Definition of the Term Poor Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Definition of the Term Poor - Essay Example The conversation inevitably turned to the suitability of this individual to handle the task at hand. Keenly aware of the fact that someone was being judged in this matter, I listened closely for any determination; fully aware that whatever was decided would impact me specifically. What I heard was my mother and father agree that the woman was not suitable due to the fact that she was incredibly poor. At the time this made a large impact on me; as I realized that people’s abilities and talents could be classified with respect to whether they were poor or not. Within our entire culture, the term â€Å"poor† has taken on a highly pejorative meaning. Individuals are summarily grouped between those that can be classified as â€Å"poor† and those that cannot. As with many pejorative words, the actual meaning behind the word â€Å"poor† differs significantly from what is connoted when this word is so carelessly and continually thrown around by the likes of politi cians, news pundits, and stakeholders at every level within society. In seeking to understand this term to a more full and complete degree, the following analysis will consider the direct denoted meaning of the word as well as the connotations that it espouses within the current culture. Firstly, it must be understood that â€Å"poor† in its most basic denoted meaning merely involves the state of being without; and/or having a very small amount of something. Generally, this denoted meaning involves money or financial instruments of some variety. However, within the connoted meaning of the word, the societal participant is lead to understand that this involves a lack of education, propensity to crime, oftentimes even a certain socio-demographic. From the connoted and denoted meanings that have thus far been defined, it can be fairly securely understood what specifically defines â€Å"poor† within the current culture and society. Yet, it must also be understood that the term itself is incapable of defining many of the connoted meanings that have been referenced. As was described, the traditional definition has to do with material want; not personality traits and/or a proclivity away from education. These connoted meanings only act as a disservice to the way in which people understand what poverty and poor actual means. As a direct result of this misunderstanding, the definition of poor has come to take on a life all its own. One thing that should be manifestly clear, a topic that is not often discussed, is the fact that even though poor has a level of impact with regards to material possession, it cannot begin to define the level of skills, talents, ideas, creativity, passion, work ethic, motivation, or intelligence that a person has. Merely because poor can help to define the net worth of an individual in monetary terms should not be misconstrued to mean that it is somehow equally useful for delineating the overall net worth of a person physically , psychologically, emotionally or spiritually (Hom 391). By their very nature, humans seek to define and categorize information into easily understandable facts.  Ã‚  

Learning Agreement Essay Example for Free

Learning Agreement Essay In R Tours, I was assigned in the Inbound Department and I learned a lot from there. One of the main duties in the department is the inbound operation. The inbound operation consists of several tasks. First to create interesting and excellent tour packages, then, promote them locally and internationally and finally handling them. We may receive request or booking by telephone, fax, letter or email from individuals, local and international groups. Most of the time a normal booking will have information on the type of tour package chosen, the length of stay, the number of people and additional services required such as a buffet set up instead of an a la carte menu or providing the welcome drink in the airport instead of the hotel. Normally we reply by thanking the person or the foreign company involves and we include all the necessary information such as the detailed itinerary, the cost of the tour and most important our confirmation for handling the tour. Then we will wait to get a confirmation from them before starting to make all arrangements and preparations. The confirmation includes the date and time of arrival, the flight number if they are arriving by airplane, names plus passport numbers of clients and the rooming list. It is only after receiving the confirmation that we begin to work on arranging and preparing the booking of hotels, restaurants, transportation vehicles, museum tickets and sometimes airlines tickets if they are intend to fly to the south of the country. We also, arrange the visas and prepare the travel insurance. We assign people who are going to take care of the group such as tour leader, tour guide and driver. Then we prepare the reservation forms and we send them to our suppliers. The reservation form includes the services requested and the number of pax and sometimes more information according to the kind of supplier. In a case of a hotel for example, the reservation form will include extra information such as the date of checking in and out, the number and what type of room and type of payment. Suppliers may be hotel, resort, motel, museum, restaurant, theme park, car rental, motor-coach company, a marina, a diving center or anything else. During peak season we have difficulties in getting the right accommodation or some other services that was mentioned in the tour package, in this kind of situation we, must think of an alternative and inform the client about the changes and finally when both of us agree we proceed with the arrangement. The next task is to handle the group from the first day to the last day. The most important rule with the western group is being punctual because they are used to it and they do not like to wait for anything or anybody even from their own group. Make sure everything goes according to the itinerary timing. All the employees and suppliers involve must take this into consideration. In case of lateness they may complaint and even ask for refund for that particular service. All the time make sure that everything is ready in advance. For example, during the arrival day, the tour guide and the motor coach must be present at the airport at least one hour before the plane lands and provide the tour guide with a small board having the name of the group to make it easier for the group to find him. We need to monitor the group every single day and keep in touch with the tour leader. All the international groups have their tour leader and building an excellent communication or relation with him or her is really important because the tour leader is the one in charge of the entire group and he or she plays a very important role to insure that the tour is conducted as planned. Carrying daily briefing with him or her helps to find out what happened the day before and if any change has to be done for the next day. In the department we need to carry meetings to resolve any kind of problem during the tour. I learned to build strong relation with our suppliers to minimize the problem and complications. In the beginning I was facing many problems of getting what I wanted and it used to take days of negotiation before getting it. I realized that certain suppliers such as five star hotels or dine dining restaurants were not responding positively to our request because they were preferring to deal directly with the customers or with reputed tour operator company. According to their opinion, we were not qualified or capable of bringing much business and I was really disappointed by their discrimination and behavior but my personal and communication skills helped me to accomplish whatever I wanted from them. It is sad to realize that they are used to work this way, they dont easily cooperate with small companies and I needed to win their trust. Finally they decided to really do business with me and everything was working smoothly after that. I think and believe that these hotels or any other suppliers should cooperate and build a better relationship with the small tour operators in order to benefit from each other. I definitely agree that we were not in the same level as those large tour operators such as Z Tours but we proved to these hotels income as well. However, I was pleased that after many months of hard work, we were able to increase the number of bookings with them month after month. During my time spent in R Tours, I learned to better understand the procedure of handling tour packages. Now I am more confident of myself and well prepared due to all the experience that I had acquired while working there. I would like to conclude by saying that inbound operation is about using your capabilities, trying your strength in all the different tasks involves and be able to solve any problem happening during the tour by relating to your learning experience at the work place.

Argos Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning (STP)

Argos Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning (STP) Introduction The objective of this assignment is to understand Argos segmentation, targeting and positioning in strategic marketing and how Argos uses STP to gain competitive advantage. In strategic marketing STP plays a vital role in the organization or company because it is a marketing strategy for dividing market in segments, targeting customers and making a position for products. (Whaley, A.2010, P12) Competitive Advantage is important for a company because it gives a company advantage over its competitors and gained by offering consumers greater value, either by means of lower prices or by providing greater benefits and services. Argos is a unique retail company in the UK. Its slogan is choice, value and convenience (Argos i, 2010). Argos was founded in 1973 and it owned by GUS PLC. Argos sells general merchandise and other products for the home from 750 stores throughout the UK, republic of Ireland, North Ireland, Wales and Scotland. (HRG PLC Annual i 2010A). Moreover, there are 33,000 employees are working in Argoss stores. Argos serves over 130m customers through stores and takes 26% of sales through the internet. (Argos i, 2010). In 2010, there are 19,300 products registered in Argos latest spring and summer catalogued. (HRG PLC Annual i 2010).Argos majors products are toys, jewellery, sports, electrical goods and leisure equipment and these goods making up50% of its sales mix(scribd i:2010). As the leader in UK for general merchandise retailing, Argos latest revenue is  £1,812.8M in 2010 which is less from 2009 and it sales down 3%. Multi-channel sales grew to 44% of Argos sales in the first half of the year. The internet represented 32% of Argos sales (HRG PLCi: 2010B). Argos is unique amongst its major competitors. Its main competitors are Tesco, Asda, PC World, Homebase and Currys, and online retailer Amazon.co.uk. All competitors have internet presence. However, Tesco recently has been trying to imitate Argos retailing style with its Tesco direct catalogue and in-store shops. (Scribd i, 2010) What is STP? STP stands for Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning. In strategic marketing STP is the second level. In STP; segmentation(S) the market segment deciding which customer to target (T) deciding what messages you want the targets to associate with you; what is called positioning(P).The whole process of dividing the market in different segments, targeting customers and product positioning is known as STP. (Whalley, A. 2010,P12).STP is one of the most important processes in strategic marketing which management should take on both at the start of a new offer creation as well as part of a periodic revision of the collection of offers and strategies by the organization. Taken from Whalley, A. 2010, and P72. 2.1 Segmentation Segmentation is the first step in STP process. In strategic marketing Segmentation can be defined as a process of dividing the total market in different segments for product or service into distinct sub-groups. (Whalley, A. 2010, P72). In segmentation each segment represents a separate target market to be reached with a distinctive marketing mix. Market segment means dividing the market into different subsets of customers with different needs. Segmentation can also be summarized as dividing the market by set of Pre- determined criteria. (Taken from Whalley, A. 2010, P72) Different variables can play a role in purchasing decision of the customers. In segmentation it is important to focus on the customer needs rather than other variables such as geography, demographics, occasion, behaviours etc. Effective segmentation is not easy to achieve, because in the society different groups of people have different choices and needs about products. It can only be achieved when customers share similar of demands. 2.2 Targeting In the STP process, the second step is targeting the market. After the completion of segmentation companies decide which segment they need to target and it depends on the size, area, profit and growth of each segments. Thus, Targeting of market is defined as the identification of market segments that are identified as being the most likely purchasers of a companys product. (Whalley, A 2010:P76) In targeting, a company should target segments in which it has a differential advantage over its competitors. In targeting companies decide to target one or more segments. For that purpose choice about targeted segments should generally depend on the several factors. The first factor in targeting is checking the existing level of the competition and how good it is serving the customers need. The organisation should know about segment, how large it is and how we can expect it to grow and have company strengths as company that will helps customers demand particularly to one group of customers. Companys actual ability of communication with the segment is also an important factor for companies in targeting. (Whalley, A.2010:P76) 2.3 Positioning After segmentation and targeting the next step is positioning in STP process. It refers to the way in which an organization sets itself apart in the market and how its products are perceived by the target market as a whole. (Whalley, A 2010:P77) Product positioning is the process of designing product features. These features are product, place, promotion and distribution. Positioning is about the communication of the overall value of proposition such as that it creates and maintains it clearly to customers. A product position is the place where product occupies in consumers minds. Market position gives a product a clear, unique and desirable place in the minds of target consumers. It is very important for the firm to define market segments, determine the target segments and understand customer needs, expectation and priorities .The study of competitors positioning about services and products are very important for a company, because its essential for a company to make good position f or its customers and communication about products for customer needs. Customers need should be a main priority of an organization. (Whalley, A.2010:P77) Discuss Argoss segmentation, targeting and positioning 3.1 Argoss segmentation As discussed previously, market segmentation means dividing a market into different subsets of customers with different needs. Different variables can play a role in purchasing decision of customers. In Argos demographic approach is used because demography is the study of population and it refers to personal statistics like income, age, gender, nationality, religion, and occupations etc. Argos adopts demographic approach because this approach represent the every member of the society i.e. there are many high and low income people in society, they have different needs about products. Furthermore, people of different ages and choice for men and women also important for a company before dividing the market in different segments. Argoss strategy about market segmentation is to fulfil the need of every customer. It does not matter customer is rich or poor, male or female, educational or uneducated etc. Argos creates well balanced market segment for its target and product. (The Times i, 20 10) 3.2 Argoss Targeting Customers buying habits change with the passage of time. Advancement of the technology changes customer shopping habits because technology makes its access simple for people. Many people nowadays like to use modern technology for shopping and purchasing different products, for that purpose they like to use internet, telephone. Many people like to come into stores to buy goods but the proportions of online buyers are increasing. This behaviour of customers changes companies approach of targeting. Argos thus uses a variety of modern channels to communicate with customers and to provide them with facilities for inquiring about availability of stock, and for making purchases. Argos recognizes that its many customers have different needs and prefer to shop in different ways. Argos targeting approach is getting to success because Argoss customers have already decided what they want to buy before visiting stores. Argos targeting approach make its value reliable for its customers because its targeting strategy aims to target more and more customers and make easy access for its products. Hence, Argos is using modern technology to target its customers because in this busy world ,where people are using advanced technology for communication make essential for Argos to use it for targeting customers. (The Times i, 2010) 3.3 Argos Positioning As discussed previously, product positioning is the process of designing product features. These features are product, place, promotion and distribution. Positioning is the final step in STP process. A strong positioning strategy is very important for company. Argos product positioning is using a differentiated market strategy. Argos low prices create value for its customers and its branded products lines are able to meet the demands of customers. Argos uses low price strategy because it is able to achieve cutting cost through retailing channels and it does not require a large shop space and big staff. Argos positioning strategy about place divides in three formats. These formats are store format, online format and catalogues. In distribution feature, Argos distributes products through Royal mail and its own delivery services. Argos uses advertising tools like internet, TV and indirect advertising through shopping catalogues for the promotion of its products. (Scribd i, 2010) Argos as a truly multi-channel, value orientated general merchandise Retail Company. Its strategy about product positioning is differentiated and formatted. Argos offers highly competitive customers through its positioning features like product, place, distribution and promotion. Infrastructure advantages strategy is to gain infrastructure advantage to increase revenue for this purpose Argos spends capital to improve its stores because strong infrastructure also helpful to create product position in market for customers. Argos positioning about reductions or increased flexibility cost has been achieved while Argos is still maintaining or improving its operational standards. (HRG PLCi: 2010B). Conclusion In conclusion, the STP process always plays a vital role in strategic marketing, because of the division of market into segments, targeting segments and positioning of products. Argos is a unique retailer company in the UK. It has a unique STP strategy policy as a company for dividing market into segments; demographic strategy is used for market dividing because its more suitable than other variables such as geography, occasion, behaviours etc. Argos strategy for targeting customers is flexible because Argos uses a variety of modern channels to communicate with customers and to provide them with facilities for inquiring about availability of stock, and for making purchases. Argos strong product positioning is totally for the benefit of its customers. As a UK retailer company Argos is unique, popular and successful because it is focused around meeting customer needs. Argos has gained competitive advantage on the basis of providing the best value of money for its customers through the best products branding, low prices, place, distribution and promotion. In this assignment, my main objective was to discuss Argos as retailing company and its STP strategy in strategic marketing. Furthermore, its aim was to show how Argos uses STP to gain competitive advantage from rivals by differentiating itself on the basis of providing the best value for money for customers through the most convenient shopping experience.

Biography of Mother Teresa Essay -- Influential People Biographies Rel

Biography of Mother Teresa Mother Teresa was a wonderful woman and a great influence on the world today. She was born in 1910 in Macedonia with the name Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. She was born into a family of deeply religious Catholics. Agnes felt she got the calling to work for God at the young age of fourteen. She joined the Loreto order and went to Bengal, India, to start her studies. In 1937, Agnes took her final vows to become a nun and has done much great work in the world since. Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu was born on August 27, 1910 to Nikola and Drana Bojaxhiu in Skopje, Macedonia. Drana and Nikola were Albanian and both were very deeply religious Roman Catholics. Nikola was a popular merchant and a partner to an Italian merchant. He owned several houses and was a member of the Skopje town council. Whenever Agnes’ father would return from a trip, he would always bring his children presents. Also, he promoted his daughters’ education, which was uncommon in that time period. Nikola also was involve d in an underground organization that worked to gain independence for the Albanians from the Ottoman Turks, who ruled Macedonia around the time Agnes was born. Agnes grew up around much fighting. When she was born, there were Albanian protests against the Turkish government. When she was two, she witnessed the First Balkan War. In that war, the Ottomans were defeated, but Macedonia was divided among the conquerors: Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegero, and Serbia. The city of Skopje was distributed to Serbia. Albania received its independence in 1912, but Nikola continued his nationalist work. He joined a movement determined to incorporate Serbia into the Albanian nation. In 1914, when Agnes was only four years old, World War I began. In 1918, her father was killed. Some people believe that he was poisoned by enemies. Many people mourned his death because of his kindness and generosity. Drana Bojaxhiu and the family were left with little money and no means of income. Drana worked hard to p rovide for her family. To get enough money, she became a dressmaker. Even though she had to work extra hard to make ends meet, Drana still found time and money to give to the lonely. When Agnes was young, she used to go on trips with her mother to visit the elderly, sick, and the poor. It is said that their mother’s generosity may have had the greatest influence on Agnes, her sister, an... ...eedy people. I feel that Mother Teresa will live on in the hearts of the people she helped as well as many other people. Mother Teresa had a tremendous effect on our world and I think she deserves much honor and praise for her work. Mother Teresa is a wonderful role-model for anyone. She has literally helped people all over the world. In a world so hateful and dishonest, a person like Mother Teresa is a rare occurrence. Overall, Mother Teresa was a wonderful person who helped the world a great deal Bibliography Bibliography Clucas, Joan Graff. Mother Teresa. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1988. Egan, Eileen. Such a Vision of the Street. New York: Doubleday, 1985. "Mother Teresa." Encarta. 1997-2000. Muggeridge, Malcolm. Something Beautiful for God. New York: Image Books, 1977. Mukherjee, Bharati. "Mother Teresa." Time June 14, 1999: 88-90. Playfoot, Janet N. "My Life for the Poor: Mother Teresa of Calcutta." The Great American Bathroom Book, vol 1. Stevens W. Anderson. Salt Lake City: Compact Classics Inc., 1991. Serrou, Robert. Teresa of Calcutta. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1981. Spink, Kathryn. The Miracle of Love. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1981. Word Count: 4206

Transport Safety

Examples of products that have been designed against crime are:a)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Cars produced with alarm systems and tracking devices.Cars produced with these features are more difficult to steal because alarm systems and tracking devices harden the target and increase the risk of apprehension.b)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Biometric locks.Biometric locks help prevent crime by target hardening.c)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Secure bike parking stands.This locks both wheels and the frame of the bike to the stand hardening the target and increasing the risk for a criminal.d)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Injection molded seats.These seats are virtually impervious to malicious criminal damage such as slashing with a knife or burning with cigarettes.e)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Security car battery.This car battery is designed to allow the car owner deactivate the battery on parking making it difficult for anyone without a spare battery to steal the car.f)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Tamper evident containers.These c ontainers prevent retailers from substituting branded products with cheaper alternatives.g)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Layout design of department stores.The layout of department stores is designed to reduce anonymity, freedom from surveillance and alternative escape routes. This answers the three basic questions potential shop lifters ask. Can I be seen? If I am seen will I be noticed? If I am seen and noticed will anybody do anything about it?These few examples were designed after extensive research and are quite effective in crime prevention. In all examples, targets have been hardened and the risk to offenders has been increased. The only limitations seen in store layout design is that many square meters that could have been used in product display are lost hence loss of revenue.But in the long run, the gain outweighs the loss. Another limitation to these new designs is that they tend to be more expensive than conventional designs but having said this, a design approach to crime preven tion provides practical solutions to problems that are often complex and multifaceted.

Affirmative Action Essays (1784 words) - Social Inequality

Affirmative Action Essays (1784 words) - Social Inequality Affirmative Action Jean Miller #43252 American Heritage 100 7:00 am - 7:50 am M, W, F Brother J. Baker Affirmative Action Affirmative action is a growing argument among our society. It is multifaceted and very often defined vaguely. Some can define affirmative action as the ability to strive for equality and inclusiveness. Others might see it as a quota-based system for different minority groups. ?Affirmative action was originally designed to help minorities? (Gross, 1996). Is affirmative action fair? Are minority groups on equal footing? Is gaining employment for minorities difficult? Is education easily obtained for the minority groups of people? Affirmative action endeavors to answer all these questions, while allowing society to believe harmony exists. ?Affirmative action was originally designed to help minorities, but women, especially white women, have made the greatest gains as a result of these programs? (Boston, 1996). Is affirmative action fair? In 1974, a woman named Rose was turned down for a supervisory job in favor of a male. She was told that she was the most qualified person, but the position was going to be filled by a man, because he had a family to support. Five years before that, when Rose was about to fill an entry-level position in banking, a personnel officer outlined the woman?s pay scale, which was $25 to $50 a month less than what men were being paid in the same position. Rose was furious because she felt this was discriminating to her. She confronted the personnel officer and he saw nothing wrong with it. In 1977, a woman working for a company as a clerk was informed that she should be at home raising a family. She allowed the comments to persist until she was given two weeks notice that her position was no longer available. Upon leaving the position she learned the company had given the clerk position to a man because he had a family to support. Thanks to affirmative action, situations like the ones mentioned are becoming less frequent and employers are correcting these situations quickly and efficiently. Affirmative action has definitely helped women and minorities in their careers, but it has yet to succeed in the goal of equality in the business world for women and minorities. As more and more women are faced with discrimination in large firms, more have decided to strike out on their own. ?Observers argue that women have made huge strides with the help of affirmative action. They now hold 40 percent of all corporate middle-management jobs, and the number of women-owned businesses has grown by 57 percent since 1982? (Dundul, 1995). ?Affirmative action was designed to give qualified minorities a chance to compete on equal footing with Whites? (Chappell, 1995). Equal opportunities for the African Americans, for the most part, has remained more wishful-thinking than fact. African American students are continuing to struggle for an education. In society today, many educational institutions offer scholarships for minorities. Ethnic minority students can further their education from the elementary level to the Ph.D level. However, for a minority student, all the financial assistance in the world, is not going to pay for the racial discrimination that they may receive, while attending a white educational facility. In 1982 a young African American man had been accepted into an Ivy league institution. His family were proud of his achievements and his ability to become someone great. As time progressed, our African American student dressed like a black, walked like a black, looked like a black, but to keep well with his professors talked, and acted like his white counterparts. Equal opportunities for African Americans continue to be hard work and wishful-thinking. African American business owners are still competing against their White counterparts. Society labels and stereotypes certain ethic people. For example, when a person enters an electronic store and the owner is white, the person shopping continues to look at the items on the shelf. When an individual walks into an electronic store owned by an African American, the shopper may believe some of the items are stolen. Affirmative action is a written law requesting that minorities have equal opportunities however, society dictates how the opportunities will be given. African American workers are experiencing an unemployment rate twice that of Whites.The low