Cold Weather Reduces Hybrid Fuel Mileage

It’s not just the frozen toes and icy temps that can get ya down at this time of the year. It’s filling up at the pump too. Yet even if you drive a hybrid—and love its feel good fuel mileage, they also take a hit in fuel economy when the mercury dips. Why does hybrid fuel economy drop in winter weather? Well, not only do hybrids suffer many of the same cold weather fuel economy losses of a conventional vehicle, but the hybrid electrical systems lose efficiency too--which equates to a drop in mileage. Hybrid System Temperature – Just like the vehicles internal combustion engine, its hybrid system components (especially the battery) work best when they are warm. The onboard hybrid battery depends upon a chemical reaction to both release energy to the electric drive motor and accept charge during regenerative braking. This reaction is severely hampered when the battery is cold, so the engine runs longer and more frequently to make up the deficit while the battery warms up. Passenger Compartment Heat - Hybrids, just like conventional cars, rely on hot engine coolant circulating through the heater core (heat exchanger) to keep the cabin warm. Obviously, the engine needs to run more frequently to keep up with heater demand. The higher the heater setting, the longer the engine runs. Heavy Defroster Use - Running the defroster can also pull down the mileage. When the defroster is on, not only is it dispensing heat from the heater core, but it also runs the AC compressor to remove moisture from the air. Though its good for the compressor to run periodic cycles in the colder weather (to preserve the integrity of the internal seals), excessive use does reduce fuel economy. In most hybrids, the compressor is run by its own electric motor instead of a belt from the engine, but this doesnt allow the compressor to run penalty-free. That extra electric discharge will require more frequent recharging of the hybrid battery. Running the compressor does hurt fuel mileage. The following two points hybrids share with conventional vehicles: Unburned Fuel – Gasoline just doesn’t atomize and burn as well in a cold engine—tiny droplets of unburned fuel remaining in the cylinder are evacuated with the exhaust. That unburned fuel tallies up to a loss in power—using more fuel to go the same distance—not to mention, substantially increasing the your engines emissions. Tire Pressure Drops – It’s just a law of physics. Colder temperatures cause the pressure in those tires to drop, about 1 to 2 psi for every 10 degrees in temperature drop. Low tire pressure creates extra rolling resistance and friction, and hence, lost fuel economy. How to Improve Hybrid Fuel Mileage Watch that Thermostat - Just as youd turn down the heat in your house to save fuel, set the vehicles heater to the lowest comfortable level.Heat the Seats - If your hybrid has them, take advantage of the electrically-heated seats. The heat from the seats keeps you comfy and reduces the need to heat the whole cabin.Beat the Defroster Penalty - Setting the heater in defrost mode is the easiest way to quickly clear heavily frosted windows (especially the windshield). However, once the cabin is warm and the windows are clear, turn the defroster off--in most cases, cabin heat will keep the windows fairly frost-free. Turn on the defroster and cycle only as needed.Garage It – If it’s available, use it. Even if it entails giving that extra junk to the local thrift shop first, parking your vehicle in a garage will keep it warmer--and that means a shorter warm-up to reach optimum operating temperature.Get Your Act Together – Yes, organizing and pre-planning your errands wi ll maximize your time and fuel, since a warmed up car utilizes fuel more efficiently—in addition to making the most of your time as well.Ease Up With the Lead Foot – With black ice and slushy roadways a wintertime reality, not only is it safer to go easier on the accelerator, it’s a smart (and easy) way to save fuel.Check That Tire Pressure - Keep those tires inflated at (or even a bit above) the recommended range. Many manufacturers recommendations for tire pressure are suited for ride comfort while forsaking fuel economy. We usually run our tires several pounds higher for an extra bit of economy.

What Does Columbine, Sandy Hook, And Virginia Tech All Have

Newtown: Every Day is a Painful Reminder What does Columbine, Sandy Hook, and Virginia Tech all have in common? These were all gruesome crimes committed within the last decade, by people under the age of 23. According to Smith, â€Å"These serious acts of violence are exceedingly rare, but the notoriety attracted by these events raise wide-range concerns† (287). A more pervasive problem is the increase of ‘relatively low-level’ aggression displayed every day in our schools (Smith 287). These behaviors include bullying, property damage, and physical aggression. Some citizens argue that violence is an unusual event and that any aggression needs to be extinguished promptly and severely. In contrast, this paper will focus on current research which demonstrates that there is a proliferation of aggression occurring in both elementary and secondary schools. Elements that favor this argument include data on school violence, the severity of crimes committed, and the policy of integrating students with mental illnesses into the regular school setting. The correlation between aggression and violent media will also be examined. Finally, this paper will describe a successful approach that improves behavior, decreases aggression, and produces problem-solving skills for both victims and victimizers. Schools are no longer ‘safe havens’ for furthering knowledge and developing skills. Many students suffer from physical and verbal altercations. Brown states, â€Å"Youth violence costs theShow MoreRelatedSchool Shootings And Its Effect On Society3081 Words   |  13 Pagesschools is a major problem and it’s only increasing. However in a number of cases these may only be the beginning. Sometimes people take it a step further and actually bring a firearm into the school and start shooting it. Unfortunately school shootings have occurred throughout the country at an alarming rate. When someone shoots another (especially within the confines of a school) everyone is effected by this immense act of violence. When a school shooting occurs, it has a lasting effect on society asRead MoreEffects of Violent Media on the Youth Essay1700 Words   |  7 Pagesthat is skyrocketing in correlation to modern society and violent movies, video games, and media. With school shootings like Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech, and Columbine, many psychologists have asked the question ‘is elevated violence rates in media and the greater access to firearms and explosives one of the reasons why these tragedies happened?’ But, most importantly, how does this violence whether in media or the real world affect the children involved? Is the violence in media correlated to etiologyRead MoreGun Control1192 Words   |  5 Pagesother instances that have happened in past. Gun control has become one of the most important battles of 2013. In a press conference last month, President Obama pushed Congress to ban â€Å"assault† rifes and weapons, setting a limit for magazines to 10 bullets, and to introd uce universal background checks for the buyers of firearms.†The debate over gun control and gun ownership is focused on the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution which states that people have the right to keep andRead MoreAnnotated Bibliography.1045 Words   |  5 PagesAnnotated Bibliography Columbine Massacre, the School Shooting of April 20, 1999. Retrieved from http://history1900s.about.com/od/famouscrimesscandals/a/columbine.htm The columbine shooting shocked the world and having the blame on video games was one of the reasons why these kids did this. In this article it talks about the tragic event that took place on April 20, 1999 a couple of teenagers who were being bullied throughout high school came to school and went onRead MoreArmed Teachers: Superheroes of the Future?1364 Words   |  5 Pages walked into Columbine High School in Colorado, opened fire and murdered twelve students, one teacher, while injuring twenty-four additional students before turning the gun on themselves. In 2007, Seung-Hui Choo, a senior at Virginia Tech, shot and killed thirty-two people and injured seventeen others, before turning the gun on himself. It was the deadliest mass shooting at a school in United States history. In 2012, Adam Lanza, shot and killed his mother then drove to Sandy Hook Elementary inRead MoreTactical Training For Medical Responders1510 Words   |  7 PagesToday’s society has seen an increase of unpredictable violent events that require an increasing need for tactical medical responders. 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Business Strategy Impact On Success †Get a Complete Solution

Question: LO1 Understand the process of strategic planning, 1.1 Assess how business missions, visions, objectives, goals and core competencies inform strategic planning 1.2 Analyse the factors that have to be considered when formulating strategic plans 1.3 Evaluate the effectiveness of techniques used when developing strategic business plans LO2 Be able to formulate a new strategy 2.1 Analyse the strategic positioning of a given organisation by carrying out an organisational audit 2.2 Carry out an environmental audit for a given organisation. 2.3 Assess the significance of stakeholder analysis when formulating new strategy 2.4 Present a new strategy for a given organisation LO3 Understand approaches to strategy evaluation and selection 3.1 Analyse the appropriateness of alternative strategies relating to market entry, substantive growth, limited growth or retrenchment for a given organisation 3.2 Justify the selection of a strategy LO4 Understand how to implement a chosen strategy. 4.1 Assess the roles and responsibilities of personnel who are charged with strategy implementation 4.2 Analyse the estimated resource requirements for implementing a new strategy for a given organisation 4.3 Evaluate the contribution of SMART targets to the achievement of strategy implementation in a given organisation. Answer: Introduction As a member of the Strategic Management Team (SMT) of Tesco PLC, a report is framed for the company to remain competitive. The aim of this report is to help Tesco address the consumer needs and demands with the changing preferences and competitiveness in the future. Strategic planning is beneficial for any organization. Assessment of Business Strategy Business Mission and Vision Tesco is a global grocery and merchandise retailer headquartered in UK. The business is spread in more than 11 countries with over 480,000 colleagues (Tesco plc 2016). The mission statement of Tesco is to create value for its customers and earn their lifetime loyalty. The vision is to be most highly valued by the customers, communities, loyal and committed staff and shareholders. Tesco also aims to be a growth company through its modern and innovative skills (Tarata 2013). Goals and objectives Tesco has a few goals and objectives such as: To become a healthy place to work for its employees. It targets to be the champion for its customers by providing them a better quality of life. The company aims to understand its customers, earn respect for their values, recognize customers, upgrade existing stores and increase profitability (Tesco plc 2016). Core competencies Firstly, Tesco is renowned for its customer focused strategy. Tesco has a club card reward scheme that helps in understanding the customers well. Tesco provides quality products at a low price. Secondly, Tesco has efficient supply chain systems through online as well as retail stores. Thirdly, Tesco has high values and commitment towards the employees. It establishes strong leadership in the food retailing industry (Zhao 2014). Analysis of factors Various factors must be considered by Tesco to formulate a suitable strategic plan: Engagement: All levels of the employees in the organization needs to be engaged for additional input and increasing the success rate of strategy execution. Communication: The top level management must communicate the strategic plans and receive their views by the way of meetings or feedback surveys. Innovation: It is necessary to initiate innovative processes to reshape the organization. Project Management: The strategy needs to be identified and prioritized so that efficient execution of the strategy can be done. Culture: The culture of Tesco is the common beliefs, attitudes and behaviours of the employees. If the employees consider the change to be in their favour, they will support change and growth can occur easily (Beringer, Jonas and Kock 2013). Evaluation of effectiveness of techniques Various factors would affect the effectiveness of techniques when developing strategic business plans of Tesco. According to the current strategic business plan of Tesco, different market strategies would be required to satisfy different market segments. Significant market research in the context of consumer behaviour, competitive environment and buying pattern needs to be analysed. There is a requirement of a large amount of finance and personnel. For establishing value addition centre for Tesco, various difficulties would be faced. The personnel need to be continuously trained so that efficient operations run in Tesco (East, Wright and Vanhuele 2013). Formulation of New Strategy Enclosed Presentation Approaches to Strategy Evaluation and Selection Analysis of strategies Various strategies are analysed in this section as alternative options for Tesco. The best strategies out of every approach are selected. Market entry- There are various possible market entry strategies such as a merger, strategic alliance, franchising, licensing, organic growth or acquisition. Out of the available options, Tesco can opt for franchising and strategic alliances. These strategies would help Tesco in creating a presence in foreign markets. Through the strategic alliance, Tesco could gain knowledge of overseas market (Lowe, George and Alexy 2012). Substantive growth- There are various possible strategies for substantive growth such as vertical integration, horizontal integration, related diversification or unrelated diversification. Out of the above-stated strategies, Tesco may adopt vertical integration as Tesco has its logistics. Tesco can consider developing their packaged brand (Gabrielsson and Gabrielsson 2013). Limited Growth- There are four main strategies for limited growth- market development, market penetration, innovation and product development. Tesco may consider adopting for product development and innovation strategy. Tesco may consider developing new product line for lifestyle products as it is used by consumers every day. As innovation strategy, Tesco needs to adopt technology that may reduce the requirement of personnel at retail stores (Bhatnagar, Nikolaeva and Ghose 2014). Retrenchment- There are three retrenchment strategies such as divestment, turnaround or and liquidation. Tesco may adopt these strategies for slashing cost and enhancing economies of scale (Gabrielsson and Gabrielsson 2013). Justification of Strategy Depending upon the new strategy for developing Tesco a strong brand globally, Tesco may consider getting into urban markets as small size stores. Establishing stores as small size, new market segments can be targeted that do not exist in Tesco portfolio yet. Strategic alliances can be formed through local retailers for enhancing their presence with small size areas. Tesco must aim to understand the feedback from consumers in the newly opened small size urban stores. If there is a positive response from consumers, Tesco may adopt such model in the long run. There is a need to develop new goals with the small size urban store concept while strengthening brand image. These strategies would increase sales revenue and profitability at the same time (Gabrielsson and Gabrielsson 2013). Implementation of Chosen Strategy Based on the suitable strategy selected in the previous sections, a detailed discussion is made on the roles and responsibilities. Assessment of roles and responsibilities The management comprising of Board of Directors play a primary role as they allocate roles and responsibilities. The market researcher must focus on meeting newly defined strategies. The manager is responsible for looking at the various strategic groups in Tesco. The key demands of customers must be identified. The market researcher must research specific demands or trends prevalent in the market and report to the manager. The manager is responsible for assigning goals and targets to the employees based on this research. There are various departments at Tesco responsible for managing operations, finance, human resources and marketing. The finance controller is responsible for making a budget for the defined market entry or development strategies. The marketing department must devise innovative marketing campaigns for gaining the attention of consumers and increasing sales revenue (Meredith and Mantel 2012). Analysis of estimated resource requirements Tesco needs to make an estimate of resources for implementing the new strategy. Cost evaluation would help in assessing gains and losses for execution or implementation of strategy. Large amounts of financial, human and tangible resources are required for implementation of strategy. The financial resources would be required in form of cash, equity and bank loans. These financial resources would be used to meet direct costs for personnel and physical resources. The human resources would be required for functioning and expanding the store locations. The human resource can be outsourced in the local areas for the establishment of small size stores. The physical resources include IT system, furniture and fixtures, building. The finance would also be used to pay staffing, electricity, property tax, maintenance, telephone, stationery and other costs required for the new strategy (Armstrong and Armstrong 2011). Contribution of SMART targets The SMART targets of Tesco are stated as under: To develop more than 700 stores within the next year for expansion in market To improve brand reputation with integrated marketing communications within six months The timescale has been framed for Tesco to achieve targets as under: Quarter 1- Tesco must bring its new strategy for implementation and frame the potential outcomes. The concept of small size stores can be assessed through consumer feedback thereby improving brand reputation at the same time. Quarter 2- Tesco needs to develop its products through innovation and penetrate into new markets. The success of stores can be monitored through the difference in sales revenue (Evans and Mason 2015). Quarter 3- Tesco needs to assess the expected and actual outcomes of the newly implemented strategy. The gap in expectations and outcomes must be recognized. Quarter 4- Tesco must conduct training sessions for its employees to meet the organizational goals, objectives and mission. Quarter 5- Finally, the strategies that need to be modified based on the year result must be conducted at this stage (Evans and Mason 2015). Conclusion The above paper explores the business strategy for Tesco to maintain its competitive position in the market. The importance of strategic planning through identification of mission, goals and objectives are determined. The importance of stakeholders is further identified. The new target of Tesco is recognized as development of small size urban stores to attract new consumer market segment. References Armstrong, M. and Armstrong, M., 2011.Armstrong's handbook of strategic human resource management. London: Kogan Page. BBC News, 2012.Tesco unveils profits rise and 1bn investment in UK - BBC News. [online] Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-17752194 [Accessed 3 Mar. 2016]. Beringer, C., Jonas, D. and Kock, A., 2013. Behavior of internal stakeholders in project portfolio management and its impact on success.International Journal of Project Management, 31(6), pp.830-846. Bhatnagar, A., Nikolaeva, R. and Ghose, S., 2014. Online Market Entry: The Motivations for Imitation across Retailer Types.Managerial and Decision Economics, 37(3), pp.151-166. East, R., Wright, M. and Vanhuele, M., 2013.Consumer behaviour. Los Angeles: Sage Publications. Evans, B. and Mason, R., 2015.The lean supply chain. London (GB) [etc.]: Kogan Page. Gabrielsson, P. and Gabrielsson, M., 2013. A dynamic model of growth phases and survival in international business-to-business new ventures: The moderating effect of decision-making logic.Industrial Marketing Management, 42(8), pp.1357-1373. Lowe, M., George, G. and Alexy, O., 2012. Organizational identity and capability development in internationalization: transference, splicing and enhanced imitation in Tesco's US market entry.Journal of Economic Geography, 12(5), pp.1021-1054. Macdonald, R., 2013.Global corporate social responsibility of tesco (grocery retailer, uk). [Place of publication not identified]: Grin Verlag. Meredith, J. and Mantel, S., 2012.Project management. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley. Mullin, G., 2015.Aldi beats Tesco to become eighth-biggest retail brand in the WORLD. [online] Mail Online. Available at: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3099435/Aldi-beats-mighty-Tesco-eighth-biggest-retail-brand-WORLD-valued-7-6-billion.html [Accessed 3 Mar. 2016]. Tarata, C., 2013.From vision, mission and values to KPIs at Tesco. [online] Performancemagazine.org. Available at: https://www.performancemagazine.org/from-vision-mission-and-values-to-kpis-at-tesco/ [Accessed 3 Mar. 2016]. Tesco plc, 2016.Tesco plc. [online] Available at: https://www.tescoplc.com/ [Accessed 3 Mar. 2016]. Tesco plc, 2016.Tesco plc. [online] Available at: https://www.tescoplc.com/index.asp?pageid=10 [Accessed 3 Mar. 2016]. Zhao, S., 2014. Analyzing and Evaluating Critically Tescos Current Operations Management.Journal of Management and Sustainability, 4(4).