Analysis of the Consolidation of Assets as an Integral Part of Business for Organizations

Analysis of the Consolidation of Assets as an Integral Part of Business for Organizations Introduction Mergers or acquisitions have become a norm for companies aiming at growth. Various companies resort to mergers and acquisition, to form strategic alliances. In majority of cases the underlying reason for these is to guarantee long-term sustained achievement of fast profitable growth for the business. In todays competitive world it is important for various companies to keep up with a rapidly increasing diversified global market and increased competition. In order to gain competitive advantage it is essential to form alliances. According to Megginson and Smart Mergers and acquisitions are major corporate finance events that, when executed efficiently and with the proper motives, can help managers realise their ultimate goal of maximizing shareholder wealth. A merger is the combining of two or more companies into a single corporation. This is achieved when one company or business purchases the property or some other form of assets from another company. The result of this action is the formation of one corporate structure. This new corporate structure retains its original identity. An acquisition is a little different from a merger in that it involves many problems being dissolved, and an entirely new company being formed. Reasons For Mergers: There are many reasons for mergers and acquisitions such as, growth of the company, achieving the economies of scale, for power or better management, stability and to increase market share and eliminate competition. At the core of mergers and acquisition lies the sole objective of maximization of shareholder wealth regardless of the scale of the business. This maximization of the wealth must be both in day-to-day running of the business as well as in the long-term through their tactical decisions. A well executed acquisition or merger will increase the profits earned by increased sales income and by reducing costs. It may also place the business in a position of strategic advantage over its competitors that will enable it to add value by using the opportunity of that advantage to increase profitability. Role of Managers in successful Mergers/Acquisitions: The scope of organizational behavior for a manager goes beyond carving strategies for the functioning of the organization, and can extend further during and after acquisitions to extend financial benefits. The manager has an important responsibility to develop a leadership plan while keeping human elements that arise from such mergers in mind. To create this balanced equilibrium, the manager must use transition strategies of organizational behavior to keep the vision and goals of the organization while motivating and achieving better individual performances Arkin, (2003) shows that, involving Human Resource Professionals at the earliest stages of a merger or acquisition is crucial to help employees adapt to the change. Kitching (1967) stresses the importance of installing managers of change to handle the critical areas needing change to accomplish the tasks of the acquisition. Kitching emphasizes the importance of change management efforts on control in the post-acquisition period. Of late MA research takes into account not only control-based value creation, but also a variety of integration processes through which those synergistic benefits can be realized (Hitt, Harrison, Ireland, 2001). Gadiesh, et al (2002) identified a range of leadership characteristics that might be associated with successful MA outcomes. These characteristics are decisiveness (closing the deal), serving as a symbol and creating momentum (crusading for the new entity), fostering a sense of focus (establishing and communicating the strategic vision) motivating organizational members (cheering on the troops), and providing key cultural and operational guidance (captaining change through integration). Managerial ability must be a non-specialised proclivity, and the leaders of the acquiring company must be men of much greater talent than those of the corporations they absorb In the context of mergers and acquisitions, managers create accountable others (Galpin and Herndon 2000) as Clemente Greenspan, (1998) write, These leaders make concrete the mutual responsibility of all employees, but alert and bind them to everyone elses responsibility . . .this will create a social conscience. Case of BMW acquiring Rover: In the case of BMW (Gould, B 1998) acquiring Rover for 800 millions highlights the importance of managers and effective human resource management in mergers and acquisitions. BMW was easily able to gain entry into a new market segment without compromising its high end and niche market segment through acquisition of Rover. The main reason thats made BMW bought Rover and land Rover is that BMW doesnt have an SUV. the X5 was from the Land Rover team.So it was long term investment by BMW.Also the products and quality, although better, needed some help. And BAE was doing nothing with it. BMW thought about acquiring Rover, as it was too small to survive on its own. However, a more fundamental objective was the enhancement of shareholders wealth through acquisitions aimed at accessing or creating sustainable competitive advantage for acquirer. Such an advantage was to stem from economies of scale, market power or access to unique strengths, for example BMW through acquisition of Rover was able to offer a rage of cars in every category. Successful acquisitions are distinguished from failed ones in a number of dimensions, ranging from pre- acquisitions planning to post- acquisitions integration management. Haspeslagh and Jeminson (1991) contrast two perspectives of acquisition decision making the rationalist and the organizational process. The rationalist view based on hard economic, strategic and financial evaluation of the acquisition proposal and estimates the potential value creation based on such an evaluation. In this case the aim of the acquisitions was to create competitive advantages, strengthen their positions in the markets and to achieve the strategic value creation. BMW/Rover is the examples of acquisitions that have failed to be successful. Despite of the ambitious plans regarding Rovers future, Rover could not bring any profits until the year 2000 due to an investment programme of 500 million pounds per year in the UK. BMW experienced financial distress after acquiring Rover. Robert Hellar writes, BMW has invested .8 billion in a business which at last report was losing ,000 annually. Reasons for Failure: Success of acquisition depends on pre acquisition audit, including a human element audit, clarity of purpose, good communication and understanding of the cultural nuances of the acquired company. Making a successful acquisition requires all three stages of acquisition process namely, preparation, negotiation and post acquisition integration and shall be considered interrelated process. BMW wanted to acquire Rover in order to create a range of cars in every category. BMW was not strong enough to compete on its own and the acquisition seemed to be attractive from the points of extending its range and achieving economies of scale in souring, production, distribution and RD. However, obstacles started since implications of the acquisition. There was a lack of agreement between the teams negotiating a deal and implementing it, so the aims of acquisition were not preserved. Tight secrecy in planning and negotiating is considered necessary to prevent either rivals or the staff of the target finding out about the deal. This secrecy may be one of the reasons for the due diligence audit being somewhat superficial. BMWs preacquisition audit neglected human resource aspects; the audit resulted in some nasty surprises after the acquisition; for example, BMW redeployment of senior BMWs staff to top Rover positions. The chairman of BMW planed to turn Rover into exclusive cars as BMW and the same time he wanted to increase world sales. However, his ambitious target has turned out to be arduous. Robert Stevens (1999) writes On February 11 BMWs chief executive Bernd Pischetsrieder resigned after failing to win the support of his board. He was the kingpin in BMWs million acquisition of Rover in 1994 and is associated with the failure of this take-over Conclusions Mergers or Acquisitions are complex challenges for the management. There are major challenges most importantly employee related issues. Need for competent management is paramount with focus on the human resource audit as whatever, the merits of an acquisition on financial and business criteria, it is people who make it all happen. The employees need to be motivated and well informed about their future within the company. As evident from the case study there was a lack of pre merger planning and non-transparent negotiations resulting in shocks for merged company. Most of all there was a total lack of post acquisition integration strategy resulting out of poor management. The most important attributes for the managers are honesty; sensitivity, competence and willingness to share with the target staff the benefits of acquisitions. These are the most important contributors to success of acquisitions, which were sadly lacking in case of BMW acquisition of Rover.

Fruit Delight Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Fruit Delight - Essay Example They want to look and behave like the celebrities who have high influence on them. Hence, as described by Kelman, source attractiveness would be an important characteristic of our communication messenger (Egan 2007). Word Of Mouth marketing using the brand’s current customers would also influence the target audience as they are highly image-conscious and trust their peers more than others. Fruit Winders already has a positive image (especially with the mums) as far as health benefits are considered. Using these indirect customers to propagate the benefits of the product can be effectively used for viral marketing as was done by â€Å"Dove†. They used the real customers in their ads to spread a credible word of mouth (Dahlen, Lange and Smith 2009). Critique of current/recent campaigns to the same target audience The target audience of Fruit Delight overlaps that of Fruit winders for the 10-12 year olds. This can have both favorable and unfavorable implications. A major d isadvantage of this can be the confusion it can create in the minds of this age group. So, far this group of audience has been used to the symbols and self-association with these symbols. With the introduction of the new product which would propagate a different image association, the target audience would not know which one to adopt. There will be a symbol clash in this kind of brand extension. This will erode some customers from the Fruit Winder’s basket which may or may not fall into the Fruit Delight basket as they might get attracted towards other brands in the same product range. This is because they have already perceived this brand as one for smaller kids and they may not be able to associate with the new one as being for older kids. This is what happened with the global brand â€Å"Pierre Cardin†. The company diversified into so many product lines that people did not associate with the core line of business. The brand eventually died (Mininni 2006). Thus, we c an see that any failure of strategy implementation by inappropriate transfer and linkages of brand associations of the parent brand to the new product can lead not only to the failure of the new brand but also that of the parent brand (Juda 2007). However, a major advantage of this brand extension is that it is not moving very far away from its core brand values. This is an important factor to consider before going into a product line. Positive images and strengths of the current brand, Fruit Winders, can easily be leveraged to achieve a successful brand launching into a new segment (Juda 2007). This is one of the ways of â€Å"increasing the rate of new acceptance and purchase intention of customers† (Juda 2007). It can help in penetrating into a new segment while achieving advertising and promotion expenditure efficiencies. Thus, using viral marketing can be a very easy strategy to launch the new product using old customer base. Using the same TV commercials with extra info rmation on the new product can help in promoting the Fruit Delight through the younger siblings of the target audience. Current websites can be used to promote the product but content of the websites for this audience can be designed according to their interest. Using the same billboards and TV commercials to promote websites will help in promoting the product to a great extent. Positioning statement Positioning consists of two main factors –

Business Statistics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Business Statistics - Essay Example Principal Component Analysis helps us in identifying the factors which appear in the items and also helps in determining which items contribute to each of these factors. The main assumption of PCA is that there is no error in the data. KMO and Bartlett's Test helps in determining whether it is appropriate to apply Factor Analysis and Principal Component Analysis to the given data set. The value of KMO should be greater than 0.5. Here the value is almost 0.5 and it may be appropriate to apply Principal Component Analysis to this data. Further the Chi-Square statistic is 14.312 with 6 degrees of freedom which is significant at 5 % level of significance. Thus Factor analysis may be considered for analyzing the data. The next out put is the Communalities. These values are inserted in the diagonal of the correlation matrix which help in identifying the underlying dimensions and common variance. In this table the column " initial ", the communality for the variables is 1.000 which were inserted in the diagonal of the correlation matrix. The next out put is " Total Variance Explained" gives the "eigen values". The eigen values are in decreasing order of magnitude for the component 1 to 4. the eigen value for a component indicates the total variance attributed to that factor. The total variance accounted for by all the four factors is 4 which is equal to the number of variables. Factor 1 accounts for 34.5% of the total variance. The second component accounts for 24.85% of the total variance and so on. Total Variance Explained Component Initial Eigenvalues Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings Total % of Variance Cumulative % Total % of Variance Cumulative % 1 1.381 34.536 34.536 1.381 34.536 34.536 2 .994 24.852 59.388 3 .977 24.415 83.803 4 .648 16.197 100.000 Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. In order to determine the number of factors based on eigen values, the value greater than one is considered. For the component 1, the eigen value is greater than one. And for the components 2 and 3 it is almost equal to 1. But the total percentage is greater than

''It's complicated'' Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

''It's complicated'' - Essay Example It was the graduation of their son when they had to get together in a hotel; Jake, Jane, the three kids and the fiancà © of their eldest daughter. The two finally had their moment to talk to each other and discuss things around them casually when they got drunk one night and apparently, decided to sleep together. Jane hardly believes that he slept with his ex-husband who is now married. Hence, she now considers herself as the mistress. It just happened that Jake felt his feelings rekindled for Jane and is again asking for another chance. On the other hand, Jane is confused because she knows for a fact that there is still a room for Jake in her heart but she is afraid to get in trouble with Jake’s own family. In addition to the complications of Jane’s life is Adam, his architect, who is asking her out and started to get to know each other personally considering that Adam helps Jane to design her house for renovations. The scenarios throughout the affair and the love tri angle made the whole film to be defined by its title, ‘It’s complicated’. The movie ended up choosing between Jake and Adam and explaining to her kids what happened between the two of them. A sad part comes into the scene when the three kids discovered that their parents are having an affair and it gave them false hopes of getting back together as one family. Although Jane felt the happy with the affair, she still chose to be with Adam because that is what she thinks is right and what her heart tells her. The lighting in the movie did pretty well. The movie is not categorized for a family because there are adult scenes and languages that are not suitable for kids. The lighting director worked well because the shots are taken on various times and the audience could really distinguish the lights used such as the scenes in the hotel, outdoor shots, bedroom, parties and other. Generally, the lights are used according to the needs

UK grocery market

UK grocery market ‘‘Co-Operative Foods Market Segmentation and Brand Positioning Grocery Market Overview Market Structure The Co-Operative Group The Co-operative Foods Segmentation Market Segmentation Consumer Market Segmentation Target Marketing Co-Ops Target Market Brand Positioning Marketing Mix (4Ps) Co-Ops Brand Positioning Co-Ops Brand Strategy 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 7 7 8 9 10 Executive Summary The Co-Operative group is in UK market for over 150 years and operates across the food, travel, funeral, pharmacy and banking and insurance sectors. It has 4.5 million members and around 5,300 retail outlets. This report provides an analysis and evaluation of the strategy adopted by Co-Op in order to target the consumers and market. It also explores the brand positioning of Co-Op in the grocery retail market in accordance with the consumer demands. In order to do this analysis market segmentation framework is used to separate the target market into groups and by keeping the Co-Ops ethical and fairtrade principles in mind. Brand positioning strategies adopted by the Co-Op food were identified by using the marketing mix framework (4Ps). It is found that Co-Op is having intense pressure from its rival Tesco and Sainsburys who are growing rapidly into the convenience retailing. Although Co-Ops profits are gone up as compared to recent years but there is still room for improvement. 1.0 Grocery Market Overview 1.1 Market Structure The UK grocery market is mainly dominated by the big fours who have acquired almost 64% of the market share and of which Tesco is holding the 30% of the market share (Mintel 2009) and it also shows the oligopolistic nature of the market. The grocery market players have divided their customers into two groups: primary shoppers and top-up shoppers , and according to Mintel (2009) the primary shopping is dominated by big fours (Tesco, Sainsburys, Asda and Morrisons) plus Waitrose who are sharing 80% of the market share. The UK is through its worst ever recession which has also affected the grocery retailers and lead to change their strategies. According to Keynote (2009) the ‘hard discount strategy was adopted by most retailers in last two years which was quite successful. Another strategy adopted by the supermarket retailers is to diversify their chains in rural areas in form of convenience stores in order to targets people who have a little access to supermarkets (Mintel 2009). 1.2 The Co-Operative Group This is UK base co-operative established in 1863 and it is quite diversified organization which mainly operates through its two divisions: trading and financial services. The Co-Operative group is well known for its ethical nature and fair trade principles which reflects within its organisation and differentiates it from its competitors. The Co-operative Group operates across the food, travel, funeral, pharmacy and banking and insurance sectors. It has 4.5 million members and around 5,300 retail outlets 1.3 The Co-Operative Foods The Co-OP food operated in UK through its 2223 food stores which can be found in two formats: convenience stores and small/ medium sized supermarkets (Data monitor 2008) The Co-Op food lies on the 5th place in grocery retail market with 8% shares, thanks to its merger with Somerfield in July 2008 (Mintel 2008). The Co-Op used to be the UKs largest grocery retailer in 1960s and through Somerfield acquisition it will be able gain this position again in neighbourhood market. According to the Telegraph (2009) Peter Marks, chief executive of the Co-op said that: ‘‘the move from the big four UK retailers Tesco, Asda, Sainsburysand Morrisons- to a big five including the Co-op will further boost competition for UK consumers. The Co-Op targets its consumers through its ethical and fare trade approach which is the main emphasis of the Co-Op group as stated above. The key strategy adopted by Co-Op is ‘be local act local but in recent years they are having intense competition from Tesco and Sainsburys who are extended their business in convenience sector and grow rapidly. 2.0 Segmentation According to Jobber (2004) the ways in which individuals and organisations with similar characteristics were put together that have significant implications for the determination of market strategy is called market segmentation. 2.1 Market Segmentation Each buyer can act as a potential separate market due to its unique demands and needs (Kotler 2005). It depends on companies to either follow this approach or not, companies can practise no segmentation (mass marketing), complete segmentation (micromarketing) or something in between (niche marketing) according to Kotler (2005) The Co-Op food is following the micromarketing approach rather mass marketing which has its own drawbacks. Kotler (2005) says that the micromarketing is a way of tailoring products to suit individuals according to their taste and needs. Through these criteria (Co-Op) it is targeting the local market by keeping them in convenient locations and addressing the key ethical issues. Although with the merger with Somerfield in July 2008 (Mintel 2008) they got some medium sized super market in their camp but the main focus is still the ‘c-store format. 2.2 Consumer Market Segmentation As Kotler (2005) stated that there is no single way to segment a consumer market. A marketer has to try different segmentation variable either alone or in combinations. These segments can be divided into four groups: * Behavioural Segmentation * Psychographic Segmentation * Geographic Segmentation * Demographic Segmentation The Co-Op is mainly targeting the behavioural and psychographic consumer segments. Through psychographic approach it is targeting the consumer on the basis of their social class, lifestyle as well as their personality through its ethical and organic food products. On the other hand through behavioural segmentation it is targeting peoples loyalty, their usage rate and attitude towards its product range. 3.0 Target Marketing Choosing a specific segment to serve in a market is called target marketing (Jobber 2004), also firms need to segment the market and target that segment in order to work effectively. 3.1 Co-Ops Target Market The segmentation strategy is been adopted by the Co-Op Food in order to remain competitive in the market. The Co-Ops target market is given below: * Neighbourhood market * Ethical market * Fair trade market * Top-up shoppers These above mentioned areas are the key segments targeted by the Co-Op, as it mainly operates in c-store format and it emphasis on providing fresh food products by targeting the local market and by keeping its ethical dilemma and fairtrade principles in mind. There is another important segment it targets is top-up shopping market, through this area Co-Op gets the opportunity to gain customer and introduce them to their ethical principles. 4.0 Brand Positioning 4.1 Marketing Mix (4Ps) The marketing mix model which is also known as 4Ps is used as a tool by marketer in order to implement the market strategy. The 4Ps are: * Product * Price * Place * Promotion Product: Co-Ops product offering is pretty simple, it has fairtrade products, organic products and also simply range which targets almost all segments of the market on the basis of quality and ethics. According to Mintel (2009) the most of the supermarkets have the good-better-best product range but Co-Op is so far concentrating on the better and best product range. Few of the key brand product offered by Co-Op are mentioned in table2. Price: At Co-Op the price is a big issue at Co-Op which can be expected at a convenience store but its their ethical stance which keeps the prices high too. But in order to remain competitive Co-Op offers range of discounted products and through its loyalty cards it gives an opportunity to get points against spending which can be used for further shopping at store. Place: This is the most important part of the strategy adopted by Co-Op through locating its stores at convenient and accessible places. As reported by Mintel (2009) the first criteria by C-store shopper is the location rather than price. Due to its convenient placement of stores Co-Op provides child friendly and time friendly environment right in the heart of community for its customers who find out of town shopping time consuming and stressful. Promotion: The current slogan by Co-Op is ‘Good with food. Other initiatives include the ‘Green dot scheme, highlighting healthy products. Mainly Co-Op promote its brands through local radio and TV and also by donating in local community projects 4.2 Co-Ops brand positioning According to Mintel (2009) the key rule followed by the Co-Op is getting into the market with bigger brand prospective which weve seen by the acquisition of Somerfield. Through this merger, Co-Ops gone bigger but still theyve opted to remain in the heart of local community by acting as local convenience store. And this message is conveyed by the Somerfields brand message ‘Britains favourite local grocer. 4.3 Co-Ops Brand Strategy The Co-operative Group has adopted strong brand strategy in order to sustain the market shares. As stated by Mintel (2009) its brands lie on the basis of * ethical credentials * environmental issues * local sourcing * Fairtrade. This is underlined by Mintels consumer research, with the Co-ops customers the most likely to buy locally sourced and Fairtrade items. In order to become a responsible retailer Co-Op launched it Ethical Food Policy which resulted because of good response from its 250,000 members. As result Co-op switched all of its premium meat products with RSPCA Freedom-food label (Mintel 2008). Simply value brand is also a replacement for every range and actually it is a Somerfield brand 5.0 Conclusion Although Co-Op operates through its large number of small stores by targeting different location and consumer groups but the average foot fall in some of stores is relatively less (Mintel 2008). As it is facing intense pressure from supermarkets in order keep the prices at a competitive level which is quite difficult as it is operating on such a large scale and operating cost are high. The main problem is that Co-Op is not seen as a shopping destination for majority of consumers and they treat it is as top-up store which nearby and available most of the time. A recent study by Mintel shows that only a significant percentage of people take ethical issues seriously while they shop. For them fairtrade and organic food are just another premium line on the shelf and the price factor restrict them from buying. Mintel (2009) shows an improvement in fairtrade sale but it seems organic products are struggling to keep up sales target during recession. It is clear that Co-Op is facing intense pressure from its rivals but it has improved a lot through merger and rebranding strategy. Its profits are record high as compared to last 10 years. More and more people are getting awareness of ethical approach adopted by Co-Op and it shows the significance of Co-operative food in the intense market environment. 6.0 References * Data Monitor (2008), Company Profile: Co-operative Group Limited, June 2008, London: Data Monitor. * Jobber, D. (2004), Principles and practice of marketing, 4th Edition, Berkshire: McGraw-Hill Education. * Hall, J. (2008), Co-op swoops on Somerfield in  £1.56bn deal, Telegraph.co.uk, 16th July. * Kotler, C. (2005), Principles of marketing, 5th Edition, Essex: Pearson Education Ltd. * Keynote (2009), Market review Food Catering, Jan 2009, 19th Edition, Keynote Publishing Ltd * Mintel (2008), Mintel market report- Food retailing, November 2008, London: Mintel. * Mintel (2009), Mintel market report- Convenience retailing, September 2009, London: Mintel. * Mintel (2009), Mintel market report- Food retailing, November 2009, London: Mintel. [http://academic.mintel.com/sinatra/oxygen_academic/search_results/show/display/id=395621/display/id=496165/display/id=496171#atom2] accessed 10/12/09 * Mintel (2009), Mintel market report- Food retailing, November 2009, London: Mintel. [http://academic.mintel.com/sinatra/oxygen_academic//display/id=395621/display/id=496166] accessed 05/12/2009

Understanding Culture Essay -- Sociology

Culture, is defined by Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary, as "the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon man's capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations." People learn about culture through interaction rather than through the memorization of a text. To become fluent in any one culture you have to experience it and become involved. There are many ways that a culture can be shared among people without them being fluent in it such as through: food, customs, clothing, language, beliefs, and behaviors. With the increase of technology and new discoveries about the world developing daily it makes it impossible for cultures to remain stagnant; therefore, they must learn how to adapt in order to survive. Some people argue that complete cultural fluency in more than one culture is impossible. However, culture is a learned behavior therefore people should be able to learn and become fluent in more than one. Culture is distinctly human and is transmitted through learning traditions and customs that govern behavior. Cultural anthropologists study human society and culture through describing, analyzing, interpreting and explaining social and cultural similarities and differences. To study and interpret cultural diversity they engage in two activities which are ethnography and ethnology. Ethnography is based on fieldwork while ethnology is based on cross-cultural comparisons of the information collected through ethnography. The studies done on culture can be shared in two ways: first through theoretical or academic anthropology and second through practical or applied anthropology. An example of academic anthropology, which teaches us about culture, is a textbook ... ...nity. An example is the way they raised and slaughtered animals rather than buying them packaged at a store. Although a year may not be enough time to become fluent in a culture, the stories of the students living abroad prove that a person can learn and become part of more than one culture. Culture is what defines the difference between humans and animals. We grow up in a culture which influences who we are and how we live. Through studying different cultures we learn more about our own culture, ourselves, our strengths, and weaknesses. Yet to become fluent a person cannot simply study a culture, rather they must be on an interactive level and experience the culture first hand. Sources Cited http://www.merriam-webster.com/ Kottak, Conrad "Cultural Anthropology: Appreciating Cultural Diversity." McGraw-Hill Education; 15 edition, October 11, 2012

Being there

Jerzy Kosinski’s Being There is the story of Chance Gardener, a man with limited mental and social potential, yet raised by his environment to the level of fame. Referred to as a â€Å"blank page† person, he is, at the same time, seen by his immediate environment as â€Å"quite a personality† mainly because of his exterior qualities: he has a â€Å"beautiful voice†, is â€Å"manly† and â€Å"well-groomed†. Not only the Manhattan society, in which Chance finds himself after being hit by a car knows nothing about Gardiner’s past: the reader is also faced with the same puzzle.The opening chapter provides only some information about the protagonist’s enclosed life in the Old Man’s house, his passion for gardening and his life reality, which is entirely formed by the pictures seen on television. We get to know that the Old Man sheltered Chance as a baby when his mother died, that his name is Chance because he was born by chanc e, that due to his mental disability inherited from his mother he could neither read nor write. The only people that Chance initially communicates with are the Old Man, who eventually dies, and the maid Louise.Louise is soon forced to return to Jamaica due to an illness and a new maid comes to substitute her. Chance the Gardener seems to lead a blissful life while watching TV or working in the garden – the only activities that form his view of reality at the onset of the narration. However, when the Old Man dies he is forced to leave the house as no will is left by the deceased and no record of Chance as either a resident or employee can be found in the Old Man’s documents. It remains a riddle for both the lawyer who comes to handle the estate and the reader why Chance was left out of the records.For all that, this riddle appears to serve as a good tool for creating suspense in the account of the hero’s changed life style after the accident. With no social and f amily connections whatsoever Gardiner becomes the center of attention among the educated high class society of Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Rand. He soon meets the US President and a number of political and corporate figures, and becomes â€Å"a strong candidate for one of the vacant seats on the board of the First American Financial Corporation† (35).The developments that follow appear hilarious as none of the persons Gardiner gets acquainted with is aware of his physical disabilities. Two aspects that â€Å"save† his positive image are his interest in television and love for gardening. The first helps him think of proper ways to behave in social situations and the latter is a basis for the only factual knowledge he can refer to when participating in discussions about American economy. For instance, when engaging in conversations with Mrs. Rand â€Å"Chance resorted to repeating to her parts of her own sentences, a practice he had observed on TV.In this fashion he encourage d her to continue and elaborate† (24). Also, during a meal Chance ignored the wine because â€Å"On TV, wine put people in a state they could not control† (26). Later, when invited to participate in a TV show, Gardiner could experience the making of a program personally: â€Å"Chance was astonished that television could portray itself; cameras watched themselves†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (37). Similarly, his story about seasons and growth in the garden during his meeting with the President led to his being recognized as an expert in the field of economics.Towards the end of the novel the suspense is even greater when the President keeps demanding that his administration provides him with background information about Chance. However, they are unable to find out anything substantial. Mass media is also concerned about the lack of such information. However, Chance’s future looks positive especially with the death of Benjamin Rand. Mrs. Rand is very much in love with Gardiner a nd sincerely hopes he will stay with her after her husband’s death. Gardiner appears to also have acquired a certain image in the public eye, which will not be easily shattered in case politicians find out who he really is.On numerous occasions Gardiner was very explicit about his disabilities to write and read, but the public interpreted it in its own way, the â€Å"wishful thinking† way. The latter is, ultimately, the problem of the public – and the American society in its wider implications – that interpreted Gardiner’s words the way it wished to. Works Cited Kosinski, Jerzy. Being There Groningen: Wolters-Noordhoff, 1996 Brothers Judd Daily. Ed. 23 Sep. 2000 < htttp://www. brothersjudd. com /index. cfm/fuseaction/reviews. detail/book_id/294/Being%20There. htm>

Business Studies †Marketing Mix Essay

All businesses offer some form of service as part of the product that they supply to customers. This is true of businesses supplying manufactured goods, as well as those that only supply services. By meeting (or exceeding) customers’ expectations, businesses can improve their image and establish a reputation for supplying products with high -quality characteristics. The features of quality service include: * Making sure the customer is safe – This is crucial for a high profile business like IKEA otherwise the media will be straight on to them issuing bad press against them, potentially giving IKEA a bad name, furthermore the customer may wish to take legal action if he/she feels mistreated by IKEA. Again causing problems for IKEA. * Delivering good customer service – Decisive for IKEA to maintain the good name they have, customers in this day and age will not accept poor service, otherwise it’s likely they will look elsewhere. * Improving the quality of the product – Its important IKEA continue improving the quality of there products otherwise customers will begin to lose interest in the company due to its lack of creation and continued progress; customers want to see new/improved products on each visit they make to IKEA. * Making sure the customer is not kept waiting – If IKEA let customers wait for there service, its likely they will simply leave the store and go else where, so its important there staff are motivated and wanting to give IKEA a good name. * Demonstrating good after sales care – Once the sale is done its easy to take the money and that’s it, but with IKEA if a problem arises they will want to help the customer in any way possible. It’s vital for them to retain customers and not lose them to a competitor, and clearly IKEA are doing a good job at this as there profits continue to increase meaning the customers are happy with how they are treated both before and after sales. To see how business offer service in practice, let’s look at some real examples. IKEA sells their products ready to be fitted, meaning the products they sell have to match customer’s precise requirements and also come with good instructions to help them build it at home. Otherwise people will see it as a hassle, meaning they re less likely to purchase from IKEA again. IKEA has bought it self a good name due to fact they offer good after sale services so if needed to contact a member of staff its possible, they give you a good instructional manual, if that’s not enough you can phone them, email them or even talk 1 to 1 with a member of staff on their website via their web chat facility. It is this combination of products together with a range of services that is important in shaping and determining Ikea’s reputation, the distinct characteristics of its products and the company’s competitiveness. IKEA’s website is also a key part in generating sales for there products, its important they describe the product clearly, and give the customer as much information about the product as possible, its less likely that someone will make a visit to IKEA for a product they aren’t given much information about on their website. The above picture is the basic layout for all IKEA products on there website, it has a clear picture of the product, price, special features, measurements, whether it requires assembly, care instructions, material made out of. It also gives the customer the option to see whether they have that product in stock at your local IKEA store, which from personal experience is very useful and practical. IKEA do give a lot of information which reassures the customer that this is the product they want, giving them a buzz and actually wanting to get down to IKEA as soon as possible to purchase the product. B) Price is the amount charged by a business for its products. The factors determining the price of a product can be summarised as the three Cs: Cost, Competition and Customer value. * The cost of producing the product: If a business is to make a profit, then it clearly needs to charge a price that covers the cost of making and selling the product. * The price charged by competitors: A business might want to charge a price at or below that of its competitors. However, if the product is sufficiently unique and superior, then the business might feel it is acceptable to charge a price above that of its competitors. IKEA excels here, in the sense that it offers prices cheaper then its competitors, putting them ahead of the game. * The price customers are willing to pay: This is determined by the value of the product to the target market. If consumers in the target market believe that they can gain significant benefits from the product, then they will be willing to pay a high price. However, if the product provides few benefits, consumers will only be prepared to pay a low price, for example, the price someone is willing to pay for a house will depend on its location, the number of rooms and other factors such as the size of the garden. A business will consider all these factors before deciding on a price for each of its products. In certain situations, it may be appropriate to set a relatively high price. For example, Ikea may set a premium price on a high quality piece of furniture that is widely recognised as being superior to other similar products made by competitors. In other situations a business may opt to set relatively low prices. For example, a new company operating in a very competitive market may set low prices relative to its competitors in an attempt to win business and build a customer base. IKEA are renowned for their cheap prices and high quality products. This has helped them build a huge reputation, and ultimately there cheap prices are a unique selling point, when people think, where can I get good, yet cheap furniture from? Instantly in most cases they think IKEA. IKEA is renowned for being value for money. c) Promotion is a series of marketing activated designed to make consumers aware of products. The ultimate aim, of course, is to persuade them to buy those products. Promotion is an important part of the marketing mix, and business can use a variety of different types of promotion. One of the methods is advertising, advertising is a means by which businesses pay for communication with actual and potential customers through newspapers, television, radio, the internet and other media. It can be expensive, but advertising is often highly successful in influencing consumers’ purchasing decisions. Advertising can be informative, by setting out to increase consumer awareness of a product. This type of advertising is based on facts rather then images. On the other hand, persuasive advertising attempts to convince consumers to purchase a certain product. Persuasive advertising aims to persuade that the advertised product is better than the competition. Sales promotion is any activity that provides a financial incentive to purchase a product. For instance Ikea may hand out free samples of food in their newly built restaurant or perhaps have demonstrations of how to put together some of their products to show customers that’s its easy, and can be done by anyone. IKEA advertising in the UK is intended to raise awareness of the IKEA brand and drive traffic to the stores. Some people love IKEA’s unique style of retail advertising, some hate it, but everyone who sees there advertising has a strong opinion and subsequently it provokes conversation and debate. Despite having some of the most controversial television advertising campaigns in the UK this includes criticising the taste of the British public, invisible furniture, an exaggerated homosexual man advertising for IKEA. IKEA have raised awareness of there brand, let people know they are different to other home furnishing companies and most importantly increased sales. The advertising department includes all aspects of advertising and brand communication from television advertising and sponsorship to magazine and radio promotions. Advertising is used to support many different areas of the business including brand awareness, store themes, catalogue drops and store openings. The term merchandising covers a range of tactics used by businesses at the point of sale (the location at which the products are actually purchased) to achieve higher sales figures. For example, a business might offer retailers special display stands or point-of-sale adverts to encourage them to place the business’s products in a more favourable and prominent position withen stores. Merchandising can be important when: * Consumers make decisions at the point of sale. – This includes a lot of information about the product, making it bright, clear and attractive. * Competitors make extensive use of merchandising. * A variety of rival products are on display in stores. * Rival products have only minor differences. Businesses seek good publicity, and public relations (PR) is designed to improve businesses standings in the eyes of consumers and other interested groups,. Larger organisations have their own PR staff. Ikea engage in a variety of PR activity including: * Making donations to charities – IKEA support unicef to help young children in less fortunate countries around the world. * Sponsoring sporting and cultural activates, and IKEA support the local community by donating products to schools which don’t sell in stores, this is very popular in the community, and keeps the public happy, which creates good press for IKEA. * Allowing the public to visit the business – Makes the customer feel more welcome, and at home with IKEA if they feel involved by learning more about the company. Public relations can be a very expensive form of promotion, and it can be difficult for businesses to assess the effect of public relations on sales. Catalogues are a huge part of advertisement for IKEA, it’s relatively cheap when compared to TV adverts, and its fairly easy to get to the customer, IKEA print 131 million copies of there catalogue making it the most widely distributed commercial publication in the world. Having picked up a couple of the latest IKEA catalogues and handbooks, it’s clear that IKEA thrive on simplicity. The IKEA text is the same font on all brochures, with the traditional blue and yellow logo on the bottom hand side of the page this creates continuity which means people recognise it straight away when they see it again, the traditional yellow and blue logo is based on the colours of there home country Sweden. The background images are warm, cosy, family pictures, one containing a large sofa with numerous pillows, the other an aqua blue kitchen. This gets the message across to the reader that there is a large range of products available, furthermore on the front cover they get the message about there prices, â€Å"Pay less, enjoy more† and â€Å"your 100 page guide to making an affordable, inspired choice†. This encourages the public to go through the IKEA catalogue. Furthermore the catalogue brings the IKEA store into your home, it’s the best way to prepare for a visit to IKEA. d)Place is another term for distribution. It covers the range of activities necessary to ensure that goods and services are available to customers. Deciding on the right place involves a range of decisions. A business needs to consider the most cost-effective way of getting its products and service to the customers. It needs to look at the implications for its profit margins of each means of distribution. The growth in use of the internet has encouraged even small businesses to use websites to sell their products to what can be a global market. This can be highly cost effective means of reaching a wide target audience, but is not suitable for all business and all products. Businesses seek to design marketing mixes that are complementary and work together to benefit the business and to maximise sales. For example, Ikea promotes itself to its target audience on the basis that it offers the lowest possible prices. Place is important to Ikea, and the company locates stores in areas where it costs less to set up, eg on the outskirts of major cities. Which targets both high income earners and low. IKEA’s transport methods are highly effective, large volumes in combination with flat packages are important in helping IKEA to transport products economically from the supplier via the stores to the customers. Flat packs mean that IKEA do not have to pay for transporting or storing unnecessary air – and that not only means lower warehousing and distribution costs, but also less impact on the environment. At present 20 % of all IKEA goods are transported by rail. 6) It makes sense for Ikea to target a wide range of customers. This is referred to as mass marketing. But there’s the other side of it where in some situations they will target small sections of the market. Taken to the limit, this might involve catering for a small select group of customers – a target market that has very specific needs. I.E children’s section. In mass marketing, Ikea would aim their products at most of the available market and normally try to sell a range of similar products to all customers. Mass marketing is possible if the products are popular and purchased by many different types of people. For example Ikea’s furniture products are well suited to being sold in mass markets. Businesses must be able to produce on a large scale if they are to sell successfully in a mass market. A company may have to invest heavily in resources such as buildings, machinery and vehicles. Usually, firm’s also have to be very price competitive to flourish in mass markets. By contrast, niche marketing involves companies identifying and meeting the needs of relatively small areas of the market. The aim is to cater for the needs of customers that have not been met sufficiently by other business, and niche marketing is one way in which small businesses can operate profitably in markets that are dominated by large firms. An example would be Ikea and their play pen for younger children. Market research helps businesses to identify whether they should adopt a mass or niche marketing strategy. In general, this would depend on: * Whether the needs of customers within all parts of the market are being met. * The extent to which a business can provide specialist products capable of meeting the needs of select groups of customers. – This gives IKEA good idea whether there is a need for a unique product on the market, or a product aimed at a special selection of customers, doing this research could potentially uncover new opportunities for them. * The degree to which competitors are currently meeting the needs of all customers within the market. 7) Market research is the systematic collection and analysis of data to enable a business to take better quality marketing decisions. In simple terms, market research allows businesses to find out what customers want. There are a number of reasons why businesses invest in market research. To determine whether IKEA should focus on mass marketing or niche marketing, they can use market research. Most products are only likely to be mainly purchased by particular groups of customers: the market of young working-class males, for example, is very different to that of middle aged wealthy couples. Market research can assist a firm in identifying which parts of the market are most likely to buy its products. It is vital for a business to know who its customers are. This allows the business to: * Design products to best meet the needs of these customers This makes it more efficient at what it does as it specifically meets the needs of IKEA’s customers, meaning its something which grabs there attention, or they can relate to and want to purchase. * Target advertising, promotions and special offers at these groups People like a bargain, once they see a discount on a product they are looking for they are likely to purchase it from IKEA. * Conduct further in-depth research with specific groups of customers to uncover their needs as fully as possible. 5) Businesses need to know what’s happening in the market. To be able to plan its product and marketing effectively, a business like Ikea needs to address three important questions. What is the size of the market? A way of measuring the size of the market is to consider the volume of sales made by all businesses selling furniture. What is the structure of the market? This means discovering the number and size of businesses that make up a market. Are there, for example a few large firms, or many small firms? Or a mixture of large and small firms? If a business is in competition with large firms, it may decide to avoid competing on price terms as larger firms may be able to produce their products more cheaply. Is the market growing or shrinking? Market research can reveal what is happening to sales in market over a period of time. A business may feel more confident about entering a market which is growing, as it should be easier to win sales when some customers are not yet loyal to particular brands or manufactures. The market for DIY furniture has kept growing recently mainly due to Ikea’s success. If IKEA are planning on releasing a new product, its likely they will do research into other products in a similar field to see whether the market for them specific products are increasing or decreasing. This will give them a good idea whether it is worth a full-scale launch of the product they have in mind. 9) Total Quality Control is the most necessary inspection control of all in cases where, despite statistical quality control techniques or quality improvements implemented, sales decrease.The major problem which leads to a decrease in sales was that the specifications did not include the most important factor, â€Å"What the customer required†. To maintain their quality and standards is vital to IKEA, the quality and reliability and workmanship of their products is crucial to there brand. Both to keep their customers and to be legally correct. * Marketing had to carry out their work properly and define the customer’s specifications. * Management had to confirm all operators are equal to the work imposed on them and holidays, celebrations and disputes did not affect any of the quality levels. * Inspections and tests were carried out, and all components and materials, bought in or otherwise, conformed to the specifications, and the measuring equipment was accurate, this is the responsibility of the QA/QC department. * Any complaints received from the customers were timorously and satisfactorily dealt with. This will help keep IKEA a favourites with the customers. To conclude, the above forms the basis from which the philosophy of Quality Assurance has evolved, and the achievement of quality or the â€Å"fitness-for-purpose† is â€Å"Quality Awareness† throughout the company. IKEA hire highly trained quality control workmen, to check that the products in the warehouse are looked after sensiblely and that they are delivered to the customer effeciantly. Quality control is to check that there product meets customer demands and possibly look for ways to improve it. Its important for a business like IKEA to have regulary quality control checks to make sure that the products they sell are always up to standards, making sure the high IKEA standards don’t drop without them being aware. To make sure of this IKEA have a test lab in Almhult which tests both textiles and furniture, around 50,000 tests are carried out in accordance with current standards each year. For several years in succession the IKEA Test Lab has been accredited for it quality system and test methods in accordance with the international standards. All these tests have been developed to correspond to many years of regular use in a domestic enviroment in the areas for which the product is intended. IKEA not only test products during development, but also selects random samples from among the products on sale in the stores. As IKEA say â€Å"It is our customers that we want to come back – not our products† This makes sure that IKEA’s customers get there full value for money and a long lasting product.