women who will be able to spend the worth money for the quality clothing. So, the company will try to provide those products that will match the needs or demands of the consumers in the affordable price. The company will also launch a professional and effective website from which the customers can see the products and company can sell out its clothing products across the world (Payne Holt, 2008). Marketing strategy For the New Look fashion boutique, there is the need to draw unique marketing strategy from the beginning. The boutique will not only manufacture the unique clothes but also will promote the clothes with unique strategy of marketing. The company will plan to establish the partnership with the other retailers by increasing and creating brand awareness. In the marketing strategy, the company will hire a local firm that will help in making and implementing strategic marketing plan in a cost-effective manner. The marketing message, slogan and logo of the company will be able to depict the idea of generation of the boutique (Marcer, 2012). The goal of the company is to keep the marketing budget to no more than 5% of the gross annual sale of the products. Along with this, the company will develop its connections in all the important places. The partnership with other retailers will be helpful for the company to conduct the local events and target the customers. The New Look fashion boutique is currently trying to expand the business in local community. The advertisement for the local community will include huge local print advertisement and media coverage, direct mail marketing, and different campaigns. The large amount in the budgeting plan will be allocated for the print and broadcast media (Lymbersky, 2009). Launch strategy The company will conduct a grand and excited opening of the new boutique. With the help of the local firm and other retailers, the company is planning to do a grand opening of The New Look fashion boutique. The message for the opening of the boutique will be send through the different media. The print advertisements will be given in the top magazines of the country to gather the people. For the message, internet will be the best option for the company. The New Look fashion boutique is planning to launch a website also. The company will launch a professional and effective website from which the customers can see the products and company can sell out its clothing products across the world. The reason of launching the website is that in future it is assuming the best marketing channel for the company (Glowik Smyczek, 2011). Along with this, there is one mire strategy while opening the boutique. Company will charge $100 as the entry collection at the grand opening and it will continue t hroughout the week. The contacts with the retailers will be used for marketing activities. The local firm will promote the opening event in the radio advertisement and local newspaper. Company will focus on low cost publicity by which it can gain advantage in the market. Sales tactics The New Look fashion boutique is planning to generate sales through strategic marketing. The strategy will be for both new customers as well as single-visit tourist customers. There is the referral program for those customers who will refer new customers. Those customers will be rewarded by the company. In the grand opening, the company will plan to conduct a direct mail campaign to target the customers. Through the direct mail campaign, the company will do an in-store mailing program. The direct mails will include around 5000 coloured postcards mailers and every postcard will have 10% coupon. Along with this, the company will provide offers and discounts on the seasonal and occasional sales throughout the year. The New Look fashion boutique will accept also the payments via debit and credit cards. Then return and exchange policy will also be there. Customers can exchange and return the clothes within 30 days of seeing and receipts are must for the exchange. The company will have co- owners and 2 or 3 sales associate for selling the products. For the effective and proper sales, training will be provided to the sales associates. Training is necessary so that they can give advice to customers about the fashion trends. The members in the sales team will earn on hourly basis along with the certain percentage of commission on each sales (Schnaars, 2010). Brand development While launching the New Look fashion boutique, the primary aim of the company is to development the brand image of the company. The brand image of the boutique will convey the message of quality, style and great shopping experience to the customers. For the success of the company, brand will play the important role to distinguish the boutique from the other retailers in the local and international market (Dentchev, 2009). For the development of the brand, the New Look fashion boutique will sell the clothing with the brand name. The company will focus the fashion trends with the preferences of the customers to develop the brand image among the customers. The aim of the boutique is to build the brand name that will be the same name of fashion in the retail industry. To develop the brand name, the company will also give the experience of shopping to the customers through online shopping (Seshadri, 2009). Competitive reaction The New Look fashion boutique will get competitive advantage because it is new in the industry and people will wish to buy the new designs of the clothes. There is no guarantee of the new entrants in the fashion industry, because customers are concerned about their fashion sense. By providing the quality and affordable prices, competitors can easily attract the customers. The same opportunity can be getting by the New Look fashion boutique that by the new and attractive designs, affordable rates and exclusive accessories with the clothes, it can attract the customers more than the competitors. By the outstanding customer services, company can distinguish itself from the competitors in the market. The relationship with suppliers and the other retailers, and exclusive product offering of the company will stop the new entry as the competitor in the market. At the time of new entry of competitors, the company would be established and would be able to compete with those competitors (Prebl e Hoffman, 2009). Product and market development For the product development, the company will work with the other retailers of garments manufacturers and fashion designers. Along with this, company will collect all the required licenses for the business. Once the financing will be secured in the company then it will move ahead for the necessities of the business such as purchasing on inventory, office supplies and retail displays. For the grand opening of the boutique, it will take the help of other retailers industry. The product development strategy is based on the promotion with internet as the internet has become the important part of todays life (Farahmand, 2011). So the New Look fashion boutique will focus to generate a website for the customers. The company will have unique domain name newlookfashion.com. The site will be started developing when the funds will be sufficient for developing the site. Further, the company will plan to hire some web designers for the development. The company will aim to show the clothing produc ts at the time of opening and provide the chance to the customers to show the ability of their purchasing. After some time, the company is planning to add some more products related to fashion such as fashion magazines and newspapers, newsletters, designers interviews and designers advices. Basically, the New Look fashion boutique is trying to establish a community where women can gather and talk about the clothing secrets. Operations plan For the establishment in retail industry, the New Look fashion boutique will operate its business seven days in the week from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the time of holidays an special occasions, the timing of the boutique will be extended. In this manner, the boutique needs around 2/3 available space of the building. The remainder space will be used stock and administrative purpose. Along with the owners of the boutique, three or four part time employees will also be hired to serve the customers. The boutique will provide the production to local manufacturers. Along with this, the boutique is planning to connect with the largest warehouse market available in that state. By purchasing the clothes from the warehouses, buyers will be able to see product display and promotional materials with the purchase. The company will hire people for regional sales representatives. Apart from this, company is also planning to conduct fashion trade shows for the women. In case of cost, to control the cost , track the inventory and to manage the stock level in the business operations, the company is planning to set the inventory control system. The inventory control system will include the bar code having related equipments and software. It is the responsibility of staff members to conduct annual audits of inventory and the company can hire auditors from outside if necessary. The accounts and finance of the company will also be maintained by the software (Joshi, 2009). Management team and company structure Organizational structure The New Look fashion boutique is the small business, so the staff will also be small. The owners will have leadership role and quality and they will be responsible for daily operations of the business such as maintaining inventory, buying raw materials, marketing efforts and other administrative duties. There will be the sales staff also to help the owners to secure the sale, general maintenance of stock and inventory and assisting the customers. The management philosophy of the company will be based on mutual respect and responsibility. The environment and the structure of the company will encourage the productivity of the business (Cool, Schendel, 2010). Staff member The New Look fashion boutique will hire the sales staff three or four part time employees. And these positions are to be filled and to find the qualified employees is not an issue. The sales associates of the company will be paid on hourly basis. Along with this, they will get commission also. Bonus and offers will also be provided in every year by review the performance of employees annually. The work of owners will be to maintain the public relations within the fashion industry. To maintain the public relations are very important to operate the best marketing plan for the boutique (Cool Schendel, 2010). Resources Estimation in regard to resources is an essential exercise as it provides management with the base for forecasting funding requirements and preparing financial projections (Shim Siegel, 2007). In the case of New Look Fashion Boutique, which is going to engage in the business of manufacturing, marketing, and distribution of the beauty products, the resource requirement is presented as below: New Look Fashion Boutique: Resource Requirements Resources Amount ($) Stores and Supplies 50,000.00 Machinery 500,000.00 Equipments 200,000.00 Labor (30 workers*$3,000) 90,000.00 Office Staff (10 officials*$10,000) 100,000.00 Working capital 500,000.00 Total 1,440,000.00 Further, in addition to the critical resources discussed above, the company would also require posters, postcards, catalogue, brochures, calendars, and flyers. Along with this, the information technology resources comprising hardware and software would also be needed to run and control the business. Financing One of the crucial steps in financial planning is sourcing the fund requirement that is finding out the best possible mix of sources of funds to meet out the capital requirements (Shim Siegel, 2007). In the case on hand, it has been projected that the business would require total funds of $1,440,000 to start up the operations. There are two possible ways to arrange funds amounting to $1,440,000 such as equity capital and borrowings from banks. The equity capital comes in as the contribution of the owners while the borrowings from banks form part of debt of the company. The financial projections in regard to the business of New Look Fashion Boutique Plc depicts that the business is quite promising and high returns could be expected in the coming 2 to 3 years time period. For this business, it has been projected that the founders (owners) contribution in the form of equity will be $550,000 and the rest will be financed through borrowings. It has been projected that the business would require a term loan of $400,000 to purchase machineries and equipments. With this financing arrangement, the gearing ratio of the company for five years has been projected to be 0.95, 0.88, 0.79, 0.58, and 0.43 times (Appendix). The ratio could observed to be decreasing as the business progresses, thus, it could be inferred that the risk will reduce significantly in the upcoming years. Financial projections The financial projections for a start-up business are presented through three essential components of the financial statement such as income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement (Shim Siegel, 2007). The income statement presents projections in regard income while the projections in regard to assets, liabilities, and equity are presented through balance sheet. Further, the cash flow statement presents the projections in regard to inflows and outflows of the cash for a given period of time. In respect of New Look Fashion Boutique Plc, the financial projections have been made by preparing income statement, balance sheet, and the cash flow statement for a period of five years (Appedix-2). The profitability as depicted in the income statement shows that the business is quite promising. In the first year of operations, it is expected to generate a net profit of $206,500 with a net margin ratio of 16.01% (Appendix-2). The profitability is expected to further increase in the year 2017 to $386,330 and to reach at $608,672 till the end of 2020. It could be observed that the profitability of the company is expected to increase three fold in a time period of 5 years. Further, the balance sheet figures shows that the total assets at the time of start of the business will be $1,440,000 which is expected to increase to 2,744,000 in the given time period of 5 years. The increase in total assets will be dominated by current assets (Appendix-2). In regard to the cash flow projections, it has been budgeted that the company will have cash amounting to $86,200 at the end of first year of operations (Appendix-2). The cash will increase with the increase in sales and profitability of the business gradually over the time frame of 5 years. It has been projected that by the end of 2020, the company will have cash amounting to $1,159,507.85 (Appendix-2). Risk and strategic options The aim of the New Look fashion boutique is to provide best quality clothes to the women at the affordable prices. But the company should not forget the risks associated with the starting of the business. There are many risks with the new business operations. Opening the clothing boutique can create the risks for the owners (Lee, 2009). Identified risks There can be many risks associated with the New Look fashion boutique while starting the business in the retail industry. The risk can be related to inventory management, trend, marketing and business. Without proper inventory management, the boutique cannot be able to provide good products to the customers. If the company stocks too much inventory, then company will face loss. There is another risk related to the trend that in the fashion industry, the trends of the fashion are continuously changing. The company must have to change its trends with the changing environment. One wrong step can decrease the brand image of the company. There may be one more risk and that is related to the marketing strategies. A clothing business must have the clear marketing tactics so target the right customers. Strategies options To avoid the risk, there is the need to adopt proper strategy in the market. There can be many risks while a company is going to operate the business in the market. To minimize the risk related to inventory, the New Look fashion boutique can use the inventory management software so that company can be able to track the inventory and will be able to order the right inventory on time. Along with this, the company should update itself about the changing preferences and demands of the consumers. By the merger and acquisitions, and relations with other retailers, the company will be able reduce the operational risk in the market. Key milestones From the above business plan, it has been seen that the primary aim of to open the boutique is to build the well-recognized brand name with the effective expansion plan. The boutique is new in the market so it has to set some key stones for the success of the business. The goal of the company is to keep the marketing budget to no more than 5% of the gross annual sale of the products. Along with this, the company will develop its connections in all the important places. 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