HW 5 Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

HW 5 - Case Study Example Attending a Peace Corp mission in Africa enables one fulfil his or her desire to offer assistance to the needy and charity organisations. However, all may not go well after graduation. For example, being employed by Nipsco will require one dedicate most of his or her time towards the work. This may cause a person lose the touch of friends, and break relationships. In addition, a demotion or reduction in bonus could lower someones morale, and affect his or her financial stability. Furthermore, staying in graduate school will result into reduced services for the students seeking classrooms, especially if they are enrolled under distance learning. Moreover, moving to New Orleans can prove to be stressful, especially if one is employed and lowly paid, making it difficult to pay for bills and cater for other necessities. Spending two years as a Peace Corp may divert ones attention and break contact with friends and relatives as one spends more time away from them. Conclusively, the decisions made after graduation determine ones livelihood and professional interaction, and, thus, it is important to make wise decisions that are less likely to affect an individual

Burts Bees Essay Example for Free

Burts Bees Essay A while back in 2007, Burts Bee’s was bought out by Clorox for $913 million. In buying Burts Bee’s Clorox is promising to go green. This was Clorox’s start in buying out other green companies to help them achieve their goal in going completely green. Mr. Shavitz and Ms. Quimby the original owners of Burt’s Bees had a huge fall out that began in the late 1990’s which has been going on ever since. (1) The reason that Clorox was willing to pay almost $1 Billion for Burts Bee’s because they see a big opportunity in the market to make their products green. The Burt’s Bess is really into the whole giving back to the community, and always helping. A few events they have done for the community is Urban Gardening when they teamed up with NEEM, to help make Durham, North Carolina greener, and help them plant more community gardens. Another event that they have done is help create green homes in North Carolina. As I was looking on the Burt’s Bees website on their most frequently asked questions someone asked how they can receive donations, and the answer the company gave threw me aback. â€Å"At this time, Burts Bees is not currently providing product or financial donations. We remain committed to supporting local community organizations committed to The Greater Good† (2) Personally in reading this I feel like if they want to help create that customer satisfaction, they should be willing to help everyone go green and not just the community. Since the buyout according to Clorox, their natural care products already account for over $6 billion in sales and is growing at a fast rate. The sales are climbing to a yearly rate of around 9%. As for the stalk holder Clorox states, they rose from $1. 69, 2. 8%. to $62. 69. This was a huge boost for the stockholders, and for people who wanted to buy into the stalk. As of 25th 2013, the stalks are at $83. 25. (3) This was also helping Clorox’s public relations by helping them get well known. Clorox does a whole bunch of press releases to help show that they have turned green. They also do press releases when they win an award or do contests for people to enter. When you go on the Clorox website they give you three options to choose from, Press Releases, Media Resources, and Press contacts. Since working together with Burt’s Bee’s, Clorox is also trying to get more involved in the community which they never used to do. On their website they state, â€Å"Clorox knows that it cant do it alone and actively seeks partners and other affiliations to help us become a more sustainable company. Clorox also cares. In addition to our work to make Clorox a more sustainable company, we strive to make a positive eco impact beyond Clorox. † (4) Clorox donates nearly $1 million dollars to environmental causes. Some of things they do to help the community is they donate products to the Save the Frogs, and Save the California Oaks. They also have their own foundations to help Keep America Beautiful.

The Book of Acts Essay -- Religion, Bible

There has been much debate regarding who wrote the book of Acts. Professor Riggs of Auburn Theological Seminary said, â€Å"In recent years the tide of opinion has been turning, and is now strongly setting toward a first-century authorship† (Riggs, 38). The early view of the church states Luke is the author of Acts. External evidence agrees with tradition that Luke wrote the book of Acts. The early church fathers, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, and Eusebius, provide evidence that Luke is the author (Lea & Black, 282). The Muratorian Canon (A.D. 190) contains a list of books from the New Testament and lists the author of Acts and the Third Gospel as Luke. There is also internal evidence that points to Luke as the author. In both Luke and Acts, the author uses medical phraseology. In Acts 28:8, the father of Publius was sick with a fever and had a bloody flux. Other instances can be found in Acts 10:10 and 16:16 (Riggs, 41-42). Luke was a physician and that would explain why h e used medical terms when writing the book of Acts. Considering the external and internal evidence, Carson and Moo... The Book of Acts Essay -- Religion, Bible There has been much debate regarding who wrote the book of Acts. Professor Riggs of Auburn Theological Seminary said, â€Å"In recent years the tide of opinion has been turning, and is now strongly setting toward a first-century authorship† (Riggs, 38). The early view of the church states Luke is the author of Acts. External evidence agrees with tradition that Luke wrote the book of Acts. The early church fathers, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, and Eusebius, provide evidence that Luke is the author (Lea & Black, 282). The Muratorian Canon (A.D. 190) contains a list of books from the New Testament and lists the author of Acts and the Third Gospel as Luke. There is also internal evidence that points to Luke as the author. In both Luke and Acts, the author uses medical phraseology. In Acts 28:8, the father of Publius was sick with a fever and had a bloody flux. Other instances can be found in Acts 10:10 and 16:16 (Riggs, 41-42). Luke was a physician and that would explain why h e used medical terms when writing the book of Acts. Considering the external and internal evidence, Carson and Moo...

Reflecting on Developing Teaching Practice Essay

The word reflection has been used consistently throughout our first module and has been seen to be prerequisite of good teaching and development. Reflecting itself has been a very useful practice. Taking the time to observe and analyse, whilst using a detailed checklist has also enabled us to use this process correctly. I have found that there are patterns within my reflective log and an awareness of what is needed to change in terms of improvement in my teaching practice and how I implement that in a classroom. Phil Race (2014, p228), describes reflection as having the intention to improve by finding out what is going on in an element of learning. By considering what elements of learning I need to address through my ILP I can now adopt feedback and apply improvements for future teaching. Observing has also helped my reflection Donald Schà ¶n (1987 p121), talks of imitation through observation. He links the ideology of education to â€Å"thinking for one’s self† and th e draws upon the term â€Å"Copycat† as a negative expression. However, he goes on to say â€Å"Reflective imitation demands, on the contrary, a willingness to do as the studio master is doing and, at the same time reflect on what one does.† Therefore, by observing and imitating we take on the role of our mentor/teacher and at the same time our reflective practice allows us the freedom to explore our own avenues of teaching and the ability to adapt, improve and develop what doesn’t work for us and, what we believe we could do better. Although I appreciate Schà ¶n‘s models of reflection, I have found I have not yet had enough experience to draw from to â€Å"reflect in action† but I can still use that method where applicable and in future practice. I’m fond of (Gibbs, 1988) methods pictured below. Gibb allows for a description of what happened, an analysis and evaluation of my experiences. This not only helps me make sense of my experiences but also helps me to examine my own teaching practice. Gibbs is very similar to Schà ¶n’s model of reflection but seeks a little more from the reflective practitioner. Like Schà ¶n, it is about â€Å"reflection in action† but aligns further with â€Å"reflection on action.† Gibbs model considers taking action and using what you have learned and applying it to practice in the shape of an action plan so if the same situation were to arise again I would have the  capacity to reflect â€Å"in action.† Personally my own areas of development have been in confidence and time management. By using Gibbs model of reflection I have been able to analyse where I am going wrong. I recognize the value of what I am doing and actively reflect both descriptively and emotionally. As (Brunner, 1994) states the fusion of the inte llectual and the emotional must be present or there cannot be a true reflective practice. For example, in my own practice I have sometimes tried to cover too much ground in a lesson, that has made me worry about the time frame, in turn this has affected my confidence. By analysing both what happened, what I am feeling and then evaluating this, I am able to make sense of the situation and formulate an action plan. I can reduce the amount in my lesson plan but have an activity if the lesson finishes early. If it doesn’t it can be given for homework. This helps me in practical terms, but in addition will help me with any confidence and anxiety I may have regarding the time management. â€Å"Reflective thinking†¦ involves a state of doubt, hesitation, perplexity, mental difficulty†¦[Reflective] persons†¦ weigh, ponder, [and] deliberate†¦ a process of evaluating what occurs to them in order to decide upon its force and weight for their problem.† (Dewey, J, 1997) p9 Gibb echoes Dewey above in â€Å"How we think† and uses the same ideologies of praxis and then draws upon the application of this to the Pedagogy. I will say I have had difficulty selecting the right method for my reflective practice and have employed parts from all models. Steven Brookfield’s (1995) Four Lens Theory uses a different model of reflection that encourages an individual to look at the situation from different viewpoints in order to maintain pedagogical rectitude. This is a process that never stops (as are all forms of reflection), and it seems to be the one that works best for me at the present time, as it fits perfectly within the trainee teacher milieu. The first of the four lenses Self would be the foundation of my critical reflection. Perhaps looking at my own experiences as a learner/teacher and the period in between now and qualifying and beyond that. Taking into account the â€Å"paradigmatic assumptions and instinctive reasoning’s that frame how we work.† (Brookfield.S, 1995) p30. This moves into the realm of the Students eyes and my Peers. I can do this by observing and being observed as  well as the process of feedback and self-evaluation, (from both my peers and students). This will help me to reveal aspects of the pedagogy that I am strong with and reveal areas of weakness. I can then apply the Scholarship lens, which is something I am currently working on as a trainee. By looking into theoretical literature, I can expand the Epistemology of my subject specialism, the discourse and discursive practice in addition to the pedagogy and learn to put my assumptions and reasoning’s to one side. I am then able to approach reflection openly and un-defensively. Geoff Petty (2010) explains, if we attribute our problems to something that is out of our control, we are defensive and will not feel the need to change our own practices. However, we should not blame ourselves. Instead we should think about how the lesson could have been made to go well and apply these principles to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Something that I have found hard is planning my lessons as this has proved to be rather time consuming. Film, Photography and Media Studies all include a broad range of skills for the learner to ascertain. In addition to creative and theoretical input on my behalf I have to also think about the particular technical skills regarding technology that need to be addressed. Once this has been decided, I still need to know where to start and how to simplify the subject as well as the introduction to technology and software. This is to make sure the students at the level I am teaching can understand it. As Muffoletto (2001, p296) suggests; â€Å"educators need to be reflective, that is self-aware, engaged, and not passive in their relation to the discourse and practices relating to technology.† I know from experience in the classroom that I have to critically reflect on the idea of technology and software in order to keep up with the students that live in the ever-changing world. Just recently I was told I would be giving a class on Final Cut Pro X, an upgrade from the Final Cut Pro 7 that I had previously been familiar with. From previous lessons I have come to accept that some students may know more than I do about this software package, when I first went into the classroom I was very nervous about the students asking me questions and how I would find the answer for them as well as how I would deliver the lesson. At lunchtime I spoke to the teacher who teaches the class next door. He told me he too was not up to date, that it takes time to learn the new packages. â€Å"Use the students† he said, â€Å"they probably know more than us†. His comment made me  feel at ease, as when a question was asked about the software that I was unsure of I asked the class. â€Å"Does anyone know how to do this?† There was always one who put up there hand and volunteered and when a question that no one could answer regarding transition’s popped up, I gave the student something else to do, whilst I quickly browsed a two minute tutorial on Youtube and gave them the help they needed with my findings. (Reflecting In Action’) This may not have been the best idea, but on reflection I would probably still do the same. For me to ask the other teacher to explain would have taken almost the same amount of time if not more, (not to mention the focus being taken from his own class) and to make the student wait until the next lesson would be unnecessary, slowing down the progress of work. However, in hindsight I can â€Å"Reflect On Action† because looking back I should have explained the transition method to the re st of group, but I have made note of it now for my editing class. Delivering learning was one of my areas for development in regards to confidence and projection of my voice; I know from feedback that I sometimes focus the lesson too much on my own person and my delivery of the subject. As a new teacher I am very aware of the focus on me and it affects my confidence greatly. I found this especially hard for my micro teach in front of my peers and find I am very nervous in this environment, one it’s because I know they are observing me as a teacher, rather than following tasks as a student might and two they have a higher level of education, which makes me feel a little insecure. Reflecting on this has helped me look at it from their viewpoint and understand that we are all in a similar situation and all feel the same pressure. Taking the saying a ‘problem shared is a problem halved’ is true, given the benefit of hindsight I can look back and know that we were all nervous, so when it comes to a similar situation, (such as me knowing less than some of my students about a new software package) I can look at it from the perspective of Brookfield and not be afraid to seek answers from students and peers. In addition to this I have researched different methods of planning my lessons after receiving feedback suggesting I focus the attention on the class itself, instead of myself. I have looked into the perfect Ofsted Lesson In Moving English Forward, where we are told to simplify lesson plans and concentrate on important learning objectives. At the beginning of a lesson we are encouraged as educators to give the class a  starter activity to â€Å"stimulate curiosity and †¦prepare the brain for learning.’’ This is something that would take the focus from myself until I build my confidence. It also seems a good way to motivate learners and get them engaged with the subject before moving on to the more in depth, main body of a lesson. I have found a lack of motivation to be very prominent feature in the BTEC Media classes. The self-regulatory approach to the BTEC means that students have a coursework deadline to work to, for which they have a number of components to hand in. It is all too easy to give the student the work and hope that they complete it. I have found a lack of motivation in the BTEC Media classes and have found it hard to get students working towards handing in components of their work. In the lesson I try to give them positive feedback when they are doing well and provide them with areas of development. As a result they work hard to meet targets set for them. But giving them positive feedback in the classroom is not enough. It is one of the negatives of Skinner’s behaviourist’s theory. Since most of their practical work takes place in their own time, when they are out of the classroom in their own environment there is no positive reinforcement and so it doesn’t work. The same could be said for Photography. As when it comes to creating their own photographic projects, motivation is affected by â€Å"Judgement of their own abilities to complete a specific task† (Bandura,2003). The student’s self-efficacy is sometimes poor, which restrains a learner’s progress. I ask myself; Ho w do I motivate a learner outside of the classroom? What can I do to make them want to engage with their chosen subject beyond the space of the classroom? How do I impart the necessary time management skills and contingency planning that is needed for their coursework? The answer is I am still learning and reflecting on this, through theoretical research and observing other teacher’s work. There are very few video productions or photo-shoots that go seemingly without any problems and students have encountered problems out of their control such as the weather or lighting. The students with high self-efficacy will work harder and be more persistent when trying to overcome obstacles. It is when motivating the students with lower self-efficacy when it becomes hard for me, as I do not yet have the experience. For this I have again taken the Brookfield’s  approach and asked my peers how they do it. I have learned that they use strategies and don’t leave the skills of self-regulation up to the learner to grasp for themselves. They find the student often struggles with regulating their own study and motivating themselves to study. They rely on the facilitation of metacognition by setting tasks within the learning material and assignments to hand in, so that the coursework is broken down into compartments of the learning material. By having clear aims of what is needed from them in a lesson and deadlines within the coursework deadline as a whole, they can assess learning and build the students skills, such as scheduling, budgeting, trouble-shooting, contingency planning where needed (weather problems etc) which also falls in with time management. Zimmerman (2011), suggest there are three successive phases pictured below. With vocational or self-regulated projects the students usually learn whilst doing a task. The cyclic phase is a continuous circle of self-monitoring, a lot like the lenses of reflection. To meet set targets the student needs to continually self-observe, self-evaluate and continually assess their aims to make sure they are achievable and if they are not, reflecting on that and finding ways to trouble-shoot where necessary. In addition the use of SMART targets can be applied so that they can be met for motivational purposes. These can be done in the lesson so they can learn from each other (imitation) to promote a positive ‘reciprocal determinism’ (Bandura,2003). It was a teacher that also suggested the Cyclic phase to me and explained that sometimes a lack of work does not mean the student is de-motivated, but instead they may be overwhelmed and does not know where to start. By helping them break down course work and compartmentalising it for the first year of a BTEC and supervising it yourself, you give them the necessary skills to do the same in their second year without supervision, thus building towards a high self-efficacy and motivation. With the support of the media studies teacher I have been able to observe how clear aims can be set out using a tick sheet. The more aims a student meets the more ticks they have next to their name on the projection monitor. This has helped when reinforcing targets within the lesson. After giving positive feedback a new list of aims are set and we can reach those who have fewer ticks to find what we can do to facilitate them. On a short note; In addition to classroom motivation I  have tagged along to a few trips to film festivals and Q&A’s, the students are always buzzing after speaking to people within the industry and learning how they got to where they are, they realise that the goals are achievable if they want to work hard enough to grasp them. It is something to think about in the future when planning my own trips with students. In the first module of my teaching practice I have learned a lot about myself as a teacher by applying the reflective process. During our personal lives we reflect on how we handle certain situations so that negative circumstances are not repeated and apart from in the medical occupation we don’t seem to do this in a professional working capacity, instead of taking a step back and thinking how did this happen? How can I make sure it doesn’t again? We tend to repeat the same or similar mistakes. Overall the self-reflection process has been an eye opener, I did start off a little sceptical on just how important it was to be reflective but I have to say I did start off not knowing how to be effectual in my refection process and how valuable that is before making judgements about my teaching capabilities. I found that by using Brookfield’s model of reflection and observing my practice from different perspectives, I can now look at my teaching objectively I have found that the constructive feedback for my micro teaches and the feedback I have received from teachers in the classroom have really helped and informed my reflection for an action plan to improve my teaching methods. Whilst I am happy with some elements of my teaching such as the visual aspects and my use of scaffolding, I had been unaware that I wasn’t projecting my voice and that my body placement was sometimes bad. Being made aware of these factors by observers highlighting them, is invaluable and will aid me when I come to do presentations and lesson planning, as I can incorporate this into my practice. As I have previously stated, I have problems with my confidence and so with that in mind I aim to focus my lessons on the class, especially at the beginning of a lesson. In doing this I will be able to gage the students and if I feel comfortable bringing the focus back to myself, I can. I aim to do this gradually until I have enough confidence not only in myself but also my ability to lead a class. In regards to Motivation in the vocational BTEC Media and project led assessments that might crop up in Photography and film, I aim to use Zimmerman’s model and methods that other teachers implement in their classrooms. This is a learning process for me,  which I will reflect upon to make the necessary progress needed, but applying theory to my practice should only help it whilst I’m learning the ropes. (Plato and Aristotle, 2005) both defined ‘good’ as performing to the best of your ability and that being moral and reflective were stages of ethical development to reach a Socratic intellectualism which is â€Å"One will do what is right or best just as soon as one truly understands what is right or best† (Socrates,2011) and to understand we must keep reflecting, as the situation is ever changing. BIBLIOGRAPHY ARISTOTLE (2005), The Art of Rhetoric, trans. Hugh Lawson-Tancred London: Penguin classics EFKLIDES, A (2011), Interactions of Metacognition With Motivation and Affect in Self-Regulated Learning: The MASRL Model. The American Psychological association: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group Available online at http://www4.ncsu.edu/~jlnietfe/Metacog_Articles_files/Efklides%20(2011).pdf [Accessed 12th November 2014] BANDURA, A (2003), Bandura’s social cognitive theory: an introduction, Davidson Films DVD (Available from IOE Library) BROOKFIELD, S (1995), Becoming a critically reflective teacher, San Francisco: Jossey Bass Publishers BRUNNER, D. (1987), Inquiry and Reflection, Framing Narrative Practice in education, Albany: State University of New York Press DEWEY, J (1997), How we think, Republication of original works 1910. USA: Dover Publications, Inc GIBBS (1988), Model of reflection Available online at http://pdp.northampton.ac.uk/PG_Files/pg_reflect3.htm [Accessed 12th November 2014] MUFFOLETTO, R (2001), Education and Technology, Critical and Reflective Practices, USA: Hampton Press Inc. OFSTED – Moving English Forward Available online at www.ofsted.gov.uk/sites/†¦and†¦/Moving%20English%20forward.doc [Accessed 12th November2014] PETTY, G. (2010), A Practical guide, 4th Ed. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes LTD RACE, P (2014), Making Learning Happen, a guide to Post-Compulsory education, London: Sage Publications LTD Schà ¶n, D. (1987), The Reflective Practitioner, Towards a New Design for Teaching and Learning in the professions, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers SOCRATES (2011) Socratic intellectualism. Available online at http://philosophyfaculty.ucsd.edu/faculty/rickless/Rickless/PHIL100_files/Intellectualism3.pdf [Accessed 16th November 2014] ZIMMERMAN, B. (2011), SCIENCE WATCH Zimmerman discusses self-regulated learning process, Emerging research front’s commentary Available online at http://archive.sciencewatch.com/dr/erf/2011/11decerf/11decerfZimm/ [Accessed 14th November 2014]

Homeplus †Marketing Essay

Background of Homeplus â€Å"Homeplus† was initially owned by Samsung Corporation[1] in 1994. During the Asian financial crisis in 1997, Samsung was affect by the crisis and tried to strive its business in the retail industry. It eventually collaborated with Tesco, a major British retailer in 1999[2]. The joint venture benefited both Samsung and Tesco. Samsung was saved from bankruptcy, in the same time, Tesco was able to enter the tough local retail business because of the partnership with Samsung[3]. Tesco took over 94.68% shares of the company in 2011[4]. Vision – Great Stone Face Homeplus’s vision is to be recognized as the most admired company in South Korea[4][5][6][8]. The company concerns with two major value creation, which are the market and social value. â€Å"Face of Growth† is based upon the market value creation. It involves in stimulating value for customers by clearly understanding customers’ needs, in turn, providing these value to them, which benefits the company in terms of market value maximization[4][6][8]. Referring to customers’ satisfaction, Homeplus emphasizes on reliable shopping value. According to figure 3, there are several factors that the company must consider i.e. low price, wide range, high quality and great services or products. Figure 3 Homeplus – Great Stone Face[6] Figure 3 Homeplus – Great Stone Face[6] â€Å"Face of Contribution† reflects the relationship between Homeplus and its stakeholders. It refers to the social value creation. That is, the company gives importance to its stakeholders and understands their expected value[4][6][8]. Figure 4 Stakeholder Viewpoint[5] Figure 4 Stakeholder Viewpoint[5] According to figure 4, it can be seen that Homeplus is the leading company among its competitors measured by the involvement with its stakeholders especially the local community. The integration of these two faces gives the â€Å"Great Stone Face†, which is Homeplus’s vision of two values creation must be achieved in order to sustain its business long – term. The sustainable growth, together with social contribution is the key driven to gain higher market value and becoming the most admired and respected company in the world[6]. Mission – Artience House Homeplus created its own management structure called ‘Artience House’. The house’s structure logically explained the correlations between each of the elements being applied in its management framework. Figure 5 Homeplus Vision House[5] Core Purpose – Foundation To found a basis of house, Homeplus regards to ‘create increasing value for customers to earn their lifetime loyalty’ as its core purpose explaining the reason why it exist. Values – Pilling To make the foundation firm, Homeplus focuses on ‘values’ in its business execution, which are ‘No one tries harder for customers’ and ‘treat people how we would like to be treated’. 4 Generations Development of New Concept Stores Homeplus has continuously developed its hypermarket concept as shown in the following figure. Figure 6 Homeplus 4 Generations of New Concept Stores[6] Homeplus has developed its store concepts up to the 4th Generation. The following explanation of each generation will be described in details as follows. 1st Generation Homeplus (Samsung and Tesco) entered the retail industry in 1999[2][4]. The 1st generation’s concept was known as â€Å"One Stop Shopping Service†. The company focused on offering low price products to customers. Like other retailers, Homeplus experienced many threats such as high competitiveness and the warehouse – like style discount stores did not really attract customers etc. 2nd Generation A year later, the â€Å"Value Store† concept was introduced in the 2nd development phase in 2000[6][7]. The â€Å"Value Store† was created based upon the customer oriented Korean style[6]. It comprised with â€Å"One Stop Shopping Service† and â€Å"One Stop Living Service†, offering optimal shopping services and other service facilities in a clean environment. â€Å"One Stop Living Service† delivers new floor layouts. The first floor is equipped with food courts, children’s playrooms and other service facilities where the second and third floors are the supermarket and products display[4][6][7]. 3rd Generation The 3rd generation was first introduced in Jamsil 2007[6][7]. Homeplus added â€Å"Emotional Store† to the 2nd generation, offering art and culture to customers. Moreover, the â€Å"Emotional Store† adopts four concepts of Art – being, Well – being, Touching and High Technology to the store[4][6][7]. In other words, it combines art with science, so called â€Å"artience† environment to customers. This include art galleries and function rooms located on the fourth floor expansion of the hypermarket[1][6]. Hence, the â€Å"Emotional Store† concept consisted of â€Å"One Stop Shopping Service†, â€Å"One Stop Living Service† and â€Å"One Stop Touching Service†. 4th Generation Homeplus recently introduced a new concept for the 4th generation in 2011[6][7]. This radical shift differed from other development phases where it combined the services both online and offline shopping and created a new innovative shopping concept. The â€Å"Smart Virtual Store† concept was developed and it became the first virtual shopping concept in the world[1][8]. The â€Å"Smart Virtual Store† provides a new way of shopping in subway stations. It aims to persuade customers to shop â€Å"Anywhere, Anytime and Anyplace† regardless time and space[6][7]. The concept was created inversely to traditional stores by bringing the stores to customers rather than waiting for them to visit the stores[6][7]. Homeplus launched applications that smart phones or tablets can recognize products’ barcodes by interfacing information embedded in the online store[6][7]. Homeplus installed â€Å"shelves†, displaying more than 500 products featured with QR codes are pictures plastered on the subway station’s glass walls, which could be scanned, purchased through smart phones applications[1]. The products consists of 3 categories and 11 subdivisions i.e. Daily Takeouts, Tesco Direct Souring, most frequently selected items known as Best 100 and Happy Range consisting of infant cares etc[6][7]. Moreover, purchased goods deliveries can be arranged and arrive in minutes or hours. This concept also pleasure commuters that are waiting for their train. The first virtual store is located in Sellong subway station, which is one of the busiest stations in South Korea’s capital city, Seoul. Later on, the installment took place at Seomyeon, Busan and expanded to Kwanghwamoon bus station in Seoul[6][7]. It is believed that the virtual shopping is one of Homeplus’s creative innovations that helps expanding the online sales rather than investing on new stores that requires huge amount of capital. The expansion of the smart virtual store is expected to be locating at busy pedestrian areas, offices, parks as well as universities and college campuses etc[6][7][9]. The figure below is a â€Å"Smart Virtual Store† in Sellong subway station. Figure 7 Homeplus Smart Virtual Store in Sellong Subway Station Figure 7 Homeplus Smart Virtual Store in Sellong Subway Station Leading Innovation and Development Leading IT Systems Due to Tesco’s leading role of Information Technology, Homeplus employed some of Tesco’s current technologies to its operation. Examples of effective analytical systems deployed by Homeplus are Product Management System (PMS) and Radio Frequency Identification Pilot Project (RFID)[6][7]. Self-Checkout System Homeplus runs the first self-checkout system in Korea. This system is currently being operated at 58 stores and provides customers with more convenient and reliable shopping environment[6]. It can not only reduce waiting time, but also enable customers to arrange their goods by themselves. By using this system, customers can keep private of the goods they purchased, and avoid making their credit card data to be disclosed. Automatic Queuing System In Yeongdeungpo store and Jamsil store, Homeplus introduced the automatic customer queuing system to optimize their customer’s shopping experience. Instead of lining up in front of the cashiers, customers are automatically queued with queue numbers. It has maximized the efficiency of both customers and cashiers. With this system being utilized in retail market, the operation of check out has become more flexible[6]. New systems and the customers’ parliament Homeplus decided to adopt the lotus system for retailing, which had achieved the global standard and was flexible enough to manage a rapid expansion [21]. Meanwhile, in terms of Development of alternative technologies [10], Homeplus introduced a self-checkout system and a smart card system, which can automatically count products in a shopping cart. Automatic queue counting technology is another introduced method, which is aiming to eliminate waiting in checkout lines. Also, the self-order and self-pay system has also been introduced to apply in their food courts. Additionally, Homeplus has its own philosophy that all of its stores are the customers’ parliament and places great importance on seven types of customer surveys conducted 200 times annually [17]. PMS (Product Management System) Homeplus initially set up the Product Management System (PMS) in 2004[6][7]. The PMS is an Oracle developed system, which is used to analyze and predict demand, stock ordering and promotion tools. The system is considerably accurate in terms of profitability management. Moreover, the data storage can be stored more than two years. The PMS helps supporting functions that in weak areas of existing domestic systems such as researching on demand analysis and stock inventories etc. The objectives of PMS is to reduce operating costs in all areas from product ordering, merchandise management, price inventory planning to increasing productivity[6]. Radio Frequency Identification Pilot Project (RFID) Occurring in the same year as the PMS, Homeplus adopted the Korean government’s Radio Frequency Indentification Pilot Project (RFID)[6][7]. The RFID is an innovative technology that enables product tracking utilizing embedded semiconductor chips. The product tracking process can be applied across the entire cycle since the production stage to ware – house phase and distribution process. Additionally, Homeplus was the first company in South Korea that developed RFID card to monitor customers’ buying characteristics[6][7]. The data can be collected via electronic tags that are embedded in shopping trolleys. The collected information helps the company to improve product displays to be more convenient for customers. The â€Å"Smart Pallet† was Homeplus’s 1st RFID pilot project that tracks pallets movement in and out among three suppliers; distribution centres, stores and KPP[6]. The development of the 2nd pilot project enhanced the revision of business model creation and operation of individual product. Leading Innovation in Distribution In 2003, Homeplus established its very own distribution service centre called â€Å"Mokcheon Distribution Service Centre†. Two years later, the company built the â€Å"Haman Fresh Food Distribution Service Centre†, which is currently the biggest agricultural and fishery products distribution in Asia[6]. The distribution centres are built to support the rapidly increase in sales due to the opening of new hypermarkets. The following figure indicates Mokcheon and Haman distribution service centres’ capacities. Figure 8 Mokcheon and Haman Distribution Service Centres’ Capacities[6] Suppliers – Shared Growth & Fair Trade For balancing the two wings of itself and suppliers, Homeplus found the ‘Shared Growth Division’ to implement the shared growth policies on six areas (Fair trade, Funding, Cooperation and Technology Support, Export Support, Education Support, Management Support)by collected opinions and comments from suppliers, and to build up sustainable partnership with suppliers. To specific, Homeplus strive to provide the fair trade and free competition with customers and suppliers; and it operates the Vendor financing system to gain more funding support; for the sake of efficiency of distribution, Homeplus supplies cooperative measures and technical support for suppliers and Develop PB products with suppliers and help excellent SMEs expand into overseas markets; Due to The learning ability of one enterprise which decides their future, Homeplus built up an academy, it give staff an opportunity to pursue lifelong education. To improve product competitiveness, Homeplus contributes to strengthen quality control system of suppliers by cooperating with external and internal experts[6][7]. Customer Value * We understand customers and do our best to satisfy them. Generally, customers always play a significant role in a successful company. Sometimes, the opinions of customers might impact the operation direction of a firm. Consequently, customer value can be used as a catalyst in creating a new advanced strategy in an organization. As the second generation store of Homeplus, they built a new construct named â€Å"Value Store† which was focusing on the convenient living conditions. Home Plus provided one stop living service and one stop shopping service, especially the one stop shopping service included cosy shopping, full range of goods, lower price, better quality and extensive customer service. The top managers of Home Plus trained their stuff to understand customers, satisfy the requirements of customers first and act the responsibilities of the company [6]. Figure 10 Community Centre Store Concept[5] Homeplus also does several kinds of customer surveys to hear customer ideas, in order to serve them better. They built a customer plan including several elements which are low price, wide range of product, high quality and great service. Each of the elements contained several items to examine the emotional data from the responders. The data have closely related to the transformational leadership which could decision the strategy of the company to covert the learning organization to innovative company[6].

The Aztecs essays

The Aztecs essays This paper deals with the Native American people who dominated northern Mexico in the early 16th century; The Aztecs. It presents various aspects of Aztec civilization including society and religion. It illustrates how the belief of a people can influence their way of life and also how they can adapt to their environment to make the best out of it. The Aztecs were a small, nomadic tribal people who originated from a place called Aztlan, somewhere in North West Mexico. During the 12th century, led by their chieftain Tenoch, they begun a period of wandering. Tenoch had a vision; Huitzilopochtli (the war/sun god) told him to lead the people to a swampy island in the middle of lake Texcoco. He was told to look for an eagle perched on a cactus eating a serpent. It was here they were to build their city. In 1325, they founded the city of Tenochtitlan. Tenochtitlan was very hard to build because there was only a small piece of land in the surrounding marshes. The Aztecs made the shallow lake into chinampas. Chinampas were small islands made by piling up plants and black, sticky mud from the lake bottom. The edges of the chinampa were held in place by wooden posts. In addition, they planted trees so the soil would hold together. These chinampas were the foundation of the city. The Aztecs also built causeways and bridges to connect the city to the mainland. There were three types of causeways: one of water alone, others of earth alone, and the third type of water and earth side by side. They moved about between the chinampas and the causeways to the city in canoes that they hallowed out from trees. Almost all the houses had two doors, one opening on the causeway and the other on the water where they kept their canoes. The city had many public squares, which housed the markets and other places of buying and selling. Here all types of merchandise were found including articles of food, jewels of gold,...

Konstantin Levin and His Strug essays

Konstantin Levin and His Strug essays In Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy examines the psychological makeup of Konstantin Levin. On one hand, he is a symbol for the educated landowners and aristocracy that is prevalent in Russia. Conversely, he represents the struggle in searching for the meaning of life. Although part of the Russian Aristocracy, Levin finds contentment in farming and manual labor. It is in the agricultural environment that Levin discovers his purpose when viewing the blue sky and experiencing nonverbal communication. One of the most famous scenes of Anna Karenina is the mowing at Levin's estate. The first fully developed interaction between Levin and the peasant class symbolizes the triumph of nature over the stained upper classes, the essence of Slavism that would save Russia from Europe's fate of nihilism and anarchism, and the core of a future religious utopia. They here appear in the narrator's brief snatches of description in a very neutral, factual light. Characteristic of Tolstoy's prose is the importance of point of view, and often Tolstoy will recount the same scene from many different view points, even to the point of including the inner monologues of Levin's hunting dog during a shooting outing. In the fields so prosaically presented by the narrator, Levin's view of the peasants that work his lands is nothing short of an exalted religious experience accompanied by an intense and driven rational analysis. Here, sickle in hand, Levin confronts in a classic and symbolic simplicity the source of his unhappiness and a vision of how it may be overcome. The arbitrary twists and turns of the fields they mow and the uneven surface of the Earth that knock and trip the mowers are symbols of the unstructured world that Levin confronts and that is so indifferent to the intense and almost unspeakable love that draws him to Kitty. As he tears at the grass with such energy that he nearly collapses at the end of each length, next to him an old man slices easi...

Reactions in Water or Aqueous Solution

Reactions in Water or Aqueous Solution Several types of reactions occur in water. When water is the solvent for a reaction, the reaction is said to occur in aqueous solution, which is denoted by the abbreviation (aq) following the name of a chemical species in a reaction. Three important types of reactions in water are precipitation, acid-base, and oxidation-reduction reactions. Precipitation Reactions In a precipitation reaction, an anion and a cation contact each other and an insoluble ionic compound precipitate out of solution. For example, when aqueous solutions of silver nitrate, AgNO3, and salt, NaCl, are mixed, the Ag and Cl- combine to yield a white precipitate of silver chloride, AgCl: Ag(aq) Cl-(aq) → AgCl(s) Acid-Base Reactions For example, when hydrochloric acid, HCl, and sodium hydroxide, NaOH, are mixed, the H reacts with the OH- to form water: H(aq) OH-(aq) → H2O HCl acts as an acid by donating H ions or protons and NaOH acts as a base, furnishing OH- ions. Oxidation-Reduction Reactions In an oxidation-reduction or redox reaction, there is an exchange of electrons between two reactants. The species that loses electrons is said to be oxidized. The species that gains electrons are said to be reduced. An example of a redox reaction occurs between a hydrochloric acid and zinc metal, where the Zn atoms lose electrons and are oxidized to form Zn2 ions: Zn(s) → Zn2(aq) 2e- The H ions of the HCl gain electrons and are reduced to H atoms, which combine to form H2 molecules: 2H(aq) 2e- → H2(g) The overall equation for the reaction becomes: Zn(s) 2H(aq) → Zn2(aq) H2(g) Two important principles apply when writing balanced equations for reactions between species in a solution: The balanced equation only includes the species that participate in forming products. For example, in the reaction between AgNO3 and NaCl, the NO3- and Na ions were not involved in the precipitation reaction and were not included in the balanced equation.The total charge must be the same on both sides of a balanced equation. Note that the total charge can be zero or non-zero, as long as it is the same on both the reactants and products sides of the equation.

Politics in the Middle East Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Politics in the Middle East - Assignment Example The assignment "Politics in the Middle East" addresses such issues as Arab nationalism and particularly Zionism and the Israeli-Palestine conflict. Arab nationalism refers to an ideology that channeled for the union of Arab countries based on their common language and religion. It was an advocacy for socialism and Arab ideologies to create unity among Arab countries. Since the end of European imperialism from the Middle East, several nationalistic movements emerged. Countries such as Iran, Israel, and Turkey experienced several Arab nationalism movements. Several political events were responsible for the development of Arab nationalism in different countries. Israel is very fundamental in the history of Arab nationalism. Zionism was a renowned movement that united Jews and informed the ideologies that channeled for their independence. According to Jews, Zionism was a movement that focused on the restoration of their cultural and religious beliefs. It culminated into the ideas of new Jew. Jews occupy most of Israel that campaigned for the Zionist movements. After 1967, during the six-day conflict, Arab nationalism and considerations turned to be a factor of political marginality. After Egypt’s defeat by Israel, there was a call for the Arab Union by President Nasser. The modernization of Turkey was a key event in the development of Arab nationalism. The last Ottoman left Turkey in 1923. Under Kemal, Turkey eliminated all Arabic elements and reformed the country’s language to the Turkish language.

A Desire to Be Seen. Family Caregivers' Experiences of Their Caring Essay

A Desire to Be Seen. Family Caregivers' Experiences of Their Caring Role in Palliative Home Care - Essay Example Mr. James does not wish to be admitted in a hospital or a nursing home, which is why Mrs. James had agreed to look after him at their home. This condition had been discussed with the General Practitioner, the district nursing team and the palliative care team, who agreed to Mr. James' conditions and chose to support his wife. She took on the role as Mr. James' informal care giver voluntarily as she values the time that she has left with her husband. However, there were instances when Mr. James was feeling severely ill and his wife was uncertain as to what needs to be done to attend to her husband. She immediately contacted the GP, the district nursing team, and the palliative care team for support. In spite of the fact that Mrs. James cherished the moments that she was able to care for her husband, there were times that she felt powerless and helpless. Her husband's condition caused her emotional and psychological stress. After several days of caring for her husband, she started to q uestion whether she made the correct decision. The team opted to advise Mrs. James to undergo a two day intensive palliative care course at the Dorothy House as a means for her to overcome her distress. She felt that she must be able to have a strong grip and command of her emotions so as not to show any signs of insecurity, fear and anger. Seeing his wife strong made a big difference on Mr. James' passing. He died a peaceful death at his home. After Mr. James' death, the palliative care team went to Mrs. James to reassure her and offer her support. The main issues of the care plan constitute of the following: pressure area care; pain; challenges in looking after home; comfort; wife's/family's stress; promise to keep, access or the availability of palliative care team as and when needed; psychological support; and management of medication. The article that the researcher has chosen is entitled "A Desire to Be Seen - Family Caregivers’ Experiences of Their Caring Role in Palli ative Home Care" by Linderholm and Friedrichsen (2010). Main Body (Part 1) The article "A Desire to Be Seen: Family Caregivers’ Experiences of Their Caring Role in Palliative Home Care" was presented clearly. The context of the study can be understood easily as the choice of words was succinct and direct to the point. The researchers began to elaborate on the definition of palliative care and the role it serves in primary health care. The researchers presented the fact that patients diagnosed with life threatening conditions who prefer to stay at home although being attended by health care professionals, require an informal caregiver in order for palliative care to be successful. The focus of the study is important because it presents the necessary care that must be provisioned to terminally ill patients in which most people are not aware of (Gerrish and Lacey, 2006). The aim of the study was to explore the experiences of an informal care giver of a dying relative who is admi tted in a primary healthcare facility. The study intended to delve into the aspects of the caring role and support rendered during and after the patient's illness. The research aim was specific and well defined. Methodology The study employed a qualitative research design that made use of a hermeneutic approach. It is appropriate that the researchers have chosen a qualitative approach because the objective of the study is to explore the experiences of the informal care giver during the patient's illness and after they died. In that regard, the data gathered were interviews concerning the first hand account narration of the informal carers (Nieswiadomy, 2008). It is applicable in answering the aim of the study

Integration Management (HSBC and Oman International Bank (OIB) Merge) Essay

Integration Management (HSBC and Oman International Bank (OIB) Merge) - Essay Example Unable to procure more deposits and gain asset improvement and growth, OIB was ill-equipped to sustain a strong competitive presence domestically and internationally. Synergies of the merger include better marketing prowess, how to utilise market research studies to create more customer-centric and relevant services, streamlining of the banking service model to include more electronic banking elements, and decentralisation of business practices to generate more innovative solutions supported by HSBC’s very strong economic portfolio to make changes necessary to adjust to changing market conditions. It is through the merger that the previous business entity Oman International Bank will be able to effectively compete with domestic financial institutions and prepare the organisation for building a global competitive presence. TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1.0 Introduction......................................................................................................... ..... 2.0 The rationale for the merger – defining the problem............................................... 2.1 Government and institutional problems....................................................... 3.0 Achieving synergies through the merger – solutions to the problem....................... 4.0 Conclusion................................................................................................................ ... side of the more obvious strategic intentions of the merger related to improving the financial portfolio of HBSC and OIB, it is anticipated that this merger will lead to a variety of significant synergies that will make the new entity, HSBC Bank Oman SAOG, more competitive in the Middle East. As a conglomerate whole, HSBC Holdings Plc earned total revenues of 75.6 billion USD in 2012, sustaining an asset valuation of 2.69 trillion USD (HSBC 2012), making HSBC the largest bank in the world in terms of revenues and total liquidity. HSBC is also the sixth largest publicly traded business in the globe as reported by Forbes Magazine in 2012, even larger than Royal Dutch Shell and Berkshire Hathaway (Forbes 2013). HSBC now owns 51 percent, a majority holding, of OIB (AME Info 2012). Established in 1984, Oman International Bank, a bank maintaining 82 different branches in Oman and four branches in Pakistan and India, maintained total assets of 703.7 million rial (the official currency of Om an) in 2011 (GBCM 2011). Until the merger with HSBC, Oman International Bank (OIB) was 100 percent owned by the Omani government. Unfortunately, OIB was the only bank operating in Oman that experienced a net loss in net income of 9.2 percent whilst other banks in the sector, including Ahli Bank and Bank Sohar experienced net income growth of 28.8 percent and 14.8 percent respectively (GBCM 2011). Because of this inability to improve net income growth, the merger between OIB and HSBC represented a significant opportunity to improve the bank’s financial position and liquidity. This merger between HSBC and OIB was only approved in June of 2012, making the merged entity now known as HSBC Bank Oman in the earliest development stages of the alliance. As such, there is limited published

School violence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

School violence - Essay Example To start with, single parents have increased tremendously. There many different studies that use single parents to demonstrate the effects children have of not being exposed to both a maternal and paternal figure. However, single parents are not just people whose spouses have passed away and the family is left to cope with the loss. Single parents can be divorcee, widowed, or have never even been married. Not being exposed to a paternal and maternal figure can lead to many mental disturbances, provoking violent and unacceptable behavior. On 22nd March of 2005, a 17 year old Jeff Weise terrorized the Minnesota school. It was one of the worst school shootouts recorded in history. A few students were injured but more horrifying was the fact that some students had actually lost their lives. Jeff Weise had also shot himself after a shootout with the police ("Massacre in Minnesota"). Before coming to school, Jeff had shot his grandfather and his grandfather's 32-year-old girlfriend. Jeff was categorized by his schoolmates as antisocial. No doubt, Jeff himself had lived a rather depressing life. His father committed suicide four years back and his mother got into an auto accident which placed her in the nursery. Jeff was living with his grandfather who was on the force. This kind of absurdity exists because certain kids are lacking the attention they need. In Jeff's case, he was lacking a lot of attention. After his father committed suicide, when Jeff was only thirteen-years-old, Jeff had most probably not been able to ful ly cope and recover from that traumatic experience. In a Psychology article by Lawrence J. Walker, this kind of behavior is called as an outcry for help (Walker 1997). When kids do not get the attention they crave, no other choice is left but to resort to negative attention. The negative attention is the only way these kids get any attention at all. The more parents neglect their children or fail to understand what it is that their children want, the higher are the chances that these children will join the wrong crowd and try getting negative attention. Another way single parents are contributing to the lack of attention given to the children is by giving in to the children's demands. Propaganda in advertising is targeted for these children of single parents. When a child sees the big yellow M sign and the happy smiling face of Ronald, they usually scream with delight, "McDonald!" It is difficult for a single parent to refuse to the demands their child is making. This is not just because the parent is showing affection, but rather because by refusing the child, the parent will have to deal with a lot of fuss and tantrums that is timing consuming. And time is one thing that single parents really do not have. This leads to the child maintaining a habit of unhealthy food and even worse, of getting anything it desires. The child from an early age has learned be assertive. This is a good quality as being opposed to having a low self-esteem, but in some cases, this kind of assertiveness reappears as the child goes to school and bullies t he other children. The purpose of this paper is of course not to bash single parents but rather to show that some single parents are not giving their children the attention the child needs. Another way single

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School violence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

School violence - Essay Example To start with, single parents have increased tremendously. There many different studies that use single parents to demonstrate the effects children have of not being exposed to both a maternal and paternal figure. However, single parents are not just people whose spouses have passed away and the family is left to cope with the loss. Single parents can be divorcee, widowed, or have never even been married. Not being exposed to a paternal and maternal figure can lead to many mental disturbances, provoking violent and unacceptable behavior. On 22nd March of 2005, a 17 year old Jeff Weise terrorized the Minnesota school. It was one of the worst school shootouts recorded in history. A few students were injured but more horrifying was the fact that some students had actually lost their lives. Jeff Weise had also shot himself after a shootout with the police ("Massacre in Minnesota"). Before coming to school, Jeff had shot his grandfather and his grandfather's 32-year-old girlfriend. Jeff was categorized by his schoolmates as antisocial. No doubt, Jeff himself had lived a rather depressing life. His father committed suicide four years back and his mother got into an auto accident which placed her in the nursery. Jeff was living with his grandfather who was on the force. This kind of absurdity exists because certain kids are lacking the attention they need. In Jeff's case, he was lacking a lot of attention. After his father committed suicide, when Jeff was only thirteen-years-old, Jeff had most probably not been able to ful ly cope and recover from that traumatic experience. In a Psychology article by Lawrence J. Walker, this kind of behavior is called as an outcry for help (Walker 1997). When kids do not get the attention they crave, no other choice is left but to resort to negative attention. The negative attention is the only way these kids get any attention at all. The more parents neglect their children or fail to understand what it is that their children want, the higher are the chances that these children will join the wrong crowd and try getting negative attention. Another way single parents are contributing to the lack of attention given to the children is by giving in to the children's demands. Propaganda in advertising is targeted for these children of single parents. When a child sees the big yellow M sign and the happy smiling face of Ronald, they usually scream with delight, "McDonald!" It is difficult for a single parent to refuse to the demands their child is making. This is not just because the parent is showing affection, but rather because by refusing the child, the parent will have to deal with a lot of fuss and tantrums that is timing consuming. And time is one thing that single parents really do not have. This leads to the child maintaining a habit of unhealthy food and even worse, of getting anything it desires. The child from an early age has learned be assertive. This is a good quality as being opposed to having a low self-esteem, but in some cases, this kind of assertiveness reappears as the child goes to school and bullies t he other children. The purpose of this paper is of course not to bash single parents but rather to show that some single parents are not giving their children the attention the child needs. Another way single

History assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

History assignment - Essay Example Both the terms share the common goal of advocating territorial expansion and link it to superior American traits. ‘Manifest Destiny’ uses the philosophical belief in the divine sanction, the propagation of democratic institutions and economic compulsions to support its stand. It was largely based on feelings of cultural and racial superiority (MacKay). The ‘Frontier Thesis’ holds that the very character of the American people was shaped by Westward expansion. Here again, territorial expansion is linked to superior American traits, such as democracy and individualism (Hietala). These terms are significant in American history because they form the basis of the American policy of expansion: first on the continent and, later for US imperialism across the globe. The annexation of Texas in 1845, the acquisition of Oregon from Britain in 1846, the conquest of California and New Mexico in the American-Mexican War of 1846, and the appropriation of land from the Native Americans were all partly justified on the principle of ‘Manifest Destiny’ and approval of the ‘Frontier

J.C. Penney’s “Fair and Square” Pricing Strategy Essay Example for Free

J.C. Penney’s â€Å"Fair and Square† Pricing Strategy Essay Retailing is hard, and that’s what Steve [Jobs] said to me when we started stores at Apple. — Ron Johnson, CEO, J.C. Penney1 It was August 2012 and the release of second quarter earnings was looming for Ron Johnson, the chief executive officer of J.C. Penney, one of America’s first department stores. Johnson, HBS ’84, had intimated to Wall Street that the retailer’s second quarter results were likely to miss expectations again, following dismal first quarter results that had sent the company’s stock price careening to less than half of its February 2012 value of a share. The Q1 news released in May was grim: a $163 million loss, same store revenue down 19%, and the number of customers shopping in J.C. Penney stores down 10%. These results were particularly disheartening given the company’s radical repositioning of its business model and its brand in February 2012. The centerpiece of the repositioning initiative was a switch from J.C. Penney’s existing high-low pricing strategy, in which the retailer ran frequent sales to offer customers deep discounts off of its higher list prices, to a new strategy the company dubbed â€Å"Fair and Square† pricing. â€Å"Fair and Square† pricing was meant to simplify J.C. Penney’s pricing structure and make it more straightforward for customers to shop. It offered great prices every day, with less frequent price promotions. The company touted its new pricing strategy as offering â€Å"no games, no gimmicks† and invited consumers to â€Å"do the math† to see how it offered them cheaper prices on a regular basis with less hassle. Moving away from high-low pricing was a massive shift for J.C. Penney. In 2011, the retailer spent $1.2 billion to execute 590 different sales events and promotions2 and generated 72% of its $17.3 billion in annual revenue from products sold at steep discounts of more than 50% off of the initial list price.3 Wall Street was initially  supportive of the company’s plans for change. Investors, who sent J.C. Penney’s stock soaring up 24% following the announcement of the new pricing plan, viewed it as a way for J.C. Penney to escape the ruthless downward spiral of escalating price promotions that gripped America’s retailers struggling to survive the economic recession. But by mid-summer 2012, customers and shareholders appeared to be voting with their feet, leaving the retailer in droves. Was Johnson’s new pricing strategy misguided or was it just a matter of time before customers fully embraced it? Johnson was under enormous pressure to turn things around quickly as the all-important back-to-school and holiday shopping seasons were imminent. Many voices were calling on him to consider changing the pricing strategy again. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ HBS Professor Elie Ofek and Professor Jill Avery (Simmons School of Management) prepared this case. This case was developed from published sources. HBS cases are developed solely as the basis for class discussion. Cases are not intended to serve as endorsements, sources of primary data, or illustrations of effective or ineffective management. Copyright  © 2012, 2013 President and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-5457685, write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to www.hbsp.harvard.edu/educators. This publication may not be digitized, photocopied, or otherwise reproduced, posted, or transmitted, without the permission of Harvard Business School. This document is authorized for use only by Jack Cherewatti in MKTG MGMT taught by S. Adam Brasel Boston College from November 2014 to May 2015. For the exclusive use of J. Cherewatti 513-036 J.C. Penney’s â€Å"Fair and Square† Pricing Strategy Company Background Johnson was at the helm of what at one time was considered America’s most  venerated department store. Once the largest department store chain in the country with over 2,000 stores, as of 2012, the 110 year old retailer operated 1,100 stores, claiming to serve more than half of America’s households with 41 million square feet of retail space. Founded by James Cash Penney in 1902, the company’s first outlet was opened in a Wyoming mining town under the name â€Å"The Golden Rule,† that signified its philosophy of treating customers the way Penney himself wished to be treated. Johnson believed that his â€Å"Fair and Square† pricing plan corresponded to the founder’s beliefs, â€Å"Now if you go back to the founding of this company, James Cash Penney believed in everyday fair prices. He said, ‘We don’t mark goods up just to mark them down. We don’t believe in sales.’†4 The company enjoyed years of rapid growt h and expansion. By its 50th anniversary, annual sales exceeded $1 billion. It initially offered consumers one stop shopping as a mass merchandiser, selling soft goods, such as clothing, as well as hard goods, such as appliances, hardware, electronics, and sporting goods. Its retail business was joined by a mail order catalog in 1963 and an ecommerce website in 1998. However, following tough times in the 1980’s, the company reorganized, phasing out its hard goods lines and refocusing on its soft goods to become a fashion oriented department store. But by its 100th anniversary, the company appeared to be running out of steam. Price-oriented mass merchandisers, such as Walmart and Target, had garnered the lower end of the market, while higher end department stores, such as Macy’s and Nordstrom’s, were catering to the upwardly mobile middle class. Although the economic recession of 2008 was difficult for all retailers due to consumers’ increasing frugality, middle market retailers, like J.C. Penney and Sears, were hit the hardest. By 2011, J.C. Penney’s stores were old, often disorganized, and faded, and the brand and its merchandise were starting to feel dated. About 400 of its stores were located in small towns, such as Alpena, Michigan with a population of a little over 10,000. In such towns, there were often only few, if any, other department stores. The remaining 700 or so stores were located in major metropolitan areas, often in suburban malls, such as the Northshore Mall in Peabody, Massachusetts (15 miles north of Boston). Following years of store closings, sales malaise, declining market share,  slumping earnings, and weak stock market performance, activist investor and hedge fund manager, William Ackman (HBS ’92) obtained an 18% majority shareholder position in the company in 2010–2011. He was determined to turn J.C Penney around and extract its value, much of which was locked up in its vast real estate holdings that were estimated to be worth $11 billion.5 J.C. Penney owned 400 of its retail stores and paid low rents (an average of less than $5 per square foot) for the remainder. Specialty stores like Gap paid much higher rents (around $40 per square foot) for their retail space.6 Looking to shake up the company, Ackman was instrumental in luring Johnson to take the CEO position. Johnson was a big catch. In the 1990s, he was vice president of merchandising at Target where he helped transform the mass merchandiser into a hot retail brand selling stylish yet affordable products. During his time there, Johnson negotiated a contract with designer Michael Graves, beginning Target’s profitable partnerships with high end designers, which enhanced its brand image as a chic, fashion-forward retailer. Starting in 2000, he worked with Steve Jobs to develop the wildly successful Apple retail stores. Johnson was the brainchild behind the â€Å"Genius Bars† concept, a free technical help and support area staffed by knowledgeable customer service representatives, widely touted as one of the most innovative retail concepts of the last decade. Johnson was regarded by many as creative and determined; according to a friend, â€Å"What people loved more about him than his talent was his persistence. He was just relentless.†7 Johnson’s deep retail experience combined with his wholesome charisma and boyish enthusiasm made him the perfect change agent. The media dubbed him the â€Å"Steve Jobs of the retail industry† and on the day his appointment was announced J.C. Penney’s stock jumped 18%. An Industry under Pressure J.C. Penney’s 2011 sales were lower than they were in the 1990s and the retail landscape was getting more competitive. Department stores, in particular, were under increased pressure. New retail formats, such as big box retailers like Walmart that operated free standing supercenters selling mass merchandise and small specialty stores like Gap and J. Crew that were located in shopping malls and offered specialized merchandise, were squeezing department stores out of the market (see Exhibit 2). An emerging challenge came from large international clothing retailers, such as HM and ZARA, that were aggressively entering the U.S. market. These retailers relied on shorter product life cycles and partnerships with top designers to offer fast-fashion merchandise at relatively low prices. Johnson explained the challenge as he stepped into his new role: Over the past 30 years the department store has become a less relevant part of the retail infrastructure, largely because of decisions the stores have made. As America exploded with big box and specialty stores and new shopping formats, department stores abdicated their unique role instead of engaging the competition. They retreated from categories and assortments that made them distinctive. Department stores were once the most popular places for Americans to shop, offering distinctive merchandise in elegant settings that provided special services, such as tearooms, salons, and on-site tailoring, and served as social hubs. Johnson reminisced, â€Å"In the golden age of department stores, America’s families came for more than just to shop. They were able to have fun experiences and were offered a range of useful services. . . . If we want to transform the department store, we have to understand what happened. These stores were a pillar of the community.†9 Johnson, unlike others, believed that department stores could be revived. â€Å"There’s no reason department stores can’t flourish. They can be people’s favorite place to shop. They’ve got all these strategic advantages—the lowest cost of real estate, exceptional access to merchandise, scale to create enormous marketing power, colocation with specialty stores. And people like stores  with huge assortments and one-stop shopping.†10 J.C. Penney’s performance had been lackluster for quite some time, and the retailer was losing market share even within the shrinking department store channel (see Exhibits 3 and 4). Competitors Macy’s and Kohl’s were nipping at J.C. Penney’s business from both the high and low end. The average J.C. Penney customer only visited a store four times per year and sales per square foot ($156) were low compared to those of its competitors and the specialty stores Johnson hoped to emulate (Gap $30011, Apple $5,626 in sales per square foot). 12 Department stores and big box stores had increased their promotional budgets since the outbreak of the Great Recession in 2007 and most used blockbuster sales, coupons, and frequent price promotion to drive purchases. According to consulting firm A.T. Kearney, more than 40% of the items Americans bought in 2011 were bought on sale, up from 10% in 1990.13 Many retailers were eager to wean shoppers off of the big discounts that had become commonplace. Competition was also increasing from online retailing. Yet Johnson believed brick and mortar stores were still relevant, â€Å"Physical stores are still the primary way people acquire merchandise and I think that will be true 50 years from now. . . . A store has got to be much more than a place to acquire merchandise. It’s got to help people enrich their lives. If the store just fulfills a specific product need, it’s not creating new types of value for the consumer. It’s transacting. Any website can do that.†14 Many of J.C. Penney’s largest competitors, such as Macy’s, seemed to have a different  view and were investing heavily in their e-commerce operations and in catering to what they called the â€Å"omnichannel† consumer, who accessed the retailer through the web, on mobile devices or in physical stores (often as part of the same purchase decision). Although it had been a pioneer in multi-channel commerce, with 2001 combined cata log and web sales of nearly $3.4 billion, J.C. Penney’s ecommerce sales had stagnated over the last three years while those of Macy’s and Kohl’s had grown substantially during the same time frame.15 (See Exhibit 5 for E-commerce sales growth). J.C. Penney’s Radical Makeover Following his appointment in November 2011, Johnson determined that nothing short of a complete overhaul would solve J.C. Penney’s problems. Just two months after taking the helm, Johnson and his newly recruited leadership team, culled largely from Apple and Target, announced a radical repositioning of the J.C. Penney business model and brand. Following the announcement, Forbes magazine dubbed J.C. Penney the most interesting retail story of the year, proclaiming, â€Å"This week, Johnson took a sledgehammer to the J.C. Penney way of doing business. It’s the most exciting thing I’ve seen in retail since Apple opened stores, again with Johnson at the helm.†16 The turnaround plan evoked J.C. Penney’s founding spirit, and Johnson declared it a reclamation of the company’s heritage. J.C. Penney’s website announced, â€Å"Over 100 years ago, James Cash Penney founded his company on the principle of treating customers the way he wanted to b e treated himself: fair and square. Today, rooted in its rich heritage, J.C. Penney Company, Inc. is re-imagining every aspect of its business in order to reclaim its birthright and become America’s favorite store. . . . At every visit, customers will discover straightforward Fair and Square Pricing.†17 The four-year plan involved several distinct, yet integrated elements that touched every part of the business and were designed to recreate a golden age department store that appealed to all Americans, across age, income, and geographic demographics. As Johnson explained, â€Å"We are going to rethink every aspect of our business, boldly pursue change, and create long-term shareholder value, as we become America’s favorite store. Every initiative we pursue will be guided by our core value to treat customers as we would like to be treated—fair and square.†18 New Logo J.C. Penney had been tinkering with its brand logo, changing it three times in three years. In 2011, the company asked the public for help in redesigning the logo in a crowd-sourcing experiment. The winning design was submitted by a University of Cincinnati student and was unveiled with much fanfare via social media. In 2012, Johnson scrapped this design and hired an agency to redesign the logo once again. The new logo evoked the American flag with red, white, and blue colors and the letters â€Å"jcp† in lower case font within a square that represented the new â€Å"Fair and Square† mantra. J.C. Penney, which many affectionately called â€Å"Penney’s† would now be known as â€Å"jcp.† (See Exhibit 6 for the new logo.) New Brand Spokesperson One of the most exciting and controversial developments of the plan was the announcement of comedian and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres as the new brand spokesperson. DeGeneres, who once worked at a J.C. Penney store as a teenager in Louisiana, appeared in television advertising, developed J.C. Penney themed skits for her popular talk show, and tweeted about the company on Twitter. Johnson proclaimed DeGeneres to be â€Å"one of the most fun and vibrant people in entertainment today, with great warmth and a down-to-earth attitude. . . . Importantly, we share the same fundamental values as Ellen.†19 Shortly after DeGeneres’ advertising debut, the conservative Christian group One Million Moms took offense, citing DeGeneres’ homosexuality as  problematic for the brand’s image and its traditional family shopper demographic. The group asked its members to boycott J.C. Penney and to call their local store manager to ask for DeGeneres’ removal as spokesperson. DeGeneres went on the offensive to defend her personal values and to reassert her relationship with her fans and with J.C. Penney, producing a witty, yet heartfelt response delivered on her talk show that quickly went viral on the social web. A firestorm erupted and played out on J.C. Penney’s Facebook page, where both pro- and anti-gay posters pledged their support for and/or rejection of the retailer. J.C. Penney survived the controversy by standing firmly behind its choice of spokesperson. The protest event generated significant positive press for the company and Facebook feedback was more positive than negative. Riding the wave of publicity, J.C. Penney went on to feature two gay dads in a widely touted Father’s Day advertising campaign. New Store Design While the new logo and spokesperson were short-term fixes that could be executed quickly, Johnson knew from his experience at Apple that, to really make a difference, he had to make significant changes to the product offering, a longer term proposition. He embarked on a multi-year plan to re-energize and redesign J.C. Penney’s product offering and its merchandising at retail. He began by forging new supplier relationships with top brands like Martha Stewart and hot designers like Nanette Lepore to create J.C. Penney-specific merchandise lines, a strategy reminiscent of Target. He then went to work to improve the quality of J.C. Penney’s sagging and dated private label brands, Worthington, St. John’s Bay, The Original Arizona Jeans Co, and Stafford, to reinvigorate them and restore their brand integrity. These efforts could also build on J.C. Penney’s recent purchase of the Liz Claiborne brands (which, among others, included Liz Claiborne branded apparel, L ucky Jeans, Kate Spade and Juicy Couture) and the ongoing opening of about 300 Sephora locations inside J.C. Penney stores, which offered a select set of Sephora beauty care products. 20 He envisioned the in-store retail environment as a series of interactive specialty â€Å"Shops,† along a visually engaging and vibrant â€Å"Street,† with a central â€Å"Square† that would serve as the social hub of the store. J.C. Penney’s vast array of  merchandise, currently hung on crowded racks and shelves, would be regrouped and merchandised in 80-100 â€Å"stores-within-a-store,† each meant to simulate the buying experience of a specialty shop. The first shop to appear was devoted to jeans and featured a denim bar, trained fit specialists, and Levi’s innovative Curve ID program that helped women find the right jeans for their body type (see Exhibit 7). Plans for future shops included Joe Fresh and Mango. The company planned to install two to three new shops each month, beginning in August 2012, over a four year period. Many of the shops were designed to pull in younger shoppers, a deficit in J.C. Penney’s current customer base. The â€Å"Street† would consist of wider aisles with a fresh, clean look, more streamlined with less signage and bold, colorful, upscale graphics featuring the square from the new logo (see Exhibit 8). Each month would have its own unique personality and color-coded signage that changed the look of the store to freshen its appeal. Ten thousand square feet at the center of the store would be designated for the â€Å"Town Square.† In this area, J.C. Penney planned to offer complimentary services, such as gift wrapping, and special promotional events to create fun and excitement. During the summer of 2012, the company offered free hot dogs and ice cream, free â€Å"Go USA† Olympic t-shirts during the Summer Olympics, and free back-to-school haircuts for school children. Johnson summarized his vision for the new environment, â€Å"We are going to make the store a place people love to come-just to come. We’ll transform the buying experience not unlike what we did at Apple.†21 New Sales Structure To support the new retail environment, Johnson needed to re-energize J.C. Penney’s sales force. His goal was to create a team of specialists who were product experts, much like Apple’s Geniuses. J.C. Penney sales clerks had always been paid commissions based on how much they sold. This system encouraged sales clerks to sell aggressively to customers. Johnson felt that this aggressive sales culture did not fit with the new â€Å"Fair and Square† positioning and set out to change it by eliminating all sales commissions. It was a controversial decision, especially among the sales employees, many of whom had just been through a wave of layoffs and were nervous about keeping their jobs. Johnson explained his rationale for the change, â€Å"A lot of great retailers don’t use commissions. We never used them at Apple. . . . And I think it’s a better thing to do to pay people in advance for what you want them to do and let them look in the customers’ hearts and try to help them. . . . We think we’ve got a great way to do business for the middle class, where we really put a big bear hug around the middle class and help them look better and live better every day.† 22 But some employees expressed dissatisfaction, â€Å"I must take offense at Ron Johnson’s reason for eliminating commission. Ron Johnson should remember that J.C. Penney is not Target, we are better. When people come into our store they expect to be greeted, they expect someone to be available to help, they expect good service,† said a sales associate. Another associate claimed, â€Å"I lost about $250 per pay period and Mr. Johnson thinks this is FAIR and SQUARE. From all of J.C. Penney’s little workers, this stinks.† Another lamented, â€Å"We long-term employees are heartbroken at what we see around us. Ron Johnson may have a grand plan, and it may work, but we feel like he is destroying ‘us’ in the process of implementation. It has become an awful place to work, short-staffed to the point that we struggle to properly service what customers we do have.†23 But without a doubt, the cornerstone of the change program was a new pricing scheme that many believed to be the riskiest part of the strategy. The New Pricing Strategy Looking at the numbers, Johnson believed that he needed to address the existing high-low pricing structure that had gotten out of control. J.C.  Penney’s customers had become hooked on the deals; over the past ten years, the average discount to get customers to buy went from 38% to 60%24. â€Å"At some point you, as a brand, just look desperate. J.C. Penney spent over $1 billion [on price promotion], and the customer didn’t even pay attention,† he agonized.25 In his first report to shareholders, he spoke about the detrimental long term effects of excessive price promotions, â€Å"Plagued by the ‘games’ of the industry over the last several decades, retailers-including J.C. Penneybarraged customers with a constant stream of promotions that proved to be ineffective. Each time we participated in this pricing war, we were discounting our brand and eroding the trust and loyalty of our customers.† The company announced its â€Å"Fair and Square† pricing plan in January 2012. The plan had three pricing tiers. First, the company reduced prices by an average of 40% to offer consumers an â€Å"Every Day Fair and Square† price. Second, every month the company ran a â€Å"Month Long Values Event† with special pricing on seasonal items, marked down an additional 20-29%, meant to coincide with events such as Back-to-School and Father’s Day. Third, every first and third Friday of each month (paydays for many working Americans) were designated â€Å"Best Price Fridays,† where J.C. Penney would offer special deals on items it was looking to liquidate, about 20% of the store’s stock, at deals of about 1/3 off of the every day price. Each price point was supported by unique signage at retail, (see Exhibit 9). J.C. Penney eliminated its famous â€Å"Doorbuster† sales, such as those that it traditionally held on Black Friday, the day after Tha nksgiving and the busiest shopping day of the year, that featured outrageously low prices on  over 500 items from 4:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Exhibit 10 shows an example of the different price tiers. Importantly, J.C. Penney avoided using the words â€Å"sale† and â€Å"clearance† in its messaging of the new program to consumers. Said Johnson, â€Å"Sale is not in our vocabulary. . . . Every item in the store is priced to be its best price every day.†27 The â€Å"Fair and Square† price was the only price listed on the price tag, moving J.C. Penney away from the practice of listing the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) and the sale price, which was intended to show customers how much they were saving relative to somewhat fictitious list price. In the highly competitive world of retailing, nearly no one priced goods at the MSRP. Breaking with another retailing best-practice, J.C. Penney ended all of its â€Å"Fair and Square† prices with .00 instead of .99, rounding up to the nearest dollar. Johnson also instituted a no restrictions â€Å"Happy Returns† return policy, designed to take the hassle out of returning items, eve n without a receipt. In effect, the new plan combined elements of two traditional pricing strategies. The â€Å"Every Day Fair and Square† prices represented an everyday-low-price (EDLP) strategy, while the â€Å"Month Long Values† and â€Å"Best Price Fridays† maintained some emphasis on high-low pricing. High-low pricing strategies are intended to allow retailers to use price discrimination to maximize the average price paid by customers who differ in their willingness to pay. Customers who are highly price sensitive wait for sale days to purchase, use coupons and rebates, scour the crowded clearance racks to find a bargain, and take advantage of retailer’s door buster specials on big shopping days like Black Friday. Customers who are less price sensitive buy when it is convenient for them, tend not to use coupons and rebates due to the time it takes to clip and organize them, and rarely join in on door buster specials or clearance sales. Thus, the retailer reaps higher non-sale prices from many of their purchases. However, given the predominance of high-low pricing strategies across retailers in today’s marketplace, even less price-sensitive consumers had become savvy about waiting for sales to buy or comparing across retailers to find the store offering the best prices that week. Instantaneous price comparisons were  getting easier, given the rise of mobile applications that allowed a consumer to scan a bar code on a product and find the lowest price for it at online retailers and nearby stores. Kohl’s was an aggressive high-low retailer, featuring small electronic signs on shelves throughout the store that displayed original prices and discounted prices. These signs allowed Kohl’s the flexibility to change prices instantly, to facilitate frequent, short-term sales. Marketing consultant Jonathan Salem Baskin offered his thoughts on the high-low practice retailers engage in, â€Å"When no price is ‘the’ price for an item, it means that instead retailers engage customers in a constant cat-andmouse game in pursuit of the truth. No individual store can own sale pricing; each simply participates in a round-robin of discounted offers that its competitors have and/or will again match.†28 Johnson felt that today’s retail customer was savvy, â€Å"The customer knows the right price. To think you can fool a customer is kind of crazy.†2 EDLP pricing strategies, such as that offered by Walmart, promise consumers that they will pay the same, low price every day. This frees customers from waiting for sale periods to purchase, and eliminates the need for retailers to offer coupons to drive purchase or to engage in constant advertising of price promotions via weekly newspaper circulars. EDLP is designed to make customers feel comfortable purchasing at the retailer without worrying that they could be getting a better deal somewhere else or at another time. In general, most department store retailers used high/low pricing strategies. Macy’s and Sears had flirted with EDLP pricing in the past; but both had largely abandoned it once they realized how addicted department store customers were to sales, coupons, and other discount programs. Although  Macy’s still offered a limited set of items at an â€Å"everyday value† price, it heavily supplemented this practice with aggressive coupons and frequent sales events for the majority of the goods it carried. Macy’s customer Marietta Landon summarized the promotion addicted retail climate, â€Å"Especially Macy’s—they make every weekend a sale with saving passes and advertising galore.†30 The new pricing strategy was a big shift for J.C. Penney, a company known and loved for its JCP Cash coupons distributed to customers via direct mail and email, its RedZone Clearance aisles, and its weekly circulars advertising that week’s price specials. The â€Å"Fair and Square† pricing program would eliminate all coupons and weekly circulars; instead the company would distribute a high quality, editorial content-heavy glossy magazine each month to highlight its Monthly Values. The 96page magazine was as much a branding vehicle as it was a promotional one. $80 million in promotional funding would support each Monthly Value event. J.C. Penney now promised its customers that they would not have to â€Å"jump through hoops to get a good price†. Johnson hailed the strategy for its simplicity and transparency and the way it respected customers, â€Å"People are disgusted with the lack of integrity on pricing,†31 adding that â€Å"We want shoppers to shop on their terms, not ours.† Johnson intimated that â€Å"By setting our store monthly and maintaining our best prices for an entire month, we feel confident that customers will love shopping when it is convenient for them, rather than when it is expedient for us.†32 Michael Francis, J.C. Penney’s new president, was excited about the new pricing moves, â€Å"We are redefining the J.C. Penney brand so we become a store for all Americans, by offering an experience they cannot get anywhere else. This will start by freeing consumers from the barrage of promotions and undifferentiated shopping experiences they have become used to and replacing it with something entirely fresh and new that is evident in every aspect of our store.†33 He added, â€Å"It will be a breath of much-needed fresh air and give [customers] reasons to visit J.C. Penney more often than ever before. Our objective is to make our customers love to shop again.†34 Francis was recruited by Johnson from Target and offered a signing bonus of $12 million  and a total compensation package worth $44.7 million. He was charged with managing the marketing and merchandising efforts. Reactions to â€Å"Fair and Square† Pricing  Industry observers could not contain their strong opinions on the new pricing strategy. Some called the move â€Å"refreshing, daring and probably exactly what the retailer needs,† noting that â€Å"it’s a shocking move for any retailer, let alone a department store where high-low pricing and promotions have long been the norm.†35 But others were far more skeptical. Pricing consultant Rafi Mohammed proclaimed, â€Å"J.C. Penney lacks the differentiation to make this pricing strategy successful. . . . When selling a relatively undifferentiated product, the only lever to generate higher sales is discounts. Even worse, if competitors drop prices on comparable products, J.C. Penney’s hands are tied-it is a sitting duck that can’t respond.†36 Mohammed also noted, â€Å"J.C. Penney’s Every Day prices will not be as low as the biggest discounts that it once offered. Instead, its pitch to customers is why play the â€Å"wait for the rock-bottom price† game when Penney offers â€Å"pretty good† prices every day?†37 Ignoring the skeptics, Johnson was committed to his new pricing plan, rolling it out across all stores on February 1st, after deciding not to conduct market research to test its appeal with customers, â€Å"We debated whether there was a way to test. . . . We would have needed everyone to run the old business model and would have had to add new people to run a test in 10 percent of our stores. . . . We knew the customer would love the new strategy. We decided to get on with our future.†38 Based on his experience at Apple, Johnson also believed that  customers didn’t always know what they wanted; it was up to companies to lead the way, â€Å"You can’t follow the customer. You’ve got to lead your customers—anticipate their needs and meet those needs, even before they know what they want.†39 A lot was riding on the decision. COO Mike Kramer explained, â€Å"We are fundamentally reimagining every aspect of our business and we fully expect the bold and strategic changes we are making to our operations will result in improved profitability. This should enable us to fund the transformation of J.C. Penney’s store experience, while at the same time returning value to shareholders with steady earnings growth.†40 Communicating â€Å"Fair and Square† DeGeneres was featured in a new advertising campaign to usher in the new â€Å"Fair and Square† positioning. Bearing the tagline â€Å"Enough. Is. Enough,† the campaign encouraged consumers to revolt against complex pricing structures, never-ending sales, an overabundance of direct mail circulars and coupons cluttering their mailboxes, and the hassles of returning unwanted products without a receipt. In the ads, DeGeneres travels back in time to ancient Rome, Edwardian England, and the Wild West to learn if today’s confusing price environment was always the norm. She encourages customers to reject the crazy price environment. The creative campaign was witty and contemporary; many found it reminiscent of Target’s award-winning advertising. It was quite a departure from J.C. Penney’s previous campaigns that were more typical of department store messaging. Launched during the Academy Awards broadcast, the ads appeared to be a hit with consumers. Ace Metrix reported that the ads scored well above average on persuasion and watchability metrics and achieved a personal best score for J.C. Penney.41 Initial Results In the first three months following the launch, 67% of products sold at J.C. Penney were purchased at the â€Å"Fair and Square† price, the highest price the retailer listed. Johnson could not hold back his satisfaction, â€Å"This is profound. People are now buying at the first price, [the] right price. That’s the dream of every retailer.†42 However, trouble was looming on the horizon. Through mid-March, mothers, a critically important target market for most department stores, steadily scored J.C. Penney lower on valueperception scores. These women, suddenly not receiving coupons and not seeing the weekly price promotions in the circulars, were downgrading their opinion of whether J.C. Penney offered good value for the money.43 This was despite the fact that J.C. Penney’s prices during the time period were actually quite competitive. A Deutsche Bank analyst report showed that for a random basket of 50 identical items, J.C. Penney was 9% cheaper than Macy’s, and 26% cheaper than Kohl’s. Consumer research firm BIGInsight reported negativity among adults 18+ for whether J.C. Penney’s advertising campaign was â€Å"Hot or Not?† and showed Macy’s gaining ground on J.C. Penney in women’s apparel shopping trips following the launch (See Exhibit 11). Morgan Stanley’s Michelle Clark reported consumer survey results revealing that â€Å"Shoppers think that the J.C. Penney of old actually offered better value than the â€Å"fair and square† model introduced a few months ago. Of the consumers who had been inside a J.C. Penney store since February, more cited higher prices (rather than lower) at the department store. In fact, only 16% of shoppers associated â€Å"Best Prices† with JCP. Furthermore, customers cited that bargains were harder to find and fewer aisles with deals were evident (see Exhibit 12).45 Loyal J.C. Penney customers were moving away from the retailer. One shopper, Wendy Ruud, complained that she was no longer receiving coupons from J.C. Penney and was shopping more frequently at Target and Walmart, â€Å"The closest J.C. Penney is about a half hour away from me. If I don’t get a special  discount, it’s not worth the trip,† she said.46 Another shopper e-mailed the Huffington Post saying, â€Å"They are catering to the younger shopper, and it isn’t the younger shopper that kept them afloat.†47 A third who considered herself â€Å"frumpy and proud,† commented, â€Å"He’s working hard to ‘de-frump’ the store without considering that many if not most of its customers might have shopped there precisely because they like the more conservative frumpy look.† 48 These early indicators played out in J.C. Penney’s first earnings report following the launch of the new plan. Johnson had to announce a significant earnings loss ($163 million) based on plummeting sales revenues (-19% overall, with e-commerce sales dropping 28%), gross margin compression (from 40.5% to 37.6%), and decreasing customer conversion. Johnson asked investors to be patient, calling the first quarter sales drop â€Å"the price we’re paying to get integrity back.†49 He held fast to his convictions, â€Å"We had to make the bold step. It’s one big year we have to go through. It’s really hard but we’ll get through it.†50 Investors showed no patience, sending the company’s stock down 20%, the biggest single day drop in over four decades.51 The critics did not waste time to pile on Johnson. Time columnist Brad Tuttle wrote, JC Penney’s message seems to be one that some shoppers don’t want to hear. They like playing games and hunting for deals, and the markdown from the original price is how they keep score. By eliminating coupons and most â€Å"sales,† JC Penney has been saying it doesn’t want to play games anymore. That sounds wonderful, but among certain shoppers, it’s the equivalent of grabbing the ball and taking it home. No more games, no more fun-and not much reason to visit JC Penney on a regular basis anymore. If, for the most part, a store’s prices are going to remain the same tomorrow, and next week, and the month after that, there’s not much incentive to browse the aisles for special deals today.52 A Forbes columnist concurred, â€Å"By taking away the weekly sales customers loved, Johnson abandoned his core JCP shopping enthusiasts. In effect, signaling to the core JCP enthusiastsshoppers who have sustained J.C. Penney through its years of retail muddling, that they no longer mattered. He confused them, and he pissed them off.†53 The Motley Fool sarcastically  quipped, â€Å"The silver lining in J.C. Penney’s awful report is that Sears [struggling with its own dismal results] has someone it can laugh at now.†54 Macy’s CFO Karen Hoguet was crowing that her company was benefiting from J.C. Penney’s missteps, reporting that sales in Macy’s stores that shared a mall with J.C. Penney were up significantly since the changes.55 And J.C. Penney’s apparel suppliers were becoming anxious, as their sales dropped precipitously, some as much as 70% over the prior year. One prominent supplier indicated that he was increasing his business with Kohl’s to make up for the shortfalls at J.C. Penney.56 These developments were sobering for Johnson yet he remained unfazed, â€Å"It’s been tougher than we anticipated†¦You know, we expected to be down. We are down a little more than we thought, but not enough to change the strategy†¦We’re treating this company as a startup†¦We’re inventing a whole new model to do business†¦It is a one year transition that’s part of a multi-year transformation. But once we get to one year of de-promoting or repurchasing our integrity, I fully expect us to grow. And so we’ve just got to get through that year. And we’ll get through it.†57 Speaking at Fortune magazine’s Brainstorm Tech conference in July, Johnson reiterated his support for the new pricing strategy, claiming that his board was â€Å"totally supportive†. When asked if he had a contingency plan whereby the company would revert back to high/low pricing, Johnson swore it was not in the cards, â€Å"It won’t happen while I’m here because I know it’s not the right thing to do. And I know this is what connects completely with our own unique heritage. And every longstanding company has a DNA in its core that  typically goes back to its founder. And when you reconnect with that, that’s when good things happen. That’s what Wal-Mart has had to do. And it’s really led to great success. That’s what Apple had to do when Steve came back. That’s what we’re going to do.†58 Making Some Adjustments As J.C. Penney management tried to decipher the disappointing results, much of the blame was put on the marketing execution and on customers’ stubborn reliance on price promotions. Mike Kramer, J.C. Penney’s new chief operating officer expressed his frustration, â€Å"Coupons, that drug. We did not realize how deep some of our customers were into this. . . . We have got to wean them off this and educate our consumers.†59 Johnson blamed the marketing execution, claiming that it failed to clearly communicate the new pricing strategy, â€Å"Our execution wasn’t what we needed. Our pricing is kind of confusing. Our marketing kind of overreached [Now] the most important thing is to educate consumers on the price changes and make sure the core customer understands J.C. Penney still has products they love, at exceptional value, every day.†60 Francis took the fall for the poor earnings, abruptly leaving the company a mere eight months after he started as pr esident. Following Francis’ departure, Johnson took responsibility for marketing and merchandising, believing that customers just didn’t understand the story behind â€Å"Fair and Square.† He tweaked the marketing plan, adding five additional â€Å"Best Price Fridays† to the calendar, including the important Fridays anchoring Memorial Day Weekend and Black Friday. The advertising creative was changed to incorporate a harder-hitting â€Å"Do the Math† positioning (See Exhibit 13 for an example). In June, J.C. Penney reintroduced the â€Å"S† word â€Å"sale† into its advertising to help clarify that its Best Price Friday deals actually extended through the weekend until all inventory was sold. Under pressure, Johnson speculated what his old mentor, Steve Jobs, who passed away in October 2011, would have advised, â€Å"I think Steve’s advice would be don’t worry about what others say. Trust your instincts. Do the right thing†¦Stay the course. But he would also say the essence is in the simplicity. And so he would have liked where we are going on pricing, but he would have said ‘You’ve got to clean it up. You’ve got to be more direct’.†61 Johnson buckled down, â€Å"What you can’t do is chicken out.  If you had looked at the data on the Genius Bar after a year and a half, we should have taken it out of the store. But it was something I believed in with every bone in my body.†62 He continued, â€Å"The world moves by innovators and innovators have to have the courage to imagine something that hasn’t been done before and the conviction to see it through†¦It is really hard. It takes a lot of courage. You’ve got to be able to have a few arrows shot in your back.