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

Opium (Papaver somniferum) Essay examples -- Botany

Opium (Papaver somniferum) The opium poppy has been used as a medicinal plant for centuries all over the world. The opium poppy plant belongs to the Papaveraceae family. The scientific name of the opium poppy is Papaver somniferum L., and it is native to Turkey. The plant has lobed leaves, milky sap and four to six petaled flowers with several stamens surrounding the ovary. The two sepals drop off when the petals unfold. The ovary then develops into a short, many seeded capsule that opens in dry weather. The small seeds of the opium poppy plant are dispersed by wind. The plant has five inch purple or white flowers on plants three to sixteen feet tall. It is and annual plant which needs to be planted only once for several years of harvest. There are many varieties of poppy plants grown other then the opium poppy, mostly for seasonings, oil, birdseed and attractive flowers. The poppy plants produce natural opiates. An opiate is defined as the drug derived from the opium poppy and are found in the milky substance extracted from the unripe seeds. The opiates are the best known narcotics. There are twenty different alkaloids derived from the opiates. Codeine and Morphine are the ones that are still in widespread use today. Codeine is a milder form of morphine and both are used today in the medical field for relieving pain. To obtain opium from Papaver somniferum is a very easy thing to do. It is a very common plant and is easy to purchase. The seeds can be planted and little care is needed to grow healthy plants. When the flowers turn to seed, the seed pods are slightly incised and a white milky liquid is dispersed. The liquid is allowed to seep out and dry for a few hours. The white liquid will turn to black when it is expo... ...for simple uses, the plant produces a drug that causes death and injury. The medicinal uses have been overlooked by people using opium for recreation, causes strict restrictions and laws to control it. The opium poppy has gained much attention all around the world. Reports Cited 1. Alcohol and Drugs Consumption: Psychotropic Drug: The varieties of psychotrophic drug: OPIUM, MORPHINE, HEROIN, and Related Synthetics: History (http://www.eb.com:180/cgi-bin/g?DocF=macro/5000/7/26.html&bold=on&sw=drug&keywords=psychotrophic%20drug&DBase=Articles&hits=10&pt=1&sort=relevance&config=config&firsthit=off). 2. Facts about opiates (http://www.arf.org/isd/pim/opiates.html) . 3. Opiates: High risk addiction (http://losangeles.dci.webpoint.com/health/osubopia.htm). 4. "Opium" Britannica Online (http://www-lj.eb.com:82/index.htcl/aDB/index_alpha/thisRow/151030/). Opium (Papaver somniferum) Essay examples -- Botany Opium (Papaver somniferum) The opium poppy has been used as a medicinal plant for centuries all over the world. The opium poppy plant belongs to the Papaveraceae family. The scientific name of the opium poppy is Papaver somniferum L., and it is native to Turkey. The plant has lobed leaves, milky sap and four to six petaled flowers with several stamens surrounding the ovary. The two sepals drop off when the petals unfold. The ovary then develops into a short, many seeded capsule that opens in dry weather. The small seeds of the opium poppy plant are dispersed by wind. The plant has five inch purple or white flowers on plants three to sixteen feet tall. It is and annual plant which needs to be planted only once for several years of harvest. There are many varieties of poppy plants grown other then the opium poppy, mostly for seasonings, oil, birdseed and attractive flowers. The poppy plants produce natural opiates. An opiate is defined as the drug derived from the opium poppy and are found in the milky substance extracted from the unripe seeds. The opiates are the best known narcotics. There are twenty different alkaloids derived from the opiates. Codeine and Morphine are the ones that are still in widespread use today. Codeine is a milder form of morphine and both are used today in the medical field for relieving pain. To obtain opium from Papaver somniferum is a very easy thing to do. It is a very common plant and is easy to purchase. The seeds can be planted and little care is needed to grow healthy plants. When the flowers turn to seed, the seed pods are slightly incised and a white milky liquid is dispersed. The liquid is allowed to seep out and dry for a few hours. The white liquid will turn to black when it is expo... ...for simple uses, the plant produces a drug that causes death and injury. The medicinal uses have been overlooked by people using opium for recreation, causes strict restrictions and laws to control it. The opium poppy has gained much attention all around the world. Reports Cited 1. Alcohol and Drugs Consumption: Psychotropic Drug: The varieties of psychotrophic drug: OPIUM, MORPHINE, HEROIN, and Related Synthetics: History (http://www.eb.com:180/cgi-bin/g?DocF=macro/5000/7/26.html&bold=on&sw=drug&keywords=psychotrophic%20drug&DBase=Articles&hits=10&pt=1&sort=relevance&config=config&firsthit=off). 2. Facts about opiates (http://www.arf.org/isd/pim/opiates.html) . 3. Opiates: High risk addiction (http://losangeles.dci.webpoint.com/health/osubopia.htm). 4. "Opium" Britannica Online (http://www-lj.eb.com:82/index.htcl/aDB/index_alpha/thisRow/151030/).

Businesses and organizations Essay

â€Å"Businesses and organizations use various types of information systems to support the many processes needed to carry out their business functions. Each of these information systems has a particular purpose or focus, and each has a life of its own. This â€Å"life of its own† concept is called the systems development life cycle or SDLC, and it includes the entire process of planning, building, deploying, using, updating, and maintaining an information system. The development of a new information system involves several different, but related activities. These activities, or phases, usually include planning, analysis, design, implementation, and maintenance/support. In other words, SDLC is a conceptual model that guides project management in information system development.†(Wikibooks) The life cycle starts with preliminary investigation which all the available information needed for the system elements and allocation of the requirements to the software are gathered. Next is the analysis of the requirements. This involves the analyst understanding the functions of the software which is required for the system based off the gathered information. Then is the system design in which the analyst designs and finalizes the best suited design for the system. The difficult step of system coding or development comes next which is where the analyst translates the design and programs into code for the computer. After the previous steps next are the testing phase where the system is testing to see if it works as intended or not. Then is implementation where the system is given to the customer and feedback is returned to insure the program works as intended. And finally system maintenance is the last step, here the analyst insures the system remains working within the proper bounds and functions appropriately and fixes any problems. I think this relates to database development in a number of ways. One is how it starts, gathering information and finding the intent of the system. Next you must plan out how to set up the database, by determining the vital information. Then comes the minor details. You set up your database fill in some test information insure it works properly and make needed adjustments. Finally you implement your database design where in it works properly you merely maintain and fix any errors. 2. Look up â€Å"Requirement Analysis† on the web. What kinds of topic headin g do you find? I found headlines like â€Å"Business Requirement Analysis†,  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Software Requirement Analysis† and â€Å"Five common errors in requirements analysis (and how to avoid them)† References Wikibooks – Systems Analysis and Design/Introduction- Open book for an open world http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Systems_Analysis_and_Design/Introduction

The True Story of David Ghantt and the Loomis Fargo Heist

The True Story of David Ghantt and the Loomis Fargo Heist SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips On the evening of October 4, 1997, one man loaded $17.3 million in cash from the vaults of Loomis, Fargo Co. into the back of a van. When he was done, the man drove off to a nearby printing press, where the money was distributed into private vehicles amongst a handful of people. Pocketing $50,000 for himself, that man, named David Ghantt, hopped into a car of his own and headed towards Mexico. David Scott Ghantt: Vault Supervisor David Scott Ghantt was the vault supervisor at the regional branch of Loomis, Fargo Co. in Charlotte, North Carolina. Before he decided to steal $17 million from the bank, Ghantt had worked for years as a relatively taciturn and compliant employee. Bubbling under the surface, however, was a deep frustration at the way he was treated. Said Ghantt, â€Å"... one day life kinda slapped me in the face. I was working sometimes 75-80 hours a week at $8.15 an hour. I didn’t even have a real home life because I was never there. I was working all the time and unhappy†¦ I felt cornered and one day the joking in the break room about robbing the place suddenly didn’t seem so far-fetched.† Ghantt was joking in the breakroom with fellow Loomis Fargo employee Kelly Campbell. The two struck up a friendship during work that would continue after Campbell left the company. The jokes between Ghantt and Campbell about their disgruntlement with their jobs took on a more serious note when Campbell introduced Ghantt to an old high school classmate of hers named Steve Chambers. According to Campbell, Chambers could help Ghantt execute a massive cash robbery of the vault at Loomis Fargo in one night. Fed up, exhausted, and seeing a way out, Ghantt agreed. The Loomis Fargo Heist Over the next months, Ghantt, Campbell, and Chambers developed a plan. Working by himself, Ghantt would commit the robbery and then flee for Mexico, leaving the bulk of the cash with Chambers. While Ghantt waited for the heat from the robbery to die down, Chambers would send Ghantt small amounts of money. Eventually, Ghantt would return to the United States and the full sum would be split up between the conspirators. On the night of October 4, the plan went into action. Ghantt sent home a new employee and quickly loaded the money into the back of a bank van. After meeting up with Chambers, Campbell, and some other co-conspirators, Ghantt hightailed it to Mexico with $50,000 in cash in his car. He made it across the border just as his deception was discovered. Loomis Fargo Heist Investigation: David Ghantt, Suspect The morning after the height, employees of Loomis Fargo realized they couldn’t open the vault. They called the police, who brought in the FBI, classifying the heist as a bank robbery. From the beginning, the FBI’s prime suspect was David Ghantt. Not only was Ghantt the only unaccounted for employee the morning after the heist, there was also footage of Ghantt moving the cash into the back of the Loomis Fargo van. Two days after the heist, the FBI found the missing van with $3.3 million of cash left in it. Ghantt and his compatriots, it turns out, had underestimated how bulky money is. They left behind the cash they couldn’t fit in their cars. The FBI quickly connected Ghantt to Campbell, who was a former Loomis Fargo employee. The connection to Chambers took more time. Anonymous tips had the FBI monitoring Chambers’ calls. Eventually, Ghantt called in from Mexico, seeking more money, and the FBI officially recognized Chambers as a co-conspirator. Chambers, it turned out, became the biggest source of evidence for the FBI. In addition to his phone calls with Ghantt, Chambers began extravagantly spending the money, even though the co-conspirators had agreed to lay low for a year or two. Together with his wife, Chambers bought a new luxury home (upgrading from his mobile home), a BMW Z3, and some extravagant furnishings. Chambers’ wife, Michelle, bought a minivan in cash and began taking frequent trips to the bank to make deposits. While she made small deposits at first, she became more reckless, eventually making a deposit of thousands of dollars in cash, telling the teller not to worry: â€Å"It’s not drug money.† No Honor Among Thieves Across the border in Mexico, Ghantt was also living it up. He stayed at a luxury hotel and took scuba diving lesson. Having only brought $50,000 in cash, however, Ghantt soon found himself short on funds. When Ghantt called Chambers to have the latter wire him more money, Chambers sent just a few thousand dollars. As the FBI listened in to Chambers’ calls, they discovered that he was also planning to have Ghantt assassinated, hoping to keep all the money for himself. The FBI knew they needed to make their move. On March 1, 1988, Mexican police arrested Ghantt at Playa del Carmen. The next day, the Chambers’, Campbell, and some other notable parties were arrested in Charlotte. Ten days later, the group was indicted for bank larceny and money laundering. Thirteen friends and family members were also charged with money laundering, as they had helped Ghantt, Chambers, Campbell, and the others deposit money illegally. All of the defendants except for one pleaded guilty and accepted their sentences. Some of the friends and family members received parole, while Ghantt was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison. He completed his prison sentence in November 2006. Loomis Fargo Heist: Legacy The Loomis Fargo heist became something of a media lightning rod. The details of the heist itself, coupled with the missteps the crew made after stealing the money, attracted the attention of writers and movie producers. A comedy film called Masterminds, based on the Loomis Fargo heist and starring Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig, Owen Wilson, and Jason Sudeikis, was released in 2016. David Ghantt attended the premiere. What's Next? Learning about US history? If so,check out some of these books on our AP History Exam reading list. One of the best ways to learn more about U.S. history is to make sure you’re taking history classes. Most high schools offer a variety of history classes, so make sure you’re taking the right ones for you. Did you know that the SAT offers subject exams, too? This article will teach you more about the SAT subject tests and help you decide whether you should take them.

The Male Identity in Scorsese Movies essays

The Male Identity in Scorsese Movies   essays When audience members look at films they want to put reality on the shelf and enjoy a well written movie. Martin Scorsese has always captivated and fascinated his audience members for many years. His types of movies tend to have a male leads while the female characters are sometimes not as developed or have an integral part to the plot itself. In "Raging Bull" and in "The Age of Innocence" we see two representations of male characters with very different but yet similar issues. These two movies are very different on the surface because both take place in two separate time periods. One movie is about a famous boxer while the other follows a New York socialite when people where divided into classes based on how much money they earned. Director Martin Scorsese does a great job in controlling the flow of information in this movie. The beginning of this scene shows the main character Jake La Motta and his brother, Joey sitting around a diner table. We start to hear a very strange dialogue between Jake and hes telling his brother to hit him as hard as he can to show that he can take it. He is doing this to show how he can beat anyone in the ring and prove his manhood. He is also trying to show his brother how he can take punches without feeling much pain. His brother complies with his request and we have the camera going from brother to brother showing him being punched and his brother receiving each violent blow to the face. This whole scene follows the classical continuity rule of editing which talks about match on action. This is done when Joey punches his brother and in the next shot we see his fist continuing that motion in a very smooth cut. We then see them sitting opposite one another which gives th e shot and reverse shot technique. We see behind both shoulders of these actors as the action is talking place. Each shot feels very rhythmic and flows very naturally in the space and time provided. The costume...

Shipping Industry Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Shipping Industry - Case Study Example Once this is approved by the commission, the bookbuilding process begins, in which the company is introduced to potential investors, who then explicitly express their interest in the venture. At this point, the investment bank proposes a price to the company, and later the trading begins (Ljungqvist, 2005). This process is often very complicated and very costly. The costs are generated by auditing and underwriting, plus legal fees. Ongoing costs are also associated with public offerings, such as those connected with supplying information and dividends to investors (Ritter, 1998, p. 1). Another cost related to going public may come from underpricing, which is a risk that grants initial investors less than the market value of the securities through offering it at too low a price (Clementi, 2005; Ljungqvist 2005; Ritter, 1998). The theories that explain why a firm might do this are several. They include the desire of entrepreneurs and/or investors to lower capital cost and to broaden the firm's ownership base (Brau et al., 2005, p. 5). Other theories suggest that firms decide to go public for reasons of legitimacy and growth (Cohen, 2002). Still others posit the theory that initial public offerings usually occur as a normal stage in a firm's lifecycle (Brau et al., 2005, p. 13; Maug, 2001, p. 1; Ritter, 1998, p. 18). Small firms are usually run by a limited amount of capital. ... argue that the rationale for choosing this is strengthened by the fact that the benefits of liquidity is more desirable for entrepreneurs than compensating investors for the non-liquidity that usually exists in privately owned firms (Ritter, 1998, p. 1). This might be viewed in terms of the desire to reduce a firm's capital costs. A major part of capital costs comes from debt. This is concretised roughly by the interest rate payable on the amount of debt incurred in the financing of the firm. When liquidity is necessary, rather than incur this (or additional) debt, firms might choose to raise capital by selling is equity in the form of securities to the public (Ritter, 1998, p. 1). The same might be done to its debt via an initial public debt offering (Ritter, 1998, p. 1). The life-cycle theory has been propounded by several financial theorists. It states that the IPO occurs within the normal process of a firm's evolution and maturity (Ritter, 1998, p. 1; Brau, 2005, p. 13). The small business is usually at first financed by the owners' limited capital. When growth beyond this capacity is necessary, and all other private avenues (friends and family) have been exhausted, capital is sought from non-affiliated financial sources, such as banks and venture capitalists. However, entrepreneurs and investors will likely not agree on all decisions to be made within the firm. At this point firms consider it desirable to offer its securities to a highly diversified public (Ritter, 1998, p. 18; Boehmer & Ljungqvist, 2004, p. 28). Firms are interested obtaining financing at the cheapest cost. The cost of capital theory can be invoked here as well, since equity does generate a cost (though one much more difficult to calculate than that of debt). When a firm offers i ts shares to

Godrej Interio Furniture E-business Strategy Case Study

Godrej Interio Furniture E-business Strategy - Case Study Example The company Godrej Interio Furniture has been operating as a sole proprietorship for the past five years. The company established a need to go online for operation and make the business a click and mortar operation. The market that was currently being targeted by the company pertained to a niche target which wants customized and designer furniture made with class and high quality materials. The product is a luxury good provided to a niche of the market. In the past the company has been reporting significant loss but as other business and retail stores in the region are adopting the e-business strategy the company also wants to integrate communicative technology in its operations and start a click and mortar operation.However with the advancement of technology that is taking place and the incremental amount of business going online, the establishment is also interested in starting online operations as well. The company is interested in going online and making the business click and mo rtar business. With access to the internet the company will be exposed to larger target market. They would be able to sell their products to the target market outside the political and state boundaries of the local region. This will significantly impact the operations of the business which will expand and can then go global in the long run. However in order to be able to start a business or a retail option online the company will have to brand itself and its products to stand out form the competition.  ... The operation is for the company called Godrej Interio Furniture. The company Godrej Interio Furniture is currently a brick and mortar business which sells unique and trendy furniture and home decoration items. The niche targeted by the company is the upper and the middle upper class market for segment of the target market. The product that is provided by the company is generally customized in nature and only designer pieces are sold in the shop. The shop is an exclusive option for the high street and high end shoppers. This assignment will review the impact of the Web, knowledge management and information technology on promoting business online. Also, the assignment will cover basic elements of the new technological environment and the techniques of knowledge management, the way global marketing is conducted. 2. Introduction of the organization Company History The company Godrej Interio Furniture has been operating as a sole proprietorship for the past five years. The company established a need to go online for operation and make the business a click and mortar operation. The market that was currently being targeted by the company pertained to a niche target which wants customized and designer furniture made with class and high quality materials. The product is a luxury good provided to a niche of the market. In the past the company has been reporting significant loss but as other business and retail stores in the region are adopting the e-business strategy the company also wants to integrate communicative technology in its operations and start a click and mortar operation. However with the advancement of technology that is taking place and the incremental amount of business going online, the