How to Reduce Stress

1. In today's smaller Air Force, members are finding themselves doing more with less. This in-turn has caused numerous stressful situations on and off duty. It is incumbent for Air Force members to recognize, treat, and eliminate stress whenever practical to increase morale and mission accomplishment. This paper will cover the emotional, behavioral, and physical signs of stress as well as importance of job stress management in treating and/or eliminating stress. 2. Before we can begin to reduce stress, we must be able to recognize indicators that lead to or help identify stress. Air Force psychologist Capt. Neil S. Hibler has developed a list of early warning signs (2:19). For our purposes we will discuss only a couple from each category. First, from the emotional category, is apathy. Apathy is the doldrums. Things you normally enjoy are no longer pleasurable. Along with apathy is mental fatigue. Being unable to concentrate or staying focus are only a couple of examples of mental fatigue. Emotional signs are very important to recognize, because if they are not noticed early on and addressed, behavioral or even physical problems can surface. The behavioral category signs include: being late to work, poor appearance, and being accident prone are just a few examples of administrative problems. Legal problems are even more evident, such as, traffic tickets, indebtedness, and inability to control violent impulses. As you can see, these signs of stress become more serious the longer TSgt Adams/H-Flt/0805/pfa/19 Jul 97 they go untreated or reduced. Finally, is the physical category; possibly the most serious of all. Stress not only effects the psyche of an individual, but the physical side of ones' being can also be altered. Ailments such as: headaches, insomnia, nausea, changes in appetite, and sexual problems can persist during times of stress. The individual may seek relief from stress by self-medicating and develop a dependence on chemicals that are harmful to the body. These signs are just a few of the more recognizable. Other signs can be very subtle and even more dangerous to the individual and others. This is why it is paramount to detect stress early and if possible treat, reduce, or eliminate before damage is done. 3. Once signs of stress are identified, it is time to tackle them with a few job stress management techniques outlined in â€Å"The Relaxation & Stress Reduction Handbook† (2:211). A 1985 study conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics found that more than 50% of workers surveyed experienced moderate to heavy stress on the job. To effectively combat work-related stress, you first need to identify symptoms and sources of job related stress. This can be accomplished by taking and scoring the survey in the handbook. Next, you need to keep a log on how you respond to your specific job stressors. Label four columns: stressor, feelings, thoughts, and behavior. After you have completed these task, setting goals and motivation is next. Set goals to respond more effectively to your job stressors. Develop a plan to react to stress you can anticipate or even avoid altogether. The idea here is to gain more control of your work environment. Rewards are a very important part of motivation. Create a specific reward for every goal you establish and make sure to give yourself the time to enjoy your reward. The next area to consider is more difficult for most of us. Dealing with your boss, negotiating with co- workers, and changing your thinking can be used to your advantage to help reduce stress. Don't side step these ideas, use them! The last two strategies to consider in job stress management are; pace and balance yourself, and know when to quit. Pace at your own tempo. Don't burn yourself out. This is one of the leading causes of stress at work. To effectively integrate job stress management into your daily lifestyle could take months, in just a day you can identify your job stressors and your responses to them. Getting started is the key! 4. We have discussed identifying stress by looking for: emotional, behavioral, and physical signs of stress. Then, more importantly, we discussed ways to: treat, reduce, or eliminate stress by applying techniques used in job stress management. Job stress accounts for billions of dollars lost annually in productivity, wages, and medical bills. Americans now know that job stress management makes personal and financial sense.

Literary Merit in Bram Stoker’s Dracula Essay

Although it is rather a subjective concept, â€Å"literary merit† essentially means the worth, quality, or excellence of a writing relative to other well-renowned literary masterpieces. In a Constitutional framework, the absence or presence of literary merit would determine the government’s limits to freedom of expression. To possess literary merit would mean that the work is not obscene. The landmark case of Miller vs. California enumerates key guidelines to ascertain the literary merit of a particular text, to wit: 1) Whether the average person, applying contemporary community standards would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest†¦ 2)   Whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law , and 3)   Whether the work, taken as a whole lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value. (Miller vs. California, 37 L. Ed. 2nd 419, 431 (1973)) Fundamentally speaking, in any framework, to have literary merit is to have value. The popularity of Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula has reached such endemic proportions that it has been claimed to be the most recognized book next to the Bible. A Victorian novel with the distinctive gothic appeal toward the macabre, Dracula has undeniably become a classic milestone in horror fiction. Establishing its literary merit however, is a different matter. A review from The Athenaeum, an influential periodical in Victorian England described the novel as â€Å"sensational.† The review further states: Dracula is highly sensational, but it is wanting in the constructive art as well as in the higher literary sense. It reads at times like a mere series of grotesquely incredible events; but there are better moments that show more power, though even these are never productive of the tremor such subjects evoke under the hand of a master. (The Athenaeum, 26 June 1897). Emphasis supplied. The unremitting succession of the bizarre, the gross and the fantastic, as explained in the review, would seem tantamount to a lack of refinement in the â€Å"higher literary sense.† This observation was supplemented by another review of the same sentiment: The plot is too complicated for reproduction, but it says no little for the author’s power that in spite of its absurdities the reader can follow the story with interest to the end. It is, however, an artistic mistake to fill a whole volume with horrors. A touch of the mysterious, the terrible, or the supernatural is infinitely more effective and credible. (Manchester Guardian, 15 June 1897). Emphasis supplied. As interpreted, instead of relying on the intelligence of the reader to grasp on their own the significance of subtle nuances and take in the various shifts and twists in the story as it evolves, Stoker instantly and unceasingly bombards the reader with an onslaught of palpable and shocking horrific scenes as if the reader is too untrustworthy and unsophisticated to deal with subtleties. If there seems to be little literary merit in the intellectual or scholarly sense, Dracula is still credited for its universal allure. The Pall Mall Gazette, in a commentary of Dracula states: †¦the story deals with the Vampire King, and it is horrid and creepy to the last degree. It is also excellent, and one of the best things in the supernatural line that we have been lucky enough to hit upon. (Pall Mall Gazette, 1 June 1897). Emphasis supplied. The universal allure of Dracula is probably in its resurrection of the vampire lore in a straightforward, practical and illustrative fashion. A vivid and uncomplicated quote from the novel confirms this:   â€Å"I shall cut off her head and fill her mouth with garlic, and I shall drive a stake through her body† (Stoker, 261). The novel’s refreshing simplicity is also evidenced in the following review:   Here, for the latest example, is Mr. Bram Stoker taking in hand the old-world legend of the Were-wolf or vampire, with all its weird and exciting associations of blood-sucking and human flesh devouring, and interweaving it with the threads of a long story with an earnestness, a directness, and a simple good faith which ought to go far to induce readers of fiction to surrender their imaginations into the novelist’s hands. (The Daily News, 27 May 1897). Emphasis supplied. While Bram Stoker’s Dracula is deficient in literary refinement, it nonetheless is considered to have literary merit by virtue of the fact that it captures man’s imagination. It certainly has value for having the extraordinary capacity to fascinate multitudes across time. Ultimately, its worth, quality or excellence is confirmed by its ceaseless popularity. Works Cited Books Miller, Elizabeth. Bram Stoker’s Dracula: A Documentary Volume. Detroit: Gale, 2004. Stoker, Bram. Dracula. London: Penguin Books, 1994. Articles â€Å"Dracula.† The Athenaeum 26 June 1897: 235. â€Å"Dracula.† The Daily News 27 May 1897. â€Å"Dracula, by Bram Stoker.† Manchester Guardian 15 June 1897. â€Å"For Midnight Reading.† Pall Mall Gazette 1 June 1897. Jurisprudence Miller vs. California, 37 L. Ed. 2nd 419, 431 (1973).

Management Information Systems Essay

Information Systems Failure: The Case of Computer-Aided Dispatch (Cad) System at London Ambulance Service 1. Introduction The LAS covers a geographical area of just over 600 square miles and handles emergencies for a resident population of 6.8 million people. The CAD project is one of the most frequently quoted UK-based examples of information systems failure that took place in early 1990s. The prominence of this particular case is due to the ‘safety critical’ nature of this system and the claim that 20-30 people may have lost their lives as a result of CAD failure. 2. Description of the Manual Dispatch System The manual dispatch system consists of: a) call taking, b) resource identification, and c) resource mobilization. Call Taking: Emergency calls are received by ambulance control. Control assistants write down details of incidents on pre-printed forms. The location of each incident is identified and the reference co-ordinates are recorded on the forms. The forms are then placed on a conveyer belt which transports them to a central collection point. Resource Identification: Other members of ambulance control collect the forms, review the details on the forms and decide which resource allocator should deal with each incident. The resource allocator examines the forms for a particular sector, compares the details against information recorded for each vehicle and decides which resource should be mobilized. The status information on these forms is updated regularly from information received via the radio operator. The resource is recorded on the original form which is then passed on to a dispatcher. Resource mobilization: The dispatcher either telephones the nearest ambulance station or passes instructions to the radio operator if an ambulance is already mobile. A number of problems exist with the manual dispatch system. Most problems are related to the time-consuming and error-prone nature of activities such as: identification of the precise location of an incident, the physical movement of paper forms, and maintaining up-to-date vehicle status information. Therefore, a Computer- Aided Dispatch (CAD) system was considered as a solution to overcome these problems. 3. The Computer-Aided Dispatch System 3.1 Purpose The objective of the CAD system was to automate many of the human-intensive processes involved in the manual despatch system. 3.2 How the CAD system was intended to work The essential features of the CAD system are shown in Figure 1 which illustrates how the system was intended to work in practice. British Telecom (BT) operators would route all 999 calls concerning medical emergencies to LAS headquarters. A total of 18 ‘receivers’ were then expected to record on the system the name, telephone number and address of the caller, and the name, destination address and brief details of the patient. This information would then be transmitted over a LAN to an ‘allocator’. The system would pinpoint the patient’s location on a map. The system was also expected to monitor continuously the location of every ambulance via radio messages transmitted by each vehicle. The system would then determine the nearest ambulance to the patient. Figure 1: The structure of CAD system at LAS Experienced ambulance ‘dispatchers’ were organized into teams based on three zones (south, north-east, and north-west). Dispatchers would be offered details of the three nearest ambulances by the system and the estimated time each would need to reach the scene. The dispatcher would choose an ambulance and send patient details to a small terminal screen located on the dashboard of the ambulance. The ambulance crew would then be expected to confirm that it was on its way. If the selected ambulance was in an ambulance depot then the dispatch message would be received on the station computer. The ambulance crew would always be expected to acknowledge a message. The system would automatically alter HQ of any ambulance where no acknowledgement was made. A follow-up message would then be sent from HQ. The system would detect messages that would tell HQ when the ambulance crew had arrived, when it was on its way to a hospital and when it was free again. 3.3 How the CAD system was built The CAD system was built as an event-based system using a rule-based approach and was intended to interact with a geographical information system (GIS). The system was built by a small software house called Systems Options using their own GIS software (WINGS) running under Microsoft Windows. The GIS communicated with Datatrak’s automatic vehicle tracking system. The system ran on a series of network PCs and file servers supplied by Apricot. 4. Events that Identified the Flaws of the CAD System On the night of the 26th October 1992 (Monday), things started to go wrong at the HQ of LAS. A flood of 999 calls apparently swamped operators’ screens and many of those calls were being wiped off screens for unknown reasons. Claims were later made that 20 to 30 people may have died as a result of ambulance arriving late on the scene. Some ambulances took over three hours to answer a call while the government’s recommended maximum was 17 min utes. Mr. John Wilby, the chief executive officer of LAS resigned within a couple of days of this event. A number of Members of Parliament called for a public inquiry. The Health Secretary initiated an inquiry and the findings were eventually published in an 80-page report in February, 1993, which immediately became headline news in both the computing and the national press. 5. Findings of the Inquiry The inquiry found evidence of poor management practice, high technological complexities and unfavorable operating environment involved in the implementation of the CAD system in LAS. Systems Options, the company responsible for developing the major part of the CAD system had no previous experience of building similar type of systems. This company, which had won the  £1.1 million contract for the development of the CAD system in June 1991, was found to have substantially underbid an established supplier (McDonnellDouglas). Hence, Systems Options was under serious pressure to complete the system quickly. The managing director of a competing software house wrote various memoranda to LAS management in June and July 1991 describing the project as ‘totally and fatally flawed’. It appeared that Mr. Wilby ignored what amounted to an over-ambitious project timetable. Furthermore, an audit report by Anderson Consulting which called for more finance an d longer time scales for the CAD project was suppressed by the project managers. The board of management of LAS was even misled by the project team over the experience of Systems Options and the references supplied by Systems Options were not thoroughly investigated. Due to the extreme time pressure to develop the CAD system within the allocated timeframe, the project team responsible for developing the system practically did not follow any standard systems development approach. As a result, the resultant software was incomplete and unstable. In January 1992, phases one and two of the project began live trials. In March 1992, phase two of the trials was temporarily suspended due to the discovery of system errors. In October 1992, phase three was terminated after two days of reported chaos described above. Questions were raised about the complexity of the technical system. In the manual dispatch system, communication between HQ and ambulances is conducted via telephone or voice radio links. In the CAD system, links between communication, logging and dispatching vi a a GIS were meant to be automated. The automation was completed but no performance testing was thoroughly performed due to the rushed approach to meet the deadline. The system was lightly loaded at start-up on the 26th October, 1992. Any problems, caused by the communications systems (e.g. ambulance crews pressing wrong buttons, or ambulances being in radio black spots) could be effectively managed by staff. However, as the number of ambulance incidents increased, the amount of incorrect vehicle information recorded by the system also increased. This had a knock-on effect in that the system made incorrect allocations on the basis of the information that it had. For example, multiple vehicles were sent to the same incident, or the closet vehicle was not chosen for the dispatch. As a result, the system had fewer ambulance resources to allocate. At the receiving end, patients became frustrated with the delays to ambulances arriving at incidents. This led to an increase in the number of calls made back to the LAS HQ relating to already recorded incidents. The increased volume of calls, together with a slow system and an insufficient number of call-takers, contributed to significant delays in answering the telephones which, in turn, caused further delays to patients. At the ambulance end, crews became increasingly frustrated at incorrect allocations and this led to an increased number of instances where they failed to press the right status buttons. The system therefore appears to have been in a vicious circle of cause and effect. There was also an apparent mismatch of perspectives among LAS management, HQ staff, and ambulance staff. The system has been described as being introduced in an atmosphere of mistrust by staff. There was incomplete ownership of the system by the majority of LAS staff. The hardware and software suppliers involved in this project reported low staff morale and friction between LAS management and workforce. In other words, an atmosphere of hostility towards the computing systems was observed. One of the reasons for low staff morale was that control room staff lacked previous experience of using computer systems. 6. Conclusion In summary, no single element of the case can be regarded as the sole cause for the failure of the CAD system in LAS. The description demonstrates that failure of information systems projects tend to be multi-faceted in nature. Discuss Questions: a) Discuss the CAD system in terms of Interaction Failure. b) What lessons can be learned from the failure of the CAD project in LAS?

The Consequences for Women of the 1867 Reform Act Essay

The Consequences for Women of the 1867 Reform Act - Essay Example According to Paula Bartley, this could be compared to the slave trade, â€Å"Is one half of the human species, like the poor African slaves, to be subject to prejudices that brutalise them...only to sweeten the cup of men† (Bartley, 2007). The consequences for the suffrage movements The Great Reform Act of 1832 in the United Kingdom was started by Jeremy Bentham and William Thompson. During this time, United Kingdom had become so corrupt because the constituencies were represented by rich land owners. Elections were unfair because there were many cases of bribery and corruption. Also, by the year 1812, many women practiced prostitution highly in the United Kingdom. Prostitution was fueled by the social, literacy and cultural behaviors of the people living in England. This is the time when many associations were formed with an objective of bringing change and social purity (Bartley, 2007). A centre for home of friendless girls was introduced to educate the young girls on the ne ed for obedience and self control. This was due to the unhygienic nature of the practice since it led to contagious diseases. The reformers explained the causes of prostitution and came up with a strategy to educate the youth on positive change. Industrial capitalism also changed and minimized prostitution. â€Å"Surely, it will not be denied that woman have, and ought to have opinions of their own on subjects of public interest, and on the events which arise as the world goes its way† (Bartley, 2007).This led to the second reform act in 1867. . In 1819, Charles Woolsey won the elections and went to the House of Commons to initiate change as the legislative representative. Also, the committee of Manchester which consisted of twenty thousand to sixty thousand people appointed a representative attorney. In 1820s, parliament neglected new reforms. This was when John Russell disagreed with the corrupt activities of the parliamentary members. The Great Reform Act was proposed by J ohn Russell in the year 1830 after the death of King George. It was after the dissolution of the parliament, and the general elections were to be held. Birmingham political union started its campaigns under the leadership of Thomas Attwood. The campaigners put emphasis on the issue of reforms as this bill was pending in the previous parliamentary sittings. After the elections three reform bills passed to the parliament and through subsequent debates the bills were then amended to be the Great reform act in the year 1832. After this act, political education began whereby politics and social education were introduced to the local citizens. After the great reform, there was insufficient voter registration exercise and most people did not have the votes. Bribery and corruption remained to be a significant problem in the governance. During the ensuing years, corruption wars started up to the year 1854 when the corruption practices act passed into law by the parliament. Civil wars began w hich aimed at changing the structure of governance in England. There were outstanding family problems in the society. Divorce cases had increased. This act separated sex from reproduction. Same sex had become so prominent in the society. Sexual and social reforms in the society were the campaign strategies by the reform parties. In certain areas like New Jersey, the law allowed only

Future of the Family readings Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Future of the Family readings - Assignment Example The marriage education programs would only be theoretical as marriage skills, in my opinion, are an individual initiative. If an individual decided not to marry, it is extremely tasking to teach them to love the institution especially after nasty encounters. I agree with the con arguments against same-sex marriage that the father and mother figure will be lost. A good example is the gay and lesbian marriages. How would a young man and woman understand the responsibility of the females and males in the family and society generally? I agree with the pro opinion for same-sex marriage that individuals have a right to choice. Denying and discriminating same sex couples a chance to legal protection and other privileges is wrong (Masci, 2004). This article brings to mind that the next step for the marriage institution solely depends on the society. The fifth forecast is not plausible as the young generation is now more than ever getting involved in politics. Arguing that the seniors will be important voters holds less significance. The fourth forecast is plausible as the automakers will be forced to consider the older generation in car making. The first is also true as the services of the retired will be required, as many youth are half baked graduates (Ervin, 2000). My forecasts that seem plausible include; technology will take over everything in the society, and the society will shift to self employment as opposed to salaried employment. This article brings to mind the fact that women are becoming the head of households in USA and the numbers are likely to increase in the future. The automated fertility monitoring family planning technique in my opinion has made life easy for women in relation to their reproductive systems (Fertility Weekly, 2011). Computerized fertility monitoring will strengthen the family institution as individuals

Contemporary Tourism Trends Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Contemporary Tourism Trends - Essay Example 1), who refers to vacations in the 21st century as ''Das gekaufte Paradies'' (the bought paradise), the tourism industry is increasingly subsuming the identity of an ''experience industry'', with tourists willing to pay tourism organizers to help find optimal experiences within the limited time available. Opaschowski (2001) suggests that tourists are looking for emotional stimuli they want to buy feelings and not products. They want to personally experience the immaterial qualities, seeking ambience, aesthetics and atmosphere, looking for an experience full of varying intimacies, intensities and complexities. Cultural tourism such as the trip to Bath Since experiencing the 'other' is the great motivational factor in cultural heritage tourism, the search for unspoilt cultures inevitably becomes a natural choice because cultures unknown to or not yet experience by these seekers exist but constantly face the wipe out from modernization. The anxiety and eagerness intensifies that the chance to experience these cultures as pure as they are in the beginning can no longer be available if another day is let pass, so the increase to these areas will increase. Over the past years, trends in tourist demand and consumer behavior have revealed that tourists want to visit cultural and historical sites as well as to explore regions and landscapes as a whole. Tourists select destinations not based only on climate, art and historical heritage, human landmarks and environmental activities, but also according to eno-gastronomic resources. Tourist demands are increasingly shaping the gastronomic supply, meaning the potential of wine and gastronomic products has in Bath's national market and across. In many European countries, wine and gastronomic tourism seems complex and variegated, but also dynamic and rich in social, cultural and economic implications (Antonioli Corigliano, 1996a). According to Wearing (2002, p. 243), the tourist in the 21st century is ''searching for new and exciting forms of travel in defiance of a mass-produced product'' yet without ''actually having to involve themselves in any way'', a reflection of increasing commodification and depersonalization within modern and post-modern society (Beck, 1999; Giddens, 1999; MacCannell, 1976). Commodification has changed tourism experiences in the 21st century from that of the traditional search for the totally unknown, the utmost challenging and dangerous to that of safety and comfort, to that of ''gaze'' but also embodiment beyond individual's onsite experience. With commodification, the cultural experience is no longer authentic (Birgit Trauer, 2006). Authenticity is generally regarded as the highest importance for tourists interested in heritage (Moscardo & Pearce, 1986; Timothy & Boyd, 2003). A way to preserve such a goal is to facilitate the tourists to involve in exploring and searching by their own initiations without the need for interaction with any of the staffs. One of the challenges the managers face is the low degree of interaction with staff. As the visitor has a limited contact with staff, necessarily to make the visitors feel 'warm and exciting' (Schmenner, 1995) and this will involve detailed

Mediation Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Mediation - Research Paper Example Man is also a social being. Because he belongs to the civilized society, man is expected to interact with his fellow human beings and form a variety of relationships like friendship. When man is required to make decisions, he may or may not solicit his friends’ opinions. â€Å"†¦in making decisions, people often consider all relevant information...† (Goodell, 2009) For man, a rational and social being, friends are important and so are their opinions which usually form part of man’s consideration. Since it is not a perfect world, man may have altercations with others. These can be trivial ones and/or serious fights. Whatever the dispute is, some form of mediation comes into play. In mediation, a neutral third party works with the people involved to resolve their dispute. (Kline, n.d.) â€Å"Unlike a judge or arbitrator, a mediator has no decision-making authority†¦[he] acts to facilitate the parties reaching their own solutions.† (Mediation v. Litigation, page 1) In mediation, the decision-making authority rests with the parties. (The Mediation Process, page 1) Thus, it is very important for the parties to take note of every variable before reaching an agreement. As mentioned earlier, being a social being as well as a rational one, it is common nature for man to hold his peers’ opinions as one of those variables. These people, who are not actually sitting around the table, can have a deep effect on mediation. (Rosenthal, 2009) One wonders just how strong a man is influenced by his peers’ opinions. Already, the strength of peer influence has been recognized and researched as evidenced by the studies done on peer mediation. In one article, researchers shared the results of their project â€Å"designed to investigate the effectiveness of a school-wide conflict resolution curriculum and peer mediation program.† (Daunic, et. al., 2000) The research was done in three middle schools.

Modern Art History Assignments Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Modern Art History Assignments - Assignment Example The paper "Modern Art History Assignments" investigates the history of modern art and discovers what is bad and good art. A good art is an art that be interpreted easily with a theme or subject matter. It should be educative or resembling some deep hidden factors while appearing simple. A good art balances the environment and the pictorial. A good art should have a purpose. A bad art is an art without a theme objective and purpose. It lacks balance and creates mixed reaction leading to confusion. The painting shows Brutus wife and children very emotional crying and wailing over the ruling Brutus has made against his own sons to bring about revolution in his empire. Brutus appears to be calm but pictured to be in deep thoughts not even able to look back and see his own sons punished for committing treason. The pictorial paintings of the building, statues and mode of dressing signify the Roman Empire. The name Brutus in itself also signifies the brutality going on in the picture. Light and shadow are pictured are well illuminated in the picture with a good sharp contrast. Drama depicts this single painting as observed in the picture. At the back Brutus son is carried away for punishment while at the center of the image Brutus is shown seated and calm while at the very left the wife and children are crying and wailing. Realist art in the 19th century includes paintings and pictures that attempts to show the stratus of the lower, middle and upper class in addition to culture, customs, beliefs and mores of the people.

Identify and describe 4 additional items that can be added to improve Assignment

Identify and describe 4 additional items that can be added to improve the STEP criteria for assessment of SOCIAL,ECONOMIC,ENVIRONMENTAL,impacts - Assignment Example Apart from the internal green team, which oversees the institutions sustainability initiatives (David,2011), the company should establish external independent evaluators who will constantly inform the management on the progress towards achievement of sustainability activities and strategies. The business entity should have a written service delivery charter, which shows the standards of service delivery which the business pledges to the community especially for offsite tourism activities. This should supplement the business code of conduct as indicated in the STEP criteria(Patterson, 2005). This is a good framework for a sustainable business development as it provides a criterion for both the business its customers and the community to evaluate the performance of the business. There should be a well set communication plan which indicates the mechanism through which the entity cascades its sustainability plan to the community. Chief among them is through the organization of a get together of the business management, employees and stakeholders. As such, the business should come up with a plan showing how often such activities will be held and consequently adhere to its plan. This can be evaluated by ascertaining the existence of such a plan at the time of evaluation. To ensure that there is proper monitoring of the sustainability plan, the business should formulate the policy or strategy implementation matrix. The matrix should indicate the employees and stakeholders involved in its implementation, and the time frame and resources required. In addition, it should indicate the economic implication to all stakeholders involved. This is vital in ensuring that the local community can ascertain their benefit if they assist in achievement of entities objectives. The existing STEP criterion indicates that the company should indicate the volume of garbage it recycles. However, it is important for the

Philosophy of Art Essay Example for Free

Philosophy of Art Essay Introduction This paper attempts to establish what practitioners of philosophy can learn from practitioners of Art. In doing so, the paper first looks into art and philosophy so as to offer a clear understanding of the subjects, before turning into the main theme. What is Art?   Ã‚  Ã‚   Even though the above question appears simple, it is interesting and can, and is answered by reverting to the philosophy of art. In addition, art embraces descriptions of beauty, taste, symbolism as well as representation. Philosophy of art also explores the association existing between the individual artist (ideas), and the bigger congregation (audiences, culture, and universe) (Carroll N, 1998). That being the case, what does philosophy of art tell us about art? Some versions assert that art is a creative activity, expression or process of humans. According to Leo Tolstoy ‘Art is that human activity which consists in one human consciously conveying to others, by certain external signs, the feelings he has experienced and in others being affected by those feelings and also experiencing them.’ (Carroll N, 1998). On the other hand, when something is done perfectly or acquainted by study and practice; it is referred to as an art (Carroll N, 1998). For instance, driving a car, dressing in a nice dress, laying a child to sleep or even the art of conversion. In essence, art includes objects developed by humans that have aesthetic value or present symbolic meaning encompassing drawings, paintings as well as sculpture. Thus from the above observations, art can be said to be a symbolic representation of peoples association with nature (reality/environments). It is able to offer the concealed relations between things. It is beauty, it is truth. However, what does truth and beauty imply? This is where philosophy comes in as philosophy is the art of establishing the truth such that this truth is applied to life. In the same manner, art can be based on established truth that express the wonder and beauty of a relationship to the universe as it is acknowledged in the works of Marcel Proust and Henry Mattisse (Diffey T, 1995). ‘Art is a selective recreation of reality according to an artist’s metaphysical value judgments. An artist recreates those aspects of reality which represent his fundamental view of man’s natures.’   Ã‚  (Marcell Proust)( Diffey T, 1995), while Henry Mattisse writes ‘when we speak of nature, it is wrong to forget that we are ourselves a part of nature. We ought to view ourselves with the same curiosity and openness with which we study a tree, the sky or a thought because we too are linked to the entire universe (Diffey T, 1995).’ The different forms of art are visual arts which involve aspects such as painting, photography and sculpture among others, and fine arts which embrace music, dance, theatre, literature, poetry, etc. What is philosophy? As William Thomas points out, ‘Philosophy studies the fundamental nature of existence of man and man’s relationship to existence†¦in the realm of cognition, the special sciences are the trees but philosophy is the soil which makes the forest possible’ (Bender J, 1993). A philosophy is an all inclusive organization of ideas concerning human nature as well as the nature of the truth we live in. it is a guide of living since the subjects it deals with are crucial and enveloping, establishing the course we take in life and how we treat other people. Among the most important field that philosopher’s deal with fall into a number of separate fields. Among them, the most imperatives ones are; metaphysics which deals with the theory of reality, epistemology that connotes the theory of knowledge, ethics which is theory of moral values, politics which is theory of legal rights and government and aesthetics which refers to theory of nature of art (Carroll N, 1998). The vehicle for philosophical guidance is religions such as Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism as well as Islam. Religions vary from philosophers not in the issues they deal with but in the ways they employ to address them. Religions are based on mythic stories that existed earlier before discovery of unequivocally cogent methods of inquiry (Bender J, 1993). The present day religion (majority of) appeal to mystical faith as well as revelation sort of belief that claim legitimacy independent of logic, and the scientific method, at least made for the biggest subjects. However, majority of religions are in their commencement pre-rational as opposed to anti-rational, a story teller’s account of philosophic issues as opposed to scientists (Bender J, 1993). Philosophy in Greek connotes ‘love of wisdom’. Philosophy is founded on rational arguments and appeal to facts (Bender J, 1993). Modern science history began with philosophical enquiries and the scientific method of research and proof is an aspect of the general approach that a philosopher attempts to bring to a question; one that is coherent and vigorous. Philosophy is known to offer deep and wide questions presently. Dealing with the issues in each branch of philosophy calls for integration of everything one knows concerning reality (metaphysics) or humanity (epistemology, ethics, politics and aesthetics) recommending reasonable inclination in philosophy therefore is not a simple job. Frankly, philosophers more often than not disagree about principle subject; some slipping their own positions in the mix as well (Diffey T, 1995). Thus, there is no particular philosophy world wide as is the case with physics, chemistry among other disciplines.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Having clearly distinguished the two disciplines, then we can embark on the issue of what a philosopher can learn from an artist. This calls us to explore the subfield of philosophy. It relates to nature of art, in addition to performing of arts as well as painting, sculpture and literature (Diffey T, 1995). Major concerns in aesthetic comprise of how artistic creations should be construed as well as assessed and how the arts are linked to one another, to natural beauty, morality, religious science as well as other crucial aspects of human life. The association between art and epistemology has been everlastingly tenuous and burdened with a lot of arguments (Diffey T, 1995). It is acknowledged that there is something meaningful from experiences as well as interactions with works of arts. However, it is not considered as obvious that whether or not the experiences one has with art can produce propositional understanding that is represented by true vindicated belief (Diffey T, 1995).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Whereas engaging objects aesthetically is both insightness and emotionally burdening practice, it is also essentially cognitive. Therefore, it can be said that aesthetic engagement is based on various epistemological concerns (Carroll N, 1998). For instance, philosophers claim to know about art. People say that they believed the play was good or bad, but the emotions it produced were called for, justified, manipulative or suitable. In most cases, people allege that they learn from art, that art alters their view of the world and that art has influence on the way they view as well as make sense of the world (Carroll N, 1998).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It also widely acknowledged that works of arts particularly good works of art, can cause view points about the world and can in turn offer knowledge concerning the world (Carroll N, 1998). However, what can exactly be known about art? Does art have any sort of propositional content that resembles the context that philosophers claim to require for other sort of knowledge claim?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The subject of whether philosophers have something to learn from artists revolves back to the period of Plato. Plato warned about the perils of making a fuss of mimetic as well as narrative demonstrations of the world and human actions. A practitioner of philosophy by his engagement with art permits certain emotions or activities that are able to facilitate or produce knowledge. It should be acknowledged that some aspects of art work that are able to produce greater understanding of the surrounding world (Carroll N, 1998).   In this case, art becomes a source of insight as well as awareness, even though it cannot be put into propositional language.   It can help people (philosophy practitioners) see the world in a new or different way (Carroll N, 1998).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   They are often those who view art as being incapable of offering knowledge primarily because it does not generate any truth; they argue that since art cannot offer facts or produce arguments then there is nothing to learn from it (Diffey T, 1995).   They further argue that art cannot be acknowledged as a source of knowledge as it is not productive of knowledge, construed in the convectional sense of vindictive true belief. They assert that art is devoid of propositional content capable of being learnt the conventional way, whereas it has influences that promote knowledge and that can promote or weaken the development of understanding. Thus the net effect is to reject art as a source of knowledge as it does not offer true beliefs and furthermore because it does not as well as cannot vindicate the views that it does express (Diffey T, 1995).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   However, those who are for and those against concur that art is a source of knowledge, the only way that it can probably satisfy such a function be it that knowledge neglected something crucial to art’s nature as well as value (Diffey T, 1995). Plato articulates that it is possible for an artist to make a representation of a thing without having advance knowledge of his presentation.   For instance, painters represent cobblers when the painters have no idea how to make shoes, and poets write about virtue such as beauty and courage without any clear knowledge of these attributes (Carroll N, 1998). To Plato, it is only philosophers and moreover, those who struggle to intuit (feel) the forms and employ abstract reasoning are able to have know-how of these virtues.   To him, the same things exist even for the literary arts in particular.   He asserts that the more one engages in emotions brought about by representations, the more likely one is to suffer the influences of an unstable soul and finally the growth of bad attitude (Carroll N, 1998). Aristotle seems to have agreed with Plato that art influences the development of one’s moral character.   These two philosophers believed that people learn from art, however, Plato argued that the gained knowledge was harmful while Aristotle argued that it was beneficial (Carroll N, 1998). Going back to the period of renaissance and beyond it should be noted that the works of art such as poetry and fiction engages the emotions of a philosopher in a healthy way rather as opposed to detrimental manner (Bender J, 1993).   Some philosophers point out that there are there crucial types of knowledge claims that can be made concerning arts which are distinguished by objects. The first is what philosophers claim to know or believe concerning the art object itself and anything unreal or fictional worlds might be linked to that object. The second aspect of knowledge claim about art relates to what is known or believed to be appropriate emotional reaction to the art work. It is crucial to note at this point that works of art are correct, understood through having a certain kind of emotional response to them (Bender J, 1993). The only problem encountered in this course is that it is not possible to establish the kind of response that is appropriate in relation to a particular work of art (Bender J, 1993). The last kind of knowledge claim that is available as far as art is concerned relates to the nature of information art can offer about the whole world (Bender J, 1993). It is important to note that art affords imperative insight into the way philosophers order and understand the world. Art gives a certain degree of meaning to the lives of philosophers. Art, particularly literature, draws out novel views (beliefs) as well as new knowledge concerning the world (Bender J, 1993). Conclusion From the above, it is noteworthy that philosophy practitioners have a lot to learn from practitioners of art. It is important to acknowledge what constitutes knowledge so as to be able to understand how art impacts the subject. Reference Bender, John (1993).   â€Å"Art as a Source of Knowledge: Linking Analytic Aesthetics and Epistemology.† In Contemporary Philosophy of Art, ed. John Bender and Gene Blocker. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Carroll, Noel (1998). â€Å"Art, Narrative, and Moral Understanding.† In Aesthetics and Ethics: Essays at the Intersection, ed. Jerrold Levinson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Diffey, T .J (1995): â€Å"What Can We Learn From Art?† Australasian Journal of Philosophy 73 202-11.

A Study Of Barclays Bank Plc And Globalisation Finance Essay

A Study Of Barclays Bank Plc And Globalisation Finance Essay A phenomenal development in the concept of globalisation has been observed over the last couple of decades. Globalisation can be explained as a multidimensional concept that is expressed through several ways by many theorists. The significance of globalisation cannot be denied hence it has increasingly gained ever- growing supremacy that in the modern businesses today. Due to the increasing significance, need and requirement of globalisation to be adapted by organisations / and businesses, the author of this report is particularly interested in further exploring the concept of globalisation in context to financial institution such as Barclays Bank plc. The author also understands that globalisation had been explained with various perceptions where as parameters of the concept are hard to define because of several factors influencing the conceptualisation of globalisation. For example, the political, environmental, social, technological, legal etc. factors influence how firms globalis e and operate their businesses. Therefore, this research study is also interested in identifying a valid explanation of globalisation that must be adapted along with the subsequent practices. In addition, it has also been observed that globalisation brings in new challenges and transformations that must be adapted by businesses in context to new risks and opportunities at the same time. Therefore an important question that emerges here is that how does globalisation influence on an organisational capacity of defining its business. In order to explore and examine these questions pertaining to and dimensions of the concept of globalisation, the author chooses the subject of globalisation to be explored in context of UK financial sector. Reasons for choosing Barclays Plc. Due to the global economic recession, the most affected business sector has been the financial sector. As evident, the recent economic recession claims high influence on the banking sector of the world. The after effects are established leaving the stakeholders of the global banking industry with high concerns such as whether or not the returns on their investments made into the financial sector and specifically financial institutions will be returned. Secondly, stakeholders are also equally concerned with business challenges faced by financial institutions such as Barclays plc. These challenges have been observed as loss of customers, high employee redundancy, loss of market share, loss of global supremacy of the bank in the global financial sector and so on. It has been further observed by analysts that these challenges are a result of misconduct of US Federal reserves (Protchard, 2008). According to the bank these challenges are likely to result in increasing inflation affecting t he financial assets of the bank and financial sector. The increasing challenges thus claims immeasurable influence with an increasing deteriorating circumstances leading the stakeholders in a grey area concerning the future of the bank and investments made by the stakeholders in the bank. Summing up the challenges, this research study aims to explore and identify the effect of globalisation on the bank in context to the challenges while redefining its business. The particular reason for choosing Barclays Bank plc is that it is one of the leading banks across the globe that has been successfully adapting globalisation long before other businesses had realised the opportunities to globalise their business operations. Secondly it is also intended to assess that how does a global giant redefines its business in order to address the challenges posed by globalisation. This particular bank has also been chosen because it operates in the global financial sector that has been immensely affected by the global economic recession. Introduction to Barclays Plc. Barclays Bank plc is one of the major global banks that have been providing financial products and services in commercial, and investment banking and retail banking for over a period of 300 years. It is listed on New York and London stock market, whilst operating in 50 countries across the globe including United States, Asia, Africa and Europe. Employing 156,000 people across the globe and serving 48 million customers, the bank has developed its to business clusters that are: a) Commercial Banking and Global Retail and b) Investment Management and Investment Banking. These business clusters are made up of world-class financial and businesses brand portfolio. During the worst period of recession i.e. 2008, the bank announced a profit of  £ 6.1 billion before tax (Barclays plc Sustainability Review report, 2008). The bank is headquartered in the UK and is called as Group Centre facilitating functional operations (Group.Barclays.Com, 2009). Research objectives and research questions This paper aims to discuss tasks of defining an organisation mission influenced by globalisation. The objectives of this study are: To identify globalisation influencing on how firm redefine its business. With in the same context, what remains compelling now and what must be adapted and Why redefining business mission and subsequent practices is significant and must be adapted. To make recommendations. The research questions are: What is globalisation and how does it affect the businesses in redefining their business? What factors are influential upon managements decision on redefining businesses due to globalisation? Overall research approach and research framework developed to address the project objectives and research questions The overall research approach (Walsh and Wigens, 2003) that has been adapted by this study is explained as: a) identify research subject, b) obtain and review contextual / background information of the subject, c) identify research questions, d) define research strategy, e) identify the process and techniques of collecting data, f) carry out pilot study, g) analyse and interpret data, and h) draft research report. The data sources used for the purpose of this study are primary and secondary, where as the research strategy is the case study and survey strategy. Deductive approach of logical reasoning has also been implied along with using qualitative data analysis techniques. The research study has been underpinned by appropriate theories. PART 2 Information gathering and business techniques The data and information that has been collected concerns the subject of globalisation and its impact on the business operations of Barclays bank plc. The primary and secondary data sources enabled the researcher to collect information regarding impact of globalisation on business operations of the bank. The researcher also concentrates on evaluating current business operations of the bank by means of using three business research tools, which are Porters value chain analysis model (Katisioludes, 2006), Porters five forces analysis model (Ahlstrom and Bruton, 2009), and Porters model for competitive advantage (Porter, 1998). Utilization of these business tools directed the research study towards making analysis and evaluation of the current business global practices adapted by Barclays bank plc. Once the process of analysis and evaluation is completed, the generated information was drawn to identify those factors that influence business operations in context of globalisation as well as impact of globalisation on the bank. This information has been further used to recognize and determine the need to redefine the business mission and subsequent strategies and practices. The last step was to make recommendations through which the bank can possibly address to the changing needs of the global market specifically customers and stakeholders. The chosen business techniques Sources of information The research data has been obtained from primary and secondary sources. Primary data source is formed of survey research study that has been carried out for the purpose of this specific study. In addition to primary research data surces, secondary data sources are formed of academic books, research journal articles, online newspapers, company published reports, independent reports published by organisations such as Datamonitor etc. Description of the methods used to collect information, including online access The data has been collected through implying two research tools i.e. a) survey research questionnaires and b) using and reviewing secondary sources to obtain background information regarding the context of subject of globalisation and Barclays Bank plc. The survey questionnaires are designed as open-ended and semi- structured in order to draw in-depth analysis concerning the participants experiences, viewpoints and opinions along with addressing the research questions. The strength of survey questionnaires lies in drawing out perceptive responses, exceptional characteristic and contradictory (if any) views of the participants. Secondly survey research method also draws out interpretive standpoint of the survey participants (Mack and Woodsong, 2005; Marshall and Rossman, 2006). This technique of primary data collection is cost-effective and efficient. The primary data was collected through a self-administered e-mail platform and the survey participants were randomly selected. An estim ated number of hundred employees of Barclays Bank plc were contacted and invited through e-mails to participate in the survey research study. The purpose, objectives and outcomes of the survey research were explained. Only 35 of these contacted employees replied positively, demonstrating their interest and commitment in participating in the survey research. A pilot study was first conducted through inviting 10 respondents. The comments and feedback (explaining the validity and viability of questions, ease of understanding the questions, possible interpretations of the questions by the participants etc.) of these respondents were valuable in reforming the final survey questionnaire. Once the final questionnaire was designed, it was sent to all survey participants through e-mail. The respondents were provided with a period of four weeks to fill in the questionnaires and return it to the researchers provided e-mail address. The secondary data was collected through reviewing research journal articles accessible through databases such as Emerald, Sage Journals, Informaworld, ScienceDirect, Willey Science, Datamonitor etc. Secondary data was also collected through reviewing reports published by Barclays Bank plc, along with reviewing online newspapers. The data was reviewed and analysed to extract valuable information concerning the subject. Research limitations while gathering information While collecting the information certain limitations have been encountered by the researcher such as possibility of biased reviews regarding the organisational performance of the bank that is likely to mislead the researcher while forming opinions. Secondly while carrying out the primary research, it is expected that the survey participants may be influenced by certain factors that can affect the quality and validity of their replies. Lastly the researcher aimed to contact at least 75 employees in order to draw significant research findings, however due to limited survey population it is expected that the research findings and analysis may not be viable due to the fact that sample population may not represent the actual population. Drawing on these limitations, it is expected that the data validity can be challenged. Identification of any ethical issues that arose during information gathering and how such issues are resolved While carrying out the primary research, researcher was particularly focused towards maintaining the integrity of the collected data. This means that all the data and information collected as a result of primary research must be protected against any misuse of information. For example the research explained the survey participants that the collected data will only be used for the identified purpose and objectives. In order to maintain the researchers claim, it is crucial that the data stays with the researcher where as the name, contact details such as email addresses etc. of survey participants are kept confidential. The data integrity has also been maintained which means that data has been interpreted and analyzed through avoiding any biased views of the researcher towards the studied organisation and collected data. Secondly, while referring to the secondary data collected for the purpose of this study, the researcher was particularly focused towards ensuring that all the previous research studies used for this study are appropriately and sufficiently referenced, credited and acknowledged. For this reason, the researcher ensured that all the data provided by previous researchers have been appropriately referred and acknowledged. For that reason, this report is free of plagiarism, where as all the previous research studies have been appropriately referenced and credited. An explanation of business techniques that have been used, including a discussion of their limitations. The business research techniques that have been used for this research study are case study and survey strategies, qualitative data analysis techniques and deductive approach of logical reasoning. The case study strategy is explained as strategy of carrying out research including practical examination and analysis of a specific contemporary phenomenon as explained within its real-life business scenarios through implication of multiple sources of data validation (Robson, 2002). The limitation of this strategy is to draw perceptive meaning out of the collected data that can vary from researcher to researcher. The perception of the data can also be influenced by the context of the research subject (Yin, 2004). The survey research strategy is explained as carrying out survey research by means of involving a sample of population to answer provided questions. The limitation of this strategy is that the researcher is solely dependent upon the data provided by the survey participants, hence the research findings and analysis is a result of data provided by the participants that may not be validated if required. The data analysis technique adapted by this research study is qualitative data analysis technique. The qualitative technique enables the researcher to determine information that is extracted according to the constructivist perspective or participatory perspective or even both. Constructivist perspective has been explained as research built upon several interpretations of various understandings collected by the researcher with an ambition of establishing a theory or research pattern. On the other hand, participatory perspective has been explained as constructing upon issue- related, change oriented or combined perspectives (Creswell, 2003). This research study adapts the constructivist perspective of data analysis technique. The limitations of this technique experienced by the researcher are a) difficulty in making structured comparisons while analyzing and interpreting data, b) process of data analysis is dependent upon the skills of the researcher, c) time-consuming process and d) r elatively less easy to generalise the data. In addition to above technique, deductive approach of logical reasoning has been implied by this study. This approach is directly associated with research environment. Deductive approach of logical reasoning has been utilised by means of using following pattern: a) making observations, b) observing research patterns, c) testing hypothesis and d) testing the theory involved (Miles and Huberman, 1994; Cooper and Schindler, 2006). The limitation of this approach as experienced by the researcher is that conclusions are made based on assumptions drawn through empirical evidences that can be different within the context of different research environments. PART 3 Results, analysis, conclusions and recommendations A description of the results that have obtained and any limitations This section of the report aims to present all the collected data and information, based upon which, analysis and research findings have been presented in the following section. This section identifies global challenges faced by the bank while operating globally. Upon identifying these challenges, the adapted practices of the bank are examined in redefining its global business mission resulting in subsequent strategies and practices. The limitations faced during the data collection and data analysis process are same as identified in the previous section of this report. Challenges faced by Barclays Bank plc as a result of globalisation Globalisation has been explained as a multi- faceted phenomenon carrying different viewpoints as has been realised by the review of the literature (e.g. Rapley, 2004; Meffert and Bloch, 1991). This means that the dynamic nature of the phenomenon is likely to raise challenges such as global warming, carrying out ethical business, addressing social responsibility issues, paying back to the communities where the business operates and so on. These challenges were not known about 50 years ago before the advent of globalisation. Similarly, even though Barclays Bank plc has been increasingly expanding its global business, nevertheless the aforementioned issues increasingly and continually keep challenge the bank. In addition, other economical challenges such as poverty and taking strategic steps to combat poverty require competent economic policies to be adapted that supports the business policies at the same time (Fischer, 2003). Therefore, Barclays is increasingly challenged to not only d eliver business performance excellence but it is also challenged to serve back the communities by means of addressing issues such as fighting poverty with in the communities where it is operating. Secondly the economic challenge faced by the bank is addressing to the issues of credit crunch. The recessed economy restricts economic development of countries where it is currently operation. As a result of which, management has to take decisions such as job redundancies. For that reason it is argued that despite of the fact that globalisation fosters equality, the results of integration of global economy, and the consequences of flow of capital across national boundaries is likely to threaten the global financial structure of the economies (Fischer 2003; Lloyd and Demos 2001; Baldwin and Winters 2004). Another issue that is faced by the bank is technological advancement, which is considered to be a dominant driver for the changes experienced by the bank in the due course of process of globalisation (Mulgan, 2007). The same researcher states that those organisations which were household names with in last 20 years time of time period, are now web- based organisations with established and fundamental fears that Internet could further advance into more commercialised and develop in to inaccessible commodity then it can be realised today (Mulgan, 2007). Upon identifying these challenges, the researcher now aims to examine the business operations of the bank in context to creating its value chain and competitive advantage. This identification leads the researcher towards assessing how the effect of global age, and globalisation resulted in defining the business mission and subsequent strategies and practices by Barclays Bank plc. In context with the above challenges faced by the bank due to adaption of globalisation as a fundamental business need, the research study now aims to analyse and evaluate current value chain of the bank and industrial competitive forces in order to identify how these challenges influence the redefinition of business mission and subsequent strategic practices of the bank. Implying the value chain analysis as proposed by Porter (Katsioloudes, 2006), following findings and analysis has been presented. The data of Barclays Bank has been extracted from Barclays Bank PLC Sustainability Review (2008) and primary data collected through survey research questionnaires (see appendix 1). Inbound logistics Suppliers of the bank are required to attend to challenges such as supply chain risks, business integrity, human rights and environmental issues so that a sustainable supply chain steering group can be established that will be accountable to improve business processes, tools and techniques along with addressing training and development needs of its employees as well as supply chain partners in order to operate successfully in the global market. Operations The UK and the European business operations of the bank equalized operational carbon emissions as well as reduced energy consumption per employee by a rate of 2.1 per cent. The same carbon operations had been executed and practiced across the global operations by the end of year 2009. Secondly the bank demonstrates its commitment to stabilize economies those extending beyond its own operations and procurement strategies so that a distinguished role of the bank can be recognised in developing long-term relationship with its customers and stakeholders. Outbound logistics The bank capitalizes on the advantages laid by new regulations on the banking and financial sector to secure a handful of distributors. Previously, the bank was connected to one provider and regulated by the legislative requirements, however today it is tied to 6 distributors such as fund managers, life insurance and so forth. Marketing and sales The bank has been observed and reported to be supporting small and medium enterprises in the UK even though the local economy had been under financial distress that resulted in an increment of 6 per cent in its lending to the small and medium enterprises. In context of its global operations, the bank also announced and executed a debt repair line for South African customers who were facing financial difficulties. Further on with an ambition of attending to the changing customer needs and demands, the bank has been increasingly observed and reported to be developing its customer relationship along with investing in innovation and technologically enabled and advance services and products. Customer relationship have been improved through implying customer relationship management practices, however drawing on the collected data, such practices needs to be further developed and improved. Services Due to innovative products and services offered by the bank during the recessed economic situation, the bank reported an improvement in its financial records. For example during the year 2008, more than 57,000 employees of the bank were engaged in volunteering and fundraising activities with a purpose of serving the community such as collecting donations for charitable causes. In addition to this, the market share of the banks mortgage lending also increased from 8 per cent to 36 per cent, whereas the income rate of the bank also increased up to  £ 23.1 billion by the end of year 2008. As suggested by the value chain analysis model, the above strategic system obtains further support through business infrastructure of the bank that has been assessed below: (Data source: Group.Barclays.com, 2009; Primary research see appendix 1) The infrastructure The bank has also been reported to form partnerships and alliances with micro-finance firms, technical providers, local charities and government so that the needs and demands of its customers and stakeholders can be addressed. The bank also cultivates a performance- base management system supported by organisational culture that regulates and facilitates target- oriented performances to be delivered by the employees and subsequently the bank. Human Resource Management The bank also practices diversity (cultural, ethnical and gender- based) while recruiting employees across the globe, solely based upon their talents. Secondly, the hard efforts and good performances of employees are rewarded and recognised. Most importantly the bank reports that women fill 25 per cent of senior managerial positions. This proportion has increased from 2 per cent from year 2007 up to 25 per cent during the financial year 2008. An estimated number of hundred and fifty three thousand employees are employed by the bank across the globe. Most importantly the bank claims to practice work- based diversity. Technological development The bank employs technology- based equipment in order to generate clean energy, reducing gas and carbon emissions along with reducing use of electricity and water. In order to further reduce the consumption of paper, it offers mobile banking services in India, UK etc. In South Africa, the bank offers services and products that help government welfare beneficiaries to obtain inclusion in the financial system. Procurement Barclays Bank plc also adapts to industrial best practices in supply chain monitoring in order to evaluate supply chain verification along with deploying tools and techniques that are aligned with adapted business strategies. The supply chain stretches across 50 countries where the bank operates. The strategic intent is to employ competent supply chain management practices so that the strategic and long-term business benefits can be obtained. Upon assessing the value chain of the bank, their researcher and now aims to examine five competitive forces responsible for redefining business strategies. In order to do so Porters (1998) tool of assessing five competitive forces have been implied: The force of threats of new entrants has been evaluated at a moderate level because the bank obtains its increased share of 36 per cent mortgage market in 2008, which is an increase from just 8 per cent market share in the financial year 2007. The bank had also obtained higher customer satisfaction rate in the UK raising from 64 per cent in 2007 to 67 per cent in 2008. Nevertheless, the bank also demonstrates increasing potential to bring this force to minimum because of the strategic practices it has adapted such as business diversity, employee diversity, environmental consumption, inclusive banking and strategic supply chain management initiatives. The industrial force of bargaining power of suppliers has been evaluated to be low due to the banks policy of development and deployment of supply chain through carrying out strict screening policies so that the business vision of the suppliers are in line with the business vision of the bank. It has also been observed that because of its dominant market presence, strategic market positioning along with banks investments made into developing its supply chain, Barclays is privileged to be the first choice of suppliers thus making this force low. The bargaining power of buyers has been evaluated to be at a modest level because buyers have other substitutes (banks, and financial institutions etc.) to attend to their banking needs. These needs can also be addressed by the competitors such as ABN Amro, Lloyds TSB, Royal Bank of Scotland, Standard Chartered and so on. It has also been assessed that this force can be lowered through banks continued commitment towards addressing customer demands and conducting ethical business. The threats of substitutes have been evaluated as low because of the distressed economic situation that makes it intricate for the substitutes entering into new markets that are regulated by cash starved economy. On the other hand, emerging economic nations such as Brazil, Russia, China and India could be a potential market for substitutes that are likely to promise positive results. This can induce competition for the bank with in the emerging / and developing economies. The industrial force of market rivalry among the financial organisations has been evaluated as extremely high because of the volatile banking sector resulting from mergers and business acquisitions, business alliances etc. that had been recently experienced by banking giants such as HBOS and Lehman Bros. In addition to this, the global economic distressed situation increases rivalry among financial institutions, services and products that are offered in the market since they are closely associated with economic conditions and interest rates, governed by the individual governments. A critical analysis / evaluation of results including an explanation of significant research findings Competitive advantage of Barclays Bank plc as a result of redefined business mission, strategies and practices Utilisation of competitive advantage model as proposed by Porter (table 3.1) while evaluating the banks competitive advantage demonstrates that the bank keeps an ambition of producing innovative and unique products and services by means of using innovative and technologically enabled organisational resources. In addition the organisation resources and subsequent competitive advantage that has been achieved by the bank adds value to the business by means of the adapted practices of supply chain management (section 3.1.2). Along with, the bank also provides inclusive banking services and products. Inclusive banking has been explained as helping those who are excluded from the financial system to join and benefit from it through opening 1.77 million accounts for low-income customers (Barclays Bank PLC Sustainability Review 2008, p12). The bank also concentrates to exercise sustainability strategy by means of demonstrating its commitment towards stabilizing and developing those economies where the bank operates. In addition the bank also concentrates on carrying out ethical business (such as reducing water gas and electricity usage, lowering down carbon emission, making communal investments, practicing diversity at work etc.). In particular the bank has also been observed as developing relationships with its stakeholders (employees, customers, shareholders, supply chain partners, business creditors and investors, community etc.) Conclusively the competitive advantage of the bank has been assessed as to differentiation and focused according to the Porters model of competitive advantage as illustrated in the table below. Table 3. 1. Porters model for competitive advantage Competitive advantage Low cost Differentiation Competitive scope Broad target Cost leadership Differentiation Competitive scope Narrow target Cost focus Differentiation focus 3.2.2. Drawing on the above analysis and evaluation, following factors have been identified that influences the redefinition of business mission and subsequent strategies and practices: The global economic recession that had influenced almost all the industrial sectors along with banking and finance sector, had immensely threatened industries resulting in bankruptcy, losing customers, losing market share, reduced global dominance along with business sustainability and growth. As suggested by analysts, the world is experiencing financial storm, further warning that US Federal Reserve has allowed the inflation genie out of the bottle and let its credibility fall below zero (The Sydney Morning Herald business 2008, p.1). The chief equity strategist of Barclays bank explains current economic situation as inflation shock underway further predicting a negative impact for financial assets (The Sydney Morning Herald business 2008, p.1). Barclays Bank further requires providing its clients and customers with innovative and competitively priced products and services so that the economic recession is cushioned otherwise cutthroat industrial competition could immensely effect the performance of the bank. This factor thus influences the bank to redefine its

Keventer Agro Market Analysis

Keventer Agro Market Analysis ABSTRACT Most producers do not sell their goods directly to final users. They design a multi-channel system to reach them. The design of marketing channel, that acts, as a strong interface, can provide competitive advantage to a firm in the industry. By contrast the absence of a good distribution network can also be a major fiasco in todays cutthroat competitive world. Marketing channel decisions are the most critical ones facing the marketing management today. It is complex and the complexity further gets compounded by the fact that the channel system take time to build usually years. Channel partners are not owned by the company in most cases. The sales force plays a crucial role in getting the best out of marketing channel. Integrating the efforts of channel partners and sales efforts within the whole marketing effort becomes crucial towards achieving organizational goals. Food and beverage giant Parle had entered into a franchisee agreement with Keventer Agro, for Keventer Agro to manufac ture, package, distribute and market its well-known brands namely Frooti -a popular mango drink, Appy and Appy Fizz-the in-style apple drinks and Bailley Packaged Drinking Water mostly in the eastern parts of India. The project Study of the distribution channel and market analysis of the products distributed and marketed by Keventer Agro under the license of Parle Agro involves the study of the strategies undertaken by Keventer Agro to distribute and market products of Parle Agro which includes Parles HIPPO Parle Agro forayed into snacks with the launch of Hippo, in line with the companys vision of becoming a major player in the foods and beverages industry. Hippo is a player of the snack food industry of India. As per an industry estimate, the branded and organized snack food segment dominated by major players such as Frito Lay, Con Agra, Kelloggs, Marico, Dabur, HLL, ITC, Parle, Haldirams. Thus, the study mainly constituted of studying and analyzing the distribution channel of Hip po and doing a market analysis of the product with respect to pricing, competition, brand awareness and consumer behavior of Hippo its present market position in relation to the well known established brands through retailer and consumer survey. Questionnaire, Schedule and interview and observation methods have been used in conduction of surveys. After completion of analysis of data collected through various methods regarding the sales and distribution and market position and other strategies proper conclusions can be drawn about the awareness and market strength and potential of Parles Hippo. These conclusion and deductions will help Keventer Agro to make any possible changes that would be feasible for the sustenance of the brands and any measure that will increase the market penetration of the brands Introduction The Project Study of the distribution channel and market analysis of the of the products distributed and marketed by Keventer Agro under the license of Parle Agro involves the study of the strategies undertaken by Keventer Agro to distribute and market Parle Hippo Keventer Agro: The Company Keventer Agro Limited is a subsidiary of Keventer Group which has been operating years in the Food Processing Industry in India for more than 125 years. Keventer exports Alphonso Mango Pulp, Totapuri Mango Pulp, Guava Pulp, Sweetened Alphonso Mango Pulp, Mango Pickle, Sesame Seed, Cashew Nuts, Peanuts, Cumin Seed, Fennel Seed, Fenugreek, Coriander Seed, Bakery Ingredients, Fruit Jams, Tutti Fruiti, Red Chilies Button Mushrooms etc. to various countries. Keventer Agro Ltd. (KAL) was established in the year 1986. The division exports food products such as Mango Pulp, Guava Pulp, Sesame Seeds, and Bakery Ingredients to various customers across the globe. In no time, it earned the coronet of being the first to i ntroduce aseptic packaging in the beverage category (a high-end packaging procedure that preserved the natural goodness of drinks in hygienic packs). The Group entered into a franchisee agreement with the food and beverage giant -PARLE to manufacture, package, distribute and market its well-known brands namely FROOTI -a popular mango drink, APPY and APPY FIZZ- the in-style apple drinks and BAILEY PACKAGED DRINKING WATER mostly in the eastern parts of India. In late 2010, Parle Agro inked another agreement with Keventer Agro to set up a plant at Barasat. This new unit manufactures Parle Agros snack brand Hippo. Besides manufacturing, Keventer is also responsible for marketing, sales and distribution of Hippo. Parle Agro chose to partner Keventer for their range of food brands which w.ll h.l. them to expand Hippos market share in the eastern part of India. Parle Agro: The Company Parle Agro is a household name in the beverages industry and has leading brands like Frooti, Appy, Appy Fizz and packaged drinking water, Bailley. A pioneer in the Indian industry, Parle Agro were the first to introduce fruit drinks in tetra packaging, first to introduce apple nectar and the first to introduce fruit drinks in PET bottles. In 2007, Parle Agro forayed into foods with the launch of two confectionery brands, Mintrox mints and Buttercup candies. This was soon followed by two more brands Buttercup Softease and Softease Mithai. Recent beverage products from Parle Agro include Saint Juice, LMN and Grappo Fizz. In 2009, Parle Agro forayed into snacks with the launch of Hippo, in line with the companys vision of becoming a major player in the foods and beverages industry. The snack brand Hippo, was launched in the western region starting with Maharashtra and then it was soon rolled out nationally. Parle Agro commenced operations in 1984. Starting with o nly beverages and diversifying to include bottled water in 1993 and confectionery in 2007. Frooti was the first product that was rolled out of Parle Agro in 1985. It went on to become Indias favourite mango drink. It still has a leading market share. Parle Agro Pvt. Ltd operates under three business vertical Beverages fruit drinks, nectars, 100% Juice, sparkling drinks, Water Packaged Drinking Water and Foods confectionery, snacks Product Industry Overview Product: HIPPO Parle Agro forayed into snacks with the launch of Hippo, in line with the companys vision of becoming a major player in the foods and beverages industry. Hippo is a toasted bread snack. Its ingredients include wheat flour, edible vegetable oils, seasoning mix, corn starch, sugar, raising agent, milk solids, salt, emulsifier, yeast extract powder, instant yeast. It contains added natural color and added natural identical flavoring substances; but no added MSG, no GMO and no Trans Fat. It comes in two variant; Hippo Munchies and Hippo Round-Round. The Hippo Munchies comes in 7 flavours (Chinese Manchurian, Hot-n-Sweet Tomato, Thai Chilli, Yoghurt Mint Chutney, Italian Pizza, Indian Chatpata and Arabian Salted) and Hippo Round-Round comes in 5 flavours (Punjab Da Pickle, Gujrati Mango Chatni, Shillong Noodle Masala, Goan Butter and Garlic, Firangi Cheese n Spice). It is available in three sizes which are priced at Rs 5, Rs 10 and Rs 20. Snack Industry: Industry to which Hippo belongs Hi ppo is a player of the snack food industry of India. The Indian snack industry is one of the largest when considered in the global level. With rising standard of living, people are more resorting to snacks items during breakfast, supper or any time; snacks most often take the place of meals. Right from production, using up, export and growth prospects owing to emerging markets, increasing demand, and incorporation of latest technologies, the snack industry in India has witnessed a dramatic change. Ready-to-eat foods, samosas, kachoris, namkeen, chips, are few of the snacks that are most preferred by Indians. Given the rising demand, the snack industry is going to witness further growth in the future. The snacks food industry in India can broadly be categorised into three segments staple (biscuits category), traditional (namkeens) and ready-to-eat packaged snacks (chips / crisps). The snack food market in India is $3 billion; with the organized segment accounting for almost half of the market share and growing at rate of 15 to 20 percent per year. A growing economy, changing lifestyles, rise in disposable incomes and preference for quality products of U.S. origin will continue to fuel growth of imported U.S. snack food items in India. As per an industry estimate, the branded and organized snack food segment dominated by major players such as Frito Lay, Con Agra, Kelloggs, Marico, Dabur, HLL, ITC, Parle, Haldirams, Nestle, Britannia, Cadbury, Bikano and Balaji is estimated to grow by 15 to 20 percent per year; whereas the growth of un-branded snack food is likely to grow modestly at 8 percent per year in the near future. Frito-Lay India led sweet and savory snacks with a retail val ue share of 46% in 2009. The companys Kurkure, Lehar and Lays Stax offerings have helped it to consolidate its leadership during the year. Haldiram Foods International Ltd and ITC Ltd remained the second and third ranked players respectively. Products like Hippo claim to be made from healthier ingredients than chips/crisps. With Indian consumers becoming more health conscious and more inquisitive about the ingredients in their food, sweet and savory snacks will witness an increase in products which are positioned as better for you and healthier snacks. Objectives of the Project To execute a qualitative study on the trend of packaged snack industry To gauge the acceptance of baked and healthy-snacks To understand competitors strategy in the market To study the sales and distribution structure, pricing (both to the retailer and to the consumer) of Hippo and problems in those respected area. To develop marketing strategies for Hippo To analyze the markets and determine the factors responsible for sale of products and provide recommendations about the scope for improvement. To provide a statement of collective responses of the retailersand determine the scope for improvement in the distribution channel for the products and the problems faced by the retailers. To study the pattern of consumer behavior and their awareness towards HIPPO To find out the problems faced by HIPPO if any and suggest solution to address those problems Project Methodology Primary Research is done through market survey. The research is mainly based on: Questionnaire Method Interview Method Observation Method Secondary Research has also been used as a supporting tool like: Some of the data related to holistic picture of the industry has been gathered from the data available on the internet PROJECT PROFILE The project revolves around Parle Hippo distributed and marketed by Keventer Agro under the license of Parle Agro. The first stage constituted of mainly studying and analyzing the distribution channel of Hippo and doing a market analysis of the product with respect to pricing, competition, brand awareness and consumer behavior of Hippo through retailer and consumer survey As per the objective of the project, two sets of questionnaire were prepared; For the retailer which aimed to assess the availability of Hippo, pricing of Hippo, sales, defect handling and some financial aspect of Hippo viz. Its competitors and the other for the consumers. For the consumer which aimed to gauge awareness of the product and the brand, product acceptance, their choice of product and buying pattern. The second stage constituted of observing the total sales procedure which consists of division of product, division of area, selective loading, selling, collection and submission STAGE ONE: RETAILER SURVEY FOR HIPPO This stage involved daily visits from the stock points to the designated markets. The markets covered includes: Salt Lake, Lake Town, S.K. Deb Road Market, Nagerbazar, Mrinalini Cinema Hall Market, New Market, Ultadanga, Kankurgachi, Bagmari, Beadon Street , Aurobindo Road and Vivekananda Road area, Shyambazar, Rajballavpara Baghbazar. Every shop that kept branded snacks in the respective areas was approached. The initial plan was to conduct the survey through questionnaire method but while performing the survey the method had to be changed to schedule, observation and interview method as it was not convenient for the retailers to fill up the questionnaire Objectives of Survey by observation method Findings to be recorded through observation method included: The visibility of Hippo and of competitors product Mode of stocking/displaying Hippo and competitors products i.e. whether it is on shelve or in the basket or inside almirah The location of the store i.e. whether it is beside main road or inside a lane or on a square Type of store Approximate demography Objectives of Survey by schedule method Findings to be recorded through schedule method included: About Hippo: Whether he keeps Hippo or not, if not the reason, its availability, reorder period, quality of defective product handling, margin offered, supply of banners and danglers. About Competitor: The competition brand kept, approximate margin they offer. About the market as a whole: The most selling brand. Objectives of Survey by interview method The interview methodology aimed to gain the intrinsic details of the market functions such as; if the retailer does not keep Hippo would he like to keep it future, the credit policy, frequency of visit of sales representative, retailers view on Hippos marketing strategy and scope of improvement. STAGE TWO: TOTAL SALES PROCEDURE OBSERVATION Distribution structure of Keventer Agro for Hippo Keventer Agro has 2-level consumer marketing channel. i.e. Manufacturing Unit>Distributor>retailer>Consumer. The product is manufactured in their plant located in Barasat. The products are sold directly to distributors on cash. A sales representative is appointed to the distributor by Keventer, who represents Keventer Agro and works shoulder to shoulder with the distributor. Level 1 Manufacturing unit to distributor The distributor buys the product in cash and the price of the free products which are part of below the line promotional activity are reimbursed on the claim made by the distributor. The transportation charge is borne by the distributor. Division of product and appointment of distributors: The aim of the company is: To ensure not only the highly profitable established products, but also new products with low initial sales reaches the end of supply chain. To ensures that all the SKUs of different products end up in the racks of retailers. Parle Agro has wide and deep product line; it is difficult for a single distributor to manage all the products. Earlier, Hippo was supplied to all the distributors of a specific area but as coordination became difficult, they have changed their policy and now supplies only to one distributor of the specific area. In some distribution area Keventer appoints more than one distributor each having different divisions of product. The division of products includes: Division A Division B Division C (Full information about this division is not known since I never had the chance to work in this divison) 200 ml, 400 ml, 1.2 litre of Frooti 160 ml 500 ml 1.5 litre and 2 litre of Frooti 200 ml of Appy 500 ml, 1 litre, 2 litre of Bailley Packaged Drinking Water 100 ml, 250 ml of Frooti 200 ml of LMN 600 ml of Bailley Soda. 300 ml, 500 ml and 1 litre of Appy Fizz The strategy of division of product along with division of distributor is adopted due to the reason discussed above. Level 2 Distributor to retailer Each distribution area is divided into five different distribution zones. They sell their products to those five zones in five days i.e. Monday to Friday. The sixth day which is Saturday is an extra day in which the sales representative does the miscellaneous work such as: If an order was not delivered on the due date then that product is delivered on Saturday. They conduct an approximate survey to estimate or forecast the forthcoming weekly demand. If a replacement of defective product was not done on the due date then it is also done in Saturday Hippo along with other product that are in the same division are be loaded in the LCV everyday. The flavours and quantities are not fixed. They load it according to the demand estimation of the zone. For example, on a particular day, more SKUs of Goan Butter and Garlic flavour is loaded more than the average quantity; the reason being from the experience, the sales representative found that when certain flavour/flavours are supplied to some particular area/areas, the retailer has lower re-order period i.e. the flavour/flavours sales more in that area depending on the demography of the area and buying pattern of the consumers. Sometimes the sales representatives are given target. For example: If they can sell 100 cases of Division A products on a particular day which includes Hippo, then they would get some incentive (Rs 250 extra). In that case, Division A products are loaded more, proportionally quantity of Hippo rises. However the elasticity of quantity of loading is low for Hippo compared to Frooti and Appy which are of high selling category. The sales representative finds it easy and handy to sell Frooti and Appy than applying push strategy for Hippo. Sometimes Hippo is not at all loaded in the LCV because the particular market demography could not accept Hippo and is not popular. Selling Each sales representative has different style of selling. Some capitalize on relationship between him and retailer and some on communication skill. Relationship marketing: In this type of marketing procedure, the SR does not start talking business in the first instance; rather he greets the retailer, talk about general things like current affairs or about family which helps him to build a rapport and trust. The trust and rapport becomes the psychological tool to win over the psychology of the retailer making it difficult for the retailer to reject the sales representatives selling proposal. Sometimes the sales representatives shares such good relationship with the retailer s that they dont even ask whether he needs anything or not but directly dump the products and produces the bill. Credit sales are more by this procedure since the SR does not want to freeze the warmth of the relationship. Communication Marketing In this procedure the SR starts talking about the business from the first go. The deliberation of the schemes or price seeks the attention of the retailers. Sales representative convinces the retailers by giving a clear picture of the business model. For example: Suppose the shop is near a school, he would right away say with much conviction that Hippo is bound to sell and with Rs 1.23 margin per piece, it would be a great business for him. He further elaborates on the schemes and produces a very rosy picture. The chances of credit sales are low. The sales representative of Keventer Agro is responsible to write the bill of receipt where he mentions name of the shop, the date, quantity of total product sold and its price. An account of free products is also scribed in the bill. The cash is handled by the distributors representative. Collection It is a process of collecting money for the credit sales made. Usually Keventer does not encourage credit sales. However if any credit sales are made, the credit period is generally 2-3 days or the period till the next order, whichever is earlier. Collection is not so difficult as Hippo is backed by Frooti which has high bargaining power. Submission Both the representatives are required to submit every bills and cash respectively to the stock point/distributor. The cash collected and the sum total of the bill has to tally. Problem identification and its solution: Problem 1: The targets that are set by Keventer for the sales representatives are not dis tinct enough. The target constitutes of only two conditions i.e. name of Division and amount of cases. For example, on a particular day while we were working in certain area with the sales representative, he was given a target to sell 100 cases of Division A product for an incentive of Rs 250. He worked till 8 pm and ultimately reached to the target. However most of the sales were of Frooti and Appy with very little proportion of Hippo. Solution to the problem: Providing target worked well but had skewed portfolio. The target scheme for the sales representatives should be more distinct for example, if the target would have been X cases Frooti, Y cases of LMN, Z cases of Appy and U cases of Hippo of Division A for Rs V then the sales representative would not have capitalized on Frooti and Appy but would have tried to push low moving new brands such as Hippo, Bailley Soda etc. The portfolio of sales would have been varied and would have provided an impetus to the sales of new brands s uch as Bailley Soda and Hippo. Problem 2: Most of the sales activities are done by the company representatives such: Converting potential customer into actual customer in level 1 of distribution structure Bagging re-order from the existing customer Handling defective product Negotiation and persuasion Accounting( bill of receipt) The distributor only provides with infrastructure such as godown, light commercial vehicle(LCV) and a representative. The field work is mostly done by the company representative. Solution to the problem: Initially in a new market, it is quite rationale to capitalize on the market knowledge and relationships of the distributor but while working with sales representatives we found in some areas that the retailers already trust the company representative while the company representative has commanded the knowledge on the respective market. In that scenario Keventer Agro can go for forward integration and move on to 1-level distribution structure which consists of only manufacturer> retail> consumer eliminating the distributor. This would further optimize the profit earned by the company Evaluation of the distribution system of Parle Hippo through statistics This part of data analysis is segmented in to two parts. The first part deals with retailers and the second part deals with the consumer. The first part is further broken up in to two scenarios. The first scenario provides a holistic view of the markets surveyed and the second scenario deals with analysis of the attribute according to the area in which the survey is conducted. Part I (A) -Holistic View of the Markets Surveyed 1. Hippo Stocked The graph below showcases the frequency of the shops who stocks Hippo in their shops. 36.2% of the samples do not keep Hippo, where as 24.6% of the sample use to keep Hippo and the rest however keeps Hippo. So it can be said that there are presently more shops where Hippo cannot be found. Since the percentage of shops that use to keep Hippo is considerably high, we get a negative sales trend here. 9 definite reasons for the low sales turnover have been identified. They are: Some of the shops were never approached by the distributor Some shops are already flooded with competitors product so there are no space to stock Hippo In Some areas, the supply was halted due distributor reappointment and other issues Some shops use to keep Hippo but due to low sales they dont keep it anymore Hippo has a limited credit option, so many retailer finds it difficult to block their money for a new product Some retailer does not keep Hippo due to lack of merchandize provided. Retailers demand shelve and almirah so that they can store and display and also protect from mice but very limited or no merchandize is provided to most of the retailers Some retailers do not keep Hippo because they perceive that it is a new product with low awareness, the market is still not ready to accept the product. Had it been ready, the consumer would themselves ask for it Some retailers complained about poor follow up from the sales team and is the reason for not keeping Hippo Some retailers, who use to keep Hippo complained that the expired stock were not replaced and they have lost faith in Parle Agro The chart provided below showcases the frequency of the reasons discussed above. Interpretations: 32.5% of the shops were never approached by the company. From the qualitative data it has been found that many retailers were positive about keeping Hippo if they were being approached by the company. 12.5% of the shops have no space to keep Hippo. While conducting survey it is found that many shops were flooded with competitor brand leaving no space for Hippo. Out of 24.6% of sample who use to keep Hippo, 11.2% stopped keeping Hippo due sudden halt in supply due to distributor reappointment problem and other associated problems. 8.8% of the samples do not keep Hippo anymore due to its low sales while 2.5% of the samples do not keep Hippo because of the credit policy. The low sales associated with limited credit policy makes it difficult for the retailer to invest in the slow moving stock. 1.2% of sample reported that they do not keep Hippo because Parle Agro do not provide them with almirah or rack as result the products get damaged because of mice. Among the samples who never kept Hippo, 10% of the sample never kept Hippo because no customer demanded for it. They said, they will only keep Hippo when customer starts asking for it. The demand graph is provided below. Among those who use to keep Hippo, 8.8% of sample do not keep it anymore due to bad follow up from the distributor. One of the samples was approached by the distributor ho took order but never delivered the products. The expired date products were never replaced for which 2.5% of the sample does not keep Hippo. The reason for the 8.8% of the shops could not be gauged due to any response from the retailers. 2. Demand of Hippo: The graph below provides a holistic view about the demand of Hippo. 42.7% of the sample said that the demand of Hippo is low while 33.7% of the sample said that the demand is average followed by 23.6% of the sample who said that the demand is high. 3. Reorder period: Among the samples who keep Hippo, 57.6% of the sample orders on a weekly basis, 24.7% orders on a monthly basis, 10.6% on a fortnightly basis and 7.1% of the sample orders twice a week. 4. Most selling Stock Keeping Unit (SKU): 74.1% of the sample reported that the small packs are most selling stock keeping unit (SKU) while 25.9% of the sample reported about the medium pack. 5. Most selling flavour: On an overall analysis, we found that there is very low consistent pattern of choice of flavour. However 21.2% of the sample said that the bluish green pack (Goan Butter and Garlic) sells the most followed by Punjab Da Pickle. 6. Awareness of nutrition facts among retailers: 70.5% of the sample had no idea about Hippo being baked but not fried while that 29.5% of the sample had idea about the health positivity of the product. Among 29.5 % of the samples who are aware of the fact only 2.4% of the samples pitch about it while selling it. 7. Analysis of the margin/profit offered by Hippo and its competitors: The objective is to find whether there is significant difference among the margin offered by three brands i.e. Lays, Bingo and Hippo. In other words, it is a test for difference in distributions (medians) of the margin/profit for the different brands of snacks. Methodology applied is Kruskal-Wallis Test. The null hypothesis H0 = PL = PB = PH and the alternate hypothesis H1 is PL, PB and PH are significantly different. PL = Proportion of retailer to whom Lays provide them with highest margin PB = Proportion of retailer to whom Bingo provide them with highest margin PH = Proportion of retailer to whom Hippo provide them with highest margin The significance level (a) is 0.05. According to the Kruskal-Wallis test, the p-value is as low as zero, so we reject the null hypothesis. So we see that at the a = 0.05 level of significance, there exists enough evidence to conclude that there is significant difference among the three snack brand in terms of the margin/profit provided to the retailer. 8. Factor Analysis: The main applications of factor analytic te (1) To reduce the number of variables and (2) To detect structure in the relationships bet Therefore, factor analysis is applied as a dat The variables taken are: .Supply Quality of Hippo as r .Quality of Product delivered as r .Quality of service(Replacement .Merchandize offered and its a .Margin perceived by the samples .Quality of Hippo as responded by Samples or analytic techniques are: the number of variables and tionships between variables, that is to classify sis is applied as a data reduction or structure detection method. Supply Quality of Hippo as responded by Samples ed as responded by Samples placement and Adjustment) as responded by Samples and its availability as responded by Samples ed by the samples sponded by Samples classify variables. tion method. y Samples The main applications of factor analytic te (1) To reduce the number of variables and (2) To detect structure in the relationships bet Therefore, f actor analysis is applied as a dat The variables taken are: .Supply Quality of Hippo as r .Quality of Product delivered as r .Quality of service(Replacement .Merchandize offered and its a .Margin perceived by the samples .Quality of Hippo as responded by Samples or analytic techniques are: the number of variables and tionships between variables, that is to classify sis is applied as a data reduction or structure detection method. Supply Quality of Hippo as responded by Samples ed as responded by Samples placement and Adjustment) as responded by Samples and its availability as responded by Samples ed by the samples sponded by Samples classify variables. tion method. y Samples From the component plot above it is quite clear that plot above it is quite clear that quality of product, quality of supply and replacement and adjustment constitute one factor while margin of hippo and merchandizing provided constitute the other factor. From the Scree Plot it can be seen that 2 components have Eigen Value more than 1 and they can explain 74.09% of the variation. Part 1 (b) Area wise analysis of the attributes 1. Demand hippo vs Area 70%, 55%, 50% in Lake Town, Shyambazar, Ultadanga respectively consider the demand of Hippo to be low. 72.7% of sample in Salt Lake and 50% of sample in New Market feels the demand for Hippo is average. However 44.4%, 50%, 41.7% of the sample in Nagerbazar, Baisakhi and Ultadanga respectively fell the demand is high over there. 2. Flavour vs area Goan Butter and Garlic flavour is the most liked flavour in Salt Lake. While Punjab Da Pickle is the favourite in Nagerbazar. All the other area has no definite favourite. 3. Area vs Hippo Stocked Cross tabulation Area * Hippo Stocked Cross tabulation Hippo Stocked No Yes Previously Kept Area Salt Lake Count 0 12 0 % within Area .0% 100.0% .0% Lake Town Count 4 3 4 % within Area 36.4% 27.3% 36.4% Nagerbazar Count 2 10 0 % within Area 16.7% 83.3% .0% Baisakhi CK Market Count 3 1 5 % within Area 33.3% 11.1% 55.6% New Market Hogg Market Count 11 0 6 % within Area 64.7% .0% 35.3% Ultadanga, Murari Pukur, Kankurgachi Bagmari Count 13 5 7 % within Area 52.0% 20.0% 28.0% Beadon Road, Aurobindo Road Vivekananda Road Count 13 10 5 % within Area 46.4% 35.7% 17.9% Shyambazar, Baghbazar Rajballav Para Count 4 13 7 % within Area 16.7% 54.2% 29.2% Total Count 50 54 34 % within Area 36.2% 39.1% 24.6% From the cross tabulation above, we see that the penetration of Hippo is excellent in Salt Lake and Nagerbaz Keventer Agro Market Analysis Keventer Agro Market Analysis ABSTRACT Most producers do not sell their goods directly to final users. They design a multi-channel system to reach them. The design of marketing channel, that acts, as a strong interface, can provide competitive advantage to a firm in the industry. By contrast the absence of a good distribution network can also be a major fiasco in todays cutthroat competitive world. Marketing channel decisions are the most critical ones facing the marketing management today. It is complex and the complexity further gets compounded by the fact that the channel system take time to build usually years. Channel partners are not owned by the company in most cases. The sales force plays a crucial role in getting the best out of marketing channel. Integrating the efforts of channel partners and sales efforts within the whole marketing effort becomes crucial towards achieving organizational goals. Food and beverage giant Parle had entered into a franchisee agreement with Keventer Agro, for Keventer Agro to manufac ture, package, distribute and market its well-known brands namely Frooti -a popular mango drink, Appy and Appy Fizz-the in-style apple drinks and Bailley Packaged Drinking Water mostly in the eastern parts of India. The project Study of the distribution channel and market analysis of the products distributed and marketed by Keventer Agro under the license of Parle Agro involves the study of the strategies undertaken by Keventer Agro to distribute and market products of Parle Agro which includes Parles HIPPO Parle Agro forayed into snacks with the launch of Hippo, in line with the companys vision of becoming a major player in the foods and beverages industry. Hippo is a player of the snack food industry of India. As per an industry estimate, the branded and organized snack food segment dominated by major players such as Frito Lay, Con Agra, Kelloggs, Marico, Dabur, HLL, ITC, Parle, Haldirams. Thus, the study mainly constituted of studying and analyzing the distribution channel of Hip po and doing a market analysis of the product with respect to pricing, competition, brand awareness and consumer behavior of Hippo its present market position in relation to the well known established brands through retailer and consumer survey. Questionnaire, Schedule and interview and observation methods have been used in conduction of surveys. After completion of analysis of data collected through various methods regarding the sales and distribution and market position and other strategies proper conclusions can be drawn about the awareness and market strength and potential of Parles Hippo. These conclusion and deductions will help Keventer Agro to make any possible changes that would be feasible for the sustenance of the brands and any measure that will increase the market penetration of the brands Introduction The Project Study of the distribution channel and market analysis of the of the products distributed and marketed by Keventer Agro under the license of Parle Agro involves the study of the strategies undertaken by Keventer Agro to distribute and market Parle Hippo Keventer Agro: The Company Keventer Agro Limited is a subsidiary of Keventer Group which has been operating years in the Food Processing Industry in India for more than 125 years. Keventer exports Alphonso Mango Pulp, Totapuri Mango Pulp, Guava Pulp, Sweetened Alphonso Mango Pulp, Mango Pickle, Sesame Seed, Cashew Nuts, Peanuts, Cumin Seed, Fennel Seed, Fenugreek, Coriander Seed, Bakery Ingredients, Fruit Jams, Tutti Fruiti, Red Chilies Button Mushrooms etc. to various countries. Keventer Agro Ltd. (KAL) was established in the year 1986. The division exports food products such as Mango Pulp, Guava Pulp, Sesame Seeds, and Bakery Ingredients to various customers across the globe. In no time, it earned the coronet of being the first to i ntroduce aseptic packaging in the beverage category (a high-end packaging procedure that preserved the natural goodness of drinks in hygienic packs). The Group entered into a franchisee agreement with the food and beverage giant -PARLE to manufacture, package, distribute and market its well-known brands namely FROOTI -a popular mango drink, APPY and APPY FIZZ- the in-style apple drinks and BAILEY PACKAGED DRINKING WATER mostly in the eastern parts of India. In late 2010, Parle Agro inked another agreement with Keventer Agro to set up a plant at Barasat. This new unit manufactures Parle Agros snack brand Hippo. Besides manufacturing, Keventer is also responsible for marketing, sales and distribution of Hippo. Parle Agro chose to partner Keventer for their range of food brands which w.ll h.l. them to expand Hippos market share in the eastern part of India. Parle Agro: The Company Parle Agro is a household name in the beverages industry and has leading brands like Frooti, Appy, Appy Fizz and packaged drinking water, Bailley. A pioneer in the Indian industry, Parle Agro were the first to introduce fruit drinks in tetra packaging, first to introduce apple nectar and the first to introduce fruit drinks in PET bottles. In 2007, Parle Agro forayed into foods with the launch of two confectionery brands, Mintrox mints and Buttercup candies. This was soon followed by two more brands Buttercup Softease and Softease Mithai. Recent beverage products from Parle Agro include Saint Juice, LMN and Grappo Fizz. In 2009, Parle Agro forayed into snacks with the launch of Hippo, in line with the companys vision of becoming a major player in the foods and beverages industry. The snack brand Hippo, was launched in the western region starting with Maharashtra and then it was soon rolled out nationally. Parle Agro commenced operations in 1984. Starting with o nly beverages and diversifying to include bottled water in 1993 and confectionery in 2007. Frooti was the first product that was rolled out of Parle Agro in 1985. It went on to become Indias favourite mango drink. It still has a leading market share. Parle Agro Pvt. Ltd operates under three business vertical Beverages fruit drinks, nectars, 100% Juice, sparkling drinks, Water Packaged Drinking Water and Foods confectionery, snacks Product Industry Overview Product: HIPPO Parle Agro forayed into snacks with the launch of Hippo, in line with the companys vision of becoming a major player in the foods and beverages industry. Hippo is a toasted bread snack. Its ingredients include wheat flour, edible vegetable oils, seasoning mix, corn starch, sugar, raising agent, milk solids, salt, emulsifier, yeast extract powder, instant yeast. It contains added natural color and added natural identical flavoring substances; but no added MSG, no GMO and no Trans Fat. It comes in two variant; Hippo Munchies and Hippo Round-Round. The Hippo Munchies comes in 7 flavours (Chinese Manchurian, Hot-n-Sweet Tomato, Thai Chilli, Yoghurt Mint Chutney, Italian Pizza, Indian Chatpata and Arabian Salted) and Hippo Round-Round comes in 5 flavours (Punjab Da Pickle, Gujrati Mango Chatni, Shillong Noodle Masala, Goan Butter and Garlic, Firangi Cheese n Spice). It is available in three sizes which are priced at Rs 5, Rs 10 and Rs 20. Snack Industry: Industry to which Hippo belongs Hi ppo is a player of the snack food industry of India. The Indian snack industry is one of the largest when considered in the global level. With rising standard of living, people are more resorting to snacks items during breakfast, supper or any time; snacks most often take the place of meals. Right from production, using up, export and growth prospects owing to emerging markets, increasing demand, and incorporation of latest technologies, the snack industry in India has witnessed a dramatic change. Ready-to-eat foods, samosas, kachoris, namkeen, chips, are few of the snacks that are most preferred by Indians. Given the rising demand, the snack industry is going to witness further growth in the future. The snacks food industry in India can broadly be categorised into three segments staple (biscuits category), traditional (namkeens) and ready-to-eat packaged snacks (chips / crisps). The snack food market in India is $3 billion; with the organized segment accounting for almost half of the market share and growing at rate of 15 to 20 percent per year. A growing economy, changing lifestyles, rise in disposable incomes and preference for quality products of U.S. origin will continue to fuel growth of imported U.S. snack food items in India. As per an industry estimate, the branded and organized snack food segment dominated by major players such as Frito Lay, Con Agra, Kelloggs, Marico, Dabur, HLL, ITC, Parle, Haldirams, Nestle, Britannia, Cadbury, Bikano and Balaji is estimated to grow by 15 to 20 percent per year; whereas the growth of un-branded snack food is likely to grow modestly at 8 percent per year in the near future. Frito-Lay India led sweet and savory snacks with a retail val ue share of 46% in 2009. The companys Kurkure, Lehar and Lays Stax offerings have helped it to consolidate its leadership during the year. Haldiram Foods International Ltd and ITC Ltd remained the second and third ranked players respectively. Products like Hippo claim to be made from healthier ingredients than chips/crisps. With Indian consumers becoming more health conscious and more inquisitive about the ingredients in their food, sweet and savory snacks will witness an increase in products which are positioned as better for you and healthier snacks. Objectives of the Project To execute a qualitative study on the trend of packaged snack industry To gauge the acceptance of baked and healthy-snacks To understand competitors strategy in the market To study the sales and distribution structure, pricing (both to the retailer and to the consumer) of Hippo and problems in those respected area. To develop marketing strategies for Hippo To analyze the markets and determine the factors responsible for sale of products and provide recommendations about the scope for improvement. To provide a statement of collective responses of the retailersand determine the scope for improvement in the distribution channel for the products and the problems faced by the retailers. To study the pattern of consumer behavior and their awareness towards HIPPO To find out the problems faced by HIPPO if any and suggest solution to address those problems Project Methodology Primary Research is done through market survey. The research is mainly based on: Questionnaire Method Interview Method Observation Method Secondary Research has also been used as a supporting tool like: Some of the data related to holistic picture of the industry has been gathered from the data available on the internet PROJECT PROFILE The project revolves around Parle Hippo distributed and marketed by Keventer Agro under the license of Parle Agro. The first stage constituted of mainly studying and analyzing the distribution channel of Hippo and doing a market analysis of the product with respect to pricing, competition, brand awareness and consumer behavior of Hippo through retailer and consumer survey As per the objective of the project, two sets of questionnaire were prepared; For the retailer which aimed to assess the availability of Hippo, pricing of Hippo, sales, defect handling and some financial aspect of Hippo viz. Its competitors and the other for the consumers. For the consumer which aimed to gauge awareness of the product and the brand, product acceptance, their choice of product and buying pattern. The second stage constituted of observing the total sales procedure which consists of division of product, division of area, selective loading, selling, collection and submission STAGE ONE: RETAILER SURVEY FOR HIPPO This stage involved daily visits from the stock points to the designated markets. The markets covered includes: Salt Lake, Lake Town, S.K. Deb Road Market, Nagerbazar, Mrinalini Cinema Hall Market, New Market, Ultadanga, Kankurgachi, Bagmari, Beadon Street , Aurobindo Road and Vivekananda Road area, Shyambazar, Rajballavpara Baghbazar. Every shop that kept branded snacks in the respective areas was approached. The initial plan was to conduct the survey through questionnaire method but while performing the survey the method had to be changed to schedule, observation and interview method as it was not convenient for the retailers to fill up the questionnaire Objectives of Survey by observation method Findings to be recorded through observation method included: The visibility of Hippo and of competitors product Mode of stocking/displaying Hippo and competitors products i.e. whether it is on shelve or in the basket or inside almirah The location of the store i.e. whether it is beside main road or inside a lane or on a square Type of store Approximate demography Objectives of Survey by schedule method Findings to be recorded through schedule method included: About Hippo: Whether he keeps Hippo or not, if not the reason, its availability, reorder period, quality of defective product handling, margin offered, supply of banners and danglers. About Competitor: The competition brand kept, approximate margin they offer. About the market as a whole: The most selling brand. Objectives of Survey by interview method The interview methodology aimed to gain the intrinsic details of the market functions such as; if the retailer does not keep Hippo would he like to keep it future, the credit policy, frequency of visit of sales representative, retailers view on Hippos marketing strategy and scope of improvement. STAGE TWO: TOTAL SALES PROCEDURE OBSERVATION Distribution structure of Keventer Agro for Hippo Keventer Agro has 2-level consumer marketing channel. i.e. Manufacturing Unit>Distributor>retailer>Consumer. The product is manufactured in their plant located in Barasat. The products are sold directly to distributors on cash. A sales representative is appointed to the distributor by Keventer, who represents Keventer Agro and works shoulder to shoulder with the distributor. Level 1 Manufacturing unit to distributor The distributor buys the product in cash and the price of the free products which are part of below the line promotional activity are reimbursed on the claim made by the distributor. The transportation charge is borne by the distributor. Division of product and appointment of distributors: The aim of the company is: To ensure not only the highly profitable established products, but also new products with low initial sales reaches the end of supply chain. To ensures that all the SKUs of different products end up in the racks of retailers. Parle Agro has wide and deep product line; it is difficult for a single distributor to manage all the products. Earlier, Hippo was supplied to all the distributors of a specific area but as coordination became difficult, they have changed their policy and now supplies only to one distributor of the specific area. In some distribution area Keventer appoints more than one distributor each having different divisions of product. The division of products includes: Division A Division B Division C (Full information about this division is not known since I never had the chance to work in this divison) 200 ml, 400 ml, 1.2 litre of Frooti 160 ml 500 ml 1.5 litre and 2 litre of Frooti 200 ml of Appy 500 ml, 1 litre, 2 litre of Bailley Packaged Drinking Water 100 ml, 250 ml of Frooti 200 ml of LMN 600 ml of Bailley Soda. 300 ml, 500 ml and 1 litre of Appy Fizz The strategy of division of product along with division of distributor is adopted due to the reason discussed above. Level 2 Distributor to retailer Each distribution area is divided into five different distribution zones. They sell their products to those five zones in five days i.e. Monday to Friday. The sixth day which is Saturday is an extra day in which the sales representative does the miscellaneous work such as: If an order was not delivered on the due date then that product is delivered on Saturday. They conduct an approximate survey to estimate or forecast the forthcoming weekly demand. If a replacement of defective product was not done on the due date then it is also done in Saturday Hippo along with other product that are in the same division are be loaded in the LCV everyday. The flavours and quantities are not fixed. They load it according to the demand estimation of the zone. For example, on a particular day, more SKUs of Goan Butter and Garlic flavour is loaded more than the average quantity; the reason being from the experience, the sales representative found that when certain flavour/flavours are supplied to some particular area/areas, the retailer has lower re-order period i.e. the flavour/flavours sales more in that area depending on the demography of the area and buying pattern of the consumers. Sometimes the sales representatives are given target. For example: If they can sell 100 cases of Division A products on a particular day which includes Hippo, then they would get some incentive (Rs 250 extra). In that case, Division A products are loaded more, proportionally quantity of Hippo rises. However the elasticity of quantity of loading is low for Hippo compared to Frooti and Appy which are of high selling category. The sales representative finds it easy and handy to sell Frooti and Appy than applying push strategy for Hippo. Sometimes Hippo is not at all loaded in the LCV because the particular market demography could not accept Hippo and is not popular. Selling Each sales representative has different style of selling. Some capitalize on relationship between him and retailer and some on communication skill. Relationship marketing: In this type of marketing procedure, the SR does not start talking business in the first instance; rather he greets the retailer, talk about general things like current affairs or about family which helps him to build a rapport and trust. The trust and rapport becomes the psychological tool to win over the psychology of the retailer making it difficult for the retailer to reject the sales representatives selling proposal. Sometimes the sales representatives shares such good relationship with the retailer s that they dont even ask whether he needs anything or not but directly dump the products and produces the bill. Credit sales are more by this procedure since the SR does not want to freeze the warmth of the relationship. Communication Marketing In this procedure the SR starts talking about the business from the first go. The deliberation of the schemes or price seeks the attention of the retailers. Sales representative convinces the retailers by giving a clear picture of the business model. For example: Suppose the shop is near a school, he would right away say with much conviction that Hippo is bound to sell and with Rs 1.23 margin per piece, it would be a great business for him. He further elaborates on the schemes and produces a very rosy picture. The chances of credit sales are low. The sales representative of Keventer Agro is responsible to write the bill of receipt where he mentions name of the shop, the date, quantity of total product sold and its price. An account of free products is also scribed in the bill. The cash is handled by the distributors representative. Collection It is a process of collecting money for the credit sales made. Usually Keventer does not encourage credit sales. However if any credit sales are made, the credit period is generally 2-3 days or the period till the next order, whichever is earlier. Collection is not so difficult as Hippo is backed by Frooti which has high bargaining power. Submission Both the representatives are required to submit every bills and cash respectively to the stock point/distributor. The cash collected and the sum total of the bill has to tally. Problem identification and its solution: Problem 1: The targets that are set by Keventer for the sales representatives are not dis tinct enough. The target constitutes of only two conditions i.e. name of Division and amount of cases. For example, on a particular day while we were working in certain area with the sales representative, he was given a target to sell 100 cases of Division A product for an incentive of Rs 250. He worked till 8 pm and ultimately reached to the target. However most of the sales were of Frooti and Appy with very little proportion of Hippo. Solution to the problem: Providing target worked well but had skewed portfolio. The target scheme for the sales representatives should be more distinct for example, if the target would have been X cases Frooti, Y cases of LMN, Z cases of Appy and U cases of Hippo of Division A for Rs V then the sales representative would not have capitalized on Frooti and Appy but would have tried to push low moving new brands such as Hippo, Bailley Soda etc. The portfolio of sales would have been varied and would have provided an impetus to the sales of new brands s uch as Bailley Soda and Hippo. Problem 2: Most of the sales activities are done by the company representatives such: Converting potential customer into actual customer in level 1 of distribution structure Bagging re-order from the existing customer Handling defective product Negotiation and persuasion Accounting( bill of receipt) The distributor only provides with infrastructure such as godown, light commercial vehicle(LCV) and a representative. The field work is mostly done by the company representative. Solution to the problem: Initially in a new market, it is quite rationale to capitalize on the market knowledge and relationships of the distributor but while working with sales representatives we found in some areas that the retailers already trust the company representative while the company representative has commanded the knowledge on the respective market. In that scenario Keventer Agro can go for forward integration and move on to 1-level distribution structure which consists of only manufacturer> retail> consumer eliminating the distributor. This would further optimize the profit earned by the company Evaluation of the distribution system of Parle Hippo through statistics This part of data analysis is segmented in to two parts. The first part deals with retailers and the second part deals with the consumer. The first part is further broken up in to two scenarios. The first scenario provides a holistic view of the markets surveyed and the second scenario deals with analysis of the attribute according to the area in which the survey is conducted. Part I (A) -Holistic View of the Markets Surveyed 1. Hippo Stocked The graph below showcases the frequency of the shops who stocks Hippo in their shops. 36.2% of the samples do not keep Hippo, where as 24.6% of the sample use to keep Hippo and the rest however keeps Hippo. So it can be said that there are presently more shops where Hippo cannot be found. Since the percentage of shops that use to keep Hippo is considerably high, we get a negative sales trend here. 9 definite reasons for the low sales turnover have been identified. They are: Some of the shops were never approached by the distributor Some shops are already flooded with competitors product so there are no space to stock Hippo In Some areas, the supply was halted due distributor reappointment and other issues Some shops use to keep Hippo but due to low sales they dont keep it anymore Hippo has a limited credit option, so many retailer finds it difficult to block their money for a new product Some retailer does not keep Hippo due to lack of merchandize provided. Retailers demand shelve and almirah so that they can store and display and also protect from mice but very limited or no merchandize is provided to most of the retailers Some retailers do not keep Hippo because they perceive that it is a new product with low awareness, the market is still not ready to accept the product. Had it been ready, the consumer would themselves ask for it Some retailers complained about poor follow up from the sales team and is the reason for not keeping Hippo Some retailers, who use to keep Hippo complained that the expired stock were not replaced and they have lost faith in Parle Agro The chart provided below showcases the frequency of the reasons discussed above. Interpretations: 32.5% of the shops were never approached by the company. From the qualitative data it has been found that many retailers were positive about keeping Hippo if they were being approached by the company. 12.5% of the shops have no space to keep Hippo. While conducting survey it is found that many shops were flooded with competitor brand leaving no space for Hippo. Out of 24.6% of sample who use to keep Hippo, 11.2% stopped keeping Hippo due sudden halt in supply due to distributor reappointment problem and other associated problems. 8.8% of the samples do not keep Hippo anymore due to its low sales while 2.5% of the samples do not keep Hippo because of the credit policy. The low sales associated with limited credit policy makes it difficult for the retailer to invest in the slow moving stock. 1.2% of sample reported that they do not keep Hippo because Parle Agro do not provide them with almirah or rack as result the products get damaged because of mice. Among the samples who never kept Hippo, 10% of the sample never kept Hippo because no customer demanded for it. They said, they will only keep Hippo when customer starts asking for it. The demand graph is provided below. Among those who use to keep Hippo, 8.8% of sample do not keep it anymore due to bad follow up from the distributor. One of the samples was approached by the distributor ho took order but never delivered the products. The expired date products were never replaced for which 2.5% of the sample does not keep Hippo. The reason for the 8.8% of the shops could not be gauged due to any response from the retailers. 2. Demand of Hippo: The graph below provides a holistic view about the demand of Hippo. 42.7% of the sample said that the demand of Hippo is low while 33.7% of the sample said that the demand is average followed by 23.6% of the sample who said that the demand is high. 3. Reorder period: Among the samples who keep Hippo, 57.6% of the sample orders on a weekly basis, 24.7% orders on a monthly basis, 10.6% on a fortnightly basis and 7.1% of the sample orders twice a week. 4. Most selling Stock Keeping Unit (SKU): 74.1% of the sample reported that the small packs are most selling stock keeping unit (SKU) while 25.9% of the sample reported about the medium pack. 5. Most selling flavour: On an overall analysis, we found that there is very low consistent pattern of choice of flavour. However 21.2% of the sample said that the bluish green pack (Goan Butter and Garlic) sells the most followed by Punjab Da Pickle. 6. Awareness of nutrition facts among retailers: 70.5% of the sample had no idea about Hippo being baked but not fried while that 29.5% of the sample had idea about the health positivity of the product. Among 29.5 % of the samples who are aware of the fact only 2.4% of the samples pitch about it while selling it. 7. Analysis of the margin/profit offered by Hippo and its competitors: The objective is to find whether there is significant difference among the margin offered by three brands i.e. Lays, Bingo and Hippo. In other words, it is a test for difference in distributions (medians) of the margin/profit for the different brands of snacks. Methodology applied is Kruskal-Wallis Test. The null hypothesis H0 = PL = PB = PH and the alternate hypothesis H1 is PL, PB and PH are significantly different. PL = Proportion of retailer to whom Lays provide them with highest margin PB = Proportion of retailer to whom Bingo provide them with highest margin PH = Proportion of retailer to whom Hippo provide them with highest margin The significance level (a) is 0.05. According to the Kruskal-Wallis test, the p-value is as low as zero, so we reject the null hypothesis. So we see that at the a = 0.05 level of significance, there exists enough evidence to conclude that there is significant difference among the three snack brand in terms of the margin/profit provided to the retailer. 8. Factor Analysis: The main applications of factor analytic te (1) To reduce the number of variables and (2) To detect structure in the relationships bet Therefore, factor analysis is applied as a dat The variables taken are: .Supply Quality of Hippo as r .Quality of Product delivered as r .Quality of service(Replacement .Merchandize offered and its a .Margin perceived by the samples .Quality of Hippo as responded by Samples or analytic techniques are: the number of variables and tionships between variables, that is to classify sis is applied as a data reduction or structure detection method. Supply Quality of Hippo as responded by Samples ed as responded by Samples placement and Adjustment) as responded by Samples and its availability as responded by Samples ed by the samples sponded by Samples classify variables. tion method. y Samples The main applications of factor analytic te (1) To reduce the number of variables and (2) To detect structure in the relationships bet Therefore, f actor analysis is applied as a dat The variables taken are: .Supply Quality of Hippo as r .Quality of Product delivered as r .Quality of service(Replacement .Merchandize offered and its a .Margin perceived by the samples .Quality of Hippo as responded by Samples or analytic techniques are: the number of variables and tionships between variables, that is to classify sis is applied as a data reduction or structure detection method. Supply Quality of Hippo as responded by Samples ed as responded by Samples placement and Adjustment) as responded by Samples and its availability as responded by Samples ed by the samples sponded by Samples classify variables. tion method. y Samples From the component plot above it is quite clear that plot above it is quite clear that quality of product, quality of supply and replacement and adjustment constitute one factor while margin of hippo and merchandizing provided constitute the other factor. From the Scree Plot it can be seen that 2 components have Eigen Value more than 1 and they can explain 74.09% of the variation. Part 1 (b) Area wise analysis of the attributes 1. Demand hippo vs Area 70%, 55%, 50% in Lake Town, Shyambazar, Ultadanga respectively consider the demand of Hippo to be low. 72.7% of sample in Salt Lake and 50% of sample in New Market feels the demand for Hippo is average. However 44.4%, 50%, 41.7% of the sample in Nagerbazar, Baisakhi and Ultadanga respectively fell the demand is high over there. 2. Flavour vs area Goan Butter and Garlic flavour is the most liked flavour in Salt Lake. While Punjab Da Pickle is the favourite in Nagerbazar. All the other area has no definite favourite. 3. Area vs Hippo Stocked Cross tabulation Area * Hippo Stocked Cross tabulation Hippo Stocked No Yes Previously Kept Area Salt Lake Count 0 12 0 % within Area .0% 100.0% .0% Lake Town Count 4 3 4 % within Area 36.4% 27.3% 36.4% Nagerbazar Count 2 10 0 % within Area 16.7% 83.3% .0% Baisakhi CK Market Count 3 1 5 % within Area 33.3% 11.1% 55.6% New Market Hogg Market Count 11 0 6 % within Area 64.7% .0% 35.3% Ultadanga, Murari Pukur, Kankurgachi Bagmari Count 13 5 7 % within Area 52.0% 20.0% 28.0% Beadon Road, Aurobindo Road Vivekananda Road Count 13 10 5 % within Area 46.4% 35.7% 17.9% Shyambazar, Baghbazar Rajballav Para Count 4 13 7 % within Area 16.7% 54.2% 29.2% Total Count 50 54 34 % within Area 36.2% 39.1% 24.6% From the cross tabulation above, we see that the penetration of Hippo is excellent in Salt Lake and Nagerbaz