Management Is Doing Things Right; Leadership Is Doing The Right Things Essay

Management Is Doing Things Right; Leadership Is Doing The Right Things - Essay Example His distinction between management and leadership has been a popular topic for debate for several years now.Leadership acts as a tool in settling on the best course of action to take- what are the things that should be done to reach our targets? But according to Drucker’s philosophy, leadership is strong and successful when the leader thinks through questions like ‘Of those things that would make a difference, which are right for me? By ‘doing the right things’, he meant that effective leadership is considering the company’s mission, describing it and openly establishing it. It is a leader’s job to set clear goals for the company and define the standards needed to be maintained while achieving the goals. Being aware that he is not in control of the universe, he has to make compromises. This, however, he does once he has thought of the right and the desirable. Drucker defines leadership as mundane, unromantic and boring. Its essence lies in perf ormance. Effective leaders keep on checking their performance against the achievement of their goals. This practice helps them to analyse their choices and decide on what is important and needs immediate attention. It also assists them in identifying their strengths and recognizing their weaknesses. Regarding this, Drucker says: ‘I have seen a great many people who are exceedingly good at execution, but exceedingly poor at picking the important things. They are magnificent at getting the unimportant things done. They have an impressive record of achievement on trivial matters.’ Setting the right kind of goals plays a significant role in developing a successful leader. It is of extreme importance to set realistic achievable goals which fit in with the overall mission, keeping in mind the external constraints such as political, economical, and financial and internal constraints such as the current resources available and the interpersonal issues. In accordance with this s tatement of his, lies the aspect of responsibility within leadership. Rank and privilege is not the core to leadership. It is, in fact, the sense of responsibility that the leader feels and exhibits that represents strong and reliable leadership. Hence, a successful leader is one who takes initiative to tackle a task and uses the given resources optimally to derive maximum benefit. Drucker claims America’s chief of army staff in World War II, General George Marshall, became a productive leader through responsibility and diligence. Such kinds of leaders do not fear the self-determined subordinates. Instead, they encourage their juniors, assisting them to reach their potential and accomplish all that they are capable of. Being ambitious for a leader is far smaller a risk than being mediocre. An effective leader is also aware of the consequence that organizations face in case of the leader’s impeachment. In regard to this, Drucker rightly says: ‘An effective leader knows that the ultimate task of leadership is to create human energies and human vision’ Drucker at one point stresses over the effectiveness that every leader is expected to possess. Be it in a government agency, a hospital, a business, a labour union, a university or army, a leader seems to bear high intelligence and imagination only seconds it. Yet he lacks the vital link between his effectiveness and his intelligence, imagination or knowledge. However, many leaders come in contact with the dangerous near successes traps which usually revolve around the mindset

Domestic domestic violence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Domestic domestic violence - Essay Example The description and nature of domestic violence bears dissimilarity across countries. The laws and constitutional priorities of a region influence the characterization of domestic violence. Violence is a societal issue of distress. This means that it may be construed differently in unrelated areas. The forms of domestic violence vary by definition. It may range from emotional exploitation to physical resentment. In addition, there exists sexual cruelty or even financial misappropriation. All these forms of mistreatments are encompassed in domestic violence. The effects of domestic violence often trickle down to all household members (Stover). Its undesirable effects not only include terrorization and psychological cessation, but it also results in grievance and grave harm to general well-being. Depression and sexual dysfunction also follow in dangerous cases. In contrast, domestic violence may have some positive effects. In some societies, it is an approach of raising children in an upright manner. For instance, in some families, discipline involves corporal punishment or caning of children. It all hangs on the region, and the supposed meaning of domestic

Challenges Of The Indian Textile Industry Marketing Essay

Challenges Of The Indian Textile Industry Marketing Essay Scale: Indian Textile Industry is highly fragmented Industry that is lead by several small-scale industries. Because of this, there is lack of Industry Leadership. These small companies do not have fiscal resources to invest in technological up-gradation and they are not able to generate economies of scale. This leads to inability to establish a world-class competitive player. All the sectors except spinning face the problem of scale. India has very few large firms and other firms are generally smaller than their Chinese or Thai counterparts. Some of the Chinese large firms have 1.5 times higher spinning capacity, 1.25 times denim (and 2 times gray fabric) capacity and about 6 times more revenue in garment than their counterparts in India  [1]  which in turn gave an effect on the overall cost distribution along with the ability to attract customers with big orders. No of Exporters Source: CRISIL Skill and Labor productivity: Though Industry has cheap and skilled manpower but they are less productive comparative to other south Asian countries. Low Labor productivity due to lack of skills and modernized infrastructure is making Indian textile industry less productive than other competitor nations. An Industry and Regional Perspective Source: Economics Program Working Paper Series: The Cost Competitiveness of the Manufacturing Sector in China and India (Bart van Ark, Abdul Azeez Erumban, Vivian Chen, Utsav Kumar) Along with the labor productivity issues three other issues are of important consideration: (a) there is a lack of technical manpower -there are only 30 programmes at graduate engineering (including diploma) levels graduating nearly 1000 students this number is insufficient for bringing about significant technological change in the textile sector; (b) Investment by Indian firms for training of its existing workforce is very limited and the skills are confined to already existing processes; (c) there is serious dearth of trained operators and supervisors in India. It is expected that Indian firms will have to invest close to Rs. 1400 bn by year 2010 to increase its global trade to $ 50 bn. This kind of investment would require about 70,000 supervisors and 1.05mn operators in the textile sector and at least 112,000 supervisors and 2.8mn operators in the apparel sector (assuming a 80:20 ratio of investment between textiles and apparel).  [2]  In this situation the real bottleneck t o growth is going to be availability of skilled manpower. Poor Infrastructure: Technological Obsolescence and low degree of modernization in various steps of value chain affects the quality, cost and distribution. The general trend in the country is to go for second hand and outdated looms thus resulting in lower productivity and quality. Raw material from power looms and handloom is of low quality. Though India is a hub of IT services, they are not effectively implemented in textile sector to improve the productivity 1.png Inadequate Research Development and Lack of Technology Upgradation: Government of India has done significant investment in various schemes and other programmes for the growth and development of the industry. It launched Technology up gradation fund scheme in 1999 and issues Rs 916 bn for technology upgradation. However TUFS have not benefited all the segments of the Textile Value Chain -large parts of the funds have gone to the relatively healthier spinning sector. 2.png Low FDI: Lack of scale and the fragmented nature of industry have discouraged mega investments in the Indian textile industry. Unattractiveness of the industry has resulted in abysmal FDI inflows, despite 100% FDI being allowed under the automatic route. These drawbacks created a hurdle to make industry more competitive on the global basis. Legacy of government policy: Government followed protectionist policy for handlooms (labour-intensive and seen as a means to sustain employment) vis-à  -vis power looms mills. India had antiquated labour laws. The companies have often broken their business down into small units to avoid any trouble created by labor unionization. India also maintained capacity restrictions for a long time because government wanted to incentivize Small-scale industries. The Land and urbanization laws resulted in closure of urban mills and lack of import subsidies on advanced machinery resulted on limited technology advancement. Lack of Trade membership: India is serious lacking in trade pact memberships, which leads to restricted access to the other major markets. This issue made others to impose quota and duty, which put scissors on the sourcing quantities from India. High Power Tariff: After raw material, power cost is the most significant cost in the whole supply chain. High power cost and erratic supply hampers the production in India. High Cycle time for garments: Cycle time is the key factor in determining the competitiveness of a firm. It has a direct impact on both price and delivery schedule. Cycle time reduction is strongly correlated with high first pass yield, high throughput times, low variability in process times, low WIP and consequently cost. Currently Indian firms have high lead times and they must reduce their cycle times across the entire supply chain.   The average lead time in manufacturing and delivery sums to around 45-60 days from fabric buying to shipment of apparels. It can also get extended to 80 days. The mean delay in exporting finished garments from India after procurement of raw materials is estimated to be 15.5 days. The shelf life of products driven by fashion is merely 45 days therefore, such delays are indefensible. In contrast Turkey completes entire task ranging from approval of design to delivery in warehouse in a flat 30 days cycle  [3]  . Turkey also has the strategic advan tage of being located close to EU markets and positive liberal political conditions. Customs must provide a turnaround time of  ½ day for an order if we expect Indian firms to become part of larger global supply chains. Indian textile firms must enforce a deployment of industrial engineering with specific importance on cellular manufacturing, JIT and statistical process control to minimize lead times on shop floors. Usage of IT for increasing the productivity is also low in this sector. Indo French Collaboration Machinery: The French textile machinery Manufacturers has established a firm foothold on the international markets for many years. France is the European Unions third largest exporter of textile machinery and the sixth largest in the world. More than one hundred countries have chosen them as their partners to whom they export 90% of their national production. They are a dynamic group of companies who created years ago a private professional Association UCMTF (French Association of Textile Machinery Manufacturers), whose aim is the promotion of the French machines and French companies. The specialized sectors of the French textile machinery industry are: Spinning preparation machinery Long fibre spinning machinery Fibre opening, fibre blending machinery, textile waste recovery Cards Nonwovens manufacturing line Such expertise if augmented with Indian government support can help the issues associated with poor infrastructure and machinery resulting in poor quality of fabric and thus increase the competitiveness of Indian textile in global market. The French textile machinery manufacturers also realized the importance of the Indian textile industry. They invited the Indian textile producers to a series the Indo-French seminar French Technology to Boost the Indian Textile Industrys Competitiveness which were held in Mumbai and Ludhiana on 20th and 23rd April 2010 respectively. The aim of this seminar was to regularly facilitate direct contacts between the Indian textile producers and the top management of the French machinery producers. In words of Mrs Evelyne Cholet, the Secretary General of UCMTF- Organization of such seminars in India is very important at present especially when the Indian Government realizes the importance of new investments in textile machinery to stimulate this strategic sector. The technical textiles sector for which France has an expertise is another sector which has great potential in India This endeavor is supported by Indian government as these seminars were held under the patronage of the office of the Textile Commissioner Ministry of Textiles and Government of India. The French Trade Commission of the Embassy of France in India, Ubifrance (Frances agency for the international development of French companies) and the French Textile Machinery Manufacturers Association (UCMTF) were co-organizers of the seminars. Technical Textile: India is at the threshold of technical textile development, which is set to play a huge role in the development of the countrys various facilities, thus offering the greatest growth potential in this sector. Owing to the rise in demand for value added textile products in the developed nations, the technical textile industry is said to grow around 4 5 percent. According to the recent research by the Textiles Committee, the technical textile industry in India is expected to grow at a rate of 11% anually and reach a size of around $14 billion by 2012. The current size of the market is little less than $8 billion and the projected investment in this sector is around $1000 million. Technical textiles correspond to a multi-disciplinary field with different applications in numerous fields such as medicine, aerospace sports, defence, agriculture and construction. France has already developed expertise in this segment. In France, the technical textile industry comprises nearly 600 companies, consisting of very small businesses, numerous SMEs and big groups alike. Some twenty trades are represented, from fibre production and spinning through to clothes-making and assembly, and cover 12 sectors of application. This type of material is regularly used in widely varying fields such as packaging, protection and safety, clothing, construction, transport, the environment and the medical sector. All these mutually complementary companies work within a network of technical centres, laboratories, universities, competitiveness clusters and professional associations. Their excellence is recognized far beyond the borders of France. Indian manufactures can learn a lot from French technologies and products in technical textile segment. In order to facilitate this learning Techtextil India International Trade Fair for Technical Textiles and Nonwovens is organized where pavilions from Germany, Frnace and Italy present their latest innovations. The objective of the fair is to achieve a future oriented perspective and practical technical information in a range of presentations and discussions specially formulated for the high potential Indian market. Techtextil India is supported by the Office of the Textile Commissioner of the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India. In words of Mr. Dayanidhi Maran, Union Textiles Minister, present at Techtextil 2009- The technical textile industry has a high potential to attract investments worth $1.03 billion and generate around 3,00,000 additional employment by 2012. Since India has highly-skilled manpower and abundant availability of raw material, it can emerge as a key player in the technical textiles industry Innovation through Competitive pole: In order to improve the highly fragmented textile industry of India the French model of competitive poles can be applied. Since French textile industry is a mature sector, innovation is the key factor driving the industry. The French textile industry has been re-organised in the past few years in order to respond to the current innovation and technology creation needs. In 2004, the  «Ã‚  Pà ´les de Compà ©titività ©Ã‚  Ã‚ » (Competitive Poles) were put in place to respond to this need. These poles are associations that group enterprises, research centres, and public and private training institutions. The objective of these poles is to create the environment to the economical renewing of the regions by implementing new products and services. Innovation is, therefore, in the centre of the competitive poles. There are in France now 71 poles spread across the country. The programmes of the poles are financed by the government, by 1.5bn EUR each year in total (including all industries and activities), but local authorities and associations also contribute to the financing. The competitive pole is organized under 2 main axis: Technical textiles Customization of clothing textiles The Lile region is a key example of the competitive pole approach. Nowadays, more than 50 % of the textile engineer in France are graduated in the metropolitan area of Lille Mà ©tropole at lENSAIT and HEI. Technical trainings are also available at the ESAAT. The UP-tex is the pole dedicated to the textile, technical and traditional (clothing), that is located in the metropolitan area of Lile. The UP-tex works as an association of enterprises, research centres, and centres dedicated to technology transference. Its ambition is to become the European reference in terms of advanced textile materials, polysensoriality and design and mass customisation. Furthermore, the labelling of the competitive pole UP-tex has also contributed to the reinforcement of Liles position as a reference in terms of innovative and clothing textiles. The UP-tex has as objectives: Develop the project of the  «Ã‚  customized enterprise  Ã‚ », in order to create a new value chain to the textile  / clothing branch Promote the national and international plan of the high-performance textile regional pole, its economic network (through the CLUBTEX) and its scientific competences Create basis for the emergence of an European technological platform through the creation of the CETI (French  : Centre Europà ©en du Textile Innovant, English: European centre of the Innovative textile) Support the research projects by the attribution of labels to selected projects Further develop innovation in the textile and clothing industry CLUBTEX, which is the association of local industrials to promote innovation in technical textiles, is key element to the success of the Lile textile pole. The association is grouping, nowadays, 58 industrial, 1 union and 6 training and researching centres, all with one common objective to create innovation through the mutualisation of resources. The industries participating in CLUBTEX produce under the SPL (SPL  : French for Systà ¨me Productif Local , in English  : Local Production System) District Textiles Techniques label, which helps on the identification and differentiation of the products towards the customers. Recommendations Government Initiatives: Government can take actions under the following heads for improving the textile industry: Flexibility of contract labor law: Labor Laws should be more liberalized and made favorable that will help to make labor more productive. Textile industry should be exempted from contract labor law Better implementation of TUF: Government should focus on providing uniform disbursement of incentives through TUF Attracting FDIs: Government should provide tax incentives to attract FDI to make it more competitive in global marketplace. Establish integrated textile parks. Allow more Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Garment Retailing to enable large, modern retail showrooms to set up shops in India which will promote local sourcing and will result in better production Encourage Private Sector for Partnership collaboration Develop supporting Industry: Develop textile machinery industry (currently 70% of textile machinery is imported. Faster port clearance and cheaper transport Skill development Initiatives: Set up skill development centers. More Training centers should be opened to train the workforce and awareness of new technology and trends should be increased among manpower. Collaboration with Institute like SITRA (South India Textile Research Association) for labor skill development Reduce power tariff, encourage renewable sources of energy through government subsidy, reduce interest rates and transaction costs. Setting up of quality checking laboratories to ensure global competitiveness Apparel park to promote exports: In National Textile Policy 2000 government established Apparel International Mart: Apparel Export Promotion Council has constructed an Apparel International Mart (AIM) at Gurgaon to provide showrooms on lease and license basis to the established exporters to showcase their products Aid to agriculture industry to improve the availability, productivity and quality of Raw Material: In National Textile Policy 2000 government implemented Cotton Technology Mission: To improve the performance of Cotton sector through improvement in Research Development, quality and productivity of products. The Govt. of India is aimed to increase production of cotton by 50% with improved quality and productivity Firm level Initiatives Companies should improve the productivity at firm level to develop economies of scale: Up-grading technology: Form JVs with global players for technology up-gradation and scale Implementing TQM: ensure waste minimization, product durability and reliability. Lean manufacturing: optimized distribution network and supply chain management to attain reduced cycle time Use of IT services In-house skill development program Apparel Industry Landscape Global Textile and Apparel trade is recovering after a slump during the economic recession in 2008-09, and is expected to reach US$ 1 Trillion by 2020 from the current US$ 510 Bn. The growth in trade is driven by increased outsourcing of western / developed countries towards lower cost countries in Asia. Indias Textile Apparel industry (domestic + exports) is expected to grow from the current US$ 70 bn to US$ 220 bn by 2020. The Indian domestic Textile and Apparel market size in 2009 was US$ 47 bn and is expected to grow @ 11% CAGR to reach US$ 140 Bn by 2020 Domestic Apparel retail market was worth US$33 Bn in 2009 and is expected to reach US$ 100 Bn by 2020. Export Sector: Indias exports have also recovered in 2009-10 following increased global demand and is currently worth US$ 23.5 Bn. Indian apparel exports have also grown by a CAGR of 11.7% in last 4 years. The export market includes readymade garments of cotton, man made, silk, wool and other textile materials with cotton products accounting for the major share. India has the potential to increase its export share in world trade from the current 4.5% to 8% and reach US$ 80 Bn by 2020. India has the potential of this strong growth in exports because of increased sourcing shift from developed countries to Asia. Indias also possess different strengths which makes it a suitable alternative to China for global buyers. In terms of financial returns, Apparel is the most attractive product category amongst retail product categories both in terms of Returns on Capital Employed and EBITDA. Garmenting Technical Textiles are the most attractive segments within the Apparel value chain in terms o f ROA and EBITDA. According to KPMG research investments upto US$ 68 Bn will be required by 2020 across the Textile supply chain to tap the potential market generated by the growth of textile industry. Investment required in garment sector by 2020 is to the tune of US$ 14 Bn and for processing is US$ 19 Bn. Apparel Industry: However Indian Apparel Industry is a small scale sector with high degree of fragmentation. Apparel manufacturing has about 77,000 small scale units classified as domestic manufacturers, manufacturer exporters and fabricators. Due to low entry barrier, garments industry is the least capital intensive part of textiles value chain, leading to high fragmentation. There are around 8200 registered apparel exporters in India. The turnover of 4800 exporters is less than 5 million INR which indicates the high level of fragmentation. Apparel Retailing: A huge chunk of apparel market is contributed by urban segment. Majority of this urban segment stays in few selected cities where organized retail is preferred mode of shopping thus organized retail plays a very important role in domestic apparel consumption. Total apparel and fashion accessories retail market was worth Rs.80,000 crore in 2004, which grew by 11% each year till 2006. Although organized retails chains and exclusive brand outlets are gaining momentum, traditional retailers and MBOs still dominate apparel retailing. One of the key factors for the huge growth is due to expansion by apparel brands and retailers to small but potential cities. Many global brands like Marks Spencer are getting established in India by franchisee route. Malls are expected to be one of the main drivers for growth of apparel retailing, as they provide large areas. Mens Apparel: Man apparel stands at $ 8.1bn in 2007 with a market share of 42% of total apparel market. It is expected to see high growth in near future but % share will decrease due to growth in other segments.In 2007 men apparel industry was mainly dominated by shirts accounting for 36.5% of total men segement. The established key players are Arvind mills, Madura Garment, Westside, shoppers stop and Pantaoon. Levis Strauss is the major newcomer in the same segment. Women Apparel: women apparel stands at $ 6.7bn in 2007 with a market share of 34% of total apparel market. It is expected to grow till 11bn by 2009. Some of the important changiing trends observed in this segment are Liberalization of casual wear in the office is increasing the ready to wear market Working women demand western or indo-western outfits that last in fashion and quality Saree have the higest share but trouser and skirts are growing rapidly due to changing social trends From 2002 to 2007 saree demand has shown a CAGR of 12.8% whereas Trouser and skirts have shown CAGR of 34% 1.png Kid Apparel: Kid apparel is the smallest segment of $ 4.7 bn. Licensing interntional kids apparel is a successful strategy to capture the premium market. Some popular brands in same category are Disney, Barbie etc. This segment have very little brand penetration of 5-8% but it is expected to grow at 15-20% A comparitive analysis of all segments with their expected growth is shown below: Key growth drivers for the textile and apparel Industry are : Growth in organized retailing at 41% CAGR. Increasing number of working women. Increasing household income Changing demographics Affinity for brands and better shopping experience Profile of French brands: High end/ Luxury Brands Products coverage Gender targeted Target Customer Marketing strategy Product Strategy Hermà ¨s Clothing accessories Male/Female High-end/ rich population of all ages Exclusivity is the key word. Products are very Expensive and often perceived as durable goods (can be passed from mother to daughter) Overbuying is discoraged: clients do not have the right to by more than a X number of items per collection Very high-quality, often hand-made by specialized artisans; eg. leather goods often produced by experts in Italy. Each maison has its Flagship products, that remain unchanged, or are slightly updated across collections. Pret-a-porter collections are innovative and trend-setter for the rest of the clothing industry LVMH Louis Vuitton Clothing accessories Male/Female High-end/ rich population of all ages Channel Clothing accessories Female High-end/ rich population of all ages LVMH Dior Clothing accessories Male/Female High-end/ rich population of all ages Chloà © Clothing accessories Female High-end/ rich population of all ages Yves Saint Laurent Clothing accessories Male/Female High-end/ rich population of all ages Lanvin Clothing accessories Male/Female High-end/ rich population of all ages LVMH Givenchy Clothing accessories Female High-end/ rich population of all ages Maison Martin Margiela Clothing accessories Male/Female High-end/ rich population of all ages Premium/ Middle Product Coverage Gender Targeted Target Customer Marketing Strategy Products Strategy Isabel Marant Clothing accessories Female Mid 30s/ Early 40s Targets are high-end of medium class, that cannot afford luxe but wants to buy the best product they can afford. Price sensibility is not to be neglected. Brand strengh based on notoriety, string communication campaigns and sales to clean stocks. New trend is the affiliated-brand strategy, such as Athà © and Etoile, by respectivelly V.Bruno and I.Marant, that target at different age ranges as a way to maximise sales Fit and Design are the key words. Quality is important, but not overvalued as for luxe products. Some brands will have a few flagship products, but as general rule the collections are completely renovated each season Vanessa Bruno Clothing accessories Female Mid 30s/ Early 40s Carven Clothing accessories Male / Female Mid 30s/ Early 40s De Fursac Clothing accessories Male Late 30s/ Late 40s Jacadi Clothing accessories Children 0 to 8y +/- Bonpoint Clothing accessories Children 0 to 8y +/- Gerard Darel Clothing accessories Female Mid 30s/ Early 40s Agnà ©s Clothing accessories Female Mid 30s/ Early 40s Claudine Pierrot Clothing accessories Female Mid 30s/ Early 40s Manoush Clothing accessories Female Late 20s/ Early 30s Maje Clothing accessories Female Late 20s/ Early 30s Zadig Voltaire Clothing accessories Children/ Male / Female Late 20s/ Early 30s Ba Sh Clothing accessories Female Late 20s/ Early 30s Sandro Clothing accessories Female Late 20s/ Early 30s Les Petites Clothing accessories Children/ Female Late 20s/ Early 30s Comptoir des Cotoniers Clothing accessories Children/ Female Late 20s/ Early 30s Athà © Vanessa Bruno Clothing accessories Female Late 20s/ Early 30s Etoile Isabel Marant Clothing accessories Female Late 20s/ Early 30s Kooples Clothing accessories Male / Female Whole 20s Berenice Clothing accessories Male / Female Late 20s/ Early 30s Bel Air Clothing accessories Female Whole 20s Middle/Low range Product Coverage Gender Targeted Target Customer Marketing Strategy Products Strategy Zara (Spanish) Clothing accessories Female Mid 30s/ Early 40s Disposable Fashion. Easy-to-wear collection hits, constantly renovated (short collections) Design Disposable fashion. Quality is not perceived as key product attribute. Products are often produced outside Europe Mango (Spanish) Clothing accessories Female Mid 30s/ Early 40s H M (UK) Clothing accessories Female Mid 30s/ Early 40s Naf Naf Clothing accessories Female Late 20s/ Early 30s Sud Express Clothing accessories Female Late 20s/ Early 30s PROMOD Clothing accessories Female Late 20s/ Early 30s Etam Clothing accessories Female Various Middle/Low range Product Coverage Gender Targeted Target Customer Marketing Strategy Products Strategy Uniqlo (Japan) Clothing accessories Male/ female Families looking for basic items with average quality and good price Long-lasting collections, not really fashion-driven (does not follow trends). Good value for money Le Petit Bateau Clothing accessories Children/ Female French brand in India: Based on the consumption profile we can see that women segment is the fastest growing segment and also the share of formal wear like trousers and skirts is increasing due to increasing number of working women in the society. Thus a French brand targeting female consumers in the age range of Late 20s/Early 30s will be best suited for India. Though the disposable income is increasing, the target group of women is highly value conscious hence Premium/Middle or Middle/Low class brand will perform better than the luxury brands. Also the segment purchasing luxury brands is although growing but currently too small to target. Important Parameters to consider while entering India Positioning: The most important part is the positioning in the Indian consumer mind-space. Smart casual positions are taken in by the brand such as ColorPlus, Dockers and Canary Blue. Design wear are gone with square-1 mall and Kimaya, Kazo and individual designer having their stand alone store. Any positioning below that is lapped up by Zillions of manufacturers. However there are still wide open gaps which lie agape between these broad categories which can be easily targeted. Also Indian consumers show an affinity for foreign brands as it is considered a proxy for status. Therefore even the Indian Manufactures like ITC, Madura garment give exotic names to their brands for eg John Players, Allen Solly. Location: The location is the key to the positioning, it determines and in turns reinforces positioning; in fact, with about 50% of the operational expenses are taken up by the rentals, it has assumed an even more important position. Exclusive showrooms at a high end street or space in well reputed mall are the two options for establishing a high end brand. Buying vs. Manufacturing: It is very important decision for the fore

Bob Dylan :: essays research papers

Bob Dylan As a child Dylan was comfortable being the center of attention, often writing creative poetry for his mother and on occasion singing. Dylan had no formal music lessons, but none the less he began to compose. Later at age 14, he took up the guitar and shortly after formed a band, one of many he played the guitar in. Always plunging ahead, performing to his up most potentional, Dylan absorbed his surroundings as a source of inspiration. Even during his early efforts Dylan responded very positivly to mainstream musicians, such as country star Hank Williams. Yet, he responded especially well to early rock stars such as Little Richard, Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis. In the summer of 1959, after graduation Dylan began to work at a cafe, where he began to pay increasing attention to folksingers such as Judy Collins and Jesse Fuller. Finding an instant connection with their songs, songs relevant to social issues. Dylan was drawn into both the musical style and the social message of these indivisuals. In 1959 he left for college, but instead of consentrating on his studies he devoted himself to his music. He sang wherever he could, his performance style, a nasal tone with annunciation problems sometimes drew applause while other times critisism, yet this would later became his trademark sound. It was also around this time when he began performing with a guitar and harmonica. It was during his performing days in Dinkytown that the young Bob Zimmerman first began using Bob Dylan as his stage name. No clear reason can be assertained for the choice of Dylan. Whatever its source, the name gave him a public image distinct from his Jewish heritage, enhancing his already growing career. Beyond this, an influential figure stepped into the light in his life. Woody Guthrie, a dieing folksinger emerged, consuming Dyaln's attention. After Guthries death in 1967 Dyaln adopted his styles of: a rough, hagard voice with guitar accompaniment in a folk music orientation. By the end of 1960 Bob Zimmerman made his final step into becoming Bob Dylan, the last stage in his early life. He decided to move to New York, to try to make it "big".

Enterprise Rent-a-Car Essay

SWOT With Enterprise, the customer always comes first. This is a major strength that the company has capitalized on in order to separate itself from the competition. Their â€Å"We’ll pick you up!† slogan is the primary focus of the company’s customer service aspect. After the customers, the focus is on employees. Good customer service comes from only the best employees and Enterprise wants all of their employees to be happy with their jobs. By offering a sense of ownership and incentives to advance within the company, Enterprise employees are often very satisfied with their positions. Enterprise is the largest car rental company with the largest fleet and the most rental locations. Because of this, they are easily accessible all over the country. Their main market focus is the home/city market segment and they are the industry leader in this segment with the most market share. In order to stay on top, Enterprise has kept up with technology and has formed many long-term alliances with insurance agents and car repair shops to produce referrals. Shifting to the weaknesses of the company finds Enterprise falling short in a couple of areas. Enterprise does not have the largest market share in the entire car rental industry. The company has established itself in the home/city market and has not entered the largest segment of the industry†Ã¢â‚¬ airport rentals. As a result, they have low awareness in the industry. Another drawback is the lack of a frequent customer program. Most major car rental companies have these repeat-buyer clubs as they attract repeat business and create more customer awareness. Within the company, Enterprise is also having problems recruiting good employees. Because awareness of the company is low and the image of working for a car rental company isn’t that glamorous, college graduates often overlook employment opportunities with Enterprise. The biggest foreseeable opportunity for the company to take advantage of is the airport market segment. This is the largest market segment of the car rental industry and it’s been left untouched by Enterprise. Next would be the under 25 yr. old segment. Rental car companies often leave out possible customers in this segment by either not renting to them or adding large fees  to the normal rental rates. Enterprise on the other hand, does rent to the under 25 segment and charges a small fee or no fee at all. The leisure rental market is another segment that Enterprise can expand into. This market is largely made up of people that want to rent more expensive cars (SUV’s and convertibles) for the weekend. Another opportunity for the company is to expand its system of alliances with businesses and schools/universities. More incentives can be offered to this segment in hopes of opening up more business opportunities. Enterprise will have to watch out for threats in the industry to keep its competitive position. One of the threats is the opportunity for other car rental companies to enter the home/city segment, which is the stronghold of Enterprise. In order to be competitive in the future, Enterprise must keep up with technological advancements such as Internet applications. Alternatives There are three broad alternatives that Enterprise can choose to implement if they want to meet their profit and growth expectations for the future. Enterprise could do nothing, target the vastly untapped 25 and younger market, or move into other segments of the overall rent-a-car market. These three alternatives could be used alone or in combination. One option for Enterprise is to do nothing. The next option for Enterprise is to target the vastly untapped 25 and younger market. This market is an exceptional opportunity for Enterprise because they are one of the only car rental companies that rents to drivers under the age of 25. To target this group takes commitment and creativity. First and foremost Enterprise needs to come up with more creative ads targeting this segment. Another angle for Enterprise would be to get its name onto college campuses across the country. They could do this by giving presentations at various Universities’ or having a creative national contest for college students. Finally to fully reach and keep the under 25 market, Enterprise must keep up with technology. This segment is the most computer savvy of all age groups and to fully target this market Enterprise must be  the industry leader in technological innovations. The Final option for Enterprise is to move into other segments of the overall rent-a-car market. Enterprise dominates the replacement rental segment of overall rent-a-car market. The replacement rental segment only accounts for twenty-seven percent of the total market. Therefore, there is a huge market consisting of the business and leisure/discretionary markets that enterprise has currently not entered. Criteria In implementing these alternatives there must be a way to measure the action to see if they are working. The advertising we propose is more of local nature than national. We believe that the National advertising campaign should still be done, but a local one should be done also to compliment the National campaign. The local campaigns should be in the form of newspaper ads and radio ads. The local branch should monitor and select the media. Then the revenue generated from the ad should be four times the cost to run the ad. Once this 4to1 ratio is not met, its time to change the ad or find another media. The Enterprise company culture is such that each individual branch is responsible for its sales and service. To stay in the parameters of this culture each branch should be responsible for its own advertising also. In measuring the college presentations and the creative contests, Enterprise should monitor the number of resumes that they receive. If the presentations and/or contests do not generate a sizable amount of resumes, then the programs must be reevaluated. Moving into the other segments of the overall rent-a-car market can be measured by profits. Once an airport branch becomes profitable, then Enterprise should start looking at other airports for expansion. In the leisure/discretionary market, track how many weekend rentals and luxury rentals that are being used by each branch. Evaluation of Alternatives 1. Marketing to the 25 yr. and younger segment Our first alternative is to develop a marketing campaign to the 25-year and younger market segment. Targeting this segment will benefit Enterprise by developing a significant growth in increased awareness not only locally, but  also nationally. Increased awareness for the local/city segment will greatly help their all ready prosperous market niche. The recruitment of high quality employees and building superior brand awareness will enable Enterprise to stand above its competitors. Targeting the 25-year and younger segment, Enterprise will develop a younger clientele and will have a wider range of employees to select from. This can be accomplished by setting up presentations at respected universities around the United States and promoting incentive contests with rewards. Other benefits will include increased profit potential and being a step ahead of its competitors with technology. Technological advancements in the Internet and World Wide Web could add convenience for customers with the creation of an on-line reservation system. On the other side of the spectrum, some risks could be associated with the targeting 25 and younger segment. These risks will be associated with larger costs in advertising, marketing, and recruitment. Time and energy will also be contributed since a long-term commitment is required. Also, consumers might question the security of on-line reservations. 2. Moving into new market segments Our second alternative is to move into and gain a share of new market segments. These new markets are the airport segment and the leisure/discretionary segment. The airport segment is the largest in the rental car market, due to the immense amounts of business corporations renting out cars for their representatives. Enterprise can distinctly take control of this market segment and more profits and revenues can be attained. With sharing or controlling this market segment, awareness will expand among these business travelers and discounts and incentives can be introduced to incorporate repeat business. For the leisure/discretionary segment, Enterprise can introduce more luxury vehicles that will appeal to the distinctive traveler. The benefits of moving into the new markets are considerable. Some negative issues can affect Enterprise by moving into new market segments. One is that it is very expensive. There could be numerous costs resulted by missed judged opportunities or mistakes rendered by managers at  these airport locations. Secondly, it is very risky trying to penetrate an all ready saturated market, such as the airport segment. Spending money, time, and energy into a new market segment where Enterprise does not have a firm hold can be financially costly and damaging to Enterprises image. Recommendation Our recommendation, as the Base One Consulting firm, to Enterprise Rent-A-Car, begins with a slow penetration of the business segment (airport rentals) of the car rental market. By entering this segment of the market, Enterprise can penetrate a market in which it formally had no presence in. Also, with the business segment being the largest segment of the car rental industry, there is huge profit potential. We would recommend starting the segment penetration with only the larger airports to limit the cost and risks associated with entering this new segment. Within two years enterprise should evaluate their progress in this segment. If it proves to be profitable, Enterprise should continue to expand into smaller airports across the country, and have a national presence, in the estimated 150 airports within five years. This will be necessary to maintain the present growth rate of 25% for the company since the home-city market is only growing at about 10 to 15% per year. However, to remain consistent with the companies â€Å"decentralized† operations, we feel that the business segment of the industry should be run and managed as a completely separate region, no matter where it is located. This will prevent the loss of focus on Enterprise’s primary market segment, the replacement market, with particular emphasis on neighborhood locations. The second part of our recommendation for Enterprise Rent-A-Car involves increasing advertising targeted towards the under 25-year-old market. Allowing time for budgeting and the creative process, the advertising campaign should be implemented immediately. This can prove to be very valuable because some other firms will not rent a vehicle to anyone under the age of 25. Similarly, a great opportunity to develop brand loyalty lies in this segment. By â€Å"getting a jump† on the other car rental companies in the mind of the consumer, Enterprise can put itself at a strategic advantage. Enterprise has already begun to do this somewhat, with a lower charge than other companies, for the under 25 years old rentals. However, we  recommend using a national advertising campaign to not only increase the awareness of renting to younger customers, but also to increase awareness of the company as a whole. This in turn, will help ease the difficulty of penetrating other segments. Furthermore, a localized campaign, managed by each region, should be implemented to increase awareness, catering to local trends and needs, once again, keeping consistent with the companies â€Å"decentralized† operations format. Included in this local advertisement campaign, an emphasis should be placed on the company itself and its job opportunities, highlighting to the younger audience the promotion from within process and profit-sharing opportunities. Another aspect of the local advertising campaign should focus on employee recruitment. We recommend some type of contest involving a cash reward to generate interest in becoming employed by the company. For example, we suggest implementing a contest rewarding the best creative taped interview or resume with a $10,000 cash reward and an employed position. This contest will generate interest and provide Enterprise with a database of potential employees. Ultimately it will broaden the pool from which Enterprise is able to choose its employees from. This is very important for the future of the company. Lastly, we recommend that Enterprise continue to keep up with, or ahead of, technology. This continues the emphasis on the younger audience and top-notch employees. Advanced tracking systems, such as the one Enterprise currently utilizes, and convenience are key factors in the future success of the company. Advancements in the area of the Internet and computers is crucial to the sustained growth of this company, especially in the travel segment of the market. Enterprise must consider the financial aspect of the recommendation by Base One Consulting. If approximately 15 airports location were opened and used to judge the profitability of this segment, and an estimated 125 cars at each location (based on Exhibit 1), with the cost averaging about $20,000 per vehicle, Enterprise would be looking at an initial investment of about $37.5 million. However, the company’s revenue is estimated at about $2.61 billion per year from the replacement market. The profit potential can only be estimated since airport rates very widely. Since the overall car rental  market generates an estimated $14.62 billion per year, and the business rentals account for about 40 percent of that figure, there is potential to penetrate an over $5.5 billion dollar market (Figures from Exhibit 2). In comparison, the costs to implement an aggressive advertising campaign, both nationally and locally, must be estimated from past advertising figures (Exhibit 2). Since Enterprise spent an estimated $22 million in advertising last year, and a more aggressive campaign will be implemented, we can estimate an advertising budget of about $55 million. This should cover all of the national and local advertisements. Although the advertising budget will more than double, it would only account for about 2.1% of the company’s budget. This is less than the industry average of 2.8% of revenue. Overall, by implementing the recommended strategy, Enterprise would be looking at expenditures of about $92 million. Although this is almost 40% of the company’s revenue for one year, many of the funds will come from long-term loans and other sources. Also, the revenues that will be realized by implementing the recommendation must be considered.

Much Ado About Nothing †Theme of Deception Essay

Deception plays a huge role in the plot of Much Ado About Nothing, from the major dramas of Don John and Claudio’s love to the duping that led to the bringing together of Benedick and Beatrice. Although to many deceit has a negative connotation, in the play it all depends on the intentions of the trickers. The characters that misled Benedick and Beatrice, manipulating their arrogance and personality meant only to spread love and entertainment, which it certainly did – so that sort of deception was justified in the play. Ursula’s words when deceiving Beatrice, â€Å"Doth not the gentleman deserve as full as fortunate a bed as ever Beatrice shall couch upon† have a light-hearted tone and promoting happiness is really the only motive. Don John’s villainy, however, is an entirely different matter. His schemes to dismantle Claudio and Hero’s relationship led to disastrous consequences and the public humiliation of an innocent young woman during he r marriage ceremony. These wrongs could only be righted with another deception: Hero’s death. It was only with her symbolic death and resurrection that her purity could be reinstated – it would â€Å"change slander to remorse†, the friar said – and her relationship with Claudio reconciled. However, deceit in non-evil circumstances isn’t hallowed unquestionably in Much Ado About Nothing, because we are made to query the necessity of some of this incessant trickery like the conversations of Beatrice and also Don Pedro at the masked ball. All in all, there are mixed messages about different sorts of deception in the play, and really it’s up to the individual what to take of those messages.