Tescos Strategic Management Processes: SWOT Analysis

Tescos Strategic Management Processes: SWOT Analysis Introduction: Tesco was founded by Jack Cohen in 1919 when he started to sell surplus groceries from a stall in the East End of London from which he earned a profit of  £1 from sales of  £4 on his first day. After 10 years, in 1929, Jack Cohen opened his first Tesco Store in Burnt Oak, Edgware, North London (http://www.tescoplc.com). Strategic management theory â€Å"Strategic management refers to the art of planning the business at the highest possible level. It is the duty of the companys leader or leaders to implement the strategic management focuses on building a solid essential structure to your business that will consequently be fleshed out through the collective labours of every individual was employed† (www.allbusiness.com). Strategic management hinges upon answering three key questions: What are the businesss objectives? What are the best ways to achieve those objectives? What resources are required to make that happen? (www.allbusiness.com) Strategic business environment PESTEL Analysis of Tesco: Political Factors: Tesco is now operating in seven countries in the Europe including the UK, the Republic of Ireland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland and Turkey. It also operates in the South East Asia including China, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Thailand (www.tescoplc.com). Tesco perform according to the political and legislative rules of all of these countries. With the influence of the Governments employment legislation Tesco employs following the equal opportunity employment policy (Doyle 1987). 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). Economical Factors: The economic environment includes interest rates, inflation, business cycles, unemployment, disposable income and energy availability and cost (Kaplan, 2007). Keeping these factors in mind Tesco implemented the strategy of marketing mix to continue the steady growth in the UK local market and in the International business. In the recent credit crunch due the high unemployment levels Tesco tried to keep the price of the most of the products in the range of the customers by lowering the cost and the profit (http://ivythesis.typepad.com). Social or Cultural Factors: Social factors change the buying behaviour of the customers. Like the British customers moved towards bulk shopping to get cheaper unit price. Due to female workers in the city areas the big retail shops increases ready meal to the office going customers. They may also include changes in the demographic make-up of a population (Kaplan, 2007). In Thailand, customers are used to shopping at traditional wet markets, interacting with vendors and rummaging through piles of produce to choose what they want. Rather than adopting the Western approach of neatly packaged, convenient portions, Tescos Rama IV store in Bangkok tries to meet local customers expectations (www.tescoplc.com). Technological Factors: Technological factors changed the retailing methods, like direct selling through cash or Debit/Credit card from in-store and/ via internet. Tesco stores use the following technologies all over the world: Integrated link-up computers within the stores Electronic shelf labelling Self check-out to reduce the queue of the customers Barcode reader for every products Electronic point of sale Electronic Funds Transfer Systems Environmental/ Ecological Factors: Tesco encourages re-using the shopping bags, plastic bottles, paper boxes and other recyclable products by gaining more and more club card points. This include product stewardship, which considers all raw materials, components and energy sources used in the product and how more environmentally friendly substitutes could be used (Kaplan, 2007). Tesco also like to sell the organic foods to the customers in their affordable price range. f) Legal Factors: â€Å"Various government legislations and policies have a direct impact on the performance of Tesco. 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). â€Å"The presence of powerful competitors with established brands creates a threat of intense price wars and strong requirements for product differentiation. The governments 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, Tesco offers consumers a price reduction on fuel purchases based on the amount spent on groceries at its stores. While prices are lowered on prom oted goods, prices elsewhere in the store are raised to compensate.† (www.ivoryresearch.com) SWOT analysis of Tesco   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Strengths TESCO have protected commercial standing in the place of global market and achieved Retailer of the Year 2008 at the â€Å"World Retail Awards†. It may be used for marketing campaigns to get advantage for future development and sustainability. Where global retail sales are declining, TESCO have announced sales gain of 13% for UK markets and 26% growth in international markets (www.businessteacher.org.uk).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Weaknesses TESCO Finance income levels were affected by bad debt, credit card arrears and household insurance claims. Grocer outlets are not set up to activate as expert retailers in specific areas of product that can be capitalised on by other smaller customized retailers. TESCO is a low price leader in UK markets which can lead to reduced profit (www.businessteacher.org.uk).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Opportunities TESCO is the third largest global grocer that indicates a level of retail power to ensure conventional economies of scale. The acquirement of Homever provides the prospect to develop the brand through Asia, particularly South Korea and further grow International markets for TESCO. The development of Tesco Direct through online and catalogue shopping will grow the use of technology, providing the launch pad for larger non food based items with reasonable to high margin profits and less focus on sales and margin per foot return to space. TESCO mobile have developed  ¼ million clients in 2008 and encouraged into profitable status suggesting further growth and expansion within this technological area can be developed (www.businessteacher.org.uk).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Threats UK and American markets have been affected by economic concerns through the â€Å"credit crunch†. Lower available profits will impact and strategic focus may need to change to lower priced fundamental products with less focus on higher priced brands telling a switch in price architecture. Growing raw material costs from both food and non food will affect overall profit margins. Require further analysis for changes to consumer buying manner because technology develops consumer buying habit and it is need to evaluation (www.businessteacher.org.uk).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Strategic capability of Tesco Strategic capability is quite simply the capacity of a business to continue to exist, grow and deliver future importance. Clarity of thinking and action in objectives and strategy; evidence of strategy in action and strategic progress in operational attainment; sensitivity to the future and to the impact of convenient and uncontainable trends and factors upon future performance; venture in capital, strengths and less concrete drivers of value; and, an approach to social ethical and environmental matters that is important to the strategy of the business (www.futurevalue.co.uk)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Expectation and purpose Tescos main purpose is to create value for customers to earn their lifetime loyalty Tesco believes that it continually demonstrate that it is good at getting things done, good at ‘what it does, and it takes pride in being good at the way in which it achieve the target (www.tesco.com). As an example, Tescos shares were trading at 369.6p in the month of August 2009, increased to 421p mid of the month of January 2010 which shows the reliability of Tesco in the share market. Numerous analysts stated that with a good sales performance in the UK with its loyal brand, Tesco observer can now get on with looking at the big picture (www.telegraph.co.uk). There is far more to Tesco than UK shops it has stores in more than a dozen other countries, has a sizeable and growing banking arm and a large non-food operation. Analysts believed that the year 2010 will be a good year for Tesco. They expected that Tescos massive investment in its overseas operations will start to pay off within that year. Encouraging growth in Asia and the US was reported over Christmas 2009 and the chain will open its long-anticipated venture in India in the year 2010 (www.bbc.co.uk). It is pushing on with an ambitious expansion in China too. These two markets presented a strong opportunity for the retail chain. Tesco had also invested millions of pounds in the Information Technology platforms for its fledgling banking arm, which is set to launch current accounts which is expected to become a significant source of the revenue (www.telegraph.co.uk)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Strategic choose of Tesco   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Business level strategy Tesco has a well-established and consistent strategy for growth, which has allowed the organisation to strengthen its core UK business and drive extension into new markets. The grounds for the strategy is to widen the scope of the business to enable it to deliver strong sustainable long-term growth by following the customer into large expanding markets at home such as financial services, non-food and telecoms and new markets abroad, initially in Central Europe and Asia, andmore recentlyin the United States (www.tescoplc.com). The strategy of Tesco had diversified the business was laid down in 1997 and has been the foundation of Tescos success in recent years. The new businesses had been shaped and developed over the last 12 years from the year 1997. As part of the strategy which established Tesco as a market leader in many of its markets inside and outside of the UK. The Group has continued to make good advancement with the strategy, which has five elements, reflecting its four est ablished areas of focus, and also Tescos long-term commitments on community and environment (Lowe, 2009). The objectives of the strategy are as followed: â€Å"To be a successful international retailer To grow the core UK business To be as strong in non-food as in food. To develop retailing services such as Tesco Personal Finance, Telecoms and Tesco.com To put community at the heart of what we do† (www.tescoplc.com). Corporate level and international The full appearance of international retailing is not as simple as it may happen within a short period of time; it requires a long term approach. Over more than ten years of experience overseas, Tesco has stated a strategy based on six elements: Be flexible Act local Maintain focus on a few countries Use multi-formats Develop capability Build brands (www.Tescocorporate.com) By the year of 2002 Tesco was operating 174 stores in Eastern Europe and Asia, most of them hypermarkets; they represented 42 per cent of the groups total selling space. As it was presented that the UK remained by far the most important source of Tescos profits, and the aim was to keep ahead through innovation with unique differentiation was a prize that can only be won by continually being first. Tesco has followed its customers into the growing world of retailing services. Its aim was to bring simplicity and value to complex markets (www.tescofinance.com). Change management within Tesco Tesco has become Britains most successful food retailer, send-off most of its competitors in its rising. It was predicted in the year of 1999, a decade before that the company was regarded as falling behind. In order to be a success, the company had to build bigger and better stores, place higher priority on customer services, change management attitudes and revise their store culture (www.orsoc.org.uk). A pilot programme exposed in a research that the stores and store managers were performing at a lower level than their competitors. As an example the store managers performance was 75 per cent below that of other retail managers. Between Tesco and Verax, one of the World Leader in Business Performance Information, Diagnostic, Measurement Support Systems, designed a development programme for all store managers and departmental managers in the stores of Tesco to put into practice a programme to measure their performance and the Stores performance. The measure covered five areas: â€Å"Managers attitudes Managers management skills Retail-specific skills, including customer service The rewards system used (e.g. praise and recognition of pay/bonus) The store culture† (www.orsoc.org.uk). Now a days Tesco had developed its own in-house materials as the next move on from the Verax model. It is clear that the cultural changes taking place within Tesco as a whole are continuing. After the inter-company surveys held in the year 1993 cross functional workshops have been stopped now and the line managers are taking on the progression themselves (www.orsoc.org.uk). Corporate culture of Tesco Corporate culture is one of the main determinants of achievement or disappointment in a business development practice, because it mainly determines how flexible, accommodating of change and pioneering a company tends to be (www.itchybrainscentral.com). Fairfield-Sonn (2001: 36) â€Å"provided a four-layer model of corporate culture which includes cultural artefacts, cultural history, core ideology and core values that helps to quantify and describe the corporate culture of an organization. Therefore, Tescos corporate culture can be resolute from its corporate responsibility statements, which describe its main values and core ideologies as well as some aspects of cultural artefacts. Tescos corporate culture priorities allowed the company to consider opening stores in areas where native supermarkets were hesitant to go, and to provide services to the area that the local providers either couldnt or didnt consider. Thus, they opened stores in underserved regions, not only allowing them to express their core ideals, but also providing an opportunity to enter an almost untapped market. Although native retailers have twisted to enter the markets in which Tesco is now providing services in the United States, Tesco will continue to have the advantage in terms of the markets it has already entered; it also has a corporate culture that encourages the extension and service of these areas† (www.itchybrainscentral.com) Knowledge management of Tesco Knowledge management is treating the knowledge component of business behavior as a clear concern of business reflected in strategy, policy, and practice at all levels of the organisation (http://www.media-access.com). Tesco and its competitor Wal-Mart are both masters of enterprise knowledge management, especially as relates to their POS (point-of-sale) data. The two firms influence the same skills data mining analysis to drive their achievement, but use the skill in slightly different ways (http://tscg.biz). Knowledge management is not only about information; it is also about the people the company has recruited, trained, developed, and promoted within the organization. KM involves not only the implementation of a software system; it involves understanding your business needs, your organizations culture, and your personnel. To succeed, any KM initiative requires that you know your people and clearly define the behaviors that need to be changed or reinforced (www.connectioneconomy.com). Conclusion Over more than ten years of experience overseas, Tesco has evolved a strategy based on six elements: Be flexible each market is unique and requires a different approach. According to (Heizer and Barry. 2006), proximity to competitors (clustering) is important to get the customer base. In Tokyo, customers like to shop for small amounts of extremely fresh food, every day. Existing hypermarket formats dont meet the needs of local customers, so Tescos entry into the Japanese market was through the acquisition of a discount supermarket operator. Act local local customers, local cultures, local supply chains and local regulations require a tailored offer delivered by local staff. Locating a company in a different country need to deal its local cultures, and local staff. In that case company need to be ware about the local government policies, and labour productivity. Employees with poor training, poor education, or poor work habits may not be a good buy even at low wages. In Thailand, customers are used to shopping at traditional wet markets, interacting with vendors and rummaging through piles of produce to choose what they want. Rather than adopting the Western approach of neatly packaged, convenient portions. So Tesco tries to meet local customers expectations. Use multi-formats no single format can reach the whole of the market. A whole spectrum from convenience to hypermarkets is essential and company need to take a discounter approach throughout Tesco have a wide range of business all over the world, for diversify demand in various location. They are growing their non-food product business in different locations. Develop capability Its not about scale, its about skill so Tesco make sure they have capability through people, processes systems. Proximity of suppliers is another important issue for new location. For that when Tesco open new retail outlets they consider perish ability, transportation costs of a new location. They also train their stuff and improve their competence. Build brands brands enable the building of important lasting relationships with customers. Brand image among the new location customers is very helpful to setup new location for any business. Tesco have an emerging brand image, so most of the customer in the probable location already knows about Tesco products. Thats how Tesco easily get a strong customer base for new location. (http://www.tescoplc.com) To be a global retail leader Tesco is going ahead. Their successful management team implementing their total organisational strategy worldwide and maintaining steady growth every year. Though Tesco is an establish brand in but it needs to spend some more money in marketing to promote their brand outside UK. Especially the big market like USA they need to create their own brand rather than using some other name or brand. They enter in US market by using other name but it is also a part of their strategy. References ACCA Paper 3 (2007). Business Analysis- Complete text, Berkshire: Kaplan Publishing. Balchin, A. (1994). Part-time workers in the multiple retail sector: small change from employment protection legislation?, Employee Relations, Vol. 16 Issue 7, pp.43-57 Doyle, B (1987) Disabled Workers, Employment Vulnerability and Labour Law, Employee Relations Vol. 9 issue 5 pp 20-29 Fairfield-Sonn, J (2001) Corporate culture and the quality organization. London: Quorum Books. Heizer, J and Render, B (2006) Operation Management (8th edition), New jersey : Pearson Education. Lowe, M (2009) Challenges in Retail Innovation Aspects of Innovation in Tesco plcs Market Entry into the USA, Case study at http://www.managing-innovation.com/case_studies/Tesco.pdf Mintel Report (2004). Food Retailing UK, Retail Intelligence, November. Myers H. (2004). Trends in the food retail sector across Europe, European Retail Digest, Spring, Issue 41, pp.1-3. http://www.futurevalue.co.uk/future-value-strat-key-facts.html#Key01 http://www.allbusiness.com/management/2975129-1.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/robertpeston/2009/05/should_we_save_building_societ.html http://www.businessteacher.org.uk/business-resources/swot-analysis-database/tesco-swot-analysis/ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/6976691/Questor-share-tip-Tescos-figures-trump-all-expectations.html http://www.tescoplc.com/plc/about_us/strategy/ http://www.tescoplc.com/plc/about_us/strategy/international/ http://www.orsoc.org.uk/orshop/(i3srha45nvdixbia444zierm)/orcontent.aspx?inc=article_news_tes.htm http://www.itchybrainscentral.com/tesco-business-strategy.html http://www.orsoc.org.uk/orshop/(i3srha45nvdixbia444zierm)/orcontent.aspx?inc=article_news_tes.htm http://www.media-access.com/whatis.html http://www.tesco.com/recruitment/html/careers/compInfo/values.htm http://tscg.biz/saintblog/2008/12/tesco-is-walmarts-worst-nightmare-turning-customer-data-into-rightsize-stores.html http://www.connectioneconomy.com/2006/02/18/why-knowledge-management-fails/

Osmolarity: Concentration and Sucrose Solutions Essay

My group and I conducted the experiment that estimates osmolarity by change in weight of potato tubers, this was conducted in order to explore the process of diffusion and osmosis and more importantly to investigate the question of â€Å"Does different concentrations of sucrose solutions have an effect on the final weight for the potato tubers?† In this experiment we estimated the osmolarity of potato tuber cores by submersing different potato cores into sucrose solutions of 0.0-0.6M, and weighing the potato. The results showed the weight of the potato tubers had the highest percent change in weight meaning that they weighed more than the initial weight in sucrose solutions from 0.0-0.3M; it also showed that sucrose concentrations from 0.4-0.6M the weight of the potato tubers decreased. My group and I concluded that the osmolarity of the potato was about 0.4M since the weight of the potato decreased by about -1.3%, which was the closest value to the initial weight of the potat o tuber. We also found that the potato was hypertonic to sucrose solutions of 0.0-0.3M and hypotonic to 0.5-0.6M. Introduction: Diffusion and osmosis are two types of passive transport. Diffusion is a random movement of molecules from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration. According to the book Biological Sciences, â€Å"Osmosis is a type of diffusion that occurs when solutions are separated by a membrane that is permeably to some molecules but not to others, that is, a selectively permeable membrane† (Scott 2011). To further explore the process of diffusion and osmosis, we conducted an experiment that would demonstrate these processes and also investigate the question of â€Å"do different concentrations of sucrose solutions have an effect on the final weight for the potato tubers?† In my group’s experiment our goal was to estimate the osmolarity of potato tubers from weight change. The hypothesis for this experiment was, â€Å"if the concentration of the sucrose solutions in which the potato cylinders are in is changed, then I hypothesize that the final weight o f the potato will also change.† And the prediction that my group and I formed was â€Å"if the weight if the potato tuber changes when submerged in different sucrose concentrations, then I predict the weight change will decrease as the sucrose concentration increases.† In my group’s experiment, several potato tubers were tested in different sucrose solutions ranging from 0.0-0.6 M. The potato tubers were then submerged into all the solutions to test osmolarity and to see what would happen to its mass if they were in different sucrose solutions. To fully understand the purpose and understand the results obtained there were three major concepts important to know, they are hypertonic, hypotonic, and isotonic. According to the journal The American Biology Teacher, â€Å"An isotonic solution is when the solute concentration inside a system is equivalent to the solute concentration outside of a system, thus resulting in no net change of diffusion. In a hypertonic solution, the solute concentration outside of a system is larger than the solute concentration within a system, so water diffuses out of the system to attempt to even out the ratio disparity; this results in the system shrinking in mass† (Marvel, Kepler 2009). In a hypotonic solution however, the solute concentration is greater within the system than outside of the system, so water diffuses into the system; this results in the system being â€Å"bloated†. Materials and Methods: The materials that my group and I used in our experiment was 1 large potato, a cork borer this is necessary to obtain seven potato tuber cylinders. Forceps were needed and a balance that weighs to the nearest 0.01g, a Petri dish, razor blade, paper towels, ruler, calculator, and also necessary for the experiment to work was sucrose solutions from 0.1-0.6 molar. Deionized water was used to represent 0.0 molar in our experiment and seven 250ml plastic cups. First, my group and I obtained 50ml of deionized water and 100ml of each of the sucrose solutions and put each solution in separate and labeled 250ml paper cups. Then by using a cork borer we obtained seven cylinders form the potato by pushing the borer through the length of the potato and removing the potato from the borer. Making sure none of the cylinders were damaged, we modified the length of each cylinder to 5ml and repeated this step seven times until we had a total of seven undamaged cylinders of equal length with the peels removed from each length using a razor blade. We then placed all seven cylinders into a Petri dish and kept them covered to prevent from drying out. Before weighing each of the cylinders we placed each one between folds of a napkin to blot out the sides and ends and then weighed them individually to the nearest hundredths of a gram on the balance. After doing this step we recorded the results in our table. After weighing the potato cylinders we immediately placed each in different molar solutions starting with 0.0M through 0.6M. After the cylinders were submersed in the cups we recorded the time witch was 3:20 pm. We then took the cylinders out of their solutions at 4:30pm and calculated the incubation time to be 1hour 10 minutes. The instructions said to leave for 1.5 hours to 2 hours but due to time constraints we took them out a little earlier. After removing the cylinders from each sample we blotted each with a paper towel to remove excess solution only. After doing this my group and I recorded the final weights of each of the cylinders in the chronological order in which they were initially placed, and recorded it in our table. After recording our data we finally calculated the percent weight change for each of the cylinders. Our group then decided what the variables were and agreed that the independent variable was the concentration of the sucrose solution and the dependent variable was the percent change in weight. This experiment was repeated only once in the given time we had. Results: The osmotic concentration was determined by measuring the percent change in mass of the potato cylinders. Change in mass was measured of seven solutions, each containing different levels of concentration 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, and 0.6M. The percent change in mass decreased as sucrose concentration increased, therefore, relative osmotic concentration also decreased as sucrose concentration increased. However, the osmotic concentration of 0.3 M sucrose solution was relatively greater than that of 0.2 M sucrose solution. In sucrose concentration 0.6 M, the osmotic concentration decreased almost double from that of 0.5, and significantly from those of all other sucrose concentrations. The osmotic concentrations were greater than zero in sucrose solutions of 0, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 M; these cells were hypotonic, meaning the potato had more solute. The osmotic concentrations were less than zero in sucrose solutions of 0.4, 0.5, and 0.6 M; these cells were hypertonic, meaning the solutions had less solute. Osmotic concentration decreased as sucrose concentration increased and cells became more concentrated. Table 1: Data for Experiment Estimating Osmolarity by Change in Weight Sucrose Molarity (M)|0.0|0.1|0.2|0.3|0.4|0.5|0.6| Final weight (g)|2.57|2.43|2.48|2.24|2.21|2.05|1.82| Initial weight (g)|2.23|2.18|2.28|2.03|2.24|2.19|2.06| Weight change (g)|0.34|0.25|0.20|0.21|-0.3|-1.4|-0.24| % change in weight|15.2%|11.5%|8.8%|10.3%|-1.3%|-6.3%|-11.7%| Discussion: When starting this experiment my group and I formulated and agreed upon the hypothesis of â€Å"â€Å"if the concentration of the sucrose solutions in which the potato cylinders are in is changed, then I hypothesize that the final weight of the potato will also change.† My group and I also agreed upon the prediction of â€Å"if the weight of the potato tuber changes when submerged in different sucrose concentrations, then I predict the weight change will decrease as the sucrose concentration increases.† After conducting the experiment and obtained our results, we found that our results support our hypothesis and prediction. The experiment supported our prediction because the sucrose solution diffused from areas of high concentration to areas of low concentration, thus affecting the final weight of potato cylinders when submerged in varying amounts of sucrose concentrations. According to the article Diffusion, Osmosis and Cell Membranes,†There are two ways that th e molecules in a solution move: passive transport and active transport. Active transport requires that the cell use energy that it has obtained from food to move the molecules (or larger particles) through the cell membrane. Passive transport does not require such energy expenditure, and occurs spontaneously (Mccandless 1998). Because the molecules in the sucrose solutions in our experiment were moving with the gradient meaning they were moving form areas of high concentration to areas of low concentration we found that the movement of the molecules was passive transport. The principle means of passive transport is diffusion. Diffusion is the movement of molecules from a region in which they are highly concentrated to a region in which they are less concentrated. In the solutions ranging from 0.0-0.3M the potato acted as the ‘system’ and the solution concentration inside the system was greater than outside which was the sucrose solution, so water diffused into the system (potato) and caused it to become bloated. In the sucrose solutions 0.4-0.6 it was hypertonic because the solution concentration was larger than the system’s concentration so the cylinder decreased in size. This experiment allowed us to take a closer look at the biological process of life and how and why it works the way it does. This experiment allowed us to a take a deeper look into the mechanisms of diffusion and osmosis and apply it real life examples. According to the book, Cell and molecular biology: concepts and experiments,† When a diluted solution and a concentrated solution are separated by a membrane, there is a net transfer of the solvent from the diluted solution to the concentrated one. Entry of water into root hairs and movement of water within the plant body are good examples of osmosis† (Karp 1991). Osmosis plays a significant role in life first, â€Å"the entry of water in to the roots from the soil takes place by this process, cell to cell diffusion of water is controlled through this process, young cells require turgid condition for their growth which is fulfilled by osmosis, and last turgidity of cells is maintained by the process of osmosis† (Karp 1999). A few errors were made in the experiment but none were significant enough to heavily affect our results. For example, the lengths of the individual potato cylinders may have differed slightly; we may have made mistakes when measuring a specific amount of the sucrose concentrations. We also believe that the potato cylinders should have been incubated longer, ours incubated for 1 hour 10minutes and the instructions said to incubate for at least 1.5 hours. For the most part these mistakes seemed to be small and not significant because in the end our prediction and hypothesis was supported. I thought that this was an interesting lab to participate in especially because this experiment has been conducted several times by other biology labs, I don’t really believe there were any significant weaknesses to our experiment except maybe the time. It would have been better to have more time to further explore our results. This experiment was conducted smoothly and without complications, and even better supported our prediction. Some questions that would be interesting to be answered by further research is would temperature affect the rate of diffusion in sucrose concentrations? Works Cited Freeman, Scott. â€Å"Lipids, Membranes, and the First Cells.† Biological Sciences. 4th ed. Vol. 1. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2011. 90-91. Print. Karp, Gerald. Cell and Molecular Biology: Concepts and Experiments. New York: J. Wiley, 1999. Print Marvel, Stephen C., and Megan V. Kepler. â€Å"A Simple Membrane Osmometer System & Experiments That Quantitatively Measure Osmotic Pressure.† The American Biology Teacher 6.7 (2009): 355-62. Print. Mccandless, John. â€Å"BIOLOGY.ARIZONA.EDU.† BIOLOGY.ARIZONA.EDU. University of Arizona, 27 Feb. 1997. Web. 26 Feb. 2012. .

Dean College Essay

During my year at Dean College, apart from putting efforts in enhancing my academic performance, I had been working as a peer tutor in the Learning Center. The Learning Center provides materials and information to enhance students’ learning skills, ability and their knowledge on the content of subjects. My role is to offer content assistance in the areas of Economics, English and Mathematics, but would often cross-tutor in several other areas such as Criminal Justice, writing, and general study skills. Experiencing the success in assisting other students and receiving good feedbacks had gained me a really joyful work experience as a peer tutor. I had a relatively different idea of being a peer tutor, since students usually went to the learning center for quick review on their essays which were due shortly. I had been working hard in marketing strategies, whereas creating an atmosphere of a place that they can spare their time here to concentrate, a place where combine the characteristics of library and private tutors. In this place, they can concentrate on their studies, with rich resources like computer stations, printers and reference books. Moreover, to make them feel more comfortable, they won’t feel like they are being tagged as doing bad on academics, since tutors no longer wear staff tags. They will feel more confidence on themselves in this way. I think that it is essential to create a certain sort of relationship right off the bat with the person you are tutoring. It is important to make the student feel that we are also students that are continually learning and also willing to contribute out ideas and point of view with them. There is a major difference between a peer tutor and a teacher. I believe that peer tutors do not judge and on top of that, they do not give out grades! It is also easier for tutors to come out and say that they do not know all the answers. Many times, a student can have trouble in class but never address these questions to their teachers for many different reasons. One of them could be because they are afraid of talking in front of a larger group of students. Another reason could be because they might feel that their question is stupid. These reasons could inhibit a student from learning and understanding the material. I think that as a peer tutor, I am able to help these students on a one-on-one basis. I think that my experiece gained from this job is very meaningful and has helped me a lot in the way to communicate with others in a more positive and encouraging way. Helping others makes me feel more satisfied with my performance and has definitely given me a lot more confidence that I can assist others even though I may have shortcomings. These students learn something from me as a peer tutor and on the other hand, I learn a lot of things from the students who have sought for my help.

Charles Dickens’ Novel, A Tale of Two Cities Essay

The French Revolution mainly took place in the city of Paris during the late 1700’s. The Revolution did not only affect the people of France, but also the citizens of England as well. The French Revolution is known as one of the most brutal and inhumane periods of history. If one studied the beliefs and views of the people involved at the time, one would see a reoccurring theme of â€Å" being recalled to life†. Born from the world of literature, Charles Dickens’ novel, A Tale of Two Cities takes a deeper look at the culture of the late 1700’s, in both England and France. Dickens uses the character of Lucie Manette to further examine one of the major themes presented in the novel, consisting of the belief of one being†¦show more content†¦Although the â€Å"rebirth† does not take place right then Lucie’s love for her father is never doubted for even a second. In chapter six, when she sees her father for the very first time Lucie says to him, â€Å"†¦that your agony is over...I have come here to take you from it...† (49), this marks the beginning of the doctor’s rebirth. Through this statement Dickens has Lucie promising that she will do anything for her father out of pure love. As the Manette’s travel back to England, in time it becomes clear that Lucie’s love towards her father is beginning to have an impact on his behavior. In chapter five, of the second book Dr. Manette is able to carry on a complete conversation, which shows the readers that he is regaining his sanity. Later on in chapter seven of the third book, Dickens reminds his readers again of how far Dr.Manette has come since that first day in the Defarge’s attic, â€Å"No garret, no shoemaking, no One Hundred and Five, North Tower, now! He had accomplished the task he had set himself†¦ (285-6). It is at this moment that the reader knows he has been resorted back to his old self before he was in prison. T hroughout all the hardship and pain the doctor has to endure, his daughter Lucie never leaves his side. As Lucie continues to care for her father she also has another dear friend she begins to help, Sydney Carton. Unlike Lucie, when the reader is firstShow MoreRelatedJustified Killing in the Novel, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens587 Words   |  2 PagesWould an average civilian help an innocent person whom they didn’t know if their life was in danger? Is everyone capable of killing under the right circumstances? This is one of the questions being analyzed during a unit on the Charles Dickens novel, A Tale of Two Cities at Washington Community High School. Some staff members at this high school agree that every person is capable of killing another human or animal if the conditions suggest it. 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