Thursday, November 28, 2019

Strategic Marketing Nature of the Business Environment

Firms obtain the information they require by studying the internal and external environments so that they understand the present and foresee the future. The general environment consists of components in the wider society which has impact on an industry and the firms in it. Such components can be classified into six environmental sections: global, technological, socio-cultural, legal or political, economic, and demographic.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Strategic Marketing Nature of the Business Environment specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Consequently, efficient firms collect types and sums of data and information which are needed to study each section and its implications in order so that suitable strategies may be chosen and used (Hoskisson, Hitt and Ireland, 80). The industry environment consists of similar products, buyers, distributers, new players, and force given by other competitors, which directly affe ct a firm and its competitive activities and responses. Altogether, the relations among these aspects influence profit capability of the industry, It is challenging to find out that the place inside the industry where a firm is may constructively influence those factors or where it is can effectively protect it against their influence. The higher the ability of the firm to constructively influence its industry setting, the higher the probability which the firm will receive that is above-average income is realized. How the industry collects and understands the information concerning their competitors is termed as competitor analysis. Studying the competitor environment of the firm harmonizes the insights given by examining the general and industry environments of the firm. Altogether, the outcome of the three studies which are employed to understand the influence of external environment, strategic actions and missions, and the growth of strategic objectives. Studies of the general en vironment emphasized on the future while the studies of the industry emphasized on knowing the conditions and factors which influence productivity of a firm, and competitors’ analysis on evaluating the state of competitors’ activities, objectives, and analysis (Jain and Trehan 21).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Even thought the industry studies these aspects separately, productivity is enhanced when the firm put together the insights obtained from analysis of competitor, industry, and general environment. Deterministic, probabilistic, and random are key components of firm’s relationship to the business environment. Deterministic is considered to involve regulatory, market and legal systems which are placed as particulars while probabilistic are fields where the firms have the capacity to raise its likelihood of success. Random components engage uncerta in and uncontainable elements from which the firms can aim to safeguard themselves. Deterministic process does not comprise both probabilistic and random elements, while probabilistic methods integrate random figures and/or one or more probability supplies for variables, for instance expenses and sales (Magliolo 54). Several firms use deterministic business strategies, this indicates that they depend on application of single point estimates for key assumptions and information. A deterministic analysis explains how the company can be restricted to obtain the objectives and goals given to it by a directing pressure. In case the selected procedure used for this attempt assumes that variable therefore values happen randomly, and an appropriate probability supply may be determined for every variable, hence the method is probabilistic or stochastic. Deterministic optimization form may simply be expressed probabilistically; therefore the purpose will be a random variable pursuing an uniden tified probability distribution for every selected kind of decision variable. Probabilistic actions are present where a constituent’s behaviour is at any rate partially random, this is considered to be the opposite of deterministic behaviour in which conditions can be predicted earlier. Importance of studying external environment Several firms experience external environment which are greatly unstable, complex and broad, these are conditions which create the interpretation of those surroundings hard (Hitt, Ireland and Hoskisson 39). To adapt and succeed in these environments and to enhance understanding of the general background, firms participate in external environmental studies.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Strategic Marketing Nature of the Business Environment specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The analysis contains four major sections; assessing, predicting, monitoring, and scanning. These analyses are always complex but very important actions. Recognizing opportunities and risks is significant intention of analyzing the general environment. The use of the opportunity by the firm can significantly assist obtain strategic competitiveness. Risks may as well obstruct an industry’s attempts to be successful in the market. The company should quickly adapt to the new equipments so that they should not risk losing clients or customers (Hitt, Ireland and Hoskisson 39). Through this analysis, they will be in a better position to recognize new strategies which they have to employ to increase their profitability. Several kinds of sources are used by firms to study these issues including newspapers, business publications, and public opinions, trade shows, clients, distributers, and workers of public companies. Through use of scanning, the firms study future changes in general environment and also indentify changes which already exist. Scanning always helps in revealing partial, unr elated and ambiguous information and data. Use of unique software will assist them understand the events which are happening in the business environment and which are publicized in public sources. Continuous scanning of the external environment will assist in identifying the present state and expected changes which might occur in different sections (Jain and Trehan 21). For example analyzing the changes in taxes of commodities, the higher the tax the lower the sales and vice versa hence helps in fixing new prices. Valuable monitoring requires the firm to recognize clients as the base for providing their special and exceptional needs. Monitoring and scanning are more significant when firms are competing in a company which has high technological uncertainties. It offers the firm with information and acts as a way of gaining knowledge about markets. Through forecasting, the firm may create possible projections of what can occur, and how fast. For instance, studies may forecast the dura tion that will be needed for newly-established technology to be implemented in the market, length of time training will take to adapt the changes in the technology and also the period of time in which the increase of taxation by government will affect the consumers (Hoskisson, Hitt and Ireland 79).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The aim of assessing is to establish the consequence and timing of impacts of changes in environment and developments which have been established. Generally, through analysis, the firm can understand the threats and opportunities that a company can experience in future. When there are constructive opportunities, the firm may rapidly respond to it and can have competitive advantage. When there are possible threats, the firm may respond to it with effective approaches and can protect the industry from these threats. The analysis have been useful in identifying the products which the other competitors are providing, this will update the industry to cope with the competitive setting. Use of the technology to analyze the external environment is vey important since it is fast and broad. Works Cited Hitt Michael, Duane Ireland and Robert Hoskisson. Strategic Management: Competitiveness Globalization, Concepts. Michigan: Cengage Learning, 2010. Print. Hoskisson, R E, et al. Competing for A dvantage. 2nd ed. Mason, Ohio: Thomson-Southwestern, 2008. Print. Jain, T. and Mukesh Trehan. Business Environment. New Delhi: FK Publications, 2009. Print. Magliolo, Jacques. Corporate Mechanic: The Analytical Strategist’s Guide. New York: Juta and Company Ltd, 2007. Print. This essay on Strategic Marketing Nature of the Business Environment was written and submitted by user Tanner H. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Monday, November 25, 2019

Frankenstein and The Hound of the Baskerville Essay Example

Frankenstein and The Hound of the Baskerville Essay Example Frankenstein and The Hound of the Baskerville Essay Frankenstein and The Hound of the Baskerville Essay Essay Topic: Literature This essay will be comparing and contrasting the opening scenes of Frankenstein and The Hound of the Baskerville paying particular attention to the film techniques used to capture the audiences attention. the techniques I will be focusing on particularly are lighting, sound, camera movement, edition and mise en scene. The film Frankenstein is based on Mary Shellys story, Frankenstein which tells the story of a man named Victor Frankenstein, a young doctor who is upset by the death of his mother during child birth, and becomes obsessed with bringing the dead back to life. Victor Frankenstein creates a creature from various body parts. Its not long before Frankenstein regrets his creatures actions. In contrast, The Hound of the Baskerville is of a completely different genre, one of mystery. The Hound of the Baskerville grabs the viewer by the throat from its opening scene; Sir Charles Baskerville lies dead on the moors of his family estate. With the look of fear on his face and the presence of animal foot prints around his corpse suggest the impossible, that a large hound, long feared by the Baskerville family is responsible for his death, as the next heir of the Baskerville family, Sir Henry Baskerville takes up residence at the family estate, legendary detective Sherlock Holmes and his trusted assistant Dr. Watson arrive to investigate the mystery. Although film makers use the same techniques they use them to make different effects as I will explain. The director of Frankenstein seems to use high key lighting throughout the whole of the beginning of the film. : High key lighting means that the picture is overall more realistic, also while Victor and the Crew Captain were talking you can see that the candle is glowing and flickering is trying to build up some sort of suspense. The director of Hound of the Baskerville seems to use lighting in a different way like in the scene where you see the corpse on the dissection table seems to be very bright I think the reason for the light being so bright while the camera is focused on the corpse is because in real life the corpse would have to be brightly lit so the dissectors can see the parts of the corpse clearly. At the beginning of Frankenstein where a women is speaking and seems to be reading out of a book, this is non-diegetic sound because if the scene was in real life you wouldnt hear her speaking because she is not there but if she was sitting there reading it out then this would be diegetic. But in Hound of the Baskerville I cannot find any non-diegetic sounds other than the background music which is used for quite a lot of the way through it. In Frankenstein there is a large amount of diegetic sound, sound that belongs in the scene. Here are a few examples of diegetic sound I found in Frankenstein; after the opening scene where the woman is speaking, you see lots of men on a ship and the sound of the waves hitting the ship and the lightning and all the crew yelling this is all diegetic sound. Later on once the ship gets stuck in the ice berg, the crew are trying to release the boat by hitting the ice with axes the sound of the axes hitting the ice is diegetic. Also another good example of diegetic sound in Frankenstein would be when the dogs are barking and then the chain snaps. In Hound of the Baskerville there are many good examples of diegetic sound my favourite one has got to be when the papers are flying out of the room when the escaped convict is on the loose, I also like the diegetic sound of when the officers are drowning in the quick-mud. I personally think that Frankenstein has better uses of sound than Hound of the Baskerville. The main ingredient in a good film has got to be good editing and I think both of these films have good editing but I personally think that Hound of the Baskerville has a lot better editing than Frankenstein. Here are some examples; in Frankenstein it is mostly straight cuts, the beginning is also very slow as the name of the film slowly gets closer and then speeds up at the end to get your attention. Similarly Hound of the Baskerville uses mainly straight cuts as well but Hound of the Baskerville uses them a lot more cleverly like for example the editor keeps making quick flashes of the body as if it is a bad memory in the doctors head, this is trying to grab your attention or in some cases scare you. The camera movements in both films are quite similar in some ways for example in Frankenstein there are lots of fast moving camera movements when the crew are on the ship and its very choppy on the sea this is similar to in Hound of the Baskerville were the prisoner is running away it was as though the camera man was running with the prisoner I think that it was a great use of camera movement. But the fast moving camera movements in Frankenstein are a bit to all over the place because you cant often see what is actually happening in that scene. Mise en scene is used to describe many different aspects of the film production like the clothing, make-up, settings and props. I think the makeup in Frankenstein was a lot better than the makeup in Hound of the Baskerville. For example when the camera zooms into the faces of the crew of the ship there faces are white and have ice on them to signify that it is really cold. But in Hound of the Baskerville the corpse is excellent the corpse is shaped as though it was scared to death and is as white as the crew in Frankenstein. In conclusion I think that Hounds of the Baskerville is better for suspense and has better editing, but Frankenstein has better Makeup. But the camera movements are better in Hounds of the Baskerville. Personally the beginning of Hounds of the Baskerville would make me continue to want to watch it.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Legal Aspects of Hospitality Managment Term Paper

Legal Aspects of Hospitality Managment - Term Paper Example The safety regulations require the employees handling food to observe personal hygiene and use clean uniform and other attires when handling food. In addition, all food handlers are required to undergo medical check-up on a regular basis in order to minimize the spread of contagious diseases such as tuberculosis and diarrhea. The restaurant managers are required to maintain clean and safe environment and premises in order to reduce liabilities that business may incur through injuries to visitors while in the premise (Tansey and Rajotte 79). If the restaurant management complies with these safety requirements, clients will get motivated and encouraged to revisit the restaurant in the future. 2. Improved workers efficiency Safety standards require restaurant owners to ensure secure and clean environment of the business. Another requirement is better working environment for employees and the use of recommended food handling facilities (Brown 785). Regarding the safety of the workers, th e law protects employees against discrimination, poor working environment, and unfair dismissal from work, inadequate pay including overtime allowances, leave and other allowances. If the business is able to comply with these requirements it will motivate employees and increase their productivity (Jha and Elgar 51). Also, employees feel motivated because of better pay, appropriate equipment and excellent working atmosphere and they are able to identify with business. 3. Reduction of unhealthy competition When establishing a restaurant the investor must ensure compliance with all legal requirements relating to safety of the customers, workers and the environment (Vogel 116). The law requires the restaurants to ensure the food is... This paper approves that food safety rules describe the hygiene conditions for handling food and the environment surrounding the food business. The process involved when interacting with food safety rules is usually cumbersome and cost intensive. The process of registering business is generally tedious and time consuming. Some businesses are unable to meet the safety regulations requirements hence they opt out of business. This closure of business results to significant loss of business revenue during the closure period. This essay makes a conclusion that the future of the restaurant business lies on the level of compliance of the business with safety regulations relating to customer, employees and the environmental protection. The safety standards have stringent requirements for the establishment and management of the restaurants. Adherence to these safety measures will promote business growth by increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty. Also, this will increase the efficiency of business through the use of recommended food handling equipments, protection of environment against improper waste disposal and will result to motivation of employees as a result of better terms of work. However, many potential investors may not comply with these standards hence reducing the potential for investment. In addition, the high cost of business compliance with safety regulations will reduce business revenue hence decrease employment opportunities.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

The Salvadoran During The Civil War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

The Salvadoran During The Civil War - Essay Example The situation in El Salvador was that of a stalemate. US government backed the Salvadoran government, however, that was not enough to claim victory. There are no winners or losers in a war, only survivors: and this proved true in the case of El Salvador as well. There are eyewitnesses and journalists who gave their accounts of the state of affairs during the Salvadoran civil war. Cynthia Arnson, a commentator on the national and international affairs especially with concern to the United States and Latin America commented on the gruesome force used by the state government. The government appointed death squads to start systematic eradication of the Salvadoran opponents and not only mutilate their bodies but to use this as a means of wreaking havoc and terrorizing the general population. Such tactics would lead to permanent terror settling into the minds of the public and would disallow them to engage in anti-state affairs and activities in the future. The mid-1980s was the era when s tate-sponsored population killings were the most prominent. The civil war took a very long time despite the efforts to bring an end to the war from both parties. FMLN refused to participate in the presidential elections because they felt that the results would be unfair. Due to this reason, they boycotted the presidential elections. And when the FMLN organized the peace talks in order to settle down the conflicting issues, the Salvadoran government also refused to participate.The Salvadoran civil war would have ended a lot earlier

Monday, November 18, 2019

Financial management assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Financial management assignment - Essay Example the companies favor financial restructuring as the company can still be in the business and can avoid the legal problems associated with bankruptcy proceedings. The goal of a debt restructuring is to lower the interest payments and extend the terms of the loan in order to get through a bad patch and not to write off a companys debt.   Companies considering the debt restructuring must first prove that their current market downturn is a temporary phenomenon and will ultimately past and the company will be able to resume profitability.   Thus companies have to convince their stakeholders like creditors, bankers, and distributors that the company will be able to improve the financial condition with the new finance arrangements within a specified period of time. It is important that all the stakeholders actively participate in the preparation of the Financial Restructuring Plan. In some cases even after the Financial Restructuring plan is implemented the company would end up in bankruptcy due to dissatisfaction among certain group of stakeholders or due to bad execution of the Plan. Bankruptcy should be the last option for the companies as only about 15 to 20% of the companies are able to come out of bankruptcy and the cost of bankruptcy is pretty high. It is evident from the current Case study that the company is Over leveraged, that is the debt:equity ratio is very high. Financial restructuring would also be taken up by the companies which are Under leveraged. These companies raise debt to buy back shares. Financial restructuring can also be taken up when the company’s financial position is effected due to Sluggish sales or seasonal sales problems. Often company would raise debt to fund expansion projects but the expansion projects do not give the expected returns resulting in the defaulting of interest payments by the company. Financial restructuring helps the company improve its credit score, which would be useful if the company intends to borrow in future.

Friday, November 15, 2019

Company overview of IKEA

Company overview of IKEA IKEA is an internationally known home furnishing retailer. It has grown rapidly since it was founded in 1943. Today it is the worlds largest furniture retailer, recognised for its Scandinavian style. The majority of IKEAs furniture is flat-pack, ready to be assembled by the consumer. This allows a reduction in costs and packaging. IKEA carries a range of 9,500 products, including home furniture and accessories. This wide range is available in all IKEA stores and customers can order much of the range online through IKEAs website. There are 18 stores in the UK to date, the first of which opened in Warrington in 1987. In July 2009 IKEA opened a store in Dublin too its first in Ireland. IKEA stores include restaurants and cafà ©s serving typical Swedish food. They also have small food shops selling Swedish groceries, everything from the famous meatballs to jam. Stores are located worldwide. In August 2008 the IKEA group had 253 stores in 24 countries, with a further 32 stores owned and run by franchisees. It welcomed a total of 565 million visitors to the stores during the year and a further 450 million visits were made to the IKEA website. IKEA sales reached 21.2 billion Euros in 2008 showing an increase of 7%. The biggest sales countries are Germany, USA, France, UK and Sweden. In 2008 IKEA opened 21 new stores in 11 countries and expects to open around 20 more in 2009 as part of its strategy for growth. IKEA Vision and Business idea The IKEA vision is to create a better everyday life for the many people puts this concern at the heart of the business. Our business idea supports this vision by offering a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them. Aims and objectives SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) Strengths -Flat-pack technology -Numerous global suppliers -Focus on low price with meaning -Extra in-store perks: restraunts, shopping carts, pencils, etc. -Unique store environment -Modern design pieces as well as traditional pieces Weaknesses -Not doing appropriate market researach when branching into a new cultures market-such as when IKEA came to America. -Ratio of sales representitives to consumers IKEAs self-service ethos, Americans are not used to this type of service. Opportunites -Saving money on labor by establishing supplier relationships with developing countries -Movement into other countries that do not have this type of retailer -Capitalize on good design with reasonable pricing -Capatalize on the unique and appealing shopping experience Threats -Lower prices of general retailers like Target and Wal-Mart that have the ability to regain losses on other merchandise -Finiding ways to appeal to a borader public-Scandinavian design and style is a niche not specifically suited to everyones tastes. Therefore, IKEA must figure out how to do this before someone else does. PESTLE ANALYSIS External Environmental Factors IKEA faces a variety of external environmental factors when conducting business in a competitive, global furniture market. These different factors, provides an explanation of what faces IKEA (The Broad Environment) Research shows in the broad environment, an individual firm can do little to directly influence these factors. In this study, IKEA is broken down by social, economical, technological and political/legal factors to dissect the broad environment. Socioculturally it was hard for IKEA to integrate itself in the American market. The furniture market in the United States contained a wide dichotomy between high-end and low-end design. Within this fragmented market, the top 10 furniture retailers were only responsible for 14.2% of the entire market share. The general discount stores, i.e. Wal-Mart, Target, Office Depot bring up the low-end market. These stores usually marketed their furniture on the basis of cut-rate pricing making margins low in for these channels. There were also smaller shops offering cheap furniture to price-conscious customers such as college students. However, these stores reflected their low price focus with dreary, dingy environments containing haphazard displays and poor, inconsistently managed inventories. Conversely, the high-end specialty markets offered luxurious store environments with clean, plush displays, conjuring up affluence, prosperity and comfort. These specialty retailers include Ethan Allen, Thomasville, and Jordans Furniture. Many of these retailers offered easy payment credit options lessening the debate when considering big-ticket items. Also, these stores came complete with high-touch sales consultants who assisted with measurements and product selection. These retailers offered interior design services for consumers whom were more interested in complete home makeovers. In addition, they boasted of huge inventories often containing many sub-styles within each specific style. Complete with delivery services, retailers could guarantee that consumers new purchases would be delivered and set up in their homes in a matter of weeks without them even having to lift a finger. Lastly, these specialty retailers focused on the quality of the furniture touting that their quality pieces will last a lifetime hence the justification of steep prices-a customer would not or should not need to replace the piece again within their lifetime. The other large part of IKEAs bumpy entry to American culture was the lack of market research. Many Americans didnt like IKEA products because the beds and kitchen cabinets did not fit American sized sheets or appliances, sofas were too hard for American comfort, the dimensions were in centimeters, and the kitchenware was too small for American serving preferences. A manger of the first store in Philadelphia (1985) recalled people drinking out of the vases instead of the serving glasses. Economically, IKEA is low cost. This is a big piece of breaking into the American market. IKEA had to focus and advertising campaign directed specifically to thwart Americans unwillingness to part with their furniture. Part of this angle is the low cost. It is only furniture, change it. By being willing to listen to consumer feedback and changing the way Americans looked at furniture, during the mid-1990s IKEAs profit share in American markets improved. Technologically, IKEAs Flat Pack is unlike any other furniture retailers shipping method-IKEA claims that they do not want to pay to ship air. This is precisely why they can be self-service and do not have to employ as many people as someone would think. These flat packs make it possible for people to lug their packages home without having to wait weeks for delivery. IKEA provides pencils, measuring tapes, store guides, catalogs, shopping carts, bags, and strollers to assist with the shopping experience. Customers are expected to transport their own purchases as well as assemble them on their own. The method in which IKEAs stores are lined up are ingenious. A customer will shop displays and then take their selections (jotting their item numbers) down to the warehouse to pick up their flat packed items before proceeding to check out. Utilizing Porters Five-Forces Model of Industry Competition, IKEA can be evaluated in the following way: 1. Customers Americans-the primary consumer base for IKEAs debut in the American Market. The most likely IKEA shopper are those sort of people who travel abroad, like taking risks, enjoy fine food and wine, have a frequent flier plan, and are early adopters of trendy consumer technologies such as Discmans, laptops, and cell phones (incidentally, IKEAs most atypical customer would be they type of person who collects guns). 2. Suppliers IKEA relies heavily on global suppliers. Once IKEA sets its base price for an item, they then seek to balance cost-effective labor with the companys quality product standards. It does so by working with 1,800 suppliers in over 50 countries. In many instances, IKEA circulates its idea within supplier rings and encourages them to compete for the production package. Sometimes to meet the base price, IKEA will have one design with pieces from several different suppliers. 3. Existing Competitors Traditional Furniture stores are abundant in America. There are none exactly like IKEA in the United States. Therefore IKEA has an advantage over those traditional stores that have high priced furniture. If that is not what the consumer is looking for, then they can go to IKEA for quality, less expensive furniture with a modern design edge. 4. Potential Competitors/Entry Barriers Since IKEA is such a unique, original idea/store it would be very hard to duplicate the totality of IKEAs culture. A store could probably duplicate one or two of the things which compose IKEAs atmosphere but they would fail in other aspects. Like, a store could try and copy the Scandinavian design niche but it would be hard and unauthentic (like what IKEA embodies) without the Scandinavian heritage. 5. Indirect Competitors/Substitutes Wal-mart, Target, Office Depot and other low-cost suppliers are indirect competitors in the fact they do offer low-priced furniture that consumers assemble themselves. However, these indirect substitutes differ in the fact that these are general retailers instead of where IKEA is a specific retailer of home goods. Target, for instance, retails apparel, accessories, home goods, groceries, office products and cleaning supplies. IKEA Strategy and Strategic options Company vision IKEAs vision has from the start been To create a better everyday life for the majority of people. IKEAs business concept originates in the decision to meet a need that no other company appeared concerned with and led it to develop a niche market: manufacturing beautiful, inexpensive and durable furniture for the majority of people.27 I. Kamprad states that IKEA should stand on the side of the majority of people, which involves taking on more responsibility than might at first seem to be the case.28 A recent example is the companys exceptionally costly move into the Russian market, but considered necessary as affordable furniture is a pressing need for the Russian population.29 The democratic design also involves representing the interests of ordinary people and getting rid of designs, which are difficult and expensive to produce, even if it is easy to sell.30 The concept was formalized in 1976 in Ingvar Kamprads thesis Testament of a Furniture Dealer, which became an important way to spread the IKEA philosophy.31 The fundamental goal was and is to provide affordable furniture for the people and cost cutting is key to achieving this. Cost-consciousness is a strong part of the business idea and the waste of resources is considered a mortal sin at IKEA32. By ensuring that ordinary people are able to afford to furnish their homes beautifully, many associate IKEA with a company that stands on the side of the little person and this is a positive image for a company to have. In addition to this, I. Kamprad had another dream: the dream of good capitalism which is the idea that the good in a profit-making business can be combined with a lasting social vision. This implies the goal of developing and achieving a better future for IKEAs customers as well as people working for IKEA believing that by working for IKEA, they are working for a better society and thereby contributing to a better world.33

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Effect of Substrate Concentration on Catalase :: Papers

Effect of Substrate Concentration on Catalase Aims This is an experiment to examine how the concentration of the substrate Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2) affects the rate of reaction of the enzyme Catalase. Background Information Enzymes such as Catalase are protein molecules, which are found in living cells. They are used to speed up specific reaction within the cell. They are all very specific as each enzyme just performs one particular reaction. Catalase is an enzyme found in food such as potato and liver. It is used for removing Hydrogen Peroxide from cells. Hydrogen Peroxide is the poisonous by-product of metabolism. Catalase speeds up the decomposition of Hydrogen Peroxide into water and oxygen as shown in the equations below. Formula It is able to speed up the decomposition of Hydrogen peroxide because the shape of its active site matches the shape of the Hydrogen peroxide molecule. This type of reaction where a molecule is broken down into smaller pieces is called an Anabolic Reaction. Apparatus Need For The Experiment. 1. 250 cm3 Glass Beakers 2. Glass Thistle Funnel 3. Graduated Measuring Cylinder 4. Cork Borer 5. 250 cm3 Glass Cylinders. 6. Digital Stop clock 7. Scalpel 8. Tap and Distilled Water 9. Plastic rule. 10. Safety Goggles. Method To test out how the concentration of Hydrogen Peroxide affects the rate of reaction first set up the apparatus and prepare the different concentrations of Hydrogen peroxide as below: Concentration of Hydrogen Peroxide Volume of Hydrogen Peroxide (cm3) Volume of Tap Water (cm3) 25 vol 250 0 20 vol 200 50 15 vol 150 100 10 vol 100 150 5 vol 50 200 1. Using the cork borer, take a sample of potato, cut this piece in cm intervals using the scalpel and plastic rule. Then cut these a further 2 sections, so there is now 5 sections per 1cm piece of potato.