Strategic Analysis of Lululemon Athletica, Inc.

Strategic Analysis of Lululemon Athletica Inc. Hanna Kosbab Lululemon Athletica Inc. (Lululemon) is one of the biggest players in the athletic apparel industry. Lululemon has managed to corner a niche in the apparel industry and capitalized on brand recognition and superior performance materials. However, there is always room to grow within the industry and into new potential spaces. This strategic analysis seeks to evaluate Lululemon’s current position and offer suggestions for future strategies. I began this project by conducting extensive research into the current state of the industry and business practices for Lululemon. Using various business and financial publications, this strategic plan will examine the external industry-wide environment in which Lululemon competes. Brief findings from this review found that differentiation is one of the most successful strategies for athletic apparel companies to adopt. This analysis will also address the company\u27s current internal environment including financial fitness, competencies and current strategies. Lululemon\u27s current favorable financial situation, compared to similar companies, allows them to invest in superior materials and marketing techniques to gain brand recognition allowing the company to remain competitive within the industry. This information was summarized and used to form strategic recommendations for Lululemon moving forward. These recommendations include financial prioritization, new industries to expand into (including their current Mirror fitness acquisition) and marketing initiatives. The overarching purpose of this analysis is to take a holistic business approach to growth strategies within the athletic apparel and fitness industry and to address how Lululemon can take advantage of these opportunities

A phenomenological reinterpretation of Horner’s fear of success in terms of social class.

The current study developed the concept of fear of success that was originally examined by Martina Horner (1970; Journal of Social Issues, 28(2), 157-175, 1972). The key dimension in Horner’s (1970; Journal of Social Issues, 28(2), 157-175, 1972) studies was gender. The key dimension in the current study was social class. It was hypothesised that individuals from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds fear that, for them, success will lead to alienation from their community, and the loss of identity and loss of overall sense of belonging within their culture. The majority of the previous studies were based in the USA and examined fear of success using objectivist conceptions of success and quantitative methodologies. Eleven participants took part in the current study, three males and eight females. Two-phase qualitative interviewing was employed as the primary source of data collection in an attempt to gain a deeper understanding of the constructions and experiences of the participants in relation to success. The majority of participants believed that they would have to make vast life changes, in order to facilitate their views of desired success. The participants’ fear was rooted in what they perceived as the “consequences of success”. These participants occupied a “trade-off mindset”; for these young people, success meant leaving their family, friends, community and culture behind. The thought of losing this “connection” and sense of belonging was expressed with noticeable anxiety

A Qualitative study of language barriers between South African health care providers and cross-border migrants

Abstract Background Communication with health care providers represents an essential part of access to health care for the over 230 million cross-border migrants around the world. In this article, we explore the complexity of health communication from the perspective of cross-border migrants seeking antenatal care in Cape Town, South Africa in order to highlight the importance of high quality medical interpretation. Methods As part of a broader study of migrant maternal and infant nutrition, we conducted a secondary data analysis of semi-structured in-depth interviews (N = 23) with Congolese (n = 7), Somali (n = 8) and Zimbabwean (n = 8) women living in Cape Town, as well as nine focus group discussions (including men: n = 3 and women: n = 6) were conducted with migrant Somalis, Congolese, and Zimbabweans (N = 48). We first used content analysis to gather all data related to language and communication. We then analysed this data thematically. Results Zimbabwean participants described how the inability to speak the local South African language (IsiXhosa) gave rise to labelling and stereotyping by healthcare staff. Congolese and Somali participants described medical procedures, including tubal ligation, which were performed without consent. Partners often tried to play the role of interpreter, which resulted in loss of income and non-professional medical interpretation. Participants’ highlighted fears over unwanted procedures or being unable to access care. Challenges of communication without a common language (and without professional medical interpretation), rather than outright denial of care by healthcare professionals, mediated these encounters. Conclusion Although there are several factors impeding cross-border migrants’ access to health care, effective communication is a prerequisite for quality care. Free-to-patient professional medical interpretation would not only benefit migrant populations but would benefit the broader community where language and health literacy are barriers to accessing health care. Novel approaches to language access may include technology-enabled professional interpretation

Perceptions related to breastfeeding and the early introduction of complementary foods amongst migrants in Cape Town, South Africa

Abstract Background Infant feeding recommendations are of health importance, yet the extent to which migrant communities in low- and middle-income countries know or implement these recommendations is poorly understood. This study explores the perspectives of infant feeding amongst cross-border migrants in Cape Town, South Africa. Methods Between February and October 2013, semi-structured in-depth interviews (n = 23) were conducted face-to-face with Congolese, Somali and Zimbabwean mothers living in Cape Town. To assess commonly identified narratives of infant feeding, nine focus group discussions (three with men and six with women) were conducted with migrant Somalis, Congolese, and Zimbabweans. Results Three dominant themes framed infant feeding. 1) Pragmatism in feeding choices drove responses to baby’s cues, including cries, sleeping patterns, and weight gain (2). Formula feeding was normative in the South African context, whereas lack of commercial infant milk back home was described in terms of expense (3). Low rates of breastfeeding were explained in terms of work responsibilities including household work and lack of breastmilk supply resulting from stress and poor diet. However, women participants typically did not consider their feeding choices to negatively affect their baby’s health. Conclusions The reasons for early introduction of both commercial infant milk and solid foods were complex. Breastfeeding was not prioritized despite an awareness of medical recommendations. Rather than emphasizing specific breastfeeding intentions, participants favoured an approach that reacted to their baby’s perceived changing needs. The practical challenges of breastfeeding described by cross-border migrant women reflect one way in which socio-economic and health inequalities may currently be perpetuated for marginalised populations

A phenomenological re-interpretation o f Horner’s fear of success in terms of social class.

The current study developed the concept of fear o f success that was originally examined by Martina Homer (1970; 1972). In her studies Homer (1970; 1972) revealed stereotypes and biases that were discouraging women from pursuing careers in non-traditional fields. The key dimension in Homer's (1970; 1972) studies was gender. The key dimension in the current study was social class. It was hypothesized that individuals from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds fear that, for them, success will lead to alienation from their community, and the loss o f identity and loss o f overall sense o f belonging within their culture. The majority o f the previous studies were based in the US and examined fear of success using objectivist conceptions o f success and quantitative methodologies. The current study employed two-phase qualitative interviewing as the primary source of data collection in an attempt to gain a deeper understanding o f the constructions and experiences o f the participants in relation to success. Several themes emerged from the interviews. The findings suggest that the majority o f participants believed that they would have to make vast life changes, in order to facilitate their views o f desired success. The participants' fear was rooted in what they perceived as the ‘consequences o f successes. These participants occupied a Trade-off mindset', fo r these young people, success meant leaving their family, friends, community and culture behind. The majority o f participants highly valued the community that they came from and the relationships that they have within it. Participants felt cared for, ‘That there was always someone to go to ", ‘That people looked out for each other". The thought of losing this ‘connection’ and sense of belonging was expressed with noticeable anxiety. However, there was a lot o f ambivalence surrounding these relationships. On the one hand, participants valued their relations and cited them as a contributing factor to their past successes. Nevertheless, when asked about their experience o f not succeeding participants said that they could not tell anyone. This silence was accompanied by feelings of guilt and perceived shame. Implications o f these findings for access strategies to third level are discussed

Supporting the Well-being and Engagement of Occupational Therapy Students through Sensory Modulation: A Pilot Study

Student well-being is an increasing area of concern within higher education and one of the biggest causes of attrition. This study sought to investigate the potential for sensory modulation strategies as an approach to support student well-being and engagement in studies through an action research project. Sixteen second-year occupational therapy students took part in a two-week trial of items designed to support sensory modulation, following which they were asked to complete an online survey evaluating the effectiveness of the item in relation to affect, regulation, attention, and activity. Eight students completed the survey containing a mix of Likert scale and free text responses. Results of the surveys were analyzed through descriptive statistical analysis of numerical data and quantitative content analysis of textual data informed by a pre-existing framework derived from a model of Sensory Integration. While preliminary in nature, the results of the survey suggested a positive impact on affect, specifically anxiety, overall regulation, and ability to engage in studies, suggesting a connection between these factors. An additional code was identified during the analysis of strategy mismatch to reflect barriers encountered relating to the extent of and longevity of use of the strategies. Further research on a larger scale is needed to more fully investigate the potential of this approach for facilitating increased student well-being

Playing Active Video Games may not develop movement skills: an intervention trial

Background: To investigate the impact of playing sports Active Video Games on children\u27s actual and perceived object control skills. Methods: Intervention children played Active Video Games for 6. weeks (1. h/week) in 2012. The Test of Gross Motor Development-2 assessed object control skill. The Pictorial Scale of Perceived Movement Skill Competence assessed perceived object control skill. Repeated measurements of object control and perceived object control were analysed for the whole sample, using linear mixed models, which included fixed effects for group (intervention or control) and time (pre and post) and their interaction. The first model adjusted for sex only and the second model also adjusted for age, and prior ball sports experience (yes/no). Seven mixed-gender focus discussions were conducted with intervention children after programme completion. Results: Ninety-five Australian children (55% girls; 43% intervention group) aged 4 to 8. years (M 6.2, SD 0.95) participated. Object control skill improved over time (p=0.006) but there was no significant difference (p=0.913) between groups in improvement (predicted means: control 31.80 to 33.53, SED=0.748; intervention 30.33 to 31.83, SED=0.835). A similar result held for the second model. Similarly the intervention did not change perceived object control in Model 1 (predicted means: control: 19.08 to 18.68, SED=0.362; intervention 18.67 to 18.88, SED=0.406) or Model 2. Children found the intervention enjoyable, but most did not perceive direct equivalence between Active Video Games and \u27real life\u27 activities. Conclusions: Whilst Active Video Game play may help introduce children to sport, this amount of time playing is unlikely to build skill

Analyzing Suicide Risk From Linguistic Features in Social Media: Evaluation Study

Background: Effective suicide risk assessments and interventions are vital for suicide prevention. Although assessing such risks is best done by health care professionals, people experiencing suicidal ideation may not seek help. Hence, machine learning (ML) and computational linguistics can provide analytical tools for understanding and analyzing risks. This, therefore, facilitates suicide intervention and prevention.Objective: This study aims to explore, using statistical analyses and ML, whether computerized language analysis could be applied to assess and better understand a person's suicide risk on social media.Methods: We used the University of Maryland Suicidality Dataset comprising text posts written by users (N=866) of mental health-related forums on Reddit. Each user was classified with a suicide risk rating (no, low, moderate, or severe) by either medical experts or crowdsourced annotators, denoting their estimated likelihood of dying by suicide. In language analysis, the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count lexicon assessed sentiment, thinking styles, and part of speech, whereas readability was explored using the TextStat library. The Mann-Whitney U test identified differences between at-risk (low, moderate, and severe risk) and no-risk users. Meanwhile, the Kruskal-Wallis test and Spearman correlation coefficient were used for granular analysis between risk levels and to identify redundancy, respectively. In the ML experiments, gradient boost, random forest, and support vector machine models were trained using 10-fold cross validation. The area under the receiver operator curve and F1-score were the primary measures. Finally, permutation importance uncovered the features that contributed the most to each model's decision-making.Results: Statistically significant differences (P0.84) was present between the part of speech variables, which implied redundancy and demonstrated the utility of aggregate features. All ML models performed similarly in their area under the curve (0.66-0.68); however, the random forest and gradient boost models were noticeably better in their F1-score (0.65 and 0.62) than the support vector machine (0.52). The features that contributed the most to the ML models were authenticity, clout, and negative emotions.Conclusions: In summary, our statistical analyses found linguistic features associated with suicide risk, such as social posturing (eg, authenticity and clout), first-person singular pronouns, and negation. This increased our understanding of the behavioral and thought patterns of social media users and provided insights into the mechanisms behind ML models. We also demonstrated the applicative potential of ML in assisting health care professionals to assess and manage individuals experiencing suicide risk

Broken-Symmetry States in Quantum Hall Superlattices

We argue that broken-symmetry states with either spatially diagonal or spatially off-diagonal order are likely in the quantum Hall regime, for clean multiple quantum well (MQW) systems with small layer separations. We find that for MQW systems, unlike bilayers, charge order tends to be favored over spontaneous interlayer coherence. We estimate the size of the interlayer tunneling amplitude needed to stabilize superlattice Bloch minibands by comparing the variational energies of interlayer-coherent superlattice miniband states with those of states with charge order and states with no broken symmetries. We predict that when coherent miniband ground states are stable, strong interlayer electronic correlations will strongly enhance the growth-direction tunneling conductance and promote the possibility of Bloch oscillations.Comment: 9 pages LaTeX, 4 figures EPS, to be published in PR