Thursday, October 3, 2019

Proposal H And M Relationship Marketing Marketing Essay

Proposal H And M Relationship Marketing Marketing Essay Introduction A market entry strategy maps out how to sell, deliver and distribute HMs products in another country such as India. When products and services are exported to another country, the strategy will define ways of obtaining contracts and delivering them in that country. If HM has decided to conquer the international market in India, it is opened to many choices. These options may include the cost, risk and the degree of control that the company will encounter in the country. In entering an international business, it is important that the management of the HM should be able to choose marketing entry strategies and carefully choose the product that the company will market in India. Exporting, is the simplest form of marketing entry strategy which includes direct or indirect method such as using an agent, in the case of direct method and counter trade if the company opted to implement an indirect method. Due to technological advances, direct marketing is staging a comeback, leading to a relationship orientation. Moreover, since HM wants to be known globally, there are many other ways the company can choose from like joint venture or export processing zone. The management of HM may decide to choose the export strategy and include in their operation the specific channels to market their product. Relationship marketing has revolutionized the traditional marketing and has become the biggest paradigmatic shift in marketing practice in recent decades.It has not only changed customers to advocate by replacing customer satisfaction by customer delight but has also increased quality service offers that exceeds expectations. Similarly, it will open new horizons for HM. It will trigger the HM to introduce new products and services. According to Berry and Parasuraman (1991: 25) relationship marketing concerns attracting, developing and retaining customer relationships. Relationship marketing will provide HM with necessary selling approach to cope with various challenges, set by the modern market in India. Relationship marketing transforms single usage to multiple service usage and will strengthen HM by providing them the wherewithal with which they can carry out effective customer services in India. Nowadays, competition in fashion industry and demands of customers are increasing constantly. They demand for global fashion company like HM where there are provisions for an incentive to the customer. So, strong commitment to customer care, attraction and maintenance at all levels are the top priority of HM, while dealing with the customers. Relationship marketing will help HM to overcome these problems and make the sales procedures much simpler. Palmer (2001) enumerated the components of relationship marketing as being: a focus on customer loyalty and retention; long term orientation; tracing identifiable buyers; distinguishing different levels of relationship between the buyer and the seller; high levels of customer dedication; and service quality as being the responsibility of every employee. Relationship marketing will transform indifferent customers into loyal clientele and emphasizes on their retention. Customer retention is the means to delivering long-term profitability in H M. Customer relationships management focuses on customer retention, and customer retention is believed to be more profitable than customer acquisition. Dawkins and Reichheld (1990) found that higher retention rate leads to higher net present value of customers. The longer customers can be retained by HM, the more and more tangible benefits will accrue from a sustained income stream. The end goal of relationship marketing is profit for HM. Saren and Tzokas (2000) raised the usefulness of relationship marketing in creating unique, difficult to imitate knowledge through the processes of interaction and dialogue with the customer. Knowledge about customers can only be enhanced if HM is able to maintain lasting relationships with their customers. The determinants of store choice, customer loyalty, patronage behaviour, customer retention and relationship marketing have been widely studied around the globe. Therefore, a considerable volume of literature exists, especially regarding fashion industry. However, there is still considerable scope for research in this field as the environment of fashion industry is in a constant state of flux and the emergence of new store formats in India has led to dramatic changes in consumer behaviour. New and existing fashion industry tend to provide a completely new experience for their consumers by offering sophisticated customer service, a wide and assorted variety of goods, breakfast ambience, quality imported and branded products. Since, fashion has invading people style of living and HMs the product that has been chosen to go international market. Hence, this research will suggest a marketing entry strategy for HM using Porters Five Forces model (Porter, 1980) and SWOT analysis of other HM companies in other countries. The company is a new entrant to the Indian Market, thus, this paper will provide a marketing entry strategy analysis for the company as it invade the market in India. Competitors Analysis Competitors analysis is very important since HM is a new entrant within the market place. It is essential so that the HM will be able to know their competitors and the possible strategy that they may use to level up such competitors and know the needs of the target market. Thus, this means that HM will enter the India as a beginning industry considering many competitors within the market place. Marketing Entry Analysis Utilizing Marketing Mix Marketing is considered as one of the most important element underpinning successful business creation and because of its complex applications, marketing is defined in a variety of ways (Sheth, Gardner, and Garrett 1988). According to Elliot (1990), the marketing concept was first promulgated in the late 1950s. The importance of marketing concept incorporates oft-repeated elements such as: customer orientation; integrated marketing efforts; and resultant profitability (Elliot, 1990). The marketing mix principles can be adjusted on a frequent basis to meet the changing needs of the target market and other dynamics of marketing environment (McCarthy, 2004). In relation to marketing plan, marketing mix includes both short term and long term strategies makes for a more profitable marketing mix. Long term strategies build brand/company awareness and give sales revenue a permanent, gradual boost. Short term strategies create a temporary, immediate revenue boost by giving buyers an incentive to purchase. By implementing both long and short term strategies, you can attend to immediate sales goals while building your business reputation and goodwill (Kyle, 2004). 1.1. Product HM AB (originally known as Hennes Mauritz) is a Swedish clothing company, known for retail of low-cost designer clothings. It was established in Và ¤sterà ¥s in Sweden in 1947 by Erling Persson, though at the time it only sold womens clothing and was called Hennes, which means hers in Swedish. Persson acquired the premises and inventory of a Stockholm hunting equipment store named Mauritz Widforss in 1968. Persson expanded into menswear and renamed the store to Hennes Mauritz, later abbreviated to HM (www.hm.com). H M is the worlds favourite and preferred designer of apparels and clothing for man and women. In addition, H M is also known not only for their fashion cosmetic but because of the quality of the clothes designed durability and the funkiness of its clothes. Through the online stores, HM provides the regional, continental and European Market an exclusive clothing designs. The main goal of HM is to provide innovative designs of apparels and clothes for different types of people in different countries all over the world. The company is known because of its strategy of providing clothing designs exclusively for each countrys preferences and needs. 1.2. Pricing H M is believed to have advantages when it comes to its pricing tactic. In order to be known into the market place and as a new entrant, the company will provide its target market with an affordable cost while providing them a high quality products and services. The company will be given the customer and client a price that is lesser than its competitors so that the consumer will be enhanced to buy and patronize the H M clothes and cosmetics. 1.3. Placement/Distribution The HMs products will be distributed directly to its clients and consumers in order to be known in the market place. HM products can utilize joint venture strategies with distinguished distributor of apparels, clothes and cosmetics, providing them with great offers, so as to market the product of the H M internationally. In 2003, HM announced its entry into the traditionally exclusive Milan fashion scene. It remains to be seen if HM and other low-end retailers will be able to find a market there. In February 2004, The Gap, another prominent international retailer, sold off all of its German outlets to its competitor, HM. HM launched its first American outlet on March 31, 2000 on New Yorks famous Fifth Avenue. Following the success its stores, additional outlets were opened in the SoHo, Gramercy, and Herald Square areas of Manhattan, followed by outlets in Upstate New York in Syracuse, Utica, and West Nyack. The brand then expanded to other regions of the country, including Chicago and its outlying suburbs. The first two HM stores to appear on the West Coast of the US opened in San Francisco, California on November 19th, 2005. HM opened its first Canadian store in Fairview Mall in Toronto and soon after, its store in Torontos Eaton Centre was opened in March 2004. Following great financial success, HM opened ten other stores within the Greater Toronto Area. Stores were also opened in Montreal in Spring 2006. HM continued its expansion in the Canadian market and doubled the number of stores in 2006. It planned new markets include Barrie, Hamilton, London, Kitchener/Cambridge/Waterloo, St. Catharines and Windsor and Ontario market, Fairview (Pointe Claire) shopping centre, Rockland Centre, the Galeries dAnjou and the Carrefour Laval. (www.hm.com) 1.4. Promotion/Communication HM can use video advertisements, print advertisements and the concept of e-marketing to promote its products. These promotion and communication strategy will tend to meet the consumers form different places everywhere, especially those target markets or the consumers in the working place. Moreover, since the trend in the market place today is the usage of e-marketing, the company will provide a website that any client can access. The use of the Internet is changing technologically advanced marketing overnight while different industries have been trying to use it as part of their marketing strategy. It does not only reconfigured the way different firms do business and the way the consumers buy goods and services but it also become instrumental in transforming the value chain from manufacturers to retailers to consumers, creating a new retail distribution channel (Donthu and Garcia, 1999). E-marketing is a powerful tool used that can be used by HM. E-marketing is defined as the process of achieving marketing objectives through the use of electronic communications technology (ICT). Smith and Chaffey (2001) have provided a 5Ss learning devices on how the internet can be applied by all business firms for different e-marketing tactics. These 5Ss are useful for HM and are se lling, serve, speak, save and sizzle. E-marketing or online marketing strategy can be used by HM to market its products. Thus, the HM has created its own website (www.hm.com). HM will use the e-marketing strategy is to keep in touch to different internet users and to be able to attract more clients and consumers. HM will use e-marketing to accelerate its business portfolio whether the user of the website is a customer, employee, stockholders, vendors, retailers or end customers. 1.5. Market Segmentation Marketing segmentation is defined as an aggregating process clustering people with similar needs into a market segment (Perreault McCarthy, 2002: 74). According to Ravesteyn (2005), customer segmentation is critical for an effective relationship marketing strategy. HM will provide its target consumers for its product by using market segmentation strategy. The segmentation of the market is a critical aspect of relationship marketing and the segmentation of business customers by HM must be in line with the different levels of relationship offered by the company. They need to make use of relationship marketing and management at segment or market level to identify the target market they intend pursuing (Stewart, 1995). Primarily, the context of the market segmentation for this company will be the Psychographics. Strydom, Cant Jooste (2000) identify the following four types of segmentation: demographic, geographic, psychographic and behavioural segmentation. Psychographics includes soc ial class, lifestyle, and personality variables (Chiagouris and Kahle, 2000). The end result of using these variables is a psychological profile of each market segment. Issues also examined the customers loyalties, habits and self-concept. Social class describes how individuals want their office automation will meet their comfort and satisfaction, what they consider important about their immediate surroundings, their opinions on various issues, and their interests. As lifestyle studies concentrates on what the consumer requires, using these study results as marketing strategies eventually became a marketing concept. The marketing concept is a basic philosophy that maintains that HM should endeavour to satisfy the needs and wants of customers through a coordinated set of activities that also allows the HM to achieve its goals at a profit. The HM must be able to consider its consumer, especially the demands of the consumer so as to let the business have an opportunity of having an expansion of its business portfolio as required by the consumers. The focus of this overview is on the behavioural segmentation process, which refers to the segmentation of buyers or customers into groups on the basis of their knowledge of, attitude towards, use of or response to a product or service of a HM. The behavioural variables identified by Kotler (2000) include: Occasions occasional buyers develop needs, purchase, or use products. Benefits refer to the benefits that buyers seek. User status includes potential users, regular users, non-users, first-time users or ex-users. Usage rate will include light, medium or heavy users. Loyalty status are classified as hard-core loyals, split loyals, shifting loyals and switchers. Buyers-readiness stages where the customers are either aware or unaware of the product or service, informed, interested, have a desire for the product or service and have intent to buy. Attitude enthusiastic, positive, indifferent, negative and hostile. Research Objectives: Relationship marketing will contribute significantly to the development of HM in India. Therefore, it becomes essential to study its applications in a fashion company in India. This study fulfils this need. The study addresses the different pros and cons of relationship marketing in a fashion company in India. Thus, the general purpose of this research investigation is to identify, describe and analyse factors that have an impact on relationship marketing, customer retention and customer acquisition in Indian fashion context. The main objectives of this study are given below, To identify, describe and analyse factors that will have an impact on relationship marketing, customer retention and customer acquisition in a fashion company and at HM in India. To appraise the views of customers of HM in India, how they feel about the companys relationship with them. To gain insight on how HM in India build customer relationship marketing tactics. To understand and determine the mediating role of customer behavior between relationship marketing and customer retention and acquisition. To indentify the market entry strategies for HM in India. Research Questions: What is the relationship marketing tactics practiced by the HM in India? What is the market entry strategy practiced by the HM in India? Deliverables: As it has been described in the objectives of the research project that the main purpose of this study is to examine the market entry strategies and relationship marketing by HM in India and customer relationships in Fashion Company and to find out how fashion company relationships with customers promotes its entry in India. The final product of this research project will be a report, containing the HMs relationship strategy and market entry strategy in India, what are their advantages and disadvantages. The report will contain the perceptions of employee and customers. Finally, the report will highlight some relationship marketing problems of HM and a fashion company and suggest some guidelines to remove these problems and improve its customers base in India. Research Methodology: Interested customer and would be customers of HM in India will be approached to collect the data. There are two kinds of data. Primary data Secondary data Primary data includes the information about relationship marketing and market entry strategy available from customers of HM in India. This also includes responses by the different employee of HM on the shop-floor. Secondary data will tell about the impact of relationship marketing in the retailers and the data has been available in their system. To collect the data, retailers employees, posted at different positions, will be contacted. Similarly, to assess the changes in retail services, caused by the relationship marketing, customers views will also be found out. The tools to collect this data will be the surveys. For this, employees and customers will be interviewed, where as to know the views of customers, different questionnaires will be prepared to ask them different questions. To analyze the collected data, different statistical techniques will be used. Qualitative research can be referred to as the opposite of quantitative research method. Any research method has its advantages and it disadvantages. Qualitative research is a study done that produces its results and findings that do not result from statistical means or other method of quantification. This method of inquiry requires a high level of intelligence and experience from the researcher to arrive at a more realistic and targeted data from the respondent. Quantitative research is referred to as a measurement of how people feel, think or act in a particular way and that this survey tend to include large samples from fifty to any number of interviews, structured questionnaires containing mostly closed questions that require questions along with set responds. This involves the clear statement of variables i.e. specifying the dependent and the independent variable. Resources: The most important thing to carry out any research project is to know the background, research objectives, and research methodology of the research project. For this literature is searched out. The University Library will be the primary source to review the literature. Books in hard and soft form will be obtained from the library. Similarly, different research journals and articles in the library will be valuable assets to prepare a comprehensive research report. To prepare the questionnaires, surveys done by Fashion Company to know the relationship marketing and market entry strategy will be used. Similarly new questionnaires, depending on the situation, will also be prepared. Project Plan: The project is divided into three stages. Literature review Interviews of employees of HM and their customers Report writing Literature Review: To carry out any research project, a research must be able to review the literature. This makes researcher aware of work, done by other people in the respective field. The main source of literature is the journals, in which different researchers publish their findings of problems. Interviews of retail employees and customers: In order to collect information on the impact of market entry strategy and know impact on relationship marketing in the Indian fashion company, the employees of HM will be interviewed. They will be asked about the positive and negative points of relationship marketing utilization in their stores. Similarly, customer views will be taken through the interviews. Considering all these views, suggestion to improve the customer services will be advised. Report writing: The final product of the research project will be a written report. The structure of my report will be divided in following categories, Introduction: In the introduction, the market entry strategy and history of relationship marketing use in fashion sector will be discussed and how different relationship marketing systems will be used to address the issues of HM, with the passage of time. Aims and objectives: In this part of report, purpose of the research project will be stated very clearly; what are the aims of the study and what are the problems, which will be discussed in the report. Research methodology: This is the core part of the report. After stating the problem, different research methodologies will be explained to gather the data. The primary source will be the interviews of the employees and customers. From these interviews, impact of relationship marketing and market entry strategy of HM will be assessed. The questions asked to employees and customers will be provided in the appendix of report. Conclusions: After describing the problems and research methods, suggestion will be advised to eliminate the highlighted problems. Risk: In order to carry out any research project, it is very important to study all the aspects of the project. One of the main aspects regarding any project is the risks involved. There are also some risks involved, regarding the research project under consideration. One risk can be privacy. HM employees can be duty-bound and show reluctance to give information about their working procedures and on relationship marketing operations, used in the fashion company. Impact and Beneficiaries of Research: The main objective of this research activity is to investigate the market entry strategies and relationship marketing by HM in India and customer relationships in Fashion Company and to find out how fashion company relationships with customers promotes its entry in India. This research can be very helpful for the fashion sector. For instance, it will analyze the effectiveness of relationship marketing and its market entry strategies in India. It will determine the views of HM employees about the introduction of relationship marketing in their working environment. From this, both positive and negative points about the role of relationship marketing in the fashion sector, put forward by the HM employees, can be known. Similarly, the customers views about the insertion of relationship marketing and the effect of HMs market entry strategy can be found out. Customers level of satisfaction about the HMs customer services can be assessed. This report will also show the comparison of differe nt strategies among different HMs companies worldwide and how they use relationship marketing to achieve the same target. By knowing the views of customers through this study, their difficulties while dealing with HM, can also be discovered. This report will also address these issues and suggest solutions to eradicate these problems. So, the major beneficiaries of this report are the management of HM and by considering the suggestions of the report, they can improve their market entry strategies, customer services and hence the customer relationship from HM will be invigorated.

Wednesday, October 2, 2019

european post :: essays research papers

THE EUROPEAN POST   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Islam In Europe Pg188   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Islam the religion that the Franks and the other Germanic people brought to Europe. It started in the west of Europe. The powerful force began spreading through the middle east and the Mediterranean world.Islam came from Arabiain 632. People that believe in Islam are called muslims. The Christians in Europe began to worry because the muslim army began to win victories in the mediterranean world. They overran Christian kingdoms in North Africa and Spain.Franish warriors led by Charles Martel defeated a Muslim army.This defeat and others made the muslims go back to Spain. How do you become a Knight?Pg192   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To become a knight at the age of seven, you are sent to the castle of your father's lord. Here you learn to ride and fight from a horse and from the ground.You learn how to keep their armor and weapons in respectable condition.The training to become a kinght was very difficult and strict discipline was given if lazy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  You would finishing training around the age of 21.There would be a ceremony to induct you in as a kinght. Now you would be ready to become a knight.As a knight you would go off to fight battles if there was any going on.If there was no fighting you would partcipate in tournments. Lords may invited you to these tournments with other knight from your area to see your fighting skill. The Benedict Rule pg 197   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Benedict was monk who founded the monastery of Monte Cassino in Italy about 530 A.D.. He set up rules to regulate life at the monasteries. These rules became, the Benedict Rule and has spread to monasteries and converts across Europe.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Under the rule of Benedict monks and nuns took an oath of poverty.They also took vows of chasity or purity of obedience to the abbot. Thier chief duties were prayer and worship of God. The Agricultural Revolution Pg 201 The Agricultural Revolution of Europe began by the 1000's.

Conflicts of Interest between Auditors and Clients Essay -- Business E

The complete destruction of companies including Arthur Andersen, HealthSouth, and Enron, revealed a significant weakness in the United States audit system. The significant weakness is the failure to deliver true independence between the auditors and their clients. In each of these companies there was deviation from professional rules of conduct resulting from the pressures of clients placed upon their auditors (Goldman, and Barlev 857-859). Over the years, client and auditor relationships were intertwined tightly putting aside the unbiased function of auditors. Auditor careers depended on the success of their client (Kaplan 363-383). Auditors found themselves in situations that put their profession in a questionable time driving them to compromise their ethics, professionalism, objectivity, and their independence from the company. A vital trust relationship role for independent auditors has been woven in society and this role is essential for the effective functioning of the finan cial economic system (Guiral, Rogers, Ruiz, and Gonzalo 155-166). However, the financial world has lost confidence in the trustworthiness of auditor firms. There are three potential threats to auditor independence: executives hiring and firing auditors, auditors taking positions the client instead of the unbiased place, and auditors providing non audit services to clients (Moore, Tetlock, Tanlu, and Bazerman 10-29). According to the Institute of Internal Auditors, â€Å"conflict of interest is a situation in which an internal auditor, who is in a position of trust, has a competing professional or personal interest (Institute of Internal Auditors)†. Competing interests can make it difficult to fulfill his or her duties impartially as an auditor. "A perso... ...tion Law 29 (2):363-383. 365-partners and clients Threats to Auditor Independence: The Impact of Relationship and Economic Bonds. By: Ping Ye; Carson, Elizabeth; Simnett, Roger. Auditing, Feb2011, Vol. 30 Issue 1, p121-148, 28p, 1 Diagram, 6 Charts; DOI: 10.2308/aud.2011.30.1.121 Exploring Trust and the Auditor-Client Relationship: Factors Influencing the Auditor's Trust of a Client Representative. By: Rennie, Morina D.; Kopp, Lori S.; Lemon, W. Morley. Auditing, May2010, Vol. 29 Issue 1, p279-293, 15p, 1 Diagram, 3 Charts; DOI: 10.2308/aud.2010.29.1.279 The Auditor-Firm Conflict of Interests: Its Implications for Independence: A Reply. By: Goldman, Arieh; Barlev, Benzion. Accounting Review, Oct75, Vol. 50 Issue 4, p857-859, 3p Are Auditors Becoming Too Cozy With Their Clients? By: Briloff, Abraham J.. Business & Society Review (00453609), Summer85, Issue 54

Tuesday, October 1, 2019

Different Cultures

Different countries of the world have different cultures. In light of this, there may be discrepancies in the way we interpret our interaction with the person from another culture. Sometimes it may be difficult to understand or accept another culture which is different from one’s own culture. In my three years of living in America, I have had experiences based on the difference between the Korean and American culture – these are in the area of non-verbal communication and appointment culture.However, I have also noticed that the structure of the educational system is similar. First of all, nonverbal communication is so much different between two countries. According to reading, â€Å"Where Do We Stand† Lisa Davis, mentioned that all countries have different nonverbal communications and personal space. Because of these, there may be misunderstandings and misinterpretations. One of the differences between the American and Korean culture is greeting. Americans greet by putting up a handshake and saying â€Å"hi† to anyone, both young and old.Koreans do that only to friends or someone who are younger than people who greet. If it is someone older, we greet by bowing head. Moreover, one other mode of greeting is kissing each other. It is really different culture from Korea. We never kiss anyone except close family members. I still find it hard to adapt to this mode of greeting. The simple communication mistakes we make at one time or the other upset the Americans. This may not be deliberate but due to the communication gap.Secondly, keeping an appointment is an indispensable condition even between friends in America. According to reading â€Å"Friends and Strangers† Margaret K. (Omar) Nydell, she talked about some differences of cultures and if she wants to meet another person, she needs to have a one week grace period. To me, this is strange. When I just came to America, I did not know about cultural differences. The first person I met was American-Chinese, we later became close friends. There was a times I was in bad mood. I called her so that I can talk to her.However, told me that she did not want to talk to me because she was having her personal time and asked me to meet the following day or two days after. I thought she just did not want to meet me and did not think it could be impolite to someone else. In Korea, we usually never make an appointment with friends. Whenever the need arises, a call is made and if the other party is available to meet. Even some of my friends just come to my home without any call. Making an appointment is one of courtesies in America.Although both cultures are sometimes poles apart, there are still some similarities between both cultures. A similarity can be found in the educational system of both countries. I believe that all countries have the same passion about education. America students prefer attending a good school and study hard. They also like people who are well edu cated. Even if there are many differences between other countries, Korea and America, when I study with others, we forget everything about differences and study with the same passion.It helps connect us to each other even if we come from very different countries. In conclusion, I have had so many experiences and realize that there are differences between other cultures. This I have come to realize since coming to this country three years ago. It is really hard to understand each other across cultures, and sometimes it there is still a communication gap between my friends and I. However, we are can understand each other if we all make an effort. We should try to accept the differences and then we could be closer to each other.

Monday, September 30, 2019

A review of McGregors X and Y

Theory X worker works with a Theory Y worker or a Theory X worker works with a theory Y manager (vise versa) will one of them have an effect on the other, or will things stay the same? Introduction God created everything naturally In this world to work. God asked Adam to mend his garden, asked Noah to build the ark; he created animals to be hunters and gatherers as there Job to survive in this world. Thousands of years later it is still a very natural thing for people to work. Humans still naturally wake with the full intent to apply their life to something.It does not have to be the average monotonous daily, but work o humans Is as natural as flying Is to a bird. However, having the natural ability to work does not mean that there are not lazy or hard working people; there are two distinctive types of workers, an â€Å"X† worker and a worker. An â€Å"X† worker is typically a lazy worker, one who dislikes work and will do anything to avoid any obligations or duties. â €Å"X† workers also must be controlled, and given direction in order for them to achieve a performance goal for the day.A Y worker is typically self-directed, they learn to seek and accept responsibility, and have high potential for the work force; though both are still Intended to work. There are also two different types of productivity is essential and getting the most work or productivity out of the day. Style is the participative style. Employees will do the work they have to do with out being told what to do and when to do it. The two theories test the performance experience of employees.If Theory â€Å"X† is represented by worker â€Å"A† who is a bad worker, always late to work, and does an unacceptable work, one can naturally assume that they hate their Job situation or are lazy. If Theory is represented by worker â€Å"B† who is a better worker, never has to be told what to do, shows up on time ND does an outstanding Job around the office, then o ne can assume that they love their work and would be willing to do anything for their place of business, but if a theory Y manager (vise versa), will one of them have an effect on the other, or will things stay the same?Not everybody is influenced by someone, although people will do what they want considering, human nature is to follow by example almost like a monkey see monkey do. Literature Review In the sass's, Theorist Douglas, McGregor examined theories to study performance of individual's interactions and work style between workers at the work place. He designed it with the idea that a workers performance technique is based on motivation and social behavior. â€Å"McGregor Theory X and Theory Y were the foundation of the â€Å"Human Side of Enterprise† (Cunningham).Theory X is based on three core assumptions. â€Å"One, The average human being has an inherent dislike of work and will avoid it if at all possible, Two, Because of this human characteristic of dislike of work, most people must be coerced, controlled, directed, and threatened with punishment to get them to put forth adequate effort toward the achievement of equines objectives versus Just personal objectives, and three, the average person prefers to directed, wishes to avoid responsibility, has relatively little ambition and wants security above all else (Cunningham).According to Organization Theory: However, in situations where it is possible to obtain commitment to objectives, it is better to explain the matter fully so that employees grasp the purpose of an action. They will then exert self-direction and manage to do better work – quite possibly by better than if they had only been carrying out and order, which they did not fully, understand.Once control becomes persuaded that it is underestimating the potential of its human resources, and accepts the knowledge given by social science researchers and displayed by Theory Y assumptions, then it can invest time, money and effor t in developing improved applications of the theory. McGregor realizes that some of the theories he has put forward are unrealizable in practice, but wants managers to put into operations the basic assumption that staff will contribute more to the organization if they are treated as responsible and valued employees (McGregor).McGregor believed Theory X individuals wanted to learn that work was a very natural thing, despite their lazy perspective they wanted to improve self-discipline and self- growth. McGregor believed Theory X employees saw their work as the freedom to try and do tough and challenging work by themselves. The manager's Job was to try and unite the workers and make them strive for self-development in the business and Theory Y was difficult to enforce in a factory setting or in big warehouse areas. Patricia Travis said, â€Å"Theory Y according to McGregor was conducive to participative problem solving.He believed it was better to describe in full the task or topic a t hand so that employees grasped the purpose†(Travis). Theory Y employees would show self-direction and self-control and honestly wanted to do better work and would do better work if they were to do a Job that they understood completely compared to a Job they did not fully understand. Managers found that the participative approach to problem solving showed much better results over the authoritarian order of controlling their employees and constantly nagging them. According to James Nellie who wrote in the Journal of Social Behavior andPersonality â€Å"Theory X and Theory Y workers did not differ in their perception of the scenarios. However, additional analysis revealed that Theory X and Theory Y workers differed significantly in their perceptions of the effectiveness of the unethical behaviors portrayed in some of the scenarios† (301-311). The workers would understand the idea of the Job that was needed to be done but would not fully follow through one hundred percent on how the Job needed to be done. Sometimes it all just depends on how the manger relays the message to the worker and how the worker perceives it.Theory X and Theory Y style management have been a great practice to develop positive management styles and techniques. In the earlier years especially in the first few decades of the 20th century Theory X was dominating the business world and was the lead style to the mechanistic system of scientific management. Tim Handle wrote in the â€Å"Guide to Management Ideas and Gurus† that, â€Å"Theory X is an authoritarian style where the emphasis is on â€Å"productivity, on the concept of a fair days work, on the evils of feather-bedding and restriction of output, on rewards for performance (2003). Several managers are persuaded by the TheoryX style but usually receives negative effects. McGregor questioned that management style and decision-making depended on which type of theory worked on their team. McGregor calls the managemen t X theory the â€Å"stick and carrot† method of management. Managers would have to â€Å"police† their staff, and the workers would need to be pressured, scared and disciplined. This created a very frustrating and dark work environment for the managers and the workers. Theory Y assumes that people will exercise self-direction and self-control and will do everything on their own and will finish a Job with out being bribed or threatened.According to Business Destination Theory Y states â€Å"employees actually become more productive when more trust and responsibility is delegated to them† (2012). Y workers want to work, they want to be productive, and the act of accomplishing work and doing it well is a motivator. Y managers go with the flow and Just allow the workers to work. The Y theory stance is in a unique position; it has heightened awareness of management responsibilities for employer-employee relationships. McGregor urged many companies to try and use the Theory Y design or adopt it.McGregor believed it could titivated human beings and bring out their highest potential and help them achieve bigger goals. Theory X only satisfied a large number of the lower level needs and was nowhere near as productive. As stated before, Theory X expresses distrust in employees who are only working for money, or who try to get away by doing as little paycheck and you most certainly can not always be looking over the shoulder of the employees to make sure they are doing there Job correctly. Theory Y employees are almost the dream employee for a manager.Theory Y employees want to work towards a common goal, and they are able to organize themselves. As a manager those are the workers that you want, the one's that you do not have to baby sit. These studies have shown that there is not one perfect approach to managing a X or Y worker. But from the research one can decide â€Å"the best method all depends on the nature of the work to be done† (Harva rd Business Review). After significant research and collected data research has revealed that companies with highly expected tasks will perform better with dignified procedures.With uncertain tasks that require much brain use and problem solving, businesses that are not as organized and do to put a great deal of emphasize on self-discipline and self worth struggle to get the job done. But over all, it all depends on the development of the company and the business that fits the nature of the Job that needs to be done. A worker's performance can be dependent on a worker's environment or surroundings. A Theory X worker will apply themselves a fraction more and work a little harder if they are in the right conditions of hard working individuals. (Vise Versa) for the Y worker.If a Y worker is in an atmosphere of sluggish, not really wanting to work people they can potentially follow in those footprints. It is human nature to follow by example. This is why leadership is necessary. Leaders hip needs to take a stand to help fix and figure out problems a team may have. If a manager has three X workers and eight Y workers then the manager knowing that there is an impact on one worker from another should find a way to intermingle the works to keep them on and track hard working. If the X worker, works with the Y worker long enough eventually there should be some improvements.And of course this goes the other way as well, but a company wants the best results not the worst. So a company should not have their best errors, working with the worst workers. Methodology Twenty Graduate Level students enrolled in a Organizational Behavior class at a Liberal Arts University participating in two fifteen question surveys. Most of the students are from a varied educational background but all had at least a Bachelors degree, and all understood the theory being tested. The first of the two surveys was to indicate weather the situation and management style is the â€Å"X† or style and to find out how they would handle the situation.The second survey was to indicate whether the person prefers being managed by the â€Å"X† or style. Once figuring out who is an â€Å"X† and who is a the data will be analyzed and then each candidate will be separated into there respected category they belong to. Once the survey takers are separated into there respected category I will use these two surveys to try and prove if a Theory X worker works with a Theory Y worker or a Theory X worker works with a theory Y manager (or vise versa) will one of them have an effect on the other, or will things stay the same?I will look at all of the results and see if their answers lead towards them being affected by the other work or not. The information will be seed to see if they need a little extra push from the people around them or if they can handle most tasks with out having to be nagged and rode the whole time by a boss or someone one on the management team. In analyzi ng all of the surveys and calculating all of the results several re-occurring themes surfaced and proved many things to be true.In the event of trying to prove if a person was an X or Y worker seventy five percent of the survey takers said that they were Y workers. This is something that was assumed from a graduate level class at a prestigious university; one can figure that most, if not all, would be self-disciplined, ND hard working individuals. Of the 20 survey takers only twenty five percent were considered X workers. Of the twenty people surveyed on whether or not they preferred the X or Y management style not a single individual preferred the X management style, including the X style workers.The results showed a large number of different results as expected, but the results were about what one would expect. But with these results my hypothesis was unanswered. Of the twenty people that were surveyed five of them were X style workers and 1 5 of them were Y style workers. Of the twenty people that were surveyed, all of them preferred the Y style management. After reviewing the surveys and the most prominent themes were established the tasks of understanding the monkey see monkey do attitude between X and Y workers and X and Y managers was unclear.The surveys, although showing who were X and Y worker showed that the X workers preferred the Y style management. This shows that a person who needs a little push or a little more observation on the work floor can potentially learn or adapt better with a Y style manager. But at the same time the survey showed that even a Y style worker if paired with a X style manager or a X style worker can forget their Y style ways. It all Just depends on the individual person and there work style.With a better population of people taking the survey more facts and findings can be found, but with my test subjects and the surveys that they took these are the results found and help support my theory. Discussion McGregor believed tha t, workers wanted to work and that they would act like mature adults, and actually wanted to do what was best for the company. McGregor also believed that if management with a intended instructions explained things intended, the worker would do what was necessary, and likely, employees would collaborate without being intimidated.McGregor knew that many of his suggestions would be really hard to adapt to, maybe even near impossible to apply to the work place, but McGregor believed that when people, or staff, or any type of worker is treated with respect and treated like a worker rather than a trained monkey that the workers would give more and work harder and give as close to one hundred percent as they could.Limitations One limitation to this study could be that only small portions of people surveyed and, with the majority of these people being in their early twenties could these individuals have enough life experience and work experience to know exactly how to answer the questions. If the survey had encompassed a broader range of the American population, the results may have been different. Since Management Theory X is an older style maybe the older generation or the baby boomer generation may prefer that form of management a little more.Also with the older generation most where Generation Y is considered a little more lazy and not as self motivated. Generation Y may prefer the Y style management but is actually an X style worker. Another limitation to this study is the selection of survey participants. The survey participants were not selected randomly but used because they could immediately o the survey. The survey takers may have had previous knowledge of the theory, which could have effect the outcome. If the survey population had been selected randomly, there would have been a number of people surveyed who were not educated on the theory or not aware of the concepts.Knowledge of the concepts may have survey the takers to answer a certain way therefore cr eating different results. Despite these possible limitations, the results still stand and have many applications to practice and research and were still used to find answers Conclusion Though Theory X and Theory Y are basic and easy to understand, they provide a path or the future theorist and other people that want to study the nature of how people work and understand the changing world of human behavior with large amounts of information and research.The Theory was easy to study and understand, and it also allowed data collection to be Just as simple. From the above data, and of the students surveyed they preferred the Y work style but all had a preference towards Theory Y than Theory X management style. Even though the data shows one thing it may not technically have a significant, positive relationship between the overall outcomes or hat there is even a monkey see monkey do attitude. Therefore, the hypothesis of this research paper is not confirmed.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Coopers Creek Wine Management Essay

1. 0 Introduction Coopers Creek, established in 1982, became one of New Zealand’s more successful medium-sized wineries by following a strategy of resource leveraging via networks of co-operative relationships with other New Zealand winemakers in the domestic and export markets. This strategy allowed Andrew Hendry, the managing director, to consciously manage the growth of the company to retain the benefits of small size. However, with increasing globalisation of the wine industry, the changing nature of export markets, the early maturity of the New Zealand industry and the constrained supply facing New Zealand wine makers, Andrew Hendry was faced with the decision of how to position a smaller company for the future. He had to decide whether the network-based strategies that served the company so well continued to be appropriate under conditions of industry concentration, increasing competition and emerging globalisation. (Robbins S, 2006) 1. 1 The NZ wine industry When Andrew Hendry established Coopers Creek, the New Zealand environment was highly regulated. By 1984, the New Zealand government had initiated a programme of deregulation, which included devaluation of the New Zealand currency, exchange rate flotation and general anti-inflationary measures. (Porter M, 2001) The opening of New Zealand’s domestic market meant that businesses had to improve their efficiency substantially over a short period. The agricultural sector sought out new markets, to replace the loss of their traditional dependence on the UK market with its increasing commitment to its European trading partners, and new products, reflecting a growing awareness that much of New Zealand’s exports were of a commodity nature. This period saw growing exports to Australia, the United States, Japan and the rest of Asia and exports of predominantly sheep meat and dairy produce being accompanied by more fresh fruit, venison and wine. A further response to fiercer competition at home and in overseas markets was an increasingly strong focus on quality, a case in point being the New Zealand wine industry. The New Zealand wine industry accepted the consequences of the liberalisation of the domestic economy and recognised the need to understand how on-going changes in the international economic environment affected its prosperity and how to plan accordingly. Building from a low international base in the 1980s ($4. 5 million in exports in 1987), New Zealand wine exports achieved phenomenal growth and accounted for $168 million in 2007, comfortably exceeding the $100 million by 2007 target set in 1999. The UK market was the most important export market for the industry in 2007, and at $84 million it accounted for around 50. 22 per cent of total exports by value and 54. 28 per cent by volume. Europe accounted for 66 per cent of exports with 85 per cent of that going to the UK. Four large firms, namely Corbans, Montana, Nobilo and Villa Maria, dominated the wine industry in New Zealand in 1999. The following year, Montana purchased Corbans and Nobilo was bought by BRL/Hardy of Australia. Between them, these large firms accounted for around 80 per cent of all exports in 2007, with another 17 medium-sized companies, of which Coopers Creek was one, handling 16 per cent in combination. For the most part, industry participants exported between 30 and 35 per cent of their production, but a few producers had much higher export intensity. (Wheelen, 2006) 2. 0 Key Issues The key issues are: (Study Guide, 2008) (1)Despite entering early maturity, coopers creek remained constrained by issues of supply. (2)The cost of new land for grape planting was rising and more previously marginal land became economic to grow on, the problem was still one of access to capital for these resources. (3)A possible over supply of grapes in New Zealand, which could lead to heavy discounting. (4) A contraction in ownership within distribution companies in New Zealand and in USA, which could lead to certain markets being effectively closed to coopers creek. (5)Protection of strategically important grape supplies so the can insure they still get a proportion of the very highest quality grapes. 3. 0 Planning. 3. 1 Life Cycle From a demand perspective, the worldwide wine consumption has stagnated. According to the Wine Institute, there is only a 2. 04% growth in wine consumption from 1997 to 2001. In fact, worldwide consumption dropped from 227,875 hectoliters to 226,646 between 1999 and 2000. Generally there is a drop in consumption from the traditional wine drinking countries like France and East European countries, whilst demand has growth significantly from China. (Grant R, 2005) The production of wine has shifted from the traditional vineyards in France to the rest of the world. There are New-World Wines from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. These wines are generally thought to be of moderate to high quality and are essentially challenging the traditional wine producers on the quality front. Furthermore, there are wines coming out from China and India. Because of the lower wages in these countries, wines can now be produced at a fraction of the costs of the French vineyards. Price has now become a big challenge that the traditional wineries have to face. Some author’s even suggest that the Old-World producing countries like France has followed growth & decline and now has entered a second life phase. While the New-world countries are in an emerging or growth phase As the industry moves towards maturity phase of its life cycle, the pace of consolidation will increase. (Times of India,2007) 3. 2 PESTEL Analysis The following is a review of the major environmental factors, which will impact the industry to a large extent. A closer examination of the more important factors amongst them will allow for a tighter integration between the external environmental factors and the corporate strategy chosen for Coopers. Political factors Government regulation has always played a major role in the WI. There are increasing concerns that there will be new barriers and trade impediments to trade in the WI. One such example is the trade disagreement between US and European Union in the level of farm subsidies that the US alleged that the EU farmers receive. The same allegations may also be similarly levied on the European vineyards. In the Wine Institute report on International Trade Barriers to U. S. Wine 2006, European wine producers were noted to have received certain subsidies . Tariffs also have been the most important barrier to the international wine trade. Some governments impose unusually high tariffs on wine imports . Recent announcement in the media like India opening its market and slashing duties on imported wine and spirits bring good news to the industry, as this will allow them to enter this lucrative untapped market. Though due to WTO pressure the tariff has been reducing, which has lead to major wine producing countries imposing various non-tariff trade barriers. One such non-tariff trade barriers are research fundings made available by local governments to improve the overall harvest yields and quality of the country’s grapes . Economical factors. The rising number of middle class worldwide has led to an increasing appreciation of wine and demand for wine. In developing economies of China and India, this class of consumer is expected to increase significantly over the next decade. With the continued increase of economic growth rates for both countries, these consumers can now afford to consume wine is expected to grow significantly as well . The effect of currency fluctuations on the WI will continue to play an integral part in influencing the WI. The proportion of wine being exported outside the wine producing country has increased. Even in a traditionally large wine consuming market, the proportion of wine, which ends up in foreign land, has been increasing. The continuing trend of exporting to new markets such as India and China is going to increase as wine producers cope with the declining wine demand in traditional home markets As a result, the wine producers’ exposure to fluctuations in currency exchange rates will increase further. Socio-cultural factors The increased spending power, sophistication of the middle class in many countries with increased tendency of copying the west has helped to increase the demand for wine consumption. This growing group of earners from various countries is often well traveled & highly educated consumers with needs and wants for the better things in life. The number of middle class across Asia is expected to grow by 1 billion in the next 8 years . With the shift in demographics in the developing countries, there will be more wine drinkers in the future. Increasingly, there are also more scientific evidences that there are health benefits to be derived from moderate drinking of wine especially red wine. As a result, there is an increasing acceptance of the beverage as â€Å"health-product† leading to a healthy heart. Technological factors Innovation and technological factors continue to drive improvement in production yields and better storage of wine. The Australian WI today has transformed itself from a small cottage industry to one of the largest exporter of wines internationally, even to the extent of eclipsing some of the older Old-World countries. The great leap forward for Australia can be attributed to the Australian wine producers clustering to innovate and improve existing processes. (Read C, 2006) The growth of e-commerce infrastructure and the increasing acceptance of buying things online have led to new opportunities for wine connoisseurs and wine producers alike. With this new technology, niche wine growers are able to reach out to the individual wine consumers without being drowned out by the marketing noise generated by the large wine producers. The ability to ship small quantities directly to individual wine drinkers without passing through layers of middlemen may mean that small niche growers may be able to find their position in a market dominated by large brand names . Environmental factors. Within the Food and Beverage (F&B) industry, the WI is markedly different from the other products due to the fact that F&B products are limited by market, while the WI is limited by resource (land and grapes). Reason being wine is grown in moderate climates and on certain types of soil. Sudden climatic changes may adversely affect production yields or may even destroy crops all together. The significant changes expected in the environment from global warming, rising sea levels, rising carbon emissions and increasing acidity in the waters will all add to contribute to the adverse conditions for which growers will find themselves in. These conditions together with a scarcity of good arable land may act to constrain or even reduce the industry’s supply. On the positive side, in one of the rare articles published in Newsweek on the positive effects of global warming, the author highlights that fast melting of Artic glaciers and increase in global temperatures may lead to opening of new vineyards in many parts of the world with weather conditions similar to the France’s Champagne region. Legal factors External environmental legal factors have acted in line with other environmental factors changes. For example, the advent of the Internet e-commerce has resulted in changes in legislation for wine sales, which crosses state lines in the United States . In addition, the origin of the grapes used to make wines also became a contentious issue for many wine-producing countries. The origin of these grapes and the proportion of local grapes used became an issue for branding and labeling of wines; as governed by new local legislation controlling wine labeling. 4. 0 Organising 4. 1 Porter’s 5 forces analysis We have analyzed Coopers internal environmental factors using Porter’s Five Forces analysis. Being in a specialized industry, it is not easy for another player to just come in wanting a portion of the pie. The WI requires specialized skill sets, special knowledge and extensive experience to stay competitive. It also needs very high investment especially for equipments used for processing of wine. This indirectly induces high entry cost which is work as a barrier of for new entrants. There is also the expected retaliation faced by new entrants from existing players. Coopers together with other existing players may collaborate to deter competitors from coming in. For example, Coopers may start dropping its price and the other existing players may follow suit leading to a price war. On the whole, the force of threat of entry is low here. 4. 2 Threat of Substitutes This industry faces stiff competition from not only other wineries but also from other alcoholic drinks such as beer, spirit and pre-blended mixed drinks and carbonated drinks. Product-for-product substitution is also possible should customers of Coopers decide to try out other brands/types of wine. For the health conscious, bottled water, energy drinks and natural fruit juices also provide competition. Possibility of generic substitution is also there where as customers may prefer to spend on purchasing cigarettes rather than drinking wine. Thus, there is a high force of threat of substitutes in this industry. 4. 3 Threat of entry Competitive rivalry among existing firms is evident in this industry. Larger companies are acquiring smaller wine producers to monopolize the market resulting in dynamic competition amongst these companies. As the WI is at its mature stage, companies start to take market share from competitors to survive. As there are too many wine producers, adding on to the high power of buyers, companies may decide to go for price wars due to high fixed costs to gain market share. This industry has high entry and exit barriers due to the extensive capital investment and knowledge & skill set needed. In addition one must have sustainable resource, as it takes several years for wine to mature. This means that industry players do not have many choices. Again this induces competition amongst them and price wars and low margins situations are likely to happen. Based on the information above, the groups came to the conclusion that the industry is â€Å"Medium Attractive†. 5. 0 Directing 5. 1 Porter’s Generic Competitive Strategies Using Porter generic competitive strategies, we find that Coopers has the ability to outperform its competitors by adopting a strategy of â€Å"Focus Differentiation†. Porter proposed that a firm’s competitive advantage in an industry is determined by its competitive scope – i. e. , the breadth of company’s target market coupled with company’s unique resource (product range, distribution channels, target market etc.), For Coopers the scope of the target market is narrow. It is mainly targeting niche markets for premium wines in the wine drinking markets of Europe, US, Australia, Japan and a few emerging Far Eastern Asian markets. When targeting niche markets, the company either can go for â€Å"Cost Focus† or â€Å"Differentiation Focus†. Coopers should not be following the Cost focus strategy as NZWI compete in the high quality premium category wines. Reduction of overall cost is achievable only to a certain extent, as this industry is highly capital intensive with many inherent costs along the supply chain. Instead Coopers should concentrate either on particular market segment, or product line segment or geographic market with high growth potential or all three. By following a differentiation strategy Coopers would be able to better focus its resources & capabilities to the serve the special needs of a narrow strategic target more effectively than its competitors. 5. 2 Bowman’s strategic clock Using â€Å"Bowman’s competitive strategy clock† too, Coopers falls under category 5, â€Å"Focused Differentiation†. This strategy is similar to the Porter’s generic model, which tries to provide high-perceived product benefits justifying a substantial price premium usually to a selected niche market segment. Coopers can use this strategy in new markets, by targeting sales into the same niches in more countries. While in established markets Coopers could even adopt Category 4 â€Å"Differentiation –with price premium † by offering better wine at the same price or by pricing it slightly higher than competitive brands in the same price bracket, to take advantage of the fact that â€Å"fine quality wine will always demand a premium† and at the same promote it as premium category. (Meredith R, 2007). Cost Leadership may not be sustained for Coopers because of some of the following reason: – Competitors can imitate – differentiation may not be sustainable it can easily replicated by competitors like South African or South American wine producers – Bases of differentiation become less important to buyers – Competing on just quality to demand high price may not be enough. For example in price conscious markets like UK, Holland and Germany, wines from South American and South were seen as better value than NZ wine. – Target segment can become structurally unattractive: – Structure erodes – This could happen for Coopers’ target market in US, restaurants and boutique retailers. They may form a group for centrally sourcing activities to drive down costs, somewhat similar to what happened with Tesco Supermarket Chain (UK). (Aylward, 2006) – Demand disappears – there may be new research findings in future that may lead to lower consumption of wine. Or even they may be new legislation banning consumption of alcohol products in public places similar to that of smoking, which may lead to total disappearance of a target segment. From the evaluation of Coopers core competencies, the followings were recognized. – Coopers is a typical entrepreneurial venture in that the founding entrepreneur, Andrew, had driven its development and growth. A critical factor of success of Coopers is Andrew’s ability to build relationships, within the context of an innovative and flexible approach, in order to leverage critical resources to pursue growth. – Coopers strategy was based on having a carefully controlled but finite quantity of wine to sell every year. With Andrew’s commitment to quality, it has earned itself a relatively good reputation in the industry. From the evaluation of the KSF of the WI, the followings were recognized. – Historically, the NZWI had focused on the production of premium wines, given its constrained supply, small scale, high cost structures and distinctive ‘clean and green’ growing conditions. Availability of consistent high quality products that has strong brand value and recognition are highly sought after and considered KSFs. 6. 0 Monitoring 6. 1 Wineries Both management & employees of wineries play a key role and yield great power in terms of the quantity & type of wine to be produced. Great deal of collaboration exists between the local wineries to share knowledge & costs. 6. 2 Grape growers Being key players, they control the quality and quantity of grapes grown. Many of the wineries are backward integrated by owning lands or having long-term contracts with individual producers. Power of suppliers is low. 6. 3 Industry Associations Wine Organizations in NZ like Wine Institute, former Wine Guild with backing of the NZ government are very powerful. All Wineries have to take up compulsory memberships and contribute towards funding & running of the organizations. These key roles of these organizations are promoting NZ wine in international markets, lobbying with foreign governments to open new markets, lowering of trade restrictions and tariffs etc. They also initiate research programmes and training for the entire industry, funded by the wineries. (Zalan T, 2005) 6. 4 Consumers The final end user, this group needs to be well informed & kept satisfied by providing high quality premium products with consistent quality and availability at affordable prices. Power high. 6. 5 NZ Government NZ government is a key player with considerable power who has played a pivotal role in the development of the NZWI. The government has been implementing new legislations in consultation with NZWI to meet the current market requirements. Some examples would include changes in government policy in the 1980s making it favorable for local manufacturers to export to foreign markets . (Harvard University, 2007) 6. 6 Distributors, Retailers, Buyers Buyers like Supermarkets are powerful players who dictate the price & type of wine stocked on shelves. WI is a buyer driven industry, where buyers hold a lot of power. 6. 7 Domestic and Foreign investors. This group needs the minimal amount of effort. They are satisfied as long as they get a good return on their investments. 7. 0 Critical Analysis 7. 1 Competitor Analysis The world WI is currently experiencing a situation of over-production. In the EU alone, it was reported by Food & Drink. com that there is a surplus o f 1. 5bn litres of wine, enough for every European Union citizen to take roughly four free bottles each. Millions of Euros have been spent to turn these excess wines into industrial alcohol. (All Things, 2006) The WI is a highly fragmented, with over â€Å"a million wine companies† around the globe. None of the firms control more than 1% of the retail sales, with top 10 players controlling 11% of the global market share (based on volume) . These industry competitors come from different wine growing countries and continents. This is especially true for Old-World Countries in Europe (France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Germany) accounts for 60% of the world wine production and 80% of world trade . In contrast, the New-World Producers (Australia, South Africa, Argentina, Chile, USA, New Zealand) wines are more consolidated. On average these countries appear to be more structurally attractive compared to Old-World Countries. Moreover, in the last decade the industry structure has been undergoing dramatic change. There is a growing trend of consolidation. Cash flow rich alcoholic beverage companies are investing in the WI as their own markets of beer and spirits are maturing. 7. 2 Stakeholder analysis The WI being a competitive industry has a varied, vibrant and balanced group of stakeholders, with frequent and varied channels of communication. All the forces involved try to build consensus within which the primary decisions in the industry are made. 7. 3 Life-Cycle Analysis We have identified Coopers to be in the phase of â€Å"Mature† stage in the life-cycle model. In view of its competitive conditions, we also identify there may be many competitors which are likely to resort to price-cutting strategy for volume. Therefore one of Coopers directive is to differentiate its product portfolio through leveraging on its enhance brand equity to promote customer’s retention and loyalty within its existing customer-based and new customer groups whilst consistently driving cost efficiency through economies of scales and innovative & efficient ways of bringing cost down. (Pape E, 2007) 7. 4 Positioning analysis Coopers currently enjoy relatively good brand equity amongst its market segment. To infuse the same branding principle across distinctive first label allows them to capitalize on its already successful branding strategy, further maximizing the returns of their marketing investment especially for the second label. 7. 5 Value chain analysis Through new ways of doing things such as possible bottling in import markets to reduce shipping costs, backward integration either through ownership or long term leasing with good quality of vineyards across NZ and beyond, could potentially reduce their overall cost per unit yet enabling them to utilize cost advantage strategy to expand the perceived value for the brand. 7. 6 Business profile analysis This growth strategy do not require a complete reinvention of wheels, it capitalizes on the existing goals and values of the group, its resources and capabilities, its structure and management systems and its industry environment to further produce enhanced features and products thus major increase in expenditures is not expected, instead an increase in financial perform is forecasted due to the additional opportunities from new market penetration. (Heijbroeck, 2003) 8. 0 Recommendations: 1. The expansion of the cooper’s creek network of export markets and the development of second labels. These second label wines could generally be sold at lower prices thus protecting the price status of the Coopers Creek labels but gaining extra sales volume for the company. In most cases the second labels will sell through different distributors. 2. The above strategy will also help with over reliance on a few key distributors. In the case of the rapidly growing US market, coopers creeks have not appointed one exclusive national importer. Instead they will sell to some 20 independent importer/distributors in different states either by direct shipment from the winery or out of a warehouse in California. This will ensure the company doesn’t become a victim of the rationalisation of a large importers or distributors catalogue of wines carried. (Kogut B, 2006) 3. The steady acquisition of control of the vineyards producing their best grapes. That has taken the form of either complete acquisition by purchase, long term leases or the establishment of joint ventures with the vineyards under cooper creek’s management and tied up under long term supply contracts. In the last two years they have purchased three vineyards, leased one and entered one joint venture with an existing contract grape grower. They are currently looking at two further existing vineyards with a view to purchase or lease. 4. Continue to produce consistently high-quality products. 5. Maintain and increase its brand equity and recognition as a premium wine producer. 6. Establish international supply management to facilitate its global market operations. 7. Maintain or improve its already good relationships with stakeholders. 8. Ensure there is cost efficiency in its operations so as to maximise profit with minimum cost. 9. Last but not least, continue innovating in terms of its product and marketing. †¢Current turnover is NZ$5. 5M †¢Current production is at 1100tonnes per year (approx 85,000 cases) and aiming to be 1800tonnes by 2008 †¢They should purchase more of their own vineyards in the Hawkes Bay region in the last few years which would prove beneficial to them. †¢They should increase production of Pinot Noir which is one of their best vineyards by 400% and this will become a feature varietals alongside Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay for the future †¢All wine is made on site at their Auckland vineyard. On site facilities include Cellar door tasting room and retail shop, Plant buildings (tanks) and bottling line, warehouse and barrel store, landscaped gardens with picnic areas and children’s playground. (Johnson, 2005) A cellar/courtyard wine bar will open for lunches and private group bookings late 2003. Plans have been drawn up for a cafe/function centre but as yet no time frame as to when maybe initiated, which should be implemented soon. (Nielson A, 2006) 9. 0 Conclusion It can be concluded, the NZWI is still considered to be at an early maturity phase of its lifecycle, as evidenced by a small number of takeovers and increasing concentration. As the industry matures, there is a need for NZ wine producers to retain focus on quality, differentiated products, while holding their premium price position. In addition, they need to play to their strengths in white wines and introduce more red wines into their portfolio. (Ghoshal S, 2007) As a company, Coopers needs to realize the trend toward deteriorating industry profitability is a constant threat in mature industries. As rivalry encourages overinvestment in capacity, international competition increases, and as differentiation is undermined by commoditization, attaining a competitive advantage becomes essential to achieving positive economic profits. Cost is the overwhelmingly important key success factor in most mature industries and three cost drivers tend to be especially important: Economies of scale, low-cost inputs and low overheads. Cost efficiency in mature industries is rarely a basis for sustainable competitive advantage; it is typically a requirement for survival. Deteriorating performance among mature companies typically triggers the adoption of turnaround strategies, of which the company must choose the most suitable one for its profile. Coopers have so far maneuvered its way past the many problems that plague other producers. However, more emphasis might be needed in terms of differentiating itself from the other NZ brands. It would have to build on its brand equity, and continue to leverage on Andrew’s contact network. Most importantly, the establishment of a succession-planning project would also has to be included in future strategic plans so that the company will continue to prosper should Andrew decide to depart or retire. (Robbins S, 2006) 10. 0 BIBLIOGRAPHY: 1. (Johnson, 2005) Johnson, Scholes & Whittington , † Exploring Corporate Strategy†, Prentice Hall, 2005 2. (Porter M, 2001) Porter Michael E. , â€Å"The Competitive Advantages of Nations†, The Macmillan Press Ltd. , 2001 3. (Wheelen, 2006). Wheelen, Thomas L. and Hunger, David J. , â€Å"Strategic Management and Business Policy†, Prentice Hall, 2006 4. (Grant R, 2005) Grant, Robert M. , â€Å"Contemporary Strategy Analysis†, Blackwell Publishing, 2005 5. (Read C, 2006) Read, Charlotte, â€Å"Stakeholder Consensus Marketing. An explanatory national competitivess model for the New Zealand Wine Industry†, September 2, 2006 6. (All Things, 2006) All Things Considered. Washington D. C. , Global Warming Endangers California Wine Industry, December 5, 2006 7. (Times of India,2007) â€Å"India plans duty cuts on wine, spirits†, http://timesofindia. indiatimes.com/NEWS/India_Business/India_plans_duty_cuts_on_wine_spirits/articleshow/1897262. cms, April 12 2007 8. (Pape E, 2007) Pape E. , â€Å"Bordeaux Meets Beijing; China’s eager oenophiles are reviving the flagging French Wine Industry†, Newsweek, April 16, 2007 9. (Meredith R, 2007) Meredith, R. and Hoppough, S. , â€Å"Why Globalization Is Good†, Forbes, New York, April 16, 2007 10. (Aylward, 2006) Aylward, D. K. and Glynn, J. , â€Å"SME Innovation within the Australian Wine Industry: A Cluster Analysis†, 2006 11. (Smith J, 2006) Smith, J. M, â€Å"The e-Commerce Pendulum†, Brandweek, September 18, 2006 12. (Pape, 2007). Pape, Eric â€Å"Vineyards on the move† Newsweek, April 2007 13. (Nielson A, 2006) Nielson, A. , Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, Vol. 29, Iss 2, Spring 2006 14. (Asimov E, 2005) Asimov, E. , New York Times. (Late Edition (East Coast). New York, N. Y. , August 31, 2005 15. (Zalan T, 2005) Zalan, T. , â€Å"Global, Local or Semi-Global? The Case of the Wine Industry†, Australian Centre for International Business, Working Paper, No. 6, August 2005 16. (Heijbroeck, 2003) Heijbroeck, Arend M. A. , â€Å"Consequences of the globalization in the wine industry†, Report made by Rabobank International, Symposium International, October 8 2003 17. (Ghoshal S, 2007) Ghoshal, S, â€Å"Global strategy: An organizing framework. Strategic†, Management Journal 8, 2007 18. (Kogut B, 2006) Kogut, B. , â€Å"Designing global strategies: Comparative and competitive value-added Chains†, Sloan Management Review (Summer), 2006 19. (Porter M, 2004) Porter, M. E. ,†Clusters and the new economics of competition†, Harvard Business Review, November-December 2004 20. (Harvard University, 2007) â€Å"How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy†. Harvard Business Review, March-April 2007 22. (Slater S, 2002) Slater S. Malcolm, Michael Porter. â€Å"Notes on Diversification As a Strategy†. Harvard School Publishing, 2002 23. (Slater F, 2002) Slater F. Stanley, Olson. Eric, â€Å"A Fresh Look at Industry and Market Analysis†, Business Horizons. Kelly School of Publishing, January-February 2002. 24. (New Zealand Growers, 2006) New Zealand Wine Growers Research Committee, â€Å"Research & Development Strategic Plan†, December 2006 25. (Robinson J, 2008) Robinson, Jancis, † The Fast-Changing World Of Wine†, http://www. sifst. org. sg/pdf/article-thefastchanging. htm. 26. (Robbins S, 2006) Robbins S. , Bergman, R. , Stagg, I. & Coulter, M. @006, Management, 4th Edition, Prentice Hall, Sydney. 27.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

The idea of anti-sexism has hardly scratched the surface of the popular male imagination

The usual view of men's anti-sexism is that it centres around men who find it personally important to challenge the pressure to conform to a ‘macho' image plus a handful of politically aware men wanting to assist on what are seen as feminist issues. In fact any man giving it serious thought will come to see domestic violence, rape, care of their children and suchlike as being men's issues. However, the average man will not be drawn into men's groups by these issues, and will tend to see men's anti-sexism as a movement without a cause. But I believe it's a movement which has remained marginal by failing to acknowledge its biggest cause. Men's groups tend to look for a personal response to the contradictions their members face – THEY are the problem, they must change. This seems to be unrelated to the impersonal world of politics and the hard realities of jobs, pay, working hours and conditions, etc. But this is exactly the area where anti-sexism could have its greatest impact. Because, in spite of the effects of massive unemployment, little has changed men's ideas about work. The classic picture of man-as-incomplete-person that men's groups invoke – emotionally retarded, distant from his children, competitive at work and dominant at home – describes a man well moulded to the career world. The stereotypical male values closely match the qualities desirable in competitive work. Despite the ‘personal politics' of a few men, the nature of work itself has not changed and continues to reinforce the same traditional male values. But there are now women working successfully in most professions – so why should male values continue to dominate? It is because of the strict division between full-time and part-time work. It's in full-time work in the majority of occupations that men and traditional values prevail – women in these jobs work on men's terms. Part-time work on the other hand is clearly the province of women – over 90% of part-timers in Britain is female. In fact, much of the recent increase in women's employment has been in the part-time sector. So what are the differences in these two areas of work? Full-time jobs are valued more highly, often paid a ‘family wage', and require the specialisation of skills and continued commitment that would merit the title ‘career' (though the principle is the same from bricklaying to brain surgery). This continuity is very important – women (in Britain) are permitted usually only a token break for maternity and men generally none for paternity. Outside this career world, there is both unpaid domestic work, including childcare, and formal part-time work – with pay, conditons, prospects and job interest generally worse than full-time work. There are two results of this duality of working situations. Firstly, because of women's unavoidable involvement in caring for their babies, career work favours men. Full-time work has changed little to accommodate the increasing number of women in it, who have to accept the limitations imposed by men such as avoiding children or delegating their care to the domestic/part-time sector. Secondly, the domestic and part-time workforce is not only economically inferior to the career sector but actually services its interests and sustains it. This relationship is the framework for exploitation of both capitalist and patriarchal nature. So, women having children must be free from work from late pregnancy until the baby is weaned at the very least. As men are generally not permitted any reasonable paternity leave it is necessarily the mother who continues to look after the child at least until school age (unless the parents are willing and financially able to pay someone else to do so). If these considerations did not keep the woman out of full-time work in the first place, they are likely to do so for some years at this stage, especially since this whole situation increases the likelihood that the father will be earning more than her at this financially critical time. While this rigid division of work exists, therefore, women wanting children will be disadvantaged in full-time work, and many women having children will have to accept the limitations of part-time work. Men, if they are able to get full-time work, will almost always take this in preference to part-time work – and when they become fathers are likely to be under financial pressure to keep their full-time job, at the expense of their involvement with their children. Some European men, notably in Belgium, have come up with ideas that could break down the rigidity of this full-time/part-time division. They have lobbied the European Parliament for the establishment in the EEC Constitution of what they call the Flexible Work Right. This would be the legal right of anyone to choose how many hours a week to work, being paid accordingly. It would be a move against the binding domination of full-time work and the undervaluing of part-time work, which would allow a balance of working and domestic life to suit the priorities of individual men and women. In particular, parents would be free to share childcare and earning according to their own values. A practical shift in the distribution of the tasks between the sexes would open the door to many other changes. If the responsibility for financial support was no longer borne principally by men this could undermine the damaging tendency for manhood to be measured by economic success – which is often won at the price of being a second rate parent. And for women, work on these terms would mean not only an increase in real economic power and independence, but with this a greater participation in public and political life. Also any overall reduction in average hours worked could help to reduce unemployment in the right circumstances. So how might these ideas be realised in practice? Three possibilities for change are better provision for job sharing, more flexibility of working hours (especially total hours worked) and better parental leave allowances. As far as trade unions are concerned, defending the interests (primarily financial) of those in work comes before freeing members to work less. So small reductions in the working week, (which would probably serve mainly to increase overtime payments), take priority over genuine flexibility of hours and job-sharing provisions. Some forward-looking unions ARE seeking better paternity leave – most men take some time off whether it is officially available or not (94% in a recent Equal Opportunities Commission study). Better parental leave entitlement would go some way toward the goals of this anti-sexist men's politics, especially since the right to flexible work will surely only be won in slow stages. And here the EEC is already playing a part. The EEC Commission has issued a directive aiming to set minimum standards for parental leave in all member countries (three months for men and women during the child's first two years, in addition to maternity leave and at no extra cost to employers). Despite agreement of all other members, and within Britain support of the House of Lords and the Equal Opportunities Commission, the British government has so far vetoed the passage of this Directive into Community law. So there's no doubt that some aspects of anti-sexist thinking are as political as they are personal. But the anti-sexist angle on work doesn't end there. Poor working conditions and occupational safety may be sustained by ideas of what is ‘manly'. The notion that men who complain of bad conditions and danger are soft is sexist and encourages mistreatment of workers – not to mention alienating and excluding women. The response to noise, pollution and heavy lifting may be headaches, ulcers, heart disease and backache; human conditions too are important – if work is a hostile or authoritarian place men may take it out in drinking or violence outside work. A humane workplace is essential for a humane world. The goals of this ‘men's politics' in fact complement those of feminism despite their separate and apparently selfish motivation. This motivation is crucial since the issue of work as a major limitation in their lives is one with which many could identify. This idea – men seeing themselves as ‘work objects' – paves the way for a wider view of anti-sexism, encompassing the aspects of personal change and ‘feminist' causes important to men's groups now. It would suggest too, a positive attitude of relating some of the less desirable trappings of maleness to the situations which shaped them, rather than blaming them on maleness itself. If men looked objectively at the unnecessary sacrifices they make on the altar of work, anti-sexism would suddenly seem relevant to many more men than the few involved at present. (C) Five Cram POSTSCRIPT The above article considers one interesting proposal for breaking down the male-dominated character of paid work. For example, as this issue went to press, a Bill introduced by the Labour MP Harry Cohen, which would introduce a statutory right to a period of parental care for parents of young children, was due to receive a second reading in the House of Commons. Under this Bill, employees with children under two years old (five if the child is disabled or adopted) would be entitled to 13 weeks paid leave if both parents are in paid work, 26 weeks if he or she is a single parent and 4 weeks if the other parent is ineligible for parental leave, for example because of unemployment. The entitlement is not transferable between the parents. The scheme would be paid for by employers and the Government. Under this Government – and probably any currently realistic alternative – it is unlikely to become law. I think it is an important step forward, but how can we as men help it to happen? Schemes of this sort, although less generous, already exist in ten of the twelve EEC countries – why not here? Even if employers, unions and the Government could be persuaded that this sort of parental leave provision is in their interests, there is a danger that it would divert attention away from the need to extend workplace nurseries and local authority childcare provision, and further privatise the provision of ‘care' in our society. Another important issue is how, ‘parental' schemes like this should be linked to more general ones like a Flexible Work Right. Which should have higher priority, and what would their effects be on the level of unemployment? Finally, I doubt if such voluntary schemes would be enough to bring about major changes in the distribution of labour between the sexes. Particularly in times of high unemployment and low wage increases, when the perceived priority of maximising the ‘breadwinners' earnings is greatest, many men would not willingly reduce their hours worked. Schemes involving paid leave avoid this problem, but inevitably involve smaller changes in hours worked so as not to be prohibitively expensive. Compulsory schemes, such as legal limits on basic hours of work and overtime (to encourage men to invest more time and effort in the home) would probably also be needed, but care would be needed to avoid reducing low-paid workers' wages oven further. But, to end on a positive note, it is true that there is a long-term trend towards fewer hours spent in paid employment by each male worker – the average has fallen by over one third in the last 100 years. Let's hope it continues and that employed men make good use of the growing part of their lives spent outside paid jobs.