Assignment for Friday, March 06, 2009

1. Research the three types of risk (economic, natural, and human) Writing down what each part represents and give an example.
· Economic Risk-risks that result from changes in overall business conditions.
o Businesses that fail to change their products when competitors offer more features and benefits lose sales and experience economic risk.
· Natural Risk-risks that are caused by natural occurrences.
o A typical business insurance policy may not cover damage cause by acts of war or riots; special insurance may be required to cover regional threats such as earthquakes or floods.
· Human Risk-risks caused by human mistakes or dishonesty, or other risks that can be controlled by humans.
o The financial impact of robbery or embezzlement to job-related injury or illness.
2. How do they protect against each risk from the aspect of a business owner or entrepreneur.
· Business owners cannot eliminate all risk; but marketers can reduce and manage their risks.
3. Have them find the website for About Retail Industry. It is part of the About.com network. And answer the specific questions here:
a. How much money per year do businesses lose through theft and employee error
· It ranges from billions of dollars per year.

b. What is the majority age of shoplifters
· Starting from teens up to 25 years of age.

c. What is the average theft amount per incident
· Anywhere up to $1,058 per person annually.

d. What is source tagging
· The process by which disposable Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) anti-theft labels and / or Hard Tags are incorporated into merchandise at the manufacturing, packaging, or third party level. This is the fastest growing sector of the EAS industry.
e. What are the three major retailers that are using source tagging
· A&H MFG CO.
· Avery Dennision
· B&G International
f. Find another article on retail theft and name it. Also, write a short
paragraph summary of the article illustrating the main points.
Ledger staff
Published: Thursday, January 24, 2008 at 4:44 p.m. Last Modified: Thursday, January 24, 2008 at 9:37 p.m.
LAKELAND Law enforcement arrest teams throughout Central Florida today served five search warrants and arrested up to 18 people related to a multi-million dollar retail theft ring and fencing operation involving health, beauty and cosmetic products and over-the-counter medicines, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office. Each of the suspects is being charged with one count of felony racketeering, which carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, and one count of felony conspiracy to commit racketeering, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.
“What started as a simple shoplifting investigation turned into the discovery of a far flung criminal conspiracy that counted on common street criminals to steal millions of dollars of merchandise to supply other criminals selling on the Internet and in flea markets. Because of our talented investigators and team work with multiple agencies, these thieves and criminal resellers will be going away to prison for a long, long time,” Sheriff Grady Judd said.
The arrests come at the end of a seven-month long investigation that began June 26 when Rita Maddox, currently in the Hillsborough County Jail, and Elisha Cordle of Dover were arrested by Polk County Sheriff’s Office deputies for stealing about $4,500 in merchandise, mainly Oil of Olay products, from the Shepherd Road Publix in Lakeland, according to the Sheriff's Office.
The initial investigation into the retail theft revealed that the suspects were part of a larger organized criminal enterprise that operated in multiple jurisdictions.
The investigation further uncovered that the theft and fencing operation had been operating for about five years and is linked to retail loss statewide, the Sheriff's Office said.
· This article proves that retail theft is a serious crime; and if you get caught you will pay time. More and more retail theft is going on throughout the states and law enforcers are doing everything they can to try and prevent shoppers from stealing.
g. Why do you think people shoplift?
I think that people shoplift one because they want something but don’t have the money or want to spend the money to get it legally; therefore they shoplift. Also, I think that some do it for the “thrill”/ adrenaline rush or the fact that they like the thought that they are getting away with it.





h. What are the advantages for a retailers using source tagging?
Enables them to ensure solid in-stock positions
Maximize inventory turns
Reduce shoplifting losses
i. Do you think About retail industry would be a good source for information for a business owner. Who or why not?
· I do not agree that “About retail industry” is a good source for information for a business owner. This website does give accurate information, but when you type in your question it is too complicated to try and find what answer you’re looking for because it give you information about the main word in the question. Those are the reason’s I had to resort back to “Google” to find my answers because “About.com” just wasn’t doing it for me. :D