SWOT analysis for Dixons Retail PLC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

SWOT analysis for Dixons Retail PLC - Essay Example This is because the aspect of globalization has increased competition in the market by leaps and bounds with organizations using various strategies including predatory pricing to capture markets and thwart off the competition in the market. It has therefore become very important for business organizations to analyse their internal environment so as to generate optimum advantage of the opportunities offered by the market. It also helps an organization to use its internal strengths and external opportunities in an attempt to take care of the weakness in its internal environment. One of the most common and useful tool to analyse the internal environment is the SWOT analysis. SWOT is an acronym that implies the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats faced by an organization. The strengths and weaknesses come from the internal environment and the Opportunities and threats emerge from the external environment of an organization. The present study would analyse the business strategi es of Dixon Retail Plc especially its internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats so as to generate competitive advantage in the market. The analysis of the internal environment assumes significance as it determines the competitiveness of an organization in the market. Retail giant Dixon Plc is the largest electronic goods retailer across entire Europe. The company was incorporated in the year 1937 in the United Kingdom. Over this long period the company has made significant strides to emerge as the largest retailer in its industry segment with its network of stores spanning 13 nations across the length and breadth of Europe and providing employment options to approximately 38000 individuals. The company apart from Europe also has operations in 13 other nations. The total number of stores as on date is about 1200 with the company being the market leader in UK and four other nations. The company has a considerable number of brands under its umbrella that are extremely popular with the target market audience. The product categories available in its stores include electronic consumer durables like computers to cameras and other such devices offering a complete package for all electronic goods under one umbrella. The company has a bricks and clicks mod el of retailing under which it sells its products through physical stores as well as through the online channel. Dixon has a dedicated online web portal that helps it to provide e-commerce business channel and increase its market penetration and also offer greater convenience to the customers of the organization. The company is listed on the bourses of the London stock exchange where its stocks are actively traded. The immense size and growth of the company can be realised from the fact that it is now presently being listed under the prestigious FTSE 250 index making it one of the topmost companies of UK and Europe (Dixon Retail, 2011). The following sections would analyse the internal strengths, weaknesses of the organization along with an analysis of the external opportunities and threats using the SWOT analysis tool. Methodology   The research methodology used for conducting the SWOT analysis involves a mix of primary and secondary research techniques. The secondary research wo uld be carried out using a variety of data sources including books, journals as well as other sources of credibility. It would also include analysing the annual reports published by the company in order to get a better analysis of the internal environment. Only credible sources of information would be used for gathering information about the

Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 17

Management - Essay Example The government will then have the money to take measures of social welfare. The legal dimension proposes that the business organisations should follow the rules and regulations proposed by the government and should not evade taxes. During their operation, business organisations should follow the rules related to health and safety of the staff, rules against racial or sex discrimination, emission norms etc. There are several industry specific rules such as rule related to hazardous waste, which must be followed. The ethical dimension refers to the business ethics of fair competition while protecting the interest of the major stakeholders be it the shareholders, consumers and the employees. It requires the business owners to work with the moral conscience while taking business decisions. The discretionary dimension is the philanthropic part of social responsibility wherein the business organisation make donations for the social cause such as poverty alleviation, education of the poor sections of the social, control of a deadly disease like cancer or HIV AIDS. There are donations made by businesses during any national or global calamity. All these become a part of discretionary philanthropic act. Only two of the four dimensions discussed above has been the part of Friedman’s statement i.e. economic and legal dimension. In his essay, Friedman argues that the ethical and the discretionary dimensions can be the responsibility of any individual be it the businessmen or the employees of the organisation and not the business. As was insisted in the stakeholder theory by R. Edward Freeman, business organisations have legal obligation towards the primary and secondary stakeholders to run in a profitable and fair manner. The primary stakeholders include shareholders, customers, business partners, employees and the community while the secondary stakeholders include the government and the regulatory bodies, civic institutions

Matthias Duwel`s painting Consumer Consumption Essay

Matthias Duwel`s painting Consumer Consumption - Essay Example It is evident from the study that Matthias Duwel, the author of the painting ‘Consumer Consumption’ has taken the opportunity of presenting his painting to discuss what the terms flux and stability mean to him with respect to his art and the environment around him. He states that flux is a constant state of dynamism where people keep moving from one place to another, whereas stability is a balanced state of mind which is rarely possible in the world we live in. Thus, flux is the reality that people are living within on a global scale. The painting helps to show how everything in the world is in a constant state of flux, and thus out of control. One may see a series of homes right in the centre of the painting, whirling out in a chaos of colours that overpower the residences. This helps to show how people are constantly moving in order to keep themselves happy; they take up material aspects of life thinking that such a constant switch from one thing to another will help t hem to retain their interest in living. People do not pay heed to their emotions anymore on a frequent basis and need to be reminded of a time when ambition and desire were lesser mortals in the face of life and adversity. With the growing desire for more and more, people have begun to destroy nature in order to feed their hunger for avarice and are not able to remember the simple things that life has to offer to them. Urban populace is growing day by day, wiping out all strands of the green and lush environment; as shown in the painting, all kinds of material objects are growing out of the few trees on the planet, which are subsequently decreasing in number and size. Moreover, the depiction of size of the homes and plants in comparison to the array and myriad of colours and objects may also be a reference to importance people give to these aspects rather than worrying about their ‘roots’. In this work of Matthias Duwel’s, the populist idea of a free, orderly and stable society has completely been deconstructed, giving way to individualism, free thinking as well as self determination. However at the same time, this constant state of flux is almost even more constantly obstructed by disasters that nature strikes upon man. For example, earthquakes, hurricanes, typhoons and floods are all natural disasters that strike from time to time, a way of nature telling man that it is probably tired of the pressure that has been put on its resources. Nature cannot be taken for granted anymore, because otherwise the potential hazard of man becoming extinct will soon also become a reality. In conclusion, the fragmented landscape depicted in Duwel’s painting is a reminder for people to understand the concept of abundance. Strips of malls and other facilities are more common these days than looking at trees planted on a boulevard and thus, in order to stop this injustice, people need to stop and pay heed to these things that actually make up life rat her than succumbing to their callous ways. Thus, the focus of this art pieces has shifted from decaying urbanity to the growth and hubris that man survives within these days and calls ‘comfort’

Research paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

Research Paper Example Android is considered a game changer in the mobile developer community since it is well placed to address the growing needs of the mobile marketplace. Introduction According to Haseman, Android is a Linux based operating system and a platform for which applications are developed. The Android operating system was originally designed and produced for touch screen mobile devices such as tablets and smart phones (2008). The android was originally released in 2007 and sold the first Android powered device in 2008. Android is open source software released under the Apache license and therefore the Android software can be freely modified and distributed by developers and device manufacturers. Being that android is a platform for application development in addition to the fact that it is open source, it has a large community of application developers presenting unlimited applications for the mobile devices running on android. The ease of application development on android platform has presen ted a variety of applications for mobile device customization which in turn has seen android as the most popularly used mobile platforms especially for Smartphones. The Android operating system has grown to be used on game console and television applications despite the fact that it was originally designed for tablets and mobile phones. The applications developed on android extend the functionality of the mobile devices (Haseman, 2008). Interface The user interface provides the display and the user control or command of the Android operating system. It gives the user the power to interact with the operating system directly by use of touch manipulation objects on the display. The display is supported by the fluid enabled interface designed to aid the interaction process between the user and the Operating System. The interface is fully-touch screen enabled with operations such as flicking your finger across the screen to flip to the next page of items. The user interface comes in seve ral shapes and sizes. The user interface is also enabled by simple configuration applications that can make the text on screen appear bigger and clearer such as text size and screen size configuration preferences(Udell, 2009). Android Operating System user interface has a home-screen that hosts the operational application icons and widgets. Icons are graphic symbols that take up the commands to open up the application while widget displays the graphic user interface directly on the screen. The operational application icons and widgets displayed on the home-screen are known as Android views that include Context menu, Options menu, Digital clock and Web view. These applications offer additional options and links to different pages that are not directly visible on the main Menu driven interface on the home-screen. The menu applications also play a vital role in displaying information directing the user on what command it initiates. In addition, the Menu driven interface gives notice on notification messages (Hoog & McCash, 2011). Processes Process management is a distinctive operating system that uses several complex data structures and algorithms to process data on Android devices. Â  Android uses this data processing technique in control

American improvement in the conduct of military operations in Europe Essay

American improvement in the conduct of military operations in Europe - Essay Example After the Second World War, the United States emerged as a global superpower in terms of its military power and the Cold War era saw the development of the nation as a super power. Towards the end of the twentieth century, it is because of these improvements in the conduct of military operations in Europe that helped the nation to dictate terms over international relations and global terrorist upheavals. Murray & Millett (2001), in this respect, observe that the â€Å"American commanders had shown considerable improvement in the conduct of military operations in 1945† (Murray & Millett 483). The authors observe that the American drive to the Rhine and the encirclement of the Ruhr by First and Ninth U.S. Armies were the greatest American victory in the war. For them, the U.S. commanders in the campaign were successful as they had ‘a superior understanding of exploitation and maneuver warfare’. The U.S military also realized the significance of more robust radio communications that would assist infantry platoon. Similarly, the U.S military developed an innovative â€Å"ability of the artillery to adjust and mass fires on unseen targets, either by map analysis or, more importantly, by the use of ground or airborne observers† (Murray & Millett 30)

THE GREAT GATSBY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

THE GREAT GATSBY - Essay Example Myriel, however, turns out to be the first individual in decades to treat Valjean with adore and respect. The meeting with Myriel perpetually transforms Valjean’s character, as Myriel makes Valjean promise to turn out to be an honest man (Hugo, 2010 ). Once Valjean opens up his compassion, he becomes a evidence to the redemptive power of love and sympathy. His hard work and new vision change the dilapidated town of Montreuil-sur-mer into a flourishing manufacturing center, which in sequence teaches Valjean the value of charity. In taking care of Cosette, Valjean learns how to love others and how to pass that love. He is incomparable only in his physical strength and his enthusiasm to discover what is good, and this genuineness is enough to make him the novel’s hero as well as a rescuer and a friend to a number of individuals who find themselves in hazard. Hardened by prison and rescued by the kindness of M. Myriel, Valjean is a empty slate, molded by his acquaintance and circumstances. This aptitude to change makes him a universal symbol of anticipation if he can learn love and charity after distressing so much injustice. Now comparing and contrasting Valjean’s character with Gatsby, following can be deduced: Jay Gatsby is the title character and leading role of the novel, Gatsby who is a staggeringly wealthy young man living in a Gothic house in West Egg. He is well-known for the sumptuous parties he throws every Saturday night, but no one knows where he live, what he do, or how he made his wealth. As the novel progresses, it is revealed to Nick that Gatsby was born James Gatz on a farmhouse in North Dakota; working for a millionaire made him bestow his life to the achievement of wealth. When he meets Daisy while teaching to be an police officer in Louisville, he fell in love with her. Nick also discovered that Gatsby made his fortune through illegal activity, as he was enthusiastic to do anything to gain

Analyze the influences of internal politics in desired career path in Essay

Analyze the influences of internal politics in desired career path in criminal justice - Essay Example The only possible report to gather from jail, courtrooms and detectives will come from males. This will make the crime investigation findings biased. Second, the sheriff’s office does not have a crime scene department or even a trained person in the crime scene. This will affect the investigations since there is no one to combine forces with in the investigations. According to Braswell, 2008, since there is no crime scene unit, the findings from the investigations might look irrelevant to the office because even after the findings, there is no department that will seem interested with the findings. As an investigator, it is good to attend crime scene education training in order to work efficiently (Braswell, 2008). In the sheriff’s office, there is no one who attends continuing education training on crime scene investigation. This will affect the investigations since there will be no morale from coworkers to enhance crime scene investigation. Finally, for crime scene in vestigation to be successful there must be modern equipments to support the investigation (Braswell, 2008). In the sheriff’s office, there are no modern equipments supporting these investigations. This will influence the effectiveness of the investigations carried