Thus with a kiss I die Essay Example

Thus with a kiss I die   Paper These were the last words of Romeo before killing himself. The quote itself is very powerful in the way that it links the two main genres together love and death together. Also two very powerful oppositions or maybe they are not opposites at all. Romeo and Juliet was Shakespeares first major tragedy. Then followed the big four (Othello, Hamlet, Macbeth and King Lear) these were also major tragedies and are all very famous plays. In all of these plays the heroes are doomed from the start. Their foolish acts are blatantly going to have a tragic end! But this all adds to the appeal and love people have for the plays. For example Romeo and Juliet is set over a week, and in that week Romeo meets Juliet, marries Juliet, and then soon after kills Tybalt in the same day as marrying Juliet, gets banished from the city and then kills himself, thinking Juliets dead when she isnt. What a tragic week! Before the action starts you know the plot of the play, or at least that the play will end because they are enemies, it cannot be. This is also mentioned in the Prologue. We will write a custom essay sample on Thus with a kiss I die   specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Thus with a kiss I die   specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Thus with a kiss I die   specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Many different causes contribute to this. One such cause is fate. Was it meant to happen? Did all this happen for a reason? Was the play meant to go this way? Was it just a coincidence that Romeo met Juliet who happened to be the daughter of their rivals the Capulets? Was it really fate? These are all questions people ask about the fate of the play today. Shakespeare wanted his audience to know what happens in the end by giving you huge hints at the start of the play. For example From forth the fatal loins of these two foes, a pair of star-crossed lovers take their life This line means, emerging out of the family loins came Romeo and Juliet who crossed together and took their own lives. Chosen by the stars The cause of death was being born! This shows that Shakespeare wanted us to know the ending of the play. He is telling us that it is going to have a sad and tragic ending. He tried to give a taster so people would come and watch the play to get the whole story on why it had such a tragic ending. Romeo and Juliet have love at first sight, but it just so happens that Romeo is the son of Juliets fathers enemy the Montagues! His name is Romeo, and a Montague, the son of your great enemy. This line is said by the Nurse She gives the line central to the whole play. It sets up the tragic tension! He is the son of the Capulets great enemy. Shakespeare gives Romeo bad fate from the start. He makes Romeo look hasty and foolish. He always seems to fall into traps when it comes to love. He ironically falls in love with Juliet who just happens to be the daughter of his great enemy, out of all the women he could have fallen in love with, he fell in love with the worst possible! Nurse is warning Juliet of the problems that could occur, that could be dangerous. Romeo wants to make his own decisions, instead of fate controlling his life. And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars This is in the last scene. Romeo is talking to the audience. He is saying to get rid of the yoke (head brace) of the stars to set him free. This shows he wants to control his own life, his own destiny. Romeo also tempts fate in a couple of places in the play. Let me be taen let me be put to death Here Romeo is saying basically put me to death! He is challenging fate here by saying it; this is quite ironic as he dies within a few days. Fate is not the only culprit that could have killed the two lovers. What about family pressure? The fathers in Shakespeares day were the boss of the family. They even chose who you married. Capulet wants Juliet to get married to a man of his choice. He talks about when and who. She hath not seen the change of fourteen years: Let two more summers wither in their pride Ere we may think her ripe to be a bride. Capulet basically says that in two more summers they should consider Juliet ready for marriage. When she is sixteen. This puts a lot of pressure on Juliet because what if she isnt ready? What if he isnt right for her? She is being pushed into things, especially when Capulet agrees to Juliet marrying Paris the following week. Capulet meets Paris and tells him about Juliet, hoping they could marry. Juliet doesnt yet know about him. But woo her, gentle Paris, get her heart; My will to her consent is but apart: And, she agree, within her scope of choice Here Capulet is talking to Paris. He tells Paris to win her gently, to get Juliets heart. His consent is only a part of the plan for it to work; she will have to agree by her own choice. This is Capulets plan to get Paris and Juliet married; this also puts a lot of pressure on Juliet because she has not got a choice. She is pushed into it, as a fathers word was law. When Juliet told Capulet she didnt want to marry Paris (of whom he chose) he was furious. Hang thee, young baggage! Disobedient wretch! I tell thee what; get thee to church on Thursday, Or never after look me in the face. Speak not, reply not, do not answer me! This is a very powerful speech given by Capulet to Juliet. Capulet says if Juliet doesnt get to the church on Thursday to marry Paris, he will never talk to her again, and she will be thrown onto the streets! But she has married Romeo already! Thats the problem. This puts a lot of pressure on Juliet. Should she forget about Romeo, marry Paris and stay in the family? Or leave her family have no assets and stay to marry Romeo? These are her two options. Capulet gives Juliet one more chance to redeem herself, by giving her a choice. (If it counts as a choice). He says she can marry Paris or she can beg and die on the streets. Its not really a choice at all but its all she has got. An you be mine, Ill give you my friend; An you be not, hang, beg, starve, die in the streets Capulet may not have given Juliet a wide variety of options but he gave her a chance to have what she wanted. He says she can marry his friend Paris and not be put on the streets or she can have exactly that. It is all up to Juliet. What about adolescent passion? Maybe this all happened because of the stupidity of the two lovers. For instance maybe they didnt know if they were in love or not. Did my heart love till now? He says this when he meets Juliet. It is love at first sight. Romeo asks a question that makes you wonder if he truly knows what love is. He thought he loved Rosaline but maybe he didnt. Romeo shows that he is very unstable and doesnt know who he loves. (If any) Maybe the lovers rushed into things to fast. If that thy bent of love be honourable, Thy purpose marriage, send me word tomorrow Here Juliet is talking. She says of you mean it send me word tomorrow. They have only just met that night and they are talking about marriage! Is this all a bit too fast? Romeo goes to see the apothecary to get poison to kill himself because he thinks Juliet is dead. There is evidence of this her in A5 S1 L34 Well Juliet I will lie with thee tonight This is what Romeo says to himself, just before he goes to see the apothecary. He thinks Juliet is dead so he buys poison to take himself with her. You could say that he was stupidly in love with her. Again he does things in a passionate haste. Then Romeo kills himself next to Juliet. Heres to my love! O true apothecary! Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die. Romeo killed himself in haste thinking Juliet was dead; he did not wait to check. He was too hasty. Maybe none of the above are right. Maybe it was all down to the feud. Could the lovers deaths have been caused by the hatred between the Montagues and Capulets? There is so much hatred in the air between the two families. They always resolve in sword fights. Draw thy tool; here comes two of thy house of Montagues This shows that the two families hate each other bitterly. This all started because Mercutio took Romeo go to the party, which they were not even meant to be at! The two families see each other as enemies Thou art a villan This is Tybalt to Romeo. Just before Mercutio gets killed he expresses his feelings in anger to the two feuding families. I warrant for this world. A plague oboth your houses! Mercutio is very angry; he thinks the two families are pathetic and he puts a curse on both their houses (not literally). Maybe it was chance. Maybe it was just bad luck that all this happened. Maybe it was luck that Romeo met Juliet in the first place! If it was not for Mercutio to get tickets for the Capulets ball there would be no Romeo and Juliet Romeo was not meant to be at the party so if he did not go he would not have met Juliet in the first place. He chose to change his luck When the Prince banished Romeo from Verona he was forced to leave. Later on Friar Lawrence sends a letter to Romeo updating him on what has happened. Unfortunately this does not arrive. . her body sleeps in Capels monument because he obviously did not know at this point that Juliet was faking her death and thus this wrong message sends Romeo back to Verona and to his tragic end. The letter was of most serious importance that it got to Romeo, but it did not. This letter was not nice but full of charge, Of dear import The letter was very important as it contained the vital information that Romeo needed. I personally think that the tragic ending was caused mostly by adolescent passion because they rushed into things too fast! They were too hasty in their approach. Also in the way that they are too young to know what love is! For example Romeo kept on saying how much he loved Rosaline but then when he met Juliet he forgot all about her! I think all the topics I have covered have some relevance but are not the whole cause. I leave you with a quote which I mentioned earlier, I think it very powerful in the way that an innocent man died because of the hatred between the two families.

Charki - The Original Jerky Method of Preserving Meat

Ch'arki - The Original Jerky Method of Preserving Meat The word jerky, referring to a dried, salted and pounded form of all kinds of animal meat, has its origins in the South American Andes, perhaps about the same time as the llama and alpaca were domesticated. Jerky is from charki, a Quechua word for a specific type of dried and deboned camelid (alpaca and llama) meat, perhaps produced by South American cultures for some eight or so thousands of years. Jerky is one of a multitude of meat preservation techniques which were no doubt used by historic and prehistoric peoples, and like many of them, it is a technique for which archaeological evidence must be supplemented by ethnographic studies. Benefits of Jerky Jerky is a form of meat preservation in which fresh meat is dried to prevent it from spoiling. The principal purpose and outcome of the process of drying meat is to reduce water content, which inhibits microbial growth, decreases overall bulk and weight, and causes a proportionate increase in salt, protein, ash and fat content by weight. Salted and fully dried jerky can have an effective shelf life of at least 3-4 months, but under the right conditions can be much longer. The dried product can have over twice the caloric yield of fresh meat, based on weight. For example, the ratio of fresh meat to charki varies between 2:1 and 4:1 by weight, but the protein and nutritive value remain  equivalent. Preserved jerky can be later rehydrated through prolonged water soaking, and in South America, charki is most commonly consumed as reconstituted chips or small pieces in soups and stews. Easily transportable, nutritious and boasting a prolonged shelf life: no wonder charki was an important pre-Columbian Andian subsistence resource. A luxury food to the Incas, charki was made available to the common folk as during ceremonial occasions and military service. Charki was demanded as a tax, and deposited in was used as a form of tax to be deposited in state storehouses along the Inca road system to provision imperial armies. Making Charki Pinning down when charki was first made is tricky. Archaeologists have used historical and ethnographic sources to discover how charki was made, and from that developed a theory about what archaeological remains can be expected from that process. The earliest written record we have comes from the Spanish friar and conquistador Bernabà © Cobo. Writing in 1653, Cobo wrote that Peruvian people prepared charki by cutting it into slices, putting the slices on ice for a time and then pounding it thin. More recent information from modern day butchers in Cuzco support this method. They make strips of deboned meat of uniform thickness, no more than 5 mm (1 inch), to control the consistency and timing of the drying process. These strips are exposed to the elements in high altitudes during the driest and coldest months between May and August. There the strips are hung on lines, specially constructed poles, or simply placed on rooftops to keep them out of reach of scavenging animals. After between 4-5 (or as many as 25 days, recipes vary), the strips are removed from the are pounded between two stones to make them thinner still. Charki is made by different methods in different parts of South America: for example, in Bolivia, what is called charki is dried meat with fragments of foot and skulls left, and in the Ayucucho region, meat simply dried on the bone is called charki. Meat dried at higher elevations can be done with cold temperatures alone; meat dried at lower elevations is done by smoking or salting. Identifying Meat Preservation The primary way that archaeologists identify the likelihood of some form of meat preservation having occurred is by the schlep effect: identifying meat butchering and processing areas by the types of bones left in each type of spot. The schlep effect argues that, especially for larger animals, it is not efficient to lug around the entire animal, but instead, you would butcher the animal at or near the point of kill and take the meat-bearing parts back to camp. The Andean highlands gives an excellent example of that. From ethnographic studies, traditional camelid butchers in Peru slaughtered animals near the pastures high in the Andes, then divided the animal into seven or eight parts. The head and lower limbs were discarded at the slaughter site, and the major meat-bearing portions were then moved to a lower elevation production site where they were further broken down. Finally, the processed meat was brought into market. Since the traditional method of processing charki required that it be done at relatively high elevations during the dry part of the winters, theoretically an archaeologist could identify butchering sites by finding an over-representation of head and distal limb bones, and identify processing site by an over-representation of proximal limb bones at lower-elevation (but not too lower) processing sites. Two problems exist with that (as with traditional schlep effect). First, identifying body parts after the bones have been processed is difficult because bones which are exposed to weathering and animal scavenging are difficult to identify the  body part with confidence. Stahl (1999) among others addressed that by examining bone densities in different bones in the skeleton and applying them to tiny fragments left at sites, but his results were varied. Secondly, even if bone preservation was ideal, you could really only say youve identified butchering patterns, and not necessarily how the meat was processed. Bottom Line: How Old is Jerky? Nevertheless, it would be foolhardy to argue that the meat from animals slaughtered in cold climates and transported to warmer climates was not preserved for the trip in some manner. No doubt some form of jerky was made at least at the time of camelid domestication and perhaps before. The real story might be that all weve traced here is the origins of the word jerky, and making jerky (or pemmican or kavurmeh or some other form of preserved meat) by freezing, salting, smoking or some other method might well have been a skill developed by complex hunter-gatherers everywhere some 12,000 or better years ago. Sources This glossary entry is a part of the About.com guide to the Ancient Foods, and the Dictionary of Archaeology. Miller GR, and Burger RL. 2000. Charki at Chavin: Ethnographic Models and Archaeological Data. American Antiquity 65(3):573-576. Madrigal TC, and Holt JZ. 2002. White Tailed Deer Meat and Marrow Return Rates and Their Application to Eastern Woodlands Archaeology. American Antiquity 67(4):745-759. Marshall F, and Pilgram T. 1991. Meat versus within-bone nutrients: Another look at the meaning of body part representation in archaeological sites. Journal of Archaeological Science 18(2):149-163. Speth, John D. D. The Paleoanthropology and Archaeology of Big-Game Hunting: Protein, Fat, or Politics? Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology, 2010 edition, Springer, July 24, 2012. Stahl PW. 1999. Structural density of domesticated South American camelid skeletal elements and the archaeological investigation of prehistoric Andean Charki. Journal of Archaeological Science 26:1347-1368.

The contemporary history of United States Essay

The contemporary history of United States - Essay Example Also, they tell us that why don't we know the answer. Besides, their works contains the message that the U.S citizens have to do something urgently to save our two-century old democracy. Both Kinzer and Johnson trace the roots of current crisis back to the much celebrated 'little splendid war': in which America declared war on Spain in the name of liberating the colonialized nations of Latin America. The oppressed nations got liberated from Spanish imperial rule as the result of the Spanish-American war which broke out in 1868, were soon became U.S protectorates in order to protect the interests of American businesspersons in those lands. Kinzer points out that 'the invasion of Iraq in 2003 was the culmination of a 110- year period during which Americans overthrew fourteen governments that displeased them for various ideological, political, and economic reasons' (Kinzer, 2007, p.1). In our country, people commonly identify us as citizens of an innocent nation which stands only for virtues. The prevailing attitude is that whatever we do is for good. Behind all this fashionable rhetoric, there lies the ugly side of the truth. The story of American interventions in foreign countries that were supposed to be for prompting democratic culture and liberal values is just farce. The very beginning of America's regime change policy with the overthrow of Hawaiian monarchy was founded on lies. The then governing class in the U.S propagated the view that it is for the sakes of the democratic rights of Hawaiian people. In reality, when the Queen Liliuokalani gave voting rights to all the people without considering ownership of pro perty, the U.S had to intervene to protect the interests of large planters and other riches. Kinzer has an altogether different take on American history from the ideological state apparatus that nourishes the official view at the expense of truth. He convincingly argues that the overthrow of Jose Santos Zelaya, the president of Nicaragua in 1909 was with the direct knowledge of then president of U.S, William Howard Taft.Importantly, Kinzer also notes that 'the United States rose to power at the same time multinational corporations were emerging as a decisive force in world affairs' (Kinzer, 2007, p.4). It is a telling observation. Much of the American interventions was to pave easy way for exploitative activities of the multinational corporations and was simulated by the business elites who penetrated to public offices. Moreover, the democratic movement in our country that is composed of civic movement, trade unions and progressive political parties were not able to become blocs of counterbalance power against the tyrannical corporations. Besides, the hegemony of corporate ideas such as free enterprise, personal growth and crass individualism prevented the American public from being a democratizing force in effect. For the rest of the world, it was impossible even to imagine countering American corporate power. The corporations were 'the vanguard of American power, and defying them has become tantamount to defying the United States' (Kinzer, 2007, p.4). As corporations substantially increased their economic power, they started wielding

Do we learn more from work that follows or breaks with accepted Essay

Do we learn more from work that follows or breaks with accepted conventions - Essay Example There has been plenty of research, since the inception of human understanding of nature, on the methods of learning that are easy to follow as well as easy to teach. With the advancement in science and technology, there has been a lot of progress in every subject. As it follows from study, there are certain laws which govern every field of work. We assume certain conditions which can only be true if the mentioned laws of governance are satisfied, these are the rules, methods or practices established by usage i.e. a custom. Similarly, a convention is a set of agreed, stipulated or generally accepted social norms, norms, standards or criteria, often taking the form of a custom.The simple meaning of the title of this essay in simple terms is whether we learn more from having an advanced understanding of the subject made possible by following the results of an accepted convention (work that follows with accepted conventions) or we learn more from the failure of that convention which caus es us to consider the results from a different perspective (work that breaks with accepted conventions). However, before deciding on one of the choices, we should acknowledge the fact that no matter if the work follows or breaks with accepted conventions, our level of understanding or thinking is elevated to a higher level. In my opinion, we can learn more from the work if it breaks with the accepted conventions. There are many reasons for choosing this case ... However, if we do not get the results as determined by previous study and observations, we are forced to think of the peripheral (other minor variables included in the instructions) reasons that may lead to discrepancy of results. And as a result of this, we in simple words learn one way of not doing that experiment. And we can affirm this argument with a famous quote from a famous inventor, Sir Thomas A. Edison: I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.[2] Now taking an example from arts, we can affirm the belief that we learn more from the works that break following accepted conventions. The example (more like a story) goes like this: Sigmund Freud was a medical man. After completing his M.D. (Doctor of Medicine) from Vienna University, he started working with a doctor, as an associate director, who was handling cases of hysteria at that time. At that time young man and woman were suffering from hysteria in large numbers. The main reason of the hysteria was sex problem. The doctor, with whom Sigmund Freud was working as an associate doctor, used to rely on medicines (which were not very successful). Sigmund Freud thought it was necessary to go into depth. He suggested this to this senior doctor who disagreed. Thereafter, Sigmund Freud dissociated with him and opened his own clinic for hysteria patients. He started questioning and counseling the patients and recorder their interviews. And finally Sigmund Freud succeeded in finding out the reasons of Author 3 hysteria. The reason was the emotional disturbance of the patients of both sexes. Freud then followed up the study with two books on that subject: Dora and Wolf.[1] This example also points our attention

Voluntary Assumption Of Tort Liability In English Law Case Study

Voluntary Assumption Of Tort Liability In English Law - Case Study Example Policy considerations played a large role in restricting employee claims, in the interests of economic and manufacturing growth, as well as the principle of contributory negligence and violent non fit injuria. More recently, the law in this area has developed into a complex system based on the obvious potential problems created by broadening or narrowing too far the limits of the law. The courts have recognized that a single, simple test to determine psychiatric harm is not sufficient, â€Å"for reasons that concern both its potentially uncontrollable nature, and political and moral parameters imposed by the structure of western open-market societies on the legal system.†2 In order to fully understand exactly what principles and tests the courts adopt, one must examine the relevant case law. The law in this area is vaguely split into a) the psychological or physical harm actually occurring to the employee, and; b) the physical harm occurring to a third party, witnessed by the employee. In cases, where the harm directly occurred to the employee, the primary test is one of foreseeability; if it can be proven that physical or psychiatric injury was reasonably foreseeable, compensation for psychiatric harm is possible.3 Where an employee suffered a nervous breakdown at work, the courts indeed asked whether the breakdown was reasonably foreseeable, actual or probable physical harm was not relevant or necessary.4 Rose J confirms this, stating: â€Å"the employer whose system of work negligently induces psychiatric injury without any physical injury†¦is just as liable as one who causes physical injury.†5 Yet does the concept not appear a little simplistic? The issues surrounding the decision in Walker have the potential to open several difficulties – different jobs involve different levels of stress and risk, whilst individuals react differently to stress depending on their vulnerability.

Feasibility of Online Shopping in UK Primark

Feasibility of Online Shopping in UK Primark Abstract The purpose of this research is to study the online shopping in UK clothing retail market, and how it will be helpful to the researcher to get the idea about the feasibility of Primark online shopping service. The research is divided in 5 chapters each chapter gives the reader some idea about online shopping and how it will be beneficial for the company and the consumer. Moreover, the researcher uses this chapter to explain his/her point of view by taking individual chapter. Each chapter has many sub divisions. The researcher plan her research on typical system like chapter vies start from introduction, literature review, methodology, implementation calculation and last conclusion. In this techno savvy world people are using the technology in their day to day life. Sometimes they are using directly and sometimes indirectly but now the situation is like that the person must have use the technology to make their life luxurious. The researcher writes about ecommerce, its advantages and disadvantages. In methodology, the researcher use the both type of data qualitative and quantitative. In quantitative the researcher collects both type of primary and secondary data by using interview and survey. The aim of the research is how Primark can increase its sell in this competitive market. And online shopping market is very strong in UK. Furthermore how the online shopping will be change the stores situation and what are the changes the company will get. 1. INTRODUCTION The researcher doing t CHAPTER 1 1.1. WHAT IS PRIMARK? Primark Stores Limited is an Irish clothing retailer. Its stores are located in various regions like United Kingdom, Ireland, and Spain. Within this area of responsibility, Primark stores outnumbered other clothing retailer business, with one hundred sixty one stores overall distributed in three major regions: one hundred twenty-five in the United Kingdom. The company positions itself as marketing fashionable at cutthroat prices. Primark is known for selling clothes at the budget end of the market. Its success is based on sourcing supply, making clothes with simple designs and fabrics and targets young, fashion-conscious individuals ages 35 below, offering them simple yet high quality clothes and apparels. The relevance of global trends and consumers demands on lifestyle made Primark Store Limited reinvent its business scheme and management structure. From the first penny store in Ireland to the latest flagship store in Liverpool, the Primark story has been one of continuing success founded on a unique combination and lean operations. Primark was opened their first Penney store in Mary Street Dublin in June 1969. During the one year time they added four more stores in Dublin. After continues success in Dublin, in next three year 1971, Primark opened their first store outside the Dublin in Cork and end of that year there were 11 more stores in Ireland and one in Northern Ireland. Furthermore, in 1973, the number of stores had reached 18 in Ireland and Primark Began trading in Great Britain with four out of-town stores. The following year saw the opening of the first UK high street store in Derby and Bristol. In ten more years Primark increase the number of stores in UK and Ireland both like 18 new store added in UK and 9 stores in in Ireland. And the management also expanded the number of the stores in UK and Ireland to 22 stores each. The most innovating thing of Primark was in ten years duration from 1984 to 1994 a further Like most of the Primark stores in high street so it is beneficial to them. Primark has so many strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats. Like 40 years experienced retailer, reasonable price seller of clothes, eco friendly carrier bags etc. Primark has so many weaknesses, weak public relationship, leak of services, no online facility for shopping. For promotional development Primark can introduce their own store cards, Self scan area and soon. Due to competitive market Primark provide cheapest clothes to customers. Its create threat for Primark to stay in these market. LIST OF STORE LOCATION IN LONDON Basildon Kingston-Upon-Thames Basingstoke Lewisham, Bedford Leytonstone, Bexleyheath London Brighton, Luton Bromley Maidstone Camberley Margate, Chatham Norwich Crawley Oxford Croydon Peckham Dartford Reading, Ealing Romford Eastbourne Slough, Eastham Southend Gravesend Stevenage Hackney Sutton Hammersmith Thurrock Harlow Tooting Harrow Watford Hemel Hempstead Wandsworth Hounslow Wembley Ipswich Woking Kilburn, Woolwich Table 1: Field work Primark store location in London Primark stores a privately held subsidiary of Associated British Foods, Is involved in opening departmental store. It owns and operated 188 departmental stores that provide products such as women wear, children wear, menswear, footwear, accessories, The children market in Britain is worth  £4.5bn. Five years ago, Primark had a 2.8% market share. By 2006 this had risen 5.4% and in 2007 to 6.2% this now places Primark fourth in terms of market share. (Sutherland Canwall, 2008) What is e-commerce? 1.2 Aim The researcher aim to do this research to increase the volume of sales at present Primark is leading clothing retailer in UK. Furthermore according to this techno savvy world, and to compete the all competitors Primark also have to be go ahead with some new innovation with them. 1.3 Objectives 1. To explore how online shopping can benefit Primark and boost its sales. 2. To calculate, agree and plan for the necessary resources for this project 3. To investigate the market for online shopping service in the UK competitors market. 4. To identify new segment to increase the market share CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1. ONLINE SHOPPING SERVICE The researcher wants to introduce new direct marketing strategy for Primark to increase the sales volume. Like other competitors, Primark does not have an online shopping facility. In this day and age of technological advancement, it becomes very essential for any organisation to establish oneself in the field of e-commerce. The researcher has found a gap in the market for such a technological need and would like to introduce a promotional strategy for the companys growth in this high tech savvy world. The e-commerce can be defined as a modern business methodology that addresses the needs of organization, merchants and consumers to cut costs while improving the quality of goods and services and increasing the speed of service delivery, by using Internet (Goal, 2007). According to Varley, (2006), since the start of the new millennium, shopping via a computer has moved from the something indulged by a niche market to commonplace activity amongst the population masses. Furthermore the n ew internet world provide the retail industry with a new and exciting way of enticing consumer to purchase the product from the comfort from their available place like from home, office or anywhere they can access the ‘virtual world. In fact in recent developments in personal mobile communications industry would suggest that before long we will be able to go shopping literally anywhere at any time. Since the more improvement in the online shopping service is providing more and more luxurious service day by day so the the home delivery option alongside stores as the retail industry has developed. According to Fletcher, Bell McNaughton, (2004) e-commerce involves electronically medicated exchanges with customers. According to Rosen, (2002). Electronic commerce or â€Å"e-commerce† covers the range of online business activities for products and services, both business-to-business and business-to-customers, through the Internet. E-commerce breaks into two components: On the other hand side online auction is straightforward yet revolutionary business concept. Brokage business model, auctions bring the buyers and sellers together in a virtual marketplace. ( Bidgoli, 2002)  · Online Shopping: The scope of information and activities that provides customers with the information to conduct business with you and to make informed buying decisions.  · Online Purchasing: The technology infrastructure for the exchange of data and the purchase of the product over the Internet. Online purchasing is a metaphor used in business-to-business e-commerce for providing customers with an online method of placing orders, submitting purchase orders, or requesting quotes ( Rosen, 2002) Estimates vary as to the size of the business-to-consumer e-commerce market. The International Data Corporation (IDC) estimates that the total purchases made over the web were $10 billion in 1997 and will be more than $220 billion in 2001 (Oliveria, Amorim and Vilao, 1999). These large s are put in a wider context by KPMG (1999) which reports that, â€Å"Direct sales are 5% of retail sales in the UK and 4#% in the US. Of this total, 16% US home sales and 1% of UK home sales are electronic.† Forrester Research (Tagliabue, 1999) whose 1999 research showed Selling goods and services online is also called ecommerce. Popular ecommerce Web sites include Amazon.com and eBay, yahoo shopping, etoys, the met store , smart shopper and so on. Ecommerce is not the sole province of large companies, however; many small businesses have found considerable success selling on the Internet. Like this research content the use of the technology so the researcher would like to discuss about e-commerce service, Electronic commerce or ecommerce is a term for any type of business, or commercial transaction, that involves the transfer of information across the Internet. The e-commerce can be defined as a modern business methodology that addresses the needs of organization, merchants and consumers to cut costs while improving the quality of goods and services and increasing the speed of service delivery, by using Internet (Goal, 2007). According to Forrester Research at, the European online retail market is expected to grow from Euro 40 billion in 2004 to Euro 167 billion by 2009 (Forrester, 2006) Cited in (Burdick, Coakley Richardson, 2006)). And what are the benefits of e-commerce service? But basically the people knows each and every coin has two side so when you get some benefits from the ecommerce on the other hand side you get some disadvantages of the ecommerce as well. Moreover, with the help of online shopping service people can save their time for the shopping, online shopping service is very flexible you can use it anytime. In the opposite side you cannot touch and feel it you cant get it immediately first you pass through the very long process of ordering and after some days limitation like after four days delivery or one week delivery your get you stuff. But nowadays the most of the market work with the online shopping service like all the clothing stores provide Online shopping service. For example MS, Next, Topshop, Matalan, Monsoon, and soon. These all the clothing company has very high share market value in the market and very huge turn over in the market as well. According to the issue published in The Guardian, (2007), The weather also effect the shopping from the store and the online like the number shows how much it effect the market online market sales. In July 2007, because of the wet weather the sales increased by  £4bn in a month for the first time at  £4.2bn up from  £2.3bn in July a year ago according to the Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG). 2.2 PRIMARK ONLINE SHOPPING SERVICE (STRATEGY) ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES Every new thing has its own pros and cons like online shopping service is advantageous as much as disadvantageous for the Primark. First the researcher would like to discuss the advantages of the online shopping service at Primark. According to the competitor of Primarks are MS, Matalan, Topshop, Next and so on. All of the competitors are providing very good and fast online shopping service for their customers. 2.2.1 Business Benefits According to the Rosen, (2002), by providing your customers with 24 hour-a-day,7-day-a-week (24 x 7) access to information, you can support sales, in some cases shorten the sales cycle, and cut your administrative costs, since customers have access to information when they want it. Some people believe that shown that FAQs on an online shopping site give customers a better idea of companys product and help them feel more comfortable making the decision to buy. E-commerce is a great way to get the business of these off- peak shoppers. For a very small amount of money, a company can have its â€Å"cyber-shop† open 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Savings on customers service staff, savings on telephone operators and sales people, instant update of catalogues and prices, product targeting, active targeting , passive targeting, better overhead and inventory control, worldwide visibility, attractive option for the physically challenged (Shim, 2000). Further all the advantageous strategy for the any company who introduce their online shopping service. With the Internet reaching all corner of the world so by introducing the online shopping service Primark can be reach all around the world. Actually they can advertise themselves globally for very small price. When the online shopping service the company proved they give the all the detailed description of the products so the Primark have to be recruit the less staff for the customer service staff, telephone operators, and less sales staffs. Like the customers when makes a purchase online is one less using the companys telephone operators and salespeople. Product targeting and active targeting both are the very helpful for the company. Primark can be accomplished actively or passively on the Internet to make their any product targeting. For the company Active targeting for the product by their product targeting Product targeting is in the two different way like the Due to the further description of the 24 x 7 online shopping service is definitely very useful for the any company like MS, Next, Matalan, etc have the same selling hour like Primark but they are selling more product by providing online shopping service. Furthermore nowadays people are more busy and addicted to use the internet in their day- to- day life. The world Internet users are the 100% present day compare to the year 2000. (Internet world stats, 2009) Normally Primark is just getting the benefit of on-peak shoppers only because it does not have any online shopping service to provide their customers. With just the shopping hours the company is making very good volume of sales so think when the company launched their online shopping service it will be more beneficial for the company to increase the volume of sales. 2.2.2 Operational Management Benefits Better availability of Service which means conveniently allows customers to shop in their homes from anywhere online. More benefit of online shopping for the operational management is cost reduction in information processing like reduce the cost of processing and retrieving order and customer information. Better timeliness of service means online operations can offer customers 24-hour servicer for purchasing good and services. Initial cost of operation less expensive, basically the capital investment in e-commerce operation is considerably less than brick-and mortar operations. Improved product development by the ability to be online with research and development people from around the world can help to reduce the time-to -market for new products and the cost of their development. Improved scheduling which is help full to the business. The online ability to keep track of product or service activities allows schedulers to be more accurate and timely in scheduling and rescheduling prod uction activity, reducing costs (Heizer and Render 2001, p. 460; Laudon and Laudon 2002, pp.122-129; Kamarainen et al. 2001). 2.3 Disadvantages of online shopping service There are so many disadvantages of e commerce business for the consumers like, credit card fraud, products that Dont show well, Limit to the Market, Small companies unprepared for global selling and soon. According to Shim Anique (2000) Credit card number can be stolen by the disgruntled or criminal employee who has legitimate as well as illegitimate access to the company e-commerce system. There are so many disadvantageous of ecommerce possible capacity and bandwidth problems. Security issues are major concern for many consumers. Security issues and measures are expected to improve in coming years, through the use of media other than credit cards on the web, such as e-Wallet, e-cash and other payment systems, acceptance or digital signature, more widespread application and acceptance of encryption technology and greater awareness and understanding of customers concerns (Bidgoli, 2002b). The main disadvantageous for shoppers, in ranked order were ‘Availability; ‘Cant be in to receive delivery; ‘Premium charged for delivery; ‘Premium charged for delivery; and ‘Cant see or feel the merchandise.( Harris Dennis, 2002) 2.4 Marketing contribution to High turnover Introduce online shopping service Primark needs many promotional strategies for the promotion of new service. To attract the customers and to publish new service they need so many promotional strategies like direct marketing, Advertising, publicity, sales promotion, Exhibition and so on. Primark always focuses on low price high volume strategy to develop market. Specifically in this recession time, peoples also moves towards Primark low price value added products. To grab this opportunity they should have also low cost marketing strategy as well. In the modern world the Internet often becomes the best medium to communicate and search things around. As all competitors have Online shopping strategy they can easily grab the markets. Online shopping strategy helps to advertising the companys product. As a result of peoples awareness about internet and the young age groups tech savvy attitude, they can search their products, compare with others to make their orders online easily. 2.5 Market Share Value of Primark At present Primark is number one UK clothing retailer in high street. There are so many competitor of it like Topman, Miss Selfridge, Dorothy Perkins, MS, Tesco, ASDA, Matalan Mango, TK Max and soon. Primark has moved a step closer to toppling Marks Spencer from the top spot in clothing market share, after its volume share leapt to 10.1% ( Ana, 2008). IMRG expects internet retail sales to increase by 15 per cent this year, with customers predicted to spend an estimated  £13.16bn online in the lead up to Christmas. A new record for internet sales volumes was set last Monday typically the biggest trading day of the week online although in keeping with the wider economic gloom, sales values were flat (Guardian, 2008). Growth for retail industry till year 2013 is weakens and steadies, First Research forecasts are based on INFORUM forecasts that are licensed from the Interindustry Economic Research Fund, Inc. (IERF) in College Park, MD. INFORUMs interindustry-macro approach to modelling the economy captures the links between industries and the aggregate economy ( Hoovers, 2009). Due to Hoovers, 2008 Primark business was -3% but in next coming year 2009 it is 1% less than the last year. For next coming three years it will be increased by nearly 4% continuously. In year 2013, the business of Primark will be increased their business by 4%. ADVANTAGES  · Business can be going on 24 x 7 days a year.  · Increase the number of sales volume  · Well managed store all the time  · Less staff recruitment.  · Increase the Profit because less money spends on training and development.  · Easy publicity of the product and name. DISADVANTAGES  · Less rash of people in store.  · Promotional things cannot be sell easily in particular stores.  · Customers are not feel that secure as store shopping.  · Chances of the fraud of credit cards and bank details can be effect the reputation of the company. Table 2 : Advantage Disadvantages of online shopping service at Primark CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY This chapter described the methodology used to address the research issue . A summary of the methodology is then presented to provide the platform for the research. The methodology best suited to achieve the research issue aim is then affirmed, alongside discussion on other methodologies and why they were not felt appropriate for utilization with this research issue. 3.1 Research Definition Research is not just a process of gathering information, as is sometimes suggested. Rather, it is about answering unanswered question or creating that which does not currently exist. Burns, (1994:2) defines research as ‘a systematic investigation to fins answers to problem. Bulmer (1977:5) states ‘Nevertheless sociological research , as research is primarily committed to established systematic, reliable and valid knowledge about the social world. Type of Research Research can be classified from three perspectives 1 application of the research study 2 objectives in undertaking the research 3 inquiry mode employed The researcher research is contain descriptive research type which is regarding the new service for the Primark company which has not any online shopping service. So the researcher will start new online shopping service at UK Primark. To finish this research the researcher need both kind of data qualitative data and quantitative data. And some of the data in both of categories contain primary data and secondary data. 3.2 What is the Qualitative and Quantitative research Academics confirmed that, in the main, two different research areas were distinguished: quantitative research, and qualitative research, (White, 2005; Saunders et al., 2007;Fisher, 2007). Quantitative research involved an objective way of studying things, whereas a qualitative approach assumed this was difficult and that the research was subjective, as the research issue clearly was in this instance. Distinctions between Quantitative and Qualitative data Quantitative data Qualitative data * Based on meaning derived from numbers * Collection results in numerical and standardised data * Analysis conducted through the use of diagrams and statistics * Based on meaning * Collection results in requiring classification * Analysis conducted through the use of concepetualisation Table 3 : Distinction between Quantitative data and Qualitative data sources Dey (1993)Harvey and Rawlinson (1994); authors experience, Adapted from Sunders M., Thornhill, Lewis, (2009) 3.3 Primary and secondary data Researchers usually start by gathering both the type of data Primary data and secondary data. But most probably first researcher would like to start collect the secondary data. The secondary data can easily available. According to Kotler, Armstrong, Wong Saunders, (2008) Secondary data consist of information that already exists somewhere, having been collected for another purpose. Primary data consist of information collected for the specific purpose at hand. Secondary data can easily available because company can buy that from anywhere. It is provide good starting point for the research and also help to define research problem and objectives. Primary data need to make sure that it will be relevant , accurate, current and unbiased. Primary data collection calls for the number of decisions on research approaches, contact methods, sampling plan and research instruments. Secondary data is more quickly and available at lower cost than primary data. Sometimes the secondary data cannot be collect by the individual company on its own. Primary data include observation, survey and experiments which is relevant people, actions and situations. 3.4 Interview Technique The interview is a qualitative tool of collecting primary data. There are various kinds of conducting interviews such as in-depth interview, semi-structured interview, group focus interview, structured interview, elite interview, ethnographic interview and phenomenological interview. The interviewers can adjust and rearrange questions according to the flow of the conversation. Moreover, there are mainly two types of interviews that can be taken up any researcher which are telephone interviews and personal interviews. Telephone interviews are used extensively is low cost form of personal interviewing that can be used to obtain information quickly. Administration of this approach is easy and has less interview bias problem. However, there are no human interactions, which can lead to interviewer bias or careless behaviour. However, to some extent personal interviews are also been used along with telephonic interviews. We would be conducting semi structured interviews as it suits explora tory research design. 3.5 Qualitative Data The researcher find this all the qusalitative data of strengths weakness, opportunities and threats of Primark by visiting the stores and observing the behaviour of the customers and staff and the management. The SWOT of Primark is highlighted in the table below: STRENGTHS  · Most Primark stores are on high streets or shopping malls  · Prices are reasonable  · All stores have large trading space.  · Good interiors, decor and proper signage  · Experienced retailer for over more than 40 years in operation  · It provides recyclable eco-friendly bags  · Frequent locator and international coverage WEAKNESSES * No online shopping facility available. * Weak public relation campaigns * Shops crowded and services are not up to standard * Mismanagement of clothes and accessories * Dependent on suppliers * Less promotional activity for stores and company * Less number of fitting rooms OPPORTUNITIES  · Primark can introduce their own store card  · Have an automatic self scan area  · Introduce new section like kitchen range, fragrance etc  · Primark can introduce a refreshment area/cafeteria  · More advertisement and promotion; Tie up and links with various other shops  · Give more range for 35 years and upwards  · Can introduce variety supplier and talent  · Online shopping can also be introduced THREATS * Unethical practice may jeopardise sales * Price competition * Inflation recession (decline in consumer confidence/low disposable income) * Other store selling for like products e.g.: H M, Matalan, Tesco etc. Table 4 : Fieldwork Primark SWOT Analyse 3.6 Quantitative Data The researcher was fortunately able to arrange some interview with some of the Primark managers and customers. The interviews contained both negative and positive replies. However most of the responses were positive. 3.6.1 Managers questioner interview The below primary data shows what are the opinion of the managers about the online shopping service in UK Primark. All the managers have similar view about this innovation skip to some of them. They are appreciating this innovation. The researcher was arrange 8 interviews with different different Primark managers like Lakeside, Watford, Harrow, Oxford street, Hammersmith. Interviews with the managers give the following responds to the researcher: The first part of the mangers interview questioner is (q1,q2,q3)give the idea about how much they are popular in the market. Averagely their is 10000 to 15000 people visit the store on a day to day basis. And the average spend per person is nearly  £10 to  £12. Second part of the managers interview questions (q4,q5) give the information about the company profit how much profit they are making ob year on year, their profit 112% on annual budget since inception 2006. In this credit crunch situation market is facing trouble but still Primark is increasing their profit on same level. Furthermore the third part of the managers interview questions (q6, q7) provides the details about competitors of Primark in the market. Due to the market situation Primark is the most famous retailers for like for like sales. According to all the managers opinion, competitors are New look, BHs, MS, ASDA, Tesco and so on. Primark also prove itself as own their original Moto ‘Look Good, Pay Less. So many managers says that the Primark is the only one place where people can just get scoks for  £2, pair of Mens jeans for  £8, and lots of thing people can find for very cheap price at Primark. Even whenever you pass though the high street you can see that most of the people hold Primark bags. Last part of the managers interview questions is part four(q8,q9), which is give us the information about the feasibility vice the online shopping service is good for the company or not. According to my all the 6 interviews with the managers like supervisor managers to HR managers. 70% response for the online shopping service UK Primark is positive, but 30% said that the company is not that much able to introduce the online shopping service. Furthermore interview with the managers showed that Primark is likely to benefit from the introduction of an online shopping service for their customers. Because the company can save the money and can make the money by introducing the online shopping service. Different ways to save the money due to the managers like the need less staff inside the store to manage the store clean and tide-up. Another reason is they need less HR expenses like less training, recruitment and soon. Primark can run their business for 24 hours, and make more money with fewer resources. 3.6.1 The second questioners survey of Customers The researcher did the survey of 50 people from the different part of the London. Thus survey also divided in two different groups Male and Female. Like Harrow, Hammersmith, Hayes, Uxbridge, Ilford and soon. The researcher was make 10 number of questions for the customers to get the positive or negative response to his/ her research. Each questions gives positive answer to the researcher just skip to the some. Furthermore, the researcher get the reply with the Q1, is about how frequently the customers are visiting the Primark, and the answer is positivistic and 100%. To added some more, all most people visiting a Primark ones a month but some people who are visiting Primark more than one it means they visit Primark twice , thrice and fourth. Going towards Q2, which give the ideas about people are shopping from the Primark is planned or unplanned? The response to this question is neutral like 24 people said it is unplanned shopping and 26 said it is planned shopping. The third question also gives the common opinion of the people about with whom they would like to visit the Primark. The researcher gets variety of answers in different kind of options like friends, family alone, others. According to the response most of the people prefer to visit the Primark with friends the survey gives number out of 50 people 24 prefer to visit the Primark with the friends. Second highest number for the fami ly which is 12. At last very less people prefer to Feasibility of Online Shopping in UK Primark Feasibility of Online Shopping in UK Primark Abstract The purpose of this research is to study the online shopping in UK clothing retail market, and how it will be helpful to the researcher to get the idea about the feasibility of Primark online shopping service. The research is divided in 5 chapters each chapter gives the reader some idea about online shopping and how it will be beneficial for the company and the consumer. Moreover, the researcher uses this chapter to explain his/her point of view by taking individual chapter. Each chapter has many sub divisions. The researcher plan her research on typical system like chapter vies start from introduction, literature review, methodology, implementation calculation and last conclusion. In this techno savvy world people are using the technology in their day to day life. Sometimes they are using directly and sometimes indirectly but now the situation is like that the person must have use the technology to make their life luxurious. The researcher writes about ecommerce, its advantages and disadvantages. In methodology, the researcher use the both type of data qualitative and quantitative. In quantitative the researcher collects both type of primary and secondary data by using interview and survey. The aim of the research is how Primark can increase its sell in this competitive market. And online shopping market is very strong in UK. Furthermore how the online shopping will be change the stores situation and what are the changes the company will get. 1. INTRODUCTION The researcher doing t CHAPTER 1 1.1. WHAT IS PRIMARK? Primark Stores Limited is an Irish clothing retailer. Its stores are located in various regions like United Kingdom, Ireland, and Spain. Within this area of responsibility, Primark stores outnumbered other clothing retailer business, with one hundred sixty one stores overall distributed in three major regions: one hundred twenty-five in the United Kingdom. The company positions itself as marketing fashionable at cutthroat prices. Primark is known for selling clothes at the budget end of the market. Its success is based on sourcing supply, making clothes with simple designs and fabrics and targets young, fashion-conscious individuals ages 35 below, offering them simple yet high quality clothes and apparels. The relevance of global trends and consumers demands on lifestyle made Primark Store Limited reinvent its business scheme and management structure. From the first penny store in Ireland to the latest flagship store in Liverpool, the Primark story has been one of continuing success founded on a unique combination and lean operations. Primark was opened their first Penney store in Mary Street Dublin in June 1969. During the one year time they added four more stores in Dublin. After continues success in Dublin, in next three year 1971, Primark opened their first store outside the Dublin in Cork and end of that year there were 11 more stores in Ireland and one in Northern Ireland. Furthermore, in 1973, the number of stores had reached 18 in Ireland and Primark Began trading in Great Britain with four out of-town stores. The following year saw the opening of the first UK high street store in Derby and Bristol. In ten more years Primark increase the number of stores in UK and Ireland both like 18 new store added in UK and 9 stores in in Ireland. And the management also expanded the number of the stores in UK and Ireland to 22 stores each. The most innovating thing of Primark was in ten years duration from 1984 to 1994 a further Like most of the Primark stores in high street so it is beneficial to them. Primark has so many strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats. Like 40 years experienced retailer, reasonable price seller of clothes, eco friendly carrier bags etc. Primark has so many weaknesses, weak public relationship, leak of services, no online facility for shopping. For promotional development Primark can introduce their own store cards, Self scan area and soon. Due to competitive market Primark provide cheapest clothes to customers. Its create threat for Primark to stay in these market. LIST OF STORE LOCATION IN LONDON Basildon Kingston-Upon-Thames Basingstoke Lewisham, Bedford Leytonstone, Bexleyheath London Brighton, Luton Bromley Maidstone Camberley Margate, Chatham Norwich Crawley Oxford Croydon Peckham Dartford Reading, Ealing Romford Eastbourne Slough, Eastham Southend Gravesend Stevenage Hackney Sutton Hammersmith Thurrock Harlow Tooting Harrow Watford Hemel Hempstead Wandsworth Hounslow Wembley Ipswich Woking Kilburn, Woolwich Table 1: Field work Primark store location in London Primark stores a privately held subsidiary of Associated British Foods, Is involved in opening departmental store. It owns and operated 188 departmental stores that provide products such as women wear, children wear, menswear, footwear, accessories, The children market in Britain is worth  £4.5bn. Five years ago, Primark had a 2.8% market share. By 2006 this had risen 5.4% and in 2007 to 6.2% this now places Primark fourth in terms of market share. (Sutherland Canwall, 2008) What is e-commerce? 1.2 Aim The researcher aim to do this research to increase the volume of sales at present Primark is leading clothing retailer in UK. Furthermore according to this techno savvy world, and to compete the all competitors Primark also have to be go ahead with some new innovation with them. 1.3 Objectives 1. To explore how online shopping can benefit Primark and boost its sales. 2. To calculate, agree and plan for the necessary resources for this project 3. To investigate the market for online shopping service in the UK competitors market. 4. To identify new segment to increase the market share CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1. ONLINE SHOPPING SERVICE The researcher wants to introduce new direct marketing strategy for Primark to increase the sales volume. Like other competitors, Primark does not have an online shopping facility. In this day and age of technological advancement, it becomes very essential for any organisation to establish oneself in the field of e-commerce. The researcher has found a gap in the market for such a technological need and would like to introduce a promotional strategy for the companys growth in this high tech savvy world. The e-commerce can be defined as a modern business methodology that addresses the needs of organization, merchants and consumers to cut costs while improving the quality of goods and services and increasing the speed of service delivery, by using Internet (Goal, 2007). According to Varley, (2006), since the start of the new millennium, shopping via a computer has moved from the something indulged by a niche market to commonplace activity amongst the population masses. Furthermore the n ew internet world provide the retail industry with a new and exciting way of enticing consumer to purchase the product from the comfort from their available place like from home, office or anywhere they can access the ‘virtual world. In fact in recent developments in personal mobile communications industry would suggest that before long we will be able to go shopping literally anywhere at any time. Since the more improvement in the online shopping service is providing more and more luxurious service day by day so the the home delivery option alongside stores as the retail industry has developed. According to Fletcher, Bell McNaughton, (2004) e-commerce involves electronically medicated exchanges with customers. According to Rosen, (2002). Electronic commerce or â€Å"e-commerce† covers the range of online business activities for products and services, both business-to-business and business-to-customers, through the Internet. E-commerce breaks into two components: On the other hand side online auction is straightforward yet revolutionary business concept. Brokage business model, auctions bring the buyers and sellers together in a virtual marketplace. ( Bidgoli, 2002)  · Online Shopping: The scope of information and activities that provides customers with the information to conduct business with you and to make informed buying decisions.  · Online Purchasing: The technology infrastructure for the exchange of data and the purchase of the product over the Internet. Online purchasing is a metaphor used in business-to-business e-commerce for providing customers with an online method of placing orders, submitting purchase orders, or requesting quotes ( Rosen, 2002) Estimates vary as to the size of the business-to-consumer e-commerce market. The International Data Corporation (IDC) estimates that the total purchases made over the web were $10 billion in 1997 and will be more than $220 billion in 2001 (Oliveria, Amorim and Vilao, 1999). These large s are put in a wider context by KPMG (1999) which reports that, â€Å"Direct sales are 5% of retail sales in the UK and 4#% in the US. Of this total, 16% US home sales and 1% of UK home sales are electronic.† Forrester Research (Tagliabue, 1999) whose 1999 research showed Selling goods and services online is also called ecommerce. Popular ecommerce Web sites include Amazon.com and eBay, yahoo shopping, etoys, the met store , smart shopper and so on. Ecommerce is not the sole province of large companies, however; many small businesses have found considerable success selling on the Internet. Like this research content the use of the technology so the researcher would like to discuss about e-commerce service, Electronic commerce or ecommerce is a term for any type of business, or commercial transaction, that involves the transfer of information across the Internet. The e-commerce can be defined as a modern business methodology that addresses the needs of organization, merchants and consumers to cut costs while improving the quality of goods and services and increasing the speed of service delivery, by using Internet (Goal, 2007). According to Forrester Research at, the European online retail market is expected to grow from Euro 40 billion in 2004 to Euro 167 billion by 2009 (Forrester, 2006) Cited in (Burdick, Coakley Richardson, 2006)). And what are the benefits of e-commerce service? But basically the people knows each and every coin has two side so when you get some benefits from the ecommerce on the other hand side you get some disadvantages of the ecommerce as well. Moreover, with the help of online shopping service people can save their time for the shopping, online shopping service is very flexible you can use it anytime. In the opposite side you cannot touch and feel it you cant get it immediately first you pass through the very long process of ordering and after some days limitation like after four days delivery or one week delivery your get you stuff. But nowadays the most of the market work with the online shopping service like all the clothing stores provide Online shopping service. For example MS, Next, Topshop, Matalan, Monsoon, and soon. These all the clothing company has very high share market value in the market and very huge turn over in the market as well. According to the issue published in The Guardian, (2007), The weather also effect the shopping from the store and the online like the number shows how much it effect the market online market sales. In July 2007, because of the wet weather the sales increased by  £4bn in a month for the first time at  £4.2bn up from  £2.3bn in July a year ago according to the Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG). 2.2 PRIMARK ONLINE SHOPPING SERVICE (STRATEGY) ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES Every new thing has its own pros and cons like online shopping service is advantageous as much as disadvantageous for the Primark. First the researcher would like to discuss the advantages of the online shopping service at Primark. According to the competitor of Primarks are MS, Matalan, Topshop, Next and so on. All of the competitors are providing very good and fast online shopping service for their customers. 2.2.1 Business Benefits According to the Rosen, (2002), by providing your customers with 24 hour-a-day,7-day-a-week (24 x 7) access to information, you can support sales, in some cases shorten the sales cycle, and cut your administrative costs, since customers have access to information when they want it. Some people believe that shown that FAQs on an online shopping site give customers a better idea of companys product and help them feel more comfortable making the decision to buy. E-commerce is a great way to get the business of these off- peak shoppers. For a very small amount of money, a company can have its â€Å"cyber-shop† open 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Savings on customers service staff, savings on telephone operators and sales people, instant update of catalogues and prices, product targeting, active targeting , passive targeting, better overhead and inventory control, worldwide visibility, attractive option for the physically challenged (Shim, 2000). Further all the advantageous strategy for the any company who introduce their online shopping service. With the Internet reaching all corner of the world so by introducing the online shopping service Primark can be reach all around the world. Actually they can advertise themselves globally for very small price. When the online shopping service the company proved they give the all the detailed description of the products so the Primark have to be recruit the less staff for the customer service staff, telephone operators, and less sales staffs. Like the customers when makes a purchase online is one less using the companys telephone operators and salespeople. Product targeting and active targeting both are the very helpful for the company. Primark can be accomplished actively or passively on the Internet to make their any product targeting. For the company Active targeting for the product by their product targeting Product targeting is in the two different way like the Due to the further description of the 24 x 7 online shopping service is definitely very useful for the any company like MS, Next, Matalan, etc have the same selling hour like Primark but they are selling more product by providing online shopping service. Furthermore nowadays people are more busy and addicted to use the internet in their day- to- day life. The world Internet users are the 100% present day compare to the year 2000. (Internet world stats, 2009) Normally Primark is just getting the benefit of on-peak shoppers only because it does not have any online shopping service to provide their customers. With just the shopping hours the company is making very good volume of sales so think when the company launched their online shopping service it will be more beneficial for the company to increase the volume of sales. 2.2.2 Operational Management Benefits Better availability of Service which means conveniently allows customers to shop in their homes from anywhere online. More benefit of online shopping for the operational management is cost reduction in information processing like reduce the cost of processing and retrieving order and customer information. Better timeliness of service means online operations can offer customers 24-hour servicer for purchasing good and services. Initial cost of operation less expensive, basically the capital investment in e-commerce operation is considerably less than brick-and mortar operations. Improved product development by the ability to be online with research and development people from around the world can help to reduce the time-to -market for new products and the cost of their development. Improved scheduling which is help full to the business. The online ability to keep track of product or service activities allows schedulers to be more accurate and timely in scheduling and rescheduling prod uction activity, reducing costs (Heizer and Render 2001, p. 460; Laudon and Laudon 2002, pp.122-129; Kamarainen et al. 2001). 2.3 Disadvantages of online shopping service There are so many disadvantages of e commerce business for the consumers like, credit card fraud, products that Dont show well, Limit to the Market, Small companies unprepared for global selling and soon. According to Shim Anique (2000) Credit card number can be stolen by the disgruntled or criminal employee who has legitimate as well as illegitimate access to the company e-commerce system. There are so many disadvantageous of ecommerce possible capacity and bandwidth problems. Security issues are major concern for many consumers. Security issues and measures are expected to improve in coming years, through the use of media other than credit cards on the web, such as e-Wallet, e-cash and other payment systems, acceptance or digital signature, more widespread application and acceptance of encryption technology and greater awareness and understanding of customers concerns (Bidgoli, 2002b). The main disadvantageous for shoppers, in ranked order were ‘Availability; ‘Cant be in to receive delivery; ‘Premium charged for delivery; ‘Premium charged for delivery; and ‘Cant see or feel the merchandise.( Harris Dennis, 2002) 2.4 Marketing contribution to High turnover Introduce online shopping service Primark needs many promotional strategies for the promotion of new service. To attract the customers and to publish new service they need so many promotional strategies like direct marketing, Advertising, publicity, sales promotion, Exhibition and so on. Primark always focuses on low price high volume strategy to develop market. Specifically in this recession time, peoples also moves towards Primark low price value added products. To grab this opportunity they should have also low cost marketing strategy as well. In the modern world the Internet often becomes the best medium to communicate and search things around. As all competitors have Online shopping strategy they can easily grab the markets. Online shopping strategy helps to advertising the companys product. As a result of peoples awareness about internet and the young age groups tech savvy attitude, they can search their products, compare with others to make their orders online easily. 2.5 Market Share Value of Primark At present Primark is number one UK clothing retailer in high street. There are so many competitor of it like Topman, Miss Selfridge, Dorothy Perkins, MS, Tesco, ASDA, Matalan Mango, TK Max and soon. Primark has moved a step closer to toppling Marks Spencer from the top spot in clothing market share, after its volume share leapt to 10.1% ( Ana, 2008). IMRG expects internet retail sales to increase by 15 per cent this year, with customers predicted to spend an estimated  £13.16bn online in the lead up to Christmas. A new record for internet sales volumes was set last Monday typically the biggest trading day of the week online although in keeping with the wider economic gloom, sales values were flat (Guardian, 2008). Growth for retail industry till year 2013 is weakens and steadies, First Research forecasts are based on INFORUM forecasts that are licensed from the Interindustry Economic Research Fund, Inc. (IERF) in College Park, MD. INFORUMs interindustry-macro approach to modelling the economy captures the links between industries and the aggregate economy ( Hoovers, 2009). Due to Hoovers, 2008 Primark business was -3% but in next coming year 2009 it is 1% less than the last year. For next coming three years it will be increased by nearly 4% continuously. In year 2013, the business of Primark will be increased their business by 4%. ADVANTAGES  · Business can be going on 24 x 7 days a year.  · Increase the number of sales volume  · Well managed store all the time  · Less staff recruitment.  · Increase the Profit because less money spends on training and development.  · Easy publicity of the product and name. DISADVANTAGES  · Less rash of people in store.  · Promotional things cannot be sell easily in particular stores.  · Customers are not feel that secure as store shopping.  · Chances of the fraud of credit cards and bank details can be effect the reputation of the company. Table 2 : Advantage Disadvantages of online shopping service at Primark CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY This chapter described the methodology used to address the research issue . A summary of the methodology is then presented to provide the platform for the research. The methodology best suited to achieve the research issue aim is then affirmed, alongside discussion on other methodologies and why they were not felt appropriate for utilization with this research issue. 3.1 Research Definition Research is not just a process of gathering information, as is sometimes suggested. Rather, it is about answering unanswered question or creating that which does not currently exist. Burns, (1994:2) defines research as ‘a systematic investigation to fins answers to problem. Bulmer (1977:5) states ‘Nevertheless sociological research , as research is primarily committed to established systematic, reliable and valid knowledge about the social world. Type of Research Research can be classified from three perspectives 1 application of the research study 2 objectives in undertaking the research 3 inquiry mode employed The researcher research is contain descriptive research type which is regarding the new service for the Primark company which has not any online shopping service. So the researcher will start new online shopping service at UK Primark. To finish this research the researcher need both kind of data qualitative data and quantitative data. And some of the data in both of categories contain primary data and secondary data. 3.2 What is the Qualitative and Quantitative research Academics confirmed that, in the main, two different research areas were distinguished: quantitative research, and qualitative research, (White, 2005; Saunders et al., 2007;Fisher, 2007). Quantitative research involved an objective way of studying things, whereas a qualitative approach assumed this was difficult and that the research was subjective, as the research issue clearly was in this instance. Distinctions between Quantitative and Qualitative data Quantitative data Qualitative data * Based on meaning derived from numbers * Collection results in numerical and standardised data * Analysis conducted through the use of diagrams and statistics * Based on meaning * Collection results in requiring classification * Analysis conducted through the use of concepetualisation Table 3 : Distinction between Quantitative data and Qualitative data sources Dey (1993)Harvey and Rawlinson (1994); authors experience, Adapted from Sunders M., Thornhill, Lewis, (2009) 3.3 Primary and secondary data Researchers usually start by gathering both the type of data Primary data and secondary data. But most probably first researcher would like to start collect the secondary data. The secondary data can easily available. According to Kotler, Armstrong, Wong Saunders, (2008) Secondary data consist of information that already exists somewhere, having been collected for another purpose. Primary data consist of information collected for the specific purpose at hand. Secondary data can easily available because company can buy that from anywhere. It is provide good starting point for the research and also help to define research problem and objectives. Primary data need to make sure that it will be relevant , accurate, current and unbiased. Primary data collection calls for the number of decisions on research approaches, contact methods, sampling plan and research instruments. Secondary data is more quickly and available at lower cost than primary data. Sometimes the secondary data cannot be collect by the individual company on its own. Primary data include observation, survey and experiments which is relevant people, actions and situations. 3.4 Interview Technique The interview is a qualitative tool of collecting primary data. There are various kinds of conducting interviews such as in-depth interview, semi-structured interview, group focus interview, structured interview, elite interview, ethnographic interview and phenomenological interview. The interviewers can adjust and rearrange questions according to the flow of the conversation. Moreover, there are mainly two types of interviews that can be taken up any researcher which are telephone interviews and personal interviews. Telephone interviews are used extensively is low cost form of personal interviewing that can be used to obtain information quickly. Administration of this approach is easy and has less interview bias problem. However, there are no human interactions, which can lead to interviewer bias or careless behaviour. However, to some extent personal interviews are also been used along with telephonic interviews. We would be conducting semi structured interviews as it suits explora tory research design. 3.5 Qualitative Data The researcher find this all the qusalitative data of strengths weakness, opportunities and threats of Primark by visiting the stores and observing the behaviour of the customers and staff and the management. The SWOT of Primark is highlighted in the table below: STRENGTHS  · Most Primark stores are on high streets or shopping malls  · Prices are reasonable  · All stores have large trading space.  · Good interiors, decor and proper signage  · Experienced retailer for over more than 40 years in operation  · It provides recyclable eco-friendly bags  · Frequent locator and international coverage WEAKNESSES * No online shopping facility available. * Weak public relation campaigns * Shops crowded and services are not up to standard * Mismanagement of clothes and accessories * Dependent on suppliers * Less promotional activity for stores and company * Less number of fitting rooms OPPORTUNITIES  · Primark can introduce their own store card  · Have an automatic self scan area  · Introduce new section like kitchen range, fragrance etc  · Primark can introduce a refreshment area/cafeteria  · More advertisement and promotion; Tie up and links with various other shops  · Give more range for 35 years and upwards  · Can introduce variety supplier and talent  · Online shopping can also be introduced THREATS * Unethical practice may jeopardise sales * Price competition * Inflation recession (decline in consumer confidence/low disposable income) * Other store selling for like products e.g.: H M, Matalan, Tesco etc. Table 4 : Fieldwork Primark SWOT Analyse 3.6 Quantitative Data The researcher was fortunately able to arrange some interview with some of the Primark managers and customers. The interviews contained both negative and positive replies. However most of the responses were positive. 3.6.1 Managers questioner interview The below primary data shows what are the opinion of the managers about the online shopping service in UK Primark. All the managers have similar view about this innovation skip to some of them. They are appreciating this innovation. The researcher was arrange 8 interviews with different different Primark managers like Lakeside, Watford, Harrow, Oxford street, Hammersmith. Interviews with the managers give the following responds to the researcher: The first part of the mangers interview questioner is (q1,q2,q3)give the idea about how much they are popular in the market. Averagely their is 10000 to 15000 people visit the store on a day to day basis. And the average spend per person is nearly  £10 to  £12. Second part of the managers interview questions (q4,q5) give the information about the company profit how much profit they are making ob year on year, their profit 112% on annual budget since inception 2006. In this credit crunch situation market is facing trouble but still Primark is increasing their profit on same level. Furthermore the third part of the managers interview questions (q6, q7) provides the details about competitors of Primark in the market. Due to the market situation Primark is the most famous retailers for like for like sales. According to all the managers opinion, competitors are New look, BHs, MS, ASDA, Tesco and so on. Primark also prove itself as own their original Moto ‘Look Good, Pay Less. So many managers says that the Primark is the only one place where people can just get scoks for  £2, pair of Mens jeans for  £8, and lots of thing people can find for very cheap price at Primark. Even whenever you pass though the high street you can see that most of the people hold Primark bags. Last part of the managers interview questions is part four(q8,q9), which is give us the information about the feasibility vice the online shopping service is good for the company or not. According to my all the 6 interviews with the managers like supervisor managers to HR managers. 70% response for the online shopping service UK Primark is positive, but 30% said that the company is not that much able to introduce the online shopping service. Furthermore interview with the managers showed that Primark is likely to benefit from the introduction of an online shopping service for their customers. Because the company can save the money and can make the money by introducing the online shopping service. Different ways to save the money due to the managers like the need less staff inside the store to manage the store clean and tide-up. Another reason is they need less HR expenses like less training, recruitment and soon. Primark can run their business for 24 hours, and make more money with fewer resources. 3.6.1 The second questioners survey of Customers The researcher did the survey of 50 people from the different part of the London. Thus survey also divided in two different groups Male and Female. Like Harrow, Hammersmith, Hayes, Uxbridge, Ilford and soon. The researcher was make 10 number of questions for the customers to get the positive or negative response to his/ her research. Each questions gives positive answer to the researcher just skip to the some. Furthermore, the researcher get the reply with the Q1, is about how frequently the customers are visiting the Primark, and the answer is positivistic and 100%. To added some more, all most people visiting a Primark ones a month but some people who are visiting Primark more than one it means they visit Primark twice , thrice and fourth. Going towards Q2, which give the ideas about people are shopping from the Primark is planned or unplanned? The response to this question is neutral like 24 people said it is unplanned shopping and 26 said it is planned shopping. The third question also gives the common opinion of the people about with whom they would like to visit the Primark. The researcher gets variety of answers in different kind of options like friends, family alone, others. According to the response most of the people prefer to visit the Primark with friends the survey gives number out of 50 people 24 prefer to visit the Primark with the friends. Second highest number for the fami ly which is 12. At last very less people prefer to

Racism in America :: Racist Racial Discrimination

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Many people are not aware of how much racism still exists in our schools, workforces, and anywhere else where social lives are occurring. â€Å"Nine out of ten people in society today believe that racism does not exist† (Hutchinson 5). It is obvious that racism is bad as it was many decades ago, but it sure has not gone away. Racism very much exists and it is about time that people need to start thinking about the instigations and solutions to this matter. Many people today live their lives oblivious to what is happening in the world around them, often trying to convince themselves that racism is not a problem in their world. Others know all about the problem, but don’t really realize that they themselves could possibly be adding to the problem by discriminating against someone else’s human rights, and at the same time going around saying how open minded they are. Many people also believe that it depends on if a person was brought into the world as a racist or not, but that is not the case at all. In fact, an individual cannot be born a racist but only learn to become one as they grow from childhood to adulthood.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What is racism really? Racism is not knowing anything about someone when you look at them, but disliking them anyway, not because of who they are, but what they are. Racism is cowardly. More importantly, racism is a weakness and an obvious sign of ignorance. So what is it that makes us racist? More than likely it is fear of the unknown. In other words, it is lack of education. The only way to better this ignorance is to educate oneself. Since racism is learned and not genetic, it is something that needs to be taken care of in school starting form young children. In Brown v. Board of Education, the whole issue was that schools could be segregated only if they were â€Å"equal†. This was decided by the case of Plessy v. Ferguson. Schools in the South were not equal so Brown v. Board of Education was filed. â€Å"Supreme Court Judge Earl Warren decided with the rest of the Supreme Court that segregated schools were in fact unlawful† (Hutchinson 10). Sch ools went through drastic changes but some schools didn’t like the idea. â€Å"Schools in Prince Edward County had closed due to the ruling and children in the county lost out on their education†(Hutchinson 10).

Ethical Dilemma Essay

Stepping away from a company that has brought sales up to an increasing 15% will take courage. Will you have the courage to stand for what is right for the current workers working for a company that is working long hours and a few dollars a day or continue doing business that may cause backlash from the media and public? You are responsible for deciding if you will continue to do business with this company by your CEO while also having the name of your company in the local newspaper as doing business with equipment manufacturing company that doesn’t treat their employees with standards and morals. Ethics The company has standards to abide by and to conduct interactions with other companies. â€Å"Ethics is the code of moral principles and values that governs the behaviors of a person or group with respect to what is right or wrong† (Daft 2012, pg. 123). Continuing to do business will have its disadvantages. Many clients that are currently doing business with the company will look at the company’s decision to see if they will continue to do business. Managers are looked upon as role models of the organization and to set the standard ethics of a company (Daft, 2012). Making this decision isn’t just about you as a manager but your decision also stands for the employees of the company, shareholders, stakeholders, and customers (Daft, 2012). Prepare for backlash if you decide to continue to do business with a company that treats their workers like slaves. Every company has a code of ethics to abide by with any given situation and to go against the code which your company stands for will turn many believers in your company away. The company will experience a decrease in profits turning away from the company that has brought the company an increase of 15% of profit and a substantial amount of money. Now with losing 15% of profit, it will affect the money for the company. The company may not be able to employ as many workers as before with the substantial amount decreasing. Investors may look at this decrease as the company not holding its profit and value as it once did. While losing this profit, the company now has to find a way to make up for the loss of the profit. To continue to do business with this company, you have to decide if you would break any laws while continuing to do so. The equipment manufacturing company isn’t the responsibility of your company. The company doesn’t have a code of ethics or moral rights for workers. Is that the responsibility of your company? It’s not the company’s responsibility to handle the ethics for the company but to stand by the codes and morals that their company is based on. Continuing to do business with this company will not be breaking any laws. As a company that stands behind the code of ethics and morals, it would be best to part ways from this company to avoid breaking legal laws and company standards. As a manager, one has to make decisions for a company and will this benefit the company. Walking away from doing business with this company would be best. As a company not only is standing behind the code of ethics and morals of a company, one also has a reputation to maintain. Taking a stand and parting ways will keep a company’s reputation intact. Having been involved with this company, many people are going to look to see what decision a company such as yours would take. Maintaining your reputation within the business community is a must. Parting ways with this contract with the previous company may bring another company to offer a contract at the same price because of the way you handled the outcome of the previous company. To come to my final decision, I would approach it in a nonprogrammed decision and utilitarian approach. â€Å"A nonprogrammed decision is one made in response to a situation that is unique, is poorly defined and largely unstructured, and has important consequences for the organization. Decisions differ according to the amount of certainty, risk, uncertainty, or ambiguity in the situation (Daft, 2012, pg. 36). Making this decision for the company, I have to look at all angles. Will my decision ruin the company or will it enhance the company. This isn’t a decision that can be done overnight. This decision isn’t based on one person but a company. Allowing myself to make the best decision for the greatest outcome for the greatest beneficial for the company. Allowing myself a week to weigh my options and once my decision has been made, present them to the company so they can see why I came to this decision. My decision would be to part ways with this company for the good of my company.

Using however - Emphasis

Using however Using however ‘However’ is a useful word, however you look at it. [Sorry – Ed.] But readers of our e-bulletin, Write Away, often ask us to clarify the right ways to use it. However we can help, say we. Meaning ‘but’ The most common way of using ‘however’ is to mean ‘but’. This usually comes at the beginning of a sentence, and is followed by a comma. The calendar claimed the month was May. However, the temperature felt more like November. For this use, it’s also correct to put it in the middle of the sentence, with commas either side. It was May. It was, however, very nippy. Or you can put it at the end, after a comma. I am normally wearing shorts by this time of year. I’m afraid of pneumonia, however. But it is wrong to use ‘however’ between two parts of a sentence that make sense by themselves. I look forward to this time of year, however today I have goosebumps is grammatically incorrect. You can use ‘but’ here instead, because it is a conjunction (or joining word). ‘However’ is not a conjunction when it means ‘but’. I look forward to this time of year. However, today I have goosebumps is grammatically correct. Meaning ‘no matter how’ Another, less common, meaning for ‘however’ is ‘no matter how’. You can use it in the middle of a sentence without a comma after it. I couldn’t bring myself to give up my thermal vest, however tired I was of being teased for it. You can also put it at the beginning of your sentence, without a comma afterwards. However you like me to dress, I’ll do the opposite. Be wary of not accidentally putting a comma after ‘however’ in this instance, or you could end up saying something quite different. However, you like me to dress, I’ll do the opposite. [Note: if you do ever want to assert that, while there are people who prefer you clothed, you will always choose to defy them, then that second comma should really be a semi-colon. Or a full stop.] Meaning ‘in whatever way’ In this form ‘however’ can be at the beginning or in the middle of a sentence, with no punctuation around it. I’m kidding. I’ll dress however you’d like me to. It’s your mum’s birthday party. How do I want to travel to Hawaii? However you want. You’re paying. Alternatives When you’re writing a long document, and you need to link from one paragraph to another, it’s easy to fall into the trap of over-using ‘however’ (meaning ‘but’). Here are some good alternatives to keep your writing varied and fresh:         Nevertheless         On the other hand         But         Yet         Despite         In contrast/comparison. If you’re ever in doubt about how to use a particular word, or if you have any other business writing questions, our free 64-page guide to better writing The Write Stuff will help. Click here to download your free copy.

Afflict vs. Inflict

Afflict vs. Inflict Afflict vs. Inflict Afflict vs. Inflict By Guest Author Although the words afflict and inflict have similar meanings and are often used in similar ways, they are far from interchangeable in modern English usage. The OED offers the following definitions of afflict: Afflict: 1. trans. To dash down, overthrow, cast down, deject, humble, in mind, body, or estate. 2. intr. To become downcast (with trouble). 3. trans. To distress with bodily or mental suffering; to trouble grievously, torment. refl. To distress oneself, grieve. In the case of afflict the third definition is the closest to the most common use of the word. The emphasis is on the physical or psychological distress caused by whatever the affliction may be. The word afflict is most commonly used when describing an illness or condition. For example: He was severely afflicted with gout. She suffers from a terrible affliction. These sentences demonstrate an accurate use of the word as they describe a form of physical distress. Inflict is defined by the OED as follows: Inflict: 1. trans. To lay on as a stroke, blow, or wound; to impose as something that must be suffered or endured; to cause to be borne. 2. To impose something unwelcome. (Often jocular). The emphasis of the word inflict is upon the imposition, the force and the unwelcome nature with which whatever is being inflicted upon a person is being inflicted. For example: A severe punishment was inflicted on the hooligan. The teacher inflicted a thirty minute detention upon the rowdy pupil. This is an accurate use of the word as it concentrates not on the punishment and the distress it causes but the force with which the punishment was administered. It is of little surprise that these two words are so regularly confused as the OED mentions the word affliction in a further definition of the word inflict as follows: With inverted construction: To afflict, assail, trouble (a person) with something painful or disagreeable. An additional note added to this strand of the definition explains that this is now a rare use of the word inflict. Traditionally the words were more interchangeable but in modern English they are clearly very separate entities. When in doubt ask yourself whether or not you are talking about something somebody is doing to another person – inflict or whether you are talking about something with which somebody is suffering and the distress it is causing them – afflict. This will enable you to use each of the words in the most commonly understood terms. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should AvoidPrecedent vs. PrecedenceConfusion of Subjective and Objective Pronouns