Major Factors Influencing the Competitiveness of the California Strawberry Subsector

With its nearly year-round supply and 83% market share, the California strawberry subsector dominates production and distribution of fresh strawberries in North America. The subsector has achieved its leading position among competitive production regions (e.g., Florida and Oregon) through the development and interaction of several factors. These factors include the following: superior agro-ecological conditions, economies of size, technological innovation, favorable demand conditions, marketing flexibility, and support infrastructure.Industrial Organization,

The Effect of Implementing a Weight Loss Program on Participant Attendance, Club Usage, and Gym Membership Attrition

The purpose of this research study was to evaluate the effect of a weight loss program on individual participant attendance, total club usage and membership attrition. This retrospective study involved a fitness gym located in Utah County, Utah with a total membership of 1,100. The number of clients participating in the weight loss program between December 2011 and May 2012 was 36 (32 females and 4 males). A total of 11 clients were analyzed for the individual attendance data as this analysis was limited to only those clients who were gym members one year prior to the implementation of the program. A comprehensive weight loss program was implemented in the gym between December 2011 and May 2012. Six months of participant attendance, total club usage, and gym attrition data was gathered before and after implementation of the program. The average monthly attendance before the program implementation was 7.0 + 7.93 visits, while the average monthly attendance after the program implementation was 16.3 + 11.47 visits (an increase of 132%). This suggests that implementing a weight loss program in a gym can increase individual participant attendance. Club usage decreased and attrition increased after implementing the weight loss program, however, the changes were not statistically significant (P \u3e 0.05)

FastFact: Human Resources, Edition 38, September 17, 1997

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aicpa_news/3831/thumbnail.jp

Wellness, Health, and Salvation : About the Religious Dimension of Contemporary Body-Mindedness

Alluding to the enormous investments in wellness, health, and anti-aging by affluent US society today the article focuses on the anthropological and religious implications of this phenomenon by stating that the pursuit of such caring for the body has superseded the quest for salvation. The first section provides a historical background analysis of how the contemporary semi-religious bodymindedness came about, while the second part analyses wellness, health, and salvation from a phenomenological point of view. It shows that any body image which does not address human frailty turns into something utterly inhumane while a religiously informed anthropology, in contrast, not only accepts frailty, dying, and death as realities of life but situates these experiences within a broader frame of reference and meaning thereby setting people free to leave behind at the proper time anxieties and worries about body-upkeep and to embrace life in the face of death

Finnish fitness centers : The use of information systems in customer controlling

This thesis was assigned by Viveca, the University of Jyväskylä. The target of this thesis was to find out the reasons for the fitness centers simultaneously using multiple information systems and how the fitness centers manage their customers by using these information systems. The general situation of Finland was also compared to those of other countries. The research was a qualitative research; where six people working in the fitness industry were interviewed. These interviewees came from all the areas representing the business: Managers and employees of the fitness centers with also one information system company representative interviewed. The results indicate that the information systems that are being used in Finnish fitness centers do not have all the required features which make the fitness centers use different information systems at the same time. The information systems’ features in customer controlling are deficient. Accordingly, the information systems should be especially improved in that area. This thesis gives information about the current status of Information systems in Finland to help in the decision making of the information system companies and the fitness centers. The whole fitness industry is relatively new and particularly the fitness industry in Finland is young compared to the other countries. The fitness industry in Finland can be predicted to encounter changes in the future. The growth in fitness industry will increase the competition and it is also likely to bring new information systems to the market.Opinnäytetyön toimeksiantajana toimi Viveca, Jyväskylän yliopisto. Työn tavoitteena oli löytää syitä siihen, miksi kuntokeskukset käyttävät useita eri tietojärjestelmiä yhtä aikaa ja kuinka tietojärjestelmiä käytetään asiakkuuksien hallinnointiin. Työssä vertailtiin lisäksi Suomen tilannetta muihin maihin. Tutkimus oli kvalitatiivinen tutkimus, jossa haastateltiin yhteensä kuutta fitnessalalla työskentelevää ihmistä. Haastateltavat olivat alan eri osa-alueilta: kuntokeskusten johtajia, työntekijöitä ja tietojärjestelmäyrityksen edustaja. Tulokset osoittivat, että tällä hetkellä käytössä olevat tietojärjestelmät ovat toiminnoiltaan puutteellisia, minkä vuoksi kuntokeskukset joutuvat käyttämään useita eri tietojärjestelmiä yhtä aikaa. Tietojärjestelmissä on puutteita erityisesti asiakkaiden hallinnoinnissa, ja niiden tulisikin erityisesti kehittyä juuri kyseisellä osa-alueella. Tämä opinnäytetyö antaa tietoa tietojärjestelmien tämänhetkisestä tilanteesta Suomessa ja auttaa siten kuntokeskusten ja tietojärjestelmiä tuottavien yritysten päätöksenteossa. Kuntosaliala on suhteellisen uusi ja erityisesti suomessa ala on vasta alkuvaiheessa verrattuna muihin maihin. Alalla on odotettavissa muutoksia tulevaisuudessa, sillä alan kasvu lisää kilpailua entisestään ja tuo markkinoille uusia tietojärjestelmiä

Factors Influencing Customer Purchase Intention of Fitness Center Membership: A Case Study of MBA Students at Assumption University City Campus

The increase of fitness center market attracts the investors as the health conscious trend of Thais that boom in last couple years. Numerous new health care businesses are coming to the industry. To keep the leader status in the industry and achieve business goal by increasing profit, the existing companies need to know their customers very well and serve their needs completely. This study aims to determine which factors and criteria influence customer intention to purchase in fitness center membership in central Bangkok area which has three brands , namely Fitness First, TRUE Fitness and Virgin Active. The variables in this conceptual framework are purchase intention (dependent variable) and number of branches, brand image, activity class, facility, staff service quality, price and demographic factors (independent variable). This present study uses quantitative research method and used data gathered from survey questionnaire from 152 respondents who are MBA students at Assumption University City Campus. The multiple linear regression is used for analyzing the statistical relationship between independent variables and dependent variable. The results of the study shows that price is the most influencing factor toward customer purchase intention in fitness center membership, followed by facility and number of branches. The management team can use this results for improving their products and services to be top of mind brand and compete in the intense competition