The Impact of Direct Digital Manufacturing on Supply Chains Essay

The Impact of Direct Digital Manufacturing on Supply Chains - Essay Example Eyebrows are getting raised over the potential of DDM in cutting the demand for logistics services, as products would be manufactured at the place of demand or use. Effect of DDM would be felt in all industry sectors for meeting urgent product needs, providing customized products and parts of products, which were earlier supplied in bulk through the logistics industry. The crucial question before the logistics businesses worldwide is whether DDM would affect the business of logistics industry for transporting goods from one location to another. Naturally future repercussions of the innovation in technology cannot be denied. When customized parts could be accessed from the local DDM in a cost-effective and faster way, who would like to order it through a logistics process? Possibility of getting parts supplied locally becomes more evident for implementing changes in the designs of products. Actually, the risk to logistics business is genuine because no company would like to pay airfre ight for getting a part from abroad when it can be produced locally but the business of DDM depends on innovation in concepts; only genius is not enough. If an idea is good enough, it will take time in proto-typing. 3D printing also requires time to process a concept into a product. It would start a war-like environment for safeguarding intellectual property. Imitators and innovators, both would make attempts to present their products fast to the market (â€Å"3D Printing† par. 27). For getting competitive edge from the given scenario, only those companies would get the leverage that would plan a long-term marketing strategy without considering the profit factor. Delivery of products would demand accuracy of timing in taking the products to the customer locations (â€Å"3D Printing† par. 30). A look at the business growth of DDM can help in evaluating the potential of new technology sweeping the stakes of supply chains. Seeing the latest market trends on manufacturing solid products by 3Dprinters, business in additive manufacturing reached $1.2 billion in 2008 and the possibility is that it could double in size by 2015. For understanding the impact of DDM business on logistics, some crucial data analysis is mandatory such as 75% of the sale of 3D printers has been registered for producing common sort of products while the balanced sale of the 3D printers has been made for producing industrial products. With the approaching time, there would be increase in the sale of cheap 3D printers, which can be to the tune of 90% market as price depreciates and functionality improves of 3D printers. Demand of the DDM machine is increasing not only for model-making and rapid prototyping, but for all types of machines for producing finished products as well (â€Å"A factory on your desk† par. 4). The only difference between the industrial revolution of the 1800s and the seeming-revolution of the future is that the manufacturing industry won’t be a ble to get the benefit of economies of scale that comes with bulk production. Another difference would be seen in the distribution of capital, employment, and intellectual property, thus, indirectly affecting the logistics business as any impact on various industries would get reflected in logistics, affecting its business potential (â€Å"Print me a Stradavarius† par. 9). Have a look at the success story of a U.S. company. Seeing the current status of rapid manufacturing (RM) in the business of making invisible dental braces, U.S. based Invisalign

The Effects of an Ineffective Safety Program Research Paper

The Effects of an Ineffective Safety Program - Research Paper Example Stranks (2010) explains that any organization should take responsibility of its actions. Whether a goods making or service industry, the operations of a business will affect the environment either positively or negatively. The negative effects are the most common due to awareness of labor laws and human rights by the employees. Safety programs cut across almost every type of business or organization be it teaching, service providing or nonprofit making organizations. Its consequences are felt due to the presence of people. A business which practice poor safety measures suffers a big blow in the long run. If the company has poor working conditions, it risks the effect of strikes, vandalism and go slows. Strikes and go slows hinders the organizations operations and profitability at the end of the day. A peaceful environment is easy and cheap to maintain as compared to the costs incurred to solve a dispute (Williams, 2014).The costs incurred to solve organizational disputes may be tremendous involving legal fees, fines and compensation which add up to the company’s cart of losses. The company’s ineffective safety precautions can also cause financial losses due to payment of damages to workers and law suits. Financial losses affect the stakeholders capital share which ruins the company’s net worth and reputation. The company can also be sued by the community if it practices unhygienic waste disposal mechanisms (Cambridge, 2010).The community can also seek an injunction from the court to terminate the existence of the company. These are some of the areas that the companies need to check to avoid sudden interruptions. Manufacturing organizations pose a significant chance of hazards to its employees as compared to service providing companies. This is due to the frequent usage of dangerous machines and equipments. Many manufacturing companies experience a lot of cases regarding partial or physical disability encountered during the line of duty. Under Labor

Changes of several household chemicals Essay Example for Free

Changes of several household chemicals Essay REACTIONS OF SUCROSE WITH WATER AND HEAT Mixture/Solution Process Observations Sand, salt and water none -salt dissolves in water -some san   particles settle at bottom, others float in suspension -mixture is murky Sand, salt and water filtration -residue is sand -filtrate is salt water Salt water evaporation -solute is salt -solvent is water -water evaporates -salt is left in dish -salt is white forming a layer or crust. OBSERVATIONS OF THE MIXTURE AND SEPARATION OF SALT, SAND AND WATER Residue/Solute Observations Sand (residue) -brown color -large and small particle sizes moist -grain-like composition Salt (solute) -white color -tiny particle sizes -particles sticked together to form crust -dry -crystal-like composition COMPARISON OF SALT SOLUTE AND SAND RESIDUE Compound Condition Change Silver Nitrate Dark (locker) None Silver Nitrate. Exposed to light -turned copper brown color -black edges around brown -paper was dry REACTIONS OF SILVER NITRATE IN LIGHT AND DARK CONDITIONS Compounds Change after grinding Change with magnet Iron filings and Sulphur powder poweders mix together turns olive green color iron filings attract to magnet sulphur poweder remains unchanged OBSERVATIONS OF IRON FILINGS AND SULPHUR POWDER AFTER GRINDING AND MAGNET ATTRACTION DISCUSSION: In this lab the physical and chemical properties of given substances were investigated along with the determination of chemical/physical changes observed in certain mixtures. Separating methods were also used to separate certain mixtures. As a result, these three objectives were completed successfully. In the first experiment, a 2cm magnesium ribbon was added to 4ml 3M of hydrochloric acid. The resulting reaction caused the mixture to fizz and dissolved the magnesium strip. This was found to be a chemical change due tot eh fact that an acid (HCl) reacted with a metal (Mg). From the reaction the magnesium dissolved due to the production of hydrogen (white gas visible) in the test tube; moreover, the magnesium was converted into aqueous magnesium chloride and thus no solid was visible after the reaction. The second experiment, in which 2 test tubes were filled with sucrose, one also with water and the other heated, showed two distinct characteristics of table sugar. When water and the sucrose were stirred it was observed that the sucrose molecules dissolved into the water. This physical change occurred due tot eh fact that the sugar, acting as a solute, dissolved into the solvent, water, in turn forming a homogenous mixture that was uniform throughout. Also, the fact that no chemical means is needed to separate such a solution proves that it was a physical change occurring. Secondly, when the sucrose was heated it was observed that after a certain amount of time, the sucrose melted and turned color. This was due tot eh fact that sucrose has a low melting point and it reached this point in the experiment thus causing it to change state. This was seen as a physical change as well due to the fact that the identity of sucrose was not changed chemically, only its state. As the third experiment was conducted, a mixture of sand, salt and water was combined and separated to observe any sort of change. When the three substances were combined it was found that the salt dissolved in the water while the sand remained the same. The salt again, acted as a solute and the water as a solvent thus producing a homogenous solution and a physical change in the salt; however, because the sand did not dissolve into the water, it was concluded that the sand particles floating in the water formed a suspension (mixture in which each substance keeps its own identity and characteristics). When filtration was performed the sand was left on the filter paper a residue while the filtrate of salt water was found in the beaker. The sand particles were too large to fit in the spaces of the filter paper and thus could not pass into the beaker, but the filtrate of salt and water, because it was a liquid solution, it passed with ease. After evaporation was complete, the solvent was evaporated and only the salt was left in the dish. This was so because the water had a lower boiling point that salt and thus evaporated into the atmosphere and left the salt to collect in the dish. This was found to be another physical change due tot eh fact that salt was returned to its original state. The next experiment involved the reaction of silver nitrate with both light and dark conditions. The silver nitrate in the dark did not show any change at all, but the one exposed to sunlight showed significant chemical change. The fact that it turned copper brown and black edges proved that silver nitrate is very sensitive to light. Because the light hit the silver nitrate it reacted with positive silver ions reducing them to silver metal. This caused the darkened areas on the paper that were observed. Lastly, when iron filings and sulphur powder were mixed it produced an olive green powder. This physical change occurred due to the fact that there was no reaction between sulphur and iron filings thus both remained unchanged but mixed. When the magnet was passed over the powder all iron filings, due to their metallic attraction to magnetic fields, all iron filings attached themselves to the magnet leaving only sulphur powder again. Sources of error may have included the fact that the wafting of certain substances for odors were faulty in the view that the scent was so mild it could not be detected easily with olfactory senses; moreover the actual process or reaction of silver nitrate with light was not observed in step by step detail resulting in some uncertainty or poor clarity in results. Nevertheless, the conclusions were reliable due to the fact that each experiment was carried out in a systematic and precise way. Also, the fact that all results matched theoretic values and prior knowledge of the reactions occurring proved their acceptability in the lab. CONCLUSION: All objectives were achieved successfully as several experiments were conducted to prove their reactions and changes. The first reaction with baking soda and vinegar was a chemical change due to the fact that the solution fizzed forming a new one and gas evolved thus outing the splint. The second reaction of HCl and Mg was chemical as well because magnesium dissolved and hydrogen gas evolved (both results of a chemical reaction between magnesium and HCl). The third conclusion drawn was the fact that sucrose mixed with water was a physical change. This was so because even though the sucrose dissolved it did not change chemically and could have been separated from the water back to its original form; moreover, when sucrose was heated it was another physical change as it changed state but remained the same compound, sucrose. Physical changes were also observed in the sand, salt and water mixture. The salt was ultimately extracted from the water through evaporation proving it was a physical change. After this, when the silver nitrate was placed in the sunlight a chemical change occurred as light reacted with silver ions thus changing the color of silver nitrate. Lastly, a final physical change was observed in the grinding of iron filings and sulphur powder because when the magnet attracted iron filings it showed that the iron did not change its identity but only mixed in with the sulphur powder. Anuar Flores CHE 124-1 Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Patterns of Behaviour section.

History Of The William Colgate Company

History Of The William Colgate Company William Colgate Company was started in 1806. William Colgate was a maker of soap and candle by himself. The firm began selling bars in regular weights in the 1840s. The company was well-run as Colgate Company under the managing of his son, Samuel Colgate after the death of William Colgate. His son Colgate introduced a perfumed soap in 1872, by the name of Cashmere Bouquet and then in 1873 the firm introduced toothpaste, aromatic toothpaste sold in jars. In 1908 they initiated mass selling of toothpaste in tubes. In 1898, In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the B.J. Johnson Company was manufacturing a soap wholly of palm and olive oil, the technique of which was urbanized by B.J. Johnson. The soap was well-liked a sufficient amount to rename their corporation after it Palmolive. At the go round of the century Palmolive, which enclosed both palm and olive oils, was the worlds best-selling soap. A Kansas based soap manufacturer known as the Peet Brothers merged with Palmolive to become Palmolive-Peet. In 1928, Palmolive-Peet bought the Colgate Company to generate the Colgate-Palmolive-Peet Company. In 1953 Peet was dropped from the label, send-off only Colgate-Palmolive Company, the existing name. Colgate-Palmolive has extended been in fierce opposition with Procter Gamble, the worlds largest soap and detergent maker. PG introduced its Tide laundry detergent shortly after World War II, and thousands of consumers turned from Colgates soaps. When PG started putting fluoride in its toothpaste after that the Colgate lost its figure one place in the toothpaste market. In the commencement of television, Colgate-Palmolive wished to compete with Procter Gamble as a sponsor of soap operas. The company sponsored many events in part; they were for the most part famous for being the full sponsor of the entertainment in installments The Doctors. George Henry Leach was president, CEO, and chairman of the board of Colgate-Palmolive in the 1960s and 1970s, and during that time transformed it into a modern company with major restructuring. In 2006, Colgate-Palmolive announced the intended acquisition of Toms of Maine, a leading maker of natural toothpaste, for US $100M. Toms of Maine was founded by Tom Chappell in 1970. Today, Colgate has frequent subsidiary organizations with a leg on each side of 200 countries, but it is publicly scheduled in only two, the United States and India. The company built a status around the world as a successful company with the highest moral values. all the way through alive our values of Caring, Global Teamwork, and Continuous perfection, and adhering to the uppermost principles of honesty, admiration, and concern for the environment, we seek to: make available safe and quality products of value to consumers raise shareholder value Offer opportunities for personal and professional growth to all Colgate people Fulfill our corporate social responsibilities as a member of the global community Products: Around the world, people like you trust our family of brands to care for the ones they love. Toothbrushes and toothpastes to bar soap, household cleaners, every day our products get better the quality of life for consumers global. Toothpastes Sparkle Tooth Brushes New Palmolive Naturals Azadi Carbolic Soap Protex Max Bar Azadi Dish Bar Max Scourers Max Liquid Max Antibacterial Brite Total Express Power Bonus Colgate-Palmolives Mission Statement Our three fundamental values-Caring, Global Teamwork and Continuous Improvement-are part of everything we do. Caring The Company cares about people: Colgate people, customers, shareholders and business partners. Colgate is committed to act with compassion, integrity and honesty in all situations, to listen with respect to others and to value differences. The Company is also committed to protect the global environment and to enhance the communities where Colgate people live and work. Global Teamwork All Colgate people are part of a global team, committed to working together across countries and throughout the world. Only by sharing ideas, technologies and talents can the Company achieve and sustain profitable growth. Continuous Improvement Colgate is committed to getting better every day in all it does, as individuals and as teams. By better understanding consumers and customers expectations and continuously working to innovate and improve products, services and processes, Colgate will become the best. EXTERNAL FACTORS EFFECTIVE CHANGE: The weighted score of the EFE matrix comes out to be 2.67 which show that Colgate can take advantage of the profitable opportunities that the market is offering, to overcome the external threats. The highest weights in the external opportunities are given to new product development and the implementation of ERP which means automated system for supply chain management. Colgate is not yet into a large variety of personal care products and since people are becoming more fashion and hygiene conscious these days Colgate can enter into a much profitable market of products categories like shampoo, face wash, body wash, liquid hand wash, shower gel etc. Its major rivals in the personal care category namely Unilever and Lux are already manufacturing these products but Colgate with its large capital base can enter these markets easily and can increase the length of their Personal Care product line and become more profitable. The other major opportunity is that Colgate can fully automate their supply chain. Colgate is in fact planning to take advantage of this opportunity and is pursuing a strategy by the name of ERP (SAP) which will make whole supply chain automated. All local and foreign suppliers of Colgate will have their systems integrated with the Companys MIS (Management Information System) where they can take orders, check inventory levels, bargain prices. Awareness among the rural population has also increased over the past decade and some part of the population is shifting from miswak and home-made cleaning soaps to tooth pastes liquid and powdered soaps. There is also a large gap in the tooth brush market which means that Colgate Palmolive is far ahead in the tooth brush market as compared to its major rivals and can further increase this gap with more innovations. The major threat to the company is the increasing prices of raw material and energy which is mainly due to the inflation in the country. The suppliers are constantly demanding price increases and the company has to negotiate prices with them on a regular basis. Moreover the energy and fuel prices are also rising, as a result of which Colgate has to bear high cost of operations. Being a low-cost producer, it is a major threat to the company. Apart from this, the political situations are also causing major threats to the company. Post December 27, 2008 80% of Colgate factories in Kotri were burnt out which caused huge losses to the company. INERNAL FACTOR FOR EFFECTIVE CHANGE: The weighted score from the IFE comes out to be 2.96 which shows that the company has enormous strengthens to overcome its weaknesses. The highest weightage is given to the biggest strength that Colgate has, which is, that it is the market leader in Surface care category with 90% market share. Besides that it has cooling crystal patent in its tooth pastes as no other brand has cooling crystal ingredients in its tooth pastes. This particular strength gives it a competitive advantage over its close rivals like Medicam and English toothpaste (Filicetti, John). Another major strength of Colgate Palmolive is its good leadership that has been contributing to the companys success. The strategic objectives of the company are clearly defined and communicated throughout the company. Employees commitment is also a major contributing factor, there are no layoffs and people are committed to working hard consistently. Moreover, with high profits they pay their employees good salaries too and also carry out training programs at different managerial levels. Despite the current economic threats Colgate has managed to keep its share price at an above average level in the industry. Currently its share is trading in the market at Rs. 850. The major weakness of Colgate is that it is not utilizing IT Systems to the optimum level. In this fast moving world, with cut-throat competition it is a major weakness of a company which does not have proper MIS systems installed. It doesnt have a separate IT department either. Besides that there are no e-commerce facilities available to customers who buy in bulk. Another weakness is that Colgate Palmolive is not exporting its products to other countries. Colgate has subsidiaries in many countries but they are more profitable than CP because they export to other countries. If CP overcomes this weakness and start exporting to even in just a few countries it can earn high margins (Filicetti, John). PRIMARY ACTIVITIES COST INBOUND LOGISTICS: CP has efficient MIS systems that link their suppliers raw material with the firm production processes (Moore, E.R). OPERATIONS: CP has efficient plants installed that reduce manufacturing costs. Previously they had machines that used to take one day to switch from the manufacturing of one kind of product to the other. But currently the plants and machines that they have are much more cost effective and efficient. It takes only 30 minutes to switch from one product ma manufacturing to the other (Moore, E.R). DISTRIBUTION AND OUTBOUND LOGISTICS: CP has accurate and responsive order processing procedures. The delivery of raw material to the manufacturers and the delivery of final products to the various departmental stores like Aghas, Makro, Naheed etc is made on time (Moore, E.R). SALES AND MARKETING: CP has a highly trained sales force. They carry out various awareness programs in which they visit different localities with their sales team along with doctors who make people and especially children ( incase of Oral care products ), aware of the importance of hygiene. In this way CP has always strive to improve the quality of life. There products are not priced very high. Products are priced in a way that generates sales volume. CP spends a lot on advertising and television commercials (Sergiovanni, T.J). SERVICES: CP provides a help desk to its customers. They can write their comments and complaints directly to the colgate Palmolive. Colgate usually offers a free medical checkup for all at various schools, exhibitions and hospitals. CP is thus performing corporate socially responsibility (Moore, E.R) support activities and cost FIRM INFRASTRUCTURE: CP has a professional and strong infrastructure. Every manager in various department has to report to the GM of his department and the GM then report to the director. M.D is the person who is the head of the colgate Palmolive. The firm processes are made in such a way that it has helped the company to reduce its cost. Employee commitement has always been there. The culture is adaptive and professional. CP has a strong relationship with its suppliers (Moore, E.R). HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT: CP value their employees commitment. Thats why they dont have any layoffs. Their employees are loyal to the company. They carry out training programs that further groom employees. CP also conducts management trainee programs in which they recruit fresh graduates and provide them training in almost all departments so as to make that individual well familiar with the organization (Sergiovanni, T.J). TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT: CP has investments in technologies but they still need to automate their supply chain in order to become more cost effective. Apart from that they are also not utilizing E-commerce facilities to the optimum level which can give them a huge cost reduction (Moore, E.R). PROCUREMENT: CP has systems and procedures installed through which they contact their local and foreign suppliers who are all CP Approved. They negotiate prices and place orders through these systems (Moore, E.R). COLGATE PALMOLIVES LOW-COST PROVIDER STARTEGY: CP has a large and efficient distribution network. Its distribution channels are located all over Pakistan (Moore, E.R) It caters to a broad customer base. It has developed itself in almost all the categories which are associated with customers on the daily basis. Colgate pursues low cost strategy. Its plant is automated. Only one plant is used for the manufacturing of three different detergents like bonus, express, brite The whole process is repeated for each of the detergent. By automating the plant, CP is able to save a lot of cost. CP value delivery network does not have any delays in it which helps CP to save cost. CP targets all segment, it has products for the lower class, middle class and the upper class. Its pricing is done accordingly. It has cost leadership in the detergent and the surface care category CP forecasting is very accurate which helps them to reduce cost because if estimated are accurate then it helps the company to avail cost advantages CP is allowed to deviate only 5% from its forecast both upwards and downwards CP has concentrated more on process efficiencies CP has access to large capital that is required to make significant investment. CP never compromises on the development expenditure. It is always ready to improve its production processes. Being a low cost producer it helps CP to better compete to its rivals. Being the low cost producer it has helped CP to insulate themselves from powerful suppliers who nowadays demand increasing prices due to rising inflation. Being he low cost producer, it has also helped to attract powerful buyers whom CP sells directly like MAKRO, DMART, IMITAZ, AGHAS, and NAHEED etc (Moore, E.R). Economic Factor The overall economy of the country is showing a stable growth. Therefore this industry is also showing a growth of 10%. But the inflation is growing rapidly which is not a good sign for the new entrants. Change in the interest rate also affects the industry. Hence the new entrants are also threatened by the increasing interest rates. Economic factors do influence the bargaining power of buyers as inflation is the major factor that is affecting the consumers hard. Economic factors do not affect the availability of substitutes. But since inflation is growing, so it is hard for the poor people to switch to more modern products like washing powder, tooth paste. They would rather prefer oil to clean their clothes and use miswak to brush their teeth. Economic factors do have an affect on the bargaining power of suppliers as inflation is rising fast. Suppliers demand that they would provide the necessary raw material at a higher price. Exchange rate fluctuations also affect the cost of raw material. Economic factors do affect the rivalry among the competitors as all the players in the industry want to have cost leadership. The economic factors are favoring intense competition from the last five years. People have more money at their disposal. Also Pakistan is a consumption oriented society (Hiatt, Jeff.). Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM) STRATEGY 1 STRATEGY 2 Weights AS TAS AS TAS STRENGTHS Market leader in surface care with 90% market share 0.15 Good Leadership 0.06 Employee commitment 0.12 3 0.36 2 0.24 Cooling crystal patent 0.1 Accurate forecast with respect to demand 0.07 4 0.28 2 0.14 High EPS 0.08 3 0.24 2 0.16 Strong advertisement and promotional campaign 0.08 2 0.16 3 0.24 WEAKNESSES IT not used optimally 0.13 4 0.52 2 0.26 No ecommerce 0.1 3 0.3 2 0.26 No proper use of forward integration 0.05 2 0.1 3 0.15 They are not exporting their products to other countries 0.06 1 OPPORTUNITIES Exploring into new categories like shampoo, hand wash , body wash, shower gel 0.14 2 0.28 4 0.56 Rural population switching from miswak to toothpaste 0.06 Gap in tooth brush market 0.08 2 0.16 3 0.24 Implementation of ERP(SAP) 0.14 4 0.56 2 0.28 People becoming hygiene and beauty conscious 0.1 2 0.2 3 0.3 No layoffs 0.07 THREATS(T) Raw material and energy prices are increasing 0.12 3 0.36 2 0.24 Inflation in the country 0.07 3 0.21 2 0.14 Competitors re launching their products 0.1 2 0.2 3 0.3 Competitors increasing their marketing budgets 0.06 2 0.12 3 0.18 Unstable law and order conditions. 0.06 1 TOTAL 4.05 3.69 Rivalry among existing competitors Yes (+) No (-) The industry is growing rapidly. à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ The industry is not cyclical with intermittent overcapacity. à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ The fixed costs of the business are relatively low portion of total costs. à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ There are significant product differences and brand identities between the competitors. à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ The competitors are diversified rather than specialized. à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ It would not be hard to get out of this business because there are no specialized skills and facilities or long-term contract commitments etc. à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ My customers would incur significant costs in switching to a competitor. à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ My product is complex and requires a detailed understanding on the part of my customer. à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ My competitors are all of approximately the same size as I am. à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ INTERPRETATION: Threat of competitors is high because the product is not unique as there are no product differences. Same products are available with all competitors like Unilever, Procter and Gamble, Shield, Oral B. Therefore rivalry is also increasing as demand in the economy has also increased for the last 5 to years. Majority of the competitors are MNCs which means that they have the necessary resource and skill (Hiatt, Jeff). Government Factors: Government regulations do have an affect on the rivalry among the competitors. Political factors: Political factors do not affect the rivalry among the competitors Economic factors Economic factors do affect the rivalry among the competitors as all the players in the industry want to have cost leadership. The economic factors are favoring intense competition from the last five years. People have more money at their disposal. Also Pakistan is a consumption oriented society (Hiatt, Jeff). Social trends Social trends have changed, buyer are more aware of their purchases. So the players in the industry are always trying hard to increase their market share (Hiatt, Jeff). Technological change Technology is helping the companies to gain a competitive advantage over their rivals. Also research and development plays an important role in this (Hiatt, Jeff). KEY SUCCESS ACTORS FOR COMPETIVE SUCCESS Low cost production efficiency. CP has plants installed that take only 30 minutes for the plant to shift from the production of one product to the other. High quality manufacturing of products with very few defects. A strong network of wholesale distributors. Gaining ample space on retailer shelves. (Examples Naheed, Aghas, Makro and other small shops.) Attractive packaging and styling. Good length of product lines. Attractive commercials and advertising. Good reputation in the industry along with favorable reputation with buyers. Market penetration Colgate can do market penetration by increasing its advertising, people always associate Colgate with tooth paste and have no awareness that it produces personal and surface care products as well. They should show their logo on all its products so that people know the producers and this will increase customer loyalty and also when people will come to know that Colgate is the producer then new customers will also buy the product (Hiatt, Jeff). They should also increase their promotion efforts by going to school and doing health awareness programs, also they should go to residential areas and make women aware of their surface care and fabric care products such as max, bonus and express etc Product development: Colgate can also do product development by introducing new features in their already existing brands. They can improve their tooth brush quality and features by introducing flexi tooth brushes for special oral care. Also they can introduce whitening features in their feature in their tooth paste; different colors of tooth paste can also be introduced to attract the kinds market. In their fabric care they can introduce in special features of protecting the color of the cloth while washing and also whitening enhancing surfs to give a good shine to while clothes (Hiatt, Jeff). develop systems to involve appropriate stakeholders in the introduction of change SIX THINGS REQUIRED TO EFFECTIVELY IMPLEMENTING A STRATEGY According to Porter, to implement a strategy effectively six things should be followed: Create a formal plan: Distributor Quantity Item Price Negotiation, Inventory Reporting, Stock Details, Payment Terms HR Module Inventory / Store Create a multifunctional team: To effectively implement ERP, Colgate must first hire an independent resource firm. Acquire licensing for SAP Implementation. Establish an independent IT unit for the monitoring of ERP. This department will coordinate with all the other departments (Robbins S, Mukerji). Communication of strategy: inside and outside: All employees in the company should be made aware of the new automated system. Each employee must be provided a minimal insight of SAP but those employees who have to work on SAP the most should ofcourse be provided with proper training course of SAP. These include: Factory Manager Manager accounts Warehouse Manager Distribution team Consumer insight department Outside the company the strategy to implement ERP should be communicated properly to all the local and foreign suppliers of Colgate Palmolive (Hagberg). Consistency over time: As Information Technology is progressing day by day, new changes in ERP are expected after certain time periods. Therefore it would become very important for Colgate to cope up with the changes in the software. For this purpose it would need to update it employees by providing training whenever any change takes place in SAP (Hagberg). Use proper measurements: Other measures, not just financial measures would be required to test whether the system is working properly. These measures include: Whether the system is accurately forecasting demand, sales, price changes Whether or not there are any deviations in the actual versus projected sales Effectiveness of the internal processes after the strategy implementation (Robbins S, Mukerji). Test the strategy: Ask employees and senior management in all departments whether they are satisfied with the new system of working. Talk to suppliers and distributors whether they want any more improvements in the new system of working (Hagberg). KEY DRIVING FORCES Industry growth: Now most of the people have knowledge about the different products and its advantages. The intense competition in industry and high demand enables the new entrants to compete in this market (Hagberg). Product innovation: Innovation in product, as Colgate has just introduced Max fresh in which the coolant crystals are present which none of the competitors has adopted yet. There is also room in innovation in washing detergents (Hagberg). Changing societal concerns, attitudes and lifestyle: Since social issues are really effecting the use of product just like the use of Miswak which is the Islamic mode of cleaning the teeth (Hagberg). Use of E-commerce and Internet: Usage of online ordering and maintaining the stock level through e-commerce can be driving force in the industry. By using that they can provide products to customer which is value addition for them (Hagberg). This report is purely based on the finding from the Colgate expert and the secondary data analysis, and the reason for writing the whole report is to find the obstacle / hindrance a business men face and how the organization can minimize it through implementing the different strategies and analysis. The whole report research draws attention to  the fact that any problem can be eliminate if proper investigation and consideration can be observed the success is easy to get, Pakistan market is mature market and the competition is tough here because most of the customer is price conscious and act like butterflies, so targeting this kind of customer is quite difficult, but on the other hand it can be managed if the you can understand the market effectively and efficiently (Robbins S, Mukerji). Hiatt, Jeff. HYPERLINK http://www.change-management.com/tutorial-definition-history.htmThe definition and history of change managementHYPERLINK http://www.change-management.com/tutorial-definition-history.htm. http://www.change-management.com/tutorial-definition-history.htm. Filicetti, John (August 20, 2007). HYPERLINK http://www.pmhut.com/pmo-and-project-management-dictionaryProject Management DictionaryHYPERLINK http://www.pmhut.com/pmo-and-project-management-dictionary Moore, E.R., (accessed 1 April, 2001), Creating Organizational Cultures: An Ethnographic Study, Eastern Academy of Management Virtual Proceedings, Moore, E.R., (accessed 1 April, 2001), Creating Organizational Cultures: An Ethnographic Study, Eastern Academy of Management Virtual Proceedings, , R. Ph.D. Heifetz, D.Ph., 2000 (accessed 4 April, 2001), Corporate HagbergCulture/Organisational Culture: UnderJerryding and Assessment, Robbins S, Mukerji D (1994). Managing organisations. Prentice Hall of Australia, McPhersons Printing Group, Australia. Sergiovanni, T.J. (1984) Educational Leadership, Leadership and excellence in schooling, Volume 41, Number 5, United States of America, page 4-13 Kent State University 2000 (accessed 28thMarch, 2001), Kent State University Cultural Self-Study Internal Communication of Change By Dagmar Recklies Circling the Pyramid Building Lasting Commitment to Change  Ã‚   (pdf-file) by Edmond Mellina What Makes a Good Change Agent? by Dagmar Recklies The Role of the Change Master From Change Agent to HYPERLINK http://www.themanager.org/Strategy/Change Master.htmHYPERLINK http://www.themanager.org/Strategy/Change Master.htmChange MasterHYPERLINK http://www.themanager.org/Strategy/Change Master.htm By Ruth Tearle Managing Change Definition and Phases in Change Processes by Oliver Recklies Problems in Managing Change by Oliver Recklies AuditNet.org provides a downloadable PDF of change management best practices. Fred Nickols wrote HYPERLINK http://home.att.net/~nickols/change.htmHYPERLINK http://home.att.net/~nickols/change.htmChange Management 101: A Primer.HYPERLINK http://home.att.net/~nickols/change.htm SearchCRM.com provides resources on handling change management following a CRM upgrade. Neglecting your change control process can kill an IT disaster recovery plan.

Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness :: Essays Papers

Heart of Darkness â€Å"A Worn Path† is a story of an old woman’s enduring courage, and strength, despite scores of obstacles. It begins on a â€Å"bright frozen day in the early morning.† Phoenix Jackson is making a strenuous journey across a wintry countryside to acquire medicine for her grandson who is chronically ill. She was â€Å"very old and small and/she carried a thin small cane made from an umbrella.† This clearly shows the reader that she is not suited for this arduous excursion. However, she has made the same trip a countless amount of times. The author uses Phoenix’s story to represent a journey of life. Her unwillingness to immediately reveal the purpose of the journey allows the reader to interpret this as a general journey without a specific purpose, just as life is often referred to as a journey whose reason is unknown. The obstacles she runs across in her travels represent the problems that one might have to face in life. Welty wants the reader to focus on Phoenix, her journey, and the obstacles that get in her way; because it is through the story of this journey that the author coveys her message, showing Phoenix’s sheer will and determination to endure, no matter what hardship presents itself to her. Throughout the entirety of the story, the author uses the third person limited omniscient point of view. This serves to give the other characters in the story less dimension, and thus, less importance, so that Phoenix is the only character that is fully developed. With this point of view, her physical characteristics are described, in depth, in the beginning of the story through the narrator. Sensuous imagery is used to put a brilliant picture of Phoenix in the mind of the reader. â€Å"Her eyes were blue with age. Her skin had a pattern all its own of numberless branching wrinkles.† This passage is exemplary of Welty’s exceptional ability to captivate one’s interest through use of diction. The characteristics of her personality are also depicted mainly through the reader’s experience of her actions, words, thoughts, and interactions with the other characters. This is the main reason that the other characters are a necessity. The hunter tries to persuade Phoenix to go home. He represents those in life who try to stand in the way and discourage people from fulfilling their goals. Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness :: Essays Papers Heart of Darkness â€Å"A Worn Path† is a story of an old woman’s enduring courage, and strength, despite scores of obstacles. It begins on a â€Å"bright frozen day in the early morning.† Phoenix Jackson is making a strenuous journey across a wintry countryside to acquire medicine for her grandson who is chronically ill. She was â€Å"very old and small and/she carried a thin small cane made from an umbrella.† This clearly shows the reader that she is not suited for this arduous excursion. However, she has made the same trip a countless amount of times. The author uses Phoenix’s story to represent a journey of life. Her unwillingness to immediately reveal the purpose of the journey allows the reader to interpret this as a general journey without a specific purpose, just as life is often referred to as a journey whose reason is unknown. The obstacles she runs across in her travels represent the problems that one might have to face in life. Welty wants the reader to focus on Phoenix, her journey, and the obstacles that get in her way; because it is through the story of this journey that the author coveys her message, showing Phoenix’s sheer will and determination to endure, no matter what hardship presents itself to her. Throughout the entirety of the story, the author uses the third person limited omniscient point of view. This serves to give the other characters in the story less dimension, and thus, less importance, so that Phoenix is the only character that is fully developed. With this point of view, her physical characteristics are described, in depth, in the beginning of the story through the narrator. Sensuous imagery is used to put a brilliant picture of Phoenix in the mind of the reader. â€Å"Her eyes were blue with age. Her skin had a pattern all its own of numberless branching wrinkles.† This passage is exemplary of Welty’s exceptional ability to captivate one’s interest through use of diction. The characteristics of her personality are also depicted mainly through the reader’s experience of her actions, words, thoughts, and interactions with the other characters. This is the main reason that the other characters are a necessity. The hunter tries to persuade Phoenix to go home. He represents those in life who try to stand in the way and discourage people from fulfilling their goals.

How successful is Dickens in his presentation of female characters? :: Free Essay Writer

How successful is Dickens in his presentation of female characters? There are many female characters in Great Expectations, but most of them are quite incidental and of no great significance to the plot. Some of them however are essential to the story and play a large part in the plot. Miss Havisham, combined with Estella are the people who are the ‘snobby’ influence in Pips life, they seem to become desirable characters to Pip after he meets them for the first time at Satis house. Their values do battle with his own at the end of chapter 9; the values that Miss Havisham and Estella have introduced to him, and Joe's humanistic values that he has grown up with. Questions have been raised over whether Miss Havisham and Estellas are believable as actual characters. Miss Havisham can be described as over-dramatised as a decaying part of a decaying house where time has been suspended. She is calculated and spiteful almost to unrealistic odds. There is also a hint of witchery in her character, evident in chapter 29 where she tells Pip to love Estella; â€Å" ‘If she tears your heart to pieces - and as it gets older and stronger, it will tear deeper - love her, love her, love her!’................it could not have sounded from her lips more like a curse.† This passage, where Miss Havisham is charged with almost a sexual ene rgy, is quite frightening to the young Pip. She has created Estellas to wreak her own revenge on men, and is successful in this, but in the process becomes devoted to Estella herself, and then feels pain when Estella cannot return her feelings as she has been rendered ‘heartless’ by Miss Havisham's upbringing. The fact that she shows remorse at the end of the book gives her character an added depth, and therefore most people feel she becomes more realistic. She is a victim of her own creation, and a figure of pity. We first meet Estellas as a quite nasty child, very aware of how her class makes her ‘better’ than most people. She enjoys Pips pain and humiliation when he visits Satis house, and enjoys putting him down due to his â€Å"labourers hands† and â€Å"coarse boots†. In the true style of a young lady of her class of the time she is sent abroad to a ‘finishing’ school, and returns to her dà ©butante in London, once again meeting Pip.

Organizational Learning: Creating, Retaining and Transferring Knowledge Essay

Organizational Learning Introduction                   The modern corporate world is dynamic due to the ever changing business environment globally. To maintain the relevance and competence of firms in this conditions, organizational learning becomes handy and helpful for sustainability(Argote, 2011). Learning in organizations is the development of the labor force to upgrade their skills to match with the changes in business operations. It is a continuous process since change happens as times and seasons change. Therefore, organization learning is an important aspect for any business to thrive in the modern times.                   Organizational learning improves the competencies of individual employees. They acquire new skills and knowledge on tackling contemporary issues in business(Beitler, 2012). This makes the employees able to tackle business activities with boldness due to their enhanced professionalism.                   Learning is also important because it leads to dynamic leadership in the organization. The management is able to lead with inspiration for positive change in the company. This leads to improved management-employee relationships by enhancing learning and flow of important information across the organization.                   Continuous learning encourages team building in firms since the employees feel the importance of everyone’s contribution towards the achievement of the company’s goals. Employees are trained to perform other roles apart from their assigned ones. In the event of absence, another employ can stand for the absent one and hence teamwork(Argote, 2011).                   Learning and change have a great impact on employees of a given organization. Learning enhances working relationships between employees of different departments who mingle during the training sessions. Change helps individual to navigate the hierarchy of the organization(Beitler, 2012). When one employee is promoted due to advanced skills, another person gets promoted to take up his position and hence a positive impact on one another. References Argote, L. (2011). Organizational Learning: Creating, Retaining and Transferring Knowledge. New York: Springer Publishing Corporation . Beitler, M. (2012). The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization. Chicago: Doubleday Publishers Ltd. Source document

Marketing In Primark Essay

1. Introduction Primark, after launching in Ireland in 1969, has owned over 270 stores in some Europe countries. For international expansion strategy, Primark has planned to open big store in US in 2015. This paper will focus on situation analysis and competitive analysis to understand external and internal environment and understand their resources and power. Basing on these understandings, there is the suggestion for Primark in aspect of marketing strategies to build and develop Primark in US market which is the excellent fashion destination in the globe 2. Situation analysis 2.1. Internal analysis 2.1.1. Vision Primark’s vision is to offer customers products which are combined by three factors such as the high level of quality, updated fashion and value for value prices 2.1.2. Mission Primark mission statement is â€Å"To supply quality clothing at prices perceived  to offer real value†. This brand is the representative of Associates British Foods (ABF) and was launched in Ireland in 1969 under the first name of Penny’s. With its mission of operation, Primark is considered the typical feature of trendy fashion store in Europe because it has offered the trendy clothing with the low price. As stated by Conti (2014), targeted customers of Primark are bargain hunters who want to buy good products with reasonable price. Basing on mission statement, Primark defines its detailed mission with some characteristics such as the efficiency of product outsourcing, simple design of products, the use of local materials, the focus on popular size, un-heavy advertising spending. 2.1.3. Objectives (S.M.A.R.T ) To pursue and achieve above mission and vision, Primark defined its objectives. The first objective is to achieve like-for-like growth through the focus on purchasing increase, merchandise and the creation of exciting places as retail stores. Secondly, to target the increasing number of customers, Primark’s objective is to increase the selling space both domestically and internationally. Thirdly, in double with the update of latest fashion, Primark focuses on offering customers the wide range of products from men and women fashion to accessories and kids (Annual report, 2013) 2.1.4. Strategies (S.T.P ) Customers are defined as the people who bring the revenue for the corporate and brand position is identified basing on the targeted customers. Hence, strategies to attract customers and build brand position are focused by companies. With the increasing number of corporate recently, companies have leveraged GE/McKinsey model as the tool of competitive analysis, even in consulting companies (McKinsey & Company, 2008; Chakravarthy & Henderson, 2007). This model is used to identify brand position in comparison with others. In the situation of Primark, Primark brand position is identified in the following GE model which is considered the support for decision making basing on product portfolio and competitive analysis. In the fashion industry, internationalization and diversification strategies are identified with the understanding of the number of products and brands in the portfolio. In details, Primark has high level of industry attractiveness and strong business unit (Figure 1, p. 2) Figure 1: GE model in Primark Business Unit Strength High Medium Low Industry Attractiveness High PRIMARK Medium Low According to GE model (Porter, 1982; Abell & Hammond, 1986), industry attractiveness is analyzed through some features such as market growth rate, market size, demand, the industrial profitability, competitors and international opportunities. (Table 1, p. 2) Table 1: Industry Attractiveness of Primark (this should be micro environment) Features Level Explanation Market growth rate High As stated by Keller et al (2014), there will be the growth of global fashion industry at two-digit percent, especially from emerging countries in the period of 2014 and 2020 Market size High The market size has grown basing on some trends such as The evolution of buying power on Asian customers who have moved to middle class. Moreover, they also define clothing as the way to impress and show their lifestyle There is the increasing demand of travelling and shopping Market size: 192,334 million of Euro in 2013 with the market size growth of 2.75% in comparison with 2011 (Fashionbi, 2013) Customer demand High There is the change of customer lifestyle and the increase of demand and need of difference (Barnes and Greenwood, 2006). As the evidence, some fast fashion brands such as Zara, H&M and Uniqlo, etc have developed with the fast growth rate (Christopher et al, 2004) Industrial profitability High, but decreased because of strong competition which forces companies to reduce their prices as the tool of creating competitive advantages Fast fashion companies have applied supply chain to increase the efficiency and reduce operational cost. Hence, they have achieved high rate of profitability (Sherry et al, 2012; Bhardwaj and Fairheart, 2010) There is the influence of strong competition into the margin of fast fashion because companies have identified the cost reduction as the way to create competitive advantage (Lambert, 2014) Competitors High There is the high number of competitors in fast fashion industry, especially when this industry has the much increasing demand International opportunities High There are some reasons for the development of international presence of brands. The influence of globalization which is considered the way of maintain market share and growth when companies have achieved the peak growth in existing markets The development of IT is considered the motive for companies to develop internationally To leverage business chances from non-defined markets (citation ) Business Unit Growth According to GE model (Porter, 1982; Abell & Hammond, 1986), Business Unit Growth has been shown through market share and its growth, distribution channel, production capacity and profit margins in comparison with others. The high level of Business Unit Growth in Primark has been shown in the following table Table 2: Business Unit Growth of Primark 2.2. External analysis of US retail market 2.2.1. Macro analysis – PESTLE Political factors and Legal factors US are defined as the most powerful ad successful country in the world. As stated by Country Analysis Report (2010), US have established its certain political policies which become the guideline of foreign retailers to expand and operate. However, there are some differences between US politics and other developed countries. In details, greater power will lie on the upper house of legislature and have wider scope of power. Economic factors (what is the economic factors ) Social factors In aspect of US demographics, white American accounts for 72.4% while African  American is with 12.6% and Asia with 4.8%. Mentioning to the US religion, 78.2% of population are with Christian while other religions and no religion account for 3.7% and 16.2% respectively. As surveyed by PwC (2014), US demographics will be diversified with the increase of Asian immigrant children who were born in 1990 and 2000’s (Figure 2, p. 5). Hence, there will be the shift from the heritage to the elements of shopping experience in US. As the results, retailers will focus on young people and families and multi-marketing will be leveraged by 2020 (PwC, 2014) US customers have more demand and are powerful in their shopping (PwC, 2014) Figure 2: Percent of Population by Race Source: PwC (2014) Technological factors Technological development is considered the main trend in current and future global economy. As mentioned in Figure (3, p. 6), US ranks at 3rd position among regions from the growth of the number of Internet users. Under this trend, marketing activities have leveraged the benefits of the Internet and social media to attract more customers. Moreover, online shopping is considered the certain trend of global shopping. Figure 3: The Internet user in the world from 2000 – 2011 Source: Nicolate et al (2012, p. 253) Legal factors When companies have expanded to international countries like US, they need to pay their attention on regulation and respect the legislation of such countries. Hence, in the situation of Primark, when expanding to US, it also focuses on understanding all laws and regulations relating to retail industry. There are some laws which have influenced to US retail industry. Firstly, in aspect of advertising law, companies need to deliver true information of products and services which have been offered to customers. Or else, they will receive high financial penalties. Secondly, regarding to customer protection law, retailers are required to avoid misleading marketing programs which are implemented to boost sales. Thirdly, there are some regulations applied when retailers offer customers misleading discount while such discounts do not exist. Environmental factors Customers have changed their behavior which cares more about environment and health as well as want to contribute their responsibility to protect their environment. Hence, companies are required to concern more about environment into their products and services. 2.2.2. Micro analysis – 3Cs (how many segments on the industry ?) Customers According to Conti (2014), targeted customers of Primark are young people who are defined as the bargain hunters and want to buy the high quality products with the lower price. Moreover, with the aim of satisfying all range of age of customers, Primark has developed its wide range of products including men, women and children in home fashion, accessories and beauty products. Moreover, with the vision of offering updated style with diversified design in short term while making sure the high quality, Primark has defined its strategy to become famous fast fashion brands such as Zara, H&M, Uniqlo, etc. In US, Primark can satisfy all ages of customers, but focus on young people from 20 to 40 years old. Moreover, with these target customers, Primark can leverage all benefits from the trend of technology development as well as e-commerce, Competition In the global context, Primark has faced with many fast fashion competitors, especially Zara, H&M, GAP and Uniqlo (Figure 4, p. 7). In aspect of US market which is considered the destination of fashion brands in the world, Zara, H&M and Uniqlo are defined as the main competitors of Primark because of their strong development and competition in US market. Figure 4: Top 10 Global Fast Fashion Companies (2006–2010) Source: Joon-Hwan et al (2011) In aspect of Zara, its growth in US market is shown through the increasing number of stores and revenue in 2014 in comparison with 2013. As mentioned in Annual report (2013), Zara has the total number of stores as 548 in US in 2013, compared with 482 stores in 2012 (Figure 5, p. 8). Among these stores, Zara has also developed both kinds of stores such as under company management and franchise. Regarding to revenue, there was the increase to $2.3 billion in 2013 from $2.1 billion in 2012 (Figure 6, p. 9) Figure 5: The number of stores of Zara Source: Annual report (2013, p. 181) Figure 6: The revenue of Zara Source: Annual report (2013, p. 184) Regarding to H&M, after its launching in US in 2000, it has owned 305 stores with the increasing number of 36 stores in 2013 (Annual report, 2013). Even though launched after Zara, H&M has built its brand image in US customers minds and has just launched its online website which is considered the new way to access more customers with the aim of increasing revenue and market share in 2013 (Dishman, 2013) Mentioning about Uniqlo, even though its late launching in US market in 2006 with the first flagship store in Soho, New York city (Fast Retailing, 2014), it has developed fast with the increasing number of big stores in prime location, for example, opening in Fifth Avenue in 2011. At the end of December, 2013, Uniqlo has owned 17 stores in US and aims to open up to 100 stores in this country and become the Top Casual wear brand in US (Annual report, 2013) Moreover, under strong competition, Uniqlo has leveraged US market through launching online website in 2012 which is earlier than that of H&M Corporate Associates British Foods (ABF) is considered strong and leading position in many business sectors such as Sugar, Agriculture, Retail, Grocery and Ingredients (ABF Website, 2014). The representative of ABF in retail industry is Primark, which is the fast fashion brand launched in Ireland in 1969 under the first name of Penny’s (Primark introduction, 2014). Until now, Primark is considered the typical feature of trendy fashion store in Europe because Primark has sold trendy clothing with the low price. In aspect of distribution system, Primark has over 270 stores in 8 European countries and plans to open the first retail store in US at the end of 2015 (Julia, 2014). As shared by ABF, which is the parent company of Primark, the plan to expand into US is to build the big store with the area of 70,000 meters in Boston and will expand the large number of stores until 2016. 2.3. S.O.W.T analysis S – Strengths Primark is the famous brand of Associates British Food with the large distribution channel in Europe as 270 stores. Hence, Primark has much long experience in opening and operating stores in foreign countries Primark is one of Top 10 European fashion brands which are available in the list of 100 Global Fashion Brands in the world Products: High quality with reasonable price and modern design are attractive to customers, especially young people under 35 years old Be successful with cost leadership strategy to achieve high market share W – Weaknesses Advertising: Just focusing Word Of Mouth marketing as the tool to reduce operational cost (Primark annual report, 2011) Distribution channels: Even though having the large number of stores, Primark has not leveraged the benefits of online shopping O – Opportunities US is considered the fashion destination in the world with high demand of local customers and foreign tourists Opportunities to use other kinds of marketing to improve sales and develop its brand image S-O Strategies Offering US customers products with high quality and reasonable price while updating modern design. Leveraging diversified tools of marketing to access customers W-O Strategies Diversifying kinds of marketing Opening the chain of stores in prime location as the way to build brand image in customer’s minds T – Threats US fashion industry has high level of competition, especially with the availability of famous fast fashion brands such as H&M, Zara and Uniqlo which also have long term development strategies in US Difficulties on understanding customers demand and needs because their behavior have been changing under many effects S-T Strategies Competing rivals with cost leadership strategy Basing on experience in operating in different culture, Primark should try to understand US customers and their changing behavior W-O Strategies Leveraging benefits from different kinds of marketing Access different customers, both local and foreign tourists through distribution channels and marketing campaign 2.4. Strategic Implications and Conclusion (more critical; what implication means?) Situation analysis becomes the important part of strategic planning for companies when they have planned to develop to new markets, especially markets over borders. This analysis includes both external and internal analysis so that companies can understand their resources and power as well as market characteristics. In this section, PESTLE and 3Cs model are used for analyzing external environment from perspectives of both macro and micro analysis. Moreover, GE model is also used to understand industry attractiveness and Business Unit. After these kinds of analysis, the report also mentions Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats through SWOT analysis. There are some strategic findings from this analysis such as products with high quality and reasonable prices, the leverage of marketing tools and accessing customers through the large distribution channels. Part B – Competitive Environment through Porter’s Five Forces As stated by Liang et al (2007), the importance of competitive force has been shown through its influences into organizational contest in the specific market and industry. Moreover, these competitive forces can come from both internal and external environment. Basing on the understandings of competitive forces, companies have defined their strategies and organizational activities (Low and Cheng, 2006). Porter’s Five Forces which is proposed by Porter (1985) become the important tools to find out five competitive forces for each company. The purpose of using this analysis is to integrate the understandings on industry environment and inside power of companies. Hence, with the aim of understanding customers and competitors in US fashion industry and competitive advantages of Primark, this section focuses on using this model – Porter’s Five Forces including the threats of new entrants, the b argaining power of suppliers, the bargaining power of buyers, the threats of substitute products and rivals among existing firms. Firstly, Primark has not faced with high level from the threats of new entrants. The fashion industry has achieve high growth rate, as stated by Keller et al (2014) that the growth rate will be two –digit number. Moreover, there are some trends such as the increasing demand of travelling and shopping as well as the  evolution of buying power of Asia or developing countries. These features become the attractiveness to many companies who want to put their feet into fashion industry. However, being the big fashion brand in European and in the list of global fashion brands in 2014, it is not easy for new players to compete. Secondly, the bargaining power of suppliers is moderate. The reason is that with high position in fashion industry, there are many suppliers who want to cooperate with Primark. Moreover, with the operation in many countries, Primark has many opportunities to access suitable suppliers. Thirdly, the bargaining power of consumers is high. Because US fashion retail industry is very competitive with the launch of many fashion brands, especially fast fashion brands such as Zara, H&M, etc, they have offered the diversified products and services to US consumers. It means that customers have more and more choices of fast fashion brands. Hence, it is not easy for Primark to attract them because their power is very high. Fourthly, basing on high competition, there are many threats of substitute products from competition brands. And lastly, mentioning about rivals in US fashion industry, Primark has met many difficulties to compete them, especially with brands which have the large distribution channels and online shopping website such as Zara, Uniqlo and H&M. In conclusion, through Porter’s Five Forces, even though Primark has strengths on high bargaining power of suppliers and have a few threats of new entrants, it have some difficulties caused by the strong competition and customers’ power. Part C – Marketing Strategies of Primark in US market Basing on strategic findings in Part 4, this section will use 4Ps model as marketing strategies of Primark in US market. 1. Product strategies According to Czinkota and Ronkainen (2005), as the necessary step of internalization, companies have considered between standardization and adaption in their product strategies. Companies have four choices for this strategy. It is called as standardization which has no change in comparison with domestic products. Secondly, they can make some changes or adjustments for existing products which have been sold in domestic market in order to match with foreign customers, for example, size or colors. Thirdly, they can create new products for foreign customers completely. It means that they have developed to satisfy new customers through the adaption as new product  development. The last choice is to develop new products which can satisfy many countries and for this strategy, companies can sell such products globally. In the situation of Primark in US, because of the change of US customers’ behavior, in combination with the aim of achieving lower price through high volume of production, Primark should combine both standardization and adaption strategy. It means that Primark can adjust some existing products with suitable colors and sizes. Moreover, with the aim of understanding US customer behaviors, Primark also focuses on R&D to create new design which is satisfying customers at the high level. 2. Price strategies To achieve the success of low price strategy, Primark has applied two strategies which are the same in the US. The first strategy is to find the best materials but low prices through leveraging the bargaining power of suppliers and to create new suppliers through seeking in new markets. Secondly, with the application of innovation in production and design, Primark can offer customers updated design. 3. Promotion strategies (too general) Being different from other fast fashion brand such as TX Maxx which usually advertises its brand through many norms of advertising under the big campaign named â€Å"Big Labels, Small Prices†, Primark has neither advertise nor pay much money for celebrity endorses. Even Primark holds no end of seasonal campaign or big promotion for being out of stock. Promotion strategies are called marketing communication strategies which attract customers with their attention on new products and brands. According to Wood (2008), marketing communication comprises five main tools such as advertising, promotion, PR, direct marketing and Point of Sales. The reason for integrating all tools into promotion strategies is that each tool had both advantages and disadvantages so the combination of these tools is to minimize all problems and disadvantages. As stated by Shimp (1997), Stewart (1996), Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) is understood as the usage of all communications to deliver messages to target customers through different channels, for examples, TV advertising, PR, internet, media. For each strategy in IMC, the objectives and tactics will be mentioned and analyzed. 3.1. Advertising through paid media (too general) 3.1.1. Objectives To build brand image (what image) in US customers in the first period of launching (how long) To reach 50,000 customers during one year after launching and such customers have visited Primark stores or made the online purchasing with the time of 4 each week. 3.1.2. Tactics Creating the advertisements in TV Cabs American Fashion TV Channel Fashion One Live Fashion Fashion TV Latin America 3.2. Using social media such as Facebook and Youtube Top 3 social media brands among many in the globe are Facebook, Youtube and Twitter which are ranked basing on the sales. Among these three social media, Facebook ranked at the first position, followed by Youtube and Twitter respectively (Social Media brand, 2013) Using Facebook as the tool to attract US customers Combining with some small games in Facebook, such as Lucky Drawing to receive small gifts Post one or two updates for one day. Posts should focus on image and video relating to fashion shows or new collections To use Youtube to drive traffic to the website of Primark To kick of the launching advertisement with the content mentioned in TV commercials 3.3. Public Relation 3.3.1. Objectives To implement PR Activities in 10 articles or magazines with the content focusing on the launching of Primark and the opening Achieving the satisfaction from 70% customers at least 3.3.2. Tactics To implement PR Activities in 10 articles or magazines 3.4. Direct Marketing The purpose of this tool of marketing is to make the sales increase immediately (Stone and Jacobs, 2008) 3.4.1. Objectives To reach customers with leads at the number of 24 within 6 months To make the catalogs and post them to Facebook and website with the purpose of increasing revenue at 2% per moths 3.4.2. Tactics To create direct mail to customers: Making exciting direct mail with the picture of products and send to customers who have been surveyed as those loving shopping and casual style. To create catalogues to increase the revenue with the use of distribution channels for such catalogs such as Website, Facebook, Direct Mail, etc 3.5. Place strategies In aspect of distribution, Primark should leverage both offline and online channels for distributions. In the first stage, with the aim of building customers’ mind on products, Primark has opened some stores in shopping mall and department stores. And then, it has developed as street shops. Moreover, to access customers who want to buy Primark, but have some barriers to access offline stores, Primark has developed its website for online shopping Primark as street shop Primark stores in shopping malls or department stores Primark online shopping website 4. Conclusion Free publicity is considered the important tool of marketing in Primark before launching in US. However, with some threats and weaknesses from strong competition as well as late launching in US, this report suggests Marketing strategies for Primark including Product, Price, Promotion and Place. In aspect of products and price, high quality, reasonable price and  excellent design have been achieved. Regarding to Promotion, Primark should combine some marketing tools such as TV, Social media, PR and Direct Marketing to create the efficiency. Moreover, with the plan of launching in both department stores and street as well as online shopping, Primark will access customers who are people Primark have looked for. References Abell, D.F., & Hammond, J.S. (1979). Strategic Market Planning. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Barnes, L. and Lea-Greenwood, G. 2006. Fast fashioning the supply chain: shaping the research agenda. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management 10(3), pp.259- 271. Bhardwaj, V. and Fairheart, A. (2010). Fast fashion: response to changes in the fashion industry. The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research. 20(1), 165-173 Chakravarthy, B., & Henderson, J. (2007). From a hierarchy to a heterarchy of strategies: adapting to a changing context. Management Decision. 45 (3), 642–652. Christopher, M, Lowson, R & Peck, H (2004) Creating agile supply chains in the fashion industry, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management. 32(8), 367- 376. Czinkota, M. R. & I. A. Ronkainen (2005). A forecast of globalization, international business and trade: Report from a Delphi study. Journal of World Business, 40(2), 111-123 Conti, S. (2014). Primark to La unch in US. WWD. Retrieved at: http://www.wwd.com/retail-news/mass-off-price/primark-to-open-stores-in-america-7653356 Dishman, L. (2013). Fashionably Late: H&M Finally Launches E-Commerce In The U.S. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/lydiadishman/2013/08/01/fashionably-late-hm-finally-launches-e-commerce-in-the-u-s/ Fashionbi (2013). Fast Fashion Market Report. Fashionbi. Retrieved from http://fashionbi.com/market/fast-fashion/all Fast Retailing (2014). History. Fast Retailing. Retrieved from http://www.fastretailing.com/eng/ir/library/pdf/ar2014_en_11.pdf Joon-Hwan, L., Shi-Hyun, A. and Sun-Young, H. (2011). Fast Fashion: Out-of-the-Box Thinking in the Apparel Industry. Monthly Focus, 5 H&M (2013). Annual report 2013. H&M. Retrieved from http://about.hm.com/content/dam/hm/about/documents/en/cision/2014/01/1280856_en.pdf Keller, P. Anand, (2014). Social Marketing and Healthy Behavior. Handbook of Persuasion and Social Marketing David W. Stewart (ed.),

Detailed assessment of The Toy Essay

Introduction I am a student at †¦.College and I am doing The Early Childhood care and education Course FETAC Level 5. One of mandatory modules in this course is Early Childhood Education and Play and The Toy Critique assignment is part of that. I have to choose a toy and write detailed assessment about it. My chosen toy is The Memo Locomotives Puzzle made by Goki. Goki is the name of the brand for high-quality wooden toys at a fair price, ensuring that excellent toys remain affordable. Memo Locomotives puzzle is set of 32 wooden tiles with 4 different, attractive locomotives and comes in hard cardboard box. Each locomotive is in different colour. To connect pieces together child has to look at colours, pictures and shapes, like square and diamond. Aim, Objectives, Rationale My aim of this assignment is to choose a toy that is suitable for children in age group 0-6 years and to assess and to examine it under various headings. I will critique it fewer than 40 criteria points and discuss the toy specific to P.I.L.E.S and the role of the adult in supporting play. I will write up and evaluate my findings and give conclusion and recommendations at the end. I chose to critique Memo Locomotive Puzzle for this assignment because it is a toy that my family members had played with for few years and children really loves it. I have learned that play is not only enjoyable, but it has a value to learning and development as well. It is in play that young children encounter their own learning situations. Play facilitates social skills and helps children to see things from other people’s point of view. Play helps to strengthen the imagination of children and it is  necessary in cognitive development. Through play, children develop a greater ability to concentrate (Flood and Hardy, 2013, pg 47). Aistear recognises the value of play in early learning and development. Section 3 of the Good Practise Guidelines deals with the subject of play and its role in the early childhood curriculum (Flood and Hardy, 2013, p 165) Aistear recognises the enormous body of research that shows that young children (particularly those aged 0-6) learn most effectively through play and that more directive methods do not work but actually curb children’s natural desire to explore and discover (Flood and Hardy, 2013, pg 92). Going through this assignment I want to find out for what type of play and what stage of play. The Memo Locomotive Puzzle is suitable and I want to see how it stands up in relation not only to play but to learning and developmental values too. I will look at adult’s role in play activities regarding this toy and if there are any changes to be made to improve the toy. I will state my conclusion and give my recommendations at the end. List of criteria 1. Name of toy? Puzzle and Memo Locomotives. 2. What is the price range? It can be bought online at amazon.co.uk and it costs 24 euro, shipping is included. 3. What is a brand for it? The brand is Goki. 4. Who is a toy manufacturer? It is Gollnest & Kiesel KG, Germany. 5. Is it ready available? Yes, it is and can be bought online at amazon.co.uk. 6. At what age group is it suitable? It is suitable for children from 2 years of age up to 6 years of age. 7. Is it suitable for boys or girls? It can be played by boys and girls. 8. Does it suit all cultures? Yes, it does. 9. Is it suitable for children with special needs? Yes, it is. There could be some difficulties to use the puzzle if child has specific movement restrictions. 10. Does it suit single or multiple players? It can be played by single child or up to four children. There are 4 locomotive sets in the box and up to 4 children can play with it at the same time. 11. Is it aesthetically pleasing? Yes, it definitely is. The puzzle comes in four bright, contemporary colours: red, blue, yellow and green. There are lovely, colourful, attractive motifs of animals and children illustrated on it. 12. Is it educational? Yes, it is. It promotes physical, intellectual, language, emotional and social development. 13. Does it help to develop language? Yes, it does. Child names colours, shapes and animals and talks about pictures that appear when pieces are connected. 14. Does it develop motor skills? Yes, it does. It is a great builder of fine motor skills as a child has to connect pieces without a glitch to get a complete picture. 15. Does it encourage imaginative play? No, it does not. This toy is more suitable for manipulation type of play. 16. Does this toy have any sensory benefits to the child? Yes, it does. Wood has individual character, smell and texture. This awakens the natural senses and kelps the child to recognize and understand natural materials. 17. What size is it? Does it need a special storage? The puzzle comes in hard cardboard box sized 21x8x5 cm and does not need a special storage; can be easily put on the shelf. 18. Does it require batteries or does it need to be charged? No, it does not require batteries or charging. 19. From what kind of material is it made of? It is a wooden toy. 20. Is it durable? Yes, it is very durable. The puzzle is made from sturdy wood, so it is very hard to cause any damage to it while it is used in playing activities. 21. What kind of texture does it have? It has smooth, even and solid surface with warm feeling. 22. Is it waterproof? It is not waterproof. But I had experienced that a small amount of water does not cause any damage to the toy. 23. Is it washable or does it need special cleaning? It is not washable and does not need special cleaning. It can be cleaned with dump cloth. 24. Is it for use indoor or outdoor? It is for indoor use, but can be played outdoors as well, if it is not too wet. 25. Is it moveable? Yes, it is. Child can move it, for example, from table to ground very easily. 26. Is it portable? Yes, it is. It comes in nice box with lid and is lightweight. 27. Is it qualitative? Yes, it is. My family members have used this game for more than three years and it still looks and feels the same as it was whet it was brand new. Material is qualitative and sturdy and printings have stayed on place till now. 28. Is it good value for money? Yes, it is. 29. Are parts of it replaceable? No, they are not. 30. Are there levels of difficulty? No, there are not. But adults can make them up, like, asking the child to connect pieces by looking at colours. When child has appreciated it, adult can encourage the child to connect pieces matching the shapes. 31. Are there add-on packs available for it? No, there are no add-on packs available. 32. Is it suitable for multiple purposes? No, it is not. But, if the child has an imagination, he can find another function, for example, use wooden pieces as a part of construction project. 33. Is there a special instruction or programming required? The toy does not require programming or special instruction. 34. Does it require an upgrade? No, it does not require an upgrade. 35. Does it need an adult supervision? It does not require an adult supervision. 36. Is it safe for children? Yes, it is. It is fully tested and certified to meet all safety requirements. It has CE marking. 37. Is there choking risk? No, there is no choking risk. Each piece of puzzle is in size 5Ãâ€"7.7 cm and big enough to be safe for even a very small child. 38. Is it flammable? No, it is not flammable. But it will burn if put in flame, because it is a wooden toy. 39. Does it have a guarantee? No, it does not. But it can be returned to Amazon.co.uk within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. 40. Is it recyclable? Yes, it is. It is made from wood and wood is a natural made material which can be subjected to recycling. 41. Are there reviews about the toy? No, I couldn’t find any reviews about this particular toy. Detailed assessment of the Toy Initially I found out for what type of play my chosen toy can be used for. There are several types of play, but to my chosen Locomotives Puzzle fits Manipulative type of play that is under Physical form of play by Moyles’s forms of play (Beaver et al, 2001, p471). Manipulative play involves practising and refining motor skills. This type of play enhances physical dexterity and hand-eye co-ordination. Over time children need to experience a range of different levels of manipulation if they are to refine their motor skills. This type of play includes manipulating objects and materials (NCCA, 2009, pg 54) Manipulative play includes using puzzles, threading, playdough, carpentry, construction sets and blocks (Department of Education, Training and Employment, 2012, pg2). In this type of play the child has to manipulate with puzzle pieces by lifting, turning and placing them. This  toy can be a part of Intellectual play as well as it helps child to discover and learn colours, shapes and counting and has a benefit to memory skills. This toy can be tested under five areas of benefits to development that links with Aistear’s themes. Aistear recognises the enormous body of research that shows that young children (particularly those aged 0-6) learn most effectively through play and that more directive methods do not work but actually curb children’s natural desire to explore and discover. This section describes how play benefits all five areas of development: intellectual, language, emotional and social (PILES). This links with Aistear’s four themes: wellbeing, identity and belonging, communicating, and exploring and thinking (Flood and Hardy, 2013, p 165). I will look closer how my chosen toy can benefit all five areas of children development. Physical Development: Wellbeing Physical play is very important and essential to children development. Physical play (†¦) promotes gross-motor skills. Children develop balance and increase co0ordinaton trough practising skills such as running, jumping, climbing, skipping, walking on tip-toe, hopping, pedalling, etc. Physical play also promotes health and wellbeing because it increases appetite and tires children so that they sleep well. Physical development also involves the development and refinement of fine-motor skills; creative and construction play are both particularly beneficial in this area (Flood and Hardy, 2013, pg 92). Physical development and health is also one of Key Developmental Indicators (KDIs) that â€Å"together form a framework that guides teachers in the planning process of beneficial learning experiences for the children in their care† ( Flood and Hardy, 2013, pg 61). There are 4 KDIs that relate to physical development and health. This toy is valuable to fine-motor skills. Small-muscle or fine-motor development also is included in the physical development of a child, and deals with such areas as smiling, picking up a fork or tying a shoe. Small-muscle development is evident as infants grasp cereal to put in their mouths and is enhanced by activities such as picking up blocks or drawing with crayons (Brotherson, 2006, pg 2). Playing with The Memo Locomotives Puzzle the child has to lift and turn pieces, and sort them in groups. Children have to do accurate movements to connect pieces thus getting the complete picture of the train.  Children develop control and strength in their fingers by doing that. These things are very essential to educational process at later stage, for example, to handwriting and drawing practise. Intellectual Development: Exploring and Thinking Intellectual, cognitive development takes a big part in children’s overall development. Cognitive development includes the development of each of the following: imagination, creativity, memory skills, concentration skills, problem-solving skills, concept information (Flood, 2013, pg 96). And playing has important role in intellectual development. Through play children can explore and think about a wide range of concepts in a non-threatening way. Play cannot be ‘wrong’ so children are much more likely to take risks with their learning when they are engaged in play (Flood et al, 2013, pg 93). Through play with The Memo Locomotives Puzzle children can explore colours and shapes. This toy helps children to improve their sorting skills, because they have to sort out pieces by colours at the start to make each train. Children will get 8 pieces for each train after sorting them by colours. Now they will be able to sort those 8 pieces in pairs by connecting shapes and by linking pairs together they will get complete train. Each time by playing with it children train their memory skills by remembering which piece has to be taken to make complete diamond shape and which one is needed to make the monkey and bananas picture. Children can learn or improve their counting skill. For example, for a small child teacher/parent can count each piece that child has placed and soon child will start to count together with teacher/parent. Language Development: Communicating The definition of language is: â€Å"Language is any form of communication, be it spoken, written or signed. Language consists of words and system of combining them† (Flood and Hardy, 2013, pg 122) The memo Locomotives Puzzle can give benefits to language development by naming colours, shapes, animals and other parts of pictures. Because of Puzzle’s bright and vivid printings it has a big value to teaching child the right name of exact colour. Besides that, game can be played up to 4 children and by communicating and explaining the rules to each other they will improve they language skills.  Virtually all types of play involve communication. Children negotiate their roles, talk about what they are doing and talk about their plans for what will happen next. (†¦) When playing games with rules, children have to explain rules to newcomers. (Flood and Hardy, 2013, pg 93) Children will learn new words and they will learn new ways how to put words in sentences. Teacher/parent can be a companion to child if he’s playing alone and communicate with him during play thus helping to improve his language development through play. Emotional Development: Identity and Belonging, and Communicating Emotional development involves children learning to deal with their emotions (both negative and positive) in a healthy way. Emotional development also involves the promotion of a positive self-image and high self-esteem. (Flood and Hardy, 203, pg 93) Play is important part of emotional development and The Memo Locomotives Puzzle can help in that. During play with this toy children have to deal with emotions like anger and frustration when something does not work the way children wish to or pride and happiness when they got it right. Those good emotions promote positive self-esteem, child is happy about himself, for example, he is proud he did his train set first or he did his one carefully and at the end it looks nicer than other ones. Children learn to share their emotional with adult and peers, like; child learns not only to show but to talk about his emotions. Emotional regulation is an important part of emotional development (Flood, 2013, pg 175). During play with The Memo Locomotives Puzzle teacher/parent can observe children and help them deal with their negative emotions, like they can teach how to deal with frustration when it is hard for child to find right piece of puzzle. Social Development: Identity and Belonging, and Communicating Social development basically involves the development of three related skills: (1) the ability to interact effectively with others, (2) learning and understanding the norms of the society in which the child lives and (3) moral development. Play can be a very effective way for children to learn and perfect these skills (Flood and Hardy, 2013, pg 94). The Memo Locomotives Puzzle can help children to interact effectively with others. They have to communicate while playing by handing pieces to each other,  helping find the right piece for each other. They have to learn to share The Locomotive’s sets and wait for their turn. They will learn to ask for a piece nicely and use phrases like ‘thank you’ and ‘you are welcome’ thus learning and teaching to each other good manners. Children learn to understand the norms of society by doing that. â€Å"Social norms are descriptions of ‘rules’ about people’s behaviour, beliefs, attitudes and values within a society or social group† (Flood, 2013, pg 151). It is very important to select not only the right type of play to promote child’s development but to make sure that the play will match his stage of development also. Most of theorists of play, like Maria Montessori, Friedrich Froebel, Steiner Waldorf, Sigmund Freud, Jean Piaget and Rudolph Steiner, have identified stages of development. For example, Rudolf Steiner distributed 3 different stages: 0-7 years, 7-14 years and 14-18 years (Flood et al, 2013, pg 42-43). The Memo Locomotives Puzzle is suitable for children in age group 2-6 and fits under first stage (0-7) years by Steiner’s concept: The first seven years of children’s lives are of greatest importance. (†¦) Children conquer the skills of movement, speech, gesture and communication. (†¦) Children absorb every aspect of their environment and they are open to external influences also. The focus at this point is on learning by doing (Flood and Hardy, 2013, pg 42-43). I already have clarified that my chosen toy helps to improve children’s basic knowledge in physical, intellectual, language, social and emotional development and it means that age group marked on The Memo Locomotives Puzzle’s label match the concrete toy. Detailed assessment of the role of the adult There are two styles of play that are relevant to adult’s role in children playing activities. They are structured play and free play. Structured play is planned, guided and led by adults. Structured play can be useful but there is a risk that if it is too adult-led children can lose interest. (†¦) Adults can provide support by demonstrating skills that the child can then try out for themselves. (†¦) Some theorists advocated a very structured approach. Montessori advocated that certain skills should be very clearly demonstrated by the adult, with the child carefully watching so that  they could then copy exactly what the adult had done (Food and Hardy, 2013, pg 87, 88) Free play is not adult-led. Adults provide equipment, materials and resources for free play, but they do not direct it any way. Advocates of free play believe that children learn much more from this style of play than from structured play, since they are more motivated by having created it themselves (Flood and Hardy, 013, pg 88). The Memo Locomotives Puzzle needs adult participation to improve children development in all five areas of benefits to development. Adult participation is essential to help children by naming colours or shapes, showing which colour or shape are the one that has been named. Therefore adult attendance is not essential all the time. Children can be left with the toy by themselves thus giving them time to practise their object manipulating skills and memory. Adult has to observe children while playing and make a decision when to intervene and when to stand back. Adult must intervene and help in communication thus helping to develop children’s social and communication skills, like helping to resolve conflicts and to solve problems in peaceful manner. I like Janet Moyles concept and I believe it suits the best regarding adult role to play with The Memo Locomotives puzzle. The concept for which she (Janet Moyles) is best known is the spiral of play or spiral of learning. The spiral of play describes how children move in and out of different modes of play: direct play to free, and back again (Flood and Hardy, 2013, pg 105). Adult observes to children playing and decides when and if he/she is required to intervene in the play to support it. Evaluation I consider results of my assignment as positive and valuable. I found out a lot about my chosen toy’s benefits to children learning through play. I discovered for what type of play this toy would suit the best and how adult can support children in play with it. Conclusion My aim was to find out can The Memo Locomotives Puzzle be supportive in learning through play and give any benefits to children’s development. I  introduced with my chosen toy and did description of the toy including 40 assessment criteria and described the toy under five areas of benefits to children’s development. I also looked at adult role in play with The Memo Locomotives Puzzle. I found out that toy is educational and fun. I found that The Memo Locomotives Puzzle fits under manipulative type of play. The toy can be useful in all five areas of benefits to development: physical, intellectual, language, social and emotional development. I believe that manufacturer has positioned this toy under the right age group because of children’s developmental stages and age stages. I discovered that for this toy looking at adult role better suits structured style of play with adult stepping in and out giving children time for free play as well. Overall I looked at toy from many aspects and found this toy suitable for children’s learning through play. Recommendations My list of advantages and disadvantages: Advantages Disadvantages Attractive for children Age group toy is suitable for Benefits all five areas of children development Material for storage box is not quite durable Affordable High quality Made of natural material In overall I really like this toy. I have experienced that children love this toy and it is attractive for them. There are only two things I would recommend to change about it: 1) Although the toy comes in good hardboard box, I would recommend using wooden box instead. The hardboard box can be destroyed in a second if child steps on it and it would make storage very impractical. I believe it would lead to lost pieces. I agree that wooden box  would make the toy a bit more expensive, but it would make the toy last longer. If there are no pieces lost, this toy really last for many years because of its durability. 2) I would recommend to manufacturer to change an age group that toy is suitable for. Because of my own experience I can say that this toy is really attractive to children aged 2-4. Children at age 5-6 lost their interest after the first time playing with it. They already know colours and they know shapes and they got along very quickly, level of difficulty is too easy for them. All the other aspects, like durability, bright and vivid colours, lovely printings. I believe, are very good regarding this toy. I like about this toy that it is really educational and attractive for children and I would highly recommend it to parents and teachers for children aged 2-4. References Beaver, M., Brewster, J., jones, P., Keene, A., Neaum, S., and Tallack, J., 2001, Babies and children, Diploma in childcare and education, United Kingdom: Nelson Thornes Brotherson Sean, Bright beginnings #8, 2006, US: NDSU Extension Service Department of Education, Training and Employment, 2012, Giving children a flying start, Australia: Queensland Government Flood E., Hardy C., 2013, Early Childhood Education & Play, Dublin: Gill and MacMillan Flood, E., 2013, Child Development, Dublin: Gill and MacMillan NCCA, Aisthear: The Early Childhood Curriculum Framework, 2009, Ireland: NCCA