Juvenile Justice Essay

The Juvenile Criminal Justice System and Adult court system have many simalities and differences. While the Juvenile Justice system is more concerned with rehabilitation of the Juvenile so he wont contine with more crime when he become an adult , the adult court sytem is looking look to punish the adults with more harsh time, and consequences. They share similarlites such as procedural safeguards to protect their rights and also they both have the right to councel to help defend they self. Even though both court system are ment to rehabilate and punish or detour criminal from more crimal behavior we need they both to keep America safe and to contine our pursuit of happiness. The juvenile justice system and the adult justice system share their commonalities and differences. For example, the juvenile justice system makes it the point to rehabilitate instead of punishing juvenile delinquents. However, one must take into consideration that punishment is still a feasible concept within th e juvenile system, but it is used prudently as a â€Å"last resort.† In instances of punishment for a teenager who is accused of an atrocious crime, he or she may be tried as an adult (Goldstein, 2007). According to Dr. Goldstein (2007) there are some similarities between the two justice systems as he states that â€Å"the police, judiciary, and corrections have discretion relative to decision making in both systems.† For those adults and juveniles that admit guilt there is a system of procedural safeguards to protect their rights. Additionally, other commonalities between the age separated groups include plea bargaining, as well as the right to hearings and appeals. However, when adults are tried for crimes, they are tried in the adult court, while juveniles are tried in the juvenile court. Other differences exist, as Goldstein (2007) further states that â€Å"juvenile proceedings are not viewed as criminal,† and that â€Å"juvenile records, court hearings, etc. are confidential and not normally accessible; adult records are public.â⠂¬  Most juveniles receive probation after conviction and the juvenile system in total is much like the intermediate sanctions of adult corrections. Once a juvenile offender is placed on probation he/she will be ordered to participate in some educational, counseling or restitution programs while on probation. Probation officers attend the schools the juveniles attend, to minimize the potential for more criminal activity (Clear T. Cole G. Reisig M. 2009).The juvenile correctional system warrants and receives more attention than the adult systems. Why not nip crime in the butt when it is present in younger offenders to minimize the potential of future criminals? When young children see that they have time to reform and live a better life, I believe for the most part they will. Both juveniles and adults have the right to counsel in court proceedings. Nevertheless, juveniles may be represented by court appointed advocates who look out for the juvenile’s â€Å"best interest,† as a parent would for his or her child; with right ways to help the child rehabilitate. In the case of adult trials, court appointed advocates may be representing the accused, but the â€Å"best interest† lies in reducing or foregoing the sentence, not rehabilitate (Goldstein, 2007). In the cases of both groups, a â€Å"traditional† counsel may be hired to represent the individual While due process is given to all (juveniles and adults alike), juvenile offenders seem to be helped out more than adult offenders. Also, children tried as juveniles cannot be sentenced to adult jails or prisons. There are many debates over these and the other aforementioned practices, with critics and proponents on all issues, but I personally think the system is good and it can only get better with time.

Fin111 Financial Markets and Economic Principles

[pic] Financial Markets and Economic Principles (FIN111) Assignment Answer Template |Students: Please enter |Word count | | |your word count for this |I have read the Assignment Guide in the Subject Room and have applied the word count | | |assignment |principles to my work. | | |My word count for this assignment is | | | |5368 words | | | | | | Marker feedback Comment on overall performance: |For marker use only. | |Students begin your assignment answers on the following page. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Begin your assignment answers from this point. Section A – Question 1 †¢ Describe the operations of each company JB Hi If – Is an Australian owned and operated company established in 1974. Due to the success of the business model and the growing retail sector in July 2000 JB Hi Fi was purchased by private equity bankers and senior management with the strategy of taking the model nationally. With a strong sign of the success of the business in October 2003, JB Hi Fi was floated on the Australian Stock Exchange.JB Hi Fi has proven to be one of Australia’s fastest growing and largest retailers of home entertainment. Looking to build on the successful model and expand their operations in July 2004, JB Hi Fi bought the Clive Anthony chain of retail stores who competed in the same retail space. Harvey Norman – Is an Australian based retail provider of electrical, furniture, computer, entertainment and home goods. They have over 230 stores in Australia and abroad in countries including New Zealand, Slovenia, Ireland, Malaysia, Croatia and Singapore.Harvey Norman has implemented a unique strategy to the Australian retail market through their operating structure, in that each store department is operated by a separate franchise. Therefore these superstores are a combination of more than one business with each franchisee (computer, bedding, electrical) contributing to the gross reven ue of Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd. This is achieved through their individual lease payment and a percentage of their sales. The individual departments have their own checkouts for its products and warehouse space is shared by the separate franchisees.Harvey Norman Holdings Limited is also a franchisor of other well known retail chains including Domayne, Joyce Mayne and others. †¢ Consider the key factors that may affect the performance and the share price of the companies in the short and long term Given the fact both companies are competitors in the retail sector, key factors affecting their performance will be quite similar. They both heavily rely on the consumption of the â€Å"Household Sector†, this helps drives revenue through their operations. A concern therefore would be given the challenging economic times there is a decrease in domestic spending.With households adversely increasing their savings as anxiety over the sovereign debt crisis in Europe escalates and g eneral unease in regards to the global economy. This is also reflected through the â€Å"Business Cycle† as it is my belief we are currently within a â€Å"Contraction to trough† period which is reflective of a decline in retail sales. This decline has been seen nationwide through the whole retail sector as organisations battle to lower prices to remain competitive when demand isn’t strong and still attempt to retain a profit.Some retailers have opted for longer trading hours and there is also concern over the moving trend towards internet shopping. JB Hi Fi currently have a strong focus on online shopping which has helped them maintain consistent sales results. Harvey Norman have moved to online shopping only in July of 2011, and has big ambitions with Gerry Harvey stating â€Å"I’ve told my team I want them to turn over $100 million within 2-3 years and then take it to $1billon within 5-10 years†. The decline is also reflected in the ABS August K ey Figures report for monthly turnover within the retail sector which saw department stores post a -0. % fall in July to August 2011. Also a long term concern for both companies would be that if global equity markets do recover and inflation rises that will lead to a rise in interest rates which would further affect the Household sector through their discretionary spending. The fluctuations of the Australian dollar will impact both companies as the stronger Australian dollar lowers the prices both enterprises can charge consumers. Increasingly consumers are buying electronics online both domestically and international, with the resilient dollar giving them an incentive to shop abroad. Question 2 ) JB Hi-Fi and its network of retail stores is an intermediary. They are an intermediary between the large electronic manufacturers (Sony, Samsung, Panasonic) whose products are sold in store and the general consumer in the household sector. The large manufactures are able to meet the order demands of the organisation and JB Hi-FI in return supplies the broad market with the products. The consumer is provided with a product at a competitive price and JB Hi Fi earns a margin on the product for the service. 2) JB Hi-Fi also uses an additional intermediary to increase their exposure in the sector.They have purchased Clive Anthony which was another established retail electrical chain. They own Clive Anthony however it continues to operate under its original trading name. All revenue is attributed to the JB Hi FI Limited organisation. 3) Harvey Norman Holdings Limited is well known for using a number of intermediaries within their own organisation. They have fragmented each department (bedding, electrical, computer) of their organisation to be an individual franchise or â€Å"intermediary†. With each franchisee contributing to the gross revenue of Harvey Norman Holdings Limited.This provides each department the ability to specialise and deliver expert service to thei r consumers. Other financial intermediaries Harvey Norman would include its acquired retails chain Clive Peter’s and the number of overseas retail operations it owns which contribute to its net profit. Question 3 Question 3: Impact of monetary policy Justify the Reserve Bank’s decision on interest rates announced on 4 October 2011 †¢ The factors that influenced the Reserve Bank’s decision and the likely impacts on the domestic economy The Reserve Bank nominated on the 4th of October to keep interested rates on hold for the 10th straight meeting.The factors influencing this decision were concern over global financial markets and fears world economies may be sent into global recession. Previously during the Aug-Sep meetings there had been a deteriation in the markets and between Sep-Oct meetings that had been a further substantial deteriation of global markets. The RBA acknowledged that domestic growth would weaken in the coming quarters. Europe’s sove reign debt issues are a major concern to the RBA and a contributing factor to rates remaining on hold. It has caused major volatility to global markets, with growing uncertainty in regards to a solution and its impact on banks in Europe.It is also affecting the outlook for Global Economic growth. The RBA will continue to assess market developments as well as the general indicators it follows including economy and inflation data. A benefit for the domestic economy is the RBA stated it had a bias to easing and that a rate cut could occur if September Quarter CPI data due on October 26 showed a moderation in prices †¢ The impact on the share market as a whole and the share price of your chosen companies The immediate impact on the share market following the RBA’s decision was negative. The S&P/ASX 200 closed down 0. % or 24. 9 points to 3872. 1 points, with the All Ordinaries down 0. 6% or 25. 1 points to 3935. 6. Also the Australian dollar slumped to a 13-month low of $94. 6 US cents. Despite an optimistic start to trading on the day with the market overcoming a negative lead from the US, the RBA’s decision had plunged the markets back into negative territory. JB Hi-Fi was down 60 cents to $14. 30 Not a substantial impact to HVN which was up 2cents from the close the previous day. †¢ Whether the impact on the share market as a whole differed from the impact on your chosen companiesThe negative impact of the decision by the RBA was shared by both the market itself and the individual holdings of JB Hi Fi Limited and Harvey Norman Holdings Limited. The decision had a significant impact on the performance of consumer exposed stocks such as JB HI FI and Harvey Norman. Question 4 JB HI FI posted its first profit slide since the stock floated in 2003. There were some contributing factors to this performance including a restructure of its Clive Anthony’s stores and a negative sales growth for July. JB Hi-Fi reported on August 8th 2011 that full year net profit fell 7. 5% to $109. 7 million on sales of $2. 6 billion, up 8. 3%. The slip has been attributed to the $24. 7 million in costs to restructure its Clive Anthony stores. Annual comparable sales fell 1. 2% Despite the daunting outlook for the retail sector JB Hi FI have stated they expect another solid group sales performance for this financial year, with full year sales to rise 8% to 3. 2billion. JB Hi FI is expecting that the Christmas period will be successful also timing with a number of new product releases. However due to the profit results and weak July sales on August 9th JB Hi-Fi shares closed down 35 cents at $14. 00 Harvey Norman announced a net profit after tax of $252. 6 million for the financial year ending 30 June 2011, which is up 9% on the 2010 financial year. These results were released in its 2011 annual report. The franchises within the organisation continued to provide the stability in the overall performance of the group. Owner Gerry Harvey s tated â€Å"we have a strong balance sheet underpinned by a $2. 04 billion property portfolio and generate strong free net cash flows from our franchising operations segment† Total revenue for the year was $2. 7 billion, which has increased from the 2010 figure of $2. 45 billion according to the results statement.Harvey Norman experienced an increase in consumer transactions despite revenue being down, this was caused by the strong Australian dollar reducing prices on imported goods. Despite the retail sector weakening in reflection of global markets Harvey Norman franchisees have experienced strong customer traffic and transactions. Also stronger results generated by retail operations in Singapore, Malaysia and Slovenia have increased profitability by $4. 65 million before tax collectively compared to the previous year. Despite challenging macroeconomic conditions, the outlook the retail, franchise and property system of the company remains positive.An important addition to the business moving forward in the first half of 2012 financial year will be the launching of our e-commerce site for Harvey Norman. Harvey Norman states they are confident there online transactional strategy will produce incremental dollars to the existing channel. Harvey Norman closed 1cent higher after releasing its annual report at $2. 15 on August 29th. Question 5 †¢ Explain the correlation of returns from the asset classes – Cash- Is looking to be a stable and reliable asset class in the 2011 calendar year. It will provide necessary stability to investor’s profiles.However will remain relatively unattractive reflecting low interest rates. Some important considerations for the RBA in determining any movement in monetary policy is the strength of the Australian dollar relative to trading partners, in particular the US. It is anticipated the RBA will lift the cash rate to 5% before the end of the year Fixed Interest – Will provide stability with a higher yield than cash given there is an element of risk. Savvy investors will look to this sector as global equities remain volatile and fixed interest provides the ability to stabilise returns.Large parts of the credit market in particular Australian credit offer reasonable value especially if the global growth outlook commences an incline. Equity – Global equity markets outlook remains extremely volatile. This outlook is reinforced by the RBA’s recent decisions to keep interest rates on hold and even suggest they may be deducted in the future. The cause for concern has moved on from the Sub Prime Crisis of 2008 and is now centred on government sovereign debt in the US and particularly in Europe and the PIGGS (Portugal, Ireland, Greece, Spain).Of major concern is whether Greece will default on its loans and the potential impact on world markets. This is playing out at the moment with recent developments within the EU with a bailout fund and more recently revision of the si ze of the fund. This has provided huge amounts of volatility in the market and it seems it will play out most of the year, with a potential default if not avoided of Greece in early 2012. There is plenty of value long term in equities currently with stocks undervalued however you must be prepared to accept volatility in the short to medium term.Property – With improving international economic conditions, a local economy with good foundations and quality property managers achieving attractive terms on financing, prospects for high grade property investment remains attractive. Australian direct property will continue to perform well and prospects for the sector are high especially in commercial and industrial property. The retail sector could be a danger given the challenging times being experienced in the Australian consumer sector †¢ Provide a forecast of which asset class you believe will provide the best returns in 2011Due to global economic growth picking up in 2011 w ith various predictions at around 3. 5 – 4% driven largely by emerging economies, this provides opportunities in the equities sector. Market volatility is likely to continue due to Sovereign debt concerns in Europe and the impact of potential further quantitative easing in the United States. There is concern about equity markets seemingly drifting sideways over the past 12 months, however global share markets have recorded strong gains The economic outlook is likely to be supportive for equities in 2011, while there will be areas of concern.The slowly improving economic environment and a potential solution to the sovereign debt crisis in Europe should see companies begin to expand by borrowing. After experiencing a significant correction in 2010, equities are well positioned to post strong gains in 2011. Shares are good value and continuing economic recovery will contribute to further gains in profit. Question 6 Question 6: Influences on share prices Provide a graph showing b oth companies daily share price and the All Ordinaries index over the four week tracking period [pic] [pic] Explain the performance of the two companies over the four week period.In your explanation consider: †¢ The impact of any significant events or unexpected announcements JB Hi Fi – The announcement of Apple’s launch of its latest handset the iPhone 4s is hoped to have a significant impact on sales and foot traffic through its retail stores. – JB Hi-Fi held its annual general meeting on the 12th of October, it stated total sales were up 6. 6% compared with the previous corresponding period. The timing of this news to the market had investors responding positively with 3. 09% increase for the day with a close at $14. 36 Harvey Norman Holdings Limited There is direct concern for Harvey Norman over debt issues within Europe as they hold operations in Ireland which was the first country in the European Union to ask for a bailout. Harvey Norman’s stor es there made a trading loss of $38. 59 million for the 2010-11 financial year, with the board â€Å"committed to Ireland for the long term† – Harvey Norman have also responded to the online retail sector threat by launching a new e-commerce site in early October – Harvey Norman released its annual report on the 29th of September, revealing a 9% rise in 2011 full-year net profit to $252. 3 million Whether the performances have been similar or different The performance of Harvey Norman has been quite flat with quite limited movement of the stock over the reporting period. They released their annual report with a rise in profits but investors did not respond with any significant movements. JB Hi-Fi hit a low of $13. 87 for the reporting period on the 11th of October as anxiety hit over the release of information from its annual general meeting. The news and results provided were positive and the stock reacted positively reaching close to the peak of the reporting period on the 14th of October closing at $15. 0 †¢ How the companies performed in relation to the All Ordinaries Index There has been limited volatility seen in regards to both JB Hi-FI and Harvey Norman. The reasons for this would be they both have core business which is based in the retail household consumer sector. The All Ordinaries which is based on the movements of the top 500 Australian companies has a much wider exposure to sectors. It is for this reason there has been significantly more volatility on the All Ordinaries as it has been exposed to the market’s recent concerns over the European Sovereign debt crisis. Whether the shares would be considered growth or defensive Both these companies’ shares would be considered cyclical stocks, where sales and earnings are affected by economic or industry cycle They would therefore be considered growth shares. †¢ Your view with justification on whether the companies are a buy, sell or hold JB Hi-Fi (HOLD) â⠂¬â€œ The stock is vulnerable to a decrease in discretionary spending in regards to its electronic goods and also the impact of the volatile Australian dollar. However the organisation is in a growth period with a number of new stores opening in a strategic move.The company has been a popular stock and has proven to be quite resilient, trading strongly through the last few turbulent years and also distributes a strong yield. It is in a good position to see through the current wave of volatility. Harvey Norman (HOLD) – The strength of the Australian dollar has seen a rise in internet commerce. Harvey Norman is launching a centralised online website to respond to this growing trend. International holdings have been performing well and there are talks of a possible expansion into the UK.The stock has been proven to be relatively resilient with a reasonable dividend and is adapting to a changing market by looking at opportunities online and abroad, for these reasons the recommend ation would be to hold. Section B Question 1 Section B – Question 1 Identify and discuss four advantages for AWPL of establishing a factory in New Zealand †¢ Operating costs – Establishing a new factory in New Zealand will save AWPL $A2 million per annum which is a significant savings long term. These additional funds can be used to reduce debt or spent on further product development or research Increase production – With the establishment of the New Zealand facility AWPL will be able to meet the demands of their current production and collectively with its Melbourne location the demands of the new proposed contract in the US. This will add a projected 30% to sales growth. †¢ Save $A 3 million – Establishing the new location at New Zealand would mean the fire upgrade to the current location at Devonport would no longer be necessary and the funds will be used to support the long term functionality and growth of the business as opposed to a mainte nance cost Brand Awareness – Currently AWPL provides production for Australia, UK, Germany and potentially the US. Having a location in New Zealand will promote the brand and create awareness which may lead to business opportunities through production in their domestic sector in the future Also four major funding and/or business constraints that AWPL needs to consider when deciding whether to establish a new factory in New Zealand or upgrade and expand the existing factory in Melbourne Production concerns – Due consideration needs to be made to legitimate concerns over AWPL ability to meet the demand of current production requirements during construction of a new factory in New Zealand. Meeting these demands are imperative to the survival of the business †¢ $1 million payout – Will need to be paid due to the retrenchments of the employees at the Devonport factory, this is a considerable amount of capital and needs to be taken into consideration †¢ Esta blishment costs – AWPL have determined that the establishment costs of the New Zealand venture are high with additional costs that do not exist in Australia Debt Funding – All the proposed developments require capital of $A10 million, AWPL do not have the liquidity to cover this outlay and will need to look at financing options. Their lenders at the moment already have concerns over their current level of gearing, so they will need to look at all their options. Question 2 a) Is AWPL eligible for listing on the ASX given its current structure and financial position? AWPL is not able to list on the ASX given its current structure, as it does not currently meet the requirements of the ASX listing rules. In particular condition 7 which states â€Å" An entity must satisfy either a) or (b)† a) There must be at least 500 holders each having a parcel of the main class of securities with a value of at least $2,000, excluding securities not acquired by those holders unde r a recent prospectus or Product Disclosure Statement b) Both of the following are satisfied †¢ There must be at least 400 holders each having a parcel of the main class of securities with a value of at least $2,000, excluding securities not acquired by those holders under a recent prospectus or Product Disclosure Statement AWPL is unable to meet these requirements as it currently only has 40 shareholders ) Listed companies are required to comply with stringent obligations imposed on them by the ASX Listing Rules. Explain four obligations that AWPL would be required to fulfil if it was a listed company †¢ Under Condition 3 of the ASX listing rules â€Å" A prospectus or Product Disclosure Statement must be issued and lodged with ASIC. If ASX agrees, an information memorandum that complies with the information memorandum requirements of Appendix 1A will be sufficient instead of a prospectus or PDS. This ensures that potential investors have access to critical financial inf ormation about the organisation to make an informed decision to invest or not. 1. 2. 4 of the Profit Test states that the entity’s aggregated profit from continuing operations for the last 3 full financial years must have been at least $1 million. This is to ensure the organisation is successful and has the means necessary to warrant being listed on the ASX †¢ 1. 2. 5A states that the entity must give ASX a statement from all directors confirming that they have made enquiries and nothing has come to their attention to suggest that the economic entity is not continuing to earn profit from continuing operations up to the date of applicationThis is to ensure the organisations admission is based on factual information and aims to confirm the integrity of the organisation and its intention not to commit any acts of fraud or deception †¢ 1. 3. 5 The entity must give ASX each of the following a) Any accounts, together with any audit report or review: – for the last 3 full financial years (or shorter period if ASX agrees); and – if the last full financial year ended more than 8 months before the entity applied for admission, for the last half year (or longer period if available) from the end of the last full financial yearIf the accounts have not been audited or reviewed, the entity must tell the ASX This ensures that there is full disclosure of financial information to the ASX and potential investors Question 3 a) Discuss three reasons why the bank would be reluctant to increase funding to AWPL at this time †¢ Financial Markets – Due to the implications of financial markets over the last few years starting with the Mortgage Sub Prime crisis in the United States and more recently the sovereign debt crisis in Europe, lenders have become tighter with their lending practices.They want extra security and having a signed contract confirming the commitment for production in the US confirms the need for additional funding †¢ Th e bank already has expressed concern over the level of gearing the organisation holds at the moment so without evidence to support the need for expansion there will be hesitancy from the lender †¢ There is also an element of risk involved as there is concern that if the upgrade and expansion plans are not handled effectively then production rates may be harmed which would ultimately mean AWPL would be unable to meet current order demands.If that was to occur then the ability of AWPL to service its current debt commitments to the bank would be placed in jeopardy b) Jack is concerned that the New Zealand project will expose the shareholders of AWPL to a new financial risk (associated with borrowing funds to upgrade the Melbourne factory and to establish the New Zealand factory). Assume that the US contract is signed. Identify the new financial risk. Discuss the implications of the risk on debt repayment schedules and outline the steps AWPL might take to reduce the riskJack is con cerned about AWPL ability to meet current production orders. The fear is that if establishment of the NZ factory and upgrade of the Melbourne location isn’t seamless it will affect the ability of the business to meet current demands and that of the new contract. This exposes the business and current shareholders to potential risk of defaulting on existing debt demands from their lender. AWPL may look at hedging this risk by looking at Business Risk Protection which would cover their expected income if they are unable to meet their demand for various reasons.AWPL should also consider looking at alternate factory locations they can use at short notice if production is impacted for any reason Question 4 a) Identify and discuss three effects that an appreciating Australian dollar (AUD) would have on a decision by AWPL to move its manufacturing operations to New Zealand †¢ An appreciating Australian dollar would be a concern for the core of AWPL business which is exports. If the Australian dollar rises a major implication is the impact on the terms of trade as exports become more expensive and imports become cheaper.A likely result would be an increase in domestic spending on imports and reduced demand for exports in foreign countries. This would be a huge concern for the viability of AWPL’s international production orders. If there is a change in the current revenue streams than it may impact their ability to service their current debt and/or gain finance for expansion plans †¢ Also an appreciation in the Australian dollar will mean AWPL’s exports will become more expensive and may result in them not being as competitive as other international competitors. The impact of this may be felt in loss of contracts, renegotiations and general cost cutting.Severely impacting their ability to implement any expansions †¢ These concerns will not only be felt by AWPL but by their shareholders and lenders. When approaching lenders about furth er debt funding an appreciating dollar and the potential negative impact on the business may very well be taken into due consideration before approval. b) Taking into account current economic conditions and financial market sentiment, identify and discuss two factors that could cause the AUD to move significantly above its current rate against the US dollar in the coming months One impact which could cause the AUD to move significantly above its current rate against the US dollar is the appetite for risk from foreign investors. With extreme volatility being experienced in the market currently and concern for the global economy the Australian dollar can be influence by the risk appetite of foreign investors. During the volatile times in the market we are experiencing currently there are heightened perceptions of risk which leads to a decline in the demand for riskier assets which promotes a move for investors to quality investments and an appreciation of reserve currencies such as th e US dollar.This can see the Australian dollar appreciated when markets sentiment is high and there is positive news about foreign and global development and depreciate on negative news. – An additional factor which may see a further increase of the AUD over the US dollar could be another round of Quantative Easing (QE3) from the United States. This involves the US Federal Reserve effectively prints more money injecting it into the economy The US government achieves this through purchases of bonds and places money into banks which then be loaned to the public.This in turn eases lending constraints and money flows through too small to medium businesses. A consequence for the US is that the increase in the supply of their currency weakens the value and causes further appreciation of the Australian dollar Question 5 – A) Discuss the outlook for global economic growth in 2011. Support your answer with a percentage forecast for global growth International recovery after the Great Financial Crisis has been uneven with markets seemingly moving sideways recently. Risks globally remain high with world economies continuing to recover from its effects.Financial conditions have improved through corporate earnings and financial market volatility has moderated, notwithstanding ongoing concerns over European Sovereign debt and the European Union ability to contain the crisis. The forecast for advanced economies is to continue to consolidate, where as growth in emerging markets is anticipated to deliver higher levels of growth and returns. Therefore in accordance the global economy is widely predicted to grow over 4% in 2011 down from 5% growth in 2010. Although traction has been made global economic recovery also remains vulnerable and a clear resolution to the sovereign debt crisis in Europe ill provide markets with strong sentiment and incentive to return to the equities market. Also failure for the US to develop a viable solution to the unsustainable US Fisc al position also poses a threat to the progress of global recovery – (B) Each of the countries below has a significant influence on global growth. Briefly comment on each country’s outlook for economic growth in 2011 Support your answer with a percentage forecast for each country’s economic growth i) USA The forecast for the United States is that their economy will grow between 3. -4% in 2011. This is an increase from the 3% growth recorded in the 2010 calendar year. The basis of this will be driven from growth in the consumer and business spending and personal consumption expenditure (PCE), an increase in consumer spending. PCE is adding between 0. 7% and 2% to overall US growth has increased for five consecutive quarters. Concerns for the US are European Sovereign Debt, budget concerns at all levels of government and falling house prices. These effects could impact and lead to a slower US recovery. ii) ChinaDue to the unprecedented growth of China, tighter mon etary policy was necessary to reign in growth which is still projected to be close to 9% in 2011. Inflation is a constant concern and will increase over the calendar year. It is china’s greatest concern and most pressing policy issue, their ability to contain this effectively will determine their sustained growth. The present account surplus is set to fall to 4. 5% of GDP, which is a reflection of a decline in export growth and higher commodity prices While high commodity prices pose risks they are unlikely to dent growth.Currency appreciation will continue at a gradual pace as reserves accumulate iii) Japan In March 2011 the Great East Japan Earthquake was the strongest ever recorded in Japan and triggered a tsunami which severely damaged the country and was the impact was felt on world equity markets. A preliminary report by the government estimated damage at between 3. 3-5. 2% of 2010 GDP There are serious concerns about Japans ability to recover from such a traumatic natu ral disaster. The timing and strength of an economic recovery is difficult to forecast.The growing uncertainty about the Japanese recovery, compounded by the ongoing nuclear situation and rising oil prices are adding to the difficulty of the situation. However Japan has experienced natural disasters before and the sentiment from other advanced nations is there will be a rebound in economy as reconstruction spending picks up. Such a pattern will see real GDP growth to 0. 8% in 2011 Bibliography Chris Zappone April 27 SMH – Harvey – Move online. http://www. smh. com. au/business/harvey-norman-reveals-online-move-20110427-1dvl9. htmlPip Freebairn – Australian Financial Review – 4th October RBA holds rates but hints door open for cut http://www. afr. com/p/national/rba_holds_rates_but_hints_door_open_5JEhJP8jKehLd5SsNxQREL Joanna Heath – Australian Financial Review – 4th October Shares fall after RBA rates decision http://www. afr. com/p/markets /shares_fall_after_rba_rates_decision_gYLoKCrItyz0zl5JXVUUQM Eli Greenbalt – August 9th High Flying JB Hi FI experiences the lows of a struggling sector http://www. smh. com. au/business/highflying-jb-hifi-experiences-the-lows-of-a-struggling-sector-20110808-1ij7k. tml Harvey Norman Annual Report http://www. harveynormanholdings. com. au/pdf_files/2011_Annual_Report. pdf Shane Oliver Insights – Review of 2010 and outlook for 2011 http://www. adviservoice. com/2010/12/review-of-2010-and-outlook-for-2011/ David Ramli & Ben Woodhead – Australian Financial Review October 5th Wither retail as Apple touts iPhone 4s http://www. afr. com/p/business/technology/whither_retail_as_apple_touts_iphone_FzmXGsKsIEA3iYW45oG21M Joanna Heath – Australian Financial Review 24 September 2011 Europe’s troubles hit home http://www. fr. com/p/markets/europe_troubles_hit_home_FTVWCTnHmtNXJ90oaRoTsI RBA – The Exchange rate and the Reserve Bank’s Role in the For eign Exchange Market http://www. rba. gov. au/mkt-operations/foreign-exchg-mkt. html Chris Caton – 2 Feb 2011 The Aussie Dollar- Where to from here? BT Insights http://www. bt. com. au/bt-market-insights/bt-latest-updates/2011/02-february/201102-australian-dollar. asp Budget Strategy and Outlook 2011-12 http://www. budget. gov. au/2011-12/content/bp1/html/bp1_bst2-01. htm IB Times Staff Reporter – US Economic Outlook 2011

A Paper on the Market Pull and Technology Push Factors

I will be reporting on just one of 3M’s many innovative products the post-it notes. I will also highlight the market pull and technology push factors that were considered in developing the innovation. The key terms to be identified in this report are innovation, technology push, and market pull. Innovation refers both to the output and the process of arriving at a technically feasible solution to a problem triggered by a technological opportunity or customer need. Technology push describes a situation where an emerging technology or a new combination of existing technologies provide the driving force for an innovative product and problem solution in the market place. Market pull is the advancement of technology oriented primarily toward a specific market need. Post-it notes are pieces of stationery with a re-usable adhesive strip on the back, designed for temporarily attaching notes to documents and other surfaces. The release of post-it notes in 1980 in the United States was one that was not only innovative for its time but one which captured the needs of consumers in a whole new way. Post-it note became a big success for 3M and was adored by customers. The first and probably most important technology push that resulted in post-it notes is senior scientist Spencer Silver’s 1968 discovery of an adhesive that didn’t act like any others. Instead of forming a film, it is a clear, reusable and pressure-sensitive adhesive. For five years, Silver promoted his invention within 3M, both informally and through seminars, but without much success. In 1974 Art fry perceived the idea of coating the adhesive on paper. He soon realized that this technology would serve well as a note pad. 3M conducted a direct-mail program to the secretaries of CEOs of Fortune 100 companies, and got back letters from CEO’s of companies such as Chrysler and Phillip Morris telling them how much they loved this product (Post-it notes) and asking how they could get more. This was a major market pull factor as 3M now realized that this advancement in technology would satisfy a specific market need. Fry encountered serious technical problems very early. First, there was the problem of getting the adhesive to stay in place on the note instead of transferring to other surfaces. The company didn’t have coating equipment that could be precise on an imprecise backing such as paper. This resulted in further technology push as advances in the technical performance of 3M allowed for the post-it notes adhesive to be perfected as well as a manufacturing process was developed. Fry made sure that secretaries of 3M senior executives got them. Before long, their bosses were borrowing the little yellow pads. This Market pull factor illustrated the need for this innovation in the business place. In 1978 samples of numerous post-it was given out in the city of Boise. 3M discovered that more than 90 percent of the people who tried them would buy them. This market pull factor showed the general market need for this product. After success in Boise, 3M was convinced that the market potential for the yellow note was enormous and, in 1980, post-it notes were introduced nationally. The Managerial Implications * Technical and Market considerations * How to sustain new innovations * Time consumption * How to protect innovation from competitors. Recommendations Managers must take into account during problem solving within a firm, the technical and market factors in order to achieve successful management of technology. * Managers must invest time and money in research and development and other efforts to not only make improvements to commercialized technologies but to continuously endeavor to come out with new technologies/innovations. * Managers must respond to time consumption and sho rten the time it takes them to design, develop and put new innovations on the market. They must decide when to innovate, update, or replace previous technology . They must also develop methods to cope with shorter product life cycles. This can be done through continuous improvement. * Managers must protect new innovations from competitors through the use of patents, trademarks, copyrights, and designs. This will also result in higher profitability for the organization. Conclusion The development of post-it notes was driven both by technological push and market pull factors. These factors resulted in; the recognition of a potential problem, decision of which technologies to use, a feasible solution to the problem, and the final commercialization of the innovation. Managers must learn to cope with the implications that will face them. References http://www. innovation. lv/ino2/publications/leonardo_manual/en/www. innosupport. net/webhelp/wso/ind http://multimedia. 3m. com/mws/mediawebserver? 77777XxamfIVOWwo_Pw5_W7HYxTHfxajYv7HYv7H777777– ex. cfm@fuseactionlearnl_id4240pl_id3558. htm http://www. tu-harburg. de/tim/downloads/arbeitspapiere/Working_Paper_5. pdf http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Post-it_note http://www. 3m. com/us/about3M/innovation/archive. html A Paper on the Market Pull and Technology Push Factors I will be reporting on just one of 3M’s many innovative products the post-it notes. I will also highlight the market pull and technology push factors that were considered in developing the innovation. The key terms to be identified in this report are innovation, technology push, and market pull. Innovation refers both to the output and the process of arriving at a technically feasible solution to a problem triggered by a technological opportunity or customer need. Technology push describes a situation where an emerging technology or a new combination of existing technologies provide the driving force for an innovative product and problem solution in the market place. Market pull is the advancement of technology oriented primarily toward a specific market need. Post-it notes are pieces of stationery with a re-usable adhesive strip on the back, designed for temporarily attaching notes to documents and other surfaces. The release of post-it notes in 1980 in the United States was one that was not only innovative for its time but one which captured the needs of consumers in a whole new way. Post-it note became a big success for 3M and was adored by customers. The first and probably most important technology push that resulted in post-it notes is senior scientist Spencer Silver’s 1968 discovery of an adhesive that didn’t act like any others. Instead of forming a film, it is a clear, reusable and pressure-sensitive adhesive. For five years, Silver promoted his invention within 3M, both informally and through seminars, but without much success. In 1974 Art fry perceived the idea of coating the adhesive on paper. He soon realized that this technology would serve well as a note pad. 3M conducted a direct-mail program to the secretaries of CEOs of Fortune 100 companies, and got back letters from CEO’s of companies such as Chrysler and Phillip Morris telling them how much they loved this product (Post-it notes) and asking how they could get more. This was a major market pull factor as 3M now realized that this advancement in technology would satisfy a specific market need. Fry encountered serious technical problems very early. First, there was the problem of getting the adhesive to stay in place on the note instead of transferring to other surfaces. The company didn’t have coating equipment that could be precise on an imprecise backing such as paper. This resulted in further technology push as advances in the technical performance of 3M allowed for the post-it notes adhesive to be perfected as well as a manufacturing process was developed. Fry made sure that secretaries of 3M senior executives got them. Before long, their bosses were borrowing the little yellow pads. This Market pull factor illustrated the need for this innovation in the business place. In 1978 samples of numerous post-it was given out in the city of Boise. 3M discovered that more than 90 percent of the people who tried them would buy them. This market pull factor showed the general market need for this product. After success in Boise, 3M was convinced that the market potential for the yellow note was enormous and, in 1980, post-it notes were introduced nationally. The Managerial Implications * Technical and Market considerations * How to sustain new innovations * Time consumption * How to protect innovation from competitors. Recommendations Managers must take into account during problem solving within a firm, the technical and market factors in order to achieve successful management of technology. * Managers must invest time and money in research and development and other efforts to not only make improvements to commercialized technologies but to continuously endeavor to come out with new technologies/innovations. * Managers must respond to time consumption and sho rten the time it takes them to design, develop and put new innovations on the market. They must decide when to innovate, update, or replace previous technology . They must also develop methods to cope with shorter product life cycles. This can be done through continuous improvement. * Managers must protect new innovations from competitors through the use of patents, trademarks, copyrights, and designs. This will also result in higher profitability for the organization. Conclusion The development of post-it notes was driven both by technological push and market pull factors. These factors resulted in; the recognition of a potential problem, decision of which technologies to use, a feasible solution to the problem, and the final commercialization of the innovation. Managers must learn to cope with the implications that will face them. References http://www. innovation. lv/ino2/publications/leonardo_manual/en/www. innosupport. net/webhelp/wso/ind http://multimedia. 3m. com/mws/mediawebserver? 77777XxamfIVOWwo_Pw5_W7HYxTHfxajYv7HYv7H777777– ex. cfm@fuseactionlearnl_id4240pl_id3558. htm http://www. tu-harburg. de/tim/downloads/arbeitspapiere/Working_Paper_5. pdf http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Post-it_note http://www. 3m. com/us/about3M/innovation/archive. html

War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

War - Essay Example Many thinkers and intellectuals, not to mention religious leaders, have lent their support to Just War and have moulded it over centuries with their contributions. According to Christian theory, resorting to war under any circumstances other than self defence is immoral, because war is never justifiable. At the same time, war is State's option and right of self-defence. "This is selective pacifism, for it does not deny the state the right of self-defense; it only denies to the Christian the right to participate. Likewise the just war theory gives no blanket endorsement of war, but demands painstaking discrimination between just and unjust causes," (Holmes, 19752). Just War is considered to be just, because it is interference on behalf of humanity, to establish peace, to repel an inhuman attack, to save people from its grips, to abolish anarchy. War for peace is also called Moral war because its intention is re-establishing morality and natural law. Just War tradition is of two fold: one is when to launch into a Just War and another, how to conduct the war without resorting into injustice. So it covers not only the motive, but also the process. The end result of winning or losing does not figure much in a Just War even though every war is fought for winning. As the means of winning the war has to be just and beyond reproach, the result of the war takes a secondary place. As morality, ethics and justice should support the origin of such a war and shape the conduction of it, its end result, even though important, cannot be achieved by mean methods. Cicero, Augustine, Aquinas, Grotius and many more philosophers stood by Just War. This includes de mands like a competent authority to declare the war, and there should be all probability of success, amongst other just causes. St. Augustine categorised them as follows: "1. Defending against an external attack; 2. Recapturing things taken; 3. Punishing people who have done wrong." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_war Just War should be conducted as an act of discrimination where only the guilty party should be punished and not the civilians and non-offenders. And this means biological weapons, weapons of mass destruction and nuclear weapons of any kind are ruled out. Another principle is that it should be governed by proportionality, and this means, the use of force should be proportional to the offence committed and not beyond that. Civilian deaths, attacks on helpless refugees, mass killings, and indiscriminate persecution are ruled out. Also it demands minimum force. Excessive killings, torture, destruction, upheaval, exodus, genocide, target killings of particular groups due to enmity are not allowed. Just wars demand just cause, just intent and war should be the last resort after exhausting all other means of achieving peace. There should be a lawful declaration of war and during war, non-combatant groups like medical services, ambassadors, journalists, individuals providing service like Red Cross, and organisations that provide relief to refugees and dislocated people should be spared of all

Discusion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Discusion - Essay Example Narrowing of attention is a self defense mechanism because it is inspired by fear. For example, when someone has been involved is a fire outbreak disaster, they live with a notion that fire is likely to happen any time. If they were rescued by jumping through the window, the person may always want to stay near open windows, (Bouyssou & Dubois, 2010). The house may be having fire extinguishers, fire exits and emergency doors. However, the person is likely to ignore all those options and think that the only way to escape a fire is through jumping through a window. A narrow attention is extremely limiting, and it eliminates the ability to think outside the box. The people involved tend to cling to the one method that might have worked for them. This refers to inability to make a quality decision due to availability of too much information. It is also referred to as infobesity. It occurs due to fast accumulation of information and ease of replication and transmission of information, (Bouyssou & Dubois, 2010). According to Bouyssou & Dubois (2010), another principal cause is the presence of large amounts of historical information. This makes hard to pick on the most appropriate decision. In case of a fire outbreak, and an experienced fire fighter is involved. He has more than five options to choose. They know how to use fire extinguishers, how to use the fire exits. As a fire fighter, he is trained to rescue people/novices. When he is caught up in a fire outbreak, all these ideas cross his mind. This slows the making of the final decisions and could affect the swiftness of his final response. Arguably Bouyssou & Dubois (2010), states that the ability to pick on the best option is put to the test. However, that is not enough. It is not enough make smart decisions; good decisions must be made in the right time. This is where information overload becomes detrimental, (Bouyssou & Dubois, 2010). By the time the fire fighter makes the final decision, the fire

In defense of El Salvador Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

In defense of El Salvador - Essay Example However, rather than understand the situation in El Salvador in the same way that it is represented to the individual via the news media, it is instead important to realize that the situation that exists within the country is quite different from the horrific and grizzly reports that are so often the topic of cautionary tales on late night news shows. Further, even though it is true that nations such as Afghanistan may have a lower â€Å"murder rate†, the security of a traveler in such places can be reduced to a question of how foreigners are viewed and treated.   Accordingly, the level of interaction that violence has with the average tourist or foreigner within El Salvador is extraordinarily small; due in part to the fact that almost all of the violence is predicated upon gang related activity and the quest to control narcotic distribution networks.   This is invariably something that the simple tourist has little knowledge of or interest in; thereby partially shielding them from the eventuality of being caught upon the internecine struggle that has recently defined this otherwise pristine nation within Central America (Olate 384). Firstly, although it is true that El Salvador has a very high murder rate and this causes the would-be tourist or business visitor to be concerned, the reality of the fact is that the violence towards foreigners is relatively on par with any other Central American or Caribbean nation.   Although this does not mean that the stakeholder in society should simply be unconcerned about the rate of violence.

The creative use of music within occupational therapy Essay

The creative use of music within occupational therapy - Essay Example This "The creative use of music within occupational therapy" essay describes what types of illnesses music can heal, why and how it happens. Many hospitals, special schools, prisons and community service centers offer music therapy for children through adults. â€Å"Developmental delay, emotional and behavioural problems, autistic, spectrum disorders, learning disability, communication disorders, mental health problems stress, stroke recovery/rehabilitation and physical illness† describe some of the conditions for which people have found music therapy to be beneficial. â€Å"By offering support and acceptance the therapist can help the client to work towards emotional release and self acceptance† (What is Music Therapy 2005). A music therapist might work in public practice such as a hospital, at the government level, e.g: at the local education facilities, a national health organization or social service work. They may also choose private practice with an office to them selves. â€Å"In all work settings, music therapists function as part of the multi-disciplinary team, their observations adding greatly to the understanding of each client's needs, abilities or problems†. Often working as a part of a team, music therapists may â€Å"coordinate programming with other professionals such as early intervention specialists, medical personnel, child-life specialists, psychologists, occupational and physical therapists, speech/language pathologists, adapted physical education specialists and art and dance/movement therapists†.

Critically evaluate the following statement Conflict in social work is Essay

Critically evaluate the following statement Conflict in social work is inevitable. Social workers need to understand and respond positively to conflict in the - Essay Example This paper will demonstrate that conflict within social work is inevitable, and that social workers must cultivate interpersonal skills to positively negotiate conflict in their day-to-day practices. Firstly, how conflict can arise within the social work practice will be described. Secondly, the link between social work theory and conflict in social work practice will be outlined. Finally, a conclusion shall synthesise the main points of this paper to show how conflict is to be expected in social work, and social workers are able to respond positively to conflict in their daily practices. A key feature of social work practices is to work within a team environment. The social worker may find themselves working in a team environment comprised of other workers as well as lawyers, police enforcement, doctors, nurses, volunteers, chaplains, carers and other health and human service workers (Martin, 2000). Team-work has been a traditional practice that is supported by social work philosophy and is demonstrated in a variety of its practices. Team-work begins at university with exposure to social work theories and opposing opinions and life experiences of lecturers, fellow students and other schools of social science discipline. Barsky's (2003) study of social work students concluded that: Participants were more interested in discussing conflicts related to practice and ethical issues, for example, than matters related to problems in the school or classroom. The implications could be either positive or negative for social work education. A positive interpretation infers that students and professors wanted to focus on practice issues and not get sidetracked with personality differences (p. 12). It is well recognized within the social work literature of the interdependence of the physical, functional, psychosocial and spiritual dimensions of the workplace account for team member well being, as well as facilitating a multidisciplinary and so comprehensive approach to client care (Cronenwett & Redman, 2003). Disagreement is likely to occur with the different disciplines involved in the team having different ideas about how to approach a situation, or how to problem-solve a dilemma. As such there are differences in opinion and to how to achieve goals, or to undertake certain activities, and in determining what the relevant priorities are and what they are not (Barki & Hartwick, 2002). Differences of opinion that are not easily resolved or that do not hold the potential for a win-win solution can create conflict within the team, and across departments involved with a client or social work practice.The situation is a conflict when interferences or negative emotion arises from the difference of opinions. For example, social workers may not be able to understand the

Paolo Freire's as a Great Educator Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Paolo Freire's as a Great Educator - Essay Example Paolo Freire was born in the Northeastern port of Recife, September 19, 1921. His parents were not rich and their family can be related more to a middle-class family. It should be mentioned that the life of middle class was greatly influenced by historical events that took place in Brazil that time. The Great Depression has made a great impact on their way of living in Brazil. Family’s financial status was also shaken after death of Paolo’s father. Paolo was prevented from his proper education at school and when family has sustained after the crisis, he managed to finish his school education and entered the University of Pernambuco to study law and philosophy. In 1944 Freire got married. He married an elementary school teacher Elza Maia Costa Oliveira and they gave birth to five children. Parenthood of Freire contributed much to his further development: â€Å"As a parent, Paulo’s interests in theories of education began to grow, leading him to do more extensive reading in education, philosophy, and the sociology of education than in law. In fact after passing the bar he quickly abandoned law as a means of earning a living in order to go work as a welfare official...† (Faundez, p. 22). ... There was a great percent of illiterate people at that time and it reached 75%. Freire began his career in a challenging cultural environment and his role as a great educator and a philosopher cannot be denied. Freire and his Ideas Poor people of Recife were Freire’s audience. He worked in the slums of Recife. He thought that authoritarian relationship between teacher and pupil was inefficient. Freire underlined that the process making an individual literate was the first step on the way of dealing with poverty. Freire tried to improve his experience while working as a teacher of poor people. He expanded his work and the results were successful: "The results of this experiment were impressive. Three hundred workers learned to read and write in forty-five days† (Elias, p. 4). An urban teacher has turned into a national expert in the issue of adult literacy. In spite of the phenomenal success of his programs there were some challenges. He was a great educator and he made p oor people believe in themselves and after that he provided them with information and knowledge. He inspired those people who seemed to be never restored to reinstate their minds and self-esteem again. He tried to prove that the first step in dealing with poverty was the economic justice, reform and opposition to repression. It is known that â€Å"Freirean-based literacy programs involve an examination of society’s hidden economies of power and privilege and how these help to inform students’ subjectivities" (McLaren & Leonard, p. 53). The underclass has been often challenged in terms of political and economic oppression. Freire tried to expand his ideas across the nation. He thought about a nation-wide implementation of educational programs. â€Å"This national

ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE AND ANALYSIS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE AND ANALYSIS - Essay Example The 21st century has seen the emergence of adaptive organization styles to cope with these increasingly evolving changes in the economic, technological and social-cultural environment. This has had an impact on the traditional organization structure from the previous bureaucratic to today’s emerging post-bureaucratic or otherwise known as network model of organization. A closer look at today’s organizations will show that both the human and structural components have been on a constant change path (Casey 2002). Casey (2002) further observes that today’s organization has faced some form of revolution that has been created by the ever increasing quest for modernity. The issue that arises in this observation is, therefore, what are the causes of such changes and to what extent the present corporate organizations have embraced the change or shown the signs for those changes. This paper therefore examines the various factors that have led to the shift from the bureauc ratic style to that of post-modernism or network model of organization by looking at structures and the human factors. It also tries to ascertain the extent to which today’s organizations have embraced these changes. ... To begin, the revolution of the information and communication technology has been a major influencing factor in the way organizations have been operational. Processes, functions and the general environment of operations in organizations have changed and corporations have felt this change in a massive way. Organizations have encountered and experienced surprising changes in the twenty first century more than that of the industrial revolution (Castells 2011). Decisions are today made more promptly because top management have shed off some of their decision making responsibilities with the emergence of new technology or computer information systems such as decision support systems. They have improved accuracy and the time taken to make decisions and they have facilitated involvement of many people as opposed to the previous bureaucratic style where lower cadre employees had to wait several days for final decisions to be made (Heyderbrand 1989). Information technology has also effectivel y improved the way feedback is sought from the top management. For instance, today you do not have to book an appointment to meet the manager; instead you could just send him or her an email and you will be sure that there will be response soonest they access their mails. Another influence that technology has brought into organizations is the rise of professional workers who are more independent in thinking and decision making and the reduction of manual workers who depend on supervision and orders for them to perform their tasks appropriately (Frenkel 1999). This has in turn reduced bureaucratic tendencies of relying on orders and waiting for instructions from the top organs as will be further seen in this discussion. To plainly relay the

Strategic Information System Essay Example for Free

Strategic Information System Essay 1. Introduction Given the rise of competition in the modern business industry, it is essential for firms to apply strategic use of information system (IS) to achieve competitive advantage (CA). In the recent years, top management of firms have little interest in the relationship between IS functions and corporate strategy leading to many problems because of failure in achieving strategies. According to Holsapple (2000), modern organizations are increasingly seen as knowledge-based enterprises in which proactive knowledge management is important for competitiveness. One of the major factors in competitive environment is knowledge management and companies for achieving the competitive advantage should concentrate in its IS. IS plays an important role in business operations as well as financial and non-financial aspects of the firm such as decision making as a big role of management. There has a growing realization to make ISs of strategic importance to an organization in the 80’s and 90’s. Systems that shape or support business unit’s competitive strategy are known as Strategic IS (Callon 1996, an Neumann 1994). According to Turban et al (2006), SIS is the ability to significantly change the manner in which business is conducted in order to give the firm strategic advantage. Porter (1996) believes that competitive advantage is at the core of a firm success or failure, such advantage seeks lead to control the market and to larger-than-average profits. This research paper provides information on how organizations apply strategic use of IS/It to achieve competitive advantage over its competitors. This paper pays particular attention to factors influencing the success or failure of organization attempts at gaining or enhancing competitive advantages, and how competitive advantages can be sustained. 1.1Background IS is a set of interrelated elements that collect (input), manipulate (process), store, and disseminate (output) data and information and provide a reaction (feedback mechanism) to meet an objective (refer to Figure 1). Figure 1.1: The Components of an Information System IS is a combination of people’s activities and information technologies that supports organisation’s operation and decisions making and strategies for competitive advantage. IS plays a vital role in business operation and financial and non-financial aspect such as decision-making. IS are classified either operations or management information systems. They are being grouped this way to identify the major roles each plays in the operations and managements of a business. An Information System consists of five basic resources: i) People Resources (end users and IS specialist) ii) Software Resources (programs and procedures) iii) Hardware Resources (machines and medias) iv) Data Resources (data and knowledge bases) v) Network Resources (communications media and network support) SISs are systems used to supports or shape a business unit’s competitive strategy (Callon, 1996, and Nerumann, 1944). It is characterised by its ability significantly revamp the way in which a business is conducted in order to provide the firm strategic advantage. SIS is classified by its ability to change the manner a business is conducted, in order to achieve strategic advantage for the firm (Turban et al, 2006). SISs play strategic roles helping firm to gain competitive advantage or reduces competitive disadvantage by changing goals, products or processes through information systems. A competitive strategy is a broad-based formula for how a business is going to compete, what its goals should be, and what plans and policies will be required to carry out those goals (Porter, 1985). Through its competitive strategy, firms seek a competitive advantage in the industry advantage over competitors in measures such as cost, quality, or speed. The success or failure of a firm fully depends on its competitive advantage against its competitors (Porter and Millar, 1985, and Porter, 1996), such advantage seeks to lead to control of the marker and to larger-than-average profits. Through contribution to strategic goals of an organization and ability to increase performance and productivity, SIS aids an organization gain a competitive advantage over its competitors. SISs enable firms to gain competitive advantage and benefit greatly at the expense of those subjected to competitive disadvantage (Turban et al, 2006). SIS focus on improving the firm’s competitive position through increasing employees’ productivity, streamlining business processes and making better decisions (Turban et al, 2006). An organization can survive and succeed in the long run as long as it have effectively develops strategies to go up against the five competitive forces that shape the structure of competition in its industry. The Porter five competitive forces are: Businesses can counter the threat of competitive forces in which they face by implementing one or more of the five basic competitive strategies. The five basic competitive strategies are: i) Cost Leadership Strategy ii) Differentiation Strategy iii) Innovation Strategy iv) Growth Strategies v) Alliance Strategy An organization can counter the forces of competition from its competitors by implementing one, some or all the strategies in different degrees. 2.Companies using IS/IT to gain competitive advantages 2.1Cigna HealthCare CRM System In 1999, Cigna HealthCare decided to upgrade its outdated and almost extinct CRM system to improve the efficiency of business operations and then improving customer satisfaction. Cigna was operating nearly two-decade-old CRM systems to handle its daily operation needs. It had multiple units for different roles such as membership enrollment, processing medical claims and verifying customer eligibility and they were not interconnected. Furthermore, Cigna received numerous complaints from doctors as the old and disintegrating processing systems delayed their medical benefits claim payment and was heftily slapped with a US$ 300,000 fine on 29th January 2001. Cigna’s Chief Information Officer (CIO), Andrea Anania planned to combine the information from the different information systems and develops a new integrated systems to handle all the process. Anania goal was for the CRM system to act like a â€Å"one-stop† portal, thus improving efficiency. Cigna awarded a budget of US$ 1 billion to develop the CRM system, which aims to reduce human intervention while speeding up the processing time of medical claims. During the implementation of the CRM, Cigna had a net loss of US$ 398 million for fiscal year 2002. This project had already exceeded the original budget of US$1 billion and had done substantial financial damaged to Cigna. 2.2Bank of America – MasterNet System Bank of America (BoA) developed Master Net trust accounting system in 1982 with a plan completion date of 31 December 1984. MasterNet consist of a large trust accounting system, TrustPlus, and eight smaller systems that augmented the core system. In 1986, migration process was greatly affected by technical problems such as poor response time and day long system crashes. In 1988, BoA announced that its trust business was being given to a subsidiary as it could no longer handle the operation requirements after a $78 million loss in the MasterNet project . 2.3 American Airlines – Knowledge Management System American Airlines understand the needs to analyze data collected through their computer reservation system, SABRE, an automated system with the ability to check flight and seats availability and making a reservation for customer developed in 1960s with IBM. In 1990, AA developed a knowledge management system, SMARTSTM (Sales Management and Report Tracking System) as a tool to leverage CRS reservation data and AA internal historical data on performance and bookings. SMARTS is able to run analysis for AA to develop finely tailored scheme based on AA’s market shares. The combination of SABRE and SMARTS creates the expertise exploitation capability for AA whose impact can be systematically assessed against the access to reservation system, which has become market-standard for competitive parity. 2.4 Wal-Mart – Point-of-Sale System Successful implementations of IS into daily practices have aided Wal-Mart in their quest to maintain the position of low cost leader (Thomas Wailgum, 2007). Wal-Mart had adopted the â€Å"point-of-sale† system; a computerized system which identifies sales of individual items, updates information into its server and modifies the on-hand quantity automatically. The system also analyzed data mined from the universal bar code and effectively transformed data collected from bar codes to useful information such as keeping track of sales trends for individual items as they are identified as an individual entity. 2.5Lesson Learned and Success Factors The author believed that the failure of Cigna CRM system was due to poor leadership and communication skills of Cigna’s CIO. Anania did not consulted professional to design the IT systems architecture required for transformation, instead she pooled 1400 employees from Cigna’s IT department and formed a team, made up of experienced project managers and new hires. Anania made an unethical decision to migrate 3.5 million customer’s data at one go instead of 10,000 per group to the new platform with out testing the integrity of the system due to pressing date lines leading to serious customer service problems surfacing immediately. As Cigna had lay off majority of its service center employee, believing that the new CRM will improved its productivity with lesser human input therefore leading to a shortage of experience staffs. Feedbacks and input from stakeholders was ignored by the managements during the development of the system, thus leading to the down fall of the CRM system and hitting Cigna with substantial financial damaged. The author feels if Cigna’s management culture had led to the failure of the IS. MasterNet have a leader who have a vision of technology but was not well versed technically and was too involve in other problems to focus on the project. BoA made two critical mistakes in handling of MasterNet. Firstly, BoA did not understand the difficulty involved and scope of MasterNet and sufficiently assess it risks when it was proposed. Secondly, BoA failed to take necessary fire-fighting actions when the project rolled out of control to minimize damage. The management only took notice of MasterNet when it performed so badly that it merited $23 million loss. Many mistakes made with respect to MasterNet were not specifically related to IS. The combinations of SMARTS and SABRE have assisted AA to become a market-standard for competitive parity. SMARTS is a system with ability to organize data by city, zone and territory of sales representative with analytical and presentation capabilities. SMARTS was design to provide reliable detailed information to sales representatives to influence travel agencies behavior strategically. Previously, sales representatives doesn’t have complete information about market shares and performance data of travel agencies in his territory and the job consisted mainly preserving a good working relationship with the travel agent. With the aid of SMARTS, the sales representatives are able to analyse market trends in detail and could easily identify opportunities than before, thus maximising productivity. Through the use of SMARTS system, AA’s intangible sales knowledge is enhanced as it is able to interpret movements in share and market. Aside to that, SMARTS help representatives highlight weak markets to the travel agency mangers to focus on. According to Mr. Jack Williams, Senior Vice-President of AA, SMARTS have introduced a huge culture change in their sales-force associated with the leveraging of the expertise as a result of the information in the system thus bringing an enormous advantage to AA, not easily copied by their competitors. The introduction of the barcode system have help Wal-Mart to maintain its low cost leadership. This system helped Wal-Mart to speed up its checkout cashier efficiency and eliminate problems of cashier keying in the wrong price for a product by scanning the barcode as previously the cashier have to manually key in the prices of all the goods according to the price tag. Aside to that, Wal-Mart was able to track its stock level and placed order when required. The system also has the ability to identify slow running products and prevents Wal-Mart from overstocking them. Through improving its information system, Wal-Mart has created a high barrier of entry for any company who wishes to enter the chain hyper-market industry. 3.Discussion Factors influencing organization to use IS as it business strategy are relatively dependent on internal and external forces of the business surrounding environment (Bob William, 2009). Internal forces that require considered and looked into are the current financial position of the firm. Budget required for IS implementation are considerably high, management allocating the funds for investment must be ensured minimal or perfect deployment of the IS. On top of that, employees capabilities also plays an important role during IS implementation. Firm needs to ensure that employees are at least computer literate and will have no problem operating or accessing the new system, else additional cost may be bared by the firm for training. The firm also needs to access the efficiency and effectiveness of its existing system and whether there is a need to upgrade or revise the current system to gain a competitive advantage over its competitors. Changes in consumer tastes, preference and purchasing pattern are external factors driving organization to implement IS. Consumers are becoming more IT savvy and surveys have shown customer swaying their purchasing pattern to electronic purchase due to convenient and time saving (James D. Gwartney, 2006). Companies need to understand and study consumer expectation and needs in order to analyse and implement business strategies to ensure business growth. Therefore, both internal and external factors are important consideration for implementation of IS to gain a competitive advantage as they complement each other. From the above examples, correct implementation of IS will give the firm a competitive advantage over its competition. Firms must understand their position from Porter’s five competitive forces and develop strategies and counter it to maintain competitive. As Howard et al, (1999) believed that competitive advantage could be gained if strategy development and ISs design are addressed simultaneously. Porter’s model identifies five competitive forces that affect competitive advantage in the market place. In order to establish a profitable and sustainable position, company needs to develop strategies of performing activities differently from its competitors to overcome these five forces. Strategy| Definition| Example| Strategic use of IS| Business Benefits| Cost Leadership| Produce products and/or services at the lowest cost in the industry| Dell Computer| Online build to order| Lowest-cost producer| Differentiation| Offer different products, services, or product features| Moen Inc| Online customer design| Increase in market share| Innovation| Introduce new products and services, put new features into existing products and services, or develop new ways to produce them| American Airlines| Analyse data| Market Leadership| Growth| Increase market share, acquire more customers, or sell more products| Wal-Mart| Merchandise ordering by global satellite network| Market Leadership| Alliance| Work with business partners in partnerships, alliances, joint ventures, or virtual companies| Wal-Mart/ Procter Gamble| Auto inventory replenishment by supplier| Reduced inventory cost/increased sales| Information systems can be used to help firms gain competitive advantage with the help of Porter’s competitive forces model for analyzing competitiveness and proper implementation of IS. According to Michael Porter, the main types of competitive advantage are low cost provider, differentiation and focus. Companies have use porter’s model to increase competitive edge and also demonstrated how IS can enhance competitiveness of corporation (Turban et al. 2006). Finally, firms need to sustain competitive advantages gained from the implementation of IS. In the real world, competitive advantage doesn’t normally last very long and is generally not sustainable over the long term (O’Brien 2011). When a firm gains competitive advantage over its competitors through innovation, competitors figure out how it was done through organizational learning. To neutralize the effect, competitors adopt the same or similar innovation and what was once a competitive advantage is now a competitive necessity. When these occur, firm needs to figure out new innovation to gain a competitive edge and the cycle starts. 4.Conclusion Technologies have changed the way business operates today. Manual processes in the past are now being automated and electronic communications have been heavily introduced in today’s business world. IS have evolved over the years and offer new possibilities to gain competitive advantage. Many businesses today have realized the important of technology and power it possess, but fail to understand the possible benefit achievable. The author learned that through proper planning and implementation of IS will lead to a competitive advantage gain for the organization. With the aid of IS, it will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of staff in the organization which in turn will save labor and consumable cost. 5.Reference Ahlemann Frederik. (2009). Towards a conceptual reference model for project management information system. International Journal of Project Management, Vol. 27, No.1, pp. 19-30 Ankit Bhatnagar. (2006). Strategic Information System Planning: Alignment of ‘IS/IT’ Planning and Business Planning, Unitee New Zealand. Amber S., Brooke W., Cheri E., Ismael M. Wesley B. (2011). Wal-Mart Information System Benjamin, R.I., D.W. Long, and M.S. Moron (1990). Electronic Data Interchange: How Much Competitive Advantage?. Long Range Planning, 23:1, pp. 29-40. Bruns, W,J, and F,W, McFarlan (1987). Information Technology Puts Power in Control Systems, Harvard Business Review, Sep-Oct, pp. 89-94 Callon, J. D., (1996). Competitive Advantage through Information Technology. New York: McGraw Hill, USA. Christiaanse, Ellen., Venkatraman, N. (2002). Beyand Sabre: An empricial test of expertise exploitation in electronic channels. MIS Quarterly, Vol. 26, No.1, pp. 15.38. Davenport, T.H., M. Hammer, and T.J. Metisto (1989). How Executives Can Shape Their Company’s Information Systems, Harvard Business Review. H. Russell Johnston and Michael R. Vitale (1988). Creating Competitive Advantage With Inter-organizational Information Systems. MIS Quartely, Jun 1988, pp. 153-165. Ives B., and G. P. Learmouth (1984). The Information System as a Competitive Weapon. Communication of the ACM Jeffery. G. Szilagyi. Bank of America’s Masternet System: A Case study in Risk Assessment Jeremy A. (2011). Supply Chain Management at Wal-Mart Johnston, H.R. and Carrico, S. R. (1988). Developing Capabilities to use Information Strategically. MIS Quarterly, pp. 37-48. Mahmood Hemmatfar (2010). Competitive Advantages and Strategic Information System. International Journal of Business and Management, Vol. 5, No 7, pp 158-169 M. Vinaya Kumar (2007). CRM Implementation Failure at Cigna Corporation, ICFAI Center for Management Research. Porter, M. E. (1996). What is a Strategy? Harvard Business Review, November – December 1996, pp 45-59. Porter, M. E. (2001). Strategic and the Internet. Harvard Business Review, Vol. 79, No. 3, pp 62-74. Porter, M.E., and V. E. Millar (1985). How information gives you competitive advantage. Harvard Business Review, Vol. 62, No. 4, pp. 149-158. Ross, J. W. et al. (1996). Develop Long-Term Competitiveness through IT Assets. Sloan Management Review, Vol. 60, No 4, pp. 132-148. Teo, T. S. H. (2000). Using the Internet for Competitve Intelligence in Singapore. Competitive Intelligence Review, Vol. 8 Issue 2, pp. 16-23.

Sales & Distribution Management under the guidance of Prof. Jaydeep Mukherjee Essay Example for Free

Sales Distribution Management under the guidance of Prof. Jaydeep Mukherjee Essay Introduction This report is a part of our Project submission for the subject â€Å"Sales Distribution Management† under the guidance of Prof. Jaydeep Mukherjee. The Company which we have selected for our Project is MondelÄ“z International, formerly known as Cadbury India. As the first part of submission of our project this report includes the details of distribution channel of three product category, which are as follows: Extensive Intensive Perishable This report focus on product level analysis which includes the economics of business, the paradigm of service output desired by the customer and the service provided, decision making elements of the intermediaries, challenges faced, skill required by the sales and KRA’s of the sales team. As sales and distribution management is a subject which is highly practice oriented, we visited and interacted various shops in nearby markets within new old Gurgaon along with our visit to M/S Chandana Enterprise, a re-distributor of Cadbury India and sales marketing office of MondelÄ“z International, Vatika Tower, Golf course road, Gurgaon. This report is prepared on the basis of face to face interviews conducted with few retailers, store managers of Modern trade like Le Marche, SRS Value bazaar, along with that face to face interview with the distributor and the sales team of Mondelz International. Some of the information like company’s background and factual details has been gathered through internet. The reference of those sites has been given at the end of the report. Background About MondelÄ“z International MondelÄ“z International, Inc., is an American multinational confectionery, food, and beverage company based in Illinois which employs about 107,000 people around the world. It consists of the global snack and food brands of the former Kraft Foods Inc after the October 2012 spin-off of its North American grocery operations. The MondelÄ“z name, adopted in 2012, was suggested by Kraft Foods employees and is derived from the words mundus (Latin for â€Å"world†) and delez (a proxy for the word delicious). Name: MondelÄ“z International Type: Public. Industry: Food Processing. Predecessor: Kraft Food Inc. Founded: October  2, 2012. Founder: Thomas H. McInnerney Head Quarters: Chicago suburb of Deerfield, Illinois. Area Served: World Wide Brand Owned: Belvita, Chips Ahoy!, Nabisco, Oreo, Ritz, TUC, Triscuit, LU, Club Social, Barni, and Peek Freans (cookies and crackers); Milka, Terrys, Cà ´te dOr, Toblerone, Cadbury, Freia, Marabou, Frys, Lacta (chocolate), Trident, Dentyne, Chiclets, Halls, Stride (gum and cough drops) and Tang (powdered beverages). Products: Baby Food, Coffee, Dairy Products, Breakfast Cereals, Confectioneries, Bottled Water, Pet Foods etc. Revenue: US$25.92 billion (2016) Website: www.MondelÄ“z international.com About Cadbury: Cadbury, formerly Cadburys, is a British multinational confectionery company wholly owned by MondelÄ“z International (originally Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second-largest confectionery brand in the world after Wrigleys.[2] Cadbury is internationally headquartered in Uxbridge, West London, and operates in more than 50 countries worldwide. It is famous for its Dairy Milk chocolate, the Creme Egg and Roses selection box, and many other confectionery products. One of the best-known British brands, in 2013 The Daily Telegraph named Cadbury among Britains most successful exports. Cadbury was established in Birmingham, England in 1824, by John Cadbury who sold tea, coffee and drinking chocolate. Cadbury developed the business with his brother Benjamin, followed by his sons Richard and George. George developed the Bournville estate, a model village designed to give the companys workers improved living conditions. Dairy Milk chocolate, introduced in 1905, used a higher proportion of milk within the recipe compared with rival products. By 1914, the chocolate was the companys best-selling product. Cadbury, alongside Rowntrees and Fry, were the big three British confectionery manufacturers throughout much of the nineteenth and twentieth century. Cadbury was granted its first Royal Warrant from Queen Victoria in 1854. It has been a holder of a Royal Warrant from Elizabeth II since 1955.[5] Cadbury merged with J. S. Fry Sons in 1919, and Schweppes in 1969. Cadbury was a constant constituent of the FTSE 100 on the London Stock Exchange from the indexs 1984 inception until the company was bought by Kraft Foods in 2010 Cadbury in India: The operations of Cadbury India initiated in 1948. The head office is situated in Mumbai, Maharashtra with 4 sales offices at New Delhi, Kolkata, and Mumbai Chennai. It has five manufacturing units all over India at Thane (Maharashtra), Induri (Maharashtra), Malanpur (Madhya Pradesh), Bangalore (Karnataka), Baddi (Himachal Pradesh) and Hyderabad (Telengana) . The Company is planning to open its seventh manufacturing unit in Andhra Pradesh. It has one cocoa operations office at Dharapuram (Tamil Nadu) Cadbury India has a share of over 67% in the market, which is the highest Cadbury brand share globally.Cadbury India’s one of the most popular brands, Cadbury Dairy Milk is a benchmark for other chocolates in India and is regarded as the â€Å"gold standard†.Some of the other popular brands are 5 Star, Perk, Bournville, Celebrations, Halls, Éclairs, Tang and Oreo. The main brand in the Milk Food drinks segment is Bournvita, which is known as the leading Malted Food Drink (MFD) in the country. In the medicated category, Halls is a favorite candy while Cadbury India has also entered the biscuits category by launching Worlds no.1 biscuit brand Oreo.Cadbury has also been the leaders in the development of cocoa cultivation in India since 1965. The research work has been carried out in collaboration with the Kerala Agricultural University. The team from Cadbury also conducts training sessions for the cocoa farmers on cultivation aspects to have an increased cocoa productivity. In India Cadbury reaches to 1.2 million retail stores and 490, 00,000 RD’s. Its traditional trade to modern trade ratio is 90:10. Intensive Product: Cadbury Éclairs Extensive Product: Cadbury Silk Praline Intensive Distribution: A marketing strategy under which a company sells through as many outlets as possible, so that the consumers encounter the product virtually everywhere they go: supermarkets, drug stores, gas stations etc. Exclusive Distribution: Situation where suppliers and distributors enter into an exclusive agreement that only allows the named distributor to sell a specific product. Product: Cadbury Éclairs About the product: Cadbury Éclairs  are a confectionery currently manufactured by  Cadbury. Introduced in the United Kingdom in 1965, they were adapted into a  Dairy Milk  version of Éclairs after Cadbury was acquired by the privately owned company  HYPERLINK https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascall_(company) \o Pascall (company)Pascall  in 1922.  They are available in bags or rolls and can be found in the  Cadbury Heroes  selection. Éclairs are currently available in  South Africa,  United Kingdom, Ireland,  Kenya,  Hong Kong  and  India; where they are known as Dairy Milk Éclairs. In 2013 MondelÄ“z International updated the UK ingredients list to add in the inclusion of  palm oil  in the recipe. Éclairs was launched in 1971 in Indian market. In 2013 Cadbury rebranded its product to Choclairs in India. Distribution System: Intensive Distribution System Cadbury Éclairs is manufactured at xyz manufacturing unit of Cadbury India. This is the only facility which manufactures the product to meet the demand of several regions across India. Once ready the product is transferred to the State depot of various states the country through roadways /airways. Product form these state depots is then transferred to various CF located at different cities/districts. These CF’s acts as a warehouse for the company. MondelÄ“z appoints some private firm as its CF agent. CF agent further supplies the product to the redistributors. MondelÄ“z employs employees either on direct pay role or on an indirect payroll through the CF agent for operating these CF agencies. The RD or the re distributor receives its supply from the CF agency. An area sales manager is appointed to manage and monitor the RD centers in his/her area. The distributor is supposed to have its own sales team, which is groomed and trained by the Sales Team of MondelÄ“z . Usually 12 to 15 sales executives are appointed by the distributors. Each sales executive is designated to a particular territory known as â€Å"Beat†. Each such beat comprises of 30 to 40 outlets. Distribution Flow Chart- Cadbury EclairsCF State Depot Baddi Factory Thane Factory Induri Factory Malanpur Factory Bangalore Factory Direct Channel Distributor (RD) Sub-Stockiest Market: Modern Trade E.g.: Big Bazaar, Le Marche, Reliance etc Tradition Trade Retailers E.g.: Grocery stores, Betel Shop, Med Shops, and Stationeries etc. Tradition Trade Retailers E.g.: Grocery stores, Betel Shop, Med Shops, and Stationeries etc. Indirect Channel Consumer Selection of Channel Partners Selection of channel partner is based on following parameters: Business Capacity Salesmanship Credit worthiness, financial and social status. Expertise experience Presence in Market Producer Channel Fit Investment Made by Channel Partners These CF agencies and Re-distributors have to make investment in terms of: Security money to the company. Infrastructure which includes Temperature Controlled Go down with (Self owned/rented). Stock. Logistics Sales Team To supply product on credit in the market. Distribution Channel Management Channel Management is done through Rewards: Monetary Non-monetary Target Setting and monitoring Training capacity building Cash Flow Monetary Benefits In GT is around 4.5% and 1% is activity based In MT margin is around 4.5% and !% is activity based Super Stockiest margin is around 2% Retailers have a margin of 15% on Éclairs pouch 12% on Éclair Jar. Incentives to the Sales executives after surpassing the target. Non- Monetary Benefits A scheme called â€Å"Udaan†, which includes trips to abroad, based on the performance of RD’s and Super Stockiest. Visicooler’s to food stores and chemist’s based on their weekly sales. Mass dispenser’s to Chemists Betel Shops. Borrow Dispensers are given to small shop’s and Betel shops. Target Setting and Monitoring Monthly target is set separately for Traditional trade, Modern Trade and Institutional Trade. Incentives are given only after surpassing the give targets. A rough figure of avg. monthly targets for Modern Traditional trade are as listed below Modern Trade: Over 20 lakhs Traditional Trade: Over 1 Cr. These targets vary from city to city. For example one of the RD located in Gurgaon M/S Chandana Enterprise alone give a business of INR 8, 00, 00,000 alone. The monitoring is done by the company’s sales force by analyzing the invoice generated by the distributors. Cash Flow Distributor make the payment to the company through rtgs and pre-paid cheques .The cash flow cycle of the distributor varies form 1- 7days.Only those Firm’s which are financially sound are appointed as company’s distributors. This is because if a company is not financially well to then its won’t be able to provide credit to its retailer hence won’t be able to sustain in the market. The cash flow between the company, the CF and the retailer has to be well synchronized as any break or halt in the payment process can put a break on the entire cycle of events. In Modern trade and institutional Trade cash flow cycle varies from 16 days to a month. The distributors are liable to pay salary to its sales force but the incentives are given by the company. SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 1 Direction of Cash Flow Mode of Trasport SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 2 Mode of Transport Skills Required by the Sales Team It’s very important that the sales team should have certain skill sets, which help them to increase the productivity in terms of Sales output and market capture. Few of the skills which MondelÄ“z International expects from its sales team are as listed below: Business Generation. Target Oriented. Product Knowledge Knowledge of Customer. Should know how to pitch in the cost of the product in the market. Justify the product as per product’s marketing plan. Should know the seasonality pattern. Should know about the competitors Should have a sound knowledge of distribution management. KRA of a Sales Officer To achieve the give monthly target To identify the market potential in the beat assigned. Business Expansion. To continuously work in increasing Product visibility and presence in the market. Re-distributor handling. Team Handling Apart from the Sales officer, sales executive working directly in the market are the first line of interface between the company and the market. Although these sales executives are employed by the Re-distributors, their incentives and training expenses are borne by the company. These sales executives are responsible for: Bringing order form the retailer. To check and ensure the visibility the presence of product at retailers shop floor To collect the money from retailers on behalf of the distributor. Apart from the above mentioned responsibility the sales executives are involved in a 8 step called as per the training given to them by the company. This 8 step call includes: Greeting the Retailer. Checking the Stock Available. Merchandising. Taking the Order. Negotiating with the retailer. Revising the order and order confirmation. Greet the Retailer. Pre pare for next call. The inventory management system of MondelÄ“z works on a very prompt basis. The replenishment of stock with the distributor is done based on an automatic ERP system. Let us suppose that the minimum stock that M/S Chandana Enterprise needs to keep for say Dairy Milk is 10 cartons. M/s Chandna Enterprise receives an order of say 3 cartons out of these remaining cartons today. As soon as an invoice is generated at the end of M/s Chandna enterprise the system updates the same and the very next day 3 cartons of Dairy milk will be send to the distributor form the CF warehouse and the same will be updated in the system. This process ensures the timely replenishment and availability of minimum stock with the distributor as specified by the company. Product: Cadbury Silk Praline. About the product: Cadbury Silk Praline is a premium gifting range of Luxury chocolates currently manufactured by  Cadbury. The product was first introduced to the Indian market in September 2014. Cadbury Glow  was inspired by the warm glow of happiness that comes from seeing dear ones light up with happiness when they receive a special gift. In a busy world where emotions are forgotten and people have less time for their near and dear ones,  Cadbury Glow  aimed to empower people with a thoughtful gift to show how much they care. Staying true to this philosophy, the chocolate gift is filled with little details that are symbolic of the care that went into creating it. The chocolate pralines are crafted in Europe, and special attention is required post production in designing and packaging, making it more than just a chocolate and something truly worthy of gifting to a loved one. The beautiful gold and purple packaging of  Cadbury Glow  is reminiscent of a treasure chest t hat glows from the inside out, filled with delicious chocolate pralines that would leave a precious feeling. To make the gifting experience truly personalized  Cadbury Glow  will also be launching in September a unique gifting website that will connect both the gifter and recipient. The website  www.cadburygifting.in  allows consumers to experience the world of  Cadbury Glow, and to add a personal touch to their gift of  Cadbury Glow  by writing a personal note, sending a lovely song or experiencing again fond memories by videos and photos. In 2017 Cadbury rebranded its product to Cadbury Silk Praline in India. Distribution System: Extensive Distribution System Cadbury Silk Praline is manufactured at Mondelez’s manufacturing facility at Slovakia. The product is the Imported by Mondelez India food Pvt Limited and is packed by M/S Ameya Plastics, near Pune, Maharashtra. The Product form Slovakian facility is imported through air freight, which further is sent to the packing facility in insulated trucks. Once packaging is done Cadbury Silk Praline is sent to various CF in insulated trucks through roadways. The CF agent further distributes the product to the re-distributors from where it is supplied to the retailers modern trade market. Cadbury Silk Praline is an exclusive range of luxury gifting chocolates, which is seasonal in nature. Mondelez register peak sales of the product in india market during the festive months of October –November. Cadbury Silk Praline is major sold through Modern Trade and Institutional Trade. The product is meant for the niche market and hence not available at every nick corner shops. Being a temperature sensitive product it’s very important to store Silk Praline at a company prescribed temperature of 24 degree Celsius .Mondelez assign the dealer ship and retailer ship to only those business units which have facilities to maintain the prescribed temperature for storage of the product. The Product is also meant to transported through insulated temperature controlled trucks and mini vans. For this particular product the system in Mondelez is designed in such a manner that even if the distributor tries to supply the product to certain retailer who is not well equipped with the visicoolers or storage facility ,the system won’t allow to generate the invoice. Apart for the exclusivity and seasonality of the product rest of the factors remains same as explained above.