why did the Mayan and Aztec societies in Mesoamerica share knowledge?

INTRODUCTION TO LEARNING LANGUAGE 5 Introduction to Learning Language Part A Clear

INTRODUCTION TO LEARNING LANGUAGE 5

Introduction to Learning Language

Part A

Clear explanation of points given.

Target language should not be used in teaching.

Citation is needed in every question.

The use of metal language, is not enough

PART B

Step 1: Identifying and Reformulating

Mr. and Mrs. Small took their children to the park to feed the pigeons. They carried along a basket which was full of bread crusts. As soon as the family threw the bread crusts onto the grass, the pigeons started to flock around. In a short time, thirty to forty pigeons were feeding on the bread crusts.

Suddenly, the pigeons took to the air. Everyone was surprised. A shot from a gun had frightened the pigeons away. Then, a man carrying a gun, walked over to the family.

“They’re pests. I don’t like pigeons at all,” he said.

“You may not like them, but we do. Now, leave us to enjoy feeding the pigeons or I’ll call the police,” said Mr. Small.

The man muttered a few words to Mr. Small and then disappeared behind bushes. The family was very unhappy that the birds had been frightened away.

“Well, we’ll wait for a while until the pigeons return. If they don’t, we’ll make our way back home,” said Mr. Small.

They waited for many minutes. After sometime, a few pigeons flew in and came closer to the family. Within a few minutes, the pigeons flew in. Soon, most of the pigeons had returned to feed on them. The pigeons then appreciated by puffing out their chests and chirping.

“Oh look! All our bread crusts have been eaten. It has been great fun though, hasn’t’ it? We’ll come again next week, but this time, we must bring more bread. Let’s hope that nasty man will not come to the park again,” said Mrs. Small.

“I think I’ve frightened him away, just like he frightened the pigeons away,” said Mr. Small, laughing.

Step 2: Describing, explaining, exploring, and arguing.

Mr and Mrs Small took their children to the park feed the pigeons

Correction: Mr. and Mrs. Small took their children to the park to feed the pigeons

Issue: wrong conjugation of the adverbial clause of purpose.

Explanation: Here, the Adverb –Clause ‘to feed the pigeons’ is the reason Mr. and Mrs. Small took the children to the park. That implies, the verb ‘feed’ is addressing the purpose. Adverb clauses of purpose are identified with the subordinating conjunction in order to, to, that, and many more (Shigurov & Shigurova, 2015 p.58). So by avoiding, the conjunction ‘to’ in the sentence, it becomes wrong.

They took with them a basket was full of bread crusts

Correction: They took with them a basket which was full of bread crusts

Correction: They took with them a basket full of bread crusts

Issue: Lack of relative clause

Explanation: The sentence is incomplete without the relative clause ‘which’. This is a relative pronoun that helps to connect the noun basket to the past tense of the verb “be”. Either way, elimination of the word “was” would also render the sentence correct. The pronoun ‘which’ is a subordinate clause which contains an element whose interpretation is provided by the antecedent (in this case, we can say the basket) on which the subordinate clause is dependent (Hemforth et al., 2015 p7).

As soon as the family threw the bread crusts onto the grass, the pigeons started flock around

Issue: wrong use of tense

Correction: As soon as the family threw the bread crusts onto the grass, the pigeons started to flock around

Explanation: Given that the adverb “started” is in the past tense, there is need to make the next verb an infinitive verb by adding “to” for the sentence to be grammatically correct (Hoye, 2014 p28). The verb “flock” is conjugated in its infinitive form. The infinitive form a verb is preceded by ‘to’ therefore we conjugate the verb as ‘to flock.’

Soon, thirty or forty pigeons feed on the bread crusts.

Issue: Wrong use of tense

Correction: In a short time, thirty to forty pigeons were feeding on the bread crusts.

Explanation: The adverb “soon” should not be used in this sentence as it bring an aspect of the future yet the story is being narrated in the past tense. The verb “feed” is converted to the past continuous tense which is ‘was feeding’. This is because, the action of ‘feeding’ was done in the past, and in this case, the narrator want to bring it out as a continuous action that happened in the past(Nelson & Greenbaum, 2015 p.8)”. Therefore, it is significant to transform the verb to the past participle tense.

Everyone was surprising

Issue: Wrong use of tense

Correction: Everyone was very surprised

Explanation: Given that the story was being narrated in the past tense, the verb ‘surprise’ ought to be conjugated in the past participle tense for the sentence to be grammatically correct. The past participle is a form that is the same as the past therefore, it ends with –ed (Hummel & Valera, 2017 p.25).The adjective ‘very’ serves to describe the intensity of their reaction.

A shot from a gun had frightened away them

Issue: Inappropriate arrangement of phrasal verbs

Correction: A shot from a gun had frightened them away.

Explanation: The third person pronoun “them” should come right after the main verb which describe what happened to be birds. Phrasal verb contain a combination of words that are classified under varying grammatical categories (Hart, 2017 p 4). In this case, the object, that is, “them” should come after the verb “frightened” so as to indicate who or what was frightened before showing the direction or place they went to. Therefore, correct order of words in a sentence matters a lot as it ensures a sentence does not lose meaning.

Then a man, carry a gun walked over to the family

Issue: Wrong use of tense

Correction: Then, a man carrying a gun walked over to the family

Explanation: For the sentence to be grammatically correct, the verb “carry” should be conjugated in the present participle tense hence the verb changes to “carrying” (Kratzer & Shimoyama, 2017 p.128). This is because the narrator was to trying to explain an active action that was taking place at that time. Moreover, the fact that there were two actions taking place at the same time by the same person, then there is need to conjugate one the present participle sentence so as the sentence can be grammatically correct.

“Their pests. I no like pigeons at all,” he said

Issue: Wrong use the pronoun ‘their’

Correction: “They’re pests and I do not like pigeons at all”

Explanation: The learner has used the pronoun ‘their’ instead of ‘they’re’. ‘Their’ is a possessive case of a pronoun ‘they’ whereas ‘they’re’ is a contraction of the words ‘they’ and ‘are’ (Yu, 2016 p20). Therefore interchanging the two can change the meaning of the sentence. When showing dislike for a thing, one should combine the verb ‘do’ with ‘not’ so as to successfully negate something.

The pigeons showed they were thankful by puff out their chests and make happy bird noises

Issue: Poor conjugation of the verb ‘puff’

Correction: The pigeons appreciated by puffing out their chests and chirping.

Explanation: For the sentence to be grammatically correct, the verb “puff” should be conjugated in the present participle tense hence the verb changes to ‘puffing’. This is because the narrator was to trying to explain an active action that was taking place at that time (Fehri & Dardour, 2017 p32). Moreover, the verb ‘make’ should also be conjugated in the present participle tense so that the sentence can be grammatically correct.

Within a few minutes, more of the pigeons which the family had been feeding and which had been frightened by the man with the gun and had flown away flew in

Issue: Repetition.

Correction: Within a few minutes, the pigeons flew in

Explanation: In this sentence, the narrator the narrator has repeated himself. He had stated earlier that the pigeons were frightened away by the man who shot at air. He therefore does not need to repeat the same statement when trying to bring in the point that the pigeons returned. Such repetition can creates confusion, lead to mixing of tenses, and makes the sentence to lose meaning (Alhabbash et al., 2016 p 30 ).

PART C Teaching

Vocabulary – limousine

The teacher shows the learners a limousine parked in front of some beautiful trees probably by the roadside. The teacher points at the vehicle in the image and says, “What you are seeing here is one of the most lavish vehicles whose size is longer than that of normal cars. It carries many passengers compared to normal cars and in some cases, parties are held in the car. The car is commonly owned by rich people. For one to drive a limousine, they should have attended the limo training school got complete mastery of driving skills. Then the teacher now brings in the noun by saying, “this is a limousine.” He repeats the word four times so that the class can get it clearly.

The teacher then evaluates the students to determine whether the students have comprehended the vocabulary by asking the concept checking question: CCQs

Is it a car? – YES

Must the driver attend the limo training school? – YES

Is it long? – YES

Is it costly? – YES

The teacher then asks the students to pronounce the word in chorus form then asks each student to try and pronounce it.

He then asks one of the students to help spell the vocabulary.

The teacher then inquires which type of word is it and one student answers as he indicates on the board:

Limousine (n)

Structures

Step 1. The last train leaves before the show ends.

Correction: The last train will leave before the show ends

Issue: Grammatical mistake

Explanation: Given that the action being talked about is supposed to happen in the future, then it is advisable to conjugate the verb in the future tense. In our case, adding the verb ‘will’ to the sentence will imply the action is going to happen in the future just as expected.

Teaching Instruction: The train might leave before the show ends

The teacher shows the students a picture of a train. He tells them that trains used to be considered the slowest means of transport until the invention of electric trains. He then asks the students to draw a timeline and put an “X” very close to “NOW” in the past. He asks them to indicate ‘departure’ above the “X”. This indicates the time the train will leave which is presumed to be before the show ends. The teacher asks the students what time the show is likely to end after showing them the schedule indicating when the show is likely to start and end. The students then give him an answer.

Elicit the Marker Sentence

The teacher asks the students ‘What else can we assume about the train?’ The teacher writes on the board

The train should …….. before the show ends.

If one of the students gives the teacher the target language, the teacher says ‘nice answer’. If none of the students responds, the teacher gives the target language and says ‘The train should leave before the show ends’

Concept Checking Questions (CCQs): Write at least three questions (and provide answers) to check students have understood:

Has the train arrived? NO

Will the train take long to arrive? NO

Is the train likely to arrive when the show ends? YES

Then written form on the whiteboard. (Analyse the parts of the language –provided form)

Subject +

Will +

Present simple

=Indicative present

Subject

will

Present simple

Conjunction

object

Future tense

The train

will

leave

before

the show

ends

The teacher asks ‘where is the stress?’ and then underlines it on the board.

The teacher asks the students ‘what can we say about the train

It will leave before the show ends

What can we ask about the train?

When will the train leave?

What is the answer?

It will leave before the show ends

Step 2: I will give you a call when I’ve landed.

Correction: I’ll give you a call when I’ll have landed

Issue: Wrong conjugation of tense

Explanation: The verb ‘land’ should be conjugated in the future perfect tense .his is because the call will be made in the future after that person has landed.

Teaching instruction: I’ll give you a call when I land

The teacher shows an image of a girl at the airport who is on a mobile phone. The teacher says “This is Christine at Paro Airport, Bhutan”. He again draws a timeline where he writes ‘future ’ on the right side then indicates ‘past ’on the left side. The teacher points on the board and says ‘Christine is making a call right now and talking about the future. Christine’s mother is asking her when she will call her.’

Elicit the marker sentence

The teacher asks the students, “What does Christine answer the mother?” The teacher then indicates on the whiteboard.

I ……. call when I land

If the students give the students give the teacher the target language, the teacher says ‘yes good’. If the students cannot respond, the teacher gives the target language and says ‘I will call when I land’. Then the teacher checks the concept

Concept Checking Questions (CCQs): Write at least three questions (and provide answers) to check students have understood

Is she still at the Airport? YES

Is this in the past? NO

Is the exact time known? NO

Then written form on the Whiteboard. (Analyse the parts of the language- provide form)

Subject +

Will +

Present simple

=simple future

subject

will

present simple

adverbial

I

’ll

call

when I land

Teacher asks ‘Where is the stress?’ and the underlines the stress on the board

Teacher asks the students: ‘What can we say about her?’

She’ ll call when she lands

What can we ask Christine?

When will you call?

What does she say?

When I land

Step 3- My house’s been burgled three times this year

Correction: My house has been burgled three times this year.

Issue: wrong conjugation of the verb ‘to be’

Explanation: In this sentence, the verb should be conjugated in the present perfect continuous tense in order for the sentence to make sense.

Teacher instruction: They have burgled my house three times this year

The teacher shows the students a picture of an apartment whose door and windows are broken..

Elicit the Marker Sentence

He then asks the students what they can see in the picture. The he writes on the board

‘The house …….. burgled.

If the students give the teacher the target language, the teacher says ‘nice answer’. If the students cannot respond, the teacher gives the target language ad says ‘the house has been burgled’

Concept Checking Questions (CCQs): Write at least three questions (and provide answers) to check students have understood:

Has the house been burgled before?’ YES

Are the doors intact? NO

Are the windows broken? YES

Then written form on the Whiteboard. (Analyse the parts of the language- provide the form)

Subject

+ Auxiliary verb

=perfect continuous

Noun

(Auxiliary verb)

Past simple

The house

has been

burgled

Teacher asks: ‘Where is the stress?’ and the underlines the stress on the board.

Teacher asks students: ‘What can we say about the house?’

It has been burgled

What can we ask about the house?

Has it been burgled?

The answer is?

Yes, it has been burgled

Step 4. Surely, you will pass the exam

Correction: You’ll surely pass the exam

Issue: Wrong position of words

Explanation: The verb ‘surely’ should come after the contraction of the word you will

Teaching instruction: You will pass the exam

The teacher will show the students an exam paper and ask them what it is.

Elicit the Marker Sentence

The teacher asks the students ‘what do you promise yourself whenever you sit for an exam

I …… to pass the exam

If the students give the teacher the target language, the teacher says ‘good answer’ but if they cannot, the teacher gives the target language and says ‘I’ll pass the exam

Concept Checking Questions (CCQs): Write at least three questions (and provide answers) to check students have understood:

Do you need to fear examination? NO

Will you pass your exams? YES

Are you always ready for exams? YES

Then the written form on the whiteboard. (Analyse the parts of the language- provide the form)

Subject +

Will +

Present simple

= simple future

subject

will

Present simple

object

I

’ll

pass

the exam

Teacher asks ‘Where is the stress?’ and then puts stress on the board

Teacher asks the students: ‘What can you say about yourself’

I will pass

What can we ask?

Will you pass the exam?

What can you say?

Yes, I will

References

Alhabbash, M. I., Mahdi, A. O., & Naser, S. S. A. (2016). An Intelligent Tutoring System for Teaching Grammar English Tenses.

Fehri, H., & Dardour, S. (2017). Generating Text with Correct Verb Conjugation: Proposal for a New Automatic Conjugator with NooJ. Proceedings of the Linguistic Resources for Automatic Natural Language [email protected] NLG, 39-42.

Hart, C. W. (2017). Ultimate phrasal verb book. Simon and Schuster.

Hemforth, B., Fernandez, S., Clifton Jr, C., Frazier, L., Konieczny, L., & Walter, M. (2015). Relative clause attachment in German, English, Spanish and French: effects of position and length. Lingua, 166, 43-64.

Hoye, L. (2014). Adverbs and modality in English. Routledge.pringer, Cham.

Hummel, M., & Valera, S. (Eds.). (2017). Adjective Adverb Interfaces in Romance (Vol. 242). John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Kratzer, A., & Shimoyama, J. (2017). Indeterminate pronouns: The view from Japanese. In Contrastiveness in Information Structure, Alternatives and Scalar Implicatures (pp. 123-143). S

Nelson, G., & Greenbaum, S. (2015). An introduction to English grammar. Routledge.

Shigurov, V. V., & Shigurova, T. A. (2015). Modalation of verbal adverbs in the Russian language. European journal of natural history, (4), 57-59.

Yu, F., Peng, T., Peng, K., Tang, S., Chen, C. S., Qian, X., … & Chai, F. (2016). Cultural value shifting in pronoun use. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 47(2), 310-316.

Task 1 (500) When I discovered the internship programme in the City

why did the Mayan and Aztec societies in Mesoamerica share knowledge? History Assignment Help Task 1 (500)

When I discovered the internship programme in the City University of Hong Kong, I am excited by the chance to feel the dynamic, multicultural and fast-paced working environment in Hong Kong. I am always aspired to operate in worldwide spheres where I can tell how different cultures used together can function as a team. In addition, I desire to enhance my capabilities in professional communication and intercultural skills through working on a variety of projects supporting the educational, intercultural and promotional activities between campuses. As a senior student who has overseas study experience in UK, I am familiar with the UK Higher Education student experience, and willing to advise students on study abroad programme for both UK and Hong Kong students.

I believe that I am qualified in this programme, not just because I make a good performance in academic study but also I actively involved myself in a variety of activities. During these activities, I improved my leadership and communication skills, and acquired a pioneering spirit and the ability to do teamwork as well. Besides, one of my interests lies in world cultures. In my spare time, I immersed myself in the ocean of cultures in the world and I enjoy myself in seeking for difference and similarity of these cultures and feel the charm of them. As for my academic study, I did well in my courses and was awarded in second prize scholarship for many times throughout my study period.

In order to adapt to society, I often take some time to do voluntary works in many places. In my eyes, voluntary work can be beneficial to our society and make our own lives colorful and meaningful to a certain extent, which is also a perfect way for students to grow up mentally. In the past three years, I have been a volunteer in hospitals, primary schools and libraries. Through the volunteer experience, I found that volunteering helped me build skills and confidence as a person. It is nothing like school – It made me feel a buzz of responsibility and know I am helping to make the world a better place. Moreover, I had an internship in the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) started in August 2015 and lasts for a year. This experience is preparing me in a number of ways from office etiquette, to working with deadlines, to gaining knowledge from hands on training. This experience has allowed me to work to a higher standard and to care for the individuals I work with.

I would appreciate to experience of overseas study experience in UK, the voluntary work I made and the internship in BLM. They have prepared me well for the internship programme in the City University of Hong Kong. I am eager to gain an in-depth understanding of the multiculture, enhance my professional skills and obtain a valuable internship experience. Above all, I will try my best to develop the reputation of UCLan/SCOPE and make it known to the world.

Task 2: Press Release (500) Thursday 21 March 2019 14:50, UK The

Task 2: Press Release (500)

Thursday 21 March 2019 14:50, UK

The Patisserie Valerie bakeries to close down overnight after “significant fraud” with 920 jobs lost

Hundreds of staffs who lost jobs have not received their final pay packet.

British cake chain Patisserie Valerie is teetering close to collapse since October in 2018 after it had discovered a multimillion-pound black hole in its accounts and was suspending its shares. According to reports, the accounting hole is estimated to be of around £40m in its finance in October. The company blamed the problem on “potentially fraudulent” accounting irregularities and the Serious Fraud Office is investigating. Administrators to cafe chain Patisserie Valerie have confirmed the closure of 71 of its stores across the country, following the company’s collapse.

The company revealed that the extent of fraud meant it was unable to renew its bank loans with HSBC and Barclays and it did not have sufficient funding to continue trading, leaving it with no option but to appoint KPMG as administrator.

Patisserie Holdings chairman, Luke Johnson came through with a major rescue package and used £20m of his own money to keep the group in business after finding that it was nearly £10m in debt instead of having £28m in the bank, as it had last reported. Luke claimed it will be ‘business as normal’ at the cafe chain and that while he was unlikely to open more stores in the near future, his ‘huge personal commitment’ to the business should be enough to reassure both shareholders and employees.

He said: “Was it a fraud of a successful business where money was removed from the accounts of the company or was it a fraud which caused an unsuccessful business to appear successful. I don’t think that question has yet been answered”.

At present, Administrators of Patisserie Holdings have named shut 71 branches, resulting in 920 redundancies as 27 standalone stores, 19 Druckers outlets and 25 Patisserie Valerie concessions in Debenhams, Next and at motorway service areas cease trading. The company’s bakery in Spitalfields has also closed, but the cake chain’s cafes at Cribbs Causeway and Cabot Circus are among the 122 which will continue to trade while the professional services firm seeks a buyer for the business.

Though Luke Johnson said he had personally extended a £3m interest-free loan to help ensure January wages are paid to all staffs, it is understood that loan is being used to pay staff at the 130 stores that remain trading but does not cover pay for those being made redundant.

One former Patisserie Valerie staff, Hannah Milne said, she had been told over the phone that she had lost her job in a very short conversation and was shocked to discover she had not been paid this week for her final month’s work. She said she had been forced to borrow money from her family.Milne said that she tried to contact the company but was told there was nothing she could do to reclaim her pay.

A spokesperson for the administrators said: “We recognize this is a very difficult time for those members of staff who have lost their jobs, and are providing them with support, including assisting with claims to the Redundancy Payments Service.” Dave Turnbull, of the Unite union, advised workers to write to Patisserie Valerie and demand their pay.

Source:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/oct/10/patisserie-valerie-shares-suspended-over-accounting-black-hole

https://www.accountancyage.com/2019/01/30/how-did-fraud-come-about-in-the-patisserie-valerie-case/

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/whats-on/food-drink/list-patisserie-valerie-stores-closed-2462042

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/feb/01/redundant-patisserie-valerie-staff-have-not-been-paid

Critical Evaluation of Tesco’s Strategic Initiative Introduction In the business environment; strategy

Critical Evaluation of Tesco’s Strategic Initiative

Introduction

In the business environment; strategy has adopted a myriad of definitions based on the nature and objectives of the business – From being the responsibility of senior management, a manner in which a corporate should be act and interact in its business environment to vision and mission of the company (Mainardes, et al., 2014). In the evaluation of Tesco strategic initiative; strategy would be characterized as the development of actionable plans and practises to drive the company’s core objectives. These actionable plans borrow from Porter’s generic strategies for competitive advantage (Porter, 1985) – cost leadership, brand differentiation and a keen focus on creating value to the consumer.

Tesco is the lead chain of grocery stores in the UK. Its annual group sales for the FY2016/17 were in excess of £51.0 billion representing a 2.3 percent growth from the previous year. In the same year; operating profits registered an impressive 80.6 percent growth from £1,017 – £1,837 million (Tesco PLC, 2018). Overall; all key financial metrics were impressive, including a £2.6 billion reduction in net debt. Registering such impressive performance in a challenging operating environment occasioned by BREXIT-related uncertainties is indicative of an organization that is committed to the implementation of a focused business strategy.

In 2015; the leadership at TESCO revisited its business model, and established that indeed the company had grown big by focusing on the little things. In redefining its business model; the top management opined that simplicity and dedicated focus on creating value to their consumers, and other stakeholders, would be their core strategy. The retailer thus adopted a total quality management (TQM) approach. This is a business philosophy with emphasis on continuous customer satisfaction, consistent delivery on quality and pricing of products, responsiveness to customer concerns, greater operational flexibility and targeted reduction in costs

The Concept of Strategic Management

Theories in Strategic Management

Strategic Management (SM) can be characterized as the critical management approach, utilizing a set of tools and techniques, to enhance competitiveness in a business environment. SM is a four-phased continuous process involving the scanning of business environment to establish existent opportunities and challenges, formulation of key strategies to achieve core objectives, implementation of approved strategies, and evaluation and control of the entire process (Ologbo, et al., 2012). According to Olgbo, et. al.; SM is anchored in several theories which informs the strategies to be adopted by firms. These theories include:

Profit maximization and competition-based theory which suggests that firms will pursue SM initiatives to maximize their profitability and enhance their competitive advantage over their peers.

Resource-based theory approaches SM from the perspective of efficient utilization of a firms’ assets. Firms can adopt a human-resource based approach to SM by developing and growing its human talent, expertise and organizational behaviour to transform their human resource into strategic assets. These strategic assets become a source of competitive advantage for the firm (Becker, et al., 2001).

Survival-based theory is a defensive approach adopted by firms to develop SM initiatives that would enhance its survival rate in the face of growing competition, maturing markets, technology obsolescence or shifting business opportunities. This has been most applicable in the IT industry. However; a growing convergence of the retail industry where TESCO operates and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence for customer service and e-commerce support (Delloite , 2019), makes it even more relevant to the retail giant.

Agency-theory seeks to eliminate the existent agency problem between management and other stakeholders in the firm. SM initiates are thus adopted to effectively realign the interest of top management to the firm’s core objectives in creating value to the stakeholders.

Contingency theory proposes the adoption of Sm initiatives tailored specifically for unique situations and market conditions. This minimizes the adoption of a one-fits-all strategic approach especially for corporations like TESCO with operations in diverse business environments across Europe.

In the development of its redefined business model; TESCO placed emphasis on the first three theories as it sought to enhance its competitiveness by excelling on customer satisfaction metrics, boosting revenues and profitability and efficiently utilizing its resources (Tesco PLC, 2017). With a plan to create value for all stakeholders; TESCO outlined six strategic drivers that would guide their action plans into the future:

The Strategic Management Process

The primary function of SM is in the development and implementation of initiatives (strategies) to achieve the firm’s core objectives (Jofre, 2011). As such, this should be an all-inclusive, dedicated process spearheaded by the top management. At TESCO; the strategic management process was driven from a top-down approach where the top management communicated their three core objectives for the firm – 1) to regain competitiveness through enhancement of their competitive advantages, 2) to protect their balance sheet and financial position, and 3) to build their customers trust, and increase transparency more so in sourcing of supplies and pricing. Collectively; these were referred to as the ‘Turn around Priorities’.

This section will examine how the SM process at TESCO began and progressed across various phases:

Environmental Scanning

Scanning refers to the evaluation of the external social and task environments as well as the internal structure, organizational culture and available resources in an effort to identify existent challenges and opportunities. Environment scanning utilizes various SM tools and techniques including SWOT and PEST analysis, customer satisfaction analysis, Customers’ complains analysis, Porter’s five forces, value chain analysis and critical success factors analysis (Anna, 2015). Environmental scanning constitutes the evaluation of such variables as government or legislative changes like those anticipated from the BREXIT agenda, societal changes in terms of consumer trends and preferences, macro-economic changes and competitive changes in light of Porter’s 5-factors (strength of competition, new entrants, customer, suppliers and firm) (Jofre, 2011).

Brand guarantee is an approach undertaken by TESCO to ensure it regains customer loyalty from competition, by guaranteeing them the lowest prices for similar quality of products in the markets. This initiative calls for a heightened degree of market awareness to establish what offering and discount levels the competition – Sainsbury, Asda or Morrison- are offering their customers, and endeavouring to out-do their efforts to lock in consumers. In its SWOT and PEST analysis (Ivory Research Co., 2019), TESCO had observed that a declining level of trust, due to increased domestic competition, in its brand had been a factor in slowed growth of customer numbers, and as such the company focused on re-aligning its structure and strategies into a more customer-oriented model.

Strategy Formulation

Strategy formulation refers to the development of long-term planning initiatives (Hunger & Wheelen, 2010). This phase builds on environmental scanning to effectively align the firm’s strengths and weaknesses to its environmental opportunities and threats. Strategy formulation redefines the firm’s vision and mission statements, clarifies corporate objectives, develops most suitable strategies to achieve the stated objectives and finally, outlines policies to guide implementation of outlines strategies.

The renewed customer focus at TESCO was centred on three themes – to simplify their shopping, increase availability of products and competitive and consistent prices (Tesco PLC, 2015). This was consistent with their mission of serving their customers a little better every time. The goal was to increase brand visibility, recognition and enhance customer satisfaction which breeds loyalty and subsequent repeat business. Having established the ‘what needs to be done’; TESCO moved on to outline the ‘How it will be done’. Their business aim was to fully focus on creating efficient systems to deliver value to the customer. In the formulation of this strategy; the management outlined three operational objectives:

Consumers – listening to and reaching out to consumers to develop an understanding of how best to deliver the possible offer, ahead of competition

Value chain structure – closely working with farmers and other suppliers to ensure consistency of product quality, and pricing, that would offer best value to consumers

Channels – efficient utilization of the available channels to conveniently serve their customers

Having established their core objectives; TESCO developed six strategies that would drive the realization of their corporate aspirations of serving the customer better, and creating value to all stakeholders. The strategic drivers were: 1) Brand differentiation 2) Reduction in costs by £1.5billion 3) Generation of cash flows from operations in excess of £9 billion 4) Enhancing group margins to 3.5% –4.0% 5) Maximization of value from property 6) Innovation (Tesco PLC, 2017)

Strategy implementation

Hunger & Wheelen (2010) characterized strategy implementation as the sum total of all actions put in place towards the execution of an identified strategy or strategic plan. This phase involved the development of strategic programs, resource allocation and procedural outlines. Intuitively; with six different strategies, TESCO needed to implement at least six action plans towards the realization of each strategic plan.

In the realization of a differentiated brand; TESCO rolled out a ‘Brand Guarantee’ program. This was a scheme aimed at growing, and locking in, customer numbers by guaranteeing them that the quality and price of goods and services available at the giant retailer were the best they could find in the industry. The guarantee aspect came into play, by ensuring customers who made their purchases at their outlets, were refunded the excess of their bills should they found out more competitive pricing or discounting terms for the same quality of goods or services at the competition’s outlets (Tesco PLC, 2017). This program was targeted at giving consumers one more reason to choose TESCO, and in the process boost their loyalty to the brand.

In pursuing its £1.5 billion cost reduction target; TESCO turned to strategic partnerships with its principle suppliers of goods and services to ensure consistent quality and price sourcing. The TESCO Group has been in the forefront in establishing sustainable farming groups with farmers to ensure they improve on their quality, productivity and environmental and business sustainability. This engagements, led by their Sustainable Dairy Group, are meant to create value to their suppliers (upstream) through competitive price offering. It also delivers value downstream to consumers through better quality and cost leadership (Porter, 1985), but also through increased transparency and traceability of the product sourcing process. This builds trust on brand TESCO.

The generation of more cash flows from operations would be achieved through a lean management approach that eliminated unnecessary wastes. One area of focus was in the ordering process. By conducting a value chain analysis (Ivory Research Co., 2019); TESCO established that closely monitoring of the product sourcing system would result in a reduction of unnecessary delivery trips, which increased the Group’s stockholding costs. Instead; the retailer preferred a lean ordering system where less was order, but still ensuring customers had diverse choices and as needed (Tesco PLC, 2018).

Evaluation and Control

This phase is characterized by the monitoring of actual performance against pre-determined targets to ensure consistency with desired performance (Hunger & Wheelen, 2010). At TESCO; the retailer has adopted robust performance measurement standards to ensure actual performance is correctly evaluated against set objectives, and where necessary, corrective measures can be promptly initiated. These measures can be financial including return on investment (ROI) which is most ideal to measuring profitability objectives, or non-financial including cause-effect evaluation and satisfaction indices.

In 2018; the retailer established that their partnership efforts were yielding desired results as evidenced by the 100% usage of British-sourced milk for their yoghurt products. A 25 percent increase from the pre-strategy years (Tesco PLC, 2018). In efforts to strengthen their balance sheet in order to adequately fund their total quality management approach; TESCO offloaded some of its properties in an asset swap with British lands in early 2015. This exercise boosted the retailers branch presence from an enhanced sole proprietorship of 21 superstores which leads to efficiency in decision-making and service delivery. In early 2016; a similar undertaking was replicated with Phoenix Life and British Airways Pension Fund. These undertaking created value to the business by boosting cash flow generation, reducing incidental costs from property ownership and improving channels of delivering value to consumers

Conclusion

The operating environment in UK is characterized by stiff competition; and the retail industry is no exception. TESCO faces increased domestic competition from the likes of Sainsbury, Asda and Morrison. To enhance business survival and boost revenues and profitability; the retailer embarked on a SM initiative of TQM to serve its customers better everyday, and deliver value to its stakeholders. The mission was simple –to regain competitiveness, build a strong, differentiated brand and protect its financial position. The retailer outlined six drivers of its strategy and passionately implemented multi-pronged programs to realize its core objectives. The 2018 annual reports were a testament of the positive impact that their renewed customer focus had to both their financial and non-financial dimensions.

References

Anna, A., 2015. Strategic Management Tools and Techniques and Organizational Performance: Findings from the Czech Republic. Journal of Competitiveness, 7(3), pp. 19-36.

Becker, B. E., Huselid, M. & Ulrich, D., 2001. Making HR a Strategic Asset, Buffalo, New York: State University of New York .

Delloite , 2019. 2019 Retail Outlook: Transition ahead, London: Deloitte Center for Industry Insights.

Hunger, D. & Wheelen, T. L., 2010. Essentials of Strategic Management. 5th ed ed. London: Pearson.

Ivory Research Co., 2019. ivoryresearch.com. [Online]
Available at: www.ivoryresearch.com/samples/economics-essay-example-strategic-management-of-tesco-supermarket-pestle-analysis-porter-5-forces-analysis-critical-success-factors-swot-analysis-value-chain-analysis-tesco-strategic-options-core-comp/
[Accessed 15 March 2019].

Jofre, S., 2011. Strategic Management: The theory and practice of strategy in (business) organizations, Lyngby: DTU Management Engineering .

Mainardes, E. W., Ferreira, J. J. & Raposo, M. L., 2014. Strategy and Strategic Management Concepts: Are they Recognised by Management Students?. Ekonomika a management, XVII(1), pp. 43-61 doi: 10.15240/tul/001/2014-1-004.

Ologbo, A. C., Oluwatosin, O. S. & Okyere-Kwakye, E., 2012. Strategic Management Theories and the Linkage with Firm Competitive Advantage from the Human Resource-Based View. International Journal of Research in Management & Technology, 2(4), pp. 366-374.

Porter, M. E., 1985. Competitive Advantage. New York: The Free Press.

Tesco PLC, 2015. Annual Report and Financial Statements 2015, London: Tesco PLC.

Tesco PLC, 2017. Strategic Report 2017, London: Tesco PLC.

Tesco PLC, 2018. Annual Report and Financial Statements 2018, London: Tesco PLC.

8

Background IKEA was founded in 1943. At the beginning of the establishment

Background

IKEA was founded in 1943. At the beginning of the establishment of a Swedish household goods company, is mainly engaged in stationery mail order, groceries, etc., and then turned to furniture-based business. In the process of continuous expansion, the product range expanded to cover various household items. IKEA has developed steadily and rapidly. It has grown to 180 chain stores around the world, distributed in 43 countries and has become the most influential household goods retailer in the world in the past 60 years. IKEA achieved sales of 11 billion euros and the net profit of more than 1.1 billion euros, making it the world’s largest household goods retailer in 2003.

Introduction

In this era of digital information, most people have loved social media, and more and more brands have adopted social media platforms as a promotion platform. Because social media allows the merchant to track their efforts in real time, they are more cost-effective and more diverse than those expensive online ads. This report focuses on discussing how IKEA uses social media applications, which include Instagram, Facebook and Weibo to help consumers understand IKEA. Also, this report also sets new strategies for this social media application to more effectively improve problems on different social media.

Instagram

Instagram is an application that focuses on image sharing, and it is popular with most people. Users can attract a lot of fans’ attention by putting the creative images on Instagram. Therefore, IKEA had an official account on Instagram and released a large number of furniture advertising and pictures to attract more consumers. On the other hand, although it attracts a lot of followers, there are still some problems. Ikea’s Instagram has released a lot of exquisite furniture designs, most of which are displayed separately. So when consumers are ready to buy these pieces of furniture, they will come up with two problems.

First, whether the products purchased online are consistent with the real thing, there is no shortage of beautified pictures on Instagram, and resulting in the gradual blurring of the colour of the furniture itself. Also, the customers cannot experience it for themselves, so they can’t tell the quality, size, material, etc. of the product. In the process of consumers demanding a replacement or returning due to dissatisfaction, the product will trouble consumers. However, the cumbersome after-sales service will inevitably have a negative impact on the brand.

Second, how to place these items of furniture so that it does not look abrupt, although the furniture pictures set separately can make consumers see the products at a glance, how to match these pieces of furniture will become a problem that cannot be ignored.

To solve the above problems effectively, Ikea can hold a design competition, and the winner will receive a reward of 30,000. Participants use IKEA furniture to create a personalised room, living room or office. The entries are posted on Instagram in the form of an image and add the IKEA hashtag. On the other aspect, participants can share the functionality of some furniture to help other users better understand IKEA furniture. The official account of IKEA will determine the final winner based on the vote of the Instagram user and post the winner’s work on the official website of IKEA.

The design competition held at Instagram shows the social media offer many affordances that affect what happens through and because of them. All of their combination of interactivity and reach allow people to come together around shared interests. (Baym 2010) This competition invisibly helps consumers to understand the practicality and diversity of products more effectively. Also, it solves the problem of consumers’ matching of furniture. On the other hand, the significance of this design competition is to attract more consumers through Instagram, but also to improve IKEA’s brand awareness.

Facebook

Facebook is a social platform with 2 billion users. Most of its users have become parents and one of the most vulnerable to marketing campaigns. As the most popular social media promotion channel for merchants, it also attracts more and more brands including Swarovski, Apple, Adidas, and IKEA. So the brand competition on Facebook is getting more and more fierce, but how to make IKEA stand out in the fierce brand competition is also very important. Although IKEA’s official account has 270,000 followers, the exposure of each tweet is inversely proportional to its number of fans. It means that there is still a problem with Low click rate and user engagement in this official account. In response to these issues, IKEA staff can modify the management and promotion of official accounts.

To begin with, can post some exciting or storytelling videos. For example, Make a movie with the theme of IKEA’s folding table. Married persons with families are the main target customers. The advantage of the folding table is that it can ensure that no space is occupied after full use. However, the role of the film is to deepen the influence of the functionality of the product on the audience. Story-based advertising links people’s daily lives with the effects of products. It not only attracts attention but also further increases the affinity of advertising because emotional appeals appeal to the audience more than rational appeals. (Grigaliunaite & Pileliene 2016) Also, it can deepen the concept of product concept communication and stimulate consumers’ desire to buy.

Another point I could add to posts some valuable tweets. Most people may miss a commercial tweet, but they will never reject a valuable tweet. As a furniture retailer, IKEA can post some tips on how to maintain and clean furniture on FACEBOOK and create a group to discuss. Maximise user engagement during IKEA official accounts and users, and build trust to influence other potential customers. FACEBOOK belongs to a public area, so the knowledge, experience and expertise of people of different occupation types are available to all, and this transparency can influence others. (Moorley & Chinn 2014)

One more thing is the release time of the tweet. IKEA can adjust the FACEBOOK active time according to the users of different occupations. Also, to more effectively understand user needs, we can use some social media to analyse the Application. For example, Hootsuite, Socialbakers, etc. It helps us know the product’s audience, what the target customer cares about, and smarter management of social media accounts (Socialbakers 2008)

The above management solution for IKEA’s official account on FACEBOOK is intended to more effectively deepen the brand’s connection with users and build credibility through social media. It further reflects that social media has gradually become a marketing channel for different brands while affecting different groups of people.

Weibo

WEIBO is a social platform in China that is similar to social applications for Facebook and Twitter. However, IKEA has expanded in the Asian market and has been loved by many Asians in the past five years, especially in China. Therefore, IKEA has established an official account on WEIBO which a social platform in China. As a Swedish furniture retailer, IKEA continually adjusts its strategy to Europe, South America, North America, Africa and Asia, and has stores in 30 countries. This shows that IKEA is a diverse group and its furniture design philosophy combines the cultures of different countries. For people from different countries, IKEA develops a new communication strategy on the social platform.

WEIBO is an application that most people use every day, but IKEA does not have much advertising in WEIBO. The official account of IKEA is mostly sold product on the WEIBO as a picture, so the publicity effect is not apparent. On the other hand, a single propaganda method is also difficult to establish an excellent reputation for IKEA. Therefore, IKEA can take appropriate measures against these issues.

To start of an IKEA mini furniture collection competition at WEIBO. At the IKEA purchase of 100 RMB (Chinese money) to send a mini furniture model, Mini furniture model is designed with IKEA’s classic furniture style. Consumers can create a mini room, living room or balcony based on the furniture collected, and then post the picture to WEIBO. All IKEA post entries works are on the WEIBO official account, and the user decides the winner by voting. The top three participants will receive an IKEA shopping card worth 50,000 RMB (Chinese money). Consumer’s constantly collecting and matching IKEA furniture carry out this competition. The Mini furniture model is based on the simplicity and modernity of IKEA furniture. It can be used as a collection, and it can also deepen consumers’ impression of IKEA. In the process of the competition, it helped solve the problem of matching different types of furniture. IKEA can promote a meaningful and better-known name for this competition on WEIBO.

On the other aspect, users can follow the IKEA official account and forward their favourite works will have the opportunity to participate in the IKEA lottery. IKEA will draw 20 lucky users from all forwarded users and presented IKEA’s rechargeable desk lamps as the gift. These activities maximise user engagement. Keep a deep product impression, and deepen user awareness of the brand.

Apart from that IKEA can invite some interior design bloggers or some regular customers to do some evaluation of IKEA furniture and publish it at WEIBO. IKEA will send out some creative home decorations or coupons as gifts. Listening and responding to what customers are saying about the brand in social media can supply good intelligence and give the company a chance to interact with customers. (Lieb 2011)

The above activities conducted by WEIBO show that IKEA adapts to the culture of different countries, and the propaganda strategies of different regions through understand the local lifestyle and cultural elements. IKEA designs new products based on the living habits of local people and also integrate marketing into the lives of local people. Further, expand IKEA’s international market and increase brand awareness.

Conclusion

From what has been discussed above, we may reasonably conclude that in the current digital age, social media can better help consumers understand IKEA. On the other hand, IKEA’s effective use of social media can increase user engagement and brand awareness. For example, a home design competition is held on Instagram to help consumers better match products; use social media content management websites, set content release time and monitor message content on FACEBOOK to build a more meaningful relationship between brands and consumers. In the face of consumers in different countries, IKEA also changes the social media strategy according to the living habits of local people. Every consumer knows nothing about the characteristics of the purchased product before making a shopping decision, and he will undoubtedly feel overwhelmed. On the contrary, the more comprehensive and real the product information he has, the easier it is for him to make a purchase decision. However, all of the above social media strategies are to increase IKEA’s brand awareness while allowing consumers to more effectively understand IKEA’s products through social media software.

Reference

Baym, N. 2010, ‘Communities and Networks’, Personal Connections in the Digital Age, Polity Press,Cambridge, pp. 72-93.  

Grigaliunaite, V. & Pileliene, L., 2016. ‘Emotional or rational? The determination of the influence of advertising appeal on advertising effectiveness.’ Scientific Annals of Economics and Business, vol. 63, no. 3, pp. 391-414.

Moorley, C.R. & Chinn, T. 2014, ‘Nursing and Twitter: Creating an online community using hashtags’, Collegian, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 103-109 

Lieb, R. 2011,Content marketing: Think like a publisher—how to use content to market online and in social media, Indianapolis, pp. 180-188

Social bakers 2008, Marketing Your Audiences Will Love, viewed 3, January 2019,