Fcuk Swot

SWOT Analysis Prepared for: Prepared by: 2 September 2008 Introduction I have created this SWOT analysis on French Connection’s Regent St. branch. I have identified and discussed the strengths/weaknesses of the store, and examined the opportunities and threats it may face. Strengths French Connection targets a fashion-oriented customer typically aged 18 – 35 and produces fashion-forward, well made, on trend, accessible clothing. Positioning is in the upper end of the mass market so that pricing reflects the good quality and fashion element of the offer. It is a well-known brand that all young adults can identify. The brand holds a large share of the competitively priced clothing industry, with a large capital they are able to advertise and market the products on television, Internet and large billboards across the globe. During my visit in the Regent St. branch, I found a nice, clean and well presented store. The strong shop window invites for a quick browse. The good layout gives grate opportunities for positioning best sellers, new collection and add-ons. Most of current trends are presented in the new collection. Very good designs in women’s wear satisfying different tastes and needs. Effective merchandising in women’s area, good stock presentation is giving great ideas for matching items and for whole outfits. Good range from classy to casual. Staff has good a product knowledge. Management seems committed and confident. Comfortable shopping ambiance. Down stairs till area good selling point. The location offers a wide range of customers. (high footfall) Weaknesses Poor selection of men’s wear. Men’s Visual merchandising is not as strong as the women’s, although in the shop window they were presented better then the lady’s. Unfortunately I found the men’s area half as effective as the women’s. I know most of the company’s profit is coming from women’s wear but I think there are a lot of potential male customers out there and a little bit more focus on men’s wear would bring them in more often. Customer service: During my visit I was approached once after 15 minutes browsing in the store. The staff seemed demotivated and there was no interaction with customers on the shop floor nor by the till. After trying on an item wasn’t offered a different color in the same style, a different style in the same color or an add-on. Lack of selling techniques) Also I wasn’t informed about witch items are on sale or where can I find them and they are quite â€Å"hidden† so found it a bit difficult to identify them. (Lack of promoting sales in store) Staff left their sections unattended leaving no possibility for me asking for help. (Lack of attention to the shop fl oor) Store’s interior needs a refit with a trendier design. Changing room on the ground floor is tight and during peak hours just disappointment for customers. Kid’s section upstairs easy to miss out for customers who don’t even know there’s a selection for kids. Ground floor till area poor of add-ons, found just a small box of bangles. Opportunities More staff meetings and training on selling techniques, customer service, customer relations (keeping regular customers is one of the first priorities). Doing role plays during quiet times to build confidence. Customer service checklist twice a week monitoring staff performance with regular feedbacks. (constructive criticism. ) More team spirit. On the maping plan assign staff to sections so they’re responsible for it for the day. Great visual merchandising opportunities due to store layout. Monitoring sales week by week and merchandise accordingly. Staff (Men mostly) wearing latest trends this way giving examples for customers what to look for. Sales assistant who’s greeting customers by the entrance promoting sales or at least inform customers where to find items on sale and the new collection. Because of the location lot of tourists are visiting the store, they are a good amount of potential sales. (With the right atmosphere and service it’s easy to get them spending). Under the staircase in the men’s section is a good area for positioning better selling products because that is the only spot what you can see from the upper level when you’re looking down if there’s more to see downstairs. Ground floor changing room more organized and approachable. Local competitors have poor products. Can surprise competitors. Threats †¢ Customers leaving store without purchasing an item. †¢ Theft (Staff not paying attention), high stock loss. †¢ Loosing regular customers and potential regular customers. †¢ High staff turnover. †¢ Poor reputation among customers. ———————– fcuk fcuk

Native American Indians Then and Now Essay

Native American Indians Native American Indians have not changed much in hundreds of years. The Natives still have the same belief as they did from the beginning of time. They are still forced to live on reserved lands that do not seem livable and are in worse conditions now than ever before. Even though people think due to casinos that the American Indians have it made, the Natives are still being mistreated, many tribes are well below poverty levels, highest in death rates, have the most number of preventable diseases, the highest of teen suicide than anywhere in the Nation. Native American Indians traditions go back to the beginning of time. The Native religion is more about sacred and ceremonies. The Native people do not have a word for religion it is more a way of life to them than a religion. According to one researcher, â€Å"There is not one Native tradition to represent Native religion. Just as there are numerous Christian beliefs the Native people have many different beliefs. The Native ceremonies are so similar that it is impossible to discuss them as one† (Burbar, and Vernon 2006) The Natives have always been connected to the lands. Most of their ceremonies and sacred objects come from the lands and has everything to do with how they feel about them. Native people do not believe they can own the lands that people are merely caretakers of it. The Native believe that the land is a gift from the Creator, put here to give them tools for survival. They believe if they take something from the land that they must give thanks for the gift given. They do this by offering sacred herbs, prayer, and dance. Native American Indians The Native people give each member roles to keep the villages running smoothly. The Native men hunt and protect the village, while the women gather fruits, berries, and keep the camps, the children gathered wood, help clean hides, look after the younger children and clean the camps. One researcher studies tells stories of how some tribes are at certain times in the tribal life. â€Å"On the Northwest coast, young women were taught that the wives of Makah whale hunters must very still in bed while their husbands hunted, since their movement influenced the whale’s behaviors. In a Navajo story Black God had all animals penned up until his wife opened the gate. The animals escaped and thereafter had to be hunted, (Kidwell, 1998). All of this became threatened with the arrival of foreigners. With the foreigners coming and bringing there Christian beliefs the Native traditions were going to be challenged. With the start of the White Mans government the Natives faced having several ceremonial rights taken away for hundreds of years. The Natives were stopped from worshiping in manners they were accustomed. The Natives were forced to worship the Christian belief and if they refused they were put to death or imprisoned. Many of the Native traditional ceremonies were stopped completely. Two of those rights at this time were the Ghost Dance, and the Sun dance. The Natives found ways around this; they would go to places they knew white men would not to have ceremonies that had been band. Due to so many of the Native rights being taken away the Natives formed a group called â€Å"American Indian Movement† (AIM). AIM in the early years was called â€Å"Indian wars†. After fighting the government for several years and fighting for their right to religious freedom President Jimmy Carter signed the American Indian Religious freedom Act, Native American Indians (AIRFA). Burke, and Vernon, 2006), AIRFA was one of the very few times when congress gave the Natives the legislative right to worship in the manner he or she feels fit. (Burke, and Vernon, 2006). After a few more decades of being mistreated and having rights taken and treaties broken Aim reformed again. AIM’s early and best known leaders, Russell Means, Dennis Banks, Clyde and Vernon Bellecourt, these Native men formed together to fight for the rights of all indigenous peoples across the world. According to one research study, the â€Å"Trail of Broken Treaties† was â€Å"AIM’s first national pretest event of the 1970’s. AIM’s best-known and controversial protest action began February 1973 in Wounded Knee, South Dakota, a small town in Pine Ridge Reservation†, (Encyclopedia Race and Racism p. 82) better known now as the â€Å"Siege at Wounded Knee†. The siege lasted 71 days and when it was over several of the AIM members were arrested for causing riots. Many of the AIM leaders spent years in legislation, exile, or prison. One of the best known cases is that of Leonard Peltier. Peltier was imprisoned for killing two FBI agents. Several years later it was proven that Peltier did not receive a fare trial. Much of the evidence was not allowed in court and was suppressed from the jurors. After decades of trying to get Peltier freed from prison he was finally deemed the only American political prisoner in 1984. Peltier is still in prison to this day and the Natives are still fighting for his release. A more resent less known case August 22, 2008 of the Natives not receiving justice is the case of Robert Whirlwind Horse 23 and Calonnie Randall 26. These two Natives was struck and killed by a drunk driver Timothy Hotz while walking on a reservation road. This was Hotz Native American Indians fourth DUI, one year prior Hotz had his third DUI. After striking the Natives Hotz continued to drive home without stopping. The next morning Hotz noticed hair on his bumper and turned him self in to authorities. Mr. Hotz received 51 months for killing the Native men. This infuriated the Natives once again. (Means, Russell, Republic of Lakota 2009, April 22). Another case of a young native boy went to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and was upset at the justice received over Hotz actions and was outraged. He shot one bullet into the radiator of the BIA agent’s car and received 20 years imprisonment. The Natives are still being forced to live on reservations. The reservations are in such horrendous conditions almost all the reservations are in worse conditions than most third world countries, (Republic of the Lakotah, conditions); According to one Native â€Å"It is like living in Hattie’s†,(Means Russell). The Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota is one such reservation. â€Å"The United States Government has not upheld many of it promises to the Lakotah people and the results to this is astonishing†, (Means, Russell, Republic of the Lakotah). Due to the conditions the Lakotah people are forced to live in has caused them to have the highest death rates than anywhere else in the Nation. Reservations across the country are well below the poverty level. (Figure 3 below) The average life span of a Lakotah Male is 44 years. (Figure 1 below) The Lakotah people have the most preventable diseases than anywhere in the nation. Much of the disease could be stopped if the government would allow the Natives have vaccines and medications. The teen suicide rates are the highest of anywhere in the nation.

Boyle Heights Los Angeles Community Needs Assessment

Boyle Heights Los Angeles Community Needs Assessment Boyle Heights is a neighborhood located on the east side of Los Angeles (Healthy City, 2010). An initial assessment of the community revealed issues of poverty and crime. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, Hollenbeck Division (2011), the majority of crimes committed in the Boyle Heights community are property crimes such as auto theft and burglary, however there are also violent crimes such as robbery and aggravated assaults (Los Angeles Police Department COMPSTAT, 2011). According to detective Antonio Macklin of the Hollenbeck police station in Boyle Heights, the majority of crimes are motivated by economic factors as Boyle Heights is a poor community (A. Macklin, personal communication, February 10, 2011). An initial drive and walk through the residential areas of the community of Boyle Heights revealed homes in various states of disrepair. The majority of houses are old. As one walks further along through the streets graffiti is visible. However, this is also a commu nity rich in cultural history. A further walk through the community reveals a historical museum, Mariachi Plaza, Murals depicting Mexican American Culture, Catholic Churches, and family-owned markets, restaurants and clothing stores. Despite crime in the area, children are observed playing in the streets, in the local parks and in their backyards. The community does have various parks and recreation centers as well as community centers. Community Characteristics Physical/Geographical Boyle Heights is located in East Los Angeles and its geographical boundaries are demarcated by the City of Vernon to the South, East Los Angeles to the east, Lincoln Heights and El Sereno to the north, Los Angeles River and Downtown Los Angeles to the West (City of Los Angeles, 2005). For the purpose of this needs assessment, the boundaries of Boyle Heights were narrowed to boundaries as defined by the Boyle Heights Neighborhood Council website (2011) consisting of Marengo Street to the North, 25th stre et to the South, Indiana street to the East and the Los Angeles River to the West (Boyle Heights Neighborhood Council, n.d.). Boyle Heights is a mixture of residential areas, commercial areas, open space and public facilities (City of Los Angeles, 2005). According to data obtained from HealthyCity.org (2010), there are 12 Parks and Recreational Centers within a one mile radius of the Boyle Heights community. Additionally, Boyle Heights has a variety of small businesses punctuated by assets in the community such as White Memorial Medical Center, the extension of the Metro Gold Line and Los Angeles USC Medical Center, which according to the President of the Boyle Heights Chamber of Commerce, Alicia Maldonado, these assets have â€Å"brought improvements to the community, jobs for the residents, customers to the retail establishments and better health care (Boyle Heights Chamber of Commerce, 2011, p. 1)†. Former resident of Boyle Heights, Geneva Garcia, who resided in the area f rom the 1950’s until 2009, stated that â€Å"independent of the presence of gangs and crime in the area†, she has fond memories of her childhood and her life in Boyle Heights because of the many parks, recreational activities, sports and other community activities available to her (G. Garcia, personal communication, February 10, 2011). Ms. Garcia also confirmed that the majority of the community is Latino. This has further been confirmed through data obtained from the HealthyCity.org website and observation of the community.

Internal Analysis Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Internal Analysis - Research Paper Example It defines the factors that are a part of internal resources and the factors that prove to be more beneficial. Moreover, this paper explains why internal resources or factors held more importance than the external factors as compared with the Porter’s (1980) five forces model. It describes how the SWOT analysis complements the resource based view. The Mokulele Airlines Hawaii Company is used as an example. Resource Based View In this competitive world, organizations are always in search of some mechanism that can help them succeed competitively. Hence it is necessary for them to maintain a good quality standard. In such era of technological advancements, organizations are trying hard to get at the top and trying to produce a product that can outshine products made by their rival organizations. This has lead to many new approaches, some of which have been successful and some not. Both external and internal factors affect the organizational performance. The resource-based view w as got attention in a book written by Hamel and Prahalad named â€Å"Competing for the Future† (1994). Basically, this view portrays a firm as a bundle of resources. Right type and mix of these resources enable the firm to gain sustainable competitive advantage. Resource based view emphasize on the fact that the strength of organization’s internal resources determine its success. In recent times organizations have shifted their focus from products to its internal resources and capabilities (Barney, 1991). Porter (1980) five forces model with regards to external environment used to hold importance at first but the drawback in that model was that it didn’t provide the answer to whether the firm has the ability and competencies to compete in the market and exploit the opportunities or not? So with changing times organizations are finding resource based view as more suitable (Jim Anderson, 2007) Although firms are different from each other as their resources differ but according to Porter’s five forces model (market based view), all firms are homogeneous and compete via their positioning in the markets. In market based view, the competitive advantage depends upon firm’s ability to find attractive markets having most favorable characteristics identified through analysis of five forces provided by Porter (Tamanpowell,2007). The difference in both internal and external approaches to strategic decision making was highlighted in Harvard business article â€Å"Marketing Myopia† by Theodore Levitt (1960). The article identifies common organizational problem of defining their markets too narrowly. Richard Rumelt (1991) conducted a research in resource-based view. His research has contributed a lot in the fame gained by this strategy. Rumelt’s worked on the firm profit differentials within and across the organization. His findings showed that the differentials within the industry were far greater than across the organization . This applies that the industry specific differences should be contributing to these differences. These internal resources can be grouped into three broader categories, physical resources, human resources and organizational resources. Physical resources can be organizations plants, its equipments, its technological assets or raw material it holds. Human resources primarily include employees of the organization with all their experience, skill and knowledge. Organizational reso

History of Russia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

History of Russia - Essay Example ever, later internal conflicts, political tension as well as socio-economic difficulties of the country forced it to go for a bloody revolution which brought into power Lenin and so called Bolsheviks. Joseph Stalin was part of the Communist Party of Russia, which was instrumental behind the revolution of 1917. Joseph Stalin was one of the most important characters in the history of Russia after revolution. The revolution that was materialized by Lenin and has comrades finally resulted into establishing the dictatorship of Joseph Stalin. He was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Russia until his death and rose to the prominence only after the death of Lenin. His rise to the power is a really interesting story because he carried forward the beliefs and values which he adapted as a child and as an adolescent. His era was one of the most important eras for Russia in terms of economic progress as there was a massive shift from rural based economy to more industrial economy within Russia. In order to assess whether the era of Stalin represented a significant break from the course begun by Lenin and his party, it is very important that we must first understand the circumstances behind the rise of Stalin to the power. Stalin’s early life wasn’t well as he was born in a family which was not financially well off however, as he grew, he developed himself as a person who has great liking for bank robberies, kidnapping, extortion etc. since his joining of the Communist party, he took active part into such activities and was jailed too. However, he continued to impress the leaders within the communist party for his superiority in executing such activities. The Russian revolution was largely a result of internal socio-economic conditions, which were mostly considered as oppressive and were against the interest of the common Russian. The Tsars of Russia was mainly behind creating political tension within the country which was also widening the class gap within

Narrative Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Narrative - Assignment Example gold was brought from the Cherry creek placers after an advent to Omaha form the Rocky Mountains, whereby the precious metal was in goose quills (Morton, 2). Approximately 100,000 gold seekers had set out for Colorado in 1859, though less than a half of that number reached the pike’s Pike region. On the other hand, the invasion of the prospectors, merchants and promoters settled in Denver, which they considered a significant regional center. Therefore, this made the city a substantial destination point for immigrants and stage routers, since around nineteen guidebooks for immigrants were published during the period between 1858 and 1859. Bob Womack was the prospector who discovered the rich gold ore, which touched the off Cripples Creek Gold Rush, and this reached the country at the western slopes of Pike Peak that became the settlement area for other prospectus. After the discovery of gold in Colorado, there were substantial prospects of gold trading as an appearing business venture, other than the food and pack animals. In this case, people took a shovel, a gold pan, and they required to be determined in order to get in to the gold business. In this case, numerous gold seekers set out for St Louis, which was a bus trading and supply center at the meeting point of Missouri and Mississippi river. In conclusion, the paper has offered an overview of various accounts relating to the discovery of gold in Colorado, which relates to the location of the gold fields and the migration of miners searching for gold. Moreover, the story points out that discovery of gold in Colorado were a relief for the miners who were unsuccessful in their gold exploration, in California. Therefore, the story has covered all the significant events that relate to the discovery of gold in Colorado. Morton Sterling.  "The Discovery of Gold in Colorado".  Transactions and Reports, Nebraska State Historical Society. Available

Concrete to Prove Abstract Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Concrete to Prove Abstract - Essay Example   One day he came to know about the situation through which John was going. John had no money with him and going to a restaurant was almost a fancy to him. Tom found him thoughtful on that day and after having a discussion with him came to know about his situation. His kind heart was deeply concerned. He had money to feed himself only yet he took John to the restaurant nullifying all the latter’s protests. Tom ordered for John’s favorite dishes and as they arrived, served them with his own hand to John. John’s eyes became wet with tears. Tom supervised but ate nothing while John had his meal. There were still a few dollars in Tom’s pocket and he gave them to John while returning. Tom did not even tell us anything about what he had done for his friend. My mother even scolded him for expending so much money but he remained silent. We came to know about all these from John’s mouth after three months when he visited our place with the good news that h e had got a good job. We were astonished to see the depth of kindness and love in Tom for his friend.  Tom’s kindness was not limited to human beings either. Here, I shall tell you another story of his life. This happened in his college days too. That day it was raining heavily and Tom had troubles while returning home from college. Reaching our door, he saw a dog sitting with one of its right legs bleeding from some injury. I was the person who opened the door and saw Tom picking up the dog and coming in. My mother was horrified and cried, â€Å"No Tom! This is too much. I ain’t gonna allow any dog here.† But Tom, who was occupied with his concern for the four-legged animal, hardly listened to what his mother said. He made the dog sleep under the couch in the drawing room. Then he ran towards his own room and before my mother could say or do anything more, he came back with a gauge of bandage and a small bottle of ointment which he uses for his football injur ies.