Elderly Person :: History

Elderly Person Chang Sing Lok, also know as Uncle Lok is famous for his mouth watering â€Å"Chau Kuey Teows† which is a kind of fried noodles. He is very well known in Taman University, Petaling Jaya for his exquisite dish. He was born on March 23, 1926 at ShenYang, eastern China and he was brought up there until the age of 9. He is the youngest of the six children in the family and that is why his parents named his last name as Lok, which means six in Cantonese. He is from a poor family. His father was a cook and his mother was a maid. Both parents served a rich family in ShenYang. He was brought up in a village and he spent his formative years nurtured by the humble, traditional values of Chinese village life. He lived with his family in a typical wooden house and the crystal clear water of the stream nearby his house was made his playground. As years passed, the World War II occurred. The Japanese army invaded most of the eastern part of China. At that time, most of the citizens of China had migrated to the other countries since they could not suffer the hardness of life in China. Chang Sing Lok had also decided to migrate to ‘Tanah Melayu’. So he came to ‘Tanah Melayu’ with about a hundred of others Chinese who had decided to migrate to ‘Tanah Melayu’ too by a very old style ship. At first, life was not very good and not stable since he had not get any job. It was because there are too many labour sources in ‘Tanah Melayu’ at that time. Furthermore, he was also too young for any heavy job. Finally, he got a job at a Chinese restaurant as a cleaner. He helped the employer to cleanup the entire restaurant as well as washing all the plates. It was there he first started gaining knowledge of cooking. At that time, he had a negative attitude towards the past, as he had went through lots of difficulties and struggled his way through World War II, where he had lost his family, friends and property. But he had a more positive attitude towards the future. According to him, future is the continuity of the present and if he succeeds in his present life, he believed that the future would be better for him as well as his family.

Sympathy for PIP :: essays research papers

Great Expectations Dickens’ gripping novel of 1861, Great Expectations, portrays his distinguishing tendency to exaggerate both plot and characters. Chapter eight enhances his main aim of initiating sympathy for Pip, and this, consequently, lasts for the novel’s entirety. We are shown similarities between Dickens’ early childhood memories and the protagonist’s inability to defend himself against the injustices he discovers throughout the early years of life. Dickens successfully creates a sympathetic mood through a range of techniques, including an exquisite use of emotive dialogue, sophisticated imagery and symbolism. He explores and brings originality to timeless themes such as fear, loneliness, luck, classism, social justice, humiliation, and humor, which is cleverly incorporated into his writing for the first time to bring an uplifting mood to an otherwise dark and disturbing tone. His use of Miss Havisham and Estella as tools to evoke sympathy and casting the central character as the narrative voice increases compassion and creates a dramatic attitude. In this essay, I will also examine the opening and ending of the chapter, which contribute to its overall effect. Opening and Ending of the chapter After the initial detailed account of Pumblechook and his home, we are immediately endeared to Pip and express sympathy when he begins to depict the low ceiling of his attic space. Our sympathy is again increased and contained throughout the entire chapter – from the humorous torment of Pumblechook’s sums to meeting the somewhat frightening Miss Havisham and stepping inside her lonely, dilapidated abode. Pip’s already dire situation is once again worsened by Estella and Miss Havisham’s cruel and menacing comments about the situation in which he finds himself. They arouse our consideration through the way in which they interact, both with each other and with Pip, making him feel ‘much more ignorant’ than he had considered himself the previous night. His growing obsession with Estella and her view upon him drags down his self-esteem to an all time low and consequently builds our sympathy towards him. It is here that his feeling of despair and worthlessness present him with the new target of becoming a gentleman, so far from his status at that present time. Social Class Great Expectations frequently refers us to the present class system of a post-Industrial Revolution Victorian England. The theme of social underlines the book’s overall plot and moral theme that loyalty and conscience are worth more than social advancement, wealth and class. During the 19th century, there were vast differences in social class. Although it was incredibly easy to slip down the social ladder, the poor often resorted to begging or stealing in order to

Employment and Total Rewards

Introduction The aim of this paper seeks to examine the concept of total rewards in the process of increasing prominence in organisations. Total Rewards is best described as a business strategy that â€Å"includes financial and non-financial complementary elements designed to recruit, develop, retain and motivate employees†(OSP 2003). â€Å"Employees working for a total rewards employer tend to be more motivated, productive, and happy†. (eHow 1999) As a result is â€Å"the business thrives†(eHow 1999) and prominence. In this paper, I will following this concept to explore more detailed of effectiveness total reward in the organisation prominence.The concept of rewards has developed over the time to represent more than just to pay cheque an employee at the end of the month. The concept of total rewards was emerged in the 1990s as a new way of thinking about the deployment of compensation and benefits, combined with other tangible and intangibles ways that company seek to attract best people. (Richard val del Walt 2010) As defined by Manus and Graham (2003), total reward ‘includes all types of rewards-indirect as well as direct, and intrinsic as well as extrinsic’. Michael Armstrong 2006) The direct reward is what an employee receives from the employer in bank account such as base wage, bonuses, commission. Indirect rewards, often called â€Å"benefits† refers to that part of the total reward package in addition to direct pay, such as health & life insurance cover, retirement & pension plans, health care, company car and mobile phone (Koala Consulting and Training 2008). â€Å"There are extrinsic rewards, which cover the basic needs of income to survive (to pay bills), a feeling of stability and consistency (the job is secure), and recognition (my workplace values my skills).On the other hand, there are intrinsic rewards, the most important of which is probably job satisfaction, a feeling of completing challenges competen tly, enjoyment, and even perhaps the social interactions which arise from the workplace†. (Koala Consulting and Training 2008) The ability link and balance all aspects of rewards together helps organisations achieve the motivation, commitment, engagement and development of employees. The consequence is profitability, efficiency and prominence in organisation.The most companies who use the total reward strategy simply mean to provide â€Å"benefits and a positive place to work† (Patricia K. Zingheim and Jay R. Schuster 2002), but â€Å"this makes a company attractive to the workforce in general but perhaps not to those who will make enterprise prosper. The companies need to fashion workplace to be attractive to people who are wanted to adding value to the business†. (Patricia K. Zingheim and Jay R. Schuster 2002) To increase prominence and efficiency in organisations is responsible equally as an employer, as employees.The employer responsible to creates an atmosph ere in which the best people will want to work in company. â€Å"It is true that the best people will work more than pay†. (Patricia K. Zingheim and Jay R. Schuster 2002). The total rewards scheme concept is simply about the creating an atmosphere by financial and non-financial benefits given to employees in trade for their service, time, abilities and their efforts to support the company. The â€Å"top talent† (Patricia K. Zingheim and Jay R. Schuster 2000) wants to work for the company provide better workforce deal that involves the four total rewards components.The compiling future is important for the employees, because they want to â€Å"be able to draw self-esteem and satisfaction from working in the organisation. Employees want to feel that the organisation has optimistic and positive vision, direction and growth of the future and a set of values that they can support†. (Employement studies [n d]) The company that focuses on individual growth gives opport unity an employee for training, coaching and personal development. (Patricia K. Zingheim and Jay R.Schuster 2002) Also, the employee wants to work in organisation where workplace is positive. This means best leadership, team working and open communication. Roles and working environment â€Å"should be designed around employees† (Employement studies [n d]), with a focus on their future development. â€Å"Employees need to feel that what they do is important and to understand how their role relates to the organisation’s goals†. (Employement studies [n d]). The last component is total pay. Total pay involves basic pay, performance-related pay, benefits, and feedback or recognition.All the elements that involve total pay are good way â€Å"to address individual need and preference†. (Employement studies [n d]) For example, â€Å"performance-related pay to emphasise results; benefits to provide protection from life and health hazards, in addition to holidays, recognition and feedback†. (Employement studies [n d]) Some companies can balance the four components or choose the only one, for example some companies may have very strong total pay, but the poor work environment. Other companies may have weaker total pay but develop people, provide a positive workplace.Also, there are five elements of total rewards model, WorldatWork (2011) presented the each of which helps to make the strategy to attract, motivate and retain employees. These elements are: compensation, benefits, work-life balance, performance & recognition and development and career opportunities. The compensation includes four basic components, such as â€Å"fixed pay – Also known as â€Å"basic pay†, fixed pay is nondiscretionary compensation that does not vary according to performance or results achieved. It usually is determined by the organization’s pay philosophy and structure.Variable pay – Also known as â€Å"pay at risk†, varia ble pay changes directly with the level of performance or results achieved. It is a one-time payment and must be re-established and re-earned each performance period. Short-term incentive pay – a form of variable pay, short-term incentive pay is designed to focus and reward performance over a period of one year or less. Long-term incentive pay – a form of variable pay, long-term incentive pay is designed to focus and reward performance over a period longer than one year. Typical forms include stock options, restricted stock, performance shares, performance units and cash†. SARA 2010) Hroot ( 2007) said while one of the most traditional elements of total rewards, it remains a essential for business success. Benefits area constantly challenged and expanding during the last time from just , holiday, health-care benefits to benefits programs which protect employees and their families from financial risks and can categorized such as retirement and medical and dental i nsurance, as well as non-traditional programs, such as identity theft and pet insurance. Life-balance area focused to help employees do their job effectively, such as flexible scheduling, telecommuting, child-care programs, etc.In talent management, performance involves the association of organizational and individual goals toward business success. Recognition is a way for employers to pay special attention to workers for their accomplishments, behaviours and successes. Recognition is necessary to support the value of performance improvement and promote positive communication and feedback. â€Å"Development a set of learning experiences designed to improve employees’ practical skills and competencies. Development engages employees to perform better and engages leaders to advance their organization’s people strategies. Career pportunities area focuses on the planning for employees to go forward their career goals, and a more responsible position in an organization. The development and career opportunities involve the learning opportunities and coaching, such as new technology training, attendance at outside seminars, conferences, virtual education, leadership training and formal or informal mentoring programs†. (SARA 2010) Full understanding of total rewards concept, key components and elements give opportunity to implement the total reward strategy to attract best people, talent, keep them and have them perform well.After all, effective reward systems help an organization not just retain key employees, but also be more competitive and reduce turnover. The ability to understand the purpose of total rewards helps recognise and identify the main powerful types of total rewards to be more competitive and avoid the staff turnover. Staff turnover is the most serious problem for the company. The reasons to leave the organisations are: â€Å"I'm not sure there's a future here for me. â€Å", â€Å"I just don't feel like this is the right place for me. â€Å", â€Å"I'm not sure I want to be doing this for the rest of my life. † and â€Å"I think I can make more money elsewhere. (The Vision Link Advisory Group [n d]) With an understanding of the reasons people leave an organization, the organisations can easily to improve these areas of an organization's by using the total rewards strategy to creating and sustaining a culture that is not copy able – which is essential to maintaining a competitive advantage in the market place(The Vision Link Advisory Group [n d]), but if the company will ignore the reasons why people leave the company, there are affecting them in many ways, such as high staff turnover, conflict, stress, low productivity, bad company image and lose of the business.The main issue to implement the total rewards strategy is turnover. There are many consequences such as lost of best employees, time and cost of selection and recruitment process, poor performance, conflict, stress and poor company image. The turnover is split on two categories voluntary turnover where employee chooses to leave. The key reasons include better career opportunities ; development, increased compensation and better work environment.Involuntary turnover is when employer is asked to leave for reasons including poor performance or development, an inappropriate behaviour and attendance of employee. To replaces an employee the HR Management department, which is responsible for the recruitment and selection process should prepared all relevant procedures to recruit new worker. Recruitment and selection process are very expensive and also considers the costs and consequences of employee turnover.There are financial, community and workforce impact. â€Å"Every time an employee leaves and has to be replaced, an operation incurs a number of direct financial costs, including administration costs associated with processing resignations and dismissal, time taken up in conducting exit interviews, productivity losses associated with impending departure. Lost productivity and additional costs such as overtime or contractor payments to cover for vacancies created by this departures.Recruitment costs such as advertising, employment of job search agencies, time and resources spent in processing applications, staff time involved in selection interviews. Also the training and start-up costs, because the time of trainers and staff and of new employees taken up in inductions and on the job training, loss of productivity until the new employee reaches full production potential†. (David Brereton, Mining David, Ruth Beach. 2003) â€Å"In fact, last year it was estimated that filling each staff vacancy in a business costs the employer between ? 4333 and ? 7750. †(J. A.J Aaronson 2010) In addition to financial costs, high turnover is very negatively affects operational efficiency, such as a close teamwork, because instability in the workforce, consequences can include increased stress an d tension amongst those remaining employees who have to fill the gaps left by departing employees, declining employee morale, and decreased productivity. (Pinkovitz, Moskal et al 1997)The companies which have staff turnover can’t to invest in training and career development for staff, which is so important for the employees, because have big looses in recruitment and selection process.The ability to implement and develop the total rewards system will give many benefits to achieve organisational goals, make company efficient and prominent. The benefits of total rewards approach are: â€Å"greater impact- the combined effect of the different types of rewards will make a deeper and long lasting impact on the motivation and commitment of people†. (Michael Armstrong 2006) The total rewards and â€Å"Maslow’s need hierarchy theory (1954) is very considered.Maslow proposed the motivation is a function of five basic needs-physiological, safeties, love, esteem and self- actualization and explained that a person’s physiological needs must be firstly met followed by safety needs, and so on up the need hierarchy. When designing total reward strategy, employees’ multifarious needs must be well considered, Maslow’s points will help the organization reach its expectation†. (Zhou Jiang 2009)† Employee will give their maximum when they motivated and have a feeling or trust that their efforts will be rewarded by the management.There are many factors that affect employee performance like working conditions, worker and employer relationship, training and development opportunities, job security, and companies overall policies and procedures for rewarding employees. Among all those factors which affect employee performance, motivation that comes with rewards is of utmost importance†. (Nadia Sajjad Hafiza, Syed Sohaib Shah, Humera Jamsheed, Khalid Zaman 2011) A satisfied and motivated employee and work force by tangible and intangible rewards can definitely help sustain productivity.Job satisfaction plays an important role in employee commitment and in reducing employee absenteeism and boredom at work. Smith (1992) believed that job satisfaction could lead to cost reduction by reducing absences, errors and turnovers which leads to greater productivity and economic and industrial growth which is a major drive of most organisations. The result of total reward strategy is happy motivated employees and their â€Å"appreciation, meeting the new challenges, positive and caring attitude from employer, and job rotation after attaining the goal†. Nadia Sajjad Hafiza, Syed Sohaib Shah, Humera Jamsheed, Khalid Zaman 2011) The second benefit of total rewards is increased flexibility in the total rewards approach â€Å"allows awards to be mixed to fit the various needs of the employee. Flexibility has become an important factor in work-life balance. Organizations are recognizing the constraints many worker s are facing and providing them with alternatives to ensure the motivational and emotional needs of the employees are met.Some flexibility rewards that have been implemented in many organizations are instilling various scheduling options and providing telecommuting options. More companies are instituting new work schedules which include longer days but shorter weeks, i. e. 4 days @ 10 hours as well as allowing employees to work from home. With technology becoming more advanced, employers can meet with employees via the web and documents can be faxed or emailed. Increased flexibility is both beneficial to the employer and the employee†. (Cyberessays, Divaqueen. 011) The other benefit of total rewards Michael Armstrong (2006) said is talent management- relational rewards (learning, development and work environment) help to deliver a positive psychological contract and this can serve as a differentiator in the recruitment market that is much more difficult to replicate than indiv idual pay practices. The organisation can become an ‘employer of choice’ and ‘a great place to work’; the result is attracting and retaining the talent people it needs. There are many advantages from managing talent, such as makes company more competitive in competition.The company that try developing and producing super-talented people is â€Å"always best to compare products or services to competitors. This important process of the company increased sales effectively and efficiently. With the position more competitive than the competition, a company can automatically effective market penetration and gain greater market share. Gain market share means more sales of the company increases significantly†. (Business 2011) The ability correctly implements the total rewards strategy give organisations opportunity to become efficient and competitive over competitors.Mary Mosqueda, (2008) said developing the correct mix for the total rewards strategy is the key to employing and keeping the best talent. The first step is identifying the culture, employee climate, and employee demographics. This can be determined through an employee appraisal system, focus groups or key employee interviews. After identifying what drives employee motivation, commitment, and loyalty for organization, also the importance to determine how much organisation are willing to spend. The second step involves creating a road map or a total rewards philosophy/strategy.The importance of discussion on relevant question related to the total rewards strategy. The question such as: â€Å"What transactional and relational rewards company already offer? †, â€Å"What compensation, benefits and work/life programs should the company offer to remain competitive in industry? †, â€Å"What is overall commitment to company’s financials and employees? †, â€Å"Who is the company’s competitors and peers rewards programs? † These entire que stions give opportunity to think of development general total rewards strategy.Mary Mosqueda, (2008) said the third step is development of policies and procedures regarding the use of new benefits, learning environment, development and compensation systems. These policies establish the flow of the process and secure the integrity of both the company and employee. Management can easily include these polices into an employee manual or handbook. It is very important that senior management is on board with any changes or new policies with regard to employee total rewards programs, then, the fourth step in this process involves including top management from the beginning.Educating management on how to successfully implement these strategies with their employees is critical. Managers and employees need to understand the process and learn how total rewards can help them in achieving objectives and further company’s financial goals. This can be achieved through different methods of c ommunication. Communication is next step of the implementation, which is vital to the successful result of total rewards strategy. If this is not communicated properly, it is all for naught.The communication of rewards strategy can be by emails, meetings, newsletters, representatives; etc, â€Å"Communication should support development strategy and achieve a win-win situation for both the organisation and employees. As employees contribute to the organisation in achieving its goals, those same employees need to share in its success. To encourage this win-win situation, senior management needs to ensure that employees have a clear direction and that they feel valued by receiving appropriate rewards. † (Michael Silverman, Peter Reilly. N d]) Also, the total rewards strategy has a poor result, if development and implementation process is incorrect, because† applying too much motivation or offering too many rewards can also have a negative effect. Employees can become over- confident. They may feel that they are the bosses' favourite workers, even if they start to slack off on their work and responsibilities or test the limits of their working relationship with their supervisors†. (Amelia Jenkins, Demand Media [n d]) Anyway using total rewards strategy the organisation motivate, build a good atmosphere and relationship with employee that fosters a sense of trust.In a good relationship, employees may feel respected and comfortable in their working environment. Providing rewards, both tangible and intangible make employees happier. Happier employees often perform better at work and proud of their company. Conclusion This essay examined the concept of total rewards and the reasons for its increasing prominence in organisation. The components, elements and benefits of total rewards make the clear understanding how it is important for the organisation on the whole.The total rewards have a positive influence on the employee base and the company, becaus e the ability to give the right rewards to the right employee makes the win-win result. Employees who know they will be rewarded for their efforts, talent and development will continue to perform well and maintains employee satisfaction. When, employees talk about organisation with good reward system and their development, opportunities, good payments and environment, its make organisation more attractive. Over the time a reputation and company image go up.In addition, an organization's reputation makes an impression on current and future clients, which can significantly improve the company's worth and profitability. There are more consequences of reward strategy such as happy and satisfy employees, good atmosphere, reduce the staff turnover, good reputation and profitability. It is make the organisation very prominent. References Michael Armstrong (2006). A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. 10th ed. London: Kogan Page Limited. p629 Michael Armstrong (2006). A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. 10th ed. London: Kogan Page Limited. 632. The Vision Link Advisory Group. ([n d]). Four Keys To Employee Retention – True Total Rewards. Available: http://www. vladvisors. com/images/PDF/VisionLink_Employee-Retention. pdf. Last accessed 6 January 2012. Mary Mosqueda, Compensation Practice Leader, Lockton Companies. (2008). The Impact of Total Rewards in a Downshifting Economy. Available: http://www. lockton. com/Resource_/PageResource/PDFs/The%20Impact%20of%20TR%20in%20a%20Downshifting%20Economy. pdf. Last accessed 8 January 2012. Pinkovitz, W. H. , J. Moskal, et al. (1997) How much does your employee turnover cost?Center for Community Economic Development, University of Wisconsin. http://www. uwex. edu/ces/cced/publicat/turn. html, last accessed 7 January 2012. Amelia Jenkins, Demand Media. ([n d]). About Employee Motivation & Reward Systems. Available: http://smallbusiness. chron. com/employee-motivation-reward-systems-15978. html. La st accessed 8 January 2012. Business. (2011). 3 Advantages of Talent Management Company. Available: http://business-human-resources. chailit. com/3-advantages-of-talent-management-company-2. html. Last accessed 8 January 2012 Cyberessays, Divaqueen. (2011).Total rewards approach. Available: http://www. cyberessays. com/Term-Paper-on-Total-Rewards-Approach/32691/. Last accessed 8 January 2012. ADP. (2010). Effective Talent Management Has Become an Essential Strategy for Organizational Success. Available: http://www. adp. com/tools-and-resources/case-studies-white-papers/~/media/White%20Papers/NAS/WhitePaper_TalentManagement_HQ_v2. ashx. Last accessed 7 January 2012. David Brereton, Mining David, Ruth Beach. (2003). Employee Turnover as a Sustainability Issue. Available: http://www. csrm. uq. edu. au/docs/MCApaperTurnover1. pdf. Last accessed 7 January 2012.Zhou Jiang. (2009). Total Reward Strategy: A Human Resources Management Strategy Going with the Trend of the Times. International Journal of Business and Management. 4 (11), 179. David Beswick, University of Melbourne. (2007). Management implications of the interaction between intrinsic motivation and extrinsic rewards. Available: http://www. beswick. info/psychres/management. htm. Last accessed 8 January 2012. Nadia Sajjad Hafiza, Syed Sohaib Shah, Humera Jamsheed, Khalid Zaman. (2011). RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN REWARDS AND EMPLOYEE’S MOTIVATION IN THE NON-PROFIT. Available: http://www. aycocorporativo. com/saycoUK/BIJ/journal/Vol4No2/Article_11. pdf. Last accessed 8 January 2012. Michael Silverman, Peter Reilly. ([N d]). How Flexible is Total Reward?. Available: http://www. employment-studies. co. uk/pdflibrary/mp24. pdf. Last accessed 8 January 2012. Patricia K. Zingheim and Jay R. Schuster. (2004). TOTAL REWARDS: PEOPLE WANT MORE THAN MONEY. Available: http://www. schuster-zingheim. com/docs/Total_Rewards_People_Want_More_Than_Money. pdf. Last accessed 8 January 2012. Hroot. (2007). WorldatWork Total Re wards Model Strategies to Attract, Motivate and Retain Employees.Available: http://www. hroot. com/contents/57/89011. html. Last accessed 8 January 2012. Awards. http://www. awards. co. za:8000/images/documents/AAGroup%20Total%20Rewards. pdf. [n d]. (accessed December 21, 2011). eHow . http://www. ehow. com/facts_5687820_total-rewards_. html. 1999. (accessed December 21, 2011). Employement studies. [n d]. http://www. employment-studies. co. uk/pdflibrary/mp24. pdf (accessed December 2011). J. A. J Aaronson . Managing Staff Turnover. 25 December 2010. http://www. aboutemployeebenefits. co. uk/managing-staff-turnover. tml (accessed January 7, 2012). OSP . Total Rewards (2003)http://www. osp. state. nc. us/†¦ /total%20rewards%2†¦ . 2003. (accessed December 21, 2011). Patricia K. Zingheim and Jay R. Schuster. Pay It Forward. 2002. http://www. schuster-zingheim. com/docs/Pay_It_Forward. pdf (accessed December 22, 2011). Patricia K. Zingheim and Jay R. Schuster. 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Marketing Analysis of GOD Essay

Company Description: GOD is now a fast-growing furniture and furnishings company brand in Hong Kong. They describe them as â€Å"More Than Just a Furniture Store†. GOD is the phonetic sound of the Cantonese slang â€Å"to live better† which a basic human desire all around the world. The founder of GOD – Douglas Young and Benjamin Lau opened the first GOD store at Ap Lei Chau in 1996. Within 2 years, two more shops opened in Central and Tsim Sha Tsui respectively. In 2001, GOD has opened a 20,000 sq.ft. flagship store in Causeway Bay. The mission of GOD has always been â€Å"to define a new Hong Kong identity† – by exploring age-old oriental traditions and updating them with modern consumers in mind, their demonstrations of the techniques and wisdom of past generations in the east still has a place in the future world. Most of the furniture of GOD is made in China to their stringent standards of quality and workmanship. Their products range from furniture, bathware, kitchenware to even lighting and carpets. Among these various products, furniture occupies the highest proportion of sales revenues. What makes GOD different from other convectional furniture and furnishing company is that all of their furniture is designed by local designers. The company is strongly against today’s mass produced and soulless products. The main theme of their furniture is creative, comfortable, and multifunctional. In order to surprise their customers, GOD constantly turns out new items on a weekly basis. Because the marketing strategy in GOD is so clear that make the company become one of the few furniture companies that can still make a profit, and even expand their business, in the time of economy downturn in HK these years. Situation Analysis: 1. SWOT Analysis: Internally, GOD has a management team with designing knowledge which could perfectly apply to the daily management in the company. Small size of management team also benefits the company with the efficient division of  labor. Despite the fact of having numerous competitors with lower price, G.O.D. is still taking the leading role in the industry with its unique offerings of the oriental tradition Asian design in products, as well as the extraordinary decoration in each branch . G.OD is expanding its market share by connecting to other different industries, so as to attract more customers from different aspects. The diversification of production and also the â€Å"custom made† strategy contribute to the company as it prevent excess inventory. Moreover, its own R&D team takes a big responsibility in fulfilling the demand of the customers in having a better quality. Other than all those favorable circumstances, G.OD is still encountering certain weaknesses. Due to the short history of establishment, G.O.D. is lack of experience and specialization. Its relatively high price and narrow choice of products has also prevented the visit and purchase of customers. Also, due to the limited capital inflow in the company, GOD is still not able to develop a large R&D team; it also regards advertisement as a big burden for the company. Regardless of the success of the manufacturing approach, it, on the other hand, has lead to the high cost of production as it could not achieve the economy of scale. Favorable external factors include the increasing upscale market which people are more concerned about quality of life, there are only few and not well-established local competitors, and as the economic is recovering, there are more opportunities. Ergonomics is one of the most popular topics in furniture industry because the customer’s perceived value can be raised by introducing it. Unfavorable external factors include the taste of customers which people like international culture more, like Japan. In addition, the favorable investment condition attracts competitor from foreign countries. 2. Industry analysis: The furniture and furnishing industry has a long history in Hong Kong. It includes the production of household, office and furniture, as well as  bedding and parts of furniture. There are 249 furniture manufacturers in Hong Kong, employing more than 704 people as at Sep 2002. Around 90% of them are small companies engaging less than 10 people . Although it is not the major industry in the local market, the competition is very keen. In terms of market segmentation, the current furniture industry in Hong Kong is generally divided into three main categories: high-end, middle-end and lower-end market. However, in the past, the craft-based, labor-intensive furniture industry was one of the oldest industries in Hong Kong. It was developed to meet local demands. At that time, the furniture industry was dominated by a large number of small firms and could be divided into three major sectors, namely, wooden furniture, rattan furniture and metal furniture . After the economic crisis in 1998, many small companies went bankrupt and customers’ incentive on buying furniture was lower. To maintain their competitive power, many large companies strive to reduce their costs and increase their efficiency. Some relocate their manufacturing operations to other areas with lower operation costs like Mainland China. Foreign manufacturers are taking steps to strengthen their domestic production through production specialization. Hong Kong’s furniture makers also start to establish their own brands and some concept stores in order to develop their unique product lines to differentiate their firms from the others. Companies like GOD and Franc Franc are the most apparent examples which produce products with Hong Kong local characteristics and Japanese culture respectively. Recently, due to the economic recovery and the change of customer trend, people are going to be responsive to the new trends and design of furniture. Thus, the industry is going to produce products to cater the needs of Hong Kong people. Also, many furniture manufacturers become more careful about the choice of raw materials to meet international standards, such as compliance with legal or other environmental requirements in their target markets. Because of the limited living space in Hong Kong, the industry produces the furniture which is highly practical and multi- functional. Moreover, most of them embrace innovative designs and combinations of furnishings which allow them to save home spaces and provide a sense of style and modernism. To cater the growing trend and design of furniture which correspond to their taste and lifestyle, the industry produces DIY furniture which can let consumers to make their ‘unique’ furniture with their own styles. Moreover, most of them are made of the environmental friendly materials for production. 3. Competitor Analysis: Competitors in relevant market: There are three main competitors of GOD in Hong Kong, accordingly Franc Franc, IKEA and PRICERITE. Their target market segments do not necessarily the same but do have some overlapping as they both target on the market segments of middle-income level families. Further, the mission of their competitors also stress on developing a new concept of life style to Hong Kong people. Franc Franc’s company would invest over 30 million dollars in Hong Kong and expect there will be 36 million HK dollars gross profit in the first year. There will also be 2 or 3 new branches opened in the next few years. They will be mainly located in some big shopping malls. IKEA have 4 branches in Hong Kong mainly located near big housing town. IKEA is the most well known furniture company in Hong Kong due to the massive advertising programs. The concepts of their design are simple, multi-functional and sustainable. They also have a successful and well-developed customer service system which helps them to develop the loyalty of their customers. PRICERITE’s target group mainly focuses on lower income families. They  provide a relatively low price to their customers, thus helping them to develop a low cost, comfortable and multifunctional living environment. They have over 45 branches in Hong Kong so as consumers can easily find a PRICERITE nearby. Comparative advantages: 1. GOD—Uniqueness of local culture In these years, many industries especially those expose frequently to young people like filmdom and musical industry, advocate local original design and innovation. This atmosphere makes young people create a good feeling to Hong Kong local products. Today, GOD is the unique furniture store with strong â€Å"Hong Kong† concept. What Hong Kong concept here means is Hong Kong’s own culture and social atmosphere. GOD is a local brand and all of their exclusive designers are local. GOD claims their products have â€Å"soul† because their products can turn out local people’s opinion and attitude to lives. It can attract a group of Hong Kong new generation who like to show off their characters and tastes by their home furniture . 2. Franc Franc—Adhere to Japanese-styled goods The trend in Japan always is a benchmark for the young people in Hong Kong. It is because the young people in Hong Kong think Japanese always stand on the tips of the trend. Thus, most of them are adherent to Japanese-styled goods. Many Japanese brands like Fancl and Sanrio have successfully developed their business in Hong Kong. Their successes are also based on this reason. Franc Franc is the sole furniture concept store with Japanese style in Hong Kong. This make it exclusively enjoys the adherent from Hong Kong young people in this market . 3. IKEA—Cost Leadership To provide goods with high quality at relatively low prices, IKEA drives tough bargains with its suppliers in order to employ lowest cost suppliers  of raw and semi-finished goods from all over the world. IKEA Also, their products developers seek out manufacturers who can produce in the most cost-effective way and designers always work with solutions that result in a low price. This cost-focused supply chain model results in getting the goods with cheapest price and good quality.

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