Geotechnical Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Geotechnical - Essay Example A simpler definition of a dam would be that it is a man-made barricade for water that is built across a river or large source/mass of water especially at the far ends so as to contain the water for use in various means. In the older days, this structure was used with people back then applying dynamic remote materials to contain the flow of water across a river and then engage the reserved the intended usage. This practice of building dams has been carried along historical lines and is still being practiced in the modern world by current generation. However, it is expected that the uses of dams may have been improved and made to be quite sophisticated due to the advancement in technology and techniques of setting up such structures. Currently, dams have been put to use in areas such as the generation of electric power, controlling of floods, supply water for commercial and domestic use, and in navigation among other uses. Subsequently, there are various dams that have been currently built in the world and one such dam is the Aswan High Dam that is situated in Egypt, and built across the Nile River by two main engineers, Maurice Fitzmaurice and Benjamin Baker. A study on this dam would reveal that it is approximately 3,600m in length and approximately 111m in height. The construction of the dam was completed in the year 1970, and its inauguration took place in January 1971. Other than the domestic uses that the dam has been to, it is used to generate electricity that approximates 10 billion kilowatts in a single year, much of which is supplied in the whole of Egypt. To this regard, it can be said that dams are of a great value to economies all over the world. A diagrammatic representation of the Aswan High Dam is as shown in the figure below. Dams are also constructed in various forms and natures and currently, the

Immigration and Diversity Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Immigration and Diversity - Research Paper Example This paper discusses the migration of the Japanese into the state of Texas and where they settled. The Japanese migrated into Texas for various reasons. Some of them moved from Japan to settle in Texas as a result of overpopulation and congestion in the country1. The movement of some of the Japanese was by choice like, for instance, the movement of businessmen to Texas to exploit business opportunities in Texas. However, the migration of some of the Japanese was forced such as the forceful relocation of prisoners. Overpopulation caused a group of Japanese led by Sadatsuchi Uchida to tour the Gulf Coast eyeing the possibility of relocation to the area. The group was successful and thus migrated to the area and set up rise farms2. The success encouraged the movement of more Japanese to the location. Hostility drove Japanese from the West Coast to settle in Hidalgo and Cameron counties in lower Rio Grande Valley. Some of the Japanese settled in Bexar and El Paso countries. The migration of the Japanese was not particularly a drastic process. They moved into Texas in small groups and finally settled in the area to carry on their business activities. Today, the Japanese live peacefully in Texas and have become citizens by naturalization. Their massive contribution has led to the tremendous growth of the state of

Biology of Androgens and Estrogens Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Biology of Androgens and Estrogens - Essay Example In the males androgens produced by the testes and adrenal cortex contribute to the male sex hormones circulating in the blood. Adrenal androgens normally have little physiological effect other than a role in development before the start of puberty in both girls and boys. This is because the male sex hormone activity of the adrenal androgens is weak. Androgens regulate male secondary sexual characteristics and can cause virilizing symptoms in women. Normally androgens are secreted mainly from the male testes, but moderate amount is also secreted from the adrenal gland. Normally adrenal androgens have a minimal effect in males whose sexual characteristics are predominately determined by gonadal steroids such as testosterone. On the contrary, in disease states in females, several androgen-like effects, such as, sexual hair, are largely mediated by adrenal androgens. The principal adrenal androgens are DHEA, androstenedione, and 11-hydroxyandrostenedione. DHEA and androstenedione are wea k androgens and exert their effects via conversion to the potent androgen testosterone in extraglandular tissues. DHEA also has poorly understood effects on the immune and cardiovascular systems. Adrenal androgen formation is regulated by ACTH, not by gonadotropins, thus are suppressed by exogenous glucocorticoid administration. The male reproductive system regulates sexual differentiation, virilization, and the hormonal changes that accompany puberty, ultimately leading to spermatogenesis and fertility. Under the control of the pituitary hormones, namely, luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), the Leydig cells of the testes produce testosterone and germ cells are nurtured by Sertoli cells to divide, differentiate, and mature into sperm (Holdcraft, RW. and Braun, RE., 2004).. Estrogens Steroidal estrogens arise from androstenedione or testosterone by aromatization of the A ring. The reaction is catalyzed by a cytochrome P450 monooxygenase enzyme complex. The ovaries are the principal source of circulating estrogen in premenopausal women, with estradiol being the main secretory product. Gonadotropins, acting via receptors that couple to the Gs-adenylyl cyclase-cyclic AMP pathway, increase the activities of aromatase. The follicular theca cells, under control of LH, produce androgens that diffuse to the follicular granulosa cells, where they are converted to estrogens via an FSH-supported aromatization reaction. Estrogens are endogenous hormones that produce numerous physiological actions. In women, these include developmental effects, neuroendocrine actions involved in the control of ovulation, the cyclical preparation of the reproductive tract for fertilization and implantation, and major actions on mineral, carbohydrate, protein, and lipid metabolism. Estrogens also have important actions in males, including effects on bone, spermatogenesis, and behavior. In postmenopausal women, the principal source of circulating estrogen is adipose tissue stroma, where estrone is synthesized from dehydroepiandrosterone secreted by the adrenals. In men, estrogens are produced by the testes, but extragonadal production by aromatization of circulating C19 steroids accounts for most circulating estrogens. Thus, the level of estrogens is regulated in part by the availability of androgenic precursors. Estrogenic effects most often have

Organizational Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 3

Organizational Analysis - Essay Example The company offers a wide range of mobile communication, personal computing products, portable digital music players and media services, as well as a range of related software, services, networking solutions, peripherals, and third party software and hardware products. The apple company has a well thought out plan to create an apple culture by delivering strong products. Apples’ fascinating products has seen the company enjoy fanatical brand loyalty. Apple products are a result of extensive research and strong designs; they always consider what the customer wants and they are out to satisfy their customers. Apple Inc. is a multinational company that holds its headquarters in Cupertino, California. It is the second largest information technology company in the world, second to Samsung Electronics and the third largest mobile phone manufacturer after Samsung and Nokia. Apple inc. maintains over 394 retail stores across fourteen countries as well as the online Apple store and iTu nes stores. It sells its products worldwide through its online stores, retail stores, and direct sales force, as well as through third-party cellular network carriers, retailers, whole sellers, and value-added resellers. Apple not only enjoys the theoretical popularity in fact, it topped the list with annual revenue above $100 billion and since 2010 having a profit mark of above $20 billion. Apple accommodates approximately 60,400 people in different departments such as software development, assembly and design, distribution, marketing and sales etc. Apple’s mission statement: â€Å"Apple Inc. is determined and committed to deliver the best personal computing experience by offering technologically ingenious products and services to students, educators, creative professionals and consumers around the world through its unique modern hardware and software.  Apple is  able to enhance resources for future generations and for continuous improvements.† Role of HR in accom plishing the Apple’s Mission: Employees of any organization play an important role in the organization's success and mission accomplishment. Moreover, they are the people who heightened the revenue generation and trades the company’s image worldwide to the people interested in their goods and services. Apple is fortunate in having a powerful human resource who is striving hard to maintain the positive image of Apple since its birth. The Apple’s workforce has marked the HR department as a highly goal-oriented and organized department. Apple’s HR is highly talented and knows how to implement latest HR practices to achieve company’s goal and mission. They appreciate the innovative behavior to establish a shared culture, nurture talent and to motivate the integration of mind and skill with the tasks a person performs. Being the leader in the gadget’s market Apple has introduced passion for work sort of attitude rather than employee-employer atti tude. (Snee, 1998). DELL, IBM and similar other gadget companies are not just a threat to this emerging company, but is a significant hindrance for the company to recognize its full abilities. In a walk to compete with these monstrous competitors Apple relies on the implementation of 3 vital strategies that is hiring, training and nurturing creative minds. Apple has

Kant and Mill Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Kant and Mill - Essay Example For instance, the gifts of nature such as talents of the mind, encompassing understanding, wit and judgment, as well as qualities of temperament, such as courage, resolution and perseverance are good and desirable for many purposes; however, Kant insists that their goodness is conditional for such things may be extremely evil and harmful without a good will (Baxley 8). Mill believes that something is right if it produces the greatest good for the greatest number (Driver 3). Simply, Mill promoted the general good, that is, tenets and social policy should always endeavor to contribute for the good of the society (MacKinnon 32). Mill believes that the morally best alternative is that which produces the greatest utility, where utility is described in terms of happiness or pleasure; moreover, Mill encourages individuals to do which produces the greatest form of happiness or pleasure for the greatest number of people (McKinnon 32). Mill stressed that something good is anything that is desirable; hence, the individual can only find out what is desirable by attempting to discover what is essentially desired but with this he aims for the higher pleasures in life (Driver 51). Neither Kant nor Mill thought that people usually self-consciously apply the criterion of right action by asking themselves the driving force of why they are doing something good (Jacobs 93). Moreover, they both acclaimed that individuals tend to act on the basis of dispositions to judge and appreciate situations in certain sorts of ways, and in that respect, they both established a role for the virtues (Jacobs 93). Kant and Mill both wrote about the significance of virtues; still, in their views of morality, what makes for a good quality is the fact that the agent acts in accordance with the basic principle (Jacobs 93). Jacobs highlighted that in both Kant’s and Mill’s

Transsexualism Case Essay Example for Free

Transsexualism Case Essay Introduction Transsexualism deals with the basic features for the identification of human gender. This aspect has not received much understanding. Popular media has not shown the clear image of transsexualism and stories about the possibility for the occurrence of changes in sex has been explained in a very sensational way. These stories have led people towards the misconception about transsexualism and they do not know what the term ‘transsexualism’ really means. The term ‘transsexualism’ refers to the condition of a person in which a person’s psychological sex is quite different from the physiological sex of that person. Such people think that their soul has been put in the wrong gender body (Butler, 2001). This paper provides information about transsexualism, reality and myths about transsexualism, possible causes of transsexualism, treatment of transsexualism, social, legal and economic implications of transsexualism. What Does Transsexualism Mean? It is very important to understand few terms before the detailed explanation of transsexualism. People usually consider the terms gender and sex as the same concept but in fact they are quite different from each other. The term ‘sex’ provides information about the type of genital organs of a person. Thus this term is specific with the anatomical sex of a person. The term ‘gender’ explains how a person determines himself/herself in terms of female, male or others. The two terms are considered as one by a large number of people because majority of the people think about their gender that is in accordance with their anatomical sex. Anatomical sex has been explained to a greater extent as compared to gender. Some people get confused when they are asked to explain their gender as they do not consider them as a clear male or a clear female. There are two further terms that arise from the term ‘gender’. ‘Gender identity’ shows how a person experience and percept internally about his or her gender. ‘Gender role’ determines how a person spends his or her life in society and how he or she socializes that is dependent on the gender identity of that person (Campbell, 2001). Reality of Transsexualism Transsexualism is a condition in which a person does not like his or her genital sex and feels highly uncomfortable with it. Such feelings are long lasting. Such persons want their genital sex to be opposite of their actual genital sex. They feel that they would live a better and comfortable life with the genital sex opposite to their actual one. They want this change to be on permanent basis. A large number of people consider transsexualism as a psychiatric problem but it has been found that in reality a female body may have a male brain or vice versa. A psychiatrist consultant is assigned to make sure that the person who claims to be a transsexual and wants to change his or her genital sex is indeed a real transsexual. It is also determined that whether the person wishing to change his or her genital sex is mentally stable to cope up with the new gender in the society. Transgenderists is another term that is used by people who feel that their genital sex is not according to their gender and they wish to live their life the way that is opposite to their genital sex. Such people do not go through the process of genital surgery. Myths about Transsexualism Transsexualism is often misunderstood with some conditions that have some common points among them. Transvertism: People in this condition do not wish to change their genital sex though they often get dressed as the opposite sex. Homosexuals and Bisexuals: Such people do not wish to have the sex opposite to their actual genital sex. They attract same sex people. Hermaphrodites: Hermaphroditism is a condition which is very rare. In this condition, the person does not wish to change his or her genital sex neither he nor she considers himself or herself as a person with a gender that is opposite to his or her actual genital sex. Such people have genital sex organs that are not completely developed either in males or females. There is no mismatch of their body with their mind. They just have a body that is strongly intersexed (Elliot, 2001). Possible Causes of Transsexualism Unusual combinations in chromosomes lead to transsexualism though the possibility is 1 in 400. The chromosomes of transsexuals are not standard karyotype like standard karyotype of male (XY) and standard karyotype of female (XX). This is due to some confusion in the hormones when the development of fetus was taking place. Chemicals are another cause for the occurrence of transsexualism. Transsexualism may occur when a woman takes oral contraceptives without knowing that she has already conceived. Some drugs are also responsible for transsexualism when the drugs were given to pregnant women. The most common drug in this regard is diethylstilboestrol. Hormonal disturbance due to oral contraceptives or drugs lead to the birth of transsexual babies. There are some chemical pollutants responsible for the occurrence of transsexualism. Such chemical pollutants are man-made. Some of them are dibenzodioxins and polychlorobiphenyls that are found to bring disruption in androgen and / or estrogen receptors. Transsexualism may also occur without any biochemical reason. Sometimes, transsexualism occurs due to the anemic expectant mother. Sometimes, sufficient amount of nourishment is not received by the fetus, or sometimes sufficient quantity of material hormones become the cause of transsexualism when these hormones result in the disruption of the development of fetus by crossing the placenta in a large quantity. The gender and brain sex of the fetus can not be changed once pregnancy has passed the relevant stage. The brain can never be changed even when some changes may happen in the body due to the alteration in hormones. For this reason, the transsexuals undergo surgery to change their genital sex to match their gender as the brain had been developed (Heyes, 2000). Treatment of Transsexualism Sex reassignment therapy is the only effective treatment of transsexuals. No psychological treatment has been found effective enough for transsexual people. The mental health of transsexual people determines the extent to which the sex reassignment therapy is required. Transsexuals that are suffering from severe anxiety, depression, addictions of different types and possessing suicidal behavior often get much relieved from their problems when they go through the sex reassignment therapy. Gender identity disorder is the way to diagnose transsexualism among people who are ready to be treated psychologically. Transsexual people must have to go through psychological treatment before the sex reassignment therapy. Once they get the label of gender identity disorder, the rest of the way towards the sex reassignment therapy becomes easier for them. There may be some people who have been found with gender identity disorder but they do not wish to change their genital sex. Transsexuals usually do not prefer to undergo psychological treatment as they consider their desire of the sex reassignment therapy as their physical need (Hird, 2000). Social, Legal and Economic Implications of Transsexualism Transsexual people usually face harassment and assault when people around them come to know about their history. Transsexuals prefer to quit their previous job and leave their social circles after the sex reassignment therapy and they start living their life from the scratch. By doing so, they think that no body would ever come to know about their past. Sometimes, the family members and very close friends leave transsexuals after the sex reassignment therapy. The problems of transsexuals become worse when they have to face the legal issues. Such problems vary from country to country. In Britain, transsexuals are not allowed to make any amendment or change in their birth certificate. Where as, in the United States, some state jurisdiction allow transsexuals to make necessary amendments and changes in their birth certificates. They can even replace their original birth certificates with new ones. Other state jurisdictions help transsexuals by sealing their previous records so that their privacy can be maintained. Transsexual people had to face economic crisis after the sex reassignment therapy. They had to quit their previous job as the employers were not at all cooperative with transsexual employees. Now, the situation of economic issues for transsexuals varies from country to country. In the United States, anti-discrimination laws have been passed in California for protecting transsexual employees. The employers are forced to treat their transsexual employees equally. They cannot be terminated (Butler, 2001). Conclusion Transsexualism is a medical reality and it should not be treated psychologically. Transsexuals should be allowed to decide whether they want to go through psychiatric treatment. They should be treated as normal humans socially, legally and economically. References Butler, Judith. (2001). Doing Justice to Someone: Sex Reassignment and Allegories of Transsexuality. GLQ 7, no. 4: 621-36. Campbell, Carolyn. (2001). Transversing across the Genders. Transgender Tapestry 94: 63-68. Elliot, Patricia. (2001). A Psychoanalytic Reading of Transsexual Embodiment. Studies in Gender and Sexuality 2, no. 4: 295-325. Heyes, Cressida. (2000). Reading Transgender, Rethinking Womens Studies. NWSA Journal 12, no. 2: 170-80. Hird, Myra. (2000). Genders Nature: Intersexuality, Transsexualism and the Sex/Gender Binary. Feminist Theory: An International Interdisciplinary journal 1, no. 3.

Boots ltd Current strategic position

Boots ltd Current strategic position Management Summary Introduction This report will examine findings and analyse Boots current strategic position in the industry. It will analyse whether or not the new IT system has had any impact in the organisation efficiency and financial wise. Here I will discuss the formation of one of the most biggest pharmaceutical and cosmetic company in Europe. Boots is one of the largest cosmetic high street and online retailer in the country, and in recently in continental Europe. It was founded by John Boot in 1849 when Mr Boot opened an herbalist shop in Nottingham. Boots as a company was formed in 1883 and they appointed their first pharmacist a year after. They opened their first flagship store in Nottingham in 1892. Since then it has been one of the most popular place to go get cosmetics and medicine. The companys chemists were taken over by UniChem Plc in 1991 and they started their global brand recognition by opening their first Boots store in Republic of Ireland in Dublin in 1996. Since the mid 1990s Boots faced heavy competition from many sectors of the retail industry. They had to restructure their brand in order to counter attack the competition it faced. In July 2006, Boots merged with their biggest rival Alliance UniChem. By announcing this deal, this made Boots the largest distributor in pharmaceutical and healthcare products. This also gave them continental recognition as UniChem was one of the largest pharmaceutical players in continental Europe. Like Wal-Mart bought Asda but they are known as Wal-Mart in America and Asda in Europe, Boots is known as Boots in England but UniChem in Europe. Alliance UniChem and the Boots merger allowed these two companies become the biggest pharmaceutical and cosmetic dealers in Europe, reaching out to more and more people, thus making a huge profit in the process. It elevated both companies to higher grounds and is still thriving to be more successful. Boots have a website setup for the American market, but do not sell online, and many of their products are only sold via department stores and pharmacies in America, but they do not have outlets for the average customer to come and look around. In 1997, Boots formed a loyalty card scheme, called the Advantage Card, a card which customers carry, get points when they purchase products and then reward them with special offers. This also allowed the company to find out the buying habits, and find out what customers normally would buy and then send them special offers regarding these in order to bring them back into the store and spend more. They estimated that they would sign up eight million customers, but by December 1998 they went over this estimate by signing up over ten million customers to the Advantage Card scheme, and by this their estimate of the four percent sales growth actually succeeded. The cost of the scheme was  £25 million therefore the sales growth was an important part of this scheme. The IT system was a huge part of the organisations card scheme. Boots is a long-established IBM customer, but they were researching other companies in regards to their new customer analysis system before deciding to stick with IBM. The reason they went for the IBM solution was because they offered the complete package as well as their own technical support teams and experience. This would obviously save them time due to the fact they do not need to train up a new person to train more people therefore the ones that create this will be able to train the Boots employees into how to use the IT system. The database project started in spring 1997, 6 months before the card launch. This is because the company would need to make sure the database is right before they can officially launch the cards otherwise there would be a system overload, or even a backlog which would cost a lot of money, this would also enable the structure being right from the start. The size of the database eventually went up to 1.6 TB (terabytes) which held more than 2 million card holder details and some non card holder buyer behaviours in order to contrast between the two buying behaviours. The analyst team at Boots analyse these customer buying behaviours, thus finding out what type of products intrigue the card holders, as well as the non card holders. By doing this, they can create a report for the marketing team, and tell them what can be done to entice non card holders to join the Advantage Card scheme. They can also find out what products are selling the most between the two categories of buyers, and find out new ways to sell their products to the four groups of promotion buyers, the deal seekers (only seek promotion deals), stock pilers (who buy in bulk when the items in promotion then dont bother coming back when they are not), the loyalists (the ones that buy the products a little more when they are on promotion then revert back to their normal buying habits) and the new market (customers that buy the product when they are on promotion and then continue buying the products when they arent. This report will now analyse the Boots strategic position by evaluating using different methods. Strategic Evaluation Swot Analysis Using Swot Analysis, I will now analyse the organisations current position. Strengths Boots is a powerful pharmaceutical and cosmetic retail brand. It has a reputation of having great deals compared to other stores, and has a wide range of products in store. It has grown substantially from being a one-store shop in a city to being a continental brand (by merging with Europes biggest cosmetic and pharmaceutical brand Alliance UniChem). By merging, the company has become the biggest cosmetic brand in Europe, and has the entire infrastructure in place to make it a successful and big brand. The company has a good IT system which was created and run by IBM which is one of the worlds biggest IT company in the world, and uses its IT infrastructure to analyse what products are being sold the most, the most popular and customers buying behaviour, using the loyalty card scheme the backbone of this. By doing this, the analyst team at Boots use this information to give these loyal shoppers deals and it therefore eventually makes profit. The company uses its vast financial profits to invest time and money in training people and retaining a development team. By doing this they have people who know what they are doing, therefore have an advantage over other brands who do not consistently train and invest in their employees. The companys online shopping is a great help to people who cannot go to the store because of their disability/being old. Their online prescription feature allows the user to order their prescription drugs online and delivered to them. This reaches out to more people, and especially to those with disability who cannot go to their local pharmacy, and get it delivered to their door the next working day. Weaknesses Though Boots is one of the biggest brands in UK and Europe, it still is not Global like some of the companys rivals. The system that is in place could cause error hen external influences such as recession affects shoppers. It may set the trends of customers and forecasts but not necessarily forecast the trend for recession and other external influences. Like most other companies, the year of 2009, which was mostly hit by recession and VAT went down to 15% to help people with this downfall, affected businesses. Their loyalty card system is showing the customer buyer behaviour, but is it really taking into account the recession period? People are buying less and less and therefore targeting customers that used to buy these products, and offering them deals that they may not buy due to the recession, will adversely affect them, the buyer and the company. Other external factors that contribute to their weaknesses are interest rates and inflation. By this going up each year, it makes the product prices go up also. This affects the trend in buying. Will people buy the same product they bought cheaper the year before? The loyalty card scheme may help towards this problem, but will casual buyers end up buying it here or go and buy it from a pound shop. In terms of company image, Boots are well known only in UK, whereas the company uses a different name in Europe due to Boots not being an universal word and Alliance is a universal word in Europe and UniChem is the name of the company they merged with, thus giving them profits but not actual name recognition. The company have recently moved their brand to the USA. The company is also known as Alliance Boots, and their pharmacy over there is called The DrugStore. They do not have shops in USA, but sell their products in department stores or normal drug stores/pharmacies. But because their American website does not allow online shopping, only advertising the brand, and they do not have any outlets in America, they are missing out on huge profits as America are one of the highest prescription drug users in the world. It may be good distribution but making outlets will sell more. If the company was to merge with an American pharmacy/cosmetic/pharmaceutical company, they could slowly intr oduce their brand to the American market and make it global. The IT system needs to be enhanced so it can cope with this expansion. The brand in the UK also only have shops in high streets, maybe making more stores like Tesco have with their Tesco Express branches, they can reach out to more people. Opportunities Boots should take the opportunity of merging with an American company so that they can break the American market. Also to do this same thing for Asia they can make their brand a Global brand. In 1997 they introduced Boots in New Zealand, but the store closed down in the same year due to slow sales. If an opportunity of merger for good companies in Asia and America come in, Boots could do well with this, that way they can focus their intentions of getting brand recognition in these markets where they could see their profits go above the scale. Boots are just a trade and distributor in America, this means they selling in department stores and pharmacies, but they do not have a store out there to show the market what the company actually does. New locations offer Boots opportunities to exploit the market development. Threats Being number one means that you are a target for competition, locally and globally. This means more and more companies will be competitively putting their prices down to compete with big companies, thus getting more and more people to shop with them rather than the big companies. The stores loyalty card scheme is helping this cause, getting more and more customers to shop with Boots so that they can be rewarded. By being a global retailer, if they expand their operations to the USA and further, means they are exposed to political problems in the country they do their business in. Political downfall and economy downfall means fewer shoppers, and they need to tackle this problem to avoid loss of profits. The cost of producing many products has fallen because of lower manufacturing costs, due to outsourcing to low-cost regions of the world. This has lead to more and more price competition between rivals, therefore resulting in price deflation. This is a threat because rivals are finding more and more ways to entice customers to shop with them rather than their competitor. Supermarkets in particular will name their rivals in advertisements, stating they are cheaper than them. Boots on the other hand do not tend to name their competitor, rather focusing on their own name recognition to sell their products, and using their loyalty card scheme to reward their loyal customers, whilst the casual customers do not bother signing up to the loyalty card scheme and tend to shop only when there are promotions in store as the loyalty card offers do not appeal to them. Their direct competition in terms of cosmetics AND pharmaceutical products are Superdrug. Superdrug sell from both categories, but Superdrug does not seem to carry such a large range as does Boots, but are slightly cheaper. Therefore when it comes to recession, Superdrug will tend to sell more due to them selling cheaper. When recession is over, will customer buying behaviour change? There is a chance of that, un less they are so used to buying cheap products it may change slightly. Superdrug have less variety than Boots, therefore Boots tend to sell more of the products that the average customer cannot buy in Superdrug. Price is normally higher on these due to the company knowing their competitor not selling the same product. Porters Five Forces Model Now I will use Porters Five Forces model for competitive analysis of the companys strategic position. The five forces allow the marketer to compare a competitive environment. Existing Competitors The main existing competitor is Superdrug in terms of what gets sold in Boots. This is because Superdrug sells what Boots sell, but has less variety but is cheaper. Customers tend to shop at stores that are cheaper, but because of Boots selling more variety it counter attacks this problem. It also allows the customers to choose between the brands, which gives healthy competition for both, which is good for the company and customers, as it gives them new ways of ousting the competitor. Superdrug does not have a loyalty scheme, thus eliminating the need for a good IT system. Boots have an advantage over this as their IT system was created and developed by IBM, and they can monitor activities using their IT system, and this is a huge bonus for them. Other competitors are supermarkets and smaller stores, such as Asda and Tesco. Asda and Tesco do not have pharmacy facilities, but they sell cosmetic goods, which are most of the time are on offers. This tends to leash the customer to their store, but one main disadvantage of them is that they do not tend to sell varieties of these products. They may have their own loyalty cards, but people who tend to shop more and more on cosmetic products tend make use of their Boots Advantage card. Threats of New Entrants