America Must Eliminate Standardized Tests and Reduce Homework

The world of a student is a very complicated place with either two options: a relaxed childhood filled with quality learning and experimenting, or one that is so demanding and exhausting that students cannot handle it anymore. Presently, the deciding factor for which path students will travel is the conditions and environment provided to students by the previous generation. For example, Finland is one of the most successful countries in creating proper educational settings for students to excel when it comes to world competition. The policies created by Finland’s government and its authorities are more than suitable to extract the most potential out of students without the negative side effects. Finnish students receive the†¦show more content†¦If Finland is so highly ranked, then there must be something that they are doing both differently and correctly. School-related stress has its roots in many different places. On a national scale, surveys and research have in fa ct confirmed that â€Å"school-related pressures were the primary source of stress for the majority of younger and older children† (qtd. in Blazer 2). Not long ago, kindergartens were places for children to play and learn basics, like the alphabet, but now all of it has changed to teaching kids about test taking, doing reading/writing exercises, and even homework (Blazer 4). In an article titled, â€Å"Success with Less Stress,† Jerusha Conner, an Assistant Professor of Education at Villanova University, and his partners conducted a study to find what students say about the causes of school stress. The research revealed that standardized tests, large assignments, and college admissions were very frequent answers. Exceeding competition has also caused stress among students because they feel the need to build the best rà ©sumà ©, and this leads to over-scheduled days (Redding). The modernization of the Collin’s theory states that, â€Å"the ‘overschedul ing hypothesis’ embodies a more recent belief that it is the volume of activities that provides a boost in the application process and that students needShow MoreRelatedStandardized Testing Is Not Beneficial1702 Words   |  7 PagesStandardized Testing In the world today standardized testing is mandatory in all schools whether they are public or private. If schools continue to make these test mandatory, students grades will show the reflection of what they are not learning. The school might also receive less state funding due to poor performance on these tests. Once No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was introduced US students slipped from 18th in the world in math in 2000 to 31st in 2009 (Standardized). Standardized testingRead MoreEssay on Summary of Ornstein6963 Words   |  28 Pagesto curriculum, and seemingly limitless foundational boundaries, but there are at least five different definitions of curriculum. And one of them, subject matter at different grade levels, which is used more than any other in the public schools in America, is not advocated by any curricular experts! There are debates on how to outline the basic domains of the field. While Allan Ornstein and Francis Hunkins say that the numerous definitions of curriculum are not necessarily a bad thing,, I wouldRead MoreHigh School Student Essay20272 Words   |  82 Pagesabout the countries’ history, geography, and cultures in their projects.The class had already prepared a large world map with pins marking the students’ countries of origin.While several of the pins were clustered in Mexico and Central and South America, the map showed that students also came from many other parts of the world. Each student was encouraged to invite a family member to come and share a part of the family’s native culture. The parents could bring food, music, and native dress from theirRead MoreMotivators That Do Not Motivate: The Case of Chinese EFL Learners and the Influence of Culture on Motivation8163 Words   |  33 PagesEnglish, people have very little incentive to access such input. This is certainly the case of native Chinese speakers in Taiwan, where children typically end the school day only to enter cram schools, returning home at night to complete hours of homework. As governments race to prepare children for their future roles in the global economy, subsidiaries of global firms efficiently supply global media in localized forms. Across the Greater China region, residents can read Harry Potter books orRead More_x000C_Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis355457 Words   |  1422 Pagespermission to use material from this text or product, submit a request online at http://www.thomsonrights.com. Any additional questions about permissions can be submitted by e-mail to thomsonrights@thomson.com. Printed in the United States of America 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 11 10 09 08 07 ExamView  ® and ExamView Pro  ® are registered trademarks of FSCreations, Inc. Windows is a registered trademark of the Microsoft Corporation used herein under license. Macintosh and Power Macintosh are registered trademarksRead MoreFundamentals of Hrm263904 Words   |  1056 Pagescom/go/permissions. To order books or for customer service please, call 1-800-CALL WILEY (225-5945). DeCenzo, David A, Robbins, Stephen P. Fundamentals of Human Resource Management—10th ed. ISBN-13 978-0470-16968-1 Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Brief Contents PA RT 1 Chapter 1 Chapter 2 UNDERSTANDING HRM The Dynamic Environment of HRM 2 Fundamentals of Strategic HRM 28 PART 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 THE LEGAL AND ETHICAL CONTEXT OF HRM Equal EmploymentRead MoreInternational Management67196 Words   |  269 PagesLuthans University of Nebraska–Lincoln Jonathan P. Doh Villanova University INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT: CULTURE, STRATEGY, AND BEHAVIOR, EIGHTH EDITION Published by McGraw-Hill, a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. Copyright  © 2012 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Previous editions  © 2009, 2006, and 2003. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a databaseRead MoreToyota Supply Chain78751 Words   |  316 Pageslearn the true secret of Toyota’s operational excellence, this book is a must-read. In addition, while learning about Toyota’s supply chain management, we also are given a journey of sound supply chain management in general. In my personal research, I have come across Toyota’s supply chain management practices and have been very impressed by how thorough and innovative the company has been since its inception in the 1930s. I must congratulate the authors of this book, as they ha ve done the most comprehensiveRead MoreLogical Reasoning189930 Words   |  760 PagesDowden is licensed under a Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. That is, you are free to share, copy, distribute, store, and transmit all or any part of the work under the following conditions: (1) Attribution You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author, namely by citing his name, the book title, and the relevant page numbers (but not in any way that suggests that the book Logical Reasoning or its author endorse you or your use of the work)Read MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 Pagesreproduced, with permission, in this textbook appear on the appropriate page within text. Copyright  © 2013, 2011, 2009, 2007, 2005 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the United States of America. This publication is protected by Copyright, and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying

Animal Farm by George Orwell - 1338 Words

It can be thought that those who always put their people first are the most successful leaders. In the book Animal Farm by George Orwell, the pig Snowball adopts this style of leadership. His actions and intentions are always for the best of the group. Others may not use this leadership style like Napoleon another pig competing for the title of leader of Animal Farm. Napoleon instead uses his power to â€Å"lead the group†. He suppresses, persecutes, and uses fear to keep control of the masses and to eventually become the leader. Snowball may have the people’s vote but, he’s against Napoleon’s brute force. It may seem that power and only power is necessary to be a successful leader but, the actions of Napoleon and Snowball in Animal Farm prove this wrong. The two leaders are almost exact polar opposites one is selfless and the other is selfish. Great leaders are those who made sacrifices to get them to where they are, put themselves in the shoes of their people, and see themselves as equals to their people in other words a selfless leader like Snowball. During the battle of the Cowshed, â€Å"Snowball now gave the signal for charge. He himself dashed straight for Jones. Jones saw him coming, raised his gun and fired. The pellets scored bloody streaks along Snowball’s back†¦without halting for an instant Snowball flung his fifteen stone against Jones’s legs.† Snowball truly cares for the farm’s wellbeing and will do all that he can for the farm. He’s not just a leader but also a soldierShow MoreRelatedAnimal Farm And George Orwell By George Orwell1034 Words   |  5 Pages Eric Arthur Blair, under the pseudonym of George Orwell, composed many novels in his lifetime that were considered both politically rebellious and socially incorrect. Working on the dream since childhood, Orwell would finally gain notoriety as an author with his 1945 novel Animal Farm, which drew on personal experiences and deeply rooted fear to satirically critique Russian communism during its expansion. Noticing the impact he made, he next took to writing the novel 1984, which similarly criticizedRead MoreAnimal Farm By George Orwell1397 Words   |  6 PagesAn important quote by the influential author of Animal Farm, George Orwell, is, â€Å"Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism.† George Orwell, a Democratic Socialist, wrote the book Animal Farm as an attack on the Communist country of Russia (â€Å"The Political Ideas of George Orwell,† worldsocialism.org). He had a very strong disliking of Communism and the Socialist party of Russia. However, he insisted on finding the truthRead MoreAnimal Farm, By George Orwell1545 Words   |  7 Pagesallow because an this elite institution of people often use this gear to dominate and oppress society. In George Orwell’s story, Animal Farm, Orwell demonstrates that education is a powerful weapon and is a device that can be used to at least one’s benefit. Living in a world where strength is a straightforward to benefit, the pigs quick use education to govern the relaxation of the animals on the farm to serve themselves worked to their advantage. This story in shows the underlying message that   firstRead MoreAnimal Farm By George Orwell944 Words   |  4 Pageslegs(Orwell 132). He carried a whip in his trotter(Orwell 133). In the novel Animal Farm by George Orwell, animals have the ability to talk and form their own ethos, Animalism. Animal Farm is an intriguing allegory by George Orwell, who is also th e author of 1984, includes many enjoyable elements. More knowledge of the author, his use of allegorical elements, themes, symbols, and the significance in the real world, allows the reader to get more out of this glance into the future. George OrwellRead MoreAnimal Farm, By George Orwell876 Words   |  4 Pagesrebellious animals think no man means freedom and happiness, but they need to think again. The animals of Manor Farm rebel against the farm owner, Mr. Jones, and name it Animal Farm. The animals create Animalism, with seven commandments. As everything seems going well, two of the animals get into a rivalry, and things start changing. Food starts disappearing and commandments are changed, and the power begins to shift. Father of dystopian genre, George Orwell writes an interesting allegory, Animal FarmRead MoreAnimal Farm by George Orwell1100 Words   |  4 PagesIntroduction: Widely acknowledged as a powerful allegory, the 1945 novella Animal Farm, conceived from the satirical mind of acclaimed author George Orwell, is a harrowing fable of a fictional dystopia that critiques the socialist philosophy of Stalin in terms of his leadership of the Soviet Union. Tired of their servitude to man, a group of farm animals revolt and establish their own society, only to be betrayed into worse servitude by their leaders, the pigs, whose initial virtuous intentionsRead MoreAnimal Farm By George Orwell1538 Words   |  7 PagesMecca Animal Farm The Russian Revolution in 1917 shows how a desperate society can be turned into a military superpower filled with terror and chaos. George Orwell uses his book, Animal Farm, to parallel this period of time in history. This book is an allegory of fascism and communism and the negative outcomes. The animals begin with great unity, working toward a common goal. The government then becomes corrupted by the temptations of power. George Orwell uses the characters in Animal Farm to showRead MoreAnimal Farm by George Orwell1175 Words   |  5 PagesAn enthusiastic participant in the Spanish civil war in 1936, George Orwell had a great understanding of the political world and made his strong opinions known through his enlightening literary works, many of which are still read in our modern era. Inspired by the 1917 Russian Revolution and the failed society it resulted in, Animal Farm by George Orwell is an encapsulating tale that epitomises how a free utopian society so idealistic can never be accomplished. The novella exemplifies how influencesRead MoreAnimal Farm, By George Orwell1089 Words   |  5 PagesIn George Orwell’s â€Å"Animal Farm†, the pigs as the farm leaders, use unknown language, invoke scare tactics and create specific laws, thereby enabling them to control other animals, to suit their greedy desires, and to perform actions outside their realm of power. Because of the pigs’ use of broad language, and the implementation of these tactics they are able to get away with avoiding laws, and are able to convince other animals into believing untrue stories that are beneficial to the pigs. The firstRead MoreAnimal Farm, By George Orwell1212 Words   |  5 PagesShe stood there over the dead animals thinking to herself what have we come to? We try to become free but we just enslave ourselves to a so called superior kind. Napoleon killed the animals in front of the whole farm and said that this was to be the punishment for the traitors. Snowball was known as a traitor now and anyone conspiring with him would be killed. Snowball and Napoleon both represent historical characters during the Russian revolution in 1917.Snowball who was one of the smartest pigs

Climate Change and Tourism Futures †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Climate Change and Tourism Futures. Answer: Introduction: Tourism is extremely important for the Australian economy. The reasons for tourists travelling to different parts of the world are varied and include the reasons of leisure, business as well as education. Tourism is a significant contributor to the Australian Economy. The diverse regions and landscapes of Australia provide a variety of options for the people to explore and enjoy at the same time. The unique destinations in Australia include, rainforests, coral reefs as also red deserts. The lifestyle of the people in Australia is extremely peaceful relaxed and basically outdoor. The population size of Australia being relatively smaller compared to other countries, the area being large, the tourist exploration proves blissful and a beautiful experience. Several initiatives have been taken by the tourism department of the country to increase the tourist count of the country. It can easily be said that it is a thriving industry in the Australian country. In the year 2014, the total amount of tourism spending contributed to almost three percent of the GDP of Australia. About one third of this was due to the international visitors. The demand for the international tourism in Australia has grown over the past two decades extremely strongly. The nature of the opportunities in Australia includes sunbathing, surfing as well as beach enjoyments. The regional visitation rates in Australia should increase due to the increasing demands of the international travel visits. It needs to be ensured that rates of tourist visits to Australia increase over the years and the report aims to understand the areas of tourism opportunities as well as study the possible plans that can be implemented to make Australia the favourite tourist destination in the World. Nature of Business: It is to be understood that adopting a specific policy for the improving the tourist activities is crucial for the development of the tourist industry. In this report, the type of the business which is considered is that of a travel agency or travel agent. A travel agency is actually a private retailer or even a public service which gives travel and tourism related services to the people or the international tourists (Day et al., 2012). This is done on behalf of the suppliers such as the airlines, the car rentals, hotels, cruise lines, railways. It also includes the facilities of travel insurance as well as package tours. It is the duty of the travel agent to sell transportation, lodging, as well as admission to entertainment activities to individuals as well as group planning trips. Advice can also be obtained from them on destinations, trip planning and itineraries. The agents also make travel arrangements for the clients. It is the duty of the tourism authorities to train the trav el agents so that they can provide the tourists with complete information in order to get more and more bookings and ultimate increase in the tourist count. The travel agency needs to have appropriate information on all the available hotels and tourist spots along with the modes of reaching the place along with the proper type of bookings that can be done. The information on those places where the tourists can stay is also to be kept in mind. The travel agency is the best sort of idea that should be developed in order to increase the count of the tourists in Australia. It is a sort of agency that is directly related to the tourism industry. Depending on the level of performance of the travel agents in understanding the needs and requirements of the tourists in the Australian Market and developing the marketing plans accordingly, the tourist number will increase or decrease. Type of the business: The type of the business of the travel agency includes the concept of online booking. The online booking facility is the best probable option as this is viable for all customers that is tourists, this is because, the internet connectivity helps the tourists get access to several options that are available for them to choose from (Zeng Gerritsen, 2014). The online booking facility can be made simple and easy to understand for the potential clients (Morrison Pickering, 2013). This can be done by creating a portal for the customers, preferably personalised, which provides all the necessary information to the people in terms of the best hotels according to their budget, the places of visit in a particular area, the tourist spots to be visited, the probable car rental options, the modes of public transport available, the best possible eatery options available to the customers based on their preferences and their requirements and so on. It can be said that the mode of online booking is t he best probable option for the travel agency business (Morrison, 2013). The tourism promotion is an important aspect of the tourism business in any country. Pamphlets illustrating the best areas for tour and travel in different areas can be generated and circulated among the locals, the pamphlets can be sent via mail to the customers interested in visiting a particular country as well but sometimes the pieces of paper are neglected or left and forgotten (Ruhanen Shakeela, 2013). Hence the best sort of promotion is online. Beautiful and expressive pictures need to be uploaded to the sites of the travel agencies, so that they are easily available to the prospective clients. The benefits provided by the hotels, restaurants and also the car rental companies also need to be mentioned in the websites (Parsons Schumacher, 2012). Selected cohort of tourists: The probable group of the tourists that can be selected include the baby boomers, who seek tourism as an option to spend their leisure. It can also include the young people or the newly married couples. The best possible cohort is the newly married couples who look for possible honeymoon destinations in different parts of the world. Being young, the couples look for varieties of activities during the day as well as ample scope for leisure. The best possible amalgamation of travel, rest as well as adventure activities by the beach are available in Australia for the young couples. Special honeymoon plans need to be incorporated as a part of the hotel and restaurant facilities in the country. The best offers and deals need to be highlighted during the wedding season. The honeymoon suites need to be updated with all the necessary facilities as well as the inclusion of privacy for the couples. The focus should be given to the lucrative offers and deals so as to reduce the probability of t he couples choosing any other country as their honeymoon destination (Ruhanen, Mclennan Moyle, 2013). Funding is one of the primary criteria for the booking of any major foreign trip. It needs to be ensured that the trips and the tour options on offer or the specific honeymoon deals are reasonable enough for the tourists to pay for them and arrange for proper funding. It should be kept in mind that if the tourist deals are not reasonable enough, the potential clients might be lost. It is generally seen that the tourist couples usually plan extensive as well as expensive honeymoon trips (Zeppel Beaumont, 2012). It can be said that, the people who plan honeymoon trips usually have proper funding. Funding is not an issue usually faced in case of the cohort of young couple tourists. It can be said that the funding is not a problem in this particular situation. The increased number of bookings will be possible in case of lucrative deals, better presentation and better offers. Criteria for business venture: The interest in the tourism opportunities provided will lead to more bookings which can lead to increased number of opportunities and also the bookings for trips in different parts of Australia. The areas which provide the best of scenic beauty and opportunities for outdoor activities should be highlighted in the online portals and the advertisements posted by the agency to increase the amount of viewership and also the tourist count. The business probabilities need to be increased so that the tourists find interest and book the trips as much as possible (Medlik, 2012). There are possible options or ventures that meet the possible criteria. The economic criteria need to be kept in mind while understanding the ventures. Probable options may be low cost trips in those parts of Australia which are relatively unexplored and are comparatively lesser known (Moyle et al., 2014). Other options include the trips in case of the university students in the domestic areas which are relatively low cost and are possible to be reported to the others such that the trips can be increased and can contribute to more business generation and increased income of the tourism industry (Peters Higgins-Desbiolles, 2012). The issues regarding the target of the tourism industry need to be identified. The ventures should be such that they should lead to more and more trip bookings. These ventures help the increase the total returns from tourism and the overall development from the sector of tourism. The contribution of the tourism industry to the Australian Economy is huge. The contribution in order to be maintained the impediments to the business needs to be taken care of. The proper streamline of the airline services, the uninterrupted running of the portal as also the services at the hotels and the restaurants need to be taken care of. The tourism industry needs to be upgraded and improved. Evaluation of the barriers to the tourism related infrastructure: The approval processes and the development of the assessment are crucial to create an environment which is suitable for the investments related to a tourism related infrastructure. The sufficient and the flexible considerations are necessary in order to ensure the overall growth of the process (Pham et al., 2012). From this particular graph it is evident that the majority of the tourists belong to the United States, New Zealand and United Kingdom. So these particular segments can be targeted. It also needs to be understood that the segments need to be evaluated. From the graphs it can be understood that the contribution of the tourism industry to the revenues in Australia is considerable. In order to ensure the increase in the advent of tourists from every segment of the countries of the world, the tourism strategies need to be implemented properly by the tourism industry. The future prospects for the tourism industry include Tourism 2020 as also land use and the aviation planning. It also needs to be understood that the future policies will prove to be successful on the basis of proper planning and study of the trends in the past years (South Australian Tourism Commission, 2014). Expected tourists Demand decrease Demand increase Annual fixed costs 2018 660 585 160000 2019 720 700 2020 652 650 2021 700 800 2022 682 982 Conclusion: Based on all the reports which have been found, on all the studies and statistics available it can be said that the tourism industry is a promising sector for the growth of the business industry in the country. The business of the travel agency is extremely good for the overall advancement of the country in the economic sense. It needs to be understood that the strategies and policies adopted and the possible interventions that can be arranged for the tourists contribute to the overall growth of the industry. The target clients and their consideration is also a significant issue, Understanding the person specific demands based on the developments of the people and their preferences is important. As long as the needs of the market are understood and the needs of the tourists met, the tourism industry is bound to thrive and it will contribute to the overall advancement of the country. Thus from this particular report it can be concluded that the tourism industry is ever evolving and the changing needs require to be met in order to adjust with the times as also the changing requirements. The task has been done on the business venture for the Australian tourism industry. As per the study, the venture business creation leads to certain innovative and leadership skills that help in building the model while weighing the pros and cons. Also, as these skills are enhanced, there are issues that are faced in the group like coordination, comprehension and applicability. Due to the assignment, my analytical as well as reasoning skills have been developed. The group members have also helped in analysing the time allocation for the division of work and further conflicts that were generally due to the idea presented in the group. My knowledge as per various dimension have widened and helped me gain an insight in practical applicability of the situation. On the contrary, the impact of tourism industry due to business venture helped in understanding of various factors like insurance, bookings, as well as promotions that holds the key role in further enabling the cohort method in travel and tourism. It further emphasized in identifying the types of business that would be particularly applicable. Australian tourism is a roaring business that when analysed properly, a successful business can be set up targeting proper audience. On the whole, past trends in the scenario have helped us in gathering and presenting all aspects of business right from bookings to accommodation and further. The project is extremely informative and a learning experience. It helps understand the importance of planning before any assignment. I have gained an insight into how actually the tourism industry works. It helped me understand the importance of keeping a cool head and decide on my possibilities one at a time. The responsibility of a manager and the importance of his decisions on the industry became clear to me. The method of analysing any particular situation and deciding upon the existing factors in the said industry of tourism was brought to the fore. It also helped me become more knowledgeable about the interest of the tourists from different countries to come to Australia. It helped me understanding the uses of marketing. It showed me how I could cater to the needs of the people of different countries in order to increase the overall tourist count in Australia. Understanding the importance of deciding on a particular cohort in order to link the aspects of the industry was inherent in case of my decisions. The interests of people and their changing methodology of thinking and their corresponding choices helped me to devise deals and orders to appeal to them. All in all it was also a learning experience in the concepts of psychology as well. I understood that proper knowledge of human psychology and their preferences is a guiding factor while taking major business decisions. Thus this project helped me gain a complete insight about the planning process in any industry. The report has helped gain valuable insight about the existent tourism industry in Australia. The different aspects of the industry and their utility in increasing the overall tourist count of the country has become extremely clear throughout the course of the report. The selections of different categories of the business have been helpful in understanding the importance of the decisions. At the beginning, the selection of the nature of business from the several probable options was extremely crucial for me. Based on the provided knowledge as also the existent state of the tourism industry, choosing one nature of business among all possible options was a key factor in influencing the inflow of tourists in the country. Analysing before hand, how the chosen decision could score over all other decisions involving other options was helpful. The importance of arranging for packaged tours and formulating lucrative offers was also clearly understood by me. The factors analysed in determining the type of business in case of the nature of the business chosen was equally important. It was significant in case of understanding the importance of the nature and business going along together in order to facilitate the tourism business. Going through all the steps of implementation in case of the type of business was also significant. It proved beneficial in sense of providing a suitable way to understand the needs of the people and hence of the business in general. The overall project preparation and compilation helped me understand the market, the people and the needs of the tourists and finally provide a suitable policy to be implemented in order to help the tourism industry prosper. The business report in itself was extremely informative and a complete learning experience for me. It was so because, from the first it was necessary for me to form a complete picture in my head as to how I could formulate the process significantly. The step by step decision making in case of this business report was crucial and at the same time provided proper insight. It was necessary for me to understand the tourist industrys nature at first. It was important to understand the impact my decisions would have on the industry. Choosing a nature of business was not enough. It was to be ensured that it would prove as the best possible option in case of the business industry. Then there was the choice of the type of the business based on the needs of the tourists. It was important to ensure that the problems of connectivity, financial deals as well as the offers were solved. The criterion of funding for the people was also to be kept in mind before deciding on the business type. My decisions also would involve removing the impediments or the barriers to the tourism business. All in all the project was informative, educating and helped me understand the significance of my decisions to implement them for the chosen type of business in the tourism industry. In a sense I could vouch for an increase in the overall tourist count of Australia due to my chosen policies and decisions. References: Day, M., Walo, M., Weeks, P., Dredge, D., Benckendorff, P., Gross, M. J., Whitelaw, P. A. (2012). Analysis of Australian tourism, hospitality and events undergraduate education programs.Sydney: Office of Teaching and Learning. The value of WIL in tourism,257. Medlik, S. (2012).Dictionary of travel, tourism and hospitality. Routledge. Morrison, A. M. (2013).Marketing and managing tourism destinations. Routledge. Morrison, C., Pickering, C. M. (2013). Perceptions of climate change impacts, adaptation and limits to adaption in the Australian Alps: the ski-tourism industry and key stakeholders.Journal of Sustainable Tourism,21(2), 173-191. Moyle, B. D., McLennan, C. L. J., Ruhanen, L., Weiler, B. (2014). Tracking the concept of sustainability in Australian tourism policy and planning documents.Journal of Sustainable Tourism,22(7), 1037-1051.Neirotti, L. D. (2012). and Adventure Tourism.Sport and adventure tourism, 1. Parsons, A. G., Schumacher, C. (2012). Advertising regulation and market drivers.European Journal of Marketing,46(11/12), 1539-1558. Peters, A., Higgins-Desbiolles, F. (2012). De-marginalising tourism research: Indigenous Australians as tourists.Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management,19(1), 76-84. Pham, T. D., Bailey, G., Marshall, J., Spurr, R., Dwyer, L. (2013).The economic impact of the current mining boom on the Australian tourism industry. Canberra: Tourism Research Australia. Ruhanen, L. M., Mclennan, C. L. J., Moyle, B. D. (2013). Strategic issues in the Australian tourism industry: A 10-year analysis of national strategies and plans.Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research,18(3), 220-240. Ruhanen, L., Shakeela, A. (2013). Responding to climate change: Australian tourism industry perspectives on current challenges and future directions.Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research,18(1-2), 35-51. South Australian Tourism Commission. (2014).South Australian Tourism Plan 2020. South Australian Tourism Commission. Zeng, B., Gerritsen, R. (2014). What do we know about social media in tourism? A review.Tourism Management Perspectives,10, 27-36. Zeppel, H., Beaumont, N. (2012). Climate change and tourism futures: Responses by Australian tourism agencies.Tourism and Hospitality Research,12(2), 73-88.

Medicare and Medicaid free essay sample

What does 100 percent or 150 percent of poverty mean? The federal poverty level represents the level at which poverty or subsistence begins. Each year, the federal government determines this number based on inflation and other relevant factors. The federal poverty level guidelines are used as an eligibility criterion for federal, states and local government programs. 100 percent of poverty mean- an individual or household’s annual income is equal 100 percent of the federal poverty level. 50 percent poverty mean- an individual or a household earns 50 percent more than the federal poverty level. In 2012 for instance, the federal poverty level for an individual was $11,170, so an individual at 150 percent of federal poverty level earned $16,755. How are Medicare and Medicaid funded? Medicare is partially funded from payroll taxes, through the provisions of the Federal Insurance Contributions Act. The Medicare tax rate is currently 2. 9 percent-half withheld from employees’ pay and half provided by employers. High-income social security beneficiaries are required to pay taxes on their benefits, some of which goes towards Medicare. We will write a custom essay sample on Medicare and Medicaid or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page All the money goes into a trust fund and are used to pay for beneficiaries’ health services. About one-fourth of Medicare part B is paid for by premiums and co-pays. Medicaid is a federal and state government program that helps cover health care cost for low-income Americans. It’s funded through Federal Medicaid Grants and states tax funds. The total cost of the program was $458 billion in 2012. Reference: American Hospital Association (2012). Financial fact sheets: Underpayment by Medicare and Medicaid fact sheets, 2012 update. Retrieved on March 5, 2013 from www. aha. org/research/policy Lorain County Community Action Agency (2012). Eligibility Calculator: Federal Poverty Level. Retrieved on March 5, 2013 from www. lccaa. net/eligibility_calculator www. cthealthpolicy. org/pdfs/health_policy www. sharecare. com/questions

Farmers Dbq free essay sample

In the late nineteenth century, twenty years after the Homestead Act, farmers used their land in the western plains to produce both crops and profits. The farmers of this time struggled in the agricultural way of life by facing economic and political obstacles that were impossible to avoid, requiring them to do something about their complaints. Although the farmers had plausible arguments for most of their criticisms, their beliefs of the silver standard and overproduction sometimes could not be backed up. However, farmers continued to struggle between inevitable issues like the currency debate, constant debt and rising costs. The debate over United States currency was a huge obstacle for farmers to overcome because they were in direct relation to the money crisis. In 1890 and 1892 with the Ocala and Omaha Platforms, farmers wanted free and unlimited coinage of silver so they could pay off any debt. A chart showing United States Population and Money in Circulation in 1865-1895 (Document C), shows how after a period of less money in circulation in the 1870s was resolved in the 1880s by the Bland-Allison Act which was later replaced by the Sherman Silver Purchase Act in 1890. We will write a custom essay sample on Farmers dbq or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Both of these acts were passed in Congress to provide free coinage of silver. The reasoning for the silver standard in the Populist platform in 1892 (Document A) was justified by the same reasoning as William Jennings Bryan in his â€Å"Cross of Gold† speech. Both describe how the conspiracy that the gold standard is better because England still uses it questions why America became an independent nation. However, the farmers still remained defeated on the currency debate because of the gold bug president gaining control of office. One of the biggest struggles for the farmers was not being able to pay off debt. They borrowed extravagant amounts of money from the bank at high interest rates, but this complaint was reasonable because one could not be a farmer without taking these risks. During Grover Cleveland’s second non-consecutive year in office a horrible four-year depression occurred called the Panic of 1893. This panic was caused by over speculation in the stock market and over expansion of railroads; both of these decisions made by the eastern president, Cleveland. As depicted in A Farmer’s Voice, a Chicago newspaper, (Document D) an eastern leader, Cleveland, takes his western slaves, the farmers, to the courthouse because the farms have been foreclosed. Farm foreclosures, a twenty percent unemployment rate and the cause for Cleveland to return to the gold standard, were effects of the Panic of 1893. Ultimately, this depression added to the unavoidable obstacle of debt.

Escaped the Shells essays

Escaped the Shells essays Erich Maria Remarques All Quiet on the Western Front is famous as one of the most powerful war stories of all time. It is a story, not of nations, but of men who, even though they may have escaped the shells, were destroyed by the war. The novel centers on Paul Baumer and his classmates, through whom Remarque depicts a generation of men that enlist for their idealized notions of war, but quickly degenerate into "weary, broken, burnt out, rootless [men] without hope. Through Pauls eyes, Remarque shows the inhumanity in this, mans first war, called for by no higher entity or cause. Paul and his generation were denied a transition between childhood and adulthood and upon entering the war at such a young age, they gained their identity as soldiers and once the war is over, their identity is all they have to live on. Baumer and his classmates enter the war as innocents; coming fresh from school, they knew nothing outside of their boyish hopes and idealizations. Setting out on the threshold of their adult lives, these soldiers knew war to be an opportunity for personal and national greatness, to be somebody and stand up for what they believe in. Labeled the Iron Youth these young Germans faced an explosive reality of meaningless death, pain, and rapid maturity into a world being reborn. We were eighteen and had begun to love life and the world; and we had to shoot it to pieces. The first bomb, the first explosion, burst in our hearts. We are cut off from activity, from striving, from progress. We believe in such things no longer, we believe in the war (p88). Remarque quickly establishes the emotional disconnection felt by the soldiers brought on by their forced stage of rapid maturity. While his friend Kantorek is inches away from death, Paul and his friends, although grieved, eagerly debate the custody of Kantoreks boots with the orderly. ...

Are there benefits to attending a single-sex school Essay

Are there benefits to attending a single-sex school - Essay Example In relation to this, results of many studies show that boys and girls in coeducation tend to perform better. This essay will argue whether the advantages of coeducation outweigh the disadvantages. The information provided by the University of Michigan shows that students who attend single schools perform better than those in coeducation schools because of the challenges that occur in coeducation1. Single-sex schools reduce gender inequality that is very common in coeducation schools. In support of this claim, Hughes say that most teachers support the opinion raised by yelling male students in the classroom and ignore the girls who are raising their hand waiting for the opportunity for answering a question3. Alonsoand his friendsclaim that male dominance make girls become more silent in single-sex schools than coeducation schools4. Some of the teachers also have the habit of valuing girls more than boys in the classroom, as well as the field. Such diversion of attention to gender is the main contributor to poor performance in co-education  and high performance in single schools. In connection with this argument, Alonso and his colleagues say that single-sex schools protect s tudents from gender stereotypes4. For instance, it is evident that girls perform well in male-dominated subjects like mathematics and science better in single-sex schools than coeducation schools because of the competition pressure from male students. Boyson the other hand, do subjects that were done in the past by females such as music and poetry in single-sex schools than co-education. In other words, single-sex schools contribute to the increase of student’s confidence in some academic subjects. The performance of girls and boys in coeducation is also affected by their age. According to Morin, students in high school develop some characters because of peer pressure and adolescence5. For instance, male students may compete against each other over some girls in the classroom or

Assessment for Managerial Accounting Term Paper

Assessment for Managerial Accounting - Term Paper Example Due to this particular fact, the prices of the material as a percentage of sales have decreased. Keeping the reorganization into consideration, the sales revenue will increase due to the increase in the production. In the first phase of the cycle, all the committed costs are incurred. Committed or locked in costs are those cost that have not been incurred currently, but they will be incurred in the future based on the decisions that have already been taken in relation to the product. The examples of cost incurred in the first phase of the product life cycle designing are cost product’s material and labor input and the production process. These costs are very difficult to alter once they have been committed to. In the second phase of the product life cycle costing, cost incurred is included. Costs are incurred when a resource is used or sacrificed. In the second phase of the cycle, only such costs are recorded that have been incurred. An analysis of the life cycle costing system would present the fact that 80% of the cost of any product is committed into in the first phase of the cycle, whereas the second phase of the cycle present such cost which have been incurred. Majority of these costs are the same which were already committed in the first phase of the project. In the life cycle costing cost can be effectively managed in the first phase of the cycle in which the planning of the product design and planning takes place. In the third phase of the product life cycle, the post sales service cost are estimated such as warranty costs, installation charges and the cost for discontinuing the operations at the end of the economic life cycle of the product. In the traditional product costing system, the management accounting systems are focused primarily on the manufacturing stage of a product’s life cycle. The cost which have been incurred before manufacturing, such as the research and

Discussion board one Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Discussion board one - Coursework Example For majority of the patients visiting my nursing unit, I have offered quality health care and for those with specialized needs I have offered referrals. This ability to work within my knowledge scope and to offer appropriate referrals have contributed to high autonomy which has resulted to informed decision making when combined with patient trends and cues. Besides autonomy, my exercise of power over the context of practice has seen me yield high quality patient outcomes. My work is in a well equipped nursing unit which is delegated to the duty of ensuring that there are nurses closely working with the patient at all time especially given that the patients are expected to acquire a changed way of life. Additionally, the nursing unit is designed such that each nurse has equal opportunity to contribute or participate in informed decision making especially when it comes to patient needs. I believe that by possessing the power to participate in patient related decision, whether at their bedside or within the nursing unit, I get empowered and empower others which then yield overall improved patient and nursing outcomes. As a nurse, the good health of patients is something I always look forward to achieving. According to Amer (2013) when nurses, especially in rehabilitation units, manages to effectively control both content and context of th eir practice, the result is high quality patient outcomes and job satisfaction for the nurses eliminating burnout and depersonalization. Within the rehabilitation unit, there are rewards for brilliant ideas on handling and relating to patients. However, the people in management opt to wait to reward in future other than go for rewards in the present (Sullivan, 2013). On one such occasion, I managed to contain a difficult patient and every nurse in the unit got excited about the patient’s outcome in a week. I was not rewarded as the unit management remained quiet. However, during the next progress meeting held once a month

Branding in FMCG Goods in Changing Economic Conditions

Branding in FMCG Goods in Changing Economic Conditions An energetic person in field of marketing with knowledge base of B.E mechanical Post graduate Diploma in Business management played a very important role for my thesis. He has an experience of more than tow years in Sales and Marketing, at Excell elevators and currently working at IIPM Ahmedabad, as a Senior Research Associate. Perfection and proper direction are his two keys to achievement for any work. Without his best guidance for this thesis, it would have been possible to complete this thesis. Sir, also helped me out in solving my queries related to the thesis. His immense knowledge in marketing field has helped me to a great extent to complete my thesis. His humble approach towards every students, gives a great encouragement to work with him. As a thesis guide he helped me out in every possible way he could. I specially thank him for taking out his precious time for helping me out in completing my thesis. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: Research always start with a question or a problem. Its purpose is to question through the application of the scientific method. Its a systematic and intensive study directed towards a more completed knowledge of the subject studied.  · Primary Research: 1. Interaction with customers by filling up questionnaires 2. Interview with Marketing manager 3. Total sample size which is taken into consideration for research is 100 respondents  · Secondary Research: 1. Books 2. Internet 3. Articles and Magazines 4. Project Reports and News paper PREFACE Branding strategy : Every organization has a brand, whether they have consciously developed or not. A brand is an expectation or a promise of experience. Whether that expectation is trusting, authoritative, innovative, brands are the short hand for describing the way a business, organization, product, services, or a person relates to its stake holders. The way to build a strong to put their customers and their needs at the center of the every decision the organization makes. Overtime the customer centric action creates the differentiation in the marketplace and build an emotional connection with the customers. The process of managing brand as assets begins with the understanding the brand from the customers point of view. What image, reputation, perception does each customer and stake holder maintain that can be capitalized or corrected. Managing brand as assets also requires a considerable effort to measure and quantify the impact of the brand on customer, their decision, and the companies financial performance. BRAND STRATEGY: Brand strategy is the plan for the company how it is going to create the value for the customers by building its brands strength and addressing its weakness. Brand strategies manifest product innovation, graphic design, store layout, customer service and many other components of the brand experience. The strategy provides the foundation for development of brand building program and typically includes brand objective, consistent brand name and identity systems, target audience and positioning, key communication messages and prioritization of brand touch points. The recent global slow down as sent everyone in a tizzy. From financial institution to manufacturing industries, everyone has faced the heat of the slowdown. In this scenario I have taken up the matter of the Branding Strategy which is being applied in the FMCG sector. What kind of changes were applied or not and what were the strategies brought in to tackle the slowdown is the matter of study. Different companies have tried to tackle the situation by bringing in new changes in their branding strategy. Some organization may not have required to change their strategies in the market. It may be because of their strong market presence, brand loyalty or strong financial performance. Here some cases of the companies and their brand will be studied thoroughly. It will be seen that what kind of changes were made or no changes were made in the marketing strategy LITERATURE REVIEW A Brand is not a by-product, an ad-campaign, a logo, a spokesperson or a slogan. It is the differentiating identity and the most important reason for customers, employees, stake holders to do the business with you. In a real sense its a firms most important asset. The new era has come, where innovation is the only way to stay in the market. Whether be it a product, an ad-campaign or marketing strategy innovation is the tool to survive. But the recent recession gives us a thought, should the Branding strategy that is being applied remain the same? The answer can be found looking at different cases. It may be necessary to look after the branding strategy to be applied in a different manner even if the current branding strategy is alright and doing good to fetch the business in the market. Because sticking to the old branding strategy may not always be a big hit. As earlier said innovation is very much important. INTRODUCTION: Recession Marketing Success Requires Boldness Over the years hundreds of studies have been conducted to prove companies should maintain advertising during a recession. In the 1920s advertising executive Roland S. Vaile tracked 200 companies through the recession of 1923. He reported in the April 1927 issue of the Harvard Business Review that the biggest sales increases throughout the period were rung up by companies that advertised the most. After World War II, Buchen Advertising, Inc. decided to plot the sales of a large number of advertisers through successive recessions. In 1947, it began measuring the annual advertising expenditures of each company. When they correlated the s with sales and profit trends before, during and after the recessions of 1949, 1954, 1958 and 1961, they found that almost without exception sales and profits dropped off at companies that cut back on advertising The conclusion of six more recession studies by the group present formidable evidence that cutting advertising in times of economic downturns can result in both immediate and long-term negative effects on sales and profit levels. Meldrum Fewsmiths former Senior VP, J. Welsey Rosberg reports â€Å" I have yet to see any study that proves apprehension is the route to success. Studies consistently have proven that companies that have the intelligence and guts to maintain or enlarge their overall marketing and advertising efforts in times of business downturns will get the edge on their hesitant competitors. Their studies also discovered that after the recessions ended, those companies continued to insulate behind the ones that had maintained their advertising budgets. In 1979 another study by ABP/Meldrum Fewsmith, covering the recession of 1974-75 and post-recession years, showed similar findings. They found that â€Å"companies which did not slash advertising expenditures during the recession years (1974-1975), experienced higher sales and net income during those two years and the two years following than companies which cut ad budgets in either or both recession years.† In an economic downturn, there may be a inclination to give up on new thoughts and thinking, and just hunker down, until the worst is over. But, what if this is really our chance to observe new possibilities? If freaking out doesnt make your numbers improve (and at this point you can lead a consumer to your product, but you cant make her buy), what might happen when you use that brainwave space to identify and integrate consumer trends you never actually noticed before? Possibly amazing things. Take Reena Janas quick hit Businessweek article and video with David Rockwell, architect/branding expert/set designer, as an example. He commented on hotel design, which has been on my mind a bit lately too. One of Rockwells thoughts: what about holding cooking classes in hotel kitchens? Such design thinking is worth a little hotelier attention these days, given the convergence of trends in staying home, cooking more, and being with family. What else, physical space or otherwise, is primed for such â€Å"transformability,† as Rockwell called it? Cooking classes in a hotel kitchen could serve consumers and add value on so many levels but without this â€Å"what now† sense of doom we feel, such ideas might never surface. Given extreme limitations, creative thinking is forced to be that much more bold, even as the solutions become more streamlined. Heres another example of transformability, in my mind: Consider how Subaru is handling the current â€Å"discount† season, with their â€Å"Share The Love† philanthropic campaign. Rather than promoting money-back at loan signing or one of the other classic year-end strategies for a car dealer, they kept within the tight parameters, learned more about their consumers and thought quite in a different way. What their research found was that a generous donation would very much resound with the types of people whod be considering a Subaru buy right about now. Inspiring customers into a car purchase during a downturn, and doing good at the same time? Wow. A tried and true, established auto industry tradition turned on its ear transformed! Without an extreme impetus to fill a void of ideas in a difficult consumer environment, such a concept might never have surfaced. If design thinking and transformability emerges only when long-established industries with entrenched business practices and ethnicity get hit this hard maybe we have something to be thankful for after all? This overwhelming bad may have opened a few more of us up to a very clever, possibly unusual and thereby all the more noticeable leveraging of consumer development. Theres a great deal of pluck and drag about the loss of fizz at Pepsi and questionably at Coke, as well. Both companies face declining sales of their flagship brands and have used to greater or lesser success predictable ways to mask the elementary issue: Fewer people are buying less and less of these iconic brands. conservative wisdom says do two things at once: Buy up more trendy beverages, like waters, sports and energy drinks; and work really, really hard to strengthen the base brands. So, Pepsi hires Peter Arnell (of Tropicana Disaster fame), fires its long-time ad agency and creates a proposal that calls for marketing its wares at the real me. According to BusinessWeek, the challenge was to make Pepsi as culturally relevant as the iPod. Good luck with that, Peter. The temptation of course is honest: Wouldnt it be great if brown, sugary water could be as cool as the latest touch screen gadget? Gosh, it would be great. However, its not going to happen. So rather than sending marketing execs on cool hunts for design inspiration, heres a more daunting trek: Take a look at what other brands have done, what Coke and Pepsi have to do to each other. Grow share in a declining market. It would be so great to imagine that theres something to be done with either of these brands that could forge an entirely new category of experience and therefore consumer behaviors the way the iPod has. But the truth is theyd learn much more by taking a commuter flight to Winston-Salem, N.C. Its so very transgressive to even suggest it, but the only people who have spent time trying to wrestle for share in declining markets are the tobacco brands. (a) FMCG SECTOR (i) Global Perspective: The FMCG industry, or alternatively named CPG, abbreviation for Consumer Packaged Goods, deals mainly with the production, distribution as well as marketing of packaged goods for all consumers. The Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) has to do with those consumables which are regularly being consumed. Among the first activities of the FMCG industry there is selling, marketing, financing, purchasing, and so on. Recently this industry has also launched in operations, supply chain, production, general management, etc. The wide range of consumable goods provided by the FMCG industry turns over a large amount of money, while competition among FMCG manufacturing is become more and more fierce. Investors are putting more and more into the FMCG industry, especially in India, where the FMCG industry is the fourth largest sector, having a total market size of more than US$13.1 billion, and still estimated to double by 2010. In New Zealand as well, the FMCG industry accounts for 5% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Some common FMCG product include food and dairy products, glassware, paper products, pharmaceuticals, electronics, plastic goods, printing goods, household products, photography, drinks etc, so here coffee, tea, greeting cards, gifts, detergents, soaps etc are all included. The factors that made the FMCG industry a highly competitive one are low operational cost, solid distribution networks, and emergence of new FMCG companies. In addition, the growth of the worlds population is another responsible factor for the huge success of this particular industry. Some of the leading FMCG companies all over the world are Sara Lee, Nestlà ©, Unilever, Procter Gamble, Coca-Cola, Carlsberg, Kleenex, General Mills, Mars etc. Not only does it provide the necessary goods for day to day life, but the FMCG industry has also created tremendous job opportunities and careers. It is a stable, varied, and highly profitable industry, and the jobs it provide range from sales, supply chain, finance, marketing, operations, human resources, development, general management, and so on. Recruitment has also grown together with the growth in the FMCG sector: * The working force within FMCG manufacturing in the UK accounts for 14% of the total workforce in UK; * Sales in the FMCG industry accounted for  £14.5 billion in 2000, spent on non-food UK products alone, in grocery retail sectors in UK; * In 2000 the non-food FMCG market in UK, raised to  £110 billon. Including sectors such as Food, Drink and Pharmaceutical the output registered by FMCG accounts for 19% of the UKs GDP i. Indian Perspective: The Indian FMCG sector is the fourth largest sector in the economy with a total market size in excess of dollar 13.1 billion. It has a strong MNC, presence and is characterized by a well established distribution network, intense competition between the organized and unorganized asegments and low operational cost. Availability of key raw materials, cheaper labor costs and presence across the entire value chain gives India a competitive advantage. The FMCG market is set to treble from $11.6 billion in 2003 to $ 33.4 billion in 2015. Penetration level as per capita consumption in most product categories like jams, toothpaste, skin care, hair wash etc in India is low indicating the untapped market potential. Burgeoning Indian population, particularly the middle class and the rural segments, presents an opportunity to makers of branded products to converts consumers to branded products. Growth is also likely to come from consumer upgrading in the matured product cat egories. With 200 million people expected to shift to processed and packaged food by 2010, India needs around $28 billion of investment in the food processing industry India has enacted policies aimed at attaining international competitiveness through lifting of the quantitative restrictions, reduced excise duties, automatic foreign investment and food laws resulting in an environment that fosters growth. Cent per cent export oriented units can be set up by government approval and use of foreign brand names is now freely permitted. Automatic investment approval including foreign technology agreements within specified norms, up to 100 per cent foreign equity or 100 per cent for NRI and overseas corporate bodies investment, is allowed for most the food processing sector except malted food, alcoholic beverages and those reserved for small scale industries. 24% foreign equity is permitted in the small scale sector. Temprorary approvals for imports for test marketing can also be obtained from the Director General of foreign Trade. The evolution of a more liberal FDI policy environment in India is clearly supported by the successful operation of some of the global majors like PepsiCo in India. The Indian government has abolished licensing for almost all food and agro-processing industries except for some items like alcohol, cane sugar, hydrogenated animal fats and oils etc. and items reserved for the exclusive manufacture in the SSI sector Quantitative restrictions were removed in 2001 and Union Budget 2004-05 further identified 85 items that would be taken out of the reserved list. This has resulted in a boom in the FMCG market through market expansion and greater product opportunities. TRENDS AND PLAYERS The Indian FMCG sector is the fourth largest sector in the economy and creates employment for three million people in downstream activities. Within the FMCG sector, the Indian food processing industry represented 6.3% of GDP and accounted for 13 per cent of the countrys exports in 2003-04. A distinct feature of the FMCG industry is the presence of most global players through their subsidiaries (HLL, PG, NESTLE) which ensures new product launches in the Indian market from the parents portfolio. Demand for FMCG products is set to boom by almost 60 per cent by 2010 and more than 100 per cent by 2015. This will be driven by the rise in share of middle class from 67% in 2003 to 88 percent in 2015 The boom in various consumer categories, further, indicates a latent demand for various product segments. For example, the upper end of very rich and a part of the consuming class indicate a small but rapidly growing segment for branded products. The middle segment, on the other hand, indicates a large market for the mass end products. The BRICs report indicates that Indias per capita disposable income, currently at $556 per annum will rise to $1150 by 2015-another FMCG demand driver. Spurt in the industrial and services sector growth is also likely to boos the urban consumption demand. HOUSEHOLD CARE The size of the fabric wash market is estimated to be $ 1 billion, household cleaners to be $ 239 million and the production of synthetic detergents at 2.6 million tones. The demand for detergents has been growing at an annual growth rate of 10 to 11 per cent during the past five years. The urban market prefers washing powder and detergents to bars. The regional and small un-organized players account for a major share of the total volume of the detergent market. PERSONAL CARE: The size of the personal wash products is estimated at $989 million: hair care products at $831 million and oral care products at $537 million. While the overall personal wash market is growing at one per cent, the premium and middle end soaps are growing at 10 per cent. The leading players in this market are HUL, NIRMA, Godrej and Reckitt Colman. The oral care market, especially toothpastes, remains under penetrated in with penetration below 45 per cent. The industry is very competitive both for organized and smaller regional players The Indian skin care and cosmetics market is valued at $274 million dominated by HUL, Colgate Palmolive, Gillete India and Godrej Soaps. The coconut oil market accounts for 7 per cent share in the hair oil market. In the branded coconut hair oil market, Marico and Dabur are the leading players. The market for branded coconut oil is valued at approximately $174 million FOOD AND BEVERAGES The size of the Indian food processing industry is around $65.6 billion, including $ 20.6 billion of value added products. Of this, the health beverage industry is valued at $ 230 million: bread and biscuits at $1.7 billion: chocolates at $73 million and ice creams at $188 million The size of the semi processed ready to eat food segment is over $1.1 billion. Large biscuits and confectionery units, soya processing units and starch glucose sorbitol producing units have also come up, cater to domestic and international markets. The three larges consumed categories of packaged foods are packd tea, biscuits and soft drinks. The Indian beverage industry faces over supply in segments like coffee and tea. However, more than half of this is available in unpacked or loose for. Indian hot beverage market is a tea dominant market. Consumer s in different parts of the coutry have erogenous taste. Dust tea is popular in southern India, while loose tea is preferred in western India. The urban rural split of the tea market was 51:49 in 2000. Coffee is largely consumed in southern states. The size of the toatla packaged coffee market is 19600 tonnes or $87 million. The total soft drink market is estimated at 284 million crates a year or $1 billion. The market is highly seasonal in nature with consumption varying from 25 million crates per month during peak season to 15 million during offseason. The market is predominantly urban with 25 per cent contribution from rural areas. Coca cola and Pepsi dominate the Indian soft drinks market. Mineral water market in India is a 65 million crates ($50 million) industry. On an average, the monthly consumption is estimated at 4.9 million crates, which increases to 5.2 million during peak season. RURAL MARKETS : SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL By the early nineties FMCG MARKETERS HAD D OUT TWO THINGS 1) Rural markets are vital for survival since the urban markets were getting saturated. 2) Rural markets are extremely price sensitive Thus, a number of companies followed the strategy of launching a wide range of package sized and prices to suit the purchasing preferences of Indias varied consumer segments. Hindustan Unilever a subsidiary of Unilever, coined the term nano marketing in the early nineties, when it introduced its products n small sachets. Small sachets were introduced in almost all the FMCG segments from oil, shampoo, and detergents to beverages Cola major, coke brought down the average price of its products from around twenty cents to ten cents bridging the gap between soft drinks and other local options like tea, butter milk or lemon juice. It also doubled the number of outlets in rural areas from 80,000 during 2005 to 160000 the next year almost doubling its market penetration from 13 per cent to 25 percent. This along with greater marketing, led to the rural market accounting for 80 per cent of new coke drinkers and 30 per cent of its total volumes. GLOBAL BRANDING: I. Introduction In this day and age, consumers automatically recount a product to the name of a particular brand. More specially, the status of the said brand tends to trigger signals of whether a product is cost-effective, superior in quality, or even connect to a particular social status. Numerous studies have maintained that brands have become powerful tools in modern marketing. It has become one of the major factors that consumers consider in their purchasing decisions. Any commercial organization knows this as a fact. That is why they are inclined to place their attention to brands and the demands of the consumers. It has become an requisite component of the marketing operations of the modern organization. For existing multinational companies, having a global brand name has been massively helpful in expanding their operations the world over. Presenting their products and services as the top alternative in the market nowadays is not enough to ensure the success. In this era where the consumer is independent, every company needs to build a brand that will be universally familiar in any market. Companies seek to establish a global brand with the ends of acquiring a bigger market share and a better position in the market. Though it is a common belief that having a global brand name equate to success in terms of business, there are still existing issues that comes with it. This paper will be considering the minutiae of establishing a global brand name. Similarly, the key reasons why this is being considered by most, if not all, companies will be taken into account along with the other alternatives that these companies have in marketing a global product. II. Marketing Under a Global Brand Name The term â€Å"global brand† is often interchanged with the term â€Å"global product.† However, there are studies that pointed out that the two are completely different terms. Basically, a global product connotes merchandise sold all over the world that share standardized attributes. This means that these products have a propensity to have a uniform set of characteristics and normally take on common brand names. On the other hand, a global brand tends to characterize the identity and image close to a specific product. More importantly, it is the blend of both tangible and intangible attributes that constitute a global brand. Recent studies of global branding designate that the said concept is subject to the view of the individual consumer. More specifically, the more recent views of international branding strategy tend to reflect the demands of the consumers. As puts it, these global brands are subjected to the global culture. In its simplest terms, global culture pertains to a set of consumer tastes and values. These tastes and values do not necessarily share the same standards and often show conflict with one another. Thus, global brands have to take on a certain level of flexibility in their operations. In its face value, this seems quite a daunting task for any company. However, this does not stop them from seeking to establish a global brand name and take on in global branding strategies. Why? The reason is that despite these complex concerns of the consumers, these brands have become embedded in their consciousness. The bottom-line is that, despite their best efforts, consumers cannot ignore global brands. The following parts will discuss the other advantages that companies enjoy in operating a global brand. A. Creation of Demand on Other Countries One of the advantages of having a global brand is the possibility of demand spillovers. This means that the marketing efforts held in a particular country could essentially multiply out to markets of other countries. Basically, the image of the global brands encapsulates this advantage. The concept of brand popularity and the country of starting point often establish this type of demand spillover. Share this suggestion of demand of global brands. Mainly, they call this element of global brands as the â€Å"global myth.† Simply put, demand of global brands tends to provide the consumers a feeling of having a â€Å"global identity† or having a feeling of being a â€Å"citizen of the world.† Studies on the effect of brand popularity on the company maintained that it has major implications on its market share. In the study of they pointed out that the company acquires benefits from brand popularity. One benefit is that having brand popularity provides the consumers more confidence in their purchasing decisions with particular reference to giving the implied assurance that a popular brand is better than the alternative. Another benefit of brand popularity is the association of assessment to the product. Coined this dimension of global brands as â€Å"quality signals.† Thus, issues of price of the product with a global brand are often regarded as â€Å"reasonable† because of its perceived high value among consumers. B. Strategic Appeal Another perceived reason why organizations seek to establish a global brand is because of its strategic appeal. Indicated in their study that global brands tend to have more opportunities than their equivalent in the local markets. This is supported by the earlier studies on the markets in the US, Japan, and EU.Noted that global brands offers companies an efficient way of exhausting its resources. More specifically, maintaining global brands tend to offer the possibility of lower costs and having the highest quality product. Aside from the earlier fact pointed out on the demand spillover, a consequent outcome of that phenomenon would be the demand for standardized products. This means that modifications to meet the local demands are significantly lessened as the demand replicate greater value with the unaltered global brands. In this regard, time and resources in the amendment processes is taken away which equates to cost reductions and further profit for the company. On the whole, the creation of global brands creates a much greater economies of scale and scope for companies. III. Brand Management in the Global Setting Recent marketing initiatives in the global setting have acknowledged the importance of bands in dealing with the dynamic business environment. Recent studies maintained that it is important for companies to treat their brand management initiatives as they treat their strategic management processes. ( 2001, 75) This means that the battle of brands in both their local and domestic counterparts have intensified throughout the years. This increase in the demands on the part of the organizations has given them the responsibility of making their brand management more systematic, scientific and a continuous process. The study of (2001, 75) basically maintained that companies should bake sure that their brand will be remembered constantly. Be it through logos or taste, the consumer has to readily recognize the brand right away. This is where brand management comes in to the picture. There are studies that maintain initially what their brand intends to represent. In doing so, the company is able to find a way to position its brand with reference to the other players in the market. ( 2001, 75) This is seen in the case of global brands like Nike and Coca-Cola. In the case of Nike, they have decided to package themselves as a brand associated with winning. On the other hand, the Coca-Cola brand tends to place value on their universal taste. ( 2003, 198) A case study of Procter Gamble maintained that a use of a brand portfolio would be able to help a company in managing its brand in the global setting. (2003) With such a tool at their disposal, PG is able to make sound decisions with regards to their brand management initiatives. In doing so, PG are able to position their products properly with reference to the other players like Unilever, Kimberly-Clark and Colgate-Palmolive. Studies pertaining to branding strategies and theories point out two important components organizations should consider in their brand management initiatives. These are brand equity and brand value. A. Value Creation in Branding Brand value is the perceived worth of the consumers on the brand. The most notable form of value creation in brands is through advertising. (2003, 53) There are three known approaches in the creation of value in brands: decoration, gluing, and mascot approach. The decoration approach basically shows a branding strategy displaying differentiation by connecting the brand to completely different cues presented by the other players in the market. ( 1999, 51) The gluing strategy of value creation associates their product to certain emotional cues of the consumer. These are seen in advertisements that attempt to stir the emotion of the possible buyers. (1992, 10) The mascot approach on the other hand indicates the use of a human-like entity that is believed to be able to establish a connection to the potential buyers. The use of charismatic non-human characters (Pillsbury Dough Boy) tends to reflect this type of value creation approach in branding. ( 2004, 188) Basically, these approaches of value creation tend to be influential for the buying decisions of the consumers. In the same regard, the use of brands could also be a way towards building this value to the company. B. Using Brand Equity The term brand equity denotes the net revenue of the brand which it is expected Branding in FMCG Goods in Changing Economic Conditions Branding in FMCG Goods in Changing Economic Conditions An energetic person in field of marketing with knowledge base of B.E mechanical Post graduate Diploma in Business management played a very important role for my thesis. He has an experience of more than tow years in Sales and Marketing, at Excell elevators and currently working at IIPM Ahmedabad, as a Senior Research Associate. Perfection and proper direction are his two keys to achievement for any work. Without his best guidance for this thesis, it would have been possible to complete this thesis. Sir, also helped me out in solving my queries related to the thesis. His immense knowledge in marketing field has helped me to a great extent to complete my thesis. His humble approach towards every students, gives a great encouragement to work with him. As a thesis guide he helped me out in every possible way he could. I specially thank him for taking out his precious time for helping me out in completing my thesis. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: Research always start with a question or a problem. Its purpose is to question through the application of the scientific method. Its a systematic and intensive study directed towards a more completed knowledge of the subject studied.  · Primary Research: 1. Interaction with customers by filling up questionnaires 2. Interview with Marketing manager 3. Total sample size which is taken into consideration for research is 100 respondents  · Secondary Research: 1. Books 2. Internet 3. Articles and Magazines 4. Project Reports and News paper PREFACE Branding strategy : Every organization has a brand, whether they have consciously developed or not. A brand is an expectation or a promise of experience. Whether that expectation is trusting, authoritative, innovative, brands are the short hand for describing the way a business, organization, product, services, or a person relates to its stake holders. The way to build a strong to put their customers and their needs at the center of the every decision the organization makes. Overtime the customer centric action creates the differentiation in the marketplace and build an emotional connection with the customers. The process of managing brand as assets begins with the understanding the brand from the customers point of view. What image, reputation, perception does each customer and stake holder maintain that can be capitalized or corrected. Managing brand as assets also requires a considerable effort to measure and quantify the impact of the brand on customer, their decision, and the companies financial performance. BRAND STRATEGY: Brand strategy is the plan for the company how it is going to create the value for the customers by building its brands strength and addressing its weakness. Brand strategies manifest product innovation, graphic design, store layout, customer service and many other components of the brand experience. The strategy provides the foundation for development of brand building program and typically includes brand objective, consistent brand name and identity systems, target audience and positioning, key communication messages and prioritization of brand touch points. The recent global slow down as sent everyone in a tizzy. From financial institution to manufacturing industries, everyone has faced the heat of the slowdown. In this scenario I have taken up the matter of the Branding Strategy which is being applied in the FMCG sector. What kind of changes were applied or not and what were the strategies brought in to tackle the slowdown is the matter of study. Different companies have tried to tackle the situation by bringing in new changes in their branding strategy. Some organization may not have required to change their strategies in the market. It may be because of their strong market presence, brand loyalty or strong financial performance. Here some cases of the companies and their brand will be studied thoroughly. It will be seen that what kind of changes were made or no changes were made in the marketing strategy LITERATURE REVIEW A Brand is not a by-product, an ad-campaign, a logo, a spokesperson or a slogan. It is the differentiating identity and the most important reason for customers, employees, stake holders to do the business with you. In a real sense its a firms most important asset. The new era has come, where innovation is the only way to stay in the market. Whether be it a product, an ad-campaign or marketing strategy innovation is the tool to survive. But the recent recession gives us a thought, should the Branding strategy that is being applied remain the same? The answer can be found looking at different cases. It may be necessary to look after the branding strategy to be applied in a different manner even if the current branding strategy is alright and doing good to fetch the business in the market. Because sticking to the old branding strategy may not always be a big hit. As earlier said innovation is very much important. INTRODUCTION: Recession Marketing Success Requires Boldness Over the years hundreds of studies have been conducted to prove companies should maintain advertising during a recession. In the 1920s advertising executive Roland S. Vaile tracked 200 companies through the recession of 1923. He reported in the April 1927 issue of the Harvard Business Review that the biggest sales increases throughout the period were rung up by companies that advertised the most. After World War II, Buchen Advertising, Inc. decided to plot the sales of a large number of advertisers through successive recessions. In 1947, it began measuring the annual advertising expenditures of each company. When they correlated the s with sales and profit trends before, during and after the recessions of 1949, 1954, 1958 and 1961, they found that almost without exception sales and profits dropped off at companies that cut back on advertising The conclusion of six more recession studies by the group present formidable evidence that cutting advertising in times of economic downturns can result in both immediate and long-term negative effects on sales and profit levels. Meldrum Fewsmiths former Senior VP, J. Welsey Rosberg reports â€Å" I have yet to see any study that proves apprehension is the route to success. Studies consistently have proven that companies that have the intelligence and guts to maintain or enlarge their overall marketing and advertising efforts in times of business downturns will get the edge on their hesitant competitors. Their studies also discovered that after the recessions ended, those companies continued to insulate behind the ones that had maintained their advertising budgets. In 1979 another study by ABP/Meldrum Fewsmith, covering the recession of 1974-75 and post-recession years, showed similar findings. They found that â€Å"companies which did not slash advertising expenditures during the recession years (1974-1975), experienced higher sales and net income during those two years and the two years following than companies which cut ad budgets in either or both recession years.† In an economic downturn, there may be a inclination to give up on new thoughts and thinking, and just hunker down, until the worst is over. But, what if this is really our chance to observe new possibilities? If freaking out doesnt make your numbers improve (and at this point you can lead a consumer to your product, but you cant make her buy), what might happen when you use that brainwave space to identify and integrate consumer trends you never actually noticed before? Possibly amazing things. Take Reena Janas quick hit Businessweek article and video with David Rockwell, architect/branding expert/set designer, as an example. He commented on hotel design, which has been on my mind a bit lately too. One of Rockwells thoughts: what about holding cooking classes in hotel kitchens? Such design thinking is worth a little hotelier attention these days, given the convergence of trends in staying home, cooking more, and being with family. What else, physical space or otherwise, is primed for such â€Å"transformability,† as Rockwell called it? Cooking classes in a hotel kitchen could serve consumers and add value on so many levels but without this â€Å"what now† sense of doom we feel, such ideas might never surface. Given extreme limitations, creative thinking is forced to be that much more bold, even as the solutions become more streamlined. Heres another example of transformability, in my mind: Consider how Subaru is handling the current â€Å"discount† season, with their â€Å"Share The Love† philanthropic campaign. Rather than promoting money-back at loan signing or one of the other classic year-end strategies for a car dealer, they kept within the tight parameters, learned more about their consumers and thought quite in a different way. What their research found was that a generous donation would very much resound with the types of people whod be considering a Subaru buy right about now. Inspiring customers into a car purchase during a downturn, and doing good at the same time? Wow. A tried and true, established auto industry tradition turned on its ear transformed! Without an extreme impetus to fill a void of ideas in a difficult consumer environment, such a concept might never have surfaced. If design thinking and transformability emerges only when long-established industries with entrenched business practices and ethnicity get hit this hard maybe we have something to be thankful for after all? This overwhelming bad may have opened a few more of us up to a very clever, possibly unusual and thereby all the more noticeable leveraging of consumer development. Theres a great deal of pluck and drag about the loss of fizz at Pepsi and questionably at Coke, as well. Both companies face declining sales of their flagship brands and have used to greater or lesser success predictable ways to mask the elementary issue: Fewer people are buying less and less of these iconic brands. conservative wisdom says do two things at once: Buy up more trendy beverages, like waters, sports and energy drinks; and work really, really hard to strengthen the base brands. So, Pepsi hires Peter Arnell (of Tropicana Disaster fame), fires its long-time ad agency and creates a proposal that calls for marketing its wares at the real me. According to BusinessWeek, the challenge was to make Pepsi as culturally relevant as the iPod. Good luck with that, Peter. The temptation of course is honest: Wouldnt it be great if brown, sugary water could be as cool as the latest touch screen gadget? Gosh, it would be great. However, its not going to happen. So rather than sending marketing execs on cool hunts for design inspiration, heres a more daunting trek: Take a look at what other brands have done, what Coke and Pepsi have to do to each other. Grow share in a declining market. It would be so great to imagine that theres something to be done with either of these brands that could forge an entirely new category of experience and therefore consumer behaviors the way the iPod has. But the truth is theyd learn much more by taking a commuter flight to Winston-Salem, N.C. Its so very transgressive to even suggest it, but the only people who have spent time trying to wrestle for share in declining markets are the tobacco brands. (a) FMCG SECTOR (i) Global Perspective: The FMCG industry, or alternatively named CPG, abbreviation for Consumer Packaged Goods, deals mainly with the production, distribution as well as marketing of packaged goods for all consumers. The Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) has to do with those consumables which are regularly being consumed. Among the first activities of the FMCG industry there is selling, marketing, financing, purchasing, and so on. Recently this industry has also launched in operations, supply chain, production, general management, etc. The wide range of consumable goods provided by the FMCG industry turns over a large amount of money, while competition among FMCG manufacturing is become more and more fierce. Investors are putting more and more into the FMCG industry, especially in India, where the FMCG industry is the fourth largest sector, having a total market size of more than US$13.1 billion, and still estimated to double by 2010. In New Zealand as well, the FMCG industry accounts for 5% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Some common FMCG product include food and dairy products, glassware, paper products, pharmaceuticals, electronics, plastic goods, printing goods, household products, photography, drinks etc, so here coffee, tea, greeting cards, gifts, detergents, soaps etc are all included. The factors that made the FMCG industry a highly competitive one are low operational cost, solid distribution networks, and emergence of new FMCG companies. In addition, the growth of the worlds population is another responsible factor for the huge success of this particular industry. Some of the leading FMCG companies all over the world are Sara Lee, Nestlà ©, Unilever, Procter Gamble, Coca-Cola, Carlsberg, Kleenex, General Mills, Mars etc. Not only does it provide the necessary goods for day to day life, but the FMCG industry has also created tremendous job opportunities and careers. It is a stable, varied, and highly profitable industry, and the jobs it provide range from sales, supply chain, finance, marketing, operations, human resources, development, general management, and so on. Recruitment has also grown together with the growth in the FMCG sector: * The working force within FMCG manufacturing in the UK accounts for 14% of the total workforce in UK; * Sales in the FMCG industry accounted for  £14.5 billion in 2000, spent on non-food UK products alone, in grocery retail sectors in UK; * In 2000 the non-food FMCG market in UK, raised to  £110 billon. Including sectors such as Food, Drink and Pharmaceutical the output registered by FMCG accounts for 19% of the UKs GDP i. Indian Perspective: The Indian FMCG sector is the fourth largest sector in the economy with a total market size in excess of dollar 13.1 billion. It has a strong MNC, presence and is characterized by a well established distribution network, intense competition between the organized and unorganized asegments and low operational cost. Availability of key raw materials, cheaper labor costs and presence across the entire value chain gives India a competitive advantage. The FMCG market is set to treble from $11.6 billion in 2003 to $ 33.4 billion in 2015. Penetration level as per capita consumption in most product categories like jams, toothpaste, skin care, hair wash etc in India is low indicating the untapped market potential. Burgeoning Indian population, particularly the middle class and the rural segments, presents an opportunity to makers of branded products to converts consumers to branded products. Growth is also likely to come from consumer upgrading in the matured product cat egories. With 200 million people expected to shift to processed and packaged food by 2010, India needs around $28 billion of investment in the food processing industry India has enacted policies aimed at attaining international competitiveness through lifting of the quantitative restrictions, reduced excise duties, automatic foreign investment and food laws resulting in an environment that fosters growth. Cent per cent export oriented units can be set up by government approval and use of foreign brand names is now freely permitted. Automatic investment approval including foreign technology agreements within specified norms, up to 100 per cent foreign equity or 100 per cent for NRI and overseas corporate bodies investment, is allowed for most the food processing sector except malted food, alcoholic beverages and those reserved for small scale industries. 24% foreign equity is permitted in the small scale sector. Temprorary approvals for imports for test marketing can also be obtained from the Director General of foreign Trade. The evolution of a more liberal FDI policy environment in India is clearly supported by the successful operation of some of the global majors like PepsiCo in India. The Indian government has abolished licensing for almost all food and agro-processing industries except for some items like alcohol, cane sugar, hydrogenated animal fats and oils etc. and items reserved for the exclusive manufacture in the SSI sector Quantitative restrictions were removed in 2001 and Union Budget 2004-05 further identified 85 items that would be taken out of the reserved list. This has resulted in a boom in the FMCG market through market expansion and greater product opportunities. TRENDS AND PLAYERS The Indian FMCG sector is the fourth largest sector in the economy and creates employment for three million people in downstream activities. Within the FMCG sector, the Indian food processing industry represented 6.3% of GDP and accounted for 13 per cent of the countrys exports in 2003-04. A distinct feature of the FMCG industry is the presence of most global players through their subsidiaries (HLL, PG, NESTLE) which ensures new product launches in the Indian market from the parents portfolio. Demand for FMCG products is set to boom by almost 60 per cent by 2010 and more than 100 per cent by 2015. This will be driven by the rise in share of middle class from 67% in 2003 to 88 percent in 2015 The boom in various consumer categories, further, indicates a latent demand for various product segments. For example, the upper end of very rich and a part of the consuming class indicate a small but rapidly growing segment for branded products. The middle segment, on the other hand, indicates a large market for the mass end products. The BRICs report indicates that Indias per capita disposable income, currently at $556 per annum will rise to $1150 by 2015-another FMCG demand driver. Spurt in the industrial and services sector growth is also likely to boos the urban consumption demand. HOUSEHOLD CARE The size of the fabric wash market is estimated to be $ 1 billion, household cleaners to be $ 239 million and the production of synthetic detergents at 2.6 million tones. The demand for detergents has been growing at an annual growth rate of 10 to 11 per cent during the past five years. The urban market prefers washing powder and detergents to bars. The regional and small un-organized players account for a major share of the total volume of the detergent market. PERSONAL CARE: The size of the personal wash products is estimated at $989 million: hair care products at $831 million and oral care products at $537 million. While the overall personal wash market is growing at one per cent, the premium and middle end soaps are growing at 10 per cent. The leading players in this market are HUL, NIRMA, Godrej and Reckitt Colman. The oral care market, especially toothpastes, remains under penetrated in with penetration below 45 per cent. The industry is very competitive both for organized and smaller regional players The Indian skin care and cosmetics market is valued at $274 million dominated by HUL, Colgate Palmolive, Gillete India and Godrej Soaps. The coconut oil market accounts for 7 per cent share in the hair oil market. In the branded coconut hair oil market, Marico and Dabur are the leading players. The market for branded coconut oil is valued at approximately $174 million FOOD AND BEVERAGES The size of the Indian food processing industry is around $65.6 billion, including $ 20.6 billion of value added products. Of this, the health beverage industry is valued at $ 230 million: bread and biscuits at $1.7 billion: chocolates at $73 million and ice creams at $188 million The size of the semi processed ready to eat food segment is over $1.1 billion. Large biscuits and confectionery units, soya processing units and starch glucose sorbitol producing units have also come up, cater to domestic and international markets. The three larges consumed categories of packaged foods are packd tea, biscuits and soft drinks. The Indian beverage industry faces over supply in segments like coffee and tea. However, more than half of this is available in unpacked or loose for. Indian hot beverage market is a tea dominant market. Consumer s in different parts of the coutry have erogenous taste. Dust tea is popular in southern India, while loose tea is preferred in western India. The urban rural split of the tea market was 51:49 in 2000. Coffee is largely consumed in southern states. The size of the toatla packaged coffee market is 19600 tonnes or $87 million. The total soft drink market is estimated at 284 million crates a year or $1 billion. The market is highly seasonal in nature with consumption varying from 25 million crates per month during peak season to 15 million during offseason. The market is predominantly urban with 25 per cent contribution from rural areas. Coca cola and Pepsi dominate the Indian soft drinks market. Mineral water market in India is a 65 million crates ($50 million) industry. On an average, the monthly consumption is estimated at 4.9 million crates, which increases to 5.2 million during peak season. RURAL MARKETS : SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL By the early nineties FMCG MARKETERS HAD D OUT TWO THINGS 1) Rural markets are vital for survival since the urban markets were getting saturated. 2) Rural markets are extremely price sensitive Thus, a number of companies followed the strategy of launching a wide range of package sized and prices to suit the purchasing preferences of Indias varied consumer segments. Hindustan Unilever a subsidiary of Unilever, coined the term nano marketing in the early nineties, when it introduced its products n small sachets. Small sachets were introduced in almost all the FMCG segments from oil, shampoo, and detergents to beverages Cola major, coke brought down the average price of its products from around twenty cents to ten cents bridging the gap between soft drinks and other local options like tea, butter milk or lemon juice. It also doubled the number of outlets in rural areas from 80,000 during 2005 to 160000 the next year almost doubling its market penetration from 13 per cent to 25 percent. This along with greater marketing, led to the rural market accounting for 80 per cent of new coke drinkers and 30 per cent of its total volumes. GLOBAL BRANDING: I. Introduction In this day and age, consumers automatically recount a product to the name of a particular brand. More specially, the status of the said brand tends to trigger signals of whether a product is cost-effective, superior in quality, or even connect to a particular social status. Numerous studies have maintained that brands have become powerful tools in modern marketing. It has become one of the major factors that consumers consider in their purchasing decisions. Any commercial organization knows this as a fact. That is why they are inclined to place their attention to brands and the demands of the consumers. It has become an requisite component of the marketing operations of the modern organization. For existing multinational companies, having a global brand name has been massively helpful in expanding their operations the world over. Presenting their products and services as the top alternative in the market nowadays is not enough to ensure the success. In this era where the consumer is independent, every company needs to build a brand that will be universally familiar in any market. Companies seek to establish a global brand with the ends of acquiring a bigger market share and a better position in the market. Though it is a common belief that having a global brand name equate to success in terms of business, there are still existing issues that comes with it. This paper will be considering the minutiae of establishing a global brand name. Similarly, the key reasons why this is being considered by most, if not all, companies will be taken into account along with the other alternatives that these companies have in marketing a global product. II. Marketing Under a Global Brand Name The term â€Å"global brand† is often interchanged with the term â€Å"global product.† However, there are studies that pointed out that the two are completely different terms. Basically, a global product connotes merchandise sold all over the world that share standardized attributes. This means that these products have a propensity to have a uniform set of characteristics and normally take on common brand names. On the other hand, a global brand tends to characterize the identity and image close to a specific product. More importantly, it is the blend of both tangible and intangible attributes that constitute a global brand. Recent studies of global branding designate that the said concept is subject to the view of the individual consumer. More specifically, the more recent views of international branding strategy tend to reflect the demands of the consumers. As puts it, these global brands are subjected to the global culture. In its simplest terms, global culture pertains to a set of consumer tastes and values. These tastes and values do not necessarily share the same standards and often show conflict with one another. Thus, global brands have to take on a certain level of flexibility in their operations. In its face value, this seems quite a daunting task for any company. However, this does not stop them from seeking to establish a global brand name and take on in global branding strategies. Why? The reason is that despite these complex concerns of the consumers, these brands have become embedded in their consciousness. The bottom-line is that, despite their best efforts, consumers cannot ignore global brands. The following parts will discuss the other advantages that companies enjoy in operating a global brand. A. Creation of Demand on Other Countries One of the advantages of having a global brand is the possibility of demand spillovers. This means that the marketing efforts held in a particular country could essentially multiply out to markets of other countries. Basically, the image of the global brands encapsulates this advantage. The concept of brand popularity and the country of starting point often establish this type of demand spillover. Share this suggestion of demand of global brands. Mainly, they call this element of global brands as the â€Å"global myth.† Simply put, demand of global brands tends to provide the consumers a feeling of having a â€Å"global identity† or having a feeling of being a â€Å"citizen of the world.† Studies on the effect of brand popularity on the company maintained that it has major implications on its market share. In the study of they pointed out that the company acquires benefits from brand popularity. One benefit is that having brand popularity provides the consumers more confidence in their purchasing decisions with particular reference to giving the implied assurance that a popular brand is better than the alternative. Another benefit of brand popularity is the association of assessment to the product. Coined this dimension of global brands as â€Å"quality signals.† Thus, issues of price of the product with a global brand are often regarded as â€Å"reasonable† because of its perceived high value among consumers. B. Strategic Appeal Another perceived reason why organizations seek to establish a global brand is because of its strategic appeal. Indicated in their study that global brands tend to have more opportunities than their equivalent in the local markets. This is supported by the earlier studies on the markets in the US, Japan, and EU.Noted that global brands offers companies an efficient way of exhausting its resources. More specifically, maintaining global brands tend to offer the possibility of lower costs and having the highest quality product. Aside from the earlier fact pointed out on the demand spillover, a consequent outcome of that phenomenon would be the demand for standardized products. This means that modifications to meet the local demands are significantly lessened as the demand replicate greater value with the unaltered global brands. In this regard, time and resources in the amendment processes is taken away which equates to cost reductions and further profit for the company. On the whole, the creation of global brands creates a much greater economies of scale and scope for companies. III. Brand Management in the Global Setting Recent marketing initiatives in the global setting have acknowledged the importance of bands in dealing with the dynamic business environment. Recent studies maintained that it is important for companies to treat their brand management initiatives as they treat their strategic management processes. ( 2001, 75) This means that the battle of brands in both their local and domestic counterparts have intensified throughout the years. This increase in the demands on the part of the organizations has given them the responsibility of making their brand management more systematic, scientific and a continuous process. The study of (2001, 75) basically maintained that companies should bake sure that their brand will be remembered constantly. Be it through logos or taste, the consumer has to readily recognize the brand right away. This is where brand management comes in to the picture. There are studies that maintain initially what their brand intends to represent. In doing so, the company is able to find a way to position its brand with reference to the other players in the market. ( 2001, 75) This is seen in the case of global brands like Nike and Coca-Cola. In the case of Nike, they have decided to package themselves as a brand associated with winning. On the other hand, the Coca-Cola brand tends to place value on their universal taste. ( 2003, 198) A case study of Procter Gamble maintained that a use of a brand portfolio would be able to help a company in managing its brand in the global setting. (2003) With such a tool at their disposal, PG is able to make sound decisions with regards to their brand management initiatives. In doing so, PG are able to position their products properly with reference to the other players like Unilever, Kimberly-Clark and Colgate-Palmolive. Studies pertaining to branding strategies and theories point out two important components organizations should consider in their brand management initiatives. These are brand equity and brand value. A. Value Creation in Branding Brand value is the perceived worth of the consumers on the brand. The most notable form of value creation in brands is through advertising. (2003, 53) There are three known approaches in the creation of value in brands: decoration, gluing, and mascot approach. The decoration approach basically shows a branding strategy displaying differentiation by connecting the brand to completely different cues presented by the other players in the market. ( 1999, 51) The gluing strategy of value creation associates their product to certain emotional cues of the consumer. These are seen in advertisements that attempt to stir the emotion of the possible buyers. (1992, 10) The mascot approach on the other hand indicates the use of a human-like entity that is believed to be able to establish a connection to the potential buyers. The use of charismatic non-human characters (Pillsbury Dough Boy) tends to reflect this type of value creation approach in branding. ( 2004, 188) Basically, these approaches of value creation tend to be influential for the buying decisions of the consumers. In the same regard, the use of brands could also be a way towards building this value to the company. B. Using Brand Equity The term brand equity denotes the net revenue of the brand which it is expected