Modulation of electronic and mechanical properties of phagraphene via hydrogenation and fluorination Donghai Wu ab, Shuaiwei Wang ab, Jinyun Yuanab* Baocheng Yang ab, Houyang Chenc* a Institute of Nanostructured Functional Materials, Huanghe Science and Technology College, Zhengzhou, Henan 450006, China b Henan provincial key laboratory of nanocomposite and application, Zhengzhou, Henan 450006, China c Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14260-4200, USA ________________ Abstract: Recently, a new carbon sheet, phagraphene, was proposed by theoretical calculations [Nano Lett. 2015, 15, 6182]. In this paper, the hydrogenated and fluorinated phagraphene (denoted as H-PHA and F-PHA) sheets have been systematically studied using first-principles calculations. The results of formation energy, ab initio molecular dynamics, phonon dispersion and elastic constants confirm that the modified phagraphene sheets are thermodynamically and dynamically as well as mechanically stable. We find that hydrogenation or fluorination is an effective way to modulate the bandgap, and we also find that adsorption-induced semimetal-semiconductor transition and adsorption-induced semimetal-insulator transition occur. Configuration-dependent bandgap for partially H-PHA and configuration-independent bandgap for fully H-PHA are determined. Adsorption-ratio-dependent bandgaps of H-PHA and F-PHA are also identified. Calculated bandgaps from HSE06 and PBE functionals of fully H-PHA are larger than those of F-PHA, and they are comparable to thehydrogenated/fluorinated penta-graphene while they are larger than their corresponding graphene. Dependence of bandgaps of fully H-PHA and F-PHA on the tensile strain is investigated, and our calculations show that an insulator-semiconductor transition occurs upon increasing the tensile strain. Our results also determined that the mechanical properties are controllable by using hydrogenation and fluorination. The calculations of Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio reveal the functionalized phagraphene sheets possess suitable stiffness and resistance to volume deformation, and both are smaller than the pristine phagraphene. 1. Introduction Two-dimensional (2D) carbon-based materials have been attracting great attention due to their fascinating mechanical, thermal, electronic, optical and magnetic properties.1-11 In particular, graphene is the most representative example. Since synthetized by Novoselov et al.6 in 2004, graphene has been extensively studied for its robust stability,12 high crystal quality,13 captivating mechanical and electronic as well as thermal properties.14-18 The covalently bonded honeycomb lattice with perfect hexagonal symmetry of graphene plays a crucial role in forming Dirac cones,19 which gives graphene massless fermions, resulting in the anomalous quantum Hall effects,20 ultrahigh carrier mobility21 and other properties.22, 23 Recently, a new carbon sheet, phagraphene,19 composed of rings containing five, six, and seven carbon atoms, was proposed by theoretical calculations. It can be considered as a defective graphene.24 This planar carbon allotrope is slightly more unstable than pristine graphene while energetically more favorable than other carbon allotropes.19 The notable stability benefits from its sp2-hybridization and dense atomic packing structure.25 Zhang et al.19 have proven that the electronic structure of phagraphene has direction-dependent Dirac cones, which are robust against external strain with tunable Fermi velocities. This unique performance makes the phagraphene an advanced material for numerous applications in photoelectric technology. However, like graphene, the phagraphene suffers a major “drawback” of zero bandgap and rather robust gapless state, limiting its potential applications. In order to overcome this disadvantage, we use hydrogenation and fluorination to modulate its bandgap in this paper. Thanks to the surface unsaturated C-C dangling bond,26 the chemical modification by adsorbing non-carbon atoms on the surface is an effective way to create a bandgap and tune the electronic, magnetic and mechanical properties of graphene.14, 24, 26-32 Hydrogenation is not only the simplest and manageable adsorption but also the generating hydrides are promising hydrogen storage materials in energy field.33, 34 The fluorine atoms with ultrahigh electronegativity are adsorbed on the graphene surface forming fluorinated graphene, which have been investigated experimentally and theoretically.14, 35, 36 After adsorbing such atoms, the forming C-H and C-F bonds could give rise to the carbon atoms transforming their hybridization state from sp2 to sp3, 33 correspondingly, the structural and electronic properties would undergo dramatic alterations. In this work, by employing first-principles calculations, the effect of hydrogenation and fluorination on the bandgap opening of phagraphene sheet is examined. After hydrogenation or fluorination, the bandgap of phagraphene could be opened sizably, changing its electro-conductivity from Dirac semimetal to semiconductor or from Dirac semimetal to insulator. The structural stability and mechanical properties of the modified phagraphene sheet are also investigated. 2. Computational details All the first-principles calculations and abinitio molecular dynamics (AIMD) were carried out by density functional theory (DFT) with the projector augmented wave (PAW) method and performed by the Vienna abinitio simulation package (VASP)37 . The 2D periodic boundary condition was adopted and a vacuum space of 20 Å along the perpendicular direction of the phagraphene sheet was included in order to avoid the interactions between adjacent layers. The generalized gradient approximation (GGA) of Perdew, Burke, and Ernzerhof (PBE)38 was applied as the exchange-correlation functional in most of the calculations. Meanwhile, to accurately calculate the band structures, the hybrid Heyd-Scuseria-Ernzerhof (HSE06)39 was introduced. The Brillouin zone (BZ) was sampled using 2Ï€ Ã- 0.01 Å−1 Monkhorst-Pack40 k-point mesh density, and the plane-wave basis set with cutoff energy of 600 eV was adopted. The total energy difference of 10−5 eV and force tolerance of 10−2 eV•Å−1 were used for the convergence criteria of geometric optimization and self-consistent field. The phonon properties were calculated by the Phonopy package41 with force constants obtained by the finite displacement method.42 3. Results and discussion 3.1 Structural properties Figure 1 displays the structure of phagraphene19 together with its hydride and fluoride. The hydrogenated or fluorinated phagraphene (denoted as H-PHA or F-PHA) sheet is obtained by adsorbing hydrogen or fluorine atoms on both sides of the plane. For fully H-PHA and F-PHA, the ratio of C : H/F is 1 : 1. After optimization, the structures of both fully H-PHA (Figure 1c) and fully F-PHA (Figure 1d) are greatly distorted compared to pristine phagraphene (Figure 1a), resulting in low symmetry with a space group of P21/m (No. 11). The 5-6-7 carbon rings no longer remain in the same plane and become crumpled. The buckling height hb (i.e. the height between the bottom and top carbon layers) of fully H-PHA (0.856 Å, see Table 1) is larger than that of F-PHA (0.704 Å), and they are much larger than those of hydrogenated/fluorinated penta-graphene (0.42/0.40 Å) and graphene (0.46/0.49 Å).12 The calculated C-C bond distances of pristine phagraphene in Table 1 are in agreement with previous calculations,19 indicating the computational method is valid. All the C-C bond distances in fully H-PHA and fully F-PHA are enlarged compared to the pristine phagraphene, and are close to that of 1.546 Å in diamond43 while larger than that of 1.42 Å in graphene.1 These facts indicate the C-C bonds of phagraphene transform from the sp2-hybridization double bond to the sp3 single bond by hydrogenation or fluorination. The C-C bonds of fully F-PHA are longer than those of fully H-PHA, which can be explained by the depopulation of bonding orbitals between carbon atoms.27 The depopulation of these bonding orbitals stems from the electron transfer between carbon and hydrogen/fluorine atoms. The C-C bonds (C4-C4′ in Figure 1) connecting the adjacent 5- and 7-carbon rings are enlarged to a greater extent than others, which is because of the repulsive interactions and steric effects between the adjacent two H/F atoms in the same side of phagraphene. The C-H and C-F bond distances are approximately 1.11 and 1.38 Å (Table S1), approaching to the typical hydrocarbon and fluorocarbons compounds.44 Similar structure distortions and C-C bond elongation are found in hydrogenated/fluorinated penta-graphene and graphene.12, 26, 44 3.2 Stability analysis To investigate the stability of H-PHA and F-PHA, the binding energy Eb and formation energyEf are calculated (definitions of Eb and Ef are given at Section S1 of Supporting Information). The values of Eb are -2.540 and -2.977 eV/atom for fully H-PHA and fully F-PHA (see Table 1), respectively, implying strong interactions between C and H/F. A possible explanation of the strong attractive interactions between C atoms (of phagraphene) and H/F atoms is that, by adsorbing H/F atoms, the C-H/C-F bonds are formed, and the C-C bonds of phagraphene elongate greatly, which could partially release the stress imposed by the 5-6-7 carbon rings.12 Another important factor for synthesis is the formation energy, which applies to measure the stability against molecular desorption from the surface.44 The negative Ef (-0.276 eV/atom for fully H-PHA and -1.615 eV/atom for fully F-PHA) means that the surface modification is exothermic process and the H-PHA (or F-PHA) has lower energy than that of pristine phagraphene and H2 (or F2) molecules. The Eb and Ef of hydride are larger than those of fluoride, which are in accordance with similar systems of hydrogenated/fluorinated graphene (-2.48 eV > -2.86 eV)27 and penta-graphene (-3.65 eV > -4.22 eV).12 It is noticed that the Eb of fully H-PHA and fully F-PHA are close, whereas the Ef of fully H-PHA and fully F-PHA have huge difference. This is because of large difference in the dissociation energy of H2 and F2 molecules.27 The thermal stability is also important for H-PHA and F-PHA and is evaluated using the AIMD simulations with a 2 Ã- 2 Ã- 1 supercell and a time step of 1 fs for 5000 steps at room temperature (300 K) and 1000 K. Temperature (T) and total energy (Et) as functions of simulation time are plotted in Figures 2 and S1. T and Et converge to constants and the fully H-PHA and F-PHA keep their integrated structures during the AIMD simulations at the setting temperature. These facts demonstrate that hydrogenated or fluorinated phagraphene not only possesses robust thermal stability at room temperature, but also is resistant to high temperature such as 1000 K. In order to examine the dynamic stability, the phonon dispersion curves along the high symmetry points in the BZ and the corresponding phonon density of states (PDOS) are calculated (Figure 3). No imaginary frequencies are found for both fully H-PHA and fully F-PHA, demonstrating that they are dynamically stable. There are three obvious acoustic modes in the bottom of the phonon spectra for the two structures, and the double degenerates arise along the X–Z path of the BZ. These features are similar to the pristine phagraphene,19 graphene45 and its derivatives.12 From the PDOS, one can see that the H-PHA has a tremendous phonon gap of approximately 40 THz, while it is small for F-PHA (about 3 THz). The vibration frequency is inversely proportional to the effective atomic mass,12 thus the larger phonon gap of H-PHA than F-PHA may be attributed to the much lighter atomic mass of hydrogen than fluorine atom. Meanwhile, the narrow high frequency zone around 87 THz in Figure 3a is corresponding to the C-H bond vibration modes of H-PHA, in accordance with the case of hydrocarbon.46 These C-H stretching modes are infrared active and useful in characterizing this compound.44 The low frequency range from 5 to 10 THz in Figure 3b mainly consists of the phonon modes of C-F bonds. The middle frequency range is dominated by the motion of C atoms. The C=C double bonds were broken by hydrogenation/fluorination, resulting in the disappearance of C-C vibration modes in the region of 40-50 THz for pristine phagraphene.19 3.3 Electronic structures In order to explore the electronic properties and bonding features, the band structures and density of states (DOS) of partially and fully hydrogenated/fluorinated phagraphene are calculated using both PBE and HSE06 functionals. As an example for partially H-PHA, 60% hydrogenation of phagraphene is chosen and four stable configurations (see Figure S2) are designed. The band structures of these configurations are shown in Figures 4 and S3. One can see that the band structures disperse greatly to single band, leading to the sharp peak appearing in the DOS at the EF. Meanwhile, a sub-bandgap located below or above the primary bandgap was observed. From calculations with PBE functional (Figure S3), the bandgaps of the four configurations vary from 2.65 eV (Figure S3a) to 1.72 eV (Figure S3b) to 0.93 eV (Figure S3c) to 0 (Figure S3d). The PBE functional usually underestimates the bandgap of materials.12 To obtain a more accurate Egap, the hybrid functional HSE06 is adopted. The calculated bandgaps with HSE functional in Figure 4 are 3.70 eV, 2.46 eV, 1.56 eV and 0.54 eV for the four configurations. Thus, one can conclude that the bandgap of partially hydrogenated phagraphene depends on configuration and adsorption-induced semimetal-semiconductor transition occurs. Such a functionalized 2D material with a proper bandgap has promising applications in optoelectronics and microelectronics.29, 47 The band structures and DOS of fully H-PHA and fully F-PHA are shown in Figures 5 and S4. From calculations with PBE functional (Figure S4), fully H-PHA and F-PHA have direct bandgaps of 4.29 eV and 3.23 eV, respectively. To examine the influence of configuration on the electronic properties, another four configurations of fully hydrogenated phagraphene (see Figure S5) are taken into account. The calculated band structures of the five configurations (Figures S4a and S6) are almost the same and the bandgaps are approximately 4.29 eV, indicating that the Egap of fully hydrogenated phagraphene is independent of the configuration. Similar behavior was found for fully hydrogenated graphene.27 We also calculated the band structures and DOS with HSE06 functional (Figure 5), and obtained that Egap for fully H-PHA and fully F-PHA are 5.37 and 4.98 eV, respectively. These values are comparable to the Egap of hydrogenated/fluorinated penta-graphene (5.35 eV and 4.78 eV) while they are larger than those of corresponding graphene (4.97 eV and 4.74 eV).12 Obviously, the Egap of F-PHA is smaller than that of H-PHA. Similar results are found in cases of hydrogenated/fluorinated graphene26, 27 and penta-graphene.12Compared to the pristine phagraphene with zero bandgap, the surface modification via hydrogenation or fluorination can effectively tune its electronic structure from semimetal to insulator. Analysis of the partial DOS (Figure 5) reveals that, for H-PHA, the electronic states near the Fermi level (EF) are primarily originated from the C atoms, while they are dominated by both C and F atoms for F-PHA. Additional, from Figures 4 and 5, one can conclude that the bandgaps of H-PHA and F-PHA depend on the adsorption ratio of H and F atoms. We also examine the effect of strain on the band structures. The obtained stress-strain curves of fully H-PHA and F-PHA under biaxial loading (Figure S7) show that their fracture strains are 0.17 and 0.13, respectively. By changing the biaxial tensile strain, the bandgaps of fully H-PHA and F-PHA remain the direct gaps (Figures S8 and S9). Furthermore, upon increasing the biaxial tensile strain, the bandgap of fully H-PHA increases first and then decreases (Figure 6a), whereas the bandgap of fully F-PHA decreases monotonically (Figure 6b). These behaviors indicate that bandgaps depend on the strain. Strain-dependent bandgaps of other 2D materials were also determined previously.48-52 More interestingly, our calculations show that the bandgap of H-PHA reduces from 5.62 eV (ε = 0.10) to 4.42 eV (ε = 0.17) and the bandgap of F-PHA decreases from 4.98 eV (ε = 0) to 3.01 eV (ε = 0.13), indicating that an insulator-semiconductor transition occurs with the tensile strain changes. To visually describe the electronic structure of fully H-PHA and F-PHA, we calculate the charge density. As shown in Figure 7, the charges are redistributed after hydrogenation or fluorination. Compared to the charge densities of C=C bonds in pristine phagraphene (see Figure S10), the charge densities of C-C bonds in H-PHA and F-PHA are reduced. For H-PHA, the shared charges donated by hydrogen are mainly located between the carbon and hydrogen atoms. For F-PHA, a large number of charges are focused on the fluorine atoms. This difference is a consequence of the different electronegativity of hydrogen and fluorine. For a selected element, its attraction of electrons becomes stronger with higher electronegativity.53, 54 The electronegativity increases gradually from hydrogen to carbon to fluorine.53 Thus the charge transfer is from hydrogen to carbon atoms in H-PHA while it is from carbon to fluorine atoms in F-PHA, which is consistent with other hydrocarbons and fluorocarbons.12, 55-57 Moreover, the charge density between H and C is lower than that between F and C, implying the weaker C-H interaction than C-F. The Mulliken population analysis58 shows that the transfer charge amounts are approximately 0.22 and 0.33 electrons for H-PHA and F-PHA, respectively, manifesting the weaker bond strength of C-H than that of C-F. 3.4 Mechanical properties Since the ultrathin 2D phagraphene as well as its derivatives is susceptible to external influences, including mechanical deformation,24 it is necessary to develop an in-depth understanding of their mechanical properties for practical application. The elastic constants are calculated (definitions are given at Section S2 of Supporting Information) and the obtained results are tabulated in Table 2, together with the existing reference data24 for comparison. All the elastic constants of fully H-PHA and fully F-PHA satisfy the mechanical stability criteria of C11C22 − C122 > 0 and C66 > 0 for 2D sheets,3, 59 indicating that they are mechanically stable. The in-plane Young’s modulus (E) and Poisson’s ratio (ν) can be derived from the elastic constants using the formulas of E = (C112 − C122) / C11 and ν = C12 / C11.24 The E of fully H-PHA and F-PHA are 151.3 and 176.3 N/m (see Table 2), respectively, which are consistent with the results from the stress-strain curves (149.2 and 178.5 N/m for fully H-PHA and F-PHA, respectively). The Poisson’s ratio ν of fully H-PHA and F-PHA are 0.078 and 0.152, respectively. Because the larger E implies the stronger stiffness and the larger Poisson’s ratio signifies the stronger incompressibility,24 the F-PHA has better stiffness and resistance to volume compression than the H-PHA, which may ascribe to the stronger C-F bonds than C-H bonds. Compared to pristine phagraphene, the E and ν of H-PHA and F-PHA are significantly reduced. Such reduction may be related to their different charge density distribution and bond nature.12, 24 4. Conclusions In summary, we systematically study the structure, stability, electronic and mechanical properties of hydrogenated and fluorinated phagraphene sheets. Our results show that H-PHA and F-PHA are thermodynamically and dynamically as well as mechanically stable. The binding energy and formation energy of fully F-PHA are smaller than those of fully H-PHA, implying the stronger stability of F-PHA than H-PHA. After hydrogenation or fluorination, the bandgap of phagraphene is opened properly, resulting in an adsorption-induced semimetal-semiconductor transition or adsorption-induced semimetal-insulator transition. Strain-induced insulator-semiconductor transition is also identified. Our band structures demonstrate that bandgap of fully H-PHA is insensitive to the configuration whereas the bandgap of partially H-PHA is sensitive to the configuration. Adsorption-ratio-dependent of H-PHA and F-PHA is also determined. The obtained bandgaps from both PBE and HSE06 functionals of fully F-PHA are smaller than fully H-PHA. The charges are transferred from hydrogen to carbon atoms in the fully H-PHA while it is from carbon to fluorine atoms in the fully F-PHA. The positive Poisson’s ratios of fully H-PHA and F-PHA manifest that they can well resist the volume deformation.Both the Young’s moduli and Poisson’s ratios of the two phagraphene derivatives are significantly smaller than the pristine phagraphene. This investigation suggests that hydrogenation or fluorination is an effective strategy to modulate the electronic and mechanical properties of phagraphene for its possible applications in nanoelectronics. Acknowledgements The authors acknowledge the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21401064, 21206049 and 51472102), the Natural Science Foundation of the Education Department of Henan Province (15A150060), the National Natural Science and Henan Province United Foundation of China (U1204601), Special Program for Applied Research on Super Computation of the NSFC-Guangdong Joint Fund (the second phase), and Leading Talents for Zhengzhou Science and Technology Bureau (Grant No. 131PLJRC649) for supports. We thank the National Supercomputer Center in Guangzhou and the High performance Computing Center of Huanghe Science and Technology College for the computer time provided. References 1.A. H. Castro Neto, F. Guinea, N. M. R. Peres, K. S. Novoselov and A. K. Geim, Rev. Mod. Phys., 2009, 81, 109-162. 2.D. Malko, C. Neiss, F. Viñes and A. Görling, Phys. Rev. Lett., 2012, 108, 086804. 3.S. Zhang, J. Zhou, Q. Wang, X. Chen, Y. Kawazoe and P. Jena, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 2015, 112, 2372-2377. 4.Y. Liu, G. Wang, Q. Huang, L. Guo and X. Chen, Phys. Rev. Lett., 2012, 108, 225505. 5.L. Xu, R. Wang, M. Miao, X. Wei, Y. Chen, H. Yan, W. Lau, L. Liu and Y. Ma, Nanoscale, 2014, 6, 1113-1118. 6.K. S. Novoselov, A. K.
ETHICS 101 Southwestern College Great Buys Ethical Issues Powerpoint.
7-10 powerpoint slidesGreat Buys is an internet-based company headquartered in New York that sells household electronics to consumers in the United States. The management team at Great Buys has some concerns about its online contracting process. The management team asks you, the company’s contract manager, to work with your team and address their concerns that include the following:
Great Buys is not sure it has a binding contract with its customers, since the contract is completely online and in electronic format.Consumers have argued they are not bound to the online contract because there is no handwritten “pen and ink” signature.Great Buys also wants to know if any international laws will apply once the company starts selling its electronic products internationally.Great Buys has been sued in different state courts all over the country, and it would like to know if an arbitration clause requiring that arbitration be conducted in New York City will be enforceable.Great Buys would also like to know the types of intellectual property (IP) that should be protected and the IP clauses that would be beneficial for them to add to the contract.Finally, Great Buys wants one or two suggestions for improving its internal business procedures so that customer product complaints do not turn into contract-related claims or lawsuits.Create a 7- to 10-slide Microsoft® PowerPoint® with visuals and speaker notes that provides answers to Great Buys’ concerns, as well as recommendations for specific contract clauses or language. Your Learning Team can incorporate graphics, animation, or interactive PowerPoint® features, such as Designer and Morph (some features require a valid Microsoft Office 365 subscription), consistent with the University of Phoenix’s guidelines for use of third-party materials. Your Learning Team should determine how to allocate tasks among team members and submit a single Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation (do not submit presentations by individual Learning Team members).
ETHICS 101 Southwestern College Great Buys Ethical Issues Powerpoint
writer’s choice Essay. – Investigate one of the following disease processes: anxiety, major depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, lower back pain, or head trauma/traumatic brain injury. 1.Analyze and describe the pathophysiology of the disease process and discuss the evidence-based pharmacological treatments in your state and how they affect the management of the disease in your community. (3/4 – 1 page) 2.Discuss the clinical guidelines for assessment, diagnosis, and patient education for the disease process. (3/4 – 1 page) 3.Analyze how the disease process affects patients, families, and populations in communities. (3/4 – 1 page) 4.Discuss briefly three strategies you could use to implement best practices for managing the disease in your current healthcare organization. (3/4 – 1 page) 5.Your paper should have a maximum of 4 pages and a minimum of 3, excluding the title and reference pages. You must cite and reference a minimum of three to four scholarly sources and reference national guidelines.writer’s choice Essay
Introduction Before undertaking a critical analysis of collective and individual pay systems and how these systems have been affected by key socio- economic changes in Britain over the past thirty years, it is important to first define the meaning of pay, reward/ reward management, collectivism and individualism. From here the author will consider the key socio-economic factors that have influenced the change in practice and look at the development of reward management within the context of personal development. Pay, Reward, Collectivism and Individualism Pay “is used to denote the wages, salaries or fees paid by employers in return for the provision of labour”. (Hollinshead, Nicholls and Tailby, 1999, p. 332) The concept of reward has developed over the last twenty five years and has evolved from the concept of basic pay. “Reward management involves the analysis and effective control of employee remuneration and covers salary and all benefits. It assesses the nature and extent of rewards and the way they are delivered as well as considering their effect on both the organisation and staff.” (Cornwell website, 2007) Reward management therefore is a strategic pay control system, which is central both to the organisation and to the management of Human Resources within that organisation. The term “Reward Management” was coined by Armstrong and Murliss in 1988 and they and other scholars support the view that: “Reward management is not just about money. It is also concerned with those non financial rewards which provide intrinsic or extrinsic motivation”. ( Armstrong and Murliss, 1988, p.12) Collectivism or Collective Bargaining “is the process of negotiation between unions and employers regarding the terms and conditions of employment of employees, and about the rights and responsibilities of trade unions. It is a process of rule making, leading to joint regulation”. (Eurofound website, 2007). Collective Bargaining is fundamentally a representative process, in which Trade Unions, who represent the employee, negotiate with key organisational personnel i.e. managers, who represent the organisation, in order to reach agreement on the terms and conditions of employment. According to the WERS Report 2004 – Inside the Workplace, collective bargaining is most prevalent in large organisations. The term Individualist, Performance Related Pay or Contingent Pay “is the standard term used to describe schemes for providing financial rewards which are related to individual performance, competence, contribution or skill.” (Armstrong and Stephens, 2005, p.231) Socio Economic Considerations Before delving into the detail of collectivism and individualism, it is important to look at the socio-economic changes that have taken place over the last thirty years. The rise of Thatcherism and the focus on the “personal society” and the concept of “market forces” have played a significant part in the changes to pay and reward within the workplace. The Thatcherist doctrine of the 1980’s was heavily focussed on curbing the power of the Trade Unions. This she successfully achieved, but at some cost to certain elements of society. Although, still significant players, trade unions are not now as influential as they once were. For example, According to the findings of the WERS Report 2004 – Inside the Workplace, the decrease in the number of Trade Union representatives (particularly within non public sector and small work places) between 1988 and 2004, has lead to a decline in collective power. Additionally, the report noted that pay issues were far less likely to be discussed in workplace consultative committees, if a Trade Representative was not present. Again, this demonstrates a move towards a new pay orthodoxy. Margaret Thatcher viewed market forces as a means to promote healthy businesses and expose the weaker ones, seeking to create an entrepreneurial society, with a focus on individual success and performance. This has been the prevalent idea since the mid 1980s and has influenced workers’ expectations of reward. (BCC website, 2004) The following extract from the Guardian, gives a helpful summary of the economic changes brought about under Thatcher:- “The Conservative economic revolution of the 1980s casts a long shadow. It broke the power of organised labour, deregulated the economy and opened it up to global market forces. Geoffrey Howe’s 1981 austerity budget of public spending cuts and tax increases pitched Britain into mass unemployment and helped destroy the last vestiges of the post war welfare consensus. In 1978 there were 7.1 million employed in manufacturing, by 2008 that had fallen to 3 million. There has been no significant private investment in the de-industrialised regions. They have still not recovered their social fabric or productive economies and are now sustained by government spending.” (The Guardian website, February 2010) There are four points to highlight from this quotation:- The rise of individual entrepreneurialism The reduction in the power of the Unions The break-up of large organisations, both manufacturing and other industries (coal.) In such organisations collective pay settlements were the norm, if those people are now employed at all now, it is likely they are in smaller businesses, which tend not have collective bargaining. The change from mainly an industrial, manufacturing economy to one where the service industry dominates. Over the last thirty years, the standard of living in this country has increased significantly for middle and working class workers but as a consequence, contemporary workers have far higher expectations, with regards to pay and reward and want their efforts to be individually recognised. High performance workers demand to be recognised and rewarded and thus both social and economic pressures currently exist to support individualist pay systems. The Development of Reward Management Pay management systems in Britain have changed considerably over the last thirty years and many of these changes have occurred as a result of important external and internal influences on organisations. The author has chosen to focus on the work of Armstrong (1988) to carry out this analysis, as he is a renowned scholar in the field of pay and reward in the U.K. “Old Pay” Systems The Early 1980s According to Armstrong and Murliss (1998), these were:- Pay based on the national “going rate” negotiated centrally with the main Trade Unions “White collar” and managerial “fine” pay structures, created to assist promotion increases that did not fall within the norms of income policy, were often “open” to abuse and resulted out of “decaying” job evaluation initiatives Limited Performance Related Pay or incentive schemes for office, technical, professional or managerial staff Incremental increases on fixed service-related pay were the norm Senior management Tax- effective benefits The late “Enterpreneurial” 1980s According to Armstrong and Murliss (1998), the entrepreneurial 1980s witnessed dramatic changes to pay systems. During this period pay’s role changed from being viewed as a “back office” function to a key management mechanism for change during the formation of the “Enterprise Culture”. Pay systems became dominated by performance related pay and incentive schemes. Armstrong and Murliss (1998) argue that during this period reward management’s philosophy developed important features which demonstrated many similarities to Human Resource Management philosophy, including:- Treating employees as organisational assets Earning the commitment of these employees to the organisation’s core values and objectives Allowing staff members to achieve their full potential and to contribute fully to organisational goal achievement The Post Entrepreneurial 1990s Many of the simplistic pay models implemented in the late 1980’s failed to achieve their objectives (Armstrong and Murliss, 1998) New ” Pay” Systems The 1990s saw the adoption of a more strategically focused pay systems, which are still operational in contemporary private and public sector organisations. Armstrong and Murliss (1998) noted that the main developments to be incorporated into “new pay” systems in the 1990s included:- People-based pay, with emphasis on role adaptability and a move towards generic roles and job families, which focus on continual development and competence The introduction of second/ third generation performance- related pay, which focuses on improving performance rather than merely rating it Determining the value of employee inputs and outputs in Performance management i.e. development and motivation Recognising the employees as an organisational “stakeholder”, who is included in processes which affect their parts of the employment relationship for example pay According to the findings CIPD Survey 2004 of Performance Management, (cited in Armstrong and Stephens, 2005), 56% of the 566 respondents had some type of Performance related Pay. Armstrong and Stephens (2005) argue that many people view Performance Related Pay as a key people motivator, however they argue that non financial rewards i.e. the work undertaken and the working environment form an important part of the whole reward package. However, according to the findings of The e-research 2004 Survey of Performance Related Pay (cited in Armstrong and Stephens, 2005) the main factors for using Performance Related Pay are:- To acknowledge and reward superior performance To appeal to and maintain excellent personnel To enhance organisational performance To concentrate efforts on strategic values and results The Decline of Collectivism According to the WERS Report 2004 and Edwards (2003) the declining influence of the trade unions led to the decline of collectivism, which the WERS Report 2004 noted occurred between 1988-2004, particularly in non public sector and private organisations. The WERS Report 2004 noted that “By far the most common pay determination in 2004 was unilateral pay setting by management.” (WERS Report, 2004, p.19) i.e.individualism. Collective Bargaining in the Public Sector According to the WERS Report 2004, despite the decline of collective bargaining, it is still used as a means to set pay in larger organisations for example, in public sector organisations, for example, in the public administration and Utilities Industries. Collective Bargaining in the Private Sector According to the WERS Report 2004, Collective Bargaining was virtually non- existent in private sector organisations, for example, the Hotel and Restaurant Industry. In addition, the report noted that collective bargaining has not been replaced by any other single pay determination method, however mixed methods were less used and varying methods of single pay determination were used across the workplace. (WERS Report, 2004) Evidence of the Decline of Collectivism in the U.K. The decline in the use of Collective Bargaining in the U.K., as a pay determination method, over the last thirty years, is clearly illustrated in Table 1, Appendix 1. The Rise of Individualism or Performance Related Pay Some of the key reasons for the rise of individualism in pay systems in the U.K. can be summarised as follows:- The Terms and conditions of staff are increasingly important Aspiration and expectation – increasingly staff want to be rewarded for doing a good job As mentioned above the socio-economic factors – decline of the trade unions Increased competitive pressures Increasingly market forces constraining employers discretion Driving change (in pay and reward) is the need to strengthen the link to business performance , cost control, support for organisational change and recruitment and retention pressures ( Wright, 2007) As we have moved away from Collectivism, the last thirty years has been dominated by change and experimentation. Basic pay, which applies to the collective is supplemented and enhanced by pay systems that seek to differentiate between individuals in some way. Inconsistencies in Individualism/ Performance Related Pay From the research undertaken, it is clear that contemporary pay systems, some of the features of which are noted in brief on page 7, are determined through collective bargaining or Individualism/ Performance Related Pay, the latter of which has given rise to organisation- based pay setting, which has led to inequalities in pay in the U.K. since 1980. (Edwards, 2003) Individualism/ Performance Related Pay does not apply across the board to all categories of staff. Of particular note is the disparity in packages between managers and workers, for example, The WERS Report 2004 recorded that 45% of managers had company cars, while only 15% of workers had company cars and 38% of managers had private health care, while only 16% of workers had private health care. Performance related pay matrices, as illustrated in Appendix 2, are often used to determine pay increases in relation to performance and pay range position ( Armstrong and Stephens, 2005) Managers need to apply these systems both equally and fairly and therefore, there will need to be some form of mediation with all senior managers to ensure o harmonisation and the implementation of quotas, as not everybody can be rated, as excellent, as it would cost the organisation too much money. Decline in Popularity of Individualism/ Performance Related Pay Performance Related Pay became popular in the late 1980s, as noted earlier on pages 5-7, however, numerous reasons have lead to a decline in its popularity , for example:- Performance Related Pay has become surrounded by complaints about inconsistencies, as noted above, and (therefore) bias Managers who carry out appraisals and administer related monitoring processes often lack the necessary training Performance Related Pay assumes that performance is totally “in the hands” of the individual, however performance is affected by the organisation/ environment they work in The qualifying criteria for Performance Related Pay demanding and difficult to achieve ( Armstrong and Stephens, 2005) Labour Research, September 2000, reported some significant failings of Performance Related Pay in the public sector, by citing IRS Pay and Benefits Bulletin Survey, which found for example, that 75% of public PRP schemes were too insignificant to motivate staff and that 29% of public sector organisations felt PRP was too costly. According to Wright (2007), the Approach has moved on from simply collectivism and individualism to refining thoughts about individualism, taking into account staff engagement, trust and commitment. There is a need to develop management when looking at the design of reward systems. Wright (2007) cites Milsome (2005), who noted from the Reward Management Symposium (2005) ” that reward practices are rarely based on evidence of what produces good organisational outcomes and what does not.” (Wright, 2007, p.159) Pay and Reward Today According to the CIPD (2010) “Today the notion of linking pay to a wider definition of employee contribution is gaining ground. This emphasises not only performance in the sense of output (the end result that is achieved) but also the input (what the employee has contributed in a more holistic sense.” (CIPD Website, 2010) It could be said that these developments demonstrate a more “rounded” and fairer approach to measuring individual performance. The CIPD (2010) refer to a members’ poll, carried out in March 2009 to gauge the effects of the economic crisis on performance management. It is significant to note 92% of the respondents believed there had been an increased level of performance management in general, 88% of the respondents felt that it was necessary to re-evaluate performance measures to replicate the more demanding work environment. With reference to rewarding performance, 63% of respondents felt that it was harder to reward good performance in the current climate and 90% of respondents felt that reward performance should include the use of increased levels of non-financial incentives. (CIPD, 2010) The results from the CIPD members’ poll clearly demonstrates the continued importance of performance management but it does also highlight that the current economic crisis has and is likely to continue to affect Performance Related Pay. Conclusion It is true that collectivism has declined and individualism has increased but it is not as simple as one approach replacing the other. Collectivism really started to decline in the Thatcher years with the destruction of the trade unions’ power and the support for individual endeavour in an attempt to improve the UK’s economic performance. Thatcher was a great believer in meritocracy and open competition. This lead to the rise of the importance of the individual. Over the years we have seen this develop from being just about Pay to encompassing the wider concept of Reward (e.g. longer holidays, flexible hours, private health, etc). In the early Eighties this type of Reward was the preserve of Managers, but is now applied at many different levels. This has been strengthened in recent years as a result of two key factors: (i) two recessions within the space of 20 years where companies have struggled to find ways to retain and reward skilled employees other than the traditional financial remuneration, (ii) the changing face of the UK industry from manufacturing to services. However, Collectivism still has its place in larger public organisations and some private ones, particularly where it is very difficult to differentiate between the performance of individuals doing exactly the same lightly skilled jobs, and where the “going rate” for the job is still a valid concept. Although Individualism does dominate, it has itself developed again in the last 15 years where it has moved from pure Performance Related Pay to systems which are more objective in their assessment and also endeavoured to focus on staff improvement and development. Bibliography:- Armstrong, M., and Murliss, H., (1998.4th ed.) Reward Management : A Handbook of Remuneration Strategy and Practice, Kogan Page, pp.1-57 Armstrong, M., and Stephens, T., (2005) “Individual contingent pay”, in Employee Reward Management and Practice. London, Kogan Page, pp.231-254 BBC News, Retrieved, 2nd January 2011 from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3681973.stm, Cornwell website, Retrieved 7th January 2011 from http://www.cornwell.co.uk/people_management/reward_management.asp CIPD (2010) Performance Related Pay Factsheet, Retrieved 10th January 2011 from: http://www.cipd.co.uk/shapingthefuture/_eccrsplrst.htm?IsSrchRes=1 Eurofound website, Retrieved 6th January 2011 from: Edwards, P.,( 2003 ed.) Industrial Relations, Oxford Blackwell Hollinshead, G., Nicholls, P., and Tailby, S., (1999), “Pay”, in Employee Relations, London: Pitman Publishing, pp.332-377 Kersley, B., Alpin, C., Forth, J., Bryson, A., Bewley, H., Dix,G., And Oxenbridge, S., (2004) Inside the Workplace, First Findings from the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey ( WERS 2004) Labour Research Department (September 2000) Performance -related pay failing in the public sector, Publications Online for Amicus members The Guardian (2010), Retrieved on 2nd January 2010 from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/feb/28/economics-conservatives-legacy-housing-election Wright, A., (2007), “Through a Glass Darkly: problems and issues in reward,” in Porter, C., Bingham, C., and Simmonds, D., (2008), Exploring Human Resource Management, McGraw Hill. London, pp.159-177 Appendix 1 The Decline of Collective Bargaining in the U.K. Membership % of Density % Covered by Collective Bargaining 1979 13 million 59 70 1997 7.8 30.2 33.3 2006 7.6 28.4 35.3 ————————————————————————————————– Constructed from data provided through the Workplace Industrial Relations (and Employee Relations) Survey series 1980-2004 and a certification Office report for 2007
Piezo-resistive pressure sensor
Introduction: Sensor is defined to be a device that can be responded to any type of signal and can receive those signals. The physical property of sensor is that it can convert any input into electrical signals with in electronic circuits. A sensor does not function itself because it is such larger system and consist of many detectors, signal processors and memory devices. In every device sensor is placed in either intrinsic or extrinsic states. Sensors are of two kinds, one is passive that can directly generate electric signal and responds to external factors. Another is active sensors these needed some external power of excitation signal for operation of the device. Sensors can be classified into many ways according to the usage. The classification scheme arranged from simple to complex. Sensors are divided into physical, chemical and biological type. The physical sensors consist of thermoelectric, photoelectric, electro elastic, photo elastic and pressure sensors. Sensor is the one of the MEM’S application. Among different types of physical sensors iam discussing in this essay about the Piezo-Resistive pressure sensors. The Piezo-Resistive sensors are used to measure the strain on a silicon diaphragm. Piezo-Resistive sensor devices are widely used in bio-medical field. These types of sensors always need temperature sensors for calibrating the device. Piezo-Resistive pressure sensor is the commercial product that is successful in MEM’S technology. For increase the progress in integrated circuits the sensors are combined with the Piezo-Resistive effect. These types of sensors are widely used in many applications like in pressure switches, pressure gauges and in automobile parts. In this essay in below the Piezo-Resistive pressure sensors physical principle, fabrication process and the design system and the applications of this type of sensors is explained. Physical principle: The Piezo-Resistive pressure sensor main principle is linearity and sensitivity. These two are the main principles involved in this type of sensor. Piezo-Resistive principle: An elastic material is taken and due to some source the strip of this material tends to move and if there is increase in longitudinal dimension then there will be decrease in lateral dimensions then cross section area will be decreased. If this is positive strain means there will be change in resistance value due to Piezo-Resistive effect. The pressure sensor consists of Silicon diaphragm, Piezo-Resistive in a wheat stone bridge and Silicon diaphragm is used to convert pressure into mechanical stress. The Piezo-Resistors converts stress into resistance and then finally resistivity changes into output voltage. Subsystems here are divided into pressure sensor with high sensitivity and good linearity and this entire setup. Linearity: Analysis of linearity begins with small deflection theories and deflections are small compared to thickness of diaphragm. If the error in linearity error is less than 0.3% then linearity error decreases as the length of resistivity changes. As the length of resistor increases then linearity error will be decreased. There are some steps to be followed in linearity. First the magnitude error must be lower than linearity error then shape of curves varies as the length of the materials changes. Then error moves from negative to positive applied pressure changes. In final step linearity error is no more symmetric and it will be irregular. If the diaphragm thickness increases then linearity error also reduces then error shifts from positive to negative sign. A best linearity error observed at a diaphragm with a thickness of 2.2µm.The linearity error decreases if the thickness of diaphragm increases. When compared to linearity error in square and circular diaphragm means in circular diaphragm occupies less area then square. Then large deflections are reduced in this case. Sensitivity: Sensitivity analysis is based on small deflection theories of plates. The pressure deflection relationship of plates is fabricated from isotropic and homogenous materials. The location and shape of resistors are also the effects of pressure sensors. Resistors are usually placed where there will be increase in stress larger to increase the sensitivity. The parameters are length L, width W, for the shape and the distance between in outer parallel resistor and the distance between in outer parallel resistor and diaphragm is 2dXt and distance between perpendicular resistor and diaphragm id dy.Sensitivity is approximated if all resistors are exactly same and have no Zero offset. In circular shape diaphragm the sensitivity is high at the edge and resistors are placed in radical directions. In top or bottom of diaphragm the sensitivity is high. Fabrication process: The pressure sensor chips are packaged individually for pre-moulded-housing packing techniques leading to low packaging throughout a large body. The packaging steps are shown in below and here top-down fabrication process takes place. A lithographic dam-ring approach is used to develop for fabricating the Piezo-Resistive pressure sensors. Initially a pressure sensor wafer with Pyrex glass combination is taken and the thickness of layer is up to 150µm. The ultra thick layer of 150µm with negative-tone positive resist is spin coated on the surface at a level up to 4inches. Then photolithography process is taken place to use dam-ring approach around the silicon membrane surface of the pressure surfaces. Then dicing process is used to separate the wafer and then splits into multiple pressure chips as observed. Then an adhesive material is placed on die pads on the substrate and then a dam-ring is then picked and placed on the die pads of organic substrate. Then it is heated to cross link the adhesive material and it will combine both pressure sensor and organic substrate. Then a wire bonding takes place between the aluminium bonding pads of the pressure sensors and the electrode pads of organic substrate. Then organic panel substrate is attached with pressure sensors and placed into a transfer molding and encapsulate the pressure sensors and organic panel substrate. Because the top surface is moulded with inner wall surface in a closed position then inner space of dam-ring is not fulfilled by the fluid epoxy moling compound (EMC) during molding process. Finally a pressure with a sensing channel space is separated from the organic substrate by using a saw machine after the EMC process. Dam-ring deposition: In photo resist model to achieve a wide operation window a specific coating thickness is required. For this high film thickness a photo resist with high viscosity is taken. A spin wafer and a hot plate are used for spin coating process of the dam-ring material. To produce a ultra thick sacrifice layer a two stage spin coating process is employed. Lithographic process is introduced to achieve a double layer of photo resist in dam-ring method. Transfer molding:As the pressure sensor is attached to organic substrate then substrate is placed in a transfer molding.To reduce the wrapage of encapsulated product the molding compound must be carefully chosen so that thermal expansion is close to that of organic substrate. To eliminate the wrapping of organic panel substrate a low molding temperature of 165° is utilized. The silicon membrane of pressure sensor and pressure loading of environment is reserved by the dam-ring. Design of the system: The majority available of micro-machined pressure sensors are bulk micro-machined Piezo-resistive devices. The Piezo-resistors are arranged in such a way by selectively doping portions of the diaphragm to form junction-isolated resistors. In an anisotropic material in silicon is defined by a tensor that relates the three directional components of the electric field to the three directional components of current flow. In a tensor general it has nine elements and expresses in a 3*3 matrix as they reduce to six independent values. Where Ei and Ji are electric field and current density components and ?i is the resistivity component. If the Cartesian axis is aligned to the (100) axes in a cubic crystal structure then ρ1, ρ2, ρ3 are equal along the (100) axes denoted by ‘ρ’.The remaining components of matrix and then cross axis resistivity’s will be zero due to unstressed silicon is electrically isotropic. Finally the change in the components in the matrix leads to six stress components by a 36 element tensor. This tensor is finally populated by three non-zero components as shown in below. Here ΠIJ co-efficient have units of Pa-1 and this can be either positive or negative. The Π11 have the resistivity in any direction to stress in same directions. The equation (1) is derived along the (100) co-ordinate axes and convenient to apply. The fractional change is represented as ΔR/R = ΠLσL ΠTσT. Where ΠL and σL are Piezo-resitive co-efficient and these are parallel to the direction of current flow and Πt and σt are values in transverse direction. Combining the equations by using a transformation of the co-ordinate system in (100) axes the equations can be stated as ΠL = Π11 2(Π44 Π12-Π11) * (L12m12 L12n12 n12m12) Πt = Π12-(Π44 Π12-Π11) * (L12L22 m12m22 n12n22) Where L1, m1, n1 are the directions cosines of a vector that are parallel to the current flow and L2,m2,n2 are unit length vector perpendicular to the resistor. By combining and neglecting terms in above two equations (2
Example of a Child Advocacy Center
java assignment help Example of a Child Advocacy Center. Paper details Example of a Child Advocacy Center Attached Files: Powerpoint Assignment: Instructions: A. use the case information and pictures if available attached to this assignment (view all of the pictures) and articles read to assist you with this assignment. Example of a Child Advocacy Center: i. you are to view the information describe the following: a. Make a list of viewable items shown in the pictures that are important for a child advocacy center and explain the use b. Make a list of each room in the child advocacy center and describe the importance and use of each room for an abused child c. What is the MDT team? d. list the members of the MDT team e. Act as a Forensic Interviewer and tell me which room you would use, describe the room, how you use the room, the importance of the room(s), also list the items and equipment that are important to receive information from the child. f. Act as a Child Therapist or Counselor and tell me which room you would use, describe the room, how you use the room, the importance of the room(s), also list the items and equipment that are important g. Act as an attorney, D.A. or ADA and describe the importance of the center and information received i. which items and equipment in the center can assist you with preparing for your case ii. how would you prepare for your case? iii. which members of the MDT team and court actors can assist you with your case and why? h. Which improvements would you make to this child advocacy center and why? B. Now, what if the child who was reported abused was from another country or state. What procedures and steps would you include in assessing the case?Example of a Child Advocacy Center
Milton Resnick’s Attitudes to Jackson Pollock Essay
All artists have their unique techniques to reveal their vision, their ideas. Milton Resnick also had a very specific technique. The artist even referred to his style as somewhat ridiculous (NordschleifeGray). Nonetheless, he claimed that he managed to capture motion, to capture images, and even ideas. Notably, Resnick’s attitude towards the canvas was somewhat similar to the attitude of another talented artist, Jackson Pollock. Thus, while working on his painting, Resnick notes that he needs to see the entire picture. The artist recollects the big painting he once worked on. This was the time when he realized that if he needed to move back to see the whole thing, he simply could not paint the work (NordschleifeGray). Milton Resnick admits that this is a simple rule to follow, and he never breaks this rule. He needs to be able to ’embrace’ the work to see where he is moving. Likewise, Jackson Pollock needed to ’embrace’ his works. The artist put his works on the floor to be able to reach any part of it or even to be inside the paper (Sayre 161). Pollock walked around the painting, and he wanted to be able to work on it from the four sides. Of course, the artist needed to see the whole thing as well. The development of the painting had to be observable for both artists. Basically, the two artists needed to perceive the painting as a whole. They could not divide it into sectors as every painting was a whole universe for them. Interestingly, the two artists had quite similar attitudes towards paints. It is even possible to say that their techniques were quite similar. Both artists argued that paint itself showed the way to work. Pollock used to say that the brush was a kind of continuation of his hand. He also noted that he did not mind images he wanted to reveal the motion of paint. Likewise, Resnick did not care about particular images. He only wanted to reveal some ideas, some colors. Resnick had a very interesting method. He was looking for some beginning and did not mind if his work changed totally. He followed the motion of color. The color set up certain rules, and Resnick eagerly followed those rules. The artists also had a very special attitude towards color. He once said that the color did not have to be bright (NordschleifeGray). The artist added that he understood that he did not fully understand the color. This may be the reason why he let the color lead him. Finally, both artists did not use sketches. They started painting when they had one idea in their heads. They had some image or, more likely, some idea to start with, and they let their painting develop. Resnick noted that such a technique could be seen as absolutely “ridiculous” (NordschleifeGray). However, he added that this was the technique he had been using for several decades quite successfully. To sum up, Milton Resnick, as well as Jackson Pollock, had a very special vision. The two artists perceived their works as a whole. They did not work on too big paintings, i.e., canvases which could not be reached from all sides. They used colors to reveal their ideas. More so, they let the color tell stories. They did not use sketches or plans as they simply revealed their ideas and emotions. They did not want to restrict themselves and art. Works Cited Sayre, Henry M. A Word of Art. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. Print. Get your 100% original paper on any topic done in as little as 3 hours Learn More NordschleifeGray. Milton Resnick Part 1. YouTube, 2011. Web. 2012.
Marketing Strategy of Sainsbury’s
Marketing Strategy of Sainsbury’s. Introduction The aim of this report is to provide an in-depth marketing analysis linked with the UK supermarket segment. The core idea here would be to develop an integrated research by highlighting one of the supermarkets and then developing core recommendations to improve the business presence in the market. It is important to highlight that the primary focus of the research is linked with the establishment of a more viable marketing strategy for ‘big 4’ supermarkets in the region. The report initially starts off with the development of a path to highlight the current supermarket situation in the market. The main focus here is to highlight the current market shares and the overall trends in the industry. This is followed by the choice of a single supermarket out of the big four. An analysis on that particular firm from the current market situation is conducted. This moves into the development of a marketing recommendation for the business. The main idea here is to develop a viable marketing strategy in order to improve the overall market visibility of the firm. UK Supermarket Industry The aim of this section is to highlight the current landscape of the UK supermarket industry. Butler (2015) states that the UK supermarket industry is one of the most competitive areas of the country. There are a total of 4 key supermarkets in the region, namely Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrsions. The Economist (2015) highlights that together these four supermarkets have over 60% of the total market share and hence are fairly visible in the market. However, over the past 5-10 years a slow yet strategic shift has happened. The UK supermarket industry has seen an influx in discounted supermarkets such as Lidl and Aldi. This has had a direct impact on the consumer buying pattern and hence seen a direct shift on the current big 4 from a market development and share point of view. Butler (2015) states that the development of discounted firms are impacting the overall landscape of the market by in fluxing a shift in market share. Hence, from a big 4 point of view. Sainsbury’s The focus of this report is based on Sainsbury’s as an organisation. Sainsbury’s currently has 16% of the market share and reported a revenue of GBP 23billion in 2014 (Sainsbury Annual Report, 2014). The organisation, since its inception has seen rapid development in its market share growth. However, Butler (2015) states that Sainsbury’s over the past decade has had a decline in its overall sales, with 2011 being one of the lowest revenue generation months for the business. This is clearly a sign of the firm losing traction in the market and therefore an indication that the organisation needs to revamp is current marketing strategy. Marketing Audit After establishing that as a firm Sainsbury’s needs to have a more visible approach to market its presence it is important to critically analyse the organisation’s current marketing strategy. A marketing audit is a comprehensive, logical process which allows a firm to develop an understating of where it lacks and servers as a mean to improve its market position (Ashill et al, 2003). To analyse, four key areas were analysed, segmentation, targeting, positioning and promotional marketing strategy. Segmentation is defined as one of the most important elements linked with market development (Varadarajan, 2010). The core notion of Sainsbury’s point of view involves both geographical and behavioural segmentation. The organisations uses the UK region as the primary geographical segment, on a behavioural side the firm aims to push itself as a mid-tier brand. The idea here is to capture market share based on the concept of best value for money. Targeting from a marketing point of view defines how an organisation portrays or highlights itself in the market (Pehrsson, 2004). Sainsbury as a firm uses segmentation based on behaviour which further trickle down to the organisation’s targeting strategy. Positioning defines how an organisation is perceived in the market. The core driving force here is normally how an organisation positions itself from a pricing point of view (Sainsbury Annual Report, 2014). Sainsbury as an organisation aims to target a more quality centric market and hence the pricing strategy of the firm ranges between medium and high end of the market (Banerjee and Dholkia, 2012). The firm uses this positioning strategy to highlight how it creates value for its consumers. Promotion: Promotional strategy is lined with the development of a process that allows an organisation to connect with its audience (Doyle and Stern, 2006). Sainsbury’s, as it stands uses a traditional marketing approach using television, radio and billboards to promote its products (Sainsbury Annual Report, 2014). Keeping this in context, it is important to indicate the development of a viable marketing strategy for the business. However, core limitations in the organisation’s current strategy are tied to its positioning strategy as well as how it promotes its products. The overall limitation is a liner positioning strategy that is almost always impacted by discount stores and their ability to under-cut the firm’s offering (Butler, 2015). This is a clear limitation from Sainsbury’s end as it allows the discount based organisations to take over the market share of the organisation and hence limits the overall position as well as the growth or the organisation. Furthermore, as highlighted in the audit, Sainsbury’s as an organisation uses a traditional promotional approach which has limited impact on the market development of the organisation. Research conducted by Bernhardt et al (2012) state that organisations operating at a large or small-scale need to develop a forward facing approach to promotional activities, which means that the use of social media forms a critically important component of market growth. This aspect which is missing from the organisation’s current strategy, therefore needs to be revamped and is discussed in the recommendations section. All in all it is clear that while Sainsbury’s is a well-known firm that operates on a large scale, the overall marketing strategy for the business is limited and hence the organisation being impacted significantly due to these marketing limitations. Marketing Recommendations While the previous section highlights the overall positioning of Sainsbury’s from a market point of view, it is now important to highlight core recommendations based on the initial audit conducted. In order to develop a viable marketing and business development strategy, it is important to develop a re-vamped marketing mix and then indicate a core promotional strategy based on this marketing mix. Three key areas of revamping segmentation, targeting and positioning is discussed below which lead to the development of a new marketing mix. Segmentation It is recommended that Sainsbury’s uses its current geographical positions to further enhance its market sustainability. The idea would be to continue to use a geographical segmentation approach with focus on geographical specific deals based on the concentration of buyers. This would allow the organisation to develop a bespoke formula to develop a segmentation strategy that improves business position in the market. Targeting Sainsbury’s needs to develop targeted tiers linked with its products. The main focus here would be to develop a target market that is not just quality but also value conscious. With a re-vamped product linked and improved positioning the main focus of the organisation needs to be on the development of a wide target audience linked directly to the variety of the products being offered by the firm. Positioning As discussed in the previous section, Sainsbury’s has positioned itself at the mid-tier of the market. The idea, based on the audit would be to introduce products that are able to compete with the lower end of the market from a pricing point of view. This would allow the organisation to develop a market presence which moves to penetrate the discounted market segment. The new STP strategy allows the firm to develop a more diverse role. This is critical from a development as well as an execution point of view as it would allow the organisation to re-position itself based on the current market demand and hence challenge the overall approach undertaken by the discounted supermarkets segment. Keeping the above in context, the following discussion highlights a re-vamped marketing mix for the firm. Kotler and Keller (2012) state that a viable marketing mix allows an organisation to improve its marketing strategy and therefore increases the level of sustainability for the organisation. Product: An integral part of any firm, product defines an organisation and is therefore linked with the core offering of the brand. Sainsbury’s being a supermarket offers a wide range of products. However, keeping the new segmentation and positioning strategy in context, the firm needs to develop a new product line of its top sellers. The idea would be to use a cost conscious approach with products that are of a higher quality than the discount stores. This would enable the firm to have a product line which can compete directly with the discount market segment. Price: The current pricing model needs to be improved if the firm wants to compete with the discount stores. The idea here would be the use of a pricing strategy that is diverse and hence spreads from low to the higher end of the market. This would allow the organisation to improve its current market position and hence develop a wider audience spectrum. Place: The current approach of the firm is applicable here which is the use of physical stores as the primary location for the business. It is recommended that this approach is continued however emphasis on temporary pop-up stores which promote and sell the new cost centric product line need to be introduced. This along with an emphasis on online shopping needs to be injected into the business. Promotion: The promotional strategy of the business is discussed in the following section. However, the organisation needs to develop a footprint in non-traditional promotions in order again positive market share for the business. The re-vamped marketing mix would allow the organisation to have a much stronger position in the market and therefore improve the position of the firm from a developmental point of view. An integral part of any marketing strategy is linked with how well a firm promotes itself in the market. Keeping the current strategy of Sainsbury’s under consideration, the idea here would be to develop a new promotional strategy which would improve the overall visibility of the organisation, key points of this strategy are discussed below: Pull Approach: As it stands the organisation using a push based promotional strategy. Pull promotional approach allows firm’s to engage their target audience (Hooley et al, 2012). This is something that needs to be adapted by Sainsbury’s in order to develop a viable footprint in the market. While traditional marketing is effective, Sainsbury’s needs to move into the non-traditional form of marketing promotions these are further detailed below. Non-traditional Marketing: The idea here would be the use of social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter in order to develop a direct link with the target audience. This would allow the organisation to engage its target audience and enhance the organisation’s current footprint in the market. Comparative Adverts: Sainsbury’s needs to provide direct quality centric analysis of its products with the discounted stores. This would help consumers realise the value offering of Sainsbury from a product point of view. Overall, a combination of a new marketing mix long with the use of a viable approach to promotions would improve the firm’s position in the market. Conclusion The discussion above highlights the importance and relevance of developing a market centric strategy. It is clear from the analysis that the UK supermarket industry is very competitive. Although it is currently dominated by the big 4 of the market, the current approach is not sustainable. The analysis highlighted that Sainsbury as an organisation use a limited marketing approach which has allowed discount stores to gain market traction. Keeping the discussion in context, a new marketing direction was proposed. The idea here would be to widen the pricing spectrum and launch a product line that directly targets the discount store offerings. This along with the use of a promotional strategy that is more effective in the current environment was proposed. References Ashill,N. Frederikson,M.Marketing Strategy of Sainsbury’s