UK supermarket sector is an oligopoly. Critically evaluate this Essay

UK supermarket sector is an oligopoly. Critically evaluate this statement - Essay Example Their trade was valued approximately at ?76.78 billion in the year 2000 and had increased by 4.5% over the years (Tyler, 2011). In this study, the discussion will critically evaluate the citation that UK supermarket sector is an oligopoly. For this purpose, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, ASDA, Morrisons and Safeway will be included in the study since they are the top five supermarket chains. The Oligopoly Market According to Investopedia, â€Å"An oligopoly is much like a monopoly, in which only one company exerts control over most of a market. In an oligopoly, there are at least two firms controlling the market† (Investopedia, 2011). In the UK supermarket there are mainly three big companies that operate and control the market. These are Tesco, Sainsbury’s and ASDA. Its presence is also felt in the European market as most of the supplies of the supermarket are through these companies. The oligopoly market structure is such that there are few sellers, who control the market . Unlike the monopolistic competition, perfect competition and monopoly market, the oligopoly requires to think strategically. In oligopoly, the sellers are huge enough to have an influential affect upon the market. A seller needs to respond to its competitors’ choices, but the competitors are countering to the sellers’ choices. For instance, when Tesco responds towards the choice of Sainsbury’s, at the same time Sainsbury’s reacts to the choices of Tesco in the UK market (Ohio State University, 2000). In the oligopoly markets, there are tensions in relation to cooperation as well as self-interest in the companies such as Tesco, ASDA & Sainsbury’s in the UK. If all these companies limit their productivity, it will affect the prices that will tend to be high, but then there are possibilities of the companies to have an incentive to expand their output (Ohio State University, 2000). Strategic Decision in the Oligopoly Market The strategic decision is crucial in the case of firms that are interdependent. In the UK market’s supermarket sector Tesco, Sainsbury’s and ASDA are interdependent as they control the market in this segment. They cannot act independently; consequently they have to take into consideration the likely responses of the competitor in order to make any kind of alteration in the pricing and non-pricing activities. They develop the strategies based upon the probable reaction of the rivals (Economics Online, 2011). In the UK supermarket, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and ASDA need to decide strategically in certain aspects of the market that are listed below: Competition Strategic Decision The firms need to strategically decide whether to compete with the competitors or join together. It is tough to decide as a prediction made by the firms against the decision made by the rivals might turn out to be wrong (Economics Online, 2011). Pricing Decision The firms need to strategically decide whether to increase or decrease the price or to keep it at constant. It is difficult for the firms to decide. They generally undertake the

Operations and logistics management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Operations and logistics management - Essay Example This makes the task easier since payments are made online and the registration process is simple and very easy to understand. Since the data is usually fed into the client side computer, the aspect of reaching out to the already registered customers through the database helps the company in spreading its message, getting their point across to the relevant target audiences and so on and so forth. (Cade, 1996) The negative aspects include the manner in which verification still needs to be done through the physical presence of a person, especially at the airport terminal where the online booking is re-confirmed and there have been instances when the travelers have returned due to missing information, all of which cannot be made available online. This is a very cumbersome process for the traveler and he undergoes agony and distress at the hands of the authorities. At other times, visa restrictions and incomplete data has accounted for a number of different problems as well. However this style of service (online booking) has been on the development side and more and more travelers are booking their tickets online, so as to save on fuel and time constraints. This is a busy world where business people have issues dealing with certain problems and hence they find it best to book tickets online and earn rewards as well. (Griffin, 2002) On the flip side, for a newbie traveler this can pose problems since he might encounter different problems at the hands of the online booking form, the agent or the whole service in essence. Hence there could be a number of improvements made within the related circles. For one, they could adopt a more comprehensive cover for the potential customer who is the traveler at the end of the day. They could offer services which are readily available when the customer makes a physical appearance at the travel agent’s office. (Molina, 2001) They can avoid the litigation measures and

Language Arts Essay Example for Free

Language Arts Essay This topic will provide students with an interactive method of learning numeracy, literacy, inquiry and responsibility within the environment in which we live (Rice Wilson, 1999). It gives ample leeway for creating lessons within the subject areas of Science, Mathematics, Language Arts, and Social Studies. Such a unit will make students aware of the place and role of trees in the environment. It will also enhance their knowledge of the structure and function of trees as living things. Students will also understand how humans depend on trees in the environment and also how the activities of humans have adversely affected the environment in the past. Finally, it will make students aware of how their individual actions toward trees can improve the state of the environment. Overall Expectations: 1. Students will learn how trees grow. 2. Students will learn the uses that humans have for trees. 3. Students will explore what humans and trees have in common. 4. Students will learn size and texture comparisons from parts of trees. 5. Students will learn how to count using tree limbs, leaves, and other tree parts. 6. Students will learn numeracy and estimation by exploring how many more limbs are possessed by one tree over another. 7. Students will learn vocabulary and how to construct sentences about trees. 8. Students will learn about forests and how they have been harmed by humans in the past Specific Expectations Integrated Science Students will be expected to make connections between trees and the things in their lives made from trees. They will be expected to be able to tell the facts about trees. Such prompts will be given to allow them to name such characteristics as size, colour, and the different parts of a tree that they are familiar with. Student will also be expected to learn observation and note-taking skills as part of the scientific process. Mathematics Students should be able to demonstrate their knowledge of counting objects and of the fact that one number represents on object via counting branches, leaves, and other parts of trees. They are also expected to be able to perform arithmetic operations of adding and subtracting using tree icons as computational tools. Students are also expected to learn (or reinforce knowledge of) descriptors such as larger, longer, bigger, taller, thinner, and other comparisons. Language Arts Students are expected to learn vocabulary connected with trees and to recognize them as sight words. They are expected to make connections between trees, their parts, animals and humans, and should be able to construct simple sentences that explain facts about them. Students should also be able to recognize and properly use comparative adjectives such as tall and taller, thin and thinner, long and longer, etc. Specific Expectations Students will be expected to be able to understand the interactions of humans and animals with trees. They should be able to name such things that they have seen in trees, such as birds nests and squirrels. They will then be expected to understand whether trees are alive or dead and required to say why they have answered in a specific way.

Impact of Imperialism on India

Impact of Imperialism on India Throughout history, many nations have implemented imperialism to enforce their will over others for money, protection and civilization. India was no exception. Since its discovery, Europeans were trying get a piece of Indias action. In many cases England was the imperial, or mother country. Since India was put under imperialism, a great deal of things changed, some for the good, mostly though for the bad. Between 1640 and 1949, India was ruled by two periods of imperialism, both of which effected India in a very profound and permanent manner. The first period of European control was between 1740 and 1858. During this period the British East India Company controlled the Indian sub-continent under the guise of economic imperialism, when in fact the manipulation of Indian affairs was much more political than let on. When it was founded in 1600 by Queen Elizabeth I, the East India Companys main purpose was to break into the Indonesian spice trade which was dominated by the Dutch. But after colonizing a post a Madras in 1640, the company was re-chartered to include such rights as coining money and act as government to British subjects at the East India Companys posts. As well, the British government also gave the company the right to make was or peaceful arrangements with powers who were non-Christian. This control expanded with the founding of a port at Bombay in 1668, and the founding of Calcutta in 1690. Then in 1756, a young employee named Robert Clive, who had been named lieutenant-governor in 1755, was sent to take back Calcutta from the Bengal nawab. He accomplished this in January of 1757. Then later that year, Clive lead a group of 950 European and 2,000 Indian soldiers(sepoys) against a group of 50,000 Indians lead by a degenerate nawab at Plassey. The victory of the English forces over the local resistance brought Bengal under the effective political control of the East India Company. Although a puppet nawab was left in control of the area, Clive was granted the right to extract land revenue from most of eastern India. Throughout this whole period, the company slowly found its privileges being revoked, until in 1858, the Sepoy Rebellion, or the Indian Revolution, finally brought an end to the rule of the East India Company in India when it was revealed the cause of the rebellion was the use of beef and pork fat to grease rifle cartridges, which are taboo to the Muslims and Hindus. This Revolution brought the rule of the East India Company to an end. The second period of English imperialism started in August of 1858 when the British monarchy assumed direct control of India from the East India Company. This established a full colonial government, where British officials run the countrys affairs, in India. This is known as colonial imperialism. This period was one of major change in Indian life and culture. While the East India Company tried respect local customs and learn local languages, the colonial government tried to impose British culture on India. . . encouraged the Indian people to abandon their traditions and learn to speak, dress and live like Europeans. This came to a head in 1877, when Queen Victoria was recognized as the Empress of India. The colonial government felt it was their duty to civilize the people of India, feeling I am a little bit better than you, therefore my presence is necessary. This all began to end in 1885 with the formation of the Indian National Congress, made up of middle-class Indians who were kno wn as the congress. This congress campaigned for free education for both sexes, more Indian representation in government, and other reforms. But then in the early 1900s, nationalists began to reject British rule and petition for its end in India by boycotting British goods and publishing books which restored peoples pride in Indias ancient heritage. The nationalist leader, Mohandas Gandhi, is perhaps best known for his method of passive resistance to help the struggle of India. Then finally in 1949, the partitioning of the British controlled lands into the independent countries of Pakistan and India brought an end to English rule in the Indian subcontinent. Throughout the rule of the British in India, the effect of the colonial and economic imperialism impacted the sub-continent in the form of many economic and social changes. On the economic side, many Indian goods were sold overseas by the East India Company, but the government of England saw India as a large base for British goods, as well as a source of raw materials. This lead to British officials discouraging Indian industry, as well as encouraging the production of export crops rather than food crops. In this way cotton was produced in India, processed in England, and thin sold back to the Indians. This change in food supplies killed millions of Indians from famine in the 1800s. Then when the British government took direct control, the construction of railways, canals, and roads, especially the opening of the Suez canal in 1869 opened the interior of India for trade throughout Europe and Asia. With the construction of the telegraph lines in India, exports from India jumped tremen dously. However, all of the profit went to the colonialists, plunging most Indians into poverty. The social changes included the introduction of health care and hospitals, which, while curing diseases and improving the general health of Indians, created such a tremendous population explosion that famine resulted in some regions. As well, the creation of British educated professionals and business people created a new upper-class in India changing the rule of class in India forever. All of these changes, while under the guise of helping the natives, only served to help the colonists and leave the Indians feeling inferior, as though Indians are only hewers of wood, and drawers of water All of these changes in Indian culture and economy forever changed the destiny of the Land of India. While many changes may have been good in retrospect, they were only meant to help the colonizing British. Overall, the colonization of India had nothing but a negative effect on its people and culture. Perhaps one day people will realize that imposing one culture on another is not only wrong, but it is destructive to the natural course of a countrys history.

The Art of Ancient Rome :: Essays Papers

The Art of Ancient Rome The Roman sculptures and architectures were greatly influenced by the Greeks and also some effects by the Etruscans. Romans were influenced mostly by Greek art in many ways. It was because the variety of paintings, sculptures, and the different style of early architectures presented in every period of Roman history. They had pasted and copied many art works from the early Greek to build up their empire. Although the Etruscans had contributed and influenced the Roman in some ways such as educated them to build fortifications, bridges, drainage systems, and aqueducts but their underst6anding on both the art and language is still limited to the Greek. The differences between the art of Roman and other civilizations were that every Roman arts whether were sculptures or architectures had served some purposes and played certain roles in the daily lives of Roman citizens. For example, Romans love to build small concrete building with the vaulting systems. The small building which was called the bay (Pg. 105). This unique system helps to construct much fine and greatest architecture for Romans such as the Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia, the Colosseum and the Basilica of Constantine. The Pantheon of Rome was also another striking example of fine Roman structure. These structures were often used for religion matters, public meetings and entertainment for every Roman citizen. If any Roman citizens wanted to have some fun, they would attend the Colosseum and watched the gladiatorial game or a series of chariot race. If some other citizens wanted to seek God or certain deity, they would likely to go to the Sanctuary of Fortuna Prim igenia. In fact, architectures were significant in the lives of Roman citizens. On the other hand, the Roman sculptures were also significant. They displayed the heritages and traditions for every Romans and played an important role in the history of Rome. The Art of Ancient Rome :: Essays Papers The Art of Ancient Rome The Roman sculptures and architectures were greatly influenced by the Greeks and also some effects by the Etruscans. Romans were influenced mostly by Greek art in many ways. It was because the variety of paintings, sculptures, and the different style of early architectures presented in every period of Roman history. They had pasted and copied many art works from the early Greek to build up their empire. Although the Etruscans had contributed and influenced the Roman in some ways such as educated them to build fortifications, bridges, drainage systems, and aqueducts but their underst6anding on both the art and language is still limited to the Greek. The differences between the art of Roman and other civilizations were that every Roman arts whether were sculptures or architectures had served some purposes and played certain roles in the daily lives of Roman citizens. For example, Romans love to build small concrete building with the vaulting systems. The small building which was called the bay (Pg. 105). This unique system helps to construct much fine and greatest architecture for Romans such as the Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia, the Colosseum and the Basilica of Constantine. The Pantheon of Rome was also another striking example of fine Roman structure. These structures were often used for religion matters, public meetings and entertainment for every Roman citizen. If any Roman citizens wanted to have some fun, they would attend the Colosseum and watched the gladiatorial game or a series of chariot race. If some other citizens wanted to seek God or certain deity, they would likely to go to the Sanctuary of Fortuna Prim igenia. In fact, architectures were significant in the lives of Roman citizens. On the other hand, the Roman sculptures were also significant. They displayed the heritages and traditions for every Romans and played an important role in the history of Rome.

The Cosmetic Industry: Selling Illusion :: Argumentative Persuasive Argument

The Cosmetic Industry: Selling Illusion The makeup industry is booming these days. With the ability to make skin appear smoother, eyelashes look longer, and make lips a different color, makeup continues to create a distorted reality for people around the world. The cosmetic industry is still going strong because our culture continues to promote its use. For example, women are expected to wear makeup for certain occasions. They are expected to wear makeup at work, when they go out to eat, and nearly every other situation that involves an appearance in public. If a woman is seen not wearing makeup in public, then she is considered a deviant, and others look down on her. The entire makeup market, the value of eye, lip, nail and face makeup, was $23.7 billion in 1998. This market has also experienced a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.7 percent from 1994 to 1998. (Bucalo) One obvious explanation for this large value of the industry is that makeup is extremely appealing to consumers. It is a great way to cover up the imperfections in one's appearance. The "need" to cover the imperfections in our face and skin is magnified by the importance that is placed on looking beautiful. It is sad, but many times people are judged by their appearance. People realize this and strive to improve themselves with makeup. They feel it is necessary to put on a mask when presenting themselves to the public because they fear that they may be inaccurately judged if they do not. Makeup has other uses, too. There are some circumstances that call for the distortion of reality, such as movies. An actor can represent a character much better with a little distortion of his true appearance. Sometimes the story line takes place over an extended period of time. An actor may need to change their appearance from young to old throughout the course of the movie. Makeup can also make it easier for a movie to seem more realistic. Can you imagine how lame Star Wars or Dracula would have been if the actors had played the parts without change from their natural appearance? Clowns also seem to have a convincing argument that makeup is useful in their line of work. In fact, the makeup that a clown wears is characteristic of their job description. A clown without makeup is like a fish out of water. Makeup is so useful for clowns because an unchanging mood can be put on their face.

Relationship between society and education Essay

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIETY AND EDUCATION Introduction Many sociologists have observed that there is a strong relationship between education and society. This observation is borne out of the fact that it is not possible to separate or draw any line of demarcation between the two concepts. This is because of the fact that what happens to the educational system undoubtedly affects the society, the young in its own image. The components of the educational system that constitute perfectly defined facts and which have the same reality as another social fact are inter-related. They are inter-related internally, so that a given education system has unity and consistency, and also externally so that the education system reflects a society’s moral and intellectual values. Ottaway (1980) defined society as the whole range of social relationships of people living in a certain geographical territory and having a feeling of belonging to the same kind of group. In every society, whether developing or developed, complex or primitive, there is always an education system. Education systems are not the same, as no two societies are identical. Therefore, education systems differ from society to society and their aims, contents and techniques also differ from one society to another. From the foregoing, one might postulate that educational institutions are micro-societies, which mirror the entire society. This is one of the reasons why societies try to evolve education systems and  policies that would meet the needs, beliefs, attitudes and the aspirations of their people. Havighurst (1968) observed that the way to understand a society’s education system is to understand how it is related to the other basic institutions of that society, in particular the family, the church, mosque,the state, the polity and the economy. Relationship between Education and Society We have seen education in particular as a means of cultural transmission from one generation to another. The parents are the first teachers of the child and they still maintain an educative function throughout the early and formative years of a child. In most of the developing nations of the world, including Nigeria, parents are responsible for sending their children or wards to school. Since these nations are undergoing rapid socioeconomic and political changes, they witness special problems involving the appropriate education system, which will be able to produce the adequate manpower needs in all the segments of the society. . Schools are established in many societies of the world so as to instill in the pupils those skill’s which will afford them the opportunity of taking their rightful positions in the society; but this function cannot be adequately accomplished without the assistance of the home because both the home and the school perform complimentary functions in the moral and intellectual development of the child. This means that the child cannot be educated in a vacuum or in isolation. Therefore, for a child to be educated there must be interaction between him and his physical and social environment. By this we mean that education is the development of personality. It is something which goes on both inside and outside the home and in the school. In other words, education is an activity of the whole community. This means that education is used in the transmission of the cultural values. One important implication of looking at education as the transmitter of cultural values is the fact that education can be influenced by the culture of the society in which it takes place. For this reason, one may infer that for a child to be educated, he must be influenced by his environment and, in turn, be capable of influencing it. And it is only by the concept of the continuous interaction of the individual and his society that the development of personality can be properly understood. We have noted above  that education is a means through which the cultural values of a particular society are transmitted from one generation to another. Through this process, the society is able to achieve basic social conformity and ensure that its traditional values, beliefs, attitudes and aspirations are maintained and preserved. Clarks (1948) observed that a general knowledge and acceptance of the ideals and aims of our society is essential for all its citizens, and it must be achieved throug h education but in a form, which makes it compatible with freedom. So he reconciles the double purpose by saying that admittedly, the purpose of the educative society may be to make men conformable. But overmastering that must be the purpose to make men free. A society needs a stable and dynamic set of values and a ,unified purpose. It is when this is ascertained that meaningful economic, political and social programmes can be embarked upon for the overall benefits of the citizens. To be a fully developed a person in such a society, implies full and creative membership of it with powers to change it. Ottaway (1980) contended that the transmission of culture still remains a vital function, and is not to be dismissed as merely conservative in the sense of being old-fashioned. He further observed that our children are potentially the society of the future, which still belongs to the non-social community, and education in this respect can be regarded as a socialization of the young. Education depends on the total way of life of a people in a society. This suggests that the type of education provided will differ from society to society. Besides, each society has her own norms, values and her own ideal persons who stand out clearly for the youn ger generations to emulate. Since all these societies are not the same, then it means that a man is regarded as a hero in one society because of his contributions to educational development of the society may not be regarded as such in another society where education is not given priority in the scheme of their daily activities. It, therefore, implies that children have different people to emulate in different societies. It is logical to expect that the type education given in each society will change from time to time as the society changes. Many writers have argued that education is one of the causes of social change in the society, but another school of thought is of the opinion, that educational change tends to follow other social  changes, rather than initiate them. Ottaway (1980) observed that ideas of change originate in the minds of men; often in the mind of a single man. Exceptional individuals invent new techniques and propound new values for their society. These ideas arise from the impact of man o n his culture, but do not change the culture until they are shared and transmitted by a social group. In his own submission, Boocock (1972) noted that societies undergoing rapid social change or modernization have special problems in adapting the educational system to the manpower needs of the world. They often suffer shortages of persons with special kind of education in engineering and other technical fields and may have difficulty in keeping persons with valuable skills once they have completed their education. Another area of the relationship between education and society is through the arrangement of the entire society into a hierarchical order that is, through the social structure in which education plays a prominent and significant role in fixing educated individuals into social classes. Ottaway (1980) observed that education is the process of preparing people to fit into this complex social structure and to play particular social roles as members of more than one institutional group. Individuals have to learn to be fathers or mothers, school teachers or civil servants, shopkeepers or priests. They have to learn to keep the law, to understand how they are governed and to be prepared to try and change the social moves when they see that they can be improved. Education as a social phenomenon is also concerned with the preparation of the child for his future occupation in life. This is one of the main economic functions of education and this is in the interest of both the nation and the individual. Through education an individual knows the structure of the society and the different types of relationships that exist among those structures in the society. The child is taught how to perform different roles within the social structure in the society. These roles are inter-r elated. For example, the role of a father is a relational role; a father could be a son to another person. So education allows the child to perform his role adequately within the social structure in the society. In addition, the child is able to understand the network of inter-relationships among the different social institutions that make up the society. . Also of importance are the different functions that are performed by each social institution in the society. Like an individual, each institution has definite functions to perform in the society and the functions of each institution differ from one to another even though they are complimentary. Another aspect of the relationship between education and society is in the area of social interaction. Social interaction may be defined as any relation between people and groups, which changes the behaviour of the people in the group. There is a need for social interaction by the child before he could acquire the culture of his society. This interaction in the society is therefore part of the child’s education, provided that, that type of interaction brings about positive changes in the child’s behaviour in the right direction as required by the educational system. One important point here is that the child has been taking part in group interaction long before he starts to attend school and the most common among these group interactions are within the family and the peer group. These groups in which the child interact, gives him the opportunity to learn from the wider circles in the society. From his social contacts, he learns his roles in different groups and this influences his personality development. Conclusion Many sociologists have appreciated the relationship between education and society and have concluded that the two are so interrelated. That one cannot draw any line of demarcation between them. It has been observed that the educational system of any nation must be based on the needs and demands of the society, and that any educational system that fails to meet the needs, aspirations and ambitions of the society is not relevant and is bound to fail. The educational system of any nation is concerned with, the transmission of the cultural values of today to those who will live in the world of tomorrow, and contents of education must somehow strike a balance. Dubey et. al. (1984) observed that a good educational system, in all its full substance and ramifications, is related to the level of culture, industrial development, rate of urbanization, political organization, religious climate, family structure, stratification and other institutions of the total social system. Finally, education has to fulfil both the individual’s needs and those of the society and must keep pace with other sub-systems in the society, as both variables are inter-related. REFERENCES Blakemore, K. and Cooksey, B. (1981). A Sociology of Education for Africa. London: George Allen & Unwin. Boocock, S. (1972). An Introduction to the Sociology of Learning. New York: Houghton Mifflin. Clarke, F. (1948). Freedom in the Educative Society London: University Press. Dubey, D.L. et.al (1984). An Introduction to the Sociology of Nigerian