Effective Bookkeeping Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Effective Bookkeeping - Essay Example A failure to keep books properly can have very real ramifications for a school, a district, and the workers in it: it could cause intense scandal and cost people jobs and the district money. Furthermore, regular audits are done to ensure that all moneys are accounted for in reasonable ways, meaning that mistakes will get found and will have real consequences for everyone in the chain of bookkeeping, which could possibly include dismissal. It is difficult to overemphasize the importance of proper bookkeeping. This will simply serve as a refresher, please remember that the full description of appropriate policies and legislation relating to school accounting can be found in the Tennessee Internal School Uniform Accounting Policy Manual. There are several things that can lead to effective bookkeeping, and it is firstly important to emphasize basic and fundamental general rules before moving on to the specifics. Firstly, a record keeping must be orderly and complete. Any transaction incl uding school funds should be kept in a safe location, organized by date and able to be recalled at will. Secondly, transparency is of fundamental importance. If anything does seem to be amiss, it is my responsibility as principle to immediately notify a superior, and thus it is your responsibility to immediately notify me. ... These include funds of a variety of sources, including rental fees for non-district use of school property, student activity fees, donations, and even including cafeteria money. One of the most important and sometimes irking aspects of accounting is that specific fees sometimes need to be assigned to specific tasks, and cannot be used for other tasks. A school’s general fund, which constitutes money gained for the operation of a school, for instance, are only allowed to be use to supplement and not to replace the obligations of the school board, for instance. This means that while the general fund should not be used for school repairs, for instance, which are the responsibility of the district. Thus it is important to keep auditors happy and the whole process smooth that we be very conservative when administering funds, keeping careful track of the money flow and be able to demonstrate that moneys collected under one fund, the general fund, for instance, are not used in inappr opriate, or even seemingly inappropriate ways. Thus, it is incredibly important to keep strong firewalls between different kinds of funds used by the school, and flag any funds that might transfer between the two. Finally, it is of the greatest importance that enough internal controls are in place to ensure that the school is not damaged or defrauded, and that moneys are not misused. There can be very serious consequences from lack internal controls, including bank deposits being stolen, money being diverted for internal use, and so forth. This means things discussed above such as physical control of records, but also daily tallying of cash flows in and out (in cafeterias, and with cash registers, for instance) as well as ensuring proper security

What could help solve poverty in Calcutta Essay

What could help solve poverty in Calcutta - Essay Example A few of the numerous people who come from different backgrounds and they are present in Calcutta include; Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains. There are numerous languages that are spoken in Calcutta includes but not limited to; Tamil, Urdu, Punjabi and Bengali. One of the biggest issue that Calcutta is facing is overcrowding. The main reason for this is the numerous activities that take place in Calcutta. In addition, there diversity of the people that are present in Calcutta is one of the reason that it has a high population density of 4.5 million people. Another reason for the over population of Calcutta is the Bangladesh conflict which took place in the 1970s which made refugees to settle in the northern and southern suburbs of the city. People move to Calcutta to take, coal, petroleum, manganese, jute, manganese and iron. This is because it is a major export centre of these products. Due to the large population, Calcutta has been having a big unemployment crisis since early 1950s. With the high population density and the equally high levels of poverty, Calcutta has a huge problem when it comes to housing (Banerji, 2007). It is estimated that more than a third of the city lives in places of severe poverty (slumdogs, 2015). In this place, the houses have poor ventilation, very limited sanitary conditions and very little open space. One of the main reason for the poverty is Calcutta is overcrowding. It is brought about when people are numerous and located in just one place (Phelan, 2015). This limits even the ability of the people to get ample space to live. There are numerous reason as to why people may be over populated in one place. As for Calcutta, the main reason for its overpopulation is the fact that numerous activities take place there (Weaver, 1985). The main industries that thrive in Calcutta include; transport industry, export industry, and manufacturing industries. In addition,

Vietnam and Iraq Wars Essay Example for Free

Vietnam and Iraq Wars Essay American involvement in Vietnam has roots which preceded the actual deployment of troops, just as the current chapter of the Iraqi War has roots that reach, some would argue, at least as far back as the end of World War II. These two arenas, where America chose to enforce its foreign policy at gunpoint, have many similarities, though ostensibly they appear to be radically different. The two wars began with two very different American presidents telling the Big Lie to the American people and their duly elected representatives, though there are subtle differences in how they came to be told. The Gulf of Tonkin Incident supposedly occurred when two American cruisers, operating within a few miles of the North Vietnamese coast are said to have come under fire by North Vietnamese gunboats. This fabricated incident led Congress to grant Johnson powers to prosecute the war. According to reports released under the Freedom of Information Act it is seriously doubtful as to whether such attacks actually occurred. The 21st century continuation of the Persian Gulf War of the 1990s began with an American president telling the American people and their duly elected representatives another Big Lie. He said, while in possession of reports to the contrary, that the leader of Iraq had amassed weapons of mass destruction, meaning, it was assumed, either nuclear devices or chemical and/or biological weapons. He further stated, knowing it was not likely, that the Iraqi leader was involved in the attack on the twin towers of the World Trade Center. For their own reasons, Lyndon Johnson and George Walker Bush both chose to obfuscate facts in furtherance of their political agenda. In Vietnam the American fighting men never lost an engagement with the enemy. They won every battle, yet lost the war. Some say the war was lost in the streets of America, victim of bad publicity. The French had held the Vietnamese in colonial slavery since the 19th century, and were only driven out by the Japanese in 1941. At the end of World War II the French decided that they had the right to return as feudal lords. The Viet Minh challenged this assertion, and in 1954, at the battle of Dien Bien Phu, they drove home their point. The French commander committed suicide before the garrison fell to the guerillas under command of the brilliant tactician, General Giap. France pulled out once again, but instead of letting Vietnam unify and hold elections, the U. N. partitioned it. This set the stage for North Vietnam’s president Ho Chi Min to begin to unify his nation by force, which the Americans inexplicably chose to challenge, culminating in Lyndon Johnson lying to get his war powers act through Congress. This war, which seemed to be the sole business of the Vietnamese people, became a quagmire to the Americans, and cost Johnson his presidency in the end. It brought shame and disrepute on the United States as Bush’s Iraqi War has done in the 21st century. Bush lied to obtain the needed powers to wage a war in Iraq. The Iraq War began with Americans watching U. S. Military power raining destruction from the air on the people of Iraq. The American president screamed, â€Å"Bring it on! † to taunt the enemy, and after a short time landed on an American carrier ship, greeted by a banner proclaiming, â€Å"Mission Accomplished†. Unfortunately that was another deception. Now Iraq, like Vietnam, is a quagmire and Bush has no more of an exit strategy then did Lyndon Johnson. Of Vietnam, Pete Seeger, the folk singer sang, â€Å"Waist deep in the big muddy, and the big fool said to push on† (Seeger 1967). The big muddy was, naturally, Vietnam, and the big fool giving the order to keep marching was Lyndon Johnson. Few march today in protest of an equally un-winnable war and no one but the loyal opposition calls Bush a big fool. Still the parents of America fatalities know that their sons and daughters are just as dead as those who died in Vietnam, for the same lame reasons, in wars justified by lies. In declassified documents released in late 2005, Robert Hanyok, a National Security Agency Historian said, â€Å"that a second attack, on August 4, 1964, by North Vietnamese torpedo boats on U. S. ships, did not occur despite claims to the contrary by the Johnson administration (Prados 2004). Prados, a NSA archivist has said he believes it is vital to have this information come to light, saying that the Johnson Administration, â€Å"used this claim to support retaliatory air strikes† (ibid). There are disturbing parallels between the lie concerning the Gulf of Tonkin Incident and the ‘manipulated’ intelligence used to justify the Iraqi War, according to the historian. It is only due to public pressure that the secret agency allowed the documents to be declassified some forty years after the fact. The Bush Administration did not want the truth out for the obvious reason of the comparisons that can be made to his untruths concerning Iraq. John W. Dean, former White House counsel to Richard Nixon, said in 2003, that, â€Å"[George W. Bush] made a number of unequivocal statements about the reason the United States needed to pursue the most radical actions any nation can undertake acts of war against another nation. †¦Now it is clear that many of his statements appear to be false† (Dean 2003). Dean posed the rhetorical question of whether lying to start a war is an impeachable offense against a sitting U. S. President. It is only rhetorical because of the fact the lying chief executive’s party had sufficient control of the legislative branch of government. The party apparently believed that lying about sex is impeachable but lying to start war is simply presidential politics. Bush began a series of misstatements, obfuscations, diversions and lies beginning in 2002 as he began to beat his war drum across the United States. In speech after speech he made wilder and wilder claims regarding the Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised (Bush, G. W. 2003). He even sent his Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, on the speech circuit, saying (Rumsfeld) personally knew where these weapons were located. They were never found. They never existed. It was all a lethal charade foisted on America by the Bush/Cheney regime. It was argued that Vietnam was fought in defense of the Domino Theory. It has also been suggested that the Iraq War is being fought for the Haliburton Theory, in which American troops have seized Iraqi oil to increase the profits of an American corporation under the control of the sitting vice-president. What is proven is that the Iraq War, like its predecessor, the Vietnam War, was begun with a Big Lie for which the liar has not been called to account. Intelligence sources’ reports exposed each set of lies for what they are, yet neither Johnson nor Bush has been held accountable. References Bush, G.W. Iraq: Denial and Deception (speech) Mar. 17, 2003     Retrieved 5-10-08 From: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030317-7.html Dean, J. 2003   Missing Weapons of Mass Destruction Retrieved 5-  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   11-08 from: http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20030606.html Prados, J. 2004  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Tonkin Gulf Intelligence ‘Skewed’ Retrieved   5-10-08 From:

Is the Family in Decline?

Is the Family in Decline? Introduction history of the family Most peoples idea of a normal household is a married couple with children. Does this longer correspond with the reality of peoples lives? In 2005 only 22 per cent of British households consisted of a couple with dependant children, compared with 35 per cent in 1971. (Fulcher J, Scott J, 2004 pg 446). Over several decades, Britain and other Western societies have seen a shift in family patterns and diverse roles, also divorce rate have risen significantly and there has been an increase in Reconstituted families formed from second marriages The family is often regarded as the basis of society; in pre-modern and modern societies alike is seen as the basis in which social organization takes place, for example socialising children, in the 1960s there was not discussion about the importance of family, at that family life was merely evolving with the modern times, the nuclear family which consist of a two generation household of parent and their children, was seen as well adapted to the demands of modern society. A classic definition of the family by George Peter Murdock (1949) The family is a social group characterized by common residence, economic co-operation and reproduction. This includes adults of both sexes, at least two of whom maintain a socially-approved sexual relationships, and one or more children, own or adopted, of the sexually cohabiting adults. Another type of family is the extended family, which includes the family members which extends vertically that would include three generations for example; grandparent and grandchildren, it also extends horizontally to include at least in laws cousins, aunts and uncles, and dependant on the perceptions and the boundaries of the family; determines how far this extends. From a functional perspective the family purpose is to work as a social institute, and according to (Haralambos Holborn 2008) the family performs four basic functions in all societies which are termed the sexual, reproductive economic and educational these are deemed essential for social life because without reproduction there would be no members of society, also without economics there would no provisions for providing food and therefore life would cease to exist, and without education as suggested by George Murdock there would be no culture and he suggests therefore that human society could not function. However according to Parson (in Parsons Bales 1956) the family social institution developed to meet two such needs that the family, and only the family, met: the needs for primary socialization and personality stabilization Primary socialisation was the process through which children obtain the basic values of society from the family from an early age. And adult personality is stabilized through the family to give emotional support through marriage, and to create an opportunity for adults to satisfy childish impulses that they could not do in public, for example playing games with their children. Parsons suggested that the nuclear family was particularly suited the nuclear family because the nuclear family roles were specialized due to one adult earning money through paid work, and the other adult bringing up the children, therefore with there being one breadwinner this was quite important factor in the industrial society due to high rates of change, this meant that this type of family were more geographically mobile and they would also keep the world of work and family separate, as industrial societies were concerned with achievement and universalism; this meant that people were rewarded according to achievements and judged according to universal standards of qualifications, and competence, the family however operated on a opposite basis; where the values of ascription and particularism; thus, status was ascribed on who one was, for example, husband of, wife of, parents would do their best to advance their children, therefore if this overlapped into the workforce this cause conflict. Marxist perspective states the capitalist system exploits the free domestic labour of the housewife through domestic labour, and that child rearing should be considered as family activities outside the operation of the capitalist economy but instead an essential part of it. This view is taken because the male breadwinner can then do longer hours, because the wife is at home tending to children and the domestic work; children were seen as the process of reproduction of labour by creating submissive workers. Due to the male bread winner being put under pressure from the work place to work much harder and faster, and quite often carrying out tedious and repetitive work in very poor conditions, which they would have very little control therefore the family was seen as an outlet for the tension and frustration, and the bullied worker may restore their self-esteem by bullying their family. Although the wife plays a significant role in the capitalist economy, she would get no pay. Some housewives worked in paid employment at a low wage, and acted as a reserve army which could be drawn into work when there was a shortage of labour, and returned back home when demand was low, therefore the nuclear family created an additional supply of cheap labour. Some sociologist argue that the family has lost certain functions in modern industrial society, and they suggest that institutions such as political parties and school, and welfare organisations are performing functions of the family, Talcott Parsons argues that the family has become functionless on the macroscopic levels. However not all sociologist agree with this idea, and they actually think the opposite, according to Ronald Fletcher, a British sociologist stated in The Family and Marriage in Britain (1966)that the family has retained its functions but also those functions have increased in detail and importance and specialised institutions such as schools and hospitals have added to and improved the family functions, rather than suspended them, some example of these changes are the expectations of the parenting role; they are expected to do their best to guide, encourage and support their children through education and their. Young and Wilmott (1973) claim that the symmetrical family is developing where spouses are sharing domestic, work and leisure activities; these types of relationships are called joint conjugal roles as opposed to segregated roles which previously meant the marital roles of husband and wife were largely segregated. In the symmetrical family, conjugal roles have become more joined, the wife still has primary responsibility for housework and child rearing, however husbands have become more involved with domestic chores like doing the washing and ironing, and share the decisions that affect the family The structure of the British family has shifted significantly over the last 50 years, a major influence of this is through the decline of marriage and the rise in cohabitation according to the Office of National statistics 2008 Due to the changes in marriages, divorce and cohabitation to the growing number of new types of families Two in five of all marriages are now remarriages, which makes step families one of the fastest growing family forms in Britain, currently making up one, in the decade to 2006, the number of single parent families also increased to 2.3 million, making up 14% of all families in ten of all families.18. Ethnic diversity is on the increase due to the increase of international migration is another source of diversity, for example the structure of Afro-Caribbean and Asian families; looking at the diversity in relation to origin and considerations of how these have changed in the context of British society. According to (Elliot 1966; Berthound 2000) the lower-class Afro-Caribbean family is centred on the role of the women, and marriages are weakly institutive and low due to the men wandering; therefore the women commonly head the households, and relationships between mothers and children are much stronger than those between fathers and children, and family life tends to be supported by other women other than the biological mother. African-Caribbean women have been more economically active than women from other ethnic groups, and see paid work as a basis fro financial independence and are more likely to control the use of their earnings than Asian or White women, however this is only made possible by the sharing of the mothering role with other women. There are considerable cultural difference between south Asian nationalities that have come to Britain, however there are similarities, for instance families from rural areas in South Asia typically have extended forms of family, that include three generations in one household and are organized through a network of males, are bound together through religious beliefs in brotherhood and family loyalty. Marriages are arranged and seen as a contrast of two families. According to young and Willmott the home centred symmetrical family is more typical of the working class than the middle class, they suggest that the working class are more fully home-centred because they are less fully work-centred; and this is due to compensating for uninvolved and boring work, and because little interest is expected at work, and manual workers tend to focus more attention on family life, therefore according to Young and Wilmott see work as a major influence on family Migration to Britain severely disrupted extended families of this kind and for many women this has left them socially isolated at home and unsupported by the kin. Sikh household have become more focused on couples and women have renegotiated traditional patterns, through greater independence through paid work, however in contrast Pakistani and Bangladeshi cultures have been limited to homework or family business by Islamic prohibition of contact with unrelated men, this has lead to women being exploited as cheap labour and confined to the home. Many sociologists are concerned about what they see as the decline in marriage and family life, and they see this as a threat to the family, for example Brenda Almond (2006) believes that the family is fragmenting, there is also an increase in the legal and social acceptance of marital breakdown, cohabitation, gay and lesbian relationships and so on. Colin Gibson (1994) claims through the development of modernity this has increased the likelihood of conflict between spouses due to much emphasis upon the desirability of individual achievement, Gibson believes that people now live in an enterprise and free-market culture of individualism in which the licence of choice dominates The last 100 years have seen changes in legislation, technology, attitudes and expectations  that have led to a massive feminisation of the workforce since the second world war, also widespread contraception leading to deferred decisions about the start of families; and divorce, remarriage and cohabitation becoming much more acceptable. A relaxation of societal attitudes towards marriage means it is no longer seen as unusual to be involved in a complicated family structure. Families are no longer just made up of married parents living with their children. Although seven in ten households are still headed up by married couples, this proportion has been declining for some time. Families are now a mix of cohabiting parents, stepfamilies, single parent families, those living apart together and civil partnerships, as well as the traditional nuclear family.

Fascism Essay -- essays research papers

On the 23 March 1919 after a series of Communist demonstrations, the almost forgotten Mussolini decided to attempt to revive his Fasci movement. A meeting was held in a hall in a Milan and was attended by some fifty malcontents. From this seemingly small and insignificant event the Fascio di Combattimento' (Combat Group) was born. Initially, it would seem that the Fasci were destined for failure with none of their candidates (including Mussolini) winning a single seat in the 1919 elections. How was it that a party with no clear programme, save a belief in action of some sort, became a ruling dictatorship little more than ten years later? By the end of 1919, Mussolini possessed hardly more than 2% of the vote in Milan, less than 5000 votes against 170,000 for the Socialists. Was this a complete disaster? At the time it seemed so; the Socialists were so confident of their success that they staged a mock funeral in Milan stopping outside Mussolini's house to invite him to attend the burial of his party. Incredibly, by 1921 the membership of this previously tiny group was to rival the size of the Socialists. How was this achieved? It was certainly by no easy means; Mussolini's skill and luck played a vital role, but he was also helped by the seemingly blind incompetence of his opponents. Mussolini's path towards the top of Italian Government was hindered by many forms of opposition. However, most of his opposition came from the Government and the rival Socialist (PSI) party. Soon after the summer of 1920 the Fascists and their opposition inevitably clashed. The fact that Gioletti's government was faced with  « million workers sitting in in factories showed that Italy was a far from stable country in 1920. Did an opportunity present itself for Mussolini to gain ground over the Socialist opposition? If it did, Mussolini certainly did not take it. He was still recovering from his party's humiliating election defeat. Eventually the union leaders, evidently surprised by this sudden, spontaneous revolutionary outburst persuaded the workers to give in in return for higher wages. Although initially it would seem that the workers had won, the strikes had sown the seeds of fear amongst Italy's Socialist opposition. The overall effect of this was that many of the opponents of Socialism joined Mussolini's Fascist' party. The Socialist party by... ...ht home the importance of opportunism and action as opposed to inactivity and fixed ideologies. As S. Lee argues, Mussolini was strongly inclined to intuitive behaviour and projected himself as a flexible pragmatist. This allowed him to make full use of the chaotic conditions in Italy, and considerably increased the Fascist party's fortunes. However, we must also consider that to a certain extent, the opposition's continued failures and misjudgments almost pushed Mussolini into power. We must also take account of the fact that Mussolini certainly had his fair share of luck - a prime example is the King's refusal to declare a state of emergency, which would have allowed the army to attack the Fascists. However, it was his ability to act out the role of the Italian people's dream leader that gave him the most success. He played upon the post-war crisis, and made it appear that Fascism was the only way in which socialism would be smashed, and Italy's society and status would be rebuilt. To the Italian people, Mussolini was the great leader they had been desperately searching for - the leader who was going to make Italy a great power, and a respected force in the world.

Hard Tmes Essay -- Papers

Hard Tmes Snakes....specialists of deception. They enter our lives unnoticed and set out to accomplish evil plans. Snakes are twisters. Like a rattle snake, it attracts your attention with its tail then at the last moment strikes a venomous blow only to see you fall from the point you have risen. Snakes challenge your choice with sneaky tricks and can even lure you to disobey God. If that isn't enough I have to also cope with the stress of school, the racism in the community and the obsession that a young man gets for the opposite sex. My problems may seem little, but even the smallest thing can be a factor of what has caused a scared and frightened teenager to hate the world. I've always seen myself as me. Steve Marshall. An averaged height, not really popular, sixteen year old Afro-Caribbean who's often discriminated against by narrow minded child like people because of his race, a boy who likes to take good pride in himself because there is no-one else to do it for him. I mean my father has never been there for me, nothing but broken promises and lies which hurts me so much, but not even the pain that I bare could ever deny me loving him. The only thing that may seem unusual about me is the fact that I am often sick and I have to take three pills a day to keep me healthy. Ms Ramstad a.k.a Peaches or mum, well step-mum; after all she is married to my dad. She tries her hardest to look after me but I think she believes that she doesn't have the same authority over me like my real mother would. My dad abandoned us when I was young and ever since Peaches has struggled and tried her best to cope on minimum wages with the responsib... ...car me with those huge needles. No way, that would have never happened, but I do give it to Steve the disease he was successful in his mission. He was the toughest snake my life has ever handled, and the biggest factor to my demise. Yes that's right my demise. He has knocked me off my Pedestal and climbed right up. That can only mean that he has successfully taken my place. He should be me. Well everything I ever wanted to be. Now I have realized that the world is full of lying cheating and backstabbing people, so who can blame a broken teenager for hating the world. Even though he isn't here now Steve the disease belongs in this world not me. So this is the last chapter in the diary of my life. The life of Steve Marshall before I commit the tragic event called suicide. I really can't go on through all these HARDTIMES.

Marketing In Primark Essay

1. Introduction Primark, after launching in Ireland in 1969, has owned over 270 stores in some Europe countries. For international expansion strategy, Primark has planned to open big store in US in 2015. This paper will focus on situation analysis and competitive analysis to understand external and internal environment and understand their resources and power. Basing on these understandings, there is the suggestion for Primark in aspect of marketing strategies to build and develop Primark in US market which is the excellent fashion destination in the globe 2. Situation analysis 2.1. Internal analysis 2.1.1. Vision Primark’s vision is to offer customers products which are combined by three factors such as the high level of quality, updated fashion and value for value prices 2.1.2. Mission Primark mission statement is â€Å"To supply quality clothing at prices perceived  to offer real value†. This brand is the representative of Associates British Foods (ABF) and was launched in Ireland in 1969 under the first name of Penny’s. With its mission of operation, Primark is considered the typical feature of trendy fashion store in Europe because it has offered the trendy clothing with the low price. As stated by Conti (2014), targeted customers of Primark are bargain hunters who want to buy good products with reasonable price. Basing on mission statement, Primark defines its detailed mission with some characteristics such as the efficiency of product outsourcing, simple design of products, the use of local materials, the focus on popular size, un-heavy advertising spending. 2.1.3. Objectives (S.M.A.R.T ) To pursue and achieve above mission and vision, Primark defined its objectives. The first objective is to achieve like-for-like growth through the focus on purchasing increase, merchandise and the creation of exciting places as retail stores. Secondly, to target the increasing number of customers, Primark’s objective is to increase the selling space both domestically and internationally. Thirdly, in double with the update of latest fashion, Primark focuses on offering customers the wide range of products from men and women fashion to accessories and kids (Annual report, 2013) 2.1.4. Strategies (S.T.P ) Customers are defined as the people who bring the revenue for the corporate and brand position is identified basing on the targeted customers. Hence, strategies to attract customers and build brand position are focused by companies. With the increasing number of corporate recently, companies have leveraged GE/McKinsey model as the tool of competitive analysis, even in consulting companies (McKinsey & Company, 2008; Chakravarthy & Henderson, 2007). This model is used to identify brand position in comparison with others. In the situation of Primark, Primark brand position is identified in the following GE model which is considered the support for decision making basing on product portfolio and competitive analysis. In the fashion industry, internationalization and diversification strategies are identified with the understanding of the number of products and brands in the portfolio. In details, Primark has high level of industry attractiveness and strong business unit (Figure 1, p. 2) Figure 1: GE model in Primark Business Unit Strength High Medium Low Industry Attractiveness High PRIMARK Medium Low According to GE model (Porter, 1982; Abell & Hammond, 1986), industry attractiveness is analyzed through some features such as market growth rate, market size, demand, the industrial profitability, competitors and international opportunities. (Table 1, p. 2) Table 1: Industry Attractiveness of Primark (this should be micro environment) Features Level Explanation Market growth rate High As stated by Keller et al (2014), there will be the growth of global fashion industry at two-digit percent, especially from emerging countries in the period of 2014 and 2020 Market size High The market size has grown basing on some trends such as The evolution of buying power on Asian customers who have moved to middle class. Moreover, they also define clothing as the way to impress and show their lifestyle There is the increasing demand of travelling and shopping Market size: 192,334 million of Euro in 2013 with the market size growth of 2.75% in comparison with 2011 (Fashionbi, 2013) Customer demand High There is the change of customer lifestyle and the increase of demand and need of difference (Barnes and Greenwood, 2006). As the evidence, some fast fashion brands such as Zara, H&M and Uniqlo, etc have developed with the fast growth rate (Christopher et al, 2004) Industrial profitability High, but decreased because of strong competition which forces companies to reduce their prices as the tool of creating competitive advantages Fast fashion companies have applied supply chain to increase the efficiency and reduce operational cost. Hence, they have achieved high rate of profitability (Sherry et al, 2012; Bhardwaj and Fairheart, 2010) There is the influence of strong competition into the margin of fast fashion because companies have identified the cost reduction as the way to create competitive advantage (Lambert, 2014) Competitors High There is the high number of competitors in fast fashion industry, especially when this industry has the much increasing demand International opportunities High There are some reasons for the development of international presence of brands. The influence of globalization which is considered the way of maintain market share and growth when companies have achieved the peak growth in existing markets The development of IT is considered the motive for companies to develop internationally To leverage business chances from non-defined markets (citation ) Business Unit Growth According to GE model (Porter, 1982; Abell & Hammond, 1986), Business Unit Growth has been shown through market share and its growth, distribution channel, production capacity and profit margins in comparison with others. The high level of Business Unit Growth in Primark has been shown in the following table Table 2: Business Unit Growth of Primark 2.2. External analysis of US retail market 2.2.1. Macro analysis – PESTLE Political factors and Legal factors US are defined as the most powerful ad successful country in the world. As stated by Country Analysis Report (2010), US have established its certain political policies which become the guideline of foreign retailers to expand and operate. However, there are some differences between US politics and other developed countries. In details, greater power will lie on the upper house of legislature and have wider scope of power. Economic factors (what is the economic factors ) Social factors In aspect of US demographics, white American accounts for 72.4% while African  American is with 12.6% and Asia with 4.8%. Mentioning to the US religion, 78.2% of population are with Christian while other religions and no religion account for 3.7% and 16.2% respectively. As surveyed by PwC (2014), US demographics will be diversified with the increase of Asian immigrant children who were born in 1990 and 2000’s (Figure 2, p. 5). Hence, there will be the shift from the heritage to the elements of shopping experience in US. As the results, retailers will focus on young people and families and multi-marketing will be leveraged by 2020 (PwC, 2014) US customers have more demand and are powerful in their shopping (PwC, 2014) Figure 2: Percent of Population by Race Source: PwC (2014) Technological factors Technological development is considered the main trend in current and future global economy. As mentioned in Figure (3, p. 6), US ranks at 3rd position among regions from the growth of the number of Internet users. Under this trend, marketing activities have leveraged the benefits of the Internet and social media to attract more customers. Moreover, online shopping is considered the certain trend of global shopping. Figure 3: The Internet user in the world from 2000 – 2011 Source: Nicolate et al (2012, p. 253) Legal factors When companies have expanded to international countries like US, they need to pay their attention on regulation and respect the legislation of such countries. Hence, in the situation of Primark, when expanding to US, it also focuses on understanding all laws and regulations relating to retail industry. There are some laws which have influenced to US retail industry. Firstly, in aspect of advertising law, companies need to deliver true information of products and services which have been offered to customers. Or else, they will receive high financial penalties. Secondly, regarding to customer protection law, retailers are required to avoid misleading marketing programs which are implemented to boost sales. Thirdly, there are some regulations applied when retailers offer customers misleading discount while such discounts do not exist. Environmental factors Customers have changed their behavior which cares more about environment and health as well as want to contribute their responsibility to protect their environment. Hence, companies are required to concern more about environment into their products and services. 2.2.2. Micro analysis – 3Cs (how many segments on the industry ?) Customers According to Conti (2014), targeted customers of Primark are young people who are defined as the bargain hunters and want to buy the high quality products with the lower price. Moreover, with the aim of satisfying all range of age of customers, Primark has developed its wide range of products including men, women and children in home fashion, accessories and beauty products. Moreover, with the vision of offering updated style with diversified design in short term while making sure the high quality, Primark has defined its strategy to become famous fast fashion brands such as Zara, H&M, Uniqlo, etc. In US, Primark can satisfy all ages of customers, but focus on young people from 20 to 40 years old. Moreover, with these target customers, Primark can leverage all benefits from the trend of technology development as well as e-commerce, Competition In the global context, Primark has faced with many fast fashion competitors, especially Zara, H&M, GAP and Uniqlo (Figure 4, p. 7). In aspect of US market which is considered the destination of fashion brands in the world, Zara, H&M and Uniqlo are defined as the main competitors of Primark because of their strong development and competition in US market. Figure 4: Top 10 Global Fast Fashion Companies (2006–2010) Source: Joon-Hwan et al (2011) In aspect of Zara, its growth in US market is shown through the increasing number of stores and revenue in 2014 in comparison with 2013. As mentioned in Annual report (2013), Zara has the total number of stores as 548 in US in 2013, compared with 482 stores in 2012 (Figure 5, p. 8). Among these stores, Zara has also developed both kinds of stores such as under company management and franchise. Regarding to revenue, there was the increase to $2.3 billion in 2013 from $2.1 billion in 2012 (Figure 6, p. 9) Figure 5: The number of stores of Zara Source: Annual report (2013, p. 181) Figure 6: The revenue of Zara Source: Annual report (2013, p. 184) Regarding to H&M, after its launching in US in 2000, it has owned 305 stores with the increasing number of 36 stores in 2013 (Annual report, 2013). Even though launched after Zara, H&M has built its brand image in US customers minds and has just launched its online website which is considered the new way to access more customers with the aim of increasing revenue and market share in 2013 (Dishman, 2013) Mentioning about Uniqlo, even though its late launching in US market in 2006 with the first flagship store in Soho, New York city (Fast Retailing, 2014), it has developed fast with the increasing number of big stores in prime location, for example, opening in Fifth Avenue in 2011. At the end of December, 2013, Uniqlo has owned 17 stores in US and aims to open up to 100 stores in this country and become the Top Casual wear brand in US (Annual report, 2013) Moreover, under strong competition, Uniqlo has leveraged US market through launching online website in 2012 which is earlier than that of H&M Corporate Associates British Foods (ABF) is considered strong and leading position in many business sectors such as Sugar, Agriculture, Retail, Grocery and Ingredients (ABF Website, 2014). The representative of ABF in retail industry is Primark, which is the fast fashion brand launched in Ireland in 1969 under the first name of Penny’s (Primark introduction, 2014). Until now, Primark is considered the typical feature of trendy fashion store in Europe because Primark has sold trendy clothing with the low price. In aspect of distribution system, Primark has over 270 stores in 8 European countries and plans to open the first retail store in US at the end of 2015 (Julia, 2014). As shared by ABF, which is the parent company of Primark, the plan to expand into US is to build the big store with the area of 70,000 meters in Boston and will expand the large number of stores until 2016. 2.3. S.O.W.T analysis S – Strengths Primark is the famous brand of Associates British Food with the large distribution channel in Europe as 270 stores. Hence, Primark has much long experience in opening and operating stores in foreign countries Primark is one of Top 10 European fashion brands which are available in the list of 100 Global Fashion Brands in the world Products: High quality with reasonable price and modern design are attractive to customers, especially young people under 35 years old Be successful with cost leadership strategy to achieve high market share W – Weaknesses Advertising: Just focusing Word Of Mouth marketing as the tool to reduce operational cost (Primark annual report, 2011) Distribution channels: Even though having the large number of stores, Primark has not leveraged the benefits of online shopping O – Opportunities US is considered the fashion destination in the world with high demand of local customers and foreign tourists Opportunities to use other kinds of marketing to improve sales and develop its brand image S-O Strategies Offering US customers products with high quality and reasonable price while updating modern design. Leveraging diversified tools of marketing to access customers W-O Strategies Diversifying kinds of marketing Opening the chain of stores in prime location as the way to build brand image in customer’s minds T – Threats US fashion industry has high level of competition, especially with the availability of famous fast fashion brands such as H&M, Zara and Uniqlo which also have long term development strategies in US Difficulties on understanding customers demand and needs because their behavior have been changing under many effects S-T Strategies Competing rivals with cost leadership strategy Basing on experience in operating in different culture, Primark should try to understand US customers and their changing behavior W-O Strategies Leveraging benefits from different kinds of marketing Access different customers, both local and foreign tourists through distribution channels and marketing campaign 2.4. Strategic Implications and Conclusion (more critical; what implication means?) Situation analysis becomes the important part of strategic planning for companies when they have planned to develop to new markets, especially markets over borders. This analysis includes both external and internal analysis so that companies can understand their resources and power as well as market characteristics. In this section, PESTLE and 3Cs model are used for analyzing external environment from perspectives of both macro and micro analysis. Moreover, GE model is also used to understand industry attractiveness and Business Unit. After these kinds of analysis, the report also mentions Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats through SWOT analysis. There are some strategic findings from this analysis such as products with high quality and reasonable prices, the leverage of marketing tools and accessing customers through the large distribution channels. Part B – Competitive Environment through Porter’s Five Forces As stated by Liang et al (2007), the importance of competitive force has been shown through its influences into organizational contest in the specific market and industry. Moreover, these competitive forces can come from both internal and external environment. Basing on the understandings of competitive forces, companies have defined their strategies and organizational activities (Low and Cheng, 2006). Porter’s Five Forces which is proposed by Porter (1985) become the important tools to find out five competitive forces for each company. The purpose of using this analysis is to integrate the understandings on industry environment and inside power of companies. Hence, with the aim of understanding customers and competitors in US fashion industry and competitive advantages of Primark, this section focuses on using this model – Porter’s Five Forces including the threats of new entrants, the b argaining power of suppliers, the bargaining power of buyers, the threats of substitute products and rivals among existing firms. Firstly, Primark has not faced with high level from the threats of new entrants. The fashion industry has achieve high growth rate, as stated by Keller et al (2014) that the growth rate will be two –digit number. Moreover, there are some trends such as the increasing demand of travelling and shopping as well as the  evolution of buying power of Asia or developing countries. These features become the attractiveness to many companies who want to put their feet into fashion industry. However, being the big fashion brand in European and in the list of global fashion brands in 2014, it is not easy for new players to compete. Secondly, the bargaining power of suppliers is moderate. The reason is that with high position in fashion industry, there are many suppliers who want to cooperate with Primark. Moreover, with the operation in many countries, Primark has many opportunities to access suitable suppliers. Thirdly, the bargaining power of consumers is high. Because US fashion retail industry is very competitive with the launch of many fashion brands, especially fast fashion brands such as Zara, H&M, etc, they have offered the diversified products and services to US consumers. It means that customers have more and more choices of fast fashion brands. Hence, it is not easy for Primark to attract them because their power is very high. Fourthly, basing on high competition, there are many threats of substitute products from competition brands. And lastly, mentioning about rivals in US fashion industry, Primark has met many difficulties to compete them, especially with brands which have the large distribution channels and online shopping website such as Zara, Uniqlo and H&M. In conclusion, through Porter’s Five Forces, even though Primark has strengths on high bargaining power of suppliers and have a few threats of new entrants, it have some difficulties caused by the strong competition and customers’ power. Part C – Marketing Strategies of Primark in US market Basing on strategic findings in Part 4, this section will use 4Ps model as marketing strategies of Primark in US market. 1. Product strategies According to Czinkota and Ronkainen (2005), as the necessary step of internalization, companies have considered between standardization and adaption in their product strategies. Companies have four choices for this strategy. It is called as standardization which has no change in comparison with domestic products. Secondly, they can make some changes or adjustments for existing products which have been sold in domestic market in order to match with foreign customers, for example, size or colors. Thirdly, they can create new products for foreign customers completely. It means that they have developed to satisfy new customers through the adaption as new product  development. The last choice is to develop new products which can satisfy many countries and for this strategy, companies can sell such products globally. In the situation of Primark in US, because of the change of US customers’ behavior, in combination with the aim of achieving lower price through high volume of production, Primark should combine both standardization and adaption strategy. It means that Primark can adjust some existing products with suitable colors and sizes. Moreover, with the aim of understanding US customer behaviors, Primark also focuses on R&D to create new design which is satisfying customers at the high level. 2. Price strategies To achieve the success of low price strategy, Primark has applied two strategies which are the same in the US. The first strategy is to find the best materials but low prices through leveraging the bargaining power of suppliers and to create new suppliers through seeking in new markets. Secondly, with the application of innovation in production and design, Primark can offer customers updated design. 3. Promotion strategies (too general) Being different from other fast fashion brand such as TX Maxx which usually advertises its brand through many norms of advertising under the big campaign named â€Å"Big Labels, Small Prices†, Primark has neither advertise nor pay much money for celebrity endorses. Even Primark holds no end of seasonal campaign or big promotion for being out of stock. Promotion strategies are called marketing communication strategies which attract customers with their attention on new products and brands. According to Wood (2008), marketing communication comprises five main tools such as advertising, promotion, PR, direct marketing and Point of Sales. The reason for integrating all tools into promotion strategies is that each tool had both advantages and disadvantages so the combination of these tools is to minimize all problems and disadvantages. As stated by Shimp (1997), Stewart (1996), Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) is understood as the usage of all communications to deliver messages to target customers through different channels, for examples, TV advertising, PR, internet, media. For each strategy in IMC, the objectives and tactics will be mentioned and analyzed. 3.1. Advertising through paid media (too general) 3.1.1. Objectives To build brand image (what image) in US customers in the first period of launching (how long) To reach 50,000 customers during one year after launching and such customers have visited Primark stores or made the online purchasing with the time of 4 each week. 3.1.2. Tactics Creating the advertisements in TV Cabs American Fashion TV Channel Fashion One Live Fashion Fashion TV Latin America 3.2. Using social media such as Facebook and Youtube Top 3 social media brands among many in the globe are Facebook, Youtube and Twitter which are ranked basing on the sales. Among these three social media, Facebook ranked at the first position, followed by Youtube and Twitter respectively (Social Media brand, 2013) Using Facebook as the tool to attract US customers Combining with some small games in Facebook, such as Lucky Drawing to receive small gifts Post one or two updates for one day. Posts should focus on image and video relating to fashion shows or new collections To use Youtube to drive traffic to the website of Primark To kick of the launching advertisement with the content mentioned in TV commercials 3.3. Public Relation 3.3.1. Objectives To implement PR Activities in 10 articles or magazines with the content focusing on the launching of Primark and the opening Achieving the satisfaction from 70% customers at least 3.3.2. Tactics To implement PR Activities in 10 articles or magazines 3.4. Direct Marketing The purpose of this tool of marketing is to make the sales increase immediately (Stone and Jacobs, 2008) 3.4.1. Objectives To reach customers with leads at the number of 24 within 6 months To make the catalogs and post them to Facebook and website with the purpose of increasing revenue at 2% per moths 3.4.2. Tactics To create direct mail to customers: Making exciting direct mail with the picture of products and send to customers who have been surveyed as those loving shopping and casual style. To create catalogues to increase the revenue with the use of distribution channels for such catalogs such as Website, Facebook, Direct Mail, etc 3.5. Place strategies In aspect of distribution, Primark should leverage both offline and online channels for distributions. In the first stage, with the aim of building customers’ mind on products, Primark has opened some stores in shopping mall and department stores. And then, it has developed as street shops. Moreover, to access customers who want to buy Primark, but have some barriers to access offline stores, Primark has developed its website for online shopping Primark as street shop Primark stores in shopping malls or department stores Primark online shopping website 4. Conclusion Free publicity is considered the important tool of marketing in Primark before launching in US. However, with some threats and weaknesses from strong competition as well as late launching in US, this report suggests Marketing strategies for Primark including Product, Price, Promotion and Place. In aspect of products and price, high quality, reasonable price and  excellent design have been achieved. Regarding to Promotion, Primark should combine some marketing tools such as TV, Social media, PR and Direct Marketing to create the efficiency. Moreover, with the plan of launching in both department stores and street as well as online shopping, Primark will access customers who are people Primark have looked for. References Abell, D.F., & Hammond, J.S. (1979). Strategic Market Planning. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Barnes, L. and Lea-Greenwood, G. 2006. Fast fashioning the supply chain: shaping the research agenda. 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