Big Skinny

In 2010, Big Skinny CEO Kiril Alexandrov was looking to transcend from retail distribution and print advertising to the world of online marketing to achieve maximum growth. The retail sales pitch was an easy one, as Alexandrov focused on the value of the wallet and the impulsiveness of consumers (Benjamin & Kominers, 2012). Unfortunately, translating this type of sales pitch was much harder to do in the world of cyberspace. Big Skinny centered their online marketing efforts around display Ads, keyword searches, social media and relationships with online distributors and deep discounted sites such as Amazon and Groupon respectively.The expansion caused much hardship, as Big Skinny received negative feedback on the review website Yelp that stemmed from their Groupon experiment. They also faced a glitch in their online promotion that allowed 4,000 people to order free wallets from their online store. Big Skinny needs to refocus their online marketing strategy by getting rid of display A ds, refining keyword searches and severing ties with deep discounted sites. Big Skinny can create value for their product and manage their orders better by being more selective with who distributes their product and by keeping the price steady.A more seasonal approach surrounding keyword searches can create new revenue from those who are looking to make quick and impulsive purchases. Lastly, by being responsible for who distributes their products, Big Skinny can deliver their product in prompt and timely manner, which will resolve the majority of customer complaints against Big Skinny. Problem Statement Despite successful in-person sales campaigns, Big Skinny struggled to find an effective online marketing platform that would grow and connect them to their consumer base.Big Skinny also ran into glitches with their current online marketing campaigns that brought unwanted negative attention and resentment towards the company. Data Analysis When Big Skinny transcended into the world of online marketing, it had to develop a way to attract visitors to the website while attempting to convince these visitors to buy wallets. Since most of their wallets were being sold at trade shows or retail stores that centered on a straight-forward approach regarding impulse and value, the translation of this strategy to the internet proved to be a tall task.Big Skinny looked at various means of advertising such as display ads, algorithmic search, sponsored search, A/B Testing and social media. Display ads offered a two-frame animation; however, the click-through rate of general display ads in 2009 was only . 1% (Bejamin & Kominers, 2012). Algorithmic searches use algorithms that the search engine deems most relevant to the user’s query. The websites that most resemble the query appear the highest on the search engine’s list. Sponsored searches use keywords that the advertisers specify that they want to target.These are mostly sold on a â€Å"per-click† basis; however the company loses money if the clicks aren’t converted into sales. A/B testing is a marketing technique that shows different advertisements to different users to compare the response rates between the two. Lastly, social media utilizes websites such as Facebook and Twitter to try and create an interactive relationship with consumers. Alternatives 1. Big Skinny could eliminate their means of online distribution and paid online marketing, only utilizing social media and their website to conduct advertising and business transactions. 2.Big Skinny could be more selective in their selection of online distribution, while tailoring their paid sponsored searches to generate interest and sales. 3. Big Skinny could scrap their online marketing plans, with the exception of social media, and reallot their advertising money strictly on deep discounted sites like Groupon and Living Social. 4. Big Skinny could focus their efforts on expanding in more brick and mortar retail stores b y target marketing towards different demographics. They could use traditional media such as TV and radio to drive these efforts. Key Decision Criteria 1.Increase customer satisfaction and corporate image 2. Increase sales and market share 3. Improve (or at least maintain) profitability 4. Ease or speed of implantation 5. Be consistent with corporate mission or strategy 6. Within our present resources or capabilities 7. Within acceptable risk parameters 8. Minimize environmental impact 9. Maintain and build employee morale and pride Alternatives Analysis 1. By limiting their online marketing to free social media sites such as Twitter or Facebook, Big Skinny can greatly reduce their marketing costs. With display advertisements only getting clicked through .1% of the time the money is essentially thrown away. Investing in A/B testing requires the hiring of a permanent person and huge overhead. Getting rid of online distributors allows Big Skinny to eliminate the 7-15% commission they p ay to Amazon and eBay while being able to manage their order load. Social Media is more than enough because 71% of social media participants say they are more likely to purchase from a brand they follow online. 91% of local searchers say they use Facebook to find local businesses online (Bennett, 2013). The cons of this are that they are missing out on a lot of potential customers by eliminating Amazon and eBay.While online paid marketing can be expensive, there is still benefit to sponsored searches. Some of the cost per conversions are profitable and by completely eliminating these searches would be throwing away potential opportunities. 2. The pros of Big Skinny being more selective with their online distributors allows for a happy customer base. There have been several negative reviews on the Yelp site regarding slow delivery and non-existent customer service. By eliminating deep discounting sites such as Groupon, Big Skinny can manage their order load and keep customers happy.B ig Skinny would also keep the revenue from the top paid sponsored searches rather than eliminating them all together. The negatives of this are that Big Skinny could miss out on a lot of revenue by not using Groupon or Living Social. They could also miss out on the repeat customers that are generated by these sites as well as missing out on the people who want to try their product without having to pay full price. 3. Instead of eliminating sites like Groupon and Living Social, Big Skinny could embrace the huge influx of customers that it brings.According to the customer satisfaction and analytics company ForeSee, 91% of customers have already or plan to conduct business with the merchant since buying the deal (Bedigian, 2013). This strategy generates a large influx of customers in a short time while attempting to generate residual income by repeat customers. The cons of this are that company’s often lose money during the initial Groupon. The product is discounted by 50% or mo re and then Groupon takes a 50% commission on the sale price, which leaves the seller receiving only 25%of the original selling price of the item (which in some cases is less than the cost of the item). Forbes has found that 1/3rd of businesses have lost money on a Groupon deal and there is no guarantee that the customers ever return to pay full price from the merchant again (Gleeson, 2012). 4. The pros of using a more traditional advertising medium such as TV or radio would bring brand recognition for Big Skinny. Big Skinny has always had success selling in retail stores because they market their products based on value and impulse.By putting the product in more retail stores, there is a greater chance people will put it in their hands and buy on impulse. Instead of targeting just one big audience, Big Skinny should advertise by target market such as Big Skinny Sport or Big Skinny Women. By doing this they could partner with big retail chains to get into more stores and generate mo re revenue the old fashioned way. The average time an American spends watching TV is 5 hours compared to just 1 hour browsing the internet, which leads for greater exposure.The cons of doing this are that TV advertising is much more expensive than online marketing (Nielsen, 1997). Another con is Tivo allows people to record their favorite shows and then fast-forward past the commercials. The last con is that TV advertising seems to be a thing of the past, as the amount spent on TV advertising was only up 4. 5% in 2011 as compared to 21. 7% via online marketing (Gleeson, 2012). Recommendations Based on the data, it is best for Big Skinny to be more selective of their online distribution, while tailoring their paid sponsored searches to generate interest and sales.In regards to online distribution, Big Skinny should keep eBay and Amazon, however, should drop deep-discount sites such as Groupon or Living Social. To offer a Groupon deal, Big Skinny is guaranteed to be taking a loss. To be eligible to offer a Groupon, Big Skinny must discount the price of their wallet by at least 50%. This turns a $20 wallet into a $10 wallet. Groupon takes a commission of 50% on the sale price, which leaves Big Skinny walking away with only $5 for every wallet sold (Bice, 2012). Essentially, they are taking a loss with every wallet they sell on Groupon.The goal of a Groupon is to try and get repeat customers; however, the people that use Groupon are bargain-hunters. They won’t return to Big Skinny, but rather, they will return to Groupon again looking for another bargain deal. By using Groupon, Big Skinny also decreases the value of their brand (Gibbard, 2011). Why would a customer pay full price for a $40 wallet when they just bought it on Groupon for $15 or $20 just a short time ago? In addition to dropping Groupon, Big Skinny needs to manage their online distribution better because of customer satisfaction issues.On the review site Yelp, Big Skinny’s wallets are o nly receiving a rating of 2. 5 out of 5 stars. A lot of the reviews include gripes about not receiving their order for 3-4 weeks or non-existent customer service (most of the negative reviews are from users who bought a Big Skinny wallet on Groupon). If the online distributor doesn’t ship your product in a timely manner, your company risks a tarnished reputation. Whether Big Skinny didn’t have enough stock to fulfill orders or whether Groupon didn’t ship the products in a timely manner, Big Skinny is taking the fall and abuse from customers.When people do research for a product they are going to see Big Skinny’s products with poor ratings. These poor ratings can scare potential customers away. Big Skinny should only use Amazon, eBay and their website to sell their wallets. This allows them to manage their inventory, not get behind on orders and make sure their product gets shipped in a timely manner. Big Skinny has excellent Amazon ratings and should cont inue to grow their product through the sterling reputation of Amazon. They should sell the product for a higher price on their website so that people are encouraged to buy through Amazon.This is a win-win for Big Skinny because if people buy through Amazon then Big Skinny doesn’t have to waste time and effort fulfilling and shipping orders. If they choose to buy direct than Big Skinny receives a larger profit on their wallets. Lastly, Big Skinny needs to tailor their sponsored keyword searches. They need to eliminate the term â€Å"leather wallet. † They don’t manufacture a true leather wallet and the cost per conversion for this keyword is a sky-high $20. 26. Big Skinny should also bid less for the term â€Å"thinnest wallet. † The cost per conversion for â€Å"thinnest wallet† also has a high cost, which is $10.53.After replacing leather wallet and lowering the bid for thinnest wallet, Big Skinny should add keywords centered on holidays. Wallets are popular gifts on occasions such as Father’s Day and Christmas. Big Skinny should add season keywords such as â€Å"Father’s Day Wallet,† â€Å"Wallet for Dad,† â€Å"Best Wallet for Gift† and â€Å"Wallet for Christmas. † This will bring seasonal shoppers into the mix who are looking to spend quickly and impulsively. Action and Implementation Plan CEO Kiril Alexandrov will be responsible for delegating the following tasks.The Director of Marketing will pull any promotions or future plans with deep discounted sites such as Groupon or Living Social. The Director of Marketing in combination with the Director of Product Management will reach out to all of those who left negative reviews on Yelp to satisfy the customer complaints and retract the negative ratings. The Director of Sales will carefully select the online distribution channels which Big Skinny will sell through. Big Skinny will only sell through Amazon, eBay and any online outlets of the retail stores that they are currently featured in.The Director of Sales will also raise the prices of wallets on the Big Skinny Website by 10-15% to create value for the product and promote customers to purchase through the select online distribution. Doing this saves Big Skinny the time it would take to fulfill and pack orders, however, if a customer decides to purchase direct, then Big Skinny recoups the 10-15% it would pay Amazon or eBay to sell and fulfill the order. This new price point will be conveyed in a message from the Director of Sales to Big Skinny’s distribution channel.

Cardava Turon

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARYIf you happen to visit one of your favorite malls here in the town most especially their supermarkets such as SM Hypermarket, Robinson’s Supermarket and Metro Supermarket, you can notice that they are all selling â€Å"turon†, which they started selling a year or a couple of years ago. Turon an all-time favorite Filipino merienda is starting to boom as a profitable business nowadays as not just the local mall supermarket are into the business of selling â€Å"turon† but to almost every canteen in a university. Let’s not go far by looking at Holy Angel University where almost every canteen is selling all-time favorite turon. That is why; we had come up to present â€Å"Cardava Turon† as our original product for the YEntrepMan Business Plan.â€Å"Cardava Turon† came from the word â€Å"Cardava Banana† which means â€Å"Saba Banana† in the Philippines.Cardava Turon was made possible because of the booming  "turon† business. We’ve thought that selling â€Å"turon† could be a better idea to produce a product that is known and saleable. But because of our innovative mind and ideas, we had thought of ways on how to introduce our product more differently and more uniquely. We will not just produce the common type of turon rather we will produce the future best-selling merienda in town, which every individual will crave and that is Cardava Turon.Cardava Turon is basically turon inspired product but with an exciting twist. As we all know that one of the best businesses to venture into nowadays when it comes to food are the siomai carts. Almost everywhere in the city you can see and buy siomai. Thus, we incorporated the well-known siomai to our product by producing our Cardava Turon in siomai style. Cardava Turon is a turon that looks like a fried siomai. In this case we would have our target market to be thrilled and puzzled by looking the appearance of our Cardava Turon. Fried siomai turon Let’s try it!We’re not done yet! We had not just uniquely and creatively modify the turon into siomai style we had also improved the taste and flavor of our turon,  Cardava Turon Original Flavors.We had come up with three different delicious tastes:1.Banana Classic (Langka) Turon – inspired by our classic turon with langka or jackfruit inside. Let the classic taste of turon give you a different kind of experience by having it in siomai style (bite size) turon. 2.Banana Peanut Turon – Original concept, our delicious siomai style turon with grounded peanut inside that will add kick in every bite. Let the bits of peanut thrilled you as it gives you a different taste from the ordinary turon. 3.Cardava Turon Overload – Another original concept, these Cardava Turon with grounded peanuts, marshmallow, and the classic langka inside will definitely give you the taste that you will really enjoy and crave the moment you taste and try it. All three flavors will definitely give you an experience of eating turon more differently and more deliciously. Cardava Turon is certified DHA. Delicious, Healthy and Affordable. Indulge in every bite! Cardava Turon was styled as siomai not only because we want to attract our markets as siomai does, neither give our customer a twist of something different but because convenience is also our business. We want to give our Cardava Turon lover the convenience that they do not get from the ordinary turon. For the standard size of a turon was 5 to 7 inches that might cause inconvenience to some when eating, thus, we developed our Cardava Turon to be in siomai style so that it would become bite in sizes.This would give a lot of convenience to our market most especially those individual who can’t even consume the standard sized turon. Cardava Turon prices are 15php for four pieces and 30phpfor eight pieces comes in an eco-friendly box. It was price low because our pricing objective i s to penetrate the market as our product is the first of its kind. Extensive marketing strategies are to be expected for the company to gain recognition and familiarity.CARDAVA TURON . . . ANG SARAP! CERTIFIED DHA, DELICIOUS, HEALTHY and AFFORDABLE!INNOVATIVENESS, CONVENIENCE, GREEN MARKETING and FOR YOUR GOOD IS OUR BUSINESS.â€Å"Panlasa’y mananarap sa Cardava Turon!†2. MISSION STATEMENTâ€Å"Healthy Living, Healthy Eating† â€Å"Cardava Turon ang sarap! Panlasa’y siguradong mananarap!† Certified DHA, Delicious, Healthy and AffordableOur tagline which stated above says it all with regards to our mission statement, and that is to bring delightful taste to our consumers by providing them our very delicious delicacy—Cardava Turon. Also as our product is certified DHA, that is delicious, healthy and affordable which makes it even more appealing and attractive to the community. We will not just cater those who are looking for delicious merienda but we will also take into consideration those who are health and price conscious. Thus, our mission is not only to earn profit rather our main mission statement is to bring health and wellness to every individual which will not have to suffer on paying very high prices, enjoying delicious taste that are good for their health.VISION STATEMENTâ€Å"To be the leading and consistently number one on providing delicious, healthy and affordable delicacy—Cardava Turon.†We are envisioning our company to be the leading and consistently number one which provide certified delicious, healthy and affordable delicacy to wherever area we could reach for. This is in line with our statement of bringing health and wellness to all of our consumers. Because we believe that a healthy living is for everybody not just for the fortunate one. Thus, it is our commitment to provide deliciously healthy and affordable Cardava Turon.We will be directed to our company vision to be the leading and n umber one  provider of delightful delicacy.CARDAVA TURON NUTRITIONAL FACTSThere have been different kinds of banana which are known to be rich in potassium and other nutrients. But according to the Doctors of Ministry in Alternative Medicines or DMAM, Cardava (Saba) banana has the highest nutrients present. †¢Cardava has the highest content of nutrients because it has the deepest roots among other banana plants, of which can absorb more nutrients from the soil. †¢Because bananas are rich in potassium, they help the body’s circulatory system deliver oxygen to the brain. †¢Maintains a regular heartbeat and a proper balance of water in the body. †¢Helpful for reducing strokes and regulating blood pressure because of the way it promotes circulatory health.†¢Their abundance of vitamins and minerals, are a great source of natural energy. †¢Bananas are also ideal for eating during that midday lull when you feel tired and sluggish. Instead of drinking caffeine or having a sugary snack, bananas provide a level of energy that lasts longer without the dramatic crash caused by caffeine. †¢Help stop constipation because bananas have a certain type of fiber that helps to restore and maintain regular bowel functions. Bananas are a natural source for lessening the effects of constipation without causing other bowel problems such as diarrhea.†¢The natural ingredients in bananas and their ability to replenish the body’s vitamins make them an ideal way to reduce the effects of a hangover. †¢Bananas can help people who are trying to quit smoking. The B vitamins and other minerals that they contain reduce the physical and psychological effects of nicotine withdrawal. †¢Vitamin B6 can also minimize menstrual pains and regulates over all moods of women. †¢Because of their calming properties, pregnant women often eat bananas to combat their morning sickness. †¢Also help to replenish the body and restore a hea lthy blood glucose level. †¢Help regulate a pregnant woman’s temperature.†¢As a way to prevent and treat ulcers, bananas help reduce the acidity that some foods can leave in the stomach. †¢Help reduce the irritation of the digestive system by leaving a protective coating around the inner walls, making it a natural way to promote intestinal health as well. †¢They are  also a great way to get rid of heartburn. They act as a natural antacid and they quickly soothe the burn.Instead of eating an apple each day for optimum health, the adage should state that a â€Å"banana each day keeps the doctor away†. The banana health benefits far outweigh those of the apple because it has many more vitamins and nutrients than their round counterparts.3. BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT 3.1 National TrendsBasically the only national trend that can hinder the growth of Cardava Turon in the market is when the cardava (saba) banana supplies will be scarce for it is the main ingre dients to our product—Cardava Turon. There are some issues nowadays that talks about the becoming scarce of the said banana but still there are none facts that can prove the latter issue. Thus, Cardava Turon business is in good position and will expect continuous supply of raw resources. The launching of Cardava Turon could be a good indication to our economy and even internationally for we will cater products that are originally from the Philippines. Cardava Turon would strengthen the local banana economy rather than those that are being exported to the other countries. Thus, it will just show how the Philippines can be competitive and can be known worldwide.3.2 Industry AnalysisThe local banana industry at this present day is not as active as before because of the growing export business, though there are still businesses of banana industry such those farmers, wholesalers and retailers. With regards to merienda business specifically those who sells turon, there are a lot of small competition for we can see even at the street corner of Angeles City there are those who sell turon but because Cardava Turon is not just an ordinary turon which is definitely the first of its kind, we can say that we are not deeply affected of those vendors of turon.3.3 Market AnalysisSpecifically there are no markets for siomai style turon with delicious variances here in Angeles City and maybe the whole of the Philippines. However â€Å"turon† is being patronized here in the community, thus, those will be considered as the new market for Cardava Turon. There are still markets for turon that we could cater with.3.4 Competitor AnalysisCardava Turon will have to face and consider a lot of competition for it is not the only turon business in town, most especially even SM malls and Ayala Malls’ food courts are selling their own class of turon. But Cardava Turon is not just an ordinary turon; it is a turon with a lot of exciting twist. It is the first of its kind a nd none in the whole of Angeles City area are selling such turon with different flavors and in siomai style. Thus, Cardava Turon competition will be minimal.4. MARKETING PLAN4.1 SWOT ANALYSISThe table below shows the SWOT analysis of the resources and the environmental factors for Cardava Turon ®. Major SWOT analyses are provided for the company as well. Resource Analysis:ResourcesStrengthsWeaknessesMoneyCardava Turon products are low cost. Thus, low capital investment. MaterialsCardava Turon has a number of contacts that can supply the raw materials. MachinesNo equipment for making the Cardava Turon more efficiently. MethodsNumerous ways and methods for producing Cardava Turon are available. ManpowerInexperienced from selling to the company members. ManagementInsufficient management skills for the company members. Moment (Time)Any launching day for the Cardava Turon is perfect for it is a unique delicacy. And the company members are dedicated to work fulltime and effectively.Iden tifying Opportunities and Threats in the Environment:Factors in the EnvironmentOpportunitiesThreatsSocio-culturalPeople have the habit of having their daily merienda Technology and TechnicalNew technology and equipments could make the production process efficiently and effectively. EconomicThe purchasing power of the community has lowered because of the increasing price of some  necessities such oil, thus, an advantage for the increase in demand of Cardava Turon for it is priced affordably. NaturalScarcity of cardava banana can hinder the growth of Cardava Turon. PoliticalElection is fast approaching.Hence, a good indicator to promote Cardava Turon as their merienda when campaigning. Peace and OrderIn general, there is peace and order in the place of business. (HAU / Angeles City) Population TrendsThe population is increasing. More people mean more buyers who would want Cardava Turon. Government ProgramMicro-Small-Medium Enterprise program are being provided by the government. Car dava Turon may be able to avail of the assistance in the form of financing, technical and marketing. Global EnvironmentExporting Cardava Turon process could be lucrative venture.CARDAVA TURON SWOT ANALYSIS†¢Strength – Uniqueness, as we introduce our all-time favorite turon in deliciously different way. †¢Weakness – Familiarity, Cardava Turon an original and the first ever product of its own needed a lot of effort to gain recognition to the community. †¢Opportunities – Innovative Leadership, pioneering the innovative modification of turon. †¢Threats – Patent, as BW is the first in the market.4.2 OBJECTIVESCardava Turons’ strategic marketing and financial objectives will be used as direction for the growth of the company.4.2.1 Marketing Objective:†¢Positioned Cardava Turon to all of Angeles City community. †¢Achieved familiarity of Cardava Turons’ products and service. †¢Maintained strategic marketing effort for Cardava Turon as it is new in the market.4.2.2 Financial Objective:†¢Reached the targeted quota and sales daily, monthly and annually. †¢100% return on investment. †¢30% to 40% net profit. †¢Zero negative net profit.4.3 COMPETITIVE EDGE†¢Location is critical to success. Our store needs to be on Main Street or just off Main Street so we can take advantage of walk-by and drive-by traffic. We also need adequate parking to make shopping at our store convenient for drivers. And we will target to have concessions to the well-known canteen of HAU. †¢Convenience. Angeles City / HAU residents and visitors are willing to pay a little bit more for good food and the convenience. Our customers will purchase our food because it is authentic and delicious. †¢High quality. Focusing on high quality Cardava Turon will draw customers from the competition, as well as create a local market that has not existed before in Angeles City. If the prices are reasonable an d the food is good, we will have growth through repeat business.4.4 TARGET MARKET ANALYSIS SUMMARYOur main target markets are:†¢People who live and work in Angeles City / Holy Angel University, who are looking for quality merienda. †¢Surrounding businesses looking for a tasty merienda for their customers and staff. †¢International and domestic travelers visiting Angeels City / Holy Angel University. †¢Families looking for quality, affordable, home cooked merienda to take home and prepare for their families with ease. †¢People looking for a comfortable environment in which to enjoy their spare time eating our delicious Cardava Turon. †¢People looking for high quality, unique merienda.Each market segment consists of people who either live, work, or vacation in the Angeles City / Holy Angel University area. Each market will be seeking a store canteen that will meet their desire for authentic, healthy food, quality service, and a pleasant atmosphere.4.5 MAR KET SEGMENTATIONCardava Turon target market profile is segmented using different segmentation strategy.4.5.1 Geographic SegmentationThe main geographic target area for Cardava Turon is the whole of Angeles City and the nearby towns and cities.4.5.2Income / Occupation SegmentationBecause Cardava Turon are certified affordable we are segmenting our markets with middle to low income, though because of the quality product that we are offering even those who are high income earners will definitely patronize our products and services.4.5.3 Age Segmentation Cardava Turon is for all ages for as long as they will purchase the product. Our products are intended to those six years of age and above.4.5.4 Sex SegmentationCardava Turon is definitely not gender discriminatory. Everyone can taste and enjoy our deliciously healthy and affordable product.4.6 POSITIONINGWe intend to position our business not just as a manufacturer and distributor of products, but a partner bringing a high level custom er satisfaction and high level of service to the stores that we enter into business with. We will work with stores through delivering high quality products to significantly increase the sales and profitability of their food business. By doing this we expect to develop a strong loyalty among our customers.4.7 MARKETING MIX 4.7.1ProductCardava Turon main offering is the Cardava Turon itself, a fried siomai style turon that comes in three different delicious flavors: oBanana Classic (Langka) Turon – inspired by our classic turon with langka or jackfruit inside. Let the classic taste of turon give you a different kind of experience by having it in siomai style (bite size) turon. oBanana Peanut Turon – Original concept, our delicious siomai style turon with grounded peanut inside that will add kick in every bite. Let the bits of peanut thrilled you as it gives you a different taste from the ordinary turon. oCardava Turon Overload – Another original concept, these Car dava Turon with grounded peanuts, marshmallow, and the classic langka inside will definitely give you the taste that you will really enjoy and crave the moment you taste and try it. Our main ingredients Cardava Turon products are cardava banana, siomai Turonper, brown sugar, cooking oil (for deep frying), jack fruit, peanut, and marshmallow. All ingredients are of high quality and certified healthy or of good nutritional facts.4.7.2PromotionBecause Cardava Turon is the first of its kind extensive promotional effort will be done to gain recognition and familiarity to the whole of Angeles City.†¢Advertising Highly appealing and attractive tarpaulins, posters and flyers will be strategically positions to those high traffic volume areas in the vicinity of Angeles. We will also invade online advertising wherein we will advertise Cardava Turon to some of the well-known networking sites as of at present day. Newspaper, television and radio commercial will also take into consideration. We will have a small advertising budget, devoted exclusively to trade publications designed to reach buyers and owners of upscale independent food stores. The objective of our trade advertising will be too limited to reinforcing the image of our company and the exciting taste of our products. All ads will be four-color and between 1/4 and 1/8 page in size. Each ad will prominently feature our logo and a bright, colorful, mouthwatering changing display of Cardava Turon products. We will also work with our retailers to obtain co-op advertising funds for their own local advertising.†¢Sales Promotion Initially we will do free tasting for the first two days of Cardava Turon launching; this is to let all the Angeleneos experience the delightful taste and flavors of Cardava Turon.†¢Personal Selling Highly qualified salesperson that provides superior customer service will be our front liners to provide our buyers experience that they would want to experience again and again, thus, establishing customer loyalty. Our primary sales method is face-to-face selling by our friendly salesperson.†¢Point of Purchase / Product Display Just the smell of our product prospective buyers will definitely get curious and crave for our Cardava Turon. We will see to it that our product will be cooked amazingly delicious and presented mouth-watering.†¢Publicity Because our entire products at Cardava Turon are certified deliciously healthy and affordable, thus, our campaign of â€Å"Healthy Living, Healthy Eating† would be our most effective way to publicized Cardava Turon. We will send news releases to trade magazines to try to get product or company feature coverage in front of the eyes of buyers and retailers. We will also issue a few generic press releases about Cardava Turon that our retailers can use to try to obtain publicity coverage for their stores in local publications. Lastly, we shall have a quarterly newsletter for retailers that we are currently se rving or hope to be serving. We anticipate sending 1,000 copies of the news release out our first year and gradually increasing to 2,000 copies by our third year. In the newsletter we will highlight not just our products, but also display ideas and success stories of stores who increased their Cardava Turon sales.†¢Trade Shows We will have a small booth or table top display at national conventions each year, including the SMX convention Center at the SM Mall of Asia. We will emphasize not just our certified deliciously healthy and affordable products but the superior customer/retailer satisfaction that we are providing. We will also provide limited funds for display space for our salesperson at regional trade shows that they attend. Typically we will pay for one table top display.4.7.3Place / Channel of Distribution Cardava Turon is a manufacturing firm which will serve as direct seller and retailer. Our main place of distribution would be the whole of Angeles City. We will str ategically position our stalls/kiosk to places of high traffic volume. We will also partner to some of the famous restaurants for our Cardava Turon to be their featured dessert of the week; concession to some of the well-known mall food courts and even partner with some of the university canteen here in Angeles.4.7.4Pricing Rigorous pricing strategies for Cardava Turon’s product were to be expected. All products will be priced in accordance with our buyers’ purchasing power not compromising the quality of our products. Having been priced to what the buyers’ could avail; Cardava Turon will definitely have a share of market.†¢Pricing Objective and Method Used Because Cardava Turon is new and first of its kind, our number one objective for pricing is to penetrate the market by pricing our products at low price. In which it could lead to the increase of market share and familiarity of Cardava Turon. Taking into account the pricing objective, demand determining, cost estimation and competitors’ costs, prices and offers analysis Cardava Turon will be using a combination of methods. Value pricing will be weighted more. 4.8 CONTROLSCardava Turons’ Marketing Plan purpose is to serve as a guide for the organization. The following areas will be monitored to gauge performance: †¢Availability of supplies †¢Expenses †¢Superior Customer Satisfaction †¢Revenue / ProfitSTRATEGY and IMPLEMENTATION SUMMARY Our strategy will exploit our advantages over the competition (location, convenience, and high quality) with carefully-tracked milestones for growth.MARKETING STRATEGY Our main marketing strategy would be the most effective and no cost at all strategy, that is the use of the word of mouth, for Cardava Turon is considered the best new exciting delicious merienda in town, making the word of mouth more effective. We will also advertise our product to some of the most famous social sites on the net which are Facebook, twi tter and the like.SALES STRATEGY Cardava Turon's Market most important sales strategy is developing an environment in which customers will return time-after-time because our market provides knowledgeable, friendly staff, quality products, and a comfortable atmosphere that fills their needs. When customers visit our store / retailers, they will know they are entering a clean facility with the best service in the industry. Our pricing strategy will focus on providing high quality products, and services at a fair priceSTRATEGIC ALLIANCES Cardava Turon's Market will work to form strategic alliances with local businesses, including: campus canteens, local mall food courts, and restaurants. We will also form relationships with local produce growers and artists to customize the food items we sell and enhance our presence in the community.MARKETING Initial marketing efforts for opening will be geared towards generating name recognition and making a clear distinction between Cardava Turon's and other local competitors. Follow-up marketing programs will encourage repeat visits and assist customers in the understanding, appreciation, and preparation of our products.SALES and PRICING We will gear prices towards our competitors in the nearest cities and online, with a small â€Å"convenience† increase for offering them locally. This will offset our distribution costs. Our emphasis on consistently good service, from special orders, will make new customers repeat customers. We mean business as we introduce Cardava Turon to the market but we don’t just want to be profitable we also wanted to have a share on our market. This is why we will penetrate the market by pricing our product very affordable. †¢15php – 4pcs of Cardava Turon†¢30php – 8pcs of Cardava Turon in an eco-friendly take home box.ALLIANCES and DISTRIBUTION †¢Cardava Turon's Market will aggressively pursue relations with local mall’s food courts, restaurants (featu red dessert of the week), and local school canteens (most specifically HAU canteen’s). †¢Our specific target for the distribution of our product is having a partnership not later at the end of this school year to some of the most well-known canteen here in the campus (HAU). We will partner to those canteen in order for our product to gain recognition from the community of HAU. †¢And as the coming year approaches we will extend our effort to partner with the local mall food courts, thus, we will introduce Cardava Turon to all of Angeles City. †¢After having partner to some of the local canteens and food courts we will established our own food cart or kiosk for Cardava Turon products in this way we can more concentrate on selling our products.SALES FORECAST The following assumptions illustrate our conservative sales forecast. Assumptions: The average item sold in the market will cost 15php/single order. †¢Php15.00/average sale x 100 people/day x # of days in a week x # of campus canteen partner (slow season). †¢Php22.50/average sale x 200 people/day x # of days in a week x # of campus canteen partner (busy season).KEYS TO SUCCESS The keys to success for Cardava Turon's Market include: †¢Reputation: Every customer visiting our store will want to return and will recommend us to their friends and family. Word of mouth marketing will be a powerful ally for our business. †¢Superior Customer Service: Knowledgeable, friendly service will be of the utmost importance. †¢Location: Provide an easily accessible location for customer convenience. †¢Product/Environment: Offer a variety of high quality foods, sold at a fair price in a clean, authentic, comfortable environment. †¢Convenience: Our customers will experience the convenience in eating our product that they had never been experienced before.5. MANAGEMENT TEAM and ORGANIZATION PLAN 5.1 Management Team The Company will be managed by the ten founding partners, wh ose individual area of expertise covers many of the functional aspects of the business. Jose Carlo Dizon will serve as the President of the Company, and will be responsible for Product Selection and Sales & Marketing. Nikki S. Barrientos will be the Vice President, in charge of Administration. She will be responsible for customer service, accounting, shipping and the general administration of the business. Mary Jane Narciso will be the Chief Operating Officer, and will be responsible for maintaining close relationship with all our retailers/concessionaires. Kresta-An Tanhueco and Jeiel Feliciano will serve as the area managers that are responsible for monitoring operations of all stalls/kiosk of Cardava Turon. Aldrian Soriano and Mark Cunanan will be the head of Research and Development Department which are accountable for producing new ideas and variances for the growth of all Cardava Turon products. Kevin Colinares as the Public Relations Officer will be in charge for the publicit y and good relations of the company to the whole of Angeles City community. Nikki S. Barrientos will be in charge with Banana Wrap logistics, inventory and suppliers relations. Lastly, to be responsible for all employee related issues will be Jose Carlo Dizon as the HR Manager.All founders are dedicated of doing their job effectively and efficiently which will bring Cardava Turon to its overwhelming success.5.2 Organizational Chart5.3 Key Personnel Every stall of Cardava Turon will be staffed by our dedicated and skillful front liner which includes the kiosk/stall supervisor who will be in charge of the overall operations of the kiosk. Together with the stall supervisor are the two all-around salespersons who will perform cashiering which includes order taking and assembling, cooking all ordered products, and maintaining inventory and cleanliness through-out the entire operations.Qualifications Required: †¢Stall Supervisor – Graduate of any four-year business management related courses or high school graduate with a minimum of two years work experience as a food stall/kiosk supervisor. †¢Sales Associate – this includes being the cashier, cooked, stock custodian and the salesperson. All associate would be at least college level with basic knowledge in accounting, cooking, inventory, and in sales. High school graduate will be considered with a minimum one year work related experiences.All stall supervisors upon the start of their work at Cardava Turon are qualified for any other promotions depending on the availability of the vacant position and their performance as a whole. Same as to all Sales Associate, with which are also qualified for any promotion depending on their performances.6. PRODUCTION and OPERATIONS PLAN 6.1 Production Process The production process for producing our product Cardava Turon will include the preparation of all raw materials/ingredients such the peeling of cardava banana and cutting it into cubes, preparing siom ai Turonper as the Turonper of the said product, pre-heating of deep fryer for cooking high quality Cardava Turon. All extra condiments and ingredients will be prepared as well, the sugar (brown) to be used, grounded peanut for Banana Peanut Turon, the langka for the Banana Classic Turon, and the marshmallow for the Banana overload.Step by step processes are as follows: 1.Peeling and dicing into cubes of cardava banana. 2.Turon using siomai Turonper and putting the flavors such grounded peanuts and the classic langka. 3.Rolling the Turonped product into the brown sugar. 4.Deep frying until the product becomes golden brown. (10-20 seconds) 5.Cooling and filtering of excess oil. 6.Package depending on the customer orders. (4pcs. or 8pcs.)6.2 Product/Service DeliveryIn order to deliver high quality, personalized service we will carefully select all employees–especially stall supervisor and sales associate who will deal directly with customers. Jose Carlo is currently interviewin g candidates for sales associate. We will carefully review references from past employers or manufacturers and from retailers whom these sales associate have served. We will also make sure that each employee understands our way of delivering quality product/service to each customer. We will have immediate back-up support available by phone from our office for more difficult product/service issues. And we will give employees enough latitude so that they can respond immediately to almost all customer requests or complaints.6.3 Customer ServiceWe intend to prioritize customer service and make it a key component of our marketing programs. We believe that providing our customers with what they want, when and how they want it, is the key to repeat business and to word-of-mouth advertising. Not only will we train our employees to deliver excellent service, we will give them the flexibility to respond creatively to client requests. In addition, we will continually monitor our clients' level of satisfaction with our service and products through surveys and other convenient feedback opportunities. Initially we expect to have few enough accounts so that Mary Jane and Kevin can handle all customer/retailer service issues.As our business grows we intend to hire additional customer service people one at a time and pay a premium over market labor rates to attract and retain quality help. Shipping problems are a huge issue with the firms that we compete with largely because they insist on using surface shipping methods to keep their costs down to charge low prices to keep their mass merchant accounts happy. We intend to use air freight to export our products to the neighbor countries. This will add to our costs. But because we want to penetrate the international market it makes more sense for us. It  will also allow us to have much thinner inventories in our warehouse without risking stocking out.6.4 FacilitiesWe plan to lease small office space for the mean time as Cardava Turon is still starting. The said office space will be used by the ten co-founders as they work together for the fast growth of Cardava Turon. The office space building is located in a busy industrial neighborhood, but because we do not intend to have customers visit us we have decided to lease a lower-rent location. For our stalls/kiosks they should be located in a high traffic volume area which could generate prospective buyers for all the products. We will utilize the spaces for all the stalls that could hold enough supplies for a week operations. Ten to twenty square meters would be the ideal stall/kiosk size.6.5 EquipmentsWe will need five computer sets initially to be used at the main office. Minimal office supplies will do for the company is still starting. Five telephone lines are also needed to be used for communicating to all staffs; retailers; and suppliers. The equipment to be used for the kiosk would be cash register for recording sales transactions, deep fryer to be u sed for cooking all Cardava Turon products, freezer for all perishable raw ingredients. Also we will provide food warmer to store all the cooked products and to be used for display purposes, small cabinets are to be used for non-perishable goods. Preparation table is also considered necessary when making Cardava Turon products including also all the necessary cooking tools and gadgets to make the operation efficiently.6.6 Work FlowAll personnel who are working at the main office will be working eight hours weekdays depending on the volume of their work. Office hours would be from 8:00am until 5:00pm, but flexible working hours will do also. Sundays will be their day-off and through Saturdays the office hours would only be half-day which is from 8:00am to 12:00noon. As to the stall/kiosk the operations would be from Mondays through Sundays, operations will start at 7:00am until 9:00pm though business hours will just start at 8:00am until  8:00pm.There will be three shifts in a day: the opener from 7:00am-3:00pm, the mid-shift from 10:00am-7:00pm and the closer from 1:00pm-9:00pm. Initially stalls will be manned by only three people who include a stall supervisor and two sales associate. The stall supervisor will be in charge of the scheduling. He can decide on his own on who would be assigned in the shifts, preferably the mid-shift will be the stall sup. So that he/she can monitor well the operations of their stall. As our business grows we intend to hire additional sales associate to make our operations even more efficient.6.7 Production RisksPreventive measures are to be implemented to lessen or decrease the possibility of being hurt and injured in the production of all Cardava Turon products. We will make sure that all employees especially the sales associate are properly trained with regard on the production or cooking of Cardava Turon. First aid kit will be provided to all Cardava Turon kiosks. Stall Supervisor will be responsible for checking all the ne cessary machines and equipments if they are working properly and effectively. Before and after the business operations, checklist will be provided to be accomplished by whoever was assigned to check the quality and performance of all goods, materials and equipments. This is to prevent unnecessary problems to occur.6.8 SuppliersBy the supervision of Nikki, all issues regarding suppliers of all the stalls/kiosk for Cardava Turon will be properly monitored. This includes checking the quality of all raw materials/goods. Delivery schedules will be monitored, as well as all the necessary issues concerning supplier relations and logistics.6.9 Inventory ManagementIn order for the inventory to be more accurate, there will be two types of inventory to be done. The first one is to be accomplished by all stall supervisors for each kiosk which is to be done daily. And the second type of inventory, the monthly inventory to be supervised by Kresta and Jeiel, which they will evaluate and check the accuracy of all the daily inventories. The  company will provide standard inventory checklist to be used by all Cardava Turon stalls/kiosks.6.10 Quality ControlEach store will offer nothing but freshly and quality Cardava Turon products. Standard procedure for preparation and cooking of the product will be well developed by our R&D team Aldrian and Mark. Arthur will be responsible for the high quality raw goods that are to be used. Camille will monitor all retailers’ compliance of Cardava Turon quality standards.

Safety management assignment # 2 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Safety management # 2 - Assignment Example Falling down and experiencing an injury are a hazard that must be identified and a rough estimate given. Another expected probability is equipment failure. Chances that the ladder will be faulty must be kept in mind. The next essential step in a job safety analysis is determining the solution to the hazards identified. By this, the hazards can be controlled and safety effected. Hazards can be controlled through administrative controls and or engineering solutions. The recommended steps that will reduce hazard risks are identified, as well as the risks of the workplace injury or illness. The following are the appropriate job safety analysis steps to follow. First, job with the highest risk for a workplace injury or illness is selected. In this case, the task to be done is to fix a leaking roof. The highest risk is identified as well as the potential injuries and or illness. Next, the necessary steps for completion of the task are identified and recorded. All probable hazard risks are identified in accordance to each step done. The last step is the determination and record of the recommended procedures for performing each step. This will reduce the hazard risk. Managing the safety function entails planning, organizing, controlling, directing, and staffing. In regard to planning, the departmental needs, resources and mission must be kept into consideration. The records of various departmental needs must be updated so as to know the exact required needs. Planning aspect comprises of time, money, materials, and personnel needs. Planning is an essential aspect of management. The second management function is organizing. This means that the staff in the organization must be properly organized. The chain of command must be followed so as maintain the organization and efficient working conditions. The factor of the organization is present in successful companies; this keeps the motto of the organization intact.

International marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

International marketing - Essay Example The fashion retail industry in Spain is turbulent as the fashion conscious consumers expect and thrive for constant change. Added to the changing consumer preferences are the factors like globalization and the technological changes that have truly revolutionized the Spain fashion retailing industry. Thus Levis has to primarily take into account the SLEPT factors or the social, legal, economical, political and technological factors. S-social factors include the demographics and the market segmentation is based on these factors. The class structure, culture and the consumption pattern has to be taken into account. The highest spending age group in the jeans market is between 15 and 24. Jeans are now even worn to work. Broader assortment of jeans is now available to suit different occasions. In the apparel industry demand is uncertain because it is difficult to foresee the fashion trends in advance for a certain season and product failure rates can be as high as 10 percent (Diaz, 2005). Demand can also be volatile because demand can change suddenly due to a variety of external factors. L-legal: The abolition of the quotas in the textile industry has pushed down the prices of clothes in general, making the market very competitive. The cheap chic revolution has turned the European fashion market upside down (Mesure, 2007). Jeans in the market are trying to differentiate themselves with cult connotations, lifestyle images, and distinctive details. E-economic: The Spanish fashion industry has experienced exponential growth in the last decade, not merely in women’s clothing as fashion is generally associated with, but in menswear childrenswear and accessories as well. The fashion industry today is marked by short life-cycles, high volatility, low predictability and high impulse purchasing (Christopher, Lowson & Peck, 2004). The weakening of the US dollar has caused a shift in the

Augmentative and Alternative Communication Essay

Augmentative and Alternative Communication - Essay Example k, a lot of research needs to be done in the field of developmental disabilities which have multifaceted and multilateral aspects that are not only complex by nature but they also need socio-psychological interventions, stretched over a period of time, involving extensive inter-personal communication. Of the various developmental disabilities, cerebral palsy is significantly different and encompasses a wide set of communication problem. Cerebral palsy is a disability where despite having a relatively high intelligence quotient, the person has almost no control over his locomotor parts including his speech, thus making communication extremely difficult. Though it affects muscle movements and synchronized coordination of body parts, it is not actually a muscular or neurological problem but abnormality in part of the brain that controls body coordination. It is, therefore, very important to address the need for an augmentative and alternative communication for the persons suffering from cerebral palsy. While there have been many studies that focused on improving linguistic, technical, and strategic competence, there is a scarcity of research on socio-relational competence. In order to enhance the participation of the persons affected with cerebral palsy in the development of the community, it is imperative that their socio-relational competencies be developed to the extent that they may start contributing to the socio-economic development of the society. Prior research indicated that providing access to Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices to communicate would not guarantee the development of communicative competence in disabled individuals. According to Light â€Å"for AAC users to reach communicative competence, four critical skills must be mastered namely linguistic competence; technical competence; socio-relational competence and strategic competence† (Light, Binger, Agate, & Ramsay, 1999). According to Mirenda (2003) â€Å"the behavioral

Should racial profiling at U.S. borders target people of color to Essay

Should racial profiling at U.S. borders target people of color to exploit whites' fears - Essay Example Millions of Americans and non-Americans often are at a risk of becoming victims to racial profiling in the course of their life. Racial profiling refers to the law enforcement targeting a particular group of people based on their race, ethnic group or religion and linking this group of persons to a criminal incident (Judith 35). The U.S.A by becoming a multicultural, multiethical, and multireligious country, often becomes prone to incidents of racial profiling within its territory and its borders. Racial profiling at U.S border often targets people of color in order to exploit white’s fears.Every year, an overwhelming number of people in U.S become subjected to racial profiling. Racial profiling in U.S borders often affects Native Americans, American Muslims, Persian Americans, Arab Americans, Asian Americans, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, many immigrants and visitors. According to the 14th Amendment of the constitution of U.S. racial profiling is illegal and not acce pted in the American soil. Racial profiling often deprives citizens of their rights and send bad image of U.S.A to the rest of the world. Racial profiling often results to inequality in U.S.A. Racial profiling at the U.S border, as argued by some researchers, remains a means of exploiting white fears. Since the whites often regard them as superior in everything compared to the other races, they sometimes use the fear they get from them and commit racial profiling offenses at the U.S. border

Media Imperialism The Impacts of Global Media on Local Cultures and Research Proposal

Media Imperialism The Impacts of Global Media on Local Cultures and Identities - Research Proposal Example Although it would be very difficult to believe that any of these views are absolutely right, but nevertheless globalization and its relationship with the media should not be ignored outright. Media plays a vital role in creating the link between the different cultures and works as the fastest mode of spreading the aspects of the world cultures. This may create good or bad impacts on the local values and culture, grasped or adopted by the local people. This research is intended to develop a deep understanding of the impact of global media on local cultures and identities in the Middle East with a specific focus on the United Arab Emirates. The Research will look at the numerous theories on the impacts and critical interpretations of the global media on local cultures. Introduction Globalization is the process of integration and interaction of people, organizations and governments of different nations. It is the increased transnational movement of individuals and resources driven by gl obal investment and trade, enhanced by information technology. Globalization affects people’s culture, economic development and political systems of different societies across the world. Although globalization is not a new phenomenon, policy and development in technology over the past few decades have enhanced globalization through increase in cross-border trade and investments. Globalization has further resulted into deep changes in the very fabric of the society let alone the economy only. The globalization of culture as well as communication has further widenend the gap between the local as well as international culture. Rojecki (2005) attributes the current wave of globalization to national and international policies that have opened economies specially those countries which are willing to open for trade i.e. UAE being one of the global hubs for free trade. Today, many governments including UAE, Qatar, Sharjah and other countries continue to adapt free market economic sys tems aimed at increasing their potential for productivity and creating new opportunities for global trade and investment. Moreover, governments continue to negotiate reductions in trade barriers as they forge international trade agreements that promote trade and international integration. One of the main features that define globalization is the emergence of an international business structure that continues to gain dominance with increasing technology and international relations. Rojecki (2005) views globalization as a force that transforms the spatial organization of social relationships and transactions to generate institutionalized patterns of interactions, exchanges and interregional flows. International politics also seem to flow from this intricate network of social and economic relationships which force nations to cooperate with each other. These views are supported by Giddens (1984) who argues that globalization has power to enhance compression of space and time through imp roved communication, transportation, and information technology. Media plays a major role in globalization because it acts as a globalization force to illustrate the intersection of economic and cultural integration. (Seib, 2009) Media refers to a variety of communication technologies including the internet, radio, television, and print press among others. Van Alelst and Walgrave (2007) observe that electronic media has contributed to development of community and consciousness through its interactive role of

Survey analysis for online resale shop Case Study - 1

Survey analysis for online resale shop - Case Study Example No participant was forced for any sort of unwilling participation. Additionally, all participants were given the right to withdraw from participation in the study at any stage. The researcher has also kept the element of confidentiality into consideration. Personal information of selected participants has been kept intact. The competition in the global business market s very intense these days. This intensified competition across markets have make the survival of business next to impossible, It has become very difficult for businesses to retain their potential customers in the age of advance technology. However, e-business in such instance is one platform where businesses are competing against each other to win their potential customers. For businesses to succeed it has become very important to offer both local & online services. To further acquire these details in depth, this study has selected quantitative research method. Using this, survey has been conducted. From the survey, it has been acquired that out of the selected 250 participants, 198 participants agreed that they like shopping online while 52 participants should resistance towards online shopping. From the responses’ it is noted that most of the participants like shopping online. Many of the selected participants also believed that they usually shop luxury goods from shopping malls such as: Westfield, Selfridges, Harrods†¦etc. In such instances, they spend  £251 -  £350 on usual basis on luxury goods. The most common platform selected by potential customers to make online purchases is from Amazon. Most of the people ask their friends for inspiration before making any online purchase. Two most important elements/variables for making online purchase for clothes are them quality/material while price is the second most important element. It is also evident that an online shop provides more up-to-date information than their

Silver, the Inventor of the Adhesive Polymer on Which Post-It is Based Essay

Silver, the Inventor of the Adhesive Polymer on Which Post-It is Based - Essay Example The specific product, which is unique worldwide, has made 3M a leading firm in managing innovation. The review of the actual history of Post-It, up to its entrance in the market, proves that the development of the particular product has been quite difficult for its designers. In fact, the inventor of Post-It, the chemist Spencer Silver, spent many years in trying to persuade leaders in his organization in regard to the value of his invention: an adhesive polymer of various uses. At the end, and mostly due to the efforts of Silver and those who believed in the product’s value, Post-It entered the global market. The case of 3M and Post – It shows that product innovation can be a quite challenging process, the complexity of which is often not clear even to those working for its promotion. In the context of modern businesses, product innovation is a concept which is related to the following target: the examination and evaluation of ‘the need for innovative products and services’ (Rainey 2005, p.10). The above definition leads to the assumption that product innovation is a rather simple process. Still, such assumption would not be valid. In fact, product innovation has a series of aspects which are analytically presented in the sections that follow. Another characteristic of product innovation is the following one: the methods used for the promotion of product innovation within each organization are not standardized (Rainey 2005, p.10). Different tools and techniques can be used for promoting product innovation, depending on the potentials of each organization to provide the required funds and infrastructure (Rainey 2005, p.10). One of the most common issues that appear each time that product innovation schemes are promoted is the following one: can the particular process be introduced in any organization or it is necessary that certain requirements are met. Moreover, innovation, as a process is based on certain rules or it is not controllable as of its structure and components? The answer to the above questions can be identified in the study of Cogliandro (2007). According to Cogliandro (2007) innovation, in all its aspects, needs to be based on three principles: a) innovation needs to be related to all aspects of the organization; in fact, innovation would be expanded across organization covering all organizational activities (Cogliandro 2007, p.18) and during all periods of the life of the organization.

Global Warming Essay Example for Free

Global Warming Essay It’s happening everyday and right now. It is becoming a worldwide problem. This is global warming. Global warming is a serious problem that affects our planet. Is it a natural cause or man-made? It may be natural. Many people point to the melting ice caps as proof that humans are the ones that are causing global warming, but what they may not know is that the polar ice caps on Mars are melting too. Humans may not be the main cause of global warming but they do affect it greatly causing it to accelerate. Global warming was most likely sped up by human causes.  One major human cause is pollution. People are creating more and more of it. One type of pollutant is greenhouse gases. These gases trap solar energy, increasing Earth’s temperature, rather than letting the heat back into space. Another cause is the burning of fossil fuels. Some fossil fuels are oil, gas, and coal. These produce carbon dioxide. We are producing too much of it into our atmosphere too quickly and plants can’t absorb all of that carbon dioxide. We even cause global warming to be sped up by being alive. We exhale carbon dioxide with every breath we take. If we want to reduce global warming, to a state we can deal with and not worry about it, we need to start by reducing all of the pollution we create. Global warming may be a natural cause but â€Å"humans can be a powerful influence on the climate as well. † It increases the evaporation of water into the atmosphere. Since water vapour itself is a greenhouse gas, this causes still more warming. The warming causes more water vapour to be evaporated. The C02 level is expected to rise in future due to ongoing burning of fossil fuels and landuse change. The rate of rise will depend largely on uncertain economic, sociological, technological and natural developments. Other gases such as methane, CFCs, nitrous oxide, tropospheric ozone are also responsible for global warming. Increases in all these gases are due to explosive population growth, increased industrial expansion, technological advancement, deforestation and growing urbanisation, etc. Trees play a significant role in the global carbon cycle. They are the largest land-based mechanism for removing carbon dioxide from the air. Deforestation is checking these positive processes. It is the second principle cause of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Deforestation is responsible for 25 per cent of all carbon emissions entering the atmosphere, by the burning and cutting of 34 million acres of trees each year. Everyday over 5500 acres of rainforest are destroyed. As a consequence of massive loss of forests, global CO, levels rise approximately 0. 4 per cent each year, the levels not experienced on this planet for millions of years. As we know the forests are the great absorbers of CO,,. There is a close relation between global warming and population growth. Today the large population on earth is using the technologies which are destructive for the earth. Approximately, 80 per cent of atmospheric C02 increases are due to man’s use of fossil fuels either in the form of coal, gas or oil. A large portion of carbon emission is attributed to the burning of gasoline in internal-combustion engine of vehicles. Vehicles with poor gas mileage contribute the most to global warming. Besides, the sulphur group gas is the most harmful for this. Its contribution is 30 per cent in global warming. This gas is also emitted from the burning of fossil fuels. Increase in global temperatures will cause rise in sea level. It will lead to melting of glaciers, changes in rainfall patterns, increased intensity and frequency of extreme weather. As per the latest survey report the rate of melting of glaciers has seen sharp increase in recent times. Even those glaciers are affected from global warming which have been considered permanent. The shrinking of glaciers is going to pose a major problem of drinking water. The sea levels as a result of melting of glaciers have risen from 0. 35 mm to 0. 4 mm. Scientists have warned in their reports that most of the glaciers will disappear within a period of 15 to 25 years. It will create problems of drinking water and food grains in most of the North American countries. India is not unaffected from it. The Himalayan glaciers have shrunk about 30 per cent after 1970. The rise in sea levels is a major cause of concern. A large number of cities located in coastal areas will submerge in the sea. Besides, many island countries will ultimately â€Å"lose their existence and will be washed away from the surface of the earth. The damage of rising sea levels is diverse. Buildings and roads close to the water could be flooded and they could suffer damage from hurricanes and tropical storms. Experts believe that global warming could increase the intensity of hurricanes by over 50 per cent. In addition, as the sea rises, beach erosion takes place, particularly on steep banks. Wetlands are lost as the level rises. Rise in atmospheric temperature will lead to the outbreak of air ¬borne and water-borne diseases. It would also contribute to the rise in death caused by heat. The problem of drought would be frequent. Consequently, malnutrition and starvation will pose serious challenge before humanity. Global warming is a great threat to the flora and fauna of the earth. A large number of species of them may become extinct. The expanse of desert would increase. Low rainfall and rising temperature could add to the intensity and frequency of dusty storm. This in turn will immensely affect the quality of agricultural land, ultimately causing adverse effect on agricultural produce. It would have far-reaching socio-economic impact. In Indian context, the impact of global warming is a matter of grave concern. As is well known, India is mainly an agricultural country and agriculture here is gamble of the monsoon, e. . largely depending on rainfall. Though it is to affect the whole country, the worst likely impact would be on central and northern India which is high-yielding parts of the country. These are the regions which produce the largest agricultural yield. The rise in atmospheric temperature and fall in rain would naturally result in decline in crop production. Moreover, it would have great effect on biodiversity as well. The growing concerns over global temperatures have led to the nations, states, corporations and individuals to draw out a plan of action to avert the situation. As a result the world’s primary international agreement on combating global warming was reached in Kyoto in 1997 which came to be known as Kyoto Protocol. However, ten years have passed; the situation does not appear to be very changed. It seems that the member countries are not very serious about its devastating effects. In addition, forestation can be of great help in this regard. Planting more trees and reducing timber cuts worldwide will help restore the imbalance. Secondly, we must follow on environmental policy of ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’, i. e. romoting the reuse of anything. Thirdly, the use of fuel-efficient vehicles should be promoted as these vehicles have lower emissions of harmful gases. Fourthly, every individual should be aware of the importance of the protecting environment. Besides, eco- friendly technologies must be promoted, and must be substituted with the technologies which cause great emission of global warming gases. Public awareness campaign can be of great help in this regard because unless each and every individual is aware only governments’ effect cannot bring desired difference.

Sound Technique In Citizen Kane Film Studies Essay

Sound Technique In Citizen Kane Film Studies Essay The dramatic film Citizen Kane in 1941 is a story of group of reporters that are trying to interpret the last words of Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles), who is the millionaire newspaper business man, Rosebud and to examine his lifestyle. The film starts with a news roll detailing Kanes life, and after that the film shows the audience flashbacks from his life and illustrates to the audience of a man who had everything and anything he wanted to a man who died and had nothing. The newsreel reporter Jerry Thompson (William Alland) starts to investigate the people from Kane past such as friends, lovers and colleagues to identify the real meaning of Rosebud. The first scene in the movie when Kane is dying and holding the crystal glass globe in his hand then he whispered a word that is heard spoken by enormous, mouth that fill the screen ROSEBUD. When he said it, no one could hear him because he said it in a low tone; however, only the butler heard it. The sound of Kane saying it and all the noise and silence before he dies illustrates to the audience that the word is something important in the movie and makes them think about the mystery of the movie. After he has pronounced his last dying words, the crystal glass globe rolls from his hand; the ball jumps down two steps (stairs) and smashes into pieces. The audience hears a loud beat when the crystal glass globe shatters into tiny pieces the sound of the shattering globe indicates that the Kane is heartbroken. Through the unclear lens of the globe a nurse is seen entering the room. She lays out the body of Kanes dead body and the music that has been suspended in a minor key finishes on a main musical tones. (Spurr Cameron, 2009). Then the scene cuts suddenly to news announcement, full of loud music that makes the audience forget about the previous scene. However, Rosebud was repeated in more than one scene that was presented in different type of flutes, bass clarinets, and bassoons to create a sense of darkness, vagueness and mystery to the audience. Moreover, a scene that started when the camera pans from top to bottom while focuses on the statue. The audience hears Miss Andersons voice heard before she appears in the shot. The feature of her voice is ordinary sound qualities of the room. The size of the room is shown to the audience when both Miss Anderson and Mr. Thompson the reporter are in the same frame. This scene shows the audience the importance of the large cold stone pillared library room that matches the cold strict character of Miss Anderson. Also the sound of Miss Andersons footsteps, as she walks towards the room to give Mr. Thompson the document he needs about Kane. When Miss Anderson opens the door to the room, the sound of the door that the audience hears which shows them the size of the room and the importance of the room. After the conversation between Mr. Thompson and Miss Anderson, and Miss Anderson leaving the room the audience could hear the closing of the door with music. The sound of the door mixed with music is a transition to the next shot. A next scene shows the audience when Susan Alexander Kane (Dorothy Comingore), who is the Wife of Charles Kane, sitting in her club after the death of her husband and Thompson comes in to talk with her. Thompson sits down, and then Susan tells him who told you, you could sit down? and he replies, I thought maybe we could have a talk together. Then she replies, Well, think again. Why dont you people leave me alone? I am minding my own business. You mind yours. Get out of here. Get out! .When she was saying get out she was shouting with a high tone which illustrated to the audience she is mad and upset. Before he comes in the club the audiences hears heavy rain and thunder this also demonstrates to the audience the anger, tension, and sadness. Also another scene, the audience saw that Kane had grown up from a child into an adult in only two shots. As Charless guardian gives him his sled, and Charles wishing him a Merry Christmas and unexpectedly the audience sees another shot of his guardian after almost fifteen years later, and the phrase is completed and a Happy New Year. This showed the audience that he has grown up, and it showed only by continuing the soundtrack. Another scene, when Kane takes his wife Susan to go to a picnic and suddenly slaps her in a tent near the beach. They are both silently angry at each other while a lady near their tent wildly launching with a loud voice at the background. This illustrated to the audience the misery and sadness of both Kane and Susan. In addition, the director used a numerous number of voices, each saying a sentence or a phrase or sometimes half a sentence and joining the dialogue in an immediate sequence, this action gave the audience an impression that the whole town was talking and also knowing what the whole town was talking about. The director also use the over lapping dialogue which made the scene look more realistic to the audience. Moreover, the director used a technique of putting the sound and audio before of the visual in scene transaction. In other words, when a scene came to a close, the sound and audio would change to the next scene before the image did. Moreover, the opera rehearsal scene where Kanes wife Susan sings; for example, when the camera slowly pans up the walls of the opera hall from Susan beginning her singing presentation to two stagehands both were looking shocked and disgusted of Susans singing. According to Louis Giannetti in Understanding Movies, music is a greatly abstract art, tending toward pure form. When combined with lyrics, music acquires a more focus content because words have specific references. While words and music both express meanings, each does so in a special manner. With or without lyrics, music can be more specific when put together with film images. (Giannetti, 2010). Moreover, according to Understanding Movies, one of the most continuing and popular film genres is the musical whose major raison is song and dance. Like opera and ballet, the narrative elements of musical are usually pretexts for the production numbers, but some musicals are exceptionally sophisticated dramatically. (Giannetti, 2010) The films numerous use of mixture allows to create stability between the images and passing of time that would otherwise seem disjointed and disorganized. In a scene that is illustrating Charless hectic actions as a newspaperman, suddenly a scene where it shows people dancing and singing with music in the background after that the scene shifts to another scene and time passes. Also, another scene where Kane and his first wife Emily (Ruth Warrick) are having breakfast, the scene here is presented in an elegant way where both are dressed fancily, and exchanging loving words, then the words dies away out after seconds. This scene showed the audience of the timing passing. Moreover, in another scene when Emily is disagreeing with Charles over the suitability of hanging an anonymous gift one of his friends has given their son in the nursery. The music in the background demonstrates to the audience that there is something wrong while still maintaining a distressingly joyful attitude, and Kanes rejection into taking his wife Emily seriously while they are having breakfast. The Sound Technique that is Connected to Another Technique Citizen Kane is an excellent example of sounds but it is also connected to different techniques, such as movements and cinematography technique. For example, in Citizen Kane extreme deep focus, diverse camera angles (including low angles that exposed set ceiling) and unusual use of lighting and deep shadows all these techniques were used in the film. Moreover, Citizen Kane had a storytelling technique; changeable narrative forms such as the opening of the film when a newsreel man was talking, and then the interviews and the flashbacks. Sounds in General The music of movies in general has a powerful effect on the audience. The music of any movie is to evoke or enhance emotions in the audience. When audiences listen to music a certain emotional feeling the music awakens the memories that the audience faces in the present or past. Moreover, music is able to move through time and leave at two different points at once. Music helps to enhance the effect of a shot to the audiences. Also, music creates tension in a movie. Citizen Kanes music was considered one of the major things in the movie because the music had an important role when the scene changes from one to another and to develop the emotion and the mood of the film to the audience. The director sometimes used music that would work with the sound effects throughout the film. According to the book Understanding Movies, sound effects also express internal emotions. When there is silence in a film it makes the audience pay more attention to the scene. Any important silences in a film creates to the audience a sense of something approaching or something that is about to happen. Moreover, like the freeze frame, silence in a sound film can be used to represent death, because usually sounds are linked with the presence of continuing life. (Giannetti, 2010). In addition, according to Louis Giannetti, loud sounds tend be forceful, intense, and threatening. On the other hand, quiet sounds strike the audience as delicate, hesitant, and sometimes weak. (Giannetti, 2010) Conclusion In other words, music in films is highly effective to the audience. Music creates tension, brings out emotions, and is definitely one of the most vital aspects of the cinematic experience. Furthermore, it has shown that music is highly complex and artful; it does not only bring the emotional impact on audience by also comprising some of the most dazzling music produced over the year. (Donnelly, 2001). Moreover, sounds help the audience to understand the movie better and also emphases on the vital parts in the movie.

Equality of Citizens and Non-Citizens in the EU Essay -- Social Welfar

Introduction The territory of the European Union (EU) hosts roughly 500 million people. Are they all equal in their rights? Definitely not. One of legal dividing lines lies between the nationals of EU Member States (Citizen) and third-country nationals (TCNs) whose citizenship belongs to a non-EU country. Nationality therefore does matter in EU law: it confers different statuses. The paper compares the two separate legal regimes that are applicable to EU citizens and TCNs respectively. Due to the narrow scope of this essay, the analytical focus adopted here is under four major limitations. First, legal migrants coming from outside the EU constitute several different categories (for instance, economic migration, family reunion or migration of students, pupils, trainees, and volunteers) in EU law, which is even more complex because of privileged TCNs who gain their status from special arrangements between their own country and the EU, furthermore Schengen visa requirements mean additional classification along a different dimension. The essay deals only with non-privileged long-term residents (LTRs) as defined by the Council Directive 2003/109/EC concerning the status of third-country nationals who are long-term residents (LTRs Directive) . Second, both EU citizens’ and LTRs’ rights comprise several dimensions (for example, access to employment, fa mily reunification or social grants) but this study is mainly focused on their entitlements to move and reside within the territory of the EU. Third, the main concern of this paper is restrictions to the previously mentioned rights of both categories of persons. Fourth, the family members neither of Citizens nor TCNs are not part of the main body of this analysis. Subsequently, the e... ...and citizenship tests in several countries as a new way of selecting immigrants. Shift away from viewing integration as a positive social measure and towards predominantly viewing it as a repressive immigration measure can be noticed. Works Cited 1. Anton-Mathew-Morgan. In R. 2. Aust. In R. 3. Byers-Chesterman. In R. 4. Cassese. In R. 5. Crawford-Olleson. In R. 6. Evans. In R. 7. Fitzmaurice. In R. 8. Franca’s presentation. 9. Freestone-Salman. In R. 10. http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/United-Nations/Law-of-the-Sea.html 11. http://www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreements/convention_historical_perspective.htm 12. Openheim. In R. 13. Rio Declaration 14. Sands. In R. 15. Slide on ’The nine pillars of the common heritage of mankind’. 16. Slides on ’History’ 17. Slides on ‘Climate Change’ 18. Tuerk. In R. 19. UN Charter 20. UNHCR. In R. Equality of Citizens and Non-Citizens in the EU Essay -- Social Welfar Introduction The territory of the European Union (EU) hosts roughly 500 million people. Are they all equal in their rights? Definitely not. One of legal dividing lines lies between the nationals of EU Member States (Citizen) and third-country nationals (TCNs) whose citizenship belongs to a non-EU country. Nationality therefore does matter in EU law: it confers different statuses. The paper compares the two separate legal regimes that are applicable to EU citizens and TCNs respectively. Due to the narrow scope of this essay, the analytical focus adopted here is under four major limitations. First, legal migrants coming from outside the EU constitute several different categories (for instance, economic migration, family reunion or migration of students, pupils, trainees, and volunteers) in EU law, which is even more complex because of privileged TCNs who gain their status from special arrangements between their own country and the EU, furthermore Schengen visa requirements mean additional classification along a different dimension. The essay deals only with non-privileged long-term residents (LTRs) as defined by the Council Directive 2003/109/EC concerning the status of third-country nationals who are long-term residents (LTRs Directive) . Second, both EU citizens’ and LTRs’ rights comprise several dimensions (for example, access to employment, fa mily reunification or social grants) but this study is mainly focused on their entitlements to move and reside within the territory of the EU. Third, the main concern of this paper is restrictions to the previously mentioned rights of both categories of persons. Fourth, the family members neither of Citizens nor TCNs are not part of the main body of this analysis. Subsequently, the e... ...and citizenship tests in several countries as a new way of selecting immigrants. Shift away from viewing integration as a positive social measure and towards predominantly viewing it as a repressive immigration measure can be noticed. Works Cited 1. Anton-Mathew-Morgan. In R. 2. Aust. In R. 3. Byers-Chesterman. In R. 4. Cassese. In R. 5. Crawford-Olleson. In R. 6. Evans. In R. 7. Fitzmaurice. In R. 8. Franca’s presentation. 9. Freestone-Salman. In R. 10. http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/United-Nations/Law-of-the-Sea.html 11. http://www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreements/convention_historical_perspective.htm 12. Openheim. In R. 13. Rio Declaration 14. Sands. In R. 15. Slide on ’The nine pillars of the common heritage of mankind’. 16. Slides on ’History’ 17. Slides on ‘Climate Change’ 18. Tuerk. In R. 19. UN Charter 20. UNHCR. In R.

Deregulation of the Electrical Industry :: essays papers

Deregulation of the Electrical Industry The roots of modern day regulation can be traced all the way back to the late 1800's and found in the form of antitrust. By the beginning of the 20th century, the U.S. government had formed the interstate Commerce Commission to regulate the railroad industry, and shortly thereafter, many other regulatory commissions were founded in the transportation, communication, and securities fields. The main goal of these regulatory commissions was to create a reasonable rate structure that would be appealing to both producers and consumers. While this system has worked for many years, it has recently come under heavy criticism, with many people pushing for open competition among electric power producers. Although once believed to be an impossible proposal, competition among electric power producers is finally a reality in a few areas. Massachusetts is just one state where legislation implemented to create competition among electric power producers is not only favored by the people of the state, but has also provided significant rate reductions as well. The attempt at regulating price in the electric industry is a troublesome one. The objective is not only to minimize the cost to consumers, but also to create a rate structure that will entice the electric company to remain in the industry. The regulatory commission wants the electric company to have a reason to innovate so that they will be able to provide cheaper power in the future. However, if the commission captures all gains from innovation in the form of lower prices, then the electric company has no incentive to undertake any type of innovation. Therefore, a compromise must be reached which would provide adequate incentives for firms to undertake cost-reducing actions while at the same time ensuring that the price for consumers is not exorbitant. The term regulation refers to government controlled restrictions on firm decisions over price, quantity, and entry and exit. Each factor of an industry must be regulated for producers and consumers to truly benefit. The control of price does not mean setting one fixed price, but rather entails the creation of a price structure for purchasing electricity during peak and non-peak times. The control of quantity refers to the government's attempt to control the amount produced or in this case the amount of electricity produced. For example, in the electric industry, it

Analysis of The Astronomers Wife by Kay Boyle :: Astronomers Wife Kay Boyle Essays Papers

Analysis of The Astronomer's Wife by Kay Boyle In the "Astronomer's Wife" by Kay Boyle, something as simple as a conversation with a plumber about a stopped elbow is enough to trigger an awakening in Mrs. Katherine Ames. When Mrs. Ames realized that the plumber was talking about something she understood (the stopped elbow), she realized that her marital problems were not the result of a division betwwen the sexes; instead, she realized that some men, like the plumber, are as practical as she is, and that some other men, like her husband, scorn people like her because they are intellectually inclined. Previous to this discovery, Katherine did not realize that there were different kinds of men, and therefore she did not realize that she and her husband were mismatched. Furthermore, in her awakening, Mrs. Ames also discovers that she, like the plumber, occupies as valuable a place in society as the astronomer, for she does the "dirty" work to free people like her husband to have time to think and to discover. The scene in question takes place after Mrs. Ames has already noticed that the plumber has a few physical characteristics that match her own (such as blond hair), and she is talking to him as he descends into the earth. The scene begins immediately after the plumber says "I think something has stopped the elbow", because this phrase was one of the few things that a man has ever said that Mrs. Ames has understood. After the plumber has descended into the ground before the scene, Mrs. Ames is the only one left. She spends the entire duration of this scene sitting on the grass, silently thinking and revealing her thoughts to the audience. During her course of thinking, Mrs. Ames makes the important discovery that there is a whole race of practical people like herself, men and women alike. She knew that "when her husband spoke of height, having no sense of it, she could not picture it nor hear", but strangely enough, when another man who happened to be a plumer spoke of his work, "madness in a daily shape, as elbow stopped, she saw clearly and well". Mrs Ames finally realized during these thoughts that these were two men with two different ways of life, and perhaps her way of life suited the plumber's more than the astronomer's, in that she too could identify only with daily concerns. The division between people in her mind was no longer just between men and women; it was now the working and the thinking, those who "had always gone up, [and] others who went down, like the

Insomnia Cookies

Organization Structure and Design at Insomnia Cookies What do you think the current organization chart at Insomnia Cookies looks like? Is this structure appropriate for its needs? Explain. What forces have most influenced the structure of Insomnia Cookies? Describe CEO and founder Seth Berkowitz’s span of management. The organization chart is quite confusing because employees of Insomnia Cookies perform beyond their role of duty that they are supposed to. An organization structure should reflect the company’s management chart and the roles and responsibilities of the employees (Lehmann, 1998).In this case, the structure is disorientated. Now, the organizational chart at Insomnia Cookie is divided in three parts, which consists of the top management, middle management, and the lower management. The Chief Executive Officer come founder sits at the part of the top management. The Marketing Director, Chief Operation Officer, Finance Director and the Operations Coordinator i n the middle part of management, while the lower management includes the marketing team, managers, bakers and delivery staffs. At Insomnia Cookies, the Manager force influenced most of the structure in the company.Every manager thinks in a different way. As factors such as experience, knowledge and values shape the person’s way of thinking and perception, some issues could occur when running a company. The executive staffs at Insomnia Cookies are lean, which consists of the Chief Executive Officer (also the founder), a Marketing Director, a Chief Operating Officer, and an Operations Coordinator. When Insomnia Cookies first formed its company, all managers were new and nobody have tried managing a company, thus solution for every issue were made and done only when something serious came up.The task force influenced the change of the activities in Insomnia Cookies. According to Certo and Certo (2012), task includes the degree of technology in performing a task. When issues abou t managing labour costs, food costs and inventory management came up, the Chief Operating Director began with a system and database to manage costs. He multitasked as he went down to store to work with the bakers while he need to manage the operation of local store marketing to ensure the local store growth to be seen as a whole to the global standard.Using the factors that were stated by Koontz (1966), the similarity of functions factor explains that the activities performed by individuals that are under the supervision of Seth Berkowitz are dissimilar. The complexity of functions factor is hard to achieve because the subordinates each have their own complex tasks. Lastly, the coordination factor and the planning factor has negative tendency when the work done needs much coordination and especially when the manager spends much time sorting out plans. With all of these, it is concluded that Seth Berkowitz’s span of management is narrow.

How Has Globalization Affected Corporate Strategy in the 21st Century Essay

In the last 21 years the notion of a multinational company has changed significantly. This is best demonstrated by the 1973 United Nations definition, which clearly stated an enterprise is multinational if it â€Å"controls assets, factories, mines, sales offices, and the like in two or more countries† (Bartlett, Ghoshal 2000 p.3). As we know a multinational corporation is much more then just that it controls foreign assets, it must also have a substantial direct investment in foreign countries, as well as engaging in some form of management of these foreign assets. The evolution of corporations over this time has been somewhat difficult and by no means is the process of change finalized. As with most things this evolution and learning process could be seen as being life long. The environment in which we operate clearly evolves each year and to stay ahead businesses are now required to stay ahead of developments to compete. Some of the slower players, such as Phillips (Bartlett 1999) merely lost market share through this evolution, others in the past and perhaps in the future will lose their businesses. To understand the importance of multinational corporations in relation to the world economy we see that they account for over 40 percent of the worlds manufacturing output, and almost a quarter of world trade (Bartlett, Ghoshal 2000 p.3). Although the focus is often on the larger players such as Ford, Procter and Gamble, or Coca Cola as time progresses it is more the smaller companies which we will need to keep an eye on, as they become important players, especially in international niche markets(Bartlett, Ghoshal 2000 p.3). Traditionally there were three motivations for most organisations to enter international markets, or to undertake investment overseas. These were: 1. Suppliers – the ongoing need to source supplies for operations (adapted from Bartlett, Ghoshal 1989, 2000). 2. Markets – seeking additional markets to sell products. Traditionally companies went international to sell excess production lines, or to meet one off needs. The market then moved to increased competition where players were keen to be the first mover to a market, so as to gain a competitive advantage. Corporations were often driven by the home country size, with the need for further consumers for ongoing viability and growth (adapted from Bartlett, Ghoshal 1989, 2000) 3. Lower Cost – by seeking production facilities which would attract lower labor costs and hence higher profits. Clothing and electronics were the first movers in this strategy, usually looking to developing countries such as China or Taiwan. This is still used somewhat today as a strategy, such as large call centers providing services in India for most Australian banks (adapted from Bartlett, Ghoshal 1989, 2000) It is not my intention to go into the advantages and disadvantages of a corporation entering an international market, or to continue to operate in an international market, beyond the above three initial drivers. What is imperative that in the 21st Century an organisation must seek a strategy that meets the organisations ongoing needs which is clear and precise so as to provide direction for future growth. Due to the ongoing worldwide demand after WWII, most organisations prospered when entering international markets. Often however the strategies to entry were ad hoc and did not provide clear objectives or guidance for ongoing management. Operations were based on an ethnocentric approach. Even though at the time they were referred to as Multinational Corporations, literature now refers to them as ‘International Corporations’. As international operations expanded and took on a more important role in the organisation, such as being a key profit centre, or perhaps a product innovation being conceived in an offshore operation, they tended to come under increased management scrutiny, such as the case with Fuji Xerox (Gomes-Casseres, McQuade 1991). This then progressed the corporation to a multinational approach, international markets being as important or even more important then the home market, which is more a polycentric approach to management. The potential from these operations were reviewed by management; the possibilities for cost reductions due to standardization moved most corporations onto the next phase being the global corporation mentality. This is that the entire world is a potential market. Retaining a image from their initial home country, such as McDonalds, they seek to enter all markets to service all customers, hence a regiocentric or geocentric philosophy of management. Bartlett and Ghoshal have gone beyond this to advocate the development of the transnational corporation. This takes the concept of global corporations one step further. Corporations to prosper in a globally competitive environment, should concentrate wherever possible on responding to cost pressures, leveraging of knowledge and information, whilst ensuring local responsiveness to consumer needs (1989 p.13). Cost reduction are imperative to ensure the ongoing viability of corporations. The sharing of costs globally for items such as R & D and mass production both provide examples of significant cost reductions, while enhancing learning and knowledge. By increasing the availability of information across the group you are more likely to also encounter a higher quality product as the innovation and knowledge is shared for the corporations greater good. Often companies forget that knowledge does not just reside in just the home country. Important information such as the local consumer market are often best to be determined by local managers so as to respond to local needs. In relation to local responsiveness Theodore Levitt (1983) provides a somewhat extreme view of the global market. His philosophy is that technological, social and economic developments over the last two decades have combined to create a unified world marketplace in which companies must capture global-scale economies to remain competitive. As we have discussed, the need to become competitive through reduction in costs is imperative for every business. However Levitt’s concept of a unified marketplace with homogenous needs has still some way to go. As researched by Procter and Gamble even how we wash our clothes differs throughout the world, sometimes even within each country. The provision of a standardized product to suit all in this industry would be a failure due to not meeting the needs of local consumers (Bartlett 1983). When we review these three elements of cost reduction, leverage of knowledge and local responsiveness we are aware that these terms are somewhat contradictory. History tells us that to provide local responsiveness you need to increase costs to increase the number of products which meet a specific consumer groups needs. The alternative is to standardize products to achieve economies of scale during production and marketing. Caterpillar has somewhat successfully implemented such a strategy. They redesigned their products around the use of standardized components. These are produced on mass through large production facilities to reduce the component costs and provide economies of scale. Machines are then transported to foreign markets where localized knowledge and components adapt the machines to the needs of local consumers (Srinivasa 1985). The overall approach is that they are able to combine all three elements of the transnational approach. Corporations also need to be aware of the increasingly complex nature of undertaking business in an international market. Social, cultural, and political environments, as well as currency fluctuations, and geographic diversity need to be considered carefully in any decision to undertake a foreign operation. It is best to research thoroughly and constantly review any strategy for overseas ventures as situations can change as in any business venture quite quickly. An example of this would be the increased use of Indonesia as a low cost production base for Australian corporations. With the increased political instability and also terrorism most corporations would be considering the ongoing viability of continuing in this market. Finally corporations need to be aware that to make any significant changes to an corporation strategy or structure it is both extremely complex, time consuming and challenging. As Ford has discovered, by constantly changing strategies to seek higher profitability, all they have been able to achieve has been another announcement of huge losses in 2001 from failed global ventures (Hill, Jones 2004 p276). The move to a transnational approach for most corporations would need to be a slow progression, while for some it is even perhaps out of reach. By focusing on the main elements of cost reduction, knowledge leveraging and local differentiation perhaps this will provide an avenue in the future for continued competitive advantage in an environment which is slowly moving towards Levitt’s concept of the ‘global village’ (1983). Perhaps the key lies with Bartlett and Ghoshal when they tell us that companies â€Å"must now respond simultaneously to diverse and often conflicting strategic needs. Today, no firm can succeed with a relatively unidimensional strategic capability that emphasizes only efficiency, or responsiveness, or leveraging of parent company knowledge and competencies. To win, a company must now achieve all three goals at the same time† (1989 p 25). REFERENCE LISTING Bartlett, Christopher A. 1983 â€Å"Case 6-1 Proctor and Gamble Europe: Vizir Launch†, taken from Bartlett, Christopher A. & Ghoshal, Sumantra 2000 Text, Cases, and Readings in Cross-Border Management, 3rd Edn, McGraw-Hill International Editions, Singapore, pp 632 – 647. Bartlett, Christopher A. & Ghoshal, Sumantra 1989 Managing Across Borders: The Transnational Solution, Harvard Business School Press, Boston Massachusetts. Barlett, Christopher A. 1999 â€Å"Case 2 -4 Phillips and Matsushita 1998: Growth of 2 Companies†, taken from Bartlett, Christopher A. & Ghoshal, Sumantra 2000 Text, Cases, and Readings in Cross-Border Management, 3rd Edn, McGraw-Hill International Editions, Singapore, pp 164 -180 Bartlett, Christopher A. & Ghoshal, Sumantra 2000 Text, Cases, and Readings in Cross-Border Management, 3rd Edn, McGraw-Hill International Editions, Singapore. Gomes-Casseres, Benjamin & McQuade, Krista 1991 â€Å"Case 4-1 Xerox and Fuji Xerox†, taken from Bartlett, Christopher A. & Ghoshal, Sumantra 2000 Text, Cases, and Readings in Cross-Border Management, 3rd Edn, McGraw-Hill International Editions, Singapore, pp 418 – 443 Hill, Charles W. L & Jones, Gareth R. 2004 Strategic Management Theory: An Integrated Approach, 6th Edn, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. Levitt, T. 1983 â€Å"The Globalization of Markets† Harvard Business Review, May – June, pp. 92 – 102. Srinivasa, Rangan V. 1985 â€Å"Case 3-1 Caterpillar Tractor Co.†, taken from Bartlett, Christopher A. & Ghoshal, Sumantra 2000 Text, Cases, and Readings in Cross-Border Management, 3rd Edn, McGraw-Hill International Editions, Singapore, pp 259 – 279.