Airline marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Airline marketing - Essay Example There is a widely held misconception that marketing is about selling what is being produced. It is much more than that. Marketing is involved in deciding what should be produced. Marketing is involved in deciding what should be produced as well as how it should be sold. As such it is the lynchpin of any industry. It is all – pervasive. It is important to recognize that everyone in the airline can contribute to the marketing process. The essence of marketing is to identify and satisfy customer needs; to be consumer-or- market oriented rather than production – or supply oriented. If an airline concentrates on merely selling what is produced before identifying what customers want and are prepared to pay for, it is doomed to failure. The first step in marketing is to identify markets and market segments that can be served profitably. To do this one uses the whole range of market research methods, from desk based statistical analysis to survey of current and prospective user s of air services. The aim is to gain at the understanding of the needs of different market segments and also the degree to which such needs are not currently being satisfied. This leads on naturally to the production of traffic forecasts, which should be as detailed and segmented as possible.The second stage of marketing is to decide, in the light of the preceding market analyses, the air services that should be offered in the market and their product features both in the air and on the ground. This is product planning. ... The third stage is to plan and organize the selling of the products on the basis of a marketing plan. This involves setting up and operating sales and distribution outlets both airline-owned, such as sales office or telephone and internet sites, and indirect outlets involving a range of agents, sub-agents and on-line agencies. In order to attract potential customers, the marketing plan will also include a detailed program of advertising and promotion activities. Lastly, marketing is concerned with reviewing and monitoring both the degree to which the airline has been able consistently to meet the service standards and product features planned and customers responses to them. Such monitoring through weekly sales figures, customer surveys, analyses of complaints and other market research techniques should enable airlines to take short term corrective action, where possible, and also to make longer-term changes in their service and product features. We would be discussing here the marketing approach adopted by one of the best international airlines - Singapore Airlines. Singapore Airlines Ltd. (SIA), the national airline of Singapore and a major carrier in the Pacific region with routes to Europe and North America, is known for its unparalleled customer service as well as for its continuing efforts to upgrade its aircraft and technology. A long-established strategic seaport, Singapore is an important transit point for travel to other areas of the Far East. Even during times of severe recession in the airline industry, SIA has been the world's most consistently profitable airline and, unlike most, a virtual stranger to debt. The "Singapore Girl" flies to 90 cities in 40

Interpersonal communication in romantic relationship Research Paper

Interpersonal communication in romantic relationship - Research Paper Example Their arrangements are not the same. In some cases, romantic relationships end up in marriage. This relationship has two divisions, the popular romance, which is the normal falling in love and divine relationship, which depends on a person’s belief. This paper states the role of interpersonal communication in a romantic relationship. Communication is very important in a romantic relationship. This will predict whether the relationship has a future or it is doomed to fail. Communication entails the feelings the couples feel towards each other. It also has details on why they fell for each other, and the reasons why they need it to last for long. People can judge the nature of someone’s relationship from the length of their communication. A very short communication time shows the two couples are not deeply in love with each other (Odukoya, 2010). Many people argue that if partners are similar in some particular way, they will love each other. This will determine the nature of their interpersonal communication. People in a relationship have to communicate to gather information about each other. These communication methods will not be the same throughout the relationship. It will have to gain a new pattern at some point. Communication is important in predicting the future of the relationship. Things learned from communication will have a mental representation of the other partner. Thus, it will influence the way they behave before their partners. A good communication brings a sense of security to the relationship. Researchers argue that spouses get that feeling of attachment and feel the comfort of their relationship, if the other partner responds as well. Communication will help partners evaluate each other’s beliefs. With time, they come to understand each others tastes. This is important in a relationship. The partners will get to understand each other and define how each partner feels towards the other. Communication helps evaluate the standards

Principles of PR and its role in Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Principles of PR and its role in Society - Essay Example The PR works to establish a link between the public or the prospective customers and the business. Media relations is by far the most common and most convenient PR tool used to provide an effective reach out to the customers of businesses and the general public. This form of PR makes it easy for the public to receive relevant information from across the society and beyond thereby bringing about exposure and awareness. My choice of the PR closely attributes to the controversies that surround the media system in the contemporary world. The aggressive entry of social media into the PR system has complicated issues and has brought more sophistication than success owing to abuse and misuse. The article, â€Å"Challenges of The Information Society and Public Relations,† by Palevska has provided an imperative insight. It explores into the dire constraints that come along with continued innovations in the information society and how it influences the public relations. By reading the article, I have established an understanding of the intrinsic link between information society and public relations. The scenario is applicable in all parts of the world, and other journalists and public relation officers can replicate in other parts of the world. Concerning my specific focus of the concept of media relations and its scope, the article has added into my knowledge, another dimension of the link between information systematics and likely influence on public relations (Palevska, 2012). In my opinion, the article has attempted to offer an insight into some of the conflicting scenarios likely to exist between public relations and the information society. The information society rapidly evolves with the changing dimensions in technological advancement. As such, information delivery and reach up tend to depend on the level of innovativeness a company has relative to its competitors. PR is fast evolving from a primitive and less focus on technology use to a more

Global Water Shortage (Sudan) Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Global Water Shortage (Sudan) - Research Paper Example Water being the fundamental of life, it is ironical to see some people taking a whole day searching for it. Instead, it was supposed to be adequate for everyone, equally. In places like the Sub-Saharan Africa, people take too much of time looking for this precious water, thus reducing their potential (Fiona, 2013). Many people lose their lives, livestock, education and their economic development just because of this water shortage. The biggest question we are left asking is that; if water is fundamental to life, what causes its shortage? Global water shortage is caused by a number of reasons. Some are direct, while others are profound. Some of the causes of water shortage include global warming, drought, flooding, and climatic change (Srinivasan, Lambin, Gorelick, Thompson, & Rozelle, 2012). The mother of all these cases is said to be global warming. This is where man’s activities such as industrialization leads to the emission of ozone gases which causes change adverse change s to the world’s climatic pattern. This leaves many affected areas with inadequate rainfall yet; rainfall is the mother of water (CSM, 2012). Harsh climatic conditions, caused by the effects of global warming, bring about drought and drying up of the ground underground water sources. In case nothing is done to control this problem of global warming, serious water crisis problem is yet to face the entire world by 2030. This is where the global water requirement may outstrip its sustainable use by 40%, as predicted by the Organization for Economic Corporation and Development (OECD). Case Study of Sudan In Sudan, most people do not have access to clean drinking water even though River Nile is known to be the closest river around. Most parts of this country are dry and not everyone lives near the Nile River to even access the unsafe river water. In addition, it is very difficult to access the Nile River has given its terrain that has poisonous and dangerous creatures which scares people away. People living along the Nile River are much affected by HIV/AIDS given that they solicit for sexual favors in exchange for water. Sources state that only 40% of the entire Sudan has access to clean drinking water, while the rest die in the water crisis. Being listed as one of the major countries in the world whose citizens seek refuge from other countries, the major reason behind the alarming rate of refugees from this country become that of water shortage. Sudanese flees to the neighboring countries like Kenya in East Africa, in order to stay at a place with plentiful of water. According to Jason (2012), more than 35,000 people had fled Sudan in 2012 to Kenya, in search of water. Water shortages in Sudan have led to several other problems so he people including health problems, where waterborne diseases attack the people as they use dirty water for drinking and others dehydrate to death due to water scarcity. Children do not go to school since they need to walk severa l thousands of miles to find water; this takes almost a whole day or sometimes, several days, hence they have no time to go to school. Economic activities such as livestock keeping and farming cannot take place in some parts of the country since there is no easy water access to those parts. Solution to the Problem The only remedy to global water shortage is that; we should control the emission of the dangerous gases to the atmosphere so as to reduce global warming. In this way, we can reverse the harsh climatic conditions, hence avoiding droughts and drying up of our wells, lakes and rivers, (Cook & Bakker, 2011). People should also be trained in better water management programs so that when it rains, they are able to harvest the

John Calvin and the Protestant Reformation Essay Example for Free

John Calvin and the Protestant Reformation Essay This paper is devoted to the period of Protestant Reformation in France and the key figure of this process- John Calvin. John Calvin was a Protestant theologian and the developer of the famous Calvinism theology as a system of Christian church. He is well known for his written works and his teachings, but not many know about his role played in Michael Servetus’s execution. These and some other issues will be discussed in this research. John Calvin was born under the name of Jean Chauvin in Picardie, in France. His father sent him to Paris in 1523 to get ready for the priesthood. There Calvin studied in College de la Marche and then in College de Montaigu till 1528. As he was doing quite well in ecclesiastics, he gained the chaplaincy and the curacy of Saint Martin de Martheville from his native city (Tracy, 1999). In 1529 Calvin resigned chaplaincy for the benefit of his younger brother, but however two years later he resumed and was holding it till 1534 (Gordon, 2002). Calvin proved to be a good student, but his father, who by the year 1528 had problems in relations with the ecclesiastic authorities in Noyon, took a decision, that his son should study law instead. John didn’t argue and went to Orleans, to study law at the university there. In a year he moved to another university and took classes of Andrea Alciati. During his studies at both universities Calvin was very much under the impact of Melchior Wolmar, who was a leader of humanist ranks and was a supporter of Reformation ideas. When in 1531 the father of Calvin died, he had to come back to Paris and take up study of Hebrew. In 1532 John spent another year in Orleans as a student of law again. In spring of the same year he paid his own money for publishing the text of Seneca’s De Clementia, adding his commentary. This was a confirmation of his humanistic views in connection with the Roman Church. At the same time the ideas of Reformation were rapidly spread in France, Calvin however was moving step by step to his position, he wrote in his commentary to Psalms that he â€Å"was too obstinately devoted to the superstitions of popery to be easily extricated from so profound an abyss of mire. (Barth, 1995). One of his friends, who also shared the ideas of Reformation, was Nicolas Cop. When he became the rector of Paris University, they decided to use the chance to present their comments concerning the Reformation in front of cultured and intelligent audience. In November 1533 Cop held a speech in the Church of the Mathurins, which they gave the title â€Å"Christian Philosophy†, meaning the Gospel. The relation, he built between Law and Gospel, was closely connected to the ideas of Luther. The final part of the speech was however independent and more concentrated on the one of the features of Calvinism, namely – salvation. The speech had all chances to produce a vivid impression on the audience and to attract supporters, but Cop spoke negatively about the hierologists of Sorbonne and called them â€Å"sophists†. This certainly caused their indignation, they sought for support from the government, and Cop had to escape. Calvin followed him due to their known close relation, but risked to return very soon. He couldn’t get rid of his fears, that his support of Reformation ideas could be followed by imprisonment, like it was the case with some other reformers. He decided to become a wanderer in 1534, all the time changing his name. Two and a half years he was going from place to place, was imprisoned in Noyon, visited Paris, where he met Servetus for the first time. In Orleans he published his Psychopannychia, confutation of the theory about sleeping soul between death and the Last Judgment (Gordon, 2002). In 1535 Calvin visited Strasburg under the name of Basel. There he finished his Institutes of the Christian Religion, about the book he wrote: My objects were, first, to vindicate my brethren whose death was precious in the sight of the Lord; and next that, as the same cruelties might very soon after be exercised against many unhappy individuals, foreign nations might be touched with at least some compassion toward them and solicitude about them. † (Barth, 1995). After he had published this work, he worked in Ferrara in the court of Duchess Renee. A year later he met his younger brother Antoine and his half-sister Marie in Paris. He traveled with them to Strasburg, but because of the war, had to go to Geneva, planning to remain only one night there. But Farel Guillaume, one of the like-minded persons, convinced him to stay there. Two years he spent at the side of Farel, but still the city could not stand the significant reforms offered by the Reformers and on Easter Monday in 1538 they both were ordered to leave the city. Calvin traveled to Strasburg, where he became minister to the French refugees in the Church of St. Nicolas (Brady, 1994). Two years later he married Idelette de Bure, widow of Jean Stordeur of Liege, an Anabaptist, whom Calvin managed to turn into pedobabtist. They had a son, who lived only several days. Idelette de Bure died in 1549 and Calvin never married for the second time. Calvin didn’t have the plans to return to Geneva as his financial situation was rather poor at that moment, but very soon he got the opportunity to improve his position. In Strasburg he managed to practice the reform, which he could not launch in Geneva, and his fame started to grow very quickly. He received an offer to come out with a course of cathedral lectures. In 1539 Cardinal Jacopo Sadoleto sent a letter to Geneva, asking for it to be returned to Roman obedience and Bern government gave the right to answer to Calvin. There were serious changes in the government of Geneva, and as a result the friends if Calvin won the power in the city. For the second time Calvin followed the arguments of Farel and went to Geneva. He knew perfectly, that there were a lot of his enemies, and that not everybody was ready to support him, but his faith in God was his major support. The government prepared a house for him and a corresponding salary. His work in Geneva started, the city turned into his main, but not the only one, center of activity. Geneva was a place, that gathered a lot of refugees from Holland, Italy, England, Spain, who were ready to listen and to support the ideas of Calvin. Also a number of students visited his lectures. His fame was growing, and more and more people were standing by him. At the age of fifty-five he died because of a disease. For Geneva he left one hundred and seventy dollar, faith, education and reconstructed government. Calvin chose Apostle’s Creed as the basis for his ideas, at the same time closely relating theology and ethics. Calvin’s reformation was practical, with the strongest emphasis on the doctrine of predestination; he tried to teach people of the city to refer to it as a cornerstone of the Christian faith. Opposed to lenient views concerning grace and sin, propagated by the Roman Church, the Augustinian doctrine recovered in his words. Calvin did his best to change the face of Protestantism, as he managed to address openly and directly the matters, which other reformers didn’t know or didn’t want to discuss (Brady, 1994). His main target was the proper organization of the church governance and social organization of the church in the city. He was said to be the first politic leader, who was able to build the social organization based on biblical principles. He brought very significant innovation, namely by incorporating church into the government of the city (Cameron, 1991). In the middle of 1550s the structure of Geneva was changed completely in accordance to Calvin’s ideas. As a result Geneva became the most important center of Protestantism in Europe and attracted the persecuted refugees from other countries. The branch of Calvin’s reforms became the prevalent branch of Protestantism from the seventeenth century. Calvin had the same problems as Luther with Anabaptists. On the 16-17 of March in 1537 he had a public meeting with them, and using his strong argumentation disposed of their ideas, as confirmed by Council of Two Hundred. Along with a great number of supporters Calvin had his opponents as well. Calvin played a very important role in the execution of Michael Servetus – â€Å"the Spanish physician, radical reformer (Anabaptist), and unitarian. † (Gordon, 2002). In 1531 Servetus published his ideas denouncing the Trinity, which was the key doctrine Catholics and Protestants could agree about. Three years later Calvin agreed to meet Servetus in person in Paris, Servetus however didn’t appear. From 1546 till 1548 they exchanged letters, trying to convince each other, but finally Calvin had to stop the correspondence, as it was growing more and more rancorous. In 1553 Servetus was sentenced to death in absentia by Inquisition in Spain for spreading heresy. Calvin provided very important evidences to support the conviction. Servetus escaped from the prison, but was again arrested in Geneva on the initiative of Calvin. This time he was sentenced to burning on a stake, which took place in 1553. Then Servetus was buried together with the copy of his last work De Trinitatis Erroribus. Servetus was the only one, who was sentenced to death for his religious beliefs during the lifetime of Calvin, and there is finally no agreement about the correctness of Calvin’s actions concerning this issue. Hundreds of years later modern Calvinists do not support the actions of Calvin towards Servetus. Nowadays persecution, and what is more death sentence for religious beliefs and positions, seems to be barbarous. Calvin was certainly not the only reformer. The ideas of Calvin and Farel were really close, but Farel was a missionary, a preacher and not theologian or even less a statesman. Calvin, being French would probably not be able to spread his influence so successfully either in Zurich or in Wittenberg, as Zwingli and Luther did it. Calvin was much younger than Luther and Zwingli and had an advantage of having a good foundation for spreading his ideas. He managed to build a system based on their new ideas. He proved to be better organizer and better thinker, at the same time lacking their genius and activity. His life was not as dramatic as those of Luther or Zwingli; he didn’t possess that genial humor or was able to raise popular enthusiasm. And still he remained the most influential Reformer of the Protestant Church. References: Barth, K. (1995). The Theology of John Calvin, tr. by G. W. Bromiley. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans. Brady, T. (1994). Handbook of European History, 1400–1600: Late Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Reformation. Leiden and New York. Breen, Q. (1968). John Calvin: A Study in French Humanism. Cameron, E. (1991). The European Reformation. Oxford and New York. Gordon, B. (2002). The Swiss Reformation. Manchester, U. K. , and New York. Tracy, J. (1999). Europes Reformations, 1450–1650. Lanham, Md.

Strategic Management Report For The Campbell Soup Company Marketing Essay

Strategic Management Report For The Campbell Soup Company Marketing Essay 1.0 Introduction The report discusses the application of strategic process and stages such as strategic analysis; strategic formulation, and strategic implementation in the food processing industry. The company chosen is Campbell Soup Company. 2.0 The Campbell Soup Company Profile Campbell Soup Company is a global manufacturer and marketer of high quality, branded convenience food products. The company profile and its position within food processing industry are discussed at appendix 1. 3.0- Strategic Analysis External Analysis- Scanning Competitive Environment Conducting an external analysis to scan the company competitive environment which focused on predicting the dynamics of competitors actions, responses and intention, can help a business in understanding the dynamics of its industries and markets in order to compete effectively with its rivals in the marketplace. (Henry, 2008) 3.1.0-Porter 5 Forces Model Porters Five Basic Competitive Forces (1996) analysis which deals with microenvironment and related to the competitiveness of an industry has been conducted to find out five featured competitiveness existing in food processing industry. The factors that are considered in this model are according to the analysis of The Campbell Soup Company. Figure 1. Porters 5 Forces http://student.dcu.ie/~slejhad2/pics/porter.jpg 3.1.1-Competitive Rivalry within Food Processing Industry The rivalry among companies in the food processing industry is high and intense. These food processing companies are competing on price, quality, taste, health factors, product innovation, and product benefits (The Food Processing Industry 2006). Campbells major rivals are General Millis Progresso, Heinz and Kraft Foods. As a multinational food processing company, Campbells faces an extremely competitive market in internationally, nationally and locally due to the similarities between each soup producer and wider selection of products provided by other food processing company. (Ellison, Sarah 2003) On the other hand, various types of generic soup brands in the existing market which offer products in lower price have raised the competitive pressure. However, the Campbells high quality of soup products and the ability to keep low production costs weaken the rivalry of the generic soup brands. For instance, Campbells price their soup products only 20 to 25% higher than generic brands while maintaining a level high quality. Campbells would have to continue developing superior healthy food to distinguish itself from Progresso and smaller soup maker companies. 3.1.2 Threat of New Entrants The threat of entry depends on the presence of entry barriers and the presence of new entrants to a food processing industry typically bring to it new capacity and the want to gain market share. (Wheelen Hunger J.D 2007) Campbells major rival- Kraft foods and General Mills, create high entry barriers in food processing industry through their high levels of advertising and promotion. Besides, the intense competition in the food processing industry makes it hard to access in the market. Smaller food processing companies often have difficulty obtaining supermarket shelf space for their products as large retailers charge for space on their shelves and give priority to the established companies who can pay for the advertising needed to generate high customer demand. According to Ghemawat Collis (2001), the economy is a major factor as if the company wants to be a part in this food processing industry it must be able to face high costs for strong competition. Moreover, the slow market growth rate for the food processing industry causes acquisition between companies, resulted the barriers to entry are high with so many food processing companies and little to zero capacity remaining for any more companies. 3.1.3-The Threat of Substitutes Products The rivalry from firms of other industries which offer substitute products is intense as they are producing, supplying and serving the same food products that the food processing companies are. For example, Dunkin Donuts is in the foodservice industry and Campbell Soup Company is in the food processing industry, yet Dunkin Donuts serves soup and Campbell Soup sells soup. Consumers can still go to Dunkin Donuts and acquire the similar soups that Campbell sells. (Wall Street Journal 2003) 3.1.4- Bargaining power of buyers Consumers affect the food processing industry through their ability to force down prices, bargain for higher products quality and services, and play competitors against each other. The bargaining power of buyers is high as there are huge tendency of new entrance with new and variety of products. Besides, consumers prefer choosing products which offer lower prices. For example, Campbells soup products price is relatively 20 to 25% higher than generic brands in grocery stores, hence some consumers would choose generic brand products in the market rather than Campbells. Besides, the profitability obtained by the company is also determined by consumers. Food processing companies would be forced to lower prices if consumers think that the prices are too expensive as consumers tend to stop buying their products or switch to supplements. 3.1.5- Bargaining power of suppliers Suppliers can affect the food processing industry through their ability to raise prices or reduce the quality of purchased goods and services. In case quality products the suppliers face an important factor. Due to the inflation the overall price of materials has been significantly increased. Campbell has always purchased high quality ingredients produced from local farmers. In 2006, Campbell launched Campbells Supplier Diversity Program to grow its diverse supplier base and to ensure that the supplier base better reflects the markets served. In 2007 the Campbells goal to spend with diverse suppliers was $121 million, but the actual spend with diverse suppliers was $129 million. (Campbells CSR 2008) So for Campbells, there is a cost exists to get the reliable supplier. There is a tendency the world nowadays makes a backward integration and wants to minimize the cost of suppliers. 3.2.0- Swot Analysis A swot analysis allows the Campbell Soup Company to determine the extent of the strategic fit between its capabilities and the needs of its external environment. According to Henry(2008), the company can seek to match its strengths and weaknesses to the opportunities and treats it faces in current competitive food processing industry. The Campbells products portfolio includes soups, sauces, biscuits and chocolates and has a strong research function with high capabilities in new products development. 3.2.1-Internal Analysis-Strengths Innovative Campbell has always applied the spirit of innovation in every aspect of its business. At Campbells manufacturing plants in Napoleon, Ohio, and Paris, Texas, an innovative method called overland flow is used to treat wastewater. In terms of products introduction, the company has been consistently quick to come up with new products in the market. For example, the first portable soup product, Soup at Hand, the new microwaveable products such as Chunky and Select. Besides, Campbell frequent updates the products appearance with more contemporary design and new photography. Its popular gravity fed shelving system have been installed at 24,000 retailers nationally and credited for rejuvenating the soup aisle, expanding the category and vastly improving the shopping experience. Campbell is innovative to gauge consumer satisfaction and expectation. (Campbells Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2008) 3.2.2-Weaknesses Declining Market Share The Campbells market share in soup drop from 60% in 2007 to 49% as of October 2009. This is due to more and more private labels continue to enter the market by providing quality products in lower price. Some consumers have switched to try private labels and resulted private labels have gained 11%of the market share. On the other hand, Campbell has also faced stiff competition from brands such as General Mills Progresso and Nestle. (Campbell Soup Co Form 10-Q Quartery Report 2010) 3.2.3-External Analysis-Opportunities Demand for Wellness Products In recent years, the trend towards being more health-conscious has arisen from two main consumer groups. The younger generations currently focus more on low calorie content and on the go meals. For the more mature age group, their diets require health-consciousness in terms of limiting their sodium intake due to increased risk of ailments. Campbells Soups core product categories, notably soup and bakery products, are widely perceived as healthy and are compatible with the further development of health-oriented products, such as the existing and expanding line of Select Harvest and Healthy Request soups. In conjunction with the product improvement, Campbell has announced to expand its industry-leading sodium reduction program and to reduce the sodium content in 23 of its condensed soups by up to 45 percent in fiscal 2011.(Campbell Growth Plans for U.S 2010) 3.2.4-Threats Intense Competition Campbells main profitable core soup category has been facing intense competition and also been losing market share to its strong competitors, particularly General Mills Progresso and private label brands produced by companies such as Wal-Mart. Moreover, Campbells other segments have not produced consistent profits. According to Wolpert (2002), shifting consumer habits and preferences indicate the need to constantly innovate their products and minimize costs, in order to retain loyal consumers and keep up with the fast-changing consumer environment Extensive Laws The company is governed by a multitude of local and international laws and regulations with regards to food safety and environmental standards. For instance, in accordance with the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, Campbells food products must be inspected before they can be marketed. The company faces the risk of fines, injunctions, recalls or asset seizures, and criminal sanctions if it violates these laws and regulations. ( Campbells CSR 2008) 3.3.0- Benchmarking Campbell understands the importance of using benchmarking to evaluate performance. Hence, the company analyzed few top companies which mainly involved in food and beverage processing manufacturing company in a few aspects such as sustainability, supply chain, consumers, community and workplace. Moreover, Campbell have also highlighted the primary ways that companies are implementing their goals as well as select initiatives and key past achievements. In terms of community, Campbells have chosen to focus on nutritional and environmental programs by partnering with nonprofit organizations, universities and Think Tanks to conduct RD for new products. Besides, it also partnered with environmental experts to develop innovative solutions to protect the environment. For instance, Nestle has been launching malnutrition and obesity programs targeting children and adolescents of lower-income families while General Mills has been contributing 5% of pretax profits to charitable causes. The Campbells benchmarked the best practices by promoting nutritional and hunger elimination programs. Besides, Campbells also promote micronutrient products to attend lower income families and develop environmental initiatives. (Campbells Annual Report 2009) In terms of workplace related programs, Nestle, Coca Cola, Pepsi.co, General Mills, have done excellent job. For instance, Pepsi CO has been providing job opportunities for people with disabilities while General Mills, the company has reduced lost-time injury rate by 25% over five years. Hence, Campbell benchmarked and developed workplace programs by focusing four key areas: Ensuring diversity of the workforce thereby bringing a broad range of talents and perspectives to the business Helping employees achieve both personal and professional development Ensuring the health and safety of employees both at home and at work Ensuring that employees have a fair work environment Campbells strived for an injury-free workplace through a strong health and safety program supported by high employee engagement. They train their employees to conduct their activities in a safe and environmentally responsible manner. (Campbells CSR 2008) 4.0 Strategy Formulation For Campbells to achieve sustainable competitive advantage in food processing industry, strategy formulation which derived from the objective and mission is undertaken. Porter (1980) argues that competitive strategy is about developing a defendable position in an industry which enables a firm to deal with the five competitive forces and thus generate a superior return on investment for the film. 4.1 Business Level Strategy-Differentiation To achieve superior value that is recognized by the consumer, Campbells needs to provide unique and superior value to the customers in terms of its products quality and value added up services. It is appropriate to relate differentiation strategy to the Campbells Soup Company as the companys goal is very straight forward, which is Together we will build the worlds most extraordinary food company by nourishing peoples lives everywhere, every day. Campbell has always focused on providing superior, healthy and nutrition food by expanding their icon brands in simple meals (especially soup). The Campbells latest plans are to enhance more than 60 percent of its condensed line with product improvements, further sodium reduction, more contemporary packaging, improved shelving systems and new marketing aimed at the simple meals category. ( Campbell Growth Plan 2010) Nowadays there are increasing numbers of consumers who are very concerned with nutritional values of foods they eat. The Campbells Soup Company which is having superior research abilities has been taking advantage of this avenue and further develops this product line. According to Douglas R. Conant, Campbells President and CEO, Campbell is going to fire up the important condensed soup business and step up the competitive posture of their ready-to-serve products. (Campbells 2009 annual report) The improvements and innovations of Campbells has made over the past several years has made Campbell outwit most of its rivals in the condensed soup category. Low-sodium products are pivotal to Campbells long term success as the majority of Campbells consumer base is  baby boomers. The majority of baby boomers diets are comprised of low sodium. A recent study shown that high cholesterol, attributed to high levels of sodium intake, is the number one diagnosed health condition for the baby boomer generation.  The condensed soups have one of the highest sodium contents of all processed foods in existing market. Therefore Campbells low-sodium products have differentiated themselves with many rivals. Besides sodium, Campbells also has to focus on other aspects such as MSG and low calories of its soups by hoping that these healthier offerings will help gain market share among younger, more health conscious consumers. (Campbell CSR Report 2008) Besides, Campbell understands that creating a quality product begins with quality ingredients. Campbell purchases most of the ingredients from domestic farmers in countries where they manufacture products and also obtain certain ingredients from carefully selected suppliers around the world. Any ingredient that does not meet the quality requirements will not be used in a Campbell product to ensure superior product quality. On the other hand, providing value-added services help Campbells to outwit its existing rivals. Campbell continually experiments with new programs to provide consumers with useful information on meal ideas, health and wellness, and other tips. For example, each day their Campbell Meal-mail program delivers nearly 500,000 recipes electronically to busy Americans who are hungry for convenient, great-tasting meal ideas that will please their families. Consumers can access the Campbells Kitchen website at any time to download recipe ideas that have been tested and approved by Campbells nutritionists. Consumers also have the opportunity to share their ideas and comments on recipes with one another on the Campbells Kitchen website. ( Campbellsoupcompany.com) It is suggested that the Campbell Soup Company to improve the flavour of its soup products to attract more demand. Besides, Campbell can try to create more contemporary design for its existing soup products instead of the familiar red and white colour design in order to stand out from various types of products in the market. 4.2 Corporate Level Strategy-Diversification The corporate level strategy of The Campbell Soup Company deals with three key issues: i) The firms overall orientation toward growth, stability, and retrenchment. ii) The market in which the company competes through its products and business units iii) The manner in which management coordinate activities and transfer resources and cultivates capabilities among product lines and business units The Campbells operates with four products divisions and has expanded its product to microwavable soups to make customers more convenient for preparing soup without container. (Campbells annual report 2009) Obviously, the Campbell Soup Company, which is a decentralized company, has been using a related diversification multiproduct strategy. Its strategy is to diversify its business to produce several products, and expanding its market share. Campbell used its engineering support and diversified production to support customers with convenient, good taste and quality food. To support its operating system, department such as Research Development (RD), product development, engineering systems, are required to produce high quality and stable operating system to avoid the unexpected shut down. Campbell has tried to use unrelated diversification strategy under the leadership of McGovern as Campbells CEO with the aim of rapidly expand product line to increase profits and revenue. Campbell has tried to acquire other firms to quickly gain access to new products and new markets. Instead of acquiring only food products, Campbell began to use the unrelated diversification strategy to acquire firms that it felt were positioned to capitalize on the consumers trend and also bought firms involved in all types of business. For example, the triangle Manufacturing Company, a fitness products maker, which is clearly unrelated to the firms core products. (Ireland, Hoskisson Michael 2006) A major reason for Campbells failure to generate financial economies while using the unrelated diversification strategy is that the firms approach to managing its core products divisions never changed. At the same time, corporate headquarters personnel didnt implement the strong financial controls necessary to efficiently manage an internal capital market. David Johnson who replaced McGovern decided that Campbell should not longer use the diversification strategy but to reduce the level of diversification by using related constrained strategy to create value through operational relatedness. Campbells related constrained diversification strategy involves transferring core competencies which lead to competitive advantage and start with value chain analysis to identify ability to transfer skills or expertise among similar value chains and on the hand, to exploit ability to transfer activities. Campbell should enhance more than 60 percent of its condensed line and be more committed to ac celerate the performance of their existing portfolio, most notably in U.S. soup, and continuing to lay the foundation for superior long-term growth. (Campbell Growth Plan 2010) 4.2.1 External Acquisitions and Partnerships Through value-creating external development, Campbells is able to increase its market presence throughout its product lines. For instance, Campbells Baking and Snacking segment is positioned to grow due to the companys recent acquisition of Ecce Panis, a manufacturer of artisan breads. This acquisition allows Campbells to enter into the thriving artisan bread market. With the ever growing foreign population in America, it is suggested that Campbells should consider products that have more of the ethnic background of these immigrants. The brand could quite possibly extend the depth of the line with consideration to the vast number of different tastes in the society today. 5.0- Strategy Implementation A clear mission statement helps in providing focus to an organization and is essential for effectively establishing objective and formulating strategies. (Haberberg and Rieple 2001) In order for the Campbell to proceed into a future where competition is highly competitive, they need to define who and what they truly are, their concerns, their philosophies, and what gives them the competitive advantage over their competitors. This must be clear throughout all areas and divisions, at all levels in the company, in order for the implementation of the mission statement to be successful.   The Campbells strategy implementation includes designing the organizations structure, allocating resources, developing information and decision process, and managing human resources, including such areas as the reward system, approaches to leadership, and staffing. According to Wheelen and Hunger (2007), the strategy implementation process includes the various management activities that are necessary to put strategy in motion, institute strategic controls that monitor progress, and ultimately achieve organizational goals. 5.1- Management Issue Restructuring In food processing industry one year is relatively indiscernible from the next from a macroeconomic point of view. Campbells corporate strategy and the companys management structure have undergone several restructuring since 1980. On April 28, 2008, the company announced a series of initiatives to improve operational efficiency and long-term profitability, including selling certain salty snack food brands and assets in Australia, closing certain production facilities in Australia and Canada, and streamlining the companys management structure. As a result of these initiatives, in 2008, the company recorded a restructuring charge of $175 millions. The charge consisted of a net loss on the sale of certain Australian salty snack food brands and assets, employee severance and benefit costs, including the estimated impact of curtailment and other pension charges, and property, plant and equipment impairment charges. The cost of restructuring activity is shown at Appendix 2 Workforce Diversification The Campbell strive to uphold their promise of Campbell Valuing People, People Valuing Campbell by providing employees with the resources required to do their jobs well; competitive compensation and benefits; the opportunity to learn; and grow through their work. At present, the Campbells Board of Directors consists of 14 independent members and one company executive, the CEO, Doug Conant. Board operations are managed by an independent, non-executive Chairman. The Board believes that diversity in the backgrounds and perspectives of their directors contributes to sound corporate governance. Currently, three of their directors are women, one director is from India and one director is African-American. The Campbells Board of Directors is shown at Appendix 3. The CEO believes that workforce diversity is essential to be a mainstay within the company overall strategic objectives. Hence, Campbells is committed to attract a diverse group of talented employees and providing all their associates with development opportunities and a culture in which they can flourish and provide their employees with career development and quality-of life enhancements that make Campbell a special place to work. Campbells diversity and inclusion strategy is focused on five specific goals: -Firmly establishing leadership support and accountability -Linking diversity and inclusion to performance management -Integrating diversity and inclusion into talent management -Building diversity and inclusion into business practices. -Educating and training to advance diversity and inclusion ( Campbell Annual report 2009) The directors receive annual fees equal to the median directors compensation paid by peer food and consumer products companies. Approximately 50 percent of each directors fee is paid in cash and 50 percent is paid in common stock. Director stock ownership requirements have existed at Campbell since 1993. Currently, the directors beneficially own more than 44 percent of the companys common stock. (Carlin, M Harris R 2008) Though the Campbells has successfully implemented workforce diversification strategy, it is recommended that the company offers stock options to their rank-and-file employees too. By offering employee stock options, workers are given the chance to buy shares in their company at a specified price. The grant or strike price, should be pegged to the value of the stock when it is offered to employees. Employees have the option of buying the stock at a set price then selling it after a period of time. Employee Engagement The Campbell believes that employees will feel most valued when they are fully informed, understand the companys business goals and plans and are invited to offer their feedback on a regular basis. In 2007 and 2008, Campbell was recognized by Gallup as one of the Best Places to Work in America. The company believes that its work environment has contributed to their relatively stable retention rate and their improved marketplace performance. (www.euroinvestor.co.uk) Campbell conducts annual employee survey to develop work group action plans, empower individual employees to improve the workplace and to strengthen the companys business practices. 5.2 Marketing Issues The Campbells understands that successful marketing implementation is affected by marketing variables. 5.2.1 Market Segment The companys 2009 financial reports segment their business into four key categories: US Soup, Sauces and Beverages, Baking and Snacking, International Soup, Sauces and Beverages, and North American Foodservice. With sales approximating $3.8 million, US Soup, Sauces and Beverages accounted for approximately half of the sales in FY 2009 and drove the bulk of profits for the company. Core brands like Campbells, V8, Swanson and Prego delivered a combined 4% growth through a combination of innovation, consumer trade downs, and improved distribution channels.( Appendix 2) 5.2.2 Marketing Strategies Product The Campbells positioning is providing healthy and nourishing products within the product line. The product line width come in many different options. This being said, the depth of the product line is in fact the largest. Each product comes in a multitude of different sizes and flavours. The brand offers adequate products for the consumers. In addition to the size and flavours, the packaging is well organized for that of single or multiple item purchasing. The packaging also achieves an accurate perception in the consumers mind. They use well known athletes to convey the message of health to the consumer. Price The pricing of the products within the brand name are consistent with that of the positioning. They provide the perception that to eat healthy the consumer should not have to pay more. The Campbells brand is typically priced at twenty cents above that of their major competitors. This is the act of swaying the consumers mind to the perception that Campbells is of a higher quality than the competitors. While operating in an elastic market, Campbells employs special event promotional pricing strategies in order to remain competitive. The company also offers discounted pricing on certain seasonal items and during holidays. In addition to these promotional strategies, they employ the odd even strategies to convey the message that their brand is that of higher quality. Distribution Campbells brand is distributed intensively throughout all geographic locations within the United States and many foreign countries. In the distribution process, Campbells deals with wholesalers and retailers thus creating the supply channel. This is a very profitable concept as long as the lines of communication remain opened. Catalog marketing is also another form of distribution that is employed. This is easily achieved due the fact that the shelf life of the products is long. The products are very easily purchased at any marketplace at any given region of the US. Promotion In using the most recent athletic figures in their advertisements, they are successful in maintaining their position of health. In the use of the retailers to help marketing, they are employing the cooperative advertising technique. This helps to advertise their products from numerous different angles. The effectiveness of the  marketing  strategies  employed by Campbells has made them recognized as the premium brand within their product lines. In comparison to the competition, Campbells focuses a great deal on interacting with the public with such efforts as sweepstakes and giveaways and also education. Their public relation efforts have ranked them as one of the most society conscious brands in the business. 6.0 Conclusion A strategic analysis is most applicable to strategic management at the business unit level of large multinational firm such as Campbell Soup Company. At the strategic analysis stage, internal and external environmental scanning by using Porters 5 forces model and Swot analysis are conducted. Besides, benchmarking is used to evaluate performances. Strategy formulation which derived from the Campbells objective and mission is undertaken to outline the business level and corporate level strategies. Strategy at business level deals with which market the company chooses to compete while strategy at the corporate level is more concerned with managing the portfolio of business. The final strategy implementation stage includes the management issues, staffing and marketing variables which can influence the profit margin of the company. ( 4498 words) Prepared by _______________ ( NG LIN JIA) List of References 1. Campbell Soup Company, About Us, online, retrieved 2 March 2010, http://www.campbellsoupcompany.com/about_us.asp 2. Henry, A 2008, Understanding Strategic Management, Oxford University Press, New York United States 3. Porter, M. E. (1996) What is Strategy,  Harvard Business Review, 74 (6):61-78 4. Food Processing Industry,2006, retrieved 6 March 2010, http://www.miti.gov.my/cms/documentstorage/com.tms.cms.document.Document_7674150a-c0a81573-2d952d95-c9439446/Chap%2019.pdf 5. Wheelen T.L, Hunger J.D, Concepts in Strategic Management and Business Policy, 2007, tenth edition, Pearson Prentice Hall, United States of America 6. Ghemawat, P., Collis, D., Pisano, G. and Rivkin, J. (2001) Strategy and the Business Landscape: Core Concepts, Upper S

Forecasting Best Practices Essay -- essays research papers

Forecasting â€Å"Best Practices† â€Å"Effective demand planning and sales forecasting across the supply chain can bring a host of benefits. Specifically, it can help improve labor productivity, reduce head count, cut inventories, and speed up production flows, and increase revenues and profits.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  -Edward J. Marien To find the â€Å"best practices† for forecasting, our team researched many cases of forecasting success, and found five companies with a common theme. Rayovac, the Coca-Cola Bottling Company, AAi. FosterGrant, the Sara Lee Corporation, and the Scotts Company all had major problems with forecasting, some of them very similar. To address and solve these problems each of these companies made major improvements to their forecasting systems. Although some used similar methods and others very different, these companies found that the right people, process and information technology was the key to efficient and accurate forecasting. Rayovac  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rayovac discovered the proper use of forecasting when it implemented its consensus decision-making teams to improve their performance. They believe that the best information comes directly from the customer. Therefore, their forecasting takes place from the bottom-up. Sales, marketing, finance, and supply chain builds a consensus for forecasting, inventory management, scheduling, warehousing, and transportation. Their consensus forecasting is the responsibility of a cross-functional team.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For their annual planning process, a bottom-up and a top-down forecasting procedure is used. The top Key Results Measures (KRMs) are compared with the bottom-up forecast which is developed by the consensus teams. Meetings are held to align the two when there are discrepancies. Monthly meetings are held to update the bottom-up forecast and actions are taken to bring the forecast and annual plan into alignment.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rayovac has discovered some key guidelines to be used for successful forecasting and planning: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Actually using the forecast to drive the business and not... ...orecasting cannot be understated. Many companies have found that after successful forecasting and proper use of people, process, and technology have led to increased performance of the company as a whole. This has been proven in our analysis of the current best practices of forecasting in the workplace. References 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bowman, Robert J. â€Å"Scotts Cultivates a Customer Centric Supply Chain Strategy.† Global Logistics and Supply Chain Strategies, July 2004. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hoffman, Kurt C. â€Å"Who’s That Behind FosterGrant’s Demand.† Global Logistics and Supply Chain Strategies, December 2003. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Marien, Edward J. Demand Planning and Sales Forecasting: A Supply Chain Essential. Supply Chain Management Review, 1999 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Murphy, Jean V. â€Å"More Accurate Forecasts Give Sales, Operations Planning New Life at Sara Lee Unit.† Global Logistics and Supply Chain Strategies, March 2003. 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Murphy, Jean V. â€Å"Special Issue: Collaborative Commerce Forecasting Tool Lowers Coke Bottler’s Inventory.† Global Logistics and Supply Chain Strategies, November 2002.