A Summary of Durkheims Division of Labor in Society

French philosopher Emile Durkheims book The Division of Labor in Society (or De la Division du Travail Social) debuted in 1893. It was Durkheim’s first major published work, and it is the one in which he introduced the concept of anomie or the breakdown of the influence of social norms on individuals within a society. At the time, The Division of Labor in Society was influential in advancing sociological theories and thought. Major Themes Durkheim discusses how the division of labor—the establishment of specified jobs for specific people—benefits society because it increases the reproductive capacity of a process and the skill set of the workers. It also creates a feeling of solidarity among people who share those jobs. But, Durkheim says, the division of labor goes beyond economic interests: In the process, it also establishes social and moral order within a society. The division of labor can be effectuated only among members of an already constituted society, he argues. To Durkheim, the division of labor is in direct proportion to the moral density of a society. Density can happen in three ways: through an increase of the spatial concentration of peoplethrough the growth of townsthrough an increase in the number and efficacy of the means of communication When one or more of these things happen, says Durkheim, labor begins to become divided, and jobs become more specialized. At the same time, because tasks grow more complex, the struggle for meaningful existence becomes more strenuous. A major theme of the book is the difference between developing and advanced civilizations and how they perceive social solidarity. Another focus is how each type of society defines the role of law in resolving breaches in that social solidarity. Social Solidarity Durkheim argues that two kinds of social solidarity exist: mechanical solidarity and organic solidarity. Mechanical solidarity connects the individual to society without any intermediary. That is, society is organized collectively and all members of the group share the same set of tasks and core beliefs. What binds the individual to society is what Durkheim calls the collective consciousness, sometimes translated as conscience collective, meaning a shared belief system. With organic solidarity, on the other hand, society is more complex, a system of different functions united by definite relationships. Each individual must have a distinct job or task and a personality that is their own. Here, Durkheim was speaking specifically about men. Of women, the philosopher said: Today, among cultivated people, the woman leads a completely different existence from that of man. One might say that the two great functions of the psychic life are thus dissociated, that one of the sexes takes care of the effective functions and the other of intellectual functions. Framing individuals as men, Durkheim argued that individuality grows as parts of society grow more complex. Thus, society becomes more efficient at moving in sync, yet at the same time, each of its parts has more movements that are distinctly individual. According to Durkheim, the more primitive a society is, the more it is characterized by mechanical solidarity. The members of an agrarian society, for example, are more likely to resemble each other and share the same beliefs and morals. As societies become more advanced and civilized, the individual members of those societies become more distinguishable from one another. People are managers or laborers, philosophers or farmers. Solidarity becomes more organic as those societies develop their divisions of labor. The Role of Law For Durkheim, the laws of a society are the most visible symbol of social solidarity and the organization of social life in its most precise and stable form. Law plays a part in a society that is analogous to the nervous system in organisms. The nervous system regulates various bodily functions so they work together in harmony. Likewise, the legal system regulates all the parts of society so that they work together in agreement. Two types of law are present in human societies and each corresponds to the type of social solidarity those societies use: repressive law and restitutive law. Repressive law corresponds to the center of common consciousness and everyone participates in judging and punishing the perpetrator. The severity of a crime is not measured necessarily as the damage incurred to an individual victim, but rather gauged as the damage it caused the society or the social order as a whole. Punishments for crimes against the collective are typically harsh. Repressive law, says Durkheim, is practiced in mechanical forms of society. Restitutive Law as Restoration The second type of law is restitutive law, which instead focuses on the victim since there are no commonly shared beliefs about what damages society. Restitutive law corresponds to the organic state of society and works through the more specialized bodies of society, such as the courts and lawyers. This also means that repressive law and restitutory law vary directly with the degree of a society’s development. Durkheim believed that repressive law is common in primitive, or mechanical, societies where sanctions for crimes are typically made and agreed upon by the whole community. In these lower societies, crimes against the individual do occur, but in terms of seriousness, those are placed on the lower end of the penal ladder. Crimes against the community take priority in such societies, according to Durkheim, because the evolution of the collective conscious is widespread and strong while the division of labor has not yet happened. The more a society becomes civilized and the division of labor is introduced, the more restitutory law takes place. Historical Context Durkheim wrote his book at the height of the industrial age. How people fit into Frances new social order surfaced as a principal source of trouble for the rapidly industrial society. The pre-industrial social groups comprised family and neighbors, but as the Industrial Revolution continued, people found new cohorts at their jobs, creating new social groups with co-workers. Dividing society into small labor-defined groups, says Durkheim, required an increasingly centralized authority to regulate relations between the different groups. As a visible extension of that state, law codes needed to evolve as well, to maintain the orderly operation of social relations by conciliation and civil law rather than by penal sanctions. Durkheim based his discussion of organic solidarity on a dispute he had with Herbert Spencer, who claimed that industrial solidarity is spontaneous and that there is no need for a coercive body to create or maintain it. Spencer believed that social harmony is simply established by itself, an idea with which Durkheim disagreed. Much of this book, then, involves Durkheim arguing with Spencer’s stance and pleading his own views on the topic. Criticism Durkheims primary objective was to evaluate the social changes related to industrialization and to better understand its ills. But British legal philosopher Michael Clarke argues that Durkheim fell short by lumping a variety of societies into two groups: industrialized and non-industrialized. Durkheim didnt see or acknowledge the wide range of non-industrialized societies, instead imagining industrialization as the historical watershed that separated goats from sheep. American scholar Eliot Freidson pointed out that theories about industrialization tend to define labor in terms of the material world of technology and production. Freidson says that such divisions are created by an administrative authority without consideration of the social interaction of its participants. American sociologist Robert Merton noted that as a positivist, Durkheim adopted the methods and criteria of the physical sciences to examine the social laws that arose during industrialization. But physical sciences, rooted in nature, simply cant explain the laws that have arisen from mechanization. The Division of Labor also has a gender problem, according to American sociologist Jennifer Lehman. She argues that Durkheims book contains sexist contradictions. Durkheim conceptualizes individuals as men but women as separate and nonsocial beings. By using this framework, the philosopher entirely missed out on the role of women have played in both industrial and pre-industrial societies. Sources Clarke, Michael. Durkheims Sociology of Law. British Journal of Law and Society Vol. 3, No. 2., Cardiff University,1976, Cardiff, Wales. Durkheim, Emile. On the Division of Labor in Society. Trans. Simpson, George. The MacMillan Company, 1933. New York.Freidson, Eliot. The Division of Labor as Social Interaction. Social Problems, Vol. 23 No. 3, Oxford University Press, 1976, Oxford, U.K.Gehlke, C. E. Reviewed Work: of  On the Division of Labor in Society, Emile Durkheim, George Simpson Columbia Law Review, 1935, New York.Jones, Robert Alun. Ambivalent Cartesians: Durkheim, Montesquieu, and Method. American Journal of Sociology, 1994, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Kemper, Theodore D. The Division of Labor: A Post–Durkheimian Analytical View. American Sociological Review, 1972, American Sociological Association, Washington, D.C.Lehmann, Jennifer M. Durkheims Theories of Deviance and Suicide: A Feminist Reconsideration. American Journal of Sociology, University of Chicag o Press, 1995, Chicago.Merton, Robert K. Durkheims Division of Labor in Society. American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 40, No. 3, University of Chicago Press, 1934, Chicago.

Global Warming Our Future On A Hotter Planet - 1855 Words

Over the past half century, global warming rates have increased by an unprecedented amount. As the earth’s changing climate becomes a pertinent issue for nature and human society, climate scientists continue to make predictions about how rising temperatures will affect the whole planet in the future. Notably, environmental activist Mark Lynas examines aspects of global warming, like rising sea levels, natural disasters, and overall temperature changes in his book â€Å"Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet.† Lynas takes into account â€Å"state of the art research† to assess the degree by degree forecast for the 21st century. While Lynas and climate scientists agree that global warming is underway, Lynas tends to be overstated in his†¦show more content†¦The impact of this warm period is seen in the increase in â€Å"warm days† and decrease in â€Å"cold days† throughout the year (IPCC). In addition, a major contributor to global warmi ng is the release of greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide. One prediction forecasts the rise in temperatures from 1990 to 2100 to be between 1.7 and 4.9 degrees â€Å"in the absence of climate mitigation policies (Sciencemag).† Although very high, these figures indicate that global warming is concerning to climate scientists, and should be viewed as a prevailing problem by all humans. Evidence of global warming’s intensifying effects is seen in Africa, where the spread of disease is becoming uncontrollable. Although Lynas’ predictions are generally too severe, and cannot be proven by the earth’s current physical state, he was correct in his claims that global warming is influencing the rate of disease transmission. As a result of increasing temperatures, the spread of harmful diseases in Africa is constantly being exacerbated. Lynas argues that the wet and warm conditions brought by a combination of increased temperatures, and higher rates of rainfall an d flooding, will allow bacteria causing diseases like malaria and dengue fever to thrive. As a result, these floods will carry the deadly diseases over longer distances, allowing them to impact a wider range of populations, both human and livestock. As of 2015, Lynas’ predictions do not seem to be overstated. With temperatures

Rubin The Hurricane Carter Essay Example For Students

Rubin The Hurricane Carter Essay Rubin Hurricane Carter The movie that was analyzed was The Hurricane starring Denzel Washington. The movie was based on a true story, which was about a boxer who was wrongfully accused for murders he did not commit. Rubin Carter had been a victim of racial prejudice since the age of 11. From that time on he had been haunted by the racial prejudice that would take most of his natural life away from him. At the age of fifty he ended up going to the Supreme courts to get his trial heard and at this time he was set free. This is a short summary leaving a lot to be unsaid, but I believe the portrayal will tell most of the story in itself. In the beginning of the movie one can tell that the less developed, or slums, was where Rubin Carter was forced to grow up. This is an example of minority group status and stratification. This society was one where African Americans did not have access to wealth, power, prestige, or income. With this type of environment forces these African Americans to be more prone to violence and criminal acts. So as a kid Rubin was involved with a crime where an older white male came up to him and his friends down by the local river. This male was trying to molest one of the little boys, so Rubin threw a bottle at him and they ran. The man caught up to them and got a hold of Rubin and threatened to throw him over the edge of a cliff, so Rubin at age 11 pulled a knife and stabbed him in the arm to get away. The police caught him and since the older man was a public figure, Rubin Carter was sentenced to a juvenile detention center until the age of thirteen. This was the first time that we seen the racial prejudice from the head police chief towards Carter. The next principle that was expressed in this movie was pure discrimination. While Carter was in his confinement he used his anger to become a professional boxer. When he was released he pursued this and done well enough to get a title fight. In this title fight he beat this guy in every aspect of boxing, but the judges who were all white ruled unanimously in the favor of the other guy. They were afraid to take the title way from a white male and give it to a black man. This is where we started to see Rubins attitude toward the white person change, he started expressing his feelings to people but playing them off like he was joking. You could say that he was becoming prejudice himself. Because he was expressing these feelings and it was getting into the press accidentally, Rubin started having more people vandalizing his house and harassing him because he was talking about how he hated the nigger hating cops. The racist police officer had it set in his mind that Rubin Carter was a menace to society and he was going to do everything in his power to take him down. These things that Rubin was saying even made the cop want to put him away more. So the first chance he could get something on him he would. So it happened and the cop tried to pin a murder on Rubin Carter and another black man that was with him at the time of the murder. There was an instance that we saw an instance of stereotyping by other cops in that district. When they were out looking for the murderers they were told to look for two black men in a white car. .uf19617a5f638939bfebf85b4d857b5a9 , .uf19617a5f638939bfebf85b4d857b5a9 .postImageUrl , .uf19617a5f638939bfebf85b4d857b5a9 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uf19617a5f638939bfebf85b4d857b5a9 , .uf19617a5f638939bfebf85b4d857b5a9:hover , .uf19617a5f638939bfebf85b4d857b5a9:visited , .uf19617a5f638939bfebf85b4d857b5a9:active { border:0!important; } .uf19617a5f638939bfebf85b4d857b5a9 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uf19617a5f638939bfebf85b4d857b5a9 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uf19617a5f638939bfebf85b4d857b5a9:active , .uf19617a5f638939bfebf85b4d857b5a9:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uf19617a5f638939bfebf85b4d857b5a9 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uf19617a5f638939bfebf85b4d857b5a9 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uf19617a5f638939bfebf85b4d857b5a9 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uf19617a5f638939bfebf85b4d857b5a9 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uf19617a5f638939bfebf85b4d857b5a9:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uf19617a5f638939bfebf85b4d857b5a9 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uf19617a5f638939bfebf85b4d857b5a9 .uf19617a5f638939bfebf85b4d857b5a9-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uf19617a5f638939bfebf85b4d857b5a9:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Philosophy Of Jeremy Bentham Essay When Carter was approached in his car he was told by the police that they were looking for two black men in a white car, Rubin replied with any two will do? Another stereotyping incident that was pinned on Rubin was during the trial they used the evidence that the killings were racially motivated. They thought that since Rubin expressed his opinion of the cops publicly he would attack the whites by charging into an institutionally discriminatory bar and kill the people .

The Economic Environment of the UAE

Introduction The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is currently experiencing a positive economic growth. The UAE has â€Å"an economic freedom score of 71.4† (Young, 2014, p. 8). This fact makes the UAE has become one of the freest markets in the globe. The region’s economy has been showing new improvements.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on The Economic Environment of the UAE specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The UAE region has been using powerful incentives in order to support its economic position. According to Young (2014, p. 19), â€Å"the UAE’s economy is the second largest in the Middle East†. The region’s GDP stands at 377 trillion US dollars. The region is currently diversifying its economy. However, the government obtains over 30 percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from oil. This essay examines the opportunities and challenges associated with the region’s eco nomy. The Economic Environment of UAE The economic environment of a region will determine its performance. Many people will invest in every country with a positive economic environment. The economic indicators of the UAE are making the region admirable. Dubai is one of the monarchies forming the United Arab Emirates. Dubai has become the center of commerce and tourism (Young, 2014). The UAE also offers new incentives to ensure every person achieve his or her goals. For example, the UAE has formed many free trade zones. Such zones encourage many investors to support their business activities. These regions have â€Å"zero taxation thus supporting the goals of many entrepreneurs† (Hill, 2011, p. 12). The UAE offers subsidized services to its people. Many individuals are currently experiencing the best opportunities. The region also exports oil and gas. This economic activity has increased the government’s revenues. The UAE government uses such revenues to support small-s cale businesses. The UAE produces â€Å"the best opportunities thus making the region attractive to both local and foreign investors† (Young, 2014, p. 65). This situation explains why many investors are doing business in the UAE.  The legal aspects of the UAE continue to support its economy. For instance, the region is not corrupt (Jones, 2005).Advertising Looking for assessment on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The monarchies promote the best judicial practices. The political leadership of the region discourages many business malpractices. This practice is currently promoting the economy of the region. There is â€Å"no income tax in the UAE† (Young, 2014, p. 48). This economic situation makes it easier for many individuals to achieve their potentials. The region uses most of its revenues to promote the best economic activities. The UAE has streamlined most of its business policies. For e xample, many people can start their businesses within ten days. The process is also â€Å"efficient and less costly† (Young, 2014, p. 65). The government supports the best employment regulations. The practice has made it easier for many investors to achieve their goals. Many individuals have managed to launch their businesses within the shortest time possible. Employment laws and regulations are also flexible in the UAE. The presence of open markets makes the UAE admirable to many investors. The â€Å"United Arab Emirates presents an average tariff of 3.7 percent† (Hill, 2011, p. 73). According to many economists, non-tariff issues do not discourage many people from investing in UAE. Many foreign investors are able to own property in the region. This practice has made it easier for them to achieve their goals. Islamic banking â€Å"is also common thus promoting the economic expectations of many entrepreneurs† (Young, 2014, p. 69). The presence of state-owned ban ks has made it easier for the region to achieve its goals. It is agreeable that the UAE economy presents a wide range of opportunities. The above strengths will â€Å"encourage more investors to focus on the region† (Young, 2014, p. 72). On the other hand, the economy of the United Arab Emirates faces a number of weaknesses. Such threats have discouraged many individuals from doing business in the region (Young, 2014). To begin with, the region’s income is obtained from gas and oil. The government should therefore diversity its economy in order to achieve the best outcomes. The government can identify new sources of income such as agriculture and tourism. Many foreigners are â€Å"only allowed to own land and property in specific areas† (Hill, 2011, p. 102). This issue discourages many investors from doing business in the UAE. The UAE government should use the best strategies in order to support the needs of these investors. This practice will make the region on e of the best business destinations.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on The Economic Environment of the UAE specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The issue of terrorism is a common problem in the United Arab Emirates. The Arab World (AW) is currently associated radicalism. Many Muslims have â€Å"been controlling different functions and policies† (Young, 2014, p. 89). Many â€Å"people have been avoiding the region because terrorism is a real challenge† (Young, 2014, p. 173). This problem discourages many people from visiting the UAE. The UAE is also associated with an unpleasant climate. This situation has made it impossible for many individuals to do business in the region. Conclusion The United Arab Emirates has a powerful economy. The region is currently diversifying its economic activities n order to become a major player in the globe. The region also obtains its income from different non-oil sec tors (Jones, 2005). The legal frameworks experienced in the UAE are supporting many businesses. This discussion encourages the UAE government to address the major threats affecting its economy. The practice will eventually support UAE’s economy. Reference List Hill, C. (2011). International Business, Competing in the Global Market. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Jones, G. (2005). Multinationals and Global Capitalism. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Young, K. (2014). The Political Economy of Energy, Finance and Security in the United Arab Emirates. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.Advertising Looking for assessment on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This assessment on The Economic Environment of the UAE was written and submitted by user Eli W. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

President George Herbert Walker Bush essays

President George Herbert Walker Bush essays George Herbert Walker Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts on June 12, 1924 the second of five children of Prescott Sheldon Bush and Dorothy Walker Bush. His mother Dorothy was the daughter of a wealthy investor, and his father Prescott was an investment banker and US Senator from Connecticut. As a child, George attended private schools in Greenwich, Connecticut, and later the prestigious Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. On his 18th birthday, he joined the US Naval Reserve and became the youngest pilot in the Navy when he received his wings at the age of 20. As carrier pilot during World War II, he was shot down by Japanese fire over the Pacific Ocean and was rescued from the water by a U. S. submarine. Following this mission he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for bravery in action as well as three Air Medals. Discharged in 1945, he returned to his family in Greenwich. Later that year he married Barbara Pierce, with whom he had six children, including current president George W. Bush. Also, he continued his education by enrolling at Yale University, following a family tradition. While there, he joined the exclusive Skull and Bones society. He majored in economics, completed college in three years and graduated with Phi Beta Kappa honors in 1948. After graduating, he was offered a position in his fathers firm, but rejected it for a position at Dresser Industries, working in the west Texas oil fields. In 1953, he co-founded the Zapata Petroleum Corporation, and in 1954 he co-founded and became president of the Zapata Offshore Company. Georges political career began when he ran for the United States Senate in 1964, and was defeated. He didnt give up though and went on to become the first Republican to represent Houston in the House of Representatives in 1966.In 1970, Bush was defeated once again in running for the United States Senate. As a consolation, president Richard Nixon appointed Bus...

Big Problems with Massive Open Online Courses

Big Problems with Massive Open Online Courses Massive  Open Online Courses (commonly known as MOOCs) are free, publicly-available classes with high enrollment. With MOOCs, you can enroll in a course at no cost, do as much work as you please, and learn just about anything from computer science to transcendental poetry. Platforms like EdX, Coursera, and Udacity bring together colleges and professors that want to contribute to the field of open education. The Atlantic called MOOCs the single most important experiment in higher education and theres no doubt that they are changing the way we learn. However, not everything in the world of open education is going well. As MOOCs have become more popular, their problems have become more pronounced. Hello†¦Is Anybody Out There? One of the biggest problems with MOOCs is their impersonal nature. In many cases, thousands of students enroll in a single section with a single instructor. Sometimes the instructor is only a facilitator rather than the course creator, and other times the instructor is absent altogether. Assignments designed to be interactive such as group discussions can reinforce the impersonal nature of these large courses. Its hard enough for a class of 30 to get to know each other, forget learning the names of your 500 peers. For some subjects, particularly those that are math and science heavy, this isnt a major problem. But, arts and humanities course traditionally rely on in-depth discussion and debate. Learners often feel that they are missing something when they study in isolation. A Student Without Feedback In traditional classrooms, the point of instructor feedback isnt just to rank students. Ideally, students are able to learn from feedback and catch future mistakes. Unfortunately, in-depth feedback simply isnt possible in most MOOCs. Many instructors teach unpaid and even the most generous simply arent capable of correcting hundreds or thousands of papers a week. In some cases, MOOCs provide automatic feedback in the form of quizzes or interactives. However, without a mentor, some students find themselves repeating the same mistakes over and over again. Few Make it to the Finish Line MOOCS: Many will try but few will pass. Those high enrollment numbers may be deceiving. When enrollment is nothing more than a few mouse clicks, getting a class of 1000 can be simple. People find out through social media, blog posts, or internet surfing and enroll in just a couple minutes. But, they soon fall behind or forget to log in to the course from the beginning. In many cases, this isnt a negative. It gives the student the chance to try out a subject without risk and allows access to materials for those that may not be willing to make a larger time commitment. However, for some students, the low completion rate means that they just werent able to stay on top of the work. The self-motivated, work-as-you-please atmosphere doesnt work for everyone. Some students thrive in a more structured environment with set deadlines and in-person motivation. Forget About the Fancy Paper Currently, theres no way to earn a degree by taking MOOCs. There has been a lot of talk about awarding credit for MOOC completion, but little action has been taken. Although there are a few ways to earn college credit, its best to think about MOOCs as a way to enrich your life or further your education without receiving formal recognition. Academia is About the Money - At Least a Little Open education has offered many benefits to students. But, some worry about the negative repercussions to teachers. In many cases, professors are developing and teaching MOOCs (as well as providing e-textbooks) for free. While professorial pay has never been particularly high, instructors used to be able to count on making a supplemental income from research, textbook writing, and additional teaching assignments. When professors become expected to do more for free, one of two things will happen: colleges will need to adjust salaries accordingly or many of the most talented academics will find work elsewhere. Students benefit when they learn from the best and brightest, so this is a concern that will increasingly affect everyone in the academic sphere.

The impact of Japanisation, lean production and high performance work Essay

The impact of Japanisation, lean production and high performance work practices in the UK Workplace - Essay Example The effectiveness of these techniques in practice has led many managers internationally to adopt these techniques; in this way the so-called ‘japanisation’ has become a common phenomenon within modern firms (referring to the management styles used throughout modern organizations). In most cases, the effectiveness of Japanese management techniques is based on the radical increase of employees’ performance; lean production as developed primarily by Toyota is extensively used by firms within the modern market in order to support the improvement of organizational performance: a target that is being achieved in most cases. On the other hand, because there are cases where the adaptation of Japanese management techniques do not lead to the increase of the employees’ performance (and the following increase of the firm’s profitability) it is necessary to identify the key elements of the Japanese techniques’ potential failure ensuring at the same time t hat alternative management techniques – effective ones – will be available to managers worldwide. The design and the development of management practices in workplace should be decided taking into account the cultural and social characteristics of the specific region. The culture of the particular organization should be also taken into consideration. The specific issue was examined by Soutar et al. (1999, 203) who noticed that ‘culture is an important idea as it deals with the way people live and approach problem solving in a social and organizational context’. In accordance with the above view, management practices in countries around the world are expected to present significant differences; however it has been proved in the literature and the empirical research that in modern workplace the practices followed by managers are similar; it’s just the fact that this similarity is further increased when referring to firms established in the same country.

Personal development through reflective practice Essay

Personal development through reflective practice - Essay Example ts on a monthly basis with all of the heads of service within the council Senior Management Group to make sure that all of the senior managers within the council have a regular opportunity to keep up to date with the latest changes and/or issues which are taking shape. Their stipulated task and the agenda is to Provide strategic advice to the council, ensuring that the policy objectives of the council are incorporated within the work programmers of services; Lead and/or manage the development of major strategies; Provide information and support to councilors, managers and staff; Manage the performance of the directors and heads of service to enable services to implement the councils policies efficiently and effectively; Oversee the development of working relationships between councilors and staff; Ensure the health of the organization (values, culture, expectations and structures);Provide the lead on corporate and inter-agency initiatives to achieve an integrated approach for issues which fall outside of traditional service delivery mechanisms; Co-ordinate the councils work with partner organizations and to establish working relationships with their representatives; Represent the council in local, regional and national debates and Deal with the re solution of conflict. The primary agenda of the counsel is to ensue that the children are developed to their full potential and are brought in a stable, safe and a secure environment. The real deal lies in improving upon their educational attainment and to help even the most vulnerable children and young people to groom them and become better individuals in the long run. Would be to Enabling all children and young people to fulfil their potential, Promoting their safety, care and stability, improving their educational attainment and to enable the most vulnerable children and young people in the Council to develop to their full potential The real strength of the department lies in the wide pool of staff knowledge

Bottled Water Essay Example for Free

Bottled Water Essay Bottled water is one of the easiest ways for getting good water. Bottled water is every where in offices, airplanes, stores, homes and restaurants across the country. People think that bottled water is the best option for their health instead of drinking tap water because they say tap water is not completely pure. What they dont know is that tap water is the same as drinking bottled water because industries like Nestle gives us tap water in plastic bottles. Plastic bottles contain many chemicals that damage our system by giving us different diseases. This increases the risk of people getting diseases while years pass. People dont research enough about how is bottled water is made and how they are just taking away our money in this type of products. Before watching the video about bottled water, I realized how bottled water affects our system like a person and how it affects our environment. After watching the video I really didnt drank bottled water because I am an ecologic person. I have always recycled bottles and in my old school I promoted ways to recycle bottles, and why to recycle. I realized all the pollution is going on in the earth and I like to keep it clean. Even if I am the only person who is recycling one person makes some how some difference for the planet to breath at least a little bit. It makes me sad how people dont care about our planet knowing all the struggles and the lack of resources we now have. I have my personal plastic bottled to refill to drink water. This is some how good for the planet because we can use one water bottled and drink tap water and recycle. If industries like Nestle are giving us tap water in their fancy plastic bottles to make us believe that they are giving us pure water, why not drink tap water if it is the same. In reality, bottled water is just water. Bottle water means garbage, plastic bottles just makes more garbage in the planet and not all of them are recycled as the recycled industries say they are. Most of them end in the Pacific Ocean, rivers, lakes, etc. Plastic bottles besides killing us with their chemicals they also kill animals. This plastic bottles end up in lakes and in natural environments. Fish, birds, and other animals end up eating some how plastic because it is in their environment, this increases the percentage of animals dying in our natural environment; causing endangered animals. It makes me sad how people knowing how plastic bottles or even in my Earth Science class know how tap water is the same as bottled water are the same and they keep buying them. Why not buy your own plastic water and drink tap water if it is going to be the same kind of product and this way we can recycle by using the same water bottle many times, and drinking the same product that industries like Nestle are providing us in bottled water. I hope that with this critical analysis some of my classmates realize how bottled water is bad for their health and how bottled water damage not only us but also our environment. There are many things going on besides bottled water polluting our environment and damage other living animals. Lets no be selfish and take in consideration all of this information. http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw/faq/pdfs/fs_healthseries_bottlewater.pdf http://www.rd.com/health/rethink-what-you-drink/ http://www.chem.duke.edu/~jds/cruise_chem/water/wattap.html http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/tapped/

The Metamorphosis Essay :: essays research papers

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  From this story, I inferred that suffering is a necessary component of a healthy mind. Every member of the Samsa family experiences this suffering and their spirit and will are awakened by it. They all undergo a painful metamorphosis, Gregor's being the most dramatic. The complacent relationship between Gregor and his family is shattered one morning and their roles are basically reversed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To feel an obligation to an unpleasant task and to have others depend on you is to have a sense of purpose. It is a basic human need that makes one feel venerable and deserving. The most glaring evidence for this theory is the tradition of serving one's country in the military, which Gregor has done. Self-sacrifice and hard work are what enable us to look people in the eye.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is this need which was Gregor's motivation for trudging on through a job which he despises. He is like a bottom-feeder for other people's love and respect. He maintains a spark of real intimacy for his sister, which later surfaces when he hears her playing the violin to the guests. At that moment he realizes what he has been starving for as he plays out in his mind the fantasy of keeping her in his room, having her play to him, kissing her, and telling her his plans of sending her to a music school. This gaining of Grete's love and appreciation is the reward Gregor feels he has earned through his suffering. When he hears his family's decision that he is in no way a human being and must be gotten rid of, he realises that his hope will never be realised. He dies alone shortly after this, as if he is giving up.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is this way of life which each member of Gregor's family fights to attain. His father, after becoming basically an invalid through five years of inactivity, quickly becomes strong and capable through his new job. He clings to this new responsibility, wearing his uniform constantly. He even sleeps in it 'in extreme discomfort, and yet quite peacefully.'; Gregor's mother did most of the house work and 'great piles of sewing.'; Grete became the one to take care of Gregor. Even though she soon started to despise this job, it was still very important to her. She becomes very upset at her mother for trying to clean Gregor's room, taking that responsibility away from Grete.

Dealing With Video Games’ Problems Essay

In present-day society, with the Internet technologies developing rapidly, video games have assumed an increasingly crucial role in people’s lives. Admittedly, video games may attract lots of people, and gaming industry has achieved a good success. However, there are many problems with video games such as game addiction of China’s youth and the utilitarian behaviors of the game companies so that it is important to reinforce the regulation of video games. The most severe problem caused by video games is gaming addiction, especially for China’s youth. â€Å"The youth of China are the most plugged-in, an alarming statistics shows that 42% report feeling addicted to the video games, according to Dr. Tao, who set up China’s first Internet addiction clinic at the Military General Hospital in Beijing† (Dubois). Addiction is an appropriate word to describe those game players who immerse themselves in the virtual world of video games and cannot control themselves. â€Å"Long-term Internet addiction would result in brain structural alterations, which probably contributed to chronic dysfunction† (Dubois). â€Å"People’s Daily reported a 14-year-old boy who died after a four storey fall due to hallucinations brought on by his obsession with the popular video game Legend.† (Dubois). Also, other similar tragedies happened because of the addiction. According to China Daily and The Guardian, two Chinese teen agers from different places committed suicide by  jumping from buildings after playing World of War Craft (WOW) for dozens of hours (Dubois). Therefore, it is apparent from these facts that China is facing a problem of gaming addiction. Moreover, the problems are also caused by the utilitarian gaming industry. Game companies are utilitarian that they do not consider the effect that their games will bring to the players but just care about their profit. To attract more kids, â€Å"Game console sell gift cards at convenience stores that allow kids to make purchases on video games, even if they don’t have a credit card† (Henn 4). This will make some kids play video games without their parents’ permission and may even cause addiction and family conflicts. Henn states â€Å"Researchers in game companies tweak games to get players to stay on longer, or to encourage them to spent money on digital goods† (2) and â€Å"the idea is to make gamers uncomfortable, frustrate them, take away their powers, crush their forts—and then, at the last second, offer them a way out for a price† (3). Young players may not have ability to make money, but they spend more and more â€Å"virtual curren cy (paid for with real cash)† (Clendenin) to get the latest and best virtual gaming equipment, which may even cause crimes. People’s Daily reported that a 19-year-old college student stole 20,000 RMB at school in order to pay for the expensive virtual commodities in his favorite video game. Thus, unethical behaviors of gaming industry are also serious problems to solve. Regulations on video games may help to alleviate the severe situation. But to eradicate these problems, the Chinese government must have regulations that are powerful enough. Although the Chinese government has already built up some regulations on video games, these regulations may be not sufficient. In April 2007, the Chinese government introduced  some regulations to deal with such situation. It introduced an anti-addiction system that required the players register with their real name and ID number and will limit the time players spend in their virtual world (Clendenin). â€Å"There is also a total ban on minors handling virtual currency, used by many online games† (Clendenin). The system indeed prevents players from overindulging in online games to some extent. However, the system is not as effective as expected since players just turn to other games after limited hours or they use fake registration information and change it frequently. Meanwhile, the game companies, which depend so much on video games for profit, will also invent more â€Å"countermeasures to cope with these regulations†(Clendenin). So if these regulations have no supporting measures, they may well become an ineffective attempt to solve these complicated issues. Hence, in order to eradicate the problems caused by video games, the Chinese government should have more powerful regulations on video games. To sum up, video games now indeed have caused serious problems for China’s youth. After knowing the reasons for the problems, to deal with such situation, reinforcing the regulation of video games is essential to help solve the rigorous problems in China. Works Cited â€Å"Multitasking After 60: Video Game Boosts Focus, Mental Agility.† Shots. Writ. Jon Hamilton. NPR, 4 Sept. 2013. Radio. â€Å"Video Game Creators Are Using Apps To Teach Empathy.† All Tech Consider. Writ. Steven Henn. NPR, 20 Nov. 2013. Radio â€Å"How Video Games Are Getting Inside Your Head—And Wallet.† All Tech Consider. Writ. Steven Henn. NPR, 29 Oct. 2013. Radio Zhang, Zeoy. â€Å"Has China’s Online Gaming Addiction Become an Epidemic?† The Diplomat. The Diplomat, 4 Oct. 2013. Web. 13 Feb. 2014. Clendenin, Mike. â€Å"China Tightens Online Gaming Regulations.† InformationWeek. N. p., 25 June 2010. Web. 20 Mar 2014 Dubois, Matthew. â€Å"Log in, sign out.† The World of Chinese. N. p., 9 Mar 2013. Web. 20 Mar 2014

Advertising Principles And Practice

However the Effie is one important award which is given for effectiveness (visit EFFIE Worldwide at mad. Effie. Org ) The New York American Marketing Association introduced these awards in 1968 and it honors the ‘real world' work of agency/client partnerships that create, manage, and build brands In August 1996 Ionians launched one of the most memorable ads – lively, music-filled commercials featured dogs, dolls, a grinning Japanese man, and the tag line â€Å"Enjoy the Ride† yet the campaign failed as no car was shown and Ionians lost share and posted losses that year Characteristics of Effective AdsTypes of Advertising The Ideas and Struck are examples of Brand Advertising which is most visible and some commercials use humor to create brand awareness Retail or Local Advertising focuses on retailers or manufacturers in small areas tit objective of stimulating store traffic and create distinctive image for store or manufacturer e. G. White Wave Political / Directo ry Advertising Politicians advertise to vote for them or their ideas as in ASSAI and some other countries. Critics feel this can focus more on image than on issues, and voters concentrate on the emotional parts ignoring the critical differences Directory advertising helps people in how to buy products and services e. G.Yellow Pages Direct-Response advertising can use any medium including Direct mail and tries to stimulate sales directly and Internet helps here How Ad Agencies are Organized Account Management acts as liaison be;en the client and the agency. Once the client establishes the guidelines for a campaign and perhaps even one advertisement, accounts management handles day-to-day progress Creative Development and Production includes copy,'rites, art directors, producers, master creators, coaches, etc Media Planning and Buying – plans, buys and researches on the use of different media Account Planning and Research act as strategic specialists who prepare recommendations about consumers wants, needs and relationship to the client's brand, and how advertising should work to satisfy those needsInternal Services includes traffic department, print production, financial services, and human resources or personnel a-to-8 Advertising and Institutional Advertising B-to-B includes messages directed to retailers, wholesalers, and distributors and also to industrial purchasers, professionals like lawyers, physicians but not to general consumers through professional journals This is also called corporate advertising and aims to establish corporate identity or winning public over to the company's point of view e. G. Tobacco companies are running ads on positive things they are doing, also ads for pharmacy companies Public Service / Interactive In Public Service Announcements (AAAS) the message is on behalf of good causes like stopping drunk driving or preventing child abuse. These ads are usually created by ad professionals free of charge and the media often don ate space and time Interactive advertising is delivered to individual consumers who have access to computer and internet.

Free Essays on The Compare And Contrast Of Oedipus And Hamlet

The Compare and Contrast of Oedipus and Hamlet Since the beginning of time, a battle between good and evil has always been waged. This idea has been incorporated into many stories throughout the development of literature. Two classic examples of this timeless conflict are Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Sophocles’ Oedipus. Oedipus and Hamlet, are both exposed to incestuous marriage, and experience madness. In the two plays, Oedipus and Hamlet are unconsciously exposed to incest. After Oedipus unknowingly kills the former king, he enters the City of Thebes after solving the Sphinx’s riddle and freeing the citizens of her morbid tax, the people choose him to be their new king. Along with his kingship, he marries the former kings wife, Jocasta, who tragically, is Oedipus’ true mother. Similarly, Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius who also kill’s the former king, by pouring poison â€Å"in the Porches† of his ears while he lay asleep in the garden (1.5.63). Then marries the queen, Gertrude, being the mother of Hamlet: Hamlet states, â€Å" the funeral baked meats/Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables† (1.2. 180-81). Here, Hamlet is saying that the food that was served at his father’s funeral was still fresh enough to serve at his mother and uncle’s wedding, indicating their wedding was too soon after the death of the king. Although Oedipus and Jocasta’s marriage was incestuous, they did not know that the prophecies were true. Oedipus tells Jocasta, â€Å"He said that I would be my Mother’s lover, show offspring to mankind they could not look at, and be his murderer whose seed I am† (2. 796-799). Claudius and Gertrude were very aware of their incestuous marriage, and Oedipus and Jocasta were not. Both Oedipus and Hamlet experience a kind of madness. Oedipus, after realizing he killed the former king and married his mother, went crazy: Wildly he ran to each of us, asking for his spear and for his wife: no wife where ... Free Essays on The Compare And Contrast Of Oedipus And Hamlet Free Essays on The Compare And Contrast Of Oedipus And Hamlet The Compare and Contrast of Oedipus and Hamlet Since the beginning of time, a battle between good and evil has always been waged. This idea has been incorporated into many stories throughout the development of literature. Two classic examples of this timeless conflict are Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Sophocles’ Oedipus. Oedipus and Hamlet, are both exposed to incestuous marriage, and experience madness. In the two plays, Oedipus and Hamlet are unconsciously exposed to incest. After Oedipus unknowingly kills the former king, he enters the City of Thebes after solving the Sphinx’s riddle and freeing the citizens of her morbid tax, the people choose him to be their new king. Along with his kingship, he marries the former kings wife, Jocasta, who tragically, is Oedipus’ true mother. Similarly, Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius who also kill’s the former king, by pouring poison â€Å"in the Porches† of his ears while he lay asleep in the garden (1.5.63). Then marries the queen, Gertrude, being the mother of Hamlet: Hamlet states, â€Å" the funeral baked meats/Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables† (1.2. 180-81). Here, Hamlet is saying that the food that was served at his father’s funeral was still fresh enough to serve at his mother and uncle’s wedding, indicating their wedding was too soon after the death of the king. Although Oedipus and Jocasta’s marriage was incestuous, they did not know that the prophecies were true. Oedipus tells Jocasta, â€Å"He said that I would be my Mother’s lover, show offspring to mankind they could not look at, and be his murderer whose seed I am† (2. 796-799). Claudius and Gertrude were very aware of their incestuous marriage, and Oedipus and Jocasta were not. Both Oedipus and Hamlet experience a kind of madness. Oedipus, after realizing he killed the former king and married his mother, went crazy: Wildly he ran to each of us, asking for his spear and for his wife: no wife where ...

Course of Study for 6th Grade

Course of Study for 6th Grade Sixth grade is an eagerly-anticipated time of transition for most tweens. The middle school years can be both exciting and challenging. Sixth through 8th-grades often mean higher expectations and more responsibility for students academically. They can also be emotionally-challenging years as students reach adolescence. Language Arts A typical course of study in language arts for sixth grade includes components of reading, writing, grammar, spelling, and vocabulary. Students will read a variety of genres including fiction and non-fiction; biographies; poetry; and plays. They will also read more complex texts across the curriculum in subjects such as science and social studies.   Sixth-graders will learn to use techniques such as to cause and effect or compare and contrast  to analyze the plot, characters, and central theme of a  text. Writing shifts to more complex compositions regarding the content and length of time spent on assignments. Students may write long-term research papers or spend a week or more developing a more elaborate narrative. Writing assignments should also include expository and persuasive essays,  autobiographies, and letters. As more proficient writers, sixth-graders will learn to vary their sentence structure for more expressive writing and avoid using a passive voice.  They will use  tools such as a thesaurus to include more varied and descriptive vocabulary. Grammar also becomes more complex and should cover, identifying parts of speech such as direct and indirect objects; predicate adjective; and transitive and intransitive verbs. Students will begin to learn Greek and Latin roots to help them analyze and understand unfamiliar vocabulary.   Math Sixth-grade students have a solid grasp of foundational math skills and are ready to move on to more complex concepts and computations.   A typical course of study for 6th-grade math includes working with negative and rational numbers; ratios, proportion, and percent; reading, writing, and solving  equations with variables; and using the order of operations to solve problems. Students are introduced to statistical thinking using  mean, median, variability, and range. Geometry topics include finding the area, volume, and surface area of polygons such as triangles and quadrilaterals; and determining the diameter, radius, and  circumference of circles. Science In sixth grade, students continue to use the scientific method to increase their understanding of earth, physical, and life science topics.   Life science topics include the classification of living things; the human body; cell structure and function; sexual and asexual reproduction; genetics; microbes, algae, and fungi; and plant reproduction.   Physical science covers concepts such as sound, light, and heat; elements and compounds; electricity and its uses; electric and magnetic interaction; potential and kinetic energy; simple machines; inventions; and nuclear power. Earth science may cover topics such as climate and  weather; conservation;  space  and the universe; oceans, geology; and recycling. Social Studies The topics covered in social studies can vary widely in 6th grade, particularly with homeschooling families based on the curriculum they use and their homeschooling style. History topics may include ancient civilizations, such as the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. Some students may be covering the Middle Ages or Renaissance.   Other common topics for sixth grade include the U.S. government and Constitution; the presidential election process; types of governments; the Industrial Revolution;  and the rise of the United States as a political power. Geography often covers a detailed study of various regions or cultures, including the history, foods, customs; and religion of the area.   Art There is no typical  course of study for art in middle school. Instead, the general guideline is to allow students to experiment with a variety of art forms to discover what interests them. Students may enjoy performance arts such as drama or playing a musical instrument. Others may prefer visual arts such as painting, drawing, or photography. Textile arts, such as sewing, weaving, or knitting, may appeal to some 6th graders.  Ã‚   The study of art can also include art history or the study of famous artists or composers and their work. Technology Technology plays a huge role in modern society. By middle school, most students will have already had a great deal of experience with technology. However, sixth grade is an excellent time to make sure that students are proficient in areas of technology that they will use throughout high school. Students should be competent in their keyboarding skills. They should be familiar with common applications such as those used to produce text documents and spreadsheets.   Students must also understand and follow safety guidelines when using the internet and know how to adhere to fair use rules and obey copyright laws.

Managing Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Managing Ethics - Essay Example This management behavior has resulted in reduced morale, job stress, and fatigue for the employees. Before going into the discussion regarding Ron Eden’s approach to management in 2000s, let us get a better understanding of what ethical management actually is. Management ethics include a set of defined ethics that is required for a business to remain in the market. Some of the principles that increase the effectiveness of organizations include ethical decision making based on facts, getting facts from possible perspectives, recognizing managing ethics as a process, avoiding the occurrence of ethical dilemmas, and using cross-functional teams while implementing an ethical management program in the organization. There exist many theories, which are used by the managers to control behavior and motivation of the employees. Scientific management theory focuses on how managers can improve efficiency through person-task relationships. Administrative management theory is related to the development of a highly efficient and effective organizational structure through outlining the principles of administration and bureaucracy. Behavioral management theory focuses on how managers should motivate the employees to achieve organizational goals. Theory X assumes that workers do not like to work hard whereas theory Y assumes that workers like to work hard if they are given opportunities and incentives. Management science theory believes in giving more control to the managers over the resources in order to produce desirable results. The last theory, which is organizational management theory, focuses on how managers can influence behaviors to control the organization’s relationship with the external environment. Mr. Ron Eden, the top manager of the company, possesses a controlled management approach in the company. In Electronic Banking Inc., the top manager is the

Competition Mergers of Companies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Competition Mergers of Companies - Essay Example It provides communication and entertainment answers to the majority of countries in the European Union. CaixaBank is a financial enterprise that is controlled entirely by the La Caixa Group of companies. It is the parent company of La Caixa Companies that deal with banking and other related activities. It mainly operates in Spain and other European countries and the international presence are felt through strategic alliances with key financial institutions. Banco Santander is the main company of the Banco Group of companies that deals major in international banking. It is active in retail banking, asset management, insurance and investment banking in most of the European Countries. Telefonica, CaixaBank and Banco Santander merge to form a new company. The companies are the notifying parties in the creation of Newco. The notifying companies provide the relevant documents that are used in the merger control of the joint venture. Newco will be active in Spain and it will develop an ecosystem that will be able to offer its members with numerous services. The services will be available online and will be accessible by many individuals online. Each of the Notifying parties will hold equal shareholding in Newco. They will have equal chances to exercise control over the company. It means that they will have a joint control over the Newco. Newco is expected to perform the functions of an economic enterprise in Spain. There will be a management team that will be run the day to day activities of the company. The management team will have access to the resources of the company that include finance and the assets of the company. The company will provide online services to numerous individuals in Spain. The services will include digital advertising services that will provide a chance to individuals in the digital world to advertise their products. The virtual community will be able to able to interact online and provide mobile-based couponing and loyalty services.     

Critical Success Factor Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Critical Success Factor Report - Essay Example Apart from that, the study will also analyze the macro environment (political, economic, social, and technological) of Great Britain. Important aspects such as communication strategy, pricing strategy and customer services strategy need to be designed carefully to sustain the competition in the market. This report will examine each of these strategies required for the bathroom manufacturing company. The next half of the report will offer a brief introduction of the company. John Lewis: A Brief Overview John Lewis can be referred to as a chain of departmental stores that operates throughout the United Kingdom (UK). It was established by John Lewis in the year 1864. Presently it is headquartered in London, United Kingdom. Initially the business started as single store operator, but during the year 1920 it established departmental store chain model through John Lewis Partnership (Davidmann, n.d). The partnership model emphasize on ownership of employee and their contribution as stakehol der to the departmental store chain. There are more than thirty eight thousand people working in the departmental store chain and each of them acts as a partner to the company (McCallion, 2010). The group has been ranked as one of the top five departmental store chains of Great Britain. This British departmental store chain has already opened thirty seven outlets and is planning to open few more within next 2 years. Customer Analysis John Lewis has established itself as premium departmental store chain in last 146 years. This departmental store has become a â€Å"cool† shopping destination for many people. Oxford outlet of the chain was founded in middle England in order to provide shopping solution to customers belonging to the central part of Britain. Marks & Spencer (M&S) is another favourite shopping destination for many people in Great Britain and is a strong competitor for John Lewis. Customers believe the ambience of the departmental store (John Lewis) chain is appeali ng and they like to spend more time in the outlet. Customers feel that lighting system of the stores is designed in such a way that it highlights each product separately. Any person entering the store can easily identify his/her favourite brand, thereby making the purchase decision easier. John Lewis has a customer base of people who like to shop for branded items. People belonging to higher income and middle income group are the major customers of the departmental store chain. Married couples and families also visit this departmental store chain to purchase different items. Customers prefer to shop for stylish items such as watch, designer clothes, bathroom items etc. Many customers perceive that after sales service is a critical factor behind the success story of any retail outlet. Employees working inside the stores are the greatest asset to the company. Employees own a percentage of shares in group’s business and they also earn a yearly bonus. Customer friendly behaviour and prompt after sales service made this British departmental store chain a preferred shopping spot for many customers. John Lewis also provides home delivery services for bulky items. Hence customers like to shop in this departmental store chain for aforementioned reasons. Ambience, customer service and availability of

Guccis Marketing Strategy

Guccis Marketing Strategy Critically contrast the key elements of Guccis marketing strategy to its closest competitor. Justify why you have chosen this company as Guccis closest competitor. Guccis focus on Heritage, craftsmanship and philanthropy: Prada a close competitor. With over 7,000 direct employees across the world, I believe we should all see ourselves as custodians of the Gucci brand—a brand that was here before all of us and one that will survive all of us. The long lasting values of the brand ultimately inform and guide every decision we make and they also inspire all of us along the way. -Patrizio di Marco: President and CEO, Gucci (Interbrand, 2009a) Renowned for its Italian craftsmanship, Gucci was founded in 1921 in Florence. ‘Over 90 years Gucci has built a heritage of exclusivity, attention over quality and style, the Made in Italy label, innovation and craftsmanship (PPR, 2010b, pp 46) and is one of the ‘worlds most desired luxury fashion brands (Nielsen Company, 2007). The Brand was highly successful in the 1950s as it became the status brand for Hollywood film stars and European royalty. However, by 1980s Gucci lost its appeal and significant losses were made in the business (Jackson and Haird, 2003). Domenico de Soles financial acumen and Tom Fords creativity transformed Gucci as a successful brand in the 1990s. In 1999 Pinault-Printemps-Redoute purchased the controlling stake and owned Gucci. With the departure of Tom Ford and De Sole, Frida Gianini took the control in 2005. Globalisation helps the evolving luxury market to expand. Factors like growing consumer expectations, clear brand positioning, pursuit for authenticity, exclusivity, differentiation contribute to intensify the competition between luxury brands with high ‘aspirational values (Baker and Sterenberg, 2003). Gucci is among the top 10 luxury brands considering brand value in the latest survey by Interbrand. In the array of luxury market Gucci competes with brands like Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermes, Prada, Burberry, Ferragamo, Dior, Dolce Gabbana, Versace, etc. Interbrand Leading Luxury Brands 2009 Rankings: The top 15 Luxury Brands. (Interbrand, 2009d) 2009 Rank 2008 Rank 2007 Rank Brand Country of Origin Sector 2008 Brand Value ($m) 2009 Brand Value ($m) Change in Brand Value in 2008 Change in Brand Valuein 2009 16 16 17 France Luxury 21,602 21,120 6% -2% 41 45 46 Italy Luxury 8,254 8,182 7% -1% 59 60 58 France Luxury 6,355 6,040 9% -5% 70 76 73 France Luxury 4,575 4,598 8% 1% 87 91 94 Italy Luxury 3,585 3,530 9% -2% 98 New United Kingdom Luxury 3,095 New* 99 New United States Luxury 3,094 New* Interbrand Best Global Brands rankings. (Interbrand, 2009d). In order to sustain in the competitive luxury market and define a clear brand positioning and maintain it, brands adopt innovative marketing strategies. The Marketing mix tools like the traditional 4 Ps: product, price, promotion and place along with recently added people, process and physical evidence propel the decisions in direction of the market success. Brands need to provide right product, at right price, in right place and at right promotion in order to match the consumer needs and demands. Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Hermes, Chanel, Prada are in close competition. In order to create an emotional attachment between brands and consumers, brands try to convey an image and personality that customer aspires to. Louis Vuitton has been a ‘byword for stylish elegance and sophistication (Louis vuitton, 2009). Gucci is perceived as smart, sexy, modern whereas Prada has an image of modern, trendy yet sophisticated. Chanel is very classic and elegant. Also, Chanel and Louis Vuitton were founded in France and Gucci and Prada in Italy. According to the Interbrand survey for Italys most valuable brands Gucci Ranked first (6,388 million euro) followed by Prada (2,775 million euro). Guccis pricing strategy in 1993 positioned itself below Hermes and Chanel and at par with Prada and Louis Vuitton (Kwak, 2001). Gucci and Pradas product lines include leather goods, ready-to-wear, jewellery, footwear, silks, timepieces, eyewear, skincare, home decor and fragrances. Louis Vuitton has the categories which Gucci has, although Louis Vuitton indulges even in writing instruments and textiles besides Chanel extends into sport accessories .Gucci products are sold in 283 directly operated stores at end of 2009 and in selected ‘departmental stores as well as specialist stores (PPR, 2010b). Intending to accelerate the growth of brand, Prada stated to double the number of directly operating stores in 2007. Considering Guccis 2009 revenue breakdown by geographical area, maximum revenue was from Asia- Pacific region while Europe which includes fashion forward London, Paris and Milan contribute almost equal to Japan. Breakdown of 2009 revenue by product category Breakdown of 2009 revenue by geographical area(PPR- Gucci: Gucci Group ,2010a) Gucci Chanel Prada Louis Vuitton Year of establishment 1921 1909 1913 1854 Country of origin Italy France Italy France Known for Leather goods Fashion and perfumes Leather goods Leather goods and Luggage bags Current Designer Frida Giannini Karl Lagerfeld Miuccia Prada Marc Jacob Product categories Ready-to-wear, canvas and leather goods, bags, footwear, fine jewellery, fragrances, eyewear, watches, travel and business bags, home dà ©cor , etc. Ready-to-wear, fragrances, make-up skincare, eyewear, hats, leather goods, sports accessories, fine jewellery, etc. Ready-to-wear, Nylon bags, leather goods, footwear, Fine jewellery, eyewear, fragrances, travel and luggage bags, Prada phones, etc Ready-to-wear, leather goods, travel bags, footwear, bags, eyewear, watches, writing instruments, home goods, textiles, city guides ,etc. Ad campaign theme Forever now , Spring Summer 2010 Spring Summer 2010= First Spring and lookbook Spring Summer 2010 Store locations Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Middle East, North America, South America. Has 283 Directly operated stores. Asia, Europe, Middle East, North America, South America, Oceania. Asia, Middle East, Far east, Europe, North America, South America. Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Middle East, North America, South America. Comparison of brands on basic criteria. Louis Vuitton and Chanels brand image differentiates them from Italian brands like Gucci and Prada which target towards a similar target market which is modern and fashion conscious. Gucci and Prada indulge into similar product lines and pricing levels getting them into closer competition. In 1990s during revamping the brand image of Gucci an important decision made was to develop a strategy expressing Gucci has changed. ‘Brand communication plays a vital role in redrawing the image (Jackson and Shaw, 2006). During the recession competitor brands are trying to be more distinctive. Chairman and CEO Gucci, Patrizio di Marco and his team adopted the strategy to strengthen and fine tune its positioning in the luxury goods market by focusing on its heritage and craftsmanship stressing on balanced brand equity in marketing and communication (PPR, 2010b). It also included cost cutting, adjustments to pricing, global store designs concept and structure simplification. As per Interbrands report 2009b, among global luxury brands, Prada spends highest in marketing and advertising and continued to invest more in social and cultural initiatives, brand extensions and communication. Important factors that help in building brand image. (Moore and Britwistle, 2005) Image no.1 : Louis vuitton spring summer 2010 Image no.2: Prada Lookbook 2010. (The Fashion time Magazine, 2010) (AMO, 2010) Image no.3 : Chanel Spring Summer 2010 Image no.4 : Gucci Spring Summer 2010 ad Ad campaign. campaign. (Bang Jaslyn, 2010) (Gucci, 2010a) Advertising which is guided by current market scenario and competitive environment, helps in communicating and building brand image as it creates powerful image and message to gain customers attention (Jackson and Shaw, 2009, pp.161). Luxury brands communicate their values and aura to the consumers to prove experience through images that operate on aesthetic and expressionist level (Salzer-Mà ¶rling and Strannegard, 2004). Visually stimulating Guccis Spring summer 2010 campaign focuses on sensuality with modernity and Pradas Lookbook 2010 displays uniqueness and creativity. Guccis Ad campaign ‘Forever now launched in 2010 depicts the importance of connecting past and present. The campaign uses images from 1950s focuses on heritage and craftsmanship. Gucci focusing on tradition introduced an Artisan Corner an event where houses skilled artists will travel to Guccis VIP stores where the craftsmanship will be brought to customers sight. Similarly, Pradas film ad campaign 2010 titled ‘First Spring shot by Chinese artist in Shanghai depicts the tension between the straight and gay tensions of silent intimacy (James, 2010). However, the black and white effect of the video takes us into flashback and it depicts that anything is possible in timeless and dreamlike realm. Louis Vuittons ad campaign is inspired from new age traveller, while Chanels countryside rural chic look ad campaign displays beauty and elegance. Image no. 5 : Guccis ‘Forever now ad campaign 2010(Gucci ,2010b) Image no. 6: Pradas 2010 ad campaign ‘First Spring. (Fashioning.com, 2010) Prada attempts to spread a social message to reduce tensions between straight and gay people. Also, Prada signed PETAs campaign in 2007 to ban cruelty against animals and eliminate fur usage from fashion. Gucci and UNICEF partnership began in 2005, since then Gucci consistently support education and healthcare programmes for orphans and HIV/AIDS affected children. Gucci embraces philanthropy taking new initiatives and ad campaigns to support the partnership like specially designed accessories collection, White Tattoo Heart collection (2008) featuring Rihanna in its campaign, Book ‘ Snowman in Africa, fundraising event with Madonna, ‘Gucci for UNICEF Baboushka bag etc. Professor John Fernie said ‘Alliance between charity n business is the perfect way to build brand awareness and establish brand credibility and ultimately boost profits, (McDougall, 2006). As metioned on philanthrpohy section of Guccis official website, Gucci in collaboration with the Film Foundation h as made travelling screening movie of the restored movies to save the treasures in cinemas called ‘Cinema Visionaries. Proceeding in 2010, to increase online presence and reach online customers, brands are delving into digital communication. Brand affiliation is aided by the application of appropriate functionality tools (Okonkwo, 2007). Focusing on innovation Gucci launched lifestyle application for iPhone and iPod touch. Guccis application offers access to products, fashion shows, playlists, city guides, news, ability to compose own music etc. Prada launched Prada phones in collaboration with LG in 2007. The LG designed Prada phone incorporates features like video player, high pixel camera and MP3 player. Chanel also has application on iPhone which shows Chanels runway collections. Image No. 7: Gucci application for iPhone. Image No. 8: LG designed Prada Phone. (Gucci news, 2010) (Mossesgeld, 2007) Luxury atmosphere, aesthetics and appealing luxury stores reflect the brand personality and spread the brand message into the subconscious and psychological levels on a consumer mind (Okonkwo, 2007). Following the strategic concept of global store design by Creative Director Frida Giannini ,Gucci is renovating its stores to embrace the luxurious experience of shopping which complements the brands heritage and exclusivity. In October, 2009 Gucci launched a travelling sneaker store in New York which will later move to London and Tokyo in spring 2010. Similarly proving its exclusiveness, Prada took a radical approach towards the store architecture through Prada Epicenter which communicates a distinct identity into customers mind which is in quest for something new. Image no. 9: Gucci Sloane street, London Store renovated under the Global store design concept. (WallPaper, 2010) Image no.10: Prada Epicenter (Herzog de Muron,2003). [Accessed on 14 November 2009] With Economic downturn, it is highly important for brands to provide distinctive experience to consumers. Brands are striving to create a brand image congruent to the customers image (Aaker and Biehl, 1993) and meet customer needs and demands. Gucci has adopted the strategy to be true to its long lasting values and expand its presence, tune its brand image and positioning by emphasising on the rich 90 years history, heritage and core essence of the brand into its marketing and brand communication coinciding with ‘modernity and aspirational values (Gucci, 2010a). Brands like Prada are using tactful strategies focusing on parameters like timeless, authenticity, social values and culture. Louis Vuitton differentiates its customers through its brand image, brand values in terms of turnover and advertising. Chanel though is close to Gucci considering turnover it targets a more elegant, sophisticated target. Hence, Prada is the closest competitor to Gucci by comparing them on brand c ommunication like advertising, philanthropy and an attempt to standout in the terms of store designs. REFERANCES : Aaker, D. (1991), Managing Brand Equity, The Free Press, New York, NY. Aaker, D. and Biehl A. (1993), Brand Equity and Advertising, Lawrence Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ. Baker, M., Foy,A,( 2003) Business and Management Research. United Kingdom : Westburn Publishers Ltd. Baker, M., Sterenberg, G. ( 2003) Managing global brands to meet consumer expectations. ESOMAR ,Global Cross-Industry Forum, Research International Qualitatif, December 2003. Barnes James G. (2003) Establishing meaningful customer relationships: why some companies and brands mean more to their customers. Managing Service quality, Vol. 13(3) pp. 178-186. Campbell, C. , Falk, P. (1997) : The Shopping Experience . London: Sage Publications, pp : 67-73, 166-72. Chadha, R. , Husband, P. (2006) The cult of the Luxury Brand- Inside Asias Love Affair with Luxury. London Nicolas Brealey International , pp.25-63, 149, 178, 267-77,280. Crask, M.R., Laskey, H.A. ( 1990), A positioning-based decision model for selecting advertising messages,Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 30 No.4, pp.32-8. Davidson, B., Webb, Bill (2006) :Fashion Retailing, Chapter 6.In Jackson, T., Shaw, D. The Fashion Handbook. London: Routledge , pp: 105-126 Diamond, J., Lift, S. (2003) : Retailing in the new millennium. New York: Fairchild Publications. Easey, M. ( 1995) Fashion Marketing, India, Blackwell Publishing , pp.174-177. Gucci (2010a) Gucci news [Internet]. Available from http://www.keynote.co.uk/market-intelligence/view/product/10322/clothing-retailing> [Accessed on 6th March 2010] Gucci (2010b) Gucci philanthrophy [Internet]. Available from http://www.keynote.co.uk/market-intelligence/view/product/10322/clothing-retailing> [Accessed on 11th March 2010] Hines, T., Bruce, M. (2008) Fashion Marketing- Contemporary Issues. Hungary, Elsevier, pp. 132-133,198-99, 234-36. Husic, M., Cicic, M. (2009) Luxury consumption factors. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, Vol.13 (2) pp231-245. Interbrand ( 2009a) Patrizio di Marco , President and Chief Executie Officer Gucci : More interviews with Global Brand Leaders [Internet]. Available From file:///E:/random%20search/gucci-%20strategy-interbrand.htm> [Accessed on 8 March 2010]. Interbrand (2009b) Interbrand unveils Italys most valuable global brands [Internet]. Available from http://www.interbrand.com/press_release.aspx?langid=1000pressid=251> [Accessed on 11th March 2010] Interbrand (2009c) Italys 10 most valuable global brands [Internet]. Available from http://www.interbrand.com/press_release.aspx?langid=1000pressid=251> [Accessed on 11th March 2010] Interbrand (2009d) Best Global Brands 2009 rankings, Interbrand-Creating and Managing Brand Value, [Internet].Available from http://www.interbrand.com/best_global_brands.aspx?year=2009langid=1000 [Accessed on 18th February 2010]. Jackson, T. and Haird, C. (2003), â€Å"Gucci Group: the new family of luxury brands†, International Journal of New Product Development and Innovation Management, Vol. 4 No. 2,pp. 161-72. Jackson, T., Shaw, D. (2006) The Fashion Handbook. London: Routledge, pp. 61-3. 72-81, 105-08, 127. Jackson ,T., Shaw ,D. (2009) : Mastering Fashion Marketing. Palgrave Macmillan, pp: 112-117,161. James ( 2010) Pradas â€Å"First Spring† by Yang Fudong [Internet]. Available from file:///E:/random%20search/gay%20persons%20of%20color%20%20Pradas%20%20First%20Spring%20%20by%20Yang%20Fudong.htm> [Accesssed on 12th March 2010]. Keynote ( 2009) Clothing Retailing 2009 [Internet]. Available from http://www.keynote.co.uk/market-intelligence/view/product/10322/clothing-retailing> [Accessed on 12th March 2010] Kapferer, J.-N. (1992), Strategic Brand Management, The Free Press, New York, NY. Kwak, Mary (2001) Gucci Group N.V. (A). Boston, MA, Harvard Business School, 10th May 2001. Louis Vuitton (2009) The World of Louis Vuitton- The art of travel [Internet]. Available from http://www.louisvuitton.com/web/flash/index.jsp;jsessionid=D5QW2GEBCOOYMCRBXUCFAFIKEG4RAUPU?direct1=univlangue=en_GBbuy=0> [Accessed on 11th March 2010] McDougall, d. (2006) World: Now charity staff hit at cult of celebrity: Workers for childrens charity Unicef say celebrity campaigns and fashion company deals are hurting its image, reports Dan McDougall in Islamabad. The Oserver ( London, England) , 26th November 2006, pp.38 . Moore, C. and Birtwistle, G. (2004), ‘‘The Burberry business model: creating an international luxury brand, International Journal of Retail Distribution Management, Vol. 32 No. 8, pp. 412-22, ISSN 0959-0552. Moore, C., Fernie, J. (2004), Retailing within an international context, in Bruce, M., Moore, C., Birtwistle, G. (Eds),International Retail Marketing; A Case Study Approach, Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, pp.3-37. Moore, C., Britwistle, G. (2005) The nature of parenting advantage in luxury fashion retailing- the case of Gucci group NV. International Journal of Retail Distribution Management, Vol. 33(4) ,pp 256-270. Moore, C.M. and Doherty, A.M. (2007), â€Å"The international flagship stores of luxury fashion retailers†, in Hines, T. and Bruce, M. (Eds), Fashion Marketing: Contemporary Issues, Butterworth Heinemann, London. Nielson Company (2007) Gucci reigns as the most coveted luxury brand in the world, Market Research World [Internet]. Available from http://www.marketresearchworld.net/index.php?option=com_contenttask=viewid=2053Itemid=77> [accessed on 16 February 2010] Nunes, P., Johnson, B. (2004) Mass Affluence- 7 New rules of marketing to todays consumer. Boston ( Massachusetts), Harvard Business School Press. Palmer, A. (2009) Introduction to fashion marketing, 2nd Edition- Theory and Practice. Oxford, Oxford University Press, pp. 420-23. Okonkwo, U. (2007) Luxury Fashion Branding. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, pp.15-25, 30-37, 132-67, 173-78, 220-23, 260, 278-83, 310. PPR ( 2010a) Gucci: Gucci Group [Internet]. Available from file:///C:/Users/Admin/Desktop/gucci%201/PPR%20-%20Gucci.htm> [Accessed on 10 March 2010] PPR (2010b) PPR 2009 Financial Document [ Internet]. Available from http://www.ppr.com/front__sectionId-43_Changelang-en.html> [Accessed on 8th March 2010] Preiholt, H.,Hagg, C. (2006) Growth opportunities in Luxury goods and real estate. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, Vol. 10 (1),pp114-119. Salzer- Mà ¶rling, M., Strannegard, L. (2004) Silence of the brands. European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 38 (1/2) pp. 224-238. Schmitt, B. (1999) Experiential Marketing- How to get customers to Sense, Feel, think, act, relate. New York, The Free Press, pp.72-6. Triplett, T. (1994), â€Å"Brand personality must be managed or it will assume a life of its own†, Marketing News, Vol. 28 No. 10, p. 9. Unknown ( 2009) From Prada to Zara: is the global recession out of fashion. Strategic Direction, Vol. 25(3), pp 9-11. IMAGE REFERANCES : Image no.1 : The Fashion Time magazine (2010)Louis vuitton spring summer 2010- Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer 2010 ad campaigb :Lara Stone by Steven [Online Image]. Available from http://www.thefashiontime.com/2009/12/louis-vuitton-springsummer-2010-ad-campaign-lara-stone-by-steven-meisel/> [Accessed on 12th March 2010] Image no.2: AMO (2010) Prada Lookbook 2010- PRADA- The Spring/ Summer 2010 Lookbook [Online Image]. Available from http://www.prada.com/> [Accessed on 10th March 2010] Image no.3 : Jaslyn Bang (2010) Chanel Spring Summer 2010-Chanel Spring/Summer 2010 Ad campaign [Online Image].4th Jan 2010.Available from http://www.plussixfive.com/2010/01/04/chanel-springsummer-2010-ad-campaign/> [Accessed on 16th March 2010] Image no.4 : Gucci (2010a) Gucci Spring Summer 2010 ad campaign- Ad campaign Spring Summer 10 [Online Image]. Available from http://www.gucci.com/int/campaign/spring-summer/> [Accessed on 8th march 2010]. Image no. 5 : Gucci (2010b) Guccis ‘Forever now ad campaign 2010- ad campaign Forever now [Online Image]. Available from http://www.gucci.com/int/campaign/forever-now/> [Accessedmon 10th March 2010]. Image no. 6: Fashioning.com (2010) Pradas 2010 ad campaign ‘First Spring- Prada menswear first spring by Yang Fudong Spring/Summer 2010 [Online Image]. Available from http://www.fashionising.com/pictures/pPrada-menswear-First-Spring-by-Yang-Fudong-8206-SpringSummer-2010-4886-73781.html> [Accessed on 12th March 2010] Image No. 7: Gucci news (2010) Gucci application for iPhone- Guccinews,gucci app [Online Image]. Available from http://www.gucci.com/us/us-english/gucci-news/iphoneapp/> [Accessed on 12th March 2010] Image No. 8: Mossesgeld (2007) LG designed Prada Phone- The LG Prada phone set tp launch on March 22 [Online Image]. Available from http://www.thesmartpda.com/50226711/the_lg_prada_phone_set_to_launch_on_march_22.php> [Accessed on 12th March 2010]. Image no. 9: WallPaper (2010) Gucci Sloane street, London Store renovated under the Global store design concept -Retail Directory 2009[Online Image ]. Available from http://www.wallpaper.com/directory/retail/2009/gucci/1089> [Accessed on 13th March 2010] Image no.10: Herzog De Muron(2003),Prada Epicentre [online image].Available from http://images.businessweek.com/ss/05/11/new_retail/source/5.htm>[Accessed on 12th March 2010]

The Way of the Future for Computing :: Essays Papers

The Way of the Future for Computing Computer technology is changing faster than ever. It is interacting with our daily lives and helping us make choices. The next step will be for the technology to make the decisions and choices for us. It will help us do the shopping, or will schedule our day for us. Computer technology will enable people â€Å"to do more by doing less†. That at least is the hopes and dreams of the M.I.T. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) team that is working on a project called Oxygen. In the past computers were huge, taking up whole walls of buildings, and incredibly expensive. Then they were able to fit on desktops. Now we’re able to carry them around with us. You can’t go anywhere without seeing them. The vision of the Oxygen Project is â€Å"in the future, computation will be freely available everywhere, like batteries and power sockets, or oxygen in the air we breathe†. (mit.edu) computation will be in the human world, able to handle our goals and needs. There won’t be any need to carry personalized devices, such as phones, laptops, or etc. around with you. â€Å"Instead, â€Å"anonymous† devices, either handheld or embedded in the environment, will bring computation to us, no matter where we are or in what circumstances.† (mit.edu) The devices will become so familiar to a person that they will be able to find any information or software that we need. There will be no more typing or clicking needed . You won’t have to learn a computer language. Instead, you will be able to talk naturally with speech, vision, and phrases that describe your objectives. The rest the computer will handle. There are many aspects to the oxygen project to make it as successful as M.I.T. would like it to be. I can’t cover them all because I don’t want to write a book, but I will discuss the automation part of it. This is a branch of the user technologies. User technologies is what everyone will work with or use like a telephone.

Ramona and Beezus

Ramona has a very creative imagination but hilariously brings her to many mishaps in school and even at home. She is nine years old and very Jolly who takes things seriously that makes her brain works to create many ideas to solve a certain problem. She has this big sister named Beatrice who is shucked with a nickname Buzzes. According to Ramona, when she was very little and is starting to learn how to speak, she accidentally called Beatrice Buzzes because that's what little children do.They mispronounce words and sometimes get stuck in it. Buzzes and Ramona most of the mime has quarrels and arguments at home. Ramona said that her sister hates her very much because Buzzes calls her a pest. However, Ramona showed great respect for the elders even if they don't listen to what she wants to express and is misunderstood that performs many acts of silliness. Ramona continued her imaginative adventure until a problem in the family gone very far to the extent that their parent's quarrel over small things.What I like most about this movie is that it simply shows what happens at home in reality. Our relationship with our parent's and siblings brings us many memories and lessons in life such as understanding one's emotions, giving comfort, being patient, being kind, and being respectful. In the family, when one doesn't understand another, there'll be quarrelling and arguments which will lead to another problem. This is what I don't want to happen in my own family.Just like Ramona, I want to help my family solve some problems in my own little ways. I want to be productive and not be a problem to them. So, if there's a problem at home, I am really doing my very best to help. I really love Roman's adventures and this inspires me to be sensitive in other people's feelings. The movie also taught me to love my own family no matter what they are and who they are, because the family is the first group of people you can run to in times of trouble/ problem.They are truly God's gift that no other treasures I can compare. Finally, despite of the problems we encounter everyday, we must be like Ramona: Brave and full of Joy. We have to face our problems lightly in order for us to concentrate in seeking possible solutions to it. We have to bear in mind that no problems we can't endure if we only let God help us as what a famous quote says: A family that prays together, stays together.

Surf Exel

? HINDUSTAN LEVER LIMITEDA Project Report On SURF EXCEL ? 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS†¢ ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS†¢ INTRODUCTION†¢ EXECUTIVE SUMMARY†¢ INDUSTRY ANALYSIS†¢ COMPANY OVERVIEW†¢ FINANCIAL STATEMENT ANALYSIS†¢ MARKETING MIX OF ORISSA†¢ COMPETITORS ANALYSIS†¢ PROJECT1: o OBJECTIVES o SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY o RESEARCH METHODOLOGY o DATA ANALYSIS  § CONSUMER ANALYSIS o CONCLUSIONS†¢ APPENDIX o CONSUMER’S QUESTIONNAIRE o DETAILED FSA ? 3. EXECUTIVE SUMMARYThe project assigned to us was to study the business and marketing practice, competitorsin business and customers of Surf Excel, for Orissa market.For this a questionnaire wasprepared for the consumers. A sample of 53 consumers was surveyed. The respondentswere interviewed in market places across Bhubaneswar. After the analysis we came to the conclusion that the Surf Excel enjoys a space in the top2 positions in brand recall of the consumer. This is a positive sign for HL L. The researchalso shows that the market share of Surf Excel in Orissa’s detergent market isapproximately 66%. Also, from the survey it is evident that brand name, price andcleansing action are three of the most important attributes a consumer looks for in anydetergent brand.Surf Excel enjoys a good reputation with the consumers with respect toall these attributes. Another thing that we noted in this survey was that Television is the most usedinformation source for the consumer. The exact communication recall however, is verypoor among the consumer. This could be attributed to the ever increasing advertisementclutter, across all media. Thus, HLL should consider looking for other media likeoutdoors. It was also noted that over 50% of the consumers who used Surf Excel, would purchasepacks whose size was 1/2 – 1 kg and did not prefer purchasing the 200gm pack.We triedto find out the reason as to why this practice occurred, but to no avail. HLL shouldconsider promoting th is pack size in some way, or phase it out totally. Thus, we can conclude that Surf Excel enjoys excellent customer reviews. It gets specialrecognition for its superior cleansing action, the convenient packs it comes in, the ease it ? 4. is available with, and the fact that its price is at par with similar products available in themarket today. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 1.The primary objective of the study was to understand the customers of Surf Excel ( type/ quality/ their decision making style/ source of information that they use for collecting information regarding Surf Excel) 2. The study was also aimed to understand the business and marketing practice of Surf Excel and the marketing mix used by HLL for Surf Excel. 3. Another important objective of the study was to understand the competitors of Surf Excel. 4. Efforts were also made to evaluate the financial strength and market capabilities of the parent firm, Hindustan Lever Limited. ? 5.INDIAN FMCG INDUSTRYBackgroundThe FMCG secto r has been the cornerstone of the Indian economy. Though, the sector has been in existence for quite a long time, it began totake shape only during the last fifty-odd years. The sector touches everyaspect of human life, from looks to hygiene to palate. Perhaps, defining anindustry whose scope is so vast is not easy. Generally, FMCG refers to consumer non-durable goods required for dailyor frequent use. The sector touches every aspect of human life, from looksto hygiene to palate. Perhaps, defining an industry whose scope is so vastis not easy.The FMCG sector consists mainly of sub segments viz. personal care, oral care andhousehold products. This can be further sub-divided into oral care, soaps and detergents,Health and Hygiene products, beauty cosmetics, hair care products, food and dairy-basedproducts, cigarettes, and tea and beverages. Major Indian consumer product companies (like Britannia, P&G, HLL, etc. ) have a verystrong presence through their strong brands. Diversified port folios, wide distributionnetworks and scale economies of these companies deter new players from entering.Brand equity, therefore, is an extremely important factor in FMCG industry. One of theother most critical factors is the ability to build, develop, and maintain a robustdistribution networkPost-reforms, the industrys growth has been hinging around a burgeoning ruralpopulation which has witnessed significant rise in disposable incomes. Consequently, therural markets have been witnessing intense competition in almost all the consumerproduct classes. Another reason which has led to rise in this trend is the saturation inurban markets in most of the consumer non-durable goods categories.This has led to theindustry players scrambling for greater rural penetration as a future growth vehicle, thearea which accounts for 70% of the total Indian householdsSo far, it has been a chequered graph for the MNCs operating in the Indian FMCGindustry. Domestic companies are only beginning to make t heir presence felt in theindustry. It has taken tremendous consumer insight and market savviness for the FMCGplayers to reach where they are today. But, the journey seems to have just now begun forthe players as the majority of the rural populace are yet to get access to the items of dailyusage like toothpastes, soaps and shampoos. 6. Value for moneyEver since the global recession of 1991-94, which hit consumer spending hard, value-for-money has become the buzzword for FMCG companies globally. These FMCGcompanies embarked upon major restructuring and cost rationalization exercises asbusiness continued to become fiercely competitive. Several packaging innovations werealso resorted to. India was no different. There was a paradigm shift towards value-for-money products and, to some extent, towards the rural market. What Nirma did all these years suddenly became the buzzword for many FMCG players.Price cuts became inevitable to keep the market share from shrinking. Sometimes, thecuts to uched ridiculous levels. Economic recession hit the urban pockets badly and forcedcompanies to train their guns on rural India, which was witnessing a major change in itsaspiration and lifestyles and even had an income that translated into increasing volumes. India’s agrarian economy is fundamentally strong. Rural India accounts for as much as 70per cent of the nation’s population. That means rural India can bring in the much neededvolumes and help FMCG companies to log in volume-driven growth.Companies such asHLL, Colgate and Britannia who already had a strong rural focus, stepped up the gasfurther. HLL unleashed its â€Å"Operation Bharat†. Britannia pushed its Tiger biscuits toevery nook and corner of the country, while Colgate went about wooing the rural massesby offering low-priced products in convenient packaging. Those who could not do it ontheir own went piggyback on somebody else. P&G, whose distribution is largely urban,chose to leverage Maricos retail reach. P&G and Smith Kline Beecham, nonetheless, are interesting cases.With small productportfolios like theirs, they have been able to achieve what others could not and provedthat what you need is a good product, marketed effectively and sold at the right priceOf late, an interesting trend in the Indian FMCG sector has been brand acquisitions. Thisrepresents a growing awareness among the FMCG players are talking today more andmore of product â€Å"fits† while discussing brand acquisitions. It is not just acquiringanything and everything as it was in the pastRural marketing has become the latest marketing mantra of most FMCG majors.True,rural India is vast with unlimited opportunities. All waiting to be tapped by FMCGs. Notsurprising that the Indian FMCG sector is busy putting in place a parallel rural marketingstrategy. Among the FMCG majors, Hindustan Lever, Marico Industries, Colgate-Palmolive and Britannia Industries are only a few of the FMCG majors who have beengung-ho about rural marketing. With reason. Certainly, rural marketing holds the key to success of FMCG companies, which aredesperate to find ways out to gain deeper penetration. Not just the rural population isnumerically large, it is growing richer by the day.Of late, there has been a phenomenalimprovement in rural incomes and rural spending power. ? 7. FMCG sector performance in last decadeThe fmcg sector in India showed a constant decline in the last decade. What started as 20-25% growth rate in year 1994-96, had reached a negative growth rate of -2. 8% in Q1’04. The FMCG sector is now mockingly called SMCG or slow moving consumer goods. ? 8. Source India Today – R K Swamy BBDO Guide to Urban Markets*Soap, Shampoo, Nail Polish, Washing Powder, Footwear, Tea, Coffee, Cigarettes, Electric Bulbs.Rank Towns States Average Monthly Spending on FMCG Products* in Rs. 1 Chandigarh Chandigarh 3,418 2 Greater Maharashtra 2,955 Mumbai 3 Chennai Tamil Nadu 2,886 4 Ahmedabad Gujarat 2, 869 5 Vadodara Gujarat 2,816 6 Pune Maharashtra 2,804 7 Coimbatore Tamil Nadu 2,684 8 Ludhiana Punjab 2,674 9 Faridabad Haryana 2,596 10 Hyderabad Andhra 2,533 Pradesh ? 9. The Fabric Care Market In IndiaDetergentsThe Indian fabric wash market consists of synthetic detergents (comprising bars, powderand liquids) and oil-based laundry soaps. The detergent powder market is furthersegmented based on price and form.It is characterised by brands from a plethora ofregional and local players competing with the national marketers primarily in the low-priced and mid-priced segmentsThe synthetic detergent market can be classified into premium (Surf, Ariel), mid-price(Rin, Wheel) and popular segments (Nirma), which account for 15%, 40% and 45% ofthe total market, respectively. The product category is fairly mature and is dominated bytwo players, HLL and Nirma. Nirma created a revolution in the market by pioneering theconcept of low-cost detergents.Currently, the market is highly segmented with thedifferential between the premium and popular segments at almost 7X. GrowthAlthough the per capita consumption of detergents in India (2. 7 kg pa) is comparable tosome countries like Indonesia, China and Thailand (around 2 kg pa), it is lower than inothers such as Malaysia, Philippines (3. 7 kg) and the USA (10 kg). High consumerawareness and penetration levels will enable the market to grow at an average 8-10% perannum with slightly higher growth in the rural areas. Higher penetration stems frompopularity of low-cost detergents.Hence, besides increase in per capita consumption,there is tremendous scope for movement up the value chain. Leading Fabricare Brands Available In IndiaSurf ExcelSurf comes from the stables of Hindustan Lever, the largest player in this market with anoffering at each price point. Surf was the first detergent powder brand to be launched in thecountry. It created the detergent powder category and introduced the concept of bucketwash to housewives hitherto u sed to washing clothes with laundry soap bars. Surf has, since,become generic to detergent market.Consumers refer to all their powders as Surf, evencompetitive powders are called Surf e. g. Nirma Surf ? 10. Selling over 60,000 tonnes per year, Surf is the market leader in the concentrate andpremium powder price segments Surf has always been the first to recognize and respond totrends. Whether it was through Surf with Easy Wash- a low lather variant, in 1994 or Surfwith Wash Boosters (1995) that provided best clean even in hard water. The brand SurfExcel now has three variants – Surf Excel Quickwash, Surf Excel Blue and Surf ExcelAutomatic – which address different laundry needs but each offers stain removal as the keybenefit.In 2003, recognising changing consumer purchase patterns, it once again redefined value forthe consumers by introducing the concept of monthly packs. Sensitive to the increasing concerns on environmental pollution and water scarcity problemsacross the country, it brought to the consumer Surf Excel Quickwash. This low lathervariant is the first eco-friendly detergent in the country, as it uses almost half the water otherdetergents require. Surf has innovated beyond the basic product into other aspects of laundry.Understandingthe need for easy-to-store packaging, tubs and jars were introduced. In order to helpconsumers dose correctly for the best possible clean, measuring scoops were built into thepacks. For convenience seekers, washing has been simplified with the ready to dose packs ofSurf Excel Automatic. Consistent innovation addressing ever-evolving consumer needs has earned the brand aplace in the hearts of consumers. Surf was rated in the top Ten Most Trusted brands in TheEconomic Times survey in 2003WheelWheel is Indias number one detergent brand.Launched in 1987, it cleans effectivelywith lesser effort, making a laborious chore like washing light and easy. Moreover,Wheel does not burn hands or harm clothes like some ot her detergents, which containa high percentage of soda. Ever since its relaunch in 2001, with the new positioning of best clean with less effort,Wheel has been growing strongly. Research showed that consumers seek a solution to heavyduty laundry, like bed sheets and curtains. Developing on this insight, wheel sought to ? 11. liminate the trouble of tough dirt or heavy-duty laundry. Mass market consumers havewelcomed the solution, making it the number one. Nirma – a home-grown product that revolutionized the detergent market in India, andsuccessfully challenged large multinational leaders in the process. The Nirma success story isa result of its founder, Dr. Karsanbhai Patels relentless focus on quality, cost and value. Thedistribution model, sustained line extensions and umbrella branding strategies have enhancedthe brands cost leadership.Today, the companys two brands, Nirma and Nima, aredistributed through more thantwo million retail outlets across the country, generating g rosssales in excess of Rs. 26,000 million. In the fabric care category, Nirma has three productsfor the lower-end market. The Nirma Yellow Washing Powder is available in pack sizes of30 gms, 200 gms, 500 gms and 1 kg, and is ranked as the largest selling single detergentbrand in the world. Nirma is one of the large st selling single detergent brands in the world.Nirma products aresold through two million retailers and reach 400 million. This brand had been ranked as the â€Å"Most widely distributed detergent powder brand in India† as per AllIndia Census of Retail Outlets carried out in 435 urban towns by the AIMS (Asian InformationMarketing & Social) Research agency [Brand Equity – The Economic Times, March 11, 1997]. As perthe ORG-MARG Rural Consumer Panel [December 1998] survey, Nirma brand has been ranked ashighest in terms of penetration in washing powder category [BT Rural Market Watch, Business Today, June22, 1999]. ? 12.World-over Ariel epitomizes ‘stain removal’ and removes even the toughest stains in the firstwash. Introduced in India in 1991, Ariel has continuously led other detergents in productinnovation. For example, it pioneered the use of enzyme technology for superior and safestain-removing power, longer-lasting perfume, and the P&G proprietary cleaningtechnology, which cleans everyday soil and dirt from garments. Over the years, the brand hasenjoyed endorsement from celebrities such as the former actress and now MP Shabana Azmiand lakhs of other homemakers in India.Tide is the World’s Oldest and Most Trusted Billion Dollar Detergent and is the marketleader in 23 Countries around the world. Tide provides outstanding whiteness on whiteclothes and provides excellent everyday cleaning for colored clothes too. Launched in Indiain mid-2000, the brand has gained popularity among Indian housewives, thanks to itssuperior whitening, creative advertising starring Shekhar Suman, and its Value-for-Moneyproposition. Both T ide and Ariel are billion dollar brands in sales for P&G globally. Now Large Packs of Tide and Ariel – World’s Best Detergents at Rs. 3/- and Rs. 50/- only Mumbai, India — March 02, 2004 — Procter & Gamble today announced that it has reduced the prices of Ariel and Tide bags (large packs) by 20-50%, while maintaining the superior quality. The superior quality ? kg pack of Tide now cleans a family’s one-month laundry in just Rs. 23/-, while a ? kg pack of Ariel cleans a family’s one-month laundry in just Rs. 50/-. This significant price reduction will now allow many more Indian consumers to experience the world-class experience of outstanding whiteness from Tide and superior stain-removal from Ariel in every wash.The new prices of Ariel and Tide are as follows: ? 13. Old Price New Price Old Price New Price Pack Size P&Gs move to slash Ariel Ariel Tide Tide detergent prices is 200gm Rs. 30 Rs. 22 Rs. 20 Rs. 10 ostensibly to get more consumers to 500gm Rs. 70 Rs. 50 Rs. 43 Rs. 23 experience its brands 1kg Rs. 135 Rs. 99 Rs. 85 Rs. 46 but the industry sees it primarily as a 1. 5kg Rs. 180 Rs. 145 N. A* N. A move to wrest the advantage from HLL 2kg N. A N. A Rs. 160 Rs. 88 in a sluggish market. The prices of sachets (20gm) of Ariel and Tide remain unchanged. N. A = Not Available in that size. Six months ago, P&G reduced the prices of Ariel and Tide sachets by 50% in order toencourage a larger number of consumers to experience their superior quality. The bettervalue offer on sachets received such an overwhelming, positive response from consumersacross India that P&G was encouraged to offer the irresistible value to Ariel and Tide bagusers as well, thereby make the world’s best detergents accessible to a larger number ofIndian consumers.P&G talked to over 3,000 consumers across the length and breadth of India and observedover 25,000 washing sessions in consumers’ homes. Consumers believed in the superiorquality of Ariel and Tide but indicated ‘pricing’ as a constraint in using Ariel and Tide on aregular basis. The drop in prices by the P&G has forced HLL to also react in a similar way thus shrinkingthe overall profit margins for the group. While the immediate impact of any price slash isbound to result in more volumes and thereby shares for the companies concerned,improving margins in the business remains doubtful. 14. Company OverviewHindustan Lever Limited (HLL) is Indias largest fast moving consumer goodscompany, with leadership in Home & Personal Care Products and Foods & Beverages. HLLs brands, spread across 20 distinct consumer categories, touch the lives of two out of 1888 Sunlight soapthree Indians. They endow the company with a scale of combined volumes of about 4 introduced inmillion tonnes and sales of Rs. 10,000 crores. India. The leading business magazine, Forbes Global, has rated Hindustan Lever as the bestconsumer household products company.Far Eastern Economic Review has rated HLL asIndia’s most respected company. Asiamoney has rated HLL as one of India’s best managedcompanies. Leading national publications, like The Economic Times, Business World, and 1895Business Today have also rated HLL as one of India’s most respected companies and the Lifebuoy soapnumber one in Market Value Added and EVA. launchedHLL is Indias largest marketer of Soaps, Detergents and Home Care products. It has thecountry’s largest Personal Products business, leading in Shampoos, Skin Care Products,Colour Cosmetics and Deodorants.HLL is also the market leader in Tea, ProcessedCoffee, branded Wheat Flour, Tomato Products, and Ice cream, Soups, Jams and 1902Squashes. Pears soap introduced inHLL is also one of the countrys biggest exporters and has been recognized as a Golden IndiaSuper Star Trading House by the Government of India; it is a net foreign exchange earner. HLL is Indias largest exporter of branded fast moving consumer goods. The companysExports portfolio includes HLLs brands of Soaps and Detergents, Personal Products,Home Care Products, Tea and Coffee.HLL is also driving exports in chosen areas whereIndia has a competitive advantage – Marine Products, Basmati Rice, Castor Oil and its 1903 Brooke BondDerivatives. It is Indias largest exporter of Marine products, and one of the largest global Red Label teaplayers in castor. launched. Market leading brandsHLL’s brands have become household names. The company’s strategy is to concentrate itsresources on 35 national power brands, and 10 other brands which are strong in certain 1905regions. The top five brands together account for sales of over Rs. 3000 crores.Each of Lux flakesthese mega brands has a potential scale of Rs. 1000 crores in the foreseeable future. introducedSome of the big brands in Soaps and Detergents are Lifebuoy, Lux, Liril, Hamam,,Pears,Rexona & Dove, (all soaps), Surf Excel, Surf, Rin, & Wheel (all detergents). HLLalso m arkets the Vim and Domex range of Home Care Products. 1913In the Personal Products business, HLLs Hair Care franchises are Clinic, Sunsilk and Lux Vim scouringshampoos. In Oral Care, the portfolio comprises Close-up and Pepsodent toothpastes and powdertoothbrushes.In Skin Care, HLL markets Fair & Lovely Skin Cream and Lotion, the introduced. largest selling Skin Care Product in India; a brand developed in India, it is now exported toover 30 countries. It has been extended as an Ayurvedic cream, an under-eye cream, soap ? 15. and talc, in line with the strategy to take brands across relevant categories. The other majorSkin Carefranchises are Pond’s, Vaseline, Lakme and Pears. In Colour Cosmetics, HLLmarkets the Lakme and Elle-18 ranges.In Deodorants, the key brands are Rexona, Axe, 1930Denim and Ponds, while the Talc brands are Ponds, Liril, Fair & Lovely, Vaseline and Unilever isLifebuoy. Axe and Denim are HLL’s franchises for Men’s toiletries. formed on January 1HLL has recently launched Lever Ayush Ayurvedic Health & Personal Care Products. Health Care is among the new businesses HLL has chosen to enter. The product rangecomprises Cough Naashak Syrup, Headache Naashak Roll-on, Dandruff NaashakShampoo, Hair Rakshak Oil and Body Rakshak Soap.The purity of the Ayurvedic 1931ingredients in Lever Ayush is endorsed by the renowned Arya Vaidya Pharmacy (AVP) of HindustanCoimbatore. It is for the first time that rigorous testing procedures of the pharmaceutical Vanaspatiindustry have been applied to Ayurvedic products. That is why the brand seal is ‘Truth of ManufacturingAyurveda; Proof of Science’. Company registered on November 27HLL has started franchised Lakme Beauty Salons, offering standardised services, in linewith the strategy to add a service dimension to relevant brands.The company has set up the Hindustan Lever Network, a direct selling channel, offering 1932the Lever Home range of Laundry and Home Care products and the A viance Personal Vanaspati manufactureCare range. starts at SewriThe company has also begun an e-tailing service, called Sangam, which can home-deliveron order by phone or through the Net, a diverse range of about 5000 branded andunbranded products. The service is now available in select areas of Mumbai and NaviMumbai, besides Thane. 1939HLL is one of the world’s largest packet Tea marketers.Its Tea brands – Taj Mahal, Red Garden ReachLabel, Taaza, – are among the top brands in the country; it also markets Lipton Ice Tea. Factory purchasedHLL and Pepsi have formed an alliance to distribute a full range of tea and coffee and soft outrightbeverages through vending machines; HLL already has a base of around 15000 suchmachines. The coffee business comprises Bru Instant Coffee and Deluxe Green LabelRoast & Ground Coffee. The Kissan and Knorr Foods range comprises Spreads & Jams, Biscuit Sticks, Soups, 1943 Personal ProductsSquashes, Tomato Ketchup, Sauces, Puree, and Cooking Aids.Popular Foods, like Wheat manufactureFlour and Iodized Edible Salt, under the Knorr Annapurna brand name, have met with begins in India atremarkable success. The range has been expanded with ready-to-eat 10-second chapatis. Garden ReachThe innovative offerings are changing consumer habits into using processed, hygienic, Factoryhealthy and convenient products. The Kwality-Walls Ice Cream range comprises exotic Sundaes, Viennetta Desserts,popular ‘Impulse’ segment products like Max, Cornetto and Feast, and Cornetto Ripple 1947Softies.Ponds Cold Cream launched. Max was extended in 2001 as sugar confectioneries, because children are a key consumersegment in confectioneries too. This is among the new businesses HLL has chosen toenter. ? 16. HLL has acquired Modern Food Industries (India) Limited, entering the bread market. Modern Foods was the first Public Sector Undertaking to be disinvested. Besides 1959 Surf launched. upgrading the existing Modern products, H LL has launched new products, among thembiscuits. HLL is liberating its brands from their existing category mindset.Historically, brandsoriginated and stayed within a category format. HLL sees its Power Brands as being able tooccupy a unique position in the consumers mind and therefore being able to stretch intoother product formats and categories. All such initiatives have had a promising start, and 1964there are more to come. Etah dairy set up, Anik ghee launched; Animal feeds plant atThe Distribution network Ghaziabad; Sunsilk shampooHLL’s distribution network is recognised as one of its key strengths — that which helps launched. each out its products across the length and breadth of this vast country. The need for astrong distribution network is imperative, since HLL’s corporate purpose is â€Å"to meet theeveryday needs of people everywhere. †HLLs products, manufactured across the country, the operations involve over 2,000 1969 Rin bar launchedsuppli ers and associates. HLLs distribution network, comprising about 7,000redistribution stockiest about one million retail outlets, directly covers the entire urbanpopulation, and about 250 million rural consumers.In addition to the ongoing commitment to the traditional grocery trade, HLL is building aspecial relationship with the small but fast emerging modern trade. HLLs scale enables itto provide superior customer service including daily servicing, improving their rangeavailability whilst reducing inventories. HLL is using the opportunity of interfacing more 1975 Close-updirectly with consumers in this retail environment through specially designed toothpastecommunication and promotions. This is building traffic into the stores while yielding high launched.. growth for the business.An IT-powered system has been implemented to supply stocks to redistribution stockistson a continuous replenishment basis. The objective is to catalyse HLL’s growth by 1978ensuring that the right pro duct is available at the right place in right quantities, in the most Fair & Lovely skin creamcost-effective manner. For this, stockists have been connected with the company through launched.. an Internet-based network, called RSNet, for online interaction on orders, dispatches,information sharing and monitoring. RS Net covers about 80% of the companys turnover. 930 Unilever is formed onHLLs foray into Network Marketing January 1 1988 Launch ofAs per the market surveys conducted it is expected that the consumer market in India is Lipton Taazaworth 13000 crores per year and in few years the network market will capture 500 crores as tea. per market surveys, considering the potential Hindustan Lever has launched HindustanLever Network (HLN), a unique Network Marketing opportunity . ? 17. 1991The Network marketing concept Surf Ultra detergent launched. In the normal marketing system, the manufacturer supplies the products through themiddle men such as brokers, wholesalers and retailers. These middle-men add theirestablishment costs and their own margin of profit or commission on the price. Thisincreases the price by approximately 45 per cent. The consumer therefore gets the productat atleast a 45 per cent markup from the manufacturers price. 1993 Tata Oil Mills CompanyIn network marketing, these middle men are eliminated. A person is invited to join and (TOMCO),become a member (also called Consultant) of the network marketing company. This merges with theperson in turn invites many more people to join under him to form a group.These group companymembers, in turn invite their acquaintance to join under them. This group is made tosteadily grow and it can grow into thousands or tens of thousands, in the course of time,depending upon the enthusiasm with which the Consultant pursue the sponsorship of newConsultants. 1994 HLL introducesThese Consultants make purchases of the products of the marketing company for self use Walls. and also for sale to other consumers. For t heir loyalty in regularly purchasing the products,the marketing co. gives discounts, handsome bonuses, rewards and special incentives.Each consultant in the group gets his shares of benefits depending upon the purchasesmade by him and also by the number of the consultant under him (called downlines). This 1995is called network marketing. HLL enters brandedThe growth in the beginning will be slow, from 1 to 2 to 4†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. but later on it will be rapid, staples1000 to 2000 to 4000†¦.. and so on. Given below are the approx. benefits received, business with saltdepending upon your group strength and on the assumption that each consultant haspurchased goods worth Rs 1,000/- in the month. The benefits will be more for higherpurchases and bigger groups.Group Strength Benefits: 1996 HLL introduces253Nos(1+12+60+180) Rs17,938/- branded atta; Surf Excel launched1531Nos(1+18+216+1296) Rs64,558/-3061Nos(1+36+432+2592) Rs 1,28,818/- 2002 HLL enters Ayurvedic health & beauty centre. ? 18. Shakti-Hll Rural ProjectShakti is HLLs rural initiative, which targets smallvillages with population of less than 2000 people or less. It seeks to empower underprivileged rural women byproviding income-generating opportunities, health andhygiene education through the Shakti Vani programme,and creating access to relevant information through theiShakti community portal.Started in 2001, Shakti has already been extended to about50,000 villages in 12 states – Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka,Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Chattisgarh, UttarPradesh, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and WestBengal. The respective state governments and several Project Shakti – By using self-helpNGOs are actively involved in the initiative. Shakti already groups, HLL has pushed its productshas about 13,000 women entrepreneurs in its fold. A typical down into the country. Into villagesShakti entrepreneur earns a sustainable income of about where people cannot spend more thanRs. 00 -Rs. 1,000 per month, which is double their average Rs 20-25 on FMCGs in a monthhousehold income. Project Shakti will expand the distribution cover bottom-up, the rural project will be top-down. Thiswill be a huge competitive advantage for Lever. The costs of expanding into these villages will betoo high for most companies, which do not have a portfolio spanning teas to detergents,In recent past Hindustan lever took some major decisions to remodel its business. These decisionshad major impact on the how distribution of lever products is managed in the market.Hindustan lever took the decision to simplify the company it merged all the different business unitsinto two large divisions: home and personal care (HPC) and foods and beverages (F&B). This gaveeach division â€Å"The advantage is that these divisions get us enormous scale,† The companydecided to whittle its brands down from 110 to 35, over the next three years. This is known asHLL’s Power Brand strategy. To identify these power brands, managers were asked to consider their growth potential, profitdelivery and the size of the opportunity.And to ensure that Lever would not lose sales, it wasdecided to migrate these brand users to the designated power brands. For one, the drastic slimmingdown of the brand portfolio which threw up huge problems in execution is now over. HLL is already combining its scale advantage to offer retailers a bigger basket of products and betterservice. Instead of different sales teams servicing the same retailer, the company has integrated bothHPC and Foods portfolios for modern trade chains like Margin Free. Once again, its large portfolio ? 19. ange helps Lever to use the power of customer relationships to corner greater shelf space and adisproportionately higher share of the branded segment. Modern trade, it reckons, is already growing at 15-20 per cent and will continue that way for a longtime. By bulking up the businesses, it is possible for Lever to service these mo dern trade outlets on adaily business. As a result, these retailers do not have to maintain high inventory levels. HINDUSTAN LEVER LIMITED — BOARD OF DIRECTORSMr. Harish Manwani Non Executive chairmanMr. M. K. Sharma Vice ChairmanMr. Arun Adhikari Managing Director (Home & Personal Care)Mr.S. Ravindranathan Managing Director (Foods)Mr. D. Sundaram Finance & IT DirectorMr. A. Narayan DirectorMr. V. Narayan DirectorMr. D. S. Parekh DirectorMr. C. K. Prahlad Director ? 20. The CompetitorsThe Indian FMCG markets have witnessed some of the classic struggles involving HLL. Sofar Levers have been able to stand their ground but times are changing. HLL’s response tothe latest challenges is being eagerly studied by the corporate India. In order to gain afoothold in Indian FMCG sector various domestic and MNC companies are using all kind ofschemes to woo customer from HLL.The major competitors of HLL are:Detergents: P&G, Nirma, Henkel SpicToothpaste: Colgate-PalmoliveBeverages: R asna, Coca-Cola (Sun fill)Tea: Tata teaCoffee: NestleIce-creams: AmulShampoo: P&G, Garnier Procter & GambleP&G Home Products Limited is a 100% subsidiary of The Procter & Gamble Company,USA. P&G Home Products Limited is one of Indias fastest growing Fast Moving ConsumerGoods Companies that has in its portfolio P&Gs global brands such as Ariel and Tide in theFabric Care segment, and in the Hair Care segment: Head & Shoulders – worlds largestselling anti-dandruff shampoo; Pantene – worlds No. beauty shampoo; and Rejoice – AsiasNo. 1 shampoo. Fabric CareProcter & Gamble has two of its world-leading detergents – Tide and Ariel, in India to caterto the main concerns of the Indian households. In India P&G has launched followingbrands: †¢ Ariel Front-O-Mat Ariel 2 Fragrances †¢ Tide Detergent †¢ Tide BarHair CareIn India, P&G’s beauty care business comprises of Pantene, the world’slargest selling shampoo, Head & Shoulders, the worldà ¢â‚¬â„¢s No. 1 Anti-dandruffshampoo and Rejoice – Asia’s No. 1 Shampoo. †¢ Pantene Pro V †¢ Head & Shoulders †¢ Rejoice ? 1. Baby Care †¢ PampersIn India, P&G will continue to be a midget, in turnover terms, when compared to HindustanLever. The two P&G subsidiaries in India (P&G Hygiene and P&G Home Products) todaygenerate a combined turnover of about Rs 1,100 crore, just a tenth of Hindustan Leverssales. P&Gs distribution network is largely urban and has a reach of 0. 4 m outlets. In 1994, Godrej entered into a strategic alliance with P&G for inter alia toilet soap business,under which Godrej used to manufacture soaps, which were marketed by a joint venturecompany.However post marketing alliance with P&G, the company lost significant part ofits market share and subsequently the arrangement was discontinued. Godrej’s entiredistribution network was then taken over by P&G. THE Procter & Gamble -Gillette deal could result in the former getting a significant boostboth to its scale of operations and range of products in the Indian market. That Gillettesportfolio of shaving razors, gels, grooming products and toothbrushes has no overlap withthat of P&G in India (shampoos, detergents, feminine hygiene, cold medication) is apositive.The addition of Gillettes businesses could help P&G expand its portfolio andacquire a more extensive distribution network; This may strengthen P&Gs hand in theongoing war for market share with Unilever arms in the Asian markets, particularly withHindustan Lever in India. NirmaNirma is one of the few names – which is instantly recognized as a true Indian brand, whichtook on mighty multinationals and rewrote the marketing rules to win the heart of princess,i. e. the consumer. It was way back in ‘60s and ‘70s, where the domestic detergent market had only premiumsegment, with very few players and was dominated by MNCs.It was 1969, when KarsanbhaiPatel started door-to-door selling of h is detergent powder, priced at an astonishing Rs. 3 perkg, when the available cheapest brand in the market was Rs. 13 per kg. In a short span,Nirma created an entirely new market segment in domestic marketplace, which is, eventuallythe largest consumer pocketand quickly emerged as dominating market player. Now, the year 2004 sees Nirma’s annualsales touch 800,000 tones, making it one of the largest volume sales with a single brandname in the world.Looking at the FMCG synergies, Nirma stepped into toilet soapsrelatively late in 1990 butthis did not deter it to achieve a volume of 100,000 per annum. This makes Nirma thelargest detergent and the second largest toilet soap brand in India with market share of 38%and 20% respectively. SoapsIn 1992, sensing a strong need to expand the market through PenetrativePricing, Nirma entered this market with the launch of ‘Nirma Bath Soap’&‘Nirma Beauty Soap’ . In 1998 Nirma expanded its product line in the soap ? 2 2. ategory by introducing ‘Nirma Lime Fresh’ & ‘Nirma Rose’. This brand had carved a nichein its segment by achieving leadership position just within two months of its launch. It isavailable in 100g and 150g pack sizes. Nirma entered the premium soap segment when itlaunched ‘Nirma Sandal’DetergentsNirma launched â€Å"Nirma Washing Powder† in Indian market in year 1969, This productwas priced at almost one third to that of the competitor brands, resulting into instant trial bythe consumers. Presently Nirma has different variants in Indian market.Nirma washing powderNirma superNirma popularEdible SaltNirma has also entered the Food market in the recent past with launch of Nirma Shudh. ? 23. FINANCIAL ANALYSISRatio Analysis ? 24. All figures in Rs cr Particulars Dec 2001 Dec 2002 Dec 2003 Dec 2004 Sales 12420. 71 10641. 15 11919. 04 11594. 65 Total assets 7089. 06 7761. 01 8104. 68 7820. 34 Net worth 3170. 86 3713. 91 2189. 22 2148. 67 Bor rowings 102. 55 86. 23 1715. 18 1604. 25 Capital Employed 3273. 41 3800 3904 3752 Debtors 1254. 38 1169. 49 1228. 55 793. 56 PAT 1576. 47 1757. 59 1687. 3 1208. 4 PBDIT 2211. 63 2461. 31 2462. 92 1875. 63 Depreciation 202. 63 192. 65 199. 99 195. 68 PBIT 2009 2269 2262. 9 1680Current liabilities & Provisions 3709. 17 3841. 92 4084. 71 3919. 71 Current assets 3505 3510 3610 3132 Current assets -Inventories 2201 2146 2120 1574 Long term Debt 102. 55 86. 23 1715. 18 1604. 25 Interest 12. 31 12. 86 69. 12 136. 25 Total Purchases 6077. 97 5389. 04 5438 5413. 77 Profitability Ratios Operating Profit Margin (%) 16. 17 21. 30 19 14. 5 Net Profit Margin Ratio (%) 12. 68 16. 51 14. 15 10. 42 ROTA (%) 28. 3 29. 23 27. 92 21. 5 ROCE 61. 37 59. 72 58 44. 77 Return on Equity (%) 49. 71 47. 3 77 56. 23 Liquidity Ratios Current ratio 0. 944 0. 91 0. 88 0. 79 Quick Ratio 0. 59 0. 55 0. 52 0. 40 Absolute Cash Ratio 0. 25 0. 254 0. 218 0. 20 Solvency Ratios Debt Equity Ratio . 032 0. 023 0. 78 0. 75 I nterest Coverage Ratio 163. 2 176 32. 74 12. 33 Efficiency Ratios Debtor Days 38. 85 40. 11 37. 62 25 Creditor days 135. 31 149. 2 131. 62 145. 23 Total assets turnover ratio 1. 75 1. 37 1. 47 1. 48 ? 25. Interpretation: †¢ Profitability Ratios:HLL earns 14. paisa on every Re. 1 of Sale before Interest and Taxes It ultimately makes 10. 42paisa on every Re. 1 of Sale after Interest and Taxes. It is visible that Hindustan Lever Ltd. has not been able to increase its Operating Profit marginconstantly over the years. We can see that the operating margin has decreased considerable in thelast year. This is mainly due to the fact that the interest cost of HLL has almost doubled from 69. 12crores to 136. 25 crores. Moreover the company’s operating expenses have increased by almost 75% in the year 2004.The efficiency has certainly decreased over the last few years mainly owing tohigh operating expenses , increased interest burden and high indirect taxes. The Net Profit Marginhas also decreased by 17. 8 % in 2004 as compared to 2001. This is mainly due to the decrease insales by Rs. 826 cr. HLL generates 21. 5% Return on Total Assets (ROTA) that it employs in its operations in theyear ended 2004. ROTA has decreased in the last year mainly due to the fact that its profit marginhas decreased. It could be ecause of high competition as a result of which profits have decreasedand the total assets of the company have increased. As we can see that the Return on Capital Employed (ROCE) for Hindustan lever Limited hasdecreased considerably during the last year mainly due to lower profit margins. The company isearning a return of 44. 77% on the funds employed by it. Though the ROCE has seen aconsiderable change, even now the company is getting good enough returns and can pay goodenough dividends to the shareholders as we saw the case in the year 2004 where the rate ofdividend was 250%.The Return on Equity Ratio (ROE) states how much profit a company earned in comparis onto total amount of shareholders equity on the balance sheet of the company. Here, we see that theROE of HLL has increased in comparison to the year 2001 but this cant be concluded as afavourable situation for the company as looking at the figures in detail we can notice that there hasbeen a near to 30% decrease in ROE in comparison to the year 2003 , also we do see that the PATof the company has fallen by about 23% and the shareholders equity has also decreased by 32% incomparison to the year 2004. But Even now an ROE of about 56. 3% is considered to be verygood. †¢ Liquidity Ratios:It can be seen from the above table that the Current Ratio for all the years is less than 1. Thissignifies that HLL has short term liabilities greater than the short term assets. It implies that thecompany would have problems in managing its short term liabilities and liquidity requirements. The company might have to resort to financing its short term liquidity requirements by long termsources of finance. We can observe that the current assets have decreased by 13 % and at the same time the currentliabilities have decreased by just 4 % in the last year.The reason is that since the company is ? 26. using long term sources of finance to fund its short term obligations therefore the interest burdenhas increased and as a result the cash balance has decreased . Other receivables have also decreasedby more than 66% leading to a fall in current assets. †¢ Solvency Ratios:The company was highly unleveraged in the years 2001 and 2002. It was risky as the company hadinvested a huge amount of its own funds as compared to debt. However in the last 2 years thecompany has changed its policy and is leveraging the advantage of debt along with equity.Thoughthe debt equity ratio of 0. 75 is not good enough as compared to industry norms of 2:1 but thecompany is moving towards a favourable debt equity mix. It has realized the importance of tradingon equity . The Company has increased its d ebt burden by 1470% in the last 4 yearsInterest Coverage Ratio(ICR) basically signifies the ability of a firm to service its interest burdenthrough the profits generated . In the initial years when the firm had not employed debt its interestburden was very low.As a result the Interest Coverage ratio is very high, gradually the companyhas employed more debt and as a result of which the interest burden has increased significantly. Moreover, due to high competition and operating inefficiency the earnings of the company havedeclined. As a result the ICR has reduced from 163. 2 to 12. 33 in the last 4 years. However an ICRof 12. 33 is still very impressive which reflects the company’s ability to pay interests on loanseasily. This is a good indicator to the various financial institutions providing long term sources offinance to HLL. Efficiency Ratios:Here, we see that the Debtors Days for the company is less than the Creditor Days of thecompany. From this we can interpret that the company has a favorable cash position as it is makingits payments long after receiving the dues from the debtors. Here, from the Asset Turnover Ratiowe can know how efficiently the firm is using its assets, the ratio for which is pretty low for thecompany. The Creditor Days as well as Debtor Days both show negative growth which reflectsnegatively on the company’s financials. The Asset Turnover Ratio also shows negative growthwhich is also not a good sign for the company.Thus, looking into these figures we can analyze thatthe efficiency level of the company has gone down vis-a-vis the previous years and hence thecompany needs to look urgently into these matters so as to improve the efficiency of the company. O DU-PONT RATIO ANALYSIS:The Du Pont ratio analysis is a combination of financial ratios in a series in order to assess theinvestment returns of the company. It combines the financial ratios of both the Income Statementas well as the Balance Sheet in order to assess either the Return on Equity or the Return onInvestment.One of the Plus points of this method is that it provides a clear understanding of howthe company generates its return. This analysis provides an insight into the importance of assetturnover as well as sales to overall return. This formula shows the relationship of profit margin andturnover how these two complement each other. ? 27. The Du Pont ratio divides the Return on equity into three parts: Net Profit Margin, total assetturnover, and the company’s use of leverage referred to as Equity Multiplier also. DU-PONT CHART FOR HLL FOR THE YEAR 2004 RETURN ON EQUITY =PAT/NETWORTH 56. 3% Equity NET PROFIT TOTAL ASSET Multiplier MARGIN TURNOVER =TA/NW =PAT/NETSALES =SALES/TA =10. 42% =1. 48 =3. 64% RETURN ON ASSETS ROA=PAT/TA =15. 44%Growth Trends Over The Years Particulars Dec-01 Dec-02 Dec-03 Dec-04 ? 28. Sales 12420. 71 10641. 15 11919. 04 11594. 65Expenditure 10627 8690 9941 10076Change InSales (%) — -14. 33 12 -2. 7Chang e InExpenditure(%) — -18. 22 14. 39 1. 35Change inPBIT (%) — 12. 94 -0. 26 -25. 75Change inPAT (%) — 11. 48 -3. 99 -28. 38Change inBorrowings(%) — -15. 91 1889 6. 46Change InInterest (%) — 4. 46 437. 48 97. 12 ? 29. COMMON MARKETING MIX FOR ALL MARKETS 1.Product consists of brand, quality, appearance, 2. Price Structure consists of prices, dealers and consumers discounts. 3. Promotional activities consist of advertising, media. 4. Placement (distribution) system consists of dealers, distributors, retailers and overall logistics. MARKETING MIX FOR RURAL MARKET 1. Product 2. Price 3. Promotion 4. Placement system 5. Packaging-Reason for putting it separately is because symbols and packaging becomes very important when literacy levels are very low. 6. Retailer is the one who gives all information about brand choice and consumer feedback. 7.Education is very important for rural sector-eg. Project Shakti 8. Empowerment Example-Project Shakti and Self He lp Groups. PRODUCTSurf derives its name from ‘Surfactant’ the basic ingredient of a detergent. After 44 years, Surf brand has been upgraded and made more modern and contemporary. Surf has changed – the entire brand is now called â€Å"Surf Excel†. Continuousimprovements in the formulation of the product and introduction of new ingredients e. g. enzymes, along with new perfumes have ensured that the product meets the evolvingconsumer needs. The brand Surf Excel now has three variants – Surf Excel Quickwash, ? 0. Surf Excel Blue and Surf Excel Automatic – which address different laundry needs buteach offers stain removal as the key benefit. Surf Excel Blue Target segment: Economic segment. Attributes:-Removes stains without fading colours. Sizes avalaible: 25gm, 200gm, 500gm, 750gm, 1. 5kg, 3kgSurf Excel Quickwash (also called as Surf Excel Easy wash)(Hitherto known as just Surf Excel) Target segment: Superior quality for washing machine users. Sizes available:- 20gm, 20gm, 500gm, 1kg, 1. 5kg Attributes:-Stain removalSurf Excel Automatic Target segment:-Washing machine owners –Top and front loading machines .Sizes available:- 600gm, 1kg Attributes: Low lather detergent, anti corrosive, stain removal, ensures longer life of fabric. PRICELatest price war between detergent majors, Hindustan Lever (HLL), Proctor and GambleIndia (P&G), Nirma and Henkel-Spic India (HSIL) has proved that price in the marketingmix is very critical for growth of HLL products. If Surf excel prices were reduced to match the price cuts of their competitor (P&G),simultaneously they had to ramp up spending on advertising and promotions to increaseconsumption and penetration in the market and retain values of premium brand ? 1. PROMOTIONSSurf communication has been pleasant, soothing and gentle, Surf Excel has had adistinctively bold ‘tongue in cheek’ style of communication. Promotions for Surf Excelare more often than not tactical w eapons. Gift is offered to the consumer to gain short-term patronage or to engineer enhanced consumption. Choice of various promotionalgifts is usually governed by what can be bought cheap rather than any brand-relatedfactors. Surf Excel has always been sensitive enough to recognise the change in the consumerchoice dynamics.In some of their promotions, they have pampered influencersconsidering that brand choice in family products is a collective exercise. Various promotions being used for Surf are: †¢ Scholarship offer –Rs five lakh scholarship. Extremely rare and intelligent use of the marketing budget. Beauty of this promotion is in its design. An innovative and clever way of underscoringthe core promise of Surf Excel — stain removal!! Visual depiction in the ad is student-focussed — there are no mothers or daughters to be seen in the ad.Most of the people inthe ad are in their teens. The protagonist himself is barely in his teens. This can be anindicatio n towards changing consumer algorithm. This was backed by Win with Stains campaign – one of the largest campaigns taken upby Surf excel. This promotion is happening in Orissa markets which is aimed at offering consumers achance to win prizes as well as give students an opportunity to pursue further studies. Theaim of the whole campaign is to drive home the point that stains are good in life and oneis not to be scared to get themselves dirty.They are not only doing road shows,advertisements but branded horoscope columns in keeping with the theme of luck andfortune. They have roped in former South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes to participate in theWin with stains washathon to wash the largest stain in town with kids of the NGO -Magic Bus †¢ 1 bucket free with 3kg of Surf Excel has really managed to increase sales revenue of Surf excel. This is the most successful consumer promotion till date in Orissa market. †¢ Surf KidStains – a roadshow that invites consume rs to get first-hand experience of using Surf.Surf has taken communication beyond mass media advertising and involved consumersin the brand’s promise in the real world. It has touched consumer’s life through schoolcontact and in-store programmes. Road shows have helped to go to the consumers anddemonstrate superior performance vis-a-vis competition. ? 32. PLACEMENT SYSTEMIn Orissa, HLL has around 100 dealers and distributors. But HLL is into the exercise ofreducing number of channels in Orissa by increasing territory size of each dealer. HLL Distribution in Rural MarketsHLL has come up with new distribution channels to cater to rural markets.For long-term benefits, HLL has mounted an initiative, Project Streamline, to furtherincrease its rural reach with the help of rural sub-stockists. It has already appointed 6000such sub-stockists. As a result, the distribution network directly covers about 50,000villages, reaching about 250 million consumers. The pivot of Streamlin e is the RuralDistributor (RD), who has 15-20 rural sub-stockists attached to him. Each of these sub-stockists is located in a rural market. The sub-stockists then performs the role of drivingdistribution in neighboring villages using unconventional means of transport such astractor, bullock cart,etc.The Streamline system has extended direct HLL reach in these markets to about 37% ofIndias rural population from 25% in 1995 and the number of HLL brands and SKUsstocked by village retailers has gone up significantly. ? 33. PACKAGINGPackaging plays a key role in rural markets. Since customers are daily wage earners andthey don’t have monthly incomes like the urban consumers have, so Surf excel ispackaged in smaller sizes of 20gm so that they can afford given their kind of incomestreams. EDUCATIONSince vast majority of rural India lacks even basic education levels and modern outlook,HLL is training their new sellers to basic education levels.This is example of ProjectShakti which is explained in detail later. EMPOWERMENTHLL runs the program of Self-Help Groups (SHG), which operate like direct-to-homedistributors. The mo del consists of groups of (15-20) villagers below the poverty line(Rs. 750 per month) taking micro-credit from banks, and using that to buy HLL products,which they will then directly sell to consumersPrices of products 20gm 25gm 200gm 500gm 600gm 750gm 1kg 1. 5kg 3 kgSurf Quickwash 2 NA 23 53 NA NA 103 153 NASurf Automatic NA NA NA NA 90 NA 145 NA NASurf Blue NA 2 16 40 NA 53 NA 103 220 ? 34.Range of productsIf we divide detergent industry into three tiers – †¢ Premium at Rs. 80-140 per kg †¢ Mid-price at Rs. 30-50 per kg †¢ Popular at Rs. 15-25 per kgPopular segment accounts for 80% of the detergent industry. HLL leads in detergent powders withPremium – Surf ExcelMid price – SunlightPopular – Rin, WheelDealers and distributorsRetail Distributor MarginsExample of various distributor discounts on sale of these variants. Sale of 200gm Surf Excel Dealer Discount of 8%Sale of 20 gm Surf Excel Dealer Discount of 12%Wholesale Distributor MarginsThey get a standard discount of 1. % on sale of any variantStrategies in Orissa market 1. Shakti ProgramWith a twin objective of creating â€Å"income-generating capabilities† for underprivilegedrural women and â€Å"improving their rural living standard† through health and hygieneawareness, the Project Shakti is implemented in Orissa. Housewives and old ladies are targeted for this project. They are trained and given basiceducation to sell products. All products which are priced below Rs 5 are sold through thisproject. The sellers which are all ladies are paid margins of 3% on their sale of products.Now out of a total of 15,454 Shakti Entrepreneurs across India, Orissa hasover 928 (6%)Shakti Entrepreneurs spread across 22 districts. They are operating through Self Help Groups (SHGs) which is makes women direct-to-home distributo rs of HLL. Partnerships with several NCOs and support from stategovernments have been key enablers for the programme. Currently women entrepenuersare earning an average income of Rs. 7007- per month, doubling their household income. For the SHG women, it provides a stable, sustainable source of income.For villagers, thischannel has become a source of genuine and correctly priced products. ? 35. SALES TREND IN BHUBANESHWARBig Bazaar ,BhubaneshwarSales figures of Surf excel and is competitors Surf Ariel TideJuly sales 1,21,000 26,246 71,672July sold quantity 1787 pieces 341 pieces 1996 pieces ? 36. MARKET SHARE OF SURF Bhubaneswar, 20% Orissa, 35% Surf Excel Surf Blue Orissa, 65% Bhubaneswar, 80%SALE OF SURF EXCEL ON BASIS OF DIFERENT SIZES 10% 25% 20gm 200gm 500gm others(1kg,1. 5kg) 15%50%SALE OF SURF BLUE ON BASIS OF DIFERENT SIZES 7% 13% 20% 500gm 750gm5% 1kg 3kg 55% others(25gm,200gm) ? 37.PERCENTAGE SHARE OF SURF IN PREMIUM DETERGENTSMARKET 25% Surf Excel Ariel 75%SALE OF SURF EX CEL ON BASIS OF SEASONSCustomers reduce their washing frequency in rains, so the sales are drastically affected. Sale of detergents is strongly affected by seasonal changes as shown in the chart below. 12% 18% Summers Winters Rains 70% ? 38. COMPETITOR ANALYSIS. In this section we compare HLL with its competitors, viz. Proctor and Gamble (Ariel, Tide) and Nirma Ltd (Nirma washing powder). We now compare these products and the companies on the various counts. Market Share: The per capita consumption of detergents in India is 2. kg per annum. The synthetic detergent market can be classified into three main categories – Premium (Surf and Ariel) – 15% of total market Mid price (Rin and Wheel) – 40% of total market Popular (Nirma) – 45% of total market. Product Comparison: HLL (market share – 40%, including all 3 segments) manufactures Surf Excel in three avatars, Surf Excel Blue, Surf Excel Automatic and Surf Excel Quick wash. The USP of Surf Excel is that it reduces soaking time and water usage by 50%. It also contains a lesser amount of bleach than Ariel or Tide. P&G (market share – 12%, including all 3 segments) produces both Ariel and Tide.Ariel is produced in three types, Ariel Front-o-mat, Ariel Spring Clean and Ariel Fresh Clean. The USP here would be removal of tough stains while taking care of cloth quality and imparting a fresh fragrance to it. Tide detergent improves washing experience while imparting a lingering lemon fragrance to clothes. Nirma (market share – 30% of popular segment) comes in three variants, Nirma washing powder, Super Nirma washing powder and Nirma popular washing powder. Its USP would be low prices and the value for money it gives to the customer. Pricing Comparison: We now compare the prices for these brands.The price of each product and its variant is shown in the table b 20gm 200gm 500gm 600gm 750gm 1kg 1. 5kg 2kg 3 kg 4kg (30sachets)Surf Quick wash 2 23 53 NA NA 103 153 NA NA NASu rf Automatic NA NA NA 90 NA 145 NA NA NA NASurf Blue NA 16 40 NA 53 NA 102 NA 220 NAAriel 2 22 50 NA NA 99 145 NA NA NATide 1 10 23 NA NA 46 NA 88 NA 186 ? 39. Place comparison:HLL’s distribution system is one of its key strengths. The delivers its finished productsto various Carrying and Forwarding Agents, via whom the goods reach differentwholesalers. From here the goods are delivered to either rural or urban retailers, viawhom they reach the consumers.HLLs scale enables it to provide superior customer service including daily servicing,improving their range availability whilst reducing inventories. An IT-powered system hasbeen implemented to supply stocks to redistribution stockists on a continuousreplenishment basis. The objective is to catalyze HLL’s growth by ensuring that the rightproduct is available at the right place in right quantities, in the most cost-effectivemanner. For this, stockists have been connected with the company through an Internet-based network , called RSNet, for online interaction.As far as distribution to rural areas is concerned, they use a process called ProjectStreamline, wherein there exist networks of rural sub-stockists, who operate in the ruralareas itself. 20-30 sub-stockists come under a rural distributor (RD). The sub-stockists arethen responsible for distributing the products in rural areas. Nirma Limited markets its products through its fully owned subsidiary Nirma ConsumerCare Limited (NCCL), which was incepted in 1985. NCCL then resells the productsthrough ‘Nirma’ and ‘Nima’. Nirma pioneered the concept of flat distribution network.Nirma Consumer Care Limited operates with two parallel distribution networks. TheNIRMA brand is marketed through the first network, which consists of about 450exclusive distributors. It is one of the lowest cost FMCG distribution channels of thecountry. The principle channel for Nirma’s Products is the lowest cost system in Indiawith in built fle xibility and speedy distribution. All NIRMA and NIMA range of productshave a retail reach of over two million retail outlets and more than 40 million loyalconsumers spread all over the country.The Company has been successful in establishingan extremely good urban as well as rural presence through the two distribution channels. The distribution channels have played a significant role in making Nirma a householdname. The efficient network has made Nirma Washing Powder the brand with highestpenetration in its product category. The network is well equipped to meet the demands ofthe loyal consumers of the Company across the country. ? 40. Promotion comparison:HLL. Advertising. Surf excel, synonymous with the catch line, ‘Surf Excel hai naa! ’ was the first nationaldetergent brand on television.It has indulged in numerous advertisement campaignswhich have gained a lot of popularity. Surf Excel and Lalitaji ad also was in news for a long time. Slice of life situations havegene rated high levels of interest in the communication. Using consumer speak in the formof testimonials has helped in building credibility in the brand. â€Å"She was a hard-headed bargain-hunting housewife who demanded value for money andnot just cheap price. Consumers faith in Surf was restored, and not just because sheoffered a rational argument. The real reason Lalitaji was believed was because she wastrusted y the Indian housewife to get her a good bargain. We showed her bargainingwith the vegetable vendor about good tomatoes and bad tomatoes †¦ `Sasti cheez orachchi cheez me farak hota hai, bhai saab. â€Å"This advertisement reversed a declining brand share trend. The currents advertisement on television shows noted actor and human rights activistShabana Azmi (who did promote Ariel once upon a time), walking with two buckets ofwater and encouraging a crowd of people to do the same. It basically plays on SurfExcel’s strength to perform with lesser amounts of water.It thus underlines th