Judicial activism of the European Court of Justice Essay

Judicial activism of the European Court of Justice - Essay Example In spite of this, the ECJ tends to take a cautious approach in adopting the policy. It is worth noting that the ECJ has a constant need to develop general principles for procedural purposes, which can sometimes be interpreted as activism (Kelly 315). Unlike federal states, there is no hierarchy relation between European community laws and national laws. Therefore, these two sets of laws coexist in the European judicial environment. As such, there is a need for certain comprehensive principles to resolve problems arising from conflict between these two sets of laws and the ECJ took up this boundary-pushing duty of setting up principles such as the direct effect and primacy. The EU Treaty does not assign the ECJ federation duties and its assumption of this role can be interpreted as judicial activism (Kelly 315). Member states, institutions and individuals in the EU are bound by the constitutional principles developed by the ECJ when they act within the community. In a series of decisi ons, passed in the 1960s and 1970s, the ECJ established doctrines that have served as precedents of a theory of legal intervention into the relationship between Member States and the Community. In an apparently activist approach, the ECJ held that the provisions of the Treaty could have a direct effect in its ruling on the 1963 Van Gend en Loos case. This essentially means that individuals and private citizens could sue national governments in the national courts for failing to enforce the Treaty. In its declaration, the ECJ stipulated that the Treaty is superior to an agreement that creates mutual obligations between contracting states insisting that the Community constitutes a new legal order of international law limiting the sovereignty of states within limited fields (Abels and Joyce 59). In the case of Costa v. ENEL, the ECJ established the supremacy doctrine meaning that state transfers of legal powers were irreversible and permanently limited their sovereign rights. In its ru ling, the ECJ decreed that the EEC treaty was no ordinary international treaty and had its own legal system which upon enforcement of the Treaty became an integral part of the legal systems of Member States and their courts were bound by the system. It further stated that the creation of a community of unlimited duration, with its own institutions, personality, legal capacity, capacity of representation on the international plane and most importantly, real powers limiting sovereignty of Member States or the transfer of power from the states to the Community, members had effectively limited their sovereign rights, within limited fields, creating a body of law binding their nationals and themselves(Abels and Joyce 59). In the Francovich case, the court resolute that the failure of Member States to swap orders amounts to a breach of Community law and as such were obliged to compensate harm suffered by individuals. The court in its ruling held that the complete efficiency of Community r ules would be compromised, and the protection of the rights they grant weakened if individuals were denied redress when their rights were infringed by violation of Community law for which a Member State was responsible (Dougan 157). The ECJ developed the preemption doctrine in a series of cases. This doctrine implied that

US Army Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

US Army - Essay Example A) Supporting evidence – The leader’s self confidence and effectiveness positively impacts team performance (Stephen, 2011). B) Explanation – This statement was completely true in the team that I belong too. The leader was instrumental in inspiring the team to achieve a higher level of performance. C) So what? – I firmly believe that if our team leader was not so inspiring and effective the team would not perform so well. Body Paragraph II: Topic sentence - Communication is an extremely important aspect of group work. A) Supporting evidence - â€Å"Communication traits are an individual's verbal and nonverbal behaviors that explain the individual's consistency in message sending and receiving† (Anderson & Martin, 1999). B) Explanation – The article described different ways in which verbal and non verbal communication affects small teams. C) So what? The team that I was a part of created its own nonverbal communication language. Body Paragraph III: Topic sentence - Task and maintenance roles played a big part in the functionality of the team. Tasks roles help get the job done, while maintenance roles provide the oil for the machinery (Srds). ... Verbal and nonverbal communications are important to send and receive messages effectively during conversations. Task and maintenance roles are a way that groups are able to achieve their desire outcome The group that I will describe is a special task force group which I belong too at a former employer. The group was composed of five members. The size of the group was adequate. The purpose of the group was to brainstorm ideas for new products. The group was extremely effective. The first attribute that made the group so successful was the presence of a tremendous team leader. The team leader had superb communication, leadership, and people skills. She made everyone feel that their opinions and input were valuable. All the team members got along well and they supported each others ideas. One of the primary reasons that the group was so effective was due to the fact that the group was able to achieve synergy. Synergy occurs when the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Three cha racteristics that made the team effective were leadership, effective verbal and nonverbal communication, and clearly defined tasks and maintenance roles. The team leader was very flexible and from time to time she let the other members take charge of the group to help them develop their leadership skills. This enabled other team members to develop their leadership skills. Everyone on the team was very responsible, attentive to details, and they delivered their work tasks on a timely manner. Absenteeism among team members to meetings was minimal and rarely would a team member arrive late. Team meetings were held during and after work hours. The meetings after work hours were informal and its purpose was to socialize more than to do actual work. The team

The Tragedy Of Machismo Media Essay

The Tragedy Of Machismo Media Essay The tragedy of machismo is that a man is never quite man enough. (Greer, 1987) This is a quote that could serve as a metaphor to describe how man can never be as ideal as portrayed by advertisements. The modern portrayal of men in advertisements is the one in which they all appear to be ultra masculine, and researches have shown these images to have a negative impact on the self-esteem of men, especially boys and young men (Constructed bodies, deconstructing ads: Sexism in advertising, para 2). This could be explained by the fact that men is trying to pursue the norm, of which they should be ultra masculine, leaving them under excessive emotional stress as they try to model after these stereotypically male attributes; or for some, especially feminine and androgynous men, to simply stay relevant within their social circle and essentially, the society-as discussed in Is the Malboro man the only alternative? The role of gender identity and self-construal salience in evaluations of male models. (Gnoth and Brett, 2009) The objectification of woman by modern advertising has been debated upon for many years since the start of the post-feminist era as women slowly gain their foot power in the society. As far as the apparent diminishment of advertising campaigns targeted to promote product services through the use of womens sexual appeal goes, there has also been a significant increase in the objectification of men in advertising. Unlike women who are shown as being excessively thin, men are shown as being over muscular and athletic. A 2002 study by the University of Wisconsin suggests that this new focus on fit and muscled male bodies is causing men the same anxiety and personal insecurity that women have been feeling for years. (Masculinity and Advertising, 2010) In the United Kingdom, one of the very worrying causes of death among men is suicide, which stands at a proportion of 1 out of 100 deaths. It is postulated by Mulholland (2010) that depression is one of the main causes of suicide, which main cause is poor self-esteem. Self-esteem is a concept that can only be measured by self-report. (Frost and McKelvie, 2004) It is measured by how much people value themselves and how worthy they feel their beings are. Poor self-esteem, therefore, occurs in people whose self-values or self-priorities are not met. So, where do these values and priorities come about? Why is value placed on certain things as opposed to other things? Several reasons that could have influenced how and what values and priorities people, mainly men, are adopted come to mind: Advertisements, social and cultural trends and the perception of men by the opposite sex. All factors: Advertisements, social and cultural trends and womens perception of men should be considered equally and not be discounted in any way. Hence, this paper shall seek to prove that the extent to which that modern advertising is negatively affecting mens self esteem is larger than the other factors. Advertisements vs Womens Perception of Men A quote by Ray Lewis, a professional football player featured in a viral television commercial for Old Spice, from the television commercial Old Spice | The Man Your Man Could Smell Like goes: Hello, ladies, look at your man, now back to me, now back at your man, now back to me. Sadly, he isnt me, but if he stopped using ladies scented body wash and switched to Old Spice, he could smell like hes me. This particular television commercial (Old Spice | The Man Your Man Could Smell Like, 2010) was posted onto YouTube, a video sharing website, and has garnered almost 31 million views, 37 thousand comments, 114 video responses and umpteen reposts by other YouTube channels since its release in February, 2010. These staggering figures were also reflected in their sales figure: a 106% increase in sales (Old Spice Campaign Smells Like a Sales Success, Too, 2010) within 4 months of the start of the marketing campaign, Smell Like A Man, Man. The videos in this campaign, which seem to be targeted mostly at women, all feature a hunky man promoting the Old Spice products while reading a script which humorously brings across the point that no man is like him; no man can ever be like him; and the closest you can get to be like him is to smell like him. Judging by the fact that Old Spice had chosen women as the main target audience for their marketing campaignwhich they should have done extensive research to determineit can be inferred that womens perception of men, or particularly her man, has great power in deeply affecting men, influencing them in their decision making; in this context, the kind of smell they use. This inference can also be further proven by the actual increase in sales of the Old Spice products. However, to conclude that it is actually the womens perception of men that is affecting how men view themselves is a very narrow-minded act because the images displayed explicitly to the public through the form of advertisements are what are influencing womens perception of men. Hence, it can be concluded that advertising is and takes precedence and relevance over womens perception of men in lowering mens self-esteem. Next, this paper will explore this question: Is modern advertising following social and cultural trends, or is it going ahead of them? Advertisements vs Social/Cultural Trends Advertisements have always been known to be able to cause an impact, fulfilling their purpose to influence, urge and compel the public to purchase or engage the goods and services they are endorsing. In this context, it is no doubt that by doing so, they are also influencing the way people think about which are popular products or services and which are not, albeit subconsciously. However, what are the things that inspire advertisers in the way they advertise their products? Do they safely follow social conventions or do they actually set the standards? While it is easy to argue that since the sole purpose of advertisements is to persuade people to buy or engage goods and services, advertisements must surely conform to social standards; however, the possibility of it happening in reverse also deserves consideration. The following example presents evidence that supports the statement that advertising does go ahead of social trends; however isolated an example it is. In an interview conducted by CNN with Donatella Versace (Donatella Versace, CNN Interview, Part 1/3, 2009), designer for fashion powerhouse, Versace, it was mentioned that Versace was the first ever luxury brand to have entered China. Before 1979, the year China introduced Versace into its market, the idea of a luxurious lifestyle was not widespread, partly due to the then still low living standards. However, over the years, it was the upbeat advertising of the luxury goods lifestyle that started the notion of living life luxuriously. Since then, China has surpassed the United States of America to become the second-largest luxury market in 2009 (Luxury Brands in China, 2010). China is also set to become the second largest consumer of luxury by 2015 (China Luxury, 2007). The above-discussed point has proven that advertising and social trends both influence each other in a way or another. They are also factors that have in one way or another negatively affected mens self esteem. However, if we were to consider the extent to which has more direct effect on lowering mens self esteem, it will be advertising, since the visual representation in the form of images is straightforward and clear, unlike social trends, which sometimes can be unobvious, leading men to be oblivious about their existence. The Importance of Context When discussing the effect that modern advertising has on mens self-esteem, the context of the circumstances also has to be considered in depth. Across time and space, the set of priorities of men changes and is different. Therefore, we can assert that advertisements may not actually affect mens self-esteem as images portrayed by advertisements at a present time or place may not be what they desire to emulate or copy. For example, in the early to mid 20th century China, value might be put on people who had good martial arts skills because in those days, that was one of the few things people associate success with. However, nowadays, value seems to be put on wealthy people with social stature because of the change in what people associate success with-from life skills, or skills in general, to economic wealth. In addition, since martial arts originated from Asia, Westerners may lack familiarity to it and find it hard to relate to it, even though they are living in the same era. Hence, if an advertisement featuring a martial arts master were to be shown to the men of today, the effect of this advertisement on their self-esteem might actually be minimal to none. It might be true that the context in which advertisements are being displayed for public view and what they are actually about might not be applicable to some people due to the differences in each individuals set of values and priorities, but without factoring in external factors such as globalization, it will be unfair to come to the conclusion that advertisements have little to do with the lowering of self-esteem of men. With globalization, and the rise of computers and the Internet, the myriad of pages, websites and even programs are tools that have been connecting people, communities and even nations together. The exposure to advertisements online is abundant since usually, one of the key revenues for web and program developers is the endorsement of products through advertisements on their web pages and programs. The convenience and high accessibility of the Internet has enabled companies to broaden their customer market, and in the same way also helped expose people to a huge and limitless array of advertisements. Under the influence of these advertisements, which include references from both the present, past, and also all around the world, people start to learn more about the cultures of others, past and present. By accumulating more real world knowledge over time, advertisements will now be more relatable and relevant. Hence, advertising will, again, present the risks of lowering mens self este em. Conclusion All in all, although the social and cultural trends and also factors such as the womens perception of men have in a way or another contributed to the negative change in the way men view themselves, they are in fact caused by the extensive exposure to advertisements that have been making use of the objectification of men to sell their goods and services. Therefore, it is with huge certainty that I conclude that advertisements is to a large extent the main cause of the decreasing self-esteem of men.

How does Duffy’s treatment of themes of war and death involve the reade

Carol Ann Duffy’s poem ‘War Photographer’ shows the life and actions of a photographer and portrays how unappreciative we are of what the photographer has to see and go through to take photographs. The poem shows that photographers are doing their duty, but we are not reacting to the photographs in the way that we should be. ‘War photographer’ tries to put a point across to make us realise that war is wrong and the public have become hardened to it. War in the media does not affect us as much as it should do. The editors use gory pictures to shock the readers as something that is disturbing shows the darker side of humanity. While the editors put in pictures of people suffering and facing death, their best interests are not for the people in the picture, but are in the readers, as the more shocking the pictures are the more people buy the paper. That fact that we buy papers because of the explicit photos show us how much we have become hardened to war and that there is also a small element of enjoyment when we see the pictures. This is reflected in the editors of the â€Å"Sunday Supplements† who choose the five or six photos for the ‘hundred agonies’. Throughout the poem Duffy has used symbolism of words to create an ominous feel. In the first paragraph of the poem the photographer is in the â€Å"darkroom† where â€Å"The only light is red†. The â€Å"darkroom† symbolises hatred, evil and death which ties in with the â€Å"red† light which symbolises death and blood. Also conveying the theme is the photographer, who has ‘spools of suffering set out in ordered rows.’ which portrays mass murder and thousand of graves as does ‘all flesh is grass’ which shows how people are seen as dispensable; â€Å"grass† can re-grow, which means that people are nev... ... that is never ending and wants us to realise this so we can try to break the cycle. Carol Anne Duffy uses the ‘War Photographer’ to portray the destruction and devastation that the war tends to bring. I get the idea that the photographer doesn't really enjoy his job as he has painful memories as he 'remembers the cries' this shows that seeing people dying is something that he never forgot about. The war photographer is going through a lot of emotional pain and damage to take war photographs, Duffy uses the poem to show that the readers do not appreciate him nearly as much as they should do. Duffy has a view that war is filled with pain and that people in peaceful society can’t really understand the full impact of war and therefore we have become hardened to it and need to do something to stop the disaster in other countries from repeating itself over and over.

Dunnes Store Organisational Structure

Dunnes Stores is an Irish, family owned, mass market retailer in the grocery and textiles and the company ethos has been based on the principles of very competitive pricing, good quality products and choice. These principles are encapsulated in the words ‘Better Value' for which Dunnes Stores has become famous.Structure of StoresAll Buying & Support functions are located in Dunnes Stores Head Office, based in Dublin City Centre. Head Office currently employs approximately 520 people. Head Office management visit stores regularly to ensure that issues are resolved as quickly as possible and to share ideas and opinions. The Head Office departments break down into 4 main areas:†¢Grocery Buying – dealing with products ranging from Tissues to TVs. We have Buyers and support positions in Beverages, Confectionary, Wine, Dry Grocery, Dairy, Bakery, Frozen Food, Non Food, Convenience, Fresh Meat & Poultry and Fresh Produce. †¢Textiles Buying – dealing with produc ts ranging from Socks to Sofas. They have Buyers and support positions in Ladieswear, Homewares, Menswear, Childrenswear, Footwear, Lingerie & Hosiery and Accessories (see our Day in the Life section).†¢Operations – This is a section dealing with all operational matters, including Operations Development, Grocery Operations, Textiles Operations, Operations Finance, Food Hygiene, Security & Loss Prevention, Health & Safety, Catering and Merchandising. They ensure that the stores are performing as they should be and that there is nothing which prevents a store from operating to the highest level for service and standards. †¢Finance & Accounts – This is where they keep number crunchers, in departments such as Financial Accounts, Management Accounts, Grocery Accounts, Drapery Accounts, Overheads, Insurance, Purchasing, Treasury, Shipping, Trade, Salaries, Wages, Central Payment, Figures and MIS. They also employ specialists in the following areas:-†¢Store Dev elopment †¢Human Resources †¢Business Systems †¢MarketingAs you can see Head Office consists of a lot of different departments! Within each department there are sub departments and within each sub department there are a lot of different types of positions at all different levels. This all means that there are lots of opportunities and great career prospects for people across a broad range of disciplines and backgrounds.In 1943 Bernard â€Å"Ben† Dunne opened his first store, a drapers shop, in Cork, Ireland and by 1944, the first store bearing the Dunnes name opens. Now family-owned Dunnes Stores Ltd remains an Irish tradition, with nearly 125 department stores, combining groceries, home furnishings, and clothing, throughout Ireland, Northern Ireland, England and Scotland, and Spain. Ireland is the core of the company's operations, with 89 stores, and the company has expanded strongly into the Northern Ireland market, with 23 stores. The company's 11 stores in England and Scotland are textile-only stores, but its four stores in Spain are modeled after its traditional Irish department stores. In addition, Dunnes has begun a drive into the convenience store market, converting one of its sites to a smaller â€Å"American-style† format.The intensely private company, which has long held the slogan of â€Å"Better Value† and which has long shunned the media spotlight, has also registered a subsidiary (sister company), called Better Value Conveniently Yours Ltd., suggesting its intention to expand further into the convenience store market, under the Conveniently Yours name. Dunnes remains controlled by the founding Dunne family, with the founder's daughter Margaret Heffernan acting as CEO since the early 1990s. Under Heffernan's leadership, the company has shifted away from its deep-discount roots to position itself as a mid-priced market retailer. The company is purported to be grooming the next generation to take over the company , with Heffernan's daughter Anne tipped as her mother's successor. Dunnes remains committed to its status as a private, independent company.Principal Competitors: Tesco Plc; Musgrave Group Plc; Roches Stores Ireland Ltd.; Arnotts Plc; Brown Thomas Group Ltd.ROLES IN DUNNES STORES15,000 people operate throughout the Dunnes Stores Group within a vast array of different and diverse positions. Buying and Selling is clearly the backbone of any retailer, and in Dunnes Stores it is no different. However they also employ many people within numerous different support functions both within Stores as well as within Head Office. Positions include Human Resources, Finance & Accounting, Customer Care, Information Technology, Marketing, Store Development, and Operations – to name but a few!The Company is still family-owned and the family members are still very active in the day to day running of the Company. Their commitment and drive is critical in ensuring the winning momentum continues a nd that critical business decisions are made in a timely manner. These decisions filter through the Company and are enacted extremely quickly.EXAMPLES OF SOME ROLES IN DUNNES STORESSales AssistantsThe Sales Assistants are critical in ensuring that customer demands and expectations are met. They assist throughout the day (and sometimes throughout the night) in ensuring that products are replenished and re-merchandised to a high standard. They are the face of the Company and meet and greet customers on a daily basis, offering them high quality service through the appropriate training and support.Many of today’s Store Managers started their careers as Sales Assistants, either straight out of school or working part-time whilst at college.Retail ManagersThere are managers operating in areas such as Grocery, Dairy/Frozen, Non Food, Fresh Foods, Fresh Produce, Goods Inwards, Homewares, Ladieswear, Childrenswear, Menswear, Security, Human Resources, Checkouts, Food Safety as well as within their Timepiece Restaurants. These are fast paced and challenging roles, where the main objectives are to maximise Customer Service, Sales and Standards. A Manager in Dunnes Stores would drive productivity within the team and look for opportunities where standards can be improved and where positive results can be maximised.Store ManagersStore managers are responsible for delegating tasks / duties and driving productivity and satisfaction amongst their team (which can now incorporate up to 700 people). Duties include controlling overheads, maximising sales performance on every product, controlling stock loss and wastage, ensuring the best results from company audits and making sure that your yearly targets are reached and exceeded.The beauty of Dunnes Stores is that each store is operated like a mini business on its own – and store managers are the one in the driving seat. When I say ‘mini-business’ but it may well be a business responsible for millions of Euro a week!!Store Managers have to adhere to the Company policies and procedures but they can also open the door each day to their own agenda.

759 store Competitive Business Strategy Essay

Introduction Strategic planning is central to management study. It defines the long term direction for the company and all other business functions orbit around their established strategies. This article studies how a company formulates business-level strategies, optimize their competitive positioning and obtain a competitive advantage over their rivals. In order to further illustrate this management issue, this article investigates into the successful competitive positioning of a leading Hong Kong imported food and daily necessity retailer, the 759 Store é˜ ¿Ã¤ ¿ ¡Ã¥ ±â€¹. Despite 759 Store has a diversified range of business, this article focuses on its major business function as an imported packaged-snacks retailer. The chain-store has grown exponentially since its establishment in July 2010. By November 2014, it has 210 stores across Hong Kong and has significantly increased its market share in the industry.1 This achievement should be credited to the unique competitive strategy the company has adopted. Michael Porter’s Generic Competitive Strategies analyzes how a company should formulate their business model to give them a specific form of competitive position in the market. The three strategies are low cost strategy, differentiation strategy and focus strategy respectively. Low cost strategy drives company to lower their cost and obtain high efficiency, so they can attract customers with lower prices than their competitors. Differentiation strategy, on the contrary, tries to satisfy customers’ needs in a way that its competitors cannot and it has the competitive advantage by charging premium prices. Focus strategy suggests firms specialize in few segments or target market to attain cost advantage or differentiation advantage in the market.2 759 Store’s competitive strategy, however, has adopted both the differentiation and the low cost strategy simultaneously to attract and retain customers. On one hand, it has successfully challenged the cost-leaders in the industry by providing more differentiated products. On the other hand, it has minimized its costs so it charges differentiated products at a relatively low price. The two sections below could illustrate how 759 Store achieves this distinctive strategy. Differentiation Strategy In the aspect of differentiation strategy, companies offer customers with the unique products which are extraordinary or high quality. The uniqueness of the products is usually highly valued by the customers. Thus, those products are competitive in the market and are difficult to be replaced. This section is going to examine how 759 Store differentiate their products from others snacks retailers. (1) Never selling the products which customers can find in chain supermarkets 759 Store differentiates itself from other competitors by providing uncommon products in the market. 759 Store cannot race their cost to the bottom when compare with ParknShop and Welcome, the two well established cost leaders. In order to survive under the oligopolistic market, the company differentiates itself by avoid selling the same products that the two major supermarkets are already selling. 759 Store would rather search for new products instead of competing directly with those supermarket chains.3 By selling different brands and types of snacks, customers cannot use the retail price to directly compare the products in 759 Store and supermarkets. Also, when compared, customers would find the products in 759 Store more trendy and unique than the products in the two traditional low cost leaders. (2) Exclusive sources of goods 759 Store differentiates its products by securing the exclusive source of goods by all means. The company first made headlines in 2011 when one of the local biggest distributor, Swire Group, refused to supply Coca-Cola to the store, claiming its retail price was too low which would harm supermarkets’ profit . After the incident, packaged-snacks imported directly from Japan accounted for over 60% of the main sales of 759 Store.4 Therefore, Coils Lam Wai-Chun, the CEO of 759 Store, have handled business connections with Japanese suppliers with great care. He has connected the first Japan snacks supplier in HKTDC Food Expo in 2011 by himself.5 In Japan, local products for domestic sales are not allowed to be sold to foreign companies. Thus, Lam even went to Japan in person searching for suppliers and set up shadow companies in Japan sourcing for any popular and fair-price snacks that are  not yet known to the Hong Kong market.6 That is the reason snacks sold in 759 Store always catch up with the trend in Japan. Thus, 759 Store provides exclusive products which cannot be found in its competitors’ stores. Furthermore, 759 Store establishes a stable and strong relationship with its suppliers in Japan, which are mostly small and medium enterprises. Some Japanese suppliers have even promised to supply their products exclusively to 759 Store as a gesture to thank the company’s support during the recovery hardship after the 311 Earthquake in Japan.7 All these business connections helped 759 Store to secure its exclusive sources of goods from Japan. (3) Higher autonomy on goods selection through bypassing local distributors Today, more than 95% of products sold at 759 Store are imported directly bypassing distributors in Hong Kong.8 Therefore, 759 Store enjoys greater autonomy on deciding the variety of products they sell. 759 Store successfully develops a new market segment providing new and popular Japanese snacks to Hong Kong people. The self-reliance nature of 759 Store in terms of product purchasing enables the company to maintain its unique choice of trendy and diversified goods, thus differentiating itself from its competitors. (4) Diversification of goods and fast moving trend 759 Store differentiate itself from others by diversifying its choice of goods and keeping its shopping shelves updated with new goods. Assuming customers from Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong all share the same trend and taste, the item selection of 759 Store is based on the seasonal snack sales in Japan. The company only retains its top-500 sales items on its shelves and imports these items again.9 The rest of the products are purchased according to the sales trend of snacks in Japan every week. The sales cycle for each snack product is around 3 months only.10 As a result, customers can always be surprised and refreshed by new snacks while enjoying their preferred snacks. The company has successfully differentiated itself from some traditional differentiators, such as Okashi Landé› ¶Ã© £Å¸Ã§â€° ©Ã¨ ªÅ¾. Both snack stores differentiate themselves from the cost leaders by selling imported snacks from Japan. However, the fast market reaction, diversification and regular replacement of products make 759 Store offers a higher value to  customers than its rivals, as 759 Store’s products are more responsive to customers’ preferences. Low Cost Strategy Though 759 Store uses a lot of tactics to differentiate itself from its competitors, the company still manages to keep their operation at low cost. Hence, the company does not need to charge their customers a premium price for the extra differentiation strategies. This section would explain how 759 Store do everything possible to lower its cost structure and develop its competitive edge against the cost leaders in the market. (1) Economies of scale through rapid horizontal expansion Horizontal expansion is a growth strategy that expands within the same stage of the production process. 759 Store experienced rapid horizontal expansion which it has opened 210 stores in 4 years. Through rapid horizontal expansion, 759 Store benefits from several economies of scale – the reduction of long run per unit cost when the scale of production of a company has expanded. One significant average cost advantage is that the company has increased their bargaining power when purchasing from suppliers. If the scale of the company is small, it cannot enjoy the wholesale price offered by the suppliers.11 After enlarging their scale of operation, 759 stores received a reduction in average input price and transportation cost by more than 10%.12 (2) Cost reduction through backward vertical expansion Backward vertical expansion is another growth strategy 759 Store practices to reduce the cost. By becoming companies’ own supplier, business can control its inputs and help them to provide more secure transaction.13 Due to the exclusive culture of the Japanese snack production industry, Japanese companies only supply their goods to local companies. To address this problem, 759 Store has to set up their shadowing companies in Japan to take up the functions of distributors. As 759 stores purchase the goods directly from the snack manufacturers without passing through any distributors and wholesalers, they could enjoy a lower import price and maintain a steady input supply by themselves. This in turn reduces the overall cost of  production by integrating different business stages of business functions. (3) Effective inventory management The storage and management of inventories could be a huge source of expenditures for retailers. Packaged snacks are perishable and thus requires accurate inventory management In order to reduce inventory cost while diversifying its products, for each new product, 759 Store would first import 2400-3000 pieces of them to Hong Kong. The company then experiments the market reaction to the product and decides whether to import the product in bulk or not.14 This practice has greatly reduced the risks of stocking up unpopular goods in the warehouse, therefore reducing the cost for inventory storage. (4) Less costly shop location choice When it comes to choosing shop location, 759 Store does not chase after prime retailing locations with expensive rent. Instead, it usually opts for large, more remote and less visible shop locations in residential neighborhoods. The per-foot-square rent at these locations is generally cheaper and 759 Store can bargain for a lower rent as the shop’s presence can improve pedestrian flow nearby.15 In fact, most 759 Store’s customers are willing to sacrifice convenience for lower price of products as they usually purchase a lot of goods at once.16 According to the annual report of 2013-14, rent for shops only accounted for about 9.8% of the retail revenue. 759 Store successfully lowers its costs by choosing less popular shop location and turns it to its own advantages. (5) Motivate employee: pay more for employees to work more The 759 Store regards its employees as important assets of the company. It can help reduce the operating cost of the company by successfully motivating its staff to enhance their productivity. It always stresses the provision of a reasonable salary and fringe benefit to its staff. For example, when the existing minimum wage in Hong Kong is $30/hour, 759 Store can pay its staff up to $38/hour. A manager may get an attractive salary up to $30,000 per month. 17 The CEO of 759 Store believes that a reasonable pay will increase working incentive of the staff to provide better service performance and  deliver excellent service to the customers. According to the annual report of 759 Store, one can find that even though the company is renting larger stores, the number of frontline staff is similar as previous year which is approximately 4.1 staff per shop.18 Although the per-labor cost is higher, the overall cost on labor is reduced because the staff is more productive and the company can hire less labor. (6) Inexpensive advertising and communication strategies 759 Stores adopts useful but inexpensive marketing strategies to gain its reputation. Unlike its competitors who promote their brands through traditional advertising channels, like newspaper, radio and television advertisement, 759 Stores uses word of mouth to promote its brand. Since their CEO has a good relationship with the media, he has been repeated interviewed by numerous press and television programs. It has helped 759 Store to gain exposure in the mass media without paying a penny. Also, 759 Store utilizes the technology to communicate with its customers, especially the internet platform like Facebook and blog. These platforms provide channels for 759 Store to communicate and respond to its customer directly. All these measure are cost-minimizing, yet they are very effective. Conclusion In a nutshell, 759 Store has developed its competitive business position by adopting features from both the differentiation strategy and the low-cost strategy. On one hand, 759 Store differentiated itself from traditional cost-leaders by providing exclusive, highly diversified and trendy goods to its customers, through exclusive sources of imported goods and autonomous purchasing practice. It has also avoided direct competition with the cost leaders on identical items. In terms of responsiveness to customers’ taste and catching up with trends, 759 Store’s performance is even superior to the traditional differentiators in the industry. On the other hand, the company has adopted the strategy to lower its cost structure, therefore it does not has to charge products for premium prices even extra values has been added to its products. It has lowered its per-unit cost by economies of scale through rapid horizontal and backward  vertical expansion. Other costs are being lowered by having better inventory control, choosing less costly shop location, using unconventional advertising methods and cutting overall labor cost by incentivizing individuals to achieve higher productivity. Some scholars identify this mixture of strategies as the broad differentiation strategy.19 The competitive advantage of companies adopting this strategy is that the company can offer customers quality products at reasonable prices. As 759 Store has demonstrated, it has chosen a level of differentiation that gives the company on the market segment it has targeted. Besides, they have achieved this in a way that has allowed them to lower their cost structure over time. Though it has higher cost than the cost leader, as well as less differentiated products than the differentiator, 759 Store offers more value than its industry rivals, and therefore threatening both the cost leader and the differentiator. In the case of 759 Store, ParknShop, the traditional cost leader in the industry, has even referred to the business model of 759 Store and opened a subsidiary brand in order to compete with 759 Store.20 It is a proof that 759 Store has successfully weakened the competitive position of its rivals by adopting the right strategy. Insights The successful competitive positioning of 759 Store gives insights to future managers on strategic planning, especially regarding how to enter an oligopolistic market. 759 Store has found its unique competitive position to create a ‘third way† in the oligopolistic packaged-food retailing market, which was dominated by two traditional cost leaders. By adopting the broad differentiation strategy, 759 Store achieved rapid growth rate of stores and increased its market share steadily in a very short period of time. The successful identification of and expansion into a specific market segment has allowed 759 Store to spread out geographically in Hong Kong quickly. Also, this model cannot be imitated quickly by its competitors. Hence, it is a business model which a lot of companies in the growth stage of their business might want to model upon. We can also find the practices for 759 Store to pursue differentiation and low cost strategies are very innovative. The company’s unique understanding of market taste and purchasing culture has enabled it to come up with efficient and effective strategies never  adopted by its competitors. The differentiation by trendiness and the cost minimization through shop location choice are good example of the creative strategies 759 Store has adopted. Moreover, the company’s culture of giving genuine respect to their employees and suppliers has even given 759 Store special competitive advantages in the market. The business model of adopting broad differentiation strategy, however, is not without risks. In order to achieve this distinctive competitive positioning, 759 Store has developed a number of potential risks. The company has an unhealthy amount of debts due to rapid expansion, which makes the company vulnerable to economic downturns. Besides, when compare with the differentiators and the cost leaders, the profit margin of 759 Store is significantly narrower. Profitability could be sacrificed during the growth stage of the company, but we foresee that the company has to adjust its competitive strategy in order to create a sustainable business model in the future. References 759 Store, â€Å"About Us.† Accessed November 2, 2014. http://www.759store.com/aboutus.php?lang=eng. 759 Store Blog. â€Å"759é˜ ¿Ã¤ ¿ ¡Ã¥ ±â€¹- Ã¥ °â€¹Ã¨ ³ ¢Ã¦ ±â€šÃ¦â€° !† Accessed October 24, 2014, http://759store-personnel.blogspot.hk/. CEC International Holdings Limited. â€Å"Annual report 13-14.† Accessed October 24, 2014. http://www.ceccoils.com/doc/art/finance/2014082201/201408220001.pdf. Hill, Charles W. L. and Gareth R. Jones. Strategic Management: An Integrated Approach. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Hong Kong Celebrity Network. â€Å"Lam Wai Chung.† Accessed November 2, 2014. http://www.hongkongprofile.com/2011/10/759.html.