History of the Olympic Games Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

History of the Olympic Games - Essay Example Olympic Games have advanced through various developments from the time they started. This paper will analyze the history of the Olympic Games. Specifically, the paper will look into the developments that have occurred since the Olympic Games started up to the present day. The Olympic Games can be traced back to 776 B.C. when the first Olympic Games were held in Greece. The purpose of these games was to honor Olympian gods, and they used to take place on the plains of Olympia, hence the name Olympics. A son of Zeus by the name Heracles is credited to be the father of Olympic Games. During the first Olympic Games in 776 B.C., an athlete run naked for about 192 meters and successfully completed the race, emerging as the sole winner in the event. The athlete’s name was Coroebus, a cook who hailed from Elis. Following the victory in the first Olympic Games, Coroebus became the first Olympic Champion (Guttmann 7-50). Among the Greeks, Olympic Games had significant religious, political as well as social influences. The Greeks believed that the Olympic flame used for the first time during the games was lit from the sun rays. Olympic Games were of such immense importance that the Greeks calculated time with regard to the cycle of Olympics, which ran for a period of four years. The Greeks treated winners of the Olympic Games with a lot of respect; they would immortalize the images of the winners in Olympia by erecting statues. Those who won the Olympics could receive many benefits from the society, unlike those who never won the games or did not participate in them. For example, if a prisoner won during the Olympic Games, he or she would be released and treated with a lot of respect in society. On the other hand, those who lost during the Olympic Games would be regarded as a disgrace to their respective societies (Young 102-155). The Olympic Games held during the ancient times

Case study on Zara Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Case study on Zara - Essay Example 67). Political Factors While considering the political aspect, apparel companies should have various interactions with the governments to understand the government policies for the intercession in the legal and economic aspects to aid the decision making process. Government bodies, especially those belonging to the emerging economises like India and China have welcomed foreign invest with open arms. However, there are different restrictions in various nations that need to be considered before making market entry. Add to that the trade policies in different countries may need certain adjustments on the part of the companies. E.g. China has a currency policy that results in imports to be higher than the market price. Economic Factors At present the northern American and the EU nations are looking to comeback from the shock-waves of the economic down-turn. Downward economic trend may have transformed regular clothing purchases into luxury purchases or ‘splurge’ as due to th e downturn there might have been a dip in the disposable incomes. Also the rise in the rates of personal saving may have had a negative impact on the consumer demand. However, the recent global growth went up to 3.6 percent in the 1st quarter of 2012. This likely to supplement the expansion strategy of the apparel companies as majority of the apparel companies are looking to enter emerging economies like India and China (Henry, 2008, p. 89). Social Factors As mentioned before due to the downward economic trend consumers are looking to spend more on education, leisure, travel, healthcare, electronics, etc and relatively less on clothing. Also the consumers have become a lot more environment conscious and look to do business with... Zara is one of the leading global fast-fashion brands. The organization has implemented both cost leadership and differentiation strategy as their business level strategy. They have effectively implemented vertical integration strategy in their supply chain network. Though Zara is one of the renowned and popular global brands, the organization may face several difficulties through their centralized manufacturing strategy. Their business model is cost-effective and they have set up business goals and objectives effectively basis on the model. It is feasible that the execution of determined strategies have bought success for Zara. Finally, it can be said the Zara should look to expand their business and adopt decentralize manufacturing process in the developing BRICK countries. Zara quickly develops the new feature and designs as the organization has the fast development option from the concept to point of sales. On an average, it takes 6 weeks. The positioning of Zara clearly address that it is not a luxurious fashion brand but the organization used to target the price sensitive people with the help of fashionable designs of clothes in reasonable price level. They have always differentiated their product line by the relentless introduction of latest and new designed clothes in less quantity at rapid speed and the affordable price level of the products is the evidence of the large scale customization necessity of the target audience.