South Florida Plastic And Reconstructive Surgeon Dr Essay

As we age, the tissues and muscles of the face begin to sag. This sagging eventually changes the contours of the face. A facelift (Rhytidectomy) is a procedure that is specifically designed to address these issues. South Florida Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon Dr. John Michael Thomassen regularly performs facelifts at his certified surgery suite in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., near Oakland Park. By performing a rhytidectomy, Dr. Thomassen can reduce the signs of aging as well as improve the overall appearance of an individual’s face and jawline. The Aging Process of the Face A variety of factors contribute to the signs of aging on the face. These factors include a decrease in the production of collagen, the constant pull of gravity, stress, genetics and various environmental factors (including exposure to UV light). What Issues Can a Facelift with Dr. Thomassen Address? With a Rhytidectomy, Dr. Thomassen can address nasolabial folds and the deep lines that frequently form underneath the lower eyelids. During this procedure at his surgery suite near Oakland Park, he can improve the patient’s skin tone by tightening and then trimming away any excess skin. Dr. Thomassen can also remove fat from beneath the patient’s jaw and chin. A Facelift Can Provide Individuals with a Refreshed, More Youthful Appearance There are a variety of facelift procedures available at Thomassen Plastic Surgery in Fort Lauderdale, near Oakland Park. These procedures include the mini facelift, midShow MoreRelatedDr. John Michael Thomassen s Office And Surgical Suite845 Words   |  4 PagesDr. John Michael Thomassen is a Board Certified Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon in Fort Lauderdale. For more than 10 years he has been serving the residents in South Florida. Dr. Thomassen is a member of The American Society of Plastic Surgeons, The American Society of Reconstructive Microsurgery, as well as the American Board of Plastic Surgery. Thomassen Plastic Surgery in Fort Lauderdale To ensure that all of his patients receive the high quality care they deserve, Dr. Thomassen performsRead MoreImproving The Health Care System1706 Words   |  7 Pagesperforming plastic surgery. According to Huffington Post, â€Å"items bought and sold on the black market, make up the world’s second largest economy behind the United States at roughly $10 trillion.† That is an enormous amount of money that if thought about it could contribute into the economy if done legally. As stated by Bob Mundy, the investigation manager for the Health Department s Unlicensed Activity Office for South Florida, â€Å"The three most prevalent unlicensed medical activities are plastic surgeryRead MoreA Mini Facelift Vs. A Traditional Facelift Essay1400 Words   |  6 Pagesnotice that they appear more tired than they actually feel or who are inadvertently giving others the impression that they are sad due to the way they look, should consider having a mini facelift. Dr. Sam Gershenbaum is one of Miami Florida’s board certified, award-winning, plastic and reconstructive surgeons who frequently performs mini facelifts to address early signs of aging and restore the fresh, energetic facial expression that the majority of people lose as they age. A Mini Facelift Vs. a TraditionalRead MoreBenefits Of A Non Surgical Rhinoplasty1412 Words   |  6 Pagesnon-surgical rhinoplasty is also referred to as a non-surgical nose job, the â€Å"15-Minute Nose Job,† a liquid nose job or injection rhinoplasty. For some, this procedure can be used as a temporary substitute for surgical rhinoplasty. Dr. Sam Gershenbaum is a plastic and reconstructive surgeon who frequently performs non-surgical rhinoplasty procedures at his surgery center in Miami, FL. Non-Surgical Rhinoplasty Vs. Traditional Surgical Rhinoplasty Depending on what a patient would like to accomplish throughRead MoreFort Lauderdales Plastic And Reconstructive Surgeon1182 Words   |  5 PagesFort Lauderdale s Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon Dr. John Michael Thomassen can use chin implants to increase the size of the chin or he can reduce the size and/or projection of a patient’s chin with a chin reduction surgery. With both of these procedures, Dr. Thomassen provides his patients with a natural-looking chin that is more proportionate to his or her other facial features. The Chin Plays an Important Role in the Proportions of the Face The chin greatly affects the overall appearanceRead MoreDr. John Michael Thomassen1163 Words   |  5 PagesDr. John Michael Thomassen is a board-certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon in South Florida who frequently performs brow lifts (forehead lifts) for individuals residing in and around Fort Lauderdale, including Oakland Park. With a forehead lift, Dr. Thomassen can diminish the horizontal lines and sagging wrinkles that typically form on the forehead. After a brow lift, individuals enjoy a refreshed, more youthful appearance. What Can a Brow Lift with Dr. Thomassen Accomplish? A forehead

Environmental Factors of Marketing - 1287 Words

Environmental Factors of Marketing This paper will discuss the five environmental factors that influence global and domestic marketing decisions that organizations must make. These five environmental factors are technology, demographics, government, culture and economics. Companies are affected differently by these factors depending on the industry they are in and the size of the organization. I will be using the Washington Plaza Hotel to illustrate how these environmental factors affect the hotel industry s marketing decisions. The Washington Plaza Hotel is a hospitality business located in Washington, DC. They offer services such as lodging, restaurant, bar, catering and meeting space rental. The Washington Plaza Hotel s major†¦show more content†¦With this in mind, the hotel s marketing department focuses heavily on capturing and catering to government business. Not only does it focus on domestic government but the hotel also does a large amount of business with fo reign government. Government officials from all over the world visit Washington, DC on a regular basis to attend meeting and conduct business with the US government. These officials need a place to stay while they are here and what better location than in the heart of the capital. In addition to providing these individuals with lodging, the hotel can also provide space for meeting as well as attend to any food and beverage needs they might require. Culture Culture plays a big part in the way that the Washington Plaza Hotel does its marketing. As previously discussed, the hotel does a great deal of business with foreign customers that are visiting the United States for business or pleasure. The hotel wants these guests to be comfortable during their stay. One of the ways in which the Washington Plaza Hotel does this is by hiring employees from all different cultures. Currently they have employees from over 20 different countries that can assist with communication and help educate the hotel about foreign culture. What do these guests expect and how can we make them feel at home? These questions can be answered by talking with various employees and trying to get a betterShow MoreRelatedEnvironmental Factors and Marketing1323 Words   |  6 PagesEnvironmental Factors and Marketing Decisions Will a successful marketing plan in one country work in another country? This is unlikely to occur due to many different cultural, political, economic, technological, and competitive environments. Marketing mixes require adjustments to meet local conditions and companies that understand these environmental factors can create advantages when positioning their products or services. Wal-Mart is a global organization and uses market research to understandRead MoreMarketing Micro and Macro Environmental Factors1669 Words   |  7 PagesMacro and micro environments both fall into the categories of environmental scanning. The general scope of environmental scanning is that it is a component of global environmental analysis. While analyses are typically carried out on the macro environment, the micro environment still has an important role to play. In summary, the macro environment is involved with the industries, companies, markets, clients and competitors, while the micro environment can be represented by the suppliers, competitorsRead MoreEnvironmental Factors and Marketing Decisions Essay1251 Words   |  6 PagesEnvironmental Factors and Marketing Decisions Will a successful marketing plan in one country work in another country? This is unlikely to occur due to many different cultural, political, economic, technological, and competitive environments. Marketing mixes require adjustments to meet local conditions and companies that understand these environmental factors can create advantages when positioning their products or services. Wal-Mart is a global organization and uses market research to understandRead More Environmental Factors That Affect Global And Domestic Marketing Decisions1436 Words   |  6 PagesEnvironmental Factors that affect Global and Domestic Marketing Decisions Every company global or domestic has external factors that exist that eventually have an effect on the company’s operations. Some of these external factors can be controlled but a larger portion is uncontrollable and yet they can be managed and or influenced by the company. These specific factors make up the marketing environment in which a company has environmental factors that influence the company’s decisions. In thisRead MoreEnvironmental Factors That Affect Global and Domestic Marketing Decisions2025 Words   |  8 Pagesï » ¿Environmental factors that affect global and domestic marketing decisions We analyze the financial company--U.S. Global Investors, Inc. which is foraying into the global financial market. It is basically an investment management firm specializing in gold, natural resources, emerging markets and global infrastructure opportunities around the world. (U.S. Global Investors, Inc, 2012) The Headquarter is at San Antonio, Texas, and manages the local funds and funds for international clients. 1)Read MoreNandos Marketing Environment and the Environmental Factors That Are Most Likely to Affect the Bussiness1240 Words   |  5 Pagesat social issues – or to speak out about them – it maintains a soft spot for its consumers with an awareness that it touches their lives in many ways. That’s what makes Nando’s such a special brand, according to Thulani Mahlangu, Brand Manager (Marketing Support Southern Africa Region). Of course, the story of the company’s beginnings also plays a part here: Robbie Brozin and Fernando Duarte opened the first restaurant as a little neighbourhood eatery. It now has close to 273 restaurants around theRead MoreMKT 421 Week 5 Individual Assignment Environmental Factors Paper1123 Words   |  5 PagesEnvironmental Factors Environmental Factors MKT/421 Marketing Name November 16, 2010 1 Environmental Factors 2 Environmental Factors Environmental Factors can affect businesses and have an impact on marketing decisions. The organization that was chosen for the environmental factors paper was Coca-Cola. This company’s major marketing decisions are impacted by environmental factors. This paper is intended to address the forecasts of high level global and domestic environmentalRead MoreEnvironmental Factors1151 Words   |  5 PagesEnvironmental factors can play a major part in a companys marketing plan. Environmental factors can include social, ecological, political, cultural, technological, and ethical issues. PepsiCo can face all these issues because they are a global company. Many of these issues can affect PepsiCos marketing plan even in different areas of the United States. Larger environmental factors affect the way they market globally with different factors having to be considered in each area of the world. A companyRead MoreStrategic Marketing Pl Pestle Framework And Swot765 Words   |  4 Pages Strategic marketing plan is very important to improve a business performance, achieve sustainable profitability and occupy a competitive position in an industry. Making a strategic decision which is the first and the critical phase in a developing strategic marketing plan is influenced by many factors that need further analysis in order to make the right decision. Moreover, These factors are divided into two categories: macro environmental factors and internal environmental factors .Porter’s fiveRead MoreEnvironmental Factors Paper981 Words   |  4 PagesEnvironmental Factors Paper This paper will discuss the five environmental factors that influence global and domestic marketing decisions that organizations must make. The five environmental factors are social, economic, technological, competitive, and regulatory. The social forces of the environment as defined in Marketing, include the demographic characteristics of the population and its values (Kerin Berkowitz, Hartley Rudelius, 2006, p. 74). This includes gender differences, buying

Abirthday free essay sample

‘A birthday’ by Christina Rossetti was written to express her emotions of happiness and new life after finding her true love. The title ‘A birthday’ is ambiguous, she does this deliberately to mislead the reader and introduce a new idea to the mean of having a birthday. At first sighting of the title must readers would assume that the poem is based on some one celebrating their birthday; however the actual meaning behind it is she feels reborn and happy after finding the love of her life. By hiding its message Rossetti was able to create suspense for the reader and only by reading the poem with in dept was readers able to understand the real meaning of the title. The poem is split into two stanzas, the first stanza talks about how the relationship effects her and her emotions and the second stanza she talks about what is going to happen now that her love has come to her. The poem splits after eight lines because she wanted readers to wait for along time before she talks about her love coming to her, she did this intentionally because she wanted readers to visualise what it felt like for her to wait and wanted to remind them that she also had wait a very long time for her love to come. During the Victorian era many writers like Rossetti were forbidden to include any adultery in their writing so therefore Rossetti used euphemism to implicate her feelings. .In the first stanza, Rossetti expresses happiness by comparing her love to a number of bright and colourful things in nature that are full of life. Rossetti opens ‘A Birthday’ in lines one and two with the comparison of her heart with a ‘singing bird. ’ This first analogy suggests pure happiness and energy because the voice of a bird that uses energy to sing is usually a joyful sound with which one can feel a sense of happiness. When she compares herself to a â€Å"watered shoot,† which is also known as a sprout from a plant, she is implying that she feels as if she were just born. In line three and four she compares her heart to an ‘apple tree. ’ The reference to the apple tree suggests a happy condition because the branches are so bent with life-bearing fruit. In theses two lines she is implying that her relationship is fruitful and sweet, and it also refers to a biblical reference: Adam and Eve. There are two different interpretations to this quotation; by saying that her relationship is fruitful and sweet, she is able to imply that she will have lots of children but because she could not write it so straight forward, she had to use the fruitful imagery as a softer and more appropriate language to get her idea across without being direct. The other interpretation to this quotation is her relationship was a destiny; God planned for them to be together. Like Adam and Eve, he created her and her partner to be a pair; they are destining to be with each other. In this quotation she also mentions the word ‘thick’, meaning hard and strong, indicating that her relationship is strong and is unbreakable. In lines five and six she compares her heart to a ‘rainbow shell. ’ The rainbow shell in the halcyon, or peaceful, sea indicates that all is well with her world, or her love is like a smooth sailing boat, nothing to cause disruption for her relationship. The rainbow shell can represent a miracle, or represent an endless love or happiness because the rainbow is colourful. One other way to analyse this quotation is that at the end on a rainbow there is always a gold pot, the gold pot that she is referring to could be her lover; her lover is the gold in her life. In the last two lines of the first stanza Rossetti compares all of the natural items listed to her heart all at once. ‘My heart is gladder than all these, because my love is come to me. ’ These two lines tells us that her heart is, in fact, in an even more happy condition than all three natural things it has been compared with so far. The final line of the first stanza allows the reader to infer that this feeling that she is experiencing is not because it is her birthday, it is because the person she love has come to her. Three of the comparisons that she has written of in the first stanza are similes, however as she reaches the end, she used a metaphors instead of a simile. By using this device she is able to signify to readers that her feelings are growing stronger and stronger as the poem progresses In the second stanza she stops comparing her love to nature; instead she begins to talk about extravagant surroundings decorated with sensual materials. These items suggest that preparations be made to receive her love. In the first two lines of the second stanza she starts creating the imagery of having a wedding. ‘Raise me a dais of silk and down; Hang it with vair and purple dyes;’ The words ‘Raise’; meaning build up, ‘dais’; indicating to alter, ‘silk’; a sign of marriage, and ‘down’; another word for pillow, are all pointing to marriage. Also, ‘vair’; meaning curtains or veils and ‘purple’; a colour which is usually used in religious weddings, are used to create an image implying to readers that she is talking about a bed, contemplating a marriage. Rossetti once again is using euphemism to get her idea across without being to obvious. She has cleverly structured these two phrases for readers to understand her meaning with out her having saying it. In lines eleven and twelve, Rossetti then goes on to illustrate her points even further by using more symbolising words such as ‘dove’; symbolise peace, meaning purity and possibly virginity, and ‘pomegranates’; a fruit fruitful. ‘Peacocks with a hundred eyes;’ here she is referring to a male peacock, maybe indicating that it is her lover that she is talking about. Here Rossetti could be suggesting that she is a virgin but she is willing to marry her lover and have lots of children with him. Moving on to lines 13 and 14 she once again talks about being fruitful, having lots of off-springs by mentioning ‘grapes’, and again the idea of marriage is also included ‘ gold and silver’ these to materials are used to make rings for a marriage. In the last lines of the poem, she says the ‘birthday of my life’ possibly meaning that she feels reborn now that her love has come to her. Throughout the poem Rossetti uses a lot of biblical and natural references. She starts of the poem with a very joyful tone and carries it along with the poem. She uses a lot of similes in the first half of the poem such as ‘My heart is like a singing bird’ to evoke her senses, this particular simile is evoking her sense of hearing. Her poems often consisted of a songlike used word and short, irregular rhymed lines. However this poem has an 8 beat per line which makes it a very melodic poem.

Pestel Analysis of Aldi free essay sample

Her Majesty’s Government, led by Prime Minister, David Cameron, from the Conservative Party is mainly concerned about the financial crisis affecting economies all over the world and to strengthen the economic position of UK globally(**ref**). For employment legislations, the government encourages retailers to provide a mix of job opportunities from flexible, lower-paid and locally-based jobs to highly-skilled, higher-paid and centrally-located jobs (Balchin, 1994). Also to meet the demand from population categories such as students, working parents and senior citizens. Aldi understands that retailing has a great impact on jobs and people factors (new store developments are often seen as destroying other jobs in the retail sector as traditional stores go out of business or are forced to cut costs to compete), being an inherently local and labour-intensive sector. Aldi employs large numbers of; student, disabled and elderly workers, often paying them lower rates. In an industry with a typically high staff turnover, these workers offer a higher level of loyalty and therefore represent desirable employees. We will write a custom essay sample on Pestel Analysis of Aldi or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page 1. 2 Economical Factors UK’s economy is strong and have been able to avoid recession in 2008, but there are high unemployment and uncertainty in the economic conditions. UK’s economy will grow 0. 2 % in 2012 and 2 % in 2013 said CBI Director-General John Cridland (Hamilton, 2012). GDP down to -0. 4 % in 2008, Recovery is in full swing, with 1. 1 % GDP in 2011 as per the data by OECD (OECD, 2012). The GDP will grow to 2. 5 % in 2012 as per data by BCC (British Chambers of Commerce), Quarterly report of BCC states that growth is slow in short term but will eventually pick up for the end of 2013. It also indicated the unemployment to peak 2. 62m in quarter 4 of 2012 from 2. 6m in quarter 2 of 2012 (BCC, 2011). Banks may increase rate of interest by the end of 2013 to safeguard their interest (Pettinger, 2012). Economic factors are of concern to Aldi, because they are likely to influence demand, costs, prices and profits. One of the most influential factors on the economy is high unemployment levels, which decreases the effective demand for many goods, adversely affecting the demand required to produce such goods. These economic factors are largely outside the control of the company, but their effects on performance and the marketing mix can be profound. Although international business is still growing (Appendix A), and is expected to contribute greater amounts to Aldi’s profits over the next few years, the company is still highly dependent on the UK market. Hence, Aldi would be badly affected by any slowdown in the UK food market and are exposed to market concentration risks. 1. 3 Social/Cultural Factors UK’s population is shrinking and aging (**ref**). Impact of population shrinking on UK could lead to shortage of labour in the market place and rising expenses in services like medical services, education services. Eventually government will have to cut down on benefits and pension, or increase tax to provide to pay higher contributions and health insurance. The trend of rising expenses is affecting UK’s shoppers buying behaviour, and affecting their nature and forcing them to compromising on quality(**ref**). Current trends indicate that British customers have moved towards ‘one-stop’ and ‘bulk’ shopping, which is due to a variety of social changes. Aldi have, therefore, increased the amount of non-food items available for sale. Demographic changes such as the aging population, an increase in female workers and a decline in home meal preparation mean that UK retailers are also focusing on added-value products and services. In addition, the focus is now towards; the own-label share of the business mix, the supply chain and other operational improvements, which can drive costs out of the business. National retailers are increasingly reticent to take on new suppliers (Clarke, Bennison and Guy,1994; Datamonitor Report, 2003). The type of goods and services demanded by consumers is a function of their social conditioning and their consequent attitudes and beliefs. Consumers are becoming more and more aware of health issues, and their attitudes towards food are constantly changing. One example of Aldi adapting its product mix is to accommodate an increased demand for organic products. The company was also the first to allow customers to pay in cheques and cash at the checkout. 1. 4 Technological Factors Consumers need more convenient and high tech experience while shopping and technology plays a vital role in enhancing user experience and cost effective. Self checkout, in store media, intelligent scales and shelves, electronic advertising displays- these are just some recent innovations in retailing (Fiorito et al. , 2010). The internet plays an increasingly important role. Therefore, retailers need to attract new customers via e-commerce or the web2. 0 (blogs and community networks). Smart phones and tablets have become integral part of our life mobile app’s should be created for customers. A further trend is â€Å"green† IT. Changing the way energy in buildings is monitored, controlled and consumed an bring down CO2 emissions and reduce costs (Faucheux Nicolai, 2011) . Technology is a major macro-environmental variable which has influenced the development of many of the Aldi products. The new technologies benefit both customers and the company: customer satisfaction rises because goods are readily available, services can become more personalised and shopping more convenient. The launch of the Efficient Consumer Respo nse (ECR) initiative provided the shift that is now apparent in the management of food supply chains (Datamonitor Report, 2003). Aldi stores utilise the following technologies: Wireless devices Intelligent scale Electronic shelf labelling Self check-out machine Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). The adoption of Electronic Point of Sale (EPoS), Electronic Funds Transfer Systems (EFTPoS) and electronic scanners have greatly improved the efficiency of distribution and stocking activities, with needs being communicated almost in real time to the supplier (Finch, 2004). 1. 5 Environmental Factors Exhaustive cultivation and mismanagement in terms of energy consumption and resource extraction dangers life on our planet. UK stands on 9th position in 2008 by data provided by US Energy Information Administration (see Appendix 1, Page 6) (The Guardian, 2011). To cope with the increasing risks of climate change UK â€Å"The Carbon Plan† (see Appendix 2, Page 6), published in December 2011, sets out the Government’s plans for achieving the emissions reductions committed wants to reduce CO2 emission by 60% until 2013 (DECC, 2011). The percentage of renewable energies to generate power shall increase to 31 % by 2020 (see Appendix 3, Page 6) (DECC, 2011). CSR (corporate social responsibility) plays an increasingly important role in gaining consumer’s trust. In 2003, there has been increased pressure on many companies and managers to acknowledge their responsibility to society, and act in a way which benefits society overall (Lindgreen and Hingley, 2003). The major societal issue threatening food retailers has been environmental issues, a key area for companies to act in a socially responsible way. Hence, by recognizing this trend within the broad ethical stance, Aldi’s corporate social responsibility is concerned with the ways in which an organization exceeds the minimum obligations to stakeholders specified through regulation and corporate governance. Johnson and Scholes, 2003) Graiser and Scott (2004) state that in 2003 the government has intended to launch a new strategy for sustainable consumption and production to cut waste, reduce consumption of resources and minimise environmental damage. The latest legislation created a new tax on advertising highly processed and fatty foods. The so-called ‘fat tax’ directly affected the Aldi product ranges that have subsequently been adapted, affecting relationships with both suppliers and customers 1. 6 Legislative Factors The UK market is highly regulated which makes market entry for Multi-national difficult. European commission has made displaying nutrition facts of eatable products mandatory for retails industry(**ref**). EUwide standards will help consumers to a more balanced diet (**ref**). Most companies already show nutrition facts on their products. Government legislations and policies have a direct impact on the performance of Aldi. For instance, the Food Retailing Commission (FRC) suggested an enforceable Code of Practice should be set up banning many of the current practices, such as demanding payments from suppliers and changing agreed prices retrospectively or without notice (Mintel Report, 2004). The presence of powerful competitors with established brands creates a threat of intense price wars and strong requirements for product differentiation. The government’s policies for monopoly controls and reduction of buyers’ power can limit entry to this sector with such controls as license requirements and limits on access to raw materials (Mintel Report, 2004; Myers, 2004). In order to implement politically correct pricing policies, Aldi offers consumers a price reduction on fuel purchases based on the amount spent on groceries at its stores. While prices are lowered on promoted goods, prices elsewhere in the store are raised to compensate. 2. 0 INDUSTRY ANALYSIS: PORTER’S FIVE FORCES 2. 1 Threat of New Entrants The UK grocery market is primary dominated by few competitors, including four major brands of Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Safeway that possess a market share of 70% and small chains of Somerfield, Waitrose and Budgens with a further 10%. Over the last 30 years, according to Ritz (2005), the grocery market has been transformed into the supermarket-dominated business. Here are some points to ace market position and provide barrier to any further entries. . 1. 1. Economies of scale: UK food retail industry make use of â€Å"economies of scale† to great extent, by . Especially the major chains have economies of scale, which improves their market position (Datamonitor, 2010). 1. 1. 2. Capital requirements of entry: Entry and exit costs are no barrier to enter the market. Therefore, many small and local retailer take the opportunity and go into competition with the majors competitors (Datamonitor, 2010). 1. 1. 3. Access to supply or distribution channels: The distribution system is well-developed, with a large number of small suppliers. 1. 1. 4. Customer or supplier loyalty: Most UK customers are brand conscious, brand is more important than price. So competitors like tesco have loyalty incentives like club card to attract customer and encourage them to be brand loyal. (Datamonitor, 2010). 1. 1. 5. Experience: To compete with the market leaders as well as with smaller companies, addressing niche segments, great knowledge of the market and its consumers is needed . 1. 1. 6. Expected retaliation: The industry is characterised by strong rivalry and price sensitivity. Therefore, new entrants may well face retaliation (Datamonitor, 2010). 1. 1. 7. Legislation or government action: Legislation and government action are not prohibit for market entry. Still there are a couple of regulations e. g. on spatial planning or environmental protection that companies need to comply with (need some more examples) (see 1. 1. 5). 1. 1. 8. Differentiation: There are opportunities for small companies to operate in niche markets, due to growth in awareness on healthy diets and organic food (Datamonitor, 2010). 2. 2 Bargaining Power of Suppliers This force represents the power of suppliers that can be influenced by major grocery chains and that fear of losing their business to the large supermarkets. Therefore, this consolidates further leading positions of stores like Tesco and Asda in negotiating better promotional prices from suppliers that small individual chains are unable to match Ritz (2005). In return, UK based suppliers are also threatened by the growing ability of large retailers to source their products from abroad at cheaper deals. The relationship with sellers can have similar effects in constraining the strategic freedom of the company and in influencing its margins. The forces of competitive rivalry have reduced the profit margins for supermarket chains and suppliers. . 3 Bargaining Power of Customers Porter theorized that the more products that become standardized or undifferentiated, the lower the switching cost, and hence, more power is yielded to buyers Porter M. (1980). Tesco’s famous loyalty card – Clubcard remains the most successful customer retention strategy that significantly increases the profitability of Tesco’s business. In meetin g customer needs, customizing service, ensure low prices, better choices, constant flow of in-store promotions enables brands like Tesco to control and retain their customer base. In recent years a crucial change in food retailing has occurred due to a large demand of consumers doing the majority of their shopping in supermarkets that shows a greater need for supermarkets to sell non-food items. It has also provided supermarkets with a new strategic expansion into new markets of banking, pharmacies, etc. Consumers also have become more aware of the issues surrounding fairer trade and the influence of western consumers on the expectations and aspirations of Third World producers. Ecologically benign and ethically sound production of consumer produce such as tea, coffee and cocoa is viable, and such products are now widely available at the majority of large chains. 2. 4 Threat of Substitutes General substitution is able to reduce demand for a particular product, as there is a threat of consumers switching to the alternatives Porter M. (1980). In the grocery industry this can be seen in the form of product-for-product or the substitute of need and is further weakened by new trends, such as the way small chains of convenience stores are emerging in the industry. In this case Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s are trying to acquire existing small-scale operations and opening Metro and Express stores in local towns and city centres Ritz (2005). 2. 5 Bargaining Power of Competitors The grocery environment has seen a very significant growth in the size and market dominance of the larger players, with greater store size, increased retailer concentration, and the utilisation of a range of formats, which are now prominent characteristics of the sector. As it was mentioned above, the purchasing power of the food-retailing industry is concentrated in the hands of a relatively small number of retail buyers. Operating in a mature, flat market where growth is difficult (a driver of the diversification into non-food areas), and consumers are increasingly demanding and sophisticated, large chains as Aldi are accruing large amounts of consumer information that can be used to communicate with the consumer Ritz (2005). This highly competitive market has fostered an accelerated level of development, resulting in a situation in which UK grocery retailers have had to be innovative to maintain and build market share. Such innovation can be seen in the development of a range of trading formats, in response to changes in consumer behaviour. The dominant market leaders have responded by refocusing on price and