Study skills Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

Study skills - Essay Example In the backdrop of this, we shall take an in-depth view of some the policies that Mayor Johnson has proposed for the City of London, in particular those that address environmental concerns. Additionally, we shall review the powers and responsibilities of the Greater London Authority and the Mayor of London so that we may understand their scope in administrative matters. A thorough scrutiny of some of polices stipulated by the mayor shall also be reviewed in this essay. One of the main responsibilities of Mayor Johnson is to promote economic development and creation of wealth. Being the executive of the strategic authority of London, the mayor is mandated to ensure that there are avenues for job creation and a good atmosphere for doing business. Availability of jobs and the abundance of business opportunities open up room for economic development in the city. The mayor is also mandated to create policies and strategic plans to address transportation, development and planning, environmental issues, health, economic development, culture and housing issues. With the aid of bodies mandated to carry out specific functions, such as Transport for London, the mayor is able to implement these policies. Appointment of board members of the different functional bodies such as London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority is often done by the mayor. These bodies have specific roles that address different development issues, such as crime and transportation. In addition to this, he can appoint a chair to these boards or chair the boards himself, like he has done with the Metropolitan Police Authority and the Transport of London (Beatley, 2012). As the executive, the mayor sets out annual budgets for funding services in London. This is often done by funding bodies that provide such services. These include; Transport for London, Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA), London Development Agency (LDA),

Monarchy In United Kingdom Essay Example for Free

Monarchy In United Kingdom Essay At an estimated cost of  £202 million a year the British monarchy is the most expensive in Europe and is more than double the cost of the Dutch monarchy.  £202.4 million is equivalent to the cost of 9,560 nurses, 8,200 police officers and more than the total annual Ministry of Defence spending on food (Royal Finances, 2012). What we really have to question is, is it worth it? What do we, as British citizens, gain from paying for such an expensive monarchy when the money could be spent on nursing, policing or the Ministry of Defence? Many believe that the monarchy has run its course and is no longer beneficial to our modern day society; whilst others feel that the monarchy is a symbol of Britain and our patriotic pride. Supporters of the monarchy would argue that the monarchy is one of Britain’s key features to its tourism industry, with nearly four million people visiting the palaces last year, supplying many citizens with temporary seasonal jobs to meet their demands (should Britain scrap the monarchy, 2012). However 2010 online statistics from Visit Britain reveal there are no monarchy related attractions in Britain’s top ten tourist attractions (top 10 English tourist attractions, 2010). This suggests that the British tourism industry could survive without the monarchy and possibly even increase as tourists would be granted full access to Buckingham palace. Currently Buckingham palace is not open to tourists all year round, and when it is the public are only allowed to see a few of the rooms. Therefore if the palace was open all year round, tourist visits could potentially increase. This could generate more revenue and potentially create jobs which may help our country out of the recession (Tourism, 2010). To further support the case that tourism may not be affected, we only have to look at other countries throughout the world. From the 2011 data found by the United Nations World Tourism Organization, we can see that out of the five most visited countries in the world which are France, USA, China, Spain and Italy only Spain has a monarchy (Rosenberg, 2011). For that reason alone we could argue that having no monarchy might not affect our tourism revenue in a negative manner at all, it just further highlights the unnecessary cost of maintaining British monarchy. Without the monarchy in place we would become a republican nation with a president in power. Statistics have revealed that the British monarchy is nearly 112 times more expensive to run than the Irish presidential system and more than twice as expensive as the French semi-presidential system (Royal finances,  2012). This is perhaps further evidence to illustrate that the monarchy is an unnecessary expense, and we should possibly head towards becoming a republican nation with a president who has earned the right to be there; and not just had the power handed to them through hereditary links. Graham Smith (2010), the chief executive of â€Å"Republic†, which campaigns for a democratic alternative to the monarchy believes that the monarchy should be abolished, as hereditary links to the throne are not justifiable. He said in an article online at CNN. â€Å"Were supposed to be a democratic society, in a democratic society there is no room for a head of state who is put there for life and by birth. A hereditary monarch has no place in a society that believes we the people should be in charge.† Power is something that should be earned and whoever is in charge should have the right credentials to exercise power. If power is just handed down to somebody how do we know they are capable of the task in hand? Our current system with a monarchy in place is very out-dated and many other commonwealth countries, for example Australia, are now looking at abolishing the monarchy and becoming a republican nation. The argument here is perhaps it is time for us to look at doing the same and hand over the power to an individual who has earned the right to be there. Many people are strongly of the belief that the monarchy should be abolished and Graham Smith (2010) of the ‘Republic’ asks a very good question â€Å"After 60 years who can quote a famous speech or point to a moment of crisis or celebration when the queen offered leadership and inspiration?† This is the question many people may be asking, and using to question why the monarchy should not be abolished. Although republicans will point towards this to back the abolishment of the monarchy there are many reasons to support the monarchy and not abolish it. The monarchy is a symbol of Britain and with this comes a feeling of great pride and history. In a BBC poll in 2007 80% of people said they wanted to retain the monarchy. This shows how much the monarchy really means to Britain as a nation and symbolises the pride the nation feels towards the monarchy (Should Britain scrap the monarchy, 2012). The monarchy is not just symbolised across Britain, the British monarchy has a world-wide respected status of authority and symbolises nationhood and stability. Without the monarchy in place many monarchists would argue that the country would lose some of its pride and respect throughout the world; they question whether a president would really command the same respect as  the royal family? The respect the monarchy has throughout the world creates good relations with other countries through st ate visits. This is vital in many of our country’s business deals and probably would not be possible with a president in place (Should Britain scrap the monarchy, 2012). The British public have a low perception of and a general disliking for politicians and this would be a disadvantage of a presidential system. The general view of monarchists on politicians is that they have one path minds, their way is always correct and they are only interested in their own personal gains (Heffer, 2011). However, the queen is viewed as a neutral figurehead and brings a level of balance and equality into society where the democratic aspects appear corrupt and full of scandal. We only have to look at the recent expense scandals that tarnished the government to see this. From this we can question: is this really how we want our country run? I imagine the majority of people would answer this with a â€Å"no†. Although there are many good points from tourism statistics that back the abolition, there are also statistics that are in favour of the monarchy, in relation to tourism. Perhaps the country would increase its revenue from tourist attractions alone without a monarchy. However, those statistics do not take into account the royal events that bring millions of pounds into the British economy. The royal wedding in 2011 generated an approximate revenue of  £1-2 billion, and with over two billion estimated television viewers worldwide it shows the popularity of our monarchy throughout the world (Impact on British economy, 2011). With a president in place it is unlikely that you would achieve figures like this for a â€Å"president’s wedding†, it doesn’t have the same appeal. The queen’s diamond jubilee also had a massive boost on the UK economy with a boost of  £409 million. Monarchists would argue that these figures alone are enough to keep the monarchy in place as it out-weighs the counter argument provided by republicans. Overall, after viewing arguments for and against the abolishment of the monarchy, I believe the monarchy should not be abolished. I believe this because without it the country would lose a lot of its worldwide respect. The queen is a symbol of our authority throughout history and commands respect which I feel could not be achieved with a president in place. Whilst everything in society appears corrupt why should we trust a democratic system that would have a president with his own interests at heart? Throughout all of the government’s recent scandals the  monarchy has remained a figure of respect and portrays this image across the world. I do agree with some of the arguments to abolish the monarchy, for example power should be earned not passed down through hereditary links. Nevertheless even though the throne is handed down to them, royalty spend all their lives preparing for the tasks they are required to do. With the inheritance of the throne they also inherit the worldwide respect and I believe that could not be earned by a president. Taking these views into consideration I believe the monarchy should remain intact, and should do for a long time to come.

Dracula Essay -- essays research papers

Violence and Power Within Dracula's Grasp Throughout many types of literature, violence exists to enhance the readers interest in order to add a sense of excitement or conflict to a novel. This statement withholds much truthfulness due to the fact that without violence in a piece of literature such as Dracula by Bram Stoker, the plot would not have the same impact if it was lacking violence. Dracula's power and evilness led to the violent happenings which began with the conflict of Jonathan's inner struggle, as compared to the conflict which blossomed later on with good versus evil. One case of violence that had occurred, not just for its own sake, happened in chapter seven, where it stated in the log of the "Demeter", "On 14 July was somewhat anxious about crew. Men all steady fellows, who sailed with me before. Mate could not make out what was wrong; they only told him there was something, and crossed themselves. Mate lost temper with one of them that day and struck him. Expected fierce quarrel, but all was quiet"(pg.87). Therefore, this type of violence rarely ever occurred before; thus, this action was foreshadowing evil. Eventually, this evil took place when poor old Mr. Swales was found dead with his neck broken. Mina Murry wrote in her journal about the incident, "...poor old Mr. Swales was found dead this morning on our seat, his neck being broken. He had evidently, as the doctor sa...

Description of Croquet The Internet Essay

In Victorian England, the game croquet was a completely neutral area where social ranking and gender did not matter, and about which people could interact without inhibition. For the past few years, it has been the goal of a research team of bright and visionary industry gurus, namely, Julian Lombardi, Mark McCahill, Andreas Raab, David Reed, and David Smith, to capture that sense of interactivity and bring it to the Internet. Their tool for doing so is Croquet, an open-source software system where information can be shared and converted into a three-dimensional framework. In the current paper, I intend to briefly define Croquet, present its applications and impact on cyberspace, and expound on its regulability and sociability as discussed by Lessig and Castells. Description of Croquet The Internet, for all its information and supposed interactivity, existed only as what Lombardi described as a â€Å"high-speed textbook†. Even though speed and quality of the hardware has improved drastically, the medium is still the same: information is displayed as if it was on a sheet of paper. Croquet developers tried to solve this problem and finally showed how they were making the Internet do its job differently. They opened with a 3-D courtyard dubbed the â€Å"Cirque du Croquet†. Croquet is focused on interaction within a 3D shared space and is a new open source computer operating system built from the ground up to enable deep collaboration among teams of users (Smith, Kay, Raab, & Reed, 2003). As such, it is fundamentally based on user space and users’ needs. Applications of Croquet Personally, I find it hard to imagine this 3D space as a true day-to-day working environment. It seems a bigger leap from the milestone we made from evolving from paper-based print to green screen interfaces, and from those old green screens to Windows. Then again, I am quite certain that it is not that big a leap to the generations that have been brought up with intense exposure to computer games in 3D environments – in stark contrast against Super Mario 2, Tetris, or Pac Man. I am willing to believe that this represents a valid scenario for the next shift— indeed, we have only been through a few generations of this web world, and the change continues to be markedly rapid. Inside Croquet, each avatar can make changes – move a virtual mirror, make changes to a document or spreadsheet, upload a picture and play a game of chess – and all of the changes are displayed to the other person in real time. Moreover, users can build a completely new space and move into it using arrow keys and the mouse. This new space can be either public or private, and users can place more information or graphics or even the link to an invisible page inside. Croquet’s 3D makeup also allows for more flexibility than existing online systems. Since windows can be tilted for a 360-degree view, it provides a perspective angle of flash animation. Basic paint programs can also render a new figure inside the software easily, as Lombardi (n. d. ) demonstrated by drawing a crude shark, which was instantly visible in a 3-D fishtank instantly. For a practical example, I Croquet may possibly be applied in a hospital setting. Croquet’s interactivity would be useful in fields like healthcare where poor communication is a major issue. A virtual tool like Croquet would give physicians a different way of organizing their information and test it out, while at the same time communicating with other doctors and modifying the data collectively. Moreover, since Croquet was designed as a highly modifiable environment, developers may intend and be able to add new tools and capabilities. Cyberspace Cyberspace is about making a different (or second) life (Lessig, 2006 – ensure that this is indicated in the references page). Croquet is basically Second Life, and much more. From an optimistic viewpoint, Croquet can be a private network. In other words, only those you want in your space can get in there. On the other hand, Second life sometimes violates the right of privacy of users by requiring them give their information to third party sources. Secondly, Croquet is probably more eye candy than anything else, but there are live snapshots of other virtual environments. This is the equivalent of bookmarks, but live pictures of what is going on at those other places. It would be great since the user would be privy about other people’s whereabouts without having to actually go there. In fact, Tanaka (2003) has expounded on this feature of Croquet, presenting it as an effectual means of processing hypermedia. He has specifically explored the concept of portals that pose strong promise in buiilding digital libraries of the future. In addition, in contrast with HTML, Croquet allows the viewing of spaces by users, and the movement of such portals. Users may also use these portals as bookmarks, allowing the memorization of this target space (Tanaka, 2003, p. 2). Lastly, Croquet is a complete 3D workspace that allows for co-creativity, knowledge sharing and deep social presence among large numbers of people at a time (Tanaka, 2003). On the other hand, from pessimistic view, I am worried about the ease of use of Croquet. Yes, the people who designed it could navigate and get around, but it looks a bit more complicated than Second Life. There are certain questions that are left unanswered at this point. For instance, are there logs of everything that happens? What about the ability to lock down certain aspects of the world. If every user can manipulate and change an environment can a student accidentally/deliberately delete a world a teacher creates? The answers to these questions point to aspects of control that must be explicitly answered, whilst the advantages of Croquet seem apparent. The degree of control that a user has on these powerful aspects of Croquet may partly determine how aptly users will utilize it. Regulability One other issue of the effectuality of Croquet is its regulability. For instance, the creation of â€Å"open† and globally scalable social computing spaces can cause some to ask the following: To what extent will we need to impose â€Å"rules† on people’s behaviors in such spaces? What types of â€Å"rules† are necessary? Who will come up with such â€Å"rules† and how will they be enforced? How can we find a balance between personal liberty and the need for regulating behaviors in â€Å"open† cyberspaces? These are but some of the sensitive issues that have to be explicitly dealt with before the full, successful launch of Croquet is possible. Life in cyberspace is regulated primarily through the code of cyberspace (Lessig, 2006). I think Croquet as it is being developed now does not have regulability as a central concern. However, over time, if Croquet spreads and increases in popularity, users will begin to realize the importance of and build regulability back in. Croquet’s users/developers may freely share, modify and view the source code of the entire system. In other words, users can make their own regulability in their worlds. The single biggest reason why Croquet will become the future operating system is that the users can run and modify the code that the worlds are built on and they can integrate their own application. While Croquet seems to be the perfect tool for encouraging knowledge sharing and creativity, a structure for regulating it must be clearly defined to be able to ensure its success. There may be areas that seem vague at the moment, including the rules that should regulate it, the enforcing parties, and the level of control that the system must accorded to its users. The fact that regulability seems to rely solely on the hands of users may be both risky and dangerous – and is an aspect that must be seriously dealt with by the system’s advocates. Sociability The spread of Internet is making social exchanges based on fake identities and role-playing (Castells, 2001 – make sure this source is indicated in your bibliography). Those of us who have participated heavily in online communities over the years have substantial experience in dealing with imposters, forgers, and the ever-present anonymous cowards who can disrupt meaningful discourse. Effective online educational environments must be efficiently insulated from such craft. The Croquet project team is looking into integrating federated identity management system. By doing so, Croquet users who use their own institutional login/password could access protected resources in Croquet places that are hosted by other communities. Federate identity management system would provide numerous benefits to the educational and institutional use of Croquet. For example, multiple institutions could cooperate in creating restricted access learning environments in which students and educators from those institutions could interact and learn – without the need for each institution to set up an account for all the users of such spaces. A side benefit of this is that Fair Use limitation provisions on copyright laws would allow copyrightable materials to be distributed in such spaces – a feature that is really important to educators (and is probably one of the main reasons that academic institutions employ the use of cumbersome Course Management Systems over plain old websites, blogs, and wikis). Conclusion The current paper began with a brief introduction of Croquet, presenting it as a new soft ware that allows users to interact within a three-dimensional shared space, and which seems to be tailor fit to user space and their needs. This new software will allow each avatar to make changes that shall be displayed in 3D format, in real time. Croquet also holds promise to settings that require intensive interactivity, such as in hospital settings – the software prospectively allows doctors to communicate and change data collaboratively. Both the negative and positive aspects of Croquet as a channel in cyberspace has been presented. On a positive note, it may be used as a private network, an effective hypermedia processor, and a channel that encourages knowledge sharing, creativity and interaction. On the other hand, it may pose risks against users’ right to privacy, and has obvious ambivalent problems with regards to regulability and sociability. In our library and information space, we can see how our special information expertise contributes to the success of our users and the teams we work in and with. If Croquet is inevitable, we had better be early adopters. In order to use this Croquet scenario effectively, in our own visioning sessions, we can use it as a framework to think about what our future workspaces, offices, and intranets will look like. What skills will we need? What skills do we already have that will increase in importance? How can information be delivered in this environment? How do we increase our relevance in this kind of space? Good questions and ones that we should struggle to understand now and not much later when we have already been immersed in the wave of change. References Lombardi, J. (n. d. ) Socio-computational systems, virtual environments, learning contexts, and the Croquet Project. Retreived on January 31, 2008 from http://jlombardi. blogspot. com Smith, D. , Kay, A. , Raab, A. , & Reed, P. (2003). Croquet – a collaboration system architecture. IEEE Conference on Creating, Connecting and Collaborating through Computing, 2. Tanaka, K. (2003). Tea-time museum: Croquet as a browsing and searching environment for digital libraries. IEEE Conference on Creating, Connecting and Collaborating through Computing, 12.

Abercrombie & FItch vs American Eagle Essay

INTRODUCTION Fashion may be defined as a way of living, decorating, etc., which is popular today, but will soon lose their popularity. It is something passing and temporary, a simple craze of the moment to be looked down upon with dislike. For example, tight pants are the fashion today, but only a short while ago broad loose pants were the order of the day. If today a man appears in society wearing broad pants, he would be held up to ridicule, but only a few years ago they were the height of fashion, symbols of good taste and culture. American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) and Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) are two companies that play a major role in the clothing industry. The following discussion with compare and contrast the competitive advantages of the supply chain of the two companies. COMPANY HISTORY AEO American Eagle Outfitters, Inc., a billion dollar corporation, is ranked as one of the largest retail chains in America. With their central corporate headquarters in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and two other corporate facilities located in New York City and Tokyo, Japan, American Eagle, Inc. operates numerous mainline stores, factory stores, franchised stores, and distribution centers across the country and the globe. In 1977, brothers, Jerry and Mark Silverman, who owned and operated Silverman’s Menswear, a Retail Ventures, Inc. company, founded American Eagle Outfitters. Opening their first store in Novi, Michigan at Twelve Oaks Mall, the Silverman brothers were hoping to diversify their menswear line (AEO Management Co., 2013). Several stores were opened up and a catalog was created. American Eagle Outfitters continued to grow into 1990, when Jacob Price took over which led to the introduction of casual, private-label merchandise for men and women. In 1994, American Eagle Outfitters became  part of the NASDAQ stock exchange, which enabled the opening of 90 stores the following year (AEO Management Co., 2013). In 1996, new executives joined AEO and decided to modify the target demographics of the target market and reach more women, as well as focus on those who were between the ages of 18 and 32. Shortly after, American Eagle expanded to e-commerce with ae.com. By 2000, American Eagle operated 500 stores and revenues for the company quintupled to $1 billion. The Canadian market was penetrated in 2001 and in 2003 American Eagle expanded to Hawaii. Aerie, a brand extension of American Eagle, focusing on intimates for women, was launched in 2006. Another line extension, 77kids, which offered clothing for babies to pre-teen girls and boys, was established online in 2008 and the first 77kids store was opened in 2010. Today, American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. operates over 1,000 stores, including 911 American Eagle Outfitters stores, 158 Aerie stores, and 21 77Kids stores, 21 of which are franchised around the globe. Additionally, ae.com, which includes links to Aerie and 77kids, reaches 77 countries. American Eagle Outfitters offers apparel, shoes, and accessories for both men and women. Clothing merchandise is comprised of denims, sweaters, graphic T’s, fleece and sweatshirts, outerwear, tops and shirts, dresses, and skirts. Shoe merchandise includes sneakers, boots, flats, sandals, slippers, clogs, heals, loafers and socks. Accessories merchandise consists of jewelry, hats, sunglasses, scarves, bags, perfume and cologne, purses, and wallets. Aerie offers merchandise for college girls that include dorm wear, such as sweats and pajamas, exercise apparel, bras, underwear, accessories, and some personal care items. 77kids offers apparel for infants, children, and preteen girls and boys (AEO Management Co., 2013). A&F Abercrombie & Fitch originated in 1891 as a retail sporting goods store based in New York City. It was known for its wide variety of expensive and often exotic sporting equipment and attire, ranging from tennis shoes to elephant guns. For more than half a century, the store’s apparel, guns, tackle, and other merchandise were the image of wealth and prestige. When it expanded, the firm confined its new branch stores to downtown areas of large cities and to resort areas. In the early 1970s, Abercrombie & Fitch attempted to widen its customer base by adding less-expensive items to its usual stock and by moving into the suburbs, where other stores had been building for some time. Although these steps did attract new customers, they came too late; Abercrombie & Fitch was in financial trouble and filed for bankruptcy in 1976 after 85 years in business (Encyclopedia Britannica Online, 2013). Oshman’s Sporting Goods, Inc. bought the firm in1978. In 1988 Abercrombie & Fitch was bought by The Limited, Inc (Encyclopedia Britannica Online, 2013). Repositioned as the trademarked â€Å"casual luxury† brand, it became parent to the subsidiary brands Abercrombie kids, a children’s line launched in 1998 and marketed as Abercrombie; Hollister Co., a line for younger teens launched in 2000; RUEHL No. 925, a line targeting post-graduate s launched in 2004; and Gilly Hicks, a women’s line launched in 2008. Following Abercrombie & Fitch’s overhaul, the company received significant criticism for its advertising and its clothing, which were perceived by many as encouraging its target audience to adopt a sexually promiscuous lifestyle (Encyclopedia Britannica Online, 2013). MISSION STATEMENT AEO American Eagle has a clearly defined set of â€Å"corporate values† which guides the actions of employees at all levels of the AE organization: PEOPLE The vitality of our company resides in our people. We collaborate, we engage, we achieve (About.com, 2013). INTEGRITY We hold ourselves accountable to the highest standards. In the face of difficulties and challenges, we don’t compromise (About.com, 2013). PASSION Our passion infuses our actions and purpose. It transforms stores into places of energy and customer delight (About.com, 2013). INNOVATION We operate in a dynamic and competitive industry. We continually refine the unique processes that drive our business, and we use insightful research and analysis to balance our instinct and to guide our decisions. Our associates embody entrepreneurial spirit, develop creative solutions, and initiate change (About.com, 2013). TEAMWORK We work together – listening to one another, reaching consensus and supporting group decisions. We celebrate achievements. Because we respect and trust one another and commit ourselves to our company goals, our teamwork succeeds (About.com, 2013). Additionally American Eagle has a service goal that guides employees in their everyday retailing tasks: â€Å"We respond to the needs of our customer and enjoy the satisfaction of a job well done (About.com, 2013).† A&F â€Å"Abercrombie and Fitch focuses upon high-quality merchandise that compliments the casual classic American lifestyle (About.com, 2013).†   But beyond that simple mission statement, Abercrombie & Fitch emphasizes its brand vision, brand attributes, and the value of the Abercrombie & Fitch brand, which has been of ultimate importance since CEO Mike Jeffries took on the leadership role. Abercrombie & Fitch has said this about its brand to its stakeholders: â€Å"The A&F brand is more authentic and relevant than ever. The brand is our lifestyle, our focus—it ensures growth and promises stability. A great brand is a center of growth and revenue—it represents a relationship with customers. It’s not a faddish chip to be cashed in on shortsighted gains. The value of having a great brand is far-reaching and cannot be overstated—it’s a snowball effect. The A&F label gives us the ability to evolve, creating endless growth opportunities. It helps us attract the brightest, most talented young people from around the country. It attracts millions to our website. It allows for greater profit margins. It lessens the risk of moving on new business concepts. It promotes innovation. It ensures long-term profitability. It adds built-in value to everything we produce. It accelerates growth. It stabilizes. It gives focus and direction. It produces an emotional response in consumers (About.com, 2013).† Comparing these two mission statements, it is clear that American Eagle Outfitters is focused more on just their merchandise, unlike Abercrombie & Fitch. AEO has a passion not only for their brand and employees but their consumers as well. While A&F, is only focused on their brand not on the  operational execution of its employees, or the experience of its customers. This holds true of A&F because recently their CEO, Mike Jeffries, came under fire for reportedly saying they only target to â€Å"thin and beautiful people† which is why they do not sell or make any size over 10 or large for women. Mike Jeffries has said, â€Å"That’s why we hire good-looking people because good-looking people attract other good-looking people, and we want to market to cool, good-looking people. We don’t market to anyone other than that (Walker, 2013).† On A&F’s website, they claim to embrace diversity throughout the entire organization but what Mike Jeffries has been quoted saying, is contradictory of what the company claims they are about. â€Å"We are committed to embracing the diversity of our associates and management throughout our organization. On the surface, our dedication to maintaining a diverse working and shopping environment can be easily seen by walking through one of our stores, domestically and internationally. More notably, Abercrombie & Fitch’s commitment can be seen through our exceptional diversity programs, whether they are internal or external, and the results they yield. Diversity reflects the multidimensional insights we share collectively. Simply put, it is imperative to our growth that we staff our business with diverse talent and run our business with an inclusive mindset (Abercrombie & Fitch, 2013).† SUPPLY CHAIN AEO American Eagle Outfitters strategy to improve apparel factory working conditions starts with factory inspections based on their Vendor Code of Conduct. They then focus on remediating the issues they find during those inspections, which often includes additional factory training and capacity building programs (AEO Management Co., 2013). They partner with other brands and retailers, multi-stakeholder organizations, civil society groups, trade unions, governments, and others to better understand and address what is happening in the factories and countries where their clothes are made. By working together, they strive to  collectively develop more sustainable solutions to the problems they find (AEO Management Co., 2013). Finally, they are committed to being obvious about how they are doing. By reporting publicly on their efforts, this is one of the many ways they ensure that they remain focused on their goals, disciplined in their efforts, and accountability for their performance (AEO Management Co., 2013). A&F Abercrombie & Fitch has very tight control over the design and manufacturing of their clothing. To help the company keep control, have higher margins and protect the brand, they design their own ranges which are manufactured exclusively for A&F. The head office for A&F is located in Ohio and is called â€Å"The Campus†. At this location, there is a center known as the â€Å"Innovative Design Center†. Here, a dedicated team uses over 100 wash, quality assurance, lab and graphic machines (Webb, 2009). They are responsible for merchandise design and development. â€Å"Design packages† were created by the company to reduce the time and cost of product development (Webb, 2009). These design packages are then given to the vendors. By keeping strict control over design, manufacturing and product development, the company is able to protect the brand from being copied and having the image damaged. By having greater control, it allows A&F to deliver on their promise to the customer and consumer. This in turn creates a relationship based on trust and gives them a competitive advantage. Again, with Abercrombie & Fitch, they are more focused on keeping control of their brand and image, while American Eagle Outfitters are trying to improve factory conditions for their workers. This once again proves that A&F does not care about their people. CONCLUSION In summary, Abercrombie & Fitch and American Eagle Outfitters play a significant role in the clothing industry. While A&F’s practices are some  what contradictory and outlandish, AEO remains the opposite. A&F needs to take a cue from AEO and focus more on their consumers than just their brand. There is no question why it is that AEO is ranked at 649 on the Fortune 1000 List and A&F is trailing behind them at 651 (Salesforce, 2013). Works Cited Abercrombie & Fitch. (2013). Diversity Commitment. Retrieved from A&F Cares: http://www.anfcares.org/diversity/commitment.jsp About.com. (2013). Abercrombie & Fitch Mission Statement. Retrieved from About.com: http://retailindustry.about.com/od/retailbestpractices/ig/Company-Mission-Statements/Abercrombie—Fitch-Mission-Statement.htm About.com. (2013). American Eagle Company Mission Statement. Retrieved from About.com: http://retailindustry.about.com/od/retailbestpractices/ig/Company-Mission-Statements/American-Eagle-Mission-Values.htm AEO Management Co. (2013). AEO History. Retrieved from American Eagle Outfitters: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=81256&p=irol-history AEO Management Co. (2013). AEO Supply Chain. Retrieved from American Eagle Outfitters: http://www.ae.com/web/corpResp/supply_chain/our_strategy.jsp Encyclopedia Britannica Online. (2013). Abercrombie & Fitch. Retrieved from Encyclopedia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1121/ Abercrombie-Fitch Salesforce. (2013). Fortune 1000 Company List. Retrieved from Data.com Connect: https://connect.data.com/directory/company/fortune/1000 Walker, T. (2013, May 08). Not available in XL. Retrieved from The Indepedent: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/not-available-in-xl-abercrombie–fitch-ceo-mike-jeffries-accused-of-only-wanting-thin-and-beautiful-people-8608022.html Webb, B. (2009). Managing the Fashion Brand Case Study Assignment.