Saturday, August 31, 2019

Increasing Physical Activity In Adults Health And Social Care Essay

Physical therapy is a profession that provides the best possible attention to all people irrespective of socioeconomic position ( SES ) . Volunteering at St. Clare ‘s Mission in La Crosse, Wisconsin ( a physical therapy resource for those unable to afford traditional wellness attention services ) has given us a first-hand glance of the demand for health care services for people of low SES. The attention provided at this clinic was the best possible with the resources available, nevertheless the volume of attention was non equal to manage the high demand for services. After speaking with old pupils who have initiated an exercising plan at the local Salvation Army in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and join forcesing with module who have helped ease plans for people of low SES, it is apparent that a high demand exists for supplying instruction and physical attention for this population. The intent of our public wellness enterprise is to set up a primary and secondary bar plan which improve s overall wellness by increasing physical activity in persons of lower SES in the La Crosse country.Role of the Physical TherapistPrimary and Secondary PreventionThe Guide to Physical Therapist Practice provinces that physical therapy attention consists of primary, secondary, and third care.1 Our wellness enterprise will concentrate on primary and secondary attention. Primary bar is defined as the bar of a disease in populations that are at hazard for the pathological development.1 The Guide to Physical Therapy Practice recommends enterprises, wellness publicity, and instruction as a few ways in which this can be completed.1 Health showings, biomechanical appraisals, and educational workshops are merely a few ways that physical healers can educate the populace on the factors of disease hazard, and what they can make to assist forestall disease. As physical therapy pupils, we plan on prosecuting in primary bar by utilizing our cognition of physical activity, exercising prescription, biomechanics, and physiology to educate and teach at hazard grownups so they can diminish their opportunities of developing a pathology. Secondary bar is defined as helping those who suffer from a pathology by cut downing the continuance and badness of their symptoms and assisting to forestall any farther complications.1 While these populations will non be specifically recruited, it is likely that we will be working with participants at the Salvation Army who have preexistent conditions. The Salvation Army provides services for people enduring from diseases related to physical inaction such as type II diabetes, coronary arteria disease, chest malignant neoplastic disease and obesity.2 We plan on increasing physical activity in these persons to assist cut down the badness of these diseases. Secondary bar can besides be enforced for individuals who have conditions such as pre-diabetes and pre-hypertension, as they would besides profit from an aerophilic fittingness plan. Through exerting and educating the participants in our plan, we will turn to these populations and aid to forestall new disease development, and dimini sh the badness of bing diseases utilizing a bi-weekly exercising plan. We will besides pattern secondary bar by placing wellness issues through our showing tools, and mentioning them to the proper topographic point such as St. Clare ‘s Health Mission.SubjectBrief Overview of the ProblemPhysical inaction is an increasing tendency in the United States. It has been associated with a reduced quality of life every bit good as an increased prevalence of several diseases.3 These diseases can potentially be avoided with increased aerophilic exercising and the turning away of other hazard factors. Behavioral hazard factors such as physical inaction, hapless diet, smoke, and inordinate imbibing are the prima causes of decease in the United States.4 It is our hope as physical therapy pupils that by aiming physical inaction, one constituent of these behavioural hazard factors that is within our range of pattern, we can get down to cut down the negative impact it is holding on the general population.How the authorities is supervisingSeveral studies are utilized at a national degree to roll up informations related to physical activity. The Center for Disease Control has been instrumental in roll uping this information through the usage of the National Health Interview Survey, Health Related Quality of Life Survey, and Chronic Disease Indicator Survey among others. The National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion is another advocate for the aggregation of informations sing wellness hazard behaviours and preventive attention patterns. It consists of nine divisions working towards bettering wellness by forestalling chronic diseases and their hazard factors.5 These studies produce comparative statistics of assorted wellness hazard factors such as BMI, yearss of physical activity per hebdomad, SES, geographical location, and age groups. The corporate findings from these surveies suggest that a big proportion of the American populace does non accompli sh sufficient physical activity for wellness benefits. Healthiest Wisconsin 2020 is the province wellness plan which requires the Wisconsin Department of Health Services to build a public wellness docket for the province every 10 years.6 One of the focal points of this program is to supervise and describe advancement in accomplishing the ends and aims as outlined by the execution program of Healthiest Wisconsin 2020. Telephone administered and mailed studies are the primary manners of rating. For illustration, these studies were used to place people who have a BMI of & gt ; 30 among two groups ( age 15-18, 19 and or older ) . These groups were so followed between the old ages of 2000 and 2007 to find physical activity levels.4 Information on physical activity was collected from the undermentioned beginnings: Wisconsin Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Wisconsin Youth Risk Behavior Survey, and Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.PT ‘s Role in Increasing Physical ActivityThe G uide to Physical Therapy Practice provinces that physical healers are qualified to help and learn a community inaugural plan turn toing increasing aerophilic physical activity in the grownup population.1 Exercise prescription and direction falls within the range of pattern for physical healers ; It is our duty to advance physical activity in appropriate populations given the copiousness of grounds for its support.1 By implementing a community plan that targets sedentary grownups of low SES, we are supplying primary and secondary bar for hazards such as diabetes, bosom disease, and high blood force per unit area.Background and RationaleHappening of Physical InactivityThe rate of inaction in America is dismaying with 52 % of the population non even sing 30 proceedingss of moderate physical activity a day.7 Furthermore, 23.9 % of Americans reported that they had non engaged in physical activity during the last month.8 Physical inaction tends to be more prevailing in the southern United States ; nevertheless degrees of physical inaction are unsatisfactory in northern United States every bit good. In Wisconsin entirely, 22.7 % of occupants considers themselves to be in hapless or just wellness, with 17.4 % of WI occupants describing limited activity due in portion to physical problems.4 Upwards of 24 % of the province did non take part in leisure-time physical activity of any sort during the twelvemonth 2010.8 At a local degree, 19.3 % of La Crosse county occupants were reported as being physically inactive, comparing to 16,110 occupants as of 2008.9 This suggests that greater than 80 % of La Crosse county occupants reported themselves as physically active, nevertheless, this does non intend that they are run intoing the ACSM guidelines for moderate activity degree that are recommended for disease hazard reduction.3 It is clear that physical inaction is an increasing tendency, and although people may see themselves as active, they may non be run intoing sufficient activity degrees to diminish disease hazard.MortalityPatel et Al. found that females who spent longer than six hours sitting per twenty-four hours had a comparative hazard for all-cause mortality of 1.37 ( 1 decease per 74 person-years ) , whereas males in the same class had a comparative hazard ( RR ) of 1.18 ( 1 decease per 45 person-years ) . Females and males who spent between nothing and three hours per twenty-four hours sitting each had a RR for all-cause mortality of 1.00 ( Females: 1 decease per 150 person-years ; Males: 1 decease per 74 person-years ) . This same survey assessed physical activity degree in MET-hours/week and its influence on all-cause mortality rate. Females and males who performed less than 17.5 MET-hours/week of exercising each had a RR for all-cause mortality of 1.00 ( Females: 1 decease per 93 person-years ; Males: 1 decease per 53 person-years ) . Females who performed 31.5-42 MET-hours/week of exercising had a RR of.78 ( 1 decease per 123 person-years ) , while males in this class had a RR of.88 ( 1 decease per 58 individual old ages ) .10 The findings of this article imply that longer clip spent sitting each twenty-four hours resulted in a higher happening of mortality for both males and females. Furthermore, higher degrees of physical activity per hebdomad were associated with a lower mortality rate for both genders.ImpactConsequences of Physical InactivityPhysical inaction has been linked to a figure of pathologies such as high blood pressure, diabetes mellitus type 2, osteoporosis11, cardiovascular/respiratory diseases12, and bosom attacks.3 In add-on, low degrees of physical activity were correlated with negative physiological effects such as increased organic structure weight, organic structure mass index ( BMI ) , waist-to-hip ratio, cholesterin degrees in work forces, and a lessening in insulin levels.13 The happening of these effects is lower in more active populations, hence physical activity is prescribed as a prevent ive step for diminishing mortality, morbidity, and the hazard of disease acquisition.3,12 For this ground, activity degree criterions were developed by the American College of Sports Medicine ( ACSM ) which aim to steer physical activity programs.3 At the national degree wellness and health has been pushed to the head due to healthcare reform, and it is frequently hindered by a deficiency of physical activity and hapless diet. The increasing prevalence of fleshiness in the United States has been linked in portion to these same factors. In 2010, 35.7 % of American citizens were considered obese.14 Fortunately, important lessenings in organic structure fat have occurred through diet and moderate exercising in comparing to other weight loss techniques.12 The province of WI has done ill in this respect, with 22.9 % of occupants prosecuting in no leisure clip physical activity.6 Furthermore, persons who reported small to no aerophilic exercising or greater clip between everyday medical screen had increased likeliness of holding 14 or more unhealthy yearss per year.15 It is reported that these persons rate themselves as holding hapless wellness compared to those who exercised and had regular wellness screenings.15 These statistics ov erpoweringly support the demand to convert those with a sedentary life styles to increase their physical activity degrees to better their wellness and prevent negative effects.Hazard Factors and Determinants for Physical InactivityNon-modifiable Hazard FactorsThere are several determiners and hazard factors that are associated with physical activity in grownups. Non-modifiable hazard factors include gender, age, ethnicity, and instruction degree. Gender and age are the two most consistent demographic ( non-modifiable ) correlatives of physical activity behaviour in adults.16 In footings of gender, work forces ( 52.1 % ) are more likely than adult females ( 42.6 % ) to run into the 2008 Physical Activity Guideline for aerophilic activity.4 This may be due to traditional gender functions where adult females have less free clip to exert due to their caretaking function within the household. Younger grownups are more likely to run into the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for aerophili c activity than older grownups. This disagreement may be due to the younger grownup population holding fewer co-morbidities. Harmonizing to the Center for Disease Control, more non-Hispanic white grownups ( 22.8 % ) meet the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for aerophilic and muscle-strengthening activity than non-Hispanic black grownups ( 17.3 % ) and Latino grownups ( 14.4 % ) .8 Although there are multiple grounds for this, one may be due to differences in degree of income between the ethnicities which determine physical activity chances every bit good as the sum of available leisure clip for exercising. Finally, grownups with more instruction are more likely to run into the 2008 Physical Activity Guideline for aerophilic activity than grownups with less education.3Modifiable Hazard FactorsThe list of modifiable hazard factors associated with physical activity in grownups is much more extended than non-modifiable hazard factors. These hazard factors, which negatively influence p hysical activity in grownups, include low SES, hapless self-efficacy, low degrees of instruction, being overweight, and decreased societal support.2 Socioeconomic position and perceived self-efficacy demonstrated the strongest and most consistent associations with physical activity behavior.2,17,18,19 A deficiency of fiscal stableness has been linked to reduced physical activity, every bit good as more unhealthy weight control.20 The Center for Disease Control suggests that grownups whose household income is above the poorness degree are more likely to run into the 2008 Physical Activity Guideline for aerophilic activity than grownups whose household income is at or near the poorness level.8 It has besides been determined that adult females of lower SES perform significantly lower ( p & lt ; .0001 ) sums of physical activity per hebdomad than those of higher SES. Interestingly, work forces of both lower and higher SES take part in the same sum of physical activity per hebdomad, nevertheless those of higher SES performed significantly more leisure clip physical activity.17 Self-efficacy for physical activity is described as a individual ‘s assurance in his or her ability to be physically active. Oman and King looked at the influence of self-efficacy perceptual experiences in a cohort of healthy sedentary work forces and adult females between the ages of 50 and 64, and found that among those take parting in a supervised home-based activity plan, baseline self-efficacy perceptual experiences significantly predicted exercising attachment after a two twelvemonth follow-up.18 In a meta-analysis conducted by Haggar et al. , it was concluded that the attitudes about behaviour and self-efficacy were finding factors of whether or non an person will take part in physical activity ; lower self-efficacy is the biggest forecaster in non take parting in physical activity.19 In footings of instruction, grownups with high school school instruction were about i ¬?ve times less likely to take part in physical activity as those with a college instruction. Among individuals older than 44 old ages, the lowest educated group was about 2.5 times more likely to be sedentary than individuals who had i ¬?nished higher vocational schooling or university.21 Obesity is another modifiable hazard factor that has been systematically correlated with a deficiency of physical activity.10 A deficiency of activity or a sedentary life style has been shown to be one of the cardinal subscribers to the development of fleshiness when all other confounding factors are controlled. Patel et Al. found that those passing more clip sitting had an increased hazard for the development of fleshiness every bit good as an increased hazard of mortality.10 Low societal support has systematically emerged as an of import negative correlative with physical activity. Leslie et Al found that people describing low degrees of societal support from household or friends were 23-55 % more likely to be less active than were those with high degrees of support.23 The U.S. Women ‘s Determinants Study found that adult females with high degrees of societal support for physical activity were about twice every bit likely to be active at least 30 proceedingss on five or more yearss a hebdomad than adult females with low degrees of societal support.24 Booth et Al. found that holding friends who participated on a regular basis in physical activity and holding a safe topographic point to exert were significantly associated with regular physical activity.25 King et Al. found that often detecting others exercising was positively associated with physical activity participation.26 By implementing schemes which target the modifiable hazard factors listed a bove, which will assist better physical activity degrees in these persons.InterventionsLiterature ReviewA thorough reappraisal of the literature was done to find the most effectual intercession schemes for increasing physical activity, and cut downing wellness related hazard factors among grownups of low SES. The hunt yielded a figure of relevant articles for intercessions to increase physical activity including the usage of laic person-led aerophilic exercising plans, the usage of feedback to arouse alterations in behaviour, increasing the participants ‘ self-efficacy, usage of function theoretical accounts, patient instruction and barrier elimination.27,28 Lamb et Al. found that volunteer-led walking groups resulted in a higher proportion of participants than a group that received exercise advice.29 A survey mensurating alterations in self-reported exercising behaviour found that the group having exercising advice and direction had a higher figure of topics describing 150 pr oceedingss of activity than a walking group and advice merely group.30 Hagger et Al. found that people ‘s attitudes, perceived behavioural control and self-efficacy are cardinal influences in organizing purposes to take part in physical activity.19 See Appendix Literature Review Matrix In order to use these schemes we will be taking a multi-faceted attack which aims to integrate each method throughout the plan. Our plan will be an instructor-led exercising plan with an accent on educating the patients on exercising, and learning them an easy-to-learn plan that they can execute on their ain to heighten self-efficacy. By using the Salvation Army of La Crosse, we will extinguish a important barrier for people of low SES by supplying a free exercising installation.Application of Learning TheorySocial Cognitive Theory and Self-EfficacyThe Social Cognitive Theory is a behavioural alteration theory which focuses on self-efficacy, or the belief in oneself to execute a undertaking. This theory serves as the model about which we are structuring our plan ( See Appendix Application of Theory to Practice ) . The Social Cognitive Theory emphasizes self-efficacy every bit good as the personal and environmental barriers that limit alteration. Its foundation is centered around the thought that persons must hold assurance that they can successfully execute a undertaking in order for behavior alteration to occur.28 In add-on to self-efficacy, the person must value the alteration that is being made before they invest themselves to the full in the task.28 Incentivizing the undertaking is one method that can be used to top out the topics involvement in finishing the task.28 Improved self-efficacy has been shown to decrease the perceptual experience of one ‘s disease badness or disability.31 Therefore, if self-efficacy can be improved, the perceptual experience of one ‘s disablement may besides be improved. Improved self-efficacy has besides been linked to successful behaviour alteration, and multiple schemes to heighten self-efficacy can be found in the literature. One scheme for bettering self-efficacy is public presentation attainment, which is the act of accomplishing proficiency with a undertaking through engagement and experience with the undertaking. Application of this scheme suggests that failures should be viewed as larning experiences.32 Vicarious experience is another agency of bettering self-efficacy which entails detecting another person who is exhibiting the coveted behaviour that the topic is working towards.32 This provides the scholar with assurance that the coveted alteration can happen, while besides supplying a safe envir onment in which to larn. Verbal persuasion is a scheme that focuses on a trusty single educating the topic in order to increase their apprehension of the behaviour that they exhibit.32Trusting the beginning of information, with regard to skill and expertness, has a important influence on self-efficacy. Another method for heightening self-efficacy is the usage of physiological feedback.32 Raising the participants ‘ consciousness to both positive and negative effects associated with behavior alteration allows them to better prepare for engagement, and it has besides been shown to better self-efficacy.32 Enhancing self-efficacy has been shown to rush behavior alteration. We have the possible to arouse such alterations by implementing these schemes in our community health undertaking. We will turn to public presentation attainment by teaching the topics in each facet of our exercising plan, which will let them to derive assurance in those activities. We will utilize reverting exercising plan members every bit good as ourselves to supply participants with a theoretical account of proper exercising behaviour in order to implement the vicarious experience scheme. Patient instruction will function as verbal persuasion, and we will besides use educational booklets to convert the participants of the plan ‘s importance. Last, each of us will be resources to supply single feedback to participants and educate them on what they can anticipate throughout the plan so that they can mentally fix for behavioural alteration. The Social Cognitive Theory has been successfully applied to healthcare every bit good as exercising behavior.33 It can be straight applied to our plan to help the participants in altering their behaviour and to give us a model with which to steer that alteration. Project Justification & A ; AimsProblem StatementPhysical inaction is an increasing tendency in the United States which has been associated with a reduced quality of life every bit good as an increased prevalence of a figure of diseases.3 These diseases can potentially be avoided with increased aerophilic exercising and the turning away of other behavioural hazard factors. Behavioral hazard factors such as physical inaction, hapless diet, smoke, and inordinate imbibing are the prima causes of decease in the United States.4 It is our hope that by aiming physical inaction, we can cut down the negative impact it is holding on the general population.Specific Community NeedsPhysical inaction degrees are alarmingly high at both the province and local degrees. Upwards of 24 % of Wisconsin occupants did non take part in leisure-time physical activity of any sort during the twelvemonth 2010.8 Locally, 19.3 % of La Crosse county occupants were reported to be physically inactive, comparing to a sum of 16,110 occupants as of 2008.9Negative Consequences if Nothing is DoneIt is apparent that grownups of low SES have become a ignored population in our health care system. The federal authorities has proposed policies that strive to do health care accessible to the this population, nevertheless these policies would non take action until 2014 at the earliest, if ever.34 Based on our current health care it can merely be assumed that grownups of low SES will go on to be denied wellness attention based on their inability to pay for services. Unfortunately, this creates a form in which grownups with low SES have the poorest wellness position and yet have the least entree to healthcare.35 Due to the length of clip it takes for federal action to happen, community enterprises like ours may assist extenuate some wellness attention defects. On a local degree, low-cost and accessible wellness attention options need to be accessible on a primary, secondary, and third degree. Adults of low SES demand to be able to seek intervention for active pathologies, every bit good as have resources and instruction that will assist them avoid pathological conditions to better their quality of life. If wellness enterprises like ours are non established, the low SES will go on to be at hazard for physical inaction and the myriad of diseases associated with this. Introduction to Our Undertaking The intent of our plan is to supply an accessible primary and secondary bar wellness option to grownups of low SES who reside in the La Crosse country, with the primary end of increasing physical activity through wellness instruction and exercising direction. In conformity with Healthy People 2020, this plan ‘s intent is to increase the proportion of persons who engage in aerobic and beef uping exercisings in sufficient measure to accomplish wellness benefits by set uping a physical activity plan that was accessible to people of low SES of the La Crosse country. Another intent of this plan is to increase the figure of community-based organisations supplying population-based primary bar services for physical activity. These aims are outlined in Healthy People 2020 objectives PA-2.1, PA-2.3, and ECBP 10.9 ( See Appendix Healthy People 2020 ) . This plan will put a strong accent on self-efficacy, increasing the sum of physical activity participants engage in per hebdomad, and bettering outcome outlooks. To find the effectivity of our plan, three primary aims were established: foremost, to increase the self-efficacy of grownups of low SES, 2nd to increase volume of physical activity in grownups of low SES, and 3rd to increase expected results of take parting in physical activity. The secondary aim of our plan is to increase the likeliness of this population to go on to be physically active by developing a program for sustainability. This plan will turn to the Healthy People 2020 aims outlined by supplying a bi-weekly exercising plan with focal points on wellness instruction and direction on aerophilic and strengthening exercisings for people of low SES.Objective 1Our first aim is to increase self-efficacy in persons with low SES ; a population that has been identified as holding low self-efficacy.18 In this scene, self-effic acy is described as a individual ‘s assurance in his or her ability to successfully be physically active. Low self-efficacy has been identified as being a barrier for persons who desire behavior change.28 It has been reported that if participants do non believe that they can successfully carry through the alteration in behaviour, they will non try to change.28 Oman and King researched the influence of self-efficacy perceptual experiences in a cohort of healthy sedentary work forces and adult females between the ages of 50 and 64, and found that among those take parting in a supervised home-based activity plan, baseline self-efficacy perceptual experiences significantly predicted exercising attachment after a two twelvemonth follow-up.18 As physical therapy pupils, educating sedentary patients on non merely the benefits of exercising, but how to exert may take to increased degrees of self-efficacy and physical activity in our patients. In this plan, we will mensurate exercising related self-efficacy before and after engagement in an teacher led physical activity plan. Self-efficacy will be measured utilizing the Barriers to Self-Efficacy Scale. It was ab initio developed for outpatient exercising plans, and has demonstrated dependability ( alpha coefficient =0.93 ) and cogency ( efficacy outlooks significantly correlated with existent engagement in exercising plans ) for sedentary adults.36 It will let us to obtain self-efficacy informations at baseline and upon completion of the exercising plan to find the effectivity of our schemes.Objective 2The 2nd aim of our plan is to increase the volume of physical activity of the participants through a group based physical activity plan. The ACSM criterions for the sum of activity grownups need to take part in to see improved cardiovascular and aerophilic wellness is 30 proceedingss a twenty-four hours of moderate activity on 5 or more yearss a week.2,3 By supplying a free exercising plan two times a hebdomad, participants will hold an chance to increase their volume of physical activity. They will besides larn successful schemes to exert independently outside of our plan to let them to carry through the ACSM criterions. To help in increasing conformity to our bi-weekly plan, a societal support constituent will be addressed by holding a group exercising category consisting of frequenters of the Salvation Army. This will let the participants to exert with familiar people which may ease engagement. Social support has systematically emerged as an of import positive correlative with physical activity. Leslie et Al. determined that people describing low degrees of societal support from household or friends were 23-55 % more likely to be less active than were those with high degrees of support.23 Social support and instruction may non be sufficient to accomplish the coveted sum of physical activity in the transeunt population at the Salvation Army, so a 3rd scheme will be employed to better plan attending: Provide incentives for plan engagement such as a free jersey awarded to those who engage in 50 % , or 10 of the Sessionss. It has been found that supplying inducements to exert increased exercising plan attending in the short term and led to greater care of that activity over a period of two years.22 The combination of instruction, societal support and inducements will increase attachment to the plan, and therefore, increase the sum of participant ‘s physical activity per hebdomad. The sum of increased activity per hebdomad by participants will be measured at baseline and at completion of the plan utilizing the Physical Activity Scale ( PAS 2 ) . This scale measures the participants day-to-day physical activity while at work, and during leisure clip and has been shown to be valid in an grownup population.37 To find cogency, the PAS 2 was compared to the PAS 1 and a strong positive correlativity ( r= .95, P & lt ; 0.0001 ) was found between PAS 1 and PAS 2 scores.37 The PAS 2 has been found to be more valid than the PAS 1, which may hold overestimated physical activity. For this ground, the PAS 2 will be used to measure alteration in exercising volume and wonts over the class of the plan.Objective 3Our 3rd aim is to increase expected physical activity results in our mark population. Physical result outlooks reflect beliefs about pleasant and aversive physical experiences ensuing from battle in physical activity.38 The Multidimensional Outcome Expectations for Ex ercise Scale ( MOEES ) is a patient completed questionnaire measuring physical activity, self-efficacy, and wellness position. Wojcicki et Al found that being more active was significantly correlated with stronger physical result outlook tonss on the MOEES in both middle-aged and older grownups. The graduated table ‘s dependability and cogency allows us to better understand and predict physical activity behaviour in adults.38 Wojcicki et Al. found that increased activity was significantly correlated with stronger physical ( r = .21, P & lt ; .001 ) and self-evaluative ( r = .20, P & lt ; .001 ) but non societal result outlooks ( R = .02, P = N ) . Higher self-efficacy was besides found to be significantly associated with physical ( r = .22, P & lt ; .001 ) , self-evaluative ( r = .26, P & lt ; .001 ) , and societal result outlooks ( R = .17, P & lt ; .001 ) .38Secondary AimThe secondary aim for this plan is to develop a program that is sustainable and can be implemented by per sons with lesser sums of preparation than a physical therapy pupil. Previous exercising plan supervisors of the Salvation Army have suggested that an exercising plan manual be created to supply a construction for future plans to heighten sustainability. We created an exercising manual with exposures, exercising forms, and stretches from our plan. A manual of this kind will be a sufficient resource for a replacement to understand and administrate. See Appendix Workout Manual To assist mensurate the sustainability of our exercising plan, we will roll up informations utilizing a likert graduated table to measure participant satisfaction and likeliness of engagement in the hereafter. In add-on, we will give a study to find what the participants liked or disliked about the plan. Undertaking ExecutionCommunity PartnerWe plan to work with the Salvation Army of La Crosse, Wisconsin to supply an exercising plan for persons of low SES. The Salvation Army provides repasts, shelter, occupation chances, and several other services for those in demand. Partnering with the Salvation Army will let us to utilize an accessible installation with a secondary school for our exercising category. It will besides assist us derive entree to the persons of low socioeconomic position who utilize the Salvation Army. See Appendix Salvation Army of La Crosse Contact InformationTarget GroupOur mark group will dwell of grownup occupants and frequenters of the Salvation Army every bit good as any other community members who wish to take part in our plan. We will enroll participants by traveling to the Salvation Army in January 2013 to speak to the frequenters about our exercising plan to get down edifice involvement. Once we begin our plan we will eat repasts with the persons at the Sal vation Army to acquire to cognize them and to get down constructing resonance to ease enlisting. We besides have arranged to work together with a Viterbo Nursing Program enterprise at the Salvation Army to help in advancing our plan. Finally, we will go to the Salvation Army ‘s compulsory hebdomadal occupation in-service meeting for its frequenters to educate and enroll participants for the plan. If these methods are unsuccessful, we will advance our exercising plan through the usage of circulars at pro bono clinics in the country, such as St. Clare ‘s Health Mission, in order to enroll persons of low SES for our exercising plan. See Appendix Health and Wellness BrochureIncentivesWe plan to utilize free jerseies as an inducement to take part for our plan. Incentive-based wellness publicities plans have been shown to increase fitness-related activities over time.22 Participants in our plan who attend 50 % or more of our categories over the 10-week continuance of our plan will have a free jersey. The cost of 25 jerseies is about $ 250. We will seek any possible contributions or price reductions on the jerseies by informing the provider of our intended usage for the shirts. We will besides be inquiring for contributions on day-to-day usage points ( shampoo, deodourant, socks, etc. ) from local concerns such as Wal-mart and K-mart to utilize as inducements throughout our plan.Activity PlanWe plan to get at the Salvation Army on Monday February 4, 2013 at 4:30 p.m. to get down speaking with the frequenters about our plan. We will eat dinner from 4:30 p.m. to 5:10 p.m. and recruit participants for our plan through conversation. We will clean up the multi-purpose from 5:10 p.m. to 5:15p.m. Our exercising plan will run from 5:20 p.m. to 6:05 p.m. with clean-up from 6:05 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. This consequences in a sum of 1 hr and 45 of face clip for each category and 3.5 entire hours per hebdomad. Over the class of the 10 hebdomad plan we will hold completed 3 5 hours of face clip at the Salvation Army ( See Appendix Salvation Army Activity Plan Schedule ) . Our end is to make an exercising manual that is comparatively easy to learn and execute so that voluntaries at the Salvation Army can run the plan with comparative easiness. Besides, by making a exercise manual with one modus operandi of exercisings, the participants can larn and execute the exercisings outside of the Salvation Army one time they no longer use the services of the Salvation Army. Our exercising plan will dwell of both aerophilic and strengthening constituents. The strength and aerophilic parts of our plan will dwell of 30 proceedingss of theraband, organic structure weight opposition, and assorted exercisings aiming the whole organic structure. Both constituents of the plan will dwell of exercisings that can be easy progressed or regressed to run into the assorted degrees of fittingness of our participants. We will get down our exercising plan with a 5 minute warm up of walking and dynamic stretching, and will reason with a 10 minute cool down of walking and stretching Resource Plan & A ; Budget The Salvation Army allows us to utilize a installation that is free of cost to us and the participants of our plan. As antecedently mentioned, we will utilize jerseies and day-to-day necessities as inducements. Cost of these and other possible supplies for our plan are listed in the tabular array below.ItemCostJerseies$ 250Daily necessity ItemsContributionsCleaning supplies ( perchance )$ 20Plants Cited American Physical Therapy Association. Guide to Physical Therapist Practice 2nd Edition. APTA: Alexandria, VA ; 2003. Topic and Objectives Index- Physical Activity. US Department of Health and Human Services. Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.healthypeople.gov/2020/default.aspx. Accessed Sep 17, 2012. Thompson W, Gordon N, Pescatello L, eds. ACSM ‘s Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription. 8th erectile dysfunction. Wolters Kluwer/ Lippincott WIlliams & A ; Wilkins ; 2010. Surveillance of Certain Health Behaviors and Conditions Among States and Selected Local Areas — Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System ( BRFSS ) , United States, 2006. MMWR: Morbidity & A ; Mortality Weekly Report. 2008 ; 57 ( SS-7 ) :1-187. National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Physical Activity and Health- A study from the Surgeon General. Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/sgr/pdf/chap6.pdf. Accessibility verified November 1, 2012. Healthiest Wisconsin 2020 Focus Areas. Wisconsin Department of Health Services. Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //dhs.wisconsin.gov/hw2020/ . Accessed September 26, 2012. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Facts about Physical Activity. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/data/facts.html. Reviewed August 7, 2012. Accessed September 26, 2012. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. State Indicator Report on Physical Activity. 2010.http: //www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/downloads/PA_State_Indicator_Report_2010.pdf. Accessed September 25, 2012. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Diabetes and Obesity Rate by County hypertext transfer protocol: //diabetes-obesity.findthedata.org/d/d/Wisconsin. Accessed September 25, 2012. Patel A, Bernstein L, Thun M, et Al. Leisure Time Spent Siting in Relation to Total Mortality in a Prospective Cohort of US Adults. Am. J. Of Epidemiol. 2010 ; 172 ( 4 ) :419-429.A 11. ) Andrea KM, Sandler RB, Cauley JA, Laporte R E, Hom DL, Pambianco G. The appraisal of historical physical activity and its relation to adult bone parametric quantities. Am. J. Epidemiol. 1988 ; 127 ( 5 ) :1053-1063. 12. ) Milanovic Z, Pantelic S, Trajkovic N, Sporis G, Aleksandrovic M. The effects of physical exercising on cut downing organic structure weight and organic structure composing of corpulent centers aged people. Healthmed. 2012 ; 6 ( 6 ) :2176-2189. 13. ) Steyn K, Damasceno A, Disease and Mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa. 2nd edition. Jamison DT, Feachem RG, Makgoba MW, et al. , editors. Washington ( DC ) : World Bank ; 2006. 14. ) Ogden CL, Carroll MD, Kit BK, Flegal KM. Prevalence of fleshiness in the United States, 2009-2010. NCHS information brief, no 82. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2012. 15. ) Davies C, Vandelanotte C, Duncan M, Van Uffelen J. Associations of physical activity and screen-time on wellness related quality of life in grownups. Am. J. Prev. Med. 2012 ; 55 ( 1 ) :46-49. 16. ) Trost SG, Owen N, Bauman AE, et Al. Correlates of grownup ‘s engagement in physical activity reappraisal and update. Med. Sci. Sports. Exerc. 2002 ; 34:1996-2001. 17. ) Ford E, Merritt R, Haile G, et Al. Physical activity behaviours in lower and higher socioeconomic position populations. Am. J. Epidemiology. June 15, 1991 ; 133 ( 12 ) :1246-1256. 18. ) Oman RF, King AC. Predicting the acceptance and care of exercising engagement utilizing self-efficacy and old exercising engagement rates. Am. J. Health Prom. 1998 ; 12:154-161. 19. ) Hagger M, Chatzisarantis N, Biddle S. A meta-analytic reappraisal of the theories of sound action and planned behaviour in physical activity: prognostic cogency and the part of extra variables. J. Sport & A ; Ex. Psych. 2002 ; 24 ( 1 ) :3-32. 20. ) VanKim N, Laska M. Socioeconomic disparities in emerging grownup weight and weight behaviours. Am. J. Health Behav. 2012 ; 36 ( 4 ) :433-445. 21. ) Droomers M, Schrijvers CTM, Mackenbach JP. Educational degree and lessenings in leisure clip physical activity: forecasters from the longitudinal GLOBE survey. J Epidemiol. Community Healt. 2001 ; 55:562-568. 22. ) Patel D, Lambert E, Gaziano T, et Al. Engagement in Fitness-Related Activities of an Incentive-Based Health Promotion Program and Hospital Costss: A Retrospective Longitudinal Study. Amer. J. Healt. Prom. 2011 ; 25 ( 5 ) :341-348. 23. ) Leslie E, Owen N, Salmon J, Bauman A, Sallis JF, Lo SK. Insufficiently active Australian college pupils: perceived personal, societal, and environmental influences. Prev. Med. 1999 ; 28:20-27. 24. ) Eyler AA, Brownson RC, Donatelle RJ, King AC, Brown D, Sallis JF. Physical activity societal support and middle- and older-aged minority adult females: consequences from a US study. Soc. Sci. Med. 1999 ; 49:871-789. 25. ) Booth M, Owen N, Bauman A, Clavisi O, Leslie E. Social-cognitive and perceived environment influences associated with physical activity in older Australians. Prev. Med. 2000 ; 31:15-22. 26. ) King AC, Castro S, Wilcox AA, Eyler JF, Sallis C, Brownson RC. Personal and environmental factors associated with physical inaction among different racial-ethnic groups of US middle-aged and older aged grownups. Health Psychol. 2000 ; 19:354-364. 27. ) Bandura A. Social foundations of idea and action: A societal cognitive theory. Prentice-Hall series in societal acquisition theory. Rockville, MD: Prentice-Hall, Inc. ; 1986. 28. ) Lowenstein AJ, Foord L, Romano JC. Teaching Schemes for Health Education and Health Promotion: Working with Patients, Families, and Communities. 1st erectile dysfunction. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers ; 2008. 29. ) Lamb, Bartlett, Ashley, Bird. Can Lay-led Walking Programs Increase Physical Activity in Middle Aged Adults? A Randomized Control Trial. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2002 Apr ; 56 ( 4 ) :246-52. 30. ) Isaacs AJ, Critchley JA, Tai SS, Buckingham K, Westley D, Harridge SDR, Smith C, Gottlieb JM. 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Friday, August 30, 2019

Racism in Professional Sports

Racism is a problem that has existed in our society for many years. The roots of racism date back to when slavery was considered normal, and even further back then that. Racism happens all the time, everyday and everywhere. It is a complex issue which occurs at many different levels. In the world of sports racism is happening more often and becoming more of a concern. The first major example is of Jackie Robinson. Robinson is considered a leader in the black community for breaking the color barrier in the sport of baseball. Although Robinson went through a great deal of prejudice, many black athletes today face similar problems. The National Hockey League, Major League Baseball, and many other associations are dealing with this problem even still today. Racism doesn't only occur on the field. Today the management side of sports is more racist then the on field part. Racism is a problem that existed in sport when it first originated and continues to exist even in the world of sport today. Racism started in the beginning of sport when there were two separate leagues, the white league and the black league. It was in 1947, when Jackie Robinson stepped into the white world of baseball, that people noticed this was occurring. At the time no one was concerned with this because everything was segregated back then. â€Å"The verbal taunting, physical abuse, and death threats unleashed on him and his family had the 27 year old on the verge of mental breakdown (Guss, 1997). Robinson got through it by ignoring all those comments and using it as the reason he would play, to prove everyone wrong. He realized that he represented an entire race of people and if he were to explode he would condemn himself and his entire race. â€Å"I suffered then because I hoped to provide a better future for my children and for young black people everywhere, and because I naively believed that my sacrifices might help a little to make America the kind of country it was supposed to be†(Guss, 1997). Despite all the negativity, Robinson excelled in the majors by winning the 1947 Rookie of the Year award and helping lead his team to the World Series. Robinson's perseverance throughout his career is what paved the way for black athletes to make a stand and prove to the world that they can compete with white athletes. After Robinson's career was over the opportunity for black athletes to play on the same level as whites athletes had increased greatly. Although Jackie Robinson was discriminated upon half a century ago many black athletes today have to go through similar racism. In Major League Baseball racism is still a concern. Even though today African Americans are given an equal opportunity to compete, there are still certain people and players that disagree with this. In the same day and age that Albert Belle can earn $10 million per year, indicating that players are paid based on talent rather than skin color or personality, African Americans failed to make any progress (Guss, 1997). A big controversy that occurred during the 2000 baseball season included Atlanta Braves relief pitcher John Rocker. In an interview with Sports Illustrated Rocker made many derogatory, sexist, and racist remarks about the city of New York and the people who lived there. For his actions he was given a 22 game suspension and a reputation in society and throughout baseball as a racist(http://www. spn. go/profile/prifiles. com/mlb). Another example of racism in modern day baseball involves Marge Schott. â€Å"In an interview with Primetime Live, Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott repeated her belief that everyone uses the word nigger. She argued that racism is an invention of the press. Schott had been suspended from baseball for allegedly declaring that ‘I'd rather have a trained monkey working for me then a nigger,' and remarking ‘Hitler was good in the beginning but he went too far†(Steinberg, 1992). Schott was punished for her remarks with a $25,000 fine, a suspension for one year, and removal from the Reds day to day operations. Baseball chairman Bud Selig wants to make it clear to everyone associated with baseball that racism will not be excepted in this business. From John Rocker to Marge Schott the world of baseball has been altered by their remarks. It was thought that there was racist thoughts in Major League Baseball, but these two actions brought it to the forefront. The chairman definitely made the right move by suspending and fining these two. By doing that he shows that â€Å"racist utterances have no place in the national pastime†(Kirshenbaum, 1993). The National Hockey League is a sport that has been dominated by white players for its entire existence. There is an extremely small percentage of black players in the NHL today. Mike Greer of the Edmonton Oilers is one of these few black players. During one of the games last season Greer was being given a hard time and players kept yelling racial slurs at him. Another incident that occurred was between Marty McSorley and Donald Brashear. Donald Brashear, like Greer, is one of the few African Americans in the National Hockey League. The incident that occurred between these two was that McSorley hit Brashear in the face with his stick. This happened toward the end of the game, in which MrSorley was immediately thrown out of the game. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettmann acted quickly by hitting McSorley with a suspension for the remainder of the regular season, which only had twenty three games remaining. This was the longest suspension for any player due to an on ice incident. On top of that suspension the case was taken to court. â€Å"Although McSorley was found guilty by a Canadian court he received only an eighteen months probation, and the offense won't appear on his record if he completes the time without violating the terms of the probation. McSorley is also forbidden to play against Brashear in Canada or the U. S. during the probationary period. As an unrestricted free-agent it's possible no one will sign the 17-year veteran; if they do, he must meet with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman before being reinstated†(Hardesty, 2000). Race is an issue everywhere and it always going to be,† says Pro Bowl running back Ricky Watters. â€Å"It's sneaky now. The owners have to be politically correct now. It isn't fashionable anymore to be a racist. Now they have to kind of go behind the scenes, but believe me it's still there. It's not really something you can explain. It's just a feeling. Just look at how many black head coaches were hired this year†(Guss, 1997). This quote was in response to the year of 1997 when Sherm Lewis, offensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers who is African American wasn't even interviewed for a head coaching job. This is an issue because teams usually look for successful coordinators to be the head coach of their team. Sherm Lewis had just led his team to a Super Bowl appearance, while having his offense lead the league in points and yards per game. On top of this Dan Reeves, former coach of the New York Giants, was offered a head coaching position for the Atlanta Falcons after going 31-33 his last four years. It makes you wonder why a successful offensive coordinator with four Super Bowl appearances under his belt would not get interviewed while another man with a poor record would be given a head coaching job. As NFL's all time sack leader Reggie White puts it, â€Å"There is racism in the NFL. There are teams who have problems with black coaches and black quarterbacks†(Guss, 1997). Racism does exist in every aspect of life. From earlier times to more recent times it is obvious that racism is a part everyday life. When Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in sports in 1947 he had imagined that by today things would have changed significantly, and to some extent they have. Even though African Americans are now allegedly offered similar treatment in sport, they are still treated differently. In all sports there is a very small percentage of African American coaches and managers. In some cases the black coach has had a much better resume, but still not given the job. This is the world we live in today. Racism is still a problem and will continue to be until their are changes made in the front office. As Hank Aaron says, â€Å"It's a closed society in many ways. We will still have some problems in sports, no question about it. I want people to realize that we still have a long way to go†(Guss, 1997).

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Tesco CSR Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Tesco CSR - Essay Example F during charity â€Å"Change for Good.† The phrase was used for children charity and hence it was private but Tesco used it anyway for its own commercial purposes. This led to a lot of controversy and it ultimately damaged the income stream for the children which did not sit well with a section of the public and damaged a bit the reputation of the company. The issue is meat supply from its suppliers. After research unveiled that some of the beef burgers from Tesco contained 29% horsemeat and others pig meat, the reputation of the company dropped instantly. This was not the fault of Tesco but rather of its suppliers who supplied the meat to the numerous Tesco stores countrywide. Sales of frozen burgers and frozen ready- made food has dropped significantly. The confidence of the customers on the meat and food being sold in the stores has dwindled and the effects being experienced in the sales (Wall, 2013). Tesco has to restore the confidence of its customers once again. This should be preceded by having to seek new suppliers of the meat as well as having to monitor these suppliers to ensure that the meat being provided and the products in general are up to human consumption standards (Butler, 2013). The legal team also has to work extra hard to prevent law suits from customers on the products. Briefly analyse what happened applying theories on organisational ethics theory, corporate governance CSR concepts, stakeholder applications & reputation management concepts/metrics. Not all of them are required, but the more you apply and reference inside the PR crisis/issue the better it is. Demonstrate application of relevant theories. This is an ethical matter and all stakeholders in conjunction with the management must come up with the best strategies to handle the matter and prevent a repeat in future (Philips, 2003, pg. 87). The reputation of the company must be taken care of if CSR is to work in favour of the company and people are to accept it. To ensure quality

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

The Jungle by Sinclair Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

The Jungle by Sinclair - Research Paper Example Though being classified as a naturalistic novel, it has been argued by many that the tone is one of interpretation and not of description (Taylor, 171- 172). In this paper, a great deal has been focused on physiological aspects. Sinclair’s perspectives, observation, outlook, presentation, etc are dealt with. Also, adequate amount of emphasis is given upon characterization in The Jungle. My psychological traits are described and compared with that of another major character of the story, the protagonist himself. Besides analyzing the similarities in character sketch of the protagonist, limitations of his character are also dealt upon. Jurgis, as a character is not almost perfect, but flawed in some aspects according to my point of view. At the same time, drawbacks of other characters are also sorted out. While doing so, we come to know about his inspirations, real facts about Lithuania, metaphors used, cultures and lifestyles of the inhabitants associated with meatpacking indus try in Chicago, etc. the final impression is one of awe and pity towards the suffering characters in The Jungle. 1) PSYCHOLOGY OF SINCLAIR: creation of authors mind It is not easy to trace the psychological flow of thoughts Sinclair had while composing this story. The plot of the story is a mixture of various elements and gives an aura of realist- utopian narrative. Like the ‘Souls of Black Folk’, Do Bois Sinclair’s motive can be divided as Preaching, the Picture and the Frenzy (Wienen, 166) The central figure, the protagonist was highlighted in the first theme because Sinclair wanted to highlight the voice of rebel within the Lithuanian community. That is what Jurgis becomes towards the end of the narrative. He wanted his character to take his steps slowly towards supremacy and power. In the music theme, Sinclair explored the true spirit of Lithuanian culture and society. In the last theme, the negative passion and its appeal was spread among various social clas ses (Bloom, 77) Sinclair had three chief objectives in his mind. Firstly, he wanted to bring out the pathetic conditions of the Lithuanians immigrants in US. Secondly, he wanted to hold the capitalist system responsible. Thirdly, Sinclair was an ardent follower of socialism. It was his belief that only socialism could bring the required change. The â€Å"body and soul† of the protagonist is saved when he has completely surrendered himself amidst a Socialist rally. Despair, anguish, exploitation and disillusionment of the contemporary world have been projected through the unfortunate life led by Jurgis. He loses his wife, his son, his father remains an invalid, and Ona’s cousin becomes a drug addict and prostitute, and finally seeks peace in a socialist meeting. What Sinclair emphasizes is the capability of the â€Å"egalitarian and democratic spirit† to end chaos and bring about reformation (Wienen, 165- 166). Approach towards ethnicity: Sinclair was aware of th e cultural distinctiveness of the Lithuanians, as he was aware of the â€Å"intrinsic value† of one’s self. On several occasions he had merged this with the cultural identity by equaling the self with others who share a common heritage and identity. More so, ethnicity is projected as collective cultural identity. What Sinclair endeavors is to put the roots of identity into firm grounds. This is the reason why Sinclair fabricated several ethnic bonds within the story. Thus, we can find contrasts

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Community Service or Social Project Service Essay

Community Service or Social Project Service - Essay Example The information accessed by these people may take the form of case studies, theoretical literature and role plays, where their interactions with the members of the public improve their abilities, including their leadership outlook and overall leadership performance. This paper will use the case of leaders in Skid Row to explore the enhancing effect of community service on the leadership abilities and the leadership style of a leader. Lastly, the paper will discuss the ways in which the leadership of an individual reflects personal values and the ethical values of an organization. The ways in which community service enhances a leader’s leadership style Building sustainable peace and development in communities affected by crisis requires the leaders involved in the negotiation proceedings to be highly skilled, so that they can communicate their views to the groups in conflict. From the case of the Skid Row area of Los Angeles, the role of the leaders of the Skid Row Housing Trus t has remained critical to the resolution of the poverty and the housing crisis facing the area. The leadership structure of communities facing crisis situations plays an important role in worsening the situation or closing the gaps and addressing the crisis situation (Elliott & Kaufman, 2003). The area is known, since its history as the residential neighborhood for the poorest and the homeless. However, the formation of the Skid Row housing trust in 1989 set to address the problem of homelessness, through the development and the refurbishment of housing facilities. During the years between 1950 and 2000, the redevelopment of residential hotels led to the destruction of the highly affordable housing in Los Angeles, which threatened the areas’ residential community; redevelopment forced thousands of residents into the sidewalks and the city’s shelters. The crisis situation made business leaders and community activists respond to the alarming wash-away of permanent, affo rdable housing; the two groups formed the Skid Row Housing Trust (Skid Row Housing Trust, 2013a). The leadership of the trust pushed for the mobilization of private equity, low income credits, conventional debt and public finance, which helped with the salvage of housing units that were on the verge of being lost. The work of the trust oversaw the transformation and the renovation of decaying hotels into attractive, safe and affordable permanent housing, which offered housing to the homeless and the low-income population (Skid Row Housing Trust, 2013a). The initiative taken by the business leaders and community activists, through their respective leaders demonstrated the outlook of servant Leadership, which is contrary to the traditional leadership outlook of autocratic leaders (Greenleaf, 2002). Servant leadership is evident from the strategies adopted by the leaders, because instead of compelling the residents of the area to live on the streets or struggle to afford the redevelope d housing, they employed the moral power of guaranteeing the availability of affordable housing to the homeless and the poor (Greenleaf, 2002). The strategy offered them the platform to improve their living standards. The success of the leadership outlook of the leaders is evident from t

Monday, August 26, 2019

The Fundamental Causes of the Womens Movement Essay

The Fundamental Causes of the Womens Movement - Essay Example In the 1960s, the National Organization for Women fought the good fight to bring women's rights and equality for all to the forefront, while at the same time some women, like Phyllis Schlafly, were very vocal against feminism and women's movement. Nonetheless, reformers have made great strides towards equality in society today, both in the workplace and within the home. The proverbial "glass ceiling" that keeps women from substantial promotions in the workplace still exists, and there are definite strides to be made, however, as time passes and outdated ideals and beliefs are shattered, total equality for women may be just a short distance down the road. The women's rights movement began in the first half of the nineteenth century. From the emergence of the suffrage movement in the 1850's until women obtained the right to vote in 1920, suffrage became the primary goal of the women's rights movement. Suffrage included a set of grievances such as unequal wages, inequality at work, unsanitary working conditions, and limited job options. This movement also targeted the suffering of the non-working woman as well, such as married women's property rights and the suffrage of women overall. This led to the first women's rights convention held at Seneca Falls, New York in 1848 (Baker 24). An outspoken proponent of women's rights was Francis Wright who gained prominence within the women's movement in the late 1820's as a colorful, sensational speaker. She spoke out against slavery and also believed that marriage was a coercive institution and advocated replacing current laws on marriage with a non-legal bond called "generous attachment", based only on mutual respect and love and not regulated by any legal authority (24). Because she was a woman, her speeches were considered radical and improper and her detractors labeled her a "Red Harlot" along with any other woman who followed her or attended her lectures (25). Frederick Douglas, a well-known reformer within the anti-slavery movement, was also a staunch supporter of women's rights, and as early as 1848 demanded the vote as an essential right of women (42). Furthermore, Susan B. Anthony, an American civil rights leader, played a pivotal role and wrote often about the women's suffrage movement. In her writings, many t imes she equated the women's movement with the anti-slavery movement. She stated: the 'Woman Suffrage Movement,' was the Anti-Slavery struggle (31) Anthony was also a paid agent of the American Anti-Slavery Society as well as a suffragist (42). In 1875, a major court case, Minor v. Happersett, arose out of the quest to vote by a woman named Virginia Minor. She attempted to cast her vote in St. Louis and the registrar, Happersett, refused to permit her to do so. Minor was the president of the Woman's Suffrage Association of Missouri and her husband was a prominent attorney. They sued the registrar for denying her what they believed was her privilege and immunity of citizenship. The court in Minor v. Happersett decided against her and Minor appealed her case to the United States Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled that if the founders wanted to include suffrage in the constitution, it would have been explicitly stated. The Court refused to interpret the constitution any other way and decided that

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Politica Science - society and state in contemporary russia Essay

Politica Science - society and state in contemporary russia - Essay Example A democracy can broadly be defined as a government that has been set up by the people which essentially means that all people living under that government should be entitled to have their opinion considered in everything that affects their lives. Furthermore, democracy can also be exercised directly or indirectly through which people elect their representatives. In light of this, it is absurd that two decades down the line despite the dissolution of USSR president Yeltsin failed to horn our promise to better democracy and improve the lives of Russian citizens. This just proves that Russia is still categorized as one of the authoritarian states in Europe. As much as most of the leaders have improved the country’s economic status both domestic and international policies it is believed that from the essays â€Å"not free† a lot of factors have hindered Russia’s democracy development (Motyl 2005). For the first time power within Kremlin changed through the 2000, elec tion this process not only took place but was conducted according to the constitution more than two thirds of the eligible voters participated. They appeared to be well informed of choices to make. However, up to now Russian political conditions do not meet the criteria of democracy; a political framework must be adopted to understand democracy adequately (Chomsky, et al 2003). Some political analysts such as Joseph Schumpeter describes democracy as an institutional arrangement for arriving at a political decision that help politicians in the acquisition of the power necessary for them to decide by way of their struggling to obtain votes from the citizens (Josephi 2010). Basically his definition may suggest that countries only differ in the degree to which institutional conditions are satisfied. Perhaps that is the reason why president Yeltsin ascended to power and failed to live up to his promises. Most Russians still point out that with the rioting on October 2nd the liberal regim e suppressed the angry communists. After a time period of approximately ten years since 23 Russian citizens lost their lives, the Russian government is still expounding on the myth that the crackdown was just to topple Mr. Yeltsin political opponents (Lucas 2009). This left many with the view that Mr. Yeltsin is a democratic hypocrite who never had the people’s interests at heart. All he had was his own vested interests. From that moment, descending from power without going to prison for him was inevitable; perhaps that is why he saw in an inherited presidency system as a scapegoat; perhaps that is why he ensured Mr. Vladimir Putin came to power (Marot 2012). When United Russia party chanced to win a working majority in the 2003 Russian Parliamentary elections, the Russian president Putin was seen to set out and attempt to critically undercut most of the opposition parties that were active in the country. He instigated changes in various electoral policies that allowed the go vernment to effectively manage to shut out a variety of the smaller political parties focusing mainly on those that had been perceived as being key advocates of liberal democracy. Other changes that were made caused it to become extremely difficult for parties to manage to field presidential candidates in a presidential ballot (Ethridge and Handelman 2012). Following the unexpected resignation of President Boris Yeltsin in 2000 Vladimir was assigned to

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Tour Operations Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Tour Operations Management - Essay Example The most important aspects of a holiday usually coordinated by a tour operator include the type of travel, transfers, excursions, facilities among other services. One easiest way to distinguish tour operators from other practitioners like travel agents is by establishing their form and features. A tour operator will, for this reason, bring together various subsets of tourism experience and offer it as a package. A package offered by tour operators is usually referred to inclusive tour. Inclusive tour mostly includes at least two elements often offered at an inclusive sale price and will encompass a stay of move for more than twenty-four hours in overnight accommodation. These elements range from transportation, foods, accommodation to other tourist services. The kind and variety of packages in a given market is mostly categorized into two categories, that is, those that use the traditional charter flight and those using booked flights. Booked flights are mainly used when it is consid ered uneconomic for tour operator to purchase charter flights. The types of package in a tour operators industry is also often categorized according to a mode of travel or mode of accommodation (Chauhan, 2009). In the case of mode of travel, the package involves issues like coach holiday or ferry. Mode of travel can also be based on ion twin transport packages like fly-drive, which are mostly popular with inbound tourist in the United States of America (Negi, 2006). Segmentation by mode of accommodation on the other hand is where hotels chains assumes the role of tour operators by packaging their excess capacity to offer weekends or short breaks in business attractions as in the case of inclusive package. An inclusive tour can also be segmented according to whether they are domestic or international, according to the length of the holiday, distance and destination type (Gupta, 2012).

Water privatization Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Water privatization - Research Paper Example This is from the verity that the utilities of water provision will be of high quality and the investment in this sector will increase; thus, more access to water services. An analysis of the positives and cons of this aspect, therefore, needs to be analyzed so as to understand the issue in detail. Evidently, water privatization is a very crucial issue. A lot of concern needs to be taken prior to coming with a lasting conclusion on this issue. In an attempt to highlight the water privatization question, it is vital to evaluate on the question of access and availability of water to all persons especially on persons of low income. If these water access and availability are left out, a lot of concerns will definitely be raised in the water sector. I take the stand that water needs not be privatized. So as to support this stand, focus will be shed on the quality of water and privatization, costs of privatized water, the divided interests in water privatization, how expensive privatization is, the loss of public control of privatized water from the locals and the fact that privatization may be permanent and irrevocable. These evidences will outdo the aspect that water should be privatized, simply because privatization has been seen to produce quality services, water privatization i s an urbanization move, privatization of water saves lives and privatization also creates economies of scale. Privatization of water will automatically undermine the quality of water. As seen in the research conducted by Shiva, the motive of acquiring more profits in the water industry will outdo the need to serve the public; thus, water needs not be privatized (35). A closer analysis of this fact means that the wellbeing of the public will be put at danger and the profits will be considered. Barraquà © states that the move to control water, a key resource, has indeed created a huge

Friday, August 23, 2019

The New BreatherSaver The Energy Mint Research Paper

The New BreatherSaver The Energy Mint - Research Paper Example Eventually, it became clearer that there are several ways to indulge the food industry in the manner production and marketing mint was adapting to. This has led to a new area of study in marketing strategy that the food industry so proudly presents to the world of corporate production and strategy formulation (Baldauf and Stair, 2010). In this discourse, the Hershey Company is applied as case study to explain the mint industry experiences in terms of product design overview, SWOT, marketing strategies, effectiveness and future performance predictions. Snack foods and chocolate business has had an all time high performance since the emergency of Hershey Chocolate Company that has since found a special market niche eventually renaming to the Hershey Company (Weaver and Weston, 2007). Continued evolution of the snacks market has not only witnessed competition among a number of market players but has also experienced diversification of products range. In the growing list of products is the market mint brand known as BreathSaver. Initially, it was exclusively produced and marketed by the Hershey Company but other food companies have joined in the production. Generally, the BreathSaver is a product that not only serves as an ordinary mint product for the market but is also enhanced to capture the market that needs breath fresheners. Neutrazin is a special additive to the mint product that makes the BreathSaver an exciting market hit. In terms of its design, the BreathSaver is an improved mint disc shaped into a cylindrical product made of mint to capture these two markets. Alternatively, there are a few other features that distinguish it from other mint products, mainly through the product design. One of such features is the embossment of the name BreathSaver on the product. In addition, there are various flavors and packaging designs which include a certain number of the mint rolls in a single packaging. Regarding the new product, BreathSaver

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Travel Market - Segmentation Essay Example for Free

Travel Market Segmentation Essay 1. The Travel Market can be segmented into 3 segments: Luxury travellers, Adventurers and Budget travellers. These segments are identified by demographics like age and income, psychological factors like personality, and benefits sought like needs and product features. Luxury travellers are usually older or middle-aged consumers who are already financially prosperous and look for relaxation and rejuvenation from their stressful positions. They can also be retirees. Luxury travellers will be willing to pay more for value, quality and service, and they look for quality relaxation and experience when looking for a place to reside while travelling. Luxury travellers will respond well to Banyan Holding’s Banyan and Laguna resorts and hotel line. Banyan tree hotels and resorts seek to have guests â€Å"pampered with a warm and friendly retreat experience† and are targeted to those â€Å"who place a premium on exclusive and unique localtes, with a penchant for the indulgent, luxurious and exotic† (Marketing in Asia 2nd Ed, p714-715). These high-end customers desire personalized service, ambience, and design, and a self-contained, personal retreat with private and tasteful amenities (Marketing in Asia 2nd Ed, p715). Luxury travellers who go on trips with their family members will prefer Laguna resorts and hotels as it provides a wide range of amenities for children to elderly, like the children’s suite, Laguna shopping centre and Angsana Spas. The Laguna hotels offers a wider range of services for a broader base of targeted audience, hence appealing to luxury travellers who travel with their family. Adv enturers are younger working adults around their twenties to late thirties who are financially independent and willing to spend. These consumers look for exotic places and place high emphasis on outdoor-recreation. They value authenticity and look for opportunities to immerse themselves in the local culture. People who go for adventure travelling would look for places that are less urbanized and richer in culture. Authenticity and thrill will be their main concern hence location and convenience would matter less. Adventurers will respond well to Banyan Tree’s sister brand, Angsana Hotels and resorts. The hotels are designed to be contemporary and which, and marketed with emphasis on outdoors-recreation which will appeal to such travellers. They also have a range of adventurous activities offered, like bungee jumping, white-water rafting and trekking. A great selling point of Angsana hotels is that it is located in unique world heritage site locales which offer adventurers a rustic experience with the added bonus of comfort and luxury. Budget travellers are identified to be in the lower to middle income group and are financially independent but not holding large amounts of disposable income for leisure activities. These travellers are sometimes young parents who hold tight budgets when it comes to travelling as they need to set aside large portions of their income for their children’s education and to support their own parents. They seek for benefits like low prices and promotions and do not always aim for quality or service. These consumers will not be prone to consume Banyan Tree Holding’s products and services as the products offered are generally high-end and too expensive. These consumers will likely to be working hard to support their families and hence unable to go for Angsana or Banyan spa treatments as well due to the lack of time. When travelling, these consumers will go for cheaper hotel options instead as they do not place high emphasis on special product features like adventurous amenities or quality of the services. 2. The attractiveness of the market segments can be assessed by the market size, the expected growth, the competitive position, the cost of reaching the segment and the compatibility with the Banyan Tree’s objectives and resources. In terms of market size, the budget travellers take up the largest percentage of leisure travellers while adventurers take up the least. In United States, the top 1% households own 35.4% of all privately held wealth (Domhoff, 2013). Wealth distribution is similar in the rest of the world; small proportion of people holding majority of the wealth. As such, the adventurers and luxury travellers take up a much smaller market size while budget travellers are aplenty. In terms of expected growth, the luxury travellers are expected to grow the fastest. Baby boomers, who are born between 1946 to 1964, are at their prime of their careers and some may already be retired. As these people age, the financially prosperous bunch of them will be expected to go travelling on retirement trips and they will have the financial capacity to spend on quality services and experiences. The luxury travellers will thus be expected to grow the fastest. The growth of the adventurers and budget travellers will then depend on the state of the economy and birth rate. Developed countries now face declining birth rates and an aging population, which causes both the adventurers and budget travellers to decrease in size or grow at a slower pace. For competitive position, the market for budget travellers will be the most competitive as most options are available. These competing hotels and motels are largely s imilar, providing homogenous amenities and services with price as the main selling point. Hence, it will be difficult to compete against these hotels as lowering price too much will start a price war, which in turn causes damage to all producers. Joining this market will not guarantee a significant market share as there are many firms and the products are mostly homogenous. In the luxury and adventure travelling segments, the hotels are largely different with their own selling points. For example the Maison Souvannaphoum Hotel in Luang Prabang would offer visitors a cultural and scenic experience of the Mekong River and hills of Laos, an experience that will not be found in any other hotels. The luxury hotels offer different scenic views and quality service, hence these hotels compete via product differentiation. There are less firms and hence more competition, but it also means that there will be a chance of getting a large market share should Banyan tree decide to invest in it. In terms of cost, marketing Banyan Tree’s products too all three different segments of consumers will take roughly the same costs. These will include advertising costs on websites, newspapers and tie-ups with travelling agencies. In terms of compatibility, reaching out to the budget travellers will be most costly as brand new budget hotels will have to be built, which requires a large amount of capital. Marketing Banyan Tree Holding’s hotels and services to the budget travellers will also not be effective as the product features of Banyan tree’s products are incompatible with the features these consumers are looking for. Reaching out to luxury travellers and adventurers will be easier as they will already be receptive to the products offered by Banyan Tree. In conclusion, Banyan Tree Holdings should focus on the Luxury Travellers market segment as they have the highest potential growth rate and the products which these consumers are looking for tally with the products Banyan Tree Holdings offer. 3. Companies in the travel industry can carry out product positioning by emphasizing on different aspects of their products and services, like the geographical location, the economic value, lifestyle, services and amenities, and environmental awareness. The geographical location of the company will include the cultural heritage of the host country in which the firm can use as a selling point to foreign visitors. The actual location of the hotel can also be used as a selling point for added convenience if the hotels are located just beside train or bus stations. The economic value refers to marketing the company’s products and services at a certain price which gives a similar level of satisfaction. Hotels can market themselves as budget hotels which are on the lower scale of the price range, or luxury hotels which gives consumers such a great experience and service that the consumers think the high price is worth it. Lifestyle and services can be marketed to consumers if the hotel provides visitors with a distinct, exotic experience or have unique facilities. Companies can also support environmentally friend codes of conduct to promote themselves as clean and green, giving off a positive reputation and image to the public and potential customers. Banyan Tree uses the product position strategy of geographic location, lifestyle and services and environmental awareness. According to Marketing in Asia 2nd Ed p714, each Banyan Tree property is designed to fit into it’s natural surroundings and the natural landscape is preserved as much as possible. This places emphasis on the location of the hotels and resorts, marketing itself to be exclusive and asian. For Angsana Hotels and Resorts, it is located in unique World heritage site locales which provide visitors with a coherent authentic experience of the local destination, serving as a large attraction. Secondly, Banyan tree also markets itself to pamper guests with a warm and friendly retreat experience that showcases Banyan Tree’s signature lend of romance, rejuvenation and exotic sensuality. This adds to lifestyle and experience. Thirdly, Banyan Tree sells itself with an environmentally friendly and conscious theme. Besides being environmentally friendly, Laguna Resorts and Hotels is also committed to providing for the health and educational needs of the children of its employees and local villages. This will attract consumers who care for the deterioration of nature and the welfare of developing countries. Banyan Tree’s products are highly distinctive as they emphasize themselves on being a luxury and premium brand. Banyan Tree previously marketed itself with the slog an of â€Å"Romance of Travel† which also emphasizes on rejuvenation and relaxation. Banyan Tree is consistent in all it’s different product types in the fact that it focuses on pampering the guest and providing the ultimate luxurious experience. To support the theme of luxury, Banyan Tree’s products are highly priced. This is because consumers usually associate higher priced products to be of better quality. Banyan Tree promoted themselves with the â€Å"Romance of Travel† campaign which emphasized on Banyan Tree’s brand of romance, intimacy and rejuvenation. Banyan Tree is also spread to other consumers through articles in many websites by travellers. Positive testimonies stir interest in potential customers, and can reach out to many due to the widespread use of internet today. To tap on the greater use of internet, Banyan Tree also offers direct bookings through popular resort websites for convenience and accessibility. To keep up with this inf ormal advertisement, Banyan Tree maintained it’s well-known quality of service which aided it to have good reviews. Banyan Tree also took part in eco and cultural tourism, and famous projects like the Tsunami Relief Project in 2004, projecting an image of awareness and goodwill for the company.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

An organisations process

An organisations process Introduction Strategic planning is an organisations process of defining its corporate strategy, making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue its strategy, including its capital and human resources. In this modern and competitive era growing business, means taking timely, quick and accurate decisions about the way we want to grow our business. As an organisation grows, it becomes more and more complex for management to control. In this case, strategic planning is the key component for all type of organisations, which help them to keep on track. All organisations depend on strategic plan to keep the long-term focus synced up with day-to-day decision-making. From Board level to front line staff, everyone is aligned with the organisations strategy and vision. Because it is a road map to lead organisation from where it is now to where it would like to be in future. It is very important for management that they make sure, that all those who involved in any activity are clear about what that o rganisation is looking to achieve and how they are planning to do it. The main source of information is included from official websites and reports published by companies. Moreover, references from different books, published journals articles, research reports and internet have been used to support the arguments. Critical Analysis of Strategic Planning of Primark Company profile Primark is an Irish clothing retailer. It opened its first store in Dublin in 1969 under the name of Penneys. The company head office is based In Dublin, and operates 193 stores in Ireland, UK and other European countries. Primark is a subsidiary of Associated British Foods Plc (ABF) and positions itself as marketing (selling) fashionable clothing at cheap prices, targeting women, men, children and supply home decoration goods. Primark aim is to focus on latest fashions and sell to its customers with the variety of design at affordable prices. Primark mission statement is to provide customers with high quality, fashion basis at value for money prices (Primark 2009). Critical Analysis of Primark According to clothing market review 2008, the United Kingdom retail clothing market was worth  £42.45 billions in 2007. It account for almost 6% of total consumer spending which is lowest proportion in the history of UK. The reasons for decline in market were the declining prices and intense competition in the industry. Survey also shows that the cheap clothing market consumers will increase in the future and there is no sign of growth in market value over the next five years (Market Report 2008). Primark face intense competition due to number of competitors (Appendix 1). According to Bowmans Strategic Clock (1996), Primark is position itself in competitive environment at low price in his strategic clock (Appendix 2). This strategy helps Primark to analysis it competitive position in other competitors. Primark is fashion conscious targeting under 35s with the slogan Look good pay less at Primark. It offers good quality fashion clothes at very competitive prices. According to Porter Generic Strategies (1980) Primark is following cost leadership Strategy in retail clothing market. The success of this strategy is based on access to cheap resources and buying in bulk. Michael Porters Five Forces (1979) Model of competitive position helps Primark to analyse its competitive position in the industry. Cost leadership strategy helps Primark to create barrier for new entrant to sell same products at lower price. Primark imports from Asian countries where cost of production is very low and buying in bulks help Primark to improve its Bargaining power. On the other hands, bargaining power of the customers is not very strong because no other retailer is selling trendy and fashionable products at such a low price. So all this help and provide a platform to Primark for expansion both gaining market share and entering into new markets. PEST analysis can be used to examine the factors affecting on Primarks external Environment. All four factors have a considerable impact on Primarks environment. Political factors such as labour law, environmental, trade restrictions, tariffs, tax policy restrict Primark to operate within the limits. Economic factors such as interest rate, inflation rate, exchange rate, economic growth and disposal income affect Primark business operation and day-to-day decision-making. Social and cultural factors help Primark to take into account trends, fashion, growth rate in population, age, gender etc. Finally, technological factors helped Primark to reduce cost, improve quality and lead to innovation. In UK, clothing market is very competitive and credit crunch made it worse. Primark is the only clothing retailer who gets benefit from credit crunch. According to Igor Ansoff (1957), Primark is penetrating the clothing market to targeting competitors customers and retaining existing customers. Sean Poulter (2008) report says, Primark sales rose over 25% in 2008 and gave Primark overall 10% market share of UK clothing industry. It made second biggest seller after MS (12% Market Share). Primark has a very clear market positioning at the cheap end of the market. For Primark internal environmental analysis, SWOT analysis is used to assess Primarks internal capabilities, core competences while threats and opportunities assess external environmental factors. Primark SWOT analysis is shown in appendix 3. Critical Analysis of Strategic Planning of Woolworths Group Plc Company Profile F.W. Woolworths Company founded Woolworths in UK in 1909. In 1982 it was acquired by Paternoster Stores ltd, the subsidiary of Kingfisher Plc. Woolworths Group Plc was formed by the demerger of Kingfisher and began trading as listed company in August 2001. It inherited a mountain of  £200 million debts, and costly lease agreements. Right from the beginning, it sold a variety of goods such as childrens clothes, toys, stationery, electronic goods and confectionery. Pic n mix sweets and Woolworths have always gone together until went into administration. In first four years company really took off but after 2005 it faced constant decline in business and finally it went into administration on 27 January 2009 (Times Online 2008). This company was one of the biggest victims of recession. Mission and Vision Woolworths mission was to be at the heart of the community and the best loved retailer for kids, home and family leisure. Vision was to provide quality products and services to customer all the time through price strategies Elrico (2002). Critical Analysis of Woolworths Group Plc My aim is to analyse strategic planning process of Woolworths to analyse past seven years performance by using various strategic tools. Woolworths performance has been variable over the past few years and in 2005 private equity group Apax made a takeover bid, which was rejected by the board, and four weeks later they received another offer and it made Woolies future uncertain in retail sector. Strategic planning is usually begins with external environmental analysis of the organisation. Competitors are the primary external consideration for strategic planning. For Woolworths Porter Five Forces (1979) can be used to analyse external environment. Woolworths failed to respond the threats of it competitors. They never made any strategy to build barrier for competitors such as ASDA, Tesco, Argos, Discount Stores etc. Its management always depend upon advertisement and customers loyalty. Perfect competition brought more choices for customers and due to intense competition (Rivalry) in the industry, profit squeezed and market demand saturated. Woolworths customers switched to its competitors. Woolworths faced huge problems with suppliers in last couple of year of trading and they forced to pay cash at the time of purchases because of lack of security. According to Michael porters (1980) Generic Strategies to obtain competitive advantages, organisation must have one of the following strategies: Cost Leadership strategy Differentiation strategy Focus strategy Woolworth get stuck in the middle without having any competitive strategy as a result competitors (ASDA, Argos etc) took advantages of that and stole all customers form it. They never released the importance of competitive strategy and had growth strategy to compete with competitors by opening new stores in different parts of the country. According to Igor Ansoff (1957), Woolworths had Market development strategy to target new customers. Woolworths internal environmental analysis, SWOT analysis is the best tool, which can be use measure internal and external factors that affected on its strategic planning. Internal analysis examines Woolworths capabilities and external analysis examines factors that bring opportunities and threats (Appendix 4). Comparison of Strategic Planning of both organisations In the highly competitive environment in which all UK retailers are in war to sustain their position against competitors in this recession, Primark is doing remarkably well. The key of success in based on its well-planned strategies that evaluate internal and external factors that affect on it environment. On the other hands, Woolworths group Plc failed because, they were never thought about any strategy that gave them competitive advantages over any of its competitor. People and media said that Woolworths was the victim of recession but I would say it was the victim of bad management. My aim is to compare and contrast the strategic planning of both organisations. For this purpose, I have discussed few strategic planning models in critical analysis and now I am going to compare them and find out the reasons of success and failure. Pricing (Competitive) Strategy According to Michael Porter (1980) to get competitive advantages organisation must follow one of its generic strategies. Primark slogan is look good pay less, means cost leadership strategy. Cost leadership strategy does not mean low prices but it lead to emphasize on efficiency by reducing cost in all departments. This strategy gave competitive edge to Primark over it competitors. According to Jonathan Prynn (2009), Primark has boomed in the recession with the British biggest discount clothes chain unveiled big increase in revenue and profits. Primark revenues increased from  £1.17bn in 2007 to  £1.6bn in 2008 and it jumped to  £2.31bn in 2009. On the other hand, Woolworths was trading without having any competitive strategy, which help its management to focus on the ways in which it can achieve the competitive position in the retail industry. Its revenue declined since 2004 and in final year of trading, Woolworths announced pre-tax loss of  £99.7m for the first six months. This is just because of Woolworths was stuck in the middle of competitive strategies for long time and management was not sure what price they charge to customers for particular products. Woolworths products were comparatively expensive than its competitors and customers realised their products are not good quality compare to the prices Woolworths charged. Affects of competition Competitors are the real enemies for all organisations. Successful organisation always makes plans ahead to avoid the consequence of any threat from its competitors. Both organisations operate in highly competitive environment. Competitor analysis is very important for both organisations strategic planning. Sometimes organisations think that they are doing well and it is best to carry on with their plans and other become obsessed with monitoring every action of competitors. Woolworths Group Plc was well aware about competition. In Woolworths financial reports 2008, directors mentioned competition is a big risk for Woolworths but they did not come up with any strategy (carry on their own plans) that help Woolworths to maintain and improve it competitive position in the market. They lost most of there business to competitors. In clothing retail industry, Primark is also facing intense competition. Most of Primarks competitors hold same percentage of market share as Primark have. Nowada ys fashion has become disposable and to avoid competition Primark has led fast fashion revolution at lowest prices taking the fast fashion retail industry into new era. I would say Primark has emerged as the McDonalds of the fast fashion retail industry. Customers Analysis Customers analysis is an operative tool, which helps organisations to understand the specific customers demand, preferences and loyalty to the organisation. To keep competitive in todays environment, organisations need to take an in depth look at customers to explore and identify opportunities and threats. I would say Primark is the market leader to understand customers demand and response quickly to the fast fashion requirements of customers. Primarks time-to-market has been very fast, both in terms of copying designs rapidly after they come out in terms of getting the new stock into their stores while items are still hot' (R. M Grant, Blackwell 2009). New style, quality and low prices keep customers coming in and encourage them to come back again. All these help Primark to increase its market share and revenue. On the other side of the picture, Woolworths failed to focus on what they were good at, to sell to there customers and failed to identify their core products and customers. From customers point of view, Woolworths was a complete mish mash with hundreds different types of products, but low product ranges. As a result, Woolworths did not have enough selection of any product to attract customers (John McMillan 2008). All these factors forced customers to switch to Woolworths competitors. Marketing issues Organisations used marketing tools to create, keep and satisfy customers needs and demands. To get competitive advantages in the target market organisations use segmentation, targeting and positioning tools. These tools help organisations to differentiate there goods and services from their competitors. Market Segmentation and targeting Market segmentation help organisation to split customers or potential customers into different groups. Primark segments it customers on socio-economic (disposable income) and demographic (age, gender, lifestyle) bases. Robert Stockdill (2007) says in his report, Primarks target customer is young, fashion conscious and under 35 years old. So like many other retailers chasing that demographic or the broader value end of the market, Primark is now targeting a four to six week turnaround from design to shelf, sourcing primarily from Asia. Primark also target low-income group who have less disposable income to spend on latest fashion. Woolworths was also segmented its customers on demographic bases but there aim was to target all customer in the market. They never identified their target customer, market and which income group they were targeting. Market Positioning In market positioning, my aim is to create an image in the target market for both organisations, their products, and brands. Primark is known as cost leadership retailer in the market, which has over fifteen own brands (Appendix 5). Customers think that Primarks products are good value for money. Woolworths also had very rich and successful long history with the number of brands such as Chad Valley, Ladybird, Winfield and Worthit etc. Form customers point of view both organisations market-positioning image can be mapped in the following Bowmans Strategic Clock (1996); Business Seasonality Most organisations are affected by the fluctuation in business activity at different part of the year. According to directors 2008 report, Woolworths was highly seasonal business. Most of its revenue, profit, and cash flow have been come from Christmas season. Lower than expected performance in the Christmas period may have adverse impact on overall Woolworths results. It happened continuously after 2004 with Woolworths and it performance was very unstable un-till it went into administration. Woolworths never made any strategy to avoid adverse affects of Christmas sales. Primark business is all four seasons. Although most of its sales come from Christmas season but other three seasons of the year its make good profit. According to (James Hall 2009) report, Primark total revenue reaches it highest level of  £1 billion in first six months of trading, which is 18 % more than last year. Primark is the only largest fashion retailers around the world, who produce solid performance in cre dit crisis due to strong strategic planning. Conclusion Strategic planning is directional map, key instrument for strategic management for deciding where their company is headed and how they are planning to get there. Strategic planning is known as a process of defining strategy and making decisions on allocation of organisation resources to pursue strategy. It is a dynamic tool of continuously looking at organisational current position, examine and plotting future move. All this need in-depth knowledge and understanding about organisation and its internal and external environment in that operates in. the best organisations like Primark always engaged in some form of strategic planning to keep themselves update about internal and external environmental factors. Based on my detailed strategic planning analysis of Primark, i would say that Primark has comprehensive strategy planning, which considers all-important factors that affects on its business environment. From my above research, I conclude that, there are number of reasons behind Primark success. Firstly, they understand customers specific requirements and always come up with the solution of latest fashion at low price. Secondly, Primark has a very clear market position at the cheap end of the market and target customers who have low disposal income and fashion conscious. All this gave Primark competitive advantage over its competitors. Third, Primark has access to cheap resources and has very tight control over costs, which help them to increase profitability. Many people say Woolworths was the victim of credit crises. Other says Woolworths faced financial pressures (received over  £200 million debts in inherent and seasonal business crises) and severe competition from day one, so that is why it failed to survive. From my above discussion and analysis, I conclude that Woolworths was the victim of bad management and poor strategy planning. From my above discussion, I have mentioned several reasons of Woolworths failure. Woolworths completely failed to respond the threats of competitors, new technologies, customers buying patterns and target market. The world change very fast in 21st century and strategy worked in 1990s does not work today. Woolworths was keeping the old fashion strategy and planning to run business successfully in 21st century, where yesterdays strategy could be out date today. World has become global village and customers have many choices to buy products from any were in the world through internet. Ignorance of all thes e external factors have leads Woolies to lose their business to competitors. Finally I would say the key of success is to do few things right like Primark, not 100s things badly like Woolworths, keep ears and eyes open, monitor your internal and external environment, and response best to the threats and convert into opportunities. Financial analysis References ASX Announcement (2009), Primark, 3Q Holdings Limited 2009, [Online], http://www.threeq.com.au/announce/AnnouncementPrimark.pdf Bowmans Strategic Clock (1996), Strategic Business Planning, Strategies for leaders, followers, challenger and nichers, International Financial Publishing 2006, Surrey UK Elrico (2002), Woolworths Group Plc, Advfn III (2002), [online], http://www.advfn.com/stocks/buy-woolworths-as-they-are-a-good-shop-with-many-varieties_2527942.html Igor Ansoff (1957), Strategic Business Planning and Development, Strategy Development, International Financial publishing Ltd 2006. James Hall (2009), Primark Overtakes ASDA as Biggest Low Price Clothing Retailers, Telegraph 20th Jan 2009, [Online], http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/4299950/Primark-overtakes-Asda-as-biggest-low-price-clothing-retailer.html John McMillan (2008), Learn From Woolworths, Academy, [online] http://www.ecademy.com/node.php?id=118215 Jonathan Prynn (2009), London Evening Standard, Primarks recession fashion boom, [online], http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23763781-primarks-recession-fashion-boom.do Primark 2009, Primarks History, Primark Stores limited 2009, [Online], http://www.primark.co.uk/page.aspx?pointerid=eb44df4565934edca627dac6ec12145a Market Report 2008, Clothing Industry Report, Key Note publication Ltd Feb. 2008, Online, http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/594454 Michael Porter (1979), Strategic Business Planning and Development, The Competitive Environment, international Financial publishing Ltd 2006. Michael Porter (1980), Generic Strategies, Marketing Teaches Ltd (2000 2009), [Online], [Cited 14th November 2009], R. M Grant, Blackwell (2009), Shedding The Frills; Making A success, open2.net, [online], http://www.open2.net/moneyandmanagement/management_organisation/briefs_20051206_primark.html Robert Stockdill (2007), Primarks fast fashion revolution, Inside Retailing Magazine Oct 2007. [online], http://www.insideretailing.com. au/Latest/tabid/53/ID/1552/Primarks-fast-fashion-revolution.aspx Sean Poulter (2008), Primark now Britains 2nd Biggest Clothing Retailer, Mail Online (2008), http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-561270/Primark-Britains-second-biggest-clothes-store-thanks-rise-disposable-fashion.html Times Online (2008), History of Woolies, By Rosie Lavan, [Online], Witchalls, C (2007) Flexibility and speed key to new revenue streams http://www.computingbusiness.co.uk/computing business/analysis/2183247/case-study-bt