Friday, September 6, 2019

Hard Rock Cafe Case Study Essay Example for Free

Hard Rock Cafe Case Study Essay 1. When the Hard Rock Cafe opened up it first location in London, England in 1971, their strategy was based on expansion, placing their restaurants in areas with heavy tourism. In recent years, this strategy has changed in a few ways. First off they began putting social factors into play by each location. For instance, they have tweaked some of the menus to satisfy local taste. For example, in London, they have replaced much of the burgers and beef with seafood dishes. Secondly, instead of focusing on tourist locations like they used to do, the Hard Rock Cafe has begun to place establishments in areas where tourism isn’t as heavily counted on. 2. Product the menus at each Hard Rock location has been made up to fit the personalities of each region. As stated earlier, in London much of the burger and beef dishes in the England locations have been switched out with seafood dishes. Location when the Hard Rock Cafe first began expansion, they decided to place restaurants in locations that attracted heavy tourism. Decades later they decided to begin putting Hard Rock Cafe’s in locations that arent as heavily relied on by tourists. Inventory at each location, they began to sell merchandise unique to each location. About 48% of the cafe’s sales come from its merchandising. 3. The Hard Rock Cafe fits within the multidomestic strategy. Although it has become a recognized name by most people, it is still growing worldwide with them having 157 facilities in 57 countries. They have used this strategy by customizing both their product offering and market strategy to match different locations. For example in London cafe s, they offer seafood dishes over some of their hamburger and beef dishes that are offered elsewhere. Also in each location they have merchandise, such as; t-shirts, pins, and even shot glasses that are unique to that location

Thursday, September 5, 2019

Elements of the Marketing Process

Elements of the Marketing Process 1.1 Explain the various elements of the marketing process. Marketing Kotler (2010) defines that Marketing is the social process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and value with others. Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners and society at large. (American Marketing Association, 2010) Customers Needs, Wants and Demands A successful business starts with knowing the customers. Customers are people who buy products and services from other people such as companies of one sort or another. The company may already know them as friends, neighbors and family but to develop the companys business, it is very important to know what the customers need or want. The needs, wants and demands help the marketers decide the products which they have to offer in the market. Needs Needs are easier to define but very according to social needs, physical needs, individual needs and other factors. The job of marketers is to understand the needs of the customers. Human needs are the basic requirements and include food clothing and shelter. Without these human cannot survive. The products which are under the needs category do not require push. By supplying more closely for the needs of customers, it is mostly successful for the companies which understand the reasons why the customers make the decisions such as what they buy and how they buy. (N.a, 2014) Examples of needs category products transportation sector Wants A difference is frequently made between needs and wants. The marketing concept is the attitude that business decisions should be based on what the consumer wants. (n.a, 2010). Wants are a step ahead of customers needs and also largely depend on the needs of the customers themselves. They are the form of human needs shaped by culture and individual personality (Class notes). For some customers, the wants are simple. On the other hand, other customers may be more specific in their wants. Examples of wants category products Car Demands A step ahead of wants is demands. When a customer wants something which is the best, and also the customer has the ability to buy it, then these wants are changed into demands. The main difference between wants and demands is customers desire. Example of demands category products – BMW Customers Satisfaction Customers satisfaction is a marketing term that relations how products or services supplied by a company meet a customers expectation. Customers satisfaction helps the companies to evaluate their ability in meeting customers needs and expectations effectively. (Zeithaml et al, 2009) Marketing Process The marketing process is the process of analyzing market opportunities, selecting target markets, developing the marketing mix, and managing the marketing effort. Target customers stand at the center of the marketing process. Various Elements of Marketing Process There are various kinds of elements under marketing process. They are – Situational Analysis Marketing Objectives Marketing Strategy Marketing Mix Implementation and Control. Situational Analysis The foundation of the marketing plan, which is known as a situational analysis includes many factors affecting on a business such as Swot analysis, Pestle analysis, Porters five forces and stakeholder analysis. Swot which stands for strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats is to create lists of all of the internal and external strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats to advise strategic planning decisions. Pestle which stands for political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental is to identify all of the various external factors that might affect a business. A situational analysis can lead the organization of better understanding the factors which will influence its future. (Lorette, 2014) Marketing Objectives The objective is the starting point of the marketing plan. Marketing objectives are goals for the organization which wants to be successful when encouraging its products or services to customers. They should always support the companys mission and goals. They are important because they can show how the company will benefit from marketing, training the employees and managing (Pendergrass, 2013). Every effective goals and objectives are defined by the SMART criteria. SMART stands for Specific Measurable Agreed and Attainable Relevant and Realistic Timetable (class notes) For example – to increase 50 students per month in 2014 to crop at least 70% well-trained students in 2016 Marketing Strategy A strategy is a long-term plan to achieve certain objectives. Therefore a marketing strategy is a marketing plan considered to achieve marketing objectives. STP marketing is a three- step approach to build a target marketing plan. S is for segmentation, T is for targeting and P for positioning (Kokemuller, n.d). Segmentation is essentially a brainstorming activity due to demographics, psychographics, lifestyle, belief and values, life stages, geography, behavior and benefit (Hanlon, 2013). Targeting allows companies to classify the market segments that fit the best with their products. Hanks,(2014) states that Positioning includes the development of a product that the selected target market segment views as unique when compared to similar products in the industry. Marketing Mix Marketing mix is the combination of seven variables under a companys control that can be worked to achieve marketing objectives. Marketing managers use this to produce the best response in the target market. It is important to understand that the marketing mix principles are manageable. (N.a ,2014) Marketing decisions generally fall into the following seven controllable categories named as 7Ps. Product Price Place Promotion People Process Physical Evidence Implementation and Control An effective strategic implementation can determine the outcome of marketing planning. The effectiveness of implementation may be improved by the management of the planning process by building promise and ownership of the plan and its implementation. (N.a, 2013) N.a (2008) states that Strategic Control is the last step of management process, consists of monitoring and evaluating the strategy management process as a whole to ensure that it is operating properly. The basic of control is ability to measure. It compares what should happen actually with what actually happened or is likely to happen. 1.2 Evaluate the benefits and costs of marketing orientation for a selected organization. Production Concept The production concept is a concept where goods are produced without taking into consideration the choices or tastes of the customers. (Manzoor, n.d) Product Concept The customers will prefer products that have better quality, performance, and features as opposite to a normal product in the product concept. This is truly related in some places such as electronics and mobile handsets. Selling Concept The selling concept in marketing is the concept that customers will not automatically buy something they automatically sold. Marketing Concept Riley (2012) defines that A marketing orientated approach means a business reacts to what customers want. The decisions taken are based around information about customers needs and wants, rather than what the business thinks is right for the customer. Most successful businesses take a market-oriented approach. Societal Marketing Concept According to Kotler (2013), Social Marketing is the design, implementation, and control of programs seeking to increase the acceptability of a social idea or practice in a target group. Benefits of Marketing Orientation for MIC Appreciation The promotion of the business can get the appreciation and attention of the targeted students and parents across a wide ranging or specific market. Profits From the market process, the organization can get many profits by improving the attractions of parents and students during marketing yield effects. Adaptability Due to students service or students affair center and students feedback system, the organization can know what happening, feelings, wanting are and what they want to change some services of the school such as rules and teaching methods. Costs of Marketing Orientation for MIC Cost If there are no effect returning, the cost of market research for daily, and weekly or yearly can be one of the disadvantages of marketing orientation. Feedback It is not actually sure or very hard to get effective advices and feedbacks from the targeted students. Time If there are any needs to fix for the organization, too much time will have to be spent for discussions, meetings and so on. References Kotler. P, (2010) what is marketing? How 10 Experts Define It, [Online]. Available at http://www.skylinetradeshowtips.com/what-is-marketing-how-10-experts-define-it/> [Accessed 11th November 2014] American Marketing Association, (2010) what is marketing? How 10 Experts Define It, [Online]. Available at http://www.skylinetradeshowtips.com/what-is-marketing-how-10-experts-define-it/> [Accessed 11th November 2014] N. a, (2014) Marketing Theory. [Online]. Available at http://bussineesscasestudies.co.uk/bussiness-theory/marketing/establishing-customer-needs.html#axzz3lqPnaASn> [Accessed 11th November 2014] N.a (2010) Marketing Principles of MIC, 2nd ed., BPP Learning Media Ltd: London. Zeithaml et al, (2009) Models and theories of customer satisfaction [Online]. Available at http://www.ukessays.com/essays/marketing/models-theories-of-customer-satisfaction-marketing-essay.php> [Accessed 11th November 2014] Lorette. K, (2014) a Situational Analysis of a Strategic Marketing Plan. [Online]. Available at http://smallbusiness.chron.com/situational-analysis-strategic-marketing-plan-1474.html> [Accessed 11th November 2014] Pendergrass. K, (2013) Marketing Objectives as SMART Goals and Part of the Marketing Plan. [Online]. Available at https://www.udemy.com/blog/marketing-objectives/> [Accessed 11th November 2014] Kokemuller. N, (n.d) what is STP marketing? [Online]. Available at http://yourbussiness.azcentral.com/stp-marketing-1769.html> [Accessed 11th November 2014] Hanlon. A, (2013) The Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning model. [Online]. Available at http://www.smartinsights.com/digital-marketing-strategy/customer-segmentation-targeting/segmentation-targeting-positioning-model/> [Accessed 11th November 2014] Hanks. G, (2014) what is STP marketing? [Online]. Available at http://www.ehow.com/info_8693419_stp-marketing.html> [Accessed 11th November 2014] N. a, (2014) what is the Marketing Mix? Description [Online]. Available at http://www.12manage.com/methods_marketing_mix.html> [Accessed 11th November 2014] N.a, (2013) Marketing Strategy Implementation and Control [Online]. Available at http://marketingnotesbook.blogspot.com/2013/01/blog-post.html?m=1> [ Accessed 11th November 2014] N. a, (2008) Strategic Implementation and Strategic Control [Online]. Available at http://managementinnovations.wordpress.com/2008/12/10/strategy-implementation-strategic-control/> [Accessed 11th November 2014] Manzoor. A (n.d) what is the production concept? [Online]. Available at http://science.blurtit.com/77774/what-is-the-production-concept> [Accessed 11th November 2014] Riley. J (2012) Marketing Orientation [Online]. Available at http://www.tutor2u.net/business/gcse/marketing_orientation.htm> [Accessed 11th November 2014] Kotler. P (2013) Social Marketing Concept [Online]. Available at http://www.enotesmba.com/2013/02/social-marketing-concept.html?m=1> [Accessed 11th November 2014]

Wednesday, September 4, 2019

My Experience with Biology :: Personal Narrative Writing

My Experience with Biology To all who know me, they know how I can’t stand anything that is gross and slimy, or possibly get me in any way, shape, or form dirty. (I can’t stand to be dirty at all!) When I go to the doctors, I can’t even stand to see the nurses poke my arm with a long, cold, sharp needle, so they can get a blood sample. I can’t even stand to watch the shows on the Discovery channel where they are operating on any part of the human body and there is blood oozing from the open flesh of a human being. I find it very hard to swallow when I even get a glimpse of it on television. This has always been my feeling ever since I was little, but when I entered high school and took a College Prep Biology course my feelings on things that are gross and slimy changed quite a bit. In high school I took a Biology class as every high school student has to do. I felt a little smarter than some of the others, because I was not only taking Biology, but I was taking college prep Biology. The only drawback to the class was I was going to have to a lot of dissecting to do. Now, I know in Biology everyone had to dissect the traditional earthworms and frogs, which I can handle without any problems. The problem I encountered after I entered the Biology class was not the fact that I had to dissect worms and frogs, but I had to actually dissect a fetal pig. I was not looking forward to this part of the class; I was even considering transferring into the normal, calm Biology class every one of my sane friends had done, but it was too late to turn back now. I vividly remember my teacher passing out the syllabus of his course and talking in a very excited manner about the dissecting of the fetal pig. â€Å"Now class, I know the tradition is to just dissect earthworms and frogs, which we will do, but I am anxious to get to the dissection of the fetal pig section of the class.

Tuesday, September 3, 2019

Reality versus Illusion in Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Essay

Reality versus Illusion in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In his play, The American Dream, Edward Albee unveils a tortured family that is symbolic of the reality beneath the illusion of the American dream.   In Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Albee takes a more traditional approach than the theater of the absurd, and his language is more natural, but he returns to this theme with a vengeance.   For in all of drama there are few plays about domestic relationships that are as caustic, violent and as poisoned with the milk of human bitterness, cynicism and pessimism as is Woolf.   The story regards George and Martha, a married couple (he a history professor and she the University President's daughter).   Verbally and emotionally George and Martha are as skilled at cutting each other without going for the final kill as much as a professional torturer trained to prolong his victim's agony.   Into this volley of abuse come Nick and Honey, a young couple who also share a vision of the "American dream," but Albee portrays Nick as the victor in his battles with George because George is of the old school and Nick has already been indoctrinated into the new American culture of capitalism for its own sake.      The theme of the play, other than touching on the disillusionment of the American dream for the younger generation, and a robotic-like acceptance of the evolved "capitalized" version by the older generation, is that each of the characters in the play, like each of us in real life, are destined to struggle through our own personal hell, a struggle that we face alone "It becomes clear that each character is engaged in an isolated struggle through a personal hell" (Murphy 1113).   The plot centers around George and Martha's p... ...e his themes in the play.   Truth versus illusion, reality versus perception, and union versus inability to come together are the main themes the author chooses to highlight throughout the work.   In the end, once all illusions have been stripped or peeled away, Martha and George have a chance to come together in an effort to save their marriage.   As Martha says to end the play in response to George's singing "Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf"; "I...am...George...I...am..." (Albee 242).   Only from this point of truth can George and Martha hope to save their troubled marriage.    WORKS   CITED Albee, E.   Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?.   New York:   Signet, 1962. Carter, S.   Albee's 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"   The Explicator.   Vol. 56.   June 22, 1998, 215-218. Murphy, B, ed.   Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia.   New York:   HarperCollins Publishers, 1996.

Monday, September 2, 2019

Visual Effects Created By E.E. Cummings In His Poetry Essay -- Cumming

Visual Effects Created By E.E. Cummings In His Poetry Edward Estlin Cummings, commonly referred to as E. E. Cummings, was born on October 14, 1894 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was a source of vast knowledge and was responsible for many creative works other than his poetry, such as novels, plays, and paintings. He published his first book of poetry Tulips and Chimneys in 1923. Many of his poems are known for the visual effects they create through his unusual placement of words on the page, as well as, his lack of punctuation and capitalization. The manner in which Cummings arranges the words of his poems creates an image in the reader's mind of the topic he is discussing, such as a season or climbing stairs. His visual style also brings emotions, such as loneliness or cheerfulness, to the reader's mind. Due to this creativity, Cummings won many awards, such as the National Book Award and the Bollingen Prize in poetry (Marks 17). In his poem "l(a", the words are arranged in such a way that they are falling down the page. He only puts several letters of each word on a line and then continues to spell the word down the page. The main focus of the poem is about loneliness and the words almost appear to be "lonely." He uses parentheses around the phrase "a leaf falls," which appears in the middle of the poem. The remaining letters in the poem spell "loneliness." When these are placed together in the same poem, it creates an effect that there is a leaf falling from a tree to the ground where it will be lonely because it will be separated from the tree. Cummings emphasizes the image of being alone or aloof by using two versions of the word one. On the first line, he uses the letter "l," which also looks like the number "1." On ... ...number of visual effects in his poetry. He combined the lack of punctuation, capitalization, and creative spacing with his topics, such as the seasons, to convey his messages. Some readers find the visual effects in his poems disconcerting and feel that they are meaningless because of it. However, others find his visual effects helpful in gaining a deeper understanding of his poems and the messages he was trying to convey. Cummings' poems were definitely meant to be viewed rather than simply listened to so that the reader can benefit from the full effect of them. His poetry does not follow traditional rules and is very unpredictable. As a result, they leave more room for your imagination to soar. Works Cited: Cummings, E. E. Poems 1923 ‚ 1954. New York : Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1926. Marks, Barry A. E. E. Cummings. New York : Twayne Publishers, Inc, 1964.

Sunday, September 1, 2019

Impact of computer on society Essay

Positive: i) reducing cost / number of staff needed. ii) Reducing amount of hardware (printers) due to LAN networking. iii) Fun – games, Internet, music, graphics. iv) Communication. More ways to interact globally. v) Education – access to info for research. vi) 3rd world – cheaper to provide laptops thean to send books over (OLPC, etc).. Negative: i) Hardcore porn industry (including child porn) ii) Hackers, ID fraud and spoof websites, iii) Virusses, spam and trojans. iv) Cyber-bullying and cyber-stalking. v) People unable to interact ‘in person’. vi) Online gambling. positive: computers help by saving time to do pretty much anything. tools are created to make things easier right? to save time. computers are tools. computers allow us to use the internet. you can focus on internet as well. no computers/no internet. and of course, internet also has a million ways it helps society such as helping people learn (people can read/research without having to spend time going to a library). that’s a very broad question as there’s tons of reasons. opens a new way of transportation (paperwork). communication (friends/family/business). saves space (filing). negative: safety. (info can easily be hacked, most important for companies or agencies that have classified information such as the fbi/army etc. also, stalkers). inappropriate content for kids, society relies too much on computers sometimes, so when a computer goes out, they can’t do anything. confusing for some of the older generation, and harder to get things done for them as some things can only be done on a computer now. some people never learn computers. gosh, there’s so many reasons!

Food Security Bill

Food Security Bill: Good politics to deliver bad economics A bill duly tabled in Parliament promises to give legal right to subsided food to two- thirds of the country 1. 2 billion population. The ambitious proposal should be seen in the context of India being home to roughly one third of the world's poor; where over 70 per cent of children are malnourished and about 10 million or more people die of chronic hunger or hunger-related diseases every year.The Food Security Bill, the PUPA-l's flagship scheme, envisages the distribution of heat, rice and coarse grains at Just RSI 2, RSI 3 and Reel a kilo each to about 65 per cent of the population ? 75 per cent of them in rural areas and the rest in cities and towns. Add to that, some entitlements to ‘special groups,' like destitute or homeless persons, who will be entitled to at least one meal a day. Through this world's largest experiment of providing food grain to poor, the government plans to double its food subsidies to 2 per ce nt of the GAP.If the government machinery is able to deliver on Congress chief Sonic Sandhog's pet project, it could mean the end to country widespread malnutrition and poverty elatedly soon! â€Å"It's a most thoughtful and timely action, in the light of coming UP elections and thereafter the 2014 general elections,† said Proof B B Apothecary, eminent economist and former vice-chancellor of Charlatan Nehru University. Then what is the glamour all about?Why are some people hell-bent on opposing it? The general view is that if the government can pull it off, it can be the biggest trump card for the PUPA government, at a time when nothing seems to be working in its favor at the moment ? neither politics nor economics. Bad economics But, one very important factor worth taking notice is: the scheme can severely impact on Indian's economic growth prospects, should the populist measure be brought into force.The proposed Food Security Bill came on a day (Thursday) when the Reserve B ank of India also came out with its Financial Stability Report, which categorically states that Indian's inflation risk remains high and a slowdown in revenue collections and higher spending on subsidies may make it challenging for the government to achieve the fiscal deficit target of 4. 6 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GAP) this financial year (2011-12).It also said that Indian's trade deficit for this fiscal is expected to widen sharply to between $1 55 billion and $160 billion from a little above $104 billion a year ago. Should the bill be passed and implemented. But, it is the trade deficit, which will soar manifold since the government will have to resort to large scale import of food grain as our own grain output is not adequate to handle such a voluminous expenditure programmer. It will worsen the fiscal deficit situation, but more than that it is Indian's trade deficit which will be hit hard as the programmer will require 70-80 million tones of more DOD grain every year. India obviously does not produce that much and the shortfall will have to be met from imports,† said Proof Apothecary. The country produces 225-230 million tones of food grain every year barring a bumper crop year when the output surges by a few million tones more. Where will the rest come from, if not from overseas market!Economists opine, it will increase food inflation. Analysts at Kodak Maidenhair Bank said that besides skewing the food inflation to a higher side, the move will also result in rise in prices of food grain for non- beneficiaries of the programmer. There will be pressure on prices of food for those outside this scheme,† an economist of Kodak said. Procurement problem As regards the increased requirement of food grain for distribution under the Act, Union food minister K V Thomas said only 15 per cent more supplies would be needed as the Centre is already distributing 526. Lack tones through public distribution system, while the estimated demand u nder the Act will be 607. 4 Lack tones. He said government can even procure more for the purpose. Currently, government procures only 30 per cent of the total production. But, what about government's delivery mechanism? â€Å"If the government goes in for enlarging the public distribution system without revamping it, where is the guarantee that the intended food grain will reach the poor? ,† Apothecary asked.Then there is problem of storage. Currently, the state-run Food Corporation of India and the Central Warehousing Corporation have the capacity to store 87 million tones of grain. The COW has 487 warehouses with a capacity of 10. 6 million, while the FCC, with 1,500 godsons, accounts for the rest. The new measure, according to experts, will cost an additional sum of RSI 27,000 core annually to the exchequer, while the government puts it at RSI 21 ,OHO core by way of subsidies.But, the question is: can a government, burdened with whopping food, fuel and fertilizer subsidies , afford such a large expenditure programmer, especially when the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme is already drilling a large whole in the nation's kitty? Policymakers say that the government can find resources provided it cuts down or Bill. But the government is unlikely to do that, as it will not go down well among the voters in an election year. Food Security Bill Food Security Bill: Good politics to deliver bad economics A bill duly tabled in Parliament promises to give legal right to subsided food to two- thirds of the country 1. 2 billion population. The ambitious proposal should be seen in the context of India being home to roughly one third of the world's poor; where over 70 per cent of children are malnourished and about 10 million or more people die of chronic hunger or hunger-related diseases every year.The Food Security Bill, the PUPA-l's flagship scheme, envisages the distribution of heat, rice and coarse grains at Just RSI 2, RSI 3 and Reel a kilo each to about 65 per cent of the population ? 75 per cent of them in rural areas and the rest in cities and towns. Add to that, some entitlements to ‘special groups,' like destitute or homeless persons, who will be entitled to at least one meal a day. Through this world's largest experiment of providing food grain to poor, the government plans to double its food subsidies to 2 per ce nt of the GAP.If the government machinery is able to deliver on Congress chief Sonic Sandhog's pet project, it could mean the end to country widespread malnutrition and poverty elatedly soon! â€Å"It's a most thoughtful and timely action, in the light of coming UP elections and thereafter the 2014 general elections,† said Proof B B Apothecary, eminent economist and former vice-chancellor of Charlatan Nehru University. Then what is the glamour all about?Why are some people hell-bent on opposing it? The general view is that if the government can pull it off, it can be the biggest trump card for the PUPA government, at a time when nothing seems to be working in its favor at the moment ? neither politics nor economics. Bad economics But, one very important factor worth taking notice is: the scheme can severely impact on Indian's economic growth prospects, should the populist measure be brought into force.The proposed Food Security Bill came on a day (Thursday) when the Reserve B ank of India also came out with its Financial Stability Report, which categorically states that Indian's inflation risk remains high and a slowdown in revenue collections and higher spending on subsidies may make it challenging for the government to achieve the fiscal deficit target of 4. 6 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GAP) this financial year (2011-12).It also said that Indian's trade deficit for this fiscal is expected to widen sharply to between $1 55 billion and $160 billion from a little above $104 billion a year ago. Should the bill be passed and implemented. But, it is the trade deficit, which will soar manifold since the government will have to resort to large scale import of food grain as our own grain output is not adequate to handle such a voluminous expenditure programmer. It will worsen the fiscal deficit situation, but more than that it is Indian's trade deficit which will be hit hard as the programmer will require 70-80 million tones of more DOD grain every year. India obviously does not produce that much and the shortfall will have to be met from imports,† said Proof Apothecary. The country produces 225-230 million tones of food grain every year barring a bumper crop year when the output surges by a few million tones more. Where will the rest come from, if not from overseas market!Economists opine, it will increase food inflation. Analysts at Kodak Maidenhair Bank said that besides skewing the food inflation to a higher side, the move will also result in rise in prices of food grain for non- beneficiaries of the programmer. There will be pressure on prices of food for those outside this scheme,† an economist of Kodak said. Procurement problem As regards the increased requirement of food grain for distribution under the Act, Union food minister K V Thomas said only 15 per cent more supplies would be needed as the Centre is already distributing 526. Lack tones through public distribution system, while the estimated demand u nder the Act will be 607. 4 Lack tones. He said government can even procure more for the purpose. Currently, government procures only 30 per cent of the total production. But, what about government's delivery mechanism? â€Å"If the government goes in for enlarging the public distribution system without revamping it, where is the guarantee that the intended food grain will reach the poor? ,† Apothecary asked.Then there is problem of storage. Currently, the state-run Food Corporation of India and the Central Warehousing Corporation have the capacity to store 87 million tones of grain. The COW has 487 warehouses with a capacity of 10. 6 million, while the FCC, with 1,500 godsons, accounts for the rest. The new measure, according to experts, will cost an additional sum of RSI 27,000 core annually to the exchequer, while the government puts it at RSI 21 ,OHO core by way of subsidies.But, the question is: can a government, burdened with whopping food, fuel and fertilizer subsidies , afford such a large expenditure programmer, especially when the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme is already drilling a large whole in the nation's kitty? Policymakers say that the government can find resources provided it cuts down or Bill. But the government is unlikely to do that, as it will not go down well among the voters in an election year.