Neiman Marcus Case

Neiman Marcus (NM), which mainly serves the high-end retail market, is currently facing a tough future. Although it currently enjoys high profit margins and has made significant improvements in its existing brand performance, its growth has plateaued. NM believes that there is only limited potential for growth of its current full-line stores while maintaining its exclusivity. As a result, it is considering other growth opportunities. The strategic goal is to increase its revenue by at least $150 million over the next 6 years while maintaining its attractive profit margins of 15%. Of the number of possible growth options, we recommend NM to grow via the Galleries concept. We believe that this concept is in line with its current core strength of creating and maintaining customer loyalty with luxury customers. Moreover, it can benefit from its existing customer base, efficient sales force and brand name. Our financial analysis further shows that the concept has the potential to match the revenue and profit goals. However, NM needs to carefully choose the gallery locations since there are some risks associated with direct competition with existing leaders and confusion among its current customers about the shift in brand-focus. Growth Options Neiman Marcus (NM) serves the high-end retail market mostly in US. Before analyzing the range of growth options available to NM, we performed a SWOT analysis [Exhibit 2] to understand NM’s current competitive situation. NM clearly targets the affluent US population and intends to serve the luxury market. The company’s goal is to create a personal shopping experience for its customers, and that involves having a highly competent sales staff as well as setting up a unique buying experience. One of the biggest competitive advantages for NM is the customer based marketing programs and events, like the InCircle programs which enhances customer loyalty. The catalog advertising is another core-competency that NM can leverage greatly from, since it drives about 50% of the sales of the customer that also shop at the stores. NM invests heavily in training and retaining its sales forces ia programs like the â€Å"Optimum Selling Program† and competitive compensation to the employees. It leverages the sales force to create a personal shopping experience to the affluent customer with the objective of enhancing the customer relationship and increasing the average customer spend. Considering that the target consumer segment is the affluent consumer who earns over $200,000 annually, th ere is limited growth potential within this high premium segment since acquiring new customers with high buying power needs is difficult. Thus, the focus is to increase customer retention and find creative ways for customers to spend more on NM products, with the following approaches * Brand extension :â€Å"Galleries† for jewelry; Specialty store for shoes * Geographical extension: Expand into Europe; increasing retail space within stores; * Portfolio extension: Acquisition(Saks); Open Sale-price stores likeâ€Å"(Nordstrum) rack† * Relationship extension : Enhance relationship with emerging designers Brand extensions via Galleries for the jewelry category would put NM in direct competition with the likes of Tiffany’s Co. This might impact the top line (Revenues) more than the bottom line (net income), considering that it would involve higher costs for development of the stores, and heavy investments in advertisement and customer retention. Geographic extensions like expanding into Europe would not have high impact on the top line nor is bottom line, considering there 50% higher penetration of designer owned stores. Moreover, NM might need significant time and investment to create its brand name and competent sales force team in such new but fiercely competitive market. Portfolio extension: Acquisition of Saks would definitely have a positive impact on both the top line and the bottom line. However, NM would need to be careful on how this would affect its relationship with the employees and the designers. However, sale-price stores would likely dilute the brand image for NM, and alienate some of its existing consumers Enhancing relationship with emerging designers would probably impact NM most on the bottom line than on the top line, considering it would be able to leverage purchasing power with the emerging designers, and extract higher margins from the merchandise. do we need to estimate top line/bottom line impact? ] Of all these options, the Galleries and Acquisition of Saks are the ones that can leverage NM’s core competencies to the best ability. These avenues provide an opportunity for leveraging the marketing catalogues, customer relationships, and employee satisfaction and retention. The acquisition of existing brands such as Saks is subject to more extraneous factors (negotiations, stock valuations, government regulations, merger risks, brand value distortion) and therefore unclear as a long term strategy. Neiman Marcus’ Positioning. Based on our understanding, we believe NM’s current positioning statement is: For the affluent customer who takes great pride in buying only top-line luxury clothing and accessories, NM store is your one-stop place for all your fashion needs since we only stock best assortment of designer boutiques and our friendly knowledgeable staff knows exactly what you are looking for. NM’s positioning is to attract the affluent consumer, with a household income of over $100,000, by providing high-end luxury lines of women’s and men’s apparel, Jewelry, Cosmetics/fragrances, Gifts, Women’s shoes and Accessories. The core competencies that NM engages to differentiate itself in the marketplace are exclusive high-end designer merchandise, personable, knowledgeable and highly competent sales staff that aims at not only achieving a high level of customer satisfaction, but also establishing themselves as a personal shopper for the customer. The sales staff is cross-trained in multiple departments, and is empowered to build long term relationships with their customers. This enables NM to provide a customized and personal experience for its clientele, thus encouraging them to be repeat customers and increase their spend at NM. NM utilizes another core-competency of catalogs for direct marketing, thus creating avenues to increase spend by the customers. One of the differentiators for NM, an un-imitable competency that creates barriers of entry is the customer based marketing programs, and events. The InCircle program is targeted to enhance customer relationships and brand loyalty. Special events and incentives are creating for the â€Å"creme-de-la-creme† spenders via the InCircle program that provides these customers to become repeat consumers via exquisite rewards programs and one-on-one customer service. About 40% of sales at NM were estimated from these programs and events organized by NM. Direct competitors for [Exhibit 3] NM include Saks 5th avenue and Nordstrum. Saks and NM differed in their approach to store formats. While NM had primarily focused on full line stores, Saks had developed other formats like restort stores, Main street stores, Off 5th stores, thus targeting different consumer segments. Nordstrom on the other hand had similar merchandise portfolio as NM, and was known for the level of personal customer attention and service it provided by building key relationships NM on the other hand provided multiple competencies that included specialty store variety (for specific designers) and department store scale and service. Quantitative Analysis of the Galleries Concept We performed a quantitative analysis to evaluate the Galleries concept. We made some key assumptions for the analysis. First, the revenue per sq. ft. or the three lines: fashion jewelry, precious jewelry and gifts would be equal to the current NM revenues in these departments. Second, the annual percentage revenue growth for Galleria would be equal to NM’s current annual revenue growth of 7%. Third, the allocation of space within the 10,000 sq. ft. galleria would be allocated to the existing ratios within the three departments. Using these assumptions, as shown in Exhibit a, we calculated the revenue per sq. ft. for the three lines. Using these values, we computed the expected revenue (base year) for one galleria (Exhibit b). We next constructed the pro-forma (Exhibit b) for one galleria for the next 6 years. We assumed that the revenue growth would be the same (7%), the gross margin and hence the COGS would be constant (56% which is the current weighted COGS for these three department). As seen in the pro-forma, we estimate each galleria will have revenues of $10. 8 million and Cash-flow (assuming EBT = EBTDA) of $2. 1 million by year 6. Using Present Value of the Cash flows (assumed equal to EBIT) at 15% discount rate, we estimate the payback period for each galleria on the initial investment of $5 million to be 5 years (2003 assuming base year is 1998). With additional revenue per galleria in Year 6 estimated at $10. 8 million, to achieve a financial goal of $200 million in additional revenue from the galleries by Year 6, NM would need to open 19 (200/10. ) galleries. This would require an overall investment of about $95 million in capital in the current year. The quantitative analysis indicate that if the three constituent departments of the galleries can perform at least at par with current levels (mainly in terms of revenue per sq. ft. and gross margins) , NM is very likely to fulfill the goal of $200 million in surplus revenue growth by year 6. In fact, since the payback period (at 15% discount rate) is 5 years, the IRR return from the investment is expected to be more than the required 15%. Thus the quantitative analysis is definitely is in favor of the galleries concept. Qualitative Analysis of the Galleries Concept The Galleries concept is to aimed to expand the per-customer spend of the target affluent consumer, by providing specialty stores for specific merchandise category. One of the viable options is to consider a Gallery which includes the departments that provide the highest revenue per sq. ft. amely Precious jewelry, fashion jewelry and Gifts, again targeting the same affluent customer segment. This concept makes sense for NM since it can leverage from its current strengths – loyalty program, dedicated and knowledgeable staff, and its existing brand value. Moreover, expanding the gallery concept in US where it already has an established brand name and elite-status makes perfect sense. However, as discussed before, the Jewelry and Gifts gallery concept would end up going head-to-head with a Tiffany’s store. Therefore NM needs to address the following risks for ensuring significant market share capture. First, considering that the flagship Tiffany’s store has a sales/sq ft ratio of over $3000 [Exhibit 1 and 4], NM needs to either increase the retail space for precious jewelry to improve from the overall expected $721 / sq. ft revenue (this is because precious jewelry in current NM stores earn a much higher $1669/ sq ft), or decrease the store gross selling space for the gallery. Second, expanding the number of Galleries excessively might rebrand NM in the minds of customers as jewelry focused company and might affect the sales of its other flagship products such as women’s apparel and shoes in original NM stores. Therefore, NM needs to be careful in choosing the locations of these new galleria stores and try to not choose locations where they currently exist. With regards to the locations of the new Gallery stores, we believe that NM needs to choose locations that are not competitively served (by Tiffany’s) in the Jewelry category, and also locations that do not have heavy overlap with its current locations. It is also important not to deviate from the target affluent consumer with high buying power index. Thus, we recommend the ollowing top 3 locations for NM to open the initial Gallery stores to ensure impactful market share capture. Based on how the galleries perform in these markets, NM can use the same criteria to open galleries in other markets. Seattle – Top most 1996 BPI; No Tiffany presence; some overlap with NM stores Cleveland – Ranked 2nd 1996 BPI; No Tiffany presence; some overlap with NM stores Sacramento – Ranked 3rd 1996 BPI; No Tiffany presence; hi gh overlap with NM stores Conclusion Based on the analysis of NM’s current positioning and its core competencies, we believe the Galleria concept presents a good growth opportunity for NM. Quantitatively, the concept has potential to fulfill both of NM’s current goals: revenue growth ($150-$200 million revenue growth over 6 years) and profit margin (Payback period for initial investment is under 6 years at desired 15% cost of capital). However, NM needs to be careful in choosing the locations for two reasons: to avoid head-to-head competition with existing jewelers such as Tiffany’s and to avoid confusion of its brand focus in the minds of its existing rich customer base.

How to Write a Resume with No Job Experience

How to Write a Resume with No Job Experience Very often university graduates are afraid to apply for a job, even if they have enough theoretical knowledge in the field. The reason is that they lack work experience and think theyre not good enough for the position. Graduate students are not sure what to write in their resume, because its the first time theyre applying for a job! Therefore, some of them might need help from professional writers, others would just need to read several guides on top resources about resume writing. So what should you include in your resume if you dont have any real work experience? Here are some tips that will help you out! Academic Strengths, Achievements and Skills Write more about your education. Let the potential employer know more about the courses you took and your highest achievements on some of them. And whats more important – describe the skills youve gained at school that will be helpful in your future work. It would be better to tell more about real-life situations, when you actually applied those skills. Attach your GPA, if its high. Add the topic of your thesis – your employer would want to know. Include information about internships, summer jobs and other activities. Include all your internships and part-time jobs. Even if you worked for free, such jobs still count! Describe your main responsibilities and tasks. It would be great if you could write more about new practical knowledge you got when doing these jobs. If you worked as a volunteer – include this information as well. It will show your personal attributes better. Recommendations If you had a part-time job or did an internship, ask your employer to write you a letter of recommendation. It will be great to include some examples, when you showed excellent communication skills or leadership. Also you can ask your professor to give feedback on your studies. Professors recommendations can prove you were a hardworking student, who was eager to learn new things. Such people are great for the job! Be Specific It would be much better to write a different resume for each job opening. You can include only relevant information and needed skills for the specific job.In the title mention the position you are applying to. Your resume shouldnt be too general. You cant possibly apply to 100 jobs with the same resume, it wouldnt be impressive at all. Courses, Online Specializations and Languages Do not forget to mention your foreign language proficiency. It will make your resume look much better. Even if youre not an expert in the language and know only the basics, mention it. Also, if you have any certificates from the courses you took – include the information about them as well. Mention new skills youve got and how useful they are for the position. Write about online courses and specializations (for example Coursera) you took. Since youre writing a resume for a specific job, include only those courses which will be great for it. Personal Traits Dont include this section in your resume or make it as short as you can. No one will spend some time on reading the essay, where you describe your character. You can use a cover letter to tell more about yourself. In your cover letter you can describe the qualities you think are the most important for the employer. Are you an honest and reliable person? Or maybe you can communicate with people very well? Or youre great at time-management and can do a lot of tasks at the same time? Be specific. Layout Make sure it is not too long. HR specialists dont spend a lot of time on a resume. They see hundreds of them all the time. One page would be great. Describe only the relevant information, that will be interesting for the employer. Dont write too many general paragraphs just to compensate the lack of work experience. You need to keep everything short, so the HR could see only key info. Dont send your resume in rare formats. It would be better to use .doc or .pdf. Now you know how to write a good resume without any work experience! We would also recommend you to read our blog post on basic resume rules and step-by-step guide on writing a resume one need to follow to create a great resume. If you are a graduate student without any experience, you still can impress your potential employer. Be creative and let them see how awesome you are!

How Principals Can Provide Teacher Support

How Principals Can Provide Teacher Support Having a supportive principal can make all the difference for a teacher. Teachers want to know that their principal has their best interests in mind. One of the main duties of a principal is to provide ongoing, collaborative teacher support. The relationship between a teacher and a principal has to be built on a foundation of trust. This type of relationship takes a lot of time to build. Principals must slowly cultivate these relationships while taking the time to get to know each teachers strength and weaknesses. The worst thing that a new principal can do is to go in and quickly make a lot of changes. This will assuredly turn a group of teachers against a principal quickly. A smart principal will initially make small changes, allow time for teachers to get to know them, and then gradually make larger, more meaningful changes over the course of time. It is important to note that any significant changes should be made only after seeking and considering input from teachers. Here, we examine ten suggestions for earning teacher trust and ultimately providing them with ongoing, collaborative teacher support. Allow Time for Peer Collaboration Teachers should be given time to work together in a collaborative effort. This collaboration will strengthen relationships among your faculty, provide new or struggling teachers with an outlet to gain valuable insight and advice, and allows teachers to share best practices and success stories. The principal becomes the driving force in this collaboration. They are the one who schedules the time to collaborate and sets the agenda for these times. Principals who reject the importance of peer collaboration are selling its value far short. Ask Questions and Seek Their Advice The principal is the primary decision maker in their building. This doesn’t mean that teachers shouldn’t be included in the decision-making process. Although a principal may have the final say, teachers should be given a platform to express their feelings or provide advice for the principal, especially when the issue will directly affect the teachers. A principal should use the resources at hand when making decisions. Teachers have brilliant ideas. By seeking their advice, they may challenge your thinking on an issue may validate that you are on the right track. Neither case is a terrible thing when making any decision. Have Their Back Teachers are people, and all people go through difficult times both personally and professionally at some point in their lives. When a teacher is going through a difficult situation personally (death, divorce, illness, etc.), a principal should give them 100% support at all times. A teacher going through a personal issue will appreciate any support their principal shows during this time. Sometimes this could be as simple as asking them how they are doing and sometimes it may be necessary to give them a few days off. Professionally you want to back a teacher as long as you believe they are effective, ethical, and moral. There are situations where you absolutely cannot support a teacher because the decision they made is ethically or morally wrong. In this case, do not skirt around the issue. Be up front with them and tell them that they messed up, and there is no way you can back them up based on their actions. Be Consistent Teachers hate it when principals are inconsistent especially when dealing with student discipline or parent situations. A principal should always try to be fair and consistent with their decision making. Teachers may not always agree with how you handle situations, but if you establish a pattern of consistency, then they will not complain too much. For example, if a 3rd-grade teacher sends a student to the office for being disrespectful in class, check your student discipline records to see how you have handled similar issues in the past. You do not want any teacher to feel like you play favorites. Conduct Meaningful Evaluations Teacher evaluations are meant to be tools that show a teacher where they are and to move them in a direction to maximize their overall effectiveness. Conducting meaningful evaluations takes a lot of time and time is not something a lot of principals have, therefore many principals neglect making the most out of their teacher evaluations. Providing effective teacher support requires constructive criticism at times. No teacher is perfect. There is always room for improvement in some area. A meaningful evaluation allows you the opportunity to be critical and to offer praise. It is a balance of both. A satisfactory evaluation cannot be given on a single classroom visit. It is a collaboration of information gathered through many visits that provide the most meaningful evaluations. Create a Teacher-Friendly Schedule Principals are typically responsible for creating their building’s daily schedule. This includes class schedules, teacher planning periods, and duties. If you want to make your teachers happy, minimize the time they need to be on duty. Teachers hate duties of any kind whether it is lunch duty, recess duty, bus duty, etc. If you can figure out a way to create a schedule in which they only have to cover a few duties a month, your teachers will love you. Encourage Them to Bring Problems to You Have an open door policy. The relationship between a teacher and principal should be strong enough that they can bring any problem or issue and trust that you are going to try your best to help them out confidentially. Often times you will find that teachers simply need someone to vent their frustrations to, so being a good listener is often all that is necessary. Other times you will have to tell the teacher that you need some time to think about the problem and then get back with them with some take it or leave it advice. Try not to force your opinion on the teacher. Give them options and explain where you are coming from. Tell them what decision you would make and why, but don’t hold it against them if they go with another option. Understand that every situation that is brought to you is unique and how you handle that situation depends on upon the situation itself. Get to Know Them There is a thin line between getting to know your teachers and being their best friends. As their leader, you want to build a trusting relationship without getting so close that it interferes when you have to make a tough decision. You want to build a balanced relationship between personal and professional, but you don’t want to tip it where it is more personal than professional. Take an active interest in their family, hobbies, and other interest. This will let them know that you care about them as individuals and not just as teachers. Offer Advice, Direction, or Assistance All principals should continuously offer their teachers advice, direction, or assistance. This is especially true for beginning teachers, but it is true for teachers throughout all levels of experience. The principal is the instructional leader, and providing advice, direction, or assistance is the primary job of a leader. This can be done through a variety of ways. Sometimes a principal can simply provide a teacher with verbal advice. Other times they may want to show the teacher by having them observe another teacher whose strengths are in an area where that teacher needs assistance. Providing the teacher with books and resources are another way to provide advice, direction, or assistance. Provide Applicable Professional Development All teachers are required to participate in professional development. However, teachers want these professional development opportunities to be applicable to their situation. No teacher wants to sit through eight hours of professional development that doesn’t directly apply to what their teaching or they will never use. This can fall back on the principal as they are often involved in the scheduling of professional development. Choose professional development opportunities that are going to benefit your teachers, not just ones that meet your minimum professional development criteria. Your teachers will appreciate you more, and your school will be better off in the long run because your teachers are learning new things that they can then apply to their daily classroom.

Criminal Law Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Criminal Law Assignment - Essay Example ntion, unless they feel sure that death or serious bodily harm was a virtual certainty as a result of the defendants actions, and that the defendant appreciated that such was the case.†2 Based on this ruling there is little chance that Robert and/Stuart can argue that neither had the necessary intention to cause Terry’s death. The dialogue between them prior to cutting Terry loose strongly suggest that each of them knew that by cutting Terry loose death or serious bodily harm was a virtual certainty. In order for a charge of murder to be substantiated against Robert and Stuart it is not necessary for the Crown to prove that the defendants’ conduct was the only and main cause of death. Although there was an intervening cause, namely; the negligence of the rescue crew that ultimately caused Terry’s death, he would not have been exposed to hyperthermia had it not been for Robert and Stuart’s conduct in the first place. Even if it can be shown that Terry had suffered from some medical condition that made him particularly vulnerable to hyperthermia, this would not discharge Stuart and Robert’s responsibility under the â€Å"thin skull rule† which mandates that you take your victims as you find them.3 In R v Dear4 the court ruled that the question was whether or not the injuries caused by the defendant’s conduct was the significant cause of death or significantly contributed to the death of the victim. On the facts of the case for discussion, Robert and Stuart’s conduct not only significantly contributed to Terry’s death but was a significant cause. Therefore it is unlikely that causation would be of any assistance to either one of them as a defence. The defence of necessity was used in the early case of R v Dudly and Stephens5. In this case four persons had become shipwrecked and remained out to sea aboard a small vessel without food and other necessary provision. In order to save themselves, the three strongest decided that it was necessary

Case study Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Case study Analysis - Essay Example Leadership usually follows a number of theories and practices due to which, the leaders are different from one another. Application of a theory is related to the personality of a leader as he or she adopts a theory after analyzing according to his or her persona. Leaders are highly important persons in an organization and they have a strong impact on the organization and its employees. No one can reject the influence of the leaders, as they are the one who have to lead a certain group in order to help the organization in terms of making income or gaining success (McGovern et al, 2008). The employees working under the leaders are more dedicated to their leaders as compared to the organization because of the convincing style of leadership of the leaders. There are eight leadership theories that can be considered as the most credible and convincing in terms of the concept of leadership in various organizations (Wagner, 2005). Firstly, according to great man theories the qualities of lea dership in some persons are inherent means they born by having leadership skills. Secondly, trait theories are based on that some persons are leaders because they inherit the leadership characteristics. After then, contingency theories are based on that type of leaders, which have an ability to change their style of leading according to the environment (Wagner, 2005). After that, situational theories are based on leaders should have the ability to select best leading style in different situations. After that, behavioural theory is based on that men learn leadership qualities through experience and learning (Wagner, 2005). Afterward, participative theories are based on the leader’s participation and contribution from group members that encourage them to give their 100%. Subsequently management theories (transactional theory) are based on management, organization and group performance (Wagner, 2005). According to management theory, leaders appreciate their subordinates by givin g praise or promotion for their good work and give punishment for their bad work (Wagner, 2005). Afterward, relationship theories (transformational theories) are based on relationship between leaders and followers. These types of leaders motivate their followers by helping them in task, but also have a requirement from the followers to give the all potential in the task (Wagner, 2005). 2.0. Case Study Analysis 2.1. Leadership Paradigms, Leadership Location and Leadership Substitutes at SAP In SAP (Systems, Applications and Products in data processing), the major and main head of the organization is its Chief executive officers (CEOs). The leadership at SAP is much committed and influence people to be a part of the organization. The main vision of sap is to provide software solution and business problems. SAP is a global organization but the head office of SAP is located in Walldrof Germany. SAP is driven by its two major boards, an executive board and an extended management board. S AP has seven layers of management and it is more profitable to have seven layers of management, it also makes it hierarchical. As SAP is managed by its self management teams, there is always a substitute for each of the management. But in case of leadership 2.2. Followers and Retention at SAP All the employees in SAP are very much important for the organization and the company does not discharge the people because of the less knowledge about the new developments and techniques. On the contrary, company tries

Managing Change in the Workplace Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Managing Change in the Workplace - Essay Example It is however important to note that culture is fluid in nature considering the rapid changes organizations are subject to at the global level. Over the period of time, there have been constant changes in the external environment of the organizations making them more vulnerable to change. The debate on whether organizational culture is something organization is or has depends upon how organizations adapt the culture and mold themselves according to the overall given situation. Given the overall complexity of the management of the culture specially the sub-cultures, it is relatively difficult to actually determine as to how organizations should tackle the issue of organizational culture and overall change management.It is however important to note that culture is fluid in nature considering the rapid changes organizations are subject to at the global level. Over the period of time, there have been constant changes in the external environment of the organizations making them more vulne rable to change. The debate on whether organizational culture is something organization is or has depends upon how organizations adapt the culture and mold themselves according to the overall given situation. Given the overall complexity of the management of the culture specially the sub-cultures, it is relatively difficult to actually determine as to how organizations should tackle the issue of organizational culture and overall change management.  

Harrison Bergeron Essay Example for Free

Harrison Bergeron Essay In 2081, all of society is forced to be equal. In Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.’s short story, Harrison Bergeron, everyone is assigned â€Å"handicaps† that make them equal to everyone else. These handicaps included wearing weights around the neck, wearing a mask to cover beauty, and having a device in the ear so thinking could not be overdone. â€Å"Nobody was smarter than anyone else; nobody was better looking than anyone else; nobody was stronger or quicker than anyone else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th amendments that were added to the Constitution. † (Vonnegut 369) Harrison Bergeron is a valid representation of the potential control of a government and the repercussions a society could face if every individual were forced to be identical. The short story is based off of three characters: Hazel, George and Harrison Bergeron. George was forced to wear a device in his ear that prevented him from thinking too much since his intelligence level was above normal. Hazel, on the other hand, â€Å"had a perfectly average intelligence, which meant she couldn’t think about anything except in short burst.† (Vonnegut 370) Harrison was their son that was captured at the age of fourteen by the H-G government. Harrison was athletic and handsome. His handicaps included wearing headphones instead of an earpiece, spectacles that nearly made him blind, and about three hundred pounds of metal. â€Å"To offset his good looks he was forced to wear a red nose, shave off his eyebrows, and to cover his white teeth with black caps.† (Vonnegut 372) Hazel and George were watching television when news came on about Harrison Bergeron escaping from prison. The news cast told those watching that this man was extremely dangerous and flashed pictures of him upon the screen. George realized that it must be Harrison but the realization was quickly taken from his mind when the sound of a collision went off in his head. After George opened his eyes, the picture of Harrison was gone but he was actually shown on television yelling, â€Å"I am the Emperor!† Because of Harrison’s great strength and tall features everyone was cowering down to him, except one ballerina that stood up to be his empress. Harrison had ripped off all his handicaps and the handicaps from the empress and the  musicians. Harrison and his empress were dancing to the music that he forced the musicians to play, when â€Å"Diana Moon Glampers, the handicapper general, came into the studio with a double-barreled ten-gauge shotgun. She fired twice, and the Emperor and the Empress were dead before they hit the floor.† (Vonnegut 374) Shortly after, the Bergeron’s television had gone off. George leaves to get a beer and upon his return he sees that Hazel has been crying. George asks her why she has been crying but because she can only think in short burst she can’t remember why the tears were coming. Because of George and Hazel’s handicaps, they could not remember that Harrison was their son that had just been killed on the television. Due to everyone being forced to be equal to one other, the government made the people become stupid, slow, and even obeying the law because of fear of punishment. Harrison knew he was good looking, athletic and smart. When Harrison escaped from prison and disobeyed the law, it would be easier for him to rule over others because everyone else was still chained to the law. With his great strength and rebellion he became an â€Å"Emperor† for a short time. Foreshadowing was shown when Hazel and George talked about taking some weight off of George’s neck. George explains to Hazel â€Å"that if he tried to get away with it, then other people’d get away with it-and pretty soon we’d be right back to the dark ages again, with everybody competing against everyone else.† George asks Hazel what she thinks would happen to the society, Hazel replies, â€Å"Reckon it’d fall all apart.† (Vonnegut 371) The government knew that if people listened to Harrison that everyone would start disobeying the law, so they got rid of him. They could have also shot him because they got scared of what they could not control. By showing the killing on television, it showed the society what will happen if they start rebelling. A sedated society, that of which is handicapped, is much easier to control. I believe Harrison Bergeron shows what exactly it would be like for everyone to be equal. It also effectively represents the kind of control that a government would have over a society. If the government gives everyone equality and makes them â€Å"weak† it gives the government way more power than what they already have. At some point in time everyone has the thought of an equal society but we do not think of what it would take for that to happen. Harrison Bergeron shows what the consequences would be. I believe the fact that everyone is unique should be more appreciated rather than wanting to bechanged. If people were forced to be equal life would be the same for everyone and not as adventurous and fun. The problem with an equal society is that no one would be able to be their selves. In order for everyone to be equal, there would have to be some consequences for those who rebel against the law. Also, the handicaps would be necessary in order for everyone to be equal. This would give the government complete control over a society which could also cause problems. Harrison Bergeron is a vivid representation of the potential a government could have on a society, and the dangers of an equal society. Bibliography Vonnegut, Kurt. â€Å"Harrison Bergeron.† Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.(1961) 1st release