Tesco Case Study with Questions Essay Example

Tesco Case Study with Questions Essay Tesco, well known as Britain’s leading food retail group with a presence also in Europe and Asia has also been a pioneer online. As this Tesco. com case study shows, retailer Tesco is generally recognized as the worlds largest online grocer and it has an annual turnover of ? 1 billion online in the UK and has launched in other countries, internationally and is diversifying into non-food categories. http://www. tescocorporate. com/plc/ In 2006/7, Tesco. com sales were reported to be sales up 29. %, profit (pre-Direct start-up costs) up 48. 5%; †¢More details on online sales and non-food sales details are also provided in the main www. tescoplc. com/plc/ Today the tesco. com model operates in the UK, the Republic of Ireland and South Korea. Online grocery sales have exceeded ? 1 billion for the first time in the UK alone. We have an active customer base of 850,000 and more than 250,000 orders are now being completed each week. In the UK, nearly 1,860 vans operate out of 294 stores. In our Newcastle store our service is so popular that there are now 18 vans delivering to local customers. Drivers deliver between 9am and 11pm, and our staff start picking our customers’ orders from 6am. A record-breaking 1. 3 million shoppers chose tesco. com to deliver their presents and groceries over Christmas, and to make sure that these were all picked successfully, our staff started picking even earlier, at 4am. Tesco. com have around 9,000 pickers, the majority in existing stores, but one specific delivery store has been opened in Croydon. ttp://www. theregister. co. uk/2006/01/17/tesco_mobile_xmas/ 1. Sales at Tesco. com, the UK market leader in home shopping, rose by 32% year-on-year, but they still only represent over 3% of its UK sales of ? 32. 7bn! Tesco said it had 750,000 regular customers and 200,000 orders a week online giving a total turnover approaching ? 1 billion Update Tesco Direct launched Read http://www. internetretailer. com/2006/10/06/u-k-s-tesco-l aunches-tesco-direct-for-non-food-online-sales In 2006, Tesco launched Tesco Direct to rival catalogue retailers such as Argos. We will write a custom essay sample on Tesco Case Study with Questions specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Tesco Case Study with Questions specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Tesco Case Study with Questions specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Over 8,000 products will be available from beds and sofas through to kitchenware, electricals, cameras, bikes and golf clubs giving customers more products at great Tesco prices than they have ever had access to before. Customers can choose the product they want on a new website or from a new catalogue and then order in one of three ways: †¢On-line via the tesco. com website †¢By phone †¢In selected stores at the new Tesco Direct desks In the press release for this update it was reported that Tesco. com now has ? million regular grocery shoppers with over 200,000 orders per week and achieved over ? 1 billion in sales in 2005. Tesco Product ranges The Tesco. com site acts as a portal to most of Tescos products, including various non-food ranges (for example, Books, DVDs and Electrical items under the ‘Extra’ banner), Tesco Personal Finance and the telecoms businesses, as well as services offered in partnership with specialist companies, such as dieting clubs, flights and holidays, music downloads, gas, electricity and DVD rentals. It does not currently sell clothing online but in May 2005 it introduced a clothing website (www. clothingattesco. com), initially at to showcase Tescos clothing brands and link customers to their nearest store with this range. Tesco Competitors Tesco currently leads the UK’s other leading grocery retailers in terms of market share. This pattern is repeated online. The compilation below is from Hitwise (2005) and the figures in brackets show market share for traditional offline retail formats from the Taylor Nelson Softres Super Panel (see http://superpanel. tns-global. com). 1. Tesco Superstore, 27. 28% (29% of retail trade) 2. ASDA, 13. 36% 3. ASDA @t Home, 10. 13% (17. 1%) 4. Sainsburys, 8. 42% 5. Tesco Wine Warehouse, 8. 19% 6. Sainsburys to You, 5. 86% (15. 9%) 7. Waitrose. com, 3. 42% (3. 6%) 8. Ocado, 3. 2% (owned by Waitrose, 3. 6%) 9. Lidl, 2. 49% (1. 8%) 10. ALDI – UK, 2. 10% (2. 3%) †¢http://www. tesco. com/talkingtesco/oldDefault. asp Some companies are repeated since both their main site and the online shopping site are reported on separately. Asda. com now seems to be performing in a consistent manner online to its offline presence. However, Sainsburys online performance see ms to be significantly lower compared to its offline performance. Some providers such as Ocado which originally just operated within the London area have a strong local performance. Notably, some of Tesco. om competitors are absent from the Hitwise listing since their strategy has been to focus on retail formats. These are Morrisons (12. 5% retail share, Somerfield (5. 5%) and Co-op (5. 0%). Promotion of Tesco services As with other online retailers, Tesco. com relies on in-store advertising and marketing to the supermarkets Clubcard loyalty schemes customer base to persuade customers to shop online. NMA (2005) quotes Nigel Dodd, marketing director at Tesco. com as saying: ‘These are invaluable sources as we have such a strong customer base’. However, for non-food goods the supermarket does advertise online using keyword targeted ads. For existing customers, email marketing and direct mail marketing to provide special offers and promotions to customers is important. According to Humby (2003), e-retailer Tesco. com use what he describes as a ‘commitment-based segmentation’ or ‘loyalty ladder’ which is based on recency of purchase, frequency of purchase and value which is used to identify 6 lifecycle categories which are then further divided to target communications: †¢Ã¢â‚¬Å"Logged-on† †¢Ã¢â‚¬Å"Cautionary† †¢Ã¢â‚¬Å"Developing† †¢Ã¢â‚¬Å"Established† †¢Ã¢â‚¬Å"Dedicated† †¢Ã¢â‚¬Å"Logged-off† (the aim here is to winback) Tesco then use automated event-triggered messaging can be created to ncourage continued purchase. For example, Tesco. com have a touch strategy which includes a sequence of follow-up communications triggered after different events in the customer lifecycle. In the example given below, communications after event 1 are intended to achieve the objective of converting a web site visitor to action; communications after event 2 are intended to move the customer from a first time purchaser to a regular purchaser and for event 3 to reactivate lapsed purchasers. †¢Trigger event 1: Customer first registers on site (but does not buy). Auto-response (AR) 1: 2 days after registration e-mail sent offering phone assistance and ? 5 discount off first purchase to encourage trial. Trigger event 2: Customer first purchases online. †¢AR1: Immediate order confirmation †¢AR2: 5 days after purchase e-mail sent with link to online customer satisfaction survey asking about quality of service from driver and picker (e. g. item quality and substitutions). †¢AR3: Two-weeks after first purchase Direct mail offering tips on how to use service and ? 5 discount on next purchases intended to encourage re-use of online services. AR4: Generic monthly e-newsletter with online exclusive offers encouraging cross-selling †¢AR5: Bi-weekly alert with personalised offers for customer. †¢AR6: After 2 months ? 5 discount for next shop †¢AR7: Quarterly mailing of coupons encouraging repeat sales and cross-sales Trigger event 3: Customer does not purchase for an extended period †¢AR1: Dormancy detected – Reactivation e-mail with survey of how the customer is finding the service (to identify any problems) and a ? 5 incentive. †¢AR2: A further discount incentive is used in order to encourage continued usage to shop after the first shop after a break. Tesco’s online product strategy NMA (2005) ran a profile of Laura Wade-Gery CEO of Tesco. com since January 2004 which provides an interesting insight into how the business has run. In her first year, total sales were increased 24% to ? 719 million. Laura, is 40 years old, a keen athlete and has followed a varied career developing from a MA in History at Magdalen College, Oxford, an MBA from Insead; Manager and partner in Kleinwort Benson; Manager and senior consultant, Gemini Consulting; Targeted marketing director (Tesco Clubcard), and Group strategy irector, Tesco Stores. The growth overseen by Wade-Gery has been achieved through a combination of initiatives. Product range development is one key area. In early 2005, Tesco. com fulfilled 150,000 grocery orders a week but now also offers more intangible offerings, such as e-diets and music downloads. She has also focused on improving the customer experience online – the time it takes for a new customer to complete thei r first order has been decreased from over an hour to 35 minutes through usability work culminating in a major site revision. To support the business has it diversifies into new areas, Wade-Gery’s strategy was ‘to make home delivery part of the DNA of Tesco’ according to NMA (2005). She continues: ‘What we offer is delivery to your home of a Tesco service – its an obvious extension of the home-delivered groceries concept. ’ My May 2005, Tesco. com had 30,000 customers signed up for DVD rental, through partner Video Island (who run the rival Screenselect service). Over the next year, her target is to treble this total, while also extending home-delivery services to the likes of bulk wine and white goods. Wade-Gery looks to achieve synergy between the range of services offered. For example, its partnership with eDiets can be promoted through the Tesco Clubcard loyalty scheme, with mailings to 10m customers a year. In July 2004, Tesco. com Limited paid ? 2 million for the exclusive licence to eDiets. com in the UK and Ireland under the URLs www. eDietsUK. com and www. eDiets. ie. Through promoting these services through these URLs, Tesco can use the dieting business to grow use of the Tesco. com service and in-store sales. To help keep focus on home retail-delivery, Wade-Gery sold women’s portal iVillage (www. ivillage. co. uk) back to its US owners for an undisclosed sum in March 2004. She explained to NMA: ‘Its a very different sort of product to the other services that were embarking on. In my mind, we stand for providing services and products that you buy, which is slightly different to the world of providing information. ’ The implication is that there was insufficient revenue from ad sales on iVillage and insufficient opportunities to promote Tesco. om sales. However, iVillage was a useful learning experience in that there are some parallels with iVillage, such as message boards and community advisors. Wade-Gery is also director of Tesco Mobile, the joint ‘Pay-As-You-Go’ venture with O2 which is mainly serviced online, although promoted in-store and via direct mail. Tesco also offer broadband and dialup ISP services, but believe the market for Internet telephony ( provided through Skype and Vonage for example) is not sufficiently developed. Tesco. om have concentrated on more traditional services which have the demand, for example, Tesco Telecom fixed-line services attracted over a million customers in its first year. However, this is not to say, that Tesco. com will not invest in relatively new services. In November 2004, Tescos introduced a music download service and just six months later, she estimates they have around 10% market share – one of the benefits of launching relatively early. Again, there is synergy, this time with hardware sales. NMA (2005) reported that as MP3 players were unwrapped, sales went up – even on Christmas Day! She says: ‘The exciting thing about digital is where can you take it in the future. As the technology grows, well be able to turn Tesco. com into a digital download store of all sorts, rather than just music. Clearly, film [through video on demand] would be next. ’ But it has to be based firmly on analysis of customer demand. She says : ‘The number one thing for us is whether the product is something that customers are saying they want, has it reached a point where mass-market customers are interested? ’ There also has to be scope for simplification. NMA (2005) notes that Tesco is built on a core premise of convenience and value and Wade-Gery believes what its already done with mobile tariffs, broadband packages and music downloads are good examples of the retailers knack for streamlining propositions. She says: ‘Weve actually managed to get people joining broadband who have never even had a dial-up service’ Tesco case study sources: Humby (2003), NMA (2005), Hitwise (2005), Wikipedia (2005) Humby, C. and Hunt, T. (2003) Scoring points. How Tesco is Winning Customer Loyalty. Kogan Page, London, UK. Hitwise (2005) Press release: The top UK Grocery and Alcohol websites week ending October 1st, ranked by market share of web site visits, from Hitwise. co. uk. Press release available at www. hitwise. co. uk. Discussion Questions 1. Describe the major E-Commerce characteristics used by Tesco. 2. What are the advantages for Tesco becoming an E-Commerce organisation? 3. In what ways has Tesco managed to gain competitive advantage over it’s other stores? 4. How has E-Commerce facilitated customisation of products and services? . What competitive strategy has Tesco used and how successful is it? 6. After reading the case study list the success factors for Tesco. What might the threats be? Carry out a SWOT Analysis. 7. Why might customers like Web Based Purchasing? Is it becoming more of an option due to lower prices? 8. What promotion policies does Tesco implement? Are they successful? 9. What product strategy has Tesco implemented? 10. Is Tesco’s p roduct strategy successful give reasons for your answers? Please be ready to discuss the answers with your tutor.

Freedom and Huckleberry Finn essays

Freedom and Huckleberry Finn essays What is America all about? The land of the free and home of the brave. Although this infamous quote is true today, hundreds of years ago this quote was a lie. Not only were some white men not free to do certain things, but all blacks were discriminated against greatly and most if not all were slaves. Not only is slavery an important issue in Mark Twain's novel, Huckleberry Finn, but also the entire issue of freedom is an important factor. Two characters who show a substantial amount of lost freedom in Huckleberry Finn are Huck and Tom. Huckleberry Finn demonstrates his loss of freedom in two ways. Firstly, Huck is forced to live with his Aunt who makes him practice religion and get an education. Huck does not want to do this. Huck feels he has lost his freedom when his Aunt forces him to do things he doesn't want to. Secondly, Huck's alcoholic father who rarely visits, stops into town and forces Huck to give him his own money. Not only does he steal Huck's money, but he then decides to take Huck into his own custody and keeps Huck locked up in a spot in the woods. Huck is forbidden to leave. Huck has his freedom taken away much like a prisoner or a slave. Tom, a black slave in Mark Twain's novel, exhibits a strong attitude although his freedom has been taken away from him. Although Tom escapes during the novel, he still shows an attitude that his freedom is lost. Tom, an innocent man of any crime has had his freedom taken away for no other reason than the fact that he is black. Although Tom is just one example of the many of blacks that were sold into slavery during this time period, he is a great example of the loss of freedom most if not all black lost. Finally, freedom is an important factor in America's history. Huckleberry Finn gives a great example of the loss of freedom that people share. Freedom exists in many different forms whether it is the freedom to watch a ce ...

Recent Trends Of Staycation In Europe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Recent Trends Of Staycation In Europe - Essay Example The understanding of vacation is to rest or have a break from our daily routines. It is usually that we opt for going to someplace which is relaxing, which makes us stress-free, which regenerates energy in us so that we can resume working enthusiastically with no obstacles after we are back. It actually means to rest, keeping aside all tensions. This is what we think when going for a vacation but in a staycation, we opt for staying back home and spend time at home. It means that we are trying to find out some ways to spend the vacation at home as we could do if we were to go out somewhere. Here it means people find out ways of relieving stress being at home and make different arrangements for spending their holidays (About.com). People here have rather found out many new, different, innovative ideas about spending their holidays and having good leisure time. Some put off their mobile phones, some keep their computers shut, some opt for gaming, some party around, and many more things. People arrange friendly meetings, plan for dinner every weekend and some relax by reading books or listening to music at home. People also do creative works like painting, crafting etc. People in the UK are more influenced with a staycation. Many cities here started realizing that there can be a number of things done to spend the holidays whilst staying back home. People came up with many ideas and literally enjoyed them. It was not only people but also different clubs and restaurants that came up with many ideas to relax and amuse people. So there was a study done which showed amazing results that people were responding well to these ideas (Carey 2008). One thing that is a plus point here, that staying back at home for holidays reduces one’s workload of planning which we would have done if we're to go out for holidays. This not only reduces tension but is also a good money-saving policy.

Discribe the parliamentary sovereignty from constitutional prespective Essay

Discribe the parliamentary sovereignty from constitutional prespective - Essay Example According to the conventions of the British constitutional law in the past century, it is indicative that the dicey theory was the most influential one among all that were advanced in the century. The theory advanced by lord dicey postulates that the parliament has the right under the English constitution to make or repeal any law irrespective of circumstances. The theory goes further to state that there is no one under the constitution that has the right to override or amend the legislation made by the parliament. Therefore, the theory posits that the sovereignty of the parliamentary made legislation is absolute as long as it is working within the scope of the constitution. Notwithstanding the above ideal postulated by the theory, there are some sophisticated arguments that can be levelled against the doctrine that lord dicey fronts. The argument, notably, challenge the validity of the theory in the light of devolution, European convention on human rights and European union laws. This means that the point of absolute power of the parliament is not valid since there are limitations imposed upon it on the issues stated. Therefore, due to lack of the common point of reference on the absolute power of the parliament made legislations, various authorities in constitutional law have suggested an evaluation of the sovereignty of the constitution from a purely conventional approach. This approach seeks to remove the notion postulated by dicey theory on the supremacy of the parliament made law. As indicated earlier the power of the parliament in making the laws is absolute and it can only be repealed by another parliament. However, some of the scholars in law insist in the absolute power of the parliament in making the laws. This means that the parliament still harbor the right to make the unquestioned law as it is a convention under the British constitution. Others argue that in as much as the sovereignty of the constitution forms a

Peer Assessment Essay Example for Free

Peer Assessment Essay This paper discusses the implementation of peer assessment strategy that I carried out in a primary school in Dar es Salaam during my practicum. It consists of a background, rationale, the implementation process and conclusion. The challenges encountered and their possible solutions on how to overcome them.. Background Black and William (1998) define assessment as all those activities undertaken by teachers, and students in assessing themselves, which provide information to be used as feedback to modify the teaching and learning activities in which they are engaged. There are two major types of assessment, formative assessment and summative assessment. And thus, Peer assessment is one of the forms of formative assessment. Besides, Higher Education Academy- UK, (2006) is an alternative form of assessment in which learners are given the opportunity to measure and evaluate each other’s compliments of the specified learning outcomes. It is used to involve students more closely in their learning and its evaluation and enable them to really understand what is required of them. (Phil et al 2006) This is a form of formative assessment which teachers can use in class assignments, tests, presentations, project based work and practical tasks. These tasks can be performed by learners either in pairs, by multiple assessors’ or in groups. It is where learners consider and specify the level, value or quality of a product or performance of other equal status learners (Topping, 2008). This therefore means that learners are able to learn better because they assess their peers work and give appropriate feedback which helps them to improve their own work. It also leads to a number of benefits in terms of the learning process for instance encouraging thinking, increasing learning and increasing students’ confidence Gardner (2006), students find it easier to make sense of criteria for their work if they examine other student’s work alongside their own. It is uniquely valuable because the interchange is in language that students themselves would naturally use, because they learn by taking roles of teachers and examiners of others (Saddler, 1998) Rationale Eckstein and Noah (1992) argue that teachers teach to the test therefore leaving out some non-examinable but important skills set out in the curriculum. This is evident because most schools in the developing world concentrate on exams which is summative assessment and because of the backwash of this type of assessment, it impedes rather than promote social justice by locking many young people out of the education system, (Cunningham 1998). This summative assessment limits potential in enhancing teaching and learning which makes learners not to get prompt feedback to help them improve on their performance (Brooks, 2002). PA saves the teachers’ time because it takes a shorter time to mark and grade assignments using it than when a teacher marks all the books. This gives the teacher ample time to prepare for other lessons. By using PA, the teacher is able to give feedback to the pupils in a littler time than when the teacher uses traditional method of marking. PA was introduced with an intention to encourage students to take responsibility for their learning. It makes them feel valued because their suggestions are put into account. According to Irons (2008) PA encourages dialogue between the teacher and learners themselves as they negotiate the best assessment criteria when making a rubric to evaluate their work. This makes students really understand what is required of them. Phil Race et al, asserts that students learn deeply when they have a sense of ownership of the agenda and if PA is done using the students design, there tends to be a sense of ownership of the criteria used than when they apply the tutors’ criteria. Furthermore, PA allows students to learn from each other’s successes. In some instances students notice that the work they are assessing is better than their own efforts, therefore they can benefit from the work of the most able in the group. Similarly, it helps students to learn from each other’s weaknesses too. When they discover mistakes in their peers work, it is usually good for them as the awareness of ‘what not to do’ increases and therefore refrain from making the same mistake. (Phil et al 2006) Development My practicum was in a primary school in Dar es Salaam city. I was allocated standard seven to teach English. Standard 7A is rather a large class with a roll of fifty three pupils. Boys were twenty eight while girls were twenty five. All were present. This was a double English lesson of forty minutes each. The Topic was Comprehension, Sub-topic; The library; Lenders and Borrowers. My main objectives were; by the end of the lesson, pupils should be able to read, understand, formulate questions, discuss and be able to evaluate their peers work using a rubric. I made a detailed lesson plan showing the teachers and learners activities. My teaching and learning resources were standard seven text books, dictionaries, flash cards with new words written on them, pictures of a library. The lesson started at 8.00am to 9.20am. Implementation I introduced the lesson with a vocabulary song as a brainstorming activity that was led by one of the pupils. I explained what I expected of them throughout the lesson, then used the self-selecting method to form groups of six and told them to choose a leader. We went through the guidelines that they would follow in their discussion groups. The passage had six paragraphs so I gave each group a paragraph. The learners read the passage as they listened to one another, noted down difficult or new words, and then generated three questions from their assigned paragraph. I assisted to organise the groups and how they would present. One member quickly read their paragraph as the rest of the class listened, other members gave new words that they came across and the three questions they had formulated. As they presented their findings I was writing on the blackboard the new words they had encountered, and the questions they had constructed. Together we discussed meanings of these words as pupils tried using them in sentences and checking them out in the dictionary. I noted that discussions were being led in Kiswahili though it was an English lesson. Cummins in McKay (2008) and Ellis stated that the first language (L1) is important because sometimes learners first think in it to make meaning in English. However, the discussion was very lively and everybody tried to participate. It also concurred with Goetz (2002) that different views from learners influence the direction of a lesson creating new learning experiences for both the teacher and the learner. As a class, we discussed the questions on the blackboard then I asked them to write the work in their exercise books, collect and put them on the teachers table. Together we discussed and made a marking criterion on the blackboard. I asked the class prefect to distribute the books to the learners making sure that one did not mark his or her own book. They carefully used the rubric to mark their peers work, then returned them to the owners to check and in case of any complains i moderated and explained to their satisfaction. Finally I gave each a foolscap and asked them to write down what they felt about the new method of assessment. This exercise was mainly to analyze the learners’ reflections and to evaluate myself as a teacher. Challenges My first challenge was the English teacher assigned to me was not co-operative. He was not willing to hand over a candidate class to me. I made him understand that my input would be beneficial to his professional development and the students’ grades. During group work, some learners took it for story telling time. I had a rough time controlling the noise and putting them back to focus. The chosen group leaders helped me have order in the groups and ensured participation of all members. Code switching was common as I related with the learners and as they interacted in their discussion groups. It was a challenge because they did not have the confidence to express themselves. Very few picked courage and participated in English. The rest when picked upon would request to speak in Kiswahili. I encouraged them to have confidence and to continue speaking in English because practice makes perfect. The learning environment was not very conducive. The floor was dusty and had pot holes. This was likely to cause health problems and injury. Due to the large class, desks were not enough. Learners shared four or five per desk which was quite uncomfortable. I advised the administration to discuss the matter with stakeholders so that the class would be repaired and desks added. This class did not have any teaching learning materials on the walls. They only had text books which were inadequate in a ratio of 1:5. Sharing was a problem because not all could access them. I advised the teacher that teaching and learning aids helped students to construct knowledge for themselves and develop effective learning strategies, thus laying a solid foundation for life-long learning. I also urged him to improvise teaching aids by using locally available materials for example, carton boxes to write on vocabularies and sentence structures and hang on the walls. I realized that peer assessment can be time consuming if practiced in a large class. Grouping learners, discussions, presentations and awarding marks consumed a lot of time which affected the next lesson. Since the school had extra classrooms, I encouraged him to create an extra stream and transfer some learners from 7A and 7B to the new stream if learners were to benefit from this kind of assessment. This is because a class of fifty three was too large putting into consideration the slow learners and learners with special needs who needed special attention. Conclusion Peer assessment had good impact on the teaching learning process where the learners and I jointly got involved in the assessment process hence owning the entire peer assessment procedures integrated in the lesson. This resulted into meaningful learning where feedback was instant. However, there were some challenges which we jointly addressed with the learners. For PA to be successful, meaningful procedures have to be put in place. References Black, P. William. (1998).Assessment and classroom learning: Assessment in education,principles, policy and practice in Irons, A. (2008). Enhancing learning through formative assessment and feedback. London: Routledge. Cunning,G.K. (1998).Assessment in the classroom: constructing and interpreting tests. London: RoutledgeFalmer. Irons, A. (2008).Enhancing learning through formative assessment and feedback. London: Routledge. Race, P., Brown, S. Smith. (2006). 500 Tips on assessment (2nd edition). London:

Men with Guns :: Films Movies Economics Feudalism Essays

Men with Guns Men With Guns is not so much a film about economic processes as it is a film about the effects of a certain economic system - feudalism. It is more a film about cultural and political processes than anything else, a film that deals in depth with the grave consequences of a country in Central or South America whose Indians are subjects to the knights - the â€Å"men with guns† - who control and terrorize their existence. Cultural processes can be defined as the creation, or transfer, of knowledge. It is the way in which the rules of an economic system are communicated. In Men with Guns, the rules of the feudal economic system are translated through the men themselves. The â€Å"sugar people† or the â€Å"corn people† know their place in society because the army or the guerrillas tell them what it is through force. Every Indian that the doctor meets tells him that they are subject to the men with guns, and that they are in control. As long as one has access to a gun, then that individual becomes a knight, no longer a feudal serf, and it does not matter if that person has began life as a white person or an Indian. Because the â€Å"men with guns† happen to be the army, the army acts as feudal knights, forcing the serfs to live in extreme poverty and fear of death, torturing who they like with no consequences, and moving entire villages. They are able to do this because of the political system in the rural part of the country. Political processes can be defined as the rules, or laws if they are established by a legitimate government, that are enforced within a political system. In the feudal system in â€Å"Men with Guns,† the rules are made by the army. In the feudal system, the rules are made legitimate purely through the ownership of firearms. It appears as though the people are helpless politically because the political system is the army. There is a feeling in the movie that two different political systems exist within the country, and that most definitely two different economic systems are present. The country can be split into two different cultures - the city and the rural areas. The city operates much like that of any other Western city, and the doctor appears to live with relative freedom and economic prosperity.

Concept of Phytoremediation

In recent years it has become clear that some environmental chemicals can cause risks to the developing embryo and fetus. Evaluating the developmental toxicity of environmental chemicals is now a prominent public health concern. The suspected association between TCE and congenital cardiac malformations warrants special attention because TCE is a common drinking water contaminant that is detected in water supplies throughout the U.S. and the world. There is a lot of concern about the clean up of toxic pollutants from the environment. Traditional methods for cleaning up contaminated sites such as dig and haul, pump and treat, soil venting, air sparging and others are generally harmful to habitats. Some methods strip the soil of vital nutrients and microorganisms, so nothing can grow on the site, even if it has been decontaminated. Typically these mechanical methods are also very expensive. Most of the remediation technologies that are currently in use are very expensive, relatively inefficient and generate a lot of waste, to be disposed of. Phytoremediation is a novel, efficient, environmentally friendly, low-cost technology, which uses plants and trees to clean up soil and water contaminated with heavy metals and/or organic contaminants such as solvents, crude oil, polyaromatic hydrocarbons and other toxic compounds from contaminated environments. This technology is useful for soil and water remediation. Phytoremediation uses one basic concept: the plant takes the pollutant through the roots. The pollutant can be stored in the plant (phytoextraction), volatized by the plant (phytovolatization), metabolized by the plant (phytodegradation), or any combination of the above. Phytoextraction is the uptake and storage of pollutants in the plants stem or leaves. Some plants, called hyperaccumulators, draw pollutants through the roots. After the pollutants accumulate in the stem and leaves the plants are harvested. Then plants can be either burned or sold. Even if the plants cannot be used, incineration and disposal of the plants is still cheaper than traditional remediation methods. As a comparison, it is estimated a site containing 5000 tons of contaminated soil will produce only 20-30 tons of ash (Black, 1995). This method is particularly useful when remediating metals. Some metals are also being recycled from the ash. Phytovolatization is the uptake and vaporization of pollutants by a plant. This mechanism takes a solid or liquid contaminant and transforms it to an airborne vapor. The vapor can either be the pure pollutant, or the plant can metabolize the pollutant before it is vaporized, as in the case of mercury, lead and selenium (Boyajian and Carriera, 1997; Black, 1995; Wantanbe, 1997). Phytodegradation is plants metabolizing pollutants. After the contaminant has been drawn into the plant, it assimilates into plant tissue, where the plant then degrades the pollutant. This metabolization by plant-derived enzymes such as nitrosedictase, laccase, dehalogenase, and nitrilase assimilates into plant tissue, where the plant then degrades the pollutant. This metabolization by plant-derived enzymes such as nitroredictase, laccase, dehalogenase, and nitrilase, has yet to be fully documented, but has been demonstrated in field studies (Boyajian and Carriera, 1997). The daughter compounds can be either volatized or stored in the plant. If the daughter compounds are relatively benign, the plants can still be used in traditional applications. The most effective current phytoremediation sites in practice combine these three mechanisms to clean up a site. For example, poplar trees can accumulate, degrade and volatize the pollutants in the remediation of organics. Phytoremediation is more than just planting and letting the foliage grow; the site must be engineered to prevent erosion and flooding and maximize pollutant uptake. There are 3 main planting techniques for phytoremediation. 1.Growing plants on the land, like crops. This technique is most useful when the contaminant is within the plant root zone, typically 3 – 6 feet (Ecological Engineering, 1997), or the tree root zone, typically 10-15 feet. 2.Growing plants in water (aquaculture). Water from deeper aquifers can be pumped out of the ground and circulated through a â€Å"reactor† of plants and then used in an application where it is returned to the earth (e.g. irrigation) 3.Growing trees on the land and constructing wells through which tree roots can grow. This method can remediate deeper aquifers in-situ. The wells provide an artery for tree roots to grow toward the water and form a root system in the capillary fringe. The majority of current research in the phytoremediation field revolves around determining which plant works most efficiently in a given application. Not all plant species will metabolize, volatize, and/or accumulate pollutants in the same manner. The goal is to ascertain which plants are most effective at remediating a given pollutant. Research has yielded some general guidelines for groundwater phytoremediation plants. The plant must grow quickly and consume large quantities of water in a short time. A good plant would also be able to remediate more than one pollutant because pollution rarely occurs as a single compound. Poplars and cottonwoods are being studied extensively because they can used as much as 25 to 350 gallons of water per day, and they can remediate a wide variety of organic compounds, including LNAPL’s. Phytoremediation has been shown to work on metals and moderately hydrophobic compounds such as BTEX compounds, chlorinated solvents, ammunition wastes, and nitrogen compounds. Yellow poplars are generally favored by Environmental Scientists for use in phytoremediation at this time. They can grow up to 15 feet per year and absorb 25 gallons of water a day. They have an extensive root system, and are resistant to everything from gypsy moths to toxic wastes. Partial listing of current remediation possibilities. Plant Chemicals Clean-up numbers Pondweed TNT & RDX 0.016-0.019 mg of TNT L per day Poplar Trees Atrazine 91% of the Atrazine taken up in 10 days Poplars Nitrates from fertilizers From 150 mg/L to 3 mg L in under 3yrs. Mustard Greens Lead 45% of the excess was removed Pennycress Zinc & Cadmium 108 lb./acre per year & 1.7 lb./acre per yr. Halophytes Salts reduced the salt levels in the soils by65% Advantages and Disadvantages to Phytoremediation: Advantages: ( www.rtdf.org/genlatst.htm) 1.Aesthetically pleasing and publicly accepted. 3.Works with metals and slightly hydrophobic compounds, including many organics. 4.Can stimulate bioremediation in the soil closely associated with the plant root. Plants can stimulate microorganisms through the release of nutrients and the transport of oxygen to their roots. 5.Relatively inexpensive – phytoremediation can cost as little as $10 – $100 per cubic yard whereas metal washing can cost $30 – $300 per cubic yard. 6.Even if the plants are contaminated and unusable, the resulting ash is approximately 20-30 tons per 5000 tons soil (Black, 1997). 7.Having ground cover on property reduces exposure risk to the community (i.e. lead). 8.Planting vegetation on a site also reduces erosion by wind and water. 9.Can leave usable topsoil intact with minimal environmental disturbance. 10.Generates recyclable metal rich plant residue. 11.Eliminates secondary air or water-borne wastes. 1.Can take many growing seasons to clean up a site. 2.Plants have short roots. They can clean up soil or groundwater near the surface in-situ, typically 3 – 6 feet (Ecological Engineering, 1997), but cannot remediate deep aquifers without further design work. 3.Trees have longer roots and can clean up slightly deeper contamination than plants, typically 10-15 feet, but cannot remediate deep aquifers without further design work . 4.Trees roots grow in the capillary fringe, but do not extend deep in to the aquifer. This makes remediating DNAPL’s in situ with plants and trees not recommended. 5.Plants that absorb toxic materials may contaminant the food chain. 6.Volatization of compounds may transform a groundwater pollution problem to an air pollution problem. 7.Returning the water to the earth after aquaculture must be permitted. 8.Less efficient for hydrophobic contaminants, which bind tightly to soil. 1) At the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, phytoremediation is being used to clean up trichloroethylene (TCE) from a shallow, thin aerobic aquifer. Cottonwoods are being used, and after 1 year, the trees are beginning to show signs of taking the TCE out of the aquifer. (Betts, 1997) 2) At the Iowa Army Ammunitions Plant, phytoremediation is being used as a polishing treatment for explosive-contaminated soil and groundwater. The demonstration, which ended in March, 1997, used native aquatic plant and hybrid poplars to remediate the site where an estimated 1-5% of the original pollutants still remain. A full-scale project is estimated to reduce the contamination by an order of magnitude (Betts, 1997). 3) After investigating using phytoremediation on a site contaminated with hydrocarbons, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management granted a site. The site involved about 1500 cubic yards of soil, and began with approximately 70% of the baseline samples containing over 100 PPM of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH). After 1 year of vegetative cover, approximately 83% of the samples contained less than 10-PPM TPH. 4) Phytoremediation was used at the decommissioned Detroit Forge plant to clean up approximately 5,800 cubic yards of lead-impacted soil. Two plantings were completed, the first using sunflowers and the second mustard plants. Following treatment, analysis indicated soil lead concentrations were below the target clean-up criteria. The project resulted in an estimated saving of $1,100,000 over hazardous waste disposal. 5) Water, soil, and trees transpired gases were monitored to track the fate of TCE. About 2-4% of the TCE remained in the effluent as compared to 68% in a non-vegetated control group. The field trial demonstrated that over 95% of TCE were removed by planting trees and letting them grow. Additional studies showed that the trees did not release TCE into the air, as no measurable TCE was present in the air immediately surrounding the leaves (captured in small leaf bags and analyzed) or in the general atmosphere (using a laser technology that can see TCE in the air in the tree canopy). Phytoremediation is an aesthetically pleasing, solar-energy driven, and passive technique that can be used at sites with low to moderate levels of contamination. Phytoremediation is more than just planting and letting the foliage grow; the site must be engineered to prevent erosion and flooding and maximize pollutant uptake. Currently, the majority of research is concentrated on determining the best plant for the job, quantifying the mechanisms by which the plants convert pollutants, and determining which contaminants are amenable to phytoremediation. Polluted sites are being studied, and phytoremediation looks promising for a variety of contaminants.