Randalls Department Stores Essay Example for Free

Randalls Department Stores Essay Department stores encountered a quandary surrounding their pricing strategies: Should they continue to pursue Every Day Low Pricing strategies coupled with frequent promotions or determine a narrow focus on one or the other? If this is preferable, then which one will reap the biggest benefits for the department store? Competitors were aggressively promoted their established brand promotions with more fervor than ever, and Randall’s was slipping in market dominance. A decision had to be made regarding their pricing policy henceforth. Sales data shows that Every Day Low Pricing was not a preferable strategy. Armed with this knowledge, Randall’s must execute a strategy of changing prices so that there is no confusion with the consumer as to what they can provide: Quality products at consistently low prices. With the elimination of erratic and deeply discounted promotions, Randall’s can begin a new era of consistent sales cycles and profitable returns in a marketing environment which is receptive to this development. #1 – There are several distinct advantages to having a more stable and single-level pricing structure. A commitment to this would mean a significant decline in store promotions, but it can be argued that the benefits outweigh the detriments. First, the money that could be saved on largely eliminating sales events accumulates to become a substantial savings pot for the company per year. Secondly, staff members would not be so taxed. Process adjustments borne by the need to honor their guarantee of matching a competitor’s price or paying back the difference if they were to reduce their own requires extra staff that is unnecessary under a stable pricing structure. Another benefit of this strategy is a better inventory turnover ratio. Daily sales can be better predicted and more consistent when the prices to not fluctuate constantly. The cost of residual merchandise to be sold in clearance events at the end of the season is too great when Randall’s is forced to mark these down at even deeper price discounts. This strategic advantage also spawns another: a lesser chance of stockouts. These occurred when a popular item was discounted unnecessarily. The item sold so fast that there were no more left to sell, and those products would have sold regardless without a significant discount. Stockouts can be recognized as revenue forgone when a stable pricing strategy is not implemented. This strategy enables the merchants to be able to dedicate more time and effort to planning their calculated assortment coupled with enhanced service measures. With this comes the success experienced when loyalty to the Randall’s brand is fostered through excellent customer care and superior product presentation established. A store-wide adoption of stable pricing could allow Randall’s to establish a reputation for good value, even in the sea of competitors who continued their fierce promotions. #2 – The introduction of a more leveled pricing was largely unsuccessful in many categories, but successful in certain others. The children’s clothing department enjoyed a relative price inelastic demand structure. This department enjoyed great success derived from implementing Everyday Low Pricing (EDLP) because the children’s merchandise sold carried a lower initial mark-up than formerly and was scarcely promoted at discount prices, if even once a season. The reason EDLP fell flat in many other areas, including jewelry and men’s suits, is because the quality perception of jewelry and suits can be compromised when prices are low from the outset with peripheral promotions going on, consumers anticipate similar discounts on these premier items when they are already at low prices. #3 – In the future, Randall’s should try to stabilize prices going forward. This recommendation comes in light of the fact that the only department which thrived under was Children’s. But there has already been too much damage done in the perceptual minds of the Randall’s consumers – their image has been compromised. The confusion as to whether Randall’s is a more like a Marshall’s or like a JC Penny’s. With a consistent commitment to lower-level initial mark-ups with few discount promotions, the short surges in revenue seen by sales events will not be as great as the steady revenue brought by the sales of a consumer confident in the quality and competitive price of the Randall’s item. Randall’s can’t follow in the footsteps of high-profile competitor Prescott’s and run aggressive sales events if they are not committed to promoting as hard, if not harder than this competitor. The sales will fall short every time and leave Emily ; Caroline Randall back where they started – riding the promotion wave, with the breaker close on the horizon. Please see Appendix A for a detailing of the specific plan of execution for Randall’s executives to changes prices and stabilize them store-wide. With this plan of action, Randall’s can be armed for an era of consistent pricing and steady sales cycles – at no expense to their quality perception.

Clockwork Orange :: essays research papers

The movie A Clockwork Orange takes place in the future of London. Anthony Burgess originally wrote it. Later on made into a movie, and directed by Stanley Kubrick. The movie is to represent ultra-violence and how there is no scientific cure yet. The social context is very violent in the beginning showing scenes of rape and assault. The movie shows a violent killer and rapist, and an attempt to cure him that fails. The author of A Clockwork Orange is Anthony Burgess, also went by the name Joseph Kell. He was born on February 25, 1917, in Manchester. His family was middle class, and their religious background was Catholic. His family life was not easy. His father was a cashier and piano player. His mother died of the flu in 1919, two years after he was born. So with his mother gone and his father not doing to great financially, his maternal aunt then raised him. His stepmother then raised him. Despite the many changes in where he was living, he always was good in school. He continued his studies at Xaverian College and Manchester University. When in college he studied the English language, and literature. He finished school in 1940, which was right around World War II. So he now had to serve at the Royal Army Medical corps. He fell in love and got married in 1942, to an alcoholic named llwela Isherwood, who passed away in 1968 due to alcohol. Burgess was released from the medical corp. around 1945, and then started teaching. He held down to jobs from 1946 to 1950. The jobs were a college professor at Birmingham University and a teacher at Banbury Grammar School. He was not writing that much at this point, only studying music. Anthony Burgess completed his first novel in 1949, although it was finished, it was not published until 1965. In 1954 he was an education officer, he then wrote a trilogy. This trilogy included Time for a Tiger, The Enemy in the Blanket, and Beds in the East.

From reading the selected pre-1914 Essay

The Return of the Native (pg 414 – 447) near end of novel From reading the above, what do you learn of Hardy’s use of vivid description, dramatic incident and reference to Nineteenth century customs and traditions? Which of the three pieces was your favourite and why? From reading the two extracts and the story, I can see that the main difference in the book is how life is in the book compared to our modern 21st century. People in the 19th century depended very heavily on agriculture and farming especially in ‘Wessex’, where nearly all of Hardy’s novels were set. Wages for agricultural labourers were the lowest in the country in Dorset, averaging out at the equivalent of 37p a week in 1840. Magic and superstition was rife in the 19th century, and many people believedin dark powers. Every village in Wessex was supposed to have their own witch. Magic play a big role in two of the stories which I am studying, ‘The Withered Arm’, and ‘The Return of the Native’. People who committed crimes in the 19th century were severely punished. Poachers were transported to Australia to do ‘hard labour’, night burglary was punishable by death. Hangings were still very popular in the 19th century and any hanging was an excuse for a ‘holiday’. Class systems in the 19th century were very rigid – not many people succeeded in moving up to a higher class, but Thomas Hardy was one of the few people who managed to do this. Thomas Hardy uses vivid description in all of his novels and short stories, including the novels which I am studying, in particular ‘The Mayor of Casterbridge’. At the beginning of the chapter, we have an almost cinematic view, as if a camera is zooming in on the three travellers, describing them from afar at first, then in more detail as we begin to see them from closer up. We can almost feel the tension between the two adults, when Hardy says: â€Å"What was really peculiar†¦ was the perfect silence they preserved. † In ‘The Withered Arm’, Hardy uses vivid description very effectively when description Rhoda Brook’s vision. He uses words such as: â€Å"†¦ Peered cruelly† and â€Å"†¦ shockingy distorted† to imply that Gertrude is mocking her for being cast aside and then Gertrude taking her place as Farmer Lodge’s wife. This vivid description is also linked to dramatic incident as it is a key chapter in the story, and Hardy uses adjectives to describe Rhoda’s ‘dream’, it makes us feel as though we are actually there, watching this distorted version of Gertrude attacking Rhoda, so Hardy’s descriptions are very effective in this chapter of the book. Also, at the beginning of the story, we learn a lot from the dairy workers in the farm, who gossip. They gossip about Farmer Lodge’s new wife and they try to guess how old Farmer Lodge is, all the while ignoring Rhoda Brook, Farmer Lodge’s ex-wife. In ‘The Return of the Native’, when the superstitious Susan creates a ‘voodoo’ doll resembling Eustacia, Hardy’s use of vivid description is effective when Susan thrusts pins in the doll, and then puts it in the firem murmuring the Lord’s Prayer backwards – which was a proceed which called for help against an enemy. Magic played a key part in this story; Susan believed that Eustacia was making her son ill, because at the exact moment that he said he was feeling unwell, Eustacia’s dark shadow crossed the light from her house, but this was just a coincidence. Also, in ‘The Return of the Native’, when Eustacia falls into the pool of water near weir, Hardy uses pathetic fallacy, which is when events in the natural world mirror what is going on in the human world. In this case, Eustacia is very depressed and unhappy, so the weather is atrochiously stormy, raining and windy. Because, it has rained so much, the pool has created a whirlpool, and Eustacia falls in. To describe the scene more effectively, Hardy uses metaphors such as: ‘Boiling cauldron’, referring to the whirpool, the current, and emphasising the amount of water in the pool. Hardy’s use of dramatic incident in all three of his stories manage to shape the whole story, especially in ‘The Mayor of Casterbridge’. In think amin the dramatic incident in the extract is when Michael Henchard sells his wife at auction when he becomes drunk. The day after, Michael realises how stupid he has been and vows never to touch another drop of alcohol for however many years as his age. I think this is very effective because the day after Michael sells his wife and baby, he realises that alcohol changed him into something he doesn’t want to be. In ‘The Mayor of Casterbridge’, when Hardy uses dramatic incident, we learn that Hardy builds up suspension before the dramatic climax. When Michael Henchard is trying to sell his wife and baby at auction, nobody will bid the price that he is looking for, then just as Michael is going to withdraw: â€Å"‘Yes. ‘ said a voice from the doorway. ‘ The man in the doorway was in fact, a sailor. He bought Michael’s wife for five guineas, and she left, leaving us with the impression that she is glad that she has got away from her husband at last. Hardy uses lots of dialect to show exactly how Michael Henchard feels about his current state of affairs: â€Å"The woman is no good to me. Who will have her? † When Michael is trying to sell his wife, Hardy describes Michael’s distaste for her effectively, and when he finally does sell her, even the rough country people in the tent are surprised that he let his wife and child go without a second glance. In ‘The Withered Arm’, I think there are two main dramatic incidents: Rhoda Brook’s ‘dream’, and Gertrude’s turning of her blood, when she sees that the young man who has been hanged is, in fact, Rhoda’s son. When Rhoda has a dream that Gertrude visits her to mock her, Gertrude looks ugly and old. Hardy used use of vivid description works effectively in making us understand that Gertrude has come to mock her because Rhoda has been replaced by her in Farmer Lodge’s affections. Hardy’s use of verbs work well in this incident, using words such as ‘thrust’, ‘swung’, and ‘peered cruelly’ to create a feeling of hate between Rhoda and the figure come to visit her at night. The other dramatic incident in ‘The Withered Arm’ is when Gertrude travels to get her arm cured by holding her arm against a newly hanged man’s neck, who is in fact Rhoda’s son. Hardy’s use of dialect again gives and extra depth to the story, when Rhoda walks in when Gertrude’s blood is in the process of being ‘turned’: â€Å"This is the meaning of what Satan showed me in the vision! † Rhoda shouts. Hardy’s use of the word ‘Satan’, emphasizes the hatred Rhoda has for Gertrude and perhaps jealousy, for ‘stealing’ her husband – although Gertrude’s character is kind and gentle. In ‘The Return of the Native’, the main dramatic incident is when Eustacia falls into the whirlpool and Clym Yeobright and Wildeve try to save her, but fail. Three bodies are pulled out, and only one, Clym, survives. Referring again to pathetic fallacy, the weather is awful when Eustacia falls into the ‘boiling cauldron’. The slow realisation that Wildeve was actually holding on to Clym when Diggory Venn was seemingly just pulling Clym out creates images of horror. My favourite story is ‘The Withered Arm’, because I like Hardy’s use of magic in Rhoda’s vision, how Gertrude’s arm became deformed because of this. Gertrude obviously has no idea how this happened. Hardy’s use of vivid description in the book is very effective throughout, but especially in Rhoda’s vision. Rhoda is obsessed with the idea of Farmer Lodge being with another woman, and sends her son to look at Gertrude and report back to her. When he says that Gertrude is shorter that Rhoda, she seems pleased and smug about herself. I like the way how Hardy has interlinked everything, e. g. Rhoda’s son’s father is Farmer Lodge, the young man who was hanged was Rhoda’s son. I think it is a very clever story, and at the end, Gertrude dies at the fright of seeing Rhoda’s son dead, lying limp in the coffin. I think that the story shows that Rhoda is perhaps so obsessed about Farmer Lodge and Gertrude it is almost unhealthy, and because of this, maybe this is why she had the vision in the first place. I learn that Gertrude is forgiving, even though when she went to see Conjuror Trendle and he created the concoction of egg white and water, Rhoda’s image formed. Gertrude was surprised, but she doesn’t question it because she had no idea that Rhoda had anything to do with her arm.

Sci151 - Planetary Comparison - 1355 Words

Planetary Comparison SCI/151 May 3, 2011 Norman Stradleigh Planetary Comparison Planet Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the fifth largest of the planets of the Solar System. Earth’s surface is 71 percent water and is the only astronomical planet currently known where life exists. Earth is our home planet. Scientist and astronomers have studied our planet for Centuries and they have discovered much about our planet. Scientist have gained so much more knowledge of our Solar System in the last half-century after the NASA launched the first spacecraft and travel beyond Earth’s atmosphere has opened up to those who wish to explore. In the following paragraphs, we will discuss Earth and the†¦show more content†¦It is a cloudy, dim world of intense heat, volcanic activity, and deformed mountains on the surface. Mars is a rocky body about half the size of Earth. Like Earth, Mars experiences seasons because of the tilt of its rotational axis, so its distance to the sun changes, according to NASA (n.d.). Telescope observations show w ater-iced clouds, polar ice, and volcanoes. Mars has the largest Volcanic Mountain in the solar system, named the Olympus Mons and has two moons in its orbit. Jupiter is the largest and the fastest spinning planet in our solar system. The storm on Jupiter known as the Great Red Spot could swallow up the entire Earth. Jupiter is made primarily of hydrogen and helium and has no solid surface. Its atmosphere resembles that of the sun. Stathopoulus (2000 – 2011), â€Å" Sixteen moons have been identified, with Ganymede noted as the largest - it is bigger than both Mercury and Pluto† (Facts about Jupiter, para. 9). Saturn is unique of all the planets, adorned with thousands of beautiful ringlets and has 63 moons with confirmed orbits. Fifty-three of the moons have been named, with Titan being the largest and the only one with an atmosphere. Saturn is mostly a massive ball of hydrogen and helium, much like the planet Jupiter. Uranus is the only giant planet whose equator is nearly at right angles to its orbit and has 5 large moons and 22 smaller moons. It is, also, the only planet in our solar system to spin on its side. Uranus