Wednesday, October 30, 2019
Landing on the moon Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Landing on the moon - Research Paper Example The attempt to reach the moon dates back to the mid-20th century. On 13th of September 1959, the Soviet Union made the first object that landed on the surface of the moon. Luna 2 was the name of the spacecraft and was sent without a human accompaniment because of the potential risk that was involved. Despite being the first spacecraft to reach the moon, it was the second to be launched in the direction of the moon after the unsuccessful Luna 1. Through Luna 2ââ¬â¢s movement to the moon, various discoveries were made about the moon. It was established that there was no significant magnetic field on the surface of the moon. In addition, there was never found any evidence of the presence of radiation belts in the moon (NASA 1). The United States also made an effort to have a spacecraft to the moon. This led to the landing of Ranger 4 to the moon in 1962 opening up more opportunities for the expansion of the aviation industry. The reaching of man to the moon was another milestone in the exploration of the moon. On July 20th, 1969 Apollo 11, a spacecraft owned by the United States landed on the surface of the moon with its astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin. This was the first manned spacecraft in the history of moon landings (NASA 1). However, afterwards, there have been other manned as well as unmanned spacecraft that have found their way into the surface of the moon. Between the first manned landings in 1969 to 1972, up to twelve astronauts reached the surface of the moon. Landing to the moon is not a simple affair; it is characterized by a sophisticated technology. A rocket is the equipment that was developed to break the gravity of the earth hence getting to the surface of the moon where there is no gravity. A rocket is propelled to the space where it continues to increase in speed even in vacuum. This
Monday, October 28, 2019
Tescos Marketing and Expansion Strategy Analysis
Tescos Marketing and Expansion Strategy Analysis With contemporary society of fluctuating customer preferences, dynamic market, shifting competition, reforming government, advanced technologies, change in economies, and transforming demography, it is not questionable why companies need to establish new policies, workforce environment, and particularly business strategies. However, it is questionable on how, where, and in what way they are able to improve their strategy paradoxes in order to create a unique selling point or competitive advantages to be outstanding in today and future national and international business markets. Thus for any firm, setting up new strategies is a must and given. Thats why companies need to persistently be aligned with their surrounding environments, either by responding to outside situations, or by proactively forming the commerce that they are operating. Hence, the right and outstanding strategies will be made for the right time and situations. This essay will then discuss about strategies used by Tesco in participating more actively in the national and international market. However before going to Tescos strategies, lets take a look at what is strategy? and strategy characteristics. What is strategy? A strategy is the systematic plan of action and scopes of a business which is designed to achieve benefits for the business through its available configuration of resources within a competitive atmosphere, to meet the needs of consumers preferences and markets and as well as to satisfy shareholder expectations. Strategy Characteristics Strategy has three characteristics according to Wit, B, D Meyer, R (2005) process, content, and context. They are the most important distinction that can be recognised in daily-life strategic obstacle situation. Strategy Process: The process is to get involved with the strategy of who, how, and when how should or is, strategy be created, analyzed, invented, formulated, applied, shifted, and managed; who get involved; and when do the essential actions take place? Strategy Content: The result of the above process is the strategy content. In terms of a query, the strategy content is related to the strategy of what what should be or is the strategy for the corporation and its every single constituent unit? Strategy Context: The result of strategy content and strategy context is referred to strategy context. Talked in terms of a question, the context evolves with the strategy of where where are the strategies process and content embedded in a firm? II/. Tesco Summary Tesco is a public limited company and is the largest retailer in the U.K, while it is the third largest in the world. Tesco has roughly 4,000 stores in 14 countries. It was found by Jack Cohen in 1919. The company headquarter is in Delamere Road, Cheshunt, and Hertford shire, Britain. David Reid is Tesco chairman along with Sir Terry Leahy as a chief executive. The key goods of Tesco are customer products, Groceries, telecom, and financial services. The firm revenue is à £56.910bn in 2010 and its operating profit is à £3.457bn. History: The Coming to Life of Britains Largest Supermarket Tesco came to life in 1919 when Jack Cohen started selling surplus groceries from a stand and made his profit of à £1 from sales of à £4 on his first day. Five years later, 1924, Cohen established first brand of Tesco when he purchased a shipment of tea from a Mr T. E Stockwell and in 1929 Cohen opened Tesco stores flagship. In 1930 a headquarter and warehouse were built as the brand went on its rise, and two years later Tesco turned into a private limited firm. Tescos stock exchange with a share price of 25p was floated in 1947. The expansion of Tesco became stronger as it bought 70 Williams stores in the 1950s along with 200 Harrow stores and in the 1960s, 97 Charles Philips stores and Victor Value chain were purchased by Tesco. The Guinness Book of Records recorded a Tesco store in Leicester as the biggest store in Europe in 1961. The next 13 years, the first petrol stations of Tesco were launched and became the biggest independent petrol retailer in the U.K. By 1979 the Tescos sales reached à £1 billion and twice the amount to à £2 billion in three years. A Tescos slogan was launched in 1992 as every little helps, and followed Tesco Clubcard in 1995, which provided a competitive edge to overcome the UKs biggest food retailer, Sainsbury. And still in the 1990s, 24-hour service was introduced and long with the overseas expansion. A Tesco website, www.tesco.com, was launched in 2000 while it expanded its products rang like clothes, electrical and personal finance goods. In the next 4years, Tesco stepped into broadband market. And two years later, the company announced to run its business in the U.S under the name of Fresh and Easy. Moreover, on 23 February, 2008 the sales rose to à £51.8bn and pre-tax income increased to à £2.8bn. In the same year, Tesco became the only supermarket that was every single postcode area in the U.K when it purchased rival Somerfield stores on remote islands in Scotland. In 2009, www.tesco.com/clothes was introduced and Clubcard was re-launched to double up customers vouchers. Finally in 2010, the firm ran the worlds first zero-carbon supermarket in Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, and also the first Lifespace mall in China. Strategy According to Data Monitor, food retailing analysts stated that: The strategy of Sainsbury is far behind Tesco. Tesco has become a strong core and rapidly grew international stores in the U.K. Meanwhile, it developed good non-food sales, increased retailing services and took advantages of e-commerce effectively. The achievements of Tesco in the recent years have mainly come from the change to higher margin non-food merchandise, expanding overseas branches, and forming a strong UK key business. Low prices, cultivating consumer loyalty, providing a wide range of distinct store concepts and improving retailing services, like insurance and banking, were the companys main successes in competing with the rivals locally and internationally. Furthermore, the firm concentrates on non-food products, which has led to wondering whether it is fair to compare between other grocery shops and Tesco at all as it appears to have grown to be a consumer goods firm. On 22 October, 2002 Tesco chairman David Reid made the declaration in a conference held at the annual institute of Grocery Distribution that: You cannot save your way to prosperity. Growth is vital to shareholder, employees and suppliers. Growing investment is the heart of Tescos strategy. This asset does not simply come from investing back profit. In January 2004, Tescos new shares of 315m were placed to raise funds of à £773m. By doing do, the company was able to pay off the debenture. At the same year on March the company declared to make a joint venture with Topland, a property group, to release the money of à £650m from its UK property portfolio. However, Tescos credit was rated very low due to its borrowing money for expanding the company. Core UK Business From a Tescos preliminary statement of account in 2004, Tesco considers the below points: For a further investment is to improve price position. The total of à £140m in January 2006 is the most recent cost campaigns to improve the company position as Britains best value retailer. For instance, during a general price deflation in 2000, the deflation was between 2-3%, while Tesco was able to deflate the price nearly between 4-7%. During 2003 and 2004, 21 extra stores were opened, of which 13 were the expansions and the rest were new which gives a total of 83. Evidences show that customers love the Express stores, and the firm has increased share of convenience market to 5.9%. Tesco Express stores are the key to further and continued success as executives look to employ the street corner strategy by building more Express stores. The sparkling growth of the business has stemmed from the expense of competitors, particularly Safeway and Sainsbury. Their battle is to detain customers. And the other UK retailers just have no ability to challenge on both store structures and price. Suppliers, researchers, and farmers have mentioned a Tesco strategy that the company does not widely broadcast exploiting the companys monopoly (or to use a more precise terminology, oligopsony) position to decrease the price paid to suppliers. Thus, Tesco does not obtain profit from costumers, but also from suppliers. The Tesco Approach This is the final plank in the firms strategy To create value for our customers, to earn their lifetime loyalty. The two values of the company are: We treat people the way we like to be treated, and No one tries harder than we do for customers. Nevertheless, these two values are selectively applied to shareholder and consumers rather than smaller rivals and farmers. Major changes in lifestyle patterns are fundamental achievement of Tescos ongoing success. Tesco has taken advantage and responded to changes in lifestyle since the inception of the company over the 80 years. Those changes are: more women go into workplace, bigger disposable profit, the arrival of the weekly shop, fewer meal of family cook, and cheap food policy adopted after the Second World War by Britain. Tescos Strategy vs Porter Diamond Model Porter diamond model is an approach designed to get insightful of competitive position of a business in global markets. a/. Demand Conditions The demand factor with respect to production scale is one major issue in this theory. Generally, the productions scale relies on the needs and wants of consumers for the products or brands. In London, 70% of Tescos own brand is highly proffered and ordered by people due to the cheap price strategy of Tesco besides having finest quality in food items such as cake, bread and so on, and non-food products such as 14.95 euro of Tesco Ireland CD compared with over 20 euro of competitors HMV Ireland or Golden Discs selling the same goods. b/. Related and Supporting Industries The second competitive advantage of Tesco is that the firm has related industries that are competitive globally like Wal Mart, throughout advanced aspects like communication infrastructure, modern and skilled labour, and research facilities, and technological know-how. c/. Factor Endowments Tesco has fundamentally gained competitive edge through sophisticated labour and etc as mentioned in Related and Supporting Industries. Finance, insurance, digital services, entertainment services, broadband, phone, clothes, health and beauty, and media products are example of those competitive advantages. Moreover, a wide range of Tesco brand non-food products including Finest ranges and non-food Value are sold perfectly. Meanwhile the selling of these non-food goods is quite high in Ireland. CDs are the best instances which are the results of Tescos technological know-how, communication infrastructure, and research facilities. d/. Firm Strategy, Structure, and Rivalry Tesco has gained this fourth attribute to create unique selling point. Initially, Tescos superior technology of checkouts and stock control system has led the company to the success and expansion over the rivalries. Strategy: The growth of the company over the last two decades has been related to the strategic and image transformation. Its prior achievement is because of an approach, Pile it high, sell it cheap from Jack Cohen. The method was overtaken by the company during 1995. There are main reasons for the success like an inclusive offer and customer focus. In addition the company has another four-pronged method: non-food business, international, core UK business, and retailing services. Structure: The stores in the U.K have been separated into 6 formats based on their structure, which is differentiated by the stores size and range of goods sold. Tesco Extra: is chain of mostly out-of-town hypermarkets. Tesco Hypermarket: is a superstore with a combination of a department store and a supermarket, which gives a very big retail facility with a broad range of goods in one roof. Tesco Metro: is a store that has size between Tesco Express and Tesco stores. The store generally is located on high streets of small town and city centre with typical size of 12,000 square feet. Tesco Express: is a store that is neighbourhood convenience store. It has chiefly food with higher-margin goods owing to the lack of economic scale. Tesco One Shop: is a Tesco only format in Britain which has no the name of Tesco in its name and consists of some of the smallest stores. Tesco Homeplus: is a non-food store. Rivalry: Tesco has Asda, Safeway, and Sainsbury as its domestic competitor. However, these rivals allow Tesco to be a better international challenger since the firm runs the business internationally. Case Study: Tesco in Pakistan Before entering its market in Pakistan, Tesco has used an environmental scanning technique to examine Pakistan information for strategic purposes. First of all, a Tesco study has shown that Pakistan has a high per-capita income which they are able to afford products from Tesco, and so it assists to rise in the employment rate. Meanwhile, the national GDP rate is 5.8%. Thus, people would prefer to purchase various products under one roof in affordable price when they get monthly salaries. Plus, Pakistan is an Islamic country which permits the retailer to sell excluding only alcoholic products that are banned legally. The country political environment is favourable since the rise of Tesco will help the government to raise tax revenue and the intervention of the government will assist the company to process effectively. For Pakistani culture, it offers Tesco a good demand condition as Pakistani people are influenced to get work done as soon as possible, so the Tesco takes the advantage to offer a wide range of products such as grocery, clothing and etc under one roof. The most benefit thing for Tesco is that there is only competitor in Pakistan, Metro which has small market share. Therefore, Tesco has an opportunity to obtain more shares because Tesco will aim all income levels of consumers. Finally, Tesco has chosen a strategy called Greenfield strategy (a strategy that is to enter new market without the help from local business) since the company doesnt need help from local firms as it has only one competitor with small share in the hand. More importantly, the adoption of Greenfield is because the Tesco needs to begin from scratch in Pakistan. For marketing, Tesco would adapt pull strategy, a strategy that spends highly on advertising and customer promotion to build demand and loyalty of customers on a product. Lastly, Tesco chooses two type of financing: 70% from equity financing and 30% from debt financing. Tescos strategy vs Global Strategy The growth and strength of Tesco do not depend only on real within the United Kingdom, but also internationally. When local opportunities have turned less, the company started its expansion over global like the other giant retailers. The rapid gains over Central Europe and Asia and a considerable market share have come from its effective strategy. The main solution to success of Tesco is to lie in its global strategy, in which the company mixes global management in many areas and domestic responsiveness. Tescos tactic generally is to purchase an existing retail chain, or an important share of one, and transform it to subsidiary of Tesco. After that, the company can start the usual strategies by aggressively competing price, undercutting local businesses, selling petrol, creating Clubcard to build customer loyalty, opening 24 hours service and so forth. For its international stores, Tesco prefers large hypermarkets since it is easier to obtain planning permission for these stores in most countries than in the UK. These hypermarkets concentrate on non-food products. According to David Hughes, professor of agribusiness and food marketing, claims that: Retailers from rich countries look for five characteristics in countries high population growth, big population, consumers levels of GDP edging per capita, high growth of income, and poor supermarket presence. With these five characteristics, giant retailers would step their businesses into those countries. Thats why Tesco focuses its expansion to Ex-Soviet nations and South East Asia rather than going to West Europe countires. Case Study: Tesco in Thailand In 1998 Tesco stepped into Thailand by purchasing a great amount of stoke in the Thai-owned Lotus chain of convenience locations. And Thailand was the first south-east Asian country that Tesco ran its business in a large scale, and 31% of Thai market had been captured by Tesco by the end of 2002. Moreover, Tesco Express stores are attached to Exxon Mobil petrol stations. During 2004, the retailer plans to capture the remaining stake in Tesco Lotus. Tesco wanted to point out that it would be sourcing produce domestically, generally gaining the domestic economy, and providing local people jobs. The company also plans to help Thailand local suppliers to access local and global markets, and sell to multinational companies by offering them to develop and improve their service and quality standard. As usual technique, Tesco is very proud of its price cutting technique in South East Asia. There is slogan from Tesco: Like in the UK and Europe, we perform price campaigns to distribute to invincible value for our customers. This seems like declaring a war of opening hour and prices and the local retailers cannot possibly challenge with Tesco strategies. However, Tescos main competitors are not local retailers, but international retailers such as Carrefour and Wal-Mart, and domestic ones that suffer as a result of simply collateral damage. III/. Recommendations The strategies implemented by Tesco both local and international strategies work effectively in competing the local and global markets. For local business, Tesco seems to have a very higher strategy compared to Asda, Safeway, Sainsbury, and other biggest retailers in the UK. Its main four strategies are: non-food approach, retailing services, international strategy, and a strong UK core business. However, its international markets still seem to have troubles as a Tescos bitter experience in France (business collapse). Moreover, the company have too many corporate crime and global activities on the countries it is operating. For example, in Thailand, Tesco was taken to court as it exploited suppliers. It was found guilty on charging slotting fees to carry producers goods, charging suppliers fee of entry, advertising costs and goods show costs, and displaying own-brand items close to similar branded items. If we go to Ireland, we will see that Tesco has been fined by the country govern ment over below cost price selling products which the company tried to undercut other traders. In addition, it has been fined for selling certain goods at a lower in the UK than in Ireland. Plus, Tesco workers in Ireland, in 2001, went on strike due to under payment. Tescos workers received $4.85 per hour, while the union stated 20p to 25p lower than salaries paid by Tesco rivals. Hence, in order to compete with the world largest retailer, Wal-Mart, and to participate more actively in international markets, Tesco needs to improve the poor areas such as the dependence on the UK grocery market, high fossil fuel cost needed to use in transportation network and etc. Suggestion: To improve those poor areas, Tesco should improve market development strategy and product development. Strategic Alliances and Join Developments (Market Development Strategy): By expanding its international markets, Tesco should choose options of global alliances with local markets. This can be considered as a strategy of improvement and can be formed to take advantage current competence and resources. When forming partnerships or joint ventures, Tesco is able to gain and extend its local knowledge and operating expertise of the partner, meanwhile it can include its own supply chain, goods improvement and stores performing skills to distribute a better shopping experience to consumers. By doing so, it can obtain a bigger economic scale and bigger presence of market. Diversification (Product Development): According to schools and Johnson (2003), business environmental changes may create demand for new products and services, while the matrix of Ansoff recommends that a product development strategy needs to be carefully thought by management of a firm, if they want to develop new products for the existing markets. Thus, Tescos expansion and diversification of products mix, the company has to implement internal improvement when new products are built. Moreover, Tesco needs to consider the relation between portfolio diversity and the rationale of the corporate strategy. Thus, Tesco is able to introduce new product lines followed by changes of needs and wants of customers. But this may need more concentration on RD, guiding to additional expense. Supermarket industry understands overcapacity and innovative goods and services that are being the main competitive edge. Thus, a Tescos key driver for product development is innovation. Tesco, for instance, has many formats of stores in the UK and each format is to provide different convenience to shoppers. Therefore, Tesco can create portfolio of different formats for international markets like Far Eastern and Eastern Europe whose stores are hypermarket. By doing so, Tesco can develop the uniqueness of value added which lead to command a premium price. Plus, Technological management of innovations is related to decision-making, so Tesco must exploit the internal powers and reduce internal weaknesses to accomplish sustained unique selling point. IV/. Conclusion Strategies implemented by Tesco are very successful in terms of both national and international strategies. With its effective business strategies such as the Tesco approach, pile it high, sell it cheap, global strategy and etc, they have turned Tesco into the biggest retailer in the UK by overtaking Asda, Sainsbury and other giant retailers, and also made Tesco to become the worlds third largest retailer after Wal-Mart and Carrefour. For the local challenge, Tesco has competitive advantage over all retailers in the UK. Its four outstanding strategies are: non-food approach, retailing services, international strategy, and a strong UK core business. However, to challenge the world number one and number two retailers, Wal-Mart and Carrefour, and to attend more actively in international markets are troubles to challenge. Thus, Tesco needs to reform and improve its poor business strategies and areas. In order to improve those weaknesses, two solutions are suggested: Strategic Alliances and Join Developments (Market Development Strategy) and Diversification (Production Development). Book References: Mintzberg, H, Lampel, J, Quinn, J, B Ghoshal, S (2003) The Strategy Process. 4th ed. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. Sadler, P (2003) Strategic Management. 2nd ed. Great Britain The United States: Kogan Page Limited. Wit, B, D Meyer ,R (2005) Strategy Synthesis. 2nd ed. London: Thomson Learning. Web References: Recruitment and Selection. [Internet] Available from [Accessed 04 February, 20100] A History of Tesco: The Rise of Britains Biggest Supermarket. [Internet] Available from [Accessed 04 February, 2011] Shoaib, R Final Project of Business Policy. [Internet] Available from [Accessed 04 February, 2011] Our History. [Internet] Available from [Accessed 05 February, 2011] (2005) Tesco Case. [Internet] Available from [Accessed 05 February, 2011] (2004) Tesco. [Internet] Available from [Accessed 05 February, 2011] Strategic Planning: Tesco. [Internet] Available from [Accessed 05 February, 2011]
Friday, October 25, 2019
Review Of Shakespears The Tempest :: essays research papers
Why is it that people fawn Shakespeare and have unreasonably high reguard for his works, including The Tempest, and label them as ââ¬Å"immortal classicsâ⬠? Indeed Shakespeareââ¬â¢s works had great significance in the evolution of English literature, but these works, including The Tempest are mostly devoid of significance and literary value in the present day. One can expect to gain little educational benefit of the english language or hightened apreciation for fine literature from the reading of Shakespeareââ¬â¢s titles for reasons enumerate. First of all, the colorful and sophisticated metephoric vernacular style of the language utilized is archaic; even the speech of intellectually refined individuals and other respected literary works do not imploy of this rich style of speech. The poemic composition of The Tempest does not increase oneââ¬â¢s ability to apreciate distinguished literature because the refined and respected works of most other classical writers are in novel form and thus differ highly from Shakesperian works in the literary devices and mannerisms from which they are comprised. The Tempest was written in early seventeeth century England. At this period of history and country the English language was quite different from what it is today in many ways. First, standard, formal vocabulary was different at this time. An great expample is found in the line ââ¬Å"...you bawling, blasphemous, incharitable dog!â⬠(act 1 sc. 1, p. 9). In this line, the word incharitable is the modern equivalent of the word uncharitable. The standard dictionary word has changed prefixes somewhere througout the centuries. Another thing that would have made a further gap between the vernacular in the play and modern English is Shakespeareââ¬â¢s deployment of common language, or slang (although I have no proof because I donââ¬â¢t speak sixteenth century slang). ââ¬Å"A pox oââ¬â¢ your throught...â⬠(act 1 sc.1, p. 9) and ââ¬Å"...give oââ¬â¢er...â⬠(act 1 sc. 1, p. 9). These phrases seem to be slang therms because they are so deviant from there modern english equvalents, ââ¬Å"curses onâ⬠and ââ¬Å"give upâ⬠, respectiveley. What value does learning the archaic vernacular give to the reader. Surely it does not increase thier word power or sophisticate thier vocabulary, for nowhere, not even in among people of high intellecutal refinement such as venerable college professers, is this dead language used. Another distinctive trait of the vernacular used in The Tempest is the heavy use of metaphor. This use of metaphor is so heavy and outlandish that it becomes extrodinarily difficult to interpret and causes the words to fall into chaotic ambiguity. In fact, it is not unreasonable to define the language of the text as sophistry. A great example of heavy metaphor in The Review Of Shakespears "The Tempest" :: essays research papers Why is it that people fawn Shakespeare and have unreasonably high reguard for his works, including The Tempest, and label them as ââ¬Å"immortal classicsâ⬠? Indeed Shakespeareââ¬â¢s works had great significance in the evolution of English literature, but these works, including The Tempest are mostly devoid of significance and literary value in the present day. One can expect to gain little educational benefit of the english language or hightened apreciation for fine literature from the reading of Shakespeareââ¬â¢s titles for reasons enumerate. First of all, the colorful and sophisticated metephoric vernacular style of the language utilized is archaic; even the speech of intellectually refined individuals and other respected literary works do not imploy of this rich style of speech. The poemic composition of The Tempest does not increase oneââ¬â¢s ability to apreciate distinguished literature because the refined and respected works of most other classical writers are in novel form and thus differ highly from Shakesperian works in the literary devices and mannerisms from which they are comprised. The Tempest was written in early seventeeth century England. At this period of history and country the English language was quite different from what it is today in many ways. First, standard, formal vocabulary was different at this time. An great expample is found in the line ââ¬Å"...you bawling, blasphemous, incharitable dog!â⬠(act 1 sc. 1, p. 9). In this line, the word incharitable is the modern equivalent of the word uncharitable. The standard dictionary word has changed prefixes somewhere througout the centuries. Another thing that would have made a further gap between the vernacular in the play and modern English is Shakespeareââ¬â¢s deployment of common language, or slang (although I have no proof because I donââ¬â¢t speak sixteenth century slang). ââ¬Å"A pox oââ¬â¢ your throught...â⬠(act 1 sc.1, p. 9) and ââ¬Å"...give oââ¬â¢er...â⬠(act 1 sc. 1, p. 9). These phrases seem to be slang therms because they are so deviant from there modern english equvalents, ââ¬Å"curses onâ⬠and ââ¬Å"give upâ⬠, respectiveley. What value does learning the archaic vernacular give to the reader. Surely it does not increase thier word power or sophisticate thier vocabulary, for nowhere, not even in among people of high intellecutal refinement such as venerable college professers, is this dead language used. Another distinctive trait of the vernacular used in The Tempest is the heavy use of metaphor. This use of metaphor is so heavy and outlandish that it becomes extrodinarily difficult to interpret and causes the words to fall into chaotic ambiguity. In fact, it is not unreasonable to define the language of the text as sophistry. A great example of heavy metaphor in The
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Marketing and Citibank Essay
ACKNOWLEDGMENT Alhamdulillah, first of all i would like to thank God as finally I was able to finish my assignment that have been given by Marketing lecturer to me. Besides that, not forget also a to my friends Muhammad Kharusani because without his guide me assignment cannot be done properly like this. He always gives supports and guide to me how to do the assignment in purpose to produce a good outcome from research that been studied. Credits also are given to friends class HND1B which help each other to complete this task. Topic that been given by me are regarding concept and process of marketing citibank company. Finally, thank to our beloved friend that always stick together and also work hard to produce a good assignment with all afford and responsibility. Hope that all the effort will give a lot of benefits to me . Not forget also for those who help me complete this assignment direct or indirectly. ABOUT CITIBANK Citibank, a major international bank, is the consumer banking arm of financial services giant Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, later First National City Bank of New York. As of March 2010, Citigroup is the third largest bank holding company in the United States by total assets, after Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase. Citibank has retail banking operations in more than 160 countries and territories around the world. More than half of its 1,400 offices are in the United States, mostly in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Washington, D.C. and Miami. More recently, Citibank has expanded its operations in the Boston, Philadelphia, Houston, and Dallas metropolitan areas. In addition to the standard banking transactions, Citibank offers insurance, credit cards and investment products. Their online services division is among the most successful in the field, citation needed claiming about 15 million users. As a result of the global financial crisis of 2008ââ¬â2009 and huge losses in the value of its subprime mortgage assets, Citibank was rescued by the U.S. government under plans agreed for Citigroup. On November 23, 2008, in addition to initial aid of $25 billion, a further $25 billion was invested in the corporation together with guarantees for risky assets amounting to $306 billion. Since this time, Citibank has repaid its government loans in full. Q1. Present two definitions of marketing and compare both definitions. Provide relevant examples which relate to Citibank case study. Based on Philip kotler definition, Marketing is a social and managerial process whereby individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and value with others. In other words, customer will exchange what their value (e.g money), only if their want is met. Based on my opinion, Philip kotler saying that people change what they want is to gain profit and use their valuable item to change it. In daily life also, we need to satisfy our demand by used exchanging process otherwise we cannot improve in a way of how we live. In wanting to possess such a product, we have to pay a price (cost). Hence, in making a decision to purchase an item, the customer will consider both the value and the price. After we have decided on the product, it can then be procured via the process of exchange or transactions. Based on Citigroup, they are using this strategy to satisfy their customer needs and wants. Based on Rochelle Rucker, Citibank faced a few problems to initiate manual fund problems. When they want to send money from their accounts, they call their banker and then fax, phone or mail in requests to have the transaction processed. Because the process was so complicated, customers complained. Most of the complaints lodged with the department dealt with the time it took to complete the process. So, in order to overcome this problem, Citibank use six sigma program methods to solve it. Six Sigma is a business management strategy seeks to improve the quality of process outputs by identifying and removing the causes of defects (errors) and minimizing variability in manufacturing and business processes. Six sigma used a simple method which is Pareto chart. This chart gives data which has the highest problem occur most often. A team composed of bankers and operations people identified the entire funds transfer process, tabulating defects and analyzing them using a Pareto chart. One of the methods is using internal call-back procedure, which required staff to call the person requesting the funds transfer to make sure that the instructions were correct and hadnââ¬â¢t been altered. So in this way, Citibank can ensure that their customer has no problem and problem solved. By using this six sigma method Citibank strives for perfect processes to satisfy customer. In Citibank Malaysia, they have proved their commitment for their customer and community live. A large aspect of Citibankââ¬â¢s corporate citizenship in Malaysia focuses on helping people of all ages better understand and practise financial management. In 2010, Citibank Foundation allocated grants totalling USD208,000 for their community-based projects. They have worked with Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) and invited a new collaboration with ERA Consumer Malaysia to launch the second season of the ââ¬Å"Stretching Your Ringgitâ⬠program on TV1, TV2 and Radio RTM. The initiative followed encouraging survey findings that showed more than 70% of Malaysians polled realised the importance of financial management, especially those in the low-middle income bracket. According to American Marketing Association Board of Directors Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customer s, clients, partners, and society at large. In this case, AMA said that marketing occur when both of the company involve when there is activity among them. Citibank use the same concept which they provide services to their customer to save the money and make it easier. Citibank also provide bank loan, Credit card, Deposits, Investment, Citigold which gives benefit to customer. Citibank also use communicating to contact with their customer to provide services or solving problem. Citibank provide services to customer which can give both benefit. for example Citibank provide bank loan and this can reduce burden for people which has low income. As for the Citibank also, they make interest for those who borrow bank loan and this will give benefit to the firm. Both of definition gives the same meaning in different way. Philip kotler emphasize of the customer needs and wants. We can say Citibank really care about their customer so they will try the best to overcome any problem that customer faced. In india Citibank care their customer, this can be shown by their customer ââ¬Å"I can safely say that Citi provides the best card services for India, which is why most of my spend is on Citi and I recommend it to my friends. A lot of the success is the result of having passionate, committed, service oriented people like Manish. My kudos to himâ⬠. (J sajeev, 2011).American Marketing Association which more to creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society. The difference between this concept is AMA is more to set of activity which no related to customer needs and wants. Citibank satisfy their customer and this is the key of how Citibank more success than the others banker in Malaysia. Compare to Maybank Malaysia, Citibank is much older than the others banker in Malaysia. We can say that Citibank is more experience in handling money. Q2. Identify at least three main characteristics of a marketing-oriented organization of Citibank case study and provide an examples for each characteristic. What is marketing orientation? Marketing orientation is a philosophy focused on discovering and meeting the needs and desires of its customers through its product mix. Unlike past marketing strategies that concentrated on establishing selling points for existing products, market orientation works in reverse, attempting to tailor products to meet the demands of customers. In essence, market orientation can be thought of as a coordinated marketing campaign between a company and its customers. Nowadays, business firm use this concept to make their customer stick with their product. We can say that the idea that companies can create a product and sell its features to an eager buying public is no longer concrete. With an increasingly global economy and more and more choices for consumers, companies must be willing to adapt their mark et orientation to stay competitive. Based on my opinion, nowadays in Malaysia, we can see a lot of bank is available. So the competition becomes higher than before. In order to attract more people to use their services, Citibank has to adapt with current situation. Citibank use marketing oriented business to identifying customer, consumer needs and wants. In Malaysia, Citibank provide Islamic banking way to satisfy their customer. By using PEST analysis, we can say that Malaysian people are majority muslim and the idea of Citibank to provide Islamic banking which satisfy customer are brilliant. So people can enjoy with low interest rates given. Citibank in Malaysia facing a problem regarding high interest rate offered, so they make a research and develop a new system which enable customer use their Islamic banking. Another services that they provide is Citibank Guard Savings is The first savings account in Malaysia thatââ¬â¢s enhanced with free Takaful coverage against critical illness. Citibank Home i Partner provide Capped Rate, Flexible Payment and Daily Calculation, Citibank Checking Account I is a system provided by checking account that honours the Islamic banking principle of guaranteed safe custody approved by the Shariah body. Based on the services provided by Citibank, we can conclude that Citibank care about their customer needs and develop a new system according to community lived. Just like the others bank, Citibank online will make all the transactions become much easier as customer can save valuable time and money. No more hassles with long queues, parking and travelling. As we can see, Citibank developing products to meet customer needs and wants. So they come out with product and services which give benefit to their customer Credit Cards, Ready Credit, Home Loans, Loans, Deposits, Investments, Insurance, Islamic Banking. So this is basic need in any of bank in Malaysia. What is the differences between Citibank and the other bank? So letââ¬â¢s take an example of Citibank ready card. Citibank Ready Credit is an Unsecured Personal Overdraft with Checking Facility that allows you to access cash easily in any amount in excess of your credit balance up to the approved overdraft limit. With ready card, we can access our balance in credit card even if the amount has exceeds the limits. As a fact, Maybank did not have their owned ready card. Citibank ready card is benefit to their customer as it is convenient to pay, pay for amount that we use. Another characteristic of a marketing oriented business is making the product is available to customer at a righ t time and place. We already know about product and services of Citibank as Credit Cards, Ready Credit, Home Loans, Loans, Deposits, Investments, Insurance, Islamic Banking. Letââ¬â¢s take an example of Credit cards, before this Citibank only produced normal credit for their customer only. But now, Citibank produced a new credit card Citibank at work. Citibank at Work takes Citibankââ¬â¢s world-class consumer banking products and services right to the doorstep of employees at their workplace. Apart from enjoying customized privileges across a wide range of products including banking accounts, credit cards, loans, deposits and insurance on-site, employees of these companies also have access to financial seminars and lifestyle events, tailored to their specific profiles and needs. By using Citibank at work, business company can do their job efficiently as they have their own business credit card. Q3. Explain four elements of the marketing concept and relate your answer with Citibank case study. FOUR ELEMENTS OF MARKETING ORIENTED ORGANIZATION Production Concept is a concept where goods are produced without taking into consideration the choices or tastes of your customers. It is one of the earliest marketing concepts where goods were just produced on the belief that they will be sold because consumers need them. It holds that customers will prefer products that are widely available and inexpensive. Manager focusing on this concept concentrate on achieving high production efficiency, low cost, and mass distribution. From my opinion, production concept emphasize on distribution of product. This type of concept are easier to use. Based on the case study, Citibank provided more credit card for their customer. Each customer could have more than one credit card. Product Concept holds that consumers will favor those products that offer the most quality, performance, or innovative features. Managers focusing on this concept concentrate on making superior products and improving them over time. They assume that buyers admire well-made products and can appraise quality and performance. However, these managers are sometimes caught up in a love affair with their product and do not realize what the market needs. Related to the case study, Citibank improved their product to satisfy customer need. Before this, customer got problem to use their credit card where credit card can be used for loan only. But after an improvement, Citibank come out with Citibank Premier Miles card, Platinum, Citi business, Air-Asia Citibank gold. Next elements use is selling concept. It holds that consumers and businesses if left alone, will ordinarily not buy enough of the selling companyââ¬â¢s product. Selling concept also is an idea in marketing that if customers are left to themselves, they will not make the effort to buy a companyââ¬â¢s products. Therefore, it dictates, companies must be aggressive in pushing their sales. Based on my opinion, if company want to sell their product by using selling concept, they have to be aggressive in promoting their product. Not like the older ways where they promote their product by using agents. As for the Citibank case study, nowadays they advertise their product through internet and media more efficiently. Marketing concept is a business philosophy that combines above three business orientation. It holds that the key to achieving itââ¬â¢s organizational goals consists of company being more effective than competitors in creating, delivering, and communicating customer value to itââ¬â¢s selected target customers. These three philosophies are the product, selling, and marketing philosophies. Even though each philosophy has a particular time when it was dominant, a philosophy did not die with the end of its era of dominance. In fact, all three philosophies are being used today. The best way to meet the organizationââ¬â¢s goals is also by meeting customer needs and wants. The marketing conceptââ¬â¢s emphasis is to understand the customers before designing and producing a product for them. With the customerââ¬â¢s wants and needs incorporated into the design and manufacture of the product, sales and profit goals are far more likely to be met. What are Citibank do to satisfy their customer needs based on marketing concept is they make swot analysis to know what can be done to attract more customer in Citibank. Citibank (2009) has mention that their customers can have their banking activities in the Islamic principles. This not only able attracts more customer but Citibank are show that they understand their customer need in the daily banking activities. This principle have apply in Citibank branch in Malaysia. ââ¬Å"What are the reasons behind the recent growth in Islamic finance? One is the strong demand from a large number of immigrant and non immigrant Muslims for Sharia-compliant financial services and transactions.â⬠(Low chee hua, 2010) In order to compete in the rising of the demand of Islamic Banking, Citibank has introduced the Islamic Banking to their customers. So basically, marketing concept is satisfy customer problem and solved it by looking of what customer need. The societal marketing concept was an offshoot of the marketing concept wherein an organization believes in giving back to the society by producing better products targeted towards society welfare. Some have questioned whether the marketing concept is an appropriate philosophy in an age of environmental deterioration, resource shortages, explosive population growth, world hunger and poverty, and neglected social services. The marketing concept possibily sidesteps the potential conflicts among consumer wants. Citibank also take part in their societal marketing. Citibank became a major sponsor of the Sydney Swans in 2005, who is play in the AFL. The marketing concept is about matching a companyââ¬â¢s capabilities with customer wants. This matching process takes place in what is called the marketing environment. Businesses do not undertake marketing activities alone. They face threats from competitors, and changes in the political, economic, social and technological environment. All these factors have to be taken into account as a business tries to match its capabilities with the needs and wants of its target customers. An organisation that adopts the marketing concept accepts the needs of potential customers as the basis for its operations. Success is dependent on satisfying customer needs. So basically, Citibank use marketing concept to attract more customer to use their services. One of the techniques used is credit card promotion such as Instant Rewards at Shell, Dominoââ¬â¢s pizza, Samsung S3, Asia web direct. Before this, if customer wants to pay bill or loan they have to go to Citibank. But nowadays, they upgrade their system to online banking so that customer can pay instantly and reduce waste time. Q4. Provide an indication of the likely costs and benefits to Citibank case study in adapting a marketing approach. In Citibank, there are many advantages and disadvantages of a marketing approach. Customer Satisfaction In customer satisfaction, it refers to which a productââ¬â¢s perceived performance matches a buyerââ¬â¢s expectation. It is a measure of how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation. We can see based on their services of Citibank do for their customer. In Malaysia, Even the Citibank atm machine is less than the other bank, but their services to customer is good. Citibank will try their best to solve problem of customer credit card so that they will not lose their customer. Customer Care Customer care is a phrase that is used to describe the process of taking care of our customers in a positive manner. The term is used in place of complaint handling due to its positive focus, and is a reminder that customer satisfaction is a priority. Related to Citibank case study, they care about their customer. we can see that Citibank provide customer services so they will know any problem of customer faced. There is a few customer having problem regarding Citibank delay card. As banks are losing their customer fast, they are coming up with different strategies to retain their customers. ââ¬ËWhen/where was the last time you made the transaction with the card?ââ¬â¢; I told him I donââ¬â¢t remember anymore since I have a few cards and I have not been using Citibank Card for a while. He insisted me to answer that question before he can proceed, and I insisted I that I donââ¬â¢t remember and suggested him to ask another verification questionâ⬠. (Kclau, 2010) Quality of services and products. In company, they must have their own quality of services and products. It is designed to constantly improve the quality of their products, services and marketing concept. In Citibank, their main objective at Citibank is to provide reliable and quality services to our customers. Our customer service policy has the overall aim of ensuring that our customers are provided with services which are reliable and best suited to their needs. They have to manage and ensure that quality control standards for services are met. Citibank also have online credit card services so they can login anytime, anywhere to view their account details and activities. DISADVANTAGES OF CITIBANK There is one reason and one reason only that itââ¬â¢s so easy to get a store credit card: they are confident that they will make money off of customer purchase. The interest charged on store cards, as compared to bank credit cards, is at least several percentage points higher and often as much as 10-15% higher. As well, annual fees or sign-up fees may run twice as much as those of standard credit cards. Means that, Citibank charged is higher than the other banks in Malaysia, so thatââ¬â¢s why only businessman use Citibank. It involved high cost in retaining the customers. And also, the target market for Citibank is higher because they only target their customer on businessman. CONCLUSION As overall conclusion, Citibank is one of the multinational companies that successful in online based financial institution that operate in Malaysia. Citibank able to understand the culture of local citizen (promo Islamic Banking Services), able to gain their market share by solved the geographical problem (online banking services), able to cost cutting by promo the online banking culture to their customer, and able to compete with the local financial institution. We know that Citibank is really cares about their customer and try their best to satisfy customer needs and wants. Based on this concept of marketing, Citibank now are well known in all around the world. Although it is a foreign company but Citibank is a good model to local financial institution to learn their strategies to increase their competitive capability to compete in the global market.
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
An Examination of Relationship Between Anxiety and Insomnia
Anxiety is commonly associated with insomnia. Many research have been done in this area. The results of the previous research studies often revealed strong relationships between anxiety and insomnia. Often, anxiety and insomnia can be frequently associated with depression. This research study was conducted among Hunter College students in order to investigate a relationship between anxiety and insomnia. There were 22 students participating in the research, between ages 18 and 34. Twelve of them were males and ten were females. There was a multiple-choice questionnaire, adapted from other research studies, with four possible answers from 0 ââ¬â not at all bothered to 3 ââ¬â severely bothered. The obtained results fully supported the hypothesis that there is a significant positive correlation between anxiety and insomnia. The higher is anxiety level, the higher is insomnia level. Nevertheless, the research had its own limitations, and further modifications of a research design could be done in this area of study. An Examination of a Relationship Between Anxiety and Insomnia Anxiety is commonly associated with insomnia. A number of research studies in this area support the idea that insomnia and anxiety have common mechanisms that underlie or maintain these difficulties (Fairholme, 2012). Some studies investigate the association between anxiety, depression and insomnia, which often co-occur at the same time (Jansson-Frojmark, 2008). However, the question about cause-effect in this relationship between anxiety and insomnia still remains. In his article, Pacana (2010) stated that the anxiety disorders became the most common mental disorders in the United States. Nineteen percent of the population suffers from these afflictions every year. There are six major types of anxiety ââ¬â Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Phobias, Social Anxiety, Panic Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. Approximately one fifth of individuals seek treatment for these disorders. The estimated coast of anxiety disorders in the country is about 50 billion dollars in any given year. Pacan (2010) also wrote, that anxiety is a ââ¬Å"product ââ¬Å" of the central nervous systemââ¬â¢s physiological and emotional response to ambiguous sense of fear or threat. Anxiety may appear even when there is no presence of actual life or health threats. Sometimes, anxiety can be so overwhelming and exhausting that it becomes a threat itself after a while. An Anxiety Disorder develops after the anxiety becomes severe, easy to trigger, occurs too frequent, or stays for too long. According to Pacan (2010), an anxiety is difficult to describe or measure. Luckily, psychologists have a number of tools for assessing a personââ¬â¢s level of anxiety. A Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) is one of the methods administered by Aaron Beck. Itââ¬â¢s a 21question multiple-choice questionnaire that measures an individualââ¬â¢s anxiety level. There are four possible answers for each question scored from 0 (NO not at all) to 3 (YES and I could barely stand it). Each answer indicates the emotional state of an individual in the last week, expressed as common symptoms of anxiety (such as unsteadiness, wobbliness, nervousness, or difficulty in breathing, etc. ). The cumulative scores range from 0 to 63, which measure the anxiety level. The higher the score is, the more severe is the anxiety level. The higher scores indicate that an individual may have very serious and health-threating implications, like sleep disturbance or more severe form of sleep deprivation ââ¬â insomnia. Jansson (2007) indicated that insomnia is another prevalent condition in the population of the United States and worldwide. The prevalence of insomnia ranges from nine to twelve percent in adulthood. Generally, insomnia is viewed as a persistent condition and defined as number of intertwined conditions, such as difficulty getting to sleep at bedtime, waking up too early in the morning, not getting enough sleep at night, etc. Individuals experiencing insomnia also complain about negative daytime symptoms, like distress or impairment in social, or other vital areas of functioning. According to Bogan (2007), insomnia is associated with significant health-related consequences. The estimated healthcare coast of insomnia in the United States is approximately 14 billion dollars. People with abnormal sleep are more likely to experience anxiety and depression and suffer other serious consequences, like drug or alcohol abuse and an increased incidence of medical and psychiatric disorders. Unfortunately, severe insomnia may cause driving-related accidents and an overall increase in mortality rate. Although there are many factors that can contribute to sleeping disturbance, one of the most known is Anxiety. Buckner (2008) stated that insomnia is commonly associated with anxiety, and that sleep quality impairments, such as insomnia, can constitute a significant risk factor for development of anxiety disorders. The study used bivariate correlations to examine a relationship between social anxiety and insomnia in the undergraduate students. There was an association found between social anxiety and sleep dissatisfaction, sleep-related functional impairment, perception of a sleep problem to others, and distress about sleep problems. Jansson-Frojmark (2008) conducted research study about bidirectional relationship between anxiety and depression and insomnia. The revealed results indicate that anxiety and insomnia are significantly inter-correlated. The study used bidirectional correlation to demonstrate the relationship between anxiety and depression separately, and then their relationship with insomnia, using a prospective design in the general population. Although the research showed the bidirectional interrelationship between anxiety, depression and insomnia, the question about cause-effect relationship, where anxiety and depression influence insomnia, or vise versa, still remains. In 2012, Fairhome conducted research study about emotional disorders, insomnia, and common factors that underlie or maintain these difficulties. The results supported a hypothesis that common mechanisms are involved for emotional disorders and insomnia. One of the factors that may explain these mechanisms is anxiety sensitivity (AS). AS might function as a mechanism for the maintenance of sleep deprivation in order of anxiety and mood disorders. Anxiety sensitivity is a fear of anxiety-related sensations, which has been theorized as a heritable risk factor involved in development and maintenance of emotional disorders. For instance, an individual can believe that racing heart will cause a heart attack or that temporal loss of a sense of reality will transform into insanity. That is, an individualââ¬â¢s faulty beliefs of the danger of emotional disorders or sleep disturbance may increase physical symptoms of anxiety or insomnia, or both. The aim of this research study is to examine the relationship between anxiety and insomnia among college students. It was hypothesized that there will be a positive correlation between anxiety and insomnia, that the higher is an anxiety level the higher is an insomnia level. Method Participants A convenience sample of Hunter College students was used. There were 22 participants (N = 22) voluntarily participating in the research study, from the ages of 18 to 34 years old, with an average age of 21 (SD = 3. 28). There were twelve males (54. 5%) and ten females (45. %) of different demographic backgrounds, living mostly in the city of Manhattan or the other four boroughs of New York City. All of the participants were randomly selected and were proposed to participate in the research. Materials A questionnaire form was used to collect the data (See Appendix). Twenty questions about anxiety were adapted from Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) (Beck, 1988), and 20 questions about insomnia were a dapted from Pittsburg Insomnia Rating Scale (PIRS) administered by Moul, D. E. and other researchers in their preliminary study of the test-retest reliability and concurrent validities of the PIRS in 2002. There are 66 questions (For example, ââ¬Å"Consider the quality of your sleep in the last week: Difficulty getting to sleep at bedtimeâ⬠) multiple-choice questionnaire with four possible answers for each question (For example 0 ââ¬â Not at all bothered; 1 ââ¬â Slightly bothered; 2 ââ¬â Moderately bothered; 3 ââ¬â Severely bothered) (Moul, 2002). The ordered response options for the questions were adapted from PIRS (Moul, 2002). For the answers for each of 40 questions the Likert scale was used from zero to three (0 ââ¬â Not at all bothered, 1 ââ¬â Slightly bothered, 2 ââ¬â Moderately bothered, 3 ââ¬â Severely bothered). I went to the third floor of the Hunter College (695 Park Ave building), during the fall 2012 semester and started asking passing by students to participate in my research. Each participant received a consent form and a self-report questionnaire. They were asked to fill in questionnaire about factors that influence good sleep patterns. The participants were told to finish all 40 questions by filling in the numbers that best corresponded to their opinion about each item. After the data was collected, the cumulative scores for anxiety and insomnia were counted for each participant, and the data were collected in an excel file. Then the SPSS program was run in order to organize and interpret the raw data. Results A total number of 22 participants (N = 22, SD = 3. 28) participated in the research. Ten of them were females (45. 5%) and twelve were males (54. 5%), with an average age of 21 (36. 4%), a variance of 10. 7, and a range of 16. The youngest participant was 18 years old, and the eldest was 34 years old (See Table 1). The mean anxiety score was 15. 95 (SD = 10. 55), with a range of 40. A mean score for insomnia was 24. 27 (SD = 15. 63), with a range of 54. The minimum scores for anxiety and insomnia were zero and five, and the maximum scores were 40 and 59. To determine whether there was a significant positive correlation between anxiety and insomnia, the Pearsonââ¬â¢s Correlation test was conducted. There was a significant correlation obtained for anxiety and insomnia, r (22) = . 74, p < . 01 (See Table 2). Discussion The obtained results fully support the hypothesis that there is a relationship between anxiety and insomnia. The results indicate that the relationship between anxiety and insomnia is strong and positive (See Figure 1), meaning that anxiety and insomnia levels change in the same direction. For instance, when the anxiety level goes up, the insomnia level goes up too. Generally speaking, the association between anxiety and insomnia indicates that individuals who are vulnerable to stress and other emotional disturbances are more likely to experience sleep deprivation at normal sleep time hours. Individuals who suffer from bad night sleep are more likely to feel anxious the next day. In this research the minimum score of zero for anxiety (See Table 1) indicates that at least one participant did not fill in any number other than zero within the anxiety questions in the questionnaire. However, the minimum score of five within the insomnia questions means that all of the participants experienced insomnia at the time of conducting research. All of that could probably have different explanation for studentââ¬â¢s insomnia. It could be caused by something other than anxiety, like a physical problem, or loud neighborhood, etc. The student could simply not be honest about his or her anxiety, filling in zeros for every anxiety question. The results that were obtained in this research study are very similar to the results from previous research studies about anxiety and insomnia relationships, which were mentioned above (Buckner, J. D. , 2008, Fairhokme, C. P. , 2012, Jansson-Frojmark, M. , 2008, and Jansson, M. , 2007). In the Fairholme (2012) research it was discussed that individuals with anxiety sensitivity have a fear that their sleeping problems are related to some kind of health problem, which can make the individuals even more anxious and more likely to acquire serious disorders, like chronic insomnia. In this case a situation becomes a vicious circle. An individual gets more anxious because cannot sleep well at night, and he or she gets problems with falling asleep because he or she is too anxious about whole situation. It is possible that some of the students from our research have AS, which affected their good sleep patterns. This research results do not show any evidence for cause-effect relationship between anxiety and insomnia, though. It is hard to say whether anxiety causes insomnia, or the other way around, or whether anxiety and insomnia cause each other. It is hard to draw serious conclusions about what actually caused insomnia and anxiety in the observed students in this research study. It is also hard to say if participants had anxiety, or depression, or both due to the lack of possibility to differentiate anxiety from depression in this research. Sometimes anxiety and depression have the same symptoms, and that could have resulted in some errors in the questionnaire in this research. In the Jansson-Frojmark (2008) research study it was stated that relationship between anxiety and depression and insomnia is inter-correlated. Moreover, it was said that these three factors could simply co-occur in some cases. For example, an individual suffers from anxiety, which makes him or her experience insomnia, and whole that situation makes an individual be depressed. In this study, the combination of anxiety, depression and insomnia could be present conditions for some or for all of the participants. Although we cannot approve a cause-effect relationship between anxiety and insomnia, it is essential to say that sleep quality impairments can serve as a significant factor for anxiety disorders development or vice versa. According to Buckner research study (2008) individuals with history of insomnia are at greater risk for the later emergence of an anxiety disorder. When an individual had bad night sleep, he or she can feel weak, disorganized, tired, or simply he or she can feel moody or even mad. If the individual experiences the same problems over and over again for a long-term period, he or she can develop a fear from experiencing problems with sleep. For example, ââ¬Å"I am so afraid I will not be able to fall asleep tonight again, and that makes me so anxious. After a while, that fear of insomnia can be transformed into an anxiety disorder. In this research a maximum score for insomnia is 59, comparing to anxiety maximum score of 40 can indicate that on average insomnia occurs in bigger degree than anxiety in these participants. That could possibly mean that insomnia in the participants was associated with factors other than anxiety during the time of conducting the study. For example, a partic ipant has a snoring roommate, or there is construction outside making an annoying noise early in the morning. In this case, without talking to each participant individually, it is impossible to conclude what was a real reason for the sleep disturbance, and for how long a participant has been experiencing it. There are few possible limitations of this research study, like a small size of a sample, specific population ââ¬â Hunter College students, and lack of access to information about participants. The convenient sample size is not quiet enough for generalizing the obtained results. Twenty-two participants cannot fully reflect the real situation regarding relationship between anxiety and insomnia. Small sample in this research could lead to getting a Type I error, the obtained result is probably not significant as we think it is. Perhaps, most of the participants were interested in the research just because they did have both problems ââ¬â anxiety and insomnia presented in their lives at a moment of conducting the research study. Moreover, any college students often have anxiety and insomnia occurring in the end of the semester (the research study was conducted in the end of the semester of fall, 2012). Conceivably, students were getting through the tests and exams at this particular time, and all that could cause anxiety and insomnia during a short-term period. Another reason to be concerned about a validity of the results is that we do not know enough information about the participants, like if they have anxiety or insomnia occurred earlier, and how many times before. Some of the participants could simply be taking some medications, which were prescribed to prevent or trigger the emergence of anxiety and insomnia. Despite these limitations, this research study contributes to the future revenue of anxiety and insomnia research studies. For the future work in this area, it would be interesting to add some questions about depression to questionnaire, and ask more details about participantââ¬â¢s life events and possible stressors. Gender differences may also play a substantial role in this research study. Females are more likely to experience emotional disruptions than males. For instance, according to Bogan (2007) young women are especially vulnerable to insomnia and it seems to increase with age by 20% ââ¬â 50%. Men experience insomnia 1. 4 ââ¬â 1. 7 times less than women. It is essential to make a gender type as an independent variable for the future research design.
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