Operations Management Zellers Essay Example for Free

Operations Management Zellers Essay What competitive priority is important for a discount store, such as Zellers? Cost is the most important competitive priority for a discount store, such as Zellers. In order to perform competitively as a discount store, the organization must emphasize low operating costs. With this priority, Zellers can produce at low costs in comparison to competitors and offer products at low prices in order to meet consumer needs and become an order winner. 2. Three generic strategies are low cost, niche market, and product differentiation. What one of these strategies was Zellers using before 1998? After 1998? Prior to 1998, Zellers was using a low cost strategy. The company targeted budget-minded consumers with the slogan Where the Lowest Price is the Law. In the face of fierce rivalry from WalMart entering the competitive landscape and various operational shortcomings, Zellers made several strategic decisions and changes. After 1998, Zellers was using a niche market strategy, by adjusting its mission to become a moms store. Zellers focused on offering fair value to consumers, as opposed to the lowest price. The company moved away from the low cost dynamic of its self-service policy by investing in labour, having several customer service assistants on the floor. It also focused on investing in more famous brands and private label products. To the companys detriment, it appears that Zellers made these strategic changes in order to compete more directly with WalMart, as they moved away from discounts towards offering everyday low prices on 95% of its merchandise.

Characters and Themes in Richard Wrights Black Boy Essays -- Wright B

Characters and Themes in Black Boy The novel, Black Boy is Richard Wright's autobiographical account of his life beginning with his earliest memories and ending with his departure for the North at age nineteen. In Black Boy, Wright tells of an unsettled family life that takes him from Natchez, Mississippi, to Memphis, Tennessee, back to Jackson, Mississippi, then to Arkansas, back again to Mississippi, and finally to Memphis once more, where he prepares for his eventual migration to Chicago. Most critics agree that Black Boy is a highly selective account, more selective than the term "record" in its subtitle suggests. At the time Wright wrote Black Boy, he was already an accomplished author of fiction. He had published a collection of short stories called Uncle Tom's Children and the highly successful novel Native Son. Wright chose carefully the experiences he includes in Black Boy, the ones he highlights, and the tone in which he writes about them. Many readers even think that he invents some of the incidents. Most agree, however, that Wright crafts his autobiography for the precise impact he wants. Of course, the central character of Black Boy is young Richard Wright. To distinguish between this young character and the author looking back on him many years later and even occasionally inventing incidents about him, this guide follows the standard practice of referring to the former as "Richard" and the latter as "Wright." Wright presents Richard&... ...ight had originally wanted the book to describe his life in Chicago as well, but his publisher decided only to accept the Southern portion. As a result, the book becomes in part an indictment of the South and of its oppressiveness toward blacks.

Drama Analysis Essay

In preparing to write my drama-analysis research paper, I encountered a wealth of information regarding my topic: The Pursuit of Happyness, a film which I believe demonstrates a return to â€Å"classic† movie-making and also a return to film as inspiration rather than lamentation. In my essay, I argued that, despite certain flaws and tendencies to revision historical relaity, The Pursuit of Happyness is a great film , and potentially one of the most important American films. Arriving at this conclusion was a long and interesting road, which was partially established by the research and writing of the paper itself. However, I felt determining my opinions and reinforcing them with information from my research materials was much easier than organizing the paper and expressing my opinions in solid, correctly constructed writing. One approach that I thought would be workable, but which proved to be merely frustrating, was to draw primarily from my own experience and opinions about movies. In my original intention for the paper, I had imagined that I would contrast The Pursuit of Happyness with other films I had seen and contrast, also, the way these various movies made me feel and also what I may have thought about their technical aspects. When I tried to use these kinds of comparisons in the actual research paper, I felt like what had been so obvious to me, as a subjective movie viewer, would be very hard for others to identify with, unless I expended a tremendous amount of space and energy to explain my personal tastes and opinions. What seemed to work better than the inclusion of my extended opinions was the citation of otehrs’ opinions. There seemed to be two advantages in citing material which supported my opinions rather than merely offering my opinions themselves. the first advantage was that i found certain writers expressed my thoughts and ideas just as I would have liked to express them myself. However, because the writers of the articles and essays I cited were professionals, their words were much more succinct and precise than some of my own attempts at saying the same thing. The second benefit of using cited materials was that some of the opinions I cited were, in fact, slightly different â€Å"takes† on opinions of mine, and I don’t think i would have necessarily come to understand these slight variations without having done the research. So, rather than merely supporting my opinions, the research materials actually modified my opinions and sometimes reinforced them very nicely. I felt more confident and determined in my own thesis because I knew authoritative writers from The Wall Street Journal and other professional publications supported some of my views. The only real obstacle I faced with research was whittling down the enormous amount of available information. I think the Internet has made it easier to conduct wide-ranging research quickly, but that in itself makes it much more difficult to sift through all of the available information and pinpoint what will be useful in support of the research paper in question and its thesis. Defining my thesis itself was also challenging. The more I thought about stating my argument simply and directly in a single sentence or a couple of sentences, the less the whole idea seemed meaningful at all. I learned as I continued to work at defining my thesis that it is important to get everything set in a single direction. I’m not sure if I was actually successful in presenting a sharp, simple thesis, but I tried very hard, Essentially, I wanted to show that The Pursuit of Happyness is a good film and one which also returns film-making to a role which it has steadily abandoned over the years in America: that of inspiring people. I believed that the thesis statement is true and feel it is true,. but I found that making my points in writing and spelling them out logically, as well as addressing counter-arguments forced me to reconsider my solidly constructed beliefs. Even though my overall opinions did not change very much, my respect for the logical formation of written arguments grew steadily as I worked on my own paper. Just as it is important to think simply in many way to secure a good thesis for a research paper, it seems important tow rite simply, as well. That is, I think it is important to stay on topic and make your argument point by point rather than digressing or getting too far off of track, no matter how tempting it is to launch into extra thoughts and associations. Even paragraph by paragraph, I think, all of the sentences should be necessary and feed into one another. I wasn’t as aware of this fact before spending time on the drama-analysis research paper. In addition to learning valuable steps and techniques for writing and thinking, the process of writing the paper caused me to re-examine the methods or logic by which I arrive at my opinions in the first place. I think that;s the most important thing I leaned in composing my research paper: that the logic and â€Å"formal† thought that goes into writing a good research paper differs widely from the â€Å"looser† thoughts and associations which typically help define at least my own subjective opinions. I’m not sure IO was aware of just how different my â€Å"everyday† thoughts and logic were from those which are necessary to present a clear, convincing argument which is backed up by solid evidence. In the long run, I feel certain that I could now make, as a consequence of my experience in writing the research paper, a much stronger argument on behalf of my original opinions.

I Am Pleased With My Leadership Style - 1418 Words

Balance is something many leaders do not take into account when leading a group of people. Having excellent leadership skills sometimes is not enough if a leader cannot effectively find a balance in their leadership style. According to the assessment, my leadership style is a combination of procedural and participative. Although these leadership styles are very different from one another, they are very fitting to the type of leader that I am and that I aspire to be. A successful leader cannot be 100% strict and controlling 24/7, this would lead to unhappy team members. However, allowing team members to voice their opinions and regularly consulting with them can taken be taken as a sign of weakness. Therefore, I am pleased with my leadership style results I consider them to be well balanced and great sign of the leader I hope to become. Assessment Results Although I am not surprised that the assessment described me as procedural and participative, I am surprised they are classified as two separate l styles. I find the combination of the two to be ideal, but analyzing each one separately allowed me to see the strengths and weaknesses of each style. First, the procedural leadership style is a lot stricter and controlling while the participative is a lot more flexible. The reason the results do not surprise me is because I can be strict and controlling but I am also flexible and reasonable. Depending on the situation and the person I’m dealing with, I know when it isShow MoreRelatedA Leader At A Senior Leader1162 Words   |  5 PagesWhen I filled out the diagnostic score sheet for a senior leader I know, I was not surprised by the results. This leader is nearing the end of her career and I have often heard her joke that she just doesn’t have â€Å"any adrenaline left† and this is reflected in h er leadership style. The total score I gave this leader was 12 with 4.5 for Noble Purpose, 3 for Ceaseless Ambition, 3.5 for Candor and 1 for Passion. The area where I feel this leader excels is Noble Purpose. I have never been in a meetingRead MoreWhy I Become A Leader Of A School807 Words   |  4 Pagesreviewing my results from the Principal’s Influence Questionnaire, I was not surprised at the power motive that received the highest amount of points. The affiliative motive score was the lowest out of all three, scoring a 65, whereas the personalized power motive came in 2nd place with 105 points. The socialized power motive scored the highest out of all three with 135 points. One thing that I noticed that was different between this survey and the Myers Briggs survey was that Myers Briggs had my personalityRead MoreAdvantages And Disadvantages Of Diversity Portfolio1594 Words   |  7 Pagesand its interaction with this environment. 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