Lab Report on Density Measurement

INTRODUCTION 1. 1 Background of the Experiment Mass density describes how heavy an object is. Defined by the Greek letter ? , read as rho, density is a basic yet important physical property of matter. For a bulk body without accounting its existing pores and voids, density is represented by the ratio of its mass and volume. It is given by the equation ? = massvolume 1. The SI unit of density is kg/m3. However, its CGS units, g/cm3 or g/ mL, are the most commonly used ones in the laboratory. The conversion is given by 1 gcm3=1gmL=1000 kgm3 [1].The density of a homogeneous liquid is also defined by the amount of mass per unit volume. Liquid is usually confined in a container, so its volume is relative to the volume of its container [2]. There are various instruments that are used to accurately measure the density of substances; the most commonly used are the densitometers, pycnometer and hydrometers [3]. In this experiment, the density of selected liquid samples will be measured using a pycnometer. 1. 2 Objectives of the Experiment 1. To determine the density of low boiling point liquid samples by measuring their mass at controlled volume; 2. o determine the density of alumina by measuring the mass and volume of variously shaped alumina balls; and 3. to compare the density calculated from the given samples with the standard density at room temperature. 1. 3 Significance of the Experiment At the end of the experiment, the laboratory performer is expected to learn the following; 1. the density of selected liquids and material at a given temperature; and 2. the proper method of measuring the volume and consequently the density of irregularly shaped objects using water displacement method.REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE Density is one of the most important and commonly used physical properties of matter. It is an intrinsic property which is represented by the ratio of a matter’s mass to its volume [3]. Density was purportedly discovered by the Greek scientist Arc himedes in an unusual circumstance. According to stories, King Hiero of Syracuse asked Archimedes to determine whether his new crown is made of pure gold or not. It was seemingly impossible to identify the gold percentage that composed the crown because chemical analysis was still unstudied in those times.One day, when Archimedes was enjoying himself to a bath, he observed that the further he went down the tub, the lesser he weighed and the higher the water level rose up. He then came to the realization that he could determine the ratio of the mass of the crown and the volume of water displaced by the crown, and compare it to the value measured from the pure gold sample. Hence, density and the principle behind it were revealed [4]. Density is dependent on many factors, one of which is temperature. It specifically decreases with increasing temperature.This is because an object’s volume undergoes thermal expansion at increasing temperature while its mass remains unchanged. This results to a decrease in density [1]. When matter undergoes a transformation to a different phase, it undergoes an abrupt change in density. The transition of molecules of matter to a less random form, say from gas to liquid or from liquid to solid, causes a drastic increase in the density. However, there are substances which behave differently from this density-temperature relationship, by which one example is water. The greatest density achieved by water molecules are at 4Â °C.At temperatures higher or lower than 4Â °C, its density slowly decreases. This makes ice less dense than water, a property not commonly exhibited by other liquids [3]. METHODOLOGY 3. 1 Materials A. Pycnometer, 25-mL B. Graduated cylinder, 1000-mL C. Graduated cylinder, 250-mL D. Beaker, 250-mL E. Low boiling point liquids (acetone, 70% solution ethyl alcohol, 70% solution isopropyl alcohol), 30 mL F. Distilled water G. Two sets of alumina balls (small cylindrical, large cylindrical and large spherical bal ls) H. Analytical balance beam 3. 2 Determining the Mass of a 25-mL Liquid [5] A.Carefully clean and dry the pycnometer. B. Weigh the empty pycnometer and its stopper in the balance beam and record the mass. C. Fill the pycnometer with the liquid sample up to its brim, and insert the stopper carefully. Wipe off any excess fluid on the sides of the pycnometer with a clean cloth or tissue. D. Balance and record the mass of the filled pycnometer plus the stopper. E. Empty the contents of the pycnometer in a clean beaker. F. Make three trials for each liquid. 3. 3 Determining the Mass and Volume of Alumina Balls [5] A. Measure the mass of each alumina ball in the balance beam. B.Add distilled water to the graduated cylinder and record its initial volume. C. Carefully drop an alumina ball to the graduated cylinder and measure the new volume. Do this by slightly tilting the cylinder and gently sliding the ball to its side. D. Use the 250-mL graduated cylinder for small cylindrical alumina balls while the 1000-mL cylinder for the large cylindrical and spherical alumina balls. E. Do the same procedure for the two sets of alumina balls. 3. 4 Calculating the Density of Liquid [5] A. Calculate the mass of the liquid by computing the difference between the recorded mass of the pycnometer when empty and filled with liquid.B. Calculate the density of the liquid by dividing its obtained mass by the volume indicated on the pycnometer. C. Record and compare the resulting density of the liquid with the standard value at room temperature. 3. 5 Calculating the Density of Alumina Balls [5] A. Compute for the volume of the alumina balls by subtracting the initial volume from the final volume of water in the graduated cylinder. B. Calculate for the density of the alumina balls by dividing the measured mass by the volume. C. Record and compare the resulting density of the alumina balls with the standard value at room temperature. 3. Data and Analysis Table 1. The mass of the four 25- mL liquid samples measured in three trials Liquid| Volume (mL)| Mass (grams)| | | 1ST Trial| 2nd Trial| 3RD Trial| Water| 25. 0| 25. 244| 25. 348| 25. 359| Acetone| 25. 0| 20. 131| 20. 147| 20. 163| Ethyl Alcohol| 25. 0| 22. 313| 22. 330| 22. 337| Isopropyl Alcohol| 25. 0| 22. 025| 22. 035| 22. 049| Table 2. The volume and mass of the two sets of alumina balls Alumina Ball (based on Size)| Set 1| Set 2| | Volume (mL)| Mass (grams)| Volume (mL)| Mass (grams)| Small cylindrical| 2. 0| 5. 813| 2. 0| 5. 742| Large cylindrical| 8. 5| 24. 042| 9. 5| 23. 42| Large spherical| 10. 0| 22. 975| 9. 0| 19. 747| Table 3. Calculation of density of the four liquid samples Liquid| Density (grams/mL)| | 1st Trial| 2ND Trial| 3rd Trial| Water| 25. 244 ? 25 = 1. 00976| 25. 348 ? 25. 0 = 1. 01392| 25. 359 ? 25. 0 = 1. 01436| Acetone| 20. 131 ? 25. 0= 0. 80524| 20. 147 ? 25. 0 = 0. 80588| 20. 163 ? 25. 0 = 0. 80652| Ethyl Alcohol| 22. 313 ? 25. 0= 0. 89252| 22. 330 ? 25. 0= 0. 89320| 22. 337 ? 25. 0= 0. 89348| Isopropyl Alcohol| 22. 025 ? 25. 0= 0. 88100| 22. 035 ? 25. 0= 0. 88140| 22. 049 ? 25. 0= 0. 88196| Table 4. Calculation of density of the alumina ballsAlumina Ball (based on Size)| Density (grams/mL)| | Set 1| Set 2| Small cylindrical| 5. 813 ? 2. 0 = 2. 9065| 5. 742 ? 2. 0= 2. 8710| Large cylindrical| 24. 042 ? 8. 5= 2. 8285| 23. 942 ? 9. 5= 2. 5202| Large spherical| 22. 975 ? 10. 0= 2. 2975| 19. 747 ? 9. 0= 2. 1941| Table 5. The mean values of the density calculated from the four liquid samples Liquid| Mean Value (g/mL)| Water| 1. 00976 + 1. 01392 +1. 014363| =1. 01268| Acetone| 0. 80524 + 0. 80588 + 0. 806523| =0. 80588| Ethyl Alcohol| 0. 89252 + 0. 89320 + 0. 893483| =0. 89307| Isopropyl Alcohol| 0. 88100 + 0. 88140 + 0. 881963| =0. 8145| Table 6. The mean value of the density calculated for the alumina balls Alumina Ball (based on Size)| Mean Value (g/mL)| Small Cylindrical| 2. 9065 + 2. 87102| =2. 8888| Large Cylindrical| 2. 8285 + 2. 52022| =2. 6744| Large Spherical| 2. 2975 + 2. 19412| =2. 2458| Average| 2. 8888 + 2. 6744 + 2. 24583| =2. 6027| RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS The table below shows the obtained densities of the samples in four decimal places. Table 7. Summary of experimental densities of the samples Liquid/Material| Density (g/mL) at 25Â °C| Acetone| 0. 8059| Alumina| 2. 6027| Ethyl Alcohol| 0. 8931|Isopropyl Alcohol| 0. 8815| Water| 1. 0127| Table 8. Accepted values of the density of certain materials at 25Â °C [6] Liquid/Material| Standard Density (g/mL) at 25Â °C| Acetone| 0. 7846| Alumina| 2. 7300| Ethyl Alcohol| 0. 8651| Isopropyl Alcohol| 0. 8493| Water| 0. 9970| Accuracy of the result, or the agreement of the experimental value to the accepted value, is defined by its percentage error. An experimental result with a percentage error less than 5% is considered to be accurate. This indicates that the laboratory procedure performed in obtaining the said result is scientifically reliable [7].The next table shows the calculation of t he percentage errors of the densities obtained from the experiment relative to the accepted values represented in Table 8. Table 9. Calculation of the percentage error of the experimental densities of the samples Liquid/Material| | Acetone | 0. 7846 — 0. 80590. 7846| ? 100 = 2. 643%| Alumina| 2. 7300 — 2. 60272. 7300| ? 100 = 4. 663%| Ethyl Alcohol| 0. 8651— 0. 89310. 8651| ? 100 = 3. 237%| Isopropyl Alcohol| 0. 8493—- 0. 88150. 8493| ? 100 = 3. 791%| Water| 0. 9970 — 1. 01270. 9970| ? 100 = 1. 550%|Table 9 shows the percentage errors of the experimental densities computed from the samples. The values indicate that the experimental densities of acetone, alumina, ethyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol and water at 25Â °C are within 5% error from accepted values, thereby implying that these results are accurate and the procedure used in performing the experiment is correct, consistent and reliable. Small disagreements in the values of experimental and acc epted densities can be accounted to factors that could slightly change the density of a material, in which one of these is temperature.The actual room temperature was not actually measured due to personal negligence, and was just assumed to be 25Â °C. Thus, the standard values that are used to compare with the results might be not be the most appropriate ones relative to temperature. Other factors which could lead to slight discrepancies in density could be the unavoidable systematic errors, particularly instrumental and human errors. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION In general, the experimental densities of all the samples used are significantly close to the standard densities at 25Â °C. Thus, the laboratory rocedure was done correctly and consistently. Small deviations of the results from the accepted values might be due to systematic errors. One of which can be caused by the lack of precision of the analytical balance beam. Human errors such as incorrect or inconsistent readings a nd interpretations of results might also cause these slight disagreements between the standard and experimental values. It is recommended to future laboratory performers to measure the actual room temperature before, while and after conducting the same experiment, to make sure that the temperature is constant all throughout.Temperature is a vital factor that could affect the results of the experiment. Hence, this must not be neglected. Nevertheless, the method of using pycnometer to measure the density of the liquids and water displacement method for the irregularly shaped solids yields accurate and reliable results. REFERENCES 1. Gallova, J. (2006). Density determination by pycnometer. Retrieved July 8, 2012 from Comenius University of Bratislava at http://www. fpharm. uniba. sk/fileadmin /user_upload/english/Fyzika/Density_determination_by_pycnometer. pdf 2.University of Massachusetts Boston, College of Science and Mathematics (2005). Measurement of Density and Archimedes’ Principle. Retrieved July 4, 2012 from http://www. physicslabs. umb. edu/Physics/sum07/181_Exp9_Sum07. 3. Johnston, J. (2011). Density Definition. Retrieved July 7, 2012 from http://www. densitydefinition. com/# 4. Bell, E. T. (1937). The mathematical achievements and methodologies of Archimedes [Electronic version]. Men of mathematics. Retrieved July 8, 2012 from http://mathdb. org/articles/archimedes/e_archimedes. htm#Bk03 5. Skyline College, Chemistry 210 Laboratory Manual (2010).Determination of the density of water and unknown solid sample. Retrieved July 7, 2012 from http://www. smccd. edu/accounts/batesa/chem210/lab/labmanual/Density2010. pdf 6. Walker, R. (1998). Density of Materials. Retrieved July 8, 2012 from http://www. simetric. co. uk/index. htm 7. Brooks P. R. , Curl R. F. , Weisman R. B. (1992). Investigating the relationship between the mass of a liquid and its volume [Electronic version]. Introductory Quantitative. pages 16-19. Retrieved July 8, 2012 from http://ww w. terrificscience. org/lessonpdfs/MassVolumeofLiquid. pdf

PRACTICAL REPORT ON THE ISOLATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF CODEINE AND PARACETAMOL Essay

Codeine or methyl morphine, an alkaloid, was first isolated in 1832 from raw opium. It concentration ranges from 0.2% to 0.8%. Mostly used for its analgesic, anti-tussive and anti-diarrheal capabilities (Tremlett, Anderson and Wolf, 2010). Paracetamol also known as acetaminophen (n-acetyl-p-aminophenol, APAP) on the other hand, is a useful non- steroidal anti- inflammatory drug (NSAID). It is commonly used in the management of pain and fever in a variety of patients (Kamberi, et al., 2004). Fig 1: Codeine[NCBI, 2009] Fig 2: Acetaminophen[NCBI, 2009] One of the technique involved in the extraction of codeine and paracetamol from its matrix, is the solvent extraction otherwise known as liquid – liquid extraction. This process entails the use of two immiscible liquids usually chloroform and water; in dissolving the sample for two distinctive layers to form after the mixture had been thoroughly shaken together (Rubinson and Rubinson, 1998). Separating the components of the extract, is done through the use of Thin Layer Chromatography. It is one of the standard procedures used in many forensic laboratory when analysizing unknown drugs or mixtures (Howlett and Steiner, 2011). Separation of the mixtures occur based on the pH, polarity of its components, solvent and the thin layer stationary phase (Howlett and Steiner, 2011). METHODS: The finely divided sample was dissolved in 20ml of distilled water. This was then basified with NaOH solution to pH 12 using litmus paper. The resulting solution was later filtered. 1.0ml of chloroform was pipetted into the filtrate. After shaken and combined, two distinctive layers was observed. The bottom layer was extracted thrice using a micro- pipette. On a thin chromatography plate, five spots were placed ( as shown in table 2) and the  plate was developed using chloroform/methanol. This was later visualized with dragendorff’s reagent under the UV light. All separated components were observed, identified and recorded. RESULTS: Table of observed pH SOLUTIONInitial pHFinal pH Basified sample1012 TABLE 1 Table of Retention factor (RF value) Rf = Distance travelled by the substance (cm) Distance travelled by the solvent (cm) SUBSTANCEDistance travelled by substance (cm)Distance travelled by Solvent (cm)Retention factor value (Rf) Chloroform extract3.04.00.75 Codeine positive control3.04.00.75 Paracetamol positive control4.04.01.00 Chloroform (negative control) 3.54.00.86 Diluted sample4.04.01.00 TABLE 2 DIAGRAM: Fig 3: The Developed Chromatographic Plate. DISCUSSION: Running the chloroform extracts and diluted sample together with two positive controls and a negative control on a single chromatographic plate simultaneously, the retention factor(Rf) of five different samples were determined. The RF value of the chloroform extract(0.75) tallied with that of the codeine positive control and that of diluted sample(1.00) with the paracetamol positive control. This tentatively shows that, codeine and paracetamol were present in the sample. The solvent front(i.e distance travelled by the mixed solvents) is 4cm, this is quite close to the distances covered by all separated components(between 3 – 3.5cm), which makes the retention factors, not a true representative of their actual values. It was later discovered that, this is due to not allowing the  chromatographic plate to develop for a longer period of time in the solvent tank. The solvent front also dried up quickly when the plate is taken out., making drawing a line at that point quite diffic ult. Fortunately, this was overcome by the use of visualizing spray and UV lamp. Solvent extraction(liquid-liquid), involved selective movement of components of a substance in microgram to gram quantities between two immiscible liquid phase; its separation and selectivity is based on solubility differences and pH control respectively (Fifield and Kealey, 1995). This was observed when chloroform was added to the basified filtrate. After vigorous shaking and settling down, chloroform being more dense, composed the bottom layer, with the aqueous phase up. Liquid-liquid extraction often involved high volume of organic solvents and poor resolution of mixtures of organic materials (Fifield and Kealey, 1995). Thin Layer Chromatography is usually employed in the qualitative analysis of mixtures of non-volatile compounds like pharmaceuticals (Skoog, et al., 2000). TLC can also be used to confirm the identity of an unknown sample ( Lewis and Evans, 2011). Dissolution of the codeine and paracetamol tablet in distilled water without weighing, shows that, TLC was never designed for semi- quantitative analysis. This is due to difficulties in reproducibly applying aliquots of the mixture to the plate and then recovering all of the separated components from the plate (Skoog, et al., 2000). CONCLUSION: Using the Rf values obtained in the table 2 above and t he visual indicator reaction with the substances under the UV light, codeine was extracted to a high degree during the solvent extraction, tentatively identified by TLC (due to its positive control having the same Rf values with the chloroform extract(0.75) and both were the only one that were seen under the UV light) while paracetamol was extracted to a low degree (due to its positive control having the same Rf with the diluted sample). Multiple compounds can share the same retention factor(Rf) or produce similar chromophores when sprayed with detection reagents (Howlett and Steiner, 2011). The study by Lewis and Evans( 2011) shows that if a spot from an unknown substance is developed on a TLC plate together with a spot from a substance that is suspected to be the unknown, and the two substance are found to have the same Rf value, they are probably the same substance. FUTURE SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: Due to the limitation that is associated with using TLC to exactly identify a given sample, minimum standards for drug testing and reporting in the forensic community are recommended by the Scientific Working Group for the Analysis of seized drugs (SWGDRUG) (Howlett and Steiner, 2011). In order for a drug identification to be confirmed to SWGDRUG specification, additional tests must includes, Infrared spectroscopy and GC-MS (Howlett and Steiner, 2011). REFERENCES: Fifield, F. W. and Kealey, D. 1995. Principles and Practice of Analytical chemistry. (4th ed) Glasgow, Blackie Academic and professional. Howlett, S. E. and Steiner, R. R. 2011. Validation of Thin Layer Chromatography with AccuTOF-DARTâ„ ¢ Detection for Forensic Drug Analysis*. Forensic Sciences [e-journal] 56 (5), pp. 1261–1267. Available through: Anglia Ruskin University Library website http://libweb.anglia.ac.uk [Accessed on 11 March 2014]. Kamberi, M., Riley, C. M., Huang, C. C. and Xiaoyan, M, 2004. A validated, sensitive HPLC method for the determination of trace impurities in acetaminophen drug substance. Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis [e-journal] 34 (1), pp. 123–128. Available through: Anglia Ruskin University Library website http://libweb.anglia.ac.uk [Accessed on 18 March 2014]. Lewis, R. and Evans, W. 2011. Chemistry. 4th ed. Hampshire, Palgrave Macmillan. NCBI, 2009. National Library of Medicine. [online] Available at : http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov /pccompound [Accessed 7 April, 2014]. Rubinson, J. F. and Rubinson, K. A. 1998. Contemporary chemical analysis. Upper Saddle River, NJ, Prentice Hall. Skoog, D., West, D., Holler, F. and Crouch, S. 2000. Analytical Chemistry- An introduction. (7th ed). Boca raton, Thomson Learning Inc. Tremlett, M., Anderson, B. J. and Wolf, A. 2010. Pro–con debate: is codeine a drug that still has a useful role in pediatric practice? Pediatric Anesthesia [e-journal] 20 (2), pp. 183–194. Available through: Anglia Ruskin University website http://libweb.anglia.ac.uk [Accessed on 29 March 2014].

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In this paper I examine a section of the ACA Code of Ethics that I find personally challenging, risk management strategies used to resolve this potential ethical conflict, and a section of the ACA Code of Ethics that will not present a challenge. Personally Challenging Ethics Code According to the ACA Code of Ethics (2005), section C.2.g Impairment, counselors are alert to the signs of impairment from their own physical, mental, or emotional problems and refrain from offering or providing professional services when such impairment is likely to harm a client or others. The ACA Code of Ethics (2005) section C.2.g Impairment also states that counselors seek assistance for problems that reach the level of professional impairment, and, if necessary, they limit, suspend, or terminate their professional responsibilities until such time it is determined that they may safely resume their work. Personal Relevant History In 2005, during my senior year of undergraduate school at The University of  Arizona, I was on the fast track to law school. I was on a full scholarship, earning a 4.0 grade point average, a resident assistant for the dorms, and a member of a co-ed pre-law fraternity. I had just completed my internship working for senator John McCain and had finished the scary LSAT. This is what my friends and family saw. In the background, I was struggling. During the weekends I was â€Å"hosting† parties, or rather people would just show up and throw their own parties at my residence. I was struggling to get out of bed in the morning and often came back home to take naps and miss my next few classes of the day. My grades were slipping and so was my ambition. I took it upon myself to see a psychiatrist and was prescribed anti-depressants. This medication changed my life for the worst. I did not even notice that things were spinning out of control as I maxed out my credit cards (I would just get new cards later) and making impulsive and risky decisions. I was losing sleep as I was either out socializing or home cleaning like a madwoman, and often had bouts of irritability. My boyfriend at the time (my current husband) called my parents and asked that I come home to Phoenix and receive help. So I had a medical withdrawal from school, returned home, and was provided with psychiatric help. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and informed that by taking antidepressants I was experiencing a manic episode. As stated by Griswold and Pessar (2000, p. 1347) while referring to bipolar disorder, â€Å"the use of tricyclic antidepressants should be avoided because of the possibility of inducing rapid cycling of symptoms.† So with a new diagnosis the process of trial and error with psychotropic and mood stabilizing medications and their unavoidable side effects began. Once I was on a stable medication and dosage, I felt like myself again. I got a job at a residential treatment center to work with adolescents that have mood disorders and had gotten into trouble with the law. I found my passion. It was a few years before I could return to school with a purpose. I was graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Family Studies and Human Development in May 2011 and the future goal of becoming a therapist. Future Considerations and Risk Management  Strategies I believe that under the Impairment ethics code, mood disorders are considered a mental or emotional problem that may impair the counselor affecting the way in which a counselor provides treatment to clients. Bipolar disorder does not disappear once one takes the necessary medication. â€Å"Medication alone is often inadequate to restore and maintain physical health and quality of life† (Rheineck Steinkuller, 2009, p. 339). Rheineck and Steinkuller (2009) recommend that those with bipolar disorder participate in therapy in conjunction with taking their effective medication. It would be myopic of me to assume that bipolar disorder will never affect me as a therapist. If I am not aware of my moods while I am having either a depressive or manic episode I may become irritable with or place my own perceptions onto a client. Ethically, to manage the risks involved with being a therapist who has bipolar disorder, I need to do more than take medication and participate in therapy. According to Biegel, Brown, Shapiro (2007), a therapist should practice self-care, including self-awareness and self-regulation or coping. I think that when I am practicing, it will be self-awareness that will assist me most in terms of risk management. As an unbiased observation of my inner experience and behavior, self-awareness could also serve as an alarm to signal that I need to take appropriate actions whether to notify my supervisor, limit, or suspend my professional responsibilities. When referring to self-awareness Corey, Corey, Callanan (2008, p. 44) state that without it â€Å"mental health professionals are likely to obstruct the progress of their clients as the focus of therapy shifts from meeting the client’s needs to meeting the needs of the therapist.† To assist with my self-awareness, I plan to utilize mindfulness. Mindfulness, as defined by Campbell and Christopher (2012, p. 215), â€Å"refers to a state of being aware, with acceptance, of thoughts, emotions, and sensations as they arise.† I currently practice various mindfulness exercises in therapy to assist with my mood disorder and coping strategies. To be a positive and healthy professional counselor I will continue with mindfulness exercises throughout my career and my life. I plan on practicing this daily, on my own time, so that I will be able to recognize when I am having moods or episodes that need to be addressed.  Mindfulness will be additionally useful, as â€Å"counselors need to be immediately cognizant of signs of stress and burnout and address these immediately to practice counseling ethically† (Bradley, Brogan, Brogan, Hendricks, 2009, p. 358). By being mindful and self-aware I will be able to identify the symptoms of stress and burnout as well as any number of potentially harmful feelings. Ethics Code that Does Not Present a Challenge According to the ACA Code of Ethics (2005), section C.2.f Continuing Education, counselors recognize the need for continuing education to acquire and maintain a reasonable level of awareness of current scientific and professional information in their fields of activity. The ACA Code of Ethics (2005) section C.2.f Continuing Education also states that counselors take steps to maintain competence in the skills they use, are open to new procedures, and keep current with the diverse populations and specific populations with whom they work. Personal Relevant History In my experience while working in behavioral health, training always has been emphasized and mandated yearly. During the four years that I spent working at a residential treatment center, I had accumulated more than 500 hours of training. While working at a group home for a year, I had gone through more than100 hours of training. In the past year while working as a youth and family specialist I have completed an additional 60 hours of training. Although I found many of the training sessions over the years to be fairly repetitive, there were also several trainings providing completely new knowledge to me and therefore effective to assisting me while working with clients. Examples of recent effective trainings include crisis prevention intervention, compassion fatigue, cognitive behavioral therapy for children and adults, and behavioral health documentation. Future Considerations According to the ACA Code of Ethics (2005), Preamble, inherently held values that guide our behaviors or exceed prescribed behaviors are deeply ingrained in the counselor and developed out of personal dedication, rather than the mandatory requirement of an external organization.† To me this statement means that as a professional counselor I will further my education  and knowledge of skills because I want to and not because an agency I work at mandates it. I do not believe that when one finishes school, they have completed learning, especially if they work in behavioral health. There are always new diagnoses, methods, and forms of treatment coming out that I want to be learn to better meet the needs of my future clients. In a mail-in survey study of 1000 licensed professional counselors conducted in 2009 pertaining to counseling grief stricken clients, Granello, Ober, Wheaton (2012) found that the majority of the participants stated they were unprepared when it came to speci fic skills and lacked knowledge to address those with grief. â€Å"Counselors who received training rated themselves as more competent than those who did not, with more training related to higher levels of self-perceived competence† (Granello et al., 2012, p. 158). Another study conducted by Jameson, Poulton, and Stadter (2007), involved 38 therapists and evaluated the effect of a two-year continuing education program on their knowledge, skills, and application. â€Å"The majority (74%) felt the training helped them think clearly and specifically, both about assessment issues and specific interventions† (Jemeson et al., 2007, p. 113). It is clear when reading these findings that further training can only help a professional to work with more specific needs of their clientele. Although all agencies have mandatory trainings, I have observed that there are hundreds of additional trainings offered yearly for any counselors who want to attend voluntarily. I plan to be a counselor who takes the opportunities offered to further educate myself, in order to improve myself and to provide my clients with a better and more knowledgeable version of me. Conclusion In summation, I have examined a potentially personally challenging section of the ACA Code of Ethics, risk management strategies that I plan to utilize, and a section of the ACA Code of Ethics that aligns with my personal beliefs. Examining my personal experiences and traits that may conflict with the ACA Code of Ethics, I am better preparing myself to prevent any effects they may have had toward my future clients. It is important to me that I continue to learn and apply the knowledge I gain in graduate school and additional educational settings to improve myself as a person and as a professional counselor. References American Counseling Association (2005). ACA Code of Ethics. Alexandria, VA: Author. Biegel, G.M., Brown, K.W., Shapiro, S.L. (2007). Teaching self-care to caregivers: Effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction on the mental health of therapists in training. Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 1(2), 105-115. Bradley, L.J., Brogan, W.C., Brogan, C., Hendricks, B. (2009). Shelly: a case study focusing on ethics and counselor wellness. Family Journal, 17(4), 355-359. Campbell, J.C., Christopher, J.C. (2012). Teaching mindfulness to create effective counselors. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 34(3), 213-226. Corey, G., Corey, M.S., Callanan, P. (2008). Issues and ethics in the helping professions ( 8th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning Granello, D.H., Ober, A.M., Wheaton, J.E. (2012). Grief counseling: an investigation of counselor’ training, experience, and competencies. Journal of Counseling and Development, 90(2), 150-159. Griswold, K.S., Pessar, L.F. (2000). Management of bipolar disorder. American Family Physician, 62(6), 1343-1353. Jameson, P., Poulton, J., Stadter, M. (2007). Sustained and sustaining continuing education for therapists. Psychotherapy, 44(1), 110-114. Rheineck, J.E., Steinkuller, A. (2009). A review of evidence-based therapeutic interventions of bipolar disorder. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 31(4), 338-350.

Target Corporation Essay Example for Free

Target Corporation Essay Operator Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Target Corporation’s Fourth Quarter Earnings Release Conference Call. During the presentation, all participants will be in a listen-only mode. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded Wednesday, February 26, 2014. I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Gregg Steinhafel, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead. Gregg Steinhafel Chairman, President and CEO Good morning, and welcome to our 2013 fourth quarter earnings conference call. On the line with me today are Kathy Tesija, Executive Vice President of Merchandising; and John Mulligan, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. This morning, I will provide a high level summary of our fourth quarter results and strategic priorities for the year ahead, and Kathy will discuss category results, guest insights, and the holiday season. And finally, John will provide more detail on our financial performance, along with our financial outlook for 2014. Following John’s remarks, we’ll open the phone lines for a question-and-answer session. As a reminder, we are joined on this conference call by investors and others who are listening to our comments via webcast. Following this conference call, John Hulbert and John Mulligan will be available throughout the day to answer any follow-up questions you may have. Also as a reminder, any forward-looking statements that we make this morning are subject to risks and uncertainties, the most important of wh ich are described in the 8-K we filed this morning. Finally, in these remarks, we refer to adjusted earnings per share, which is a non-GAAP financial measure. A reconciliation to our GAAP results is included in this morning’s press release posted on our Investor Relations website. Target’s fourth quarter financial results reflect better than expected U.S segments performance in the first three weeks of the holiday season, followed by meaningfully softer results, following our December 19th announcement that criminals had gained access to guest payment card data in our U.S stores. In total, fourth quarter comparable sales decreased 2.5% consistent with our updated guidance in January. Throughout the quarter our  team managed the business extremely well, adjusting both inventory and expenses to match the rapidly changing pace of sales. As a result, our US operations generated fourth quarter adjusted earnings per share of $1.30 at the high-end of the updated guidance we provided in January. In Canada, we worked diligently to leverage holiday traffic in an effort to clear excess inventory. Markdowns resulting from this effort drove a very low gross margin rate, but allowed us to reduce average inventory per store in Canada by approximately 30% between the beginning and end of the fourth quarter. Canadian segment EPS dilution was $0.40 in the quarter, $0.05 better than the updated guidance we provided in January. We are pleased that our early cycle Canadian stores have seen the most improvement giving us confidence that we will continue to see continued improvement across all our Canadian stores in 2014. Fourth quarter GAAP EPS of $0.81 reflects U.S and Canadian segment performance along with costs related to our recent restructuring in data breach along with small accounting and tax matters. As we work to address the impact of the mid-December data breach, we have put the welfare of our guests at the center of every decision we’ve made. We have communicated in early and often providing the best information we had about new facts in ongoing on the ongoing investigation. We consistently assured our guests that they would have zero liability for any unauthorized charges on their card accounts resulting from the breach. We increased fraud detection for REDcard holders and extended free credit monitoring and identity theft protection for any guests who has ever shopped one of our U.S stores. We are truly sorry for the impact this breach has had on our guests, team members and other stakeholders and I want to reiterate that we are committed for making things right. We know these initial steps are part of a longer process. We continue to listen to our guests and we know that this incident and recent security breaches at other companies have shaken their confidence in both Target and the U.S payment system more broadly. To rebuild guest confidence, we’re committed to an end-to-end review in cooperation with third-party experts to understand how the breach occurred, the identification and acceleration of solutions to provide enhanced protection in the future and engagement with third-party experts to protect the industry and consumers from future threats. Accordingly, were taking the following steps. We are conducting an end-to-end forensic investigation  of our processes, systems and personnel to make informed decisions on potential security enhancements. We are accelerating the adoption of advanced chip enabled technology, investing more than $100 million to equip our stores and to issue Target branded smart chip credit and debit cards. We have long supported this more secured technology; a broad adoption in the U.S market has been elusive. We believe that recent events will help the industry to reach a tipping point to an accelerated option in the U.S and we are investing to ensure that Target is a clear leader in driving this change. We are working collaboratively with a broad set of stakeholders in the payment card space including banks, retailers, trade associations, payment processors and networks to share in advance best practices and foster future innovation. We helped launch and will be an active leader in retail industry, cyber security and data privacy initiative. In addition, we are investing $5 million in a new coalition with the Better Business Bureau and National Cyber Security Alliance and the National Cyber Forensics and Training Alliance to advance public education around cyber security and the dangers of consumer scams. While we cant yet assess the full impact of this crime against Target and our guests, we’re pleased that sales have started to recover from the trends we observed following breach related announcements in December and January. Importantly, because we’re in a strong financial position, we expect to absorb any near-term financial impacts while continuing to invest in projects that are key to our long-term success. Our Company has a long history of innovation, disciplined management, and a strong long-term financial performance and we are committed to upholding the principles which has have sustained this Company success for many decades. And while 2013 was a disappointing year financially, we have entered the New Year with the right plans in place to grow profitably and generate meaningfully improved financial performance in 2014 and beyond. In the U.S., we have demonstrated our ability to manage the business with discipline and generate strong financial performance even in a challenging environment. In fact, Kathy will outline in more detail we were very pleased with our holiday season results prior to the announcement of the data breach. In preparation for fourth quarter, we may change this to our holiday promotion and marketing and we were pleased that our in stocks were running at all-time highs. As a result, U.S segment fourth quarter  sales were running ahead of plan prior to December 19th. Looking ahead, we will apply the insights we gained in the holiday season to connect with our guests at delivering merchandize and promotions thoughtfully designed to appeal to them based on whats on their mind at each poi nt in the year, moving Target beyond compelling, to becoming irresistible for our guests. We made enormous progress in our multichannel efforts throughout 2013 as we meaningfully increased conversion both on our website and on our mobile apps. We acquired Chefs Catalog, Cooking.com and Dermstore, extending our online assortment by providing our guests access to additional high-end brands in key home and beauty categories. We launched Cartwheel, our unique mobile savings tool which has far exceeded expectations in both adoption and engagement and we accelerated our investments in flexible fulfillment. As a result, throughout the year, growth in our digital traffic and sales outpaced industry averages. We launched in-store pick up chain-wide at the beginning of November and with very little marketing, this new offering became a meaningful driver of digital traffic and sales. Our store teams did an outstanding job delivering great service when guests arrived to pick up these orders and this is particularly impressive since we launched the service during the busiest time of t he year. We will continue to invest in systems, data and processes to enhance our flexible fulfillment capabilities in 2014 and beyond. In our stores we are committed to enhancing the guest experience by adding dedicated service to key categories like beauty, baby and electronics and by providing training and technology that allows our stores team to go beyond providing basic service to solving problems for our guests. And were continuing to pilot innovations to our store formats. Based on the initial rollout of the CityTarget format and the high single digit comparable sales were seeing in our second year CityTarget stores, were analyzing opportunities to redeem the size and enhance the flexibility of this format opening up a wider universe of potential sites in dense urban areas. While on the work on CityTarget continues, weve also developed a separate smaller format called Target Express at about 15% of the size of one of our general merchandize stores, we believe this design provides us w ith a fantastic opportunity to expand into new trade areas providing a convenient solution to guests who can easily visit one of our other formats. While we expect to offer a carefully curated assortment in frequency  categories like food, health care, beauty and other household essentials, Target Express will also offer discretionary categories including home, electronics and seasonal. Throughout the store we will feature our own brands which offer guests an unbeatable combination of quality and price. We plan to open our first pilot location of this format here in our home market in July so we can carefully study both operational and financial results before we determine our plans to expand this format to other markets. Throughout the organization we continue to find new opportunities to optimize expenses, freeing up resources we can apply to new initiatives. In 2013 our teams saved approximately $200 million by reprioritizing their activities and finding more efficient ways to get things done. Our expense optimization efforts are not a short-term project but a complete overall of the way we work and the team continues to fi nd new opportunities. As a result, we expect the benefit of our expense optimization efforts to reach $1 billion in annualized savings by 2015. Im proud that our entire team has embraced this effort to transform how we work. In Canada the team has moved from a year focused on opening a record number of stores to optimizing the business in run state. As we enter 2014 with a much cleaner inventory position, the teams number one operational focus is on in-stocks, ensuring we have the right quantity of each item in the right place at the right time. In addition, we continue to invest in technology and training to enhance both the tools our team uses and their ability to deploy them most effectively. Were also continuing to implement innovative marketing and merchandizing programs in Canada to raise awareness for our frequency categories like grocery, household essentials, beauty and healthcare. Throughout 2014 we will focus on conveying the depth and breadth of our assortment in those categories and the unbeatable value we provide to our everyday pricing, 5% of the awards, price match and our flier. With enhanced guest awareness of our unbeatable prices combined with the benefit of improved operations, we expect guest shopping frequency to build throughout 2014, driving improvement in sales and profitability. While 2013 will clearly be remembered as the challenging year, I am proud of teams efforts to transform our business and position the company for long-term success. And I want to sincerely thank the Target team for their tireless effort to help our guests recover from the data breach. While there is much more work  to be done, Im inspired by their singular focus on our guests and making things right. As a result, Im confident we will look back on this incident and see that we emerged from it even stronger than before. Now Kathy will provide more detail on our fourth quarter results and key initiatives as we enter 2014. Kathy? Kathy Tesija EVP, Merchandising Thanks, Gregg. In our last conference call, we outlined our plans for the holiday season and mentioned that fourth quarter sales were on track through the first half of November. As we progressed through Black Friday week and the first two weeks of December, guests continued to respond to our promotions and sales ran ahead of our plan. Following the data breach announcement and the rapid change in the pace of our sales, the team reacted quickly making nimble adjustments to minimize our excess inventory. This quick response allowed us to end the year with a clean inventory position. And while our fourth quarter gross margin reflected the addition of clearance activity resulting from the sales slowdown, our team did a great job minimizing the impact. As we built our holiday plans, our goal was to cut through the clutter and reach our guests with compelling offers on exciting merchandize, specifically we aligned our weekly deals and events so guests were receiving a clear message across all channels. And because our guests are budget conscious and love to find deals, we intentionally layered promotions across our circular, cartwheel and our catalog to provide unbeatable value. We used our direct channels to drive urgency at key points of the season and we offered more broad attention-getting promotions like 40% off sweaters. Consistent with past years, we featured hot deals on key items but attracted more attention by offering deeper discounts on fewer items and we were very pleased with the guest response. For the quarter overall, our non-discretionary categories generally saw the strongest sales performance. However, on our more discretionary categories electronics saw an increase in fourth quarter comparable sales led by mobile phones, tablets and video game hardware and software. We also saw relative strength in our sporting goods and housewares categories. Digital channels had a very strong holiday season. Thanksgiving was our biggest digital sales day ever with mobile devices accounting for a full 25% of those sales. We were recently recognized as having the most browsed app by a smartphone and tablet in 2013  and Mobile Commerce Daily just named T arget Mobile Retailer and Commerce Website of the Year. This is the second time weve been named Mobile Retailer of the Year and were pleased to be the only retailer to be honored with the award twice. An important factor in our digital success was the fourth quarter rollout of the opportunity to buy online and pick up in-store. In-store pick up requests represented about 10% of fourth quarter digital orders but they peaked at a much higher rate before Christmas as guests relied on the service as a great solution for last-minute gift shopping. About 30% of store visits to pick up an online order resulted in store shopping on that same trip and the size of that store transaction was much larger than an average store trip. While weve rolled out the capabilities with an external commitment to have orders ready in four hours or less, our team quickly attained our internal goal to have most orders ready in one hour or better. Our survey showed consistently high levels of guest satisfaction with this service and this capability has accelerated our mobile conversion rates. Were also pleased with the continued growth of Cartwheel, our digital savings app, which ended 2013 with over 5 million users who have already saved more than $43 million. Younger guests are particularly engaged by Cartwheel as more than half of its users are Millennials, a much higher percentage than they represent in our overall guest base. Redemption rates on Cartwheel are more than 10 times higher than DC and other direct channels like receipt marketing and email and our analysis indicate that its driving incremental trips and sales. Our pre-Black Friday deals resulted in one of the biggest days ever for Cartwheel as they drove one-third of our active users into Target stores on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. We continue to work to enhance the Cartwheel experience. We recently added the ability to scan bar codes to find out if theres a Cartwheel deal on an item and added the capability to sign up for Cartwheel directly through a Target account and email while continuing to provide access to the App through Facebook. As Gregg mentioned, we continue to listen to our guests to understand how we can help them move beyond the data breach and feel confident in shopping at Target. While sales have started to recover in recent weeks and sentiment metrics have begun to improve most notably among our best guests. We continu e to invest to ensure this recovery continues. Beyond our efforts in data  security and chip enabled technology were applying insights from the holiday season to make our merchandise stores and digital channels even more irresistible to our guests. We continue to innovate in ways that differentiate both our product assortments and the guest experience, and we’re investing in pricing and promotions to make our value proposition even stronger. We’re very pleased with the response to Peter Pilotto for Target our most recent designer partnership which launched earlier this month. This collection which features a limited edition assortment of women’s apparel, accessories and swimwear is available at most of our U.S. and Canadian stores and on target.com. We have also partnered with Net-a-Porter.com to offer a curated assortment of the collection to fans across the globe. With lots of social media buzz we a saw long lines outside many of our urban stores on the morning of the launch, and the collection quickly became Net-a-Porter’s fastest selling collaboration in history. Based on last years results Target and Sports Illustrated are once again partnering in support of the magazines annual swimsuit issue w hich is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Target is the exclusive mass retail advertiser and official marketing partner for the issue. This years partnership includes the new 20 page flip cover that celebrates swimsuit style over the past 50 years and features Target’s limited edition swimwear collection. The collection launched at Target stores and on target.com February 17, in advance of the issues on stand date and includes 10 black, gold and ivory swimsuits priced from $15 to $30. Earlier this month, Target began offering AMBAR a new apparel collection designed with the Latina guest in mind. AMBAR is set in 50 U.S. stores this month and is also available on target.com. The line of apparel and accessories features vibrant prints and flattering cuts and silhouettes. This stylish and affordable collection has items ranging from $17 to $40. This spring Target will introduce an assortment of premium skincare featuring seven notable brands, four of which will be exclusively sold at Target. 29 by Lydia Mondavi, Borghese, Laneige and MD Complete by Dr. Zelickson along side industry favorite Vichy, La Roche Posay and Own Skin Health. These brands will be merchandised in two distinct sections, dermatological skincare and specialty skincare, and they have already launched on target.com. We’ll begin rolling out the assortment to 749 U.S. Target stores beginning in March. So whats likely to be the biggest Blu-ray  and DVD release of the year Target will offer an exclusive addition of Catching Fire the second film in The Hunger Games trilogy in stores and on target.com next month. The Target exclusive Blu-ray addition includes 45 minutes of exclusive content from never before seen footage and cast interviews to a behind the scenes looks at the making of the film. This spring award winning singer Shakira is teaming up with Target for her 10th studio album and our exclusive deluxe edition featuring three bonus tracks hit stores on March 25. We announced the partnership and kicked off album preordering with a special spot during the 56th Annual Grammy Awards in January. Last month we became the exclusive retailer to feature Beats music playlists. Beats music is curated digital music streaming services that allows its users to peep into the personal music librarie s of their favorite artists and brands and have them create playlists just for them. By subscribing to Target’s playlist guest can expect a very mix of songs inspired by Target’s rich heritage of music and the taste of the millions who shop for albums at Target each year. In December we launched The Awesome Shop, a beta site that features the top target products recently pinned on Pinterest. The site lets guests explore, get inspired and see what other guests love just like they do in stores. Awesome Shop highlighted the best of the best by only featuring items at the target.com review of four stars or better. We’re also leveraging Pinterest in another unique way to collaborate with three of the sites most influential pinners on a series of party planning collections that will make it easy to throw a Pinterest worthy event. Joy Cho of Oh Joy, Jan Halvarson of Poppytalk and Kate Arends of Wit Delight will each create limited time only collections launched over the course of 2014 including party decor, paper products and serving pieces designed in their signature esthetic. Beyond differentiated merchandise, we continue to provide enhanced service in key areas of the store. Based on guest response to last years launch we have expanded the Target Beauty Concierge’s program to more than 300 stores across the country with new markets including New York, New Jersey, San Francisco and Dallas-Fort Worth. These beauty consultants are brand agnostic and provide guests with detailed, unbiased information and a friendly face in what can often be an intermediating category. We also continue to see great results from the pilot of our new baby layout, a completely redesigned shopping  experience that offers guests inspiring insightful solutions combined with the great value they’ve come to expect from Target. This new layout features a dedicated service desk with a knowledgeable baby advisor to help guests navigate the area and provide unbiased product information. Digital screens and iPads feature inspiration and interactive comparison tools and Bab yCenter content such as buying guides and product reviews We have also incorporated an in department registry kiosk for expecting mom’s or guests looking to give a gift. Merchandised displays have been lowered so guests can more easily interact with large products by travel systems in stores. We have removed barriers to enhance navigation between apparel, gear and baby essentials and we have highlighted the availability of additional online only items in key categories. This summer we plan to grow from 30 stores to more than 200 locations featuring this enhanced baby experience. And based on encouraging initial results in 2014 we’ll expand our test of using mannequins in apparel in our largest format U.S. stores to elevate the store experience, create an enhanced sense of discovery and bring our unique deigns to life. We also continued to augment our digital capabilities driving traffic and sales to all of our channels. Online our top priority in 2014 is continuing to improve the guest experience. All of our efforts will be designed to make things simple, seamless and enjoyable for our guests. To support this priority we continue to hire external talent with deep functional expertise in online merchandising, site merchandising, mobile and analytics. We have recently made enhancements focused on search, product information and checkout making it easier for guests to browse and purchase. In addition now nearly all store products are viable online making this the only place that guests can use Target’s full assortment. Importantly we’re making enhancements while continuing to focus on stability and speed, as a result target.com consistently ranks in the top 10 for retailer site availability and performance. Given the profile of our guests, mobile is more important at Target than for many of our peers. For example, Target’s guest traffic from tablets and mobile phones is greater than our traffic from traditional computers and the shift towards mobile shows no signs of slowing down. In fact usage of the Target App doubled in the short period between last su mmer and the end of the year. To maintain our strong momentum in mobile we’re testing and learning from new features including List  Building, Mapping and Cartwheel capabilities launched during the holiday season. We’re improving conversion by streamlining checkouts and enhancing product information and dynamic content and we are investing to amplify the in-store mobile experience by rolling out guided maps, in-store search and expanded assortment chain wide later this year. We also continue to invest in our flexible fulfillment capabilities which combine the strengths of our digital, store and distribution aspects to provide speed and convenience for our guests. These capabilities allow our stores to add value in new ways, serve our guests as both showroom and fulfillment centers. Following the holiday seasons success of in-store pick up we are moving quickly to roll out the capabilities to shift online orders from our stores this fall. This new capability will create multiple benefits for both T arget as our guests, including shorter shipping times, reduced expenses, lower markdown rates and improved in-stocks. And because our investments in flexible fulfillment drive greater utilization of our existing stores and distribution center assets, we expect to earn an outstanding return on these investments over time. Finally, were pleased with initial performance of Target Ticket, our streaming video service and we continue to invest in features to better serve guest changing needs and behaviors both inside and outside their home. In 2014 we will coordinate our promotions across channels to provide irresistible video offers across our stores, Target.com and Target Ticket. While our fourth quarter results softened following the December 19 announcement of the data breach, we are pleased with the guest response to our holiday season merchandizing and marketing efforts and were confident in our plans for 2014. As always our focus remains on our guests helping them regain their confidence in their Target while delivering irresistible content and experiences in every channel. We believe that our efforts will drive a continued recovery in the pace of our sales and position Target for profitable growth in 2014 and beyond. Now, John will share his insights on our fourth quarter financial performance and our plans for the coming year. John? John Mulligan EVP and CFO Thanks, Kathy. Our fourth quarter financial results reflect strong efforts by our team to handle separate challenges in both our U.S. and Canadian segments. In the U.S. comparable sales declined 2.5% consistent with the  updated guidance we provided in our January press release. This sales performance reflects a 5.5% decline in transactions partially offset by an increase in average ticket. Prior to the announcement of the data breach, fourth quarter comparable sales were running positive reflecting the success of our holiday merchandizing marketing plan. Immediately following news of the breach, sales turned meaningfully negative but began to recover in January. And while its impossible to measure precisely, we believe we would have seen even more improvement had there not been extreme weather across much of the country. Fourth quarter sales penetration on our REDcards was 20.9%, up 5.4 percentage points from a year ago. While the rate of increase slowed down following the breach, year-over-year penetration continued to grow hundreds of basis points through the end of the quarter. Fourth quarter U.S. EBITDA and EBIT margin rates were down more than a percentage point from last years rates, which we were advised to reflect combined results from our former U.S. retail and credit card segments. These profit margins were below our expectations going into the quarter, driven almost entirely by gross margin rate which declined about 20 basis points from the year ago. This performance reflects about 20 basis points of benefit from this years change in vendor payments offset by higher than expected markdowns related to the 10% off we offered prior to Christmas as well as the impact of clearance markdowns at the end of the holiday season. Margin mix was somewhat less favorable than the recent quarters, driven by strong sales in electronics. While below our expectations, fourth quarter U.S. segment gross margin rate was remarkably strong considering the team had to rapidly manage excess inventory in the middle of the quarter when we experienced a sudden change in the pa ce of sales following the data breach announcement. Our fourth quarter U.S. segment SGA rate was 18.4%, about 110 basis points above last years revised rate. About 50 basis points of this headwind was related to the credit card portfolio reflecting a smaller asset base, last years reserve release and this years profit sharing arrangement with TD Bank. Another 20 basis points of headwind was driven by this years change in member payments. The remaining unfavorability reflects the deleveraging effort of negative comp sales. The fact that we experienced only 40 basis points of deleverage reflects strong control of variable expenses, given the magnitude of our comparable sales decline. In the Canadian segment, sales  came in just below expectations. Importantly, as Gregg mentioned, we took advantage of holiday traffic to clear through a significant amount of excess inventory in the quarter. And while we expect some small lingering issues with long lean receipts this year, the Canadian segment ended 2013 in a much cleaner inventory position, paving the way for smoother operations in 2014. In all, the segment drove $0.40 of EPS dilution in th e fourth quarter better than the expectations we provided in our January press release. Turning now to our consolidated metrics, fourth quarter interest expense was 21% lower than last year reflecting the continued benefit of debt retirement funded by the proceeds from the sale of the credit card portfolio. We paid dividends of $0.43 per share in the quarter, an increase of more than 19% from fourth quarter 2012. This was our 185th consecutive quarter in which our company has paid a dividend and 2013 marked the 42nd year of annual dividend increases, a track record of few companies to match. Consistent with last quarter, we didnt purchase any shares in the fourth quarter reflecting current performance and our desire to maintain our debt rating in the middle A range. This approach aligns with our longstanding point of view on capital deployment. First, we invest what we believe is appropriate in our core business. Second, we support the dividend which weve grown annually for more than four decades. And third, we use share repurchase to return cash within the limits of our middle A debt rating. We believe a middle A rating is strategically important as it supports our ability to reliably deliver on our unbeatable pricing strategy over time. In addition, our balance sheet provides the flexibility to maintain our long-term focus in the face of unexpected events like the data breach enabling inves tment and strategic initiatives like flexible fulfillment while we deal with a temporary setback in traffic to sales along with other costs related to the breach. In addition to operating results in the U.S. and Canada, our fourth quarter GAAP earnings reflects several items that reduced EPS by approximately $0.09. These items include charges related to our January restructuring, data breach related costs net of an insurance receivable and continued reduction in a beneficial interest asset partially offset by a small benefit from a resolution of income tax matters. Combining fourth quarter results with performance in the first nine months of 2013 yields full year results that reflect the impact of clear successes and certain challenges. In our  U.S. segment, full year comparable sales declined 0.4% well below our expectations going into the year. This reflects the tougher than expected consumer environment including the impact on the payroll tax increase which just annualized last month, the fourth quarter impact of the data breach and recent headwinds from unfavorable weather, as youve heard from many other retailers. On our U.S. sales, we earned a gross margin rate of 29.8% in 2013, up about 10 basis points from 2012. This rate reflects about 20 basis points of benefit from this years change in vendor payments combined with very strong underlying margin performance in the face of softer than expected sales. Throughout the year, Kathys team did a great job managing inventory resulting in outstanding in-stock levels while avoiding unnecessary clearance markdowns. Our full year SGA expense rate in the U.S. was 20%, up about 90 basis points from last years revised rate. Contrary to what you might initially think, this reflects outstanding performance in light of softer than expected sales and some notable challenges representing more than $600 million of incremental pressure. Including credit card portfolio income, which as you know reduces our SGA rate, about $400 million lower than 2012 reflecting profit sharing with TD, prior year reserve reductions and a smaller asset base this year. And more than $200 million of expense pressure from incremental investments in technology and supply chain to support our multichannel efforts. Without these impacts, our SGA expense rate would have been slightly higher than 2012 but would have been neutral without this years change in vendor payments. This is better expense performance than wed expect on a decline in comparable sales and was driven primarily by two factors; outstanding performance by our stores organization which continued to provide outstanding guest service while delivering productivity increases and our company-wide expense optimization efforts through which our teams are finding better ways to work while deprioritizing less productive activities. As Gregg mentioned, the team continues to find new opportunities to optimize expenses and we expect to reach $1 billion in annualized savings by 2015 helping to fund our efforts to drive profitable growth over the next several years. For full year 2013, U.S. REDcard penetration grew nearly 6 percentage points to 19.3% of sales as more and more guests increased their level of engagement and their spending with Target. Penetration in Kansas City where we began offering  REDcard awards a year ahead of the rest of the country continued to run well ahead of the U.S. overall. Importantly, as part of our broader effort to rebuild traffic and sales in 2014 we will work to reaccelerate REDcard growth in light of the recent slowdown in growth weve seen following the data breach. In Canada in 2013 we generated just over $1.3 billion in sales on 124 stores which were opened on average for a little more than half the year. These sales were well below our plan going into the year leading to grea ter than expected markdowns on a meaningful amount of excess inventory Expense rate were unusually high as well as a result of opening early cycle stores with too many payroll hours, incurring incremental expense relating to clearing inventory and experiencing less leverage on fixed expenses. In the face of these challenges, the team worked tirelessly to improve operations and work through excess inventory throughout the year, clearing the way for an acceleration of sales and profitability beginning this year. Our early cycle store continued to outperform later cycle stores giving is confidence that our operations will continue to become more efficient as our business matures. And having dramatically reduced the congestion in our Canadian supply chain, we will increase the intensity of our marketing message in 2014 regarding value and assortment in our frequency categories. Over time we expect this will lead our Canadian guests to choose Target more often in these categories, driving meaningful increases in traffic and sales. Turning to capital deployment, our total capital investment was about $3.5 billion in 2013, somewhat lower than expected as U.S CapEx of about $1.9 billion was approximately $300 million lower than anticipated. This outcome doesnt reflect a change in strategy, but is simply the result of a lower than expected cost for certain projects and retiming of suspending into 2014. Having sold our credit card portfolio, for about $5.7 billion in March, we significantly reduced our net debt position in 2013, including the early retirement of Haikupon debt. And importantly even in a year of peak CapEx and dilution relating to the Canadian segment combined with the impact of softer than expected U.S sales, we still have the capacity to return about $2.5 billion to our shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchase. With that as context, lets turn now to our outlook for 2014. But before we get to the numbers, I want to discuss a change in our reporting and guidance practices in 2014. Given that our Canadian segment is  now fully operating, beginning with the first quarter of 2014 we will no longer exclude Canadian segment performance from adjusted EPS. To allow for appropriate comparison, l ast years adjusted EPS will also reflect Canadian segment performance as well. With that, lets turn to our full-year outlook beginning with sales. While trends have improved in recent weeks, severe winter weather has been a headwind and we continue to see the impact of the data breach on guest sentiment and traffic. We believe that we will continue to see muted trends in the next few months, but the breach impact will diminish throughout the year as we engage in a vigorous effort to address our guests’ concerns and provide irresistible content offers driving business to our stores and digital channels. In addition, while economic trends are improving, we continue to expect our lower and middle income guests to shop very cautiously in 2014. With that backdrop, our current view is that U.S comparable sales will grow in the range of 0% to 2% in 2014. On those sales we expect a U.S segment EBITDA rate of 10.1% to 10.3%, meaning EBITDA dollar should grow between 5% and 8% this year. Among the drivers of EBITDA margin, we expect gross margin will improve 30 or 40 basis points from our 2013 rate of 29.8%, reflecting improved cl earance markdown rates and more significantly the gross margin benefit of our expense optimization efforts. These benefits will be partially offset by the impact of additional promotional activities and continued investment in 5% REDcard rewards. We expect the U.S segment SGA expense rate slightly better than last year’s 20% rate, reflecting continued discipline expense control and the benefit of our expense optimization efforts offset by our continued investments in distribution and technology in support of our multi-channel efforts. We expect these (indiscernible) investments to be worth $0.05 to $0.10 of incremental EPS pressure in 2014. In Canada, we expect total sales will be approximately double our 2013 experience. As we annualize last year’s124 openings and begin generating comparable sales growth in mature stores. On those sales we expect to earn a much higher gross margin rate in a range approaching 30%. But clearly we continue to see some near-term volatility until the Until the Canadian business matures. While we expect to see better fixed expense leverage in 2014 , the SGA rate will likely remain well above our long-term outlook in a range approaching 40%. Altogether, this will lead to a Canadian segment EBITDA margin rate of minus 8% to minus 10%,  representing more than $400 million of expected EBITDA improvement from 2013. We expect U.S capital expenditures of $2.1 billion $2.3 billion, up slightly from actual 2013 spending. The mix of U.S CapEx will continue to tilt from investments in new stores towards supply chain and technology as we accelerate our multi-channel efforts and continue to find a limited number of new store sites that meet our strategic and financial criteria. I should also note that U.S CapEx reflects incremental investments related to our recent decision to accelerate deployment of chip enabled card readers to all of our U.S stores before the end of the year. In Canada we expect 2014 capital expenditures in the $300 million to $400 million range, down more than $1 billion from peak spending in 2013. We expect once again to raise our annual dividend in the neighborhood of 20% this year, which will mark our 43rd consecutive annual increase. And even with a temperate outlook for near-term traffic and sales and understanding there will be further costs relating to the data breach, our current outlook envision share repurchase capacity of $1 billion to $2 billion in 2014, beginning later in the year as our business stabilizes and we have more clarity on potential breach related costs. Altogether, these expectations would lead to full-year adjusted EPS representing results from operations in the U.S and Canada of $3.85 to $4.15. This estimate excludes approximately $0.07 of dilution related to the continued reduction in the beneficial interest asset. These 2014 expectations represent an improvement of more than 20% from combined U.S and Canadian segment results in 2013. Please note that our full-year outlook does not include potential additional costs relating to the data breach beyond what we already recorded in the fourth quarter, as they’re not estimable at this time. While I realize this may result in a wide range of speculation on the magnitude of these costs, given that our investigation of breach is ongoing it would not be appropriate to say anything more about it than we already have this morning. Regardless of the ultimate dollar amounts, as Greg mentioned, we have the financial strength to move beyond these near-term impacts while we continue to in vest in the future. And as always, we are focused on whats most important, addressing the concerns of our guests and helping them to feel confident shopping with us. Now lets briefly turn to our first quarter outlook. In the U.S we expect first quarter comparable sales in the range of flat to down 2%. So far in February  comparable sales have been running within that range, ahead of our forecast and nearly flat to last year. And I should note while growth isn’t running where it had been earlier in 2013, REDcard penetration so far in February has been running 100s of basis points ahead of last year. On our first quarter U.S sales, we expect an EBITDA margin rate of 9.7% to 9.9%. In Canada, we expect to generate first quarter sales in a range of $400 million to $450 million with EBITDA of minus $150 million to minus $170 million. In light of this near-term operating outlook, we dont expect to have the capacity to repurchase shares in the first quarter, but we expect to resume this activity later in the year. Altogether, our expectations would lead to first quarter adjusted EPS reflecting operating results in the U.S and Canada in the range of $0.60 to $0.75, excluding $0.02 relating to the reduction in the beneficial interest asset and any potential costs related to the data breach. While this has been a challenging year, we are proud of the work of our team and we believe we have the right plans in place to generate meaningfully improved performance in 2014. As we focus on making Target irresistible for our guests, both today and over time, we believe we will go profitably for many years to come. With that, well conclude todays prepared remarks. Now Greg, Kathy and I will be happy to respond to your questions. uestion-and-Answer Session

Introduction To Big Bus Tour Tourism Essay

Introduction To Big Bus Tour Tourism Essay Big Bus Tours is the largest operator of open-top sightseeing tours in the World, providing sightseeing tours in thirteen cities across three continents. Big Bus Tours was formed by the merger of two established sightseeing tour businesses. The Big Bus Company Ltd based in London, and Les Cars Rouge based in Paris. The two businesses, each with over 20 years of successful tour experience, decided to combine their expertise, creating Big Bus Tours in May 2011. Big Bus Tours sightseeing formula has been designed to provide a flexible approach to city discovery. Each open-top bus tour provides a hop-on, hop-off facility at a variety of interesting locations and, wherever possible, Big Bus Tours looks to enhance the visitor sightseeing experience by providing complementary experiences. Big Bus Tours is currently planning further expansion in the US, Europe and Far East, and welcomes all enquiries about possible franchise or partnership opportunities. Source: http://www.bigbustours.com/eng/international/custompage.aspx?id=about_us INTRODUCTION TO THE ORIGINAL TOURS The Original London Transport Sightseeing Tour was the first sightseeing tour of its kind in London, formally introduced by London Transport as Service J on 11th June 1951, when thousands of visitors descended on the capital for the Festival of Britain. It was described at the time as a non-stop circular tour of London operating with double-decker buses from Buckingham Palace Road, South Kensington Station and Bloomsbury Place. The tour was promoted with the slogan around the town for half a crown. As part of the tour, visitors were given a free London Transport Guide Book with the aid of which they had to identify the major sights of London for themselves. By the early seventies the service had expanded to offer conducted coach tours in the City, Windsor Hampton Court, all live guided by the renowned Blue Badge Guides. Back in 1971 the fares for an Around London Sightseeing Tour were 50p for adults and 30p for children, whilst the conducted coach tours in the City cost  £1.40 and  £1.10 respectively. The first live guides were introduced on the Around London Tours in 1984, with taped commentaries in French and German following the next year. In 1990 the service was further improved with digitally recorded commentaries, in up to eight languages. 1991 saw the launch of the most popular hop-on, hop-off service allowing passengers the freedom to get off and explore the sights they passed. Over the years there were several name changes from the initial uncharismatic Service J until 1992 when the name The Original London Sightseeing Tour was finally adopted. In the same year the company was sold to the Pullmans Group Limited and traded as London Coaches Ltd. In December 1997, The Original London Sightseeing Tour Ltd was taken over by Arriva, one of the largest transport service organisations in Europe. In addition to the provision of bus and train services, Arriva plc also operates a Bus and Coach dealership; and holds the Cross Country rail franchise. In March 2001 London Pride Ltd was acquired and merged with The Original London Sightseeing Tour, creating the largest single operation of its kind anywhere in the world. In August 2010 The Original Tours parent company, Arriva plc, officially became a part of DB UK Holding Limited (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn AG) for  £1.5bn. The Deutsche Bahn group has 295,000 employees in 130 countries. Today, over 60 years later, trading simply as The Original Tour, this multi-award winning company continues to provide visitors to London with a relaxed and enjoyable view of the capitals famous landmarks from open-topped buses operating throughout the year. Source: http://www.theoriginaltour.com/info/about.htm http://www.isecard.com/images/featured/original_london_tour_logo.gif FACILITIES PROVIDED BY BOTH THE COMPANIES BIG BUS TOUR: The Big Bus tour provides open-top sightseeing tours of London. The company has a fleet of 90 buses and tours run every 5-15 minutes, enabling visitors to hop on and off at over 70 stops. The carefully devised tour provides an overview of the history and culture of London, delivered by either a London guide in English or a recorded commentary. The digitally recorded commentary allows you to listen to facts and stories in any of 8 languages. Head phones are provided enabling you to listen in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese Russian. As with all Big Bus Tours, you can stay onboard for the full tour or make use of the hop-on hop-off facility, a great benefit of the London bus tour that enables you to stop and explore the sights at your leisure. Take advantage and visit the top London attractions at your own pace. The Red Tour The classic open top sightseeing tour of London. The interesting and informative commentary provided by the professional guides is just one reason why the Big Bus Red Tour is the best thing to do when visiting London. All Big Bus Red Tours are led by our experienced guides London enthusiasts who will talk you through the history of the city and give you a personal and entertaining commentary on London and its tourist attractions. The route has been carefully devised to enable you to see Londons most famous sights. Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, St. Pauls Cathedral and The Tower of London are just some of the fabulous attractions. Stay on board for the full circuit or make use of the hop-on hop-off facility, a great benefit of the London Bus Tour that enables you to stop and explore the sights at your leisure. Take advantage and visit the top London attractions at your own pace. Discover the wondrous history of London as you learn and laugh with live commentary provided by our professional guides. The tour takes in all the key sights of Central London with great views and interesting facts at every turn. Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, St. Pauls Cathedral and The Tower of London are just some of the fabulous attractions on the red tour. The Blue Tour The most extensive sightseeing route through London takes you to all the top attractions and features an informative recorded commentary in 8 languages on all buses. The bus tour takes in all of Central London as well as Kensington and Hyde Park On Board the Blue Tour you will also be able to discover the shopping havens of Harrods, Harvey Nichols and Kensington High Street, take in the elegant Kensington Palace and the fashionable Notting Hill. In addition to the many sightseeing attractions of Central London, the Blue Tour travels West to the Victoria Albert, Science and Natural History Museums all free to enter, plus the world famous Madame Tussauds. The Green Link The Green Link is an interchange between the red and blue Big Bus tours. It allows you to visit London attractions that may not be covered by either of the other tours. It connects the popular hotel of Russell Square and Trafalgar Square, where you may interchange with the Red and Blue Tours. The Green Link also provides the opportunity to visit both the Dickens and British Museums. It takes just ten minutes to travel between the three stops on one of our open top tour busses. The journey is without a tour guide commentary and departures are every 30 minutes. River Thames Pass Enjoy a leisurely cruise on the River Thames with entertaining commentary and superb views of Londons riverside. Take a short trip through central London or travel to Greenwich and visit the National Maritime Museum and the Greenwich Royal Observatory. Three Walking tours Join an entertaining walking tour lead by one of our experienced guides. There are 3 to choose from, enabling you to discover more of London. Led by a friendly Big Bus Guide, these relaxed walking tours reveal the heart and soul of this great city. With your Big Bus ticket you may take as many guided walks as you like. The guided London walks last approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes to 2 hours and leave from the Big Bus Trafalgar Square stops 10 and 37 (outside the Sainsbury wing of the National Gallery). Royal London Walking Tour Beatles Walking Tour of London Ghosts London Walking Tour Big Bus Bonus Card The Bonus card provides great discounts and added value offers in some of Londons most popular restaurants, shops and attractions. The Bonus Card can be used for a week after your Big Bus Sightseeing Tour and can be used repeatedly. Highlights -The houses of Parliament St Pauls Cathedral The Tower of London The London Eye Westminster Abbey Tower Bridge Buckingham Palace Includes Hop on Hop Off sightseeing Tour 2 Routes with the option of a personal audio commentary or a live guided tour 3 Walking Tours, River Cruise and Big Bus Bonus Card (Discount card) Unlimited use of all components throughout ticket validity Things that are excluded from the tour are: Meals and drinks Personal expenses Tips and gratuities Optional activity costs THE ORIGINAL TOURS: Customize your own tour by hopping on and off the bus at any stop, as many times as you like. Theres a choice of sightseeing routes, including the Yellow Route which features live onboard commentary. If youre traveling with the family, take the Red Route relax while your children are entertained and informed by the highly acclaimed Kids Club commentary and their free London activity packs. Each route makes frequent stops simply hop off where you want to, and return to the same stop to continue your tour. Highlights: Madame Tussauds Piccadilly Circus Leicester Square Trafalgar Square Downing Street Big Ben and Parliament London Eye Covent Garden St. Pauls Cathedral Tower Bridge Tower of London Shakespeares Globe Westminster Abbey Buckingham Palace The City Sightseeing Tour (Red Route) Madame Tussauds and the London Planetarium, Regents Park, Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly Circus/Eros Statue, Leicester Square, The National Gallery, Nelsons Column and Trafalgar Square, Horse Guards Parade, Downing Street, Big Ben and Parliament, Lambeth Palace, Imperial War Museum, The London Aquarium, London Eye, South Bank Arts Center and BFI Imax Cinema, Covent Garden, Fleet Street, St. Pauls Cathedral, Monument, London Bridge, London Dungeon, Tower Bridge, The Tower of London, Shakespeares Globe, Tate Gallery Bankside, Millennium Footbridge, Catamaran Cruisers, Sherlock Holmes Pub, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, Speakers Corner. The Original Tour (Yellow Route) English-speaking fully qualified live guides. The National Gallery, Nelsons Column and Trafalgar Square, Horse Guards Parade, Downing Street, Big Ben and Parliament, Lambeth Palace, Imperial War Museum, The London Aquarium, London Eye, South Bank Arts Center and BFI Imax Cinema, Covent Garden, Fleet Street, St Pauls Cathedral, Monument, London Bridge, London Dungeon, Tower Bridge, The Tower of London, Shakespeares Globe, Tate Gallery Bankside, Millennium Footbridge, Catamaran Cruisers, Sherlock Holmes Pub, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace and the Changing of the Guard, Hyde Park, Speakers Corner, Ritz Hotel, Royal Academy of Arts, Fortnum and Mason, Piccadilly Circus/Eros Statue, Leicester Square. The Museum Link (Blue Route) Main attractions: Kensington Palace, Baden-Powell House, Natural History Museum, Science Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, Brompton Oratory, Harrods, Knightsbridge, Harvey Nichols, Hyde Park, Ritz Hotel, Piccadilly Circus, Shaftesbury Avenue, British Museum, Russell Square, Wellington Museum, Royal Albert Hall, Albert Memorial, Kensington High Street and the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. Capital Connector (Purple Route) Holland Park, Notting Hill, Bayswater, Kensington Gardens, Pet Cemetery, Paddington Station, Madame Tussauds. St Pancras Station Connector (Black Route) St Pancras Kings Cross Station Marble Arch Paddington Station Marylebone Station Euston Station. The bus leaves St Pancras International at 10.05, 11.05 and 12.05pm; and departs from Marble Arch at 3.50pm, 4.50pm and 5.50pm. Speak to our staff on the day for the latest timetable information. Central London (Green Route) Leicester Square London Eye Westminster Piccadilly Circus Leicester Square This circular service provides a handy link in central London across the Thames. It operates daily between 09.15 and 15.45. Kids Club The Original Tour is the only tour operator to offer commentaries specially designed for children. History made fun for kids, by kids plus the voice of the ghost of London! Every child also gets a passport to London and a fantastic free fun pack with activity/quiz book. Look out for the great Kids Club competition in the back of the book where you could win a souvenir of London. The Kids Club Channel is available on the red and blue route. Members of the Kids club will receive their own free activity pack and a Passport to London. Dont forget to get your passport officially stamped before you board the bus! Thames River Cruise Enjoy this hop-on-hop-off cruise down the River Thames with professional commentary. Hop-on-hop-off cruises are available from Westminster, Waterloo, Tower and Greenwich Piers. A great way to explore Londons riverside attractions in greater detail and its completely free. FREE Walking Tours On non-guard change days walks go to Buckingham Palace and to St Jamess Palace where you can take photos of sentry boxes. The guard change does not take place if it is raining. All tours take approximately 90 minutes. Please note that the Jack the Ripper walk will finish at Aldgate East tube station and not at one of our bus stops. 1. The Changing of the Guard Walk 2. Rock n Roll Walking Tour 3. The Jack the Ripper Walk SOURCE: http://www.viator.com/tours/London/The-Original-London-Sightseeing-Tour-Hop-on-Hop-off/d737-3302OT?pref=02aid=g305 Comparison between the big bus tour and the original tours Original tour and The Big Bus are the established operators and are arguably the mirror images of each other in terms of the product that they offer to their customers. PRICE COMPARISON At large both the companies go head to head on the price department. But if one has to compare which company has a more cheaper ticket its the original tours with just a fraction. Big Bus has a 24 and 48 hour tickets that they offer but this is not the case with the original tours, they just offer a 24 hour ticket. COMPARISON OF THE BUSES In the last couple of years both the companies have upgraded their buses. All the buses are double deck, open top vehicles. The difference in both the companys buses is how open top they are, some of the top rows in the front are covered. ENGLISH GUIDES AUDIO GUIDES If you are fluent in English it is preferred that you take the guided bus tour which is provided by both the companies. Of the audio guides all have English, French, Spanish, German and Italian. Big Bus doesnt have Japanese, the other two do. Big Bus OLT have Russian. OLT have a Kids Channel. Big Bus has Portuge and Mandarin. Source: http://www.londontoolkit.com/blog/tours/comparing-londons-hop-on-hop-off-sightseeing-buses/ http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQG6Om3ceMVQp8TJ57fRpl6-qUNxCeNe9XP6WMlpBvZMdFPIE_jDw COMPARISON OF THE FACILITIES PROVIDED The original tour provides KIDS CLUB facility which makes it more fun for the kids, the same is not provided by the BIG BUS TOURS. Bonus card, one of the main facility provided by the big bus tour. In this the customers can avail great discounts and value offers in some of Londons most popular restaurants, shops and attractions. The Bonus Card can be used for a week after your Big Bus Sightseeing Tour and can be used repeatedly. This in NOT provided by the ORGINAL TOURS. FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS ON THE BASES OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE Q1.Which bus tour did you opt for? According to the data collected 70% of the respondents opted for the Big Bus tour where as only 30% of the people opted for the original tour. Were you given ample time given to you for sightseeing? According to the data collected people who opted for the Big Bus tour said that they were given time to see all the sights but some of the people were not satisfied with the time provided by the tour companies but this is based on their personal requirements. Was there any entertainment for your children during the tour? The original tour is the only bus tour company that provides entertainment for the kids. Families who opted for the big bus tour were really happy with all the facilities and the value added services provided by the company the only thing that they were not content with was that their kids were not given any special treatment. Whereas the families who opted for the original tour were really happy with the services specially with the kids club facility for their children, this made their tour more enjoyable. Was the guide able to answer your questions? The guides of both the tour companies were well informed and were able to tackle all the questions very easily. Did the tour match upto your expectation? Big bus tour was able to match upto the customers expectations as all the things that the company mentioned were provided to them. The most important thing that they were excited about was using their BONUS CARD facility. The original tour was also able to meet the expectation and the people with kids were the ones who were really happy and satisfied as their kids were able to enjoy the tour because of the KIDS CLUB facility provided by the original tour company. Would you recommend this tour to your friends? Customers, whether they opted for big bus or the original tours , they were certain that they will recommend the tour service to all their friends as they were extremely happy with the services provded to them. RECOMMENDATIONS On the basis of the data collected and the survey conducted I have reached the following conclusion: According to the information and my personal experience BIG BUS TOUR is the best and also most of the respondents that were interviewed were the ones who had gone for the same. Personally I would recommend both the companies to install toilets in the buses as it would make the trip more convenient for the customers. According to the suggestions given by the respondents , buses should install some moving platform with the help of which people with a wheel chair can make use of the open top facility provided , otherwise they have to sit at the lower level Original Tours should start a facility similar to the BONUS CARD which is provided by the Big Bus Tour , as it is one of the major differentiating point between them. If the Big Bus tour wants to attract couples with kids, they should start a KIDS CLUB facility or something on the same lines as it would increase their customer base, even though it is still very high. CONCLUSION With the help of the data collected through the questionnaire and the information gathered from the internet I can easily say that big bus tour, with all the hype around it and being started recently ie in May 2011 takes the lead in the hop-on hop-off bus tour providing companies. Original tour company, even though started about 5 decades back, has lost to the new kid on the block. In order for the original tour company to gain more market share and once again be on the top it has to start some aggressive marketing strategies, give more discounts, provide 48 hour tickets as done by its competitors. Big bus tour company, in order to maintain its lead in the market, should introduce some kids entertainment or start a tour specially for the younger generation which would attract more families, as the main motive of the family is that their kids should have a great time and at the end increase their knowledge about the city.