Imperialism (ANALYSIS PAPERS) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Imperialism (ANALYSIS PAPERS) - Essay Example ects to the political, social and moral standard of the community assuming that the current group of immigrants is of inferior quality to the past (Fetter). Prescott Hall has aptly stated these apprehension as his observation dictates that the immigrants are among the lowest class in their native country and the addition of such to the American community would degrade the quality of its people (1906). Particularly, they stand as rival to the resources that should be abundantly enjoyed by the Americans including labor opportunities and hefty wages. In simple economic concept, the addition of immigrants to the labor force, adds to the current supply of labor which dampens its price. Other social perils such as crime, juvenile delinquency and even illiteracy are also among the ones mentioned by Hall, concluding that the immigrants post higher number in these figures. Owing to America’s philatrophic inclination, the absence of restriction could have been an act of extending help to the non-Americans, providing them opportunities for a better quality of life, however one observation says that even this process is a vain endeavor in altering the condition of the poor from other countries (Fetter). Those who are against the immigration restriction are those who believe that the immigrants are not perils, rather contributors to the American society, mentioning the likes of Andrew Carnegie, Samuel Gompers and James J. Hill to include the list of desirable immigrants (Warne). Warne believes that immigration has brought the country the industrious, the God-fearing and the courageous men from around the world (1916). Mr. James Bryce has also excellently concluded that the assimilation of Americans with other races actually enlivens intellectual fertility and boosts the creative power of the country to a higher level of production (1891). The debaters continued on to dispel the figures proving higher crime rate, juvenile deliquency and illiteracy of the immigrants are not

The Sukhoi Superjet Essay Example for Free

The Sukhoi Superjet Essay The Sukhoi Superjet 100 is fly-by-wire regional jet with 75 up to 95 seats[1]. Since the jet industry faces many competitors, it is an important action to design an effective marketing strategy, which includes a SWOT analysis. Strengths: *Equipped with two Saturn/SNECMA PowerJet SaM146 turbofans1 *has   10-15% lower operation costs than its competitors, which areEmbraer E-Jets and   the Bombardier CSeries programs1. This will enable Sukhoi Superjet 100 to sell at a lower price and hence making it more affordable. As a result higher sales, profits and market share occurs. *has a wider cabin and thus offers more comfort1. Not only is it cheaper but also more comfortable, hence establishing a competitive advantage for the Superjet 100. *The Superjet 100 airliner family is being developed based on the principle of maximum standardization of frame assemblies and systems1. This will enable Superjet 100 to perform more economically while keeping expenditures at a rational level. *The aerodynamics and design of the aircraft of the family are based on proven advanced technology to minimize technical risks at the stage of design, testing and operation1. A higher security attracts more satisfied customers, which could lead to positive publicity and thus higher demand and value of its shares. Weaknesses: *Completion of the deal to order 25 Sukhoi Superjet 100 with Dalivia was delayed2. Dalivia could consider to buy from its competitors, hence this would provide Superjet’s 100 competitors with a competitive advantage, sales, profits and market share. Opportunities: *Air France3, Lufthansa4, SAS5, Iberia6, UTair Aviation, MDLR Airlines and Merpati Nusantara Airlines7 are potential customers. *Malev Hungarian Airlines and Scandinavian Airlines System are reported to finalize their orders and an Indonesian airline is reported to be the airliner1. *Alliance Air of India has also showed interest in the Sukhoi Superjet 1008. *Armavia signed a multimillion-dollar agreement to buy four Sukhoi Superjet 100 planes for regional flights1. These orders will offer Superjet 100 to reach more customers, since if passengers feel satisfied; hence it could lead to repeat sales an word-of-mouth advertising, which then creates higher demand, sales and profits; hence airlines will then purchase more of the Sukhoi Superjet 100. Threats: *Its competitors Embraer and Bombardier offer much more comprehensive after-sales and maintenance network9. After-sales service is important for maximizing customer satisfaction and it can also lead to having a competitive advantage. In fact a research showed that 1 dissatisfied customer tells 11 others who then 5 others10, which would worsen the image of the product quickly, and thus lower sales, profits and market share occurs. [1]Sukhoi Superjet 100.[online].http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukhoi_Superjet_100, cited as ’19.5.2008’ 2 Airliner World, January 2007 3 [online].http://www.flug-revue.rotor.com/FRNews1/FRNews03/FR030323.htm#RRJ, ‘cited as 19.5.2008’ 4 Suchoi wants to sell 40 SuperJets-100 and negotiated with Lufthansa.[online]. http://babelfish.yahoo.com/translate_url?doit=donett=urlintl=1fr=bf-hometrurl=http%3A%2F%2Fde.rian.ru%2Fbusiness%2F20070517%2F65659192.htmllp=de_enbtnTrUrl=%C3%9Cbersetzen, ‘cited as 19.5.2008’ 5Scandinavian Airlines seriously mulls Sukhoi RRJ for SAS regional affiliates.[online]. http://www.sukhoi.org/eng/news/company/?id=606, ‘cited as 19.5.2008’ 6 Sukhoi Chief on RRJ program.[online]. http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/russia/2005/russia-050405-rianovosti08.htm, ‘cited as 19.5.2008’ 7   [online].http://lenta.ru/news/2007/10/24/ssj/, ‘cited as 19.5.2008’ 8 Paris Air Show: Sukhoi Civil-Alliance Air talks for SuperJet 100 at an advanced stagenews.[online]. http://www.domain-b.com/aero/june/2007/20070622_sukhoi_civil.htm, ‘cited as 19.5.2008’ 9 Export driven: The Sukhoi Superjet.[online]. http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2007/02/06/211879/export-driven-the-sukhoi-superjet.htm, ‘cited as 19.5.2008’ 10 2005. Stephen Chapman, Cassy Norris, Natalie Devenish, Llian Merritt. Business Studies in Action, chapter 9

Relationship Between Strategic Communication and Ethics

Relationship Between Strategic Communication and Ethics Discuss the role of strategic communication in relation to Ethics In the industry of public relations, understanding the ethical aspects of the profession has now become increasingly important. Just like any other professional industries such as journalism and psychology, public relations and ethics need to work hand in hand in order for the practice to be given a better name. As public relations have a bright future ahead due to the growing global economy, the professions’ most profitable days may still exist on the horizon. But public relations practitioners must know that in order to capitalize upon this growth, the hinge may lie on the ability for the industry to silence the critics of it being an unethical profession. However, due to the public’s negative perception of public relations, many people are saying that public relations and ethics are an oxymoron. In this essay, we will try to understand why there is a negative discourse of PR being an unethical profession and how we can change that perception. We will also analyse the importance of education in regards to public relations ethics. Before we proceed with the in depth discourse of Public relations ethics, we need to first define the meaning of public relations and ethics. According to Gunig and Hunt (1984), they wrote that ‘public relation is the management of communication between an organisation and its publics’. Harlow (1988) defined public relations in a more elementary level. He mentioned that Public relation is ‘a management function which deals with the relations between two or more organisations or public.’ There are many other scholars and practitioners that have produced their own definition of public relations but it is basically a communication process which uses different strategies to ultimately build beneficial relationships with publics or organisations. These obligations of serving the publics’ interest have caused heated debates amongst many practitioners and scholars over its fundamental values of public relations. It has also become a highly controversial indu stry as many people have negative stigmas towards public relations. It is obvious that for a long time there exists a negative perception of PR. It is not entirely a surprise that the general public has this negative stigma about public relations. BrautoviĆ¡ and Brkan (2009) said that ‘PR professionals have become manipulators of public mind rather than conveyers of truth.’ That is why the term public relations ethics is often understood as an oxymoron. There will be stories about PR making it to the media which are invariably the negative ones. Media outlets know that nice fluffy stories like successful charity work or meaningful campaigns don’t sell. But can we entirely blame the media for the bad reputation public relation has on the public? The tarnished reputation of public relations is often due to situations where PR was used to camouflage some serious problems, not to mention something that is today called spin. But what exactly is spin in the context of public relations? Spin can be classified as propaganda, where the ultimate goal is to persuade public opinion to be in favor or against a certain organization or public figure (Safire, 1994). Due to this term spin, publics often perceive the profession to be manipulative and unethical. According to Miller Dinan (2008), they mentioned that people believe the profession is about â€Å"spinning† stories in order to enhance the image of an organization at the expense of many others. One such case was the BP oil spill which happened in 2010 which falls under the category of spin. With regards to strategic communication, the oil company kept downplaying and deflecting the severity of the incident. BP (British Petroleum) underestimated the size of the spill and therefore tried to divert the attention of the oil spill as the â€Å"Gulf of Mexico oil spill.† The company’s attempt to sidestep the health and economic issues were s een as artificial and unethical. Case studies like these that are popularised by the media represent the problems that arise when public relations strategies are deceptive. Timothy Commbs, who teaches Public Relations at Eastern Illinois University said, â€Å"Wherever the fault lies, BP shouldnt be splitting hairs. Companies should take the fall and work out recriminations behind closed doors† (Beam, 2010). This goes to demonstrate why ethical public relations strategies are necessary to accomplishing the goals of an organisation. Though challenges still remain in the practice of public relations, there is also forward ethical progress. Much of this comes in the form of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s (2008) defines CSR as â€Å"the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large†. It basically means that an organisation doing CSR will have also ethical and societal responsibilities that go beyond their economic responsibilities. CSR is also seen as a way of behaving, which draws on ethics. But most importantly, there are many public relation bodies all over the world which provides similar codes of practice/ethics for public relation practitioners to follow and abide to. It articulates the value these bodies places on honesty, integrity, loyalty, advocacy, fairness etcetera. As public relations becomes more evident in the 21st century, two reports from the Commission on Public Relations Education, A Port of Entry (1999) and The Professional Bond (2006), insisted on the need for public relations ethics education at a university level. Public relation scholars Shen and Toth (2008) reiterated that there aren’t enough university level courses offering the study of public relations ethics. They also wrote that public relations education needs to integrate the study of ethics into existing PR electives in order for students to become more viable and attain a comprehensive public relations education. However, Juditb A. Kolb, together with other prominent scholars and wrote that public relations ethics courses are not only limited but it is also expanding to more university classrooms (Kolb, Lin, Frisque, 2005). Nowadays there are many university schools which offer the study of public relation ethics. Schools like the University of Virginia in the United States, where students will need to complete a module called ‘Public Relations, Ethics and Law’. The unit explores the ethical issues that arise in the practice of public relations and the ethical standards that govern the practice. In Peth, Australia, Murdoch University also offers the study of Public Relations Ethics in a module called Campaign Management. It is understandable for practitioners and scholars agreeing that the study of public relations ethics is crucial for students to have as a public relations curriculum but students themselves needs to know the importance too. As The Professional Bond state, â€Å"While public relations professional education perhaps cannot make students ethical, either professionally or personally, such education can define and teach professional ethics as It can provide a body of knowledge about the process of ethical decision-making that can help students not only to recognize ethical dilemmas, but to use appropriate critical thinking skills to help resolve these dilemmas in a way that results in an ethical outcome.† Kate Fitch, a Senior lecturer at Murdoch University, did a study on how students perceives ethics in public relations education and practice. Participants of a focus group study done by her acknowledged that public relations ethics was a grey area; â€Å"The line is very blurry but the uni is doing a good job to try and show us that PR isn’t all about that† (Fitch, 2013). The study also found out that students see ethics in public relations as being responsible to themselves, client or employer. In this study, students were critical of the Code of Ethics provided by bodies such as the PRIA as it only emphasise on issues such as reputation and risk manager rather than practices that are socially responsible. To conclude, the industry of public relations has indeed left many people with a sour taste in their mouths. We found out that PR is often perceived by the public as unethical, as practitioners often use the term ‘spin’ whereby he or she may not give a truthful interpretation of events which would ultimately lead to the lack of trust in the PR practitioner. With practitioners’ lack of trust it leads to the lack of trust of the organization and leads directly to the loss of reputation. That is why public relations ethics is paramount. Although professional skills are important in this industry, it needs to be ethical. What it basically means is that PR professionals need to do the right thing. Referring to international PR bodies for their codes of conduct is the first step when in doubt. We will also need to provide more emphasis for education and approved courses as to ensure that students will be trained on ethics and ethical decision making in practice of publi c relations in the real world. Word count: 1472 Grunig, J.E., Hunt, T. (1984) Managing Public Relations. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace http://195.130.87.21:8080/dspace/bitstream/123456789/904/1/Ethics%20in%20Public%20Relations.pdf file:///C:/Users/Joel%20St%20Pierre/Downloads/MA6_11_Helena_Brautovic_i_Dragana_Brkan.pdf http://thornelyhill.co.uk/dirty-words-the-ba-reputation-of-public-relations/ William Safire, The Spinner Spun, New York Times, December 22, 1996. World Business Council for Sustainable Development. (2008). Definition. [Online] Available: http://www.wbcsd.org/templates/TemplateWBCSD5/layout.asp?type=pMenuId=MTE0OQ. http://www.prsa.org/Intelligence/PRJournal/Documents/2014SilvermanGowerNekmat.pdf http://www.academia.edu/6415032/Public_relations_student_perceptions_of_ethics

High Prevalence of Hepatotoxicity on HIV Patients under TDF First Base

In this cross-sectional study, our data demonstrate a high prevalence of hepatotoxicity 21.65% (225). Among 1039 HIV infected individuals, 8.2% (85) were on NVP based regimen, 38.8% (403) were on EFV based regimen, 26.18% (272) were on PI based regimen and 9.8% (102) were on raltegravir based regimen; of which only 2.4% experienced severe hepatotoxicity (n=25). This is in contrast with the previous findings, as many previous studies conducted so far have reported high prevalence of severe hepatotoxicity. For example a study conducted by Ferdinand et al., reported grade 4 hepatotoxicity in 7.9% patients [8], a retrospective study conducted at Duke University Medical Center (DUMC) and Durham VA Medical Center (DVAMC) Infectious Diseases Clinics have reported 10.7% incidence of severe hepatotoxicity [9]. However, a recent study conducted on Ethiopian cohort have reported grade 3 and grade 4 hepatotoxicity among 1.84% of HIV infected patients [10]. The reason why the higher incidence was found among other cohort studies might be our study excluded patient with HBV/HCV infection. Among the 225 patients, 12.31% of them were on first line ART regimen. However SH among patient on first line ART was found to be present in 1.82%, this is similar with the previous finding that, among those receiving first line ART 1.7% had SH. However many finding states that overall rate of SH was between (4.2% - 8.9%) [11-13].In addition by analyzing further we found that SH was found to be higher in NVP (19.35%) than EFV (14.4%) based NNRTI, this is in line with the previous findings. The proportion of hepatotoxicity among HIV infected individuals is found to be 3.84%, 2.21%, 0.96% for patients who are ART naà ¯ve, on PI based regimen and raltegravir based ... ...transformed for statistical analysis. CD4 T-cell measurement was performed using flowcytometer FC 500, (Beckman Coulter, Pasadena, CA, USA), ALT and AST level were measured in Olympus AU400 Chemistry analyzer (Beckman Coulter, Pasadena, CA, USA). Statistical analysis: Baseline characters were recorded as median and interquartile range for continuous variables and as percentages for categorical variables. Differences in demographic characters between 4 groups were compared using Kruskal-Wallis Test for continuous variables and Pearson chi-square and Fisher’s exact test for categorical variables. Time to event between the groups was compared using Kaplan-Meier estimates and log rank test. Association between the risk factors and hepatotoxicity was computed using Odds Ratios (ORs). All statistical analysis was performed in Vasserstats: Statistical computation website.

Agricultural Subsidies: Their Original Purpose and Impact Today Essay

Agricultural Subsidies: Their Original Purpose and Impact Today Contents Introduction: What are Farm Subsidies? 3 Government Intervention in Agribusiness 7 The Reality 9 Works Cited 12 â€Æ' Introduction: What are Farm Subsidies? The Agriculture sector has changed monumentally over the past century in response to vast economic change and technological advancements. Farm subsidies are various forms of payments from the federal government put in place in an effort to stabilize prices, keep farmers in business, and ensure quality of crops. The federal government currently pays $20 billion in cash each year to US farmers and spent an estimated $250 billion between 1995-2005. Presently, a new farm bill is passed every five years with the most recent being in 2013 . Although there are small changes with each preceding Farm Bill the permanent pieces of legislation requiring US Department of Agriculture to control pricing and regulate supplies date back to the 19th century. The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) finances subsidies and buys surplus food to regulate and steady farm income. There are presently eights various subsidies: Direct Payments, Countercyclical Payments, Export Subsidies, Conservation Subsidies, Marketing Loans, Agricultural Research and Assistance, Disaster Aid, and Insurance. 1) Direct Payments: 5 billion annually The federal government pays cash subsidies to landowners who produce: wheat, corn, sorghum, barley, oats, cotton, rice, soybean, minor oil seeds and peanuts. This combination of crops are considered to be the top ten crucial commodities. A direct payment is equal to the product of the payment rate for the specific crop, the historical payment acres, and the historical payment yield fo... ...z2yiN9IUsy>. Nathaniel, Jeroime. "Farm Bill 2013: An Inside Look At the Most Important Bill You've Never Heard Of." PolicyMic. Oct. 2013. 13 Apr. 2014 . Peterson, E. Wesley F. A billion dollars a day: The economics and politics of agricultural subsidies. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. "U.S. Department of Agriculture." U.S. Department of Agriculture. 11 Apr. 2014 . "U.S. Farmers During the Great Depression." Farm Collector. 13 Apr. 2014 . White, Deborah. "What Are U.S. Farm Subsidies?" About.com US Liberal Politics. 11 Apr. 2014 . Agricultural Subsidies: Their Original Purpose and Impact Today Essay Agricultural Subsidies: Their Original Purpose and Impact Today Contents Introduction: What are Farm Subsidies? 3 Government Intervention in Agribusiness 7 The Reality 9 Works Cited 12 â€Æ' Introduction: What are Farm Subsidies? The Agriculture sector has changed monumentally over the past century in response to vast economic change and technological advancements. Farm subsidies are various forms of payments from the federal government put in place in an effort to stabilize prices, keep farmers in business, and ensure quality of crops. The federal government currently pays $20 billion in cash each year to US farmers and spent an estimated $250 billion between 1995-2005. Presently, a new farm bill is passed every five years with the most recent being in 2013 . Although there are small changes with each preceding Farm Bill the permanent pieces of legislation requiring US Department of Agriculture to control pricing and regulate supplies date back to the 19th century. The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) finances subsidies and buys surplus food to regulate and steady farm income. There are presently eights various subsidies: Direct Payments, Countercyclical Payments, Export Subsidies, Conservation Subsidies, Marketing Loans, Agricultural Research and Assistance, Disaster Aid, and Insurance. 1) Direct Payments: 5 billion annually The federal government pays cash subsidies to landowners who produce: wheat, corn, sorghum, barley, oats, cotton, rice, soybean, minor oil seeds and peanuts. This combination of crops are considered to be the top ten crucial commodities. A direct payment is equal to the product of the payment rate for the specific crop, the historical payment acres, and the historical payment yield fo... ...z2yiN9IUsy>. Nathaniel, Jeroime. "Farm Bill 2013: An Inside Look At the Most Important Bill You've Never Heard Of." PolicyMic. Oct. 2013. 13 Apr. 2014 . Peterson, E. Wesley F. A billion dollars a day: The economics and politics of agricultural subsidies. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. "U.S. Department of Agriculture." U.S. Department of Agriculture. 11 Apr. 2014 . "U.S. Farmers During the Great Depression." Farm Collector. 13 Apr. 2014 . White, Deborah. "What Are U.S. Farm Subsidies?" About.com US Liberal Politics. 11 Apr. 2014 .

Photo Manipulation Essay

Image manipulation is everywhere on are daily life. It is a type of digital art. It is a unique way to describe editing photos and adding filters and special effects to photographs in order to make an illusion or define through digital means. Photo manipulation has been commonly used to deceive or convince viewers. It can be simply a photo which colors have been converted, or a photo that has been painted over, usually they use photoshop, but there are other softwares what can we use for manipulating images, image manipulation is an art as well. Photo manipulation is done for a number of purposes. More infamously, it is for political or sensational purposes. However, photo manipulation is also an art form in its own right (www. brightclub. com). The photographs have been manipulated in darkrooms for decade. Before computers, photo manipulation was achieved by retouching with ink, paint, double exposure, piecing photos or negatives together in the darkroom, or scratching Polaroids. Airbrushes were also used, whence the term â€Å"airbrushing† for manipulation. The first recorded case of photo manipulation was in the early 1860s, when a photo of Abraham was altered using the body from a portrait of John C. Calhoun. The 1980s saw the advent of digital retouching with Quantel computers running Paintbox, and Scitex imaging workstations being used professionally Silicon Graphics computers running Barco Creator became available in the late 1980s which, alongside other contemporary packages, were effectively replaced in the market by Adobe Photoshop (wikipedia).

Costco Wholesale Corporation Essay

Costco Wholesale Corporation operates an international chain of membership warehouses, mainly under the â€Å"Costco Wholesale† name, that carry quality, brand name merchandise at substantially lower prices than the merchandise typically found at conventional wholesale or retail sources. The warehouses are designed to help small-to-medium-sized businesses reduce costs in purchasing for resale and for everyday business use. Individual consumers may also purchase for their personal needs. Costco’s business model depends on high sales volume coupled with quick inventory turnover. Costco operates as a membership warehouse that is based on the concept of offering members the lowest prices on a limited selection of national brands and select private-label products that cover a broad and wide range of categories. This business model is very appealing and appropriate for this type of chain and has many benefits. For one, quicker inventory turnover combined with efficient inventory management systems reduce Costco cost of selling goods. Quick inventory turnover combined with high sales volume allows Costco to sell and receive cash for goods before it has to pay for any of its merchandise, this allows Costco to finance a large percentage of its inventory through the payment terms provided by its vendors rather than having to maintain a sizeable working capital to pay for its merchandise . These saving in its operation enable Costco to pass these saving on to the consum er in the form of low prices. Another reason it’s appealing is because Costco targets high end products thus bringing in high-end consumers into its stores. Demographics and its product selection could be damaging for Costco. Costco’s main product selection choice is made up of large volume single size packaging such as canned goods, soft drinks are only sold in these large container quantities. This combined with its main demographic of individual members who are more affluent customers in the discount retailing sector could be a potential problem. Competitors like Sam’s Club and BJ’s Wholesale offer goods or various degrees and varying sizes of products allows for more customers to want to shop at their stores to buy goods cause not everyone wants to buy a luxury item or a bulk sizes. The solution might be to offer more products at smaller quantities. This will allow more  buyers in who previously might not have shopped a Costco because they are divorced or have a smaller family or just single. Another are Costco could improve on is its direct buying relationships. As mentioned earlier Costco could ensure a stocking of certain items on their shelves so they can avoid stock outs and lose sales. To help its profit margin and reduce dependence on other manufacturers it could increase its brand Kirkland private brand products beyond to current 600 products. A final suggestion is that Costco could consider additional international expansion. They could place more warehouses in Canada. This is where they have been well received. It is the second largest revenue stream behind that of the United States. Costco’s internal environment can be analyzed to establish the core competencies to exploit market opportunities and avoid possible threats. Costco must combine this with the external environment factors to secure a successful long-term strategy. By analyzing their capabilities, using above methods Costco can determine their strengths. Many sight changes on external could have huge blow to Costco. For example, Suppliers can change the cost of inputs, such as when a strong union sets a high wage for a particular craft. If Costco allows the organic produce famers more power, then the farmers could force terms on Costco. This dependence increases if Costco does not have many other sources to supply the produce. Simple SWOT analysis may explain internal and external scan situation. Here are few point observed from Costco’s SWOT analysis. They seem to have great reputation in local neighborhood; customers tend to return to store, no big direct competition, lots of choice and great locations, Weaknesses would include: a lack of strong management team, handling perishable items geographical limitations The opportunities to develop a unique position in organic catering and to grow the business are examples of the opportunities available for Costco. Threats include some of the following: competition, state of the economy dealing with perishable items weather including natural disasters Costco’s External environment strategies are based on firm’s ability to foresee future business environment and trends based on industries, economy, and political factors. External environment analyze is key for any company to execute its strategies to meet its performance and profitability. â€Å"Despite the uncertainty and dynamic nature of the business environment, an assessment process that narrows, even if it does not precisely define, future expectations is of substantial value to strategic managers† (Pearce II & Robinson , Jr, 2009). In today’s society a business needs to be unique and offer a one of a kind value to keep its customers coming in and purchasing its products. An industry such as retail can experience at times high growth what sets Costco apart from its competitors to gain an competitive advantage is its three components of the company’s strategy that were mentioned earlier, low pricing, limited selection and treasure-hunt merchandising. Is this enough to ensure that future prospects will purchase items at your store? Costco’s main competitors are Sam’s Club and BJ’s Wholesale and both are similar to Costco’s way of doing business. Costco is exceeding both Sam’s Club and BJ’s in terms of net sales and market share. Nevertheless, Sam’s Club has recognized its market share and is aggressively launching new initiatives to grow its sales and market share. One way they plan to increase its market share is by emphasizing new products for the home instead of products for small businesses. They also are using national TV ads to make consumer more aware of their stores. They also are attracting a new group of prospective buyers by setting up a collegiate membership. BJ differentiates its self from both Costco and Sam’s Club by offer a wide range of items in fact  7,300. Another way they differ from the competition is they offer aisle markets and express lanes, and low cost video-based sales aids to help make the shopping experience better.