Free Essays on K-Mart

Anne Foss October 8, 2004 MT 460 01 Management Policy and strategies Lesson Project 1 K-mart Kmart was founded in 1899, it was known as the SS Kresge store. In 1912 the firs was incorporated and had 85 stores with sales of $10,325,000. Next to Woolworth’s it was the largest variety chain. In 1957 Harry Cunningham became General Vice President. In 1962 the first K-Mart was opened as a one-stop shopping unit. It was where you could by a variety of goods at closeout prices. Its weakness is when they tried to venture into other types of business and they spread themselves to much. This is where K-mart made one of their worse decisions in business. They realized expanding this way would not work. The only thing that they could do is to expand and improve their own stores. In 1990 K-Mart started to reverse their strategy, so they refurbished, expanded stores, on lifestyle departments, merchandising, and more capital investment in retail. Page 2 It was a $2.3 billion dollar program, which involved all stores. K-Mart senior executive was to get others to recognize that nothing is good forever. â€Å"good-planning† =getting involved, â€Å"poor-planning†=done by those who don’t recognize it and when they do it is too late. Their management believed they were successful in stratagy planning. Then in 1993, disappointment came. There was a loss of $974 Million in sales of $34,156,000 for the fiscal year ending January 26, 1994. The structure of K-Mart to me is one of pricing their products for the low to middle class of people. Then they tried to restructure their company and expanded to other business, which in turn did not measure out and had a severe loss of profits. K-Mart should go right back to their basic structure from the beginning. I would highly recom... Free Essays on K-Mart Free Essays on K-Mart Anne Foss October 8, 2004 MT 460 01 Management Policy and strategies Lesson Project 1 K-mart Kmart was founded in 1899, it was known as the SS Kresge store. In 1912 the firs was incorporated and had 85 stores with sales of $10,325,000. Next to Woolworth’s it was the largest variety chain. In 1957 Harry Cunningham became General Vice President. In 1962 the first K-Mart was opened as a one-stop shopping unit. It was where you could by a variety of goods at closeout prices. Its weakness is when they tried to venture into other types of business and they spread themselves to much. This is where K-mart made one of their worse decisions in business. They realized expanding this way would not work. The only thing that they could do is to expand and improve their own stores. In 1990 K-Mart started to reverse their strategy, so they refurbished, expanded stores, on lifestyle departments, merchandising, and more capital investment in retail. Page 2 It was a $2.3 billion dollar program, which involved all stores. K-Mart senior executive was to get others to recognize that nothing is good forever. â€Å"good-planning† =getting involved, â€Å"poor-planning†=done by those who don’t recognize it and when they do it is too late. Their management believed they were successful in stratagy planning. Then in 1993, disappointment came. There was a loss of $974 Million in sales of $34,156,000 for the fiscal year ending January 26, 1994. The structure of K-Mart to me is one of pricing their products for the low to middle class of people. Then they tried to restructure their company and expanded to other business, which in turn did not measure out and had a severe loss of profits. K-Mart should go right back to their basic structure from the beginning. I would highly recom...

Ancient Chinese Invented Gunpowder

Ancient Chinese Invented Gunpowder Few substances in history have had as profound an effect on human history as gunpowder, yet its discovery in China was an accident. Contrary to myth, it was not simply used for fireworks but was put to military uses from its time of discovery. Eventually, this secret weapon leaked out to the rest of the medieval world. Chinese Alchemists Tinker With Saltpeter and Make Gunpowder Ancient alchemists in China spent centuries trying to discover an elixir of life that would render the user immortal. One important ingredient in many of the failed elixirs was saltpeter, also known as potassium nitrate. During the Tang Dynasty, around 850 A.D., an enterprising alchemist (whose name has been lost to history) mixed 75 parts saltpeter with 15 parts charcoal and 10 parts sulfur. This mixture had no discernable life-lengthening properties, but it did explode with a flash and a bang when exposed to an open flame. According to a text from that era, smoke and flames result, so that [the alchemists] hands and faces have been burnt, and even the whole house where they were working burned down. Use of Gunpowder in China Many western history books over the years have stated that the Chinese used this discovery only for fireworks, but that is not true. Song Dynasty military forces as early as 904 A.D. used gunpowder devices against their primary enemy, the Mongols. These weapons included flying fire (fei huo), an arrow with a burning tube of gunpowder attached to the shaft. Flying fire arrows were miniature rockets, which propelled themselves into enemy ranks and inspired terror among both men and horses. It must have seemed like fearsome magic to the first warriors who were confronted with the power of gunpowder. Other Song military applications of gunpowder included primitive hand grenades, poisonous gas shells, flamethrowers and landmines. The first artillery pieces were rocket tubes made from hollow bamboo shoots, but these were soon upgraded to cast metal. McGill University professor Robin Yates notes that the worlds first illustration of a cannon comes from Song China, in a painting from about 1127 A.D. This depiction was made a century and a half before Europeans began to manufacture artillery pieces. The Secret of Gunpowder Leaks Out of China By the mid- to late-eleventh century, the Song government had become concerned about gunpowder technology spreading to other countries. The sale of saltpeter to foreigners was banned in 1076. Nonetheless, knowledge of the miraculous substance was carried along the Silk Road to India, the Middle East, and Europe. In 1267, a European writer made reference to gunpowder, and by 1280 the first recipes for the explosive mixture were published in the west. Chinas secret was out. Down through the centuries, Chinese inventions have had a profound effect on human culture. Items like paper, the magnetic compass, and silk have diffused around the world. None of those inventions, however, have had quite the impact that gunpowder has, for good and for bad.

Book Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Book Review - Essay Example Hamer’s work received much criticism immediately after it was published. The key problem with the book that undermines its scientific value lies in the realm of methodology. Hamer employs traditional tools to study the spiritual phenomena. For example, he measures abstract concepts of transcendence that has much to do with the phenomena of faith, belief and religion using methods of molecular biology and traditional psychology. This approach produces certain ambiguity with definitions and makes the book look rather speculative at least from the positions of traditional science. A number of third-party studies Hamer refers to throughout the paper to support his challenging argument are questionable themselves. Thus, Hamer relies upon the experimental studies of Dr. Michael Persinger (magnetic simulation of the amygdala, the hippocampus, and the caudate nucleus) and studies of monks involving Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT). Nonetheless Hamer’s work is far from being a mere non-scientific speculation. The novelty of his daring attempt to relate traditional science and non-physical phenomena is perhaps the major reason for abundant criticism. Traditionally, spirituality and religion have not been considered by science, partially due to lack of applicable tools, partially due to the philosophic paradigm underlying traditional scientific research. These concepts are explored within the specific discourse concerning spirituality, God and religion termed ‘theology’, which historically has been perceived as the antipode of science. Consequently, even contemporary science that at times seems virtually almighty lacks appropriate tools and methodologies to study certain non-physical phenomena such as spirituality. It is hardly surprising that from the position of traditional science Hamer’s work can be labeled as