Challenges Faced by the TCL of Household Brands

From the political perspective, China's accession to the WTO, the competitiveness of home appliances market will be growing; TCL will have to accept the challenge of many household brands. These challenges will bring our goods to exchange a big impact. Now farmers are getting richer, the consumption level increases. Later there will be more and more people use appliances. From economic factors, the current domestic economic impact of the economic crisis is not large, but gradually changed the domestic economy was getting better and better, the city people and rural people's spending power is increasing, but because the more tired goods more price increases Fast, so people need the degree of electronic products become low. From technical factors, the people now need more and more domestic TV, the products are constantly updated. However, the domestic production technology of new technologies, is still smaller than the level of international production technology, production technology, we may be big blow, and perhaps only get a small fee. From the social and cultural factors, China's population structure is complex, each of the requirements for electronic products are not the same, especially for mobile phone consumption among young people account for a large position. The consumption level of each person is different; the products are not the same need, so that people differ greatly in need of electronic products. As a large electronics company, TCL has been facing a lot of competitors. Fields in plasma, Panasonic, 20% market share and become market leader, Panasonic is the vanguard of technology with technology. In the LCD TV market, market share reach of first place, Sharp at 28% of the market occupies the second place. The stolen Chang Hong is the first to enter the field, and put the largest companies, in terms of Chang Hong’s rear-projection TV screen, functionality and price point of view still holds in the country's most eye-catching position. For TV, the buyer has a strong bargaining power, because most buyers of TV consumers, individual consumers will be very concerned about product prices. TV is not a necessity in life, is increasingly supported by computers and other electronic information products to replace, consumers are not eager to buy. Many electronics manufacturers, greatly reduced in order to seize the market price of the TV as an electronic information products consumers great choice, convenient channels of information, the information consumers want to know the market very easily. TCL is the internal environment from the following points. TCL lot of resources, from the tangible assets of view, TCL Company continued the production of emerging products. Many people like TCL’s electronics products. TCL latest production of LCD TVs, to protect people's eyes, can also reduce the energy consumption of the TV. From the perspective of intangible assets, TCL won many awards. For example, in 2009, received 60 years in China Brand Image Award; TCL's brand value in 2009 for the first time exceeded 400 billion Yuan. ?(Docin, 2011) TCL has a very good team, TCL of all employees are aware, do not build an internationally competitive corporate culture, can not become internationally competitive enterprises.

Proud to be Federal: A System that Money and Rhetoric Cannot Buy Essay

If I were on a bet, I have to choose either my dignity or wealth, as a principled citizen of America, I would choose my dignity. The ego could not be equated to money. The same way as the established principle and system could not be price tagged with million bills and euphemized sales talk. United States of America (US) is globally known the most powerful country in the world. The president of us is known to be the most powerful man in the world, as well. Back from the early times wherein the US colonized several countries. States, and archipelagos in different continents, it already showed its power and leadership among these colonized countries. Their victory in wars exemplified their strength and supremacy among other nation. Up to these days, US is undeniably being revered by other countries considering that it belongs to the first world countries, which are called as capitalists. The US government follows the Federal system by which there is a central government for the whole country of US and there are local government units for each of the 50 states that it has. In matters of decision-making, the state government could decide on its own as long as it could be settled along the state level. The Federal government of course, has its power in decision-making concerning more the US as a whole. Yet, it also involves in decision-making in the state level since it is the central government. In this case, we could see that our government becomes more specific and focus to one state unit than referring one government all over the 50 states that compose our country. In such way, problems and issues in the state level could be easily settled because there are specific state governors whom could address certain issues involving the state and the citizenry. This pattern of system, which has more than one government, is an effective way of ruling the people and the state since the leader of a particular state could focus more in their state problems with less regards with the problems of the other states. If only the central government would address all the issues and concerns of all the 50 states and the citizenry, there could be hard focus and specification of resolutions in the problems arising in different states. We could say that our country has been developed decades ago and has already established an almost stable system of living. This good socio-economic status of our country is being experienced now by most American citizen, if not all. We are ahead of trading with different partner countries in the world. In the version of â€Å"Keeping the Economy Strong† in the President’s FY2008 Budget, new investments and good innovations from outside and inside the country are expected since the â€Å"President’s tax relief† is permanently taking effect. This is to ensure the continuous economic growth of the US. Moreover, the affordable health services, improved quality of education, and security and stability of energy source are more focused by the central government system since it would assure the growth and development of the Americans. These socio-economic per se are the considerations to take to help all American people more productive. However, our country, as it is combating the terrorism act world wide, it lessens its viability in terms of economic role in terms of partnership with other countries. The US government focuses its external relation with other countries in terms of defense and state security. But in ruling the state, the federal system is taking place effectively. Likewise, since the federal government is the main and central ruler of the states of the US, it launches several programs, which entitled as â€Å"Top 10 Federal Benefits and Assistance Programs. † The first three programs mainly focus on the health aspect of the beneficiaries, First of this program is the Medicare, which enables the disabled and 65 and above year old citizen to receive medical insurance. It also includes those people who have permanent kidney disease (End-Stage Renal Disease) and could only be treated by dialysis. The second program is the Medical Prescription Drug Program. This program encompasses the entire citizen, such that, they could buy medicines and drugs with low cost. It could also protect the citizen from the increasing cost of the prescribed drugs. The third program pertains to the Medicaid that provides people with low socio-economic status with medical insurance especially those who are not covered with the first program. The fourth one, which is called the Social Security Retirement, benefits the retired workers and employees in lieu of their service to the company or the government they had been employed. The fifth program is named Stafford Student Loans. This gives opportunity and assistance to those who are in undergraduate study and even those who are in graduate study all over the America. It does not specify that its restriction is for American citizen only, yet, it dos prioritized of course the America people. The sixth one is the Food Stamps that would enable those people who belonged to low-income group to buy their foods. These foods are at low cost and are mainly the needed foods to improve the diets of the American people. On the other hand, the seventh program, which is called Emergency Food Assistance, provides the needy most people and the elders with food without any cost. The eighth one is the Employment and Training Assistance. It helps the citizen to improve their skills to get a good job. It also helps old employees to reemploy or search for new jobs. This program also provides placement assistance and information regarding the labor status, rights, and responsibilities. The ninth one which covers the shelter of the citizen is called Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers is the program that is responsible for provision of decent home and safe settlements for the low-income citizen. If not fully given homes, the program also addresses the housing rental at an affordable cost. The tenth and the last one is the Home Weatherization Assistance. This program is considered the largest assistance program fro those citizen who could not afford high cost of energy. Under the Department of Energy, it provides help to the citizen to conserve the energy they are using to avoid the burden of high-energy utilization. After all these main benefits under the system of Federalism, which mainly focus on the individual and community level of the society, the fiscal policy changed into monetary policy. This falls under the over all economic facade and status of the economy of the US. Under the U. S. Federal reserve System, this agency, commonly known as â€Å"the Fed,† is being comprised by the 12 major federal reserve banks and 25 the same branch branches. The control of fluctuation of the US economy is mainly established to watch out for the trend of the business firms. This is a vigilant watch for the tendencies of falling and rising of the economic status of the people. Another agency has been reformed under the Federal system, which is called Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI), which has been under the White House. It generally focuses on four major aspects such as legal guidance with partnering with the Federal government, accessing private resources, promote volunteerism, outcomes-focused Planning and Evaluation, and grant writing tutorials for five federal programs. This program mainly fights the societal disease in the state. For example, the Violence Free Zone, which entailed that no one should be harmed in the certain area declared as Violence Free Zone. The gangers, which are mostly youths, have given another chance to redirect their path as they are following. The faith-based community was observed to be inadequate, such that, the OFBCI caters most the qualified groups which are lackings of the provision of the social services. These aforementioned issues are just testimonies on how the hand of the Federal system works in the US. The fact that the US has undergone a Federal system, democracy and equal rights of citizen are still taken into considerations. Though, racial discrimination in our country still in its existence, the welfare of the people is still on the top list of the federal that hope to be accomplished in the range of demands of the society. These are to show the pride and honor of being an American and being under the Federal system, which certainly, other countries might be looking up to. The influence of our system could not only be seen here inside the country but also in the country it had been partnered with or colonized. The federal system, as what Robert Longley described in his article entitle â€Å"U. S. Government 101,† the system is perfect, yet it could lead to abuse of power in an instant. But the people and the state governments, which have their own power could mitigate that and prevent such thing to happen. The success and the high status that our country is portraying now could also attributed to the political hands themselves. Like what Alexander Hamilton and James Madison had been said in Federalists 51, â€Å"In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. On how the US is being modified by different leaders and the system as the tool they had used to mold the shape that the US has right now, is an attribution. The system they had been left and the system that was established was priceless. No negotiation could betray the system, such that, it would always impose its rule and law governing the American people. People around the globe look at us differently and powerfully. The supremacy we have gained for years could not be bought by any monetary value.

Informational Interview Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Informational Interview - Essay Example This report includes a summary of questions that were asked to an employee in an accounting field. The questions were prepared to capture challenges one goes through in the field and importance of interpersonal, communication, speaking, team work and written communication among others. Discussion The employee interviewed started to work as a junior accounts manager with future objective of becoming a CFO Manager in a financial related organization. The interviewee chose to work in this field as he is good in Math and this is what he sees as the only way promotion and can secure him any job applied for in other companies. Some of the task assigned to him currently includes managing the trainees’ accounts, communicating with the bank to ensure that the trainees are paid in time (Guffey & Loewy 2010). He also helps in recruiting exercise of accountants for other departments in the organization. The respondents finds the work satisfying as he enjoys working as an accountant, solve new challenges and making other team members happy. He works hard to ensure that he is productive and all that he does is appreciated by both the junior and seniors. Although he enjoys working as an accountant, the work has pressure. He says that he has to ensure that he does not make any mistake it affects line activities above or under him. He works in the salary and finance department where he ensures that salaries are paid in time and the trainees are satisfied and happy to be paid what they have worked for in the past month. The respondent says that the field is very competitive as one goes up the rank, competiveness and challenges increase too. The industry at large requires one to incorporate both the accounting skills, deductive skills and good decision making skills. One is required to make good decisions on when a risk is worth taking; these skills have seen him get promoted twice since he started as a trainee four years ago(Fitch 2007). The respondent has worked in multi ple departments that has exposed him well and made him to feel that he is an all round person. This industry requires him to make information he learnt in college. The accounting, etiquette, technical communication skills and business ethics skills learnt in college has helped him to ensure he meets customer satisfaction in his field of work. Over time, the respondent says that he knows that it is possible to project customer’s future needs. This is important as they need to safe guard the company image at all cost. The employees are required to have the right morale and attitude as they work; to achieve this, the respondent says that they calculate the economic growth and from there salary increment for the employees is increased accordingly. Employee’s performance is not only measured from how much money one brings into the company, but it incorporates a mixture of other factors like one’s hard work, work ethics, creativity and communication within the employe es and to customers. The company values employee’s creativity and productivity. The respondent wants to see himself in a senior management position in the coming five to ten years. The position he is aspiring to hold by then includes project manager and to manage his own department, as he aspires to be a CFO later on. The communication needs in this field is effective and a mistakes can put an employee in a lot of trouble. The respondent s

Discuss tourism revenue vs. cultural integrity among nations whos Essay

Discuss tourism revenue vs. cultural integrity among nations whos economies rely on tourism - Essay Example This creates a task managing the conflicting demands of sustaining this source of revenue through cultural preservation with the forces of globalization and economic advancement among affected group of people. According to Gill (149), the efforts of governments to preserve cultural authenticity are aimed at creating or maintaining a cohesive but controlled marketable cultural image of the society. They aim at maximizing the cultural authenticity of the people while ensuring that the people also benefit from preserving their culture. Governments take advantage of the presence of wildlife in the area inhabited by such cultures to control commercial and industrial activities in the area. Such activities open an area to varied local and international immigrants for purposes of exploiting its economic potentialities. When this happens, the culture of the locals gets diluted due to influence. Using Maasai-land in Kenya as an example, the government does not allow the building of big hotels or setting up of industries in the area especially places near the game parks. Restricted commercialization limits the freedom of such cultures to access and utilize phones, internet and other modern technologies that could influence their mindset. Governments also advise and direct societies with authentic cultures on the type of economic activities to undertake. These are those that will limit the possibilities of their culture being eroded. The people are encouraged to adopt a tourism-oriented economy like producing artifacts instead of engaging in trading, mining or extensive farming. Heritage tourism is the basis of such kind of an economy. The Vietnam government aimed at recreating their authentic 17th century culture within the unstable context of 21st century in Hoi An town so as to improve its tourism attraction potential. As a result of this, officials in Hoi An have restricted the type of business allowed

Creating_Financing_Marketing A Bussiness Assignment

Creating_Financing_Marketing A Bussiness - Assignment Example Equity funding includes partners’ contributions, ploughed back profit, offers for the shares, personal contributions, and gifts, while debt funding includes loans from financial institutions, insurance companies and government agencies (Hatten, 2011). Managerial accounting can help managers with product costing, incremental analysis, and budgeting by providing necessary accounting information such as costs, cost variance and forecasts to aid managerial decision making in determining and regulating costs as well as in budgeting (Debarshi, 2011). The marketing process defines the target market for the clothes, quantifies its potential, and evaluates the value of satisfying the potential. The process also includes communication of the determined information to management and evaluation of delivered clothes to the market and initiated response (McDonald and Wilson, 2011). Social responsibility establishes a friendly relationship between an organization and its market towards acceptance of the organization’s products while technology facilitates efficiency and effectiveness of marketing initiatives (Hatten,

Steve Jobs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Steve Jobs - Essay Example He was named as Steven Paul Jobs. In the year 1960, the Jobs family moved to Santa Clara which is popularly known as Silicon Valley. By the age of thirteen, he managed to get a summer job at HP. He was extremely good at computers and his instructors in schools wanted to skip him several classes ahead, which his parents declined. His interest in computers developed at an early age and he was inspired by the machinist work performed by his father. b) Professional career sketch of Steve Jobs Jobs dropped out of college in the very first semester and went to India in quest of spirituality. At the young age of 21, Steve cofounded Apple Computers with Steve Wozniac and Ron Wayne. Jobs was responsible for marketing Apple Computers and Wozniac headed the technical department of Apple and they started selling affordable computer solutions to Americans. The Apple Computers were smaller in size and could be purchased by the middle class American people. The organization further developed Apple II which became more popular and this resulted in augmented sales by around seventy percent. By the year, 1980, Apple Computers became a publicly traded firm and registered a market value of USD 1.2 billion on the initial day of trading (BusinessNewsDaily, 2013). Individual 2 Moving out of Apple The next few years witnessed a downfall in Apple due to serious flaws in designs and disappointment by consumers. Along with this, Apple faced stiff competition from IBM which had registered augmented growth in sales as compared with Apple. The Macintosh was released by Apple in the year 1984 and it was effectively marketed as a machine which was youthful, romantic and creative. Despite registering favourable growth in sales with Macintosh, Apple was still not able to effectively compete with IBM. This was because the computers designed by IBM were far more superior as compared with Macintosh. Following this, the then President of Apple, Scully believed that Steve Jobs was not able to steer the organization to a path of growth and subsequently Jobs had to resign from Apple in the year 1985. He commenced a new hardware and software firm known as NeXT, Inc. The very next year, an animation firm was purchased by Jobs which later came to be known as Pixar Animation Studios. The animation film studio produced successful and popular animated movies like The Incredibles, Finding Nemo and Toy Story. In the year 2006, Pixar merged with Walt Disney Studios and Steve Jobs became one of the largest shareholders of Walt Disney. Back to Apple Pixar Animation Studio resulted as an extremely successful business venture. However, NeXT Inc., failed to achieve success and was eventually acquired by Apple in the year 1997. In the year 1997, Steve Jobs again became the CEO of Apple. The success of Apple in the 1990s is credited to the business acumen of Steve Jobs. He formed a new management team, imposed himself to a salary of $1 per annum and modified the stock options, thereby leading t he organization into a path of success (The Wall Street Journal, 2011). The consumers became awed by innovative design solutions like iMac, iPad, iPod and the like, stylish designs and excellent branding and marketing campaigns and sale of Apple products soared ahead. c)

Managing Financial Resources in Health and Social Care Essay

Managing Financial Resources in Health and Social Care - Essay Example The essay presents how various aspects of financial resources should be managed in health and social care. It is the responsibility of the management to ensurethat funding is available to meet the daily needs of the organization. In the cause of events, finance may be needed in order to invest in equipment stocks, pay employees, equipment and cater for sales made on credit. If not well taken care of, sources of finance may end up dry; this may make an institution to be in financial jeopardy. Financial control plays a critical role in helping the business meets its objectives.As a manager, my role is to ensure that all these are achieved. Financial shortfalls arise when an organization cannot pay its bills on time due to lack of cash. As a manager I have been oriented to be proactive about financial shortfalls while upholding an account for contingency all the time. Through review of BUPA’s cash flow for the last six months, the company is capable to determine the cash flow in terms of expenditure and income; this aids the company in reserving cash needed for purposes of expenditure for the subsequent six months. After realizing the company’s assets, the company has a well-planned schedule on how to pay its suppliers to avoid conflicts with respective suppliers. The company also encourages early payments from the customer by offering discounts on such payments; this increases the chances of early cash availability. Payment of suppliers on a scheduled basis helps the company to avoid shortfalls since suppliers get their due especially when the funds are available. Fraud is an obvious threat to organization’s resources and therefore must be a concern to all employers and employees within a specific jurisdiction (Petrucelli 2002). In the event of fraud, managers are expected to set good example by conforming fully to procedures and controls. As a manger, quick action is necessary to avoid any further loss bearing in mind that this is just an al legation and until the outcome of investigation is determined. Movement and preservation of evidence to a safe place or location is vital where practicable. Both internal auditor and director of finance are supposed to be notified. Prompt and vigorous investigation should be carried out; after that, report findings should be forwarded to both internal auditor and director of finance. If possible consult with the appropriate departments concerned or involved. Notification to security agents should be carried out by the manager following consultation with the executives of the BUPA at National Director Level. As some may put it, coming up with a budget may be easy, sticking to it is the hard part. A well planned budget has little no impact without willpower and close monitoring (Amey 1979). A system for recording expenses and producing reports should be in place. As a manger, insisting on regular monitoring reports is way of ensuring that whatever was projected in the budgets is follo wed to the latter. Through monitoring reports, it makes it easy to determine actual spending at a particular period of the month compared to what was projected in the budget. The level of expenditure should be documented and clear reports drawn from them; the concerned departments should be informed so as to get their input on the same. The audit committee should review the reports. After conclusion, there should be immediate action taken

Motivation, leadership style and performance management Essay

Motivation, leadership style and performance management - Essay Example This essay is structured in different sections, with each section dealing with one factor of crucial influence on performance. The first section discusses the various theories of motivation including the works of Maslow (1943), Alderfer (1972), McClelland (1955) and evaluates the impact of motivation on the group’s performance. The second section discusses theories of leadership by XYZ, and assesses the impact of leadership style on the performance of our group. The third section of the essay covers performance measurement as the factor that impacts on the team performance. The final section of this essay covers my conclusions and the recommendations that can help in better performance management. The first factor that I intend to relate to performance of team is motivation. Motivation has been one of the most studied and discussed topics relevant to performance. According to one of the oldest and most popular theories of motivation, motivation is the result of drives or needs that human beings have. For example, Maslow’s Theory of Hierarchy of Needs (1943) states that there are several stages of needs, like the basic needs for food, shelter and security; social needs related to feeling a sense of belongingness or affection, status and self-esteem needs, and self-actualization needs. As a person is able to fill his lower order needs, the higher order needs become operant and motivate him. See Figure 1 below: Figure 1: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory (Source: Maslow, 1943). Another version of the derive theory is that proposed by Alderfer (1972), which segregates these needs into only three categories – ERG or existence, Relatedness and Growth needs. According to Alderfer (1972), all three types of needs can be operational at the same time. Similarly, a theory of need is proposed by McClelland (1955), which states that people are motivated by different needs and the prominent need defines what factors may motivate them. For example , according to McClelland (1955), people who have a high need for achievement are motivated by challenging tasks and lofty objectives, while people who have a high need for affiliation are motivated by opportunities that furnish them with more social interactions or recognition. Need for power is high in people who are motivated to obtain positions of high status and power. These theories root the basis of motivation into an internal need of the person. In contrast to these theories, theories like that of Vroom (1964), consider the external rewards and expectations as the driving forces for motivation and performance. Vroom’s theory states that people gauge if their efforts are capable of getting them the desired performance, and if the performance outcome can lead them to their goals or rewards. This means that there are basically two aspects to motivation one is the expectations of a link between effort and performance, and the other a direct link between the performance an d rewards. Another essential aspect of motivation according to this theory is the desirability of the reward or the expected value of the reward. People are motivated to expend the effort only if the reward has value for them. As such, motivation according to this theory is a product of: Motivation = Expectancy X Instrumentality X Valence Where, Expectancy is expectation that the effort leads to performance Instrumentality is the perception that the performance will be instrumental in attaining the reward Valence is the value of the reward for the person In addition, motivation can be both extrinsic, as in the case where rewards and incentives are the motivating factors, and intrinsic, where the person wants to fulfil an internal need –

Grapes of Wrath Book Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Grapes of Wrath Book Review - Essay Example The condition was so ghastly and it had ruined the crops and instigated massive foreclosure on the land. The time was harder particularly in Oklahoma. It was a faulty farming method and drought which resulted into wind erosion of the topsoil. Consequently the Great Plains in the region became â€Å"The Dust Bowl.† â€Å"The Dust Bowl was caused by agricultural malpractices as well as years of sustained drought and incessant strong winds.† (Bernd Steiner 2007) It was the worst condition especially for the tenant farmers. They had been pushed off their land, as they were not able to pay the rent to the banks. Many agricultural workers left for California in search of a rich and fertile land. The journey towards California is very long and gruelling. Grandpa of the family does not want to live his original place and he is constantly complaining bitterly. He dies during their journey. Sairy is sick and showed inability to move forward to the journey. Their dreams of good fo rtune get shattered as soon as they reached to California. The number of jobs was lesser than the number of farmers, i.e. 800 jobs against 20,000 people. The entire family experienced another adversity of life when they reached to California. ... Tom Joad is the protagonist of this novel. He is a man of thirty and has just come out of prison. He had been convicted for murdering a man during a fight four years back. He is good natured and a source of vitality for his family, apart from his 4 years’ stay in prison. He earns honour from his family as well as from the other workers whom he assembled together to form workers’ organization. Other characters include Tom’s parents Ma Joad and Pa Joad. Ma Joad is like a citadel of the family. Pa Joad though sensible and good natured, sometimes feels ashamed of his weaker position. Jim Casy is depicted as a former preacher and a staunch friend of Tom. Rose of Sharon is the eldest daughter of Ma and Pa Joads and she is depicted earlier as a romantic lady but then she has to face many troubles in her life. She faces harsh realities after the death of her new born baby, and the abandonment from her husband, she become quite matured and sensible. She represents the har sh life of the migrants. The character of Joad’s grandfather is sketched in a black shade. He is violent tempered and mean. This meanness is now limited to his tongue, probably due to his old age. He gets pleasure in tormenting others by his harsh talk. Unlike him his wife Grandma Joad is pious. Ivy and Sairy Wilson is a good couple who met the Joads during their journey to California. They helped them by lending their tents to the Joad family so that Grandpa could have got comfortable place to die. There was a good relationship and mutual cooperation between the two families. Other members of Joad family included Tom’s elder brother Noah, uncle John, and second younger daughter Ruthie and Winfield Joad. Muley Graves is another character who is the

Bcg on Hul Essay Example for Free

Bcg on Hul Essay Once you know which businesses stand where in your business portfolio, you also come to know which businesses need investments, which needs harvesting (making money), which needs divesting (reducing investment) and which needs to be completely taken out of the business portfolio. For a major organization like HUL, ITC etc which have multiple categories and within the categories, they have multiple lines of products; the BCG analysis becomes very important. At a holistic level, they get to make a decision on which product to continue and which product to be divested. Which product can give new returns with good investment, and which products are reaching the apex of market share. BCG Growth Share Matrix –  The BCG growth share matrix was developed by Henderson of the BCG group in 1970? s. The matrix classifies businesses / SBU’s by 1) Relative Market Share –  The market share of the business / SBU / Product in the market as compared to its competitors and overall product / category. 2) Market growth rate –  The growth rate of the industry as a whole is taken into consideration from which the growth rate of the product is extrapolated. This growth rate is then pitched on the graph. Thus by having 2 basic but at the same time very important factors on X axis and Y axis, the BCG matrix makes sure that the classifications are concrete. Calculating the Market growth rate comprises of both industry growth and product growth rate thereby giving a fair knowledge of where the product / SBU stands in comparison to the Industry. The market share on the other hand comprises of the competition and the product potential in the market. Thus when we consider growth rate and market share together, it automatically gives us an overview of the competition and the industry standards as well as an idea of what the future might bring for the product. Once the businesses have been classified, they are placed into four different quadrants of the matrix. The quadrants of the matrix are divided into 1) Cash Cows –  High market share but low growth rate (most profitable). 2) Stars –  High market share and High growth rate (high competition) 3) Question marks –  Low market share and high growth rate (uncertainty) ) Dogs –  Low market share and low growth rate (less profitable or may even be negative profitability) On the basis of this classification, strategies are decided for each SBU / Product. Let’s discuss the characteristics and strategies of each quadrant in detail. Explanation: 1) Cash Cows –  The cornerstone of any multi product business, cash cows are products which a re having a high market share in  a low growing market. As the market is not growing, that cash cow gains the maximum advantage by generating maximum revenue due to its high market share. Thus for any company, the cash cows are the ones which require least investment but at the same time give higher returns. These higher returns enhance the overall profitability of the firm because this excess revenue can be used in other businesses which are Stars, Dogs or Question marks. In the case of HUL following are the Cash cows like Mass Soaps, Beverages, Oral care and Laundry which are running very well in the market today, Oral and Mass soap today is doing very good hence it is the cash cows for HUL today. Strategies for cash cow –  The cash cows are the most stable for any business and hence the strategy generally includes retention of the market share. As the market is not growing, acquisition is less and retention is high. Thus customer satisfaction programs, loyalty programs and other such promotional methods form the core of the marketing plan for a cash cow product / SBU. 2) Stars –  The best product which comes in mind when thinking of Stars is the telecom products. If you look at any top 5 telecom company, the market share is good but the growth rate too is good. Thus because these two factors are high, the telecom companies are always in competitive mode and they have to juggle between investment and harvesting vis investing money and taking out money time to time. Unlike cash cows, Stars cannot be complacent when they are top on because they can immediately be overtaken by another company which capitalizes on the market growth rate. However, if the strategies are successful, a Star can become a cash cow in the long run. Just like the products from HUL like Hair Care products, Skin Care products, Premium Soaps Laundry products, Deodorants and it’s lately release brand Water (PureIt) Strategies for Stars –  All types of marketing, sales promotion and advertising strategies are used for Stars. This is because in cash cow, already these strategies have been used and they have resulted in the formation of a cash cow. Similarly in Stars, because of the high competition and rising market share, the concentration and investment needs to be high in marketing  activities so as to increase and retain market share. ) Question Marks –  Several times, a company might come up with an innovative product which immediately gains good growth rate. However the market share of such a product is unknown. The product might lose customer interest and might not be bought anymore in which case it will not gain market share, the growth rate will go down and it will ultimately become a Dog. On the o ther hand, the product might increase customer interest and more and more people might buy the product thus making the product a high market share product. From here the product can move on to be a Cash Cow as it has lower competition and high market share. Thus Question marks are products which may give high returns but at the same time may also flop and may have to be taken out of the market. This uncertainty gives the quadrant the name â€Å"Question Mark†. The major problem associated with having Question marks is the amount of investment which it might need and whether the investment will give returns in the end or whether it will be completely wasted. Processed foods and Color Cosmetics are few of the Question Marks for HUL since it is very rare found in the market due to the reason that it is not giving results as much expected in the consumer market today. Strategies for Question marks –  As they are new entry products with high growth rate, the growth rate needs to be capitalized in such a manner that question marks turn into high market share products. New Customer acquisition strategies are the best strategies for converting Question marks to Stars or Cash cows. Furthermore, time to time market research also helps in determining consumer psychology for the product as well as the possible future of the product and a hard decision might have to be taken if the product goes into negative profitability. ) Dogs –  Products are classified as dogs when they have low market share and low growth rate. Thus these products neither generate high amount of cash nor require higher investments. However, they are considered as negative profitability products mainly because the money already invested in the product can be used somewhere else. Thus over here businesses have to take a decision whether they should divest these product s or they can revamp them and thereby make them saleable again which will subsequently increase the market share of the product. Dogs for HUL are its Sea Products which is definitely and alarm for HUL to kill it. Strategies for Dogs –  Depending on the amount of cash which is already invested in this quadrant, the company can either divest the product altogether or it can revamp the product through rebranding / innovation / adding features etc. However, moving a dog towards a star or a cash cow is very difficult. It can be moved only to the question mark region where again the future of the product is unknown. Thus in cases of Dog products, divestment strategy are used. Sequences in BCG Matrix [pic] Success Sequence in BCG Matrix – The Success sequence of BCG matrix happens when a question mark becomes a Star and finally it becomes a cash cow. This is the best sequence which really gives a boost to the company’s profits and growth. The success sequence unlike the disaster sequence is entirely dependent on the right decision making. Disaster sequence in BCG Matrix – Disaster sequence of BCG matrix happens when a product which is a cash cow, due to competitive pressure might be moved to a  star. It fails out from the competition and it is moved to a question mark and finally it may have to be divested because of its low market share and low growth rate. Thus the disaster sequence might happen because of wrong decision making. This sequence affects the company as a lot of investments are lost to the divested product. Along with this the money coming in from the cash cow which is used for other products too is lost. Results on the strategies for HUL based on the BCG Matrix. There are four strategies possible for any product / SBU and these are the strategies which are used after the BCG analysis. These strategies are 1) Build –  By increasing investment, the product is given an impetus such that the product increases its market share. Example  Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚  Pushing a Question mark into a Star and finally a cash cow (Success sequence) ) Hold –  The company cannot invest or it has other investment commitments due to which it holds the product in the same quadrant. Example –  Holding a star there itself as higher investment to move a star into cash cow is currently not possible. 3) Harvest –  Best observed in the Cash cow scenario, wherein the company reduces the amount of i nvestment and tries to take out maximum cash flow from the said product which increases the overall profitability. 4) Divest –  Best observed in case of Dog quadrant products which are generally divested to release the amount of money already stuck in the business.

Marketing theories and concepts applied to Waitrose

Marketing theories and concepts applied to Waitrose In this report firstly I aim to examine different theories within marketing, secondly I would be critically analysing the common characteristics of a marketing oriented organisations. Moving on from there I would be explaining various elements of marketing concepts using my research I carried out on Waitrose and would be evaluating and comparing the costs and benefits of marketing approach for todays business. Furthering in this report I would be explaining how tools of macro and micro concepts would help in decision making within marketing using Waitrose as my example. Then I would be looking into the significance of segmentation and factors influencing during the choice of targeting strategy. To summarise this section, I would be looking into how buyers behaviour affects any marketing activities in an organisation in two different situations. Finally, I would be examining how product development helps Waitrose in sustaining a competitive advantage over their competitors and how are their distribution channels they have in place for their customers proving convenient for their customers and how it helps the business in return. Defining marketing There are many definitions of marketing which generally revolve around the primacy of customers as part of an exchange process.   Customers needs are the starting point for all marketing activity.   Marketing managers try to identify these needs and develop products which will satisfy customers needs through an exchange process.   As a business philosophy, marketing puts customers at the centre of all the organisations considerations.   This is reflected in basic values such as the requirement to understand and respond to customer needs and the necessity to search constantly for new market opportunities.   Marketing means more than one thing. Many Marketing experts have many definitions of marketing, but most of them are based around different ideas of marketing. If you look at these two expert definitions of marketing, they are based on the idea of marketing being a range of activities. Kotler defines marketing as a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they want and need through creating, offering, and exchanging products of value with others. his view on marketing looks at marketing being more of an exchange process. [Kotler, 1991] Chartered Institute of Marketing defines it as the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customers requirements profitably. However, there exist numerous definitions of marketing; it is always about meeting existing needs and anticipating future needs [Bagozzi, 1975]. In Elements of marketing, Prentice Hall, 1975;Marketing is all those activities involved in getting goods from producers to users, including buying, selling, storing, transporting, advertising, and promoting the goods [Bagozzi, 1975]. Another view explains marketing as being more of a process of goods or services getting it from the supplier to the customer. This definition is based on that idea. Marketing is the performance of business activities that direct the flow of goods and services from producers to customers. [C E Merril. 1982] Now after the definition of marketing, it is important to understand the marketing concept. This concept holds to achieve organizational goals depends on the needs and wants of the target market and delivering the desired satisfactions more effectively and efficiently than competitors. To illustrate the marketing concept Peter Drucker said: if we want to know what business is we must first start with its purposeThere is only one valid definition of business purpose: to create a customer. What business thinks it produces is not of first importance. What the customer thinks he/she is buying, what he/she considers value is decisive-it determines what a business is, what it produces, and whether it will prosper? [Peter Drucker, 1954] Common characteristics of marketing oriented organisations The major feature of the marketing oriented organization is that they are aimed to stay closer to the customers and ahead of their competitors. The reason is that the basic aim of these organizations is to attract the customers. There are four major characteristics which define the marketing oriented organizations including, Shared Values, Organization, Strategy, Customers. Firstly, all decisions of these companies consider the customers first and they share the common value of superior quality of products. Secondly, their organizational structure has very few layers and their policies are not very difficult. Thirdly, the strategy of a market oriented organization is long term, flexible and participative. Finally, they consider the expectations of the stakeholders before making any important decision. The Marketing Concept and the Mix The marketing concept is a kind of recipe how a company can achieve its goals by understanding the exchange partners and associated costs, being a response to external opportunities and threats and to internal strengths and weaknesses as a means of competitive advantage (Houston, 1986). Bagozzi (1975) underpins this viewpoint, arguing that marketing is much about the exchange paradigm which focuses on the question why parties take part in exchanges and how these work.   The marketing mix is the organizations overall offer or value to the customer.   The Marketing Mix is a term used to describe the combination of tactics used by a business to achieve its objectives by marketing its products or services effectively to a particular target customer group.   Businesses need to make sure they are marketing: The right product, to the right person, at the right price, at the right place and at the right time. The aim of doing this is to gain a competitive advantage and thus to outperform competitors. (De Wit and Meyer, 1998) The concept of marketing mix and 4Ps was introduced in 1965.It has become the basic model of marketing and has been unchallenged since then. It is defined as the set of controllable tactical marketing tools that the firm blends to produce the response it wants in the target market.   The marketing mix consists of everything the firm can do to influence the demand for its product. It is considered that a common model for achieving this is the 4-P framework as put forward by Kotler and Levy (1969). Lauterborn (1990) proposed that there were twelve dimensions of marketing, however, McCarthy reduced the model so that it became known as the 4Ps: Product, Place, Price and Promotion. Waitroses Marketing Mix There are many factors that encourage Waitrose to vary its product mix, promotional offers pricing from store to store as place (location) is also very important to Waitrose. . Price   Although Waitrose tries to operate a uniform national price list (all products sold at identical prices) it does admit to some price flexing to keep in line with its competitors. A variation of prices between stores can be in response to the size of the store, position of a store, regional incomes, and customer preferences, which can all have major affects. To illustrate the picture, a Waitrose store situated in the centre of London may have higher prices compared to a Waitrose store out of town in Surrey. This can be due to the high operating costs of trading within the city centre. Transport costs can also have an affect on prices especially to stores situated in London, as they will now experience the cost of the congestion charge, resulting in an increase in the cost of delivering stock. Also stores may face higher costs because they are remotely located. Yet stores that have a local monopoly, because no alternative shop is located within reasonable travelling distance, Waitrose may decide to exploit this by setting high prices. On the other hand, fierce competition will see low prices to attract the consumer who would have a choice in this case. Regional incomes and customer preferences can also have an effect on prices as certain areas may have lower incomes so prices of certain products may have to be decreased to meet the wealth of certain areas. All these factors have to be considered when Waitrose prices it products. Overall prices within Waitrose tend not to vary as most stores are situated in the south of England so incomes and operating costs are fairly similar. Product Product mix may differ from area to area because of varying consumer tastes. For example, the Canary Wharf store is tailored to meet the needs of its affluent customer base as they offer designer breads, a sushi bar, a wine bar, a steak and oyster bar, and an exclusive wine cellar offering vintage wines. Product mix may also vary in relation to what Waitroses competitors are doing, as Waitrose may feel they have to supply certain products just to keep up to date and in competition with its competitors. Additionally, Waitroses product mix may vary due to the size of the store and the space allocation of products. Waitrose may choose to supply certain products in certain areas as they are good sellers and so the bigger store the more they may sell. Sales data is a good way of identifying where certain products should be situated between branches and a process of achieving sales data is by the use of electronic data interchange (EDI). Varying the product mix is part of an efficient consumer response system (ECR). By focusing on the efficiency of the supply system and thereby reducing cost enables Waitrose to offer products tailored to a region. A major advantage of own brands is their extremely short maturity process. Since own brands are commonly exact imitates of branded manufacturers products. They benefit from this, by being immediately familiar with the customer. Most popular own brand products are those that show little difference to branded products, so-called inferior goods, where there is little room for differentiation. Retailers have the advantage of tracking market needs fast and react to the change in social life style (take away, healthy eating, alternatives food, exotic, ethnic foods) that encourage expanding in new own brand categories. The retailers have often been quicker than the major branded producers to respond to consumers tastes, as it tends to be easier and quicker to alter lower volume, private label products specifications than higher volume manufacturer branded products. Promotion Promotional offers may be carried out within certain stores to help grow specific lines which do not sell well, in hope of increasing sales, and matching sales targets of other stores, while encouraging shoppers to increase their spend within the store. Another reason for promotional offers to contrast between stores is so that they can compete against their local competitors offers in aim of keeping and gaining (counter competitor activity). A new store may also have promotional offers running at different times to other stores a means of winning customers, and increasing awareness of the new store. Different levels of store traffic can also have an effect on promotional offers, as stores with low traffic may carry out promotional offers in an attempt to increase the number of people visiting the store. An alternative motive for the variation in promotional offers between stores can be to stimulate customers switching to own brand products, as certain stores may have low own brand s ales. Place Waitrose is located mainly in the south east of the UK with stores only as far north as Newark. The typical Waitrose Store is located in town centres next to other major shopping facilities. The average Selling Space of a Waitrose Store is under 1500 sq meter, which is fairly small. However newly opened stores tend to be of at least 2000 sq meters and preferably 2500 sq metres. With the introduction of its food home store format, Waitrose has also started to build in out of town locations, however, this account for only a very small share. Costs and benefits of marketing approach The principal benefit of marketing is that it enables companies to maximise their potential and reach the right customers at the right time. But any organisation should weigh up the costs approaching marketing. Every project is different and could end up with the costs mentioned below, Setting marketing focus structure Initial product development Building excellent services Attracting attentions of customers Building long-time relationships with: +customers +suppliers +distributors customer retention A proper approach to marketing involves understanding the customer and his or her needs: identifying the real needs of the market.  And the below benefits are more likely to happen; Profits Customer loyalty and trust Long term goal Reputation PEST Analysis PEST Analysis is used to finding out if the market is in growth or decline, or has potential and the direction of the business. PEST analysis is manly used for measurement implement. External factors usually are beyond the firms control and many of different times can cause problem and treats for a business, but external environment also creates new opportunities, this is different for each country because they have different rules and guidelines. Pest analysis can be used for market and business development and decision making.  Ã‚   Waitrose PEST Analysis Political: The Government remains firmly committed to the objectives of PPG6, which seeks to sustain and enhance the vitality and viability of our existing city, town, district and local centres and to make them the focus for retail investment à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦means that it is very difficult to get planning permission for out-of-town stores. The Competition Commissions report The Supply of Groceries from Multiple Stores in the United Kingdom, published in 2000, stated that the leading supermarkets do not operate as a cartel to keep food prices unduly high. (Key Note, 2001, Supermarket Services) Although some questionable practices were found (selling product at a loss, lower prices in areas of high competition), the Commission did not recommend any corrective actions. EU Competition might not be as generous as the Competition Commission and therefore might order changes. If the introduction of the congestion charge is successful in London, it is likely that this kind of scheme will be extended to other big cities. Economic The takeover of Safeway by Morrison is an indicator that competition is getting more intense with fewer but bigger players. Social Demand for organic and healthy foods has increased and most retailers have responded to that trend. Today customers are less prepared to pay a premium price for organic foods, which is why retail chains have started to offer own brand organic products. Waitrose has long been offering these kinds of products. Busier lifestyles increased the demand for convenient foods/ ready meals. Also notable is an increasing demand for exotic and ethnic foods from consumers. The public has become more environmentally aware and Waitroses strategy fits well into this Almost 70% of women are working and working times are longer than in any other European Country. However, women are still doing the majority of the shopping. More than 75% of shopping trips are made by car. Public transport links are even declining as a percentage. Technological Online shopping is a major new opportunity for retailers and the UK offers a good market for this with the highest percentage of people online across the EU. And already more British food shoppers have converted to online grocery shopping than in any other country (Keynote, 2001, The Internet Grocery Market) Tesco is now the worlds biggest Internet grocer. Information technology and Communication has enabled more sophisticated store management, with detailed statistics of products sold being made available, thus facilitating the ordering of new stocks. More attributes of the store can be steered centrally such that costs are reduced, margins increased and sales enhanced. Stakeholders of Waitrose and their influence in marketing. A stakeholder is a person who interests a business. The stakeholders in Waitrose are: Customers: without customers Waitrose would not survive. Sales provide revenue. Employees: Waitrose has many employees in all aspects of their business.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Owners and shareholders: Waitrose have people that own parts of the company and get a part of profit. If they invested money successfully then they will make money for Waitrose. But if it is not, they will lose money. The local community: their interest in business activities and operations that could result in damage to the local environment such as the building of housing on green-field sites. Pressure groups: their main concern is the products that Waitrose are selling.   Suppliers: Suppliers selling their goods to Waitrose. Financial: Waitrose would not survive without money. Waitrose loan money from e.g. bank. Stakeholders within Waitrose have different interests in the business like, Customers have an interest in the production and services that Waitrose provide. The range of goods or services offered in the Waitrose. Also the price of these and the quality, and the range of additional facilities and services such as free home delivery. The customers also have interest on the attitude of staff and the overall performance of the organisation in this case Waitrose. The Employees have an interest in success of Waitrose as this can affect their wages and long-term employees with the company. Also employees have an interest on the way which they are treated e.g. they want be treated fairly and to do interesting work. They want to be paid a fair rate in relation to other people worked in Waitrose with the same qualifications and experience. They have interest in receiving sick pay and holiday pay. Owners and shareholders have interest in the amount of profit that is made. How much money Waitrose has invested? All shareholders have one vote for each share. Large institutional shareholders like Waitrose may hold several hundred thousand shares and they can use their votes to influence the way company is run. Also they have interest on the health and safety of customers and employees. The local community has an interest in many of the business activities taking place in an area. E.g. residents of a large housing state might welcome a supermarket opening the edge of their estate but be concentrated but the number of Lorries making late deliveries to the store. Also local community may be concentrated about business activities and operations that could result in damage to the local environment.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The government have interest on employment of people, more taxes off Waitrose. They want employ the people that could be the best for customers. Government is also interested in business for political reasons. The government want to retain power aim to be re-elected. If the economy is healthy, then the government receives more money. Pressure groups have interest in what kind of products Waitrose are selling and if they harm the environment or have been animal tested. There are thousands of pressure groups in Britain including: trade unions and the TUC, most charities e.g. Amnesty International, many famous environmental groups such as Greenpeace. The interests of a specific pressure group will depend upon who it represents. For example The TUC and trade unions represent the views of employees and campaign on issues such as health and safety.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Suppliers have interest on in selling their goods to Waitrose for a fair price. To be successful themselves, they need to keep receiving orders from buyers. Some suppliers dislike being dependent on business buyers so they extend their operations to sell direct to the final consumer for example, many breweries own their own pubs and restaurants and petrol companies have their own petrol stations. Equally some business do not like being dependent on suppliers. Financiers have interest in putting money into a business like Waitrose. If a grant has been provided, there will be checks ensure the money is used as agreed. If the financier has provided a loan, the business must honour its repayment commitments. Porters Five Force Analysis for Waitrose This is a means of identifying the forces which affect the level of competition in the retail industry. Threat of New Entrants Economies of scale in terms of square footage of shopping area and breadth of distribution channels are all critical factors in the U.K market. Larger stores can stock and sell many more products faster which is consistent with both their customers and suppliers preferences. Brand loyalty of customers in the sector is relatively high in that existing players have built a certain amount of goodwill with customers through loyalty and own branded credit cards. Scarcity of suitable real estate for shopping centres consequent to the absorption by the existing players as well as government legislation placing strictures on further out of town development. New entrants have limited access to U.K distribution channels as these channels are controlled by existing players. Access is typically being gained through mergers and acquisitions. There are very low switching costs to customers in the market and so market share can typically be gained by leveraging price and product range variables.  Ã‚   Existing players have accrued cost advantages due to experience curve effects of operation with  fully depreciated assets.   Power of the Supplier Supplier power tends to be relatively low for the most part in the U.K market as there are a small number of significant operators in the market. However in certain segments of the market for example washing powder where Procter and Gamble and Unilever enjoy a virtual duopoly. As own brands are emerging as a growing segment of the goods portfolio of large grocery multiples due to the higher margins available, even large suppliers manufacturers such as Unilever, Nestle, PepsiCo have been increasingly producing   for own labels despite potential competition to their own brands. Some however such as Kelloggs, Coca Cola and Gillette do not agree to such arrangements as they consider it prejudicial to their quality reputation. Power of the Buyer Buyer power is particularly strong in the U.K grocery retailing industry where there is an extremely high concentration of buyers. Tesco, Sainsbury and Asda dominate the market. For smaller retailers joining a buying group is an important element of survival and give members enhanced economies of scale in purchasing. These groups however play only a small and declining role in the market since they do not buy on the scale of the large supermarkets and also cannot guarantee sizeable shelf space to major suppliers. Consequently they obtain lower discounts than the major chains. Wholesaling and distribution have been internalised and the retailer controls them directly. The cost of switching suppliers in the U.K market is very low and involves negligible risk.   Threat of substitutes Though Tesco has successfully improved its margins by increasing the ratio of non-food to food in its superstores it has moved into other competitive arenas e.g. its foray into furniture and household appliances has put it on a collision course with household appliance retailers like Currys and Argos. Changes in public consumption; e.g. the loss of confidence in British beef during the B.S.E beef crises of 2001 or fear of the long term implications of consuming genetically modified foods. Competitive rivalry Four major firms dominate the U.K market at present but concentration has increased markedly in the 1993-1996 period with major multiples pursuing active policies of new store development. Over this period Tesco has overtaken Sainsbury to become the market leader while Asda has since being newly acquired by Wal-Mart been threatening to take Sainsburys slot. There is no genuine differentiation between products therefore the principal rivalry tends to revolve around pricing and perceived value for money. Own-Label is increasingly becoming an important differentiator. Information Technology offers modern retailers the potential to speed up stock replenishment while reducing the cost of distributing products as well as strengthening links between the retail chains and their customers. Players which are most innovative in adapting technologies for these purposes tend to have a decisive advantage in the market. Strategies of the larger players are fairly similar in that larger players typically employ growth by international acquisition in emerging markets and by increasing their exposure to the non food segment of the market. Players in the lower echelon such as Sainsburys have since embarked upon a strategy of consolidation around a core business of food while maintaining a presence in the international arena. Other Global competitors such as Carrefour/Promodes just across the channel may gain entry positions to the U.K market by way of acquisition of weaker companies. Segmentation Undifferentiated marketing assumes everyone is the same and aims a particular product at everyone. Advantages: easy to plan, doesnt miss anyone. Disadvantages: can be wasteful, ignores segmentation, can lead to disappointing sales. This applies to market coverage strategy whereby a company ignores differences within a market and attempts to appeal to the whole market with a single basic product line and marketing strategy. Undifferentiated marketing relies on mass distribution and mass advertising, aiming to give the product a superior image in the minds of consumers. It is cost effective because there is only one product line to be produced, inventoried, distributed, and advertised. Also the absence of segmented market research lowers the costs of consumer research and product management. Concentrated Marketing:   This is where an organisation concentrates its marketing effort on one particular segment. The firm will develop a product that caters for the needs of that particular group. For example Rolls Royce cars aim its vehicles at the premium segment, same as Harrods within the UK. Concentrated marketing is when the message is aimed at just one small market. Advantages: Small firms can concentrate their marketing, allows a specific mix to be developed. Disadvantages: Ignores other areas of the market, can cause problems in future as may make it more difficult for company to expand. Some companies, particularly smaller companies, identify a comparatively small segment of the market on which to concentrate their marketing effort. By selecting a niche in the market for themselves, they hope to avoid head on competition with larger and more powerful rivals. A classic example of a successful product in a small market is the hand-made Morgan sports car (UK), the demand for which keeps the companys order books filled. Rolls Royce, though a much larger company, has been equally successful in catering to a small but affluent segment of the international market. Niche marketing, as concentrated segmentation is sometimes called, is currently very popular. It is no guarantee of a safe haven, however, since mass marketers will only ignore niches as long as they see no way to compete in them profitably and as long as they are not threatened by them. Should an opportunity or a threat be detected, however, the market power of the mass marketer would prove very uncomfortable fo r the richer. Proposed Waitroses segmentation Waitroses differentiation strategy and its competitive industry were analysed. The selection of the location can be identified as one of the most influential decisions in the life of a store. Various methods are described in order to help identify the most suitable location. The merits and problems of online shopping are explained and it is regarded as too early to evaluate Waitroses performance in this segment. Market segmentation allows Waitrose to identify different groups of buyers who share similar definable needs and behaviours. (Debbie Anderson) Whilst Behaviouristic responses are fundamental to segmenting Waitroses market as factors such as usage rates, impulse purchases, loyalty, and sensitivity to marketing mix factors allow for conclusions and positioning within consumer markets. Waitrose seems to segment its market based on simple variables such as incomes and Geographics (geodemographics). This has been identified by associating the number of Waitrose stores in the south of England with the average incomes, showing that Waitrose is aiming at the higher income earners at the upper end of the market, and segmenting itself toward the social groups of A, B and C1. There are no Waitrose stores in areas such as Newcastle, Middlesbrough, Liverpool and Bradford, Britains poorest regions indicating that Waitrose would not benefit financially from these areas. The use of Geo demographics is a fast and efficient way of identifying trends within certain geographical areas, allowing Waitrose to divide a market into different groups based on social class and lifestyle characteristics. Segmentation helps the marketers to distinguish one customer group from another within a given market and thereby enables him to decide which segment should form his target market. Targeting strategy Once a firm has successfully identified the segments within a market, the next step is to target these segments with products that closely match the needs of the customers within that segment.   There are a number of targeting strategies, including: Niche/concentration marketing this is concerned with targeting one particular, well-defined group of customers (a niche) within the overall market.   An example is, Jordans, the cereal company, adopted this approach by targeting groups of customers interested in organic products at a time when this group of consumers represented a relatively small proportion of the overall market.   Niche markets can be targeted profitably by small firms who have relatively small overheads and, therefore, do not need to achieve the volume of sales required by larger competitors.   The main disadvantages of niche markets are that the potential for sales growth and economies of scale may be limited, and the survival of the firm may be seriously affected if sales begin to decline. Mass/undifferentiated marketing this is concerned with selling a single product to the whole market.   This strategy is based on the assumption that, in respect to the product in question, customers needs are very similar if not identical.   The main benefit for the firm is that it can produce on a large scale, benefiting from low unit production costs via economies of scale.   These lower costs can be passed on to the consumer in the form of lower prices because, although profit margins on each item sold may be lower, high sales volume should generate large profits over

tragoed Free Essay: Oedipus the King (Oedipus Rex) as a Greek Tragedy :: Oedipus the King Oedipus Rex

Oedipus the King as a Greek Tragedy The Greek tragedy, Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles (496-406 B.C.), adheres to Aristotles (384-322 B.C.) definition of a tragedy. The first criterion of a Greek tragedy is that the protagonist be a good person; doubly blessed with a good heart and noble intention. Sophocles reveals immediately at the start of the play that Oedipus is such a man. As is common in the Greek tragedy Oedipus is also an aristocrat. Born of the King and Queen of Thebes he is of true nobility. Oedipus on the other-hand believes his parents are the King and Queen of Corinth. Oedipus was abandoned as a baby and adopted by them. Because that information is known to the audience, and not to Oedipus prior to the start of the play, it is a perfect example of tragic irony because when he declares that he will find the murderer he is the man that he pursues. Here he is told by Tiresias,† I say you are the murderer you hunt† (1235). The theme of Oedipus the King is not clear-cut. The theme in this tragic play seems to be you can‘t escape your fate. Contentment leads to ignorance as Oedipus lends fate a hand in his bitter end. This trait is touched-on in these lines spoken by Creon. â€Å"Look at you, sullen in yielding, brutal in your rage- you’ll go too far. It’s perfect justice: natures like yours are hardest on themselves†(Sophocles 1242-1243). Oedipus is a true hero in the Greek tragedy. He has the fate of the community in his hands along with the noble character to take care of it himself. He announces his convictions to take this problem into his own hands and do whatever is necessary to lift the curse. Oedipus addresses the priests assembled before him, â€Å" You can trust me; I am ready to help, I’ll do anything (Sophocles 1225). The city has this faith in him and the priest come to tell him so he will help them lift the curse. â€Å"Now we pray to you. You cannot equal the gods, your children know that...But we do rate you first of men,†(1226). He also appears to have Apollo’s ear, which makes him seem all-powerful to the audience; this is another stan dard of the classic Greek tragedy. Oedipus told his people, †After painful search I found one cure: I acted at once.

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolken :: essays research papers

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolken Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit, one of a race of short, timid creatures who live in cozy tunnels and who prefer to keep their lives ordered and predictable. One day, he unexpectedly finds himself playing host to Gandalf the wizard and thirteen dwarves. The dwarves, with Gandalf's help, plan to travel to the Lonely Mountain to recover the treasure that a dragon named Smaug stole from their people long ago. Gandalf has selected Bilbo to be their burglar. The dwarves are not too happy with the wizard's choice, especially when Bilbo faints at the first talk of danger. But Gandalf insists there is more to the little hobbit than meets the eye. Bilbo himself is not sure that he is happy about being chosen burglar. But a part of him does yearn for adventure, and so one spring morning he finds himself setting out for Lonely Mountain with Gandalf and the thirteen dwarves. He does not prove very helpful at first. But then something happens that changes Bilbo's life. He finds a magic ring that makes him invisible, and has several opportunities to use it to rescue the dwarves from danger and imprisonment. They become quite impressed by him, and even rely on him, just as Gandalf foretold. Bilbo and the dwarves finally reach Lonely Mountain, the home of Smaug the dragon. The dwarves send Bilbo down a secret passage to the dragon's lair. Bilbo has more confidence in himself now and not only steals a cup, but manages to hold his own in a conversation with the wily Smaug (not an easy thing to do).Furious that someone has dared steal a piece of his treasure, Smaug attacks the mountainside where the dwarves have their camp. Then he flies toward Lake- town, to punish the inhabitants for helping the dwarves. The people of Lake-town run at the sight of Smaug, but one man, Bard, holds his ground. He kills the dragon with his last arrow and escapes before Smaug falls, smashing the town. Believing the dwarves are dead, an army of men, led by Bard, and an army of elves march toward the Lonely Mountain to divide the treasure. They find to their surprise that the dwarves are still alive. Bard, because he killed the dragon, claims his rightful share of the treasure. When the dwarves refuse to surrender it, the army besieges the mountain. Bilbo tries to end the dispute by stealing the Arkenstone, the piece of treasure most valued by the leader of the dwarves. He gives the jewel to Bard, hoping it can be used to force the dwarves

America: The Land of Opportunities Essay -- Careers Education Economic

America: The Land of Opportunities In modern day society, a college degree leads to people making specific assumptions about an individual’s capabilities, which proceed to shape social generalizations that may assist or inhibit the success of an individual in the economic system or job market. Universal standards form throughout the job market as a result of those assumptions made about students who attend college that may not encourage a full understanding of an individual’s ability to perform his duties. The assumptions made about a college education demonstrate the general principles of reductionism, in which people follow a logical approach according to his observations. As reductionists correlate the type of college degree to an individual’s intelligence, the overdeterminist looks to consider an individual’s surroundings and experiences (which include the education received) while evaluating an individuals’ aptitude. This social process becomes apparent not only in my own person al life, as I reflect upon the way in which society views me because I attend Mount Holyoke college, but also through the characters’ lives in the films: Mississippi Masala and the Boiler Room. I look to reevaluate the importance that the job market places on a college education, as well as the consequential economic trap that follows from the construction of assumptions. Society assumes that people who attend prestigious universities are capable and astute individuals. After having told people that I go to Mount Holyoke College, I have had people expect that I am a capable and intelligent woman solely based on the university’s image. While serving at a restaurant over the summer, customers frequently treated me with more respect as they found o... ..., the amount of exceptions to those clearly laid out generalizations may appear minute and trivial now, but they could grow to a catastrophic level as the theory expands on a macro level and becomes an unquestionable mentality in the job market. By affirming assumptions throughout society, it will eventually lead to huge misconceptions about groups of people that may be completely unwarranted. Although it clarifies situations, its also minimizes the complexity and ignores truths that should be considered, for example, when evaluating an applicant in the job market. Also due to the simplicity and attractiveness in the logic, a perpetuating cycle evolves that intensifies the class processes. By offering me an opportunity simply on the basis that I attend Mount Holyoke, both Mount Holyoke alumni and society follow image and deny others chances through erroneous means.

Baldwin Bicycle Company Essay

Baldwin Bicycle Company is its own independent bicycle shop that has been in business for almost 40 years. Last year Baldwin had sold 98,791 bikes which accounted for nearly $10 million in sales for 1982. Suzanne Lesiter is the marketing Vice President of Baldwin and has just been offered a proposition from Karl Knott, a buyer from Hi-Valu to possibly start producing bikes for them. Baldwin had never conducted any business with a chain department such as Hi-Valu since it was use to its own independent retailers. There were three conditions that must be met in order for the deal to be made between the two companies. The first condition is that Hi-Valu wants to have ready access to a large pool of inventory, but didn’t want ownership of the bicycles till it reached its stores or would pass the four month deadline of being held at their regional warehouses. Hi-Valu would then have 30 days to pay Baldwin. When looking at this new system of inventory, Baldwin will be adding new costs that have to deal with the regional warehouses of Hi-Valu. These asset related costs include record keeping costs of $7,156.38, inventory insurance of $2,146.91, state property tax of $5,009.46, inventory-handling of $22,066.13, and pilferage of $3,578.13. These relevant costs add up to about $39,957.07. Baldwin must also add other asset costs for the way the inventory system is being run. Baldwin will not expect to show any sales for at least the first two months considering most of their bikes will be at the regional warehouses. Even after they have been transported to one of Hi-Valu’s stores or have reached the four month deadline, Baldwin still has to wait an additional 30 days for their payment from Hi-Valu. These extra variable costs include materials for two months at $165,833.33, Work in Progress at $34,600, Finished Goods at $34,600, Goods at Hi Valu at $288,333.33, and the pay period of 30 days for the Accounts Receivable at $192,637.50. As a whole there are asset related costs of $755,594.57. This outweighs the relevant revenue that is gained from the â€Å"Challenger† series which makes for high capital investments which seem very risky. The fact that Baldwin must pay interest on the inventory also adds additional costs which skyrocket the relevant cost up to $1,427,419.15 at the worst case scenario of four months.

Myocardial infarction Essay

Fast food I believe that most of people have been heard about this name and have tried it until now. Fast food is the food that can be prepared and served very quickly, and it may refer to food sold in a restaurant or store with low quality preparation and served to the customer in a packaged form for take-away. At present fast food becomes a role important in every corner of countries around the world including in Thailand. Fast food now feature in many choices of food in Thai society and culture, for example in economic, job, and health issue. This essay aims to evaluate the effects of fast food on Thai culture. Firstly, fast food effects on the Thai economy since we have been commerce oversea, also cultural exchange between countries. Western culture affected Thai by many ways especially foods, because Thailand has been a commerce partnership with foreign countries for a long time. We did various ways to develop the country and economy, until now fast food is the most popular and becomes a role important on Thais lifestyle than ever, for instant Thai people enjoy have Western food for breakfast such as coffee, toast, English tea, and etc. Fast food which comes from the foreign in franchise form and located in many places in Thailand, they are many fast food market growing such as McDonald’s, Burger King, KFCs, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell etc. More and more people are desiring fast food more than other restaurants making them go out of buisness ect because of the price comparison in the hard times we are facing right now. It directly has an effect to economy, first is have a balance of trade deficit because most of fast food owner in Thailand is foreigners so, we loose half of the profits to them. Another affect is unhealthy Lifestyle, Buzzle(2009) has written â€Å"eating fast food and leading a sedentary lifestyle leads to obesity. Obesity leads to other complications like increase in the cholesterol level, blocking of the arteries, the increased risk of coronary diseases, in addition to the general physical discomfort posed by the extra weight. Fast food is also addictive and hence it is very difficult to give up on their greasy and fatty foods and carbonated drinks and switch to healthier options†. As well as increased blood pressure, Buzzle(2009) also says â€Å"most of these quick and convenient meals contain high amount of sodium, which increases and aggravates the risks of high blood pressure. According to the recommendations of the National Research Council of the National Academy of sciences 1,200 – 1,500 mg of sodium is the daily sodium requirement for adults. Keeping these figures in mind, you should also know that the regular table salt that we consume contains 40% sodium and a single teaspoon of table salt contains 2,300 mg of sodium. Although the body requires minimum quantities of sodium, too much sodium contributes to high blood pressure. Sodium can also lead to building-up of fluids in case of people who are suffering from people with congestive heart failure, cirrhosis, or kidney disease†. Besides, Thai traditional recipes being forgotten and a big change in eating habits. However, there are advantages of fast food which convenience and saving time, it provides us the food rapidly and fast food is more convenient to find and purchase than healthy food. Second, is the number of fast food restaurants gave job opportunities to many Thai workers.

Esprit Strategic Analysis Essay

In regard to a research of microenterprise in Macau, casino and gambling enterprise is the main source of income to the Macau economy. Over 80% of income is contributed in 2012. However, microenterprise is also taking an essential role to the healthy long-term development to the local economy. By doing so, a bundle of different strategies have to be conducted in each company in order to achieve the goal. Strategic Management is a way to identify competitive advantage and analyze the internal and external factors which influence one’s performance. It also helps in making a bundle of decisions for future direction and attaining sustainable development by formulating and implementing appropriate strategies. In this report, company background information, vision and mission, a series of strategy formulations and analysis are provided. Furthermore, applying various strategies in actions and implementation are attached in the following. INTRODUCTION Cafà © Tai Lei Loi Kei is one of the historical cafe in Macau and their exclusive hand-made pork chop bun is the icon while it will come up in mind of locals and tourists when thinking of Macau. It was established in 1968, with nearly 50 years of history located at the Taipa village. The initiate owner of the cafe was Ms. Kuok Loi Ho but the business is transmitted to her daughter Ms. Chan Ka I and other two family members. In the 1960’s, Taipa village is not well-developed as what people see today where there were lots of firecracker factories set up there. Ms. Kuok was originally operating this kind of business but it involves high risks and accidents were often occurred during that time. She later transformed her business in opening a cafe which was selling drinks only. At that period, there were many Portuguese working at the Municipal Council at Taipa next to the cafe. Ms. Kuok was taught by a Portuguese to make a pork chop bun with special Portuguese sauce and it becomes the reputable pork chop bun nowadays. Following the success of the business, more stores are rapidly opened in Macau and even Hong Kong. Besides of the flagship store at the Rua do Cunha, it can also be found in Venetian and one near Ruins of St. Paul. The food items are diversified for options which fish ball, squid, beef, and pork chop rice with onion sauce etc. are served as well. With good word-of-mouth and reputation and being recommended by many guidebooks, their main customers are tourists and it is said that the Tai Lei pork chop bun has to be tried when every tourists come to Macau. MISSION According to the owner of Cafà © Tai Lei Loi Kei said, their mission is â€Å"Whoever talks about pork chop bun, the first brand name come up with in their mind is Tai Lei Loi Kei.† Our group thinks that it is not strong enough in regard to be a good mission statement; therefore, we have further developed a more comprehensive mission statement below. â€Å"To be the leading role of pork chop bun market not only in Macau, but also expand the business to South-East Asian countries. As a top family style pork chop bun store, we are determined to reinforce our image by designing our own logo, slogan and brand of Cafe Tai Lei Loi Kei. With the insistence of fresh ingredients used and friendly sentimental service, we are committed to serve high value and quality products to all visitors and local residents at reasonable price. In order to meet the customers’ needs and demand in the rapid changing market, we will continue to develop new technology applying in food production and innovative products. Our dedicated team is also responsive to social community in hiring uneducated local employees as well as contribution in charity activities, in where providing growth opportunity and building a more familiar relationship to employees.† VISION â€Å"We are transforming the original operation pattern to microenterprise, with regional franchise operations not only limited to Macau but also to the South-East Asian market. We believe that an accelerated profit will be kept over the next few years. We will constantly design and launch new menu items in accordance to the local appetite in the market. Our goal is to make a remarkable profit for every branch of Cafà © Tai Lei Loi Kei and fulfill every customer’s expectation.† STRATEGY FORMULATION i.External Factor Evaluation Matrix (EFE) Cafà © Tai Lei Loi Kei – Key External Factors OpportunitiesWeightRatingWeighted Score Increase number of tourists coming to Macau0.1530.45 Better economy in South East Asia and Mainland China0.1030.30 Increase in Macau people’s purchasing power0.1030.30 Promotion coupons attached in Macau’s official tourist map may help increase awareness0.0520.10 Cooperation with the youth correctional institution may help finding manpower0.0530.15 Threats Customers are easy to change another brand to consume pork chop bun0.1020.20 Increasing number of competitors in the town selling similar product0.1510.15 Increasing amount of rent in Macau may lead Tai Lei suffer0.0520.10 Local people refuse to work in small-middle enterprises0.0520.10 Negative comments from online reviews and locals0.0520.10 Negative news in Taipa’s flagship store in December 2011 (required to close by IACM)0.0530.15 People seek for healthier food and beverage nowadays0.1020.20 TOTAL1.002.30 Cafà © Tai Lei Loi Kei has a total weighted score of 2.30 revealing that the company is below average in its performance to implement strategies that capitalize on external opportunities and avoid threats. ii.Internal Factor Evaluation Matrix (IFE) Cafà © Tai Lei Loi Kei – Key Internal Factors Strengths WeightRatingWeighted Score Old history and reputable brand name0.1040.40 Use central manufactory to produce pork chop to ensure same quality and acquired ISO recognition0.0530.15 Earning profit every year0.1540.60 Attractiveness to investors from South East Asia and Mainland China0.1540.60 Strong marketing team to develop new promotional programs and expansion strategies0.1030.30 Weaknesses Low educational level of all level of the employee0.0520.10 Lack of manpower0.1010.10 High selling price compares to similar products in the market0.1520.30 Limited amount of branches in Macau Peninsula0.0530.15 Most products are in high calories 0.1020.20 TOTAL1.002.90 Cafà © Tai Lei Loi Kei has a total weighted score of 2.90 indicating that the company is above average in its effort to implement strategies that utilize on internal strengths and minimize weaknesses. iii.Competitive Profile Matrix (CPM) Two core competitors are identified in accordance to geographic location, product, quality and price. Cafà © E.S.KIMO is the first Taiwanese coffee shop in Macau (MGTO, 2012), with the immersion of local favors. It also provide famous pork chop bun with a very nice unit price of MOP 13. It has many branches across the town as well as mainland China. In the Taipa branch which just located opposite to Cafà © Tai Lei Loi Kei, it placed an easy-up banner (see picture 1) outside of the store showing that â€Å"Macau’s famous pork chop bun only sells MOP 13† (see picture 2). Another competitor is â€Å"Taipa’s famous pork chop bun† (named Taipa pork chop bun below) located in Rua do Cunha, which also selling pork chop bun with unit price of MOP 23 and Kopi Luwak (a kind of high quality coffee). Cafà © Tai Lei Loi KeiCafà © E.S.KIMOTaipa Pork Chop Bun Critical Success FactorsWeightRatingScoreRatingScoreRatingScore Advertising0.1020.2030.3010.10 Food Quality0.1530.4530.4520.30 Dietary Consideration0.1020.2030.3020.20 Service Quality0.1030.3030.3020.20 Price Competitiveness0.1020.2040.4020.20 Management0.0330.0930.0920.06 Financial Position0.0530.1530.1520.10 Customer Loyalty0.0520.1040.2010.05 Reputation0.0540.2040.2020.10 Global Expansion0.1520.3030.4510.15 Market Share0.0530.1540.2020.10 Accessibility0.0330.0940.1210.03 Atmosphere of Restaurant0.0420.0840.1620.08 Total1.002.513.321.67 According to the result of CPM, it shows that Cafà © Tai Lei Loi Kei has a total weighted score of 2.51 which is just above average. Comparing to the other two core competitors, the company is situated in the middle; while Cafà © E.S.KIMO is performing the best among them. iv.Strategic Position & Action Evaluation Matrix (SPACE) According to the result of the SPACE Matrix, it showed that the strategic position of Cafà © Tai Lei Loi Kei is aggressive (1, 1.11). The environment is stable, have the strong competitiveness and financial background. The appropriate strategies are backward, forward, horizontal integration, market penetration, market development, product development and diversification. v.SWOT Matrix Strength 1.Old history and reputable brand name 2.Use central manufactory to produce pork chop to ensure same quality and acquired ISO recognition 3.Earning profit every year 4.Attractiveness to investors from South East Asia and Mainland China 5.Strong marketing team to develop new promotional programs and expansion strategiesWeakness 1.Low educational level of all level of the employee 2.Lack of manpower 3.High selling price compares to similar products in the market 4.Limited amount of branches in Macau Peninsula 5.Most products are in high calories Opportunities 1.Increase number of tourists coming to Macau 2.Better economy in South East Asia and Mainland China 3.Increase in Macau people’s purchasing power 4.Promotion coupons attached in Macau’s official tourist map may help increase awareness 5.Cooperation with the youth correctional institution may help finding manpowerS1, S4, S5, O2 – Expand the business to South East Asia and Mainland China S1, O1, O2, O3 – Put more efforts on the advertisement and promotion in existing market – Threat 1.Customers are easy to change another brand to consume pork chop bun 2.Increasing number of competitors in the town selling similar product 3.Increasing amount of rent in Macau may lead Tai Lei suffer 4.Local people refuse to work in small-middle enterprises 5.Negative comments from online reviews and locals 6.Negative news in Taipa’s flagship store in December 2011 (required to close by IACM) 7.People seek for healthier food and beverage nowadays-W3, T3 – Acquire supplier company to lower the cost W5, T7 – Develop healthier product to capture the market share of the â€Å"healthy followers† i.Acquire supplier company According to the W3 and T3, it shows that Cafà © Tai Lei Loi Kei is suffering the very high rent in Macau, especially the shop located in the Taipa old town which costs them almost MOP 150,000 per month. Furthermore, Tai Lei has set the selling price in a high level comparing with other similar products in the market in order to balance their financial statement. However, it does not help with the cost issue. We suggest that backward integration strategy would be suitable for them. Cafà © Tai Lei Loi Kei has already taken care of their distribution; therefore, they can acquire some of the supplier companies such as the company which provides bread and pork chop. With the implementation of this strategy, they can have better control in the cost of their business and they might lower the price to attract more customers. ii.Develop healthier product Nowadays, people concern their health more than before. The trend of the current environment is tent to buy healthy and green products and company always promotes well-being. However, the products of Cafà © Tai Lei Loi Kei are high calories and fats and it’s not what the current market looks for. According to the W5 and T7, it indicated the need to develop healthier food. For example, Tai Lei can invest a new product which claims at healthiness, such as using organic vegetables, low fat milk, vegetable oil, etc. iii.Expand the business to South East Asia and Mainland China According to the strength 1, 4, 5 and opportunity 2 and the concept of the market development, it discloses that Cafà © Tai Lei Loi Kei have a strong power to expand their business out of Macau. They are successful and have a long history of their business and have already accumulated a well reputation. In addition, they are famous to the South East Asia and Mainland China. It’s attractiveness to the investors from those countries to invest a new business in there. Moreover, the economy of South East Asia and Mainland China are doing well nowadays, it’s one of the motivators that Tai Lei should expand their business to the two markets. iv.Put more efforts on the advertisement and promotion in existing market In strength 1 and opportunity 1, 2, 3, we suggest Tai Lei can create a new strategy with application of market penetration. Tai Lei owns two branches in Hong Kong and three in Macau. Hong Kong and Macau are popular tourism cities in the world, especially Macau; the number of tourists coming to Macau is increasing rapidly. Moreover, according to the opportunity 2, there is better economy in South East Asia and Mainland China, and the main tourists of Hong Kong and Macau are come from those countries. Advertisement and promotion can help to introduce Tai Lei to those tourists before the company enters to these two new markets. For example, using celebrities to promote the brand and product or distribute coupons via different channels. If Tai Lei put more efforts to do the advertisement and promotion in Hong Kong and Macau, it can attract more consumers and increase the market share. vi.Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM) A QSPM for Cafà © de Tai Lei Loi Kei Acquire supplier companyPut more efforts on the advertisement and promotion in exiting marketExpand the business to South East Asia and Mainland ChinaDevelop healthier product External FactorWeightASTASASTASASTASASTAS Opportunities 1.Increase number of tourists coming to Macau0.1510.1540.6020.3030.45 2.Better economy in Southeast Asia and Mainland China0.1010.1030.3040.4020.20 3.Increase in Macau people’s purchasing power0.1020.2030.3010.1040.40 4.Promotion coupons attached in Macau’s official tourist map may help increase awareness0.0530.1540.2000.0030.15 5.Cooperation with the youth correctional institution may help finding manpower0.05-　-　-　-　-　-　-　-　 Threat 1.Customers are easy to change another brand to consume pork chop bun0.1020.2040.4010.1030.30 2.Increasing number of competitors in the town selling similar product0.1520.3040.6010.1530.45 3.Increasing amount of rent in Macau may lead Tai Lei suffer0.05-　–　-　–　-　-　 4.Local people refuse to work in small-middle enterprises0.05-　-　-　—　–　 5.Negative comments from online reviews and locals0.0510.0540.2030.1520.10 6.Negative news in Taipa’s flagship store in December 2011 (required to close by IACM)0.0510.0540.2020.1030.15 7.People seek for healthier food and beverage nowadays0.1010.1020.2030.3040.40 Sub Total1.00　1.30　3.00　1.60　2.60 Internal FactorWeightASTASASTASASTASASTAS Strengths 1.Old history and reputable brand name0.1010.1040.4030.3020.20 2.Use central manufactory to produce pork chop to ensure same quality and acquired ISO recognition0.05-　　–　–　-　-　-　 3.Earning profit every year0.1510.1530.4540.6020.30 4.Attractiveness to investors from South East Asia and Mainland China0.1510.1530.4540.6020.30 5.Strong marketing team to develop new promotional programs and expansion strategies0.1010.1040.4030.3020.20 Weakness 1.Low educational level of all level of the employee0.05-　-　-　-　-　-　-　-　 2.Lack of manpower0.10–　-　—　-　- 3.High selling price compares to similar products in the market0.1540.6020.3010.1530.45 4.Limited amount of branches in Macau Peninsula0.0510.0540.2030.1520.10 5.Most products are in high calories 0.1010.1030.3020.2040.40 Subtotal1.00　1.252.50　2.301.95 Sub Total Attractiveness Score　　2.555.50　3.904.55 As the table of QSPM for Cafà © de Tai Lei Loi Kei show that the left two columns are extracted verbatim from the EFEM and IFEM of Cafe Tai Lei Loi Kei and also note that four alternative strategies – 1) Acquire supplier company 2) Develop healthier product 3) Expand the business to South East Asia and Mainland China 4) Put more efforts on the advertisement and promotion in exiting market – were from the company’s SWOT Matrix. Moreover, the Attractiveness Score (AS) from1 to 4 is used to reveal each strategy’s attractiveness given the respective external or internal factor, where 4 is the best and 1 is the least attractive. Work row by row in developing the QSPM and decide which strategy is the best for the external or internal factor. After conducted the QSPM, the strategy of â€Å"Put more efforts on the advertisement and promotion in exiting market† was highly recommended based on the result of the sum total of the Attractiveness Score from QSPM and it acquired the highest score of 5.50. The second recommendation strategy is â€Å"Develop healthier product† and the third one is â€Å"Expand the business to South East Asia and Mainland China† due the priority of the Attractiveness Score, which is 4.55 and 3.90. QSPM can be important information for a firm to make decision of strategies. The strategy of the Attractiveness Score below 3 in the QSPM is not taken into the consideration. The reason of chosen â€Å"Put more efforts on the advertisement and promotion in exiting market† as the highly recommend strategy, the Attractiveness Score of this strategy in the sector of external factor, there are two  opportunities are rated as 4 and two rated as 3 reflecting that the strategy was attractive enough to fulfill those opportunities and one of the opportunities is not related; those opportunities are related to the market trends – the chance for increasing sales because the tourists, especially the South East Asian and Mainland China tourists, are flooding to Macau tourism market and the booming economy increase the spending ability of local people as well. In addition, two threats about the competitors become more and more because of the opportunities that they can gain the market share of pork chop bun, besides; two threats related to lots of negative comments, news are appeared on the internet, newspaper and magazine. Therefore, a strategy of â€Å"Put more efforts on the advertisement and promotion in exiting market† got the highest score on Attractiveness Score because it can against this situation by create more promotional advertisements and distributed by mass media in order to capture the largest amount of pork chop bun market share, by the way; this strategy can break the negative comments and news as well. The remaining one about the shortage of man power in Macau cannot solve by the firm themselves due to the government policy. On the other hand, in the internal factor, two strengths are rated as 4 and two strengths are rated as 3 to show that Cafe Tai Lei Loi Kei has the ancient and reputation brand name, the ISO recognition and the new hire marketing team so it is attractive enough to get the attention of investors all over the world, besides they had good financial report on earn profit per year. Thus, â€Å"Put more efforts on the advertisement and promotion in existing market† can be chosen as a tool to attract more investors so as to expand the pork chop bun market by the promotional advertisement about the ancient and reputation brand name and cooperate with the new hire marketing team, the expanding no longer focus on Macao but Southeast Asia. And one strength does not have any relationship of this strategy. Moreover, one of the weaknesses is rated as 2 and one is rated as 4 related to higher price and do not have enough branches in Macau, so the promotional poster or promote in the travel guide book to emphasis the ancient brand name with â€Å"where to buy† instruction that can be a good solution to against the weaknesses which already excited in Tai Lei, furthermore; one of the weaknesses is rated as 3 for the less of healthier food, thus first at all, Tai Lei prove some health product then use â€Å"Put  more efforts on the advertisement and promotion in existing market† to do more promotion of the related product. And the other weaknesses are no impacted on this strategy. STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION i.Acquire supplier company Acquisition is one of the backward integration methods. Cafà © Tai Lei Loi Kei could acquire suppliers such as the pork chop and bread suppliers, etc. This benefits Tai Lei because it eliminates the profit which normal suppliers get from Tai Lei, causing reduction of cost. Upon the acquisition, Cafà © Tai Lei Loi Kei may have to keep all the original staff of the suppliers. However, the organizational culture of the two firms may be different so it becomes difficult for Tai Lei to persuade all staff to have full commitment to the Cafà ©. Remuneration package have to been discussed again in order to retain all experienced staff. ii.Develop healthier product Inventing and creating new flavor products will be a way for Cafà © Tai Lei Loi Kei to survive in the keen competition. Customers are always looking for new products and innovations, especially some healthy food. After the launch of new products, it takes Tai Lei a long period of time to test the market response and to see whether the customers accept the new products or not. Cafà © Tai Lei Loi Kei will definitely bear the risk that the new products do not help them to expand the product line and obtain good response from customers. iii.Expand the business to South East Asia and Mainland China It costs Cafà © Tai Lei Loi Kei a lot to expand a new market, such as some South East Asian countries. They have to spend a lot on marketing campaigns and promotion methods. Tai Lei has to tolerate the heavy marketing expenses and at the same time, bear the risk that the customers from new market do not accept this kind of new products. The marketing strategies with high cost will affect Cafà © Tai Lei Loi Kei’s profit. iv.Put more efforts on the advertisement and promotion in existing market By applying the same concept with the expansion of new market in South East Asian countries, Cafà © Tai Lei Loi Kei has to spend a lot to emphasis more on the marketing effort within the existing markets, Macau and Hong Kong. It will be beneficial for them to focus more on the existing market since it is easier to retain customers rather than attracting new customers. However, the high marketing cost decreases Tai Lei’s revenue at the same time. CONCLUSION Cafà © Tai Lei Loi Kei is a local brand with long history, selling its superior pork chop bun to delight customers with most efforts. According to the interview result and data, we created a brand new vision and mission for Tai Lei. Those interview result includes its internal strengths and weaknesses, external opportunities and threats and many other factors which may affect the future development and performance of Tai Lei. A number of matrixes have been conducted to better analysis the current situation of Tai Lei. After all the matrixes analysis, four strategies have been developed. We suggest Cafà © Tai Lei Loi Kei to adopt these four strategies, in order to further develop and expand its own business and have a more prosperous future.