Publix Supermarkets Essay Example for Free

Publix Supermarkets Essay The factors that are currently involved in successfully competing in the supermarket industry are the same factors that have led to the success of Publix supermarkets. These factors include delivering superior customer value, caring for people, and delivering quality products and service. Publix has gone a step further and developed four success drivers for the company; knowing the business, knowing the product, knowing the customer, and continuously training people. Due to the fact that customers are more knowledgeable and demanding than ever before, change is constant throughout the supermarket industry. As a result, to remain competitive for the next 10 years and beyond, knowing what customers need and being able to meet those needs is be critical. For example, as the population becomes more diverse, there will be a greater demand for various ethnic food products. Similarly, as health and nutrition become more of a national focus, there will be a greater demand for high quality foods that are rich in nutrition, as well as organic products, etc. In addition, technology such as self checkout stations in supermarkets and online shopping capability will continue to change the landscape of the supermarket industry. What are the values of Publix’s organizational culture; employees; customers; shareholders; suppliers; and competitors? Which ones do you consider to be value adders and which do you see as value destroyers as Publix attempts to become the premier quality food retailer in America? Publix has a corporate culture founded on the philosophy of deeply caring for people. Publix employees understand that they are not only in the grocery business, but also in the people business. As a result, taking care of associates, customers, suppliers, and others in the community is a priority. The result of Publix employees continue to please their customers, more customers look to Publix for their shopping needs. At the same time, employees and associates are made to feel valuable through recognition programs, extensive training programs, etc. Publix believes that their employees will not have the ability to make customers happy if they are not happy themselves. By investing in their employees, Publix has created a culture of loyalty, pride, and job satisfaction. By making a commitment to people and creating lasting relationships with employees, customers, suppliers, and the community, Publix has positioned itself as an industry leader. This philosophy and corporate culture play a large role in the success of the company and can only be considered as value adders, not value destroyers. What factors are currently influencing a customer’s decision to shop at Publix? Why have competitors been unable to duplicate such success factors successfully? Publix’s mission statement very clearly states that Publix is passionately focused on customer value. Essentially, the company is just committed to satisfying the needs of its customers better than its competitors. While the competition is able to offer good prices and quality products, Publix stands out in the minds of its customers for providing delightful customer service in every shopping experience. There is no doubt that Publix needs to maintain competitive prices and quality products in order to be successful. However, these are easily duplicated. On the other hand, providing a delightful customer experience comes from the culture of an organization committed to creating superior value. This is what sets Publix apart from its competitors. Analyze how PublixDirect’s processes were used to add value. In hindsight, what should the company have done differently to keep PublixDirect a viable business model? PublixDirect’s business model sought to add value by utilizing a centralized direct fill fulfillment approach. In addition, PublixDirect was limited to a 35-mile radius in South Florida. The company utilized a 140,000 square foot distribution center divided into separate departments, and operated its own bakery dedicated to the online venture. The company utilized the latest technology for order taking and fulfillment, outbound logistics, and payment. PublixDirect was founded on the same philosophy as Publix supermarkets with the goal of delivering superior customer value. The goal was to offer customers a convenient alternative to traditional grocery shopping with prices similar to that of local supermarkets while offering superior product quality and customer service. Unfortunately, PublixDirect was unable to sustain operations. Initially, the business model appeared as though it would be successful, but that proved not to be the case. In hindsight, the company should have done more extensive research about its potential customers, and done more to attract the type of consumers originally targeted which were dual income households with incomes exceeding $75,000. What were the factors that led to the demise of PublixDirect? What does it take to create a successful online operation in the United States? High delivery costs, distribution center costs, and low customer demand were all factors that contributed to the demise of the PublixDirect operation. To date, none of the various online gorecery operations I ntroduced in the United states have been able to turn a profit, and therefore none have been able to sustain operation long term. However, the primary problem seems to be the inability to turn profits due to the high costs associated with distribution centers. In order to create a successful online grocery operation here I n the United States, it would be best to follow the same model that U. K. based Tesco has successfully implemented. Rather than utilize distribution centers for order fulfillment, Tesco uses a â€Å"store-pick† model in which orders placed online are simply picked from store shelves. Delivery costs are added to the cost of the groceries. This model has proven to be successful in the United Kingdom and could very well be successfully implemented here in the United States as well. The warehouse/distribution center model has the potential to be cheaper long-term, but the large up-front costs have proven to be enough to put several online grocers out of business before they were able to turn profits.

How the Media Affects the Self Esteem and Body Image of Young Girls Ess

The misconception of what is beautiful can be detrimental to young girls. In a television industry attempt to sell goods, they are depicted as sexy. Creating a need for parents to intervene and present a more realistic and normal view of physical beauty. Today, TV presents sexually based images crafted to appeal to young girls. Unfortunately, they are led to believe that their value is only skin deep, causing flawed expectations, illusions, and wrong information about the truth of the physical body in the real world. In an attempt to look the part some have fallen victim to eating disorders, while others have exchanged childhood innocence for an Adult view of what is sexy. When girls are disheartened over their inability to look like some media idol or doll, then it is time to pay attention and ask why. Psychologist Levine and Kilbourne, emphasize a need to stay more connected, and finding out why children feel they have to compete with the images of people they see in the media (So Sexy So Soon 27). The idea of looking sexy may be fine for adults, but the notion of sexy little girls is somehow disturbing. TV is setting the agenda and succeeding as it paints the perfect girl, as tall, skinny, tan, pretty, and rich. TV commercials sell sexy because sexy sells, and is now targeting younger audiences. A preteen viewing a Bratz Dolls commercial will be prompted to visit their web site, where she will be greeted with attractive dolls dressed in sexy outfits. The dolls portray an image of teenage girls with large attractive eyes, lush glossy lips, and dressed in the latest fashion. Psychologists Lamb and Brown make the following observation â€Å"Dressing for fashion a’la Barbie or Lil’ Bratz dolls and dressing for physical ... ...ldren is the objective. All commerce works on supply and demand if consumers continue to buy into selling sexy to kids, then these negative outcomes will continue. Works Cited Crow, Scott J. et al. "Increased mortality in bulimia nervosa and other eating disorders." American Journal of Psychiatry. 166. 12. (2009): 1342+. General OneFile. Web. 25 Nov. 2010. Hibberd, James "Tuned-in kids get turned on earlier; study links adult-aimed TV to sex at younger age." Hollywood Reporter 409.35 (2009): 6+. General OneFile. Web. 4 Nov. 2010. Lamb, Sharon, Lyn Mikel Brown. Packaging Girlhood. â€Å"Rescuing Our Daughters From Marketers’ Schemes.† New York. St Martin’s Press, 2006: 303. Print. Levine, Diane E, Jean Kilbourne. So Sexy So Soon. Ballantine Books, 2009: 209. Print. "Did You Know That?" Skipping Stones. May-Aug. 2009: 29. General OneFile. Web. 4 Nov. 2010.

John Locke on Tacit and Unintended Consent Essay

In his Second Treatise on Law and Government, John Locke outlines clear and coherent standards for what constitutes a legitimate government and what persons one such government would have authority over. Both are determined by citizens’ acts of consenting to relinquish to the government part of their natural authority over their own conduct. Unfortunately, the situation becomes much less clear once we consider how his standards would apply to the political situation existing in the real world today. If we continue to subscribe to Locke’s account without altering its standards, we would see a precipitous drop in the number of people whose interests existing governments are responsible for serving. In this paper I will show that with certain changes and clarifications to Locke’s standards, the responsibilities of existing governments need not be allowed to shrink so drastically. This creates a tradeoff, however. Changing the standards to apply more closely to actual functioning governments has the consequence of making it more difficult to determine the legitimacy of those governments. Some of the clarity of Locke’s theoretical model is lost in translating it to apply to actual instances of government. A cornerstone of Locke’s political philosophy is the idea that a government holds power legitimately only through the consent of the governed. A civil society consents to grant a particular government rule over it, and each person chooses on an individual basis to become a member of a particular civil society (II, 117). As giving such consent has far-reaching consequences over a person’s life, Locke provides further explanation of what â€Å"consent† entails in this context. Only one way exists to become a member of a civil society: express consent. From Locke’s account this would have to be a fairly formal business, which the individual enters â€Å"by positive Engagement, and express Promise and Compact† (II, 122). Locke’s original wording is important because it seems to imply that unless a person actually makes a public agreement to submit to government law in return for protection of person, liberty, and property, she has not expressly consented. He makes it clear that there are no alternatives to this official process if one is to become part of a civil society, (II, 122). Even if one is not considered part of a particular civil society, she must submit to its authority to the extent of her involvement in that society. Someone who owns land within the territory occupied by a civil society is obligated to obey the law of whatever body has ruling authority in that territory as it applies to ownership and use of property. Someone merely travelling on a public road through a country will have less contact with the civil society of that area and so fewer laws of that society will have application to her behavior. Still, those laws that do cover what activities she carries out have binding force on her (II, 120-121). These people incur the obligation to submit to local authority because that authority is protecting them, perhaps by preventing the citizens of the area from acting in ways that would harm other people including the outsider. For the outsider to be free of those restraints and take advantage of the area’s citizens would be unjust; therefore she is obligated to comply with the legal restraints observed by citizens the area. In neither of these cases would the person in question be considered a member of the civil society whose laws she is obeying unless she expressly consented to join that society in addition to her tacit consent to follow its laws. An immediate criticism of Locke’s account thus far is that in practice, hardly anyone expressly gives consent to join any civil society. Even in most real-world cases where a person does announce submission to a particular government, the declaration would not meet Locke’s conditions of consent that would give legitimacy to the rule of government over that person. Oaths such as the U. S. Pledge of Allegiance are usually only indications that the speaker is prepared to obey directives from the government of a particular state. Consent in the strict sense would have to make explicit what the person is consenting to. Someone joining a civil society under Locke’s conception would need to spell out that she is giving up the right to make and enforce her own judgments to the government of that society, in return for that government’s protection of her interests. Even promises of blind obedience are far from universally practiced, and in most countries are the practice of reciting such pledges is confined to schools and youth groups as a form of education rather than contractual agreement. (The idea that most civil societies do not consider young people mature enough to consent to become members is discussed later in this paper). Explicit contractual consent is far rarer than these questionably binding declarations. If most people fail to give explicit consent to trade away some of their natural rights, under Locke’s terms they have not joined any civil society, and so should not be counted as the citizens of any state or the subjects of any government. This has profound significance because of the relation between civil society and government. The agreement of a civil society is the force and justification behind its government’s authority (II, 149); in return for the mandate that grants it power, the government exists to protect the interests of that particular group of people. Anyone not the member of a particular civil society has no legitimate voice in the form or operation of the government that society creates, and she has no right to expect that government to protect her interests. This does not mean that the government will not take any actions that are to her benefit; the laws of that nation which prevent its citizens from killing and robbing may also prevent them from killing or robbing her. When the government enacts laws, however, it need only do so with the interests of its constituency in mind, and has no obligation to create laws conducive to the interests of an outsider. Any benefits the outsider enjoys as a result of the laws of a particular country are purely coincidental to those laws’ intent. Someone who is not a member of any civil society at all will accordingly have no power over any government, and her interests will deserve the consideration of no government. Since the vast majority of people have not given express consent to join a particular society, the majority of humanity has no right to expect its interests to be served or protected by any of the governments existing on earth. Everyone, however, is required to submit to the control of one government or another depending of where they live, since basically every part of the earth inhabited by humans is under the dominion of one state or another. Rule is solely in the hands of those few people who have actually signed some kind of formal social contract, and needs only to consider their interests. Any government with which no living person has made a formal consent agreement rules illegitimately. The fact that Locke’s model leads to an implication that most of humanity is neither the legitimate authors nor the deserving beneficiaries of government does not prove the model is logically flawed. However, the very great majority of people consider themselves members of a civil society, and are considered as such by other people and, most importantly, by governments. However real governments define their constituency, few if any set express consent as the standard. Enslavement of the tacitly consenting masses by the expressly contracted few thus fails to provide an accurate theoretical model of governmental institutions in the real world. Locke himself describes of the formation of government as an action taken by and for the â€Å"community† (II, 149); this wording suggests that he would have disagreed with the idea that citizenship by express consent leading to dictatorship by a de facto minority is, in practice, the most typical form of legitimate government. It is possible that those without citizenship (the majority of people under our present definition) actually benefit by not being contractually bound to any particular civil society. As long as someone who is not an official citizen resides within the territory of an existing government which fulfills the duties expected of government (II, 131), its laws discourage both citizens of the civil society and other â€Å"outsiders† from threatening her life, liberty, and property. Thus someone could enjoy much of the security that membership in a civil society would provide simply by living in a well-governed area without joining in civil society. In PHI 309 lecture, Prof. Sreenivasan pointed out a possible advantage that such a living arrangement could provide for the unaffiliated: in cases where it was in one’s best interests to abandon a country beset by war, pestilence, or economic or other disaster, noncitizens could jump ship without that act being considered an injustice. Those who had by express consent tied themselves to the civil society might well be obligated to remain with the community, and would not have the option of fleeing the war or hardship. Yet in most of the world, nomadic living is considered the exception, not the rule. Citizens of the world’s various nations must be considering factors not included in Locke’s account. One of the most significant of these is a convention that has introduced a new kind of consent enabling people to become citizens of particular states. Most civil societies have found it desirable to designate officially who is a member of that society, i. e. a member of that state. As a government’s power depends on its constituency, government function is expedited by the government’s having accurate knowledge of the extent of its power base, that is to say the extent of its citizenry. At the same time, concern for its own integrity and distrust of outsiders drives a civil society to delineate who is and is not a member. These and perhaps other factors have led to the creation of conventions (usually expressed as laws passed by governments) by which a person is declared to be a member of a particular civil society (i. e. citizen of a country) regardless of whether or not that person has actually expressed consent to what such membership entails. The most typical example is a law declaring that anyone born in the territory of a particular nation is a citizen of that nation. When still a juvenile, that person of course has not actively consented to anything, and so is usually considered not complete member of civil society; although part of a community, the juvenile generally lacks certain rights and powers given to full members of the society. Upon reaching the age when she can make her own decisions, laws indicate what society the person is considered a member of in the absence of active consent by that person. The person continues to hold that default membership until she makes an active decision to join another civil society. The conventional reflection of this active decision is generally a naturalization process by which someone can become a citizen of a country she did not belong to by default. By going through the naturalization process, a person is understood to consent to the tradeoff which would make her a member of that civil society. It could be objected that being considered the member of a civil society by default is another matter entirely from consenting to join that society and willingly relinquish one’s rights. Where is the consent in this instance? This question is less troubling before the person has come of age, because most would agree that a juvenile generally lacks the judgment to be signing any kind of binding social contract. But can a government legitimately assert that a person has consented to cede her rights to it simply because she has not actively protested? This question could be answered affirmatively. A person can choose not to consent to membership in her default civil society, or give up her membership in a civil society she already belongs to, by joining another civil society through a more active process such as naturalization. This means that if she does not take such an action, she is accepting the convention that interprets her inaction as an expression of consent to join the civil society she was assigned to by default. By systematizing and codifying standards for consent, then, states in actual practice ensure that the great majority of people are not lone agents. One might still question how conscious most people are that they are held to be making this sort of contract, even in the most open societies. A case can be made that essentially, they are aware. No one is unaware of what society she belongs to. Each person is effectively the member of whatever civil society exerts control over her, usually through its government. As soon as that person is conscious of the control being exerted over her, she is made unmistakably aware of what her citizenship is. With the realization of what government she is under comes the option to change her membership. The final and most damaging criticism of the consent model is the question of what happens when a person does not have the option to move to a new territory and join a new civil society. This may occur because of a person’s own lack of means to carry out or simple ignorance of the options ostensibly available to her. It may also be the result of oppression by the government, preventing citizens of the country from leaving. Any of these conditions can force a person to remain an official member of a particular civil society. However, the standard of â€Å"conventionalized explicit consent† introduced above is only able to maintain that most people consent to join a civil society because it assumes those people have options besides their initial citizenship. If people are not being given other options, the model is still not logically flawed. Rather, it suggests a situation similar to that originally introduced as the consequence of applying Locke’s model to the real world: the people in such situations are not really part of the civil society that created the government to whose control they are forced to submit. As such, they retain undiminished the right to join another civil society through a new social contract. If they do so, they may create a new government to follow instead of the one they currently submit to by tacit consent. Of course, there is no guarantee that the government ruling them in the status quo will allow them to replace its control. If it retains control over them by force, Locke’s model would still hold them to be tacitly consenting to its authority by â€Å"enjoyment† of its dominion. This counterintuitive conclusion is avoided by the model requiring choice for real consent. If we follow that paradigm, we come to the conclusion that the government is ruling without any consent from the governed in those cases. According to Locke, such government is mere enslavement and so is illegitimate. To say that a government is wholly illegitimate if it hold power over even one person without her consent is clearly excessive; probably no government could ever achieve legitimacy under that criterion. However, we can say that a government is legitimate to the extent that its citizens are aware of other options and consider membership in their current civil society with its ruling government preferable to those options. The problem with such a standard is that it depends on what is thought by the citizens of a country, and to ascertain a person’s mentality is difficult. The most reliable test is to provide citizens with realistic options and observe whether they remain with the status quo or seek a change in their situation. That change may involve leaving their current civil society, or it may mean seeking to change the structure or behavior of that society’s government. The country’s citizens can be said to consent to the government ruling them to the extent that they posses the power to change their situation, but still maintain the status quo. Thus, the legitimacy of a government can be measured by the effective options available to its citizens. If we had held to Locke’s standards for consent to membership in a civil society and submission to government rule, we would have concluded that most people in the world are tacitly consenting to the rule of governments created by very small groups of explicit signers of social contracts. This would lead to a bizarre picture of the political landscape very much at odds with intuition and with modern reality. By changing standards for consent to mean compliance with official requirements for citizenship when other options are available, we are able to account for those who consider themselves and are considered members of a civil society without having given explicit consent, while at the same time freeing those not given a choice from the appearance of having given consent. A government is then legitimate to the extent that its citizens have given consent according to these standards. It is one of those rare examples where laws have made the situation clearer. Sources: Locke, John. Second Treatise. From Two Treatises of Government, Laslett, Peter, ed. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988.

How to Stay Motivated in the Final Weeks of School

If college were easy, more people would be attending—and graduating. And while college can be challenging, there are definitely times when things are more difficult than usual. The end of the semester, for example—and especially the end of the spring semester—can sometimes feel harder to get through than the rest of the year combined. Youre low on energy, time, and resources, and its more challenging than usual to recharge yourself. So just how can you stay motivated at the end of the semester? Try Changing Your Routine How long has it been since you mixed up your schedule? As in...really mixed it up? You might be in a bit of a funk because youre just going through the motions: go to bed late, wake up tired, go to class, procrastinate. If you need to snap yourself out of it, try reworking your routine, if even just for a day or two. Go to bed early. Get enough sleep. Eat a healthy breakfast. Eat a healthy lunch. Do your homework in the morning so you can hang out, without guilt, all afternoon and evening. Go off campus to study. Mix things up so that your brain can engage and recharge in a new context. Add Some Exercise When youre low on energy, adding exercise to your routine sounds positively dreadful. Making the time for physical activity, however, can help relieve your stress, increase your energy, and clear things up mentally. Go for a nice long run outside, if you can, or join an exercise class that youve never been to. Play a pick-up game with friends or just zone out on the rowing machine. No matter what you do, promise yourself youll do it for at least 30 minutes. Chance are youll be amazed at how much better you feel. Schedule in Some Downtime Even if you know youll be hanging out with people throughout the week, it can be hard to really let yourself relax if youre worried about everything else you have to do. Consequently, make an official night out, dinner out, coffee date, or something similar with friends. Put it on your calendar. And then let yourself really relax and rejuvenate while youre out. Get off Campus and Forget Youre a Student for a Little While Everything you do probably revolve around your college life—which, while understandable, can also be wearisome. Leave your backpack behind and head to a museum, a musical performance, or even a community event. Forget that youre a student and just let yourself enjoy the moment. Your college responsibilities will wait for you. Remind Yourself of Your Long-term Goals Studying can be exhausting when you think of all you have to read and learn and memorize and write within the last few weeks of the term. However, thinking about your long-term goals—both professionally and personally—can be incredibly motivating. Visualize or even write down what you want your life to be like in 5, 10, and even 20 years. And then use those goals to help you plow through your to-do list. Make Attainable Short-term Goals While looking at your long-term goals can be motivating, focusing on your short-term goals can also be incredibly helpful. Make simple, very-short-term (if not downright immediate) goals that you can reach with a little extra effort. What is the one big thing youd like to get done by the end of the day today? By the end of the day tomorrow? By the end of the week? You dont have to list everything; just list one or two tangible things that you can aim for and reasonably expect to accomplish. Spend an afternoon imagining the details of your life after college. Focus on as many details as possible. Where will you live? What will your house or apartment look like? How will it be decorated? What kinds of things will you have hanging on the walls? What kind of dishes will you have? What kinds of people will you have over? What will your work life be like? What will you wear? What will you eat for lunch? How will you commute? What kinds of situations will make you laugh and feel joyful? Who will be part of your social circle? What will you do to have fun and relax? Spend a good hour or two imagining the details of what your life will be like. And then refocus and recharge yourself so you can finish your semester and make progress toward creating that life. Do something creative. Sometimes, the demands of college mean you end up spending your entire day doing things you have to do. When was the last time you did something you want to do? Allocate an hour or two to do something creative -- not for a grade, not for an assignment, but because you simply need to let your brain do something else. Do something new and silly. Are you tired of having all of the items on your to-do list be serious and productive? Add something that adds some brevity and good, old-fashioned silliness. Take a cooking class, go fly a kite, read a trashy magazine, finger paint, get in a water gun fight with friends, or run through some sprinklers. It doesnt matter what you do as long as you let yourself be goofy and enjoy it for what it is: ridiculous. Find a new place to study. Even if youre lacking motivation, you still have certain things to do -- like studying. If you cant change your to-do list, change where you get things done. Find a new place to study on campus so that you at least feel like youre mixing things up instead of repeating the same routine over and over and over again. Set up a reward system for yourself. It doesnt have to be fancy or expensive to be motivating. Pick two things on your to-do list and set an easy reward, like that candy bar in the vending machine youre always daydreaming about. When you finish those two tasks, treat yourself! Similarly, add in other short-term rewards, like a snack, nice cup of coffee, power nap, or other small treasure. Drop something from your to-do list -- and dont feel bad about it. Do you have a ton to do? Are you tired? Do you just not have the energy to get everything completed? Then instead of focusing on how to motivate yourself to do the impossible, take a hard look at your to-do list. Pick one or two things that are stressing you out and drop them -- without feeling guilty. If things are stressful and your resources are low, then its time to prioritize. What seemed important a month ago may no longer make the cut, so cross off what you can and focus on what you really need to focus on. You just might surprise yourself with how your energy levels replenish and your stress levels decrease.