Category: Fitness

Executive Summary

Conclusion

A research on Jupiter Fitness Center revealed the opportunity for implementing a corporate portal solution that will satisfy the needs of customers as well as the organization. Corporate portal is a suitable solution to integrate different business processes into a single interface, improving the communication between customers, employees, and suppliers.

Business Opportunity

The portal will provide the customers of the company more value for the services received, which is expected to contribute to their retention and give the company a competitive advantage. Such advantage can be represented through improved cash flow and increased revenues, and an opportunity for expanding the business.

Business Environment

The industry of fitness center has an enormous potential and it experiences growth in the last decade. The environment is competitive on the national and the regional level which implies searching for a competitive advantage to retain customers. There is a need to analyze the trends current in the exercise industry to maintain clients.

Solutions

The solution identified is to develop a web portal that will provide the opportunity for customers to personalize their membership, manage their membership transactions, receive diet consultation, and purchase fitness supplements online. The portal will also integrate the accounting processes managed by the company.

Analysis

Cost

The costs of developing a web portal can be divided between several aspects. First of all, there are the costs of technology. Such costs will include the costs of the hardware, i.e. a web server, personal computers (the number is dependent on the number of employees needed), and network infrastructure. The costs of the software should be added to the latter, including an operating system, and server management software.

The use of an open-source software might reduce the costs of implementation, but likely to increase the costs of training personnel. Broadband connection to the internet is also required (Abdul, 2009). The costs of the consultancy and technological development can be integrated into a single team, who will work on the, identifying the requirements and developing the website (Abdul, 2009).

Accordingly, the costs of training personnel to sue the new portal might be added to the expenditures of development, which will depend on the types of software used. In that regard, such training might occur simultaneously with the testing of the portal (Abdul, 2009).

Schedule

The development will take a period of 13 weeks or 89 days, which will be divided in accordance to the established tasks and their durations. The tasks involved in the development of a web portal are composed of the following:

• Identifying needs and objectives.
• Interpreting objectives into the main functions of the website.
• Designing the layout of the project and identifying the requirements.
• Developing the website.
• Testing and training of personnel.
• Improvements and modifications.
• Launching the portal.

The schedule of implementation and durations can be seen through Table 1.

Best Solution

A corporate portal can be seen as a suitable solution that will provide an organization an integrated approach toward managing their activities. In that regard, a portal can be seen as an approach which is sufficiently flexible and at the same time scalable to address any needs of the organization. An initial investigation of the Jupiter Fitness Center, located in Jupiter, Florida, outlined several needs , all of which can be targeted through the development of a simple, yet professional portal that will provide the company a competitive advantage and retain their customers. A portal will influence the way company collaborate with employees, customers, and suppliers (Terra, n.d.).

According to the priority put in each type of communication the portal will be developed and operated. In that regard, the decision to implement a corporate portal can be seen as a strategic decision that will allow the company to leverage its capabilities and integrate their processes into a single infrastructure that can be expanded and replicated (Terra, n.d.).

Interest to Students

The integration of internet can be apparent in every aspect of our lives, and business is no different in that matter. The portal solution can be seen interesting as it provides a good alternative to the network infrastructure, integrating several processes into a single interface. Thus, depending to permission provided to a group of users, e.g. employees, customers, or suppliers, different options will be available all of which can be managed for a single point of entry. At the same time portals is a good knowledge management tool. Currently, employers try to integrate social network capabilities into the workplace, so information exchange which occurs within such medium remain within the company.

Portals, in that regard, is a good alternative, where transactions, employees activities, employees services, and others, all remain within one place. A good example, specific to the business cases provided within this report, i.e. a fitness center, can be seen through a scenario in which diet consultation is provided to the members of the center, with all information being based on the expertise and the knowledge of the instructor. The termination of the contract of the instructor will imply losing such information, and spending time and efforts for the new instructor to learn about customers. With portal such cases are avoided.

Work

An extensive research was conducted, specifically to identify a sphere of business in which a problem might exist, and which can be resolved through an Information Technology (IT) solution. The criteria were a small company in the sphere of services. The fitness center was identified as a field in which IT solutions have not been integrated to a full extent, where Jupiter Fitness Center was chosen because of the websites poor capabilities, i.e. it served merely for marketing purposes. Thus, a research was followed on corporate portals and the fitness industry according to which the needs of the company and the capabilities of portals were identified.

Comprehensive Solution

Problem

Jupiter Fitness Center, is a family gym located Jupiter, Florida (Jupiter Fitness Center, 2011). The center has a simple website, through which the visitors can obtain information on the gym, its contacts, directions, and equipment. The companys website main aim is attracting new customers, while none of the information on the website is used to retain existing customers and provide them with other advantages through internet.

The company has the potential to expand the gym into other areas through opening a chain, an opportunity, which, if utilized, might need a reconsideration of the companys information system. The current implementation of the companys information can be assumed to be reflected through the companys website and separate applications for managing accounting and users memberships. Additionally, the company plans to open an e- shop which is currently under construction.

Considering the capabilities of the website, it might be assumed that shop will operate as a showcase for the gyms inventory, indicating the specifications of the goods, while the purchase process will be processed offline. Thus, there is an opportunity for Jupiter Fitness Center to enhance its operations, gain an advantage over competitors, providing more value to retain members, members, and integrate the processes of the organization, which will accordingly provide a foundation for future expansion.

Business Background

The prevalence of obesity as a problem in the United States implies that the trends of exercising will not lose demand or popularity. In that regard, the demand for fitness centers is still experiencing growth; see Fig.1 (Center for Economic Vitality, 2010). It should be noted that the growth in the number of centers lead to a competition between the participants of the industry. Taking such aspect to Jupiter, Florida, the number of fitness centers surpasses 82 (Health Club Directory, 2011).

Those are only listed online on a single website, where it is expected that their number is much more. Among the challenges identified for industry there is the fact that approximately 35 to 40 percent of clients do not renew their gym membership each year (Center for Economic Vitality, 2010). For a gym of 20,000 square feet size, such as Jupiter, it is expected to have about 2400 members, considering that a typical 25,000 square feet gym has 3,000 members (Center for Economic Vitality, 2010).

Thus, according to such statistic, the company has to find at least 850 new members each year, which requires spending significant time and energy. In light of increased competition, retaining the existing members will be a feasible option, through providing them with extra benefits for their money. One of exercise trends can be seen through providing diet counseling, which can be seen as one of the value adding activities that might provide benefits to customers.

The solution proposed in this report is through integrating the following business functions into a single portal-like webpage. The portal will have the following functions:

• Personalized diet Program, which will provide diet suggestions based on entered information.
• Personalization options for members, i.e. renewing membership, changing membership plan, making an appointment with the instructor, etc. The latter will include managing electronic transactions, providing the opportunity to sign-up with the club online.
• E-shop which will provide the possibility for purchasing supplements online, integrating with a delivery service that will deliver the goods. The option will not be restricted to the members of the club, allowing the e-commerce section of the company to operate independently.
• Calendar and reminders of scheduled training integrated into popular social services, e.g. twitter, Facebook, etc.
• Integrating accounting software into the portal.

Alternate Solutions

The alternatives that might exist to increase the efficiency of integrating information technology solution can e seen through manual labor. The company can provide diet counseling in the gym, which considering the number of club members, might require extra staff to manage such task. The same can be seen through selling fitness supplements on site, while being promoted online. In such case, the alternative will be only feasible when the demand is low, eliminating the need for the center to be concerned about inventory, and managing suppliers. The companys attempt at retaining their existing members can be seen through having a group on the social networking website Facebook. The number of members participating in the group and the dates on the discussion parts indicates that such group serves merely as an announcement board and an alternative for newsletters.

Cost-Benefit Analysis

The benefits that the proposed solution will provide can be seen through retaining the existing members of the gym, and saving the costs, the time, and the efforts, that will be sued to attract new customers. Additionally, the e-shop of the portal will allow increasing the revenue of the company through differentiating the processes of the company. In that regard, as of 2008, the fitness supplements are a $2.7 billion industry, which in the case of Jupiter Gym has an established clientele (ROOSEVELT, 2010).

Additionally, the integration of the main process in the organization will allow increasing the efficiency of managing the finances of the organization, and saving the cost of the personnel. Accordingly, the implementation of the portal can be seen as a knowledge management initiative which will allow reducing the impacts of employees turnover. All of the latter can be summarized through improved cash flow and increased revenue for the company. The costs are represented through the costs of development and the personnel that will manage and update the portal. Being considered as long-term investment, it is expected that the investment will occupy itself in a period of two years.

Tables and Graphs

Bibliography

Abdul, R. (2009). Feasibility Study for your new eCommerce Web Site. E-commerce Expert. Web.

Center for Economic Vitality. (2010). Fitness Centers: A Guide for Business Owners. Center for Economic Vitality. Web.

Health Club Directory. (2011). Health Clubs, Fitness Centers & Gyms | Jupiter, FL. HealthClubDirectory. Web.

Jupiter Fitness Center. (2011). Jupiter Fitness Center  Homepage. Jupiter Fitness Center. Web.

ROOSEVELT, M. (2010). When the Gym Isnt Enough. The New York Times. Web.

Terra, J. C. (n.d.). Developing a Business Case for Corporate Portals. Terra Forum. Web.

Executive Summary

Conclusion

A research on Jupiter Fitness Center revealed the opportunity for implementing a corporate portal solution that will satisfy the needs of customers as well as the organization. Corporate portal is a suitable solution to integrate different business processes into a single interface, improving the communication between customers, employees, and suppliers.

Business Opportunity

The portal will provide the customers of the company more value for the services received, which is expected to contribute to their retention and give the company a competitive advantage. Such advantage can be represented through improved cash flow and increased revenues, and an opportunity for expanding the business.

Business Environment

The industry of fitness center has an enormous potential and it experiences growth in the last decade. The environment is competitive on the national and the regional level which implies searching for a competitive advantage to retain customers. There is a need to analyze the trends current in the exercise industry to maintain clients.

Solutions

The solution identified is to develop a web portal that will provide the opportunity for customers to personalize their membership, manage their membership transactions, receive diet consultation, and purchase fitness supplements online. The portal will also integrate the accounting processes managed by the company.

Analysis

Cost

The costs of developing a web portal can be divided between several aspects. First of all, there are the costs of technology. Such costs will include the costs of the hardware, i.e. a web server, personal computers (the number is dependent on the number of employees needed), and network infrastructure. The costs of the software should be added to the latter, including an operating system, and server management software.

The use of an open-source software might reduce the costs of implementation, but likely to increase the costs of training personnel. Broadband connection to the internet is also required (Abdul, 2009). The costs of the consultancy and technological development can be integrated into a single team, who will work on the, identifying the requirements and developing the website (Abdul, 2009).

Accordingly, the costs of training personnel to sue the new portal might be added to the expenditures of development, which will depend on the types of software used. In that regard, such training might occur simultaneously with the testing of the portal (Abdul, 2009).

Schedule

The development will take a period of 13 weeks or 89 days, which will be divided in accordance to the established tasks and their durations. The tasks involved in the development of a web portal are composed of the following:

• Identifying needs and objectives.
• Interpreting objectives into the main functions of the website.
• Designing the layout of the project and identifying the requirements.
• Developing the website.
• Testing and training of personnel.
• Improvements and modifications.
• Launching the portal.

The schedule of implementation and durations can be seen through Table 1.

Best Solution

A corporate portal can be seen as a suitable solution that will provide an organization an integrated approach toward managing their activities. In that regard, a portal can be seen as an approach which is sufficiently flexible and at the same time scalable to address any needs of the organization. An initial investigation of the Jupiter Fitness Center, located in Jupiter, Florida, outlined several needs , all of which can be targeted through the development of a simple, yet professional portal that will provide the company a competitive advantage and retain their customers. A portal will influence the way company collaborate with employees, customers, and suppliers (Terra, n.d.).

According to the priority put in each type of communication the portal will be developed and operated. In that regard, the decision to implement a corporate portal can be seen as a strategic decision that will allow the company to leverage its capabilities and integrate their processes into a single infrastructure that can be expanded and replicated (Terra, n.d.).

Interest to Students

The integration of internet can be apparent in every aspect of our lives, and business is no different in that matter. The portal solution can be seen interesting as it provides a good alternative to the network infrastructure, integrating several processes into a single interface. Thus, depending to permission provided to a group of users, e.g. employees, customers, or suppliers, different options will be available all of which can be managed for a single point of entry. At the same time portals is a good knowledge management tool. Currently, employers try to integrate social network capabilities into the workplace, so information exchange which occurs within such medium remain within the company.

Portals, in that regard, is a good alternative, where transactions, employees activities, employees services, and others, all remain within one place. A good example, specific to the business cases provided within this report, i.e. a fitness center, can be seen through a scenario in which diet consultation is provided to the members of the center, with all information being based on the expertise and the knowledge of the instructor. The termination of the contract of the instructor will imply losing such information, and spending time and efforts for the new instructor to learn about customers. With portal such cases are avoided.

Work

An extensive research was conducted, specifically to identify a sphere of business in which a problem might exist, and which can be resolved through an Information Technology (IT) solution. The criteria were a small company in the sphere of services. The fitness center was identified as a field in which IT solutions have not been integrated to a full extent, where Jupiter Fitness Center was chosen because of the websites poor capabilities, i.e. it served merely for marketing purposes. Thus, a research was followed on corporate portals and the fitness industry according to which the needs of the company and the capabilities of portals were identified.

Comprehensive Solution

Problem

Jupiter Fitness Center, is a family gym located Jupiter, Florida (Jupiter Fitness Center, 2011). The center has a simple website, through which the visitors can obtain information on the gym, its contacts, directions, and equipment. The companys website main aim is attracting new customers, while none of the information on the website is used to retain existing customers and provide them with other advantages through internet.

The company has the potential to expand the gym into other areas through opening a chain, an opportunity, which, if utilized, might need a reconsideration of the companys information system. The current implementation of the companys information can be assumed to be reflected through the companys website and separate applications for managing accounting and users memberships. Additionally, the company plans to open an e- shop which is currently under construction.

Considering the capabilities of the website, it might be assumed that shop will operate as a showcase for the gyms inventory, indicating the specifications of the goods, while the purchase process will be processed offline. Thus, there is an opportunity for Jupiter Fitness Center to enhance its operations, gain an advantage over competitors, providing more value to retain members, members, and integrate the processes of the organization, which will accordingly provide a foundation for future expansion.

Business Background

The prevalence of obesity as a problem in the United States implies that the trends of exercising will not lose demand or popularity. In that regard, the demand for fitness centers is still experiencing growth; see Fig.1 (Center for Economic Vitality, 2010). It should be noted that the growth in the number of centers lead to a competition between the participants of the industry. Taking such aspect to Jupiter, Florida, the number of fitness centers surpasses 82 (Health Club Directory, 2011).

Those are only listed online on a single website, where it is expected that their number is much more. Among the challenges identified for industry there is the fact that approximately 35 to 40 percent of clients do not renew their gym membership each year (Center for Economic Vitality, 2010). For a gym of 20,000 square feet size, such as Jupiter, it is expected to have about 2400 members, considering that a typical 25,000 square feet gym has 3,000 members (Center for Economic Vitality, 2010).

Thus, according to such statistic, the company has to find at least 850 new members each year, which requires spending significant time and energy. In light of increased competition, retaining the existing members will be a feasible option, through providing them with extra benefits for their money. One of exercise trends can be seen through providing diet counseling, which can be seen as one of the value adding activities that might provide benefits to customers.

The solution proposed in this report is through integrating the following business functions into a single portal-like webpage. The portal will have the following functions:

• Personalized diet Program, which will provide diet suggestions based on entered information.
• Personalization options for members, i.e. renewing membership, changing membership plan, making an appointment with the instructor, etc. The latter will include managing electronic transactions, providing the opportunity to sign-up with the club online.
• E-shop which will provide the possibility for purchasing supplements online, integrating with a delivery service that will deliver the goods. The option will not be restricted to the members of the club, allowing the e-commerce section of the company to operate independently.
• Calendar and reminders of scheduled training integrated into popular social services, e.g. twitter, Facebook, etc.
• Integrating accounting software into the portal.

Alternate Solutions

The alternatives that might exist to increase the efficiency of integrating information technology solution can e seen through manual labor. The company can provide diet counseling in the gym, which considering the number of club members, might require extra staff to manage such task. The same can be seen through selling fitness supplements on site, while being promoted online. In such case, the alternative will be only feasible when the demand is low, eliminating the need for the center to be concerned about inventory, and managing suppliers. The companys attempt at retaining their existing members can be seen through having a group on the social networking website Facebook. The number of members participating in the group and the dates on the discussion parts indicates that such group serves merely as an announcement board and an alternative for newsletters.

Cost-Benefit Analysis

The benefits that the proposed solution will provide can be seen through retaining the existing members of the gym, and saving the costs, the time, and the efforts, that will be sued to attract new customers. Additionally, the e-shop of the portal will allow increasing the revenue of the company through differentiating the processes of the company. In that regard, as of 2008, the fitness supplements are a $2.7 billion industry, which in the case of Jupiter Gym has an established clientele (ROOSEVELT, 2010).

Additionally, the integration of the main process in the organization will allow increasing the efficiency of managing the finances of the organization, and saving the cost of the personnel. Accordingly, the implementation of the portal can be seen as a knowledge management initiative which will allow reducing the impacts of employees turnover. All of the latter can be summarized through improved cash flow and increased revenue for the company. The costs are represented through the costs of development and the personnel that will manage and update the portal. Being considered as long-term investment, it is expected that the investment will occupy itself in a period of two years.

Tables and Graphs

Bibliography

Abdul, R. (2009). Feasibility Study for your new eCommerce Web Site. E-commerce Expert. Web.

Center for Economic Vitality. (2010). Fitness Centers: A Guide for Business Owners. Center for Economic Vitality. Web.

Health Club Directory. (2011). Health Clubs, Fitness Centers & Gyms | Jupiter, FL. HealthClubDirectory. Web.

Jupiter Fitness Center. (2011). Jupiter Fitness Center  Homepage. Jupiter Fitness Center. Web.

ROOSEVELT, M. (2010). When the Gym Isnt Enough. The New York Times. Web.

Terra, J. C. (n.d.). Developing a Business Case for Corporate Portals. Terra Forum. Web.

Introduction

The purpose of this experiment is to determine the effect that cardiovascular fitness has on the rate of the heart beating. Cardiovascular fitness refers to the extent to which the cardiac muscles are adapted to strenuous activities. The rate of the heart beating is also called the pulse rate and simply refers to the speed at which the heart pumps blood from the left ventricle to the rest of the body for circulation. Before the beginning of any exercise, the pulse rate normally increases and this is referred to as anticipatory response. In the course of the exercise, respiration rate increases require more blood supply (oxygen) to the body tissues, thus increasing the need for faster pumping of the blood. As a result, the heart has to pump more blood per time unit to meet the new demand for oxygen in the body (Plowman & Smith, 2007).

Regular exercise has some adaptive impact on the rate of the heartbeat. A person who engages in frequent exercising prompts his or her muscles to get used to the strenuous activities. This makes his or her cardiac muscles exhibit an insignificant rate of beating in the case of physical activities that are quite demanding. On the other hand, an individual who exercises less number of times is bound to experience a great change in the rate of heartbeat for a less tasking exercise. As such, a person who is physically fit experiences less pulse rate in comparison to that person who exercises less number of times for the same physical task (Hoeger & Hoeger, 2010).

Methods and Materials

In this experiment, a stopwatch was the only equipment that was needed. Also, four individuals were required to participate in the experiment. One of the persons was the one who had previously taken part in some physically strenuous activity (athletics) and another one was that who had not participated in much of such activities. The other two members served as the personal trainers for the test subjects (Coursework.Info 2011).

For the procedure, the two test subjects stepped up and down on a low platform for 3 minutes at a rate of approximately 30 steps per minute. The personal trainers then measured and recorded the resting pulse rate of each subject. The results were tabulated in a table.

Results

Table 1.1: Results for the test experiment

Table 1.2: Athletes

Table 1.3: Non-Athletes

Table 1.4: Difference Pulse rate before and after the aerobic exercise

From the results obtained for table 1.3 and 1.4, it was essentially clear that individuals who are athletes experienced lesser rates of heartbeat relative to those who are non-athletes.

Conclusion

From the experiment, it is worth concluding that the rate of a heartbeat after an exercise is heavily dependent on the physical fitness of cardiovascular fitness. Therefore, the objectives of the experiment were met (University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) 2011). Furthermore, the hypothesis that a person who is physically fit experiences less pulse rate in comparison to that person who exercises less number of times for the same physical task was found to be true.

Bibliography

Coursework.Info. (2003) The effect of exercise on pulse rate. Web.

Hoeger W, Hoeger A. 2010. A Personalized Program on Lifetime Physical Fitness and Wellness. London: Cengage Learning.

Plowman SA, Smith DL. 2007. Exercise Physiology for Health, Fitness, and Performance. New York City, NY: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

University of Maryland Medical Center. (2011) Exercises Effects on the Heart. Web.

Introduction

Infancy is a critical stage in life.

Establishes healthy consumption patterns.

Children develop dietary habits and physical activities preference.

Parents should not introduce unhealthy diet.

Infancy is a critical stage in life since a person establishes healthy consumption patterns. This patterns can lead to the infants acquiring optimal growth and healthy development. Good nutrition for infants can also curb future diseases linked with poor consumption behaviors. Children develop dietary habits and physical activities preference at this stage. Therefore, it is vital for parents or care givers not to introduce unhealthy eating habits to the infants (Warlow, 2008).

Importance of nutrition amongst infants in prevention of future diseases

• Prevent the Risk of lifetime Obesity.
• Prevents the future contraction of cancers and cardiovascular diseases.
• Sufficient intake of calcium leads healthy teeth and proper bone formation.
• Reduces the risk of osteoporosis that is caused the insufficient intake of calcium.
• Reduces the risks associated with lead toxicity that is caused by poor nutrition and lack of Irion.
• Reduce long-term negative effects on brain development and function that result from iron-deficiency anemia.
• Prevent stunted growth.
• Minerals are needed to build new cells.

Importance of nutrition in an infant in prevention of future diseases

Proper nutrition is extremely essential in prevention of future diseases. Infants ought to be given foods that contain the necessary nutrients. Apparently food that is calcium enriched enhances born formation and stronger teeth afterwards in existence. Osteoporosis can be caused by Calcium deficiency (Patient.co.uk, 2011). Moreover, insufficient iron can lead to iron deficiency in the body. This can affect the child in the future by causing poor brain development. Furthermore, Insufficient iron and poor diets is a cause of lead toxicity. Lack of vitamins found in fruits and vegetables can also lead to high chances of having cancer and cardiovascular illness (Dauncey, 2009).

Guidelines for achieving and maintaining physical fitness

• Parents should involve the infant in their daily physical activities.
• Parents or caregivers should not restrict the infants movements for a long period of time.
• Physical activities should improve the infants movement skills.
• The physical fitness should involve performance of large muscle activities as per the recommendations.
• Care givers should be aware of the relevance of physical activities and facilitate the infants movement skills.

Infants interact with the parents in everyday physical behaviors that are devoted to the discovery of their surroundings. Moreover, the infants moments should not be restricted for an unusually lengthy period.(Fetrell,2007). Therefore, it is significant for folks to be accountable for the welfare of infants ought to be conscious of the significance of the bodily activities and assist in the infants movement ability. Breast feeding can also improve the future health of infants (MedlinePlus, 2011).

Long-term outlook for infant nutrition

• Breast feeding is critical to good health.
• Increased number of mothers are limited with reference to the time they can breastfeed.
• Poor feeding leads to disabilities.
• It is proper to focus on infusing appropriate tendencies at childhood.

The long-term outlook incorporates breast feeding, which is crucial in infancy development. Furthermore, poor feeding may lead to disabilities. Future prospects also indicate the need to infuse appropriate feeding tendencies at birth (Ashworth, Shrimpton and Jamil, 2008). good nutrition results into healthy physical and mental conditions. Malnutrition can affect a childs physical and mental development. Therefore, is It is vital for parents to practice healthy nutritional habits on their children to ensure their proper health and growth (Dauncey, 2009).

References

Ashworth, A., Shrimpton, R. and Jamil, K. (2008). Growth monitoring and promotion: review of evidence of impact. Maternal & Child Nutrition, 4: 86117.

Dauncey, M.(2009). New insights into nutrition and cognitive neuroscience. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society. 68: 408-415.

Fetrell, M.(2007).Proceedings for The Nutrition Society: Childhood ResearchCentre, 66,435-441.

MedlinePlus. (2011). Child Nutrition. Web.

Patient.co.uk (2011). Childhood nutrition. Web.

Wardlow,G.,& Smith, A. (2008).Contemporary Nutrition. New York, NY: MC Graw-Hill.

Definition: The satisfaction of a customer in relation to this or that product or service depends on the quality of the product, its usability, and on such important aspects as the speed of delivery and consistency. These aspects are closely associated with the concept of fitness for use as the ability to satisfy the needs of customers (Collier & Evans, 2011, p. 303).

From this point, it is possible to speak about fitness for use when the product or service can be effectively used by customers, meeting their needs. The product and services fitness for use is obvious when they are designed according to the definite principles, values or specifications (Collier & Evans, 2011, p. 303). Thus, the idea of fitness for use is connected with the quality of a product, depending on which customers make conclusions about the usability and appropriateness of a product or a service.

Role: Customers are inclined to choose products and services according to their quality and specific features which meet the requirements of this or that person. From this perspective, the notion of fitness for use is important when customers draw conclusions about usability of products and services because personal needs are different, and the quality and fitness of the product or service should meet the needs and requirements of the wide audience in order to guarantee the sales.

Fitness for use is based on the effective combination of design and the manufacturing method with references to the ways of the products delivery and quality. If all these aspects meet customers needs, it is possible to speak about fitness for use (Collier & Evans, 2011, p. 303).

Applicability: The task of Ford Motor Company is to preserve the leaders positions within the industry and market. To complete this task, it is necessary to focus on the interests of customers in order to work out and design the most effective vehicles which could meet the customers needs and expectations. The concentration on the appropriateness and quality of the product can be discussed as the focus on the products fitness for use which is the guarantee of the companys high competitive ability within the market.

Thus, according to the statements of the companys managers, it is necessary to monitor global market trends in order to receive the important information about consumer interests and identify some points and issues which could be interpreted to affect the consumers behaviours and attitudes toward the company and its products (Ford Motor Company, 2012).

From this point, the concept of fitness for use is effectively applied to Ford Motor Company in its combination with such an important notion as the products quality. However, to design the vehicle which can be discussed as rather fitting and meeting the customers needs, it is necessary to study the target audience of the product and the needs of potential customers.

Thus, orienting to the image of a typical customer, the company can operate the market research data in order to design and develop a vehicle which can meet customers needs completely (Ford Motor Company, 2012). Vehicles are developed basing on the customers expectations, and the competitiveness of the company depends on the rate of sales.

The process is interdependent because to sell more products, it is necessary to be aware of the customers desires and expectations and meet them with references to the products quality or usability, using the idea of fitness for use. It is possible to state that Ford Motor Company operates the notion of fitness for use effectively because of the high positions within the market and customers interest in relation to Ford vehicles.

References

Collier, D. A., & Evans, J. R. (2011). OM 3. USA: Cengage Learning.

Ford Motor Company: Understanding Customer Needs. (2012). Web.

Executive summary

The basis of this report is information on the shoes used by trainees to achieve success of maintaining personal fitness. The report involves evaluating the marketing strategy used by Guangzhou Kala health shoes Technology Company Limited in China.

It suggests solutions for ensuring development and improvement of the company. The purpose of this report is to investigate and analyze the marketing strategy using marketing tools and techniques, SWOT analyzes, market segmentation and positioning, competitors performance and marketing mix of the company.

It will also recommend the changes in marketing strategy to be made by the firm to improve the competitive position of the firm in the industry. It also shows the benefits of marketing tactics and strategies of other successful organizations.

Introduction

Gang Liu owns Guangzhou Kala health shoes Technology Company Limited. The company specializes in the manufacture, retailing and distributor of height increasing shoes, massage slipper, healthy slipper and sandal boots in its main markets in North America, Eastern Europe and South East Asia among others worldwide (Made in china, 2011, par.1).

The company has more than 1000 employees specialized in research, development, production and marketing of health shoes. It has been in the market for over 10 years with the brand names of Nike, Reebok, Puma, Adidas and K-Swiss. It has 180 stores in china (Venture navigator 2010, par.1).

Current Strategies

The company has been offering its products or services to the market for ten years. The analyst had to ensure that the company had already established its own market internationally and had the capability of surviving in the market.

The marketing strategy evaluation and analysis suggests the ideal progress of the company and recommendations are to improve the companys performance and competitiveness.

Their volume of annual sales had improved drastically given increased product distribution hence evidence that it will continue penetrating into the market and make more profits (Made in china, 2011, par.1).

Objectives of the Company

The firm has various objectives including provision of quality products and services that attract and maintain more customers from their competitors by satisfying and ensuring their customers hence maintaining the relationship and meeting expectations.

The company aims at using technology and innovation that improves modern enterprise management systems by developing unique products and services and increasing customer awareness. Lastly, it aims at establishing people-oriented concepts by learning and understanding customer needs and while increasing its value (Made in china, 2011, par.1).

Situational Analysis. Pestle Analysis. Political factors

The companys location in China has created many issues and changes in the company due to the laws and regulations, global changes, data protection and the legislation of the country. There is a lot of corruption and collapse of the government representatives to the laws and regulations set by the government.

The government representatives unite with the criminals to cause crimes to the expatriates and property thus limiting growth and development of the company.

There is no transparency in the government laws and regulations forcing the company to be alert on the laws and regulations surrounding the company and to learn from the experience of other companies to avoid additional operational costs especially in research.

The government imposes restrictions on exports and imports using measures such as high taxation on smuggled goods to protect business investments. The country experiences frequent natural disasters leading to losses whenever the company is affected.

Economic factors

People in modern areas have a higher disposable income than those in the rural areas limiting the market share of the company to the urban centre. Unequal GDP and development in the country reduces the development and growth of the company operations due to low turnover and revenue.

The prices of goods and services are very high due to increased costs of transportation and raw materials. The national income comes from high taxation of businesses because most of the people in the country face financial hardships and are unable to generate enough revenue to cater for the government expenditure.

Social-cultural factors

There is high rural-urban migration leading to high unemployment and insecurity in urban areas in China. The workers are unpaid for their services and refute free labor unions and channels of appeal. These problems have led to frequent protests and demonstrations in urban areas disrupting business operations.

The country has a big gap between the rich and the poor resulting to a wide gap in education and living standards. There are high-income earners in the country who have the potential of purchasing goods without financial limitations.

The country has a variety of customs and beliefs that are essential for the growth of the company. Increased insecurity in the country limits foreign investors thus reducing competition in the market.

Technological Factors

The country is facing difficulties of water and power shortages. Power rationing measures occur when there is high demand for products and services thus minimizing utilization of production resources. The low level of education limits technology development in the country. Only the few educated are able to carry out technical activities.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

The company motivates its workers by paying their salaries fairly and as required. It produces a variety of unique and quality personal fitness shoes that are affordable by all classes of people.

It has created good reputation in the country and internationally due to its good relationship between the consumers, other companies, and the local government safeguarding its image during disputes and marketing activities. The company is able to hire qualified and skilled employees.

It has 1000 expertise in investigation, improvement and invention of its products and services. The company has a total annual sales volume of US$ 50 to 100million and an export percentage of 61% to 70% (Made in china, 2011, par.1).

Weaknesses

Guangzhou Kala health shoes Technology Company Ltd is able to produce only height increasing shoes, massage slippers, healthy slippers, and sandal boots hence the need to innovate more brands to meet customer needs and wants (Made in china, 2011, par.1).

Opportunities

The company can easily grow due to its market establishment in developed countries such as the North America. Its brand names are famous and prosperous among many nations thus enhancing its brand image.

The restrictions of the government laws on smuggling goods gives the company an advantage over its competitors since its quality of products and services maintains. There is increased need for personal fitness globally hence; the company has a greater chance of improving its profits (Made in china, 2011, par.1).

Threats

The poor economic status of the country and the high taxation of revenue by the government reduce the companys profits and capabilities.

There is increased competition from other personal fitness shoes producers in the world by producing better products and services and establishing dominant markets for example, the Reebok Company (Made in china, 2011, par.1).

Differential advantage/competitive edge (USP)

The company produces unique and quality products that differentiate the company products and services from its competitors.

Their products are very important in personal fitness trainers institutions since they reflect a lot in customer benefits. Its efforts to understand consumer needs and wants of personal fitness globally has generated a bigger market share and advanced the profits of the company (Made in china, 2011, par.1).

Segmentation targeting and Positioning (STP)

Segmentation

Segmentation divides the companys target markets into different sectors. Segmentation is important to the company to improve its profits and market strategies by understanding their customer needs that attract and maintain them from the companys competitors.

The companys establishment and progress has majored on behavioral and geographic segmentation (Doole, 2008, p.197).

Behavioral Segmentation

A good example for this form is a case in which customers make purchases based on the benefits they get from the product, level of usage of the product, level of loyalty, user status and level of their readiness to purchase (Doole, 2008, p.198).

The company has discovered the rising need and demand for personal fitness in many countries due to the increased health problems and activities. They used shoes since personal fitness shoes are much different from the normal unhealthy shoes.

This has led to the increase in their penetration in the market since the consumers are willing to buy the shoes at any cost and time. The personal fitness trainers also advise their customers on the shoes to use to keep fit (Dance, 2009, par.1).

Geographic Segmentation

The company has its main markets in North America, Eastern Europe, South East Asia, Africa and Mid East Asia. This segmentation has enabled the company to develop appropriate marketing strategies and decisions regarding its brands and multinational business progress. It has established 180 stores in China (Made in china, 2011, para.2).

Positioning

The idea of positioning is relates to the way consumers perceive and evaluate products and services. Consumers rank the features and attributes of the product against those of the competitors. The companys ability to identify the need for shoes personal fitness has enabled the company to be different from its competitors.

The company uses shoes to attract consumers who seek personal training and making them get comfort and the necessary fitness they need. This has enabled the company to attract and maintain their own customers and that of competitors through the benefits derived from the product.

The company has established international markets that are in developed countries enabling the company to maximize its profits. This has enabled the company to increase its total sales volume drastically (Made in china, 2011, par.2).

Marketing Objectives and Goals (SMART)

The company aims at enlarging its market worldwide by ensuring accessibility to products and communication. It evaluates and analyzes its markets to reflect on the changes necessary in the business. Individual branding differentiates their products through creating a products image and unique identity.

This helps to distinguish its products from that of the competitors. The company keeps on evaluating and understanding the government laws and regulations to make investment decisions to avoid disagreements during their market operations.

This helps the company to reduce unnecessary costs on losses. The company wants to increase awareness of its products through advertisement and public relations. It started with trade shows in the end of October to the beginning of November 2011.

Marketing Strategies and Programmes (4Ps)

Marketing mix designs to respond to the cultural diversity and complexity resulting from the marketing environment. Due to the challenges experienced and threats of perception as a less competitive producer, the marketer requires creating a program that registers the maximum possible impact in its target markets (Doole 2008, p.187)

Price

The company uses variable pricing and promotional pricing. The variable pricing helps the organization to set prices according to the level of demand and quality of the product.

Since the product is for leisure, the prices are slightly higher than prices of other essential products due to the high demand and lower than the price of competitors due to the sensitivity of market.

Promotional pricing is a technical pricing reduction process used by the company to give discounts, special offers, vouchers, pay later and interest free credit to their customers. This company is determined to maximize its current profits to grow globally, maintain price leadership to compete effectively with competitors in the market to ensure its survival and penetration into the global market (Made in china, 2011, par.3).

Product

The products quality has attracted the attention of consumers. Due to the increased competition in the market for personal fitness shoes, the company has taken into consideration creating unique and quality products.

The company responds to the customer needs and preferences by designing height-increasing shoes to be used for personal fitness training. The customers have responded by increasing their purchase of the products as indicated by the increase in the total annual sales volume (Made in china, 2011, par.3).

Place

The company exports more than 60% of its products making it an international company. This makes decisions more complex for the company hence demands for more coordination of the flow of goods and raw materials across the target markets to ensure superior customer service in foreign and local markets.

The company has reporting offices, foreign branches and retailers to ensure control of its markets (Made in china, 2011, par.3).

Promotions

The company attends to diverse issues that affect effective communication about its brands in foreign and local markets. The company understands legal and segmentation constraints in its target markets to make promotion decisions.

The company uses promotional tools such as giving out toys as gifts and research on the progress of the company. They use techniques such as trade shows, website promotions, email marketing, press releases, and newsletters for example, The New York Times (Marketing Find, 2005, para.1).

Conclusion

The company has tried to penetrate the market quickly since it has only ten tears since its establishment and has managed to be a global corporation.

Its products are essential to the society in helping its consumers keep fit. Health benefits are one of the most important things in consumers hence the company has higher chances of greater market share in the future.

The poor economic status of China has encouraged the company to seek international markets in order to improve its profit. The company uses a uniform global focus for all its markets to attain a global market perception and image irrespective of the origin of the product.

Recommendations

The company should make minor adjustments on the packaging and labeling of its products to cater for the diversity of languages, culture and climate. The company should focus on producing and availing its products to the target market to attract and maintain more customers from its competitors.

The company should conduct frequent and effective evaluation and analysis of their target market segments in order to make informed decisions on productivity and operations in the markets (Ferrel, 2008, p.311).

The company should also understand the right mode of entry to use while venturing into foreign and local market in order to determine the amount of control they have on those markets. This would enable the company to focus on its SWOT analysis to create a superior advantage over its market and competitors (Bennett, 2002, p. 194).

The company should approach its target markets in a gradual manner to reduce the risks of losses and increase its knowledge and performance of the target markets. The company should analyze its marketing mix to facilitate effective participation in the target markets to ensure survival and sustainability in the local and foreign market (Hoffman, 2008, p. 3).

Marketers should be in a position to face the challenges of ensuring high levels of competitiveness in the foreign markets. This pressure for globalization presents an image of a highly globalized producer.

While confronting these challenges, the marketer increases the knowledge and understanding of the target market enabling the firm to create marketing programs and plans of the local cultural conditions that shape the needs and wants of their customers (Haasen, 2003, p. 26).

The company should be careful in allocating part of its budgets to ensure all its activities compete effectively to avoid loosing its customers to the competitors. The product marks the starting point of the procedures of the business hence it should reflect the customers expectations and be able to attract the attention of customers in the market.

The company should use vivid advertisement to create awareness to reach a vast number of people at the same time. This helps to boost customer turnover very fast if communication is good and effective. The employees of the firm should get involved in creation of effective marketing programs to enable them understand their roles within the marketing process (Kotler, 2008, p.29).

The marketing programs should include motivation, coordination, education, and communication of the companys employees. The company should focus on the key elements of the exchange process to create customer satisfaction, the organization and even the society.

This helps to bring out the desired objectives and determine the implementation of the trading programs by enhancing the knowledge of the companys products or services mix, increasing the pride of the companys products and services, creating awareness of the opportunities for new products and services and business development, and helps improve the companys marketing skills (Turner, 2003, p.105).

It is important that the company embrace control and consistency in its markets to ensure successful programs, for example, successful promotional programs achieves because of an integrated marketing programs and definition of marketing and communication objectives (Barker, 2005, p.183).

The marketer should understand the cultural expectations of their customers to allow them to adapt quickly to the product characteristics. The company should maintain and improve its technology and innovation to ensure it keeps pace with the changes and demands of its customers.

It is important for marketing managers to understand different customer attitudes towards price and perception of quality in determining price levels. This is because consumers rely heavily on price to make judgment on quality of a product or service when they have little or no information about the product (Hoffman. 2007, p. 2).

The company should pass promotional messages frequently to inform, educate, and remind customers of their products and services. The marketers should analyze the information from the market and evaluate each marketing mix element with a view of indicating the relevant areas where adjustments are required. Marketers are keen at this stage to utilize resources to attain the maximum favorable impact within the specified periods (Hoffman, 2008, p. 2).

References

Barker, R. 2005, Integrated organizational communication, London: Juta and Company Limited, p.183.

Bennett, R. 2002, International marketing: strategy planning, market entry & implementation, New York: Kogan Page Publishers, p. 194.

Dance, 2009, Adult dance fitness and performing arts. Dance 101, Atlanta. Web.

Doole, I. 2008, International marketing strategy: analysis, development and implementation, Dublin City: Cengage Learning EMEA. p. 187.

Ferrel, O. 2008, Marketing strategy, New York: Cengage Learning. p. 311.

Haasen, A. 2003, New corporate cultures that motivate, Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 26.

Hoffman, S. 2007, How Do Motivation and Leadership Affect the Corporate Culture of Multinational Firms, Black Rock City: GRIN Verlag. p. 2.

Hoffman, S. 2008, Are the four ps of international marketing of equal importance to all firms. What factors might cause some to more or less important than others: a short article, Black Rock City: GRIN Verlag. p. 2, 3.

Kotler, P. 2011, Marketing insights from A to Z: 80 concepts every manager needs to know, New York: John Wiley and sons, p. 26, 29.

Made in china, 2011, Connecting buyers with china suppliers, Focus Technology Company Limited, Oklahoma City. Web.

Marketing Find, 2005, Web marketing promotional tools and techniques. Marketing Find Inc, Oklahoma City. Web.

Turner, P. 2003, Organizational communication: the role of the HR professional, Birmingham: CIPD Publishing. p. 105.

Venture navigator, 2010, Individual branding, The Business Edge Consortium, Kansas City. Web.

Introduction

The operations management and supply chain functions of an organization play a significant role in the development, productivity, and customer satisfaction. The vision of Fitness Plus is to provide the best first-class services to its clients at the most affordable price. The facility operates globally with most of the centers in the U.S. The majority of the clients are middle-aged people. Numerous companies have been affected by operational challenges despite having an improved market share and Fitness Plus is not an exception. Fitness Plus is a health, fitness, and sports facility situated in an economically advancing area. Since it opened its doors for membership, the club focuses on supplying its customers with fitness activities, recreational activities, and relaxation. It also sponsors sports activities, such as volleyball, swim teams, and softball. In health, the facility provides clinical services to the members. The charges on health care are deducted from the membership contribution except for serious injuries that require special treatment. Fitness Plus operates more like a family care facility, whereby clients are given the best training and medical care for well-being spiritually, emotionally, and physically. The facility recruits employees from the best team of doctors, physicians, and sports professionals.

Despite offering lucrative services to the consumer, Fitness Plus has been currently experiencing a significant shift in revenue and a reduction in the consumer population. The facility provides the services in four sessions, including the aerobics room that could host up to 35people per session. That includes the weight lifting hall, a room for working out that contains 24 Nautilus equipment, and a spacious cardiovascular room, having 29 pieces of equipment. Fitness Plus-commenced business in 1995. Moreover, within the first two years, the membership was low and most of the facilitys equipment was under-utilized. At the end of the second year, in 1997, customers realized the importance of exercising and membership started increasing. Therefore, this paper aims to analyze the issues experienced by Fitness Plus and attempt to present various recommendations that will enable the company to stay competitive within the already growing market.

Fitness Plus Operations

The increased demand for fitness centers and modern equipment has enabled Fitness Plus to attract a significant number of consumers, thus fully utilizing the available equipment. In 2000, it was recorded that during a typical day, 15 members visited the club hourly. The peak of members was recorded on Mondays since more people flocked the club as per the attendant list indicating 40 members between 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. (Patten & Newhart, 2017). Moreover, the clubs opening times are as follows; from 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. from Monday to Thursday. On Friday and Saturday, the institution shut its operation at 8:00 p.m. Sundays it operates from noon to 8:00 p.m. The equipments that the fitness contains are nine stair steppes, six trade-mill, six lifecycle bikes, three air dyne bikes, two cross calisthenics machines, two sculling machines, and one climber. There are eight racquetball yards, six tennis lawns, and an enormous outdoor swimming pool on the side of recreational activities.

Issues Faced by the Organization

According to the owners in the case research, as the popularity of fitness and health grew, so did the need for more people to register for membership at the club. However, members began complaining of overcrowding and a lack of sufficient training and workout equipment. The most affected areas were calisthenics, cardiovascular, and nautilus. These problems pushed the proprietors to contemplate whether membership had outgrown the facility.

Furthermore, research that was carried out by the institutions managers revealed that customers train and work out for an average of 60 minutes per session (Patten & Newhart, 2017). It was also discovered that on average, 30% of members used aerobics, 40% worked cardiovascular machines, 25% Nautilus machinery (Patten & Newhart, 2017). The number of consumers using weight lifts also increased by 20%, while clients who utilized racquetball yards and tennis pitches improved significantly by 15% and 10%, respectively (Patten & Newhart, 2017). The data made the owners question whether they should use it to estimate the clubs carrying capacity to its members. The managers were uncertain if the statistical information would solve the gradually growing capacity of consumers.

Furthermore, as the popularity of fitness and health continued to develop among consumers, the company also grew its operations. The rapid change in consumer demand created a consumer gap as the clients started demanding for the reinstallation of additional and new equipment. However, the high cost of operation and maintenance significantly impacted the facilitys financial standing. The institutions financial standing made it difficult for the managers to acquire new equipment and expand its area of operations. Finally, the constant growth in the areas population enabled the entry of new health and fitness facilities which created a competitive environment. However, Fitness Plus management had not adequately prepared for future threats from competitors hence leading to the loss of consumers who were constantly seeking developed fitness facilities.

Objectives of the Study

The research aims to conclude whether the club has reached its full capacity of membership and whether there is a need for expansion. Furthermore, the study aims to define the facilitys exact carrying capacity and enable its managers and proprietors to add more equipment to the institute. The current machines are being overutilized. The study also examines the significance of expanding or opening another fitness and health club.

The study pursues to respond to the various questions entailing capacity increase strategy, which is the most appropriate for the institutions performance. The methods that should be implemented to link the capacity decisions to other operations of the company will also be considered. Finally, the research will aim at answering the question of the method which can be employed to measure the capacity of Fitness Plus.

Significance of the Study

The study offers the owners a set of volume organization concerns from the perspective of a facility business. Information in the case study provides the prospect to tackle issues, such as the following: how the facilitys population is measured, the general quantity of the facilitys size, and the suitability to dwell in private areas (work centers) and calculate their population. Consequently, various areas may need diverse forms of capability measurement. The strenuous exercise area can house only 29 persons, and it resembles a trade shop, whereas the Nautilus zone is comparable to a congregation line where individuals stream using the gears. Moreover, measuring population capacity and differentiating the exploitation of aptitude at peak against the normal requirement level is the question of measuring population capacity. To this end, the assessment should discuss how enormous capacity mitigation is preferred in this service location.

The research also presents the managers with a clear understanding of their target market and competitors within the industry. Understanding the organizational environment plays a significant role in the development of strategies that will foster capacity building and expansions. Therefore, the proprietors will attain a clear understanding of the behaviors of the target market and its competitors thus developing other strategies that will ensure effective operational functions.

Additionally, a vital choice facing the facility after the quantity concerns have been handled is the aptitude development matter. The study is also aimed at addressing and providing solutions on timing, sizing, and location concerns. Finally, the case study should tackle the competitive urgencies problem while the management decides on a capacity expansion strategy. The expansion approach should be a key factor since there are new entrants in the companys marketplace. Moreover, Fitness Plus managers should ensure that they actively participate in the competitive market by establishing a full-service gear sequence, presenting suppleness and excellence. The administrators should also consider proximity to infrastructures since it plays a significant role in competitiveness. Finally, the proprietor should establish a strategy that will enable them to understand pricing in drawing and retaining clients. The study will also play a significant role in reviving the facility to its former glory by presenting various policies that can be employed by its managers to enable them to deal with the challenges such as reduced productivity and market position which are usually associated with competition

Limitations of the Study

The study limitations are the factors of design that significantly impact on the understanding of research findings. The main limitation is that there is inadequate space and land for significant expansion in this location. Due to the rapid urbanization over the years, Fitness Plus is facing a challenge in acquiring land for its expansion since most of its land have already been occupied by various businesses. Another hindrance issue was the insufficient funds for this expansion as the owners are operating on a tight budget. The facility was operating under a tight financial space, which restricted them from expanding and purchasing new equipment for its facility to accommodate the growing number of consumers. Additionally, due to the growing population, the number of service consumers had significantly grown. The facility, however, has limited equipment thus restricting it from accommodating a large capacity of people at a specific time.

Scope of the Study

The studys scope elaborates the level to which the study area will be explored in the research and specifies the limitations of the investigation. Therefore, the research attempts to determine the Fitness Plus clubs carrying capacity, and it is to be carried out in Greensboro, North California, USA. However, the study will limit its assessment to capacity building rather than the companys management and provide various findings that will be employed with the proprietors to boost competitive advantage.

Literature Review

Introduction

The literature review intends to present the reader with a general impression of the research paper on knowledge sharing and intranets. The chapter usually involves a framework for the research that involves the studys key focus described in the thesis. Therefore, as expounded in this chapter, the literature review helps to recognize and underline applicable conclusions that serve as a basis for the theoretical ideal. The research will be based on a positivist foundation philosophy. Therefore, this chapter critically studied the models which discovered the hypothetical base that provided coherent opinions into new patterns.

Theoretical Framework

The theoretical framework defines the main concept of the research paper, proposes the relationship between them, and discourses applicable models founded on the literature review. Therefore, a solid hypothetical outline will give the research a direction, thus facilitating the interpretation of the data collected and generalizing the findings of this paper. The study will have the theoretical underpinning of two theories, the systems theory, and the legitimacy theory; the theories will help n understanding the relevant areas that need to be adjusted by Fitness Plus to boost its competitiveness by attracting new clients while retaining loyal customers.

Systems Theory

The systems model defines the connection between various departments in a company and how a change in one area can impact other sectors (Kuntsevich et al., 2018). Establishments act as structures relating to their surroundings as steadiness is regularly shifting as the institute familiarizes to its fluctuating environment. The basis of the model is that all the constituents of a business are interconnected and that altering one aspect will influence the others (Kuntsevich et al., 2018). Establishments are regarded as exposed organizations, frequently networking with their surroundings. They are at a point of active balance while they familiarize themselves with ecological variations.

The system model views the structural arrangement as the recognized form of associations between the companys division of specific standing and the designs in associations and responsibilities. These comprise subjects of incorporation (the way activities are coordinated), separation, the arrangement of the classified relations (administrative systems), and the formal procedures, measures, and controls that guide the organization (administrative systems) (Kuntsevich et al., 2018). Establishments are exposed organizations that rely on their surroundings for backing and maintenance. The association between an institute and its surroundings is described by a two-way flow of data and momentum (Giachetti, 2016). Various establishments still strive to impact their environment and gain total control over it. Numerous researchers have consequently examined the progressive influence of these established gravities on conservational earnings (Giachetti, 2016). Thus, the structure model backs corporate social responsibility, which illustrates how establishments relate with their corresponding environs to cooperate and merge with other companies.

The model is significant to the research because converse logistics, which is an administrative arrangement, influences an institutes economic standing. Concentrating on the association and managing of merchandise and properties after the trade and provision to the consumer. Inverse logistics is a procedure that facilitates establishments to develop into further ecologically proficient units through reprocessing, recycling, and decreasing the number of raw materials utilized to manufacture goods and services.

Legitimacy Theory

The preliminary point for accepting this intriguing question is the assertion that legitimation has a crucial influence on how an organization is established, managed, perceived, and assessed in the business market. Legitimacy can function as either a foundation of supplementary external means or an instrument for merging structural status, either externally or internally (Zelditch Jr, 2018). Legitimacy explains the presence of a collective contract between an institute and its stakeholders. However, scholars define it with a fluctuating level of specificity; hence one of the largely accepted descriptions of legitimacy is that it is a universal opinion or supposition that the activities of an institute are suitable within some communally created system of standards, morals, principles, and explanations (Zelditch Jr, 2018). Considering its distinctive capability to link managerial actions to shareholder prospects, there is extensive backing for the concept that appropriate behavior can lead to significant rewards and profits.

The legality of establishments is generally managed from two contrasting hypothetical viewpoints, such as institutional and strategic approaches. From the institutional standpoint, legality is projected as a procedure of institutionalization, whereby outside standards and principles are accepted without much contemplation (Amir et al., 2020). Conversely, the strategic hypothetical perception regards acceptability as influential, practical, and, more prominently, a thoughtful goal that can eventually improve external views, thus building new and improved validity points. Considering its capability to clarify administrative enterprises that do not depict revenue expansion laws, the adequacy placed opinion offers a comprehensive hypothetical foundation for clarifying environmentally-oriented creativities.

Research-based on the established theory recommends that compressions from a companys formal ground will propel it to pursue legality in its stakeholders eyes. According to researchers, a companys reaction to external gravity stresses the significance of gaining legality for the commitments of indicating social merit (Amir et al., 2020). At the same time, it assumed that institutionalization outlines administrative skepticism when legal-pursuing behaviors clash with other company goals, such as revenue expansion. The established model also indicates that organizations can follow only simple conservational creativities that can adequately fulfill shareholder demands. Ensuring these principles in the organized opinion of acceptability, the present study has recognized the economic disadvantage of two other health and fitness clubs and financial limitations.

Research Design and Methodology

Introduction

This section discourses elements of the procedural decision and process of the research. The chapter significantly relies on the ethical position and study difficulty to direct the methodological decision. Moreover, it elaborates why a chronological mixed procedures research strategy is regarded as suitable for the investigation. It also sets the procedures to compile, analyze, and report information since the chapter employs distinct processes for the qualitative and quantitative approach, as both include different purposes to achieve. Besides, the strategies employed to boost the researchs reliability and validity are also intensively explained in this chapter. Finally, the chapter defines the studys procedural concerns, including the integration decisions, timing, weighing off the study, and presenting solutions to the issues.

Research Design

The research design is to compile, assess, understand, and record data in investigation studies. It is the overall idea of connecting the theoretical investigation issues with the applicable and investigational study. Therefore, based on the data the research design sets the guidelines on the required data, the techniques to be employed to compile and examine the information, and how it will respond to the research question. Furthermore, the study plan is the general strategy for performing the study to respond to research questions; the assessment intention is to indicate the steps to be monitored in directing the research. The study will adopt a case study research design in which an in-depth study of membership was conducted to determine the clubs actual carrying capacity. The method was implemented to enable the investigator to acquire and evaluate appropriate data regarding employees feelings around the effect of the expansion of the Fitness Plus Club in Greensboro, North California.

Target Population Analysis

The target population analysis usually occurs before research can be started and the researcher must first identify an agreed-upon population. Conversely, a populace is a group of people, substances, or objects from which illustrations are taken for dimension or a group or element that shares a common feature. For example, if the research was to determine the number of consumers who demand a specific good, then the target population would be the consumers and the researcher can interview or issue questionnaires to the target population which will serve as the sampling frame. In this case, the focus population will be from Greensboro, North California, senior administration, supervisors, and employees of this fast-growing area. The researcher will target a population of club members from the club that work out and use each section of the clubs facilities. This is to find out exactly which of the facilities and equipment are being used more and underutilized. Furthermore, the researcher can improve capacity approximations related to the following:

• Calisthenics
  • Assumption: Classes commence continue for 50 minutes.
  • Capacity: 1 session per hour with 35 members
• Cardiovascular
  • Assumption: During high-demand periods, the use of machinery is limited to 30 minutes per individual.
  • Capacity: With 29 pieces of C-V equipment it can however58 members per hour peak capacity
• Nautilus
  • Assumptions: Each member takes 1 minute to complete each exercise. The machines are set up, so participants flow through chronologically.
  • Capacity: Maximum capacity at a steady state; cycle time 1 minute. 60 members per hour.

Sampling Design

A sample is the number of items selected to represent the whole population. Conversely, the sample size is the subject on which the capacity is being taken as the assessment unit. A sampling design is used in selecting items to be observed for given research (Patten & Newhart, 2017). Over the three hours of peak demand, the Nautilus area should accommodate 156 members since it will take 24 minutes for one consumer to complete the whole 24-machine sequence. The following three areas of the club are the key aspects of concern due to consumer complaints, and they are where the facilitys management should focus on their assessment. The tennis and racquetball areas can service the following number of members per hour:

Table 1. Tennis and Racquetball (Patten & Newhart, 2017)

Since there was no specific measure of the number of participants in the weight-free areas, combining the single capacities into a general measure, the club can house a capacity will approximately range from 181 to 209 memberships per hour at peak. Conversely, the discounting of the free-weight zone will be able to accommodate 80 persons per hour. However, the most significant factor is not the collective demand intensity but rather the need mix and how it equals the singular area volumes.

The next step in the study is to enlighten the management in approximating the clubs facilities demands. The focus should be on looking at the clubs ability to satisfy peak demand since it is a service institute. Therefore, managers should focus on deriving the following estimates at the peak demand:

Table 2.

The table above highlights several issues that need to be taken into consideration. From the calculations earlier, the club session areas have extra spaces. Second, during workout sessions, members use more than one area. The club currently hosts 80 members despite the available space that could contain 122 people per hour. Hence, under-utilization.

The trainer, therefore, has to give attention to members concerns despite a large number of trainees. The management has applauded the trainers good customer relations over time. However, there have been minimal complaints from the clients. The complaints are majorly based on the facility usage capacity. A member may enter the club, warm up in the cardiovascular room for a few minutes, and then go through a Nautilus. Then finish with cardiovascular training or an aerobics workout. For instance, the assumption in the first analysis was that members utilized one session of the club for an hour during visiting hours. These are simplifying assumptions that ease the burden of analysis. However, assumptions such as these and the use of averages in measuring demands and capacities can lead to underestimating the capacity required to meet demands at some established service level.

Once the discussion of capacity cushions has taken place, the final capacity expansion issue needs to be addressed. The fact is, members are complaining, and expected service levels are not being met. The analysis should focus on both short-term and long-term solution alternatives and look at eachs pros/cons. Exhibit TN.1 gives an example of how to present this analysis. Be sure to tie the alternatives into other operating decisions and discuss how each may impact different competitive priorities, such as convenience and location, full-service range of activities with quality facilities, availability of services promptly, or low costs/price.

Data Collection Methods and Instruments

Data collection instruments refer to the tools employed in collecting data, such as computer-assisted interviewing systems and questionnaires. Therefore, a researcher needs to decide on the devices to collect information since the investigation is done in distinct ways and for different objectives. Data compilation is usually to capture quality proof, which fosters analysis to lead to the formulation of credible and convincing presentations to the questions initially passed by the investigator to the target population. Therefore, this research employed the use of computer-assisted interviewing to collect data from the Fitness Plus customers. The interview method allows each respondent to receive the same set of questions in the same way and yield data, which is more comparable than information obtained through questionnaires.

The Validity of Data Collection Tools

Validity refers to the accuracy of the data collection method and what it was intended to measure. Therefore, research is considered to have high validity when it produces results that complement real variations, properties, and physical environment characteristics. Specific questions will be incorporated into the interviews, aiming to capture specific information from the respondents. These questionnaires will be sent to the respondents to fill out and send them back for evaluation. A pre-test will be done on the questionnaires using a selected sample of respondents and evaluated data acquired. The pilot study will be undertaken to pre-test the methods and tools of data collection.

Reliability of Data Collection Tools

Reliability refers to how consistently a measurement method is used to measure something and if the same results can be achieved using the same method under similar conditions. Therefore, the data collection process for this research was unique to ensure the data provided would reflect a similar outcome when conducted by another researcher. Therefore, the variables and data collection instruments are scrutinized by experts, mainly my supervisors, who have ascertained their validity (Patten & Newhart, 2017). Furthermore, the data collection tools were reliable as they worked effectively on the target population and ensured that secondary data was also factored in the data collection period.

Data Analysis

Data analysis is the process of modeling, cleaning, and changing useful information for organizations decision-making process. The main aim of the procedure is to retrieve appropriate information from the compiled data. The data will be collected by using personal interviews, which were first edited to get the relevant data for the study. The tabulated data will be analyzed quantitatively by calculating various percentages where possible. Data collected will be calculated by the use of statistical inferences such as a mean mode where applicable. The presentation of data will be in tables, pie charts, and bar graphs which it provided a successful interpretation of the findings. Descriptive data will be analyzed qualitatively and the results provided in the form of explanatory notes.

References

Amir, M., Rehman, S. A., & Khan, M. I. (2020). Mediating role of environmental management accounting and control system between top management commitment and environmental performance: A legitimacy theory. Journal of Management and Research, 7(1), 132160.

Giachetti, R. E. (2016). Design of enterprise systems: Theory, architecture, and methods. CRC Press.

Kuntsevich, V., Gubarev, V., & Kondratenko, Y. (2018). Control systems: Theory and applications. River Publishers.

Patten, M. L., & Newhart, M. (2017). Understanding research methods: An overview of the essentials. Taylor & Francis.

Zelditch Jr, M. (2018). Legitimacy theory. Stanford University Press.

Introduction

The Genesis Fitness Club was started back some years ago in Melbourne with a vision of providing honest and professional services which are superior to other fitness clubs around the country.

Their mission is to offer fitness solutions that are fun, easy, and rewarding in order to achieve the desired results. In its existence, the club has always worked at maintaining a community based culture by supporting the local schools and kindergartens as well as businesses and this has been a pivot towards its growth (Genesis Fitness Club 2011).

A knowledge management system is defined as the way in which a company collects its data, organizes it before distributing it to the reliable parties.

The idea behind a successful knowledge management system is the assumption that each employee, member or a customer from a company should have easy and ready access to the operation details as well as the possible solutions to the problems that may arise (Newman & Conrad 1999). For example a customer should know who to contact when a certain problem arises or when he or she is in need of certain services.

There exists four types of knowledge management systems which are classified according to their characteristics and they are: fragmented, content based, process based and finally the capability based system. Nowadays, companies prefer an integrated knowledge management system due to the advantage that it provides timely solutions for all sorts of problem either emergency or day to day problems (Uriarte 2008).

The Genesis Fitness Club uses the content based knowledge management system whereby, any relevant information that a customer, employee or member may require is easily accessed through the internet in their websites.

With the General Fitness Club having many subsidiaries across every state in Australia, they have developed a website whereby one can easily access the information of any of the General Fitness Clubs around or near him or her. These websites are equipped with any information the customer may require from the attendance charges, membership fees to the different packages offered by the clubs.

This system serves as an advantage to the club since with all information being easily accessible; it is easier for the clients to contact the General Fitness clubs headquarters armed with information about the enquiry as well as detailed information of what was not covered in their websites.

The use of the website for information management also serve as an advantage since the company expenses due to the reduced number of personnel required as well as expenses required for stationeries and this in return gives the company a chance to provide the services at more friendly rates compared to other competitors in the industry (Donnellan & Bruss 2004).

SWOT Analysis

The SWOT analysis usually provides us with an opportunity in understanding the strongholds of a company, the promising opportunities where the company might increase their investments to gain more revenue. It also show how the company needs to mitigate the effects of the threat from competitors as well work on the weaknesses and change them to strongholds for the club to prosper.

Strengths

The company works through a results orientated approach by attracting and maintaining customers, this has been done by sometimes offering a 10 day free membership offers: this ensures that the clubs remain operating since revenues are guaranteed from the members who have shown continued loyalty to the club (General Fitness Club Prahran 2011).

Genesis Fitness Club are also armed with a detailed nutrition program where they provide the best eating guidelines for their members to ensure that with a correct meal and the exercises, clients achieve their objectives within the shortest time possible.

They have well trained staffs: The General fitness Stores have staffs that are professionally trained and have a true passion of training the kids, business as well as kids needs for their members. By providing all the trained professionals, Green Fitness Centres have proved that they can go way well above in order to ensure their clients are well satisfied (Australian Sports Club 2008).

With the company offering its services through the internet, the companys online presence gives its members and new customers access to the services they are offering, how much they are charging, the schedules and also the fitness progress. Thus, one does not have to walk to the club centres or make calls since information is easily accessible through the internet (General Fitness Club 2011).

The atmosphere in the General fitness Centres provides fun for all family members since our facilities are best suited for any age bracket irrespective of how fit or how old they are. And finally, the Companies clear vision of providing an honest and professional services superior to other fitness clubs is a clear indication that the company main goal is satisfying the customers to the fullest (McMahon 2011).

Weakness

There are usually high costs which are associated with customized and personalized services as well as the capital required to purchase the modern equipments and thus the high fees may be a hindrance towards providing our services to those who cannot afford.

There is also the inability by Group Fitness Centres to work on high volume businesses since personal attention is required and investing time on a particular client reduces the time that could be available to serve more people. There are also costs involved in attracting large corporate clients such as employees of a certain company. Such venture would require investing heavily in promotion services.

Opportunities

Threats

Increased living standards: With the costs of living rising, there is a likelihood of people being conservative with how they spend their money and this will reduce the revenues the company is gaining from its members.

There is also the threat from other upcoming fitness centres as well as copycat training services centre which might decide to copy the services being offered by General Fitness Centres. This is a major threat to the company but with the national reputation the centres have amassed through out Australia, this effect will not be felt.

Societal transformation where people are likely to be more health sensitive leading to fewer visits to the gym facilities is another major factor that will lead to a decline in revenues gained.

Reference List

Australian Sports Club. 2008. Genesis Fitness Cairns. Web.

Donnellan, B., & Bruss, K. 2004. Gaining Competitive Advantage through the Management of Process Knowledge. Web.

Genesis Fitness Centres. 2011. Genesis Fitness Group Workout Schedule. Web.

General Fitness Club Prahran. 2011. Why Genesis Fitness Clubs Prahran? Web.

Genesis Fitness Club, 2011. The Fitness Club for Everybody. Web.

McMahon, M. 2011. News from the Club Manager. Web.

Newman, B., & Conrad, W. K. 1999. A Framework for Characterizing Knowledge Management Methods, Practices, and Technologies. Web.

Singh, M. 2010. Home Gym Design: How Do I Design A Perfect Home Gym? Web.

Uriarte, F. A. 2008. Introduction to Knowledge Management. Web.

Introduction

For many people, the main aim of starting an industry is to make earnings and see the corporation grow. However, this notion does not always hold. Starting and running a business is always a challenge. One of the many challenges associated with business is the lack of enough cash flow to keep operations going. A business should produce enough profits to take care of its capital expenditures and receivable collections.

After starting their Zumba business, three friends and business partners, Alberto Perlman, Alberto Aghion, and Alberto Bero Perez realize that even though they have done everything to attract their target market, their business model is not giving them enough money. The Zumba business produced exercise video tapes as its product that was targeted to fitness instructors across the world, although it targeted the Latin-American market.

The three partners adopted the Business to Consumer (B2C) product type where they could sell their video tapes directly to their clients, including selling them through an online platform. Under the then business model, their cash flow was becoming very impulsive. If they did not do some something to rectify the situation, their business was at a risk of collapsing. With $14,000 in their bank account, they had a decision to make of either quitting and venturing into other businesses or holding on to find a way to make their Zumba business work.

Environmental Analysis

Environmental analysis is a strategic business tool that used to identify all internal and external factors that affect a business organization. This tool can be applied to examine the Zumba business situation to determine the factors that may be at play to bar it from moving forward (Buchanan 66). Environmental analysis assesses the threat levels or the opportunities that these factors might present. These evaluations are then used in the decision-making process. A detailed analysis of the business environment shows were a business stands in the current market, including where it is headed. It includes both internal and external business environments.

Internal Environment

A business internal environment involves the elements within the business organization. Such elements may include the employees, management, and/or its corporate culture. In this case study, some decisions made by the three entrepreneurshave proved to be counterproductive to their business. Because of a communication error between Zumba business owners and Crunch gyms, the Zumba business ended up losing a lot of time and money in legal negotiations concerning the rights of the songs used in their videos.

This internal atmosphere not only cost them time that they could use to reach more customers in the US market, but also led to a lose cash in the legal proceedings. After they won their legal rights to the songs, they had to start afresh to remake their business videos. All this time and money wasted would have been profitable to the growth and sustainability of Zumba fitness business.

External Environment

The external business environment comprises factors that are found outside the company, but ones that affect its ability to function. These elements can be manipulated by the companys marketing strategy while others require the company to make some adjustments (Kurtz par.1). Some examples of external environment include the government, customers, economy, and competition.

However, such factors are either micro-environmental or macro-environmental in nature. In terms of the micro-environmental elements, Zumba business suppliers of video tapes seem to be doing a commendable work. However, the business costumers are not properly managed. The three partners have witnessed a situation where their clients come to record the training session with the motive of reselling the recorded materials to other clients.

The distribution is well done because the company has adopted an online portal where clients from different areas such as the US can access the content. In terms of competition, the business needs to add extra efforts to advertise its brand to overcome competition from other established industries such as the Balanced Body Pilates and the Pilate Institute of America. One of their customers, the Crunch gym, failed to get the necessary authorization for the songs used in the Zumba videos.

Because of this miscommunication from the customer, Perlman, Aghion, and Perez had to put their business on hold and deal with their legal issues, which form part of the business macro-environment. After they got the rights to their songs, they collaborated with a Columbia firm that targeted the Latin-American customer base. Here, they had to deal with the issue of piracy (Aksomitis 34).

This situation caused a serious drop in sales as people could now access and download Zumba videos online free of charge. In addition, considering the customers were free to record the dance moves taught to them in their video cameras, they could show and/or teach other potential customers of Zumba business (Buchanan 67). This technology created the competition. Other music instructors would copy their original dance ideas.

SWOT Analysis

Every company has its strengths and weaknesses. A SWOT analysis, which is also referred to as a SWOT matrix is the analysis of companys strengths, limitations, pressure, and prospects. The structured planning method evaluates these four elements of a business venture (Srinivasan 47). Zumba Fitness has its strengths and weaknesses, threats, and opportunities as shown in the table below.

Problem Statement

The Zumba Fitness Company is going through a turbulent time where its exercise videotapes are not yielding the expected income. The partners are also battling with the issue of their customers who are turning out to be pirates. The parties need to develop a business plan or model that will enable it to address the above issues, including the way forward in terms of gaining a competitive edge in the fitness-through-exercise business.

Setting Alternative Methods

In any business setting, making the right decisions can lead to success while adopting the wrong choices can result in business failure. The success of the Zumba Fitness business relies on the decisions made by the three parties. To reach to a conclusive and beneficial result, it was necessary for the parties to go through a decision-making process to determine the criteria that can best suit their exercise business. The available decision-making techniques used in todays business world revolve around the principles of trying to figure out the decision that needs to be made after considering the options available.

One of the several ways of decision-making is identifying alternatives. Developing business alternatives requires the Zumba business owners and leaders to gather enough data, interpret it, and brainstorm to come up with multiple business ideas where they can embark on the most appropriate model (Kimmel, Weygandt, and Kieso 34). Multiple options enable business leaders to identify the model that can work best for them. Zumba business owners are at a predicament. Even though they have many customers, their cash flow is volatile. They feel that their current business model is not working for them. One of them even considers venturing into a new business. It is possible to save Zumba business if the owners consider the following alternatives.

1. Considering that the parties already have fitness instructors as their customers, they can hire some of them to set up Zumba Fitness studios in their respective cities and states.
2. They may consider collaborating with large music corporates such as Sony to operate under their umbrella.
3. They may also quitting the Zumba business and consider venturing into the medicalbilling business they had thought of before.

Evaluating Each Alternative (Pros and Cons)

In the alternative evaluation phase, the business owners deliberate, weigh, and compare risks. Using the scenario-building criterion, the Zumba business owners can predict the advantages and disadvantages of each option. Scenario building is a technique used by to describe a hypothetical situation in a manner that it predicts the results of the decisions and actions (Martelli 65). Zumba business owners should try to figure out the benefits and risks associated with each of the above alternatives.

Hiring and Training New Instructors

Pros

Based on the above option, delegating their workload may leave room for attracting and training more customers. This situation will guarantee more cash flow and sustainability of the company. Opening up new shops will ensure that more people who cannot afford to travel to Miami can get a chance to enjoy Zumba services in their cities.

Cons

However, training and hiring new instructors is costly. An additional expense is something that Zumba business cannot handle currently. Training and recruiting fresh instructors poses a threat of competition in the event that the instructors resign to start their businesses.

Partnering with Large Established Corporation

Pros

From this option, Zumba business will get more customers through its partners. If it collaborates with a music company, its music rights will be protected. It also stands a chance to sue for piracy in case it encounters such scenarios.

Cons

However, under this option, the three business owners will not make any business decision without consulting their partners. All business partners may take long in business deliberations before arriving at a decision. This situation may hurt the growth of Zumba business. If the parties collaborate with a large company, they may be put under pressure of delivering a high amount of cash. Besides, customers may not know the difference between Zumba business and the partner. In most cases, customers only get the names of big established companies. The identity of Zumba business may be lost.

Quitting and Considering other Businesses

Pros

With the academic and business backgrounds of Aghion and Perlman, another business idea may be successful.

Cons

Nevertheless, there is no absolute guarantee that another business idea will be successful. Customers may not have trust in their new business. Jumping from one business idea to another is not a very healthy business trait.

Selection of the Optimal Alternative Method

The vision of business should lead to growth and sustainability. A successful business should register tangible profit margins. After evaluating the pros and cons of every alternative, Zumba business owners should now figure out the alternative, which is worth its risks. From the alternatives listed, collaborating with a big company seems a better choice. The advantages of a partnership outweigh the disadvantages.

This way, Zumba business will attract customers of their business partners. This development reduces the hustle and time used in marketing and trying to attract new clientele. Using the resources provided by their partner, Zumba business shareholders might grow from Miami to other states where they can get enough capital to establish their business in other cities and countries (Lewis 44). The presence of other business partners ensures that several people are involved in the decision-making. Hence, the possibility of making better decisions for the company under partnership is higher. The future of Zumba business will be certain if its business owners consider the suggested partnership.

The Actual Plan

Fitness business has changed in the last decade. Many people today opt for a more relaxed way of keeping fit, as opposed to strenuous activities such as weight lifting. For the last ten years, the Latin-based aerobic dance and fitness sensation has made Zumba gained popularity. It fuses Latin rhythms with contemporary dance moves to make exercise entertaining. Zumba fitness dance is a booming business in many countries today.

The target market includes men and women between the ages of 17 to 65. These clients are conscious about their image and health. Perlman, Perez, and Aghion should approach and present their business idea to an already established music company such as Sony. They should present their vision and mission accompanied by the progress they have made. They should then show Sonys management the benefits that both companies will reap from the partnership. If Sony agrees to the terms, both parties should hire their lawyers, draft, and sign an agreement in the presence of a legal presentation. This strategy will help to avoid legal ramifications such as the one the parties went through with their previous partners, Crunch gym. This way, both partners will understand the responsibilities they have, including the legal actions either party can take in the event of breach of contract.

Conclusion

Every successful business has witnessed its share of setbacks. Over the years, many big and successful corporations have collapsed, with many never getting back into the business world again. The secret to survival, especially in todays business world, is to make wise decisions. Business failure is part of an entrepreneurs life. Business shareholders should conduct a thorough market research to determine the risks that are worth taking. The survival of any business depends on the customers. Considering that Zumba business has adopted the Business to Consumer product type, every decision made should be in a position to benefit its customers.

Works Cited

Aksomitis, Linda. Downloading Music, Detriot: Greenhaven Press, 2007. Print.

Buchanan, Leigh. Company of the Year. Business Journal 34.10(2012): 66-74. Print.

Kimmel, Paul, Jerry Weygandt, and Donald Kieso. Financial Accounting: Tools for Business Decision Making. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley Publishers, 2007. Print.

Kurtz, Rod. Richard Branson on Dealing Withh Setbacks, 2013. Web.

Lewis, Tanya. Zumba City Tour encourages Fans to dance the Night away. PR Week 16.9(2013): 44-44. Print.

Martelli, Antonio. Models of Scenario Building and Planning: Facing Uncertainty and Complexity, New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. Print.

Srinivasan, Srini. SWOT Analysis: Wiley International Encyclopedia of Marketing, Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2010. Print.

Nowadays, the issue of health is becoming more acute worldwide since problems like obesity lead to the deterioration of the renal and cardiovascular systems, endangering people with overweight and putting them at risk of strokes and kidney failures. However, in the face of progress, there are a few groups of people who either promote personal choice regarding their weight or encourage following medical advice. The essay, written by Mojola Omole in 2017 and published in The Walrus, illuminates the issue of human health and what constitutes a healthy body. In her essay, Omole applies a holistic approach, providing different views of points while remaining objective. I believe that this essay of Omole allows people to see that there is no certain answer to weight influence and that the right approach to ones body is to incorporate physical exercise and an appropriate diet, which will constitute a healthy body.

The overall perspective provided by Mojola Omole is that the views of people must change regarding obesity and overweight. Omole is an oncologist with many years of experience, and she provides information from a medical point of view. The style of the essay is descriptive since the author utilizes techniques to describe terms, such as obesity and metabolically healthy obesity (MHO), and incorporates the stories of experts and athletes. The organization of the essay is divided into segments, wherein the writer introduces new perspectives, research, and stories.

The first point made by the author is one regarding obesity. According to Omole, obesity can be considered a continual, often developing health issue as well as a worldwide crisis. Six million Canadians, or around 17% of the countrys population, struggle with obesity, which is a concerning number (Omole, 2017). The Canadian Obesity Network claims that the annual costs associated with obesity in Canada equals more than 4% of the countrys overall healthcare funds (Omole, 2017). The World Health Organization estimates that it costs $6 billion around the world (Omole, 2017). Here, Omole uses statistical evidence that comes from credible sources, such as The Canadian Obesity Network and WHO. As a result, the author brings the attention of the readers to the essence and risks of obesity.

Another point made by the author concerns metabolically healthy obesity. In this sense, Omole debates the term obesity and offers a new perspective on the healthy body. UK experts, led by epidemiologist Caleyachetty and his associates at the University of Birmingham, released the most thorough examination of MHO. That research, which examined 3.5 million people in the UK, asserted that good weight is fiction and that obesity is still a significant risk factor for later health issues (Omole, 2017). While the author mentions the use of BMI, she states that it has long faced criticism for its shortcomings. It simply estimates body mass and does not take into consideration muscle mass (Omole, 2017). Because some people have greater muscle mass than others, their BMI may not correctly indicate how fit they actually are. Due to their physical bulk, many professional football players, for example, have BMIs that would classify them as obese (Omole, 2017). Despite this, their cardiac endurance is superior to that of the general population. Thus, Caleyachetty admits that the problem of obesity is complicated. In a sense, Omole uses the evidence from specific research and even utilizes an example of football players.

The point that Omole does not pay much attention to and does not talk much about is BMI indicators. The readers only see the indicator of obesity and do not have indicators of a traditionally perceived healthy body. As a result, when reading the part that states 35.0-39.9 fall under class II obesity, the reader will not be able to compare it to other indicators of what constitutes a healthy body (Omole, 2017, p.2). As a result, it would be effective to provide a table with indicators or describe it briefly.

Overall, I agree with the author regarding the fact that more people should be aware of such findings and that even medical professionals disagree with traditional concepts of a healthy body. As has been mentioned by one of the athletes who is considered obese, I push my body to be a machine, and its a beautiful machine (Omole, 2017, p.4). In this sense, while being put in a certain type of body, the athlete transmits the message that as long as one cares for ones physical health, one can feel well. Thus, the essay is effective in providing the message since it applies different kinds of evidence and objective material.

In sum, the given essay by Omole allows the readers to grasp different perspectives and creates the concept that the body can be only healthy when physical activity and good nutrition are incorporated rather than relying on indicators. The authors style is descriptive, and the work in organized based on many segments with different ideas and evidence. Overall, the writer makes two points, with one concentrating on the issue of obesity and the second claiming that BMI is ineffective for people since obesity is a complicated matter.

Reference

Omole, M. (2017). What does it mean to have a healthy body?: New research has reopened the debate on fat and fitness. The Walrus.