Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Tax on Fatty Foods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Assessment on Fatty Foods - Essay Example In October 2011, the Prime Minister of England uncovered that his administration was taking a gander at acquainting fat duty with tame the high rates of stoutness (Guardian, 2011). Cameron called attention to that he had fears over significant expenses and decreased future of the current age. In the light of disturbing quantities of diabetes in America, Cameron cautioned the nation that it should consider the negative effects of diabetes hazard (Guardian, 2011). Hungary additionally passed fat assessment in July 2011. This new assessment in Hungary specified that the residents of Hungary burn through 0.05 US dollars on greasy nourishments. This is a transition to cut the costs of human services in Hungary (Buczynski, 2011). The report by European Public Health Alliance of 2011 (EPHA) uncovered that in each two individuals one of them is overweight. The report likewise demonstrated that out of four individuals, one had weight. Further, the report brought up that interminable non-trans mittable sickness, for example, diabetes type 2, cardiovascular malady, and malignancies are associable with greasy nourishments. These maladies add to about 86% of all passings in the European Region of the World Health Organization (EPHA, 2011:3). These ailments have pulled in the consideration of significant associations such World Health Organization and UNICEF. In December 2003, the World Health Organization proposed that countries ought to consider burdening food high in fat, sugar, and salt. This is to urge individuals to settle on more beneficial food decisions. The WHO report uncovered that few nations utilize financial measures to advance accessibility of and access to specific nourishments. Different nations use charges to diminish or build utilization of nourishments. Others use sponsorships and open assets to advance access among poor networks to donning and recreational exercises (White, 2006:6). Food tax collection benefits from the way that individuals don't acceptin g the most exorbitant nourishments. This suggests value intercession can deliver important changes in the examples of food utilization and a decrease in diet-related infections. In the light of this, England has proposed to present expense on greasy nourishments. This paper will examine the contentions for and against new duty on greasy nourishments. The paper first tends to the contentions that help charge on food and later it will handle the contentions against this proposition. The proposition for tax assessment on greasy nourishments is very much established. The objective of these duties is to impact conduct of individuals to meet general wellbeing objectives of in England. Through this tax collection, England tries to improve the strength of its residents. There is logical association that greasy nourishments add to improvement of non-transferable maladies, for example, malignancy, diabetes 2, corpulence, and coronary sicknesses. The pace of these infections increments with ut ilization of greasy nourishments. WHO reports that overweight and corpulence add to over 2.5 million passings every year. The report predicts that this pattern will twofold in the year 2020 (White, 2006:6). A similar report shows that passings from non-transmittable illnesses happen in both creating and created nations. It is, accordingly, judicious for the legislature of England to propose to present tax collection on greasy nourishments. This will keep an enormous populace from devouring these nourishments on the grounds that the costs will be high. It is clear that the greasy nourishments are commonly modest when contrasted with the characteristic nourishments. The low of these nourishments has made a huge populace in England to manage the cost of these nourishments on consistent schedule. Over-utilization of these nourishments brings about improvement of wellbeing inconvenience, which is

Saturday, August 22, 2020

ICT Project Management for Planning and Control Techniques

Question: Talk about theICT Project Management for Planning and Control Techniques. Answer: Meaning of Project Methodology Any kind of undertaking becomes effective just when the objectives just as destinations are accomplished by explicit approachs of task the executives. This task is fruitful just when it is carefully trailed by a characterized timetable and spending plan. As indicated by Schwalbe, 2015, there are different philosophies that help the association to finish and execute its venture appropriately. An undertaking the board procedure is a particular model that any venture supervisor use for the work to configuration, to design, to execute lastly to accomplish every single task goal and objective. These are very helpful for any task. There are different focal points or advantages that a task the board system has inside it and therefore it assists with understanding the whole extent of their work (Pinto, 2015). The most significant preferred position of an undertaking technique is that it assists with catching each component of venture forthright and furthermore teach the whole group of the ta sk on a few components with their connections. The second preferred position of this task strategy is that it helps in the best possible execution of the venture by flawlessly characterizing the undertaking destinations. The yield of the venture totally relies upon how much better procedure is being applied in the undertaking (Fleming Koppelman, 2016). This, thusly is answerable for the improvement following of the undertaking and for the ideal correspondence between the task colleagues. In addition, the task the board philosophy assists with lessening too deal with the danger of the undertaking. This undertaking technique centers around the conscious methodology for building the limit inside the venture group to execute by appropriate preparing and ideal meaning of the advantages, errands, jobs, obligations, resources and anything or any movement identified with task could be handily executed with venture philosophy. According to Burke, 2013, the most basic hindrances of any undert aking are opportune accessibility and information consistency. All the organized methodologies evacuate the deficiencies with the assistance of task the executives approachs. There are different philosophies that are used in venture the board. These strategies help the venture to be fruitful and get adaptable. The most well known and select undertaking the executives techniques significantly include PMBOK, PRINCE2, Waterfall, Agile, Scrum, Agile XP, RAD, Spiral, SDLC and some more (Kerzner, 2017). These techniques are incredibly profitable for any venture and therefore help any undertaking supervisor to comprehend the degree and advantage of the task splendidly. All the previously mentioned venture the executives philosophies are extensively characterized into two sorts of approaches, which are present day approach and customary methodology (Walker, 2015). The conventional methodology is the fundamental methodology of venture the executives strategy and is used for a wide range of littler activities. Cascade philosophy is the most significant model in the customary methodology. The second sort of task the executives strategy is the cutting edge approach. Larson Gray, 2013 express that, this kind of approaches are significantly used in the advanced ventures like data innovation. It gives impeccable yield and doesn't follow the past philosophy of venture the executives. PRINCE2, PMBOK, Six Sigma and Scrum are the most acclaimed philosophies in the whole wide idea of present day system. The procedure of undertaking the executives assumes the most significant job in the venture life pattern of a specific task. The significant job of this task the board philosophy is that it assists with executing the whole venture by not including into a complexities (Schwalbe, 2015). Te financial plan of the venture is carefully kept up in the approach and in this way is answerable for the general development of the undertaking. The task life cycle begins from beginning of an extend and till closure of that venture. Likenesses and Dissimilarities among PMBOK and Agile XP PMBOK and Agile XP are considered as the two most huge procedures in venture the board (Snyder, 2014). Both of these have their own advantages and burdens and they help to accomplish the task objectives and goals consummately. These two philosophies along these lines have different likenesses just as dissimilarities. The major and the most significant likenesses among PMBOK and Agile XP are given beneath: I) Excellent Outputs: The main likeness among PMBOK and Agile XP is that will be that them two amazing and exact yields for the undertakings (Turk, France Rumpe, 2014). These techniques would be amazingly useful when they are appropriately used by the task directors. ii) Project types: The second significant comparability among PMBOK and Agile XP procedures is that them two are used in the greater tasks. In spite of the fact that, PMBOK is additionally utilized in the littler tasks, Agile XP is just utilized in the greater undertakings or in ventures that are greater in size. Procedure Approach: This is third significant likeness among PMBOK and Agile XP (Abrahamsson et al., 2017). Them two fall under the classification of present day approach in venture the board. PMBOK and Agile XP do have not many of the dissimilarities also. The most significant contrasts between these two strategies are as per the following: I) Guidelines: This is the most significant difference between these two strategies of venture the board. PMBOK gives different rules to their clients and how these could be used; while, there are no such rules present in Agile XP and in this manner regularly the venture director faces issue in using this technique (Popli Chauhan, 2013). ii) Risk Assessment: In PMBOK, the dangers of the venture are moderated by appropriate hazard the board arranging, chance distinguishing proof and legitimate hazard examination. Be that as it may, in Agile XP, this hazard evaluation is finished by making a particular model of the undertaking. Interchanges Management: In PMBOK, the administration of correspondences in an undertaking is finished by interchanges arranging and by data dispersion (Mishra Dubey, 2013). Nonetheless, that in the Agile XP is finished by using framework analogy and day by day gatherings. Relating Agile XP with PLC Nimble XP is the sort of venture the executives approach that is used for creating programming under which the important necessities just as the arrangements are developed through the community oriented exertion of groups and end clients. This methodology helps in versatile arranging, early conveyance and steady improvement in the undertaking (Popli Chauhan, 2013). Also, this specific technique is exclusively related with the undertaking life cycle or PLC. The periods of this system assists with diminishing the intricacy of the venture by not following the conventional methodology. References Abrahamsson, P., Salo, O., Ronkainen, J., Warsta, J. (2017). Deft programming improvement strategies: Review and analysis.arXiv preprint arXiv:1709.08439. Burke, R. (2013). Task the executives: arranging and control techniques.New Jersey, USA. Fleming, Q. W., Koppelman, J. M. (2016, December). Earned worth venture the executives. Venture Management Institute. Kerzner, H., Kerzner, H. R. (2017).Project administration: a frameworks way to deal with arranging, booking, and controlling. John Wiley Sons. Larson, E. W., Gray, C. (2013).Project administration: The administrative procedure with MS venture. McGraw-Hill. Mishra, A., Dubey, D. (2013). A near investigation of various programming improvement life cycle models in various scenarios.International Journal,1(5), 64-69. Pinto, J. K. (2015).Project administration: accomplishing upper hand. Prentice Hall. Popli, R., Chauhan, N. (2013). Dexterous Software Development.International Journal of Computer Science and Communication,4(2), 153-156. Schwalbe, K. (2015).Information innovation venture the executives. Cengage Learning. Snyder, C. S. (2014). A manual for the venture the executives assemblage of information: PMBOK () guide.Project Management Institute: Newtown Square, PA, USA. Turk, D., France, R., Rumpe, B. (2014). Constraints of coordinated programming processes.arXiv preprint arXiv:1409.6600. Walker, A. (2015).Project administration in development. John Wiley Sons.

Tuesday, August 11, 2020

Groupon

Groupon © Shutterstock.com | Gil C Groupon is a daily deals website operating globally. It has remained a popular option for those looking to find great deals and offers. In this article, we will look at 1) what is Groupon?, 2) products, 3) business model and key components, and 4) learning from Groupon’s success.WHAT IS GROUPON?The CompanyGroupon began operations in 2008 from Chicago and shortly following this from Boston, New York City and Toronto. Within a year, the website began serving more than 150 markets inside the United States and about a 100 markets in Europe, Asia and South America.The name is a play on the words group and coupon signifying the business of the company. The website is a daily deals provider that features gift certificates at a discount from different types of companies. Groupon was created by Andrew Mason with financial backing from a former employer, Eric Lefkofsky. Mason ran the company as CEO till 2013, when he was asked to leave the company after a failure to meet targets and raise pr ofitability.After enjoying rapid success initially, the company went into a negative spiral and reported a fourth quarter loss of $9.8 million in 2011.History of GrouponMason’s project began as a campaign and fund raising website called ThePoint.com. The website used a system called ‘the tipping point’ which meant that a donation would only be charged if a certain number of people contributed to the campaign. When the business transitioned from ThePoint to Groupon, the same idea was used, meaning that a Groupon deal only went through if a certain number of people bought it. If this limit was reached, then Groupon would charge its fee otherwise it would not. This was a major point of encouragement for vendors to come onboard and offer different deals to draw in business.The first deal was an offer on pizza at half price from a restaurant on the first floor of the Groupon office in Chicago in October 2008. Twenty people bought the deal. Groupon quickly expanded within the US and went from calling multiple vendors every day to ask for deals to accepting only one in eight vendors that wanted to be featured on the site.Groupon continued its expansion by moving into international markets. One way of doing this was by purchasing and rebranding existing similar deal-of-the-day services. Some of these have been MyCityDeal in Europe, ClanDescuento in South America, Qpod.jp in Japan and Darberry.ru in Russia. Others have been Beeconomic.com in Singapore, SoSasta.com in India, uBuyiBuy in HongKong and GroupsMore in Malaysia. All of these were acquired between 2010 and 2011. In 2012, the company purchased Mertado, a Facebook based social shopping service and Breadcrumb which is a point of sale system and application for iPads targeting local restaurants. Based on these purchases, Groupon created access to other types of businesses to add to its repertoire. By the end of 2012, the company also purchased Savored which was a high end restaurant reservation and discount site. This gave the company access to these higher end restaurants, as well as a separate independently run business.These acquisitions continued in 2012 with a real-time location sharing mobile application called Glassmap and a European travel application called Blink that provides short notice hotel reservations. In December 2013, the company reported the highest weekend of sales since it was founded in 2008, with billings up 30 percent year over year.MarketsAny new market targeted in first explored and mapped out by employees who identify successful local businesses. These are then approached with an explanation of the Groupon model and social media sites are used as promotional tools.At present, Groupon serves nearly 500 markets in 48 countries. These include markets in the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Argentina, Peru Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Israel, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China, Russia, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Indo nesia, India, South Africa, Morocco, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Romania, Ukraine, Poland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Finland, Sweden, and Norway.In 2011, the company launched in China with a joint venture. Groupon and Tencent joined together to launch Gaopeng. The venture struggled initially and eventually merged with Futuan. In the same year, Groupon also expanded in the Middle East with the launch of Groupon UAE as well as into New Zealand.Groupon’s Indian expansion came about with the purchase of a local version of itself called SoSasta also in 2011. The new venture was named Crazeal later that year and with the acquisition of the relevant domain name it was once again renamed to Groupon by 2012.Learn How Groupon Works! PRODUCTSGroupon products are not targeted towards everyone as the offered deals are most often in the category of things people want rather than the things they need. The major target audience are young urban pro fessionals who want to explore the city they are in at an affordable manner. Groupon deals allow people to try out products and services that they may otherwise not have attempted to purchase. The most common types of Groupon deals are for:Restaurants, bars, hotels, bed and breakfasts, and getawaysSpas and resortsFitness centers and specific classes such as yoga, Pilates, or spinningHair and nail careCosmetic dentistry procedures and other cosmetic proceduresLaundry and dry cleaningAssorted classesSmall local retailersMost often, the deal is a 50 percent discount on a specific product or service. The deals can range from $20 to $2,999 for a variety of items. There are restrictions that apply to almost deals. There are expiration dates on usage or deals only for new users. Some restaurants may offer deals on a restricted menu excluding alcohol. For this reason, all fine print should be read carefully when deciding to avail a deal.BUSINESS MODEL KEY COMPONENTSThe Groupon business mod el has shown immense promise in the past. Though recently there has been some criticism based on the company’s inability to meet profit targets, a change in management could prove to be the solution needed by the business to continue its past success. Any business model is made up of several components that interact with each other. The Groupon business model has the following components.Business Model ComponentsKey PartnersMainly, Groupon’s partners are the companies that offer deals on the website. In addition to these, there are also the investors that have injected capital into the enterprise since it was a startup.Key ActivitiesKey activities for Groupon may includeAcquisitions of companies and negotiations of partner setupsCreative writing for daily dealsWebsite maintenance and upgradesCustomer communicationsCustomer data managementAdvertising decisionsKey ResourcesKey resources are those assists that are vital to keep the business going. For Groupon, these resources inclu de intellectual ones such as detailed customer databases. These databases allow customization of offers for the clients. The established brand name garners trust and is a vital asset. The people who work for Groupon are vital for their creativity and innovation. Financial resources are also necessary to continue to expand and serve clients in the best way possible.Value PropositionGroupon’s value proposition to its clients is the offer of low prices for items that the customer wants together with convenience and accessibility. The deals are localized to ensure that the right people are offered the right deal.For businesses, Groupon offers a connection to the right client base, offering a platform for advertising, as well as the opportunity to generate new clients. The time limit on deals ensures that people buy immediately when otherwise they would stop and think. The tipping point allows for the business to gain enough offers for a deal to make it viable for them to sell it.Custo mer RelationshipsHighly customized emails open a channel of communication with the customer that helps retain customer for future repeat business. Customers are offered items of their interest and kept updated on what is offered.Customer SegmentsBroadly, Groupon has two segments of customers. The first is the customer who wants to buy the deal on offer and the second is the business who is offering this deal. These two segments have drastically different motives and Groupon needs to work to create a balance between them. According to Groupon, a majority of their users are women. Generally, the segment is made of younger users who range in age between 18 and 34. The company further segments them based on their demographics, purchase history and interests.ChannelsGroupon uses various communication channels to reach clients. These include personalized regular emails. Another channel is regional and national advertising campaigns to reach even more customers and encourage them to use th e service. Other advertising channels include newspapers, magazines and even radio and television.Cost StructureOne of the main costs for the company are advertising. This includes the personalized and regular emails, as well as all other channels. Other part of costs are infrastructure which include office space, servers etc., as well as human resource which is the employees. Yet another aspect of the cost structure is the massive investments the company makes for expansion usually through acquisitions.Revenue StreamsGroupon’s revenue streams are based directly on the number of deals sold and the actual cost of the deal. Groupon charges for deals that meet minimum user criteria. Businesses are also charged a subscription fee while the service remains free for the customer. Ad space is also sold as a small revenue stream.Groupon USPGroupon has many competitors that offer a similar or competing product offering. What makes Groupon unique is their prices and the type of deals they o ffer. Groupon uses a large sales force that successfully negotiates deals from businesses for clients. As for the type of deals on offer, the company has managed to successfully create a business based on what customers want rather than what they need. Offering attractive discounts on these wants ensures that people remain tempted to keep coming back. Groupon has also leveraged excellent writing, humor and media such as email to maintain a connection with the customer base.LEARNING FROM GROUPON’S SUCCESSLessons to Learn for EntrepreneursCreating an Online Organizational PersonalityEssentially, Groupon relies on people to read through a daily deals newsletter. Most often, people are likely to get bored with these after a while and unsubscribe. Groupon has managed a series of steps that ensure that the likelihood of this happening is significantly reduced. Some of these steps are:Creating Personality: When a person clicks unsubscribe to a Groupon email, they get to meet Derrick. The photo below shows who Derrick is. This interesting, somewhat personal image may get a laugh out of people and encourage them to subscribe again.A likable online personality makes it relatively easier for a company to build and maintain customer loyalty and interest. This loyalty makes it easier to deal with any actions or events that may otherwise damage the brand. Most businesses can achieve this to some degree by adding some extra interest in their web based communications and their websites. Whatever attempt is made to create a personality however, should be in keeping with the brand’s identity and support overall long term goals.Create a Blog: A blog can be a great way to stay connected and show the human side of a business to its clients. A blog is more informal and allows a look into the people who are behind the brand. The level of customer engagement that can be achieved through a blog is difficult to achieve through other mediums. A blog starts a conversation that allows readers to join in to respond, critique and share points of view. In addition, a blog offers a great way to achieve organic search engine optimization.Focus on Website Content: Many companies may spend a lot of resources on having a fancy website designed and created, but not pay too much attention of what material is to go on it. Well written content that supports the company philosophy can help create an interesting corporate personality. Functional content is not enticing for viewers and will not be a source of repeat visits.Be Interesting on Social Media: Take Twitter as an example. There are many organizations that post in a generic detached sort of way. This can be boring and uninteresting for readers and they will not care about the brand at all. There should always be some basic organizational criteria to stay within when positing on social media, but beyond that, the people responsible for these pages and posts should be encouraged to inject personality into them by postin g interesting links, continue conversations, and be humorous â€" all in keeping with the persona that the company aims to create.Respond: A likeable company will most likely be one that responds to queries, criticism, feedback and observations in a timely way. This includes any mediums being used such as Twitter, Facebook, a blog, or other blogs where the company may be mentioned. An individualized response shows that there are human behind a brand who are sympathetic and caring.3 Business Lessons to Learn from GrouponThe Groupon business is not new or particularly innovative. It is the way the business is run that forms the basis of its popularity. There are three major lessons than any new business can learn from the Groupon example. These are:Keep it Simple: Groupon sells a simple product â€" great deals â€" in a simple way. The methods are easy to understand and the website is easy to use. This ensures that potential customers are not scared away by the need to understand a comp licated offer.Differentiate by Branding: Groupon can essentially be seen as a simple newsletter campaign that sells coupons. The most frequently used channel of communication is email which is not the most innovative form of reaching the customer in today’s world. However, by ensuring highly customized emails that are tailor made for the recipient and excellent writing to make them readable, the company has managed to create a differentiated image for itself.Solve a Problem: Groupon solves problems for both the vendor who offers a deal and the customer who buys it. The vendor is able to gain some publicity as well as new users or members. The customer is able to secure a great price for a product or service that they may want and is not a necessity. This ability to be a problem solver keeps it a popular intermediary.Andrew Mason: What Ive Learned at Groupon Potential ProblemsWhile Groupon continues to make sales and connect customers with vendors, its profitability remains a quest ion mark. The company fired its CEO and founder in 2013 in light of continued inability to become profitable and falling stock prices. Companies like Groupon are easy to setup but appear to be difficult to sustain. The challenge is to keep both customers and vendors happy and this is no easy endeavor as both have drastically opposite goals. These challenges will require the company to rethink its strategy and business model in order to remain relevant and profitable.