Strategic Managemnt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Strategic Managemnt - Essay Example b. Economic factor The effect of the recent financial crisis made consumers skimp on cost particularly on their fashion wear. They are now becoming more sensitive to price and is considering cheaper brands such as those retailed in the supermarkets and discounter stores. c. Social factor The recent financial crisis had a tremendous effect in UK’s consumer behaviour. They begun shopping for clothes in supermarkets and discounter stores to be able to save on cost. Where before quality and brand was a premium among the consumer’s consideration in shopping for clothes, the crisis shifted their preference towards price. d. Technological factor Technology has also contributed to the change in the UK fashion industry. It made retailing cheap through e-commerce that requires very minimal overhead affording retailers to cut their price further to better respond to competition. e. Environmental factor The increasing awareness towards environmental degradation as felt by many and advocated by government and concerned groups has not only made consumers conscious in the kind of materials of the products are made that they buy not only in the fashion industry but also in other industry as well. Furs which used to be fashionable are now considered to be a fashion eye sore and the use of leathers are now regulated. f. Legislative factor The lifting of the lifting of the two trade barriers known as Multifbre Agreement (MFA, 1974 to 1994) and the Agreement on Textile and Clothing (1995 to 2004) also provided an avenue for local retailers to be exempted from from Value Added Tax (VAT) by complying with the four legislative requirement of UK. The four legislative requirement to qualify for VAT exemption are as follows: It must be an article of clothing or footwear; It must not be made of fur; It must be designed for young children, and It must only be suitable for young children† (HM Revenue & Customs 2011). This exemption however is limited because it is only limited to children’s wear and could be a double edged sword because competitors can also avail the same exemption. Government however has also provided incentive to import cheaper textiles provided that the strict regulations on clothing are complied with which are; â€Å"The General Product Safety Regulations 2005. The Children's Clothing (Hood Cords) Regulations 1976. The Nightwear (Safety) Regulations 1985† (The National Archives 2011). II. Porter Five Forces a. s. Threat of rivalry The opening of the UK fashion industry to imports has intensified rivalry among retailers because it now includes foreign competitors as well. In addition, the swelling of cheap textiles from other countries (i.e. China, India) conveniently made it supermarket stores and discounter stores to be an effective cheap retailers of fashion clothings which pose a real threat to traditional modes of retail in the fashion industry. The rivalry posed by supermarkets and discounter stores has sign ificantly depressed the price of fashion clothing that reduced the bottom and middle segments of the market to be intensely competitive (Thame 2010) and making it very difficult for other retailers to compete. b. Threat of substitute products Clothing is a basic necessity and clothing is as basic as food itself. Therefore, clothes cannot be substituted. The threat in the fashion in

Canadain provinces Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Canadain provinces - Dissertation Example Population growth demonstrated a variation between the two provinces. Alberta registered the highest population in the entire country by a massive 10.3% while the province of Manitoba registered a 0.5 % growth. These statistics demonstrates a population density of 2.0 for Manitoba while that of Alberta is 4.6 people per square kilometer. Population age characteristics were found to be consistent in both provinces. In terms of gender, the females are dominant across both provinces though by slight margins. The majority of the population lies at the age group of 25-44 years among all genders while the second placed age group is between 5-14 years in both provinces. This indicates a trend of population that can be extrapolated to the entire country. In addition, the older population comprising of ages 85 and over seems to be the lowest followed by age group 75-84 years. These figures converge at a median age of 36.8 in Manitoba and 35.0 in Alberta, this indicates that the future populat ion trend in Alberta is expected to show more growth despite the exponential trend experienced in the past. Majority of the people in both provinces are above 15 years with figures indicating 79.1% and 79.2% in Manitoba and Alberta respectively. Education is a key pillar of socio-economic development in Canada. A great portion of people aged 15-24 years in Manitoba attends school on full time basis while a substantial 30.9% of population in this age group attending school on part time basis. Alberta is not any different, majority of the population around the same age group undertake education on full time basis with only 30% on part time engagement. Across all the age groups the percentage number of individuals with a University certificate, diploma or degree is higher in Alberta as compared to Manitoba. This is an indicator of the weight given to education in Alberta. Apart from the 20-34 age groups, all other age groups in Manitoba depict higher percentages of individuals with les s than a high school graduation certificate (Maclean 2).. There exist over ten religions in these regions of Canada. Protestants dominate in both provinces having almost half of the population subscribing to this religion. In second place come Catholicism, having a substantial following in both provinces but Manitoba has a higher general percentage of people who subscribe to this religion. Similar trends are evident across most of the other religions with the percentage of people who subscribe to no religion appearing third in the order of dominance. 23.6% of the entire population is atheists in Alberta while in Manitoba the percentage is slightly lower at 18.7%. Christian, n.i.e. is the fourth most dominant religion in both provinces contributing 4.03% and 4.2% in Manitoba and Alberta respectively. An aberration is evident in the fifth most dominant religion. In Alberta Muslim takes the position with a 1.7%, contrary to Manitoba where it appears ninth in the order of dominance. In Manitoba at fifth position is Christian Orthodox that has 1.4% following of the entire population. The people in these provinces use various languages with English dominating. The census indicates the majority of people use English