Relieving pain and inflammation Essay

1.1 The holistic approach is important as it focuses on relieving pain and inflammation without harming the body. It also promotes the bodies healing response so that the area of injury is healed as quickly and completely as possible. 1.2 One approach to alleviate and minimise pain and discomfort is to show the individual that you are concerned about them and their well being. Let the individual know you are here to help themand want what is best for them. Another approach would be to let the individual know that other people have had the same problem and its nothing to be ashamed or frightened of, some older people may feel they are being a burden and not want to bother anyone, it is important for them to know this isnt the case. Be sincere, smile hold the individuals hand if they are scared. 1.3 Below is an outline of the agreed ways of working to alleviate pain and minimise discomfort. Pain awareness, you should be alert to the possibility of pain and discomfort in older people and that older people are often reluctant to report the pain as they dont want to be a burden to anyone or may be afraid to tell anyone. Pain enquiry, it is impotant to enquire about pain it is helpful if you use alternative words like where are you sore? Have you got an ache anywhere? Are you hurting? Pain description, where pain is present it is important for a clinical assessment to take place. The sensory dimension, the nature (eg sharp, dull, burning), location and intensity of the pain. The affective dimension, the emotional part (eg fear,depression,anxiety) and response to pain. The impact, how is this effecting the individual participation in everyday activities. Pain location, an attempt should be made to locate the pain ask the individual to point out where the pain is. Pain intensity, pain assessment should be made using a numeric scale from 1 to 10 where 10 is the worst pain and 1 being the lowest level of pain, if the individual is able to use this.  Communication, every effort should be made to communicate with individuals with sensory impairments eg glasses, hearing aids etc. Assessment in individuals with impaired cognitive communications (eg dementia suffers) it might be needed for a regular carer and family members to help assess the pain as they will know what is a normal behavior of the individual and one which could suggest the individual is in pain. Cause of pain, a careful physical examination should take place to identify any treatable causes, however it is important to ba aware that pain can exist even if the examination is normal. Re-evaluate, it is important that the treatment is evaluated to make sure it has worked. Read more:  Understand Approaches to Managing Pain and Discomfort 2.1 Severe pain could have the ability to totally transform a person. It could affect the way a person eats and drinks, even putting them off their food completely. pain can cause frustration or unreasonable behaviour in someone who is normally calm and controlled. The individual could becone restless or suffer from sleepless nights all this could be signs of pain and could be used to help diagnois individuals who cant communicate they are in pain. Pain can cause many problems to an individuals well being and communication, pain and discomfort can make day to day life difficult causing limitations to a persons daily activities, this leads to a lower quality of life. Chronic pain causes a host of related problems a main problem can be depression the individual feels helpless and doesnt see a way out. It is important that pain is properly managed so the individual can get their quality of life back and help an individual get back their independance. It is important for none verbal people t o have a way of communication so that they can express their pain, providing the apprropriate pain management assures the dignity and well being of a patient. 2.2 You could encourage an individual to express pain and discomfort in a number of ways the best ways are to make sure the individual feels safe and at ease with you, smile sincerely, ask the individual an open ended question, be supportive make sure the individual knows they are not alone, let them take their time to open up to you. 2.3 There are a number of self-help methods of pain control it is important to make the individual aware of so they can use them. Some are more successful then others. The individual could be encouraged to do some gentle exercise or have some physiotherapy where possible. There is a distraction approach where individuals are incouraged to do something they enjoy such as reading, drawing, watching television or maybe listening to music to take there mind off their pain. Sometimes a lie down or rest can help relieve pain maybe the individual could be incourage to take a rest when the pain is really bad. It can sometimes help if the individual has a bath or shower the warmness of the water can ease pain in some cases. 2.4 Assist an individual to be positioned safely and comfortably, this may be different for different individuals it is important to consult the individuals care plan. Once an individual is moved according to their care plan and in compliance with safe moving and handling guidelines you may need to make them more comfortable using aids. The individual may need more cushions to make them more comfortable, they may need their feet elevating, the person may need to be seating in a recliner for comfort. 2.5 Measurements to minimise the individuals pain and discomfortmay include repostioning, adjustments to bedding, heating, lightening or noise, the use of specialist mattresses and pressure reducing aids, Also analgesias Pain killers) maybe requested for the individual all measures in the care plan must be followed. The ways pain and discomfort may be managed include massage, yoga, meditation and medication. 3.1 Carry out all monitoring according to the individuals care plan. The individual maybe on 15 min, 30 min, or hourly checks these need to be carried out. If the individual can communicate it is important for you to ask them about any pain, has the individuals mood or behaviour changed are the signs of pain and discomfort there. 3.2 Records should be completed in a required way as explained in the individuals care plan. All pain killers administered should be documented on the MARS sheet. 3.3 All findings and concerns should be reported correctly to the person in charge and documented in the care plan.

Managing in a Global Economy Essay

Hollister Co. is an American lifestyle brand by Abercrombie & Fitch Co. The company was launched by July, 2000. It is headquarter at New Albany, Ohio. Till 2012, Hollister already has 571 stores in the world [Appendix 1]. Like its parent company, Hollister sells casual apparel which include knit layers, tanks , graphic tees, polo shirt, plaid, classic, sweaters, hoodies, outwear, jeans, pants & shorts, skirts, dresses, sweatpants, and yoga; and the accessories which include totes, belts, socks, and fragrance. The concept was originally designed to attract consumers aged 14–18, at a lower price than the parent brand through its California-style inspired image and casual wear. Goods are available in-store and through the company’s online store. It was ranked as the second most preferred clothing brand of US teens on a long list of actual West Coast companies in 2008 by Piper Jaffray. (Hollister official website, 2012) According to Abercrombie & Fitch’s latest 10-k form, Hollister’s net sales in 2011 and 2010 are $2,022,002,000 and $1,552,814,000, separately. There is 30% increase of net sales from 2010 to 2011. Based on the data, we can figure out that Hollister’s net sales are almost two times to its parent company. Foreign Markets Expanding Motivation The motivations for Hollister to expand in foreign markets will be defined as two categories. First of all, Abercrombie & Fitch wants to get rid of its lower sales in U.S market and earn profit from outside expansion. Abercrombie began to launch its expansion plan outside the USA since 2007, driven at least in part by a weakening of its domestic market. For the quarter ended July 28, Abercrombie reported a profit was dropped by nearly 52%. According to media reports, more than 135 of its American stores have been closed since 2010 and there will be 180 closures in the following year. However, based on Abercrombie & Fitch’s 10-k form, the net sales of international stores are increased steadily. The company therefore has high hopes for the European and Asian markets, where its expansion is being pushed forward. (WSJ, 2012) Hollister, as one of its subsidiaries, plays a crucial role in the expansion plan because it has good performance with higher net sales and large numbers of shop. Another reason for Abercrombie & Fitch is Asia apparel market is keep growing. Asia’s fashion and apparel market will continue to grow at a healthy clip through 2011-2015. The reason why we focus on Asia area is because as forecast last year, clothing demand in Asia is higher than the demand in Western Europe and North America in 2011 [Appendix 2]. â€Å"Many economists predict that demand will be driven by rising personal disposable income levels and an increased focus on fashion apparel, especially in the main cities.† Said by Carrie Yu. As we known, many foreign apparel brands are already present in Asia, and they will spread steadily. Here we have a figure to show the market demand growth in different Asia countries [Appendix 3]. After analysis the data and GDP per person at purchasing-power parity [Appendix 4], we choose three countries-Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong-that are good for Hollister to expand in. Three Study Countries: Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong Japan Our first choice is Japan. Here we have two reasons to support our idea. First of all, it goes without saying that Japan is one of the most potential countries in Asia. For years, Japan has been Asia’s richest and most powerful economy. It was the first Asian economy to industrialize, and the emerging Asian tigers—Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea. There are three advantages for Japan to become a good expansion country. Firstly, the economy of Japan is the third largest national economy in the world after the United States and the People’s Republic of China and is the world’s second largest developed economy (Oced library, 2010). According to the International Monetary Fund, the country’s per capita GDP was at $34,739 or the 25th highest in 2011. Besides, according to Wipo resources, Japan is the world’s 3rd largest automobile manufacturing country, has the largest electronics goods industry, and is often ranked among the world’s most innovative countries leading several measures of global patent filings. Summing up all these data, we can figure out that Japan is a growing market. Strength The strength for Japan is it got the high purchasing power. According to Appendix 5, the GNI of Japan is 45180 US dollar in 2011, while GNI of US is 48450. However, it doesn’t mean that the purchasing power of Japanese is lower than America citizen. The consumer spending is enormously high in Japan. Spending is an important role of consumers. Consumer spending plays a significantly economic factor since it usually coincides with the overall consumer confidence in a nation’s economy. High consumer confidence indicators usually relate to higher levels of consumer spending in the economic market. Consumer confidence provides governments and businesses with an analysis on consumer perception. (EconomicsHelp, 2011) From CIA factbook, we can figure out that Japanese is the third country which got higher purchasing power parity toward to Asia area, besides China and India. Moreover, The Japanese are very loyal to foreign prestigious fashion brands such as Louis Vuitton and Gucci. The sales of these companies have been growing steadily with support from young consumers. As a subsidiary of Abercrombie &Fitch, Hollister must play a leading role in fashion trends if we focus on marketing promotion. Weakness The main weakness for Japan divided by two parts. Obviously, the first weakness is the unpredicted geography phenomenon. Everybody knows that Japanese business have got a tough time by tsunami and earthquake in recently years. These two disasters are having large negative economic effects on Japan since it is a major role in global supply chain and as a producer of final products. Based on this fact, we think Japan is not a good place to set up facility in order to produce clothes. Second of all, According to Reuters (2011), Japan’s new government faces a dilemma over how to keep its campaign promises while reining in huge debt, a fragile economy that could slip back into recession, and strains in ties with close security ally the United States. Thusly, we think Japan will not be an appropriate country because it got unstable political risk. Opportunity No doubly that Japan is the core of fashion in Asia area. It is famous by its creativity and design toward to the whole world. As a result, as an apparel company, Japanese market has potential opportunity to be entered. According to Japanese fashion market report (2011), here we have two advantages to prove that Japan is a country full of fashion. 1. Japan is a critical fashionable country because it holds many fashion events annually. Thusly, Japanese consumers are sensitive to trend cycles in the international fashion market because there are so many brands enter into Japan market every year. 2. They are significantly influenced by Fashion Magazines. Although technology is developed these years, magazine is still playing an important role in Japanese teenagers’ life, like Mina, Rays, Vivi and etc. So if Hollister invest in Japan, focusing on magazine will be a good choice for this company when they doing marketing promotion. Threat Everything has two sides. Since Japanese fashion market is full of opportunity, it is also highly competitive. According to Imported Luxury Brands Market in Japan: Key Research Findings 2011, imported luxury brands market in 2010 is estimated at 831.4 billion yen, 92.9 % of the size in previous year. This data means that there are many companies already in the market. The number of competitors in Japan is huge. According to Appendix 6, 24% market is owned by US brands. After doing research, we known that Hollister’s main competitors, Gap and American eagle outfitters, have already entered Japanese market. What’s more, even though they are owned by the same company, Abercrombie & Fitch, probably another biggest competitor, entered Japanese market since 2009. [Appendix 7] In a conclusion, although Japan got higher purchasing power and fashion opportunity, it is still not an appropriate country to be entered because of the political risk and high competition. Singapore Singapore is located in southeastern Asia at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula; the city-state of Singapore consists of a main island and some 60 islets. The country has a population of 4,740,737 in which the capital and major cities occupy 3,654,103 people according to the data last year. Although the country seems not as large as many other countries, Singapore’s gross domestic product was $326.8 billion and its per capita GDP of 61,103.36 US dollars in 2011 estimates is comparable to that of leading Western European nations, and its high standard of living and strong trading links have secured its position as one of ASEAN’s leaders (Global Road Warrior, 2012). Strengths 1) Outstanding tax system.When Japan cuts its corporate tax rate this Sunday, the U.S. will have world’s highest tax rate on business income. The following chart has shown the data. (Figure Source: Isidore (2012), CNNMoney) However, Singapore’s corporate income tax rate is low which in a flat of 17% since 2010. It is often cited as the leading example of countries to reduce corporate income tax rates and introduce various tax incentives to attract and keep global investments. Since January 1, 2003, Singapore has adopted a single-tier corporate income tax system, which means there is no double-taxation for stakeholders. Tax paid by a company on its chargeable income is the final tax and all dividends paid by a company to its shareholders are exempt from further taxation (Janus, 2012). Two of Singapore’s unique advantages are its low effective personal and corporate tax rates. Personal income tax has a tier system that starts from just 0% and goes up to 20% for income above $320,000. Similarly, effective corporate tax rate for Singapore private limited companies for profits up to $300, 000 is 8.5% and capped at a flat rate of 17% for profits above $300, 000 (Janus, 2012). What’s more, there are no dividend or capital gains taxes in Singapore. 2) High purchasing power.The GDP per Capita, in Singapore, when adjusted by Purchasing Power Parity is equivalent to 278 percent of the world’s average. Consumer Spending in Singapore increased to 27,485.40 in May of 2012 from 27,467.20 in February of 2012. Historically, from 1975 until 2012, Singapore Consumer Spending averaged 12,752.67 reaching an all time high of 27,485.40 in May of 2012 and a record low of 3,553.90 in February of 1975 (Trading Economics, 2012). 3) Exchange rate & Labor cost.The USDSGD spot exchange rate depreciated 0.0194 or 1.56 percent during the last 30 days. According to Janus (2012), The Singapore dollar has been consistently appreciating against major currencies. It also got about $260 billion based on average exchange rates or $252 billion based on year-end currency rates last year. Historically, from 1980 until 2012, Singapore Labor Costs averaged 96.00 reaching an all time high of 129.93 in February of 2009 and a record low of 57.37 in May of 1980. These data are all lower than Hong Kong and Japan’s (Trading Economics, 2012). 4) Political stability.Singapore is rated No.1 as the most politically stable country in Asia (Janus, 2012). 5) English is main language.Singapore has a 10-year compulsory education program commencing at the age of 7 years. English is the first language and the medium of instruction in schools (Global Road Warrior, 2012). This means almost 100 percent of People in Singapore speak and understand English well, which would bring much easier communication for Hollister to enter into the country, especially to the communication within the management level of Singaporean while doing business. 6) Quick and easy registration. It only takes about 1-2 days to incorporate a company in Singapore, with the government providing assistance along the way (Janus, 2012). As the easiest place to do business in the world, Singapore company registration is a quick and easy process, which involves just two procedures that can be completed online within 24 hours for a retail outlet. A Singapore subsidiary can be wholly owned by a foreign company and is considered a separate legal entity from the parent company. Also, a Singapore subsidiary is generally treated as a local resident company and therefore is entitled to tax benefits available to local companies (Janus, 2012). Weakness 1) If you want to set up a limited liability company (LLC), there are two conditions that are required: it must have two agents acting on its behalf in the country; and one of them must be a Singapore resident, a native Singaporean, or someone who has a Singapore employment pass. 2) Singapore is among the most expensive in the world, as the cost of living here is very high. 3) Hollister has to hire Singapore resident and qualified Singapore auditors to do the business accountings to work with government. Opportunities 1) Singapore is one of the world’s famous shopping paradises. Its central business district has a lot of upscale shopping square: from the latest fashion clothes, jewelry, watches, perfume, cosmetics to the sports goods and daily necessities etc. Singapore’s retail sector has done well in 2010 and well into this year on the back of the tourism sector’s robust performance and in spite of a slowing economy in recent months. According to the latest retail sales index released by the Singapore Department of Statistics, Singapore’s retail sales excluding automobiles increased 7.4% year-on-year in August 2011(Janus, 2012). Hollister, as the subsidiary brand under Abercrombie & Fitch, has very large opportunity to get benefits from opening retail stores in the country. 2) Singapore is also ranked the No. 1 in tourism so there is the potential to do business. Threats Fashion is a highly competitive industry worldwide, but Asia stands out for its stylish and practical design. Although Hollister is also a very famous American brand under A&F, it still faces strong competition from Asiatic fashion. Since Singapore emerges as global fashion apparel hub with large amounts of upscale shopping squares, the opportunity to open shops in this fashionable country could also become a big threat. Hong Kong Hong Kong is a Chinese special administrative region situated in eastern Asia, with a 455-mile coastline on the South China Sea and a 19-mile border with China. Hong Kong’s population is 95 percent Chinese, with the majority coming from neighboring Guangdong province or within Hong Kong itself. The population was about 7,122,508 in 2011. Cantonese and English are the two official languages. Hong Kong’s free-market economy was vulnerable to the global economic crisis of 2008, but its increasing integration with China helped it to quickly recover (Global Road Warrior, 2012). The GDP in Hong Kong was worth 243.67 billion US dollars in 2011, which roughly equivalent to 0.39 percent of the world economy (Trading Economics, 2012). Strengths 1) Well located.Hong Kong is located at the heart of Asia, alongside many of the region’s most exciting business market such as Guangzhou, Taipei, Manila, and Bangkok etc. And it is the gateway to Mainland China. 2) Free trade port.Easy government policies for foreign fashion brands. Hong Kong is known for its free port status and easy customs procedures. Duty is paid on very few products. 3) Tax-friendly economies.Hong Kong’s profit tax is capped at 16.5 percent according to the 2011 study, and there are no capital gains and dividends taxes (InvestHK, 2012). Weakness 1) Most of good locations have already occupied by large local fashion chains or early entering foreign fashion brands. 2) After the global financial crisis in 2008, the economies of Hong Kong still need to recover. 3) Hong Kong has the lowest GDP in 2011 compared to Singapore and Japan. Opportunities 1) There are large fashion-hungry population in the Hong Kong market, especially many people from Mainland China love to go shopping in Hong Kong. 2) Some foreign retailers are successful in the Hong Kong retail market. In addition, Abercrombie & Fitch was prepared entering into the country, which would in a sense lay a good foundation to its subsidiary, Hollister. Threats 1) Competition with Many local fashion brands, such as GIORDANO, BALENO, Bossini, Esprit and so on. And what is worsening is that these local brands all offer very cheap prices. 2) Many other foreign fashion competitors: Hong Kong shopping malls are creating space for Swedish brand Monki and U.S brands Gap, Forever 21 and American eagle. Others like H&M, Zara, Mango and Japanese brand Uniqlo have already established outlets in the city (Thondup and Tsang, n.d.). After reviewing the strength, weakness, opportunity, and weakness in the three countries, we chose to expand business into Singapore. We strongly recommend Hollister Co. to invest in Singapore where is a stable and strong economic, and a low risk country in political change. Singapore Marketing Singapore is an island country. The land area is 714.3 Square kilometers. The population in 2011 is 5,260,000. The population density in 2011 is 7,257 per Square kilometers. Shenton Way is the fourth largest financial center, the adjacent Keppel port is one of the world’s busiest ports. According to Singapore’s economic structure, the manufacturing sector accounted for 25%, the construction industry accounted for 5%, wholesale and retail trade accounted for 16%, transportation and telecommunications accounted for 11%, the financial services industry accounted for 12%, business services accounted for 12%, the hotel and catering industry accounts for 3%, the other accounts for 16%. Due to it is a small country, shopping is considered a kind of sport in Singapore. The government draw up a lot of plans on developing their shopping market. For one thing, many shopping malls almost per square mile are located in Singapore. Orchard Road, one of the famous shopping streets, is a 2.2 km long street and it is a retail and entertainment centre in Singapore. Orchard Road also contains a large number of high-end restaurants, coffee chain, nightclubs and hotels. There are many famous building and variety of retail store as well as there is large number of luxurious products with well-known brand. There’s practically a shopping sale of sorts all year round in Singapore, with the most notable one being the Great Singapore Sale. On the other hand, it’s a year-round shopping paradise. You only need to take a walk down Singapore’s iconic shopping districts to find out what’s in store for you. The best time to visit is during its annual eight-week Great Singapore Sale, when all kinds of discounts and deals pop up island-wide from late May through July. Great Singapore Sale 2012 will be held for 8 weeks from Friday, 25 May 2012 to Sunday, 22 July 2012. The Great Singapore Sale 2012 has been timed to coincide with the peak travel seasons to enable visitors to enjoy the fantastic deals all around. During the Great Singapore Sale 2012, you can enjoy up to 70% discount for everything on sale, anywhere in Singapore. From posh shopping centres in Marina Bay and Orchard to small stores in the suburbs, you will find fabulous deals for clothes, gadgets, beauty treatments, spa, attractions, and even food! (Great Singapore Sale, 2012) Furthermore, Singapore set large variety shopping malls to meet the different requirement of various groups. The ethnic shopping enclaves in Singapore include Little India and Chinatown – both are tourist attractions in their own right, steeped in ethnic colors and flavors. (Singapore Shopping Madness, Yong Shu Hoong) For instance, Chinatown mainly offers authentic Chinese products including tea, herbs, medicines, foodstuffs, silks, cheongsams, handicrafts, household items and antiques. Finally, Singapore duty free shopping prices at all three terminals are competitive with most places in Asia. The slippery greenback means rates are fluctuating constantly. Pick up a 50ml Dior j’adore eau de toilette for around S$96 (US$76), Chanel Alure EDP 50ml at S$112 (US$89). (Singapore Shopping Madness, Yong Shu Hoong) Human Resource Management ââ€"†Human Resources Management Practice Due to the explosive growth of the Asian economies over the past two decades, considerable attention has been focused on the human resource management (HRM) practices of Asian businesses. Cultural diversity of workforce in modern business organizations against the backdrop of globalization has attracted the attention of many researchers and analysts. By the 21st century, Singapore has developed into advanced and high-income economies, specializing in areas of competitive advantage. As one of the four little dragons in Asia, Singapore can be an interesting subject to study and it is also important for MNCs to understand Singapore’s advantages and disadvantages of its human resources management practice. Hollister Co. is an American lifestyle brand by A&F Corporation. The concept was at a lower price point than the parent brand through its SoCal-inspired image and casual wear. Hollister Co. could take some advantages of Singapore’s human resources management practice to expand its business in Singapore. According to a demographic survey, as of 2011, the population of Singapore is 5.18 million people, of whom 3.25 million (63%) are citizens while the rest (37%) are permanent residents or foreign workers. The government is considering capping these workers, although it is recognized that they are crucial to the country’s economy, as foreign workers make up 80% of the construction industry and up to 50% in the service industry. (Building and Construction Authority, April 2011) Singapore is a multicultural country with a majority population of Chinese (74 percent), with substantial Malay (13 percent) and Indian minorities (9.2 percent). The country has four official languages consisting of Mandarin, Malay, Tamil and English. English is the main working language and is the mandatory first language in all schools in Singapore. Most Singapore’s Chinese derived from southern China, especially in Fujian, Guangdong and Hainan, of which 40 percent is Fujian, the followed is Chaoshan, Cantonese, Hakka, Hainan and Fuzhou. To developing human resource management practice for Hollister Co., we should understand Singapore’s basic Human Resource Management (HRM). Hollister Co. is categorized as a service business while Singapore is a country which workforces are highly related to services sectors. In addition, considering the features of Singapore’s location, demography and other fields, its human resources is consisted of Western and Asian features. We will focus on Singapore’s HRM style and features of workforces to develop the human resources management practice for Hollister. ââ€"†Human Resources Management Style â€Å"Leadership and the Workforce in Singapore† is a survey that evaluated by the Singapore Human Resources Institute. Data were obtained from 192 respondents who were engaged in a wide variety of Singaporean industries. A total of 68 per cent of the respondents are HRM practitioners. Many of the respondents are supervisors reporting to senior management such as CEOs and managing directors. (Chart 1) All the data shows that globalization has had its impact on Singapore in a much more pronounced way. Singapore has been reputed for very advanced HRM practices both at the national and the international levels. In addition, Singapore has been especially known for its international HRM practices in a small city state. On the other hand, Singapore didn’t focus on manufacturing; it is a city state with a greater focus on financial services and other services instead, such as banking and insurance. Moreover, Singapore has a similar diversity culture of shopping centers manned by equally culturally diverse workforce. (Malikanrs, 2010) Singaporean enhances on performance record and job experiences, appropriate training and seniority when considering promoting its employees. Singapore has no set patterns of recruitment for either the entry level or middle level positions due to affecting by the Western model. However, Hofstede (1984) found that the national culture of Singapore is high in power distance. In high power distance cultures, superiors and subordinates treat each other as unequal. Singapore is also called a â€Å"nanny state’ in which people are supposed to do exactly what they are told. The mixed unique feature of national culture therefore makes Singapore’s HRM practices more complicated. ââ€"†Hiring and Retention The unemployment rate in Singapore was last reported at 2 percent in the second quarter of 2012. Historically, from 1992 until 2012, Singapore Unemployment Rate averaged 2.4 Percent reaching an all time high of 4.8 Percent in September of 2003 and a record low of 1.3 Percent in September of 1997. The employment rate for older residents made good progress. A record 61.2% of residents aged 55 to 64 were working in 2011, up from 59.0% a year ago. The employment rate for both males (from 75.0% to 76.4%) and females (from 43.4% to 46.3%) in this age group rose to new highs in 2011. Singapore’s workforce is inherently diverse due to their multi-racial community. Employees from different generations, gender, nationalities and cultures often work together in the same organization. It is therefore important for organizations to put in place policies and practices to build an inclusive and harmonious workplace. A diverse workforce that is well-managed can bring about better business per formance and higher employee engagement. ââ€"†Training and Advancement The improvement in educational profile of older residents was another contributing factor as the better educated were more likely to participate in the labor market than those less educated. The educational profile of the labor force continued to improve, as the better educated younger residents enter the labor force and the relatively less educated older cohorts retire progressively. The share of degree holders in the labor force almost doubled from 15% in 1999 to 28% in 2010. Conversely, the lower educated labor force from 36% to 22% over the same period. (Chart 2) ââ€"†Compensation Chart 3, 4, and 5 in appendix show the average salary, turnover rate, and worked hours of Singaporeans. The average salary for Singaporean to work 46.3 hours per week is around Singapore $ 4,000(about $ 3,000). The average over-time work hour is 3.7 hours a week. (Employment Situation in Fourth Quarter 2010, 2011) ââ€"†Ideal Human Resource Management First of all, we would like to talk about language skill. As mentioned above, English is the official language in Singapore. In addition, Singaporeans have high level of education and language skills in average. Therefore, the company can hire local employee without worrying about language barrier. Furthermore, we’ll analyze workforce. Due to the mixed unique feature of national culture, Singapore’s workforce is inherently diverse. Employees from different generations, gender, nationalities and cultures often work together in the same organization. On the one hand, it is easy to train and educate new employees to understand Hollister’s organizational cultures and requirements. On the other hand, Hollister Co. also has to understand the mixed unique feature of national culture. With the aging of population, Singapore government also encourage foreigner to go there and look for a job. In the meanwhile, Singapore advocates foreign enterprise producing products which is suitable for the elderly. This is another opportunity for Hollister Co. to expand their business in Singapore. Finally, we’ll talk about hiring, training, retention, promotion and salary. The unemployment rate in Singapore is very low, the educational background of workforce is becoming higher and higher, the low labor turnover and high level of wage show the Singaporeans are likely skill oriented workforces. The average monthly wage in Singapore is around 4,000 Singapore dollars which equals $3,000. It is a little bit lower than the average income that American household makes. (How much does the average American make breaking down the us household income numbers, 2011) Because Hollister Co. does not have to pay so much money for workforce training, we suggest Hollister Co. offer a somewhat high wage than the current clothing stores in Singapore and use bonus to motivate employees. Political and Legal Environment ââ€"†Legal Environment The Republic of Singapore has a legal system largely based on the British Westminster model, where the power to govern and administer the country is divided between the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary. Ranked by the World Bank’s report, â€Å"Doing Business 2007: How to Reform† as the most accommodating country to do business in the world, Singapore is a strategic and reliable base for foreign investors to invest in the emerging Asian markets. (Overview of the Legal Environment of Singapore, RSM Chio Lim) Singapore is well known as â€Å"the Switzerland of Asia.† With a population of approximately 5 million people, Singapore has an astounding 90% literacy rate, and over 85% of inhabitants have a secondary or higher education. The country has almost zero crime, zero corruption and no drug problem. (Singapore Incorporation Advantages) (International rankings of Singapore, Wikipedia) Political environment Pro-business environment: One of characteristics in Singapore is its pro-business environment. It means that Singapore has an environment that is favorable for foreign investments and can attract many foreign entrepreneurs. Furthermore, it is easy for investors to set up businesses and make higher profits. Compared to other countries, investors only have to take 1-2 days and they can incorporate a company in Singapore. Because of pro-business environment, Singapore has become one of favorite countries for investment (Singapore Incorporation Advantages, 2012). Financial assistance: In order to help start-up companies to gain funding, the Singapore government agencies set up several financial assistance schemes to let start-ups gain access to funding to turn their business ideas into reality. Moreover, Singapore government sets up many private sectors to help investors improve efficiency strengthen capabilities of their company (Singapore Incorporation Advantages, 2012). Great tax system: For a starting business, taxes cost is always a top priority. One of features in Singapore is its low effective personal and corporate tax rates. For the personal income tax, Singapore government is based on personal income to design a tier system that starts from 3.5% to 20%. For corporate tax, †Singapore private limited companies for profits up to SGD 300,000 is below 9% and capped at 18% for profits above SGD 300,000.ï ¼â€š(Singapore Incorporation Advantages) After 2010, corporate income tax rate will decrease from 18% to 17% in Singapore. Furthermore, there is no capital gain tax. It represents that Singapore government uses a single -tier tax policy. This policy is that when the income has been taxed at the corporate level, companies can give shareholders dividends for tax free (Singapore Incorporation Advantages). Political systems: Singapore government has an open attitude and its vision is broad to the whole world. Its political system is using a rational, pro-business way to enact laws, decide priorities and sets regulations. For example, there is almost no restriction on foreign investment including manufacturing and service activities. Any business is supported by political infrastructure and given maximum encouragement from the government. This support is an important way to let businesses grow and prosper (Singapore Incorporation Advantages). In addition, the immigration policy is open and flexible in Singapore. It assists the relocation of foreign investors to set up businesses here. If a business entrepreneur needs to run his business or and hire foreign professionals, the government can make appropriate Singapore work visa provisions to meet his needs and wants (Singapore Incorporation Advantages). Free trade agreements: Free Trade Agreements is a significant system in Singapore. It means that most products can be imported without barrier. Businesses can enjoy many benefits including tariff concessions, preferential access to certain sectors, faster entry into markets and Intellectual Property protection. Moreover, Free Trade Agreement is a way to connect Singapore to their trading partners such as United States, Europe, China, Hong Kong and, Japan (Singapore Incorporation Advantages, 2012). (Singapore Incorporation Advantages, 2012) High Quality of Life One of reasons why many investors set up their business and relocate to Singapore is the quality of life. Singapore is in a convenient location and provides a great public and private transportation, a safe and clean environment to live. It also offers an outstanding support system for businesses. Singapore is suitable for work and living. (Singapore Incorporation Advantages, 2012) Economic and Financial Environment In fact, the economic situation in Singapore is very strong and stable, because the attitude of government is open-minded and this country is anti-corrupt. The economic growth is also steady. Singapore is one of countries in the world that has the largest per capital Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is equal to the total expenditures for all final goods and services produced by a country in a period of time and measures national income and output for a country’s economy. According to the World Bank, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Singapore was worth 239.70 billion US dollars in 2011. The GDP value of Singapore is roughly equivalent to 0.39 percent of the world economy. Historically, from 1960 until 2011, Singapore GDP averaged 51.8 billion USD reaching an all time high of 239.7 billion USD in December of 2011 and a record low of 0.7 billion USD in December of 1960 (Trading Economics, 2012). (Trading Economics, 2012) The annual growth rate in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) measures the increase in value of the goods and services produced by an economy over the period of a year. It considers a full year of economic activity and avoids the need to make any type of seasonal adjustment. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Singapore expanded 2.00 percent in the second quarter of 2012 over the same quarter of the previous year. From 2007 until 2012, Singapore GDP annual growth rate averaged 5.1 percent reaching an all-time high of 19.8 percent in June of 2010 (Trading Economics, 2012). (Trading Economics, 2012) Singapore exchange rate is range from $1.30 to $1.50 for the last 10 years. It is kind of stable. Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) manages the exchange rate of the Singapore dollar. Investors can transfer funds in and out of Singapore freely in any currency. Furthermore, Singapore government bond has very good rating. Standard & Poor’s (S&P) in August 2011 gave it AAA and Moody’s gave it Aaa in 2008. According to China Post, Singapore banking system is rank top four in the world. When other country have problem with financial crisis, most of Singapore banks were rated B by Moody. We have to realize more about Singapore’s banking system for doing business. Banking System Cash and Check In Singapore, for foreigners or tourists, it is very convenient to bring their own currency and exchange from market to airport. Foreign currency banknotes and travelers checks can also be changed easily at most banks. In addition, ATM link to global banking networks can be found everywhere. Foreigners or tourists can pay for most things by using a credit card in Singapore. (Singapore Banking System, 2012) Singapore banks issue checks that can be processed electronically. Writing check can only use black and blue inks. If a person only wants to deposit and does not cash the check, he has to draw two parallel diagonal lines in the upper left corner. If he crosses out ‘or bearer’, to the right of the payee line – the check can only be deposited into the account of the named payee. When a person deposits check, he has to write his name, account number and telephone number on the back of the check. (Singapore Banking System, 2012) ATM-Automated Teller Machine ATM machines for local banks are everywhere in the Singapore. In fact, all of the Singapore local banks and some of the international banks such as Citibank, HSBC and Standard Chartered have issued ATM cards. It considers that foreigners and investors have to withdraw money immediately in a place. However, there are not many branches and ATMs in the international banks. Here is a limitation and daily withdraw amount from ATM cannot exceed SGD$3,000. (Singapore Banking System, 2012) Cash Flow Because using check will take time to clear the bank, companies have to take that into consideration for their cash flow. There is a well-established banking system with three major local banks that offer a full service of consumer banking in Singapore. It includes ATMs, telephone banking and internet banking. In addition, besides local banks, some international banks in Singapore are doing the same business. Recently, those international banks have been allowed to set up branches and 15 ATMs. (Singapore Banking System, 2012) Accounting Standards Singapore accounting standards are followed the International Accounting Standards and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) issued by the International Accounting Standards Board. Financial Reporting Standards (FRS) is accounting standards in Singapore. All companies with financial period starting on or after January 1, 2003 have to comply with Financial Reporting Standards (FRS) (Introduction to Accounting Standards in Singapore, 2012). One of the main principals of Singapore accounting standards is accrual-based accounting. It is the same as United Stated General Accepted Accounting Principle (GAPP). Under accrual basis, the revenue and expenses are recognized and recorded in the period when they occur but not receive or pay cash. They are recorded in the accounting records and reported in the financial statements in a period of time. The function of preparing financial statements on the accrual basis is to inform users not only of past transactions including the payment and receipt of cash, but also of duties to pay cash and funds that have received in the future (Introduction to Accounting Standards in Singapore, 2012). Actually, there are contains about 39 different standards with each standard named as FRS X in Singapore’s accounting system. For example, FRS 1 represents Financial Statement, FRS 2 represents inventories and FRS 18 means revenues. In addition, each standard involves a specific topic like presentation of financial statements, recognition of revenue, accounting for inventories, and so on. (Introduction to Accounting Standards in Singapore, 2012) Cultural of Singapore In Hofstede’s theory, there are five dimensions of culture, which are power distance, individualism, masculinity/femininity, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term orientation. The five dimensions are used to make a distinction between country and country. The society of Singapore is basically consisting of Chinese people. Around 77% of Singaporeans are Chinese. Therefore, the culture of Chinese does influence Singapore a lots. For example, the Buddhist-Shinto societies have an additional dimension which is long-term orientation (Geert Hofstede, 2011). Singapore Five Dimensions Culture Asian Countries Dimension Culture http://www.geert-hofstede.com/hofstede_singapore.shtml (Geert Hofsted Cultural Dimensions-Singapore, 2011) Power distance With Chinese population, Singaporeans are affected by Confucian thinking and values, so they adhere to a hierarchical relationship in their society. They believe that their society is composed of people who are in different standing and unequal relationship. The differences in standing are the signal for people to evaluate each other. The lower standing people should heed what a superior says. In addition, junior and less experienced people are expected to keep their opinions in their hearts. This kind of high power distance has been characterized in Asian society for at least two thousand years (Geert Hofstede, 2011). Individualism In an individualistic society, we can find the relationship of people is loose. The United States is the most individualistic society, but Singapore is ranked 53th out of 66 countries (ClearlyCulture, 2009). In Singapore or other Asian societies, children are raised to stay with the family. Children are educated to be a part of the group and stay in the group when they are infants. Children are taught to be dependent on the group, to make decisions which benefit the group, to support the group, and to maintain the honor of the group. The group can be family, school, or company. All of the decisions which are made by the elders for the children are common. After the Singaporean children become adults, they are not expected to cut off the former relationship (Geert Hofstede, 2011). Masculinity A high score on this dimension means competition can drive this society to success. Traditional Chinese culture is a typical masculinity. Singapore has almost 77 percent of populations are Chinese. Children are always taught to compete with other people in the school. Singapore is in the almost middle of the scale but a little on the feminine side. That means that there are still some softer aspects of culture like leveling with others and sympathy for loser in Singapore (Geert Hofstede, 2011). Uncertainty avoidance Comparing with other countries in the world, Singapore is a country with low degree of uncertainty avoidance. Singaporean comply with their rules because their high PDI. That is why Singapore is a â€Å"Fine† country (Geert Hofstede, 2011). Because Singaporeans are indirect and implicit in their communications, they will not publicly use the word â€Å"no†; likewise, their â€Å"yes† does not usually mean assent (Kwintessential, 2011). Unlike other Asian cultures, the western cultures also affect Singapore’s culture. Therefore, the degree of facing uncertainty avoidance is lower than other Asian countries. Long-term orientation The short-term orientation is related to truth and the long-term orientation is related to virtue. Singapore’s cultural qualities show the perseverance and sustained efforts support the long term investments. People believe that the truth depends a lot on situation and time in a society with a long-term orientation (Geert Hofstede, 2011). Doing business in Singapore, the relationship with other people is very important; especially you must respect the elders. Also, you must be more patient because the organization will show their purpose which is for long-term profit, not short-term gains (Kwintessential, 2011). Organizational Structure An organizational structure is setting the company into different levels, including person and work, so each person needs to perform and accomplish the company goals (Chapman, 2008). There are two types of organizational structures which are flat organization and hierarchical organization. A flat organization is an organization which is few or no levels between managers and employees. The advantage of a flat organization is top management contact directly with the staff level employees. Middle managements are eliminated, so it can also reduce the organization’s budget costs. In this structure, the communication between managers and employees would be improved and the organization is fast to respond to consumers and market conditions. The disadvantage of a flat organization is difficult to maintain when the organization grows bigger. A hierarchical organization is the layout of a pyramid. Every employee obeys someone else in this organization. The advantage of a hierarchical organization is the management can control closely. Also, the role and responsibility of each employee are distinguished clearly. The disadvantage of this organization is the decisions will be difficult to make because the organization is consisted of a multilayer management. It costs a lot to maintain a multilayer management and the communication would be slow from the bottom to the top (Colette). Hollister Co. is a subsidiary company of Abercrombie & Fitch, so the management chart of the Hollister is the same with Abercrombie & Fitch. The following table is Hollister’s organizational structure. In this table, we can consider Hollister is a hierarchical organization. An Executive VP or senior VP head all major business processes of the company. The CEO at the top, EVP/SVP on the second, EVP/SVP on the third and SVP on the fourth level are four basic layers at senior management. This hierarchical structure makes Hollister’s management make decisions quickly and let employees in each group understand their roles and responsibility clearly. On the other hand, there are still some disadvantages, which are high costs and many layers of communications, in this structure. For example, the SVP of Supply chain needs to go through two management layers in order to reach the CEO of Hollister. The hierarchical structure delays the communications between management and employees. A hierarchical structure costs a lot to maintain for Hollister. Hence, in a recession, Hollister might restructure to reduce costs and improve communication. Source: http://www.cogmap.com/chart/abercrombie-fitch-co (2010) Hollister still can use its hierarchical structure into its international markets such as Singapore. Singapore is an open country and there is no limitation in Singapore, so Hollister can use any types of organizational structure they want. If Hollister use the hierarchical structure successfully in its home country and in other international markets, Hollister should use the same structure when they expand to Singapore. Singapore is also a hierarchical structure country because its high power distance. Hollister’s International Expansion Strategies After review Hollister Co. and Singapore cultures and structures, we put forward three strategies which Hollister can use to expand its business to Singapore by exporting, licensing or wholly owned affiliates. Exporting is the first way the company can expand into a new market. By exporting, Hollister does not need to invest in Singapore and can test Singapore’s market. The disadvantages of exporting are Hollister has to suffer tariff and non-tariff barriers, high transportation costs and depend on foreign importers for product distribution. The second strategy is Hollister can give a license of its design to a Singapore Apparel Company. This way Hollister can earn profit without investing and suffering tariff and non-tariff barriers. The disadvantage of licensing its design, Hollister might be subjected to the local apparel company becomes its competitor. Hollister also cannot control the quality of products which the licensee produces, so Hollister’s brand or reputation is on risk. The third strategy is that Hollister can expand to Singapore’s market by itself. Hollister can choose a place where there will be a lot of people, including domestic residents and tourists, to visit such as CentrePoint, the most popular mall in Singapore. The advantages of expanding itself are that Hollister can have complete control and receive all of the profits. The disadvantages of expanding itself are the high costs and the greater loss if it fails. Recommendation After review three strategies, we recommend Hollister to expand itself in Singapore. Hollister has enough capital to invest into Singapore because it has a powerful backing, Abercrombie and Fitch. This way Hollister can keep their quality of products and have complete control. Hollister can test the market and the market condition by opening the first in Singapore. In order to be success, the most important things are that Hollister needs to learn Singapore’s culture and establish the relationship with the consumers and suppliers. Hollister can adapt to the Singapore’s culture and consumer taste by reviewing a quarter of sales. After its sales grow stably, Hollister should continue to open more stores in Singapore.

Bskyb Marketing Plan

BSKYB | MARKETING PLAN | | MATHEW KURIAN STUDENT ID – 4745251| EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The rationale of this report is to write a Marketing Plan for an existing company in the UK (BSkyB Sky), selected from any industry (telecommunication industry). This plan is aimed at identifying ways in which the firm designs its strategy for the next 5 years. BSkyB (Sky) should target acquiring 30% of the yearly revenue by 2018, after five years of systematic implementation of the extended marketing plan.The target markets of BSkyB are both individual citizens and small business enterprises, where the later will be at the centre in the targeting. BSkyB (Sky) is to segment the targeted markets geographically where the concentration will be small cities in UK. BSkyB (Sky) will concentrate its product/service strategy on SMS texting, apart from other common mobile communication services. BSkyB (Sky) plans competitive pricing to appeal the customers in UK mobile telecommunication sector.When it come s to distribution strategy, BSkyB (Sky) will place its services to the organized retail shops in the UK mobile telecommunication sector. For some markets, the distribute shops will be opened BSkyB (Sky) in malls of the geographically segmented cities. In order to reach the targeted customers in UK mobile telecommunication market BSkyB (Sky) will centrally focus on advertising so far as promotion is concerned. INTRODUCTION BSkyB (Sky) is a comparatively youthful firm in UK telecommunication industry, however has a considerable and rising track in the UK.BSkyB (Sky) offers an array of entertainment and communications services to just about 40% of homes, where its aired television channels are watched by more than half the populace every week in the country, and moreover BSkyB (Sky) employs thousands of group all through the different regions of UK the country. BSkyB (Sky) claims to have changed consumers’ experience of television and home communications in UK, whilst making mom entous returns for its shareholders and further confidently contribute to the economy of the country overall. More clearly, overall, BSkyB (Sky) was projected to s put in a ? 5. billion giving to UK GDP in the year of 2011. So far as UK telecommunication industry is concerned, BSkyB (Sky) is fast emerging as a major player in the industry as regards the market segments of broadband and telephony markets, though its performance in these market segments are yet to be acknowledged as leading (CorporateSky, 2013). The major facts about BSkyB (Sky) are presented in the Table. Table: Key Facts: BSkyB (Sky) Source: BSkyB (2013) Adjusted operating profit for BSkyB (Sky) is a foremost measure of the underlying business performance. It has increased by 14% in 2012(? m) Source: CorporateSky (2013)Even though BSkyB (Sky) is making substantial profits restricting its operation the solo targeted segment of UK telecommunication market, yet it has ample opportunity to grow and increase profits shif ting gears, where there ia an opportunity awaiting in mobile telecommunications services market segment. It is in this context that a marketing planning is developed for BSkyB (Sky) in this report. IDENTIFICATION AND ASSESSMENT OF MARKET The marketing process of a firm all concerns to planning and implementation of the research objectives defined in terms of the identified market segment to be targeted.This is what marketing management is described as an order of selecting target markets and further based on marketing planning acquire, carry on, and nurture customers all the way through generating , bringing and communicating advanced customer value. In this framework, marketing practitioners in firms are expected to be possessing proficient skill as per the requirements in the market, and they need to look for controlling the echelon, time, and concerto of demand (Mullins, Boyd and Larreche, 2006). The marketing attempt is connected to not only servicing he customers but as well be nefiting the firms. So far as identification and assessment of the market is concerned, the procedure all concerns to analysing marketing opportunities, deciding target markets, planning marketing strategies, extending marketing agendas and finally monitoring and controlling the marketing endeavor that largely connect to marketing planning . However, a foremost component of the marketing planning process is discerning, innovative marketing strategies and plans that may well direct marketing attempts (Kotler and Keller, 2009:80).In this direction, the first and foremost task is to identify the opportunities in the market and find out the prospective segments where a firm can take opportunities to enhance its business and profitability. This report all concerns to identifying and assessing potential segments for BSkyB (Sky) UK telecommunication market. This business organizing operating in UK telecommunication industry is yet to make a mark and achieve a leading position.On the basis of identified market opportunities, it might be suggested to BSkyB (Sky) to concentrate on mobile telecommunications services, which appears a promising market segment, where BSkyB (Sky) huge opportunities to expand its business and so the profitability in order to emerge as a leading player in UK telecommunication industry. It is worth to mention here that UK mobile telecommunications market corresponds to one of the most striking tele-communications markets globally , with the mobile telecommunications services market segment creating just about ? 1 billion of revenue yearly, where yearly growth in this market segment is projected to total ? 900 million yearly. Therefore, BSkyB (Sky) should target acquiring 30% of the yearly revenue by 2018, after five years of systematic implementation of the extended marketing plan. MARKETING PLAN The marketing plan is the most fundamental tool for expressing and integrating the marketing attempts whilst targeting to a specific market. The marke ting plan functions on two echelons namely strategic and tactical. Firstly when it comes to strategic marketing planning it all concerns to establishing target markets and the value offer for the customers.On the other hand, the tactical marketing planning spells out the product, price, place and promotion as strategies (Kotler and Keller, 2009:80). In the Figure a methodical process of marketing plan model is developed that involves planning, implementation, and controlling. Figure: Marketing Planning Model Source: Kotler and Keller (2006) In order to develop marketing planning for BSkyB (Sky), the both the strategic and tactical approach is adopted where the focus of the marketing efforts is concentrating on marketing mix components in the forms of product, price place, and promotion, apart from segmentation and targeting.Moreover, the marketing planning process for BSkyB (Sky) is developed based on the model extended by Kotler and Keller (2009) as mentioned above. This marketing planning is developed for BSkyB (Sky) to target the mobile telecommunication market segment in UK telecommunication market, so that BSkyB (Sky) could expand its business in the market and emerge as a leading player in the segment with enhancing its profitability for ensuring long term survival and sustainability. The planning involves marketing objectives, segmentation and targeting.The implementation involves marketing mix strategy and finally controlling involves measuring and reviewing the mid term achievements. This marketing plan is developed keeping in mind the duration of five years. Marketing Objectives, Targeting and Segmentation The process and strategy of segmentation all concerns to positioning strategy of a firm in the market, where the firm has already recognized and assessed the targeted customers , and further it is indispensable to determine as what position the firm wishes to engage in the selected market segments (Armstrong and Kotler, 2005).For getting done a thr iving positioning, whilst the target customers discover that the product fulfills their wishes and needs, there are strategies the firm needs to peruse in the forms of defining objectives, deciding target markets and for segmentation(Mullins, Boyd and Larreche, 2006; Kotler and Keller, 2009). UK mobile telecommunications market corresponds to one of the most striking telecommunications markets globally, with the mobile telecommunications services market segment creating just about ? 21 billion of revenue early, where yearly growth in this market segment is projected to total ? 900 million yearly. Therefore, BSkyB (Sky) should target acquiring 30% of the yearly revenue from mobile telecommunications services market segment by 2018, after five years of systematic implementation of the extended marketing plan. The target markets of BSkyB are both individual citizens and small business enterprises, where the later will be at the centre in the targeting. BSkyB (Sky) is to segment the tar geted markets geographically where the concentration will be small cities in UK. Marketing Mix StrategyThe strategy of marketing mix involves deciding strategy about the four components of marketing mix namely product, price, place and promotion. In fact marketing mix strategy is trademark of marketing actions. Marketing mix is in fact a conscious attempt as regards division of a firm to decide on their offered products/services that eventually determine the success/failure of the firm in the market. Hence, the marketing mix strategy should be in line with the point in time, competition and the hope of the customers (Armstrong and Kotler, 2005). Accordingly the marketing mix strategy is developed for BSkyB (Sky).Product/Service BSkyB (Sky) will concentrate its product/service strategy on SMS texting, apart from other common mobile communication services. Price BSkyB (Sky) plans competitive pricing to appeal the customers in UK mobile telecommunication sector. This implies that BSkyB (Sky) will decrease or increase the price of services keeping in mind the movements of competitors, though high pricing strategy will be avoided in order to penetrate the market. Place When it comes to distribution strategy, BSkyB (Sky) will place its services to the organized retail shops in the UK mobile telecommunication sector.For some markets, the distribute shops will be opened BSkyB (Sky) in malls of the geographically segmented cities. Promotion In order to reach the targeted customers in UK mobile telecommunication market BSkyB (Sky) will centrally focus on advertising so far as promotion is concerned. The budgeting of promotion is to be as following: Print Advertising| Electronic Advertising| Internet Advertising | Others| 25%%| 35%| 30%| 10%| Controlling Strategy Yearly or half yearly controlling of marketing plan is suggestive in order to make sure that the firm is not wastefully expending and achieving the marketing objectives as per planning.So far as performance achi evement is concerned financially the foremost ratio to watch is marketing expense-to-sales ratio. Moreover, the period-to-period fluctuations in every ratio may well be tracked on a control diagram. The conduct of consecutive remarks even within the higher and lower control limits ought to be looked at (Mullins, Boyd and Larreche, 2006). UK mobile telecommunications market corresponds to one of the most striking telecommunications markets globally , with the mobile telecommunications services market segment creating just about ? 1 billion of revenue yearly , where yearly growth in this market segment is projected to total ? 900 million yearly. Therefore, BSkyB (Sky) should target acquiring 30% of the yearly revenue by 2018, after five years of systematic implementation of the extended marketing plan. The achievement in this regard will be evaluated on yearly basis. Furthermore, period-to-period fluctuations in every ratio will be tracked on a control diagram by the marketing practit ioners in BSkyB (Sky). Following is the planning of controlling on yearly basis. 1st year| 2nd year| 3rd year | 4th year | 5th year | %| 5%| 10%| 5%| 5%| In order achieve the marketing objectives, performance evaluation will be conducted on half yearly basis, and in the case of success/failure of achieving targets, further planning will reviewed accordingly. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Even though BSkyB (Sky) is making substantial profits restricting its operation the solo targeted segment of UK telecommunication market, yet it has ample opportunity to grow and increase profits shifting gears, where there ia an opportunity awaiting in mobile telecommunications services market segment.BSkyB (Sky) should target acquiring 30% of the yearly revenue by 2018, after five years of systematic implementation of the extended marketing plan. In order to develop marketing planning for BSkyB (Sky), the both the strategic and tactical approach is adopted where the focus of the marketing effort s is concentrating on marketing mix components in the forms of product, price place, and promotion, apart from segmentation and targeting. BSkyB (Sky) should target acquiring 30% of the yearly revenue from mobile telecommunications services market segment by 2018, after five years of systematic implementation of the extended marketing plan.The target markets of BSkyB are both individual citizens and small business enterprises, where the later will be at the centre in the targeting. BSkyB (Sky) is to segment the targeted markets geographically where the concentration will be small cities in UK. BSkyB (Sky) will concentrate its product/service strategy on SMS texting, apart from other common mobile communication services. BSkyB (Sky) plans competitive pricing to appeal the customers in UK mobile telecommunication sector.When it comes to distribution strategy, BSkyB (Sky) will place its services to the organized retail shops in the UK mobile telecommunication sector. For some markets, the distribute shops will be opened BSkyB (Sky) in malls of the geographically segmented cities. In order to reach the targeted customers in UK mobile telecommunication market BSkyB (Sky) will centrally focus on advertising so far as promotion is concerned. Period-to-period fluctuations in every ratio will be tracked on a control diagram by the marketing practitioners in BSkyB (Sky).In order achieve the marketing objectives, performance evaluation will be conducted on half yearly basis. REFERENCES Armstrong, G. and Kotler, P. (2005), Marketing: An Introduction, 7th Edition, Prentice Hall Inc. , Upper Saddle River, N. J. Company Report (2012), BSkyB (Sky) Industry Report (2012), UK Mobile Telecommunication Industry: Euromonitor International. Kotler, P. and Keller, K. L. (2006), Marketing Management, 12th Edition, Prentice Hall Inc. , Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. Mullins, J. W. Walker, O. C. , Boyd, H. W. and Larreche, J. C. (2006), Marketing Management, 5th Edition, McGraw-Hill, New York. BSkyB (2013), â€Å"Key facts & figures†. [Online] accessed from http://corporate. sky. com/about_sky/key_facts_and_figures [22 March, 2013] CorporateSky (2013), â€Å"British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc : Unaudited results for the six months ended 31 December 2012†. [Online] accessed from http://corporate. sky. com/documents/pdf/latest_results/q2_press_release_201213. pdf [23rd March, 2013]

Museum Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Museum - Essay Example Museums can be broadly taken as custodians of society’s artefacts and specimens that may include art galleries. Museum always reflect public interest through their open invitation of visitors, promotion of deeper understanding and advancement of people enjoyment while supporting the sharing of authentic natural and cultural heritage. The other role of museum to the society is serving as a custodian of societies exhibits. Here, the museums collect, preserve, study, interpret and display both the tangible and intangible evidences of a society and its nature. Lastly museum serves as educational institution where physical forum is provided to help in carrying out important inquiries and investigations. Different types of museums exist depending on how they are managed, owned and funded. These museums include: National museums, Local authority museums, University museums, Independent museums, Historic properties and heritage sites, and National Trust properties. Other types of museums are Art Museums, Botanical Gardens, Children’s Museums, History Museums, Historic Houses/ Sites, Historical Societies, Living History, Sites, Military Museums/ Battlefields, Natural History Museums, Science Museums/ Science Centers and Special Interest

Week 3 Discussion Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Week 3 Discussion Questions - Essay Example ide a chance to the companies to be invest into something new but will also allow for a chance where the competition can get together and build a bigger brand. This is a simpler mode where the competition can get together and work in cooperation with one another and builds a brand or product which is much bigger than what they could have build by themselves. This brand or product will allow for the companies to be sure of remaining a part of the market. 4. The position of CEOs in a company is one which brings along a number of responsibilities and even longer working hours to cope up with the needs of shareholders, media, government, lawyers and many more parties involved. With the decrease in the earning of the CEOs and the amount of work that they put into the businesses, it is not fair. This is majorly because people in the other fields like the movies and celebrities; earn much more for comparatively lesser efforts. One of the best examples would be to compare Oprah who earns as much as $200 million per year and the CEO of Oracle who draws as less as $ 1million as salary. This in comparison is not quite fair keeping in mind the efforts and the number of hours of work that is put in by each of these people. 5. Fraudulent activities in companies have been on a serious rise since the early 2000s. One of the most famous frauds was that of Enron. However it is important to understand that the company portrays itself to be in perfect line and in complete control and working within the law. Enron as has been seen has paid its audit fees and has kept up in terms of hiring lawyers for the company. However the company has worked on the basis of real time auditing which is not a very responsible move by the company or even the auditor and is in a lot of ways the major cause for the fraud. Hence it is important that the companies and auditors learn a lesson from this and avoid this type of auditing and to follow the traditional style of marketing to avoid the chance for

Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Management - Essay Example In the contemporary business language, that term has been replaced by HRM, while its description has remained the same. Management of people involves such tasks as hiring and adjusting them, assigning them their respective tasks, and addressing their needs. All of these functions are performed by HR department. So, HR function has a cardinal role to play in the management of people within an organization. What is the role of the first line supervisor or manager in managing people within an organization? First line managers in an organization have a direct interaction with the workers that practically work in the field. First line managers are assigned the responsibility to look after the needs of workers and manage them in the way that would keep the work flowing smoothly. They are directed to do so by the middle managers who are in turn, instructed by the top managers. First line managers make sure that there is sufficient material and equipment available on site, workers are adequa tely allotted their respective tasks, their productivity is up to the mark, they are dropped into and carried from the site without any inconvenience and are provided with food, leave passes and compensation. All of these and such other works are included under the umbrella term of â€Å"management†. As a first line manager looks after all these factors for the workers, he essentially plays a very important role in managing the people within an organization. ... This is what is taken care of by the first line managers. They look after the lowest side of the overall picture so that the progress remains consistent with the strategies of the top managers. Who is responsible for ensuring all HR policies and practices are implemented within the organization? In any organization, the responsibility of ensuring adequate implementation of all HR policies and practices fundamentally rests with the Director of the HR department. The director is supposed to advise the managers regarding various matters of huge significance to the organization. As HR department formulates the strategies, policies and practices to facilitate the work, the HR Director is answerable to the organization owners and/or top managers for their effective implementation and follow up. The director is at the top of the HR department, and is responsible for all actions and activities of the HR department. It is quite reasonable to expect the HR Director to take necessary measures f or adequate implementation of the policies and practices devised by the HR department. Who is responsible for the performance of employees within an organization? In any organization, it is the Human Resource Manager (HRM), who is expected to look after the performance of employees and manage it. Employees perform best when they are satisfied. Employees derive their motivation for work from their satisfaction with various aspects of job. An employee can not be expected to perform adequately unless his/her individualistic concerns are addressed. There are several factors that need to be taken care of in order to keep the employees motivated. These factors include their salary, accommodation, work

The Shawshank Redemption Movie study assignment

The Shawshank Redemption Movie study - Assignment Example Even when he is about to give up on ever getting the freedom he desires, Andy comes in and reignites that hope. He eventually gets his application granted. The importance of hope in one’s life is shown in the movie through various scenes that show the effects of hope on the lives of the prisoners. In his first night in prison, it is hope that comforts Andy. Although he is serving a life sentence, he still has hope that he will taste freedom again. It makes him calm and able to think and reflect on things thus coming up with great ideas in the process. When writing to the state senate to ask for funds to expand the prison library, hope pushes him to keep writing even when he gets no reply until finally he gets a response. The news that Tommy once met the man that killed his wife and her lover pumps new energy into Andy. His hope of getting out rises as he sees an opportunity to appeal his sentence. In addition, it is the hope of getting out someday that keeps him drilling a tunnel through the prison wall using a rock hummer for several years until he achieves his aim. Hope is also used to bring out the determination of Red to get parole despite his application being rejected repeatedly. It is hope that makes him keep applying for parole without giving up. When Brooks is released from prison, he is lost in a world he is not familiar with. He finds life hard outside prison, as he cannot adjust well. Due to a lack of hope in life, he decides to end his life by hanging himself. The verse that the warden told Andy when he first visited him in his cell was John 8:12. This verse says, â€Å"I am the Light of the world. He who follows me should not walk in darkness but will have the Light of Life.† This is the use of allusion as the warden alludes to the Bible verse to talk about his importance in the prison. He is indirectly referring to himself as the light within the prison and that whoever associates with him will get an easier time

Post-Tsunami Tourism in Thailand Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5250 words

Post-Tsunami Tourism in Thailand - Essay Example According to the research in the last decade, the tourism industry in Thailand has been growing and the UNWTO has observed that tourism will continue increasing in developing countries in future. Statistics show that Thailand is one amongst world’s 50 developing countries with tourism as the primary industry sourcing foreign exchange. Regarding tourist arrivals, Thailand is estimated to have 6.9 percent growth in tourist arrivals by the year 2020, having 37 million people visiting the country. It should be mentioned that this would be almost 10 percent of the entire Asia pacific tourism market. A major contributor to Thailand in terms of tourists is Malaysia which amounted up to approximately 12 percent in the year 2005. In 2004, a major break- in for the tourism industry of Thailand happened due to the Indian Ocean Tsunami which brought massive destruction at Thailand’s coast. This was caused by an earthquake in the region which recorded 9.0 in the Richter Scale. It is supposed to be the fourth largest earthquake in the history of the world. It has been documented that waves even up to a height of 13 meters were formed at the coasts of Phang Nga. More than 5300 people died and reports confirmed more than 250000 fatalities. This is considered to be the worst of all tsunamis regarding the destruction it caused. The natural disaster largely affected the tourism industry of the country. The damage was not only limited to the infrastructural loss, it had effects on the tourism arrivals and the safety concerns of the tourists. Additionally, the vulnerability of tourism as an economic and social system has been largely highlighted by the impacts of the disaster (Calgaro and Lloyd, 2008). The coastal communities which were dependent on tourism were largely affected. However, the connection between environmental changes and tourism with reference to its impacts on the community and on Thailand as a nation must be analyzed to understand this issue in depth . According to Cohen (2008), Thailand’s successful post-tsunami recovery is due to a group of factors, not only to the driving forces of the tourism industry. Yet, there are astonishingly very few studies on the effects of natural disasters on the tourism industry in spite of the reality that a large number of the world’s most prominent and thriving tourism areas are exposed to disastrous natural occurrences or societal problems. Thus, the objective of this essay is to critically analyze the impact of the tsunami on the tourism industry of Thailand. The essay identifies the connection between tourism and natural disasters and relates it to Thailand’s context. This is important as this connection would lead to insights about appropriate marketing strategies to minimize the negative impacts of natural disasters on the tourism industry. Tourism developments in Thailand after the tsunami are also being discussed in detail. Furthermore, the essay evaluates the cur rent tourism scenario in the country in the post-tsunami context and recommends suitable strategies to effectively restore Thailand’s popularity as a tourism destination. Natural Disasters and their Impacts on Tourism The Indian Ocean tsunami in December 2004 demonstrates the hazards of natural catastrophes to the tourism industry and tourism areas. As stated by Murphy and Bayley (1989, as cited in Gossling and Hall, 2006, 286): â€Å"Tourism can be significantly exposed to natural disasters, because of its attachment to high-risk areas with exotic scenery. The lure of snow-capped peaks brings the hazard of avalanches. Tropical beaches attract tourists to the potential paths of hurricanes...† Gossling and Hall (2006) explained that the above passage simply illustrates the truth that natural disasters are no restriction to the operations of the tourism industry. In contrast, the threats of natural catas

American Foreign Policy Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

American Foreign Policy - Assignment Example aling with the two determinant factors differ between the realist approach and the idealist approach; the two approaches that have been exercised by different American leaders while each still adopts the same objectives of foreign policy1. How do these divergent approaches achieve foreign policy with the same goals? We analyze the realist foundations upon which President Bush’s administration was based versus the idealist foundations upon which President Obama’s administration is based. To achieve this, the paradigms of realism which underlay Bush’s foundation are hereafter explored2. The tenets of realism that Bush administration grew on included: firstly, nations or countries are the vital targets of foreign policy but their interactions complicate the attempts to influence their inherent natures. Second, a state’s material resource base (regarded as its power) relative to others determines its projected interests. The more the resource base the more it seeks to expand its political influence over lesser nations with cost/benefit analysis subtly influencing any relationships born. Therefore, according to realists, American power could and should be used to restrain states that could clearly harm the U.S. and its interests, (American interests are considered here to encompass political and economic)3.This disposition clearly enumerates those nations whose economies are currently emerging with the threat of toppling United States off the perch. This is an obvious manifestation of how realistic opinions in foreign policy formulation propose war with other n ations which may not have declared war on America. As it will be stated in the course of the discussion, realists use military interventions to solve such threats. It is important to see this misguided application of military on economical wars. In fact the undertones of U.S. being in pursuit of resources from other countries, mostly oil, and wary of emergent nations like China have been growing louder.

ARTICLE REFLECTION Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

ARTICLE REFLECTION - Essay Example One of the biggest hindering factors to poor decision-making Mauboussin points out is overconfidence. People make poor decisions because they tend to think they are above-average; are optimistic; and have the illusion of having control over the situation. The experience and training people gain over the years influence their perceptions which inevitably lead to poor judgments and predictions. Another, major factor which influences decision-makers is the perception of the outside world. When decision-makers are confused by their internal information, they turn towards the outside world to gauge how others have dealt with similar problems. People try to find trends and events to base their own decisions on. Sometimes this is effective but at other times miscalculation can occur due to wrong interpretation of data, information bias and sometimes simply because trends do not account for ad hoc situations. Nevertheless, this outside view, according to Mauboussin is a more realistic approach because it gives a "reality check" to decision-makers. It offers decision-makers the opportunity to evaluate and contemplate which is an important in decision-making. However, I am of the view that decision-making is a combination of both internal and external knowledge. One cannot negate the fact that internal knowledge, ones professional experience and learned processes are also critical for decision-making. Mauboussin seems to have leaned on external factors more as opposed to internal factors for effective decision, a bias in my view. If all decision-makers start to rely exclusively on external information and trends, then it would be difficult to make instantaneous decisions in the field such as in the case of doctors, paramedics, firefighters and other life-saving professionals. Furthermore, I feel that Mauboussin has overly relied on his financial background in writing

HIV AIDS IN AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN 40-70 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

HIV AIDS IN AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN 40-70 - Essay Example y is designed to illustrate statistics on this often-underlooked population demographic to determine whether the 40-70 female maintains high prevalence of HIV and AIDS. It further looks to identify whether any social programs exist which impact this particular group and discusses the potential toll HIV and AIDS can take on their lives. AIDS is cited as the third largest cause of death in African American women between the ages of 35 and 44, with the disease being the fourth leading cause of death in the 45-54 year old African American female group (CDC, 2008). Combined, this is a significant cause for alarm. In the pursuit of identifying appropriate research for older African American women ages 55 and beyond, no statistical diagrams or charts which highlighted studies could be located. The aforementioned clearly illustrates that more research into the 40-70 African American population should be identified. For instance, contemporary research studies tend to show a pattern of behaviors which, when charted, can be predicted which give insight into what drives the behaviors socially. Once you have painted a construct of how people interact in these different, segregated social groups, it makes the process of identifying methods to assist these women more difficult as it provides no personality, socio-cultural template by which to relate to the struggling women. As 64 percent of all people in the United States who have HIV and AIDS are African Americans, understanding how infection rates occur and the overall sexual practices of the 40-70 group could provide the necessary tools to break down social barriers in terms of treatment options. Sadly, however, it does not appear that there are adequate social programs in place to assist women of this age group who might be battling with HIV and/or AIDS. However, there are several which are designed to offer clinical research information and a sense of community. One of which is the San Francisco AIDS Foundation (SFAF)

Metrojaya Card Application Form Essay Example for Free

Metrojaya Card Application Form Essay At a first glimpse, I can definitely say that it has been more successful in catching an applicants eye than the ones from Jusco. Already the front page has pictures around the border showing various items. Also, it is crowned with a close up photograph of the card that is advertised. Then, in bold red letters, there is a slogan, which is meant to attract the reader. It says The card that takes your shopping further. Further down the page there are sub-headings, which already give a brief introduction to the contents of the form. When the form is opened, I must say that it immediately impresses me. If I was to apply to a shopping bonus card then I would definitely fall for Metrojaya. There are big white headings on a red background indicating what a costumer stands to gain from the use of this card. Also there is a table that briefly shows what a costumer gains when he/she has a certain number of points. Underneath, there is a brief explanation of how the points are awarded and a reference to a telephone number for more information. After that there is a very well laid out section where the applicant is supposed to fill out his personal profile where there is comparatively more space available than in the J-card application form. The information that is asked from the applicant is basically the same as the one mentioned for the J-card above which was name, address, birth date, sex, nationality, religion, and profession details such as amount of monthly income. The information is very clearly set out and it is clear to the applicant what information is required off him/her. The form was also designed for the readers convenience with a moderate use of extended vocabulary. In the back of the form there are the terms and conditions, which are set out in bullet points and furthermore are very well explained and clear. In addition there is a small section dedicated to the advertisement of some shops enclosed within the Metrojaya chain. Overall, I think this form is very well presented and attractive however it lacks further explanations to how the card works. It really succeeds in attracting someones attention by its colourful attire. The information it contains and what the form requires the applicant to do is very clear and comprehensive. The layout of the various sections of the form is very good as well. The designer has accurately used different colours to emphasize the various importance of certain headings or slogans. I also think that the vocabulary used is appropriate because although professional it is not very demanding. Citibank Citibank Credit Card Application Form Citibank is fairly popular in Malaysia. Their slogan Citibank Where money lives can be found at the bottom of the form I managed to acquire. Personally, I think that their slogan is very strong and self-explanatory. Inside there is a vast number of information arranged in a fairly clear way and presented in three languages. There is a section in Malay, Chinese and English. This, I think, has something to do with the fact that Malaysia is a multiracial country and presumably the establishment is trying to attract as many customers as possible by creating a form that is to their convenience. The information asked from the applicant is personalised again and concentrates on things such as name, contact address and telephone/handphone number. Furthermore, Citibank asks for details about the applicants job and also about the monthly income of people, their marital status and whether their residence is owned or rented. Also, in case the applicant is married, the bank would like to know details about the spouse. Finally, the form asks for emergency contact details, the types of accounts the client has and there is also a section about the appliance for a supplementary card. After the personal details are complete, the client is required to read a series of information and agreements and then sign a declaration. The bank has also added a section where their clients can apply for a card with photo-identification if preferred. It wants applicants to enclose documents such as a copy of the IC or passport, a copy of ones international charge or credit card and the latest two months card charges statements. At the back, there are the terms and conditions, which are explained briefly and the bank also provided a short section, which explains how the card works and where it can be used. Furthermore, and as a means of publicity and wanting to attract the publics attention, the designer has enclosed a section where the bank is advertising the Handspring Visor Platinum, an electronic pocket size organiser. It is said that each new subscriber to the card will receive one free and people who already have a card can buy one at a special privilege price. This device is also included on the front page of the form where there is a picture showing a person using one and other persons looking at him with surprise. To sum up I think that the form as a whole is fairly well laid out thinking of the vast array of information that is asked from the client. However, there is too little space for applicants to write down their personal information. In general, though, it has a fairly clear set out and it is easy to understand. The form indicates formality to some extent by using extended but clear vocabulary. Just like in the Jusco and Metrojaya forms, the information it asks from the clients is rather personal but required in far more detail. The scale to which the form attracts attention is fairly high. The front page, along with the advertising in picture form is somehow eye catching and the fact that something can be received when applying to this card is very appealing to most people. Inside, however, formalitys presence can be strongly noticed.

The Mathematical Mystery Behind Sudoku Mathematics Essay

The Mathematical Mystery Behind Sudoku Mathematics Essay Puzzle games can be very enjoyable and is popular amongst kids as well as adults. Many of you may know the game Sudoku; where by the goal of the game is to fill in the remaining empty cells with each number from 1-9 appearing no more than once from each column, each row and each of the nine sub-grids. Sudoku is a type of logic-based numerical puzzle game that has a unique solution once completed. The most common form of a Sudoku is constructed as a 99 grid with nine 33 sub-grids and is primarily partially completed. Sudoku has become appealing among puzzle enthusiasts and involves complex thinking and practice. Available daily in newspapers, mobiles and many more, this addictive and brain-teasing puzzle game has become one of the most popular games to play since the time of the Rubiks cube. This dissertation discusses the mathematical side involved in Sudoku. There is no mathematics in actually solving a Sudoku but more of how it is used from a creators side. The 99 grid will be considered in the majority of the report; however a glimpse into other size grids will be discussed briefly also known as variants. Mathematicians have been questioning How many unique solutions are there in a Sudoku? Essentially meaning what are the possible ways of filling in an empty Sudoku grid so that each row, column and sub-grid contains the numbers 1 through 9. Your first thought of an answer may be a couple of thousands, but as you understand the concepts behind a Sudoku, you begin to grasp a whole new aspect. Combinatorics and permutation group theory are largely interwoven with analysing Sudoku. For that reason, I aim to explore these theories and understand how it applies to the methods of enumerating Sudoku grids. In particular I will be looking at Felgenhauer and Jarviss approach to enumerating all possible Sudoku grids where they employ several mathematical concepts. Furthermore I will uncover the importance of Latin squares and its use of constructing Sudokus. There are many constraints in regards to when are similar solutions considered different such as solutions of similar structure, symmetry etc. Preserving symmetries are known as relabeling symbols, band permutations, reflection, transposition and rotation. Burnsides Lemma theorem is one of their techniques in computing the number of essentially different solutions. Many difficult problems are of the type called nondeterministic-polynomial known as an NP-complete problem. This will direct me onto the debate on whether Sudoku is an NP-complete problem. Sudokus can take many forms and shapes. These are called Sudoku variants and consist of rectangular regions, Sudokus with a large region having no clues (numbers), an empty row, column or sub-grid and many more! Here I will research the logic behind irregular Sudokus as well as examining any occurring patterns or whether it has occurred by chance. 1.2 Latin squares and Sudoku Sudoku is also a special case of Latin squares. The Swiss mathematician, Leonhard Euler made many fundamental discoveries during 1782 including Latin squares. A Latin square is an N x N matrix where by a set of N characters are arranged such that each row and column contains one of each character. This is also in the case of a Sudoku, when complete, with an additional constraint that the nine sub-grids must hold the numbers 1-9. A reduction can be made to any Latin square by permuting the rows and columns. This arrangement is an aspect of combinatorics and is most commonly referred to as enumeration. Enumerative combinatorics is a classic area of Combinatorics and involves counting the number of infinite class of finite sets. Counting combinations and counting permutations are two of the most common forms. The number of valid Latin squares is known to be approximately 5.525 x 10 ²Ãƒ ¢Ã‚ Ã‚ ·. Write about Colbourns proof 1.3 Combinatorics and Permutation group theory Combinations and permutations have slightly different meaning. Combinations are the number of different ways of selecting n objects from a set but the order of events is not important. From a set of 3 objects, lets call these 1, 2 and 3. If for example I was asked to pick the number of ways of selecting 2 objects out of the 3, there would be three combinations 12, 23 and 13. 12 = 21 since the order of each pair is not important. A permutation on the other hand does consider the position. Therefore if I was to use the above example, there would be six permutations. A simpler way to calculate a larger set would be to use formula 1: Formula 1. = = Where is the combination formula, is the permutation formula, n is the total number of objects and r is the number to be arranged Both methods are one way of computing the number of possible Sudoku solutions and this will be looked at later in the report. Chapter 2 Enumerating possible Sudoku solutions 2.1 Distinct Sudoku solutions There are many approaches to enumerating possible Sudoku solutions. To enumerate every possible Sudoku solution, a Sudoku differs from another if they are not identical. Thus all solutions will be consider unless they are like for like. Felgenhauer and Jarvis was the first to enumerate the Sudoku grid solutions directly in 2005. There approach was to analyze the permutations of the top row used in valid solutions. Their knowledge of the complexity in computing the number of Latin squares has made them aware of how they should go about getting an answer with fewer computations. Hence by using relabeling this could shorten the number of counts. To make it easier, each sub-grid is given an abbreviation seen in figure 3. B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 B7 B8 B9 Figure 1. Abbreviated sub-grid with top band (Felgenhauer and Jarvis, 2006) Firstly they consider every solution to filling in blocks B2, B3, given that B1 is in standard form. To work out every possible way of arranging B1 on its own would essentially be computing the number of permutations of 9 symbols. There are 9! of filling in B1. The main operation they use is called relabeling. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Figure 2. B1 in standard form (Felgenhauer and Jarvis, 2006) Felgenhauer and Jarvis have found that B2 and B3 is the same as the transpose of B2 and B3. Therefore the number of ways of arranging B1, B2 and B3 and B1, B2 and B3 to a complete grid is equally the same. This means that computing one set of possibilities will cut down the number of solutions. Inevitably, there are few pairs of B2 and B3 that needs to be worked out and as well as using reduction the number of possibilities for the top band of a Sudoku grid is 9! x 2612736 = 948109639680. The next section involves brute force computation. As running through all 2612736 possibilities would be exceedingly tedious for B2 and B3, Felgenhauer and Jarvis attempts to identify configurations of the numbers in these blocks which give the same number of ways of completing to a full grid. This in return, will cut down the number possibilities. Permuting B2 and B3 in every way such that the result gives a unique solution will preserve the number of complete grids. This is the same for B5 and B6, and B8 and B9. However this changes B1 from its standard form, so an additional relabeling of B1 needs to be performed. Another approach to reducing the number of possibilities is to permute the columns in each block and permute the rows of any block. Reducing the number of possible ways by permuting. Lexicographical reduction Permutation reduction Column reduction As a result of these methods, Felgenhauer and Jarvis have found that there are approximately 6670903752021072936960 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‹â€  6.671 x 10 ²Ã‚ ¹ Sudoku solutions. In light of this result, there are fewer solutions than Latin squares due to the fact that there is that extra restriction of 9 sub-grids. That being said, there will be no shortage of Sudoku puzzles any time soon. Verification of this result has been confirmed by several other mathematicians Ed Russell to be more precise. 2.2 Essentially different Sudoku grids Whether symmetrical Sudoku grids are considered as two separate solutions is another method of enumerating the possible solutions. In this case, the only solutions are ones that are essentially different. Lets say two Sudoku grids are equivalent if one is a transformation of the other by applying any number of symmetries. If however, no such chain of symmetries can occur between two grids, it is essentially different. Two Sudoku grids are the same provided the first grid can be converted to the second by applying some sort of symmetry. For instance, take figure 3 4 below; the set of 3s in the first grid can be interchanged by the placements of the set of 1s, effectively producing the second grid. 1 7 2 8 6 4 9 3 5 4 9 3 5 1 7 2 8 6 6 5 8 2 9 3 1 7 4 2 4 7 3 5 9 6 1 8 8 6 5 1 7 2 3 4 9 3 1 9 4 8 6 5 2 7 5 8 6 7 2 1 4 9 3 9 2 4 6 3 8 7 5 1 7 3 1 9 4 5 8 6 2 Figure 3. Valid Sudoku grid 3 7 2 8 6 4 9 1 5 4 9 1 5 3 7 2 8 6 6 5 8 2 9 1 3 7 4 2 4 7 1 5 9 6 3 8 8 6 5 3 7 2 1 4 9 1 3 9 4 8 6 5 2 7 5 8 6 7 2 3 4 9 1 9 2 4 6 1 8 7 5 3 7 1 3 9 4 5 8 6 2 Figure 4. Another valid Sudoku grid from Figure 1 As well as this, a solution is said to be the same as another if any two columns or rows are swapped. The first column and second column in figure 3 can be exchanged to give figure 5. The two solutions are said to be symmetrical because the transformation still produces a valid Sudoku grid. 7 3 2 8 6 4 9 1 5 9 4 1 5 3 7 2 8 6 5 6 8 2 9 1 3 7 4 4 2 7 1 5 9 6 3 8 6 8 5 3 7 2 1 4 9 3 1 9 4 8 6 5 2 7 8 5 6 7 2 3 4 9 1 2 9 4 6 1 8 7 5 3 1 7 3 9 4 5 8 6 2 Figure 5. First and second column swapped from Figure 1. Another form of symmetries includes rotational grids. A rotation of Figure 3 by 90 degrees generates a new valid Sudoku grid shown in Figure 6. 7 9 5 3 8 2 6 4 1 3 2 8 1 6 4 5 9 7 1 4 6 9 5 7 8 3 2 9 6 7 4 1 3 2 5 8 4 3 2 8 7 5 9 1 6 5 8 1 6 2 9 3 7 4 8 7 4 5 3 6 1 2 9 6 5 9 2 4 1 7 8 3 2 1 3 7 9 8 4 6 5 Figure 6. Rotational of 90 degrees from figure 1 These operations performed above maintain the property of it being valid and this is known as symmetries of a grid. When an object is subject to these operations, certain properties are preserved. An example would be if one performs symmetry on to a Sudoku grid and repeats this operation once more, the final transformation is itself symmetric. In addition a symmetrical object can be transformed back to its original state by another form of symmetry. Performing several symmetries on a Sudoku grid can also be achieved by grouping its neighbouring pair. So the first symmetry can be paired with the second or the second can be paired with the third and so on. The resulting transformation is nevertheless the same either way. From these properties, it is inevitable to say that the set of symmetries form a group of any Sudoku grid. A group is a set G if it satisfies the following properties: CLOSURE If f and g are elements of G, then f ·g is also an element of G. ASSOCIATIVITY If f, g, and h are elements of G, then f ·(g ·h)=(f ·g) ·h must satisfy. IDENTITY ELEMENT There is an element e in G such that g ·e=e ·g=g for all g in G. INVERSE For any element g of G, there is another element d of G such that g ·d=d ·g=e, where e is the identity element. (The element d = g-1.) The symmetry group is thus generated by the transformations of: re-labelling the nine digits, permuting the three stacks (3 vertical blocks of a Sudoku), permuting the three bands (3 horizontal blocks of a Sudoku), permuting the three columns within a stack, permuting the three rows within a band, and any reflection or rotation. Any two transformations can be merged to shape other elements and together they comprise of the symmetry group G. Given that any element of G can be mapped so that it takes one grid to another, we can say that the set of valid Sudoku grids has a finite number of elements. Thus G has finitely many symmetries. The association between symmetrical Sudoku grids are in fact an equivalence relation and satisfies the following three properties: for grids A, B and C in set G Reflexivity A = A Symmetry If A = B then B = A Transitivity If A = B and B = C then A = C Let A be any valid Sudoku grid, we must consider all the grids that are equivalent to a valid Sudoku grid A. To do this, we firstly have to group together grids that are essentially the same so that we can partition the set of grids. This will break the set of Sudoku grids into subsets, with groups that contain no relating elements within each other. The term subset can be called equivalence classes. This can also be referred to as X/G. In any equivalence class, there are elements that are equivalent to each other by symmetry. The total number of elements in X/G is equal to the number of essential Sudoku grids. To enumerate all essential Sudoku grids, we shall look at all the symmetries neglecting the re-labelling of the nine digits for the time being. The number of distinct symmetries founded by Russell and Jarvis (2006) is said to contain 3359232 (pg 4). In this finite group H, we need to find the average number of grids fixed by an element of H, up to re-labelling. Next we need to verify the number of fixed points of all elements in H. Russell and Jarvis have found that there are 275 classes of symmetries using a software package called GAP. It is interesting to note that some of the elements in H contain equivalent fixed grids. In other words, it is now easier to work out as each of the classes contains one symmetry. However a number of symmetries in H have no fixed points. Subsequently, it is not necessary to calculate the number of fixed grids for those that have no fixed points. That being said, there are only 27 out of 275 classes that contain fixed points, meaning fewer computation s. Rotman. J. J (1995) demonstrate that if X is a finite G-set and |X/G| is the number of G-orbits of X, then Formula 2 holds where, for gцG, X is the number of xцX fixed by g (pg 58-61). Using this notion, we have established that the number of valid Sudoku grids is of a finite set and X/G is the number of essentially different Sudoku grids, so we can obtain the number of essentially different Sudoku grids by using the Burnside Lemma Theorem. Formula 2. Burnside Lemma Theorem (Rotman, 1995) Burnside Lemma Theorem is a useful tool when dealing with symmetry with a set of countable objects. When used to enumerate the essentially different Sudoku grid, the set of equivalent grids form an orbit of the symmetric group. The number orbits are essentially the number of different grid solutions. This may sound slightly (ALOT) trickier to compute, nonetheless Russell and Jarvis have shown that the number of essentially different Sudoku grids is 5,472,730,538 with the implementation of Burnsides Lemma Theorem. Chapter 3 Nondeterministic polynomials 3.1 NP-complete and Sudoku Sudokus may relate to a variety of problems, in particularly, whether Sudoku is an NP-complete problem. It is known that NP-complete problems are one of the most complicated cases in NP, also referred to as nondeterministic-polynomial. Its rival, P problems relates to NP as both being in the same complexity class. Mathematicians have yet to solve whether NP-complete problems can be solved in polynomial time or more commonly whether P = NP. Consequently being one of the greatest unsolved mathematical problems. The majority of computer scientists believe that P à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚   NP, as a result would mean that NP-complete problems are significantly trickier to compute than to verify. Unfortunately, nobody has yet found an efficient algorithm, not even with the use of computers available today. A problem is said to be NP-complete when its solution can be proved in polynomial time. And if that problem can be solved in polynomial time, all problems in NP can be solved too. An interesting characteristic of NP-complete problems is that the time frame to solve the problem increases rapidly as the size of the problem gets larger. If that is the case and Sudokus are NP-complete, solving a Sudoku of higher order (say 17 ² x 17 ²) will become increasingly challenging algorithmically then the standard 3 ² x 3 ² version were talking trillions of years. It has been shown that Sudoku does belong to the category of NPC problems by Takayuki Yato of the Univeristy of Tokyo (2003). An exchange for the notation ASP-completeness (shorthand for Another solution problem), led the proof of NP-completeness of ASP. Their proof uses reduction in order to obtain the required polynomial-time ASP from the problem of Latin squares by Colbourn (1984) who has verified, the NP-completeness of ASP of Latin square completion Another accountable source by Provan states that, It is known that solving general-sized Sudoku puzzles is NP-hard, even for square grids with blocks consisting of the sets of rows and columns (Latin Squares) or for p2 x p2 grids with blocks consisting of rows, columns, and the p2 partitioned p x p subsquares. Mathematical programmes such as the 0-1 linear programming and the knapsack problems are also cases of NP-complete problems. A full list of other problems that are NP-complete can be found in Garey and Johnson (1979). Chapter 4 Sudoku Variants 4.1 Variation The classic form of a 99 Sudoku are polyominoes. There are other variations of Sudokus that can be applied to the rules of Sudoku. There are puzzles of the size 66 with 23 regions or a 1212 grid of 43 regions. More so, there are other fascinating Sudoku variants such as Greater than Sudoku. Chapter 5 Personal Critical Review The progress I have made during the duration of this project, have been fairly slow but surely getting there. Having said this on many occasions, I have still not conquered my time management skills! The project started very slow which meant I was behind schedule. Nevertheless my organisational skills have kept me on balance. The GANT chart has been of great help in doing so. What has kept me going throughout this project in particular would be self discipline and motivation. This project has proven that I am capable of working to my own initiative, but also well within a group; my time during the group project. Furthermore, my time on this project has definitely promoted a better mentality of my future ambitions. I have learnt that it is crucial to read a lot, as well as reading as broadly as I can. This in turn have aided in the running of my project. With other coursework deadlines, I made that a priority and had no time to meet with my supervisor. I understand that meeting with my supervisor is equally important because a supervisor is there to encourage and to advice on any difficult obstacles I may encounter. An area of interest to proof whether NP-complete problems can be solved in polynomial time, was left open as future work. This could be the next step of extending this report that little bit further. Chapter 6 Conclusion A challenging problem for further research is to proof whether NP-complete problems can be solved in polynomial time. This has yet to be solved and anyone who has a formal proof will be rewarded $1 million dollars by The Clay Mathematics Institute.