Populism

Populism DBQ During the period of 1880-1900, farmers were facing many hardships. Financial issues were one of the main difficulties as well as long hours, droughts, insect plagues, and ranchers and cowboys. The farmers refused to back down without a fight. Farmers made valid complaints and expected something to be done about it. Their complaints weren’t being listened to and they took matter into their own hands. The Farmers Alliance was formed in the 1890’s to serve for needs of education, farming methods, and to organize economic and political action. A great hardship farmers faced was overproduction of crops.Because of the over production, crop prices were lowered and farmers weren’t able to make much money. In Document E, J. Laurence Laughlin, â€Å"Causes of Agriculture Unrest†, it explains the enlargement of supply without the corresponding increase of demand. This being something that caused some farmers to even go into a depression. Farmers needed more land to compensate for the price. Also happening during this time was the drastic change between gold and silver currency. The change was creating chaos. When gold became scarce, government took it upon themselves to make silver the new form of currency.In Document A, The Platform of the People’s (populist) party, it states that silver being the new currency as opposed to gold made the value of property and labor go down. Thus only adding to the difficulties farmers had to paying. The rising costs greatly affected farmers in the 1800-1900’s. Big companies kept their prices high making it almost impossible for small farmers to keep up. They also had to keep up with the middle man and warehouses and retailers stores that shared the profit. In Document F, James B. Weaver â€Å"A Call to Action: An Interpretation of Great Uprising†, it says monopolies are key to destroy competition.That’s exactly what they were doing to small farms so they’d no lo nger have competition. They would decrease the prices of raw materials then they’d increase the price to the consumer. This guaranteed farmers to be in debt for years to come. Document D, The Farmer’s Voice: a Chicago Newspaper, the cartoon shows a lineup of farmer’s mortgages going into foreclosure because they just cannot afford their farms anymore. Railroads during this time had to raise their prices as well. They charged more for short haults so they’d be able to stay in business. In Document G, Testimony of George W.Parker, Railroads were feeling the effects of the rising costs too. To survive, the only thing they could do was to raise their prices aswell. Value of money caused great tensions for farmers. As gold became less available to get and silver became predominant, it was changed into the new currency. The silver to gold ratio was 16 ounces of silver to 1 ounce of gold. In Document B, Acceptance Speech of William McKinley, he states debasement of currency means destruction of value. Free silver didn’t change anything for farmers, they were still in debt working long hours with horrible pay.As if the money wasn’t scarce enough, immigrats coming to the land and increasing population made circulation of the money even worse. In Document C, United States government data, you see the number in thousands of increasing population while the money in circulation takes a large dip before slowly regaining standard. Farmers faced many problems during the period of 1880-1900. The change in currency and rise of prices were main difficulties. The farmer’s complaints were justified. The hardships they went through were extremely tough and many made it through. The reason for some success was because they refused to back down without a fight.

Marks & Spencer Group Anaylsis

COMPANY PROFILE Marks and Spencer Group plc REFERENCE CODE: DFE67A38-E021-448F-BC58-3944E618713F PUBLICATION DATE: 12 May 2012 www. marketline. com COPYRIGHT MARKETLINE. THIS CONTENT IS A LICENSED PRODUCT AND IS NOT TO BE PHOTOCOPIED OR DISTRIBUTED. Marks and Spencer Group plc TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS Company Overview†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 3 Key Facts†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Business Description†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚ ¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 4 Histor y†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 5 Key Employees†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 9 Key Employee Biographies†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 10 Major Products and Services†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ . 6 Revenue Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 17 SWOT Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 18 Top Competitors†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 25 Company View†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 26 Locations an d Subsidiaries†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 29Marks and Spencer Group plc  © MarketLine Page 2 Marks and Spencer Group plc Company Overview COMPANY OVERVIEW Marks and Spencer Group (M&S or â€Å"the company†) is one of the leading retailers of clothing, foods and homeware in the UK. The company operates in more than 40 countries across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. It is headquar tered in London, the UK and employs 78,169 people. The company recorded revenues of ? 9,740. 3 million (approximately $15,158. 8 million) in the financial year ended April 2011 (FY2011)*, an increase of 2. 1% over FY2010. The operating profit of M&S was ? 836. million (approximately $1,302. 5 million) in FY2011, a decrease of 1. 8% compared to FY2010. The net profit was ? 612 million (approximately $952. 5 million) in FY2011, an increase of 1 6. 3% over FY2010. *The financial year ended April 2, 2011 was a 52-week period whereas the financial year ended April 3, 2010 was a 53-week period. KEY FACTS Head Office Marks and Spencer Group plc Waterside House 35 Nor th Wharf Road London W2 1NW GBR Phone 44 20 7935 4422 Fax Web Address http://www. marksandspencer. com Revenue / turnover 9,740. 3 (GBP Mn) Financial Year End April Employees 78,169 London TickerMKS Marks and Spencer Group plc  © MarketLine Page 3 Marks and Spencer Group plc Business Description BUSINESS DESCRIPTION M&S is the holding company of the Marks & Spencer Group of companies. The company is one of the UK’s leading retailers, with more than 21 million people visiting its stores each week. M&S offers clothing and home products, as well as foods, sourced from about 2,000 suppliers globally. It operates through both wholly owned stores and franchise stores. As of FY2011, the company operated 703 stores in the UK. M&S operates over 361 owned and franch ised stores in over 42 territories.Though the company primarily repor ts its revenues in terms of geographic segments (UK and international), its operations can be categorized under two divisions: food and general merchandise. The food division concentrates on four main areas: fresh, natural, healthy food; special celebration products; authentic ready meal ranges; and exceptional ever yday food such as â€Å"Oakham† chicken. It operates a chain of 163 Simply Food owned stores and 202 Simply Food franchise stores in high streets, motorway service stations, railway stations and air por ts in the UK.The general merchandise division of the company is categorized into two segments: clothing and home. The clothing segment offers women's wear, men's wear, lingerie, children's wear, and accessories and footwear. Some of the prominent brands offered by this segment include Autograph, Limited Collection, Collezione, Blue Harbour, Girls Boutique, Per Una, Ceriso, Adored, and Truly you. The home segment offers homeware and home accessories, kitchen and tableware, lighting, and furniture products. In addition to selling products through regular stores, the segment also offers catalogue services.M offers its products and services online as well as through flagship stores, high street stores, retail park stores, M outlets, Simply Food stores, and Simply Food franchised stores. Marks and Spencer Group plc  © MarketLine Page 4 Marks and Spencer Group plc History HISTORY M was founded in 1884 as a stall in an open market in Leeds, the UK. Then known as Marks' Penny Bazaar, it was the household goods, haberdasher y, toy, and sheet-music business of Michael Marks, a Jewish refugee from Poland. In 1894, he took Thomas Spencer as a business par tner.In 1903, M&S was registered as a private limited company. Although a clothing design depar tment had first been set up in 1938, it was not until after the Second World War that it became fully developed under a leading designer . In 1973, the company entered Canada, and bought Peoples Depar tment Stores and D'Allaird's, a national women's wear retailer, both of which it later sold. The company also had direct retailing investments in Canada. It tried to move south of the border in 1988 with the purchase of Brooks Brothers, but the US operation never took off as the company had hoped.Five franchised stores were closed down in Turkey in 1999 when the franchise par tner Turk Petrol Holding couldn't meet its bank obligations and collapsed. Later in the year, Marks and Spencer Canada, after 25 years of business, closed its 38 stores. The company sold its US clothing chain Brooks Brothers for $225 million in 2001. In 2003, M&S announced the launch of its â€Å"&more† credit card. Alongside this, Marks & Spencer Financial Services was re-branded â€Å"Marks & Spencer Money. † In 2004, M&S completed the sale of Marks & Spencer Retail Financial Services Holdings (M&S Money) to HSBC.During the course o f 2005, the company opened 31 Simply Food stores as well as closed the Lifestore project in the UK. M&S expanded the â€Å"Simply Food† format with the acquisition of 28 stores on a leasehold basis from Iceland Foods for a consideration of ? 38 million (approximately $76. 3 million) in 2006. In the same year, M&S sold Kings Super Markets, its only non-M&S branded business to a US investor group consisting of Angelo, Gordon & Co, MTN Capital Par tners and Mr. Bruce Weitz for $61. 5 million in cash.In 2007, M&S and two of its long-term suppliers decided to star t the development of M&S' first â€Å"eco-factories†, pioneering innovative methods of sustainable manufacturing. One factor y in Sri Lanka would make lingerie and two factories in Nor th Wales would manufacture furniture upholster y. In the same year, the company launched its own branded LCD widescreen TVs. This range was in addition to the existing collection of Sony TVs currently available at M. Fur ther in the year, M launched school wear made from recycled plastic bottles.The company's first standalone home store in Lisburn, Nor thern Ireland was launched in 2007. In the same year, M&S launched Big & Tall, an exclusive online men's wear offering more than 450 items online ranging from tailoring to knitwear to casual shir ts and trousers. Also in 2007, M reduced saturated fat level as much as 82% in more than 500 company's products. The company reduced saturated fat levels in products including sandwiches, ready meals, crisps and savor y snacks. Marks and Spencer Group plc  © MarketLine Page 5 Marks and Spencer Group plc HistoryTowards the end of 2007, a new Made to Measure shir ts ser vice was launched by M&S, which allowed customers to design a tailor-made shir t within 21 days. The company added new products to its men's wear por tfolio in FY2008. M also launched climate control underwear featuring temperature regulating technology developed by NASA, expanded Collezione brand collec tion by introducing new shoes, wool and cashmere mix trousers. M reinvigorated its Blue Harbour brand to attract 35 to 44 year old men. Also in FY2008, the company star ted to freeze its ready meals for international sale and launched a range of 70 lines in eight countries.Later, the company also launched a 25-piece capsule collection called GD25 from Per Una. In 2008, M removed ar tificial colors and flavorings from its entire food and soft drinks range. In the same year, the company improved the quantity of space in a number of major out of towns and city centre stores through store extensions and also added 35 stores to its Simply Food por tfolio, including 25 BP franchised stores. A new flagship store in new Westfield Centre at White City, West London was opened at the end of 2008.To fur ther progress in Asian markets, the company opened its first 38,000 square feet store in Shanghai. M then entered into a par tnership with Scottish and Southern Energy, as per which M Energy wou ld supply electricity and gas to domestic customers and reward them with M store vouchers for helping the environment by reducing their energy usage. M announced plans to close 10 of its Simply Food stores in 2009. The company opened Food to Go outlets in Hong Kong in the same year. Also in 2009, M announced plans to enter new categories in the Indian market, with the launch of luggage and footwear for men.The company introduced a Ramadan and Eid fashion collection in all the 13 stores throughout the Middle East in the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman in 2009. Fur ther in the year, M launched personalized greetings cards business online. The company also announced to open its second mainland store in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province in southern China. M also launched a beer and cider range to complement its wine selection. M launched a revamped version of its website in 2009, the first major update since 2007.Fur thermore, in 2009, the company began to offer its onli ne international deliver y service to 73 more countries as par t of a drive to grow annual sales of M Direct. The company began its offering within the homeware sector in 2009. M announced plans to open a store in Marbella, Spain by the end of 2009. In the same year, M and India-based Reliance Retail planned to open approximately 50 stores in India in the following five years under the banner of their joint venture company Marks & Spencer Reliance India. Later in the year, the company outlined plans to cut costs by ? 50 million (about $150 million) by optimizing its supply chain and IT systems. M also announced plans to open a new store at the Swords Pavilions shopping center in the Dublin Airpor t, Ireland, in 2009. The company opened its new 22,000 square feet store at Morpeth's Sanderson Arcade in the same year. M&S decided to launch â€Å"Simply Food† in Western Europe. Fur ther in 2009, the company announced plans to sell a selected range of around 400 branded grocery an d household products in all of its UK stores, following a 16-month trial in its stores in the Nor th East and South East of England.In 2010, M&S launched a new Home Energy Service division that would offer customers a suite of energy efficiency products and services. Building on the success of M&S Energy, which was servicing Marks and Spencer Group plc  © MarketLine Page 6 Marks and Spencer Group plc History over 125,000 homes, the company would roll-out a number of new products including bespoke energy advice, renewable energy solutions such as solar panels and heat pumps, and energy efficient heating solutions.In the same year, M&S announced a program to be the world's most sustainable retailer by 2015, launching 80 major new commitments under M' eco and ethical plan, Plan A. The new commitments will mean that the company ensures all M&S products become ‘Plan A products' with at least one sustainable quality. This program will also enable the company's 2,000 suppliers to a dopt Plan A best practice and encourage M customers and employees to live ‘greener' lifestyles. Fur ther in 2010, M launched a new version of www. marksandspencer. om designed specifically for use on mobile phones and mobile devices—the first mobile site from a major UK high street retailer. Through this, the company aims to expand its multi-channel offering. During the same year, M launched England Football team suit exclusively in M stores, to take advantage of the football World cup spending. The company opened its new 1. 1 million square feet distribution centre at ProLogis Park Bradford in the UK in 2010. This warehouse in the UK will serve all the company's stores with furniture products and store equipment.Later in 2010, M&S launched a range of Solar PV and Solar Thermal water heating solutions. Fur thering the sustainability initiatives, the company also announced that it will use polyester made from recycled PET drinks bottles instead of virgin polymer to make more than 300 million clothing care labels a year. Towards the end of 2010, M&S announced plans to move into rail distribution to reduce its carbon footprint. More than 300,000 general merchandise products per week would move from road to rail distribution. The company also opened a new shopping center in Vilnius, Lithuania at the end of year.In April 2011, M&S opened its greenest ever store at Ecclesall Road in Sheffield. This is the first store of a number of new Sustainable Learning stores planned by the company as par t of its drive to become the world's most sustainable major retailer by 2015. The company opened 20 stores in the UK during FY2011, including 17 Simply Foods. In international, M opened 49 new stores and closed 15 stores. During the same period, the company entered the Egyptian market with a 28,000 square feet store in the Dandy Mega Mall in Cairo.The company, in July 2011, launched a new iPad application for its investors. This application will provide investors w ith latest M financial news. In the following month, M signed a traceability deal with Historic Futures. As per the deal, Historic Futures will provide the company full traceability on ever y single clothing and home product it sells. M is the first major retailer to commit to full traceability for non-food products. In September 2011, M opened a new store at Westfield, Stratford City with the latest ‘Only at Your M' innovations and customer experiences.In the following month, M&S launched its new French website, http://www. marksandspencer. fr/, marking its first international transactional website. Marks and Spencer Group plc  © MarketLine Page 7 Marks and Spencer Group plc History The company, in November 2011, opened its new flagship store at 100 Avenue des Champs-elysees in Paris. M&S, in February 2012, launched its outlet format on its website at www. marksandspencer. com/outlet. M&S Outlet will permanently offer a selection of more than 1,300 quality M&S clothing prod ucts with up to 40% off the regular high street and online prices.In the same month, the company recalled four products (Crispy Prawn Wonton, Crispy Vegetable Balls, Prawn Baguette Toast, and Prawn Siu Mai Selection) from its Chinese range due to mistake in ‘use by’ date. In March 2012, the company, announced plans to launch a new website for its Irish customers, http://www. marksandspencer. ie/. In April 2012, M&S announced that it will accept secondhand clothes at UK outlets in order to recycle into other fabrics or reuse overseas by the Oxfam charity in an aim to cut waste. Marks and Spencer Group plc  © MarketLine Page 8 Marks and Spencer Group plcKey Employees KEY EMPLOYEES Name Job Title Board Marc Bolland Chief Executive Officer Executive Board 975000 GBP Alan Stewar t Chief Finance Officer Executive Board 550000 GBP Kate Bostock Executive Director, General Merchandise Executive Board 590000 GBP John Dixon Executive Director, Food Executive Board 540000 GBP Ste ven Sharp Executive Director, Marketing Executive Board 655000 GBP Laura Wade-Gery Executive Director, Multi-channel E-commerce Executive Board Amanda Mellor Group Secretar y and Head of Corporate Governance Executive Board Rober t Swannell Chairman of the BoardNon Executive Board Vindi Banga Director Non Executive Board Miranda Cur tis Director Non Executive Board Jeremy Darroch Director Non Executive Board 85000 GBP Steven Holliday Director Non Executive Board 85000 GBP Mar tha Lane Fox Director Non Executive Board 70000 GBP Jan du Plessis Director Non Executive Board 70000 GBP Clem Constantine Director, Proper ty Senior Management Tanith Dodge Director, Human Resources Senior Management Dominic Fr y Director, Communications and Investor Relations Senior Management Jan Heere Director, International Senior Management Nayna McIntoshDirector, Store Marketing and Design Senior Management Steve Rowe Director, Retail Senior Management Darrell Stein Director, Information Technology and L ogistics Senior Management Marks and Spencer Group plc  © MarketLine Compensation 450000 GBP Page 9 Marks and Spencer Group plc Key Employee Biographies KEY EMPLOYEE BIOGRAPHIES Marc Bolland Board: Executive Board Job Title: Chief Executive Officer Since: 2010 Mr. Bolland has been the Chief Executive Officer at Marks and Spencer Group since 2010. Previously, he was the Chief Executive Officer at Morrisons Supermarkets from 2006 to 2010.Prior to this, Mr. Bolland worked at Heineken for 20 years in various management roles, including Executive Board member and Chief Operating Officer, and responsibility for operations and business development in the US, France, Italy, Spain, the Caribbean and Latin America. He also ser ves as a Director at Manpower. Alan Stewart Board: Executive Board Job Title: Chief Finance Officer Since: 2010 Mr. Stewar t has been the Chief Finance Officer at Marks and Spencer Group since 2010. Before joining the company, he was the Chief Financial Officer at AWA S, an aircraft leasing company. Mr.Stewar t spent 10 years at HSBC Investment Bank before joining Thomas Cook in 1996, where he held various senior roles, including Chief Executive at Thomas Cook UK. Mr. Stewar t joined WH Smith in 2005 as Group Finance Director. He also ser ved as a Non Executive Director at Games Workshop Group. Kate Bostock Board: Executive Board Job Title: Executive Director, General Merchandise Ms. Bostock is the Executive Director of General Merchandise at Marks and Spencer Group. She joined the company in 2004. Previously, Ms. Bostock was the Product Director for Childrenswear at Next from 1994.She also ser ved as the Product Director for the George brand covering all areas of clothing and footwear at Asda. John Dixon Board: Executive Board Job Title: Executive Director, Food Marks and Spencer Group plc  © MarketLine Page 10 Marks and Spencer Group plc Key Employee Biographies Since: 2009 Mr. Dixon has been the Executive Director of Food at Marks and Spence r Group since 2009. He joined the company as a Store Management Trainee. Mr. Dixon held various senior roles at the company for over 20 years, including Executive Assistant, Chief Executive, and Director of Home and M&S Direct.Steven Sharp Board: Executive Board Job Title: Executive Director, Marketing Mr. Sharp is the Executive Director of Marketing at Marks and Spencer Group. He joined the company in 2004. Previously, Mr. Shar p served as the Marketing Director at Asda, the Bur ton Group, Booker, and Arcadia Group. Currently, he is a Non Executive Director at Adnams. Laura Wade-Gery Board: Executive Board Job Title: Executive Director, Multi-channel E-commerce Since: 2011 Ms. Wade-Gery has been the Executive Director of Multi-channel E-commerce at Marks and Spencer Group since 2011.Prior to this, she worked at Tesco and held a variety of senior roles, including Chief Executive Officer of Tesco. com and Tesco Direct. Ms. Wade-Ger y also held various roles at Gemini Consulting and K leinwor t Benson. She has also been a Non Executive Director at Trinity Mirror since 2006. Amanda Mellor Board: Executive Board Job Title: Group Secretary and Head of Corporate Governance Ms. Mellor is the Group Secretary and Head of Cor porate Governance at Marks and Spencer Group. She joined the company in 2004 as the Head of Investor Relations. Ms.Mellor spent her early career in investment management at James Capel before becoming a Director within its Corporate Finance team. She then served at Rober t Fleming, Investment Banking prior to joining The Bur ton Group as the Director of Cor porate Relations and Investor Relations. Robert Swannell Board: Non Executive Board Job Title: Chairman of the Board Marks and Spencer Group plc  © MarketLine Page 11 Marks and Spencer Group plc Key Employee Biographies Since: 2011 Mr. Swannell has been the Chairman of the Board at Marks and Spencer Group since 2011.He joined the company in 2010 as a Non Executive Director. Prior to this, Mr. S wannell was a Senior Independent Director at The British Land Company, and 3i Group. He spent over 30 years in investment banking at Schroders/Citigroup. Mr. Swannell was previously the Vice Chairman at Citi Europe and Co-Chairman at Citi's European Investment Bank. Vindi Banga Board: Non Executive Board Job Title: Director Since: 2011 Mr. Banga has been a Director at Marks and Spencer Group since 2011. He is currently a Par tner at Clayton Dubilier & Rice, a private equity investment firm. Prior to this, Mr.Banga spent 33 years at Unilever, where he held several senior positions, including President of the Global Foods, Home and Personal Care businesses, and was a member of the Unilever Executive Board. He also serves as a Non Executive Director at Thomson Reuters and Maruti Suzuki India. Miranda Curtis Board: Non Executive Board Job Title: Director Since: 2012 Ms. Cur tis has been a Director at Marks and Spencer Group since February 2012. She is currently the Chairman at Waterston es, and a Non Executive Director at Liber ty Global. Ms. Cur tis has also been a Non Executive Director at National Express Group since 2008.She also serves on the Boards of the Institute for Government, the Royal Shakespeare Company, and Camfed (the leading African girls’ education charity). Jeremy Darroch Board: Non Executive Board Job Title: Director Since: 2006 Mr. Darroch has been a Director at Marks and Spencer Group since 2006. He also ser ves as the Chief Executive at British Sky Broadcasting. Previously, Mr. Darroch ser ved as the Chief Financial Officer at British Sky Broadcasting. Prior to this, he was the Group Finance Director and Retail Finance Director at Dixons Retail (formerly DSG International). Marks and Spencer Group plc MarketLine Page 12 Marks and Spencer Group plc Key Employee Biographies Steven Holliday Board: Non Executive Board Job Title: Director Since: 2004 Mr. Holliday has been a Director at Marks and Spencer Group since 2004. He is the Group Chie f Executive Officer at National Grid. Prior to that, Mr. Holliday served as the Director of UK and Europe and was responsible for the UK Electricity and Gas businesses. He is also the Chairman of the UK Business Council for Sustainable Energy. Prior to joining National Grid, Mr. Holliday was an Executive Director at British Borneo Oil and Gas.Previously, he held several senior positions at Exxon Group. Martha Lane Fox Board: Non Executive Board Job Title: Director Since: 2007 Ms. Fox has been a Director at Marks and Spencer Group since 2007. She is the UK’s Digital Champion, the Chairman of Race Online 2012, and a Non Executive Director at Channel 4 Television. Ms. Fox is founder and Chairman of Lucky Voice, and of her own grant-giving foundation, Antigone. She was co-founder of lastminute. com. Jan du Plessis Board: Non Executive Board Job Title: Director Since: 2008 Mr. du Plessis has been a Director at Marks and Spencer Group since 2008.He is the Chairman at Rio Tinto. Pre viously, Mr. du Plessis was the Chairman at British American Tobacco and a Non Executive Director at Lloyds Banking Group. He also ser ved as the Chairman at RHM from 2005 to 2007. Mr. du Plessis was previously the Group Finance Director at Richemont, a position he held until 2004. Clem Constantine Board: Senior Management Job Title: Director, Proper ty Mr. Constantine is the Director, Proper ty at Marks and Spencer Group. He joined the company in 2006. Mr. Constantine was appointed the Group Proper ty and Retail Planning Director at Arcadia Group in 1999.He was appointed to his first finance directorship in 1993, for the IS brand at the Marks and Spencer Group plc  © MarketLine Page 13 Marks and Spencer Group plc Key Employee Biographies Bur ton Group, and moved through several other finance directorships with variable responsibilities including systems and retail. Mr. Constantine was trained as a Char tered Accountant at Stoy Hayward, and joined Debenhams in 1989 as a Financial Analyst. Tanith Dodge Board: Senior Management Job Title: Director, Human Resources Since: 2008 Ms. Dodge has been the Director, Human Resources at Marks and Spencer Group since 2008.She was formerly the Group Human Resources Director at WH Smith since 2003. At WH Smith, Ms. Dodge was also responsible for Public Relations, Communications and Post Office Operations. Prior to this, she was the Senior Vice President Human Resources for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) at InterContinental Hotels Group. Ms. Dodge also served as the Human Resources Director at Diageo's two business divisions. She was also the International Human Resources Manager at Prudential Corporation. Dominic Fry Board: Senior Management Job Title: Director, Communications and Investor RelationsMr. Fry is the Director, Communications and Investor Relations at Marks and Spencer Group. He joined the company in 2009. Prior to this, Mr. Fr y ser ved at Tulchan Communications. In 1996, he was appointed the Communicat ions Director at J Sainsbury and ser ved in the same role at ScottishPower from 2000 to 2005. In 1989, Mr. Fr y became the Communications Director at AT&T in the UK before moving from there to head up communications at the Channel Tunnel in the mid '90s. He star ted his career in 1982 working in PR consultancy at Traverse-Healy & Regester and then Charles Barker.Jan Heere Board: Senior Management Job Title: Director, International Since: 2011 Mr. Heere has been the Director, International at Marks and Spencer Group since 2011. He joined Inditex in 2002 where he held a several international roles, most recently as General Manager for Inditex Russia. During 2000–02, Mr. Heere held various senior management roles at Zara, Groupo Inmobiliario Lupaco, and Charanga. He began his career at Manpower in Spain in 1997. Nayna McIntosh Marks and Spencer Group plc  © MarketLine Page 14 Marks and Spencer Group plc Key Employee BiographiesBoard: Senior Management Job Title: Director, Stor e Marketing and Design Ms. McIntosh is the Director, Store Marketing and Design at Marks and Spencer Group. She joined the company in 2005. Prior to this, Ms. McIntosh was par t of the Management Team that set up the per una brand in 2001. Previously, she served as the Sales and Marketing Director for the George brand at Asda stores. Before joining George, Ms. McIntosh was at Next for four years as a Divisional Executive for the South of England. Steve Rowe Board: Senior Management Job Title: Director, Retail Since: 2008 Mr.Rowe has been the Director, Retail at Marks and Spencer Group since 2008. He joined the company in 1989 and held a variety of positions in store management, having previously worked at Topshop as a Store Manager. Mr. Rowe joined Head Office in 1992 as a Merchandiser for Menswear. In 1998, he was promoted to Category Manager in the Furniture Depar tment. In 2001, Mr. Rowe led the team developing the Home Growth Strategy, working with McKinsey Consultants, and beca me Head of Home categories in 2003. He was promoted to the Director of Home a year later in 2004. From 2004 to 2008, Mr.Rowe was also responsible for Beauty and New Business Development. Darrell Stein Board: Senior Management Job Title: Director, Information Technology and Logistics Mr. Stein is the Director, Information Technology and Logistics at Marks and Spencer Group. He has been working in IT for 17 years star ting his career at the company in 1990. Mr. Stein re-joined M in 2006 as the IT Director. From 2001 to 2006, he ser ved at Vodafone, becoming IT Director for Vodafone UK in 2004. Prior to this, Mr. Stein was Vodafone's UK Network Director and Global IT Strategy and Architecture Director.From 1996 to 2001, he ser ved at Ernst & Young, leading a number of major IT and Change Programmes in the financial services, retail and utility sectors. In 1994, Mr. Stein joined Mars as a Project Manager. Marks and Spencer Group plc  © MarketLine Page 15 Marks and Spencer Group plc Ma jor Products and Services MAJOR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES M&S is one of the leading retailers of clothing, foods and homeware in the UK. The company's key products and services include the following: Products: Women's wear Men's wear Lingerie Children's wear Footwear Food and grocery items Homeware and home accessoriesKitchen and tableware Lighting Furniture products Services: Credit cards Car, home, travel, and pet insurance Personal loans Brands: Autograph Limited Collection Collezione Blue Harbour Girls Boutique Per Una Ceriso Adored Truly you Marks and Spencer Group plc  © MarketLine Page 16 Marks and Spencer Group plc Revenue Analysis REVENUE ANALYSIS Overview The company recorded revenues of ? 9,740. 3 million (approximately $15,158. 8 million) in FY2011, an increase of 2. 1% over FY2010. For FY2011, the UK, the company's largest geographic market, accounted for 89. 7% of the total revenues.M generates revenues through two business divisions: food (51. 5%% of the total revenues in FY2011), and general merchandise (48. 5%). Revenues by division* During FY2011, the food division recorded revenues of ? 4,499. 4 million (approximately $7,002. 4 million), an increase of 1. 9% over FY2010. The general merchandise division recorded revenues of ? 4,233. 6 million (approximately $6,588. 8 million) in FY2011, an increase of 2% over FY2010. *The revenue breakdown by division is only for the revenues from the UK market. Revenues by geography The UK, M' largest geographical market, accounted for 89. % of the total revenues in FY2011. Revenues from the UK reached ? 8,733 million (approximately $13,591. 2 million) in FY2011, an increase of 1. 9% over FY2010. International operations accounted for 10. 3% of the total revenues in FY2011. Revenues from international operations reached ? 1,007. 3 million (approximately $1,567. 7 million) in FY2011, an increase of 4% over FY2010. Marks and Spencer Group plc  © MarketLine Page 17 Marks and Spencer Group plc SWOT Analysis SWO T ANALYSIS M&S is one of the leading retailers of clothing, foods and homeware in the UK.The company has expanded its food product offering significantly in the recent years. New products launches, focus on expanding healthy products, promotions, and competitive prices are all helping the company attract customers in a highly competitive market. However, surge in shoplifting could negatively impact the cost structure for M&S. Strengths Weaknesses Expanding food offering Strong market position in the clothing segment Geographical expansion to increase the addressable market and reduce vulnerability to mature UK market M&S etched a highly effective CSR strategy M&S legacy stores and systems are a ompetitive disadvantage Declining general merchandise division sales due to inadequate stocking Opportunities Threats Online channel continues to boom and will enable M&S to boost revenues Focus on China and India can lead to expansion in two of the fastest growing markets Surge in shopliftin g losses costs the retailers and customers Weak consumer spending in the UK Rising labor cost in the UK Strengths Expanded food offering The company has expanded its food product offering significantly in the recent years. In 2009, M&S consistently highlighted it is cheaper than Waitrose on a basket of 1,200 items by about 2%.The company, in 2009, decided to invest in its margins in order to provide its customers better value. As a result of this, M&S saw improved perceptions of value by its customers. The company, in FY2011, launched around 1,800 new products in food and positioned itself as the UK’s leading high quality food retailer. The key product launches of the company include Taste Italia, and Made Without Wheat range of gluten-free bread and cakes, With the success of Made Without Wheat product range, the company launched gluten-free sandwiches, sausages, stuffing, and crisp bakes.As of FY2011, the company offered 125 gluten-free products. M&S also became the UK†™s second largest favorite health food brand with the launch of its Simply Fuller Longer range which encourages customers to manage their weight with a menu plan. The gross margin of food division increased by 20 basis points to Marks and Spencer Group plc  © MarketLine Page 18 Marks and Spencer Group plc SWOT Analysis 30. 8% in FY2011. This was mainly driven by better management of promotions and waste. Fur ther, in the four th quar ter of FY2012 ended March 2012, M&S launched 500 new products in the food division.The sales in this quar ter increased by 3. 1%, The company’s promotions such as roast dinner for ? 5 ($7. 8), Dine In, etc offered its customers with great value solutions for special occasions. M&S’ food division has been performing well in a ver y competitive market and against tough competitors. By launching innovative products and with an expanded food offering, the company has been able to attract the customers in a highly competitive market. Strong market position in the clothing segment M&S has a strong market position in the clothing segment.With more than one in 10 clothing items bought from M&S, the company ranks amongst the three largest clothing retailers in the UK. According to a repor t released by Verdict (Datamonitor's retail arm) in May 2012, M is known for its product quality. The company was ranked first with a score of 49 for its product quality above the market average of 23. According to another repor t released by Verdict in April 2012, M enjoys highest conversion rate of 50. 7% and is very successful in conver ting visitors to loyal main users through its varied product offer, in-store service and garment quality.This indicates that M is a trustwor thy brand, which all main users would return to knowing that the quality, fit, and ser vice are reliable and consistent. The retailer has recognized that its core market of predominantly mature customers has been especially hard hit by rising core costs of living, falling interest on savings and worse prospects for pensions, and in reaction has lowered its entr y prices to compete more effectively with high street/value operators and supermarkets, helping to maintain the loyalty of its main users and prevent them from shopping elsewhere.Verdict, in its repor t in March 2012, ranked, M seventh in the global depar tment store market with a share of 3. 2%. This market leadership enabled M to excel throughout the economic downturn, while other mid-market retailers are pressured from the ever expanding value players. Leading market position indicates access to a large customer base and also popularity of M' offering in the clothing segment. Going forward, this market position would enable the company to drive revenues as consumer spending recovers.Geographical expansion to increase the addressable market and reduce vulnerability to mature UK market With a por tfolio of over 361 owned and franchised stores in 42 territories M&S continues to grow i ts international business. This mix of ownership models and countries enabled the company to perform well in FY2011, even when individual markets were weak. Fur ther, during FY2011, the company entered the Egyptian market with a 28,000 square feet store in the Dandy Mega Mall in Cairo. M&S' international business grew by 4% in FY2011 despite tough economic situation.As an established retailer in a mature market, it is going to be hard for M to continually deliver significant increases in UK sales. However, in the long run, its international business offers an oppor tunity for high growth. By generating much higher volumes, it can deliver margin benefits with suppliers. With production costs rising, this will be an advantage in the UK. International expansion will enable the company to access multiple sales points for most of the product ranges. This is especially relevant for clothing and homewares segments.Also, through expansion in the international markets M can reduce Marks and Spencer Group plc  © MarketLine Page 19 Marks and Spencer Group plc SWOT Analysis vulnerability to mature UK market. The company can also par ticipate effectively in some of highest growing markets such as China and India. All these factors would enable the company to reduce the overall business risk and facilitate increased revenues. M etched a highly effective CSR strategy M has to its credit an effective corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy.CSR has been gaining prominence not just among the stake holders and governments but the consumers as well. The company has the highest propor tion of consumers believing it to be a responsible retailer and this can largely be attributed to the success of its Plan A, a ? 200 million (approximately $320. 3 million) 100-point plan launched in 2007 with five areas of focus: climate change, fair par tnership, health, sustainable raw materials, and waste. In FY2011, the company included two more areas in its Plan A: involving customers, and making Plan A how we do business.In the last few years, initiatives launched under the Plan A banner include launching the company's first eco-store, encouraging suppliers to set-up eco-factories, removing hydrogenated fats from its ready meals, increasing the propor tion of organic food, reducing the salt content of its produce, cer tifying a larger percentage of its fish as originating from sustainable populations, and beginning to sell recycling and composting bins. It is the high profile presence of Plan A in adver tising campaigns, product labeling and store signage that gives M&S one of the best consumer perceptions of a retailer for social responsibility.The campaign works not just as a direct to consumer channel, but also because of the positive coverage it creates. Perhaps more impor tantly, it has publicized all of these initiatives extensively. In 2008, M&S launched a TV adver tising campaign focusing on its ethical, environmental and health-conscious credentials, hi ghlighting that it only uses free range eggs and that its products are now free from ar tificial colors and flavorings. Other, more innovative, ideas have included a joint venture with Oxfam to promote the recycling of old clothes.In addition, more controversially, the retailer introduced a 5p charge for carrier bags at all of its food depar tments in 2008. Though many consumers resented this charge, it has undoubtedly boosted M&S' reputation as an ethical retailer. Overall, sculpting its CSR strategy into such a high publicity campaign, divided into such clear action points and highly visible benefits, has seen the company move to the forefront of responsible retailing. In FY2011, the company launched Indigo Green, its first range of clothing made using more sustainable fabrics.In April 2012, the company announced to accept secondhand clothes at all the UK outlets except Simply Food stores, to recycle them into other fabrics or to reuse them in order to cut waste. Plan A has seen C SR become core to M' principles in the eyes of the consumer and it has reaped the benefits of this, gaining shoppers as a result and repor tedly saving more than ? 70 million (approximately $108. 9 million) in efficiencies gained in FY2011 compared with ? 50 million (approximately $77. 8 million) in FY2010.In addition, M&S improved energy efficiency in its stores by 23% and warehouses by 24% in FY2011 compared to FY2007. It also improved the fuel efficiency of its deliver y fleets by 20% and total carbon emissions have been reduced by 13%. The company now recycles 94% of all the waste it generates from its stores, offices and warehouses. The total waste is down by more than a third. M&S also met its sustainable standards by sourcing 90% of wild fish in FY2011 (62% in FY2010) and 76% of wood in FY2011 (72% in FY2010). Marks and Spencer Group plc  © MarketLine Page 20 Marks and Spencer Group plcSWOT Analysis By actively promoting a product's greener attributes (for example fewer, mo re recognizable and natural ingredients), retailers such as M have positioned products as improving one's personal environment while benefiting the global environment too. Many of their successes have come from emphasizing the former rather than the latter, especially as consumers often associate ethics with a sense of wellbeing. In terms of the issues that concern consumers, the sustainability of natural resources is a major fear, as are climate change and the fairness of sourcing arrangements.Consumers are also attracted to products with health benefits and there is a clear trend that consumers can be persuaded to par t with more money in return for products with a positive impact, not just to them personally, but also to wider society. Indeed, differentiating between products becomes harder and harder to achieve, Verdict expects consumers to turn to auxiliary considerations such as ethicality and sustainability to guide their choices. Consumers are no longer purely satisfied with how a product looks and functions; they want assurances over aspects such as nvironmental impact, hygiene, safety, and fairness. In light of the above mentioned trends where the customer choices are increasingly guided by the sustainability issues, M&S will benefit due to its reputation of being a responsible retailer. Weaknesses M&S legacy stores and systems are a competitive disadvantage M&S suffers some competitive disadvantages compared to Tesco, which has been able to drive earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) growth even in the mature UK market. Tesco benefits from supplier power and state-of-the-ar t IT, supply chain and systems compared with M&S legacy systems.The supermarket retailer has been able to break up the demand cur ve with metro, express and big box store formats out of town and on the high street. Moreover, Tesco stores have been carefully designed with consistent store layouts in order to facilitate store navigation. Extra back room store space has also been allocated to allow for smooth execution of its picking and distribution model. Tesco sells both own label and branded goods (food and non-food) in a bid to drive up footfall and sales conversion. M&S legacy stores are inconsistent in terms of layout.Store size tends to dictate product availability, while a lack of back room store space does not facilitate the same style supermarket pick and delivery model. The legacy systems and stores of M&S are constraining effective servicing of customer demands on a consistent basis. This is placing the company at a clear competitive disadvantage compared to a formidable opponent, Tesco. Declining general merchandise division sales due to inadequate stocking The company’s general merchandise division sales declined in recent times, M&S’ general merchandise division sales decreased by 2. % in the four th quar ter of FY2012 ended March 2012. This was mainly due to shor tage of stock in its stores, Due to this, the company was also no t able to meet customer demand for 300,000 knitwear garments under the M&S Woman label. It only sold Marks and Spencer Group plc  © MarketLine Page 21 Marks and Spencer Group plc SWOT Analysis 100,000 knitwear garments during this period. Fur ther, in times of high demand, inadequate stock could hamper the sales of the division and result in loss of sales to competitors.This not only affects the revenues of the company but could also result in shift of customers to its competitors. Opportunities Online channel continues to boom and will enable M&S to boost revenues Online retail sales in the UK have grown significantly over a period of time. According to Office for National Statistics, non-seasonally adjusted average weekly value for internet retail sales in the UK was ? 414 million (approximately $644. 3 million) in Februar y 2010, this increased to ? 573. 6 million (approximately $892. 7 million) in February 2012, representing an increase of 18%.Internet sales accounted for only 8% of the total retail sales (excluding fuel) in Februar y 2010. This figure increased to 10. 7% in February 2012. The growing desire for convenience is seeing shoppers buy more online, especially in the category of food and grocery. Consumers have also become savvier, using the internet more to get the best deal they can. Voucher codes, and cashback sites have been instrumental in this. Additionally, improved deliver y and fulfillment options have been encouraging consumers to shop more online.The company operates in the internet channel through M&S Direct where the products are offered through website and newly launched ‘Shop Your Way' facility, a new ordering service that has been rolled-out in 444 stores (including 151 in Simply Foods stores) during FY2011, allowing customers to place orders either in stores, online or over the phone, for deliver y to either a nominated address or free of charge to their nearest store. M&S Direct’s sales increased from ? 413 millio n (approximately $642. 8 million) in FY2010 to ? 543 million (approximately $845. million) in FY2011, an increase of 31. 5%. Fur ther, in the first half of FY2012, M&S Direct’s sales increased by 11. 7% with more than three million visitors per week. Thus, by leveraging its online presence, M&S can cater to the requirements of a growing number of customers who are looking for convenience and better deals over the internet. Focus on China and India can lead to expansion in two of the fastest growing markets China and India are two economies which are recording highest growth rates which, in turn, are expected to aid the retail market growth in these two countries.Asia's retail sales are estimated to increase with China driving the growth. According to the preliminary estimation, the gross domestic product (GDP) of China was CNY47,156. 4 billion ($7,285. 7 billion) in 2011, a year-on-year increase of 9. 2% at comparable prices. The fast pace economic development in China couple d with the rise of the middle class income group and their increasing disposable income have fur ther pushed up the demand for several consumer goods. According to National Bureau of Statistics of China, the total retail sales reached CNY18,391. 9 billion (approximately $2,841. billion) in 2011, representing a year-on-year nominal growth rate of 17. 1%. Fur ther, according to industr y estimates, the countr y's total retail sales are expected to increase from approximately CNY20 trillion ($3 trillion) in 2012 to approximately CNY26 trillion ($4 trillion) in 2016, representing an increase of about 30%. Strong Marks and Spencer Group plc  © MarketLine Page 22 Marks and Spencer Group plc SWOT Analysis underlying economic trends, population growth and the increasing wealth of individuals are key factors that contribute to the retail market expansion in China.The retail industry in India is large owing to a large population and is set to grow as several factors contribute. According to the industry sources, the retail sales in India are forecast to grow from around $411 billion in 2011 to $804 billion by 2015. The key factors behind the forecast growth include strong underlying economic growth, population expansion, increasing wealth of individuals and the rapid construction of organized retail infrastructure. Also, as middle and upper class consumer base expands, there will also be oppor tunities in India's second and third-tier cities.The greater availability of personal credit and a growing vehicle population are to improve mobility which will also contribute to a trend towards retail sales growth. M is strengthening presence in India and China as par t of its geographic expansion and for some time to come, these countries would be the key contributors to the company's international expansion strategies. The company in with par tnership with Reliance Retail, an established retailer in India, can tap into this lucrative market while expansion in China also cont inues. Indian and Chinese markets would provide a huge potential revenue base for M&S.Threats Surge in shoplifting losses costs the retailers and customers The UK retailers are exposed to increased costs of shoplifting. Shoplifting has assumed massive propor tions in recent times. According to industry estimates, retail crime costed UK stores ? 1. 4 billion ($2. 2 billion) in 2011. There are about two million thefts per year, which concludes to an average of more than one per minute. According to another industr y repor t, the thefts across the UK stores increased from ? 4. 2 million ($6. 5 million) in 2009 to ? 5. 1 million ($7. 9 million) in 2011, an increase of 20%.Long-term trends also show the figure is likely to continue rising. As a result, retailers have been increasing their surveillance spend. This is increasing the costs for retailers as well as for the end consumers. The shoplifting losses are adding to the costs for the retailers and the customers have also been bearing the brunt. The surge in shoplifting could negatively impact the cost structure for M&S as well. Weak consumer spending in the UK The UK market is suffering from weak consumer spending. The European debt crisis added more downward pressure to the growth prospects of the UK.According to Eurostat, the UK economy grew by 0. 7% in 2011 and is expected to grow by 0. 5% in 2012. In addition, the UK has witnessed high unemployment rate. According to the Office of National Statistics, the unemployment rate for the three months period November 2011 to January 2012 was 8. 4% with 2. 67 million unemployed people in the UK. Increasing unemployment rate is expected to fur ther put pressure on the economy of the UK. High inflation, led by the increase in VAT to 20% and public spending cuts reduced disposable Marks and Spencer Group plc MarketLine Page 23 Marks and Spencer Group plc SWOT Analysis income, leading to a fall in consumer spending on discretionary items. Consumers have been cautious wi th their spending especially due to soaring petrol prices, tax increases and uncer tainty over jobs. The UK is the key market for M&S. In FY2011, the UK accounted for 89. 7% of M&S' total revenues. Thus, the sluggish consumer spending and high unemployment rate in the UK could affect most of the non-food retailers and lead to reduced sales volume or shrinking profit margins. Rising labor cost in the UKLabor costs are rising in the UK. In recent times, tight labor markets, increased over time, government mandated increases in minimum wages and a higher propor tion of full-time employees are resulting in an increase in labor costs, which could materially impact the company's results of operation. The National Minimum Wage (NMW) Regulations came into force in 1999 and since then the NMW rates have been increased annually. The national minimum wage increased from ? 5. 93 per hour ($9. 23 per hour) in October 2010 to ? 6. 08 per hour ($9. 46 per hour) in October 2011.Fur ther, the nation al minimum wage is expected to increase to ? 6. 19 per hour (9. 63 per hour) from October 2012. In FY2011, M&S employed 78,169 people. Increasing labor costs can adversely affect the company's operating costs as its wage bills would escalate. This, in turn, could impact its margins adversely. Marks and Spencer Group plc  © MarketLine Page 24 Marks and Spencer Group plc Top Competitors TOP COMPETITORS The following companies are the major competitors of Marks and Spencer Group plc ASDA Group Limited Debenhams plc H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB J Sainsbury plcNEXT plc Selfridges plc Tesco PLC Gap, Inc. , The French Connection Group Plc House of Fraser Group Plc John Lewis Par tnership plc Arcadia Group Limited Home Retail Group Plc Marks and Spencer Group plc  © MarketLine Page 25 Marks and Spencer Group plc Company View COMPANY VIEW A statement by Rober t Swannell, the Chairman of the Board at Marks and Spencer Group, is given below. The statement has been taken from the companyâ€⠄¢s Annual Repor t for FY2011. I feel ver y privileged to be Chairman of this unique company and at such an exciting time in our evolution.Since joining Marks & Spencer in October and assuming the role of Chairman in Januar y, I have spent much of my time getting to know the business better – meeting our employees, shareholders, customers and suppliers. I first became deeply involved with M during the unsolicited takeover attempt in 2004, when I led the advisory team that helped put the M case to its shareholders. It was then I learned first hand about this unique company: about the extraordinarily strong relationship it has with its many stakeholders and about its very special ethos.This ethos is a reflection of the high standards our customers expect from M – trusting us not only to deliver great value, great quality products but also to do the right thing – socially, environmentally and ethically. We know that putting Plan A at the hear t of how we do busines s is not just the right thing to do; it is also fundamental to our long-term success. Performance In a challenging marketplace M has continued to grow, with underlying profits up 12. 9% on the year.We delivered this by staying true to our heritage of quality and innovation, reminding our customers what makes M special. This year Marc Bolland set out a clear medium-term plan for the business, after extensive discussions with colleagues and us, the Board. This is covered in detail in Marc’s review. From day one, I have been struck by the passion and commitment of our people. I am delighted that this year we are paying a bonus to all employees to thank them for their energy and enthusiasm in what has been a difficult trading environment. DividendWe are committed to delivering consistent returns for our shareholders. To this end we have adopted a progressive dividend policy, with dividends broadly covered twice by earnings. We intend to pay a final dividend of 10. 8p per share (l ast year 9. 5p) in respect of the 2010/11 financial year. Governance Marks and Spencer Group plc  © MarketLine Page 26 Marks and Spencer Group plc Company View This year we returned to the traditional governance structure of a separate Chairman and Chief Executive, providing clarity between Marc Bolland and me, with regard to our respective roles.Put simply, I run the Board and Marc runs the business. The Board has a wide range of responsibilities. There are three that I think are par ticularly impor tant for the success of the business: first, to debate and agree our strategy and hold the executive team accountable for its execution; second, to ensure that we have the most talented team to execute this strategy and that we plan effectively for succession; and third, to set the tone for governance, which is par ticularly impor tant at M where ‘doing the right thing’ is an integral par t of our ethos. My ob is to ensure the Board has the right mix of skills and talents and to ensure that it works effectively as a team towards shared goals with the right mix of enquir y and suppor t of the executive directors from the non-executive directors. During the year we commissioned a formal Board evaluation from an independent consultant, the findings of which are outlined in the Governance section. This process highlighted the real enthusiasm of the directors in suppor ting a shared ambition: to guide M to the ver y best future. We know that you expect high standards from M; it’s our responsibility to learn how we can improve.This review was an impor tant par t of that journey. As stated in our 2009/10 Annual Repor t, we reviewed the senior remuneration structure this year. Following extensive shareholder consultation, we believe we now have a framework that is both relevant to today’s M and fully aligned with our strategy. The Board Over the last year the Board has been strengthened by a series of executive appointments. In May 2010 Marc B olland joined the business as Chief Executive, assuming the day-to-day running of the business from Sir Stuar t Rose in July.In October Alan Stewar t joined as Chief Finance Officer and in February we announced the appointment of Laura Wade-Gery as Executive Director, Multi-channel E-commerce; she will join the Board in July. Whilst the Board features some new faces, these changes have taken place around a core of executive and non-executive directors that has remained stable over recent years. I would like to pay par ticular tribute to Sir Stuar t Rose. When he became Chief Executive in 2004, M was at a low ebb.He restored confidence in M, re-established its values and built a strong business. The solid platform from which Marc is now implementing his plan is a credit to Stuar t’s energy and tireless commitment to M over the last seven years. The smooth management transition – the meticulous handover to me and the suppor t of Marc – is also a credit to Stuar t. In that connection, I would also like to thank Sir David Michels, and the Nominations & Governance Committee he led, for managing a change of leadership over the past year that was accomplished quietly and effectively.David has decided to step down from the Board at the end of his second term in February 2012, but I am delighted that he will continue his role as Deputy Chairman until then. Marks and Spencer Group plc  © MarketLine Page 27 Marks and Spencer Group plc Company View I must also thank Louise Patten for the significant contribution she has made over the last five years, playing an impor tant role in each of our Board Committees. As Louise reaches the end of her second three year term on the Board, she has decided not to seek re-election at the upcoming AGM. Looking aheadOur priorities for the year ahead are clear. We have a plan and it is now our collective job to make it happen. The Board will concentrate on delivering exemplary governance at the highest level to enab le our executive team to drive this strategy forward. The economy still gives us reason to be cautious. Yet in difficult times, our core values of Quality, Value, Ser vice, Innovation and Trust matter more than ever to M customers. These values remain at the hear t of our strategy and I therefore look forward to the future with confidence. Marks and Spencer Group plc  © MarketLinePage 28 Marks and Spencer Group plc Locations and Subsidiaries LOCATIONS AND SUBSIDIARIES Head Office Marks and Spencer Group plc Waterside House 35 Nor th Wharf Road London W2 1NW GBR P:44 20 7935 4422 http://www. marksandspencer. com Other Locations and Subsidiaries Marks and Spencer International Holdings Limited Great Britain GBR Marks and Spencer (Nederland) BV NLD Marks and Spencer (Ireland) Limited IRL Marks and Spencer (Asia Pacific) Limited HKG Marks and Spencer Simply Foods Limited Great Britain GBR Marks and Spencer Marinopoulos Greece SA GRC Marks and Spencer SCM Limited

White Collar Crimes (Embezzlement)

Introduction I’m here to talk about the dangers of embezzlement. Throughout my discussion I will discuss the underlying factor to the rise in the rate of embezzlement. We will also look at how a few big embezzlement schemes have influenced their business and their business’s industry. Because of this growing threat we will look at some factors that perpetrators are affected by that might influence him/her to commit company theft which can aid to help further prevent and detect company theft.Lastly I will discuss some preventable measures and steps companies can take to further detect criminal activity within their business, specifically employees who handle cash flow. What is Embezzlement? So what is embezzlement? The federal bureau of investigation defines embezzlement as the misappropriation or misapplication of money or property entrusted to one’s care, custody, or control. Embezzlement in Businesses (What is Embezzlement? ) – General and Relevant Facts All types and sizes of businesses can be victims to embezzlement (small/large businesses as well as non-profit and government entities).Businesses have to be vigilant when dealing with criminal activity which is especially true for small businesses. The Association for Certified Fraud has found that 39% of all fraud occurred in companies with fewer than 99 employees. Up to an astonishing 30% of small businesses fail due to criminal activity. It is estimated that small businesses faces on average $190,000 loss due to embezzlement compared to the $159,000 for average sized businesses. Why is it rising?It isn’t a disputed fact that the rate of criminal activity increases during a time of economic recession and in difficult economic conditions, businesses are struggling to compete for fewer business opportunities. This creates an incentive for companies to deviate from proper business practices and engage in fraudulent activity to maintain revenue. This idea can be depicted in t his quote, â€Å"Some individuals, especially small business owners, become obsessed with a failing business endeavor, cannot walk away from it, and will go to ‘extraordinary’ measures to keep the business going† (Lindquist & Goldberg, 2009)There was evidence of an increase in company theft during the economic downturns of 1987, 1991, and 2001. For example just after the savings and loans crisis in the 1990s arrests shot up by 52% and during the recession in the early 2000s criminal activity increased by 25% From this we can conclude that there is definitely a correlation between a recession and a rise in embezzlement. Impacts of embezzlement According to David O’ Friedrichs, a criminal justice professor at University of Scranton stated â€Å"white-collar crimes have further, reaching, deeper and more lasting impact than street crime. Thefts by employees are of the most costly problems facing new and existing businesses. Experts have shown company theft h as the potential to reach 240$ billion dollars which includes intellectual property stolen during that year. It isn’t a surprise that the cost of embezzlement is two to three times than that of street crimes. Also 30-50% of all businesses affected by embezzlement fail. Other potential effects include increase in taxes, lost investments, and increase in unemployment. Guarantee Building & Loan AssociationOn December 9th, 1930 Gilbert, the founder of Guarantee Building & Loan Association was found to have embezzled an estimated $8,000,000 which in today’s amount would be $100,000,000. Many local businesses and individuals were crushed by his embezzlement scheme. According to TIME Magazine â€Å"no less than 2,500 Guaranty depositors have gone to the poorhouse or the insane asylum, some 30 have committed suicide†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This example demonstrates the extreme ripple effects of a multi-million dollar scheme. Commonwealth Building & Loan AssociationDuring the winter of 1955, Minnie Magnum, the assistant secretary-treasurer was accused of misappropriated an estimated 3 million dollars (36 million dollars in today’s amount). This scheme was highly publicized because the scheme lasted for up to 22 years before detection. This demonstrates the evasive nature of embezzlement. In the end the Commonwealth Building & Loan Association had to file for bankruptcy. This is only one of the many businesses that fail due to embezzlement. Brunei’s Battle Royale Brunei is a small country that consists of 300,000.Their council consisted of people in royalty with high positions in their government and key businesses. It became a big story when Prince Jefri Bolkiah was accused of embezzling billions from the state treasury and his businesses. Not only was he the finance minister for his country, he also was the chairman of the Brunei Investment Agency, and head of Amedeo Group which pretty much increased his opportunity for criminal activity. John M. Ca llagy, a lawyer who represents Amedeo Hotels Ltd. , estimated Prince Jefri to have siphoned off $40 billion. The small country of Brunei needs the mission billions to help recast its economy.This example demonstrates how even government entities can also be vulnerable to theft. Behavioral Characteristics of White Collar Criminals Now that we have a better grasp on the dangers of a multi-million/billion dollar embezzlement scheme we can go onto discussing what exactly motivates perpetrators to steal from their company. Dr. Donald R. Cressey believes understanding factors that influence white collar criminals to steal from their company can manifest in helping society create better procedures to reduce the rate of embezzling during an economic recession.Dr. Cressey believes there are internal and other factors when it comes to why people violate company trust. The classic fraud triangle theory can also aid us in realizing the mentality behind company theft by employees. The fraud tria ngle theory states that there must be three basic elements for fraud to come about – they are opportunity, incentive/pressure, and rationalization/attitude. The classic fraud triangle theory can be linked to behavioral characteristics of white collar criminals. Internal Factors (Incentive/Pressure)An internal factor or conflict that an embezzler faces when he makes the decision to commit the crime is based behind the idea of personal failure. For example if an individual loses the majority of his savings because of a gambling addiction, Dr. Cressey believes that individual will commit to embezzling because he/she has too much self-respect and pride to tell his family, friends, and company (employer) of how he exhausted all his money. So to continue to support his friends and family financial he has a greater incentive/pressure to steal from his company to support his lifestyle.Other â€Å"personal failures† include shopping addiction, substance abuse, entrepreneurial f ailure, investment failure etc. â€Å"Other† Factors (Rationalization/Attitude) Other factors that influence employees to commit company theft is based on the idea behind entitlement belief – he/she believes they are more deserving of the money which ties in with the attitude element of the classic fraud triangle theory. Other factors also include financial need, supporting a personal business, and supporting a significant other which ties in with the rationalization element.How do we tie these factors to preventing and detecting? As of now there is not enough data to fully explain the embezzlement phenomenon in a psychological stand point. The psychologies behind these factors as well as the classic fraud triangle theory is essential and should be dissected further to better create procedures to help reduce the rate of embezzlement. I believe once enough research is done there can be changes to the hiring strategies for prospective employees. Preventing and Detecting: The Steps How society views white collar crimes have slowly been evolving.In the past many people viewed white collar crimes to be victimless; that perpetrator did not deserve a long prison sentence. Nowadays we understand how dangerous and harm a huge embezzlement scheme can inflict. The shift in society’s mentality behind white collar crimes emphasizes the need for polices to be implemented to safeguard against potential scandals especially during an economic recession. Step 1: Create a Policy Many companies think it is unnecessary to create a policy that states stealing is wrong.In reality this step is one of the most important and effective step a company can take to diminish company theft. Creating a policy against company theft helps creates the idea that the company is always aware of their employees and that they will not tolerate criminal activity within the workplace. Secondly, this is important because there are grey areas and company theft needs to be defined. Ex amples can include not knowing when to actually charge the company credit card to pay for meals or using the company phone for certain calls, etc.Step 2: Creating Checks and Balances One of the biggest reasons small companies are more vulnerable to embezzlement is because they do not have checks and balances that established businesses have. For example they could be a recently established business and there can be a few or one employee controlling the majority of the positions that handle cash flow. This creates a bigger opportunity for that employee to embezzle money from the company. Creating checks and balances decreases the opportunity element.One checks and balances procedures a company can commit to is a separation of duties as implied earlier. Meaning different people should handle different positions within the business. Companies should designate different employees who deal with cash receipts and deposits, cash disbursements and electronic fund transfer operations, and ba nk reconciliation. Another effective control procedure includes internal audit procedures for monitoring cash, accounting for transactions, and preparation of financial statement. Companies can also cross-train employees, require vacation time, reate a periodic financial check for their employees, and separate and monitor payroll functions to help decrease the overall rate of embezzlement in our economy. In general, the company should â€Å"follow the cash trail. † Step 3: Inspecting your employees Focusing on finding the right employee for a position is extremely important, especially for a position that handles cash flow. Some tools companies can use to help them along the hiring process would be using an employment agency. Administering drug and background checks. Of course monitoring employees does not stop there.Inspecting your employees should be an on-going process. Companies can hire an independent CPA to provide a periodic audit of dual controls and theft prevention which allows for better scrutiny of their employees because they will not know when they are going to be investigated. Lastly the company can review employee expense reports to check for illegal spending. Step 4: Setting an example/practicing zero tolerance Setting an example for people who have embezzled money can be an effective method to help deter others from doing the same.Conclusion Now that we realize there is a growing threat for the rise in the rate of embezzlement, there is a stronger emphasis for the need of companies to establish the controls procedures to help prevent and detect embezzlement. Hopefully in the future there will be more studies on the behavioral traits of embezzlers which can be a very important to helping finding the right candidate for a position. Companies without crime prevention and detection measures are sure to be more susceptible to business failure.

Describe and assess the listener's experience of two different Assignment - 2

Describe and assess the listener's experience of two different composition or two performances of the same composition - Assignment Example William’s version waits for the strumming of guitar and then opens with ‘Moon River’ (Williams, 2010). His opening is not sad at all, Sinatra’s opening bears a sad connotation to it. Sinatra’s version does not have the strumming sound that creates a happy mood in William’s performance. There are plucking sounds with the ‘pick’ of the guitar that turn to flamingo style at 17 seconds into the song. The melody of the two performances is different from each other. Sinatra’s song has acoustics and strings to create the melody (Sinatra, 2011). William’s song has acoustics but lighter strings to create the same effect (Williams, 2010). The strumming is constant with the melody while Sinatra’s version has different style of guitar playing, strumming of Spanish guitar is almost absent from it. William’s performance enters into that energetic loud voice at about 40 seconds into the song with the line ‘I’m going your way’ (Williams, 2010). The beginning of the song ‘Moon River’ is different from Sinatra’s version as the first word Moon has a high tone and then a low tone of River to complement the happy strumming of the guitar. Sinatra says out both words out loud but with the sad tone, that gives the feeling of isolation. The performance by Andy William has more harmony than Sinatra’s. There are two occasions when a choir like harmonious backup vocals are added to William’s voice (Williams, 2010). Frank Sinatra sings the whole song alone. The pitch, tone, notes and chords sing in unison, Sinatra’s version has more variation in it, which adds to the mystery of the song. The ‘vertical part’ of the song is evident in William’s version. It is different from the melodic line. On a similar note, the counterpoint is very small to detect and distinguish from the harmony in William’s song. Sinatra’s version does not have the counter point. The musical form of the two songs is almost

Deuteronomy 1-18 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Deuteronomy 1-18 - Essay Example It is therefore the Lord has declared man to be His image and glory (1 Corinthians 11:7). As a result, man’s relation to God looks for worshipping the Lord exclusively and complying with all the commandments manifestly described in the Scriptures. Book of Deuteronomy manifestly recounts the bounties of the Lord upon the Israelites, throughout the discussion, and in return requires His worship on the one side, and instructs them to be committed, dedicated and loyal towards Him on the other. Hence, the Biblical teachings in general and the Book of Deut in particular, clearly believe in monotheism, and preach the same to the Israelites that the Scripture does not allow having even the least suspicion about the singularity of divinity or monotheism altogether. The Old Testament (OT) reveals the very reality that since the House of Jacob is the favorite nation of the Lord, the Israelites should be the spiritual leader of the entire world in order to spread the holy message of the Lord to all human beings. Moreover, Almighty God had multiplied them many times from the era of their patriarchs onward (Deuteronomy 1:10-11); consequently, they became equivalent to the stars of heaven for multitude. He is the Lord, Who is actually the God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward (Deut10:17). Thus, since Almighty God is the God of all the gods and lords, all creatures are bound to worship Him only, and for seeking His support for obtaining worldly and eternal bliss eventually. In addition, God had promised the Israelites of blessing the wise men among them with power to rule over the world (Deut 1:13-15). As a result, the generations of the Israelites, beginning from King Joseph, ruled over Egypt for several decades till they turned their backs to the word of God, and thus were deprived of their previous

Tissue Engineering (bone) Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Tissue Engineering (bone) - Lab Report Example The principle behind tissue engineering is to replace, regenerate, or repair damaged tissue. The common approach falls under the heading â€Å"Tissue Engineering Triad†: insertion of specific cells, the provision of signals that induce the growth of tissue, and the placement of specific cells on or inside certain scaffolds [1]. The regeneration of tissue requires the use of specific cell types for a specific tissue engineering approach. Local environmental factors also have an effect on the success of any tissue engineering approach [2]. Research states that body cells combined with scaffold biomaterials function as templates for regeneration of tissues to direct new tissue growth [3]. Hence, there is the need to understand how they interact at the cellular level. The biomaterials used may be natural or artificial. With the use of artificial materials, it is noted that their engineering is a challenge because materials that totally match the biological and mechanical bone matrix setting are yet to be produced [4]. Thus, natural materials that are intrinsic to the bone have been produced through the use of hydroxyapatite [5]. Their use has been facilitated by nanotechnology. It has been found that nano-hydroxyapatite develop a greater amount of cells, which is important for cell regeneration [6]. There are disparities when it comes to selecting the material that will imitate natural ones in the use of biomaterials [7]. Collagen is one of the main structural proteins found in the extracellular matrix. On the other hand, gelatine is a product of denaturation of collagen through the application of heat and has been widely used as a scaffold material [8]. Research studies indicate that collagen exists in many forms, but gelatine can be produced specifically through the type of collagen used to produce it [9]. On the other hand, collagen has been found to resist various proteases [10]. Thus, particular enzymes for its hydrolysis are needed [11]. Gelatine

Effective communication skills are essential when facilitating Essay

Effective communication skills are essential when facilitating learning for nurses and clients. With refernce to your area of clinical practice, critically dis - Essay Example It is not merely enough to identify the daunting nature of communication challenges in nursing. The training should have strategies in place to ensure that the nurses are trained and equipped to meat the challenges of their career. This will call for an evaluation of present training and practice of nursing career in the light of significant literature on the subject. This will naturally result in the need for qualitative changes in the area of training and practice of nursing profession. It is good to have an overview of the nature of human communication to understand its broad implications in successful health care practice and its particular importance in mental health care. All health care involves an appreciable amount of communication. There are three main components in the process of communication. They are the sender, the message and the receiver and the process is usually a two way process with the sender and receiver intermittently changing their roles between them to respond to the messages. In the process of communication the message that is developed in the mind of the sender is coded into a sound, letter, picture or gesture and transmitted. The message is understood if the receiver is able to decode the message and able to grasp the intended meaning of the sender (Ellis 1995). The process of human communication is very complex as it involves both verbal and non-verbal aspects. Now the practice of health care is exercised in a multilingual and multicultu ral milieu and the demands of modern health care task can be daunting and nurses need to be well trained to face the challenges of our complex world. The verbal aspects of human communication are very well understood to a large extent and it can be acquired by the proficiency in the language used in a place. When it comes to the non-verbal aspects of

The Civil War is, beyond doubt, the most critical and pivotal event of Essay

The Civil War is, beyond doubt, the most critical and pivotal event of the 19th century if not all of American History. Explain - Essay Example They include equality, immigration benefits especially in the North, replacement of slavery with racial favoritism and development of the South after ceasing to be a â€Å"King Cotton† region (Ennis 19). The latter aspect was due to the abolition of slavery, which many plantation masters utilized in tilling and harvesting their cotton (Ennis 15). American civil war besides its occurrence dating many years ago, its impacts characterizes the present state of Americans’ lives. The agitation for the abolition of slavery especially by the Abraham Lincoln and the Northerners yielded to the present equality (Ennis 17). This emanated from the then core argument that accelerated the abolition of slavery, which stated, â€Å"No man had more rights than the other despite the color of an individual’s skin†. The acceptance of abolition of slavery/servitude was not easy especially among the Southerners who solely relied on slaves in their cotton plantations besides in d oing other hard domestic chores (Ennis 18). Therefore, Southerners having no other alternative, they yielded to the Northerners’ pressure, which led to the emancipation of the enslaved blacks. Emancipation offered the then oppressed blacks and other marginalized races a chance to agitate for their civil rights and dignity, which led to the present equality (Mccurry 60). ... This is because compared to the Southern region; there were acceptance and free interactions of diverse races in the north (Ennis 20). In addition, the end of slavery implied an increased competition for jobs in the south especially from the freed blacks where the non-American whites were not willing to experience. Therefore, they ended up relocating to the North where they inhabited diverse regions to form homogeneous cultures besides intermarrying with other races (Mccurry 60). For example, Milwaukee and Cincinnati cities, mostly inhabited by Germans to the present despite diverse and numerous interactions with other races. Mass migration of diverse races to the North also yielded to the reborn of the present United States, which comprises of diverse races that form one homogenous entity. This has given birth to a new generation almost having similar trends especially in the mode of dressing and music (Hip Hop). The banning of servitude severely affected the southerners’ eco nomy, which solely relied on agriculture (Ennis 17). Therefore, they had no option but to invest in other sectors to rebuild their economy, which prompted them to focus on establishing industries besides improving the states’ infrastructures. This is evident from the southern regions’ current state where the countries have turned their focus to industrializing diverse ventures, for instance, dairy farming (Ennis 20). The trend from then to date has not changed where the southern region has kept on improving its infrastructures. This is because of the worldwide perception concerning the essence of intensive industrialization, which leads to a

Operations Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words - 3

Operations Management - Essay Example For Nestle S.A, a Swiss multinational nutritional and health-related goods provider and the largest food company in the world, it is essential to realize the importance of operations management, of its strategies and directions. Proper operations management will allow the company to satisfy the requirements of its customers, develop intrinsic capabilities for the long-term success, understand where it should locate its resources and expand them accordingly, develop relationships with other organizations and invest the proper type of technology in the development of its business operations. Founded more that hundred years ago, today Nestle attracts customers all around the world with the variety of such products as baby food, bottled water, breakfast and cereals, coffee products, confectionery and dairy products, snacks and pet food. Being the largest food company across the globe, Nestle finds it more important to be the world’s leading food company. However, constant changes in the global market require the company to achieve efficiency in its products and service operations in order to stay commercially viable. The following paper will critically assess the operational methods and strategies adopted by Nestle; it will identify what the operations objectives are and then suggest the sort of process that should be operating. For the purpose of proposing the improvement for the operations of the company, certain recommendations will be gives as well. There is no organization that can plan its future actions with every detail it expects. However, what all business need is the strategic direction to what it will move forward. Whether the operations function is realized by the company, it needs to form a set of business principle and rules that will be guided by the decision making process. The most important feature of the operations of a particular company is the aligning of its activities with the overall strategy of the organization

Curleys Wife Character - of Men and Mice Essay Example for Free

Curleys Wife Character of Men and Mice Essay Of Men and Mice is not kind in its portrayal of women. In fact, women are treated with contempt throughout the course of the book. Steinbeck generally depicts women as troublemakers who bring ruin to men and drive them mad. Curley’s wife, who walks the ranch as a temptress seems to be a prime example of the destructive tendency. Despite the author’s rendering, Curley’s wife emerges as a relatively complex and interesting character. Although her purpose is rather simple in the book’s opening pages, she is the â€Å"tramp†, â€Å"tart† and â€Å"bitch† that threatens to destroy male happiness and longevity. The social setting of the novel is also important, as it could later explain characters attitudes towards other people. It is set in the U.S. in the 1930s; this is the time of the Great Depression. This was a result of the First World War. It affected the rich and poor alike, factory workers and farmers, bankers and stockbrokers. In short, it affected everyone; no one was left untouched. But of all the people hurt, farmers were the worst off. Curley’s wife is first introduced in person to us in a symbolic way; this is shown when George is talking to Lennie about the dream and when Curley’s wife first meets both men. â€Å"Both men glanced up, for a rectangle of sunshine in the doorway was cut off.† The symbolic meaning of the word sunshine is hope, freedom, happiness and dreams. This foreshadows that she may cause trouble or come in the way and could ruin it all for Lennie and George. She is also described as a â€Å"girl†, which tells us that she is very playful, childish and vulnerable. Her appearance later in the novel becomes more complex. But even before this we are forewarned about her, Candy tells George and Lennie about her, making her out at the wrong type to begin with, â€Å"Married to weeks and got the eye? Maybe that is why Curley’s pants is full of ants,† giving us the impression she was a person not to socialis e with. Also tells us that the men on the ranch know that Curley knows that is wife looks at the rest of them, hoping for one of them to try and get close to her, so he can then create a situation for a fight. As Candy relaxes he also goes on to get them to have the same opinion as him about her by saying, ‘well, you look her over, mister. You see if she ain’t a tart†, and the reply from George, ‘Purty?’ making sure that we see her as ‘jail bait†. Then when we first get to see her she is dressed as if she is going out to a party, and Steinbeck also enforces the concept that she is trouble and a tart, by describing her appearance, â€Å"she had full rouged lips†, â€Å"red mules, on the insteps of which were little bouquets of red ostrich feathers†, using the colour red as a foreshadow that she is dangerous. This is the first time also that we see that she is attractive and that she knows it, also that she wants the men to look at her, â€Å"she put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward†, forcing the men to look at her curves. This first sign of nativity shows that she doesn’t understand her affect on men, showing her age as a teenager and her understanding of her sexual attractiveness. We also get an insight to her life with her husband and why she is always coming around the rest of the men. When Candy tells George and Lennie about Curley having his glove full of â€Å"Vaseline† and that he was keeping â€Å"that hand soft for his wife†, tells us that she was also being beaten up, and that nobody could see the bruises because Curley had softened his hand, or he hit her in places where we couldn’t see the bruises. This is the first time we see her as a victim needing help. We also see that see can be cruel, and willing to misuse power. When she confronts Lennie, Candy, and Crooks in the stable, she admits to feeling a kind of shameless dissatisfaction with her life. Her vulnerability at this moment and later when she admits to Lennie her dream of becoming a movie star makes her utterly human and much more interesting than the stereotypical vixen in fancy clothes. She seeks out even greater weakness in others, preying upon Lennie’s mental handicap â€Å"they left all the weak ones here†, Candy’s debilitating age, â€Å"tell an’ be damned. Nobody’d would listen to you, and you know it† and the colour of Crook’s skin â€Å"you know what I can do to you if you open your trap?† in order to steel herself against harm. Dreams are a major reoccurring theme, when Lennie tells Curley’s wife of his and George’s dream she just says â€Å"baloney†, but she has a dream of her own and she proceeds to talk Lennie about it. She has dreamt of being a movie star, which nearly came true when she encountered an actor. ‘He says I could go with that show†, but like most young girl s was forbade from her mother, ‘my ol’ lady wouldn’ let me†. So having her dream pulled out from underneath her she rebelled, and married Curley. However she always wanted to achieve something of herself and loved attention. â€Å"Curley’s wife lay with a half-covering of yellow hay. And the meanness and the planning and the discontent and the ache for attention were all gone from her face. She was very pretty and simple, and her face was sweet and young. Now her rouged cheeks and her reddened lips made her seem alive and sleeping very lightly. The curls, tiny little sausages, were spread on the hay behind her head, and her lips were parted†, this is the first time we are shown her true self – she was a young, innocent, lonely young girl. When you take away all the walls she had erected you come back to a young girl wanting to be loved, who saw Lennie as a way out from Curley’s abusive relationship. As Lennie could hurt Curley, but not realising the danger she was ultimately putting herself into. So in conclusion Curley’s wife is the most depressed and lonely characters in the novel. She has no friends, no future, no respect; she doesn’t even deserve a name. All she wants is someone to talk to but in her mind the only way she can do this is by flaunting herself to the men to get noticed. This leads her to be perceived as a â€Å"tart† by the men. She represents absolute loneliness and desperation to achieve something better in life. Even though she is very lonely, she comes across as a very beautiful woman. She flaunts herself by dressing and acting in a â€Å"tart† like manner, but really she is just making use of her body to gain the attention of the workers to soothe her. If anyone would give her a break, treat her like a person, she would idolise them. Her craving for contact is immense but she, with her background is incapable of conceiving any contact without some sexual context, she is not particularly oversexed, but has been forced to recognise that her sexuality is the only weapon she has, and the only thing that gets her noticed. Consequently she is a little starved. She knows nothing about sex, except the mass information girls tell each other. All through the novel the men make out that Curley’s wife is trouble. But yet there was never any proof that Curley’s wife has ever caused any of the trouble or conflicts. The only trouble she caused was when she died.

Frankenstein Passion For Knowledge Is His Demise English Literature Essay

Frankenstein Passion For Knowledge Is His Demise English Literature Essay Thesis: Victor Frankenstein had such a curiosity for life, death, science and electricity. Victor leaves everything he knows to further his education. His thirst for knowledge controlled his life. His goal was to find a way to dissolve all sickness and keep the human body alive. He was trying to play God. He was creating life from death. He would create a monster that he immediately rejects, due to his appearance. This rejection plays a major part in the monsters hatred for others. While creating this creature, Victor thought it would have great respect and loyalty to him. Victor brought life to this creature without thinking of the consequences. He was in this world all alone. In the beginning he was merely a lost innocent soul. The monster just wanted to be loved. He just wanted to be accepted. Since acceptance was not a choice for him. He wanted Victor to make another creature like him, but of course a female. He wanted the kind of love he seen in Victor and Elizabeth. If he could not have this love and happiness, then he would take his creators happiness. In the end, this monster took everything Victor had ever loved, even his life. Frankensteins Passion for Knowledge A. Victor was very curious about life and death early in life. B. After the death of his mother, Victor left his true love to pursue his education. C. Victors passion for a way to preserve life was even stronger after the death of his mother. II. Frankensteins Creation A. Victor innocently created this monstrous being. B. Victor worked for a long period of time to try to perfect life. He thought this creature would be grateful to him for giving him life. C. Victor was really trying to play God; he was trying to give life to death. III. The Monsters Innocence, Love, and Kindness turns to Anger A. Victor rejected his creation. B. The monsters anger came from the rejection shown by Victor. The monsters appearance was so hideous; he hated his creator for making him this way. C. The monster also had a yearning for knowledge, which increased his senses and peaked his curiosity. The Monster learned from the villagers from afar. IV. Frankensteins Passion would also be his Demise. A. The Monster demanded a mate, so that he to could also be loved and feel that experience. B. The Monster just wanted to be loved. He wanted the kind of love the villagers shared. Victor decided not to give it to him a mate. C. He killed Victors friends and family out of rage. The monster would also be the death of Victor Frankenstein: Passion for Knowledge is his Demise In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein had a great curiosity for life and death at a very early age. He became very interested in electricity after lightening had struck a tree near his home. He thought if electricity could destroy something so massive, what it could create. Victor then started to experiment with electricity. He made a small electrical machine and also made a kite with a wire for a string to try to harness the electricity. Victor had a great yearning for knowledge about life and death. His favorite philosophers of science were Cornelius Agrippa, Albertus Magnus, and Paraclesus, they intrigued his imagination. He also learned several different languages in order to pursue different philosophers. Victor had been to school in Geneva, but his father thought that he needed to further his education, so he suggested that he go the a University in Ingolstadt to complete his education. As Victor was to go off to school, his mother became very ill with Scarlet Fever. She told Victor and Elizabeth that she wanted them to be joined together forever. She knew she was dying and told the children that she will indulge of the hopes of meeting them in another world. His mother dies calmly with her children by her side. Victor loved his mother very much. She was like a part of him that was gone forever. He expressed his feelings of a void in his soul. This was hard for him to accept, but he knew he must continue with hi s regular duties. His journey to Ingolstadt was delayed by the death of his mother. He was even more eager to learn about life and death with the passing of his mother. Victor went to Ingolstadt alone. Elizabeth had to stay home and take care of the younger children, Ernest and William. Henry Clerval, his best friend, went to work for his father. Victor started his classes at the University, he had two different instructors. He went to visit M. Krempe, professor of natural philosophy. Victor expressed his works he thought most interesting. Krempe told him he had wasted his time studying the likes of exploded systems and useless names. He told him he must start his studies anew and gave him a list of books he needed to read. Victor returned to his apartment, he did feel the need to read such book that he has so strongly probated. He then spent the next few days in solitude. He then went to M. Waldens class who was a professor of chemistry. He liked this professor much better than Krempe. After a few experiments, he concluded the session with in which Victor will never forget, The ancient teachers of science promised impossibilities, and performed not hing. The modern masters promised very little; they know that metals cannot be transmuted, and that the elixir of life is a chimera. But the philosophers, whose hands seem only made to dabble in dirt, and their eyes to pour over the microscope or crucible; have indeed performed miracles. They penetrate into the recess of nature, shew how she works in her hiding places. They ascent into the heavens; they have discovered how the blood circulates, and the most nature of the air we breathe. They have acquired almost all new unlimited powers; they can command the thunders of heaven, mimic the earthquake and even mock the invisible world with its own shadows. (28). He later spoke privately to M. Walden. Victor told Walden that his lectures had removed his prejudices against modern chemistry. Walden was pleased with this statement. Walden took Victor into his laboratory and showed him his devices. Walden also told him to study mathematics and when he had advanced enough he could use the equipment in his lab. He also gave him a list of books to read. Victor knew this was an eventful day, a day he would never forget. This day had decided Victors future destiny. He then focused his studies natural philosophy and particularly chemistry. He threw himself into all his studies. He would sometimes work/study until early morning. His full attention was on his pursuit of his discoveries, in which he had high hopes of making. He had not been home in several years. He felt as thought he had improved as much as he could through the University and was planning to go back to Geneva, when an incident protracted him to stay. Victor learned he must examine the course of life he must first have recourse of death. He then became very familiar with anatomy. He also studied the decay of life; he became able to bestow animation upon lifeless matter. He spent several months collecting his materials, to make his creature. He finally begins to puts all the pieces together. While creating this creature, Victor thought it would be grateful to its creator. Victor thought it would owe their being and happiness to him. He hoped to renew life where death had corrupted the body. He worked thru the summer and Victor had still not written or visited home. He was working on the conclusion of his masterpiece. His work had started to make him sick; he ran a low grade fever each night and became nervous to a painful degree. He had once enjoyed his health and then he promised to get more exercise and amusement when the creation was complete. The creature is complete. After all the hard work that he put into this being, it was a hideous creature. Victor had given up rest and his health to create such an ugly being. Victor was filled with horror and disgust. Unable to endure the creature he created he rushed out of the room. Dreams now become a he ll. His friend Henry had come to see him surprisingly. He felt joy for the first time in several months. He took Henry back to his apartment, but first went to check to see if the creature was gone, and he was. Then he led Henry up the stairs to the apartment. Victor then got a nervous fever, which confined him for several months. Henry was Victors only nurse. Henry would also write home for Victor to keep in touch with his family. Henry did not tell the family that Victor was extremely sick. Finally Victor began to recover. He asked Henry what he could do for him. He told him to write home in his own handwriting and let his family know that he was better. Victor was awaiting a letter from his father, to let him know when to come home. The letter Victor received was something a little different than expected. Victor received a letter from his father asking him to return home immediately. His youngest brother William had been murdered. His father did not know who had killed William. When Victor returned home he was told that Justine Moritz was the murderer. He was for sure there must be a mistake. Justine would not have hurt William. The family tried to help Justine. The evidence of the photo that was placed in her possession this leads the court to declare her guilty and she was put to death. The actual murderer was the monster. The monster killed William to get revenge upon Victor for rejecting him or even creating him. The monster and Victor finally meet up. The monster told Victor his struggles since his birth. He knew nothing when he was created. He learned thirst, hunger and cold very quickly. The monster told Victor of how cruel people had been to him, just because of his appearance. He was an innocent soul. He finally took refuge in a building, near a cottage where some villagers lived. He watched these people and learned from them. He learned to speak and read. He more importantly learned of giving, caring, intimacy and love. He helped the villagers gather wood for their fire and vegetables from their garden, from afar. He wanted so badly to be part of that family. They had all that he knew of as being right in the world. They had food, shelter, fire, clothes and each others company. What more could one ask for? When the monster goes to talk to these people they feared for their life, just to look at this monster. He was so scary that people did not give him a chance to even speak. People imm ediately thought he would hurt them. They too were mean to him and hit him with sticks to make him run away. This is what made him so angry and even more eager for revenge on his creator. The monster spoke to Victor and demanded he make him a mate. He just wanted to be loved. He wanted to be able to share the kind of life he seen with the villagers, with a mate of his own. He only wanted to be happy. He would go far away from civilization and live with this other monster, if only Victor would comply. Victor was reluctant at first but then told the monster he would create one more of his kind. Then the monster gave Victor back his journal and told him he would be watching him. Victor went back to Ingolstadt and started working on the female. He worked for a long period of time to try to reconstruct another creature. His friend, Henry, tried to talk him out of making another creature. Henry told him, he will only continue to demand more from you. The monster watched Victor from afar. Then one night, Victor realized that what he was doing was very wrong. He was not God; he should not be creating life from death. Victor then destroys the body. The monster was enraged with anger. How can you deprive me of happiness? The monster then tells Victor, If you can not give me happiness then I will take yours (00). He also tells Victor, I will be with you on your wedding night. He promised to make Victors life miserable. So the monster takes off once more. The monster then kills his friend Henry. Victor is accused of the murder and was taken to prison to wait his fate. He became very ill once more and was nursed back to health while in prison. Mr. Kirwin had written to his family to tell them of Victors situation and his father was to come see him. Victors father finally arrives in Ingolstadt. Victor was soon to have a trail, but not one of public proportion. The grand jury left it up to the lower courts to decide. Mr. Kirwin was helpful in getting witnesses for Victor for his trial. They did not have enough evidence to convict Victor, so he was set free. He and his father started their travels home. They had several stops along the way. Victor receives a letter from Elizabeth. She tells of her love for him, but wonders if he may have found another love while out in the world away from Geneva. She worries greatly as to the reason for his sadness. He writes back to her from Paris to let her know that he truly loves her, but that he does have an awful secret that makes his so miserable. Victor tells Elizabeth that he will confess this secret the night after their wedding. Victor and his father arrive home in Geneva. Elizabeth was so excited to see him. See rushed out to hug him and she starts to cry as she sees how emancipated he had become. She was just so happy for him to be home. Alphonse then spoke of a wedding for the two of them, so it was set to take place in ten days. Victor was excited to be marrying his true love, but was so very frightened of what may happen on his wedding night. All he could this of was the monster telling him I will be with you on your wedding night. As the wedding day grew closer the more heart sick Victor became. Victor just wanted to be happy and for Elizabeth to be happy. Victor took every precaution to protect himself. He carried pistols and a dagger, which gave him some tranquility. He somehow started to this of the threat from the monster as a delusion and focused himself more on his happiness. Victors father was so joyful and excited about the wedding as he made all the plans. After the wedding, the reception was held at his fathers house. Elizabeth and Victor were to retreat to Evian and then return to their new home in Colgony the next day. They started their journey toward Evian by way of water. This would be the last moments in which he would have feelings of happiness. They landed about 8 oclock. They had talked on the journey; Elizabeth was a little quieter but expressed that even if her face did not show her happiness that it was in her heart. Victor had been calm during the day, but now after dark he became very agitated and nervous. He became so nervous, he made Elizabeth retire to her room. Victor then inspected the entire inn. He could not see a way that the monster could get in. Then Victor heard a shrill and dreadful scream, it was repeated again just before he entered Elizabeths room. Victor found her lifeless and her head hung over the bed. He could not bare this site. Victor then fainted. He awakened to find the inns people around him. He went to Elizabeth and held her cold l ifeless body and wept in agony and despair. He looked up to see something in the window; it was the monster pointing toward Elizabeth with a grin on his face. Victor took his pistol out and shot at him but he went into the lake. The inns people came when they heard the shot and Victor explained he was in the lake. A search was conducted for him without success. Victor knew his father would expect their return. Victor quickly returned back to Geneva. Victor kept thinking that my father and Ernest could also be in danger. When he returned his family were alive. Victors father could not live under the horrors that were accumulated around him. His father took an apoplectic fit and died a few days later, in his arms. Victor then lost all concepts for life and was retired to a solitary cell for several months. When Victor awakened to reason, he awakened to revenge. Victor had asked for help in finding this monster, but was turned away. He gathered some things and was leaving Geneva. He came upon the grave sites of his family and kissed the ground and vowed to pursue the daemon that caused this misery and fight him till the death. The monster was there and whispered to him I am satisfied: miserable wretch! You have determined to live, and I am satisfied. (141). Victor tried to catch him, but his speed was that of an unnatural being. So Victor searches for him for several months. Victor would go until his huger would overtake him. He became very weak. Victor followed his creation for several weeks. He traded his horse in for a sled and dogs to continue his tract toward the north. Victor at last had Frankenstein in his sites, so he stopped and got some an hour of rest then he continued his search with vengeance. He got closer and closer to the monster. He then lost site of him, waves had broken up the ice of the sea and Victor was left stranded on a piece of ice in the middle of the ocean. Victor spends a few days on this iceberg with no hopes of surviving, two of his dogs died. Then out of no where he sees a ship stuck in the ice and they pull him ashore. The Captain takes him to his cabin to try to nurse him back to health. He was very weak and sick. Victor tells the Captain of his story. Victor asks the Captain to continue his search for the monster and to destroy him if he dies. Victor became weaker and weaker. Victor dies with his task undone. The Captain had retired to his room and then he hears a voice coming from the cabin where Victors body remains. The Captain enters the room to see this wretch of a man. The monster was talking to his creator. The monster said That is also my victim!(153). The monster was saddened by Victors death. He wanted a pardon form his creator, but it was to late. The monster said, Farewell Frankenstein! I shall now die and what I now feel shall be no longer felt. Soon these burning miseries will be extinct. I shall ascend my funeral pile triumphantly, and exult in the agony of the torturing flames. The light of that conflagration will fade away; my ashes will be swept into the sea by the winds. My spirit will sleep in peace; or if it thinks, it will not surely think thus. Farewell! (156) This creature had wanted revenge on Victor. He wanted him to suffer. He wanted him to be in misery. He took all that was good in Victors life. He took his brother, friend and most importantly his wife. Victor was haunted by his own creation. He has now at last destroyed Victor! As I look back on the story, this was nothing like I had expected. I always thought of Frankenstein as just a Monster, which is definitely not the case. I felt this story was more of a love story than anything else. He was an innocent creature. He just wanted to be loved. In the story Mary Shelley makes a few references about God. Shelley refers to the monster as like Adam was to God. Only Adam had a father who loved him. Frankenstein did not. I think her theme is mostly about innocence of this creature and also of the innocence of Victor himself. As he created this creature he was not thinking of this outcome. He thought of a beautiful being. He was merely trying to abolish sickness in the world and come up with a lot more than he expected. Also, Shelly shows how hatred and vengeance can destroy the mind and the body. Shelly shows us that it is great to always want to better ourselves but if it takes your happiness then is it really worth it? In my eyes they both went to extremes to learn about different things; Victor about science and the Monster about life, love, and happiness. A human being should always preserve a calm and peaceful mind; never let passion or desire disturb tranquility. If the studies to which you apply yourself weakens your affections or destroy your simple pleasures then that is not benefiting the human mind. Works Cited Page Bentley, Colene. Family, Humanity, Polity: Theorizing the Basis and Boundaries of Political Community in Frankenstein. Criticism: A Quarterly for Literature and the Arts, Volume 47.3. Bloom, Harold. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, New Edition, Blooms Modern Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2008. Blooms Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Brackett, Virginia. Frankenstein. Facts On File Companion to the British Novel: Beginnings through the 19th Century, Vol. 1. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. Blooms Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Burt, Daniel S. Frankenstein. The Novel 100: A Ranking of the Greatest Novels of All Time. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2004. Blooms Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. DAmmassa, Don. Frankenstein. Encyclopedia of Fantasy and Horror Fiction. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. Blooms Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Frankenstein Movie. Hallmark: 2004 Shelly, Mary. Frankenstein. WW Norton Company, Inc.: 1996 Sherwin, Paul. Frankenstein: Creation as Catastrophe. PMLA (1981). Quoted as Frankenstein: Creation as Catastrophe in Bloom, Harold, ed. The Sublime, Blooms Literary Themes.New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2010. Blooms Literary Reference Online. FactsOn File, Inc. Snodgrass, Mary Ellen. Frankenstein. Encyclopedia of Gothic Literature. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2005. Blooms Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.