EXTENDED ANSWER SKILLS (Check List)

WHAT MAKES A GOOD AS LEVEL ANSWER?


If you stick closely to this checklist you will be well on the way to a good AS level essay.

Analyse the question

The wording of a question can give you guidelines for your answer.
Take time to analyse the question.
Think: what are the keywords? Underline them if it helps you.

Top tip: Assume all essay questions include the phrase ‘with reference to specific geographical examples’.


Introduction

Make this as clear as possible.

• Give definitions for keywords.
• Mention the case studies you have chosen and why they fit the question.
• State the scale of your case studies.
• Explain any relevant theories.
• Use diagrams where possible.
• Outline the framework of the essay.
  
  A good introduction serves two purposes. It outlines the general background and signposts the structure that follows. It gives the reader confidence that you are in command of the topic. It is good practice to answer the question in the introduction (In this essay I will argue that…) Introductions require some thought. Planning time is essential. An interesting headline opening or starting with a statistic, grasps the imagination of the reader.
  

Main body

• Divide clearly into paragraphs.
• Structure your essay around concepts.
• Give each paragraph an opening and closing sentence which relates back to the question.
• Integrate your cases studies into the essay; don’t have a separate paragraph for each one.
• Back every point up with evidence, either a fact or a statistic.
• Use maps and diagrams if possible.
  
  This is where you should put all the knowledge you have learnt, but it must be developed in a logical order and be relevant to the question. Examples are the vital evidence which supports you argument, detail is essential here (facts, figures). If you can remember any diagrams, statistics or fieldsketches, make sure you include them. However, it is important to make sure they are labelled and referred to in the text.

Conclusion

• Make this clear, ‘In conclusion….’
• Relate back to the question.
• Include the idea that this is a complex issue and there are other things that need considering.
• Make a statement about the future.
  
  The conclusion allows you to demonstrate your skill in drawing together the threads of the essay. Sum up what you have said in the middle bit. Do not introduce new material at this point. In some essays it is good to end with a sentence which looks to the future.

Quality of written language

• Proof read for spelling, punctuation and grammar.
• Use as many relevant key terms as possible.
• Avoid starting sentences with ‘and’ or ‘because’.
• Vary the structure of your sentences.
  
  
  
  Remember to always write an essay plan before starting to write. Examiners will look at this in an exam and it will help you order your thoughts. Design your plan in a way that suits you – a list, a spider diagram, a flow diagram.

Planning Issues (Retailing)

BACKGROUND


Everybody needs access to shops to buy food and other goods. Market forces drove the early developments in retailing (see Retail change in UK) influencing how and where people shop.


During the 1980s the Conservative Government lifted many planning restrictions in the belief that enterprise would be free to locate wherever a commercial advantage could be identified and obtained. The result saw entrepreneurs such as Sir John Hall (Metro Centre) take advantage of the opportunities presented by these changes and the incentives offered by Regional Development Agencies to build out of town retail parks and superstores. (Business Parks and Science Parks were also built as a result of these planning changes). The result was a proliferation of small to medium sized retail and business parks, together with several very large out of town shopping and leisure complexes such as the Metro Centre, Trafford Centre, Lakeside and Bluewater. For most, these relied upon access by car from the existing motorway network.



The result of the above led in many cases to a direct decline in traditional High Streets and Town Centres with lost shops and investment. Choice for those limited to walking and using public transport was significantly impacted.



More recent Government Guidance has reversed the above policy and the emphasis is firmly back on investing in existing centres



PROBLEMS STILL REMAIN

• lack of large sites for investment


• existing shops often too small for modern retailing needs


• Town centre cloning due to retail chain corporate identity requirements


• parking and congestion

PLANNING AND RETAILING

The Government now supports a PLAN LED approach to retailing as opposed to the 1980s MARKET-LED approaches.


Market processes operated in an enviornment in which the ability to pay the market rate took precedent over any local or national concerns. Very often objectors could not afford to outbid the developer and the development proceeded with minimal consultation and opportunity for independent arbitration.


Planning processes are much more sturctured and provide local authority planners with a means by which they can:

• canvass opinion from the local community



• listen to the developers proposals



• maintain overall development control

A refusal to grant planning approval by a local authority may lead to an appeal by the developer, which in turn may involve the appeal going to a higher government office. Large scale developments such as the London Olympic site in East London and Terminal 5 at Heathrow, involved the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister with Official Public Enquiries.


The planning process is both costly and time consuming and may not always be successful until several submissions and consultations have been made.

Planning committees have to weigh up:

• the gains from the proposal against its negative aspects


• the conflicts between differeing groups within the local community


• the wider benefits of a local scheme.

In making a retail application the developer must submit a DEVELOPMENT PLAN which should contain policies to support and strengthen the vitality and viability of the scheme, including the potential for community benefits of retail, leisure and community benefit.


The criteria for Retail Development Plans are:

• Plans should have coherent parking strategies and enhance the opportunities for public transport and cycle access.



• Plans should also protect 'core' retail areas.

• The planning process supports additional investment in apsects such as environmental enhancements, pedestrian safety and access for all.

Planning legislation now requires applications to undertake a 'sequential test' to ensure that sites in town centres or their edges to be utilised before new out of or edge of town will be considered, i.e., the developer must first consider the town centre or CBD, then suburban sites before edge of town.

EXPLORING PERSONAL ATTITUDES AND VALUES
Conflicts such as out of town retail shopping developments provide an opportunity for you to consider your own attitudes and values, as well as considering those of others.

Attitudes - a set of beliefs that predispose a person, group or organisation to perceive and act towards people, situations and environments in a particular way.

Values - are the extent to which people attach a weight or worth to those attitudes.

People with different attitudes will hold a range of views about any proposed development. In basic terms they are "in favour" or "against."

CASE STUDY: TESCO & HARROGATE

BACKGROUND
Harrogate is currently one of only four postcode areas in the UK without any Tesco presence (the others are Shetlands, Orkney and the Outer Hebrides). This was revealed with research that showed that Tesco is the dominant retailer in 67% of postcode areas in the UK - for further information please read an article in the Guardian. However, it has emerged that Tesco has owned a site in Harrogate for the past 3 years, off Ripon Road in North Harrogate.

The desire of Tesco to open a store in Harrogate has prompted a great deal of reaction from a wide range of groups. Harrogate Advertiser have been running an online monitor of this for sometime. In addition, Tesco's position as a leading supermarket has also triggered wide ranging interest both positive (regional support) and negative. (local blog)

The details of Tescos planning application can be viewed here (download the development plan pdf) from Associated Documents

The current situation is that Tecso has withdrawn its current application to review the Development Plan.

Toyota's Impact on US Car Industry

14/11/07 Matt Holt's Notes

How has Toyota’s Global Expansion impacted upon the USA’s Car manufacturing Industry?

Toyota is a Japanese company that was founded by Japanese industrialist Kiichiro Toyoda in 1937 as a ‘spin-off’ from his father’s machine engineering industry, ‘Toyota Industries’. To date, Toyota trades in 160 markets worldwide, with a net income of $15.09billion.

Toyota established a second headquarters in the USA on 31^st October 1957; two years earlier in 1955 Toyota had only a single plant in Japan. At this time however, the American automobile market was dominated by American companies (Ford, Chrysler and GM being the ‘Big Three’); in Toyota’s first year, they managed sales of only 288 vehicles. This was due to the fact that the model at the time, the Toyopet Crown, was seen as underpowered yet overpriced. This meant Toyota had to rethink and redesign their cars before they could be taken seriously in the American Market.

The answer to Toyota’s problems was the new Toyota Corona which was specifically designed for the American market; powerful engine, air conditioning and an automatic transmission came as standard. This helped boost Toyota’s sales up to 20,000 vehicles in 1966, which gave them 2% of the American automobile market; although this seems very little, it gave Toyota a foothold in the market, and with competition coming alongside an expanding European market, the ‘Big Three’ had already lost around 10% of the market as a whole.

Toyota’s steady increase of sales was accounted by its reputation of quality and reliability, and this was only boosted in 1973 when the Oil Crisis had devastating effects on Ford, Chrysler and GM; Toyota were able to gain a 10% foothold of the American market. The Oil Crisis saw the Big Three experience huge losses, and so a number of American based factories were closed in preference for cheaper plants abroad. This saw Detroit alone lose over 200,000 jobs, and so this did no favours for the reputation of all three companies.

Toyota’s popularity continued however, and in 1986 they managed to sell over 1 million cars all in one year. This was partially due to the fact that Toyota had opened up almost 10 more plants worldwide, increasing the production of their vehicles. This was also the year that the first Toyota car was built in America, at their new factory in California.

One reason that may account for the success of Toyota is its highly efficient production system. During the manufacturing process, Toyota groups its workers into teams that each have a specific individual responsibility that must be checked before the car is off the assembly line. The graph to the right shows that Toyota has (still to this day) one of the shortest production times compared to the Big Three. On top of this, Toyota is often associated with a strategy known as ‘Kaizen’. This is a Japanese term, which roughly translates to ‘continuous improvement’. With this approach, it is no wonder that Toyota are renowned for producing well built, quality cars.

By 2005, Toyota’s control over the American automobile market has increased to 43%, seeing the American companies losing 48% of the market since 1955. Today, with nearly 30 plants worldwide, and after producing the 2007 Car of the Year in the Family Sedan Category (the Toyota Camry Hybrid) it seems that Toyota are continuously improving their designs to keep up with what the market is looking for (the Hybrid suggests Toyota are looking to produce environmentally friendly vehicles) and so it is no surprise that Toyota have had such a huge impact upon the American car industry.

Out of Town Shopping Centres

What are the origins of out-of-town retailing?
Prior to the 1970s, incomes were not high enough to generate the high levels of demand which exist today for consumer goods. The rise of an affluent population generated demand which could not be met in existing CBDs because the shortage of land limited the scale and size of operation of retailers. Sainsbury’s, Safeway, Tesco, and Ikea, along with others, have developed stores that recognise the new logic of the marketplace:

• High levels of demand exist for consumer goods, with customers also demanding a wide range of choice


• Land prices are too high in the CBD to stock a wide range of goods at a low price


• Cheap suburban land allows stores to establish a large scale of operation, bulk-buying a wide range of goods and passing on the benefits of this economy of scale to the consumer


• The majority of the public have access to a car, while radial and trunk routes have been improved in most towns and cities over the last twenty years making certain key sites at the rural-urban fringe highly accessible.

There are now over 1000 superstores, hypermarkets and retail shopping centres in the UK (with a hypermarket defined as having a minimum area of 2500 square metres). Ikea, for instance, only has three stores in the south-east but hopes to cater for all London homes with these, suggesting that all Londoners are within the sphere of influence of one of its branches. Huge warehouses at each site allow a diverse range of goods to be stocked in bulk. For a furniture store in the CBD, the option is either to mass stock a limited range or offer a wide range but at a high price as bulk-buying cannot be achieved.


The advantages (for both consumer and retailer) include:

• A greater range of products are available at cheaper prices
  
• City centre congestion is relieved
  
• Shopping is set in a more pleasant, less polluted and relaxed environment; stores can offer services such as crèches, on-site parking and restaurants.
  
  

However, there are many disadvantages associated with the rise of out-of-town retailing.

• Critics claim that marginalized sections of society may not enjoy the benefits: a car and deep freezer are pre-requisites for the hypermarket model of food shopping.



• The closure of neighbourhood stores within the hypermarket’s sphere of influence may further disadvantages the elderly, unemployed and disabled who may rely on easy local access or shopping on credit.
  
• Negative externalities generated by CBD retailing such as congestion and pollution are simply being transferred elsewhere.

The size of tranquil rural areas in southeast England has dramatically reduced in the last twenty years, with urban sprawl continuing, despite green belt legislation.
How has Sheffield City Centre changed since the opening of Meadowhall?



Meadowhall out of town shopping centre in Sheffield was opened on the 4th of September 1990. It is situated three miles North East of Sheffield in South Yorkshire. This site is an ideal location as it has a catchment area of nine other cities all within an hours drive of Meadowhall. These cities are: Leeds, Nottingham, Wakefield, Manchester, Hull, Leicester, Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham. Since the opening of Meadowhall there have been 19.8 million visitors in the first year, 22.2 million in year two, 24.7 in year three, 27.5 million in year four,levelling out at around 30 million in the fifth, sixth and seventh years.

Why do large Shopping Centres locate on the edge of cities?
Since 1980 the most important change in retailing in Britain that has occurred has been the rapid growth of out of town shopping centres. During this time it has been estimated that four fifths of all new shopping floor space has been on out of town sites. The first large regional shopping centre to be developed was the Metro Centre in Gateshead, since a number of other out of town shopping centres have been opened including Meadowhall in Sheffield. There are a number of reasons why these out of town shopping centres are built on such locations.

• They are ideally on a motorway interchange and near main roads which makes the delivery of goods easier and gives access to shoppers from several large urban areas. This also allows closer links with retailers selling similar goods.
  
• There is plenty of open space for large car parks. Such centres aim to attract motorists as there are no parking problems or traffic congestion as there is in the city centre.


• As land values are lower than those in the C.B.D then so too are the rates and rent which shop owners have to pay. This allows individual shops to use large areas of floor space and so keep the price of their goods down.
  
• Being so large, shops can stock a large volume and a wider range of goods.


• Unlike in the city centre there is plenty of space for possible future expansion.



• They are near suburban housing estates which will provide a workforce, especially as many employees are female, work part-time and have to work late most evenings.

PREPARATIONS MADE IN THE CITY CENTRE, IN ANTICIPATION OF MEADOWHALL OPENINGBefore Meadowhall opened, Sheffield City Council began to prepare for the competition which its development would create. Sub-committees investigated into how improvements could be made to combat the immediate issues of litter, graffiti and the refurbishment of pedestrianised areas. Parking facilities were improved and a special emphasis was given to security. A "City Watch" scheme was established which aimed to reduce crime within the retail zone.


John Taylor, Chief Executive of the Cities Chamber of Trade said, he "did not see Meadowhall as a threat but as a tremendous challenge for the city to meet". The Chamber believed that a new type of shopper would be attracted to Meadowhall and as a consequence have a less than substantial impact upon the city centre. Meadowhall they believed would attract customers from a wide catchment area who would combine shopping with leisure and recreation. Convenience shoppers would still continue to use the city centre.

EFFECTS MEADOWHALL HAD ON THE CITY CENTREAlthough great effects on the city centre were not expected, changes can be seen from walking around the city centre . Shops have closed down as they are attracted to new, cheaper and better locations in Meadowhall. Some shops have also had to close as takings have dropped by twenty five percent since the opening of Meadowhall. Empty shops are targeted by graffiti and therefore make the city centre less attractive. Due to this, new traders are not attracted to the city centre and so the vicious circle continues.

CASE STUDY:

THE TRAFFORD CENTRE MANCHESTER

Use this link together with your PDF to build a case study on the Trafford Centre. Make sure you include location maps, data and detail from local and national media.

When the Trafford Centre was opened in 1998 many people were concerned about the effect it would have on Manchester's CBD. Nearly 5.4 million people (approx 10% UK pop) live within 45 mins drive of the centre. From the very outset the Trafford Centre was designed and planned as much more than just a shopping centre. (Check website for details http://www.traffordcentre.co.uk/)



Advantages of Trafford Centre
The Trafford Centre offers:

• 10,000 car parking spaces
  
  
  
  
  
• Wide range of facilities for disabled shoppers. These include a Shop Mobility Unit


• Enclosed safe environment
• Bespoke security unit with child care and lost child facilities
• Wide range of peripheral retail services including banks, cash points, post office and travel agents

Disadvantages of Trafford Centre
The Trafford Centre has disadvantages which are common to many large out of town retail centres.

• Peak flow congestion on M60 and other access roads (Bank Holidays and Xmas period)
  

• artificial atmospere with themed shopping experiences drawn from Italy, Chinatown and New Orleans

• no independent retail traders due to high rental costs and centre management fees

• Difficult for poorer people to access Security screening by management staff prevent homeless people entering centre
• Public transport only recently improved with Metrolink connection

Here are some Points of View on the Trafford Centre
http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/have_your_say/2002/12/31/trafford_centre.shtml

http://immediacy.newspapersoc.org.uk/CaseStudies/selfridges.htm

http://www.middletonguardian.co.uk/news/s/521877_middleton_loses_out_to_manchester

http://www.traffordcentre.co.uk/media/InfoLearning/traffinfo.pdf


Here are some links on the imapct of out of town shopping on Town

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/manchester-councillor-pat-karney-save-878271

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2706067.stm
http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/clonetown.aspx
http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/local_ghost.aspx?page=960&folder=148&

Retail Change in the UK

Retailing is a major component of Western European economies. It accounts for about 13 - 14% of GDP of most countries. Although the number of shops in the UK has fallen from around 400,000 in 1955 to 279,000 in 2004, the amount of floorspace has risen. As a result there are fewer but larger shops.



Prior to the mid-1960s, most shopping in the UK was done at local shops for everyday items such as groceries ('low order goods') or in urban centres for clothes and furniture ('high order goods') [N.B. your work in Year 10.] The shops selling the high order goods could afford the more expensive rents for property in the CBD. Their location made them easily accessible for people living in the surrounding area. Most shoppers used public transport into the urban centre or walked to their local shops.



This trend still exists, but it is in decline as new retailing patterns emerged. The nature of shopping has changed for many people. The 'everyday' goods are now purchased weekly or even less frequently in supermarkets. Shopping for high order goods has become, for an increasing number of the population, a leisure activity involving a drive to an out of town shopping centre or retail park. Shopping replaced fishing as the UK's largest leisure activity in 2005.

DECENTRALISATION

This trend began way back in the 1950s in the USA with a desire to relocate businesses in larger facilities offering easy parking and polarised businesses designed to capture younger and more affluent customers. Parrallel to these locational changes were changes in the organisational structure of retailing with a decline in independently owned small traders and an increase in large company owned stores (c.f. the movie You've Got Mail with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan).

Globalisation has also come to retailing with companies such as Carrefour, Tesco and Wal-mart hypermarkets operating across the USA, Europe and South East Asia. Over the last twenty years there have been many changes in the methods of selling, largelly facilitated by new technology. These range from large discount warehouses and teleshopping to online shopping and auction sites and themed markets and tax free shopping zones, together with a wide variety of self service variants from drive through to self check out.

The most visible impact has been the physical development of large bespoke planned out of town shopping centres or retail parks. These too originated in America in the 1950s with the concept spreading to Europe in the early 1960s on the back of US military bases in Germany. By the mid 1970s several large scale schemes had begun in the New Towns such as Milton Keynes and Telford. The multi purpose mega mall concept did not appear until 1986 under the guidance of Sir John Hall a property developer in the North East of England who was instrumental in creating the Gateshead Metro Centre (initially 160,000 square metres).

Three Waves of Decentralisation in the UK

i) 1960 - mid 1970s Food-based super stores

ii) 1970s - evolution of Retail Warehouses selling DIY, motor components, carpets, electrical goods (' white goods') and furniture.

iii) mid 1980s - Regional Shopping Centres


Why decentralise?
Demand shift in population to suburbs and more recently counterurbanisation to rural areas. The movement is by largely younger, more affluent and mobile people who favour retail parks and superstores. With increased car ownership and better mobility combined with increased female employment has resulted in late night and extended weekend shopping opportunities.
Organisation Changes to the structure and scale of retailing have lead to the growth of large scale multiple or retail chains which enjoy economies of scale from bulk purchasing.
Land costs The high cost of city centre land has made it very expensive for space consuming activities such as superstores. Developers of the large scale shopping centres offer a variety of inducements to encourage the major prestigious brand names to relocate (c.f. the links in 'Out of Town' in my next blog).
Labour Access to labour also encourages decentralisation. Retailing has become increasingly dependent on a part-time female labour workforce. (N.B. influx of migrant workers and students impacting on this trend).
Technological changes Computer technology has made a major impact on instore efficiency and coupled with just in time delivery enabled the large chains to remain open and fully stocked 24/7.


Look carefully at my movie 'Retail change in the UK'




Your notes should cover:

What are the changing patterns of retailing changed?

What factors influenced this decentralisation and relocation?

Where is the future of retailing?


Here are some interesting links to read and make notes from



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3943665.stm











Check out my blog on 'Out of town shopping centres'

Globalisation in India & China

The following article from the Guardian (26/3/07) outlines some of the problems associated with the rapid development in India and China.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,,2042942,00.html it is worth reading the full article but some of the main points are below:

• The city of Linfen, China lies at the heart of a 12-mile industrial belt
  For the past 5 years this city of 3.5 million people has been the most polluted place on the planet, bottom of the World Bank's air quality rankings. The New York-based Blacksmith Institute puts it alongside Chernobyl on a list of the planet's 10 most contaminated places.
  

• Linfen symbolises is the cost of development in China. Its economy is growing explosively, leading to a rapid expansion of the middle classes. This in turn has seen a growing appetite for power - leading to coal fired power stations on a vast scale.

• 
  By 2009 China is predicted to overtake the United States as the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases.
  

• Seventy percent of China's rivers are contaminated.
  In the southern Himalayas, ancient glaciers are melting.
  

• Further north, encroaching deserts threaten the livelihoods of 400 million people.
  

• Linfen is trying to clean up. By the end of this year, the city aims to close 160 of 196 iron foundries, and 57 of 153 coking plants. By replacing small, dirty and dangerous plants with large, cleaner and more carefully regulated facilities, the local government in Linfen plans to drastically reduce emissions. Central heating will be provided by gas instead of coal.

Read the full article to find out some of the effects of industrial growth and development in India!

AS GLOBALISATION

Year 12 here are some links and resources to help you with your notes and research on GLOBALISATION.

These are links you should definetly have a look at
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/business/2007/globalisation/default.stm

a whole section of the BBC news website devoted to globalisation, including the global car industry.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/guides/457000/457022/html/default.stmis very useful!

check these links out for information on Nike and training shoe manufacturing

http://www.simsweatshop.com/game/


http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/1020-01.htm


This video clip will give you an insight into the USA's response to changes in the global car manufacturing market.





Check this out on Toyota and research the links from this page for more details on the US car market
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6247479.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6346325.stm

http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article509.html

http://www.thecarconnection.com/Industry/Industry_News/Study_Calls_Toyotas_U_S_Impact_Large.S175.A9083.html



This pdf is worth downloading
http://www.technology.gov/Reports/autos/auto.pdf


INFORMATION ON TOYOTA

http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/about_toyota/in_the_world/index.html